specalators had tried to keep us
together, but we got all separated. I ain't got no kin in the world
today dat I knows 'bout.

"De Jacksons owned a plantation in Baldwin County, but dey sold it and
moved to LaGrange, Georgia. We lived dere 'til after de war was on, den
dey move back to Baldwin County. Old Miss lost her son-in-law, and later
her husband died, den her daughter died. She had a little grandchild, a
boy, her daughter's child, to raise. She used to say she had two pets,
one pet black child and one pet white child. She was good to me. I never
got no punishin's.

"Old Miss had a lot of kin folks here--high class folks. Dey was stomp
down Virginians, too. Dey use to call me dey kin. Miss Kizzie Weiderman
was a niece o' old Miss Jackson's, and she used to come down the street
and say, 'Look here, ain't dat some o' my kin?--Come shake hands wid
me.' Miss Kizzie was a sight. She alluz say when she die she want all
her nigger kin to come and look on her dead body.

"Finally old Miss got dissatisfied and she 'cided de best thing for her
to do was to sell her home and farm here and go to Chicago to live wid
her son. Dat lef' me to seek 'nother home, 'cause I didn't want to go
off up dere. So we parted.

"I come to town den (it was in 1877) and found work wid de Agent o' the
Central o' Georgia Railroad here in Milledgeville. My Mistis den was
Mrs. Ann Bivins. She was good to me, and when they went away, she say,
'Snovey, ef'n I had the money, nuttin' but death could separate me and
you.' Den the Nesbits was made de Agent, and I work fifty years at dat
Central depot. I used to get up eve'y mawnin' and cook breakfas' for all
de section hands, den I'd go to de house and cook for de family. Child,
I jes' worked myself to death. All my folks gone away now. De Nesbits
live in Florida. I sends 'em a bag o' nuts eve'y Christmas, and dey
sends me a box o' oranges. Sometime dey comes here to see me.

"I mus' tell you how de Yankees done when dey come th'ough here. I was
wid old Miss Jackson at dat time. We live over de river. I was a small
chap not big enough to do nothing much 'cept nuss old Miss. We heard de
Yankees was comin', and did dey ruin eve'thing! Why Milledgeville was
jes' tore up; twon't nuttin mo'n a cow pasture when de Yankees got
th'ough wid it. Dey tuck all de stock and cattle what folks had, and
burned and 'stroyed eve'ything. After de war was breakin' up, we heerd
de soldiers was comin' through here and w