10194	~ .	lia B.Prine,
	.	John Morgan Smith,
	(PHOTO)	Editorial Department
I HEARD LINCOLN SET US FREE

	“White folks, I‘ se glad you drapped by to have a talk WI d me. I was gittin‘ powerfully lonely, „ said Henry Cheatam, who lives in ~arysville, a Liobile suburb. “Sho‘ I‘ll be glad to tell you some r)OUt de slave days. I sho‘ ‘members plenty. ~VeIl, to begIn wid, I v~as born in 1350 near West POint. Dat‘s in Clay County, Missis~ E1~j)i, you know. I b‘lon~ed to Mr. Tom Holllngshead who was killed in de Cibil 1~r. I ‘members all de slaves agoin‘ in to take a last look at him atter dey done brung his body home.

	“My mammy‘ s name was Enimeline Cheatem, an ‚ my pappy‘ s was Sain J~ieatam. I don‘ t remember my ~randpappy an‘ ~r&ndmammy atall.

“Us slaves libed in lo~ cabins what was daubed wid. clay to.
~ceep de rain an‘ wins out, &n‘. de chimneys was made of clay an‘~
/.
~ticks. Ç De beds was home—made an‘ nailed agis‘ de wall wid legs on

~e outer side. De Liass&s house was built of logs too, but it was .~uch big~er‘n de nij~er cabins an‘ sot w~r out in front of ourn. .~tter de iriassa was kilt, old i.iiss had a nigger oberseèr an‘ dat was ~Te ueenest clebil dat eber libbed on de Lawd‘ s green yeart~i. I

.:bo;aise myself when I ~rowed up dat I was a~oin‘ to kill dat ni~er ~ it was de 1as~ t:~-~.in~ I eber done. Lots of times I‘se seen ~îL:i beat my ni&mmy, an‘ one day I seenhim beat my Auntie who was

~	~i:: ~id a chile, an‘ d~.t r~tan dup~, a roun~ hole in de ~rOun‘ ~fl1 put :~r stu1-~mii~ck in it, an‘ beat ~n‘ beat her for a half hour straight :.~ll de baby coi~ie out ra~t dere in de hole.

	117,rhy de 1~i1~ti~ ‘by, such treat~aent? A heap of times oie iLiss J1(:~fl‘t know nuthin‘ ‘bout it, an‘ de slaves better not tell ner, I ~ ze dat oberseer whup ‚ em iffen he finds out dat dey done cone än~ tu). Yassuli, white folks, I‘se seed some turrible things in my
.	~labáma