[TR: Footnotes have been moved to appear within the text.]
[TR: Informant names and locations that appear in brackets have been drawn from interviews.]
Mississippi Federal Writers
Slave Autobiographies
Jim Allen, Clay Co.
FEC
Mrs. Ed Joiner
[JIM ALLEN
West Point, Mississippi]
Jim Allen, West Point, age 87, lives in a shack furnished by the city. With him lives his second wife, a much older woman. Both he and his wife have a reputation for being "queer" and do not welcome outside visitors. However, he readily gave an interview and seemed most willing to relate the story of his life.
"Yas, ma'm, I 'members lots about slav'ry time, 'cause I was old 'nough.
"I was born in Russell County, Alabamy, an' can tell you 'bout my own mammy an' pappy an' sisters an' brudders.
"Mammy's name was Darkis an' her Marster was John Bussey, a reg'lar old drunkard, an' my pappy's name was John Robertson an' b'longed to Dr. Robertson, a big farmer on Tombigbee river, five miles east of Columbus. De doctor hisself lived in Columbus.