There was always plenty of everything to eat for the slaves.  They had white bread that had been made on the place.  Corn meal, rice, potatoes, syrup vegetables and home-cured meat.  Food was cooked in iron pots hung over the fireplace by rings made of the same metal.  Bread and pastries were made in the “skillet” and “spider.”

Much work was needed to supply the demands of so large a plantation but the slaves were often given time off for frolics (dances), (quilting-weddings).  These gatherings were attended by old and young from neighboring plantations.  There was always plenty of food, masters vying with another for the honor of giving his slaves the finest parties.

There was dancing and music.  On the Folsom plantation Bryant, the youngest of the masters furnished the music.  He played the fiddle and liked to see the slaves dance “cutting the pigeon wing.”

Many matches were made at these affairs.  The women came “all rigged out in their best” which was not bad at all, as the mistresses often gave them their cast off clothes.  Some of these were very fine indeed with their frills and hoops and many petticoats.  Those who had no finery contented themselves with scenting their hair and bodies with sweet herbs, which they also chewed.  Quite often they were rewarded by the attention of some swain from a distant plantation.  In this case it was necessary for their respective owners to consent to a union.  Slaves on the Folsom plantation were always married properly and quite often had a “sizeable” wedding, the master and mistress often came and made merry with their slaves.

Acie knew about the war because he was one of the slaves commandeered by the Confederate army for hauling food and ammunition to different points between Tallahassee and a city in Virginia that he is unable to remember.  It was a common occurrence for the soldiers to visit the plantation owners and command a certain number of horses and slaves for services such as Acie did.

He thinks that he might have been about 15 years old when he was freed.  A soldier in blue came to the plantation and brought a “document” that Tom, their master read to all the slaves who had been summoned to the “big house” for that purpose.  About half of them consented to remain with him.  The others went away, glad of their new freedom.  Few had made any plans and were content to wander about the country, living as they could.  Some were more sober minded, and Acie’s father was among the latter.  He remained on the Folsom place for a short while; he then settled down to share-croping in Jefferson County.  Their first year was the hardest, because of the many adjustments that had to be made.  Then things became better.  By means of hard work and the co-operation of friendly whites the slaves in the section soon learned to shift for themselves.

Northerners came South “in swarms” and opened schools for the ex-slaves, but Acie was not fortunate enough to get very far in his “blue back Webster.”  There was too much work to be done and his father trying to buy the land.  Nor did he take an interest in the political meetings held in the neighborhood.  His parents shared with him the common belief that such things were not to be shared by the humble.  Some believed that “too much book learning made the brain weak.”