They used to put 'em in stocks.
When they didn't put 'em in stocks, used to be two people would whip
'em--the overseer and the driver. The overseer would be a man named
Elijah at our house. He was just a poor white man. He had a whip they
called the BLACK SNAKE.
"I remember one time they caught a man named George Tinsley. They put
the dogs on him and they bit 'im and tore all his clothes off of 'im.
Then they put 'im in the stocks. The stocks was a big piece of timber
with hinges in it. It had a hole in it for your head. They would lift it
up and put your head in it. There was holes for your head, hands and
feet in it. Then they would shut it up and they would lay that whip on
you and you couldn't do nothin' but wiggle and holler, 'Pray, master,
pray!' But when they'd let that man out, he'd run away again.
"They would make the slaves work till twelve o'clock on Sunday, and then
they would let them go to church. The first time I was sprinkled, a
white preacher did it; I think his name was Williams.
"The preacher would preach to the white folks in the forenoon and to the
colored folks in the evening. The white folks had them hired. One of
them preachers was named Hackett; another, Williams; and another, Gowan.
There was five of them but I just remember them three. One man used to
hold the slaves so late that they had to go to the church dirty from
their work.
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