ty good dat way.

"My mistress had chillun by Marse Preston. Sho' I recollect them. Dere
was Preston; de last I hear of him, him livin' in Tennessee. Then dere
was Miss Mary; her marry Mr. George Addison of Edgefield. Miss Carrie;
her marry Marse Capers Byrd. De youngest, Miss Martha, marry Col. McBee
of Greenville, S.C.

"Does I 'members 'bout de Yankees? Not much. I 'members more 'bout
Wheeler's men. They come and take nearly everything, wid de excuse dat
de Yankees was not far behind and when they come, they would take all,
so they just as well take most of what was in sight.

"When freedom come, my pappy was dead. Mother brought me back to
Fairfield County and give me to my grandpap, Washington Holmes. Us live
on 'Possum Branch; now own by Mr. Jim Young. I stay dere 'til I 'come
twenty-one. Then I marry Maggie Gladden, 'cause I love her. Us had four
chillun, in de twenty years her live. Henry is in Philadephia. David, de
oldest, is fifty years old, livin' out in de county from Winnsboro. Lula
died, unmarried. Carrie lives here, in Winnsboro; her husband is Arthur
Rosboro, dat you white folks all know so well. When Maggie die, I marry
Nancy Holmes, a widow. Us have had no chillun.

"Now you is finished wid me and you wants me to relax, you say, and talk
to you freely 'bout de past and slavery, de present and social
conditions, and de risin' generation and de future? Well, dat is a heap
of territory. Now let's think. You see I got a heap a white blood in me,
and a heap of de Negro too. Slavery did de white race a whole lot a good
but it wasn't lastin' good. It did de Negro good, dat will be lastin'
good forever. De Negro women protected de pure white woman from
enticement and seduction of de white man in slavery time. My grandpap
say he never heard of a bad white woman befo' freedom. I leave it wid
you if dere's any dese times? Dat was worth more to de South, my
grandpap say, dis santification of de white women, than all de cotton
and corn dat de Negroes ever makes, in all de years of slavery times.

"Now it was de finest thing could have happen for de Negro, to have been
snatched out of Africa and brought here in touch wid civilization and
Christianity. It will work out untold benefit to de race. 'Bout social
conditions? De Bible say, 'De poor you will have wid you always.' Tho'
de slave question am settled, de race question will be wid us always,
'til Jesus come de second time. It's in our politics, in our justi