de 'em in fer
me ter sop hit out. Dey ain't nothin' whut smells good lak' de cookin'
in dem days, I kain't smell no victuals lak' dat now. Everything wuz
cooked on a big ole open fire place in one end of de kitchen. Dem good
ole days done gone now. Folkes done got wiser an' wickeder--dey ain't
lak' dey use ter be."

At Christmas Santa Claus found his way to the Quarters on the Gollatt
plantation and each little slave had candy, apples, and "sich good
things as dat." Aunt Jane gave a glowing description of the preparation
for the Christmas season: "Lawdy, how de folks wu'ked gittin' ready fer
Chris'mus, fer three er fo' days dey stayed in de kitchen er cookin' an'
er bakin'--daye wuz de bes' light bread--great big loaves baked on de
fire place, an' cakes an' mo' good ginger cakes. Dey wuz plenty cooked
up to las' er long time. An' another thing, dare want no cookin' on
Sunday, no mam, no wu'k of no kind. My Mistess had de cook cookin' all
day Fridays an' Saddays so when Sunday come dare wuz hot coffee made an'
dat wuz all, everything else wuz cooked up an' cold. Everybody went to
Church, de grown folks white and black, went to de preachin' an' den all
de little niggers wuz called in an de Bible read an' 'splained ter dem.

"Dare wuz preachin' down in de Quarters, but dat wuz at night an' wuz
led by de colored preachers. I recollects one night dare wuz a service
gwine on in one of de cabins an' all us wuz dare an' ole Uncle Alex
Frazier wuz up a linin' off a hymn 'bout

'Broad is de road dat leads ter Death
An' there an' here we travel.'

when in come some mens atter a colored feller whut had stole some sheep
an' hogs. Dey kotch 'im, but sho broke up de meetin'. In de hot summer
time Uncle George Gullatt use ter preach ter de slaves out under de
trees. Uncle George waz a kind of er preacher.

"My Pa didn't 'low his chillun ter go 'roun'. No'm, he kep' us home
keerful lak. Young folks in dem days didn't go all over de country lak
dey does now, dey stayed at home, an' little chillun wuz kep' back an'
dey didn' know no badness lak de chillun do terday. Us never even heared
de ole folks talk nothin' whut we oughtn't ter hear. Us jess played an'
stayed in a child's place. When we wuz sick de white folks seed dat we
wuz 'tended to. Dey use ter mak Jerusalem Oak candy an' give us. Dey
took de leaves of dat bush an' boiled 'em an' den use dat water dey wuz
boiled in an' put sugar 'nough in hit ter mak candy. An dey used