“The first colored preacher I recall was named John Reed, a Baptist preacher at Paint Lick.  I joined the church at Lowell, not very far from here.  The preachers name was Leroy Estill, a “Predestinerian”.

“Marse Woods had five children, two boys and three girls, none of them are living.

“We were glad when the news came that we were free, but none of us left for a long time, not until the Woods family was broken up.  My father hired me out to work for my vituals and clothes, and I got $25.00 at the end of the year.  I do not remember of any wedding or death in my old masters house.

“I believe in heart-felt religion and prayer.  The Good Book teaches us we must be prepared for another world after this.  I want to go to Heaven when I die, and I try to live by the Bible.”

Bibliography: 
Interview with Wes Woods, Ex-Slave of Garrard County.

Combined interviews: 
Customs:  By Counties
Slavery:  Local History and Dialect

ANDERSON CO.  (Mildred Roberts)

Story of Ann Gudgel (age unknown): 

“I doesn’t know how old I am, but I was a little girl when dat man Lincum freed us niggahs.  My mammy neber tole us our age, but I knows I’se plenty old, cause I feels like it.

“When I was a liddle girl all of us was owned by Master Ball.  When Lincum freed us neggahs, we went on and libbed with Master Ball till us chilluns was bout growed up.  None of us was eber sold, cause we belonged to the Balls for always back as far as we could think.

“Mammy worked up at the big house, but us chilluns had to stay at de cabin.  But I didn’t berry much care, cause ole Miss had a liddle child jest bout my age, and us played together.

“The onliest time ole Miss eber beat me was when I caused Miss Nancy to get et up wit de bees.  I tole her ’Miss Nancy, de bees am sleep, lets steal de honey.’  Soon as she tetched it, day flew all ober us, and it took Mammy bout a day to get the stingers outen our haids.  Ole Miss jest natually beat me up bout dat.

“One day they vaccinated all de slaves but mine neber took atall.  I nebber tole noboddy, but I jest set right down by de fireplace and rubbed wood ashes and juice that spewed outen de wood real hard ober de scratch.  All de others was real sick and had the awfullest arms, but mine neber did eben hurt.”

UNION CO.  (Ruby Garten)

Mrs. Heyburn: 

(These two stories were told by Mrs. Heyburn as she remembered them from her grandmother).

“When the War was going on between the States and the Confederate soldiers had gone south, the Yankee soldiers came through.  There was a little negro slave boy living on the farm and he had heard quite a bit about the Yankees, so one day they happened to pass through where he could see them and he rushed into the house and said, “Miss Lulu, I saw a Yankee, and he was a man.”