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diff --git a/18912.txt b/18912.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6fb728 --- /dev/null +++ b/18912.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10520 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, +Part 1, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 1 + A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From + Interviews with Former Slaves. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: July 26, 2006 [EBook #18912] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES VOL. XIV. *** + + + + +Produced by Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by the +Library of Congress, Manuscript Division) + + + + + + + + + +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 XIV + +SOUTH CAROLINA NARRATIVES + +PART 1 + + +Prepared by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress +Administration for the State of South Carolina + ++-----------------------------------------------------+ +| TRANSCRIBER NOTES: | +|To reflect the individual character of this document,| +|inconsistencies in formatting have been retained. | +| | +|[HW: ] denotes a handwritten note. | ++-----------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + + INFORMANTS + + + Abrams, M. E. 1 + + Adams, Ezra 5 + + Adams, Mary 9 + + Adams, Victoria 10 + + Adamson, Frank 13 + + Andrews, Frances 17, 18 + + Arthur, Pete 19 + + + Bacchus, Josephine 20 + + Ballard, William 26 + + Barber, Charley 29 + + Barber, Ed 34 + + Barber, Millie 38 + + Bates, Anderson 42 + + Bates, Millie 46 + + Bees, Welcome 48 + + Bell, Anne 51 + + Bevis, Caroline 55 + + Black, Maggie 57 + + Bluford, Fordon 62 + + Boulware, Samuel 65 + + Boyd, John 70 + + Bradley, Jane 74 + + Brice, Andy 75 + + Briggs, George 80, 89, 93 + + Bristow, Josephine 98 + + Broome, Anne 104 + + Brown, Hagar 107, 112, 115 + + Brown, Henry 118, 122 + + Brown, John C. 127 + + Brown, Mary Frances 131, 134 + + Brown, Sara 137, 141 + + Bryant, Margaret 143 + + Burrell, Savilla 149 + + Burton, C. B. 152 + + Butler, George Ann 153 + + Butler, Isaiah 155 + + Butler, Solbert 161 + + + Cain, Granny 166, 168 + + Caldwell, Laura 169 + + Caldwell, Solomon 170 + + Cameron, Nelson 172 + + Campbell, Thomas 176 + + Cannon, Sylvia 180, 187 + + Caroline, Albert 197 + + Chisolm, Silvia 199 + + Chisolm, Tom 201 + + Cleland, Maria 204 + + Clifton, Peter 205 + + Coleman, Henry 210 + + Coleman, Rev. Tuff 216 + + Collier, Louisa 218 + + Collins, John 224 + + Corry, Bouregard 227 + + Craig, Caleb 229 + + Cunningham, Dinah 234 + + + Daniels, Lucy 238 + + Davenport, John N. 240 + + Davenport, Moses 244 + + Davis, Charlie 245 + + Davis, Charlie 250 + + Davis, Heddie 254 + + Davis, Henry 260 + + Davis, Jesse 263 + + Davis, Lizzie 267, 288, 293 + + Davis, Louisa 299 + + Davis, Wallace 304, 306 + + Davis, William Henry 308 + + Dawkins, Elias 313 + + Dill, Will 319 + + Dixon, Thomas 324 + + Dorroh, Isabella 326 + + Downing, Laurence 329 + + Dozier, Washington 330 + + Duke, Alice 336 + + Durant, Silva (Sylvia) 337, 342 + + + * * * * * + + + + + Project 1885-1 + From Field Notes. + District No. 4. + April 27, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + FOLK LORE: FOLK TALES (Negro). + + +"Marse Glenn had 64 slaves. On Sat'day night, de darkies would have a +little fun on de side. A way off from de big house, down in de pastur' +dar wuz about de bigges' gully what I is ebber seed. Dat wuz de place +whar us collected mos' ev'ry Sa'day night fer our lil' mite o' fun frum +de white folks hearin'. Sometime it wuz so dark dat you could not see de +fingers on yo' han' when you would raise it fo' your face. Dem wuz sho' +schreechy nights; de schreechiest what I is ever witnessed, in all o' my +born natu'al days. Den of cose, dar wuz de moonlight nights when a darky +could see; den he see too much. De pastur' wuz big and de trees made +dark spots in it on de brightest nights. All kind o' varmints tuck and +hollered at ye as ye being gwine along to reach dat gully. Cose us would +go in droves sometime, and den us would go alone to de gully sometime. +When us started together, look like us would git parted 'fo we reach de +gully all together. One of us see som'tin and take to runnin'. Maybe de +other darkies in de drove, de wouldn't see nothin' jes den. Dats zactly +how it is wid de spirits. De mout (might) sho de'self to you and not to +me. De acts raal queer all de way round. Dey can take a notion to scare +de daylights outtin you when you is wid a gang; or dey kin scare de +whole gang; den, on de other hand, dey kin sho de'self off to jes two or +three. It ain't never no knowin' as to how and when dem things is gwine +to come in your path right fo your very eyes; specially when you is +partakin' in some raal dark secret whar you is planned to act raal sof' +and quiet like all de way through. + +"Dem things bees light on dark nights; de shines de'self jes like dese +'lectric lights does out dar in dat street ever' night, 'cept dey is a +scaird waary light dat dey shines wid. On light nights, I is seed dem +look, furs dark like a tree shad'er; den dey gits raal scairy white. +T'aint no use fer white folks to low dat it ain't no haints, an' +grievements dat follows ye all around, kaise I is done had to many +'spriences wid dem. Den dare is dese young niggers what ain't fit to be +called darkies, dat tries to ac' eddicated, and says dat it ain't any +spe'rits dat walks de earth. When dey lows dat to me, I rolls my old +eyes at dem an' axes dem how comes dey runs so fas' through de woods at +night. Yes sirree, dem fool niggers sees dem jes as I does. Raaly de +white folks doesn't have eyes fer sech as we darkies does; but dey bees +dare jes de same. + +"Never mindin' all o' dat, we n'used to steal our hog ever' sa'day night +and take off to de gully whar us'd git him dressed and barbecued. +Niggers has de mos'es fun at a barbecue dat dare is to be had. As none +o' our gang didn't have no 'ligion, us never felt no scruples bout not +gettin de 'cue' ready fo' Sunday. Us'd git back to de big house along in +de evenin' o' Sunday. Den Marse, he come out in de yard an' low whar wuz +you niggers dis mornin'. How come de chilluns had to do de work round +here. Us would tell some lie bout gwine to a church 'siety meetin'. But +we got raal scairt and mose 'cided dat de best plan wuz to do away wid +de barbecue in de holler. Conjin 'Doc.' say dat he done put a spell on +ole Marse so dat he wuz 'blevin ev'y think dat us tole him bout Sa'day +night and Sunday morning. Dat give our minds 'lief; but it turned out +dat in a few weeks de Marse come out from under de spell. Doc never +even knowed nothin' bout it. Marse had done got to countin' his hogs +ever' week. When he cotch us, us wuz all punished wid a hard long task. +Dat cured me o' believing in any conjuring an' charmin' but I still +kno's dat dare is haints; kaise ever time you goes to dat gully at +night, up to dis very day, you ken hear hogs still gruntin' in it, but +you can't see nothing. + +"After Marse Glenn tuck and died, all o' de white folks went off and +lef' de plantation. Some mo' folks dat wuz not o' quality, come to live +dare an' run de plantation. It wuz done freedom den. Wo'nt long fo dem +folks pull up and lef' raal onexpected like. I doesn't recollect what +dey went by, fat is done slipped my mind; but I must 'av knowed. But dey +lowed dat de house wuz to draffy and dat dey couldn't keep de smoke in +de chimney an' dat de doo's would not stay shet. Also dey lowed dat +folks prowled aroun' in de yard in de night time a keepin' dem awake. + +"Den Marse Glenn's boys put Mammy in de house to keep it fer 'em. But +Lawd God! Mammy said dat de furs night she stayed dare de haints nebber +let her git not narr'y mite o' sleep. Us all had lowed dat wuz de raal +reason dem white folks lef out so fas'. When Mammy could not live in dat +big house whar she had stayed fer years, it won't no use fer nobody else +to try. Mammy low dat it de Marse a lookin' fer his money what he done +tuck and burried and de boys couldn't find no sign o' it. Atter dat, de +sons tuck an' tacked a sign on de front gate, offering $200.00 to de +man, white or black, dat would stay dar and fin' out whar dat money wuz +burried. Our preacher, the Rev. Wallace, lowed dat he would stay dar and +find out whar dat money wuz from de spirits. He knowed dat dey wuz tryin +to sho de spot what dat money wuz. + +"He went to bed. A dog began running down dem steps; and a black cat run +across de room dat turned to white befo' it run into de wall. Den a pair +of white horses come down de stairway a rattling chains fer harness. +Next a woman dressed in white come in dat room. Brother Wallace up and +lit out dat house and he never went back no mo'. + +"Another preacher tried stayin' dar. He said he gwine to keep his head +kivered plum up. Some'tin unkivered it and he seed a white goat a +grinnin' at him. But as he wuz a brave man and trus' de Lawd, he lowed, +'What you want wid me nohow?' The goat said, 'what is you doin' here. +Raise, I knows dat you ain't sleep.' De preacher say, 'I wants you to +tell me what ole Marse don tuck and hid dat money?' De goat grin and +low, 'How come you don' look under your pillar, sometime?' Den he run +away. De preacher hopped up and looked under de pillar, and dar wuz de +money sho nuf. Peers like it wuz de one on de lef' end o' de back porch, +but I jes remembers 'bout dat." + +Source: Mrs. M. E. Abrams, Whitmire, S. C.; told her by old "uncle" +"Mad" Griffin, Whitmire, (Col. 82 yrs.) Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, +Union, S. C. 2/25/37. + + + + + Project #1655 + Henry Grant + Columbia, S. C. + + REFLECTIONS OF EZRA ADAMS + EX-SLAVE 83 YEARS OLD + + +Ezra Adams is incapable of self-support, owing to ill health. He is very +well taken care of by a niece, who lives on the Caughman land just off +S. C. #6, and near Swansea, S. C. + +"My mammy and pappy b'long to Marster Lawrence Adams, who had a big +plantation in de eastern part of Lancaster County. He died four years +after de Civil War and is buried right dere on de old plantation, in de +Adams family burying grounds. I was de oldest of de five chillun in our +family. I 'members I was a right smart size plowboy, when freedom come. +I think I must of been 'bout ten or eleven years old, then. Dere's one +thing I does know; de Yankees didn't tech our plantation, when they come +through South Carolina. Up in de northern part of de county they sho' +did destroy most all what folks had. + +"You ain't gwine to believe dat de slaves on our plantation didn't stop +workin' for old marster, even when they was told dat they was free. Us +didn't want no more freedom than us was gittin' on our plantation +already. Us knowed too well dat us was well took care of, wid a plenty +of vittles to eat and tight log and board houses to live in. De slaves, +where I lived, knowed after de war dat they had abundance of dat +somethin' called freedom, what they could not wat, wear, and sleep in. +Yes, sir, they soon found out dat freedom ain't nothin', 'less you is +got somethin' to live on and a place to call home. Dis livin' on liberty +is lak young folks livin' on love after they gits married. It just don't +work. No, sir, it las' so long and not a bit longer. Don't tell me! It +sho' don't hold good when you has to work, or when you gits hongry. You +knows dat poor white folks and niggers has got to work to live, +regardless of liberty, love, and all them things. I believes a person +loves more better, when they feels good. I knows from experience dat +poor folks feels better when they has food in deir frame and a few dimes +to jingle in deir pockets. I knows what it means to be a nigger, wid +nothin'. Many times I had to turn every way I knowed to git a bite to +eat. I didn't care much 'bout clothes. What I needed in sich times was +food to keep my blood warm and gwine 'long. + +"Boss, I don't want to think, and I knows I ain't gwine to say a word, +not a word of evil against deir dust lyin' over yonder in deir graves. I +was old enough to know what de passin' 'way of old marster and missus +meant to me. De very stream of lifeblood in me was dryin' up, it 'peared +lak. When marster died, dat was my fust real sorrow. Three years later, +missus passed 'way, dat was de time of my second sorrow. Then, I 'minded +myself of a little tree out dere in de woods in November. Wid every +sharp and cold wind of trouble dat blowed, more leaves of dat tree turnt +loose and went to de ground, just lak they was tryin' to follow her. It +seem lak, when she was gone, I was just lak dat tree wid all de leaves +gone, naked and friendless. It took me a long time to git over all dat; +same way wid de little tree, it had to pass through winter and wait on +spring to see life again. + +"I has farmed 'most all my life and, if I was not so old, I would be +doin' dat same thing now. If a poor man wants to enjoy a little freedom, +let him go on de farm and work for hisself. It is sho' worth somethin' +to be boss, and, on de farm you can be boss all you want to, 'less de +man 'low his wife to hold dat 'portant post. A man wid a good wife, one +dat pulls wid him, can see and feel some pleasure and experience some +independence. But, bless your soul, if he gits a woman what wants to be +both husband and wife, fare-you-well and good-bye, too, to all love, +pleasure, and independence; 'cause you sho' is gwine to ketch hell here +and no mild climate whenever you goes 'way. A bad man is worse, but a +bad woman is almost terrible. + +"White man, dere is too many peoples in dese big towns and cities. Dere +is more of them than dere is jobs to make a livin' wid. When some of +them find out dat they can't make a livin', they turns to mischief, de +easy way they thinks, takin' widout pay or work, dat which b'longs to +other people. If I understands right, de fust sin dat was committed in +de world was de takin' of somethin' dat didn't b'long to de one what +took it. De gentleman what done dis was dat man Adam, back yonder in de +garden. If what Adam done back yonder would happen now, he would be +guilty of crime. Dat's how 'ciety names sin. Well, what I got to say is +dis: If de courts, now, would give out justice and punishment as quick +as dat what de Good Master give to Adam, dere would be less crime in de +land I believes. But I 'spose de courts would be better if they had de +same jurisdiction as de Master has. Yes, sir, they would be gwine some +then. + +"I tells you, dis gittin' what don't b'long to you is de main cause of +dese wars and troubles 'bout over dis world now. I hears de white folks +say dat them Japanese is doin' dis very thing today in fightin' them +Chinamens. Japan say dat China has done a terrible crime against them +and de rest of de world, when it ain't nothin' but dat they wants +somethin' what don't belong to them, and dat somethin' is to git more +country. I may be wrong, anyhow, dat is what I has heard. + +"What does I think de colored people need most? If you please sir, I +want to say dis. I ain't got much learnin', 'cause dere was no schools +hardly 'round where I was brung up, but I thinks dat good teachers and +work is what de colored race needs worser than anything else. If they +has learnin', they will be more ashame to commit crime, most of them +will be; and, if they has work to do, they ain't gwine to have time to +do so much wrong. Course dere is gwine to be black sheeps in most +flocks, and it is gwine to take patience to git them out, but they will +come out, just as sho' as you is born. + +"Is de colored people superstitious? Listen at dat. You makes me laugh. +All dat foolishness fust started wid de black man. De reason they is +superstitious comes from nothin' but stomp-down ignorance. De white +chillun has been nursed by colored women and they has told them stories +'bout hants and sich lak. So de white chillun has growed up believin' +some of dat stuff 'til they natchally pass it on from generation to +generation. Here we is, both white and colored, still believin' some of +them lies started back when de whites fust come to have de blacks 'round +them. + +"If you wants to know what I thinks is de best vittles, I's gwine to be +obliged to omit (admit) dat it is cabbage sprouts in de spring, and it +is collard greens after frost has struck them. After de best vittles, +dere come some more what is mighty tasty, and they is hoghead and +chittlings wid 'tatoes and turnips. Did you see dat? Here I is talkin' +'bout de joys of de appetite and water drapping from my mouth. I sho' +must be gittin' hongry. I lak to eat. I has been a good eater all my +life, but now I is gittin' so old dat 'cordin' to de scriptures, 'De +grinders cease 'cause they are few', and too, 'Those dat look out de +windows be darkened'. My old eyes and teeth is 'bout gone, and if they +does go soon, they ain't gwine to beat dis old frame long, 'cause I is +gwine to soon follow, I feels. I hope when I does go, I can be able to +say what dat great General Stonewall Jackson say when he got kilt in de +Civil War, 'I is gwine to cross de river and rest under de shade of de +trees'." + +[~HW: Ezra Adams, Swansea (about 10m. south of Columbia)~] + + + + + Project 1885-1. + Folk Lore + District No. 4. + May 27, 1937. + Edited by: J. J. Murray. + + EX-SLAVE STORIES + + +"Aunt" Mary Adams was swinging easily back and forth in the porch swing +as the writer stopped to speak to her. When questioned, she replied that +she and her mother were ex-slaves and had belonged to Dr. C. E. Fleming. +She was born in Columbia, but they were moved to Glenn Springs where her +mother cooked for Dr. Fleming. + +She remembers going with a white woman whose husband was in jail, to +carry him something to eat. She said that Mr. Jim Milster was in that +jail, but he lived to get out, and later kept a tin shop in Spartanburg. + +"Yes sir, Dr. Fleming always kept enough for us Niggers to eat during +the war. He was good to us. You know he married Miss Dean. Do you know +Mrs. Lyles, Mrs. Simpson, Mr. Ed Fleming? Well, dey are my chilluns. + +"Some man here told me one day that I was ninety years old, but I do not +believe I am quite that old. I don't know how old I am, but I was +walking during slavery times. I can't work now, for my feet hurt me and +my fingers ain't straight." + +She said all of her children were dead but two, that she knew of. She +said that she had a room in that house and white people gave her +different things. As the writer told her good-bye, she said, "Good-bye, +and may the Lord bless you". + + Source: "Aunt" Mary Adams, 363 S. Liberty Street, Spartanburg, S. C. + Interviewer: F. S. DuPre, Spartanburg, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + Everett R. Pierce + Columbia, S. C. + + VICTORIA ADAMS + EX-SLAVE 90 YEARS OLD. + + +"You ask me to tell you something 'bout myself and de slaves in slavery +times? Well Missy, I was borned a slave, nigh on to ninety years ago, +right down here at Cedar Creek, in Fairfield County. + +"My massa's name was Samuel Black and missus was named Martha. She used +to be Martha Kirkland befo' she married. There was five chillun in de +family; they was: Alice, Manning, Sally, Kirkland, and de baby, Eugene. +De white folks live in a great big house up on a hill; it was right +pretty, too. + +"You wants to know how large de plantation was I lived on? Well, I don't +know 'zackly but it was mighty large. There was forty of us slaves in +all and it took all of us to keep de plantation goin'. De most of de +niggers work in de field. They went to work as soon as it git light +enough to see how to git 'round; then when twelve o'clock come, they all +stops for dinner and don't go back to work 'til two. All of them work on +'til it git almost dark. No ma'am, they ain't do much work at night +after they gits home. + +"Massa Samuel ain't had no overseer, he look after his own plantation. +My old granddaddy help him a whole heap though. He was a good nigger and +massa trust him. + +"After de crops was all gathered, de slaves still had plenty of work to +do. I stayed in de house wid de white folks. De most I had to do was to +keep de house clean up and nurse de chillun. I had a heap of pretty +clothes to wear, 'cause my missus give me de old clothes and shoes dat +Missy Sally throw 'way. + +"De massa and missus was good to me but sometime I was so bad they had +to whip me. I 'members she used to whip me every time she tell me to do +something and I take too long to move 'long and do it. One time my +missus went off on a visit and left me at home. When she come back, +Sally told her that I put on a pair of Bubber's pants and scrub de floor +wid them on. Missus told me it was a sin for me to put on a man's pants, +and she whip me pretty bad. She say it's in de Bible dat: 'A man shall +not put on a woman's clothes, nor a woman put on a man's clothes'. I +ain't never see that in de Bible though, but from then 'til now, I ain't +put on no more pants. + +"De grown-up slaves was punished sometime too. When they didn't feel +like taking a whippin' they went off in de woods and stay 'til massa's +hounds track them down; then they'd bring them out and whip them. They +might as well not run away. Some of them never come back a-tall, don't +know what become of them. We ain't had no jail for slaves; never ain't +see none in chains neither. There was a guard-house right in de town but +us niggers never was carried to it. You ask me if I ever see a slave +auctioned off? Yes ma'am, one time. I see a little girl 'bout ten years +old sold to a soldier man. Dis soldier man was married and didn't had no +chillun and he buy dis little girl to be company for his wife and to +help her wid de house work. + +"White folks never teach us to read nor write much. They learned us our +A, B, C's, and teach us to read some in de testament. De reason they +wouldn't teach us to read and write, was 'cause they was afraid de +slaves would write their own pass and go over to a free county. One old +nigger did learn enough to write his pass and got 'way wid it and went +up North. + +"Missus Martha sho' did look after de slaves good when they was sick. Us +had medicine made from herbs, leaves and roots; some of them was +cat-nip, garlic root, tansy, and roots of burdock. De roots of burdock +soaked in whiskey was mighty good medicine. We dipped asafetida in +turpentine and hung it 'round our necks to keep off disease. + +"Befo' de Yankees come thru, our peoples had let loose a lot of our +hosses and de hosses strayed over to de Yankee side, and de Yankee men +rode de hosses back over to our plantation. De Yankees asked us if we +want to be free. I never say I did; I tell them I want to stay wid my +missus and they went on and let me alone. They 'stroyed most everything +we had 'cept a little vittles; took all de stock and take them wid them. +They burned all de buildings 'cept de one de massa and missus was livin' +in. + +"It wasn't long after de Yankees went thru dat our missus told us dat we +don't b'long to her and de massa no more. None of us left dat season. I +got married de next year and left her. I like being free more better. +Any niggers what like slavery time better, is lazy people dat don't want +to do nothing. + +"I married Fredrick Adams; he used to b'long to Miss Tenny Graddick but +after he was freed he had to take another name. Mr. Jess Adams, a good +fiddler dat my husband like to hang 'round, told him he could take his +name if he wanted to and dats how he got de name of Adams. Us had four +chillun; only one livin', dat Lula. She married John Entzminger and got +several chillun. My gran'chillun a heap of comfort to me." + + Home Address: + Colonial Heights, + Columbia, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + FRANK ADAMSON + EX-SLAVE 82 YEARS OLD. + + +"I 'members when you was barefoot at de bottom; now I see you a settin' +dere, gittin' bare at de top, as bare as de palm of my hand. + +"I's been 'possum huntin' wid your pappy, when he lived on de Wateree, +just after de war. One night us got into tribulation, I tells you! 'Twas +'bout midnight when de dogs make a tree. Your pappy climb up de tree, +git 'bout halfway up, heard sumpin' dat once you hears it you never +forgits, and dats de rattlin' of de rattles on a rattle snake's tail. Us +both 'stinctly hear dat sound! What us do? Me on de ground, him up de +tree, but where de snake? Dat was de misery, us didn't know. Dat snake +give us fair warnin' though! Marster Sam (dats your pa) 'low: 'Frank, +ease down on de ground; I'll just stay up here for a while.' I lay on +them leaves, skeered to make a russle. Your pa up de tree skeered to go +up or down! Broad daylight didn't move us. Sun come up, he look all +'round from his vantage up de tree, then come down, not 'til then, do I +gits on my foots. + +"Then I laugh and laugh and laugh, and ask Marster Sam how he felt. +Marster Sam kinda frown and say: 'Damn I feels like hell! Git up dat +tree! Don't you see dat 'possum up dere?' I say: 'But where de snake, +Marster?' He say: 'Dat rattler done gone home, where me and you and dat +'possum gonna be pretty soon!' + +"I b'longs to de Peays. De father of them all was, Korshaw Peay. My +marster was his son, Nicholas; he was a fine man to just look at. My +mistress was always tellin' him 'bout how fine and handsome-like he was. +He must of got use to it; howsomever, marster grin every time she talk +like dat. + +"My pappy was bought from de Adamson peoples; they say they got him off +de ship from Africa. He sho' was a man; he run all de other niggers 'way +from my mammy and took up wid her widout askin' de marster. Her name was +Lavinia. When us got free, he 'sisted on Adamson was de name us would go +by. He name was William Adamson. Yes sir! my brothers was: Justus, +Hillyard, and Donald, and my sisters was, Martha and Lizzettie. + +"'Deed I did work befo' freedom. What I do? Hoed cotton, pick cotton, +'tend to calves and slop de pigs, under de 'vision of de overseer. Who +he was? First one name Mr. Cary, he a good man. Another one Mr. Tim +Gladden, burn you up whenever he just take a notion to pop his whip. Us +boys run 'round in our shirt tails. He lak to see if he could lift de +shirt tail widout techin' de skin. Just as often as not, though, he tech +de skin. Little boy holler and Marster Tim laugh. + +"Us live in quarters. Our beds was nailed to de sides of de house. Most +of de chillun slept on pallets on de floor. Got water from a big spring. + +"De white folks 'tend to you all right. Us had two doctors, Doctor +Carlisle and Doctor James. + +"I see some money, but never own any then. Had plenty to eat: Meat, +bread, milk, lye hominy, horse apples, turnips, collards, pumpkins, and +dat kind of truck. + +"Was marster rich? How come he wasn't? He brag his land was ten miles +square and he had a thousand slaves. Them poor white folks looked up to +him lak God Almighty; they sho' did. They would have stuck their hands +in de fire if he had of asked them to do it. He had a fish pond on top +of de house and terraces wid strawberries, all over de place. See them +big rock columns down dere now? Dats all dats left of his grandness and +greatness. They done move de whippin' post dat was in de backyard. Yes +sah, it was a 'cessity wid them niggers. It stood up and out to 'mind +them dat if they didn't please de master and de overseer, they'd hug dat +post, and de lend of dat whip lash gwine to flip to de hide of dat back +of their's. + +"I ain't a complainin'. He was a good master, bestest in de land, but he +just have to have a whippin' post, 'cause you'll find a whole passle of +bad niggers when you gits a thousand of them in one flock. + +"Screech owl holler? Women and men turn socks and stockings wrong side +out quick, dat they did, do it now, myself. I's black as a crow but I's +got a white folks heart. Didn't ketch me foolin' 'round wid niggers in +radical times. I's as close to white folks then as peas in a pod. Wore +de red shirt and drunk a heap of brandy in Columbia, dat time us went +down to General Hampton into power. I 'clare I hollered so loud goin' +'long in de procession, dat a nice white lady run out one of de houses +down dere in Columbia, give me two biscuits and a drum stick of chicken, +patted me on de shoulder, and say: 'Thank God for all de big black men +dat can holler for Governor Hampton as loud as dis one does.' Then I +hollers some more for to please dat lady, though I had to take de half +chawed chicken out dis old mouth, and she laugh 'bout dat 'til she +cried. She did! + +"Well, I'll be rockin' 'long balance of dese days, a hollerin' for Mr. +Roosevelt, just as loud as I holler then for Hampton. + +"My young marsters was: Austin, Tom, and Nicholas; they was all right +'cept they tease you too hard maybe some time, and want to mix in wid de +'fairs of slave 'musements. + +"Now what make you ask dat? Did me ever do any courtin'? You knows I +did. Every he thing from a he king down to a bunty rooster gits cited +'bout she things. I's lay wake many nights 'bout sich things. It's de +nature of a he, to take after de she. They do say dat a he angel ain't +got dis to worry 'bout. + +"I fust courted Martha Harrison. Us marry and jine de church. Us had +nine chillun; seven of them livin'. A woman can't stand havin' chillun, +lak a man. Carryin', sucklin', and 'tending to them wore her down, dat, +wid de malaria of de Wateree brung her to her grave. + +"I sorrow over her for weeks, maybe five months, then I got to thinking +how I'd pair up wid dis one and dat one and de other one. Took to +shavin' again and gwine to Winnsboro every Saturday, and different +churches every Sunday. I hear a voice from de choir, one Sunday, dat +makes me sit up and take notice of de gal on de off side in front. Well +sir! a spasm of fright fust hit me dat I might not git her, dat I was +too old for de likes of her, and dat some no 'count nigger might be in +de way. In a few minutes I come to myself. I rise right up, walked into +dat choir, stand by her side, and wid dis voice of mine, dat always +'tracts 'tention, jined in de hymn and out sung them all. It was easy +from dat time on. + +"I marry Kate at de close of dat revival. De day after de weddin', what +you reckon? Don't know? Well, after gittin' breakfas' she went to de +field, poke 'round her neck, basket on her head and picked two hundred +pounds of cotton. Dats de kind of woman she is." + + + + + Project 1815-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + June 10, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born in Newberry County, S. C., near Belfast, about 1854. I was a +slave of John Wallace. I was the only child, and when a small child, my +mother was sold to Joe Liggins by my old master, Bob Adams. It is said +that the old brick house where the Wallaces lived was built by a +Eichleberger, but Dr. John Simpson lived there and sold it to Mr. +Wallace. In the attic was an old skeleton which the children thought +bewitched the house. None of them would go upstairs by themselves. I +suppose old Dr. Simpson left it there. Sometimes later, it was taken out +and buried. Marse Wallace had many slaves and kept them working, but he +was not a strict master. + +"I married Allen Andrews after the war. He went to the war with his +master. He was at Columbia with the Confederate troops when Sherman +burnt the place. Some of them, my husband included, was captured and +taken to Richmond Va. They escaped and walked back home, but all but +five or six fell out or died. + +"My young master, Editor Bill Wallace, a son of Marse John, was a +soldier. When he was sick at home, I fanned the flies from him with a +home-made fan of peacock feathers, sewed to a long cane. + +"After the war, the 'bush-whackers', called Ku Klux, rode there. +Preacher Pitts' brother was one. They went to negro houses and killed +the people. They wore caps over the head and eyes, but no long white +gowns. An old muster ground was above there about three miles, near what +is now Wadsworth school." + + Source: Frances Andrews (col. 83), Newberry, S. C + Interviewer: G. Leland Summer, Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + Sept. 22, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I live in a comfortable two-room cottage which my son owns. I can't do +much work except a little washing and ironing. My grandchildren live +with me. My other children help me a little when I need it. I heard +about the 40 acres of land and a mule the ex-slaves would get after the +war, but I didn't pay any attention to it. They never got anything. I +think this was put out by the Yankees who didn't care about much 'cept +getting money for themselves. + +"I come from the Indian Creek section of Newberry County. After about +1880 when things got natural, some of the slaves from this section +rented small one-horse farms and made their own money and living. Some +would rent small tracts of land on shares, giving the landlord one-half +the crop for use of the land. + +"Everything is changed so much. I never learned to read and write and +all I know is what I heard in old times. But I think the younger +generation of negroes is different from what they used to be. They go +where they want to and do what they want to and don't pay much attention +to old folks anymore. + +"My mother's mother come from Virginia and my mother's father was born +and raised in this county. I don't remember anything about the Nat +Turner Rebellion, and never heard anything about it. We never had any +slave up-risings in our neighborhood." + + Source: Frances Andrews (83), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. 8/11/37. + + + + + Spartanburg, S. C. + District No. 4 + May 27, 1937. + Edited by + R. V. Williams + [~HW: Lambrigh~] + + Folk Lore: Folk Tales (negro) + + +"I was 'bout nine year ole when de big war broke loose. My pa and ma +'longed to de Scotts what libbed in Jonesville Township. When I got big +'nough to work, I was gib to de youngest Scott boy. Soon atter dis, +Sherman come through Union County. No ma'm, I nebber seed Sherman but I +seed some of his soldiers. Dat's de time I run off in de wood and not +narry a soul knowed whar I was till de dus' had done settled in de big +road. + +"Every Sunday, Marse Scott sent us to church in one of his waggins. +White folks rid to church in de buggy and Marse went on de big saddle +hoss. 'Bout dis time, Marse Scott went to Columbia to git coffee and +sugar. He stay mos' two weeks, kaize he drive two fine hosses to de +buggy 'long wid a long hind end to fetch things to and fro in. De roads +was real muddy and de hosses haf to res' ever night. Den in Columbia, he +would have a little 'joyment befo' he come back home." + +Source: Miss Dorothy Lambright, W. Main St., Union, S. C. (Story told +her by "Uncle Peter" Arthur.) Information by Caldwell Sims, Union, S. +C. + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, January 4, 1938 + No. of Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + JOSEPHINE BACCHUS + Ex-Slave, 75-80 Years + + +"No, my mercy God, I don' know not one thought to speak to you bout. +Seems like, I does know your face, but I been so sick all de year dat I +can' hardly remember nothin. Yes, sweetheart, I sho caught on to what +you want. Oh, I wishes I did know somethin bout dat old time war cause I +tell you, if I been know anything, I would sho pour it out to you. I got +burn out here de other day en I ain' got near a thing left me, but a +pair of stockings en dat old coat dere on de bed. Dat how-come I stayin +here wid Miss Celia. My husband, he dead en she took me in over here for +de present. No'um, I haven't never had a nine months child. Reckon dat +what ailin me now. Bein dat I never had no mother to care for me en give +me a good attention like, I caught so much of cold dat I ain' never been +safe in de family way. Yes, mam, I had my leg broke plenty times, but I +ain' never been able to jump de time. Lord, I got a misery in my back +dere. I hope it ain' de pneumonias." + +"Well, you see, I couldn' tell you nothin bout my mother cause I never +didn' know nothin bout my mother. My Jesus, my brother tell bout when +dey had my mother layin out on de coolin board, I went in de room whe' +she was en axed her for somethin to eat en pushed her head dat way. You +know, I wouldn' touch my hand to do nothin like dat, but I never know. +Dat it, de coolin board, dat what dey used to have to lay all de dead +people on, but dis day en time, de undertaker takes dem en fixes dem up +right nice, I say. I tellin you, I ain' had no sense since I lost my +people. Sometimes, I axes de Lord what he keepin me here for anyhow. +Yes, mam, dat does come to me often times in de night. Oh, it don' look +like I gwine ever get no better in dis life en if I don', I just prays +to God to be saved. Yes, Lord, I prays to be lifted to a restful home." + +"Just like as I been hear talk, some of de people fare good in slavery +time en some of dem fare rough. Dat been accordin to de kind of task +boss dey come up under. Now de poor colored people in slavery time, dey +give dem very little rest en would whip some of dem most to death. +Wouldn' none of dem daresen to go from one plantation to another widout +dey had a furlough from dey boss. Yes, mam, if dey been catch you comin +back widout dat walkin paper de boss had give you, great Jeruseleum, you +would sho catch de devil next mornin. My blessed a mercy, hear talk dey +spill de poor nigger's blood awful much in slavery time. Hear heap of +dem was free long time fore dey been know it cause de white folks, dey +wanted to keep dem in bondage. Oh, my Lord, dey would cut dem so hard +till dey just slash de flesh right off dem. Yes, mam, dey call dat thing +dey been whip dem wid de cat o' nine tail. No, darlin, I hear talk it +been made out of pretty leather plaited most all de way en den all dat +part down to de bottom, dey just left it loose to do de cuttin wid. Yes, +honey, dem kind of whips was made out of pretty leather like one of dese +horse whips. Yes, mam, dat been how it was in slavery time." + +"Yankees! Oh, I hear folks speak bout de Yankees plunderin through de +country plenty times. Hear bout de Yankees gwine all bout stealin white +people silver. Say, everywhe' dey went en found white folks wid silver, +dey would just clean de place up. Dat de blessed truth, too, cause dat +exactly what I hear bout dem." + +"Lord, pray Jesus, de white people sho been mighty proud to see dey +niggers spreadin out in dem days, so dey tell me. Yes, mam, dey was glad +to have a heap of colored people bout dem cause white folks couldn' work +den no more den dey can work dese days like de colored people can. +Reckon dey love to have dey niggers back yonder just like dey loves to +have dem dese days to do what dey ain' been cut out to do. You see, dey +would have two or three women on de plantation dat was good breeders en +dey would have chillun pretty regular fore freedom come here. You know, +some people does be right fast in catchin chillun. Yes'um, dey must been +bless wid a pile of dem, I say, en every colored person used to follow +up de same name as dey white folks been hear to." + +"No'um, I never didn' go to none of dem cornshuckin en fodder pullin en +all dem kind of thing. Reckon while dey was at de cornshuckin, I must +been somewhe' huntin somethin to eat. Den dem kind of task was left to +de men folks de most of de time cause it been so hot, dey was force to +strip to do dat sort of a job." + +"Lord, I sho remembers dat earth shake good as anything. When it come on +me, I was settin down wid my foots in a tub of water. Yes, my Lord, I +been had a age on me in de shake. I remember, dere been such a shakin +dat evenin, it made all de people feel mighty queer like. It just come +in a tremble en first thing I know, I felt de difference in de crack of +de house. I run to my sister Jessie cause she had been live in New York +en she was well acquainted wid dat kind of gwine on. She say, 'Josie, +dis ain' nothin but dem shake I been tellin you bout, but dis de first +time it come here en you better be a prayin.' En, honey, everything +white en colored was emptied out of doors dat night. Lord, dey was +scared. Great Jeruseleum! De people was scared everywhe'. Didn' nobody +know what to make of it. I tellin you, I betcha I was 30 years old in de +shake." + +"Now, I guess time you get done gettin up all dem memorandums, you gwine +have a pile. I tell you, if you keep on, you sho gwine have a bale cause +dere a lot of slavery people is spring up till now. I ought to could +fetch back more to speak to you bout, but just like I been tell you, I +wasn' never cared for by a mother en I is caught on to a heap of +roughness just on account dat I ain' never had a mother to have a care +for me." + +"Oh, de people never didn' put much faith to de doctors in dem days. +Mostly, dey would use de herbs in de fields for dey medicine. Dere two +herbs, I hear talk of. Dey was black snake root en Sampson snake root. +Say, if a person never had a good appetite, dey would boil some of dat +stuff en mix it wid a little whiskey en rock candy en dat would sho give +dem a sharp appetite. See, it natural cause if you take a tablespoon of +dat bitter medicine three times a day like a person tell you, it bound +to swell your appetite. Yes, mam, I know dat a mighty good mixture." + +"Oh, my Lord, child, de people was sho wiser in olden times den what dey +be now. Dey been have all kind of signs to forecast de times wid en dey +been mighty true to de word, too. Say, when you hear a cow low en cry so +mournful like, it ain' gwine be long fore you hear tell of a death." + +"Den dere one bout de rain. Say, sometimes de old rain crow stays in de +air en hollers en if you don' look right sharp, it gwine rain soon. Call +him de rain crow. He hollers mostly like dis, 'Goo-oop, goo-oop.' Like +dat." + +"De people used to have a bird for cold weather, too. Folks say, 'Don' +you hear dat cold bird? Look out, it gwine be cold tomorrow.' De cold +bird, he a brown bird. If you can see him, he a fine lookin bird, too. +Yes'um, right large en strong lookin, but don' nobody hardly ever see +him dese days." + +"En I reckon you hear talk bout dis one. Say, not to wash on de first +day of de New Year cause if you do, you will wash some of your family +out de pot. Say, somebody will sho die. Dat right, too. Den if possible, +must boil some old peas on de first day of de New Year en must cook some +hog jowl in de pot wid dem. Must eat some of it, but don' be obliged to +eat it all. En ought to have everything clean up nicely so as to keep +clean all de year. Say, must always put de wash out on de line to be +sure de day fore New Years en have all your garments clean." + +"What my ideas bout de young folks dese days? Well, dey young folks en +dey ain' young folks, I say. Cose I don' bother up wid dem none, but I +think wid my own weak judgment, dey quite different from when I come +along. Folks is awful funny dis day en time to my notion. Don' care what +people see dem do no time. I sho think dey worser den what dey used to +be. De way I say dey worser, I used to have to be back at such en such a +time, if I went off, but now dey go anytime dey want to en dey comes +back anytime dey want to. I sho think dey worser. De fact of it, I know +dey worser." + + Source: Josephine Bacchus, colored, age 75-80, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Dec., 1937. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + June 14, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born near Winnsboro, S. C., Fairfield County. I was twelve years +old the year the Confederate war started. My father was John Ballard and +my mother was Sallie Ballard. I had several brothers and sisters. We +belonged to Jim Aiken, a large landowner at Winnsboro. He owned land on +which the town was built. He had seven plantations. He was good to us +and give us plenty to eat, and good quarters to live in. His mistress +was good, too; but one of his sons, Dr. Aiken, whipped some of de +niggers, lots. One time he whipped a slave for stealing. Some of his +land was around four churches in Winnsboro. + +"We was allowed three pounds o' meat, one quart o' molasses, grits and +other things each week--plenty for us to eat. + +"When freedom come, he told us we was free, and if we wanted to stay on +with him, he would do the best he could for us. Most of us stayed, and +after a few months, he paid wages. After eight months, some went to +other places to work. + +"The master's wife died and he married a daughter of Robert Gillam and +moved to Greenville, S. C. + +"The master always had a very big garden with plenty of vegetables. He +had fifty hogs, and I helped mind the hogs. He didn't raise much cotton, +but raised lots of wheat and corn. He made his own meal and flour from +the mill on the creek; made home-made clothes with cards and spinning +wheels. + +"They cooked in wide chimneys in a kitchen which was away off from the +big house. They used pots and skillets to cook with. The hands got +their rations every Monday night. They got their clothes to wear which +they made on old spinning wheels, and wove them themselves. + +"The master had his own tanyard and tanned his leather and made shoes +for his hands. + +"He had several overseers, white men, and some Negro foremen. They +sometimes whipped the slaves, that is the overseers. Once a nigger +whipped the overseer and had to run away in the woods and live so he +wouldn't get caught. The nigger foremen looked after a set of slaves on +any special work. They never worked at night unless it was to bring in +fodder or hay when it looked like rain was coming. On rainy days, we +shucked corn and cleaned up around the place. + +"We had old brick ovens, lots of 'em. Some was used to make molasses +from our own sugar cane we raised. + +"The master had a 'sick-house' where he took sick slaves for treatment, +and kept a drug store there. They didn't use old-time cures much, like +herbs and barks, except sassafras root tea for the blood. + +"We didn't learn to read and write, but some learned after the war. + +"My father run the blacksmith shop for the master on the place. I worked +around the place. The patrollers were there and we had to have a pass to +get out any. The nigger children sometimes played out in the road and +were chased by patrollers. The children would run into the master's +place and the patrollers couldn't get them 'cause the master wouldn't +let them. We had no churches for slaves, but went to the white church +and set in the gallery. After freedom, niggers built 'brush harbors' on +the place. + +"Slaves carried news from one plantation to another by riding mules or +horses. They had to be in quarters at night. I remember my mother rode +side-saddle one Saturday night. I reckon she had a pass to go; she come +back without being bothered. + +"Some games children played was, hiding switches, marbles, and maybe +others. Later on, some of de nigger boys started playing cards and got +to gambling; some went to de woods to gamble. + +"The old cotton gins on de farms were made of wooden screws, and it took +all day to gin four bales o' cotton. + +"I was one of the first trustees that helped build the first colored +folks' church in the town of Greenwood. I am the only one now living. I +married Alice Robinson, and had five sons and one daughter, and have +five or six grandchildren. + +"Abraham Lincoln, I think, was a good man; had a big reputation. Couldn't +tell much about Jefferson Davis. Booker T. Washington--Everybody +thinks he is a great man for the colored race. + +"Of course I think slavery was bad. We is free now and better off to +work. I think anybody who is any count can work and live by himself. + +"I joined de church when I was 17 years old, because a big preaching was +going on after freedom for the colored people. + +"I think everybody should join the church and do right; can't get +anywhere without it, and do good." + + Source: William Ballard (88), Greenwood, S. C. + Interviewed by: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (6/10/37) + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + CHARLEY BARBER + EX-SLAVE 81 YEARS OLD. + + +Charley Barber lives in a shanty kind of house, situated on a plot of +ground containing two acres all his own. It is a mile and a half +southeast of Winnsboro, S. C. He lives with an anaemic daughter, Maggie, +whose chief interests are a number of cats, about the premises, and a +brindled, crumple-horned cow that she ties out to graze every morning +and milks at evening. + +Charley is squat of figure, short neck, popeyed, and has white hair. He +tills the two acres and produces garden truck that he finds a sale for +among the employees of the Winnsboro mills, just across the railroad +from his home. He likes to talk, and pricks up his ears,(so to speak), +whenever anything is related as having occurred in the past. He will +importune those present to hear his version of the event unusual. + +"Well sah, dis is a pleasure to have you call 'pon me, howsomever it be +unexpected dis mornin'. Shoo! (driving the chickens out of the house) +Shoo! Git out of here and go scratch a livin' for them chickens, dat's +followin' you yet, and you won't wean and git to layin' again. Fust +thing you know you'll be spoilin' de floor, when us is got company dis +very minute. Scat! Maggie; git them cats out de chairs long 'nough for +Mr. Wood to set in one whilst he's come to see me dis mornin'. + +"And dat's it? You wants me to talk over de days dat am gone? How dis +come 'bout and how dat come 'bout, from de day I was born, to dis very +hour? Let's light, up our smokestacks befo' us begin. Maybe you wants a +drink of, water. Maggie, fetch de water here! + +"How old you think I is, sixty-five? My goodness! Do you hear dat +Maggie? (Rubbing his hands; his eyes shining with pleasure) Take another +look and make another guess. Seventy-five? You is growin' warm but +you'll have to come again! + +"Bless your soul Marse Wood, you know what old Mudder Shifton say? She +'low dat: 'In de year 1881, de world to an end will surely come'. I was +twenty-five years old when all de niggers and most of de white folks was +believin' dat old lady and lookin' for de world to come to an end in +1881. Dat was de year dat I jined de church, 'cause I wanted to make +sure dat if de end did come, I'd be caught up in dat rapture dat de +white Methodist preacher was preachin' 'bout and explainin' to my +marster and mistress at deir house on de piazza dat year. + +"I is eighty-one years old. I was born up on de Wateree River, close to +Great Falls. My marster was Ozmond Barber. My mistress was name Miss +Elizabeth; her de wife of Marse Ozmond. My pappy was name Jacob. My +mammy went by de name of Jemima. They both come from Africa where they +was born. They was 'ticed on a ship, fetch 'cross de ocean to Virginny, +fetch to Winnsboro by a slave drover, and sold to my marster's father. +Dat what they tell me. When they was sailin' over, dere was five or six +hundred others all together down under de first deck of de ship, where +they was locked in. They never did talk lak de other slaves, could just' +say a few words, use deir hands, and make signs. They want deir +collards, turnips, and deir 'tators, raw. They lak sweet milk so much +they steal it. + +"Pappy care-nothin' 'bout clothes and wouldn't wear shoes in de winter +time or any time. It was 'ginst de law to bring them over here when they +did, I learn since. But what is de law now and what was de law then, +when bright shiny money was in sight? Money make de automobile go. Money +make de train go. Money make de mare go, and at dat time I 'spect money +make de ships go. Yes sir, they, my pappy and mammy, was just smuggled +in dis part of de world, I bet you! + +"War come on, my marster went out as a captain of de Horse Marines. A +tune was much sung by de white folks on de place and took wid de +niggers. It went lak dis: + + 'I'm Captain Jenks of de Horse Marines + I feed my horse on corn and beans. + Oh! I'm Captain Jenks of de Horse Marines + And captain in de army!'" + +"When de Yankees come they seem to have special vengeance for my white +folks. They took everything they could carry off and burnt everything +they couldn't carry off. + +"Mistress and de chillun have to go to Chester to git a place to sleep +and eat, wid kinfolks. De niggers just lay 'round de place 'til master +rode in, after de war, on a horse; him have money and friends and git +things goin' agin. I stay on dere 'til '76. Then I come to Winnsboro and +git a job as section hand laborer on de railroad. Out of de fust +money,--(I git paid off de pay train then; company run a special pay +train out of Columbia to Charlotte. They stop at every station and pay +de hands off at de rear end of de train in cash). Well, as I was a +sayin': Out de fust money, I buys me a red shirt and dat November I +votes and de fust vote I put in de box was for Governor Wade Hampton. +Dat was de fust big thing I done. + +"De nex' big thing I done was fall in love wid Mary Wylie. Dat come +'bout on de second pay day. De other nigger gals say her marry me for my +money but I never have believed it. White ladies do dat 'kalkilating' +trick sometime but you take a blue-gum nigger gal, all wool on de top of +her head and lak to dance and jig wid her foots, to pattin' and fiddle +music, her ain't gonna have money in de back of her head when her pick +out a man to marry. Her gonna want a man wid muscles on his arms and +back and I had them. Usin' dat pick and shovel on de railroad just give +me what it took to git Mary. Us had ten chillun. Some dead, some marry +and leave. My wife die year befo' last. Maggie is puny, as you see, and +us gits 'long wid de goodness of de Lord and de white folks. + +"I b'longs to de St. John Methodist Church in Middlesix, part of +Winnsboro. They was havin' a rival (revival) meetin' de night of de +earthquake, last day of August, in 1886. Folks had hardly got over de +scare of 1881, 'bout de world comin' to an end. It was on Tuesday night, +if I don't disremember, 'bout 9 o'clock. De preacher was prayin', just +after de fust sermon, but him never got to de amen part of dat prayer. +Dere come a noise or rumblin', lak far off thunder, seem lak it come +from de northwest, then de church begin to rock lak a baby's cradle. +Dere was great excitement. Old Aunt Melvina holler: 'De world comin' to +de end'. De preacher say: 'Oh, Lordy', and run out of de pulpit. +Everbody run out de church in de moonlight. When de second quake come, +'bout a minute after de fust, somebody started up de cry: 'De devil +under de church! De devil under de church! De devil gwine to take de +church on his back and run away wid de church!' People never stop +runnin' 'til they got to de court house in town. Dere they 'clare de +devil done take St. John's Church on his back and fly away to hell wid +it. Marse Henry Galliard make a speech and tell them what it was and beg +them to go home. Dat Mr. Skinner, de telegraph man at de depot, say de +main part of it was way down 'bout Charleston, too far away for anybody +to git hurt here, 'less a brick from a chimney fall on somebody's head. +De niggers mostly believes what a fine man, lak Marse Henry, tell them. +De crowd git quiet. Some of them go home but many of them, down in de +low part of town, set on de railroad track in de moonlight, all night. I +was mighty sleepy de nex' mornin' but I work on de railroad track just +de same. Dat night folks come back to St. John's Church, find it still +dere, and such a outpourin' of de spirit was had as never was had befo' +or since. + +"Just think! Dat has been fifty-one years ago. Them was de glorious +horse and buggy days. Dere was no air-ships, no autos and no radios. +White folks had horses to drive. Niggers had mules to ride to a baseball +game, to see white folks run lak de patarollers (patrollers) was after +them and they holler lak de world was on fire." + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + ED BARBER + EX-SLAVE 77 YEARS OLD. + + +Ed Barber lives in a small one-room house in the midst of a cotton field +on the plantation of Mr. A. M. Owens, ten miles southeast of Winnsboro, +S. C. He lives alone and does his own cooking and housekeeping. He is a +bright mulatto, has an erect carriage and posture, appears younger than +his age, is intelligent and enjoys recounting the tales of his lifetime. +His own race doesn't give him much countenance. His friends in the old +days of reconstruction were white people. He presumes on such past +affiliation and considers himself better than the full-blooded Negro. + +"It's been a long time since I see you. Maybe you has forgot but I ain't +forgot de fust time I put dese lookers on you, in '76. Does you 'members +dat day? It was in a piece of pines beyond de Presbyterian Church, in +Winnsboro, S. C. Us both had red shirts. You was a ridin' a gray pony +and I was a ridin' a red mule, sorrel like. You say dat wasn't '76? +Well, how come it wasn't? Ouillah Harrison, another nigger, was dere, +though he was a man. Both of us got to arguin'. He 'low he could vote +for Hampton and I couldn't, 'cause I wasn't 21. You say it was '78 +'stead of '76, dat day in de pines when you was dere? Well! Well! I sho' +been thinkin' all dis time it was '76. + +"'Member de fight dat day when Mr. Pole Barnadore knock Mr. Blanchard +down, while de speakin' was a gwine on? You does? Well, us come to +common 'greement on dat, bless God! + +"Them was scary times! Me bein' just half nigger and half white man, I +knowed which side de butter was on de bread. Who I see dere? Well, dere +was a string of red shirts a mile long, dat come into Winnsboro from +White Oak. And another from Flint Hill, over de Pea Ferry road, a mile +long. De bar-rooms of de town did a big business dat day. Seem lak it +was de fashion to git drunk all 'long them days. + +"Them red shirts was de monkey wrench in de cotton-gin of de carpet bag +party. I's here to tell you. If a nigger git hungry, all he have to do +is go to de white folk's house, beg for a red shirt, and explain hisself +a democrat. He might not git de shirt right then but he git his belly +full of everything de white folks got, and de privilege of comin' to dat +trough sometime agin. + +"You wants me to tell you 'bout who I is, where I born, and how old I +is? Well, just cross examine me and I'll tell you de facts as best I +knows how. + +"I was born twelve miles east of Winnsboro, S. C. My marster say it was +de 18th of January, 1860. + +"My mother name Ann. Her b'long to my marster, James Barber. Dat's not a +fair question when you ask me who my daddy was. Well, just say he was a +white man and dat my mother never did marry nobody, while he lived. I +was de onliest child my mother ever had. + +"After freedom my mother raised me on de Marse Adam Barber place, up by +Rocky Mount and Mitford. I stayed dere 'til all de 'citement of politics +die down. My help was not wanted so much at de 'lection boxes, so I got +to roamin' 'round to fust one place and then another. But wheresomever I +go, I kept a thinkin' 'bout Rosa and de ripe may-pops in de field in +cotton pickin' time. I landed back to de Barber place and after a +skirmish or two wid de old folks, marry de gal de Lord always 'tended +for me to marry. Her name was Rosa Ford. You ask me if she was pretty? +Dat's a strange thing. Do you ever hear a white person say a colored +woman is pretty? I never have but befo' God when I was trampin' 'round +Charleston, dere was a church dere called St. Mark, dat all de society +folks of my color went to. No black nigger welcome dere, they told me. +Thinkin' as how I was bright 'nough to git in, I up and goes dere one +Sunday. Ah, how they did carry on, bow and scrape and ape de white +folks. I see some pretty feathers, pretty fans, and pretty women dere! I +was uncomfortable all de time though, 'cause they was too 'hifalootin' +in de ways, in de singin', and all sorts of carryin' ons. + +"Glad you fetch me back to Rosa. Us marry and had ten chillun. Francis, +Thompkins, William, Jim, Levi, Ab and Oz is dead. Katie marry a Boykin +and is livin' in New York. My wife, Rosa, die on dis place of Mr. Owens. + +"I lives in a house by myself. I hoes a little cotton, picks plums and +blackberries but dewberries 'bout played out. + +"My marster, James Barber, went through de Civil War and died. I begs +you, in de name of de good white folks of '76 and Wade Hampton, not to +forget me in dis old age pension business. + +"What I think of Abe Lincoln? I think he was a poor buckra white man, to +de likes of me. Although, I 'spects Mr. Lincoln meant well but I can't +help but wish him had continued splittin' them fence rails, which they +say he knowed all 'bout, and never took a hand in runnin' de government +of which he knowed nothin' 'bout. Marse Jeff Davis was all right, but +him oughta got out and fought some, lak General Lee, General Jackson and +'Poleon Bonaparte. Us might have won de war if he had turned up at some +of de big battles lak Gettysburg, 'Chickenmaroger', and 'Applemattox'. +What you think 'bout dat? + +"Yes sah, I has knowed a whole lot of good white men. Marse General +Bratton, Marse Ed P. Mobley, Marse Will Durham, dat owned dis house us +now settin' in, and Dr. Henry Gibson. Does I know any good colored men? +I sho' does! Dere's Professor Benjamin Russell at Blackstock. You knows +him. Then dere was Ouillah Harrison, dat own a four-hoss team and a +saddle hoss, in red shirt days. One time de brass band at Winnsboro, S. +C. wanted to go to Camden, S. C. to play at de speakin' of Hampton. He +took de whole band from Winnsboro to Camden, dat day, free of charge. +Ah! De way dat band did play all de way to Ridgeway, down de road to +Longtown, cross de Camden Ferry, and right into de town. Dere was horns +a blowin', drums a beatin', and people a shoutin': 'Hurrah for Hampton!' +Some was a singin': 'Hang Dan Chamberlain on a Sour Apple Tree'. Ouillah +come home and found his wife had done had a boy baby. What you reckon? +He name dat boy baby, Wade Hampton. When he come home to die, he lay his +hand on dat boy's head and say: 'Wade, 'member who you name for and +always vote a straight out democrat ticket'. Which dat boy did!" + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + MILLIE BARBER + EX-SLAVE 82 YEARS OLD. + +"Hope you find yourself well dis mornin', white folks. I's just common; +'spect I eats too much yesterday. You know us celebrated yesterday, +'cause it was de Fourth of July. Us had a good dinner on dis 2,000 acre +farm of Mr. Owens. God bless dat white boss man! What would us old no +'count niggers do widout him? Dere's six or seven, maybe eight of us out +here over eighty years old. 