"Last Saturday I was prayin' to God not to let me get out of the heart
of the people. You see, I have no kin people and I wanted people to come
to my rescue. The next day was Sunday and more people come to see me and
brought me more things.
"I been in the church fifty-seven years. I'm the oldest member in St.
John's. I joined in May 1881.
"I went to school some. I went as far as the fourth grade."
Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson
Person interviewed: Minerva Davis, Biscoe, Arkansas
Age: 56
"My father was sold in Richmond, Virginia when he was eighteen years old
to the nigger traders. They had nigger traders and cloth peddlers and
horse traders all over the country coming by every few weeks. Papa said
he traveled to Tennessee. His job was to wash their faces and hands and
fix their hair--comb and cut and braid their hair and dress them to be
auctioned off. They sold a lot of children from Virginia all along the
way and he was put up in Tennessee and auctioned off. He was sold to the
highest bidder. Bill Thomas at Brownsville, Tennessee was the one bought
him. Papa was a large strong man.
"He run off and went to war. He had learned to cook and he was one-eyed
and couldn't fight.
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