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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11552 ***
+
+[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note
+[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note
+
+
+
+
+SLAVE NARRATIVES
+
+
+A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
+From Interviews with Former Slaves
+
+
+TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY
+THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
+1936-1938
+ASSEMBLED BY
+THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT
+WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
+FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
+SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
+
+
+WASHINGTON 1941
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME VIII
+
+MARYLAND NARRATIVES
+
+
+
+
+Prepared by
+the Federal Writers' Project of
+the Works Progress Administration
+for the State of Maryland
+
+
+
+INFORMANTS
+
+Brooks, Lucy [TR: and Lafayette Brooks]
+
+Coles, Charles
+
+Deane, James V.
+
+Fayman, Mrs. M.S.
+Foote, Thomas
+
+Gassaway, Menellis
+
+Hammond, Caroline
+Harris, Page
+Henson, Annie Young
+
+Jackson, Rev. Silas
+James, James Calhart
+James, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna
+Johnson, Phillip
+Jones, George
+
+Lewis, Alice
+Lewis, Perry
+
+Macks, Richard
+
+Randall, Tom
+
+Simms, Dennis
+
+Taylor, Jim
+
+Wiggins, James
+Williams, Rezin (Parson)
+
+
+[TR: Interviews were stamped at left side with state name, date, and
+ interviewer's name. These stamps were often partially cut off. Where
+ month could not be determined [--] substituted. Interviewers' names
+ reconstructed from other, complete entries.]
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-23-37
+Guthrie
+
+AUNT LUCY [HW: BROOKS].
+References: Interview with Aunt Lucy and her son, Lafayette Brooks.
+
+
+Aunt Lucy, an ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack
+on the Carroll Inn Springs property at Forest Glen, Montgomery County,
+Md.
+
+To go to her home from Rockville, leave the Court House going east on
+Montgomery Ave. and follow US Highway No. 240, otherwise known as the
+Rockville Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles
+to the junction with it on the left (east) of the Garrett Park Road.
+This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgetown
+Preparatory School, which is on the west of this road. Turn left on the
+Garrett Park Road and follow it through that place and crossing Rock
+Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B.&O. R.R. and
+parallel them onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this
+place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place
+go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left.
+This lane will be identified by the sign "Carroll Springs Inn". Turn
+left here and enter the grounds of the inn. But do not go up in front of
+the inn itself which is one quarter of a mile from the road. Instead,
+where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left
+and continue downward fifty yards toward the swimming pool. Lucy's shack
+is on the left and one hundred feet west of the pool. It is about eleven
+miles from Rockville.
+
+Lucy is an usual type of Negro and most probably is a descendant of less
+remotely removed African ancestors than the average plantation Negroes.
+She does not appear to be a mixed blood--a good guess would be that she
+is pure blooded Senegambian. She is tall and very thin, and considering
+her evident great age, very erect, her head is very broad, overhanging
+ears, her forehead broad and not so receeding as that of the average.
+Her eyes are wide apart and are bright and keen. She has no defect in
+hearing.
+
+Following are some questions and her answers:
+
+"Lucy, did you belong to the Carrolls before the war?" "Nosah, I didne
+lib around heah den. Ise born don on de bay".
+
+"How old are you?"
+
+"Dunno sah. Miss Anne, she had it written down in her book, but she said
+twas too much trouble for her to be always lookin it up". (Her son,
+Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the
+Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the
+mother was twenty-five years old then, she would be about ninety now.
+Some think she is more than a hundred years old).
+
+"Who did you belong to?"
+
+"I belonged to Missus Ann Garner".
+
+"Did she have many slaves?"
+
+"Yassuh. She had seventy-five left she hadnt sold when the war ended".
+
+"What kind of work did you have to do?"
+
+"O, she would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a
+powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the
+table. I was just a little gal then. Missus used to say that she was
+going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to sen me to Baltimo
+to learn to be a nurse".
+
+"And what did you think about that?"
+
+"Oh; I thought that would be fine, but he war came befo I got big enough
+to learn to be a nurse".
+
+"I remebers when the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers.
+De never hurt anybody but they took what they could find to eat and they
+made us cook for them. I remebers that me and some other lil gals had a
+play house, but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked through
+a hole in the fence and ran out in the field. One of the soldiers seed
+me and he hollers 'look at that rat run'."
+
+"I remebers when the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic
+cable) came into the bay. Missus Ann, and all the white folks went down
+to Fairhaven wharf to see dat big shep".
+
+"I stayed on de plantation awhile after de war and heped de Missus in de
+house. Den I went away".
+
+"Ise had eight chillun. Dey all died and thisun and his brother
+(referring to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said he ought ter
+died instid o his brother."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because thisun got so skeered when he was little bein carried on a hos
+that he los his speech and de wouldt let me see im for two days. It was
+a long time befor he learned to talk again". (To this day he has such an
+impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him make the effort to
+talk).
+
+"What did you have to eat down on the plantation, Aunt Lucy?"
+
+"I hab mostly clabber, fish and corn bread. We gets plenty of fish down
+on de bay".
+
+"When we cum up here we works in the ole Forest Glen hotel. Mistah
+Charley Keys owned the place then. We stayed there after Mr. Cassidy
+come. (Mr. Cassidy was the founder of the National Park Seminary, a
+school for girls). My son Lafayette worked there for thirty five years.
+Then we cum to Carroll Springs Inn".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+11/15/37
+Rogers
+
+CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home,
+           1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles
+County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives.
+I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey,
+a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church.
+
+"Mr. Dorsey was a man of excellent reputation and character, was loved
+by all who knew him, black and white, especially his slaves. He was
+never known to be harsh or cruel to any of his slaves, of which he had
+more than 75.
+
+"The slaves were Mr. Dorsey's family group, he and his wife were very
+considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore good
+heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes.
+
+"I have been told that the Dorseys' farm contained about 3500 acres, on
+which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey managed
+the farm. They required the farm hands to work from 7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.;
+after that their time was their own.
+
+"There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was
+bought or sold. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services
+of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose
+and in which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how
+to read and write and were assisted by some Catholic priests who came to
+the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. When a
+child was born, it was baptised by the priest, and given names and they
+were recorded in the Bible. We were taught the rituals of the Catholic
+church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the
+corpse was buried in the Dorseys' graveyard, a lot of about 1-1/2 acres,
+surrounded by cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the
+graves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had
+plain stones.
+
+"I have never heard of any of the Dorseys' slaves running away. We did
+not have any trouble with the white people.
+
+"The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weather-boarded and
+stripped to keep out the cold. I do not remember whether the slaves
+worked or not on Saturdays, but I know the holidays were their own. Mr.
+Dorsey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected
+to find on other plantations.
+
+"We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my
+favorite game was marbles.
+
+"When we took sick Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to
+the slaves, giving medical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic
+and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier Church."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 20, 1937
+Rogers
+
+JAMES V. DEANE, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave,
+           on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave.,
+           Baltimore.
+
+
+"My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose
+Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of
+Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father's people. I have two
+sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford.
+
+"I was born in a log cabin, a typical Charles County log cabin, at Goose
+Bay on the Potomac River. The plantation on which I was born fronted
+more than three miles on the river. The cabin had two rooms, one up and
+one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no
+porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain and snow from
+beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the
+outside, plastered between the logs, in which was a fireplace with an
+open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.
+
+"We slept on a home-made bedstead, on which was a straw mattress and
+upon that was a feather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my
+mother to cover.
+
+"As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn,
+watching watermelon patches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco
+fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money.
+
+"Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables
+raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt and water.
+
+"Yes, I have hunted o'possums, and coons. The last time I went coon
+hunting, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took to
+their heels, white and colored, the white men outran the colored hunter,
+leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards.
+
+"My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You
+have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches
+which they worked by moonlight.
+
+"As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on
+the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and
+in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky
+jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the
+stock, after which we did what we wanted.
+
+"I have seen many slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the
+groom jumping over it as a part of the wedding ceremony. When a slave
+married someone from another plantation, the master of the wife owned
+all the children. For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes,
+sometimes you could not tell the original outfit for the patches, and
+sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride's trousseau, she would wear the
+cast-off clothes of the mistress, or, at other times the clothes made by
+other slaves.
+
+"It was said our plantation contained 10,000 acres. We had a large
+number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from
+sunup to sundown. The slaves were not whipped.
+
+"There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my
+aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was
+sold and taken south. We never saw or heard of her afterwards.
+
+"We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white
+preachers. We sang with the white people. The Methodists were christened
+and the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored funerals with
+no service. A graveyard on the place, only a wooden post to show where
+you were buried.
+
+"None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard many patrollers, but
+they never whipped any of Mason's slaves. The method of conveying news,
+you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between whites
+and blacks.
+
+"After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories
+and tales, dances, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like
+any other day. We had all legal holidays. Christmas morning we went to
+the big house and got presents and had a big time all day.
+
+"At corn shucking all the slaves from other plantations would come to
+the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn,
+and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man
+to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted. We had
+supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn
+bread. We went back to shucking. The carts from other farms would be
+there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was
+stored, we danced until daybreak.
+
+"The only games we played were marbles, mumble pegs and ring plays. We
+sang London Bridge.
+
+"When we wanted to meet at night we had an old conk, we blew that. We
+all would meet on the bank of the Potomac River and sing across the
+river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us.
+
+"Some people say there are no ghosts, but I saw one and I am satisfied,
+I saw an old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met
+her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her. I liked to tore the
+door off the hinges getting away.
+
+"My master's name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental
+disposition, his mother managed the affairs. He was kind. Mrs. Mason had
+a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The
+main house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no
+overseer.
+
+"The poor white people in Charles County were worse off than the slaves;
+because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation, the slaves
+did all the work.
+
+"Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves
+tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore.
+
+"No one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord's Prayer and
+catechism.
+
+"When the slaves took sick Dr. Henry Mudd, the one who gave Booth first
+aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their own, and made their
+own salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+11/3/37
+Rogers
+
+MRS. M.S. FAYMAN.
+Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman,
+           at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of
+Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them
+were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very
+influential. My father's name was Henri de Sales and mother's maiden
+name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson
+named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving me
+the only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in
+Louisiana. We lived in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers
+and situated on a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised
+pelicans for sale in the market at New Orleans.
+
+"When I was about 5 years old I was sent to a private School in Baton
+Rouge, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped
+in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English; French was
+the language spoken in my household and by the people in the parish.
+
+"Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping
+place for all large river boats, especially between New Orleans and
+large towns and cities north. We children were taken out by the sisters
+after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of the places we
+went was the wharf. One day in June and on a Saturday a large boat was
+at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were
+there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken up
+bodily by a white man, carried on the boat, put in a cabin and kept
+there until we got to Louisville, Kentucky, where I was taken off.
+
+"After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frankfort and
+installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through
+the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
+As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and
+companion for the children of Pierce Buckran Haynes, a well known slave
+trader and plantation owner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to
+speak French and it was my duty to teach them. I was the private
+companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French
+and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I
+in the rudiments of the English language.
+
+"I slept in the children's quarters with the Haynes' children, ate and
+played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me
+with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave
+the plantation. While on the plantation I wore good clothes, similar to
+those of the white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with
+his slaves, punishing them severly and cruelly both by the lash and in
+the jail on the plantation.
+
+"The name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called
+Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes. It contained 8000 acres, of
+which more than 6000 acres were under cultivation, and having about 350
+colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all of whom were white. The
+overseers were the overlords of the manor; as Haynes dealt extensively
+in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly
+all the time. There was located on the top of the large tobacco
+warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o'clock and at
+sundown, the year round. On the farm the slaves were assigned a task to
+do each day and In the event it was not finished they were severely
+whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see them afterwards,
+they were very badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the
+whipping.
+
+"I have been back to the farm on several occasions, the first time in
+1872 when I took my father there to show him the farm. At that time it
+was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Army officer.
+
+"Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one
+about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet
+high In front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a
+sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2x4
+feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There
+were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building
+12x15 feet, this was where the cooking was done. At each end of each
+building there was a fire place built and used for heating purposes. In
+front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by
+pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a
+hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the
+buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there
+were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an iron rod
+was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for
+those inside to escape.
+
+"There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet
+with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story. On the ground in each end
+was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office;
+adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach
+the second story there was built on the outside, steps leading to a
+door, through which the female prisoners were taken to the room. All of
+the buildings had dirt floors.
+
+"I do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there
+at that time. Slaves were brought and taken away always chained
+together, men walking and women in ox carts. I had heard of several
+escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or
+8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves.
+
+"Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My
+grandmother was a Haitian Negress, grandfather a Frenchman. My father
+was a Creole.
+
+"After returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in
+New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French
+there until 1883, married Prof. Payman, teacher of history and English.
+Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisianna. For
+further information, write me c/o Y.W.C.A. (col.), Baltimore, to be
+forwarded".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 16, 1937
+Rogers
+
+THOMAS FOOTE'S STORY, A free Negro.
+Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote,
+           at his home, Cockeysville, Md.
+
+
+"My mother's name was Eliza Foote and my father's name was Thomas Foote.
+Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm
+about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern
+Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City.
+
+"My mother's maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of
+Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr. Ensor, a
+homeopathic medical doctor of Cockeysville who was a noted doctor in his
+day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read
+and write. My mother's duty along with her other work was to assist Dr.
+Ensor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practical
+experience and knowledge of different herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor
+used in the compounding of his medicine, used them for commercial
+purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored people of
+Baltimore County, especially of the Merrymans, Ridgelys, Roberts,
+Cockeys and Mayfields. Her fame reached as far south as Baltimore City
+and north of Baltimore as far as the Pennsylvania line and the
+surrounding territory. She was styled and called the doctor woman both
+by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people
+but confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their
+troubles.
+
+"My mother prescribed for her people and compounded medicine out of the
+same leaves, herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor did. Naturally her success
+along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as
+a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which
+there were a number in Baltimore County.
+
+"The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in
+the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always
+preceeded with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard her tell others
+hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was seen
+coming from her home early in the morning. He had been there for
+treatment of an ailment which Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being
+treated by my mother for a time, he got well. When this slave was
+searched, he had in his possession a small bag in which a stone of a
+peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had
+given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it came in
+contact.
+
+"There were about this time a number of white people who had been going
+through Cockeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted
+move on the part of the slaves to run away, others contacting the free
+people to find out to what extent they had 'grape-vine' news of the
+action of the Negroes. The Negro who was seen coming from mother's home
+ran away. She was immediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of
+Cockeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled
+by the sheriff of Baltimore County--the Cockeys, and several other men,
+all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing
+that the only way he could have escaped was by the York Road, north or
+south, the Northern Central Railroad or by the way of Deer Creek, a
+small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad
+were being watched, she logically thought that the only place was Deer
+Creek, so she told the sheriff to search Deer Creek. By accident he was
+found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several other
+colored men who had run away.
+
+"Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into
+slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until 1865,
+when she returned to her home in Cockeysville; where a great many of her
+descendants live, now, on a hill that slopes west to Cockeysville
+Station, and is known as Foote's Hill by both white and colored people
+of Baltimore County today.
+
+"I was born in Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; reared a
+family of five children, three boys and two girls. I am a member of the
+A.M.E. Church at Cockeysville. I am a member of the Masonic Lodge and
+belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote's descendants still
+own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are known from one end of
+the county to the other."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 22, 1937
+Rogers
+
+MENELLIS GASSAWAY, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave,
+           on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore.
+
+
+"My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was
+born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of
+Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll
+County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two
+rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a
+small farm situated on a public road, I don't know the name.
+
+"My father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family.
+We raised on the farm vegetables and grain, consisting of corn and
+wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist
+mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other
+stock for food.
+
+"During the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can't
+remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people,
+that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other
+colored people so far as I can recall.
+
+"I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owned our
+family buy or sell slaves. He was a small man.
+
+"As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the
+farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or Ma while they
+were there.
+
+"There was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side
+Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways
+from the farm.
+
+"My father neglected his own education as well as his children. He could
+not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of which
+we in later years saw the advantage.
+
+"In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it
+was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This
+made the colored and white people very friendly.
+
+"Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not know whether he worked
+on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church.
+
+"My father was owned by a man by the name of Mr. Dorsey. My mother was
+bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by the name of Mr. Morris of Frederick
+County.
+
+"I have never heard of many ghost stories. But I believe once, a
+conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed (beheaded), and
+after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many
+people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him
+when the train passed the spot where he was killed.
+
+"So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could
+not afford to hire one, and the colored doctored themselves with herbs,
+teas and salves made by themselves."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--] 11, 1938
+Rogers
+
+CAROLINE HAMMOND, A fugitive.
+Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from
+South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave
+woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of
+Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of
+whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household
+help who ate and slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the
+household slaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves did
+not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson's household.
+
+"Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social
+standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson
+entertained on a large scale, especially many of the officers of the
+Naval Academy at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs.
+Davidson's dishes were considered the finest, and to receive an
+invitation from the Davidsons meant that you would enjoy Maryland's
+finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the
+market.
+
+"All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited
+on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons,
+braid and a fancy Test, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him
+now, standing at the door, after he had rung the bell. When the family
+and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to
+serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated with meats,
+fowl or whatever was to be eaten by the family or guest.
+
+"Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every
+consideration that he could, with the exception of freeing them; but
+Mrs. Davidson was hard on all the slaves, whenever she had the
+opportunity, driving them at full speed when working, giving different
+food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daughter of one
+of the Revells of the county, a family whose reputation was known all
+over Maryland for their brutality with their slaves.
+
+"Mother with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free
+colored man of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother
+within three years after marriage for $750 dollars and if any children
+were born they were to go with her. My father was a carpenter by trade,
+his services were much in demand. This gave him an opportunity to save
+money. Father often told me that he could save more than half of his
+income. He had plenty of work, doing repair and building, both for the
+white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for
+mother on the partial payment plan. He had paid up all but $40 on
+mother's account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking
+on the South River by one of the duck hunters, dying instantly.
+
+"Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When
+father wanted to pay off the balance due, $40.00, Mrs. Davidson refused
+to accept it, thus mother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free
+man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was
+endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs,
+constables and officials of public conveyances. By bribery of the
+sheriff of Anne Arundel County father was given a passage to Baltimore
+for mother and me. On arriving in Baltimore, mother, father and I went
+to a white family on Ross Street--now Druid Hill Ave., where we were
+sheltered by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the
+Underground Railroad.
+
+"A reward of $50.00 each was offered for my father, mother and me, one
+by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At
+this time the Hookstown Road was one of the main turnpikes into
+Baltimore. A Mr. Coleman whose brother-in-law lived in Pennsylvania,
+used a large covered wagon to transport merchandise from Baltimore to
+different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived.
+Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawn, by six
+horses. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground in
+any community or close to any settlement, fearful of being apprehended
+by people who were always looking for rewards.
+
+"After arriving at Hanover, Pennsylvania, it was easy for us to get
+transportation farther north. They made their way to Scranton,
+Pennsylvania, in which place they both secured positions in the same
+family. Father and mother's salary combined was $27.50 per month. They
+stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I was being taught at a Quaker
+mission in Scranton. When we come to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade
+grammar school in South Baltimore. After finishing the grammar school, I
+followed cooking all my life before and after marriage. My husband James
+Berry, who waited at the Howard House, died in 1927--aged 84. On my next
+birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can
+see well, have an excellent appetite, but my grandchildren will let me
+eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat.
+On Christmas Day 49 children and grandchildren and some
+great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for
+Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts of a poor person not dependant on
+any one else for tomorrow".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 13, 1937
+Rogers
+
+PAGE HARRIS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home,
+           Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md.
+
+
+"I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac
+River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as
+Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and
+trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders
+of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as
+Mississippi and Louisiana.
+
+"My father's name was Sam and mother's Mary, both of whom belonged to
+the Staffords and were reared in Charles County. They reared a family of
+nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the
+rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords
+liberated my parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves
+but because of saving the lives of his entire family.
+
+"Mrs. Stafford came from Prince William County, Virginia, a county on
+the west side of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
+had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and
+oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to
+Quantico, a small town in Prince William County, Va., and up Quantico
+Creek in the same county.
+
+"I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest
+son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in
+the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed
+across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of which
+she was a member. Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the
+boat to capsize. My father was fishing from a log raft in the river,
+immediately went to their rescue. The wind blew the raft towards the
+centre of the stream and in line with the boat. He was able without
+assistance to save the whole family, diving into the river to rescue
+Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and it
+was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream.
+Everybody thought that the Staffords had been drowned as the boat
+floated to the shore, bottom upwards.
+
+"As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata,
+the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of
+him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
+family to Philadelphia.
+
+"I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
+describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
+bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
+property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
+purpose of Mr. Stafford's living--raising and training blood hounds. I
+have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
+many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
+slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
+hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
+the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
+sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
+reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
+had charge of the dogs.
+
+"Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
+would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
+dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
+being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
+besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
+slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.
+
+"There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
+slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
+sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
+the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
+they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
+could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
+sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
+and would howl and return home.
+
+"Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
+run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
+some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
+condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
+that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
+He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
+sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
+it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in
+the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the
+dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day
+has any idea how he did it; but he did.
+
+"In the year of 1866 my father returned to Maryland bringing with him
+mother and my brothers and sister. He selected Annapolis for his future
+home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he
+continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or
+1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school
+that was established for colored children and taught by white teacher
+until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy
+waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money,
+sometimes making more than your wages. About 1896 or '97 I purchased a
+farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived
+since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel County is
+noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church,
+Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have
+grown to be men and women, one living home with me, one in New York, two
+in Baltimore, and one working in Washington, D.C."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 27, 1937
+Rogers
+
+ANNIE YOUNG HENSON, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave,
+           at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.
+
+"I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter
+of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters,
+Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum.
+
+"The farm was called Traveler's Rest. The farm so named because a man
+once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for
+something to eat and lodging for the night; both of which was given and
+welcomed by the wayfarer.
+
+"The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a
+high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to
+the master, mistress and their guests where they could hear the chant of
+the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves humming some familiar
+tunes that suited their taste, as they worked.
+
+"Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built
+about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and
+distinct from the others. It contained two rooms, one up and one down,
+with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the
+kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen
+help for the master, mistress and their guests, and from which each
+slave received his or her weekly ration, about 20 pounds of food each.
+
+"The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the
+kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm.
+
+"My position was second nurse for the doctor's family, or one of the
+inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position
+my clothes were made better, and better quality than the others, all
+made and arranged to suit the mistress' taste. I got a few things of
+femine dainty that was discarded by the mistress, but no money nor did I
+have any to spend. During my life as a slave I was whipped only once,
+and that was for a lie that was told on me by the first nurse who was
+jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress' room in a bed that we
+pushed under the mistress' in the day or after I arose.
+
+"Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds,
+and men to go with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners
+would send some of their slaves to join ours and we then dividing the
+spoils of the catch.
+
+"We had 60 slaves on the plantation, each family housed in a cabin built
+by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the
+number. For clothes we had good clothes, as we raised sheep, we had our
+own wool, out of which we weaved our cloth, we called the cloth 'box and
+dice'.
+
+"In the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash
+wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the
+shoe maker.
+
+"My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as
+afterward. I was small or young during my slave days, I always heard my
+mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how
+she used to say before she was married, when she saw the doctor coming,
+'here comes old Dr. Nellums'. Another friend she would say 'here comes
+cozen Auckney'.
+
+"We never had any overseers on the plantation, we had an old colored man
+by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please
+Mistress and Master, obey old Peter.
+
+"The farm was very large, the slaves worked from sunup to sundown, no
+one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only when proven
+guilty of crime charged.
+
+"Our master never sold any slaves. We had a six-room house, where the
+slaves entertained and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We
+had no jail on the plantation. We were not taught to read or write, we
+were never told our age.
+
+"We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where
+the slaves worshipped sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours
+and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was
+once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery
+directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of
+the church said to him, 'John, if you don't stop hollowing Amen you
+can't come to church'; he got so full of the Holy Ghost he yelled out
+Amen upon a venture, the congregation was so tickled with him and at his
+antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted.
+
+"During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was my uncle, when the
+Yankees came to Virginia, he ran away with them. He was later captured
+by the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the
+court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards.
+
+"I have seen and heard white-cappers, they whipped several colored men
+of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers drilling to go to war.
+
+"I remember well the day that Dr. Nellum, just as if it were yesterday,
+that we went to the court house to be set free. Dr. Nellum walked in
+front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if
+they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the
+papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed
+there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back
+since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked
+for Mr. Marshall, a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street,
+getting $6.00 per month. I have been told by both white and colored
+people of Virginia who knew Dr. Nellum, he lost his mind."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 29, 1937
+Rogers
+
+REV. SILAS JACKSON, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born at or near Ashbie's Gap in Virginia, either in the year of
+1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My
+father's name was Sling and mother's Sarah Louis. They were purchased by
+my master from a slave trader in Richmond, Virginia. My father was a man
+of large stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally
+came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think from the Legg estate,
+beyond that I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisters. My
+brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas,
+Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane and
+Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever
+seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a
+Baptist minister like myself.
+
+"The only things I know about my grandparents were: My grandfather ran
+away through the aid of Harriet Tubman and went to Philadelphia and
+saved $350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a Quaker or
+an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried
+to trace this part of my family's past history, but without success.
+
+"I was a large boy for my age, when I was nine years of age my task
+began and continued until 1864. You see _I saw and_ I was a slave.
+
+"In Virginia where I was, they raised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm
+products. I have had a taste of all the work on the farm, besides of
+digging and clearing up new ground to increase the acreage to the farm.
+We all had task work to do--men, women and boys. We began work on Monday
+and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for
+ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or
+work on some one else's place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off
+the plantation, but to be back by nine o'clock on Saturday night or when
+cabin inspection was made. Some time we could earn as much as 50 cents a
+day, which we used to buy cakes, candies, or clothes.
+
+"On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black
+strap, 6 pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of
+which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who
+wanted, hunted rabbits, opossums or fished. These were our choice food
+as we did not get anything special from the overseer.
+
+"Our food was cooked by our mothers or sisters and for those who were
+not married by the old women and men assigned for that work.
+
+"Each family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and
+if a man raised his own food he was given $10.00 at Christmas time
+extra, besides his presents.
+
+"In the summer or when warm weather came each slave was given something,
+the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin
+shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work
+in. In the cold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing
+cabin.
+
+"My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in
+Virginia--brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him.
+If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would
+have the slave tied to a tree, man or woman, and then would cowhide the
+victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint.
+
+"The Ashbie's home was a large stone mansion, with a porch on three
+sides. Wide halls in the center up and down stairs, numerous rooms and a
+stone kitchen built on the back connected with dining room.
+
+"Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was out.
+The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boys
+and girls of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids
+or private waiter for the young men if they wanted them.
+
+"I have heard it said by people in authority, Tom Ashbie owned 9000
+acres of farm land besides of wood land. He was a large slave owner
+having more than 100 slaves on his farm. They were awakened by blowing
+of the horn before sunrise by the overseer, started work at sunrise and
+worked all day to sundown, with not time to go to the cabin for dinner,
+you carried your dinner with you. The slaves were driven at top speed
+and whipped at the snap of the finger, by the overseers, we had four
+overseers on the farm all hired white men.
+
+"I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked
+over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided.
+
+"I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie's father went to one of the cabins
+late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard
+one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from
+slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man
+disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the
+swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in
+the cabin praying. When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told
+the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that
+he was going to hell.
+
+"There was a stone building on the farm, it is there today. I saw it
+this summer while visiting in Virginia. The old jail, it is now used as
+a garage. Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the
+whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used
+for women and girls. The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where
+they were. I have never seen slaves sold on the farm, but I have seen
+them taken away, and brought there. Several times I have seen slaves
+chained taken away and chained when they came.
+
+"No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves
+who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one
+of the overseers present and have their church. After which the overseer
+would talk. When communion was given the overseer was paid for staying
+there with half of the collection taken up, some time he would get 25¢.
+No one could read the Bible. Sandy Jasper, Mr. Ashbie's coachman was the
+preacher, he would go to the white Baptist church on Sunday with family
+and would be better informed because he heard the white preacher.
+
+"Twice each year, after harvest and after New Year's, the slaves would
+have their protracted meeting or their revival and after each closing
+they would baptize in the creek, sometimes in the winter they would
+break the ice singing _Going to the Water_ or some other hymn of that
+nature. And at each funeral, the Ashbies would attend the service
+conducted in the cabin there the deceased was, from there taken to the
+slave graveyard. A lot dedicated for that purpose, situated about 3/4 of
+a mile from cabins near a hill.
+
+"There were a number of slaves on our plantation who ran away, some were
+captured and sold to a Georgia trader, others who were never captured.
+To intimidate the slaves, the overseers were connected with the
+patrollers, not only to watch our slaves, but sometimes for the rewards
+for other slaves who had run away from other plantations. This feature
+caused a great deal of trouble between the whites and blacks. In 1858
+two white men were murdered near Warrenton on the road by colored
+people, it was never known whether by free people or slaves.
+
+"When work was done the slaves retired to their cabins, some played
+games, others cooked or rested or did what they wanted. We did not work
+on Saturdays unless harvest times, then Saturdays were days of work. At
+other times, on Saturdays you were at leisure to do what you wanted. On
+Christmas day Mr. Ashbie would call all the slaves together, give them
+presents, money, after which they spent the day as they liked. On New
+Year's day we all were scared, that was the time for selling, buying and
+trading slaves. We did not know who was to go or come.
+
+"I do not remember of playing any particular game, my sport was fishing.
+You see I do not believe in ghost stories nor voodooism, I have nothing
+to say. We boys used to take the horns of a dead cow or bull, cut the
+end off of it, we could blow it, some having different notes. We could
+tell who was blowing and from what plantation.
+
+"When a slave took sick she or he would have to depend on herbs, salves
+or other remedies prepared by someone who knew the medicinal value. When
+a valuable hand took sick one of the overseers would go to Upper Ville
+for a doctor."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-20-37
+Rogers
+
+JAMES CALHART JAMES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James Calhart James, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore.
+
+
+"My father's name was Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant
+of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and located
+near Fort Sumter, the fort that was surrendered to the Confederates in
+1851 or the beginning of the Civil War. My mother's name was Lottie
+Virginia James, daughter of an Indian and a slave woman, born on the
+Rapidan River in Virginia about 1823 or 24, I do not know which; she was
+a woman of fine features and very light in complexion with beautiful,
+long black hair. She was purchased by her master and taken to South
+Carolina when about 15 years old. She was the private maid of Mrs.
+Randolph until she died and then continued as housekeeper for her
+master, while there and in that capacity I was born on the Randolph's
+plantation August 23, 1846. I was a half brother to the children of the
+Randolphs, four in number. After I was born mother and I lived in the
+servants' quarters of the big house enjoying many pleasures that the
+other slaves did not: eating and sleeping in the big house, playing and
+associating with my half-brothers and sisters.
+
+"As for my ancestors I have no recollection of them, the history of the
+Randolphs in Virginia is my background.
+
+"My father told mother when I became of age, he was going to free me,
+send me north to be educated, but instead I was emancipated. During my
+slave days my father gave me money and good clothes to wear. I bought
+toys and games.
+
+"My clothes were good both winter and summer and according to the
+weather.
+
+"My master was my father; he was kind to me but hard on the field hands
+who worked in the rice fields. My mistress died before I was born. There
+were 3 girls and one boy, they treated me fairly good--at first or when
+I was small or until they realised their father was my father, then they
+hated me. We lived in a large white frame house containing about 15
+rooms with every luxury of that day, my father being very rich.
+
+"I have heard the Randolph plantation contained about 4000 acres and
+about 300 slaves. We had white overseers on the plantation, they worked
+hard producing rice on a very large scale, and late and early. I know
+they were severely punished, especially for not producing the amount of
+work assigned them or for things that the overseers thought they should
+be punished for.
+
+"We had a jail over the rice barn where the slaves were confined,
+especially on Sundays, as punishment for things done during the week.
+
+"I could read and write when I was 12 years old. I was taught by. the
+teacher who was the governess for the Randolph children. Mother could
+also read and write. There was no church on the plantation; the slaves
+attended church on the next plantation, where the owner had a large
+slave church, he was a Baptist preacher, I attended the white church
+with the Randolph children. I was generally known and called Jim
+Randolph. I was baptised by the white Baptist minister and christened by
+a Methodist minister.
+
+"There was little trouble between the white and blacks, you see I was
+one of the children of the house, I never came in contact much with
+other slaves. I was told that the slaves had a drink that was made of
+corn and rice which they drank. The overseers sometimes themselves drank
+it very freely. On holidays and Sundays the slaves had their times, and
+I never knew any difference as I was treated well by my father and did
+not associate with the other slaves.
+
+"In the year of 1865, I left South Carolina, went to Washington, entered
+Howard University 1868, graduated in 1873, taught schools in Virginia,
+North Carolina and Maryland, retired 1910. Since then I have been
+connected with A.M.E. educational board. Now I am home with my
+granddaughter, a life well spent.
+
+"One of the songs sung by the slaves on the plantation I can remember a
+part of it. They sang it with great feeling of happiness----
+
+  Oh where shall we go when de great day comes
+  An' de blowing of de trumpets and de bangins of de drums
+  When General Sherman comes.
+  No more rice and cotton fields
+  We will hear no more crying
+  Old master will be sighing.
+
+"I can't remember the tune, people sang it according to their own tune."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 23, 1937
+Rogers
+
+MARY MORIAH ANNE SUSANNA JAMES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave,
+           Sept. 23, 1937, at her home, 618 Haw St., Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"My father's name was Caleb Harris James, and my mother's name was Mary
+Moriah. Both of them were owned by Silas Thornton Randorph, a distant
+relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the picture of Patrick Henry many
+a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and
+two brothers. Two of my sisters were sold to a slave dealer from
+Georgia, one died in 1870. One brother ran away and the other joined the
+Union Army; he died in the Soldiers' Home in Washington in 1932 at the
+age of 84.
+
+"How let me ask you, who told you about me? I knew that a stranger was
+coming, my nose has been itching for several days. How about my home
+life in Virginia, we lived on the James River in Virginia, on a farm
+containing more than 8,000 acres, fronting 3-1/2 miles on the river,
+with a landing where boats used to come to load tobacco and unload goods
+for the farm.
+
+"The quarters where we lived on the plantation called Randolph Manor
+were built like horse stables that you see on race tracks; they were
+1-1/2 story high, about 25 feet wide, and about 75 feet long, with
+windows in the sides of the roofs. A long shelter on the front and at
+the rear. In front, people would have benches to sit on, and on the back
+were nails to hang pots and pans. Each family would have rooms according
+to the size of the family. There were 8 such houses, 6 for families and
+one for the girls and the other for the boys. In the quarters we had
+furniture made by the overseer and colored carpenters; they would make
+the tables, benches and beds for everybody. Our beds were ticking filled
+with straw and covers made of anything we could get.
+
+"I have a faint recollection of my grandparents. My grandfather was sold
+to a man in South Carolina, to work in the rice field. Grandmother
+drowned herself in the river when she heard that grand-pap was going
+away. I was told that grandpap was sold because he got religious and
+prayed that God would set him and grandma free.
+
+"When I was ten years old I was put to work on the farm with other
+children, picking weeds, stone up and tobacco worms and to do other
+work. We all got new shoes for Christmas, a dress and $2.50 for
+Christmas or suits of clothes. We spent our money at Mr. Randorph's
+store for things that we wanted, but was punished if the money was spent
+at the county seat at other stores.
+
+"We were allowed fat meat, corn meal, black molasses and vegetables,
+corn and grain to roast for coffee. Mother cooked my food after stopping
+work on the farm for the day, I never ate possum. We would catch rabbits
+in guns or traps and as we lived on the rivers, we ate any kind of fish
+we caught. The men and everybody would go fishing after work. Each
+family had a garden, we raised what we wanted.
+
+"As near as I can recall, we had about 150 sheep on the farm, producing
+our own wool. The old women weaved clothes; we had woolen clothes in the
+winter and cotton clothes in the summer. On Sunday we wore the clothes
+given to us at Christmas time and shoes likewise.
+
+"I was married on the farm 1863 and married my same husband by a Baptist
+preacher in 1870 as I was told I had not been legally married. I was
+married in the dress given to me at Christmas of 1862. I did not get one
+in 1863.
+
+"Old Silas Randolph was a mean man to his slaves, especially when drunk.
+He and the overseer would always be together, each of whom carried a
+whip, and upon the least provocation would whip his slaves. My mistress
+was not as mean as my master, but she was mean There was only one son in
+the Randolph family. He went to a military school somewhere in Virginia.
+I don't know the name. He was captured by the Union soldiers. I never
+saw him until after the war, when he came home with one arm.
+
+"The overseer lived on the farm. He was the brother of Mrs. Randolph. He
+would whip men and women and children if he thought they were not
+working fast.
+
+"The plantation house was a large brick house over-looking the river
+from a hill, a porch on three sides, two-stories and attic. In the attic
+slept the house servants and coachman. We did not come in contact with
+the white people very much. Our place was away from the village.
+
+"There were 8,000 acres to the plantation, with more than 150 slaves on
+it. I do not know the time slaves woke up, but everybody was at work at
+sunrise and worked to sundown. The slaves were whipped for not working
+fast or anything that suited the fancy of the master or overseer.
+
+"I have seen slaves sold on the farm and I have seen slaves brought to
+the farm. The slaves were brought up the river in boats and unloaded at
+the landing, some crying and some seem to be happy.
+
+"No one was taught to read or write. There was no church on the farm. No
+one was allowed to read the Bible or anything else.
+
+"I have heard it said that the Randolph's lost more slaves by running
+away than anyone in the county. The patrollers were many in the county;
+they would whip any colored person caught off the place after night.
+Whenever a man wanted to run away he would go with someone else, either
+from the farm or from some other farm, hiding in the swamps or along the
+river, making their way to some place where they thought would be safe,
+sometimes hiding on trains leaving Virginia.
+
+"The slaves, after going to their quarters, cooked, rested or did what
+they wanted. Saturdays was no different from Monday.
+
+"On Christmas morning all the slaves would go up to the porch, get the
+$2.50, shoes and clothes, go back to the cabins and do what they wanted.
+
+"On New Year's Day everybody was scared as that was the day that slaves
+were taken away or brought to the farm.
+
+"You have asked about stories, I will tell you one I know. It is true.
+
+"During the war one day some Union soldiers came to the farm looking for
+Rebels. There were a number of them in the woods near the landing; they
+had come across the river in boats. At night while the Union soldiers
+were at the landing, they were fired on by the Rebels. The Union
+soldiers went after them, killed ten, caught I think six and some were
+drowned in the river. Among the six was the overseer, and from that
+night people have heard shooting and seen soldiers. One night many years
+after the Civil War, while visiting a friend who now lives within 500
+feet from the landing where the fighting took place, there appeared some
+soldiers carrying a man out of the woods whom I recognized as being the
+overseer. He had been seen hundreds of times by other people. White
+people will tell you the same thing. I will tell you for sure this is
+true.
+
+"You must excuse me I wanted to see some friends this evening."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+9/14/37
+Guthrie
+
+PHILLIP JOHNSON, An Ex-Slave.
+Ref: Phillip Johnson, R.F.D. Poolesville, Md.
+
+
+The subject of this sketch is a pure blooded Negro, whose kinky hair is
+now white, likewise his scraggy beard. He is of medium size and somewhat
+stooped with age, but still active enough to plant and tend a patch of
+corn and the chores about his little place at Sugarlands. His home is a
+small cabin with one or two rooms upstairs and three down, including the
+kitchen which is a leanto. The cabin is in great disrepair.
+
+Phillip John is above the average in intelligence, has some education
+and is quite well versed in the Holy Scriptures, having been for many
+years a Methodist preacher among his people. He uses fairly good English
+and freely talks in answer to questions. Without giving the questions
+put to him by this writer, his remarks given in the first person and as
+near his own idiom are as follows:
+
+
+"I'll be ninety years old next December. I dunno the day. My Missis had
+the colored folks ages written in a book but it was destroyed when the
+Confederate soldiers came through. But she had a son born two or three
+months younger than me and she remember that I was born in December,
+1847, but she had forgot the day of the month.
+
+"I was born down on the river bottom about four miles below Edwards'
+Ferry, on the Eight Mile Level, between Edwards' Ferry and Seneca. I
+belonged to ole Doctah White. He owned a lot o' lan down on de bottom. I
+dunno his first name. Everybody called him Doctah White. Yes, he was
+related to Doctah Elijah White. All the Whites in Montgomery County is
+related. Yes sah, Doctah White was good to his slaves. Yes sah, he had
+many slaves. I dunno how many. My Missis took me away from de bottom
+when I was a little boy, 'cause de overseer he was so cruel to me. Yes
+sah he was _mean_. I promised him a killin if ever I got big enough.
+
+"We all liked the Missis. Everybody in dem days used to ride horseback.
+She would come ridin her horse down to de bottom with a great big basket
+of biscuits. We thought they were fine. We all glad to see de Missis a
+comin. We always had plenty to eat, such as it was. We had coarse food
+but there was plenty of it.
+
+"The white folks made our clothes for us. They made linsey for the woman
+and woolen cloth for de men. They gave clothes sufficient to keep em
+warm. The men had wool clothes with brass buttons that had shanks on em.
+They looked good when they were new. They had better clothes then than
+most of us have now.
+
+"They raised mostly corn an oats an wheat down on de river bottom in
+those days. They didn't raise tobacco. But I've heard say that they used
+to raise it long before I was born. They cut grain with cradles in dem
+days. They had a lot 'o men and would slay a lot 'o wheat in a day. It
+was pretty work to see four or five cradlers in a field and others
+following them raking the wheat in bunches and others following binding
+them in bundles. The first reapers that came were called Dorsey reapers.
+They cut the grain and bunched it. It was then bound by hand.
+
+"When my Missis took me away from the river bottom I lived in
+Poolesville where the Kohlhoss home and garage is. I worked around the
+house and garden. I remember when the Yankee and Confederate soldiers
+both came to Poolesville. Capn Sam White (son of the doctor) he join the
+Confederate in Virginia. He come home and say he goin to take me along
+back with him for to serve him. But the Yankees came and he left very
+sudden and leave me behind. I was glad I didn't have to go with him. I
+saw all that fightin around Poolesville. I used to like to watch em
+fightin. I saw a Yankee soldier shoot a Confederate and kill him. He
+raised his gun twice to shoot but he kept dodgin around the house an he
+didn' want to shoot when he might hit someone else. When he ran from the
+house he shot him.
