The women left the fields to go fix supper and see after
their cabins and children. They hauled their water in barrels and put it
under the trees. They cooked washpots full of chicken and give them a
big picnic dinner after they lay by crops and at Christmas. They had
gourd banjos. Mama said they had good times.
"They had preaching one Sunday for white folks and one Sunday for black
folks. They used the same preacher there but some colored preachers
would come on the place at times and preach under the trees down at the
quarters. They said the white preacher would say, 'You may get to the
kitchen of heaven if you obey your master, if you don't steal, if you
tell no stories, etc.'
"Captain Jones was a good doctor. If a doctor was had you know somebody
was right low. They seldom had a doctor. Mama said her coat tail froze
and her working. But they wore warm clothes next to their bodies.
"Captain Jones said, 'You all can go back on my place that want to go
back and stay. You will have to learn to look after your own selves now
but I will advise you and help you best I can. You will have to work
hard as us have done b'fore. But I will pay you.' My folks was ready to
'board the wagons back to Jones' farm then.
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