oodhounds on dere trail an' when dey ketched 'em dey'd cut dere haids
off wid de swords.

Ole lady Prissie tole 'bout slaves what ain't had nothin' ter eat an'
no clothes 'cept a little strip uv homespun, but my mammy who died four
months ago at de age 106 said dat she ain't knowed nothin' 'bout such
doin's.

When de Yankees come, dey come a burnin' an' a-stealin' an' Marster
Charlie carried his val'ables ter mammy's cabin, but dey found 'em. Dey
had a money rod an' dey'd find all de stuff no matter whar it wuz.
Mammy said dat all de slaves cried when de Yankees come, an' dat most uv
'em stayed on a long time atter de war. My mammy plowed an' done such
work all de time uv slavery, but she done it case she wanted to do it
an' not 'cause dey make her.

All de slaves hate de Yankees an' when de southern soldiers comed by
late in de night all de niggers got out of de bed an' holdin' torches
high dey march behin' de soldiers, all of dem singin', 'We'll Hang Abe
Lincoln on de Sour Apple Tree.' Yes mam, dey wuz sorry dat dey wuz free,
an' dey ain't got no reason to be glad, case dey wuz happier den dan
now.

I'se hyard mammy tell 'bout how de niggers would sing as dey picked de
cotton, but yo' ain't hyard none uv dat now. Den dey ain't had to worry
'bout nothin'; now dey has ter study so much dat dey ain't happy nuff
ter sing no mo'.

"Does yo' know de cause of de war?" Aunt Alice went to a cupboard and
returned holding out a book. "Well hyar's de cause, dis _Uncle Tom's
Cabin_ wuz de cause of it all; an' its' de biggest lie what ever been
gived ter de public."

N. C. District: No. 2 [320157]
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 341
Subject: WHEN THE YANKEES CAME
Story Teller: John Beckwith
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt

[TR: No Date Stamp]

WHEN THE YANKEES CAME

An Interview with John Beckwith 83, of Cary.

I reckon dat I wuz 'bout nine years old at de surrender, but we warn't
happy an' we stayed on dar till my parents died. My pappy wuz named
Green an' my mammy wuz named Molly, an' we belonged ter Mr. Joe Edwards,
Mr. Marion Gully, an' Mr. Hilliard Beckwith, as de missus married all of
'em. Dar wuz twenty-one other slaves, an' we got beat ever' onct in a
while.

When dey told us dat de Yankees wuz comin' we wuz also told dat iffen
we didn't behave dat we'd be shot; an' we believed it. We would'uv
behaved anyhow, case we had good plank houses, good food, an'