+
+"Yes sah, them Confederates done more things around here than the
+Yankees did. I remember once during the war they came to town. It was
+Sunday morning an I was sittin in the gallery of the ole brick Methodist
+church. One of them came to de door and he pointed his pistol right at
+that preacher's head. The gallery had an outside stairs then. I ran to
+de door to go down de stairs but there was another un there pointing his
+gun and they say don't nobody leave dis building. The others they was a
+cleanin up all the hosses and wagons round the church. The one who was
+guarding de stairs, he kept a lookin to see if dey was done cleaning up
+de hosses, and when he wasn't watching I slip half way down de stairs,
+an when he turn his back I jump down and run. When he looks he jus
+laugh.
+
+"My father he lived to be eighty nine. He died right here in this house
+and he's buried over by the church. His name was Sam. They called my
+mother Willie Ann. She died when I was small. I had three brothers and
+one sister. My father married again and had seven or eight other
+children.
+
+"I've had eleven children; five livin, six dead. I've been preaching for
+forty years and I have seen many souls saved. I don't preach regular
+anymore but once in a while I do. I have preached in all these little
+churches around here. I preached six years at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The
+presidin elder he wants me to go there. The man that had left there jus
+tore that church up. I went up there one Sunday and I didn't see
+anything that I could do. I think I'm not able for this. I said they
+needs a more experienced preacher than me. But the presidin elder keeps
+after me to go there and I says, well, I go for one year. Next thing it
+was the same thing. I stays on another year and so on for six years.
+When I left there that church was in pretty good shape.
+
+"I think preaching the gospel is the greatest work in the world. But
+folks don't seem to take the interest in church that they used to."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 30, 1937
+Rogers
+
+GEORGE JONES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with George Jones, Ex-slave,
+           at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853. My
+father's name was Henry and mother's Jane; brothers Dave, Joe, Henry,
+John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father and mother were
+slaves, but I do not recall to whom they belonged. I remember my
+grandparents.
+
+"My father used to tell me how he would hide in the hay stacks at night,
+because he was whipped and treated badly by his master who was rough and
+hard-boiled on his slaves. Many a time the owner of the slaves and farm
+would come to the cabins late at night to catch the slaves in their
+dingy little hovels, which were constructed in cabin fashion and of
+stone and logs with their typical windows and rooms of one room up and
+one down with a window in each, the fireplaces built to heat and cook
+for occupants.
+
+"The farm was like all other farms in Frederick County, raising grain,
+such as corn, wheat and fruit and on which work was seasonable,
+depending upon the weather, some seasons producing more and some less.
+When the season was good for the crop and crops plentiful, we had a
+little money as the plantation owner gave us some to spend.
+
+"When hunting came, especially in the fall and winter, the weather was
+cold, I have often heard say father speak of rabbit, opossum and coon
+hunting and his dogs. You know in Frederick County there are plenty of
+woods, streams and places to hunt, giving homes and hiding places for
+such game.
+
+"We dressed to meet the weather condition and wore shoes to suit rough
+traveling through woods and up and down the hills of the country.
+
+"In my boyhood days, my father never spoke much of my master, only in
+the term I have expressed before, or the children, church, the poor
+white people in the neighborhood or the farm, their mode of living,
+social condition. I will say this in conclusion, the white people of
+Frederick County as a whole were kind towards the colored people and are
+today, very little race friction one way or the other."
+
+
+
+
+Ellen B. Warfield
+May 18, 1937
+
+ALICE LEWIS.
+
+
+(Alice Lewis, ex-slave, 84, years old, in charge of sewing-room at
+Provident Hospital (Negro), Baltimore. Tall, slender, erect, her head
+crowned by abundant snow white wool, with a fine carriage and an air of
+poise mud self respect good to behold, Alice belies her 84 years.)
+
+"Yes'm, I was born in slavery, I don't look it, but I was! Way down in
+Wilkes County, Georgia, nigh to a little town named Washington which
+ain't so far from Augusta. My pappy, he belong to the Alexanders, and my
+mammy, she belong to the Wakefiel' plantation and we all live with the
+Wakefiel's. No _ma'am_, none of the Wakefiel' niggers ever run away.
+They was too well off! They knew who they friends was! _My_ white
+folkses was good to their niggers! Them was the days when we had good
+food and it didn't cost nothing--chickens and hogs and garden truck.
+Saturdays was the day we got our 'lowance for the week, and lemme tell
+you, they didn't stint us none. The best in the land was what we had,
+jest what the white folkses had.
+
+"Clothes? yes'm. We had two suits of clothes, a winter suit and a summer
+suit and two pairs of shoes, a winter pair and a summer pair. Yes'm, my
+mammy, she spin the cotton, yes'm picked right on the plantation, yes'm,
+cotton picking was fun, believe me! As I was saying, Mammy she spin and
+she wears the cloth, and she cut it out and she make our clothes. That's
+where I git my taste to sew, I reckon. When I first come to Baltimore, I
+done dressmaking, 'deed I did. I sewed for the best fam'lies in this
+yere town. I sewed for the Howards and the Slingluffs and the Jenkinses.
+Jest the other day, I met Miss C'milla down town and she say. 'Alice,
+ain' this you? and I say, 'Law me, Miss C'milla', and 'she say, 'Alice,
+why don' you come to see Mother? She ain' been so well--she love to see
+you....'
+
+"Well, as I was a saying, we didn't work so hard, them days. We got up
+early, 'cause the fires had to be lighted to make the house warm for the
+white folks, but in them days, dinner was in the middle of the day--the
+quality had theirs at twelve o'clock--and they had a light supper at
+five and when we was through, we was through, and free to go the
+quarters and set around and smoke a pipe and rest.
+
+"Yes'm they taught us to read and write. Sunday afternoons, my young
+mistresses used to teach the pickaninnies to read the Bible. Yes'm we
+was free to go to see the niggers on other plantations but we had to
+have a pass an' we was checked in an' out. No'm, I ain't never seen no
+slaves sold, nor none in chains, and I ain't never seen no Ku Kluxers.
+
+"I live with the Wakefiel's till I was 'leven and then Marse Wakefiel'
+give me to my young mistress when she married and went to North Carolina
+to live. And 'twas in North Carolina that I seed Sherman, 'deed I did!
+I seed Sherman and his sojers, gathering up all the hogs and all the
+hosses, and all the cows and all the little cullud chillen. Them was
+drefful days! These is drefful days, too. Old man Satan, he sure am on
+earth now.
+
+"Yes'm, I believes in ghos'ses. I ain't never seed 'em but I is feel
+'em. I live once in a house where a man was killed. I lie in my bed and
+they close in on me! No'm, I ain't afraid. The landlord say when I move
+out, 'you is stay there longer than anybody I ever had.' 'Nother house
+I live in (this was in North Carolina too), it had been a gamblin'
+house and it had hants. On rainy nights, I'd lie awake and hear "drip,
+drip ... drip, drip...." What was that? Why, that was the blood a
+dripping ... Why on rainy night? Why, on rainy nights, the blood gets
+a little fresh...!"
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 4, 1937
+Rogers
+
+PERRY LEWIS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born on Kent Island, Md. about 86 years ago. My father's name was
+Henry and mother's Louise. I had one brother John, who was killed in the
+Civil War at the Deep Bottom, one sister as I can remember. My father
+was a freeman and my mother a slave, owned by Thomas Tolson, who owned a
+small farm on which I was born in a log cabin, with two rooms, one up
+and one down.
+
+"As you know the mother was the owner of the children that she brought
+into the world. Mother being a slave made me a slave. She cooked and
+worked on the farm, ate whatever was in the farmhouse and did her share
+of work to keep and maintain the Tolsons. They being poor, not having a
+large place or a number of slaves to increase their wealth, made them
+little above the free colored people and with no knowledge, they could
+not teach me or any one else to read.
+
+"You know the Eastern Shore of Maryland was in the most productive slave
+territory and where farming was done on a large scale; and in that part
+of Maryland where there were many poor people and many of whom were
+employed as overseers, you naturally heard of patrollers and we had them
+and many of them. I have heard that patrollers were on Kent Island and
+the colored people would go out in the country on the roads, create a
+disturbance to attract the patrollers' attention. They would tie ropes
+and grape vines across the roads, so when the patrollers would come to
+the scene of the disturbance on horseback and at full tilt, they would
+be throwing those who would come in contact with the rope or vine off
+the horse; sometimes badly injuring the riders. This would create hatred
+between the slaves, the free people, the patrollers and other white
+people who were concerned.
+
+"In my childhood days I played marbles, this was the only game I
+remember playing. As I was on a small farm, we did not come in contact
+much with other children, and heard no children's songs. I therefore do
+not recall the songs we sang.
+
+"I do not remember being sick but I have heard mother say, when she or
+her children were sick, the white doctor who attended the Tolsons
+treated us and the only herbs I can recall were life-everlasting boneset
+and woodditney, from each of which a tea could be made.
+
+"This is about all I can recall."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 7, 1937
+Rogers
+
+RICHARD MACKS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Charles County in Southern Maryland in the year of 1844.
+My father's name was William (Bill) and Mother's Harriet Mack, both of
+whom were born and reared in Charles County--the county that James
+Wilkes Booth took refuge in after the assassination of President Lincoln
+in 1865. I had one sister named Jenny and no brothers: let me say right
+here it was God's blessing I did not. Near Bryantown, a county center
+prior to the Civil War as a market for tobacco, grain and market for
+slaves.
+
+"In Bryantown there were several stores, two or three taverns or inns
+which were well known in their days for their hospitality to their
+guests and arrangements to house slaves. There were two inns both of
+which had long sheds, strongly built with cells downstairs for men and a
+large room above for women. At night the slave traders would bring their
+charges to the inns, pay for their meals, which were served on a long
+table in the shed, then afterwards, they were locked up for the night.
+
+"I lived with my mother, father and sister in a log cabin built of log
+and mud, having two rooms; one with a dirt floor and the other above,
+each room having two windows, but no glass. On a large farm or
+plantation owned by an old maid by the name of Sally McPherson on
+McPherson Farm.
+
+"As a small boy and later on, until I was emancipated, I worked on the
+farm doing farm work, principally in the tobacco fields and in the woods
+cutting timber and firewood. I slept on a home-made bed or bunk, while
+my mother and sister slept in a bed made by father on which they had a
+mattress made by themselves and filled with straw, while dad slept on a
+bench beside the bed and that he used in the day as a work bench,
+mending shoes for the slaves and others. I have seen mother going to the
+fields each day like other slaves to do her part of the farming. I being
+considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the
+field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people
+some of whom gave me a few pennies. By this method I earned some money
+which I gave to my mother. I once found a gold dollar, that was the
+first dollar I ever had in my life.
+
+"We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and
+vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats; and
+fish we caught out of the creeks and streams.
+
+"My father had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and
+opossum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off. If my
+father said: 'Ruler, take his hat off!', he would jump up and grab your
+hat.
+
+"We had a section of the farm that the slaves were allowed to farm for
+themselves, my mistress would let them raise extra food for their own
+use at nights. My father was the colored overseer, he had charge of the
+entire plantation and continued until he was too old to work, then
+mother's brother took it over, his name was Caleb.
+
+"When I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryansville town.
+Some would be chained, some handcuffed, and others not. These slaves
+were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at
+Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south.
+
+"The slave traders would buy young and able farm men and well-developed
+young girls with fine physiques to barter and sell. They would bring
+them to the taverns where there would be the buyers and traders, display
+them and offer them for sale. At one of these gatherings a colored girl,
+a mulatto of fine stature and good looks, was put on sale. She was of
+high spirits and determined disposition. At night she was taken by the
+trader to his room to satisfy his bestial nature. She could not be
+coerced or forced by him [TR: 'by him' lined out] so she was attacked by
+him. In the struggle she grabbed a knife and with it, she
+sterilized[HW:?] him and from the result of injury he died the next day.
+She was charged with murder. Gen. Butler, hearing of it, sent troops to
+Charles County to protect her, they brought her to Baltimore, later she
+was taken to Washington where she was set free. She married a Government
+employe, reared a family of 3 children, one is a doctor practicing
+medicine in Baltimore and the other a retired school teacher, you know
+him well if I were to tell you who the doctor is. This attack was the
+result of being goodlooking, for which many a poor girl in Charles
+County paid the price. There are several cases I could mention, but they
+are distasteful to me.
+
+"A certain slave would not permit this owner to whip him, who with
+overseer and several others overpowered the slave, tied him, put him
+across a hogshead and whipped him severely for three mornings in
+succession. Some one notified the magistrate at Bryantown of the
+brutality. He interfered in the treatment of this slave, threatening
+punishment. He was untied, he ran away, was caught by the constable,
+returned to his owner, melted sealing wax was poured over his back on
+the wounds inflicted by him, when whipping, the slave ran away again and
+never was caught.
+
+"There was a doctor in the neighborhood who bought a girl and installed
+her on the place for his own use, his wife hearing of it severely beat
+her. One day her little child was playing in the yard. It fell head down
+in a post hole filled with water and drowned. His wife left him;
+afterward she said it was an affliction put on her husband for his sins.
+
+"During hot weather we wore thin woolen clothes, the material being made
+on the farm from the wool of our sheep, in the winter we wore thicker
+clothes made on the farm by slaves, and for shoes our measures were
+taken of each slave with a stick, they were brought to Baltimore by the
+old mistress at the beginning of each season, if she or the one who did
+the measuring got the shoe too short or too small you had to wear it or
+go barefooted.
+
+"We were never taught to read or write by white people.
+
+"We had to go to the white church, sit in the rear, many times on the
+floor or stand up. We had a colored preacher, he would walk 10 miles,
+then walk back. I was not a member of church. We had no baptising, we
+were christened by the white preacher.
+
+"We had a graveyard on the place. Whites were buried inside of railing
+and the slaves on the outside. The members of the white family had
+tombstones, the colored had headstones and cedar post to show where they
+were buried.
+
+"In Charles County and in fact all of Southern Maryland tobacco was
+raised on a large scale. Men, women and children had to work hard to
+produce the required crops. The slaves did the work and they were driven
+at full speed sometimes by the owners and others by both owner and
+overseers. The slaves would run away from the farms whenever they had a
+chance, some were returned and others getting away. This made it very
+profitable to white men and constables to capture the runaways. This
+caused trouble between the colored people and whites, especially the
+free people, as some of them would be taken for slaves. I had heard of
+several killings resulting from fights at night.
+
+"One time a slave ran away and was seen by a colored man, who was
+hunting, sitting on a log eating some food late in the night. He had a
+corn knife with him. When his master attempted to hit him with a whip,
+he retaliated with the knife, splitting the man's breast open, from
+which he died. The slave escaped and was never captured. The white
+cappers or patrollers in all of the counties of Southern Maryland
+scoured the swamps, rivers and fields without success.
+
+"Let me explain to you very plain without prejudice one way or the
+other, I have had many opportunities, a chance to watch white men and
+women in my long career, colored women have many hard battles to fight
+to protect themselves from assault by employers, white male servants or
+by white men, many times not being able to protect, in fear of losing
+their positions. Then on the other hand they were subjected to many
+impositions by the women of the household through woman's jealousy.
+
+"I remember well when President Buchanan was elected, I was a large boy.
+I came to Baltimore when General Grant was elected, worked in a livery
+stable for three years, three years with Dr. Owens as a waiter and
+coachman, 3 years with Mr. Thomas Winanson Baltimore Street as a butler,
+3 years with Mr. Oscar Stillman of Boston, then 11 years with Mr. Robert
+Garrett on Mt. Vernon Place as head butler, after which I entered the
+catering business and continued until about twelve years ago. In my
+career I have had the opportunity to come in contact with the best white
+people and the most cultured class in Maryland and those visiting
+Baltimore. This class is about gone, now we have a new group, lacking
+the refinement, the culture and taste of those that have gone by.
+
+"When I was a small boy I used to run races with other boys, play
+marbles and have jumping contests.
+
+"At nights the slaves would go from one cabin to the other, talk, dance
+or play the fiddle or sing. Christmas everybody had holidays, our
+mistress never gave presents. Saturdays were half-day holidays unless
+planting and harvest times, then we worked all day.
+
+"When the slaves took sick or some woman gave birth to a child, herbs,
+salves, home liniments were used or a midwife or old mama was the
+attendant, unless severe sickness Miss McPherson would send for the
+white doctor, that was very seldom."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 21, 1937
+Rogers
+
+TOM RANDALL, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall,
+           at his home, Oella, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a
+shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road--the name then, I do
+not know. My mother's name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do
+not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I
+have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the cook at the Howard
+House; she was permitted to keep me with her. When I could remember
+things, I remember eating out of the skillets, pots and pans, after she
+had fried chicken, game or baked in them, always leaving something for
+me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how I used to carry wood
+in the kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and
+the leaves and tops of other plants.
+
+"There was a colored man by the name of Joe Nick, called Old Nick by a
+great many white people of me city. Joe was owned by Rueben Rogers, a
+lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2-1/2
+miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the leading street
+of Ellicott City. They never called me anything but Tomy or Randy, other
+people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of Ellicott City, was my
+father.
+
+"Mother was owned by a man by the name of O'Brien, a saloon or tavern
+keeper of the town. He conducted a saloon in Ellicott City for a long
+time until he became manager, or operator, of the Howard House of
+Ellicott City, a larger hotel and tavern in the city. Mother was a fine
+cook, especially of fowl and game. The Howard House was the gathering
+place of the formers, lawyers and business men of Howard and Frederick
+Counties and people of Baltimore who had business in the courts of
+Howard County and people of western Maryland on their way to Baltimore.
+
+"Joe could read and write and was a good mechanic and wheelright. These
+accomplishments made him very valuable to Rogers' farm, as wagons,
+buggies, carriages, plows and other vehicles and tools had to be made
+and repaired.
+
+"When I was about eight or nine years old Joe ran away, everybody saying
+to join the Union Army. Joe Nick drove a pair of horses, hitched to a
+covered wagon, to Ellicott City. The horses were found, but no Nick,
+Rogers offered a reward of $100.00 for the return of Nick. This offer
+drew to Ellicott City a number of people who had bloodhounds that were
+trained to hunt Negroes--some coming from Anne Arundel, Baltimore,
+Howard and counties of southern Maryland, each owner priding his pack as
+being the best pack in the town. They all stopped at the Howard House,
+naturally drinking, treating their friends and each other, they all
+discussed among themselves the reward and their packs of hounds, each
+one saying that his pack was the best. This boasting was backed by cash.
+Some cash, plus the reward on their hounds. In the meantime Old Joe was
+thinking, not boasting, but was riding the rail.
+
+"Old Joe left Ellicott City on a freight train, going west, which he
+hopped when it was stalled on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a short
+distance from the railroad station at Ellicott City. Old Joe could not
+leave on the passenger trains, as no Negro would be allowed on the
+trains unless he had a pass signed by his master or a free Negro, and
+had his papers.
+
+"At dawn the hunters left the Howard House with the packs, accompanied
+by many friends and people who joined up for the sport of the chase.
+They went to Rogers' farm where the dogs were taken in packs to Nick's
+quarters so they could get the odor and scent of Nick. They had a
+twofold purpose, one to get the natural scent, the other was, if Old
+Nick had run away, he might come back at night to get some personal
+belongings, in that way the direction he had taken would be indicated by
+the scent and the hounds would soon track him down. The hounds were
+unleashed, each hunter going in a different direction without result.
+Then they circled the farm, some going 5 miles beyond the farm without
+result. After they had hunted all day they returned to the Howard House
+where they regaled themselves in pleasures of the hotel for the evening.
+
+"In June of 1865 Old Nick returned to Ellicott City dressed in a uniform
+of blue, showing that he had joined the Federal Army. Mr. Rueben Rogers
+upon seeing him had him arrested, charging him with being a fugitive
+slave. He was confined in the jail there and held until the U.S. Marshal
+of Baltimore released him, arresting Rogers and bringing him to
+Baltimore City where he was reprimanded by the Federal Judge. This story
+is well known by the older people of Howard County and traditionally
+known by the younger generation of Ellicott City, and is called 'Old
+Nick: Rogers' lemon.'"
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 28, 1937
+Stansbury
+
+DENNIS SIMMS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Dennis Simms, ex-slave,
+           September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore.
+
+
+Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland,
+June 17, 1841, Dennis Simms, Negro ex-slave, 628 Mosher Street,
+Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a
+hundred years old.
+
+He has one brother living, George Simms, of South River, Maryland, who
+was born July 18, 1849. Both of them were born on the Contee tobacco
+plantation, owned by Richard and Charles Contee, whose forbears were
+early settlers in the State.
+
+Simms always carries a rabbit's foot, to which he attributes his good
+health and long life. He has been married four times since he gained his
+freedom. His fourth wife, Eliza Simms, 67 years old, is now in the
+Providence Hospital, suffering from a broken hip she received in a fall.
+The aged Negro recalls many interesting and exciting incidents of
+slavery days. More than a hundred slaves worked on the plantation, some
+continuing to work for the Contee brothers when they were set free. It
+was a pretty hard and cruel life for the darkeys, declares the Negro.
+
+Describing the general conditions of Maryland slaves, he said: "We would
+work from sunrise to sunset every day except Sundays and on New Year's
+Day. Christmas made little difference at Contee, except that we were
+given extra rations of food then. We had to toe the mark or be flogged
+with a rawhide whip, and almost every day there was from two to ten
+thrashings given on the plantations to disobedient Negro slaves.
+
+"When we behaved we were not whipped, but the overseer kept a pretty
+close eye on us. We all hated what they called the 'nine ninety-nine',
+usually a flogging until fell over unconscious or begged for mercy. We
+stuck pretty close to the cabins after dark, for if we were caught
+roaming about we would be unmercifully whipped. If a slave was caught
+beyond the limits of the plantation where he was employed, without the
+company of a white person or without written permit of his master, any
+person who apprehended him was permitted to give him 20 lashes across
+the bare back.
+
+"If a slave went on another plantation without a written permit from his
+master, on lawful business, the owner of the plantation would usually
+give the offender 10 lashes. We were never allowed to congregate after
+work, never went to church, and could not read or write for we were kept
+in ignorance. We were very unhappy.
+
+"Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were apprehended by the patrollers,
+who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged,
+would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with the letter 'R'."
+Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded.
+
+Simms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland
+enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut
+off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the
+body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of
+the county where the act was committed. He said that the slaves pretty
+well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of
+dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland.
+
+"We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with
+huge stone chimneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty
+tired after their long day's work in the field. Sometimes we would,
+unbeknown to our master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and
+spirituals. Our favorite spirituals were--_Bringin' in de sheaves_, _De
+Stars am shinin' for us all_, _Hear de Angels callin'_, and _The Debil
+has no place here_. The singing was usually to the accompaniment of a
+Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo. In summer the slaves went without shoes
+and wore three-quarter checkered baggy pants, some wearing only a long
+shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes, much too large. In
+winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep out the cold. We
+called them 'Program' shoes. We had no money to spend, in fact did not
+know the value of money.
+
+"Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap molasses and a red
+herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from our master or
+overseer, we would go hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie
+would be a real treat.
+
+"We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared
+the patrollers. As a rule most slaves were lazy."
+
+Simms' work at Contee was to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires
+and sometimes work in the field.
+
+He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inauguration of
+Lincoln after he was set free.
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+12/6/37
+Rogers
+
+JIM TAYLOR (UNCLE JIM), Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor,
+           at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels
+about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan's father knew me well as I worked for him
+for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both
+were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small
+boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while
+the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and
+the small rivers on the Eastern Shore. Mr. Davis bought able-bodied
+colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say
+about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the Captain, there were
+from 6 to 10 men used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess
+boy, than on the sail boats.
+
+"I think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at
+Havre de Grace engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to
+St. Michaels. It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace.
+Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 5th, before we could start
+towards St. Michaels.
+
+"Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that
+night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and
+go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy). They ran the tug across the bay
+to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there they beached the tug on the north
+side, followed a stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After
+traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated on a large
+farm which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the county. The
+sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping man seized
+the sheriff from the rear, after he was thrown they tied him, then they
+continued on a road towards Pennsylvania. They reached Pennsylvania
+about dawn. After they had gone some distance in Pennsylvania three men
+with guns overtook them; but five men and one woman of Pennsylvania with
+guns and clubs stopped them. In the meantime the sheriff and two of his
+deputies come up. The sheriff said he had to hold them for the
+authorities of the county. They were taken by the sheriff from the three
+men, carried about 15 miles further in Pennsylvania and then were told
+to go to Chester where they would be safe.
+
+"Mr. Davis came to Chester with Mr. Tuttle to claim the escaping slaves.
+They were badly beaten, Mr. Tuttle receiving a fractured skull. There
+were several white men in Chester who were very much interested in
+colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia. After arriving
+in Philadelphia, we went to Allen's mission, a colored church that
+helped escaping slaves. I stayed in Philadelphia until I was about 19
+years old, then all the colored people were free. I returned to Talbot,
+there remained until 1904, came to Baltimore where I secured a job with
+James Hitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two
+horses each and sometimes by three and four horses. Mr. Hitchens' office
+and warehouse were on North Street near Pleasant. I stayed there with
+Mr. Hitchens until he sold his business to Mr. O. Farror after he had
+taken sick.
+
+"In March I will be 90 years old. I have been sick three times in my
+life. I am, and have been a member of North Street Baptist Church for
+thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married
+twice and a grandfather of twenty-three granddaughters and grandsons and
+forty-five great grand-children.
+
+"While in Philadelphia I attended free school for colored children
+conducted at Allen's Mission; when I returned to Talbot county I was in
+the sixth grade or the sixth reader. Since then I have always been fond
+of reading. My favored books are the _Bible_, Bunyan's _Pilgrim's
+Progress_, _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, the lives of Napoleon, Frederick
+Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and church magazines and the
+Afro-American."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-22-37
+Rogers
+
+JAMES WIGGINS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James Wiggins, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 625 Barre St.
+
+
+"I was born in Anne Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850
+or 1851, I do not know which. I do not know my father or mother. Peter
+Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my
+father's name was Wiggins. He said that he was one of the Revells'
+slaves. He acquired my father at an auction sale held in Baltimore at a
+high price from a trader who had an office on Pratt Street about 1845.
+He was given a wife by Mr. Revell and as a result of this union I was
+born. My father was a carpenter by trade, he was hired out to different
+farmers by Mr. Revell to repair and build barns, fences and houses. I
+have been told that my father could read and write. Once he was charged
+with writing passes for some slaves in the county, as a result of this
+he was given 15 lashes by the sheriff of the county, immediately
+afterwards he ran away, went to Philadelphia, where he died while
+working to save money to purchase mother's freedom, through a white
+Baptist minister in Baltimore.
+
+"I was called "Gingerbread" by the Revells. They reared me until I
+reached the age of about nine or ten years old. My duty was to put logs
+on the fireplaces in the Revells' house and work around the house. I
+remember well when I was taken to Annapolis, how I used to dance in the
+stores for men and women, they would give me pennies and three cent
+pieces, all of which was given to me by the Revells. They bought me
+shoes and clothes with the money collected.
+
+"Mr. Revell died in 1861 or 62. The sheriff and men came from Annapolis,
+sold the slaves, stock and other chattels. I was purchased by a Mr.
+Mayland, who kept a store in Annapolis. I was sold by him to a slave
+trader to be shipped to Georgia. I was brought to Baltimore, and was
+jailed in a small house on Paca near Lombard. The trader was buying
+other slaves to make a load. I escaped through the aid of a German
+shoemaker, who sold shoes to owners for slaves.
+
+"The German shoeman had a covered wagon, I was put in the wagon covered
+by boxes, taken to a house on South Sharp Street and there kept until a
+Mr. George Stone took me to Frederick City where I stayed until 1863,
+when Mr. Stone, a member of the Lutheran church, had me christened
+giving me the name of James Wiggins. This is how I got the name of
+Wiggins, after my father, instead of Gingerbread, through the
+investigation and the information given by Mr. Brooks.
+
+"You know the Revells are well known in Anne Arundel County, consisting
+of a large family, each family a large property owner. I can't say how
+many acres were owned by Jim Revell, he was a general farmer having a
+few slaves, you see I was a small boy. I can't answer all the questions
+you want.
+
+"There were a great many people in Anne Arundel who did not believe in
+slavery and many free colored people. These conditions caused conflicts
+between the free colored who many times were charged with aiding the
+slaves and the whites who were not favorably impressed with slavery and
+the others who believed in slavery. As a result, the patrollers were
+numerous. I remember of seeing Jim Revell coming home very much battered
+and beaten up as a result of an encounter with a number of free people
+and white people and those who were members of the patrollers.
+
+"As a child I was very fond of dancing, especially the jig and buck. I
+made money as I stated before, I played children's plays of that time,
+top, marbles and another game we called skinny. Skinny was a game played
+on trees and grape vines.
+
+"As a boy I was very healthy, I never had a doctor until I was over 50
+years old. I don't know anything about the medical treatment of that
+day, you never need medicine unless you are ailing and I never ailed."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 27, 1937
+Stansbury
+
+"PARSON" REZIN WILLIAMS, ex-slave.
+References: Baltimore Morning Sun, December 10, 1928.
+            Registration Books of Board of Election Supervisors
+            Baltimore Court House.
+
+            Personal interviews with "Parson" Rezin Williams,
+            on Thursday afternoon, September 18 and 24, 1937,
+            at his home, 2610 Pierpont Street, Mount Winans,
+            Baltimore, Md.
+
+            Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol 1 (1906), p. 56.
+
+            Buchholz: _Governors of Maryland_--pp. 57-63, 192-167.
+            (P.L.G. 28 B 92.)
+
+
+"Parson" Williams----
+
+            Oldest living Negro Civil War veteran; now 116 years old.
+
+            Oldest registered voter in Maryland and said to be the oldest
+            "freeman" in the United States.
+
+            Said to be oldest member of Negro family in America with sister
+            and brother still living, more than a century old.
+
+            Father worked for George Washington.
+
+
+In 1864 when the State Constitution abolished slavery and freed about
+83,000 Negro slaves in Maryland, there was one, "Parson" Rezin Williams,
+already a freeman. He is now living at the age of 116 years, in
+Baltimore City, Maryland, credited with being the oldest of his race in
+the United States who served in the Civil War.
+
+He was born March 11, 1822, at "Fairview", near Bowie, Prince Georges
+County, Maryland--a plantation of 1000 acres, then belonging to Governor
+Oden Bowie's father. "Parson" Williams' father, Rezin Williams, a
+freeman, was born at "Mattaponi", near Nottingham, Prince Georges
+County, the estate of Robert Bowie of Revolutionary War fame, friend of
+Washington and twice Governor of Maryland. The elder Rezin Williams
+served the father of our country as a hostler at Mount Vernon, where he
+worked on Washington's plantation during the stormy days of the
+Revolution.
+
+There is perhaps nowhere to be found a more picturesque and interesting
+character of the colored race than "Parson" Williams, who, besides
+serving as a colored bishop of the Union American Methodist Church
+(colored) for more than a half century, is the composer of Negro
+spirituals which were popular during their day. He attended President
+Lincoln's inauguration and subsequently every Republican and Democratic
+presidential inauguration, although he himself is a Republican. Lincoln,
+according to Williams, shook hands with him in Washington.
+
+One of Williams' sons, of a family of fourteen children, was named after
+George Washington, and another after Abraham Lincoln. The son, George
+Washington Williams, died in 1912 at the age of seventy-three years.
+
+"Parson" Williams, serving the Union forces as a teamster, hauled
+munitions and supplies for General Grant's army, at Gettysburg. On trips
+to the rear, he conveyed wounded soldiers from the line of fire. He also
+served under General McClellan and General Hooker.
+
+Although now confined to his home with infirmities of age, he posesses
+all his faculties and has a good memory of events since his boyhood
+days. Due to the fact that his grandmother was an Indian the daughter of
+an Indian chieftan, alleged to be buried in a vault in Baltimore County,
+Williams was a freeman like his father and hired himself out.
+
+Williams claims that his father, when a boy, accompanied Robert Bowie,
+for whom he was working, to Mount Vernon, where he first met George
+Washington. He said that General Washington once became very angry at
+his father because he struck an unruly horse, exclaiming: "The brute has
+more sense than some slaves. Cease striking the animal."
+
+Robert Bowie, the third son of Capt. William and Margaret (Sprigg)
+Bowie, was born at "Mattaponi", near Nottingham, March 1750. As a
+captain of a company of militia organized at Nottingham, he accompanied
+the Maryland forces when they joined Washington in his early campaign
+near New York. He and Washington became friends. In 1791, when Captain
+William Bowie died, his son Robert inherited "Mattaponi". He was the
+first Democratic governor to be elected, one of the presidential
+electors for Madison, and a director of the first bank established at
+Annapolis.
+
+Williams recalls hearing his father say that when Washington died,
+December 14, 1799, many paid reverence by wearing mourning scarfs and
+hatbands.
+
+He recalls many interesting incidents during slavery days. He said that
+slaves could not buy or sell anything except with the permission of
+their master. If a slave was caught ten miles from his master's home,
+and had no signed permit, he was arrested as a runaway and harshly
+punished.
+
+There was a standing reward for the capture of a runaway. The Indians
+who caught a runaway slave received a "match coat." The master gave the
+slave usually ten to ninety-nine lashes for running off. What slaves
+feared most was what they called the "nine ninety-nine" or 99 lashes
+with a rawhide whip, and sometimes they were unmercifully flogged until
+unconcious. Some cruel masters believed Negroes had no souls. The slaves
+at Bowie, however, declared "Parson" Williams, were pretty well treated
+and usually respected the overseers. He said that the slaves at Bowie
+mostly lived in cabins made of slabs running up and down and crudely
+furnished. Working time was from sunrise until sunset. The slaves had no
+money to spend and few masters allowed them to indulge in a religious
+meeting or even learn about the Bible.
+
+Slaves received medical attention from a physician if they were
+seriously ill. When a death occured, a rough box would be made of heavy
+slabs and the dead Negro buried the same day on the plantation burying
+lot with a brief ceremony, if any. The grieving darkeys, relatives,
+after he was "eased" in the ground, would sing a few spirituals and
+return to their cabins.
+
+Familiar old spirituals were composed by "Parson" Williams, including
+_Roll De Stones Away_, _You'll Rise in De Skies_, and _Ezekiel, He'se
+Comin Home_.
+
+Following is one of Williams' spirituals:
+
+  When dat are ole chariot comes,
+  I'm gwine to lebe you:
+  I'm bound for de promised land
+  I'm gwine to lebe you.
+
+  I'm sorry I'm gwine to lebe you,
+  Farewell, oh farewell
+  But I'll meet you in de mornin
+  Farewell, oh farewell.
+
+Still another favorite of "Parson" Williams, which he composed on Col.
+Bowie's plantation just before the Civil War, a sort of rallying song
+expressing what Canada meant to the slaves at that time, runs thus:
+
+  I'm now embarked for yonder shore
+  There a man's a man by law;
+  The iron horse will bear me o'er
+  To shake de lion's paw.
+  Oh, righteous Father, will thou not pity me
+  And aid me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
+
+  Oh, I heard Queen Victoria say
+  That if we would forsake our native land of slavery,
+  And come across de lake
+  That she was standin' on de shore
+  Wid arms extended wide,
+  To give us all a peaceful home
+  Beyond de rollin' tide.
+
+Interesting reminiscences are recalled by "Parson" Williams of his early
+life. He said that he still remembers when Mr. Oden Bowie (later
+governor) left with the army of invasion of Mexico (1846-1848), and of
+his being brought home ill after several years was nursed back to health
+at "Fairview". Governor Bowie died on his plantation in 1894 and is
+buried in the family burying ground there.
+
+He was the first president of the Maryland Jockey Club. Governor Bowie
+raised a long string of famous race horses that became known throughout
+the country. From the "Fairview" stables went such celebrated horses as
+Dickens, Catespy, Crickmore, Commensation, Creknob, who carried the
+Bowie colors to the front on many well-contested race courses. After
+Governor Bowie's death, the estate became the property of his youngest
+son, W. Booth Bowie.
+
+"Fairview" is located in the upper part of what was called the "Forest"
+of Prince Georges County, a few miles southwest of Collington Station.
+It is a fine type of old Colonial mansion built of brick, the place
+having been in the posession of the family for some time previous.
+"Fairview" is one of the oldest and finest homes in Maryland. The
+mansion contains a wide hall and is a typical Southern home.
+
+Baruch Duckett married Kitty Bean, a granddaughter of John Bowie, Sr.,
+the first of his name to come to Prince Georges County. They had but one
+daughter, whose name was Kitty Bean Duckett, and she married in 1800
+William Bowie of Walter. Baruch Duckett outlived his wife and died in
+1810. He devised "Fairview" to his son-in-law and the latter's children,
+and it ultimately became the property of his grandson, afterward known
+as Col. William B.[TR.?] Bowie, who made it his home until 1880, when he
+gave it to his eldest son, Oden, who in 1868 became Governor of
+Maryland. Governor Bowie was always identified with the Democratic
+Party.
+
+"Parson" Williams' wife, Amelia Addison Williams died August 9, 1928, at
+the age of 94 years. The aged negro is the father of 14 children, one
+still living,--Mrs. Amelia Besley, 67 years old, 2010 Pierpont Street,
+Mount Winans, Baltimore, Maryland. His brother, Marcellus Williams, and
+a single sister, Amelia Williams, both living, reside on Rubio street,
+Philidelphia, Pa. According to "Parson" Williams, they are both more
+than a century old and are in fairly good health. Besides his children
+and a brother and a sister, Williams has several grandchildren,
+great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren living.
+
+President Lincoln, Williams says, was looked upon by many slaves as a
+messenger from heaven. Of course, many slave masters were kind and
+considerate, but to most slaves they were just a driver and the slaves
+were work horses for them. Only once during his lifetime does Williams
+recall tasting whisky, when his cousin bought a pint. It cost three
+cents in those days. He said his mother used to make beer out of
+persimmons and cornhusks, but they don't make it any more, so he doesn't
+even drink beer now. He would much rather have a good cigar. He has
+since a boy, smoked a pipe.
+
+By special permission of plantation owners in Prince Georges, St. Marys,
+Baltimore and other counties in Maryland, he was often permitted to
+visit the darkeys and conduct a religious meeting in their cabins. He
+usually wore a long-tailed black "Kentucky" suit with baggy trousers and
+sported a cane.
+
+Usually when servants or slaves in those days found themselves happy and
+contented, it was because they were born under a lucky star. As for
+eating, they seldom got chicken, mostly they ate red herring and
+molasses--they called black strap molasses. They were allowed a herring
+a day as part of their food. Slaves as a rule preferred possums to
+rabbits. Some liked fish best. Williams' favorite food was cornpone and
+fried liver.
+
+"Once before de wah, I was ridin Lazy, my donkey, a few miles from de
+boss' place at Fairview, when along came a dozen or more patrollers. Dey
+questioned me and decided I was a runaway slave and dey wuz gwine to
+give me a coat of tar and feathers when de boss rode up and ordered my
+release. He told dem dreaded white patrollers dat I was a freeman and a
+'parson'."
+
+When the slaves were made free, some of the overseers tooted horns,
+calling the blacks from their toil in the fields. They were told they
+need no longer work for their masters unless they so desired. Most of
+the darkeys quit "den and dar" and made a quick departure to other
+parts, but some remained and to this day their descendants are still to
+be found working on the original plantations, but of course for pay.
+
+Describing the clothing worn in summer time by the slaves, he said they
+mostly went barefooted. The men and boys wore homespun, three-quarter
+striped pants and sometimes a large funnel-shaped straw hat. Some wore
+only a shirt as a covering for their body.
+
+"In winter oxhide shoes were worn, much too large, and the soles
+contained several layers of paper. We called them 'program' shoes,
+because the paper used for stuffing, consisted of discarded programs. We
+gathered herbs from which we made medicine, snake root and sassafras
+bark being a great remedy for many ailments."
+
+Williams, though himself not a slave by virtue of the fact that his
+grandmother was an Indian, was considered a good judge of healthy
+slaves, those who would prove profitable to their owners, so he often
+accompanied slave purchasers to the Baltimore slave markets.
+
+He told of having been taken by a certain slave master to the Baltimore
+wharf, boarded a boat and after the slave dealer and the captain
+negotiated a deal, he, Williams, not realizing that he was being used as
+a decoy, led a group of some thirty or forty blacks, men, women and
+children, through a dark and dirty tunnel for a distance of several
+blocks to a slave market pen, where they were placed on the auction
+block.
+
+He was told to sort of pacify the black women who set up a wail when
+they were separated from their husbands and children. It was a pitiful
+sight to see them, half naked, some whipped into submission, cast into
+slave pens surrounded by iron bars. A good healthy negro man from 18 to
+30 would bring from $200 to $800. Women would bring about half the price
+of the men. Often when the women parted with their children and loved
+ones, they would never see them again.
+
+Such conditions as existed in the Baltimore slave markets, which were
+considered the most important in the country, and the subsequent ill
+treatment of the unfortunates, hastened the war between the states.
+
+The increasing numbers of free negroes also had much to do with causing
+the civil war. The South was finding black slavery a sort of white
+elephant. Everywhere the question was what to do with the freeman.
+Nobody wanted them. Some states declared they were a public nuisance.
+
+"Uncle Rezin", by which name some called him, since slavery days, was,
+besides being engaged in preaching the Gospel, journeying from one town
+to another, where he has performed hundreds of marriages among his race,
+baptised thousands, performed numerous christenings and probably
+preached more sermons than any Negro now living. He preached his last
+sermon two years ago. He says his life's work is now through and he is
+crossing over the River Jordan and will soon be on the other side. Since
+the Civil War he has made extra money for his support during depression
+times by doing odd jobs of whitewashing, serving as a porter or janitor,
+cutting wood, hauling and running errands, also serving as a teamster,
+picking berries and working as a laborer. He has had several miraculous
+escapes from death during his long life. Twice during the past quarter
+of a century his home at Mount Winans has been destroyed by fire, when
+firemen rescued him in the nick of time, and some years ago, when he was
+suddenly awakened during a severe windstorm, his house was unroofed and
+blew down. When workmen were clearing away the debris in search for
+"Uncle" Rezin, some hours later, a voice was heard coming from a large
+barrel in the cellar. It was from Williams, who somehow managed to crawl
+in the barrel during the storm, and called out: "De Lord hab sabed me.
