SLAVE NARRATIVES - Library of Congress

"Old man Bullocks had about eight or ten families that I knew about*
Those were the families that lived right near us in the quarters* I didn f t
say eight or ten hands—I said eight or ten families* Them was the ones
that was right near us* We was awful small after freedom but them what was
with him stayed with him quite a while—stayed with the old master* He
would pay them so much after freedom come*
"Lawd* I could tell you things about slavery* But I f m forgitful and
I can f t do it all at once* He had the whole county from Arkadelphia clean
down to Princeton and Tulip~*our old mars did* Lonoke was between Princeton
and Tulip* Princeton was the county-seat* He must have had a large number
of slaves* Those ten families I knew was just those close f round us* Host
of the farm was fur pine country land* There would be thirty or forty
acres over here of cultivation and then thirty or forty acres over there of
woods and so on* He had more land than anybody else but it wasn f t all
under cultivation*
*He f s been dead now twenty or thirty years* I don f t know that he was
mean to his slaves* If he had been, they wouldn f t have gone on after
freedom* They would have moved out* You see, they didn f t care for nothing
but a little something to eat and a fine dress and they would have gone on
to somebody else and got that*
"Wasn't no law then* He was the law* I worked all day long for ten
cents a day* They would allowance you so many pounds of meat, so much meal,
so much molasses* I have worked all day for ten cents and then gone out at
night to get a few potatoes* I have pulled potatoes all day for a peck of
meal and I was happy at that* I never did know what the price of cotton was*
"Where we was, the Ku ELux never did bother anybody* All there was,
every time we went out we had to have a pass*
2 - 260