Yes, ma'am. Thank you ma'am. The quarter will come in powerful handy.
When you tries to make out on $10 a month a little extra comes in
powerful handy. Thank you ma'am. I enjoyed talking to you, ma'am."
Interviewer: Mrs. Bernice Bowden
Person interviewed: Mary Flagg
1601 Georgia Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Age: 89
"Yes'm, I was here in Civil War days. I was bout twelve years old when
Lincoln was elected. I remember when he was elected. I was big enough to
weave and knit for the soldiers. I remember when the war started. Yes
ma'm--oh I remember so much. Saw all the soldiers and shook hands with
em. Why I waited on the table when General Lee stopped there for dinner
on his way from Mobile to meet Sherman. That was in Winchester,
Mississippi where I was born. I worked in a hotel, yes ma'm. I was
raised up in a hotel, called em taverns in those days. I was born right
in Winchester, Mississippi. Used to see the soldiers drill every day. If
I could remember, I could tell you a heap of things.
"My mistress' name was Mrs. Shaw. She took me away from my mother when I
was four years old--taken me for her body servant. She learned me how to
do housework and all kinds of sewin'--cuttin' and makin'.
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