“They never give you a thing when they freed you.  They give you some work to do.  They never looked for nothin’ only to go to work.  The white folks always had the best of it.

“When Abe Lincoln first freed ’em, they all stood together.  If this one was ill the others went over and sit up with him.  If he needed something they’d carry it to him.  They don’t do that now.  They done well then.  As soon as they quit standing together then they had trouble.

Wages Then

“Fellow said to me, ’Campbell, I want you to split up them blocks and pile ’em up for me.’  I said, ‘What you goin’ to pay me?’ He said, ’I’ll pay you what is right.’  I said, ’That won’t do; you have to tell me what you goin’ to give me before I start to work.’  And he said to me, ’You can git to hell out of here.’

Selling and Buying Slaves

“They’d put you up on the block and sell you.  That is just what they’d do—­sell you.  These white folks will do anything,—­anything they want to do.  They’d take your clothes off just like you was some kind of a beast.

“You used to be worth a thousand dollars then, but you’re not worth two bits now.  You ain’t worth nothin’ when you’re free.

Refugees—­Jeff Davis

“They used to come to my place in droves.  Wagons would start coming in in the morning and they wouldn’t stop coming in till two or three in the evening.  They’d just be travelin’ to keep out the way of the Yankees.  They caught old Jeff Davis over in Twiggs County.  That’s in Georgia.  Caught him in Buzzard’s Roost.  That was only about four or five miles from where I was.  I was right down yonder in Houston County.  Twigg County and Houston County is adjoinin’.  I never saw any of the soldiers but they was following them though.

Voters

“I have seen plenty of niggers voting.  I wasn’t old enough to vote in Georgia.  I come in Arkansas and I found out how the folks used themselves and I come out that business.  They was selling themselves just like cattle and I wouldn’t have nothing to do with that.

“I knew Jerry Lawson, who was Justice of Peace.  He was a nigger, a low-down devil.  Man, them niggers done more dirt in this city.  The Republicans had this city and state.  I went to the polls and there was very few white folks there.  I knew several of them niggers—­Mack Armstrong, he was Justice of Peace.  I can’t call the rest of them.  Nothing but old thieves.  If they had been people, they’d been honest.  Wouldn’t sell their brother.  It is bad yet.  They still stealin’ yet.

Ku Klux

“That’s another devil.  Man, I’ll tell you we seen terrible times.  I don’t know nothing much about ’em myself.  I know one thing.  Abe Lincoln said, ‘Kill him wherever you see him.’