:3~3o()75 .
	Oklahoma Writerst Project	~x-.‘S1aves
		  1O-.19—1938 ~
	‚	1,428 words




PHOEBE BANKS
Age 78
~uskogee ‚ Oklahoma.


	In 1860, there was a little Creek Indian town of Sodom on the north bank of the Arkansas River, in a section the Indians called Chocka Bottoms, where Mose ?err~pnan had a Ug farm or ranch for a long time before the Oivil War. That same year, on October 17, I was born on the Perryman place, which was north~est of where I live~now in Muskogee; only in them days Fort Gibson and Okmulgee was the big-S‘ gest towns around and Muskogee hEdn~ t shaped up yet.

	My mother belonged to Mose Perryman when i: ~ born; he was one of the best known Creeks In the whole nation, and one of his younger brothers, Legus Perryman, was made the big chief of the Creeks (1887) a long time after the slaves was freed. Mother‘s name was Eldee; my father~s name was William McIntosh, because he belonged to a Creek Indian family by that naine. Everybody say the Mclntoshes was leaders in the Creek doings away back there in Alabama long before they come out here.

	With me, there was twelve children in our famii~‘; Daniel, Stroy, Scott, Segal, Neil, Joe, Phillip, Mollie, Harriett, Sally and Qaeenie.

	The Perryinan slave cabins was all alike - ~ just two-‘room log cabins, with a fireplace where mother do the cooking for us children at night after she get through wo rking iii the Mas ‘ s house.

	Mother was the house girl ~ ~ ~ cooking, waiting on the table, cleaning the house, spinning the yarn, knitting some of the winter clothes, taking care of the mistress girl, washing the clothes ~ ~ yes, she was always busy and worked mighty hard all the time, while thee Indians woul&nt t hardly do nothing for themselves.

On the McIntosh plantation, my daddy said. there was a big number of slaves