After we come down south I 'member my daddy sit down an' cry wid his head on my mother's sho'der (shoulder) like a baby. He was cryin' fo' his ol' Missie. My mother was part Injun. She had long hair an' straight an' black, an' it hung clear down to her waist. It was purty hair. My daddy's hair turn back in an' curl up jus' like buckshot. Things ain't like dey uster be. No Lord. My tongue gits sick to say "mammy and pappy" again. Homes ain't like dey uster be. Civil'zation is worse'n itself instead'n better'n itself' cause they ain't no home life no more. D' schools take a mother's chile away 'fo' she git him teach what he ought to known in d' right way. Befo' Freedom niggers didn' have no lan,' not enough t' cover the soles of the feet. One time dey got after us an' we tuk t' the woods. We sleep out in the woods, an' was dey plenty of panther' an' rattlesnakes. We was terrible scare,' but we was more scare' of the Klu Klux. I'd sho' like t' see the soil that brought me up but I don' want t' spen' another night in Tyler county. Niggers didn' have no lan' at all fo' demselves even after freedom come. Dey go t' the ol' marsters an' rent lan' t' farm. Dey take a lien on the lan.' W'en dey go t' take dere part dey choose the sorriest row of co'n fo' the nigger. De marster most times furnish' groceries an' clothes an' shoes an' take a lien on the crop fo' the pay back. If the doctor have to come he take a lien on the crop too. W'en the crop was harvest dat way lots of times the lan' lord had all the crop an' the nigger had nuthin'. Dere was a dispute an' dey had t' go t' the Bu'ro (Bureau) an' make report. The Bu'ro make the arres' all right but dat night 'Nigger don' you stay in dat camp, 'cause the Klu Klux done goin' ter git you an' beat you up. I went t' the firs' school fo' cullud people in Jefferson county. Professor Erlis was the teacher. He was a w'ite man from the north. Dey had three sets of dunce caps an' a three-legged dunce stool. As punishment the mischiv'ous or lazy students, black or white, was put on the dunce stool an' the other made fun of 'em. I'm sorry I'm disable to furnish you with any mo.