nebber fin them things.
Mrs. Sellers was awful good and the men jess looked after her and took
care of her. Me or maw stayed at the house with her all the time, day
and night. When anybody got sick she sent somebody to wait on them and
went to see what they needed and sometimes she had 'em brought up to the
house and give 'em the medicine herself. She didn't have no foman. Uncle
Sam and uncle John was the oldest and uncle Henry. They was the men on
the farm and they went right on with the work. Folks had bigger families
than they do now. They show did work, but de field work don't last all
de time. They cleared land and fixed up the rail fences in the winter.
A rail fence was on each side of a long lane that led down to the
pasture. The creek run through the pasture. It was show a pretty grove.
Had corn shuckings when it was cold. We played base down there. We
always had meat and plenty milk, collards and potatoes. Old missus would
drip a barrel of ashes and make corn hominy in the wash pot nearly every
week and we made all the soap we ever did see. If you banked the sweet
potatoes they wouldn't rot and that's where the seed come from in the
spring. In the garden there was an end left to go to seed. That is the
way people had any seed. Times show have changed. I can't tell what to
think. They ain't no more like than if they was another kind of folks.
So much different. I jess look and live. I think they ought to listen to
what you say. Say anything to them they say 'Kaint run my business.' I
don't know if they spected anything from freedom. Seemed like they
thought they wouldn't have to work if dey was free and dey wouldn't have
no boss. Missus let a lot of her land grow up in pine trees. Said she
had no money to pay people to work for her. Some of de families staid
on. My maw and paw went on a farm on share not far from Mrs. Sellers.
When she was going to have company or she got sick she sent for my maw.
My maw washed and ironed for her till they moved plum off. They said
somebody told them it was freedom. When dey picked up and moved off de
missus show didn't give em nothing. They didn't vote. They didn't know
how. I heard a lot about the Ku Klux Klan but I wasn't scared. I never
did see none.

"De younger generation jess lives today and don't know what he'll do
tomorrow or where he'll be. I ain't never voted and I don't know if my
boys do or not.

"I never heard of uprisings. De paddyroll was to see after dot and Mr