“Dem Yankee sojers rode up in de Big ’Ouse yard and ’gun to ax me questions ’bout whar Marse Billy wuz, and whar everything on de place wuz kept, but I wuz too skeered to say nuthin’.  Everything wuz quiet and still as could be, ‘cept for Grandma a-singin’ and a-shoutin’ up in de loom house all by herself.  One of dem Yankees tried the door and he axed me how come it wuz locked.  I told him it wuz ’cause grandma had ’sturbed de Baptist meetin’ wid her shoutin’.  Dem mens grabbed de axe from de woodpile and busted de door down.  Dey went in and got grandma.  Dey axed her ’bout how come she wuz locked up, and she told ’em de same thing I had told ’em.  Dey axed her if she wuz hongry, and she said she wuz.  Den dey took dat axe and busted down de smokehouse door and told her she wuz free now and to help herself to anything she wanted, ’cause everything on de plantation wuz to b’long to de slaves dat had worked dar.  Dey took grandma to de kitchen and told ma to give her some of de white folkses dinner.  Ma said ‘But de white folkses ain’t et yet.’  ‘Go right on,’ de Yankees said, ’and give it to her, de best in de pot, and if dey’s anything left when she gets through, maybe us will let de white folkses have some of it.’

“Dem brash mens strutted on through de kitchen into de house and dey didn’t see nobody else down stairs.  Upstairs dey didn’t even have de manners to knock at Mist’ess’ door.  Dey just walked right on in whar my sister, Lucy, wuz combin’ Mist’ess’ long pretty hair.  They told Lucy she wuz free now and not to do no more work for Mist’ess.  Den all of ’em grabbed dey big old rough hands into Mist’ess’ hair, and dey made her walk down stairs and out in de yard, and all de time dey wuz a-pullin’ and jerkin’ at her long hair, tryin’ to make her point out to ’em whar Marse Billie had done had his horses and cattle hid out.  Us chilluns wuz a-cryin’ and takin’ on ’cause us loved Mist’ess and us didn’t want nobody to bother her.  Dey made out like dey wuz goin’ to kill her if she didn’t tell ’em what dey wanted to know, but atter a while dey let her alone.

“Atter dey had told all de slaves dey could find on de place not to do no more work, and to go help deyselves to anything dey wanted in de smokehouse, and ’bout de Big ’Ouse and plantation, dey rode on off, and us never seed no more of ’em.  Atter de Yankees wuz done gone off Grandma ’gun to fuss:  ‘How, dem sojers wuz tellin’ us what ain’t so, ’cause ain’t nobody got no right to take what belongs to Marster and Mist’ess.’  And Ma jined in:  ‘Sho’ it ain’t no truf in what dem Yankees wuz a-sayin’, and us went right on living’ just like us always done ’til Marse Billie called us together and told us de war wuz over and us wuz free to go whar us wanted to go, and us could charge wages for our work.

“When freedom comed my pa wanted us to move off right away over to Mr. Smithies’ place so our family could be together, but us stayed on wid Marse Billie de rest of dat year.  Den pa and ma moved to Lexin’ton, whar pa digged walls and ditches and made right good pay.  Ma took all four of us chillun and run a good farm.  Us got along fine.