"in dem days, de slaves done all de work an' carried all de news. de marsters sont notes from one plantation to anudder, an' when dey wanted de niggers to come to de big house dey would blow an ole cow horn. dey had certain number of blows for certain niggers. dat is, de niggers dat was somp'n. dey would also use dis horn for 'possum an' coon huntin' at night. de li'l niggers at night went to de big house to spin an' weave. i'se spun a many roll an' carded a many bat of cotton. i'se also made a many tallow candle by tyin' strings onto a long stick an' droppin dem down into moulds filled wid tallow. i'se hid many a night in de fence corners when i'd be agoin' som'ers to git my mammy some 'bacco. de pattyrollers would be out lookin' for slaves dat didn't hab no pass from dere oberseer, an' i'd hear dem acomin' an' i'd hide till dey pass on, 'caze iffen dey cotch me i sho' gwine have a sound beatin'. "de owners always tuk care of us, and when us got sick dey would git a doctor, an' ole miss was all right, but dat oberseer was a debil. he wouldn't 'low no meetin' on de place. sometimes us would slip down de hill an' turn de wash pot bottom up'ards so de soun' of our voices would go under de pot, an' us'd have a singin' an' prayin' raght dere. "mos' of de slave could go sometimes to de white folks church when dey gits a pass from dere massa, but dat mean oberseer always tried to keep us from goin' so's us couldn't learn nothin'. he didn't want us to learn to read or write neither. "no'm us didn't have nothin' lak matches till i was growed. us used flint rocks an' cotton to start de fires. "us didn't have nothin' but food an' clothes. we didn't have no garden of our own an' der wan't no celebratin', 'ceptin' at hog killin'. dat was de bigges' day of de year.
United States