s later the overseer
returned to find a dozen geese that had been stripped of all the
feathers. They had been told to pick only the pin feathers beneath the
wings and about the bodies of the geese. Need we guess what happened to
the over ambitious children?

He had heard of ice long before he looked upon it and he only thought of
it as another wild experiment. Why buy ice, when watermelons and butter
could be ley down into the well to keep cool?

One of Willis' happiest moments was when he earned enough money to buy
his first pair of patern leather shoes. To possess a paid of store
bought shoes had been his ambition since he was a child, when he had to
shine the shoes of his master and those of the master's children.

He next owned a horse and buggy of which he was very proud. This
increased his popularity with the girls and bye and bye he was married
to Mary, a girl with whom he had been reared. Nobody was surprised but
Mary, explained Mr. Dukes. "Me and everybody else knowed us ud get
married some day. We didn't jump over no broom neither. We was married
like white folks wid flowers and cake and everything."

Willis Dukes has been in Florida for "Lawd knows how long" and prefers
this state to his home state. He still has a few relatives there but has
never returned since leaving so long ago.

REFERENCE

1. Personal Interview with Willis Dukes, Valdosta Road, near Jeslamb
Church, Madison, Florida

FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit)

Pearl Randolph, Field Worker
John A. Simms, Editor
Mulberry, Florida
October 8, 1936

SAM AND LOUISA EVERETT

Sam and Louise Everett, 86 and 90 years of age respectively, have
weathered together some of the worst experiences of slavery, and as they
look back over the years, can relate these experiences as clearly as if
they had happened only yesterday.

Both were born near Norfolk, Virginia and sold as slaves several times
on nearby plantations. It was on the plantation of "Big Jim" McClain
that they met as slave-children and departed after Emancipation to live
the lives of free people.

Sam was the son of Peter and Betsy Everett, field hands who spent long
back-breaking hours in the cotton fields and came home at nightfall to
cultivate their small garden. They lived in constant fear that their
master would confiscate most of their vegetables; he so often did.

Louisa remembers little about her parents and thinks that she was sold
at