e cookin'. When all of de marster's 75
slaves wus in de fiel' dey had two cooks to feed 'em. At twelve o'clock
de cooks would blow a horn at de stump in de yard back o' de cook house.
Even de hosses an' de mules knowed dat horn an' dey would'nt go a step
further. You had to take de mule out of de harness an' take 'im to de
spring an' water 'im an' den take 'im to de house where a colored man up
dere named Sam Johnson had all de feed ready fer de hosses. When you git
dere all de hosses go to dere own stalls where dere wus ten ears o' corn
an' one bundle o' fodder fer each hoss. While dem hosses is eatin' you
better be out dere eatin' yo' own. Sarah an' Annie, de cooks had a big
wooden tray wid de greens an' de meat all cut up on it an' you pass by
wid yo' tin pan an' dey put yo' meat all cut up on it along wid de
greens an' den you could eat anywhere you wanted to--on de stump or in
de big road if you wanted to. Sometimes some of 'ems meat would give out
or dere bread would give out an' den dey would say: "I'll give you a
piece of my bread for some or yo' meat or I'll give you some of my meat
for some of yo' bread". Some of 'em would have a big ol' ash cake an'
some of 'em would have jes' plain corn bread. Dere wus usually a big
skillet o' potatoes at de cook house an' when you eat an' drink yo'
water den you is ready to go back to work. Dey wus goin' to let you lay
down in de shade fer 'bout a hour but you would make de time up by
workin' till dark. Some of 'em worked so 'till dey back wus gone. Dey
could'nt even stand up straight.

"Sometimes ol' missus would come 'long an' she would be mad wid some of
de women an' she would want to go to whuppin' on 'em."

"Sometimes de women would'nt take it an' would run away an' hide in de
woods. Sometimes dey would come back after a short stay an' den again
dey would have to put de hounds on dere trail to bring dem back home. As
a general rule dere wus'nt much whuppin' on our plantation. 'Course if
you did'nt do what dey tol' you to do dey would take you out an' put yo'
hands round a pole an' tie you so yo' feet would jes' touch de groun'
an' den dey would go to work on you wid a cowhide. Everytime dey hit you
de blood would fly wid de whip."

"De clothes den wus'nt but ol' plain white cloth. Most of 'em wus
patched fum de legs to de waist. Some wus patched so till dey looked
like a quilt. Some of de women wore dese long striped cotton dresses an'
when dey would go in de fiel' d