ames, for like my mammy he
was sold lots of times.

Salina was my mammy's name, and she belonged to a Mister Clark, who
sold her and pappy to Mark Lowery 'cause she was a fighting,
mule-headed woman.

It wasn't her fault 'cause she was a fighter. The master who owned her
before Mister Clark was one of them white mens who was always whipping
and beating his slaves and mammy couldn't stand it no more.

That's the way she tells me about it. She just figgured she would be
better off dead and out of her misery as to be whipped all the time,
so one day the master claimed they was something wrong with her work
and started to raise his whip, but mammy fought back and when the
ruckus was over the Master was laying still on the ground and folks
thought he was dead, he got such a heavy beating.

Mammy says he don't die and right after that she was sold to Mister
Clark I been telling you about. And mammy was full of misery for a
long time after she was carried to Mark Lowery's plantation where at
I was born during of the War.

She had two children while belonging to Mister Clark and he wouldn't
let them go with mammy and pappy. That's what caused her misery. Pappy
tried to ease her mind but she jest kept a'crying for her babies, Ann
and Reuban, till Mister Lowery got Clark to leave them visit with her
once a month.

Mammy always says that Mark Lowery was a good master. But he'd heard
things about mammy before he got her and I reckon was curious to know
if they was all true. Mammy says he found out mighty quick they was.

It was mammy's second day on the plantation and Mark Lowery acted like
he was going to whip her for something she'd done or hadn't, but mammy
knocked him plumb through the open cellar door. He wasn't hurt, not
even mad for mammy says he climbed out the cellar a'laughing, saying
he was only fooling to see if she would fight.

But mammy's troubles wasn't over then, for Mark Lowery he got himself
a new young wife (his first wife was dead), and mammy was round of the
house most of the time after that.

Right away they had trouble. The Mistress was trying to make mammy
hurry up with the work and she hit mammy with the broom stick. Mammy's
mule temper boiled up all over the kitchen and the Master had to stop
the fighting.

He wouldn't whip mammy for her part in the trouble, so the Mistress
she sent word to her father and brothers and they come to Mister
Lowery's place.

They was going to whip mammy, they w