Document text
1, I 5 2
Mrs. Lelia BraMblett
157 Chatooga Avenue
Athens, Georgia
has senelblos nue lo 311 edi lel teseu4Rellgrla
wo"WerAl
rapped on the door,
U)
14
theANWV6IPOMMOVIlitaWAPin
C)4t-
a vivacious young of high schoolAmade her appearance from an ad
and
.joining room, which at one time nad served as a barber shop. "Are
you looking for grandmother?" I told her I was. "Tel1 just come in
and sit down, I am sure she will be here in a minute. 3he is al-
ways gone some place doing something for somebody. My name is
Martha Jane Brown, I am her grand daughter.
I was invited into tne living room, It was nicely furnished
with modern furniture. In a few minutes Mrs. arelab.lett ame in
all out of breath. 3he is a stout person, wearing a print dress,
black shoes and gray no104). Her hair is gray, she had it plai.ed in
two long braids and/Coundlt around her head. 3he adjusted her
s(4er rimmed glasses as she came into the room, she has a cute
air about her, when she wants to make a statement she
winks her right eye nods ner head and says: "Thar you are, huh."
I got up when sne entered tne room. me laughed and began:
"ell I be swegtr you did come didn't ye? Now just keep your
chair 'taint no need to git up. LerMe git a dip of snuff and I'll
wita ye. Now lady if you don't like my snuff you needn't botner
long or me,, 'cause i am going to dip my snuff and when I dip I got
to spit if the president of the United 3tates was here.
"3o you want me to tell you my life history? Well if I told
you all I know it would be a long one,. but I don't know notning so
interesting to tell the truth I nave been through so much and so
many things have halmaned in the sixty-one year I have been here
I have forgoq what 4 did. AppilAtait, %Agyou 0014 if you ain't, you
I wf-vh I could write
atreading. 4Jet 10 see how yOu spell my name,
no tA, t ain't ri4ht its‘pm111101) 4
ilkft44dim44m14-6 4,2,*ks speels
el 4al /E4L.73u;-,
it with one though. 4
look like it 4,11 humfrdavreejrzaVtiyAising.
i can do right Well
"I was born aud raii5A)14.6fArrinceton Factory. Ly
WITP.
mother didn't work in the mill after ane rried7 he kept house/
but Pa. did. He made a dollar a day, he r n a picker machine.
Do you know what a. picker machine is, well ou tear a bale of cotton
up and put it in the picker, it chews and cut that cotton all to
pieces from tat room it went to tne carding room, then to the
spinners on to the weaving room whar it was ade into cloth.
"Thar won't but two of us chillun me and my brother. He
didn't work in the mill 'til ne was grown. 1Jiy ma and Pa moved to
Winder, Georgy afer tne Princeton Factory closed and my brother
went to work there as a weaver. Ma and Pa didn't stay in Tinder
not more than a year they moved back here and ne worked in the
3outhern nil. 7:y brother went Eway out to Arkran-sag a -Ad was
put that, when my mother died. I ain't never seed him since. Fer
all I know he is dead. When Ma died Pa come to live with us. He
ci.led at my house.
"The Lord I pray, I went to work when I was ten year old.
I went to scnool and my blame old teacher tried to make me write
with my riFht nand and I was left handed, it messed my writing up
so I jes1 quit fooling with 'em and went to work in the mill. I
wor.ced in the carcA.ing room and didn't made but tlirty cents a day,
that was con-aidered big money fer a kid to make in tnem days,
Miatx and chillun went tdc work by the time they was knee high to
a grasshopper Now a carding machine is a great big machine you
feed the cotton to and it comes out in a great big old lap.
"when I was a little girl Ma and Pa moved out to White
to work in the mill for Old man John R. White. He done the same
thing at White Hall, he done at Princeton, he was a Picker. We
lived in a two -room log cabin. We lived in one room and cooked
and ate in tile other, we lived out there about 3ix months. The
one we lived in at Princeton was a nice'house for tnat time. There
was two rooms on the first floor and one upstairs they were large
rooms; and all tne houses were ceiled like this one of mine is.
