ps an' colla'd greens. Us saved heaps of dry peas an'
beans, an' dried lots of peaches an' apples to cook in winter. When de
wind wuz a howlin an' de groun' all kivvered wid snow, ma would make
dried fruit puffs for us, dat sho' did hit de spot.

"When I wuz 'bout eight years old, dey sont me to school. I had to walk
from Epps Bridge Road to Knox School. Dey calls it Knox Institute now. I
toted my blue back speller in one han' and my dinner bucket in de other.
Us wore homespun dresses wid bonnets to match. De bonnets wuz all made
in one piece an' had drawstrings on de back to make 'em fit, an' slats
in de brims to make 'em stiff an' straight. Our dresses wuz made long to
keep our legs warm. I don't see, for to save me, how dey keeps dese
young-uns from freezin' now since dey let 'em go 'roun' mos' naked.

"Our brush arbor church wuz nigh whar Brooklyn Mount Pleasant Church is
now, an' us went to Sunday School dar evvy Sunday. It warn't much of a
church for looks, 'cause it wuz made out of poles stuck in de groun' an'
de roof wuz jus' pine limbs an' brush, but dere sho' wuz some good
meetin's in dat old brush church, an' lots of souls foun' de way to de
heb'enly home right dar.

"Our reg'lar preacher wuz a colored man named Morrison, but Mr. Cobb
preached to us lots of times. He wuz a white gemman, an' he say he could
a sot all night an' lissen long as us sung dem old songs. Some of 'em I
done clar forgot, but de one I lak bes' goes sorter lak dis:

'I want to be an angel
An' wid de angels stan'
A crown upon my forehead
And a harp widin my han'.'

"Another tune wuz 'Roll, Jordan Roll.' Little chillun wuz larnt to sing,
'How Sweetly do de Time Fly, When I Please my Mother,' an' us chillun
sho' would do our best a singin' dat little old song, so Preacher Cobb
would praise us.

"When I jined de church dere wuz 35 of us baptized de same day in de
crick back of de church. While Preacher Brown wuz a baptizin' us, a big
crowd wuz standin' on de bank a shoutin' an' singin', 'Dis is de healin'
Water,' an', 'Makin' for de Promise Lan! Some of 'em wuz a prayin' too.
Atter de baptizin' wuz done dey had a big dinner on de groun's for de
new members, but us didn't see no jugs dat day. Jus' had plenty of good
somethin' t'eat.

"When us warn't in school, me an' my brudder wukked in de fiel' wid pa.
In cotton plantin' time, pa fixed up de rows an' us drap de seeds in
'em. Nex' day us would rake dirt over 'em wid woode