My father was not a field hand; my first recollection of him was that he
used to take care of hogs and cows in the swamp, and when too old for
that work he was sent to the plantation to take care of horses and
mules, as master had a great many for the use of his farm.

I have stated that father said that his father's name in Africa was
Moncoso, and his mother's Mongomo, but I never learned what name he went
by before he was brought to this country. I only know that he stated
that Col. Dick Singleton gave him the name of William, by which he was
known up to the day of his death. Father had a surname, Stroyer, which
he could not use in public, as the surname Stroyer would be against the
law; he was known only by the name of William Singleton, because that
was his master's name. So the title Stroyer was forbidden him, and could
be used only by his children after the emancipation of the slaves.

There were two reasons given by the slave holders why they did not allow
a slave to use his own name, but rather that of the master. The first
was that, if he ran away, he would not be so easily detected by using
his own name as by that of his master. The second was that to allow him
to use his own name would be sharing an honor which was due only to his
master, and that would be too much for a negro, said they, who was
nothing more than a servant. So it was held as a crime for a slave to be
caught using his own name, a crime which would expose him to severe
punishment. But thanks be to God that those days have passed, and we now
live under the sun of liberty.


MOTHER.

Mother's name was Chloe. She belonged to Col. M.R. Singleton too; she