n' hear de older peoples say nothin bout it
neither."

"Oh, we went to de white peoples service to dat big Methodist church
right up dere in dis town what was tore down long time ago. Walked dere
to dat church every Sunday en set up in de gallery. Dat whe' all de
slaves had place to sit. De only thing I could remember bout gwine to
church dere was what I hear dem say. Dey say, 'I believe in God the
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, etc.' Dat all I remembers
bout gwine to church dere. Everything I remembers. Don' know as I could
tell you dat, but I hear my mother repeat it so much when she come home
en be teachin us our prayer. Den Missus teach us de same thing till we
get large enough to learn de Lord's Prayer. No'mam, white folks didn'
teach us no learnin in dat day en time. Didn' hear bout no books only
dese almanacs. When de white folks throw dem out, dey allow us to pick
dem up to play wid. Dat all de books we know bout."

"Lord, child, dat was somethin. Dat was sho a time when dat shake come
here. I remembers de ground be shakin en all de people was hollerin.
Yes'um, I was scared. Scared of dat noise it was makin cause I didn'
know but dat it might been gwine destroy me. I was hollerin en
everybody round in de neighborhood was hollerin. Didn' nobody know what
to think it was. Well, I tell you I thought it must a been de Jedgment
comin. Thought it must a been somethin like dat."

"I don' know nothin bout dat. It just like dis, I heard people speak
bout conjurin, but nobody never has talked to me nothin concernin no
conjurin. My mother wouldn' allow nobody to talk dat kind of speech to
us. No, I ain' never seen none of dem things people say is ghost. No,
ain' seen none dat I remembers. My husband died en I was right in de
room wid him en I ain' see a thing. Never thought bout nothin like dat.
Thought when dey gone, dey was gone. When I was able to work, I didn'
have no time to bother wid dem things. Didn' have no time to take up wid
nothin like dat. I de one dat used to cook dere to Miss Eloise Bethea's
mamma. Dis here de one dey call Pauline."

"I tell you my old Missus was good to us, child, good to us all de time.
Come bout en doctor us herself when we get sick. Wouldn' trust nobody
else to give us no medicine. I remember she give us castor oil en little
salts for some ailments. Didn' give us nothin more den dat only a little
sage or catnip sometimes. Dat what was good for colds."

"I don' know, chi