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\~1HEN ‘TKE~ YAI‘~KEES CA~


An Interview with John 1~eckviith 83, of‘ Cary.

UI reckon dat I wuz ‘bout nine years old. at de.

surrender, but we warn‘t happy an‘ we stayed on dar till fl~y parents died. IV~r pappy wuz nam~d Ureen an‘ ~r masnn~r wu z named Molly, an ‚ we b e longe d ter Mr • Jo e Edwards ‚ Mr Marion Gtilii an‘ Mr. Hilliard Beckwith, as de missus married all of ‘em. Dar wuz twenty-.one other slaves,an‘ we got beat ever‘ onet in a while.

“~en dey told us dat de Yankees v~uz coriiin‘ we wuz

also told dat lifen we i‘ t behave dat we ~ d be shot ; an~ we believed it. We would‘uv behaved anyhow, case we had good plank houses, good food, ant shoes. We had Saturday ant Sunday off an‘ we wuz happy.

“De missus, she raised de ni~ge.r babies so‘s de manunies could wuek. I ‘members de times when she rock me ter sleep an‘ put me ter bed in her own bed. I wuz happy den as I thinks back of it, until dem Yankees come.

UDey come on a Chuesday; an‘ dey started by

burnin‘ de cotton house an‘ kuhn‘ most of de chickens an~ pigs. Way atter awhile dey fin‘s de cellar an‘ dey drinks