she's jus' as bad 'bout 'em as I is, 'specially 'bout dat sort of
cookin'; somepin t'eat cooked in dat old black pot is sho good.

"Marse Gerald Sharp and his wife, Miss Annie, owned us and, Child, dey
was grand folks. Deir old home was 'way up in Jackson County 'twixt
Athens and Jefferson. Dat big old plantation run plumb back down to de
Oconee River. Yes, mam, all dem rich river bottoms was Marse Gerald's.

"Mammy's name was Ca'line and she b'longed to Marse Gerald, but Marse
Hatton David owned my daddy--his name was Phineas. De David place warn't
but 'bout a mile from our plantation and daddy was 'lowed to stay wid
his fambly most evvy night; he was allus wid us on Sundays. Marse Gerald
didn't have no slaves but my mammy and her chillun, and he was sho
mighty good to us.

"Marse Gerald had a nice four-room house wid a hall all de way through
it. It even had two big old fireplaces on one chimbly. No, mam, it
warn't a rock chimbly; dat chimbly was made out of home-made bricks.
Marster's fambly had deir cookin' done in a open fireplace lak evvybody
else for a long time and den jus' 'fore de big war he bought a stove.
Yes, mam, Marse Gerald bought a cook stove and us felt plumb rich 'cause
dere warn't many folks dat had stoves back in dem days.

"Mammy lived in de old kitchen close by de big house 'til dere got to be
too many of us; den Marse Gerald built us a house jus' a little piece
off from de big house. It was jus' a log house, but Marster had all dem
cracks chinked tight wid red mud, and he even had one of dem
franklin-back chimblies built to keep our little cabin nice and warm.
Why, Child, ain't you never seed none of dem old chimblies? Deir backs
sloped out in de middle to throw out de heat into de room and keep too