I wuz bawn in 1851, de 16th of November, on de Occoneechee
Plantation, owned by Marse John Norwood an' his good wife, Mis' Annie.
An' when I say 'good' I mean jus dat, for no better people ever lived
den my Marse John an' Mis' Annie.

One thing dat made our Marse an' Mistis so good wuz de way dey brought
up us niggers. We wuz called to de big house an' taught de Bible an' dey
wuz Bible readin's every day. We wuz taught to be good men an' women an'
to be hones'. Marse never sold any of us niggers. But when his boys and
girls got married he would give dem some of us to take with dem.

Marse never allowed us to be whipped. One time we had a white overseer
an' he whipped a fiel' han' called Sam Norwood, til de blood come. He
beat him so bad dat de other niggers had to take him down to de river
an' wash de blood off. When Marse come an' foun' dat out he sent dat
white man off an' wouldn' let him stay on de plantation over night. He
jus' wouldn' have him roun' de place no longer. He made Uncle Whitted de
overseer kase he wuz one of de oldest slaves he had an' a good nigger.

When any of us niggers got sick Mis' Annie would come down to de cabin
to see us. She brung de best wine, good chicken an' chicken soup an'
everything else she had at de big house dat she thought we would like,
an' she done everything she could to get us well again.

Marse John never worked us after dark. We worked in de day an' had de
nights to play games an' have singin's. We never cooked on a Sunday.
Everything we ett on dat day was cooked on Saturday. Dey wuzn' lighted
in de cook stoves or fire places in de big house or cabins neither.
Everybody rested on Sunday. De tables wuz set an' de food put on to eat,
but nobody cut any wood an' dey wuzn' no other work don' on dat day.
Mammy Beckie wuz my gran'mammy an' she toted de keys to de pantry an'
smoke house, an' her word went wid Marse John an' Mis' Annie.

Marse John wuz a great lawyer an' when he went to Pittsboro an' other
places to practice, if he wuz to stay all night, Mis' Annie had my mammy
sleep right in bed wid her, so she wouldn' be 'fraid.

Marse an Mistis had three sons an' three daughters,--De oldest son wuz
not able to go to war. He had studied so hard dat it had 'fected his
mind, so he stayed at home. De secon' son, named Albert, went to war an'
wuz brought back dead with a bullet hole through his head. Dat liked to
have killed Marse John an' Mis' Annie. Dey wuz three girls, named, Mi