“Ole mars had a house on de place too dat was called de ‘sick house’.  Dat was where dem was put dat was sick.  It was a place where dey was doctored on en cared for till dey either git well er die.  It was er sort er hospital like.  ‘Uncle Warner’, he had charge of de sick house, en he could sure tell iffen you sick er not, or iffen you jus’ tryin’ to play off from work.

“My pappy, he was named Bill Clinton en my mammy was named Mildred.  De reason how come I not named Childress for my mars is ’cause my pappy, he named Clinton when mars git him from de Clintons up in Tennessee somewhere.  My mars, he was a good man jus’ like I’m tellin’ you.  Mars had a young nigger woman named Malinda what got married to Charlie Voluntine dat belonged to Mr. Nat Voluntine dat had a place ’bout six miles from our place.  In dem days iffen one darky married somebody offen de place where dey lived en what belonged to some other mars, dey didn’t git to see one annudder very often, not more’n once a month anyway.  So Malinda, she got atter mars to buy Charlie.  Sure ’nough he done that very thing so’s dem darkies could live togedder.  Dat was good in our mars.

“When any marryin’ was done ’mongst de darkies on de place in dem days, dey would first hab to ask de mars iffen dey could marry, en iffen he say dat dey could git married den dey would git ole ‘Uncle Peyton’ to marry ’em.  ’Course dere wasn’t no sich thing as er license for niggers to marry en I don’t riccolect what it was dat ‘Uncle Peyton’ would say when he done de marryin’.  But I ’members well dat ‘Uncle Peyton’, he de one dat do all of de marryin’ ’mongst de darkies.

“My mars, he didn’t go to de War but he sure sent er lot er corn en he sent erbout three hundred head er big, fat hogs one time dat I ’members.  Den too, he sent somepin like twenty er thirty niggers to de Confedrites in Georgia.  I ’members it well de time dat he sent dem niggers.  They was all young uns, ‘bout grown, en dey was skeered to death to be leavin’ en goin’ to de War.  Dey didn’t know en cose but what dey gwine make ’em fight.  But mars tole ’em dat dey jus’ gwine to work diggin’ trenches en sich; but dey didn’t want to go nohow en Jeff an’ Randall, they runned off en come back home all de way from Georgia en mars let ’em stay.

“Boss, you has heered me tellin’ dat my mars was er good, kine man en dat his overseer, Mr. Harvey Brown, was terrible cruel, en mean, en would beat de niggers up every chance he git, en you ask me how come it was dat de mars would have sich a mean man er working for him.  Now I’se gwine to tell you de reason.  You know de truth is de light, boss, an’ dis is de truth what I’se gwine to say.  Mars, he in love with Mr. Harvey Brown’s wife, Miss Mary, and Miss Mary’s young daughter, she was mars’ chile.  Yas suh, she was dat.  She wasn’t no kin er tall to Mr. Harvey Brown.  Her name was Miss Markis, dats what it was.  Mars had done willed dat chile er big part of his property and a whole gang of niggers.  He was gwine give her Tolliver, Beckey, Aunt Mary, Austin, an’ Savannah en er heap more ’sides dat.  But de War, it come on en broke mars up, en all de darkies sot free, en atter dat, so I heered Mr. Harvey Brown en Miss Mary, and de young lady Miss Markis, dey moved up North some place en I ain’t never heered no more from dem.