long just middlin'
after her missus died. When her missus died, mother said she had to look
after herself. Mr. Busbee would not allow anyone to whip mother. He
married Miss Lizzie Bledsoe the second time.

I wus only a child and, of course, I thought as I could get a little
something to eat everything wus all right, but we had few comforts. We
had prayer meeting and we went to the white people's church. I heard
mother say that they had to be very careful what they said in their
worship. Lots of time dey put us children to bed and went off.

About the time of the surrender, I heard a lot about the patterollers,
but I did not know what they were. Children wus not as wise then as they
are now. They didn't know as much about things.

Yes sir, I remember the Yankees coming to Raleigh, we had been taken
out to Moses Bledsoe's place on Holleman's Road to protect Mr. Bledsoe's
things. They said if they put the things out there, and put a family of
Negroes there the Yankees would not bother the things. So they stored a
lot of stuff there, and put my mother an' a slave man by the name o' Tom
Gillmore there. Two Negro families were there. We children watched the
Yankees march by.

The Yankees went through everything, and when mother wouldn't tell them
where the silver wus hid they threw her things in the well. Mother
cried, an' when the Yankee officers heard of it they sent a guard there
to protect us. The colored man, Tom Gillmore, wus so scared, he and his
family moved out at night leaving my mother alone with her family. The
Yankees ate the preserves and all the meat and other things. They
destroyed a lot they could not eat.

Mother and me stayed on with marster after the surrender, and stayed
on his place till he died. After that we moved to Peck's Place, called
Peck's Place because the property wus sold by Louis Peck. It wus also
called the 'Save-rent' section, then in later years Oberlin Road.

I think slavery wus a bad thing, while it had its good points in
building good strong men. In some cases where marsters were bad it wus a
bad thing.

Abraham Lincoln wus our friend, he set us free. I don't know much about
Booker T. Washington. Mr Roosevelt is all right. Jim Young seemed to be
all right. Jeff Davis didn't bother me. I guess he wus all right.

EH

N. C. District: No. 2 [320214]
Worker: Mary Hicks
No. Words: 361
Subject: Ex-Slave Story
Story Teller: Analiza Fost