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Marie Aurelia Green, a tall and slim woman, dressed in a purple print calico garment, showed a considerable
amount of interest and pride in her appearance. She was seated in a chair on the porch as she told the story of her
life. Her speech shows French influence. She was quite young when freedom came, and is particular in her
accuracy, hence her story is largely confined to those things of which she feels she can speak with certainty, either
of her own knowledge, or a few things which her mother told her, and of the correctness of which she feels assured.
"I was bo'n in Gran' Coteau over in Lou'siana, jis' a few years befo' freedom come. Dey uster call de place Sunset,
but dat and Gran' Coteau is de same place. My pa and ma was Isaac and Therese Pelche. De ol' marster was Jameil
Prejean."
"My ma she was a nurse. She nurse ol' marster's ol'es' son. He live over in St. Peter, Lou'sana now. He a doctor
today."
"I was bo'n out on de edge of de town. I neber did see de house where ol' marster live."
"I 'member de time when de Yankees come. My gran'father he git kill in de war. When dem Yankees come my
gran'mother and gran'father dey up and went off wid 'em. I don't 'member eber seein' 'em. Dey neber come back. I
'member my ma she say she so lonesome for her ma what lef' and gone wid de Yankees. She go up to de big house
right smart den 'cause she so lonesome for her ma. She stay wid de mistus lots den."
"Dey didn' uster hab marriage license den like dey does now. Now you git de license and you kin keep de paper to
show you married. But den you give de pries' de license, but he give you a receipt to show you pay him to marry
you. I got de receipt for $10.00 what de pries' git for marryin' me and my husban'. Dey got my marriage license dere
in de chu'ch. You find my name in de big book dere, and at de White House in Washington, D.C."
"I tuk my firs' communion and was confirm' in Gran' Coteau. I come here in 1908, me and my husban' and us
daughter. Mrs. Barry she brought us here. I done house work, cook, nurse, wash and iron. I cook in de boardin'
house for Mrs. Barry in 1910 and 1911."
"My husban' and daughter dey both die here in Beaumont. I brung 'em back to Gran' Coteau and bury 'em dere."
"I suffers from asthma. Lots of time when de wedder change it git me wizzlin'."
"I married Boris Green back in 1887, on de twenty-fo'th of January. He die here in Beaumont in December of 1822,
on de 16th day. Us daughter Onezie, she die' befo' dat when she 'bout grown."
"I was growed up when de Klu Kluxers come 'roun'. Dey go 'roun' and mek de cullud people leave de place, leave
dey crop and sometime dey whip 'em half dead. Dey shoot my uncle Sostan dead in his house. I dunno what dey
done it for. I dunno who done it. Dey mask demselfs and put sheets on dey hosses and ain't nobody know who dey
was or what hosses dey ride."
"I stay here wid a man what's a cousin of my husban'. He say I
could stay here wid his family 'till I kin better my condition. I been livin' wid 'em t'ree year' goin' on fo'. I ain't got
no people, no parents, no brudder, no sister, no chillun, no nobody."
Dibble, Fred, P.W. Beaumont, Jefferson, District #3 (June 4, 1937 (Yes))
