"My Daddy wuz Henry Litener and my mammy wuz Rosanna Litener. My daddy belonged to Woodson Morris. He wuz a cousin of Massa Joe Mott an' lived a few miles away. He wuz allus allowed to visit us over Saturday night an' Sunday. Mammy done de cookin' at de big house an' Massa Joe allus said dey warn't nobody cud cook like Rose—dat's what he call her.
"We lived in a three-room log house an' we allus had plenty good eatin'. Hams, puddi near all year round chickens, en' sweet'taters an' possums too.
"Cain't tell 'bout no good times in dem days 'cause dey warn't none. We didden have no church but Ole Missus Mary usta carry mammy along to her church—ridin behind on her hoss. I guess dey wuz mos'ly right good to us all. The chillern wouldn' never let nobody whup me 'cause we all played togedder. But Ole Massa usta whup mammy when he'd git mad.
"When de war came Ole Massa didden go but he war a reg'lar ole seesesh! Young James Andrew went off to war an' ole Missus usta grieve for him. We ain't never seed no fightin' round our place but we could hear de big guns over at Columbus. When de sojers was round de neighborhood dey'd allus have me playing' round de front gate so I cud tell em when dey's comin' up de road. Den dey goes an' hides 'fore de sojers gits dar. Dey all skeer'd o' de sojers. I's skeerd too but dey say sojers won't bother little black gal. De sojers jes' came in en' ransack de house—dey finds sumthin to eat an' dey looks for money. Dey wants money! but dey don' find none. Den dey wants ter know whar's my folks—but I tells 'em I don't know. Dey jes left en' didden say whar dey wuz goin'.
"When de war wuz over Ole Massa Joe came in an' he say: 'Rose, you all ain't slaves no mo'—You is all free as I is.' Den you should a heard my mammy shout! You never heerd sich shoutin' in all yo' bahn days. An' Ole Missus she joined in de shoutin' too. She war glad 'cause now James Andrew would be comin' home.
"Old Missus Delia Reed, dat wuz Old Massa's sister, she wuz good 'bout lookin atter us wen we's ailin' but iffen we's sick dey'd git de doctor. Dey wuz jes as dutiful to us as to dere white folks.
"Dey usta talk—bout hoodoos an castin' spells en' sech like—but I guess dey warn't much to it er dey'd a cast spells on some a' de mean Massa's when dey beat um up. Still iffen dey had, mebby dey'd a beat um up worser or mebby killed em."
[Mary Divine]
Interview with Mary Divine,
St. Louis County, Missouri.
Was Nurse Maid At 4
The subject of this sketch is Mary Divine, 85 years old. She lives at 8004 Elinore Avenue, St. Louis County, Missouri, with her son and daughter-in-law.