“No, I don’t care to interfere—­I don’t wish to have anything to do with it.”  White was bloodthirsty, and came back at intervals during the entire night, where we were working, to see if he could find Boss.  It is quite probable that White may have long cherished a secret grudge against Boss, because he had robbed him of his first love; and, brooding over these offenses, he became so excited as to be almost insane.  Had McGee returned that night, White would certainly have shot him.  Boss became so uneasy over the situation that he sent one of his slaves, a foreman, to Panola county, some seventy-five miles distant, to Mrs. McGee’s father, to get her brother, a lawyer, to come and endeavor to effect a settlement.  He came, but all his efforts were unavailing.  The men met at a magistrate’s office, but they came to no understanding.  Our folks became dissatisfied, and did not care to remain longer in the place, so they began to look out for other quarters.  Boss finally decided to buy a farm in Bolivar, Miss., and to remove his family to Memphis, where he secured a fine place, just outside of the city.

[Illustration:  Farmer’s Merchants Bank—­Three Dollar Banknote]

CHAPTER II.

Social and other aspects of slavery.

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Removal to Memphis, Tennessee.

McGee had decided to build a new house upon the property which he had purchased at Memphis; and, in August 1850, he sent twenty-five of his slaves to the city, to make brick for the structure, and I went along as cook.  After the bricks were burned, the work of clearing the ground for the buildings was commenced.  There were many large and beautiful trees that had to be taken up and removed; and, when this work was completed, the excavations for the foundations and the cellar were undertaken.  All of this work was done by the slaves.  The site was a beautiful one, embracing fourteen acres, situated two miles southeast from the city, on the Memphis and Charleston railroad.  The road ran in front of the place and the Boss built a flag-station there, for the accommodation of himself and his neighbors, which was named McGee Station.

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A new and splendid house.

The house was one of the most pretentious in that region, and was a year and a half in building.  It was two stories in height, and built of brick, the exterior surface being coated with cement and marked off in blocks, about two feet square, to represent stone.  It was then whitewashed.  There was a veranda in front with six large columns, and, above, a balcony.  On the back there were also a veranda and a balcony, extending across that end to the servants’ wing.  A large hall led from front to rear, on one side of which were double parlors, and on the