When I think back on the story of Ellen Vaden, I will remember the things that she told about the Ku Klux Klan and what they did. I will remember the fact that she doesn't remember freedom. I will remember her part. Ellen has seen a lot and experienced a lot in her 83+ years of living. Her owners were Dave and Luiza Johnson. Her mother was from Georgia and she does not know anything about who owned her father or where he was from. Her aunt bought her way out of slavery by cooking. She does not remember freedom. The Ku Klux Klan was bad around Arkansas. Her owner was a Ku Klux member. One time a colored man and woman was by a fire, and the woman was sick. The man was so scared of the Ku Klux Klan that when they came he ran and left his wife.
