and eat, wid kinfolks. De niggers just lay 'round de place 'til master
rode in, after de war, on a horse; him have money and friends and git
things goin' agin. I stay on dere 'til '76. Then I come to Winnsboro and
git a job as section hand laborer on de railroad. Out of de fust
money,--(I git paid off de pay train then; company run a special pay
train out of Columbia to Charlotte. They stop at every station and pay
de hands off at de rear end of de train in cash). Well, as I was a
sayin': Out de fust money, I buys me a red shirt and dat November I
votes and de fust vote I put in de box was for Governor Wade Hampton.
Dat was de fust big thing I done.

"De nex' big thing I done was fall in love wid Mary Wylie. Dat come
'bout on de second pay day. De other nigger gals say her marry me for my
money but I never have believed it. White ladies do dat 'kalkilating'
trick sometime but you take a blue-gum nigger gal, all wool on de top of
her head and lak to dance and jig wid her foots, to pattin' and fiddle
music, her ain't gonna have money in de back of her head when her pick
out a man to marry. Her gonna want a man wid muscles on his arms and
back and I had them. Usin' dat pick and shovel on de railroad just give
me what it took to git Mary. Us had ten chillun. Some dead, some marry
and leave. My wife die year befo' last. Maggie is puny, as you see, and
us gits 'long wid de goodness of de Lord and de white folks.

"I b'longs to de St. John Methodist Church in Middlesix, part of
Winnsboro. They was havin' a rival (revival) meetin' de night of de
earthquake, last day of August, in 1886. Folks had hardly got over de
scare of 1881, 'bout de world comin' to an end. It was on Tuesday night,
if I don't disremember, 'bout 9 o'clock. De preacher was prayin', just
after de fust sermon, but him never got to de amen part of dat prayer.
Dere come a noise or rumblin', lak far off thunder, seem lak it come
from de northwest, then de church begin to rock lak a baby's cradle.
Dere was great excitement. Old Aunt Melvina holler: 'De world comin' to
de end'. De preacher say: 'Oh, Lordy', and run out of de pulpit.
Everbody run out de church in de moonlight. When de second quake come,
'bout a minute after de fust, somebody started up de cry: 'De devil
under de church! De devil under de church! De devil gwine to take de
church on his back and run away wid de church!' People never stop
runnin' 'til they got to de court house in town. Dere they 'clar