Driskell
JWL 10-12-37

[MR. WILLIAM WARD]


Following is Mr. William Ward's description of the bed called "The Grand
Rascal."

"De beds dat all o' de slaves slept in wus called 'Grand Rascals'. Dey
wus made on de same order as a box. De way dey made 'em wus like dis:
dey took four strips of narrow wood, each one of 'em 'bout a foot wide,
an' den dey nailed 'em together so dat dey wus in de shape of a square.
Den dey nailed a bottom onto dis square shape. Dis bottom wus called de
slats. When dis wus finished dey set dis box on some legs to keep it
off'n de floor, an' den dey got busy wid de mattress. Dey took ol' oat
sacks an' filled 'em wid straw an' hay an' den dey put dis in de box an'
slept on it. Dere wusn't no springs on dese bunks an' everybody had a
hard time sleepin'.

"De real name of dese wus 'Sonova-Bitches' but de slaves called 'em
'Grand Rascals' 'cause dey didn't want people to hear 'em use a bad
word.

"After Sherman come through Atlanta he let de slaves go, an' when he
did, me an' some of de other slaves went back to our ol' masters. Ol'
man Gov. Brown wus my boss man. After de war wus over Ol' man Gordon
took me an' some of de others out to Mississippi. I stayed in peonage
out dere fer 'bout forty years. I wus located at jes' 'bout forty miles
south of Greenwood, an' I worked on de plantations of Ol' man Sara Jones