ged de tracks looked
like bird tracks, where we walked in the road. We lived in log houses
daubed with mud. They called 'em the slaves houses. My old daddy partly
raised his chilluns on game. He caught rabbits, coons, an' possums. We
would work all day and hunt at night. We had no holidays. They did not
give us any fun as I know. I could eat anything I could git. I tell you
de truth, slave time wuz slave time wid us. My brother wore his shoes
out, and had none all thu winter. His feet cracked open and bled so bad
you could track him by the blood. When the Yankees come through, he got
shoes.

I wuz married in Rockingham. I don't 'member when Mr. Jimmie
Covington, a preacher, a white man, married us. I married James Adams
who lived on a plantation near Rockingham. I had a nice blue wedding
dress. My husband wuz dressed in kinder light clothes, best I
rickerlect. It's been a good long time, since deen [HW: den] tho'.

I sho do 'member my Marster Tom Covington and his wife too, Emma. Da
old man wuz the very nick.[HW correction: Nick] He would take what we
made and lowance us, dat is lowance it out to my daddy after he had
made it. My father went to Steven Covington, Marster Tom's brother, and
told him about it, and his brother Stephen made him gib father his meat
back to us.

My missus wuz kind to me, but Mars. Tom wuz the buger. It wuz a mighty
bit plantation. I don't know how many slaves wuz on it, there were a lot
of dem do'. Dere were overseers two of 'em. One wuz named Bob Covington
and the other Charles Covington. They were colored men. I rode with
them. I rode wid 'em in the carriage sometimes. De carriage had seats
dat folded up. Bob wuz overseer in de field, and Charles wuz carriage
driver. All de plantation wuz fenced in, dat is all de fields, wid
rails; de rails wuz ten feet long. We drawed water wid a sweep and pail.
De well wuz in the yard. De mules for the slaves wuz in town, dere were
none on the plantation. Dey had 'em in town; dey waked us time de
chicken crowed, and we went to work just as soon as we could see how to
make a lick wid a hoe.

Lawd, you better not be caught wid a book in yor han'. If you did, you
were sold. Dey didn't 'low dat. I kin read a little, but I can't write.
I went to school after slavery and learned to read. We didn't go to
school but three or four week a year, and learned to read.

Dere wuz no church on the plantation, and we were not lowed to have
prayer meetings. No parties