"My father was took away. My mother said he was put on a block and sold 'cause de master wanted money to buy something for de house. My mother told me she come from Virginia or down south some place. Dey brought her in a box car with lots of other colored people. Dere was several cars full, with men in one car, women in another, and de younger ones in another, and de babies in another with some of the women to care for dem. Dey brought dem to Palmyra and sold dem. Master Ely bought my mother. I don’t know where my father come from.
"Mistress always told us dat if we run away somebody would catch us and kill us. We was always scared when somebody strange come. De first we knew dere was a war was when some soldiers come through. We was sure scared den. Once a man come and we thought he was a patroller but he asked for something to eat. Mother took him to de mistress. She gave him something to eat wrapped in a paper and told him to get off de place.
"Some Union soldiers come and told us that we was free like dey was and told us not to be afraid, dey wouldn’t hurt us. Dey told us de war was over. De master told mother not to go away, dat if she stayed a while he would give her a couple hundred dollars. We stayed a while but she never got no money.
"We come to Hannibal in an ox wagon. We put up at de barracks and den mother went to live with Hiram Titchner. He lived right where de postoffice is now. I hired out to Mrs. James across de street for my clothes and schooling. Mrs. James had two girls. One of dem learned me not to be such a tomboy and not to be so rough. I tell you I was a bad girl when I was young. I could climb every tree on de master’s farm and my clothes was always in rags from being so rough. My mother used to whip me most every day with a broom stick and even hit me with chairs. I guess I was bad. If I had a dollar for every broom handle that was laid across my back I would have lots of money. I tell you we was raised plenty tuff dem days.
"De young folks can’t stand such raising dese days. Dey just couldn’t go through what we was through. The young folks now just couldn’t do it at all. We never was ’lowed on the street after nine o’clock. We sure run for home when the church bell done rung on de hill at nine o’clock. Now-a-days de young folks stays out half de night and dey steal and even kill each other over triflin’ things. I know it ’cause I see them do dese things. I ’spose dere parents are a lot to blame.