Tobe has vivid memories of the time when wild beasts, wolves, bears, deer and wild turkeys roamed what are now fertile fields in Hill County. When asked about his opportunities for an education Tobe replied:  My white grandfather started to teach me to write, but my mother said 'Learn to figger and count and read but not to write; more people go to pen for writing notes--do not learn to write.  So Tobe speaks fairly correct English, can read and "figger" but has never learned to write.After "freedom", his white grandpa wanted to take Tobe back to Mississippi with him. He went to where Tobe was herding sheep ten miles away from their home and put Tobe on the back of a white horse and brought him to their farm to get his clothes and to get ready for the journey to Mississippi. Tobe's mother had twelve children; Tobe was the seventh boy. When Mr. Zollicoffer told Tobe's mother of his plan to take Tobe away, she cried and begged so hard that he left Tobe .

For two years after the negroes were set free, Tobe stayed on the Zollicoffer farm and helped with the cattle. On roundups, Tobe often hunted for stray cattle around Waco when it was just a village. Tobe was an expert in roping and branding cattle. His favorite "cutting horse" was named "Jim". He was a large bay horse, with sense "like a man". "Frank", a gray horse was another of Tobe's cutting horses, but nothing like as smart as Jim. "Maney's the time me and old Jim have slapped the old T Z on a hefty young yearling for Marse Ed ."Tobe told interesting stories of how they lived in early days. He stated that in early days, there were no cattle brands, anyone could rope a cow and it was his. They parched the corn to eat when on long trips away from home. Hoecake was baked in ashes; then, they would wash the ashes off the bread and eat it. They didn't know what flour was. They wore home spun clothes. The shoes were made on the home plantation. Old Jonas Barnett, a slave of Ed Zollicoffer , had been trained to make the shoes. Tobe states that the Zollicoffer slaves were only whipped when they didn't obey orders and then not very hard like some white owners did. During the Civil War, his Master, Ed Zollicoffer was not well enough to go to war. Ole Tobe hid him in a cave from curious passers-by. Tobe cut the brush to hide the cave and every day would carry food and other things to his Master.Tobe told of baking potatoes and fresh corn on the cob by buring them in hot ashes. Hominy was cooked in lye water in a big wash pot, rinsed until clean, served with hot fried meat grease. At hog killing time, sausage was wrapped in shucks and let dry. All the Zollicoffers went together to church. White and black rode in ox wagons' men and boys rode horses or walked, women and children rode in wagons. Later surreys and hacks came into use and the white ladies rode in these, which were drawn by horses.
Tobe and Simon Jeans are the only Zollicoffer ex-slaves still alive. All that remains of the once prosperous Zollicoffer plantation home is the well. Most of the land is now owned by Mr. Knox Mason .After the negroes were freed, most of them went wild. Some went back to the "old states"' some in one direction, some in another. Tobe stayed with or near his white masters, the Zollicoffers . Tobe married and was the father of six children, two girls and four boys; all were raised in Hill County and all went to school. Tobe belongs to the African Methodist Church and takes an active interest in politics. He is a Democrat "like Ed Zollicoffer taught me." He owns a "patch" of 6 acres of land which he bought after the Civil War.

Erect as an Indian, bright eyes taking in the changes wrought in his native state, this ex-slave is held in high esteem by both white and colored people in the county in which he has spent a long life of useful service. In reference to the depression, Tobe said: "God has changed the times on people. Times are really hard now. In slavery we had to work, but the white people were kind and now we are slaves shore enough. Envy and malice cause trouble