*Interview with Mrs. Jane Thompson,*
*Fredericktown, Missouri.*
"I gets a pension from de Civil War. Wilson Thompson, my husband, fought
for seven years. He fought de Indians in de west. I gets $40.00 a month.
I have 21 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. I was de mother of 6.
"My first boss sold my mother and I can remember her climbin' upon de
stile block made from de trunk of a gum tree. Dis was down in Zuca,
Mississippi, and de trees grew big down there. My boss was my father,
they claim. De boss was purty cruel. Our second boss did not believe in
slavery but his wife did. One of de daughters of de boss married and I
went with her as a slave. Then my boss, Burgess, was a Baptist preacher
and he would travel 'round. I would pick cotton, den I did de house
work.
"I had two uncles dat ran off and nebber came back. Dey joined de war.
De Ku Klux Klan would come and claim dey could drink a bucket of water.
That was done so dey could get us to come out to dem. They would be four
or five in a gang. I 'member de soldiers comin' and killing chickens and
throwing them in de kitchen an having us to cook dem.
"I 'member how de freedom come but we were taught fer a long time not to
know anything 'bout slavery. De only thing I knew 'bout it was bad
times. Even de boss would not let me stay in de house when he had family
prayers. At night before bedtime I would have to seed cotton and I would
nod from getting sleepy and den de boss would knock me over de head. But
I'm so glad de good Lord let me stay here to do something. I've raised
about 30 children. Most of my work as a slave was spent helping de
mistress, picking up her hankerchief, cleaning up de house, etc.
Sometimes I think slavery was a test dat de lord has us to go through.
It was through God dat Lincoln was given de brains and de talent. I
would find different friends to take me in after de war. Sometimes I
would have only two dresses.
"I tell de old folks dat we is having slavery again. But de depression
is not as hard as slavery 'cause de government is helping de people now.
After de war we had parched wheat for coffee and corn meal with de husks
in it. Old Burgess' children helped me to learn to spell. De Boss would
make me spell words backwards. I remember a song, "Let's go down to de
water an be baptized", and 'Bound fer de promised land'. My Uncle would
play his guitar in his cabin at night. At Christmas dey would have a
dance on de plantation. We used to hang up our stockings and get a
little candy at Christmas time."