g dresses was not worn
after de wedding in dem days by niggers as we was taught by our
Mistress dat it was bad luck to wear de wedding dress after marriage.
Therefore, 'twas handed down from one generation to the other one.

Me Mistress was sometimes good and sometimes mean. One day de cook was
waiting de table and when passing around de potatoes, old Mistress
felt of one and as hit wasn't soft done, she exclaimed to de cook,
"What you bring these raw potatoes out here for?" and grab a fork and
stuck it in her eye and put hit out. She, de cook, lived about 10
years and died.

Me Mistress was de mother of five children, Crock, Jim, Boss and two
girls name, Lea and Annie.

Dere home was a large two-story white house wid de large white posts.

As me Master went to de War de old overseer tried himself in meanness
over de slaves as seemingly he tried to be important. One day de
slaves caught him and one held him whilst another knocked him in de
head and killed him.

Master's plantation was about 300 acres and he had 'bout 160 slaves.
Before de slaves killed our overseer, he would work 'em night and day.
De slaves was punished when dey didn't do as much work as de overseer
wanted 'em to do.

He would lock 'em in jail some nights without food and kept 'em dere
all night, and after whipping 'em de next morning would only give 'em
bread and water to work on till noon.

When a slave was hard to catch for punishment dey would make 'em wear
ball and chains. De ball was 'bout de size of de head and made of
lead.

On Sunday mornings before breakfast our Mistress would call us
together, read de Bible and show us pictures of de Devil in de Bible
and tell us dat if we was not good and if we would steal and tell lies
dat old Satan would git us.

Close to our Master's plantation lived several families of old "poor
white trash" who would steal me Master's hogs and chickens and come
and tell me Mistress dat dey seen some of de slaves knock one of dere
hogs in de head. Dis continued up till Master returned from de War and
caught de old white trash stealing his hogs. De niggers did at times
steal Master's hogs and chickens, and I would put biscuits and pieces
of chicken in a sack under me dress dat hung from me waist, as I
waited de table for me Mistress, and later would slip off and eat it
as dey never gave de slaves none of dis sort of food.

We had church Sundays and our preacher Rev. Pat Williams would preach
and our Master