back den. I wondah
wy dey don'. Dey jes' don' shine as bright. Wa'nt long afoah dey took
mah mammy away, and I wah lef' alone.

On de plantation wah an ole woman whut de boss bought f'om a drovah up
in Virginny. De boss he bought huh f'om one ob de specalaters. She laff
an' tell us: "Some ob dese days yo'all gwine be free, jes' lak de white
folks," but we all laff at huh. No, we jes' slaves, we allus hafta wok
and nevah be free. Den when freedom cum, she say: "I tole yo'all, now
yo' got no larnin', yo' got no nothin', got no home; whut yo' gwine do?
Didn' I tell yo'?"

I wah gittin along smartly in yeahs when de wah cum. Ah 'membah jes' lak
yestiddy jes' afoah de wah. Marse William wah atalkin' t' hes brothah. I
wah standin' off a piece. Marse's brothah, he say: "William, how ole
Aunt Sarah now?" Marse William look at me an' he say: "She gittin' nigh
onta fifty." Dat wah jes' a lil while afoah de wah.

Dat wah awful time. Us da'kies didn' know whut it wah all bout. Ony one
of de boys f'om de plantation go. He Alexander, he 'bout twenty-five
den. Many de time we git word de Yankees comin'. We take ouh food an'
stock an' hide it till we sho' dey's gone. We wan't bothahed much. One
day, I nebbah fo'git, we look out an' see sojers ma'chin'; look lak de
whole valley full ob dem. I thought: "Poah helpless crittahs, jes' goin'
away t' git kilt." De drums wah beatin' an' de fifes aplayin'. Dey wah
de foot comp'ny. Oh, glory, it wah a sight. Sometime dey cum home on
furlough. Sometime dey git kilt afoah dey gits th'ough. Alexander, he
cum home a few time afoah freedom.

When de wah was ovah, Marse William he say: "Did yo'all know yo'all's
free, Yo' free now." I chuckle, 'membahin' whut ole woman tell us 'bout
freedom, an' no larnin. Lotta men want me t' go t' foreign land, but I
tell 'em I go live wif mah pappy, long as he live. I stay wif de white
folks 'bout twelve months, den I stay wif mah pappy, long as he live.

I had two brothahs, dey went t' Califonny, nebbah seed 'em no mo', no'
mah sistah, nuther. I cain't 'membah sech a lot 'bout it all. I jes'
knows I'se bo'n and bred heah [HW correction: here] in dese pa'ts,
nebbah been outten it. I'se well; nebbah take no doctah med'cine. Jes'
ben sick once; dat aftah freedom.

[Footnote 7: (One of the most spectacular meteoric showers on record,
visible all over North America, occurred in 1833.)]

N. C. District: No. 2 [320007]
Worker: