d to
ever'body, both white an' cullud. Folks didn' min' workin' for him,
'cause, he spoke kin'. But dey dassen' sass 'im. He was poor. My pappy
b'longed to his pa, Mr. John Robinson. Dat was a nice fam'ly wid sho'
'nough 'ligion. Whilst dey warnt rich, dey had learnin'.

"As a little tike I wore long slip-lak shirts. When dey sont me to town
I put on britches an' stuffed de tail o' my slip in 'em so's it pass'
for a shirt. I always lived in de Big House an' played wid de white
chillun. I sorta looked after' em. I carried 'em to school. Den whilst
dey was in school I roamed de woods a-huntin'. Sometimes I'd git a big
bag o' game, mos'ly used to feed de slaves.

"My mistis was Miss Sarah Stowers an' she teached me how to read. She
teached me how to be mannerly, too. On church days I driv'[FN: drove] de
carriage. I was proud to take my folks to meetin'. I always set in de
back pew an' heard de preachin' de same as dey did.

"De bes' times I can 'member always come 'roun' de Fourth o' July. Dat
was always de beginnin' o' camp-meetin'. Aint nothin' lak dat in dese
days.

"Ever'body what had any standin' went. Dey cooked up whole trunks full
o' good things t'eat an' driv' over to de camp groun's. De preacher had
a big pavilion covered wid sweet-gum branches an' carpeted wid sawdust.
Folks had wagons wid hay an' quilts whar de men-folks slep'. De ladies
slep' in little log houses an' dey took dey feather beds wid' em. I
always driv' de carriage for my white folks. Whilst dey was a-worshipin'
I'd slip 'roun' an' tas' out o' dey basket. Ever' day I'd eat 'til I was
ready to bus'. One day I got so sick I thought I'd pop wide open. I
crawled down to de spring an' washed my face in col' water, but I kep'
gittin' worse an' worse. Den somebody called out: 'Captain Stier, yo'
Nigger's a-dyin'!' My marster called de doctor. He sho' was shamed in
public, 'cause, he knowed pos'tive I'd been a-pilferin' in dem baskets.
Dem sho' was good old days. I'd love to live' em over ag'in.

"Us slaves mos'ly sung hymns an' sa'ms.[TR: footnote indicated but none
found] But I' member one song' bout a frog pond an' one 'bout 'Jump, Mr.
Toad.' I's too wordless to sing 'em now, but dey was funny. Us danced
plenty, too. Some o' de men clogged an' pidgeoned, but when us had
dances dey was real cotillions, lak de white folks had. Dey was always
a fiddler an', on Chris'mus an' other holidays, de slaves was' lowed to'
vite dey sweethearts from other plan