ning plantation. He
worked for his Master ever' day but spent each night wid us. He walked
'bout a mile to his work ever' day.

Master Wash was a poor man when he married Miss Sarah Watkins of
Richmond, Virginia. Her father was as rich as cream, he owned 7
plantations and 200 slaves to each plantation. When Master Wash and
Miss Sarah got married her father give her 50 slaves. Ever'body said
Miss Mary jest married Master Wash because he was a purty boy, and he
sure was a fine looking man.

He was good and kind to all his slaves when he was sober, but he was
awful crabbed and cross when he was drunk, and he was drunk most of de
time. He was hard to please and sometimes he would whip de slaves. I
remember seeing Master Wash whup two men once. He give 'em 200 lashes.

Miss Sarah was de best woman in de world. It takes a good woman to
live wid a drunkard.

Two of the men ran away one time and was gone till dey got tired of
staying away. Master Wash wouldn't let anyone hunt 'em. When dey
finally come home he had dem strapped in stocks and den deir bodies
bared to de waist and he sure did ply de lash. I guess he whupped 'em
harder dan he would if he hadn't been so full of whisky.

He never did sell any of his slaves. He kept the 50 dat Miss Sarah's
father give 'em and deir increase. He bought some ever' time dey had a
sale. He owned two plantations and dey was about a hundred slaves on
each one. Him and his family lived in town.

Me and a boy named John was sized and put to work when we was about
nine or ten years old. We was so bad dey had to put us to work as dey
couldn't do any thing else with us. We'd chase de pigs and ride de
calves and to punish us dey made us tote water to de hands. Dey was so
many hands to water dat it kept us busy running back and forth with de
water. De next year dey put me to plowing and him to hoeing. We made
regular hands from den on.

If we had behaved ourselves we wouldn't a'had to go to work till we
was fourteen or fifteen anyway. Slave owners was awful good to deir
nigger chaps for dey wanted 'em to grow up to be strong men and women.

Dey was about thirty children on our plantation. Two women looked
after us and took care of us till our parents come in from de field.
Dey cooked for us and always gave us our supper and sent us home to
our parents for de night.

Our food was placed on a long table in a trough. Each child had a
spoon and four of us eat out of one trough. Our food at n