e
refused to allow him to whip her he never tried to whip any of the
others. Jennie Kendricks' husband, who was also a slave, once told her
his master was so mean that he often whipped his slaves until blood ran
in their shoes.

There was a group of men, known as the "Patter-Rollers", whose duty it
was to see that slaves were not allowed to leave their individual
plantations without passes which [HW: they] were supposed to receive
from their masters. "A heap of them got whippings for being caught off
without these passes," she stated, adding that "sometimes a few of them
were fortunate enough to escape from the Patter-Rollers". She knew of
one boy who, after having outrun the "Patter-Rollers", proceeded to make
fun of them after he was safe behind his master's fence. Another man
whom the Patter-Rollers had pursued any number of times but who had
always managed to escape, was finally caught one day and told to pray
before he was given his whipping. As he obeyed he noticed that he was
not being closely observed, whereupon he made a break that resulted in
his escape from them again.

The treatment on some of the other plantations was so severe that slaves
often ran away, Jennie Kendricks told of one man [HW: who was] [TR:
"being" crossed out] lashed [HW: and who] ran away but was finally
caught. When his master brought him back he was locked in a room until
he could be punished. When the master finally came to administer the
whipping, Lash had cut his own throat in a last effort to secure his
freedom. He was not successful; his life was saved by quick action on
the part of his master. Sometime later after rough handling Lash finally
killed his master [HW: and] was burned at the stake for this crime.

Other slaves were more successful at escape, some being able to remain
away for as long as three years at a time. At nights, they slipped to
the plantation where they stole hogs and other food. Their shelters were
usually caves, some times holes dug in the ground. Whenever they were
caught, they were severely whipped.

A slave might secure his freedom without running away. This is true in
the case of Jennie Kendricks' grandfather who, after hiring his time out
for a number of years, was able to save enough money with which to
purchase himself from his master.

Jennie Kendricks remembers very little of the talk between her master
and mistress concerning the war. She does remember being taken to see
the Confederate soldier