*Interview with Mollie Renfro Sides,*
*Cape Girardeau, Missouri.*
"Mah mammy wuz Rosie Renfro, an' we' un's blong to 'Massa' Tom B.
English, an' Miss Sarah. We live neah Jackson. My daddy Spencer Renfro,
he blong to 'Massa' Jack Renfro, en' de Cape Road.
"'Massa' English wouldn't sell us, an' 'Massa' Renfro woun' sell mah
daddy, so dey jes' let mah daddy come tuh see us on Satudays.
"Our white folks, dey wuz all mighty nice people. Dey live in a big
white house, an' dey has lotsa nice things. Mah mammy done de cookin'
an' 'twen time she he'p weave on de loom, an' spin an' knit.
"Dey wuz jes' two o' us families. We lived in little ole log houses an'
in tuther house dey wuz Ann, an' Nancy an' 'Aunt Dinah'.
"Den seems like dey wuz a 'nuddah house whar a bunch o' men stay 'at
works in de fiel'. Dey wuz some field 'roun' de house, an' day wuz a
'nudder fiel' dey call 'mile fiel'. It were a mile big, evuh way. Dey
raise lotsa wheat en' cahn an' sich-like, an' chickens an' cows, an'
fruit, apples, an' peaches.
"Some o' de womans worked in de fiel' an' when dey comes in dey has tuh
set down an' peel apples an' peaches fo' fryin' an' put 'em on big racks
out in de sun an' when dey's dry, put 'em in bags, an' hang 'em up fo'
wintuh.
"Ah wuzn' very big at dat time, jes' 'bout fo' yeah ole, but ah rec'lect
how scared we is when de sojers come by. De men folks all hide out an'
so de Missus, when we wants tuh hide too, she say, 'Run on out, run on
out, and tell 'em nobody home'. Sometime dey hide unner de bed, 'hind de
trunnel bed.
"An' ah 'membuh 'Miss Betty' died. She had pneumonya. Dar she wuz all
pretty in huh coffin, an' dey had all de cullud folks come through de
house tuh see her. Pore 'lil' Missis'! Dey buried huh in Jackson.
"When a 'body's sick, if yuh hears a hoot owl near de house, er a
whipperwill dat's bad luck. Ah a'way's goes out an' tries tuh chase' em
off. But ah guess ef dey's gonna bring bad luck, dey's already brung
it."