diff options
Diffstat (limited to '12297-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 12297-0.txt | 9382 |
1 files changed, 9382 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/12297-0.txt b/12297-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1904a24 --- /dev/null +++ b/12297-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9382 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12297 *** + +[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 III + +FLORIDA NARRATIVES + + + + +Prepared by +the Federal Writers' Project of +the Works Progress Administration +for the State of Florida + + + +INFORMANTS + +Anderson, Josephine +Andrews, Samuel Simeon +Austin, Bill + +Berry, Frank +Biddie, Mary Minus +Boyd, Rev. Eli +Boynton, Rivana +Brooks, Matilda +Bynes, Titus + +Campbell, Patience +Clayton, Florida +Coates, Charles +Coates, Irene +Coker, Neil + +Davis, Rev. Young Winston +Dorsey, Douglas +Douglass, Ambrose +Duck, Mama +Dukes, Willis + +Everett, Sam and Louisa + +Gaines, Duncan +Gantling, Clayborn +Gragston, Arnold +Gresham, Harriett + +Hall, Bolden +Hooks, Rebecca + +Jackson, Rev. Squires + +Kemp, John Henry (Prophet) +Kinsey, Cindy + +Lee, Randall +Lycurgas, Edward + +McCray, Amanda +Maxwell, Henry +Mitchell, Christine +Moore, Lindsey +Mullen, Mack + +Napoleon, Louis +Nickerson, Margrett + +Parish, Douglas +Pretty, George + +Scott, Anna +Sherman, William +Smalls, Samuel + +Taswell, Salena +Taylor, Dave +Thomas, Acie +Thomas, Shack +Towns, Luke + +Williams, Willis +Wilson, Claude Augusta + + +COMBINED INTERVIEWS [TR: County names added] + +DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, EX-SLAVE STORIES + Charley Roberts + Jennie Colder + Banana Williams + Frank Bates + William Neighten + Rivana Boynton [TR: Riviana in text] + Salena Taswell + +DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOLKLORE + Annie Trip + Millie Sampson + Annie Gail + Jessie Rowell + Margaret White + Priscilla Mitchell + Fannie McCay + Hattie Thomas + David Lee + + + + +FOLK STUFF, FLORIDA +Jules A. Frost +Tampa, Florida +October 20, 1937 + +JOSEPHINE ANDERSON + + +HANTS + +"I kaint tell nothin bout slavery times cept what I heared folks talk +about. I was too young to remember much but I recleck seein my granma +milk de cows an do de washin. Granpa was old, an dey let him do light +work, mosly fish an hunt. + +"I doan member nothin bout my daddy. He died when I was a baby. My +stepfather was Stephen Anderson, an my mammy's name was Dorcas. He come +fum Vajinny, but my mammy was borned an raised in Wilmington. My name +was Josephine Anderson fore I married Willie Jones. I had two +half-brothers youngern me, John Henry an Ed, an a half-sister, Elsie. De +boys had to mind de calves an sheeps, an Elsie nursed de missus' baby. I +done de cookin, mosly, an helped my mammy spin. + +"I was ony five year old when dey brung me to Sanderson, in Baker +County, Florida. My stepfather went to work for a turpentine man, makin +barrels, an he work at dat job till he drop dead in de camp. I reckon he +musta had heart disease. + +"I doan recleck ever seein my mammy wear shoes. Even in de winter she go +barefoot, an I reckon cold didn't hurt her feet no moran her hands an +face. We all wore dresses made o' homespun. De thread was spun an de +cloth wove right in our own home. My mamy an granmamy an me done it in +spare time. + +"My weddin dress was blue--blue for true. I thought it was de prettiest +dress I ever see. We was married in de court-house, an dat be a mighty +happy day for me. Mos folks dem days got married by layin a broom on de +floor an jumpin over it. Dat seals de marriage, an at de same time +brings em good luck. + +"Ya see brooms keeps hants away. When mean folks dies, de old debbil +sometimes doan want em down dere in da bad place, so he makes witches +out of em, an sends em back. One thing bout witches, dey gotta count +everthing fore dey can git acrosst it. You put a broom acrosst your door +at night an old witches gotta count ever straw in dat broom fore she can +come in. + +"Some folks can jes nachly see hants bettern others. Teeny, my gal can. +I reckon das cause she been borned wid a veil--you know, a caul, sumpum +what be over some babies' faces when dey is borned. Folks borned wid a +caul can see sperrits, an tell whas gonna happen fore it comes true. + +"Use to worry Teeny right smart, seein sperrits day an night. My husban +say he gonna cure her, so he taken a grain o' corn an put it in a bottle +in Teeny's bedroom over night. Den he planted it in de yard, an driv +plenty sticks roun da place. When it was growin good, he put leaf-mold +roun de stalk, an watch it ever day, an tell us don't _nobody_ touch de +stalk. It raise three big ears o' corn, an when dey was good roastin +size he pick em off an cook em an tell Teeny eat ever grain offn all +three cobs. He watch her while she done it, an she ain never been +worried wid hants no more. She sees em jes the same, but dey doan bother +her none. + +"Fust time I ever knowed a hant to come into our quarters was when I was +jes big nough to go out to parties. De game what we use to play was spin +de plate. Ever time I think on dat game it gives me de shivers. One time +there was a strange young man come to a party where I was. Said he name +Richard Green, an he been takin keer o' horses for a rich man what was +gonna buy a plantation in dat county. He look kinda slick an +dressed-up--diffunt from de rest. All de gals begin to cast sheep's eyes +at him, an hope he gonna choose dem when day start playin games. + +"Pretty soon dey begin to play spin de plate an it come my turn fust +thing. I spin it an call out 'Mister Green!' He jumps to de middle o' de +ring to grab de plate an 'Bang'--bout four guns go off all at oncet, an +Mister Green fall to de floor plum dead shot through de head. + +"Fore we knowed who done it, de sheriff an some more men jump down from +de loft, where dey bean hidin an tell us quit hollerin an doan be +scairt. Dis man be a bad deeper--you know, one o' them outlaws what +kills folks. He some kinda foreigner, an jes tryin make blieve he a +niggah, so's they don't find him. + +"Wall we didn't feel like playin no more games, an f'ever after dat you +coundn't git no niggahs to pass dat house alone atter dark. Dey say da +place was hanted, an if you look through de winder any dark night you +could see a man in dere spinnin de plate. + +"I sho didn't never look in, cause I done seen more hants aready dan I +ever wants to see agin. One night I was goin to my granny's house. It +was jes comin dark, an when I got to de crick an start across on de +foot-log, dere on de other end o' dat log was a man wid his haid cut off +an layin plum over on his shoulder. He look at me, kinda pitiful, an +don't say a word--but I closely never waited to see what he gonna talk +about. I pure flew back home. I was so scairt I couldn't tell de folks +what done happened till I set down an get my breath. + +"Nother time, not so long ago, when I live down in Gary, I be walkin +down de railroad track soon in de mornin an fore I knowed it, dere was a +white man walkin long side o' me. I jes thought it were somebody, but I +wadn't sho, so I turn off at de fust street to git way from dere. De nex +mawnin I be boin[TR: goin?] to work at de same time. It were kinda foggy +an dark, so I never seen nobody till I mighty nigh run into dis same +man, an dere he goes, bout half a step ahead o' me, his two hands restin +on his be-hind. + +"I was so close up to him I could see him plain as I see you. He had +fingernails dat long, all cleaned an polished. He was tull, an had on a +derby hat, an stylish black clothes. When I walk slow he slow down, an +when I stop, he stop, never oncet lookin roun. My feets make a noise on +de cinders tween de rails, but he doan make a mite o' noise. Dat was de +fust thing got me scairt, but I figger I better find out for sho ifen he +be a sperrit; so I say, gook an loud: 'Lookee here, Mister, I jez an old +colored woman, an I knows my place, an I wisht you wouldn't walk wid me +counta what folks might say.' + +"He never looked roun no moren if I wan't there, an I cut my eyes roun +to see if there is somebody I can holler to for help. When I looked back +he was gone; gone, like dat, without makin a sound. Den I knowed he be a +hant, an de nex day when I tell somebody bout it dey say he be de genman +what got killed at de crossin a spell back, an other folks has seen him +jus like I did. Dey say dey can hear babies cryin at de trestle right +near dere, an ain't nobody yit ever found em. + +"Dat ain de ony hant I ever seen. One day I go out to de smokehouse to +git a mess o' taters. It was after sundown, but still purty light. When +I gits dere de door be unlocked an a big man standin half inside. 'What +you doin stealin our taters!' I hollers at him, an pow! He gone, jes +like dat. Did I git back to dat house! We mighty glad to eat grits an +cornbread dat night. + +"When we livin at Titusville, I see my old mammy comin up de road jus as +plain as day. I stan on de porch, fixin to run an meet her, when all of +a sudden she be gone. I begin to cry an tell de folks I ain't gonna see +my mammy agin. An sho nuff, I never did. She die at Sanderson, back in +West Florida, fore I got to see her. + +"Does I blieve in witches? S-a-a-y, I knows more bout em den to jes +'blieve'--I been _rid_ by em. Right here in dis house. You ain never +been rid by a witch? Well, you mighty lucky. Dey come in de night, +ginnerly soon after you drop off to sleep. Dey put a bridle on your +head, an a bit in your mouth, an a saddle on your back. Den dey take off +their skin an hang it up on de wall. Den dey git on you an some nights +dey like to ride you to death. You try to holler but you kaint, counta +the iron bit in your mouth, an you feel like somebody holdin you down. +Den dey ride you back home an into your bed. When you hit de bed you +jump an grab de kivers, an de witch be gone, like dat. But you know you +been rid mighty hard, cause you all wet wid sweat, an you feel plum +tired out. + +"Some folks say you jus been dreamin, counta de blood stop circulatin in +yaur back. Shucks! Dey ain never been rid by a witch, or dey ain sayin +dat. + +"Old witch docter, he want ten dollers for a piece of string, what he +say some kinda charm words over. Tells me to make a image o' dat old +witch outa dough, an tie dat string roun its neck; den when I bake it in +de oven, it swell up an de magic string shet off her breath. I didn't +have no ten dollar, so he say ifen I git up five dollar he make me a +hand--you know, what collored folks cals a jack. Dat be a charm what +will keep de witches away. I knows how to make em, but day doan do no +good thout de magic words, an I doan know dem. You take a little pinch +o' dried snake skin an some graveyard dirt, an some red pepper an a +lock o' your hair wrapped roun some black rooster feathers. Den you spit +whiskey on em an wrap em in red flannel an sew if into a ball bout dat +big. Den you hang it under your right armpit, an ever week you give it a +drink o' whiskey, to keep it strong an powful. + +"Dat keep de witches fum ridin you; but nary one o' dese charms work wid +dis old witch. I got a purty good idee who she is, an she got a charm +powfuller dan both of dem. But she kaint git acrosst flaxseed, not till +she count ever seed. You doan blieve dat? Huh! I reckon I knows--I done +tried it out. I gits me a lil bag o' pure fresh flaxseed, an I sprinkle +it all roun de bed; den I put some on top of da mattress, an under de +sheet. Den I goes to bed an sleeps like a baby, an dat old witch doan +bother me no more. + +"Ony oncet. Soon's I wake up, I light me a lamp an look on de floor an +dere, side o' my bed was my dress, layin right over dat flaxseed, so's +she could walk over on de dress, big as life. I snatch up de dress an +throw it an de bed; den I go to sleep, an I ain _never_ been bothered no +more. + +"Some folks reads de Bible backwards to keep witches fum ridin em, but +dat doan do me no good, cause I kaint read. But flaxseed work so good I +doan be studyin night-ridin witches no more." + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel A. Austin, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Jacksonville, Florida +October 27, 1936 + +SAMUEL SIMEON ANDREWS + + +For almost 30 years Edward Waters College, an African Methodist +Episcopal School, located on the north side of Kings Road in the western +section of Jacksonville, has employed as watchman, Samuel Simeon Andrews +(affectionately called "Parson"), a former slave of A.J. Lane of +Georgia, Lewis Ripley of Beaufort, South Carolina, Ed Tillman of Dallas, +Texas, and John Troy of Union Springs, Alabama. + +"Parson" was born November 18, 1850 in Macon, Georgia, at a place called +Tatum Square, where slaves were held, housed and sold. "Speculators" +(persons who traveled from place to place with slaves for sale) had +housed 84 slaves there--many of whom were pregnant women. Besides +"Parson," two other slave-children, Ed Jones who now lives in Sparta, +Georgia, and George Bailey were born in Tatum Square that night. The +morning after their births, a woman was sent from the nearby A.J. Lane +plantation to take care of the three mothers; this nurse proved to be +"Parson's" grandmother. His mother told him afterwards that the meeting +of mother and daughter was very jubilant, but silent and pathetic, +because neither could with safety show her pleasure in finding the +other. At the auction which was held a few days later, his mother, +Rachel, and her two sons, Solomon Augustus and her infant who was later +to be known as "Parson," were purchased by A.J. Lane who had previously +bought "Parson's" father, Willis, from a man named Dolphus of Albany, +Georgia; thus were husband and wife re-united. They were taken to Lane's +plantation three miles out of Sparta, Georgia, in Hancock County. Mr. +Lane owned 85 slaves and was known to be very kind and considerate. + +"Parson" lived on the Lane plantation until he was eight years old, when +he was sold to Lewis Ripley of Beaufort, South Carolina, with whom he +lived for two years; he was then sold to Ed Tillman of Dallas, Texas; he +stayed on the Tillman plantation for about a year and until he was +purchased by John Troy of Union Springs, Alabama--the richest +slave-holder in Union Springs, Alabama; he remained with him until +Emancipation. He recalls that during one of these sales about $800.00 +was paid for him. + +He describes A.J. Lane as being a kind slave-holder who fed his slaves +well and whipped them but little. All of his other masters, he states, +were nice to children, but lashed and whipped the grown-ups. + +Mr. Lane's family was comprised of his wife, Fannie (who also was very +kind to the slaves) five children, Harriett Ann, Jennie, Jeff, Frankie +and Mae Roxie, a brother (whose name he does not recall) who owned a few +slaves but was kind to those that he did own. Although very young during +slavery, "Parson" remembers many plantation activities and customs, +among which are the following: That the master's children and those of +the slaves on the plantation played together; the farm crops consisted +of corn, cotton, peas, wheat and oats; that the food for the slaves was +cooked in pots which were hung over a fire; that the iron ovens used by +the slaves had tops for baking; how during the Civil War, wheat, corn +and dried potatoes were parched and used as substitutes for coffee; that +his mother was given a peck of flour every two weeks; that a mixture of +salt and sand was dug from the earthern floor of the smokehouse and +water poured over it to get the salt drippings for seasoning; that most +medicine consisted of boiled roots; when thread and cloth were dyed with +the dye obtained from maple bark; when shoes were made on a wooden last +and soles and uppers fastened together with maple pegs; when the white +preachers preached "obey your masters"; that the first buggy that he saw +was owned by his master, A.J. Lane; it had a seat at the rear with rest +which was usually occupied by a man who was called the "waiter"; there +was no top to the seat and the "waiter" was exposed to the weather. He +recalls when wooden slats and tightened ropes were used for bed springs; +also the patience of "Aunt Letha" an old woman slave who took care of +the children in the neighborhood while their parents worked, and how +they enjoyed watching "Uncle Umphrey" tan cow and pig hides. + +"Parson" describes himself as being very frisky as a boy and states that +he did but very little work and got but very few whippings. Twice he ran +away to escape being whipped and hid in asparagus beds in Sparta, +Georgia until nightfall; when he returned the master would not whip him +because he was apprehensive that he might run away again and be stolen +by poorer whites and thus cause trouble. The richer whites, he relates, +were afraid of the poorer whites; if the latter were made angry they +would round up the owners' sheep and turn them loose into their cotton +fields and the sheep would eat the cotton, row by row. + +He compares the relationship between the rich and poor whites during +slavery with that of the white and Negro people of today. + +With a face full of frowns, "Parson" tells of a white man persuading his +mother to let him tie her to show that he was master, promising not to +whip her, and she believed him. When he had placed her in a buck (hands +tied on a stick so that the stick would turn her in any direction) he +whipped her until the blood ran down her back. + +With changed expression he told of an incident during the Civil War: +Slaves, he explained had to have passes to go from one plantation to +another and if one were found without a pass the "patrollers" would pick +him up, return him to his master and receive pay for their service. The +"patrollers" were guards for runaway slaves. One night they came to Aunt +Rhoda's house where a crowd of slaves had gathered and were going to +return them to their masters; Uncle Umphrey the tanner, quickly spaded +up some hot ashes and pitched it on them; all of the slaves escaped +unharmed, while all of the "patrollers" were badly injured; no one ever +told on Uncle Umphrey and when Aunt Rhoda was questioned by her master +she stated that she knew nothing about it but told them that the +"patrollers" had brought another "nigger" with them; her master took it +for granted that she spoke the truth since none of the other Negroes +were hurt. He remembers seeing this but does not remember how he, as a +little boy, was prevented from telling about it. + +Asked about his remembrance or knowledge of the slaves' belief in magic +and spells he said: "I remember this and can just see the dogs running +around now. My mother's brother, "Uncle Dick" and "Uncle July" swore +they would not work longer for masters; so they ran away and lived in +the woods. In winter they would put cotton seed in the fields to rot for +fertilizer and lay in it for warmth. They would kill hogs and slip the +meat to some slave to cook for food. When their owners looked for them, +"Bob Amos" who raised "nigger hounds" (hounds raised solely to track +Negro slaves) was summoned and the dogs located them and surrounded them +in their hide-out; one went one way and one the other and escaped in the +swamps; they would run until they came to a fence--each kept some +"graveyard dust and a few lightwood splinters" with which they smoked +their feet and jumped the fence and the dogs turned back and could track +no further. Thus, they stayed in the woods until freedom, when they came +out and worked for pay. Now, you know "Uncle Dick" just died a few years +ago in Sparta, Georgia." + +When the Civil War came he remembers hearing one night "Sherman is +coming." It was said that Wheeler's Cavalry of the Confederates was +always "running and fighting." Lane had moved the family to Macon, +Georgia, and they lived on a place called "Dunlap's Hill." That night +four preachers were preaching "Fellow soldiers, the enemy is just here +to Bolden's Brook, sixteen miles away and you may be carried into +judgment; prepare to meet your God." While they were preaching, bombs +began to fly because Wheeler's Cavalry was only six miles away instead +of 16 miles; women screamed and children ran. Wheeler kept wagons ahead +of him so that when one was crippled the other would replace it. He says +he imagines he hears the voice of Sherman now, saying: "Tell Wheeler to +go on to South Carolina; we will mow it down with grape shot and plow it +in with bombshell." + +Emancipation came and with it great rejoicing. He recalls that +Republicans were called "Radicals" just after the close of the Civil +War. + +Mr. Lane was able to save all of his meat, silver, and other valuables +during the war by having a cave dug in the hog pasture; the hogs +trampled over it daily. + +"Parson" states that among the papers in his trunk he has a piece of +money called "shin plasters" which was used during the Civil War. + +The slaves were not allowed to attend schools of any kind; and school +facilities immediately following Emancipation were very poor; when the +first teacher, Miss Smith, a Yankee, came to Sparta, Georgia and began +teaching Sunday School, all of the children were given testaments or +catechisms which their parents were afraid for them to keep lest their +masters whip them, but the teacher called on the parents and explained +to them that they were as free as their former masters. + +"Parson" states that when he was born, his master named him "Monk." His +grandfather, Willis Andrews, who was a free man of Pittsburg, +Pennsylvania, purchased the freedom of his wife Lizzie, but was never +able to purchase their four children; his father, also named Willis, +died a slave, was driven in an ox-cart to a hole that had been dug, put +in it and covered up; his mother nor children could stop work to attend +the funeral, but after the Emancipation, he and a brother returned, +found "Uncle Bob" who helped bury him and located his grave. Soon after +he had been given his freedom, "Parson" walked from Union Springs, +Alabama where his last master had taken him--back to Macon, Georgia, and +rejoined his mother, Rachel, his brothers, Samuel Augustus, San +Francisco, Simon Peter, Lewis, Carter, Powell Wendell and sisters, +Lizzie and Ann; they all dropped the name of their master, Lane, and +took the name of their grandfather, Andrews. + +"Parson" possesses an almost uncanny memory and attributes it to his +inability to write things down and therefore being entirely dependent +upon his memory. He had passed 30 years of age and had two children who +could read and write before he could. His connection with Edward Waters +College has given him a decided advantage for education and there are +few things that he cannot discuss intelligently. He has come in contact +with thousands of students and all of the ministers connected with the +African Methodist Episcopal Church in the State of Florida and has +attended all of the State and General Conferences of this Church for the +past half century. He has lived to be 85 years of age and says he will +live until he is 106. This he will do because he claims: "Your life is +in your hand" and tells these narratives as proof: + +"In 1886 when the present Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was called the +S.F.W. and I was coming from Savannah to Florida, some tramps intent +upon robbery had removed spikes from the bridge and just as the alarm +was given and the train about to be thrown from the track, I raised the +window and jumped to safety. I then walked back two miles to report it. +More than 70 were killed who might have been saved had they jumped as I +did. As a result, the S.F. and W. gave me a free pass for life with +which I rode all over the United States and once into Canada." He +proudly displays this pass and states that he would like to travel over +the United States again but that the school keeps him too close. + +"I had been very sick but took no medicine; my wife went out to visit +Sister Nancy--shortly afterwards I heard what sounded like walking, and +in my imagination saw death entering, push the door open and draw back +to leap on me; I jumped through the window, my shirt hung, but I pulled +it out. Mr. Hodges, a Baptist preacher was hoeing in his garden next +door, looked at me and laughed. A woman yelled 'there goes Reverend +Andrews, and death is on him.' I said 'no he isn't on me but he's down +there.' Pretty soon news came that Reverend Hodges had dropped dead. +Death had come for someone and would not leave without them. I was weak +and he tried me first. Reverend Hodges wasn't looking, so he slipped up +on him." + +"Parson" came to Umatilla, Florida, in 1882 from Georgia with a Mr. +Rogers brought him and six other men, their wives and children, to work +on the railroad; he was made the section "boss" which job he held until +a white man threatened to "dock" him because he was wearing a stiff +shirt and "setting over a white man" when he should have a shovel. This +was the opinion of a man in the vicinity, but another white friend, +named Javis warned him and advised him not to leave Umatilla, but +persuaded him to work for him cutting cord wood; although "Parson" had +never seen wood corded, he accepted the job and was soon given a pass to +Macon, Georgia, to get other men; he brought 13 men back and soon became +their "boss" and bought a house and decided to do a little hunting. When +he left this job he did some hotel work, cooked and served as train +porter. In 1892 he was ordained to preach and has preached and pastored +regularly from that time up to two years ago. + +He is of medium size and build and partially bald-headed; what little +hair he has is very grey; he has keen eyes; his eyesight is very good; +he has never had to wear glasses. He is as supple as one half his age; +it is readily demonstrated as he runs, jumps and yells while attending +the games of his favorite pastimes, baseball and football. Wherever the +Edward Waters College football team goes, there "Parson" wants to go +also. Whenever the crowd at a game hears the scream "Come on boys," +everyone knows it is "Parson" Andrews. + +"Parson" has had two wives, both of whom are dead, and is the father of +eight children: Willis (deceased) Johnny, Sebron Reece of Martin, +Tennessee, Annie Lee, of Macon, Georgia, Hattie of Jacksonville, Ella +(deceased) Mary Lou Rivers of Macon, Georgia, and Augustus +somewhere-at-sea. + +"Parson" does not believe in taking medicine, but makes a liniment with +which he rubs himself. He attributes his long life to his sense of +"having quitting sense" and not allowing death to catch him unawares. He +asserts that if he reaches the bedside of a kindred in time, he will +keep him from dying by telling him: "Come on now, don't be crazy and +die." + +He states that he enjoyed his slavery life and since that time life has +been very sweet. He knows and remembers most of the incidents connected +with members of the several Conferences of the African Methodist +Episcopal Church in Florida and can tell you in what minutes you may +find any of the important happenings of the past 30 or 40 years. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Samuel Simeon Andrews in the dormitory of +Edward Waters college Kings Road, Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin Richardson, Field Worker +Greenwood, Florida +March 18, 1937 + +BILL AUSTIN + + +Bill Austin--he says his name is NOT Williams--is an ex-slave who gained +his freedom because his mistress found it more advantageous to free him +than to watch him. + +Austin lives near Greenwood, Jackson County, Florida, on a small farm +that he and his children operate. He says that he does not know his age, +does not remember ever having heard it. But he must be pretty old, he +says, "'cause I was a right smart size when Mistuh Smith went off to +fight." He thinks he may be over a hundred--and he looks it--but he is +not sure. + +Austin was born between Greene and Hancock Counties, on the Oconee +River, in Georgia. He uses the names of the counties interchangeably; he +cannot be definite as to just which one was his birthplace. "The line +between 'em was right there by us," he says. + +His father was Jack; for want of a surname of his own he took that of +his father and called himself Jack Smith. During a temporary shortage of +funds on his master's part, Jack and Bill's mother was sold to a planter +in the northern part of the state. It was not until long after his +emancipation that Bill ever saw either of them again. + +Bill's father Jack was regarded as a fairly good carpenter, mason and +bricklayer; at times his master would let him do small jobs of repairing +of building for neighboring planters. These jobs sometimes netted him +hams, bits of cornmeal, cloth for dresses for his wife and children, and +other small gifts; these he either used for his small family or +bartered with the other slaves. Sometimes he sold them to the slaves for +money; cash was not altogether unknown among the slaves on the Smith +place. + +Austin gives an interesting description of his master, Thomas Smith. He +says that "sumptimes he was real rich and all of us had a good time. The +wuk wasn't hard then, cause if we had big crops he would borrow some +he'p from the other white folks. He used to give us meat every day, and +plenty of other things. One time he bought all of us shoes, and on +Sunday night would let us go to wherever the preacher was holdin' +meeting. He used to give my papa money sumptimes, too. + +"But they used to whisper that he would gamble a lot. We used to see a +whole lot of men come up to the house sumptimes and stay up most of the +night. Sumptimes they would stay three or four days. And once in a while +after one of these big doings Mistuh Smith would look worried, and we +wouldn't get no meat and vary little of anything else for a long time. +He would be crabby and beat us for any little thing. He used to tell my +papa that he wouldn't have a d--- cent until he made some crops." + +A few years before he left to enter the war the slave owner came into +possession of a store near his plantation. This store was in Greensboro. +Either because the business paid or because of another of his economic +'bad spells', ownership of his plantation passed to a man named Kimball +and most of the slaves, with the exception of Bill Austin and one or two +women--either transferred with the plantation or sold. Bill was kept to +do errands and general work around the store. + +Bill learned much about the operation of the store, with the result that +when Mr. Smith left with the Southern Army he left his wife and Bill to +continue its operation. By this time there used to be frequent stories +whispered among the slaves in the neighborhood--and who came with their +masters into the country store--of how this or that slave ran away, and +with the white man-power of the section engaged in war, remained at +large for long periods or escaped altogether. + +These stories always interested Austin, with the result that one morning +he was absent when Mrs. Smith opened the store. He remained away 'eight +or nine days, I guess', before a friend of the Smiths found him near +Macon and threatened that he would 'half kill him' if he didn't return +immediately. + +Either the threat--or the fact that in Macon there were no readily +available foodstuffs to be eaten all day as in the store--caused Austin +to return. He was roundly berated by his mistress, but finally forgiven +by the worried woman who needed his help around the store more than she +needed the contrite promises and effusive declarations that he would +'behave alright for the rest of his life.' + +And he did behave; for several whole months. But by this tine he was 'a +great big boy', and he had caught sight of a young woman who took his +fancy on his trip to Macon. She was free herself; her father had bought +her freedom with that of her mother a few years before, and did odd jobs +for the white people in the city for a livelihood. Bill had thoughts of +going back to Macon, marrying her, and bringing her back 'to work for +Missus with me.' He asked permission to go, and was refused on the +grounds that his help was too badly needed at the store. Shortly +afterward he had again disappeared. + +'Missus', however, knew too much of his plans by this time, and it was +no difficult task to have him apprehended in Macon. Bill may not have +had such great objections to the apprehension, either, he says, because +by this time he had learned that the young woman in Macon had no +slightest intention to give up her freedom to join him at Greensboro. + +A relative of Mrs. Smith gave Austin a sound beating on his return; for +a time it had the desired effect, and he stayed at the store and gave no +further trouble. Mrs. Smith, however, thought of a surer plan of keeping +him in Greensboro; she called him and told him he might have his +freedom. Bill never attempted to again leave the place--although he did +not receive a cent for his work--until his master had died, the store +passed into the hands of one of Mr. Smith's sons, and the emancipation +of all the slaves was a matter of eight or ten years' history! + +When he finally left Greene and Hancock Counties--about fifty-five years +ago, Austin settled in Jackson County. He married and began the raising +of a family. At present he has nineteen living children, more +grandchildren than he can accurately tell, and is living with his third +wife, a woman in her thirties. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +1. Henry Harvey, old resident of Jackson County; Greenwood-Malone Road, +about 2-1/2 miles N.W. of Greenwood, Florida + +2. Interview with subject, near Greenwood, Florida, (Rural Route 2, +Sneads) + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Jacksonville, Florida +August 18, 1936 + +FRANK BERRY + + +Frank Berry, living at 1614 west Twenty-Second street, Jacksonville, +Florida, claims to be a grandson of Osceola, last fighting chief of the +Seminole tribe. Born in 1858 of a mother who was part of the human +chattel belonging to one of the Hearnses of Alachua County in Florida, +he served variously during his life as a State and Federal Government +contractor, United States Marshal (1881), Registration Inspector (1879). + +Being only eight years of age when the Emancipation Proclamation was +issued, he remembers little of his life as a slave. The master was kind +in an impersonal way but made no provision for his freedmen as did many +other Southerners--usually in the form of land grants--although he gave +them their freedom as soon as the proclamation was issued. Berry learned +from his elders that their master was a noted duelist and owned several +fine pistols some of which have very bloody histories. + +It was during the hectic days that followed the Civil War that Berry +served in the afore-mentioned offices. He held his marshalship under a +Judge King of Jacksonville, Florida. As State and Federal Government +Contractor he built many public structures, a few of which are still in +use, among them the jetties at Mayport, Florida which he helped to build +and a jail at High Springs, Florida. + +It was during the war between the Indians and settlers that Berry's +grandmother, serving as a nurse at Tampa Bay was captured by the Indians +and carried away to become the squaw of their chief; she was later +re-captured by her owners. This was a common procedure, according to +Berry's statements. Indians often captured slaves, particularly the +women, or aided in their escape and almost always intermarried with +them. The red men were credited with inciting many uprisings and +wholesale escapes among the slaves. + +Country frolics (dances) were quite often attended by Indians, whose +main reason for going was to obtain whiskey, for which they had a very +strong fondness. Berry describes an intoxicated Indian as a "tornado mad +man" and recalls a hair raising incident that ended in tragedy for the +offender. + +A group of Indians were attending one of these frolics at Fort Myers +and everything went well until one of the number became intoxicated, +terrorizing the Negroes with bullying, and fighting anyone with whom he +could "pick" a quarrel. "Big Charlie" an uncle of the narrator was +present and when the red man challenged him to a fight made a quick end +of him by breaking his neck at one blow. + +For two years he was hounded by revengeful Indians, who had an uncanny +way of ferreting out his whereabouts no matter where he went. Often he +sighted them while working in the fields and would be forced to flee to +some other place. This continued with many hairbreadth escapes, until he +was forced to move several states away. + +Berry recalls the old days of black aristocracy when Negroes held high +political offices in the state of Florida, when Negro tradesmen and +professionals competed successfully and unmolested with the whites. Many +fortunes were made by men who are now little more than beggars. To this +group belongs the man who in spite of reduced circumstances manages +still to make one think of top hats and state affairs. Although small of +stature and almost disabled by rheumatism, he has the fiery dignity and +straight back that we associate with men who have ruled others. At the +same time he might also be characterized as a sweet old person, with all +the tender reminiscences of the old days and the and childish +prejudices against all things new. As might be expected, he lives in the +past and always is delighted whenever he is asked to tell about the only +life that he has ever really lived. Together with his aged wife he lives +with his children and is known to local relief agencies who supplement +the very small income he now derives from what is left of what was at +one time a considerable fortune. + + +REFERENCE + +Personal interview with subject, Frank Berry, 1614 West Twenty-Second +Street, Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FLORIDA FOLKLORE +SLAVE CUSTOMS AND ANECDOTES + +MARY MINUS BIDDIE + + +Mary Minus Biddie, age one hundred five was born in Pensacola, Florida, +1833, and raised in Columbia County. She is married, and has several +children. For her age she is exceptionally active, being able to wash +and do her house work. With optimism she looks forward to many more +years of life. Her health is excellent. + +Having spent thirty-two years of her life as a slave she relates vividly +some of her experiences. + +Her master Lancaster Jamison was a very kind man and never mistreated +his slaves. He was a man of mediocre means, and instead of having a +large plantation as was usual in those days, he ran a boarding house, +the revenue therefrom furnishing him substance for a livelihood. He had +a small farm from which fresh produce was obtained to supply the needs +of his lodgers. Mary's family were his only slaves. The family consisted +of her mother, father, brother and a sister. The children called the old +master "Fa" and their father "Pappy." The master never resented this +appellation, and took it in good humor. Many travelers stopped at his +boarding house; Mary's mother did the cooking, her father "tended" the +farm, and Mary, her brother and sister, did chores about the place. +There was a large one-room house built in the yard in which the family +lived. Her father had a separate garden in which he raised his produce, +also a smokehouse where the family meats were kept. Meats were smoked +in order to preserve them. + +During the day Mary's father was kept so busy attending his master's +farm that there was no time for him to attend to a little farm that he +was allowed to have. He overcame this handicap, however, by setting up +huge scaffolds in the field which he burned and from the flames that +this fire emitted he could see well enough to do what was necessary to +his farm. + +The master's first wife was a very kind woman; at her death Mary's +master moved from Pensacola to Columbia County. + +Mary was very active with the plow, she could handle it with the agility +of a man. This prowess gained her the title of "plow girl." + + +COOKING. + +Stoves were unknown and cooking was done in a fireplace that was built +of clay, a large iron rod was built in across the opening of the +fireplace on which were hung pots that had special handles that fitted +about the rod holding them in place over the blazing fire as the food +cooking was done in a moveable oven which was placed in the fireplace +over hot coals or corn cobs. Potatoes were roasted in ashes. Oft' times +Mary's father would sit in front of the fireplace until a late hour in +the night and on arising in the morning the children would find in a +corner a number of roasted potatoes which their father had thoughtfully +roasted and which the children readily consumed. + + +LIGHTING SYSTEM. + +Matches were unknown; a flint rock and a file provided the fire. This +occured by striking a file against a flint rock which threw off sparks +that fell into a wad of dry cotton used for the purpose. This cotton, as +a rule, readily caught fire. This was fire and all the fire needed to +start any blaze. + + +WEAVING. + +The white folk wove the cloth on regular looms which were made into +dresses for the slaves. For various colors of cloth the thread was dyed. +The dye was made by digging up red shank and wild indigo roots which +were boiled. The substance obtained being some of the best dye to be +found. + + +BEVERAGES & FOOD. + +Bread was made from flour and wheat. The meat used was pork, beef, +mutton and goat. For preservation it was smoked and kept in the +smokehouse. Coffee was used as a beverage and when this ran out as oft' +times happened, parched peanuts were used for the purpose. + +Mary and family arose before daybreak and prepared breakfast for the +master and his family, after which they ate in the same dining room. +When this was over the dishes were washed by Mary, her brother and +sister. The children then played about until meals were served again. + + +WASHING and SOAP. + +Washing was done in home-made wooden tubs, and boiling in iron pots +similar to those of today. Soap was made from fat and lye. + + +AMUSEMENTS. + +The only amusement to be had was a big candy pulling, or hog killing and +chicken cooking. The slaves from the surrounding plantations were +allowed to come together on these occasions. A big time was had. + + +CHURCH. + +The slaves went to the "white folks" church on Sundays. They were seated +in the rear of the church. The white minister would arise and exhort the +slaves to 'mind your masters, you owe them your respect.' An old +Christian slave who perceived things differently could sometimes be +heard to mumble, "Yeah, wese jest as good as deys is only deys white and +we's black, huh." She dare not let the whites hear this. At times +meetin's were held in a slave cabin where some "inspired" slave led the +services. + +In the course of years Mr. Jamison married again. His second wife was a +veritable terror. She was always ready and anxious to whip a slave for +the least misdemeanor. The master told Mary and her mother that before +he would take the chance of them running away on account of her meanness +he would leave her. As soon as he would leave the house this was a +signal for his wife to start on a slave. One day, with a kettle of hot +water in her hand, she chased Mary, who ran to another plantation and +hid there until the good master returned. She then poured out her +troubles to him. He was very indignant and remonstrated with his wife +for being so cruel. She met her fate in later years; her son-in-law +becoming angry at some of her doings in regard to him shot her, which +resulted in her death. Instead of mourning, everybody seemed to rejoice, +for the menace to well being had been removed. Twice a year Mary's +father and master went to Cedar Keys, Florida to get salt. Ocean water +was obtained and boiled, salt resulting. They always returned with about +three barrels of salt. + +The greatest event in the life of a slave was about to occur, and the +most sorrowful in the life of a master, FREEDOM was at hand. A Negro was +seen coming in the distance, mounted upon a mule, approaching Mr. +Jamison who stood upon the porch. He told him of the liberation of the +slaves. Mr. Jamison had never before been heard to curse, but this was +one day that he let go a torrent of words that are unworthy to appear in +print. He then broke down and cried like a slave who was being lashed by +his cruel master. He called Mary's mother and father, Phyliss and Sandy, +"I ain't got no more to do with you, you are free," he said, "if you +want to stay with me you may and I'll give you one-third of what you +raise." They decided to stay. When the crop was harvested the master did +not do as he had promised. He gave them nothing. Mary slipped away, +mounted the old mule "Mustang" and galloped away at a mules snail speed +to Newnansville where she related what had happened to a Union captain. +He gave her a letter to give to Mr. Jamison. In it he reminded him that +if he didn't give Mary's family what he had promised he would be put in +jail. Without hesitation the old master complied with these pungent +orders. + +After this incident Mary and her family left the good old boss to seek a +new abode in other parts. This was the first time that the master had in +any way displayed any kind of unfairness toward them, perhaps it was the +reaction to having to liberate them. + + +MARRIAGE. + +There was no marriage during slavery according to civil or religious +custom among the slaves. If a slave saw a woman whom he desired he told +his master. If the woman in question belonged on another plantation, the +master would consult her master: "one of my boys wants to marry one of +your gals," he would say. As a rule it was agreeable that they should +live together as man and wife. This was encouraged for it increased the +slave population by new borns, hence, being an asset to the masters. +The two slaves thus joined were allowed to see one another at intervals +upon special permission from the master. He must have a pass to leave +the plantation. Any slave caught without one while off the plantation +was subject to be caught by the "paderollers" (a low class of white who +roved the country to molest a slave at the least opportunity. Some of +them were hired by the masters to guard against slaves running away or +to apprehend them in the event that they did) who would beat them +unmercifully, and send them back to the plantation from whence they +came. + +As a result of this form of matrimony at emancipation there were no +slaves lawfully married. Orders were given that if they preferred to +live together as man and wife they must marry according to law. They +were given nine months to decide this question, after which if they +continued to live together they were arrested for adultery. A Mr. Fryer, +Justice of the Peace at Gainesville, was assigned to deal with the +situation around the plantation where Mary and her family lived. A big +supper was given, it was early, about twenty-five slave couples +attended. There was gaiety and laughter. A barrel of lemonade was +served. A big time was had by all, then those couples who desired to +remain together were joined in wedlock according to civil custom. The +party broke up in the early hours of the morning. + +Mary Biddie, cognizant of the progress that science and invention has +made in the intervening years from Emancipation and the present time, +could not help but remark of the vast improvement of the lighting system +of today and that of slavery. There were no lamps or kerosene. The first +thread that shearer spun was for a wick to be used in a candle, the only +means of light. Beef tallow was used to make the candle; this was placed +in a candle mould while hot. The wick was then placed in the center of +the tallow as it rest in the mould; this was allowed to cool. When this +chemical process occured there was a regular sized candle to be used +for lighting. + +Mary now past the century mark, her lean bronze body resting in a +rocker, her head wrapped in a white 'kerchief, and puffing slowly on her +clay pipe, expressed herself in regard to presidents: "Roosevelt has +don' mo' than any other president, why you know ever since freedom they +been talkin' 'bout dis pension, talkin' 'bout it tha's all, but you see +Mr. Roosevelt he don' com' an' gived it tu us. What? I'll say he's a +good rightus man, an' um sho' go' vot' fo' him." + +Residing in her little cabin in Eatonville, Florida, she is able to +smile because she has some means of security, the Old Age Pension. + + + + +DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOLKLORE +Ex-Slaves + +REV. ELI BOYD + + +Reverend Eli Boyd was born May 29, 1864, four miles from Somerville, +South Carolina on John Murray's plantation. It was a large plantation +with perhaps one hundred slaves and their families. As he was only a +tiny baby when freedom came, he had no "recomembrance" of the real +slavery days, but he lived on the same plantation for many years until +his father and mother died in 1888. + +"I worked on the plantation just like they did in the real slavery days, +only I received a small wage. I picked cotton and thinned rice. I always +did just what they told me to do and didn't ever get into any trouble, +except once and that was my own fault. + +"You see it was this way. They gave me a bucket of thick clabber to take +to the hogs. I was hungry and took the bucket and sat down behind the +barn and ate every bit of it. I didn't know it would make me sick, but +was I sick? I swelled up so that I all but bust. They had to doctor on +me. They took soot out of the chimney and mixed it with salt and made me +take that. I guess they saved my life, for I was awful sick. + +"I never learned to read until I was 26 years old. That was after I left +the plantation. I was staying at a place washing dishes for Goodyear's +at Sapville, Georgia, six miles from Waycross. I found a Webster's +spelling book that had been thrown away, and I learned to read from +that. + +"I wasn't converted until I went to work in a turpentine still and five +years later I was called to preach. I am one of thirteen children and +none of us has ever been arrested. We were taught right. + +"I kept on preaching until I came to Miami. I have been assistant pastor +at Bethel African Methodist Church for the past ten years. + +"I belong to a class of Negroes called Geechees. My grandfather was +brought directly from Africa to Port Royal, South Carolina. My +grandmother used to hold up her hand and look at it and sing out of her +hand. She'd make them up as she would look at her hand. She sang in +Geechee and also made rhymes and songs in English." + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Cora Taylor +Frances H. Miner, Editor +Miami, Florida + +RIVANA BOYNTON [TR: also reported as Riviana.] + + +1. Where, and about when, were you born? + +Some time in 1850 on John and Mollie Hoover's plantation between +Savannah and Charleston near the Georgia line. + +2. If you were born on a plantation or farm, what sort of farming +section was it in? + +They raised rice, corn wheat, and lots of cotton, raised everything they +et--vegetables, taters and all that. + +3. How did you pass the time as a child? What sort of chores did you do +and what did you play? + +I had to thin cotton in the fields and mind the flies at the table. I +chased them with a fly bush, sometimes a limb from a tree and sometimes +wid a fancy bush. + +4. Was your master kind to you? + +Yes, I was favored by being with my massy. + +5. How many slaves were there on the same plantation and farm? + +I don't know. There was plenty o' dem up in de hundreds, I reckon. + +6. Do you remember what kind of cooking utensils your mother used? + +Yes, dey had spiders an' big iron kettles that dey hung in de chimney by +a long chain. When dey wanted to cook fast dey lowered de chain and when +dey wanted to bake in the spiders, they's put them under de kettle can +cover with coals until dey was hot. Dey'd put de pones in does double +concerned spiders and turn them around when dey was done on one side. + +7. What were your main foods and how were they cooked? + +We had everything you could think of to eat. + +8. Do you remember making imitation or substitute coffee by grinding up +corn or peanuts? + +No. We had real coffee. + +9. Do you remember ever having, when you were young, any other kind of +bread besides corn bread? + +Yes, batter and white bread. + +10. Do you remember evaporating sea water to get salt? + +[TR: word illegible] did hit dat way. + +11. When you were a child, what sort of stove do you remember your +mother having? Did they have a hanging pot in the fire place, and did +they make their candles of their own tallow? + +Always had fireplaces or open fires on the plantation, but after a long +time while my massy had hearth stoves to cook on. De would give us +slaves pot liquor to cook green in sometimes. Dey lit de fires with +flint and steel, when it would go out. We all ate with wooden paddles +for spoons. We made dem taller candles out of beef and mutton tallow, +den we'd shoog 'em down into the candle sticks made of tin pans wid a +handle on and a holder for the candle in the center. You know how. + +12. Did you use an open well or pump to get the water? + +We had a well with two buckets on a pulley to draw the water. + +13. Do you remember when you first saw ice in regular form? + +No. Ice would freeze in winter in our place. + +14. Did your family work in the rice fields or in the cotton on the +farm, or what sort of work did they do? + +They did all kinds of work in the fields. + +15. If they worked in the house or about the place, what sort of work +did they do? + +I was house maid and did everything they told me to do. Sometimes I'd +sweep and work around all the time. + +16. Do you remember ever helping tan and cure hides and pig hides? + +This was done on the plantation. I took no part in it. + +17. As a young person what sort of work did you do? If you helped your +mother around the house or cut firewood or swept the yard, say so. + +I helped do the housework and did what the mistress told me do. + +18. When you were a child do you remember how people wove cloth, or spun +thread, or picked out cotton seed, or weighed cotton or what sort of bag +was used on the cotton bales? + +No. + +19. Do you remember what sort of soap they used? How did they get the +lye for making the soap? + +Yes, I'd help to make the ash lye and soft soap. Never seed and cake +soap until I came here. + +20. What did they use for dyeing thread and cloth and how did they dye +them? + +They used indigo for blue, copperas for yellow, and red oak chips for +red. + +21. Did your mother use big, wooden washtubs with cut-out holes on each +side for the fingers? + +Yes, and dey had smaller wooden keels. Never seed any tin tubs up there. + +22. Do you remember the way they made shoes by hand in the country? + +Yes, they made all our shoes on the plantation. + +23. Do you remember saving the chicken feathers and goose feathers +always for your featherbeds? + +Yes. + +23. Do you remember when women wore hoop [TR: illegible] in their skirts +and when they stopped wearing them and wore narrow skirts? + +Yes. My missus, she made me a pair of hoops, or I guess she bought it, +but some of the slaves took thin limbs from trees and made their hoops. +Others made them out of stiff paper and others would starch their skirts +stiff with rice starch to make their skirts stand way out. We thought +those hoops were just the thing for style. + +25. Do you remember when you first saw your first windmill? + +Yes. They didn't have them there. + +26. Do you remember when you first saw bed springs instead of bed ropes? + +I slept in a gunny bunk. My missus had a rope bed and she covered the +ropes with a cow hide. We made hay and corn shuck mattresses for her. +We'd cut the hay and shucks up fine and stuff the ticks with them. The +cow hides were placed on top of the mattresses to protect them. + +27. When did you see the first buggy and what did it look like? + +It was a buggy like you see. + +28. Do you remember your grandparents? + +No. My mother was sold from me when I was small. I stayed in my uncle's +shed at night. + +29. Do you remember the money called "shin-plasters"? + +No. + +30. What interesting historical events happened during your youth, such +as Sherman's army passing through your section? Did you witness the +happenings and what was the reaction of the other Negroes to them? + +I remember well when de war was on. I used to turn the big corn sheller +and sack the shelled corn for the Confederate soldiers. They used to +sell some of the corn and they gave some of it to the soldiers. Anyway +the Yankees got some and they did not expect them to get it. It was this +way: The Wheeler boys came through there ahead of Sherman's Army. Now, +we thought the Wheeler boys were Confederates. They came down the road +as happy as could be, a-singin' + + "Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah + Hurrah for the Broke Book Boys + Hurrah for the Broke Brook Boys of South Carolina." + +So of course we thought they were our soldiers a-singin' our songs. +Well, they came an' tol' our boss that Sherman's soldiers were coming' +and we'd better hide all our food and valuable things, for they'd take +everything they wanted. So we "hoped" our Massy hide the tings. They dug +holes and buried the potatoes and covered them with cotton seed and all +that. Then our ma say give dem food and thanked them for their kindness +and he set out wid two of the girls to tote them to safety, but before +he got back after the missus the Yanks were on us. + +Our missus had od[TR:?] led us together and told us what to say. "Now +you beg for me. If they ask you whether I've been good to you, you tell +'em 'yes'. If they ask you if we give you meat, you say 'yes'." Now de +res' didn't git any meat, but I did, 'cause I worked in the house. So I +didn't tell a lie, for I did git meat. + +So we begged, an' we say, "Our missus is good. Don't you kill her. Don't +you take our meat away from us. Don't you hurt her. Don't you burn her +house down." So they burned the stable and some of the other buildings, +but they did not burn the house nor hurt us any. We saw the rest of the +Yanks comin'. They never stopped for nothin'. Their horses would jump +the worn rail fences and they come 'cross fields 'n everything. They +bound our missus upstairs so she couldn't get away, then they came to +the sheds and we begged and begged for her. Then they loosed her, but +they took some of us for refugees and some of the slaves went off with +them of their own will. They took all the things that were buried all +the hams and everything they wanted. But they did not burn the house and +our missus was saved. + +31. Did you know any Negroes who enlisted or joined the northern army? +Yes. + +32. Did you know any Negroes who enlisted in the southern army? + +Yes. + +33. Did your master join the confederacy? What do you remember of his +return from the war? Or was he wounded and killed? + +Yes. Two boys went. One was killed and one came back. + +34. Did you live in Savannah when Sherman and the Northern forces +marched through the state, and do you remember the excitement in your +town or around the plantation where you lived? + +We lived north of Savannah. I don't know how far it was, but it was in +South Carolina. + +35. Did your master's house get robbed or burned during the time of +Sherman's march? + +We were robbed, but the house was not burned. We saved it for them. + +36. What kind of uniforms did they wear during the civil war? + +Blue and gray + +37. What sort of medicine was used in the days just after the war? +Describe a Negro doctor of that period. + +She used to make tea out of the Devil's Shoe String that grew along on +the ground. We used oil and turpentine. Put turpentine on sores. + +38. What do you remember about northern people or outside people moving +into the community after the war? + +Yes. Mrs. Dermont, she taught white folks. I didn't go to school. + +39. How did your family's life compare after Emancipation with it +before? + +I had it better and so did the rest. + +40. Do you know anything about political meetings and clubs formed after +the war? + +You had to have a ticket to go to church or the paddle rollers. + +41. Do you know anything regarding the letters and stories from Negroes +who migrated north after the war? + +No. + +42. Were there any Negroes of your acquaintance who were skilled +[TR: illegible] particular line of work? + +Yes. In making shoes and furniture, they had to do most everything well +or get paddled. