"It has been a long time since I wus born--bout all my people am dead
'cept my wife an one son an two daughters. De son an' one daughter live
in N.C. an de other daughter lives in Richmond, Va.
"I belonged to Col. Bun Eden. His plantation wus in Warren County an'
he owned 'bout fifty slaves or more. Dere wus so many of 'em dere he
did not know all his own slaves. We got mighty bad treatment an' I jest
wants to tell you a nigger didn't stan' as much show dere as a dog did.
Dey whupped fur mos' any little trifle. Dey whupped me, so dey said,
jes to help me git a quicker gait. De patterollers come sneakin' round
often an' whupped niggers on marster's place. Dey nearly killed my
uncle. Dey broke his collar bone when dey wus beatin him an marster
made 'em pay for it 'cause uncle never did git over it.
"Marster would not have any white overseers. He had nigger foremen. Ha!
ha! he liked some of de nigger 'omans too good to have any udder white
man playin' aroun' 'em.
"We wurked all day an some of de night an' a slave who made a week,
even atter doin dat, wus lucky if he got off widout gettin' a beatin.
We had poor food an' de young slaves wus fed outen troughs. De food wus
put in a trough an de little niggers gathered round an' et. Our cabins
wus built of poles an had stick an dirt chimleys one door an one little
winder at de back end of de cabin. Some of de houses had dirt floors.
Our clothin' was poor an homemade.
"Many of de slaves went bareheaded an barefooted. Some wore rags roun
dere heads an some wore bonnets. Marster lived in de great house. He
did not do any work but drank a lot of whiskey, went dressed up all de
time an had niggers to wash his feet an comb his hair. He made me
scratch his head when he lay down so he could go to sleep. When he got
to sleep I would slip out. If he waked up when I started to leave I
would have to go back an' scratch his head till he went to sleep agin.
Sometimes I had to fan de flies way from him while he slept. No
prayer-meetings wus allowed, but we sometimes went to de white folks
church. Dey tole us to obey our marsters an be obedient at all times.
When bad storms come dey let us rest but dey kept us in de fields so
long sometimes dat de storm caught us 'fore we could git to de cabins.
Niggers watched de wedder in slavery time an de ole ones wus good at
prophesyin' de wedder.
"Marster had no chilluns by white women. He had his sweethearts 'mong
his slave women. I ain't no man for tellin false stories. I tells de
truth an dat is de truth. At dat time it wus a hard job to find a
marster dat didn't have women 'mong his slaves. Dat wus a ginerel thing
'mong de slave owners.
"One of de slave girls on a plantation near us went to her missus an
tole her 'bout her marster forcing her to let him have sumthin to do
wid her an her missus tole her, 'Well go on you belong to him.'
"Another marster named Jimmie Shaw owned a purty slave gal nearly white
an he kept her. His wife caught 'im in a cabin in bed wid her. His wife
said sumthin to him 'bout it an' he cussed his wife. She tole him she
had caught him in de act. She went back to de great house an got a gun.
When de marster come in de great house she tole 'im he must let de
slave girls alone dat he belonged to her. He cussed her agin an sed she
would have to tend to her own dam business an' he would tend to his.
Dey had a big fuss an den marster Shaw started towards her. She grabbed
de gun an let him have it. She shot 'im dead in de hall. Dey had three
chillun, two sons an one married daughter. Missus Shaw took her two
sons an' left. De married daughter an her husband took charge of de
place. Missus an her sons never come back as I knows of.
"A lot of de slave owners had certain strong healthy slave men to serve
de slave women. Ginerally dey give one man four women an' dat man
better not have nuthin' to do wid de udder women an' de women better
not have nuthin to do wid udder men. De chillun wus looked atter by de
ole slave women who were unable to work in de fields while de mothers
of de babies worked. De women plowed an done udder work as de men did.
No books or larnin' of any kind wus allowed.
"One mornin' de dogs begun to bark an' in a few minutes the plantation
wus kivered wid Yankees. Dey tole us we wus free. Dey axed me whur
marster's things wus hid. I tole 'em I could not give up marster's
things. Dey tole me I had no marster dat dey had fighted four years to
free us an' dat marster would not whup me no more. Marster sent to de
fields an' had all de slaves to come home. He told me to tell 'em not
to run but to fly to de house at once. All plow hands an' women come
running home. De Yankees tole all of 'em dey wus free.
"Marster offered some of de Yankees sumtin to eat in his house but dey
would not eat cooked food, dey said dey wanted to cook dere own food.
"I saw slaves sold in slavery time. I saw 'em whupped an many ran away.
Some never come back. When we wus sick we took lots of erbs an roots. I
married Roberta Edwards fifty-one years ago. We had six sons and three
daughters. Atter the war I farmed around from one plantation to
another. I have never owned a home of my own. When I got too ole to
work I come an' lived wid my married daughter in Raleigh. I been here
four years. I think slavery wus a mighty bad thing, though it's been no
bed of roses since, but den no one could whup me no mo."