ed her
for whipping her young master. I never heard her say that anybody tried
to whip her at any other time. My mother was a strong woman. She could
lift one end of a log with any man.

Slave Uprisings

My mother used to say that when she was about fourteen years old, (That
was about the time that the stars fell, and the stars fell in 1833
[HW:*]. So she must have been born in 1819. In 1833, she was sold for a
fourteen year old girl. That was the only time that she ever was sold.
That left her about eighty-three years old when she died in 1903.) She
used to say that when she was about fourteen years old, and was living
in North Carolina in Mecklinburg Co, in Henderson County, that the white
folks called all the slaves up to the big house and kept them there a
few days. There wasn't no trouble on my mother's place, but they had
heard that there was an uprising among the slaves, and they called all
the Niggers up to the house. They didn't do nothin' to them. They just
called them up to the house, and kept them there. It all passed over
soon. I don't know nothin' else about it.

Confederate Army Negroes

I've "heered" old Brother Zachary who used to belong to Bethel Church
tell about the surrender. Brother Zachary is dead now. He was a soldier
In the Confederate army. He fought all through the war and he used to
tell lots of stories about it.

You know, Lee was a tall man, fine looking and dignified. Grant was a
little man and short. Those two generals walked up to each other with a
white flag in their hands. And they talked and agreed just when they
would fight. And then they both went back to their armies, and they
fought the awfulest battle you ever "heered" of. The men lay dead in
rows and rows and rows. The dead men covered whole fields. And General
Lee said that there wasn't any use doing any more fighting. General
Grant let all the rebels keep their guns. He didn't take nothin' away
from them.

I saw General Grant when he came to Little Rock. There was an old white
man who had never been to Little Rock in his life. He said "I just had
to come up here to see this great general that they are talking about."

Occupations

We always worked in the field in slave time. I don't know nothin about
share cropping because I always did days work. I used to get four and
five dollars a week for washing. But now they wants the young folks and
they don't pay them five dollars for everything. I can't get a pension.