Sho, Ise bo'n in slave times. Ise don't know zactly how old Ise am, but Ise knows Ise nine yeahs old w'en de wah breaks up. Marster Carter Martin owns weuns, an' weuns lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Marster had a shoeshop in town, an' weuns lived right at de edge of de town, whar he has a small farm. 'Twarnt much raised on de place, jus' co'n an' veg'tables. Marster had a few chickens, two cows, an' raised some hawgs. My mammy an' her chilluns am de only cullud fo'ks on de place, so 'twas weuns dat does de wo'k. Ise de youngest, an' thar am fouah tudder chilluns. Weuns chilluns helped mammy in de garden, de co'n patch, an' do de chores. Mammy am also de cook fo' de Marster's fam'ly. Thar am only de Marster an' de Missy in de Marster's fam'ly, so 'twarnt much wo'k in de house. Mammy an' weuns chilluns lives in de servant's qua'tahs 'hind de Marster's house, an' 'twas a good warm buildin' wid wood flooah, windahs, an' ever'thing jus' lak de white fo'ks house. De food weuns gits am 'bout lak de Marster's eats. Co'se, sometimes, de Marster has something extra, but weuns am never hongry. Weuns raises all de meat weuns needs, de chickens gives plenty eggs, an' de cows gives all de milk an' buttah weuns can use. 'Twas bettah rations dan Ise gits mostest de time since freedom. All de clothes am store boughten clothes, an' co'se, de shoes comes f'om Marster's store. Marster an' Missy am kind people, so weuns don't have a hard time. 'Twas never a cross word spoken hardly. Mammy am interested in de Marster's place lak 'twas her own, an' wo'ked hard to keep things up. De Missy says to mammy lots of times, "Jane , rest youself. Yous must be tired. Mammy always says, "Dis wo'k must be done", an' goes right on wo'kin'. Ise 'membahs once w'en mammy am up all night, 'tendin' a litter of pigs. 'Twas cold an' stormy, an' de mammy pig had a litter of younguns. She am havin' some trouble, so mammy helps her. Missy jawed mammy 'bout losin' sleep over a couple of pigs. She says,  Now Jane , don't yous fuss 'round all night wid dem pigs. If one-two am lost, what dat 'mount to"? Mammy says, Well, Ise got to see dat yous an' de Marster, an' my younguns have de meat, so Ise can't 'ford to let pigs die", so she stays wid de mammy pig, an' saves dem all.

W'en de little pigs am grown to be big nice hawgs, mammy would often says to de Missy. Aint dem worth stayin' up all night fo'?" Well, dat's de way 'twas. Mammy am awful good womens, de Marster an' Missy laked her, an' she laked dem, so 'twas a happy fam'ly. W'en Ise seven yeahs old, de Marster hires me out fo' a nurse girl to his friend. De fam'ly's name am Murray . Dey used me real nice, an' Ise stays dere fo' two yeahs. 'Twas w'en de breakup come, dat Ise quits. Father am owned by Marster William Kielgat , so after surrendah, he moves over wid mammy on Marster Martin's place an' 'sists on me comin' home too. He am 'tendin' to start a home fo' weuns, but he dies befo' he gits to do it. Bout a yeah after he dies, mammy mai'ies Steve Watkins . Watkins had a awful cruel Marster, so he left his Marster soon's surrendah comes an' rents land fo' farmin'. Weuns goes thar, an' lives on de farm. Now, 'bout de wah. Ise sho 'membahs de noise of de battles durin' de wah. Gosh fo' mighty, yas! 'Twas two-three times thar am battles fit neah de Marster's place. De battles am neah de Mis'sip River, an' weuns lives 'bout two-three miles east f'om thar. Dat away, weuns am not neah 'nough fo' to see de fittin', but weuns could heah de shootin' plain. Mammy 'fuse to 'low weuns chilluns to go whar de fittin' am after 'twas over, so Ise don't know 'bout how it looked. Ise 'bout seven yeahs old den, an' at gust, weuns am all skeert but de Marster told weuns 'twas no danger long's weuns stays home. Well, home's whar weuns stays, an' de cannon shots even rattles de windahs den. Co'se Ise too young to understand what t'was all 'bout dat de fittin' am bein' done fo', but mammy 'splains to weuns. She told weuns 'twas to 'cide if de niggers am to be free, an' could do jus' lak de white fo'ks, or jus' stay slaves. Ise laked de Marster an' de Missy so well, an' de fo'ks Ise nurse fo' too, dat Ise skeert de Marsters would lose. Ise sho wants dem to win de fittin'. Co'se, Ise jus' a chil's, an' don't want to be took f'om home. 'Twas de way Ise thinks 'twould be if de Marsters lose. Why, mammy even thought de same way, an' talks to weuns 'bout gittin' 'way f'om whar weuns am took to come back. She don't want de Yanks to win. Co'se, after she am mai'ied, she feels diffe'nt 'cause she can have a home of her own. W'en weuns goes to our new home with our new father, weuns wo'ked hard fo' to make it go. Sometimes, weuns had plenty, an' sometimes weuns had to live close. 'Twas diffe'nt f'om bein wid de Marster. W'en livin' wid de Marster, weuns never worried 'bout whar de rations am comin' f'om.

