"Dey give de little ones what couldn' come to de table, a pan and spoon for dem to have at meal time. Dem what so little dey can't eat outer a pan, dey have suck bottles for dem."
"Dey milk 'bout 12 or 14 head of cow' on de place. Dey had plenty of milk and butter. Dey had a big safe what dey put de milk and butter in to keep it fresh. Dere was a trough wid water in it and dey set de milk and butter in it in de summer time. Dey had a peg of wood in a hole at de en', and when dey want to change de water dey pull out de peg and dreen de water out and put some cool fresh water in."
"When I was a boy us uster play wid spools, and puppies and stick hosses. Us uster have bows and arrers. Sometime us go out in de wood huntin' wid de bows and arrers. Us shoot at birds and sich, but us neber did had no luck at it."
"De grown up folks uster go huntin' at night and kill deers and 'possums. Dey had to have a permit transfer iffen dey go huntin' or go from one plantation to annuder. Iffen dey didn' have a permit de patterrollers would git 'em."
"De patterrollers neber git me. I see 'em chase slaves. When dey ketch 'em dey whip 'em, and tell 'em nex' time be sho' to have a pass from ol' marster."
"I neber see ol' marster beat nobody. What whippin' he done he done it wid his mout'. He mighty keen speakin' den, but when he speak rough to a nigger he need it."
"De kind of chu'ch dey have in dem days on dat place was fence-corner chu'ch. Dey go off down in de fence corner and sing and pray. Dey feerd for anybody to see 'em."
"Dey was some cullud preacher' 'roun' but dey warn't on us plantation. I jine' de Baptis' Chu'ch but dat was way atter slavery. I uster be pro tem deacon."
"De fus' money I earn' was wukkin' on the T&P Railroad. I jis' blow it in, you know like boys do. I los' dis eye railroadin'. I was spikin' on a col' frosty mornin'. I hit dat spike and it broke up in t'ree piece' and de middle piece hit me in de eye and put it out."
"Seems like I 'members de sojers. I couldn' specify wedder dey was Yankees or not. You know dat ol' battle fo't (fort) was dere at Marshall, two or t'ree mile' from Mills Quarters."