"My mammy allus stayed wid Ole Missus Patsy. Ole Tom Johnson, de nigger trader tuk her two brothers an' sent um to New Orleans. He usta libe in dat big house dat wuz war de postoffice is now, an' he usta keep de slaves he buy dar at he's house till he can send um down de ribber on de boat.
"One time a slave at a neighbor farm was workin' in de feel' an when he comes in, in de ebenin's he's wife wuz gone an' de cradle wuz emty. He's Massa done sold 'em. De ole man fell down on he's knees an' he begin prayin' an he pray an' he holler 'Oh! nobody know but Jesus! Nobody know but Jesus!' An' he kep' dat up a prayin' an a hollerin like dat. His ole Massa hear him, an' it made him feel bad. De ole darky keep on a prayin' an a hollerin, 'Nobody know but Jesus.' Ole Massa keep on a hearin' it, till atter awhile, he git right down der on de flo' wid de darky an' he' fess religion.
"After Ole Massa George died, Ole Missus Patsy married Woodson Parrot and went to his place in Scott County. Dey had a nice big home der an he were a good man. When he lay dyin he wuz sick a long time an' dey wuz allus some lodge men roun' him an my mammy wuz skeered of de men. De nite he died, Ole Missus Patsy had been up wid him so much she wuz sleepin—an he call out, 'Oh! Patsy! Oh! Patsy! Oh! Patsy!' three times jes like dat. Mammy wuz skeered o' dem men an she wouldn't go in an wake Ole Missus Patsy. Den ole Massa Parrot say, 'Oh! Patsy, I ain't nebber made a prayer in my life an' here I'se dyin.' Ole Missus Patsy nebber did forgive my mammy for not wakin' her till de day she died.
"Miss Janie allus had to live on rented places. Mista Bradley warn't smart an' he didn't have nuthin but she stayed with him an' done de bes' she could.
"We seed lotsa sojers cum by durin' de war, but dey nebber bothered us much. De Ku Kluxers cum roun' sometimes but mostly to see dat darkies stay whar dey belong. When de war wuz over I wanted to stay wif Missie Janie but my mammy cum an' got me. We worked for a German family livin on Jackson Hill.
"I cud a been a spiritualis woman if I'd had a little education. I allus had visions an' ud see thing but I nebber know'd whut dey mean. When I tell my mammy she allus say, 'Hush chile, you allus a see'in things.'
"My mammy's daid now a long time but she offen comes to see me. One night I seed her carryin a bright light. She allus comes to see me when I'se in trouble but I ain't seen her now for a long time."
[Lou Griffin]
Interview with Mrs. Lou Griffin,
St. Louis, Missouri.
Mrs. Lou Griffin, a daughter of Minnie and William Gibson, is something over ninety years old. She does not know her exact age. She tells the writer she is one of a family of thirteen children and that her grandmother had twenty-one children. She lives with a great nephew at 2935 Easton Avenue, St. Louis. She tells her story as follows: