d had eighteen chilluns by three wives.
Each of my wives died befo' I married agin. I didn't separate from any.
My mother's father lived wid Marse Lake. He and his wife come from
Virginia.

"I was a boy in slavery and worked and piddled round de house. Sometimes
I had to work de corn or in de garden. We had plenty to eat. As de old
saying is, 'We lived at home and boarded at de same place.' We raised
everything we had to eat, vegetables, hogs, cows and de like. Marster
had a big garden, but he didn't let his slaves have any garden of deir
own. We made all our clothes, homespun. My mother used to spin at night
and work out all day; lots of niggers had to do dat.

"Marse Lake was good to his niggers, but he had to whip dem sometimes,
when dey was mean. He had six or eight slaves, some on de upper place
and some on de home place. We got up at daylight and worked all day,
except for dinner lunch, till it was sundown.

"We never worked at night in de fields. Sometimes Marse would have
corn-shuckings and de neighbors would come in and help catch up wid
shucking de corn; den dey would have something to eat. De young folks
would come, too, and help, and dey would dance and frolic.

"I didn't learn to read and write. Marse never said anything about it.
My sister learned when some of de white women school teachers boarded at
Marse Lake's house. De teachers learn't my sister when she was de maid
of de house, and she could read and write good. Didn't have a school or
church on de plantation. Atter de war, some of de niggers started a
brush arbor. Befo' de war, some of us niggers had to come to town wid de
white folks and go to deir church and set in de gallery.

"De patrollers was sometimes mean. If dey catch'd a nigger away from
home widout a pass dey sho whipped him, but dey never got any of us. Dey
come to our house once, but didn't git anybody.

"We had to work all day Saturdays, but not Sundays. Sometimes de fellows
would slip off and hunt or fish a little on Sunday. Women would do
washing on Saturday nights, or other nights. We had three days holiday
when Christmas come, and we had plenty good things to eat, but we had to
cook it ourselves. De marster would give de chillun little pieces of
candy.

"Chillun had games like marbles and anti-over. Dey played anti-over by a
crowd gitting on each side of de house and throwing a ball from one side
to de other. Whoever got de ball would run around on de other side and
hit som