My name is Walter Leggett , and that was the name of my paw. My maw's name was Lucindy . They belonged to Captain Burns and they was slaves. But they said they had belonged to some other white folks 'afore to that time. They said that some of the white folks were mean and whupped them and make them work like dogs. They was Cape Fear niggers, and pretty good niggers, but I never did pay no mind to nigger talk. Captain Burns had a fine big house and plenty of land. The house was a wooden one with 'bout twenty, thirty rooms. And a big wilderness of timber was all around. He raised plenty good things lots of good things, for a fact. Most everything but cotton. There was grain, wheat, veg'ables, fruit trees, hogs, sheeps and cattle. He needed plenty 'cause he had a big drove of nigger slaves and they lived in a row of houses look like a half-mile long. Folks came in they buggies, and surreys and wagons and would stay at the Burn's house by the days and weeks and months. Folks were more of a hand to visit in them days. Well that was cause folks had more and was healthier and they wan't so mean as they is now. Wish I was back up there in that country. Folks in them days in that country had better ways than they got now. They wouldn't cook in their big house, they cooked in the cook house. And they didn't cook none on Sundays. They baked on Friday and then on Saturday they cooked up plenty of vittles to do them for Sunday. I ain't no church man and I dont hold nothing with them but when I was little chap the niggers used to have big doings at they church on Sundays. We had a church at Captain Burn's place and in the yard they had long tables and they'd nuf vittles for a hog killin'; pork, barbecue, fried chicken, molasses cake, big as a wash tub and spongy, then sweet 'taters puddin'. Sometimes we'd have fried chitlins but I keeps wondrin' why folks don't make no more sweet 'tater puddin'. Its easy 'nuf to make; you jest take and grate your taters and put eggs, milk and molasses in it and it will puff up and make the tastiest sweetin' you ever put your mouf over. I riccolicts that folks used to stew coon with dumplings but they is too lazy now to do anything but open cans. Leastways, the church folks used to have good times; singins and dinner on the grounds. All they do now is ask for money. I ain't no ligious man. Me and the white folks I truckled with ain't never been churchified. I like slavery just fine, in fack. I ain't got no use for free niggers. I don't know who is going to take keer of them when they gets old. The free niggers think they are sho' smart. I ain't got no use for churches, womens and free niggers they make the difference between this country being a hell and a Heaven.

Captain Burns went to a war. I members that plain 'nuf. I played with his chilluns whil'st he was gone. They was Richard , and Jimme Locke and Miss Sallie . I played with them and et with them and slept with them. Man alive they had fine feather beds leastways that was the mattress and the kiver ups. The beds in the big house was wooden and had fine tops and teesters. Folks don't have no taste now for fine beds; any bunch of trash will do out here in this country. Us younguns used to have fine times. We was always going blackberry pickin picknickin' aroun'. They was plenty of little niggers to play aroun' with and I had a sister named Lizzie , best I can riccolict that was her name, and a brother named Bill . Nuther of them ever 'mounted to much. Well now one thing I remember plain is the trashy, bad actin' yankees. They come in bunches down by the place and they are the most outlandish, triflin, smart-actin', slummerin' folks ever you see. I wouldn't vise nobody to have truck with 'em. Four of them came riding up to our place on big fine horses and shoved the white folks 'roun, big as you please, hustlin' them out of their own house, scaring the living lights out of the womens and chilluns. They went in the smoke house and tuk the meat and the hams and kicked holes in the kegs of black sorghum. Seems like they just want to get shet of everything in sight in a vittles way. Then they went in the house and jerked thing off the wall and strowed them up and down. Then they set fire to the house and we just stood and watched it go up. They didn't hurt the niggers none. They thought they could whup the folks in North Carolina. Now some folks thought they did. My maw said to me, "Thank God I'm free once more.  We moved into a place near Charlotte and my maw and paw didn't have no boss man and some of the niggers shot all the blood houn's they could find. Them houn's would knock you down runnin'. They was fine dogs. Its a no-count niggers way and nature to run away, and the boss man could ketch them with the houns and whup them and make them work. Now I never heard of no Ku Klux until I come to this country. And the paddyrollers is just nigger talk from this country. I was a good sized boy about then and I used to keer for a little white boy smaller than me, but 'bout my time of life.

That was Mr. Lucas . I kinda got used to taking keer of Mr. Lucas . I took keer him long as he live. When I was a little bigger, Mr. Lucas and me went down into the Big Dismal. He had plenty interests and he had some interests down there. We lived down there for a short piece of time and then we went down in Georgia down 'blow there in the swamps where the Geechies lived. Mr. Lucas had turpentine camps down there. Them Geechies are little bitty pot-bellied mens and womens. They is mean. They just loves blowing your head off with a shot gun. I used to talk Geechie talk some. Fact to tell, I nearly married a Geechie gal. My mammy sent me word if I married a Geechie gal she'd have no more use for me. Those Geechies were all free niggers, leastways they thought they was. Them was the funniest folks with their jibber-jabber way of talking and scootin' up the bayous on the swamps in they funny boats. Geechies wouldn't eat nothing but game and fish and boiled rice. They cooked everything together in one big mess in a iron pot hung over a fire. The white folks would watch the Geechies and when they could get one off they would take them to work in the turpentine camps. If anybody said anything, they just told them they was convict niggers and they had paid to work them. Well now when Mr. Lucas and me went down to Ocala, Florida, I met a nigger gal from back up in the country I come from. I got to goin' round with her and a bunch of church folks. I even got baptised. I thought it was alright at the time I done it but they nearly ruined me. This gal and me got married and had a gal youngun. I told her to go back to a good country up in Carolina, that she might as well to go as I didn't feel no call to fool 'roun with her no more. I came to Texas with Mr. Lucas and I cant speak much for this country. Folks are churchified and lazy. And young boys and gals go right down the streets together big as day. They suck on cigarettes and go half naked. When I was little and smoked the grapevines out'n the arbor the folks would tell my maw and she would strip me naked and heat a peach switch in the fire place and make the skin fly.

Now another curious thing about this country is the doctors. Now all the folks were healthy, 'cept for chills and fevers in the country I came from. They got medicine in the wilderness. There was ho'ehound tea and light molasses for chills. Then Mullen tea would take 'flamations out of jints and bruises. A good granny woman helped with the babies and they had good healthy ones. Now days the doctors make them puny. 'Nuther thing you don't hear of on account of churches and the womens is the good Saturday night nigger break-downs. Nor corn-shuckins is 'nuther thing you dont hear of. Saturdays' night the boss man gave us a big dance, regular break-down with nigger banjo, guitar, and fiddle players. And man they gave the niggers plenty of whiskey. Then we used to shuck and shell corn in pairs facing each other. Every time you shucked so much then you get to kiss the gal sittin' cross ways from you. Then we had a big supper. The womens and churches stopped it all. Old woman came and hopped on me 'tuther day and called me a hypocrit. I said, "You ain't aimin' at me, I ain't no church nigger and I ain't no smart free nigger. The folks in the graveyard is the only ones worse off than me but I still got a place to stay at night 'cause the white folks re'lizes that I is the best nigger they is ever seen.