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My mammy was Celie Camster en my daddy was Jack McGuire. We lived out in Bollinger County an' belonged to Massa George Camster. De white folks had a big house, made o' logs, wid chinkins in 'tween en 'nen dobbed over. Us cullud folks had little cabins an' we had good livin' dar. Ole 'Massa an' Missus Patsy was mighty good to us. Eatin's? Lawd we had everthin'--not de mess we has to make out wid now.
I fell to young Missie Janie an' was her maid an' when Missie Janie carried Mista Bradley I went with 'em down to Cha'leston in Mississippi County.
Missie Janie an' her Mista Bradley rode in a buggy an' I sits behind. I member de fust time I seed de big ribber. Dar was a boat on it. I aint nebber seed a boat befo' an' I says, "Oh! Miss Janie dat house gonna sink." She laf at me an' say dat a boat. Pore Miss Janie--dat Mista Bradley made her believe he had a big plantation an lots o' money an when we gits dar he warn't nuthin' but a overseer on de Joe Moore place. Pore Missie Janie! she was so purty an' she had lotsa beaux--she coulda' married rich but she jes tuk de wrong one.
We had good times fore we lef' de ole place, fore Ole Massa died. We usta git together in de ebenin's. Dey'd say "I's gon'a step over to do udder cabin"--en word ud git aroun' an "for" you knowd it dey'd be a crowd. We allus said "jest step over" no matter how far it was. Den some er de women ud put in a quilt an' some ud git to cookin' an' bakin M mml de lassus cakes we used to have! An' den wen de quilt was finished an de eatin done dey'd clean out de room an dance. Dem sho was good times. But I 'members de las' dance we had. Ole Massa was sick. We's habbin' de dance an' Aunt Mary was dar. She was a spiritualis' woman--you knows whut a spiritualis is, don' you? Well, everybody was dancin' an' habbin' a good time--Aunt Mary say, "Hush! I's gonna ask is Ole Massa gonna git well". Den she say--"If Ole Massa gonna die, rap three times." Den in a minnit comes a loud blam! blam! blam! right across de house. Den we all cry an' go home cause we knows Ole Massa's gonna die!
Bout dat time my daddy die too an my mammy marry Levi Wilson. He belong to Nelson Ellis an' when Ole Massa Ellis's daughter married Beverly Parrot dey went to Texas an' tuk my step-daddy along. Cose he never 'spected to see my mammy again an' he married a young woman down dar. Atter de war, dey comes back up dar an' he seed my mammy but she says, "Go way. I libbed wid you sebben year an' nebber had no chillun by you. Now you got a young woman an' she got chillun. You stay with her. I won't bother you none."
My mammy allus stayed wid Ole Missus Patsy. Ole Tom Johnson, de nigger, trader tuk her two brothers an' sent um to New Orleans. He usta libe in dat big house dat was war de postoffice is now, an' he usta keep de slaves he buy dar at he's house till he can send um down de ribber on de boat.
One time a slave at a neighbor farm was workin' in de feel' an when he comes in, in de ebenin's he's wife was gone an' de cradle was emty. He's Massa done sold 'em. De ole man fell down on he's knees an' he begin prayin' an he pray an' he holler "Oh! nobody know but Jesus! Nobody know but Jesus!" An' he kep' dat up a prayin' en a hollerin like dat. His ole Massa hear him, an' it made him feel bad. De ole darky keep on a prayin' an a hollerin, "Nobody know but Jesus." Ole Massa keep on a hearin' it, till atter awhile, he git right down der on de flo' wid de darky an' he' fess religion.
After Ole Massa George died, Ole Missus Patsy married Woodson Parrot and went to his place in Scott County. Dey had a nice big home dar an he were a good man. When he lay yin he was sick a long time an' dey was allus some lodge men roun' him an my mammy was skeered of de men. De nite he died, Ole Missus Patsy had been up wid him so much she was sleepin--an he call out, "Oh! Patsy! Oh! Patsy! Oh! Patsy!" three times jes like dat. Mammy was skeered o' dem men an she wouldn't go in an wake Ole Missus Patsy. Den ole Massa Parrot say, "Oh! Patsy, I aint nebber made a prayer in my life an' here I'se dyin." Ole Missus Patsy nebber did forgive my mammy for not wakin' her till de day she died.
Miss Janie allus had to live on rented places. Mista Bradley warn't smart an' he didn't have nuthin but she stayed with him an' done de bes' she could.
We seed lotsa sojers cum by durin' de war, but dey nebber bothered us much. De Ku Kluxers cum roun' sometimes but mostly to see dat darkies stay whar dey belong. When de war was over I wanted to stay wif Missie Janie but my mammy cum an' got me. We worked for a German family livin on Jackson Hill.
I cud a been a spiritualis woman if I'd had a little education. I allus had visions an' ud see thing but I nebber' know'd whut dey mean. When I tell my mammy she allus say, "Hush chile, you allus asee'in things."
My mammy's daid now a long time but she offen comes to see me. One night I seed her carryin a bright light. She allus comes to see me when I'se in trouble but I ain't seen her now for a long time.
