“My employer—­I means, my marster, never ’lowed no overseer to whup none of his niggers!  Marster done all the whuppin’ on our plantation hisself.  He never did make no big bruises and he never drawed no blood, but he sho’ could burn ’em up with that lash!  Niggers on our plantation was whupped for laziness mostly.  Next to that, whuppings was for stealin’ eggs and chickens.  They fed us good and plenty but a nigger is jus’ bound to pick up chickens and eggs effen he kin, no matter how much he done eat!  He jus’ can’t help it.  Effen a nigger ain’t busy he gwine to git into mischief!

“Now and then slaves ’ud run away and go in the woods and dig dens and live in ’em.  Sometimes they runned away on ’count of cruel treatment, but most of the time they runned away kazen they jus’ didn’t want to wuk, and wanted to laze around for a spell.  The marsters allus put the dogs atter ’em and git ’em back.  They had black and brown dogs called ‘nigger hounds’ what waren’t used for nothin’ but to track down niggers.

“They waren’t no such place as a jail whar we was.  Effen a nigger done sumpin’ disorderly they jus’ natcherly tuk a lash to ’im.  I ain’t never seed no nigger in chains twel long atter freedom done come when I seed ’em on the chain gangs.

“The overseer woke us up at sunrise—­leas’n they called it sunrise!  We would finish our vittles and be in the fields ready for wuk befo’ we seed any sun!  We laid off wuk at sunset and they didn’t drive us hard.  Leas’wise, they didn’ on our plantation.  I done heard they was moughty hard on ’em on other plantations.  My marster never did ’low his niggers to wuk atter sundown.  My employer, I means my marster, didn’t have no bell.  He had ’em blow bugles to wake up his hands and to call ’em from the fields.  Sometimes the overseer blowed it.  Mistess done larned the cook to count the clock, but none of the rest of our niggers could count the clock.

“I never knowed Marster to sell but one slave and he jus’ had bought her from the market at New Orleans.  She say it lonesome off on the plantation and axed Marster for to sell her to folkses livin’ in town.  Atter he done sold her, every time he got to town she beg ’im to buy her back!  But he didn’ pay her no more ’tention.  When they had sales of slaves on the plantations they let everybody know what time the sale gwine to be.  When the crowd git togedder they put the niggers on the block and sell ’em.  Leas’wise, they call it ‘puttin’ on the block’—­they jus’ fotch ’em out and show ’em and sell ’em.

“They waren’t no church for niggers on our plantation and we went to white folkses church and listened to the white preachers.  We set behind a partition.  Sometimes on a plantation a nigger claim he done been called to preach and effen he kin git his marster’s cawn-sent he kin preach round under trees and in cabins when t’aint wuk time.  These nigger preachers in slavery time was called ‘chairbackers.’  They waren’t no chairbackers ’lowed to baptize none of Marster’s niggers.  White preachers done our baptizin’ in Long Crick.  When we went to be baptized they allus sang, ‘Amazing Grace!  How sweet the sound!’”