Produced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was made from images produced by the North Carolina History and Fiction Digital Library.) PLANTATION SKETCHES BY MARGARET DEVEREUX PRIVATELY PRINTED AT The Riverside Press, Cambridge MDCCCCVI [Illustration: MAMMY] COPYRIGHT 1906 BY MARGARET DEVEREUX ALL RIGHTS RESERVED EDITOR'S PREFACE The descriptions of Southern life in this little book, as well as the accompanying stories, were written by Mrs. Devereux during the past fifteen years, in large part after she had passed her sixty-fifth year. They are essentially reminiscent, and were prepared originally with no thought of publication, but merely to be read to her grandchildren, so that there might be preserved in their minds some conception of the old-time lives of their grandparents. The sketches thus came to be read by me to my own children, who are of the third generation. They brought to my mind so simply, yet so vividly and in so attractive a manner, a picture of the old plantation life, they showed such remarkable memory of interesting details, that they seemed to me to merit publication. The charm of the descriptions will impress all readers, and the truthfulness of the illustrations of negro character and habits will be recognized by all who are familiar with the South. The sketches are simple, homely little tales prepared for children, and they must be read with this fact in mind; but they have nevertheless an interest and a lesson for maturer readers, to whom they are now offered. Arthur Winslow 18 Chestnut St., Boston, Mass. April 27, 1906 CONTENTS _Letter to my Grandchildren_ ix _Plantation Life_ 1 _Going to the Plantation_ 40 _My Own Early Home_ 52 _Two Bob Whites_ 59 _Little Dave_ 74 _The Hog-Feeder's Day_ 85 _The Junior Reserve_ 113 _Mammy_ 119 _War Reminiscences_ 150 TO MY GRANDCHILDREN As the "New South," with all its changes and improvements, rises above the horizon, those whose hearts still cling to the "Old South" look sadly backward and sigh to see it fade away into dimness, to be soon lost to sight and to live only in the memory of the few. Hoping to rescue from oblivion a few of the habits, thoughts, and feelings of the people who made our South what it was, I have drawn from memory a few pen sketches of plantation life, based upon actual events, in which are recorded some of the good and even noble traits of character which were brought forth under the yoke of slavery.