SARAH LOUISE AUGUSTUS        0024-NC/#074                                    050
          "I WUS BORN ON A PLANTATION NEAR FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, AND I B
ELONGED TO J  B  SMITH. HIS WIFE WUS NAMED HENRIETTA.  HE OWNED ABOUT THIRTY SLA
VES.  WHEN A SLAVE WUS NO GOOD HE WUS PUT ON THE AUCTION BLOCK IN FAYETTEVILLE A
ND SOLD.
          "MY FATHER WUS NAMED ROMEO HARDEN AND MY MOTHER WUS NAMED ALICE SMITH.
  THE LITTLE CABIN WHERE I WUS BORN IS STILL STANDING.
          "THERE WUS SEVEN CHILDREN IN MARSTER'S FAMILY, FOUR GIRLS AND TWO BOYS
.  THE GIRLS WUS NAMED ELLEN, IDA, MARY AND ELIZABETH.  THE BOYS WUS NAMED HARRY
, NORMAN AND MARSE GEORGE. MARSE GEORGE WENT TO THE WAR.  MOTHER HAD A FAMILY OF
 FOUR GIRLS.  THEIR NAMES WUS: MARY, KATE, HANNAH AND MYSELF, SARAH LOUISE.  I A
M THE ONLY ONE LIVING AND I WOULD NOT BE LIVING BUT I HAVE SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE
 IN WHITE FOLK'S HOUSES AND THEY HAVE LOOKED AFTER ME.  I RESPECTED MYSELF AND T
HEY RESPECTED ME.
          "MY FIRST DAYS OF SLAVERY WUS HARD.  I sLEPT ON A-PALLET-ON THE oLOOR
OF THE CABIN AND JUST AS SOON AS I WUS ABLE TO WORK ANY AT ALL I WUS PUT TO MILK
ING COWS.
          "I HAVE SEEN THE PATEROLLERS HUNTING MEN AND HAVE SEEN MEN THEY HAD WH
IPPED.  THE SLAVE BLOCK STOOD IN THE CENTER OF THE STREET, FAYETTEVILLE STREET,
WHERE RAMSEY AND GILLEPSIE STREET CAME IN NEAR COOL SPRINGS STREET.  THE SILK MI
LL STOOD JUST BELOW THE SLAVE MARKET.  I SAW THE SILKWORNS THAT MADE THE SILK AN
D SAW THEM GATHER THE COCOONS AND SPIN THE SILK.
          "THEY HUNG PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF RAMSEY STREET.  THEY PUT UP A GALLO
WS AND HUNG THE MEN EXACTLY AT TWELVE O'CLOCK.
          "I RAN AWAY FROM THE PLANTATION ONCE TO GO WITH SOME WHITE CHILDREN TO
 SEE A MAN HUNG.
          THE ONLY BOATS I REMEMBER ON THE CAPE FEAR WUS THE GOVERNOR WORTH, THE
 HURT, THE ISER AND THE NORTH STATE.  OH]  LORD YES, I REMEMBER THE STAGE COACH.
  AS MANY TIMES AS I RUN TO CARRY THE MAIL TO THEM WHEN THEY COME BY]  THEY BLEW
 A HORN BEFORE THEY GOT THERE AND YOU HAD TO BE ON TIME 'CAUSE THEY COULD-NOT WA
IT.  THERE WUS A STAGE EACH WAY EACH DAY, ONE UP AND ONE DOWN.
          MISTER GEORGE LANDER HAD THE FIRST TOMBSTONE MAROLE YARD IN FAYETTEVrL
LE ON HAY STREET ON THE POINT OF FLAT IRON PLACE.  LANDER WUS FROM SCOTLAND.  TH
EY GAVE ME A POT, A SCARF, AND HIS SISTER GAVE ME SOME SHELLS.  I HAVE ALL THE T
HINGS THEY GAVE ME.  MY MISSUS, HENRIETTS SMITH, WUS MISTER LANDER'S SISTER.  I
WAITED ON THE LANDERS PART OF THE TIME.  THEY WERE HARD WORKING WHITE FOLKS, HON
EST, GOD FEARING PEOPLE.  THE THINGS THEY GAVE ME WERE BROUGHT FROM OVER THE SEA
.
          "I CAN REMEMBER WHEN THERE WUS NO HOSPITAL IN FAYETTEVILLE.  THERE WUS
 A LITTLE PLACE NEAR THE DEPOT WHERE THERE WUS A BOARD SHANTY WHERE THEY OPERATE
D ON PEOPLE.  I STOOD OUTSIDE ONCE AND SAW THE DOCTORS TAKE A MAN'S LEG OFF.  HE
LIVED ON HAY STREET NEAR THE SILK MILL.
          "WHEN ONE OF THE WHITE FOLKS DIED THEY SENT SLAVES AROUND TO THE HOMES
 OF THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS WITH A LARGE SHEET OF PAPER WITH A PIECE OF BLA