"We was fed just moderate. Dere was fifteen hands. When dey come in at noon, dey ate from de big old kettle where de old colored woman had cooked de food. De next morning after he bought me, de boss carried me to de old woman and told her to take care of me. Dat morning de kettle was full of spare ribs and de people fished dem out with sticks. I didn’t see no knives or forks. When dey asked me why I didn’t get something to eat, I asked ’bout dem and a table where I could eat. De overseer just cried.
"De old lady took care of de children while de mothers worked. De oldest one never went to de field. She just looked after de little ones. One overseer was colored. He was an uncle of ’Big Nig’ dat works at de hotel. We was fanning out wheat and one of de children was raking out de wheat. He talked back to de overseer who struck him. Dere was a singletree under de edge of de cloth. De master picked up de singletree but didn’t strike de overseer, he backed off. Col. Harper raised oodles of tobacco. Dere were 16 to 17 hundred pounds to de hogshead. He raised 15 to 20 hogsheads.
"My mother-in-law was from Memphis. One day dey went to church and de Ku Klux Klan came in and beat de people over deir heads with pistols. De people went out de doors and windows. Dey could just blow a horn and de Ku Klux Klan would come from all directions.
"I was sold for $715. When de freedom come, I said, ’Give me $715 and I’ll go back.’ Col. Harper just gave me a quarter to buy my dinner. After de freedom, I worked in wheat harvest all season for $.75 a day. I worked for a week and my mammy told me to bring her some bacon. When de man paid me, I spent it all for a side of bacon. I felt mighty proud to take dat to her. Bacon was $.50 a pound. I stayed at Dr. Sharp’s where mother worked and done chores. Later I made rails. Dey paid me $14 a month for cutting rail timber. I was paid at de postoffice and took de money home and gave it to mammy.
"Col. Harper’s wife was Gen. Price’s niece and Col. Harper was a recruiting officer for Gen. Price. Young men came dere to join de southern army. Dey could always get a horse. De women stayed dere all de time to make de suits for de soldiers. De Union soldiers tried deir best to kill Col. Harper.