sho' 'member when de fust gun shoot dere to Fort Sumter. Us fer uz I
c'n recollect, it wuz in June. De Yankees come t'rough dere en to my
knowin', dey 'haved very well. Jes ax my Massa fa sumptin to eat en dat
wuz aw dey done. Dere sho' wuz uh rejoicing 'mongest some uv de colored
peoples when dey tell em dey wuz free uz de white folks wuz. Some uv dem
leab dey Massa plantation jes uz soon uz dey know'd dey wuz free, but we
ne'er do dat. Jes stayed right on dere wid Mr. Gregg en work fa
one-third uv wha' dey make. Coase de white folks furnish aw de wear en
tear uv eve't'ing."

"Dey ain' ne'er hab no schools fa de colored peoples no whey 'bout whey
I stay 'fore freedom come heah. Won' long a'ter de war dat free schools
wuz open up dere. It jes lak dis, I ain' bother wid dem schools mucha
den, but I c'n read right smart. Jes ketch it uz I come 'long en wha' I
kotch, I put dat to work. I is went to one uv dese night schools dey hab
'bout heah not long gone."

"Mr. Abraham Lincoln, I ain' ne'er see him, but I know he wuz de
President uv de United States. Ain' ne'er see Mr. Jefferson Davis
neither. Dey wus oppositionalist den, I sho' know dat."

"It jes lak dis, I t'ink dis uh better day we lib in dese times. When we
b'long to de white folks, we lib, en a'ter we wuz free we lib right on.
I t'ink being free de best time to lib. Better to be loose den tied
cause don' care how good yo' owner, yuh hadder be under dey
jurisdiction. Ain' dat right?"

Source: Washington Dozier, age 90, colored, Pee Dee, Marion
Co. (Personal interview, June 1937).

Project 1885-1
Spartanburg Dist. 4
Sept. 22, 1937
Edited by:
Elmer Turnage

STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES
[~HW: Duk~]

"Vinie Wilkins is my daughter's name dat live wid me. My son owns dis
house and he keeps it up fer me and his sister. I's born on de bank of
Cherokee Creek, but I jest 'members how many years I stayed dar. Atter
Freedom had been a long time, we moved to Mr. Chesterfield Scruggs'
plantation whar we share cropped. It was on de old Spartanburg road from
here to Spartanburg.

"I was purtty good-size chile when de Ku Klux come and tried to git my
daddy. Dey whipped him; den he run off and stayed off fer over seven
years. Dem Ku Klux was in all kinds of shapes, wid horns and things on
dere heads. Dey was so scary looking dat I ain't never fergot dem. Dem's
de awfulest 'boogers' I is ever see'd befo' or since. I was in de bed
and so was Pa, but d