6
693 Meigs Street
Athens, Georgia

Written by:
Miss Grace McCune
Athens

Edited by:
Mrs. Sarah H. Hall
Athens

and
John N. Booth
District Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Residencies 6 & 7
Augusta, Georgia

Julia's small three-room cottage is a servant house at the rear of a
white family's residence. A gate through an old-fashioned picket fence
led into a spacious yard where dense shade from tall pecan trees was
particularly inviting after a long walk in the sweltering heat.

An aged mulatto woman was seated on the narrow porch. Her straight white
hair was arranged in braids, and her faded print dress and enormous
checked apron were clean and carefully patched. A pair of dark colored
tennis shoes completed her costume. She arose, tall and erect, to greet
her visitor. "Yessum, dis here's Julia Larken," she said with a friendly
smile. "Come right in, Chile, and set here and rest on my nice cool
porch. I knows you's tired plumb out. You shouldn't be out walkin'
'round in dis hot sun--It ain't good for you. It'll make you have brain
fever 'fore you knows it."

When asked for the story of her life, Julia replied: "Lordy, Chile, did
you do all dis walkin', hot as it is today, jus' to hear dis old Nigger
talk? Well, jus' let me tell you, dem days back yonder 'fore de war was
de happiest time of my whole life.

"I don't know much 'bout slavery, 'cause I was jus' a little gal when de
war ended. I was borned in war times on Marse Payton Sails' plantation,
way off down in Lincoln County. My Ma was borned and bred right dar on
dat same place. Marster bought my Daddy and his Mammy from Captain
LeMars, and dey tuk de name of Sails atter dey come to live on his
place. Mammy's name was Betsy Sails and Daddy was named Sam'l. Dey was
married soon atter Marster fetched Daddy dar.

"Dere ain't no tellin' how big Marster's old plantation was. His house
set right on top of a high hill. His plantation road circled 'round dat
hill two or three times gittin' from de big road to de top of de hill.
Dere was a great deep well in de yard whar dey got de water for de big
house. Marster's room was upstairs and had steps on de outside dat come
down into de yard. On one side of his house was a fine apple orchard, so
big dat it went all de way down de hill to de big road.

"On de other side of de house was a large gyarden whar us raised
evvything in de way of good veg'tables; dere was beans, corn, peas,
turnips, collards, 'tate