my ma an ev'y body come out
in the front yard to see 'em. The Yankees stopped an the leading man
with the straps on his shoulders talked to us an de men got water outen
de well. No'm, they didn't take nothing an they hurt nothing. After a
while they jes went on down the road; they sho looked hot an dusty an
tired.

"After de war wuz over my pa, he comed up to our house an got my ma an
all us chillen an carries us down to his marster's place. I didn't want
ter go cause I loved my mistis an she cried when we left. My pa's ole
marster let him have some land to work on shares. My pa wuz a hard
worker an we helped him an in a few years he bought a little piece of
land an he owned it till he died. 'Bout once er twice a year we'd all go
back ter see our mistis. She wuz always glad to see us an treated us
fine.

"After de war a white woman started a school fer nigger chillen an my pa
sent us. This white lady wuz a ole maid an wuz mighty poor. She an her
ma lived by dereselves, I reckon her pa had done got kilt in de war. I
don't know 'bout that but I knows they wuz mighty poor an my pa paid her
fer teaching us in things to eat from his farm. We didn't never have no
money. I loved to go to school; I had a blue back speller an I learned
real quick but we didn't get ter go all the time. When there wuz work
ter do on the farm we had ter stop an do it.

"Times warn't no better after de war wuz over an dey warnt no wuss. We
wuz po before de war an we wuz po after de war. But we allus had somep'n
to wear and plenty to eat an we never had no kick coming.

"I never did get married. I'se a old maid nigger, an they tells me you
don't see old maid niggers. How come I ain't married I don't know. Seems
like when I was young I seed somep'n wrong with all de mens that would
come around. Then atter while I wuz kinder ole an they didn't come
around no mo. Jes' last week a man come by here what used to co't me. He
seed me settin here on the porch an I says 'Come on in an set a while',
an he did. So maybe, I ain't through co'tin, maybe I'll get married
yet." Here she laughed gleefully.

When asked which she preferred freedom or slavery she replied, "Well,
being free wuz all right while I wuz young but now I'm old an I wish I
b'longed to somebody cause they would take keer of me an now I ain't got
nobody to take keer of me. The government gives me eight dollars a month
but that don't go fer enough. I has er hard time cause I can't git
around