Oi~iaI~o~a Writerst Project	-.2‘;.	331



	I was a great big hulking buck of a boy when de ~Var come along and bust up everything, and~ I can hneinber back when everybody was living peaceful and happy, and~ nobody never had. no notion about no war.

	I was borned on the ‚ leventh of January, in 1843, and. was old. enough to vote when I ~ot my freedom, but I didn~t take no stock in all dat ~olitics and coings on at d.at time, and I didn‘t vote till a long time after old Master passed away, but I was big enough before de ~‘ar to remember everything pretty ~lain.

	Old Master name was John Vïilliams, and old Mistress name was Miss Betty, and she was a Campbell before she married. Young Missy was n~ned Betty after her mommy, and Young Master was named Prank, but I dont t know who after. Our overseer was Mr. Simmons, and he ~as mighty smart and had a lot of Datience, but he wo~fl~3~‘t take no talk nor foolishness. He didn‘t whup nobody very often, but he only had to whup tem jest one time! He never did. whup;a nigger at de time the nigger done something, but he would wait till evening and have old Master come and watch him do it. He never whupped. very hard. ‘cept when he had. told a nigger about something and promised a whupping next time and. the nigger done it again. Then that nigger got what he had been hearing tbout~

	De ~lantation was about as big as any. I think it had about three hundred acres, and it was about two miles northwest of Monroe, Louisiana. Then he had another one not so big, two ~ three miles south of the big one, kind of down in the woodsy part along the ~iite river bottoms. Ee had. another overseer on that place and a big passel of niggers, but I never did. go down to that one. That was where he raised most of his corn and shoats, and. lots of sorghum cane.

	Our plantation was up on higher ground, and it was more open country,