ourney.

"If a peckerwood pecks on de roof of youse house you will sho lose some
member of youse family. Dey is pizen.

"No I'se jes ter scairt ter go whar day call up Spirits."

Tale of Mary Wooldridge: (Clarksville Pike--Age about 103.)

"Mary and her twin sister were slaves born in Washington County,
Kentucky, near Lexington, belonging to Bob Eaglin. When Mary was about
fourteen years old she and her sister was brought to the Lexington slave
market and sold and a Mr. Lewis Burns of the same County purchased her.
Mary doesn't know what became of her sister. Five or six years later she
was again put on the block and sold to a Negro Trader but Mary does not
remember this traders name. While here she was kept in a stockade and it
was several years before she again was bought by a white man. Mr. Thomas
McElroy near Lexington bought her and she remained his slave until the
slaves were freed. Mary looks her age. She is a tall gaunt black Negro
with white hair about one inch long and very kinky, and still she
dresses as the older slave woman dressed in the past days. She wears an
old bodice with a very full skirt that comes to her ankles and this
skirt has very long deep pockets and when I asked her why she had such
pockets in her skirt her answer was, "Wal you sees honey I jes am used
ter dis dress and thar is no way foh youse to had me git shud of hit,
dese pockets is powerful venient foh weh I goes inter some ones house
why I turns dose pockets wrong side out and dat always brings me good
luck.

Mary contends that she always wears three petticoats.

"Marse Thamos lived in a big log house wid a big plantation all around
hit. He had three hundred slaves on de two plantations. Marse Thamos sho
was good ter us niggers. No nigger mus whoop his stock wid a switch.
"I'se heared him say many time don't youse niggers whoop dese mules. How
would you like to have me whoop you det way?" And he sho would whoop dem
dem niggers if he cotched dem. Lawd have mercy who whould haw thot I'd
be here all dis time. I'd thot I'd be ded and gone. All dese ole niggers
try to be so uppity by jes bein raised in de house and cause dey was why
dey think is Quality. Some of dese nigger gals was raised in de house
but most of dem was made work ebery whar on de plantation. My Massa has
his nigger gals to lay fence worms, mak fences, shuck corn, hoe corn en
terbacco, wash, iron, and de missus try to teach de nigger gals to sew
and knit. But sh