Master

“Blount Steward was kinder good.  He was very well till the war started—­the Federal War.  Miss Ann went to whip me for nothing.

Whippings

“I was carrying her daughter to school every day except Saturdays and Sundays.  One day, Miss Ann was off and I was at the back steps playing and she decided to whip me.  I told her I hadn’t done nothing but she put my head between her legs and started to beatin’ me.  And I bit her legs.  She lemme loose and hollered.  Then she called for William to come and beat me.  William was one of the colored slaves.  William come to do it.  Ma had been peeping out from the kitchen watchin’ the whole thing.  When William come up to beat me, she came out with a big carving knife and told him, ‘That’s my child and if you hit him, I’ll kill you.’

“Then she sent for Tully to come and whip me, I mean to whip my mother.  Tully was my young master.  Tully came and said to my mother, ’I know you ain’t done nothin’ nor your child neither, but I’ll have to hit you a few light licks to satisfy ma.’

“Blount come the next day and went down to where pa was making shoes.  He said, ‘Daniel, you’re looking mighty glum.’

“Pa said, ‘You’d be lookin’ glum too if your wife and chile had done been beat up for nothin’.’

“When he said that, Blount got mad.  He snatched up a shoe hammer and hit pa up side the head with it.

“Pa said, ‘By God, don’t you try it again.’

“Blount didn’t hit him again.  Pa was ready to fight, and he wasn’t sure that he could whip him.  Pa said, ‘You won’t hit me no more.’  The war was goin’ on then.

Runaways

“The following Sunday night, twelve head of ’em left there.  My ma and pa and me and our whole family and some more besides was along.  We went from the plantation to Rodney, Mississippi first, trying to get on a steamboat—­gunboat.  The gunboat wouldn’t take us for fear we would get hurt.  The war was goin’ on then.  So we just transferred down the river and went on to Natchez.  We went there walking and wading.  We was from Sunday night to Sunday night gettin’ there.  We didn’t have no trouble ‘sept that the hounds ms runnin’ us.  But they didn’t catch us—­they didn’t catch none of us.  My ma and my pa and my brothers and sisters besides me was all in the crowd; and we all got to Natchez.

“They are all dead and gone to Judgment now but me.  I think that I got one sister in Chicago, Illinois.  She is my baby sister.  I ain’t never heard nothing about her bein’ dead.

Natchez