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Poe, Mary

Forrest City, Arkensas

Age 60

"My papa used to tell about two men he knowd stealing a hog. He was Wyatt Alexander. He was feeding one

evening and the master was out there too that evening. They overheard two colored men inside the crib lot house.

They was looking at the hogs. They planned to come back after dark and get a hog. The way it turned out master

dressed up ragged and got inside what night. The first man come. They got a shoat and killed it, knocked it in the

head. The master took it on his back to the log cabin. When he knocked, his wife opened the door. She seen who it

was. She nearly fell out and when he seen who it was he rin off. The master throwed the hog down. They all got the

hot water and went to work. He left a third there and took part to the other man. He done gone to bad and he took a

third on home. He said he wanted to see if they needed meat or wented to keep in stealing practice. He didn't want

them to waste his big hog meat neither. Said that man never come home for two weeks, 'fraid he'd get a whooping.

No, they said he never got a whooping but the meat was near by gone.

"Seem lack hog stealing was common in North Carolina in them days from the way he talked.

"Papa said he went down in the pasture one night to get a shoat. He said they had a fine big drove. He got one

knocked over an' was carrying it out acress the fence to the field. He seen another man. He couldn't see.

It was dark. He throwed the hog over on him. The man took the shoat on to his house and papa was afraid to say

much about it. He said way 'long towards day this man come bringing about half of that hog cleaned and ready to

salt away. They got up and pucked it away out of sight.

"My mother was named Lucy Alexander, too."

Interviewer Miss Irene Robertson"

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