ke us wurk so hard nother. We had our wurk
ter do, of course, but mammy ain't had ter ditch ner plow no mo'. She
wurked in de house den, an' none of de wimmen done men's wurk. Course
she can't wurk so hard an' have 'leben chilluns too. She had a baby one
day an' went ter wurk de nex' while she 'longed ter McGee, but at Marse
Rufus' she stayed in de bed seberal days an' had a doctor.

Marse Rufus uster let us take Sadday evenin' off an' go swimmin' er
fishin' er go ter Raleigh. I 'members dat somebody in town had a fuss
wid Marse Rufus 'bout lettin' his niggers run loose in town. Marse Rufus
atter dat had a oberseer in town ter see 'bout his niggers.

I got a whuppin' once fer punchin' out a frog's eyes. Miss Sally giv'
hit ter me long wid a lecture 'bout bein' kin' ter dumb brutes, but I
ain't neber seed whar a frog am a brute yit.

Yes'um I heard a heap 'bout de Yankees but I ain't prepared fer dere
takin' eben our bread. Miss Sally ain't prepared nother an' she tells'
em whar ter go, den she goes ter bed sick. I wus sorry fer Miss Sally,
dat I wus.

De day dat news of de surrender come Miss Sally cried some more an' she
ain't wanted mammy ter go, so Marse Rufus said dat we can stay on. Dey
said dat Mister McGee runned his niggers offen his place wid a bresh
broom dat day.

Atter de war we stayed on Marse Rufus' place till 1898 when pa died. I
had married a feller by de name of Charlie Hodges, what lived on a
nearby plantation an' we wus livin' on Marse Rufus' place wid pa an' ma.
We moved ter Raleigh den an' atter seberal years mammy moved hear too.
You can fin' her on Cannon Street, but I'll tell you dat she's pretty
puny now, since her stroke.

N. C. District: No. 2 [320195]
Worker: Mrs. Edith S. Hibbs
and Mrs. W. N. Harriss
No. Words: 795
Subject: Alex Huggins' Story
Interviewed: Alex Huggins,
920 Dawson St, Wilmington, N. C.
Edited: Mrs. W. N. Harriss

[TR: No Date Stamp]

STORY OF ALEX HUGGINS, EX-SLAVE

920 Dawson Street, Wilmington, N. C.

I was born in New Bern on July 9, 1850. My father and mother belonged to
Mr. L. B. Huggins. My father was a carpenter and ship builder an' the
first things I remember was down on Myrtle Grove Sound, where Mr.
Huggins had a place. I was a sort of bad boy an' liked to roam 'round.
When I was about twelve years old I ran away. It was in 1863 when the
war was goin' on.

Nob