oach "Old Marster"
and tell him that he wanted a certain woman for his wife. "Old Marster"
then called the woman in question and if she agreed they were pronounced
man and wife. If the woman was a prolific breeder and if the man was a
strong, healthy-looking individual she was forced to take him as a
husband whether she wanted to or not.

When Mr. Wright was asked if he had ever been arrested and placed in
jail for any offense while he was a slave he replied that in those days
few laws, if any, applied to slaves. He knows that it was against the
law for anyone to teach a slave to write because on one occasion his
father who had learned to do this with the help of his master's son was
told by the master to keep it to himself, because if the men of the
community found out that he could write they would cut his fingers or
his hand off. Horse stealing or house burning was another serious crime.
On the House plantation was a mulato slave who was to have been given
his freedom when he reached the age of 21. When this time came Mr. House
refused to free him and so an attempt was made to burn the House
mansion. Mr. Wright remembers seeing the sheriff come from town and take
this slave. Later they heard on the plantation that said slave had been
hanged.

For the most part punishment consisted of severe whipping sometimes
administered by the slaves' master and sometimes by the white men of the
community known as the Patrol. To the slaves this Patrol was known as
the "Paddle" or "Paddie-Rollers." Mr. Wright says that he has been
whipped numerous times by his master for running away. When he was
caught after an attempted escape he was placed on the ground where he
was "spread-eagled," that is, his arms and feet were stretched out and
tied to stakes driven in the ground. After a severe beating, brine water
or turpentine was poured over the wounds. This kept the flies away, he
says. Mr. House did not like to whip his slaves as a scarred slave
brought very little money when placed on the auction block. A slave who
had a scarred back was considered as being unruly. Whenever a slave
attempted to escape the hounds were put on his trail. Mr. Wright was
caught and treed by hounds several times. He later found a way to elude
them. This was done by rubbing his feet in the refuse material of the
barnyard or the pasture, then he covered his legs with pine tar. On one
occasion he managed to stay away from the plantation for 6 months before
he