olics often took place immediately following a marriage.
Whiskey served as refreshment for some while others had to content
themselves with barbecue.

"When we got sick we were not allowed to suffer through negligence on
the part of our owner", remarked Mr. Hammond. Family doctors of the
white families attended the slaves and through them they were well cared
for. Castor oil was the favorite home remedy used in those days and it
could always be found on the family shelf.

"My first impression of the civil war was received when the methodist
and Baptist Churches began to disagree", remarked Mr. Hammond. He
continued,--"One day as my uncle and I worked on Miss Adeline's truck
farm Wheeler's Calvary, a group of Confederate soldiers came to the
field and forced us to give them our two best mules. In their place they
left their old half starved horses. We immediately rode to town
and informed the mistress of what had taken place. During this time
Confederate soldiers were known to capture slaves and force them to dig
ditches, known as breastworks. My mistress became frightened, and locked
me in the closet until late in the evening. She then fixed a basket of
food and instructed me as to the direction in which to travel back to
the field. It was a common sight to see soldiers marching on to Macon,
Ga., in the mornings and in the evenings see the same group on their way
back running from the Yanks".

Mr. Hammond made the following statement concerning the end of the war.
"Our mistress told us we were free; however, I was too young to realize
just what freedom would mean to us, but somehow I knew that we would
have to be responsible for our own upkeep. Doctors bills, medicines,
clothing, (etc) would have to be paid by us from then on. After that we
worked for anyone who would hire us and never earned over 25 or 30 cents
a day. Sometimes our pay consisted of a peck of meal or a piece of
meat."

As a close to the interview Mr. Hammond stated he married at the age of
23 and was the father of 7 children. He has lived in Atlanta for the
past 65 years working at various jobs. At one time he owned a dray. "My
old age is the result of taking care of myself and not being exposed."
Besides this Mr. Hammond attends Bethel A.M.E. church regularly. As
writer prepared to leave, Mr. Hammond remarked, "I never knew much about
slavery, you see; I've always been treated as a free man".

JANE SMITH HILL HARMON
of
WASHINGTON-WIL