“We stayed on de Denham place ’bout three years.  Den we moved to Homewood an’ stayed five years.  I hung de boards for Marse Bob’s house in Homewood.

“Den we come to Forest.  Dey brought all de fam’ly over here—­all my brothers an’ sisters.  Dey was five of’ em—­Wash an’ East is de two I ‘members.  All o’ us b’longed to de Harper fam’ly.  Marse Bob owned us.  My ma an’ pa both died here in Forest.

“I he’ped to build dis house for Marse Bob.  I cleaned de lan’ an’ lef de trees where he tol’ me.  He lived in a little old shack whilst we built de Big House.

“Mr. M.D.  Graham put up de firs’ store here an’ de secon’ was put up by my marster.

“I worked in de fiel’ some, but mos’ly I was a house servant.  I used to go all over de country a-huntin’ eggs an’ chickens for de fam’ly on’ count dey was so much comp’ny at de house.

“A heap o’ white folks was good to dey Niggers, jus’ as good as dey could be, but a heap of’ em was mean, too.  My mistis was good to us an’ so was Marse Jim Harper.  He wouldn’ let de boys ’buse us while he lived, but when he died dey was wild an’ cruel.  Dey was hard taskmasters.  We was fed good three times a day, but we was whupped too much.  Dat got me.  I couldn’ stan’ it.  De old marster give us good dinners at Chris’mus, but de young ones stopped all dat.

“De firs’ train I ever seen was in Brandon.  I went dere to carry some horses for my marster.  It sho’ was a fine lookin’ engine.  I was lookin’ at it out of a upstairs window an’ when it whistled I’d a-jumped out dat window if Captain Harper hadn’ a-grabbed me.

“I didn’ see no fightin’ in de war.  When Gen’l Sherman come th’ough here, he come by Hillsboro.  Marse Bob didn’ go to de war.  He ’listed[FN:  enlisted], but he come right back an’ went to gittin’ out cross ties for de railroad.  He warnt no sojer.  Colonel Harper, dat was Marse Alf, he was de sojer.  He warnt scared o’ nothin’ or nobody.

“De Yankees ask me to go to de war, but I tol’ ’em, ’I aint no rabbit to live in de woods.  My marster gives me three good meals a day an’ a good house an’ I aint a-goin’.’  Marse Bob used to feed us fine an’ he was good to us.  He wouldn’ let no overseer touch his Niggers, but he whupped us, hisse’f.

“Den de Yankees tol’ me I was free, same as dey was.  I come an’ tol’ Marse Bob I was a-goin’.  He say, ’If you don’t go to work, Nigger, you gwine a-git whupped.’  So I run away an’ hid out in de woods.  De nex’ day I went to Meridian.  I cooked for de sojers two months, den I come back to Forest an’ worked spikin’ ties for de railroad.

“I hear’d a heap of talk ‘bout Jeff Davis an’ Abe Lincoln, but didn’ know nothin’ ’bout ’em.  We hear’d ‘bout de Yankees fightin’ to free us, but we didn’ b’lieve it ’til we hear’d ‘bout de fightin’ at Vicksburg.

“I voted de ‘publican ticket after de surrender, but I didn’ bother wid no politics.  I didn’ want none of ’em.