“Mr. Clarke and Mrs. Clarke what de town of Clarksdale is named for, dey lived not far from our place.  I knowed dem well.  Albert, one of mars’ darkies, married Cindy, one of Mr. Clarke’s women.  General Forrest, I know you is heered of him.  I speck he ‘bout de bes’ general in de War.  He sure was a fine looking man en he wore a beard on he face.  De general, he had a big plantation down dere in Coahoma County where he would come ever so offen.  A lot of times he would come to our place en take dinner wid ole mars, en I would be er waitin’ on de table er takin’ dem de toddies on de front gallery where dey talkin’ ’bout day bizness.

“Boss, you axed me if dey was any sich thing in slavery times as de white men molestin’ of de darky wimmen.  Dere was a heap of dat went on all de time an’ ‘course de wimmens, dey couldn’t help deyselves and jus’ had to put up wid it.  Da trouble wasn’t from de mars of de wimmens I’se ever knowed of but from de overseers en de outside white folks.  Of course all dat couldn’t have been goin’ on like it did without de mars knowin’ it.  Dey jus’ bound to know dat it went on, but I’se never heered ’bout ’em doin’ nothin’ to stop it.  It jus’ was dat way, en dey ’lowed it without tryin’ to stop all sich stuff as dat.  You know dat niggers is bad ‘bout talkin’ ’mongst demselves ‘bout sich en sich er goin’ on, and some of mars’ darkies, dey say dat Sam and Dick, what was two real light colored boys, dat us had was mars’ chillun.  Dat was all talk.  I nebber did believe it ’cause dey nebber even looked like mars en he nebber cared no more for dem dan any of the rest of de hands.”

Interviewer:  Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Person interviewed:  Betty Coleman
                    1112-1/2 Indiana Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Age:  80
Occupation:  Cotton Picker
[Dec 31 1937]

“My father belonged to Mr. Ben Martin and my mother and me belonged to the Slaughters.  I was small then and didn’t know what the war was about, but I remember seein’ the Yankees and the Ku Klux.

“Old master had about fifteen or twenty hands but Mr. Martin had a plenty—­he had bout a hundred head.

“I member when the war was goin’ on we was livin’ in Bradley County.  We was goin’ to Texas to keep the Yankees from gettin’ us.  I member Mr. Gil Martin was just a young lad of a boy.  We got as far as Union County and I know we stopped there and stayed long enough to make two crops and then peace was declared so we cane back to Warren.

“While the war was goin’ on, I member when my mother took a note to some soldiers in Warren and asked em to come and play for Miss Mary.  I know they stood under a sycamore and two catawba trees and played.  There was a perty big bunch of em.  Us chillun was glad to hear it.  I member just as well as if ’twas yesterday.

“I member when the Yankees come and took all of Miss Mary’s silver—­took every piece of it.  And another time they got three or four of the colored men and made em get a horse apiece and ride away with em bareback.  Yankees was all ridin’ iron gray horses, and lookin’ just as mad.  Oh Lord, yes, they rid right up to the gate.  All the horses was just alike—­iron gray.  Sho was perty horses.  Them Yankees took everything Miss Mary had.