"De white folks had a fine house, a very large house standin' high up on a bluff 'bout a mile an three quawterhs fum Cumbuhlain' Rivuh. Dat wuz in Smith County, Tennessee.
"Ah don rightly 'member 'bout how many slaves dey had, but dere war sev'ral cabins whut us cullud folks live in.
"Mah mammy and daddy wuz Sarah an Bob Tadwell. Mammy wuz raised in Vuhginyuh an' when she wuz sixteen yeah ole she wuz put on de block an' sold in Nashville.
"Mah mammy wuz a seamstress. She nevuh work in de fiel', an' she don' know nuthin' 'bout cookin', but she do fine sewin'. When dey put her on de block dey has some o' huh work dar tuh show what fine sewin' she kin do. Yuh know all de sewin war done by han' an mah mammy'd sew sometime till huh finguhs nearly drap off. She sew de fines' tucks an' she make all dem fine tuck bosom shurts fo' de men.
"One time a man come an' wunna buy mammy an me. Miss Coon wuz gonna sell us unbeknownst to ole Massa. Ole Massa wouldn' sell none o' his people, but Miss Coon ahways try to put things ovuh on him an' he couldn' do nuthin 'bout it but go git drunk. Ole Miss Coon put de price on us a way up high—'cause mammy sech a fine seamstress an' ah wuz ahways a buxum chile, nevuh sick er nuthin. But he say dat too much an' he go on home. Aftuh while wen dey so much talk 'bout freein' de niggers Miss Coon sont him word dat she come way down on de price but he sont back word dat he got ez much sense as she got.
"We lef' thar when we wus free. My mammy ahways got work a sewin'. Ah stayed wuth one white woman fifteen year.
"Yessum de Ku Kluxes cum aroun' right smaht. De woman ah stayed wuth wouldn' 'low no foolishness roun' her place an' dey nevuh bothuh huh none, but dey beat up some o' de neighbors. One ole man dey beat till he die."
[Mattie Lee [HW: Head]
Interview with Mrs. Mattie Lee,
aged 78, Fredericktown, Missouri.
Interviewed by J. Tom Miles.
"My mother was a slave in Franklin Parish, Louisiana, 'bout 200 miles from New-Orleans. I was born in 1862. My mother's name was Caroline Head by marriage. She was born in slavery. Her home was in Mississippi first and she emigrated to Louisiana 'cause de land was worn out. I had seven brothers and sisters and all are gone but me. My mother was separated from my father two times. My mother was married three times due to being moved around. My brother's father was sent into a free state under some consideration. Bush Baker was my mother's boss. De boss had two plantations. De morning I was going to be born de overseer began to fight my mother and a colored man took a hoe and said if the man hit her again he would knock his brains out. The overseer had been at this place for four years and had not been paid. Mother was confined in de field and dey got her to de house. If Baker had been thar he would have killed de overseer. Three men came up to kill de overseer with guns for beatin' my mother and de overseer had to leave. My mother never did get over her troubles dat morning. Mrs. Baker said it would be better for mother to work in de field 'cause mother could then take better care of her children.