remembers when night come on en we go back to de quarter, we cook
bread in de ashes en pick seed from de cotton en my mamma set dere en
sew heap of de time. Den I see em when dey have dem hay pullings. Dey
tote torch to gather de hay by en after dey pull two or three stacks of
hay, dey have a big supper en dance in de road en beat sticks en blow
cane. Had to strike fire on cotton wid two rocks cause dey didn' have no
match in dem days."

"I tellin you my Missus sho was good to me in dat day en time. She been
so good to me dat I stay dere wid her 20 year after I got free. Stay
dere till I marry de old man Isenia Cannon. You see my old Massa got
killed in de war. She tell me I better stay whe' I can get flour bread
to eat cause she make her own flour en bake plenty biscuit in de oven.
Den she kill hogs en a cow every Christmas en give us all de egg-nog en
liquor we want dat day. Dig hole in de ground en roast cow over log
fire. When I get hard up for meat en couldn' get nothin else, I catch
rabbits en birds. Make a death trap wid a lid en bait it wid cabbage en
corn en catch em dat way. Den another time, I dig deep hole in de ground
en dob it wid clay en fill it up wid water. Rabbits hunt water in de
night en fall in dere en drown. I used to set traps heap of times to
keep de rabbits from eatin up de people gardens. Folks eat all kind of
things durin de war. Eat honeysuckle off de low sweet bush after de
flower falls off en pine mass dat dey get out de burr en sour weeds.
Wouldn' nobody eat dem things dese days. Coase dey let de slaves have
three acres of land to a family to plant for dey garden. Work dem in
moonlight nights en on a Saturday evenin."

"Oh, yes, dey have white overseers den. I hear some people say dey was
good people. At night de overseer would walk out to see could he catch
any of us walkin widout a note en to dis day, I don' want to go nowhe'
widout a paper. It just like dis, de overseer didn' have to be right
behind you to see dat you work in dem days. Dey have all de fields name
en de overseer just had to call on de horn en tell you what field to go
work in dat day. Den he come along on a Saturday evenin to see what you
done. If you ain' do what he say do, he put de Nigger dog on you en he
run you all night till he find you. No matter whe' you hide, he find
you en hold you till de overseer get dere. Bite you up if dey get reach
of you. When de overseer come, he carry you to de stables en whip you.
Dey