“Ah jes love ter talk bout when ah wuz a boy.  We had a lop cabin fuh a church house.  In dem days on meetin’ Sunday fokes would go ter church and carry de chillun but now not neither the chillun nor dey ma’s go either.

“Fokes would serve the Lord.  Dey would git happy in de fiel’ and fall out choppin, choppin cotton.  No sich times as hit wuz now.  Aftah all er mah youth and hardship and goodship the Lord called me ter preach and when he called me ah answered.  Ah wuz comin cross de fiel about 12 er’clock.  Ah tole him ah couldn’ preach.  Den ah heard a voice above mah haid.  Ah stopped and wondahed and pondered wid mahself knowin’ de condition uv mahself.  Ah said, “Lord yo knows ah caint preach.”  Den ah made a vow and ah stuck to hit but ah heard nother voice say, “Go and preach” again.  And ah heerd ah nother voice say “Yo go in de mawnin and pray befo sunrise.”  Ah goes thar and gits on mah knees and tried ter pray an ah heard dogs a barkin and chains rattlin an cats mewin and everthing.  Ah had heard ole fokes talk bout when yo go ter pray chains and things would track yer tenshun.  The same happen ter me.  Ah want on and ended mah prayer and yo know ah wuz a glad soul.  Ah felt lak ah cud go an then an do whut the Lawd said.  Ah gone on an stahted preachin.  Hit seemed the church wuz so crowded wid so many local preachers ah couldn’ do whut de Lawd wanted me ter so ah ask the pastor ifn ah could run prayer meetin and he said, “Why chile yes,” and ah went on wid de prayer meetin till ever’body quit his church and come to mah prayer meetin so den he called mah han’, got jealous and made me move mah prayer meetin.  So som good white fokes let me come ovah neah them and start a prayer meetin so de people followed me and we built a church and hit is yet dare terday.”

Interviewer:  Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Person interviewed:  Mandy Tucker
                    1021 E. 11th Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Age:  80?

“I was here in slavery times but I don’t know what year I was born.  War?  I was in it!

“I member old master and old mistis too.  I member I didn’t know nothin’ bout my mother and father cause it was night when they went to work and night when they come in and we chilluns would be under the bed asleep.

“I know the white folks had a kitchen full of we chilluns.  We went over to the kitchen to eat.

“My mother belonged to the Cockrills and my father belonged to the Armstrongs.  They were cousins and their plantations joined.

“I was large enough to know when they took my parents to Texas, but I didn’t know how serious it was till they was gone.  I member peepin’ through the crack of the fence but I didn’t know they was takin’ em off.

“They left me with the old doctor woman.  She doctored both white and colored.  I stayed there till I was fourteen years old.

“I know we had our meals off a big wooden tray but we had wooden spoons to eat with.