“You ever eat dried beef?  It is fine.

“I say I been to corn shuckins.  They do that at night.  We hurry and git through then we have a dance in front of Mars White’s house.  We had a good time.  Mars White pass round ginger bread and hard cider.  We wore a thing on our hands keep shucks from hurtin’ our hands.  One darkie sit up on the pile and lead the singin’.  Old Dan Tucker was one song we lernt.  I made some music instruments.  We had music.  Folks danced then more they do now.  Most darkies blowed quills and Jew’s harps.  I took cane cut four or six made whistles then I tuned em together and knit em together in a row like a mouth harp you see.

[TR:  there is a drawing of the whistles, something like this: 

_
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—   —   —   —   —   —
[HW:  blow]

Two lines across all the whistles may indicate strings.]

Another way get a big long cane cut out holes long down to the joint, hold your fingers over different holes and blow.  I never had a better time since freedom.  I never had a doctor till since I been 80 years old neither.

“Later on I made me a bow of cedar, put one end in my mouth and pick the string wid my fingers while I hold the other end wid this hand. (Left hand.  It was very peculiar shaped in the palm.) See my hand that what caused it.  I have been a musician in my time.  I lernt to handle the banjo, the fiddle and the mandolin.  I played fer many a set, all over the country mostly back home (in Tennessee).

“We had a heap of log rollins back home in slavery times.  They have big suppers spread under the trees.  We sho know we have a good supper after a log rollin’.

“We most always worked at night in winter.  Mama worked at the loom and weaved.  Grandma and old mistress carded.  They used hand cards.  Auntie spun thread.  I reeled the thread.  I like to hear it cluck off the hanks.  Papa he had to feed the stock and look after it.  He’d fool round after that.  He went off to the war at the first of it and never come home.

“The war broke us up and ruined us all but me.  Grandma married old man soon after freedom.  He whooped and beat her up till she died.  He was a mean old scoundel.  They said he was a nigger driver.  His name was Wesley Donald.  She died soon after the war.  Mama was dead.  Auntie married and went on off.  I was 18 years old.  When freedom come on Mars White says you all set free.  You can leave or stay on here.  I stayed there.  Mars White didn’t give us nuthin’.  He was broke.  All he had was land.

“Come a talk bout Lincoln givin’ em homes.  Some racketed bout what they outer git.  That was after freedom.  Most of em never got nuthin’.  They up and left.  Some kept on workin’.  They got to stealin’ right smart.  Some the men got so lazy they woulder starved out their families and white folks too.  White folks made em go to work.  The darky men sorter quit work and made the women folks do the work.  They do thater way now.  Some worse den others bout it.