y as four families lived in one of these cabins although
the usual number to a cabin was three families. There was one other
house where the young children were kept while their parents worked in
the fields.

Most of the sickness on the Womble plantation was due to colds and
fever. For the treatment of either of these ailments the master always
kept a large can filled with a mixture of turpentine and caster oil.
When anyone complained of a cold a dose of this oil was prescribed. The
master gave this dose from a very large spoon that always hung from the
can. The slaves also had their own home made remedies for the treatment
of different ailments. Yellow root tea and black-hall tea were used in
the treatment of colds while willow tea was used in the treatment of
fever. Another tea made from the droppings of sheep was used as a remedy
for the measles. A doctor was always called when anyone was seriously
ill. He was always called to attend those cases of childbirth. Unless a
slave was too sick to walk he was required to go to the field and work
like the others. If, however, he was confined to his bed a nurse was
provided to attend to his needs.

On Sundays all of the slaves were allowed to attend the white church
where they listened to the services from the rear of the church. When
the white minister was almost through he would walk back to where the
slaves sat and tell them not to steal their master's chickens, eggs, or
his hogs and their backs would not be whipped with many stripes. After
this they were dismissed and they all left the church wondering what the
preacher's sermon meant. Some nights they went to the woods and
conducted their own services. At a certain spot they all knelt and
turned their faces toward the ground and then they began moaning and
praying. Mr. Womble says that by huddling in this circle and turning
their voices toward the ground the sound would not travel very far.

None of them ever had the chance to learn how to read and write. Some
times the young boys who carried the master's children's books to and
from school would ask these children to teach them to write but as they
were afraid of what their father might do they always refused. On the
adjoining plantation the owner caught his son teaching a little slave
boy to write.

He was furious and after giving his son a severe beating he then cut the
thumb and forefinger off of the slave. The only things that were taught
the slaves was the use