I didn't have much time fer playin' when I wus little cause I wuz allus
busy waitin' on my mistis er taking care of my little brothers and
sisters. But I did have a doll to play with. It wuz a rag doll an my
mistis made it fer me. I wuz jes crazy 'bout that doll and I learned how
to sew making clothes fer it. I'd make clothes fer it an wash an iron
'em, and it wasn't long 'fo I knowed how to sew real good, an I been
sewing ever since.

My white folks wern't rich er tall but we always had plenty of somep'n
to eat, and we had fire wood to keep us warm in winter too. We had
plenty of syrup and corn bread, and when dey killed a hog we had fine
sausage an chitlin's, an all sorts of good eating. My marster and the
white an collored boys would go hunting, and we had squirrels an rabbits
an possums jes lots of time. Yessum, we had plenty; we never did go
hongry.

"Does I remember 'bout the Yankees coming?, Yes ma'am, I sho does. The
white chillen an us had been looking fer 'em and looking fer 'em. We
wanted 'em to come. We knowed 'twould be fun to see 'em. And sho 'nuf
one day I was out in de front yard to see and I seed a whole passel of
men in blue coats coming down de road. I hollered "Here come de
Yankees". I knowed 'twuz dem an my mistis an my ma an ev'y body come out
in the front yard to see 'em. The Yankees stopped an the leading man
with the straps on his shoulders talked to us an de men got water outen
de well. No'm, they didn't take nothing an they hurt nothing. After a
while they jes went on down the road; they sho looked hot an dusty an
tired.

"After de war wuz over my pa, he comed up to our house an got my ma an