he never
asked her about buying or selling land. Her pappy was richer than his
pappy, and she was sure quality!

My pappy's name was Anthony, and mammy's name was Chanie. He was the
blacksmith and fixed the wagons, but he couldn't read and figger like
uncle John. Mammy was the head house woman but didn't know any letters
either.

They was both black like me. Old man Isley, where they come from, had
lots of niggers, but I don't think they was off the boat.

You can set the letters up and I can't tell them, but you can't fool
me with the figgers, 'less they are mighty big numbers.

Master Levi had three sons and no daughters. The oldest son was
Simeon. He was in the Sesesh army. The other two boys was too young. I
can't remember their names. They was a lot younger and I was grown and
out befo' they got big.

Old Master was a fine Christian but he like his juleps anyways. He let
us niggers have preachings and prayers, and would give us a parole to
go 10 or 15 miles to a camp meeting and stay two or three days with
nobody but Uncle John to stand for us. Mostly we had white preachers,
but when we had a black preacher that was Heaven.

We didn't have no voodoo women nor conjure folks at our 20 acres. We
all knowed about the Word and the unseen Son of God and we didn't put
no stock in conjure.

Course we had luck charms and good and bad signs, but everybody got
dem things even nowadays. My boy had a white officer in the Big War
and he tells me that man had a li'l old doll tied around his wrist on
a gold chain.

We used herbs and roots for common ailments, like sassafras and
boneset and peach tree poultices and coon root tea, but when a nigger
got bad sick Old Master sent for a white doctor. I remember that old
doctor. He lived in Greenville and he had to come 18 miles in a buggy.

When he give some nigger medicine he would be afraid the nigger was
like lots of them that believed in conjure, and he would say, "If you
don't take that medicine like I tell you and I have to come back here
to see you I going to break your dam black neck next time I come out
here!"

When it was bad weather sometime the black boy sent after him had to
carry a lantern to show him the way back. If that nigger on his mule
got too fur ahead so old doctor couldn't see de light he sho' catch de
devil from that old doctor and from old Master, too, less'n he was one
of old Missy's house niggers, and then old Master jest grumble to
satisfy the