on up on my
haid an' crow too. One rainy day 'fore I give him away he got in the lot
an' kilt three turkeys an' a gobbler fer my Mistess. She got mighty mad
an' I sho wuz skeered 'til Marse took mine an' Ranger's part an'
wouldn't let her do nothin' wid us."

Forty-seven years ago Uncle Henry married Annie Tiller of Hancock
County. They had four children, three of whom are living. About his
courtship and marriage he has to say: "I wuz at Sunday School one Sunday
an' saw Annie fer the fust time. I went 'round where she wuz an' wuz
made 'quainted with her an' right then an' there I said to myself,
'She's my gal'. I started goin' over to see her an' met her folks. I
liked her Pa an Ma an' I would set an' talk with them an' 'pear not to
be payin' much 'tention to Annie. I took candy an' nice things an' give
to the family, not jest to her. I stood in with the ole folks an'
't'warn't long 'fore me an' Annie wuz married." Uncle Henry said he took
Annie to Sparta to his Pastor's home for the marriage and the preacher
told him he charged three dollars for the ceremony. "But I tole him I
warnt goin' to give him but er dollar an' a half 'cause I wuz one of his
best payin' members an' he ought not to charge me no more than dat. An'
I never paid him no mo' neither, an' dat wuz er plenty."

Though he is crippled in his "feets" he is hale and hearty and manages
to work without missing a day. He is senior Steward in his church and
things there go about like he says even though he isn't a preacher. All
the members seem to look to him for "consulation an' 'couragement". In
all his long life he has "never spoke a oath if I knows it, an' I hates
cussin'." He speaks of his morning devotions as "havin' prayers wid
myself". His blessing at mealtime is the same one he learned in his
"white peoples'" home when he was a little boy:

"We humbly thank Thee, our Heavenly Father,
for what we have before us."

Uncle Henry says: "I loves white peoples an' I'm a-livin' long 'cause in
my early days dey cared fer me an' started me off right--they's my bes'
frien's."

[HW: Dist. 5
E.F. Driskell
12/30/36

JULIA RUSH, Ex-Slave
109 years old]

[TR: The beginning of each line on the original typewritten pages for
this interview is very faint, and some words have been reconstructed
from context. Questionable entries are followed by [??]; words that
could not be deciphered are indicated by [--].]

Mrs. Julia Rush was born in 1826 on