Missouri ~x-S1ave ~ Page 2 . ~ f59. to take charge of this work, but the house and equipment is still in good repair. This aged Negro has been for many years a highly respected preacher of the gospel. His ow~i account of his life and adventures follows: “Yes‘m I remembers before de war ‚ I remember being a water-boy to de field ~anda • before I were bi g enough to work In de fields • I hoed tobaccer when I was about so high, (measuring With his hands about three and one half feet ~rpm the floor). “Yes‘m dey thrashed me once, made me hug a tree and whip me, I had a terrible temper, I‘m part Choctaw Indian. We went to de white folks church on Sundays, when we went to ca~ meeting we all went to de mourn~ ers‘ bench together. De ~urners bench stretch clear ačrosa de front of de Arbor; de whites and de blacks, we all just fell down at de mourners‘ bench and got religion at de same place. 01e Marsa let us jine which— ever church we wanted, either de Methodist or Baptist. “No ‚ i: never went to no school ‚ de colonel ‚ s daughter lariat me to• write my name, that was after de wah. No‘m, dey didn‘t care if we had dances and frolics. We had de dances down at de quarters and de white folks would come down and look on. Whenever us niggas on one plantation got obat~perous, white folks hawna dey blowed. When de neighbors heard dat hawn here dey coins to help make dat obstreperous nigga behave. Dey blowed de hewn to call de neighbors if anybody died or were sick.‘~ s