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"I was a fifteen old girl when de war declare. How you kin member when de earthquake was. I was a courtin' miss den. And de time of de speaking at Hampton, you remember? I was grown, good grown den. My neice is to come up heah dis week and she is to bring my age. Do you know Chief Reddish, de policeman? Well, I is three years older than Chief Reddish. My mother's missus, "Miss Tudie" Cause(y) at Early Branch got my age. "Boss" Cause(y) was her husband. "Miss" Hill, de colored school teacher dat lives 'cross town, she got my age. All you got to do is jes' to call my name, and she'll tell you my age. But I knows my ball is 'bout wound up.
"My mother was Ole Lady Mary Ann Brown and my father was de same. He go by name of Ole Man John Brown. My mother'd set down an' tell us all about how she'd have to struggle to git 'long wid allus little chillun. Dey'd put us little uns in de baskets and set um in de edge of de field, and when de patridge (patrol) - or sump'n or ruther'd come runnin' atter um, dey'd have to leave us in de baskets an' run away to de branch to keep de patridge from gettin' um. Den way atter when hit was night, de Missus, herself would come and git de little niggers out of de baskets. Call 'um True Clerks, (Ku Klux) I tink. Some of um kill de little chillun in de baskets - buss de little brains out. And some of um kill de mothers and put de live babies to de dead mothers' breast. Oh, de colored folks suffered, all right. Dey had to knock de fool out of um.
"Dem times de chillun all weave cloth. When de Yankee come, de chillun was all 'round, some of um was sittin' down and some of um was standin' up. My mother was sittin' at her missus loom, weaving.
"I was too little to remember all dat. I was jes' in de basket. When hit declare I was large enough to think of it good. You know dat in dem times de didn't let um marry; but when freedom come dey married um all. I kin remember jes' as plain as you is writin' now when my mother an' father was married. De white folks was de ones dat married um. Ole George Taylor, a preacher, married my um. He married all his colored folks on his place. He wouldn't let 'er live dat life like dey did before de war. My Ma used to say we chillun ought'n to say nuthin' 'bout dat though - 'bout us seein' preacher marry um. She say dat had ought to be keep in de family. But dey couldn't help dat. Dere was no way for um to git married 'til freedom come. But now Lord; Hit's jes' de other way.
"Dere's another ole woman dat lives on de other side of town ole Cinda Bristol. She's a war woman, too. She could tell you 'b de ole times, too."
Just how much, or how little, Time, Memory, and Imagination may have altered the events "Aunt Henrietta" speaks of will probably never be known. It is evident that she is all confused as to her age. The poor old woman was in such pain with a diseased leg that she may have been too miserable to think clearly.
