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diff --git a/22976.txt b/22976.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1034dcb --- /dev/null +++ b/22976.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10316 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery +in the United States, 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: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States + From Interviews with Former Slaves, North Carolina Narratives, Part 1 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: October 12, 2007 [EBook #22976] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, 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 + + +_Illustrated with Photographs_ + +WASHINGTON 1941 + + +[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected. In some +instances Transcriber's notes (TR) are included with each individual +interview, as well as some Handwritten Notes (HW) from the original were +maintained but as notation only. In addition, punctuation and formatting +have been made consistent, particularly the use of quotation marks. +Added two lines to list of illustrations missing from original.] + + + + +VOLUME XI + +NORTH CAROLINA NARRATIVES + +PART I + + +Prepared by +the Federal Writers' Project of +the Works Progress Administration +for the State of North Carolina + + + + +INFORMANTS + +Adams, Louisa 1 +Adkins, Ida 8 +Allen, Martha 13 +Anderson, Joseph 16 +Anderson, Mary 19 +Andrews, Cornelia 27 +Anngady, Mary 32 +Arrington, Jane 44 +Augustus, Sarah Louis 50 +Austin, Charity 58 + +Baker, Blount 63 +Baker, Lizzie 66 +Baker, Viney 70 +Barbour, Charlie 73 +Barbour, Mary 78 +Baugh, Alice 82 +Beckwith, John 87 +Bectom, John C. 91 +Bell, Laura 99 +Blalock, Emma 103 +Blount, David 110 +Bobbit, Clay 117 +Bobbitt, Henry 120 +Bogan, Herndon 125 +Boone, Andrew 130 +Bost, W. L. 138 +Bowe, Mary Wallace 147 +Brown, Lucy 152 +Burnett, Midge 155 + +Cannady, Fanny 159 +Cofer, Betty 165 +Coggin, John 176 +Coverson, Mandy 179 +Cozart, Willie 182 +Crasson, Hannah 187 +Crenshaw, Julia 194 +Crowder, Zeb 196 +Crump, Adeline 203 +Crump, Bill 207 +Crump, Charlie 212 +Curtis, Mattie 216 + +Dalton, Charles Lee 223 +Daniels, John 229 +Daves, Harriet Ann 232 +Davis, Jerry 237 +Debnam, W. S. 241 +Debro, Sarah 247 +Dickens, Charles W. 254 +Dickens, Margaret E. 259 +Dowd, Rev. Squire 263 +Dunn, Fannie 270 +Dunn, Jennylin 275 +Dunn, Lucy Ann 278 +Durham, Tempie Herndon 284 + +Eatman, George 291 +Edwards, Doc 295 +Evans, John 298 + +Faucette, Lindsey 302 +Flagg, Ora M. 307 +Foster, Analiza 311 +Foster, Georgianna 314 +Freeman, Frank 318 + +Gill, Addy 323 +Glenn, Robert 328 +Green, Sarah Anne 340 +Griffeth, Dorcas 346 +Gudger, Sarah 350 + +Hall, Thomas 359 +Hamilton, Hecter 363 +Harris, George W. 370 +Harris, Sarah 375 +Hart, Cy 379 +Haywood, Alonzo 382 +Haywood, Barbara 385 +Henderson, Isabell 389 +Henry, Essex 393 +Henry, Milly 399 +Hews, Chaney 405 +High, Joe 409 +High, Susan 417 +Hill, Kitty 422 +Hinton, Jerry 427 +Hinton, Martha Adeline 433 +Hinton, Robert 436 +Hinton, William George 441 +Hodges, Eustace 446 +Huggins, Alex 449 +Hunter, Charlie H. 453 +Hunter, Elbert 457 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + _Facing page_ +Louisa Adams 1 + +Viney Baker 70 + +John Beckwith 87 + +Clay Bobbit 117 + +Henry Bobbitt 120 + +Herndon Bogan 125 + +W. L. Bost 138 + +John Coggin 176 + +Hannah Crasson 187 + +Bill Crump 207 + +Charlie Crump and Granddaughter 212 + +Harriet Ann Daves 232 + +Charles W. Dickens 254 + +Margaret E. Dickens 259 + +Rev. Squire Dowd 263 + +Jennylin Dunn 275 + +Tempie Herndon Durham 284 + +George Eatman 291 + +John Evans 298 + +Sarah Gudger 350 + +Sarah Harris 375 + +Essex Henry 393 + +Milly Henry 399 + +Joe High 409 + +Elbert Hunter 457 + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320152] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1384 +Subject: Louisa Adams +Person Interviewed: Louisa Adams +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUL 7 1937"] + +LOUISA ADAMS + + +My name is Louisa Adams. I wuz bawned in Rockingham, Richmond County, +North Carolina. I wuz eight years old when the Yankees come through. I +belonged to Marster Tom A. Covington, Sir. My mother wuz named Easter, +and my father wuz named Jacob. We were all Covingtons. No Sir, I don't +know whur my mother and