+You all haul me out of here, but I'se all right." Scabo, his pet dog,
+was killed by the falling debris during the storm. Firemen at Westport
+state that three years ago, when fire damaged "Uncle" Rezin's home, the
+aged negro preacher refused to be rescued, and walked out of the
+building through stifling smoke, as though nothing had happened. When
+veterans of a great war have been mowed down by the scythe of Father
+Time until their numbers are few, an added public interest attaches to
+them. Baltimore septuagenarians remember the honor paid to the last
+surviving "Old Defenders", who faced the British troops at North Point
+in 1814, and now the few veterans of the War of Secession, whether they
+wore the blue or the gray, receive similar attention. A far different
+class, one peculiarly associated with the strife between the North and
+the South, are approaching the point of fading out from the life of
+today--the old slaves, and original old freemen. "Parson" Williams tops
+the list of them all.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of
+Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11552 ***
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+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
+<title>Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project,
+ 1936-1938: Maryland Narratives, Volume VIII</title>
+<meta name="author" content="Federal Writers' Project">
+</head>
+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11552 ***</div>
+
+[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note<br>
+[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note<br>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br>
+
+
+
+<h1>SLAVE NARRATIVES</h1>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><i>A Folk History of Slavery in the United States<br>
+From Interviews with Former Slaves</i></h2>
+<br>
+<h4>TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY<br>
+THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT<br>
+1936-1938<br>
+ASSEMBLED BY<br>
+THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT<br>
+WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION<br>
+FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA<br>
+SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>WASHINGTON 1941</p>
+<br><br><br>
+
+<h2>VOLUME VIII</h2>
+
+<h2>MARYLAND NARRATIVES</h2>
+
+
+
+<h3>Prepared by<br>
+the Federal Writers' Project of<br>
+the Works Progress Administration<br>
+for the State of Maryland
+</h3>
+<br><br><br>
+
+<h2>INFORMANTS</h2>
+
+<a href="#BrooksLucy">Brooks, Lucy</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#ColesCharles">Coles, Charles</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#DeaneJamesV">Deane, James V.</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#FaymanMS">Fayman, Mrs. M.S.</a><br>
+<a href="#FooteThomas">Foote, Thomas</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#GassawayMenellis">Gassaway, Menellis</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#HammondCaroline">Hammond, Caroline</a><br>
+<a href="#HarrisPage">Harris, Page</a><br>
+<a href="#HensonAnnieYoung">Henson, Annie Young</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#JacksonSilas">Jackson, Rev. Silas</a><br>
+<a href="#JamesJamesCalhart">James, James Calhart</a><br>
+<a href="#JamesMaryMoriah">James, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna</a><br>
+<a href="#JohnsonPhillip">Johnson, Phillip</a><br>
+<a href="#JonesGeorge">Jones, George</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#LewisAlice">Lewis, Alice</a><br>
+<a href="#LewisPerry">Lewis, Perry</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#MacksRichard">Macks, Richard</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#RandallTom">Randall, Tom</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#SimmsDennis">Simms, Dennis</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#TaylorJim">Taylor, Jim</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#WigginsJames">Wiggins, James</a><br>
+<a href="#WilliamsRezin">Williams, Rezin (Parson)</a><br>
+<br><br>
+
+<p>[TR: Interviews were stamped at left side with state name, date, and
+interviewer's name. These stamps were often partially cut off. Where
+month could not be determined [--] substituted. Interviewers' names
+reconstructed from other, complete entries.]</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="BrooksLucy"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-23-37<br>
+Guthrie<br>
+<br>
+AUNT LUCY [HW: BROOKS].<br>
+References: Interview with Aunt Lucy and her son, Lafayette Brooks.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>Aunt Lucy, an ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack
+on the Carroll Inn Springs property at Forest Glen, Montgomery County,
+Md.</p>
+
+<p>To go to her home from Rockville, leave the Court House going east on
+Montgomery Ave. and follow US Highway No. 240, otherwise known as the
+Rockville Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles
+to the junction with it on the left (east) of the Garrett Park Road.
+This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgetown
+Preparatory School, which is on the west of this road. Turn left on the
+Garrett Park Road and follow it through that place and crossing Rock
+Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B.&amp;O. R.R. and
+parallel them onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this
+place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place
+go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left.
+This lane will be identified by the sign &quot;Carroll Springs Inn&quot;. Turn
+left here and enter the grounds of the inn. But do not go up in front of
+the inn itself which is one quarter of a mile from the road. Instead,
+where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left
+and continue downward fifty yards toward the swimming pool. Lucy's shack
+is on the left and one hundred feet west of the pool. It is about eleven
+miles from Rockville.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy is an usual type of Negro and most probably is a descendant of less
+remotely removed African ancestors than the average plantation Negroes.
+She does not appear to be a mixed blood&mdash;a good guess would be that she
+is pure blooded Senegambian. She is tall and very thin, and considering
+her evident great age, very erect, her head is very broad, overhanging
+ears, her forehead broad and not so receeding as that of the average.
+Her eyes are wide apart and are bright and keen. She has no defect in
+hearing.</p>
+
+<p>Following are some questions and her answers:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lucy, did you belong to the Carrolls before the war?&quot; &quot;Nosah, I didne
+lib around heah den. Ise born don on de bay&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How old are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dunno sah. Miss Anne, she had it written down in her book, but she said
+twas too much trouble for her to be always lookin it up&quot;. (Her son,
+Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the
+Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the
+mother was twenty-five years old then, she would be about ninety now.
+Some think she is more than a hundred years old).</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who did you belong to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I belonged to Missus Ann Garner&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did she have many slaves?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yassuh. She had seventy-five left she hadnt sold when the war ended&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What kind of work did you have to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;O, she would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a
+powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the
+table. I was just a little gal then. Missus used to say that she was
+going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to sen me to Baltimo
+to learn to be a nurse&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did you think about that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh; I thought that would be fine, but he war came befo I got big enough
+to learn to be a nurse&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remebers when the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers.
+De never hurt anybody but they took what they could find to eat and
+they made us cook for them. I remebers that me and some other lil gals
+had a play house, but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked
+through a hole in the fence and ran out in the field. One of the
+soldiers seed me and he hollers 'look at that rat run'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remebers when the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic
+cable) came into the bay. Missus Ann, and all the white folks went down
+to Fairhaven wharf to see dat big shep&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I stayed on de plantation awhile after de war and heped de Missus in de
+house. Den I went away&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ise had eight chillun. Dey all died and thisun and his brother
+(referring to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said he ought ter
+died instid o his brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because thisun got so skeered when he was little bein carried on a hos
+that he los his speech and de wouldt let me see im for two days. It was
+a long time befor he learned to talk again&quot;. (To this day he has such an
+impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him make the effort to
+talk).</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you have to eat down on the plantation, Aunt Lucy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hab mostly clabber, fish and corn bread. We gets plenty of fish down
+on de bay&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we cum up here we works in the ole Forest Glen hotel. Mistah
+Charley Keys owned the place then. We stayed there after Mr. Cassidy
+come. (Mr. Cassidy was the founder of the National Park Seminary, a
+school for girls). My son Lafayette worked there for thirty five years.
+Then we cum to Carroll Springs Inn&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="ColesCharles"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+11/15/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles
+County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives.
+I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey,
+a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Dorsey was a man of excellent reputation and character, was loved
+by all who knew him, black and white, especially his slaves. He was
+never known to be harsh or cruel to any of his slaves, of which he had
+more than 75.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves were Mr. Dorsey's family group, he and his wife were very
+considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore good
+heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been told that the Dorseys' farm contained about 3500 acres, on
+which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey managed
+the farm. They required the farm hands to work from 7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.;
+after that their time was their own.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was
+bought or sold. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services
+of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose
+and in which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how
+to read and write and were assisted by some Catholic priests who came to
+the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. When a
+child was born, it was baptised by the priest, and given names and they
+were recorded in the Bible. We were taught the rituals of the Catholic
+church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the
+corpse was buried in the Dorseys' graveyard, a lot of about 1-1/2 acres,
+surrounded by cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the
+graves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had
+plain stones.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never heard of any of the Dorseys' slaves running away. We did
+not have any trouble with the white people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weather-boarded and
+stripped to keep out the cold. I do not remember whether the slaves
+worked or not on Saturdays, but I know the holidays were their own. Mr.
+Dorsey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected
+to find on other plantations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my
+favorite game was marbles.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we took sick Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to
+the slaves, giving medical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic
+and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier Church.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="DeaneJamesV"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 20, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES V. DEANE, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave.,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose
+Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of
+Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father's people. I have two
+sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in a log cabin, a typical Charles County log cabin, at Goose
+Bay on the Potomac River. The plantation on which I was born fronted
+more than three miles on the river. The cabin had two rooms, one up and
+one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no
+porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain and snow from
+beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the
+outside, plastered between the logs, in which was a fireplace with an
+open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We slept on a home-made bedstead, on which was a straw mattress and
+upon that was a feather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my
+mother to cover.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn,
+watching watermelon patches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco
+fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables
+raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt and water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I have hunted o'possums, and coons. The last time I went coon
+hunting, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took to
+their heels, white and colored, the white men outran the colored hunter,
+leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You
+have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches
+which they worked by moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on
+the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and
+in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky
+jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the
+stock, after which we did what we wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen many slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the
+groom jumping over it as a part of the wedding ceremony. When a slave
+married someone from another plantation, the master of the wife owned
+all the children. For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes,
+sometimes you could not tell the original outfit for the patches, and
+sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride's trousseau, she would wear the
+cast-off clothes of the mistress, or, at other times the clothes made by
+other slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was said our plantation contained 10,000 acres. We had a large
+number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from
+sunup to sundown. The slaves were not whipped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my
+aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was
+sold and taken south. We never saw or heard of her afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white
+preachers. We sang with the white people. The Methodists were christened
+and the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored funerals with
+no service. A graveyard on the place, only a wooden post to show where
+you were buried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard many patrollers,
+but they never whipped any of Mason's slaves. The method of conveying
+news, you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between
+whites and blacks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories
+and tales, dances, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like
+any other day. We had all legal holidays. Christmas morning we went to
+the big house and got presents and had a big time all day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At corn shucking all the slaves from other plantations would come to
+the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn,
+and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man
+to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted. We had
+supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn
+bread. We went back to shucking. The carts from other farms would be
+there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was
+stored, we danced until daybreak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only games we played were marbles, mumble pegs and ring plays. We
+sang London Bridge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we wanted to meet at night we had an old conk, we blew that. We
+all would meet on the bank of the Potomac River and sing across the
+river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some people say there are no ghosts, but I saw one and I am satisfied,
+I saw an old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met
+her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her. I liked to tore the
+door off the hinges getting away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master's name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental
+disposition, his mother managed the affairs. He was kind. Mrs. Mason had
+a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The
+main house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no
+overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The poor white people in Charles County were worse off than the
+slaves; because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation,
+the slaves did all the work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves
+tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord's Prayer and
+catechism.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the slaves took sick Dr. Henry Mudd, the one who gave Booth first
+aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their own, and made their
+own salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="FaymanMS"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+11/3/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MRS. M.S. FAYMAN.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of
+Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them
+were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very
+influential. My father's name was Henri de Sales and mother's maiden
+name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson
+named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving me
+the only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in
+Louisiana. We lived in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers
+and situated on a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised
+pelicans for sale in the market at New Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was about 5 years old I was sent to a private School in Baton
+Rouge, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped
+in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English; French was
+the language spoken in my household and by the people in the parish.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping
+place for all large river boats, especially between New Orleans and
+large towns and cities north. We children were taken out by the sisters
+after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of the places we
+went was the wharf. One day in June and on a Saturday a large boat was
+at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were
+there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken up
+bodily by a white man, carried on the boat, put in a cabin and kept
+there until we got to Louisville, Kentucky, where I was taken off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frankfort and
+installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through
+the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
+As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and
+companion for the children of Pierce Buckran Haynes, a well known slave
+trader and plantation owner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to
+speak French and it was my duty to teach them. I was the private
+companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French
+and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I
+in the rudiments of the English language.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I slept in the children's quarters with the Haynes' children, ate and
+played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me
+with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave
+the plantation. While on the plantation I wore good clothes, similar to
+those of the white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with
+his slaves, punishing them severly and cruelly both by the lash and in
+the jail on the plantation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called
+Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes. It contained 8000 acres, of
+which more than 6000 acres were under cultivation, and having about 350
+colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all of whom were white. The
+overseers were the overlords of the manor; as Haynes dealt extensively
+in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly
+all the time. There was located on the top of the large tobacco
+warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o'clock and at
+sundown, the year round. On the farm the slaves were assigned a task to
+do each day and In the event it was not finished they were severely
+whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see them afterwards,
+they were very badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the
+whipping.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been back to the farm on several occasions, the first time in
+1872 when I took my father there to show him the farm. At that time it
+was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Army officer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one
+about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet
+high In front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a
+sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2x4
+feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There
+were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building
+12x15 feet, this was where the cooking was done. At each end of each
+building there was a fire place built and used for heating purposes. In
+front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by
+pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a
+hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the
+buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there
+were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an iron rod
+was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for
+those inside to escape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet
+with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story. On the ground in each end
+was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office;
+adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach
+the second story there was built on the outside, steps leading to a
+door, through which the female prisoners were taken to the room. All of
+the buildings had dirt floors.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there
+at that time. Slaves were brought and taken away always chained
+together, men walking and women in ox carts. I had heard of several
+escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or
+8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My
+grandmother was a Haitian Negress, grandfather a Frenchman. My father
+was a Creole.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in
+New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French
+there until 1883, married Prof. Payman, teacher of history and English.
+Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisianna. For
+further information, write me c/o Y.W.C.A. (col.), Baltimore, to be
+forwarded&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="FooteThomas"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 16, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+THOMAS FOOTE'S STORY, A free Negro.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, Cockeysville, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother's name was Eliza Foote and my father's name was Thomas Foote.
+Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm
+about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern
+Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother's maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of
+Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr. Ensor, a
+homeopathic medical doctor of Cockeysville who was a noted doctor in his
+day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read
+and write. My mother's duty along with her other work was to assist Dr.
+Ensor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practical
+experience and knowledge of different herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor
+used in the compounding of his medicine, used them for commercial
+purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored people of
+Baltimore County, especially of the Merrymans, Ridgelys, Roberts,
+Cockeys and Mayfields. Her fame reached as far south as Baltimore City
+and north of Baltimore as far as the Pennsylvania line and the
+surrounding territory. She was styled and called the doctor woman both
+by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people
+but confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their
+troubles.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother prescribed for her people and compounded medicine out of the
+same leaves, herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor did. Naturally her success
+along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as
+a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which
+there were a number in Baltimore County.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in
+the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always
+preceeded with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard her tell
+others hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was
+seen coming from her home early in the morning. He had been there for
+treatment of an ailment which Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being
+treated by my mother for a time, he got well. When this slave was
+searched, he had in his possession a small bag in which a stone of a
+peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had
+given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it came in
+contact.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were about this time a number of white people who had been going
+through Cockeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted
+move on the part of the slaves to run away, others contacting the free
+people to find out to what extent they had 'grape-vine' news of the
+action of the Negroes. The Negro who was seen coming from mother's home
+ran away. She was immediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of
+Cockeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled
+by the sheriff of Baltimore County&mdash;the Cockeys, and several other men,
+all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing
+that the only way he could have escaped was by the York Road, north or
+south, the Northern Central Railroad or by the way of Deer Creek, a
+small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad
+were being watched, she logically thought that the only place was Deer
+Creek, so she told the sheriff to search Deer Creek. By accident he was
+found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several other
+colored men who had run away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into
+slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until 1865,
+when she returned to her home in Cockeysville; where a great many of her
+descendants live, now, on a hill that slopes west to Cockeysville
+Station, and is known as Foote's Hill by both white and colored people
+of Baltimore County today.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; reared a
+family of five children, three boys and two girls. I am a member of the
+A.M.E. Church at Cockeysville. I am a member of the Masonic Lodge and
+belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote's descendants still
+own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are known from one end of
+the county to the other.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="GassawayMenellis"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 22, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MENELLIS GASSAWAY, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was
+born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of
+Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll
+County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two
+rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a
+small farm situated on a public road, I don't know the name.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family.
+We raised on the farm vegetables and grain, consisting of corn and
+wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist
+mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other
+stock for food.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can't
+remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people,
+that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other
+colored people so far as I can recall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owned our
+family buy or sell slaves. He was a small man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the
+farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or Ma while they
+were there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side
+Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways
+from the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father neglected his own education as well as his children. He
+could not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of
+which we in later years saw the advantage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it
+was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This
+made the colored and white people very friendly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not know whether he worked
+on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father was owned by a man by the name of Mr. Dorsey. My mother was
+bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by the name of Mr. Morris of Frederick
+County.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never heard of many ghost stories. But I believe once, a
+conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed (beheaded), and
+after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many
+people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him
+when the train passed the spot where he was killed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could
+not afford to hire one, and the colored doctored themselves with herbs,
+teas and salves made by themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HammondCaroline"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--] 11, 1938<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+CAROLINE HAMMOND, A fugitive.<br>
+Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from
+South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave
+woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of
+Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of
+whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household
+help who ate and slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the
+household slaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves did
+not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson's household.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social
+standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson
+entertained on a large scale, especially many of the officers of the
+Naval Academy at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs.
+Davidson's dishes were considered the finest, and to receive an
+invitation from the Davidsons meant that you would enjoy Maryland's
+finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the
+market.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited
+on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons,
+braid and a fancy Test, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him
+now, standing at the door, after he had rung the bell. When the family
+and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to
+serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated with meats,
+fowl or whatever was to be eaten by the family or guest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every
+consideration that he could, with the exception of freeing them; but
+Mrs. Davidson was hard on all the slaves, whenever she had the
+opportunity, driving them at full speed when working, giving different
+food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daughter of one
+of the Revells of the county, a family whose reputation was known all
+over Maryland for their brutality with their slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free
+colored man of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother
+within three years after marriage for $750 dollars and if any children
+were born they were to go with her. My father was a carpenter by trade,
+his services were much in demand. This gave him an opportunity to save
+money. Father often told me that he could save more than half of his
+income. He had plenty of work, doing repair and building, both for the
+white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for
+mother on the partial payment plan. He had paid up all but $40 on
+mother's account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking
+on the South River by one of the duck hunters, dying instantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When
+father wanted to pay off the balance due, $40.00, Mrs. Davidson refused
+to accept it, thus mother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free
+man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was
+endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs,
+constables and officials of public conveyances. By bribery of the
+sheriff of Anne Arundel County father was given a passage to Baltimore
+for mother and me. On arriving in Baltimore, mother, father and I went
+to a white family on Ross Street&mdash;now Druid Hill Ave., where we were
+sheltered by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the
+Underground Railroad.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A reward of $50.00 each was offered for my father, mother and me, one
+by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At
+this time the Hookstown Road was one of the main turnpikes into
+Baltimore. A Mr. Coleman whose brother-in-law lived in Pennsylvania,
+used a large covered wagon to transport merchandise from Baltimore to
+different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived.
+Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawn, by six
+horses. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground in
+any community or close to any settlement, fearful of being apprehended
+by people who were always looking for rewards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After arriving at Hanover, Pennsylvania, it was easy for us to get
+transportation farther north. They made their way to Scranton,
+Pennsylvania, in which place they both secured positions in the same
+family. Father and mother's salary combined was $27.50 per month. They
+stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I was being taught at a Quaker
+mission in Scranton. When we come to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade
+grammar school in South Baltimore. After finishing the grammar school, I
+followed cooking all my life before and after marriage. My husband James
+Berry, who waited at the Howard House, died in 1927&mdash;aged 84. On my next
+birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can
+see well, have an excellent appetite, but my grandchildren will let me
+eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat.
+On Christmas Day 49 children and grandchildren and some
+great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for
+Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts of a poor person not dependant on
+any one else for tomorrow&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HarrisPage"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 13, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+PAGE HARRIS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac
+River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as
+Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and
+trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders
+of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as
+Mississippi and Louisiana.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Sam and mother's Mary, both of whom belonged to
+the Staffords and were reared in Charles County. They reared a family of
+nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the
+rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords
+liberated my parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves
+but because of saving the lives of his entire family.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Stafford came from Prince William County, Virginia, a county on
+the west side of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
+had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and
+oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to
+Quantico, a small town in Prince William County, Va., and up Quantico
+Creek in the same county.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest
+son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in
+the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed
+across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of which
+she was a member. Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the
+boat to capsize. My father was fishing from a log raft in the river,
+immediately went to their rescue. The wind blew the raft towards the
+centre of the stream and in line with the boat. He was able without
+assistance to save the whole family, diving into the river to rescue
+Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and it
+was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream.
+Everybody thought that the Staffords had been drowned as the boat
+floated to the shore, bottom upwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata,
+the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of
+him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
+family to Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
+describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
+bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
+property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
+purpose of Mr. Stafford's living&mdash;raising and training blood hounds. I
+have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
+many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
+slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
+hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
+the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
+sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
+reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
+had charge of the dogs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
+would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
+dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
+being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
+besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
+slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
+slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
+sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
+the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
+they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
+could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
+sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
+and would howl and return home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
+run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
+some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
+condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
+that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
+He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
+sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
+it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in
+the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the
+dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day
+has any idea how he did it; but he did.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the year of 1866 my father returned to Maryland bringing with him
+mother and my brothers and sister. He selected Annapolis for his future
+home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he
+continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or
+1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school
+that was established for colored children and taught by white teacher
+until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy
+waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money,
+sometimes making more than your wages. About 1896 or '97 I purchased a
+farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived
+since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel County is
+noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church,
+Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have
+grown to be men and women, one living home with me, one in New York, two
+in Baltimore, and one working in Washington, D.C.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HensonAnnieYoung"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 27, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+ANNIE YOUNG HENSON, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.</h3>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter
+of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters,
+Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was called Traveler's Rest. The farm so named because a man
+once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for
+something to eat and lodging for the night; both of which was given and
+welcomed by the wayfarer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a
+high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to
+the master, mistress and their guests where they could hear the chant of
+the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves humming some familiar
+tunes that suited their taste, as they worked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built
+about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and
+distinct from the others. It contained two rooms, one up and one down,
+with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the
+kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen
+help for the master, mistress and their guests, and from which each
+slave received his or her weekly ration, about 20 pounds of food each.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the
+kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My position was second nurse for the doctor's family, or one of the
+inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position
+my clothes were made better, and better quality than the others, all
+made and arranged to suit the mistress' taste. I got a few things of
+femine dainty that was discarded by the mistress, but no money nor did
+I have any to spend. During my life as a slave I was whipped only once,
+and that was for a lie that was told on me by the first nurse who was
+jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress' room in a bed that we
+pushed under the mistress' in the day or after I arose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds,
+and men to go with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners
+would send some of their slaves to join ours and we then dividing the
+spoils of the catch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had 60 slaves on the plantation, each family housed in a cabin built
+by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the
+number. For clothes we had good clothes, as we raised sheep, we had our
+own wool, out of which we weaved our cloth, we called the cloth 'box and
+dice'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash
+wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the
+shoe maker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as
+afterward. I was small or young during my slave days, I always heard my
+mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how
+she used to say before she was married, when she saw the doctor coming,
+'here comes old Dr. Nellums'. Another friend she would say 'here comes
+cozen Auckney'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We never had any overseers on the plantation, we had an old colored man
+by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please
+Mistress and Master, obey old Peter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was very large, the slaves worked from sunup to sundown, no
+one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only when proven
+guilty of crime charged.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our master never sold any slaves. We had a six-room house, where the
+slaves entertained and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We
+had no jail on the plantation. We were not taught to read or write, we
+were never told our age.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where
+the slaves worshipped sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours
+and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was
+once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery
+directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of
+the church said to him, 'John, if you don't stop hollowing Amen you
+can't come to church'; he got so full of the Holy Ghost he yelled out
+Amen upon a venture, the congregation was so tickled with him and at his
+antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was my uncle, when the
+Yankees came to Virginia, he ran away with them. He was later captured
+by the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the
+court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen and heard white-cappers, they whipped several colored men
+of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers drilling to go to war.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remember well the day that Dr. Nellum, just as if it were yesterday,
+that we went to the court house to be set free. Dr. Nellum walked in
+front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if
+they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the
+papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed
+there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back
+since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked
+for Mr. Marshall, a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street,
+getting $6.00 per month. I have been told by both white and colored
+people of Virginia who knew Dr. Nellum, he lost his mind.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JacksonSilas"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 29, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+REV. SILAS JACKSON, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born at or near Ashbie's Gap in Virginia, either in the year of
+1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My
+father's name was Sling and mother's Sarah Louis. They were purchased by
+my master from a slave trader in Richmond, Virginia. My father was a man
+of large stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally
+came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think from the Legg estate,
+beyond that I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisters. My
+brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas,
+Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane and
+Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever
+seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a
+Baptist minister like myself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only things I know about my grandparents were: My grandfather ran
+away through the aid of Harriet Tubman and went to Philadelphia and
+saved $350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a Quaker or
+an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried
+to trace this part of my family's past history, but without success.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was a large boy for my age, when I was nine years of age my task
+began and continued until 1864. You see <u>I saw and</u> I was a slave.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Virginia where I was, they raised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm
+products. I have had a taste of all the work on the farm, besides of
+digging and clearing up new ground to increase the acreage to the farm.
+We all had task work to do&mdash;men, women and boys. We began work on Monday
+and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for
+ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or
+work on some one else's place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off
+the plantation, but to be back by nine o'clock on Saturday night or when
+cabin inspection was made. Some time we could earn as much as 50 cents a
+day, which we used to buy cakes, candies, or clothes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black
+strap, 6 pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of
+which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who
+wanted, hunted rabbits, opossums or fished. These were our choice food
+as we did not get anything special from the overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food was cooked by our mothers or sisters and for those who were
+not married by the old women and men assigned for that work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Each family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and
+if a man raised his own food he was given $10.00 at Christmas time
+extra, besides his presents.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the summer or when warm weather came each slave was given something,
+the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin
+shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work
+in. In the cold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing
+cabin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in
+Virginia&mdash;brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him.
+If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would
+have the slave tied to a tree, man or woman, and then would cowhide the
+victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Ashbie's home was a large stone mansion, with a porch on three
+sides. Wide halls in the center up and down stairs, numerous rooms and a
+stone kitchen built on the back connected with dining room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was out.
+The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boys
+and girls of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids
+or private waiter for the young men if they wanted them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said by people in authority, Tom Ashbie owned 9000
+acres of farm land besides of wood land. He was a large slave owner
+having more than 100 slaves on his farm. They were awakened by blowing
+of the horn before sunrise by the overseer, started work at sunrise and
+worked all day to sundown, with not time to go to the cabin for dinner,
+you carried your dinner with you. The slaves were driven at top speed
+and whipped at the snap of the finger, by the overseers, we had four
+overseers on the farm all hired white men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked
+over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie's father went to one of the cabins
+late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard
+one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from
+slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man
+disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the
+swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in
+the cabin praying. When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told
+the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that
+he was going to hell.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a stone building on the farm, it is there today. I saw it
+this summer while visiting in Virginia. The old jail, it is now used as
+a garage. Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the
+whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used
+for women and girls. The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where
+they were. I have never seen slaves sold on the farm, but I have seen
+them taken away, and brought there. Several times I have seen slaves
+chained taken away and chained when they came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves
+who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one
+of the overseers present and have their church. After which the overseer
+would talk. When communion was given the overseer was paid for staying
+there with half of the collection taken up, some time he would get 25&cent;.
+No one could read the Bible. Sandy Jasper, Mr. Ashbie's coachman was the
+preacher, he would go to the white Baptist church on Sunday with family
+and would be better informed because he heard the white preacher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Twice each year, after harvest and after New Year's, the slaves would
+have their protracted meeting or their revival and after each closing
+they would baptize in the creek, sometimes in the winter they would
+break the ice singing <u>Going to the Water</u> or some other hymn of
+that nature. And at each funeral, the Ashbies would attend the service
+conducted in the cabin there the deceased was, from there taken to the
+slave graveyard. A lot dedicated for that purpose, situated about 3/4 of
+a mile from cabins near a hill.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were a number of slaves on our plantation who ran away, some were
+captured and sold to a Georgia trader, others who were never captured.
+To intimidate the slaves, the overseers were connected with the
+patrollers, not only to watch our slaves, but sometimes for the rewards
+for other slaves who had run away from other plantations. This feature
+caused a great deal of trouble between the whites and blacks. In 1858
+two white men were murdered near Warrenton on the road by colored
+people, it was never known whether by free people or slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When work was done the slaves retired to their cabins, some played
+games, others cooked or rested or did what they wanted. We did not work
+on Saturdays unless harvest times, then Saturdays were days of work. At
+other times, on Saturdays you were at leisure to do what you wanted. On
+Christmas day Mr. Ashbie would call all the slaves together, give them
+presents, money, after which they spent the day as they liked. On New
+Year's day we all were scared, that was the time for selling, buying and
+trading slaves. We did not know who was to go or come.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not remember of playing any particular game, my sport was fishing.
+You see I do not believe in ghost stories nor voodooism, I have nothing
+to say. We boys used to take the horns of a dead cow or bull, cut the
+end off of it, we could blow it, some having different notes. We could
+tell who was blowing and from what plantation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When a slave took sick she or he would have to depend on herbs, salves
+or other remedies prepared by someone who knew the medicinal value. When
+a valuable hand took sick one of the overseers would go to Upper Ville
+for a doctor.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JamesJamesCalhart"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-20-37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES CALHART JAMES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James Calhart James, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant
+of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and located
+near Fort Sumter, the fort that was surrendered to the Confederates in
+1851 or the beginning of the Civil War. My mother's name was Lottie
+Virginia James, daughter of an Indian and a slave woman, born on the
+Rapidan River in Virginia about 1823 or 24, I do not know which; she was
+a woman of fine features and very light in complexion with beautiful,
+long black hair. She was purchased by her master and taken to South
+Carolina when about 15 years old. She was the private maid of Mrs.
+Randolph until she died and then continued as housekeeper for her
+master, while there and in that capacity I was born on the Randolph's
+plantation August 23, 1846. I was a half brother to the children of the
+Randolphs, four in number. After I was born mother and I lived in the
+servants' quarters of the big house enjoying many pleasures that the
+other slaves did not: eating and sleeping in the big house, playing and
+associating with my half-brothers and sisters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As for my ancestors I have no recollection of them, the history of the
+Randolphs in Virginia is my background.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father told mother when I became of age, he was going to free me,
+send me north to be educated, but instead I was emancipated. During my
+slave days my father gave me money and good clothes to wear. I bought
+toys and games.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My clothes were good both winter and summer and according to the
+weather.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master was my father; he was kind to me but hard on the field hands
+who worked in the rice fields. My mistress died before I was born. There
+were 3 girls and one boy, they treated me fairly good&mdash;at first or when
+I was small or until they realised their father was my father, then they
+hated me. We lived in a large white frame house containing about 15
+rooms with every luxury of that day, my father being very rich.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard the Randolph plantation contained about 4000 acres and
+about 300 slaves. We had white overseers on the plantation, they worked
+hard producing rice on a very large scale, and late and early. I know
+they were severely punished, especially for not producing the amount of
+work assigned them or for things that the overseers thought they should
+be punished for.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a jail over the rice barn where the slaves were confined,
+especially on Sundays, as punishment for things done during the week.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I could read and write when I was 12 years old. I was taught by. the
+teacher who was the governess for the Randolph children. Mother could
+also read and write. There was no church on the plantation; the slaves
+attended church on the next plantation, where the owner had a large
+slave church, he was a Baptist preacher, I attended the white church
+with the Randolph children. I was generally known and called Jim
+Randolph. I was baptised by the white Baptist minister and christened by
+a Methodist minister.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was little trouble between the white and blacks, you see I was
+one of the children of the house, I never came in contact much with
+other slaves. I was told that the slaves had a drink that was made of
+corn and rice which they drank. The overseers sometimes themselves drank
+it very freely. On holidays and Sundays the slaves had their times, and
+I never knew any difference as I was treated well by my father and did
+not associate with the other slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the year of 1865, I left South Carolina, went to Washington, entered
+Howard University 1868, graduated in 1873, taught schools in Virginia,
+North Carolina and Maryland, retired 1910. Since then I have been
+connected with A.M.E. educational board. Now I am home with my
+granddaughter, a life well spent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One of the songs sung by the slaves on the plantation I can remember a
+part of it. They sang it with great feeling of happiness----</p>
+
+<pre>
+Oh where shall we go when de great day comes
+An' de blowing of de trumpets and de bangins of de drums
+When General Sherman comes.
+No more rice and cotton fields
+We will hear no more crying
+Old master will be sighing.
+</pre>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't remember the tune, people sang it according to their own tune.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JamesMaryMoriah"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 23, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MARY MORIAH ANNE SUSANNA JAMES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sept. 23, 1937, at her home, 618 Haw St., Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Caleb Harris James, and my mother's name was Mary
+Moriah. Both of them were owned by Silas Thornton Randorph, a distant
+relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the picture of Patrick Henry many
+a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and
+two brothers. Two of my sisters were sold to a slave dealer from
+Georgia, one died in 1870. One brother ran away and the other joined the
+Union Army; he died in the Soldiers' Home in Washington in 1932 at the
+age of 84.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How let me ask you, who told you about me? I knew that a stranger was
+coming, my nose has been itching for several days. How about my home
+life in Virginia, we lived on the James River in Virginia, on a farm
+containing more than 8,000 acres, fronting 3-1/2 miles on the river,
+with a landing where boats used to come to load tobacco and unload goods
+for the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The quarters where we lived on the plantation called Randolph Manor
+were built like horse stables that you see on race tracks; they were
+1-1/2 story high, about 25 feet wide, and about 75 feet long, with
+windows in the sides of the roofs. A long shelter on the front and at
+the rear. In front, people would have benches to sit on, and on the back
+were nails to hang pots and pans. Each family would have rooms according
+to the size of the family. There were 8 such houses, 6 for families and
+one for the girls and the other for the boys. In the quarters we had
+furniture made by the overseer and colored carpenters; they would make
+the tables, benches and beds for everybody. Our beds were ticking filled
+with straw and covers made of anything we could get.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a faint recollection of my grandparents. My grandfather was
+sold to a man in South Carolina, to work in the rice field. Grandmother
+drowned herself in the river when she heard that grand-pap was going
+away. I was told that grandpap was sold because he got religious and
+prayed that God would set him and grandma free.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was ten years old I was put to work on the farm with other
+children, picking weeds, stone up and tobacco worms and to do other
+work. We all got new shoes for Christmas, a dress and $2.50 for
+Christmas or suits of clothes. We spent our money at Mr. Randorph's
+store for things that we wanted, but was punished if the money was spent
+at the county seat at other stores.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were allowed fat meat, corn meal, black molasses and vegetables,
+corn and grain to roast for coffee. Mother cooked my food after stopping
+work on the farm for the day, I never ate possum. We would catch rabbits
+in guns or traps and as we lived on the rivers, we ate any kind of fish
+we caught. The men and everybody would go fishing after work. Each
+family had a garden, we raised what we wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As near as I can recall, we had about 150 sheep on the farm, producing
+our own wool. The old women weaved clothes; we had woolen clothes in the
+winter and cotton clothes in the summer. On Sunday we wore the clothes
+given to us at Christmas time and shoes likewise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was married on the farm 1863 and married my same husband by a Baptist
+preacher in 1870 as I was told I had not been legally married. I was
+married in the dress given to me at Christmas of 1862. I did not get one
+in 1863.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Silas Randolph was a mean man to his slaves, especially when drunk.
+He and the overseer would always be together, each of whom carried a
+whip, and upon the least provocation would whip his slaves. My mistress
+was not as mean as my master, but she was mean There was only one son in
+the Randolph family. He went to a military school somewhere in Virginia.
+I don't know the name. He was captured by the Union soldiers. I never
+saw him until after the war, when he came home with one arm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The overseer lived on the farm. He was the brother of Mrs. Randolph. He
+would whip men and women and children if he thought they were not
+working fast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The plantation house was a large brick house over-looking the river
+from a hill, a porch on three sides, two-stories and attic. In the attic
+slept the house servants and coachman. We did not come in contact with
+the white people very much. Our place was away from the village.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were 8,000 acres to the plantation, with more than 150 slaves on
+it. I do not know the time slaves woke up, but everybody was at work at
+sunrise and worked to sundown. The slaves were whipped for not working
+fast or anything that suited the fancy of the master or overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen slaves sold on the farm and I have seen slaves brought to
+the farm. The slaves were brought up the river in boats and unloaded at
+the landing, some crying and some seem to be happy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one was taught to read or write. There was no church on the farm. No
+one was allowed to read the Bible or anything else.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said that the Randolph's lost more slaves by running
+away than anyone in the county. The patrollers were many in the county;
+they would whip any colored person caught off the place after night.
+Whenever a man wanted to run away he would go with someone else, either
+from the farm or from some other farm, hiding in the swamps or along the
+river, making their way to some place where they thought would be safe,
+sometimes hiding on trains leaving Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves, after going to their quarters, cooked, rested or did what
+they wanted. Saturdays was no different from Monday.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On Christmas morning all the slaves would go up to the porch, get the
+$2.50, shoes and clothes, go back to the cabins and do what they wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On New Year's Day everybody was scared as that was the day that slaves
+were taken away or brought to the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have asked about stories, I will tell you one I know. It is true.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the war one day some Union soldiers came to the farm looking for
+Rebels. There were a number of them in the woods near the landing; they
+had come across the river in boats. At night while the Union soldiers
+were at the landing, they were fired on by the Rebels. The Union
+soldiers went after them, killed ten, caught I think six and some were
+drowned in the river. Among the six was the overseer, and from that
+night people have heard shooting and seen soldiers. One night many years
+after the Civil War, while visiting a friend who now lives within 500
+feet from the landing where the fighting took place, there appeared some
+soldiers carrying a man out of the woods whom I recognized as being the
+overseer. He had been seen hundreds of times by other people. White
+people will tell you the same thing. I will tell you for sure this is
+true.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You must excuse me I wanted to see some friends this evening.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JohnsonPhillip"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+9/14/37<br>
+Guthrie<br>
+<br>
+PHILLIP JOHNSON, An Ex-Slave.<br>
+Ref: Phillip Johnson, R.F.D. Poolesville, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>The subject of this sketch is a pure blooded Negro, whose kinky hair is
+now white, likewise his scraggy beard. He is of medium size and somewhat
+stooped with age, but still active enough to plant and tend a patch of
+corn and the chores about his little place at Sugarlands. His home is a
+small cabin with one or two rooms upstairs and three down, including the
+kitchen which is a leanto. The cabin is in great disrepair.</p>
+
+<p>Phillip John is above the average in intelligence, has some education
+and is quite well versed in the Holy Scriptures, having been for many
+years a Methodist preacher among his people. He uses fairly good English
+and freely talks in answer to questions. Without giving the questions
+put to him by this writer, his remarks given in the first person and as
+near his own idiom are as follows:</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be ninety years old next December. I dunno the day. My Missis had
+the colored folks ages written in a book but it was destroyed when the
+Confederate soldiers came through. But she had a son born two or three
+months younger than me and she remember that I was born in December,
+1847, but she had forgot the day of the month.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born down on the river bottom about four miles below Edwards'
+Ferry, on the Eight Mile Level, between Edwards' Ferry and Seneca. I
+belonged to ole Doctah White. He owned a lot o' lan down on de bottom. I
+dunno his first name. Everybody called him Doctah White. Yes, he was
+related to Doctah Elijah White. All the Whites in Montgomery County is
+related. Yes sah, Doctah White was good to his slaves. Yes sah, he had
+many slaves. I dunno how many. My Missis took me away from de bottom
+when I was a little boy, 'cause de overseer he was so cruel to me. Yes
+sah he was <u>mean</u>. I promised him a killin if ever I got big
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all liked the Missis. Everybody in dem days used to ride horseback.
+She would come ridin her horse down to de bottom with a great big basket
+of biscuits. We thought they were fine. We all glad to see de Missis a
+comin. We always had plenty to eat, such as it was. We had coarse food
+but there was plenty of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The white folks made our clothes for us. They made linsey for the woman
+and woolen cloth for de men. They gave clothes sufficient to keep em
+warm. The men had wool clothes with brass buttons that had shanks on em.
+They looked good when they were new. They had better clothes then than
+most of us have now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They raised mostly corn an oats an wheat down on de river bottom in
+those days. They didn't raise tobacco. But I've heard say that they used
+to raise it long before I was born. They cut grain with cradles in dem
+days. They had a lot 'o men and would slay a lot 'o wheat in a day. It
+was pretty work to see four or five cradlers in a field and others
+following them raking the wheat in bunches and others following binding
+them in bundles. The first reapers that came were called Dorsey reapers.
+They cut the grain and bunched it. It was then bound by hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When my Missis took me away from the river bottom I lived in
+Poolesville where the Kohlhoss home and garage is. I worked around the
+house and garden. I remember when the Yankee and Confederate soldiers
+both came to Poolesville. Capn Sam White (son of the doctor) he join the
+Confederate in Virginia. He come home and say he goin to take me along
+back with him for to serve him. But the Yankees came and he left very
+sudden and leave me behind. I was glad I didn't have to go with him. I
+saw all that fightin around Poolesville. I used to like to watch em
+fightin. I saw a Yankee soldier shoot a Confederate and kill him. He
+raised his gun twice to shoot but he kept dodgin around the house an he
+didn' want to shoot when he might hit someone else. When he ran from the
+house he shot him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes sah, them Confederates done more things around here than the
+Yankees did. I remember once during the war they came to town. It was
+Sunday morning an I was sittin in the gallery of the ole brick Methodist
+church. One of them came to de door and he pointed his pistol right at
+that preacher's head. The gallery had an outside stairs then. I ran to
+de door to go down de stairs but there was another un there pointing his
+gun and they say don't nobody leave dis building. The others they was a
+cleanin up all the hosses and wagons round the church. The one who was
+guarding de stairs, he kept a lookin to see if dey was done cleaning up
+de hosses, and when he wasn't watching I slip half way down de stairs,
+an when he turn his back I jump down and run. When he looks he jus
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father he lived to be eighty nine. He died right here in this house
+and he's buried over by the church. His name was Sam. They called my
+mother Willie Ann. She died when I was small. I had three brothers and
+one sister. My father married again and had seven or eight other
+children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've had eleven children; five livin, six dead. I've been preaching for
+forty years and I have seen many souls saved. I don't preach regular
+anymore but once in a while I do. I have preached in all these little
+churches around here. I preached six years at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The
+presidin elder he wants me to go there. The man that had left there jus
+tore that church up. I went up there one Sunday and I didn't see
+anything that I could do. I think I'm not able for this. I said they
+needs a more experienced preacher than me. But the presidin elder keeps
+after me to go there and I says, well, I go for one year. Next thing it
+was the same thing. I stays on another year and so on for six years.
