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"My mother was a sleve in Franklin Perish, Louisiana, 'bout 200 miles from New Orleans. I was born in 1862. My mother's name was Caroline Head by merriage. She was born in slavery. Her home was in Mississippi first and she emigrated to Louisiana 'cause de land was worn out. I had seven brothers and sisters and all are gone but me. My mother was separated from my father two times. My mother was married three times due to being moved around. My brother's father was sent into a free state under some consideration. Bush Baker was my mother's boss. De boss had two plantations. De morning I was going to be born de overseer began to fight my mother and a colored man took a hoe and said if the man hit her again he would knock his brains out. The overseer had been at this place for four years and had not been paid. Mother was confined in de field and dey got her to de house. If Baker had been thar he would have killed de overseer. Three men came up to kill de overseer with guns for beatin' my mother and de overseer hed to leave. My mother never did get over her troubles dat morning. Mrs. Baker said it would be better for mother to work in de field 'cause mother could then take better care of her children.
"Mrs. Baker was kind and tended de children when dey was sick. Mrs. Baker took us to Texas during de war 'cause she was afraid the Union soldiers would take her slaves away from her. After peace was declared de soldiers came and told de white people dat de slaves was free. But we never did leave Mrs. Baker's place. After de war was over Mrs. Baker took us back to Louisiane. We traveled with a team of oxen and three teams of mules with wagons. Some of Mrs. Baker's slaves staid in Texas and never did come back from Texas. Dis was in 1865.
"I can 'member de home place. De county road went close to de front gate. Mrs. Eliza Baker had a beautiful yard and after de war she would have us come and stay in de yard to be protected from de jay-hawkers. De high water would come past de fence and we would play in de water. One time a jay-hawker come and git one of de children in a skiff and den we yelled and de mastah come out with his pistol and hit de jay-hawker over de head. So de jay-hawker turned de child over again. So we did not play down in de water no more.
"De mistress hed a long table out in de front yard under de smoke house shed and here all us children had our food. It was good food. Mrs. Baker had a fig nursery in de front yerd and we would go and pick washtubs of figs. Some were dried and others were put up. Mrs. Baker had a plantation of 1,800 acres. On week ends we would dence and they would always be getting married. We had a colored man on de place who could read and he did de marrying. De only school I ever went to was to a night school here for a short time. Day would tell me a story 'bout ''De Bear an de Grand-ma' an 'bout 'Little Ridin' Hood.' Dey use to tell us some awful yarns. Day would kill over 100 head of hogs every year and cure it, and I can't get use to buyed meat today. Mrs. Baker would take anyone in de wagon to church dat wanted to go. My aunt went to church but would not be baptized.
"I 'member when de Ku Klux Klen started out when dey would dress up in white and dey had a noise like 'O-0' 'O-0'. But we were not 'freid of dem 'cause we knew dey would be killed if dey come on de place. I think a lot of Abe Lincoln. I have often thought how hard it was to give up his life for de United States. But Christ died for to save de world an Lincoln died to save de United States. And Lincoln died more Christlike den eny other man dst over lived.
"Dare was an old colored man on de place and he would drive Joff Davis 'round and would keep Davis in his house and feed him. his was when Jeff Davis was a boy, and a orphan. Jeff Davis gave dis colored men, Montgomery, a lot of land. It's a good thing dat slavery is over. Anything wents a privilago butside and not in a coop. Slaves could not be naturel when dey was dis way. Everybody wants to de somethin' with demselves.
"I staid in Louisiena till 1875 and got mad and left and went to Madison Parish, Louisiena. It was not de white people det made me leave here but it was my father. Den I went to Vicksburg for seven months, den to St. Louis on a mail boat. It cost no $3.50 to cose from Vicksburg to St. Louis. I found work in St. Louis in a little while. Never did have to worry 'bout where I was going to sleep. I left Madison Farish cause we had a flood when de lavse broke.
"I come to St. Louis in 1883 and did all kinds of house work. I get a dollar a day. Den I came to Fredericktown 'cause I wanted to own a home. You more never sure dat you could have a sure clain. to land in St. Louis. It was a 'quiet claim.' We lived one mile above Fredericktown and had seven or eight acres. I married in Fredericktown and have no children. My husband has born dend since 1905. I made my way fine by washin' and ironing an made $18. a week since my husband died. I paid $985. for his house."
An Interview with Mrs. Mattie Lee,
Ex-Slave, Aged 78, Fredericktom,
Missouri. Interviewed by J. Fom Miles.
