he
table like that. Den when ev'ry body wuz might nigh 'zausted, they
stopped an' et a big barbecue dinner. Us use ter work hard to git laid
by by de Fo'th so's we could celebrate. It sho' wuz a happy time on our
plantations an' the white peoples enjoyed it as much as us niggers did.

"Us use ter have good times over there in Hancock County", continued
Uncle Henry. Ev'rybody wuz so good an' kind ter one 'nother; 't'ain't
like that now--no mam, not lak it use ter be. Why I 'members onst, when
I fust growed up an' wuz farmin' fer myself, I got sick way long up in
the Spring, an' my crop wuz et up in grass when one evenin' Mr.
Harris--(he wuz overseein' fer Mr. Treadwell over on the next plantation
to the Alfriends)--come by. I wuz out in the field tryin' ter scratch
'round as best I could, Mr. Harris say: 'Brit, you in de grass mighty
bad.' I say: 'Yassir, I is, but I been sick an' couldn't hep' myself,
that's how come I so behind.' He say: 'Look lak you needs hep'.'
'Yassir,' I says, 'but I ain't got nobody to work but me.' Dat's all he
said. Well sir, the nex' mornin' by times over comes Mr. Harris wid six
plows an' eight hoe han's an' they give me a whole day's work an' when
they finished that evenin' they want a sprig of grass in my crop; it wuz
clean as this floor, an' I'se tellin' yer the truth. Dat's the way
peoples use ter do, but not no mo'--everybody too selfish now, an' they
think ain't nobody got responsibilits (responsibilities) but them."

Speaking of his early life Uncle Henry continued: "When I growed up I
broke race horses fer white mens an' raced horses too, had rooster
fights an' done all them kind o' things, but I 'sought 'ligion an' found
it an' frum that day to this I ain't never done them things no mo'. When
I jined the Church I had a Game rooster named 'Ranger' that I had won
ev'ry fight that I had matched him in. Peoples come miles ter see Ranger
fight; he wuz a Warhorse Game. After I come to be a member of the Church
I quit fightin' Ranger so Mr. Sykes come over an' axed me what I would
take fer him, I told him he could have him--I warn't goin' to fight wid
him any mo'. He took him an' went over three states, winnin' ev'ry fight
he entered him in an' come home wid fifteen hundred dollars he made on
Ranger. He give me fifty dollars, but I never wanted him back. Ranger
wuz a pet an' I could do anything wid 'im. I'd hold out my arm an' tell
him to come up an' he'd fly up on my arm an' crow. He'd get