lots of de
other masters went; de servants wuz sent along to wait on de young white
men. Guess you'd like to know if any were killed. 'I should smile,' two
I know were killed.

"During those days for medicine, the old people used such things as
butterfly root and butterfly tea, sage tea, red oak bark,
hippecat--something that grow--was used for fevers and bathing children.
They wuz white doctors and plenty of colored grannies.

"When de Yankees came they acted diffunt and was naturally better to
servants than our masters had been; we colored folks done the best we
could but that was not so good right after freedom. Still it growed on
and growed on getting better.

"Before freedom we always went to white churches on Sundays with passes
but they never mentioned God; they always told us to be "good niggers
and mind our missus and masters".

"Judge Williams had ten or twelve heads of children but I can' 'member
the names of 'em now; his wife was called Mis' 'Manda and she was jes'
'bout lak Marse Williams. I had 'bout eighteen head of boys and five
girls myself; dere was so many, I can' 'member all of dem."

Mr. Gantling was asked to relate some incidents that he could remember
of the lives of slaves, and he continued:

"Well the horn would blow every morning for you to git up and go right
to work; when the sun ris' if you were not in the field working, you
would be whipped with whips and leather strops. I 'member Aunt Beaty was
beat until she could hardly get along but I can' 'member what for but do
you know she had to work along till she got better. My ma had to work
pretty hard but my oldest sister, Judy, was too young to work much.

"A heap of de slaves would run away and hide in de woods to keep from
working so hard but the white folks to keep them from running away so
that they could not ketch 'em would put a chain around the neck which
would hang down the back and be fastened on to another 'round the waist
and another 'round the feet so they could not run, still they had to
work and sleep in 'em, too; sometimes they would wear these chains for
three or four months.

"When a slave would die they had wooden boxes to put 'em in and dug
holes and just put then in. A slave might go to a sister or brother's
funeral.

"My recollection is very bad and so much is forgotten, but I have seen
slaves sold in droves like cows; they called 'em 'ruffigees,' and white
men wuz drivin' 'em like hogs and cows for sale. Mothe