day, he would jus' lay down on a bench at night and sleep
widout pullin' off his clothes. Us had home-made beds in de cabins
widout no paint on 'em. Evvything slaves had was home-made, jus'
wooden-legged things. Even de coffins was made at home out of pine wood.
Now me, I didn't sleep in de cabin much. I slept on a little trundle bed
up at de big house. In de daytime my bed was pushed back up under one of
de big beds.

"Marse John's son, Marse Willie Grant, blowed de bugle in de mornin's by
4 o'clock to git de slaves up in time to be in de fields by daybreak.
When slaves got too old to wuk, dey took keer of de chillun in a house
down below de kitchen. Mamma wukked in de field when she was able.
Nobody on our place had to wuk in de fields on Sadday evenin's. Dat was
de time de 'omans washed deir clothes and cleaned up.

"Chillun didn't have much to do. Us loved to hunt for turkey nests
'cause dey give us a teacake for evvy turkey egg us fetched in. Chillun
et in de yard at de big house, whar dey give us plenty of meat and
cornbread wid good vegetables for dinner. For breakfast and supper, us
had mostly buttermilk and cornbread. On Sundays us had bread made from
wheat flour and sopped good old syrup wid it. Sometimes Marse John would
give us 'mission to kill little pigs at night and broil 'em over de
coals in our yards, and how us did enjoy 'em! I ain't never suffered for
nothin' in all my life, 'cause de Grants was mighty good white folks. De
old White home on Prince Avenue was deir summer home. When dey built
it, woods was all 'round and dere warn't many houses in dat section.

"Us had plenty of clothes made out of homespun checks, and Marse John
give us brass-toed shoes. Our dresses was well sewed and made wid belts
to 'em. Nobody went 'bout half naked on our plantation lak some of de
old folks f'um other farms talks 'bout. Us had good well-made clothes,
even if dey was made out of common cloth.

"Nobody on our plantation run away to de North, and de paddyrollers
didn't git nobody at our place neither. Marse John was too good to
evvybody for his slaves to want to cut up and run 'way and do things to
make de paddyrollers hunt 'em down. Dey didn't have no jails 'cause dey
didn't need none on our place. Sometimes Marse John made a colored man
named Uncle Jim Cooper give 'em a good whuppin' when dey needed it.

"When us was sick, dey give us herbs and things of dat sort. In de
springtime, dey give us jerusalem oak see