"De morning we was set free we didn’t have nothing. Mother had three little children and no place to go. De white folks told dem to ’git away from here’ and we come on down to Williamsburg. We walked down de road in de snow, mother and de three little children. We went to de old mistress and mother asked her could we find some place to stay. She said, ’Yes, Louisa. I’ll take care of you and de children. I would not have turned you out of doors.’ She sure was good to us.
"I seen people turned across barrels and whipped. Dey was whipped ’cause de white people was mean. Sometimes dey tied dem to trees and whipped 'em. Dey didn’t have no clothes on at all—dey was just like dey come into de world! Dey used a cowhide as big as my finger. It was made of two strips twisted together and was keen at de end. De master whipped when he could. When he couldn’t do it, he called in de neighbors ’til you’d think dere was a meetin’. De poor darkies had a hard time!
"De patrollers (accent on the first syllable) used blacksnake whips. Dey was a lot of de neighbors dat were patrollers. When dey would meet de colored men out at night, dey would ask dem if dey had a pass. If dey didn’t, de patrollers would get off de horses and whip dem. De colored men would slip out at night sometimes for a little pleasure. My daddy got tired of being whipped and he put out. He was gone clean away.
"De Ku Klux Klan come out and run de colored people away from home. Many a colored woman came to mother’s house in de middle of de night with clothes covered with ice and snow to de waist and carrying her baby in her arms ’cause dey ran her away from home.
"We knowed who de men was. We’d hear dem say, ’Are you going out tonight?’ ’Yas’, I’se got a little cluckin’ to do.’ Goin’ cluckin’! Huh! (Marilda fairly snorted with indignation and in some subtle way gave the impression that she did not approve of Klansmen.) Dose men would bus’ de door down and run de people out. Run some of dem clean away.
"Dey was one colored man, named McPherson, dat told dem not to come pesterin’ round his cabin. Dey come anyhow and he shot wid a double barreled shotgun. He killed a white man, too. Of course, he had to leave his home. He went to Illinois and I ain’t never seen him since.