I hear you been 'roun' to see me befo', but you ain't nebber gwineter find me to home. I sho' lub to go 'roun' wisitin'. You know dey alway' say 'Iffen you treat the cat too good you ain't nebber know w'er the cat is.' I was gwine on sebenteen year' ol' w'en freedom come. I was bo'n right here in Beaumont on the big road w'at dey call the Concord Road in the place w'at dey call Rosedale. I was a growed up young lady befo' I ebber see Beaumont. I's gwine on 89 year' ol' now. Richard Wes ' he was my marster and Mary Guidry she my mistus. Dey uster call her the "Cattle King." Dey hab a big farm and jes' a few slaves. Dey raise' my mudder befo' she 'leben year' ol'. Her name Maria . She marry Sam Marble . He come from Mis'sippi. I don' 'member none of my grammas or grampas. Atter my mudder and daddy marry, den I come home and ol' mistus tuk up wid me. I stay up at the house wid the w'ite woman. She fix' my plate w'en she fix hers. God bless her heart, she kind to me. I know now I was too sassy to her but she didn' pay no 'tenshion 'cause I so li'l. I play wid dolls 'cause dey warn't no w'ite chillen--dey was all growed up. I and her mek the dolls. She better mek dem dolls. I git behin' her and cry and fuss but she knowed I didn' mean it. I slep' on a trundle bed by mistus' side. I git so smart I allus smell my bed to see iffen dey put nice clean sheets on mine like dey did on hers. Sometime' I play sick to git to stay in the bed, but ol' mistus was a good doctor, but she gimme bee'foot oil but it so nasty I quit playin' off. She French and she sich good doctor dey git her to go to other folks house. Mistus was rale (real) sweet though and she ain't 'low nobudy to run over me. Ol' mistus was rale rich. I's tukken mistus money outn' the wardrobe and mek tall playhouse outer gol' and silver money. Iffen she hafter buy sumpin' she hafter come and borry it from me. Us allus had to figger how to tek dat money outer the corners so the house won't fall down. I cried and cried iffen she tored it up. She uster bring me wid her w'en she come in to see her gran' chillen in French settlement. Us come in buggy or hack and bring jelly and money and t'ings. I t'ought I was gwine to heaven--dat's 'cause I git to play wid li'l chillen. Us play 'ring place' (draw a ring and hop 'roun' in it), den us jump rope, and play swing. Dey hab a hair rope swing wid a smoove board in it so it ain't scratch' us behin'. Ol' mistus was so kind but w'at got 'way wid me I couldn' go to school. I beg and beg but she kep' sayin', 'Some day, some day,' but I ain't nebber sit in a school in my life.

Bout dis time dey 'vide up the property and ol' mistus' daughter git my mudder. Atter w'ile young mistus got so mean dat I's glad I ain't been tuk wid my mudder. Ol' marster didn' wuk 'em hard. He mek 'em come in w'en the sun bad 'cause he 'feared dey git sunstroke. He was mighty good in early days, but w'en he figger dey gwine to loose he slaves he start bein' mean. He split 'em and sol' 'em tryin' to mek he money outen 'em. De house w'at the w'ite folks lib in was mek outen logs and moss, and so was the quarters houses. Better'n New Orleans, dem quarters was. Slaves hab dere own garden patch. The w'ite folks raise' hogs and kill' 'em by the twenties. Dey smoke the hams and shoulders and chittlin's and sech and hang 'em up in the smokehouse. Dey 'serve fruit, and peach and apple. Us allus have plenty to eat. Us have good strong clo's too. Mistus buy my dress' sep'rat. She buy me pretty stripe cotton dress. Bout the only wuk I done was to he'p watch the geese and turkey' and fill the quilts. I learn' to card roads too. I lub to do dat. I nebber learn' to spin 'cause I too little. Ol' mistus nebber whip' me much 'cause she jis' like to scare me. She uster whip me wid big tall straw she git outen the fiel' or she wet a towel and whip' me on the legs wid it. Some niggers was raise' on blood, though, dey so 'bused, and dey still mean. Dey's a ol' w'ite man name' Joe Dark . He had plenty of niggers on Red Riber over in Lou'siana. He couldn' show off he niggers 'cause dey hab so many scars. He jes' kep dat whip a-singin'. Some marsters was good and some was bad. My ol' marster hisse'f he done me a trick I nebber forgit w'ile I's warm. I big gal 'bout sixteen year' ol' and us all 'lone on the place. He tell me to crawl under the co'n crib and git the eggs. I knowed dey ain't nuttin' under dere but the nes' egg but I hafter go. W'en I can't fin nuttin' but the nes' egg he pull' me out backwards by my feet. Den he whip' me 'cause I ain't done w'at he want me to do. W'en ol' mistus come home I ain't know no bettern' to tell her and she stood up and say she orter kill him but she sho' fix' him anyway. He say she sp'ile me and I's sassy and dat why he whip' me, but she know I ain't nebber tell nuttin' but the troof. Ol' mistus tek to preachin'. She was rale good preacher. Dey hab a big hall down the center of the house w'er dey hab the services. A circus rider (Circuit Rider) come once a mont'. W'enebber he come eb'rybody stop' wukkin' for the services eben if it warn't Sunday. W'en the war was on us nebber seed no sojers 'roun' w'er I was, but dey tol' me dey was lots of sojers in Beaumont and down at Sabine Pass. Dat battle on Atchafalia shook all the dishes off the dresser and broke 'em up. Yes'm, jes broke up all the fine Sunday and comp'ny dishes.

Atter freedom my mudder Maria sho' hab trubble gittin' me away. The ol' mistus hab all the seben li'l nigger chillen dat b'long to her slaves but dey eat up so much feed dey mammys and daddys hafter come and git 'em. I didn' own my own mammy. I own my mistus and call her "mommer." Us cry and cry w'en us hafter go wid us mammy. Young mistus git so mean though dat my mammy and me move' into the settlement. W'en I marry I's nineteen year' ol'. I marry George Turner in Beaumont. He been dead thutty year' dis June. Us nebber did had but one gal. Her name Sarah . I libs wid her now 'cause I ain't able to wuk no mo'. I 'member my ol' mistus uster rock me in her arms in a big rockin' chair and sing to me. I 'member dat she uster sing, "Oh-Susanna" as well as I 'member dat dis my lef' han'. Den she uster tell me a story: 'Dere was a big ol' brown bear w'at lib in the woods, and she hab lots of li'l cub bears. Dey was still nussin' at the bres'. Ol' mama bear she out huntin' one day and she come by a fiel' w'er lot of darkies is wukkin' and dere on a pallick (pallet) she see fat li'l pickaninny baby. So mama bear she up and stole li'l pickaninny baby and tuk it home wid her babies. Atter she git home wid the li'l nigger baby it hungry, but atter she git all li'l cub babies fed dere ain't no milk lef' for the nigger baby. Mama bear she git so 'zasperated she say to her babies, 'Go 'long, you go 'way and play.' Den she feed the li'l baby and dat how she raise' the li'l pickaninny.' Now eb'ry time ol' mistus come to dat place in the story, she start laughin', 'cause I allus uster ax her, 'How come dey didn' no hair grow on dat baby.