'Most of them is like me, not able to hit a +lick of work, yet he take care of us; he sho' does. + +"Mr. Owens not a member of de church but he allowed dat he done found +out dat it more blessed to give than to receive, in case like us. + +"You wants to know all 'bout de slavery time, de war, de Ku Kluxes and +everything? My tongue too short to tell you all dat I knows. However, if +it was as long as my stockin's, I could tell you a trunk full of good +and easy, bad and hard, dat dis old life-stream have run over in +eighty-two years. I's hoping to reach at last them green fields of Eden +of de Promise Land. 'Scuse me ramblin' 'round, now just ask me +questions; I bet I can answer all you ask. + +"My pa name, Tom McCullough; him was a slave of old Marster John +McCullough, whose big two-story house is de oldest in Fairfield County. +It stands today on a high hill, just above de banks of Dutchman Creek. +Big road run right by dat house. My mammy name, Nicie. Her b'long to de +Weir family; de head of de family die durin' de war of freedom. I's not +supposed to know all he done, so I'll pass over dat. My mistress name, +Eliza; good mistress. Have you got down dere dat old marster just took +sick and die, 'cause he wasn't touched wid a bullet nor de life slashed +out of him wid a sword? + +"Well, my pa b'longin' to one man and my mammy b'longin' to another, +four or five miles apart, caused some confusion, mix-up, and heartaches. +My pa have to git a pass to come to see my mammy. He come sometimes +widout de pass. Patrollers catch him way up de chimney hidin' one night; +they stripped him right befo' mammy and give him thirty-nine lashes, wid +her cryin' and a hollerin' louder than he did. + +"Us lived in a log house; handmade bedstead, wheat straw mattress, +cotton pillows, plenty coverin' and plenty to eat, sich as it was. Us +never git butter or sweet milk or coffee. Dat was for de white folks but +in de summer time, I minds de flies off de table wid the peafowl feather +brush and eat in de kitchen just what de white folks eat; them was very +good eatin's I's here for to tell you. All de old slaves and them dat +worked in de field, got rations and de chillun were fed at de kitchen +out-house. What did they git? I 'members they got peas, hog meat, corn +bread, 'lasses, and buttermilk on Sunday, then they got greens, turnips, +taters, shallots, collards, and beans through de week. They were kept +fat on them kind of rations. + +"De fact is I can't 'member us ever had a doctor on de place; just a +granny was enough at child birth. Slave women have a baby one day, up +and gwine 'round de next day, singin' at her work lak nothin' unusual +had happened. + +"Did I ever git a whippin'? Dat I did. How many times? More than I can +count on fingers and toes. What I git a whippin' for? Oh, just one +thing, then another. One time I break a plate while washin' dishes and +another time I spilt de milk on de dinin' room floor. It was always for +somethin', sir. I needed de whippin'. + +"Yes sir, I had two brothers older than me; one sister older than me and +one brother younger than me. + +"My young marster was killed in de war. Their names was Robert, Smith, +and Jimmie. My young mistress, Sarah, married a Sutton and moved to +Texas. Nancy marry Mr. Wade Rawls. Miss Janie marry Mr. Hugh Melving. At +this marriage my mammy was give to Miss Janie and she was took to Texas +wid her young baby, Isaiah, in her arms. I have never seen or heard tell +of them from dat day to dis. + +"De Yankees come and burn de gin-house and barns. Open de smokehouse, +take de meat, give de slaves some, shoot de chickens, and as de mistress +and girls beg so hard, they left widout burnin' de dwellin' house. + +"My oldest child, Alice, is livin' and is fifty-one years old de 10th of +dis last May gone. My first husband was Levi Young; us lived wid Mr. +Knox Picket some years after freedom. We moved to Mr. Rubin Lumpkin's +plantation, then to George Boulwares. Well, my husband die and I took a +fool notion, lak most widows, and got into slavery again. I marry Prince +Barber; Mr. John Hollis, Trial Justice, tied de knot. I loved dat young +nigger more than you can put down dere on paper, I did. He was black and +shiny as a crow's wing. Him was white as snow to dese old eyes. Ah, the +joy, de fusses, de ructions, de beatin's, and de makin' ups us had on de +Ed Shannon place where us lived. Us stay dere seven long years. + +"Then de Klu Kluxes comed and lak to scared de life out of me. They ask +where Prince was, searched de house and go away. Prince come home 'bout +daylight. Us took fright, went to Marster Will Durham's and asked for +advice and protection. Marster Will Durham fixed it up. Next year us +moved to dis place, he own it then but Marster Arthur Owens owns it now. +Dere is 2,000 acres in dis place and another 1,000 acres in de Rubin +Lumpkin place 'joinin' it. + +"Prince die on dis place and I is left on de mercy of Marster Arthur, +livin' in a house wid two grandchillun, James twelve years, and John +Roosevelt Barber, eight years old. Dese boys can work a little. They can +pick cotton and tote water in de field for de hands and marster say: +'Every little help'. + +"My livin' chillun ain't no help to me. Dere's Willie, I don't know +where he is. Prince is wid Mr. Freeman on de river. Maggie is here on de +place but she no good to me. + +"I 'spect when I gits to drawin' down dat pension de white folks say is +comin', then dere will be more folks playin' in my backyard than dere is +today." + + + + + Project 1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + ANDERSON BATES + EX-SLAVE 87 YEARS OLD. + + +Anderson Bates lives with his son-in-law and daughter, Ed and Dora +Owens, in a three-room frame house, on lands of Mr. Dan Heyward, near +the Winnsboro Granite Company, Winnsboro, S. C. Anderson and his wife +occupy one of the rooms and his rent is free. His son-in-law has regular +employment at the Winnsboro Cotton Mills. His wife, Carrie, looks after +the house. Anderson and his daughter, Dora, are day laborers on the +neighborhood farms, but he is able to do very little work. + +"I was born on de old Dr. Furman place, near Jenkinsville, S. C., in de +year, 1850. My pappy was name Nat and mammy name Winnie. They was slaves +of old Dr. Furman, dat have a big plantation, one hundred slaves, and a +whole lot of little slave chillun, dat him wouldn't let work. They run +'round in de plum thickets, blackberry bushes, hunt wild strawberries, +blow cane whistles, and have a good time. + +"De old Dr. Furman house is ramshackle but it is still standin' out dere +and is used as a shelter for sawmill hands dat is cuttin' down de big +pines and sawin' them on de place. + +"Where did my pappy and mammy come from? Mammy was born a slave in de +Furman family in Charleston, but pappy was bought out of a drove dat a +Baltimore speculator fetch from Maryland long befo' de war. Doctor +practice all 'round and 'bout Monticello, happen 'long one day, see my +pappy and give a thousand dollars for him, to dat speculator. I thank +God for dat! + +"Dr. Furman, my old marster, have a brudder called Jim, dat run de +Furman School, fust near Winnsboro, then it move to Greenville, S. C. + +"My mistress name Nancy. Her was of de quality. Her voice was soft and +quiet to de slaves. Her teach us to sing: + + 'Dere is a happy land, far, far 'way, + Where bright angels stand, far, far 'way, + Oh! How them angels sing! + Oh! How them bells ring! + In dat happy land, far, far 'way!' + +"Dere was over a thousand acres, maybe two thousand in dat old Furman +place. Them sawmill folks give $30,000.00 for it, last year. + +"My pappy and mammy was field hands. My brudders and sisters was: +Liddie, Millie, Ria, Ella, Harriet, Thomas, Smith, and Marshall. All +dead but me and Marshall. + +"I was fifteen when de Yankees come thru. They took off everything, +hosses, mules, cows, sheep, goats, turkeys, geese, and chickens. Hogs? +Yes sah, they kill hogs and take off what parts they want and leave +other parts bleedin' on de yard. When they left, old marster have to go +up into Union County for rations. + +"Dat's funny, you wants to set down dere 'bout my courtship and weddin'? +Well, sir, I stay on de old plantation, work for my old marster, de +doctor, and fell head over heels in love wid Carrie. Dere was seven more +niggers a flyin' 'round dat sugar lump of a gal in de night time when I +breezes in and takes charge of de fireside cheer. I knocks one down one +night, kick another out de nex' night, and choke de stuffin' out of one +de nex' night. I landed de three-leg stool on de head of de fourth one, +de last time. Then de others carry deir 'fections to some other place +than Carrie's house. Us have some hard words 'bout my bad manners, but I +told her dat I couldn't 'trol my feelin's wid them fools a settin' +'round dere gigglin' wid her. I go clean crazy! + +"Then us git married and go to de ten-acre quarry wid Mr. Anderson. I +work dere a while and then go to Captain Macfie, then to his son, Wade, +and then to Marse Rice Macfie. Then I go back to de quarry, drill and +git out stone. They pay me $3.50 a day 'til de Parr Shoals Power come in +wid 'lectric power drills and I was cut down to eighty cents a day. Then +I say: 'Old grey hoss! Damn 'lectric toolin', I's gwine to leave.' I +went to Hopewell, Virginia, and work wid de DuPonts for five years. War +come on and they ask me to work on de acid area. De atmosphere dere tear +all de skin off my face and arms, but I stuck it out to de end of de big +war, for $7.20 a day. I drunk a good deal of liquor then, but I sent +money to Carrie all de time and fetch her a roll every fourth of July +and on Christmas. After de war they dismantle de plant and I come back +to work for Mr. Eleazer, on de Saluda River for $2.00 a day, for five +years. + +"Carrie have chillun by me. Dere was Anderson, my son, ain't see him in +forty years. Essie, my daughter, marry Herbert Perrin. Dora, another +daughter, marry Ed Owens. Ed makes good money workin' at de factory in +Winnsboro. They have seven chillun. Us tries to keep them chillun in +school but they don't have de good times I had when a child, a eatin' +cracklin' bread and buttermilk, liver, pig-tails, hog-ears and turnip +greens. + +"Does I 'member anything 'bout de Klu Kluxes? Jesus, yes! My old +marster, de doctor, in goin' 'round, say out loud to people dat Klu +Kluxes was doin' some things they ought not to do, by 'stortin' money +out of niggers just 'cause they could. + +"When he was gone to Union one day, a low-down pair of white men come, +wid false faces, to de house and ask where Dick Bell was. Miss Nancy say +her don't know. They go hunt for him. Dick made a bee-line for de +house. They pull out hoss pistols, fust time, 'pow'. Dick run on, secon' +time, 'pow'. Dick run on, third time, 'pow' and as Dick reach de front +yard de ball from de third shot keel him over lak a hit rabbit. Old miss +run out but they git him. Her say: 'I give you five dollars to let him +'lone.' They say: 'Not 'nough.' Her say: 'I give you ten dollars.' They +say: 'Not 'nough.' Her say: 'I give you fifteen dollars.' They say: 'Not +'nough.' Her say: 'I give you twenty-five dollars.' They take de money +and say: 'Us'll be back tomorrow for de other Dick.' They mean Dick +James. + +"Nex' day, us see them a comin' again. Dick James done load up de +shotgun wid buckshot. When they was comin' up de front steps, Uncle Dick +say to us all in de big house: 'Git out de way!' De names of de men us +find out afterwards was Bishop and Fitzgerald. They come up de steps, +wid Bishop in de front. Uncle Dick open de door, slap dat gun to his +shoulder, and pull de trigger. Dat man Bishop hollers: 'Oh Lordy.' He +drop dead and lay dere 'til de coroner come. Fitzgerald leap 'way. They +bring Dick to jail, try him right in dat court house over yonder. What +did they do wid him? Well, when Marse Bill Stanton, Marse Elisha +Ragsdale and Miss Nancy tell 'bout it all from de beginnin' to de end, +de judge tell de jury men dat Dick had a right to protect his home, and +hisself, and to kill dat white man and to turn him loose. Dat was de end +of de Klu Kluxes in Fairfield." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + From Field Notes + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + April 28. 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + FOLK LORE: FOLK TALES (negro) + + +"I sho members when de soldiers come home from de war. All de women +folks, both black as well as white wuz so glad to see 'em back dat we +jus jumped up and hollered 'Oh, Lawdy, God bless you.' When you would +look around a little, you would see some widout an arm or maybe dey +would be a walkin' wid a cruch or a stick. Den you would cry some widout +lettin your white folks see you. But Jane, de worsest time of all fer us +darkies wuz when de Ku Klux killed Dan Black. We wuz little chilluns a +playin' in Dans house. We didn't know he had done nothin' ginst de white +folks. Us wuz a playin by de fire jus as nice when something hit on de +wall. Dan, he jump up and try to git outten de winder. A white spooky +thing had done come in de doo' right by me. I was so scairt dat I could +not git up. I had done fell straight out on de flo'. When Dan stick his +head outten dat winder something say bang and he fell right down in de +flo'. I crawles under de bed. When I got dar, all de other chilluns wuz +dar to, lookin' as white as ashed dough from hickory wood. Us peeped out +and den us duck under de bed agin. Ain't no bed ebber done as much good +as dat one. Den a whole lot of dem come in de house. De wuz all white +and scairy lookin'. It still makes de shivvers run down my spine and +here I is ole and you all a settin' around wid me and two mo' wars done +gone since dat awful time. Dan Black, he wo'nt no mo' kaise dey took dat +nigger and hung him to a simmon tree. Dey would not let his folks take +him down either. He jus stayed dar till he fell to pieces. + +"After dat when us chilluns seed de Ku Klux a comin', us would take an' +run breakneck speed to de nearest wood. Dar we would stay till dey wuz +plum out o' sight and you could not even hear de horses feet. Dem days +wuz worse'n de war. Yes Lawd, dey wuz worse'n any war I is ebber heard +of. + +"Was not long after dat fore de spooks wuz a gwine round ebber whar. +When you would go out atter dark, somethin' would start to a haintin' +ye. You would git so scairt dat you would mighty ni run every time you +went out atter dark; even iffin you didn't see nothin'. Chile, don't axe +me what I seed. Atter all dat killin' and a burnin' you know you wuz +bliged to see things wid all dem spirits in distress a gwine all over de +land. You see, it is like dis, when a man gits killed befo he is done +what de good Lawd intended fer him to do, he comes back here and tries +to find who done him wrong. I mean he don' come back hisself, but de +spirit, it is what comes and wanders around. Course, it can't do +nothin', so it jus scares folks and haints dem." + + Source: "Aunt" Millie Bates, 25 Hamlet street, Union, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Georgetown County + + FOLKLORE + + VISIT WITH UNCLE WELCOME BEES--AGE 104 YEARS + + +The road is perfectly camouflaged from the King's Highway by wild plums +that lap overhead. Only those who have traveled this way before could +locate the 'turn in' to Uncle Welcome's house. When you have turned in +and come suddenly out from the plum thicket you find your road winding +along with cultivated patches on the left--corn and peas--a fenced-in +garden, the palings riven out by hand, and thick dark woods on the left. +A lonesome, untenanted cabin is seemingly in the way but your car swings +to the left instead of climbing the door-step and suddenly you find you +are facing a bog. The car may get through; it may not. So you switch off +and just sit a minute, seeing how the land lies. A great singing and +chopping of wood off to the left have kept the inmates from hearing the +approach of a car. When you rap therefore you hear, 'Come in'. + +A narrow hall runs through to the back porch and off this hall on your +right opens a door from beyond which comes a very musical squeaking--you +know a rocking chair is going hard--even before you see it in motion +with a fuzzy little head that rests on someone's shoulder sticking over +the top. And the fuzzy head which in size is like a small five-cent +cocoanut, belongs to Uncle Welcome's great-grand. On seeing a visitor +the grand, the mother of the infant, rises and smiles greeting, and, +learning your errand, points back to the kitchen to show where Uncle +Welcome sits. You step down one step and ask him if you may come in and +he pats a chair by his side. The old man isn't so spry as he was when +you saw him in the fall; the winter has been hard. But here it is warm +again and at most four in the April afternoon, he sits over his plate of +hopping John--he and innumerable flies. At his feet, fairly under the +front of a small iron stove, sits another great-grand with a plate of +peas between her legs. Peas and rice, 'hopping John'. (Someone says peas +and hominy cooked together makes "limping Lizzie in the Low-Country." +But that is another story.) + + * * * * * + +"Uncle Welcome, isn't Uncle Jeemes Stuart the oldest liver on Sandy +Island?" Welcome: "Jeemes Stuart? I was married man when he born. Jeemes +rice-field. (Worker in rice-field) posed himself. In all kinds of +weather. Cut you down, down, down. Jeemes second wife gal been married +before but her husband dead. + +"I couldn't tell the date or time I born. Your Maussa (Master) take it +down. When I been marry, Dr. Ward Fadder (Father) aint been marry yet. +My mother had twelve head born Oatland. He bought my mother from +Virginia. Dolly. Sam her husband name. Sam come from same course. When +my mother been bought, her been young woman. Work in rice. Plow right +now (Meaning April is time to plow rice fields). I do carpenter work and +mind horse for plantation. Come from Georgetown in boat. Have you own +carriage. Go anywhere you want to go. Oatland church build for colored +people and po-buckra. I helped build that church. The boss man, Mr. +Bettman. My son Isaac sixty-nine. If him sixty-nine, I one hundred four. +That's my record. Maussa didn't low you to marry till you twenty-two. +Ben Allston own Turkey Hill. When him dead, I was twelve years old. Me! +(Knocking his chest)" + + Welcome Bees-- + Parkersville, S. C. + (Near Waverly Mills, S. C.) + Age 104. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + ANNE BELL + EX-SLAVE 83 YEARS OLD. + ~HW: (near Winnsboro, S. C.)~] + + +Anne Bell lives with her niece, in a one-room annex to a two-room frame +house, on the plantation of Mr. Lake Howze, six miles west of Winnsboro, +S. C. Her niece's husband, Golden Byrd, is a share-cropper on Mr. +Howze's place. The old lady is still spry and energetic about the cares +of housekeeping and attention to the small children of her niece. She is +a delightful old lady and well worth her keep in the small chores she +undertakes and performs in the household. + +"My marster was John Glazier Rabb; us call him Marse Glazier. My +mistress was Nancy Kincaid Watts; us call her Miss Nancy. They lived on +a big plantation in Fairfield County and dere I come into dis world, +eighty-three years ago, 10th day of April past. + +"My pappy name just Andy but after de freedom, he took de name of Andrew +Watts. My old mammy was Harriett but she come to you if you calls her +Hattie. My brudders was Jake and Rafe. My sister name Charity. They all +dead and gone to glory long time ago; left me here 'lone by myself and +I's settin' here tellin' you 'bout them. + +"My mammy was de cook at de 'Big House' for marster, Miss Nancy, and de +chillun. Let me see if I can call them over in my mind. Dere was Marse +John, went off to de war, color bearer at Seven Pines. Yes sir, him was +killed wid de colors a flyin' in his hand. Heard tell of it many times. +He lies right now in de old Buck Church graveyard. De pine trees, seven +of them, cry and sob 'round him every August 6th; dat's de day he was +killed. Oh, my God! + +"Marse James went wid old Colonel Rion. They say he got shot but bullets +couldn't kill him. No, bless God! Him comed back. Then come Marse +Clarence. He went wid Captain Jim Macfie, went through it all and didn't +get a scratch. Next was Miss Jesse. Then come Marse Horace, and Miss +Nina. Us chillun all played together. Marse Horace is livin' yet and is +a fine A. R.P. preacher of de Word. Miss Nina a rich lady, got +plantation but live 'mong de big bugs in Winnsboro. She married Mr. +Castles; she is a widow now. He was a good man, but he dead now. + +"De one I minds next, is Charlie. I nussed him. He married Colonel +Province's daughter. Dat's all I can call to mind, right now. + +"Course de white folks I b'longs to, had more slaves than I got fingers +and toes; whole families of them. De carpenter and de blacksmith on de +place made de bedsteads. Us had good wheat straw mattresses to sleep on; +cotton quilts, spreads, and cotton pillows. No trouble to sleep but it +was hard to hear dat white overseer say at day break: 'Let me hear them +foots hit de floor and dat befo' I go! Be lively! Hear me?' And you had +to answer, 'Yas sah', befo' he'd move on to de nex' house. I does +'member de parts of de bed, was held together by wooden pins. I sho' +'members dat! + +"Mammy Harriett was de cook. I didn't done no work but 'tend to de +chillun and tote water. + +"Money? Go 'way from here, boss! Lord, no sir, I never saw no money. +What I want wid it anyhow? + +"How did they feed us? Had better things to eat then, than now and more +different kind of somethin's. Us had pears, 'lasses, shorts, middlings +of de wheat, corn bread, and all kinds of milk and vegetables. + +"Got a whuppin' once. They wanted me to go after de turkeys and I didn't +want to go past de graveyard, where de turkeys was. I sho' didn't want +to go by them graves. I's scared now to go by a graveyard in de dark. I +took de whuppin' and somebody else must have got de turkeys. Sho' I +didn't drive them up! + +"Slaves spun de thread, loomed de cloth, and made de clothes for de +plantation. Don't believe I had any shoes. I was just a small gal anyhow +then, didn't need them and didn't want them. + +"Yes, I's seen nigger women plow. Church? I wouldn't fool you, all de +slaves big enough and not sick, had to go to church on de Sabbath. + +"They give us a half Saturday, to do as we like. + +"I was 'bout ten years old when de Yankees come. They was full to de +brim wid mischief. They took de frocks out de presses and put them on +and laugh and carry on powerful. Befo' they went they took everything. +They took de meat and 'visions out de smoke-house, and de 'lasses, +sugar, flour, and meal out de house. Killed de pigs and cows, burnt de +gin-house and cotton, and took off de live stock, geese, chickens and +turkeys. + +"After de freedom, I stayed on wid mammy right dere, 'til I married Levi +Bell. I's had two chillun. Dis my grand-daughter, I visitin'. I never +'spects to have as good a home as I had in slavery time, 'til I gits my +title to dat mansion in de sky. Dats de reason I likes to sing dat old +plantation spiritual, 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Jesus Gwinter Carry me +Home'. Does I believe in 'ligion? What else good for colored folks? I +ask you if dere ain't a heaven, what's colored folks got to look forward +to? They can't git anywhere down here. De only joy they can have here, +is servin' and lovin'; us can git dat in 'ligion but dere is a limit to +de nigger in everything else. Course I knows my place in dis world; I +'umbles myself here to be 'zalted up yonder." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + July 26, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + SLAVERY REMINISCENCES + + +"I was raised in the wood across the road about 200 yards from here. I +was very mischievous. My parents were honest and were Christians. I +loved them very much. My father was William Bevis, who died at the age +of eighty. Miss Zelia Hames of Pea Ridge was my mother. My parents are +buried at Bethlehem Methodist Church. I was brought up in Methodism and +I do not know anything else. I had two brothers and four sisters. My +twin sister died last April 1937. She was Fannie Holcombe. I was in bed +with pneumonia at the time of her death and of course I could not go to +the funeral. For a month, I was unconscious. + +"When I was a little girl I played 'Andy-over' with a ball, in the +moonlight. Later I went to parties and dances. Calico, chambric and +gingham were the materials which our party dresses were made of. + +"My grandmother, Mrs. Phoebe Bevis used to tell Revolutionary stories +and sing songs that were sung during that period. Grandmother knew some +Tories. She always told me that old Nat Gist was a Tory ... that is the +way he got rich. + +"Hampton was elected governor the morning my mother died. Father went in +his carriage to Jonesville to vote for Hampton. We all thought that +Hampton was fine. + +"When I was a school girl I used the blue back speller. My sweetheart's +name was Ben Harris. We went to Bethlehem to school. Jeff and Bill +Harris were our teachers. I was thirteen. We went together for six +years. The Confederate War commenced. He was very handsome. He had black +eyes and black hair. I had seven curls on one side of my head and seven +on the other. He was twenty-four when he joined the 'Boys of Sixteen'. + +"He wanted to marry me then, but father would not let us marry. He +kissed me good bye and went off to Virginia. He was a picket and was +killed while on duty at Mars Hill. Bill Harris was in a tent nearby and +heard the shot. He brought Ben home. I went to the funeral. I have never +been much in-love since then. + +"I hardly ever feel sad. I did not feel especially sad during the war. I +made socks, gloves and sweaters for the Confederate soldiers and also +knitted for the World War soldiers. During the war, there were three +looms and three shuttles in our house. + +"I went often to the muster grounds at Kelton to see the soldiers drill +and to flirt my curls at them. Pa always went with me to the muster +field. Once he invited four recruits to dine with us. We had a delicious +supper. That was before the Confederacy was paralyzed. Two darkies +waited on our table that night, Dorcas and Charlotte. A fire burned in +our big fireplace and a lamp hung over the table. After supper was over, +we all sat around the fire in its flickering light. + +"My next lover was Jess Holt and he was drowned in the Mississippi +River. He was a carpenter and was building a warf on the river. He fell +in and was drowned in a whirlpool." + + Source: Miss Caroline Bevis (W. 96), County Home, Union, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. (7/13/37) + + + + + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, June 21, 1937 + + MAGGIE BLACK + Ex-Slave, 79 years + + +"Honey, I don' know wha' to tell yuh 'bout dem times back dere. Yuh see +I wus jes uh young child when de free war close en I ain' know much to +tell yuh. I born o'er de river dere to Massa Jim Wilkerson plantation. +Don' know wha' 'come uv my ole Massa chillun a'ter dey head been gone. +Yuh see, honey, Massa Jim Wilkerson hab uh heap uv slave en he hire my +mudder out to Colonel Durant place right down de road dere whey Miss +Durant lib now. Coase I been back o'er de river to visit 'mongest de +peoples dere a'ter freedom wuz 'clare, but I ain' ne'er lib dere no +more." + +"Gawd been good to me, honey. I been heah uh long ole time en I can' see +mucha dese days, but I gettin' 'long sorta so-so. I wuz train up to be +uh nu'se 'oman en I betcha I got chillun more den any 60 year ole 'bout +heah now dat I nu'se when dey wuz fust come heah. No, honey, ain' got no +chillun uv me own. Aw my chillun white lak yuh." + +"No, no'mam, dey wear long ole frock den en uh girl comin' on dere when +dey ge' to be any kind uv uh girl, dey put dat frock down. Oh, my child, +dey can' ge' em short 'nough dese days. Ain' hab nuthin but uh string on +dese day en time. Dey use'er wear dem big ole hoop skirt dat sit out +broad lak from de ankle en den dey wear little panty dat show down twixt +dey skirt en dey ankle. Jes tie em 'round dey knees wid some sorta +string en le' em show dat way 'bout dey ankle. I 'member we black +chillun'ud go in de woods en ge' wild grape vine en bend em round en put +em under us skirt en make it stand out big lak. Hadder hab uh big ole +ring fa de bottom uv de skirt en den one uh little bit smaller eve'y +time dey ge' closer to de waist. Ne'er hab none tall in de waist cause +dat wuz s'ppose to be little bitty t'ing." + +"Dey weave aw de cloth dey use den right dere on de plantation. Wear +cotton en woolens aw de time den. Coase de Madam, she could go en ge' de +finest kind uv silk cause mos' uv her t'ing come from 'broad. Child, I +c'n see my ole mammy how she look workin' dat spinning wheel jes us good +uz ef dat day wuz dis day right heah. She set dere at dat ole spinning +wheel en take one shettle en t'row it one way en den annuder de udder +way en pull dat t'ing en make it tighter en tighter. Sumptin say zum, +zum, zum, en den yuh hadder work yuh feet dere too. Dat wuz de way dey +make dey cloth dat day en time." + +"Honey, peoples hadder work dey hand fa eve'yt'ing dey hab mos' den. Dey +grew dey own rice right dere on de plantation in dem days. Hadder plant +it on some uv de land wha' wuz weter den de udder land wuz. Dey hadder +le' de rice ge' good en ripe en den dey'ud cut it en hab one uv dem big +rice whipping days. Heap uv people come from plantation aw 'bout en +help whip dat rice. Dey jes take de rice en beat it 'cross some hoes dat +dey hab fix up somewhey dere on de plantation. Honey, dey hab hoss jes +lak dese hoss yuh see carpenter use 'boat heah dese days. Dey'ud hab +hundreds uv bushels uv dat rice dere. Den when dey ge' t'rough, dey hab +big supper dere fa aw dem wha' whip rice. Gi'e em aw de rice en hog head +dey is e'er wan'. Man, dey'ud hab de nicest kind uv music dere. Knock +dem bones togedder en slap en pat dey hands to aw kind uv pretty tune." + +"Dem dey hab rice mortars right dere on de plantation wha' dey fix de +rice in jes uz nice. Now dey hab to take it to de mill. Yuh see dey hab +uh big block outer in de yard wid uh big hole in it dat dey put de rice +in en take dese t'ing call pestles en beat down on it en dat wha' knock +de shaft offen it. Coase dey ne'er hab no nice pretty rice lak yuh see +dese days cause it wusn't uz white uz de rice dat dey hab 'boat heah dis +day en time, but it wuz mighty sweet rice, honey, mighty sweet rice." + +"No'mam, didn't hab no schools tall den. Ne'er gi'e de colored peoples +no l'arnin' no whey 'fore freedom 'clare. Wha' little l'arnin' come my +way wuz wha' I ge' when I stay wid Miss Martha Leggett down dere to +Leggett's Mill Pond. A'ter freedom 'clare, uh lady from de north come +dere en Miss Leggett send we chillun to school to dat lady up on de hill +dere in de woods. No, honey, yah ain' ne'er see no bresh tent 'bout +heah dis day en time. Dis jes de way it waz make. Dey dig four big holes +en put postes in aw four corner 'bout lak uh room. Den dey lay log +'cross de top uv dat en kiver it aw o'er wid bresh (brush) dat dey break +outer de woods. Ne'er hab none uv de side shet up. En dey haul log dere +en roll em under dat bresh tent fa we chillun to set on. Oh, de +teacher'ud hab uh big box fa her stand jes lak uh preacher. Eve'ybody +dat go to school dere hab one uv dem t'ing call slate dat yah ne'er +hadder do nuthin but jes wash it offen. En dey hab dese ole l'arnin' +book wha' yuh call Websters." + +"My white folks al'ays waz good to me, honey. Ne'er didn't nab to do no +field work in aw me life. When I stay dere wid Miss Leggett, I hadder +pick up little chip 'bout de yard when I fust come home from school en +den I hadder go 'way up in de big field en drib de turkeys up. We didn't +find dat no hard t'ing to do lak de peoples talk lak it sumptin hard to +do dese days. We wuz l'arnt to work en didn't mind it neither. Al'ays +minded to us own business." + +"Oh, gourds waz de t'ing in dem days. Dey waz wha' de peoples hab to +drink outer en wash dey hominy en rice in aw de time. Dey was de bestest +kind uv bowl fa we chillun to eat corn bread en clabber outer. Peoples +dis day en time don' hab no sech crockery lak de people use'er hab. +Honey, day hab de prettiest little clay bowls den." + +"Annuder t'ing de peoples do den dat yuh ain' ne'er hear 'bout nobody +doing dese days, dey al'ays boil sumptin fa dey cows to eat lak peas en +corn in uh big ole black pot somewhey dere in de back lot. Coase it wuz +jes half cooked, but day sho' done dat. Nobody ne'er t'ought 'bout not +cookin' fa dey cow den." + +"Dat was sho' uh different day from dis, honey. De little chillun wus +jes uz foolish den cause de peoples ne'er tell dem 'bout nuthin tall in +dat day en time. Aw dese little chillun 'bout heah dese days don' hab no +shame 'bout em no whey. Dey hab head full uv eve'yt'ing, honey, aw sorta +grown people knowings." + + Source: Maggie Black, ex-slave, age 79, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview, June 1937 + + + + + Spartanburg, S. C. + June 7, 1937 + + FOLKLORE: EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born in Laurens County, S. C., at the 'brick house', which is +close to Newberry County line, and my master was Dr. Felix Calmes. The +old brick house is still there. My daddy was Joe Grazier and my mammy, +Nellie Grazier. + +"We had a pretty good house to live in in slavery time, and some fair +things to eat, but never was paid any money. We had plenty to eat like +fat meat, turnips, cabbages, cornbread, milk and pot-liquor. Master sent +his corn and apples, and his peaches to old man Scruggs at Helena, near +Newberry, to have him make his whiskey, brandy, and wine for him. Old +man Scruggs was good at that business. The men hunted some, squirrels, +rabbits, possums, and birds. + +"In the winter time I didn't have much clothes, and no shoes. At nights +I carded and spinned on the mistress's wheels, helping my mammy. Then we +got old woman Wilson to weave for us. + +"Master had a big plantation of several farms, near about 1,000 acres or +more. It was said he had once 250 slaves on his places, counting +children and all. His overseers had to whip the slaves, master told them +to, and told them to whip them hard. Master Calmes was most always mean +to us. He got mad spells and whip like the mischief. He all the time +whipping me 'cause I wouldn't work like he wanted. I worked in the big +house, washed, ironed, cleaned up, and was nurse in the house when war +was going on. + +"We didn't have a chance to learn to read and write, and master said if +he caught any of his slaves trying to learn he would 'skin them alive'. + +"There was a church in the neighborhood on Dr. Blackburn's place, but we +didn't get to go to it much. I was 17 years old when I joined the +church. I joined because the rest of the girls joined. I think everybody +ought to join the church. + +"On Saturday afternoons the slaves had to work, and all day Sunday, too, +if master wanted them. On Christmas Day we was give liquor to get drunk +on, but didn't have no dinner. + +"When I was sick old Dr. P. B. Ruff attended me. Old Dr. Calmes, I +'member, traveled on a horse, with saddle-bag behind him, and made his +own medicines. He made pills from cornbread. + +"I saw many slaves sold on the block--saw mammy with little infant taken +away from her baby and sent away. I saw families separated from each +other, some going to one white master and some to another. + +"I married at 14 years old to Arthur Bluford. We had 10 children. I now +have about 8 grandchildren and about 7 or 8 great-grandchildren. I was +married in the town of Newberry at the white folk's Methodist church, by +a colored preacher named Rev. Geo. De Walt. + +"When freedom come, they left and hired out to other people, but I +stayed and was hired out to a man who tried to whip me, but I ran away. +Dat was after I married and had little baby. I told my mammy to look +after my little baby 'cause I was gone. I stayed away two years 'till +after Dr. Calmes and his family moved to Mississippi." + + Source: Gordon Bluford (92), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. Leland Summer, 1707 Lindsey St., + Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + Henry Grant + Columbia, S. C. + + SAMUEL BOULWARE + EX-SLAVE 82 YEARS OLD. + + +Samuel Boulware's only home is one basement room, in the home of colored +friends, for which no rent charges are made. He is old and feeble and +has poor eyesight, yet, he is self-supporting by doing light odd jobs, +mostly for white people. He has never married, hence no dependents +whatever. One of the members of the house, in which Samuel lives, told +him someone on the front porch wanted to talk with him. + +From his dingy basement room he slowly mounted the steps and came toward +the front door with an irregular shamble. One seeing his approach would +naturally be of the opinion, that this old darkey was certainly nearing +the hundred year mark. Apparently Father Time had almost caught up with +him; he had been caught in the winds of affliction and now he was +tottering along with a bent and twisted frame, which for many years in +the past, housed a veritable physical giant. The winds of 82 years had +blown over him and now he was calmly and humbly approaching the end of +his days. Humility was his attitude, a characteristic purely +attributable to the genuine and old-fashion southern Negro. He slid into +a nearby chair and began talking in a plain conversational way. + +"Dis is a mighty hot day white folks but you knows dis is July and us +gits de hot days in dis month. De older I gits de more I feels de hot +and de cold. I has been a strong, hard working man most all my life and +if it wasn't for dis rheumatism I has in my right leg, I could work hard +every day now. + +"Does I 'member much 'bout slavery times? Well, dere is no way for me to +disremember, unless I die. My mammy and me b'long to Doctor Hunter, +some called him Major Hunter. When I was a small boy, I lived wid my +mammy on de Hunter plantation. After freedom, I took de name of my +daddy, who was a Boulware. He b'long to Reuben Boulware, who had a +plantation two and one-half miles from Ridgeway, S. C., on de road dat +leads to Longtown. My mistress' name was Effie. She and marster had four +sons, no girls a-tall. George, Abram, Willie, and Henry, was their +names. They was fine boys, 'cause they was raised by Mistress Effie's +own hands. She was a good woman and done things 'zackly right 'round de +plantation. Us slaves loved her, 'cause she said kind and soft words to +us. Many times I's seen her pat de little niggers on de head, smile and +say nice words to them. Boss, kind treatment done good then and it sho' +does good dis present day; don't you think I's right 'bout dat? Marster +had a bad temper. When he git mad, he walk fast, dis way and dat way, +and when he stop, would say terrible cuss words. When de mistress heard +them bad words, she would bow her pretty head and walk 'way kinda sad +lak. It hurt us slaves to see de mistress sad, 'cause us wanted to see +her smilin' and happy all de time. + +"My mammy worked hard in de field every day and as I was just a small +boy, I toted water to de hands in de field and fetched wood into de +kitchen to cook wid. Mammy was de mother of twelve chillun; three of +them die when they was babies. I's de oldest of de twelve and has done +more hard work than de rest. I had five brothers and all of them is +dead, 'cept one dat lives in Savannah, Georgia. I has four sisters, one +living in Charleston, one in New York City, one in Ithaca, N. Y., and +one in Fairfield County, dis State. + +"Does my folks help me along any? No sir, they sho' don't. I gits +nothin' from them, and I don't expect nothin' neither. Boss, a nigger's +kinfolks is worse than a stranger to them; they thinks and acts for +theirselves and no one else. I knows I's a nigger and I tries to know my +place. If white folks had drapped us long time ago, us would now be next +to de rovin' beasts of de woods. Slavery was hard I knows but it had to +be, it seem lak. They tells me they eats each other in Africa. Us don't +do dat and you knows dat is a heap to us. + +"Us had plenty to eat in slavery time. It wasn't de best but it filled +us up and give us strength 'nough to work. Marster would buy a years +rations on de first of every year and when he git it, he would have some +cooked and would set down and eat a meal of it. He would tell us it +didn't hurt him, so it won't hurt us. Dats de kind of food us slaves had +to eat all de year. Of course, us got a heap of vegetables and fruits in +de summer season, but sich as dat didn't do to work on, in de long +summer days. + +"Marster was good, in a way, to his slaves but dat overseer of his name +John Parker, was mean to us sometimes. He was good to some and bad to +others. He strung us up when he done de whippin'. My mammy got many +whippin's on 'count of her short temper. When she got mad, she would +talk back to de overseer, and dat would make him madder than anything +else she could do. + +"Marster had over twenty grown slaves all de time. He bought and sold +them whenever he wanted to. It was sad times to see mother and chillun +separated. I's seen de slave speculator cut de little nigger chillun +with keen leather whips, 'cause they'd cry and run after de wagon dat +was takin' their mammies away after they was sold. + +"De overseer was poor white folks, if dats what you is askin' 'bout, +and dat is one thing dat made him so hard on de slaves of de plantation. +All de overseers I knowed 'bout was poor white folks; they was white +folks in de neighborhood dat wasn't able to own slaves. All dis class of +people was called by us niggers, poor white folks. + +"Us slaves had no schoolin', 'cause dere was no teacher and school nigh +our plantation. I has learnt to read a little since I got grown. +Spelling come to me natural. I can spell 'most any word I hears, old as +I is. + +"Marster and mistress was Baptist in 'ligious faith, and b'long to +Concord Baptist Church. Us slaves was allowed to 'tend dat church, too. +Us set up in de gallery and jined in de singin' every Sunday. Us slaves +could jine Concord Church but Doctor Durham, who was de preacher, would +take de slaves in another room from de white folks, and git their +'fessions, then he would jine them to de church. + +"My daddy was a slave on Reuben Boulware's plantation, 'bout two miles +from Marster Hunter's place. He would git a pass to come to see mammy +once every week. If he come more than dat he would have to skeedaddle +through de woods and fields from de patrollers. If they ketched him +widout a pass, he was sho' in for a skin crackin' whippin'. He knowed +all dat but he would slip to see mammy anyhow, whippin' or not. + +"Most them there patrollers was poor white folks, I believes. Rich folks +stay in their house at night, 'less they has some sort of big frolic +amongst theirselves. Poor white folks had to hustle 'round to make a +living, so, they hired out theirselves to slave owners and rode de roads +at night and whipped niggers if they ketched any off their plantation +widout a pass. I has found dat if you gives to some poor folks, white +or black, something a little better than they is used to, they is sho' +gwine to think too high of theirselves soon, dats right. I sho' believes +dat, as much as I believes I's setting in dis chair talkin' to you. + +"I 'members lak yesterday, de Yankees comin' 'long. Marster tried to +hide the best stuff on de plantation but some of de slaves dat helped +him hide it, showed de Yankee soldiers just where it was, when they come +dere. They say: 'Here is de stuff, hid here, 'cause us put it dere.' +Then de soldiers went straight to de place where de valuables was hid +and dug them out and took them, it sho' set old marster down. Us slaves +was sorry dat day for marster and mistress. They was gittin' old, and +now they had lost all they had, and more that dat, they knowed their +slaves was set free. De soldiers took all de good hosses, fat cattle, +chickens, de meat in de smoke house, and then burnt all empty houses. +They left de ones dat folks lived in. De Yankees 'pear to me, to be +lookin' for things to eat, more than anything else. + +"Does I believe in 'ligion? Dat is all us has in dis world to live by +and it's gwine to be de onliest thing to die wid. Belief in God and a +'umble spirit is how I's tryin' to live these days. I was christened +fust a Methodist, but when I growed up, I jine de Presbyterian Church +and has 'mained a member of dat church every since. + +"Thank God I's had 'nough sense not to believe in haunts and sich +things. I has 'possum hunt at night by myself in graveyards and I ain't +seen one yet. My mammy say she see haunts pass her wid no heads but +these old eyes has never seen anything lak dat. If you has done somebody +a terrible wrong, then I believes dat person when they die, will 'pear +to you on 'count of dat." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Feb. 7, 1938 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + REMINISCENCES: THE RED SHIRTS + [~HW: Boy~] + + +"The Red Shirts had a big parade and barbecue in Spartanburg. They met +at the courthouse. There were about 500 Red Shirts, besides others who +made up a big crowd. I remember four leaders who came from Union County. +One of the companies was led by Squire Gilliam Jeter, and one by Squire +Bill Lyles. The company from the city was led by Capt. James Douglass +and 'Buck' Kelley from Pea Ridge was there with his company. + +"Everything drilled in Spartanburg that day. The speakers of the day +from Union were Squire Jeter and Capt. Douglass. While they were +speaking, old Squire George Tucker from lower Fish Dam came with his +company. Mr. Harrison Sartor, father of Will Sartor, was one of the +captains. We saw Gen. Wade Hampton and old man Ben Tillman there. + +"About this time I was bound out to Mr. Jim Gregory, a blacksmith. The +wealthy landlords bought negroes. Mr. Jim Gregory was the blacksmith for +old Johnny Meador and Aunt Polly, his wife. He told me that Uncle Johnny +bought a man, Heath, for $3,500. He also bought Heath's wife, Morrow, +for Aunt Polly, but I don't know what he paid. The Meador house is just +this side of Simstown. Aunt Polly's father, Triplett Meador, built that +mansion. The brick were made in a home kiln which was near the house. +Aunt Polly was a little girl when the house was built. While the brick +for the sitting-room fireplace were still wet, he made little Polly step +on each one of them to make the impression of her feet. So those foot +prints in that fireplace are Aunt Polly's when she was five years old. +She grew up there and married, and lived there until her death. + +"Miss Ida Knight's house (formerly the Sims house) was built not later +than 1840. Dr. Thompson lived there first. Dr. Billy Sims married Dr. +Thompson's sister, Miss Patsy, and that is how the house got into the +Sims family. The old post office was known as Simstown, and I believe it +was up near the Nat Gist mansion. Simstown was the name for the river +community for years, because the Sims settled there and they were +equally or more prominent than the Thompsons and Gists in that +community. All the Sims men were country doctors. + +"To this community at the close of the Confederate War, came old man +Ogle Tate, his wife, and Ben Shell, as refugees, fleeing from the +Yankees. When they came into the community, Nat Gist gave them a nice +house to live in on his plantation. + +"Mr. Gregory got all the sheet iron used on the Meador and Gist +plantations, and also on the Sims and Thompson plantations. Plows were +made in his blacksmith shop from 10 inch sheet iron. The sheet was +heated and beaten into shape with his hammer. After cooling, the tools +could be sharpened. Horse and mule shoes were made from slender iron +rods, bought for that purpose. They were called 'slats', and this grade +of iron was known as 'slat iron'. The shoe was moulded while hot, and +beaten into the correct shape to fit the animal's foot. Those old shoes +fit much better than the store-bought ones of more recent days. The +horseshoe nails were made there, too. In fact, every farm implement of +iron was made from flat or sheet iron. + +"I spun the first pants that I wore. Ma sewed them for me, and wove and +finished them with her hands. She made the thread that they were sewed +with by hand on the loom. I made cloth for all my shirts. I wore +home-made cotton underwear in summer and winter, for we were poor. Of +course my winter clothes were heavier. + +"We raised some sheep, and the winter woolens were made from the wool +sheared from the sheep every May. Wool was taken to the factory at +Bivensville and there made into yarn. Often, cotton was swapped for yarn +to warp at home. Then ma ran it off on spools for her loom. 'Sleigh +hammers' were made from cane gotten off the creek banks and bottoms. + +"Aunt Polly Meador had no patrollers on her place. She would not allow +one there, for she did her own patrolling with her own whip and two bull +dogs. She never had an overseer on her place, either. Neither did she +let Uncle Johnny do the whipping. Those two dogs held them and she did +her own whipping. One night she went to the quarter and found old 'Bill +Pea Legs' there after one of her negro women. He crawled under the bed +when he heard Aunt Polly coming. Those dogs pulled old 'Pea Legs' out +and she gave him a whipping that he never forgot. She whipped the woman, +also. + +"Morg was Morrow's nickname. Morg used to sit on the meat block and cut +the meat for Aunt Polly to give out. Morg would eat her three pounds of +raw meat right there. Uncle Johnny asked her what she would do all the +week without any meat, she said that she would take the skin and grease +her mouth every morning; then go on to the field or house and do her +work, and wait until the next Saturday for more. + +"I do not know how old I am, but I well remember when Wheeler's men came +to the plantation. They tore up everything. We heard that they were +coming, so we dug holes and buried the meat and everything we could. We +hid them so well that we could never find some of them ourselves. +Wheeler and 36 men stopped on the Dick Jeter place. I think that was in +1864. The Jeter place touched Miss Polly's plantation. The Jeter place +was right near Neal Shoals on Broad River. Mr. Jeter had the biggest gin +house in the entire township. Old Mr. Dick was at home because he was +too old to go to the war. Pa was still in the war then, of course. Ma +and I and one of the other children and a few darkies were at our home. + +"We saw Wheeler and his men when they stopped at that gin house. They +began to ransack immediately. Wheeler gave some orders to his men and +galloped off towards our house. The negroes ran but ma and I stayed in +the house. Wheeler rode up in front of the door and spoke to my mother. +He said that he had to feed his men and horses and asked her where the +corn was. She told him that the gin house and the crib which contained +the corn did not belong to her, so she could not give him the keys. At +that he ordered his men to remove a log from the crib. By this means +they broke into the crib and got all the corn. They then ransacked the +house and took everything there was to eat. They tore out the big cog +wheel in the gin and camped in it for the night. Next morning they set +fire to the gin and then galloped away. Soon Mr. Jeter's big gin had +gone up in flames. They took all of our corn and all of the fodder, 200 +bundles that we had in the barn, away with them." + + Source: Mr. John Boyd, County Home, Union, R. F. D. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. 1/26/38 + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + May 24, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born in Newberry County, near the Laurens County line, above +Little River. Me and my mother belonged to the Workman family. +Afterwards, I belonged to Madison Workman. He was a good man to his +slaves. My work was around the house and home. I was too young to work +in the fields until after the war. + +"I can't remember much about them times. I married there and soon after +come to town and lived, where I have worked ever since. I do washing and +other work. + +"On the farm, the old folks had to cook outdoors, or in a kitchen away +off from the house. They had wide fireplaces where they put their pots +to cook the meals. + +"I remember the old Little River Presbyterian Church where people would +go on Sundays. They would go in the mornings, and again in the +afternoons and have preaching." + + Source: Jane Bradley (80), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. May 17, 1937 + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + ANDY BRICE + EX-SLAVE 81 YEARS OLD. + + +Andy Brice lives with his wife and two small children, about twelve +miles east of Ridgeway, S. C., in a two-room frame building, chimney in +the center. The house is set in a little cluster of pines one hundred +and fifty yards north of state highway #34. Andy, since the amputation +of his right leg five years ago, has done no work and is too old to +learn a trade. He has a regular beggar's route including the towns of +Ridgeway, Winnsboro, Woodward, and Blackstock. His amiability and good +nature enable him to go home after each trip with a little money and a +pack of miscellaneous gifts from white friends. + +"Howdy Cap'n! I come to Winnsboro dis mornin' from way 'cross Wateree, +where I live now 'mongst de bull-frogs and skeeters. Seem lak they just +sing de whole night thru: 'De bull-frog on de bank, and de skeeter in de +pool.' Then de skeeter sail 'round my face wid de tra la, la la la, la +la la part of dat old song you is heard, maybe many times. + +"I see a spit-box over dere. By chance, have you got any 'bacco? Make me +more glib if I can chew and spit; then I 'members more and better de +things done past and gone. + +"I was a slave of Mistress Jane. Her was a daughter of old Marster +William Brice. Her marry Henry Younge and mammy was give to Marse Henry +and Miss Jane. + +"My pappy name Tony. Mammy name Sallie. You is seen her a many a day. +Marse Henry got kilt in de war. His tombstone and Mistress Jane's +tombstone am in Concord Cemetery. They left two chillun, Miss Kittie and +Miss Maggie. They both marry a Caldwell; same name but no kin. Miss +Kittie marry Marse Joe Caldwell and move to Texas. Miss Maggie marry +Marse Camel Caldwell and move to North Carolina. + +"My pappy die durin' de war. After freedom, mammy marry a ugly, no +'count nigger name Mills Douglas. She had one child by him, name Janie. +My mammy name her dat out of memory and love for old mistress, in +slavery time. I run away from de home of my step-pappy and got work wid +Major Thomas Brice. I work for him 'til I become a full grown man and +come to be de driver of de four-hoss wagon. + +"One day I see Marse Thomas a twistin' de ears on a fiddle and rosinin' +de bow. Then he pull dat bow 'cross de belly of dat fiddle. Sumpin' bust +loose in me and sing all thru my head and tingle in my fingers. I make +up my mind, right then and dere, to save and buy me a fiddle. I got one +dat Christmas, bless God! I learn and been playin' de fiddle ever since. +I pat one foot while I playin'. I kept on playin' and pattin' dat foot +for thirty years. I lose dat foot in a smash up wid a highway accident +but I play de old tunes on dat fiddle at night, dat foot seem to be dere +at de end of dat leg (indicating) and pats just de same. Sometime I +ketch myself lookin' down to see if it have come back and jined itself +up to dat leg, from de very charm of de music I makin' wid de fiddle and +de bow. + +"I never was very popular wid my own color. They say behind my back, in +'76, dat I's a white folks nigger. I wear a red shirt then, drink red +liquor, play de fiddle at de 'lection box, and vote de white folks +ticket. Who I marry? I marry Ellen Watson, as pretty a ginger cake +nigger as ever fried a batter cake or rolled her arms up in a wash tub. +How I git her? I never git her; dat fiddle got her. I play for all de +white folks dances down at Cedar Shades, up at Blackstock. De money roll +in when someone pass 'round de hat and say: 'De fiddler?' Ellen had more +beaux 'round her than her could shake a stick at but de beau she lak +best was de bow dat could draw music out of them five strings, and draw +money into dat hat, dat jingle in my pocket de nex' day when I go to see +her. + +"I 'members very little 'bout de war, tho' I was a good size boy when de +Yankees come. By instint, a nigger can make up his mind pretty quick +'bout de creed of white folks, whether they am buckra or whether they am +not. Every Yankee I see had de stamp of poor white trash on them. They +strutted 'round, big Ike fashion, a bustin' in rooms widout knockin', +talkin' free to de white ladies, and familiar to de slave gals, +ransackin' drawers, and runnin' deir bayonets into feather beds, and +into de flower beds in de yards. + +"What church I b'long to? None. Dat fiddle draws down from hebben all de +sermons dat I understan'. I sings de hymns in de way I praise and +glorify de Lord. + +"Cotton pickin' was de biggest work I ever did, outside of drivin' a +wagon and playin' de fiddle. Look at them fingers; they is supple. I +carry two rows of cotton at a time. One week I pick, in a race wid +others, over 300 pounds a day. Commencin' Monday, thru Friday night, I +pick 1,562 pounds cotton seed. Dat make a bale weighin' 500 pounds, in +de lint. + +"Ellen and me have one child, Sallie Ann. Ellen 'joy herself; have a +good time nussin' white folks chillun. Nussed you; she tell me 'bout it +many time. 'Spect she mind you of it very often. I knows you couldn't +git 'round dat woman; nobody could. De Lord took her home fifteen years +ago and I marry a widow, Ida Belton, down on de Kershaw County side. + +"You wants me to tell 'bout dat 'lection day at Woodward, in 1878? You +wants to know de beginnin' and de end of it? Yes? Well, you couldn't wet +dis old man's whistle wid a swallow of red liquor now? Couldn't you or +could you? Dis was de way of it: It was set for Tuesday. Monday I drive +de four-hoss wagon down to dis very town. Marse John McCrory and Marse +Ed Woodward come wid me. They was in a buggy. When us got here, us got +twenty, sixteen shooters and put them under de hay us have in de wagon. +Bar rooms was here. I had fetched my fiddle 'long and played in Marse +Fred Habernick's bar 'til dinner time. Us leave town 'bout four o'clock. +Roads was bad but us got home 'bout dark. Us put de guns in Marse Andy +Mobley's store. Marse Ed and me leave Marse John to sleep in de store +and to take care of de guns. + +"De nex' mornin', polls open in de little school house by de brick +church. I was dere on time, help to fix de table by de window and set de +ballot boxes on it. Voters could come to de window, put deir arms thru +and tuck de vote in a slit in de boxes. Dere was two supervisors, Marse +Thomas for de Democrats and Uncle Jordan for de Radicals. Marse Thomas +had a book and a pencil, Uncle Jordan had de same. + +"Joe Foster, big buckra nigger, want to vote a stranger. Marse Thomas +challenge dis vote. In them times colored preachers so 'furiate de +women, dat they would put on breeches and vote de 'Publican radical +ticket. De stranger look lak a woman. Joe Foster 'spute Marse Thomas' +word and Marse Thomas knock him down wid de naked fist. Marse Irish +Billy Brice, when him see four or five hindred blacks crowdin' 'round +Marse Thomas, he jump thru de window from de inside. When he lit on de +ground, pistol went off pow! One nigger drop in his tracks. Sixteen men +come from nowhere and sixteen, sixteen shooters. Marse Thomas hold up +his hand to them and say: 'Wait!' Him point to de niggers and say: +'Git.' They start to runnin' 'cross de railroad, over de hillside and +never quit runnin' 'til they git half a mile away. De only niggers left +on dat ground was me, old Uncle Kantz, (you know de old mulatto, +club-foot nigger) well, me and him and Albert Gladney, de hurt nigger +dat was shot thru de neck was de only niggers left. Dr. Tom Douglas took +de ball out Albert's neck and de white folks put him in a wagon and sent +him home. I drive de wagon. When I got back, de white boys was in de +graveyard gittin' names off de tombstones to fill out de talley sheets, +dere was so many votes in de box for de Hampton ticket, they had to vote +de dead. I 'spect dat was one resurrection day all over South +Carolina." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Nov. 10, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I is gwine over to Tosch to see Maria. Everybody know Maria. She go by +Rice--Maria Rice. She sont fer me to cure her misery. First, I went from +my home in lower Cross Keys, across de Enoree, to see Maria. When I +reached dar whar she stay, dey tell me dat her daughter over to Tosch. +Done come and got her. + +"A kind friend dat de Lawd put in my path fetched me back across de +Enoree and over to Tosch to Maria's gal's house. I is gwine straight +over dar and lay my hand on Maria and rid her of dat misery dat she sont +word was ailing her all dis spring. Don't make no diff'uns whar you +hurts--woman, man or suckling babe--if you believes in de holler of my +hand, it'll ease you, allus do it. De Bible say so, dat's why it be +true. Ain't gwine to tell you nothing but de truth and de whole truth, +so help me Jesus. Gone 65 years, I is been born agin dat long; right +over in Padgett's Creek church, de white folks' church, dat's what de +Lawd tuck my sins away and washed me clean agin wid His blood. Dat's why +I allus sticks to de truth, I does. + +"Dey all 'lows dat I is gwine on 89, and I has facts to believe it am +true. I 'longed to Marse Jesse Briggs. Did you know dat it was two Jesse +Briggs? Yes sir, sho was two Jesse Briggses. + +"What I gwine to relate to you is true, but in respect to my old Marse, +and in de case dat dem what reads dat book won't understand, you needs +not to write dis statement down. My marster was called 'Black Jesse', +but de reason fer dat was to keep him from gitting mixed up wid de other +Jesse. Dat is de secret of de thing. Now dat's jes' fer your own light +and knowledge, and not to be wrote down. He was de blacksmith fer all de +Cross Keys section, and fer dat very thing he got de name by everybody, +'Black Jesse'. I allus 'longed to dat man and he was de kindest man what +de countryside had knowledge of. + +"In Union County is whar I was born and raised, and it's whar I is gwine +to be buried. Ain't never left de county but once in my life, and if de +Lawd see fitten, I ain't gwine to leave it no mo', 'cept to reach de +Promise Land. Lawd! Lawd! De Promise Land, dat's whar I is gwine when I +leaves Union County. Dey carried me a hundred miles to cure a sick +woman, onliest time I ever left Union County. I loves it and I is fit +throughout and enduring de time dem Yankees tried to git de county, to +save it. What is I gwine to leave it fer? Mr. Perrin and all de white +folks is good to me since my marse done gone and left his earthly home. +And he is waiting up dar wid Missie to see me agin. Dat I is sho of. + +"Listen brother, de Lawd is setting on His throne in Glory. He hear +every word dat I gwine to tell you. Folks fergits dat when dey talks +real often sometimes, don't dey? I put my hand on any 'flux' man or +woman and removes de pain, if dey have faith in my hand. I don't tell +nothing but de truth. I was born on Gist Briggs' plantation in Union +County, in de lower section of Cross Keys. Marse Sexton and all dem good +folks in lower Keys says dat I sho is 88. Give my name right flat, it's +George Briggs; giving it round, it like dis, George McDuffie Briggs. My +papa's name was Ike Wilburn, and my mother's name was Margaret Briggs. +Pa 'longed to Marse Lige Wilburn. Mama 'longed to Jesse (Black Jesse) +Briggs. Dey both born and raised in Union County. Dese was my brothers +and sisters, coming in de order dey was born to my parents in: Charlie, +Dave, Aaron, Tom, Noah, Charlotte, Polly, Fannie, Mattie, Horace, +Cassie. I'm de oldest, and Cassie and me lives in Union County. Fannie +and Mattie lives in Asheville, and de rest is done journeyed to de +Promise Land. Yes Lawd, to de Promise Land. + +"Marse and Missus was good to us all. Missus name was Nancy. She die +early and her grave is in Cross Keys at de Briggs graveyard. Be still! +Lemme git my mind together so dat I don't git mixed up and can git you +de Briggses together. Here 'tis: Cheney and Lucindy, Lucindy married a +Floyd from Spartanburg, and de Floyds lived at de Burn't factory. Cheney +Briggs had a son, Henry Briggs. + +"Not so fast, fer I'se gwine to start way back, dat time when us was +lil' darky boys way back in slavery. We started to work wid de marster's +mules and hosses. When us was real little, we played hoss. Befo' Cheney +Briggs went to Arkansas he was our play hoss. His brother, Henry, was de +wagoner and I was de mule. Henry was little and he rid our backs +sometimes. Henry rid old man Sam, sometimes, and old man Sam jes' holler +and haw haw at us chilluns. Dis was in sech early childhood dat it is +not so I can 'zactly map out de exact age us was den; anyway, from dis +we rid de gentle hosses and mules and larn't how to feed dem. Every word +dat I tells you is de truth, and I is got to meet dat word somewhars +else; and fer dat reason, de truth is all dat dis old man ever tells. + +"In dat day we lived in a log cabin or house. Sometimes us never had +nothing to do. Our house had only one room, but some of de houses had +two rooms. Our'n had a winder, a do', and a common fireplace. Now dey +makes a fireplace to scare de wood away. In old days dey made fireplaces +to take care of de chilluns in de cold weather. It warm de whole house, +'cause it was so big and dar was plenty wood. Wood wasn't no problem +den, and it ain't no problem yet out in de lower Keys. In town it is, +and I ain't guessing. I done seed so. + +"I sho can histronize de Confederates. I come along wid de Secession +flag and de musterings. I careful to live at home and please de Marse. +In de war, I'se mo' dan careful and I stick close to him and please him, +and he mo' dan good. Us did not git mobbed up like lots of dem did. + +"When Tice Myers' chilluns was born, he had a house built wid a +up-stairs. But never no stage coach stopped dar as I ever heard tell +about, and I done saw 75 years at Padgett's Creek. + +"Way 'tis, from de bundle of de heart, de tongue speaketh. Been in +service reg'lar since Monday. I went to Neal Greege's house but she +wasn't dar. I is speaking 'bout Ria (Maria Rice). She done gone to town. +At de highway, de Lawd prepared a friend to carry me to Union, and when +I got dar I take and lay hands on Ria Rice, she laying down and +suffering, and I sot down and laid my hand on her. We never say nothing, +jes' pray. She be real quiet, and atter while, she riz up and take a +breath. She kept on a setting up fer so long dat her husband make her +lay back down fer fear dat she git worser. I stay dar all through de +night and she sleep sound and wake up dis morning feeling like a new +woman. + +"Befo' breakfast, here is de words of praise I lifted to de Lawd, over +dar on Tosch. You set down de coser (chorus): 'First to de graveyard; +den to de Jedgement bar!' Is you got dat verser (verses)? Den git dis: +'All de deacons got to go; all de members got to go; all de sinners got +to go.' Mo' 'longs to it, but dat's all I takes when I is praising Him +fer relieving pain through me. (He sings each line five times. He takes +off his hat; bows; holds his hands over his head, and closes his eyes +while singing. His hair is snow white.) + +"Lawd, help me dis morning! Here's another first line to one of our +songs: 'All dem preachers got to go'. + +"Nehemiah, when he wid de king, de king axed him to reveal de wall whar +his father was buried. Nehemiah did what de king had done axed him. I +'tends Galilee Baptist church in lower Cross Keys; and at Sedalia, I +goes to New Hope Methodist church, but I don't know nothing else but +Baptist. We peoples is barrence (barren of the Holy Spirit), but not +God; He, Hisself, is born of God, and all is of de same source and by +dat I means de Spirit. All has to be born of de Spirit to become +chilluns of God. Romans, Chap. 6, 'lows something like dis: 'He dat is +dead in sin, how is it dat he can continue in sin?' Dat tell us dat +every man, white or black, is de child of God. And it is Christ dat is +buried in baptism, and we shall be buried in like manner. If Christ did +not rise, den our preaching is in vain. And if we is not born agin, why +den we is lost and our preaching is in vain. + +"In picking up de New Testament, consider all dat you hear me arguing +and saying is from a gift and not from edication. Romans 6, 'lows: +'Speak plain words, not round words, kaise all de round words is fer dem +dat is edicated.' Jacob had twelve sons. Dey went and bundled up deir +wheat, and eleven bundles bowed to de one. Dat Joseph's bundle what he +done up. Other brothers up and got and sold Joseph into captivity to de +Egyptians. Dat throw'd Jacob to send Reuben to Egypt. Den dey bowed to +Jacob and his sons. It run on and on till dey all had to go to Egypt, +and all of dem had to live under Joseph. + +"When I was a little shaver and come to myself. I was sleeping in a +corded bed. (He scratched his head) I jes' studying fer a minute; can't +'zactly identify my grandpa, but I can identify my grandma. We all +raised on de same place together. She name Cindy Briggs, but dey call +her Cina kaise dar was so many Cindys 'round dar. One thing I does +'member 'bout her, if she tote me, she sho to whip me. I was raised +strict. + +"All my life I is stayed in de fur (far) end of Union County whar it +borders Laurens, wid de Enoree dividing de two counties. It is right dar +dat I is plowed and hoed and raised my craps fer de past 75 years, I +reckons. Lawd have mercy! No, I doesn't recalls de names of none of dem +mules. Dat's so fur back dat I is jes' done forgot, dat's all. But I +does recall 'fur back' things de best, sometimes. Listen good now. When +I got big and couldn't play 'round at chillun's doings, I started to +platting cornshucks and things fer making hoss and mule collars, and +scouring-brooms and shoulder-mats. I cut hickory poles and make handles +out of dem fer de brooms. Marse had hides tanned, and us make buggy +whips, wagon whips, shoe strings, saddle strings and sech as dat out of +our home-tanned leather. All de galluses dat was wo' in dem days was +made by de darkies. + +"White oak and hickory was split to cure, and we made fish baskets, feed +baskets, wood baskets, sewing baskets and all kinds of baskets fer de +Missus. All de chair bottoms of straight chairs was made from white oak +splits, and de straight chairs was made in de shop. You made a scouring +brush like dis: (He put his hands together to show how the splits were +held) By splitting a width of narrow splits, keep on till you lay a +entire layer of splits; turn dis way; den dat way, and den bind together +and dat hold dem like you want dem to stay. Last, you work in a pole as +long as you want it fer de handle, and bind it tight and tie wid de +purtiest knots. + +"I git money fer platting galluses and making boot strings and other +little things. Allus first, I desires to be well qualified wid what I +does. I is gwine to be qualified wid everything dat I does, iffen I does +it fer money or no. Dat's de reason white people has allus give me words +of encouragement. + +"Now I gwine to sing a song fer Miss Polly, kaise she de grand-daughter +of de late Sheriff Long, and I goes to see her grandma at de Keys (Cross +Keys House). Dar she come now. + +"How is you dis morning, Miss Polly? De Lawd sho does shower you, Miss +Polly, and dat's de reason I is gwine to sing fer you dis morning. +You'll be able to tell Mr. Jimmie (her father) dat Uncle George sing fer +you, 'Jesus Listening All De Day Long'. + + "Jesus listening all de day long to hear some sinner pray. + De winding sheet to wrop (wrap) dis body in, + De coffin to hold you fast; + Pass through death's iron do'. + Come ye dat love de Lawd and let your joy be know'd; + Dis iron gate you must pass through, if you gwine to be + Born agin." + +He sang these lines over three times and then bowing, said: "Ain't it +glory dat we can live whar de Lawd can use us? Dat's power. A strong man +entereth in; a weak man cometh out. Dat represent Christ gwine into your +heart. + +"Sho I can remember when dey had de mustering grounds at de Keys. Dar +day mustered and den dey turn't in and practiced drilling dem soldiers +till dey larn't how to march and to shoot de Yankees. Drilling, dat's de +proper word, not practice, I knows, if I ain't ed'icated. Dey signed me +to go to de 16th regiment, but I never reached de North. When us got to +Charleston, us turn't around and de bosses fetched us right back to +Union through Columbia. Us heard dat Sherman was coming, fetching fire +along 'hind him. + +"Don't know nothing 'bout no militia to make no statement, but it went +on and turn't back. Another regiment had a barbecue somewhars in Union +County befo' it went off to war; might a been de 18th regiment, but I +does not feel dat I can state on dat. + +"My soul reaches from God's foot-stool up to his heavenly home. I can +histronize de poor white folks' wives and chilluns enduring de time of +de Civil War fer you. When dese poor white men went to de war, dey left +deir little chillun and deir wives in de hands of de darkies dat was +kind and de rich wives of our marsters to care fer. Us took de best care +of dem poor white dat us could under de circumstances dat prevailed. + +"We was sont to Sullivan's Island, but befo' we reached it, de Yankees +done got it and we won't 'lowed to cross in '64. But jes' de same, we +was in service till dey give Capt. Franklin Bailey 'mission to fetch us +home. Dar we had to git 'mission fer everything, jes' as us niggers had +to git 'mission to leave our marster's place at home in Union County. +Capt. Bailey come on back to Cross Keys wid us under his protection, and +we was under it fer de longest time atter we done got home. + +"Fer 65 years I been licensed as a preacher, and fer longer dan dat I +been a member of Padgett's Creek Baptist church. Mo' work I does, mo' +work I has to do. You know how to pray. Well, you does not know how to +make polish out of pinders. + +"I ain't ed'icated yet, but even Lige what teaches school out to de Keys +(de big black school), dat big black buck dat teaches de chilluns deir +'rithmetic; even he couldn't do dis here one. A heap of ed'icated folks +can't give it. Here it is: 'What's de biggest figger in de figger ten?'" + +With his old black, rough and gnarled forefinger he drew on the table +the figure 1. "Now you see dat? Dat's de figger 1. A naught ain't +nothing by itself or multiplied by other naughts; but set it down in +front of de figger 1, and it takes on de value 9. Dar you is got +ten--one and nine is ten. Dat naught becomes something. I is old, and I +ain't had narry bit of schooling, but I likes to be close to de orchard, +and I knows it's dar by de smell of it. Dat's de way I is when I gits +along side ed'icated folks--I knows dat dey is. + +"It's like dat sum dem scholars couldn't git; standing alone dat naught +ain't worth nothing, but set it up against dat which is of value and it +takes on value. Set a naught ag'inst dat which is one and you has ten; +set up another naught dar and you has a hundred. Now if somebody was to +give me a note worth $10, and I found room to add another naught along +side of de first; den dem two naughts what ain't worth nothing by +deirselves gives de note de value of $99 if dey is sot along wid de one. +Ed'icated folks calls dat raising de note. I is ig'nant and I calls dat +robbery. And dat's like you and me. We is naughts and Christ is de +_One_, and we ain't nothing till we carries de Spirit of de Lawd along +wid us. + +"On de pathway of life, may you allus keep Christ in front of you and +you will never go wrong. De Lawd will den see fit to give you a soul dat +will reach from His foot-stool here on earth to His dwelling place on +high." He ended with a deep sob and good-bye. + + Source: George Briggs (88), Union, S. C. RFD 2. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. 6/9/37. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + July 20, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"Some white men called in question today about de reigning governor +enduring time of de Civil War. I knowed dat, and 'cides dat, I knowed +him well. It was Governor 'Bill' as us called him. + +"What you want to git, is history about muster grounds. Yes, it was on +Jones Ferry Road, jest south of Cross Keys whar dey had what dey allus +called de muster field. Now, Jones Ferry Road leads across Enoree River +into Laurens County. Enoree River is de thing dat devides Union County +from Laurens County, dat it is. + +"Well as I remember, Mr. Bill Ray was in de mustering of de 18th +Regiment. Billy, Robert, Sara and Miss Nancy was Mr. Alex's chilluns. +Understand me, don't think dat Bob and Sam was in de Regiment ... +satisfied Billy was, kaise he used to pass our house on horse back, +coming from de Laurens side where he lived. + +"Sixteen-year-old boys come in de same time dat I did. Course I ain't +told all dat I knows, kaise dat wouldn't be proper. All I tell you, I +wants it to be recognized. De better it's done, de better it'll help +you. + +"I goes from home and stays five days or more, and don't nothing happen +to a thing at my home. I does fer de sick and de Lawd blesses me. He +looks atter my things while I am away. He soon shows his presence atter +I gits dar. He calls fer me and I feeds Him. + +"Once had 26 biles (boils). Dat make me consider my disobedience against +de Lawd. Den I went to Him in prayer. He told me Satan done got ahead of +Him. Dat show me dat I done forgot to be particular. I got mo' 'ticular +and pray mo' often, and in six weeks my biles had done all gone. + +"Dar is times when I gits lost fer not knowing. I can't keep up, kaise I +cannot read. Man in Sunday school reads and I hears. He read de olden +Testament; den he read de new Testament. Dat my schooling. I 'clar unto +you, I got by all my life by praying and thinking. I sho does think a +lot. ('Uncle' George's facial and scalp muscles work so when he thinks, +that his straw hat moves up and down.) + +"When good man prays fer bad man, de Holy Ghost works on bad man's +consciousness, and afo' he knows it, he's a-saying 'Lawd have Mercy' +'stead of 'G'dam', like all wicked folks says every day. He--dat de Holy +Ghost dat I still is speaking of--jest penetrates de wicked man's +consciousness widout him a-knowing it. Dat penetrating make de bad man +say, 'Lawd have Mercy.' I hoes and I cuts sprouts, and den I plows. When +you plows, mules is allus so aggravating dat dey gits you all ruffled +up. Dat de devil a-working at you. Dat's all old mules is anyhow. I does +not cuss, nohow, kaise it sho am wicked and I is had de Holy Spirit in +my soul, now gone sixty-five years, since I jined Padgett Creek Church. +When my old mule gits to de row's end, and he act mulish--kaise dat's in +him and he don't know nothing else to do--I means to say either 'ha' or +'gee', and often since I jined Padgett Creek Church I finds myself +saying 'Lawd have Mercy' 'stead of 'gee' or 'ha'. So you see dat de Lawd +has command, whar-so-ever if I was wicked, Satan would. + +"A child fo God allus will agree wid de Word of God. We mens dat claim +to be leaders in de Kingdom, got to step up and sho folks what dey must +do. Man learns right smart from Exodus 'bout how to lead. A male child +was born to rule de world. Moses still de strongest impression dat we +has as rulers. God gits Hisself into de heads of men dat he wants to +rule and He don't tell nobody else nothing 'bout it neither. + +"Mr. Roosevelt de president and he sho looks atter de po' folks. He +ain't no ig'nant man neither, kaise he got de light. Folks ain't a-gwine +to drown him out neither wid dere wicked words 'gainst him, kaise he +strive in de Lawd's name to do His will. Mr. Roosevelt got learning like +I is from de throne of God. He may have education also, but if he is, he +sho knows how to keep dem both jined together. Folks reads to me how he +got crippled and how he washed in dem springs in Georgia, and dat keep +him a-gwine right on anyhow. It ain't dem springs by deself, but it's +God a dipping his hand down dar fer de President to git well. Oh yes, +suh, I knows dat he twan't de president when he was a-washing, but dem +de plans dat de Lawd had done already planned and you and me never +know'd nothing 'bout all dat. You and me does not know what is planned +up in sto' fer us in de future neither. + +"I is a Baptist, and at Padgett's Creek we does not believe in no +back-sliding. 'Once in de Spirit, allus in de Spirit'. A child of your'n +is allus a child of your'n. Dat de way de Baptist teach--once a child of +God, allus God's child. T'ain't no sech thing as drapping back. If you +draps back, you ain't never been no child of de Lawd, and you never had +no business being baptized. Christ was baptized in de waters of Jordan, +won't (weren't) He? Well, He never drapped back, did He? He say we must +follow in His footsteps, didn't He? Well, dar you is, and dat's all dar +is to it. + +"God gits in de heads of men to help de aged and de po' also. I never +axes fer nothing, but when I sets around de courthouse and informs men +as I been doing dis evening, de Lawd has dem to drap a nickle or a dime +or a quarter in my hand but He never gits dem to a half of a dollar." + + Source: George Briggs, (88) Rt. 2, Union, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. (7/12/37) + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + July 12, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"What-so-ever I can find! I traveling dat way over 73 years. If he ax de +Lawd and have faith, he ken do; and iffen he don't have no faith, by den +he can't. When a man comes along dat wants his own way, and he won't pay +no attention to de Lawd, by den de Lawd don't pay him no mind; and so +dat man jest keeps a-gwine on wid his way and he don't never reach de +Cross. Jesus say, 'deny yourself, pick up de Cross and follow Me.' + +"I see a man in de courthouse dis morning, and he was like Nicodemus. +Why dat man want to be resto'd back like he was when he was jest 21 +years old. I seed him setting down dar in Mr. Perrin's office, and I +knowed his troubles when he 'low dat he done been to every doctor in +town. De trouble was, he never had no faith in de doctors and nobody +else. How could he have faith in Jesus when he never had none in nothing +else? Brother, you has to have faith in your fellowman befo' you has +faith in de Lawd. I don't know how come, but dat's de way it is. My plan +is working by faith. Jesus say, 'Work widout faith ain't nothing; but +work wid faith'll move mountains'. + +"Dat man told me he gwine give me a hundred dollars if I rid him of +misery. Dat show he never know nothing 'bout faith. + +"If Mr. Emslie Nicholson ax me to rid him of a misery, I couldn't take +no money from him, and he de richest man in all Union County. Mr. +Nicholson would know better dan to offer me money, kaise he has faith. +You know he's a good 'Presmuterian' (Presbyterian). + +"Dey looks at de back of my head, and de hair on it ain't rubbed against +no college and fer dat reason dese young negroes don't want me to +preach. Dey wants to hear dat man preach dat can read. Man dat can read +can't understand less'n some divine man guide him. I speak as my Teacher +gives it to me, dat's de Lawd. In so doing, I testify de word dat no man +can condemn. Dat is my plan of Salvation: to work by faith widout price +or purse, as de Lawd, my Teacher has taught me. + +"Dar was no church on our plantation when I was a boy. All de Baptists +went to Padgett's Creek, and all de Methodist went to Quaker Church and +Belmont. Padgett's Creek had a section in de back of de church fer de +slaves to sit. Quaker Church and Belmont both had slaves' galleries. Dar +is a big book at Padgetts wid three pages of slaves' names that was +members. Mr. Claude Sparks read it to me last year. All de darky members +dead, but one, dat's me. + +"Nobody never read de Bible to me when I was little. It jest a gift of +God dat teached to me through de Holy Ghost. It's de Spirit of de One in +Three dat gits into you, and dat's de Holy Ghost or de Holy Spirit dat +gives me my enlightment. + +"If I can git to de do' of Padgett's Creek Church, I can jest feel de +Power of God. ('Uncle' George pats his foot and softly cries at this +point, and his face takes on a calm and peaceful expression.) + +"If you eats befo' you gits hongry, you never will feast on dead air. I +makes it a practice to feed my soul and body befo' dey gits hongry. Even +I does eat by myself, dis old man take off his hat and ax de Lawd to +bless his soul and body in nourishment fer de future. + +"I ain't never seed Mr. Lincoln, but from what I learn't dey said dat +God had placed in him de revelation to give de plan dat he had fer every +man. Dat plan fer every man to worship under his own vine and fig tree. +From dat, we should of liked Mr. Lincoln. + +"Dis here 'Dick Look-Up'. No sir, I don't know him, kaise I caught his +name since I come on dis side of de river. Mr. Perrin knows him, and I +heard him say dat every time anybody ax him how old he is, he add on ten +years. Dat's how come dey got in de paper he a hundred and twenty-five +years old. Now me and Mr. Perrin doesn't speak unless we is obleeged to +know dat what we is gwine to say is de truth. Us is careful, kaise us +knows dat de Lawd am looking down from his throne, and dat He is +checking every word dat we says. Some folks does not recall dat fact +when dey speaks, or dey would be careful. + +"I'll say it slow so dat you can catch it; I start in time of de +Confederate War. Wid dirt dug up out of de smokehouse, water was run +through it so us could get salt fer bread. Hickory wood ashes was used +fer soda. If we didn't have no hickory wood, we burnt red corn cobs; and +de ashes from dem was used fer cooking soda. + +"Molasses was made from watermelons in time of de war. Dey was also made +from May-apples or may-pops as some call dem, and sometimes dey was made +from persimmons and from wheat brand. In Confederate days, Irish potato +tops was cooked fer vegetables. Blackberry leaves was ocassionally used +fer greens or fer seasoning lambs quarters. + +"Dis way watermelon was done: Soak watermelon twenty and four hours to +de'self; strain off all juice and put on fire to bile. When dey thickens +dey bees good. Yes sir, good, good. + +"Wid may-pops: peel de outside green off, den bust 'em open and mash up +together; strain juice off and cook thick. + +"'Simmons and wheat bran are mashed up together and baked in water. Let +set twenty and four hours and cook down to molasses. Dat winds up dat +part of it. + +"Git plums and blackberries and de like of dat and make up in Jelly, or +can fer scarce times, dat's de way we done den and folks does dat yet. +Dese is some of de particularest things of de Confederate times dat I +come back from Sedalia to give you, dat's right. (This old negro, who +had already been interviewed by the writer, came a long way and +looked-up the author to tell him some incidents which he had forgotten +to tell in the first interview.) Some customs is done went by now, but +dey was practiced in Sedalia, and as to whar dem was done fer off as +Spartanburg, I cannot say. + +"In Confederate time, all wimmens stayed close home and carded and spun +all de day long. Dey wove all dere own clothes. Men at home, old men, +made leather shoes and shoe strings and belts and galloses. + +"Our darkies tried hard to be obedient to our master so dat we might +obtain (keep) our pleasant home. Obedience makes it better dan +sacrifice. I restes my mind dar." + + Source: George Briggs (88), Rt. 2, Union, S. C. + Interviewed by: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. (7/7/37) + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, January 27, 1938 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + JOSEPHINE BRISTOW + Ex-Slave, 73 Years + + +"Remembers de Confederate War, Miss. Yes, mam, I'm supposed to be, if I +can live to see February, bout 73 year old. What age Hester say she was? +Dat what I had thought from me en her conversation. Miss, I don' +remember a thing more bout de war den de soldiers comin through old +Massa's plantation en we chillun was 'fraid of dem en ran. Knew dey was +dressed in a different direction from us white folks. All was in blue, +you know, wid dem curious lookin hats en dem brass buttons on dey +bodies. No, mam, dey didn' stop nowhe' bout us. Dey was ridin on horses +en it seem like dey was in a hurry gwine somewhe'. En dey didn' stop to +old Massa's house neither. No, mam, not to my knowin, dey didn'. Well, +we was livin out to de plantation, we calls it, en Massa en Missus was +livin up here to Marion. Mr. Ferdinand Gibson, dat who been us Massa in +slavery time en Miss Connie, dat what we used to call her, was us +Missus. To my knowin, dey didn' have no chillun dey own, but dey sho had +plenty colored people. Yes, mam, seems like to my remembrance, my Massa +ran bout 30 plantations en 'sides dat, he had a lot of servants right up +here to de big house, men en women." + +"I was real small in dem days en far as I can remember, we lived on de +quarter dere to old Massa's plantation in de country. Us little tots +would go every mornin to a place up on de hill, called de milk house, en +get our milk 'tween meals while de old folks was off workin. Oh, dey had +a old woman to see after we chillun en tend to us in de daytime. De old +lady dat looked after us, her name was Mary Novlin. Lord, Mr. Gibson, he +had big farms en my mother en father, dey worked on de farms. Yes'um, my +mother en father, I used to never wouldn' know when dey come home in de +evenin, it would be so late. De old lady, she looked after every blessed +thing for us all day long en cooked for us right along wid de mindin. +Well, she would boil us corn meal hominy en give us dat mostly wid milk +for breakfast. Den dey would have a big garden en she would boil peas en +give us a lot of soup like dat wid dis here oven bread. Oh, dem what +worked in de field, dey would catch dey meals when dey could. Would have +to cook way in de night or sometimes fore day. Cose dey would take dey +dinner rations wid dem to de field. More or less, dey would cook it in +de field. Yes'um, dey would carry dey pots wid dem en cook right dere in +de field whe' dey was workin. Would boil pots en make bread, too. I don' +know how long dey had to work, mam, but I hear dem say dat dey worked +hard, cold or hot, rain or shine. Had to hoe cotton en pick cotton en +all such as dat. I don' know, mam, but de white folks, I guess dey took +it dat dey had plenty colored people en de Lord never meant for dem to +do no work. You know, white folks in dem days, dey made de colored +people do." + +"De people used to spin en weave, my Lord! Like today, it cloudy en +rainy, dey couldn' work in de field en would have to spin dat day. Man, +you would hear dat thing windin en I remember, I would stand dere en +want to spin so bad, I never know what to do. Won' long fore I got to +whe' I could use de shuttle en weave, too. I bad a grandmother en when +she would get to dat wheel, she sho know what she been doin. White folks +used to give de colored people task to spin en I mean she could do dat +spinnin. Yes'um, I here to tell you, dey would make de prettiest cloth +in dat day en time. Old time people used to have a kind of dye dey +called indigo en dey would color de cloth just as pretty as you ever did +see." + +"Den I recollects dat dey would have to shuck corn some of de days en +wouldn' nobody work in de field dat day. Oh, my Lord, dey would have de +big eats on dem days. Would have a big pot right out to de barn whe' dey +was shuckin corn en would boil it full as it could hold wid such as peas +en rice en collards. Would cook big bread, too, en would save a hog's +head for dat purpose often times." + +"Colored people didn' have no schools nowhe' in dat day en time. No'um, +us didn' go to no church neither cause we was way off dere on de +plantation en wasn' any church nowhe' bout dere, Miss. I likes to be +truthful en I tellin you, when we was comin up, we never didn' know +nothin 'cept what we catch from de old folks." + +"Old Massa, he used to come to de plantation drivin his rockaway en my +Lord a mercy, we chillun did love to run en meet him. Dey used to have a +great big gate to de lane of de plantation en when we been hear him +comin, we would go a runnin en holler, 'Massa comin! Massa comin!' En he +would come ridin through de big gate en say, 'Yonder my little niggers! +How my little niggers? Come here en tell me how you all.' Den we would +go a runnin to him en try to tell him what he ax us. Yes'um, we was sho +pleased to see old Massa cause we had to stay right dere on dat +plantation all de time round bout dat old woman what tended to us. Used +to hear my mother en my father speak bout dey had to get a ticket from +dey boss to go anywhe' dey wanted to go off de place. Pataroller catch +dem off de plantation somewhe' widout dat walkin ticket, dey would whip +dem most to death. Never didn' hear bout old Massa whippin none of dem, +but he was very tight on dem, my father say. Cose he give dem abundance +of rations en somethin to eat all de time, but colored people sho been +work for what dey would get in dem days. Didn' get nothin dey never pay +for. It been like dis, what rations us parents would get, dat would be +to dey house en what we chillun been get would be to de old woman's +house what took care of us." + +"Well, Miss, some people stays here wid me, but dey works out en I tries +to help dem out somehow. No, mam, we all stays right here together en +while dey on de job, I tries to look out for de chillun. I just thinkin +bout when we come to a certain age, honey, it tough. Chillun is a heap +of trouble, I say. Well, I was de mother of five, but dey all dead 'cept +one. My husband, he been dead seven years. Yes'um, dis a bad little girl +settin here in my lap en dat one over dere in de bed, he a boy what a +right smart larger den dis one." (Little girl just can stand alone). +(Little boy wakes up). "Son, dere you wantin to get up en I don' know +whe' near a rag to put on you is. Dere, you want a piece of bread fore +you is dress. Who undressed you last night nohow? Boy, you got to stand +dere en wait till your mamma come home cause I can' find none your rags. +What de matter wid you? You so hungry, you just standin dere wid your +mouth droolin dat way. Dere your bread en tea on de bureau. Gwine on en +get it." (Little boy's breakfast consisted of a cold biscuit and a +little cold coffee poured in an empty coffee can. The little girl sat +with a clump of cold hominy in her hand on which she nibbled.) + +"Lord, I think what a blessin it would be if chillun dese days was raise +like dey used to be, Miss. Yes, mam, we had what you call strict fathers +en mothers den, but chillun ain' got dem dese days. Oh, dey would whip +you en put de lash to you in dat day en time. Yes'um, Miss, if we never +do right, my father would put it to us. Sho meant what he say. Wouldn' +never whip you on Sunday though. Say dat he would get you tomorrow. Den +when Monday come, he would knock all bout like he had forget, but +toreckly he would call you up en he would sho work on you. Pa say, 'I'm +not gwine let you catch me in no lie. When I tell you I gwine cut you, I +gwine do it.' Miss, I is had my mother to hurt me so bad till I would +just fall down en roll in de sand. Hurt! Dey hurt, dat dey did. Wouldn' +whip you wid no clothes on neither. Would make you pull off. Yes, mam, I +could sniffle a week, dey been cut me such licks. Thought dey had done +me wrong, but dey know dey ain' been doin me wrong en I mean dey didn' +play wid me." + +"Miss, I think folks is livin too fast in de world today. Seems to me +like all de young people is worser, I say. Well, I tell you, dey be +ridin out all times of night en girls meetin up wid Miss Fortune. At +least, our colored girls does. En don' care what dey do neither. Don' +seem to care what dey do nor how dey do. De girls nowadays, dey gets dey +livin. Girls settin higher den what dey makes demselves dese days." + + Source: Josephine Bristow, colored, 73 years, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Jan., 1938 + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + ANNE BROOME + EX-SLAVE 87 YEARS OLD. + + +"Does you recollect de Galloway place just dis side of White Oak? Well +dere's where I was born. When? Can't name de 'zact year but my ma say, +no stork bird never fetch me but de fust railroad train dat come up de +railroad track, when they built de line, fetched me. She say I was a +baby, settin' on de cow-ketcher, and she see me and say to pa: 'Reubin, +run out dere and get our baby befo' her falls off and gets hurt under +them wheels! Do you know I believed dat tale 'til I was a big girl? Sure +did, 'til white folks laugh me out of it! + +"My ma was name Louisa. My marster was Billie Brice, but 'spect God done +write sumpin' else on he forehead by dis time. He was a cruel marster; +he whip me just for runnin' to de gate for to see de train run by. My +missus was a pretty woman, flaxen hair, blue eyes, name Mary Simonton, +'til she marry. + +"Us live in a two-room plank house. Plenty to eat and enough to wear +'cept de boys run 'round in their shirt tails and de girls just a +one-piece homespun slip on in de summer time. Dat was not a hardship +then. Us didn't know and didn't care nothin' 'bout a 'spectable +'pearance in those days. Dats de truth, us didn't. + +"Gran'pa name Obe; gran'ma, name Rachel. Shoes? A child never have a +shoe. Slaves wore wooden bottom shoes. + +"My white folks went to New Hope Church. Deir chillun was mighty good to +us all. Dere was Miss Martha, her marry Doctor Madden, right here at +Winnsboro. Miss Mary marry Marster John Vinson, a little polite smilin' +man, nice man, though. Then Miss Jane marry Marster John Young. He +passed out, leavin' two lovely chillun, Kitty and Maggie. Both of them +marry Caldwells. Dere was Marster Calvin, he marry Congressman Wallace's +daughter, Ellen. Then dere was Marster Jim and Marster William, de last +went to Florida. + +"It was a big place, I tell you, and heaps and heaps of slaves. Some +times they git too many and sell them off. My old mistress cry 'bout dat +but tears didn't count wid old marster, as long as de money come a +runnin' in and de rations stayed in de smoke house. + +"Us had a fine carriage. Sam was de driver. Us go to Concord one Sunday +and new Hope de next. Had quality fair neighbors. Dere was de +Cockerells, 'Piscopalians, dat 'tend St. John in Winnsboro, de Adgers, +big buckra, went to Zion in Winnsboro. Marster Burr Cockerell was de +sheriff. 'Members he had to hang a man once, right in de open jailyard. +Then dere was a poor buckra family name Marshall. Our white folks was +good to them, 'cause they say his pappy was close kin to de biggest +Jedge of our country, John Marshall. + +"When de slaves got bad off sick, marster send for Dr. Walter Brice, his +kin folks. Some times he might send for Dr. Madden, him's son-in-law, as +how he was. + +"When de Yankees come, all de young marsters was off in de 'Federate +side. I see them now, gallopin' to de house, canteen boxes on their hips +and de bayonets rattlin' by deir sides. De fust thing they ask, was: +'You got any wine?' They search de house; make us sing: 'Good Old Time +'Ligion'; put us to runnin' after de chickens and a cookin'. When they +leave they burnt de gin house and everything in dere. They burn de +smoke-house and wind up wid burnin' de big house. + +"You through wid me now, boss? I sho' is glad of dat. Help all you kin +to git me dat pension befo' I die and de Lord will bless you, honey. De +Lord not gwine to hold His hand any longer 'ginst us. Us cleared de +forests, built de railroads, cleaned up de swamps, and nursed de white +folks. Now in our old ages, I hopes they lets de old slaves like me see +de shine of some of dat money I hears so much talk 'bout. They say it's +free as de gift of grace from de hand of de Lord. Good mornin' and God +bless you, will be my prayer always. Has you got a dime to give dis old +nigger, boss?" + + + + + Project #1655 + Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Georgetown County + + MOM HAGAR + (Verbatim Conversation) + + +Mom Hagar Brown lives in her little weathered cabin on forty odd acres +left by her husband, Caleb Brown. Caleb died in Georgia where he had +been sent to the penitentiary for stealing a hog that another man stole. +Aunt Hagar has grands settled all around her and she and the grands +divide up the acreage which is planted in corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, +and some highland rice. She ministers to them all when sick, acts as +mid-wife when necessary, and divides her all with her kin and +friends--white and black. She wages a war on ground-moles, at which she +laughs and says she resembles. Ground-mole beans almost a foot long +protect and decorate her yard. She has apple and fig trees, and +scuppernong grape vines grow rank and try to climb all her trees. + +(Monday morning she hobbles up on a stick--limping and looking sick.) +Comes in kitchen door. + +Lillie: "Aunt Hagar, how you?" + +Hagar: "Painful. Doctor tell me I got the tonsil. Want to represent me +one time and take them out. I say, 'No Doctor! Get in hospital, can't +get out! Let me stay here till my change come.' Yeddy? I ain't wuth! +Ain't wuth! Ain't got a piece o' sense. Yeddy? Ellen say she want God to +take she tomorrow? When you ready it's 'God take me now! All right +son!" (Greeting Zackie who enters kitchen.) + +Zackie: "Aunt Hagar, how you feel?" + +Hagar: "I ain't wuth son. How's all?" + +Zackie: "Need a little more grits!" + +Lillie: "Hear Zackie! Mom Hagar, that ain't hinder him ordering +another!" (The fact that food is scarce doesn't limit Zackie's family.) + +Hagar: "You hear bout this Jeremiah broke in somewhere--get all kinds +likker and canned things and different thing?" + +Zackie: "Must a broke in that place call 'Stumble Inn!' (Very +seriously.) That Revenue man been there." + +Hagar: "I yeddy last night! Say he there in news-paper. Mary say, 'see +'em in paper!' Mrs. White gone to child funeral. That been in paper too. +Mary see that in paper. Easter say old lady gone dere. Doctor say better +go. Child sick. Child seven years old. Fore they get there tell 'em say, +'Child dead!' + +"People gone in patch to pick watermillon. Ain't want child to go. You +know chillun! Child gone in. Ain't want 'em for go. You know. Child pick +watermillon. Ketch up one--I forgotten what pound they say. Roll. Roll +duh watermillon. Roll 'em on snake! They say, 'Snake bite 'em?' Child +say, 'No. Must a scratch.' See blood run on boy leg. Child get +unconscion that minute. Gone right out. Jess so. Ease out so. I cry. I +cry!" + +Lillie: "You know 'em, Mom Hagar?" + +Hagar: "No! No! Lill, fever got me! Cold get me till my rump dead. Got +hospital boy rouse one time say, 'Ma, less go home! Red stripe snake +bite me.'" + + * * * * * + +Hagar: "Klu Klux?" (Chin cupped in hand--elbow on knee--looking way +off--) + +"Reckon that the way them old timey people call 'em. Have to run way, +you go church. Going to come in to ketch you or do any mischievous +thing--come carry you place they going beat you--in suit of white. Old +white man to Wilderness Plantation. Parish old man name. Treat his wife +bad. Come to house, ain't crack. Come right in suit of white. Drag him +out--right to Woodstock there where Mr. Dan get shoot. Put a beating on +that white man there till he mess up! Oman never gone back to him yet!" + +"A man wuz name (I forgot what the man name wuz)--wuz a white man mess +round wid a colored woman and they didn't do a God thing but gone and +put a beating on you, darling! Come in. Grab you and go. Put a beating +on you till you can't see. Know they got a good grub to lick you wid. +They git done you can't sit down. Ain't going carry you just for play +with." + +"Mom Hagar, you wanter vote?" + +Hagar: "Oh my God!" + +"Aunt Hagar are the colored people happier now than the old timey +slavery time people?" + +Hagar: "Young people now got the world by force. Don't care. Got more +trick than law low. Tricky! Can't beat the old people. Can't equal to +'em. Some the young people you say 'AMEN' in church they make fun o' +you. Every tub stand on his own bottom. Can't truss 'em. + +"Ma say some dem plan to run way. Say, 'Less run! Less run!' Master +ketch dem and fetch dem in. Lay 'em cross barrel. Beat dem till they +wash in blood. Fetch 'em back. Place 'em cross the barrel--hogsket +barrel--Christ! They ramp wash in blood! Beat Ma sister. He sister +sickly. Never could clear task--like he want. My Ma have to work he self +to death to help Henritta so sickly. Clear task to keep from beat. Some +obersheer mean. Oaks labor. (Meaning her Ma and ma's family were +laboring on Oaks Plantation--the plantation where Gov. Joseph Allston +and Theodosia his wife lived on Waccamaw.) Mother Sally Doctor. Ma got +four chillun. One was Emmeline, one Getty, one Katrine one Hagar! I +older than Gob (Katrine). Could a call doctor for Gob if I had any +sense." (Big nuff to gone for doctor when Gob born.) + + "Stay in the field! + Stay in the field! + Stay in the field till the war been end!" + +(This is Aunt Hagar's favorite song) + + Mom Hagar Brown--age 77 + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + July 4th, 1937. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Georgetown County + + (Some recollections of Mom Hagar Brown) + + +Visitor: "Mom Hagar, how old did you say you were?" + +Hagar: "Don't take care of my age! Had me gang of chillun when ma die. I +had Samuel, I had Elias, I had Arthur, I had Beck. Oh, my God! Man, go +way! I had Sally! I had Sally again. I didn't want to give the name +'Sally' again. Say, 'First Sally come carry girl.' Ma say, 'Gin 'em name +'Sally!' I faid (afraid) that other one come back for him. Had to do +what Ma say. Had to please 'em. Ma name Sally. Ma chillun Catrine, +Hagar, Emmeline, Gettie. I born Columbia. Come Freedom, when we left +Columbia, ma finer till we get in Charston. Freedom come, battle till we +get 'Oaks.' (Battled till they reached the 'Oaks Plantation--.')Stay +there till people gin (begin) move bout. Come Watsaw. Gone 'Collins +Creek.' In the 'Reb Time' you know, when they sell you bout--Massa sell +you all about. Broke through them briar and branch and thing to go to +church. Them patrol get you. Church 'Old Bethel.' You don't know 'em. +Been gone! + +"I yeddy ma! (heard my mother) Ma say, 'I too glad my chillun aint been +here Rebs time! Gin you task you rather drown than not done that task! +Ma say Auntie poor we weak creeter, couldn't strain. Ma had to strain to +fetch sister up with her task. Dere (there) in rice-field. Ma say they +on flat going to islant (island), see cloud, pray God send rain! When +rooster crow, say they pray God to stop 'em! Rooster crow, broke up +wedder! When rooster crow, scare 'em. Broke up rain! Ma say they drag +the pot in the river when the flat going cross. Do this to make it rain. +Massa! Don't done you task, driver wave that whip, put you over the +barrel, beat you so blood run down! I wouldn't take 'em! Ma say, 'I too +glad my chillun aint born then!' + +"Any cash money? Where you gwine get 'em? Only cash the gospel! Have to +get the gospel. Give you cloth! Give you ration! Jess (just according) +many chillun you got. Ma say chillun feed all the corn to the fowl. + + Chillun say, + + 'Papa love he fowl! + Papa love he fowl! + Three peck a day! + Three peck a day! + +"Parent come to door. Not a grain of corn leave! Poor people! Come, +drop! Not a grain! Everybody on the hill help. One give this; one give +that. Handle 'em light! (Very careful with victuals). Gone you till +Saddy (Saturday.) (Will last you until Saturday when you are rationed +again.) + +"When Ma get down, she say, 'I gone leave! I gone leave here now! But, +oh, Hagar! Be a mudder and fadder for Katrine!' + +"I say, (I call Katrine 'Gob') I say, 'Better tell Gob to look atter +me!' + +"Ma say, 'When I gone I ax the Master when he take me, to send drop o' +rain to let true believer know I gone to Glory!' + +"When they lift the body to take 'em to the church, rain, 'Tit! Tit! +Tit! Tit!' on the house! At the gate, moon shine out' Going to the +church! Bury to the 'Oaks.' + +"Gob say, 'Titty, all you chillun bury at Oaks. Ma to Oaks. How come you +wanter bury Watsaw?" + +"I say, 'When the trumpet sound, I yeddy!' (When the trumpet sounds, +I'll hear it!) + +"I marry right to Collins Creek hill. Big dance out the door! I free! I +kick up! Ma, old rebs time people!" + + Mom Hagar Brown + Age--(She says 'Born first o' + Freedom' but got her age from + a contemporary and reported 77) + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Georgetown County + + EX-SLAVE STORY + (Verbatim) + + +"My old man can 'member things and tell you things and he word carry. We +marry to Turkey Hill Plantation. Hot supper. Cake, wine, and all. Kill +cow, hog, chicken and all. That time when you marry, so much to eat! +Finance wedding! Now-- + +"We 'lamp-oil chillun'; they 'lectric light' chillun now! We call our +wedding 'lamp-oil wedding'. Hall jam full o' people; out-of-door jam +full. Stand before the chimbley. + +"When that first war come through, we born. I don't know just when I +smell for come in the world. + +"Big storm? Yinnah talk big storm hang people up on tree? (Noah!) Shake? +I here in house. House gone, 'Rack-a-rack-a-racker!' + +"My husband run out--with me and my baby left in bed! Baby just come in +time of the shake. + +"When I first have sense, I 'member I walk on the frost bare-feet. +Cow-belly shoe. + +"My husband mother have baby on the flat going to Marion and he Auntie +Cinda have a baby on that flat. + +"From yout (youth) I been a Brown and marry a Brown; title never change. + +"Old timey sing? + + 1. + + "Wish I had a hundred dog + And half wuz hound! + Take it in my fadder field + And we run the rabbit down! + Chorus: Now he hatch + He hatch! + He hatch! + And I run the rabbit down! + + 2. + + "I wish I had a hundred head o' dog + And half of them wuz hound + I'd take 'em back in my bacco field + And run the rabbit down. + Chorus: Now he hatch--he hatch! + He hatch--he hatch! + Now he hatch--he hatch! + And I run them rabbit down!" + +"That wuz a sing we used to have on the plantation. Then we make up +sing--we have sing for chillun. Make 'em go sleep. Every one have his +own sing. + + "Bye-o-baby! + Go sleepy! + Bye-o-baby! + Go sleepy! + What a big alligator + Coming to catch + This one boy!" + + "Diss here the Watson one boy child! + Bye-o-baby go sleepy! + What a big alligator + Coming to catch this one boy!" + +Emmie Jordan: "Missus, I too plague with bad heart trouble to give you +the sing!" + + Song and conversation Given by + + Mom Louisa Brown (Born time of 'Reb people War') + Waverly Mills, S. C. + Near Parkersville, S. C. + + + + Project -1655 + Jessie A. Butler + Charleston, S. C. + Approximately 930 words + + FOLKLORE + + Stories from Ex-slaves + Henry Brown + Ex-slave Age 79 + + +Henry Brown, negro caretaker of the Gibbes House, at the foot of Grove +street, once a part of Rose Farm, is a splendid example of a type once +frequently met with in the South. Of a rich brown complexion, aquiline +of feature, there is none of the "Gullah" about Henry. He is courteous +and kindly in his manner, and speaks more correctly than the average +negro. + +"My father was Abram Brown, and my mother's name was Lucy Brown," he +said. "They were slaves of Dr. Arthur Gordon Rose. My grandfather and +grandmother were grown when they came from Africa, and were man and wife +in Africa. I was born just about two years before the war so I don't +remember anything about slavery days, and very little about war times, +except that we were taken to Deer Pond, about half mile from Columbia. +Dr. Rose leased the place from Dr. Ray, and took his family there for +safety. My mother died while he was at Deer Pond, and was buried there, +but all the rest of my people is buried right here at Rose Farm. My two +brothers were a lot older than me, and were in the war. After the war my +brother Tom was on the police force, he was a sergeant, and they called +him Black Sergeant. My brother Middleton drove the police wagon: they +used to call it Black Maria. + +"My father, Abram Brown, was the driver or head man at Rose plantation. +Dr. Rose thought a heap of him, and during the war he put some of his +fine furniture and other things he brought from England in my father's +house and told him if the Yankees came to say the things belonged to +him. Soon after that the soldiers came. They asked my father who the +things belonged to and he said they belonged to him. The soldiers asked +him who gave them to him, and he said his master gave them to him. The +Yankees told him that they thought he was lying, and if he didn't tell +the truth they would kill him, but he wouldn't say anything else so they +left him alone and went away. + +"Work used to start on the plantation at four o'clock in the morning, +when the people went in the garden. At eight or nine o'clock they went +into the big fields. Everybody was given a task of work. When you +finished your task you could quit. If you didn't do your work right you +got a whipping. + +"The babies were taken to the Negro house and the old women and young +colored girls who were big enough to lift them took care of them. At one +o'clock the babies were taken to the field to be nursed, then they were +brought back to the Negro house until the mothers finished their work, +then they would come for them. + +"Dr. Rose gave me to his son, Dr. Arthur Barnwell Rose, for a Christmas +present. After the war Dr. Rose went back to England. He said he +couldn't stay in a country with so many free Negroes. Then his son Dr. +Arthur Barnwell Rose had the plantation. Those was good white people, +good white people. + +"The colored people were given their rations once a week, on Monday, +they got corn, and a quart of molasses, and three pounds of bacon, and +sometimes meat and peas. They had all the vegetables they wanted; they +grew them in the gardens. When the boats first came in from Africa with +the slaves, a big pot of peas was cooked and the people ate it with +their hands right from the pot. The slaves on the plantation went to +meeting two nights a week and on Sunday they went to Church, where they +had a white preacher Dr. Rose hired to preach to them. + +"After the war when we came back to Charleston I went to work as a +chimney-sweep. I was seven years old then. They paid me ten cents a +story. If a house had two stories I got twenty cents; if it had three +stories I got thirty cents. When I got too big to go up the chimneys I +went back to Rose plantation. My father was still overseer or driver. I +drove a cart and plowed. Afterwards I worked in the phosphate mines, +then came back here to take care of the garden and be caretaker. I +planted all these Cherokee roses you see round here, and I had a big +lawn of Charleston grass. I aint able to keep it like I used to." + +Henry is intensely religious. He says "the people don't notice God now +because they're free." "Some people say there aint no hell," he +continued, "but I think there must be some kind of place like that, +because you got to go some place when you leave this earth, and you got +to go to the master that you served when you were here. If you serve God +and obey His commandments then you go to Him, but if you don't pay any +attention to what he tells you in His Book, just do as you choose and +serve the devil, then you got to go to him. And it don't make any +difference if you're poor or rich, it don't matter what the milliner +(millionaire) man says." + +He seemed so proud of his garden, with its broad view across the Ashley +River, showing his black walnut, pear and persimmon trees, grape vines +and roses, that the writer said, "Henry, you know a poet has said that +we are nearer God in the garden than anywhere else on earth." "Well +ma'am, you see," he replied, with a winning smile, "that's where God put +us in the first place." + + + + + Project #1655 + Augustus Ladson + Charleston, S. C. + + EX-SLAVE BORN 1857 + GRAND PARENTS CAME DIRECTLY FROM AFRICA + + +I was nickname' durin' the days of slavery. My name was Henry but they +call' me Toby. My sister, Josephine, too was nickname' an' call' Jessee. +Our mistress had a cousin by that name. My oldes' bredder was a Sergeant +on the Charleston Police Force around 1868. I had two other sister', +Louise an' Rebecca. + +My firs' owner was Arthur Barnwell Rose. Then Colonel A. G. Rhodes +bought the plantation who sol' it to Capen Frederick W. Wagener. James +Sottile then got in possession who sol' it to the DeCostas, an' a few +weeks ago Mrs. Albert Callitin Simms, who I'm tol' is a former member of +Congress, bought it. Now I'm wonderin' if she is goin' to le' me stay. I +hope so 'cus I'm ol' now en can't work. + +My pa was name' Abraham Brown; he was bo'n on Coals Islan' in Beaufort +County. Colonel Rhodes bought him for his driver, then he move here. I +didn't know much 'bout him; he didn't live so long afta slavery 'cus he +was ol. + +Colonel Rhodes had a son an' a daughter. The son went back to England +afta his death an' the daughter went to Germany with her husban'. They +ain't never come back so the place was sol' for tax. + +Durin' the war we was carry to Deer Pond, twelve miles on dis side of +Columbia. W'en the war was end' pa brought my sister, Louise, Rebecca, +who was too small to work, Josephine an' me, home. All my people is +long-lifted. My grand pa an' grand ma on pa side come right from Africa. +They was stolen an' brought here. They use to tell us of how white men +had pretty cloth on boats which they was to exchange for some of their +o'nament'. W'en they take the o'nament' to the boat they was carry way +down to the bottom an' was lock' in. They was anchored on or near +Sullivan's Islan' w'ere they been feed like dogs. A big pot was use' for +cookin'. In that pot peas was cook' an' lef' to cool. Everybody went to +the pot with the han's an' all eat frum the pot. + +I was bo'n two years before the war an' was seven w'en it end. That was +in 1857. I never went to school but five months in my life, but could +learn easy. Very seldom I had to be tol' to do the same thing twice. + +The slaves had a plenty o' vegetables all the time. Master planted t'ree +acres jus' for the slaves which was attended to in the mornin's before +tas' time. All provision was made as to the distribution on Monday +evenin's afta tas'. + +My master had two place: one on Big Islan' an' on Coals Islan' in +Beaufort County. He didn't have any overseer. My pa was his driver. + +Pa say this place was given to Mr. Rhodes with a thousand acres of lan' +by England. But it dwindled to thirty-five w'en the other was taken back +by England. + +There wasn't but ten slaves on this plantation. The driver call' the +slaves at four so they could git their breakfas'. They always work the +garden firs' an' at seven go in the co'n an' cotton fiel'. Some finish +their tas' by twelve an' others work' 'til seven but had the tas' to +finish. No one was whip' 'less he needed it; no one else could whip +master' slaves. He wouldn't stan' for it. We had it better then than now +'cause white men lynch an' burn now an' do other things they couldn't do +then. They shoot you down like dogs now, an' nothin' said or done. + +No slave was suppose' to be whip' in Charleston except at the Sugar +House. There was a jail for whites, but if a slave ran away an' got +there he could disown his master an' the state wouldn't le' him take +you. + +All collud people has to have a pass w'en they went travelin'; free as +well as slaves. If one didn't the patrollers, who was hired by rich +white men would give you a good whippin' an' sen' you back home. My pa +didn't need any one to write his pass 'cause he could write as well as +master. How he got his education, I didn't know. + +Sat'day was a workin' day but the tas' was much shorter then other days. +Men didn't have time to frolic 'cause they had to fin' food for the +fambly; master never give 'nough to las' the whole week. A peck o' co'n, +t'ree pound o' beacon, quart o' molasses, a quart o' salt, an' a pack o' +tobacco was given the men. The wife got the same thing but chillun +accordin' to age. Only one holiday slaves had an' that was Christmas. + +Co'nshuckin' parties was conducted by a group of fa'mers who take their +slaves or sen' them to the neighborin' ones 'til all the co'n was +shuck'. Each one would furnish food 'nough for all slaves at his party. +Some use to have nothin' but bake potatas an' some kind of vegetable. + +An unmarried young man was call' a half-han'. W'en he want to marry he +jus' went to master an' say there's a gal he would like to have for +wife. Master would say yes an' that night more chicken would be fry an' +everything eatable would be prepare at master' expense. The couple went +home afta the supper, without any readin' of matrimony, man an' wife. + +A man once married his ma en' didn't know it. He was sell from her w'en +'bout eight years old. When he grow to a young men, slavery then was +over, he met this woman who he like' an' so they were married. They was +married a month w'en one night they started to tell of their experiences +an' how many times they was sol'. The husban' tol' how he was sol' from +his mother who liked him dearly. He tol' how his ma faint' w'en they +took him away an' how his master then use to bran' his baby slaves at a +year ol'. W'en he showed her the bran' she faint' 'cause she then +realize' that she had married her son. + +Slaves didn't have to use their own remedy for sickness for good doctors +been hired to look at them. There was, as is, though, some weed use for +fever an' headache as: blacksnake root, furrywork, jimpsin weed, one +that tie' on the head which bring sweat from you like hail, an' hickory +leaf. If the hickory is keep on the head too long it will blister it. + +W'en the war was fightin' the white men burn the bridge at the foot of +Spring Street so the Yankees couldn't git over but they buil' pontoos +while some make the horses swim 'cross. One night while at Deer Pond, I +hear something like thunder until 'bout eleven the next day. W'en the +thing I t'ought was thunder stop', master tell us that evenin' we was +free. I wasn't surprise to know for as little as I was I know the +Yankees was goin' to free us with the help of God. + +I was married twice, an' had two gals an' a boy with firs' wife. I have +t'ree boys with the second; the younges' is jus' eight. + +Lincoln did jus' what God inten' him to do, but I think nothin' 'bout +Calhoun on 'account of what he say in one of his speech 'bout collud +people. He said: "keep the niggers down." + +To see collud boys goin' 'round now with paper an' pencil in their han's +don't look real to me. Durin' slavery he would be whip' 'til not a skin +was lef' on his body. + +My pa was a preacher why I become a Christian so early; he preach' on +the plantation to the slaves. On Sunday the slaves went to the white +church. He use to tell us of hell an' how hot it is. I was so 'fraid of +hell 'til I was always tryin' to do the right thing so I couldn't go to +that terrible place. + +I don't care 'bout this worl' an' its vanities 'cause the Great Day is +comin' w'en I shall lay down an' my stammerin' tongue goin' to lie +silent in my head. I want a house not made with han's but eternal in the +Heavens. That Man up there, is all I need; I'm goin' to still trus' Him. +Before the comin' of Chris' men was kill' for His name sake; today they +curse Him. It's nearly time for the world to come to en' for He said +"bout two thousand years I shall come again" an' that time is fas' +approachin'. + + Source + + Interview with Henry Brown, 637 Grove Street. He is much concerned with + the Scottsboro Case and discusses the invasion of Italy into defenseless + Ethiopia intelligently. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon, + Winnsboro, S. C. + + JOHN C. BROWN AND ADELINE BROWN + EX-SLAVES 86 YEARS AND 96 YEARS OLD. + + +John C. Brown and his wife, Adeline, who is eleven years older than +himself, live in a ramshackle four-room frame house in the midst of a +cotton field, six miles west of Woodward, S. C. John assisted in laying +the foundation and building the house forty-four years ago. A single +china-berry tree, gnarled but stately, adds to, rather than detracts +from, the loneliness of the dilapidated house. The premises and +thereabout are owned by the Federal Land Bank. The occupants pay no +rent. Neither of them are able to work. They have been fed by charity +and the W. P. A. for the past eighteen months. + +(John talking) + +"Where and when I born? Well, dat'll take some 'hear say', Mister. I +never knowed my mammy. They say she was a white lady dat visited my old +marster and mistress. Dat I was found in a basket, dressed in nice baby +clothes, on de railroad track at Dawkins, S. C. De engineer stop de +train, got out, and found me sumpin' like de princess found Moses, but +not in de bulrushes. Him turn me over to de conductor. De conductor +carry me to de station at Dawkins, where Marse Tom Dawkins come to meet +de train dat mornin' and claim me as found on his land. Him say him had +de best right to me. De conductor didn't 'ject to dat. Marse Tom carry +me home and give me to Miss Betsy. Dat was his wife and my mistress. Her +always say dat Sheton Brown was my father. He was one of de slaves on de +place; de carriage driver. After freedom he tell me he was my real +pappy. Him took de name of Brown and dat's what I go by. + +"My father was a ginger-bread colored man, not a full-blooded nigger. +Dat's how I is altogether yallow. See dat lady over dere in dat chair? +Dat's my wife. Her brighter skinned than I is. How come dat? Her daddy +was a full-blooded Irishman. He come over here from Ireland and was +overseer for Marse Bob Clowney. He took a fancy for Adeline's mammy, a +bright 'latto gal slave on de place. White women in them days looked +down on overseers as poor white trash. Him couldn't git a white wife but +made de best of it by puttin' in his spare time a honeyin' 'round +Adeline's mammy. Marse Bob stuck to him, and never 'jected to it. + +"When de war come on, Marse Richard, de overseer, shoulder his gun as a +soldier and, as him was educated more than most of de white folks, him +rise to be captain in de Confederate Army. It's a pity him got kilt in +dat war. + +"My marster, Tom Dawkins, have a fine mansion. He owned all de land +'round Dawkins and had 'bout 200 slaves, dat lived in good houses and +was we well fed. My pappy was de man dat run de mill and grind de wheat +and corn into flour and meal. Him never work in de field. He was 'bove +dat. Him 'tend to de ginnin' of de cotton and drive de carriage. + +"De Yankees come and burn de mansion, de gin-house and de mill. They +take all de sheep, mules, cows, hogs and even de chickens. Set de slaves +free and us niggers have a hard time ever since. + +"My black stepmammy was so mean to me dat I run away. I didn't know +where to go but landed up, one night, at Adeline's mammy's and +steppappy's house, on Marse Bob Clowney's place. They had been slaves of +Marse Bob and was livin' and workin' for him. I knock on de door. Mammy +Charity, dat's Adeline's mammy, say: 'Who dat?' I say: 'Me'. Her say: +'Who is me?' I say: 'John'. Her say: 'John who?' I say: 'Just John'. Her +say: 'Adeline, open de door, dat's just some poor boy dat's cold and +hungry. Charity is my fust name. Your pappy ain't come yet but I'll let +dat boy in 'til he come and see what he can do 'bout it.' + +"When Adeline open dat door, I look her in de eyes. Her eyes melt +towards me wid a look I never see befo' nor since. Mind you, I was just +a boy fourteen, I 'spects, and her a woman twenty-five then. Her say: +'You darlin' little fellow; come right in to de fire.' Oh, my! She took +on over me! Us wait 'til her pappy come in. Then him say: 'What us gonna +do wid him?' Adeline say: 'Us gonna keep him.' Pappy say: 'Where he +gonna sleep?' Adeline look funny. Mammy say: 'Us'll fix him a pallet by +de fire.' Adeline clap her hands and say: 'You don't mind dat, does you +boy?' I say: 'No ma'am, I is slept dat way many a time.' + +"Well, I work for Marse Bob Clowney and stayed wid Adeline's folks two +years. I sure made myself useful in dat family. Never 'spicioned what +Adeline had in her head, 'til one day I climbed up a hickory nut tree, +flail de nuts down, come down and was helpin' to pick them up when she +bump her head 'ginst mine and say: 'Oh, Lordy!' Then I pat and rub her +head and it come over me what was in dat head! Us went to de house and +her told de folks dat us gwine to marry. + +"Her led me to de altar dat nex' Sunday. Gived her name to de preacher +as Adeline Cabean. I give de name of John Clowney Brown. Marse Bob was +dere and laugh when de preacher call my name, 'John Clowney Brown'. + +"Our chillun come pretty fast. I was workin' for $45.00 a year, wid +rations. Us had three pounds of bacon, a peck of meal, two cups of +flour, one quart of 'lasses, and one cup of salt, a week. + +"Us never left Marse Robert as long as him lived. When us have four +chillun, him increase de amount of flour to four cups and de 'lasses to +two quarts. Then him built dis house for de old folks and Adeline and de +chillun to live in. I help to build it forty-four years ago. Our chillun +was Clarice, Jim, John, Charity, Tom, Richard, and Adeline. + +"I followed Marse Robert Clowney in politics, wore a red shirt, and +voted for him to go to de Legislature. Him was 'lected dat time but +never cared for it no more. + +"Adeline b'long to de church. Always after me to jine but I can't +believe dere is anything to it, though I believes in de law and de Ten +Commandments. Preacher calls me a infidel. Can't help it. They is maybe +got me figured out wrong. I believes in a Great Spirit but, in my time, +I is seen so many good dogs and hosses and so many mean niggers and +white folks, dat I 'clare, I is confused on de subject. Then I can't +believe in a hell and everlastin' brimstone. I just think dat people is +lak grains of corn: dere is some good grains and some rotten grains. De +good grains is res'rected, de rotten grains never sprout again. Good +people come up again and flourish in de green fields of Eden. Bad people +no come up. Deir bodies and bones just make phosphate guano, 'round de +roots of de ever bloomin' tree of life. They lie so much in dis world, +maybe de Lord will just make 'lie' soap out of them. What you think else +they would be fit for?" + + + + + Project #1655 + Martha S. Pinckney + Charleston, S. C. + + FOLKLORE + Approx. 660 words + + INTERVIEW WITH EX-SLAVE + Age 88-90 + + +Mary Frances Brown is a typical product of the old school of trained +house servants, an unusual delicate type, somewhat of the Indian cast, +to which race she is related. She is always clean and neat, a refined +old soul, as individuals of that class often are. Her memory, sight and +hearing are good for her advanced age. + +"Our home Marlboro. Mas Luke Turnage was my +master--Marlboro-Factory-Plantation name 'Beauty Spot'. My missis was +right particular about neat and clean. She raise me for a house girl. My +missis was good to me, teach me ebbery ting, and take the Bible and +learn me Christianified manners, charity, and behaviour and good +respect, and it with me still. + +"We didn't have any hard times, our owners were good to us--no over +share (overseer) and no whippin'--he couldn't stan' that. I live there +'til two year after freedom; how I come to leave, my mother sister been +sick, and she ask mother to send one of us, an she send me. My mother +been Miss Nancy cook. Miss Nancy was Mas Luke's mother--it take me two +years learning to eat the grub they cook down here in Charleston. I had +to learn to eat these little piece of meat--we had a dish full of meat; +the big smoke house was lined from the top down. (Describing how the +meat hung) I nebber accustom to dese little piece of meat, so--what dey +got here. Missis, if you know smoke house, didn't you find it hard? My +master had 'til he didn't know what to do with. My white people were +Gentile." (Her tone implied that she considered them the acme of gentle +folks). "I don't know what the other people were name that didn't have +as much as we had--but I know my people were Gentile!" + +Just here her daughter and son appeared, very unlike their mother in +type. The daughter is quite as old looking as her mother; the son, a +rough stevedore. When the writer suggested that the son must be a +comfort, she looked down sadly and said in a low tone, as if +soliloquizing, "He way is he way." Going back to her former thought, she +said, "All our people were good. Mas Luke was the worse one." (This she +said with an indulgent smile) "Cause he was all the time at the race +ground or the fair ground. + +"Religion rules Heaven and Earth, an there is no religion +now--harricanes an washin-aways is all about. Ebberything is change. Dis +new name what they call grip is pleurisy-cold--putrid sore-throat is +called somethin'--yes, diptheria. Cuttin (surgery) come out in 1911! +They kill an they cure, an they save an they loss. + +"My Gran'ma trained with Indians--she bin a Indian, an Daniel C. McCall +bought her. She nebber loss a baby." (the first Indian relationship that +the writer can prove). "You know Dr. Jennings? Ebberybody mus' know him. +After he examine de chile an de mother, an 'ee alright, he hold de nurse +responsible for any affection (infection) that took place. + +"Oh! I know de spiritual--but Missis, my voice too weak to sing--dey +aint in books; if I hear de name I can sing--'The Promise Land', Oh, how +Mas Joel Easterling (born 1796) use to love to sing dat!" + + "I am bound for de Promise Land! + Oh! who will arise an go with me? + I am bound for the Promise Land! + I've got a mother in the Promise Land, + My mother calls me an I mus go, + To meet her in the Promise Land!" + + Source: Mary Frances Brown, Age 88-90, East Bay Street, Charleston, + S. C. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Cassels R. Tiedeman + Charleston, S. C. + + FOLKLORE + + INTERVIEW WITH AN EX-SLAVE + + +Mary Frances Brown, about ninety years of age, born in slavery, on the +plantation of Luke Turnage, in Marlboro County, was raised as a +house-servant and shows today evidence of most careful training. Her +bearing is rather a gentle refined type, seemingly untouched by the +squalor in which she lives. She willingly gives freely of her small +store of strength to those around her. + +Her happiest days seem to have been those of her early youth, for when +she was questioned about the present times, and even about those closely +associated with her today she bowed her head and said: "Deir way is deir +way. O! let me tell you now, de world is in a haad (hard) time, wust +(worse) den it eber (ever) been, but religion! It eberywhere in Hebben +an' in de ert (earth) too, if you want em. De trouble is you ain't want +em; 'e right dere jes de same but de time done pass when dis generation +hold wid anyt'ing but de debbul. When I a gal, grown up, I had a tight +missus dat raise me, you hab to keep clean round her, she good an' kind +an' I lub her yet, but don't you forgit to mind what she say. + +"My massa, he 'low no whipping on de plantation, he talk heap an' he +scold plenty, but den he hab to. Dere was haad time for two year after +de war was ober (over) but after dat it better den it is now. Dis is de +wust time eber. I ain't eber git use to de wittle (victual) you hab down +here. I lib ober Mount Pleasant twenty five year after I come from de +old place up Marlboro, den I come to Charleston. + +"Dey were happy time back dere. My massa, he run round ebery way, spend +plenty money on horse race, he gib good time to eberybody an' tell us we +mus' tek good care of de missus when he ain't dere. An de wittles we hab +I ain't nebber see de lak no time. Dem were de times to lib. I old now +but I ain't forgit what my missus larn (learn) me. It right here in me." + +Mary Frances was asked if she could sing spirituals. The following is +one that she sang in a very high pitched wavering voice and then she +complained of shortness of breath on account of her heart. + + "We got a home ober dere, + Come an' let us go, + Come an' let us go, + Where pleasure neber (never) die. + + Chorus: + + "Oh! let us go where pleasure neber die, + Neber die, + Come and let us go, + Where pleasure neber die, neber die. + + "Mother is gone ober dere, + Mother is gone ober dere, + Where pleasure neber die, + Where pleasure neber die. + + Chorus: + + "Father is gone ober dere, + Father is gone ober dere, + Where pleasure neber die, + Where pleasure neber die. + + Chorus: + + "Sister is gone ober dere, + Sister is gone ober dere, + Where pleasure neber die, + Where pleasure neber die. + + Chorus: + + "Brudder is gone ober dere, + Brudder is gone ober dere, + Where pleasure neber die, + Where pleasure neber die." + + Chorus: + + Source: Interview with Mary Frances Brown, 83 East Bay St., + Charleston, S. C. (age--90) + + + + + Code No. ---- + Project. 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, July 8, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced From ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + MOM SARA BROWN + Ex-Slave, 85 years + + +"Oh, my God, de doctors have me in slavery time. Been here de startin of +de first war. I belong to de Cusaac dat live 15 miles low Florence on de +road what take you on to Georgetown. I recollects de Yankees come dere +in de month of June en free de colored peoples." + +"My white folks give me to de doctors in dem days to try en learn me for +a nurse. Don' know exactly how old I was in dat day en time, but I can +tell you what I done. My Lord, child, can' tell dat. Couldn' never tell +how many baby I bring in dis world, dey come so fast. I betcha I got +more den dat big square down dere to de courthouse full of em. I nurse +13 head of chillun in one family right here in dis town. You see dat all +I ever did have to do. Was learnt to do dat. De doctor tell me, say, +when you call to a 'oman, don' you never hesitate to go en help her en +you save dat baby en dat mother both. Dat what I is always try to do. +Heap of de time just go en let em pay me by de chance. Oh, my Lord, a +'oman birth one of dem babies here bout two weeks ago wid one of dem +veil over it face. De Lord know what make dat, I don', but dem kind of +baby sho wiser den de other kind of baby. Dat thing look just like a +thin skin dat stretch over da baby face en come down low it's chin. Have +to take en pull it back over it's forehead en den de baby can see en +holler all it ever want to. My blessed, honey, wish I had many a dollar +as I see veil over baby face. Sho know all bout dem kind of things." + +"Oh, honey, I tell you de people bless dis day en time. Don' know nothin +bout how to be thankful enough for what dey have dese days. I tell de +truth de peoples sho had to scratch bout en make what dey had in slavery +time. Baby, dey plant patches of okra en parch dat en make what coffee +dey have. Den dey couldn' get no shoes like dey hab dese days neither. +Just make em out of de hide of dey own cows dat dey butcher right dere +on de plantation. Coase de peoples had plenty sometin to eat like meat +en turkey en chicken en thing like dat. Oh, my God, couldn' see de top +of de smoke house for all de heap of meat dey have in dem times. En milk +en butter, honey, dey didn' never be widout plenty of dat. De peoples +bout here dese days axes ten cents a quart for sweet milk en five cents +a quart for old sour clabber. What you think bout dat? Dat how-come +people have to hunt jobs so mucha dese days. Have to do some sorta work +cause you know dey got to put sometin in dey mouth somewhe' or another. +Oh, my child, slavery days was troublesome times. Sugar en salt never +run free wid de peoples den neither. I know de day been here when salt +was so scarce dat dey had to go to de seashore en get what salt dey had. +I gwine to tell you all bout dat. Dey hitch up two horses to a wagon en +den dey make another horse go in front of de wagon to rest de other +horses long de way. Dey mostly go bout on a Monday en stay three days. +Boil dat salty water down dere en fetch two en three of dem barrel of +salt back wid em dey get dat way. It was just like dis, it take heap of +salt when dey had dem big hog-killin days. En de sugar, dey make dat +too. Made de sugar in lil blocks dat dey freeze just like dey freeze ice +dis day en time. I know dey do dat--know it. Dey make molasses en some +of it would be lighter den de other en dey freeze dat en make de +prettiest lil squares just like de ice you see dese days. Dey have +sometin to freeze it in. Dis here old black mammy know heap of things +you ain' never hear bout. Oh, baby, de peoples sho bless dese days." + +"Oh, my god, de colored peoples worship to de white folks church in +slavery time. You know dat Hopewell Church over de river dere, dat a +slavery church. Dat whe' I go to church den wid my white folks. I had a +lil chair wid a cowhide bottom dat I always take everywhe' I go wid me. +If I went to church, dat chair go in de carriage wid me en den I take it +in de church en set right by de side of my Miss. Dat how it was in +slavery time. Oh, my Lord, dere a big slavery people graveyard dere to +dat Hopewell Church." + +"Honey, you mind if I smoke my pipe a lil whilst I settin here talkin +wid you. I worry so much wid dis high blood dese days en a ringin in my +ears dat my pipe de only thing dat does seem to satisfy my soul. I tell +you dat high blood a bad thing. It get such a hold on me awhile back dat +I couldn' do nothin, couldn' pick cotton, couldn' say my--me, couldn' +even say, God a mighty--thing pretty. Oh, I don' know. I start smokin +pipe long time ago when I first start nursin babies. Had to do sometin +like dat den." + +"No, Lord, I never believe nothin bout dat but what God put here. I hear +some people say dey was conjure, but I don' pay no attention to dey +talk. Dey say somebody poison em for sometin dey do, but dere ain' +nobody do dat. God gwine to put you down when he get ready. Ain' nobody +else do dat." + +"Oh, my Lord, I been here a time. I sho been here a time en I thank de +Lord I here dis day en time. I can thread my needle good as ever I could +en I ain' have no speck neither. Sew night en day. De chillun have dey +lamp dere studyin en I hab my lamp dere sewin. My old Miss learnt me to +sew when I stay right in de house wid her all de time. I stay bout white +folks all my life en dat how-come I so satisfy when I wid em." + + Source: Mom Sara Brown, age 85, ex-slave, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview, June 1937. + + + + + Code No. ---- + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, September 10, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + MOM SARA BROWN + Ex-Slave, 85 Years + + +"I stay in house over dere cross Catfish Swamp on Miss Addie McIntyre +place. Lives wid dis grand-daughter dat been sick in bed for four weeks, +but she mendin some now. She been mighty low, child. It start right in +here (chest) en run down twixt her shoulder. She had a tear up cold too, +but Dr. Dibble treat her en de cough better now. She got three chillun +dere dat come just like steps. One bout like dat en another like dat en +de other bout like dis." + +"De house we stay in a two room house wid one of dese end chimney. All +sleep in de same room en cook en eat in de other room. My bed on one +side en Sue bed on de other side. Put chillun on quilts down on de floor +in de other end of de room. Baby, whe' dem curtains you say you gwine +give me? I gwine hang dese up in Sue room. Dey help me fix up de room +nice en decent like." + +"It all on me to feed en clothe both dem chillun en de baby too. It just +too much on me old as I is. Can' do nothin worth to speak bout hardly +dese days. Can' hold my head down cause dis high blood worries me so +much. It get too hot, can' iron. If ain' too hot, I makes out to press +my things somehow en sweep my yard bout. Sometimes I helps little bit +wid doctor case, but not often. Can wash de baby en de mother, but can' +do no stayin up at night. No, baby, can' do no settin up at night." + +"I tries to catch all what little I can to help along cause dat how I +was raise up. Government truck brings me little somethin once a month +pack up in packages like dry milk en oatmeal en potatoes. Give dat to +all dem dat can' work en ain' got nobody to help dem. Dat dry milk a +good thing to mix up de bread wid en den it a help to fix little milk en +bread for dem two little ones. De potatoes, I stews dem for de chillun +too. Dey mighty fond of dem. Now de oatmeal, de chillun don' eat dat so +I fixes it for Sue en every now en den I takes a little bit wid my +breakfast." + +"I don' know much what to tell you bout Abraham Lincoln. I think he was +a mighty great man, a mighty great man, what I hear of him." + +"I remembers de Yankees come dere to my white folks plantation one day +en, child, dere was a time on dat place. All dem niggers was just a +kickin up dey heels en shoutin. I was standin dere on de piazza lookin +at dem en I say, 'I don' see why dey want to carry on like dat for. I +been free all de time.' When dey get through de Yankees tell dem dey was +free as dey Massa was en give dem so many bushels of corn en so much +meat for dey own. Some take dey pile en go on off en some choose to stay +on dere wid dey Missus. She was good to all her colored people en dey +stay on dere for part de crop. Give dem so much of de crop accordin to +de chillun dey had to feed. I know dis much, dey all know dey gwine get +12 bushels of corn a year, if dey ain' get no more. Dat a bushel every +month. Yes, dat how it was." + +"O Lord, baby, I don' know a thing bout none of dat thing call conjurin. +Don' know nothin bout it. Dat de devil work en I ain' bother wid it. Dey +say some people can kill you, but dey ain' bother me. Some put dey trust +in it, but not me. I put my trust in de Lord cause I know it just a talk +de people have. No, Lord, I can' remember dat neither. I hear dem say +Raw Head en Bloody Bones would catch you if you be bad, but how it +started, I don' know. I know I don' know nothin bout how dey look en I +don' want to see dem neither. No, child, people say dey sho to be, but I +ain' see none. How dey look, I don' know." + +"I don' know what to think bout de times dese days. De times worse den +dey used to be, child. You know dey worse. Dis here a fast time de +people livin on cause everybody know de people die out heap faster den +dey used to. Don' care how dey kill you up. No, child, dey sho worser. +My people en yunnah people. Don' it seem so to you dat dey worser?" + +"Baby, I got to get up from here en leave now cause I huntin medicine +dis mornin. I ain' got time to tell you nothin else dis time, but I +gwine get my mind fix up on it en den your old black mammy comin back +fore long en stay all day wid you en your mamma. What time dat clock say +it now, honey? I got to hurry en catch de doctor fore he get away from +his office en be so scatter bout till nobody can' tell whe' he is. Dr. +Dibble a good doctor, a mighty good doctor. When he come, don' never +come in no hurry. Takes pains wid you. Dat been my doctor. I is just +devoted to him." + + Source: Mom Sara Brown, ex-slave, age 85, Marion, S. C. + Second Report. + + Personal interview, September, 1937 by Annie Ruth + Davis, Marion, S. C. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Mrs. Genevieve W. Chandler + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Georgetown County + + FOLKLORE + + (Some recollections of 'The Reb Time day' given by + Aunt Margaret Bryant) + + +Visitor: "How are you Aunt Margaret?" + +Margaret: "Missus, I ain't wuth! I ain't wuth!" + +Visitor: "Aunt Margaret you've been here a long time. How old are you?" + +Margaret: "I can't tell you my age no way in the world! When freedom +come, I been here. Not big nuff (enough) for work for the Reb, but I +been here Reb time. Been big nuff (enough) to know when Yankee gun-boat +come to Watsaw (Wachesaw). Whole gang o' Yankee come to the house and +didn't do a thing but ketch (catch) a gang o' fowl and gone on. And tell +the people (meaning the slaves) to take the house and go in and get what +they want. The obersheer (overseer) hear the Doctor whistle to the gate +and wabe (wave) him back. And then the Doctor know the Yankee been there +and he gone on to the creek house and get all he gold and ting (thing) +out the house and gone--Marion till Freedom then he come back. + +"Yankee come in that night. Moon shine lak a day. Stay in the Doctor +house that night. Morning come, take a gang o' fowl and gone on!" + +Visitor: "Aunt Margaret, what was your name before you were married?" + +Margaret: "Margaret One. Brother and sister? I ain't one when I come +here. Ain't meet aunty, uncle--none. Me and my brudder Michael wuz twin. +I ain't meet none when I come here. All been sell. Me and my Ma One +here. Mary One. Husband title, husband nichel (initial) been 'One.' +Number one carpenter--give 'em that name Michael One--and he gibe 'em +that name. Born Sandy Island. Been to landing to Watsaw when gun-boat +come. Just a sneak long! Boat white. Hab (have) a red chimbley +(chimney.) Didn't try to carry we off. Tell 'em 'Go and help youself.' +Been after the buckra. (The Yankee trying to catch the buckra.) + +"I see my Ma dye with some bush they call 'indigo,' and black walnut +bark. Big old pen for the sheep-folds. + +"My Pa sister, Ritta One had that job. Nuss (nurse) the chillun. Chillun +house. One woman nuss (nurse) all the chillun while they ma in the +field--rice field. All size chillun. Git the gipsy (gypsum) weed. Beat +'em up for worm. Give 'em when the moon change. Take a bucket and follow +dem. And tell the Doctor how much a worm that one make and that one and +count dem (them). When the moon change, do that. + +"I have one born with caul. Loss he caul. Rat carry 'em. Ain't here; he +see nothin. (The custom seems to be, to preserve the caul.) + +"Child born feet fore-most see 'um too." (See spirit) "Talk chillun? Put +duh switch. Put you 'Bull pen.' Hab 'um (have them) a place can't see +you hand before you. Can't turn round good in there. Left you in there +till morning. Give you fifty lash and send you to work. You ain't done +that task, man and woman lick! + +"Couldn't manage my ma. Obersheer (overseer) want to lick ma, Mary One +say, 'Going drownded meself! I done my work! Fore I take a lick, rather +drownded meself.'" Obersheer gone tell the Doctor. Tie her long rope. +Right to Sandy Island. Man hold the rope. Gone on. Jump in river. So +Doctor say, 'You too good labor for drown. Take dem (them) to Watsaw.' +Me and she and man what paddle the boat. Bring her to weave. Two womans +fuh card; two spin. Ma wop 'em off. Sail duh sheckel (shuttle) through +there. + +"Po-buckra come there and buy cloth from Ma. Buy three and four yard. Ma +sell that, have to weave day and night to make up that cloth to please +obersheer. Come big day time. 'Little chillun, whey (where) Mama?' Tell +'em Ma to the weaving house. Don't have money fuh pay. Bring hog and +such like as that to pay. + +"You know Marse Allard age? Me and Marse Allard suck together. Me and +Marse Allard and my brudder Michael. My ma fadder mix wid (with) the +Injun. Son Larry Aikens. Stay Charston (Charlestown). Just as clean! +(Meaning Larry, her Uncle, very bright skin. Mixed with Indian.) See 'em +the one time. Come from Charston bring Doctor two horse." + + Given by Aunt Margaret Bryant + Age--(Born before Freedom) + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + SAVILLA BURRELL, EX-SLAVE, 83 YEARS + + +"Our preacher, Beaty, told me that you wanted to see me today. I walked +three miles dis mornin' before the sun gits hot to dis house. Dis house +is my grand daughter's house. Willie Caldwell, her husband, work down to +de cotton mill. Him make good money and take good care of her, bless the +Lord, I say." + +"My Marster in slavery time was Captain Tom Still. He had big plantation +down dere on Jackson Crick. My Mistress name was Mary Ann, though she +wasn't his fust wife--jest a second wife, and a widow when she +captivated him. You know widows is like dat anyhow, 'cause day done had +'sperience wid mens and wraps dem 'round their little finger and git dem +under their thumb 'fore the mens knows what gwine on. Young gals have a +poor chance against a young widow like Miss Mary Ann was. Her had her +troubles with Marse Tom after her git him, I tell you, but maybe best +not to tell dat right now anyways." + +"Marse Tom had four chillun by his fust wife, dey was John, Sam, +Henretta and I can't 'member de name of the other one; least right now. +Dey teached me to call chillun three years old, young Marse and say +Missie. Dey whip you if dey ever hear you say old Marse or old Missie. +Dat riled dem." + +"My pappy name Sam. My mother name Mary. My pappy did not live on the +same place as mother. He was a slave of de Hamiltons, and he got a pass +sometimes to come and be with her; not often. Grandmammy name Ester and +she belonged to our Marse Tom Still, too." + +"Us lived in a log cabin wid a stick chimney. One time de sticks got +afire and burnt a big hole in de back of de chimney in cold winter time +wid the wind blowing, and dat house was filled wid fire-sparks, ashes, +and smoke for weeks 'fore dey tore dat chimney down and built another +jest like the old one. De bed was nailed to de side of de walls. How +many rooms? Jest one room." + +"Never seen any money. How many slaves? So many you couldn't count dem. +Dere was plenty to eat sich as it was, but in the summer time before us +git dere to eat de flies would be all over de food and some was swimmin' +in de gravy and milk pots. Marse laugh 'bout dat, and say, it made us +fat." + +"Dey sell one of mother's chillun once, and when she take on and cry +'bout it, Marse say, 'stop dat sniffin' dere if you don't want to git a +whippin'.' She grieve and cry at night 'bout it. Clothes? Yes Sir, us +half naked all de time. Grown boys went 'round bare footed and in dey +shirt tail all de summer." + +"Marse was a rich man. 'Fore Christmus dey would kill thirty hogs and +after Christmus, thirty more hogs. He had a big gin house and sheep, +goats, cows, mules, hosses, turkeys, geese, and a stallion; I members +his name, Stockin'-Foot. Us little niggers was skeered to death of dat +stallion. Mothers used to say to chillun to quiet dem, 'Better hush, +Stockin'-Foot will git you and tramp you down.' Any child would git +quiet at dat." + +"Old Marse was de daddy of some mulatto chillun. De 'lations wid de +mothers of dese chillun is what give so much grief to Mistress. De +neighbors would talk 'bout it and he would sell all dem chillun away +from dey mothers to a trader. My Mistress would cry 'bout dat. + +"Our doctor was old Marse son-in-law, Dr. Martin. I seen him cup a man +once. He was a good doctor. He give slaves castor oil, bleed dem some +times and make dem take pills." + +"Us looked for the Yankees on dat place like us look now for de Savior +and de host of angels at de second comin'. Dey come one day in February. +Dey took everything carryable off de plantation and burnt de big house, +stables, barns, gin house and dey left the slave houses." + +"After de war I marry Osborne Burrell and live on de Tom Jordan place. +I'se de mother of twelve chillun. Jest three livin' now. I lives wid the +Mills family three miles 'bove town. My son Willie got killed at de +DuPont Powder Plant at Hopewell, Virginia, during de World War. Dis +house you settin' in belongs to Charlie Caldwell. He marry my grand +daughter, Willie B. She is twenty-three years old." + +"Young Marse Sam Still got killed in de Civil War. Old Marse live on. I +went to see him in his last days and I set by him and kept de flies off +while dere. I see the lines of sorrow had plowed on dat old face and I +'membered he'd been a captain on hoss back in dat war. It come into my +'membrance de song of Moses; 'de Lord had triumphed glorily and de hoss +and his rider have been throwed into de sea'." + +"You been good to listen. Dis is the fust time I can git to speak my +mind like dis mornin'. All de' people seem runnin' here and yonder, +after dis and after dat. Dere is a nudder old slave, I'se gwine to bring +him down here Saturday and talk to you again." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg, S. C. + Sept. 15, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I works on de shares and makes a fair living on a rented farm; don't +own no land. I was born in Newberry County, near de old Longshore store, +about 12 miles northwest of Newberry Courthouse on de Henry Burton +place. My parents belonged to Henry Burton in slavery time. He was our +marster. I married Betty Burton, a nigger girl whose parents belonged to +Marse Henry Burton, too. + +"We had a good marster and mistress. Dey give us a good place to sleep +and lots to eat. He had a big four-acre garden where he raised lots of +vegetables fer his slaves. He had plenty meat, molasses and bread. We +ground our corn and wheat and made our own feed. + +"Marster wouldn't let anybody bother his slaves. He wouldn't 'low his +overseers or de padrollers to whip 'em. He never whipped one. + +"We had no school and no church; but was made to go to de white folks +church and set in de gallery. When Freedom come, de niggers begin to git +dere own church, and built small brush huts called 'brush harbors'. + +"We didn't do work on Saturday afternoons, but went hunting and fishing +den, while de women folks cleaned up around de place fer Sunday. De +marster liked to hunt, and he hunted foxes which was plenty around dere +den. Now dey is all gone. + +"We danced and had gigs. Some played de fiddle and some made whistles +from canes, having different lengths for different notes, and blowed 'em +like mouth organs." + + Source: C. B. Burton (79), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (9/10/37) + + + + + Project #-1655 + Phoebe Faucette + Hampton County + + Folklore + + GEORGE ANN BUTLER + Ex-Slave 75 Years + + +West of the paved highway at Garnett one may reach, after several miles, +the old Augusta Road that follows along the Savannah River from Augusta +to a landing point a little south of Garnett. Miles from the busy +highway, it passes, in quiet majesty, between fields and woods, made +rich by the river's overflow and heavy dews. Nature has done her best in +producing beautiful evergreen trees of immense size and much luxuriant +shrubbery of many kinds. Live oaks, magnolias, yellow slash pines, +hollies, and many evergreen shrubs keep the woods even in winter, a +fascinating wilderness to hunters and nature lovers. On this road George +Ann Butler lives, and has lived for the seventy-five years of her life. + +"I was born an' raised on de Greenwood place. It belonged to ole man Joe +Bostick. He owned all dese places 'long dese here road. He own de +Bostick place back yonder; den he own de Pipe Creek place next dat; den +Oaklawn; den joinin' dat was Greenwood. De Colcock's Elmwood was next. +My Husband was birth right here on de Pipe Creek, an' been here ever +since. He kin tell you more'n I kin. I was George Anne Curry before I +marry. + +"I can't remember so much 'bout slavery time. I was crawlin' over de +floor when slavery time--dey tell me. But atter de war, I 'members. +Couldn't find no corn seed! Couldn't find no cotton seed! Couldn't find +no salt! You knows it was hard times when dere wasn't no salt to season +de vegetables. Had to go down to de salt water an' get de water an' +boil it for salt. Dat been a long way from here. Must be fifty or sixty +mile! An' dey couldn't go so fast in dem days. Sufferin' been in de +neighborhood atter de war pass! + +"Cotton was de thing 'way back yonder. An' right 'long dis road dey'd +haul it. Haul it to Cohen's Bluff! Haul it to Matthews Bluff! Haul it to +Parichucla! Don't haul it dis way no more! Send de cotton to de +railroad! But in dem days it was de ships dat carried it to Savannah. +Cotton seem to be play out now--dey plant so much. + +"I hear 'em tell 'bout de war, an' havin' to drill an' step when dey say +step, an' throw up dey hands, when dey say throw up de hand. Everything +had to be done jes' so! De war was sure a terrible thing." + + Source: George Anne Butler, R. F. D. Garnett, S. C. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Phoebe Faucette + Hampton County + + ISAIAH [~HW: Solbert (?)~] BUTLER, EX-SLAVE 79 YEARS + [~HW: See Ms. #~] + + +"Yes, dis is Isaiah Butler, piece of him. Ain't much left of him now. +Yes, I knows all 'bout dis heah country from way back. I was born and +raised right on dis same place here; lived here all my life 'sides from +travellin' round a little space. Dere was a rice field not far from dis +house here, where I plowed up more posts that had been used as +landmarks! Dis place was de Bostick place, and it jined to de Thomson +place, and de Thomson place to Edmund Martin's place dat was turned over +to Joe Lawton, his son-in-law. Bill Daniel had charge of de rice field I +was telling you 'bout. He was overseer, on de Daniel Blake place. Den +dere was de Maner place, de Trowell, de Kelly, and de Wallace places. +Back in dem times dey cultivated rice. Had mules to cultivate it! But +cotton and corn was what dey planted most of all; 4,000 acres I think +dey tell me was on dis place. I know it supposed to be more than ten +miles square. Nobody know de landmarks 'cept me. When de Bostick boys +came back from out west last year, dey had to come to me to find out +where dere place was. Dey didn't know nuttin' 'bout it. Dey used to use +twenty plow, and de hoe hands was over a hundred, I know. + +"I 'member when de Yankees come through. I was no more'n a lad, nine or +ten years old. Bostick had a big gin-house, barn, stables, and such +like. And when de soldiers come a goat was up on de platform in front of +de door to de loft of de barn. Dere were some steps leadin' up dere and +dat goat would walk up dem steps same as any body. De fuss thing de +Yankees do, dey shoot dat goat. Den day start and tear up eberyt'ing. +All de white folks had refugeed up North, and dey didn't do nuttin' to +us niggers. + +"Fore dat time I was jes' a little boy too young to do nuttin'. Jes' +played aroun' in de street. Ole Mr. Ben Bostick used to bring clothes +an' shoes to us and see dat we was well cared for. Dere was nineteen +houses in de street for us colored folks. Dey wuz all left by de +soldiers. But in de year 1882 dere come a cyclone (some folks call it a +tornado), and knocked down every house; only left four standing. Pieces +of clothes and t'ings were carried for four or five miles from here. It +left our house; but it took everyt'ing we had. It took de walls of de +house, jes' left de floorin', an' it wus turn 'round. Took everyt'ing! +I'd jes' been married 'bout a year, and you know how dat is. We jes' had +to scuffle and scuffle 'roun' till de Lord bless us. + +"Dere wuz plenty of deer, squirrel, possum, an' rabbits in dem times; no +more dan dere is now, but dere wuz no hinderance den as now. De deer +come right up to my door now; dey come all 'roun' dis house, and we +cain't do nuttin'. De other day one wuz over dere by dat peachtree, an' +not long ago four of 'em come walkin' right through dis yard. I don't go +fishin' no more. Folks say de streams is all dried up. But I used to be +a good fisherman, me an' me ole woman. She's spryer'n me now. I used to +allus protect her when we wuz young, an' now its her dat's acarin' for +me. We had our gardens in de ole days, too. Oh, yes'm. Little patches of +collards, greens an' t'ings, but now I ain't able to do nuttin', jes' +hang 'roun' de place here. + +"My father used to belong to General Butler, Dennis Butler was his name. +My mother was a Maner, but originally she wuz draw out of de Robert +estate. Ole Ben Bostick fuss wife wuz a Robert. Dey wuz sure wealthy +folks. One of 'em went off to sail. Bill F. Robert wuz his name. He had +so much money dat he say dat he goin' to de end of de world. He come +back an' he say he went so close hell de heat draw de pitch from de +vessel. But he lost his eyesight by it. Wa'n't (it was not) long after +he got back dat he went stone blind. + +"My ole boss, preacher Joe Bostick wuz one of de best of men. He wuz +hard of hearin' like I is, an' a good ole man. But de ole lady, ole +"Miss Jenny", she wuz very rough. She hired all de overseers, and she do +all. If'n anybody try to go to de old man wid anyt'ing, she'd talk to +'em herself an' not let 'em see de old man. + +"In slavery time de slaves wuz waked up every morning by de colored +over-driver blowin' a horn. Ole man Jake Chisolm wuz his name. Jes' at +daybreak, he'd put his horn through a crack in de upper part of de wall +to his house an' blow it through dat crack. Den de under-driver would go +out an' round 'em up. When dey done all dey day-work, dey come home an' +cook dey supper, an' wash up. Den dey blow de horn for 'em to go to bed. +Sometime dey have to out de fire an' finish dey supper in de dark. De +under-driver, he'd go out den and see who ain't go to bed. He wouldn't +say anyt'ing den; but next mornin' he'd report it to de overseer, an' +dem as hadn't gone to bed would be whipped. + +"My mother used to tell me dat if any didn't do dey day's work, dey'd be +put in de stocks or de bill-bo. You know each wuz given a certain task +dat had to be finish dat day. Dat what dey call de day-work. When dey +put 'em in de stocks dey tie 'em hand and foot to a stick. Dey could lie +down wid dat. I hear of colored folks doin' dat now to dare chillun when +dey don't do. Now de bill-bo wuz a stabe (stave) drove in de ground, an' +dey tied dere hands and den dere feet to dat, standin' up. Dey'd work on +Saturday but dey wuz give Sundays. Rations wuz give out on Mondays. +Edmund Lawton went over to Louisiana to work on de Catherine Goride +place, but he come back, 'cause he say dey blow dey horn for work on +Sunday same as any other day, and he say he wa'n't goin' to work on no +Sunday. Dey didn't have a jail in dem times. Dey'd whip 'em, and dey'd +sell 'em. Every slave know what, 'I'll put you in my pocket, sir!' mean. + +"De slaves would walk when dey'd go anywhere. If'n dey buy a bunch of +slaves in New Orleans, dey'd walk by night and day. I 'member when one +young girl come back from refugin' wid de white folks, her feet were +jes' ready to buss open, and dat wuz all. You couldn't travel unless de +boss give you a pass. De Ku Klan had "patrol" all about in de bushes by +de side of de road at night. And when dey caught you dey'd whip you +almost to death! Dey'd horsewhip you. Dey didn't run away nowhere 'cause +dey knowed dey couldn't. + +"If'n you wanted to send any news to anybody on another plantation, de +overseer'd write de message for you and send it by a boy to de overseer +of de other plantation, and he'd read it to de one you wrote to. + +"When de war wuz over, ole man Jones cone over frum Georgia and sell +t'ings to de colored folks. He'd sell 'em everyt'ing. He took all de +colored folks' money! + +"I learned to read when I wuz goin' to school when I wuz about fifteen +years old, but I learned most I know after I wuz married, at night +school, over on de Morrison place. De colored folks had de school, but +'course Mr. Morrison was delighted to know dey wuz havin' it. As for +church, in de olden times, people used to, more or less, attend under de +bush-arbor. In 1875 when I jined de church, ole man John Butler wuz de +preacher. + +"Ghosts? I'se met plenty of um! When I wuz courtin' I met many a +one--One got me in de water, once. And another time when I wuz crossing +a stream, I wuz on de butt end of de log, an' dey wuz on de blossom end, +an' we meet jes' as close as I is to you now. I say to him, same as to +anybody, 'I sure ain't goin' to turn back, and fall off dis log. Now de +best t'ing for you to do is to turn 'round and let me come atter (after) +you. You jes' got to talk to 'em same as to anybody. It don't pay to be +'fraid of 'em. So he wheel 'round. (Spirits can wheel, you know.) And +when he get to de end of de log, I say, 'Now you off and I off. You kin +go on 'cross now.' Dey sure is a t'ing, all right! Dey look jes' like +anybody else, 'cept'n it's jes' cloudy and misty like it goin' to pour +down rain. But it don't do to be 'fraid of 'em. I ain't 'fraid of +nuttin', myself. I never see 'em no more. Guess I jes' sorta out-growed +'em. But dere sure is sech a t'ing, all right! De white folks'd see 'em, +too. I 'member hearin' ole Joe Bostick, de preacher, say to a man, by de +name of Tinlin, 'Did you hear dat hog barkin' last night? Well, de +spirit come right in de house. Come right up over de mantlepiece.' I wuz +in de field workin' same as I allus done, and I hear'd ole Joe horse a +snortin'. Ole Joe didn't want nuttin'. He jes' want to see what I wuz +doin'. + +"Abraham Lincoln done all he could for de colored folks. But dey cain't +none of 'em do nuttin' without de Lord." + + Source: Isaiah Butler, Garnett, S. C. + + + + + Project #-1655 + Phoebe Faucette + Hampton County + Approx. 800 Words + + SOLBERT BUTLER EX-SLAVE OF 82 YEARS + + +Miles from the highway old Solbert Butler lives alone under the shadow +of the handsome winter home of an aged northerner upon the same soil +that he has seen pass from Southerner to Negro, to Southerner, to +Northerner. Though shrunken and bent with age he still enjoys talking. + +"I lives in de Deer Country. A couple of months ago, I saw eight in a +drove at one time, like a drove of sheep, or sech like. You can't raise +nuthin' 'round here. Dey'll eat up your garden. And de wild turkey! And +de partridge! But you can't shoot 'em without de Cassels give you a +license to do it. Now he comin' next month and dere'll be more shootin'! +But he aint able to hunt none hisself. He kin ride 'bout in de woods in +de car. Dey are blessed people, though! + +"Dis used to be de Bostick place. Old Massa Ben Bostick lived fourteen +miles from here. Dere was Ben Bostick, Iva Bostick, Joe Bostick, Mr. +Luther, Eddie Bostick, an' Jennie Jo Bostick. De place was divided up +between 'em. O-oh! I couldn't number de plantations old Mr. Bostick +owned. I think he owned fifteen plantations! He was de millinery +(millionaire)! Oh, de Bosticks, O-oh!! De house dey live in, dey call +um--what was it dey call um--de Paradise house. No one go to dat house +but only de rich. + +"At Christmas dey'd go up dere. And oh, I couldn't number it! Oh, it was +paradise. He was good to 'em. An' he whip 'em good, too! Tie 'em to de +fence post and whip 'em. But I didn't' have anythin' of dat. I was a +little boy. Jes' 'bout six year old when de war broke out. But I got +plenty of whippin's all right. + +"Massa take me as a little boy as a pet. Took me right in de carriage! +Had a little bed right by his own an' take care of me. Every morning dey +bring in dey tray, an' go back. My uncle was a carriage man. Dey kept +two fine horses jes' for de carriage. Massa'd come up to de Street every +Monday morning with big trays of rations. He'd feed his colored folk, +den go on back." + +(Another old ex-slave from the same plantation had said that on Mondays +the week's rations were given out.) + +"Dey planted cotton, corn, peas, potatoes, rice--an' dey'd lick you! All +de time, dey'd lick you. After dey'd lick 'em until de blood come out, +den dey'd rub de red pepper and salt on 'em. Oh, my God! Kin you say dem +as done sech as dat aint gone to deir reward? My uncle was so whip he +went into de woods, an' live dere for months. Had to learn de +independent life. Mr. Aldridge was de overseer. Old Mr. Aldridge gone +now. But dere can't be no rest for him. Oh my God no! He do 'em so mean +dat finally ole Massa hear 'bout it. And when he do hear 'bout it, he +discharged him. He had everything discharged--to de colored driver. Den +he got Mr. Chisolm. After Mr. Chisolm come in, everythin' jes' as sweet +an' smooth as could be! Dere's a nice set of people for you--de +Chisolms. Two of 'em livin' now. One at Garnett, an' one at Luray, I +believe. + +"I refugeed wid Massa. Dey come together in Virginia. Dey surrendered in +Virginia. Set de house afire. And set all dey houses. Dey burned Massa's +cotton. Over 200 bales! But if'n de colored folks begged for some, dey +let 'em have some. I stayed right wid Massa. He carried me everywhere he +went. Carried me all de way to Mill Haven, Georgia. + +"After de war de colored folks jes' took an' plant de crop an' make de +livin' wid de hoe. Didn't have no mule, no ox, or thin' like dat. When +ole Massa come back, he took de cotton, an' give de colored folks de +corn. De Yankees kill all de hog. Kill all de cow. Kill all de fowl. +Left you nothin' to eat. If de colored folk had any chicken, dey jes' +had to take dat an' try to raise 'em somethin' to eat. + +"I'se a Methodist. I was converted under Elder Drayton--come from +Georgia at St. Luke Methodist Church on de Blake Plantation. De Blake +Plantation right dere. It jines dis one. De ole Methodist white folk's +church where I was baptized been take down. It was called de Union +Church. But de cemetery still dere. It right up dere not a mile down de +road. Dere was a good ole preacher name of Rev. Winborn Asa Lawton. An' +de camp meetin'! Oh, Lord, Lord! Dey had over a thousand dere. Come from +Orangeburg. Come from Aiken! An' come way from Cheraw! Come from +Charleston, Beaufort, and Savannah! De colored folks got a church now +up here on what used to be de Pipe Creek place of ole Ben Bostick where +de white folks used to have a Baptist church. De colored folks church +call it Kenyon Church. Dat's de church dey white folks moved to +Lawtonville, den to Estill. But when de colored folks built, dey built +de church to face de East. Built on de same foundation; but face it +east, facing a little road dat had sprung up and wind 'round dat way +right in close to de church. But de white folks church was face west, +facing de Augusta road. Dat big space twixt de road and de church was a +grove. + +"Ghosts? I used to 'em. I see 'em all de time. Good company! I live over +dere by myself, an' dey comes in my house all de time. Sometime I walk +along at night an' I see 'em. An' when you see 'em you see a sight. Dey +play. Dey dance 'round an' 'round. Dey happy all right. But dey'll devil +you, too. When dey find out dat you scary, dey'll devil you. Dey don't +do nothin' to me. Only talk to me. I'll be in my house an' dey'll come +talk to me. Or I'll be walkin' down de road, an' meet 'em. Dey'll pass +de time of day wid me, Like: + + 'Hey, Solbert! How far you goin', Solbert?' + + 'I'se jes' goin' down de road a little piece,' I'll say. + + 'Uh-huh'. + +"Or sometime dey'll say, 'Mornin', Solbert. How you feeling?' + + 'I'se jes' so so'. + + 'Uh-huh'. + +"Dey all favors. Dey all looks alike. You remembers when dat car come +down de road jes' now? Well, I see a bunch of 'em right den! Dey get out +de road for dat car to pass. Oh, you can't see 'em. No matter how much I +shows 'em to you--you can't see 'em. But me! Dey swell wid me. I see 'em +all de time. De big house up dere. It full of 'em. De white folks see +'em, too. Dat is some of de white folks. I see de other day a white man +dat has to work up here start toward de house when de ghosts was comin' +out thick. When I tell him you ought to see him turn an' run. One of 'em +push me over in de ditch one time. I say, + + 'Now what you done dat for?' + + 'Well, dat aint nothin'' + + 'Aint nothin'. But don't you do dat no more.' + +"I talks to 'em jes' de same as if dey was somebody. Some folks outgrows +'em. But not me. You have to be born to see 'em. If'n you be born +wrapped in de caul, you kin see 'em. But if you aint, you can't see +'em." + + Source: Solbert Butler, 82 years, R. F. D. Scotia, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + District #4 + Spartanburg, S. C. + May 31, 1937 + + FOLKLORE: EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born on the other side of Maybinton, in Newberry County, South +Carolina. Old Squire Kenner was my master and his wife, Lucy, my +mistress. My pa was Joseph Gilliam, who was a slave of John Gilliam, and +my mamma was Lou Kenner, who was a slave of Squire Kenner. I stayed with +my mamma at Squire Kenner's and waited on my mistress, Mrs. Lucy Kenner, +who was the best white woman I know of--just like a mother to me, wish I +was with her now. I stayed there 'till my mistress died, was right by +her bed. + +"It sure was a good place to live. Dey didn't give us money for work but +we had enough to eat and place to sleep and a few clothes. Squire had a +big farm he got from the Hancocks, some of his kin. He didn't have +overseers; he looked after his own farms. Master had a big garden and +give us lots from it to eat. We hunted 'possums, rabbits, squirrels, +wild turkeys, on the river. We lived right near Broad River. + +"I remember de padderrolers; dey come to my pa's house and want to come +in, but pa had an old musket gun and tole them if dey come in dey +wouldn't go out alive--and dey went away. + +"After the day's work was done, the slaves would set down and talk, and +on Saturday afternoons, they would stay home, go fishing or wash up, and +sometimes the chaps would go to de river and watch the boats full of +cotton go by. On Sundays we go to church. They made us go to Baskets +church, de white folks church, and set in the gallery. On Christmas Day +we would get time off and master would give us good things to eat. We +never had any corn-shuckings and cotton pickings there. All of the +family and the slaves do that work on moon-shiney nights. We had some +games we played, like Molly Bright, Hiding Switches, Marbles. We played +on Sunday, too, unless the mistress calls us in and stops us. + +"When a slave got sick we sent for the doctor. We never put much store +in herb root tea and such like. + +"The Yankees went through Maybinton but didn't get over as far as us. +Some say they stole cattle and burned ginhouses. + +"Squire Kenner was killed in the war, and when the war was over we +stayed on with de mistress; she was like a mamma. She had a son who was +killed in the war, too. Another son lived there and we worked for him +after Mistress died, but he soon moved far away and sold out his +plantation. His name was Howsen Kenner. + +"I married Walter Cain at Mr. Walter Spearman's house, a good white man, +and the white folks give us a good supper after the wedding. I had one +child, 2 grandchildren, and one great-grand-child. I joined the church +before I married 'cause I wanted to do better, do right and live right, +and get religion. I think everybody ought to join the church and live +right. That is the reason the Lord blesses me in lots of ways today. We +had good time in slavery--sometimes I wish I was back there--would have +somebody to take of you and help you. If my mistress was living I would +rather be back in slavery." + + Source: Granny Cain (90), RFD, Newberry; by G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + Sept. 22, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born near the village of Maybinton, and lived on old Squire +Kenner's plantation. Squire Kenner and his wife, mistress Lucy, was good +to me. My mistress was so good I wish I was living with her now, I sho +wouldn't have such a hard time getting something to eat. I am old and +have rheumatism and can't get about good now. + +"I live with some of my grand children, but they can't make so much for +us. We manage to eat, though. We rent a two-room house about two miles +from Newberry Courthouse. + +"I don't know nothing about 40 acres of land for the slaves after the +war. We just stayed on with the master 'til he died, for wages; then we +hired out to other people for wages. I don't know nothing 'bout slaves +voting after the war. There was no slave up-risings then in our section. + +"Ever since the war was over, the slaves have worked for wages on +plantations or moved to town and got little jobs here and there where +they could. Some of the slaves would rent small farms from land owners +or work the farms on shares. None of the slaves in our section come from +Virginia." + + Source: "Granny" Cain (90), Newberry County, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. 8/10/37. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + May 24, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born in Union County, S. C., not far from the ferry on Tyger +River. My mother was a slave of George R. Tucker who lived on the Enoree +River. I can't remember slavery times nor the war; but I remember about +the end of the war when everybody was coming home. + +"My mother was a weaver, going to the white folks' houses and weaving +clothes for them for small pay. Carding and spinning was done by all the +white families at home. + +"The farms had large gardens and raised most everything to eat. Large +patches of turnips, cabbage and green vegetables was the custom at that +time." + + Source: Laura Caldwell (77), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. May 20, 1937 + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Dec. 15, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + [~HW: (Caldwell~] + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I own a little farm, about 22 acres, and I live on it wid my wife. I +ain't been married but once, but we had 15 chilluns. Dey is all done +married and left us. I is gitting so I can't do much work any more, +'specially plowing. I lives below Prosperity. I was born above dar, near +Beaver Dam Creek on de old Davenport place. + +"My daddy was Alfred Caldwell and my mammy was Suella Caldwell. She was +a Nelson. Dem and me belonged to Marse Gillam Davenport. Marse Gillam +sho was rapid. I saw him whip my mammy till you couldn't put a hand on +her shoulder and back widout touching a whelp. Marse Gillam killed a man +and dey put him in Jail in Newberry, but he died befo' de trial come +off. Atter dat, I was put in de hands of his son, Sam Davenport. Dis was +atter freedom come. He was a purty good man, but my mammy was always +careful. At night she say, 'Come in chilluns, I got to fasten de do' +tight.' We lived in a little log house den. When we moved from dar we +went to Dr. Welch's place, jes' dis side of it. + +"De niggers never had any churches till atter de war; den dey used brush +arbors or some old broke-down log house. We never had schools den, not +till later. I never had a chance to go a-tall. + +"I 'member de Ku Klux and how dey rid around in white sheets, killing +all de niggers. De Red Shirts never killed but dey sometimes whipped +niggers. My daddy voted de Republican ticket den, but I know'd two +niggers dat was Democrats and rode wid de Red Shirts. Dey was old Zeb +and old Jeff Bozard. + +"We had a big camp meeting sometimes at a log house dat was called +'Hannah's Church'. It was named for a nigger man of slavery time. He +bought de land for de church when freedom come and give it to dem. Dis +church is on de other side of Bush River, near Mr. Boulware's place. + +"In old times we had plenty to eat dat we raised on de farm. We had +gardens, too. We raised hogs and made our own flour. We never worked on +Saturday afternoons and Sundays. On Christmas we got together and tried +to have extra things to eat, and maybe a few drinks. + +"In old times we had lots of corn-shuckings and log-rollings. De niggers +all around would come and help, den we would git a feast of lamb or pig +that was cooked while we was working. + +"Some old folks use to make medicines out of herbs. I 'member my ma +would take fever grass and boil it to tea and have us drink it to keep +de fever away. She used branch elder twigs and dogwood berries for +chills. Another way to stop chills from coming was to dip a string in +turpentine, keep it tied around de waist and tie a knot in it every time +you had a chill. + +"Abraham Lincoln was a good man. Seems like all de niggers loved him +lots. I don't know much about Jefferson Davis. Booker Washington was a +good man. I 'member he was once in Newberry and I heard him preach in de +old courthouse. (?) + +"I joined de church when I was 12 years old. In dem days de old folks +made chillun go to church when dey was 12 years old, and join den. Dat +was de reason I joined. I was a Methodist but I joined de Baptist later, +because, well, I saw dat was de right way." + + Source: Solomon Caldwell (73), Newberry, S. C. RFD + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. 12/7/37. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon, + Winnsboro, S. C. + + NELSON CAMERON + EX-SLAVE 81 YEARS. + + +Nelson Cameron and his wife, Mary, together with a widowed daughter, +Rose, and her six children, live in a four-room frame house, two miles +south of Woodward, S. C., about sixty yards east of US highway #21. He +cultivates about eighty acres of land, on shares of the crop, for Mr. +Brice, the land owner. He is a good, respectable, cheerful old darkey, +and devoted to his wife and grandchildren. + +"Marse Wood, Ned Walker, a old Gaillard nigger says as how he was down +here t'other day sellin' chickens, where he got them chickens I's not +here for to say, and say you wanna see me. I's here befo' you and pleads +guilty to de charge dat I'm old, can't work much any longer, and is poor +and needy. + +"You sees dere's a window pane out of my britches seat and drainage +holes in both my shoes, to let de sweat out when I walks to Bethel +Church on Sunday. Whut can you and Mr. Roosevelt do for dis old +Izrallite a passin' thru de wilderness on de way to de Promise Land? Lak +to have a little manna and quail, befo' I gits to de river Jordan. + +"My old marster name Sam Brice. His wife, my mistress, tho' fair as de +lily of de valley and cheeks as pink as de rose of Sharon, is called +'Darkie.' Dat always seem a misfit to me. Lily or Rose or Daisy would +have suited her much more better, wid her laces, frills, flounces, and +ribbons. Her mighty good to de slaves. Take deir part 'ginst de marster +sometime, when him want to whup them. Sometime I sit on de door-steps +and speculate in de moonlight whut de angels am like and everytime, my +mistress is de picture dat come into dis old gray head of mine. You say +you don't want po'try, you wants facts? + +"Well, here de facts: My mammy name Clara. Don't forgit dat. I come back +to her directly. My young mistress was Miss Maggie. Her marry Marse +Robert Clowney; they call him 'Red-head Bob.' Him have jet red hair. Him +was 'lected and went to de Legislature once. No go back; he say dere too +much ding dong do-nuttin' foolishness down dere for him to leave home +and stay 'way from de wife and chillun half de winter months. + +"Marse Sam never have so pow'ful many slaves. Seem lak dere was more +women and chillun than men. In them days, pa tell me, a white man raise +niggers just lak a man raise horses or cows. Have a whole lot of mares +and 'pendin' on other man to have de stallion. Fust thing you know dere +would be a whole lot of colts kickin' up deir heels on de place. Lakwise +a white man start out wid a few women folk slaves, soon him have a +plantation full of little niggers runnin' 'round in deir shirt-tails and +a kickin' up deir heels, whilst deir mammies was in de field a hoeing +and geeing at de plow handles, workin' lak a man. You ketch de point? +Well I's one of them little niggers. My pa name Vander. Him b'long to +one of de big bugs, old Marse Gregg Cameron. Marse Gregg, him 'low, +always have more money and niggers than you could shake a stick at, more +land than you could walk over in a day, and more cuss words than you +could find in de dictionary. His bark was worser than his bite, tho'. Pa +was de tan-yard man; he make leather and make de shoes for de +plantation. After freedom date, de way he make a livin' for mammy and us +chillun was by makin' boots and shoes and half solin' them for white +folks at Blackstock, S. C. Marse Sam Brice mighty glad for mammy to +contact sich a man to be de pappy of her chillun. + +"Us live in a log house wid a little porch in front and de mornin' glory +vines use to climb 'bout it. When they bloom, de bees would come a +hummin' 'round and suck de honey out de blue bells on de vines. I +'members dat well 'nough, dat was a pleasant memory. Is I told you my +mammy name Clara? My brothers and sisters, who they? George dead, Calvin +dead, Hattie (name for pa's young mistress) dead, Samson, who got his +ear scald off in a pot of hot water, is dead, too. I's existing still. I +did mighty little work in slavery times. 'Members not much 'bout de +Yankees. + +"Freedom come, pa come straight as a martin to his gourd, to mammy and +us pickaninnies. They send us to school at Blackstock and us walk +fourteen miles, and back, every day to school. At school I meets Mary +Stroud, a gal comin' from de Gaillard quarter. Her eyes was lak twin +stars. Her hair lak a swarm of bees. All my studyin' books was changed +to studyin' how to git dat swarm of bees in a hive by myself. One day I +walk home from school with her and git old Uncle Tom Walker to marry us, +for de forty cents I saved up. Us happy ever since. Nex' year I work for +Ben Calvin, a colored man on de Cockerell place, jinin' de Gaillard +place. Us did dat to be near her pappy, Uncle Morris Stroud. + +"All thru them 'Carpet Bag' days my pappy stuck to de white folks, and +went 'long wid de Ku Kluxes. His young mistress, Miss Harriet Cameron, +marry de Grand Titan of all de Holy invisible Roman Empire. Him name was +Col. Leroy McAfee. Pappy tell me all 'bout it. Marse Col. McAfee come +down from North Ca'lina, and see Marse Feaster Cameron at old Marse +Gregg Cameron's home and want Marse Feaster to take charge down in dis +State. While on dat visit him fall in love wid Marse Feas's sister, +Harriet, and marry her. You say Marse Tom Dixon dedicate a book to her, +de Clansman? Well, well, well! To think of dat. Wish my pappy could a +knowed dat, de Sundays he'd take dat long walk to Concord Church to put +flowers on her grave. They all lie dere in dat graveyard, Old Marse +Gregg, Marse Leroy, Miss Harriet, and Marse Feas. De day they bury Marse +Feas de whole county was dere and both men and women sob when de red +earth rumbled on his coffin top. Pappy had me by de hand and cried lak a +baby, wid de rest of them, dat sad day. + +"Does you 'member de time in 1884, when my pappy made you a pair of +boots for $10.00 and when you pay him, him knock off one dollar and you +pay him nine dollars? You does? Well dat is fine, for I sure need dat +dollar dis very day. + +"Does I 'member de day old Marse Gregg die? 'Course I does. It happen +right here in Winnsboro. Him come down to 'tend John Robinson's Circus. +Him lak Scotch liquor; de tar smell, de taste, and de 'fect, take him +back to Scotland where him generate from. Them was bar-room days in +Winnsboro. De two hotels had bar-rooms, besides de other nine in town. +Marse Gregg had just finished his drink of Scotch. De parade of de +circus was passing de hotel where he was, and de steam piano come by a +tootin'. Marse Gregg jump up to go to de street to see it. When it pass, +him say: 'It's a damn humbug' and drop dead." + + + + + Project #1855 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + THOMAS CAMPBELL + EX-SLAVE 82 YEARS OLD. + + +"Good mornin' Marster Wood! Marster Donan McCants and Marster Wardlaw +McCants both been tellin' me dat how you wants to see me but I's been so +poorly and down at de heels, in my way of feelin', dat I just ain't of a +mind or disposition to walk up dere to de town clock, where they say you +want me to come. Take dis bench seat under de honey suckle vine. It +shade you from de sun. It sho' is hot! I's surprise dat you take de walk +down here to see a onery old man lak me. + +"Yes sir, I was born, 'cordin' to de writin' in de Book, de 15th day of +March, 1855, in de Horeb section of Fairfield District, a slave of old +Marster John Kennedy. How it was, I don't know. Things is a little mixed +in my mind. Fust thing I 'members, and dreams 'bout sometimes yet, is +bein' in Charleston, standin' on de battery, seein' a big ocean of +water, wid ships and their white sails all 'bout, de waves leapin' and +gleamin' 'bout de flanks of de ships in de bright sunshine, thousands of +white birds flyin' 'round and sometimes lighting on de water. My mammy, +her name Chanie, was a holdin' my hand and her other hand was on de +handle of a baby carriage and in dat carriage was one of de Logan +chillun. Whether us b'long to de Logans or whether us was just hired out +to them I's unable to 'member dat. De slaves called him Marster Tom. Us +come back to Fairfield in my fust childhood, to de Kennedy's. + +"Marster John Kennedy raise more niggers than he have use for; sometime +he sell them, sometime he hire them out. Him sell mammy and me to +Marster James B. McCants and I been in de McCants family ever since, +bless God! + +"Marse James was a great lawyer in his day. I was his house boy and +office boy. When I get older I take on, besides de blackin' of his boots +and shoes and sweepin' out de office, de position of carriage driver and +sweepin' out de church. Marster James was very 'ligious. Who my pa was? +Dat has never been revealed to me. Thank God! I never had one, if they +was lak I see nigger chillun have today. My white folks was all de +parents I had and me wid a skin as black as ink. My belly was always +full of what they had and I never suffer for clothes on my back or shoes +on my feets. + +"Does I 'members de Yankees? Yes sir, I 'member when they come. It was +cold weather, February, now dat I think of it. Oh, de sights of them +days. They camp all 'round up at Mt. Zion College and stable their +hosses in one of de rooms. They gallop here and yonder and burn de +'Piscopal Church on Sunday mornin'. A holy war they called it, but they +and Wheeler's men was a holy terror to dis part of de world, as naked +and hungry as they left it. I marry Savannah Parnell and of all our +chillun, dere is just one left, a daughter, Izetta. Her in Tampa, +Florida. + +"Does I 'members anything 'bout de Ku Klux? No sir, nothin'. I was +always wid de white folks side of politics. They wasn't concerned 'bout +me. Marster James have no patience for dat kind of business anyhow. Him +was a lawyer and believed in lettin' de law rule in de daylight and +would have nothin' to do wid work dat have to have de cover of night and +darkness. + +"Does I 'member 'bout de red shirts? Sure I does. De marster never wore +one. Him get me a red shirt and I wore it in Hampton days. What I +recollect 'bout them times? If you got time to listen, I 'spect I can +make anybody laugh 'bout what happen right in dis town in red shirt +days. You say you glad to listen? Well, here goes. One time in '76. de +democrats have a big meetin' in de court house in April. Much talk last +all day. What they say or do up dere nobody know. Paper come out next +week callin' de radicals to meet in de court house fust Monday in May. +Marster Glenn McCants, a lawyer, was one of old marster's sons. He tell +me all 'bout it. + +"De day of de radical republican meetin' in de court house, Marster Ed +Ailen had a drug store, so him and Marster Ozmond Buchanan fix up four +quart bottles of de finest kind of liquor, wid croton-oil in every +bottle. Just befo' de meetin' was called to order, Marster Ed pass out +dat liquor to de ring leader, tellin' him to take it in de court house +and when they want to 'suade a nigger their way, take him in de side +jury rooms and 'suade him wid a drink of fine liquor. When de meetin' +got under way, de chairman 'pointed a doorkeeper to let nobody in and +nobody out 'til de meetin' was over, widout de chairman say so. + +"They say things went along smooth for a while but directly dat +croton-oil make a demand for 'tention. Dere was a wild rush for de door. +De doorkeeper say 'Stand back, you have to 'dress de chairman to git +permission to git out'. Chairman rap his gavel and say, 'What's de +matter over dere? Take your seats! Parliment law 'quire you to 'dress de +chair to git permission to leave de hall'. One old nigger, Andy Stewart, +a ring leader shouted: 'To hell wid Parliment law, I's got to git out of +here.' Still de doorkeeper stood firm and faithful, as de boy on de +burnin' deck, as Marster Glenn lak to tell it. One bright mulatto +nigger, Jim Mobley, got out de tangle by movin' to take a recess for +ten minutes, but befo' de motion could be carried out de croton-oil had +done its work. Half de convention have to put on clean clothes and de +court house steps have to be cleaned befo' they could walk up them +again. You ask any old citizen 'bout it. Him will 'member it. Ask old +Doctor Buchanan. His brother, de judge, was de one dat help Marster Ed +Aiken to fix de croton-oil and whiskey. + +"Well, dat seem to make you laugh and well it might, 'cause dat day been +now long ago. Sixty-one years you say? How time gits along. Well, +sixty-one years ago everybody laugh all day in Winnsboro, but Marster Ed +never crack a smile, when them niggers run to his drug store and ask him +for somethin' to ease their belly ache." + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, October 5, 1937 + No. Words + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + SYLVIA CANNON, + Ex-Slave, Age 85 + + +"Yes, mam, I been a little small girl in slavery time. I just can +remember when I was sold. Me en Becky en George. Just can remember dat, +but I know who bought me. First belong to de old Bill Greggs en dat whe' +Miss Earlie Hatchel bought me from. Never did know whe' Becky en George +went. Yes, mam, de Bill Greggs had a heap of slaves cause dey had my +grandmammy en my granddaddy en dey had a heap of chillun. My mammy, she +belong to de Greggs too. She been Mr. Gregg's cook en I de one name +after her. I remembers she didn' talk much to we chillun. Mostly, she +did sing bout all de time. Most of de old people sing bout; + + 'O Heaven, sweet Heaven, + When shall I see? + If you get dere fore me, + You tell my Lord I on de way. + O shall I get dere? + If you get dere fore I do, + You tell My Lord I on de way. + O Heaven, sweet Heaven, + When shall I see? + O when shall I get dere?' + +"Oh, dat be a old song what my grandmammy used to sing way back dere." + +"I don' know exactly how old I is cause de peoples used to wouldn' tell +dey chillun how old dey was fore dey was grown. I just ain' able to say +bout my right age, but I know my sister was older den me en she de one +keep count us chillun age. She told me I be bout 84 or 85 years old, so +my sister tell me. She done gone en left me en I try to keep count, but +I don' know. Dere been bout 14 head of we chillun en dey all gone but +me. I de last one. I can tell you dis much, I was just a little small +girl when Miss Earlie Hatchel bought me en she wouldn' let me hold de +baby cause she was 'fraid I would drop it. I just set dere on de floor +en set de baby 'tween my legs, but my Lord, Miss Hatchel been so good to +me dat I stay on dere wid her 8 years after freedom come. Miss Hatchel +tell me I better stay on dere whe' I can get flour bread to eat. Yes, +mam, never got a whippin in all my life. Miss Hatchel, she shake me by +de shoulders once or twice, but never didn' whip me in all my life dat I +knows of. Dat de reason, when my parents come after me, I hide under de +bed. My mammy, she went in de name of Hatchel en all her chillun went in +de name of Hatchel right down dere in de Effingham section." + +"No, honey, don' nobody be here wid me. Stays right here by myself. Digs +in de garden in de day en comes in de house at night. Yes, mam, I +thought dis house been belong to me, but dey tell me dis here place be +city property. Rich man up dere in Florence learn bout I was worth over +$1500.00 en he tell me dat I ought to buy a house dat I was gettin old. +Say he had a nice place he want to sell me. I been learned dat what +white folks tell me, I must settle down on it en I give him de money en +tell him give me de place he say he had to sell me. I been trust white +folks en he take my money en settle me down here on city property. He +say, 'Mom Sylvia, you stay here long as you live cause you ain' gwine be +here much longer.' I promise my God right den not to save no more money, +child. People back dere didn' spend money like dey do dese days en dat +how-come I had dat money. Dey would just spend money once a year in dat +day en time. Yes, mam, I pay dat man over $900.00. Been payin on it long +time en got it all paid but $187.00 en city find out what dat man had +done. City tell me just stay on right here, but don' pay no more money +out. Dey give me dat garden en tell me what I make I can have. +Courthouse man tell me dat I ought to drop my thanks to de Heavenly +Father dat I is free. If de town picks up any sick person, dey bring dem +here en tell me do de best I can for dem. Tell me to keep good order so +de people won' be shame to come en see bout me. Got two houses dere join +together. Dere be four rooms in dis front one en three in de other +house. Woman go up north en leave her things here en tell me if she ain' +come back, I could have dem en she ain' come back yet. Been gone two +years." + +"Yes, mam, I been married twice. First husband die en den another sick +man come along en ax de city for me. I work on him en make teas for him, +but he die in bout two years. I beg de town to let me go out to de poor +farm en stay, but dey say I done pay too much to move. Tell me stay on +here en keep de house up de best way I can. + +"No'um, I ain' able to do no kind of work much. No more den choppin my +garden. Can' hardly see nothin on a sunny day. I raise my own seed all +right cause sometimes I can' see en find myself is cut up things en dat +make me has to plant over another time. City tell me do like I was raise +en so I been choppin here bout 20 years." + +"Oh, now go way from here. My son born in de year of de earthquake en if +he had lived, I would been bless wid plenty grandchillun dese days. Yes, +mam, I remember all bout de shake. Dey tell me one man, Mr. Turner, give +way his dog two or three days fore de earthquake come en dat dog get +loose en come back de night of de shake. Come back wid chain tied round +his neck en Mr. Turner been scared most to death, so dey tell me. He +say, 'Oh, Mr. Devil, don' put de chain on me, I'll go wid you.' Dat was +his dog come back en he thought it was de devil come dere to put de +chain on him. Yes, mam, dere was such a cuttin up every which a way +cause de people thought it was de Jedgment comin. I went a runnin dere +to de white folks house en such a prayin en a hollerin, I ain' never see +de like fore den en ain' see it since den neither. Dere was stirrin +everywhe' dat night en de water in de well was just a slashin. I tried +to pray like de rest of de people. Some say dey was ready to get on de +old ship of Zion. I cut loose from de white folks en went in de woods to +pray en see a big snake en I ain' been back since. I know dat ain' been +nothin but a omen en I quit off cuttin up. I know it ain' been no need +in me gwine on like dat cause I ain' never do no harms dat I knows of." + +"Yes, mam, white folks had to whip some of dey niggers in slavery time, +dey be so mean. Hear tell bout some of dem would run away en go in de +woods en perish to death dere fore dey would come out en take a whippin. +Some was mean cause dey tell stories on one another en been swear to it. +My mammy tell me don' never tell nothin but de truth en I won' get no +whippin. I been raise up wid de white folks en I tell de truth, I can' +hardly stand no colored people." + +"Oh, honey, dere won' no such thing as cotton mill, train, sawmill or +nothin like dat in my day. People had to set dere at night en pick de +seed out de cotton wid dey own hands. Didn' hear tell bout no telephone +nowhe' in dem days en people never live no closer den three en four +miles apart neither. Got old Massa horn right in dat room dere now dat +he could talk on to people dat be 16 miles from whe' he was. Come in +here, child, en I'll let you see it. See, dis old horn been made out of +silver money. You talks in dat little end en what you say runs out dat +big end. Man ax me didn' I want to sell it en I tell him I ain' got no +mind to get rid of it cause it been belong to old Massa. Den if I get +sick, I call on it en somebody come. Wouldn' take nothin for it, honey." + +"Times was sho better long time ago den dey be now. I know it. Yes, mam, +I here frettin myself to death after dem dat gone. Colored people never +had no debt to pay in slavery time. Never hear tell bout no colored +people been put in jail fore freedom. Had more to eat en more to wear +den en had good clothes all de time cause white folks furnish +everything, everything. Dat is, had plenty to eat such as we had. Had +plenty peas en rice en hog meat en rabbit en' fish en such as dat. +Colored people sho fare better in slavery time be dat de white folks had +to look out for dem. Had dey extra crop what dey had time off to work +every Saturday. White folks tell dem what dey made, dey could have. +Peoples would have found we colored people rich wid de money we made on +de extra crop, if de slaves hadn' never been set free. Us had big rolls +of money en den when de Yankees come en change de money, dat what made +us poor. It let de white people down en let us down too. Left us all to +bout starve to death. Been force to go to de fish pond en de huckleberry +patch. Land went down to $1.00 a acre. White people let us clear up new +land en make us own money dat way. We bury it in de ground en dat +how-come I had money. I dig mine up one day en had over $1500.00 dat I +been save. Heap of peoples money down dere yet en dey don' know whe' to +find it." + + Source: Sylvia Cannon, age 85, ex-slave, Marion St., Florence, + S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, October, 1937. + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, August 4, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + SYLVIA CANNON + Ex-Slave, Age 85. + Florence, S. C. + + +"I lives here by myself cause my husband been dead three years. Moved +here fore my chillun went to de war. I go to work en buy dis here home +en get whe' I can' pay tax en people tell me not to move. Say, rent me +bed en catch me a dollar, if it ain' a sin to rent your bed for a +dollar. One of de big officers of de town tell me dat last week en he +die next day. Government take my house en when dey carry sick peoples +from de jail, dey bring em here fore dey die. It ain' but one night +journey. Ain' gwine let dem be live enough to run away. Ain' got no kin +to leave de house to en dey tell me stay on here. Dey say I work so hard +to get dis house dat dey ain' gwine make me leave here." + +(Aunt Sylvia has a sign in her front yard. It seems she took the frame +of a large picture and inserted a piece of pasteboard into it. She +explained that this sign is a warning to evil doers not to molest her. +She says that they must not come past this sign. The words on the sign +are somewhat illegibly written. The interviewers were able to make out +these words: "This is a house of the Lord. Don't go pass. This is a +house of the Lord...." Sign is dated March 1, 1937). + +"I don' know how old I is, but I remembers I was 8 years old when +freedom come. I born down dere in de Effingham section on Mr. Gregg +plantation. My half-sister say I must always remember de Christmas day +cause dat de day I was born. Father en mother belong to de old Bill +Greggs en dat whe' Miss Earlie Hatchel buy me from. After dat, I didn' +never live wid my parents any more, but I went back to see dem every two +weeks. Got a note en go on a Sunday evenin en come back to Miss Hatchel +on Monday. Miss Hatchel want a nurse en dat how-come she buy me. I +remembers Miss Hatchel puttin de baby in my lap en tell me don' drop +him. Didn' have to do no work much in dem days, but dey didn' allow me +to play none neither. When de baby sleep, I sweep de yard en work de +garden en pick seed out de cotton to spin. Nursed little while for Miss +Hatchel en den get free." + +"I see em sell plenty colored peoples away in dem days cause dat de way +white folks made heap of dey money. Coase dey ain' never tell us how +much dey sell em for. Just stand em up on a block bout three feet high +en a speculator bid em off just like dey was horses. Dem what was bid +off didn' never say nothin neither. Don' know who bought my brothers, +George en Earl. (She cried after this statement). I see em sell some +slaves twice fore I was sold en I see de slaves when dey be travelin +like hogs to Darlington. Some of dem be women folks lookin like dey +gwine to get down dey so heavy." + +"We fare good in dat day en time. Everybody round dere fare good. My +Massa always was good to his slaves cause all de colored people say he +was good man to us. Dey never whip me in all my life. Tell me if I don' +know how to do anything to tell dem en dey show me how. I remembers Miss +Hatchel caught en shook me one time en when I tell her husband, he tell +her to keep his hands off his little Nigger. Dey all was good to me. +When I start home to see my mamma, dey cry after me till I come back. +Many a time my Missus go work in de field en let me mind de chillun." + +"We live in de quarter bout 1/2 mile from de white folks house in a one +room pole house what was daubed wid dirt. Dere was bout 20 other colored +people house dere in de quarter dat was close together en far apart too. +De ground been us floor en us fireplace been down on de ground. Take +sticks en make chimney cause dere won' no bricks en won' no saw mills to +make lumber when I come along. Oh, my white folks live in a pole house +daubed wid dirt too. Us just had some kind of home-made bedstead wid +pine straw bed what to sleep on in dem days. Sew croaker sack together +en stuff em wid pine straw. Dat how dey make dey mattress. Didn' get +much clothes to wear in dat day en time neither. Man never wear no +breeches in de summer. Go in his shirt tail dat come down to de knees en +a 'oman been glad enough to get one piece homespun frock what was made +wid dey hand. Make petticoat out of old dress en patch en patch till +couldn' tell which place weave. Always put wash out on a Saturday night +en dry it en put it back on Sunday. Den get oak leaves en make a hat +what to wear to church. We didn' never have but one pair of shoes a year +en dey was dese here brogans wid thick soles en brass toes. Had shop +dere on de plantation whe' white man made all de shoes en plows. Dey +would save all de cowhide en soak it in salt two or three weeks to get +de hair off it en dey have big trough hewed out whe' dey clean it after +dey get de hair off it. After dat, it was turn to de man at de shop." + +"I remembers when night come on en we go back to de quarter, we cook +bread in de ashes en pick seed from de cotton en my mamma set dere en +sew heap of de time. Den I see em when dey have dem hay pullings. Dey +tote torch to gather de hay by en after dey pull two or three stacks of +hay, dey have a big supper en dance in de road en beat sticks en blow +cane. Had to strike fire on cotton wid two rocks cause dey didn' have no +match in dem days." + +"I tellin you my Missus sho was good to me in dat day en time. She been +so good to me dat I stay dere wid her 20 year after I got free. Stay +dere till I marry de old man Isenia Cannon. You see my old Massa got +killed in de war. She tell me I better stay whe' I can get flour bread +to eat cause she make her own flour en bake plenty biscuit in de oven. +Den she kill hogs en a cow every Christmas en give us all de egg-nog en +liquor we want dat day. Dig hole in de ground en roast cow over log +fire. When I get hard up for meat en couldn' get nothin else, I catch +rabbits en birds. Make a death trap wid a lid en bait it wid cabbage en +corn en catch em dat way. Den another time, I dig deep hole in de ground +en dob it wid clay en fill it up wid water. Rabbits hunt water in de +night en fall in dere en drown. I used to set traps heap of times to +keep de rabbits from eatin up de people gardens. Folks eat all kind of +things durin de war. Eat honeysuckle off de low sweet bush after de +flower falls off en pine mass dat dey get out de burr en sour weeds. +Wouldn' nobody eat dem things dese days. Coase dey let de slaves have +three acres of land to a family to plant for dey garden. Work dem in +moonlight nights en on a Saturday evenin." + +"Oh, yes, dey have white overseers den. I hear some people say dey was +good people. At night de overseer would walk out to see could he catch +any of us walkin widout a note en to dis day, I don' want to go nowhe' +widout a paper. It just like dis, de overseer didn' have to be right +behind you to see dat you work in dem days. Dey have all de fields name +en de overseer just had to call on de horn en tell you what field to go +work in dat day. Den he come along on a Saturday evenin to see what you +done. If you ain' do what he say do, he put de Nigger dog on you en he +run you all night till he find you. No matter whe' you hide, he find +you en hold you till de overseer get dere. Bite you up if dey get reach +of you. When de overseer come, he carry you to de stables en whip you. +Dey dat ain' never got no whipping, you can' do nothin wid dem dese +days." + +"I got Miss Hatchel horn bout here now dat been through nearly 100 head +of people. If you talk on it, dere de 100 head of automobiles to see +what it is. I sold old Massa's sword last week for ten cents, but I ain' +gwine do away wid his old horn. (4 ft. long, 15 in. cross big end 1 in. +from top end. Mouth piece is gone. Catch about 15 in. from top). Can +talk to anybody 15 to 16 miles away en dat how-come I don' want to sell +it cause if anything happen, I can call people to come. Dis horn ain' no +tin, it silver. It de old time phone. Got old Massa maul too en dis here +Grandpa oxen bit dat was made at home." + +"De white folks didn' never help none of we black people to read en +write no time. Dey learn de yellow chillun, but if dey catch we black +chillun wid a book, dey nearly bout kill us. Dey was sho better to dem +yellow chillun den de black chillun dat be on de plantation. Northern +women come dere after de war, but dey didn' let em teach nobody nothin." + +"I go to church wid my white folks, but dey never have no church like +dey have dese days. De bush was dey shelter en when it rain, dey meet +round from one house to another. Ride to church in de ox cart cause I +had to carry de baby everywhe' I go. White folks didn' have no horse +den. De peoples sho been blessed wid more religion in dem days den dese +days. Didn' never have to lock up nothin den en if you tell a story, you +get a whippin. Now de peoples tell me to tell a story. I been cleanin up +a lady porch en she tell me to tell anybody what come dere dat she ain' +home. A lady come en ax fer her en I tell her she say anybody come here, +tell em I ain' home. If you don' believe she here, look in de bedroom. +Miss Willcox come out dere en beat me in de back. I tell her don' read +de Bible en tell me to tell a story. I ain' gwine tell no story cause my +white folks learnt me not to do dat. I knows people was better in dem +times den dey is now. Dey teach you how you ought to treat your neighbor +en never hear no bad stories nowhe'. Massa en Missus taught me to say a +prayer dat go like dis: + + "De angels in Heaven love us, + Bless mamma en bless papa, + Bless our Missus, + Bless de man dat feedin us, + For Christ sake." + +"De peoples use herb medicines for dey cures in dem days dat dey get out +de woods. I make a herb medicine dat good for anything out de roots of +three herbs mix together. Couldn' tell you how I make it cause dat +would ruin me. Town people try to buy de remedy from me, but Dr. McLeod +tell me not to sell it. Dey offer me $1500.00 for it, but I never take +it." + +"You want my mind, my heart, de truth en I gwine tell you it just like I +see it. Since de colored peoples got de law, dey get in all kind of +devilment. Dat how-come if I had to go back, I would go back to slavery +en stay wid my white folks." + + Source: Sylvia Cannon, ex-slave, age 85, Florence. S. C. + + Personal interview by H. Grady Davis and Mrs. + Lucile Young, and written up in question and + answer form. Rewritten in story form by Annie Ruth + Davis. + + + FUNERAL SONG + + Star in de east en star in de west, + I wish de star was in my breast. + Mother is home, sweet home, + Mother is home, sweet home, + Want to join de angel here. + What a blessed home, sweet home, + What a blessed home, sweet home, + Want to join de angel here. + +(You can sing bout father, brother, sister en all.) + + Sylvia Cannon, + + Ex-Slave, age 85, + May 21, 1937, + Florence, S. C. + + + FUNERAL SONG + + Come ye dat love de Lord, + En let your joys be known. + Hark from de tomb, + En hear my tender voice. + By de grace of God I'll meet you + On Canaan Happy Shore. + Oh, mother, where will I meet you on Canaan Happy Shore? + En by de grace of God I'll meet you on Canaan Happy Shore. + +(Shaking hands, marching around grave. White en Colored marched from +church to graveyard. Old people in de ox cart en young people walking. +Didn' have coffins like dey do now. Build de coffin en black it wid +smut. Blacksmith make de nails. Could see in de box.) + + Sylvia Cannon, + Ex-Slave, age 85, + May 21, 1937, + Florence, S. C. + + + + + Project No. 1885-(1) + Prepared by Mrs. Genevieve Chandler + Place, Murrells Inlet, S. C. + Date, March 25, 1937 + Typed by M. C., N. Y. A. + No Words ---- + Reduced from Words ---- + Rewritten by ---- + + [~HW: Georgetown Co~] + [~HW: HEAVEN'S GATE CHURCH~] + + (Verbatim conversation by Uncle Albert Carolina.): + + +When asked about the founding of Heaven's Gate colored Methodist +church Rev. Albert Carolina answered: + + "In the beginning of Freedom they separate us from whites. + 'Sixty one the war begun; + Sixty four the war was o'er." + +"Rev. Zacharias Duncan wuz the man. He the one built Heaven Gate church. +Brother Henry Smith and Brother David Kidd and old man Jackson Heywood +wuz the old ones built it. Some more been there. Can't think of them. +Old man Jim Beaty wuz one. Can't remember no more. He wuz Allston man. +(That means he was a slave owned by the Allstons) Uncle Dave Kidd, he +owned a tract of land in the Savannah. + +"Brought us up in Sabbus (Sabbath) school. Sunrise prayer-meeting. Ten +o'clock Sunday school. Leven o'clock the service. Three o'clock service +again. Eight at night--service again. Raise us taughen (taught) in the +church. Steal off Slavery time in they own house and have class meeting. +Driver come find'em, whip'em. Th' patrolls come riding down th' road. +Four plait whip. Two big black dog. White pat-roller. Ketch without +pass, they whip me. Crawling. (I was crawling). But I walk then and walk +every since! Bo-cart. Dat's what they call it--'Bo-cart'. (Crude home +made baby walker.) Bout seventy seven years since I start. Remember +nother thing going on in them time. Mausser gin (give) the women a task. +Didn't done it. Next day didn't done it. Saturday come, task time out! +Driver! I tell yuh th' truth, you could hear those people, 'Murder! +Murder!' + +"Judge Kershaw was a fine man. His boy William--I and William born the +same day. + +"We never has met th' bed yet, without family prayer--and never get up +without it. Didn't low them with a book in they hand. The Driver learn +you at night if he like you. Try to out-wage (educate) you at night. +Didn't have any school. + +"Mother's father Indian. Brighter than, who? Who round here bright as my +Grand-father? Hannah! Hair was long. Wouldn't stay home. Lives in th' +swamp. Wouldn't stay out. Grandmother wuz African. She had a little bowl +make out of clay." + + Uncle Albert Carolina, age 87 (colored) + Murrells Inlet, S. C. + March 8th, 1937. + +(A description followed of how his grand-parents built a kiln of clay +pots and baked them.) + + + + + Project #-1655 + Phoebe Faucette + Hampton County + + SILVIA CHISOLM + Ex-Slave 88 Years Old + + +"Aunt Silvie", sitting out in the sunshine in the yard of a small negro +cabin, on a warm day in January, seemed very old and feeble. Her answers +to questions were rather short and she appeared to be preoccupied. + +"I been fifteen year old when de Yankee come--fifteen de sixth of June. +I saw 'em burn down me Massa's home, an' everythin'. I 'members dat. Ole +man Joe Bostick was me Massa. An' I knows de Missus an' de Massa used to +work us. Had de overseer to drive us! Work us till de Yankees come! When +Yankee come dey had to run! Dat how de buildin' burn! Atter dey didn't +find no one in it, dey burn! De Marshall house had a poor white woman in +it! Dat why it didn't burn! My Massa's Pineland place at Garnett was +burn, too. Dey never did build dis un (one) back. Atter dey come back, +dey build deir house at de Pineland place. + +"I wus mindin' de overseer's chillun. Mr. Beestinger was his name! An' +his wife, Miss Carrie! I been eight year old when dey took me. Took me +from me mother an' father here on de Pipe Creek place down to Black +Swamp. Went down forty-two mile to de overseer! I never see my mother or +my father anymore. Not 'til atter freedom! An' when I come back den I +been married. But when I move back here, I stay right on dis Pipe Creek +place from den on. I been right here all de time. + +"Atter I work for Mr. Beestinger, I wait on Mr. Blunt. You know Mr. +Blunt, ain't you? His place out dere now. + +"Mr. Bostick was a good ole man. He been deaf. His chillun tend to his +business--his sons. He was a preacher. His father was ole man Ben +Bostick. De Pipe Creek Church was ole Missus Bostick's Mammy's church. +When de big church burn down by de Yankees, dey give de place to de +colored folks. Stephen Drayton was de first pastor de colored folks had. +Dey named de church, Canaan Baptist Church. Start from a bush arbor. De +white folks church was paint white, inside an' out. It was ceiled +inside. Dis church didn't have no gallery for de colored folks. Didn't +make no graveyard at Pipe Creek! Bury at Black Swamp! An' at +Lawtonville! De people leave dat church an' go to Lawtonville to +worship. Dey been worshipping at Lawtonville ever since before I could +wake up to know. De Pipe Creek Church jes' stood dere, wid no service in +it, 'til de Yankee burn it. De church at Lawtonville been a fine church. +Didn't burn it! Use it for a hospital durin' de war! + +"I'se 88 year old now an' can't remember so much. An' I'se blind! Blind +in both eye!" + + Source: Silvia Chisolm, R. F. D. Estill, S. C. + + + + + Project #1655 + Stiles M. Scruggs + Columbia, S. C. + + AN EX-SLAVE WHO CLIMBED UP + WITH WHITE FOLKS. + + +Tom Chisolm, a sixty-two year old bricklayer, 11 Railroad Street, +Columbia, S. C., is a son of Caesar Chisolm, who represented Colleton +County in the South Carolina House of Representatives for ten years. +Caesar was one of the few leading Negroes, who voted and spoke for the +Democratic Party and was friendly to the leaders of white supremacy +until he died in 1897. Tom relates the following story: + +"My daddy was born in slavery and he was always treated good by his +master, de late Jimeson Chisolm, of Colleton County. He could read and +figure up 'most anything, when he was set free, and he had notions of +his own, too. For instance, he marry my mammy. She die soon after I was +born, and daddy say to me: 'Son, your mammy is gone, but you need not +fear dat any other woman will ever boss you. I's through with wives.' +And he never marry again. + +"I come to Columbia with him, when he serve in de Legislature. When he +tell de niggers and white folks, back in Colleton, dat he was not aimin' +to run for de Legislature no more, they was sad. One time I go with him +to Smoak's, where Congressman George D. Tillman was to speak on one of +his campaigns. I felt pretty big, when Congressman Tillman smile and +grasp de hand of my daddy and say: 'You's goin' to say a few words for +me befo' I starts, eh, Chisolm?' 'I sho' will, if you laks,' say my +daddy. Soon he mount de platform, and befo' he say a word, both de white +and de niggers clap deir hands and stamp deir feets and smile. My daddy +bow, smile, and say: 'Ladies and gentlemen: We, us, and company sent +George Tillman to Congress long ago and knows what he has done. Now we's +gwine to send him back, and I is a little in doubt as to whether he is +gwine to take us to Washington, or bring Washington down here!' He say, +he jus' git started. But de crowd was laughin', dancin', and huggin' de +Congressman, and daddy laugh and set down. + +"He introduce Master Duncan Clinch Heyward at Walterboro in 1902, when +Master Heyward was making his first race for governor. He raise such +laughter and pay so many witty compliments to Master Heyward, dat +Governor Heyward, when he was 'lected, appoint my daddy to an office in +Columbia, and we come to Columbia to live in 1903. My daddy retire at de +same time dat Governor Heyward quit office, in 1907. He later wrote +insurance on de lives of niggers, and he prosper. + +"'Bout 1885, my daddy happen to be walkin' near de corner of Gervais and +Pulaski streets, and two niggers meet dere at de time and begin to +quarrel. My daddy stop and watch them awhile. One of them niggers kill +de other, and some time afterward a nigger lawyer come to see my daddy +and ask him: 'Wasn't you dere?' 'I sho' was,' say my daddy. De nigger +lawyer laugh and slap daddy on de back and say: 'Come on.' Daddy come +back in a few hours pretty tipsy. 'Dat lawyer spend a lot on me,' say +daddy, 'but de fool never let me tell him jus' what I knows.' + +"A day or two afterward he was in de witness box. De nigger lawyer say: +'Now, Mister Chisolm, tell your tale in your own way.' Daddy say: 'I saw +de defendant and de man, now dead, as they meet. They glare at each +other and begin to talk harsh and cuss each other. Then, one strike at +de other and they back 'way and begin to reach in deir hind pockets.' +Daddy stop, and de nigger lawyer fairly scream: 'Yes, yes, go on!' 'That +all I saw,' say my daddy, 'cause I run to cover. I made it to de next +corner in nothin' flat and pick up speed afterward. So I was two blocks +'way, when I hear de shootin'!' De nigger lawyer nearly faint. He say: +'Who bought you off?' Daddy say he would have told him at de start, if +he'd had de chance. + +"At another time, we was down on de 700 block of Wayne Street, at a +nigger gatherin'. We often spend days down dere collectin' weekly +insurance dues, and we knowed most of de people. Dere happen to be a +young nigger dere, back from de West for a visit, and he was a great +bragger. He was tellin' 'bout corn in Texas. 'Dere,' he said, 'corn grow +twenty feet high, with stalks as big as the arm of John L. Sullivan, +when he whupped Kilrain, and half a dozen big ears on each stalk.' De +crowd was thunderstruck. + +"My daddy cleared his throat and say: 'Dat am nothin' in de way of corn. +One day I was walkin' past a forty-acre patch of corn, on de Governor +Heyward plantation by de Combahee River and de corn was so high and +thick, I decide to ramble through it. 'Bout halfway over, I hears a +commotion. I walks on and peeps. Dere stands a four-ox wagon backed up +to de edge of de field, and two niggers was sawin' down a stalk. Finally +they drag it on de wagon and drive off. I seen one of them, in a day or +two, and asks 'bout it. He say: 'We shelled 366 bushels of corn from dat +one ear, and then we saw 800 feet of lumber from de cob.' + +"Dat young man soon slip out from de crowd and has never been seen here +since. I thinks daddy was outdone with me, 'cause I was not quickwitted +and smart, lak him. He tell me once: 'You must learn two good trades, +and I think carpenterin' and brick-layin' safest.' I done that, and I +has never been sorry, 'cause I's made a good livin'. Governor Heyward +was always a good friend of daddy, and he was proud to see us makin' +good in de insurance business." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + May 24, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born near old Bush River Baptist Church, in Newberry County, S. +C. I was the slave of John Satterwhite. My mother lived with them. I was +a small girl when the war was on. My brother went to war with Marse +Satterwhite. When de Ku Klux and paddrollers traveled around in that +section, they made Mr. Satterwhite hold the niggers when they was +whipped, but he most all the time let them loose, exclaiming, 'they got +loose'--he did not want many of them whipped. + +"My mother had a kitchen way off from the house, wid a wide fireplace +where she cooked victuals. There was holes in back of de chimney with +iron rods sticking out of them to hold de pans, pots, kettles or +boilers. + +"People there did not believe much in ghosts. They were not much +superstitious, but one time some of the negroes thought they heard the +benches in Bush River Baptist Church turn over when nobody was in the +church. + +"Negroes most always shouted at their religious meetings. Before de +negroes had their own church meetings, the slaves went to the white +folks' Bush River Baptist church and set up in the gallery. I moved to +Newberry when I was young, after I got married." + + Source: Maria Cleland, Newberry, S. C. (80 years old). + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (5/17/37) + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + PETER CLIFTON + EX-SLAVE, 89 YEARS OLD. + + +"You want me to start wid my fust memory and touch de high spots 'til +dis very day? Dat'll take a long time but I glad to find someone to tell +dat to; I is! I 'members when I was a boy, drivin' de calves to de +pasture, a highland moccasin snake rise up in de path. I see dat forked +tongue and them bright eyes right now. I so scared I couldn't move out +my tracks. De mercy of de Lord cover me wid His wings. Dat snake uncoil, +drop his head, and silently crawl away. Dat was on de Biggers Mobley +place 'tween Kershaw and Camden, where I was born, in 1848. + +"My pappy name Ned; my mammy name Jane. My brudders and sisters was Tom, +Lizzie, Mary, and Gill. Us live in a log house wid a plank floor and a +wooden chimney, dat was always ketchin' afire and de wind comin' through +and fillin' de room wid smoke and cinders. It was just one of many +others, just lak it, dat made up de quarters. Us had peg beds for de old +folks and just pallets on de floor for de chillun. Mattresses was made +of wheat straw but de pillows on de bed was cotton. I does 'member dat +mammy had a chicken feather pillow she made from de feathers she saved +at de kitchen. + +"My grandpappy name Warren and grandmammy name Maria. De rule on de +place was: 'Wake up de slaves at daylight, begin work when they can see, +and quit work when they can't see'. But they was careful of de rule dat +say: 'You mustn't work a child, under twelve years old, in de field'. + +"My master's fust wife, I heard him say, was Mistress Gilmore. Dere was +two chillun by her. Master Ed, dat live in a palace dat last time I +visit Rock Hill and go to 'member myself to him; then dere was Miss Mary +dat marry her cousin, Dr. Jim Mobley. They had one child, Captain Fred, +dat took de Catawba rifles to Cuba and whip Spain for blowin' up de +Maine. You say you rather I talk 'bout old master and de high spots? +Well, Master Biggers had a big plantation and a big mansion four miles +southeast of Chester. He buy my mammy and her chillun in front of de +court house door in Chester, at de sale of de Clifton Estate. Then he +turn 'round and buy my pappy dere, 'cause my mammy and sister Lizzie was +cryin' 'bout him have to leave them. Mind you I wasn't born then. +Marster Biggers was a widower then and went down and courted de widow +Gibson, who had a plantation and fifty slaves 'tween Kershaw and Camden. +Dere is where I was born. + +"Marster had one child, a boy, by my mistress, Miss Sallie. They call +him Black George. Him live long enough to marry a angel, Miss Kate +McCrorey. They had four chillun. Dere got to be ninety slaves on de +place befo' war come on. One time I go wid pappy to de Chester place. +Seem lak more slaves dere than on de Gibson place. Us was fed up to de +neck all de time, though us never had a change of clothes. Us smell +pretty rancid maybe, in de winter time, but in de summer us no wear very +much. Girls had a slip on and de boys happy in their shirt tails. + +"Kept fox hounds on both places. Old Butler was de squirrel and 'possum +dog. What I like best to eat? Marster, dere is nothin' better than +'possum and yallow sweet 'taters. Right now, I wouldn't turn dat down +for pound cake and Delaware grape wine, lak my mistress use to eat and +sip while she watch my mammy and old Aunt Tilda run de spinnin' wheels. + +"De overseer on de place was name Mr. Mike Melton. No sir, he poor man +but him come from good folks, not poor white trash. But they was cussed +by marster, when after de war they took up wid de 'publican party. Sad +day for old marster when him didn't hold his mouth, but I'll get to dat +later. + +"Marster Biggers believe in whippin' and workin' his slaves long and +hard; then a man was scared all de time of being sold away from his wife +and chillun. His bark was worse then his bite tho', for I never knowed +him to do a wicked thing lak dat. + +"How long was they whipped? Well, they put de foots in a stock and clamp +them together, then they have a cross-piece go right across de breast +high as de shoulder. Dat cross-piece long enough to bind de hands of a +slave to it at each end. They always strip them naked and some time they +lay on de lashes wid a whip, a switch or a strap. Does I believe dat was +a great sin? No sir. Our race was just lak school chillun is now. De +marster had to put de fear of God in them sometime, somehow, and de +Bible don't object to it. + +"I see marster buy a many a slave. I never saw him sell but one and he +sold dat one to a drover for $450.00, cash down on de table, and he did +dat at de request of de overseer and de mistress. They was uneasy 'bout +him. + +"They give us Christmas Day. Every woman got a handkerchief to tie up +her hair. Every girl got a ribbon, every boy a barlow knife, and every +man a shin plaster. De neighbors call de place, de shin plaster, Barlow, +Bandanna place. Us always have a dance in de Christmas. + +"After freedom when us was told us had to have names, pappy say he love +his old Marster Ben Clifton de best and him took dat titlement, and I's +been a Clifton ever since. + +"Go way, white folks! What everthing mate for? De birds, de corn tassle +and de silk, man and woman, white folks and colored folks mates. You ask +me what for I seek out Christina for to marry. Dere was sumpin' 'bout +dat gal, dat day I meets her, though her hair had 'bout a pound of +cotton thread in it, dat just 'tracted me to her lak a fly will sail +'round and light on a 'lasses pitcher. I kept de Ashford Ferry road hot +'til I got her. I had to ask her old folks for her befo' she consent. +Dis took 'bout six months. Everything had to be regular. At last I got +de preacher, Rev. Ray Shelby to go down dere and marry us. Her have been +a blessin' to me every day since. + +"Us have seven chillun. They's scattered east, west, north, and south. +De only one left is just David, our baby, and him is a baby six foot +high and fifty-one years old. + +"Yes sir, us had a bold, drivin', pushin', marster but not a +hard-hearted one. I sorry when military come and arrest him. It was dis +a way, him try to carry on wid free labor, 'bout lak him did in slavery. +Chester was in military district no. 2. De whole state was under dat +military government. Old marster went to de field and cuss a nigger +woman for de way she was workin', choppin' cotton. She turnt on him wid +de hoe and gashed him 'bout de head wid it. Him pull out his pistol and +shot her. Dr. Babcock say de wound in de woman not serious. They swore +out a warrant for Marster Biggers, arrest him wid a squad, and take him +to Charleston, where him had nigger jailors, and was kicked and cuffed +'bout lak a dog. They say de only thing he had to eat was corn-meal-mush +brought 'round to him and other nice white folks in a tub and it was +ladeled out to them thru de iron railin' into de palms of dere hands. +Mistress stuck by him, went and stayed down dere. The filthy prison and +hard treatments broke him down, and when he did get out and come home, +him passed over de river of Jordan, where I hopes and prays his soul +finds rest. Mistress say one time they threatened her down dere, dat if +she didn't get up $10,000 they would send him where she would never see +him again. + +"Well, I must be goin'. Some day when de crops is laid by and us get de +boll weevil whipped off de field, I'll get David to bring me and dat +gal, Christina, you so curious 'bout, to Winnsboro to see you. Oh, how +her gonna laugh and shake her sides when I get home and tell her all +'bout what's down on dat paper! You say it's to be sent to Washington? +Why, de President and his wife will be tickled at some of them things. +I's sure they will. Dat'll make Christina have a great excitement when I +tell her we is to be talked 'bout way up dere. I 'spect it will keep her +wake and she'll be hunchin' me and asking me all thru de night, what I +give in. + +"Oh, well, I's thankful for dis hour in which I's been brought very near +to de days of de long long ago. Maybe I'll get a pension and maybe I +won't. Just so de Lord and de President take notice of us, is enough for +me." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + From Field Notes. + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + April 29, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + FOLK LORE: FOLK TALES (Negro) + + +"I wuz born in Fairfield, dat is over yonder across Broad River, you +knos what dat is, don't you? Yes sir, it wuz on Marse Johnson D. +Coleman's plantation. And he had a plantation! Dese niggers here in +Carlisle--and niggers is all dey is too--dey don't know what no +plantation is. When I got big enough fer to step around, from de very +fus, my maw took me in de big house. It still dat, cep it done bout fell +down now, to what it wuz then. But some of Marse's folks, dey libs down +dar still. Den you see, dey is like dese white folks up 'round here now. +Dey ain't got no big money like dey had when I wuz a runnin' up. Time I +got big enough fer to run aroun' in my shirt tail, my maw, she lowed one +night to my paw, when he wuz settin by de fire, dat black little nigger +over dar, he got to git hissef some pants kaise I'se gwine to put him up +over de white fokes table. In dem times de doos and winders, dey nebber +had no screen wire up to dem like dey is now. Fokes didn't know nothin +bout no such as dat den. My Marster and all de other big white fokes, +dey raised pea fowls. Is yu ebber seed any? Well, ev'y spring us little +niggers, we coch dem wild things at night. Dey could fly like a buzzard. +Dey roosted up in de pine trees, right up in de tip top. So de Missus, +she hab us young uns clam up dar and git 'em when dey first took roost. +Us would clam down and my maw, she would pull de long feathers out'n de +tails. Fer weeks de cocks, dey wouldn't let nobody see 'em if dey could +help it. Dem birds is sho proud. When dey is got de feathers, dey jus +struts on de fences, and de fences wuz rail in dem days. If'n dey could +see dereself in a puddle o' water after a rain, dey would stay dar all +day a struttin' and carring on like nobody's business. Yes sir, dem wuz +purty birds. After us got de feathers, de Missus, she'ud low dat all de +nigger gals gwine to come down in de wash house and make fly brushes. +Sometime de Missus 'ud gib some of de gals some short feathers to put in +dere Sunday hats. When dem gals got dem hats on, I used to git so +disgusted wid 'em I'd leave 'em at church and walk home by my sef. +Anyway, by dat time all de new fly brushes wuz made and de Missus, she +hab fans make from de short feathers for de white fokes to fan de air +wid on hot days. Lawdy, I'se strayed fur from what I had started out fer +to tell you. But I knowed dat you young fokes didn't know nothin' bout +all dat. In dem days de dining room wuz big and had de windows open all +de summer long, and all de doos stayed streched too. Quick as de mess of +victuals began to come on de table, a little nigger boy was put up in de +swing, I calls it, over de table to fan de flies and gnats off'en de +Missus' victuals. Dis swing wuz just off'n de end of de long table. Some +of de white fokes had steps a leadin' up to it. Some of 'em jus had de +little boys maws to fech de young'uns up dar till dey got fru; den dey +wuz fetched down again. + +"Well, when I got my pants, my maw fetched me in and I clumb up de steps +dat Marse Johnson had, to git up in his swing wid. At fus, dey had to +show me jus how to hole de brush, kaise dem peacock feathers wuz so +long, iffen you didn't mind your bizness, de ends of dem feathers would +splash in de gravy er sumpin nother, and den de Missus table be all +spattered up. Some o' de Marsters would whorp de nigger chilluns fer dat +carelessness, but Marse Johnson, he always good to his niggers. Mos de +white fokes good to de niggers round bout whar I comes from. + +"It twad'nt long for I got used to it and I nebber did splash de +feathers in no rations. But iffen I got used to it, I took to agoin to +sleep up thar. Marse Johnson, he would jus git up and wake me up. All de +white fokes at de table joke me so bout bein' so lazy, I soon stop dat +foolishness. My maw, she roll her eyes at me when I come down atter de +marster had to wake me up. Dat change like ever thing else. When I got +bigger, I got to be house boy. Dey took down de swing and got a little +gal to stand jus 'hind de Missus' chair and fan dem flies. De Missus low +to Marse Johnson dat de style done change when he want to know how come +she took de swing down. So dat is de way it is now wid de wimmen, dey +changes de whole house wid de style; but I tells my chilluns, ain't no +days like de ole days when I wuz a shaver. + +"Atter de war, I come up to Shelton and got to de 'P' Hamilton place. I +wuz grown den. I seed a young girl dar what dey called 'Evvie'. Her paw, +he had b'longed to de Chicks, so dats who she wuz, Evvie Chick. Dar she +sets in dat room by de fire. Now us got 'leven chilluns. Dey is +scattered all about. Dey is good to us in our ole age. Us riz 'em to +obey de Lawd and mine us. Dats all dey knows, and iffen fokes would do +dat now, dey wouldn't have no sassy chilluns like I sees here in +Carlisle. + +"Evvie, what year wuz it we got married? Yes, dat's right. It wuz de +year of de 'shake'. Is you heerd bout de 'shake'? Come out here Evvie +and les tell him dat, kaise dese young fokes doan know nothin'. It wuz +dark, and we wuz eatin' supper, when sumpin started to makin' de dishes +fall out'n de cupboard. At fus we thought it wuz somebody a jumpin' up +and down on de flo. Den we knowed dat it wuz sumpin else er makin' dem +dishes fall out o' de cupboard. At fus we thought it wuz Judgment day, +kaise ev'ry thing started fallin' worser and worser. De dishes fell so +fast you couldn't pick'em up. Some of us went down to de spring. De +white fokes, dey come along wid us and dey make us fetch things from de +big house, like fine china dat de Missus didn't want to git broke up. +She tole us dat it wuz er earthquake and it wasn't no day o' Judgment. +Anyway, we lowed de white fokes might be wrong, so us niggers started to +a prayin', and den all de niggers on de plantation dat heerd us, well de +come along and jined wid us in de prayin' and singin'. Us wuz all a +shakin' mos as bad as de earth wuz, kaise dat wuz a awful time dat we +libbed through fer bout twenty minutes--de white fokes lowed it lasted +only ten, but I ain't sho about dat. When we got back to de big house, +de cupboard in de kitchen had done fell plum' down. In de nigger houses, +de chimneys mos all fell in, and de chicken houses ev'rywhar wuz shuck +down. While we wuz a lookin' aroun, and de wimmen fokes, dey wuz a +takin' on mightily another shake come up. Us all took fer de spring +agin; dis one lasted bout long as de first one. Us prayed and sung and +shouted dis time. It sho stopped de earth a shakin' and a quiverin' +some, kaise dat thing went on fer a whole week; ceptin de furs two wuz +de heaviest. All de other ones wuz lighter. Iffen it hadn't been fur us +all a beggin' de Lawd fer to sho us his mercy, it ain't no tellin' how +bad dem shakes would er been. Miss Becky Levister, you know her, she +live up yander in your uncle John's house now, she wuz wid us. She wuz +jus a little girl den. Her paw wuz Mr. Kelly. He died for ever you wuz +born. Not long ago I seed her. She lowed to me, 'uncle Henry, do you +recollect in de time o' de shake? Lacken she think I'd fergit such as +dat. It wuz in de time o' de worsest things dis ole nigger is ebber seed +hisself, and I is gwine on 82 now. Miss Becky, she wuz a settin' in her +car wid some one drivin' her, but she ain't fergot dis ole nigger. If I +is up town and Miss Becky, she ride by, she look out and lows' 'Howdy +uncle Henry', and I allus looks up and raises my hat. I likes mannerable +white fokes, mysef, and den, I likes mannerable niggers fer as dat goes. +Some of dese fokes, now both white--I hates to say it--and niggers, dey +trys to act like dey ain't got no sense er sumpin'. But you know one +thing I knos real fokes when I sees dem and dey can't fool me." + +Aunt Evvie tells the following story about her father, Rufus Chick. The +story is known by all of the reliable white folks of the surrounding +neighborhood also: "My paw, Rufus Chick, lived on the Union side of +Broad River, the latter days of his life. Maj. James B. Steadman had +goats over on Henderson Island that my paw used to care for. He went +over to the Island in a batteau. One afternoon, he and four other +darkies were going over there when the batteau turned over. The four +other men caught to a willow bush and were rescued. My paw could not +swim, and he got drowned. For three weeks they searched for his body, +but they never did find it. Some years after, a body of a darky was +found at the mouth of the canal, down near Columbia. The body was +perfectly petrified. This was my paw's body. The canal authorities sent +the body to a museum in Detroit. It was January 11, 1877 when my father +got drowned. + +"When I wuz a young fellow I used to race wid de horses. I wuz de swifes +runner on de plantation. A nigger, Peter Feaster, had a white horse of +his own, and de white fokes used to bet amongst de selves as much as +$20.00 dat I could outrun dat horse. De way us did, wuz to run a hundred +yards one way, turn around and den run back de hundred yards. Somebody +would hold de horse, and another man would pop de whip fer us to start. +Quick as de whip popped, I wuz off. I would git sometimes ten feet ahead +of de horse 'fore dey could git him started. Den when I had got de +hundred yards, I could turn around quicker dan de horse would, and I +would git a little mo' ahead. Corse wid dat, you had to be a swift man +on yer feets to stay head of a fas horse. Peter used to git so mad when +I would beat his ole horse, and den all de niggers would laf at him +kaise de white fokes give me some of de bettin money. Sometimes dey +would bet only $10.00, sometimes, $15 or $20. Den I would race wid de +white fokes horses too. Dey nebber got mad when I come out ahead. After +I got through, my legs used to jus shake like a leaf. So now, I is gib +plum out in dem and I tributes it to dat. Evvie, she lowed when I used +to do dat after we wuz married, dat I wuz gwine to give out in my legs, +and sho nuf I is." + +"Uncle" Henry says that his legs have given out in the bone. + + Source: Henry Coleman and his wife, Evvie, of Carlisle, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + District #4 + Spartanburg, S. C. + May 31, 1937 + + FOLKLORE: EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born about 1857 and my wife about 1859. I lived on Squire +Keller's farm, near the Parr place, and after the squire died I belonged +to Mrs. Elizabeth (Wright) Keller. My mother died when I was a boy and +my father was bought and carried to Alabama. My father was Gilliam +Coleman and my mother, Emoline Wright. My master and mistress was good +to me. The old Squire was as fine a man as ever lived on earth. He took +me in his home and took care of me. After the war the mistress stayed on +the place and worked the slaves right on, giving them wages or shares. + +"The slaves were not whipped much; I 'member one man was whipped pretty +bad on Maj. Kinard's place. He had a colored man to do whipping for +him--his name was Eph. There was no whiskey on the place, never made +any. Us did cooking in the kitchen wid wide fireplaces. + +"When the Yankees came through at the end of the war, they took all the +stock we had. The mistress had a fine horse, its tail touching the +ground, and we all cried when it was taken; but we got it back, as some +men went after it. + +"I married in 1874 to Ellen T. Williams. She belonged to Bill Reagan. +After I married I worked in the railroad shops at "Helena", and +sometimes I fired the engine on the road, for about eight years. Then I +went into the ministry. I was called by the Spirit of the Lord, +gradually, and I preached 51 years. I have been superannuated two years. + +"I have one child, a son, who is in the pullman service at Washington, +D. C. + +"I owned my little house and several acres and am still living on it." + + Source: Rev. Tuff Coleman and wife (80 and 78), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. Leland Summer, Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, May 27, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + MOM LOUISA COLLIER + Ex-Slave, 78 years. + + +"I born en raise up dere in Colonel Durant yard en I in my 78th year +now. Dat seem lak I ole, don' it? Coase Colonel Durant hab plenty udder +colored peoples 'sides us, but dey ne'er lib dere in de yard lak we. Dey +lib up in de quarters on de plantation. My pappy name Ben Thompson en he +hadder stay dere close to de big house cause he wus de Colonel driver. +De Colonel hab uh big ole carriage wha' to ride in den. It hab uh little +seat in de front fa my pappy to set in en den it hab two seat 'hind de +driver whey de Colonel en he family is ride. I kin see dat carriage jes +uz good right now dat my white folks hab to carry em whey dey is wanna +go." + +"Den my mammy come from de udder side uv Pee Dee en she name, Lidia +Bass. She was de servant 'round de yard dere en dat count fa we to ne'er +stay in de quarters wid de udder colored peoples 'fore freedom declare. +I ne'er hadder do no work long uz I lib dere in de yard cause I ain' +been but five year ole when freedom declare. My grandmammy lib right +dere close us en Colonel Durant hab she jes to look a'ter aw de +plantation chillun when dey parents wuz workin'. Aw uv de plantation +peoples 'ud take dey chillun dere fa my grandmammy to nu'se." + +"I 'member one day dere come uh crowd uv peoples dere dat dey tell us +chillun wuz de Yankees. Dey come right dere t'rough de Colonel yard en +when I see em, I wuz 'fraid uv em. I run en hide under my grandmammy +bed. Don' know wha' dey say cause I ain' ge' close 'nough to hear nuthin +wha' dey talk 'bout. De white folks hadder herry (hurry) en put t'ings +in pots en bury em or hide em somewhey when dey hear dat de Yankees wus +comin' cause dey scare dem Yankees might take dey t'ings lak dey is +carry 'way udder folks t'ings. I hear em say dey ne'er take nuthin from +de Colonel but some uv he wood." + +"My white folks was well-off peoples en dey ain' ne'er use no harsh +treatment on dey plantation peoples. De Colonel own aw dis land 'bout +here den en he see dat he overseer on de plantation provide plenty uv +eve't'ing us need aw de time. I hear tell 'bout some uv de white folks +'ud beat dey colored peoples mos' to death, but I ain' ne'er see none uv +dat no whey. I is 'member when dey'ud sell some uv de colored peoples +way offen to annuder plantation somewhey. Jes been bid em offen jes lak +dey wuz cattle. Some uv de time dey'ud sell uh man wife 'way en den he +hadder ge' annuder wife." + +"A'ter freedom declare, we ne'er lib dere at de big house no more. Move +in de colored settlement en den we ain' eat at de big house no more +neither. Dey le' us hab uh garden uv we own den en raise us own chicken +en aw dat. I 'member de Colonel gi'e us so mucha t'ing eve'y week en it +hadder las' us from one Saturday to de next. My mammy 'ud go to de +Colonel barn eve'y week en ge' she portion uv meal en meat. Dat de way +dey pay de hand fa dey work den. Ne'er gi'e em no money den." + +"Peoples wha' lib on Colonel Durant plantation ain' know nuthin but to +lib on de fat uv de land. Dey hab plenty cows den en dey gi'e us plenty +uv milk eve'y day. I 'member we chillun use'er take we tin cup en go up +to de big house en ge' us milk to drink en den some uv de cows 'ud be so +gentle lak dat we chillun is follow em right down side de path. Den when +dere ne'er wuz nobody lak de Colonel overseer 'bout to see us, we is +ketch de cow en ge' some more milk. I al'ays'ud lub to drink me milk dat +way. We is eat plenty green peas en 'tatoes en fish in dem days too en +dey is use 'tatoe pie right smart den." + +"Aw de colored peoples on Colonel Durant plantation hab good bed wha' to +sleep on en good clothes to put on dey back. Coase we ne'er hab no +bought fu'niture in dem days, but we hab bedstead wha' dey make right +dere en benches en some uv de time dey is make wha' dey call 'way back +chair. Den we is make us own bed outer hay cause de white folks ne'er +spare de colored peoples no cotton den. Hadder cut de hay in de fall uv +de year en dry it jes lak dey dries it fa to feed de cattle on. Den dey +hadder take sack en sew em up togedder en put de hay in dese. Dey sleep +right smart in dem days. Don' mucha people sleep on straw bed dese day +en time en dey don' dress lak dey use'er neither. I 'member de long +dress dey is wear den. Hadder hold em up when dey walk so dey won' tetch +de floor 'bout em. Den some uv dem is wear wha' dey call leggens. Dey'ud +gather em 'round de knee en le' em show 'bout de ankle. Dey wuz pretty, +dat dey wuz. De white folks'ud make de plantation clothes outer calico +en jeanes cloth en dat time. De jeanes cloth be wha' dey make de boy +clothes outer. Dey is weave aw dey cloth right dere on de plantation en +den dey use'er dye de thread en weave aw sorta check outer de different +color thread. Wha' dey make de dye outer? Dey ge' bark outer de woods en +boil de color outer it en den dey boil de thread in dat. Dat how dey is +make dey dye. Ne'er see de peoples hab no hat lak dey hab now neither. +Aw de colored peoples wear wha' dey call shuck hat den cause dey been +make outer shuck. Dat aw de kinder hat we is hab." + +"Peoples use'er ge' aw kinder useful t'ing outer de woods in dem days +'way back dere. Ne'er hadder buy no me'icine tall den. Ain' ne'er been +no better cough cure no whey den de one my ole mammy use'er make fa we +chillun. She larnt 'bout how it made when she stay 'round de Missus en +dat how come I know wha' in it. Jes hadder go in de woods en ge' some +cherry, call dat wild cherry, en cut some uv de wild cherry bark fust +(first) t'ing. A'ter dat yuh hadder find some uv dese long-leaf pine en +ge' de bud outer dat. Den yuh hadder go to whey dere some sweet gum grow +en ge' de top outer dem en ge' some mullen to put wid it. Ain' ne'er no +cough stand aw dat mix up togedder in no day en time. Dey gi'e dat to de +peoples fa dat t'ing wha' dey use'er call de grip cough. Den dey use'er +make uh t'ing dat dey call "bone set" tea. I forge' how dey make it but +dey gi'e it to de peoples when dey hab de fevers. It been so bitter dat +it'ud lift yuh up 'fore yuh is ge' it aw down de t'roat. Ain' see no +fever me'icine lak dat nowadays." + +"Yas'um, I 'members when dey hab plenty uv dem cornshucking to one +annuder barn. De peoples'ud come from aw de plantation 'bout dere. Dem +corn-shuckings wuz big times, dat dey wuz. Gi'e eve'body aw de +"hopping-john" dey kin eat. Jes cook it aw in uh big pot dere in de yard +to de big house. Ain' nuthin ne'er eat no better den dat "hopping-john" +is eat." + +"Den de peoples use'er come from aw de plantation 'bout en hab big +dancing dere. Dat when I lub to be 'bout. Dey hab uh big fire build up +outer in de yard en dat wha' dey dance 'round 'bout. Call dat uh torch +fire. Dey'ud hab fiddle en dey dance wha' dey call de reel dance den. I +'member I use'er lub to watch dey feet when dat fiddle 'ud ge' to +playing. I jes crawl right down on me knees dere whey I'ud see dey feet +jes uh going." + +"I ne'er hab mucha schooling 'fore freedom declare cause I been raise up +on de plantation. Dis child (her daughter) pappy wuz de house boy to de +big house en he ge' more schooling den I is. De Missus larnt he how to +read en write she self. A'ter freedom declare, I go to school to uh +white man up dere to de ole Academy en den I is go to annuder school +down dere to uh blacksmith shop. I go to uh white man dere too. Ne'er +hab no colored teacher den cause dey ain' hab 'nough schooling den. Dese +chillun don' know nuthin 'bout dem times. I tell dese chillun I don' +know wha' dey wanna run 'bout so mucha cause dere plenty t'ing to see +dat pass right dere by us house eve'y day. I t'ink dis uh better day en +time to lib en cause dis uh brighter day now dat we hab." + + Source: Mom Louisa Collier, age 78, colored, Marion, S. C + Personal interview, May 1937. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + JOHN COLLINS + EX-SLAVE, 85 YEARS OLD. + + +John Collins lives in a two-room frame cottage by the side of US 21, +just one mile north of the town of Winnsboro, S. C. on the right side of +the highway and a few hundred yards from the intersection of US 21 and +US 22. The house is owned by Mr. John Ameen. His son, John, who lives +with him, is a farm hand in the employ of Mr. John Ameen, and is his +father's only support. + +"They tells me dat I was born in Chester County, just above de line dat +separates Chester and Fairfield Counties. You know where de 'dark +corner' is, don't you? Well, part is in Fairfield County and part is in +Chester County. In dat corner I first see de light of day; 'twas on de +29th of February, 1852. Though I is eighty-five years old, I's had only +twenty-one birthdays. I ketches a heap of folks wid dat riddle. They ask +me: 'How old is you Uncle John?' I say: 'I is had twenty-one birthdays +and won't have another till 1940. Now figure it out yourself, sir, if +you is so curious to know my age!' One time a smart aleck, jack-leg, +Methodist preacher, of my race, come to my house and figured all day on +dat riddle and never did git de correct answer. He scribbled on all de +paper in de house and on de back of de calendar leaves. I sure laughed +at dat preacher. I fears he lacked some of dat good old time 'ligion, de +way he sweated and scribbled and fussed. + +"My daddy was name Steve Chandler. My mammy was called Nancy. I don't +know whether they was married or not. My daddy was sent to Virginia, +while de war was gwine on, to build forts and breastworks around +Petersburg, so they say, and him never come back. I 'members him well. +He was a tall black man, over six feet high, wid broad shoulders. My +son, John, look just lak him. Daddy used to play wid mammy just lak she +was a child. He'd ketch her under de armpits and jump her up mighty nigh +to de rafters in de little house us lived in. + +"My mammy and me was slaves of old Marse Nick Collins. His wife, my +mistress, was name Miss Nannie. Miss Nannie was just an angel; all de +slaves loved her. But marster was hard to please, and he used de lash +often. De slaves whisper his name in fear and terror to de chillun, when +they want to hush them up. They just say to a crying child: 'Shet up or +old Nick will ketch you!' Dat child sniffle but shet up pretty quick. + +"Marster didn't have many slaves. Best I 'member, dere was about twenty +men, women, and chillun to work in de field and five house slaves. Dere +was no good feelin's 'twixt field hands and house servants. De house +servants put on more airs than de white folks. They got better things to +eat, too, than de field hands and wore better and cleaner clothes. + +"My marster had one son, Wyatt, and two daughters, Nannie and Elizabeth. +They was all right, so far as I 'member, but being a field hand's child, +off from de big house, I never got to play wid them any. + +"My white folks never cared much about de slaves having 'ligion. They +went to de Universalist Church down at Feasterville. They said everybody +was going to be saved, dat dere was no hell. So they thought it was just +a waste of time telling niggers about de hereafter. + +"In them days, way up dere in de 'dark corner', de white folks didn't +had no schools and couldn't read or write. How could they teach deir +slaves if they had wanted to? + +"De Yankees never come into de 'dark corner'. It was in 1867, dat us +found out us was free; then we all left. I come down to Feasterville and +stayed wid Mr. Jonathan Coleman. From dere, I went to Chester. While I +was living dere, I married Maggie Nesbit. Us had five chillun; they all +dead, 'cept John. My wife died two months ago. + +"I is tired now, and I is sad. I's thinking about Maggie and de days dat +are gone. Them memories flood over me, and I just want to lay down. +Maybe I'll see you sometime again. I feel sure I'll see Maggie befo' +many months and us'll see de sunrise, down here, from de far hebben +above. Good day. Glad you come to see me, sir!" + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Nov. 29, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"Time is but time, and how is I to know when I was born when everybody +knows dat dey never had no calendars when I come here. Few it was dat +ever seed even a Lady's Birthday Almanac. I is 75 years old. I was dat +last January on de 13th day [~HW: 186~]. I was born in old Union County +about 4 miles south of Gaffney. + +"Marse Mike Montgomery had a place dat reached from town way yonder to +Broad River whar de Ninety-nine Islands lays. Now, de way de road lays, +dey counts it twelve miles from Gaffney. When I was a boy it was lots +further dan dat. + +"Never know'd why, but de Red Shirts whipped my pa, Tom Corry. Dey jes' +come and got him out'n his house. He come back in de house. Chilluns was +not give no privileges in dem days, so I never axed no questions, kaise +I was fear'd. Chilluns jes' trots into your business dese days. + +"My pa say he was a slave on dem Ninety-nine Islands. All I know is what +he told me. Mr. Mike Montgomery built lots of boats. Dey carried from 50 +to 60 bales of cotton down at one time. De cotton was carried in de +fall. De Smith place jined de Montgomery place and dat run into de Nancy +Corry place. I have forded de river dar lots of times. Broad River is +shallow, deepest place in it back den was at de mouth of King Creek, +jes' below Cherokee Falls. It ain't so broad dar. + +"Pa was de boatman for Mr. Mike. De boat was big and long, and dey +always started off early in de morning wid a load of cotton. Old man +Dick Corry had to stand in de boat jes' behind pa. Dey had two steermen. +So many rocks in de shallow water dat it kept de steermen busy dodging +rooks. Dey pushed de boat off de rocks wid long poles. Dey had to work +away from de rocks. Sometimes dey had to get out in de water and roll +some rocks from dere path if de water wasn't cold. + +"Wharever night caught dem, dar dey stopped and pitched a camp. Dey +fished and killed wild ducks or birds dat was plentiful den, and cooked +dem along wid bread and other things fetched from home. On de way from +Columbia dey had lots of store-bought things to eat. Store-bought things +was a treat den. Now ducks and things is a treat. Times sho changes +fast. + +"Spring was took up wid farming. Every man, white and black, had a +family back in dem days. Dat dey did, rich or poor, white or black, all +raised families. Men farmed and hauled manure and cleaned up de +plantation lots and fields and grubbed in de spring. Women cooked and +washed and ironed and spun and kept house and made everybody in de house +clothes, and made all de bed clothes. Dey stayed home all of de time. +Men got through work and set down at home wid deir wives and never run +around. Now all goes. Dat's all dey does dese days is go. + +"We had plenty of bread and milk and we raised hogs and killed all kinds +of wild things like turkey, ducks and birds, and caught fish. Men had +guns dat dey used every day, and dey hit things, too. Folks kept in +practice, wid guns and had shooting matches. + +"After dey stopped boating, wagons come in. Den things begin to change. +Dey still is changing. Wagons went to Spartanburg to take cotten. Folks +never went to Columbia no more. Spartanburg begin to grow and it sho +still is at it." + + Source: Bouregard Corry (N, 75), Rt. 2, Gaffney, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. (11/22/37). + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + CALEB CRAIG + EX SLAVE 86 YEARS OLD. + + +Caleb Craig lives in a four-room house, with a hall, eight feet wide, +through the center and a fireplace in each room. He lives with his +grandson, who looks after him. + +"Who I is? I goes by de name of C. C. All de colored people speaks of me +in dat way. C. C. dis and C. C. dat. I don't 'ject but my real name is +Caleb Craig. Named after one of de three spies dat de Bible tell 'bout. +Him give de favorite report and, 'cause him did, God feed him and clothe +him all de balance of him life and take him into de land of Canaan, +where him and Joshua have a long happy life. I seen a picture in a book, +one time, of Joshua and Caleb, one end of a pole on Joshua's shoulder +and one end on Caleb's shoulder, wid big bunches of grapes a hangin' +from dat pole. Canaan must to been a powerful fertile land to make +grapes lak dat. + +"Would you believe dat I can't write? Some of them adultery (adult) +teachers come to my house but it seem a pack of foolishness; too much +trouble. I just rather put my money in de bank, go dere when I want it, +set dat C. C. to de check, and git what I want. + +"When I born? Christmas Eve, 1851. Where 'bouts? Blackstock, S. C. Don't +none of us know de day or de place us was born. Us have to take dat on +faith. You know where de old Bell house, 'bove Blackstock, is? Dere's +where I come to light. De old stagecoach, 'tween Charlotte and Columbia, +changed hosses and stop dere but de railroad busted all dat up. + +"My mammy name Martha. Marse John soon give us chillun to his daughter, +Miss Marion. In dat way us separated from our mammy. Her was a mighty +pretty colored woman and I has visions and dreams of her, in my sleep, +sometime yet. My sisters would call me Cale but her never did. Her say +Caleb every time and all de time. Marse John give her to another +daughter of his, Miss Nancy, de widow Thompson then, but afterwards her +marry a hoss drover from Kentucky, Marse Jim Jones. I can tell you funny +things 'bout him if I has time befo' I go. + +"Us chillun was carried down to de June place where Miss Marion and her +husband, Marse Ed P. Mobley live. It was a fine house, built by old Dr. +June. Marse Ed bought de plantation, for de sake of de fine house, where +he want to take Miss Marion as a bride. + +"Dere was a whole passle of niggers in de quarter, three hundred or +maybe more. I didn't count them, 'cause I couldn't count up to a hundred +but I can now. Ten, ten, double ten, forty-five, and fifteen. Don't dat +make a hundred? Sho' it do. + +"Clothes? Too many dere, for to clothe them much. I b'long to de +shirt-tail brigade 'til I got to be a man. Why I use to plow in my +shirt-tail! Well, it wasn't so bad in de summer time and us had big +fires in de winter time, inside and outside de house, whenever us was +working'. 'Til I was twelve years old I done nothin' but play. + +"Money? Hell no! Excuse me, but de question so surprise me, I's caught +off my guard. Food? Us got farm produce, sich as corn-meal, bacon, +'lasses, bread, milk, collards, turnips, 'tators, peanuts, and punkins. + +"De overseer was Mr. Brown. My marster was much talked 'bout for workin' +us on Sunday. He was a lordly old fellow, as I 'member, but dere was +never anything lak plowin' on Sunday, though I do 'member de hands +workin' 'bout de hay and de fodder. + +"Marse Ed, a great fox hunter, kep' a pack of hounds. Sometime they run +deer. Old Uncle Phil was in charge of de pack. Him had a special dog for +to tree 'possums in de nighttime and squirrels in de daytime. Believe +me, I lak 'possum de best. You lak 'possum? Well, I'll git my grandson +to hunt you one dis comin' October. + +"Marse Ed didn't 'low patarollers (patrollers) on de June place. He tell +them to stay off and they knowed to stay off. + +"Slave drovers often come to de June place, just lak mule drovers and +hog drovers. They buy, sell, and swap niggers, just lak they buy, sell, +and swap hosses, mules, and hogs. + +"Us had preachin' in de quarters on Sunday. Uncle Dick, a old man, was +de preacher. De funerals was simple and held at night. De grave was dug +dat day. + +"A man dat had a wife off de place, see little peace or happiness. He +could see de wife once a week, on a pass, and jealousy kep' him +'stracted de balance of de week, if he love her very much. + +"I marry Martha Pickett. Why I marry her? Well, I see so many +knock-knee, box-ankle, spindly-shank, flat nose chillun, when I was +growin' up, dat when I come to choose de filly to fold my colts, I picks +one dat them mistakes wasn't so lakly to appear in. Us have five +chillun. Lucy marry a Sims and live in Winnsboro, S. C. Maggie marry a +Wallace and live in Charlotte, N. C. Mary marry a Brice and live in +Chester, S. C. Jane not married; she live wid her sister, Mag, in +Charlotte. John lives 'bove White Oak and farms on a large place I own, +not a scratch of pen against it by de government or a bank. + +"I live on 27 acres, just out de town of Winnsboro. I expects no +pension. My grandchillun come and go, back'ards and fo'ards, and tell me +'bout cities, and high falutin' things goin' on here and dere. I looks +them over sometime for to see if I didn't do sumpin' for deir figures, +in s'lectin' and marryin' Martha, dat's more important to them than de +land I'll leave them when I die. When Martha die, I marry a widow name +Eliza but us never generate any chillun. Her dead. Not 'nough spark in +me to undertake de third trip, though I still is a subject of 'tentions. + +"What 'bout Marse Ed and Marse Jim Jones? Well, you see, Marse Jim was +close wid his money. Marse Ed was a spender. I 'tend Marse Ed to a +chicken main once. Marse Jim rode up just as Marse Ed was puttin' up +$300.00 on a pile brass wing rooster, 'ginst a black breasted red war +hoss rooster, dat de McCarleys was backin'. Marse Ed lost de bet. But +him never told Marse Jim, dat befo' he rode up, him had won $500.00 from +them same men. After de main was over, Marse Jim, bein' brudder-in-law +to Marse Ed, rode home to dinner wid him. After dinner they was smokin' +deir cigars befo' de parlor fire dat I was 'viving up. Marse Jim lecture +Marse Ed for throwin' 'way money. Marse Ed stretch out his long legs and +say: 'Mr. Jones does you 'member dat day us 'tended de circus in Chester +and as us got to de top of de hill a blind begger held out his cup to us +and you put in a quarter?' Mr. Jones say he does 'member dat. Marse Ed +went on: 'Well, Mr. Jones, I had a dream last night. I dream us comin' +through de Cumberland Mountains wid a drove of mules from Kentucky. You +was ridin' a piebald hoss, de same one you rode into South Carolina de +fust time you come here. You had on a faded, frazzled grey shawl, 'bout +lak de one you had on today. Us was in front, de outriders behind, when +us got to de gap in de mountains. De drove stampede just as us git in de +gap. Us was both kilt. You got to heaven befo' I did. When I did git +dere, you was befo' de High Court. They examine you and turn over de +leaves of a big book and find very little dere to your credit. At last +they say, I think it was de 'Postle Peter dat ask de question. Him say: +'Everything is recorded in dis book. Us can find nothin'. Do you happen +to 'member anything you did to your credit down dere on earth?' Then you +stand up wid dat old shawl 'round your shoulders and say: 'Aha! I do +'member one thing. One day I was in Chester and put a quarter of a +dollar in a blind man's tin cup.' De 'postle then tell de recording +angel to see if him could find dat deed. Him turn over de leaves 'til +him found it on de page. Then de twelve 'postles retire and 'liberate on +your case. They come back and de judge pass sentence which was: 'The +sentence of de High Court is, that in view of your great love of money, +James Jones, it is de sentence of de court dat you be given back de +quarter you give de blind beggar in Chester and dat you, James Jones, be +sent immediate on your way to hell.' Then they both laugh over dat and +Marse Jim got real happy when he find out Marse Ed quit de main wid +$200.00 to de good." + + Address: + Caleb Craig, + Winnsboro, S. C. + + That part of the suburb of Winnsboro called "Mexico". Just east of the + Southern Railway Company and north of Winnsboro Cotton Mills. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + DINAH CUNNINGHAM + EX-SLAVE 84 YEARS OLD. + + +Dinah Cunningham lives about seven miles west of Ridgeway, S. C., on the +Hood place about a hundred yards off the old Devil's Race Track road. +She lives with her daughter and son-in-law and their three children. +They live in a two-room frame house with a shed room annex. In the +annex, Dinah and the smaller children sleep. They are kind to Dinah, who +is feeble and can do no farm labor. Dinah is as helpless about the home +as a child. + +"I's come up here 'bout seventeen miles for to let you see me. 'Spect +you don't see much in dis old worn out critter. Now does you? + +"Well, here I is, and I wants you white folks to help me, 'cause I's +served you from generation to generation. Wid de help of de Lord and +trustin' in Jesus de Lamb, I knows I's goin' to git help. When is they +gwine to start payin' off? I's heard them say how you got to be on de +roll and signed up befo' de fourth day of July. So here I is! + +"I was born de fust day of March, 1853, out from Ridgeway, sunrise side. +My marster was David Robertson and my mistress name Sally. Her was +mighty pretty. Her was a Rembert befo' she marry Marse Dave. They had +one child dat I was de nurse for and her name was Luray. Her marry Marse +Charlie Ray. + +"De onliest whippin' I got was 'bout dat child. I had de baby on de +floor on a pallet and rolled over on it. Her make a squeal like she was +much hurt and mistress come in a hurry. After de baby git quiet and go +to sleep, she said: 'Dinah, I hates to whip you but de Good Book say, +spare de rod and spoil de child.' Wid dat, she goes out and git a little +switch off de crepe myrtle bush and come back and took my left hand in +her left hand, dat had all de rings on de fingers, and us had it 'round +dat room. I make a big holler as she 'plied dat switch on dese very legs +dat you sees here today. They is big and fat now and can scarcely wobble +me 'long but then, they was lean and hard and could carry me 'long like +a deer in de woods. + +"My white folks was no poor white trash, I tells you! Good marse and +good mistress had heap of slaves and overseers. One overseer name Mr. +Welch. De buckra folks dat come visitin', use to laugh at de way he put +grease on his hair, and de way he scraped one foot back'ards on de +ground or de floor when they shake hands wid him. He never say much, but +just set in his chair, pull de sides of his mustache and say 'Yas sah' +and 'No sah', to them dat speak to him. He speak a whole lot though, +when he git down in de quarters where de slaves live. He wasn't like de +same man then. He woke everybody at daylight, and sometime he help de +patrollers to search de houses for to ketch any slaves widout a pass. + +"Us had all us need to eat, sich as was good for us. Marse like to see +his slaves fat and shiny, just like he want to see de carriage hosses +slick and spanky, when he ride out to preachin' at Ainswell and sometime +de Episcopal church at Ridgeway. My young mistress jine de Baptist +church after she marry, and I 'member her havin' a time wid sewin' +buckshots in de hem of de dress her was baptized in. They done dat, you +knows, to keep de skirt from floatin' on top of de water. You never have +thought 'bout dat? Well, just ask any Baptist preacher and he'll tell +you dat it has been done. + +"When de Yankees come, they went through de big house, tore up +everything, ripped open de feather beds and cotton mattresses, searchin' +for money and jewels. Then they had us slaves ketch de chickens, flung +open de smoke-house, take de meat, meal, flour, and put them in a +four-hoss wagon and went on down to Longtown. Them was scandlous days, +boss! I hope never to see de likes of them times wid dese old eyes +again. + +"I 'member 'bout de Ku Klux just one time, though I heard 'bout them a +heap. They come on de Robertson place all dressed up wid sheets and +false faces, ridin' on hossback, huntin' for a republican and a radical +nigger, (I forgits his name, been so long) but they didn't find him. +They sho' was a sight and liked to scared us all to death. + +"Was I ever married? Sure I was, I marry Mack Cunningham. Us was jined +in de holy wedlock by Marse Alex Matherson, a white trial justice. Ask +him and he'll tell you when it was. I's got some chillun by dat husband. +There is William at Charlotte, and Rosy at Ridgeway. Rosy, her marry a +man name Peay. Then there is Millie Gover at Rembert and Lila Brown at +Smallwood, de station where Marse Charlie Ray and my Mistress Luray was +killed by a railroad train runnin' into de automobile they was in. Then +there is my daughter, Delia Belton, at Ridgeway, and John L., a son +livin' and farmin' at Cedar Creek. + +"I b'longs to de Mt. Olivet Church dat you knows 'bout. White folks +comes there sometime for to hear de singin'. They say us can carry de +song better than white folks. Well, maybe us does love de Lord just a +little bit better, and what's in our mouth is in our hearts. + +"What you gwine to charge for all dat writin' you got down there? If you +writes much more maybe I ain't got enough money to pay for it. I got a +dollar here but if it's more than dat you'll have to wait on me for de +balance. You say it don't cost nothin'? Well, glory hallelujah for dat! +I'll just go 'round to de colored restaurant and enjoy myself wid beef +stew, rice, new potatoes, macaroni and a cup of coffee. I wonder what +they'll have for dessert. 'Spect it'll be some kind of puddin'. But I'd +be more pleased if you would take half of this dollar and go get you a +good dinner, too. I would like to please you dat much! + +"May de good Lord be a watch 'tween me and you 'til us meets again." + + + + + Project #-1655 + Phoebe Faucette + Hampton County + + FOLKLORE + + LUCY DANIELS + + +"Aunt Lucy is a tall well-built old woman who looks younger than her +years. She delights in talking, and was glad to tell what she knew about +the olden times. + +"I don't know how old I been when de war end. If I been in de world I +wasn't old enough to pick up nuthin'. Miss Lulie Bowers say I'll be 78 +first of March coming. Miss Lulie was my 'young Missus'. I love Miss +Lulie, and I thinks she thinks a heap of me--my young Missus, and her +father, my young Massa. He good to his darkies. He was a rich man--even +after de war. Miss Lulie say she was de only young lady that could go +off to college after de war. Miss Lulie help me powerful. She give me +shoes, and beddin. She and me grow up together. She is in de bed sick +now. I jes' come from dere. Had de doctor to see her. + +"I hear 'em tell 'bout how de soldiers burn 'em out. My mother would +tell me. My father had gone off to fight. Say dey'd tie de hams an' de +things on de saddle--and burn de expensive houses. White folks jes' had +to hide everything. She talk 'bout all de men was gone and de women had +to pile up, four or five in one house to protect deyselves. My father +say when dey been 'rough-few-gieing' (refugeeing) de Beaufort Bridge +been burn down. He say he been so hungry one time he stop to a old +lady's house and ask her for something to eat. She say she didn't have +nothing but some dry bread. He take de bread, but he say it been so +hard, he threw some of it away. But he say he so hungry he wish he +hadn't throw it away. It was a hard time. Used to have to weave cloth +and dye thread. Had a loom to weave on and a spinning wheel. My +grandmother say de Yankees come to her house and take everything, but +she say one little pullet run out in de weeds and hide and de soldiers +couldn't find her. She say dat pullet lay and hatch and dat how dey got +start off again. Dey scramble and dey raise us some how or another. + +"I had nine chillun for my first husband and one for my second husband. +I raise 'em all 'till dey grown; but all dead now 'cept three. My +husband died last year, I had to work for my chillun. But my second +husband, he help me wid 'em. + +"Dat's all I kin tell you, Miss. I don't remember so much. Chillun in +those days weren't so bright as dey is now, you know." + + Source: Lucy Daniels, 78 ex-slave, Luray, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Nov. 30, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + (John Davenport) + + +"My family belonged in slavery time to old Marse Pierce Lake who was de +Clerk of Court in town, or de Probate Judge. He lived at de old Campbell +Havird House and I lived dar wid him. My mother belonged to dis Lake +family and she was named Martha Lake. I don't know who my father was, +but I was told he was a white man. + +"We slaves had good enough quarters to live in, and dey give us plenty +to eat. De house I live in now is fair, but it has a bad roof. It is my +wife's chillun's place. My wife had it and left it to dem. She was Ellen +Gallman, a widow when I married her. Only my blind daughter now live wid +me. I was married five times and had eighteen chilluns by three wives. +Each of my wives died befo' I married agin. I didn't separate from any. +My mother's father lived wid Marse Lake. He and his wife come from +Virginia. + +"I was a boy in slavery and worked and piddled round de house. Sometimes +I had to work de corn or in de garden. We had plenty to eat. As de old +saying is, 'We lived at home and boarded at de same place.' We raised +everything we had to eat, vegetables, hogs, cows and de like. Marster +had a big garden, but he didn't let his slaves have any garden of deir +own. We made all our clothes, homespun. My mother used to spin at night +and work out all day; lots of niggers had to do dat. + +"Marse Lake was good to his niggers, but he had to whip dem sometimes, +when dey was mean. He had six or eight slaves, some on de upper place +and some on de home place. We got up at daylight and worked all day, +except for dinner lunch, till it was sundown. + +"We never worked at night in de fields. Sometimes Marse would have +corn-shuckings and de neighbors would come in and help catch up wid +shucking de corn; den dey would have something to eat. De young folks +would come, too, and help, and dey would dance and frolic. + +"I didn't learn to read and write. Marse never said anything about it. +My sister learned when some of de white women school teachers boarded at +Marse Lake's house. De teachers learn't my sister when she was de maid +of de house, and she could read and write good. Didn't have a school or +church on de plantation. Atter de war, some of de niggers started a +brush arbor. Befo' de war, some of us niggers had to come to town wid de +white folks and go to deir church and set in de gallery. + +"De patrollers was sometimes mean. If dey catch'd a nigger away from +home widout a pass dey sho whipped him, but dey never got any of us. Dey +come to our house once, but didn't git anybody. + +"We had to work all day Saturdays, but not Sundays. Sometimes de fellows +would slip off and hunt or fish a little on Sunday. Women would do +washing on Saturday nights, or other nights. We had three days holiday +when Christmas come, and we had plenty good things to eat, but we had to +cook it ourselves. De marster would give de chillun little pieces of +candy. + +"Chillun had games like marbles and anti-over. Dey played anti-over by a +crowd gitting on each side of de house and throwing a ball from one side +to de other. Whoever got de ball would run around on de other side and +hit somebody wid it; den he was out of de game. We never believed much +in ghosts or spooks. I never saw any. + +"Some of de folks had remedies for curing, like making hot tea from a +weed called 'bone-set'. Dat weed grows wild in de woods. It was good +for chills and fever. De tea is awful bitter. Little bags of asafetida +was used to hang around de little chillun's necks to ward off fever or +diptheria. + +"We used to call de cows on de plantation like dis: 'co-winch, +co-winch'. We called de mules like dis: 'co, co', and de hogs and pigs, +'pig-oo, pig-oo'. We had dogs on de place, too, to hunt wid. + +"When freedom come, de marster told us we could go away or stay on. Most +of us stayed on wid him. Soon atter dis, he got mad at me one day and +told me to git off de place. I come to town and stayed about two weeks, +piddling around to git along. I found out whar my mother was--she had +been sold and sent away. She was in Saluda (Old Town). I went to her and +stayed two weeks; den she come to Newberry and rented a little cabin on +Beaver Dam Creek, near Silver Street. + +"I remember hearing about de Yankees. When dey come through here dey +camped in town to keep order and peace. I remember de Ku Klux, too, how +some of 'em killed niggers. I voted in town on de Republican ticket. I +am still a Republican. None of my friends held office, but I remember +some of dem. Old Lee Nance was one, and he was killed by a white man. + +"Since de war, de niggers have worked mostly on farms, renting and +wage-hands. Some of dem have bought little places. Some moved to town +and do carpenter work, and others jes' piddle around. + +"Some of de dances de niggers had was, 'Jump Jim Crow'; one nigger would +jump up and down while tripping and dancing in de same spot. Some times +he say, 'Every time I jump, I jump Jim Crow.' We had what was called a +'Juber' game. He would dance a jig and sing, 'Juber this, Juber that, +Juber killed a yellow cat'. + +"I never thought much about Abraham Lincoln nor Jefferson Davis. Only +seed de pictures of dem. Reckon dey was all right. Don't know nothing +about Booker Washington, neither. + +"I was 25 years old when I joined de church. I joined because I thought +I ought to, people preaching Christ and him crucified; and I thought I +ought to do right. Think everybody ought to join de church and be +religious. + +"What I think of de present generation is hard to say. Dey is not like +de old people was. De old generation of chilluns could be depended on, +but de present niggers can't be. + +"No, de slaves never expected anything when de war was over, dem in de +neighborhood didn't. Some say something about gitting 40 acres of land +and a mule, but we never expected it. None ever got anything, not even +money from de old marsters or anybody." + + Source: John N. Davenport (N, 89), Newberry, S. C. RFD + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (11/3/37) + + + + + Project 1886-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + June 8, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born, March 10, 1848, on Little River in Newberry county, S. C. +My master in slavery time was Gilliam Davenport. He was good to his +slaves, not strict; good to his cattle, and expected his negroes to be +good to them. But he was quick to resent anything from outsiders who +crossed his path. + +"All that part of the country was good for hunting. The deer, fox, and +wild turkey have gone; though a few years ago, some men brought some +foxes there and turned them loose, thinking they would breed, but they +gradually disappeared. The kildees were many. That was a sign of good +weather. When they flew high and around in a circle, it was a sign of +high winds. + +"Fishing in the rivers was much done. They fished with hooks on old-time +canes. They had fish baskets, made of wooden splits, with an opening at +the end like the wire baskets now used. If they were set anytime, day or +night, a few hours afterwards would be enough time to catch some fish. + +"An old sign was: when the youngest child sweeps up the floor, somebody +was coming to see you. If a dish-rag was dropped on the floor, somebody +was coming who would be hungry." + + Source: Moses Davenport (89), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (5/10/37) + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1886-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, July 28, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + CHARLIE DAVIS + Ex-Slave, 88 Years + + +"I couldn' tell how old I is only as I ask my old Massa son en he tell +me dat I was born ahead of him cause he had de day put down in he family +book. I had one of dem slavery bible, but I have a burnin out so many +times dat it done been burn up. I belong to Mr. George Crawford people. +Mr. George de one what die up here one of dem other year not far back. +Dey who been my white folks." + +"I can tell you a good deal bout what de people do in slavery time en +how dey live den, but I can' tell you nothin bout no jump about things. +My Massa didn' 'low us to study bout none of dem kind of frolickings in +dat day en time." + +"I gwine tell you it just like I experience it in dem days. We chillun +lived well en had plenty good ration to eat all de time cause my mammy +cook for she Missus dere to de big house. All she chillun lived in a one +room house right dere in de white folks yard en eat in de Missus big +kitchen every day. Dey give my mammy en she chillun just such things as +de white folks had to eat like biscuit en cake en ham en coffee en +hominy en butter en all dat kind of eatin. Didn' have no need to worry +bout nothin 'tall. My Massa had a heap of other colored peoples dere +besides we, but dey never live dat way. Dere been bout 80 of dem dat +live up in de quarter just like you see dese people live to de sawmill +dese days. Dey live mighty near like us, but didn' have no flour bread +to eat en didn' get no milk en ham neither cause dey eat to dey own +house. Didn' get nothin from de dairy but old clabber en dey been mighty +thankful to get dat. Oh, dey had a pretty good house to live in dat was +furnish wid dey own things dat dey make right dere. Den dey had a garden +of dey own. My Massa give every one of he plantation family so much of +land to plant for dey garden en den he give em every Saturday for dey +time to tend dat garden. You see dey had to work for de white folks all +de other week day en dey know when dey hear dat cow horn blow, dey had +to do what de overseer say do. Never couldn' go off de place widout dey +get a mit (permit) from de overseer neither else dey tore up when dey +come back. No 'mam, didn' dare to have nothin no time. Didn' 'low you to +go to school cause if you was to pick up a book, you get bout 100 lashes +for dat. No 'mam, didn' have no church for de colored peoples in dem +days. Just had some of dese big oaks pile up one on de other somewhe' in +de woods on dat whe' we go to church. One of de plantation mens what had +more learnin den de others was de one what do de preachin dere." + +"My Massa wasn' never noways scraggeble to he colored peoples. Didn' cut +em for every kind of thing, but I is see him beat my stepfather one time +cause he run away en stay in de woods long time. Oh, he beat him wid a +switch or a stick or anything like dat he could get hold of." + +"Didn' never know nothin bout doing no hard work in us chillun days. +When I was a boy, I mind de crows out de field. Oh, crows was terrible +bout pickin up peoples corn in times back dere. You see if dey let de +crows eat de corn up, dey had to go to de trouble of planting it all +over again en dat how-come dey send we chillun in de field to mind de +crows off it. We just holler after em en scare em dat way. Crows was +mighty worser in dem days den dey is dis day en time." + +"I sho remembers when freedom was declare cause I was bout 16 year old +den. When dem Yankees talk bout comin round, my Massa take all we +colored boys en all he fast horses en put em back in de woods to de +canebrake to hide em from de Yankees. It been many a year since den, but +I recollects dat we was settin dere lookin for de Yankees to get as any +minute. Wasn' obliged to make no noise neither. Oh, we had big chunk of +lightwood en cook meat en hoecake en collards right dere in de woods. +Den my Massa take one of dem oldest plantation boys to de war wid him en +ain' nobody never hear tell of him no more. He name Willie. O my Lord, +when dey hear talk bout de Yankees comin, dey take all de pots en de +kettles en hide em in holes in de fields en dey put dey silver bout some +tree so dey know whe' dey bury it. Den dey hide de meat en de corn to de +colored peoples house en when dey hear talk of de Yankees gwine away, +dey go en get em again. Dem Yankees never destroy nothin bout dere, but +dey is make my Massa give em a cart of corn en a middlin of meat. +Yes'um, I look at dem Yankees wid me own eyes. Dey was all dressed up in +a blue uniform en dey was just as white as you is. Oh, dey said a lot of +things. Say dey was gwine free de niggers en if it hadn' been for dem, +we would been slaves till yet. Coase I rather be free den a slave, but +we never have so much worryations den as people have dese days. When we +get out of clothes en get sick in dat day en time, we never had to do +nothin but go to us Massa. Now, we have to look bout every which a way." + +"My Massa ask my mother was she gwine live with him any longer after +freedom was declare en she say she never have no mind to leave dere. We +live on dere for one year en den we studied to get another place. I +believes heap of dem white folks died just on account of us get freed. +Dey never didn' want us to be free." + +"I heard a 'oman say somebody had conjured her, but I don' believe in +none of dat. I knows I got to die some of dese days en dat might come +before me. I don' bother wid none of dat kind of thing, but I'll tell +you bout what I has experience. I had two dogs dere en somebody poison +em cause dey tell me somebody do dat. Oh, I know dey was poison. De +police say de dog was poison. A 'oman do it dat had chillun what was +afraid of my dog en dat how-come she poison it. I sho think she done it +cause it just like dis, anything peoples tell me, I believes it." + +"I have seen dem things peoples say is a ghost when I was stayin here to +Lake View. I plant a garden side de road en one night I hear somethin en +I look out en dere was a great big black thing in me garden dat was +makin right for de house. I call me wife en tell her to look yonder. De +thing was comin right to de house en my wife hurry en light up de lamp. +I hear de peoples say if you didn' light up de lamp when you see a +spirit, dat it would sho come in en run you out. I had done paid some +money on de place but after I see dat thing, I didn' have no mind to +want it. Had de best garden en chickens dere I ever had, but I never +bother no worry bout dat. Just pick right up en leave dere to come here +en I been here ever since. I knows dat been somethin come dere to scare +me out dat house. Dat ain' been nothin else but a spirit. Ain' been +nothin else." + + Source: Charlie Davis, age 88, colored, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview, July 1937. + + + + + Project #1655 + Henry Grant + Columbia, S. C. + + CHARLIE DAVIS'S MUSINGS. + + +Charlie Davis, now seventy-nine years old, was a small boy when the +slaves were freed. He lives alone in one room on Miller's Alley, +Columbia, S. C., and is healthy and physically capable of self-support. + +"I has been wonderin' what you wanted to talk to dis old nigger 'bout +since I fust heard you wanted to see me. I takes it to be a honor for a +white gentleman to desire to have a conversation wid me. Well, here I +is, and I bet I's one of de blackest niggers you's seen for a season. +Somehow, I ain't 'shame of my color a-tall. If I forgits I is dark +complected, all I has to do is to look in a glass and in dere I sho' +don't see no white man. + +"Boss, I is kinda glad I is a black man, 'cause you knows dere ain't +much expected of them nowhow and dat, by itself, takes a big and heavy +burden off deir shoulders. De white folks worries too much over dis and +over dat. They worries 'cause they ain't got no money and, when they +gits it, they worries agin 'cause they is 'fraid somebody is gwine to +steal it from them. Yes, sir, they frets and fumes 'cause they can't +'sociate wid big folks and, when they does go wid them, they is bothered +'cause they ain't got what de big folks has got. + +"It ain't dat way wid most niggers. Nothin' disturbs them much, 'cept a +empty stomach and a cold place to sleep in. Give them bread to eat and +fire to warm by, then, hush your mouth; they is sho' safe then! De +'possum in his hollow, de squirrel in his nest, and de rabbit in his +bed, is at home. So, de nigger, in a tight house wid a big hot fire, in +winter, is at home, too. + +"Some sort of ease and comfort is 'bout what all people, both white and +black, is strivin' for in dis world. All of us laks dat somethin' called +'tentment, in one way or de other. Many white folks and some darkies +thinks dat a pile of money, a fine house to live in, a 'spensive +'motorbile, fine clothes, and high 'ciety, is gwine to give them dat. +But, when they has all dis, they is still huntin' de end of de rainbow a +little ahead of them. + +"Is de black man nervous or is he natchally scary? Well, sir, I is gwine +to say yes and no to dat. A nigger gits nervous when he hears somethin' +he don't understand and scared when he sees somethin' he can't make out. +When he gits sho' 'nough scared, he moves right then, not tomorrow. Lak +de wild animals of de woods, he ain't 'fraid of de dark, much, if he is +movin' 'bout, but when he stops, no house is too tight for him, in +summer or winter. If he sees a strange and curious sight at night, he +don't have to ask nobody what to do, 'cause he knows dat he has foots. +It is good-bye wid old clothes, bushes, and fences, when them foots gits +to 'tendin' to deir business. When you hears a funny and strange noise +and sees a curious and bad sight, I b'lieves you fust git nervous and +then dat feelin' grows stronger fas', 'til you git scared. I knows de +faster I moves, de slower I gits scared. + +"From my age now, you can tell dat I was mighty little in slavery time. +All I knows 'bout them terrible times is what I has heard. I come pretty +close to them ticklish times, but I can't help from thinkin', even now, +dat I missed a 'sperience in slavery time dat would be doin' me good to +dis very day. Dere ain't no doubt dat many a slave learnt good lessons +dat showed them how to work and stay out of de jail or poorhouse, dat's +worth a little. + +"I has heard my mammy say dat she b'long to de Wyricks dat has a big +plantation in de northwestern part of Fairfield County and dat my daddy +b'long to de Graddicks in de northern part of Richland County. Dese two +plantations was just across de road from each other. Mammy said dat de +patrollers was as thick as flies 'round dese plantations all de time, +and my daddy sho' had to slip 'round to see mammy. Sometime they would +ketch him and whip him good, pass or no pass. + +"De patrollers was nothin' but poor white trash, mammy say, and if they +didn't whip some slaves, every now and then, they would lose deir jobs. +My mammy and daddy got married after freedom, 'cause they didn't git de +time for a weddin' befo'. They called deirselves man and wife a long +time befo' they was really married, and dat is de reason dat I's as old +as I is now. I reckon they was right, in de fust place, 'cause they +never did want nobody else 'cept each other, nohow. Here I is, I has +been married one time and at no time has I ever seen another woman I +wanted. My wife has been dead a long time and I is still livin' alone. +All our chillun is scattered 'bout over de world somewhere, and dat +somewhere is where I don't know. They ain't no help to me now, in my old +age. But, I reckon they ain't to be blamed much, 'cause they is young, +full of warm blood and thinks in a different way from de older ones. +Then, too, I 'spects they thinks deir old daddy would kinda be in deir +way, and de best thing for them to do is to stay away from me. I don't +know, it just seems lak de way of de world. + +"I come from de Guinea family of niggers, and dat is de reason I is so +small and black. De Guinea nigger don't know nothin', 'cept hard work, +and, for him to be so he can keep up wid bigger folks, he has to turn +'round fas'. You knows dat if you puts a little hog in a pen wid big +hogs, de little one has got to move 'bout in a hurry amongst de big +ones, to git 'nough to eat, and de same way wid a little person, they +sho' has to hustle for what they gits. I has no head for learnin' what's +in books, and if I had, dere wasn't no schools for to learn dat head, +when I come 'long. I has made some money, 'long through de years, but +never knowed how to save it. Now I is so old dat I can't make much, and +so, I just live somehow, dat's all. + +"President Roosevelt has done his best to help de old, poor, and +forgotten ones of us all, every color and race, while dis 'pression has +been gwine on in dis country. Is us gwine to git dis new pension what is +gwine 'bout, or is dat other somebody gwine to think he needs it worser +than us does? Dat's de question what 'sorbs my mind most, dese days. I +don't need much, and maybe I don't deserve nothin', but I sho' would lak +to git hold of dat little dat's 'tended for me by dat man up yonder in +Washington. (Roosevelt) + +"Does I b'lieve in spirits and hants? My answer to dat question is dis: +'Must my tremblin' spirit fly into a world unknown?' When a person goes +'way from dis world, dere they is, and dere they is gwine to stay, 'til +judgment." + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, January 21, 1938 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + HEDDIE DAVIS + Ex-Slave, 72 Years + + +Lizzie Davis sends word for Heddie Davis to come over to her little +shack to join in the conversation about old times and Heddie enters the +room with these words: "Sis, I gwine hug your neck. Sis, I did somethin +last night dat I oughtn't done en I can' hardly walk dis mornin. Pulled +off my long drawers last night en never had none to change wid. I can' +bear to get down en pray or nothin like dat, my knee does ache me so +bad. I gwine up town yonder en get some oil of wintergreen en put on it. +Yes'um, dat sho a good thing to strike de pain cause I heard bout dat +long years ago. Sis, ain' you got no coffee nowhe' dis mornin? God +knows, de Lord sho gwine bless you, Sis." + +"What honey? No'um, I won' here in slavery time. I was just tereckly +after it. Well, I come here a Lewis, but I inherited de Davis name when +I married. Old man Peter Lewis was my daddy, en my mother--she was a +North Carolina woman. Oh, I heard dat man talk bout de old time war so +much dat I been know what was gwine fly out his mouth time he been have +a mind to spit it out. My daddy, he belonged to de old man Evans Lewis +en he been de one his boss pick to carry to de war wid him. Yes'um, he +stayed up dere to Fort Sumter four years a fightin en hoped shoot dem +old Yankee robbers. My old man, he had one of dem old guns en I give it +to his brother Jimmie. He lives way up yonder to de north en he carried +dat gun wid him just cause I give it to him, he say. He marry my younger +sister en she grayer den I is. Think dey say dey lives to Rockingham, +North Carolina. Yes, honey, my daddy was sho in dat wash out dere to +Fort Sumter. Lord, have mercy, I never hear tell of crabs en shrimps in +all my life till my daddy come back en tell bout a old woman would be +gwine down de street, dere to Charleston, cryin, 'Shrimps, more +shrimps.' But, my Lord, I can' half remember nothin dese days. If I had +de sense I used to have, I would give de Lord de praise. Honey, he said +a lot of stuff bout de war. Told a whole chance of somethin. Tell us +bout de parade en everything, but I is forgetful now en I just can' +think. De Bible say dat in de course of your life, you will be forgetful +in dat how I is. Just can' think like I used to. You see, I gwine in 70 +now. + +"Oh, I was born dere to Mullins in January on de old man Evans Lewis' +plantation. Den we moved dere to de Mark Smith place after freedom +settle here. Dat long high man, dat who been us boss. His wife was name +Sallie en de place was chock full of hands. No, mam, my white folks +didn' care bout no quarter on dey plantation. Colored people just +throwed 'bout all over de place. Oh, I tell you, it was a time cause de +niggers was dere, plenty of dem. Some of dey house was settin side de +road, some over in dat corner, some next de big house en so on like dat +all over de place. Oh, dey lived all right, I reckon. Never didn' hear +dem say dey got back none. Hear dey live den better den de people lives +now. Oh, yes'um, I hear my parents say de white folks was good to de +colored people in slavery time. Didn' hear tell of nobody gettin nothin +back on one another neither. No, child, didn' never hear tell of nothin +like dat. Seems like de people don' work dese days like dey used to +nohow. Well, dey done somethin of everything in dat day en time en work +bout all de time. Ain' nobody workin much to speak bout dese days cause +dey walks bout too much, I say. I tell you, when I been a child gwine to +school, soon as I been get home in de evenin en hit dat door-step, I had +to strip en put on my everyday clothes en get to work. Had to pick up +wood en potatoes in de fall or pick cotton. Had to do somethin another +all de time, but never didn' nobody be obliged to break dey neck en +hurry en get done in dem days. Chillun just rushes en plays too much +dese days, I say. No, Lord, I don' want to rush no time. I tellin you, +when I starts to Heaven, I want to take my time gettin dere. + +"Lord, child, I sho hope I gwine to Heaven some of dese days cause old +Satan been ridin me so tough in dis here world, I ain' see no rest since +I been know bout I had two feet. My husband, he treat me so mean, if he +ain' in Heaven, he in de other place, I say. Den all dem chillun, Lord a +mercy, dey will kill you. I raised all mine by myself en I tell you, +dey took de grease out of me. + +"My daddy, he was a prayin man. Lord knows, he was a prayin man. Seems +like de old people could beat de young folks a prayin up a stump any +day. I remember, my daddy come here to de white people church to +Tabernacle one night en time dem people see him, dey say, 'Uncle Peter, +de Lord sho send you cause ain' nobody but you can pray dese sinners out +of hell here tonight.' God knows dat man could sing en pray. Lord, he +could pray. Oh, darlin child, dat man prayed bout all de time. Prayed +every mornin en every night en when us would come out de field at 12 +o'clock, us had to hear him pray fore he ever did allow us to eat near a +morsel. Sis, I remember one day, when dey first started we chillun a +workin in de field, I come to de house 12 o'clock en I was so hungry, I +was just a poppin. God knows, people don' serve de Lord like dey used +to." + +"Sis, you wants dat one patch, too. Lord Jesus, dere ain' no limit to +dis one. Sis, I must be come here on Saturday cause everywhe' I goes, I +has to work. Hear talk, if you born on a Saturday, you gwine have to +work hard for what you get all your days. I been doin somethin ever +since I been big enough to know I somebody. Remember de first thing I +ever do for a white woman. Ma come home en say, 'Heddie, get up in de +mornin en wash your face en hands en go up to Miss Rogers en do +everything just like she say do.' I been know I had to do dat, too, +cause if I never do it, I know I would been whip from cane to cane. +When I got dere, I open de gate en look up en dere been de new house en +dere been de old one settin over dere what dey been usin for de kitchen +den. I won' thinkin bout nothin 'cept what Miss Rogers was gwine say en +when I been walk in dat gate, dere a big bulldog flew up in my head. I +stop en look at him en dat dog jump en knock me windin en grabbed my +foot in his mouth. Yes'um, de sign dere yet whe' he gnawed me. White +folks tell me I been do wrong. Say, don' never pay no attention to a dog +en dey won' bother up wid you. But, honey, dat dog had a blue eye en a +pink eye. Ain' never see a dog in such a fix since I been born. I tell +you, if you is crooked, white folks will sho straighten you out. Dat dog +taught me all I is ever wanted to know. Lord, Miss Mary, I been love dat +woman. De first time I ever see her, she say, 'You ain' got no dress to +wear to Sunday School, I gwine give you one.' Yes, mam, Miss Mary dress +me up en de Lord knows, I ain' never quit givin her de praise yet. + +"Yes'um, de Yankees, I hear my daddy talk bout when dey come through old +Massa's plantation en everything what dey do. Say, dere was a old woman +dat was de cook to de big house en when dem Yankees come dere dat +mornin, white folks had her down side de cider press just a whippin her. +Say, de Yankees took de old woman en dressed her up en hitched up a +buggy en made her set up in dere. Wouldn' let de white folks touch her +no more neither. Oh, de place was just took wid dem, he say. What dey +never destroy, dey carried off wid dem. Oh, Lord a mercy, hear talk dere +was a swarm of dem en while some of dem was in de house a tearin up, +dere was a lot of dem in de stables takin de horses out. Yes'um, some +was doin one thing en some another. En Pa tell bout dey had de most +sense he ever did see. Hitched up a cart en kept de path right straight +down in de woods en carted de corn up what de white folks been hide down +dere in de canebrake. Den some went in de garden en dug up a whole lot +of dresses en clothes. En dere was a lady in de house sick while all dis +was gwine on. Oh, dey was de worst people dere ever was, Pa say. Took +all de hams en shoulders out de smokehouse en like I tell you, what dey +never carried off, dey made a scaffold en burned it up. Lord, have +mercy, I hopes I ain' gwine never have to meet no Yankees." + + Source: Heddie Davis, colored, age 72, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Jan., 1938. + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + HENRY DAVIS + EX-SLAVE 80 YEARS OLD. + + +Henry Davis is an old Negro, a bright mulatto, who lives in a two-room +frame house on the farm of Mr. Amos E. Davis, about two miles southwest +of Winnsboro, S. C. + +In the house with him, are his wife, Rosa, and his grown children, +Roosevelt, Utopia, and Rose. They are day laborers on the farm. At this +period, Henry picks about seventy-five pounds of cotton a day. His +children average one hundred and fifty pounds each. The four together +are thus enabled to gather about five hundred and twenty-five pounds per +day, at the rate of sixty-five cents per hundred. This brings to the +family, a daily support of $3.41. This is seasonal employment, however; +and, as they are not a provident household, hard times come to Henry and +his folks in the winter and early summer. + +"I was born on de old Richard Winn plantation dat my master, Dr. W. K. +Turner, owned and lived on. I was born de year befo' him marry Miss +Lizzie Lemmon, my mistress in slavery time. + +"My mother was name Mary and took de name of Davis, 'cause befo' freedom +come, her was bought by my master, from Dr. Davis, near Monticello. + +"I had a good many marsters and mistresses. Miss Minnie marry Dr. +Scruggs. Miss Anna marry Mr. Dove. Miss Emma marry Mr. Jason Pope. Marse +Willie K. marry a Miss Carroll up in York, S. C., and Marse Johnnie +marry Miss Essie Zealy. My brothers and sisters was Minton, Ike, Martha, +and Isabella. + +"Who I marry and all 'bout it? How come you want to know dat? I 'clare! +You think dat gwine to loosen me up? Well, I marry de 'Rose of Sharon' +or I calls her dat when I was sparkin' her, though she was a Lemmon. Her +was name Rose Lemmon. Lots of times she throw dat in my face, 'Rose of +Sharon' when things go wrong. Then her git uppish and sniff, 'Rose of +Sharon, my eye! You treats me lak I was a dogwood rose on de hillside or +worse than dat, lak I was a Jimson weed or a rag weed.' + +"My mammy and us chillun live in de yard not far from de kitchen. My +mammy do de washin' and ironin'. Us chillun did no work. I ride 'round +most of de time wid de doctor in his buggy and hold de hoss while he +visit de patients. Just set up in de buggy and wait 'til him git ready +to go to another place or go home. + +"I 'member de Yankees comin' and searchin' de house, takin' off de cows, +mules, hosses, and burnin' de gin-house and cotton. They say dat was +General Sherman's orders. They was 'lowed to leave de dwellin' house +standin', in case of a doctor or preacher. + +"Miss Lizzie had a whole lot of chickens. Her always keep de finest +pullets. She make pies and chicken salad out of de oldest hens. Dat +February de Yankees got here, she done save up 'bout fifty pullets dat +was ready to lay in March. A squad of Yankees make us chillun ketch +every one and you know how they went 'way wid them pullets? They tie two +on behind, in de rings of de saddle. Then they tie two pullets together +and hang them on de saddle pommel, one on each side of de hosses neck. +Dat throw them flankin' de hosses withers. I 'members now them gallopin' +off, wid them chickens flutterin' and hollerin' whare, whare, whare, +whare, whare! + +"After slavery time, us live on de Turner place nigh onto thirty years +and then was de time I go to see Rosa and court and marry her. Her folks +b'long to de Lemmons and they had stayed on at de Lemmon's place. De +white folks of both plantations 'courage us to have a big weddin'. Her +white folks give her a trousseau and mine give me a bedstead, cotton +mattress, and two feather pillows. Dat was a mighty happy day and a +mighty happy night for de 'Rose of Sharon'. Her tells young niggers +'bout it to dis day, and I just sets and smokes my pipe and thinks of +all de days dat am passed and gone and wonder if de nex' world gwine to +bring us back to youth and strength to 'joy it, as us did when Rose and +me was young. + +"Does I 'members anything 'bout patrollers? 'Deed, I do! Marster didn't +'ject to his slaves gwine to see women off de place. I hear him say so, +and I hear him tell more than once dat if he ever hear de patrollers a +comin' wid blood hounds, to run to de lot and stick his foots in de mud +and de dogs wouldn't follow him. Lots of run'ways tried it, I heard, and +it proved a success and I don't blame them dogs neither." + + + + + Project #1655 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + JESSE DAVIS + EX-SLAVE 85 YEARS OLD. + + +Jesse Davis, one of the fast disappearing landmarks of slavery times, +lives with his wife and son, in one of the ordinary two-room frame +houses that dot, with painful monotony, the country farms of white +landowners. The three attempt to carry on a one-horse farm of forty +acres, about thirty acres in cotton and the remainder in corn. The +standard of living is low. Jesse is cheerful, his wife optimistic with +the expression that the Lord will provide, and their son dutiful and +hopeful of the harvest. Their home is about ten miles southwest of +Winnsboro, in the Horeb section of Fairfield County. + +"Dere is some difficulty 'bout my age. Nigh as I can place it, I was +born befo' de Civil War. I 'members 'tendin' to and milkin' de cows, and +keepin' de calf off, drawin' water out de well, and bringin' in wood to +make fires. I 'spects I's eighty-five, mountin' up in years. + +"I lives on Mr. Eber Mason's place wid one of my chillun, a son name +Mingo. Us all work on de place; run a farm on shares. I can't do much +work and can't support myself. It's mighty hard to be 'pendent on others +for your daily rations, even if them others is your own bone and flesh. +I'd 'preciate sumpin' to help my son and wife carry on. Dats why I wants +a pension. Do you 'spect God in His mercy will hear de prayer of dis +feeble old believer? I don't beg people but de Bible give me a right to +beg God for my daily bread. De Good Book say: 'Take no consarnment 'bout +your raiment'. You can see from what I's got on, dat me nor nobody else, +is much consarned 'bout dis raiment. + +"My mammy b'long to de Smiths. My master was Dr. Ira Smith. My mistress +was him wife, Miss Sarah. Deir chillun was: Marse Gad, Marse Jim, and +Marse Billie. Marse Jim was de baker of dis town all his life, after de +way of old-time oven-cookin', 'til Boy bread and Claussen bread wagons +run him out of business. Him is now on de 'lief roll and livin' in de +old McCreight house, de oldest house in Winnsboro. + +"Dere was my young misses, Miss Lizzie and Miss Lennie. My mammy name +Sarah, just lak old mistress name Sarah. Her b'long to marster and +mistress but my pappy no b'long to them. Him b'long to de big bugs, de +Davis family. Him was name Mingo, and after slavery him and all us take +de name, de secon' name, Davis, and I's here today, Jesse Davis. See how +dat work out to de name? Good Book again say: 'Good name better than +riches; sweeter to de ear than honey-comb to de tongue.' + +"You is well 'quainted wid Marse Amos Davis, ain't you? Well, his people +was pappy's people. I had a brudder name Gabriel, tho' they called him +Gabe. Another one name Chap; he got kilt while clearin' up a new ground. +Sister Fannie marry a Ashford nigger. Marse Ira, de doctor, have a +plantation near Jenkinsville, S. C. + +"When de Yankees come thru, they come befo' de main army. They gallop +right up, jump down and say: 'Hold dese hosses! Open dat smoke-house +door!' They took what they could carry 'way. 'Bout dat time marster rode +up from a sick call him been 'tendin' to. Course you know him was a +doctor. They surround him, take his watch, money, and hoss, and ride +'way. + +"De main army come nex' day, Saturday mornin' 'bout 8 o'clock. They +spread deir tents and stay and camp 'til Monday mornin'. When they leave +they carry off all de cows, hogs, mules, and hosses. Then they have us +ketch de chickens, got them all, 'cept one old hen dat run under de +house, and they didn't wait to git her. Marster have to go 'way up to +Union County, where him have kin folks, to git sumpin' to eat. + +"My marster was not big rich lak de Davises, de Means, and de Harpers, +but him have all them people come to see him. Him know a heap of things +dat they 'preciate. De way to dye cloth was one of dese secrets. Marster +have a madder bed. Him take de roots of dat madder put them in de sun +just lak you put out pieces of apples and peaches to make dried fruit. +When them roots git right dry, him have them ground up fine as +water-ground meal. He put de fine dust in a pot and boil it. When he +want red cloth, he just drop de cloth in dat pot and it come out all red +to suit you. Want it blue, him have a indigo patch for dat. + +"I never hear anything 'bout alum dese days. Well, de slaves could take +peach tree leaves and alum and make yellow cloth and old cedar tops and +copperas and make tan cloth. Walnut stain and copperas and make any +cloth brown. Sweet-gum bark and copperas and make any cloth a purple +color. I 'member goin' wid one into de woods to git barks. One day old +marster come 'cross a slippery elm tree. Him turn and command me to say +right fast: 'Long, slim, slick saplin' and when I say long, slim, sick +slaplin', him 'most kill hisself laughin'. You try dat now! You find it +more harder to say than you think it is. Him give me a piece of dat bark +to chew and I run at de mouth lak you see a hoss dat been on de range of +wild clover all night and slobberin' at da bits. + +"Yes sah, I b'longs to de church! My wife and son, Mingo, just us three +in de house and de whole household jined de Morris Creek Baptist Church. +What's my favorite song? None better than de one dat I'll h'ist right +now. Go ahead? I thanks you. Listen: + + 'Am I born to die + To lay dis body down + A charge to keep I have + A God to glorify.' + +"You lak dat? Yes? You is praisin' me too highly I 'spect, but since you +lak dat one just listen at dis one; maybe you change your mind, 'cause +I's gwine to h'ist it a wee bit higher and put more of de spiritual in +it. Ready? Yes? I stand up dis time. + + 'All de medicine you may buy + All de doctors you may try + Ain't gonna save you from de tomb + Some day you got to lay down and die. + De blood of de Son can only + Save you from de doom! + Some day you got to lay down and die.' + +"You lak dat one? You just ought to hear my wife, Mingo, and Me, singin' +dat 'round de fire befo' us go to bed. + +"Well, I'll toddle 'long now. Good-bye." + + + + + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, February 4, 1938 + + LIZZIE'S 'SPONSIBILITY + + + I. + +The first scene of "Lizzie's 'Sponsibility" is that of the small, one +room dwelling place of Lizzie Davis, aged colored woman of Marion, S. C. +A disorderly, ill-lighted, crudely furnished room, saturated with the +odor of food. Behind the front door stands a gayly colored iron bed, +over which is thrown a piece of oilcloth to keep the rain from leaking +on it. In the center of the room are several little quaint home-made +stools and two broken rockers, while in one corner sits a roughly +finished kitchen table, the dumping place of all small articles. Still +in another corner, almost hidden from sight in the darkness, is the dim +outline of an old trunk gaping open with worn out clothing, possibly the +gift of some white person. A big fireplace in one side of the wall not +only furnishes heat for the little room, but also serves as a cooking +place for Lizzie to prepare her meals. On its hearth sits a large iron +kettle, spider, and griddle, relics of an earlier day. The room is dimly +lighted by the fire and from two small doors, together with a few tiny +streaks that peep through at various cracks in the walls and top of +house. + +It is about 9 o'clock on a cold, drizzly morning in January, 1938. The +little two room house, in which Lizzie rents one room for herself, +displays an appearance of extreme coldness and dilapidation, as a +visitor approaches the doorway on this particular morning. It is with +somewhat of an effort that the visitor finally reaches the barred door +of Lizzie's room, after making a skip here and there to keep from +falling through the broken places in the little porch and at the same +time trying to dodge the continual dripping of the rain through numerous +crevices in the porch roof. Within is the sound of little feet scuffling +about on the floor, the chatter of tiny children mixed with mumblings +from Lizzie, and the noise of chairs and stools being roughly shoved +about on the floor. + +A rap on the door brings Lizzie, crippled up since she was twelve years +of age, hobbling to the door. Taking her walking stick, she lifts the +latch gently and the door opens slightly. A gray head appears through +the crack of the door and Lizzie, peeping out from above her tiny rim +spectacles, immediately recognizes her visitor. She offers her usual +cheerful greeting and begins hastily to push the large wooden tubs from +the door to make room for her visitor to enter, though it is with +unusual hesitancy that she invites her guest to come in on this +occasion. + +Lizzie--Come in, Miss Davis. I feelin right smart dis mornin. How you +been keepin yourself? Miss Davis, I regrets you have to find things so +nasty up in here dis mornin, but all dis rainy weather got me obliged to +keep dese old tubs settin all bout de floor here to try en catch up de +water what drips through dem holes up dere. See, you twist your head up +dat way en you can tell daylight through all dem cracks. Dat how I know +when it bright enough to start to stir myself on a mornin. + +Yes'um, I tell Miss Heddie here de other day dat I had promise you I was +gwine study up some of dem old time songs to give you de next time you +come back. Miss Heddie, she lookin to a right sharp age, I say. Yes'um, +she been here a time, honey. I tell her to be gettin her dogs together +cause I was sho gwine point her out to you de next time I see you. + +I tell you, Miss Davis, I got a 'sponsibility put on me here to look +after all dese chillun. Yes'um, it sho a 'sponsibility cause I think +dere five of dem dere, en it de truth in de Lord sight, dey has me +settin up so straight to keep a eye on dem dat I can' never settle my +mind on nothin. Dey won' let me keep nothin clean. Ain' no use to scrub +none, I say. You see, cripple up like I is, I ain' able to get no work +off nowhe' en I keeps dem while dey parents work out. Dey mammas have a +job to cook out en dey brings dem here bout 6 o'clock in de mornin for +me to see after till dey get home in de afternoon. Cose dey helps me +along, but it takes what little dey give me to keep dem chillun warm +cause I has to try en keep a fire gwine, dey be so little. Dere Bertha +Lee en Joseph, dey start gwine to school dis year en I has to see dey +gets fix decent en march dem off to school every mornin. Dem other three +dere, dey name: Possum en June en Alfred. Ain' but just one girl en +dat-- + +(Lizzie's attention turns to June, who comes in crying from the back +yard, where all the children went to play during Lizzie's conversation +with her visitor). + +Lizzie--What de matter wid you, June? + +June--Aun' Izzie, Possum knock me wid de ax. + +Lizzie--Great King! What a peculiar thing to hit you wid. How-come he to +do dat? + +June--He was bustin up dem stick out dere side de wood pile. + +Lizzie--Oh, well, you just go en butt up on de ax. Dat ain' no fault of +he own den. Clean up dat face en gwine on way from here. + +(June, crying to himself, remains seated on the little stool). + +Lizzie--Let me see now, Miss Davis, I tryin to get some of dem old time +songs together to turn for you what you been axin me bout de other time +you come here. Yes'um, I tryin to blow my dogs-- + +(Possum enters the room). + +Possum--Aun' Izzie, I was bustin up dem splinters dat my daddy brung for +you to cook wid en June come en set right under de ax. + +Lizzie--Um-huh, ain' I tell you so? Whe' de ax, Possum? Fetch it here en +put it in de corner. Ain' none of you had no business wid dat ax nohow. +Ain' I tell you to mind your way round dat ax? + +(Possum runs back out in the yard). + +Lizzie--Like I tellin you, Miss Davis, if de people had a song in de old +days, dey would put it down on a long strip called a ballad, but honey, +I been through de hackles en I can' think of nothin like I used to +could. Is anybody sing dis one for you, Miss Davis? It a old one, too, +cause I used to hear-- + +(Alfred comes in to tell his tale). + +Alfred--Aun' Izzie, June set on Possum's pile of splinters dat he was +makin en Possum let de ax fall right on June's head. + +Lizzie--Dey is cases, Miss Davis. I tellin you, dese chillun just gets +everything off my mind. Most makes me forget to eat sometimes. Dere Miss +Julia Woodberry, poor creature, she been down mighty sick en I ain' been +able to go en see bout her no time. Don' know what ailin her cause I +don' gets bout nowhe' much. No, mam, dese chillun don' have no manners +to go visitin en I can' left dem here widout nobody to mind bout dat dey +don' run-- + +Joseph--Aun' Izzie, I ain' gwine wear no coat to school dis mornin. + +Lizzie--Boy, is you crazy? What de matter wid you, ain' you know de +ground been white wid Jack Frost dis mornin? En you clean up dat nose +fore you get dere to school, too. You ain' say your ma send you here +widout no pocket rag to wipe your nose wid? You ma, she know better den +to 'spect me to hunt rags for you. Come here en let me fasten up dat +coat round de neck. You look like a turkey buzzard wid it gapin open +dat way. Whe' Bertha Lee? It time both you been in dat road gwine to +school dere. + +(Bertha Lee and Joseph go out the door to leave for school). + +Lizzie--Lord a mercy, Miss Davis, my mind just a windin. How dat song +turn what I had for you? + + One for Paul, + En one for Sidas-- + +Lizzie--Joseph, how-come you ain' tell dese chillun good-bye? + +Joseph--Good-bye Possum, good-bye June, good-bye Alfred. + +Possum, June, Alfred--Good-bye Joseph. + +Lizzie--Is you got dat one now, Miss Davis? What de next? Great +Jeruselum! Dem chillun done carry dat tune way wid dem. I can' turn dat +one to save my neck. Just can' come to de turn table as de old man would +say. (12 o'clock mill whistle blows, time teller for many colored people +of the community). Lord a mercy, what dat whistle say? It done come 12 +o'clock en dat pot ain' thought bout to kick up none yet. I tell you, +honey, it sho a 'sponsibility I got put on me here to cook for all dese +chillun en see dey ration is cook mighty done, too, so as dey won' be +gwine round gruntin wid dey belly hurtin all de evenin. + +(Lizzie begins to stir up the fire to make the pot boil and her visitor +decides to return later to hear the songs). + + Date, February 7, 1938 + + +II + +It is a damp, chilly mornin about three weeks later, when Lizzie's +visitor returns to hear her sing old time songs. June, Bertha Lee, and +Alfred are playing in the street before the little house. + +Visitor--Is Aun' Lizzie at home? + +June, Alfred, Bertha Lee--Yes'um, she in dere. She in de house. + +Visitor--You children better mind how you run about in all this damp +weather, it might make you sick. + +June--Possum's got de chicken pox. + +Alfred--Possum's got de chicken pox. + +June--Me sick, too. + +Bertha Lee--I got a cold. + +Alfred--I sick, too. + +Visitor--Poor little Possum. Is he sick much? + +Alfred--Yes'um, he stay right in dat room dere. (Room next to Lizzie's +room with a separate front door). + +Bertha Lee--He mamma had de chicken pox first en den Possum, he took +down wid it. + +June--Dere he now! Dere Possum! (Possum appears from around the corner +of the house with both hands full of cold fish). + +(Alfred goes to Lizzie's door to tell her that she has a visitor) + +Alfred--Aun' Izzie, somebody out dere wanna see you. + +Lizzie--Holy Moses! Who dat out dere? Boy, you ain' tellin me no story, +is you? Mind you now, you tell me a story en I'll whip de grease out +you. + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, ain' nobody but Miss Davis out dere. + +(Lizzie hobbles to the door on her stick). + +Lizzie--How you is, Miss Davis? I ain' much to speak bout dis mornin. I +tell you de truth, Miss Davis, dese chillun keeps me so worried up dat I +don' know whe' half my knowin gone, I say. Great Lord a mercy, dere +Possum out dere in de air now en he been puny, too. + +Visitor--The children tell me Possum has the chicken pox. + +Lizzie--No'um, he ain' got no chicken pox, Miss Davis. Dey thought he +had it cause he mamma been ailin dat way, but I don' see nothin de +matter wid him 'cept what wrong wid he mouth. Possum, stand back dere +way from Miss Davis, I say. Yes'um, he been sorta puny like dis here +last week. He mamma must been feed him too much en broke he mouth out +dat-- + +June--Miss Davis, I know how to spell my name. + +Bertha Lee--I know how to spell my name, too. Me likes to go to school. + +Visitor--Oh, I think it is nice to like to go to school. What do you do +at school? + +June--Pull off your hat. + +Bertha Lee--Us writes. + +Visitor--Lizzie, how about those old time songs you promised to study up +for me? You ought to have a mind running over with them by this time. + +Lizzie--Lord, Lord, honey, I had study up a heap of dem old tunes here +de other day, but I tellin you de truth, Miss Davis, dese chillun got me +so crazy till nothin won stick-- + +(Willie, age 10, comes over to play with the children and begins to +whistle.). + +Lizzie--Willie, ain' you know it ill manners to whistle in anybody +house? Dere now, it impolite to walk by anybody house whistlin, too. You +is too big a boy for dat. Ain' gwine stand for you learnin dese chillun +no such manners for me to beat it out dem. No, boy, mind yourself way +from here now, I got to hunt up dat tune for Miss Davis. Yes'um, I got +one of dem old tune poppin now. Let me see--Great Happy! Dat pot done +gwine out all my sparks. (Lizzie rushes in the house to look after a pot +that she hears boilin over on the fire). + +June--Bertha Lee, de lady don' know whe' us sleeps, do she? + +Bertha Lee--Dere us house over dere. + +(Bertha Lee gets up to point the house out and June immediately slides +into her seat on the bench next to the visitor). + +Bertha Lee--Move way, June. + +June--No, dis place whe' I been. + +Bertha Lee--June, go further, I say. + +June--No, Bertha Lee, dis whe' I been. + +Bertha Lee--No, go further. (June holds his place) I go tell Aun' Izzie +den. + +Visitor--Tell Lizzie I'm waitin to hear that tune she promised to sing. + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, June settin in my place. + +Lizzie--Fetch yourself on back out dere now, Bertha Lee, en settle your +own scrap. Ain' you shame of yourself en you bigger den June, too? Go +way from here, I say. I ain' got no time to monkey up wid you. I got to +get dese collards boilin hard, else dey ain' gwine get done time you +chillun start puffin for your dinner. Go way, I tell you. Miss Davis, I +comin toreckly. + +(Bertha Lee returns to the porch quietly and takes her place on the +opposite side of the visitor, while June clings to his place). + +June--Miss Davis, does you know Mr. Rembert? + +Visitor--Is he your father? + +Bertha Lee and June--No, he ain' us daddy. + +June--Mr. Rembert, he bought me everything I got. He shoe horses. Don' +you know him now? + +Bertha Lee--He bought June's sweater, but dem my overalls he got on. + +June--Dem dere pretty buttons you got on you, Miss Davis. + +Bertha Lee--Sho is, en dem little chain dere. + +June--Me got a sweater just like her coat. + +Bertha Lee--Ain' just like it. + +June--It most like it. + +Bertha Lee--No, it ain' cause dis here wool. + +(Lizzie returns to the porch and sits on a little stool near her door). + +Lizzie--Lord, Miss Davis, dat tune done left me. Now, de next time dat I +get a tune in my mind. I gwine sho get somebody to place it for me. It +de Lord truth, my mind gwine just so wid so much of chillun worryations +till-- + +June--Me can sing. + +Possum--Aun' Izzie, I ain' got nothin to eat. + +(Lizzie returns to her room again to stir up the fire and get Possum +some bread). + +Bertha Lee--Sing den, June. + +June--Un-uh, I can'. Aun' Izzie might hear me. + +Bertha Lee--I gwine sing den. + +June-- + + "I sees de lighthouse--amen, + I sees de lighthouse--amen, + I sees de lighthouse--amen." + +(Lizzie and Possum return to porch. Possum has three muffins). + +Lizzie--Clean up your nose dere, Alfred. Miss Davis, I ready. Sho got a +mind to turn dat tune dis---- + +Alfred--Possum wouldn' fetch me no bread, Aun' Izzie. + +Lizzie--Dere dey go again, Miss Davis. No, you can' have none of +Possum's bread. Gwine on in dere en catch you a piece out your own pan. +You eat up Possum's bread en den he'll be de one howlin bout he ain' got +none. + +(Alfred goes in the room and comes back with a biscuit). + +Lizzie--I pretty certain I ready now, Miss Davis. Let dem all get dey +belly full en den dey head won' be turnin so sharp. Dat how-come I +tries-- + +Possum--Aun' Izzie, Alfred eatin June's bread. + +Lizzie--Alfred, look here, boy, you know dat ain' none of your bread. +You sho gwine get a lickin for dat. (Lizzie slaps him). Your ma, she +ain' never left nothin but corn hoecake in your pan since you been born +en you know dat, too. Dem chillun carries me in de clock sometimes, Miss +Davis. Dis one en dat one callin me en de Lord help me, I forgets what I +doin--Clean up dat nose dere, boy. + +June--My nose clean. + +Lizzie--Possum know I talkin to him. Get on in dere en tell Miss Mammie +to give you a pocket rag, Possum. (Miss Mammie is Possum's aunt who came +to spend the day with them). + +Bertha Lee-- + + "Peter Rabbit, Ha! Ha! Ha! + Make Your Ears Go, Flop! Flop! Flop!" + +Lizzie--I has to ax you to bear wid me, Miss Davis. I sorry you come +here on a dead shot en ain' gettin no birds. Lord knows, I tryin to get +my mind-- + +June--Oo, Aun' Izzie, Joseph been cuttin out Willie's book. + +(Lizzie's attention is attracted to Willie, who looks worried about his +torn book.) + +Lizzie--Great mercy, boy, you ought to have a pain in de chest. Look, +you settin dere wid your bosom wide open. Fasten up your neck dere, I +say.--Possum, come here, is you do like I tell you? Is you ax Miss +Mammie for somethin to clean up dat nose wid? + +Possum--Yes'um. + +Lizzie--Look out now, I'll whip you for tellin a story. Whe' de rag? No, +you ain' ax her neither. Gwine on en clean up dat nose fore I wear you +out. + +(Possum goes around corner of house). + +Lizzie--Help me Lord not to forget it dis time. I sho got dat tune---- + +June--Aun' Izzie, Aun' Izzie, Possum fall in de tub of water what settin +under de pump. + +(Possum appears from around the corner of the house just at that moment +drenched and almost frozen). + +Lizzie--Great Lord a mercy! Possum, you looks like a drowned possum sho +enough. Why ain' you do like I tell you to do? You know I don' never +allow you chillun ramblin round dat pump tub no time. Ain' nobody want +to drink out no tub you wash your snotty nose in. Fetch yourself in dere +to de fire en dry yourself fore you is catch a death of cold. Gwine on, +boy. Don' stand dere en watch me like a frizzle chicken. Dere Mr. John +Fortune comin now. I gwine tell him to catch Possum en cook him up. + +Possum--I gwine run. + +Lizzie--You say you gwine run? + +Possum--No'um, I ain' say I gwine run. + +Lizzie--Mind you now, Possum, you know what I tell you bout a +story-teller. + +Mammie--Miss Lizzie, I just don' believe he know right from wrong. + +Lizzie--Well, I gwine learn him den. Ain' nothin I despises worser den a +story-teller. (Lizzie slaps Possum on the shoulder several times and +sends him in the house to dry, shivering from both cold and fear.). + +Lizzie--Miss Davis, Mr. John Fortune helps me out wonderfully wid dese +chillun. Say, when dey bad, he gwine cook dem up en eat dem. Yes, mam, I +tellin de truth, honey, dese chillun keeps me settin here listenin wid +all my ears en lookin wid all my eyes, but dey is right sorta +entertainin like. Yes'um, dey got so much of sense till dey done took +what little I is had. + +(Alfred comes running in and leans up on Lizzie). + +Lizzie--Clean up dat snotty nose, Alfred. You ought to been name Snotty +wid your mouth all de time lookin like you ain' hear tell of no pocket +rag. Move way from dere, June. Don' blow your nose settin side Miss +Davis. + + Date, February 10, 1938 + + +III + +It is three days later. Lizzie is sitting on her little porch enjoying +the warm sunshine of a bright February day. The children have gone just +across the street to play on the sidewalk and while Lizzie keeps a +watchful eye on them, she is trying once more to call back to her mind +some of the old time songs that she used to sing in her early days. Her +visitor sits on a bench nearby ready to make notes of these old songs as +she sings them. Lizzie's attention is not only distracted by the +children at intervals but also by different ones of her friends +constantly passing along the street in front of the small home. + +Lizzie--Lord, Miss Davis, look like everything a hustlin dis mornin. +Yes'um, dis here Monday mornin en everybody is a bustlin gwine to see +bout dey business. Seems like everything just gwine on, just gwine on. I +tell you de truth, Miss Davis, I studied so hard bout dem songs de other +night, I beg de Massa to show me de light en he hop me to recollect dis +one for you. See, when you gets to de age I is, you is foolish-- + +(Joseph runs across the street to tell Lizzie something). + +Joseph--Aun' Izzie, Possum teachin June to hit Jerry. + +Lizzie--Uh-huh, I gwine sho beat him, too. (Lizzie turns to her visitor) +Possum, he teachin June to knock dat little one wid de speckle coat on. + +Visitor--Is he another child that you are taking care of? + +Lizzie--No'um, he grandma raise him en de poor little creature, he don' +have nobody to play wid. Look like nobody don' care when he come or whe' +he go. I say, I tries to collect mine up en take care of dem cause it +dis way, if you don' take time en learn chillun, dey old en dey ain' +old; dey fool en dey ain' fool. Yes'um, I tryin to drill dem, Miss +Davis, but it does take time en a little whip, too. Has to punish dem +right smart sometimes. I tellin you, dem chillun sho a 'sponsibility. +Dem what put all dem gray hair up dere on my topknot. I tell dis one en +dat one to set to a certain place till I say to get up en den I'll get +my studyin on somethin else en de child, he'll be out yonder-- + +(Heddie Davis, age 72, a neighbor of Lizzies, comes over to join in the +conversation). + +Lizzie--Here come de hoss (horse). Come in, Miss Heddie. Miss Davis +wants us to sing one of dem old back tunes dis mornin. + +Heddie--Well, I is studied up one tune what I been hear de old people +sing when I wasn' nothin much more den a puppy--Lord a mercy, Miss +Lizzie, dere dem people comin from de trial. Look, dere dey fetchin dat +girl to Dr. Graham now. En my Lord, got de poor child's head all wrapped +up dat way. Dat man, he ought to have he head plucked. He know better +den to cut dat child so close de senses. Don' know what de matter wid de +people nohow. + +Lizzie--Ain' nothin but de devil, Miss-- + +(Boy, about 8 years old, comes across the street and hands Lizzie a +bundle). + +Pickle--Miss Lizzie, ma say dere your sewin. + +Lizzie--Thank you, son, thank you a thousand times again. Tell your +mamma de old hen a scratchin bout out dere in de yard now huntin de nest +en ain' gwine be no long time fore I can be catchin her a chicken to put +in de pot. Yes, Lord, I got to start savin dem egg dis very day for de +settin. (Lizzie turns to her visitor on the porch and continues her +conversation). Miss Rosa, she does do all my sewin for me en I generally +gives her eggs for her kindness. I sorry dere so much of huntin egg de +same day. + +(Little boy, Pickle, looks disappointed and continues to hang around). + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, sing somethin. + +Lizzie--You want me to sing so bad, sugar, en I ain' know nothin +neither. Heddie, turn me one. + +Heddie--Gwine on en spill dat one yourself what you been tell me bout de +other mornin en quit your pickin on me. + +Lizzie--Well, I tryin to get myself together, but dere so much of +travelin en so much of chillun, I can' collect-- + +Alfred--Aun' Izzie, can I go to whe' Jerry gone? + +Lizzie--No, boy, you know I ain' got no mind to let you go runnin off +dat way. (Lizzie calls to Mammie in the room). Mammie, look dere to de +clock. I gettin in a fidget to get some of dese chillun way from here. + +(Pickle still hangs around). + +Lizzie--Joseph, come here. + +Joseph--Un-uh. + +Lizzie--Boy, don' you grunt at me dat way. Come here, I say. Go dere in +de chicken house en hunt dat one egg en give it to Pickle to carry to he +mamma.--Got to scatter dese chillun way from here-- + +Joseph--Here de egg, Aun' Izzie. + +Lizzie--Fetch it dere to Pickle den. Boy, tell your mamma I sorry I ain' +had no egg to send her 'cept just dat one nest egg. Tell her, when she +buss dat egg, she better look right sharp en see is de hen ain' got it +noways addle like cause-- + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, how my nose is? + +Lizzie--Look bad. Gwine on in dere en clean your face up. I know you +ain' gwine to school wid all dem crumbs stuck bout on your mouth. +Joseph, gwine on in de house dere en put you on some more clothes. Gwine +on in dere, I say. Don' stand dere on de street en strip. + +Heddie--No, boy, don' pull off in no public. + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, I gwine carry my bread to school wid me. + +Lizzie--Hunt you a paper den. You can' go dere to school wid no handful +of bread makin all dem chillun start mouthin round you. Joseph, get me a +paper to put dis here child's bread in. + +Joseph--Here, Bertha Lee. Here de paper. + +Lizzie--Lord, Miss Davis, it a time. I tell you de truth, honey, dis +here 'sponsibility got me tied both hand en foot. Ain' no rest nowhe'. I +hates it you come here en ain' gettin nothin what you been aimin to +catch. I gwine be ready toreckly though. Let me get dese chillun in de +road en dem songs gwine start travelin out my head faster den lightnin-- + +Bertha Lee--Aun' Izzie, make Joseph come on. + +Lizzie--Joseph, get in dat road dere side Bertha Lee. Now, you chillun +make your tracks dere to school straight as you can go en if you stop +dere to dat lady house en get a pecan, I gwine whip you hard as I can. + +Joseph and Bertha Lee--Good-bye Possum, good-bye June, good-bye Alfred. + +Possum, June, Alfred--Good-bye Joseph, good-bye Bertha Lee. + +Lizzie--Here dat tune come buzzin now, Miss Davis. Is you got dis one? + + + Sunday Mornin Band! + + "Oh, my sister, + How you walk on de cross? + Sunday mornin band! + Oh, your feet might slip + En your soul get lost. + Sunday mornin band! + Oh, what band, + Oh, what band, + Do you belong? + What band! What band! + Sunday mornin band!" + +Heddie--Sis, you is done took de one I been how. I been expectin you was +comin out wid one of dem old time reels you used to be a singin en a +jiggin bout all de time. + +Lizzie--Oh, I been know a heap of dem reels. Hoped sing dem behind de +old folks back many a day cause us chillun wasn' never allowed to sing +reels in dem days. See, old back people was more religious den dey is +now. Yes, mam, dey been know what spell somethin in dat day en time. +When dey would speak den, dey meant somethin, I tell you. People does +just go through de motion dese days en don' have no mind to mean what +dey talk. No, child, us didn' dar'sen to let us parents hear us sing no +reels den. What dem old people didn' quarrel out us, dey whip out us. My +father never wouldn' let we chillun go to no frolics, but us would +listen from de house en catch what us could. I used to could turn a heap +of dem reels, too, but he was so tight on us till everything bout left +me. Lord, Heddie, give me a thought. You is de jiggin hoss. Hope me out, +Heddie, hope me out. + +(Heddie begins song and Lizzie joins in and finishes it). + + "The blackest nigger I ever did see, + He come a runnin down from Tennessee, + His eye was red en his gum was blue, + En God a mighty struck him, + En his shirt tail flew. + Meet me at de crossroads, + For I'm gwine join de band. + Um-huh! Um-huh! Um-huh!" + +Lizzie--Great Lord a mercy, Miss Davis, dem kind of tune, dem sinful en +wicked songs, dey what I used to turn fore I been big enough to know +what been in dem. No, honey, I thank de good Lord to point me way from +all dat foolishness en wickedness en I ain' gwine back to it neither. + + "Lord, I know dat my time ain' long, + Oh, de bells keep a ringin, + Somebody is a dying, + Lord, I know dat my time ain' long. + (Repeat three times) + Lord, I know dat my time ain' long, + Oh, de hammer keep a knockin, + Keep a knockin on somebody coffin, + Lord, I know dat my time ain' long." + (Repeat three times). + +Lizzie--Lord, I sho know my time ain' long. De Lord say de way of de +righteous prevaileth to eternal life en I know I right, people. Lord, I +know I right. 'Sponsibility or no 'sponsibility, Lord, I seekin de +Kingdom. + + Source: Lizzie Davis, colored, 70-80 years, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Marion, S. C. + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, December 13, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + LIZZIE DAVIS + Ex-Slave, Age 70 to 80 + + +"No, mam, I couldn' exactly tell you how old I is cause my father, he +been dead over 20 years en when us had a burnin out dere to Georgetown, +Pa's Bible was destroyed den. Cose I don' remember myself, say, slavery +time, but I can tell dat what I is hear de olden people talk bout been +gwine on in dat day en time. No, mam, I want to suggest to you de best I +can cause I might have to go back up yonder en tell it to be justified +some of dese days." + +"Oh, I been know your father en your grandfather en all of dem. Bless +mercy, child, I don' want to tell you nothin, but what to please you. +Lord, I glad to see your face. It look so lovin en pleasin, just so as I +is always know you. Look like dere not a wave of trouble is ever roll +'cross your peaceful bosom." + +"Now, like I speak to you, I don' know rightly bout my age, but I can +tell you when dat shake come here, I been a missie girl. Oh, my Lord, I +been just as proud en crazy in dem days. Wasn' thinkin nothin bout dat +dese dark days was headin here. Yes, mam, I is always been afflicted +ever since I been twelve years old, so dey tell me. You see, dat muscle +right back dere in my foot, it grow crooked just like a hook. De doctor, +he say dat if dey had kept me movin bout, it wouldn' been grow dat way. +But my poor old mammy, she die while us was livin down dere to old man +Foster Brown's plantation en dere won' no other hand gwine trouble dey +way no time to lift me up. Oh, my mammy, she been name Katie Brown cause +my parents, dey belonged to de old man Foster Brown in dey slavery day. +Dat how-come I been raise up a country child dere on Mr. Brown's +plantation. Another thing, like as you might be a noticin, I ain' never +been married neither. No, mam, I ain' never been married cause I is +always been use a stick in walkin in my early days en never didn' nobody +want me. Yes, mam, I know I every bit of 70 or gwine on 80 years old to +my mind en I think it a blessin de Lord preserve me dis long to de +world. Cose I often wonders why de good Massa keep me here en take dem +what able to work for demselves." + +"Yes, honey, wid God harness on me, I come here to dis town a grown +woman to live en I been livin right here by myself in dis same house +near bout 20 years. Cose dere a little 12-year-old country girl dat +stays here wid me while de school be gwine on so as to get some learnin. +Yes'um, I pays $2.00 every month for dis here room en it ain' worth +nothin to speak bout. Pap Scott's daughter stay in dat other room over +dere. No, mam, dere ain' but just dese two rooms to de house. You, see, +my buildin does leak en I has a big time some of dese days. See here, +child, I has dis piece of oilcloth cross my bed en when it rains on a +night, I sleeps in dat chair over dere en lets it drop on de oilcloth. +Den when it comes a storm, my Lord, dere such a racket! I be settin here +lookin for dat top up dere to be tumblin down on me de next crack en +seems like it does give me such a misery in my head. Yes, mam, dat +misery does strike me every time I hear tell bout dere a darkness in de +cloud." + +"Well, drawed up as I is, I ain' able to get no work worth much to speak +bout dese days. It dis way, child, don' nobody like to see no old ugly +crooked up creature like me round bout whe' dey be no time. Cose I sets +here en does a washin now en den whe' de people gets push up, but don' +get no regular work. Now, dem people over dere, I does dey washin +mostly, but dey don' never be noways particular en stylish like en I +don' have nothin much to worry wid. See, de lady, she don' go bout +nowhe' much." + +"Oh, Lord, dere my stove right dere, I say. Yes, mam, I cooks right here +in de fireplace all de time. I got dat pot on dere wid some turnips a +boilin now en it gettin on bout time I be mixin up dat bread, too, fore +dat child be comin home from school hungry as a louse. I say, I got dis +here old black iron spider en dis here iron griddle, too, what I does my +bakin on cause you see, I come from way back yonder. Dem what de olden +people used to cook on fore stoves ever been come here. Yes, mam, de +spider got three legs dat it sets on en de griddle, dat what I makes +dese little thin kind of hoecake on. See, when I wants to bake in de +spider, I heaps my coals up in a pile dat way so as to set de spider on +dem en pours de batter in de spider en puts de lid on. Den I rakes me up +another batch of coals en covers de lid over wid dem. Do dat to make it +get done on de top. Yes, mam, dat de kind of a spider dat de people +used to cook dey cake in. Now, when I has a mind to cook some turnips or +some collards, I makes dis here boil bread. Honey, dat somethin to talk +bout eatin wid dem turnips. Ain' no trouble to mind it neither. First, I +just washes my hands right clean like en takes en mixes up my meal en +water together wid my hand till I gets a right stiff dough. Den I +pinches off a piece de dough bout big as a goose egg en flattens it out +wid my hand en drops it in de pot wid de greens. Calls dat boil +dumplings. I think bout I got a mind dat I gwine cook some of dem in dat +turnip pot directly, too. No, mam, I don' never eat dinner till it come +bout time for de little girl to be expectin to be from school. Oh, my +blessed, dem olden people sho know how to cook in dem days. Never didn' +hear speak bout de cookin upsettin de people in dat day en time like it +sets de people in a misery dese days. Dat how-come, I say, I ain' noways +ailin in de inside cause it be dat I lives de olden way. Yes, child, de +slavery people sho had de hand to cook. Dere ain' never been nothin cook +nowhe' dat could satisfy a cravin like dat ash cake dat de people used +to cook way back dere, I say. Oh, dey would mix up a batter just like +dey was gwine make a hoecake en wrap it all up in oak leaves or a piece +of dis here heavy brown paper en lay it in de hot ashes. Den dey would +rake some more hot ashes all over de top of it. Yes'um, de dampness out +de hoecake would keep de wrappin wet en when it would get done, de paper +would peel right off it. I tell you, honey, I mighty glad I been come +along in dat day en time. Mighty thankful I been a child of de olden +ways." + +"Yes, child, de people what been raise de slavery way, dey been have a +heap of curious notions en some of dem was good, I say. Yes, mam, dere +one sign dat I remembers bout en I follows dat up right sharp dese days. +I sho watches dat closely. Say, somebody have a mouthful of rations en +sneeze, it a sign of death. I finds dat to be very true to speak bout. +Yes'um, I notices dat a good one, Miss Davis." + +"Den I got another one comin. Always say, when you see bout a dozen +buzzards moesin (flying) round a house en den dey break off en make a +straight shoot for a graveyard, dere somebody out dat house gwine be +bury dere soon. Cose dat what I hear talk bout, but I ain' watched dat +so much." + +"No, mam, dat ain' half de signs what de olden people used to have cause +dat all what dey know to tell dem what to do en what was gwine happen. +Dem what was wise, dey followed dem signs closely, too. Yes, you come +back another time, child, en I'll see can I scratch up a heap of dem +other sign to tell you. When I gets to talkin to you bout old times, my +mind, it just gets to wanderin over dem old fields whe' I run bout as a +little small child en I can' half remember nothin to speak to you bout." + + Source: Lizzie Davis, colored, Marion, S. C.--Age 70 to 80. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Dec., 1937. + + + + + Code No. + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, December 21, 1937 + No. Words ---- + Reduced from ---- words + Rewritten by ---- + + LIZZIE DAVIS + Ex-Slave, Age ---- + + +"My parents, dey was sho raise in de South. Been come up on de old man +Foster Brown's plantation. Ain' you know whe' Mr. Foster Brown used to +live? Yes, mam, down dere in dat grove of pecans dat you see settin side +de road, when you be gwine down next to Centenary. I remember, I hear my +father tell bout dat his mammy was sold right here to dis courthouse, on +dat big public square up dere, en say dat de man set her up in de wagon +en took her to Georgetown wid him. Sold her right dere on de block. Oh, +I hear dem talkin bout de sellin block plenty times. Pa say, when he see +dem carry his mammy off from dere, it make he heart swell in his breast. + +"Yes'um, I hear my father talk bout how dey would shoot de great big +bomb guns in slavery time. Seems like, he say dat de shootin fuss been +come from Fort Sumter. Oh, my Lord, I hear talk dat de people could hear +dem guns roarin all bout dis here country. I know dat word been true +cause I hear my parents en de olden people speak bout dat right dere +fore we chillun. Say, when dey would feel dat rumblin noise, de people +would be so scared. Didn' know what was gwine happen. Cose I speak bout +what I catch cause de olden people never didn' allow dey chillun to set +en hear dem talk no time. No, mam, de olden people was mighty careful of +de words dey let slip dey lips. + +"Oh, we chillun would have de most fun dere ever was romancin (roaming) +dem woods in dat day en time. I used to think it was de nicest thing dat +I been know bout to go down in de woods side one of dem shady branch en +get a cup of right cool water to drink out de stream. I tell you, I +thought dat was de sweetest water I is ever swallowed. Den we chillun +used to go out in de woods wid de crowd en get dese big oak leaves en +hickory leaves en make hats. Would use dese here long pine needles en +thorns for de pins dat we would pick up somewhe' dere in de woods. En we +would dress de hats wid all kind of wild flowers en moss dat we been +find scatter bout in de woods, too. Oh, yes'um, we thought dey was de +prettiest kind of bonnets. Den we would get some of dese green saplin +out de woods often times to make us a ridin horse wid en would cut down +a good size pine another time en make a flyin mare to ride on. Yes, mam, +dat what we would call it. Well, when we would have a mind to make one +of dem flyin mare, we chillun would slip a ax to de woods wid us en chop +down a nice little pine tree, so as dere would be a good big stump left +in de ground. Den we would chisel de top of de stump down all round de +edges till we had us a right sharp peg settin up in de middle of de +stump. After dat was fixed, we would cut us another pole a little bit +smaller den dat one en bore a hole in de middle of it to make it set +down on dat peg. Oh, my Lord, one of us chillun would get on dis end en +dere another one would get on de other end en us chillun would give dem +a shove dat would send dem flyin round fast as I could say +mighty-me-a-life. My blessed a mercy, child, it would most bout knock de +sense out dem what been on dere. Yes, mam, everybody would be crazy to +ride on de flyin mare. All de neighbor's chillun would gather up en go +in de woods en jump en shout bout which one turn come to ride next. I +tellin you, dem was big pleasures us had in dat day en time en dey never +cost nobody nothin neither." + +"Well, Mr. Brown, he was mighty good to his colored people, so I hear my +parents say. Would allow all his niggers to go to de white people church +to preachin every Sunday, Cose my father, he was de carriage driver en +he would have task to drive de white folks to church on a Sunday. +Yes'um, dem what been belong to Mr. Brown, dey had dey own benches to +set on right up dere in de gallery to de white people church, but I hear +talk dat some of dem other white people round bout dere never wouldn' +let dey colored people see inside dey church no time. Lord, I talk bout +how de people bless wid privilege to go to church like dey want to in +dis day en time en don' have de mind to serve de Lord like dey ought to +no time. Cose dere a man comes here every Sunday mornin in a car en +takes me out to church. Ain' no kin to me neither. He late sometimes en +de preacher be bout out wid de sermon, but I goes anyhow en gets all I +can. Look like de Lord bless me somehow, cripple up as I is, I say." + +"De shake! Oh, I remember it well cause I been a grown girl den. +Everybody thought it was de Jedgment en all de people was runnin out en +a hollerin. I thought it was de last myself en I livin here to tell de +people, I was sho scared. I been out to de well bout 12 o'clock de next +day en I could see de water in de well just a quiverin. Lord, Lord, dat +water tremble bout four weeks after dat. Such a hollerin en a prayin as +de people had bout dat shake. No'um I was livin down dere to Tabernacle +den en dere wasn' none of de houses round us destroyed. No, child, won' +no harm done nowhe' dat I knows of only as a heap of de people been so +scared, dey never didn' grow no more." + +"Yes'um, I think bout here de other night dat I had make you a promise +to fetch you up some of dem signs de olden people used to put faith in. +Dere one sign bout if you hear a dog howl or a cow low round your house +on a night, it a pretty good sign you gwine lose somebody out dat house. +I finds dat to be a mighty true sign cause I notices it very closely." + +"Den dey used to say, too, if you get up in de mornin feelin in a good +humor, de devil sho gwine get you fore night fall dat same day. Cose I +don' pay so much attention to dat. If I get up feelin like singin, I has +to sing cause it my time to sing, I say." + +"Let me see, dere another one of dem omen dat I had shake up in my mind +to tell you. Say, if you see a ground mole rootin round your house, it +won' be long fore you gwine move from dat place. But I don' never see +no ground moles hardly dese days. Don' think dey worries nobody much." + +"I recollects, too, way back yonder de people used to say, if you see de +smoke comin out de chimney en turn down en flatten out on de ground, it +a sign of rain in a few days." + +"Yes, mam, I think bout dis one more. If you dream bout you be travelin +en come to a old rotten down buildin, it a sign of a old person death. +Don' say whe' it a man or a woman, but it a sho sign dat a old person +gwine die." + +"Den people what lives in de country believes, if a fox comes round a +house barkin en a scratchin, it a sign dey gwine lose somebody out dey +family. Yes'um, de fox just comes right out de woods up to de yard en +barks. You see, a dog won' never run a fox dat comes bout dem barkin. +No, mam, when de dog hear dat, he just stands right under de house en +growls at de fox. I know dat be a true sign cause us tried dat one." + +"Now, I got another one of dem thought comin. Yes, my Lord, I hear talk +dat if you get de broom en sweep your house out fore sunrise, you would +sweep your friends out right wid de trash. Dat used to be a big sign wid +de people, too. En it bad luck to take up ashes after de sun go down, +dey say. Yes, I know bout plenty people won' do dat today." + +"Well, honey, seems like when I calls back, de people in a worser fix +den when I used to get 25 cents a day. Used to could take dat en go to a +country store en get a decent dress to wear to church. Sell peck of us +corn en get it in trade. Didn' never pay more den 50 cents for a load of +wood in dem days en I remembers just as good eggs been sell for 10 cents +a dozen en 15 cents bout Christmas time. Cose I ain' exactly decided +what to speak bout de times cause it dis way to my mind. De people, dey +have a better privilege dis day en time, but dey don' appreciate nothin +like dey did back in my dark days. Yes, mam, de people was more thankful +to man en God den dey is dese days. Dat my belief bout de way de world +turnin, I say." + + Source: Lizzie Davis, colored, age between 70 and 80, Marion, + S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Dec., 1937. + + + + + Project #1855 + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + LOUISA DAVIS + EX-SLAVE 106 YEARS OLD. + + +"Well, well, well! You knows my white folks on Jackson Creek, up in +Fairfield! I's mighty glad of dat, and glad to see you. My white folks +come to see me pretty often, though they lives way up dere. You wants to +write me up? Well, I'll tell you all I recollect, and what I don't tell +you, my daughter and de white folks can put in de other 'gredients. Take +dis armchair and git dat smokin' ash tray; lay it on de window sill by +you and make yourself comfortable and go ahead." + +"I was born in de Catawba River section. My grandpappy was a full blood +Indian; my pappy a half Indian; my mother, coal black woman. Just who I +b'long to when a baby? I'll leave dat for de white folks to tell, but +old Marster Jim Lemon buy us all; pappy, mammy, and three chillun: Jake, +Sophie, and me. De white folks I fust b'long to refuse to sell 'less +Marse Jim buy de whole family; dat was clever, wasn't it? Dis old Louisa +must of come from good stock, all de way 'long from de beginnin', and I +is sho' proud of dat." + +"When he buy us, Marse Jim take us to his place on Little River nigh +clean cross de county. In de course of time us fell to Marse Jim's son, +John, and his wife, Miss Mary. I was a grown woman then and nursed their +fust baby, Marse Robert. I see dat baby grow to be a man and 'lected to +legislature, and stand up in dat Capitol over yonder cross de river and +tell them de Law and how they should act, I did. They say I was a pretty +gal, then, face shiny lak a ginger cake, and hair straight and black as +a crow, and I ain't so bad to look at now, Marse Willie says." + +"My pappy rise to be foreman on de place and was much trusted, but he +plowed and worked just de same, mammy say maybe harder." + +"Then one springtime de flowers git be blooming, de hens to cackling, +and de guineas to patarocking. Sam come along when I was out in de yard +wid de baby. He fust talk to de baby, and I asked him if de baby wasn't +pretty. He say, 'Yes, but not as pretty as you is, Louisa.' I looks at +Sam, and dat kind of foolishness wind up in a weddin'. De white folks +allowed us to be married on de back piazza, and Reverend Boggs performed +de ceremony." + +"My husband was a slave of de Sloans and didn't get to see me often as +he wanted to; and of course, as de housemaid then, dere was times I +couldn't meet him, clandestine like he want me. Us had some grief over +dat, but he got a pass twice a week from his marster, Marse Tommie +Sloan, to come to see me. Bold as Sam git to be, in after years ridin' +wid a red shirt long side of General Bratton in '76, dat nigger was +timid as a rabbit wid me when us fust git married. Shucks, let's talk +'bout somthing else. Sam was a field hand and drive de wagon way to +Charleston once a year wid cotton, and always bring back something +pretty for me." + +"When de war come on, Sam went wid young Marster Tom Sloan as bodyguard, +and attended to him, and learned to steal chickens, geese, and turkeys +for his young marster, just to tell 'bout it. He dead now; and what I +blames de white folks for, they never would give him a pension, though +he spend so much of his time and labor in their service. I ain't bearin' +down on my kind of white folks, for I'd jump wid joy if I could just git +back into slavery and have de same white folks to serve and be wid them, +day in and day out." + +"Once a week I see de farm hands git rations at de smoke house, but dat +didn't concern me. I was a housemaid and my mammy run de kitchen, and us +got de same meals as my marster's folks did." + +"Yas sir; I got 'possum. Know how to cook him now. Put him in a pot and +parboil him, then put him in a oven wid lots of lard or fat-back, and +then bake him wid yaller yam potatoes, flanked round and round, and then +wash him down wid locust and persimmon beer followed by a piece of +pumpkin pie. Dat make de bestest meal I 'members in slavery days." + +"Us got fish out of Little River nigh every Saturday, and they went good +Sunday morning. Us had Saturday evenin's, dat is, de farm hands did, and +then I got to go to see Sam some Sundays. His folks, de Sloans, give us +a weddin' dinner on Sunday after us was married, and they sho' did tease +Sam dat day." + +"Like all rich buckra, de Lemons had hogs a plenty, big flock of sheep, +cotton gin, slaves to card, slaves to spin, and slaves to weave. Us was +well clothed and fed and 'tended to when sick. They was concerned 'bout +our soul's salvation. Us went to church, learn de catechism; they was +Presbyterians, and read de Bible to us. But I went wid Sam after +freedom. He took de name of Davis, and I jined de Methodist Church and +was baptized Louisa Davis." + +"Patroller, you ask me? 'Spect I do 'member them. Wasn't I a goodlookin' +woman? Didn't Sam want to see me more than twice a week? Wouldn't he +risk it widout de pass some time? Sure he did. De patrollers got after +and run Sam many a time." + +"After de war my pappy went to Florida. He look just like a Indian, hair +and all, bushy head, straight and young lookin' wid no beard. We never +heard from him since." + +"De slaves wash de family clothes on Saturday and then rested after +doin' dat. Us had a good time Christmas; every slave ketch white folks +wid a holler, 'Christmas gift, Marster' and they holler it to each +other. Us all hung our stockin's all 'bout de Big House, and then dere +would be sumpin' in dere next mornin'. Lord, wasn't them good times!" + +"Now how is it dese days? Young triflin' nigger boys and gals lyin' +'round puffin' cigarets, carryin' whiskey 'round wid them, and gittin' +in jail on Christmas, grievin' de Lord and their pappies, and all sich +things. OH! De risin' generation and de future! What is it comin' to? I +just don't know, but dere is comin' a time to all them." + +"I sho' like to dance when I was younger. De fiddlers was Henry Copley +and Buck Manigault; and if anybody 'round here could make a fiddle ring +like Buck could, wouldn't surprise me none if my heart wouldn't cry out +to my legs, 'Fust lady to de right and cheat or swing as you like, and +on to de right'." + +"Stop dat laughin'. De Indian blood in me have held me up over a hundred +years, and de music might make me young again." + +"Oh yes, us had ghost stories, make your hair stand on end, and us put +iron in de fire when us hear screech owl, and put dream book under bed +to keep off bad dreams." + +"When de yankees come they took off all they couldn't eat or burn, but +don't let's talk 'bout dat. Maybe if our folks had beat them and git up +into dere country our folks would of done just like they did. Who +knows?" + +"You see dis new house, de flower pots, de dog out yonder, de cat in de +sun lyin' in de chair on de porch, de seven tubs under de shed, de two +big wash pots, you see de pictures hangin' round de wall, de nice beds, +all dese things is de blessin's of de Lord through President Roosevelt. +My grandson, Pinckney, is a World War man, and he got in de CCC Camp, +still in it in North Carolina. When he got his bonus, he come down, and +say, 'Grandma, you too old to walk, supposin' I git you a automobile?" +I allow, 'Son, de Indian blood rather make me want a house.' Then us +laugh. 