+When I left there that church was in pretty good shape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think preaching the gospel is the greatest work in the world. But
+folks don't seem to take the interest in church that they used to.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JonesGeorge"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 30, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+GEORGE JONES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with George Jones, Ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853. My
+father's name was Henry and mother's Jane; brothers Dave, Joe, Henry,
+John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father and mother were
+slaves, but I do not recall to whom they belonged. I remember my
+grandparents.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father used to tell me how he would hide in the hay stacks at night,
+because he was whipped and treated badly by his master who was rough and
+hard-boiled on his slaves. Many a time the owner of the slaves and farm
+would come to the cabins late at night to catch the slaves in their
+dingy little hovels, which were constructed in cabin fashion and of
+stone and logs with their typical windows and rooms of one room up and
+one down with a window in each, the fireplaces built to heat and cook
+for occupants.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was like all other farms in Frederick County, raising grain,
+such as corn, wheat and fruit and on which work was seasonable,
+depending upon the weather, some seasons producing more and some less.
+When the season was good for the crop and crops plentiful, we had a
+little money as the plantation owner gave us some to spend.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When hunting came, especially in the fall and winter, the weather was
+cold, I have often heard say father speak of rabbit, opossum and coon
+hunting and his dogs. You know in Frederick County there are plenty of
+woods, streams and places to hunt, giving homes and hiding places for
+such game.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We dressed to meet the weather condition and wore shoes to suit rough
+traveling through woods and up and down the hills of the country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In my boyhood days, my father never spoke much of my master, only in
+the term I have expressed before, or the children, church, the poor
+white people in the neighborhood or the farm, their mode of living,
+social condition. I will say this in conclusion, the white people of
+Frederick County as a whole were kind towards the colored people and are
+today, very little race friction one way or the other.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="LewisAlice"></a>
+<h3>Ellen B. Warfield<br>
+May 18, 1937<br>
+<br>
+ALICE LEWIS.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>(Alice Lewis, ex-slave, 84, years old, in charge of sewing-room at
+Provident Hospital (Negro), Baltimore. Tall, slender, erect, her head
+crowned by abundant snow white wool, with a fine carriage and an air of
+poise mud self respect good to behold, Alice belies her 84 years.)</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm, I was born in slavery, I don't look it, but I was! Way down in
+Wilkes County, Georgia, nigh to a little town named Washington which
+ain't so far from Augusta. My pappy, he belong to the Alexanders, and my
+mammy, she belong to the Wakefiel' plantation and we all live with the
+Wakefiel's. No <u>ma'am</u>, none of the Wakefiel' niggers ever run
+away. They was too well off! They knew who they friends was! <u>My</u>
+white folkses was good to their niggers! Them was the days when we had
+good food and it didn't cost nothing&mdash;chickens and hogs and garden
+truck. Saturdays was the day we got our 'lowance for the week, and lemme
+tell you, they didn't stint us none. The best in the land was what we
+had, jest what the white folkses had.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Clothes? yes'm. We had two suits of clothes, a winter suit and a summer
+suit and two pairs of shoes, a winter pair and a summer pair. Yes'm, my
+mammy, she spin the cotton, yes'm picked right on the plantation, yes'm,
+cotton picking was fun, believe me! As I was saying, Mammy she spin and
+she wears the cloth, and she cut it out and she make our clothes. That's
+where I git my taste to sew, I reckon. When I first come to Baltimore, I
+done dressmaking, 'deed I did. I sewed for the best fam'lies in this
+yere town. I sewed for the Howards and the Slingluffs and the
+Jenkinses. Jest the other day, I met Miss C'milla down town and she say.
+'Alice, ain' this you? and I say, 'Law me, Miss C'milla', and 'she say,
+'Alice, why don' you come to see Mother? She ain' been so well&mdash;she love
+to see you....'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as I was a saying, we didn't work so hard, them days. We got up
+early, 'cause the fires had to be lighted to make the house warm for the
+white folks, but in them days, dinner was in the middle of the day&mdash;the
+quality had theirs at twelve o'clock&mdash;and they had a light supper at
+five and when we was through, we was through, and free to go the
+quarters and set around and smoke a pipe and rest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm they taught us to read and write. Sunday afternoons, my young
+mistresses used to teach the pickaninnies to read the Bible. Yes'm we
+was free to go to see the niggers on other plantations but we had to
+have a pass an' we was checked in an' out. No'm, I ain't never seen no
+slaves sold, nor none in chains, and I ain't never seen no Ku Kluxers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I live with the Wakefiel's till I was 'leven and then Marse Wakefiel'
+give me to my young mistress when she married and went to North Carolina
+to live. And 'twas in North Carolina that I seed Sherman, 'deed I did! I
+seed Sherman and his sojers, gathering up all the hogs and all the
+hosses, and all the cows and all the little cullud chillen. Them was
+drefful days! These is drefful days, too. Old man Satan, he sure am on
+earth now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm, I believes in ghos'ses. I ain't never seed 'em but I is feel
+'em. I live once in a house where a man was killed. I lie in my bed and
+they close in on me! No'm, I ain't afraid. The landlord say when I move
+out, 'you is stay there longer than anybody I ever had.' 'Nother house
+I live in (this was in North Carolina too), it had been a gamblin'
+house and it had hants. On rainy nights, I'd lie awake and hear &quot;drip,
+drip ... drip, drip....&quot; What was that? Why, that was the blood a
+dripping ... Why on rainy night? Why, on rainy nights, the blood gets
+a little fresh...!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="LewisPerry"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 4, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+PERRY LEWIS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born on Kent Island, Md. about 86 years ago. My father's name was
+Henry and mother's Louise. I had one brother John, who was killed in the
+Civil War at the Deep Bottom, one sister as I can remember. My father
+was a freeman and my mother a slave, owned by Thomas Tolson, who owned a
+small farm on which I was born in a log cabin, with two rooms, one up
+and one down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As you know the mother was the owner of the children that she brought
+into the world. Mother being a slave made me a slave. She cooked and
+worked on the farm, ate whatever was in the farmhouse and did her share
+of work to keep and maintain the Tolsons. They being poor, not having a
+large place or a number of slaves to increase their wealth, made them
+little above the free colored people and with no knowledge, they could
+not teach me or any one else to read.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know the Eastern Shore of Maryland was in the most productive slave
+territory and where farming was done on a large scale; and in that part
+of Maryland where there were many poor people and many of whom were
+employed as overseers, you naturally heard of patrollers and we had them
+and many of them. I have heard that patrollers were on Kent Island and
+the colored people would go out in the country on the roads, create a
+disturbance to attract the patrollers' attention. They would tie ropes
+and grape vines across the roads, so when the patrollers would come to
+the scene of the disturbance on horseback and at full tilt, they would
+be throwing those who would come in contact with the rope or vine off
+the horse; sometimes badly injuring the riders. This would create hatred
+between the slaves, the free people, the patrollers and other white
+people who were concerned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In my childhood days I played marbles, this was the only game I
+remember playing. As I was on a small farm, we did not come in contact
+much with other children, and heard no children's songs. I therefore do
+not recall the songs we sang.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not remember being sick but I have heard mother say, when she or
+her children were sick, the white doctor who attended the Tolsons
+treated us and the only herbs I can recall were life-everlasting boneset
+and woodditney, from each of which a tea could be made.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is about all I can recall.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="MacksRichard"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 7, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+RICHARD MACKS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Charles County in Southern Maryland in the year of 1844.
+My father's name was William (Bill) and Mother's Harriet Mack, both of
+whom were born and reared in Charles County&mdash;the county that James
+Wilkes Booth took refuge in after the assassination of President Lincoln
+in 1865. I had one sister named Jenny and no brothers: let me say right
+here it was God's blessing I did not. Near Bryantown, a county center
+prior to the Civil War as a market for tobacco, grain and market for
+slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Bryantown there were several stores, two or three taverns or inns
+which were well known in their days for their hospitality to their
+guests and arrangements to house slaves. There were two inns both of
+which had long sheds, strongly built with cells downstairs for men and a
+large room above for women. At night the slave traders would bring their
+charges to the inns, pay for their meals, which were served on a long
+table in the shed, then afterwards, they were locked up for the night.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I lived with my mother, father and sister in a log cabin built of log
+and mud, having two rooms; one with a dirt floor and the other above,
+each room having two windows, but no glass. On a large farm or
+plantation owned by an old maid by the name of Sally McPherson on
+McPherson Farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a small boy and later on, until I was emancipated, I worked on the
+farm doing farm work, principally in the tobacco fields and in the woods
+cutting timber and firewood. I slept on a home-made bed or bunk, while
+my mother and sister slept in a bed made by father on which they had a
+mattress made by themselves and filled with straw, while dad slept on a
+bench beside the bed and that he used in the day as a work bench,
+mending shoes for the slaves and others. I have seen mother going to the
+fields each day like other slaves to do her part of the farming. I being
+considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the
+field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people
+some of whom gave me a few pennies. By this method I earned some money
+which I gave to my mother. I once found a gold dollar, that was the
+first dollar I ever had in my life.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and
+vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats; and
+fish we caught out of the creeks and streams.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and
+opossum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off. If my
+father said: 'Ruler, take his hat off!', he would jump up and grab your
+hat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a section of the farm that the slaves were allowed to farm for
+themselves, my mistress would let them raise extra food for their own
+use at nights. My father was the colored overseer, he had charge of the
+entire plantation and continued until he was too old to work, then
+mother's brother took it over, his name was Caleb.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryansville town.
+Some would be chained, some handcuffed, and others not. These slaves
+were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at
+Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slave traders would buy young and able farm men and well-developed
+young girls with fine physiques to barter and sell. They would bring
+them to the taverns where there would be the buyers and traders, display
+them and offer them for sale. At one of these gatherings a colored girl,
+a mulatto of fine stature and good looks, was put on sale. She was of
+high spirits and determined disposition. At night she was taken by the
+trader to his room to satisfy his bestial nature. She could not be
+coerced or forced by him [TR: 'by him' lined out] so she was attacked by
+him. In the struggle she grabbed a knife and with it, she
+sterilized[HW:?] him and from the result of injury he died the next day.
+She was charged with murder. Gen. Butler, hearing of it, sent troops to
+Charles County to protect her, they brought her to Baltimore, later she
+was taken to Washington where she was set free. She married a Government
+employe, reared a family of 3 children, one is a doctor practicing
+medicine in Baltimore and the other a retired school teacher, you know
+him well if I were to tell you who the doctor is. This attack was the
+result of being goodlooking, for which many a poor girl in Charles
+County paid the price. There are several cases I could mention, but they
+are distasteful to me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A certain slave would not permit this owner to whip him, who with
+overseer and several others overpowered the slave, tied him, put him
+across a hogshead and whipped him severely for three mornings in
+succession. Some one notified the magistrate at Bryantown of the
+brutality. He interfered in the treatment of this slave, threatening
+punishment. He was untied, he ran away, was caught by the constable,
+returned to his owner, melted sealing wax was poured over his back on
+the wounds inflicted by him, when whipping, the slave ran away again and
+never was caught.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a doctor in the neighborhood who bought a girl and installed
+her on the place for his own use, his wife hearing of it severely beat
+her. One day her little child was playing in the yard. It fell head down
+in a post hole filled with water and drowned. His wife left him;
+afterward she said it was an affliction put on her husband for his sins.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During hot weather we wore thin woolen clothes, the material being made
+on the farm from the wool of our sheep, in the winter we wore thicker
+clothes made on the farm by slaves, and for shoes our measures were
+taken of each slave with a stick, they were brought to Baltimore by the
+old mistress at the beginning of each season, if she or the one who did
+the measuring got the shoe too short or too small you had to wear it or
+go barefooted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were never taught to read or write by white people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had to go to the white church, sit in the rear, many times on the
+floor or stand up. We had a colored preacher, he would walk 10 miles,
+then walk back. I was not a member of church. We had no baptising, we
+were christened by the white preacher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a graveyard on the place. Whites were buried inside of railing
+and the slaves on the outside. The members of the white family had
+tombstones, the colored had headstones and cedar post to show where they
+were buried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Charles County and in fact all of Southern Maryland tobacco was
+raised on a large scale. Men, women and children had to work hard to
+produce the required crops. The slaves did the work and they were driven
+at full speed sometimes by the owners and others by both owner and
+overseers. The slaves would run away from the farms whenever they had a
+chance, some were returned and others getting away. This made it very
+profitable to white men and constables to capture the runaways. This
+caused trouble between the colored people and whites, especially the
+free people, as some of them would be taken for slaves. I had heard of
+several killings resulting from fights at night.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One time a slave ran away and was seen by a colored man, who was
+hunting, sitting on a log eating some food late in the night. He had a
+corn knife with him. When his master attempted to hit him with a whip,
+he retaliated with the knife, splitting the man's breast open, from
+which he died. The slave escaped and was never captured. The white
+cappers or patrollers in all of the counties of Southern Maryland
+scoured the swamps, rivers and fields without success.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me explain to you very plain without prejudice one way or the
+other, I have had many opportunities, a chance to watch white men and
+women in my long career, colored women have many hard battles to fight
+to protect themselves from assault by employers, white male servants or
+by white men, many times not being able to protect, in fear of losing
+their positions. Then on the other hand they were subjected to many
+impositions by the women of the household through woman's jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remember well when President Buchanan was elected, I was a large
+boy. I came to Baltimore when General Grant was elected, worked in a
+livery stable for three years, three years with Dr. Owens as a waiter
+and coachman, 3 years with Mr. Thomas Winanson Baltimore Street as a
+butler, 3 years with Mr. Oscar Stillman of Boston, then 11 years with
+Mr. Robert Garrett on Mt. Vernon Place as head butler, after which I
+entered the catering business and continued until about twelve years
+ago. In my career I have had the opportunity to come in contact with the
+best white people and the most cultured class in Maryland and those
+visiting Baltimore. This class is about gone, now we have a new group,
+lacking the refinement, the culture and taste of those that have gone
+by.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was a small boy I used to run races with other boys, play
+marbles and have jumping contests.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At nights the slaves would go from one cabin to the other, talk, dance
+or play the fiddle or sing. Christmas everybody had holidays, our
+mistress never gave presents. Saturdays were half-day holidays unless
+planting and harvest times, then we worked all day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the slaves took sick or some woman gave birth to a child, herbs,
+salves, home liniments were used or a midwife or old mama was the
+attendant, unless severe sickness Miss McPherson would send for the
+white doctor, that was very seldom.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="RandallTom"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 21, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+TOM RANDALL, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, Oella, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a
+shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road&mdash;the name then, I do
+not know. My mother's name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do
+not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I
+have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the cook at the Howard
+House; she was permitted to keep me with her. When I could remember
+things, I remember eating out of the skillets, pots and pans, after she
+had fried chicken, game or baked in them, always leaving something for
+me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how I used to carry wood
+in the kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and
+the leaves and tops of other plants.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a colored man by the name of Joe Nick, called Old Nick by a
+great many white people of me city. Joe was owned by Rueben Rogers, a
+lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2-1/2
+miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the leading street
+of Ellicott City. They never called me anything but Tomy or Randy, other
+people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of Ellicott City, was my
+father.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother was owned by a man by the name of O'Brien, a saloon or tavern
+keeper of the town. He conducted a saloon in Ellicott City for a long
+time until he became manager, or operator, of the Howard House of
+Ellicott City, a larger hotel and tavern in the city. Mother was a fine
+cook, especially of fowl and game. The Howard House was the gathering
+place of the formers, lawyers and business men of Howard and Frederick
+Counties and people of Baltimore who had business in the courts of
+Howard County and people of western Maryland on their way to Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Joe could read and write and was a good mechanic and wheelright. These
+accomplishments made him very valuable to Rogers' farm, as wagons,
+buggies, carriages, plows and other vehicles and tools had to be made
+and repaired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was about eight or nine years old Joe ran away, everybody saying
+to join the Union Army. Joe Nick drove a pair of horses, hitched to a
+covered wagon, to Ellicott City. The horses were found, but no Nick,
+Rogers offered a reward of $100.00 for the return of Nick. This offer
+drew to Ellicott City a number of people who had bloodhounds that were
+trained to hunt Negroes&mdash;some coming from Anne Arundel, Baltimore,
+Howard and counties of southern Maryland, each owner priding his pack as
+being the best pack in the town. They all stopped at the Howard House,
+naturally drinking, treating their friends and each other, they all
+discussed among themselves the reward and their packs of hounds, each
+one saying that his pack was the best. This boasting was backed by cash.
+Some cash, plus the reward on their hounds. In the meantime Old Joe was
+thinking, not boasting, but was riding the rail.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Joe left Ellicott City on a freight train, going west, which he
+hopped when it was stalled on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a short
+distance from the railroad station at Ellicott City. Old Joe could not
+leave on the passenger trains, as no Negro would be allowed on the
+trains unless he had a pass signed by his master or a free Negro, and
+had his papers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At dawn the hunters left the Howard House with the packs, accompanied
+by many friends and people who joined up for the sport of the chase.
+They went to Rogers' farm where the dogs were taken in packs to Nick's
+quarters so they could get the odor and scent of Nick. They had a
+twofold purpose, one to get the natural scent, the other was, if Old
+Nick had run away, he might come back at night to get some personal
+belongings, in that way the direction he had taken would be indicated by
+the scent and the hounds would soon track him down. The hounds were
+unleashed, each hunter going in a different direction without result.
+Then they circled the farm, some going 5 miles beyond the farm without
+result. After they had hunted all day they returned to the Howard House
+where they regaled themselves in pleasures of the hotel for the evening.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In June of 1865 Old Nick returned to Ellicott City dressed in a uniform
+of blue, showing that he had joined the Federal Army. Mr. Rueben Rogers
+upon seeing him had him arrested, charging him with being a fugitive
+slave. He was confined in the jail there and held until the U.S. Marshal
+of Baltimore released him, arresting Rogers and bringing him to
+Baltimore City where he was reprimanded by the Federal Judge. This story
+is well known by the older people of Howard County and traditionally
+known by the younger generation of Ellicott City, and is called 'Old
+Nick: Rogers' lemon.'&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="SimmsDennis"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 28, 1937<br>
+Stansbury<br>
+<br>
+DENNIS SIMMS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Dennis Simms, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland,
+June 17, 1841, Dennis Simms, Negro ex-slave, 628 Mosher Street,
+Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a
+hundred years old.</p>
+
+<p>He has one brother living, George Simms, of South River, Maryland, who
+was born July 18, 1849. Both of them were born on the Contee tobacco
+plantation, owned by Richard and Charles Contee, whose forbears were
+early settlers in the State.</p>
+
+<p>Simms always carries a rabbit's foot, to which he attributes his good
+health and long life. He has been married four times since he gained his
+freedom. His fourth wife, Eliza Simms, 67 years old, is now in the
+Providence Hospital, suffering from a broken hip she received in a fall.
+The aged Negro recalls many interesting and exciting incidents of
+slavery days. More than a hundred slaves worked on the plantation, some
+continuing to work for the Contee brothers when they were set free. It
+was a pretty hard and cruel life for the darkeys, declares the Negro.</p>
+
+<p>Describing the general conditions of Maryland slaves, he said: &quot;We would
+work from sunrise to sunset every day except Sundays and on New Year's
+Day. Christmas made little difference at Contee, except that we were
+given extra rations of food then. We had to toe the mark or be flogged
+with a rawhide whip, and almost every day there was from two to ten
+thrashings given on the plantations to disobedient Negro slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we behaved we were not whipped, but the overseer kept a pretty
+close eye on us. We all hated what they called the 'nine ninety-nine',
+usually a flogging until fell over unconscious or begged for mercy. We
+stuck pretty close to the cabins after dark, for if we were caught
+roaming about we would be unmercifully whipped. If a slave was caught
+beyond the limits of the plantation where he was employed, without the
+company of a white person or without written permit of his master, any
+person who apprehended him was permitted to give him 20 lashes across
+the bare back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If a slave went on another plantation without a written permit from his
+master, on lawful business, the owner of the plantation would usually
+give the offender 10 lashes. We were never allowed to congregate after
+work, never went to church, and could not read or write for we were kept
+in ignorance. We were very unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were apprehended by the patrollers,
+who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged,
+would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with the letter 'R'.&quot;
+Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded.</p>
+
+<p>Simms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland
+enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut
+off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the
+body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of
+the county where the act was committed. He said that the slaves pretty
+well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of
+dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with
+huge stone chimneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty
+tired after their long day's work in the field. Sometimes we would,
+unbeknown to our master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and
+spirituals. Our favorite spirituals were&mdash;<u>Bringin' in de sheaves</u>,
+<u>De Stars am shinin' for us all</u>, <u>Hear de Angels callin'</u>,
+and <u>The Debil has no place here</u>. The singing was usually to the
+accompaniment of a Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo. In summer the slaves
+went without shoes and wore three-quarter checkered baggy pants, some
+wearing only a long shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes,
+much too large. In winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep
+out the cold. We called them 'Program' shoes. We had no money to spend,
+in fact did not know the value of money.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap molasses and a red
+herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from our master or
+overseer, we would go hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie
+would be a real treat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared
+the patrollers. As a rule most slaves were lazy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Simms' work at Contee was to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires
+and sometimes work in the field.</p>
+
+<p>He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inauguration of
+Lincoln after he was set free.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="TaylorJim"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+12/6/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JIM TAYLOR (UNCLE JIM), Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels
+about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan's father knew me well as I worked for him
+for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both
+were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small
+boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while
+the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and
+the small rivers on the Eastern Shore. Mr. Davis bought able-bodied
+colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say
+about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the Captain, there were
+from 6 to 10 men used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess
+boy, than on the sail boats.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at
+Havre de Grace engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to
+St. Michaels. It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace.
+Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 5th, before we could start
+towards St. Michaels.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that
+night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and
+go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy). They ran the tug across the bay
+to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there they beached the tug on the north
+side, followed a stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After
+traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated on a large
+farm which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the county. The
+sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping man seized
+the sheriff from the rear, after he was thrown they tied him, then they
+continued on a road towards Pennsylvania. They reached Pennsylvania
+about dawn. After they had gone some distance in Pennsylvania three men
+with guns overtook them; but five men and one woman of Pennsylvania with
+guns and clubs stopped them. In the meantime the sheriff and two of his
+deputies come up. The sheriff said he had to hold them for the
+authorities of the county. They were taken by the sheriff from the three
+men, carried about 15 miles further in Pennsylvania and then were told
+to go to Chester where they would be safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davis came to Chester with Mr. Tuttle to claim the escaping slaves.
+They were badly beaten, Mr. Tuttle receiving a fractured skull. There
+were several white men in Chester who were very much interested in
+colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia. After arriving
+in Philadelphia, we went to Allen's mission, a colored church that
+helped escaping slaves. I stayed in Philadelphia until I was about 19
+years old, then all the colored people were free. I returned to Talbot,
+there remained until 1904, came to Baltimore where I secured a job with
+James Hitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two
+horses each and sometimes by three and four horses. Mr. Hitchens' office
+and warehouse were on North Street near Pleasant. I stayed there with
+Mr. Hitchens until he sold his business to Mr. O. Farror after he had
+taken sick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In March I will be 90 years old. I have been sick three times in my
+life. I am, and have been a member of North Street Baptist Church for
+thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married
+twice and a grandfather of twenty-three granddaughters and grandsons and
+forty-five great grand-children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;While in Philadelphia I attended free school for colored children
+conducted at Allen's Mission; when I returned to Talbot county I was in
+the sixth grade or the sixth reader. Since then I have always been fond
+of reading. My favored books are the <u>Bible</u>, Bunyan's <u>Pilgrim's
+Progress</u>, <u>Uncle Tom's Cabin</u>, the lives of Napoleon, Frederick
+Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and church magazines and the
+Afro-American.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="WigginsJames"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-22-37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES WIGGINS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James Wiggins, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 625 Barre St.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Anne Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850
+or 1851, I do not know which. I do not know my father or mother. Peter
+Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my
+father's name was Wiggins. He said that he was one of the Revells'
+slaves. He acquired my father at an auction sale held in Baltimore at a
+high price from a trader who had an office on Pratt Street about 1845.
+He was given a wife by Mr. Revell and as a result of this union I was
+born. My father was a carpenter by trade, he was hired out to different
+farmers by Mr. Revell to repair and build barns, fences and houses. I
+have been told that my father could read and write. Once he was charged
+with writing passes for some slaves in the county, as a result of this
+he was given 15 lashes by the sheriff of the county, immediately
+afterwards he ran away, went to Philadelphia, where he died while
+working to save money to purchase mother's freedom, through a white
+Baptist minister in Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was called &quot;Gingerbread&quot; by the Revells. They reared me until I
+reached the age of about nine or ten years old. My duty was to put logs
+on the fireplaces in the Revells' house and work around the house. I
+remember well when I was taken to Annapolis, how I used to dance in the
+stores for men and women, they would give me pennies and three cent
+pieces, all of which was given to me by the Revells. They bought me
+shoes and clothes with the money collected.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Revell died in 1861 or 62. The sheriff and men came from Annapolis,
+sold the slaves, stock and other chattels. I was purchased by a Mr.
+Mayland, who kept a store in Annapolis. I was sold by him to a slave
+trader to be shipped to Georgia. I was brought to Baltimore, and was
+jailed in a small house on Paca near Lombard. The trader was buying
+other slaves to make a load. I escaped through the aid of a German
+shoemaker, who sold shoes to owners for slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The German shoeman had a covered wagon, I was put in the wagon covered
+by boxes, taken to a house on South Sharp Street and there kept until a
+Mr. George Stone took me to Frederick City where I stayed until 1863,
+when Mr. Stone, a member of the Lutheran church, had me christened
+giving me the name of James Wiggins. This is how I got the name of
+Wiggins, after my father, instead of Gingerbread, through the
+investigation and the information given by Mr. Brooks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know the Revells are well known in Anne Arundel County, consisting
+of a large family, each family a large property owner. I can't say how
+many acres were owned by Jim Revell, he was a general farmer having a
+few slaves, you see I was a small boy. I can't answer all the questions
+you want.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were a great many people in Anne Arundel who did not believe in
+slavery and many free colored people. These conditions caused conflicts
+between the free colored who many times were charged with aiding the
+slaves and the whites who were not favorably impressed with slavery and
+the others who believed in slavery. As a result, the patrollers were
+numerous. I remember of seeing Jim Revell coming home very much battered
+and beaten up as a result of an encounter with a number of free people
+and white people and those who were members of the patrollers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a child I was very fond of dancing, especially the jig and buck. I
+made money as I stated before, I played children's plays of that time,
+top, marbles and another game we called skinny. Skinny was a game played
+on trees and grape vines.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a boy I was very healthy, I never had a doctor until I was over 50
+years old. I don't know anything about the medical treatment of that
+day, you never need medicine unless you are ailing and I never ailed.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="WilliamsRezin"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 27, 1937<br>
+Stansbury<br>
+<br>
+&quot;PARSON&quot; REZIN WILLIAMS, ex-slave.</h3>
+<br>
+<h4>References:<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore Morning Sun, December 10, 1928.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Registration Books of Board of Election Supervisors<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore Court House.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Personal interviews with
+&quot;Parson&quot; Rezin Williams,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+on Thursday afternoon, September 18 and 24, 1937,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+at his home, 2610 Pierpont Street, Mount Winans,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+Baltimore, Md.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol 1 (1906), p. 56.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Buchholz: <u>Governors of Maryland</u>&mdash;pp. 57-63, 192-167.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(P.L.G. 28 B 92.)</h4>
+
+
+&quot;Parson&quot; Williams----<br>
+<br>
+Oldest living Negro Civil War veteran; now 116 years old.<br>
+<br>
+Oldest registered voter in Maryland and said to be the oldest<br>
+&quot;freeman&quot; in the United States.<br>
+<br>
+Said to be oldest member of Negro family in America with sister<br>
+and brother still living, more than a century old.<br>
+<br>
+Father worked for George Washington.<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>In 1864 when the State Constitution abolished slavery and freed about
+83,000 Negro slaves in Maryland, there was one, &quot;Parson&quot; Rezin Williams,
+already a freeman. He is now living at the age of 116 years, in
+Baltimore City, Maryland, credited with being the oldest of his race in
+the United States who served in the Civil War.</p>
+
+<p>He was born March 11, 1822, at &quot;Fairview&quot;, near Bowie, Prince Georges
+County, Maryland&mdash;a plantation of 1000 acres, then belonging to Governor
+Oden Bowie's father. &quot;Parson&quot; Williams' father, Rezin Williams, a
+freeman, was born at &quot;Mattaponi&quot;, near Nottingham, Prince Georges
+County, the estate of Robert Bowie of Revolutionary War fame, friend of
+Washington and twice Governor of Maryland. The elder Rezin Williams
+served the father of our country as a hostler at Mount Vernon, where he
+worked on Washington's plantation during the stormy days of the
+Revolution.</p>
+
+<p>There is perhaps nowhere to be found a more picturesque and interesting
+character of the colored race than &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, who, besides
+serving as a colored bishop of the Union American Methodist Church
+(colored) for more than a half century, is the composer of Negro
+spirituals which were popular during their day. He attended President
+Lincoln's inauguration and subsequently every Republican and Democratic
+presidential inauguration, although he himself is a Republican. Lincoln,
+according to Williams, shook hands with him in Washington.</p>
+
+<p>One of Williams' sons, of a family of fourteen children, was named after
+George Washington, and another after Abraham Lincoln. The son, George
+Washington Williams, died in 1912 at the age of seventy-three years.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Parson&quot; Williams, serving the Union forces as a teamster, hauled
+munitions and supplies for General Grant's army, at Gettysburg. On trips
+to the rear, he conveyed wounded soldiers from the line of fire. He
+also served under General McClellan and General Hooker.</p>
+
+<p>Although now confined to his home with infirmities of age, he posesses
+all his faculties and has a good memory of events since his boyhood
+days. Due to the fact that his grandmother was an Indian the daughter of
+an Indian chieftan, alleged to be buried in a vault in Baltimore County,
+Williams was a freeman like his father and hired himself out.</p>
+
+<p>Williams claims that his father, when a boy, accompanied Robert Bowie,
+for whom he was working, to Mount Vernon, where he first met George
+Washington. He said that General Washington once became very angry at
+his father because he struck an unruly horse, exclaiming: &quot;The brute has
+more sense than some slaves. Cease striking the animal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Robert Bowie, the third son of Capt. William and Margaret (Sprigg)
+Bowie, was born at &quot;Mattaponi&quot;, near Nottingham, March 1750. As a
+captain of a company of militia organized at Nottingham, he accompanied
+the Maryland forces when they joined Washington in his early campaign
+near New York. He and Washington became friends. In 1791, when Captain
+William Bowie died, his son Robert inherited &quot;Mattaponi&quot;. He was the
+first Democratic governor to be elected, one of the presidential
+electors for Madison, and a director of the first bank established at
+Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p>Williams recalls hearing his father say that when Washington died,
+December 14, 1799, many paid reverence by wearing mourning scarfs and
+hatbands.</p>
+
+<p>He recalls many interesting incidents during slavery days. He said that
+slaves could not buy or sell anything except with the permission of
+their master. If a slave was caught ten miles from his master's home,
+and had no signed permit, he was arrested as a runaway and harshly
+punished.</p>
+
+<p>There was a standing reward for the capture of a runaway. The Indians
+who caught a runaway slave received a &quot;match coat.&quot; The master gave the
+slave usually ten to ninety-nine lashes for running off. What slaves
+feared most was what they called the &quot;nine ninety-nine&quot; or 99 lashes
+with a rawhide whip, and sometimes they were unmercifully flogged until
+unconcious. Some cruel masters believed Negroes had no souls. The slaves
+at Bowie, however, declared &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, were pretty well treated
+and usually respected the overseers. He said that the slaves at Bowie
+mostly lived in cabins made of slabs running up and down and crudely
+furnished. Working time was from sunrise until sunset. The slaves had no
+money to spend and few masters allowed them to indulge in a religious
+meeting or even learn about the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>Slaves received medical attention from a physician if they were
+seriously ill. When a death occured, a rough box would be made of heavy
+slabs and the dead Negro buried the same day on the plantation burying
+lot with a brief ceremony, if any. The grieving darkeys, relatives,
+after he was &quot;eased&quot; in the ground, would sing a few spirituals and
+return to their cabins.</p>
+
+<p>Familiar old spirituals were composed by &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, including
+<u>Roll De Stones Away</u>, <u>You'll Rise in De Skies</u>, and
+<u>Ezekiel, He'se Comin Home</u>.</p>
+
+<p>Following is one of Williams' spirituals:</p>
+
+<pre>
+When dat are ole chariot comes,
+I'm gwine to lebe you:
+I'm bound for de promised land
+I'm gwine to lebe you.
+
+I'm sorry I'm gwine to lebe you,
+Farewell, oh farewell
+But I'll meet you in de mornin
+Farewell, oh farewell.
+</pre>
+
+<p>Still another favorite of &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, which he composed on Col.
+Bowie's plantation just before the Civil War, a sort of rallying song
+expressing what Canada meant to the slaves at that time, runs thus:</p>
+
+<pre>
+I'm now embarked for yonder shore
+There a man's a man by law;
+The iron horse will bear me o'er
+To shake de lion's paw.
+Oh, righteous Father, will thou not pity me
+And aid me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
+
+Oh, I heard Queen Victoria say
+That if we would forsake our native land of slavery,
+And come across de lake
+That she was standin' on de shore
+Wid arms extended wide,
+To give us all a peaceful home
+Beyond de rollin' tide.
+</pre>
+
+<p>Interesting reminiscences are recalled by &quot;Parson&quot; Williams of his early
+life. He said that he still remembers when Mr. Oden Bowie (later
+governor) left with the army of invasion of Mexico (1846-1848), and of
+his being brought home ill after several years was nursed back to health
+at &quot;Fairview&quot;. Governor Bowie died on his plantation in 1894 and is
+buried in the family burying ground there.</p>
+
+<p>He was the first president of the Maryland Jockey Club. Governor Bowie
+raised a long string of famous race horses that became known throughout
+the country. From the &quot;Fairview&quot; stables went such celebrated horses as
+Dickens, Catespy, Crickmore, Commensation, Creknob, who carried the
+Bowie colors to the front on many well-contested race courses. After
+Governor Bowie's death, the estate became the property of his youngest
+son, W. Booth Bowie.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fairview&quot; is located in the upper part of what was called the &quot;Forest&quot;
+of Prince Georges County, a few miles southwest of Collington Station.
+It is a fine type of old Colonial mansion built of brick, the place
+having been in the posession of the family for some time previous.
+&quot;Fairview&quot; is one of the oldest and finest homes in Maryland. The
+mansion contains a wide hall and is a typical Southern home.</p>
+
+<p>Baruch Duckett married Kitty Bean, a granddaughter of John Bowie, Sr.,
+the first of his name to come to Prince Georges County. They had but one
+daughter, whose name was Kitty Bean Duckett, and she married in 1800
+William Bowie of Walter. Baruch Duckett outlived his wife and died in
+1810. He devised &quot;Fairview&quot; to his son-in-law and the latter's children,
+and it ultimately became the property of his grandson, afterward known
+as Col. William B.[TR.?] Bowie, who made it his home until 1880, when he
+gave it to his eldest son, Oden, who in 1868 became Governor of
+Maryland. Governor Bowie was always identified with the Democratic
+Party.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Parson&quot; Williams' wife, Amelia Addison Williams died August 9, 1928, at
+the age of 94 years. The aged negro is the father of 14 children, one
+still living,&mdash;Mrs. Amelia Besley, 67 years old, 2010 Pierpont Street,
+Mount Winans, Baltimore, Maryland. His brother, Marcellus Williams, and
+a single sister, Amelia Williams, both living, reside on Rubio street,
+Philidelphia, Pa. According to &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, they are both more
+than a century old and are in fairly good health. Besides his children
+and a brother and a sister, Williams has several grandchildren,
+great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren living.</p>
+
+<p>President Lincoln, Williams says, was looked upon by many slaves as a
+messenger from heaven. Of course, many slave masters were kind and
+considerate, but to most slaves they were just a driver and the slaves
+were work horses for them. Only once during his lifetime does Williams
+recall tasting whisky, when his cousin bought a pint. It cost three
+cents in those days. He said his mother used to make beer out of
+persimmons and cornhusks, but they don't make it any more, so he doesn't
+even drink beer now. He would much rather have a good cigar. He has
+since a boy, smoked a pipe.</p>
+
+<p>By special permission of plantation owners in Prince Georges, St. Marys,
+Baltimore and other counties in Maryland, he was often permitted to
+visit the darkeys and conduct a religious meeting in their cabins. He
+usually wore a long-tailed black &quot;Kentucky&quot; suit with baggy trousers and
+sported a cane.</p>
+
+<p>Usually when servants or slaves in those days found themselves happy and
+contented, it was because they were born under a lucky star. As for
+eating, they seldom got chicken, mostly they ate red herring and
+molasses&mdash;they called black strap molasses. They were allowed a herring
+a day as part of their food. Slaves as a rule preferred possums to
+rabbits. Some liked fish best. Williams' favorite food was cornpone and
+fried liver.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Once before de wah, I was ridin Lazy, my donkey, a few miles from de
+boss' place at Fairview, when along came a dozen or more patrollers. Dey
+questioned me and decided I was a runaway slave and dey wuz gwine to
+give me a coat of tar and feathers when de boss rode up and ordered my
+release. He told dem dreaded white patrollers dat I was a freeman and a
+'parson'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the slaves were made free, some of the overseers tooted horns,
+calling the blacks from their toil in the fields. They were told they
+need no longer work for their masters unless they so desired. Most of
+the darkeys quit &quot;den and dar&quot; and made a quick departure to other
+parts, but some remained and to this day their descendants are still to
+be found working on the original plantations, but of course for pay.</p>
+
+<p>Describing the clothing worn in summer time by the slaves, he said they
+mostly went barefooted. The men and boys wore homespun, three-quarter
+striped pants and sometimes a large funnel-shaped straw hat. Some wore
+only a shirt as a covering for their body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In winter oxhide shoes were worn, much too large, and the soles
+contained several layers of paper. We called them 'program' shoes,
+because the paper used for stuffing, consisted of discarded programs. We
+gathered herbs from which we made medicine, snake root and sassafras
+bark being a great remedy for many ailments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Williams, though himself not a slave by virtue of the fact that his
+grandmother was an Indian, was considered a good judge of healthy
+slaves, those who would prove profitable to their owners, so he often
+accompanied slave purchasers to the Baltimore slave markets.</p>
+
+<p>He told of having been taken by a certain slave master to the Baltimore
+wharf, boarded a boat and after the slave dealer and the captain
+negotiated a deal, he, Williams, not realizing that he was being used as
+a decoy, led a group of some thirty or forty blacks, men, women and
+children, through a dark and dirty tunnel for a distance of several
+blocks to a slave market pen, where they were placed on the auction
+block.</p>
+
+<p>He was told to sort of pacify the black women who set up a wail when
+they were separated from their husbands and children. It was a pitiful
+sight to see them, half naked, some whipped into submission, cast into
+slave pens surrounded by iron bars. A good healthy negro man from 18 to
+30 would bring from $200 to $800. Women would bring about half the price
+of the men. Often when the women parted with their children and loved
+ones, they would never see them again.</p>
+
+<p>Such conditions as existed in the Baltimore slave markets, which were
+considered the most important in the country, and the subsequent ill
+treatment of the unfortunates, hastened the war between the states.</p>
+
+<p>The increasing numbers of free negroes also had much to do with causing
+the civil war. The South was finding black slavery a sort of white
+elephant. Everywhere the question was what to do with the freeman.
+Nobody wanted them. Some states declared they were a public nuisance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle Rezin&quot;, by which name some called him, since slavery days, was,
+besides being engaged in preaching the Gospel, journeying from one town
+to another, where he has performed hundreds of marriages among his race,
+baptised thousands, performed numerous christenings and probably
+preached more sermons than any Negro now living. He preached his last
+sermon two years ago. He says his life's work is now through and he is
+crossing over the River Jordan and will soon be on the other side.
+Since the Civil War he has made extra money for his support during
+depression times by doing odd jobs of whitewashing, serving as a porter
+or janitor, cutting wood, hauling and running errands, also serving as
+a teamster, picking berries and working as a laborer. He has had several
+miraculous escapes from death during his long life. Twice during the
+past quarter of a century his home at Mount Winans has been destroyed by
+fire, when firemen rescued him in the nick of time, and some years ago,
+when he was suddenly awakened during a severe windstorm, his house was
+unroofed and blew down. When workmen were clearing away the debris in
+search for &quot;Uncle&quot; Rezin, some hours later, a voice was heard coming
+from a large barrel in the cellar. It was from Williams, who somehow
+managed to crawl in the barrel during the storm, and called out: &quot;De
+Lord hab sabed me. You all haul me out of here, but I'se all right.&quot;
+Scabo, his pet dog, was killed by the falling debris during the storm.
