scrupulously neat. He is very independent for his age, which is
calculated at one hundred and sixteen years. He believes the figure to
be correct. His mind is amazingly clear.

"I was born an' bred in Sumpter County, Alabama, in de prairie lan', six
miles from Gainesville. Dat's where I hauled cotton. It was close to
Livingston, Alabama, where we lived.

"I was twelve years old when de stars fell. Dey fell late in de night
an' dey lighted up de whole earth. All de chaps was a-runnin' 'roun'
grabbin' for 'em, but none of us ever kotched[FN: caught] one. It's a
wonder some of' em didn' hit us, but dey didn'. Dey never hit de groun'
atall.

"When dey runned de Injuns out de country, me an' another chap kotched
one o' dem Injun's ponies an hung him up[FN: tied him up] in de grape
vines. He said it was his pony an' I said it was mine.

"Marse Bob's boy tol' us his daddy was gwine a-whup us for stealin' dat
pony, so we hid out in de cane for two nights. Marse Bob an' his brother
whupped us' til we didn' want to see no more Injuns or dey ponies,
neither.

"I was born a slave to Old Marse Jim Harper an' I fell to Marse Bob.
Marse Jim bought my pa an' ma from a man by de name o' Smith, an' Pa
kep' de name. Dat's how come I is Berry Smith.

"Dey didn' have no schools for us an' didn' teach us nothin' but work.
De bull-whip an' de paddle was all de teachin' we got. De white
preachers used to preach to de Niggers sometimes in de white folks'
church, but I didn' go much.

"We had fun in dem days in spite o' ever'thing. De pranks we used to
play on dem paterollers! Sometimes we tied ropes 'crost de bridge an' de
paterollers'd hit it an' go in de creek. Maybe we'd be fiddlin' an'
dancin' on de bridge (dat was de grown folks, but de chaps 'ud come,
too) an' dey'd say, 'Here come de paterollers!' Den we'd put out. If we
could git to de marster's house, we was all right. Marse Bob wouldn' let
no pateroller come on his place. Marse Alf wouldn', neither. Dey said it
was all right if we could git home widout bein' kotched, but we have to
take dat chance.

"At de Big House dey had spinnin' wheels an' a loom. Dey made all de
clo'es[FN: clothes] on de place. Homespun was what dey called de goods.
My ma used to spin an' weave in de loom room at de Big House.

"Dey was two plantations in de marster's lan' an' dey worked a heap o'
Niggers. I was a house boy an' didn' go to de fiel' much.

"We had overseers on de place, but dey was jus