her Sunday school teacher, from him she learned
much she had never known before.

At seventeen years of age, she married and "faced a frowning world
right." She had a good husband and ten children, three of whom are
living today, one son and two daughters.

She remembers one slave, who had been given five hundred lashes on his
back, thrown in his cabin to die. He laid on the floor all night, at
dawn he came to himself, and there were blood hounds licking his back.

When the overseers lashed a slave to death, they would turn the
bloodhounds out to smell the blood, so they would know "nigger blood,"
that would help trace runaway slaves.

Aunt Jane Stringer was given five hundred lashes and thrown in her
cabin. The next morning when the overseer came, he kicked her and told
her to get up, and wanted to know if she was going to sleep there all
day. When she did not answer him, he rolled her over and the poor woman
was dead, leaving several motherless children.

When the slaves were preparing to run away, they would put hot pepper on
their feet; this would cause the hounds to be thrown off their trail.

Aunt Margaret ran off, but the hounds traced her to a tree; she stayed
up in the tree for two days and would not come down until they promised
not to whip her any more, and they kept their promise.

Old mistress' mother was sick a long time, and little America had to
keep the flies off of her by waving a paper fly brush over her bed. She
was so mean, America was afraid to go too near the bed for fear she
might try to grab her and shake her. After she died, she haunted
America. Anytime she would go into the room, she could hear her knocking
on the wall with her cane. Some nights they would hear her walking up
and down the stairs for long periods at a time.

Aunt Catherine ran off, because "ole missie" haunted her so bad.

The old master came back after his death and would ride his favorite
horse, old Pomp, all night long, once every week. When the boy would go
in to feed the horses, old Pomp would have his ears hanging down, and he
would be "just worn out," after his night ride.

Interviewer's Comment

America believes firmly in haunts, and said she had lived in several
haunted houses since coming up north.

Mrs. Morgan lives with her baby boy and his wife. She is rather
inteligent, reads and writes, and tries to do all she can to help those
who are less fortunate than she.

Submitted December 27, 1937
Indian