The Nigger traders would come through and buy up a lot of men, and women
slaves, and get a big drove of them and take them further south to work
in the fields, leavin their babies. I'se never can forget. I know'd some
mean ole masters.

Our ole master Dale that raised my Mammy and her family never was hard
or mean like that. He would let us go to church, have parties and
dances. One of the ole salves would come to our cabin with his fiddle
and we'd dance.

After I'se grow'd up, I'se wo'ked for Mrs. Susan Lovell, that was the
ole masters married daughter. She lived down the road from his fa'm. She
was good to me! You see I was named after Susan Lovell. It was while I
was wo'kin' fo' her when the war ended. She told me I was free after the
war was over. I got happy and sung but I didn't know for a long time,
what to be free was, so after the war she hired me and I stayed on doin'
all the cookin' and washin' and all the work, and I was hired to her for
four dollars a month. After the war was over my father died. And it
wasn't long after that, I Married Wm. Sanders and we had six children. I
got a Government pension, as my husband was in the army during the Civil
War and he was wounded in the body, but he lived a long time after the
war was ended.

In the ole days we used to sing and go to church, sing the ole time
religion, and when we danced we sung: "Who's been here since I'se been
gone, Ah, that gal with the blue dress on."

I'se still believes in lots of good and bad luck signs, but forget most
of 'em, "But if you drap a knife, on the floor someone is sure to come
to see you, and if you dream of money that is good luck." "To sneeze at