"When I was xxlittle I was crazy about brown sugar. Did
you ever see any, We kept it by the barrel at our house, but to
me it won't nigh as good as Lirs.
s who lived a little way
up tne road. I use to take my little tin cup and go to her house
every morning for brown 3ugar. It was the best stuff I ever tasted.
I never will forget one morning, well I set out with my cup to Mrs.
Ridley's. When I got in site of her house I seed a man sitting
on her pr(cich: That was the funniest thing to me 'cause I had
never seed a man at her house before 'cause she was a widow woman
and 'twon't no body lived tnar but she and ner d aughter Willie.
When I seed that man I tucked my little tail and started back home,
as fast as I could go. 3he called me back but I didn't pay her
no mind. When I got home Ma asked me 'what's the matter didn't
you get no sugar.' "I told her tne trouble and she aaid; ''tain't
nobody but her brother.' "I went on back and got my sttgar.
botlexiibiMx5144*RxId*kxftxRRYeth4i4x1ti
miss b:irs.
-4
"Not long ar:ter that we moved back to Princeton, I sure did
14,t/t
one day I happened to go to Mrs. iiieberrerLe-she
give me a tea cake. Bpck in them days all the houses had paling
fence 'round them. Mrs. MaIeroy d right back of our house.
It was too much trouble to go all tne way 'round, so I tore a
paling off the back fence and every day I would slip through and
and go to her /louse for my tea cakes. I thought she had the
prettiest white table cloth I ever saw.
"Mr. 444 was the boss and his brother Mr.
4.9-wethri was tne Super (supervisor) over the caming room, they were
good bosses. They looked after the well fare of their hands, and
saw to it that the houses were in good con-dition and fitten to
live in. The size of the house depended on the size of the family
you had. If your family was small you had a small one, a big
family got a larger house. We rented tne houses from the mill and
when you got your bay ticket the rent was tuk out of your pay."
She laughed and began: "I am here to tell you the boss was
my sweetheart. i went with him 'til he married, me and his sister
run together. The reason I didn't marry him I didn't want him.
He married k4Bye, if this here story I am telling you ever
comes out in a book 'course I Un't
it dOes I sure hope
expecting it to, but if Mom
get,' holt.of it and reads it if he is
living, and as rer as i know he is. Do you know, he rixed up his
house and bought every stitch of the furniture before he was
married. He come by my house the day before ne married and tuk
-5-
te to see his new home. He told me if I would marry him that
day the house would be mine. I told him no it won't neither.
He was a heap older than I was, me and him was' claimed each
other as sweetnearts. I use to get a heap of fun making th'e
X
girls mad taking their beaus 'way from them.
"I don't recollect nary one of my grandparents on my
mammy's aide. ijiy grandfatner worked in Princeton mill. I
don't know if my grandmother worked or not. I heard my ma
say she was an Irishwoman and come to this country when she
was sixteen year old, they said sne was a little bity woman.
They lived in Madison County before they moved to Athens,
my mother was a 3tephens before she married. Then my grand-
mother and grandfather died my mother was just a little girl.
There were four girls and two boys, the oldest went to work in
tne mill and raised the least ones. The oldest were about grown
when tney come to Princeton. They were weavers and made fifty
cents a day. They got twelve and one half cents a cut and they
got about four cuts a day which amounted to fifty cents.
"You know my chillun calls me old fashion 'cause I don't
try to dress like they do and talk proper, I don't care none.
I tells them I can make rings 'round them now when it comes to
doing things. Thy, do you know when I was a young girl they use
to wear drawers and call they bloomers. we wore long dresses,
and cotton stockings.
"I can't say tnat tAe health con-ditions in mills were any
different back then, from what they are noW. Of course there
won't no hospitals.nor health clinics when tile hands got sick
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the doctors wont up on their profession like they are now and
they went on and died like
tirst wife. 3he couldn't
give birth to her child, tina ane died. Now that is all taken
care of. 3he was sixteen year old to the day when she died, she
had been married
she married
exactly one year.
