MARGARET E DICKENS           0064-NC /#210
     MY NAME IS MARGARET E DICKENS AND I WAS BORN ON THE 5TH OF JUNE 1861.  MY M
OTHER WUZ FREE BORN;  HER NAME WUZ MARY ANN HEWS, BUT MY MOTHER WUZ COLORED.  I
DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT MARSTER AND MISSUS.  MY FATHER WAS NAMED HENRY BYR
D.  HERE IS SOME OF FATHER'S WRITING.  MY MOTHER'S FATHER WAS DARK.  HE HAD NO P
ROTECTION.  IF HE DID ANY WORK FOR A WHITE MAN AND THE WHITE MAN DIDN'T LIKE IT,
 HE COULD TAKE HIM UP AND WHIP HIM.MY FATHER WAS LIKE A STRAY DOG.
     MY ANME WAS MARGARET E BYRD BEFORE I GOT MARRIED.  HERE IS SOME OF FATHER'S
 WRITING-- MARGARET ELVIRA BYRD THE DAUGHTER OF HENRY AND MARY ANN BYRD WAS BORN
 ON THE 5TH OF JUNE 1861.  MY GRANDFATHER, MY MOTHER'S FATHER WAS A CABINET MAKE
R.  HE MADE COFFINS AND TABLES AND FURNITURE.  IF HE MADE ONE, AND IT DIDN'T SUI
T THE MAN HE WOULD BEAT HIM AND KICK HIM AROUND AND LET HIM GO.  DIS WAS TOLD TO
 ME.  MY  FATHER WAS A CARPENTER.  HE BUILT HOUSES.
     I CAN READ AND WRITE.  MY FATHER COULD READ AND WRITE.  MY MOTHER COULD REA
D, BUT COULDN'T WRITE VERY MUCH.
     I HAVE HEARD MY MOTHER SAY WHEN SHE HEERD THE YANKEES WERE COMIN' SHE HAD A
BRAND NEW COUNTER PANE, MY  FATHER OWNED A PLACE BEFORE HE MARRIED MY MOTHER, TH
E COUNTERPANE WAS A WOOLEN WOVEN COUNTERPANE.  SHE TOOK IT OFF AND HID IT.  THE
YANKEES TOOK ANYTHING THEY WANTED, BUT FAILED TO FIND IT.  WE WERE LIVING IN RAL
EIGH AT THE TIME, ON THE VERY PREMISES WE ARE LIVING ON NOW.   THE OLD HOUSE HAS
 BEEN TORN DOWN, BUT SOME OF THE WOOD IS IN THIS VERY HOUSE.  I KIN SHOW YOU PAR
T OF THE OLD HOUSE NOW.  MY MOTHER USED TO PASS THIS PLACE WHEN SHE WUZ A GIRL A
NS TOLD ME SHE NEVER EXPECTED TO LIVE HERE.  SHE WAS TWENTY YEARS YOUNGER THAN M
Y FATHER.  MY MOTHER, SHE LIVED HERE MOST OF THE TIME EXCEPT 24 YEARS SHE LIVED
 IN THE NORTH.  SHE DIED IN 1916.  MY FATHER BOUGHT THE LAN' IN 1848 FROM A MAN
NAMED HENRY MORGAN.  HERE IS THE DEED.
     WHEN WE LIEFT RALEIGH AND WENT NORTH WE FIRST STOPPED IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACH
USETTS.  THIS WAS WITH MY FIRST HUSBAND.  HIS NAME WAS SAMUEL E REYNOLDS.  HE WA
S A PREACHER.  HE HAD A CHURCH AND PREACHED THERE.  THE EAST WINDS WERE SO STRON
G AND COLD WE COULDN'T STAN' IT.  IT WAS TOO COLD FOR US.  WE THEN WENT TO PROVI
DENCE, RHODE ISLAND.  FROM THERE TO ELMIRA, NEW YORK.  FROM THERE WE WENT TO BRO
OKLYN, NEW YORK.  HE PREACHED IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK;  WE FINALLY CAME BACK SO
UTH, AND HE DIED RIGHT HERE IN THIS HOUSE.  I LIKE THE NORTH VERY WELL, BUT THER
E IS NOTHING LIKE HOME, THE SOUTH.  ANOTHER THING I DON'T HAVE SO MANY WHITE KIN
 FOLKS UP NORTH.  I DON'T LIKE TO BE CALLED AUNTIE BY ANYONE, UNLESS THEY ADMIT
 BEIN' KIN TO ME.  I WAS NOT A FOOL WHEN I WENT TO THE NORTH, AND IT MADE NO CHA
NGE IN ME.  I WAS RAISED TO RESPECT EVERYBODY AND I TRIES TO KEEP IT UP.  SOME T
HINGS IN THE NORTH ARE ALL RIGHT, I LIKE THEM, BUT I LIKE THE SOUTH BETTER.  TES
 I GUESS I LIKE THE SOUTH BETTER.  I WAS MARRIED TO CHARLES W DICKENS IN 1920.
HE IS MY SECOND HUSBAND.
     I INHERITED THIS PLACE FROM MY FATHER HENRY BYRD.  I LIKE WELL WATER.  THER
E IS MY WELL, RIGHT OUT HERE IN THE YARD.  THIS WELL WAS DUG HERE WHEN THEY WERE
 BUILDING THE FIRST HOUSE HERE.  I BELIEVE IN HAVIN' YOUR OWN HOME, SO I HAVE HE
LD ON TO MY HOME, AND I AM GOIN' TO TRY TO KEEP HOLDIN' ON TO IT.