it cold in winter, but come September de
wood gang git busy cuttin' wood and haulin' it to de yard. Dey makes two
piles, one for de big house and de bigges' pile for de slaves. When dey
git it all hauled it look like a big woodyard. While dey is haulin', de
women make quilts and dey is wool quilts. Course, dey ain't made out of
shearin' wool, but jes' as good. Marse John have lots of sheep and when
dey go through de briar patch de wool cotch on dem briars and in de fall
de women folks goes out and picks de wool off de briars jes' like you
picks cotton. Law me, I don't know nothin' 'bout makin' quilts out of
cotton till I comes to Texas.

"Course I never done no work, 'cause Marse John won't work no one till
dey is fifteen years old. Den dey works three hours a day and dat all.
Dey don't work full time till dey's eighteen. We was jes' same as free
niggers on our place. He gives each slave a piece of ground to make de
crop on and buys de stuff hisself. We growed snap beans and corn and
plant on a light moon, or turnips and onions we plant on de dark moon.

"When I gits old 'nough Marse John lets me take he daughter, Nancy Lee,
to school. It am twelve miles and de yard man hitches up old Bess to de
buggy and we gits in and no one in dat county no prouder dan what I was.

"Marse John lets us go visit other plantations and no pass, neither.
Iffen de patterroller stop us, we jes' say we 'long to Marse John and
dey don't bother us none. Iffen dey comes to our cabin from other
plantations, dey has to show de patterroller de pass, and iffen dey
slipped off and ain't got none, de patterroller sho' give a whippin'
den. But dey waits till dey off our place, 'cause Marse John won't 'low
no whippin' on our place by no one.

"Well, things was jes' 'bout de same all de time till jes' 'fore
freedom. Course, I hears some talk 'bout bluebellies, what dey call de
Yanks, fightin' our folks, but dey wasn't fightin' round us. Den one dey
mamma took sick and she had hear talk and call me to de bed and say,
'Lucinda, we all gwine be free soon and not work 'less we git paid for
it.' She sho' was right, 'cause Marse John calls all us to de cookhouse
and reads de freedom papers to us and tells us we is all free, but iffen
we wants to stay he'll give us land to make a crop and he'll feed us.
Now I tells you de truth, dey wasn't no one leaves, 'cause we all loves
Marse John.

"Den, jus' three weeks after freedom mama dies and dat how come me to