d come en doctor him. Old man Jedge
Sewell was buried near St. Augustine School, other side Tarboro Road.

"I didn' have to pay anthing fer going to Alabama. I wuz carried. Bat
Moore carried me, he wuz de gardeen, but I had to pay to come back. Dey
went atter me, and I had to work two years to pay it back. Yes,
Sir-ree, two whole years to pay fer coming back. I wuz glad to git
back. Sometimes, dey gib us a fofe of de crap to farm. Some years we
didn' make much, when it wuz dry. No, we didn' make much. People didn'
sociate together, pore whites, free niggers, slaves, and de slave
owners. No dey didn' sociate much befo' de war, but dey did atter de
war, dey got to mixin' den.

"I et rabbits, an' possums, coons an' fish. I muddied de water an'
caught fish. I caught rabbits, coons, an' possums wid dogs. Dey fared
but middlin pore chance wid us. We caught rabbits in hollers an' caves;
an' possums in trees, but we had a hard time ketchin' squirrels. We
niggers had no guns, so we had a hard time ketchin' squirrels. I et
rabbits in summer whin dey had kits in 'em. We caught all dese animals
wid dogs.

"De white chillun didn' work, but de white folks wuz good to me. Yes,
Sir-ree, dey wuz good to me. If dey done anything to me it wuz my
fault. I belonged to Elam Smith's chilluns, Frank and John Elam.

"I seed many Yankees during de war in Alabama. When de war ended dey
tole me I wuz free. I wuz so glad I didn' know whut to do. De Yankees
tole me I wuz free. I went wid 'em. I stayed wid 'em from May till
August. Den I slipped away from 'em. I had no clothes and shoes till de
Yankees come. Yes, Sir, I went barefooted. Dey gimme clothes and shoes,
but I slipped away from 'em because dey wanted me to do things I didn'
want to do.

"White folks, if I must tell you, I must. I think Jesus sent you to me
so I can tell my story. Dey just wanted me to forage aroun' and git
chickens, collards, taters en anybody's hogs I could git. I didn' have
no slips or shoes, no unner clothes for 40 years befo' de Yankees come,
but I slipped away. I didn' want to do what dey wanted me t'do.

"De pore white folks done tolerable well but de rich slave owners
didn' 'low 'em to come on dere plantations. Dey didn' 'low free niggers
to come on de plantations if dey could help it, but dey couldn' hep it.
Dey slipped in dere at night when de marster didn' know it.

"My marster owned three plantations and 300 slaves. He started out wid
2 'oman slaves and