My ma in huh time would make cloth.  She had a loom.  Hit wuz a high thing and th thread would go ovah th top and come down jes so in what we call shickle.  She’d have a bench so high.  The loom was high as dis door and my ma would set on the bench and her foots wuz on somethin like a bicycle and when she put her foots on de pedal dat shickle would come open and make a blum blum an that would make a yard of cloth, an she’d mash the pedal agin and another yard of cloth.  Jes so we’d make eight and ten yards of cloth in one day.  An when hit wuz made we would carry hit to de white fokes.  Dey would make us clo’es outn dat cloth.  Ifn dey wanted colored cloth dey would dye de thread.  Dey had what we called a loom dat would make, le’ me see now, Card would card the cotton, and de looms would make de thread and de shickle would make de cloth, as well as ah can recollect we would make little roll uv cotton on de cards an put it on de loom and make thread.  De looms was jes so long.  Ever time the wheel would say o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o we had a spool uv thread.  Ah don’ know whar dey got the spools, made em tho ah guess.  Ah jes caint tell you how hit wuz hits so much.

De Newton’s nevah did whup me.  She started to whup me tho one day.  Ah kin recollect bout de dogs.  There wuz one dog whut wuz called Dinah.  But yo know dey had ten uv em.  One day ole Uncle Henry Jones done somethin and run off and climbed a tree and de Newton’s miss him so dey called de dogs and dey went on to de tree.  Dat very tree wha he wuz and stopped.  Uncle Henry had been gone all dat mornin and dem dogs track him right dere, to de spot and wouldn let him down till de Newtons come.  An chile dem Newtons whip de skin off Uncle Herny’s [TR:  Henry’s] back.  Dem dogs would git yo.

Mrs. Newton nevah got outn de bed no time.  Ah would lift her from one bed to de utha to make de beds and when she got ready to get dressed ah would bath her and dress huh all de times.

Ah’ll tell yo nother funny joke bout Henry Johnson.  He had ter clean up mos uv de time.  So Mrs. Newton’s dress wuz hangin in de room up on de wall and when he come out he said to ole Uncle Jerry, he said:  “Jerry guess whut ah done” and Jerry said:  “Whut?” And Uncle Henry said:  “Ah put mah han undah ole Mistess dress.”  Uncle Jerry said:  “Whut did she say?” Uncle Henry say:  “She didn’ say nothin.”  So Uncle Jerry cided he’d try hit.  So he went draggin on in de house.  Set down on de floor by ole mistess.  Ater while he run his han’ up under huh dress and old marster jumped up and jumped on Jerry and like to beat him ter death.  Jerry went out cryin and got out and called Henry.  He said:  “Henry ah though yo said yo put yo hand undah ole Mistess’s dress and she didn’ say nothin.”  Uncle Henry said:  “Ah did and she didn’ say nuthin.”  Jerry said:  “Ah put mah han’ undah huh dress and ole marster like tuh beat me ter death.”  Uncle Henry said:  “Yo crazy thing huh dress wuz hangin up on de wall when ah put mah han up undah hit.”