soon as de surrender. We lef' right off. We went
to goin' towards Fayetteville, North Carolina. We climbed over fences
and were just broke down chillun, feet sore. We had a little meat, corn
meal, a tray, and mammy had a tin pan. One night we came to a old house;
some one had put wheat straw in it. We staid there, next mornin', we
come back home. Not to Marster's, but to a white 'oman named Peggy
McClinton, on her plantation. We stayed there a long time. De Yankees
took everything dey could, but dey didn't give us anything to eat. Dey
give some of de 'omen shoes.

I thinks Mr. Roosevelt is a fine man and he do all he can for us.

District No: 3 [320278]
Worker: Travis Jordan
No. Words: 1500
Title: Ida Adkins Ex-slave
Interviewed: Ida Adkins
County Home, Durham, N. C.

[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"]

IDA ADKINS

Ex-slave 79 years.

[TR note: Numerous hand written notations and additions in the following
interview (i.e. wuz to was; er to a; adding t to the contractions.)
Made changes where obvious without comment. Additions and comments were
left as notation, in order to preserve the flow of the dialect.]

I wuz bawn befo' de war. I wuz about eight years ole when de Yankee mens
come through.

My mammy an' pappy, Hattie an' Jim Jeffries belonged to Marse Frank
Jeffries. Marse Frank come from Mississippi, but when I wuz bawn he an'
Mis' Mary Jane wuz livin' down herr near Louisburg in North Carolina
whare dey had er big plantation an' [HW addition: I] don' know how many
niggers. Marse Frank wuz good to his niggers, 'cept [HW addition: that]
he never give dem ernough to eat. He worked dem hard on half rations,
but he didn' believe in all de time beatin' an' sellin' dem.

My pappy worked at de stables, he wuz er good horseman, but my mammy
worked at de big house helpin' Mis' Mary Jane. Mammy worked in de
weavin' room. I can see her now settin' at de weavin' machine an' hear
de pedals goin' plop, plop, as she treaded dem wid her feets. She wuz a
good weaver. I stayed 'roun' de big house too, pickin' up chips,
sweepin' de yard an' such as dat. Mis' Mary Jane wuz quick as er
whippo'-will. She had black eyes dat snapped, an' dey seed everythin'.
She could turn her head so quick dat she'd ketch you every time you
tried to steal a lump of sugar. I liked Marse Frank better den I did
Mis' Mary Jane. All us little chillun called him Big Pappy. Every time
he went [