r
was that of singing. Any one heard praying was given a good whipping;
for most masters thought their prayers no good since freedom was the
uppermost thought in every one's head.

On the Heard plantation as on a number of others, marriages were made by
the masters of the parties concerned. Marriage licenses were unheard of.
If both masters mutually consented, the marriage ceremony was considered
over with. After that the husband was given a pass to visit his wife
once a week. In the event children were born the naming of them was left
entirely to the master. Parents were not allowed to name them.

Health of slaves was very important to every slave owner for loss of
life meant loss of money to them. Consequently they would call in their
family doctor, if a slave became seriously ill. In minor cases of
illness home remedies were used. "In fact," Mrs. Avery smilingly
remarked, "We used every thing for medicine that grew in the ground."
One particular home remedy was known as "Cow foot oil" which was made by
boiling cow's feet in water. Other medicines used were hoarhound tea,
catnip tea, and castor oil. Very often medicines and doctors failed to
save life; and whenever a slave died he was buried the same day. Mrs.
Avery remarked, "If he died before dinner the funeral and burial usually
took place immediately after dinner."

Although a very young child, Mrs. Avery remembers the frantic attempt
slave owners made to hide their money when the war broke out. The
following is a story related concerning the Heard family. "Mr. Heard,
our master, went to the swamp, dug a hole, and hid his money, then he
and his wife left for town on their horses. My oldest brother, Percy,
saw their hiding place; and when the Yanks came looking for the money,
he carried them straight to the swamps and showed than where the money
was hidden." Although the Yeard [TR: typo "Heard"] farm was in the
country the highway was very near and Mrs. Avery told of the long army
of soldiers marching to La Grange singing the following song: "Rally
around the flag boys, rally around the flag, joy, joy, for freedom."
When the war ended Mr. Heard visited every slave home and broke the news
to each family that they were free people and if they so desired could
remain on his plantation. Mrs. Avery's family moved away, in fact most
slave families did, for old man Heard had been such a cruel master
everyone was anxious to get away from him. However, one year later he