“I wooden take $100 for living in slavery days and I member when they all parted out. Mr. Linktum come down. Yasum, Mr. Abe Linktum and his partner Horace Greeley, comed down. Lieutenants and ‘Sarges’ all comed. And some big yaller buck niggers all dressed up fine. I served Mr. Linktum myself wid my own hands. Yasum I did. I fetched cold water from the spring on a waiter and I stood straight an held it out just like dis in front of me. Yasum and his partner, Mr. Horace Greeley too. And them big yaller buck niggers went in the kitchen where my mammy was cookin and tole her: ‘Git out er here nigger. You don have to wait on dese white fokes no more.’ Yasum dey did. And they done said: ‘You aint got no more marster and no more missus. Yo don’ have to work here no more.‘ But my mother said: ‘I’se puttin old marster’s victuals on to cook. Wait till I gets em on.’ An they tole her again that she didn’t have no more marster and no more missus. I tole my mammy to kick him down the step but she said she was afeard he would shoot her. All I hates about them ‘Sarges’ and Lieutenants is they never did shave. Them days all wore whiskers. I ‘comember’ when I was a little chap standin on the block with my mammy and being sold. But Ah always had a good marster.
“Ah members standin on nuther block to cook. Tables wuz high to keep nothin from draggin things off. Grandma Aiken learnt me to cook an I stood on a block and made out biscuits with a spoon. Ah neber put my scratchers in the dough in my life. And I could cook good too. Wuz knowed as the drummers cook. Drummers would come through fum New Orleens and et at ole marsters and bragged on my cookin and tried to git me ter go wif them to New Orleans and cook fuh they wives.
“Mah fust name was Pinkie Dixon. I was married on ole mistesses front gallery and mah name wuz Cook then. Next time ah married mah name wuz Howard.
“Ah can count but not to member hit. Ah don’ know the number of my chilluns but ah kin name em. There’s Alec, Henry, Winnie, Ellen, Mary, Gola, Seebucky, Crawford, Sarah and Ruby. Seebucky wuz named fer Sears and Roebuck. Cause at that time weuns ordered things fum them and ordered Seebuckys clo’es fore she cum fum thar. That why we named ’er that.
“Ah deednt git no book larnin. Ah larnt enough to keep out of devilment and ah knowed how to cook. Now these fools aroun here don’ know nothin. They never did see Linktum or Horace Greeley. Ah wishes it wuz work time agin but ah caint hold out now.”
“Ah never gits hot nor cold lak yo does. Ah takes mah cold bath ever mornin and ah feels good.”
Thus old aunt Pinkey rambled on and on talking of this and that and especially the good days—slavery days. She evidently thought that some of the army officers were Lincoln and Greeley. She probably heard her master or mistress talk about these men and got them confused with the army officers who visited in the home.
Old Marion Johnson was seven years old when the war closed. Is 79 now. “Chillun let me tell you ah don want to go over what I done been over. Not agin. In slavery days we had plenty to eat and plenty to wear but since then Oh, Lordy. My old Mawster’s name was Alex Anderson and he lived in Jackson Parrish, Louisiana. Yuh say youh wants me to tell you some tales about ole times, ghostes and the like. Well ah sure can if ah gits started but somehow I jest don’ seem wound up this mawnin.
“One time there was a man what had a house full of daughters and his girl Janie wanted to git married. Her lover asked her father’s permission to wed. He said: ‘Well Mr. have you got any objection to me and your daughter Janie maryin’?’ The old man didn’t want the young one to see how anxious he was to get rid of his daughter so he said: ‘You wantin to marry my daughter, Janie? Janie don’t want ter git married.’ The girl was behind the door listening and when her father said that she spoke up and said: ‘Yes I do pappa, bad.’ The young man said: ‘See there now we both wants to git married.’ The ole man spoke then and said: ‘Well, damn you, dash you take her.’
“You know what the clocks says? The big old mantle clocks we used to have ticked along real slow and they said: ‘Take your time. Take your time. Take your time.’ The little alarm clocks of today say: ‘Get together. Get together. Get together.’ And that is jes like the young folks. When I was young the young folks them days young folks took their time and went together a long time and they married they stayed married. The young folks today rush around and get married in a week and fust thing you knows they is done duvoced and married agin. They is jest as diffunt as the clocks is diffunt.