t a book, and what he
give me? A dime. He ask me all kind of questions. He ask me dis and he
ask me dat, didn't de white people do dis and did dey do dat but Mr.
Fuller was a good man, he was sure good to me and all his people, dey
all like him, God bless him, he in de ground now but I ain't going to
let nobody lie on him. You know he good when even the little chillen cry
and holler when he dead. I tell you dey couldn't just fix us up any kind
of way when we going to Sunday School. We had to be dressed nice, if you
pass him and you ain't dress to suit him he send you right back and say
tell your ma to see dat you dress right. Dey couldn't send you out in de
cold barefoot neither. I 'member one day my ma want to send me wid some
milk for her sister-in-law what live 'round de corner. I fuss cause it
cold and say 'how you going to send me out wid no shoe, and it cold?'
Mausa hear how I talking and turn he back and laugh, den he call to my
ma to gone in de house and find shoe to put on my feet and don't let him
see me barefoot again in cold weather.

When de war start going good and de shell fly over Charleston he take
all us up to Aiken for protection. Talk 'bout marching through Georgia,
day sure march through Aiken, soldiers was everywhere.

"My ma had six children, three boys and three girls, but I de only one
left, all my white people and all de colored people gone, not a soul
left but me. I ain't been sick in 25 years. I is near my church and I
don't miss service any Sunday, night or morning. I kin walk wherever I
please, I kin walk to de Battery if I want to. The Welfare use to help
me but dey shut down now, I can't find out if dey going to open again or
not. Miss (Mrs.) Buist and Miss Pringle, dey help me when I can go there
but all my own dead."

"Were most of the masters kind?" I asked. "Well you know," she answered,
"times den was just like dey is now, some was kind and some was mean;
heaps of wickedness went on just de same as now. All my people was good
people. I see some wickedness and I hear 'bout all kinds of t'ings but
you don't know whether it was lie or not. Mr. Fuller been a Christian
man."

"Do you think it would have been better if the Negroes had never left
Africa?" was the next question I asked. "No Ma'am," (emphatically) dem
heathen didn't have no religion. I tell you how I t'ink it is. The Lord
made t'ree nations, the white, the red and the black, and put dem in
different places on de earth whe