3ne worked in the mill before
she was a spinner.
"I told you I stopped school 'cause they wanted me to write
with my right hand. We didn't have a school house at Princeton
the Neatdist church was used as a school. Back in them days thar
warn't no such thing as free school's.. You had to pay a dollar
a head for every kid in school that .money went for the teacners
Yfr, NAl A HWbb a
salary. Miss 40maA4-44aWerel was my first teacher, Henry's father
aR A e y 6ffowN
Mr.-g-pa464e+t was my next teacher, and Miss Dkrtcft was the last
teacher I had, she taught in a little one room shack. Yea, mtsa.
13 b W/V
-Batteirtried to make me write with my right haddax and I was as
left handed as a jack rabbit. Most of my teachers were women,
they didn't skeer me, you let the school bell ring, when Old man
-aretrib-1-ett 'made his appearence I would begin to cry, I was afraid
S-rNA.ALZk
of that man as a bear. Than the-itypher boys come to Princeton
to put up a night school, they taught penmanship. I went one
night they wouldn't let me use my left hand so I didn't go back.
I ain't ashamed of my reading, when it comes to writing 'bout all
I can do is write my name.
"The company had a store. Once a week the hands went to the
store and got their supply of rations and it was taken out of their
pay ticker. We were paid off once every four weeks. It didn't take
mucn to live on back than. Eggs were ten, cents a dozen, butter ten
Georgy but
7
cents a pound, milk tive tents a•gaIlon, ft back sold for four and
five cents a Pound and chickens ten pnd fifteen cents a niece,
hour was mighty cneap too. PeoPle lived at home them days Tla
had ner own cow, hogs, chickens and garden. They didn't know
wnat conveniences were, it was jes' like living in the country
sure inough. Didn't nave no such thing as restrictions, such as
how close the hog pen was Lo the house and water works were un-
heard of.
am sixty-one year old and I have never been out of
-y daughter was living in South
once in my life.
Callina the -Y sent" me word to come at once sne was dying I
hustled to see her, she lived jes' a few flours after I got to
ner house. I oougnt ner cnillun home witn me and raised tnem,
they are grown and married now. Then I Was on the train going
to see my daughter, when -L. 3pW ilem 'lectric lints I didn't
act like Aunt Taney and Uncle Josh, a reokord we use to nave
on the graphypnone. I FM sorry tnem old things went out of
style, liked to play he records, I jes' despise a tadio."
her daugJter cane to the door and announced
supper was ready. Irs. iiramblett-looked at the clock: "fell i
I'll be, i have been talking the olessed afternoon pnd you
haven't finished yet. 1 know you nre tired and I sure an."
I asked if I mint return early next morning: "Sure, sure,
I want you to." Wnen I reached her house early the next morning
she was in aer bed rom it was in perfect order. Un tne bed a
green frog :Allow, a taboy cat V1,3 snuggled close to tne nchllow:
"have a chair end tale off your hat and coat, let them dry while
-8
you are talking. Let me see I left off yesterday where I went
to see my daughter in outh Callina." 3he put her fingers to
-a oeD ,ened/A
tolmteggiWng through her fingers into
her mouth and made aet
the fire.
