. It got wusser an' wusser till
'bout de time of de surrender. De place wus a Hell on earth, mother
said, if dere could ever be one. Missus had slaves whupped fur most any
little thing an' den she wud not allow 'em to have much ter eat. My
mother tole me all about it, atter de surrender. Mother said Missus
runned the plantation an' made it hard fur all de slaves. She jist
liked ter see slaves beat almost ter death. Dere wus a lot of niggers
whupped in dat neighborhood by the overseers, owners an' patterollers.

"Slaves wus sold 'round from one to a nother 'mongst de white folks.
Mother said you jist couldn't tell when you would git whupped. De wurk
wus hard from sun to sun. Poor food ter eat, poor clothes, barefooted
most of de time, an' a general hard time, till freedom put an end to
it. My mother tole me ole man Pasqual Bert who lived near 'em in Wake
County had his niggers whupped all day sometimes. He beat 'em
unmercifully an sometimes made away wid 'em an' dey wus not seed no
more. She said de way he whupped his slaves wus ter lay 'em up an' down
on a log wid de bark off. He made 'em lie flat down on dere stomachs
an' den buckled 'em on den de overseers beat 'em unmercifully. One time
a overseer's wife heard a pat, pat, pat, down at de whuppin' log an'
she ax him what it wus an' why he beat niggers from sun to sun an he
tole her ole man Bert made 'im do it or else leave. So his wife says
'We will leave, you must not beat any more niggers if we perish to
death,' an de overseer left. Mother said ole man Bert fed his little
niggers out of a trough like hogs. Ole man Bert also had niggers tied
to barrels an whupped.

"De grown slaves got one pair shoes a year. Dey wus give ter dem at
Xmas. an de chillun didn't have no shoes at all. De clothes wus
homemade. De houses wus made out of logs an had stick an dirt chimleys
to 'em. De sleepin' places wus bunks fer de grown niggers an de chillun
slept on de floor on pallets. A pallet wus made by spreadin' a quilt
made of towbaggin' or rags on de floor, dat's where de chillun slept
in our neighborhood before de surrender.

"Mother and father married by jumpin' de broom. Dey put de broom down
on de floor den day helt one another's hands an den dey jumped de
broom, den day went ter de slave house an' went ter bed. Mother an'
father come ter Raleigh atter de surrender an wus married right. Mother
an' father lef' ole man Rogers as soon as dey wus free. Dey lived on
hardtack an' p