rn shuckin's, and dey wuz big old times. Evvybody
from plantations miles 'round would take time out to come. Sometimes de
big piles of corn would make a line most a half a mile long, but when
all de Niggers got at dat corn de shucks sho' would fly and it wouldn't
be so long before all de wuk wuz done and dey would call us to supper.
Dere wuz barbecue and chickens, jus' a plenty for all de Niggers, and
corn bread made lak reg'lar light bread and sho' enough light bread too,
and lots of 'tato pies and all sorts of good things.

"Atter da War wuz over, dey jus' turned de slaves loose widout nothin'.
Some stayed on wid Old Marster and wukked for a little money and dey
rations.

"Pa went down on the Hubbard place and wukked for 40 dollars a year and
his rations. Ma made cloth for all de folkses 'round 'bout. Dey fotched
deir thread and she wove de cloth for 50 cents a day. If us made a good
crop, us wuz all right wid plenty of corn, peas, 'tatoes, cabbage,
collards, turnip greens, all de hog meat us needed, and chickens too. Us
started out widout nothin' and had to go in debt to de white folkses at
fust but dat wuz soon paid off. I never had no chance to go to school
and git book larnin'. All de time, us had to wuk in de fields.

"Ku Kluxers went 'round wid dem doughfaces on heaps atter de War. De
Niggers got more beatin's from 'em dan dey had ever got from deir Old
Marsters. If a Nigger sassed white folkses or kilt a hoss, dem Kluxers
sho' did evermore beat him up. Dey never touched me for I stayed out of
deir way, but dey whupped my pa one time for bein' off his place atter
dark. When dey turned him loose, he couldn't hardly stand up. De Yankees
jus' about broke up de Ku Kluxers, but day sho' wuz bad on Niggers while
dey lasted.

"I wuz 'bout 21 years old when us married. Us never had no chillun and
my wife done been daid for all dese long years, I don't know how many. I
can't wuk and I jus' has to stay hyar wid my daid brother's chillun. Dey
is mighty good to me, but I gits awful lonesome sometimes.

"No Ma'am, I ain't never seed but one ghost. Late one night, I wuz
comin' by de graveyard and seed somethin' dat looked lak a dog 'ceppin'
it warn't no dog. It wuz white and went in a grave. It skeered me so I
made tracks gittin' 'way from dar in a hurry and I ain't never bean
'round no more graveyards at night.

"When I passes by de old graveyard on Jackson Street, I 'members lots
of folkses whats buried dar, bofe whit