, these
were well-behaved Yankees!

"Aunt" Martha says that she remembers quite well when the Yankees
captured Jefferson Davis. She and other slave children were in the "big
house" yard when they heard drums beating, and soon saw the Yankees pass
with Mr. Davis.

"Aunt" Martha, now old and decrepit, lives with one of her sons, who
takes care of her. This son is a gardener and a carpenter and, being
thrifty, fares much better than many Negroes of his generation.

[HW: Dist. 5
Ex-Slave #30]
By E. Driskell
Typed by A.M. Whitley
1-29-37

FIRST COPY OF ARTICLE ENTITLED:
"AN INTERVIEW WITH LEWIS FAVOR," EX-SLAVE
[MAY 8 1937]

[TR: informant also referred to as Favors in this document.]

Among Atlanta's few remaining ex-slaves is one Lewis Favors. When he
fully understood this worker's reasons for approaching him he consented
to tell what he had seen and experienced as a slave. Chewing slowly on a
large wad of tobacco he began his account in the following manner: "I
was born in Merriweather County in 1855 near the present location of
Greenville, Georgia. Besides my mother there were eight of us children
and I was elder than all of them with one exception. Our owner was Mrs.
Favors, but she was known to everybody as the "Widow Favors." My father
was owned by a Mr. Darden who had a plantation in this same county. When
the "Widow's" husband died he left her about one-hundred acres of land
and a large sum of money and so she was considered as being rich. She
didn't have many slaves of her own and so her son (also a plantation
owner) used to send some of his slaves over occasionally to help
cultivate her crops, which consisted of cotton, corn, and all kinds of
vegetables."

In regard to her treatment of the slaves that she held Mr. Favors says:
"She wasn't so tight and then she was pretty tight too."

Those slaves who were field hands were in the field and at work by the
time it was light enough to see. They plowed, hoed, and then later in
the season gathered the crops. After the harvesting was over the fences
were repaired and rails were split. In rainy weather nobody had to work
out of doors, instead they shelled the peas and corn and sometimes
ginned the cotton. At night the women were required to spin and to
weave. In the winter season no work was required at night unless they
had not spun as much thread as was required. At such times they had to
work at night until the amount set had been reached.

Mr.