to the grave yard. I
don't know whe're there's enny rec'ord o' her or not.

My work in slavery times wuz ridin' behin' my Missus, Clara Griffin, who
wuz my old missus' sister's daughter. She came to be our missus. When
she went visiting I rode behind her. I also looked atter de garden, kept
chickens out uv de garden, and minded de table, fanned flies off de
table. They were good to us. Dey whupped us sometime. I wuz not old
enough to do no fiel' work.

One time I slep' late. It wuz in the fall uv the year. The other
chilluns had lef' when I got up. I went out to look for 'em. When I
crossed the tater patch I seen the ground cracked and I dug in to see
what cracked it. I found a tater and kept diggin' till I dug it up. I
carried it to the house. They had a white woman for a cook that year. I
carried the tater and showed it to her. She took me and the tater and
told me to come on. We went from the kitchen to the great house and she
showed the tater to the old missus sayin', 'Look here missus, Joe has
been stealin' taters. Here is the tater he stole'. Old missus said, 'Joe
belongs to me, the tater belongs to me, take it back and cook it for
him. When the cook cooked the tater she asked me for half uv it. I gave
it to her. If I had known den lak I knows now, she wuz tryin' to git me
to git a whoppin' I wouldn't 'er give her none uv dat tater.

There were some frame houses, an part log houses, we called 'em the
darkey houses. The master's house wuz called 'the great house'. We had
very good places to sleep and plenty to eat. I got plenty uv potlicker,
peas, and pumpkins. All us little darkies et out uv one bowl. We used
mussel shells, got on the branch, for spoons. Dey must not er had no
spoons or sumpin. The pea fowls roosted on de great house evey night. I
didn't know whut money nor matches wuz neither.

I 'member seein' Henry High, my first cousin, ketch a pike once, but I
never done no fishin' or huntin'. I 'member seein' the grown folks start
off possum huntin' at night, but I did not go.

I wore wooden bottom shoes and I wore only a shirt. I went in my shirt
tail until I wuz a great big boy, many years atter slavery. There were
50 or more slaves on the plantation. Old women wove cloth on looms. We
made syrup, cane syrup, with a cane mill. We carried our corn to
Foster's Mill down on Little River to have it ground. It wuz called
Little River den; I don't know whut it is called in dis day.

There wuz a block in de