+Firemen at Westport state that three years ago, when fire damaged
+&quot;Uncle&quot; Rezin's home, the aged negro preacher refused to be rescued, and
+walked out of the building through stifling smoke, as though nothing had
+happened. When veterans of a great war have been mowed down by the
+scythe of Father Time until their numbers are few, an added public
+interest attaches to them. Baltimore septuagenarians remember the honor
+paid to the last surviving &quot;Old Defenders&quot;, who faced the British troops
+at North Point in 1814, and now the few veterans of the War of
+Secession, whether they wore the blue or the gray, receive similar
+attention. A far different class, one peculiarly associated with the
+strife between the North and the South, are approaching the point of
+fading out from the life of today&mdash;the old slaves, and original old
+freemen. &quot;Parson&quot; Williams tops the list of them all.</p>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11552 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
+
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+<title>Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project,
+ 1936-1938: Maryland Narratives, Volume VIII</title>
+<meta name="author" content="Federal Writers' Project">
+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery
+in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects
+Administration
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
+       From Interviews with Former Slaves
+       Maryland Narratives
+
+Author: Work Projects Administration
+
+Release Date: March 12, 2004 [EBook #11552]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Andrea Ball and PG Distributed Proofreaders. Produced from
+images provided by the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note<br>
+[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note<br>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;"><br><br>
+
+
+
+<h1>SLAVE NARRATIVES</h1>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><i>A Folk History of Slavery in the United States<br>
+From Interviews with Former Slaves</i></h2>
+<br>
+<h4>TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY<br>
+THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT<br>
+1936-1938<br>
+ASSEMBLED BY<br>
+THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT<br>
+WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION<br>
+FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA<br>
+SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>WASHINGTON 1941</p>
+<br><br><br>
+
+<h2>VOLUME VIII</h2>
+
+<h2>MARYLAND NARRATIVES</h2>
+
+
+
+<h3>Prepared by<br>
+the Federal Writers' Project of<br>
+the Works Progress Administration<br>
+for the State of Maryland
+</h3>
+<br><br><br>
+
+<h2>INFORMANTS</h2>
+
+<a href="#BrooksLucy">Brooks, Lucy</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#ColesCharles">Coles, Charles</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#DeaneJamesV">Deane, James V.</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#FaymanMS">Fayman, Mrs. M.S.</a><br>
+<a href="#FooteThomas">Foote, Thomas</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#GassawayMenellis">Gassaway, Menellis</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#HammondCaroline">Hammond, Caroline</a><br>
+<a href="#HarrisPage">Harris, Page</a><br>
+<a href="#HensonAnnieYoung">Henson, Annie Young</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#JacksonSilas">Jackson, Rev. Silas</a><br>
+<a href="#JamesJamesCalhart">James, James Calhart</a><br>
+<a href="#JamesMaryMoriah">James, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna</a><br>
+<a href="#JohnsonPhillip">Johnson, Phillip</a><br>
+<a href="#JonesGeorge">Jones, George</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#LewisAlice">Lewis, Alice</a><br>
+<a href="#LewisPerry">Lewis, Perry</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#MacksRichard">Macks, Richard</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#RandallTom">Randall, Tom</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#SimmsDennis">Simms, Dennis</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#TaylorJim">Taylor, Jim</a><br>
+<br>
+<a href="#WigginsJames">Wiggins, James</a><br>
+<a href="#WilliamsRezin">Williams, Rezin (Parson)</a><br>
+<br><br>
+
+<p>[TR: Interviews were stamped at left side with state name, date, and
+interviewer's name. These stamps were often partially cut off. Where
+month could not be determined [--] substituted. Interviewers' names
+reconstructed from other, complete entries.]</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="BrooksLucy"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-23-37<br>
+Guthrie<br>
+<br>
+AUNT LUCY [HW: BROOKS].<br>
+References: Interview with Aunt Lucy and her son, Lafayette Brooks.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>Aunt Lucy, an ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack
+on the Carroll Inn Springs property at Forest Glen, Montgomery County,
+Md.</p>
+
+<p>To go to her home from Rockville, leave the Court House going east on
+Montgomery Ave. and follow US Highway No. 240, otherwise known as the
+Rockville Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles
+to the junction with it on the left (east) of the Garrett Park Road.
+This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgetown
+Preparatory School, which is on the west of this road. Turn left on the
+Garrett Park Road and follow it through that place and crossing Rock
+Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B.&amp;O. R.R. and
+parallel them onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this
+place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place
+go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left.
+This lane will be identified by the sign &quot;Carroll Springs Inn&quot;. Turn
+left here and enter the grounds of the inn. But do not go up in front of
+the inn itself which is one quarter of a mile from the road. Instead,
+where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left
+and continue downward fifty yards toward the swimming pool. Lucy's shack
+is on the left and one hundred feet west of the pool. It is about eleven
+miles from Rockville.</p>
+
+<p>Lucy is an usual type of Negro and most probably is a descendant of less
+remotely removed African ancestors than the average plantation Negroes.
+She does not appear to be a mixed blood&mdash;a good guess would be that she
+is pure blooded Senegambian. She is tall and very thin, and considering
+her evident great age, very erect, her head is very broad, overhanging
+ears, her forehead broad and not so receeding as that of the average.
+Her eyes are wide apart and are bright and keen. She has no defect in
+hearing.</p>
+
+<p>Following are some questions and her answers:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lucy, did you belong to the Carrolls before the war?&quot; &quot;Nosah, I didne
+lib around heah den. Ise born don on de bay&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How old are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dunno sah. Miss Anne, she had it written down in her book, but she said
+twas too much trouble for her to be always lookin it up&quot;. (Her son,
+Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the
+Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the
+mother was twenty-five years old then, she would be about ninety now.
+Some think she is more than a hundred years old).</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Who did you belong to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I belonged to Missus Ann Garner&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Did she have many slaves?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yassuh. She had seventy-five left she hadnt sold when the war ended&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What kind of work did you have to do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;O, she would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a
+powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the
+table. I was just a little gal then. Missus used to say that she was
+going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to sen me to Baltimo
+to learn to be a nurse&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And what did you think about that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh; I thought that would be fine, but he war came befo I got big enough
+to learn to be a nurse&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remebers when the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers.
+De never hurt anybody but they took what they could find to eat and
+they made us cook for them. I remebers that me and some other lil gals
+had a play house, but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked
+through a hole in the fence and ran out in the field. One of the
+soldiers seed me and he hollers 'look at that rat run'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remebers when the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic
+cable) came into the bay. Missus Ann, and all the white folks went down
+to Fairhaven wharf to see dat big shep&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I stayed on de plantation awhile after de war and heped de Missus in de
+house. Den I went away&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Ise had eight chillun. Dey all died and thisun and his brother
+(referring to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said he ought ter
+died instid o his brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because thisun got so skeered when he was little bein carried on a hos
+that he los his speech and de wouldt let me see im for two days. It was
+a long time befor he learned to talk again&quot;. (To this day he has such an
+impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him make the effort to
+talk).</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What did you have to eat down on the plantation, Aunt Lucy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I hab mostly clabber, fish and corn bread. We gets plenty of fish down
+on de bay&quot;.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we cum up here we works in the ole Forest Glen hotel. Mistah
+Charley Keys owned the place then. We stayed there after Mr. Cassidy
+come. (Mr. Cassidy was the founder of the National Park Seminary, a
+school for girls). My son Lafayette worked there for thirty five years.
+Then we cum to Carroll Springs Inn&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="ColesCharles"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+11/15/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles
+County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives.
+I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey,
+a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Dorsey was a man of excellent reputation and character, was loved
+by all who knew him, black and white, especially his slaves. He was
+never known to be harsh or cruel to any of his slaves, of which he had
+more than 75.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves were Mr. Dorsey's family group, he and his wife were very
+considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore good
+heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been told that the Dorseys' farm contained about 3500 acres, on
+which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey managed
+the farm. They required the farm hands to work from 7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.;
+after that their time was their own.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was
+bought or sold. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services
+of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose
+and in which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how
+to read and write and were assisted by some Catholic priests who came to
+the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. When a
+child was born, it was baptised by the priest, and given names and they
+were recorded in the Bible. We were taught the rituals of the Catholic
+church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the
+corpse was buried in the Dorseys' graveyard, a lot of about 1-1/2 acres,
+surrounded by cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the
+graves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had
+plain stones.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never heard of any of the Dorseys' slaves running away. We did
+not have any trouble with the white people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weather-boarded and
+stripped to keep out the cold. I do not remember whether the slaves
+worked or not on Saturdays, but I know the holidays were their own. Mr.
+Dorsey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected
+to find on other plantations.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my
+favorite game was marbles.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we took sick Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to
+the slaves, giving medical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic
+and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier Church.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="DeaneJamesV"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 20, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES V. DEANE, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave.,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose
+Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of
+Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father's people. I have two
+sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in a log cabin, a typical Charles County log cabin, at Goose
+Bay on the Potomac River. The plantation on which I was born fronted
+more than three miles on the river. The cabin had two rooms, one up and
+one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no
+porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain and snow from
+beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the
+outside, plastered between the logs, in which was a fireplace with an
+open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We slept on a home-made bedstead, on which was a straw mattress and
+upon that was a feather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my
+mother to cover.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn,
+watching watermelon patches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco
+fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables
+raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt and water.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I have hunted o'possums, and coons. The last time I went coon
+hunting, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took to
+their heels, white and colored, the white men outran the colored hunter,
+leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You
+have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches
+which they worked by moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on
+the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and
+in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky
+jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the
+stock, after which we did what we wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen many slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the
+groom jumping over it as a part of the wedding ceremony. When a slave
+married someone from another plantation, the master of the wife owned
+all the children. For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes,
+sometimes you could not tell the original outfit for the patches, and
+sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride's trousseau, she would wear the
+cast-off clothes of the mistress, or, at other times the clothes made by
+other slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was said our plantation contained 10,000 acres. We had a large
+number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from
+sunup to sundown. The slaves were not whipped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my
+aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was
+sold and taken south. We never saw or heard of her afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white
+preachers. We sang with the white people. The Methodists were christened
+and the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored funerals with
+no service. A graveyard on the place, only a wooden post to show where
+you were buried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard many patrollers,
+but they never whipped any of Mason's slaves. The method of conveying
+news, you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between
+whites and blacks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories
+and tales, dances, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like
+any other day. We had all legal holidays. Christmas morning we went to
+the big house and got presents and had a big time all day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At corn shucking all the slaves from other plantations would come to
+the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn,
+and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man
+to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted. We had
+supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn
+bread. We went back to shucking. The carts from other farms would be
+there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was
+stored, we danced until daybreak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only games we played were marbles, mumble pegs and ring plays. We
+sang London Bridge.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we wanted to meet at night we had an old conk, we blew that. We
+all would meet on the bank of the Potomac River and sing across the
+river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some people say there are no ghosts, but I saw one and I am satisfied,
+I saw an old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met
+her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her. I liked to tore the
+door off the hinges getting away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master's name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental
+disposition, his mother managed the affairs. He was kind. Mrs. Mason had
+a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The
+main house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no
+overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The poor white people in Charles County were worse off than the
+slaves; because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation,
+the slaves did all the work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves
+tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord's Prayer and
+catechism.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the slaves took sick Dr. Henry Mudd, the one who gave Booth first
+aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their own, and made their
+own salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="FaymanMS"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+11/3/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MRS. M.S. FAYMAN.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of
+Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them
+were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very
+influential. My father's name was Henri de Sales and mother's maiden
+name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson
+named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving me
+the only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in
+Louisiana. We lived in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers
+and situated on a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised
+pelicans for sale in the market at New Orleans.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was about 5 years old I was sent to a private School in Baton
+Rouge, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped
+in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English; French was
+the language spoken in my household and by the people in the parish.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping
+place for all large river boats, especially between New Orleans and
+large towns and cities north. We children were taken out by the sisters
+after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of the places we
+went was the wharf. One day in June and on a Saturday a large boat was
+at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were
+there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken up
+bodily by a white man, carried on the boat, put in a cabin and kept
+there until we got to Louisville, Kentucky, where I was taken off.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frankfort and
+installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through
+the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
+As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and
+companion for the children of Pierce Buckran Haynes, a well known slave
+trader and plantation owner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to
+speak French and it was my duty to teach them. I was the private
+companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French
+and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I
+in the rudiments of the English language.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I slept in the children's quarters with the Haynes' children, ate and
+played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me
+with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave
+the plantation. While on the plantation I wore good clothes, similar to
+those of the white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with
+his slaves, punishing them severly and cruelly both by the lash and in
+the jail on the plantation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called
+Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes. It contained 8000 acres, of
+which more than 6000 acres were under cultivation, and having about 350
+colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all of whom were white. The
+overseers were the overlords of the manor; as Haynes dealt extensively
+in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly
+all the time. There was located on the top of the large tobacco
+warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o'clock and at
+sundown, the year round. On the farm the slaves were assigned a task to
+do each day and In the event it was not finished they were severely
+whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see them afterwards,
+they were very badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the
+whipping.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been back to the farm on several occasions, the first time in
+1872 when I took my father there to show him the farm. At that time it
+was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Army officer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one
+about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet
+high In front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a
+sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2x4
+feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There
+were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building
+12x15 feet, this was where the cooking was done. At each end of each
+building there was a fire place built and used for heating purposes. In
+front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by
+pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a
+hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the
+buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there
+were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an iron rod
+was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for
+those inside to escape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet
+with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story. On the ground in each end
+was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office;
+adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach
+the second story there was built on the outside, steps leading to a
+door, through which the female prisoners were taken to the room. All of
+the buildings had dirt floors.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there
+at that time. Slaves were brought and taken away always chained
+together, men walking and women in ox carts. I had heard of several
+escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or
+8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My
+grandmother was a Haitian Negress, grandfather a Frenchman. My father
+was a Creole.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in
+New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French
+there until 1883, married Prof. Payman, teacher of history and English.
+Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisianna. For
+further information, write me c/o Y.W.C.A. (col.), Baltimore, to be
+forwarded&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="FooteThomas"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 16, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+THOMAS FOOTE'S STORY, A free Negro.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, Cockeysville, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother's name was Eliza Foote and my father's name was Thomas Foote.
+Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm
+about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern
+Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother's maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of
+Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr. Ensor, a
+homeopathic medical doctor of Cockeysville who was a noted doctor in his
+day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read
+and write. My mother's duty along with her other work was to assist Dr.
+Ensor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practical
+experience and knowledge of different herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor
+used in the compounding of his medicine, used them for commercial
+purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored people of
+Baltimore County, especially of the Merrymans, Ridgelys, Roberts,
+Cockeys and Mayfields. Her fame reached as far south as Baltimore City
+and north of Baltimore as far as the Pennsylvania line and the
+surrounding territory. She was styled and called the doctor woman both
+by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people
+but confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their
+troubles.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mother prescribed for her people and compounded medicine out of the
+same leaves, herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor did. Naturally her success
+along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as
+a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which
+there were a number in Baltimore County.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in
+the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always
+preceeded with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard her tell
+others hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was
+seen coming from her home early in the morning. He had been there for
+treatment of an ailment which Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being
+treated by my mother for a time, he got well. When this slave was
+searched, he had in his possession a small bag in which a stone of a
+peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had
+given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it came in
+contact.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were about this time a number of white people who had been going
+through Cockeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted
+move on the part of the slaves to run away, others contacting the free
+people to find out to what extent they had 'grape-vine' news of the
+action of the Negroes. The Negro who was seen coming from mother's home
+ran away. She was immediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of
+Cockeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled
+by the sheriff of Baltimore County&mdash;the Cockeys, and several other men,
+all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing
+that the only way he could have escaped was by the York Road, north or
+south, the Northern Central Railroad or by the way of Deer Creek, a
+small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad
+were being watched, she logically thought that the only place was Deer
+Creek, so she told the sheriff to search Deer Creek. By accident he was
+found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several other
+colored men who had run away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into
+slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until 1865,
+when she returned to her home in Cockeysville; where a great many of her
+descendants live, now, on a hill that slopes west to Cockeysville
+Station, and is known as Foote's Hill by both white and colored people
+of Baltimore County today.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; reared a
+family of five children, three boys and two girls. I am a member of the
+A.M.E. Church at Cockeysville. I am a member of the Masonic Lodge and
+belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote's descendants still
+own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are known from one end of
+the county to the other.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="GassawayMenellis"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 22, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MENELLIS GASSAWAY, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was
+born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of
+Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll
+County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two
+rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a
+small farm situated on a public road, I don't know the name.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family.
+We raised on the farm vegetables and grain, consisting of corn and
+wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist
+mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other
+stock for food.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can't
+remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people,
+that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other
+colored people so far as I can recall.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owned our
+family buy or sell slaves. He was a small man.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the
+farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or Ma while they
+were there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side
+Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways
+from the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father neglected his own education as well as his children. He
+could not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of
+which we in later years saw the advantage.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it
+was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This
+made the colored and white people very friendly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not know whether he worked
+on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father was owned by a man by the name of Mr. Dorsey. My mother was
+bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by the name of Mr. Morris of Frederick
+County.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have never heard of many ghost stories. But I believe once, a
+conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed (beheaded), and
+after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many
+people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him
+when the train passed the spot where he was killed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could
+not afford to hire one, and the colored doctored themselves with herbs,
+teas and salves made by themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HammondCaroline"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--] 11, 1938<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+CAROLINE HAMMOND, A fugitive.<br>
+Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from
+South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave
+woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of
+Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of
+whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household
+help who ate and slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the
+household slaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves did
+not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson's household.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social
+standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson
+entertained on a large scale, especially many of the officers of the
+Naval Academy at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs.
+Davidson's dishes were considered the finest, and to receive an
+invitation from the Davidsons meant that you would enjoy Maryland's
+finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the
+market.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited
+on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons,
+braid and a fancy Test, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him
+now, standing at the door, after he had rung the bell. When the family
+and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to
+serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated with meats,
+fowl or whatever was to be eaten by the family or guest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every
+consideration that he could, with the exception of freeing them; but
+Mrs. Davidson was hard on all the slaves, whenever she had the
+opportunity, driving them at full speed when working, giving different
+food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daughter of one
+of the Revells of the county, a family whose reputation was known all
+over Maryland for their brutality with their slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free
+colored man of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother
+within three years after marriage for $750 dollars and if any children
+were born they were to go with her. My father was a carpenter by trade,
+his services were much in demand. This gave him an opportunity to save
+money. Father often told me that he could save more than half of his
+income. He had plenty of work, doing repair and building, both for the
+white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for
+mother on the partial payment plan. He had paid up all but $40 on
+mother's account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking
+on the South River by one of the duck hunters, dying instantly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When
+father wanted to pay off the balance due, $40.00, Mrs. Davidson refused
+to accept it, thus mother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free
+man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was
+endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs,
+constables and officials of public conveyances. By bribery of the
+sheriff of Anne Arundel County father was given a passage to Baltimore
+for mother and me. On arriving in Baltimore, mother, father and I went
+to a white family on Ross Street&mdash;now Druid Hill Ave., where we were
+sheltered by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the
+Underground Railroad.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A reward of $50.00 each was offered for my father, mother and me, one
+by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At
+this time the Hookstown Road was one of the main turnpikes into
+Baltimore. A Mr. Coleman whose brother-in-law lived in Pennsylvania,
+used a large covered wagon to transport merchandise from Baltimore to
+different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived.
+Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawn, by six
+horses. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground in
+any community or close to any settlement, fearful of being apprehended
+by people who were always looking for rewards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After arriving at Hanover, Pennsylvania, it was easy for us to get
+transportation farther north. They made their way to Scranton,
+Pennsylvania, in which place they both secured positions in the same
+family. Father and mother's salary combined was $27.50 per month. They
+stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I was being taught at a Quaker
+mission in Scranton. When we come to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade
+grammar school in South Baltimore. After finishing the grammar school, I
+followed cooking all my life before and after marriage. My husband James
+Berry, who waited at the Howard House, died in 1927&mdash;aged 84. On my next
+birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can
+see well, have an excellent appetite, but my grandchildren will let me
+eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat.
+On Christmas Day 49 children and grandchildren and some
+great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for
+Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts of a poor person not dependant on
+any one else for tomorrow&quot;.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HarrisPage"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 13, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+PAGE HARRIS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac
+River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as
+Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and
+trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders
+of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as
+Mississippi and Louisiana.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Sam and mother's Mary, both of whom belonged to
+the Staffords and were reared in Charles County. They reared a family of
+nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the
+rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords
+liberated my parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves
+but because of saving the lives of his entire family.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Stafford came from Prince William County, Virginia, a county on
+the west side of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
+had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and
+oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to
+Quantico, a small town in Prince William County, Va., and up Quantico
+Creek in the same county.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest
+son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in
+the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed
+across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of which
+she was a member. Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the
+boat to capsize. My father was fishing from a log raft in the river,
+immediately went to their rescue. The wind blew the raft towards the
+centre of the stream and in line with the boat. He was able without
+assistance to save the whole family, diving into the river to rescue
+Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and it
+was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream.
+Everybody thought that the Staffords had been drowned as the boat
+floated to the shore, bottom upwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata,
+the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of
+him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
+family to Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
+describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
+bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
+property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
+purpose of Mr. Stafford's living&mdash;raising and training blood hounds. I
+have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
+many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
+slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
+hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
+the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
+sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
+reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
+had charge of the dogs.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
+would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
+dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
+being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
+besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
+slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
+slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
+sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
+the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
+they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
+could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
+sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
+and would howl and return home.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
+run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
+some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
+condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
+that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
+He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
+sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
+it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in
+the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the
+dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day
+has any idea how he did it; but he did.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the year of 1866 my father returned to Maryland bringing with him
+mother and my brothers and sister. He selected Annapolis for his future
+home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he
+continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or
+1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school
+that was established for colored children and taught by white teacher
+until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy
+waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money,
+sometimes making more than your wages. About 1896 or '97 I purchased a
+farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived
+since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel County is
+noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church,
+Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have
+grown to be men and women, one living home with me, one in New York, two
+in Baltimore, and one working in Washington, D.C.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="HensonAnnieYoung"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 27, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+ANNIE YOUNG HENSON, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.</h3>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter
+of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters,
+Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was called Traveler's Rest. The farm so named because a man
+once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for
+something to eat and lodging for the night; both of which was given and
+welcomed by the wayfarer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a
+high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to
+the master, mistress and their guests where they could hear the chant of
+the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves humming some familiar
+tunes that suited their taste, as they worked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built
+about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and
+distinct from the others. It contained two rooms, one up and one down,
+with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the
+kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen
+help for the master, mistress and their guests, and from which each
+slave received his or her weekly ration, about 20 pounds of food each.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the
+kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My position was second nurse for the doctor's family, or one of the
+inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position
+my clothes were made better, and better quality than the others, all
+made and arranged to suit the mistress' taste. I got a few things of
+femine dainty that was discarded by the mistress, but no money nor did
+I have any to spend. During my life as a slave I was whipped only once,
+and that was for a lie that was told on me by the first nurse who was
+jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress' room in a bed that we
+pushed under the mistress' in the day or after I arose.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds,
+and men to go with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners
+would send some of their slaves to join ours and we then dividing the
+spoils of the catch.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had 60 slaves on the plantation, each family housed in a cabin built
+by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the
+number. For clothes we had good clothes, as we raised sheep, we had our
+own wool, out of which we weaved our cloth, we called the cloth 'box and
+dice'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash
+wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the
+shoe maker.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as
+afterward. I was small or young during my slave days, I always heard my
+mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how
+she used to say before she was married, when she saw the doctor coming,
+'here comes old Dr. Nellums'. Another friend she would say 'here comes
+cozen Auckney'.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We never had any overseers on the plantation, we had an old colored man
+by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please
+Mistress and Master, obey old Peter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was very large, the slaves worked from sunup to sundown, no
+one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only when proven
+guilty of crime charged.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our master never sold any slaves. We had a six-room house, where the
+slaves entertained and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We
+had no jail on the plantation. We were not taught to read or write, we
+were never told our age.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where
+the slaves worshipped sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours
+and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was
+once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery
+directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of
+the church said to him, 'John, if you don't stop hollowing Amen you
+can't come to church'; he got so full of the Holy Ghost he yelled out
+Amen upon a venture, the congregation was so tickled with him and at his
+antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was my uncle, when the
+Yankees came to Virginia, he ran away with them. He was later captured
+by the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the
+court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen and heard white-cappers, they whipped several colored men
+of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers drilling to go to war.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remember well the day that Dr. Nellum, just as if it were yesterday,
+that we went to the court house to be set free. Dr. Nellum walked in
+front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if
+they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the
+papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed
+there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back
+since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked
+for Mr. Marshall, a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street,
+getting $6.00 per month. I have been told by both white and colored
+people of Virginia who knew Dr. Nellum, he lost his mind.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JacksonSilas"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 29, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+REV. SILAS JACKSON, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born at or near Ashbie's Gap in Virginia, either in the year of
+1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My
+father's name was Sling and mother's Sarah Louis. They were purchased by
+my master from a slave trader in Richmond, Virginia. My father was a man
+of large stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally
+came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think from the Legg estate,
+beyond that I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisters. My
+brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas,
+Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane and
+Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever
+seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a
+Baptist minister like myself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The only things I know about my grandparents were: My grandfather ran
+away through the aid of Harriet Tubman and went to Philadelphia and
+saved $350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a Quaker or
+an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried
+to trace this part of my family's past history, but without success.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was a large boy for my age, when I was nine years of age my task
+began and continued until 1864. You see <u>I saw and</u> I was a slave.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Virginia where I was, they raised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm
+products. I have had a taste of all the work on the farm, besides of
+digging and clearing up new ground to increase the acreage to the farm.
+We all had task work to do&mdash;men, women and boys. We began work on Monday
+and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for
+ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or
+work on some one else's place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off
+the plantation, but to be back by nine o'clock on Saturday night or when
+cabin inspection was made. Some time we could earn as much as 50 cents a
+day, which we used to buy cakes, candies, or clothes.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black
+strap, 6 pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of
+which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who
+wanted, hunted rabbits, opossums or fished. These were our choice food
+as we did not get anything special from the overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food was cooked by our mothers or sisters and for those who were
+not married by the old women and men assigned for that work.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Each family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and
+if a man raised his own food he was given $10.00 at Christmas time
+extra, besides his presents.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the summer or when warm weather came each slave was given something,
+the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin
+shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work
+in. In the cold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing
+cabin.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in
+Virginia&mdash;brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him.
+If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would
+have the slave tied to a tree, man or woman, and then would cowhide the
+victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The Ashbie's home was a large stone mansion, with a porch on three
+sides. Wide halls in the center up and down stairs, numerous rooms and a
+stone kitchen built on the back connected with dining room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was out.
+The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boys
+and girls of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids
+or private waiter for the young men if they wanted them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said by people in authority, Tom Ashbie owned 9000
+acres of farm land besides of wood land. He was a large slave owner
+having more than 100 slaves on his farm. They were awakened by blowing
+of the horn before sunrise by the overseer, started work at sunrise and
+worked all day to sundown, with not time to go to the cabin for dinner,
+you carried your dinner with you. The slaves were driven at top speed
+and whipped at the snap of the finger, by the overseers, we had four
+overseers on the farm all hired white men.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked
+over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie's father went to one of the cabins
+late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard
+one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from
+slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man
+disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the
+swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in
+the cabin praying. When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told
+the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that
+he was going to hell.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a stone building on the farm, it is there today. I saw it
+this summer while visiting in Virginia. The old jail, it is now used as
+a garage. Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the
+whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used
+for women and girls. The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where
+they were. I have never seen slaves sold on the farm, but I have seen
+them taken away, and brought there. Several times I have seen slaves
+chained taken away and chained when they came.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves
+who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one
+of the overseers present and have their church. After which the overseer
+would talk. When communion was given the overseer was paid for staying
+there with half of the collection taken up, some time he would get 25&cent;.
+No one could read the Bible. Sandy Jasper, Mr. Ashbie's coachman was the
+preacher, he would go to the white Baptist church on Sunday with family
+and would be better informed because he heard the white preacher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Twice each year, after harvest and after New Year's, the slaves would
+have their protracted meeting or their revival and after each closing
+they would baptize in the creek, sometimes in the winter they would
+break the ice singing <u>Going to the Water</u> or some other hymn of
+that nature. And at each funeral, the Ashbies would attend the service
+conducted in the cabin there the deceased was, from there taken to the
+slave graveyard. A lot dedicated for that purpose, situated about 3/4 of
+a mile from cabins near a hill.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were a number of slaves on our plantation who ran away, some were
+captured and sold to a Georgia trader, others who were never captured.
+To intimidate the slaves, the overseers were connected with the
+patrollers, not only to watch our slaves, but sometimes for the rewards
+for other slaves who had run away from other plantations. This feature
+caused a great deal of trouble between the whites and blacks. In 1858
+two white men were murdered near Warrenton on the road by colored
+people, it was never known whether by free people or slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When work was done the slaves retired to their cabins, some played
+games, others cooked or rested or did what they wanted. We did not work
+on Saturdays unless harvest times, then Saturdays were days of work. At
+other times, on Saturdays you were at leisure to do what you wanted. On
+Christmas day Mr. Ashbie would call all the slaves together, give them
+presents, money, after which they spent the day as they liked. On New
+Year's day we all were scared, that was the time for selling, buying and
+trading slaves. We did not know who was to go or come.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not remember of playing any particular game, my sport was fishing.
+You see I do not believe in ghost stories nor voodooism, I have nothing
+to say. We boys used to take the horns of a dead cow or bull, cut the
+end off of it, we could blow it, some having different notes. We could
+tell who was blowing and from what plantation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When a slave took sick she or he would have to depend on herbs, salves
+or other remedies prepared by someone who knew the medicinal value. When
+a valuable hand took sick one of the overseers would go to Upper Ville
+for a doctor.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JamesJamesCalhart"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-20-37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES CALHART JAMES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James Calhart James, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant
+of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and located
+near Fort Sumter, the fort that was surrendered to the Confederates in
+1851 or the beginning of the Civil War. My mother's name was Lottie
+Virginia James, daughter of an Indian and a slave woman, born on the
+Rapidan River in Virginia about 1823 or 24, I do not know which; she was
+a woman of fine features and very light in complexion with beautiful,
+long black hair. She was purchased by her master and taken to South
+Carolina when about 15 years old. She was the private maid of Mrs.
+Randolph until she died and then continued as housekeeper for her
+master, while there and in that capacity I was born on the Randolph's
+plantation August 23, 1846. I was a half brother to the children of the
+Randolphs, four in number. After I was born mother and I lived in the
+servants' quarters of the big house enjoying many pleasures that the
+other slaves did not: eating and sleeping in the big house, playing and
+associating with my half-brothers and sisters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As for my ancestors I have no recollection of them, the history of the
+Randolphs in Virginia is my background.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father told mother when I became of age, he was going to free me,
+send me north to be educated, but instead I was emancipated. During my
+slave days my father gave me money and good clothes to wear. I bought
+toys and games.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My clothes were good both winter and summer and according to the
+weather.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My master was my father; he was kind to me but hard on the field hands
+who worked in the rice fields. My mistress died before I was born. There
+were 3 girls and one boy, they treated me fairly good&mdash;at first or when
+I was small or until they realised their father was my father, then they
+hated me. We lived in a large white frame house containing about 15
+rooms with every luxury of that day, my father being very rich.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard the Randolph plantation contained about 4000 acres and
+about 300 slaves. We had white overseers on the plantation, they worked
+hard producing rice on a very large scale, and late and early. I know
+they were severely punished, especially for not producing the amount of
+work assigned them or for things that the overseers thought they should
+be punished for.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a jail over the rice barn where the slaves were confined,
+especially on Sundays, as punishment for things done during the week.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I could read and write when I was 12 years old. I was taught by. the
+teacher who was the governess for the Randolph children. Mother could
+also read and write. There was no church on the plantation; the slaves
+attended church on the next plantation, where the owner had a large
+slave church, he was a Baptist preacher, I attended the white church
+with the Randolph children. I was generally known and called Jim
+Randolph. I was baptised by the white Baptist minister and christened by
+a Methodist minister.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was little trouble between the white and blacks, you see I was
+one of the children of the house, I never came in contact much with
+other slaves. I was told that the slaves had a drink that was made of
+corn and rice which they drank. The overseers sometimes themselves drank
+it very freely. On holidays and Sundays the slaves had their times, and
+I never knew any difference as I was treated well by my father and did
+not associate with the other slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the year of 1865, I left South Carolina, went to Washington, entered
+Howard University 1868, graduated in 1873, taught schools in Virginia,
+North Carolina and Maryland, retired 1910. Since then I have been
+connected with A.M.E. educational board. Now I am home with my
+granddaughter, a life well spent.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One of the songs sung by the slaves on the plantation I can remember a
+part of it. They sang it with great feeling of happiness----</p>
+
+<pre>
+Oh where shall we go when de great day comes
+An' de blowing of de trumpets and de bangins of de drums
+When General Sherman comes.
+No more rice and cotton fields
+We will hear no more crying
+Old master will be sighing.
+</pre>
+
+<p>&quot;I can't remember the tune, people sang it according to their own tune.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JamesMaryMoriah"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 23, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+MARY MORIAH ANNE SUSANNA JAMES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sept. 23, 1937, at her home, 618 Haw St., Baltimore, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;My father's name was Caleb Harris James, and my mother's name was Mary
+Moriah. Both of them were owned by Silas Thornton Randorph, a distant
+relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the picture of Patrick Henry many
+a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and
+two brothers. Two of my sisters were sold to a slave dealer from
+Georgia, one died in 1870. One brother ran away and the other joined the
+Union Army; he died in the Soldiers' Home in Washington in 1932 at the
+age of 84.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How let me ask you, who told you about me? I knew that a stranger was
+coming, my nose has been itching for several days. How about my home
+life in Virginia, we lived on the James River in Virginia, on a farm
+containing more than 8,000 acres, fronting 3-1/2 miles on the river,
+with a landing where boats used to come to load tobacco and unload goods
+for the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The quarters where we lived on the plantation called Randolph Manor
+were built like horse stables that you see on race tracks; they were
+1-1/2 story high, about 25 feet wide, and about 75 feet long, with
+windows in the sides of the roofs. A long shelter on the front and at
+the rear. In front, people would have benches to sit on, and on the back
+were nails to hang pots and pans. Each family would have rooms according
+to the size of the family. There were 8 such houses, 6 for families and
+one for the girls and the other for the boys. In the quarters we had
+furniture made by the overseer and colored carpenters; they would make
+the tables, benches and beds for everybody. Our beds were ticking filled
+with straw and covers made of anything we could get.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have a faint recollection of my grandparents. My grandfather was
+sold to a man in South Carolina, to work in the rice field. Grandmother
+drowned herself in the river when she heard that grand-pap was going
+away. I was told that grandpap was sold because he got religious and
+prayed that God would set him and grandma free.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was ten years old I was put to work on the farm with other
+children, picking weeds, stone up and tobacco worms and to do other
+work. We all got new shoes for Christmas, a dress and $2.50 for
+Christmas or suits of clothes. We spent our money at Mr. Randorph's
+store for things that we wanted, but was punished if the money was spent
+at the county seat at other stores.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were allowed fat meat, corn meal, black molasses and vegetables,
+corn and grain to roast for coffee. Mother cooked my food after stopping
+work on the farm for the day, I never ate possum. We would catch rabbits
+in guns or traps and as we lived on the rivers, we ate any kind of fish
+we caught. The men and everybody would go fishing after work. Each
+family had a garden, we raised what we wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As near as I can recall, we had about 150 sheep on the farm, producing
+our own wool. The old women weaved clothes; we had woolen clothes in the
+winter and cotton clothes in the summer. On Sunday we wore the clothes
+given to us at Christmas time and shoes likewise.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was married on the farm 1863 and married my same husband by a Baptist
+preacher in 1870 as I was told I had not been legally married. I was
+married in the dress given to me at Christmas of 1862. I did not get one
+in 1863.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Silas Randolph was a mean man to his slaves, especially when drunk.
+He and the overseer would always be together, each of whom carried a
+whip, and upon the least provocation would whip his slaves. My mistress
+was not as mean as my master, but she was mean There was only one son in
+the Randolph family. He went to a military school somewhere in Virginia.
+I don't know the name. He was captured by the Union soldiers. I never
+saw him until after the war, when he came home with one arm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The overseer lived on the farm. He was the brother of Mrs. Randolph. He
+would whip men and women and children if he thought they were not
+working fast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The plantation house was a large brick house over-looking the river
+from a hill, a porch on three sides, two-stories and attic. In the attic
+slept the house servants and coachman. We did not come in contact with
+the white people very much. Our place was away from the village.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were 8,000 acres to the plantation, with more than 150 slaves on
+it. I do not know the time slaves woke up, but everybody was at work at
+sunrise and worked to sundown. The slaves were whipped for not working
+fast or anything that suited the fancy of the master or overseer.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen slaves sold on the farm and I have seen slaves brought to
+the farm. The slaves were brought up the river in boats and unloaded at
+the landing, some crying and some seem to be happy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No one was taught to read or write. There was no church on the farm. No
+one was allowed to read the Bible or anything else.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard it said that the Randolph's lost more slaves by running
+away than anyone in the county. The patrollers were many in the county;
+they would whip any colored person caught off the place after night.
+Whenever a man wanted to run away he would go with someone else, either
+from the farm or from some other farm, hiding in the swamps or along the
+river, making their way to some place where they thought would be safe,
+sometimes hiding on trains leaving Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slaves, after going to their quarters, cooked, rested or did what
+they wanted. Saturdays was no different from Monday.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On Christmas morning all the slaves would go up to the porch, get the
+$2.50, shoes and clothes, go back to the cabins and do what they wanted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On New Year's Day everybody was scared as that was the day that slaves
+were taken away or brought to the farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have asked about stories, I will tell you one I know. It is true.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During the war one day some Union soldiers came to the farm looking for
+Rebels. There were a number of them in the woods near the landing; they
+had come across the river in boats. At night while the Union soldiers
+were at the landing, they were fired on by the Rebels. The Union
+soldiers went after them, killed ten, caught I think six and some were
+drowned in the river. Among the six was the overseer, and from that
+night people have heard shooting and seen soldiers. One night many years
+after the Civil War, while visiting a friend who now lives within 500
+feet from the landing where the fighting took place, there appeared some
+soldiers carrying a man out of the woods whom I recognized as being the
+overseer. He had been seen hundreds of times by other people. White
+people will tell you the same thing. I will tell you for sure this is
+true.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You must excuse me I wanted to see some friends this evening.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JohnsonPhillip"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+9/14/37<br>
+Guthrie<br>
+<br>
+PHILLIP JOHNSON, An Ex-Slave.<br>
+Ref: Phillip Johnson, R.F.D. Poolesville, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>The subject of this sketch is a pure blooded Negro, whose kinky hair is
+now white, likewise his scraggy beard. He is of medium size and somewhat
+stooped with age, but still active enough to plant and tend a patch of
+corn and the chores about his little place at Sugarlands. His home is a
+small cabin with one or two rooms upstairs and three down, including the
+kitchen which is a leanto. The cabin is in great disrepair.</p>
+
+<p>Phillip John is above the average in intelligence, has some education
+and is quite well versed in the Holy Scriptures, having been for many
+years a Methodist preacher among his people. He uses fairly good English
+and freely talks in answer to questions. Without giving the questions
+put to him by this writer, his remarks given in the first person and as
+near his own idiom are as follows:</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I'll be ninety years old next December. I dunno the day. My Missis had
+the colored folks ages written in a book but it was destroyed when the
+Confederate soldiers came through. But she had a son born two or three
+months younger than me and she remember that I was born in December,
+1847, but she had forgot the day of the month.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born down on the river bottom about four miles below Edwards'
+Ferry, on the Eight Mile Level, between Edwards' Ferry and Seneca. I
+belonged to ole Doctah White. He owned a lot o' lan down on de bottom. I
+dunno his first name. Everybody called him Doctah White. Yes, he was
+related to Doctah Elijah White. All the Whites in Montgomery County is
+related. Yes sah, Doctah White was good to his slaves. Yes sah, he had
+many slaves. I dunno how many. My Missis took me away from de bottom
+when I was a little boy, 'cause de overseer he was so cruel to me. Yes
+sah he was <u>mean</u>. I promised him a killin if ever I got big
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all liked the Missis. Everybody in dem days used to ride horseback.
+She would come ridin her horse down to de bottom with a great big basket
+of biscuits. We thought they were fine. We all glad to see de Missis a
+comin. We always had plenty to eat, such as it was. We had coarse food
+but there was plenty of it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The white folks made our clothes for us. They made linsey for the woman
+and woolen cloth for de men. They gave clothes sufficient to keep em
+warm. The men had wool clothes with brass buttons that had shanks on em.
+They looked good when they were new. They had better clothes then than
+most of us have now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They raised mostly corn an oats an wheat down on de river bottom in
+those days. They didn't raise tobacco. But I've heard say that they used
+to raise it long before I was born. They cut grain with cradles in dem
+days. They had a lot 'o men and would slay a lot 'o wheat in a day. It
+was pretty work to see four or five cradlers in a field and others
+following them raking the wheat in bunches and others following binding
+them in bundles. The first reapers that came were called Dorsey reapers.
+They cut the grain and bunched it. It was then bound by hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When my Missis took me away from the river bottom I lived in
+Poolesville where the Kohlhoss home and garage is. I worked around the
+house and garden. I remember when the Yankee and Confederate soldiers
+both came to Poolesville. Capn Sam White (son of the doctor) he join the
+Confederate in Virginia. He come home and say he goin to take me along
+back with him for to serve him. But the Yankees came and he left very
+sudden and leave me behind. I was glad I didn't have to go with him. I
+saw all that fightin around Poolesville. I used to like to watch em
+fightin. I saw a Yankee soldier shoot a Confederate and kill him. He
+raised his gun twice to shoot but he kept dodgin around the house an he
+didn' want to shoot when he might hit someone else. When he ran from the
+house he shot him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes sah, them Confederates done more things around here than the
+Yankees did. I remember once during the war they came to town. It was
+Sunday morning an I was sittin in the gallery of the ole brick Methodist
+church. One of them came to de door and he pointed his pistol right at
+that preacher's head. The gallery had an outside stairs then. I ran to
+de door to go down de stairs but there was another un there pointing his
+gun and they say don't nobody leave dis building. The others they was a
+cleanin up all the hosses and wagons round the church. The one who was
+guarding de stairs, he kept a lookin to see if dey was done cleaning up
+de hosses, and when he wasn't watching I slip half way down de stairs,
+an when he turn his back I jump down and run. When he looks he jus
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father he lived to be eighty nine. He died right here in this house
+and he's buried over by the church. His name was Sam. They called my
+mother Willie Ann. She died when I was small. I had three brothers and
+one sister. My father married again and had seven or eight other
+children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I've had eleven children; five livin, six dead. I've been preaching for
+forty years and I have seen many souls saved. I don't preach regular
+anymore but once in a while I do. I have preached in all these little
+churches around here. I preached six years at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The
+presidin elder he wants me to go there. The man that had left there jus
+tore that church up. I went up there one Sunday and I didn't see
+anything that I could do. I think I'm not able for this. I said they
+needs a more experienced preacher than me. But the presidin elder keeps
+after me to go there and I says, well, I go for one year. Next thing it
+was the same thing. I stays on another year and so on for six years.
+When I left there that church was in pretty good shape.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think preaching the gospel is the greatest work in the world. But
+folks don't seem to take the interest in church that they used to.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="JonesGeorge"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 30, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+GEORGE JONES, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with George Jones, Ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853. My
+father's name was Henry and mother's Jane; brothers Dave, Joe, Henry,
+John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father and mother were
+slaves, but I do not recall to whom they belonged. I remember my
+grandparents.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father used to tell me how he would hide in the hay stacks at night,
+because he was whipped and treated badly by his master who was rough and
+hard-boiled on his slaves. Many a time the owner of the slaves and farm
+would come to the cabins late at night to catch the slaves in their
+dingy little hovels, which were constructed in cabin fashion and of
+stone and logs with their typical windows and rooms of one room up and
+one down with a window in each, the fireplaces built to heat and cook
+for occupants.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The farm was like all other farms in Frederick County, raising grain,
+such as corn, wheat and fruit and on which work was seasonable,
+depending upon the weather, some seasons producing more and some less.
