to me.

"My poppa was strong. He never had a lick in his life. He helped the
marster, but one day the marster says, 'Si, you got to have a whoppin',
and my poppa says, 'I never had a whoppin' and you cain't whop me.' An'
the marster says, 'But I kin kill you,' an' he shot my poppa down. My
mama tuk him in the cabin and put him on a pallet. He died.

"My mama did the washin' for the big house. She tuk a big tub on her
head and a bucket of water in her hand. My mama had two white chillen by
marster and they were sold as slaves. I had two chillen, too. I never
married. They allus said we'd steal, but I didn' take a thing. Why,
they'd put me on a hoss with money to take into town and I'd take it to
the store in town, and when I'd git back, marster'd say, 'Anne, you
didn' take a thing.'

"When women was with child they'd dig a hole in the groun' and put their
stomach in the hole, and then beat 'em. They'd allus whop us."

"Don' gring me anything fine to wear for my birthday. I jus' wan' some
candy. I'm lookin' for Him to take me away from here."

420293

THOMAS COLE was born in Jackson Co., Alabama, on the 8th of August,
1845, a slave of Robert Cole. He ran away in 1861 to join the Union
Army. He fought at Chickamauga, under Gen. Rosecran and at
Chattanooga, Look Out Mt. and Orchard Knob, under Gen. Thomas.
After the war he worked as switchman in Chattanooga until his
health failed due to old age. He then came to Texas and lives with
his daughter, in Corsicana. Thomas is blind.

"I might as well begin far back as I remember and tell you all about
myself. I was born over in Jackson County, in Alabama, on August 8,
1845. My mother was Elizabeth Cole, her bein' a slave of Robert Cole,
and my father was Alex Gerrand, 'cause he was John Gerrand's slave. I
was sposed to take my father's name, but he was sech a bad, ornery,
no-count sech a human, I jes' taken my old massa's name. My mother was
brung from Virginny by Massa Dr. Cole, and she nussed all his six
chillen. My sister's name was Sarah and my brother's name was Ben and we
lived in one room of the big house, and allus had a good bed to sleep in
and good things to eat at the same table, after de white folks gits
through.

"I played with Massa Cole's chillen all de time, and when I got older he
started me workin' by totin' wood and sech odd jobs, and feedin' de
hawgs. Us chillen had to pick cotton every fall. De big baskets