*Interview with Mrs. Tishey Taylor,* *age 77, Poplar Bluff, Missouri.*
"I wusn’t very old during slave time but I worked, yes sir, I did, and my por ’mammy chile’, it wus from daylight ta’ dark, and on good light nights it wus way up in the night. Mah mammy’s name was ’Katie’, Katie-Cherry, an ma father wus William Walturf, or somethin’ like ’at, never did know good ’cause he never stayed wif us in our cabin no how and we never knowed him much.
"Shap Phillips wus our marster and he brought my parents ’fore I wus bawn, frum Frank Parker, (we jus said ’Ol Parker’,) and brought us from Woofalton to New Madrid County. ’Ol Man Shap’, (that what we call him,) had two sons, one name ’Amos’ and one name ’Little Murry’. I took care 'Little Murry’ fer ma, ’Task’ and I warn’t much biggner him but did I let him git hurt? Not me chile!
"’Ole Man Shap’ owned ’bout two, three hundred us slaves and he had cabins built all over and around his plantation. This house is por nuf’ but then we jes had one little room and ’irt floos and no windas, sometime jus holes out.
"Some them slaves cooks in their cabin, not what they wanted but what 'Marse’ gibd ’em, most times wus beans an’ ’tators and corn bred and milk, and some times ’round hog killin’ time he pass out the ’jowl meat’.
"I jest don’ ’member but it seems we did eat three times a day. I wus allays so glad to hear dat bell ring else a horn blow. Youse seed that kind of shell like calded ’Konk horn’—and could that ’nigger’ blow lowd!
"Mammy cooked in the big house for ’Marse’, and then som’ time when her work was done in there she was took to the fields and lef’ me and my brother and sister by our selves ’till she come and som’ time when she did com’ she would run in scared-like and lock de door and motion us quiet and say, ’Dey will think I’se sleep’. I didn’t understand all that stuff den but fore long I did understan’ what I’se tellin yu.
"’Nother thing our beds wus poor stuff, but mammy said she wus allays 'dog tired’ and could ’a slep on the ground. They wus straw ticks and hard. Law no, chile, we didn’t known what springs wus.
"One day I ’member bad, ’Ol Man Shap’ sol’ granma, she was mammy’s mammy and all we ever hear, she was sol’ down souf. We knowed not to do no takin’ on for if’n we did the hide would got tooken off us.