re strict
'bout dat too. De white folks at first didn't want to make the
contracts an' say dey wasn't gwine to. So de gov'ment filled de jail
with 'em, an' after that every one make the contract.

"When my race first got dey freedom an' begin to leave dey mars', a
heap of de mars got ragin' mad an' just tore up truck. Dey say dey
gwine kill every nigger dey find. Some of them did do dat very thing,
Boss, sure enough. I'se tellin' you de truth. Dey shot niggers down by
de hundreds. Dey jus' wasn't gwine let 'em enjoy dey freedom. Dat is
de truth, Boss.

"Atter I come back to de old home place from workin' for de army, it
wasn't long 'fore I left dar an' git me er job with er sawmill an'
worked for de sawmill peoples for about five years. One day I heered
some niggers tellin' about er white man what done come in dar gittin'
up er big lot of niggers to take to Arkansas. Dey was tellin' 'bout
what a fine place it was in Arkansas, an' how rich de land is, an' dat
de crops grow without working, an' dat de taters grow big as er
watermelon an' you never have to plant 'em but de one time, an' all
sich as dat. Well, I 'cided to come. I j'ined up with de man an' come
to Phillips County in 1875. Er heap er niggers come from Georgia at de
same time dat me an' Callie come. You know Callie, dats my old woman
whats in de shack dar right now. Us first lived on Mr. Jim Bush's
place over close to Barton. Us ain't been far off from dere ever since
us first landed in dis county. Fact is, Boss, us ain't been outen de
county since us first come here, an' us gwine be here now I know till
de Lord call for us to come on home."

FOLKLORE SUBJECTS
Name of interviewer: Watt McKinney
Subject: Superstitious beliefs
Story--Information (If not enough space on this page, add page)

This information given by: Tines Kendricks (C)
Place of residence: Trenton, Arkansas
Occupation: None
Age: 104
[TR: Personal information moved from bottom of form.]

There is an ancient and traditional belief among the Southern Negroes,
especially the older ones, that the repeated and intermitted cries of
a whippoorwill near a home in the early evenings of summer and
occurring on successive days at or about the same time and location;
or the appearance of a highly excited redbird, disturbed for no
apparent reason, is indicative of some imminent disaster, usually
thought to be the approaching death of some member of the family.

Tines Kendricks, who says tha