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"I sho members when de soldiers come home from de war. All de women folks, both black as well as shite was so glad to see 'em back dat we jus jumped up and hollered 'Oh, Lawdy, God bless you.' When you would look around a little. you would see some wid out an arm or maybe dey would be a walkin' wid a cruch or a stick. Den you would cry some wid out lettin your white folks see you. But Jane, de worseat time of all fer us darkies was when de Ku Klux killed Dan Black. We was little chilluns a playin' in Dans house. We didn't know he had done nothin' ginst de white folks. Us was a playin by de fire jus as nice when something hit on de wall. Dan, he jump up and try to git outten de winder. A white spooky thing had done come in de doo' right by me. I was so scairt dat I could not git up. I had done fell straight out on de flo'. When Dan stick his head outten dat winder something say bang and he fell right down in de flo'. I crawles under de bed. When I got dar, all de other chilluns was dar to lookin' as white as ashed dough from hickory wood. Us peeped out and den us duck under de bed agin. Ain't no bed ebber done as much good as dat one. Den a whole lot of dem come in de house. De was all white and scairy lookin'. It still makes de shivvers run down my spine and here I is ole and you all a settin' around wid me and two mo' wars done gone since dat awful time. Dan Black, he wo'nt no mo' kaise de took dat nigger and hung him to a simmon tree. Dey would not let his folks take him down either. He jus stayed dar till he fell to pieces.
"After dat when us chilluns seed de Ku Klux a comin', us would take an' run breadneck speed to de nearest wood. Dar we would stay till dey was plum out o' sight and you could not even hear de horses feet. Dem days was wors'n de war. Yes Lawd, dey wus worse'n any war I is ebber heard of.
"Was not long after dat fore de spooks was a gwine round ebber whar. When you would go out atter dark, somethin' would start to a haintin' ye. You would git so scairt dat you would mighty ni run every time you went out atter dark; even iffin you didn't see nothin'. Chile, don't axe me what I seed. Atter all dat killin' and a burnin' you know you was bliged to see things wid all dem spirits in distress a gwine all over de land. You see, it is like dis, when a man gits killed befo he is done what de good Lawd intended fer him to do, he comes back here and tries to find who done him wrong. I mean he don' come back hisself, but de spirit, it is what comes and wanders around. Course, it can't do nothin', so it jus scares folks and haints dem."
SOURCE: "Aunt" Millie Bates, 25 Hamlet street. Union, S.C. Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S.C.
(Project #1655, Mrs. Genovieve W. Chandler, Murrells Inlet, S. C., Georgetown County, FOLKLORE)
