s always lookin' fur some of dere people. Dat wus dere scuse. Dey
wus at big shindigs de southern white folks had 'fore de war.

"Mammy an' dad dey said de niggers would git in de slave quarters at
night an' pray fer freedom an' laf 'bout what de Yankees wus doin'
'bout Lincoln an' Grant foolin' deir marsters so.

"Ole Jeff Davis said he wus goin' to fight de Yankees till hell wus so
full of 'em dat dere legs wus hangin' over de sides, but when dey got
'im in a close place he dres in 'omans clothes an' tried to git away
frum 'em but dey seed his boots when he started to git in dat thing dey
rode in den, a carriage. Yes dats what it wus a carriage. Dey seed his
boots an' knowed who it wus. Dey jus laffed an' pointed at 'im an' said
you hol' on dere we got you, we knows who you is an' den dey took 'im.
He wus mighty brave till dey got 'im in a close place den he quit
barkin' so loud. Mammy an' dad dey said dere wus a lot of de white
folks didn't keer much 'bout Jeff Davis. Dey said he wus jus de
bragginest man in de worl', always a-blowin'. Dat bird flew mighty high
but he had to come back to de groun' an' course when he lit de Yankees
wus waitin' for 'im an' ketched 'im.

"I wus born May 2nd, two years after de surrender. I is 70 years old.
My mammy belonged to Autsy Pool. When he died she fell to his son Billy
Pool. There wus six of the chillun, an' they wus given out to the Pool
chillun. Dey went like lan' does now; dey went to de heirs. Ole man
Autsy loved likker so good he would steal it from hisself. He'd take a
drink an' den blow his breath an' keep wife from smellin' it."

[HW margin: (following paragraph) to p. 7]

"My uncle, Parker Pool, tole me de Yankees made a slave of him. His
Marster wus so good to him he wus as happy as he could be 'fore de
Yankees come.

"I wus born on the Harper Whitaker place near Swift Creek. Simon
Yellady wus my father. He wus born in Mississippi an' he belonged to
Dr. Yelladay.

"My father an' his brothers run away an' went to de Yankees. I heard
daddy tell 'bout it. He got sick an' dey shipped him back home to North
Carolina. Dey shifted niggers from place to place to keep de Yankees
frum takin' 'em. When dere got to be too many Yankees in a place de
slaves wus sent out to keep' em from bein' set free.

"Mother said onct when she wus carrying the cows to de pasture dey
looked down de railroad an' everything wus blue. A nigger girl by the
name of Susan wus with her. My mothe