their mammies away after they was sold.

"De overseer was poor white folks, if dats what you is askin' 'bout,
and dat is one thing dat made him so hard on de slaves of de plantation.
All de overseers I knowed 'bout was poor white folks; they was white
folks in de neighborhood dat wasn't able to own slaves. All dis class of
people was called by us niggers, poor white folks.

"Us slaves had no schoolin', 'cause dere was no teacher and school nigh
our plantation. I has learnt to read a little since I got grown.
Spelling come to me natural. I can spell 'most any word I hears, old as
I is.

"Marster and mistress was Baptist in 'ligious faith, and b'long to
Concord Baptist Church. Us slaves was allowed to 'tend dat church, too.
Us set up in de gallery and jined in de singin' every Sunday. Us slaves
could jine Concord Church but Doctor Durham, who was de preacher, would
take de slaves in another room from de white folks, and git their
'fessions, then he would jine them to de church.

"My daddy was a slave on Reuben Boulware's plantation, 'bout two miles
from Marster Hunter's place. He would git a pass to come to see mammy
once every week. If he come more than dat he would have to skeedaddle
through de woods and fields from de patrollers. If they ketched him
widout a pass, he was sho' in for a skin crackin' whippin'. He knowed
all dat but he would slip to see mammy anyhow, whippin' or not.

"Most them there patrollers was poor white folks, I believes. Rich folks
stay in their house at night, 'less they has some sort of big frolic
amongst theirselves. Poor white folks had to hustle 'round to make a
living, so, they hired out theirselves to slave owners and rode de roads
at night and whipped niggers if they ketched any off their plantation
widout a pass. I has found dat if you gives to some poor folks, white
or black, something a little better than they is used to, they is sho'
gwine to think too high of theirselves soon, dats right. I sho' believes
dat, as much as I believes I's setting in dis chair talkin' to you.

"I 'members lak yesterday, de Yankees comin' 'long. Marster tried to
hide the best stuff on de plantation but some of de slaves dat helped
him hide it, showed de Yankee soldiers just where it was, when they come
dere. They say: 'Here is de stuff, hid here, 'cause us put it dere.'
Then de soldiers went straight to de place where de valuables was hid
and dug them out and took them, it sho' set old marster down. U