“Dogs howling meand bad luck if he howls under de house why someone is goin ter die.”

“If er owl come around de house on holler a death will happen in de family fore de next day.”

“I remembers I wat a sitting in de house en er peckerwood war a pecking on de house ‘Pure bad luck.’”

“I was working once foh Mrs. Shelton wen a little wren kept trying ter git in de house an I kep a shosin hit arway wen he got in somehow jes as soon as hit did Mrs. Shelton called me en I had a telegram from Chicago my neice war dead.  She by dat I nos dat am bad luck.  I dont like wrens any how.”

“Wenn a cow loses hits cud, jes giv hit an old dirty dish rag en den de cow will ding her cud again.”

“Sometimes a cow gits sich en lay down en if you will fell her tail on de end it is all soft, ’Dat cow hot holler tail, en less you split dat tail en fill de holler wid salt den bind hit up dat cow will sholy die.’”

“I asked Mary if she was superstitious and she said ’no, cos niggers are edicatted dese days en dey don believe in all dat tom-foolery.  Dey neber would benn so foolish if de white folks did not tell us all dat rot.’” Mary neither reads or writes and is not superstitious according to her admission.  What do you think of it.  I am afraid that I do not agree with.  M.D.H.)

CLAY CO.  (Pearl House)

Sophia Word: 

The following story of slave days is the exact words of one who had the bitter experience of slavery.  Sophia Word, who is now ninety-nine years of age, born February 2, 1837.  She tells me she was in bondage for nineteen years and nine months.  I shall repeat just as she told the story: 

“I wuz here in time of Mexican War and seed ’em get up volunteers to go.  They wuz dressed in brown and band played ’Our Hunting Shirts are Fringed with Doe and away We march to Mexico’.

“My grandmother came straight from Africa and wuz auctioned off and bought by William Reide Father.  When he died William Reides inherited my mother.  Mother married a Bates and had ten of us children.

“Our Master didn’t auction off his slaves as the other masters would for he was a better master than most of them.  When he started to sale one of us he would go out and talk to the old slave trader like he wuz g’wine to sale a cow or sometin and then he would come back to git the slave he wanted.  This wuz the way my mothers’ brother and sister wuz sold.  When the other masters at other places sold a slave they put the slave on the auction block and the slave trader had a long whop that he hit them with to see if they could jump around and wuz strong.  The largest and brought the money.

“I wuz a slave nineteen yeahs and nine months but somehow or nuther I didn’t belong to a real mean pet of people.  The white folks said I was the meanest nigger that ever wuz.  One day my Mistress Lyndia called fer me to come in the house, but no, I wouldn’t go.  She walks out and says she is Gwine make me go.  So she takes and drags me in the house.  Then I grabs that white woman, when she turned her back, and shook her until she begged for mercy.  When the master comes in, I wuz given a terrible beating with a whip but I did’nt care fer I give the mistress a good’un too.