“When slaves got married, de man had to ax de gal’s ma and pa for her and den he had to ax de white folkses to ’low ’em to git married.  De white preacher married ’em.  Dey hold right hands and de preacher ax de man:  ‘Do you take dis gal to do de bes’ you kin for her?’ and if he say yes, den dey had to change hands and jump over de broomstick and dey wuz married.  Our white folkses wuz all church folkses and didn’t ’low no dancin’ at weddin’s but dey give ’em big suppers when deir slaves got married.  If you married some gal on another place, you jus’ got to see her on Wednesday and Sadday nights and all de chilluns b’longed to de gal’s white folkses.  You had to have a pass to go den, or de patterollers wuz sho’ to git you.  Dem patterollers evermore did beat up slaves if dey cotched ’em off dey own Marster’s place ’thout no pass.  If Niggers could out run ’em and git on deir home lines dey wuz safe.

“On our place when a slave died dey washed de corpse good wid plenty of hot water and soap and wropt it in a windin’ sheet, den laid it out on de coolin’ board and spread a snow white sheet over de whole business, ‘til de coffin wuz made up.  De windin’ sheet wuz sorter lak a bed sheet made extra long.  De coolin’ board wuz made lak a ironin’ board ’cept it had laigs.  White folkses wuz laid out dat way same as Niggers.  De coffins wuz made in a day.  Dey tuk de measurin’ stick and measured de head, de body, and de footses and made de coffin to fit dese measurements.  If it wuz a man what died, dey put a suit of clothes on him before dey put him in de coffin.  Dey buried de ‘omans in da windin’ sheets.  When de Niggers got from de fields some of ’em went and dug a grave.  Den dey put de coffin on de oxcart and carried it to de graveyard whar dey jus’ had a burial dat day.  Dey waited ’bout two months sometimes before dey preached de fun’ral sermon.  For the fun’ral dey built a brush arbor in front of de white folkses church, and de white preacher preached de fun’ral sermon, and white folkses would come lissen to slave fun’rals.  De song most sung at fun’rals wuz Hark from de Tomb.  De reason dey had slave fun’rals so long atter de burial wuz to have ’em on Sunday or some other time when de crops had been laid by so de other slaves could be on hand.

“When white folkses died deir fun’rals wuz preached before dey wuz buried.  Dat wuz de onliest diff’unce in de way dey buried de whites and de Niggers.  Warn’t nobody embalmed dem days and de white folkses wuz buried in a graveyard on de farm same as de Niggers wuz, and de same oxcart took ’em all to de graveyard.

“Our Marster done de overseein’ at his place hisself, and he never had no hired overseer.  Nobody never got a lickin’ on our plantation lessen dey needed it bad, but when Marster did whup ’em dey knowed dey had been whupped.  Dere warn’t no fussin’ and fightin’ on our place and us all knowed better’n to take what didn’t b’long to us, ’cause Old Marster sho’ did git atter Niggers what stole.  If one Nigger did kill another Nigger, dey tuk him and locked him in da jailhouse for 30 days to make his peace wid God.  Evvy day de preacher would come read de Bible to him, and when de 30 days wuz up, den dey would hang him by de neck ’til he died.  De man what done de hangin’ read de Bible to de folkses what wuz gathered ‘round dar while de murderer wuz a-dyin’.