“Grandma Anna was 115 years old when she died.  She had done wore herself out in slavery time.  Grandpa, he was sold off somewhar.  Both of ’em was field hands.

“Potlicker and cornbread was fed to us chillun, out of big old wooden bowls.  Two or three chillun et out of de same bowl.  Grown folks had meat, greens, syrup, cornbread, ’taters and de lak.  ’Possums!  I should say so.  Dey cotch plenty of ’em and atter dey was kilt ma would scald ’em and rub ’em in hot ashes and dat clean’t ’em jus’ as pretty and white.  OO-o-o but dey was good.  Lord, Yessum!  Dey used to go fishin’ and rabbit huntin’ too.  Us jus’ fotched in game galore den, for it was de style dem days.  Dere warn’t no market meat in slavery days.  Seemed lak to me in dem days dat ash-roasted ’taters and groundpeas was de best somepin t’eat what anybody could want.  ’Course dey had a gyarden, and it had somepin of jus’ about evvything what us knowed anything ’bout in de way of gyarden sass growin’ in it.  All de cookin’ was done in dem big old open fireplaces what was fixed up special for de pots and ovens.  Ashcake was most as good as ’taters cooked in de ashes, but not quite.

“Summertime, us jus’ wore homespun dresses made lak de slips dey use for underwear now.  De coats what us wore over our wool dresses in winter was knowed as ‘sacques’ den, ‘cause dey was so loose fittin’.  Dey was heavy and had wool in ’em too.  Marse Lewis, he had a plenty of sheep, ’cause dey was bound to have lots of warm winter clothes, and den too, dey lakked mutton to eat.  Oh! dem old brogan shoes was coarse and rough.  When Marse Lewis had a cow kilt dey put de hide in de tannin’ vat.  When de hides was ready, Uncle Ben made up de shoes, and sometimes dey let Uncle Jasper holp him if dere was many to be made all at one time.  Us wore de same sort of clothes on Sunday as evvyday, only dey had to be clean and fresh when dey was put on Sunday mornin’.

“Marse Lewis Little and his wife, Miss Sallie, owned us, and Old Miss, she died long ’fore de surrender.  Marse Lewis, he was right good to all his slaves; but dat overseer, he would beat us down in a minute if us didn’t do to suit him.  When dey give slaves tasks to do and dey warn’t done in a certain time, dat old overseer would whup ’em ’bout dat.  Marster never had to take none of his Niggers to court or put ’em in jails neither; him and de overseer sot ’em right.  Long as Miss Sallie lived de carriage driver driv her and Marse Lewis around lots, but atter she died dere warn’t so much use of de carriage.  He jus’ driv for Marse Lewis and piddled ’round de yard den.

“Some slaves larnt to read and write.  If dey went to meetin’ dey had to go wid deir white folks ’cause dey didn’t have no sep’rate churches for de Niggers ’til atter de war.  On our Marster’s place, slaves didn’t go off to meetin’ a t’all.  Dey jus’ went ’round to one another’s houses and sung songs.  Some of ’em read de Bible by heart.  Once I heared a man preach what didn’t know how to read one word in de Bible, and he didn’t even have no Bible yit.