p to when we pull out and leave the second year of the War.

I can shet my eyes and think about it and it seem to come right up in
front of me jest like it looked. From my Pappy's cabin the Big House
was off to the west, close to the big road, and most of the fields
stretched off to the north. They was a big patch of woods off to the
east, and no much open land between us and the Chickasawhay River. Off
to the southwest a few miles was the Bucatunna Creek, and the
plantation was kind of in the forks between them, a little ways east
of Quitman, Mississippi.

Old Master's people been living at that place a mighty long time, and
most the houses and barns was old and been repaired time and time
again, but it was a mighty pretty place. The Big House was built long,
with a lot of rooms all in a row and a long porch, but it wasn't fine
like a lot of the houses we seen as we passed by when we left that
place to go to Louisiana.

Old Master didn't have any overseer hired, but him and his boys looked
after the place and had a Negro we called the driver. We-all shore
hated that old black man, but I forget his name now. That driver never
was allowed to think up nothing for the slaves to do, but jest was
told to make them work hard at what the master and his boys told them
to do. Whitefolks had to set them at a job and then old driver would
whoopity and whoopity around, and egg them and egg them until they
finish up, so they can go at something else. He worked hard hisself,
though, and set a mighty hard pattern for the rest to keep up with.
Like I say, he been taught he didn't know how to think, so he didn't
try.

Old Mistress name was Mary, and they had two daughters, Levia and
Betty. Then they had three sons. The oldest was named Bill Junior, and
he was plumb grown when I was a boy, but the other two, Jedson and
Jim, was jest a little older then me.

Old Master didn't have but two or three single Negroes, but he had
several families, and most of them was big ones. My own family was
pretty good size, but three of the children was born free. Pappy's
name was William and Mammy's was Lucy. My brother Joe was the oldest
child and then come Adeline, Harriet, and Texana and Betty before the
surrender, and then Henry, Mattie and Louisa after it.

When the War come along old Master jest didn't know what to do. He
always been taught not to raise his hand up and kill nobody--no matter
how come--and he jest kept holding out against all