"After
spoke to me. I ran over htm one day in the mill, we started to
xritVieigAintlite0teig4stll 416 We reeleatftiAl Ataers house
leentanl :nebleefi
to do our couAing. I wm0A 3e/IlicmgyibloagobtibbVi leireicv4 We ran
wife,died he went three year before he ever
2VB xoe- .0 .1
away and marrie4. I was borll on inpiAtotootava6nlmaary one
minute paat twelve o'clock lt78. Ly maAmakt LiMwvisiikeen walking
A
and talidngziavtAiiiwWlifteATWA %WortilioriuktivellWftn talking
every since': I w ked in th0.4fPf for 31X months after I married
bevleoel aellqque
I reckon you know Oel .49Y41' e/Illw
notisq .sob I
"When I was a
xactx said I was never
still five minutes.,
five minutes he wou
give me tAat
-4tAirt719e04#.12ft told me if I would sit still
r34?eiciiN
T sat still but he never
ALtItomg tiriftot.fter I had. been married, he
come back to visit
di 1: brother said to me. 'Lelia
Joetorri *11
do ynu know who thia is?' Mt "I aa,yino, who is it? 'It is
JAmint 4.G.3;4*Whe 4wit AV& "Gimmy that nickyou promised
me. He laughed and laughed, why lip haven't you twr forgotten
that. I told him no, and I never would. I called him my swwet-
heart when I was a little girl. Wes a sig:nt older than me,
I use to watch for him going to work, when I aaw him coming I
would hop up on the gate post he come by would kiss me and keep
going,
"r7e lived at Princeton ten years after we married three of
my children was born there and three over here at the 3outhern
Mill. Then they were large enough to work all of them worked in
this mill down here as weavers. The cloth they made was coarse
white cloth, I don't know what it was used for, as all of it
was shipped to northern market for sale.
"When Princeton mill shut down, then we moved to the 3outnern
Mill and have been nere svery since. Yes, we have been ithreng
here tairty-one year. when -ienry went to work in this mill he
done the same kind of work, only he made a dollar (e1.00) a day.
"In my young days we use to get together on 3aturday nights
and have our little parties. The older folks dance and the
younger ones jes' frolicked and had a fine time. Bless your
life we had better be in by nine o'clock or our parents would
be out looking for us to find out the reason why.
"I never will forget one week end Pa and TA went out in
tae country to spend the night. 4 ma had taken an ori girl
in the biorr4e she ,0y cousin and me decided to have
moLge 14.c&z.Ges vprapOrgr etTou
a dumb ;ivitintic4". VPArttLevvritefog RE83 war 99n8aFfoiiaing
back' ards. I don't remember jes *hat 4re had to eat, nothing
but bread and meat I don' t believe. Anyway we didn't speak a
word while we were having it. Its a wonder I didn't I was such
a talker, the girls didn't li e ch Icatme I would tell on
1
them. About eight 0 clda and 4onry come in the
back door. R,e had the table all ready fixed when they got there,
we girls were sitting by the fireplace in the kitchen and haddlt
.L don't kmorowhey they went in the
spoke a word slice we started.
-10
back door unless they 3pW a liFht in the kitchen. They must have
known what it was going on 'cause they didn't say a word, Henry
Cleks-41-A•t4
sat down in Alletriren chair fir3t than changed and sat down in my
chair.
and Ruth set our plates on the back side of the table,
ixed hers
become a Baptist preacner. and
they come in and 3,t down, out I did I asked
fer, 'cause we wanted to taey daid, I didn't like
I run them home, nr married Ruth my
on the frbnt side. ihe and
married, he later
didn't say a word when
them what they come
then so'
first cousin she lived a
year. Three year later we married.
"In those days noop dresses and ORtles were a mighty go.
was married in a dove colored dress trimmed in dove colored
romoLL01 ITRur T,01, .f1.16 IDGOGIIr 0; flors 'orelfax.
ribbon. I say silk we didn't know wnat a 3ilk dress was, they
T)1, 001PNLTGL o. qPsrLIG8Pou) NNITI t4ne WeLgUti 0OUCkiL;
were 1 -or the rich. remember a girl I ran with was going to
?Gh.DGmIDGL 44 Teel" msurToue cps twcr ryvr T,Lot. y6GAG8 UlJg
get married, we decided to borrow tne dresses from two gkrls
Toon gbbi$ucGe jpe ,0ffrpatu coutsgOLW01
wno aild just married. We asked them to lexnd us their dresses,
rsrma' oomi.)oesa ot rpci Pser cirreur co PG toclug Tu Yfftrucs0
they said all right, but what are you going to do with them. I
it Ave oil egG efeie O. rpG .r,pia6usenm rim4 vaa-
wouldnit'tell 'em. They lend us every thing they were married
combtruTse 9rbbsinaTuq rpsts•
in. Dresses, undercof1,4, drawers, shoes, stockings even to their
fPl4 6114-‘141Tuw ufG7 pl cFri, bL3V-steTougT e;00K
hats and gloves. .441Hrdertmrthe girl getting married said it would
co T8tnule tot cps coutsgslers 9c)TcnsLes rinru tLom
bring ner good luck, if I didn't tell what I b&rrowed 'em for.
