n' the Yankees goin' by.
I was a little bit of a girl and Betsy Hardy, that was old Miss, she
kep' the Yankees from gettin' me. She told me many a time if it hadn't
been for her I'd a had my brains beat out against a tree. When I didn't
do to suit her, she'd tell me bout dat. I stayed right in the house.

"I member when they was lookin' for Johnson's brigade and when they saw
it was the Yankees they just flew. The Yankees was goin' through there
doin' what they wanted.

"I never got no further than the third grade."

FOLKLORE SUBJECTS

El Dorado District
Name of interviewer: Mildred Thompson & Carol Graham.
Subject: Uncle Jack Island--Ex-Slave.
Story--Information (If not enough space on this page add page)

"Yas'm ah membuhs a lil'l bit bout slavery days. Ah wuz jes a chap den.
Ah'm 73 now. Ah wuz such a chap dat ah didn' do much work. Day use tuh
cook on de fiuh place an ah'd tote in bark an wood fuh em tuh cook wid
an git up de aigs (eggs) an sich li'l things as dat.

"Mah ole marster was Marse Bullock an we lived in de Lisbon community.

"Mistress' baby chile wuz a boy an he wuz jes six months olduh dan ah
wuz. Ah wuz de only boy chile in de whole business uv slaves. Evah
evenin bout a hour by de sun dey would feed us an by sundown we bettuh
be in baid. Dat wuz tuh git us outn de way when de grown fokes come in.
Dey wuz six uv us chillun an dey would feed us in a big wooden tray.
Dey'd po' hot pot liquor in de tray an crumble braid in hit. Den dey'd
give us each a spoon an we would all git roun an eat. Dere wuz Lizzie,
Nancy, Sistuh Julia, Sistuh Lu and Martha. Der wuz six uv us. Aftuh dey
fed us we would go tuh baid an tuh sleep. Dey had ole fashion wheels.
Some nights de women would spin. We wouldn' heah dem when dey come in
but when dat ole wheel started tuh goin hit'd wake me up an ah'd lie der
a while an watch em spin den ah'd go tuh sleep ergin, an leave em
spinnin'. Sometimes we wouldn' see our mamas fum Sunday night till next
Sunday mornin. Mah mistress wove cloth. Bout de biggest thing ah done
wuz help huh wid huh weavin. Ah would pick up de shickle (shuttle) an
run hit through fuh huh. Dat bout de biggest thing ah'd do sides feedin
the chickens an bringin in bark. In dem days wuznt no buckets much. We
used hand gourds dat would hold two or three gallons uv watuh. An ah'd
carry one uv dem gourds uv watuh tuh de fiel' tuh em while day was
pickin cotton. One yeah de cotton worms wuz s