plenty
of turpentine on us too--plenty ov hit, an' I believes in dat terday,
hit's er good medicine."
When asked about the War, Aunt Jane said she didn't remember much about
it. "But dare's one thing 'bout hit I sho' does 'member, an' dat's my
young Mistess Beckie's husband, Mr. Frazier, being off fightin' in de
Wah, an' she gittin' er letter frum him sayin' he wuz comin' home sich
an' sich er day. She wuz so happy she had all de grown slaves wu'kin'
gittin' ready fer him. Den dey brung her er letter sayin' he had been
kilt, an' she wuz in de yard when she read hit an' if dey hadn't er
kotch her she'd ov fell. I 'members de women takin' her in de house an'
gittin' her ter bed. She wuz so up sot an' took hit so hard. Dem wuz
sho' hard times an' sad 'uns too. 'Course I wuz too small ter know much
whut wuz gwine on, but I could tell hit wuz bad frum de way de older
folks looked.
"I recollects when dey say Freedom had cum. Dare wuz a speakin' fer de
slaves up here in town in Barnett's Grove. Dat mornin' Ole Miss sont all
de oldes' niggers to de speakin' an' kep' us little 'uns dat day. She
kep' us busy sweepin' de yards an' sich as dat. An' she cooked our
dinner an' give hit to us herself. I 'members de grown folks leavin'
early dat mornin' in a great big waggin.
"A while after de Wah, Pa took us over to de McMekins place an' we lived
dare fer a long time. He died an' lef' us an' den us had ter do de bes'
we could. Col. Tolbert hired me fer ter nuss his chillun an' I went over
ter his place ter live."
Aunt Jane said she isn't superstitious, but likes to see the new moon
clear and bow to it for good luck. She said it is better to show it a
piece of money, but as she doesn't always have money handy, she "jess
bows to hit nice an' polite". She keeps up with the weather by her
rheumatism and the cat: "Ef I has de reumatics I knows hit's gwine ter
rain, an' when de cat comes 'round an' sets washin' her face, look fer
rain, kase hit's er comin'. I've heared folks say dat hit's bad luck ter
stump yo' lef' foot, but I don't know boud dat. But I tell yer, when I
meets er cat I allus turns er round 'fore I goes on, dat turns de bad
luck er way."
When 19 years of age Jane married Albert Toombs. He belonged to the
Toombs family of Wilkes county. Aunt Jane said Albert brought her many
gifts while he was courting: "He warnt much on bringin' candy an'
nothin' lak dat ter eat, but he brung me shawls an' shoes--sumpin' I
could
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