s
Sue would appear and then I would have to be a doll for them. I didn't
mind, for I dearly loved them all.

"Now about Raw Head and Bloody Bones; I am going to tell you, Miss, my
Marster's people were cultured and refined, and they wouldn't allow such
things told to their own children or to their slaves' children. They
didn't want anything said or done to frighten any little children, and
if a nurse or anyone else was caught doing such a thing, that person was
punished for it. With the heritage of training like that I could hardly
be expected to believe in such things.

"Marse John was grand to sick slaves. He always sent for Dr. Moore, who
would make his examination and write out his prescription. When he left
his parting word was usually 'Give him a sound thrashing and he will get
better.' Of course he didn't mean that; it was his little joke. Dr.
Holt, Dr. Crawford Long, and Dr. Jones Long were sometimes called in for
consultation on particularly serious cases. We didn't like Dr. Moore and
usually begged for one of the other doctors. I don't think my white
folks used teas made of herbs, leaves or roots; they may have, but I
don't remember it. However, I do know that we wore little sacks of
asafetida around our necks to keep off diseases, and the white folks
wore it too.

"On the day we learned of the surrender, the Negroes rallied around the
liberty flag pole that they set up near where the city hall is now. All
day long they cut up and there was a song they sung that day that went
something like this:

'We rally around the flag pole of liberty,
The Union forever, Hurrah! Boys Hurrah!'

"Next morning when the Negroes got up the white folks had cut that pole
down. We were mortally afraid of the Yankees when they appeared here a
short time after the surrender. We were afraid of the Ku Klux Klan
riders too. The Negroes did act so bad; there were lots of killings
going on for a long time after the war was supposed to be over.

"Mother was glad and sorry too that she was free. Marse John had been so
good to all his slaves that none of them really wanted to leave him. We
stayed on a while, then mother left and rented a room. She worked hard
and bought a house as soon as she could; others did the same. There were
very few slaves that had any money at all to begin on.

"Immediately following the surrender northern people opened Knox
Institute. One of my teachers was Miss Dora Brooks, a white woman from
the Nor