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Alfred Farrell, Field Worker +Monticello, Florida +January 12, 1937 + +MATILDA BROOKS + + +A GOVERNOR'S SLAVES + +Matilda Brooks, 79, who lives in Monticello, Fla., was once a slave of a +South Carolina governor. + +Mrs. Brooks was born in 1857 or 1858 in Edgefield, S.C. Her parents were +Hawkins and Harriet Knox, and at the time of the birth of their daughter +were slaves on a large plantation belonging to Governor Frank Pickens. +On this plantation were raised cotton, corn, potatoes, tobacco, peas, +wheat and truck products. As soon as Matilda was large enough to go into +the fields she helped her parents with the farming. + +The former slave describes Governor Pickens as being 'very good' to his +slaves. He supervised them personally, although official duties often +made this difficult. He saw to it that their quarters were comfortable +and that they always had sufficient food. When they became ill he would +himself doctor on them with pills, castor oil, turpentine other +remedies. Their diet consisted largely of potatoes, corn bread, syrup, +greens, peas, and occasionally ham, fowl and other meats or poultry. +Their chief beverage was coffee made from parched corn. + +Since there were no stoves during slavery, they cooked their foods in +large iron pots suspended from racks built into the fireplaces. Fried +foods were prepared in iron 'spiders', large frying pans with legs. +These pans were placed over hot coals, and the seasoning was done with +salt which they secured from evaporated sea-water. After the food was +fried and while the coals were still glowing the fat of oxen and sheep +was melted to make candles. Any grease left over was put into a large +box, to be used later for soap-making. + +Lye for the soap was obtained by putting oak ashes in a barrel and +pouring water over them. After standing for several days--until the +ashes had decayed--holes were drilled into the bottom of the barrell +and the liquid drained off. This liquid was the lye, and it was then +trickled into the pot into which the fat had been placed. The two were +then boiled, and after cooling cut into squares of soap. + +Water for cooking and other purposes was obtained from a well, which +also served as a refrigerator at times. Matilda does not recall seeing +ice until many years later. + +In the evenings Matilda's mother would weave cloth on her spinning-jenny +and an improvised loom. This cloth was sometimes dyed in various colors: +blue from the indigo plant; yellow from the crocus and brown from the +bark of the red oak. Other colors were obtained from berries and other +plants. + +In seasons other than picking-time for the cotton the children were +usually allowed to play in the evenings, when cotton crops were large, +however, they spent their evenings picking out seeds from the cotton +bolls, in order that their parents might work uninterruptedly in the +fields during the day. The cotton, after being picked and separated, +would be weighed in balances and packed tightly in 'crocus' bags. + +Chicken and goose feathers were jealously saved during these days. They +were used for the mattresses that rested on the beds of wooden slats +that were built in corners against the walls. Hoop skirts were worn at +the time, but for how long afterward Matilda does not remember. She only +recalls that they were disappearing 'about the time I saw a windmill for +the first time'. + +The coming of the Yankee soldiers created much excitement among the +slaves on the Pickens plantation. The slaves were in ignorance of +activities going on, and of their approach, but when the first one was +sighted the news spread 'just like dry grass burning up a hill'. Despite +the kindness of Governor Pickens the slaves were happy to claim their +new-found freedom. Some of them even ran away to join the Northern +armies before they were officially freed. Some attempted to show their +loyalty to their old owners by joining the southern armies, but in this +section they were not permitted to do so. + +After she was released from slavery Matilda came with her parents to the +Monticello section, where the Knoxes became paid house servants. The +parents took an active part in politics in the section, and Matilda was +sent to school. White teachers operated the schools at first, and were +later replaced by Negro teachers. Churches were opened with Negro +ministers in the pulpits, and other necessities of community life +eventually came to the vicinity. + +Matilda still lives in one of the earlier homes of her parents in the +area, now described as 'Rooster-Town' by its residents. The section is +in the eastern part of Monticello. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +Interview with subject, Matilda Brooks; "Rooster-Town", eastern part of +city, Monticello, Jefferson County, Fla. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Alfred Farrell, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Titusville, Florida +September 25, 1936 + +TITUS I. BYNES + + +Titus B. [TR: Titus I. above] Bynes, affectionately known as "Daddy +Bynes", is reminiscent of Harriet Beecher Stowe's immortal "Uncle Tom" +and Joel Chandler Harris' inimitable 'Uncle Remus' with his white beard +and hair surrounding a smiling black face. He was born in November 1846 +in what is now Clarendon County, South Carolina. Both his father, Cuffy, +and mother, Diana, belonged to Gabriel Flowden who owned 75 or 80 slaves +and was noted for his kindness to them. + +Bynes' father was a common laborer, and his mother acted in the capacity +of chambermaid and spinner. They had 12 children, seven boys--Abraham, +Tutus[TR:?], Reese, Lawrence, Thomas, Billie, and Hamlet--and five +girls--Charity, Chrissy, Fannie, Charlotte, and Violet. + +When Titus was five or six years of age he was given to Flowden's wife +who groomed him for the job of houseboy. Although he never received any +education, Bynes was quick to learn. He could tell the time of day and +could distinguish one newspaper from another. He recalled an incident +which happened when he was about eight years of age which led him to +conceal his precociousness. One day while writing on the ground, he +heard his mistress' little daughter tell her mother that he was writing +about water. Mistress Flowden called him and told him that if he were +caught writing again his right arm would be cut off. From then on his +precociousness vanished. In regards to religion, Bynes can recall the +Sunday services very vividly; and he tells how the Negroes who were +seated in the gallery first heard a sermon by the white minister and +then after these services they would gather on the main floor and hear a +sermon by a Negro preacher. + +Bynes served in the Civil War with his boss, and he can remember the +regiment camp between Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. +His mistress would not permit Bynes to accompany his master to Virginia +to join the Hampton Legion on the grounds that it was too cold for him. +And thus ended his war days! When he was 20 years of age, his father +turned him loose. Young Bynes rented 14 acres of land from Arthur Harven +and began farming. + +In 1868 he left South Carolina and came to Florida. He settled in +Enterprise (now Benson Springs), Velusia County where he worked for J.C. +Hayes, a farmer, for one year, after which he homesteaded. He next +became a carpenter and, as he says himself, "a jack of all trades and +master of none." He married shortly after coming to Florida and is the +father of three sons--"as my wife told me," he adds with a twinkle in +his eyes. His wife is now dead. He was prevailed upon while very ill to +enter the Titusville Poor Farm where he has been for almost two years. +(2) + + +Della Bess Hilyard ("Aunt Bess") + +Della Bess Hilyard, or "Aunt Bess" as she is better known, was born in +Darlington, South Carolina in 1858, the daughter of Resier and Zilphy +Hart, slaves of Gus Hiwards. Both her parents were cotton pickers and as +a little girl Della often went with her parents into the fields. One day +she stated that the Yankees came through South Carolina with Knapsacks +on their shoulders. It wasn't until later that she learned the reason. + +When asked if she received any educational training, "Aunt Bess" replied +in the negative, but stated that the slaves on the Hiwards plantation +were permitted to pick up what education they could without fear of +being molested. No one bothered, however, to teach them anything. + +In regards to religion, "Aunt Bess" said that the slaves were not told +about heaven; they were told to honor their masters and mistresses and +of the damnation which awaited them for disobedience. + +After slavery the Hart family moved to Georgia where Della grew into +womanhood and at an early age married Caleb Bess by whom she had two +children. After the death of Bess, about fifteen years ago, "Aunt Bess" +moved to Fort Pierce, Florida. While there she married Lonny Hilyard +who brought her to Titusville where she now resides, a relic of bygone +days. (3) + + +Taylor Gilbert + +Taylor Gilbert was born in Shellman, Georgia, 91 years ago, of a colored +mother and a white father, "which is why I am so white", he adds. He has +never been known to have passed as white, however, in spite of the fact +that he could do so without detection. David Ferguson bought Jacob +Gilbert from Dr. Gilbert as a husband for Emily, Taylor's mother. Emily +had nine children, two by a white man, Frances and Taylor, and seven by +Jacob, only three of whom Gilbert remembers--Gettie, Rena, and Annis. +Two of these children were sent to school while the others were obliged +to work on the plantation. Emily, the mother, was the cook and washwoman +while Jacob was the Butler. + +Gilbert, a good sized lad when slavery was at its height, recalls +vividly the cruel lashings and other punishments meted out to those who +disobeyed their master or attempted to run away. It was the custom of +slaves who wished to go from one plantation to another to carry passes +in case they were stopped as suspected runaways. Frequently slaves would +visit without benefit of passes, and as result they suffered severe +torturing. Often the sons of the slaves' owners would go "nigger +hunting" and nothing--not even murder was too horrible for them to do to +slaves caught without passes. They justified their fiendish acts by +saying the "nigger tried to run away when told to stop." + +Gilbert cannot remember when he came to Florida, but he claims that it +was many years ago. Like the majority of Negroes after slavery, he +became a farmer which occupation he still pursues. He married once but +"my wife got to messin' around with another man so I sent her home to +her mother." He can be found in Miami, Florida, where he may be seen +daily hobbling around on his cane. (4) + + +REFERENCES + +1. Personal interview of field worker with subject. + +2. Personal interview with subject. + +3. Personal interview with subject. + +4. Personal interview of field worker with subject. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +James Johnson, Field Worker +Monticello, Florida +December 15, 1936 + +PATIENCE CAMPBELL + + +Patience Campbell, blind for 26 years, was-born in Jackson County, near +Marianna, Florida about 1883[TR: incorrect date?], on a farm of George +Bullock. Her mother Tempy, belonged to Bullock, while her father Arnold +Merritt, belonged to Edward Merritt, a large plantation owner. According +to Patience, her mother's owner was very kind, her father's very cruel. +Bullock had very few slaves, but Merritt had a great many of them, not a +few of whom he sold at the slave markets. + +Patience spent most of her time playing in the sand when she was a +child, while her parents toiled in the fields for their respective +owners. Her grandparents on her mother's side belonged to Bullock, but +of her father's people she knew nothing as "they didn't come to this +country." When asked where they lived, she replied "in South Carolina." + +Since she lived with her mother, Patience fared much better than had she +lived with her father. Her main foods included meats, greens, rice, corn +bread which was replaced by biscuits on Sunday morning. Coffee was made +from parched corn or meal and was the chief drink. The food was cooked +in large iron pots and pans in an open fireplace and seasoned with salt +obtained by evaporating sea water. + +Water for all purposes was drawn from a well. In order to get soap to +wash with, the cook would save all the grease left from the cooking. Lye +was obtained by mixing oak ashes with water and allowing them to decay; +Tubs were made from large barrels. + +When she was about seven or eight, Patience assisted other children +about her age and older in picking out cotton seeds from the picked +cotton. After the cotton was weighed on improved scales, it was bound in +bags made of hemp. + +Spinning and weaving were taught Patience when she was about ten. +Although the cloth and thread were dyed various colors, she knows only +how blue was obtained by allowing the indigo plant to rot in water and +straining the result. + +Patience's father was not only a capable field worker but also a +finished shoemaker. After tanning and curing his hides by placing them +in water with oak bark for several days and then exposing them to the +sun to dry, he would cut out the uppers and the soles after measuring +the foot to be shod. There would be an inside sole as well as an outside +sole tacked together by means of small tacks made of maple wood. Sewing +was done on the shoes by means of flax thread. + +Patience remembers saving the feathers from all the fowl to make feather +beds. She doesn't remember when women stopped wearing hoops in their +skirts nor when bed springs replaced bed ropes. She does remember, +however, that these things were used. + +She saw her first windmill about 36 years ago, ten years before she went +blind. She remembers seeing buggies during slavery time, little light +carriages, some with two wheels and some with four. She never heard of +any money called "shin-plasters," and she became money-conscious during +the war when Confederate currency was introduced. When the slaves were +sick, they were given castor oil, turpentine and medicines made from +various roots and herbs. + +Patience's master joined the confederacy, but her father's master did +not. [Although Negroes could enlist in the Southern army if they +desired,] none of them wished to do so but preferred to join northern +forces and fight for the thing they desired most, freedom. When freedom +was no longer a dream, but a reality, the Merritts started life on their +own as farmers. Twelve-year old Patience entered one of the schools +established by the Freedmen's Bureau. She recalls the gradual growth of +Negro settlements, the churches and the rise and fall of the Negroes +politically. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Patience Campbell, 910 Cherry Street, +Monticello, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel A. Austin, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +November 20, 1936 + +FLORIDA CLAYTON + + +The life of Florida Clayton is interesting in that it illustrates the +miscegenation prevalent during the days of slavery. Interesting also is +the fact that Florida was not a slave even though she was a product +of those turbulent days. Many years before her birth--March 1, +1854--Florida's great grandfather, a white man, came to Tallahassee, +Florida from Washington, District of Columbia, with his children whom he +had by his Negro slave. On coming to Florida, he set all of his children +free except one boy, Amos, who was sold to a Major Ward. For what reason +this was done, no one knew. Florida, named for the state in which she +was born, was one of seven children born to Charlotte Morris (colored) +whose father was a white man and David Clayton (white). + +Florida, in a retrogressive mood, can recall the "nigger hunters" and +"nigger stealers" of her childhood days. Mr. Nimrod and Mr. Shehee, both +white, specialized in catching runaway slaves with their trained +bloodhounds. Her parents always warned her and her brothers and sisters +to go in someone's yard whenever they saw these men with their dogs lest +the ferocious animals tear them to pieces. In regards to the "nigger +stealers," Florida tells of a covered wagon which used to come to +Tallahassee at regular intervals and camp in some secluded spot. The +children, attracted by the old wagon, would be eager to go near it, but +they were always told that "Dry Head and Bloody Bones," a ghost who +didn't like children, was in that wagon. It was not until later years +that Florida and the other children learned that the driver of the wagon +was a "nigger stealer" who stole children and took them to Georgia to +sell at the slave markets. + +When she was 11 years old, Florida saw the surrender of Tallahassee to +the Yankees. Three years later she came to Jacksonville to live with her +sister. She married but is now divorced after 12 years of marriage. + +Three years ago she entered the Old Folks Home at 1627 Franklin Street +to live. + + +1. Personal Interview with Florida Clayton, 1627 Franklin Street, +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Viola B. Muse, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +December 3, 1936 + +"FATHER" CHARLES COATES + + +"Father" Charles Coates, as he is called by all who know him, was born a +slave, 108 years ago at Richmond, Virginia, on the plantation of a man +named L'Angle. His early boyhood days was spent on the L'Angle place +filled with duties such as minding hogs, cows, bringing in wood and such +light work. His wearing apparel consisted of one garment, a shirt made +to reach below the knees and with three-quarter sleeves. He wore no +shoes until he was a man past 20 years of age. + +The single garment was worn summer and winter alike and the change in +the weather did not cause an extra amount of clothes to be furnished for +the slaves. They were required to move about so fast at work that the +heat from the body was sufficient to keep them warm. + +When Charles was still a young man Mr. L'Angle sold him on time payment +to W.B. Hall; who several years before the Civil War moved from Richmond +to Washington County, Georgia, carrying 135 grown slaves and many +children. Mr. Hall made Charles his carriage driver, which kept him from +hard labor. Other slaves on the plantation performed such duties as rail +splitting, digging up trees by the roots and other hard work. + +Charles Coates remembers vividly the cruelties practiced on the Hall +plantation. His duty was to see that all the slaves reported to work on +time. The bell was rung at 5:30 a.m. by one of the slaves. Charles had +the ringing of the bell for three years; this was in addition to the +carriage driving. He tells with laughter how the slaves would "grab a +piece of meat and bread and run to the field" as no time was allowed to +sit and eat breakfast. This was a very different way from that of the +master he had before, as Mr. L'Angle was much better to his slaves. + +Mr. Hall was different in many ways from Mr. L'Angle, "He was always +pretending" says Charles that he did not want his slaves beaten +unmercifully. Charles being close to Mr. Hall during work hours had +opportunity to see and hear much about what was going on at the +plantation. And he believes that Mr. Hall knew just how the overseer +dealt with the slaves. + +On the Hall plantation there was a contraption, similar to a gallows, +where the slaves were suspended and whipped. At the top of this device +were blocks of wood with chains run through holes and high enough that a +slave when tied to the chains by his fingers would barely touch the +ground with his toes. This was done so that the slave could not shout or +twist his body while being whipped. The whipping was prolonged until the +body of the slave covered with welts and blood trickled down his naked +body. Women were treated in the same manner, and a pregnant woman +received no more leniency than did a man. Very often after a severe +flogging a slave's body was treated to a bath of water containing salt +and pepper so that the pain would be more lasting and aggravated. The +whipping was done with sticks and a whip called the "cat o' nine tails," +meaning every lick meant nine. The "cat o' nine tails" was a whip of +nine straps attached to a stick; the straps were perforated so that +everywhere the hole in the strap fell on the flesh a blister was left. + +The treatment given by the overseer was very terrifying. He relates how +a slave was put in a room and locked up for two and three days at a time +without water or food, because the overseer thought he hadn't done +enough work in a given time. + +Another offense which brought forth severe punishment was that of +crossing the road to another plantation. A whipping was given and very +often a slave was put on starvation for a few days. + +One privilege given slaves on the plantation was appreciated by all and +that was the opportunity to hear the word of God. The white people +gathered in log and sometimes frame churches and the slaves were +permitted to sit about the church yard on wagons and on the ground and +listen to the preaching. When the slaves wanted to hold church they had +to get special permission from the master, and at that time a slave hut +was used. A white Preacher was called in and he would preach to them not +to steal, lie or run away and "be sure and git all dem weeds outen dat +corn in de field and your master will think a heap of you." Charles does +not remember anything else the preacher told them about God. They +learned more about God when they sat outside the church waiting to drive +their masters and family back home. + +Charles relates an incident of a slave named Sambo who thought himself +very smart and who courted the favor of the master. The neighboring +slaves screamed so loudly while being whipped that Sambo told his master +that he knew how to make a contraption which, if a slave was put into +while being whipped would prevent him from making a noise. The device +was made of two blocks of wood cut to fit the head and could be fastened +around the neck tightly. When the head was put in, the upper and lower +parts were clamped together around the neck so that the slave could not +scream. The same effect as choking. The stomach of the victim was placed +over a barrel which allowed freedom of movement. When the lash was +administered and the slave wiggled, the barrel moved. + +Now it so happened that Sambo was the first to be put into his own +invention for a whipping. The overseer applied the lash rather heavily, +and Sambo was compelled to wiggle his body to relieve his feelings. In +wiggling the barrel under his stomach rolled a bit straining Sambo's +neck and breaking it. After Sambo died from his neck being broken the +master discontinued the use of the device, as he saw the loss of +property in the death of slaves. + +Charles was still a carriage driver when freedom came. He had +opportunity to see and hear many things about the master's private life. +When the news of the advance of the Union Army came, Mr. Hall carried +his money to a secluded spot and buried it in an iron pot so that the +soldiers who were confiscating all the property and money they could, +would not get his money. The slave owners were required to notify the +slaves that they were free so Mr. Hall sent his son Sherard to the +cabins to notify all the slaves to come into his presence and there he +had his son to tell them that they were free. The Union soldiers took +much of the slave owners' property and gave to the slaves telling them +that if the owners' took the property back to write and tell them about +it; the owners only laughed because they knew the slaves could not read +nor write. After the soldiers had gone the timid and scared slaves gave +up most of the land; some few however, fenced in a bit of land while the +soldiers remained in the vicinity and they managed to keep a little of +the land. + +Many of the slaves remained with the owners. There they worked for small +monthly wages and took whatever was left of cast off clothing and food +and whatever the "old missus" gave them. A pair of old pants of the +master was highly prized by them. + +Charles Coates was glad to be free. He had been well taken care of and +looked younger than 37 years of age at the close of slavery. He had not +been married; had been put upon the block twice to be sold after +belonging to Mr. Hall. Each time he was offered for sale, his master +wanted so much for him, and refusing to sell him on time payments, he +was always left on his master's hands. His master said "being tall, +healthy and robust, he was well worth much money." + +After slavery, Charles was rated as a good worker. He at once began +working and saving his money and in a short time he had accumulated +"around $200." + +The first sight of a certain young woman caused him to fall in love. He +says the love was mutual and after a courtship of three weeks they were +married. The girl's mother told Charles that she had always been very +frail, but he did not know that she had consumption. Within three days +after they were married she died and her death caused much grief for +Charles. + +He was reluctant to bury her and wanted to continue to stand and look at +her face. A white doctor and a school teacher whose names he does not +remember, told him to put his wife's body in alcohol to preserve it and +he could look at it all the time. At that time white people who had +plenty of money and wanted to see the faces of their deceased used this +method. + +A glass casket was used and the dressed body of the deceased was placed +in alcohol inside the casket. Another casket made of wood held the glass +casket and the whole was placed in a vault made of stone or brick. The +walls of the vault were left about four feet above the ground and a +window and ledge were placed in front, so when the casket was placed +inside of the vault the bereaved could lean upon the ledge and look in +at the face of the deceased. The wooden casket was provided with a glass +top part of the way so that the face could easily be seen. + +Although the process of preserving the body in alcohol cost $160, +Charles did not regret the expense saying, "I had plenty of money at +that time." + +After the death of his wife, Charles left with his mother and father, +Henrietta and Spencer Coates and went to Savannah, Georgia. He said they +were so glad to go, that they walked to within 30 miles of Savannah, +when they saw a man driving a horse and wagon who picked them up and +carried them into Savannah. It was in that city that he met his present +wife, Irene, and they were married about 1876. + +There are nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren living and in +March of 1936, when a party was given in honor of Father Coates' 108th +birthday, one of each of the four generations of his family were +present. + +The party was given at the Clara White Mission, 615 West Ashley Street +by Ertha M.M. White. Father Coates and his wife were very much honored +and each spoke encouraging words to those present. On the occasion he +said that the cause for his long life was due to living close to nature, +rising early, going to bed early and not dissipating in any way. + +He can "shout" (jumping about a foot and a half from the floor and +knocking his heels together.) He does chores about his yard; looks years +younger than he really is and enjoys good health. His hair is partly +white; his memory very good and his chief delight is talking about God +and his goodness. He has preached the gospel in his humble way for a +number of years, thereby gaining the name of "Father" Coates. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Charles Coates--2015 Windle Street, +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Viola B. Muse, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +December 16, 1936 + +IRENE COATES + + +Immediately after slavery in the United States, the southern white +people found themselves without servants. Women who were accustomed to +having a nurse, maid, cook and laundress found themselves without +sufficient money to pay wages to all these. There was a great amount of +work to be done and the great problem confronting married women who had +not been taught to work and who thought it beneath their standing to +soil their hands, found it very difficult. + +There were on the other hand many Negro women who needed work and young +girls who needed guidance and training. + +The home and guidance of the aristocratic white people offered the best +opportunity for the dependent un-schooled freed women; and it was in +this kind of home that the ex-slave child of this story was reared. + +Irene Coates of 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida, was born in +Georgia about 1859. She was close to six years of age when freedom was +declared. + +She was one among the many Negro children who had the advantage of +living under the direct supervision of kind whites and receiving the +care which could only be excelled by an educated mother. + +Jimmie and Lou Bedell were the names of the man and wife who saw the +need of having a Negro girl come into their home as one in the family +and at the same time be assured of a good and efficient servant in years +to come. + +When Irene was old enough, she became the nurse of the Bedell baby and +when the family left Savannah, Georgia to come to Jacksonville, they +brought Irene with them. + +Although Irene was just about six years old when the Civil War ended, +she has vivid recollection of happenings during slavery. Some of the +incidents which happened were told her by her slave associates after +slavery ended and some of them she remembers herself. + +Two incidents which she considers caused respect for slaves by their +masters and finally the Emancipation by Abraham Lincoln she tells in +this order. + +The first event tells of a young, strong healthy Negro woman who +knew her work and did it well. "She would grab up two bags of +guana (fertilizer) and tote 'em at one time," said Irene, and was never +found shirking her work. The overseer on the plantation, was very hard +on the slaves and practiced striking them across the back with a whip +when he wanted to spur them on to do more work. + +Irene says, one day a crowd of women were hoeing in the field and the +overseer rode along and struck one of the women across the back with the +whip, and the one nearest her spoke and said that if he ever struck her +like that, it would be the day he or she would die. The overseer heard +the remark and the first opportunity he got, he rode by the woman and +struck her with the whip and started to ride on. The woman was hoeing at +the time, she whirled around, struck the overseer on his head with the +hoe, knocking him from his horse, she then pounced upon him and chopped +his head off. She went mad for a few seconds and proceeded to chop and +mutilate his body; that done to her satisfaction, she then killed his +horse. She then calmly went to tell the master of the murder, saying +"I've done killed de overseer," the master replied--"Do you mean to say +you've killed the overseer?" she answered yes, and that she had killed +the horse also. Without hesitating, the master pointing to one of his +small cabins on the plantation said--"You see that house over there?" +she answered yes--at the same time looking--"Well" said he, "take all +your belongings and move into that house and you are free from this day +and if the mistress wants you to do anything for her, do it if you want +to." Irene related with much warmth the effect that incident had upon +the future treatment of the slaves. + +The other incident occured in Virginia. It was upon an occasion when +Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was visiting in Richmond. A woman slaveowner had +one of her slaves whipped in the presence of Mrs. Lincoln. It was +easily noticed that the woman was an expectant mother. Mrs. Lincoln was +horrified at the situation and expressed herself as being so, saying +that she was going to tell the President as soon as she returned to the +White House. Whether this incident had any bearing upon Mr. Lincoln's +actions or not, those slaves who were present and Irene says that they +all believed it to be the beginning of the President's activities to end +slavery. + +Besides these incidents, Irene remembers that women who were not strong +and robust were given such work as sewing, weaving and minding babies. +The cloth from which the Sunday clothes of the slaves was made was +called _ausenburg_ and the slave women were very proud of this. The +older women were required to do most of the weaving of cloth and making +shirts for the male slaves. + +When an old woman who had been sick, regained her strength, she was sent +to the fields the same as the younger ones. The ones who could cook and +tickle the palates of her mistress and master were highly prized and +were seldon if ever offered for sale at the auction block. + +The slaves were given fat meat and bread made of husk of corn and wheat. +This caused them to steal food and when caught they were severely +whipped. + +Irene recalls the practice of blowing a horn whenever a sudden rain +came. The overseer had a certain Negro to blow three times and if +shelter could be found, the slaves were expected to seek it until the +rain ceased. + +The master had sheds built at intervals on the plantation. These +accomodated a goodly number; if no shed was available the slaves stood +under trees. If neither was handy and the slaves got wet, they could not +go to the cabins to change clothes for fear of losing time from work. +This was often the case; she says that slaves were more neglected than +the cattle. + +Another custom which impressed the child-mind of Irene was the tieing of +slaves by their thumbs to a tree limb and whipping them. Women and young +girls were treated the same as were men. + +After the Bedells took Irene to live in their home they traveled a deal. +After bringing her to Jacksonville, when Jacksonville was only a small +port, they then went to Camden County, Georgia. + +Irene married while in Georgia and came back to Jacksonville with her +husband Charles, the year of the earthquake at Charleston, South +Carolina, about 1888. + +Irene and Charles Coates have lived in Jacksonville since that time. She +relates many tales of happenings during the time that this city grew +from a town of about four acres to its present status. + +Irene is the mother of five children. She has nine grandchildren and +eight great-grandchildren. Her health is fair, but her eyesight is poor. +It is her delight to entertain visitors and is conversant upon matters +pertaining to slavery and reconstruction days. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Irene Coates, 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin D. Richardson, Field Worker +Grandin, Florida + +NEIL COKER + + +Interesting tales of the changes that came to the section of Florida +that is situated along the Putnam-Clay County lines are told by Neil +Coker, old former slave who lives two miles south of McRae on the road +Grandin. + +Coker is the son of a slave mother and a half-Negro. His father, he +states, was Senator John Wall, who held a seat in the senate for sixteen +years. He was born in Virginia, and received his family name from an old +family bearing the same in that state. He was born, as nearly as he can +remember, about 1857. + +One of Coker's first reminiscences is of the road on which he still +lives. During his childhood it was known as the 'Bellamy Road,' so +called because it was built, some 132 years ago, by a man of that name +who hailed from West Florida. + +The 'Bellamy Road' was at one time the main route of traffic between +Tallahassee and St. Augustine. (Interestingly enough, the road is at +least 30 miles southwest of St. Augustine where it passes through +Grandin; the reason for cutting it in such a wide circle, Coker says was +because of the ferocity of the Seminoles in the swamps north and west of +St. Augustine.) + +Wagons, carriages and stages passed along this road in the days before +the War Between the States, Coker says. In addition to these he claims +to have seen many travellers by foot, and not infrequently furtive +escaped slaves, the latter usually under cover of an appropriate +background of darkness. + +The road again came into considerable use during the late days of the +War. It was during these days that the Federal troops, both whites and +Negroes, passed in seemingly endless procession on their way to or from +encounters. On one occasion the former slave recounts having seen a +procession of soldiers that took nearly two days to pass; they travelled +on horse and afoot. + +Several amusing incidents are related by the ex-slave of the events of +this period. Dozens of the Negro soldiers, he says, discarded their +uniforms for the gaudier clothing that had belonged to their masters in +former days, and could be identified as soldiers as they passed only +with difficulty. Others would pause on their trip at some plantation, +ascertain the name of the 'meanest' overseer on the place, then tie him +backward on a horse and force him to accompany them. Particularly +retributive were the punishments visited upon Messrs. Mays and +Prevatt--generally recognized as the most vicious slave drivers of the +section. + +Bellamy, Coker says built the road with slave labor and as an +investment, realizing much money on tolls on it for many years. A +remarkable feature of the road is that despite its age and the fact that +County authorities have permitted its former good grading to deterierate +to an almost impassable sand at some seasons, there is no mistaking the +fact that this was once a major thoroughfare. + +The region that stretches from Green Cove Springs in the Northeast to +Grandin in the Southwest, the former slave claims, was once dotted with +lakes, creeks, and even a river; few of the lakes and none of the other +bodies still exist, however. + +Among the more notable of the bodies of water was a stream--he does not +now remember its name--that ran for about 20 miles in an easterly +direction from Starke. This stream was one of the fastest that the +former slave can remember having seen in Florida; its power was utilised +for the turning of a power mill which he believes ground corn or other +grain. The falls in the river that turned the water mill, he states, was +at least five or six feet high, and at one point under the Falls a man +named (or possibly nicknamed) "Yankee" operated a sawmill. Coker +believes that this mill, too, derived its power from the little stream. +He says that the stream has been extinct since he reached manhood. It +ended in 'Scrub Pond,' beyond Grandin and Starke. + +Some of the names of the old lakes of the section were these: "Brooklyn +Lake; Magnolia Lake; Soldier Pond (near Keystone); Half-Moon Pond, near +Putnam Hall; Hick's Lake" and others. On one of them was the large grist +mill of Dr. McCray; Coker suggests that this might be the origin of the +town of McRae of the present period. + +To add to its natural water facilities, Coker points out, Bradford +County also had a canal. This canal ran from the interior of the county +to the St. John's River near Green Cove Springs, and with Mandarin on +the other side of the river still a major shipping point, the canal +handled much of the commerce of Bradford and Clay Counties. + +Coker recalls vividly the Indians of the area in the days before 1870. +These, he claims to have been friendly, but reserved, fellows; he does +not recall any of the Indian women. + +Negro slaves from the region around St. Augustine and what is now +Hastings used to escape and use Bellamy's Road on their way to the area +about Micanopy. It was considered equivalent to freedom to reach that +section, with its friendly Indians and impenetrable forests and swamps. + +The little town of Melrose probably had the most unusual name of all the +strange ones prevalent at the time. It was call, very simply, +"Shake-Rag." Coker makes no effort to explain the appelation. + + +REFERENCES + +1. Interview with subject, Neil Coker, Grandin, Putnam County + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel Austin, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida + +YOUNG WINSTON DAVIS + + +Young Winston Davis states that he was born in Ozark, Alabama, June 28, +1855 on the plantation of Charles Davis who owned about seven hundred +slaves and was considered very wealthy. Kindness and consideration for +his slaves, made them love him. + +Reverend Davis was rather young during his years in slavery but when he +was asked to tell something about the days of slavery, replied: "I +remember many things about slavery, but know they will not come to me +now; anyway, I'll tell what I can think of." + +He tells of the use of iron pots, fireplaces with rods used to hold the +pots above the fire for cooking peas, rice, vegetables, meats, etc.; the +home-made coffee from meal, spring and well water, tanning rawhide for +leather, spinning of thread from cotton and the weaving looms. + +"There was no difference," he states, "in the treatment of men and women +for work; my parents worked very hard and women did some jobs that we +would think them crazy for trying now; why my mother helped build a +railroad before she was married to my father. My mother's first husband +was sold away from her; shucks, some of the masters didn't care how they +treated husbands, wives, parents and children; any of them might be +separated from the other. A good price for a 'nigger' was $1500 on down +and if one was what was called a stallion (healthy), able to get plenty +children he would bring about $2500. + +"They had what was called legal money--I did have some of it but guess +it was burned when I lost my house by fire a few years ago. + +"Now, my master had three boys and two girls; his wife, Elizabeth, was +about like the ordinary missus; Master Davis was good, but positive; he +didn't allow other whites to bother his slaves. + +"When the war came, his two boys went first, finally Master Davis went; +he and one son never returned. + +"The Yankees killed cows, etc., as they went along but did not destroy +any property 'round where I was. + +"We had preachers and doctors, but no schools; the white preachers told +us to obey and would read the Bible (which we could not understand) and +told us not to steal eggs. Most of the doctors used herbs from the woods +and "Aunt Jane" and "Uncle Bob" were known for using "Samson's Snake +Root," "Devil's shoe-string" for stomach troubles and "low-bud Myrtle" +for fevers; that's good now, chile, if you can get it. + +"The 'nigger' didn't have a chance to git in politics during slavery, +but after Emancipation, he went immediately into the Republican Party; a +few into the Democratic Party; there were many other parties, too. + +"The religions were Methodist and Baptist; my master was Baptist and +that's what I am; we could attend church but dare not try to get any +education, less we punished with straps. + +"There are many things I remember just like it was yesterday--the +general punishment was with straps--some of the slaves suffered terribly +on the plantations; if the master was poor and had few slaves he was +mean--the more wealthy or more slaves he had, the better he was. In some +cases it was the general law that made some of the masters as they were; +as, the law required them to have an overseer or foreman (he was called +"boss man") by the 'niggers' and usually came from the lower or poorer +classes of whites; he didn't like 'niggers' usually, and took authority +to do as he pleased with them at times. Some plantations preferred and +did have 'nigger riders' that were next to the overseer or foreman, but +they were liked better than the foreman and in many instances were +treated like foremen but the law would not let them be called "foremen." +Some of the masters stood between the 'nigger riders' and foremen and +some cases, the 'nigger' was really boss. + +"The punishments, as I said were cruel--some masters would hang the +slaves up by both thumbs so that their toes just touched the floor, +women and men, alike. Many slaves ran away; others were forced by their +treatment to do all kinds of mean things. Some slaves would dig deep +holes along the route of the "Patrollers" and their horses would fall in +sometimes breaking the leg of the horse, arm or leg of the rider; some +slaves took advantage of the protection their masters would give them +with the overseer or other plantation owners, would do their devilment +and "fly" to their masters who did not allow a man from another +plantation to bother his slaves. I have known pregnant women to go ten +miles to help do some devilment. My mother was a very strong woman (as I +told you she helped build a railroad), and felt that she could whip any +ordinary man, would not get a passport unless she felt like it; once +when caught on another plantation without a passport, she had all of us +with her, made all of the children run, but wouldn't run +herself--somehow she went upstream, one of the men's horse's legs was +broken and she told him "come and get me" but she knew the master +allowed no one to come on his place to punish his slaves. + +"My father was a blacksmith and made the chains used for stocks, (like +handcuffs), used on legs and hands. The slaves were forced to lay flat +on their backs and were chained down to the board made for that purpose; +they were left there for hours, sometimes through rain and cold; he +might 'holler' and groan but that did not always get him released. + +"The Race became badly mixed then; some Negro women were forced into +association, some were beaten almost to death because they refused. The +Negro men dare not bother or even speak to some of their women. + +"In one instance an owner of a plantation threatened a Negro rider's +sweetheart; she told him and he went crying to this owner who in turned +threatened him and probably did hit the woman; straight to his master +this sweetheart went and when he finished his story, his master +immediately took his team and drove to the other plantation--drove so +fast that one of his horses' dropped dead; when the owner came out he +levelled his double-barrel shotgun at him and shot him dead. No, suh; +some masters did not allow you to bother their slaves. + +"A peculiar case was that of Old Jim who lived on another plantation was +left to look out for the fires and do other chores around the house +while 'marster' was at war. A bad rumor spread, and do you know those +mean devils, overseers of nearby plantations came out and got her dug a +deep hole, and despite her cries, buried her up to her neck--nothing was +left out but her head and hair. A crowd of young 'nigger boys' saw it +all and I was one among the crowd that helped dig her out. + +"Oh, there's a lots more I know but just cant get it together. My +mother's name was Caroline and my father Patrick; all took the name of +Davis from our master. There were thirteen children--I am the only one +alive." + +Mr. Davis appears well preserved for his age; he has most of his teeth +and is slightly gray; his health seems to be good, although he is a +cripple and uses a cane for walking always; this condition he believes +is the result of an attack of rheumatism. + +He is a preacher and has pastored in Alabama, Texas and Florida. He has +had several years of training in public schools and under ministers. + +He has lived in Jacksonville since 1918 coming here from Waycross, +Georgia. + +He was married for the first and only time during his 62 years of life +to Mrs. Lizzie P. Brown, November 19, 1935. There are no children. He +gives no reason for remaining single, but his reason for marrying was +"to give some lady the privilege and see how it feels to be called +husband." + + +REFERENCES + +1. Interview with Young Winston Davis, 742 W. 10th Street, Jacksonville, +Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +James Johnson, Field Worker +South Jacksonville, Florida +January 11, 1937 + +DOUGLAS DORSEY + + +In South Jacksonville, on the Spring Glen Road lives Douglas Dorsey, an +ex-slave, born in Suwannee County, Florida in 1851, fourteen years prior +to freedom. His parents Charlie and Anna Dorsey were natives of Maryland +and free people. In those days, Dorsey relates there were people known +as "Nigger Traders" who used any subterfuge to catch Negroes and sell +them into slavery. There was one Jeff Davis who was known as a +professional "Nigger Trader," his slave boat docked in the slip at +Maryland and Jeff Davis and his henchmen went out looking for their +victims. Unfortunately, his mother Anna and his father were caught one +night and were bound and gagged and taken to Jeff Davis' boat which was +waiting in the harbor, and there they were put into stocks. The boat +stayed in port until it was loaded with Negroes, then sailed for Florida +where Davis disposed of his human cargo. + +Douglas Dorsey's parents were sold to Colonel Louis Matair, who had a +large plantation that was cultivated by 85 slaves. Colonel Matair's +house was of the pretentious southern colonial type which was quite +prevalent during that period. The colonel had won his title because of +his participation in the Indian War in Florida. He was the typical +wealthy southern gentleman, and was very kind to his slaves. His wife, +however was just the opposite. She was exceedingly mean and could easily +be termed a tyrant. + +There were several children in the Matair family and their home and +plantation were located in Suwannee County, Florida. + +Douglas' parents were assigned to their tasks, his mother was house-maid +and his father was the mechanic, having learned this trade in Maryland +as a free man. Charlie and Anna had several children and Douglas was +among them. When he became large enough he was kept in the Matair home +to build fires, assist in serving meals and other chores. + +Mrs. Matair being a very cruel woman, would whip the slaves herself for +any misdemeanor. Dorsey recalls an incident that is hard to obliterate +from his mind, it is as follows: Dorsey's mother was called by Mrs. +Matair, not hearing her, she continued with her duties, suddenly Mrs. +Matair burst out in a frenzy of anger over the woman not answering. Anna +explained that she did not hear her call, thereupon Mrs. Matair seized a +large butcher knife and struck at Anna, attempting to ward off the blow, +Anna received a long gash on the arm that laid her up for for some +time. Young Douglas was a witness to this brutal treatment of his mother +and he at that moment made up his mind to kill his mistress. He intended +to put strychnine that was used to kill rats into her coffee that he +usually served her. Fortunately freedom came and saved him of this act +which would have resulted in his death. + +He relates another incident in regard to his mistress as follows: To his +mother and father was born a little baby boy, whose complexion was +rather light. Mrs. Matair at once began accusing Colonel Matair as being +the father of the child. Naturally the colonel denied, but Mrs. Matair +kept harassing him about it until he finally agreed to his wife's desire +and sold the child. It was taken from its mother's breast at the age of +eight months and auctioned off on the first day of January to the +highest bidder. The child was bought by a Captain Ross and taken across +the Suwannee River into Hamilton County. Twenty years later he was +located by his family, he was a grown man, married and farming. + +Young Douglas had the task each morning of carrying the Matair +children's books to school. Willie, a boy of eight would teach Douglas +what he learned in school, finally Douglas learned the alphabet and +numbers. In some way Mrs. Matair learned that Douglas was learning to +read and write. One morning after breakfast she called her son Willie to +the dining room where she was seated and then sent for Douglas to come +there too. She then took a quill pen the kind used at that time, and +began writing the alphabet and numerals as far as ten. Holding the paper +up to Douglas, she asked him if he knew what they were; he proudly +answered in the affirmative, not suspecting anything. She then asked him +to name the letters and numerals, which he did, she then asked him to +write them, which he did. When he reached the number ten, very proud of +his learning, she struck him a heavy blow across the face, saying to him +"If I ever catch you making another figure anywhere I'll cut off your +right arm." Naturally Douglas and also her son Willie were much +surprised as each thought what had been done was quite an achievement. +She then called Mariah, the cook to bring a rope and tying the two of +them to the old colonial post on the front porch, she took a chair and +sat between the two, whipping them on their naked backs for such a time, +that for two weeks their clothes stuck to their backs on the lacerated +flesh. + +To ease the soreness, Willie would steal grease from the house and +together they would slip into the barn and grease each other's backs. + +As to plantation life, Dorsey said that the slaves lived in quarters +especially built for them on the plantation. They would leave for the +fields at "sun up" and remain until "sun-down," stopping only for a meal +which they took along with them. + +Instead of having an overseer they had what was called a "driver" by +the name of Januray[TR:?]. His duties were to get the slaves together in +the morning and see that they went to the fields and assigned them to +their tasks. He worked as the other slaves, though, he had more +priveliges. He would stop work at any time he pleased and go around to +inspect the work of the others, and thus rest himself. Most of the +orders from the master were issued to him. The crops consisted of +cotton, corn, cane and peas, which was raised in abundance. + +When the slaves left the fields, they returned to their cabins and after +preparing and eating of their evening meal they gathered around a cabin +to sing and moan songs seasoned with African melody. Then to the tune of +an old fiddle they danced a dance called the "Green Corn Dance" and "Cut +the Pigeon wing." Sometimes the young men on the plantation would slip +away to visit a girl on another plantation. If they were caught by the +"Patrols" while on these visits they would be lashed on the bare backs +as a penalty for this offense. + +A whipping post was used for this purpose. As soon as one slave was +whipped, he was given the whip to whip his brother slave. Very often the +lashes would bring blood very soon from the already lacerated skin, but +this did not stop the lashing until one had received their due number of +lashes. + +Occasionally the slaves were ordered to church to hear a white +minister, they were seated in the front pews of the master's church, +while the whites sat in the rear. The minister's admonition to them to +honor their masters and mistresses, and to have no other God but them, +as "we cannot see the other God, but you can see your master and +mistress." After the services the driver's wife who could read and write +a little would tell them that what the minister said "was all lies." + +Douglas says that he will never forget when he was a lad 14 years of +age, when one evening he was told to go and tell the driver to have all +the slaves come up to the house; soon the entire host of about 85 slaves +were gathered there all sitting around on stumps, some standing. The +colonel's son was visibly moved as he told them they were free. Saying +they could go anywhere they wanted to for he had no more to do with +them, or that they could remain with him and have half of what was +raised on the plantation. + +The slaves were happy at this news, as they had hardly been aware that +there had been a war going on. None of them accepted the offer of the +colonel to remain, as they were only too glad to leaver the cruelties of +the Matair plantation. + +Dorsey's father got a job with Judge Carraway of Suwannee where he +worked for one year. He later homesteaded 40 acres of land that he +received from the government and began farming. Dorsey's father died in +Suwannee County, Florida when Douglas was a young man and then he and +his mother moved to Arlington, Florida. His mother died several years +ago at a ripe old age. + +Douglas Dorsey, aged but with a clear mind lives with his daughter in +Spring Glen. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Interview with Douglas Dorsey, living on Spring Glen Road, South +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin D. Richardson, Field Worker +Brooksville, Florida + +AMBROSE DOUGLASS + + +In 1861, when he was 16 years old, Ambrose Hilliard Douglass was given a +sound beating by his North Carolina master because he attempted to +refuse the mate that had been given to him--with the instructions to +produce a healthy boy-child by her--and a long argument on the value of +having good, strong, healthy children. In 1937, at the age of 92, +Ambrose Douglass welcomed his 38th child into the world. + +The near-centenarian lives near Brooksville, in Hernando County, on a +run-down farm that he no longer attempts to tend now that most of his 38 +children have deserted the farm for the more lucrative employment of the +cities of the phosphate camps. + +Douglass was born free in Detroit in 1845. His parents returned South to +visit relatives still in slavery, and were soon reenslaved themselves, +with their children. Ambrose was one of these. + +For 21 years he remained in slavery; sometimes at the plantation of his +original master in North Carolina, sometimes in other sections after he +had been sold to different masters. + +"Yassuh, I been sold a lot of times", the old man states. "Our master +didn't believe in keeping a house, a horse or a darky after he had a +chance to make some money on him. Mostly, though, I was sold when I cut +up". + +"I was a young man", he continues, "and didn't see why I should be +anybody's slave. I'd run away every chance I got. Sometimes they near +killed me, but mostly they just sold me. I guess I was pretty husky, at +that." + +"They never did get their money's worth out of me, though. I worked as +long as they stood over me, then I ran around with the gals or sneaked +off to the woods. Sometimes they used to put dogs on me to get me back. + +"When they finally sold me to a man up in Suwannee County--his name was +Harris--I thought it would be the end of the world. We had heard about +him all the way up in Virginia. They said he beat you, starved you and +tied you up when you didn't work, and killed you if you ran away. + +"But I never had a better master. He never beat me, and always fed all +of us. 'Course, we didn't get too much to eat; corn meal, a little piece +of fat meat now and then, cabbages, greens, potatoes, and plenty of +molasses. When I worked up at 'the house' I et just what the master et; +sometimes he would give it to me his-self. When he didn't, I et it +anyway. + +"He was so good, and I was so scared of him, till I didn't ever run away +from his place", Ambrose reminisces; "I had somebody there that I liked, +anyway. When he finally went to the war, he sold me back to a man in +North Carolina, in Hornett County. But the war was near over then; I +soon was as free as I am now. + +"I guess we musta celebrated 'Mancipation about twelve times in Hornett +County. Every time a bunch of No'thern sojers would come through they +would tell us we was free and we'd begin celebratin'. Before we would +get through somebody else would tell us to go back to work, and we would +go. Some of us wanted to jine up with the army, but didn't know who was +goin' to win and didn't take no chances. + +"I was 21 when freedom finally came, and that time I didn't take no +chances on 'em taking it back again. I lit out for Florida and wound up +in Madison County. I had a nice time there; I got married, got a plenty +of work, and made me a little money. I fixed houses, built 'em, worked +around the yards, and did everything. My first child was already born; I +didn't know there was goin' to be 37 more, though. I guess I would have +stopped right there.... + +"I stayed in Madison County until they started to working concrete rock +down here. I heard about it and thought that would be a good way for me +to feed all them two dozen children I had. So I came down this side. +That was about 20 years ago. + +"I got married again after I got here; right soon after. My wife now is +30 years old; we already had 13 children together. (His wife is a +slight, girlish-looking woman; she says she was 13 when she married +Douglass, had her first child that year. Eleven of her thirteen are +still living.) + +"Yossuh, I ain't long stopped work. I worked here in the phosphate mine +until last year, when they started to paying pensions. I thought I +would get one, but all I got was some PWA work, and this year they told +me I was too old for that. I told 'em I wasn't but 91, but they didn't +give nothin' else. I guess I'll get my pension soon, though. My oldest +boy ought to get it, too; he's sixty-five." + + + + +FOLK STUFF, FLORIDA + +Jules A. Frost +Tampa, Florida +May 19, 1937 + +"MAMA DUCK" + + +"Who is the oldest person, white or colored, that you know of in Tampa?" + +"See Mama Duck," the grinning Negro elevator boy told me. "She bout a +hunnert years old." + +So down into the "scrub" I went and found the old woman hustling about +from washpot to pump. "I'm mighty busy now, cookin breakfast," she said, +"but if you come back in bout an hour I'll tell you what I can bout old +times in Tampa." + +On the return visit, her skinny dog met me with elaborate demonstrations +of welcome. + +"Guan way fum here Spot. Dat gemmen ain gwine feed you nothin. You keep +your dirty paws offen his clothes." + +Mama duck sat down on a rickety box, motioning me to another one on the +shaky old porch. "Take keer you doan fall thoo dat old floor," she +cautioned. "It's bout ready to fall to pieces, but I way behind in the +rent, so I kaint ask em to have it fixed." + +"I see you have no glass in the windows--doesn't it get you wet when it +rains?" + +"Not me. I gits over on de other side of de room. It didn't have no door +neither when I moved in. De young folks frum here useta use it for a +courtin-house." + +"A what?" + +"Courtin-house. Dey kept a-comin after I moved in, an I had to shoo em +away. Dat young rascal comin yonder--he one of em. I clare to +goodness--" and Mama Duck raised her voice for the trespasser's benefit, +"I wisht I had me a fence to keep folks outa my yard." + +"Qua-a-ck, quack, quack," the young Negro mocked, and passed on +grinning. + +"Dat doan worry me none; I doan let _nothin_ worry me. Worry makes folks +gray-headed." She scratched her head where three gray braids, about the +length and thickness of a flapper's eyebrow, stuck out at odd angles. + +"I sho got plenty chancet to worry ifen I wants to," she mused, as she +sipped water from a fruit-jar foul with fingermarks. "Relief folks got +me on dey black list. Dey won't give me rations--dey give rations to +young folks whas workin, but won't give me nary a mouthful." + +"Why is that?" + +"Well, dey wanted me to go to de poor house. I was willin to go, but I +wanted to take my trunk along an dey wouldn't let me. I got some things +in dere I been havin nigh onta a hunnert years. Got my old blue-back +Webster, onliest book I ever had, scusin my Bible. Think I wanna throw +dat stuff away? No-o, suh!" Mama Duck pushed the dog away from a +cracked pitcher on the floor and refilled her fruit-jar. "So day black +list me, cause I won't kiss dey feets. I ain kissin _nobody's_ +feets--wouldn't kiss my own mammy's." + +"Well, we'd all do lots of things for our mothers that we wouldn't do +for anyone else." + +"Maybe you would, but not me. My mammy put me in a hickry basket when I +was a day an a half old, with nothin on but my belly band an diaper. +Took me down in de cotton patch an sot me on a stump in de bilin sun." + +"What in the world did she do that for?" + +"Cause I was black. All de other younguns was bright. My granmammy done +hear me bawlin an go fotch me to my mammy's house. 'Dat you mammy?' she +ask, sweet as pie, when granmammy pound on de door. + +"'Doan you never call me mammy no more,' granmammy say. 'Any woman +what'd leave a poor lil mite like dis to perish to death ain fitten to +be no datter o' mine.' + +"So granmammy took me to raise. I ain never seen my mammy sincet, an I +ain never wanted to." + +"What did your father think of the way she treated you?" + +"Never knew who my daddy was, an I reckon she didn't either." + +"Do you remember anything about the Civil War?" + +"What dat?" + +"The Civil War, when they set the slaves free." + +"Oh, you mean de fust war. I reckon I does--had three chillern, boys, +borned fore de war. When I was old enough to work I was taken to Pelman, +Jawja. Dey let me nust de chillern. Den I got married. We jus got +married in de kitchen and went to our log house. + +"I never got no beatins fum my master when I was a slave. But I seen +collored men on de Bradley plantation git frammed out plenty. De whippin +boss was Joe Sylvester. He had pets amongst de women folks, an let some +of em off light when they deserved good beatins." + +"How did he punish his 'pets'?" + +"Sometimes he jus bop em crosst de ear wid a battlin stick." + +"A what?" + +"Battlin stick, like dis. You doan know what a battlin stick is? Well, +dis here is one. Use it for washin clothes. You lift em outa de wash pot +wid de battlin stick; den you lay em on de battlin block, dis here +stump. Den you beat de dirt out wid de battlin stick." + +"A stick like that would knock a horse down!" + +"Wan't nigh as bad as what some of de others got. Some of his pets +amongst de mens got it wusser dan de womens. He strap em crosst de sharp +side of a barrel an give em a few right smart licks wid a bull whip." + +"And what did he do to the bad ones?" + +"He make em cross dere hands, den he tie a rope roun dey wrists an throw +it over a tree limb. Den he pull em up so dey toes jus touch de ground +an smack em on da back an rump wid a heavy wooden paddle, fixed full o' +holes. Den he make em lie down on de ground while he bust all dem +blisters wid a raw-hide whip." + +"Didn't that kill them?" + +"Some couldn't work for a day or two. Sometimes dey throw salt brine on +dey backs, or smear on turputine to make it git well quicker." + +"I suppose you're glad those days are over." + +"Not me. I was a heap better off den as I is now. Allus had sumpun to +eat an a place to stay. No sich thing as gittin on a black list. Mighty +hard on a pusson old as me not to git no rations an not have no reglar +job." + +"How old are you?" + +"I doun know, zackly. Wait a minnit, I didn't show you my pitcher what +was in de paper, did I? I kaint read, but somebody say dey put how old I +is under my pitcher in dat paper." + +Mama Duck rummaged through a cigar box and brought out a page of a +Pittsburgh newspaper, dated in 1936. It was so badly worn that it was +almost illegible, but it showed a picture of Mama Duck and below it was +given her age, 109. + + + + +FLORIDA FOLKLORE + +Jules Abner Frost +May 19, 1937 + +"MAMA DUCK" + + +1. Name and address of informant, Mama Duck, Governor & India Sts., +Tampa, Florida. + +2. Date and time of interview, May 19, 1937, 9:30 A.M. + +3. Place of interview, her home, above address. + +4. Name and address of person, if any, who put you in touch with +informant, J.D. Davis (elevator operator), 1623 Jefferson St., Tampa, +Florida. + +5. Name and address of person, if any accompanying you (none). + +6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc. + +Two-room unpainted shack, leaky roof, most window panes missing, porch +dangerous to walk on. House standing high on concrete blocks. Located in +alley, behind other Negro shacks. + + +NOTE: Letter of Feb. 17, 1939, from Mr. B.A. Botkin to Dr. Corse states +that my ex-slave story, "Mama Duck" is marred by use of the question and +answer method. In order to make this material of use as American Folk +Stuff material, I have rewritten it, using the first person, as related +by the informant. + + +Personal History of Informant + +[TR: Repetitive information removed.] + +1. Ancestry: Negro. + +2. Place and date of birth: Richard (probably Richmond), Va., about +1828. + +3. Family: unknown. + +4. Places lived in, with dates: Has lived in Tampa since about 1870. + +5. Education, with dates: Illiterate. + +6. Occupations and accomplishments, with dates: None. Informant was a +slave, and has always performed common labor. + +7. Special skills and interests: none. + +8. Community and religious activities: none. + +9. Description of informant: Small, emaciated, slightly graying, very +thin kinky hair, tightly braided in small pigtails. Somewhat wrinkled, +toothless. Active for her age, does washing for a living. + +10. Other points gained in interview: Strange inability of local Old Age +Pension officials to establish right of claimants to benefits. +Inexplainable causes of refusal of direct relief. + + +MAMA DUCK + +Gwan away f'm here, Po'-Boy; dat gemmen ain't gwine feed you nuthin. You +keep yo' dirty paws offen his close. + +Come in, suh. Take care you don't fall thoo dat ol' po'ch flo'; hit +'bout ready to go t' pieces, but I 'way behind on rent, so I cain't ask +'em to have hit fixed. Dis ol' house aint fitten fer nobody t' live in; +winder glass gone an' roof leaks. Young folks in dese parts done be'n +usin' it fer a co't house 'fore I come; you know--a place to do dey +courtin' in. Kep' a-comin' atter I done move in, an' I had to shoo 'em +away. + +Dat young rascal comin' yondah, he one of 'em. I claiah to goodness, I +wisht I had a fence to keep folks outa my yahd. Reckon you don't know +what he be quackin' lak dat fer. Dat's 'cause my name's "Mama Duck." He +doin' it jus' t' pester me. But dat don't worry me none; I done quit +worryin'. + +I sho' had plenty chance to worry, though. Relief folks got me on dey +black list. Dey give rashuns to young folks what's wukkin' an' don't +give me nary a mouthful. Reason fer dat be 'cause dey wanted me t' go t' +de porehouse. I wanted t' take my trunk 'long, an' dey wouldn't lemme. I +got some things in dere I be'n havin' nigh onto a hunnert years. Got my +ol' blue-back Webster, onliest book I evah had, 'scusin' mah Bible. +Think I wanna th'ow dat away? No-o suh! + +So dey black-list me, 'cause I won't kiss dey feets. I ain't kissin +_nobody's_, wouldn't kiss my own mammy's. + +I nevah see my mammy. She put me in a hick'ry basket when I on'y a day +and a half old, with nuthin' on but mah belly band an' di'per. Took me +down in de cotton patch an' sot de basket on a stump in de bilin sun. +Didn't want me, 'cause I be black. All de otha youngins o' hers be +bright. + +Gran'mammy done tol' me, many a time, how she heah me bawlin' an' go an' +git me, an' fotch me to mammy's house; but my own mammy, she say, tu'n +me down cold. + +"Dat you, Mammy" she say, sweet as pie, when gran'mammy knock on de do'. + +"Dont you _nevah_ call me 'Mammy' no mo'," gran'mammy tol' 'er. "Any +woman what'd leave a po' li'l mite lak dat to perish to death ain't +fitten t' be no dotter o' mine." + +So gran'mammy tuk me to raise, an' I ain't nevah wanted no mammy but +her. Nevah knowed who my daddy was, an' I reckon my mammy didn't know, +neithah. I bawn at Richard, Vahjinny. My sistah an' brothah be'n dead +too many years to count; I de las' o' de fam'ly. + +I kin remember 'fore de fust war start. I had three chillen, boys, +taller'n me when freedom come. Mah fust mastah didn't make de li'l +chillen wuk none. All I done was play. W'en I be ol' enough t' wuk, dey +tuk us to Pelman, Jawjah. I never wukked in de fiel's none, not den. Dey +allus le me nuss de chillens. + +Den I got married. Hit wa'nt no church weddin'; we got married in +gran'mammy's kitchen, den we go to our own log house. By an' by mah +mahster sol' me an' mah baby to de man what had de plantation nex' to +ours. His name was John Lee. He was good to me, an' let me see my +chillens. + +I nevah got no beatin's. Onliest thing I evah got was a li'l slap on de +han', lak dat. Didn't hurt none. But I'se seen cullud men on de Bradley +plantation git tur'ble beatin's. De whippin' boss was Joe Sylvester, a +white man. He had pets mongst de wimmen folks, an' used t' let 'em off +easy, w'en dey desarved a good beatin'. Sometimes 'e jes' bop 'em crost +de ear wid a battlin' stick, or kick 'em in de beehind. + +You don't know what's a battlin' stick? Well, dis here be one. You use +it fer washin' close. You lif's de close outa de wash pot wid dis here +battlin' stick; den you tote 'em to de battlin' block--dis here stump. +Den you beat de dirt out wid de battlin' stick. + +De whippin' boss got pets 'mongst de mens, too, but dey got it a li'l +wusser'n de wimmens. Effen dey wan't _too_ mean, he jes' strap 'em +'crost de sharp side of a bar'l an' give 'em a few right smaht licks wid +a bull whip. + +But dey be some niggahs he whip good an' hard. If dey sass back, er try +t' run away, he mek 'em cross dey han's lak dis; den he pull 'em up, so +dey toes jes' tetch de ground'; den he smack 'em crost de back an' rump +wid a big wood paddle, fixed full o' holes. Know what dem holes be for? +Ev'y hole mek a blister. Den he mek 'em lay down on de groun', whilst he +bus' all dem blisters wid a rawhide whip. + +I nevah heard o' nobody dyin' f'm gittin' a beatin'. Some couldn't wuk +fer a day or so. Sometimes de whippin' boss th'ow salt brine on dey +backs, or smear on turpentine, to mek it well quicker. + +I don't know, 'zackly, how old I is. Mebbe--wait a minute, I didn't show +you my pitcher what was in de paper. I cain't read, but somebody say dey +put down how old I is undah mah pitcher. Dar hit--don't dat say a +hunndrt an' nine? I reckon dat be right, seein' I had three growed-up +boys when freedom come. + +Dey be on'y one sto' here when I come to Tampa. Hit b'long t' ol' man +Mugge. Dey be a big cotton patch where Plant City is now. I picked some +cotton dere, den I come to Tampa, an' atter a while I got a job nussin' +Mister Perry Wall's chillen. Cullud folks jes' mek out de bes' dey +could. Some of 'em lived in tents, till dey c'd cut logs an' build +houses wid stick-an'-dirt chimbleys. + +Lotta folks ask me how I come to be called "Mama Duck." Dat be jes' a +devil-ment o' mine. I named my own se'f dat. One day when I be 'bout +twelve year old, I come home an' say, "Well, gran'mammy, here come yo' +li'l ducky home again." She hug me an' say, "Bress mah li'l ducky." Den +she keep on callin' me dat, an' when I growed up, folks jes' put de +"Mama" on. + +I reckon I a heap bettah off dem days as I is now. Allus had sumpin t' +eat an' a place t' stay. No sech thing ez gittin' on a black list dem +days. Mighty hard on a pusson ol' az me not t' git no rashuns an' not +have no reg'lar job. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Madison, Florida +January 30, 1937 + +WILLIS DUKES + + +Born in Brooks County, Georgia, 83 years ago on February 24th, +Willie[TR:?] Dukes jovially declares that he is "on the high road to +livin' a hund'ed years." + +He was one of 40 slaves belonging to one John Dukes, who was only in +moderate circumstances. His parents were Amos and Mariah Dukes, both +born on this plantation, he thinks. As they were a healthy pair they +were required to work long hours in the fields, although the master was +not actually cruel to them. + +On this plantation a variety of products was grown, cotton, corn, +potatoes, peas, rice and sugar cane. Nothing was thrown away and the +slaves had only coarse foods such as corn bread, collard greens, peas +and occasionally a little rice or white bread. Even the potatoes were +reserved for the white folk and "house niggers." + +As a child Willis was required to "tote water and wood, help at milking +time and run errands." His clothing consisted of only a homespun shirt +that was made on the plantation. Nearly everything used was grown or +manufactured on the plantation. Candles were made in the big house by +the cook and a batch of slaves from the quarters, all of them being +required to bring fat and tallow that had been saved for this purpose. +These candles were for the use of the master and mistress, as the slaves +used fat lightwood torches for lighting purposes. Cotton was used for +making clothes, and it was spun and woven into cloth by the slave women, +then stored in the commisary for future use. Broggan shoes were made of +tanned leather held together by tacks made of maple wood. Lye soap was +made in large pots, cut into chunks and issued from the smoke house. +Potash was secured from the ashes of burnt oak wood and allowed to set +in a quantity of grease that had also been saved for the purpose, then +boiled into soap. + +The cotton was gathered in bags of bear grass and deposited in baskets +woven with strips of white oak that had been dried in the sun. + +Willis remembers the time when a slave on the plantation escaped and +went north to live. This man managed to communicate with his family +somehow, and it was whispered about that he was "living very high" and +actually saving money with which to buy his family. He was even going to +school. This fired all the slaves with an ambition to go north and this +made them more than usually interested in the outcome of the war between +the states. He was too young to fully understand the meaning of freedom +but wanted very much to go away to some place where he could earn +enough money to buy his mother a real silk dress. He confided this +information to her and she was very proud of him but gave him a good +spanking for fear he expressed this desire for freedom to his young +master or mistress. + +Prayer meetings were very frequent during the days of the war and very +often the slaves were called in from the fields and excused from their +labors so they could hold these prayer meetings, always praying God for +the safe return of their master. + +The master did not return after the war and when the soldiers in blue +came through that section the frightened women were greatly dependent +upon their slaves for protection and livelihood. Many of these black man +chose loyalty to their dead masters to freedom and shouldered the burden +of the support of their former mistresses cheerfully. + +After the war Willis' father was one of those to remain with his widowed +mistress. Other members of his family left as soon as they were freed, +even his wife. They thus remained separated until her death. + +Willis saw his first bedspring about 50 years ago and he still thinks a +feather mattress superior to the store-bought variety. He recalls a +humorous incident which occurred when he was a child and had been +introduced for the first time to the task of picking a goose. + +After demonstrating how it was done to a group of slave children, the +person in charge had gone about his way leaving them busily engaged in +picking the goose. They had been told that the one gathering the most +feathers would receive a piece of money. Sometimes later the overseer +returned to find a dozen geese that had been stripped of all the +feathers. They had been told to pick only the pin feathers beneath the +wings and about the bodies of the geese. Need we guess what happened to +the over ambitious children? + +He had heard of ice long before he looked upon it and he only thought of +it as another wild experiment. Why buy ice, when watermelons and butter +could be ley down into the well to keep cool? + +One of Willis' happiest moments was when he earned enough money to buy +his first pair of patern leather shoes. To possess a paid of store +bought shoes had been his ambition since he was a child, when he had to +shine the shoes of his master and those of the master's children. + +He next owned a horse and buggy of which he was very proud. This +increased his popularity with the girls and bye and bye he was married +to Mary, a girl with whom he had been reared. Nobody was surprised but +Mary, explained Mr. Dukes. "Me and everybody else knowed us ud get +married some day. We didn't jump over no broom neither. We was married +like white folks wid flowers and cake and everything." + +Willis Dukes has been in Florida for "Lawd knows how long" and prefers +this state to his home state. He still has a few relatives there but has +never returned since leaving so long ago. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal Interview with Willis Dukes, Valdosta Road, near Jeslamb +Church, Madison, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Mulberry, Florida +October 8, 1936 + +SAM AND LOUISA EVERETT + + +Sam and Louise Everett, 86 and 90 years of age respectively, have +weathered together some of the worst experiences of slavery, and as they +look back over the years, can relate these experiences as clearly as if +they had happened only yesterday. + +Both were born near Norfolk, Virginia and sold as slaves several times +on nearby plantations. It was on the plantation of "Big Jim" McClain +that they met as slave-children and departed after Emancipation to live +the lives of free people. + +Sam was the son of Peter and Betsy Everett, field hands who spent long +back-breaking hours in the cotton fields and came home at nightfall to +cultivate their small garden. They lived in constant fear that their +master would confiscate most of their vegetables; he so often did. + +Louisa remembers little about her parents and thinks that she was sold +at an early age to a separate master. Her name as nearly as she could +remember was Norfolk Virginia. Everyone called her "Nor." It was not +until after she was freed and had sent her children to school that she +changed her name to Louisa. + +Sam and Norfolk spent part of their childhood on the plantation of "Big +Jim" who was very cruel; often he would whip his slaves into +insensibility for minor offences. He sometimes hung them up by their +thumbs whenever they were caught attempting to escape--"er fer no reason +atall." + +On this plantation were more than 100 slaves who were mated +indiscriminately and without any regard for family unions. If their +master thought that a certain man and woman might have strong, healthy +offspring, he forced them to have sexual relation, even though they were +married to other slaves. If there seemed to be any slight reluctance on +the part of either of the unfortunate ones "Big Jim" would make them +consummate this relationship in his presence. He used the same procedure +if he thought a certain couple was not producing children fast enough. +He enjoyed these orgies very much and often entertained his friends in +this manner; quite often he and his guests would engage in these +debaucheries, choosing for themselves the prettiest of the young women. +Sometimes they forced the unhappy husbands and lovers of their victims +to look on. + +Louisa and Sam were married in a very revolting manner. To quote the +woman: + +"Marse Jim called me and Sam ter him and ordered Sam to pull off his +shirt--that was all the McClain niggers wore--and he said to me: 'Nor, +do you think you can stand this big nigger?' He had that old bull whip +flung acrost his shoulder, and Lawd, that man could hit so hard! So I +jes said 'yassur, I guess so,' and tried to hide my face so I couldn't +see Sam's nakedness, but he made me look at him anyhow." + +"Well, he told us what we must git busy and do in his presence, and we +had to do it. After that we were considered man and wife. Me and Sam was +a healthy pair and had fine, big babies, so I never had another man +forced on me, thank God. Sam was kind to me and I learnt to love him." + +Life on the McClain plantation was a steady grind of work from morning +until night. Slaves had to rise in the dark of the morning at the +ringing of the "Big House" bell. After eating a hasty breakfast of fried +fat pork and corn pone, they worked in the fields until the bell rang +again at noon; at which time they ate boiled vegetables, roasted sweet +potatoes and black molasses. This food was cooked in iron pots which had +legs attached to their bottoms in order to keep them from resting +directly on the fire. These utensils were either hung over a fire or set +atop a mound of hot coals. Biscuits were a luxury but whenever they had +white bread it was cooked in another thick pan called a "spider". This +pan had a top which was covered with hot embers to insure the browning +of the bread on top. + +Slave women had no time for their children. These were cared for by an +old woman who called them twice a day and fed them "pot likker" +(vegetable broth) and skimmed milk. Each child was provided with a +wooden laddle which he dipped into a wooden trough and fed himself. The +older children fed those who were too young to hold a laddle. + +So exacting was "Big Jim" that slaves were forced to work even when +sick. Expectant mothers toiled in the fields until they felt their labor +pains. It was not uncommon for babies to be born in the fields. + +There was little time for play on his plantation. Even the very small +children were assigned tasks. They hunted hen's eggs, gathered poke +berries for dyeing, shelled corn and drove the cows home in the evening. +Little girls knitted stockings. + +There was no church on this plantation and itinerant ministers avoided +going there because of the owner's cruelty. Very seldom were the slaves +allowed to attend neighboring churches and still rarer were the +opportunities to hold meetings among themselves. Often when they were in +the middle of a song or prayer they would be forced to halt and run to +the "Big House." Woe to any slave who ignored the ringing of the bell +that summoned him to work and told him when he might "knock off" from +his labors. + +Louisa and Sam last heard the ringing of this bell in the fall of 1865. +All the slaves gathered in front of the "Big House" to be told that they +were free for the time being. They had heard whisperings of the War but +did not understand the meaning of it all. Now "Big Jim" stood weeping on +the piazza and cursing the fate that had been so cruel to him by robbing +him of all his "niggers." He inquired if any wanted to remain until all +the crops were harvested and when no one consented to do so, he flew +into a rage; seizing his pistol, he began firing into the crowd of +frightened Negroes. Some were _killed_ outright and others were maimed +for life. Finally he was prevailed upon to stop. He then attempted to +take his own life. A few frightened slaves promised to remain with him +another year; this placated him. It was necessary for Union soldiers to +make another visit to the plantation before "Big Jim" would allow his +former slaves to depart. + +Sam and Louisa moved to Boston, Georgia, where they sharecropped for +several years; they later bought a small farm when their two sons became +old enough to help. They continued to live on this homestead until a few +years ago, when their advancing ages made it necessary that they live +with the children. Both of the children had settled in Florida several +years previous and wanted their parents to come to them. They now live +in Mulberry, Florida with the younger son. Both are pitifully infirm but +can still remember the horrors they experienced under very cruel owners. +It was with difficulty that they were prevailed upon to relate some of +the gruesome details recorded here. + + +REFERENCES + +1. Personal interview with Sam and Louisa Everett, P.O. Box 535 c/o +E.P.J. Everett, Mulberry, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Madison, Florida +November 24, 1936 + +DUNCAN GAINES + + +Duncan Gaines, the son of George and Martha Gaines was born on a +plantation in Virginia on March 12, 1853. He was one of four children, +all fortunate enough to remain with their parents until maturity. They +were sold many times, but Duncan Gaines best remembers the master who +was known as "old man Beever." + +On this plantation were about 50 slaves, who toiled all day in the +cotton and tobacco fields and came home at dusk to cook their meals of +corn pone, collards and sweet potatoes on the hearths of their one room +cabins. Biscuits were baked on special occasions by placing hot coals +atop the iron tops of long legged frying pans called spiders, and the +potatoes were roasted in the ashes, likewise the corn pone. Their +masters being more or less kind, there was pork, chicken, syrup and +other foodstuffs that they were allowed to raise as their own on a small +scale. This work was often done by the light of a torch at night as they +had little time of their own. In this way slaves earned money for small +luxuries and the more ambitious sometimes saved enough money to buy +their freedom, although this was not encouraged very much. + +The early life of Duncan was carefree and happy. With the exception of +carrying water to the laborers and running errands, he had little to do. +Most of the time of the slave children was spent in playing ball and +wrestling and foraging the woods for berries and fruits and playing +games as other children. They were often joined in their play by the +master's children, who taught them to read and write and fired Duncan +with the ambition to be free, so that he could "wear a frill on his +colar and own a pair of shoes that did not have brass caps on the toes" +and require the application of fat to make them shine. + +Wearing his shoes shined as explained above and a coarse homespun suit +dyed with oak bark, indigo or poke berries, he went to church on Sunday +afternoons after the whites had had their services and listened to +sermons delivered by white ministers who taught obedience to their +masters. After the services, most of the slaves would remove their shoes +and carry them in their hands, as they were unaccustomed to wearing +shoes except in winter. + +The women were given Saturday afternoons off to launder their clothes +and prepare for Sunday's services. All slaves were required to appear on +Monday mornings as clean as possible with their clothing mended and +heads combed. + +Lye soap was used both for laundering and bathing. It was made from +fragments of fat meat and skins that were carefully saved for that +purpose. Potash was secured from oak ashes. This mixture was allowed to +set for a certain period of time, then cooked to a jelly-like +consistency. After cooling, the soap was cut into square bars and +"lowanced out" (allowance) to the slaves according to the number in each +family. Once Duncan was given a bar of "sweet" soap by his mistress for +doing a particularly nice piece of work of polishing the harness of her +favorite mare and so proud was he of the gift that he put it among his +Sunday clothes to make them smell sweet. It was the first piece of +toilet sopa that he had ever seen; and it caused quite a bit of envy +among the other slave children. + +Duncan Gaines does not remember his grandparents but thinks they were +both living on some nearby plantation. His father was the plantation +blacksmith and Duncan liked to look on as plowshares, single trees, +horse shoes, etc were turned out or sharpened. His mother was strong and +healthy, so she toiled all day in the fields. Duncan always listened for +his mother's return from the field, which was heraled by a song, no +matter how tired she was. She was very fond of her children and did not +share the attitude of many slave mother who thought of their children as +belonging solely to the masters. She lived in constant fear that "old +marse Seever" would meet with some adversity and be forced to sell them +separately. She always whispered to them about "de war" and fanned to a +flame their desire to be free. + +At that time Negro children listened to the tales of _Raw Head and +Bloody Bones_, various animal stories and such childish ditties as: + + "Little Boy, Little Boy who made your breeches? + Mamma cut 'em out and pappa sewed de stitches." + +Children were told that babies were dug out of tree stumps and were +generally made to "shut up" if they questioned their elders about such +matters. + +Children with long or large heads were thought to be marked to become +"wise men." Everyone believed in ghosts and entertained all the +superstitions that have been handed down to the present generation. +There was much talk of "hoodooism" and anyone ill for a long time +without getting relief from herb medicines was thought to be "fixed" or +suffering from some sin that his father had committed. + +Duncan was 12 years of age when freedom was declared and remembers the +hectic times which followed. He and other slave children attended +schools provided by the Freedmen' Aid and other social organizations +fostered by Northerners. Most of the instructors were whites sent to the +South for that purpose. + +The Gaines were industrious and soon owned a prosperous farm. They +seldom had any money but had plenty of foodstuffs and clothing and a +fairly comfortable home. All of the children secured enough learning to +enable them to read and write, which was regarded as very unusual in +those days. Slaves had been taught that their brain was inferior to the +whites who owned them and for this reason, many parents refused to send +their children to school, thinking it a waste of time and that too much +learning might cause some injury to the brain of their supposedly +weak-minded children. + +Of the various changes, Duncan remembers very little, so gradual did +they occur in his section. Water was secured from the spring or well. +Perishable foodstuffs were let down into the well to keep cool. Shoes +were made from leather tanned by setting in a solution of red oak bark +and water; laundering was done in wooden tubs, made from barrels cut in +halves. Candles were used for lighting and were made from sheep and beef +tallow. Lightwood torches were used by those not able to afford candles. +Stockings were knitted by the women during cold or rainy weather. +Weaving and spinning done by special slave women who were too old to +work in the fields; others made the cloth into garments. Everything was +done by hand except the luxuries imported by the wealthy. + +Duncan Gaines is now a widower and fast becoming infirm. He looks upon +this "new fangled" age with bare tolerance and feels that the happiest +age of mankind has passed with the discarding of the simple, old +fashioned way of doing things. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Duncan Gaines, Second Street near Madison +Training School for Negroes, Madison, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel Austin, Secretary +Jacksonville, Florida +April 16, 1937 + +CLAYBORN GANTLING + + +Clayborn Gantling was born in Dawson, Georgia, Terrell County, January +20, 1848 on the plantation of Judge Williams. + +Judge Williams owned 102 heads of slaves and was known to be "tolable +nice to 'em in some way and pretty rough on 'em in other ways" says Mr. +Gantling. "He would'nt gi' us no coffee, 'cept on Sunday Mornings when +we would have shorts or seconds of wheat, which is de leavins' of flour +at mills, yu' know, but we had plenty bacon, corn bread, taters and +peas. + +"As a child I uster have to tote water to de old people on de farm and +tend de cows an' feed de sheep. Now, I can' say right 'zackly how things +wuz during slavery 'cause its been a long time ago but we had cotton and +corn fields and de hands plowed hard, picked cotton grabbled penders, +gathered peas and done all the other hard work to be done on de +plantations. I wuz not big 'nuff to do all of dem things but I seed +plenty of it done. + +"Dey made lye soap on de farms and used indigo from wood for dye. We +niggers slept on hay piled on top of planks but de white folks had +better beds. + +"I don't 'member my grandparents but my mas was called Harriet Williams +and my pa was called Henry Williams; dey wuz called Williams after my +master. My mas and pa worked very hard and got some beatings but I don't +know what for. Dey wuz all kinds of money, five and ten dollar bills, +and so on then, but I didn't ever see them with any. + +"When war came along and Sherman came through the old people wuz very +skeered on account of the white owners but there was no fighting close +to me. My master's sons Leo and Fletcher joined the army and lots of de +other masters went; de servants wuz sent along to wait on de young white +men. Guess you'd like to know if any were killed. 'I should smile,' two +I know were killed. + +"During those days for medicine, the old people used such things as +butterfly root and butterfly tea, sage tea, red oak bark, +hippecat--something that grow--was used for fevers and bathing children. +They wuz white doctors and plenty of colored grannies. + +"When de Yankees came they acted diffunt and was naturally better to +servants than our masters had been; we colored folks done the best we +could but that was not so good right after freedom. Still it growed on +and growed on getting better. + +"Before freedom we always went to white churches on Sundays with passes +but they never mentioned God; they always told us to be "good niggers +and mind our missus and masters". + +"Judge Williams had ten or twelve heads of children but I can' 'member +the names of 'em now; his wife was called Mis' 'Manda and she was jes' +'bout lak Marse Williams. I had 'bout eighteen head of boys and five +girls myself; dere was so many, I can' 'member all of dem." + +Mr. Gantling was asked to relate some incidents that he could remember +of the lives of slaves, and he continued: + +"Well the horn would blow every morning for you to git up and go right +to work; when the sun ris' if you were not in the field working, you +would be whipped with whips and leather strops. I 'member Aunt Beaty was +beat until she could hardly get along but I can' 'member what for but do +you know she had to work along till she got better. My ma had to work +pretty hard but my oldest sister, Judy, was too young to work much. + +"A heap of de slaves would run away and hide in de woods to keep from +working so hard but the white folks to keep them from running away so +that they could not ketch 'em would put a chain around the neck which +would hang down the back and be fastened on to another 'round the waist +and another 'round the feet so they could not run, still they had to +work and sleep in 'em, too; sometimes they would wear these chains for +three or four months. + +"When a slave would die they had wooden boxes to put 'em in and dug +holes and just put then in. A slave might go to a sister or brother's +funeral. + +"My recollection is very bad and so much is forgotten, but I have seen +slaves sold in droves like cows; they called 'em 'ruffigees,' and white +men wuz drivin' 'em like hogs and cows for sale. Mothers and fathers +were sold and parted from their chillun; they wuz sold to white people +in diffunt states. I tell you chile, it was pitiful, but God did not let +it last always. I have heard slaves morning and night pray for +deliverance. Some of 'em would stand up in de fields or bend over cotton +and corn and pray out loud for God to help 'em and in time you see, He +did. + +"They had whut you call "pattyrollers" who would catch you from home and +'wear you out' and send you back to your master. If a master had slaves +he jes' could not rule (some of 'em wuz hard and jes' would not mind de +boss), he would ask him if he wanted to go to another plantation and if +he said he did, then, he would give him a pass and that pass would read: +"Give this nigger hell." Of course whan the "pattyrollers" or other +plantation boss would read the pass he would beat him nearly to death +and send him back. Of course the nigger could not read and did not know +what the pass said. You see, day did not 'low no nigger to have a book +or piece of paper of any kind and you know dey wuz not go teach any of +'em to read. + +"De women had it hard too; women with little babies would have to go to +work in de mornings with the rest, come back, nurse their chillun and go +back to the field, stay two or three hours then go back and eat dinner; +after dinner dey would have to go to de field and stay two or three more +hours then go and nurse the chillun again, go back to the field and stay +till night. One or maybe two old women would stay in a big house and +keep all de chillun while their mothers worked in de fields. + +"Now dey is a heap more I could tell maybe but I don't think of no more +now." + +Mr. Gantling came to Florida to Jennings Plantation near Lake Park and +stayed two years, then went to Everett's Plantation and stayed one year. +From there he went to a place called High Hill and stayed two or three +years. He left there and went to Jasper, farmed and stayed until he +moved his family to Jacksonville. Here he worked on public works until +he started raising hogs and chickens which he continued up to about +fourteen years ago. Now, he is too old to do anything but just "sit +around and talk and eat." + +He lives with his daughter, Mrs. Minnie Holly and her husband, Mr. Dany +Holly on Lee Street. + +Mr. Gantling cannot read or write, but is very interesting. + +He has been a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church for more +than fifty years. + +He has a very good appetite and although has lost his teeth, he has +never worn a plate or had any dental work done. He is never sick and has +had but little medical attention during his lifetime. His form is bent +and he walks with a cane; although his going is confined to his home, it +is from choice as he seldom wears shoes on account of bad feet. His +eyesight is very good and his hobby is sewing. He threads his own +needles without assistance of glasses as he has never worn them. + +Mr. Gantling celebrated his 89th birthday on the 20th day of November +1936. + +He is very small, also very short; quite active for his age and of a +very genial disposition, always smiling. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Interview with Mr. Clayborn Gantling, 1950 Lee Street, Jacksonville, +Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin Richardson, Field Worker +Eatonville, Florida + +ARNOLD GRAGSTON + + +(Verbatim Interview with Arnold Gragston, 97-year-old ex-slave whose +early life was spent helping slaves to freedom across the Ohio River, +while he, himself, remained in bondage. As he puts it, he guesses he +could be called a 'conductor' on the underground railway, "only we didn't +call it that then. I don't know as we called it anything--we just knew +there was a lot of slaves always a-wantin' to get free, and I had to +help 'em.") + +"Most of the slaves didn't know when they was born, but I did. You see, +I was born on a Christmas mornin'--it was in 1840; I was a full grown +man when I finally got my freedom." + +"Before I got it, though, I helped a lot of others get theirs. Lawd only +knows how many; might have been as much as two-three hundred. It was +'way more than a hundred, I know. + +"But that all came after I was a young man--'grown' enough to know a +pretty girl when I saw one, and to go chasing after her, too. I was born +on a plantation that b'longed to Mr. Jack Tabb in Mason County, just +across the river in Kentucky." + +"Mr. Tabb was a pretty good man. He used to beat us, sure; but not +nearly so much as others did, some of his own kin people, even. But he +was kinda funny sometimes; he used to have a special slave who didn't +have nothin' to do but teach the rest of us--we had about ten on the +plantation, and a lot on the other plantations near us--how to read and +write and figger. Mr. Tabb liked us to know how to figger. But sometimes +when he would send for us and we would be a long time comin', he would +ask us where we had been. If we told him we had been learnin' to read, +he would near beat the daylights out of us--after gettin' somebody to +teach us; I think he did some of that so that the other owners wouldn't +say he was spoilin' his slaves." + +"He was funny about us marryin', too. He would let us go a-courtin' on +the other plantations near anytime we liked, if we were good, and if we +found somebody we wanted to marry, and she was on a plantation that +b'longed to one of his kin folks or a friend, he would swap a slave so +that the husband and wife could be together. Sometimes, when he couldn't +do this, he would let a slave work all day on his plantation, and live +with his wife at night on her plantation. Some of the other owners was +always talking about his spoilin' us." + +"He wasn't a Dimmacrat like the rest of 'em in the county; he belonged +to the 'know-nothin' party' and he was a real leader in it. He used to +always be makin' speeches, and sometimes his best friends wouldn't be +speaking to him for days at a time." + +"Mr. Tabb was always specially good to me. He used to let me go all +about--I guess he had to; couldn't get too much work out of me even when +he kept me right under his eyes. I learned fast, too, and I think he +kinda liked that. He used to call Sandy Davis, the slave who taught me, +'the smartest Nigger in Kentucky.' + +"It was 'cause he used to let me go around in the day and night so much +that I came to be the one who carried the runnin' away slaves over the +river. It was funny the way I started it too." + +"I didn't have no idea of ever gettin' mixed up in any sort of business +like that until one special night. I hadn't even thought of rowing +across the river myself." + +"But one night I had gone on another plantation 'courtin,' and the old +woman whose house I went to told me she had a real pretty girl there who +wanted to go across the river and would I take her? I was scared and +backed out in a hurry. But then I saw the girl, and she was such a +pretty little thing, brown-skinned and kinda rosy, and looking as scared +as I was feelin', so it wasn't long before I was listenin' to the old +woman tell me when to take her and where to leave her on the other +side." + +"I didn't have nerve enough to do it that night, though, and I told them +to wait for me until tomorrow night. All the next day I kept seeing +Mister Tabb laying a rawhide across my back, or shootin' me, and kept +seeing that scared little brown girl back at the house, looking at me +with her big eyes and asking me if I wouldn't just row her across to +Ripley. Me and Mr. Tabb lost, and soon as dust settled that night, I was +at the old lady's house." + +"I don't know how I ever rowed the boat across the river the current +was strong and I was trembling. I couldn't see a thing there in the +dark, but I felt that girl's eyes. We didn't dare to whisper, so I +couldn't tell her how sure I was that Mr. Tabb or some of the others +owners would 'tear me up' when they found out what I had done. I just +knew they would find out." + +"I was worried, too, about where to put her out of the boat. I couldn't +ride her across the river all night, and I didn't know a thing about the +other side. I had heard a lot about it from other slaves but I thought +it was just about like Mason County, with slaves and masters, overseers +and rawhides; and so, I just knew that if I pulled the boat up and went +to asking people where to take her I would get a beating or get killed." + +"I don't know whether it seemed like a long time or a short time, +now--it's so long ago; I know it was a long time rowing there in the +cold and worryin'. But it was short, too, 'cause as soon as I did get on +the other side the big-eyed, brown-skin girl would be gone. Well, pretty +soon I saw a tall light and I remembered what the old lady had told me +about looking for that light and rowing to it. I did; and when I got up +to it, two men reached down and grabbed her; I started tremblin' all +over again, and prayin'. Then, one of the men took my arm and I just +felt down inside of me that the Lord had got ready for me. 'You hungry, +Boy?' is what he asked me, and if he hadn't been holdin' me I think I +would have fell backward into the river." + +"That was my first trip; it took me a long time to get over my scared +feelin', but I finally did, and I soon found myself goin' back across +the river, with two and three people, and sometimes a whole boatload. I +got so I used to make three and four trips a month. + +"What did my passengers look like? I can't tell you any more about it +than you can, and you wasn't there. After that first girl--no, I never +did see her again--I never saw my passengers. I would have to be the +"black nights" of the moon when I would carry them, and I would meet 'em +out in the open or in a house without a single light. The only way I +knew who they were was to ask them; "What you say?" And they would +answer, "Menare." I don't know what that word meant--it came from the +Bible. I only know that that was the password I used, and all of them +that I took over told it to me before I took them. + +"I guess you wonder what I did with them after I got them over the +river. Well, there in Ripley was a man named Mr. Rankins; I think the +rest of his name was John. He had a regular station there on his place +for escaping slaves. You see, Ohio was a free state and once they got +over the river from Kentucky or Virginia. Mr. Rankins could strut them +all around town, and nobody would bother 'em. The only reason we used to +land quietly at night was so that whoever brought 'em could go back for +more, and because we had to be careful that none of the owners had +followed us. Every once in a while they would follow a boat and catch +their slaves back. Sometimes they would shoot at whoever was trying to +save the poor devils. + +"Mr. Rankins had a regular 'station' for the slaves. He had a big +lighthouse in his yard, about thirty feet high and he kept it burnin' +all night. It always meant freedom for slave if he could get to this +light. + +"Sometimes Mr. Rankins would have twenty or thirty slaves that had run +away on his place at the time. It must have cost him a whole lots to +keep them and feed 'em, but I think some of his friends helped him. + +"Those who wanted to stay around that part of Ohio could stay, but +didn't many of 'em do it, because there was too much danger that you +would be walking along free one night, feel a hand over your mouth, and +be back across the river and in slavery again in the morning. And nobody +in the world ever got a chance to know as much misery as a slave that +had escaped and been caught. + +"So a whole lot of 'em went on North to other parts of Ohio, or to New +York, Chicago or Canada; Canada was popular then because all of the +slaves thought it was the last gate before you got all the way _inside_ +of heaven. I don't think there was much chance for a slave to make a +living in Canada, but didn't many of 'em come back. They seem like they +rather starve up there in the cold than to be back in slavery. + +"The Army soon started taking a lot of 'em, too. They could enlist in +the Union Army and get good wages, more food than they ever had, and +have all the little gals wavin' at 'em when they passed. Them blue +uniforms was a nice change, too. + +"No, I never got anything from a single one of the people I carried over +the river to freedom. I didn't want anything; after had made a few trips +I got to like it, and even though I could have been free any night +myself, I figgered I wasn't getting along so bad so I would stay on Mr. +Tabb's place and help the others get free. I did it for four years. + +"I don't know to this day how he never knew what I was doing; I used to +take some awful chances, and he knew I must have been up to something; I +wouldn't do much work in the day, would never be in my house at night, +and when he would happen to visit the plantation where I had said I was +goin' I wouldn't be there. Sometimes I think he did know and wanted me +to get the slaves away that way so he wouldn't have to cause hard +feelins' by freein 'em. + +"I think Mr. Tabb used to talk a lot to Mr. John Fee; Mr. Fee was a man +who lived in Kentucky, but Lord! how that man hated slavery! He used to +always tell us (we never let our owners see us listenin' to him, though) +that God didn't intend for some men to be free and some men be in +slavery. He used to talk to the owners, too, when they would listen to +him, but mostly they hated the sight of John Fee. + +"In the night, though, he was a different man, for every slave who came +through his place going across the river he had a good word, something +to eat and some kind of rags, too, if it was cold. He always knew just +what to tell you to do if anything went wrong, and sometimes I think he +kept slaves there on his place 'till they could be rowed across the +river. Helped us a lot. + +"I almost ran the business in the ground after I had been carrying the +slaves across for nearly four years. It was in 1863, and one night I +carried across about twelve on the same night. Somebody must have seen +us, because they set out after me as soon as I stepped out of the boat +back on the Kentucky side; from that time on they were after me. +Sometimes they would almost catch me; I had to run away from Mr. Tabb's +plantation and live in the fields and in the woods. I didn't know what a +bed was from one week to another. I would sleep in a cornfield tonight, +up in the branches of a tree tomorrow night, and buried in a haypile the +next night; the River, where I had carried so many across myself, was no +good to me; it was watched too close. + +"Finally, I saw that I could never do any more good in Mason County, so +I decided to take my freedom, too. I had a wife by this time, and one +night we quietly slipped across and headed for Mr. Rankin's bell and +light. It looked like we had to go almost to China to get across that +river: I could hear the bell and see the light on Mr. Rankin's place, +but the harder I rowed, the farther away it got, and I knew if I didn't +make it I'd get killed. But finally, I pulled up by the lighthouse, and +went on to my freedom--just a few months before all of the slaves got +their's. I didn't stay in Ripley, though; I wasn't taking no chances. I +went on to Detroit and still live there with most of 10 children and 31 +grandchildren. + +"The bigger ones don't care so much about hearin' it now, but the little +ones never get tired of hearin' how their grandpa brought Emancipation +to loads of slaves he could touch and feel, but never could see." + + +REFERENCES + +1. Interview with subject, Arnold Gragston, present address, Robert +Hungerford College Campus, Eatonville (P.O. Maitland) Florida + +(Subject is relative of President of Hungerford College and stays +several months in Eatonville at frequent intervals. His home is Detroit, +Michigan). + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +December 18, 1936 + +HARRIETT GRESHAM + + +Born on December 6, 1838, Harriett Gresham can recall quite clearly the +major events of her life as a slave, also the Civil War as it affected +the slaves of Charleston and Barnwell, South Carolina. + +She was one of a, group of mulattoes belonging to Edmond Bellinger, a +wealthy plantation owner of Barnwell. With her mother, the plantation +seamstress and her father, a driver, she lived in the "big house" +quarters, and was known as a "house nigger." She played with the +children of her mistress and seldom mixed with the other slaves on the +plantation. + +To quote some of her quaint expressions: "Honey I aint know I was any +diffrunt fum de chillen o' me mistress twel atter de war. We played and +et and fit togetter lak chillen is bound ter do all over der world. +Somethin allus happened though to remind me dat I was jist a piece of +property." + +"I heard der gun aboomin' away at Fort Sumpter and fer de firs' time in +my life I knowed what it was ter fear anythin' cept a sperrit. No, I +aint never seed one myself but--" + +"By der goodness o'God I done lived ter waltz on der citadel green and +march down a ile o' soldiers in blue, in der arms o' me husban', and +over me haid de bay'nets shined." + +"I done lived up all my days and some o' dem whut mighta b'longed ter +somebody else is dey'd done right in der sight o' God." "How I know I so +old?" "I got documents ter prove it." The documents is a yellow sheet of +paper that appears to be stationery that is crudely decorated at the top +with crissed crossed lines done in ink. Its contents in ink are as +follows: + +Harriett Pinckney, born September 25, 1790. Adeline, her daughter, born +October 1, 1809. Betsy, her daughter, born September 11, 1811. Belinda, +her daughter, born October 4, 1813. Deborah, her daughter, born December +1, 1815. Stephen, her son, born September 1, 1818. + + +Harriett's Grandchildren + +Bella, the daughter of Adeline born July 5, 1827. Albert, son of Belinda +born August 19, 1833. Laurence, son of Betsy born March 1, 1835. Sarah +Ann Elizabeth, daughter of Belinda born January 3, 1836. Harriett, +daughter of Belinda born December 6, 1838. (This record was given +Harriett by Mrs. Harriett Bellinger, her mistress. Each slave received a +similar one on being freed.) + +As a child Harriett played about the premises of the Bellinger estate, +leading a very carefree life as did all the slave children belonging to +Edmond Bellinger. When she was about twelve years old she was given +small tasks to do such as knitting a pair of stockings or dusting the +furniture and ample time was given for each of these assignments. + +This was a very large plantation and there was always something for the +score of slaves to do. There were the wide acres of cotton that must be +planted, hoed and gathered by hand. A special batch of slave women did +the spinning and weaving, while those who had been taught to sew, made +most of the clothing worn by slaves at that time. + +Other products grown here were rice, corn, sugarcane, fruits and +vegetables. Much of the food grown on the plantation was reserved to +feed the slaves. While they must work hard to complete their tasks in a +given time, no one was allowed to go hungry or forced to work if the +least ill. + +Very little had to be bought here. Candles ware made in the kitchen of +the "big house," usually by the cook who was helped by other slaves. +These were made of beeswax gathered on the plantation. Shoes were made +of tanned dried leather and re-inforced with brass caps; the large herds +of cattle, hogs and poultry furnished sufficient meat. Syrup and sugar +were made from the cane that was carried to a neighboring mill. + +Harriett remembers her master as being exceptionally kind but very +severe when his patience was tried too far. Mrs. Bellinger was dearly +loved by all her slaves because she was very thoughtful of them. +Whenever there was a wedding, frolic or holiday or quilting bee, she +was sure to provide some extra "goody" and so dear to the hearts of the +women were the cast off clothes she so often bestowed upon them on these +occasions. + +The slaves were free to invite those from the neighboring plantations to +join in their social gatherings. A Negro preacher delivered sermons on +the plantation. Services being held in the church used by whites after +their services on Sunday. The preacher must always act as a peacemaker +and mouthpiece for the master, so they were told to be subservient to +their masters in order to enter the Kingdom of God. But the slaves held +secret meetings and had praying grounds where they met a few at a time +to pray for better things. + +Harriett remembers little about the selling of slaves because this was +never done on the Bellinger plantation. All slaves were considered a +part of the estate and to sell one, meant that it was no longer intact. + +There were rumors of the war but the slaves on the Bellinger place did +not grasp the import of the war until their master went to fight on the +side of the Rebel army. Many of them gathered about their mistress and +wept as he left the home to which he would never return. Soon after that +it was whispered among the slaves that they would be free, but no one +ran away. + +After living in plenty all their lives, they were forced to do without +coffee, sugar salt and beef. Everything available was bundled off to +the army by Mrs. Bellinger who shared the popular belief that the +soldiers must have the best in the way of food and clothing. + +Harriett still remembers very clearly the storming of Fort Sumpter. The +whole countryside was thrown into confusion and many slaves were mad +with fear. There were few men left to establish order and many women +loaded their slaves into wagons and gathered such belongings as they +could and fled. Mrs. Bellinger was one of those who held their ground. + +When the Union soldiers visited her plantation they found the plantation +in perfect order. The slaves going about their tasks as if nothing +unusual had happened. It was necessary to summon them from the fields to +give them the message of their freedom. + +Harriett recalls that her mistress was very frightened but walked +upright and held a trembling lip between her teeth as they waited for +her to sound for the last time the horn that had summoned several +generations of human chattel to and from work. + +Some left the plantation; others remained to harvest the crops. One and +all they remembered to thank God for their freedom. They immediately +began to hold meetings, singing soul stirring spirituals. Harriett +recalls one of these songs. It is as follows: + + T'ank ye Marster Jesus, t'ank ye, + T'ank ye Marster Jesus, t'ank ye, + T'ank ye Marster Jesus, t'ank ye + Da Heben gwinter be my home. + No slav'ry chains to tie me down, + And no mo' driver's ho'n to blow fer me + No mo' stocks to fasten me down + Jesus break slav'ry chain, Lord + Break slav'ry chain Lord, + Break slav'ry chain Lord, + Da Heben gwinter be my home. + +Harriett's parents remained with the widowed woman for a while. Had they +not remained, she might not have met Gaylord Jeannette, the knight in +Blue, who later became her husband. He was a member of Company "I", 35th +Regiment. She is still a bit breathless when she relates the details of +the military wedding that followed a whirlwind courtship which had its +beginning on the citadel green, where the soldiers stationed there held +their dress parade. After these parades there was dancing by the +soldiers and belles who had bedecked themselves in their Sunday best and +come out to be wooed by a soldier in blue. + +Music was furnished by the military band which offered many patriotic +numbers that awakened in the newly freed Negroes that had long been +dead--patriotism. Harriett recalls snatches of one of these songs to +which she danced when she was 20 years of age. It is as follows: + + Don't you see the lightning flashing in the cane brakes, + Looks like we gonna have a storm + Although you're mistaken its the Yankee soldiers + Going to fight for Uncle Sam. + Old master was a colonel in the Rebel army + Just before he had to run away-- + Look out the battle is a-falling + The darkies gonna occupy the land. + +Harriett believes the two officers who tendered congratulations shortly +after her marriage to have been Generals Gates and Beecher. This was an +added thrill to her. + +As she lived a rather secluded life, Harriett Gresham can tell very +little about the superstitions of her people during slavery, but knew +them to be very reverent of various signs and omens. In one she places +much credence herself. Prior to the Civil War, there were hordes of ants +and everyone said this was an omen of war, and there was a war. + +She was married when schools were set up for Negroes, but had no time +for school. Her master was adamant on one point and that was the danger +of teaching a slave to read and write, so Harriett received little "book +learning." + +Harriett Gresham is the mother of several children, grandchildren and +great grandchildren. Many of them are dead. She lives at 1305 west 31st +Street, Jacksonville, Florida with a grand daughter. Her second husband +is also dead. She sits on the porch of her shabby cottage and sews the +stitches that were taught her by her mistress, who is also dead. She +embroiders, crochets, knits and quilts without the aid of glasses. She +likes to show her handiwork to passersby who will find themselves +listening to some of her reminiscences if they linger long enough to +engage her in conversation--for she loves to talk of the past. + +She still corresponds with one of the children of her mistress, now an +old woman living on what is left of a once vast estate at Barnwell, +South Carolina. The two old women are very much attached to each other +and each in her letters helps to keep alive the memories of the life +they shared together as mistress and slave. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Harriett Gresham, 1305 West 31st, Street, +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Alfred Farrell, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Dive Oak, Florida +August 30, 1936 + +BOLDEN HALL + + +Bolden Hall was born in Walkino, Florida, a little town in Jefferson +County, on February 13, 1853, the son of Alfred and Tina Hall. The Halls +who were the slaves of Thomas Lenton, owner of seventy-five or a hundred +slaves, were the parents of twenty-one children. The Halls, who were +born before slavery worked on the large plantation of Lenton which was +devoted primarily to the growing of cotton and corn and secondarily to +the growing of tobacco and pumpkins. Lenton was very good to his slaves +and never whipped them unless it was absolutely necessary--which was +seldom! He provided them with plenty of food and clothing, and always +saw to it that their cabins were liveable. He was careful, however, to +see that they received no educational training, but did not interfere +with their religious quest. The slaves were permitted to attend church +with their masters to hear the white preacher, and occasionally the +master--supposedly un-beknown to the slaves--would have an itinerant +colored minister preach to the slaves, instructing them to obey their +master and mistress at all times. Although freedom came to the slaves in +January, Master Lenton kept them until May in order to help him with his +crops. When actual freedom was granted to the slaves, only a few of the +young ones left the Lenton plantation. In 1882 Bolden Hall came to Live +Oak where he has resided ever since. He married but his wife is now +dead, and to that union one child was born. + + +Charlotte Martin + +Charlotte Mitchell Martin, one of twenty children born to Shepherd and +Lucinda Mitchell, eighty-two years ago, was a slave of Judge Wilkerson +on a large plantation in Sixteen, Florida, a little town near Madison. +Shepherd Mitchell was a wagoner who hauled whiskey from Newport News, +Virginia for his owner. Wilkerson was very cruel and held them in +constant fear of him. He would not permit them to hold religious +meetings or any other kinds of meetings, but they frequently met in +secret to conduct religious services. When they were caught, the +"instigators"--known or suspected--were severely flogged. Charlotte +recalls how her oldest brother was whipped to death for taking part in +one of the religious ceremonies. This cruel act halted the secret +religious services. + +Wilkerson found it very profitable to raise and sell slaves. He +selected the strongest and best male and female slaves and mated them +exclusively for breeding. The huskiest babies were given the best of +attention in order that they might grow into sturdy youths, for it was +those who brought the highest prices at the slave markets. Sometimes the +master himself had sexual relations with his female slaves, for the +products of miscegenation were very remunerative. These offsprings were +in demand as house servants. + +After slavery the Mitchells began to separate. A few of the children +remained with their parents and eked out their living from the soil. +During this period Charlotte began to attract attention with her herb +cures. Doctors sought her out when they were stumped by difficult cases. +She came to Live Oak to care for an old colored woman and upon whose +death she was given the woman's house and property. For many years she +has resided in the old shack, farming, making quilts, and practicing her +herb doctoring. She has outlived her husband for whom she bore two +children. Her daughter is feebleminded--her herb remedies can't cure +her! + + +Sarah Ross + +Born in Benton County, Mississippi nearly eighty years ago, Sarah is the +daughter of Harriet Elmore and William Donaldson, her white owner. +Donaldson was a very cruel man and frequently beat Sarah's mother +because she would not have sexual relations with the overseer, a colored +man by the name of Randall. Sarah relates that the slaves did not marry, +but were forced--in many cases against their will--to live together as +man and wife. It was not until after slavery that they learned about the +holy bonds of matrimony, and many of them actually married. + +Cotton, corn, and rice were the chief products grown on the Donaldson +plantation. Okra also was grown, and from this product coffee was made. +The slaves arose with the sun to begin their tasks in the fields and +worked until dusk. They were beaten by the overseer if they dared to +rest themselves. No kind of punishment was too cruel or severe to be +inflicted upon these souls in bondage. Frequently the thighs of the male +slaves were gashed with a saw and salt put in the wound as a means of +punishment for some misdemeanor. The female slaves often had their hair +cut off, especially those who had long beautiful hair. If a female slave +was pregnant and had to be punished, she was whipped about the +shoulders, not so much in pity as for the protection of the unborn +child. Donaldson's wife committed suicide because of the cruelty not +only to the slaves but to her as well. + +The slaves were not permitted to hold any sort of meeting, not even to +worship God. Their work consumed so much of their time that they had +little opportunity to congregate. They had to wash their clothes on +Sunday, the only day which they could call their own. On Sunday +afternoon some of the slaves were sent for to entertain the family and +its guests. + +Sarah remembers the coming of the Yankees and the destruction wrought by +their appearance. The soldiers stripped the plantation owners of their +meats, vegetables, poultry and the like. Many plantation owners took +their own lives in desperation. Donaldson kept his slaves several months +after liberation and defied them to mention freedom to him. When he did +give them freedom, they lost no time in leaving his plantation which +held for them only unpleasant memories. Sarah came to Florida +thirty-five years ago. She has been married twice, and is the mother of +ten children, eight of whom are living. + + +REFERENCES + +1. Personal interview with Bolden Hall, living near the Masonic Hall, in +the Eastern section of Live Oak, Florida + +2. Personal interview with Charlotte Martin, living near Greater Bethel +African Methodist Episcopal Church, in the Eastern section of Live Oak, +Florida + +3. Sarah Ross, living near Greater Bethel African Methodist Episcopal +church, Live Oak, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Lake City, Florida +January 14, 1937 + +REBECCA HOOKS + + +Rebecca Hooks, age 90 years, is one of the few among the fast-thinning +ranks of ex-slaves who can give a clear picture of life "befo' de wah." + +She was born in Jones County, Georgia of Martha and Pleasant Lowe, who +were slaves of William Lowe. The mother was the mulatto offspring of +William Lowe and a slave woman who was half Cherokee. The father was +also a mulatto, purchased from a nearby plantation. + +Because of this blood mixture Rebecca's parents were known as "house +niggers," and lived on quarters located in the rear of the "big house." +A "house nigger" was a servant whose duties consisted of chores around +the big house, such as butler, maid, cook, stableman, gardner and +personal attendant to the man who owned him. + +These slaves were often held in high esteem by their masters and of +course fared much better than the other slaves on the plantation. Quite +often they were mulattoes as in the case of Rebecca's parents. There +seemed to be a general belief among slave owners that mulattoes could +not stand as much laborious work as pure blooded Negro slaves. This +accounts probably for the fact that the majority of ex-slaves now alive +are mulattoes. + +The Lowes were originally of Virginia and did not own as much property +in Georgia as they had in Virginia. Rebecca estimates the number of +slaves on this plantation as numbering no more than 25. + +They were treated kindly and cruelly by turns, according to the whims of +a master and mistress who were none too stable in their dispositions. +There was no "driver" or overseer on this plantation, as "Old Tom was +devil enough himself when he wanted to be," observes Rebecca. While she +never felt the full force of his cruelties, she often felt sorry for the +other slaves who were given a task too heavy to be completed in the +given time; this deliberately, so that the master might have some excuse +to vent his pentup feelings. Punishment was always in the form of a +severe whipping or revocation of a slave's privilege, such as visiting +other plantations etc. + +The Lowes were not wealthy and it was necessary for them to raise and +manufacture as many things on the plantation as possible. Slaves toiled +from early morning until night in the corn, cotton sugar cane and +tobacco fields. Others tended the large herds of cattle from which milk, +butter, meat and leather was produced. The leather was tanned and made +into crude shoes for the slaves for the short winter months. No one wore +shoes except during cold weather and on Sundays. Fruit orchards and +vegetables were also grown, but not given as much attention as the +cotton and corn, as these were the main money crops. + +As a child Rebecca learned to ape the ways of her mistress. At first +this was considered very amusing. Whenever she had not knitted her +required number of socks during the week, she simply informed them that +she had not done it because she had not wanted to--besides she was not a +"nigger." This stubbornness accompanied by hysterical tantrums continued +to cause Rebecca to receive many stiff punishments that might have been +avoided. Her master had given orders that no one was ever to whip her, +so devious methods were employed to punish her, such as marching her +down the road with hands tied behind her back, or locking her in a dark +room for several hours with only bread and water. + +Rebecca resembled very much a daughter of William Lowe. The girl was +really her aunt, and very conscious of the resemblance. Both had brown +eyes and long dark hair. They were about the same height and the clothes +of the young mistress fitted Rebecca "like a glove." To offset this +likeness, Rebecca's hair was always cut very short. Finally Rebecca +rebelled at having her hair all cut off and blankly refused to submit to +the treatment any longer. After this happening, the girls formed a +dislike for each other, and Rebecca was guilty of doing every mean act +of which she was capable to torment the white girl. Rebecca's mother +aided and abetted her in this, often telling her things to do. Rebecca +did not fear the form of punishment administered her and she had the +cunning to keep "on the good side of the master" who had a fondness for +her "because she was so much like the Lowes." The mistress' demand that +she be sold or beaten was always turned aside with "Dear, you know the +child can't help it; its that cursed Cherokee blood in her." + +There seemed to be no very strong opposition to a slave's learning to +read and write on the plantation, so Rebecca learned along with the +white children. Her father purchased books for her with money he was +allowed to earn from the sale of corn whiskey which he made, or from +work done on some other plantation during his time off. He was not +permitted to buy his freedom, however. + +On Sundays Rebecca attended church along with the other slaves. Services +were held in the white churches after their services were over. They +were taught to obey their masters and work hard, and that they should be +very thankful for the institution of slavery which brought them from +darkest Africa. + +On the plantation, the doctor was not nearly as popular as the "granny" +or midwife, who brewed medicines for every ailment. Each plantation had +its own "granny" who also served the mistress during confinement. Some +of her remedies follows: + +For colds: Horehound tea, pinetop tea, lightwood drippings on sugar. +For fever: A tea made of pomegranate seeds and crushed mint. For +whooping cough: A tea made of sheep shandy (manure); catnip tea. For +spasms: garlic; burning a garment next to the skin of the patient having +the fit. + +Shortly before the war, Rebecca was married to Solomon, her husband. +This ceremony consisted of simply jumping over a broom and having some +one read a few words from a book, which may or may not have been the +Bible. After the war, many couples were remarried because of this +irregularity. + +Rebecca had learned of the war long before it ended and knew its import. +She had confided this information to other slaves who could read and +write. She read the small newspaper that her master received at +irregular intervals. The two sons of William Lowe had gone to fight with +the Confederate soldiers (One never returned) and everywhere was felt +the tension caused by wild speculation as to the outcome of the war. + +Certain commodities were very scarce Rebecca remembers drinking coffee +made of okra seed, that had been dried and parched. There was no silk, +except that secured by "running the blockade," and this was very +expensive. The smokehouse floors were carefully scraped for any morsel +of salt that might be gotten. Salt had to be evaporated from sea water +and this was a slow process. + +There were no disorders in that section as far as Rebecca remembers, +but she thinks that the slaves were kept on the Lowe plantation a long +time after they had been freed. It was only when rumors came that Union +soldiers were patrolling the countryside for such offenders, that they +were hastily told of their freedom. Their former master predicted that +they would fare much worse as freemen, and so many of them were afraid +to venture into the world for themselves, remaining in virtual slavery +for many years afterward. + +Rebecca and her husband were among those who left the plantation. They +share-cropped on various plantations until they came to Florida, which +is more than fifty years ago. Rebecca's husband died several years ago +and she now lives with two daughters, who are very proud of her. + + +REFERENCE + +Personal interview with Rebecca Hooks, 1604 North Marion Street, Lake +City, Florida. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Samuel Johnson +September 11, 1937 + +REV. SQUIRES JACKSON + + +Lying comfortably in a bed encased with white sheets, Rev. Squires +Jackson, former slave and minister of the gospel living at 706 Third +Street cheerfully related the story of his life. + +Born in a weather-beaten shanty in Madison, Fla. September 14, 1841 of a +large family, he moved to Jacksonville at the age of three with the +"Master" and his mother. + +Very devoted to his mother, he would follow her into the cotton field as +she picked or hoed cotton, urged by the thrashing of the overseer's +lash. His master, a prominent political figure of that time was very +kind to his slaves, but would not permit them to read and write. +Relating an incident after having learned to read and write, one day as +he was reading a newspaper, the master walked upon him unexpectingly and +demanded to know what he was doing with a newspaper. He immediately +turned the paper upside down and declared "Confederates done won the +war." The master laughed and walked away without punishing him. It la +interesting to know that slaves on this plantation were not allowed to +sing when they were at work, but with all the vigilance of the +overseers, nothing could stop those silent songs of labor and prayers +for freedom. + +On Sundays the boys on the plantation would play home ball and shoot +marbles until church time. After church a hearty meal consisting of +rice and salt picked pork was the usual Sunday fare cooked in large iron +pots hung over indoor hearths. Sometimes coffee, made out of parched +corn meal, was added as an extra treat. + +He remembers the start of the Civil war with the laying of the Atlantic +Cable by the "Great Eastern" being nineteen years of age at the time. +Hearing threats of the War which was about to begin, he ran away with +his brother to Lake City, many times hiding in trees and groves from the +posse that was looking for him. At night he would cover up his face and +body with spanish moss to sleep. One night he hid in a tree near a +creek, over-slept himself, in the morning a group of white women fishing +near the creek saw him and ran to tell the men, fortunately however he +escaped. + +After four days of wearied travelling being guided by the north star and +the Indian instinct inherited from his Indian grandmother, he finally +reached Lake City. Later reporting to General Scott, he was informed +that he was to act as orderly until further ordered. On Saturday +morning, February 20, 1861, General Scott called him to his tent and +said "Squire; I have just had you appraised for $1000 and you are to +report to Col. Guist in Alachua County for service immediately." That +very night he ran away to Wellborn where the Federals were camping. +There in a horse stable were wounded colored soldiers stretched out on +the filthy ground. The sight of these wounded men and the feeble medical +attention given them by the Federals was so repulsive to him, that he +decided that he didn't want to join the Federal Army. In the silent +hours of the evening he stole away to Tallahassee, throughly convinced +that War wasn't the place for him. While in the horse shed make-shift +hospital, a white soldier asked one of the wounded colored soldiers to +what regiment he belonged, the negro replied "54th Regiment, +Massachusetts." + +At that time, the only railroad was between Lake City and Tallahassee +which he had worked on for awhile. At the close of the war he returned +to Jacksonville to begin work as a bricklayer. During this period, Negro +skilled help was very much in demand. + +The first time he saw ice was in 1857 when a ship brought some into this +port. Mr. Moody, a white man, opened an icehouse at the foot of Julia +Street. This was the only icehouse in the city at that time. + +On Sundays he would attend church. One day he thought he heard the call +of God beseeching him to preach. He began to preach in 1868, and was +ordained an elder in 1874. + +Some of the interesting facts obtained from this slave of the fourth +generation were: (1) Salt was obtained by evaporating sea water, (2) +there were no regular stoves, (3) cooking was done by hanging iron pots +on rails in the fireplaces, (4) an open well was used to obtain water, +(5) flour was sold at $12.00 a barrell, (6) "shin-plasters" was used for +money, (7) the first buggy was called "rockaways" due to the elasticity +of the leather-springs, (8) Rev. Jackson saw his first buggy as +described, in 1851. + +During the Civil War, cloth as well as all other commodities were very +high. Slaves were required to weave the cloth. The women would delight +in dancing as they marched to and fro in weaving the cloth by hand. This +was one kind of work the slaves enjoyed doing. Even Cotton seeds was +picked by hand, hulling the seeds out with the fingers, there was no way +of ginning it by machine at that time. Rev. Jackson vividly recalls the +croker-sacks being used around bales of the finer cotton, known as short +cotton. During this same period he made all of the shoes he wore by hand +from cow hides. The women slaves at that time wore grass shirts woven +very closely with hoops around on the inside to keep from contacting the +body. + +Gleefully he told of the Saturday night baths in big wooden washtubs +with cut out holes for the fingers during his boyhood, of the castor +oil, old fashion paragoric, calomel, and burmo chops used for medicine +at that time. The herb doctors went from home to home during times of +illness. Until many years after the Civil War there were no practicing +Negro physicians. Soap was made by mixing bones and lard together, +heating and then straining into a bucket containing alum, turpentine, +and rosin. Lye soap was made by placing burnt ashes into straw with corn +shucks placed into harper, water is poured over this mixture and a +trough is used to sieze the liquid that drips into the tub and let stand +for a day. Very little moss was used for mattresses, chicken feathers +and goose feathers were the principal constituents during his boyhood. +Soot mixed with water was the best medicine one could use for the +stomach ache at that time. + +Rev. Jackson married in 1882 and has seven sons and seven daughters. +Owns his own home and plenty of other property around the neighborhood. +Ninety-six years of age and still feels as spry as a man of fifty, keen +of wit, with a memory as good can be expected. This handsome bronze +piece of humanity with snow-white beard over his beaming face ended the +interview saying, "I am waiting now to hear the call of God to the +promise land." He once was considered as a candidate for senator after +the Civil war but declined to run. He says that the treatment during the +time of slavery was very tough at times, but gathering himself up he +said, "no storm lasts forever" and I had the faith and courage of Jesus +to carry me on, continuing, "even the best masters in slavery couldn't +be as good as the worst person in freedom, Oh, God, it is good to be +free, and I am thankful." + + +REFERENCE + +Personal interview with subject, Rev. Squires Jackson, 706 Third Street, +Jacksonville, Florida. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +L. Rebecca Baker, Field Worker +Daytona Beach, Florida +January 11, 1937 + +"PROPHET" JOHN HENRY KEMP + + +A long grey beard, a pair of piercing owl-like eyes and large bare feet, +mark "Prophet" Kemp among the citizenry of Daytona Beach, Florida. The +"Prophet", christened John Henry--as nearly as he can remember--is an 80 +year old ex-slave whose remininiscences of the past, delight all those +who can prevail upon him to talk of his early life on the plantation of +the section. + +"Prophet" Kemp does not talk only of the past, however, his conversation +turns to the future; he believes himself to be equally competent to talk +of the future, and talks more of the latter if permitted. + +Oketibbeha County, Mississippi was the birthplace of the "Prophet". The +first master he can remember was John Gay, owner of a plantation of some +2,700 acres and over 100 slaves and a heavy drinker. The "Prophet" calls +Gay "father", and becomes very vague when asked if this title is a blood +tie or a name of which he is generally known. + +According to Kemp--Gay was one of the meanest plantation owners in the +entire section, and frequently voiced his pride in being able to employ +the cruelest overseers that could be found in all Mississippi. Among +these were such men as G.T. Turner, Nels T. Thompson, Billy Hole, Andrew +Winston and other men with statewide reputations for brutality. When all +of the cruelties of one overseer had been felt by the slaves on the Gay +plantation and another meaner man's reputation was heard of on the Gay +plantation, the master would delight in telling his slaves that if they +did not behave, he would send for this man. "Behaving"--the "Prophet" +says, meant living on less food than one should have; mating only at his +command and for purposes purely of breeding more and stronger slaves on +his plantation for sale. In some cases with women--subjecting to his +every demand if they would escape hanging by the wrists for half a day +or being beaten with a cowhide whip. + +About these whippings, the "Prophet" tells many a blood-curdling tale. + +"One day when an old woman was plowing in the field, an overseer came by +and reprimanded her for being so slow--she gave him some back talk, he +took out a long closely woven whip and lashed her severely. The woman +became sore and took her hoe and chopped him right across his head, and +child you should have seen how she chopped this man to a bloody death." + +"Prophet" Kemp will tell you that he hates to tell these things to any +investigator, because he hates for people to know just how mean his +"fahter" really was. + +So great was the fear in which Gay was held that when Kemp's mother, +Arnette Young, complained to Mrs. Gay, that her husband was constantly +seeking her for a mistress and threatening her with death if she did not +submit, even Mrs. Gay had to advise the slaves to do as Gay demanded, +saying--"My husband is a dirty man and will find some reason to kill you +if you don't." "I can't do a thing with him." Since Arnette worked at +the "big house" there was no alternative, and it was believed that out +of the union with her master, Henry was born. A young slave by the name +of Broxton Kemp was given to the woman as husband at the time John Kemp +was born, it is from this man that "Prophet" took his name. + +Life on the plantation held nothing but misery for the slaves of John +Gay. A week's allowance of groceries for the average small family +consisted of a package of about ten pounds containing crudely ground +meal, a slab of bacon--called side-meat and from a pint to a quart of +syrup made from sorghum, depending upon the season. + +All slaves reported for work a 5 o'clock in the morning, except those +who cared for the overseer, who began their work an hour earlier to +enable the overseer to be present at the morning checkup. This checkup +determined which slaves were late or who had committed some offense late +on the day before or during the night. These were singled out and before +the rest of the slaves began their work they were treated to the sight +of these delinquents being stripped and beaten until blood flowed; women +were no exception to the rule. + +The possible loss of his slaves upon the declaration of freedom on +January 1, 1866 caused Gay considerable concern. His liquor-ridden mind +was not long in finding a solution, however, he barred all visitors from +his plantation and insisted that his overseers see to the carrying out +of this detail. They did, with such efficiency that it was not until May +8, when the government finally learned of the condition and sent a +marshall to the plantation, that freedom came to Gay's slaves. May 8, is +still celebrated in this section of Mississippi, as the official +emancipation day. + +Relief for the hundreds of slaves of Gay came at last with the +declaration of freedom for them. The government officials divided the +grown and growing crops; and some land was parcelled out to the former +slaves. + +Kemp may have gained the name "Prophet" from his constant reference to +the future and to his religion. He says he believes on one faith, one +Lord and one religion, and preaches this belief constantly. He claims to +have turned his back on all religions that "do not do as the Lord says." + +In keeping this belief he says he represents the "True Primitive Baptist +Church", but does not have any connection with that church, because he +believes it has not lived exactly up to what the Lord expects of him. + +Kemp claims the ability to read the future with ease; even to help +determine what it will bring in some cases. He reads it in the palms of +those who will believe in him; he determines the good and bad luck; +freedom from sickness; success in love and other benefits it will bring +from the use of charms, roots, herbs and magical incantations and +formulae. He has recently celebrated what he believes to be his 80th +birthday, and says he expects to live at least another quarter of a +century. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with John Henry Kemp, Daytona Beach, Florida + + + + +Barbara Darsey +SLAVE INTERVIEW +With +CINDY KINSEY, FORMER SLAVE +About 86 Years of Age + + +"Yes maam, chile, I aint suah ezackly, but I think I bout 85 mebby 86 +yeah old. Yes maam, I wus suah bahn in de slavery times, an I bahn right +neah de Little Rock in Arkansas, an dere I stay twell I comed right from +dere to heah in Floridy bout foah yeah gone. + +"Yes maam, my people de liv on a big plantation neah de Little Rock an +we all hoe cotton. My Ma? Lawzy me, chile, she name Zola Young an my +pappy he name Nelson Young. I had broddehs Danel, Freeman, George, Will, +and Henry. Yes maam, Freeman he de younges an bahn after we done got +free. An I had sistehs by de name ob Isabella, Mary, Nora,--dat aint all +yet, you want I should name em all? Well then they was too Celie, Sally, +and me Cindy but I aint my own sisteh is I, hee, hee, hee. + +"My Ole Massa, he name Marse Louis Stuart, an my Ole Missy, dat de real +ole one you know, she name,--now--let-me-see, does--I--ricollek, lawzy +me, chile, I suah fin it hard to member some things. O! yes,--her name +hit war Missy Nancy, an her chilluns dey name Little Marse Sammie an +Little Missy Fanny. I don know huccum my pappy he go by de name Young +when Ole Massa he name Marse Stuart lessen my pappy he be raised by +nother Massa fore Marse Louis got him, but I disrememba does I eber +heerd him say. + +"Yes maam, chile I suah like dem days. We had lot ob fun an nothin to +worrify about, suah wish dem days wus now, chile, us niggahs heaps +better off den as now. Us always had plenty eat and plenty wearin close +too, which us aint nevah got no more. We had plenty cahn pone, baked in +de ashes too, hee, hee, hee, it shore wus good, an we had side meat, an +we had other eatin too, what ever de Ole Marse had, but I like de side +meat bes. I had a good dress for Sunday too but aint got none dese days, +jes looky, chile, dese ole rags de bes I got. My Sunday dress? Lawzy me, +chile, hit were alway a bright red cotton. I suah member dat color, us +dye de cotton right on de plantation mostly. Other close I dont ezackly +ricollek, but de mostly dark, no colahs. + +"My ma, she boss all de funerls ob de niggahs on de plantation an she +got a long white veil for wearin, lawzy me, chile, she suah look +bootiful, jes lak a bride she did when she boss dem funerls in dat veil. +She not much skeered nether fo dat veil hit suah keep de hants away. +Wisht I had me dat veil right now, mout hep cure dis remutizics in ma +knee what ailin me so bad. I disrememba, but I sposen she got buried in +dat veil, chile. She hoe de cotton so Ole Marse Louis he always let her +off fo de buryings cause she know how to manage de other niggahs and +keep dem quiet at de funerls. + +"No maam, chile, we didn't hab no Preacher-mans much, hit too fah away +to git one when de niggah die. We sung songs and my ma she say a Bible +vurs what Ole Missy don lernt her. Be vurs, lawsy me, chile, suah wish I +could member hit for you. Dem songs? I don jes recollek, but hit seem +lak de called 'Gimme Dem Golden Slippahs', an a nother one hit wah 'Ise +Goin To Heben In De Charot Ob Fiah', suah do wish I could recollek de +words an sing em foh you, chile, but I caint no more, my min, hit aint +no good lak what it uster be. + +"Yes maam, chile, I suah heerd ob Mr. Lincoln but not so much. What +dat mans wanter free us niggahs when we so happy an not nothin to +worrify us. No, maam, I didn't see none dem Yankee sojers but I heerd +od[TR: of?] dem an we alwy skeerd dey come. Us all cotch us rabbits an +weah de lef hine foots roun our nek wif a bag ob akkerfedity, yessum I +guess dat what I mean, an hit shore smell bad an hit keep off de fevah +too, an if a Yankee cotch you wif dat rabbit foots an dat akkerfedity +bag roun youh nek, he suah turn you loose right now. + +"Yes maam, chile, Ise a Baptis and sho proud ob it. Praise de Lord and +go to Church, dat de onliest way to keep de debbil offen youh trail and +den sometime he almos kotch up wif you. Lawsy me, chile, when de +Preacher-mans baptiz me he had duck me under de wateh twell I mos dron, +de debbil he got such a holt on me an jes wont let go, but de +Preacher-mans he kep a duckin me an he finaly shuck de debbil loose an +he aint bother me much sence, dat is not very much, an dat am a long +time ago. + +"Yes maam, chile, some ob de niggahs dey run off from Ole Marse Louis, +but de alway come back bout stahved, hee, hee, hee, an do dey eat, an +Ole Marse, he alway take em back an give em plenty eatins. Yes maam, he +alway good to us and he suah give us niggahs plenty eatins all de time. +When Crismus come, you know chile, hit be so cole, and Old Marse, he let +us make a big fiah, a big big fiah in de yahd roun which us live, an us +all dance rounde fiah, and Ole Missy she brang us Crismus Giff. What war +de giff? Lawzy me, chile, de mostly red woolen stockings and some times +a pair of shoeses, an my wus we proud. An Ole Marse Louis, he giv de +real old niggahs, both de mens an de owmans, a hot toddy, hee, hee, hee. +Lawzy me, chile, dem wus de good days, who give an ole niggah like me a +hot toddy dese days? an talkin you bout dem days, chile, sho mek me wish +dey was now." + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Viola B. Muse, Field Worker +Palatka, Florida + +RANDALL LEE + + +Randall Lee of 500 Branson Street, Palatka, Florida, was born at Camden, +South Carolina about seventy-seven years ago, maybe longer. + +He was the son of Robert and Delhia Lee, who during slavery were Robert +and Delhia Miller, taking the name of their master, as was the custom. + +His master was Doctor Miller and his mistress was Mrs. Camilla Miller. +He does not know his master's given name as no other name was ever heard +around the plantation except Doctor Miller. + +Randall was a small boy when the war between the states broke out, but +judging from what he remembers he must have been a boy around six or +seven years of age. + +During the few years he spent in slavery, Randall had many experiences +which made such deep impressions upon his brain that the memory of them +still remains clear. + +The one thing that causes one to believe that he must have been around +seven years of age is the statement that he was not old enough to have +tasks of any importance placed upon him, yet he was trusted along with +another boy about his own age, to carry butter from the plantation dairy +two miles to the 'big house.' No one would trust a child younger than +six years of age to handle butter for fear of it being dropped into the +dirt. He must have at least reached the age when he was sent two miles +with a package and was expected to deliver the package intact. He must +have understood the necessity of not playing on the way. He stated that +he knew not to stop on the two-mile journey and not to let the butter +get dirty. + +Randall had the pleasure of catching the pig for his father for Doctor +Miller gave each of his best Negro men a pig to raise for himself and +family. He was allowed to build a pen for it and raise and fatten it for +killing. When killing time came he was given time to butcher it and +grind all the sausage he could make to feed his family. By that method +it helped to solve the feeding problem and also satisfied the slaves. + +It was more like so many families living around a big house with a boss +looking over them, for they were allowed a privilege that very few +masters gave their slaves. + +On the Miller plantation there was a cotton gin. Doctor Miller owned the +gin and it was operated by his slaves. He grew the cotton, picked it, +ginned it and wove it right there. He also had a baler and made the +bagging to bale it with. He only had to buy the iron bands that held the +bales intact. + +Doctor Miller was a rich man and had a far reaching sight into how to +work slaves to the best advantage. He was kind to them and knew that the +best way to get the best out of men was to keep them well and happy. His +arrangement was very much the general way in that he allowed the young +men and women to work in the fields and the old women and a few old men +to work around the house, in the gin and at the loom. The old women +mostly did the spinning of thread and weaving of cloth although in some +instances Doctor Miller found a man who was better adapted to weaving +than any of his women slaves. + +Everyone kept his plantation under fence and men who were old but strong +and who had some knowledge of carpentry were sent out to keep the fence +in repair and often to build new ones. The fences were not like those of +today. They were built of horizontal rails about six or seven feet long, +running zig-zag fashion. Instead of having straight line fences and +posts at regular points they did not use posts at all. The bottom rails +rested upon the ground and the zig-zag fashion in which they were laid +gave strength to the fence. No nails were used to hold the rails in +place. If stock was to be let in or out of the places the planks were +unlocked so to speak, and the stock allowed to enter after which they +were laid back as before. + +Boys and girls under ten years of age were never sent into the field to +work on the Miller plantation but were required to mind the smaller +children of the family and do chores around the "big house" for the +mistress and her children. Such work as mending was taught the +domestic-minded children and tending food on the pots was alloted others +with inborn ability to cook. They were treated well and taught 'manners' +and later was used as dining room girls and nurses. + +Randall's father and mother were considered lucky. His father was +overseer and his mother was a waitress. + +Doctor Miller was a kind and considerate owner; never believed in +punishing slaves unless in extreme cases. No overseer, white or colored +could whip his slaves without first bringing the slave before him and +having a full understanding as to what the offense was. If it warranted +whipping them it had to be given in his presence so he could see that it +was not given unmercifully. He indeed was a doctor and practised his +profession in the keeping of his slaves from bodily harm as well as +keeping them well. He gave them medicine when they did not feel well and +saw to it that they took needed rest if they were sick and tired. + +Now, Robert Lee, Randall's father, was brought from Virginia and sold to +Doctor Miller when he was a young man. The one who sold him told Doctor +Miller, "Here's a nigger who wont take a whipping. He knows his work and +will do it and all you will need to do is tell him what you want and its +as good as done." Robert Lee never varied from the recommendation his +former master gave when he sold him. + +The old tale of corn bread baked on the hearth covered with ashes and +sweet potatoes cooked in like manner are vivid memories upon the mind of +Randall. Syrup water and plenty of sweet and butter milk, rice and +crackling bread are other foods which were plentiful around the cabin of +Randall's parents. + +Cows were numerous and the family of Doctor Miller did not need much for +their consumption. While they sold milk to neighboring plantations, the +Negroes were not denied the amount necessary to keep all strong and +healthy. None of the children on the plantation were thin and scrawny +nor did they ever complain of being hungry. + +The tanning yard was not far from the house Doctor Miller. His own +butcher shop was nearby. He had his cows butchered at intervals and when +one died of unnatural causes it was skinned and the hide tanned on the +place. + +Randall as a child delighted in stopping around the tanning yard and +watching the men salt the hide. They, after salting it dug holes and +buried it for a number of days. After the salting process was finished +it was treated with a solution of water and oak bark. When the oak bark +solution had done its work it was ready for use. Shoes made of leather +were not dyed at that time but the natural color of the finished hide +was thought very beautiful and those who were lucky enough to possess a +pair were glad to get them in their natural color. To dye shoes various +colors is a new thing when the number of years leather has been dyed is +compared with the hundreds of years people knew nothing about it, +especially American people. + +Randall's paternal grandparents were also owned by Doctor Miller and +were not sold after he bought them. Levi Lee was his grandfather's name. +He was a fine worker in the field but was taken out of it to be taught +the shoe-makers trade. The master placed him under a white shoemaker who +taught him all the fine points. If there were any, he knew about the +trade. Dr. Miller had an eye for business who could make shoes was a +great saving to him. Levi made all the shoes and boots the master, +mistress and the Miller family wore. Besides, he made shoes for the +slaves who wore them. Not all slaves owned a pair of shoes. Boys and +girls under eighteen went bare-footed except in winter. Doctor Miller +had compassion for them and did not allow them to suffer from the cold +by going bare-footed in winter. + +Another good thing to be remembered was the large number of chickens, +ducks and geese which the slaves raised for the doctor. Every slave +family could rest his tired body upon a feather bed for it was allowed +him after the members of the master's family were supplied. Moss +mattresses also were used under the feather beds and slaves did not need +to have as thick a feather bed on that account. They were comfortable +though and Randall remembers how he and the other children used to fall +down in the middle of the bed and become hidden from view, so soft was +the feather mattress. It was especially good to get in bed in winter but +not so pleasant to get up unless 'pappy' had made the fire early enough +for the large one-room cabin to get warm. The children called their own +parents 'pappy' and 'mammy' in slavery time. + +Randall remembers how after a foot-washing in the old wooden tub, +(which, by the way, was simply a barrel cut in half and holes cut in the +two sides for fingers to catch a hold) he would sit a few minutes with +his feet held to the fire so they could dry. He also said his 'mammy' +would rub grease under the soles of his feet to keep him from taking +cold. + +It seemed to the child that he had just gone to bed when the old tallow +candle was lighted and his 'pappy' arose and fell upon his knees and +prayed aloud for God's blessings and thanked him for another day. The +field hands were to be in the field by five o'clock and it meant to rise +before day, summer and winter. Not so bad in summer for it was soon day +but in winter the weather was cold and darkness was longer passing away. +When daylight came field hands had been working an hour or more. Robert +Lee, Randall's father was an overseer and it meant for him to be up and +out with the rest of the men so he could see if things were going +allright. + +The Randall children were not forced up early because they did not eat +breakfast with their 'pappy'. Their mother was dining-room girl in her +mistress' house, so fed the children right from the Miller table. There +was no objection offered to this. + +Doctor Miller was kind but he did not want his slaves enlightened too +much. Therefore, he did not allow much preaching in the church. They +could have prayer meeting all they wanted to, but instructions from the +Bible were thought dangerous for the slaves. He did not wish them to +become too wise and get it into their heads to ran away and get free. + +There was talk about freedom and Doctor Miller knew it would be only a +matter of time when he would loose all his slaves. He said to Randall's +mother one day, "Delhia you'll soon be as free as I am." She said. "Sho' +nuf massy?" and he answered. "You sure will." Nothing more was said to +any of the slaves until Sherman's army came through notifying the +slaves they were free. + +The presence of the soldiers caused such a comotion around the +plantation that Randall's mind was indelibly impressed with their +doings. + +The northern soldiers took all the food they could get their hands on +and took possession of the cattle and horses and mules. Levi, the +brother of Randall, and who was named after his paternal grandfather, +was put on a mule and the mule loaded with provisions and sent two miles +to the soldier's camp. Levi liked that, for beside being well treated he +received several pieces of money. The federal soldiers played with him +and gave him all the food he wanted, although the Miller slaves and +their children were fed and there was no reason for the child to be +hungry. + +Levi Lee, the grandfather of young Levi and Randall, had a dream while +the soldiers were encamped round about the place. He dreamed that a pot +of money was buried in a certain place; the person who showed it to him +told him to go dig for it on the first rainy night. He kept the dream a +secret and on the first rainy night he went, dug, and found the pot of +money right where his dream had told him it would be. He took the pot of +money to his cabin and told no one anything about it. He hid it as +securely as possible, but when the soldiers were searching for gold and +silver money they did not leave the Negro's cabin out of the search. +When they found the money they thought Levi's master had given him the +money to hide as they took it from him. Levi mourned a long time about +the loss of his money and often told his grandchildren that he would +have been well fixed when freedom came if he had not been robbed of his +money. + +"Paddyroles" as the men were called who were sent by the Rebels to watch +the slaves to prevent their escaping during war times, were very active +after freedom. They intimidated the Negroes and threatened them with +loss of life if they did not stay and work for their former masters. +Doctor Miller did not want any of his slaves treated in such manner. He +told them they were free and could take whatever name they desired. + +Robert Lee, during slavery was Robert Miller, as were all of the +doctor's slaves. After slavery was ended he chose the name Lee. His +brother Aaron took the name Alexander not thinking how it looked for two +brothers of the same parents to have different surnames. There are sons +of each brother living in Palatka now, one set Lees and the others, +Alexander. + +Randall, as was formerly stated, spent a very little time in slavery. +Most of his knowledge concerning customs which long ago have been +abandoned and replaced by more modern ones, is of early reconstruction +days. Just after the Civil War, when his father began farming on his own +plantation, his mother remained home and cared for her house and +children. She was of fair complexion, having been the daughter of a +half-breed Indian and Negro mother. Her father was white. Her native +state was Virginia and she bore some of the aristocratic traits so +common among those born in that state of such parentage. She often +boasted of her "blue blood Virginia stock." + +Robert Lee, Randall's father was very prosperous in early reconstruction +days. He owned horses, mules and a plow. The plow was made of point iron +with a wooden handle, not like plows of today for they are of cast iron +and steel. + +Chickens, ducks and geese were raised in abundance and money began +accumulating rapidly for Robert and Delhia Lee. They began improving +their property and trying to give their children some education. It was +very hard for those living in small towns and out in the country to go +to school even though they had money to pay for their education. The +north sent teachers down but not every hamlet was favored with such. (1) + +Randall was taught to farm and he learned well. He saved his money as he +worked and grew to manhood. Years after freedom he left South Carolina +and went to Palatka, Florida, where he is today. He bought some land +and although most of it is hammock land and not much good he has at +intervals been offered good prices for it. Some white people during the +"boom" of 1925-26 offered him a few dollars an acre for it but he +refused to sell thinking a better price would be offered if he held on. +(2) + +Today finds Randall Lee, an old man with fairly good health; he stated +that he had not had a doctor for years and his thinking faculties are in +good order. His eyesight is failing but he does not allow that to +handicap him in getting about. He talks fluently about what he remembers +concerning slavery and that which his parents told him. He is between a +mulatto and brown skin with good, mixed gray and black hair. His +features are regular, not showing much Negro blood. He is tall and looks +to weigh about one hundred and sixty-five pounds. His wife lives with +him in their two-story frame house which shows that they have had better +days financially. The man and wife both show interest in the progress of +the Negro race and possess some books about the history of the Negro. +One book of particular interest, and of which the wife of Randall Lee +thinks a great deal, was written, according to her story, by John Brown. +It is called "The History of the Colored Race in America." She could not +find but a few pages of it when interviewed but declared she had owned +the entire book for years. The pages she had and showed with such pride +were 415 to 449 inclusive. The book was written in the year 1836 and the +few pages produced by her gave information concerning the Negro, Lovejoy +of St. Louis, Missouri. It is the same man for whom the city of Lovejoy, +Illinois is named. The other book she holds with pride and guards +jealously is "The College of Life" by Henry Davenport Northrop D.D., +Honorable Joseph R. Gay and Professor I. Garland Penn. It was entered, +according to the Act of Congress in the year 1900 by Horace C. Fry, in +the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C. (3) + + +REFERENCES + +1. Randall Lee, 600 Brunson Street, Palatka, Florida + +2. Mrs. Bessie Bates, 412 South Eleventh Street, Palatka, Florida + +3. Observation of Field Worker + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +December 5, 1936 + +EDWARD LYCURGAS + + +"Pap tell us 'nother story 'bout do war--and 'bout de fust time you saw +mamma." + +It has been almost 60 years since a group of children gathered about +their father's knee, clamoring for another story. They listened +round-eyed to stories they already knew because "pap" had told them so +many times before. These narratives along with the great changes he has +seen, were carefully recorded in the mind of Edward, the only one of +this group now alive. + +"Pap" was always ready to oblige with the story they never tired of. He +could always be depended upon to begin at the beginning, for he loved to +tell it. + +"It all begun with our ship being took off the coast of Newport News, +Virginia. We wuz runnin' the blockade--sellin' guns and what-not to them +Northerners. We aint had nothin' to do wid de war, unnerstand, we +English folks was at'ter de money. Whose War? The North and South's, of +course. I hear my captain say many a time as how they was playin' ball +wid the poor niggers. One side says 'You can't keep your niggers lessen +you pay em and treat em like other folks.' Mind you dat wasn't de rale +reason, they was mad at de South but it was one of de ways dey could be +hurted--to free de niggers." + +"De South says 'Dese is our niggers and we'll do dum as we please,' and +so de rumpus got wuss dan it was afore. The North had all do money, and +called itself de Gov'ment. The South aint had nothin', but a termination +not to be out-did, so we dealt wid de North. De South was called de +Rebels." + +"So when dey see a ship off they coast, they hailed it and when we kep +goin', they fired at us. 'Twan't long afore we was being unloaded and +marched off to the lousiest jail I ever been in. My captain kep tellin' +em we was English subjects and could not be helt. Me, I was a scairt +man, cause I was always free, and over here dey took it for granted dat +all black men should be slaves." + +"The jailer felt of my muscles one day, when he had marched me out at +the point of his musket to fill de watering troughs for de horses. He +wanted to know who I blong ter, and offered to buy me. When nobody +claimed me, they was forced to let me go long wid de other Britishers +and as our ship had been destroyed, we had to git back home best we +could. Dey didn't dare hold us no longer." + +"As de war was still being fit, we was forced to separate, cause a lot +of us would cause spicion, traipsing 'bout do country. Me--I took off +southward and way from de war belt, traveling as far as Saint Augustine. +It was a dangerous journey, as anybody was liable to pick me off for a +runaway slave. I was forced to hide in de day time if I was near a +settlement and travel at night. I met many runaway slaves. Some was +trying to get North and fight for de freeing of they people; others was +jes runnin' way cause dey could. Many of dem didn't had no idea where +dey was goin' and told of havin' good marsters. But one and all dey had +a good strong notion ter see what it was like to own your own body." + +"I felt worlds better when I reached Saint Augustine. Many ships landed +there and I knowed I could get my way back at least to de West Indies, +where I come frum. I showed my papers to everybody dat mounted ter +anything and dey knowed I was a free nigger. I had plenty of money on me +and I made a big ter do mong de other free men I met. One day I went to +the slave market and watched em barter off po niggers lake dey was hogs. +Whole families sold together and some was split--mother gone to one +marster and father and children gone to others." + +"They'd bring a slave out on the flatform and open his mouth, pound his +chest, make him harden his muscles so the buyer could see what he was +gittin'. Young men was called 'bucks' and young women 'wenches'. The +person that offered the best price was de buyer. And dey shore did git +rid uf some pretty gals. Dey always looked so shame and pitiful up on +dat stand wid all dem men standin' dere lookin' at em wid what dey had +on dey minds shinin' in they eyes One little gal walked up and left her +mammy mourning so pitiful cause she had to be sold. Seems like dey all +belong in a family where nobody ever was sold. My she was a pretty gal." + +"And dats why your mamma's named Julia stead of Mary Jane or Hannah or +somethin' else--She cost me $950.00 and den my own freedom. But she was +worth it--every bit of it!" + +"After that I put off my trip back home and made her home my home for +three years. Den with our two young children we left Floridy and went to +the West Indies to live. We traveled bout a bit gettin as far as +England. We got letters from your ma's folks and dey jes had to see her +or else somebody would'er died, so we sailed back into de war." + +"Freedom was declared soon after we got back to dis country and de whole +country was turned upside down. De po niggers went mad. Some refused to +work and dey didn't stay in one place long 'nough to do a thing. De +crops suffered and soon we had starvation times for 'bout two years. +After dat everybody lernt to think of a rainy day and things got +better." + +Edward recalls of hearing his father tell of eating wild hog salad and +cabbage palms. It was a common occurence to see whole families +subsisting on any wild plant not known to be poisonous if it contained +the least food value. The freedmen helped those who were newly liberated +to gain a footing. Prior to Emancipation they had not been allowed to +associate with slaves for fear they might engender in them the desire to +be free. The freedmen bore the brunt of the white man's suspicion +whenever there was a slave uprising. They were always accusing them of +being instigators. Edward often heard his mother tell of the +"patter-rollers", a group of white men who caught and administered +severe whippings to these unfortunate slaves. They also corraled slaves +back to their masters if they were caught out after nine o'clock at +night without a pass from their masters. + +George Lycurgas was born at Liverpool, England and became a seaman at an +early age. Edward thinks he might have had a fair education if he had +had the chance. The mother, Julia Gray, Lycurgas, was the daughter of +Barbara and David Gray, slaves of the Flemings of Clay County, Florida. + +These slaves were inherited from generation to generation and no one +ever thought to sell one except for punishment or in dire necessity. +They were treated kindly and like most slaves of the wealthy, had no +knowledge of the real cruelties of slavery, but upon the death of their +owner it became necessary to parcel the slaves out to different heirs, +some of whom did not believe in holding these unfortunates. These +would-be abolitionists were not averse to placing at auction their share +of the slaves, however. + +It was on this occasion that George Lycurgas saw and bought the girl who +was to become his wife. Both are now dead, also all of the several +children except Edward who tells their story here. + +Edward Lycurgas was born on October 28, 1872, at Saint Augustine, +Florida shortly after the return of the family from the West Indies. He +lived on his father's farm sharing at an early age the hard work that +seemed always in abundance, and listening in awe to the stories of the +recent war. He heard his elders give thanks for their freedom when they +attended church and wondered what it was all about. + +No one failed to attend church on Sundays and all work ceased in a +vicinity where a camp meeting was held. Farmers flocked to the meeting +from all parts of Saint Johns County. They brought food in their large +baskets. Some owned buggies but most of them hauled their families in +wagons or walked. The camp meetings would sometimes last for several +days according to the spiritual fervor exhibited by those attending. + +Lycurgas recalls the stirring sermons and spirituals that rang through +the woods and could be heard for several miles on a clear day. And the +river baptisms! These climaxed the meetings and were attended by large +crowds of whites in the neighborhood. All candidates were dressed in +white gowns, stockings and towels would about their heads bandana +fashion. Tow by two they marched to the river from the spot where they +had dressed. There was always some stiring song to accompany their slow +march to the river. "Take me to the water to be baptized" was the +favorite spiritual for this occasion. + +As in all things, some attended camp meetings for the opportunity it +afforded them to indulge in illicit love making. Others went to show +their finery and there was plenty of it according to Lycurgas' +statement. There seemed to be beautiful clothing, fine teams and buggies +everywhere--a sort of reaction from the restraint upon them in slavery. +Many wore clothing they could not afford. + +There seemed to be a deeper interest in politics during these times. +Mass meetings, engineered by "carpet baggers" were often held and +largely attended, although the father of Edward did not hold with these +activities very much. He often heard the preacher point out Negroes who +attended the meetings and attained prominence in politics as an example +for members of his flock to follow. He believes he recalls hearing the +name of Joseph Gibbs. + +Next to the preacher, the Negro school teacher was held in greatest +respect. Until the year of the "shake" (earthquake of 1886) there were +no Negro school teachers on Saint John's County and no school buildings. +They attended classes at the fort and were taught by a white woman who +had come from "up nawth" for this purpose. Edward was able to learn very +little from his blue back Webster because his help was needed on the +farm. + +He was a lover of home, very shy and did not care much for courting. He +remained with his parents until their deaths and did not leave the +vicinity for many years. He is still unmarried and resides at the Clara +White Mission, Jacksonville, Florida, where he receives a email salary +for the piddling jobs about the place that he is able to do. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Edward Lycurgas, 611 West Ashley Street, +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Madison, Florida +November 13, 1936 + +AMANDA MCCRAY + + +Mrs. McCray was sitting on her porch crooning softly to herself and +rocking so gently that one might easily have thought the wind was +swaying her chair. Her eyes were closed, her hands incredibly old and +workworn were slowly folding and unfolding on her lap. + +She listened quietly to the interviewer's request for some of the "high +lights" of her life and finally exclaimed: "Chile, why'ny you look among +the living fer the high lights?" + +There was nothing resentful in this expression; only the patient +weariness of one who has been dragged through the boundaries of a +yesterday from which he was inseparable and catapulted into a present +with which he has nothing in common. After being assured that her life +story was of real interest to some one she warmed up and talked quite +freely of the life and times as they existed in her day. + +How old was she? She confessed quite frankly that she never "knowed" her +age. She was a grownup during the Civil War when she was commandered by +Union soldiers invading the country and employed as a cook. Her owner, +one Redding Pamell, possessed a hundred or more slaves and was, +according to her statement very kind to them. It was on his plantation +that she was born. Amanda McCray is one of several children born to +Jacob and Mary Williams, the latter being blind since Amanda could +remember. + +Children on the Pamell plantation led a carefree existence until they +were about 12 years of age, when they were put to light chores like +carrying water and food, picking seed from cotton lint (there were no +cotton gins), and minding the smaller children. They were duly schooled +in all the current superstitions and listened to the tales of ghosts and +animals that talked and reasoned, tales common to the Negro today. +Little Mandy believes to this day that hogs can see the wind and that +all animals talk like men on Christmas morning at a certain time. +Children wore moles feet and pearl buttons around their necks to insure +easy teething and had their legs bathed in a concoction of wasp nest and +vinegar if they were slow about learning to walk. This was supposed to +strengthen the weak limbs. It was a common occurence to see a child of +two or three years still nursing at the mother's breast. Their masters +encouraged the slaves to do this, thinking it made strong bones and +teeth. + +At Christmas time the slave children all trouped to "de big house" and +stood outside crying "Christmas gift" to their master and mistress. They +were never disappointed. Gifts consisted mostly of candies, nuts and +fruits but there was always some useful article of clothing included, +something they were not accustomed to having. Once little Mandy received +a beautiful silk dress from her young mistress, who knew how much she +liked beautiful clothes. She was a very happy child and loved the dress +so much that she never wore it except on some special occasion. + +Amanda was trained to be a house servant, learning to cook and knit from +the blind mother who refused to let this handicap affect her usefulness. +She liked best to sew the fine muslins and silks of her mistress, making +beautiful hooped dresses that required eight and ten yards of cloth and +sometimes as many as seven petticoats to enhance their fullness. + +Hoops for these dresses were made of grape-vines that were shaped while +green and cured in the sun before using. Beautiful imported laces were +used to trim the petticoats and pantaloons of the wealthy. + +The Pamell slaves had a Negro minister who could hold services any time +he chose, so long as he did not interfere with the work of the other +slaves. He was not obliged to do hard menial labors and went about the +plantation "all dressed up" in a frock coat and store-bought shoes. He +was more than a little conscious of this and was held in awe by the +others. He often visited neighboring plantations to hold his services. +It was from this minister that they first heard of the Civil War. He +held whispered prayers for the success of the Union soldiers, not +because freedom was so desirable to them, but for other slaves who were +treated so cruelly. There was a praying ground where "the grass never +had a chancet ter grow fer the troubled knees that kept it crushed +down." + +Amanda was an exceptionally good cook and so widespread was this +knowledge that the Union soldiers employed her as a cook in their camp +for a short while. She does not remember any of their officers and +thinks they were no better nor worse than the others. These soldiers +committed no depredations in her section except to confiscate whatever +they wanted in the way of food and clothing. Some married southern +girls. + +Mr. Pamell made land grants to all slaves who wanted to remain with him; +few left, so kind had he been to them all. + +Life went on in much the same manner for Amanda's family except that the +children attended school where a white teacher instructed them from a +"blue back Webster." Amanda was a young woman but she managed to learn +to read a little. Later they had colored teachers who followed much the +same routine as the whites had. They were held in awe by the other +Negroes and every little girl yearned to be a teacher, as this was about +the only professional field open to Negro women at that time. + +"After de war Negroes blossomed out with fine phaetons (buggies) and +ceiled houses, and clothes--oh my!" + +Mrs. McCray did not keep up with the politics of her time but remembers +hearing about Joe Gibbs, member of the Florida Legislature. There was +much talk then of Booker T. Washington, and many thought him a fool for +trying to start a school in Alabama for Negroes. She recalls the Negro +post master who served two or three terms at Madison. She could not give +his name. + +There have been three widespread "panics" (depressions) during her +lifetime but Mrs. McCray thinks this is the worst one. During the Civil +War, coffee was so dear that meal was parched and used as a substitute +but now, she remarked, "you can't hardly git the meal for the bread." + +Her husband and children are all dead and she lives with a niece who is +no longer young herself. Circumstances are poor here. The niece earns +her living as laundress and domestic worker, receiving a very poor wage. +Mrs. McCray is now quite infirm and almost blind. She seems happiest +talking of the past that was a bit kinder to her. + +At present she lives on the northeast corner of First and Macon Streets. +The postoffice address is #11, Madison, Florida. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Amanda McCray, First and Macon Streets, +Madison, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Alfred Farrell, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Titusville, Florida +September 25, 1936 + +HENRY MAXWELL + + +"Up from Slavery" might well be called this short biographical sketch of +Henry Maxwell, who first saw the light of day on October 17, 1859 in +Lownes County, Georgia. His mother Ann, was born in Virginia, and his +father, Robert, was born in South Carolina. Captain Peters, Ann's owner, +bought Robert Maxwell from Charles Howell as a husband for Ann. To this +union were born seven children, two girls--Elizabeth and Rosetta--and +five boys--Richard, Henry, Simms, Solomon and Sonnie. After the death of +Captain Peters in 1863, Elizabeth and Richard were sold to the Gaines +family. Rosetta and Robert (the father) were purchased from the Peters' +estate by Isham Peters, Captain Peters' son, and Henry and Simms were +bought by James Bamburg, husband of Izzy Peters, daughter of Captain +Peters. (Solomon and Sonnie were born after slavery.) + +Just a tot when the Civil War gave him and his people freedom, Maxwell's +memories of bondage-days are vivid through the experiences related by +older Negroes. He relates the story of the plantation owner who trained +his dogs to hunt escaped slaves. He had a Negro youth hide in a tree +some distance away, and then he turned the pack loose to follow him. One +day he released the bloodhounds too soon, and they soon overtook the boy +and tore him to pieces. When the youth's mother heard of the atrocity, +she burst into tears which were only silenced by the threats of her +owner to set the dogs on her. Maxwell also relates tales of the terrible +beatings that the slaves received for being caught with a book or for +trying to run away. + +After the Civil War the Maxwell family was united for a short while, and +later they drifted apart to go their various ways. Henry and his parents +resided for a while longer in Lownes County, and in 1880 they came to +Titusville, with the two younger children, Solomon and Sonnie. Here +Henry secured work with a farmer for whom he worked for $12 a month. In +1894 he purchased a small orange grove and began to cultivate oranges. +Today he owns over 30 acres of orange groves and controls nearly 200 +more acres. He is said to be worth around $250,000 and is Titusville's +most influential and respected colored citizen. He is married but has no +children. + + +[TR: Interview of Titus Bynes, including sections about Della Bess +Hilyard ("Aunt Bess") and Taylor Gilbert repeated here. References to +them deleted below.] + + +REFERENCES + +1. Personal interview of field worker with subject + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin Richardson, Field Worker +Saint Augustine, Florida +November 10, 1936 + +CHRISTINE MITCHELL + + +An interesting description of the slave days just prior to the War +Between the States is given by Christine Mitchell, of Saint Augustine. + +Christine was born in slavery at Saint Augustine, remaining on the +plantation until she was about 10 years old. + +During her slave days she knew many of the slaves on plantations in the +Saint Augustine vicinity. Several of these plantations, she says, were +very large, and some of them had as many as 100 slaves. + +The ex-slave, who is now 84 years old, recalls that at least three of +the plantations in the vicinity were owned or operated by Minorcans. She +says that the Minorcans were popularly referred to in the section as +"Turnbull's Darkies," a name they apparently resented. This caused many +of them, she claims, to drop or change their names to Spanish or +American surnames. + +Christine moved to Fernandina a few years after her freedom, and there +lived near the southern tip of Amelia Island, where Negro ex-slaves +lived in a small settlement all their own. This settlement still exists, +although many of its former residents are either dead or have moved +away. + +Christine describes the little Amelia Island community as practically +self-sustaining, its residents raising their own food, meats, and other +commodities. Fishing was a favorite vocation with them, and some of then +established themselves as small merchants of sea foods. + +Several of the families of Amelia Island, according to the ex-slave, +were large ones, and her own relatives, the Drummonds, were among the +largest of these. + +Christine Mitchell regards herself as one of the oldest remaining +ex-slaves in the Saint Augustine section, and is very well known in the +neighborhood of her home at St. Francis and Oneida Streets. + + +REFERENCES + +1. Interview with subject, Christine Drummond Mitchell, Oneida street +corner Saint Francis, Saint Augustine, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Unit) + +Martin Richardson, Field Worker +Palatka, Florida +January 13, 1937 + +LINDSEY MOORE + + +AN EX-SLAVE WHO WAS RESOURCEFUL + +In a little blacksmith shop at 1114 Madison Street, Palatka, is a busy +little horse-shoer who was born in slavery eighty-seven years ago. +_Lindsey Moore_, blacksmith, leather-tanner ex-marble shooting champion +and a number of other things, represents one of the most resourceful +former slaves yet found in the state. + +Moore was born in 1850 on the plantation of John B. Overtree, in +Forsythe County, Georgia. He was one of the six children of Eliza Moore; +all of them remained the property of Overtree until freed. + +On the Overtree plantation the slave children were allowed considerable +time for play until their tenth or twelfth years; Lindsey took full +advantage of this opportunity and became very skillful at +marble-shooting. It was here that he first learned to utilize his +talents profitably. 'Massa Overtree' discovered the ability of Lindsey +and another urchin to shoot marbles, and began taking them into town to +compete with the little slaves of other owners. There would be betting +on the winners. + +Mr. Overtree won some money in this manner, Lindsey and his companion +being consistent winners. But Lindsey saw possibilities other than the +glory of his victories in this new game; with pennies that some of the +spectators tossed him he began making small wagers of his own with his +competitors, and soon had amassed quite a small pile of silver for those +days. + +Although shoes were unheard-of in Lindsey's youth, he used to watch +carefully whenever a cow was skinned and its hide tanned to make shoes +for the women and the 'folks in the big house'. Through his attention to +the tanning operations he learned everything about tanning except one +solution that he could not discover. It was not until years later that +he learned that the jealously-guarded ingredient was plain salt and +water. By the time he had learned it, however, he had so mastered the +tanning operations that he at once added it to his sources of +livelihood. + +Lindsey escaped much of the farm work on the Overtree place by learning +to skillfully assist the women who made cloth out of the cotton from the +fields. He grew very fast at cleaning 'rods', clearing the looms and +other operations; when, at thirteen, it became time for him to pick +cotton he had become so fast at helping with spinning and weighing the +cotton that others had picked that he almost entirely escaped the +picking himself. + +Soap-making was another of the plantation arts that Lindsey mastered +early. His ability to save every possible ounce of grease from the meats +he cooked added many choice bits of pork to his otherwise meatless fare; +he was able to spend many hours in the shade pouring water over oak +ashes that other young slaves were passing picking cotton or hoeing +potatoes in the burning sun. + +Lindsey's first knowledge of the approach of freedom came when he heard +a loud brass band coming down the road toward the plantation playing a +strange, lively tune while a number of soldiers in blue uniforms marched +behind. He ran to the front gate and was ordered to take charge of the +horse of one of the officers in such an abrupt tone until he 'begin to +shaking in my bare feet! There followed much talk between the officers +and Lindsey's mistress, with the soldiers finally going into encampment +a short distance away from the plantation. + +The soldiers took command of the spring that was used for a water supply +for the plantation, giving Lindsey another opportunity to make money. He +would be sent from the plantation to the spring for water, and on the +way back would pass through the camp of the soldiers. These would be +happy to pay a few pennies for a cup of water rather than take the long +hike to the Spring themselves; Lindsey would empty bucket after bucket +before finally returning to the plantation. Out of his profits he bought +his first pair of shoes--though nearly a grown man. + +The soldiers finally departed, with all but five of the Overtree slaves +joyously trooping behind them. Before leaving, however, they tore up the +railroad and its station, burning the ties and heating the rails until +red then twisting them around tree-trunks. Wheat fields were trampled by +their horses, and devastation left on all sides. + +Lindsey and his mother were among those who stayed at the plantation. +When freedom became general his father began farming on a tract that was +later turned over to Lindsey. Lindsey operated the farm for a while, but +later desired to learn horseshoeing, and apprenticed himself to a +blacksmith. At the end of three years he had become so proficient that +his former master rewarded him with a five-dollar bonus for shoeing one +horse. + +Possessing now the trades of blacksmithing, tanning and +weaving-and-spinning, Lindsey was tempted to follow some of his former +associates to the North, but was discouraged from doing so by a few who +returned, complaining bitterly about the unaccustomed cold and the +difficulty of making a living. He moved South instead and settled in the +area around Palatka. + +He is still in the section, being recognized as an excellent blacksmith +despite his more than four-score years. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +Interview with subject, Lindsey Moore, 1114 Madison Street, Palatka, +Fla. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +J.M. Johnson, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Jacksonville, Florida +September 18, 1936 + +MACK MULLEN + + +Mack Mullen, a former slave who now lives at 521 W. First Street, +Jacksonville, Florida, was born in Americus, Georgia in 1857, eight +years before Emancipation, on a plantation which covered an area of +approximately five miles. Upon this expansive plantation about 200 +slaves lived and labored. At its main entrance stood a large white +colonial mansion. + +In this abode lived Dick Snellings, the master, and his family. The +Snellings plantation produced cotton, corn, oats, wheat, peanuts, +potatoes, cane and other commodities. The live stock consisted primarily +of hogs and cattle. There was on the plantation what was known as a +"crib," where oats, corn and wheat were stored, and a "smoke house" for +pork and beef. The slaves received their rations weekly, it was +apportioned according to the number in the family. + +Mack Mullen's mother was named Ellen and his father Sam. Ellen was +"house woman" and Sam did the blacksmithing, Ellen personally attended +Mrs. Snellings, the master's wife. Mack being quite young did not have +any particular duties assigned to him, but stayed around the Snellings +mansion and played. Sometimes "marster" Snellings would take him on his +knee and talk to him. Mack remembers that he often told him that some +day he was going to be a noble man. He said that he was going to make +him the head overseer. He would often give him candy and money and take +him in his buggy for a ride. + + +Plantation Life: The slaves lived in cabins called quarters, which were +constructed of lumber and logs. A white man was their overseer, he +assigned the slaves their respective tasks. There was also a slave known +as a "caller." He came around to the slave cabins every morning at four +o'clock and blew a "cow-horn" which was the signal for the slaves to get +up and prepare themselves for work in the fields. + +All of them on hearing this horn would arise and prepare their meal; by +six o'clock they were on their way to the fields. They would work all +day, stopping only for a brief period at midday to eat. Mack Mullen +says that some of the most beautiful spirituals were sung while they +labored. + +The women wore towels wrapped around their heads for protection from the +sun, and most of them smoked pipes. The overseer often took Mack with +him astride his horse as he made his "rounds" to inspect the work being +done. About sundown, the "cow-horn" of the caller was blown and all +hands stopped work, and made their way back to their cabins. One behind +the other they marched singing "I'm gonna wait 'til Jesus Comes." After +arriving at their cabins they would prepare their meals; after eating +they would sometimes gather in front of a cabin and dance to the tunes +played on the fiddle and the drum. The popular dance at that time was +known as the "figure dance." At nine p.m. the overseer would come +around; everything was supposed to be quiet at that hour. Some of the +slaves would "turn in" for the night while others would remain up as +long as they wished or as long as they were quiet. + +The slaves were sometimes given special holidays and on those days they +would give "quilting" parties (quilt making) and dances. These parties +were sometimes held on their own plantation and sometimes on a +neighboring one. Slaves who ordinarily wanted to visit another +plantation had to get a permit from the master. If they were caught +going off the plantation without a permit, they were severely whipped by +the "patrolmen" (white men especially assigned to patrol duty around the +plantation to prevent promiscuous wandering from plantations and +"runaways.") + + +Whipping: There was a white man assigned only to whip the slaves when +they were insubordinate; however, they were not allowed to whip them +too severely as "Marster" Snellings would not permit it. He would say "a +slave is of no use to me beaten to death." + + +Marriage: When one slave fell in love with another and wanted to marry +they were given a license and the matrimony was "sealed." There was no +marriage ceremony performed. A license was all that was necessary to be +considered married. In the event that the lovers lived on separate +plantations the master of one of them would buy the other lover or +wedded one so that they would be together. When this could not be +arranged they would have to visit one another, but live on their +respective plantations. + + +Religion: The slaves had a regular church house, which was a small size +building constructed of boards. Preaching was conducted by a colored +minister especially assigned to this duty. On Tuesday evenings prayer +meeting was held; on Thursday evenings, preaching; and on Sundays both +morning and evening preaching. At these services the slaves would "get +happy" and shout excitedly. Those desiring to accept Christ were +admitted for baptism. + + +Baptism: On baptismal day, the candidates attired in white robes which +they had made, marched down to the river where they were immersed by the +minister. Slaves from neighboring plantations would come to witness +this sacred ceremony. Mack Mullen recalls that many times his "marster" +on going to view a baptism took him along in his buggy. It was a happy +scene, he relates. The slaves would be there in great numbers scattered +about over the banks of the river. Much shouting and singing went on. +Some of the "sisters" and "brothers" would get so "happy" that they +would lose control of themselves and "fall out." It was then said that +the Holy Ghost had "struck 'em." The other slaves would view this +phenomena with awe and reverence, and wait for them to "come out of it." +"Those were happy days and that was real religion," Mack Mullen said. + + +Education: The slaves were not given any formal education, however, +Mullen's master was not as rigid as some of the slave-holders in +prohibiting the slaves from learning to read and write. Mrs. Snellings, +the mistress, taught Mack's mother to read and write a little, and Mr. +Snellings also taught Mack's father how to read, write and figure. +Having learned a little they would in turn impart their knowledge to +their fellow slaves. + + +Freedom: Mullen vividly recalls the day that they heard of their +emancipation; loud reports from guns were heard echoing through the +woods and plantations; after awhile "Yankee" soldiers came and informed +them that they were free. Mr. Snellings showed no resistance and he was +not harmed. The slaves on hearing this good news of freedom burst out in +song and praises to God: it was a gala day. No work was done for a week; +the time was spent in celebrating. The master told his slaves that they +were free and could go wherever they wanted to, or they could remain +with him if they wished. Most of his 200 slaves refused to leave him +because he was considered a good master. + +They were thereafter given individual farms, mules and farm implements +with which to cultivate the land; their former master got a share out of +what was raised. There was no more whipping, no more forced labor and +hours were less drastic. + +Mack Mullen's parents were among those slaves who remained; they lived +there until Mr. Snellings died, and then moved to Isonvillen, near +Americus, Georgia, where his father opened a black-smith shop, and made +enough money to buy some property. Another child was added to the +family, a girl named Mariah. By this time Mack had become a young man +with a strong desire to travel, so he bade his parents farewell and +headed for Tampa, Florida. After living there awhile he came to +Jacksonville, Florida. At the time of his arrival in Jacksonville, Bay +Street was paved with blocks and there were no hard surfaced streets in +the city. + +He was one of the construction, foremen of the Windsor Hotel. Mack +Mullen is tall, grey haired, sharp featured and of Caucasian strain (his +mother was a mulatto) with a keen mind and an appearance that belies his +75 years. He laments that he was freed because his master was good to +his slaves; he says "we had everything we wanted; never did I think I'd +come to this--got to get relief." (1) + + +REFERENCE + +1. From an interview with Mack Mullen, a former slave at his residence, +521 West First Street, Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +J.M. Johnson, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +November 17, 1936 + +LOUIS NAPOLEON + + +About three miles from South Jacksonville proper down the old Saint +Augustine Road lives one Louis Napoleon an ex-slave, born in +Tallahassee, Florida about 1857, eight years prior to Emancipation. + +His parents were Scipio and Edith Napoleon, being originally owned by +Colonel John S. Sammis of Arlington, Florida and the Floyd family of +Saint Marys, Georgia, respectively. + +Scipio and Edith were sold to Arthur Randolph, a physician and large +plantation owner of Fort Louis, about five miles from the capital at +Tallahassee. On this large plantation that covered and area of about +eight miles and composed approximately of 90 slaves is where Louis +Napoleon first saw the light of day. + +Louis' father was known as the wagoner. His duties were to haul the +commodities raised on the plantation and other things that required a +wagon. His mother Edith, was known as a "breeder" and was kept in the +palatial Randolph mansion to loom cloth for the Randolph family and +slaves. The cloth was made from the cotton raised on the plantation's +fertile fields. As Louis was so young, he had no particular duties, only +to look for hen nests, gather eggs and play with the master's three +young boys. There were seven children in the Randolph family, three +young boys, two "missy" girls and two grown sons. Louis would go fishing +and hunting with the three younger boys and otherwise engage with them +in their childish pranks. + +He says that his master and mistress were very kind to the slaves and +would never whip them, nor would he allow the "driver" who was a white +man named Barton to do so. Barton lived in a home especially built for +him on the plantation. If the "driver" whipped any of them, all that was +necessary for the slave who had been whipped was to report it to the +master and the "driver" was dismissed, as he was a salaried man. + + +Plantation Life. The slaves lived in log cabins especially built for +them. They were ceiled and arranged in such a manner as to retain the +heat in winter from the large fireplaces constructed therein. + +Just before the dawn of day, the slaves were aroused from their slumber +by a loud blast from a cow-horn that was blown by the "driver" as a +signal to prepare themselves for the fields. The plantation being so +expansive, those who had to go a long distance to the area where they +worked, were taken in wagons, those working nearby walked. They took +their meals along with them and had their breakfast and dinner on the +fields. An hour was allowed for this purpose. The slaves worked while +they sang spirituals to break the monotony of long hours of work. At the +setting of the sun, with their day's work all done, they returned to +their cabins and prepared their evening's meal. Having finished this, +the religious among them would gather at one of the cabin doors and give +thanks to God in the form of long supplications and old fashioned songs. +Many of them being highly emotional would respond in shouts of +hallelujahs sometimes causing the entire group to become "happy" +concluding in shouting and praise to God. The wicked slaves expended +their pent up emotions in song and dance. Gathering at one of the cabin +doors they would sing and dance to the tunes of a fife, banjo or fiddle +that was played by one of their number. Finished with this diversion +they would retire to await the dawn of a new day which indicated more +work. The various plantations had white men employed as "patrols" whose +duties were to see that the slaves remained on their own plantations, +and if they were caught going off without a permit from the master, they +were whipped with a "raw hide" by the "driver." There was an exception +to this rule, however, on Sundays the religious slaves were allowed to +visit other plantations where religious services were being held without +having to go through the matter of having a permit. + + +Religion. There was a free colored man who was called "Father James +Page," owned by a family of Parkers of Tallahassee. He was freed by them +to go and preach to his own people. He could read and write and would +visit all the plantations in Tallahassee, preaching the gospel. Each +plantation would get a visit from him one Sunday of each month. The +slaves on the Randolph plantation would congregate in one of the cabins +to receive him where he would read the Bible and preach and sing. Many +times the services were punctuated by much shouting from the "happy +ones." At these services the sacrament was served to those who had +accepted Christ, those who had not, and were willing to accept Him were +received and prepared for baptism on the next visit of "Father Page." + +On the day of baptism, the candidates were attired in long white flowing +robes, which had been made by one of the slaves. Amidst singing and +praises they marched, being flanked on each side by other believers, to +a pond or lake on the plantation and after the usual ceremony they were +"ducked" into the water. This was a day of much shouting and praying. + + +Education. The two "missy" girls of the Randolph family were dutiful +each Sunday morning to teach the slaves their catechism or Sunday School +lesson. Aside from this there was no other training. + + +The War and Freedom. Mr. Napoleon relates that the doctor's two oldest +sons went to the war with the Confederate army, also the white "driver," +Barton. His place was filled by one of the slaves, named Peter Parker. + +At the closing of the war, word was sent around among the slaves that if +they heard the report of a gun, it was the Yankees and that they were +free. + +It was in May, in the middle of the day, cotton and corn being planted, +plowing going on, and slaves busily engaged in their usual activities, +when suddenly the loud report of a gun resounded, then could be heard +the slaves crying almost en-masse, "dems de Yankees." Straightway they +dropped the plows, hoes and other farm implements and hurried to their +cabins. They put on their best clothes "to go see the Yankees." Through +the countryside to the town of Tallahassee they went. The roads were +quickly filled with these happy souls. The streets of Tallahassee were +clustered with these jubilant people going here and there to get a +glimpse of the Yankees, their liberators. Napoleon says it was a joyous +and un-forgetable occasion. + +When the Randolph slaves returned to their plantation, Dr. Randolph told +them that they were free, and if they wanted to go away, they could, and +if not, they could remain with him and he would give them half of what +was raised on the farms. Some of them left, however, some remained, +having no place to go, they decided it was best to remain until the +crops came off, thus earning enough to help them in their new venture in +home seeking. Those slaves who were too old and not physically able to +work, remained on the plantation and were cared for by Dr. Randolph +until their death. + +Napoleon's father, Scipio, got a transfer from the government to his +former master, Colonel Sammis of Arlington, and there he lived for +awhile. He soon got employment with a Mr. Hatee of the town and after +earning enough money, bought a tract of land from him there and farmed. +There his family lived and increased. Louis being the oldest of the +children obtained odd jobs with the various settlers, among them being +Governor Reid of Florida who lived in South Jacksonville. Governor Reid +raised cattle for market and Napoleon's job was to bring them across the +Saint Johns River on a litter to Jacksonville, where they were +sold.