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(Russellville, Arkansas; age 69)
"Come in! Yes, my name's Minerva Lofton--at least it was yistiddy. Now, whatcha gonna ask me? Hope you ain't
saying something that'll git me in bad. Don't want to git in any more trouble. Hard times' bad enough.
"I was born in the country nine miles from Clarendon, Monroe County, December 3, 1869. Father died before I was
born. My mother came from Virginia, and her mistress' name was Bettie clark. They lived close to Richmond, and
people used to say 'Blue Ridge,' so I think it was Blue Ridge County, Virginis. Mother was sold to Henry
Cargile--C-a-r-g-i-l-e.
"When they were expecting peace to be declared soon a lot of the colored people named Parks took many of the
slaves to Texas to escape from the Yankees, but when they got to Corpus Christi they found the Yankee soldiers
there just the same, so they came back to Arkansas. I sure used to laugh at my dear old mother when she'd tell about
the long trip to Corpus Christi, and things that happened on the way. They stopped over at Camden as they went
through, and one of the colored gals who hated her played a prank on her to take out her spite on mother: They had
stopped at a dairyman's home near Camden, and she sent my mother in to get a gallom of buttermilk. After drinking
all she could hold she grabbed mother by the hair of the head and churned her up and down in the buttermilk till it
streamed down her face, and on her clothes--a sight to behold. I laughed and laughed until my sides ached when
mother told me about this.
"Old mistis' name (that is, one of the old mistis') was Bettie Young, and my mother was named Bettie for her; she
was a namesake--sort of a wedding present, I think.
"I've been a member of the Pentecostal church for nineteen years.
"No sir, I never have voted and never expect to. Why? Because I have a religious opinion about votin'. I think a
woman should not vote; her place is in the home raising her family and attending to the household duties. We have
raised only two boys (stepchildren)--had no children of our own--but I have decided ideas about women runnin'
around among and votin'. When I see em settin' around the ballot box at the polls, sometimes with a cigarette in
their mouths, and again slingin' out a 'damn' or two, I want to slap em good and hard.
"Yes, the old time religious songs--I sure remember some of them! Used to be able to sing lots of em, but have
forgotten the words of many. Let's see:
'I'm a-goin' to tell my Lord, Daniel in de lion's den;
I'm a-goin' to tell my Lord, I'm a-goin' to tell my Lord, Daniel in de lion's den.'
Here's another:
'Big bells a-ringin' in de army of de Lord;
Big bells a-ringin' in de army.
I'm so glad I'm in de army of de Lord;
My soul's a-shoutin' in de army.'
"Modern youth? Humph! I think they are just a fulfilling of what Christ said: 'They shall grow wiser as they grow
older, but weaker.' Where is it in the Scripture? Wait a minute and I'll look it up. Now, let's see--where was that
passage? It says 'weaker' here and 'weaken'. Never mind--wait--I'll find it. Well, anyway, I don't know jest how to
describe this generation.
I heard a white woman once say that she had to do a little cussin' to make herself understood. 'Cussin'?' Why,
'cussin'' is jist a polite word for it.
"Good-bye, mister. You oughta thank the Lawd you've got a job!"
