"Atter de war my paw an' mammy went ter live on Mr. Moore's plantation an' we had a hard time. A whole heap o' times I has had nothin' ter eat but one cupful o' peas an' a hunk of co'nbread all day long. A white lady, Mis' Douglas give me a quart of milk eber Sunday, but I had ter walk three miles fer hit.
"We ain't wucked none in slavery days ter what we done atter de war, an' I wisht dat de good ole slave days wus back.
"Dar's one thing, we ole niggers wus raised right an' de young niggers ain't. Iffen I had my say-so dey'd burn down de nigger schools, gibe dem pickanninies a good spankin' an' put 'em in de patch ter wuck, ain't no nigger got no business wid no edgercation nohow.
"Yes'um, dey says dat I is a murderer". Uncle William stroked his long white beard. "I runned from dis young nigger seberal times, an' I wus tryin' ter run wid my knife what I had been whittlin' wid open in my han'. I wus skeerd nigh ter death, so when he grabs me I throw up my han's an' in a minute he falls. I breshes de blood offen my coat, thinkin' dat he has hurt me, an' I sees de blood pourin' from de jugular vein.
"I has sarved ten months o' my sentence which dey gived me, three ter five years fer manslaughter; what could I do? I stood up an' I said, 'Thank you, Jedge.'"
L.E.
| N.C. District: | No. 2 |
| Worker: | Mary A. Hicks |
| No. Words: | 503 |
| Subject: | ANNIE TATE |
| Person Interviewed: | Annie Tate |
| Editor: | Daisy Bailey Waitt |