I ain’t been well lately.  The doctuh said I had slamatory rheumatis.  I’m ol’ now end don’ have nobody tuh do nothin fuh me.  My mistress wuz mammy in de ol’ days.

Aftuh I got up fum mah rheumatism I went down tuh that church you sees, I give de lan’ fuh hit, me and Tom did and I jes felt good and wanted tuh praise the Lord.  I wuz so glad the sperit come once more, I got happy and I got up and went down tuh de fron’ and said; “I want to shake hand wid ever’ body in dis house.  I wanna stroke yo hand.”  An’ I stood down there at the front so happy an’ duh yuh know one little chile and two women come down an’ shook hands wid me, I jes didn’t know whut tuh think.  Yoh know when I wuz young and a body got happy evuh body did an’ dey made a noise but not so now.  An’ tuh think dey couldn’t turn praises.

You say yo’ wants tuh talk tuh Tom?  Well he’s out dar in de back yard but he aint well and I specks he won’t talk tuh but if you mus’ come on.  Tom here is a lady wants tuh talk tuh you.  I’ll go back an talk tuh de lady whuts waitin’ in de car.

(The above written just as Sarah Douglas expressed it).

(Taken down word for word.)

(August 11, 1937.)

Interviewer:  Pernella M. Anderson
Person interviewed:  Tom Douglas
                    Route 2, Box 19-A, El Dorado, Arkansas
Age:  91

“I was born in Marion, Louisiana September 15, 1847 at 8 o’clock in the morning.  I was eighteen years of age at surrender.  My master and missus was B.B.  Thomas and Miss Susan Thomas.  Old master had a gang of slaves and we all worked like we were putting out fire.  Lord child, wasn’t near like it is now.  We went to bed early and got up early.  There was a gang of plow hands, hoe hands, hands to clear new ground, a bunch of cooks, a washwoman.  We worked too and didn’t mind it.  If we acted like we didn’t want to work, our hands was crossed and tied and we was tied to a tree or bush and whipped until we bled.  They had a whipping post that they tied us to to whip us.

“We was sold just like hogs and cows and stock is sold today.  They built nigger pens like you see cow pens and hog pens.  They drove niggers in there by the hundred and auctioned them off to the highest bidder.  The white folks kept up with our age so when they got ready to sell us they could tell how old we were.  They had a ‘penetenture’ for the white folks when they did wrong.  When we done wrong we was tied to that whipping post and our hide busted open with that cow hide.

“We stayed out in the field in a log house and old master would allowance our week’s rations out to us and Sunday morning we got one biscuit each.  If our week’s allowance give out before the week we did not get any more.

“Cooked on fireplaces, wasn’t no stoves.  We did not have to worry about our clothes.  Old missus looked after everything.  We wore brogan shoes and homespun clothes.  There was a bunch of women that did the spinning and weaving just like these sewing room women are now.  I was a shoe maker.  I made all the shoes during the time we wasn’t farming.  We had to go nice and clean.  If old missus caught us dirty our hide was busted.  I got slavery time scars on my back now.  You ought to see my back.  Scars been on my back for seventy-five years.