e sheriff but 'stid of
dat he tells her dat his name am Daniel Green, an' dat he am a Union
sympathizer, an' den he takes her ter some colored folkses house.

"Dese colored folkses am named Berry an' my mammy am stayin' dar when
she falls in love wid my paw, Jake Sorrell, an' marries him.

"She ain't never been ter dances an' sich before but now she goes some,
an' hit wus at one of dese dances whar she met my paw. When she gits
engaged ter him she won't let him kiss her till she axes Marster Daniel
iffen she can marry him. Yo' see she wus wuckin' fer Marse Dan.

"Well he give his consent an' dey wus married. Dey had me soon, case I
wus eight months old when de Yankees come, an' we wus freed by de law.

"My mammy an' paw had a hard time do' dey ain't had but us two
chilluns, but dey manages ter feed us all right. Dey wus superstitious
an' paid de witch doctor a right smart ter keep off de witches but jist
de same we got along well as most folks eben do' we did have ter eat
hard tack an' black molasses fer seberal years atter de war."

LE

N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1414
Subject: RIA SORRELL
Person Interviewed: Ria Sorrell
Editor: G.L. Andrews

[TR: Date stamp: AUG 23 1937]

RIA SORRELL

97 years old. 536 E. Edenton Street, Raleigh, N.C.

"I jist lak three years of bein' one hundred years old. I belonged to
Jacob Sorrell. His wife wus named Elizabeth. My age wus give to me by
Mr. Bob Sorrell, the only one of ole marster's chilluns dat is livin'
now.

"Dey had four boys, Marcillers, Bob, Adolphus and Dr. Patrick Sorrell.
Dey had three girls, Averada an' two udder ones dat died 'fore dey wus
named. I wus born on marster's plantation near Leesville, in Wake
County. Dats been a long time ago. I can't git around now lak I could
when I wus on de plantation.

"Dere wus 'bout twenty-five slaves on de place an' marster jist
wouldn't sell a slave. When he whupped one he didn't whup much, he wus
a good man. He seemed to be sorry everytime he had to whup any of de
slaves. His wife wus de pure debil, she jist joyed whuppin' Negroes.
She wus tall an' spare-made wid black hair an' eyes. Over both her eyes
wus a bulge place in her forehead. Her eyes set way back in her head.
Her jaws were large lak a man's an' her chin stuck up. Her mouth wus
large an' her lips thin an' seemed to be closed lak she had sumpt