+When the season was good for the crop and crops plentiful, we had a
+little money as the plantation owner gave us some to spend.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When hunting came, especially in the fall and winter, the weather was
+cold, I have often heard say father speak of rabbit, opossum and coon
+hunting and his dogs. You know in Frederick County there are plenty of
+woods, streams and places to hunt, giving homes and hiding places for
+such game.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We dressed to meet the weather condition and wore shoes to suit rough
+traveling through woods and up and down the hills of the country.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In my boyhood days, my father never spoke much of my master, only in
+the term I have expressed before, or the children, church, the poor
+white people in the neighborhood or the farm, their mode of living,
+social condition. I will say this in conclusion, the white people of
+Frederick County as a whole were kind towards the colored people and are
+today, very little race friction one way or the other.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="LewisAlice"></a>
+<h3>Ellen B. Warfield<br>
+May 18, 1937<br>
+<br>
+ALICE LEWIS.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>(Alice Lewis, ex-slave, 84, years old, in charge of sewing-room at
+Provident Hospital (Negro), Baltimore. Tall, slender, erect, her head
+crowned by abundant snow white wool, with a fine carriage and an air of
+poise mud self respect good to behold, Alice belies her 84 years.)</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm, I was born in slavery, I don't look it, but I was! Way down in
+Wilkes County, Georgia, nigh to a little town named Washington which
+ain't so far from Augusta. My pappy, he belong to the Alexanders, and my
+mammy, she belong to the Wakefiel' plantation and we all live with the
+Wakefiel's. No <u>ma'am</u>, none of the Wakefiel' niggers ever run
+away. They was too well off! They knew who they friends was! <u>My</u>
+white folkses was good to their niggers! Them was the days when we had
+good food and it didn't cost nothing&mdash;chickens and hogs and garden
+truck. Saturdays was the day we got our 'lowance for the week, and lemme
+tell you, they didn't stint us none. The best in the land was what we
+had, jest what the white folkses had.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Clothes? yes'm. We had two suits of clothes, a winter suit and a summer
+suit and two pairs of shoes, a winter pair and a summer pair. Yes'm, my
+mammy, she spin the cotton, yes'm picked right on the plantation, yes'm,
+cotton picking was fun, believe me! As I was saying, Mammy she spin and
+she wears the cloth, and she cut it out and she make our clothes. That's
+where I git my taste to sew, I reckon. When I first come to Baltimore, I
+done dressmaking, 'deed I did. I sewed for the best fam'lies in this
+yere town. I sewed for the Howards and the Slingluffs and the
+Jenkinses. Jest the other day, I met Miss C'milla down town and she say.
+'Alice, ain' this you? and I say, 'Law me, Miss C'milla', and 'she say,
+'Alice, why don' you come to see Mother? She ain' been so well&mdash;she love
+to see you....'</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, as I was a saying, we didn't work so hard, them days. We got up
+early, 'cause the fires had to be lighted to make the house warm for the
+white folks, but in them days, dinner was in the middle of the day&mdash;the
+quality had theirs at twelve o'clock&mdash;and they had a light supper at
+five and when we was through, we was through, and free to go the
+quarters and set around and smoke a pipe and rest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm they taught us to read and write. Sunday afternoons, my young
+mistresses used to teach the pickaninnies to read the Bible. Yes'm we
+was free to go to see the niggers on other plantations but we had to
+have a pass an' we was checked in an' out. No'm, I ain't never seen no
+slaves sold, nor none in chains, and I ain't never seen no Ku Kluxers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I live with the Wakefiel's till I was 'leven and then Marse Wakefiel'
+give me to my young mistress when she married and went to North Carolina
+to live. And 'twas in North Carolina that I seed Sherman, 'deed I did! I
+seed Sherman and his sojers, gathering up all the hogs and all the
+hosses, and all the cows and all the little cullud chillen. Them was
+drefful days! These is drefful days, too. Old man Satan, he sure am on
+earth now.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes'm, I believes in ghos'ses. I ain't never seed 'em but I is feel
+'em. I live once in a house where a man was killed. I lie in my bed and
+they close in on me! No'm, I ain't afraid. The landlord say when I move
+out, 'you is stay there longer than anybody I ever had.' 'Nother house
+I live in (this was in North Carolina too), it had been a gamblin'
+house and it had hants. On rainy nights, I'd lie awake and hear &quot;drip,
+drip ... drip, drip....&quot; What was that? Why, that was the blood a
+dripping ... Why on rainy night? Why, on rainy nights, the blood gets
+a little fresh...!&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="LewisPerry"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 4, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+PERRY LEWIS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born on Kent Island, Md. about 86 years ago. My father's name was
+Henry and mother's Louise. I had one brother John, who was killed in the
+Civil War at the Deep Bottom, one sister as I can remember. My father
+was a freeman and my mother a slave, owned by Thomas Tolson, who owned a
+small farm on which I was born in a log cabin, with two rooms, one up
+and one down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As you know the mother was the owner of the children that she brought
+into the world. Mother being a slave made me a slave. She cooked and
+worked on the farm, ate whatever was in the farmhouse and did her share
+of work to keep and maintain the Tolsons. They being poor, not having a
+large place or a number of slaves to increase their wealth, made them
+little above the free colored people and with no knowledge, they could
+not teach me or any one else to read.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know the Eastern Shore of Maryland was in the most productive slave
+territory and where farming was done on a large scale; and in that part
+of Maryland where there were many poor people and many of whom were
+employed as overseers, you naturally heard of patrollers and we had them
+and many of them. I have heard that patrollers were on Kent Island and
+the colored people would go out in the country on the roads, create a
+disturbance to attract the patrollers' attention. They would tie ropes
+and grape vines across the roads, so when the patrollers would come to
+the scene of the disturbance on horseback and at full tilt, they would
+be throwing those who would come in contact with the rope or vine off
+the horse; sometimes badly injuring the riders. This would create hatred
+between the slaves, the free people, the patrollers and other white
+people who were concerned.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In my childhood days I played marbles, this was the only game I
+remember playing. As I was on a small farm, we did not come in contact
+much with other children, and heard no children's songs. I therefore do
+not recall the songs we sang.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not remember being sick but I have heard mother say, when she or
+her children were sick, the white doctor who attended the Tolsons
+treated us and the only herbs I can recall were life-everlasting boneset
+and woodditney, from each of which a tea could be made.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is about all I can recall.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="MacksRichard"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 7, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+RICHARD MACKS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Charles County in Southern Maryland in the year of 1844.
+My father's name was William (Bill) and Mother's Harriet Mack, both of
+whom were born and reared in Charles County&mdash;the county that James
+Wilkes Booth took refuge in after the assassination of President Lincoln
+in 1865. I had one sister named Jenny and no brothers: let me say right
+here it was God's blessing I did not. Near Bryantown, a county center
+prior to the Civil War as a market for tobacco, grain and market for
+slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Bryantown there were several stores, two or three taverns or inns
+which were well known in their days for their hospitality to their
+guests and arrangements to house slaves. There were two inns both of
+which had long sheds, strongly built with cells downstairs for men and a
+large room above for women. At night the slave traders would bring their
+charges to the inns, pay for their meals, which were served on a long
+table in the shed, then afterwards, they were locked up for the night.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I lived with my mother, father and sister in a log cabin built of log
+and mud, having two rooms; one with a dirt floor and the other above,
+each room having two windows, but no glass. On a large farm or
+plantation owned by an old maid by the name of Sally McPherson on
+McPherson Farm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a small boy and later on, until I was emancipated, I worked on the
+farm doing farm work, principally in the tobacco fields and in the woods
+cutting timber and firewood. I slept on a home-made bed or bunk, while
+my mother and sister slept in a bed made by father on which they had a
+mattress made by themselves and filled with straw, while dad slept on a
+bench beside the bed and that he used in the day as a work bench,
+mending shoes for the slaves and others. I have seen mother going to the
+fields each day like other slaves to do her part of the farming. I being
+considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the
+field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people
+some of whom gave me a few pennies. By this method I earned some money
+which I gave to my mother. I once found a gold dollar, that was the
+first dollar I ever had in my life.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and
+vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats; and
+fish we caught out of the creeks and streams.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My father had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and
+opossum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off. If my
+father said: 'Ruler, take his hat off!', he would jump up and grab your
+hat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a section of the farm that the slaves were allowed to farm for
+themselves, my mistress would let them raise extra food for their own
+use at nights. My father was the colored overseer, he had charge of the
+entire plantation and continued until he was too old to work, then
+mother's brother took it over, his name was Caleb.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryansville town.
+Some would be chained, some handcuffed, and others not. These slaves
+were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at
+Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The slave traders would buy young and able farm men and well-developed
+young girls with fine physiques to barter and sell. They would bring
+them to the taverns where there would be the buyers and traders, display
+them and offer them for sale. At one of these gatherings a colored girl,
+a mulatto of fine stature and good looks, was put on sale. She was of
+high spirits and determined disposition. At night she was taken by the
+trader to his room to satisfy his bestial nature. She could not be
+coerced or forced by him [TR: 'by him' lined out] so she was attacked by
+him. In the struggle she grabbed a knife and with it, she
+sterilized[HW:?] him and from the result of injury he died the next day.
+She was charged with murder. Gen. Butler, hearing of it, sent troops to
+Charles County to protect her, they brought her to Baltimore, later she
+was taken to Washington where she was set free. She married a Government
+employe, reared a family of 3 children, one is a doctor practicing
+medicine in Baltimore and the other a retired school teacher, you know
+him well if I were to tell you who the doctor is. This attack was the
+result of being goodlooking, for which many a poor girl in Charles
+County paid the price. There are several cases I could mention, but they
+are distasteful to me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A certain slave would not permit this owner to whip him, who with
+overseer and several others overpowered the slave, tied him, put him
+across a hogshead and whipped him severely for three mornings in
+succession. Some one notified the magistrate at Bryantown of the
+brutality. He interfered in the treatment of this slave, threatening
+punishment. He was untied, he ran away, was caught by the constable,
+returned to his owner, melted sealing wax was poured over his back on
+the wounds inflicted by him, when whipping, the slave ran away again and
+never was caught.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a doctor in the neighborhood who bought a girl and installed
+her on the place for his own use, his wife hearing of it severely beat
+her. One day her little child was playing in the yard. It fell head down
+in a post hole filled with water and drowned. His wife left him;
+afterward she said it was an affliction put on her husband for his sins.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During hot weather we wore thin woolen clothes, the material being made
+on the farm from the wool of our sheep, in the winter we wore thicker
+clothes made on the farm by slaves, and for shoes our measures were
+taken of each slave with a stick, they were brought to Baltimore by the
+old mistress at the beginning of each season, if she or the one who did
+the measuring got the shoe too short or too small you had to wear it or
+go barefooted.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were never taught to read or write by white people.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had to go to the white church, sit in the rear, many times on the
+floor or stand up. We had a colored preacher, he would walk 10 miles,
+then walk back. I was not a member of church. We had no baptising, we
+were christened by the white preacher.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We had a graveyard on the place. Whites were buried inside of railing
+and the slaves on the outside. The members of the white family had
+tombstones, the colored had headstones and cedar post to show where they
+were buried.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In Charles County and in fact all of Southern Maryland tobacco was
+raised on a large scale. Men, women and children had to work hard to
+produce the required crops. The slaves did the work and they were driven
+at full speed sometimes by the owners and others by both owner and
+overseers. The slaves would run away from the farms whenever they had a
+chance, some were returned and others getting away. This made it very
+profitable to white men and constables to capture the runaways. This
+caused trouble between the colored people and whites, especially the
+free people, as some of them would be taken for slaves. I had heard of
+several killings resulting from fights at night.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;One time a slave ran away and was seen by a colored man, who was
+hunting, sitting on a log eating some food late in the night. He had a
+corn knife with him. When his master attempted to hit him with a whip,
+he retaliated with the knife, splitting the man's breast open, from
+which he died. The slave escaped and was never captured. The white
+cappers or patrollers in all of the counties of Southern Maryland
+scoured the swamps, rivers and fields without success.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Let me explain to you very plain without prejudice one way or the
+other, I have had many opportunities, a chance to watch white men and
+women in my long career, colored women have many hard battles to fight
+to protect themselves from assault by employers, white male servants or
+by white men, many times not being able to protect, in fear of losing
+their positions. Then on the other hand they were subjected to many
+impositions by the women of the household through woman's jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remember well when President Buchanan was elected, I was a large
+boy. I came to Baltimore when General Grant was elected, worked in a
+livery stable for three years, three years with Dr. Owens as a waiter
+and coachman, 3 years with Mr. Thomas Winanson Baltimore Street as a
+butler, 3 years with Mr. Oscar Stillman of Boston, then 11 years with
+Mr. Robert Garrett on Mt. Vernon Place as head butler, after which I
+entered the catering business and continued until about twelve years
+ago. In my career I have had the opportunity to come in contact with the
+best white people and the most cultured class in Maryland and those
+visiting Baltimore. This class is about gone, now we have a new group,
+lacking the refinement, the culture and taste of those that have gone
+by.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was a small boy I used to run races with other boys, play
+marbles and have jumping contests.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At nights the slaves would go from one cabin to the other, talk, dance
+or play the fiddle or sing. Christmas everybody had holidays, our
+mistress never gave presents. Saturdays were half-day holidays unless
+planting and harvest times, then we worked all day.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the slaves took sick or some woman gave birth to a child, herbs,
+salves, home liniments were used or a midwife or old mama was the
+attendant, unless severe sickness Miss McPherson would send for the
+white doctor, that was very seldom.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="RandallTom"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Dec. 21, 1937<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+TOM RANDALL, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, Oella, Md.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a
+shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road&mdash;the name then, I do
+not know. My mother's name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do
+not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I
+have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the cook at the Howard
+House; she was permitted to keep me with her. When I could remember
+things, I remember eating out of the skillets, pots and pans, after she
+had fried chicken, game or baked in them, always leaving something for
+me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how I used to carry wood
+in the kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and
+the leaves and tops of other plants.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There was a colored man by the name of Joe Nick, called Old Nick by a
+great many white people of me city. Joe was owned by Rueben Rogers, a
+lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2-1/2
+miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the leading street
+of Ellicott City. They never called me anything but Tomy or Randy, other
+people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of Ellicott City, was my
+father.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mother was owned by a man by the name of O'Brien, a saloon or tavern
+keeper of the town. He conducted a saloon in Ellicott City for a long
+time until he became manager, or operator, of the Howard House of
+Ellicott City, a larger hotel and tavern in the city. Mother was a fine
+cook, especially of fowl and game. The Howard House was the gathering
+place of the formers, lawyers and business men of Howard and Frederick
+Counties and people of Baltimore who had business in the courts of
+Howard County and people of western Maryland on their way to Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Joe could read and write and was a good mechanic and wheelright. These
+accomplishments made him very valuable to Rogers' farm, as wagons,
+buggies, carriages, plows and other vehicles and tools had to be made
+and repaired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I was about eight or nine years old Joe ran away, everybody saying
+to join the Union Army. Joe Nick drove a pair of horses, hitched to a
+covered wagon, to Ellicott City. The horses were found, but no Nick,
+Rogers offered a reward of $100.00 for the return of Nick. This offer
+drew to Ellicott City a number of people who had bloodhounds that were
+trained to hunt Negroes&mdash;some coming from Anne Arundel, Baltimore,
+Howard and counties of southern Maryland, each owner priding his pack as
+being the best pack in the town. They all stopped at the Howard House,
+naturally drinking, treating their friends and each other, they all
+discussed among themselves the reward and their packs of hounds, each
+one saying that his pack was the best. This boasting was backed by cash.
+Some cash, plus the reward on their hounds. In the meantime Old Joe was
+thinking, not boasting, but was riding the rail.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Old Joe left Ellicott City on a freight train, going west, which he
+hopped when it was stalled on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a short
+distance from the railroad station at Ellicott City. Old Joe could not
+leave on the passenger trains, as no Negro would be allowed on the
+trains unless he had a pass signed by his master or a free Negro, and
+had his papers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At dawn the hunters left the Howard House with the packs, accompanied
+by many friends and people who joined up for the sport of the chase.
+They went to Rogers' farm where the dogs were taken in packs to Nick's
+quarters so they could get the odor and scent of Nick. They had a
+twofold purpose, one to get the natural scent, the other was, if Old
+Nick had run away, he might come back at night to get some personal
+belongings, in that way the direction he had taken would be indicated by
+the scent and the hounds would soon track him down. The hounds were
+unleashed, each hunter going in a different direction without result.
+Then they circled the farm, some going 5 miles beyond the farm without
+result. After they had hunted all day they returned to the Howard House
+where they regaled themselves in pleasures of the hotel for the evening.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In June of 1865 Old Nick returned to Ellicott City dressed in a uniform
+of blue, showing that he had joined the Federal Army. Mr. Rueben Rogers
+upon seeing him had him arrested, charging him with being a fugitive
+slave. He was confined in the jail there and held until the U.S. Marshal
+of Baltimore released him, arresting Rogers and bringing him to
+Baltimore City where he was reprimanded by the Federal Judge. This story
+is well known by the older people of Howard County and traditionally
+known by the younger generation of Ellicott City, and is called 'Old
+Nick: Rogers' lemon.'&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="SimmsDennis"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 28, 1937<br>
+Stansbury<br>
+<br>
+DENNIS SIMMS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Dennis Simms, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland,
+June 17, 1841, Dennis Simms, Negro ex-slave, 628 Mosher Street,
+Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a
+hundred years old.</p>
+
+<p>He has one brother living, George Simms, of South River, Maryland, who
+was born July 18, 1849. Both of them were born on the Contee tobacco
+plantation, owned by Richard and Charles Contee, whose forbears were
+early settlers in the State.</p>
+
+<p>Simms always carries a rabbit's foot, to which he attributes his good
+health and long life. He has been married four times since he gained his
+freedom. His fourth wife, Eliza Simms, 67 years old, is now in the
+Providence Hospital, suffering from a broken hip she received in a fall.
+The aged Negro recalls many interesting and exciting incidents of
+slavery days. More than a hundred slaves worked on the plantation, some
+continuing to work for the Contee brothers when they were set free. It
+was a pretty hard and cruel life for the darkeys, declares the Negro.</p>
+
+<p>Describing the general conditions of Maryland slaves, he said: &quot;We would
+work from sunrise to sunset every day except Sundays and on New Year's
+Day. Christmas made little difference at Contee, except that we were
+given extra rations of food then. We had to toe the mark or be flogged
+with a rawhide whip, and almost every day there was from two to ten
+thrashings given on the plantations to disobedient Negro slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When we behaved we were not whipped, but the overseer kept a pretty
+close eye on us. We all hated what they called the 'nine ninety-nine',
+usually a flogging until fell over unconscious or begged for mercy. We
+stuck pretty close to the cabins after dark, for if we were caught
+roaming about we would be unmercifully whipped. If a slave was caught
+beyond the limits of the plantation where he was employed, without the
+company of a white person or without written permit of his master, any
+person who apprehended him was permitted to give him 20 lashes across
+the bare back.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If a slave went on another plantation without a written permit from his
+master, on lawful business, the owner of the plantation would usually
+give the offender 10 lashes. We were never allowed to congregate after
+work, never went to church, and could not read or write for we were kept
+in ignorance. We were very unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were apprehended by the patrollers,
+who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged,
+would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with the letter 'R'.&quot;
+Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded.</p>
+
+<p>Simms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland
+enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut
+off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the
+body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of
+the county where the act was committed. He said that the slaves pretty
+well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of
+dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with
+huge stone chimneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty
+tired after their long day's work in the field. Sometimes we would,
+unbeknown to our master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and
+spirituals. Our favorite spirituals were&mdash;<u>Bringin' in de sheaves</u>,
+<u>De Stars am shinin' for us all</u>, <u>Hear de Angels callin'</u>,
+and <u>The Debil has no place here</u>. The singing was usually to the
+accompaniment of a Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo. In summer the slaves
+went without shoes and wore three-quarter checkered baggy pants, some
+wearing only a long shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes,
+much too large. In winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep
+out the cold. We called them 'Program' shoes. We had no money to spend,
+in fact did not know the value of money.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap molasses and a red
+herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from our master or
+overseer, we would go hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie
+would be a real treat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared
+the patrollers. As a rule most slaves were lazy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Simms' work at Contee was to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires
+and sometimes work in the field.</p>
+
+<p>He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inauguration of
+Lincoln after he was set free.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="TaylorJim"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+12/6/37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JIM TAYLOR (UNCLE JIM), Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels
+about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan's father knew me well as I worked for him
+for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both
+were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small
+boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while
+the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and
+the small rivers on the Eastern Shore. Mr. Davis bought able-bodied
+colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say
+about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the Captain, there were
+from 6 to 10 men used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess
+boy, than on the sail boats.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at
+Havre de Grace engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to
+St. Michaels. It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace.
+Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 5th, before we could start
+towards St. Michaels.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that
+night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and
+go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy). They ran the tug across the bay
+to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there they beached the tug on the north
+side, followed a stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After
+traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated on a large
+farm which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the county. The
+sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping man seized
+the sheriff from the rear, after he was thrown they tied him, then they
+continued on a road towards Pennsylvania. They reached Pennsylvania
+about dawn. After they had gone some distance in Pennsylvania three men
+with guns overtook them; but five men and one woman of Pennsylvania with
+guns and clubs stopped them. In the meantime the sheriff and two of his
+deputies come up. The sheriff said he had to hold them for the
+authorities of the county. They were taken by the sheriff from the three
+men, carried about 15 miles further in Pennsylvania and then were told
+to go to Chester where they would be safe.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Davis came to Chester with Mr. Tuttle to claim the escaping slaves.
+They were badly beaten, Mr. Tuttle receiving a fractured skull. There
+were several white men in Chester who were very much interested in
+colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia. After arriving
+in Philadelphia, we went to Allen's mission, a colored church that
+helped escaping slaves. I stayed in Philadelphia until I was about 19
+years old, then all the colored people were free. I returned to Talbot,
+there remained until 1904, came to Baltimore where I secured a job with
+James Hitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two
+horses each and sometimes by three and four horses. Mr. Hitchens' office
+and warehouse were on North Street near Pleasant. I stayed there with
+Mr. Hitchens until he sold his business to Mr. O. Farror after he had
+taken sick.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In March I will be 90 years old. I have been sick three times in my
+life. I am, and have been a member of North Street Baptist Church for
+thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married
+twice and a grandfather of twenty-three granddaughters and grandsons and
+forty-five great grand-children.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;While in Philadelphia I attended free school for colored children
+conducted at Allen's Mission; when I returned to Talbot county I was in
+the sixth grade or the sixth reader. Since then I have always been fond
+of reading. My favored books are the <u>Bible</u>, Bunyan's <u>Pilgrim's
+Progress</u>, <u>Uncle Tom's Cabin</u>, the lives of Napoleon, Frederick
+Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and church magazines and the
+Afro-American.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="WigginsJames"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+[--]-22-37<br>
+Rogers<br>
+<br>
+JAMES WIGGINS, Ex-slave.<br>
+Reference: Personal interview with James Wiggins, ex-slave,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;at his home, 625 Barre St.</h3>
+<br>
+
+<p>&quot;I was born in Anne Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850
+or 1851, I do not know which. I do not know my father or mother. Peter
+Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my
+father's name was Wiggins. He said that he was one of the Revells'
+slaves. He acquired my father at an auction sale held in Baltimore at a
+high price from a trader who had an office on Pratt Street about 1845.
+He was given a wife by Mr. Revell and as a result of this union I was
+born. My father was a carpenter by trade, he was hired out to different
+farmers by Mr. Revell to repair and build barns, fences and houses. I
+have been told that my father could read and write. Once he was charged
+with writing passes for some slaves in the county, as a result of this
+he was given 15 lashes by the sheriff of the county, immediately
+afterwards he ran away, went to Philadelphia, where he died while
+working to save money to purchase mother's freedom, through a white
+Baptist minister in Baltimore.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was called &quot;Gingerbread&quot; by the Revells. They reared me until I
+reached the age of about nine or ten years old. My duty was to put logs
+on the fireplaces in the Revells' house and work around the house. I
+remember well when I was taken to Annapolis, how I used to dance in the
+stores for men and women, they would give me pennies and three cent
+pieces, all of which was given to me by the Revells. They bought me
+shoes and clothes with the money collected.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Mr. Revell died in 1861 or 62. The sheriff and men came from Annapolis,
+sold the slaves, stock and other chattels. I was purchased by a Mr.
+Mayland, who kept a store in Annapolis. I was sold by him to a slave
+trader to be shipped to Georgia. I was brought to Baltimore, and was
+jailed in a small house on Paca near Lombard. The trader was buying
+other slaves to make a load. I escaped through the aid of a German
+shoemaker, who sold shoes to owners for slaves.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The German shoeman had a covered wagon, I was put in the wagon covered
+by boxes, taken to a house on South Sharp Street and there kept until a
+Mr. George Stone took me to Frederick City where I stayed until 1863,
+when Mr. Stone, a member of the Lutheran church, had me christened
+giving me the name of James Wiggins. This is how I got the name of
+Wiggins, after my father, instead of Gingerbread, through the
+investigation and the information given by Mr. Brooks.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You know the Revells are well known in Anne Arundel County, consisting
+of a large family, each family a large property owner. I can't say how
+many acres were owned by Jim Revell, he was a general farmer having a
+few slaves, you see I was a small boy. I can't answer all the questions
+you want.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There were a great many people in Anne Arundel who did not believe in
+slavery and many free colored people. These conditions caused conflicts
+between the free colored who many times were charged with aiding the
+slaves and the whites who were not favorably impressed with slavery and
+the others who believed in slavery. As a result, the patrollers were
+numerous. I remember of seeing Jim Revell coming home very much battered
+and beaten up as a result of an encounter with a number of free people
+and white people and those who were members of the patrollers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a child I was very fond of dancing, especially the jig and buck. I
+made money as I stated before, I played children's plays of that time,
+top, marbles and another game we called skinny. Skinny was a game played
+on trees and grape vines.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As a boy I was very healthy, I never had a doctor until I was over 50
+years old. I don't know anything about the medical treatment of that
+day, you never need medicine unless you are ailing and I never ailed.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<br><br><hr width="65%"><br><br>
+<a name="WilliamsRezin"></a>
+<h3>Maryland<br>
+Sept. 27, 1937<br>
+Stansbury<br>
+<br>
+&quot;PARSON&quot; REZIN WILLIAMS, ex-slave.</h3>
+<br>
+<h4>References:<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore Morning Sun, December 10, 1928.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Registration Books of Board of Election Supervisors<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Baltimore Court House.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Personal interviews with
+&quot;Parson&quot; Rezin Williams,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+on Thursday afternoon, September 18 and 24, 1937,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+at his home, 2610 Pierpont Street, Mount Winans,<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+Baltimore, Md.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol 1 (1906), p. 56.<br>
+<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Buchholz: <u>Governors of Maryland</u>&mdash;pp. 57-63, 192-167.<br>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(P.L.G. 28 B 92.)</h4>
+
+
+&quot;Parson&quot; Williams----<br>
+<br>
+Oldest living Negro Civil War veteran; now 116 years old.<br>
+<br>
+Oldest registered voter in Maryland and said to be the oldest<br>
+&quot;freeman&quot; in the United States.<br>
+<br>
+Said to be oldest member of Negro family in America with sister<br>
+and brother still living, more than a century old.<br>
+<br>
+Father worked for George Washington.<br>
+<br>
+
+<p>In 1864 when the State Constitution abolished slavery and freed about
+83,000 Negro slaves in Maryland, there was one, &quot;Parson&quot; Rezin Williams,
+already a freeman. He is now living at the age of 116 years, in
+Baltimore City, Maryland, credited with being the oldest of his race in
+the United States who served in the Civil War.</p>
+
+<p>He was born March 11, 1822, at &quot;Fairview&quot;, near Bowie, Prince Georges
+County, Maryland&mdash;a plantation of 1000 acres, then belonging to Governor
+Oden Bowie's father. &quot;Parson&quot; Williams' father, Rezin Williams, a
+freeman, was born at &quot;Mattaponi&quot;, near Nottingham, Prince Georges
+County, the estate of Robert Bowie of Revolutionary War fame, friend of
+Washington and twice Governor of Maryland. The elder Rezin Williams
+served the father of our country as a hostler at Mount Vernon, where he
+worked on Washington's plantation during the stormy days of the
+Revolution.</p>
+
+<p>There is perhaps nowhere to be found a more picturesque and interesting
+character of the colored race than &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, who, besides
+serving as a colored bishop of the Union American Methodist Church
+(colored) for more than a half century, is the composer of Negro
+spirituals which were popular during their day. He attended President
+Lincoln's inauguration and subsequently every Republican and Democratic
+presidential inauguration, although he himself is a Republican. Lincoln,
+according to Williams, shook hands with him in Washington.</p>
+
+<p>One of Williams' sons, of a family of fourteen children, was named after
+George Washington, and another after Abraham Lincoln. The son, George
+Washington Williams, died in 1912 at the age of seventy-three years.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Parson&quot; Williams, serving the Union forces as a teamster, hauled
+munitions and supplies for General Grant's army, at Gettysburg. On trips
+to the rear, he conveyed wounded soldiers from the line of fire. He
+also served under General McClellan and General Hooker.</p>
+
+<p>Although now confined to his home with infirmities of age, he posesses
+all his faculties and has a good memory of events since his boyhood
+days. Due to the fact that his grandmother was an Indian the daughter of
+an Indian chieftan, alleged to be buried in a vault in Baltimore County,
+Williams was a freeman like his father and hired himself out.</p>
+
+<p>Williams claims that his father, when a boy, accompanied Robert Bowie,
+for whom he was working, to Mount Vernon, where he first met George
+Washington. He said that General Washington once became very angry at
+his father because he struck an unruly horse, exclaiming: &quot;The brute has
+more sense than some slaves. Cease striking the animal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Robert Bowie, the third son of Capt. William and Margaret (Sprigg)
+Bowie, was born at &quot;Mattaponi&quot;, near Nottingham, March 1750. As a
+captain of a company of militia organized at Nottingham, he accompanied
+the Maryland forces when they joined Washington in his early campaign
+near New York. He and Washington became friends. In 1791, when Captain
+William Bowie died, his son Robert inherited &quot;Mattaponi&quot;. He was the
+first Democratic governor to be elected, one of the presidential
+electors for Madison, and a director of the first bank established at
+Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p>Williams recalls hearing his father say that when Washington died,
+December 14, 1799, many paid reverence by wearing mourning scarfs and
+hatbands.</p>
+
+<p>He recalls many interesting incidents during slavery days. He said that
+slaves could not buy or sell anything except with the permission of
+their master. If a slave was caught ten miles from his master's home,
+and had no signed permit, he was arrested as a runaway and harshly
+punished.</p>
+
+<p>There was a standing reward for the capture of a runaway. The Indians
+who caught a runaway slave received a &quot;match coat.&quot; The master gave the
+slave usually ten to ninety-nine lashes for running off. What slaves
+feared most was what they called the &quot;nine ninety-nine&quot; or 99 lashes
+with a rawhide whip, and sometimes they were unmercifully flogged until
+unconcious. Some cruel masters believed Negroes had no souls. The slaves
+at Bowie, however, declared &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, were pretty well treated
+and usually respected the overseers. He said that the slaves at Bowie
+mostly lived in cabins made of slabs running up and down and crudely
+furnished. Working time was from sunrise until sunset. The slaves had no
+money to spend and few masters allowed them to indulge in a religious
+meeting or even learn about the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>Slaves received medical attention from a physician if they were
+seriously ill. When a death occured, a rough box would be made of heavy
+slabs and the dead Negro buried the same day on the plantation burying
+lot with a brief ceremony, if any. The grieving darkeys, relatives,
+after he was &quot;eased&quot; in the ground, would sing a few spirituals and
+return to their cabins.</p>
+
+<p>Familiar old spirituals were composed by &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, including
+<u>Roll De Stones Away</u>, <u>You'll Rise in De Skies</u>, and
+<u>Ezekiel, He'se Comin Home</u>.</p>
+
+<p>Following is one of Williams' spirituals:</p>
+
+<pre>
+When dat are ole chariot comes,
+I'm gwine to lebe you:
+I'm bound for de promised land
+I'm gwine to lebe you.
+
+I'm sorry I'm gwine to lebe you,
+Farewell, oh farewell
+But I'll meet you in de mornin
+Farewell, oh farewell.
+</pre>
+
+<p>Still another favorite of &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, which he composed on Col.
+Bowie's plantation just before the Civil War, a sort of rallying song
+expressing what Canada meant to the slaves at that time, runs thus:</p>
+
+<pre>
+I'm now embarked for yonder shore
+There a man's a man by law;
+The iron horse will bear me o'er
+To shake de lion's paw.
+Oh, righteous Father, will thou not pity me
+And aid me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
+
+Oh, I heard Queen Victoria say
+That if we would forsake our native land of slavery,
+And come across de lake
+That she was standin' on de shore
+Wid arms extended wide,
+To give us all a peaceful home
+Beyond de rollin' tide.
+</pre>
+
+<p>Interesting reminiscences are recalled by &quot;Parson&quot; Williams of his early
+life. He said that he still remembers when Mr. Oden Bowie (later
+governor) left with the army of invasion of Mexico (1846-1848), and of
+his being brought home ill after several years was nursed back to health
+at &quot;Fairview&quot;. Governor Bowie died on his plantation in 1894 and is
+buried in the family burying ground there.</p>
+
+<p>He was the first president of the Maryland Jockey Club. Governor Bowie
+raised a long string of famous race horses that became known throughout
+the country. From the &quot;Fairview&quot; stables went such celebrated horses as
+Dickens, Catespy, Crickmore, Commensation, Creknob, who carried the
+Bowie colors to the front on many well-contested race courses. After
+Governor Bowie's death, the estate became the property of his youngest
+son, W. Booth Bowie.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fairview&quot; is located in the upper part of what was called the &quot;Forest&quot;
+of Prince Georges County, a few miles southwest of Collington Station.
+It is a fine type of old Colonial mansion built of brick, the place
+having been in the posession of the family for some time previous.
+&quot;Fairview&quot; is one of the oldest and finest homes in Maryland. The
+mansion contains a wide hall and is a typical Southern home.</p>
+
+<p>Baruch Duckett married Kitty Bean, a granddaughter of John Bowie, Sr.,
+the first of his name to come to Prince Georges County. They had but one
+daughter, whose name was Kitty Bean Duckett, and she married in 1800
+William Bowie of Walter. Baruch Duckett outlived his wife and died in
+1810. He devised &quot;Fairview&quot; to his son-in-law and the latter's children,
+and it ultimately became the property of his grandson, afterward known
+as Col. William B.[TR.?] Bowie, who made it his home until 1880, when he
+gave it to his eldest son, Oden, who in 1868 became Governor of
+Maryland. Governor Bowie was always identified with the Democratic
+Party.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Parson&quot; Williams' wife, Amelia Addison Williams died August 9, 1928, at
+the age of 94 years. The aged negro is the father of 14 children, one
+still living,&mdash;Mrs. Amelia Besley, 67 years old, 2010 Pierpont Street,
+Mount Winans, Baltimore, Maryland. His brother, Marcellus Williams, and
+a single sister, Amelia Williams, both living, reside on Rubio street,
+Philidelphia, Pa. According to &quot;Parson&quot; Williams, they are both more
+than a century old and are in fairly good health. Besides his children
+and a brother and a sister, Williams has several grandchildren,
+great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren living.</p>
+
+<p>President Lincoln, Williams says, was looked upon by many slaves as a
+messenger from heaven. Of course, many slave masters were kind and
+considerate, but to most slaves they were just a driver and the slaves
+were work horses for them. Only once during his lifetime does Williams
+recall tasting whisky, when his cousin bought a pint. It cost three
+cents in those days. He said his mother used to make beer out of
+persimmons and cornhusks, but they don't make it any more, so he doesn't
+even drink beer now. He would much rather have a good cigar. He has
+since a boy, smoked a pipe.</p>
+
+<p>By special permission of plantation owners in Prince Georges, St. Marys,
+Baltimore and other counties in Maryland, he was often permitted to
+visit the darkeys and conduct a religious meeting in their cabins. He
+usually wore a long-tailed black &quot;Kentucky&quot; suit with baggy trousers and
+sported a cane.</p>
+
+<p>Usually when servants or slaves in those days found themselves happy and
+contented, it was because they were born under a lucky star. As for
+eating, they seldom got chicken, mostly they ate red herring and
+molasses&mdash;they called black strap molasses. They were allowed a herring
+a day as part of their food. Slaves as a rule preferred possums to
+rabbits. Some liked fish best. Williams' favorite food was cornpone and
+fried liver.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Once before de wah, I was ridin Lazy, my donkey, a few miles from de
+boss' place at Fairview, when along came a dozen or more patrollers. Dey
+questioned me and decided I was a runaway slave and dey wuz gwine to
+give me a coat of tar and feathers when de boss rode up and ordered my
+release. He told dem dreaded white patrollers dat I was a freeman and a
+'parson'.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>When the slaves were made free, some of the overseers tooted horns,
+calling the blacks from their toil in the fields. They were told they
+need no longer work for their masters unless they so desired. Most of
+the darkeys quit &quot;den and dar&quot; and made a quick departure to other
+parts, but some remained and to this day their descendants are still to
+be found working on the original plantations, but of course for pay.</p>
+
+<p>Describing the clothing worn in summer time by the slaves, he said they
+mostly went barefooted. The men and boys wore homespun, three-quarter
+striped pants and sometimes a large funnel-shaped straw hat. Some wore
+only a shirt as a covering for their body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In winter oxhide shoes were worn, much too large, and the soles
+contained several layers of paper. We called them 'program' shoes,
+because the paper used for stuffing, consisted of discarded programs. We
+gathered herbs from which we made medicine, snake root and sassafras
+bark being a great remedy for many ailments.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Williams, though himself not a slave by virtue of the fact that his
+grandmother was an Indian, was considered a good judge of healthy
+slaves, those who would prove profitable to their owners, so he often
+accompanied slave purchasers to the Baltimore slave markets.</p>
+
+<p>He told of having been taken by a certain slave master to the Baltimore
+wharf, boarded a boat and after the slave dealer and the captain
+negotiated a deal, he, Williams, not realizing that he was being used as
+a decoy, led a group of some thirty or forty blacks, men, women and
+children, through a dark and dirty tunnel for a distance of several
+blocks to a slave market pen, where they were placed on the auction
+block.</p>
+
+<p>He was told to sort of pacify the black women who set up a wail when
+they were separated from their husbands and children. It was a pitiful
+sight to see them, half naked, some whipped into submission, cast into
+slave pens surrounded by iron bars. A good healthy negro man from 18 to
+30 would bring from $200 to $800. Women would bring about half the price
+of the men. Often when the women parted with their children and loved
+ones, they would never see them again.</p>
+
+<p>Such conditions as existed in the Baltimore slave markets, which were
+considered the most important in the country, and the subsequent ill
+treatment of the unfortunates, hastened the war between the states.</p>
+
+<p>The increasing numbers of free negroes also had much to do with causing
+the civil war. The South was finding black slavery a sort of white
+elephant. Everywhere the question was what to do with the freeman.
+Nobody wanted them. Some states declared they were a public nuisance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Uncle Rezin&quot;, by which name some called him, since slavery days, was,
+besides being engaged in preaching the Gospel, journeying from one town
+to another, where he has performed hundreds of marriages among his race,
+baptised thousands, performed numerous christenings and probably
+preached more sermons than any Negro now living. He preached his last
+sermon two years ago. He says his life's work is now through and he is
+crossing over the River Jordan and will soon be on the other side.
+Since the Civil War he has made extra money for his support during
+depression times by doing odd jobs of whitewashing, serving as a porter
+or janitor, cutting wood, hauling and running errands, also serving as
+a teamster, picking berries and working as a laborer. He has had several
+miraculous escapes from death during his long life. Twice during the
+past quarter of a century his home at Mount Winans has been destroyed by
+fire, when firemen rescued him in the nick of time, and some years ago,
+when he was suddenly awakened during a severe windstorm, his house was
+unroofed and blew down. When workmen were clearing away the debris in
+search for &quot;Uncle&quot; Rezin, some hours later, a voice was heard coming
+from a large barrel in the cellar. It was from Williams, who somehow
+managed to crawl in the barrel during the storm, and called out: &quot;De
+Lord hab sabed me. You all haul me out of here, but I'se all right.&quot;
+Scabo, his pet dog, was killed by the falling debris during the storm.
+Firemen at Westport state that three years ago, when fire damaged
+&quot;Uncle&quot; Rezin's home, the aged negro preacher refused to be rescued, and
+walked out of the building through stifling smoke, as though nothing had
+happened. When veterans of a great war have been mowed down by the
+scythe of Father Time until their numbers are few, an added public
+interest attaches to them. Baltimore septuagenarians remember the honor
+paid to the last surviving &quot;Old Defenders&quot;, who faced the British troops
+at North Point in 1814, and now the few veterans of the War of
+Secession, whether they wore the blue or the gray, receive similar
+attention. A far different class, one peculiarly associated with the
+strife between the North and the South, are approaching the point of
+fading out from the life of today&mdash;the old slaves, and original old
+freemen. &quot;Parson&quot; Williams tops the list of them all.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of
+Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery
+in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects
+Administration
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States 
+       From Interviews with Former Slaves
+       Maryland Narratives
+
+Author: Work Projects Administration
+
+Release Date: March 12, 2004 [EBook #11552]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Andrea Ball and PG Distributed Proofreaders. Produced from
+images provided by the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note
+[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note
+
+
+
+
+SLAVE NARRATIVES
+
+
+A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
+From Interviews with Former Slaves
+
+
+TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY
+THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
+1936-1938
+ASSEMBLED BY
+THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT
+WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
+FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
+SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
+
+
+WASHINGTON 1941
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME VIII
+
+MARYLAND NARRATIVES
+
+
+
+
+Prepared by
+the Federal Writers' Project of
+the Works Progress Administration
+for the State of Maryland
+
+
+
+INFORMANTS
+
+Brooks, Lucy [TR: and Lafayette Brooks]
+
+Coles, Charles
+
+Deane, James V.
+
+Fayman, Mrs. M.S.
