k an' middlin' meat. I never saw such meat.
It was thin an' tough wid a thick skin. You could boil it allday an' all
night an' it wouldn' cook dome, I wouldn' eat it. I thought 'twuz mule
meat; mules dat done been shot on de battle field den dried. I still
believe 'twuz mule meat.

One day me an' my brother was lookin' for acorns in de woods. We foun'
sumpin' like a grave in de woods. I tole Dave dey wuz sumpin' buried in
dat moun'. We got de grubbin hoe an' dug. Dey wuz a box wid eleven hams
in dat grave. Somebody done hid it from de Yankees an' forgot whare dey
buried it. We covered it back up kaze if we took it home in de day time
de Yankees an' niggers would take it away from us. So when night come we
slipped out an' toted dem hams to de house an' hid dem in de loft.

Dem was bad days. I'd rather been a slave den to been hired out like I
was, kaze I wuzn' no fiel' hand, I was a hand maid, trained to wait on
de ladies. Den too, I was hungry most of de time an' had to keep
fightin' off dem Yankee mens. Dem Yankees was mean folks.

We's come a long way since dem times. I'se lived near 'bout ninety years
an' I'se seen an' heard much. My folks don't want me to talk 'bout
slavery, day's shame niggers ever was slaves. But, while for most
colored folks freedom is de bes, dey's still some niggers dat out to be
slaves now. Dese niggers dat's done clean forgot de Lawd; dose dat's
always cuttin' an' fightin' an' gwine in white folks houses at night,
dey ought to be slaves. Dey ought to have an' Ole Marse wid a whip to
make dem come when he say come, an' go when he say go, 'til dey learn to
live right.

I looks back now an' thinks. I ain't never forgot dem slavery days, an'
I ain't never forgot Mis' Polly an' my white starched aprons.

N. C. District: No. 2 [320147]
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 805
Subject: CHARLES W. DICKENS
Story Teller: Charles W. Dickens
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt

[HW note: 26]

[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 11 1937"]

CHARLES W. DICKENS
1115 East Lenoir Street

My name is Charles W. Dickens. I lives at 1115 East Lenoir Street,
Raleigh, North Carolina, Wake County. I wuz born August 16, 1861, de
year de war started. My mother wuz named Ferebee Dickens. My father wuz
named John Dickens. I had nine sisters and brothers. My brothers were
named Allen, Douglas, my name [HW: question mark above "my name"], Jake,
Johnnie and Jonas. The girls Katie