ite
folks is always a-comin' out here. Dey is good to me. Dey is one right
pert Nigger woman what lives down de road a-piece. Her name is Katie,
an' I goes down dere when I gits tired o' eatin' my own cookin'. She
sets a plumb good table, too."

NETTIE HENRY
Meridian, Mississippi

Nettie Henry, ex-slave, 19th Street, Meridian, Lauderdale County, is 82
years old. She is five feet tall and weighs one hundred pounds.

"De Chil's place was at Livingston, Alabama, on Alamucha Creek. Dat's
where I was born, but I jus' did git borned good when Miss Lizzie--she
was Marse Chil's girl--married Marse John C. Higgins an' moved to
Mer-ree-dian. Me an' my mammy an' my two sisters, Liza an' Tempe, was
give to Miss Lizzie.

"I aint no country Nigger; I was raised in town. My mammy cooked an'
washed an' ironed an' done ever'thing for Miss Lizzie. She live right
where Miss Annie--she was Miss Lizzie's daughter--live now. But den de
house face Eighth Street 'stead o' Seventh Street, lak it do now. Day
warnt any other houses in dat block. 'Fore de Surrender, dey turnt de
house to face Seventh Street 'cause de town was growin' an' a heap o'
folks was buildin' houses. I tell you somp'in' 'bout Seventh Street in a
minute. Couldn' nobody dat lived in Mer-ree-dian right after de
Surrender ever forgit Seventh Street an' where it head to.

"My pappy didn' go wid us to Mer-ree-dian. He b'longed to one set o'
white people, you see, an' my mammy b'longed to another. He'd come to
see us till de War started, den his folks jus' kinda went to Texas. I
don' know why zackly 'cep' maybe it warnt so healthy for 'em 'roun'
Livingston. Dey didn' go to de War or nothin'. I 'spec' nice white folks
talked 'bout 'em an' wouldn' have nothin' to do wid 'em. So dey took an'
went to Texas an' took my pappy wid 'em. But after de War he come back
to us, walked mos' all de way frum Texas. He rented some lan' frum Mr.
Ragsdale. My pappy built us a shack on dat lan'. It's tore down now, but
it was built good. Us all he'ped. I pulled a cross-cut saw an' toted de
boards up on de roof on a ladder. De chimley was built out o' mud an'
rocks. Den us moved in an' started growin' us somp'in t'eat. Us didn'
have no horse an' plow; Yankees done carried off all de horses an' mules
an' burnt up ever'dthing lak plows. Us dug up de groun' wide a grubbin'
hoe an' raised pun-kins an' plenty o' chickens an' ever'thing.

"Us lived nice. My people was smart. My white people w