+Foote, Thomas
+
+Gassaway, Menellis
+
+Hammond, Caroline
+Harris, Page
+Henson, Annie Young
+
+Jackson, Rev. Silas
+James, James Calhart
+James, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna
+Johnson, Phillip
+Jones, George
+
+Lewis, Alice
+Lewis, Perry
+
+Macks, Richard
+
+Randall, Tom
+
+Simms, Dennis
+
+Taylor, Jim
+
+Wiggins, James
+Williams, Rezin (Parson)
+
+
+[TR: Interviews were stamped at left side with state name, date, and
+ interviewer's name. These stamps were often partially cut off. Where
+ month could not be determined [--] substituted. Interviewers' names
+ reconstructed from other, complete entries.]
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-23-37
+Guthrie
+
+AUNT LUCY [HW: BROOKS].
+References: Interview with Aunt Lucy and her son, Lafayette Brooks.
+
+
+Aunt Lucy, an ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack
+on the Carroll Inn Springs property at Forest Glen, Montgomery County,
+Md.
+
+To go to her home from Rockville, leave the Court House going east on
+Montgomery Ave. and follow US Highway No. 240, otherwise known as the
+Rockville Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles
+to the junction with it on the left (east) of the Garrett Park Road.
+This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgetown
+Preparatory School, which is on the west of this road. Turn left on the
+Garrett Park Road and follow it through that place and crossing Rock
+Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B.&O. R.R. and
+parallel them onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this
+place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place
+go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left.
+This lane will be identified by the sign "Carroll Springs Inn". Turn
+left here and enter the grounds of the inn. But do not go up in front of
+the inn itself which is one quarter of a mile from the road. Instead,
+where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left
+and continue downward fifty yards toward the swimming pool. Lucy's shack
+is on the left and one hundred feet west of the pool. It is about eleven
+miles from Rockville.
+
+Lucy is an usual type of Negro and most probably is a descendant of less
+remotely removed African ancestors than the average plantation Negroes.
+She does not appear to be a mixed blood--a good guess would be that she
+is pure blooded Senegambian. She is tall and very thin, and considering
+her evident great age, very erect, her head is very broad, overhanging
+ears, her forehead broad and not so receeding as that of the average.
+Her eyes are wide apart and are bright and keen. She has no defect in
+hearing.
+
+Following are some questions and her answers:
+
+"Lucy, did you belong to the Carrolls before the war?" "Nosah, I didne
+lib around heah den. Ise born don on de bay".
+
+"How old are you?"
+
+"Dunno sah. Miss Anne, she had it written down in her book, but she said
+twas too much trouble for her to be always lookin it up". (Her son,
+Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the
+Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the
+mother was twenty-five years old then, she would be about ninety now.
+Some think she is more than a hundred years old).
+
+"Who did you belong to?"
+
+"I belonged to Missus Ann Garner".
+
+"Did she have many slaves?"
+
+"Yassuh. She had seventy-five left she hadnt sold when the war ended".
+
+"What kind of work did you have to do?"
+
+"O, she would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a
+powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the
+table. I was just a little gal then. Missus used to say that she was
+going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to sen me to Baltimo
+to learn to be a nurse".
+
+"And what did you think about that?"
+
+"Oh; I thought that would be fine, but he war came befo I got big enough
+to learn to be a nurse".
+
+"I remebers when the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers.
+De never hurt anybody but they took what they could find to eat and they
+made us cook for them. I remebers that me and some other lil gals had a
+play house, but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked through
+a hole in the fence and ran out in the field. One of the soldiers seed
+me and he hollers 'look at that rat run'."
+
+"I remebers when the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic
+cable) came into the bay. Missus Ann, and all the white folks went down
+to Fairhaven wharf to see dat big shep".
+
+"I stayed on de plantation awhile after de war and heped de Missus in de
+house. Den I went away".
+
+"Ise had eight chillun. Dey all died and thisun and his brother
+(referring to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said he ought ter
+died instid o his brother."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because thisun got so skeered when he was little bein carried on a hos
+that he los his speech and de wouldt let me see im for two days. It was
+a long time befor he learned to talk again". (To this day he has such an
+impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him make the effort to
+talk).
+
+"What did you have to eat down on the plantation, Aunt Lucy?"
+
+"I hab mostly clabber, fish and corn bread. We gets plenty of fish down
+on de bay".
+
+"When we cum up here we works in the ole Forest Glen hotel. Mistah
+Charley Keys owned the place then. We stayed there after Mr. Cassidy
+come. (Mr. Cassidy was the founder of the National Park Seminary, a
+school for girls). My son Lafayette worked there for thirty five years.
+Then we cum to Carroll Springs Inn".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+11/15/37
+Rogers
+
+CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home,
+           1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles
+County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives.
+I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey,
+a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church.
+
+"Mr. Dorsey was a man of excellent reputation and character, was loved
+by all who knew him, black and white, especially his slaves. He was
+never known to be harsh or cruel to any of his slaves, of which he had
+more than 75.
+
+"The slaves were Mr. Dorsey's family group, he and his wife were very
+considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore good
+heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes.
+
+"I have been told that the Dorseys' farm contained about 3500 acres, on
+which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey managed
+the farm. They required the farm hands to work from 7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.;
+after that their time was their own.
+
+"There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was
+bought or sold. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services
+of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose
+and in which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how
+to read and write and were assisted by some Catholic priests who came to
+the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. When a
+child was born, it was baptised by the priest, and given names and they
+were recorded in the Bible. We were taught the rituals of the Catholic
+church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the
+corpse was buried in the Dorseys' graveyard, a lot of about 1-1/2 acres,
+surrounded by cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the
+graves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had
+plain stones.
+
+"I have never heard of any of the Dorseys' slaves running away. We did
+not have any trouble with the white people.
+
+"The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weather-boarded and
+stripped to keep out the cold. I do not remember whether the slaves
+worked or not on Saturdays, but I know the holidays were their own. Mr.
+Dorsey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected
+to find on other plantations.
+
+"We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my
+favorite game was marbles.
+
+"When we took sick Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to
+the slaves, giving medical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic
+and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier Church."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 20, 1937
+Rogers
+
+JAMES V. DEANE, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave,
+           on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave.,
+           Baltimore.
+
+
+"My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose
+Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of
+Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father's people. I have two
+sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford.
+
+"I was born in a log cabin, a typical Charles County log cabin, at Goose
+Bay on the Potomac River. The plantation on which I was born fronted
+more than three miles on the river. The cabin had two rooms, one up and
+one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no
+porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain and snow from
+beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the
+outside, plastered between the logs, in which was a fireplace with an
+open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.
+
+"We slept on a home-made bedstead, on which was a straw mattress and
+upon that was a feather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my
+mother to cover.
+
+"As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn,
+watching watermelon patches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco
+fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money.
+
+"Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables
+raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt and water.
+
+"Yes, I have hunted o'possums, and coons. The last time I went coon
+hunting, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took to
+their heels, white and colored, the white men outran the colored hunter,
+leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards.
+
+"My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You
+have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches
+which they worked by moonlight.
+
+"As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on
+the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and
+in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky
+jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the
+stock, after which we did what we wanted.
+
+"I have seen many slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the
+groom jumping over it as a part of the wedding ceremony. When a slave
+married someone from another plantation, the master of the wife owned
+all the children. For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes,
+sometimes you could not tell the original outfit for the patches, and
+sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride's trousseau, she would wear the
+cast-off clothes of the mistress, or, at other times the clothes made by
+other slaves.
+
+"It was said our plantation contained 10,000 acres. We had a large
+number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from
+sunup to sundown. The slaves were not whipped.
+
+"There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my
+aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was
+sold and taken south. We never saw or heard of her afterwards.
+
+"We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white
+preachers. We sang with the white people. The Methodists were christened
+and the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored funerals with
+no service. A graveyard on the place, only a wooden post to show where
+you were buried.
+
+"None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard many patrollers, but
+they never whipped any of Mason's slaves. The method of conveying news,
+you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between whites
+and blacks.
+
+"After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories
+and tales, dances, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like
+any other day. We had all legal holidays. Christmas morning we went to
+the big house and got presents and had a big time all day.
+
+"At corn shucking all the slaves from other plantations would come to
+the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn,
+and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man
+to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted. We had
+supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn
+bread. We went back to shucking. The carts from other farms would be
+there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was
+stored, we danced until daybreak.
+
+"The only games we played were marbles, mumble pegs and ring plays. We
+sang London Bridge.
+
+"When we wanted to meet at night we had an old conk, we blew that. We
+all would meet on the bank of the Potomac River and sing across the
+river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us.
+
+"Some people say there are no ghosts, but I saw one and I am satisfied,
+I saw an old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met
+her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her. I liked to tore the
+door off the hinges getting away.
+
+"My master's name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental
+disposition, his mother managed the affairs. He was kind. Mrs. Mason had
+a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The
+main house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no
+overseer.
+
+"The poor white people in Charles County were worse off than the slaves;
+because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation, the slaves
+did all the work.
+
+"Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves
+tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore.
+
+"No one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord's Prayer and
+catechism.
+
+"When the slaves took sick Dr. Henry Mudd, the one who gave Booth first
+aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their own, and made their
+own salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+11/3/37
+Rogers
+
+MRS. M.S. FAYMAN.
+Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman,
+           at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of
+Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them
+were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very
+influential. My father's name was Henri de Sales and mother's maiden
+name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson
+named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving me
+the only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in
+Louisiana. We lived in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers
+and situated on a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised
+pelicans for sale in the market at New Orleans.
+
+"When I was about 5 years old I was sent to a private School in Baton
+Rouge, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped
+in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English; French was
+the language spoken in my household and by the people in the parish.
+
+"Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping
+place for all large river boats, especially between New Orleans and
+large towns and cities north. We children were taken out by the sisters
+after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of the places we
+went was the wharf. One day in June and on a Saturday a large boat was
+at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were
+there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken up
+bodily by a white man, carried on the boat, put in a cabin and kept
+there until we got to Louisville, Kentucky, where I was taken off.
+
+"After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frankfort and
+installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through
+the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
+As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and
+companion for the children of Pierce Buckran Haynes, a well known slave
+trader and plantation owner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to
+speak French and it was my duty to teach them. I was the private
+companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French
+and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I
+in the rudiments of the English language.
+
+"I slept in the children's quarters with the Haynes' children, ate and
+played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me
+with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave
+the plantation. While on the plantation I wore good clothes, similar to
+those of the white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with
+his slaves, punishing them severly and cruelly both by the lash and in
+the jail on the plantation.
+
+"The name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called
+Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes. It contained 8000 acres, of
+which more than 6000 acres were under cultivation, and having about 350
+colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all of whom were white. The
+overseers were the overlords of the manor; as Haynes dealt extensively
+in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly
+all the time. There was located on the top of the large tobacco
+warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o'clock and at
+sundown, the year round. On the farm the slaves were assigned a task to
+do each day and In the event it was not finished they were severely
+whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see them afterwards,
+they were very badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the
+whipping.
+
+"I have been back to the farm on several occasions, the first time in
+1872 when I took my father there to show him the farm. At that time it
+was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Army officer.
+
+"Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one
+about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet
+high In front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a
+sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2x4
+feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There
+were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building
+12x15 feet, this was where the cooking was done. At each end of each
+building there was a fire place built and used for heating purposes. In
+front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by
+pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a
+hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the
+buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there
+were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an iron rod
+was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for
+those inside to escape.
+
+"There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet
+with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story. On the ground in each end
+was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office;
+adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach
+the second story there was built on the outside, steps leading to a
+door, through which the female prisoners were taken to the room. All of
+the buildings had dirt floors.
+
+"I do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there
+at that time. Slaves were brought and taken away always chained
+together, men walking and women in ox carts. I had heard of several
+escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or
+8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves.
+
+"Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My
+grandmother was a Haitian Negress, grandfather a Frenchman. My father
+was a Creole.
+
+"After returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in
+New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French
+there until 1883, married Prof. Payman, teacher of history and English.
+Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisianna. For
+further information, write me c/o Y.W.C.A. (col.), Baltimore, to be
+forwarded".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 16, 1937
+Rogers
+
+THOMAS FOOTE'S STORY, A free Negro.
+Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote,
+           at his home, Cockeysville, Md.
+
+
+"My mother's name was Eliza Foote and my father's name was Thomas Foote.
+Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm
+about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern
+Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City.
+
+"My mother's maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of
+Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr. Ensor, a
+homeopathic medical doctor of Cockeysville who was a noted doctor in his
+day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read
+and write. My mother's duty along with her other work was to assist Dr.
+Ensor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practical
+experience and knowledge of different herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor
+used in the compounding of his medicine, used them for commercial
+purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored people of
+Baltimore County, especially of the Merrymans, Ridgelys, Roberts,
+Cockeys and Mayfields. Her fame reached as far south as Baltimore City
+and north of Baltimore as far as the Pennsylvania line and the
+surrounding territory. She was styled and called the doctor woman both
+by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people
+but confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their
+troubles.
+
+"My mother prescribed for her people and compounded medicine out of the
+same leaves, herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor did. Naturally her success
+along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as
+a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which
+there were a number in Baltimore County.
+
+"The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in
+the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always
+preceeded with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard her tell others
+hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was seen
+coming from her home early in the morning. He had been there for
+treatment of an ailment which Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being
+treated by my mother for a time, he got well. When this slave was
+searched, he had in his possession a small bag in which a stone of a
+peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had
+given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it came in
+contact.
+
+"There were about this time a number of white people who had been going
+through Cockeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted
+move on the part of the slaves to run away, others contacting the free
+people to find out to what extent they had 'grape-vine' news of the
+action of the Negroes. The Negro who was seen coming from mother's home
+ran away. She was immediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of
+Cockeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled
+by the sheriff of Baltimore County--the Cockeys, and several other men,
+all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing
+that the only way he could have escaped was by the York Road, north or
+south, the Northern Central Railroad or by the way of Deer Creek, a
+small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad
+were being watched, she logically thought that the only place was Deer
+Creek, so she told the sheriff to search Deer Creek. By accident he was
+found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several other
+colored men who had run away.
+
+"Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into
+slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until 1865,
+when she returned to her home in Cockeysville; where a great many of her
+descendants live, now, on a hill that slopes west to Cockeysville
+Station, and is known as Foote's Hill by both white and colored people
+of Baltimore County today.
+
+"I was born in Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; reared a
+family of five children, three boys and two girls. I am a member of the
+A.M.E. Church at Cockeysville. I am a member of the Masonic Lodge and
+belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote's descendants still
+own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are known from one end of
+the county to the other."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 22, 1937
+Rogers
+
+MENELLIS GASSAWAY, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave,
+           on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore.
+
+
+"My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was
+born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of
+Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll
+County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two
+rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a
+small farm situated on a public road, I don't know the name.
+
+"My father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family.
+We raised on the farm vegetables and grain, consisting of corn and
+wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist
+mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other
+stock for food.
+
+"During the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can't
+remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people,
+that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other
+colored people so far as I can recall.
+
+"I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owned our
+family buy or sell slaves. He was a small man.
+
+"As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the
+farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or Ma while they
+were there.
+
+"There was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side
+Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways
+from the farm.
+
+"My father neglected his own education as well as his children. He could
+not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of which
+we in later years saw the advantage.
+
+"In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it
+was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This
+made the colored and white people very friendly.
+
+"Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not know whether he worked
+on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church.
+
+"My father was owned by a man by the name of Mr. Dorsey. My mother was
+bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by the name of Mr. Morris of Frederick
+County.
+
+"I have never heard of many ghost stories. But I believe once, a
+conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed (beheaded), and
+after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many
+people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him
+when the train passed the spot where he was killed.
+
+"So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could
+not afford to hire one, and the colored doctored themselves with herbs,
+teas and salves made by themselves."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--] 11, 1938
+Rogers
+
+CAROLINE HAMMOND, A fugitive.
+Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from
+South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave
+woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of
+Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of
+whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household
+help who ate and slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the
+household slaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves did
+not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson's household.
+
+"Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social
+standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson
+entertained on a large scale, especially many of the officers of the
+Naval Academy at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs.
+Davidson's dishes were considered the finest, and to receive an
+invitation from the Davidsons meant that you would enjoy Maryland's
+finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the
+market.
+
+"All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited
+on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons,
+braid and a fancy Test, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him
+now, standing at the door, after he had rung the bell. When the family
+and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to
+serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated with meats,
+fowl or whatever was to be eaten by the family or guest.
+
+"Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every
+consideration that he could, with the exception of freeing them; but
+Mrs. Davidson was hard on all the slaves, whenever she had the
+opportunity, driving them at full speed when working, giving different
+food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daughter of one
+of the Revells of the county, a family whose reputation was known all
+over Maryland for their brutality with their slaves.
+
+"Mother with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free
+colored man of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother
+within three years after marriage for $750 dollars and if any children
+were born they were to go with her. My father was a carpenter by trade,
+his services were much in demand. This gave him an opportunity to save
+money. Father often told me that he could save more than half of his
+income. He had plenty of work, doing repair and building, both for the
+white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for
+mother on the partial payment plan. He had paid up all but $40 on
+mother's account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking
+on the South River by one of the duck hunters, dying instantly.
+
+"Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When
+father wanted to pay off the balance due, $40.00, Mrs. Davidson refused
+to accept it, thus mother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free
+man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was
+endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs,
+constables and officials of public conveyances. By bribery of the
+sheriff of Anne Arundel County father was given a passage to Baltimore
+for mother and me. On arriving in Baltimore, mother, father and I went
+to a white family on Ross Street--now Druid Hill Ave., where we were
+sheltered by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the
+Underground Railroad.
+
+"A reward of $50.00 each was offered for my father, mother and me, one
+by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At
+this time the Hookstown Road was one of the main turnpikes into
+Baltimore. A Mr. Coleman whose brother-in-law lived in Pennsylvania,
+used a large covered wagon to transport merchandise from Baltimore to
+different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived.
+Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawn, by six
+horses. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground in
+any community or close to any settlement, fearful of being apprehended
+by people who were always looking for rewards.
+
+"After arriving at Hanover, Pennsylvania, it was easy for us to get
+transportation farther north. They made their way to Scranton,
+Pennsylvania, in which place they both secured positions in the same
+family. Father and mother's salary combined was $27.50 per month. They
+stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I was being taught at a Quaker
+mission in Scranton. When we come to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade
+grammar school in South Baltimore. After finishing the grammar school, I
+followed cooking all my life before and after marriage. My husband James
+Berry, who waited at the Howard House, died in 1927--aged 84. On my next
+birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can
+see well, have an excellent appetite, but my grandchildren will let me
+eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat.
+On Christmas Day 49 children and grandchildren and some
+great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for
+Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts of a poor person not dependant on
+any one else for tomorrow".
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 13, 1937
+Rogers
+
+PAGE HARRIS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home,
+           Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md.
+
+
+"I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac
+River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as
+Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and
+trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders
+of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as
+Mississippi and Louisiana.
+
+"My father's name was Sam and mother's Mary, both of whom belonged to
+the Staffords and were reared in Charles County. They reared a family of
+nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the
+rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords
+liberated my parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves
+but because of saving the lives of his entire family.
+
+"Mrs. Stafford came from Prince William County, Virginia, a county on
+the west side of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
+had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and
+oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to
+Quantico, a small town in Prince William County, Va., and up Quantico
+Creek in the same county.
+
+"I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest
+son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in
+the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed
+across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of which
+she was a member. Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the
+boat to capsize. My father was fishing from a log raft in the river,
+immediately went to their rescue. The wind blew the raft towards the
+centre of the stream and in line with the boat. He was able without
+assistance to save the whole family, diving into the river to rescue
+Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and it
+was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream.
+Everybody thought that the Staffords had been drowned as the boat
+floated to the shore, bottom upwards.
+
+"As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata,
+the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of
+him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
+family to Philadelphia.
+
+"I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
+describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
+bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
+property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
+purpose of Mr. Stafford's living--raising and training blood hounds. I
+have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
+many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
+slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
+hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
+the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
+sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
+reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
+had charge of the dogs.
+
+"Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
+would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
+dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
+being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
+besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
+slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.
+
+"There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
+slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
+sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
+the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
+they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
+could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
+sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
+and would howl and return home.
+
+"Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
+run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
+some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
+condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
+that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
+He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
+sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
+it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in
+the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the
+dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day
+has any idea how he did it; but he did.
+
+"In the year of 1866 my father returned to Maryland bringing with him
+mother and my brothers and sister. He selected Annapolis for his future
+home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he
+continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or
+1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school
+that was established for colored children and taught by white teacher
+until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy
+waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money,
+sometimes making more than your wages. About 1896 or '97 I purchased a
+farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived
+since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel County is
+noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church,
+Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have
+grown to be men and women, one living home with me, one in New York, two
+in Baltimore, and one working in Washington, D.C."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 27, 1937
+Rogers
+
+ANNIE YOUNG HENSON, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave,
+           at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.
+
+"I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter
+of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters,
+Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum.
+
+"The farm was called Traveler's Rest. The farm so named because a man
+once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for
+something to eat and lodging for the night; both of which was given and
+welcomed by the wayfarer.
+
+"The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a
+high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to
+the master, mistress and their guests where they could hear the chant of
+the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves humming some familiar
+tunes that suited their taste, as they worked.
+
+"Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built
+about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and
+distinct from the others. It contained two rooms, one up and one down,
+with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the
+kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen
+help for the master, mistress and their guests, and from which each
+slave received his or her weekly ration, about 20 pounds of food each.
+
+"The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the
+kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm.
+
+"My position was second nurse for the doctor's family, or one of the
+inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position
+my clothes were made better, and better quality than the others, all
+made and arranged to suit the mistress' taste. I got a few things of
+femine dainty that was discarded by the mistress, but no money nor did I
+have any to spend. During my life as a slave I was whipped only once,
+and that was for a lie that was told on me by the first nurse who was
+jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress' room in a bed that we
+pushed under the mistress' in the day or after I arose.
+
+"Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds,
+and men to go with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners
+would send some of their slaves to join ours and we then dividing the
+spoils of the catch.
+
+"We had 60 slaves on the plantation, each family housed in a cabin built
+by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the
+number. For clothes we had good clothes, as we raised sheep, we had our
+own wool, out of which we weaved our cloth, we called the cloth 'box and
+dice'.
+
+"In the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash
+wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the
+shoe maker.
+
+"My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as
+afterward. I was small or young during my slave days, I always heard my
+mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how
+she used to say before she was married, when she saw the doctor coming,
+'here comes old Dr. Nellums'. Another friend she would say 'here comes
+cozen Auckney'.
+
+"We never had any overseers on the plantation, we had an old colored man
+by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please
+Mistress and Master, obey old Peter.
+
+"The farm was very large, the slaves worked from sunup to sundown, no
+one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only when proven
+guilty of crime charged.
+
+"Our master never sold any slaves. We had a six-room house, where the
+slaves entertained and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We
+had no jail on the plantation. We were not taught to read or write, we
+were never told our age.
+
+"We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where
+the slaves worshipped sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours
+and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was
+once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery
+directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of
+the church said to him, 'John, if you don't stop hollowing Amen you
+can't come to church'; he got so full of the Holy Ghost he yelled out
+Amen upon a venture, the congregation was so tickled with him and at his
+antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted.
+
+"During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was my uncle, when the
+Yankees came to Virginia, he ran away with them. He was later captured
+by the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the
+court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards.
+
+"I have seen and heard white-cappers, they whipped several colored men
+of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers drilling to go to war.
+
+"I remember well the day that Dr. Nellum, just as if it were yesterday,
+that we went to the court house to be set free. Dr. Nellum walked in
+front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if
+they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the
+papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed
+there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back
+since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked
+for Mr. Marshall, a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street,
+getting $6.00 per month. I have been told by both white and colored
+people of Virginia who knew Dr. Nellum, he lost his mind."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 29, 1937
+Rogers
+
+REV. SILAS JACKSON, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born at or near Ashbie's Gap in Virginia, either in the year of
+1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My
+father's name was Sling and mother's Sarah Louis. They were purchased by
+my master from a slave trader in Richmond, Virginia. My father was a man
+of large stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally
+came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think from the Legg estate,
+beyond that I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisters. My
+brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas,
+Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane and
+Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever
+seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a
+Baptist minister like myself.
+
+"The only things I know about my grandparents were: My grandfather ran
+away through the aid of Harriet Tubman and went to Philadelphia and
+saved $350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a Quaker or
+an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried
+to trace this part of my family's past history, but without success.
+
+"I was a large boy for my age, when I was nine years of age my task
+began and continued until 1864. You see _I saw and_ I was a slave.
+
+"In Virginia where I was, they raised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm
+products. I have had a taste of all the work on the farm, besides of
+digging and clearing up new ground to increase the acreage to the farm.
+We all had task work to do--men, women and boys. We began work on Monday
+and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for
+ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or
+work on some one else's place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off
+the plantation, but to be back by nine o'clock on Saturday night or when
+cabin inspection was made. Some time we could earn as much as 50 cents a
+day, which we used to buy cakes, candies, or clothes.
+
+"On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black
+strap, 6 pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of
+which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who
+wanted, hunted rabbits, opossums or fished. These were our choice food
+as we did not get anything special from the overseer.
+
+"Our food was cooked by our mothers or sisters and for those who were
+not married by the old women and men assigned for that work.
+
+"Each family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and
+if a man raised his own food he was given $10.00 at Christmas time
+extra, besides his presents.
+
+"In the summer or when warm weather came each slave was given something,
+the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin
+shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work
+in. In the cold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing
+cabin.
+
+"My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in
+Virginia--brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him.
+If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would
+have the slave tied to a tree, man or woman, and then would cowhide the
+victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint.
+
+"The Ashbie's home was a large stone mansion, with a porch on three
+sides. Wide halls in the center up and down stairs, numerous rooms and a
+stone kitchen built on the back connected with dining room.
+
+"Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was out.
+The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boys
+and girls of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids
+or private waiter for the young men if they wanted them.
+
+"I have heard it said by people in authority, Tom Ashbie owned 9000
+acres of farm land besides of wood land. He was a large slave owner
+having more than 100 slaves on his farm. They were awakened by blowing
+of the horn before sunrise by the overseer, started work at sunrise and
+worked all day to sundown, with not time to go to the cabin for dinner,
+you carried your dinner with you. The slaves were driven at top speed
+and whipped at the snap of the finger, by the overseers, we had four
+overseers on the farm all hired white men.
+
+"I have seen men beaten until they dropped in their tracks or knocked
+over by clubs, women stripped down to their waist and cowhided.
+
+"I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie's father went to one of the cabins
+late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard
+one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from
+slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the man
+disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the
+swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in
+the cabin praying. When old man Ashbie died, just before he died he told
+the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that
+he was going to hell.
+
+"There was a stone building on the farm, it is there today. I saw it
+this summer while visiting in Virginia. The old jail, it is now used as
+a garage. Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the
+whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used
+for women and girls. The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where
+they were. I have never seen slaves sold on the farm, but I have seen
+them taken away, and brought there. Several times I have seen slaves
+chained taken away and chained when they came.
+
+"No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves
+who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one
+of the overseers present and have their church. After which the overseer
+would talk. When communion was given the overseer was paid for staying
+there with half of the collection taken up, some time he would get 25¢.
+No one could read the Bible. Sandy Jasper, Mr. Ashbie's coachman was the
+preacher, he would go to the white Baptist church on Sunday with family
+and would be better informed because he heard the white preacher.
+
+"Twice each year, after harvest and after New Year's, the slaves would
+have their protracted meeting or their revival and after each closing
+they would baptize in the creek, sometimes in the winter they would
+break the ice singing _Going to the Water_ or some other hymn of that
+nature. And at each funeral, the Ashbies would attend the service
+conducted in the cabin there the deceased was, from there taken to the
+slave graveyard. A lot dedicated for that purpose, situated about 3/4 of
+a mile from cabins near a hill.
+
+"There were a number of slaves on our plantation who ran away, some were
+captured and sold to a Georgia trader, others who were never captured.
+To intimidate the slaves, the overseers were connected with the
+patrollers, not only to watch our slaves, but sometimes for the rewards
+for other slaves who had run away from other plantations. This feature
+caused a great deal of trouble between the whites and blacks. In 1858
+two white men were murdered near Warrenton on the road by colored
+people, it was never known whether by free people or slaves.
+
+"When work was done the slaves retired to their cabins, some played
+games, others cooked or rested or did what they wanted. We did not work
+on Saturdays unless harvest times, then Saturdays were days of work. At
+other times, on Saturdays you were at leisure to do what you wanted. On
+Christmas day Mr. Ashbie would call all the slaves together, give them
+presents, money, after which they spent the day as they liked. On New
+Year's day we all were scared, that was the time for selling, buying and
+trading slaves. We did not know who was to go or come.
+
+"I do not remember of playing any particular game, my sport was fishing.
+You see I do not believe in ghost stories nor voodooism, I have nothing
+to say. We boys used to take the horns of a dead cow or bull, cut the
+end off of it, we could blow it, some having different notes. We could
+tell who was blowing and from what plantation.
+
+"When a slave took sick she or he would have to depend on herbs, salves
+or other remedies prepared by someone who knew the medicinal value. When
+a valuable hand took sick one of the overseers would go to Upper Ville
+for a doctor."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-20-37
+Rogers
+
+JAMES CALHART JAMES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James Calhart James, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore.
+
+
+"My father's name was Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant
+of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and located
+near Fort Sumter, the fort that was surrendered to the Confederates in
+1851 or the beginning of the Civil War. My mother's name was Lottie
+Virginia James, daughter of an Indian and a slave woman, born on the
+Rapidan River in Virginia about 1823 or 24, I do not know which; she was
+a woman of fine features and very light in complexion with beautiful,
+long black hair. She was purchased by her master and taken to South
+Carolina when about 15 years old. She was the private maid of Mrs.
+Randolph until she died and then continued as housekeeper for her
+master, while there and in that capacity I was born on the Randolph's
+plantation August 23, 1846. I was a half brother to the children of the
+Randolphs, four in number. After I was born mother and I lived in the
+servants' quarters of the big house enjoying many pleasures that the
+other slaves did not: eating and sleeping in the big house, playing and
+associating with my half-brothers and sisters.
+
+"As for my ancestors I have no recollection of them, the history of the
+Randolphs in Virginia is my background.
+
+"My father told mother when I became of age, he was going to free me,
+send me north to be educated, but instead I was emancipated. During my
+slave days my father gave me money and good clothes to wear. I bought
+toys and games.
+
+"My clothes were good both winter and summer and according to the
+weather.
+
+"My master was my father; he was kind to me but hard on the field hands
+who worked in the rice fields. My mistress died before I was born. There
+were 3 girls and one boy, they treated me fairly good--at first or when
+I was small or until they realised their father was my father, then they
+hated me. We lived in a large white frame house containing about 15
+rooms with every luxury of that day, my father being very rich.
+
+"I have heard the Randolph plantation contained about 4000 acres and
+about 300 slaves. We had white overseers on the plantation, they worked
+hard producing rice on a very large scale, and late and early. I know
+they were severely punished, especially for not producing the amount of
+work assigned them or for things that the overseers thought they should
+be punished for.
+
+"We had a jail over the rice barn where the slaves were confined,
+especially on Sundays, as punishment for things done during the week.
+
+"I could read and write when I was 12 years old. I was taught by. the
+teacher who was the governess for the Randolph children. Mother could
+also read and write. There was no church on the plantation; the slaves
+attended church on the next plantation, where the owner had a large
+slave church, he was a Baptist preacher, I attended the white church
+with the Randolph children. I was generally known and called Jim
+Randolph. I was baptised by the white Baptist minister and christened by
+a Methodist minister.
+
+"There was little trouble between the white and blacks, you see I was
+one of the children of the house, I never came in contact much with
+other slaves. I was told that the slaves had a drink that was made of
+corn and rice which they drank. The overseers sometimes themselves drank
+it very freely. On holidays and Sundays the slaves had their times, and
+I never knew any difference as I was treated well by my father and did
+not associate with the other slaves.
+
+"In the year of 1865, I left South Carolina, went to Washington, entered
+Howard University 1868, graduated in 1873, taught schools in Virginia,
+North Carolina and Maryland, retired 1910. Since then I have been
+connected with A.M.E. educational board. Now I am home with my
+granddaughter, a life well spent.
+
+"One of the songs sung by the slaves on the plantation I can remember a
+part of it. They sang it with great feeling of happiness----
+
+  Oh where shall we go when de great day comes
+  An' de blowing of de trumpets and de bangins of de drums
+  When General Sherman comes.
+  No more rice and cotton fields
+  We will hear no more crying
+  Old master will be sighing.
+
+"I can't remember the tune, people sang it according to their own tune."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 23, 1937
+Rogers
+
+MARY MORIAH ANNE SUSANNA JAMES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave,
+           Sept. 23, 1937, at her home, 618 Haw St., Baltimore, Md.
+
+
+"My father's name was Caleb Harris James, and my mother's name was Mary
+Moriah. Both of them were owned by Silas Thornton Randorph, a distant
+relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the picture of Patrick Henry many
+a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and
+two brothers. Two of my sisters were sold to a slave dealer from
+Georgia, one died in 1870. One brother ran away and the other joined the
+Union Army; he died in the Soldiers' Home in Washington in 1932 at the
+age of 84.
+
+"How let me ask you, who told you about me? I knew that a stranger was
+coming, my nose has been itching for several days. How about my home
+life in Virginia, we lived on the James River in Virginia, on a farm
+containing more than 8,000 acres, fronting 3-1/2 miles on the river,
+with a landing where boats used to come to load tobacco and unload goods
+for the farm.
+
+"The quarters where we lived on the plantation called Randolph Manor
+were built like horse stables that you see on race tracks; they were
+1-1/2 story high, about 25 feet wide, and about 75 feet long, with
+windows in the sides of the roofs. A long shelter on the front and at
+the rear. In front, people would have benches to sit on, and on the back
+were nails to hang pots and pans. Each family would have rooms according
+to the size of the family. There were 8 such houses, 6 for families and
+one for the girls and the other for the boys. In the quarters we had
+furniture made by the overseer and colored carpenters; they would make
+the tables, benches and beds for everybody. Our beds were ticking filled
+with straw and covers made of anything we could get.
+
+"I have a faint recollection of my grandparents. My grandfather was sold
+to a man in South Carolina, to work in the rice field. Grandmother
+drowned herself in the river when she heard that grand-pap was going
+away. I was told that grandpap was sold because he got religious and
+prayed that God would set him and grandma free.
+
+"When I was ten years old I was put to work on the farm with other
+children, picking weeds, stone up and tobacco worms and to do other
+work. We all got new shoes for Christmas, a dress and $2.50 for
+Christmas or suits of clothes. We spent our money at Mr. Randorph's
+store for things that we wanted, but was punished if the money was spent
+at the county seat at other stores.
+
+"We were allowed fat meat, corn meal, black molasses and vegetables,
+corn and grain to roast for coffee. Mother cooked my food after stopping
+work on the farm for the day, I never ate possum. We would catch rabbits
+in guns or traps and as we lived on the rivers, we ate any kind of fish
+we caught. The men and everybody would go fishing after work. Each
+family had a garden, we raised what we wanted.
+
+"As near as I can recall, we had about 150 sheep on the farm, producing
+our own wool. The old women weaved clothes; we had woolen clothes in the
+winter and cotton clothes in the summer. On Sunday we wore the clothes
+given to us at Christmas time and shoes likewise.
+
+"I was married on the farm 1863 and married my same husband by a Baptist
+preacher in 1870 as I was told I had not been legally married. I was
+married in the dress given to me at Christmas of 1862. I did not get one
+in 1863.
+
+"Old Silas Randolph was a mean man to his slaves, especially when drunk.
+He and the overseer would always be together, each of whom carried a
+whip, and upon the least provocation would whip his slaves. My mistress
+was not as mean as my master, but she was mean There was only one son in
+the Randolph family. He went to a military school somewhere in Virginia.
+I don't know the name. He was captured by the Union soldiers. I never
+saw him until after the war, when he came home with one arm.
+
+"The overseer lived on the farm. He was the brother of Mrs. Randolph. He
+would whip men and women and children if he thought they were not
+working fast.
+
+"The plantation house was a large brick house over-looking the river
+from a hill, a porch on three sides, two-stories and attic. In the attic
+slept the house servants and coachman. We did not come in contact with
+the white people very much. Our place was away from the village.
+
+"There were 8,000 acres to the plantation, with more than 150 slaves on
+it. I do not know the time slaves woke up, but everybody was at work at
+sunrise and worked to sundown. The slaves were whipped for not working
+fast or anything that suited the fancy of the master or overseer.
+
+"I have seen slaves sold on the farm and I have seen slaves brought to
+the farm. The slaves were brought up the river in boats and unloaded at
+the landing, some crying and some seem to be happy.
+
+"No one was taught to read or write. There was no church on the farm. No
+one was allowed to read the Bible or anything else.
+
+"I have heard it said that the Randolph's lost more slaves by running
+away than anyone in the county. The patrollers were many in the county;
+they would whip any colored person caught off the place after night.
+Whenever a man wanted to run away he would go with someone else, either
+from the farm or from some other farm, hiding in the swamps or along the
+river, making their way to some place where they thought would be safe,
+sometimes hiding on trains leaving Virginia.
+
+"The slaves, after going to their quarters, cooked, rested or did what
+they wanted. Saturdays was no different from Monday.
+
+"On Christmas morning all the slaves would go up to the porch, get the
+$2.50, shoes and clothes, go back to the cabins and do what they wanted.
+
+"On New Year's Day everybody was scared as that was the day that slaves
+were taken away or brought to the farm.
+
+"You have asked about stories, I will tell you one I know. It is true.
+
+"During the war one day some Union soldiers came to the farm looking for
+Rebels. There were a number of them in the woods near the landing; they
+had come across the river in boats. At night while the Union soldiers
+were at the landing, they were fired on by the Rebels. The Union
+soldiers went after them, killed ten, caught I think six and some were
+drowned in the river. Among the six was the overseer, and from that
+night people have heard shooting and seen soldiers. One night many years
+after the Civil War, while visiting a friend who now lives within 500
+feet from the landing where the fighting took place, there appeared some
+soldiers carrying a man out of the woods whom I recognized as being the
+overseer. He had been seen hundreds of times by other people. White
+people will tell you the same thing. I will tell you for sure this is
+true.
+
+"You must excuse me I wanted to see some friends this evening."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+9/14/37
+Guthrie
+
+PHILLIP JOHNSON, An Ex-Slave.
+Ref: Phillip Johnson, R.F.D. Poolesville, Md.
+
+
+The subject of this sketch is a pure blooded Negro, whose kinky hair is
+now white, likewise his scraggy beard. He is of medium size and somewhat
+stooped with age, but still active enough to plant and tend a patch of
+corn and the chores about his little place at Sugarlands. His home is a
+small cabin with one or two rooms upstairs and three down, including the
+kitchen which is a leanto. The cabin is in great disrepair.
+
+Phillip John is above the average in intelligence, has some education
+and is quite well versed in the Holy Scriptures, having been for many
+years a Methodist preacher among his people. He uses fairly good English
+and freely talks in answer to questions. Without giving the questions
+put to him by this writer, his remarks given in the first person and as
+near his own idiom are as follows:
+
+
+"I'll be ninety years old next December. I dunno the day. My Missis had
+the colored folks ages written in a book but it was destroyed when the
+Confederate soldiers came through. But she had a son born two or three
+months younger than me and she remember that I was born in December,
+1847, but she had forgot the day of the month.
+
+"I was born down on the river bottom about four miles below Edwards'
+Ferry, on the Eight Mile Level, between Edwards' Ferry and Seneca. I
+belonged to ole Doctah White. He owned a lot o' lan down on de bottom. I
+dunno his first name. Everybody called him Doctah White. Yes, he was
+related to Doctah Elijah White. All the Whites in Montgomery County is
+related. Yes sah, Doctah White was good to his slaves. Yes sah, he had
+many slaves. I dunno how many. My Missis took me away from de bottom
+when I was a little boy, 'cause de overseer he was so cruel to me. Yes
+sah he was _mean_. I promised him a killin if ever I got big enough.
+
+"We all liked the Missis. Everybody in dem days used to ride horseback.
+She would come ridin her horse down to de bottom with a great big basket
+of biscuits. We thought they were fine. We all glad to see de Missis a
+comin. We always had plenty to eat, such as it was. We had coarse food
+but there was plenty of it.
+
+"The white folks made our clothes for us. They made linsey for the woman
+and woolen cloth for de men. They gave clothes sufficient to keep em
+warm. The men had wool clothes with brass buttons that had shanks on em.
+They looked good when they were new. They had better clothes then than
+most of us have now.
+
+"They raised mostly corn an oats an wheat down on de river bottom in
+those days. They didn't raise tobacco. But I've heard say that they used
+to raise it long before I was born. They cut grain with cradles in dem
+days. They had a lot 'o men and would slay a lot 'o wheat in a day. It
+was pretty work to see four or five cradlers in a field and others
+following them raking the wheat in bunches and others following binding
+them in bundles. The first reapers that came were called Dorsey reapers.
+They cut the grain and bunched it. It was then bound by hand.
+
+"When my Missis took me away from the river bottom I lived in
+Poolesville where the Kohlhoss home and garage is. I worked around the
+house and garden. I remember when the Yankee and Confederate soldiers
+both came to Poolesville. Capn Sam White (son of the doctor) he join the
+Confederate in Virginia. He come home and say he goin to take me along
+back with him for to serve him. But the Yankees came and he left very
+sudden and leave me behind. I was glad I didn't have to go with him. I
+saw all that fightin around Poolesville. I used to like to watch em
+fightin. I saw a Yankee soldier shoot a Confederate and kill him. He
+raised his gun twice to shoot but he kept dodgin around the house an he
+didn' want to shoot when he might hit someone else. When he ran from the
+house he shot him.
+
+"Yes sah, them Confederates done more things around here than the
+Yankees did. I remember once during the war they came to town. It was
+Sunday morning an I was sittin in the gallery of the ole brick Methodist
+church. One of them came to de door and he pointed his pistol right at
+that preacher's head. The gallery had an outside stairs then. I ran to
+de door to go down de stairs but there was another un there pointing his
+gun and they say don't nobody leave dis building. The others they was a
+cleanin up all the hosses and wagons round the church. The one who was
+guarding de stairs, he kept a lookin to see if dey was done cleaning up
+de hosses, and when he wasn't watching I slip half way down de stairs,
+an when he turn his back I jump down and run. When he looks he jus
+laugh.
+
+"My father he lived to be eighty nine. He died right here in this house
+and he's buried over by the church. His name was Sam. They called my
+mother Willie Ann. She died when I was small. I had three brothers and
+one sister. My father married again and had seven or eight other
+children.
