r loom.
It was warm there in winter time. I was the baby. I heard mother say
some things I remember well.

"She said she was never sold. She said the Reaves said her children need
never worry, they would never be sold. We was Reaves from back yonder.
Mother's grandfather was a white man. She was a Reaves and her children
are mostly Reaves. She was light. Father was about, might be a little
darker than I am (mulatto). At times she worked in the field, but in
rush time. She wove all the clothes on the place. She worked at the loom
and I lay up under there all day long. Mother had three girls and five
boys.

"Mr. Reaves, we called him master, had two boys in the army. He was a
real old man. He may have had more than two but I know there was two
gone off. The white folks lived in sight of the quarters. Their house
was a big house and painted white. I've been in there. I never seen no
grand parents of mine that I was allowed to claim kin with.

"When I got up some size I was allowed to go see father. I went over to
see him sometimes. After freedom he went to where his brothers lived.
They wanted him to change his name from Reaves to Cox and he did. He
changed it from James Reaves to James Cox. But I couldn't tell you if
at one time they belong to Cox in Kentucky or if they belong to Cox in
Tennessee or if they took on a name they liked.

"I kept my name Reaves. I am a Reaves from start to finish. I was raised
by mother and she was a Reaves. Her name was Olive Reaves. Her old
mistress' name was Charlotte Reaves, old master was Edmond Reaves. Now
the boys I come to know was John, Bob; girls, Mary and Jane. There was
older children. Mother was a sensible, obedient woman. Nobody ever
treated her very wrong. She was the only one ever chastised me. They
spoiled me. We got plenty plain rations. I never seen nobody married
till after the surrender. I seen one woman chastised. I wasn't close. I
never learned what it was about. Old Master Reaves was laying it on.

"Mother moved to New Castle, Tennessee from Mr. Reaves' place. We
farmed--three of us. We had been living southeast of Boliver, Tennessee,
in Hardeman County. I think my kin folks are all dead. Father's other
children may be over in Tennessee now. Yes, I know them. Mother died
over at Palestine with me. She always lived with me. I married twice,
had one child by each wife. Both wives are dead and my children are
dead.

"Mother said I had three older brothers went to t