y do, I tells
you, it aint right. De quality white folks ought-a do somethin' bout it.

"I's had a right hard life, but I puts my faith in de Lawd an' I know
ever'thing gwine come out all right. I's lived a long life an' will soon
be a hund'ed, I guess. I's glad dat slav'ry is over, 'cause de Bible
don't say nothin' 'bout it bein right. I's a good Christian. I gits
sort-a res'less mos' o' de time an' has to keep busy to keep from
thinkin' too much."

Pet Franks, Ex-Slave, Monroe County
FEC
Mrs. Richard Kolb
Rewrite, Pauline Loveless
Edited, Clara E. Stokes

PET FRANKS
Aberdeen, Mississippi

Uncle Pet, 92 year old ex-slave, is the favorite of Ackers' Fishing
Lodge which is situated 14 miles north of Aberdeen, Monroe County. He is
low and stockily built. His ancestry is pure African. Scarcely topping
five feet one inch, he weighs about 150 pounds. Though he walks with the
slightest limp, he is still very active and thinks nothing of cooking
for the large groups who frequent the lodge. He has his own little
garden and chickens which he tends with great care.

"I knows all 'bout slav'ry an' de war. I was right dere on de spot when
it all happened. I wish to goodness I was back dere now, not in de war,
but in de slav'ry times. Niggers where I lived didn' have nothin' to
worry 'bout in dem days. Dey aint got no sense now-a-days. All dey
b'lieves in now is drinkin' an' carousin'. Dey aint got no use for
nothin' but a little corn likker an' a fight. I dont b'lieve in no such
gwine-on, no sir-ree. Dat's de reason I stays out here by myse'f all de
time. I don't want to have nothin' to do wid 'em. I goes to town 'bout
once a mont' to git s'pplies, but I don' never fool 'roun' wid dem
Niggers den. I gits 'long wid my white folks, too. All da mens an'
wimmens what comes out to de club is pow'ful good to me.

"I was born up near Bartley's Ferry right on de river. De way I
cal'clates my age makes me 'bout 92 years old. My firs' Marster was name
Mr. Harry Allen. He died when I was a boy an' I don't 'member much 'bout
him. De Mistis, dat was his wife, married ag'in an' dat husband's name
was Marse Jimmy Tatum. Dey was sho' good white folks. My mammy an' pappy
was name Martha an' Martin Franks. Marse Harry brung 'em down from
Virginny, I thinks. Or else he bought 'em from Marse Tom Franks in West
Point. Anyways dey come from Virginny an' I don't know which one of 'em
brought 'em down here. Dey did b'long to Marse Tom. I