+
+"I've had eleven children; five livin, six dead. I've been preaching for
+forty years and I have seen many souls saved. I don't preach regular
+anymore but once in a while I do. I have preached in all these little
+churches around here. I preached six years at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The
+presidin elder he wants me to go there. The man that had left there jus
+tore that church up. I went up there one Sunday and I didn't see
+anything that I could do. I think I'm not able for this. I said they
+needs a more experienced preacher than me. But the presidin elder keeps
+after me to go there and I says, well, I go for one year. Next thing it
+was the same thing. I stays on another year and so on for six years.
+When I left there that church was in pretty good shape.
+
+"I think preaching the gospel is the greatest work in the world. But
+folks don't seem to take the interest in church that they used to."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 30, 1937
+Rogers
+
+GEORGE JONES, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with George Jones, Ex-slave,
+           at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853. My
+father's name was Henry and mother's Jane; brothers Dave, Joe, Henry,
+John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father and mother were
+slaves, but I do not recall to whom they belonged. I remember my
+grandparents.
+
+"My father used to tell me how he would hide in the hay stacks at night,
+because he was whipped and treated badly by his master who was rough and
+hard-boiled on his slaves. Many a time the owner of the slaves and farm
+would come to the cabins late at night to catch the slaves in their
+dingy little hovels, which were constructed in cabin fashion and of
+stone and logs with their typical windows and rooms of one room up and
+one down with a window in each, the fireplaces built to heat and cook
+for occupants.
+
+"The farm was like all other farms in Frederick County, raising grain,
+such as corn, wheat and fruit and on which work was seasonable,
+depending upon the weather, some seasons producing more and some less.
+When the season was good for the crop and crops plentiful, we had a
+little money as the plantation owner gave us some to spend.
+
+"When hunting came, especially in the fall and winter, the weather was
+cold, I have often heard say father speak of rabbit, opossum and coon
+hunting and his dogs. You know in Frederick County there are plenty of
+woods, streams and places to hunt, giving homes and hiding places for
+such game.
+
+"We dressed to meet the weather condition and wore shoes to suit rough
+traveling through woods and up and down the hills of the country.
+
+"In my boyhood days, my father never spoke much of my master, only in
+the term I have expressed before, or the children, church, the poor
+white people in the neighborhood or the farm, their mode of living,
+social condition. I will say this in conclusion, the white people of
+Frederick County as a whole were kind towards the colored people and are
+today, very little race friction one way or the other."
+
+
+
+
+Ellen B. Warfield
+May 18, 1937
+
+ALICE LEWIS.
+
+
+(Alice Lewis, ex-slave, 84, years old, in charge of sewing-room at
+Provident Hospital (Negro), Baltimore. Tall, slender, erect, her head
+crowned by abundant snow white wool, with a fine carriage and an air of
+poise mud self respect good to behold, Alice belies her 84 years.)
+
+"Yes'm, I was born in slavery, I don't look it, but I was! Way down in
+Wilkes County, Georgia, nigh to a little town named Washington which
+ain't so far from Augusta. My pappy, he belong to the Alexanders, and my
+mammy, she belong to the Wakefiel' plantation and we all live with the
+Wakefiel's. No _ma'am_, none of the Wakefiel' niggers ever run away.
+They was too well off! They knew who they friends was! _My_ white
+folkses was good to their niggers! Them was the days when we had good
+food and it didn't cost nothing--chickens and hogs and garden truck.
+Saturdays was the day we got our 'lowance for the week, and lemme tell
+you, they didn't stint us none. The best in the land was what we had,
+jest what the white folkses had.
+
+"Clothes? yes'm. We had two suits of clothes, a winter suit and a summer
+suit and two pairs of shoes, a winter pair and a summer pair. Yes'm, my
+mammy, she spin the cotton, yes'm picked right on the plantation, yes'm,
+cotton picking was fun, believe me! As I was saying, Mammy she spin and
+she wears the cloth, and she cut it out and she make our clothes. That's
+where I git my taste to sew, I reckon. When I first come to Baltimore, I
+done dressmaking, 'deed I did. I sewed for the best fam'lies in this
+yere town. I sewed for the Howards and the Slingluffs and the Jenkinses.
+Jest the other day, I met Miss C'milla down town and she say. 'Alice,
+ain' this you? and I say, 'Law me, Miss C'milla', and 'she say, 'Alice,
+why don' you come to see Mother? She ain' been so well--she love to see
+you....'
+
+"Well, as I was a saying, we didn't work so hard, them days. We got up
+early, 'cause the fires had to be lighted to make the house warm for the
+white folks, but in them days, dinner was in the middle of the day--the
+quality had theirs at twelve o'clock--and they had a light supper at
+five and when we was through, we was through, and free to go the
+quarters and set around and smoke a pipe and rest.
+
+"Yes'm they taught us to read and write. Sunday afternoons, my young
+mistresses used to teach the pickaninnies to read the Bible. Yes'm we
+was free to go to see the niggers on other plantations but we had to
+have a pass an' we was checked in an' out. No'm, I ain't never seen no
+slaves sold, nor none in chains, and I ain't never seen no Ku Kluxers.
+
+"I live with the Wakefiel's till I was 'leven and then Marse Wakefiel'
+give me to my young mistress when she married and went to North Carolina
+to live. And 'twas in North Carolina that I seed Sherman, 'deed I did!
+I seed Sherman and his sojers, gathering up all the hogs and all the
+hosses, and all the cows and all the little cullud chillen. Them was
+drefful days! These is drefful days, too. Old man Satan, he sure am on
+earth now.
+
+"Yes'm, I believes in ghos'ses. I ain't never seed 'em but I is feel
+'em. I live once in a house where a man was killed. I lie in my bed and
+they close in on me! No'm, I ain't afraid. The landlord say when I move
+out, 'you is stay there longer than anybody I ever had.' 'Nother house
+I live in (this was in North Carolina too), it had been a gamblin'
+house and it had hants. On rainy nights, I'd lie awake and hear "drip,
+drip ... drip, drip...." What was that? Why, that was the blood a
+dripping ... Why on rainy night? Why, on rainy nights, the blood gets
+a little fresh...!"
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 4, 1937
+Rogers
+
+PERRY LEWIS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born on Kent Island, Md. about 86 years ago. My father's name was
+Henry and mother's Louise. I had one brother John, who was killed in the
+Civil War at the Deep Bottom, one sister as I can remember. My father
+was a freeman and my mother a slave, owned by Thomas Tolson, who owned a
+small farm on which I was born in a log cabin, with two rooms, one up
+and one down.
+
+"As you know the mother was the owner of the children that she brought
+into the world. Mother being a slave made me a slave. She cooked and
+worked on the farm, ate whatever was in the farmhouse and did her share
+of work to keep and maintain the Tolsons. They being poor, not having a
+large place or a number of slaves to increase their wealth, made them
+little above the free colored people and with no knowledge, they could
+not teach me or any one else to read.
+
+"You know the Eastern Shore of Maryland was in the most productive slave
+territory and where farming was done on a large scale; and in that part
+of Maryland where there were many poor people and many of whom were
+employed as overseers, you naturally heard of patrollers and we had them
+and many of them. I have heard that patrollers were on Kent Island and
+the colored people would go out in the country on the roads, create a
+disturbance to attract the patrollers' attention. They would tie ropes
+and grape vines across the roads, so when the patrollers would come to
+the scene of the disturbance on horseback and at full tilt, they would
+be throwing those who would come in contact with the rope or vine off
+the horse; sometimes badly injuring the riders. This would create hatred
+between the slaves, the free people, the patrollers and other white
+people who were concerned.
+
+"In my childhood days I played marbles, this was the only game I
+remember playing. As I was on a small farm, we did not come in contact
+much with other children, and heard no children's songs. I therefore do
+not recall the songs we sang.
+
+"I do not remember being sick but I have heard mother say, when she or
+her children were sick, the white doctor who attended the Tolsons
+treated us and the only herbs I can recall were life-everlasting boneset
+and woodditney, from each of which a tea could be made.
+
+"This is about all I can recall."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 7, 1937
+Rogers
+
+RICHARD MACKS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Charles County in Southern Maryland in the year of 1844.
+My father's name was William (Bill) and Mother's Harriet Mack, both of
+whom were born and reared in Charles County--the county that James
+Wilkes Booth took refuge in after the assassination of President Lincoln
+in 1865. I had one sister named Jenny and no brothers: let me say right
+here it was God's blessing I did not. Near Bryantown, a county center
+prior to the Civil War as a market for tobacco, grain and market for
+slaves.
+
+"In Bryantown there were several stores, two or three taverns or inns
+which were well known in their days for their hospitality to their
+guests and arrangements to house slaves. There were two inns both of
+which had long sheds, strongly built with cells downstairs for men and a
+large room above for women. At night the slave traders would bring their
+charges to the inns, pay for their meals, which were served on a long
+table in the shed, then afterwards, they were locked up for the night.
+
+"I lived with my mother, father and sister in a log cabin built of log
+and mud, having two rooms; one with a dirt floor and the other above,
+each room having two windows, but no glass. On a large farm or
+plantation owned by an old maid by the name of Sally McPherson on
+McPherson Farm.
+
+"As a small boy and later on, until I was emancipated, I worked on the
+farm doing farm work, principally in the tobacco fields and in the woods
+cutting timber and firewood. I slept on a home-made bed or bunk, while
+my mother and sister slept in a bed made by father on which they had a
+mattress made by themselves and filled with straw, while dad slept on a
+bench beside the bed and that he used in the day as a work bench,
+mending shoes for the slaves and others. I have seen mother going to the
+fields each day like other slaves to do her part of the farming. I being
+considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the
+field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people
+some of whom gave me a few pennies. By this method I earned some money
+which I gave to my mother. I once found a gold dollar, that was the
+first dollar I ever had in my life.
+
+"We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and
+vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats; and
+fish we caught out of the creeks and streams.
+
+"My father had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and
+opossum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off. If my
+father said: 'Ruler, take his hat off!', he would jump up and grab your
+hat.
+
+"We had a section of the farm that the slaves were allowed to farm for
+themselves, my mistress would let them raise extra food for their own
+use at nights. My father was the colored overseer, he had charge of the
+entire plantation and continued until he was too old to work, then
+mother's brother took it over, his name was Caleb.
+
+"When I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryansville town.
+Some would be chained, some handcuffed, and others not. These slaves
+were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at
+Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south.
+
+"The slave traders would buy young and able farm men and well-developed
+young girls with fine physiques to barter and sell. They would bring
+them to the taverns where there would be the buyers and traders, display
+them and offer them for sale. At one of these gatherings a colored girl,
+a mulatto of fine stature and good looks, was put on sale. She was of
+high spirits and determined disposition. At night she was taken by the
+trader to his room to satisfy his bestial nature. She could not be
+coerced or forced by him [TR: 'by him' lined out] so she was attacked by
+him. In the struggle she grabbed a knife and with it, she
+sterilized[HW:?] him and from the result of injury he died the next day.
+She was charged with murder. Gen. Butler, hearing of it, sent troops to
+Charles County to protect her, they brought her to Baltimore, later she
+was taken to Washington where she was set free. She married a Government
+employe, reared a family of 3 children, one is a doctor practicing
+medicine in Baltimore and the other a retired school teacher, you know
+him well if I were to tell you who the doctor is. This attack was the
+result of being goodlooking, for which many a poor girl in Charles
+County paid the price. There are several cases I could mention, but they
+are distasteful to me.
+
+"A certain slave would not permit this owner to whip him, who with
+overseer and several others overpowered the slave, tied him, put him
+across a hogshead and whipped him severely for three mornings in
+succession. Some one notified the magistrate at Bryantown of the
+brutality. He interfered in the treatment of this slave, threatening
+punishment. He was untied, he ran away, was caught by the constable,
+returned to his owner, melted sealing wax was poured over his back on
+the wounds inflicted by him, when whipping, the slave ran away again and
+never was caught.
+
+"There was a doctor in the neighborhood who bought a girl and installed
+her on the place for his own use, his wife hearing of it severely beat
+her. One day her little child was playing in the yard. It fell head down
+in a post hole filled with water and drowned. His wife left him;
+afterward she said it was an affliction put on her husband for his sins.
+
+"During hot weather we wore thin woolen clothes, the material being made
+on the farm from the wool of our sheep, in the winter we wore thicker
+clothes made on the farm by slaves, and for shoes our measures were
+taken of each slave with a stick, they were brought to Baltimore by the
+old mistress at the beginning of each season, if she or the one who did
+the measuring got the shoe too short or too small you had to wear it or
+go barefooted.
+
+"We were never taught to read or write by white people.
+
+"We had to go to the white church, sit in the rear, many times on the
+floor or stand up. We had a colored preacher, he would walk 10 miles,
+then walk back. I was not a member of church. We had no baptising, we
+were christened by the white preacher.
+
+"We had a graveyard on the place. Whites were buried inside of railing
+and the slaves on the outside. The members of the white family had
+tombstones, the colored had headstones and cedar post to show where they
+were buried.
+
+"In Charles County and in fact all of Southern Maryland tobacco was
+raised on a large scale. Men, women and children had to work hard to
+produce the required crops. The slaves did the work and they were driven
+at full speed sometimes by the owners and others by both owner and
+overseers. The slaves would run away from the farms whenever they had a
+chance, some were returned and others getting away. This made it very
+profitable to white men and constables to capture the runaways. This
+caused trouble between the colored people and whites, especially the
+free people, as some of them would be taken for slaves. I had heard of
+several killings resulting from fights at night.
+
+"One time a slave ran away and was seen by a colored man, who was
+hunting, sitting on a log eating some food late in the night. He had a
+corn knife with him. When his master attempted to hit him with a whip,
+he retaliated with the knife, splitting the man's breast open, from
+which he died. The slave escaped and was never captured. The white
+cappers or patrollers in all of the counties of Southern Maryland
+scoured the swamps, rivers and fields without success.
+
+"Let me explain to you very plain without prejudice one way or the
+other, I have had many opportunities, a chance to watch white men and
+women in my long career, colored women have many hard battles to fight
+to protect themselves from assault by employers, white male servants or
+by white men, many times not being able to protect, in fear of losing
+their positions. Then on the other hand they were subjected to many
+impositions by the women of the household through woman's jealousy.
+
+"I remember well when President Buchanan was elected, I was a large boy.
+I came to Baltimore when General Grant was elected, worked in a livery
+stable for three years, three years with Dr. Owens as a waiter and
+coachman, 3 years with Mr. Thomas Winanson Baltimore Street as a butler,
+3 years with Mr. Oscar Stillman of Boston, then 11 years with Mr. Robert
+Garrett on Mt. Vernon Place as head butler, after which I entered the
+catering business and continued until about twelve years ago. In my
+career I have had the opportunity to come in contact with the best white
+people and the most cultured class in Maryland and those visiting
+Baltimore. This class is about gone, now we have a new group, lacking
+the refinement, the culture and taste of those that have gone by.
+
+"When I was a small boy I used to run races with other boys, play
+marbles and have jumping contests.
+
+"At nights the slaves would go from one cabin to the other, talk, dance
+or play the fiddle or sing. Christmas everybody had holidays, our
+mistress never gave presents. Saturdays were half-day holidays unless
+planting and harvest times, then we worked all day.
+
+"When the slaves took sick or some woman gave birth to a child, herbs,
+salves, home liniments were used or a midwife or old mama was the
+attendant, unless severe sickness Miss McPherson would send for the
+white doctor, that was very seldom."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Dec. 21, 1937
+Rogers
+
+TOM RANDALL, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall,
+           at his home, Oella, Md.
+
+
+"I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a
+shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road--the name then, I do
+not know. My mother's name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do
+not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I
+have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the cook at the Howard
+House; she was permitted to keep me with her. When I could remember
+things, I remember eating out of the skillets, pots and pans, after she
+had fried chicken, game or baked in them, always leaving something for
+me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how I used to carry wood
+in the kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and
+the leaves and tops of other plants.
+
+"There was a colored man by the name of Joe Nick, called Old Nick by a
+great many white people of me city. Joe was owned by Rueben Rogers, a
+lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2-1/2
+miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the leading street
+of Ellicott City. They never called me anything but Tomy or Randy, other
+people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of Ellicott City, was my
+father.
+
+"Mother was owned by a man by the name of O'Brien, a saloon or tavern
+keeper of the town. He conducted a saloon in Ellicott City for a long
+time until he became manager, or operator, of the Howard House of
+Ellicott City, a larger hotel and tavern in the city. Mother was a fine
+cook, especially of fowl and game. The Howard House was the gathering
+place of the formers, lawyers and business men of Howard and Frederick
+Counties and people of Baltimore who had business in the courts of
+Howard County and people of western Maryland on their way to Baltimore.
+
+"Joe could read and write and was a good mechanic and wheelright. These
+accomplishments made him very valuable to Rogers' farm, as wagons,
+buggies, carriages, plows and other vehicles and tools had to be made
+and repaired.
+
+"When I was about eight or nine years old Joe ran away, everybody saying
+to join the Union Army. Joe Nick drove a pair of horses, hitched to a
+covered wagon, to Ellicott City. The horses were found, but no Nick,
+Rogers offered a reward of $100.00 for the return of Nick. This offer
+drew to Ellicott City a number of people who had bloodhounds that were
+trained to hunt Negroes--some coming from Anne Arundel, Baltimore,
+Howard and counties of southern Maryland, each owner priding his pack as
+being the best pack in the town. They all stopped at the Howard House,
+naturally drinking, treating their friends and each other, they all
+discussed among themselves the reward and their packs of hounds, each
+one saying that his pack was the best. This boasting was backed by cash.
+Some cash, plus the reward on their hounds. In the meantime Old Joe was
+thinking, not boasting, but was riding the rail.
+
+"Old Joe left Ellicott City on a freight train, going west, which he
+hopped when it was stalled on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a short
+distance from the railroad station at Ellicott City. Old Joe could not
+leave on the passenger trains, as no Negro would be allowed on the
+trains unless he had a pass signed by his master or a free Negro, and
+had his papers.
+
+"At dawn the hunters left the Howard House with the packs, accompanied
+by many friends and people who joined up for the sport of the chase.
+They went to Rogers' farm where the dogs were taken in packs to Nick's
+quarters so they could get the odor and scent of Nick. They had a
+twofold purpose, one to get the natural scent, the other was, if Old
+Nick had run away, he might come back at night to get some personal
+belongings, in that way the direction he had taken would be indicated by
+the scent and the hounds would soon track him down. The hounds were
+unleashed, each hunter going in a different direction without result.
+Then they circled the farm, some going 5 miles beyond the farm without
+result. After they had hunted all day they returned to the Howard House
+where they regaled themselves in pleasures of the hotel for the evening.
+
+"In June of 1865 Old Nick returned to Ellicott City dressed in a uniform
+of blue, showing that he had joined the Federal Army. Mr. Rueben Rogers
+upon seeing him had him arrested, charging him with being a fugitive
+slave. He was confined in the jail there and held until the U.S. Marshal
+of Baltimore released him, arresting Rogers and bringing him to
+Baltimore City where he was reprimanded by the Federal Judge. This story
+is well known by the older people of Howard County and traditionally
+known by the younger generation of Ellicott City, and is called 'Old
+Nick: Rogers' lemon.'"
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 28, 1937
+Stansbury
+
+DENNIS SIMMS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Dennis Simms, ex-slave,
+           September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore.
+
+
+Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland,
+June 17, 1841, Dennis Simms, Negro ex-slave, 628 Mosher Street,
+Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a
+hundred years old.
+
+He has one brother living, George Simms, of South River, Maryland, who
+was born July 18, 1849. Both of them were born on the Contee tobacco
+plantation, owned by Richard and Charles Contee, whose forbears were
+early settlers in the State.
+
+Simms always carries a rabbit's foot, to which he attributes his good
+health and long life. He has been married four times since he gained his
+freedom. His fourth wife, Eliza Simms, 67 years old, is now in the
+Providence Hospital, suffering from a broken hip she received in a fall.
+The aged Negro recalls many interesting and exciting incidents of
+slavery days. More than a hundred slaves worked on the plantation, some
+continuing to work for the Contee brothers when they were set free. It
+was a pretty hard and cruel life for the darkeys, declares the Negro.
+
+Describing the general conditions of Maryland slaves, he said: "We would
+work from sunrise to sunset every day except Sundays and on New Year's
+Day. Christmas made little difference at Contee, except that we were
+given extra rations of food then. We had to toe the mark or be flogged
+with a rawhide whip, and almost every day there was from two to ten
+thrashings given on the plantations to disobedient Negro slaves.
+
+"When we behaved we were not whipped, but the overseer kept a pretty
+close eye on us. We all hated what they called the 'nine ninety-nine',
+usually a flogging until fell over unconscious or begged for mercy. We
+stuck pretty close to the cabins after dark, for if we were caught
+roaming about we would be unmercifully whipped. If a slave was caught
+beyond the limits of the plantation where he was employed, without the
+company of a white person or without written permit of his master, any
+person who apprehended him was permitted to give him 20 lashes across
+the bare back.
+
+"If a slave went on another plantation without a written permit from his
+master, on lawful business, the owner of the plantation would usually
+give the offender 10 lashes. We were never allowed to congregate after
+work, never went to church, and could not read or write for we were kept
+in ignorance. We were very unhappy.
+
+"Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were apprehended by the patrollers,
+who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged,
+would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with the letter 'R'."
+Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded.
+
+Simms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland
+enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut
+off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the
+body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of
+the county where the act was committed. He said that the slaves pretty
+well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of
+dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland.
+
+"We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with
+huge stone chimneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty
+tired after their long day's work in the field. Sometimes we would,
+unbeknown to our master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and
+spirituals. Our favorite spirituals were--_Bringin' in de sheaves_, _De
+Stars am shinin' for us all_, _Hear de Angels callin'_, and _The Debil
+has no place here_. The singing was usually to the accompaniment of a
+Jew's harp and fiddle, or banjo. In summer the slaves went without shoes
+and wore three-quarter checkered baggy pants, some wearing only a long
+shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes, much too large. In
+winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep out the cold. We
+called them 'Program' shoes. We had no money to spend, in fact did not
+know the value of money.
+
+"Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap molasses and a red
+herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from our master or
+overseer, we would go hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie
+would be a real treat.
+
+"We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared
+the patrollers. As a rule most slaves were lazy."
+
+Simms' work at Contee was to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires
+and sometimes work in the field.
+
+He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inauguration of
+Lincoln after he was set free.
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+12/6/37
+Rogers
+
+JIM TAYLOR (UNCLE JIM), Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor,
+           at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore.
+
+
+"I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels
+about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan's father knew me well as I worked for him
+for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both
+were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small
+boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while
+the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and
+the small rivers on the Eastern Shore. Mr. Davis bought able-bodied
+colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say
+about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the Captain, there were
+from 6 to 10 men used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess
+boy, than on the sail boats.
+
+"I think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at
+Havre de Grace engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to
+St. Michaels. It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace.
+Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 5th, before we could start
+towards St. Michaels.
+
+"Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that
+night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and
+go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy). They ran the tug across the bay
+to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there they beached the tug on the north
+side, followed a stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After
+traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated on a large
+farm which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the county. The
+sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping man seized
+the sheriff from the rear, after he was thrown they tied him, then they
+continued on a road towards Pennsylvania. They reached Pennsylvania
+about dawn. After they had gone some distance in Pennsylvania three men
+with guns overtook them; but five men and one woman of Pennsylvania with
+guns and clubs stopped them. In the meantime the sheriff and two of his
+deputies come up. The sheriff said he had to hold them for the
+authorities of the county. They were taken by the sheriff from the three
+men, carried about 15 miles further in Pennsylvania and then were told
+to go to Chester where they would be safe.
+
+"Mr. Davis came to Chester with Mr. Tuttle to claim the escaping slaves.
+They were badly beaten, Mr. Tuttle receiving a fractured skull. There
+were several white men in Chester who were very much interested in
+colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia. After arriving
+in Philadelphia, we went to Allen's mission, a colored church that
+helped escaping slaves. I stayed in Philadelphia until I was about 19
+years old, then all the colored people were free. I returned to Talbot,
+there remained until 1904, came to Baltimore where I secured a job with
+James Hitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two
+horses each and sometimes by three and four horses. Mr. Hitchens' office
+and warehouse were on North Street near Pleasant. I stayed there with
+Mr. Hitchens until he sold his business to Mr. O. Farror after he had
+taken sick.
+
+"In March I will be 90 years old. I have been sick three times in my
+life. I am, and have been a member of North Street Baptist Church for
+thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married
+twice and a grandfather of twenty-three granddaughters and grandsons and
+forty-five great grand-children.
+
+"While in Philadelphia I attended free school for colored children
+conducted at Allen's Mission; when I returned to Talbot county I was in
+the sixth grade or the sixth reader. Since then I have always been fond
+of reading. My favored books are the _Bible_, Bunyan's _Pilgrim's
+Progress_, _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, the lives of Napoleon, Frederick
+Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and church magazines and the
+Afro-American."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+[--]-22-37
+Rogers
+
+JAMES WIGGINS, Ex-slave.
+Reference: Personal interview with James Wiggins, ex-slave,
+           at his home, 625 Barre St.
+
+
+"I was born in Anne Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850
+or 1851, I do not know which. I do not know my father or mother. Peter
+Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my
+father's name was Wiggins. He said that he was one of the Revells'
+slaves. He acquired my father at an auction sale held in Baltimore at a
+high price from a trader who had an office on Pratt Street about 1845.
+He was given a wife by Mr. Revell and as a result of this union I was
+born. My father was a carpenter by trade, he was hired out to different
+farmers by Mr. Revell to repair and build barns, fences and houses. I
+have been told that my father could read and write. Once he was charged
+with writing passes for some slaves in the county, as a result of this
+he was given 15 lashes by the sheriff of the county, immediately
+afterwards he ran away, went to Philadelphia, where he died while
+working to save money to purchase mother's freedom, through a white
+Baptist minister in Baltimore.
+
+"I was called "Gingerbread" by the Revells. They reared me until I
+reached the age of about nine or ten years old. My duty was to put logs
+on the fireplaces in the Revells' house and work around the house. I
+remember well when I was taken to Annapolis, how I used to dance in the
+stores for men and women, they would give me pennies and three cent
+pieces, all of which was given to me by the Revells. They bought me
+shoes and clothes with the money collected.
+
+"Mr. Revell died in 1861 or 62. The sheriff and men came from Annapolis,
+sold the slaves, stock and other chattels. I was purchased by a Mr.
+Mayland, who kept a store in Annapolis. I was sold by him to a slave
+trader to be shipped to Georgia. I was brought to Baltimore, and was
+jailed in a small house on Paca near Lombard. The trader was buying
+other slaves to make a load. I escaped through the aid of a German
+shoemaker, who sold shoes to owners for slaves.
+
+"The German shoeman had a covered wagon, I was put in the wagon covered
+by boxes, taken to a house on South Sharp Street and there kept until a
+Mr. George Stone took me to Frederick City where I stayed until 1863,
+when Mr. Stone, a member of the Lutheran church, had me christened
+giving me the name of James Wiggins. This is how I got the name of
+Wiggins, after my father, instead of Gingerbread, through the
+investigation and the information given by Mr. Brooks.
+
+"You know the Revells are well known in Anne Arundel County, consisting
+of a large family, each family a large property owner. I can't say how
+many acres were owned by Jim Revell, he was a general farmer having a
+few slaves, you see I was a small boy. I can't answer all the questions
+you want.
+
+"There were a great many people in Anne Arundel who did not believe in
+slavery and many free colored people. These conditions caused conflicts
+between the free colored who many times were charged with aiding the
+slaves and the whites who were not favorably impressed with slavery and
+the others who believed in slavery. As a result, the patrollers were
+numerous. I remember of seeing Jim Revell coming home very much battered
+and beaten up as a result of an encounter with a number of free people
+and white people and those who were members of the patrollers.
+
+"As a child I was very fond of dancing, especially the jig and buck. I
+made money as I stated before, I played children's plays of that time,
+top, marbles and another game we called skinny. Skinny was a game played
+on trees and grape vines.
+
+"As a boy I was very healthy, I never had a doctor until I was over 50
+years old. I don't know anything about the medical treatment of that
+day, you never need medicine unless you are ailing and I never ailed."
+
+
+
+
+Maryland
+Sept. 27, 1937
+Stansbury
+
+"PARSON" REZIN WILLIAMS, ex-slave.
+References: Baltimore Morning Sun, December 10, 1928.
+            Registration Books of Board of Election Supervisors
+            Baltimore Court House.
+
+            Personal interviews with "Parson" Rezin Williams,
+            on Thursday afternoon, September 18 and 24, 1937,
+            at his home, 2610 Pierpont Street, Mount Winans,
+            Baltimore, Md.
+
+            Maryland Historical Magazine, Vol 1 (1906), p. 56.
+
+            Buchholz: _Governors of Maryland_--pp. 57-63, 192-167.
+            (P.L.G. 28 B 92.)
+
+
+"Parson" Williams----
+
+            Oldest living Negro Civil War veteran; now 116 years old.
+
+            Oldest registered voter in Maryland and said to be the oldest
+            "freeman" in the United States.
+
+            Said to be oldest member of Negro family in America with sister
+            and brother still living, more than a century old.
+
+            Father worked for George Washington.
+
+
+In 1864 when the State Constitution abolished slavery and freed about
+83,000 Negro slaves in Maryland, there was one, "Parson" Rezin Williams,
+already a freeman. He is now living at the age of 116 years, in
+Baltimore City, Maryland, credited with being the oldest of his race in
+the United States who served in the Civil War.
+
+He was born March 11, 1822, at "Fairview", near Bowie, Prince Georges
+County, Maryland--a plantation of 1000 acres, then belonging to Governor
+Oden Bowie's father. "Parson" Williams' father, Rezin Williams, a
+freeman, was born at "Mattaponi", near Nottingham, Prince Georges
+County, the estate of Robert Bowie of Revolutionary War fame, friend of
+Washington and twice Governor of Maryland. The elder Rezin Williams
+served the father of our country as a hostler at Mount Vernon, where he
+worked on Washington's plantation during the stormy days of the
+Revolution.
+
+There is perhaps nowhere to be found a more picturesque and interesting
+character of the colored race than "Parson" Williams, who, besides
+serving as a colored bishop of the Union American Methodist Church
+(colored) for more than a half century, is the composer of Negro
+spirituals which were popular during their day. He attended President
+Lincoln's inauguration and subsequently every Republican and Democratic
+presidential inauguration, although he himself is a Republican. Lincoln,
+according to Williams, shook hands with him in Washington.
+
+One of Williams' sons, of a family of fourteen children, was named after
+George Washington, and another after Abraham Lincoln. The son, George
+Washington Williams, died in 1912 at the age of seventy-three years.
+
+"Parson" Williams, serving the Union forces as a teamster, hauled
+munitions and supplies for General Grant's army, at Gettysburg. On trips
+to the rear, he conveyed wounded soldiers from the line of fire. He also
+served under General McClellan and General Hooker.
+
+Although now confined to his home with infirmities of age, he posesses
+all his faculties and has a good memory of events since his boyhood
+days. Due to the fact that his grandmother was an Indian the daughter of
+an Indian chieftan, alleged to be buried in a vault in Baltimore County,
+Williams was a freeman like his father and hired himself out.
+
+Williams claims that his father, when a boy, accompanied Robert Bowie,
+for whom he was working, to Mount Vernon, where he first met George
+Washington. He said that General Washington once became very angry at
+his father because he struck an unruly horse, exclaiming: "The brute has
+more sense than some slaves. Cease striking the animal."
+
+Robert Bowie, the third son of Capt. William and Margaret (Sprigg)
+Bowie, was born at "Mattaponi", near Nottingham, March 1750. As a
+captain of a company of militia organized at Nottingham, he accompanied
+the Maryland forces when they joined Washington in his early campaign
+near New York. He and Washington became friends. In 1791, when Captain
+William Bowie died, his son Robert inherited "Mattaponi". He was the
+first Democratic governor to be elected, one of the presidential
+electors for Madison, and a director of the first bank established at
+Annapolis.
+
+Williams recalls hearing his father say that when Washington died,
+December 14, 1799, many paid reverence by wearing mourning scarfs and
+hatbands.
+
+He recalls many interesting incidents during slavery days. He said that
+slaves could not buy or sell anything except with the permission of
+their master. If a slave was caught ten miles from his master's home,
+and had no signed permit, he was arrested as a runaway and harshly
+punished.
+
+There was a standing reward for the capture of a runaway. The Indians
+who caught a runaway slave received a "match coat." The master gave the
+slave usually ten to ninety-nine lashes for running off. What slaves
+feared most was what they called the "nine ninety-nine" or 99 lashes
+with a rawhide whip, and sometimes they were unmercifully flogged until
+unconcious. Some cruel masters believed Negroes had no souls. The slaves
+at Bowie, however, declared "Parson" Williams, were pretty well treated
+and usually respected the overseers. He said that the slaves at Bowie
+mostly lived in cabins made of slabs running up and down and crudely
+furnished. Working time was from sunrise until sunset. The slaves had no
+money to spend and few masters allowed them to indulge in a religious
+meeting or even learn about the Bible.
+
+Slaves received medical attention from a physician if they were
+seriously ill. When a death occured, a rough box would be made of heavy
+slabs and the dead Negro buried the same day on the plantation burying
+lot with a brief ceremony, if any. The grieving darkeys, relatives,
+after he was "eased" in the ground, would sing a few spirituals and
+return to their cabins.
+
+Familiar old spirituals were composed by "Parson" Williams, including
+_Roll De Stones Away_, _You'll Rise in De Skies_, and _Ezekiel, He'se
+Comin Home_.
+
+Following is one of Williams' spirituals:
+
+  When dat are ole chariot comes,
+  I'm gwine to lebe you:
+  I'm bound for de promised land
+  I'm gwine to lebe you.
+
+  I'm sorry I'm gwine to lebe you,
+  Farewell, oh farewell
+  But I'll meet you in de mornin
+  Farewell, oh farewell.
+
+Still another favorite of "Parson" Williams, which he composed on Col.
+Bowie's plantation just before the Civil War, a sort of rallying song
+expressing what Canada meant to the slaves at that time, runs thus:
+
+  I'm now embarked for yonder shore
+  There a man's a man by law;
+  The iron horse will bear me o'er
+  To shake de lion's paw.
+  Oh, righteous Father, will thou not pity me
+  And aid me on to Canada, where all the slaves are free.
+
+  Oh, I heard Queen Victoria say
+  That if we would forsake our native land of slavery,
+  And come across de lake
+  That she was standin' on de shore
+  Wid arms extended wide,
+  To give us all a peaceful home
+  Beyond de rollin' tide.
+
+Interesting reminiscences are recalled by "Parson" Williams of his early
+life. He said that he still remembers when Mr. Oden Bowie (later
+governor) left with the army of invasion of Mexico (1846-1848), and of
+his being brought home ill after several years was nursed back to health
+at "Fairview". Governor Bowie died on his plantation in 1894 and is
+buried in the family burying ground there.
+
+He was the first president of the Maryland Jockey Club. Governor Bowie
+raised a long string of famous race horses that became known throughout
+the country. From the "Fairview" stables went such celebrated horses as
+Dickens, Catespy, Crickmore, Commensation, Creknob, who carried the
+Bowie colors to the front on many well-contested race courses. After
+Governor Bowie's death, the estate became the property of his youngest
+son, W. Booth Bowie.
+
+"Fairview" is located in the upper part of what was called the "Forest"
+of Prince Georges County, a few miles southwest of Collington Station.
+It is a fine type of old Colonial mansion built of brick, the place
+having been in the posession of the family for some time previous.
+"Fairview" is one of the oldest and finest homes in Maryland. The
+mansion contains a wide hall and is a typical Southern home.
+
+Baruch Duckett married Kitty Bean, a granddaughter of John Bowie, Sr.,
+the first of his name to come to Prince Georges County. They had but one
+daughter, whose name was Kitty Bean Duckett, and she married in 1800
+William Bowie of Walter. Baruch Duckett outlived his wife and died in
+1810. He devised "Fairview" to his son-in-law and the latter's children,
+and it ultimately became the property of his grandson, afterward known
+as Col. William B.[TR.?] Bowie, who made it his home until 1880, when he
+gave it to his eldest son, Oden, who in 1868 became Governor of
+Maryland. Governor Bowie was always identified with the Democratic
+Party.
+
+"Parson" Williams' wife, Amelia Addison Williams died August 9, 1928, at
+the age of 94 years. The aged negro is the father of 14 children, one
+still living,--Mrs. Amelia Besley, 67 years old, 2010 Pierpont Street,
+Mount Winans, Baltimore, Maryland. His brother, Marcellus Williams, and
+a single sister, Amelia Williams, both living, reside on Rubio street,
+Philidelphia, Pa. According to "Parson" Williams, they are both more
+than a century old and are in fairly good health. Besides his children
+and a brother and a sister, Williams has several grandchildren,
+great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren living.
+
+President Lincoln, Williams says, was looked upon by many slaves as a
+messenger from heaven. Of course, many slave masters were kind and
+considerate, but to most slaves they were just a driver and the slaves
+were work horses for them. Only once during his lifetime does Williams
+recall tasting whisky, when his cousin bought a pint. It cost three
+cents in those days. He said his mother used to make beer out of
+persimmons and cornhusks, but they don't make it any more, so he doesn't
+even drink beer now. He would much rather have a good cigar. He has
+since a boy, smoked a pipe.
+
+By special permission of plantation owners in Prince Georges, St. Marys,
+Baltimore and other counties in Maryland, he was often permitted to
+visit the darkeys and conduct a religious meeting in their cabins. He
+usually wore a long-tailed black "Kentucky" suit with baggy trousers and
+sported a cane.
+
+Usually when servants or slaves in those days found themselves happy and
+contented, it was because they were born under a lucky star. As for
+eating, they seldom got chicken, mostly they ate red herring and
+molasses--they called black strap molasses. They were allowed a herring
+a day as part of their food. Slaves as a rule preferred possums to
+rabbits. Some liked fish best. Williams' favorite food was cornpone and
+fried liver.
+
+"Once before de wah, I was ridin Lazy, my donkey, a few miles from de
+boss' place at Fairview, when along came a dozen or more patrollers. Dey
+questioned me and decided I was a runaway slave and dey wuz gwine to
+give me a coat of tar and feathers when de boss rode up and ordered my
+release. He told dem dreaded white patrollers dat I was a freeman and a
+'parson'."
+
+When the slaves were made free, some of the overseers tooted horns,
+calling the blacks from their toil in the fields. They were told they
+need no longer work for their masters unless they so desired. Most of
+the darkeys quit "den and dar" and made a quick departure to other
+parts, but some remained and to this day their descendants are still to
+be found working on the original plantations, but of course for pay.
+
+Describing the clothing worn in summer time by the slaves, he said they
+mostly went barefooted. The men and boys wore homespun, three-quarter
+striped pants and sometimes a large funnel-shaped straw hat. Some wore
+only a shirt as a covering for their body.
+
+"In winter oxhide shoes were worn, much too large, and the soles
+contained several layers of paper. We called them 'program' shoes,
+because the paper used for stuffing, consisted of discarded programs. We
+gathered herbs from which we made medicine, snake root and sassafras
+bark being a great remedy for many ailments."
+
+Williams, though himself not a slave by virtue of the fact that his
+grandmother was an Indian, was considered a good judge of healthy
+slaves, those who would prove profitable to their owners, so he often
+accompanied slave purchasers to the Baltimore slave markets.
+
+He told of having been taken by a certain slave master to the Baltimore
+wharf, boarded a boat and after the slave dealer and the captain
+negotiated a deal, he, Williams, not realizing that he was being used as
+a decoy, led a group of some thirty or forty blacks, men, women and
+children, through a dark and dirty tunnel for a distance of several
+blocks to a slave market pen, where they were placed on the auction
+block.
+
+He was told to sort of pacify the black women who set up a wail when
+they were separated from their husbands and children. It was a pitiful
+sight to see them, half naked, some whipped into submission, cast into
+slave pens surrounded by iron bars. A good healthy negro man from 18 to
+30 would bring from $200 to $800. Women would bring about half the price
+of the men. Often when the women parted with their children and loved
+ones, they would never see them again.
+
+Such conditions as existed in the Baltimore slave markets, which were
+considered the most important in the country, and the subsequent ill
+treatment of the unfortunates, hastened the war between the states.
+
+The increasing numbers of free negroes also had much to do with causing
+the civil war. The South was finding black slavery a sort of white
+elephant. Everywhere the question was what to do with the freeman.
+Nobody wanted them. Some states declared they were a public nuisance.
+
+"Uncle Rezin", by which name some called him, since slavery days, was,
+besides being engaged in preaching the Gospel, journeying from one town
+to another, where he has performed hundreds of marriages among his race,
+baptised thousands, performed numerous christenings and probably
+preached more sermons than any Negro now living. He preached his last
+sermon two years ago. He says his life's work is now through and he is
+crossing over the River Jordan and will soon be on the other side. Since
+the Civil War he has made extra money for his support during depression
+times by doing odd jobs of whitewashing, serving as a porter or janitor,
+cutting wood, hauling and running errands, also serving as a teamster,
+picking berries and working as a laborer. He has had several miraculous
+escapes from death during his long life. Twice during the past quarter
+of a century his home at Mount Winans has been destroyed by fire, when
+firemen rescued him in the nick of time, and some years ago, when he was
+suddenly awakened during a severe windstorm, his house was unroofed and
+blew down. When workmen were clearing away the debris in search for
+"Uncle" Rezin, some hours later, a voice was heard coming from a large
+barrel in the cellar. It was from Williams, who somehow managed to crawl
+in the barrel during the storm, and called out: "De Lord hab sabed me.
+You all haul me out of here, but I'se all right." Scabo, his pet dog,
+was killed by the falling debris during the storm. Firemen at Westport
+state that three years ago, when fire damaged "Uncle" Rezin's home, the
+aged negro preacher refused to be rescued, and walked out of the
+building through stifling smoke, as though nothing had happened. When
+veterans of a great war have been mowed down by the scythe of Father
+Time until their numbers are few, an added public interest attaches to
+them. Baltimore septuagenarians remember the honor paid to the last
+surviving "Old Defenders", who faced the British troops at North Point
+in 1814, and now the few veterans of the War of Secession, whether they
+wore the blue or the gray, receive similar attention. A far different
+class, one peculiarly associated with the strife between the North and
+the South, are approaching the point of fading out from the life of
+today--the old slaves, and original old freemen. "Parson" Williams tops
+the list of them all.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of
+Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration
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