young niggers don't try to 'cumulate nothin'.

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[Illustration: Moses Hursey]

MOSE HURSEY believes he is about eighty-two years old. He was born
in slavery on a plantation in Louisiana, and was brought to Texas
by his parents after they were freed. Mose has been a preacher most
of his life, and now believes he is appointed by God to be "Head
Prophet of the World." He lives with his daughter at 1120 Tenth
St., Dallas, Texas.

"I was born somewhere in Louisiana, but can't rec'lect the place exact,
'cause I was such a little chap when we left there. But I heared my
mother and father say they belonged to Marse Morris, a fine gentleman,
with everything fine. He sold them to Marse Jim Boling, of Red River
County, in Texas. So they changes their name from Morris to Boling, Liza
Boling and Charlie Boling, they was. Marse Boling didn't buy my brother
and sister, so that made me the olderest child and the onliest one.

"The Bolings had a 'normous big house and a 'normous big piece of land.
The house was the finest I ever seen, white and two-story. He had about
sixty slaves, and he thought a powerful lot of my folks, 'cause they was
good workers. My mother, special, was a powerful 'ligious woman.

"We lived right well, considerin'. We had a little log house like the
rest of the niggers and I played round the place. Eatin' time come, my
mother brung a pot of peas or beans and cornbread or side meat. I had
'nother brother and sister comin' 'long then, and we had tin plates and
cups and knives and spoons, and allus sot to our food.

"We had 'nough of clothes, sich as they was. I wore shirttails out of
duckings till I was a big boy. All the little niggers wore shirttails.
My mother had fair to middlin' cotton dresses.

"All week the niggers worked plantin' and hoein' and carin' for the
livestock. They raised cotton and corn and veg'tables, and mules and
horses and hawgs and sheep. On Sundays they had meetin', sometimes at
our house, sometimes at 'nother house. Right fine meetin's, too. They'd
preach and pray and sing--shout, too. I heared them git up with a
powerful force of the spirit, clappin' they hands and walkin' round the
place. They'd shout, 'I got the glory. I got that old time 'ligion in my
heart.' I seen some powerful 'figurations of the spirit in them days.
Uncle Billy preached to us and he was right good at preachin' and
nat'rally a good man, anyways. We'd sing: