de points is shart. Any plow gits
broke or de point gits bungled up on de rocks it goes to de blacksmith
nigger, den we all git on down in de field.

Den de anvil start dangling in de blacksmith shop: "Tank! Deling-ding!
Tank! Deling-ding!", and dat ole bull tongue gitting straightened out!

Course you can't hear de shoemaker awling and pegging, and de card
spinners, and de old mammy sewing by hand, but maybe you can hear de
old loom going "frump, frump", and you know it all right iffen your
clothes do be wearing out, 'cause you gwine git new britches purty
soon!

We had about a hundred niggers on dat place, young and old, and about
twenty on de little place down below. We could make about every kind
of thing but coffee and gunpowder dat our whitefolks and us needed.

When we needs a hat we gits inside cornshucks and weave one out, and
makes horse collars de same way. Jest tie two little soft shucks
together and begin plaiting.

All de cloth 'cepting de Mistress' Sunday dresses come from de sheep
to de carders and de spinners and de weaver, den we dye it wid
"butternut" and hickory bark and indigo and other things and set it
wid copperas. Leather tanned on de place made de shoes, and I never
see a store boughten wagon wheel 'cepting among de stages and de
freighters along de big road.

We made purty, long back-combs out'n cow horn, and knitting needles
out'n second hickory. Split a young hickory and put in a big wedge to
prize it open, then cut it down and let it season, and you got good
bent grain for wagon hames and chair rockers and such.

It was jest like dat until I was grown, and den one day come a
neighbor man and say we in de War.

Little while young Master Frank ride over to Vicksburg and jine de
Sesesh army, but old Master jest go on lak nothing happen, and we all
don't hear nothing more until long come some Sesesh soldiers and take
most old Master's hosses and all his wagons.

I bin working on de tobacco, and when I come back to de barns
everything was gone. I would go into de woods and git good hickory and
burn it till it was all coals and put it out wid water to make hickory
charcoal for curing de tobacco. I had me some charcoal in de fire
trenches under de curing houses, all full of new tobacco, and overseer
come and say bundle all de tobacco up and he going take it to
Shreveport and sell it befo' de soldiers take it too.

After de hosses all gone and most de cattle and de cotton and de
tobacc