I members how my old daddy an de udder niggers would tell ob de days befor' freedom came. De bes memry is how dey kep dar hearts right an how dey had dere church in Talledega town. De white folks went to de church in de mawnin an de niggers at night. In de summer time de niggers would have dere meetins in de brush arbor on de plantation near de ribber. When de slaves from de nearby plantashuns came to de meetins dey had to get a pass from de overseer, effen dey did'nt de Patty-Rollers would ketch dem. What was de Patty-Rollers? Well dey was tall an most usually wore white robes, sometimes dey head would jes turn roun an roun an be lookin at you fust from de front an den from his back. Dey was sompin like a ghost but dey sometimes had paddles an effen dey caught you, den you had a paddlin. Dey was mostly after de niggers dat would run off to de udder plantashuns. De niggers had a song dey sang about dem an it went like dis: De please Marster, dont ketch me, Ketch dat nigger behin' dat tree; He stole money an I stole none, Put him in de calaboose des for fun, Oh, run nigger run, de patty-roller ketch you Run nigger run, hits almos' day. Som folks say dat nigger wont steal, But I ketch one in my corn fiel; He run to de eas' an he run ter de wes', He run de head in a hornets nes, Oh, run nigger run, de patty-roller ketch you, Run nigger run, hits almos' day. We mos always had white preachers, but sometimes we had nigger preachers an dey would tell us dat good white Marsters made good niggers an mean white Marsters made mean niggers. I had offen heard my mother say dat she had better times in slavery dan she did afterwords. When de white men went to de war we had nigger overseers. Old time slaves said dey whipped wusser dan de white ones did. After de slaves were freed dey jes gradually went to other states but for good many years mos' of dem stayed wif dere ole Marsters. When freedom came after de war dey called it de Reconstruction days an den we commenced to celebrate our June de nineteenth. De fust one dat I members was in ole Alabam, de niggers decides to have a celebration like de white folks. When dey has deir fourth of july, we goes roun an de white folks give us yearlin an maybe some give us a pig, hog an some give us cow, den we makes up de money to buy us some watermelons an so we has a big celebration. We has it under de brush arbor where we has our meetins. By dat time dey has some school teachers what gits up an tells us all bout Freedom an what we mus do to make good citizens. One time I member dar was a white man from de Nawth an he tells us effen it had'nt been for dem dat de niggers be wurkin for de white man yit fur nuttin, an dat dey had de Nawthern men to de fur dem now, an one ole nigger yells out an says,  Well? effen de men here do nuttin fur us whut you gwine do fur us?

We thought dat we was gwine git forty acres an a mule. Where is dat mule?" He say he gwine give us all one when he makes enuff money fur hissef. So we sho' did not git dat forty acres an a mule, an what we does git de folks what we been livin wif all de time gives it to us. When I was grown an had a family of my own I moved to Limestone County, on the R. H. Swaim farm an stayed dere mos' about thirty years, until I got too old to work an den I came to Mart whar I now live. Us used to go to old Comanche Crossing on de Navasote river for our nineteenth celebrations. It is still used fur de nineteenth celebrations. De niggers came frum de towns near an far an would camp fur three an four days. We would have free barbecue, dances an speeches every day an de politicians would kum an tell us how to vote. Dey did not have a white mans primary 'lection like dey does now. De politicians dat would give de niggers de mos' whiskey was de one dat got de mos votes. Sometimes down on de Brazos bottom farms one white man would vote many as five, six hundred niggers. I can member some officers dat hit seemed like held dar office des as long as dey could buy de mos' votes. Dar was so many more niggers den dan white folks dat de white folks said dat de voting was not fair an so dey has what dey calls de white mans primary, dat jes lets de white men vote fust an den we votes at de regular election, but de white mans primary is de one dat gets de office. Dat knocked out de buyin' votes for de niggers an so hit as been dat way eber since. I have had three wives, my fust one was named Tane Baker , de second one Lettie Williams an de third one is Lena Smallwood an is now living wif me. I have lived in dis part of de country since I left Calvert, forty eight years. I have never been in Jail in my life an I believe in doing what de white folks say an so I does not have anything in dat way to be sorry for. Dey have been good to me an my folks. Texas has been my home all but ten years, but I have heard the stories told 'roun de kichen stove on de cold winter nights an in de summer time, of de happy days before de slaves was set free, an fore' ole Massa an ole Missus died 'till it seems like a far off happy life. How de frost made de trees turn so goldern an how de hickery nuts an de walnuts would be so many dat dey had to go to de woods when de crops was laid by to gather de nuts fur de winter, an how ole Massa an ole Missus keep de big-fire in de fireplace a burnin all de winter an how dey has de big parties of neighbors ebery Chrismus, until dat is de place seems like de home dat is de one dat is meant when dey sing,  Home Sweet Home. I kin see in my mind ole Alabam an de pickinnies rollin' on de grass, under de big elm trees an I can hear my mammys voice as she sings, I came to Alabama, wid my banjo on my knee, I'm gwan to Louisana, my own true love to see, It rained all night de day I left, De weather it was dry, De sun so hot I froze to death, Susanna dont you cry. Oh, Susan-na, Oh dont you cry for me, I've come from Alabama, wid a banjo on my knee.