I was born in 1875 near a place called Mayesville, South Carolina. It was during the last days of Reconstruction. I was the fifteenth of seventh children. My mother was a very, very dark strong willed woman. She was short and had soft keen features. My father was robust but he was a kindly and sympathetic person. It was my mother's strong will and drive that held our family together.

My mother belonged to the McIntosh plantation where she was a cook. At one point she was handed down to a man named Ben Wilson, who was the husband of one of the daughters. My mother continued as a cook for them. My father was on the McLeod plantation. Some of my older brothers and sisters were born into slavery. Some of them were scattered, but they were not sold very far away.