*Interview with Perry Sheppard,*
*Aged 94, Fredericktown, Missouri.*
*Interviewed by J. Tom Miles.*
"I'm hard of hearin'. I know I'm 94 years old; was born in Cape County.
I was a slave till I was 20 years old. I was a house boy. De boss had a
number of black men who did de work in de field. In warm weather we wore
flax, an jeans, in de winter I had plenty of meat to eat. I can't read
or write. Wish I could. My old mistress told me I was free when I was
20. Den I stayed there a while and worked on shares. De militia come an
took a horse away from me on de road ten miles away from home and I had
to walk home. But he fetched de hoss home after a while. I think slavery
was a good thing. I never suffered for nothin'. Lincoln wanted every man
to work for himself."