I have seen mother going to the
fields each day like other slaves to do her part of the farming. I being
considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the
field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people
some of whom gave me a few pennies. By this method I earned some money
which I gave to my mother. I once found a gold dollar, that was the
first dollar I ever had in my life.
"We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and
vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats; and
fish we caught out of the creeks and streams.
"My father had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and
opossum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off. If my
father said: 'Ruler, take his hat off!', he would jump up and grab your
hat.
"We had a section of the farm that the slaves were allowed to farm for
themselves, my mistress would let them raise extra food for their own
use at nights. My father was the colored overseer, he had charge of the
entire plantation and continued until he was too old to work, then
mother's brother took it over, his name was Caleb.
"When I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryansville town.
Some would be chained, some handcuffed, and others not. These slaves
were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at
Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south.
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