ertEsq
c m siltsg 3014 bnpTIOTO, tLo ;pi pevsur bsLtowirsuass
The next day 1 marched down tem the Justice of Peace with her to
cps yrpvt,s0.10 :pets rps rpsi4rsi. Ty YriwutiP
LG-
get marrim. n tne wny I had a fuss with the boy I was to stand
iu cgs eslal, bsLrocr, ot rgs teL Bs.rassu cps 2rerrse4
up with, we were all ready on the outs with each other a little
bit anyhow, 30 wnen we got tnere I wouldn't stand up witn him.
-11
"ere was a rifznt smart a :erence in tne way tings
were run in tne 3outhern YAll than pt Princeton Factory, for
one thing tney had more to do vith over nere. fnen we first
MXRIla moved to this place -aere won't a store, church and a
0-1; .11.P77-Tei7r1J.c.4 J.004 046J,4,01,X.W.;62
md4.:htY few nouaes on this hill. Te had to txxxammoraximmq
J.)) otyr F=.9 Ni,G; Cil,„):AqGg
go way over on Prince Avenue to buy our rations, we uought
pom=,;1-, .!vTT aoc -,7„)-py
enough to last two weeks. Rations won't nign as nigh as they
;‘o sTa ui447N.
are now. Every now and taan tne mill would build a new house.
LJL ;.Db
I nave seen tnem go up and now they are going down.
(11. r;r:.? 15•`e' :r; (27 471: oo J7r.
"'!'y back yonder when any of the hands Fot sick the
VlirT
bosses were mighty good about letting them have money and pay
jTug Ze,p TU rt3'
it back when they went back to work. Then one of the hands died
.coul07.7,Lo!kl UTRy.;1 1,01, ppEipL1I,Tcr;
and tne family won't able to bury taem, tne boss let tne family
:17ut.. onrNLTGL 01, C:TI—i-J-,Wou' 'Tt,G fif'LMICT C;(.31.;
nave money and pay it back wnen tney could."
6PLq' T cl" 216ufT01.1,9 TfLiTc47
A man in wor clotnes stuck his nead in tne door: "L-bod
cUGF j,p?offrr6Lu ot.-T7qfi,Lo7s7.
morning, wnere is 4414" nas gone to take i,,aomi to rummy
r:LP) co.:shoaa ot ur rJ PG 7. -JAW; TU
nusery scnool;" rs. aswered: 'Look nere make your
T4- 4'!.76 riTs -rvian.,eri rpG
self uae7V1 and make a fire in tae stove it is most nigh time
for in to. cook went in the direction of tne kitcnen
'.-1LiGur,E..,qpk rgG '“''-1(3)r
tnere were sounds of tile fire being made by the noise he made.
t7a Tvval 4.-;1FIT
In a snort will adgnter came tn. She, like
-J/1.4(7- l'AlpTTOTO. U;40173 rise peu6up bE,LtoLoloc‘e it47;
n.r in-O'tner we-Ign3 -lear two hundred, -she was wearing a print dres,
Igr(111!JG1JTG7a;ue. 41,76cia. Yu '4riEllre LQ-
blacx 3weter nuld snoes without nole. )ne took off ner coat shook
rain itIONAt b"" i" 2Gr'
tne fling ner munw ta snuff asked: "Lama did
you 0.ve tne lady some of the candy I made yesterday;" "No,
bring u3 some, it is power'ul hard but 3ure taste good."
"tri left tne room returning witn a huge piece of nite sw7ar
-12
candy in her hand, the size of 4 goose egg, and gave it to me.
rhe4...42.4A.14444a
I offered it to Mrs. -Relenterkett-I "You break it I don't want to
put my hands on it before you, 'cause I don't know what these
sores on my hailds might be. Gin you better git to work on tngt
dinner what are you going to cook, some pinto beans?" No, said
g4e: "I bought a bunch of the prettiest collards at tile store,
you ever seen. I tnink I will cook them and some dried butter
beans." (Soon sne left the room.
