He kept
lookin' at me and directly he said 'Can you cook?' I was married then
and had all my household goods with me, so he got a dray and carried me
out to his house. His wife kept a first-class boarding house. Just
first-class white folks stayed there. After the madam found out I had a
good idea 'bout cookin' she put me in the dining room and turned things
over to me.
"Miss, it's been so long, I don't study 'bout that votin' business. I
have never bothered 'bout no Republican or votin' business--I never
cared about it. I know one thing, the white people are the only ones
ever did me any good.
"Mrs. J.B. Talbot has been very good to me. My wife used to work for her
and so did I. She sure has been a friend to me. Mrs. J.B. Talbot has
certainly stuck to me.
"Oh I think the colored folks ought to be free but I know some of 'em
had a mighty tight time of it after the war and now too.
"Ain't nothin' to this here younger generation. I see 'em goin' down the
street singin' and dancin' and half naked--ain't nothin' to 'em.
"My wife's been dead five or six years and I live here alone. Yes ma'm!
I don't want nobody here with me."
Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Person interviewed: Mary Jane Drucilla Davis
1612 W.
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