blow dat 'konk' fer Old
Missus but oh! it tuk my wind.

"Marse Murry would 'low me to drive his team when he would go to market.
I could haul de cotton to Covin'ton an' bring back whut was to eat, an'
all de oxen could pull was put on dat wagon. We allus had good eatin
afte' we had been to market.

"Every Chris'mus would come I got a apple an' some candy an' mammy would
cook cake an' pies fer Old Missus an' stack dem on de shelf in de big
kitchen an' we had every thing good to eat. Dem people sho' was good an'
kind to all niggers.

"Afte de war de times was hard an' de white an' black people was
fightin' over who was to git de big office, an' den dere was mighty
leetle to eat. Dar was plen'y whiskey, but I'se kep' 'way frum all dat.
I was raised right. Old Missus taught me ter 'spect white folks an' some
of dem promised me land but I niver got it. All de land I'se ever got I
work mighty hard fer it an' I'se got it yit.

"One day afte' Mr. Gatlin said he couldn' pay me I run 'way an' went to
New Orleans an' got a job haulin' cotton, an' made my 50 cents an'
dinner every day. I sho' had me plen'y money den. I stayed dere mighty
close on to fo' years an' den I went to Tylertown an' hauled cotton to
de railroad fer Mr. Ben Lampton. Mr. Lampton said I was de bes' driver
of his team he ever had caze I kep' his team fat.

"Afte I come back to Miss'ssippi I mar'ied a woman named Maggie Ransom.
We stayed together 51 years. I niver hit her but one time. When we was
gittin' mar'ied I stopped de preacher right in de ceremony an' said to
her, 'Maggie, iffen you niver call me a liar I will niver call you one'
an' she said, 'Jim, I won't call you a liar.' I said, 'That's a bargain'
an' den de preacher went on wid de weddin'. Well, one day afte' we had
been mar'ied' bout fo' years, she ast[FN: asked] me how come I was so
late comin' to supper, an' I said I found some work to do fer a white
lady, an' she said, that's a lie,' an' right den I raised my han' an'
let her have it right by de side of de head, an' she niver called me a
liar ag'in. No ma'm, dat is somethin' I won't stand fer.

"My old lady had seven chulluns dat lived to git grown. Two of 'em lived
here in Magnolia an' de others gone North. Maggie is daid an' I live wid
my boy Walter an' his wife Lena. Dey is mighty good to me. I owns dis
here house an' fo' acres but day live wid me an' I gits a Confed'rate
pension of fo' dollars a month. Dat gives me my coffee an' 'bacc