"Yes, we are living in a new day now, about twenty-five year
ago we organized a club in tne community called the "And a Hand
Club: The object of it is to help them that can't help themselves.
we look after the sick, buy coal, food clothing and buy medicine.
The way we make our money is by having suppers, quiltings and
sell the quilts.
We are planning to nave a minstrel nt the
Community House to nigat. The admission is ten and tenty cents
44:JLA— (444A„,
a very liberty (liberal) price. 4-e-3-9--ii-suci.Gr is putting it on and
.every blooming time he comes nere it rains. He brings his own
caat, we don't have enougn young olks in this community that
has talent enough to put on a dog fight.
"The Community Honue use to be tne school it WPS first put
up for tne village, but when this side of town begun to build up
the mktilmax chillun come over nere o scnool. Tnere were soon
too many for tne school r;rid Chase Street school was built. Now
it is used as a gntnering place fpr.tne village. The girls have
.4+.02•7?"1#1.0
a glee club con -ducted by Miss izAkeei-le—el`ttlArPee.
"Tnere were 30 many chillun on tne streets and nothing to
do so I went to the authorities of tae mill and arranged to linve
-14-
a playground at the Center. Low we have a nice nusery for the
smaller ones from nine to eleven-tnirty in the morning and a
playground for tne older ones in the afternoon, they also nave
indoor games on ba.d days TniS sponsored bY tne W. P. A. witn
capaole leaders in 'charge.
"Miss Iian, I have fargat her first name started the
"Lend A Hand Club. me lived over nere on HiawaSsee, sne went
to every woman in the village. Thet what wanted to join and
attendreFlilar was pat an one list, tne ones can't is put on
another, called tne honory liSt. The dues are ten cents a
month.
"Henry gat tired of working in tne mill and decided to
change tmkgsx'jobs. That was a long time before the bill Shut
down. He worked on the police "Three ahile then ne opened a
barber ship rignt out here by the side 'Of tne hbuse and did a
good business. After the mill closed he moved it down town
as there was not enough business in the village to keep it
open. He has been 'down town every.3ince.
"Te nave been in this house for seventeen years. We
Once I went to
bought it tne day-ftir, my boy was sixteen. ftettxxmxtxts
tne door there stood a darkey, he said: 1-14iss don't think
anytning about me standing here, but the last time I '-"ifis
along here, 104 I where this house stands -was a cotton field.
I have
nicked cotton and pulled cornAhrough here many a dhy
long befo'-tktxxxxxxigium*ExrKtt there -Ws.; even 's_ railroad'
run tnr9uca 113 otace. .ne only house standing as
-15-
t"ThRyuse,A,cyha-VelEolifiej4 4letlim(InfAcroast;herafaroM4
C.;;tAraZAC.35.1nOrteirarhtif+ileno'Fting:It.--6.rheeting„'Ili 6,bys-lba,591/41.1-iCiiiag
on the oride tnat croaaea the railroad. He holloed at me:
;;46g46 -1-e4,47, *hpr are you going? "I said to tie Holiness
Meeting, he said; 1 o get nnopy1 "I said and stay all night,
and from t..-int we got to calling it "Happy Top". It was kinder
a rough place too, nfterm it started ouilcing up all kind of
Peonle started moving in, drinking and cutting up. They were
kind hearted in ,heir way, but rough as could be. Then the
mi11 shut down, the :olka -lad to leave -Ind the houses have
rotted con. YOU idne tct a-oprtment house on ,Par -If Aventte,
it a nice b,iloing. -Jes' one family after nnotner lived
in it tley aion't ;:now AOW to ta.e ere of it, tney soon tore
it to Pieces. I t, in'c the rooms rented -or twenty-five cents
each.
