wus called 'Grand Rascals'. Dey
wus made on de same order as a box. De way dey made 'em wus like dis:
dey took four strips of narrow wood, each one of 'em 'bout a foot wide,
an' den dey nailed 'em together so dat dey wus in de shape of a square.
Den dey nailed a bottom onto dis square shape. Dis bottom wus called de
slats. When dis wus finished dey set dis box on some legs to keep it
off'n de floor, an' den dey got busy wid de mattress. Dey took ol' oat
sacks an' filled 'em wid straw an' hay an' den dey put dis in de box an'
slept on it. Dere wusn't no springs on dese bunks an' everybody had a
hard time sleepin'.

"De real name of dese wus 'Sonova-Bitches' but de slaves called 'em
'Grand Rascals' 'cause dey didn't want people to hear 'em use a bad
word.

"After Sherman come through Atlanta he let de slaves go, an' when he
did, me an' some of de other slaves went back to our ol' masters. Ol'
man Gov. Brown wus my boss man. After de war wus over Ol' man Gordon
took me an' some of de others out to Mississippi. I stayed in peonage
out dere fer 'bout forty years. I wus located at jes' 'bout forty miles
south of Greenwood, an' I worked on de plantations of Ol' man Sara Jones
an' Ol' man Gordon.

"I couldn't git away 'cause dey watched us wid guns all de time. When de
levee busted dat kinda freed me. Man, dey was devils; dey wouldn't 'low
you to go nowhere--not even to church. You done good to git sumpin' to
eat. Dey wouldn't give you no clothes, an' if you got wet you jes' had
to lay down in whut you got wet in.

"An', man, dey would whup you in spite of de devil. You had to ask to
git water--if you didn't dey would stretch you 'cross a barrel an' wear
you out. If you didn't work in a hurry dey would whup you wid a strap
dat had five-six holes in it. I ain't talkin' 'bout whut I heard--I'm
talkin' 'bout whut I done see'd.

"One time dey sent me on Ol' man Mack Williams' farm here in Jasper
County, Georgia. Dat man would kill you sho. If dat little branch on his
plantation could talk it would tell many a tale 'bout folks bein'
knocked in de head. I done seen Mack Williams kill folks an' I done seen
'im have folks killed. One day he tol' me dat if my wife had been good
lookin', I never would sleep wid her again 'cause he'd kill me an' take
her an' raise chilluns off'n her. Dey uster take women away fum dere
husbands an' put wid some other man to breed jes' like dey would do
cattle. Dey always kept a man penned up an' dey