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(Lee County, Alabama, R.L.D.)
"Aunt Elsie" Payne lives with her aged brother near the limekiln on the Mayberry place, about six miles from Opelika. She was sitting on her little porch, darning a sheet, when we drove up to her house - its yard filled with pretty flowers, chiefly of the large shrubs bearing bright red and yellow blossoms. Although strangers, she welcomed us with that grave courtesy inherent in very old former slaves who were raised by cultured Southern families. She readily gave us an account of the past, speaking slowly and, evidently, with satisfaction in recalling old times.
"I's 90-odd years old, honey, and I ain't much good now," is the way she describes herself; but her accurate-moving needle and the neatly-kept premises proved domestic activity creditable to one half her age.
"Mammy and Pappy was Rhody Lockhart and Bob Oliver, and dey bofe come from Georgia and dey had four chilluns: Louis, dat's my brother what lives wid me, Mandy Mathews, Winnie Snead and Elsie Payne - dat's me. Us lived in a one room log cabin, but hit was a big room and had a plank floor (symbol of luxury in a slave cabin), and a big fireplace and us kept warm in de wintertime. De beds was nailed to de wall and de corner beds jest had one leg; but de side beds had two legs. Us had slats on our beds, and de white folks beds had ropes wove back and cross. Dere beds was high up fum de floor, and de trundle-beds fer de chillun, was run under de big bed in de day-time.
"I was a big size house-girl before de surrender, and could nuss and milk and iron and do heap of work around de house. I never did work in de fields in slavery time. Dere was lots of hurt sojers at Talladega, and Mistis went dere to nuss 'em and she took me wid her, and I hope nuss de sick ones too. Us had sich good white folks. Marster and Mistis was good to dey slaves, and us house women et at de kitchen table jest as good eating as de white folks had. De udder little niggers et dey meals outen bowls and cups wid handles.
"Dey used to tan leather outen cow hides and make shoes for us to wear in de wintertime. Dem shoes sho was rough and hard, but dey kept your feet dry and warm. Old Mistis lived in a big white house, what was ceiled wid tongue and groove, and de floors was wax so you could most see yourself. Dere was plenty poor white folks too, and some of dem hope Old Marster wid he craps. Everybody got up soon; dey blowed de horn before day.
"Old Mistis tried to learn us to read, and some of de chilluns did learn; but I never did learn much. Old Mistis, she read de Bible to us every Sunday. Us niggers sho had good times Sadday nights. Dey played de banjo and de fiddle and de white folks didn't pay us no mind - dey let us dance all night, if we want to. De patterrollers? Whoopee! Dey sho would git you, if you didn't behave.
"Us all went to de corn-shuckings, and all de mens went to de log-rollings and had one more big time, trying to see which could pull de udder down. When a slave die, us could git off and go, if we know 'em. Dey would have a setting-up party wid de coffin and sing and pray and shout, lak at a meeting.
"Did us chillun play games? Sho, us did! Us played 'base' and 'hiding' and I 'members some more: 'Who's in my sheep-pen' and 'Jack-O-Maringo'.
"Yes, Mam, I sho is seed ghosts! One time I seed five! A doctor lived at our house, and he had a doctor shop in de yard. I opened de door one time and dem ghosts bowed at me and when I runned down de steps, one of 'em come clean out in de yard, and when I look back, he wan't dere!
"Atter freedom, I married Tom Payne, and us move to dis very house and I been here ever since. De good Lord gin us 13 chilluns; four is dead and de udders is scattered about. Tom, he been dead gwine on thirty year. When my brother lose he wife, he come to live wid me. Us had good times in slavery, and us always had plenty to eat and it was good eating; but I been hongry lots of times since den. Us gittin' along putty well now, de garden is fine dis year. Is you going? Come to see me again honey."
