Told by Bill Simms, ex slave, age 97 years, Ottawa, Kansas.
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"My name is Bill Simms."

"I was born in Osceola, Missouri, March 16, 1839."

"I lived on the farm with my mother, and my master, whose name was
Simms. I had an older sister, about two years older than I was. My
master needed some money so he sold her, and I have never seen her since
except just a time or two."

"On the plantation we raised cows, sheep, cotton, tobacco, corn, which
were our principal crops. There was plenty of wild hogs, turkey, ant
deer and other game. The deer used to come up and feed with the cattle
in the feed yards, and we could get all the wild hogs we wanted by
simply shooting them in the timber."

"A man who owned ten slaves was considered wealthy, and if he got hard
up for money, he would advertise and sell some slaves, like my oldest
sister was sold on the block with her children. She sold for eleven
hundred dollars, a baby in her arms sold for three hundred dollars.
Another sold for six hundred dollars and the other for a little less
than that. My master was offered fifteen hundred dollars for me several
times, but he refused to sell me, because I was considered a good husky,
slave. My family is all dead, and I am the only one living.

"The slaves usually lived in a two-room house made of native lumber. The