"Some of the young folks nowadays pretty rough. Some of em do right and some don't.
"Never did go to school. Coulda went but papa died and had to go to work.
"I thinks over old times sometimes by myself. Didn't know what freedom was till we was free and didn't hardly know then.
"Well, it's been a long time. All the Brewsters and the Bransons dead and I'm still here—blind. Been blind eight years."
Waters Brooks
1814 Pulaski Street, Little Rock, Ark.
Retired railroad worker, No. Pac. 75
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[HW: A Railroad Work History]
I was only three years old when peace (1865) was declared. I was born in 1862. Peace was declared in 1865. I remember seeing plenty of men that they said the white folks never whipped. I remember seeing plenty of men that they said bought their own freedom.