The tanning yard was not far from the house Doctor Miller.  His own butcher shop was nearby.  He had his cows butchered at intervals and when one died of unnatural causes it was skinned and the hide tanned on the place.

Randall as a child delighted in stopping around the tanning yard and watching the men salt the hide.  They, after salting it dug holes and buried it for a number of days.  After the salting process was finished it was treated with a solution of water and oak bark.  When the oak bark solution had done its work it was ready for use.  Shoes made of leather were not dyed at that time but the natural color of the finished hide was thought very beautiful and those who were lucky enough to possess a pair were glad to get them in their natural color.  To dye shoes various colors is a new thing when the number of years leather has been dyed is compared with the hundreds of years people knew nothing about it, especially American people.

Randall’s paternal grandparents were also owned by Doctor Miller and were not sold after he bought them.  Levi Lee was his grandfather’s name.  He was a fine worker in the field but was taken out of it to be taught the shoe-makers trade.  The master placed him under a white shoemaker who taught him all the fine points.  If there were any, he knew about the trade.  Dr. Miller had an eye for business who could make shoes was a great saving to him.  Levi made all the shoes and boots the master, mistress and the Miller family wore.  Besides, he made shoes for the slaves who wore them.  Not all slaves owned a pair of shoes.  Boys and girls under eighteen went bare-footed except in winter.  Doctor Miller had compassion for them and did not allow them to suffer from the cold by going bare-footed in winter.

Another good thing to be remembered was the large number of chickens, ducks and geese which the slaves raised for the doctor.  Every slave family could rest his tired body upon a feather bed for it was allowed him after the members of the master’s family were supplied.  Moss mattresses also were used under the feather beds and slaves did not need to have as thick a feather bed on that account.  They were comfortable though and Randall remembers how he and the other children used to fall down in the middle of the bed and become hidden from view, so soft was the feather mattress.  It was especially good to get in bed in winter but not so pleasant to get up unless ‘pappy’ had made the fire early enough for the large one-room cabin to get warm.  The children called their own parents ‘pappy’ and ‘mammy’ in slavery time.

Randall remembers how after a foot-washing in the old wooden tub, (which, by the way, was simply a barrel cut in half and holes cut in the two sides for fingers to catch a hold) he would sit a few minutes with his feet held to the fire so they could dry.  He also said his ‘mammy’ would rub grease under the soles of his feet to keep him from taking cold.