“I was born in Mississippi and I can member seein’ the Yankees goin’ by. I was a little bit of a girl and Betsy Hardy, that was old Miss, she kep’ the Yankees from gettin’ me. She told me many a time if it hadn’t been for her I’d a had my brains beat out against a tree. When I didn’t do to suit her, she’d tell me bout dat. I stayed right in the house.

“I member when they was lookin’ for Johnson’s brigade and when they saw it was the Yankees they just flew. The Yankees was goin’ through there doin’ what they wanted.

“I never got no further than the third grade.”

FOLKLORE SUBJECTS

El Dorado District
Name of interviewer: Mildred Thompson & Carol Graham.
Subject: Uncle Jack Island—Ex-Slave.
Story—Information (If not enough space on this page add page)

“Yas’m ah membuhs a lil’l bit bout slavery days. Ah wuz jes a chap den. Ah’m 73 now. Ah wuz such a chap dat ah didn’ do much work. Day use tuh cook on de fiuh place an ah’d tote in bark an wood fuh em tuh cook wid an git up de aigs (eggs) an sich li’l things as dat.

“Mah ole marster was Marse Bullock an we lived in de Lisbon community.

“Mistress’ baby chile wuz a boy an he wuz jes six months olduh dan ah wuz. Ah wuz de only boy chile in de whole business uv slaves. Evah evenin bout a hour by de sun dey would feed us an by sundown we bettuh be in baid. Dat wuz tuh git us outn de way when de grown fokes come in. Dey wuz six uv us chillun an dey would feed us in a big wooden tray. Dey’d po’ hot pot liquor in de tray an crumble braid in hit. Den dey’d give us each a spoon an we would all git roun an eat. Dere wuz Lizzie, Nancy, Sistuh Julia, Sistuh Lu and Martha. Der wuz six uv us. Aftuh dey fed us we would go tuh baid an tuh sleep. Dey had ole fashion wheels. Some nights de women would spin. We wouldn’ heah dem when dey come in but when dat ole wheel started tuh goin hit’d wake me up an ah’d lie der a while an watch em spin den ah’d go tuh sleep ergin, an leave em spinnin’. Sometimes we wouldn’ see our mamas fum Sunday night till next Sunday mornin. Mah mistress wove cloth. Bout de biggest thing ah done wuz help huh wid huh weavin. Ah would pick up de shickle (shuttle) an run hit through fuh huh. Dat bout de biggest thing ah’d do sides feedin the chickens an bringin in bark. In dem days wuznt no buckets much. We used hand gourds dat would hold two or three gallons uv watuh. An ah’d carry one uv dem gourds uv watuh tuh de fiel’ tuh em while day was pickin cotton. One yeah de cotton worms wuz so bad an ah hadn’ nevah seen none. Ah’d started tuh de fiel’ wid de gourd uv watuh an saw dem worms an oh, ah jes bawled. Mah mama had tuh come an git me. Ah didn’ know nothin bout dem worms.

“De nearest battle in de wah was at Vicksburg. Ah membush one day hit got so smoky an ah could heah de guns. Ah thought hit wuz thunderin an said tuh ole missus dat hit wuz gointer rain soon but ole missus say: ‘Oh Lawdy, dat aint thunder. Ah wish hit wuz. Dat’s guns and dat, dat yo sees is smoke an not clouds.’ Aftuh de wah wuz ovah we stayed on wid ole marster. Soon aftuh de wah wuz ovah marster died an missus mahried Ed Oakley, a spare built man. Dey lives in Arcadia, Louisiana now. Ah stayed on thar till ah wuz bout fo’teen an ah lef’ dere. Wuz gone bout a yeah an ah learnt sumpin too. When ah got off ah had tuh go to work. Bout all ah had tuh do at home wuz tuh take keer uv de stock aftuh ah got big nough tuh but ah sho nuff worked den. Ah stayed way bout a year den ah went back an stayed dere too till ah was bout twenty-one. Ah been mahried three times. Ah had five chillun by mah fust wife an dem is all de chillun ah evah had. One uv dem lives in town, one in Texas, one Dubach, La., one is daid an ah don’ know de where-bouts uv de othuh one. De las’ time ah heerd anything bout him he wuz in Hot Springs. Mah present wife’s name is Talitha. We has one gran’chile livin wid us. He bout fifteen an is at school ovah dar crost de road wha yo sees dat house. Oh Missy dem times we been tawkin bout wuz de good times. Dese times are hard.”