"allot mill nns never -one no good since tee war and
ev-r:t:-Ing _ins none up 30. Du-ing t, e -/Fr I :--ede
tuiir-
five (-5.00) n week. ey lon't nay no 3UC:i slarLes aa
t pt now.
come in, s_ie "'t1.3 wearing n gay pint dress, a
sweater over :er need to keep off t e rain, Pnd a op_r of
knee le.igtn DOOL3 completed her ,.ost,:me. imew-nt over to
the fire it_lout an invitation, spitting a moutriful of snuff
soidne into the _ re, turning to me sqe ailed: "Tiipt Pre
you inr tn'zinc census?" 0, we ore ing in ne movie,
oon't you t_ink I will Lal:_e a good actress?" The girl t'ied.
every -v-y to iind out want 1 vas witing. Seeing that
d.idn't wt er to know I let .ier do t
-16-
A.ftQr she saw ttt was no. use tqA,Ag to find, out. w;hatl was writing
ine remarked ell I,reckon my fe.etdry enouRn can I use
your phone?" !Yes, but you be sure you dpn't have any ,mud on
your leet, mess_up 7 pos141 snewill bless you
out." 714 -en, sne left tne room_grs. .11;t -=d::, "Ain't it
funny now rolks -clang around to find out your business., I am
glad you let me do tie
"Yes,, 1:am, times sure nave cnanged terrible, back yonder
from wn.t tney are now. Fven in clotnes it use to take five
and ten yards of cloth,,to make a dress now you can get one out
of tnree. The. seighbors,nave cnange“oo, everybody use to be
neignoorly, helping. those Izipt couldn't help themselves. 7low
they don't opy any attentiOn wnetheb tney pre starving, half
clotned or sick. Don't :ix and mingle, or swap jokes like
tney use to.
"We use to nave to go to caurch or we didn't go no -Jnar
else. Then I was a child I use to nave to sit on tne front
seat. hen tne old women Fot to shoutinF aad to crawl up
on the bench to keep :hem off my toes, I never wore no shoes
to church, all Lie little cnillun went to church ana Sunday
School care footed.
"Tnere were no such tning as free scnools in my day, but
I don't call them free now neap more cnillun would be in school
'round here if tney didn't have to pay so much for tne use of
tneir books, pencils and ppper as well as otner things tney use
in school now. Chillunx won't made to go to school in my day.
Tnat is the reason I quit school and went to work, Do you know
-17-
I have picked cotton many a day cross tnat railroad where you see
tnem houses. iack yonder folks went to work in the mill by the
time tney was knee high to a duck, now they won't let 'em work
9AJ eh: !1,11evie::1 enJ ni
'til they are too old.
olmellA n1 ae,:te: ea4
"When I lived at Princeton there was an old darkie who come
er2I .b9y..03 aeonte':qeg JrisneJ sA,1* L:1011 vitoliau,
to my house evry Sunday morning and cook breakfast for us. When
titA eft/ mc-r1 iteAl 101 1-411
that coffee got to stinking in the kitchen it made me some hungry.
locIL
He nailed us his white chillun. When he left my house and went
to cook dinner for my sister-in-law I WP3 rignt bening him. The
KadMi'i&0544eAt'4thr. ne" '4144. in 11"qi frlat you cook
-4k 686k gmells beAer
yoat's 1W O fAtt
V4rriftitt came to the door: "Triama are you going after 'No
or do you want me to go. Seems to me you ought to have told the
woman everytning you ever knew by this time." "I could tell her
a neap more if I didn't nave to go to school for tne baby, and its
eleven -thirty now." She got up put on a heavy black coat, and we
started out in tne rain, xx for the little girl, and I on my way
back to town. On the way she said: "-:Zou tnink these street -0'$
ate bad now, but you ougnt to have seen tnem several year ago."
We turned into Cnase Street, she continued: "This street use to
be a perfect loblolly before they paved it."
We reacned tne
Community Center: "Well this 1.3 where we nart I sure nave en-
joyed your visit. Come back to see me and spend the day. If
my story gets into print I sure do want to buy one of them books."
Lr 1:J P.A....,
du.",t4<._