Louise. My mother died right here when Brewer was Pastor of Wesley. You
ought to remember her. My mother died in 1928. My father died in 1897
when Joe Sherrill was pastor. Joe Sherrill went to Africa, you know. He
was a missionary.

"My mother was owned by Bill Mitchell. He came from Alabama. I can't
call the name of the town, just now. Yes, I can; it was Tuscaloosa. My
father came from South Carolina. McCoy was his owner. But how come him
to leave South Carolina he was sold after his master died and the
property was divided. He was sold away from his family. He had a large
family--about nine children. My mother was sold away from her mother
too. She was little and couldn't help herself. My grandma didn't want to
come. And she managed not to; I don't know how she managed it.

"Before freedom my father was a farmer. My mother was a farmer too. My
mother wasn't so badly treated. She was a slave but she worked right
along with the white children. She had two brothers. The other sister
stayed with her mother. She was sold--my mother's mother. But I don't
know to whom.

"My father was a preacher. He could word any hymn. How could he do it, I
don't know. On his Sunday, when the circuit rider wasn't there, he would
have me read the Bible to him and then he could get up and tell it to
the people. I don't know how he managed it. He didn't know how to read.
But he had a wonderful memory. He always had his exhorting license
renewed and he exhorted the people both Methodists and Baptists. After
freedom, when I went to school I knew and always helped him.

"My father voted on the election days all the time. Be was a Republican,
and he rallied to them all the time. Before the war, my father farmed.