“Fire was ‘bout de hardes’ thing fer us to keep.  Dere wa’nt no matches in dem days, an’ we toted fire frum one plantation to ’nother when hit burned out.  We put live coals in pans or buckets an’ toted it home.

“Sometimes we put heavy waddin’ in a old gun an’ shot hit out into a brush heap an’ then blowed the sparks’ til de fire blazed.  Ever’body had flint rocks too, but few niggers could work ’em an’ de ones dat could allus had dat job to do.

“My gran’mammy come frum South Ca’lina an’ libed fust at New Augusta, Mississippi.  She used to pick big Catawba leaves an’ roll her dough in ‘em an’ bake hit in a log heap, pilin’ ashes over hit.  Some called hit ash cakes an’ hit sho’ was good.  Nothin’ lak hit dese days—­no sir.

“We had plen’y to eat—­smoke sausage, beef, home made lard, an’—­yes sir, possum when we wanted hit.

“We didn’ git any pay fer our work but we had plen’y to eat an’ clo’es to wear, our clo’es was coarse but good.  Most of ’em was wove on de looms an’ our socks an’ stockings was knitted by de wimmin.  De white folks though, dey wear linen an’ fine silk clo’es fer de big times.  We made blankets—­coverlets, too.

“We had ‘bout 60 slaves on our place, an’ if a nigger man on one plantation fall in love wid a slave girl on ‘nother place, dey jus’ come to her plantation an’ jump ober de broom an’ den dey is mar’ied.  De slabes never had preachers lak dey do at weddin’s dese days.  If de girl didn’t love de boy an’ he jumped ober de broom an’ she didn’t, den dey wa’nt mar’ied.

“Dere was no schools in dem days either, an’ I can’t read an’ write today.  Some of de white folks taught de younger niggers an’ den dey tuk dey lessons an’ studied at dey cabin of nights afte’ dey had finished work.

“We had prayer meetin’s in each others houses durin’ de week.  One plantation owner built a little church on his place an’ de niggers, dey go in de back do’ an’ sit in de back, an’ white folks dey come in de front of de church an’ sit.  De Presbyterin chu’ch was de only one ’round dere an’ dey sprinkled ever’body—­jes poured water ober dey heads frum a glass an’ den patted hit hit in (demonstrated).

“‘Twas funny—­one time Joe an’ Green, two niggers on our place, et dey supper an’ run ‘way at night an’ afte’ dey was kotched, dey tol’ us dat when dey was passin’ through de woods dat night a great big old gran’daddy owl flopped his wings an’ Joe said ‘we’d better turn back.’  I allus heard hit was bad luck fer to hear a owl floppin’ lack dat, but Green said ‘twant nothin’, jes a old owl floppin’, but he jes naturally flopped diffrunt dat night, an’ Green walked on ‘bout 15 steps an’ somebody shot him dead.  Joe said he tu’ned back an’ run home.

“All our niggers had to have passes to leave de plantation an’ when de pataroller kotched ’em wid out’n a pass, de nigger was whupped.  Sometimes de plantation owner did hit an’ sometimes de sheriff.  Dey used a long leather strop cut at de ends.