Project 18854
POL~ORE		~a~ir-~	~d~ted by:
Spartanburg	i. 4	h ~J U .LO~)	~mer	~
June 14, 1937	.


. STORI~$ FROM ~J~SLAVES

	“I was born near Winnaboro, S.C., Pairfield County. I was twelve years old the year the Confederate war started. My father was John Ballard and my mother was Salue Ballard. I had several brothers and sisters. We belonged to Jim Aiken, a large land. owner at Winrisboro. He owned land on which the town was built. He had seven plantations. He was good to us and. give us plenty to eat, and good quarters to live in. His mistress ‘was good, too; but one of his sons, Dr. Liken, whipped some of de niggers, lots. One time he whipped a slave for stealing. Some of his land was around four churches in Wiririsboro.

	?tWe was allowed ‘three pounds o~ meat, one quart o‘ mola8-.

ses, grits and other things each week ~ plenty for us to eat.

	“Whenfreedom come, he told us we was free, and if we wanted to stay on with him, he would do the best he could for us. Most of us stayed, and after a few months, he paid wages. After eight months, some went to other places to work.

	“The master‘s wife died. and he married a daughter of Robert Gillarn and moved to Greenville, S.C.

	“The master always had a very big garden with plenty of vegetables. He had fifty hogs, and I helped mind the hoes. He didn‘t raise much cotton, but raised lots of wheat and corn. He made his own meal and flour from the mill on the creek; made home-.made, clothes with cards and spinning wheels.

	(-‘~Tkiey cooked in wide chimneys in a kitchen which was away off from the bi~ house. They used pots and skillets: to cook with.