*Interview with Louis Hill,* *age 78, Farmington, Missouri.*
"I’s borned on October 13, 1858 on the southeast side of Farmington, Missouri. My muthuh, Rose Hill, was borned in Virginia. She kum ta Missouri as a girl an frum dat time on she wuz a slabe fur John Hill, our boss. She worked thar till our freedom. Our family had three boys, Peter, William, and me an two girls, Sallie and Malinda. We bunked up in a cabin with one room. All us kids ate on da flo frum da same plate an da biggest dog got da mos. We generally wore a straight slip like a nightgown an hit fastened round the neck. (In the old South boys were dressed in this fashion until about ten years old and were called "shirttail boys".) Tak dis off an we war naked.
"The ole lady, the wife ob da Boss was da devil’s sister. Her name was 'Whip’. She beat da ole folks mor’n tha kids. She used tha cowhide an we got a lickin’ whether we did anythin’ or not. We had ta git up early an after given supper we war put ta bed an did not ’pilfer’ round. We had ta go on Sunday ta the Boss’ Church, tha Carmelite or Christian Church. Ma muthuh wuz no han ta tell big yarns an so I know no ghost stories. We wuz raised very sensible. Tha white folks did not help us ta read an write. I learned that after we war free. I never did go ta school. Our games was ’Wolf on tha Bridge’, an ’King-Kong-Ko.’ We always had ta be doin’ somethin’, even if it war pickin’ up kindlin’.
"I member when Price’s army kum thro here in ’64 or ’65 on their way ta Pilot Knob. I wuz ’bout six or seben years ole. I an ma sister had bin down ta the white childr’n school ta take them dinner. We had ta bring tha basket bak an we sat down in tha corner ob da graveyard ta eat whut wuz left in da basket. Da graveyard was nex to da Fredericktown road and jus across frum our house. All at onc’t I heard the mos’ turrible noise an saw soldiers kum up da road. We war sure scared. We jumped up, ran cross da road, jumped over da fence an begun ta tak out fur da house. Da soldiers laughed an said somethin. One soldier on a horse kum up ta de fence, tore off da top rail, an with his horse jumped ober da fence, an took out after us, but he nebber cud catch us. We wuz sho runnin’. I wuz carryin’ da basket and if I had a throwed it down we would a showed that soldier some runnin’. Da soldier turned his horse round but we went straight to da house to da Missus. She say dat dey was only havin’ a good time an would not hurt us. We stood at da house an looked, an it took ’bout all afternoon fur da soldiers to pass. Thar war horses, wagons and cannons. Da soldiers durin’ da war took all da Boss’ horses away an he had only a yoke ob oxen lef.