[HW:?] + +Louis Napoleon is now aged and infirm, his father and mother having died +many years ago. He now lives with one of his younger brothers who has a +fair sized orange grove on the south side of Jacksonville. He retains +the property that his father first bought after freedom and on which +they lived in Arlington. His hair white and he is bent with age and ill +health but his mental faculties are exceptionally keen for one of his +age. He proudly tells you that his master was good to his "niggers" and +cannot recall but one time that he saw him whip one of them and that +when one tried to run away to the Yankees. Only memories of a kind +master in his days of servitude remain with him as he recalls the dark +days of slavery. + + +REFERENCES + +Personal interview with Louis Napoleon, South Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel A. Austin, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +December 5, 1936 + +MARGRETT NICKERSON + + +In her own vernacular, Margrett Nickerson was "born to William A. Carr, +on his plantation near Jackson, Leon County, many years ago." + +When questioned concerning her life on this plantation, she continues: +"Now honey, its been so long ago, I don' 'member ev'ything, but I will +tell you whut I kin as near right as possible; I kin 'member five uf +Marse Carr's chillun; Florida, Susan, 'Lijah, Willie and Tom; cose Carr +never 'lowed us to have a piece uf paper in our hands." + +"Mr. Kilgo was de fust overseer I 'member; I was big enough to tote meat +an' stuff frum de smokehouse to de kitchen and to tote water in and git +wood for granny to cook de dinner and fur de sucklers who nu'sed de +babies, an' I carried dinners back to de hands." + +"On dis plantation dere was 'bout a hunnerd head; cookin' was done in de +fireplace in iron pots and de meals was plenty of peas, greens, +cornbread burnt co'n for coffee--often de marster bought some coffee fur +us; we got water frum de open well. Jes 'fore de big gun fiahed dey +fotched my pa frum de bay whar he was makin' salt; he had heerd dam say +'de Yankees is coming and wuz so glad." + +"Dere wuz rice, cotton, co'n, tater fields to be tended to and cowhides +to be tanned, thread to be spinned, and thread wuz made into ropes for +plow lines." + +"Ole Marse Carr fed us, but he did not care what an' whar, jes so you +made dat money and when yo' made five and six bales o' cotton, said: +'Yo' ain don' nuthin'." + +"When de big gun fiahed on a Sattidy me and Cabe and Minnie Howard wuz +settin' up co'n fur de plowers to come 'long and put dirt to 'em; Carr +read de free papers to us on Sunday and de co'n and cotton had to be +tended to--he tole us he wuz goin' to gi' us de net proceeds (here she +chuckles), what turned out to be de co'n and cotton stalks. Den he asked +dem whut would stay wid him to step off on de right and dem dat wuz +leavin' to step off on da left." + +"My pa made soap frum ashes when cleaning new ground--he took a hopper +to put de ashes in, made a little stool side de house put de ashes in +and po'red water on it to drip; at night after gittin' off frum work +he'd put in de grease and make de soap--I made it sometime and I make it +now, myself." + +"My step-pa useter make shoes frum cowhides fur de farm han's on de +plantation and fur eve'body on de plantation 'cept ole Marse and his +fambly; dey's wuz diffunt, fine." + +"My grandma wus Pheobie Austin--my mother wuz name Rachel Jackson and my +pa wus name Edmund Jackson; my mother and uncle Robert and Joe wus stol' +frum Virginia and fetched here. I don' know no niggers dat 'listed in de +war; I don' 'member much 'bout de war only when de started talking 'bout +drillin' men fur de war, Joe Sanders was a lieutenant. Marse Carr's +sons, Tom and Willie went to de war." + +"We didn' had no doctors, only de grannies; we mos'ly used hippecat +(ipecac) fur medicine." + +"As I said, Kilgo was de fust overseer I ricollec', then Sanders wuz +nex' and Joe Sanders after him; John C. Haywood came in after Sanders +and when de big gun fiahed old man Brockington wus dere. I never saw a +nigger sold, but dey carried dem frum our house and I never seen 'em no +mo'." + +"We had church wid de white preachers and dey tole us to mind our +masters and missus and we would be saved; if not, dey said we wouldn'. +Dey never tole us nothin' 'bout Jesus. On Sunday after workin' hard all +de week dey would lay down to sleep and be so tired; soon ez yo' git +sleep, de overseer would come an' wake you up an' make you go to +church." + +"When de big gun fiahed old man Carr had six sacks uf confederate money +whut he wuz carrying wid him to Athens Georgia an' all de time if any uf +us gals whar he wuz an' ax him 'Marse please gi us some money' (here she +raises her voice to a high, pitiful tone) he says' I aint got a cent' +and right den he would have a chis so full it would take a whol' passle +uv slaves to move it. He had plenty corn, taters, pum'kins, hogs, cows +ev'ything, but he didn' gi us nuthin but strong plain close and plenty +to eat; we slept in ole common beds and my pa made up little cribs and +put hay in dem fur de chillun." + +"Now ef you wanted to keep in wid Marster Carr don' drap you shoes in de +field an' leave 'em--he'd beat you; you mus' tote you' shoes frum one +field to de tother, didn' a dog ud be bettern you. He'd say 'You +gun-haided devil, drappin' you' shoes and eve'thin' over de field'." + +"Now jes lis'en, I wanna tell you all I kin, but I wants to tell it +right; wait now, I don' wanna make no mistakes and I don' wanna lie on +nobody--I ain' mad now and I know taint no use to lie, I takin' my time. +I done prayed an' got all de malice out o' my heart and I ain' gonna +tell no lie fer um and I ain' gonna tell no lie on um. I ain' never seed +no slaves sold by Marster Carr, he wuz allus tellin' me he wuz gonna +sell me but he never did--he sold my pa's fust wife though." + +"Dere wuz Uncle George Bull, he could read and write and, chile, de +white folks didn't lak no nigger whut could read and write. Carr's wife +Miss Jane useter teach us Sunday School but she did not 'low us to tech +a book wid us hands. So dey useter jes take uncle George Bull and beat +him fur nothin; dey would beat him and take him to de lake and put him +on a log and shev him in de lake, but he always swimmed out. When dey +didn' do dat dey would beat him tel de blood run outen him and den trow +him in de ditch in de field and kivver him up wid dirt, head and years +and den stick a stick up at his haid. I wuz a water toter and had stood +and seen um do him dat way more'n once and I stood and looked at um tel +dey went 'way to de other rows and den I grabbed de dirt ofen him and +he'd bresh de dirt off and say 'tank yo', git his hoe and go on back to +work. Dey beat him lak dat and he didn' do a thin' to git dat sort uf +treatment." + +"I had a sister name Lytie Holly who didn' stand back on non' uv em; +when dey'd git behin' her, she'd git behin' dem; she wuz dat stubbo'n +and when dey would beat her she wouldn' holler and jes take it and go +on. I got some whuppin's wid strops but I wanter tell you why I am +cripple today: + +"I had to tote tater vines on my haid, me and Fred' rick and de han's +would be a callin fur em all over de field but you know honey, de two uv +us could' git to all uvum at once, so Joe Sanders would hurry us up by +beatin' us with strops and sticks and run us all over de tater ridge; he +cripple us both up and den we couldn' git to all uv em. At night my pa +would try to fix me up cose I had to go back to work nex' day. I never +walked straight frum dat day to dis and I have to set here in dis chair +now, but I don' feel mad none now. I feels good and wants to go to +he'ven--I ain' gonna tel no lie on white nor black cose taint no use." + +"Some uv de slaves run away, lots uv um. Some would be cot and when dey +ketched em dey put bells on em; fust dey would put a iron ban' 'round +dey neck and anuder one 'round de waist and rivet um tegether down de +back; de bell would hang on de ban' round de neck so dat it would ring +when de slave walked and den dey wouldn' git 'way. Some uv dem wore dese +bells three and four mont'n and when dey time wuz up dey would take em +off 'em. Jake Overstreet, George Bull, John Green, Ruben Golder, Jim +Bradley and a hos' uv others wore dem bells. Dis is whut I know, not +whut somebody else say. I seen dis myself. En missus, when de big gun +fiahed, de runerway slaves comed out de woods frum all directions. We +wuz in de field when it fiahed, but I 'members dey wuz all very glad." + +"After de war, we worked but we got pay fur it." + +"Ole man Pierce and others would call some kin' of a perlitical +(political) meetin' but I could never understan' whut dey wuz talkin' +'bout. We didn' had no kin' uv schools and all I knows but dem is dat I +sent my chillums in Leon and Gadsden Counties." + +"I had lots uv sisters and brothers but I can't 'member de names of none +by Lytie, Mary, Patsy and Ella; my brothers, is Edmond and Cornelius +Jackson. Cornelius is livin' now somewhere I think but I don' never see +him." + +"When de big gun fiahed I was a young missy totin' cotton to de scales +at de ginhouse; ef de ginhouse wuz close by, you had to tote de cotton +to it, but ef it wuz fur 'way wagins ud come to de fields and weigh it +up and take it to de ginhouse. I was still livin' near Lake Jackson and +we went to Abram Bailey's place near Tallahassee. Carr turned us out +without nuthin and Bailey gi'd us his hammoc' and we went dere fur a +home. Fust we cut down saplin's fur we didn' had no house, and took de +tops uv pines and put on de top; den we put dirt on top uv dese saplin's +and slep' under dem. When de rain would come, it would wash all de dirt +right down in our face and we'd hafter buil' us a house all over ag'in. +We didn' had no body to buil' a house fur us, cose pa was gone and ma +jes had us gals and we cut de saplin's fer de man who would buil' de +house fer us. We live on Bailey's place a long time and fin'lly buil' us +a log cabin and den we went frum dis cabin to Gadsden County to a place +name Concord and dere I stay tel I come here 'fore de fiah." + +"I had twelve chillun but right now missus, I can only 'member dese +names: Robert, 'Lijah, Edward, Cornelius, Littie, Rachel and Sophie." + +"I was converted in Leon County and after freedom I joined de Methodist +church and my membership is now in Mount Zion A.M.E. Church in +Jacksonville, Florida." + +"My fust husban was Nelson Walker and de las' one was name Dave +Nickerson. I don' think I was 20 years old when de big gun fiahed, but I +was more' 17--I reckon I wuz a little older den Flossie May (a niece who +is 17 years of age) is now." (1) + +Mrs. Nickerson, according to her information must be about 89 or 90 +years of age, sees without glasses having never used them; she does not +read or write but speaks in a convincing manner. She has most of her +teeth and a splendid appetite. She spends her time sitting in a +wheel-chair sewing on quilts. She has several quilts that she has +pieced, some from very small scraps which she has cut without the use of +any particular pattern. She has a full head of beautiful snowy white +hair and has the use of her limbs, except her legs, and is able to do +most things for herself. (2) + +She lives with her daughter at 1600 Myrtle Avenue, Jacksonville, +Florida. + + +REFERENCES + +1. Personal interview with Margrett Nickerson, 1600 Myrtle Avenue, +Jacksonville, Florida + +2. Sophia Nickerson Starke, 1600 Myrtle Avenue, daughter of Margrett +Nickerson, Jacksonville, Florida + +[TR: References moved from beginning of interview.] + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel A. Austin, Field Worker +Monticello, Florida +November 10, 1936 + +DOUGLAS PARISH + + +Douglas Parish was born in Monticello, Florida, May 7, 1850, to Charles +and Fannie Parish, slaves of Jim Parish. Fannie had been bought from a +family by the name of Palmer to be a "breeder", that is a bearer of +strong children who could bring high prices at the slave markets. A +"breeder" always fared better than the majority of female slaves, and +Fannie Parish was no exception. All she had to do was raise children. +Charles Parish labored in the cotton fields, the chief product of the +Parish plantation. + +As a small boy Douglas used to spend his time shooting marbles, playing +ball, racing and wrestling with the other boys. The marbles were made +from lumps of clay hardened in the fireplace. He was a very good runner, +and as it was a custom in those days for one plantation owner to match +his "nigger" against that of his neighbor, he was a favorite with Parish +because he seldom failed to win the race. Parish trained his runners by +having them race to the boundary of his plantation and back again. He +would reward the winner with a jack-knife or a bag of marbles. + +Just to be first was an honor in itself, for the fastest runner +represented his master in the Fourth of July races when runners from all +over the country competed for top honors, and the winner earned a bag of +silver for his master. If Parish didn't win the prize, he was hard to +get along with for several days, but gradually he would accept his +defeat with resolution. Prizes in less important races ranged from a +pair of fighting cocks to a slave, depending upon the seriousness of the +betting. + +Douglas' first job was picking cotton seed from the cotton. When he was +about 12 years of age, he became the stable boy, and soon learned about +the care and grooming of horses from an old slave who had charge of the +Parish stables. He was also required to keep the buggies, surreys, and +spring-wagons clean. The buggies were light four-wheeled carriages drawn +by one horse. The surreys were covered four-wheeled carriages, open at +the sides, but having curtains that may be rolled down. He liked this +job very much because it gave him an opportunity to ride on the horses, +the desire of all the boys on the plantation. They had to be content +with chopping wood, running errands, cleaning up the plantation, and +similar tasks. Because of his knowledge of horses, Douglas was permitted +to travel to the coast with his boss and other slaves for the purpose of +securing salt from the sea water. It was cheaper to secure salt by this +method than it was to purchase it otherwise. + +Life in slavery was not all bad, according to Douglas. Parish fed his +slaves well, gave them comfortable quarters in which to live, looked +after them when they were sick, and worked them very moderately. The +food was cooked in the fireplace in large iron pots, pans and ovens. The +slaves had greens, potatoes, corn, rice, meat, peas, and corn bread to +eat. Occasionally the corn bread was replaced by flour bread. The slaves +drank an imitation coffee made from parched corn or meal. Since there +was no ice to preserve the left-over food, only enough for each meal was +prepared. + +Parish seldom punished his slaves, and never did he permit his overseer +to do so. If the slaves failed to do their work, they were reported to +him. He would warn them and show his black whip which was usually +sufficient. He had seen overseers beat slaves to death, and he did not +want to risk losing the money he had invested in his. After his death, +his son managed the plantation in much the same manner as his father. + +But the war was destined to make the Parishes lose all their slaves by +giving them their freedom. Even though they were free to go, many of the +slaves elected to remain with their mistress who had always been kind to +them. The war swept away much of the money which her husband had left +her; and although she would liked to have kept all of her slaves, she +found it impossible to do so. She allowed the real old slaves to remain +on the premises and kept a few of the younger ones to work about the +plantation. Douglas and his parents were among those who remained on the +plantation. His father was a skilled bricklayer and carpenter, and he +was employed to make repairs to the property. His mother cooked for the +Parishes. + +Many of the Negroes migrated North, and they wrote back stories of the +"new country" where "de white folks let you do jes as you please." These +stories influenced a great number of other Negroes to go North and begin +life anew as servants, waiters, laborers and cooks. The Negroes who +remained in the South were forced to make their own living. At the end +of the war, foods and commodities had gone up to prices that were +impossible for the Negro to pay. Ham, for example, cost 40ยข and 50ยข a +pound; lard was 25ยข; cotton was two dollars a bushel. + +Douglas' father taught him all that he knew about carpentry and +bricklaying, and the two were in demand to repair, remodel, or build +houses for the white people. Although he never attended school, Charles +Parish could calculate very rapidly the number of bricks that it would +take to build a house. After the establishing of schools by the +Freedmen's Bureau, Douglas' father made him go, but he did not like the +confinement of school and soon dropped out. The teachers for the most +part, were white, who were concerned only with teaching the ex-slaves +reading, writing, and arithmetic. The few colored teachers went into +the community in an effort to elevate the standards of living. They went +into the churches where they were certain to reach the greatest number +of people and spoke to them of their mission. The Negro teachers were +cordially received by the ex-slaves who were glad to welcome some +"Yankee niggers" into their midst. + +Whereas the white teachers did not bother with the Negroes except in the +classroom, other white men came who showed a decided interest in them. +They were called "carpetbaggers" because of the type of traveling bag +which they usually carried, and this term later became synonymous with +"political adventurer." These men sought to advance their political +schemes by getting the Negroes to vote for certain men who would be +favorable to them. They bought the Negro votes or put a Negro in some +unimportant office to obtain the goodwill of the ex-slaves. They used +the ignorant colored minister to further their plans, and he was their +willing tool. The Negro's unwise use of his ballot plunged the South +further and further into debt and as a result the South was compelled to +restrict his privileges. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Douglas Parish, Monticello, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Viola B. Muse, Field Worker +Palatka, Florida +November 9, 1936 + +GEORGE PRETTY + + +George Pretty of Vero Beach and Gifford, Florida, was born a free man, +at Altoona, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1852. His father Isaac Pretty was +also free born. His maternal grand-father Alec McCoy and his paternal +grand-father George Pretty were born slaves who lived in the southern +part of Pennsylvania. + +He does not know how his father came to be born free but knows that he +was told that from early childhood. + +In Altoona, according to George, there were no slaves during his life +there but in southern Pennsylvania slavery existed for a time. His +grand-parents moved from southern Pennsylvania during slavery but +whether they bought their freedom or ran away from their masters was +never known to George. + +As in most of the southland, the customs of the Negro in Altoona +abounded in superstition and ignorance. They had about the same beliefs +and looked upon life with about the same degree of intelligence as +Negroes in the south. + +The north being much colder than the south naturally had long ago used +coal for fuel. Open grates were used for cooking just as open fireplaces +were used in the south. Iron skillets or spiders as they called them, +were used for cooking many foods, meats, vegetables, pies puddings and +even cakes were baked over the fire. + +The old familiar, often referred to as southern ash cake, was cooked on +the hearth under the grate, right in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The north +because of its rapid advance in the use of modern ways of cooking and +doing many other things has been thought by many people to have escaped +the crude methods of cooking, but not so. George told how a piece of +thick paper was placed on the hearth under the grate and corn dough put +upon it to bake. Hot ashes were raked over it and it was left to cook +and brown. When it had remained a long enough time, the ashes were +shaken off, the cake brushed clean with a cloth and no grit was +encountered when it was eaten. + +Isaac Pretty, George's father owned a large harness shop at Altoona and +made and sold hundreds of dollars worth of saddles and harness to both +northern and southern plantation owners. (1) + +There was a constant going and coming of northern and southern owners; +southern ones seeking places to buy implements for farming and other +inventions as well as trying to locate runaway slaves. + +Abolitionists were active in the north and there were those who +assisted slaves across the boundary lines between free and slave states. + +Negroes in the north who were free and had intelligence enough saw the +gravity in assisting their slave brothers in the south. Some risked +their lives in spreading propaganda which they thought would aid the +enslaved Negroes in becoming free. + +In and around Altoona, Negroes were very progressive and appreciated +their freedom, and had a great deal of sympathy for their fellows and +did all they could to demonstrate their attitude toward the slave +traffic. Money was solicited and freely given to help abolitionists +spread propaganda about freedom. + +It is striking to note the similarity of living conditions in +Pennsylvania and Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas. Ex-slaves who live +in Florida now but who came here since the Emancipation of the Negro +tell of living conditions of their respective states; they are very +similar to the modes of living in Altoona, during slavery. (2) + +Soap was made from grease and lye just as it was made in the south. +Shin-plaster (paper money similar to green back, which represented +amounts less than a dollar) were very plentiful and after the Civil War +confederate money of all kinds was as so much trash. + +Food stuffs which were raised on the farm at Altoona were: corn, +peanuts, white potatoes and peas. Enough peas were raised to feed the +stock and take care of the family for 18 months. Potatoes were raised in +large quantities and after they were dug they were banked for the +winter. By banked, it is meant, large holes were dug in the cellar of +the house or under the house or inside of an outhouse; pine straw was +put into this pit and the potatoes piled in; more straw was laid on and +more potatoes piled in until all were in the pit. Dirt was shoveled over +the lot and it was left until for using them. Northern people used and +still use a large amount of white, or Irish potatoes. + +In curing hides of cows for making leather the same method was employed +as that used in the south. Hides were first salted and water was poured +over them. They were covered with dirt and left to soak a few days. A +solution of red oak bark was made by soaking the bark in water and this +solution was poured over the hides. After it soaked a few days the hair +was scraped off with a stiff brush and when it dried leather was ready +for making shoes and harness. + +George's father dealt extensively in leather and when he could not get +enough cured himself, he bought of others who could supply him. + +Now George's mother was very handy at the spinning wheel and loom. He +remembers how the bunch of cotton was combed in preparation for +spinning. Cards with teeth were arranged on the spinning wheel and the +mass of cotton was combed through it to separate it into fibers. The +fibers were rolled between the fingers and then put upon the spinning +wheel to be spun into thread. As it was spun, it was wound upon spools. +After the spools were filled they were taken off and put on the loom. +Threads were strung across the loom some above others and the shuttle +running back and forth through the threads would make cloth. All that +was done by hand power. A person working at the loom regularly soon +became proficient and George's mother was one who bore the name of being +a very good weaver of cloth. Most of the clothes the family wore were +home spun. + +Underwear and sleeping garments were made of the natural colored +homespun cloth. When colored cloth was wanted a dye was made to dip them +in so as to get the desired color. Dyes were made by soaking red oak +bark in water. Another was made of elder berries and when a real blood +red was desired polk berries were used. Polk berries made a blood red +dye and was considered very beautiful. Walnut hulls were used to make +brown dye and it was lasting in its effects. + +In making dye hold its color, the cloth and dye were boiled together. +After it had "taken" well, the cloth was removed from the dye and rinsed +well, the rinse water was salted so as to set the color. + +Tubs for washing clothes and bathing purposes were made of wood. Some +were made from barrels out in tew parts. In cutting a stay was left +longer on each side and holes were cut length wise in it so there would +be sufficient room for all of the fingers to fit. That was for lifting +the tub about. + +A very interesting side of George's life was depicted in his statement +of the longevity of his innocence. We may call it ignorance but it seems +to be more innocence when compared to the incident of Adam and Eve as +told in the Holy Bible in the book of Genesis. He was 33 years of age +before he knew he was a grown man, or how life was given humans. In +plain words he did not know where babies came from, nor how they were +bred. + +Whenever George's mother was expecting to be confined with a baby's +birth, his father would say to all the children together, large and +small alike, "your mother has gone to New York, Baltimore, Buffalo" or +any place he would think of at the time. There was an upstairs room in +their home and she would stay there six weeks. She would go up as soon +as signs of the coming child would present themselves. A midwife came, +cooked three meals a day, fed the children and helped keep the place in +order. + +In older times people taught their children to respect older persons. +They obeyed everyone older than themselves. The large children were just +as obedient as the small ones so that it was not hard to maintain peace +and order within any home. + +The midwife in this case simply told all of the children that she did +not want any of them to go upstairs, as she had important papers spread +out all over the floor and did not want them disturbed. No questions +were asked, she was obeyed. + +George does not remember having heard a single cry the whole time they +were being born in that upper room, and he said many a baby was born +there. Decorum reigned throughout the household for six weeks or until +their mother was ready to come down. When the time was up for mother to +come down, his father would casually say, "children your ma is coming +home today and what do you recon, someone has given her another baby." +The children would say, almost in concert, "what you say pa, is it a boy +or girl?" He would tell them which it was and nothing more was said nor +any further inquiry made into the happening. + +The term "broke her leg" was used to convey the meaning of pregnancy. +George relates how his mother told him and his sister not to have any +thing more to do with Mary Jones, "cause she done broke her leg." George +said "Ma taint nothin matter wid Mary; I see her every day when the bell +rings for 12; she works across the street from Pa's shop and she and me +sets on the steps and talks till time fur her to go back to work." His +mother said, "dont spute me George, I know she is broke her leg and I +want yall to stay way frum her." George said, "Ma I aint sputing you, +jes somebody done misinform you dats all. She aint got no broke leg, +she walks as good as me." His mother said "then I'm a lie." George +quickly replied, "no ma, you aint no lie, but somebody done told you +wrong." + +Nothing was said further on the question of Mary Jones until that same +evening when Isaac Pretty came home from the shop. The mother took him +aside and told him of how she had been disputed and called a lie by +George and added that she wanted George whipped for it. + +"Come here George," came a commanding voice shortly after the mother and +father had been in conference. George obeyed and his father took him +apart from the family and locked himself and George in a room. He said +"George I know I haven't done right by not telling you, you are grown. +You are 33 years old now and I want to tell you some things you should +know." George was all eyes and ears, for he had been told when +previously asked how old he was, "I'll tell you when you get grown." +That was all he had heard from his parents for years and he was just +waiting for him to tell him. His father told him how babies were born +and about his mother confining herself in the upper room all the +different times when she expected babies. He told him that his mother +had never been out of town to Boston or Baltimore on any of the past +occasions. In fact he told George all he knew to tell him. + +Now the startling thing about it all is that when he had finished +giving the information about babies he said, "Now George your mother +told me that you called her a lie today." George at once said, "Pa I +didn't call her a lie, I jes told someone had misinform her 'bout Mary, +that she aint got her leg broke cause I see her every day." His father +said "I know 'taint right to whip you fur that George but your Ma said +she wanted me to whip you and I'll have to do it." That settled it. +George received his first lesson in sex and received the last flogging +his father ever gave him. He was now grown and could take his place as a +man. + +Afterwards the mother took all her daughters aside and told them the +same as Isaac had told George. (That is she told the grown girls about +sex life.) + +George and his older sister talked the whole plan over after they got a +chance and decided that since they were now grown, they did not have to +give their earnings to their parents any longer. They decided to move +into one of their father's houses on the place and furnish it up. They +were making right good money considering the times related George, and +with both of them pulling together they soon would have sufficient money +saved up to buy a piece of land and start out on a plot of ground of +their own. + +George told his father their plans. His father asked how much money he +had. He told him 200 dollars or more. His father said "you've saved 200 +dollars out of what I've allowed you?" George answered in the +affirmative. His father said, "do you know how far that will go?" George +said he did not, his father answered "Not far my boy." + +A few days after the conversation, Isaac Pretty furnished one of his +houses with the necessary equipment and let George and his sister live +there. They had their own bed-rooms and each bought some food. The girl +and George both cooked the meals and did the main thing they had set out +to do, letting nothing stand in the way of their progress. + +When a few months had passed both children had accumulated a nice sum of +money. George was prepared to marry and take care of a wife. His sister +Eliza, who lived with him had saved almost as much money and when she +married she was an asset to the man of her choice rather than a +liability. + +George had close contact with nature in his early life. The close +contact with his mother for 33 years had done something for George which +was lasting as well as beneficial. She was a close adherent to nature. +She believed in and knew the roots and herbs which cured bodily +ailments. This was handed down to her children and George Pretty claims +to know every root and herb in the woods. He can identify each as they +are presented to him, says he. + +Doctors were never used by the ordinary family when George was growing +up and during his stay at Altoona. He was called in to sew up a cut +place which was too much for home treatment. He was also called in to +probe for a bullet but for fever or colds or even child-birth he was +considered an unnecessary expense. + +Herbs and roots were widely utilized in olden days and during slavery +and early reconstruction. The old slave has brought his practices to +this era and he is often found gathering and using them upon his friends +and neighbors. + +George Pretty knows that black snake root is good for blood trouble for +he has used it on many a person with safety and surety. Sasafras tea is +good for colds; golden rod tea for fever; fig leaves for thrash; red oak +bark for douche; slippery elm for fever and female complaint (when bark +is inserted in the vagina); catnip tea is good for new born babies; sage +tea is good for painful menstruation or slackened flow; fig leaves +bruised and applied to the forehead for fever are very affective; they +are also good to draw boils to a head; okra blossoms when dried are good +for sores (the dried blossoms are soaked in water and applied to the +sore and bound with clean old linen cloth); red shank is good for a +number of diseases; missing link root is for colds and asthma. George +said this is a sure cure for asthma. Fever grass is a purgative when +taken in the form of a tea. The blades are steeped in hot water and a +tea made. Fever grass is a wide blade grass growing straighter than most +grass. It has a blue flower and is found growing wild around many places +in Florida. It is plentiful in certain parts of Palatka, Florida. + +Riding vehicles in early days were called buggies. The first one George +remembers was the go cart. It had two wheels and was without a top. Only +two people could ride in a go cart. The equilibrium was kept by buckling +the harness over and under the horse's belly. The strap which ran under +the belly was called the belly girt. There was a side strap which ran +along the horse's side and the belly girt was fastened to this. Loops +were put to vantage points on the side strap and through these the +shafts of the cart were run. The strap going under and over the horse +kept the cart from going too far forward or backward. + +During George's early life plows looked very much like they do today. +They had wooden handles but the part which turned the ground was made of +point iron, (he could not describe point iron.) Plows were not made of +cast iron or steel as they are today. + +Two kinds of plows were used so far as George remembers. One was called +the skooter plow and the other the turn plow. The skooter plow he +describes as one which broke the ground up which had been previously +planted. When the earth needed loosening up to make more fit for +planting, this plow was used over the earth, leaving it rather smooth +and light. The turn plow was used to turn the ground completely over. +Where grass and weeds had grown, the earth needed turning over so as to +thoroughly uproot the weeds and grass. The ground was usually left a +while so that the weeds could die and rot and then men with hoes would +go over the ground and make it ready for planting. + +When freedom came to Negroes in the slave territory, George remembers +that Sherman's army drilled a long time after the Civil War had ended. +He saw them right in Pennsylvania. He was much impressed with their blue +suits and brass buttons and which fitted them so well. Some of the men +wore suits with braid on them and they supposedly were the officers of +the outfit. Negro and white men were in the same companies he saw and +all were manly and walking proudly. + +As George was fifteen years of age when freedom came much of which he +related happened after Emancipation. He being out of the slave territory +did not have as much contact with the slaves, but he lived around his +grand parents who had been slaves in the southern part of the state. +After slavery they moved up to Altoona, with George's parents and +brought much in the way of customs to George. + +Grandfather McCoy and also grandfather Pretty told of many experiences +that they went through during their enslavement. The Negro and white +over-seer was much in evidence down there and buying and selling of +children from their parents seemed to have left a sad memory with +George. + +Isaac Pretty's family was large. He had seven girls and seven boys, +George being the eldest. George remembers how his heart would ache when +his grandfather told of the children who were torn from their mother's +skirts and sold, never to see their parents again. He went into deep +thought over how he would have hated to have been separated from his +mother and father to say nothing of leaving his brothers and sisters. +They were brought up to love each other and the thought of breaking the +family ties seemed to him very cruel. + +When George was told that he was grown as formerly related, he saved his +money and when the great earth quake in Charleston occured he went down +there to see what it had done to the place. Before that time in 1882 he +remembered having seen the first block of ice. When he got there, the +Charleston people had been making ice for a few years. It was about that +time that George saw the first pair of bed springs. + +George remained in Pennsylvania and other states farther north for a +long time after freedom. His first trip to Florida was made in 1893. He +came direct from Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a white man whose name he +has forgotten as he did not remain in the man's employ very long after +reaching the state. + +Since that time he has farmed in and around different parts of Florida, +but now he resides at Tero Beach and Gifford, Florida. He makes regular +trips to Palatka, being as much at home there as in the cities on the +East Coast. + +George says that he has never had a doctor attend him in his life, +neither while he was in Altoona, nor since he has been in Florida. He +claims to be able to identify any root or herb that grows in the woods +in the State of Florida having studied them constantly since his arrival +here. Before coming to this state he knew all the roots and herbs around +Altoona and it still acquainted with them as he makes regular visits +there, since he moved away 43 years ago. (1) + +George Pretty is a dark complexioned man; about five feet three inches +in heighth; weighs about 135 pounds and looks to be much younger than he +is. When asked how he had maintained his youth, he said that living +close to nature had done it together with his manner of living. He does +not dissipate, neither does he drink strong drink. He is a ready +informant. Having heard that only information of slavery was wanted, he +volunteered information without any formality or urging on the part of +the writer. (1) (2) + + +REFERENCES + +1. George Pretty, Vero Beach and Gifford, Florida + +2. Observation of Field Worker + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers Unit) + +Viola B. Muse, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Fla. +January 11, 1937 + +ANNA SCOTT + + +AN EX-SLAVE WHO WENT TO AFRICA + +Anna Scott, an ex-slave who now lives in Jacksonville near the +intersection of Moncrief and Edgewood Avenues, was a member of one of +the first colonization groups that went to the West coast of Africa +following the emancipation of the slaves in this country. + +The former slave was born at Dove City, South Carolina, on Jan. 28, +1846, of a half-breed Cherokee-and-Negro mother and Anglo-Saxon father. +Her father owned the plantation adjoining that of her master. + +When she reached the adolescent age Anna was placed under the direct +care of her mistress, by whom she was given direct charge of the +dining-room and entrusted with the keys to the provisions and supplies +of the household. + +A kindred love grew between the slave girl and her mistress; she recalls +that everywhere her mistress went she was taken also. She was kept in +'the big house'. She was not given any education, though, as some of the +slaves on nearby plantations were. + +Religion was not denied to the former slave and her fellows. Mrs. +Abigail Dever[TR:?], her owner, permitted the slaves to attend revival +and other services. The slaves were allowed to occupy the balcony of +the church in Dove City, while the whites occupied the main floor. The +slaves were forbidden to sing, talk, or make any other sound, however, +under penalty of severe beatings. + +Those of the slaves who 'felt the sperrit' during a service must keep +silence until after the service, when they could 'tell it to the +deacon', a colored man who would listen to the confessions or +professions of religion of the slaves until late into the night. The +Negro deacon would relay his converts to the white minister of the +church, who would meet them in the vestry room at some specified time. + +Some of the questions that would be asked at these meetings in the +vestry room would be: + +"What did you come up here for?" + +"Because I got religion". + +"How do you know you got religion?" + +"Because I know my sins are forgive". + +"How do you know your sins are forgiven?" + +"Because I love Jesus and I love everybody". + +"Do you want to be baptized?" + +"Yes sir." + +"Why do you want to be baptized?" + +"Cause it will make me like Jesus wants me to be". + +When several persons were 'ready', there would be a baptism in a nearby +creek or river. After this, slaves would be permitted to hold occasional +servives of their own in the log house that was sometimes used as a +school. + +Mrs. Scott remembers vividly the joy that she felt and other slaves +expressed when first news of their emancipation was brought to them. +Both she and her mistress were fearful, she says; her mistress because +she did not know what she would do without her slaves, and Anna because +she thought the Union soldiers would harm Mrs. Dove. When the chief +officer of the soldiers came to the home of her mistress, she says, he +demanded entrance in a gruff voice. Then he saw a ring upon Mrs. Dove's +finger and asked: "Where did you get this?" When told that the ring +belonged to her husband, who was dead, the officer turned to his +soldiers and told them that they should "get back; she's alright!" + +Provisions intended for the Confederate armies were broken open by the +Union soldiers and their followers, and Anna's mother, to protect her +master, organized groups of slaves to 'tote the meat from the box cars +and hide it in dugouts under the mistress' house'. This meat was later +divided between Negroes and whites. + +A Provost Judge followed the advance of the army, and he obtained a list +of all of the slaves held by each master. Mrs. Dove gave her list to the +official, who called each slave by name and asked what that slave had +done on the plantation. He asked, also, whether any payment had been +made to them since the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed, and +when answered in the negative told them that 'You are free now and must +be paid for all of the work you have done since the Proclamation was +signed and that you will do in the future. Don't you work for anybody +without pay'. + +The Provost Judge also told the slaves that they might leave if they +liked, and Anna was among those who left. She went to visit the husband +of her mother in Charleston. With her mother and five other children, +Anna crossed rivers on log rafts and rode on trains to Charleston. + +Elias Mumford was Anna's step-father in Charleston, and after spending a +year there with him the entire family joined a colonizing expedition to +West Africa. There were 650 in the expedition, and it left in 1867. +Transportation was free. + +The trip took several weeks, but finally the small ship landed at Grand +Bassa. Mumford did not like the place, however, and continued on to +Monrovia, Liberia. He did not like Monrovia, either, and tried several +other ports before being told that he would have to get off, anyway. +This was at Harper Cape, W. Africa. + +Here he almost immediately began an industry that was to prove +lucrative. Oysters were 'large as saucers', according to Anna, and while +the family gathered these he would burn them and extract lime from them. +This he mixed with the native clay and made brick. In addition to his +brick-making Mumford cut trees for lumber, and with his own brick and +lumber would construct houses and structures. One such structure brought +him $1100.00. + +Another manner in which Mumford added to his growing wealth was through +the cashing of checks for the Missionaries of the section. Ordinarily +they would have to send these back to the United States to be cashed, +and when he offered to cash them--at a discount--they eagerly utilized +the opportunity to save time; this was a convenience for them and more +wealth for Mumford. + +Anna found other things besides happiness in her eight years in Africa. +There were death, sickness, and pestilences. She mentions among the +latter the African ants, some of which reached huge proportions. Most +dreaded were the Mission ants, which infested every house, building and +structure. Sometimes buildings had to be burned to get rid of them. The +bite of these ants was so serious that after sixty years Anna still +exhibits places on her feet where the ants left their indelible traces. +Another of the ant pests was the Driver ant, so large, powerful and +stubborn that even bodies of water did not stop them. They would join +themselves together above the surface of the water and serve as bridges +for the passage of the other ants. The Driver ants moved in swarms and +their approach could be seen at great distances. When they were seen to +be coming toward a settlement the natives would close their doors and +windows and build fires around their homes to avoid them. These fires +had to be kept burning for weeks. + +Eight and more persons died a day from the African fever during the +early colonization attempts; three of these in Anna's family alone were +victims of it. It was generally believed that if a victim of the fever +became wet by dew he was sure to die. + +After eight years Mumford and the remainder of his family returned to +America, where the accrued checks he possessed for cashing made him +reasonably wealthy. Anna married Robert Scott and moved to Jacksonville, +where she has lived since. + +At ninety-one she still occupies the little farm on the outskirts of +Jacksonville that was purchased with the money left to her out of her +mother's inheritance (from the African transactions of Mumford) and +Robert's post-slavery savings, and in front of her picturesque little +cottage spins yarns for the neighbors of her early experiences. + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +Interview with subject, Mrs. Anna Scott, Edgewood and Moncrief Avenues +(Route 2, Box 911) Jacksonville, Fla. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +J.M. Johnson, Field Worker +John A. Simms, Editor +Chaseville, Florida +August 28, 1936 + +WILLIAM SHERMAN + + +In Chaseville, Florida, about twelve miles from Jacksonville on the +south side of the Saint Johns River lives William Sherman (locally +pronounced _Schumann_,) a former slave of Jack Davis, nephew of +President Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy. (1) + +William Sherman was born on the plantation of Jack Davis, about five +miles from Robertsville, South Carolina, at a place called "Black +Swamp," June 12, 1842, twenty-three years prior to Emancipation. His +father who was also named William Sherman, was a free man, having bought +his freedom for eighteen hundred dollars from his master, John Jones, +who also lived in the vicinity of the Davis' plantation. William +Sherman, senior, bargained with his master to obtain his freedom, +however, for he did not have the money to readily pay him. He hired +himself out to some of the wealthy plantation owners and applied what he +earned toward the payment for his freedom. He was a skilled blacksmith +and cabinet maker and his services were always in demand. After +procuring his freedom he bought a tract of land from his former master +and built a home and blacksmith shop on it. As was the custom during +slavery, a person who bought his freedom had to have a guardian; +Sherman's former master, John Jones, acted as his guardian. Under this +new order of things Sherman was in reality his own master. He was not +"bossed," had his own hours, earned and kept his money, and was at +liberty to leave the territory if he desired. However, he remained and +married Anna Georgia, the mother of William Sherman, junior. She was +also a slave of Jack Davis. After William Sherman, senior, finished his +day's work he would go to the Davis plantation to visit his wife and +sometimes remain for the night. It was his intention to purchase the +freedom of his wife Anna Georgia, and their son William, but he died +before he had sufficient money to do so, and also before the Civil War, +which he predicted would ensue between the North and South. His son +William says that he remembers well the events that led up to his +father's burial; he states that the white people dug his grave which was +six feet deep. It took them three days in which to dig it on account of +the hardness of the clay; when it was finished he was put sorrowfully +away by the white folk who thought so much of him. William was a boy of +nine at that time, and he remembers that his mother was so grieved that +he tried to console her by telling her not to worry "papa's goin' to +com' back and bring us some more quails" (he had been accustomed to +bringing them quails during his life) but William sorrowingly said "he +never did come back." + +Anna Georgia was a cook and general house woman in the Davis' home. She +was a half breed, her mother being a Cherokee Indian. Her husband, +William, was a descendant of the Cheehaw Indians, some of his a forbears +being full-blooded Cheehaws. Their Indian blood was fully evident, +states William junior. The Davis family tree as he knew it was as +follows: three brothers, Sam, Thomas and Jefferson Davis (President of +the Confederacy.) Sam was the eldest of the three and had four children, +viz: Jack, Robert, Richard and Washington. Thomas had four, viz: James, +Richard, Rusha and Minna. Jefferson Davis' family was not known to +William as he lived in Virginia, whereas, the other brothers and their +families lived near each other at "Black Swamp." + +Jack Davis, the master of William Sherman, was the son of Sam Davis, +brother of Jefferson Davis. Thomas and Sam Davis were comparatively +large men, while Jefferson was thin and of medium height, resembling to +a great extent the late Henry Flagler of Florida East Coast fame, states +William. Many times he would come to visit his brothers at "Black +Swamp." He would drive up in a two-wheeled buggy, drawn by a horse. +Oft'times he visited his nephew, Jack and they would get together in a +lengthy conversation. Sometimes he would remain with the Davis family +for a few days and then return to Virginia. On these visits William +states that he saw him personally. These visits or sojourns occurred +prior to the Civil War. Jack Davis being a comparatively poor man had +only eight slaves on his plantation; they were housed in log cabins made +of cypress timber notched together in such a way as to give it the +appearance of having been built regular lumber. It was much larger and +of different architecture than the slave cabins, however. + +The few slaves that he had arose at 4:00 o'clock in the morning and +prepared themselves for the field. They stopped at noon for a light +lunch which they always took with them and at sun-down they quit work +and went to their respective cabins. Cotton, corn, potatoes and other +commodities were raised. There was no regular "overseer" employed. +Davis, the master acted in that capacity. He was very kind to them and +seldom used the whip. After the outbreak of the Civil War, white men +called "patarollers" were posted around the various plantations to guard +against runaways, and if slaves were caught off their respective +plantations without permits from their masters they were severely +whipped. This was not the routine for Jack Davis' slaves for he gave +the "patarollers" specific orders that if any of them were caught off +the plantation without a permit not to molest them but to let them +proceed where they were bound. Will said that one of the slaves ran away +and when he was caught his master gave him a light whipping and told him +to "go on now and run away if you want to." He said the slave walked +away but never attempted to run away again. Will states that he was +somewhat of a "pet" around the plantation and did almost as he wanted +to. He would go hunting, fishing and swimming with his master's sons who +were about his age. Sometimes he would get into a fight with one of the +boys and many times he would be the victor, his fallen foe would +sometimes exclaim that "that licking that you gave me sure hurt," and +that ended the affair; there was no further ill feeling between them. + + +Education: The slaves were not allowed to study. The white children +studied a large "Blue Back" Webster Speller and when one had thoroughly +learned its contents he was considered to be educated. + + +Religion: The slaves had their own church but sometimes went to the +churches of their white masters where they were relegated to the extreme +rear. John Kelley, a white man, often preached to them and would +admonish them as follows; "you must obey your master and missus, you +must be good niggers." After the beginning of the war they held +"meetings" among themselves in their cabins. + + +Baptism: Those slaves who believed and accepted the Christian Doctrine +were admitted into the church after being baptized in one of the +surrounding ponds. + + +Cruelties: There was a very wealthy plantation owner who lived near the +Davis plantation; he had eleven plantations, the smallest one was +cultivated by three hundred slaves. Oftimes they would work nearly all +night. Will states that it was not an unusual thing to hear in the early +mornings the echoes of rawhide whips cracking like the report of a gun +against the bare backs of the slaves who were being whipped. They would +moan and groan in agony, but the whipping went on until the master's +wrath was appeased. John Stokes, a white plantation owner who lived near +the Davis' plantation encouraged slaves to steal from their masters and +bring the stolen goods to him; he would purchase the goods for much less +than their value. One time one of the slaves "put it out" that "Massa" +Stokes was buying stolen goods. Stokes heard of this and his wrath was +aroused; he had to find the "nigger" who was circulating this rumor. He +went after him in great fury and finally succeeded in locating him, +whereupon, he gave him a good "lacing" and warned him "if he ever heard +anything like that again from him he was going to kill him." The +accusations were true, however, but the slave desisted in further +discussion of the affair for "old Massa Stokes was a treacherous man." +On another occasion one of the Stokes' slaves ran away and he sent +Steven Kittles, known as the "dog man," to catch the escape. (The dogs +that went in pursuit of the runaway slaves were called "Nigger dogs"; +they were used specifically for catching runaway slaves.) This +particular slave had quite a "head start" on the dogs that were trailing +him and he hid among some floating logs in a large pond; the dogs +trailed him to the pond and began howling, indicating that they were +approaching their prey. They entered the pond to get their victim who +was securely hidden from sight; they dissapeared and the next seen of +them was their dead bodies floating upon the water of the pond; they had +been killed by the escape. They were full-blooded hounds, such as were +used in hunting escaped slaves and were about fifty in number. The slave +made his escape and was never seen again. Will relates that it was very +cold and that he does'nt understand how the slave could stand the icy +waters of the pond, but evidently he did survive it. + + +Civil War: It was rumored that Abraham Lincoln said to Jefferson Davis, +"work the slaves until they are about twenty-five or thirty years of +age, then liberate them." Davis replied: "I'll never do it, before I +will, I'll wade knee deep in blood." The result was that in 1861, the +Civil War, that struggle which was to mark the final emancipation of the +slaves began. Jefferson Davis' brothers, Sam and Tom, joined the +Confederate forces, together with their sons who were old enough to go, +except James, Tom's son, who could not go on account of ill health and +was left behind as overseer on Jack Davis' plantation. Jack Davis joined +the artillery regiment of Captain Razors Company. The war progressed, +Sherman was on his famous march. The "Yankees" had made such sweeping +advances until they were in Robertsville, South Carolina, about five +miles from Black Swamp. The report of gun fire and cannon could be heard +from the plantation. "Truly the Yanks are here" everybody thought. The +only happy folk were, the slaves, the whites were in distress. Jack +Davis returned from the field of battle to his plantation. He was on a +short furlough. His wife, "Missus" Davis asked him excitedly, if he +thought the "Yankees" were going to win. He replied: "No if I did I'd +kill every _damned nigger_ on the place." Will who was then a lad of +nineteen was standing nearby and on hearing his master's remarks, said: +"The Yankees aint gonna kill me cause um goin to Laurel Bay" (a swamp +located on the plantation.) Will says that what he really meant was that +his master was not going to kill him because he intended to run off and +go to the "Yankees." That afternoon Jack Davis returned to the "front" +and that night Will told his mother, Anna Georgia, that he was going to +Robertsville and join the "Yankees." He and his cousin who lived on the +Davis' plantation slipped off and wended their way to all of the +surrounding plantations spreading the news that the "Yankees" were in +Robertsville and exhorting them to follow and join them. Soon the two +had a following of about five hundred slaves who abandoned their +masters' plantations "to meet the Yankees." En masse they marched +breaking down fences that obstructed their passage, carefully avoiding +"Confederate pickets" who were stationed throughout the countryside. +After marching about five miles they reached a bridge that spanned the +Savannah River, a point that the "Yankees" held. There was a Union +soldier standing guard and before he realized it, this group of five +hundred slaves were upon him. Becoming cognizant that someone was upon +him, he wheeled around in the darkness, with gun leveled at the +approaching slaves and cried "Halt!" Will's cousin then spoke up, "Doan +shoot boss we's jes friends." After recognizing who they were, they were +admitted into the camp that was established around the bridge. There +were about seven thousand of General Sherman's soldiers camped there, +having crossed the Savannah River on a pontoon bridge that they had +constructed while enroute from Green Springs Georgia, which they had +taken. The guard who had let these people approach so near to him +without realizing their approach was court martialed that night for +being dilatory in his duties. The Federal officers told the slaves that +they could go along with them or go to Savannah, a place that they had +already captured. Will decided that it was best for him to go to +Savannah. He left, but the majority of the slaves remained with the +troops. They were enroute to Barnswell, South Carolina, to seize Blis +Creek Fort that was held by the Confederates. As the Federal troops +marched ahead, they were followed by the volunteer slaves. Most of these +unfortunate slaves were slain by "bush whackers" (Confederate snipers +who fired upon them from ambush.) After being killed they were +decapitated and their heads placed upon posts that lined the fields so +that they could be seen by other slaves to warn them of what would +befall them if they attempted to escape. The battle at Blis Creek Fort +was one in which both armies displayed great heroism; most of the +Federal troops that made the first attack, were killed as the +Confederates seemed to be irresistible. After rushing up reinforcements, +the Federals were successful in capturing it and a large number of +"Rebels." + +General Sherman's custom was to march ahead of his army and cut rights +of way for them to pass. At this point of the war, many of the slaves +were escaping from their plantations and joining the "Yankees." All of +those slaves at Black Swamp who did not voluntarily run away and go to +the "Yankees" were now free by right of conquest of the Federals. + +Will now found himself in Savannah, Georgia, after refusing to go to +Barnswell, South Carolina, with the Federals. This refusal saved him +from the fate of his unfortunate brothers who went. Savannah was filled +with smoke, the aftermath of a great battle. Lying in the "Broad River" +between Beaufort, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia were two Union +gun boats, the _Wabash_ and _Man O War_, which had taken part in the +battle that resulted in the capture of Savannah. Everything was now +peaceful again; Savannah was now a Union city. Many of the slaves were +joining the Union army. Those slaves who joined were trained about two +days and then sent to the front; due to lack of training they were soon +killed. The weather was cold, it was February, 1862, frost was on the +ground. Will soon left Savannah for Beaufort, South Carolina which had +fallen before the "Yankee" attack. Soldiers and slaves filled the +streets. The slaves were given all of the food and clothes that they +could carry--confiscated goods from the "Rebels." After a bloody +struggle in which both sides lost heavily and which lasted for about +five years, the war finally ended May 15, 1865. Will was then a young +man twenty-three years of age and was still in Beaufort. He says that +day was a gala day. Everybody celebrated (except the Southerners). The +slaves were _free_. + +Thousands of Federal soldiers were in evidence. The Union army was +victorious and "Sherman's March" was a success. Sherman states that when +Jefferson Davis was captured he was disguised in women's clothes. + +Sherman states that Florida had the reputation of having very cruel +masters. He says that when slaves got very unruly, they were told that +they were going to be sent to Florida so they could be handled. During +the war thousands of slaves fled from Virginia into Connecticut and New +Hampshire. In 1867 William Sherman left Beaufort and went to Mayport, +Florida to live. He remained there until 1890, then moved to Arona, +Florida, living there for awhile; he finally settled in Chaseville, +Florida, where he now lives. During his many years of life he has been +married twice and has been the father of sixteen children, all of whom +are dead. He never received any formal education, but learned to read +and studied taxidermy which he practiced for many years. + +He was at one time Inspector of Elections at Mayport during +Reconstruction Days. He recalled an incident that occurred during the +performance of his duties there, which was as follows: Mr. John Doggett +who was running for office on the Democratic ticket brought a number of +colored people to Mayport by boat from Chaseville to vote. Mr. Doggett +demanded that they should vote, but Will Sherman was equally insistent +that they should not vote because they had not registered and were not +qualified. After much arguing Mr. Doggett saw that Sherman could not be +made "to see the light" and left with his prospective voters. William +Sherman once served upon a United States Federal jury during his +colorful life. + +In appearance he could easily be regarded as a phenomenon. He is +ninety-four years of age, though he appears to be only about fifty-five. +His hair is black and not grey as would be expected; his face is round +and unlined; he has dark piercing but kindly eyes. He is of medium +stature. He has an exceptionally alert mind and recalls past events with +the ease of a youth. The Indian blood that flows in his veins is plainly +visible in his features, the color of his skin and the texture of his +hair. + +He gives as his reason for his lengthy life the Indian blood that is in +him and says that he expects to live for nintey-four more