s, preachers wuz just as bad and
mean as anybody else. Dere wuz a man who folks called a good preacher,
but he wuz one of de meanest mens I ever seed. When I wuz in slavery
under him he done so many bad things 'til God soon kilt him. His wife or
chillun could git mad wid you, and if dey told him anything he always
beat you. Most times he beat his slaves when dey hadn't done nothin' a
t'all. One Sunday mornin' his wife told him deir cook wouldn't never fix
nothin' she told her to fix. Time she said it he jumped up from de
table, went in de kitchen, and made de cook go under de porch whar he
always whupped his slaves. She begged and prayed but he didn't pay no
'tention to dat. He put her up in what us called de swing, and beat her
'til she couldn't holler. De pore thing already had heart trouble; dat's
why he put her in de kitchen, but he left her swingin' dar and went to
church, preached, and called hisself servin' God. When he got back home
she wuz dead. Whenever your marster had you swingin' up, nobody
wouldn't take you down. Sometimes a man would help his wife, but most
times he wuz beat afterwards.

"Another marster I had kept a hogshead to whup you on. Dis hogshead had
two or three hoops 'round it. He buckled you face down on de hogshead
and whupped you 'til you bled. Everybody always stripped you in dem days
to whup you, 'cause dey didn't keer who seed you naked. Some folks'
chillun took sticks and jobbed (jabbed) you all while you wuz bein'
beat. Sometimes dese chillun would beat you all 'cross your head, and
dey Mas and Pas didn't know what stop wuz.

"Another way marster had to whup us wuz in a stock dat he had in de
stables. Dis wuz whar he whupped you when he wuz real mad. He had logs
fixed together wid holes for your feet, hands, and head. He had a way to
open dese logs and fasten you in. Den he had his coachman give you so
many lashes, and he would let you stay in de stock for so many days and
nights. Dat's why he had it in de stable so it wouldn't rain on you.
Everyday you got dat same number of lashes. You never come out able to
sit down.

"I had a cousin wid two chillun. De oldest one had to nuss one of
marster's grandchildren. De front steps wuz real high, and one day dis
pore chile fell down dese steps wid de baby. His wife and daughter
hollered and went on turrible, and when our marster come home dey wuz
still hollerin' just lak de baby wuz dead or dyin'. When dey told him
'bout it, he picked up a b