“Mr. Ben was grown when we come to Arkansas.  He got his ma to go to Kentucky with him and I heard about Arkansas.  Me and mama come to Palestine.  We come in a crowd.  A man give us tickets and we come by our lone selves till we got to Tennessee.  A big crowd come from Dyersburg, Tennessee.  Ma got to talking and found out we was headed fo’ the same place in Arkansas.

“Ma talked a whole heap at tines more ’an others (times) about slavery times.  Her master didn’t take on over her much when he found out she was a barren woman.  The old man Crumpton give her to his youngest daughter, Miss Mari Beth.  She always had to do all kinds of work and house turns.

“After mama’s slavery husband didn’t come back and she was living in Macon, she fell in love with another man and I was a picked-up baby.  Mama said Miss Mari Beth lost faith in her when I was born but she needed her and kept her on.  Said seem like she thought she was too old to start up when she never had children when her papa owned her.  They didn’t like me.  She said she could trust mama but she didn’t know my stock.  He was a black man.  Mama was black as I is.

“Miss Mari Beth had a round double table.  The top table turned with the victuals on it.  I knocked flies three times a day over that table.

“I never had a store-bought dress in my life till mama bought me one at Madison, Arkansas.  I wanted a pure white dress.  She said if we made a good crop she was going to give me a dress.  All the dresses I ever had was made out of Miss Mari Beth’s dresses but I never had a pure white one.  I never had one bought for me till I was nearly grown.  I was so proud of it.  When I would go and come back, I would pull it off and put it away.  I wore it one summer white and the next summer I blued it and had a new dress.  I had a white dress nearly every year till I got too old to dress up gay now.  I got a white bonnet and apron I wears right now.

“Mama said Master Crumpton bought up babies to raise.  She was taken away from her folks so soon she never heard of them.  Aunt Mat raised her up in Atlanta and out on his place.  He had a place in town but kept them on a place in the country.  He had a drove of them.  He hired them out.  He hired mama once to a doctor, Dr. Willbanks.  Mama said old master thought she would learn how to have children from him the reason he sent her there so much.  When they had big to-dos old master sent mama over there.  She never seen no money till about freedom.  She loved to get hired out to be off from him.  They all had young babies about but her.  He was cross and her husband was cross.  She had pleasure hired out.  She said he didn’t whoop much.  He stamped his foot.  They left right now.

“I hab three girls living; one here (Palestine), one at Marvell, and one in St. Louis.  My youngest girl teaches music at a big colored school.  She sends me my money and I lives with these girls.  I been up there and I sure don’t aim to live in no city old as I is.  It’s too dangerous slow as I got to be and so much racket I never slept a night I was there.  I was there a month.  She brung me home and I didn’t go back.