years. Today +he lives alone. He raises a few vegetables and is content in the +memories of his past life which has been full. (2) + + +REFERENCES + +1. Most of his friends call him SHERMAN, hence he adopted that name. + +2. A personal interview with William Sherman, former slave, at home in +Colored quarters, Chaseville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin D. Richardson, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +January 27, 1937 + +SAMUEL SMALLS + + +A VOLUNTARY SLAVE FOR SEVEN YEARS + +The story of a free Negro of Connecticut, who came south to observe +conditions of slavery, found them very distasteful, then voluntarily +entered that slavery for seven years is the interesting tale that Samuel +Smalls, 84 year old ex-slave of 1704 Johnson Street, Jacksonville, tells +of his father Cato Smith. + +Smith had been born in Connecticut, son of domestic slaves who were +freed while he was still a child. He grew to young manhood in the +northern state, making a living for himself as a carpenter and builder. +At these trades he is said to have been very efficient. + +Still unmarried at the age of about 30, he found in himself a desire to +travel and see how other Negroes in the country lived. This he did, +going from one town to another, working for periods of varying length in +the cities in which he lived, eventually drifting to Florida. + +His travels eventually brought him to Suwannee County, where he worked +for a time as overseer on a plantation. On a nearby plantation where he +sometimes visited, he met a young woman for whom he grew to have a great +affection. This plantation is said to have belonged to a family of +Cones, and according to Smalls, still exists as a large farm. + +Smith wanted to marry the young woman, but a difficulty developed; he +was free and she was still a slave. He sought her owner. Smith was told +that he might have the woman, but he would have to "work out" her cost. +He was informed that this would amount to seven years of work on the +plantation, naturally without pay. + +Within a few days he was back with his belongings, to begin "working +out" the cost of his wife. But his work found favor in his voluntary +master's eyes; within four years he was being paid a small sum for the +work he did, and by the time the seven years was finished, Smith had +enough money to immediately purchase a small farm of his own. + +Adversity set in, however, and eventually his children found themselves +back in slavery, and Smith himself practically again enslaved. It was +during this period that Smalls was born. + +All of the Florida slaves were soon emancipated, however and the +voluntary slave again became a free man. He lived in the Suwannee County +vicinity for a number of years afterward, raising a large family. + + +REFERENCE + +Personal interview with Samuel Smalls, ex-slave, 1704 Johnson Street, +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +The American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Cora N. Taylor +Frances H. Miner, Editor +Miami, Florida +May 14, 1937 + +SALENA TASWELL + + +Salena Taswell, 364 NW 8th St., Miami, Fla. + + +1. Where, and about when, were you born? + +In Perry, Ga. in 1844. + +2. If you were born on a plantation or farm, what sort of farming +section was it in? + +Ole Dr. Jameson's plantation near Perry, Ga. north of Macon. + +3. How did you pass the time as a child? What sort of chores did you do +and what did you play? + +I worked around the table in my Massy's dining room. I didn't play. I +sometimes pulled threads for mother. She was a fine seamstress for the +plantation. + +4. Was your master kind to you? + +Yes; I was the pet. + +5. How many slaves were there on the same plantation or farm? + +He must have had about 400 slaves. + +6. Do you remember what kind of cooking utensils your mother used? + +We had copper kettles, crocks, and iron kettles. "I waited on de table +when Lincum came dare. That day we had chicken hash and batter cakes and +dried venison." + +7. What were your main foods and how were they cooked? + +We had everything that was good (I ate in my Massy's kitchen) Sweet +potatoes biscuits, corn bread, pies and everything we eat now. + +8. Do you remember making imitation or substitute coffee by grinding up +corn or peanuts? + +No, we always had the best of Java coffee. I used to grind it in the +coffee mill for my Massy. + +9. Do you remember ever having, when you were young, any other kind of +bread besides corn bread? + +Yes. Batter cakes, biscuits and white bread. + +10. Do you remember evaporating sea water to get salt? + +No. We did not live so far from Macon and the Ole Doctor he was rich and +bought such things. That is how he come to be so rich. He didn't charge +the poor folks when he doctored them, but they would be so glad that he +made them well that they kep' a givin' him things, bed quilts, chickens, +just ever' thing. Then he had such a big plantation about 200 or 300 +acres, but I didn't live on the plantation. I worked in his home. + +11. When you were a child, what sort of stove do you remember your +mother having. Did they have a hanging pot in the fire place, and did +they make their candles of their own tallow? + +My mother did not cook,--she was a special seamstress servant. They had +fireplaces on the plantation and they always used tallow candles at the +doctor's place until after the 'mancipation, then the doctor was one of +the first ones to buy coal oil lamps. + +12. Did you use an open well or pump to get the water? + +No, we went to the spring to get the water. We toted it in cedar +buckets. The spring was boxed into a well shaped hole, deep enough to +dip the water out of it. It was the best water. They had a town pump at +Macon. + +13. Do you remember when you first saw ice in regular form? + +Yes. They had icicles in Georgia. + +14. Did your family work in the rice fields or in the cotton fields on +the farm, or what sort of work did they do? + +My father was a blacksmith. He did all kinds of blacksmithing. He even +made plows. + +15. If they worked in the house or about the place, what sort of work +did they do? + +My mother was one of the best seamstresses; she sewed all day long with +her fingers. She made the finest silk dresses and even made tailored +suits. + +16. Do you remember ever helping tan and cure hides and pig hides? + +They did those things on the plantation. They cured goat skins and sheep +skins, too. The sheep skins would dry so slowly that they would let the +slaves lie on them at night to keep them warm and hasten the drying. + +17. As a young person what sort of work did you do? If you helped your +mother around the house or cut firewood or swept the yard, say so. + +I cleaned and dusted and waited on the table, made beds and put +everything in order, washed dishes, polished silverware and did the most +trusty work. + +18. When you were a child do you remember how people wove cloth, or spun +thread, or picked out cotton seed, or weighed cotton, or what sort of +bag was used on the cotton bales? + +I did not need to spin but I used to play with the spinning wheels. They +ginned the cotton on the plantation. They used a horse to pull the gin. + +They weighed the cotton with a beam and weight. A good slave picked 200 +lbs of cotton in a day. Nancy could pick 300 or 400 lbs in a day. She'd +go out early in the day and run in ahead of the sun and no one would +know she had been out. That's how she would get ahead of the rest. + +19. Do you remember what sort of soap they used? How did they get the +lye for making the soap? + +They made soft soap boiled in a big kettle. They made the lye out of +ashes packed in an old barrel that had a hole in the bottom. They would +make a hollow in the top of the barrel and pour rain water in it. This +would gradually soak through the ashes and seep out of the bottom of the +barrel which they tipped up so that it would drain the lye out into a +vessel. Then they would take the lye and boil it in the kettle with old +grease and meat rinds. The lye was very strong. They had to be careful +not to get any of it on their hands or it would take the skin off. As +they would stir the grease and lye it would foam and cook like a jelly +and when it cooled we had soft soap. It would sure chase the dirt, but +it was hard on the hands. + +20. What did they use for dyeing thread and cloth, and how did they dye +them? + +They would dig indigo roots and cook the roots and branches for blue +dye. For purple they mixed red and blue. They would pick the berries off +the gallberry bushes for red. The robin's yellow and mixed yellow and +red for orange; and yellow and blue for green. + +21. Did your mother use big, wooden washtubs with cut-out holes on each +side for the fingers? + +Yes. We made cedar tubs on the plantation. And we had some men who made +large wooden bowls out of juggles cut from logs of the tupla tree. They +would run them through a machine and they would come out round and then +they would smooth them down. They mixed bread in those big bowls. + +22. Do you remember the way they made shoes by hand in the country? + +Yes, all our shoes were made on the plantation. + +23. Do you remember saving the chicken feathers and goose feathers +always for your featherbeds? + +Yes. + +24. Do you remember when women wore hoops in their skirts, and when they +stopped wearing them and wore narrow skirts? + +Yes. The doctor's folks were so stylish that they would not let the +servants wear hoops, but we could get the old ones that they threw away +and have a big time playing with them and we would go around with them +on when they were gone and couldn't see us. + +25. Do you remember when you first saw your first windmill? + +Never did see one. + +26. Do you remember when you first saw bed springs instead of bed ropes? + +Yes. When I was a slave, I slept in a gunny sack bunk with the sacks +nailed against the wall on two sides, in a corner of the room and then +there was a post at the corner of the bed and two poles nailed from the +post to the walls and the gunny sacks were nailed to those poles. My bed +was a two-story bed. There was another gunnysack bed above me with poles +fastened to the same post. We tore old rags and made rag rugs for quilts +to cover us with. I worked in the doctor's house in the daytime but I +had to sleep in the shed at night. Then after I wasn't a slave no more, +I never slept on anything else but a rope bed. When springs come I +wondered what anyone wanted wid 'em. Rope beds was good enough. + +27. When did you see the first buggy and what did it look like? + +The doctor, he had the best of such things. He had a regular buggy and +sometimes he driv two horses in hit. Uncle Albert, he wuz his driver. +When the doctor wanted to put on great style, and go to the station to +meet some rich company he had one of the fancy cabs with the driver +sittin' up high in front, but when he went to see his patients, he'd +take his feet to go around. He had two saddle packs with a strap that he +would throw over his shoulder. He would have one pack hanging in front +and the other hanging behind. + +28. Do you remember your grandparents? + +No, my mother's mother was taken from her and sold when she was a baby. +So I never seed my grandmother and I don't know any more about my +grandfather than a _goose about a band box_. + +29. Do you remember the money called "shin-plasters?" + +I've seen plenty. I guess my master had barrels of them. + +30. What interesting historical events happened during your youth,--such +as Sherman's Army passing through your section? Did you witness the +happenings and what was the reaction of the other Negroes to them? + +Sherman's army went through Perry but they did not do any damage there. +They expected them to come and buried lots of food and valuable things, +and when they came they took them to the smoke houses and told them to +help themselves. They did not burn any houses there. + +31. Did you know any Negros who enlisted or joined the northern army? + +Yes, plenty went with their boss, but ran off to Sherman's army when he +came along. One woman's husband I knowed, Mr. Bethel, he stayed with his +master and didn't run off with the Northern army. When he was given his +freedom, his master give him nice house. + +32. Did you know any Negroes who enlisted in the Southern Army? + +About all I knew. + +33. Did your master join the Confederacy? What do you remember of his +return from the war? Or was he wounded or killed? + +His two sons joined the army. James was killed, but Bud, he would never +get through telling war stories when he came back. + +34. Did you live in Savannah when Sherman and the Northern forces marked +through the state, and do you remember the excitement in your town or +around the plantation where you lived? + +No. + +35. Did your master's house get robbed or burned during the time of +Sherman's march? + +No. + +36. What kind of uniforms did they wear during the civil war? + +Blue and gray. + +37. What sort of medicine was used in the days just after the war? +Describe a Negro doctor of that period. + +We never got sick. Sometimes they would give us oil with a drop or two +of turpentine in a big spoonful. They put turpentine on cuts and sores. + +38. What do you remember about Northern people or outside people moving +into a community after the war? + +Yes, Jake Enos, he was a colored teacher. He was sent down to teach the +colored school. He taught around from Atlanta to Florida. He took yellow +fever and died My brother, he teached school, but I never went to +school. I larned my ABC's from my massy's children. I aint _never_ +forgot 'em. I could say 'em now. + +39. How did your family's life compare after Emancipation with it +before? + +I had it the same. I had it good with my massy, but the rest wuz paid +some little wages. Our plantation was called a free place. Some of the +slaves worked so well and made money for the massy and gained their +freedom even befo' 'mancipashun. I heard one come to him and say I howe +dat man $10 an' he retched down in his pocket an' paid hit. + +40. Do you know anything about political meetings and clubs formed after +the war? + +I heered about de Kuklux but I never did see none. + +41. Do you know anything regarding the letters and stories from Negroes +who migrated north after the war? + +I hear talk 'bout some massys goin' arter dem an' bringin' back mor'n +dey had in de fust place. + +42. Were there any Negroes of your acquaintance who were skilled in any +particular line of work, if so give details? + +The Turners made furniture wid knobs an' bumps on just like that stand +and bed. They made fancy chairs an' put cowhide seats stretch-across +'em. + +43. What sort of school system was there for the instruction of the +Negro? Were there any Negro teachers in your community? + +Yes. My son, he went to Negro school three months a year. The son said +that he studied Webster's Speller, Harvey's Reader, learned his ABC's +and studied some in history, geography and arithmetic. + +44. How old were you at the close of the civil war? + +21 years. + +45. Describe the type of early religious meeting, the preachers, etc. + +I went to town to my massy's church. I sat 'long side on 'em and held +the baby. My father, he held meetings on the plantation and prayer +meetings just like they have now. + +46. Do your friends believe in charms and conjure bags, and what has +been their experience with magic and spells? + +I guess some claim dey believe in sech things, but I don't know whether +they do or not. + +47. Did you ever use an ox to plow with? What sort of plow? + +Yes, I see 'em plow wid hoxen. Dey used the kind of plows they made on +the plantation. I didn't plow, but I used to have fun a goin' roun' in +the old ox two-wheel wagon cart. I'd go down de hill in it; we'd get in +the dump cart and holler an' have a big time. + +48. How much did various foods and drinks and commodities cost just at +the end of the war and afterwards? + +I don't know what things cost. + + + + +[HW: Negro-Tampa-Slave Interviews] +July 9, 1937 + +STORIES OF FLORIDA +Prepared for Use in Public Schools +by the +Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration + +A MARINE IN EBONY +By Jules A. Frost + +DAVE TAYLOR + + +From a Virginia plantation to Florida, through perils of Indian +war-fare; shanghaied on a Government vessel and carried 'round the +world; shipwrecked and dropped into the lap of romance--these are only a +few of the colorful pages from the unwritten diary of old Uncle Dave, +ex-slave and soldier of fortune. + +The reporter found the old man sitting on the porch of his Iber City +shack, thoughtfully chewing tobacco and fingering his home-made cane. At +first he answered in grumpy monosyllables, but by the magic of a good +cigar, he gradually let himself go, disclosing minute details of a most +remarkable series of adventures. + +His language is a queer mixture of geechy, sea terms and broad "a's" +acquired by long association with Nassau "conchs." Married to one of +these ample-waisted Bahama women, the erst-while rambler and adventurer +proved that rolling stones sometimes become suitable foundations for +homes--he lived faithfully with the same wife for fifty-one years. + +"Shippin' 'fore de mahst ain't no job to make a preacher f'm a +youngster; hit's plenty tough; but I ain't nevah been sorry I went to +sea; effen a boy gwine take to likker an' wimmen, he kin git plenty +o'both at home, same as in for'n ports." + +The old man bit off a conservative chew from his small plug, carefully +wrapped the remainder in his handkerchief and chewed thoughtfully for +some time before he continued. + +"I wasn't bawn in Florida, but I be'n here so long I reckon hit 'bout de +same thing. I kin jes remember leavin' Norfolk. My daddy an' mammy an' +de odder chillun b'long to a Frenchman named Pinckney. Musta be'n 'bout +1860 or 1861, w'en Mahstah 'gins to worry 'bout what gwine happen effen +war come an' de Vahginny slave-owners git beat." + +He proceeded slowly, and in language almost unintelligible at times, as +he talked, smoked and chewed, all at the same time; but here, the +reporter realized, were all the elements of a true story that needed +only notebook and typewriter to transform it into readable form. + +Antagonism aroused by the Dred Scott decision, and the further +irritation caused by the Fugitive Slave law were kicking up plenty of +trouble during Buchanan's administration. South Carolina had already +seceded. Major Anderson was keeping the Union flag flying at Fort +Sumter, but latest reports said that there was no immediate danger of +hostilities when Pierre Pinckney, thrifty Virginia planter of French +extraction, went into conference with his neighbors and decided to move +while the getting-out was still good. + +With as little publicity as possible, they arranged the disposal of +their real estate. No need to sell their slaves and livestock; they +would need both in the new location. If they could manage to get to +Charleston, they reasoned, surely they could arrange for a boat to St. +Augustine. The Indians might be troublesome there, but by settling near +the fort they should be reasonably safe. + +Before the caravan of oxcarts and heavy wagons came within sight of the +old seaport town, it became evident that they had better keep to the +woods. Union soldiers, although still inactive, might at any time decide +to confiscate their belongings, so they pushed on to the southward. + +Long weeks dragged by before they finally reached St. Augustine. War +talk, and the possibility of attack by sea again caused them to change +their plans. Pooling their money, they chartered a boat and embarked for +Key West. Surely they would be safe that far south. One of their +Virginia neighbors, Fielding A. Browne, had settled there thirty years +before. Taking advantage of the periodic sales of salvaged goods from +wrecks on the treacherous keys, he had become wealthy and was said to +hold a responsible position with the city. + +Everyone was in a cheerful mood as the blue outline of Key West peeped +over the horizon, and all come on deck to catch a glimpse of their new +home. Suddenly dismay clutched at every heart as a Federal man-of-war +swung out of the harbor and steamed out to meet them. The long-feared +crisis had come. They ware prisoners of war. + +Pinckney and his neighbors were marched into Fort Taylor. Their wives, +children and slaves were allowed to settle in the city and care for +themselves as best they could. + +Pinckney's slaves consisted of one family, David Taylor and wife, with +their family of ten pickaninnies. Colonel Montgomery, Federal recruiting +officer, took advantage of the helplessness of the slave owners to sow +discord among the blacks, and before many days big Dave, father of the +subject of this sketch, had "jined de Yankees" as color sergeant and had +been sent north, where he was killed in the attack on Fort Sumter. + +His determined and energetic 260-pound wife served Mrs. Pinckney +faithfully through the war and long afterward. Young Dave, or "Buddy," +son of big Dave, although only in his early teens, was her chief aid. +When the war was over and Mr. Pinckney walked out of Fort Taylor a free +man, the portly Hannah "pooh-poohed" the announcement that she was a +free citizen. "Y'all done brung me heah," she blustered with emphasis, +"an' heah I'se gwine t' stay." + +Some years after the war Pierre Pinckney died. When his good wife became +ill, frantic dismay pervaded the servants' quarters. As her last moments +drew near, Mrs. Pinckney called the weeping Hannah to her bedside and +laid a bag of money in her hand. + +"To get you and the children back to old Virginia," she whispered with +her last breath. + +When the beloved "Missus" was laid to rest by the side of her husband in +the Catholic cemetery, the bewildered Hannah took the money to a white +man, an old friend of the family, and asked him to buy the tickets back +to Virginia. He advised against it; said that the old home would not be +there to comfort them. Houses had been burned, trees cut down and old +landmarks destroyed. He suggested that they take the hundred dollars in +gold and buy a little home in Key West, which they did. + +Reconstruction days were as trying to Key Westers as to others all over +the devastated land of Dixie. Slave owners, stripped of their +possessions, taxed with an immense war debt and with no money or +equipment to begin the slow climb back to normalcy were pathetic figures +as they blistered their hands at toil that they had never known before. +Many of the slaves were more than willing to stay with their former +masters, but with no income, the problem of feeding themselves was the +main issue with the whites, so it was out of the question to try to fill +other mouths, and ex-slaves often had to shift for themselves, a +hopeless task for a race that had never been called upon to exert +initiative. + +Hannah Taylor and her numerous offspring were a fair example of these +irresponsible people. Like a ship adrift without skipper or rudder, they +were at the mercy of every adverse wind of misfortune. Each morning they +went out with frantic energy to earn or in some way procure sustenance +for one more day. Young Dave hounded the sponge fishermen until they +gave him an extra job. He made the rounds of the fishing docks, +continually on the lookout to be of help, anxious to do anything at any +time in exchange for a few articles of food that he could carry proudly +home to his mother. + +"Dem was mighty tryin' times," mused the old man, "an' I don't blame my +mammy fer warmin' my pants when she had so much to worry 'bout. She had +a way o' grabbin' me by de years an' shovin' my haid twixt her knees +whilst she wuk on me sumpin' awful. No wonder I was scairt o' dese +frammin's. I reckon dat was de cause o' me goin' t' sea. Ah mas' tell +you 'bout dat. + +"One day my mammy gimme fifteen cents an' say 'Go down to de market and +fetch me some fish. Ah' lissen--don't you let no grass grew unda yo' +feet. Go on de run an' come back on de jump. Does you fall down, jes' +keep on a-goin' some-how.' + +"Wid dat she turn an' spit on de step. 'You see dat spit,' she say. 'Ef +hit be dry w'en you git back, I gonna beat de meat offen yo' bones. Git +goin', now.' + +"Well, I stahted, an I she' wasn't losin' no time. 'Bout hahf way to de +mahket, I meets a couple o' stewards f'm a U.S. navy cutter anchored off +de navy yard. + +"Hol' on, dar, boy,' 'dey sing out, 'wha you gwine so fas'? Grab dis +here basket an' tote hit down to de dock.' + +"I knowed I couldn't git back home 'fore dat spit dried, an' I be'n +figgerin' how I could peacify my mammy so's to miss dat beatin'. I +figger of I mek a quarter or hahf a dollar an' gin it to 'er, she mebbe +forgit de paddlin'. So I take de bahsket an' foller 'em down to de water +front. W'en we git dere dey was a sailor waitin' fer 'em wid a boat f'm +de cutter. I set de bahsket in de boat an' stood waitin' fo' my money. + +"You ain't finished yo' job yit,' dey say. 'Git yo'se'f in dat boat an' +put dat stuff on be'd.' + +"W'en I gits on deck a cullud boy 'bout my size say 'Wanna look about a +bit?' So I foller him below an' fo' I knowed it, I feel de boat kinda +shakin.' I run to a porthole an' look out. Dere was Key West too far +away to swim back to. + +"I ran up on deck, an' dare was de steward w'at gin me de bahsket to +tote. 'W'at th'ell you doin' on bo'd dis ship,' he ahsk me. + +"I tells 'im I ain't wantin' t' stay no mo'n he wants me, an' he takes +me to de cap'm. 'I reckon he b'long to do navy now,' says de cap'm, 'so +dey fix some papers an' I makes my mark on 'em. + +"Ahftah a bit I find we bound fo' N'Orleans. 'Fore we got dere, a ship +hove 'longside an' gin us a message to put about. I ahsk a li'l +Irishman, named Jack, wha we gwine, an' he say, 'Outa de worl'.' + +"Jesus wep't I say, 'my mammy think I be daid.' I couldn't read nor +write, an' didn't know how to tell noboddy how to back a letter to my +mammy, so I jes' let hit go, an' we staht back de way we come. + +"I thought hit be'n stormin' all de time, but w'en we pahs thoo de +Florida straits I see w'at a real storm's like. I didn't know, ontell +we was hahf way down de South American coast, headin fer Cape Horn, dat +we done pahs Key West, but I couldn't got off if I'd wanted to, 'cause +I'd done jined de navy. + +"Hit seem lak months 'fore we roun' de Cape an' head back north on de +Pacific, an' hit seem lak a year 'fore we drop anchor in Hong Kong. Dey +tell me de admiral was stationed dere an' de cap'n had to report to him. +W'ile he was doin' dis, we gits shore leave. + +"Wen Jack an' me gits on land, we couldn't onnerstan' a word, but we mek +signs, an' a tough-lookin' Chink motion fer us to foller him. We go down +a dark street an' turn thoo an alley, then into a big room lighted with +colored paper lanterns. On de flo' we see some folks sleepin' wit some +li'l footstools 'longside 'em, an some of 'em was smokin' long-stemmed +pipes. I figger mebbe dey goin' put us to sleep an' knock us in de haid. +I look back an' see de do' swingin' shut, slow like, so I run back an' +stick my foot in hit and shove hit back open. + +"Jack an me run back de same way we come. Pretty soon we find anotha +sailor an' go wit him to a yaller man dat could speak English. He pin a +li'l yaller flag on our shirts an' say hit de badge o' de Chinese +gov'ment, an' we be safe, cause we b'long to de U.S. navy. + +"We go out to see de sights, but nevah hear one mo' word o' English; so +ahftah a time we go back to de ship an' stay ontell we put to sea again. + +"Nex' we sails fo' Panama. W'en we ties up dere, Jack an' me goes +ashore. Ah nevah befo' see such pretty high-yaller gals in all my life. +Looks lak dey made o' marble, dey so puffick. + +"Me an' Jack gits likkered up de fust thing, an' I done lose 'im. Dat +worry me some, 'cause we need each otha. Wit' his haid an' my arms we +mek one pretty good man. Dat lil Irishman was a fightin' fool. Weighed +only 90 pounds, but strong an' wiry. Co'se he git licked mos' do time, +but he allus ready fer anotha fight. + +"Didn't lak for folks to call him Irish. 'He fodder was Irish and he +mudder American,' he say; 'I be'n born aboard a Dutch brig in French +waters. Now you tell me what flag I b'longs undah.' + +"Wen we gits back to de ship, de boys tells me some English sailors beat +Jack up in de sportin' house. Sumbuddy sing out 'Beat it--de marines +comin'!, an' dey all run for de ship an leff Jack dere. + +"I don't ahsk no mo' questions; jes' start back on a run to find my +buddy. At dat time I weigh 180, an' was pretty husky fer my age. Bein' +likkered plenty, I nevah thought 'bout gittin' beat up mahse'f. + +"W'en I gits back, dere was a big Limey stahndin' wid his arms crost de +do'. 'All dem in, stay in, an' all de outs stay out,' he say. + +"Now I be'n trained to respec' white folks--what is white folks--ever +sence I bawn; but w'en I think 'bout Jack in dere, hahf dead, mebbe, dat +Limey don't look none too white to me. I take a runnin' staht an' but +'im in de belly wid my haid. + +"De nex' do' was locked, an' I bus' hit down. Dere was Jack, 'bout hahf +done f'. Blood all over de fla'. Ev'thing in de room busted up an' +tipped over. I hauls 'im to a back do', but hit locked. I kick out a +winder, heaves 'im onto my shoulder, an' runs back to de ship. + +"Wen we comes up, dere was de cap'm standin' at de rail. His blue eyes +look lak he love to kill us. + +"'Fall in!' he says, an' we does. 'Go for'd,' he says, an' we goes. + +"'Now' he says, wat's all dis about?' + +"'Well,' says Jack, 'I didn't staht no fight. I jes' goes into a +saloon, peaceful like, an' a damn Limey says, pointin' to a British +flag on dere own ship, 'You see dat flag?' + +"'Aye,' says Jack, 'an' still I don't see nuthin'.' + +"'I be'n over de seven seas,' says de Limey, 'an' I see dat ol' flag +mistress of all of 'em.' + +"'You be'n around some,' says Jack, 'but I done a li'l sailin' mahse'f. +Fust place I went was to France. Grass look lak hit need rain,' (So he +tells dat Limey what he done fo' hit). + +"'Nex' I goes to Germany,' he says; 'ground no good; need fer'lizer.' +(So he tells 'im what he done on German soil). + +"Atter dat I ships fo' England,' Jack tells de Limey, lookin' 'im +straight in de eye. 'Fust thing I see w'en we land is dat British flag +w'at you be'n braggin' so loud about.' (So he tells dat Limey w'at 'e +used de flag fer). + +"'Fore God, Cap'm,' says Jack, 'dat Limey lan' on me wid bofe feet 'fore +I say anotha word. Nevah got in one lick. Fack is, Cap'm I ain't be'n +doin' _no fightin'_ sence I done lef' dis here ship." + +"'Go below,' says de cap'm 'an' clean yo'se'f up. Dis de lahst time you +two gwine git shore leave on dis trip.' He try to look mad, but I see he +wantin' to lahf. + +"De nex' day," Uncle Dave finished, with a whimsical smile, "I see de +bos'n readin' in de paper 'bout de war 'twixt America an' England. Hit +was 'bout our li'l war--what _dey_ stahted an' _we_ finished." + +The dusky old veteran of many battles unwrapped the small piece of black +tobacco in the soiled handkerchief, decided on conservation, and slowly +wrapped it up again. + +"Nex' comes orders from de admiral in Hong Kong to sail fer Rio +Janeiro. W'en we drop anchor, dere was some o' da meanes' lookin' wharf +rats I evah see. Killers, dey was, willin' to knock anybody off, any +time, fer a few cents. We lines up fer shore leave, but dey mek Jack an' +me stay on de ship. Our rucus in Panama done got us in bad wid de cap'm. +But Ah reckon hit was fer de bes'. One of our men come back wid a year +cut off an' a busted nose. 'Nother one neveh come back at all. + +"One mornin' I see 'em runnin' up a long pennant an' all de sailors lahf +an dahnce about lak dey crazy. Hit was de signal 'omeward boun'. We +weigh anchor and head fer N'York. + +"'Well, Taylor,' da officer say, when he pay me off 'you gwine ship wid +us again?' + +"'I gotta go home,' I tells 'im; 'got a job t' finish up in Key West.' + +"So dey gin me my discharge an' a Gov'ment pahs on de Mallory liner +_Clyde_. W'en I gits to Key West, fust place I goes was to dat fish +mahket w'ere my mammy done sent me three year an' six months befo'. I +buy fifteen cents wuth o' fish an' go on home. + +"W'en I git dere, dey was jes' settin' down to dinner. 'Wait,' Ah say, +'put on one mo' plate.' + +"My mammy look at me lak she done see a ghost. Den she run an' 'gin +beatin' on me. + +"'Hol' on,' Ah tells 'er, 'you ain't forgot dat beatin' yit? I done got +yo' fish,' an' I gin 'er de pahcel. + +"'Mah boy, mah boy,' she say, 'Ah beatin' on yuh kase Ah so proud t' see +yuh. Heah Ah done wear black fer yuh, an' gin yuh up fer daid; an' bress +de Lawd, heah you is, lak come beck f'm de grave.' + +"Ah retch down, in m' pocket an' pull a pahcel an' lay hit in her han'; +three hunnert sebenty-eight dollahs, all de money I done made wid de +Gov'ment sence Ah left, an' I gin hit all to 'er. She lak t' had a fit; +an Ah she' was de head man o' dat fembly whilst Ah stayed. + +"But de salt water stick to me--Ah couldn't stay ashore. So ahftah Ah +visit wid 'em a spell, Ah goes down to de docks an' sign t' ship on a +fo'-mahster tramp. Dat ol' tub tek me all ovah de worl'." + +Pressed for details of some of his physical encounters on this second +voyage, Uncle Dave seemed in deep thought, and finally said: + +"Well, Ah tell you 'bout de time I fout de bully of de ship. We was +still in Key West, waitin' fer wind. Dis ol' tramp ship, she got a crew +picked up f'm all ovah de worl'. Dere ain't no sich thing as a color +line dere. At mess time, white an' black all git in de same line. As dey +pahs by de table, each one take a knife an' cut off a piece o' meat. + +"Dere was a big, high-yeller Haiti higgah, what thought he done own de +ship. 'Trouble wiz 'Merican niggahs,' he say, 'dey ain't got no sperrit. +I be offisaire een my own countree--I don't bow ze knee to nobody, white +or black." + +"So when dey line up, dis here Haitian come crowdin' in ahead o' de fust +man in de line, an' he cut off de bes' lean meat 'fore we gits ours. + +"What's dis,' Ah say to de man ahead o' me, 'huccome dat white man don't +bus' dat damn yeller swab wide open?' + +"'Dat's Rousseau,' 'e says; 'Ain't nobuddy on dis ship big enough to put +'im on de tail end o' de line.' + +"I size 'im up good w'ile we eats. He weigh 196, dey tells me, an' +nobuddy be'n lucky 'nuff to lay 'im out. 'Cordin' t' ship rules, dey +couldn't gang up on 'im. Cap'm mek ev'ybuddy fight single. Wan't no sich +thing ez quarrelin'. Effen two sailors gits in a rucus, day pipe 'em up +on de main deck." + +"Do what?" the reporter asked. + +"Pipe 'em up--de bos'n blow a whistle an' call 'em in t' fight it out, +w'ile de othas watch de fun. Den day gotta shake han's, an' hit done +settled. + +"Well, Ah see dis here Haiti niggah be a li'l bigger'n me, but Ah figger +I gwine gin 'im a chajnce to staht sump'n de nex' time. So atter I takes +a couple o' drinks, I goes down early an' gits fust in de line. Sho' +'nuff, Rousseau comes up an' crowds in ahead o' me. Ah pushes him to one +side, an' gits ahead o' him. He raises his eyebrows, sorta +suprised-like, an' gits ahead o' me. I be fixin' to knock 'im clean ovah +de rail, but by dat time, de Cap'm had 'is eye on us. + +"'Pee-e-e-e-p,' go de whistle; 'Tay-lor-r-r-r' de bos'n sing out. + +"'Taylor," I ahnswer. + +"'Come to de mahst.' + +"I tells 'em how it was, how I fixin' to knock dat niggah so far into de +Gulf we be thoo eatin' 'fore he kin swim back. + +"'Pipe 'im up, bos'n,' says de cap'm. + +"Rousseau comes in, and de whole crew wid 'im, t' see de fight. 'Pull +off yer shirts,' says de cap'm, an' we done it. 'Wait,' says de bos'n; +'de deck jes' be'n swabbed down--why bloody hit up, Cap'm? How 'bout +lettin' 'em fight on shore?' + +"Day was a flatform 'side a buildin' nex' to de water. Dey all line de +rail an' let us go ashore t' scrap hit out. Boy, dat _was_ some fight; +We fout ontell we was lak two game roosters--both tired out, but still +wantin' t' keep goin'. We jes' stan' dere, han's on each otha's +shoulders, lookin' into each otha's eyes, blood runnin' down to our +toes. Pretty soon he back off an' try to rush me. I side steps, an' gits +in a lucky lick below de heart. He draps to his knees, an' rolls ovah +on his back, wallin' his eyes lak he dyin'. + +"Dey lay 'im on de deck an' souse 'im wid a bucket o' water, but he +sleeps right on. De res' go back to de mess line, all but me--I wan't +hongry. De nex' day I gits in line early, but dey wan't no Haiti niggah +t' muscle in ahead o' me. He kep' to his bunk mighty nigh a week." + +Judging from the appearance of this feeble old man, one would hardly +think that he was once a rollicking scrapper, with ready fists like +rawhide mallets. Old Dave dutifully gives full credit to the law of +heredity. + +"M' daddy was six feet six, an' weighed 248 pounds," he said proudly. +"Nevah done a hahd day's wuk in 'is life." + +When pressed for an explanation of this seeming phenomenon, the old man +sniffed disdainfully. + +"Does stock breeders wit a $10,000-stallion put 'im on de plow?... Dey +called my daddy de $10,000 niggah." + +Uncle Dave sat, stroking his cane for a few minutes, then smiled +faintly. "My mammy was mighty nigh as big, an' nevah seen a sick day in +her life. Wit a staht lak dat, hit ain't no wonder I growed up all +backbone an' muscle." + +While there have been many instances of atrocious cruelty to slaves, +Uncle Dave believes that other cases have been unduly magnified. He says +that he was never whipped by his master, but remembers numerous +chastisements at the hands of Miss Jessie, his young owner, daughter of +Pierre Pinckney. + +"De young missus used to beat me a right smaht," he recalled with an +amused smile. "I b'longed to her, y'see. She was a couple o' years +younger'n me. I mind I used to be hangin' 'round de kitchen, watchin 'em +cook cakes an' otha good things. W'en dey be done, I'd beg for one, an' +dey take 'em off in de otha room, so's I couldn't steal any. + +"Soon as de young missus be gone, I go an' kick ovah her playhouse an' +upset her toys. When she come back, she be hoppin' mad, an staht beatin' +me. + +"'Jessie,' her ma'd say, 'you'll kill Buddy, beatin' him dat way.' + +"'I don't care,' she say, 'I'll beat him to death, an' git me a bettah +one.' + +"I'd roll on de flo' an' holler loud, an' preten' she hurt me pow'ful +bad. By'm by, when she git ovah her mad spell, she go off in da otha +room an' come back sid some o' dem good things fo' me." The old man's +eyes twinkled. "Dat be w'at I'se atter all de time," he explained. + +The perils of a life at sea are not as great as fiction writers +sometimes indicate, according to this old sea dog. He says that in all +his voyages, he has been in only one serious wreck. That was on a reef +of coral keys off the Bahamas. + +"Day say dey ain't no wind so bad but what it blows some good to +somebuddy," observed the old man. "Dat same wind what land us on de +rocks done blow me to de bes' woman in de worl'. Ah reckon." + +He chewed slowly, as he gazed out over the dingy housetops toward the +mass of feathery clouds, which must have been floating over the rocky +shoals off Nassau. + +"She was de daughter o' de wreckin' mahater, a Nassau niggah by de name +o' Aleck Gator. W'en de crew done got us off de shoal and was towin' de +wreck in, dere she was, stahndin' on de dock, waitin' fer her daddy. +Big, overgrown gal, black an' devilish-lookin', noways handsome; but +somehow I jes' couldn't keep my eyes offen her. I notice she keep eyein' +me, too. + +"W'en we gits ashore, I didn't lose no time gittin in a good word f' +mahse'r. 'Fore I knowed it, we was talkin' 'bout wha' we gwine live ... +Fifty-one years is a mighty long time to stick to one woman, 'specially +w'en you be'n lookin' over so many 'fore makin' up yo' mind ... Dis is +her." + +Uncle Dave extended a tinted photograph. His gnarled fingers trembled as +he handed it over, and there was a suspicious softness in the lines of +his wrinkled old face, as he looked fondly at the likeness of the +stolid, dark features. + +"Hit be'n mighty lonesome since she done lef' dis worl' fo' year ago," +he said with feeling, as he carefully wrapped up the picture and put it +away. + +Uncle Dave has definite ideas of his own regarding domestic economy. +"Trouble wid young folks nowadays is dey don't have no good +unnerstahndin' 'fore dey gits married. 'Fore we ever faces de preacher, +I tells her she ain't gittin' no model man fer a husban'. I lake my +likker, an' I gwine have it w'en I wants it. + +"'Now lissen,' I tells 'er, 'effen I comes home drunk, don't you go t' +bressin' ee[TR:?] out. Don't you even _tetch_ me; jes' gimme a li'l +piller an' lemme go lay down on de flo' somewheres. Atter I drop off t' +sleep, you kin tear de house down, and hit don't botha me none. Wen I +wakes up, I be all right.' + +"Well, de fust time I come home full o' likker she done ferget w'at I +tell her, an' staht shovin' me. I done bus' 'er on de jaw so pow'ful +hahd hit lif' her feet offen de flo' an' she lan' in de corner on her +haid. W'en I wakes up an' sees w'at I done, I wish I could hit mahse'f +de same way. F'm dat day on, we nevah had no mo' trouble 'bout de +likker question." + +The weight of years has at last cooled the hot blood, but a hint of +departed swashbuckling days still glistens in the old eyes as he sits +on his narrow porch and recalls scenes of the old days. + +To one interested in the psychology of the Southern negro, this +shriveled old man, with his half-bantering, half-pathetic attitude +offers an interesting study. Borrowed from a page of history, he seems a +curiosity, like a fossil magically restored to life, endowed with the +power of speech, telling of events so deeply buried in the past that +they seem almost unreal. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Pearl Randolph, Field Worker +Jacksonville, Florida +November 35, 1936 + +ACIE THOMAS + + +Mr. Thomas was at home today. There are many days when one might pass +and repass the shabby lean-to that is his home without seeing any signs +of life. That is because he spends much of his time foraging about the +streets of Jacksonville for whatever he can get in the way of food or +old clothes, and perhaps a little money. + +He is a heavily bearded, bent old man and a familiar figure in the +residential sections of the city, where he earns or begs a very meager +livelihood. Many know his story and marvel at his ability to relate +incidents that must have occured when he was quite small. + +Born in Jefferson County, Florida on July 26, 1857, he was one of the +150 slaves belonging to the Folsom brothers, Tom and Bryant. His +parents, Thomas and Mary, and their parents as far as they could +remember, were all a part of the Folsom estate. The Folsoms never sold a +slave except he merited this dire punishment in some way. + +Acie heard vague rumors of the cruelties of some slave owners, but it +was unknown among the Folsoms. He thinks this was due to the fact that +certain "po white trash" in the vicinity of their plantation owned +slaves. It was the habit of the Folsoms to buy out these people whenever +they could do so by fair means or foul, according to his statements. And +by and by there were no poor whites living near them. It was, he further +stated like "damning a nigger's soul, if Marse Tom or Marse Bryant +threatened to sell him to some po' white trash. And it allus brung good +results--better than tearing the hide off'n him woulda done." + +As a child Acie spent much of his time roaming over the broad acres of +the Folsom plantation with other slave children. They waded in the +streams, fished, chased rabbits and always knew where the choicest wild +berries and nuts grew. He knew all the wood lore common to children of +his time. This he learned mostly from "cousin Ed" who was several years +older than he and quite willing to enlighten a small boy in these +matters. + +He was taught that hooting owls were very jealous of their night hours +and whenever they hooted near a field of workers they were saying: "Task +done or no done--night's my time--go home!" Whippoorwills flitted about +the woods in cotton picking time chattering about Jack marrying a widow. +He could not remember the story that goes with this. Oppossums were a +"sham faced" tribe who "sometimes wandered onto the wrong side of the +day and got caught." They never overcame this shame as long as they were +in captivity. + +All bull rushes and tree stumps were to be carefully searched. One +might find his baby brother there at any time. + +When Acie "got up some size" he was required to do small tasks, but the +master was not very exacting. There were the important tasks of +ferreting out the nests of stray hens, turkeys, guineas and geese. These +nests were robbed to prevent the fowls from hatching too far from the +hen house. Quite a number of these eggs got roasted in remote corners of +the plantation by the finders, who built fires and wrapped the eggs in +wet rags and covered them with ashes. When they were done a loud pop +announced that fact to the roaster. Potatoes were cooked in the same +manner and often without the rags. Consequently these two tasks were +never neglected by the slave children. Cotton picking was not a bad job +either--at least to the young. + +Then there was the ride to the cotton house at the end of the day atop +the baskets and coarse burlap sheets filled with the day's pickings. +Acie's fondest ambition was to learn to manipulate the scales that told +him who had done a good day's work and who had not. His cousin Ed did +this envied task whenever the overseer could not find the time. + +Many other things were grown here. Corn for the cattle and "roasting +ears," peanuts, tobacco and sugar cane. The cane was ground on the +plantation and converted into barrels of syrup and brown sugar. The cane +grinding season was always a gala one. There was always plenty of juice, +with the skimmings and fresh syrup for all. Other industries were the +blacksmith shop where horses and slaves were shod. The smoke houses +where scores of hogs and cows were prepared and hung for future use. The +sewing was presided over by the mistress. Clothing were made during the +summer and stored away for the cool winters. Young slave girls were kept +busy at knitting cotton and woolen stockings. Candles were made in the +"big house" kitchen and only for consumption by the household of the +master. Slaves used fat lightwood knots or their open fireplaces for +lighting purposes. + +There was always plenty of everything to eat for the slaves. They had +white bread that had been made on the place. Corn meal, rice, potatoes, +syrup vegetables and home-cured meat. Food was cooked in iron pots hung +over the fireplace by rings made of the same metal. Bread and pastries +were made in the "skillet" and "spider." + +Much work was needed to supply the demands of so large a plantation but +the slaves were often given time off for frolics (dances), +(quilting-weddings). These gatherings were attended by old and young +from neighboring plantations. There was always plenty of food, masters +vying with another for the honor of giving his slaves the finest +parties. + +There was dancing and music. On the Folsom plantation Bryant, the +youngest of the masters furnished the music. He played the fiddle and +liked to see the slaves dance "cutting the pigeon wing." + +Many matches were made at these affairs. The women came "all rigged out +in their best" which was not bad at all, as the mistresses often gave +them their cast off clothes. Some of these were very fine indeed with +their frills and hoops and many petticoats. Those who had no finery +contented themselves with scenting their hair and bodies with sweet +herbs, which they also chewed. Quite often they were rewarded by the +attention of some swain from a distant plantation. In this case it was +necessary for their respective owners to consent to a union. Slaves on +the Folsom plantation were always married properly and quite often had a +"sizeable" wedding, the master and mistress often came and made merry +with their slaves. + +Acie knew about the war because he was one of the slaves commandeered by +the Confederate army for hauling food and ammunition to different points +between Tallahassee and a city in Virginia that he is unable to +remember. It was a common occurrence for the soldiers to visit the +plantation owners and command a certain number of horses and slaves for +services such as Acie did. + +He thinks that he might have been about 15 years old when he was freed. +A soldier in blue came to the plantation and brought a "document" that +Tom, their master read to all the slaves who had been summoned to the +"big house" for that purpose. About half of them consented to remain +with him. The others went away, glad of their new freedom. Few had made +any plans and were content to wander about the country, living as they +could. Some were more sober minded, and Acie's father was among the +latter. He remained on the Folsom place for a short while; he then +settled down to share-croping in Jefferson County. Their first year was +the hardest, because of the many adjustments that had to be made. Then +things became better. By means of hard work and the co-operation of +friendly whites the slaves in the section soon learned to shift for +themselves. + +Northerners came South "in swarms" and opened schools for the ex-slaves, +but Acie was not fortunate enough to get very far in his "blue back +Webster." There was too much work to be done and his father trying to +buy the land. Nor did he take an interest in the political meetings held +in the neighborhood. His parents shared with him the common belief that +such things were not to be shared by the humble. Some believed that "too +much book learning made the brain weak." + +Acie met and married Keziah Wright, who was the daughter of a woman his +mother had known in slavery. Strangely enough they had never met as +children. With his wife he remained in Jefferson County, where nine of +their thirteen children were born. + +With his family he moved to Jacksonville and had been living here "a +right good while" when the fire occurred in 1903. He was employed as a +city laborer and helped to build street car lines and pave streets. He +also helped with the installation of electric wiring in many parts of +the city. He was injured while working for the City of Jacksonville, but +claims that he was never in any manner remunerated for this injury. + +Acie worked hard and accumulated land in the Moncrief section and lives +within a few feet of the spot where his house burned many years ago. He +was very sad as he pointed out this spot to his visitor. A few scraggly +hedges and an apple tree, a charred bit of fence, a chimney foundation +are the only markers of the home he built after years of a hard struggle +to have a home. His land is all gone except the scant five acres upon +which he lives, and this is only an expanse of broom straw. He is no +longer able to cultivate the land, not even having a kitchen garden. + +Kaziah, the wife, died several years ago; likewise all the children, +except two. One of these, a girl, is "somewhere up Nawth". The son has +visited him twice in five years and seems never to have anything to give +the old man, who expresses himself as desiring much to "quit die +unfriendly world" since he has nothing to live for except a lot of dead +memories. + +"All done left me now. Everything I got done gone--all 'cept Keziah. She +comes and visits me and we talk and walk over there where we uster and +set on the porch. She low she gwine steal ole Acie some of dese days in +the near future, and I'll be mighty glad to go ever yonder where all I +got is at." + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Acie Thomas, Moncrief Road Jacksonville, +Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Martin Richardson, Field Worker +South Jacksonville, Florida +December 8, 1936 + +SHACK THOMAS, Centenarian + + +Beady-eyed, grey-whiskered, black little Shack Thomas sits in the sun in +front of his hut on the Old Saint Augustine Road about three miles south +of Jacksonville, 102 years old and full of humorous reminiscences about +most of those years. To his frequent visitors he relates tales of his +past, disjointedly sometimes but with a remarkable clearness and +conviction. + +The old ex-slave does not remember the exact time of his birth, except +that it was in the year 1834, "the day after the end of the Indian War." +He does not recall which of the Indian wars, but says that it was while +there were still many Indians in West Florida who were very hard for him +to understand when he got big enough to talk, to them. + +He was born, he says on "a great big place that b'longed to Mister Jim +Campbell; I don't know just exactly how big, but there was a lot of us +working on it when I was a little fellow." The place was evidently one +of the plantations near Tallahassee; Thomas remembers that as soon as he +was large enough he helped his parents and others raise "corn, peanuts, +a little bit of cotton and potatoes. Squash just grew wild in the +woods; we used to eat them when we couldn't get anything else much." + +The centennarian remembers his parents clearly; his mother was one Nancy +and his father's name was Adam. His father, he says, used to spend hours +after the candles were out telling him and his brothers about his +capture and subsequent slavery. + +Adam was a native of the West Coast of Africa, and when quite a young +man was attracted one day to a large ship that had just come near his +home. With many others he was attracted aboard by bright red +handkerchiefs, shawls and other articles in the hands of the seamen. +Shortly afterwards he was securely bound in the hold of the ship, to be +later sold somewhere in America. Thomas does not know exactly where Adam +landed, but knows that his father had been in Florida many years before +his birth. "I guess that's why I can't stand red things now," he says; +"my pa hated the sight of it." + +Thomas spent all of his enslaved years on the Campbell plantation, where +he describes pre-emancipation conditions as better than "he used to hear +they was on the other places." Campbell himself is described as +moderate, if not actually kindly. He did not permit his slaves to be +beaten to any great extent. "The most he would give us was a +'switching', and most of the time we could pray out of that." + +"But sometimes he would get a hard man working for him, though," the old +man continues. "One of them used to 'buck and gag' us." This he +describes as a punishment used particularly with runaways, where the +slave would be gagged and tied in a squatting position and left in the +sun for hours. He claims to have seen other slaves suspended by their +thumbs for varying periods; he repeats, though, that these were not +Campbell's practices. + +During the years before "surrinder", Thomas saw much traffic in slaves, +he says. Each year around New Years, itinerant "speculators" would come +to his vicinity and either hold a public sale, or lead the slaves, tied +together, to the plantation for inspection or sale. + +"A whole lot of times they wouldn't sell 'em, they'd just trade 'em like +they did horses. The man (plantation owner) would have a couple of old +women who couldn't do much any more, and he'd swap 'em to the other man +for a young 'un. I seen lots of 'em traded that way, and sold for money +too." + +Thomas recalls at least one Indian family that lived in his neighborhood +until he left it after the War. This family, he says, did not work, but +had a little place of their own. "They didn't have much to do with +nobody, though," he adds. + +Others of his neighbors during these early years were abolition-minded +white residents of the area. These, he says would take in runaway slaves +and "either work 'em or hide 'em until they could try to get North." +When they'd get caught at it, though, they'd "take 'em to town and beat +'em like they would us, then take their places and run 'em out." + +Later he came to know the "pu-trols" and the "refugees." Of the former, +he has only to say that they gave him a lot of trouble every time he +didn't have a pass to leave--"they only give me one twice a week,"--and +of the latter that it was they who induced the slaves of Campbell to +remain and finish their crop after the Emancipation, receiving +one-fourth of it for their share. He states that Campbell exceeded this +amount in the division later. + +After 'surrinder' Thomas and his relatives remained on the Campbell +place, working for $5 a month, payable at each Christmas. He recalls how +rich he felt with this money, as compared with the other free Negroes in +the section. All of the children and his mother were paid this amount, +he states. + +The old man remembers very clearly the customs that prevailed both +before and after his freedom. On the plantation, he says, they never +faced actual want of food, although his meals were plain. He ate mostly +corn meal and bacon, and squash and potatoes, he adds "and every now and +then we'd eat more