"When my mother died I did not know what a coffin was or what death was. So I went to my dead mother where she was on de cooling board and brushed my dress and said, ’Look at my pretty dress.’
"There was a tough gang called patrollers. Dey would scare de Negroes and would keep dem always afraid. De mistress would take a couple of us young ones to church but when we got home things were different.
"And I never seen so many soldiers in my life before or since than when Price come through on his raid. It was apple pickin’ time and de mistress made us gather apples and pack ’em to the soldiers and we had to pack water from de spring to ’em. De mistress had pickets out in front of de house when de soldiers was in town.
"Once when de Union soldiers was in town a negro soldier come and got him a turkey off de fence. De next night a white soldier come to get a turkey and he looked all over de place and come up over de stile. Den de mistress goes out on de porch and called de dogs and said, ’Sic the rogue’. De soldier took out his pistol and laid it on de fence and waited awhile and looked. De dogs were jumping up against de fence. So de soldier shot de dog and then went off and got on his hoss again.
"One day a Union officer come up and had a saber and said he would cut off de mistress’ head. De officer was a Dutchman. The mistress then ran to town for help. De soldier came right in de cabin and said, ’Me no hurt you.’ De soldier went in de safe in de house and ate all he wanted and den went to bed in de house. Finally de law come and moved him out of de bed off de place. De soldiers would come at night and rout de slave women out of bed and make ’em cook de soldiers a square meal."
*Interview with Joe Casey,* *Festus, Missouri.
*"I did not get to see my daddy long. He served in de first of de war and come home sick and died at Cadet. I was born at Cadet. I lives here in Festus and am 90 years old. My mother was Arzella Casey and was a slave in Cadet. Tom Casey owned both my mother and father. De master had a pretty good farm and dat was where I worked when I was a boy. Mr. Casey never hit me a lick in my life. He was sure good to us. I had an uncle John and dey had to sell him ’cause dey could not do anything with him. Dey took him to Potosi before dey sold him. He did not want to be drove. Mr. Casey said if he had 100 niggers he would never sell another one. He said he never had any more good luck since he sold John. Losing his children was his bad luck.