t
gran'pappy had stole outen his patch. He jist comes in a-rarin' an'
a-tarin' an' starts a-whuppin' wid his ridin' quirt. He whups
gran'father fer a while, den he pitches in on gran'mammy.

"While all dis am a-goin' on somebody runs fer Marster Nat an' when he
gits dar dere am trouble in de shack. Marse Nat ain't so heaby as Mr.
Middleton, but man, he puts de beatin' on Mr. Middleton, den he makes
him sell Jake ter him an' he pays him spot cash right den an' dar.

"De nex' day he thinks ter ax gran'mammy what Jake am a-doin' in her
cabin, an' gran'mammy tells him dat she loves Jake an' dat she wants
ter marry him. Marse Nat laugh fit ter kill an' he sez dat dey'll have
a big weddin' at de house fer dem.

"Dey did habe a big weddin' an' gran'mammy wore a red dress dat Mis'
Lucy give her. She said dat she wish dat gran'father could of wore red
too.

"She said dat when mammy wus borned dat ole Doctor Freeman 'tended her
an' dat she stayed in de bed two weeks. Mis' Lucy wus good ter de
niggers lak dat.

"I 'members gran'mammy tellin' 'bout de Yankees comin' an' how she
stood front of Mis' Lucy's door wid de ax an' tol' 'em dat she'd chop
out anybody's brains what tried ter go in. De door wus open an' dey
could see Mis' Lucy a-settin' dere white as a sheet, so dey went on
sarchin' fer valuables, an' all de time dem valuables wus in Mis'
Lucy's room."

N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 389
Subject: TEMPE PITTS
Person Interviewed: Tempe Pitts
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt

[Illustration: Tempe Pitts]

TEMPE PITTS
Ex-Slave Story

An interview with Tempe Pitts, 91 of 307 Tarboro St., Raleigh, N.C.

"I wuz borned in Halifax County ninety-one years ago. See dis paper,
hit wuz writ our fer me by ole marster's granddaughter dis year. Hit
says not only dat I is ninety-one but dat I wuz her mammy, an' dat I
wuz a good an' trus'worthy servant.

"My mammy wuz Phillis Pitts, an' my daddy wuz Isaac Williams. We
'longed fust ter Mr. Mason L. Wiggins dar in Halifax, den through de
marriages we 'longed ter Captain Hardy Pitts. Both o' dem famblies wuz
good ter me an' dey ain't neber done me dirty yit.

"De Pitts' owned ober two hundert slaves, case dey also had a
plantation in Firginia. We had all we could eat an' good, do' tough
clothes. Hit's de Lawd's truff dat I ain't lakin' fer nothin' den. When
we wuz sick we had de bes' doctor an' all