than that." He doesn't recall exactly what, but says +it was "Oh, lots of greens and cabbage and syrul, and sometimes plenty +of meat too." + +His mother and the other women were given white cotton--he thinks it may +have been duck--dresses "every now and then", he states, but none of the +women really had to confine themselves to white, "cause they'd dye 'em +as soon as they'd get 'em." For dye, he says they would boil wild +indigo, poke berries, walnuts and some tree for which he has an +undecipherable name. + +Campbell's slaves did not have to go barefoot--not during the colder +months, anyway. As soon as winter would come, each one of them was given +a pair of bright, untanned leather "brogans," that would be the envy of +the vicinity. Soap for the slaves was made by the women of the +plantation; by burning cockle-burrs, blackjack wood and other materials, +then adding the accumulated fat of the past few weeks. For light they +were given tallow candles. Asked if there was any certain time to put +the candles out at night, Thomas answers that "Mr. Campbell didn't care +how late you stayed up at night, just so you was ready to work at +daybreak." + +The ex-slave doesn't remember any feathers in the covering for his +pallet in the corner of his cabin, but says that Mr. Campbell always +provided the slaves with blankets and the women with quilts. + +By the time he was given his freedom, Thomas had learned several trades +in addition to farming; one of them was carpentry. When he eventually +left his $5 a month job with his master, he began travelling over the +state, a practice he has not discontinued until the present. He worked, +he says, "in such towns as Perry, Sarasota, Clearwater and every town in +Florida down to where the ocean goes under the bridge." (Probably Key +West.) + +He came to Jacksonville about what he believes to be half a century ago. +He remembers that it was "ever so long before the fire" (1901) and "way +back there when there wasn't but three families over here in South +Jacksonville: the Sahds, the Hendricks and the Oaks. I worked for all of +them, but I worked for Mr. Bowden the longest." + +The reference is to R.L. Bowden, whom Thomas claims as one of his first +employers in this section. + +The old man has 22 children, the eldest of those living, looking older +than Thomas himself. This "child" is fifty-odd years. He has been +married three times, and lives now with his 50 year old wife. + +In front of his shack is a huge, spreading oak tree. He says that there +were three of them that he and his wife tended when they first moved to +Jacksonville. "That one there was so little that I used to trim it with +my pocket-knife," he states. The tree he mentioned is now about +two-and-a-half feet in diameter. + +"Right after my first wife died, one of them trees withered," the old +man tells you. "I did all I could to save the other one, but pretty soon +it was gone too. I guess this other one is waiting for me," he laughs, +and points to the remaining oak. + +Thomas protests that his health is excellent, except for "just a little +haze that comes over my eyes, and I can't see so good." He claims that +he has no physical aches and pains. Despite the more than a century his +voice is lively and his hearing fair, and his desire for travel still +very much alive. When interviewed he had just completed a trip to a +daughter in Clearwater, and "would have gone farther than that, but my +son wouldn't send me no fare like he promised!" + + +REFERENCE + +1. Interview with subject, Shack Thomas, living on Old Saint Augustine +Road, South Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Rachel A. Austin +Jacksonville, Florida +November 30, 1936 + +LUKE TOWNS, A Centenarian + + +Luke Towns, a centenarian, now residing at 1335 West Eighth Street, +Jacksonville, Florida, was the ninth child born to Maria and Like Towns, +slaves, December 34, 1835, in a village in Tolberton County, Georgia. + +Mr. Town's parents were owned by Governor Towns, whose name was taken by +all the children born on the plantation; he states that he was placed on +the public blocks for sale, and was purchased by a Mr. Mormon. At the +marriage of Mr. Mormon's daughter, Sarah, according to custom, he was +given to this daughter as a wedding present, and thus became the slave +and took the name of the Gulleys and lived with them until he became a +young man at Smithville, Georgia, in Lee County. + +His chief work was that of carrying water, wood and working around the +house when a youngster; often, he states he would hide in the woods to +keep from working. + +Because his mother was a child-bearing woman, she did not know the hard +labors of slavery, but had a small patch of cotton and a garden near the +house to care for. "All of the others worked hard," said he "but had +kind masters who fed them well." When asked if his mother were a +christian, he replied "why yes: indeed she was, and believed in prayer; +one day as she traveled from her patch home, just as she was about to +let the 'gap' (this was a fence built to keep the hogs and horses shut +in) down, she knelt to pray and a light appeared before her and from +that time on she did not believe in any fogyism, but in God." + +"I cannot remember much now," he says, "of what happened in slavery, but +after slavery we went back to the name of Towns. I know I got some +whippings and during the war my job was that of carrying the master's +luggage." (1) + +After the war he went to Albany, Georgia and began working for himself, +hauling salt from Albany to Tallahassee, Florida; this salt was sold to +the stores. His next job was that of sampling cotton. + +Just before he was 30 years old he was married to Mary Julia Coats, who +lived near Albany, Georgia. To them were born the following children: +Willie, George, Alexander, Henry Hillsman, Ella Louise, and +twins--Walter Luke and Mary Julia, who were named for the parents. + +He was converted to the Baptist faith when his first child was born; +there were no churches, but services were held in the blacksmith shop on +the corner of Jackson and State Streets. Later he became a member of +Mount Zion Baptist Church Albany, Georgia, and served there for 50 +years as a deacon. + +He remained in Georgia until 1899 when he moved to Tampa, Florida and +there he operated a cafe. He joined Beulah Baptist Church and served as +deacon there until he sold his business and came to Jacksonville, 1917, +to live with his youngest daughter, Mrs. Mary Houston, because he was +too old to operate a business. In Jacksonville he connected himself with +the Bethel Baptist Church, and while too old to serve as an active +deacon, he was placed on the honorary list because of his previous +record of church service. + +As a relic of pre-freedom days, Mr. Towns has a piece of paper money and +a one-cent piece which he keeps securely looked in his trunk and allows +no one to open the trunk; he keeps the key. + +Mr. Towns, who will celebrate his one-hundred-first birthday, December +24, 1936, is not able to coherently relate incidents of the past; he +hears but little and that with great difficulty. + +He says he has his second eyesight; he reads without the use of glasses; +until very recently he has been very active in mind and body, having +registered in the Spring of 1936, signing his own name on the +registration books. He has almost all of his hair, which is thick, +silvery white and of artist length. He has most of his teeth, walks +without a cane except when painful; dresses himself without assistance. + +Mr. Towns rises at six o'clock each morning, often earlier. Makes his +bed (he has never allowed anyone to make his bed for him) and because it +is still dark has to lie across the bed to await the breaking of day. +His health is very good and his appetite strong. + +Upon the occasion of his one-hundredth birthday, December 24, 1935, his +daughter Mrs. Houston gave him a child's party and invited one hundred +guest; one hundred stockings were made, filled with fruits, nuts and +candies and one given each guest. A huge cake with one hundred candles +adorned the table and during the party, he cut the cake. At this party, +he showed all the joys and pleasures of a child. His other daughter Mrs. +E.L. McMillan, of New York City, and son, Mr. George Towns, for years an +instructor in Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, were present for the +occasion. + +Mr. Towns has been noted during his lifetime for having a remarkable +memory and has many times publicly delivered orations from many of +Shakespeare's works. His memory began failing him in 1936. + +He is very well educated and now spends most of his time sitting on the +porch reading the Bible. (2) + + +REFERENCES + +1. Luke Towns, 1225 West Eighth Street, Jacksonville, Florida + +2. Mary Houston, daughter of Luke Towns, 1225 West Eighth Street +Jacksonville, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +Viola B. Muse +Jacksonville, Florida +March 20, 1937 + +WILLIS WILLIAMS + + +Willis Williams of 1025 Iverson Street, Jacksonville, Florida, was born +at Tallahassee, Florida, September 15, 1856. He was the son of Ransom +and Wilhemina Williams, who belonged during the period of slavery to +Thomas Heyward, a rich merchant of Tallahassee. Willis does not know the +names of his paternal grandparents but remembers his maternal +grandmother was Rachel Fitzgiles, who came down to visit the family +after the Civil War. + +Thomas Heyward, the master, owned a plantation out in the country from +Tallahassee and kept slaves out there; he also owned a fine home in the +city as well as a large grocery store and produce house. + +Willis' mother, Wilhemina, was the cook at the town house and his +father, Williams, did carpentry and other light work around the place. +He does not remember how his father learned the trade, but presumes that +Mr. Heyward put him under a white carpenter until he had learned. The +first he remembers of his father was that he did carpentry work. + +At the time Willis was born and during his early life, even rich people +like Mr. Heyward did not have cook stoves. They knew nothing of such. +The only means of cooking was by fireplace, which, as he remembers, was +wide with an iron rod across it. To the rod a large iron pot was +suspended and in it food was cooked. An iron skillet with a lid was used +for baking and it also was used to cook meats and other food. The +common name for the utensil was 'spider' and every home had one. + +Willis fared well during the first nine years of his life which were +spent in slavery. To him it was the same as freedom for he was not a +victim of any unpleasant experiences as related by some other ex-slaves. +He played base ball and looked after his younger brothers and sister +while his mother was in the kitchen. He was never flogged but received +chastisement once from the father of Mr. Heyward. That, he related, was +light and not nearly so severe as many parents give their children +today. + +Wilhemina, his mother, and the cook, saw to it that her children were +well fed. They were fed right from the master's table, so to speak. They +did not sit to the table with the master and his family, but ate the +same kind of food that was served them. + +Cornbread was baked in the Heyward kitchen but biscuits also were baked +twice daily and the Negroes were allowed to eat as many as they wished. +The dishes were made of tin and the drinking vessels were made from +gourds. Few white people had china dishes and when they did possess them +they were highly prized and great care was taken of them. + +The few other slaves which Mr. Heyward kept around the town house tended +the garden and the many chickens, ducks and geese on the place. The +garden afforded all of the vegetables necessary for feeding Master +Heyward, his family and slaves. He did not object to the slaves eating +chicken and green vegetables and sent provisions of all kinds from his +store to boot. + +Although Mr. Heyward was wealthy there were many things he could not buy +for Tallahassee did not afford them. Willis remembers that candles were +mostly used for light. Home-made tallow was used in making them. The +moulds, which were made of wood, were of the correct size. Cotton string +twisted right from the raw cotton was cut into desired length and placed +in the moulds first, then heated tallow was poured in until they were +filled. The tallow was allowed to set and cool, then they were removed, +ready for use. + +In those days coffee was very expensive and a substitute for it was made +from parched corn. The whites used it as well as the slaves. + +Willis remembers a man named Pierce who cured cow hides. He used to buy +them and one time Willis skinned a cow and took the hide to him and sold +it. Sixty-five and seventy years ago everyone used horses or mules and +they had to have shoes. The blacksmith wore leather aprons and the +horses and mules wore leather collars. No one knew anything about +composition leather for making shoes so the tanning of hides was a +lucrative business. + +Clothing, during Civil War days and early Reconstruction, was simple as +compared to present day togs. Cloth woven from homespun thread was the +only kind Negroes had. Every house of any note could boast of a spinning +wheel and loom. Cotton, picked by slaves, was cleared of the seed and +spun into thread and woven into cloth by them. It was common to know how +to spin and weave. Some of the cloth was dyed afterwards with dye made +from indigo and polk berries. Some was used in its natural color. + +Cotton was the main product of most southern plantations and the owner +usually depended upon the income from the sale of his yearly crop to +maintain his home and upkeep of his slaves and cattle. It was necessary +for every farm to yield as much as possible and much energy was directed +toward growing and picking large crops. Although Mr. Heyward was a +successful merchant, he did not lose sight of the fact that his country +property could yield a bountiful supply of cotton, corn and tobacco. + +Around the town house Mr. Heyward maintained an atmosphere of home life. +He wanted his family and his servants well cared for and spared no +expense in making life happy. + +As Willis remembers the beds were made of Florida moss and feathers. +Boards ware laid across for slats and the mattress placed upon the +boards. On top of the moss mattress a feather one was placed which made +sleeping very comfortable. In summer the feather mattress was often +removed, sunned, aired and replaced in winter. Goose and the downy +feathers of chickens were saved and stored in large bags until enough +were collected for a mattress and it was considered a prize to possess +one. + +Every family of note boasted the ownership of a horse and buggy or +several of each. The kind most popular during Willis' boyhood was the +one-seated affair with a short wagon-like bed in the rear of the seat. +Sometimes two seats were used. The seats were removable and could be +used for carrying baggage or other light weights. The brougham, surrey +and landam were unknown to Willis. + +Before the Civil War and during the time the great struggle was in full +swing, women wore hoop skirts, very full, held out with metal hoops. +Pantaloons were worn beneath them and around the ankle where they were +gathered very closely, a ruffle edged with a narrow lace, finished them +off. The waist was tight fitting basque and sleeves which could be worn +long or to elbow, were very full. Women also wore their hair high up on +their heads with frills around the face. Negro women, right after +slavery, fell into imitating their former mistresses and many of them +who were fortunate enough to get employment used part of their earnings +for at least one good dress. It was usually made of woolen a yard wide, +or silk. + +Money has undergone a change as rapidly as some other commonplace +things. In Willis' early life, money valued at less than one dollar was +made of paper just as the dollar, five dollar or ten dollar bills were. +There was a difference however, in the paper representing 'change' and +not as much care was taken in protecting it from being imitated. The +paper money used for change was called "shin plasters" and much of it +flooded the southland during Civil War days. + +Mr. Heyward did not enlist in the army to help protect the south's +demise but his eldest son, Charlie, went. His younger son was not old +enough to go. Willis stated that Mr. Heyward did not go because he was +in business and was needed at home to look after it. It is not known +whether Charlie was killed at war or not, but, Willis said he did not +return home at the close of war. + +When the news of freedom came to Thomas Heyward's town slaves it was +brought by McCook's Cavalry. Willis remembers the uniforms worn by the +northerners was dark blue with brass buttons and the Confederates wore +gray. After the cavalry reached Tallahassee, they separated into +sections, each division taking a different part of the town. Negroes of +the household were called together and were informed of their freedom. +It is remembered by Willis that the slaves were jubilant but not +boastful. + +Mr. Heyward was dealt a hard blow during the war; his store was +confiscated and used as a commissary by the northern army. When the war +ended he was deprived of his slaves and a great portion of his former +wealth vanished with their going. + +The loss of his wealth and slaves did not bitter Mr. Heyward; to the +contrary, he was as kindhearted as in days past. + +McCook's Cavalry did not remain in Tallahassee very long and was +replaced by a colored company; the 99th Infantry. Their duty was to +maintain order within the town. An orchestra was with the outfit and +Willis remembers that they were very good musicians. A Negro who had +been the slave of a man of Tallahassee was a member of the orchestra. +His name was Singleton and his former master invited the orchestra to +come to his house and play for the family. The Negroes were glad to +render service, went, and after that entertained many white families in +their homes. + +The southern soldiers who returned after the war appeared to receive +their defeat as good 'sports' and not as much friction between the races +existed as would be imagined. The ex-slave, while he was glad to be +free, wanted to be sheltered under the 'wings' of his former master and +mistress. In most cases they were hired by their former owners and peace +reigned around the home or plantation. This was true of Tallahassee, if +not of other sections of the south. + +Soon after the smoke of the cannons had died down and people began +thinking of the future, the Negroes turned their thoughts toward +education. They grasped every opportunity to learn to read and write. +Schools were fostered by northern white capitalists and white women were +sent into the southland to teach the colored boys and girls to read, +write and figure. Any Negro who had been fortunate enough to gain some +knowledge during slavery could get a position as school teacher. As a +result many poorly prepared persons entered the school room as tutor. + +William Williams, Willis' father, found work at the old Florida Central +and Peninsular Railroad yards and worked for many years there. He sent +his children to school and Willis advanced rapidly. + +During slavery Negroes attended church, sat in the balcony, and very +often log churches were built for them. Meetings were held under "bush +harbors." After the war frame and log churches served them as places of +worship. These buildings were erected by whites who came into the +southland to help the ex-slave. Negro men who claimed God had called +them to preach served as ministers of most of the Negro churches but +often white preachers visited them and instructed them concerning the +Bible and what God wanted them to do. Services were conducted three +times a day on Sunday, morning at eleven, in afternoon about three and +at night at eight o'clock. + +The manner of worship was very much in keeping with present day modes. +Preachers appealed to the emotions of the 'flock' and the congregation +responded with "amens," "halleluia," clapping of hands, shouting and +screaming. Willis remarked to one white man during his early life, that +he wondered why the people yelled so loudly and the man replied that in +fifty years hence the Negroes would be educated, know better and would +not do that. He further replied that fifty years ago the white people +screamed and shouted that way. Willis wonders now when he sees both +white and colored people responding to preaching in much the same way as +in his early life if education has made much difference in many cases. + +Much superstition and ignorance existed among the Negroes during slavery +and early reconstruction. Some wore bags of sulphur saying they would +keep away disease. Some wore bags of salt and charcoal believing that +evil spirits would be kept away from them. Others wore a silver coin in +their shoes and some made holes in the coin, threaded a string through +it, attached it to the ankle so that no one could conjure them. Some who +thought an enemy might sprinkle "goofer dust" around their door steps +swept very clean around the door step in the evening and allowed no one +to come in afterwards. + +The Negro men who spent much time around the "grannies" during slavery +learned much about herbs and roots and how they were used to cure all +manner of ills, the doctor gave practically the same kind of medicine +for most ailments. The white doctors at that time had not been schooled +to a great extent and carried medicine bags around to the sick room +which contained pills and a very few other kinds of medicines which they +had made from herbs and roots. Some of them are used to-day but Willis +said most of their medicines were pills. + +Ten years after the Civil War Willis Williams had advanced in his +studies to the extent that he passed the government examination and +became a railway mail clerk. He ran from Tallahassee to Palatka and +River Junction on the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad. There was +no other railroad going into Tallahassee then. + +The first Negro railway mail clerk according to Willis' knowledge +running from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, was Benjamin F. Cox. The first +colored mail clerk in the Jacksonville Post Office was Camp Hughes. He +was sent to prison for rifling the mail. Willis Myers succeeded Hughes +and Willis Williams succeeded Myers. Willis received a telegram to come +to Jacksonville to take Myers' place and when he came expected to stay +three or four days, but, after getting here was retained permanently and +remained in the service until his retirement. + +His first run from Tallahassee to Palatka and River Junction began in +1875 and lasted until 1879. In 1879 he was called to Jacksonville to +succeed Myers and when he retired forty years later, had filled the +position creditably, therefore was retired on a pension which he will +receive until his death. + +Willis Williams is in good health, attends Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal +Church of which he is a member. He possesses all of his faculties and is +able to carry on an intelligent conversation on his fifty years in +Jacksonville. + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) + +James Johnson, Field Worker +Lake City, Florida +November 6, 1936 + +CLAUDE AUGUSTA WILSON + + +In 1857 on the plantation of Tom Dexter in Lake City, Columbia County, +Florida, was born a Negro, Claude Augusta Wilson, of slave parents. His +master Tom Dexter was very kind to his slaves, and was said to have been +a Yankee. His wife Mary Ann Dexter, a southerner, was the direct +opposite, she was very mean. Claude was eight years old when +Emancipation came. + +The Dexter plantation was quite a large place, covering 100 or more +acres. There were about 100 slaves, including children. They had regular +one room quarters built of logs which was quite insignificant in +comparison with the palatial Dexter mansion. The slaves would arise +early each morning, being awakened by a "driver" who was a white man, +and by "sun-up" would be at their respective tasks in the fields. All +day they worked, stopping at noon to get a bite to eat, which they +carried on the fields from their cabins. + +At "sun-down" they would quit work and return to their cabins, prepare +their meals and gossip from cabin to cabin. Finally retiring to await +the dawn of a new day which signalled a return to their routine duties. +At Sundays they would gather at a poorly constructed frame building +which was known as the "Meeting House," In this building they would give +praise and thanks to their God. The rest of the day was spent in +relaxation as this was the only day of the week in which they were not +forced to work. + +Claude Augusta worked in the fields, his mother and sister worked in the +Dexter mansion. Their duties were general house work, cooking and +sewing. His Mother was very rebellious toward her duties and constantly +harrassed the "Missus" about letting her work in the fields with her +husband until finally she was permitted to make the change from the +house to the fields to be near her man. + +The "missus" taught Claude's sister to sew and to the present day most +of her female descendants have some ability in dress making. + +The mansion was furnished with the latest furniture of the tine, but the +slave quarters had only the cheapest and barest necessities. His mother +had no stove but cooked in the fire place using a skillet and spider +(skillet, a small metal vessel with handle used for cooking; spider, a +kind of frying pan, Winston's Simplified Dictionary, 1924). The cooking +was not done directly on the coals in the fire place but placed on the +hearth and hot coals pulled around them, more coals being pulled about +until the food was cooked as desired. Corn bread, beans, sweet potatoes +(Irish potatoes being unknown) and collard greens were the principal +foods eaten. Corn bread was made as it is today, only cooked +differently. The corn meal after being mixed was wrapped in tannion +leaves (elephant ears) and placed in hot coals. The leaves would parch +to a crisp and when the bread was removed it was a beautiful brown and +unburned. Sweet potatoes were roasted in the hot coals. Corn was often +roasted in the shucks. There was a substitute for coffee that afforded a +striking similarity in taste. The husks of the grains of corn were +parched, hot water was then poured in this, the result was a pleasant +liquid substitute for coffee. These was another bread used as a desert, +known as potato bread, made by tailing potatoes until done, then +mashing, adding grease and meal, this was baked and then it was ready to +serve. For lights, candles were made of tallow which was poured into a +mould when hot. A cord was run through the center of the candle +impression in the mould in which the tallow was poured, when this cooled +the candle with cord was all ready for lighting. + +The only means of obtaining water was from an open well. No ice was +used. The first ice that Claude ever saw in its regular form was in +Jacksonville after Emancipation. This ice was naturally frozen and +shipped from the north to be sold. It was called Lake Ice. + +Tanning and curing pig and cow hides was done, but Claude never saw the +process performed during slavery. Claude had no special duties on the +plantation on account of his youth. After cotton was picked from the +fields the seeds were picked out by hand, the cotton was then carded for +further use. The cotton seed was used as fertilizer. In baling cotton +burlap bags were used on the bales. The soap used was made from taking +hickory or oak wood and burning it to ashes. The ashes were placed in a +tub and water poured over them. This was left to set. After setting for +a certain time the water from the ashes was poured into a pot containing +grease. This was boiled for a certain time and then left to cool. The +result was a pot full of soft substance varying in color from white to +yellow, this was called lye soap. This was then cut into bars as desired +for use. + +For dyeing thread and cloth, red oak bark, sweet gum bark and shoe make +roots were boiled in water. The wash tubs were large wooden tubs having +one handle with holes in it for the fingers. Chicken and goose feathers +were always carefully saved to make feather mattresses. Claude remembers +when women wore hoop skirts. He was about 20 years of age when narrow +skirts became fashionable for women. During slavery the family only used +slats on the beds, it was after the war that he saw his first spring bed +and at that tine the first buggy. This buggy was driven by ex-governor +Reid of Florida who then lived in South Jacksonville. It was a +four-wheeled affair drawn by a horse and looked sensible and natural as +a vehicle. + +The paper money in circulation was called "shin plasters." Claude's +uncle, Mark Clark joined the Northern Army. His master did not go to war +but remained on the plantation. One day at noon during the war the gin +house was seen to be afire, one of the slaves rushed in and found the +master badly burned and writhing in pain. He was taken from the building +and given first aid, but his body being burned in oil and so badly +burned it burst open, thus ended the life of the kindly master of +Claude. + +The soldiers of the southern Army wore gray uniforms with gray caps and +the soldiers of the Northern Army wore blue. + +After the war such medicines as castor oil, rhubarb, colomel and blue +mass and salts were generally used. The Civil War raged for some tine +and the slaves on Dexter's plantation prayed for victory of the Northern +Army, though they dared not show their anxiety to Mary Ann Dexter who +was master and mistress since the master's death. Claude and his family +remained with the Dexters until peace was declared. Mrs. Dexter informed +the slaves thay they could stay with her if they so desired and that she +would furnish everything to cultivate the crops and that she would give +them half of what was raised. None of the slaves remained but all were +anxious to see what freedom was like. + +Claude recalls that a six-mule team drove up to the house driven by a +colored Union soldier. He helped move the household furniture from their +cabin into the wagon. The family then got in, some in the seat with the +driver, and others in back of the wagon with the furniture. When the +driver pulled off he said to Claude's mother who was sitting on the seat +with him, "Doan you know you is free now?" "Yeh Sir," she answered, "I +been praying for dis a long time." "Come on den les go," he answered, +and drove off. They passed through Olustee, then Sanderson, Macclenny +and finally Baldwin. It was raining and they were about 20 miles from +their destination, Jacksonville, but they drove on. They reached +Jacksonville and were taken to a house that stood on Liberty street, +near Adams. White people had been living there but had left before the +Northern advance. There they unloaded and were told that this would be +their new home. The town was full of colored soldiers all armed with +muskets. Horns and drums could be heard beating and blowing every +morning and evening. The colored soldiers appeared to rule the town. +More slaves were brought in and there they were given food by the +Government which consisted of hard tack (bread reddish in appearance and +extremely hard which had to be soaked in water before eating.) The meat +was known as "salt horse." This looked and tasted somewhat like corned +beef. After being in Jacksonville a short while Claude began to peddle +ginger bread and apples in a little basket, selling most of his wares to +the colored soldiers. + +His father got employment with a railroad company in Jacksonville, known +as the Florida Central Railway and received 99ยข a day, which was +considered very good pay. His mother got a job with a family as house +woman at a salary of eight dollars a month. They were thus considered +getting along fine. They remained in the house where the Government +placed them for about a year, then his father bought a piece of land in +town and built a house of straight boards. There they resided until his +death. + +By this time many of the white people began to return to their homes +which had been abandoned and in which slaves found shelter. In many +instances the whites had to make monetary or other concessions in order +to get their homes back. It was said that colored people had taken +possession of one of the large white churches of the day, located on +Logon street, between Ashley and Church streets. Claude relates that all +this was when Jacksonville was a mere village, with cow and hog pens in +what was considered as downtown. The principal streets were: Pine (now +Main), Market and Forsyth. The leading stores were Wilson's and Clark's. +These stores handled groceries, dry goods and whisky. + +As a means of transportation two-wheeled drays were used, mule or +horse-drawn cars, which was to come into use later were not operating at +that time. To cross the Saint Johns River one had to go in a row boat, +which was the only ferry and was operated by the ex-governor Reid of +Florida. It docked on the north side of the river at the foot of Ocean +Street, and on the south side at the foot of old Kings Road. It ran +between these two points, carrying passengers to and fro. + +The leading white families living in Jacksonville at that time were the +Hartridges, Bostwicks, Doggetts, Bayels and L'Engles. + +Claude Augusta Wilson, a man along in years has lived to see many +changes take place among his people since The Emancipation which he is +proud of. A peaceful old gentleman he is, still alert mentally and +physically despite his 79 years. His youthful appearance belies his age. + + +REFERENCE + +1. Personal interview with Claude Augusta Wilson, Sunbeam, Florida + + + + +FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT +Jacksonville, Florida +June 30, 1938 + +DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA EX-SLAVE STORIES + + +CHARLEY ROBERTS: + +Charley Roberts of Perrine, Florida, was born on the Hogg plantation +near Allendale, S.C. + +"Yes, sah, I' members de vary day when we first heard that we was free. +I was mindin' the little calf, keepin' it away from the cow while my +mother was milkin'. + +"We have to milk the cows and carry the milk to the Confederate soldiers +quartered near us. + +"At that time, I can 'member of the soldiers comin' 'cross the Savannah +River. They would go to the plantations and take all the cows, hogs, +sheep, or horses they wanted and "stack" their guns and stay around some +places and kill some of the stock, or use the milk and eat corn and all +the food they wanted as they needed it. They'd take quilts and just +anything they needed. + +"I don't know why, but I remember we didn't have salt given to us, so we +went to the smoke house where there were clean boards on the floor where +the salt and grease drippings would fall from the smoked hams hanging +from the rafters. The boards would be soft and soaked with salt and +grease. Well, we took those boards and cooked the salt and fat out of +them, cooked the boards right in the bean soup. That way we got salt and +the soup was good. + +"They used to give us rinds off the hams. I was a big boy before I ever +knew there was anything but rinds a pork meat. We went around chewing +away at those rinds of hams, and we sure liked them. We thought that was +the best meat there was. + +"I used to go to the Baptist church in the woods, but I never went to +school. I learned to read out of McGuffey's speller. It was a little +book with a blue back. I won't forget that. + +"I try to be as good as I know how. I've never given the state any +trouble, nor any of my sons have been arrested. I tries to follow the +Golden Rule and do right. + +"I have seven living children. We moved to Miami when our daughter moved +here and took sick. We live at Perrine now, but we want to come to +Miami, 'cause I aint able to work, but my wife, she is younger and able +to work. We don't want to go on charity any more'n we have to." + + +JENNIE COLDER: + +Jennie Colder was born in Georgia on Blatches' settlement. "Blatches, he +kep's big hotel, too and he kep' "right smart" slaves. By the time I was +old enough to remember anything we was all' free, but we worked hard. My +father and mother died on the settlement. + +"I picked cotton, shucked cotton, pulled fodder and corn and done all +dat. I plowed with mules. Dis is Jennie Colder, remember dat. Don't +forget it. I done all dat. I plowed with mules and even then the +overseer whipped me. I dont know exactly how old I am, but I was born +before freedom." + + +BANANA WILLIAMS: + +Banana Williams, 1740 N.W. 5th Court, Miami, Florida was born in Grady +County, Georgia, near Cairo in the 16th District. + +"The man what I belonged to was name Mr. Sacks. My mother and father +lived there. I was only about three years old when peace came, but I +remember when the paddle rollers came there and whipped a man and woman. + +"I was awful 'fraid, for that was somethin' I nevah see before. We +"stayed on" but we left before I was old enough to work, but I did work +in the fields in Mitchell County. + +"I came to Miami and raised 5 children. I'm staying with my daughter, +but I'm not able to work much. I'm too done played out with old age." + + +FRANK BATES: + +Frank Bates, 367 N.W. 10th Street, Miami, Florida was born on Hugh Lee +Bates' farm in Alabama in the country not very far from Mulberry Beat. + +"My mother and father lived on the same plantation, but I was too little +to do more than tote water to the servants in the fields. + +"I saw Old Bates whip my mother once for leaving her finger print in the +pone bread when she patted it down before she put it into the oven. + +"I remember seeing Lundra, Oscar and Luke Bates go off to war on three +fine horses. I dont know whether they ever came back or not, for we +moved that same day." + + +WILLIAM NEIGHTEN: + +William Neighten gave his address as 60th Street, Liberty City. He was +only a baby when freedom came, but he too, "stayed on" a long time +afterward. + +He did not know his real name, but he was given his Massy's name. + +"Don't ask me how much work I had to do. Gracious! I used to plow and +hoed a lot and everything else and then did'nt do enough. I got too many +whippings besides." + + +RIVIANA BOYNTON: + +Rivana Williams Boynton [TR: as in earlier interview, but Riviana, +above] was born on John and Mollie Hoover's plantation near Ulmers, +S.C., being 15 years of age when the 'Mancipation came. + +"Our Boss man, he had "planty" of slaves. We lived in a log houses. My +father was an Indian and he ran away to war, but I don't 'member +anything of my mother. She was sold and taken away 'fore I ever knew +anything of her. + +"I 'member that I had to thin cotton in the fields and mind the flies in +the house. I had a leafy branch that was cut from a tree. I'd stand and +wave that branch over the table to keep the flies out of the food. + +"I'd work like that in the day time and at night I'd sleep in my uncle's +shed. We had long bunks along the side of the walls. We had no beds, +just gunny sacks nailed to the bunks, no slats, no springs, no nothing +else. You know how these here sortin' trays are made,--these here trays +that they use to sort oranges and 'matoes. Well, we had to sleep on gunn +sack beds. + +"They had weavin' looms where they made rugs and things. I used to holp +'em tear rags and sew 'em an' make big balls and then they'd weave those +rugs,--rag rugs, you know. That's what we had to cover ourselves with. +We didn't had no quilts nor sheets not nothin like that." + +[TR: The following portion of this interview is a near repeat of a +portion of an earlier interview with this informant; however it is +included here because the transcription varies.] + +"I 'member well when the war was on. I used to turn the corn sheller and +sack the shelled corn for the Confederate soldiers. They used to sell +some of the corn, and I guess they gave some of it to the soldiers. +Anyway the Yankees got some that they didn't intend them to get. + +"It was this way: + +"The Wheeler Boys were Confederates. They came down the road as happy as +could be, a-singin': + + 'Hurrah! Hur rah! Hurrah! + Hurrah! for the Broke Brook boys. + Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! + Hurrah for the Broke Brook boys of South Car-o-li-ne-ah.' + +"So of course, we thought they were our soldiers singin' our songs. +Well, they came and tol' our boss that the Yankees were coming and we +had better hide our food and valuable things for they'd take everything +they wanted. + +"So they helped our Massy hide the things. They dug holes and buried the +potatoes and covered them over with cotton seed. Then our Massy gave +them food for their kindness and set out with two of the girls to take +them to a place of safety, and before he could come back for the Missus +The Yankees were upon us. + +"But before they got there, our Missus had called us together and told +us what to say. + +"Now you beg for us! You can save our lives. If they ask you if we are +good to you, you tell them, 'YES'! + +"If they ask you, if we give your meat, you tell them 'YES'! + +"Now the rest didn't get any meat, but I did 'cause I worked in the +house, so I didn't tell a lie, for I did get meat, but the rest didn't +get it. + +"We saw the Yankees coming. They never stopped for nothing. Their horses +would jump the worn rail fences and they'd come right across the fiel's +an' everything. + +"They came to the house first and bound our Missus up stairs so she +couldn't get away, then they came out to the sheds and asked us all kind +of questions. + +"We begged for our Missus and we say: + + 'Our Missus is good. Don't kill her! + 'Dont take our meat away from us! + 'Dont hurt our Missus! + 'Dont burn the house down! + +[TR: The rest of the interview is new information.] + +"We begged so hard that they unloosened her, but they took some of the +others for refugees and some of the slaves volunteered and went off with +them. + +"They took potatoes and all the hams they wanted, but they left our +Missus, 'cause me save her life. + +"The Uncle what I libbed with, he was awful full of all kinds of +devilment. He stole sweet taters out of the bank. He called them "pot" +roots and sometimes he called them "blow horts". You know they wuld blow +up big and fat when they were roasted in the ashes. + +"My uncle, he liked those blow horts mighty well, and one day, when he +had some baked in the fireplace, Ole Massy Hoover, he came along and +peeked in through the "hold" in de chimley wall, where the stones didn't +fit too good. + +"He stood there and peeked in an' saw my uncle eat in' those blow +horts. He had a big long one shakin' the ashes off on it. He was blowing +it to cool it off so he could eat it and he was a-sayin' + +"'Um! does blowhorts is mighty good eatin'. Then Massy, he come in wid +his big whip, and caught him and tied him to a tree and paddled him +until he blistered and then washed his sore back with strong salt water. +You know they used to use salt for all of sores, but it sho' did smart. + +"My aunt, she was an Indian woman. She didn't want my uncle to steal, +but he was just full of all kind of devilment. + +"My Massy liked him, but one day he played a trick on him. + +"My Uncle took sick, he was so sick that when my Massy came to see him, +he asked him to pray that he should die. So Massy Hoover, he went home +and wrapped himself up in a big long sheet and rapped on the door real +hard. + +"Uncle, he say, 'who's out there? What you want?' + +"Massy, he change his voice and say, 'I am Death. I hear that you want +to die, so I've come after your soul. Com with me! Get ready. Quick I am +in a hurry!' + +"'Oh, my sakes!' my uncle, he say, 'NO, no I aint ready yet. I aint ready +to meet you. I don't want to die.' + +"My Missus whipped me once, but not so very hard. I was under Her +daughter, Miss Mollie. She liked me and always called me "Tinker". When +she heard me crying and goin' on, she called: + +"'Tinker, come here. What's the matter? Did you Missus whip you?' + +"Then my Missus said, 'Tinker was a bad girl, I told her to sweep the +yard and she went off and hid all day.' + +"Mollie, she took me up in her arms and said, 'They mustn't whip +Tinker; she's my little girl.' + +"If it hadn't been for Miss Mollie, I don't know where I'd be now. I +married right after freedom. My husband, Alexander Boynton and I stayed +right on the plantation and farmed on the shares. + +"We had planty of children,--18 in all.--three sets of twins. They all +grew up, except the twins, they didn't any of them get old enough to get +married, but all the rest lived and raised children. + +"They are all scattered around, but my youngest son is only 38 years +old. I have grand-children, 40 years old. + +"I don't know just how many, but I have 20 grand-children and I have +three generations of grand-children. Yes, my grand-children, some of +them, have grand-children. That makes five generations. + +"I tell them that I am a "gitzy, gitzy" grand-mother." + +"I live right here with my daughter. She's my baby girl. I'm not very +strong anymore, but I have a big time telling stories to my +great-grand-children and great-great-grand children". + + +SALENA TASWELL: + +Salena Taswell, 364 NW 8th St. Miami, Florida, is one of the oldest +ex-slave women in Miami. Like most ex-slaves she is very courteous; she +will talk about the "old times", if she has once gained confidence in +you, but her answers will be so laconic that two or three visits are +necessary in order for an interviewer to gain tangible information +without appearing too proddish. + +With short, measured step, bent form, unsteady head, wearing a beaming +smile, Salena takes the floor. + +"Ole Dr. Jameson, he wuz my Massy. He had a plantation three mile from +Perry, Georgia. I can 'member whole lots about working for them. Y' see +I was growned up when peace came. + +"My mother used to be a seamstress and sewed with her fingers all the +time. She made the finest kind of stitches while I worked around de +table or did any other kind of house work. + +"I knowed de time when Ab'ram Linkum come to de plantation. He come +through there on the train and stopped over night oncet. He was known by +Dr. Jameson and he came to Perry to see about the food for the soldiers. + +"We all had part in intertainin' him. Some shined his shoes, some cooked +for him, an' I waited on de table, I can't forget that. We had chicken +hash and batter cakes and dried venison that day. You be sure we knowed +he was our friend and we catched what he had t' say. Now, he said this: +(I never forget that 'slong as I live) 'If they free de people, I'll +bring you back into the Union' (To Dr. Jameson) 'If you don't free your +slaves, I'll "whip" you back into the Union. Before I'd allow my wife +an' children to be sold as slaves, I'll wade in blood and water up to my +neck'. + +"Now he said all that, if my mother and father were living, they'd tell +y' the same thing. That's what Linkum said. + +"He came through after Freedom and went to the 'Sheds' first. I couldn't +'magine what was going on, but they came runnin' to tell me and what a +time we had. + +"Linkum went to the smoke house and opened the door and said 'Help +yourselves; take what you need; cook yourselves a good meall and we sho' +had a celebration!" + +"The Dr. didn't care; he was lib'ral. After Freedom, when any of us got +married he'd give us money and send a servant along for us. Sometimes +even he'd carry us himself to our new home." + + + + +DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, FOLKLORE + +MIAMI'S EX-SLAVES + + +There is a unique organization in the colored population of Miami known +as the "Ex Slave Club." This club now claims twenty-five members, all +over 65 years of age and all of whom were slaves in this country prior +to the Civil War. The members of this interesting group are shown in the +accompanying photograph. The stories of their lives as given verbatim by +these aged men and women are recorded in the following stories: + + +ANNIE TRIP: + +"My name's Annie Trip. How my name's Trip, I married a Trip, but I was +borned in Georgia in the country not so very far from Thomasville. I'm +sure you must ha' heard of Thomasville, Georgia. Well, that's where I +was borned, on Captain Hamlin's plantation. + +"Captain Hamlin, he was a greatest lawyer. Henry Hamlin, you know he was +the greatest lawyer what ever was, so dey tell me. You see I was small. +My mother and father and four brothers all lived there together. Some of +the rest were too small to remember much, but dey wuz all borned dare +just de samey. Wish I wuz dare right now. I had plenty of food then. I +didn't need to bother about money. Didn't have none. Didn't have no +debts to pay, no bother not like now. + +"Now I have rheumatism and everything, but no money. Didn't need any +money on Captain Hamlin's plantation." And Annie walked away complaining +about rheumatism and no money, etc. before her exact age and address +could be obtained. + + +MILLIE SAMPSON: + +Millie Sampson, 182 W. 14th St. Miami, Florida, was born in Manning, +S.C. only three years 'bfo' Peace". + +"My mother and father were born on the same plantation and I di'n't +have nothin' to do 'sept play with the white children and have plenty to +eat. My mother and father were field han's. I learned to talk from the +white children." + + +ANNIE GAIL: + +Annie Gail, 1661 NW 6th Court, Miami, Florida, was four years old when +"peace came." + +"I was borned on Faggott's place near Greenville, Alabama. My mother, +she worked for Faggott. He wuz her bossman. When she'd go out to de +fiel's, I 'member I used to watch her, for somehow I wuz feared she would +get away from me. + +"Now I 'member dat jes ez good as 'twas yesterday. I didn't do anything. +I just runned 'round. + +"We just 'stayed on' after de' 'Mancipation'. My mother, she was hired +then. I guess I wuzn't 'fraid ob her leavin' after dat." + + +JESSIE ROWELL: + +Jessie Rowell, 331 NW 19th St., Miami, Florida was born in Mississippi, +between Fossburg and Heidelberg, on the Gaddis plantation. + +"My grandmother worked in the house, but my mother worked in the field +hoeing or picking cotton or whatever there was to do. I was too little +to work. + +"All that I can 'member is, that I was just a little tot running 'round, +and I would always watch for my mother to come home. I was always glad +to see her, for the day was long and I knew she'd cook something for me +to eat. I can 'member dat es good as 'twas yestiday. + +"We 'stayed on' after Freedom. Mother was give wages then, but I don't +know how much." + + +MARGARET WHITE: + +Margaret White, 6606 18th Ave., Liberty City, Miami. Florida is one of +those happy creatures who doesn't look as if she ever had a care in the +world. She speaks good English: + +"I am now 84 years old, for I was 13 when the Emancipation Proclamation +was made. It didn't make much difference to me. I had a good home and +was treated very nicely. + +"My master was John Eckels. He owned a large fruit place near Federal, +N.C. + +"My father was a tailor and made the clothes for his master and his +servants. I was never sold. My master just kept me. They liked me and +wouldn't let me be sold. He never whipped me, for I was a slave, you +know, and I had to do just as I was told. + +"I worked around the house doing maid's work. I also helped to care for +the children in the home." + + +PRISCILLA MITCHELL: + +Priscilla Mitchell, 1614 NW 5th Ave., was born in Macon County, Alabama, +March 17, 1858. + +"Y' see, ah wuz oney 7 years old when ah wuz 'mancipated. I can 'member +pickin' cotton, but I didn't work so hard, ah wuz too young. + +"I wuz my Massy's pet. No, no he wouldn't beat me. Whenever ah's bad or +did little things that my mother didn't want me to do and she'd go to +whip me, all I needed to do was to run to my Massy and he'd take me up +and not let my mother git me." + +This is a sample of the attitude that very many have toward their +masters. + + +FANNIE McCAY: + +Fannie McCay, 1720 NW 3rd Court, Miami, Florida was born on a plantation +while her father and mother were slaves; she claims her age is 73 years +which would make her too young to remember "mancipation" but +nevertheless she was slave property of her master and could have been +sold or given away even at that tender age. Her parents, too, "stayed +on" quite a while after the "mancipation". + +Being one of those who "didn't have too much time to talk too much," her +main statement was: + +"'Bout all hi ken 'member is dat hi hused go hout wid de old folks when +dey went out to pick cotton. Hi used to pick a little along. + +"I had plenty to eat and when we went away, my Massy had a little calf +that I liked so well. I begged my Massy to give it to me, but he never +gave me none." + + +HATTIE THOMAS: + +Hattie Thomas was six years old when peace was declared. She was +'borned' near Custer, Ga. on Bob Morris' plantation. At the tender age +of five, she can remember of helping to care for the other children, +some of whom were her own brothers and children, for her mother kept her +eight children with her. + +Bob Morris' plantation being a large one, the problem of feeding all the +slaves and their children was, in itself, a large one. Hattie can well +remember of 'towing' the milk to the long wooden troughs for the +children. Her mother and the other servants would throw bread crusts and +corn breads into the milk troughs and when they would become +well-soaked, all the little slave-children would line up with their +spoons. + +"So it happened that the ones who could eat the fastest would be the +ones who would get the fattest. + +"We had a good plenty to eat and it didn't make much difference how it +was served. We got it just the same and didn 't know any better. + +"We stayed on after de 'mancipation an' ah wants t' tell y' ah worked +hard in dose days. Of course, ah worked hardest after Peace wuz +declared. + +"I wuz on dat plantation when there wuz no matches. Yes, dat wuz befo' +matches wuz made an' many-a time ah started fire in de open fire place +by knookin' two stones together until I'd sen' sparks into a wad +o'cotton until it took fire. + +"Now, mind y' this was on Bob Morrison's plantation between Custard and +Cotton Hill, Ga. We had no made brooms; we just bound broom corn tops +together and used them for brooms and brushes. We didn't have no stoves +either. We just cooked in a high pot on a rack. I done all dat. + +"Ah haint had no husband for 38 years, but ah raised two sets +o'chilluns, nine in all and now ah has 25 grandchildren and I don't know +how many great gran' chillun." + + +DAVID LEE: + +David Lee, 1006 NW 1st Court, Miami, Fla. is proud of his "missus" and +the training he received on the plantation. + +"Ah can't tell y' 'zackkly mah age, but ah knows dat when Freedom was +declared, ah was big 'nough ter drive a haws an' buggy', for ah had nice +folks. Ah could tell u' right smart 'bout 'em. + +"Ah libbed near Cusper, Ga. on Barefield's fahm. Dare daughter, Miss Ann +Barefield, she taught a school few miles away, 'round pas' the Post +Hoffice. Ah s'posen ah mus' bee 9 or 10 years hold, for ah' carried Miss +Ann backwards and forwards t' school hev'ry marnin' and den in the +hevenin', ah'd stop 'round fer de mails when ah'd go fer to carry her +home. + +"Miss Ann, she used ter gibme money, but hi didn't know what t' do wid +hit. Ah had all de clothes ah could we ah and all ah could eat and +didn't need playthings, couldn't read much, and didn't know where to buy +any books. Ah had hit good. + +"When peace wuz signed, dey gib me lots of Confederate bills to play +with. Ah had ten-dollah bills and lots o' twenty-dollah bills, good +bills, but y'know dey wus 't wuth nothing. Ah have a twenty-doll ah bill +'roun som'ers, if hi could evah fin' hit. + +"Yes, ah had hit good. My mothah, she stayed on de plantation, too. She +did de churnin' and she run de loom. She wuz a good weaver. Ah used ter +help her run de loom. + +"We stayed on a while after Freedom and den our Massy he giv' my mothah +a cow and calf along wid other presents an 'he carried us back to my +father an' we had a little home. + +"Ah loved man Missus just as good as ah did my own mothah. She whipped +me a few times but then de whippins wuz honly raps on de head wid her +thimble. Ah spose ah needed hit, for ah "did like sugah"! (Growing more +confidential he explained); + +"Now, ah wouldn't steal nothin' else, but--uh--ah,--uh--ah did like +sugah!" + +"Missus, she had a big barrel ob lumpy sugah in de pantry. De doo' wuz +ginnerly looked, but sometimes when hit wuz hopen, ah'd go in an' take a +han' fu'. + +"Ah 'rembah once, ah crawled in tru de winder and mah Missus she +s'picionated ah wuz in dare eatin' sugah, so she called, "David, you +anser me, you all's in [TR: rest of page cut off.] + + + + + +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 12297 *** |