“Hee!  Hee!  Hee!  One day dar war a circus in Hopkinsville en er black wooman I’se war ergoing ter wait on war on de street to watch foh de parade en wid de bands er playing en de wild varmits en things dis woman give birth ter dat girl chile on de corner of Webber and Seventh St. Dat gal sho got er funny name ‘Es-pe-cu-liar’. (I did not get the drift of the story so I asked her what was so funny about the name.  Of course it is a name I have never heard before so the following is what the girls Mother said about it to Aunt Easter.  M.D.  Hanbery)

“Well the gals Mammy thought hit war jes peculiar dat, dat happened wen she war er looking at the parade. (So this woman Especuliar is still in Hopkinsville and her story is known in quite a few of the older circles.)

“Yah!  Yah!  I sho remember how de ole folks uster dress.  De women wore hop skirts en de men wore tight breeches.  De night gowns war made on er yoke aufull full en big long sleeves wid a cuff at de hand en a deep hem at de bottom of de gown, dese gowns war made of domestic en wen dey war washed en starched en ironed dey wur be so stiff dey could stand erlone.”  De men en de women both wore night caps.  If de gown war a dress up gown why dey war home made knit en crochet lace in de front en lots en lots of tucks some of dem had deep ruffles on dem at the bottom.

“Wen my Pappy kum home from de war, he war on de “Govmint” side he brung a pistol back wid him dat shot a ball dey hed caps on hit en used dese in de war.  De Ku Klux jum after him one night en he got three of dem wid dis pistol, nobody eber knowed who got dose Kluxes.

Ghosts——­

“Sho dar is ghosts.  One night es I war going home from work de tallest man I eber seed followed me wid de prettiest white shirt on en den he passed me, en waited at de corner I war a feeling creepy en wanter run but jes couldn’t git my laigs ter move en wen I’se git ter de corner war he war I said ‘Good Ebening’ en I seed him plain es day en de did not speak en jes disappeared right fore my eyes.

“Den ergin I went ter de fish pond one day fishing en cotched two or three big fish wen I went home thot I’d go back dat night en I begun to dig sum fishing worms en my boss he saw me en axed, ‘Wot I doing’.  I told him I war ergoing ter de pond ter fish dat night.  He said ’don you go ter dat pond ternight Easter foh if you does something will run you erway.’  I jes laughed at him en dat night I en my boy wese goes ter de pond en as we war er standing in dar quiet like we heared something squeeching like er new saddle en er horses er trotting.  We listened en waited wen something wen inter dat pond right twixt us liker er ball er fire.  Weums sho did leave dar an de next morning my boss axed me if we cotched enthing en we told him wot we saw en he said he knowed weums would be run erway foh he war run erway hisself.