You got things any time you needed them. My master was a good man. My
dad got anything he wanted because he was the ginner. When he was
working and it came mealtime, he would go right by the white folks'
house and git anything he wanted and eat it--brandy, meat, anything.


Slave Wages

"My daddy not only did the ginning on my place; he did the ginning for
other folks. He did the ginning for an old rich man named Jack Green,
who lived in Franklin County. Jack Green paid wages for my father's,
Hampton High's, work and the money was turned over to his mistress. I
don't know whether they paid him and he turned it over to his mistress,
or whether they told him about it and paid his mistress. They trusted
him and I know he did work for pay. On account of the money my father
earned he was considered a valuable slave. That's why he could go and
eat and drink anything he wanted to.


Life Since Slavery

"My husband married me in May. He went to his uncle and worked an shares
for two or three years. Then my husband took a crop to himself. He
bought a cow and hog and stayed there twenty-one years. Raised a great
big orchard. All my children were born right there. White people owned
the farm. Priestley Mangham and his wife were the white people. When we
left that place, my children were all big enough to work. That was in
North Carolina. The nearest town was College.

"When the white folks tried to take advantage of us and take our crops,