Dey was six of us chillun not all of us was bo'n in slav'ry times, though. Some was bo'n atterwards. All t'ree my brudders and one my sisters done dead and gone, and dey's two sisters livin' now by de name of Mary Lyons and 'Lisbeth Lyons . Us have a nice life atter freedom come, when all of we'uns live togedder on de farm 'till us marry and scatter and some die.   De white folks have a nice house and a great big acre garden close by. De slaves raise peas and beans and lots of other kinds of fiel' stuff. Dey raise 'mos' eb'ryt'ing us have to eat on de place. Speckled peas and beans was my fav'rite in dem days. Dey cook 'em in a big i 'on pot and mek lots of pot-licker. Den us po' dat bean juice over a big hunk of co'nbread and it jis' as good as anyt'ing you wanter eat. Us didn' have no lots of ailment in dem days 'cause us didn' eat all kinds of rich food. Iffen us feel sorter peekish dey go to de woods and git yarbs and roots and leaves and bark and mek tea outen 'em. Dat tas' wusser'n anyt'ing you ebber tas', but it well dem befo' long.  In slav'ry time de slaves live in slave quarters houses. Dey don't put much furn'ture in dem house, only home-mek bench' and rawhide bottom chair. Mos' of dem chair' have de back break off, but it ain't mek no diff'rence to us. De slaves wuk from sun-up to sun-down and dey ain't have no time to fix 'em nohow. Dey mek holes in de flo' and sot some pos'es (posts) in 'em, den dey nail a framewuk 'cross it to de wall and have what lots of 'em call a Geo'gia hoss bed. One of de t'ings us chillun done in slav'ry time was to tear de co'n shuck in strips. Den when us git a big pile all t' (tore) up, den us mammy mek mattress outen 'em. Dey put de shuck and de hay in a tow sack cover and tie down de corner' wid strings. De ol' folks use mattress on de Geo'gia hoss and us chillun use 'em on de flo' for pallet. Dey fix it 'roun' de house so de flo' nebber git wet from de rain.  Ol' marster he give us good clo's. De li'l boys wo' long shu'ts and de li'l gals, long slip dresses. Dey mek 'em outer cotton in summer and outer outin' flannel in de winter. Us git shoes when us seben year' ol' but not when us li'l. When us li'l boys git to go to chu'ch dey have us dress up in caliker (calico) shu'ts and denim britches, and us sho' hafter keep 'em nice 'cause only git one set of Sunday clo's a year. Us allus like to go to chu'ch.

My fav'rite preacher was ol' Reb'rent Everett Armstrong and Ramsey Armstrong . Dey was bofe Mef'dis' preachers. My mammy and daddy jine' de chu'ch when dey was a-preachin'. Since I's free I jine de Baptis' Chu'ch, though. Ol' marster he warn't pow'ful mean but he whip right smart. Bofe my daddy and mammy was c'sider good for de time so dey didn' git what some of de others git. I see slaves git whip for 'mos' eb'ryt'ing, but I ain't see 'em draw blood hardly 'tall. Us nebber have no holiday 'till atter freedom riz up. De slaves wuk from soon's dey kin see in de mawnin' and's long as dey kin see at night, but de white folks tek care of 'em and ain't let 'em suffer. Us white folks help us to l'arn to read and write a li'l, and dat's mo' dan mos' of de marsters done. De war time didn' bodder us none. You hafter git a pass to go anywhere, 'cause if you ain't de patterrollers git you. Dey was some scatterin' few sojers 'roun' dem part' but dey didn' bodder us none. Atter de ol' marster tol' us we free us move' up close to Jasper on a farm my mammy and daddy and all us chillun. When I git 'bout 25 year' ol' I up and marry a gal name' Maggie Traylor . My weddin' clo's was a suit a feller say he done outgrow', and it fit me jis' right. Dat suit was black wid a jim-swinger coat. You dunno what a jim-swinger am? Dat one of dese long coat what jis' as long in de front as in de back. I tell you, you know dem picture' on de Prince Albert t'baccer can? Well, dat man he dress' in a jim-swinger. Dat suit nebber have not eben one li'l speck on it and it sot me back twel' dollar'. Us was marry by de Reb'rent Alfred McFarlin . Maggie and me us have t'ree chillun, two boy' and a gal. One boy he live in Houston now, and de other he die when he 'bout growed up. De baby gal she ain't live long. My wife she die' 'bout de same time. Forty t'ree year' ago I tuk anudder wife. She name Liza Armstrong . She still livin'. Us have a nice li'l weddin' out at de Peach Tree Village. Dey didn' uster be nobody but Injuns dere, but dey move 'way long time ago and 'Merican folks live dere now. Dey was some white folks and some cullud folks to us weddin' and Reb 'rent Tom Bennett he tie' de knot. Us raise a fam'ly of ten chillun, wid only one dead. De res' all scatter out now and I dunno w'ere dey all is got to. And dat's many a chile to raise,' added his frail-looking wife, with a quiet sigh.