None - American Memory - Library of Congress

Missouri
Sx~Slav® Story
'•I'm hard of hearin 1 , I know I'm 94 y*ars *ia; was b&m ia Cape
$ ^ Oounty. I was a slave till I was 20 years ©Id, I was a house bay.
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De boss had a number of black men who did de work in de field* In
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warm weather we wore flax, an jeans, in de winter I had plenty of meat
to eat* I can't read or write* 7/ish I could. My old mistress told me
I was free when I was 20• Ben 1 stayed there a while and worked ©n
shares* De militia come an took a'horse away from me on de road ten
jiilQS away from home and I had to walk horn®* But ha fetched de hoss
Pag® 1* 308
ticvjLG after a while* I think slavery was a good thing. I never suffered
for nothin 1 • Lincoln wanted every man to work for himself*
An Interview with Perry Sheppard,
Ex-Slav®, Aged 94, Frederick town,
Interviewed by J* Tom Miles*
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