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"I was born befo' de war. I was about eight years ole when de Yankee mens come through.
My mammy an' pappy, Hattie an' Jim Jeffries belonged to Marse Frank Jeffries. Marse Frank come from Mississippi, but when I was bawn he an' Mis' Mary Jane was livin' down heru near Louisburg in North Carolina whare dey had er big plantation an' don' know how many niggers. Marse Frank was good to his niggers, 'cept the never give iem enough to eat. He worked dem hard on half rations, but he didn' believe in all de time bantin' an' sellin' dem.
My pappy worked at de stables, he was er good horseman, but my mammy worked at de big house he'pin' Mis' Mary Jane. Mammy worked in de weavin' room. I can see her now settin' at de weavin' machine an' hear de pedals goin' plop, plop, as she treaded den wid her feets. She was a good weaver. I stayed 'roun' de big house too. pickin' up chips, sweepin' de yard an' such 'as dat. Mis' Mary Jane was quick as er whip-po'-will. She had black eyes dat snapped, an' dey seed everythin'. She could tu'n her head so quick dat she'd ketch you every time you tried to steal a lump of sugar. I liked marse Frank better den I did Mis' Mary Jane. All us little chillun called him Big Pappy. He went to Raleigh erbout twice er year. very time he come tack he brung us niggers back some candy. Raleigh was er far ways from de plantation-near 'bout sixty miles. check-Appears to be about 40 miles only. It always took Marse Frank three days to make de trip. A day to go, er day to stay in town, an' a day to come back, Den he always got home in de night. Ceptn' when rode ho'se back 'stead of de carriage, an' den sometimes he got home by sun down.
Marse Frank di in' go to de war. He was too ole. So when de Yankees come through dey foun' him at home. When Marse Frank seed de blue coats comin' down de road he run an' got his gun. De Yankees was on ho'ses. I ain't never seed so many men. Dey was thick as hornets comin' down de road in a cloud of dust. Dey come up to de house an' tied de ho'ses to de palin's; ?? 'roun' de yard. When dey seed Marse Frank standin' on de po'ch wid de gun leveled on dem, dey got mad. Time Marse Frank done shot orli time a bully Yankee snatched de gun a way an' tole Marse Frank to hold up his hands. Den dey tied his han's an' pushed him down on de floor 'side de house an' tole him dat if he moved dey would shoot him. Den dey went in de house.
I way skeered near 'bout to death, but I run in de kitchen an' got a butcher knife, an' when de Yankees wuzn' lookin', I tried to cut de rope an' set Marse Frank free. But one of dem blue debils seed me an' come runnin'. He say:
'Whut you doin', you black brat! you stinkin' little alligator bait!' He snatched de knife from my hand an' told me to stick out my tongue, dat he wan gwine to cut it off. I let out a yell an' run behind de house.
Some of de Yankees was in de smoke house gettin' de meat, some of dem was at de stables gettin' de was an' some of dem was in de house gettin' de silver an' things. I seed dem put de big silver pitcher an' tea pot in a bag. Den dey took de knives an' fo'ks an' all de candle sticks an' platters off de side boa'd. Dey went in de parlor an' got de gold clock dat was Mis' Mary Jane's gran'mammy's. Den dey got all de jewelry out of Mis' Mary Jane's box. Dey went up to Mis' Mary Jane, an' while she looked at den wid her black eyes snappin', dey took de rings off her fingers; den dey took her gold bracelet; dey even took de ruby ear rings out of her ears an' de gold comb out of her hair.
I done quit peepin' in de window an' was standin' 'side de house when de Yankees come out in de yard wid all de stuff dey was totin' off. Marse Frank was still settin' on de po'ch floor wid his han's tied an' couldn' do nothin'. 'Bout dat time I seed de bee gums in de side yard. Dey was a whole line of gums. Little as I was I had er notion. I run an' got me a long stick an' tu'ned over every one of dem gums. Den I stirred dem bees up wid dat stick 'till dey was so mad I could smell de pizen. An' bees! you ain't never seed de like of bees. Dey was swarmin' all over de place. Dey sailed int dem Yankees like bullets, each one madder den de other. Dey lit on dem ho'ses 'till the dey looked like dey was alive wid varmints. De ho'ses broke dey bridles an' tore down de palin's an' lit out down de road. But dey runnin' wuzn' nothin' to what dem Yankees done. Dey bust out cussin', but what did a bee keer about cuss words! Dey lit on dem blue coats an' every time dey lit dey stuck in a pizen sting. De Yankee's forgot all about de meat an' things dey done stole; dey took off down de road on a run, passin' de ho'ses De bees right after dem in a long line. Dey'd zoom an' zip, an' zoom an' zip, an' every time dey'd zip a Yankee would yell.
When dey'd gone His' Mary Jans untied Marse Frank, Den dey took all de silver, meat an' things de Yankees lef' behin' an' buried it so if dey come back dey couldn' fin' it. Den dey called ma an' said:
'Ida Lee, if you hadn tu'ned over dem bee gums dem Yankees would have toted off near 'bout everythin' fins we got. We want to give you somethin' you can keep so' you'll always remember dis day, an' how you run de Yankees away.'
Den Mis' Mary Jane took a plain gold ring off her finger an' put it on mine, An' I been wearin' it ever since.
N. C. District No. 2 Subject Ex-Slave Story Worker Mary A. Hicks"