'Well,' he say, 'Dis money I has and am continuin' to make, I +wants you and mama to enjoy it.' Then he laugh fit to kill heself. Then +I say, 'I been dreamin' of a tepee all our own, all my lifetime; buy us +a lot over in Sugartown in New Brookland, and make a home of happiness +for your ma, me and you'." + +"And dis is de tepee you settin' in today. I feel like he's a young +warrior, loyal and brave, off in de forests workin' for his chief, Mr. +Roosevelt, and dat his dreams are 'bout me maybe some night wid de winds +blowin' over dat three C camp where he is." + + + + Project 1885 -1- + District #4 + Spartanburg, S. C. + May 29, 1937 + + FOLKLORE: EX-SLAVES + + +"I was a slave of Bill Davis who lived at "Rich Hill", near Indian +Creek, in Newberry County, S. C. I was born about 1856, I reckon. My +daddy was Ivasum Davis and my mammy was Rhody Davis. Marse Bill was a +good master, lived in a big house, give us a good place to live and +plenty to eat. He hardly ever whipped us, and was never cruel to us. He +didn't let his overseer whip us, and never hit a man. + +"Aw, we had good eats den. Wish I has some of dem old ash-cakes now +which was cooked in de brick oven or in de ashes in de fireplace. My +mistress had a big garden, and give us something to eat out of it. We +used to go hunting, and killed possums, rabbit, squirrels, and birds. + +"We had home-made clothes 'till I was big boy. Dey was made from card +and spin wheels. + +"Our work was light; we got up at sun-up at blowing of de horn and +worked till sundown. Sometimes we worked on Saturday afternoons when we +had to. On Saturday nights we had frolics--men and women. Some women +would wash their clothes on Saturday afternoons. Den at night we have +prayer meetings. + +"We had no church on our plantation, not till after freedom, but we +learned to read and write and spell. + +"De padderrolers didn't bother us; our master always give us a pass when +we go anywhere. + +"On Christmas Day master always give big dinners for slaves, and on New +Year we had a holiday. + +"I married Lila Davis at de Baptist Church in Newberry. + +"When our slaves got sick we sent for de doctor. Some of de old folks in +the neighborhood believed in giving root-herb tea or tea made from +cherry barks or peach leaves. + +"When freedom come de master told us we was free and could go but if we +wanted to stay on with him, we could stay. We stayed with him for two +years and worked by day wages. + +"The Ku Klux was dere. I heard old folks talk about dem. Dey had white +sheets over their heads and white caps on their heads. + +"The Yankees went through our place and stole cattle. + +"I thought slavery was all right, 'cause I had a good time. I had a good +master. + +"I joined the church when I was 21 years old because I thought I'd live +better. I think all ought to join the church." + + Source: Wallace Davis (88), Newberry, S. C.; interviewer: G. Leland + Summer, Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Oct. 15, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES OF EX-SLAVES + + +"I live in a little two-room house beyond Helena where I work a little +patch of land which I rent. I don't own anything. I make a living +working de land. + +"I was born on Indian Creek in Newberry County, S. C. about 1856. My +mammy was Rhody Davis and my pa was Ivasum Davis. We belonged in slavery +to Bill Davis. He lived at de place called "Rich Hill". De old house is +done tore down, but young Riser now lives in de new house on de place. + +"Our master was good to us, but whipped us a little sometimes. He would +not allow his overseer to whip any of us. He give us enough to eat and a +fair place to live in. We didn't want fer anything. Dey had plenty to +eat on de farm, and sure had good eatings. Dere was a brick oven which +could cook good bread and cakes. We had a big garden which de mistress +looked after, and she had plenty from it which she shared wid de slaves. + +"De old spinning wheel was used lots of times and dey made all de +clothes everybody on de place wore. + +"We didn't have no church to go to, but dey sometimes made some slaves +go to white folks churches where dey set on de back seats. We didn't +have schools and couldn't learn to read and write till after freedom +come; den some niggers learned at de brush arbors. + +"Befo' freedom de patrollers marched up and down de road but didn't +bother us. Our master always give us a pass when we went somewhere. On +Christmas he give us big dinners. + +"I married Lilla Davis at de white folks' Baptist church in Newberry. + +"When slaves got sick some of dem took tree barks and made teas to +drink, and some made tea from root herbs. We had doctors, too, but dey +made lots of deir medicine from de barks and herbs. + +"I can't remember much what de Ku Klux did, but heard about dem. Just +after de war de Yankees marched through our place and stole some cattle +and run away wid dem. In some places dey burned down de barns and gin +houses. + +"I had a good master and always had plenty to eat, so I thought slavery +was all right. We didn't have nothing of any kind to worry about. + +"I don't know nothing much about Abe Lincoln or Jefferson Davis." + + Source: Wallace Davis (N. 88), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. (9/15/37). + + + + + Project 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, August 20, 1937 + + WILLIAM HENRY DAVIS + Ex-Slave, 72 Years + + +"I born de first day of March in 1865 cause de white folks raise me +mostly en dat how-come I know how old I ought to say I is. My father +belong to de old man Jackie Davis, dat live not so far from Tabernacle, +en den he fall to he son, Mr. William J. Davis. Dat whe' I was raise. My +grandfather, old man Caesar, live dere too." + +"I never been treated exactly as de other plantation peoples was as it +just like I tellin you, I be round de white folks mostly. My mamma, she +do all de cooking to de big house en dere be a division in de Missus +kitchen for de cook en she chillun to stay in. Sometimes my Massa make +my mamma feed all de small plantation chillun dere to de kitchen from de +table. Dey want de chillun to hurry en grow en dat de reason dey give em +good attention at de house. Dey give us milk en clabber en corn bread to +eat mostly en give us fritters some of de time. Dat was fried wheat +bread what some people call pancakes. Used to give me job to mind de +cows en de calves when dey was put to grazing." + +"All de other colored peoples live in de nigger quarter up on de hill. +Just like de white people house here, de colored people house all be in +row pretty much off from de big house. Oh, de people was meant to work +in dat day en time. De white folks teach em en show em what dey look for +em to do. Den if dey didn' do it like dey tell em do it, dey chastise +em." + +"It just like I tellin you, de people fare wid abundance of everything +in dem days. Destroy much meat in one month den as de people gets hold +of in whole year dese days. It was just dis way, everybody know to have +fence round bout dey plantation den en de hogs could run anywhe'. All de +field land was fence en de woods was for de run of de stock. Dey mark em +en some of de time, dey hear tell of stock 10 mile away. Know em by de +brand." + +"Peoples didn' have heap of all kind of things dat dey have dese days, +but somehow it look like dey have a knack of gettin along better wid +what dey have den. Didn' have no stoves to cook on in dem days. Cook in +clay oven en on de fireplace. Make up fire en when it die down, dey put +tatoes (potatoes) in de oven en let em stay dere all night. My God, won' +nothin no better den dem oven tatoes was. Some of de time, dey have wire +in de chimney wid de pots hanging on dat. Folks used to make up a cake +of corn bread en pat it on de hearth en when de fire burn right low, dey +cover de cake all up in pile of ashes. When it get done, it be brown +through de ashes en dey take it out en wash en rub all de ashes off it. +Den it was ready to eat. Dat what dey call ash cake. Just seem like what +de peoples used to cook be sweeter eatin den what dey cooks dis day en +time." + +"Oh, I beat rice many a day. Yes'um, beat rice many a day for my +grandmother en my mamma too. Had a mortar en a pestle dat beat rice +wid. Dey take big tree en saw log off en set it up just like a tub. Den +dey hollow it out in de middle en take pestle dat have block on both it +end en beat rice in dat mortar. Beat it long time en take it out en fan +it en den put it back. De last time it put back, tear off some shucks en +put in dere to get de red part of de rice out en make it white. Ain' +nobody never been born can tell you more bout dem pestles en mortars den +William Henry Davis know." + +"Yes'um, used to go to corn shuckings en rye thrashings en pea +thrashings plenty times. Oh, dey sing en have music en have big pot +cookin out in de yard wid plenty rice en fresh meat for everybody. Dere +be so many people some of de time, dey had to have two or three pots. +Den dey have dem log rollings to clean up de land en when dey would get +to rollin dem heavy logs, dey give de men a little drink of whiskey to +revive em, but dey gage how much dey give em. O Lord, we had tough time +den. After dey get through wid all de work, dey would eat supper den. +Give us rice en corn bread en fresh meat en coffee en sweet tatoe pone. +My Lord, dat sweet tatoe pone was de thing in dem days. Missie, you ain' +never eat no pone bread? Dey take piece of tin en drive nails through it +en grate de raw tatoes on dat. Den dey take a little flour en hot water +en molasses en mix up in dem raw tatoes en bake it in de oven on de +fireplace. Have lid to oven en put fire under de bottom of it en on de +top to get it right done. Some of de time, dey put a little ginger in it +fore it was baked. Cut it in big slices when it get done, but wouldn' +never eat it till dey know it was cold. Missie, de older I gets de more +I does sorrow to go back to dem old constructions dat dey used to have." + +"Some of de colored peoples have bresh (brush) shelter whe' dey go to +church in dem days, but all us go to de white folks church. Oh, de +colored peoples go in ox carts, but us white folks have teams en +carriage to ride in. I recollects Mr. Davis carriage look sorta like a +house wid two big horses to pull it. De family would be in de inside en +have seats whe' dey set facing one another. De driver have seat on de +outside in de front en on de back of de carriage was de place to set de +trunks." + +"My daddy was de blacksmith for Mr. Jackie Davis en he could make plows +en hoes en all dem kind of things. He have a circuit dat he go round en +mend things on other white folks plantations. Some of de time, he bring +back more den $100.00 to he boss dat he would make. Go all bout in dat +part of Marion county dat be part of Florence county dose times." + +"I hear some peoples say dey knows dere such as ghosts, but I ain' never +have no mind in dat line. All I know bout is what my mamma used to tell +us big chillun when she want us to stay home wid de little chillun en +mind em. Say dere was Raw Head en Bloody Bones in de woods en if us go +off, de child might set de house on fire. Such as dat was to make us +stay home when dey was gone." + +"It just dis way, I think freedom a good thing for some people while it +a bad thing for de ones dat don' have a knack to shuffle for dey own +self. When freedom come, some of de colored people didn' know what +freedom was en dey just hang around dey white folks en look to dey Massa +for what dey get right on. Wouldn' get off en make nothin for dey own +self. Dat how-come I think it better for some not to be free cause so +much of worryations ain' good for peoples. Colored peoples never had to +worry bout nothin in slavery time." + + Source: William Henry Davis, age 72, ex-slave, Wahee section + of Marion Co., S. C. + + Personal interview, August 1937. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Aug. 24, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"Sunday, Aug. 1, was my 82nd ~HW: 84th?~] birthday; so I was born in +1853. De very day I come into de world I do not know, but soon my +marster, Starke Sims, begun to train me. Dr. Bill Sims, Marse Stark's +son, was a doctor when I was born. A younger son was called Hal. When +Hal was a boy he said he was gwine off, and when he got to be a man, dat +is what he done; yes sirree, he got scattered off. + +"Dr. Bill had done started to doctoring folks befo' I got into dis +world. And first thing dat I recollects is how my marster teached me to +address him. He addressed me as 'Elias, Johnny Elias'. I had to answer, +'Sirs', and dat 'S' always had to be dar to please de marster. All of +his slaves had to address him de same way. Sometimes we would answer, +'Sirs Marster'. + +"All de things my marster teached me are still a great help to me. Dis +younger generation does not have de quality dat we old niggers has, +because dey refuse to take de teachings of dere parents and de good +white folks. De main thing dat Marse teached his slaves was +mannerableness. Dat I holds to dis day; 'specially to de white people. I +allus tries to be mannerable to dem. Often I looks back on dat, but both +white and colored is trying to do away wid dem things. Old training is +de best, and I cannot fergit my manners. Never does raal folks fergit +dere raising. Dats what shows up de quality in people. I likes quality +in everything, and as soon as I sees strangers and hears dem talk and +looks at dere action, I can tell how much quality dey got. Dat I sho +can. I never is gwine to drap my raising, don't care what de style +comes to. Dat's jest one thing dat my race and de white race, too, wants +to do away wid. Dey don't hold up no manners and no ra'al raising. + +"De school teachers tells de chilluns to say yes and no to me. Dey tells +dem to say de same thing to white folks. Den dey teaches de chilluns to +Mr. and Miss de own race and to call white folks by dere names widout +any handle to it. Dat ain't gwine to work, and any niggers dat has +self-respect jest ain't gwine to call no white folks by dere name. If +you doesn't respect other folks, why den other folks ain't gwine to show +no respect fer you. Why some of my grand chilluns sets up and says 'yes' +and 'no' to me 'stead of 'yes sir' and 'no sir'. But I is right here to +tell you dat my own chilluns don't say 'no' and 'yes' to me. I is +strived wid dem and dey knows how to answer proper to dere elders and to +white folks. I ain't got no time fer dese school teachers dat tells de +pupils to answer in no sech insulting ways as dat. I likes manners and +widout manners folks ain't quality; don't make no diffuns 'bout what +color dey is or how far dey is gone in de reading books. Young'uns +saying 'yes' and 'no' is jest plain ugly. It suits me to meet nice +folks, and when I finds dat dey ain't got mannerableness about dem, den +I concludes dat dey jest ain't nice. + +"I gwine to dress up tonight and go to preaching at Mt. Zion. Dey done +already started running meeting dar. I used to preach amongst dem at de +big meetings, but I is retracting now. + +"My old marse low to us, 'You is free now, yes sir, you is sho free +niggers now. You is gwine out into de world on your own. Let me tell you +dis: If you be's mannerable you will allus come out more dan conqueror.' +I was young den, and I did not know what 'more dan conqueror' meant +den. I is larn't now what it means. Thank God, I does, fer his telling +me dat. I lays to de fact dat de reason I is never been in jail is dat I +allus had manners. Young'uns acts biggety and den dey lands right +straight in de first jail dar is. + +"I sho never went to no war, but I worked at de house in de corn field +a-raising corn fer de war hosses. I been in only two states, North and +South Carolina. I travels jest according to common sense: lets other +folks be my guide. I met up wid Indians; dey wanted to claim kin wid me, +but I wouldn't claim kin wid dem. He tell me bout my high cheeks or +something; den he low something 'bout my nose being long. Dey close +thinking people, dem Indians is. Dey don't fergit nothing. He say he see +I is mixed-up, but I never is knowed jest what he was driving at. I told +him I was teached from de old generation, but dat dar wasn't narry drop +of Indian blood in me. Cherokee Creek whar dat old Indian place is. Dey +has all kinds of things to sell dat dey makes. I ain't no Indian and I +does not feel dat way, no sir, not narry bit does I feel like I is a +Indian. + +"My mother died when I was a wee baby. Never is had no brothers or +sisters. She left me wid her marster dat owned her mother, Kissy Sims. +Marse Starke helped my granny to raise me. Kissy come from Virginia. Her +Pa let a man buy her and three other chilluns. Marse Starke raised dem +all up and dats how dey got his name. + +"Dis here man standing here by me is Zack Herndon. We is de oldest +niggers in Cherokee County dat I knows of. De other old ones is all dead +now. Oh, you knows him, does you Zack? + +"Never did so awful much work when I was coming up. Dey was priming me +and training me. When dey call my name, I allus come. Often I hid myself +to see de bad niggers whipped. Never had no 'buse in my life. Marse +didn't 'low nobody to look at his niggers when dey was being whipped, +kaise he hated to have to let any of dem be 'bused. Marse Starke sho +never whipped no one dat was good. He never let his overseers 'buse +nobody neither. I does not 'member much 'bout his overseers. One named a +Briggs, one a Bishop, one a Coleman and Alley Cook was de last one; I +'members his name best. + +"Marse Starke was a rich man. He had in de Quarter what was know'd as a +chilluns' house. A nurse stayed in it all de time to care fer all de +plantation chilluns. My granny 'Kissy' acted as nurse dar some. Aunt +Peggy and aunt Ciller was two mo'. Ciller was de daughter of a King in +Africa, but dat story been traveling ever since she got to dese shores, +and it still a-gwine. All dese helped to nurse me. Dey fed us on milk, +plenty of it. We had honey, lasses and lots of good things. When I was a +little bit-a boy I had a big bowl to eat out of. And us chilluns et like +hogs and got fat. We allus had fine food. My marster give me a biscuit +sometime from his plate and I wouldn't have tuck 25c fer it. He allus +put butter in it or ham and gravy. He would say, 'Dat's de doctrine, Be +kind!' Nobody never got no 'borious beating from our master's hands. + +"I been toiling here on dis earth fer a long time. De Lawd spared me to +bring up a big race of chilluns myself. We is awful po' and ain't none +of my chilluns got things as well as I had when my marster give it to +me. My daughter and grand-daughter lives wid Mr. Nathan Littlejohn. He +is rich. I stay in de house wid dem. Dey 'vides wid me dat what dey has. +But dat ain't much. I has great-great-grand chilluns dat I ain't never +seed. I have five chilluns living to my knowings. Last time I counted, I +had 137 grand and great-grand chilluns. So you see I looks into de +fourth generation of my own family. + +"Me and Old man Zack went to a hanging one time. Both of us clamed up +into a tree so dat we could look down on de transaction from a better +angle. De man, I means de sheriff, let us go up dar. He let some mo' +niggers clamb up in de same tree wid us. De man dat was being hung was +called Alf Walker. He was a mulatto and he had done kil't a preacher, so +you see dey was hanging him fer his wickedness, sho as you born dey was. + +"While me and Zack up in dat tree a-witnessing dat transaction, peers +like we become mo' acquainted wid one another dan we had ever been since +us know'd one another. + +"Sheriff 'low'd, 'You is got only fifteen minutes to live in. What has +you got to say?' Alf got up and talked by giving a lecture to folks +about being lawful citizens. He give a lecture also to young folks who +he 'low'd dat was not in sech condition as he was. He talking to dem +'bout obeying de parents and staying at home. Me and Zack exchange +glances and Zack 'low, 'Alf ain't never stayed at home none since he +been big enough to tramp over de country and he up dar fixing to git his +neck broke fer his waryness, and trying to tell us good folks young and +old how us should act. Now ain't he something to be a-telling us what to +do.' + +"Finally, Alf had done talked his time out and de sheriff 'low, 'Now you +is only got two minutes, what does you want?' + +Alf hollered, 'Mr. Sheriff, lemme shake hands wid somebody.' Sheriff say +everybody dat wishes to may shake his hand. Me and Zack stayed up in dat +tree, but some of de niggers went up and shaked hands wid Alf. + +"Time out! You could-a heard a pin drap. I could hear my breath +a-coming. I got scared. Zack looked ra'al ashy. Nobody on de ground +moved, jest stayed ra'al quiet and still. Noose drapped over de man's +neck and tightened. Some one moved de block from under his foots. Dat +jerked him down. Whoop! All dem in de tree fell out 'cept me and Zack, +dey was so scared. Alf Walker wasn't no mo'. Me and Zack sot up in dat +tree like two cranks. Us sot dar as if it hadn't tuck no 'fect on us +a-tall. All de other folks got 'fected. Zack tickled me when he saw me +studying. He 'low 'you act awful hard-hearted.' I 'low, 'dat man telling +us how to do jest now, and dar he is hanged. Us still a-setting in dis +tree, ain't we? We ain't never wanted to see no mo' hangings, is we +Zack?' Zack 'low dat we ain't. + +"Onc't de guide low'd to de President, 'You raises your hat to a +nigger?' President 'low, 'I ain't gwine to let nobody be mo' polite dan +I is.' He never let nobody have mo' sense dan he did either. Dat was +Washington. + +"Me and Zack is gwine to tell you how it is. We is old and ain't no need +fer old folks to try and fool. I is too shame to beg. I wants de +pension. Is you gwine to tell me 'bout it? Dis de truth, I is took a +chip fer food. If I could got to school and write fast as I can shake my +fist, I'd be a-giving out dat pension right fast. I likes character and +principle. I got a boy turned into 64 years. He got character and +principle, and he still do what I say. I never put my mouth amongst old +folks when I was young. Me and Zack often talks over old times." + + Source: Elias Dawkins (84), Rt. 1, Gaffney, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. 8/20/37. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + FOLKLORE + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + June 3, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES OF EX-SLAVES + + +Upon learning where an ex-slave lived, the writer walked up to a house +on Pickenpack street where two old colored men were sitting on the front +porch. Asked if one of them was named 'Will Dill', the blacker of the +two motioned to himself and said, + +"Come here, come in and have a seat," at the same time touching the +porch swing beside him. + +He acknowledged that he lived in slavery days, "but was a small boy, +walking and playing around at that time". His master was Zeek Long, who +lived in Anderson County not far from "Three and Twenty Mile Creek' and +used to ask him:--what the rooster said, what the cow said, what the pig +said; and used to get a great deal of amusement out of his kiddish +replies and imitation of each animal and fowl. From his own calculation, +he figured he was born in 1862 in the home of his mother who was owned +by Zeek Long. His father, also, was owned by the same master, but lived +in another house. He remembers when the Yankees came by and asked for +something to eat. When they had gotten this, they went to the corn crib, +which was chock full of corn, and took the corn out, shucked it, and +gave it to their horses. All the good horses had been hidden in the +woods and only two or three old poor ones were left in the stables, but +the Yankees did not take these for they only wanted good horses. He +remembers seeing the patrollers coming around and checking up on the +'niggers'. He had an uncle who used to slip off every night and go to +see some colored girl. He had a path that he followed in going to her +house. + +"One night Uncle Bob, he started to go see his gal, and it was pretty +late, but he followed his path. There were some paterollers out looking +for him, and t'rectly they saw him. Uncle Bob lit out running and the +paterollers started running, too. Here they had it up and down the path. +Uncle Bob, he knew there was a big ditch crossing the path, but the +paterollers didn't know it; so when Uncle Bob got to the gully, he +jumped right over it and run on, but one of the patrollers fell into the +gully and broke his neck. After dat, Uncle Bob, he stayed in and kept +quiet, for he knew the paterollers had it in for him." + +He asked the writer if he had ever heard a chicken talk. He said that he +had, and described a scene at the house one day when a preacher was +there. The chickens and guineas came around the house as usual to get +their feed, but didn't get it. He "quoted" the rooster as saying; "Has +the preacher gone yet?" A guinea hen answered, "not yet--not yet". + +He said that he often heard turkeys talk. They would ask each other +questions, and another fowl would answer. He once heard a mule that was +in the barn, say: "Lord! Lord! All I want is corn and fodder." + +Being told by the negro who was sitting beside him, that he did not +believe animals and fowls could talk, he at once said: + +"Sure--roosters and gobblers can talk, one day there was a turkey hen +and a lots of little turkeys scratching around a certain place on a +hill, the little turkeys were heard to say, 'Please mam, please mam'. An +old gobbler standing and strutting near, cried out, 'Get the hell out of +here'. The turkey hen then moved to another place to feed." + +He said that he gets out in his porch early in the mornings and whistles +to the birds, and that soon a large flock of birds are all around him. +Offering to demonstrate his ability, he began to whistle in a peculiar +way. Soon thereafter, two or three English sparrows flew into the yard +from nearby trees. + +"See thar! See thar!" he said, pointing to them. + +"When the war was over," he continued, "we stayed on at Marster's +plantation for some time. I grew up, and was always a fellow who liked +hard work. I have railroaded, was a tree doctor, helped dig wells and +did a lot of hard work. The white people was always pleased with my work +and told me so. I went down a well once to help clean it out. It looked +like to me that well was caving in above me; so I hollered for them to +pull me out. When I got out, I told them I wasn't going down no wells +any more unless somebody threw me in." + +He said that he had seen lots of wild turkeys when he was a boy. One day +when he was going to get some "bacco" for his aunt, he saw a hen and a +lot of little turkeys-- + +"I run after the little wild turkeys but I never kotched a one. That old +mother hen would fly from one limb in a tree to another limb in another +tree and call them. They was the runningest things I ever saw. I nearly +run myself to death but I never did get one." + +Every now and them, he said, one of the men on the plantation would +shoot a wild hog and we would have plenty of meat to eat. The hogs ran +wild in those days, he said. + +"I never saw a ghost," he said, "unless it was one night when we boys +was out with our dogs 'possum hunting. The dogs treed a possum in a +little scrubby tree. I was always a good climber; so I went up the tree +to shake the 'possum out. I shook and shook but the 'possum would not +fall out of the tree. I shook so hard that my hat fell off and I told +the niggers not to let the dogs tear my hat. That was no skunk in the +tree, 'cause we couldn't smell anything, but when I looked again at the +'possum, or whatever it was, it got bigger and bigger. I scrambled down +the tree right away, nearly falling out of it, but I wanted to get away. +The dogs acted kinda scared; yet they would run up to the tree and bark. +One old dog I had did not bark, he just hollered. We left the thing in +the tree. I don't know what it was, but it warn't no 'possum, for I'd +shook it out of the tree if it had been." + +In further discussing the subject of fowls in talking among themselves, +he said that he had often noticed a rooster and some hens standing +around in the shade talking. + +"The rooster will say something and the hens will listen; then answer +him back, 'yes'. One day I heard a turkey hen say, 'we are poor, we are +poor'. The old turkey gobbler said, 'well, who in the hell can help it.' +Yes sir, they talk just like we do, but 'taint everybody can understand +'em." + +He said that he had fifteen children by his first wife. He remained +single for thirteen years after his wife's death, and never had any +children by his second wife. + +"Do you reckon we'll ever get a pension in our old age?" he asked. "It +seems to me they would give us old fellows something to live on, for we +can't work. How can we live now-a-days? When a man has done good work +when he was able, the country ought to take care of him in his old age. + +"I was a hand for hard work all my life. I was raised that way; but now, +that I can't do nothing, it looks like the state ought to take care of +me. + +"My father told me when I was sitting up to a gal and I told him I was +gwinter marry her, 'Son don't you never cut that woman across the back, +for as sure as you do, that cut will be against you on Judgement Day." + +"When I was laid up with the misery in my side, my feet swelled up and +busted, and I had a awful hurting in my side and back. People wanted me +to believe I had been conjured, but I did not believe it, and I told +them I would eat all the stuff that a conjure man could bring. Anybody +that believes in conjuring is just a liar. God is the only a person who +can bring suffering on people. He don't want to do it, but it's because +we do something He don't want us to when He makes people suffer. It is +the bugger man that does it." + +"Uncle" Will said that his father and mother were married by a +"jack-leg" preacher who, when told that they wanted to get married, had +them both to jump backwards and forwards over a broom. He then told them +that they were man and wife. + + Source: Will Dill, 555 Pickenpack St., Spartanburg, S. C. + Interviewer: F. S. DuPre, Spartanburg, Dist. 4 5/19/37 + + + + + W. W. Dixon + Winnsboro, S. C. + + THOMAS DIXON + EX-SLAVE 75 YEARS OLD. + + +Tom Dixon, a mulatto, is a superannuated minister of the Gospel. He +lives in Winnsboro, S. C., at the corner of Moultrie and Crawford +Streets. He is duly certified and registered as an old age pensioner and +draws a pension of $8.00 per month from the Welfare Board of South +Carolina. He is incapable of laborious exercise. + +"I was born in 1862, thirteen miles northeast of Columbia, S. C., on the +border line of Kershaw and Fairfield Counties. My mother was a slave of +Captain Moultrie Gibbes. My father was white, as you can see. My mother +was the cook for my white folks; her name was Malinda. She was born a +slave of Mr. Tillman Lee Dixon of Liberty Hill. After she learned to +cook, my marster bought her from her master and paid $1,200.00 for her. +After freedom, us took the name of Dixon. + +"My mistress in slavery time was Miss Mary. She was a Clark before she +married Marse Moultrie. I was nothing but a baby when the war ended and +freedom come to our race. I lived on my marster's Wateree River +plantation, with mother, until he sold it and went into the hotel +business at Union, S. C. + +"My mother then went to Columbia, S. C., and I attended Benedict +College. I became a preacher in 1886, the year of the earthquake. That +earthquake drove many sinners to their knees, me amongst them; and, when +I got up, I resolved to be a soldier of the cross, and every since I +have carried the shield of faith in my left hand and the sword of the +Word in my right hand. + +"The night I was converted, the moon was shining brightly. We was all at +a revival meeting out from Blythewood, then called Dako, S. C. First, we +heard a low murmur or rolling sound like distant thunder, immediately +followed by the swaying of the church and a cracking sound from the +joists and rafters of the building. The women folks set up a screaming. +The men folks set up a hollering: 'Oh Lordy! Jesus save me! We believe! +Come Almighty King!' The preacher tried to quiet us, but we run out the +church in the moonlight, men and women crying and praying. The preacher, +Rev. Charlie Moore, continued the services outside and opened the doors +of the church, and every blessed soul come forward and joined the +church. + +"I married Fannie Irwin, and God blessed us all the days of her life. My +daughter, Maggie, married a Collins and lives in the Harlem section of +New York City. My daughter, Sallie, lives also in Harlem, Greenville +Village. Malinda, named for my mother, lives and works in Columbia, S. +C. + +"On the death of my wife, Fannie, I courted and married the widow Lizzie +Williams. The house we live in is her own property. She had two children +when we married, a boy and a girl. The boy got killed at the schoolhouse +two years ago. The girl is working in Columbia, S. C. I am a +superannuated minister of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and +receive a small sum of money from the denomination, yearly. The amount +varies in different years. At no time is it sufficient to keep me in +food and clothing and support. + +"I have taken nothing to do with politics all my life, but my race has +been completely transformed, in that regard, since Mr. Roosevelt has +been President. Left to a popular vote of the race, Mr. Roosevelt would +get the solid South, against any other man on any ticket he might run +on. He is God Almighty's gentleman. By that, I mean he is brave in the +presence of the blue-bloods, kind in the presence of the common people, +and gentle to the lowly and despised Negro." + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Folklore + Spartanburg, Dist. 4 + Dec. 1, 1937 + Edited by: Elmer Turnage + + [~HW: (Dorroh~] + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + + +"I live wid my daughter in a four-room house which we rents from Doc +Hunter. He got it in charge. My husband died several years ago. + +"My daddy was Harvey Pratt, and he belonged to Marse Bob Pratt in +Newberry. My mammy was Mary Fair, and she belonged in slavery to marse +Simeon Fair. When dey married dey had a big wedding. Marse didn't make +slave women marry men if dey didn't want to. Befo' my mammy and daddy +married, somebody give a note to take to Mrs. Fair, her mistress. +Mistress wouldn't tell what was in it, but daddy run every step of de +way, he was so glad dey would let 'em marry. + +"Col. Simeon Fair had a big fish pond on his place down on de branch +behind his house, and he had a milkhouse, too. (This is where the +Margaret Hunter Park is). + +"My great-grandmother come from Virginia. She was bought by Marse Fair +from a speculator's drove. Slaves had good places to live in and +everything to eat. Old Marse sho cared for his slaves. He give 'em +plenty of clothes and good things to eat. On Sundays dey had to go to de +white folks' church and he made dem put on new clean clothes dat he give +'em. + +"I was born about two years befo' freedom, and I lost my mammy right +atter de war. I remember about de Ku Klux and Red Shirts. + +"Everything we had was made at home, or on marster's big plantation in +de country. Marse told his son, Billy, befo' he died to take care of his +niggers and see dat dey didn't want for nothing. + +"Marse made de slaves work all day and sometimes on Saturdays, but he +never let 'em work at night. Sometimes on de plantation dey had +corn-shuckings and log-rollings; den dey give de hands good dinners and +some whiskey to drink. + +"One old nigger had a weak back and couldn't work much, so he use to +play marbles in de yard wid de kids most every day. + +"Slaves couldn't go away from de place unless dey had a pass from de +marse to show de patrollers when dey caught dem out. + +"My daddy use to cook at de old Newberry Hotel. He was one of de finest +cooks in dis part of de country. De hotel was a small wooden frame +building wid a long front piazza. In de back was a small wooden two-room +house dat servants lived in. Atter de war, de 'little guard house' stood +jes' behind where de opera house now is. + +"Some of de slaves learned to read and write. Marse didn't keep dem from +learning if dey wanted to. Niggers used to sing, 'I am born to die'. Dey +learn't it from Marse Ramage's son, 'Jock' Ramage. He learn't 'em to +sing it. + +"Atter de war, Marse told de niggers dey was free. Most of dem stayed on +wid him and took his name. Slaves most always took de name of deir +marsters. + +"My mother married at Thomas Pope's place, and he had old man Ned +Pearson, a nigger who could read and write, to marry 'em. He married +lots of niggers den. Atter de war many niggers married over agin, 'cause +dey didn't know if de first marriage was good or not. + +"Marse Fair let his niggers have dances and frolics on his plantation, +and on Saturdays dey danced till 12 o'clock midnight. Sometimes dey +danced jigs, too, in a circle, jumping up and down. In dese times de +young folks dance way into Sunday mornings, and nobody to stop 'em, but +Marse wouldn't let his slaves dance atter 12 o'clock. + +"Everybody believed in ghosts. Nobody would pass by a graveyard on a +dark night, and dese days dey go to cemeteries to do deir mischief, at +night and not afraid. Doctors used to have home-made medicines. Old Dr. +Brown made medicine from a root herb to cure rheumatism. He called it +'rhue'. He lived in what is now called Graveltown. His old house has +been torn down. He made hot teas from barks for fevers. He made a liquid +salve to rub on for rheumatism. + +"When freedom come most of de slaves stayed on. Some man come here to +make a speech to de slaves. He spoke in Marse Fair's yard to a big crowd +of niggers and told dem to stay on and work for wages. When de Yankees +come through here, dey stole everything dey could git deir hands on. Dey +went in de house and took food and articles. Marse put guards around his +house to keep dem out so dey wouldn't steal all de potatoes and flour he +had for his slaves. Ku Klux went around de country and caught niggers +and carpetbaggers. De carpetbaggers would hunt up chillun's lands, whose +daddys was killed and try to take dem. Dat was when Judge Leheigh was +here, and Capt. Bone was postmaster. Dey was Republicans, but when de +Democrats got in power dey stopped all dat. + +"When I married John Dorroh I had a big wedding. We married at de Harp +place in Newberry, jes' behind de big house, in a nigger cottage. White +folks and niggers come. I was known amongst de best white families +'cause I served as cook for dem. I was married by Rev. J. K. Walls, a +nigger preacher from Charleston. + +"I think slavery ended through de work of Almighty God. My mother always +said dat was it. My daddy left here and went to Memphis when I was five +years old. He sent home $40. He was in de army wid Major James Baxter. +He took care of de guns and things of de Major." + + Source: Isabella Dorroh (N, 75), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. L. Summer, Newberry, S. C. 11/22/27. + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Spartanburg, S. C. + May 31, 1937 + Edited by: Martha Ritter + + FOLKLORE: EX-SLAVES + + +"I was born in Newberry County, S. C. below Prosperity on Capt. George +De Walt's place. My daddy and mammy was Giles and Lizzie De Walt +Downing. My daddy belonged to de Outz family, but changed his name to +Downing--his master was Downing Outz. I was born about 1857. My mother +had 16 children, some died young. + +I was a little chap when the war was here, but I remember de soldiers +coming home from de war. De Yankees went through here and stole all the +cattle and all the eats. De Ku Klux marched down de road dressed in +white sheets. Freedom come and most of the slaves went away, but I +stayed on wid Marse De Walt. Daddy worked wid Downing Outz for wages. +When I was 15 years old I worked in de fields like grown folks. I never +learned to read and write. We had no schools then for colored people. De +only church we had after freedom come was a small "brush arbor" church. + +"We hunted rabbits, 'possums, squirrels, wild turkeys, doves and +partridges there. + +"I joined de church when I was 20 years old, 'cause I thought times +would be better for me then. Of course, I kind of back-slided little +afterwards, but always tried to do right. + + Source: Laurence Downing (80), Newberry, S. C. + Interviewer: G. Leland Sumer, Newberry, S. C. + + + + + Project 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, Jane 23, 1937 + + WASHINGTON DOZIER + Ex-Slave, 90 years + + +"Dis heah sho' Washington Dozier. Dat is wha' de hard time left uv him. +I born en raise dere in Florence County de 18th uv December, 1847. Don' +know 'xactly wha' my father name, but my mudder tell me he wuz name +Dozier. My mudder wuz Becky en she b'long to ole man Wiles Gregg dere on +de Charleston road. I hab two sisters en one brother, but not uv one +father. I s'ppose brother Henry wuz me whole brother en Fannie en +Ca'oline wuz jes me half sister." + +"Well, dey ne'er hab so mucha sumptin, but I recollect dey make dey own +produce den. Oh, dey lib very well. We call it good libin' at dat time. +Coase de bedding de colored peoples hab wasn't much cause dey jes hab +some kind uv home-made stuff den. We raise in a t'ree room house wha' +hab floor on two uv de room. Hab house right dere on de Gregg +plantation. Family went from age to age in dat day en time wid dey own +Massa name. I 'member my gra'mudder was name Fannie Gregg. Now, I tell +yuh how I 'count fa me hab de name Dozier, I jes s'ppose dat come from +me father." + +"Hadder do some sorta work in dem days lak hoe corn en replant en so on +lak dat, but ne'er didn't do no man work. Wuz jes uh half hand, dat is +'bout so. Dey gi'e us plenty sumptin to eat den, but ne'er pay us no +money. Coase dey didn't 'low us no choice uv wha' we eat at dat time. +Hab plenty meat en corn bread en molasses mos' aw de time. Den dey le' +us hab uh garden uv we own en we hunt possum many uh time en ketch fish +too. Meat was de t'ing dat I lak mostly." + +"Dey gi'e us good clothes to put on us back wha' dey hab make on de +plantation en in de winter, dey gi'e us good warm clothes. Jes wear +wha'e'er de white folks gi'e us. Didn't take no 'ffect tall 'bout Sunday +clothes." + +"Fust time I marry I hab uh very good wedding. Marry ole man Gurley +daughter o'er in Florence County. Don' know 'xactly how ole I was den, +but I c'n tell yah dis much, I wasn't in no herry to marry. Aw colored +peoples hadder do to marry den wuz to go to dey Massa en ge' uh permit +en consider demselves man en wife. I recollect dat we hab a very good +wedding supper dere. I marry Georgeanna de second time en I hab four +head uv chillun by me fust wife en four head uv chillun by me second +wife. Ne'er couldn't tell how many gran'chillun I got." + +My Massa en Missus wuz mighty pious good people. Dey go to preachin' +dere to Hopewell Presbyterian Chu'ch aw de time. De man wha' wuz de +preacher dere den wuz name Frierson. De colored peoples go dere to dat +same chu'ch en sot en de gallery. Yuh know dere spirituals hymns en dere +reels. I c'n sing one uv dem dat I use'er sing in my slumberin' hours. +It go lak dis: + + Chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do in de jedgment mornin'? + Chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do in de jedgment mornin'? + Oh Chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do in de jedgment mornin' + When ole Gable go down on de seashore? + + He gwinna place one foot in de sea + En de udder on de land, + En declare tha' time would be no more, + Chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do? + + Chillun, wha' yah gwinna do in de jedgment mornin'? + Chillun, wha' yah gwinna do in de jedgment mornin'? + Then chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do + When ole Gable go down on de seashore? + + He gwinna place one foot in de sea + En de udder on de land, + En declare tha' time would be no more, + Then chillun, wha' yuh gwinna do in de jedgment mornin'? + +"Now de angels sing dat to me in my slumberin' hour en dey sing it dat I +might gi'e it to de libin' heah on dis earth. Well, I know right smart +uv dem song cause accordin' to my 'sperience, de hymn book wha' to fence +de human family in. I got ah good set uv lungs en I wuz de one wha' lead +de flock den. Dere jes one grand reason why I can' sing right well dis +a'ternoon, yuh is take me on de surprise lak." + +"I was jes uh chap in slavery time en I hadder stay dere home aw de time +whey dere didn't no harm come 'bout me. Dey le' we chillun play marbles +en ball aw we wanna den. Jes chunk de ball to one annuder o'er de house. +Dat how we play ball in dem times. My white folks didn't do nuthin but +stay home en go to chu'ch meetin's. Dey ne'er didn't punish none uv dey +colored peoples en didn' 'low no udder people to do it neither. I +couldn't tell yah how many slave dey own but dey hab more slave by de +increase uv dey families. Dey hab so many dat some uv de time dey'ud +hire some uv dem out to annuder plantation. Ne'er didn't see em sell +none uv dey colored peoples. I know dis much, dat wuz uh right good +place to lib." + +"I heared tell uv trouble 'tween de whites en de colored peoples, but +dere wuzn't none uv dat 'round whey I stay. Dey say some uv de slave run +'way fa bad treatment en stay in de woods. Didn't hab no jails den en +when dey'd ketch em, dey'ud buff em en gag em en hoss whip em. Now, I +ne'er see none uv dat but I heared tell uv it." + +"My Massa ne'er didn't work us hard lak. Coase uz de day' ud come, de +hands hadder go up to de big house en go 'bout dey business, but dey +al'ays knock offen early on uh Saturday evenin' en le' everbody do jes +wha' dey wanna dere on de plantation. Ne'er didn't use no horn to wake +dey colored peoples up en didn't wake em work en de big Christmus day en +New Years' neither. Ne'er hab no udder holidays but dem two. My Massa +gi'e aw his colored peoples uh big Christmus dinner to de white folks +house. Jes hab plenty uv fresh meat en rice en biscuit en cake fa +eve'ybody dat day." + +"Dey hab funeral fa de colored peoples den jes lak dey hab dese days +'cept dey ne'er hab no preacher 'bout. Aw de slaves stop workin' fa de +funeral en dey'ud jes carry de body en permit it to de ground uz wuz de +usual t'ing dey do. Coase dey hab plenty singin' dere." + +"Dem t'ing wha' people call ghostes, dey is evil walks. I know dis much, +de sperit uv de body travels en dat de truth sho' uz I libin' heah. +Coase I ain' ne'er see none uv dem t'ing en I ain' scared uv nuthin +neither. Don' ne'er pay no 'ttention to no black cat en t'ing lak dat. +Ain' bother wid none uv dem charm neither. De peoples use'er hab dey own +doc'or book en dey search dat en use wha' it say do. Dey ne'er use no +me'icine tall den but calomel en castor oil en turpentine." + +"I sho' 'member when de fust gun shoot dere to Fort Sumter. Us fer uz I +c'n recollect, it wuz in June. De Yankees come t'rough dere en to my +knowin', dey 'haved very well. Jes ax my Massa fa sumptin to eat en dat +wuz aw dey done. Dere sho' wuz uh rejoicing 'mongest some uv de colored +peoples when dey tell em dey wuz free uz de white folks wuz. Some uv dem +leab dey Massa plantation jes uz soon uz dey know'd dey wuz free, but we +ne'er do dat. Jes stayed right on dere wid Mr. Gregg en work fa +one-third uv wha' dey make. Coase de white folks furnish aw de wear en +tear uv eve't'ing." + +"Dey ain' ne'er hab no schools fa de colored peoples no whey 'bout whey +I stay 'fore freedom come heah. Won' long a'ter de war dat free schools +wuz open up dere. It jes lak dis, I ain' bother wid dem schools mucha +den, but I c'n read right smart. Jes ketch it uz I come 'long en wha' I +kotch, I put dat to work. I is went to one uv dese night schools dey hab +'bout heah not long gone." + +"Mr. Abraham Lincoln, I ain' ne'er see him, but I know he wuz de +President uv de United States. Ain' ne'er see Mr. Jefferson Davis +neither. Dey wus oppositionalist den, I sho' know dat." + +"It jes lak dis, I t'ink dis uh better day we lib in dese times. When we +b'long to de white folks, we lib, en a'ter we wuz free we lib right on. +I t'ink being free de best time to lib. Better to be loose den tied +cause don' care how good yo' owner, yuh hadder be under dey +jurisdiction. Ain' dat right?" + + Source: Washington Dozier, age 90, colored, Pee Dee, Marion + Co. (Personal interview, June 1937). + + + + + Project 1885-1 + Spartanburg Dist. 4 + Sept. 22, 1937 + Edited by: + Elmer Turnage + + STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES + [~HW: Duk~] + + +"Vinie Wilkins is my daughter's name dat live wid me. My son owns dis +house and he keeps it up fer me and his sister. I's born on de bank of +Cherokee Creek, but I jest 'members how many years I stayed dar. Atter +Freedom had been a long time, we moved to Mr. Chesterfield Scruggs' +plantation whar we share cropped. It was on de old Spartanburg road from +here to Spartanburg. + +"I was purtty good-size chile when de Ku Klux come and tried to git my +daddy. Dey whipped him; den he run off and stayed off fer over seven +years. Dem Ku Klux was in all kinds of shapes, wid horns and things on +dere heads. Dey was so scary looking dat I ain't never fergot dem. Dem's +de awfulest 'boogers' I is ever see'd befo' or since. I was in de bed +and so was Pa, but dey broke in our do' and got him. I kivvered up my +head and did not make narry a sound. Dat's all dat I can recollect now." + + Source: Alice Duke (72), 401 Woods St., Gaffney, S. C. + Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. 9/16/37 + + + + + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, June 9, 1937 + + AUNT SILVA DURANT + Ex-Slave + + +"I don' know 'xactly when I wuz born but I hear my white folks say dat I +wuz born de fust (first) year uv freedom. I I c'n tell yuh dis much dat +I wuz uh grown 'oman when de shake wuz. Aw de older peoples wuz at de +chu'ch en ha' left us home to take care uv aw dem little chillun. Fust +t'ing we is know de house 'gin to quiver lak. We ne'er know wha' been to +matter en den de house 'gin to rock en rock en rock. We wuz so scare we +run outer in de yard en eve't'ing outer dere wuz jes uh shaking jes lak +de house wuz. We ne'er know wha' to do. Den we heared de peoples comin' +from de chu'ch jes uh runnin' en uh hollerin'. Didn't nobody know wha' +make dat. I tellin yuh jes lak dat wuz, de jedgment ain' ne'er been no +closer come heah den when dat shake was." + +"My mudder wuz name Clorrie en she b'long to Miss Millie Gasque up de +road dere. I born in Miss Millie yard en I stay dere till I wuz six year +old. My pa say I wuz six year old. He been ole man Vidger Hanes en +b'long to Mr. Wesley White o'er dere 'bout laughin 'fore freedom 'clare. +A'ter dat we move on de hill en my pa hire me dere to Colonel Durant to +wash dishes en help 'bout de kitchen. Den dey put me to do de washin' en +I been uh washin' en uh washin' mos' e'er since. Dats de way I done till +I ge' so I ne'er couldn't make it en den I hadder quit offen. Dat how +come I hab aw dese pretty flowers. Miss Durant gi'e me aw dem dahlia +wha' yuh see in dat yard right dere. Dat how I ge' wha' little bit uv +money I hab dese day en time. Dem white folks up dere in town comes down +heah en begs em from me." + +"Dey tell me some uv de peoples ge' 'long good en den some uv dem ge' +'long bad back dere in slavery day. Don' care how good peoples is dere +sho' be uh odd'un de crowd some uv de time. Dey say some uv de colored +peoples'ud run 'way from dey Massa en hide in de woods. Den dey slip +back to de plantation in de night en ge' green corn outer de white folks +field en carry em back in de woods en cook em dere. I hear Tom Bostick +tell 'bout when he run 'way one time. Say he use'er run 'way en hide in +de woods aw de time. Den de o'erseer ketch him one time when he been +come back en wuz grabblin' 'bout de tatoe patch. Say he gwinna make Tom +Bostick stay outer de woods ur kill him 'fore sun up dat day. Tom say +dey take him down 'side de woods en strip he clothes offen him. (I hear +em say dere plenty people bury down 'side dem woods dat dere ain' nobody +know 'bout). Den he say dey tie him to uh tree en take uh fat light'ud +torch en le' de juice drap outer it right on he naked body. He say he +holler en he beg en he ax em hab mercy but dat ne'er didn't do no good. +He mock how de tar make uh racket when it drap on he skin. Yuh know it +gwinna make uh racke't. Dat t'ing gwinna make uh racket when it drap on +anyt'ing wha' fresh. Ain' yuh ne'er hear no hot grease sizzle lak? +Yas'um, hear Tom Bostick tell dat more times den I got fingers en toe." + +"Den dey'ud hab sale en sell some uv de colored peoples offen to annuder +plantation hundred mile 'way some uv de time. 'Vide man en he wife. Dey +sho' done it. I hear pa tell 'bout dat. Make em stand up on uh stump en +bid em offen dere jes lak dey wuz hoss. Pa say dey sell he brother Elic +wife 'way wid de onlyest child dey hab. Ne'er didn't see dat wife en +child no more." + +"Coase de le' de colored peoples visit 'round from one plantation to +annuder but dey hadder hab uh ticke' wid em. Effen dey meet em in de +road en dey ne'er hab dat ticke' somewhey 'bout on em, dey hadder take +wha' follow. Ne'er 'low em to hab no udder paper 'bout em no whey. Effen +dey see em wid uh paper, dey ax em 'bout it en effen it ne'er been uh +ticke', dey mighty apt to gi'e em uh good t'rashin'." + +"Dey tell me some uv de colored peoples use'er take t'ing from dey +Massa, but I ain' ne'er see em do none uv dat on my white folks +plantation. Ne'er hadder take nuthin dere. Ge' 'nough meal en meat dere +to de big house eve'y Friday to las' em aw t'rough de week. Reckon de +ration wuz more wholesome den in dat day en time cause dey take time en +cook dey t'ing done. Hadder cook in de fireplace. Dat how dey done. I +'member wha' good t'ings my ole mammy use'er cook in dat spider. Jes set +it on de coals en keep uh turnin' it 'bout wid de handle. Dere ain' +ne'er nuthin eat no better den dat ash cake she use'er make fa we +chillun. Yuh ain' ne'er hear tell 'bout dat. Jes ster (stir) up uh nice +hoecake en wrap it up in oak leaves wha' right sorta wet. Den yuh rake +uh heap uv ash togedder en lay yuh hoecake on dat en kiver it up wid +some more ash. Yuh le' it cook right done en den yuh take it up en wash +it offen en it ready to eat. Us chillun lub dat den." + +"Annuder t'ing dat eat right smart in dem days wuz dat t'ing call big +hominy. Dey jes ge' some whole grain corn en put it in de pot en boil it +long time. Den dey take it offen de fire en pour lye water aw o'er it. +Dey do dat to ge' de husk offen it. Soak ash outer de fire en ge' dat +lye water. Den dey hadder take it to de well outer in de yard en wash it +uh heap uv time to ge' dat lye outer it. A'ter dat dey season it wid +salt en pepper en cook it annuder time. No 'mam, dey ne'er eat it wid no +butter. Jes drap it in de grease wha' left in de pan a'ter dey fry de +meat en make it right brown lak. Dat de way dey cook dey big hominy." + +"Folks don' hab time to do t'ings in de right way lak dey use'er cause +de world gwine too fas' dese day en time. Dese people comin' up 'bout +heah dese days ain' gwinna ne'er quit habin' so mucha belly ache long uz +dey ain' stop eatin' aw dem half done ration dey is eat. Coase de +peoples wiser now but dey weaker. De peoples wuz more humble in dem +days. When dey didn't hab no rain, dey ge' togedder en pray fa rain en +dey ge' it too. I tellin' yuh peoples gotta work effen dey gwinna ge' to +de right place when dey leab heah. Effen de peoples ne'er didn't go to +chu'ch in dem days, dey stay home. Ne'er see chillun in de road on +Sunday eve'y which uh way lak yunnah see em dese days. My pa say yuh +mus' train up uh child in de way he oughta go en den effen dey stray +'way, dey sho' come back a'ter while. I tellin' yuh de peoples ain' lak +dey use'er wuz. Dey sho' wickeder en worser in dis day en time den when +I raise up. Dey wuz more friendly den en do more favor fa peoples. It +jes lak dis, I ain' gwinna do nobody no harm. Effen I can' do em no +good, ain' gwinna do no harm en ain' gwinna 'buse em neither." + + Source: Aunt Silva Durant, colored, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview, May 1937. + + + + + Project, 1885-(1) + Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis + Place, Marion, S. C. + Date, October 21, 1937 + + SYLVIA DURANT + Ex-Slave, 72 Years + + +"Well, I tell you just like it been. Dat was an unexpectin trip when you +come here dat day en I wasn' thinkin bout much dat I had know to tell +you. It been kind o' put me on a wonder." + +"You see, child, I never didn' see my grandfather cause when I was born, +dey had done sold him away. I hear tell dat sometimes dey would take de +wife from dey husband en another time dey would take de husband from dey +wife en sell dem off yonder somewhe' en never didn' see dem no more +neither. Yes, I sho know dat cause I hear my father speak bout dat +plenty times. Yes, mam, dey sold my uncle's wife away en he never didn' +see her no more till after freedom come en he done been married again +den. Speculators carried my mother's first husband off en den she +married again. Cose I was born of de second husband en dat ain' been +yesterday." + +"I hear talk bout dat didn' none of de colored people have nothin in +slavery time en heap of dem wasn' allowed to pick up a paper or nothin +no time. Often hear dem talk dat some of de niggers was freed long time +fore dey know bout it. Hear dem say some white folks hold dem long time +till dey could make out to get somethin for demselves. Don' think so. +Don' think so. No, mam, don' think so. Dey might been intended for dem +to get somethin when dey was freed, but I never learn of nobody gettin +nothin. Cose I often heard my father say some white folks thought more +bout dey colored people den others en hope dem out more. Hear tell dat +didn' none of dem have no clothes much den. No, mam, colored people won' +bless wid no clothes much in dem days. I remember dey had to wear dese +old big shoes, call brogans, wid brass all cross de toes here. Nobody +don' wear nothin like dat now. Dey was coarse shoes. Some say plenty of +de people had to go barefooted all de time in dem days. Reckon dat would +kill de people in dis day en time. Couldn' stand nothin like dat. Yes, +mam, see Tom Bostick walk right cross dat field many a day just as +barefooted as he come in de world en all de ground would be covered over +wid ice en snow. De people get after him en he say, 'Well, I had worser +den dis to go through wid in slavery time.' Say he come up dat way en he +never know no difference den dat he had thick shoe on his foot." + +"Well, you see, some of de white folks would spare dey colored people so +much ration when dey knock off work on a Saturday to last dem till de +next Saturday come. Hear tell dey give dem a peck of meal en a little +molasses en a hog jowl en dat had to last dem all de week. Dem what use +a little tobacco, give dem a plug of dat en give dem a little flour for +Sunday. Didn' nobody have to work on Sunday en den dey would allow dem +two days off for Christmas too. I tellin you bout how my white folks +would do, but dem what had a rough Massa, dey just got one day. I hear +dem say dey always had a little flour on Christmas. Don' know what else +dey give dem, but won' nothin much. I know dat. Sho know dat." + +"I hear say two intelligent people didn' live so far apart en one never +treat dey colored people right en being as dey wasn' allowed to go from +one place to another widout dey had a ticket wid dem, dey would steal +somethin en run away. Say de just man tell dat other man dat if he would +feed his niggers right, dey wouldn' have no need to be stealin so much +things. No'um, I does hate to tell dat. Cose dey say dey done it. Say de +overseer would beat dem up dat never do what he tell dem to do mighty +bad en wouldn' be particular bout whe' dey was buried neither. Hear talk +dat dey bury heap of dem in a big hole down side de woods somewhe'. Cose +I don' know whe' dat word true or not, but dat what dey tell me." + +"Oo--oo--yes, mam, dey sho whip de colored women in dem days. Yes, mam, +de overseer done it cause I hear dem say dat myself. Tell dat dey take +de wives en whip de blood out dem en de husband never didn' dare to say +nothin. Hear dey whip some so bad dey had to grease dem. If de colored +people didn' do to suit de white folks, dey sho whip dem. No, mam, if +dey put you out to work, ain' nobody think dey gwine lay down under de +bresh (brush) en stay dere widout doin dey portion of work. Yes, child, +hear bout dat more times, den I got fingers en toes." + +"Oh, de times be worser in a way dese days. Yes, mam, dey sho worser in +a way. De people be wiser now den what dey used to be, but dere so much +gwine on, dey ain' thinkin bout dey welfare no time en dat'll shorten +anybody days. Oh, honey, we livin in a fast world dese days. Peoples +used to help one another out more en didn' somebody be tryin to pull you +down all de time. When you is found a wicked one in dat day en time, it +been a wicked one. Cose de people be more intelligent in learnin dese +days, but I'm tellin you dere a lot of other things got to build you up +'sides learnin. Dere one can get up to make a speech what ain' got no +learnin en dey can just preach de finest kind of speech. Say dey ain' +know one thing dey gwine say fore dey get up dere. Folks claim dem kind +of people been bless wid plenty good mother wit. Den another time one +dat have de learnin widout de mother wit can get up en seem like dey +just don' know whe' to place de next word. Yes, mam, I hear dat often." + +"What I meant by what I say bout de wicked one? I meant when you found a +wild one, it been a wild one for true. I mean you better not meddle wid +one like dat cause dey don' never care what dey do. People look like dey +used to care more for dey lives den dey do dese days. Dat what I meant, +but you can weigh dat like you want to. You see, dere be different ways +for people to hurt demselves." + +"Oh, my soul, hear talk bout dere be ghosts en hants, but I never didn' +experience nothin like dat. Yes, mam, I hear too much of dat. Been +hearin bout dat ever since I been in a manner grown, you may say. I hear +people say dey see dem, but I ain' take up no time wid nothin like dat. +I have a mind like dis, if such a thing be true, it ain' intended for +everybody to see dem. I gwine tell you far as I know bout it. I hear +dese old people say when anybody child born wid a caul over dey face, +dey can always see dem things en dem what ain' born dat way, dey don' +see dem. Cose I don' know nothin bout what dat is en I is hate to tell +it, but I hear lot of people say dey can see hants en ghosts all time of +a night. Yes'um, I hear de older people say dat, but I don' know whe' it +true or no. I know I don' see nothin myself, but de wind. Don' see dat, +but I feels it." + +"Oh, my God, some people believe in dat thing call conjurin, but I didn' +never believe in nothin like dat. Never didn' understand nothin like +dat. Hear say people could make you leave home en all dat, but I never +couldn' see into it. Never didn' believe in it." + +"Yes, mam, I see plenty people wear dem dimes round dey ankle en all +kind of things on dey body, but never didn' see my mother do nothin like +dat. I gwine tell you it just like I got it. Hear talk dat some would +wear dem for luck en some tote dem to keep people from hurtin dem. I got +a silver dime in de house dere in my trunk right to dis same day dat I +used to wear on a string of beads, but I took it off. No, mam, couldn' +stand nothin like dat. Den some peoples keeps a bag of asafetida tied +round dey neck to keep off sickness. Folks put it on dey chillun to keep +dem from havin worms. I never didn' wear none in my life, but I know it +been a good thing for people, especially chillun. Let me see, dere a +heap of other things dat I learn bout been good for people to wear for +sickness. Dere been nutmeg dat some people make a hole in en wear it +round dey neck. I forget whether it been good for neuralgia or some of +dem other body ailments, but I know it won' for no conjurin." + +"Honey, pa always say dat you couldn' expect no more from a child den +you puts in dey raisin. Pa say, 'Sylvia, raise up your chillun in de +right way en dey'll smile on you in your old age.' Honey, I don' see +what dese people gwine expect dey chillun to turn out to be nohow dese +days cause dey ain' got no raisin en dey ain' got no manners. I say, I +got a feelin for de chillun cause dey parents ain' stay home enough of +time to learn dem nothin en dey ain' been know no better. Remember when +my parents went off en tell us to stay home, we never didn' darsen to go +off de place. Den when dey would send us off, we know we had to be back +in de yard fore sunup in de evenin. Yes, child, we all had to be +obedient to our parents in dat day en time. I always was sub-obedient +myself en I never had no trouble nowhe'. Yes, mam, when we went off +anywhe', we ax to go en we been back de hour dey expect to see us. Yes, +mam, chillun was more obedient den. None of us didn' sass us parents. +Won' raise dat way. I remember when I was young, I used to tote water en +make fire to de pot for my mother to wash plenty times. Den dey learn me +how to use a hoe en when I was married en left home, won' nothin strange +to me." + +"No, mam, I didn' have no weddin when I was married, but everything was +pleasant en turned out all right. Yes, mam, everybody don' feel so good +leavin home, but I felt all right, I was married over dere in Bethel M. +E. Church en served a little cake en wine dere home afterwards en dat +ain' no weddin. Didn' have nothin but pound cake en wine. Had three +plain cakes. Two was cut up dere home en I remember I carried one wid me +over Catfish dere to de Reaves place." + + Source: Sylvia Durant, ex-slave, age about 72, Marion, S. C. + Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Oct., 1937. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South +Carolina, Part 1, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES VOL. 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