e whar dey put de Niggers, what wuz called de gyard
house, an' us didn't know nothin' 'bout no jail dat day an' time. I seed
'em drive de Niggers by old Marster's place in droves takin' 'em to
Watkinsville. Morgan County, whar us lived, touched Oconee an' dat wuz
the nighes' town. One day I went wid old Marster to Watkinsville an' I
seed 'em sell Niggers on de block. I warn't sold. When I knowed nothin'
I wuz right whar I wuz at.

"No Ma'am, dey warn't no schools for de Niggers in dem days. If a Nigger
wuz seed wid a paper, de white folks would pretty nigh knock his head
off him.

"Us didn't have no church in de country for Niggers, an' dey went to
church wid deir white folkses, if dey went a tall. De white folks sot in
front, an' de Niggers sot in de back. All de time dat overseer wuz right
dar wid his gun. When dey baptized de Niggers dey tuk 'em down to de
river and plunged 'em in, while dem what had done been baptized sang:
"Dar's a Love Feast in Heb'en Today."

"Yes Ma'am, de white folkses had deir cemetery, an' dey had one for de
slaves. When dere wuz a funeral 'mong de Niggers us sung:

'Dark was de night
And cold was de groun'
Whar my Marster was laid
De drops of sweat
Lak blood run down
In agony He prayed.'

"Dem coffins sho' wuz mournful lookin' things, made out of pine boa'ds
an' painted wid lampblack; dey wuz black as de night. Dey wuz big at de
head an' little at de foot, sort a lak airplanes is. De inside wuz lined
wid white clawf, what dey spun on de plantation.

"De patterollers wuz right on dey job. Slaves use' to frame up on 'em if
dey knowed whar dey wuz hidin', 'waitin' to cotch a Nigger. Dey would
git hot ashes an' dash over 'em, an' dem patterollers dey sho' would
run, but de slaves would git worse dan dat, if dey was cotched.

"Miss, in slav'ry time when Niggers come from de fields at night dey
warn't no frolickin'. Dey jus' went to sleep. De mens wukked all day
Sadday, but de 'omans knocked off at twelve o'clock to wash an' sich
lak.

"Christmas times dey give us a week off an' brung us a little candy an'
stuff 'roun'. Not much, not much. On New Year's Day us had to git back
on de job.

"Chilluns what wuz big enough to wuk didn't have time in week days to
play no games on Marse Bostwick's place. On Sunday us played wid marbles
made out of clay, but dat's all. I heered my ma sing a little song to de
baby what soun' lak dis:

'Hush little baby
Don't you cry