o away. Dey would
say, 'Go way John, please go away'. De other slaves wus afraid of 'em
cause de ghost of John wurried 'em so bad.

I wurked on de farm, cuttin' corn stalks and tendin' to cattle in
slavery time. Sometimes I swept de yards. I never got any money for my
work and we didn't have any patches. My brothers caught possums, coons
and sich things an' we cooked 'em in our houses. We had no parties but
we had quiltin's. We went to the white folks church, Peach Tree Church,
six miles from de plantation an' Poplar Springs Church seven miles away.
Both were missionary Baptist Churches.

There were no overseers on Jackson May's plantation. He wouldn't have
nary one. Billy Williams didn't have none. Dey had colored slave
foremen.

After wurkin' all day dere wus a task of cotton to be picked an' spun
by 'em. Dis wus two onces of cotton. Some of de slaves run away from
Bill Williams when Marster Jackson May let him have 'em to work. Dey run
away an' come home. Aunt Chaney runned away an' mother run away. Marster
Jackson May kept 'em hid cause he say dey wus not treated right. He
wouldn't let 'em have 'em back no more.

I never saw a grown slave whupped or in chains and I never saw a slave
sold. Jackson May would not sell a slave. He didn't think it right. He
kept 'em together. He had eighty head. He would let other white people
have 'em to wurk for 'em sometimes, but he would not sell none of 'em.

If dey caught a slave wid a book you knowed it meant a whuppin', but de
white chillun teached slaves secretey sometimes. Ole man Jake Rice a
slave who belonged to John Rice in Nash County wus teached by ole John
Rice's son till he had a purty good mount of larnin'.

We did not have prayer meeting at marster's plantation or anywhur.
Marster would not allow dat.

When I wus a child we played de games of three handed reels, 'Old Gray
Goose', 'All Little Gal, All Little Gal, All Little Gal remember me'. We
took hold of hands an' run round as we sang dis song.

We sang 'Old Dan Tucker'. Git outen de way, ole Dan Tucker, Sixteen
Hosses in one stable, one jumped out an' skined his nable an' so on.

Dr. Mann and Dr. Sid Harris and Dr. Fee Mann and Dr. Mathias looked
arter us when we wus sick. Mother and de other grown folks raised herbs
dat dey give us too. Chillun took a lot of salts.

Jackson May wus too rich to go to de war. Billy Williams didn't go, too
rich too, I reckons. I remember when dey said niggers had to be free