Faithful Deaf Negro Servant

I found the article in Silent Worker, vol. 26 no. 9, June 1914, p.172. The story about former deaf slave saved the white family (were they white?) from the burning house and also saved some of their valuable things, he died. It is kind of hard for me to read the story so I try my best to type what the article said.

James Good, 52 years old a deaf and dumb negro servant, who had been in the service of the Goodfellow family of St. Louis all his life, sacrificed his life in an effort to save heirloom from the flames in a fire which destroyed the Goodfellow mansion and stables at Wentzville, Mo., last Sunday.

Jim, as he was known, discovered the fire which started from a (defective line?) at S A M and unable to cry out an alarm, ran to the rooms occupied by Mrs. George Wise, her son, Frank Foster, and Mrs. Mamie Walker, and aroused them by pounding on the doors. They escaped in their night clothing, having no time to try to save anything.

Jim started back into the house to save some valuable treasures, and returning, was buried under the burning stairway, which collapsed. He was taken to the St. Louis City hospital on a special train and died at 2 0’clock Monday morning. He was buried last Tuesday in the Goodfellow vault in Bellfontaine. He formerly was a slave belonging to the Goodfellow family. -Lexingtonian (sp?)