e Thomas. Gran'ma Susan wouldn't do
right so Marse Thomas sold her on de block.

"Us had evvything good to eat. Marse Thomas was a rich man and fed 'is
Niggers well. Dey cooked in a big open fireplace and biled greens and
some of de udder vittals in a great big pot what swung on a rack. Meat,
fish and chickens was fried in a griddle iron what was sot on a flat
topped trivet wid slits to let de fire thoo. Dey called it a trivet
'cause it sot on three legs and hot coals was raked up under it. Hoe
cakes made out of cornmeal and wheat flour sho' was good cooked on dat
griddle. 'Tatoes was roasted in de ashes, and dey cooked bread what dey
called ash cake in de ashes. Pound cake, fruit cake, light bread and
biscuits was baked in a great big round pot, only dey warn't as deep as
de pots dey biled in; dese was called ovens. Makes me hongry to think
'bout all dem good vittals now.

"Oh! Yes Ma'am, us had plenty 'possums. Pappy used to cotch so many
sometimes he jest put 'em in a box and let us eat 'em when us got ready.
'Possums tasted better atter dey was put up in a box and fattened a
while. Us didn't have many rabbits; dey warn't as much in style den as
dey is now, and de style of eatin' 'possums lak dey done in slav'ry
times, dat is 'bout over. Dey eats 'em some yet, but it ain't stylish no
mo'. Us chillun used to go fishin' in Moore's Branch; one would stand on
one side of de branch wid a stick, and one on de udder side would roust
de fishes out. When dey come to de top and jump up, us would hit 'em on
de head, and de grown folks would cook 'em. Dere warn't but one gyarden,
but dat had plenty in it for evvybody.

"In summer time us wore checkedy dresses made wid low waistes and
gethered skirts, but in winter de dresses was made out of linsey-woolsey
cloth and underclothes was made out of coarse unbleached cloth.
Petticoats had bodice tops and de draw's was made wid waistes too. Us
chillun didn't know when Sunday come. Our clothes warn't no diffu'nt den
from no udder day. Us wore coarse, heavy shoes in winter, but in summer
us went splatter bar feets.

"Marse Thomas was jest as good as he could be, what us knowed of 'im.
Miss Marion, my Mist'ess, she won't as good to us as Marse Thomas, but
she was all right too. Dey had a heap of chillun. Deir twin boys died,
and de gals was Miss Callie, Miss Sallie, Miss Marion (dey called her
Miss Birdie), and Miss Lucy, dat Lucy Cobb Institute was named for. My
mudder was Miss Lucy'