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"I cum fum Rickin'ham County, Nawth Cah'lina. 'Course I was'nt very big when de war broke out, but I can member lots o' things."
"Mother was named Cah'lina, en father was Cain Smith. Dey both belong ter de same fam'ly but de live en diffu'nt places. Six us chillun en mother stayed with ole Marse Drewry Smith. He had sech er big fam'ly dat dey done live en all diffu'nt parts en tended things fer him on his other plantations. Smith owned mos' all o' Stokes, Scurry, Forsyth, en Rockin'ham Counties, en he had er thousand slaves. He had 20 chillun - 'leven by his first wife en nine by de second wife.
"Marse Drewry had his own tan yard, right dere on de place, en five stillhouses. Dey was shoemakers, harness makers, en weavers what wuk all de time. He done hire sev'ral poor white 'omans what done weavin' fer twenty five cents er day. Three cooks wuk in de kitchen all de time. Some de 'omans dey kep' busy makin' shirts, en dresses fer de girls.
"De Smith boys en girls had plenty o' dey own pus'nal slaves. Dey was er gang of em, en eight o' de boys was en de Rebel armies at one time."
"Mother wuked en de fiel. I done lots o' knittin' - stockin's en sech like. Many de time I used broom straws fer kitchen needles. Us dyed our own cloth fum walnut hulls en wood, brush blossoms, en sometimes copper te help mek er diffu'ny colorin'. Course de color was'nt jes' as pretty as dey mek now, but dat dye it wash good en diden' mek de goods fall ter pieces, like some de stuff dey use now.
"I cud weave bed spreads en table cloths, too. I was too short ter reach up en wuk de loom right, but dey made a thing fer me ter stand on, en manys de day I stood up ter de loom all day long."
"Marse Drewry was'nt hard on us, en he gives us passes to go fum place ter place. But some er de slaves knowed how ter read en write, kaze de chillun dey ud teach em - course de chillun was'nt 'lowed ter do it - en den dem slaves what knowed how ter write ud mek out passas fer eny o' de others, en not ask Marse Drewry."
"When de Yankees come t'rough dey knowed how rich Marse Drewry was, en dey done heerd he buried er big trunk o' gold en money. Dey tried ter git him ter tell where it was buried. But he tuk de awfulest beatin', en aint nebber tole em. Den de Yankees tuk one o' de boys what dey t'ought knowed, en punished em till dey tole. When dey found dat trunk dey trowed pennies en small coins ter all de slaves, en tuk all de silver en gold dey want - tuk it all, I guess, cept what dey t'rowed ter us. Way atter de war, dey say folks found pennies roun' dere en de groun'.
"I member when de first cullud boys left fum Nawth Cah'lina fer de war. Father was with de Nawth Cah'lina sojers. Us cud see de flash fum firin' en de smoke, en it was nothin' fer us ter hear de roar of de guns day en night."
"When freedom come dey was 500 slaves still on Marse Drewry's plantations. Frelin Hodge, one er de men had ter go roun' en tell slaves dey was free, he come roun' ter our place en made er speech ter all o' us, en says us was free."
"Marse Drewry give all his folks er little start; one cow each, some hogs, en a little patch er groun', en let em build er cabin. Dat first year sho' was hard, fer us diden git nothin' fer the cattle en stock ter feed on."
"In 1879 I came up ter Gallipolis, Ohio. I married dat year ter Thomas James, fum Virginia. Us moved here in 1882, en went out on Joe Foster's farm. Den finelly us moved en ter town."
"My husband en nine of my chillun are daid. Dey's three boys en one girl left."
"When us was en Nawth Cah'lina, us allus went ter Marse Drewry's church. Hw was Baptist. But atter freedom us went to our own church, en it was er Methodist Church. Dey sung lots o' ole fashion songs. Sometimes I can think o' more'n enough of em, but right now I cant think of nothin' but: 'I Want Ter Go Ter Heaven When I Die', 'Want Ter Cross Jordan', 'Doan You Grieve Atter Me', 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot.'"
Interviewed at her residence, 234 Buxton Ave.
Editor's Note: Julia Ann James is 83 years old. Her color is light brown. She is short and heavy set. Owing to rheumatism and other infirmities of old age she is not able to do any active work.
