, they would follow him one by one.
Right After the War
"Right after the War, my people farmed on shares. We had a place we
leased on the Hudson place that we stayed on. We leased it for five
years but we stayed there seven or maybe eleven years. When we left
there we bought a place of our own. On the Hudson place we cleared up
about thirty acres of land and 'tended it as long as we stayed there. We
put out a lot of fruit trees on it. Had lots of peaches, and plums, and
quinces--do you know what quinces are?--and danvils (these danvil plums
you know). They are kinda purple looking fruit made in the shape of a
prune. They are about two inches through--jus' about half as big as your
fist.
"When we moved to our own place, we stayed in the same county. It was
just about three-fourths of a mile from the Hudson place--west of it.
Moving to Arkansas
"I came to Arkansas with the intention of going to school. But I jus'
messed myself up. Instead of goin' to school, I went and got married.
I was out here just one year before I got married. I married the first
time in 1887--February fourteenth, I think. My first wife taken sick
with rheumatism and she died in 1908. We were married thirty-one years.
I married again about 1913.
Vocational Experiences
"When I was able to work, I worked in the railroad shops--boiler maker's
helper. Before that I farmed and did other things. Went from trackman to
machinist's helper and boilermaker's helper.
Opinions
"Young folks Just need the right handlin'.
"I don't mix in politics."
Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson
Person interviewed: Mary Tabon, Forrest City, Arkansas
Age: 67
"Pa was sold twice to my knowing. He was sold to McCoy, then to
Alexander. He was Virginian. Then he was carried to Alabama and brought
to Holly Grove by the Mayos. I have wore four names, Alexander, Adams,
Morgan, and Tabon.
"My mother's owners was Ellis from Alabama. She said she was sold from
the Scales to Ellis. Her father, sister, and two brothers was sold from
Ellis. She never seen them no more. They found Uncle Charles Ellis dead
in the field. They never knowed how it come.
"My parents had hard times during slavery. Ma had a big scar on her
shoulder where the overseer struck her with a whoop. She was chopping
cotton. She either wasn't doing to suit him or wasn't getting along fast
enough to suit him.
"Ma had so many little ones to raise she give me to Nancy Bennett. I
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