d give us plenty of bread and meat wid milk and butter and all sorts
of vegetables. Marster had one big garden and dere warn't nobody had
more good vegetables den he fed to his slaves. De cookin' was done in
open fireplaces and most all de victuals was biled or fried. Us had all
de 'possums, squirrels, rabbits, and fish us wanted cause our marster
let de mens go huntin' and fishin' lots.

"Us jus' wore common clothes. Winter time dey give us dresses made out
of thick homespun cloth. De skirts was gathered on to tight fittin'
waisties. Us wore brass toed brogan shoes in winter, but in summer
Niggers went bar'foots. Us jus' wore what us could ketch in summer. By
dat time our winter dresses had done wore thin and us used 'em right on
through de hot weather.

"Marse Daniel Miller, he was some kinder good to Mammy, and Miss Susan
was good to us too. Now Honey, somehow I jus' cain't 'member deir
chilluns names no more. And I played in de sand piles all day long wid
'em too.

"Oh-h-h! Dat was a great big old plantation, and when all dem Niggers
got out in de fields wid horses and wagons, it looked lak a picnic
ground; only dem Niggers was in dat field to wuk and dey sho' did have
to wuk.

"Marster had a carriage driver to drive him and Ole Miss 'round and to
take de chillun to school. De overseer, he got de Niggers up 'fore day
and dey had done et deir breakfast, 'tended to de stock, and was in de
field by sunup and he wuked 'em 'til sundown. De mens didn't do no wuk
atter dey got through tendin' to de stock at night, but Mammy and lots
of de other 'omans sot up and spun and wove 'til 'leven or twelve
o'clock lots of nights.

"My pappy was a man what b'lieved in havin' his fun and he would run off
to see de gals widout no pass. Once when he slipped off dat way de
patterollers sicked dem nigger hounds on him and when dey cotched him
dey most beat him to death; he couldn't lay on his back for a long time.

"If dey had jails, I didn't know nothin' 'bout 'em. De patterollers wid
deir nigger hounds made slaves b'have deirselfs widout puttin' 'em in no
jails. I never seed no Niggers sold, but Mammy said her and her whole
fambly was sold on de block to de highes' bidder and dat was when Ole
Marster got us.

"Mammy, she was de cook up at de big house, and when de white chillun
come back from school in de atternoon she would ax 'em to show her how
to read a little book what she carried 'round in her bosom all de time,
and to t