e her in anything, no matter what she done or
how hard she tried. Missus would go up town and come back and whup her.
Mother was a young girl then. One day Miss Caroline went up town, an'
come back mad. She made mother strip down to her waist, and then took a
carriage whup an' beat her until the blood was runnin' down her back.
Mother said she was afraid she would kill her, so she ran for the woods
and hid there, and stayed three weeks. She made up her mind she wasn't
comin' back.

"The old Governor Charles Manly, went to mother's father, Jimmie Manly
an' tole him if he did not get Bertcha back he would whup him. Her
father tole him he did not know where she was, an' that he belonged to
him an' he could do with him as he liked, but he was not goin' one step
to hunt Bertcha, my mother. Then the governor went to grandmother an'
tole her she had to find her. He tole her to leave the lot an' stay
away until her daughter came back. Grandmother did not know where she
was.

"The niggers on different plantations fed mother by carrying things to
certain hidin' places and leavin' it. Grandmother got word to her, an'
she said she would come back, but not to Mis' Caroline. She told
marster, so marster let her stay with grandmother until Christmas, then
they allowed her to hire herself out. She hired herself to Mrs.
Simpson. She was good to her and allowed her to work for herself at
night, sit up as long as she wanted to, and she stayed with her until
she was married. Then she went back to old marster's.

"When the war ended mother went to old marster and told him she was
goin' to leave. He told her she could not feed all her children, pay
house rent, and buy wood, to stay on with him. Marster told father and
mother they could have the house free and wood free, an' he would help
them feed the children, but mother said, 'No, I am goin' to leave. I
have never been free and I am goin' to try it. I am goin' away and by
my work and the help of the Lord I will live somehow'. Marster then
said, 'Well stay as long as you wish, and leave when you get ready, but
wait until you find a place to go, and leave like folks.' Marster
allowed her to take all her things with her when she left. The white
folks told her good bye.

"We went to a colored Methodist Church in slavery time but we had a
white pastor. His name was Dr. Pell. He was a mighty nice man and all
the colored people loved him. After the surrender it was a long time
that the color