3 years old now and was born in Tennessee. We went to Pittsburg,
Kansas, and lived from 1907 to 1913 when we come to Tulsa.

Young Master's children writ to me once in a while and telled me how
dey gitting 'long up to about twenty year ago, and den I never heard
no more about 'em. I never had no children, and it look lak my wife
going outlive me, so my mainest hope when I goes on is seeing Mammy
and Pappy and old Master. Old overseer, I speck, was too devilish mean
to be thar!

'Course I loves my Lord Jesus same as anybody, but you see I never
hear much about Him until I was grown, and it seem lak you got to hear
about religion when you little to soak it up and put much by it.
Nobody could read de Bible when I was a boy, and dey wasn't no white
preachers talked to de niggers. We had meeting sometimes, but de
nigger preacher jest talk about bein a good nigger and "doing to
please de Master," and I allus thought he meant to please old Master,
and I allus wanted to do dat anyways.

So dat de reason I allus remember de time old Master pass on.

It was about two years after de War, and old Master been mighty porely
all de time. One day we was working in de Bumpus field and a nigger
come on a mule and say old Mistress like to have us go over to de old
place 'cause old Master mighty low and calling mine and Pappy's and
Mammy's name. Old man Bumpus say go right ahead.

When we git to de Big House old Master setting propped up in de bed
and you can see he mighty low and out'n his head.

He been talking about gitting de oats stacked, 'cause it seem to him
lak it gitting gloomy-dark, and it gwine to rain, and hail gwine to
ketch de oats in de shocks. Some nigger come running up to de back
door wid an old horn old Mistress sent him out to hunt up, and he
blowed it so old Master could hear it.

Den purty soon de doctor come to de door and say old Master wants de
bell rung 'cause de slaves should ought to be in from de fields,
'cause it gitting too dark to work. Somebody git a wagon tire and beat
on it like a bell ringing, right outside old Master's window, and den
we all go up on de porch and peep in. Every body was snuffling kind of
quiet, 'cause we can't help it.

We hear old Master say, "Dat's all right, Simmons. I don't want my
niggers working in de rain. Go down to de quarters and see dey all
dried off good. Dey ain't got no sense but dey all good niggers."
Everybody around de bed was crying, and we all was crying too.