She said her mother,
father, the baby, her brother and two sisters and herself was sold,
divided out and separated. Grandma said one of her sisters had a
suckling baby. She couldn't keep it from crying. They stopped and made
her give it away.
"Then grandma fell in the hands of the Walls at Holly Springs,
Mississippi. She was a good breeder, so she didn't have to work so hard.
They wouldn't let her work when she was pregnant.
"Mrs. Walls buried her silver in the front yard. She had an old trusty
colored man to dig a hole and bury it. No one ever found it. The
soldiers took their meat and let the molasses run out on the ground.
They ransacked her house. Mr. Walls wasn't there.
"My auntie, Eliza Williamson, was half white. She was one of her
master's son's children. Her first master put her and her husband
together. She lives near Conway, Arkansas now and is very old.
"Grandma was living at Menifee, Arkansas, and a man from De Valls Bluff,
Arkansas come to her house. She saw a scar on his arm. He was marked by
gingerbread. She asked him some questions. Epps was his name and he was
older than herself. He told her about the sale in Memphis. He remembered
some things she didn't.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163