“Marster was mighty good to slave chillun.  He never sont us out to wuk in de fields ’til us was ’most growed-up, say 12 or 14 years old.  A Nigger 12 or 14 years old dem days was big as a white child 17 or 18 years old.  Why Miss, Niggers growed so fast, dat most of de Nigger nurses warn’t no older dan de white chillun dey tuk keer of.  Marster said he warn’t gwine to send no babies to de fields.  When slave chillun got to be ’bout 9 or 10 years old dey started ’em to fetchin’ in wood and water, cleanin’ de yards, and drivin’ up de cows at night.  De bigges’ boys was ’lowed to measure out and fix de stock feed, but de most of us chillun jus’ played in de cricks and woods all de time.  Sometimes us played Injuns and made so much fuss dat old Aunt Nancy would come out to de woods to see what was wrong, and den when she found us was jus’ a-havin’ fun, she stropped us good for skeerin’ her.

“Mammy’s job was to make all de cloth.  Dat was what she done all de time; jus’ wove cloth.  Some of de others cyarded de bats and spun thread, but Mammy, she jus’ wove on so reg’lar dat she made enough cloth for clothes for all dem slaves on de plantation and, it’s a fact, us did have plenty of clothes.  All de nigger babies wore dresses made jus’ alak for boys and gals.  I was sho’ly mighty glad when dey ’lowed me to git rid of dem dresses and wear shirts.  I was ’bout 5 years old den, but dat boys’ shirt made me feel powerful mannish.  Slave gals wore homespun cotton dresses, and dey had plenty of dem dresses, so as dey could keep nice and clean all de time.  Dey knitted all de socks and stockin’s for winter.  Dem gals wore shawls, and dere poke bonnets had ruffles ’round ’em.  All de shoes was home-made too.  Marster kept one man on de plantation what didn’t do nothin’ but make shoes.  Lordy, Missy!  What would gals say now if dey had to wear dem kind of clothes?  Dey would raise de roof plumb offen de house.  But jus’ let me tell you, a purty young gal dressed in dem sort of clothes would look mighty sweet to me right now.

“Us never could eat all de meat in Marster’s big old smokehouse.  Sometimes he tuk hams to de store and traded ’em for sugar and coffee.  Plenty of ’bacco was raised on dat plantation for all de white folks and de growed-up Niggers.  Slave chillun warn’t sposen to have none, so us had to swipe what ’bacco us got.  If our Mammies found out ’bout us gittin’ ’bacco, dey stropped us ’til de skin was most off our backs, but sometimes us got away wid a little.  If us seed any of de old folks was watchin’ us, us slipped de ’bacco from one to another of us whilst dey s’arched us, and it went mighty bad on us if dey found it.