"The first man that came through here writing us up for the Red Cross, I
give him my age as near as I could. And they kept that. You know peace
was declared in 1865. They told me I was free. I got scared and thought
that the speculators were going to put me in them big droves and sell me
down in Louisiana. My old mistress said, 'You fool, you are free. We are
going to take you to your mammy.' I cried because I thought they was
carrying me to see my mother before they would send me to be sold in
Louisiana. My old mistress said she would whip me. But she didn't. When
we got to my mother's, I said, 'How old is I?' She said, 'You are
sixteen.' She didn't say months, she didn't say years, she didn't say
weeks, she didn't say days; she just said, 'You are sixteen.' And my
case worker told me that made me ninety years old.
"I was in Hempstead County on Harmon Bishop's plantation. It was Miss
Polly, Harmon's wife, that told me I was free, and give me my age.
"I know freedom come before 1865, because my brothers would tell me to
come home from Nashville where I would be sent to do nursing by my old
mistress and master too to nurse for my young mistress.
"When my old master's property was divided, I don't know why--he wasn't
dead nor nothin'--I fell to Miss Evelyn, but I stayed in Nashville
working for Miss Jennie Nelson, one of Harmon's daughters. Miss Jennie
was my young mistress. My brothers were already free. I don't know how
Miss Polly came to tell me I was free. But my brothers would see me and
tell me to run away and come on home and they would protect me, but I
was afraid to try it. Finally Miss Polly found that she couldn't keep me
any longer and she come and told me I was free. But I thought that she
was fooling me and just wanted to sell me to the speculators.