do dat once or twice a day. You ought to see dat baby's face de
first time and heard him squall! It sho' stopped him sucking his thumbs!

"Clothes? Didn't need no clothes in de summer time but a shirt. In de
winter, us just stood 'bout de fire. I'm talkin' 'bout us chillun, don't
'member 'bout old folks.

"Master and Mistress lived in a big white house, two stories high, tall
brick chimneys at de gable ends, and wide front and back piazzas de full
length of de dwelling. Us chillun had no shoes. Mammy had two pair all
de time but they had wooden bottoms. Dere was no white overseers 'round,
but patarollers (patrollers) ketched my pappy once, in de house, jerk
him out and whup him, while mammy and us chillun yell and cry and beg
them to stop.

"When de Yankees come, mammy hide us chillun under her bed 'traption.
They act mighty nice to her, so she say.

"What kinda work mammy do? Her was one of de weavers. Heard her tell
'bout how they make de thread and de cloth. They had spinnin' wheels.
Person turn de wheel wid de hand and walk back'ards and for'ards,
drawing out de thread. Dis kind of thread, her say, was rough. Later
they got a thing de spinners operate wid deir foots, settin' by de wheel
and workin' it wid deir foots, sorta lak a sewing machine is run. Her
'low de thread dat come to her in de weave-room from dis kind of
spinnin' was smoother and more finer than de other kind. After de yarn
was spin, it was reeled off de spools into hanks and then took to de
warper. Then she woofed it, warped it, and loomed it into cloth. Her
make four yards in a day.

"After freedom, pappy come and take mammy and all us chillun to a farm
on Cedar Creek, in dis county, Fairfield. I works dere 'til 1872, I
thinks. I gits concerned 'bout dis time wid two things, jinin' wid de
Lord, and jinin' wid de woman. De fust was easy. All I had to do was go
to de Methodis' revival, shout a little, and jine up befo' de preacher.
I just had to be convicted and convinced, but mind you, I was de one to
be convinced, de other was not so easy. De Lord was easy to find and
quick to take me, but de gal was hard to find and was slow to take me,
'cause she was de one to be convinced dis time, you see.

"I looks all 'round Cedar Creek. De ones I could git, I wouldn't have,
and de ones I would have I couldn't git. So dere it was. I mounts old
Betsy, dat was pappy's mule, one Sunday and come to Winnsboro. I spied a
gal at church, 'bout de color of a ripe