death.

"I seed Uncle Pierce 'fore he died and us sot and talked and cried 'bout
Marse Alec. Yessum, us sho did have de best Marster in de world. If
ever a man went to Heaven, Marse Alec did. I sho does wish our good old
Marster was livin' now. Now, Miss, I done told you all I can ricollec'
'bout dem days. I thanks you a lot for dat purty yaller dress, and I
hopes you comes back to see me again sometime."




ALICE BATTLE, EX-SLAVE
Hawkinsville, Georgia

(Interviewed By Elizabeth Watson--1936)
[JUL 20, 1937]


During the 1840's, Emanuel Caldwell--born in North Carolina, and Neal
Anne Caldwell--born in South Carolina, were brought to Macon by
"speculators" and sold to Mr. Ed Marshal of Bibb County. Some time
thereafter, this couple married on Mr. Marshal's plantation, and their
second child, born about 1850, was Alice Battle. From her birth until
freedom, Alice was a chattel of this Mr. Marshal, whom she refers to as
a humane man, though inclined to use the whip when occasion demanded.

Followed to its conclusion, Alice's life history is void of thrills and
simply an average ex-slave's story. As a slave, she was well fed, well
clothed, and well treated, as were her brother and sister slaves. Her