qual. Just equal for to work and earn our own
living and not depend on him for no more meats and clother." [TR: clothes?]

Food was scarce before the War; it was worse after the shooting and
killing was over, and Uncle George says: "There wasn't no corn bread,
no bacon--just trash eating trash, like when General Sherman marched
down through the country taking everything the soldiers could lug
away, and burning all along the way.

"Wasn't nothing to eat after he march by. Darkies search 'round the
barns, maybe find some grains of corn in the manure, and they'd parch
the grains--nothing else to eat, except sometimes at night Mammy would
skit out and steal scraps from the Master's house for the children.

"She had lots of hungry mouths, too. They was seven of us then, six
boys and a girl, Eliza. The boys was Wesley, Simeon, Moses, Peter,
William and me, George. This pappy's name was Griffin.

"But they was other pappys (Mammy told him) when Eva was born long
before any of us, and Laura come next, but from a white daddy. Mammy
lost them when she was sold around on the markets.

"The Klan they done lots of riding round the country. One night the
come down to the old slave quarters where the cabins is all squared
round each other, and called everybody outdoors. They's looking for
two women.

"They picks 'em out of the crowd right quick and say they been with
white men. Says their children is by white men, and they're going to
get whipped so's they'll remember to stay with their own kind. The
women kick and scream, but the mens grab them and roll them over a
barrel and let fly with the whip."

It was a long time after the Civil War that Uncle George got his first
schooling or attended regular church meetings. Like he says:

"Getting up at four o'clock in the morning, hoeing in the fields all
day, doing chores when they come in from the fields, and then piddling
with the weaver 'til nine or ten every night--it just didn't leave no
time for reading and such, even if we was allowed to."

And religion, that came later too, for during the old plantation days
Uncle George's white folks didn't think a Negro needed religion--there
wasn't a Heaven for Negroes anyhow.

Finally, though, the Master gave them right to hold meetings on the
plantation, and old Peter Coon was the preacher. The overseer was
there with guards to keep the Negroes from getting too much riled up
when old Peter started talking about Paul or some of the t