Robert Wilson was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas in about 1937 about his life and his time as an enslaved person. The typescript is stamp dated October 18, 1937.
"My name is Robert Wilson. I was born in Halifax County, Virginia. How old am I? Accordin' to my recollection, I was twenty-three years old befo' the war started. Old master tole me how old I was. I'm a hundred and one now."
"Durin' the time of the war I used to ride 'long side of the Yankees. They give me a blue coat with brass buttons and a blue cap and brass-toed boots. I used to saddle and curry de hosses. I member Company Fifth and Sixth. They tole us the war was to make things better. We didn't know we was free till 'bout six months after the war was over. I didn't care whether I was free or not."
"After freedom my folks refugeed from Virginia to Tennessee so I went to Memphis. "
"I voted for Garfield. I 'member when Garfield was shot. I was settin' out in the yard. The moon was in the 'clipse. I'll never forget it."
Robert Wilson does not mention names of any family members or his enslavers during the interview.
Interview: Robert Wilson was interviewed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas by Mrs. Bernice Bowden as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are made available by the Library of Congress. [1]
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