“I don’t know just how many slaves Marse Billie had, but dey sho’ was a drove of ’em.  Sometimes he had ’em all git together in de back yard at de Big ’Ouse, and dey just filled up de yard.

“De overseer blowed a horn to wake ’em up just ’fore day, so as everybody could cook, eat, and git out to de fields by sunrise.  Dey quit nigh sundown, in time for ’em to feed de stock, do de milkin’, tend to bringin’ in de wood, and all sorts of other little jobs dat had to be done ’fore it got too dark to see.  Dey never wuz no work done at night on our plantation.

“If any of Marse Billie’s help wuz whipped, I never knowed nothin’ ’bout it.  Dey used to say dat if any of ’em didn’t work right de overseer would take ’em to de workshop.  Us chillun never did know what happened when dey took ’em to de workshop.  It wuz too fur away for us to hear what happened dar.  De workshop was a big lone shed off to itself, whar dey had da blacksmith place, and whar harness wuz mended, and all sorts of fixin’ done to de tools and things.

“Us never heared of no jail.  Marse Billie bossed his place and us never knowed ’bout no trouble.  De workshop wuz de nighest thing to a jail or a court dat anybody on our plantation knowed anything ’bout.  Us never seed nobody in chains ’til long atter de War, when us wuz livin’ in Lexin’ton, and Mr. Jim Smith come through dar wid some colored folkses all chained up, but us never did know how come dey wuz chained.

“No slave never runned away fron Marse Billie’s plantation.  Dey never even wanted to try.  Dey wuz always ’fraid dey might not be able to take as good keer of deyselves as Marse Billie did for ’em, and dey didn’t know what would happen to ’em off de plantation.

“I heared ’em talkin’ ’bout paterollers, but I never did see one.  Folkses said dey would git you and beat you if dey cotch you off de plantation whar you b’longed ’thout no pass.  If any of Marse Billie’s slaves got cotched by de paterollers, I never knowed nothin’ ’bout it.

“I never heared of no trouble twixt de white folkses and dey colored folkses.  Grandma and ma never ’lowed us to go to no other cabins, and us didn’t hear ‘bout no talk what wuz goin’ on ’mongst de others.  At night ma always spinned and knit, and grandma, she sewed, makin’ clo’es for us chillun.  Dey done it ‘cause dey wanted to.  Dey wuz workin’ for deyselves den.  Dey won’t made to work at night.  On Sadday night, ma bathed all her chillun.  I don’t know what de other famblies done den.  Slaves wuz ’lowed to frolic Sadday night, if dey b’haved deyselves.  On Sunday nights dey most always had prayer meetings.