Once Big Ma Ma took some of us kids to a fair in town where I had one of the scariest experiences of my life. While we were enjoying the activities, some white men cornered us off and started asking us questions. "Who are you? Who do you belong to?" Big Mama saw what was going on and walked in to the middle of the commotion and told them that we belonged to her. When they saw her, they backed off and left us alone.

The South was in constant need for labor. There were these patroller men, that we called "patty-rollers." They would catch runaway slaves and return them. They would even capture free Blacks who didn't have their papers in order and sell them into slavery.