Joy~ie	~ ~ ~: ‘i~~ ~ From Upper Guinea	— ~••	45


Simon Stokes, so~ of Kit ax~d Anna Stokes, is quite ~ type. He and his with
parents ~Qw~c~?r his brothers and sisters were slaves; owned by George W. Billups,

of ~rathews County, who later moved to Gloucester County and bought a farm hear Gloucester Point. They had eleven children, Simon is the only one living.

Simon‘s St~ry

	‘~vIassa George and ndssus. wu~ good ter his slaves. ~y m~in~ay ~wuz mi~sus‘ eoo~c; and him and de odder boys on de f~rrn worked in de oOtn and de terbaccer md cotton fields.

	~ ‘!~e sho‘ didn‘t like dat job, pickir~‘ worms off de terbaccer plants; fo‘ our oberseer iivuz de meanes old hound you‘se eber seen, he hed hawk eyes fer seem‘ de worms on de terbaccer, so yo‘ sho‘ hed ter git dem all, or you‘d habe ter bite e.l1 de worms dat yo ‚ miss into ‚ ot git three lashes on ‘ back wid his old lash, and dat wuz powf~lt bad, ~usser dan bit-bin‘ de worius, fer yo‘ could bite r5pht smart quick, and dat v~uz all at dar v~uz ter it; but dem lashes done last

~	pow‘ful~ long time.

.	1tMe s1~o‘ did like ter git behind de oxz.team in de oo‘n field, fo‘ I could

5111g and holler all de day, “Gee thar Buck, whoa thar Peter, git off dat sir co‘n., ~ de m~tter ~id yo‘ Buck, ca&t yo hear, gee thar Buck.

	t‘ In de fall w~n de sbnxnons ~wu;~ ripe, me axid de odder boys ‘ had a bi g

time possum huntin‘, we ails would gît two or three a night; and we ails would put dem up and f~d dem. hoe—cake arid :Sin~irions ter git dem nice and fat; den my inan~ny would roast dem wid sweet taters round them. Dey wuz shot good, all roasted nice and brown wid de sweet tatars in de graby. • ~ ~

	~ ails believed dat it wuz bad luck ter turn back if ~rer started anywher, if .yo.~< did bad luck would sho‘folier yer; but ter turn yo‘ ~ck, ~o back and
make a :CrQSS • in yo ‚ p ~.th and spit in it . ~	.	~