"I have heard them say that their white folks didn't whip them. My
master was a good man. My young master, when it come to the surrender,
slipped back home and told them they was going to be free as ever he
was. His name was Joe Mitchell. I never seed my white folks whip anybody
in my life. They just never whipped anybody. They never whipped me. I
have seen the white folks next to us whip their Negroes and I asked
grandma about it. She said that those were their Negroes and she would
explain what they was being whipped for. They was on another farm. I
don't remember what they was being whipped for.
"My young master told the slaves when he notified them they was free
that if they didn't want to stay with him, he would give them enough to
go on till they could make it, you know, to keep them from starving. He
was a good man.
"The old man, Joe's father, was named Thomas Mitchell. He died before I
was born. I never seed him, just knowed his name. Joe's mother was named
Isabel Mitchell. I came to be named Briggs because her husband's name
was Briggs. He belonged to a Briggs. I don't know what his name was
else. They didn't belong to the same master. They used to let them
marry. They would fix great big tables. Sometimes they would marry in
the house; that was in the winter. Then sometimes they would marry
outdoors. Then they would set a long table for all their associates to
eat just like you would fix a table for your friends. Looked like they
would be so glad to see their boys and girls marry. They would have
regular preacher and marry just like they do now.
"There wasn't no breeders on our place. But I have heard of people who
did keep a woman just for that purpose. They never whipped her nor
nothing. They just let her have children. As soon as she had one, they
would take it away from her so that she could have another one right
away.