hirts in
summertime, but come winter evvybody had good warm clothes made out of
wool off of Marse Gerald's own sheep, and boys, even little tiny boys,
had britches in winter.

"Did you ever see folks shear sheep, Child? Well, it was a sight in dem
days. Marster would tie a sheep on de scaffold, what he had done built
for dat job, and den he would have me set on de sheep's head whilst he
cut off de wool. He sont it to de factory to have it carded into bats
and us chillun spun de thread at home and mammy and Mistess wove it into
cloth for our winter clothes. Nobody warn't fixed up better on church
days dan Marster's Niggers and he was sho proud of dat.

"Us went to church wid our white folks 'cause dere warn't no colored
churches dem days. None of de churches 'round our part of de country had
meetin' evvy Sunday, so us went to three diffunt meetin' houses. On de
fust Sunday us went to Captain Crick Baptist church, to Sandy Crick
Presbyterian church on second Sundays, and on third Sundays meetin' was
at Antioch Methodist church whar Marster and Mistess was members. Dey
put me under de watchkeer of deir church when I was a mighty little gal,
'cause my white folks sho b'lieved in de church and in livin' for God;
de larnin' dat dem two good old folks gimme is done stayed right wid me
all through life, so far, and I aims to live by it to de end. I didn't
sho 'nough jine up wid no church 'til I was done growed up and had left
Marse Gerald; den I jined de Cedar Grove Baptist church and was baptized
dar, and dar's whar I b'longs yit.

"Marster was too old to wuk when dey sot us free, so for a long time us
jus' stayed dar and run his place for him. I never seed none of dem
Yankee sojers but one time. Marster was off in Jefferson and while I was
down at de washplace I seed 'bout 12 men come ridin' over de hill. I was
sho skeered and when I run and told Mistess she made us all come inside
her house and lock all de doors. Dem Yankee mens jus' rode on through
our yard down to de river and stayed dar a little while; den dey turned
around and rid back through our yard and on down de big road, and us
never seed 'em no more.

"Soon atter dey was sot free Niggers started up churches of dey own and
it was some sight to see and hear 'em on meetin' days. Dey would go in
big crowds and sometimes dey would go to meetin's a fur piece off. Dey
was all fixed up in deir Sunday clothes and dey walked barfoots wid deir
shoes acrost deir shoulders