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Work Projects Administration

"Arkansas Narratives, Part 2"

Of course it wasn't that way. But he said that they
didn't shoot right and that he would have to do it for them. They all
came back, and none of them had shot right. One sick (he died after he
got home); the other two come back all right.
"When my old master died, the son that drawed me stayed home for a
little while. When he left he said about me, 'Don't let anybody whip him
while I am gone. If they do, I'll bury them when I come back.' He was a
good man and a good master.

Brutal Beating
"There were some that weren't so good. One of his brothers was a real
bad man. They called him a nigger ruler. He used to go from place to
place and handle niggers. He carried his cowhide with him when he went.
My master said, 'A man is a damn fool to have a valuable slave and
butcher him up.' He said, 'If they need a whipping, whip them, but don't
beat them so they can't work.' He never whipped his slaves. No man ever
hit me a lick but my father. No man. I ain't got no scar on me nowhere.
"My young master was named Wiley Grave Sharpe. He drawed me when my old
master, Teed Sharpe, Sr., died. He's been dead a long time. Teed Sharpe,
Jr., Gibb Sharpe, and Sam Sharpe were brothers to Wiley Grave Sharpe.


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