n the country. He was a Democrat. He was a smart man,
but I think a man should live wherever he choose regardless. I never
stopped work whenever I'd hear he was coming to town to speak. You
know they wasn't fighting for freeing the slaves; they was fighting to
keep Kansas from being a slave State; so when they had the North
whipped, I mean the South had 'em whipped, they called for the Negroes
to go out and fight for his freedom. Don't know nothing 'bout Jeff
Davis. I've handled a lots of his money. It was counterfeited after
the War.

I've been married four times. I had one wife and three women. I mean
the three wasn't no good. My first wife's name: Amanda Nelson. 2nd:
Pocahuntas Jackson. 3rd: Nannie Shumpard. We lived together 9 years.
She tried to beat me out of my home.

Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves

MARTHA CUNNINGHAM
(white) Age 81 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

My father's name was A. J. Brown, and my mother's name was Hattie
Brown. I was born in the East, in Saveer County, Tennessee. I had
twelve sisters and brothers, all are dead but two. W. S. Brown lives
at 327 W. California, and Maudie Reynolds, my sister lives at
Minrovie, California.

We lived in different kinds of houses just like we do now. Some was of
log, some frame and some rock. I remember when we didn't have stoves
to cook on, no lamps, and not even any candles until I was about six
years old. We would take a rag and sop it in lard to make lights.

All of our furniture was home made, but it was nice. We had just
plenty of every thing. It wasn't like it is in these days where you
have to pick and scrape for something to eat.

My grandfather and grandmother gave my mother and father two slaves,
an old woman and man, when they married. My grandfather owned a large
plantation, and had a large number of slaves, and my father and mother
owned several farms at different places. Our mother and father treated
our slaves good. They ate what we ate, and they stayed with us a long
time after the War. I remember though all of the slave owners weren't
good to their slaves. I have seen 'em take those young fine looking
negroes, put them in a pen when they got ready to whip them, strip
them and lay them face down, and beat them until white whelps arose on
their bodies. Yes, some of them was treated awful mean.

I saw mothers sold from their babies, and babies sold from their
mothers. They would strip them, put them on the auction block and