ps in a hole an' falls.

"De mare am crippled but I leads her back an' tries ter git away widout
anybody seein' me. Ole Amos has woked up dis time an' of course he
tells Marse Tom.

"Dat's de wust whuppin' I'se eber had, I'se tellin' yo'. Dey streaked
me all ober den dey makes me lay down, chained han' an' foot all de day
long. Dat ain't done no good do 'case I rid dem hosses eber'time I got
de chance.

"I got married ter Pheobe de year dat de war begun. She wus a slim
little brown-skinned gal what look so puny dat yo' jist natu'ally wants
ter take care of her. I ain't courted her fer long 'case de marster
gives his permission 'fore I axes fer hit. We is married 'fore de
magistrate in June 'fore de war begun.

"Near 'bout at de start of de war I wus took ter Atlanta ter he'p buil'
de fort an' dar I stays till de Yankees comes a-rippin' an' a-tarin'.
Dey shoots de fort ter pieces an' den marches in an' hangs up de ole
Stars an' Stripes.

"We had four chilluns den Pheobe died an' lef' me. Atter dis I moves
ter Star, South Carolina, an' I marries Rebecca White who also died
five years ago an' so I comed ter live wid Roberta.

"I doan know whether slavery am better er not. Most of de niggers
claims dat all of de slaves wus good, but I knows better. I done a heap
of meanness. An' once atter I done so mean an' got a whuppin' I runned
away. Comes night an' I comes back home an' de nex' day I done
somethin' er other ter git another whuppin' fer.

"Dar's dis much we ain't worried 'bout livin' den lak we does now, an'
dar's dis much fer bein' free, I has got thirteen great-gran'chilluns
an' I knows whar dey everyone am. In slavery times dey'd have been on
de block long time ago.

"I always thought a lot of Lincoln 'cause he had a heap of faith in de
nigger ter think dat he could live on nothin' at all."

EH

N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 397
Subject: MARGARET THORNTON
Person Interviewed: Margaret Thornton
Editor: G.L. Andrews

[TR: Date stamp: SEP 10 1937]

MARGARET THORNTON

An interview with Margaret Thornton, 77 years old, of Hayti, Four Oaks,
North Carolina.

"I wus borned an' raised on de plantation of Jake Thornton of Harnett
County. My mammy, Lula, my pappy, Frank, an' my brother an' sisters an'
me all wus dere slaves. De man I finally marries, Tom, am also a slave
on de plantation.

"I wus jist five years o