“Ma, she was Marse Alec’s cook and looked atter de house.  Atter she died Marse Lordnorth got Mrs. Mary Berry from Habersham County to keep house at de big house, but Aunt ‘Liza, she done de cookin’ atter Miss Mary got dar.  Us little Niggers sho’ did love Miss Mary.  Us called her “Mammy Mary” sometimes.  Miss Mary had three sons and one of ’em was named Jeff Davis.  I ’members when dey come and got him and tuk him off to war.  Marse Lordnorth built a four-room house on de plantation for Miss Mary and her boys.  Evvybody loved our Miss Mary, ’cause she was so good and sweet, and dere warn’t nothin’ us wouldn’t have done for her.

“No Lord!  Marse Lordnorth never needed no overseer or no carriage driver neither.  Uncle Jim was de head man wat got de Niggers up evvy mornin’ and started ’em off to wuk right.  De big house sho was a pretty place, a-settin’ up on a high hill.  De squirrels was so tame dar dey jus’ played all ’round de yard.  Marse Alec’s dog is buried in dat yard.

“No Mam, I never knowed how many acres dere was in de plantation us lived on, and Marse Alec had other places too.  He had land scattered evvywhar.  Lord, dere was a heap of Niggers on dat place, and all of us was kin to one another.  Grandma Becky and Grandpa Stafford was de fust slaves Marse Alec ever had, and dey sho had a passel of chillun.  One thing sho Marse Lordnorth wouldn’t keep no bright colored Nigger on dat plantation if he could help it.  Aunt Mary was a bright colored Nigger and dey said dat Marse John, Marse Lordnorth’s brother, was her Pa, but anyhow Marse Lordnorth never had no use for her ’cause she was a bright colored Nigger.

“Marse Lordnorth never had no certain early time for his slaves to git up nor no special late time for ’em to quit wuk.  De hours dey wuked was ‘cordin’ to how much wuk was ahead to be done.  Folks in Crawfordville called us ‘Stephens’ Free Niggers.’

“Us minded Marse Lordnorth—­us had to do dat—­but he let us do pretty much as us pleased.  Us never had no sorry piece of a Marster.  He was a good man and he made a sho ’nough good Marster.  I never seed no Nigger git a beatin’, and what’s more I never heared of nothin’ lak dat on our place.  Dere was a jail in Crawfordville, but none of us Niggers on Marse Alec’s place warn’t never put in it.

“No Lord!  None of us Niggers never knowed nothin’ ‘bout readin’ and writin’.  Dere warn’t no school for Niggers den, and I ain’t never been to school a day in my life.  Niggers was more skeered of newspapers dan dey is of snakes now, and us never knowed what a Bible was dem days.

“Niggers never had no churches of deir own den.  Dey went to de white folkses’ churches and sot in de gallery.  One Sunday when me and my sister Frances went to church I found 50c in Confederate money and showed it to her.  She tuk it away from me.  Dat’s de onliest money I seed durin’ slavery time.  Course you knows dey throwed Confederate money away for trash atter de war was over.  Den us young chaps used to play wid it.