Ise gits mai'ied to Freeman Bill w'en Ise 17 yeahs old. 'Twas in 1873, an' dat's w'en my worryment starts. Bill am a bettah t'baccy chewer dan he am a farmer. Well, he could boss de job too. Dat nigger chewed t'baccy f'om mo'nin' 'til night. He always 'peared lak a bull wid de lump jaw, an' he am so lazy, he wouldn't git up outer de chair to spit in de fireplace, but sat in de chair an' spit at de crack in de flooah. 'Twarnt so bad, but he couldn't hit de crack half de time. He am always sayin', "Doree , weuns have to do de hoein' of de cotton", an' sich, but w'en de wo'k am a-doin', 'twas Ise a-doin', an' not weuns. Ise stood it fo' 'bout three yeahs, den, lak de worm, Ise turns. Ise jus' do lak him. Jus' sat 'round, an' let de wo'k go. It runs dat away fo' couple months, den he 'cides to make me wo'k. Dat 'causes a big fuss. Ise grabs a butcher knife, an' takes after him. He runs out in de yard, an' down de road. 'Twas de last time Ise sees Marster Bill . Twas 'bout five yeahs later, Ise think in 1882, dat Ise mai'ied Jack Jackson . Weuns lives together 'til he dies in 1892. Weuns farmed but Jack am a good wo'ker, an' weuns makes a fair livin'. A yeah after he dies, Ise mai'ied John Scott , an' weuns lives together 'til he dies in 1922. John am a good farmer too, but weuns don't save much 'cause weuns have eight chilluns. Sho took lots to raise dem kids. Weuns moves f'om Memphis to Fort Worth in 1914, an' John wo'ked at anything he could find to do. Ise go to live wid my son, Andrew Scott , after John dies. Andrew am de only one Ise know whar he am. Deys all livin', far Ise knows, but whar am de question. Ise gittin' de pension, 'tis $8.00 de month. Ise needs it, an' could use mo' 'cause Andrew has a hard time findin' wo'k, an' has a big fam'ly so he has all he can care fo'. Now, 'bout de parties in my life, 'twarnt any good times. Mammy wont 'lows weuns to go out w'en weuns am on de Marster's place. W'en Ise old 'nough, 'twas jus' after de wah an' de Ku Klux am raisin' heck wid de cullud fo'ks, so weuns am skeert to have parties. W'en Ise mai'ied to lazy-bones Bill, Ise don't have de times. After Ise mai'ies Scott , Ise starts to have a whole raft of chilluns an' can't go to parties, an' Ise too old now, so dat's how 'twas. 'Bout de only place Ise goes am to chu'ch. John Scott am great b'liever in chu'ch, but he laks beer, an' always drinks it. Ise gwine to tell a goodun on John . 'Twas after de law am passed, makin' it 'gainst de law to have beer. Well, 'twas hard on John , but 'twarnt long 'til some fo'ks told him how to make home-brew. He gits a crock, some bottles, some malt, caps, an' sets a batch. Ise kinds skeert 'bout it, an' says to John , Ise sho not gwine to 'low beer in de house, an' have de law on me". He says, "Shucks, womens. Jus' leave it to me, an' Ise fix it". Ise says, "Ise don't care, jus' so 'taint in de house". So, after a couple days, he bottles de beer, an' tooks it outside. 'Twas dark, an' Ise don't pay any mind to what he does wid it. Next day, 'bout one o'clock, Ise heahs a shot in de back yard. B-O-O-M, it goes. Ise looks outer de windah fo' de party dat does de shootin', but can't see nobody. Den 'twas tudder B-O-O-M. Gosh fo' mighty', Ise says to myself, "What am dat?" So, Ise goes back an' looks, but can't see nothin'. Jus' as Ise turns 'round, B-O-O-M, it goes 'gain. Dat gits me too skeert to stay 'round thar, an' off Ise goes to Andrew's house. Ise tells Andrew's wife, an' she am skeert to go wid me, so weuns 'cides to wait 'til my son, or husband comes home. 'Twarnt long 'til John comes home. W'en Ise told him 'bout de boomin', he scratches his head an' says, "Gosh all Hemlock! 'Tis my hard luck". What am yous hard luck?", Ise asks. Why womens, my beer am busted. Dat am de hard luck". Well sar, sho 'nough, 'twas de beer bottles bustin'. He buries dem in de sand in de back yard, an' w'en de sun gits good an' hot, dat beer gits riled an' jus' come a-bustin' outer de bottles to git loose. Ever'body in de neighborhood knows what happened, so beer am no mo' de secret. Ise sho worry 'bout de beer, 'cause Ise lak a little on a hot day too. Yas, Ise too old to do any wo'k now. Ise jus' no' count any mo', an' all Ise does am sat around, waitin' to go to Glory.