father come from. Soloman wuz brother number +one, then Luke, Josh, Stephen, Asbury. My sisters were Jane, Frances, +Wincy, and I wuz nex'. I 'members grandmother. She wuz named Lovie Wall. +They brought her here from same place. My aunts were named, one wuz +named Nicey, and one wuz named Jane. I picked feed for the white folks. +They sent many of the chillun to work at the salt mines, where we went +to git salt. My brother Soloman wuz sent to the salt mines. Luke looked +atter the sheep. He knocked down china berries for 'em. Dad and mammie +had their own gardens and hogs. We were compelled to walk about at night +to live. We were so hongry we were bound to steal or parish. This trait +seems to be handed down from slavery days. Sometimes I thinks dis might +be so. Our food wuz bad. Marster worked us hard and gave us nuthin. We +had to use what we made in the garden to eat. We also et our hogs. Our +clothes were bad, and beds were sorry. We went barefooted in a way. +What I mean by that is, that we had shoes part of the time. We got one +pair o' shoes a year. When dey wored out we went barefooted. Sometimes +we tied them up with strings, and they were so ragged de tracks looked +like bird tracks, where we walked in the road. We lived in log houses +daubed with mud. They called 'em the slaves houses. My old daddy partly +raised his chilluns on game. He caught rabbits, coons, an' possums. We +would work all day and hunt at night. We had no holidays. They did not +give us any fun as I know. I could eat anything I could git. I tell you +de truth, slave time wuz slave time wid us. My brother wore his shoes +out, and had none all thu winter. His feet cracked open and bled so bad +you could track him by the blood. When the Yankees come through, he got +shoes. + +I wuz married in Rockingham. I don't 'member when Mr. Jimmie +Covington, a preacher, a white man, married us. I married James Adams +who lived on a plantation near Rockingham. I had a nice blue wedding +dress. My husband wuz dressed in kinder light clothes, best I +rickerlect. It's been a good long time, since deen [HW: den] tho'. + +I sho do 'member my Marster Tom Covington and his wife too, Emma. Da +old man wuz the very nick.[HW correction: Nick] He would take what we +made and lowance us, dat is lowance it out to my daddy after he had +made it. My father went to Steven Covington, Marster Tom's brother, and +told him about it, and his brother Stephen made him gib father his meat +back to us. + +My missus wuz kind to me, but Mars. Tom wuz the buger. It wuz a mighty +bit plantation. I don't know how many slaves wuz on it, there were a lot +of dem do'. Dere were overseers two of 'em. One wuz named Bob Covington +and the other Charles Covington. They were colored men. I rode with +them. I rode wid 'em in the carriage sometimes. De carriage had seats +dat folded up. Bob wuz overseer in de field, and Charles wuz carriage +driver. All de plantation wuz fenced in, dat is all de fields, wid +rails; de rails wuz ten feet long. We drawed water wid a sweep and pail. +De well wuz in the yard. De mules for the slaves wuz in town, dere were +none on the plantation. Dey had 'em in town; dey waked us time de +chicken crowed, and we went to work just as soon as we could see how to +make a lick wid a hoe. + +Lawd, you better not be caught wid a book in yor han'. If you did, you +were sold. Dey didn't 'low dat. I kin read a little, but I can't write. +I went to school after slavery and learned to read. We didn't go to +school but three or four week a year, and learned to read. + +Dere wuz no church on the plantation, and we were not lowed to have +prayer meetings. No parties, no candy pullings, nor dances, no sir, not +a bit. I 'member goin' one time to the white folkses church, no +baptizing dat I 'member. Lawd have mercy, ha! ha! No. De pateroller were +on de place at night. You couldn't travel without a pas. + +We got few possums. I have greased my daddy's back after he had been +whupped until his back wuz cut to pieces. He had to work jis the same. +When we went to our houses at night, we cooked our suppers at night, et +and then went to bed. If fire wuz out or any work needed doin' around de +house we had to work on Sundays. They did not gib us Christmas or any +other holidays. We had corn shuckings. I herd 'em talkin' of cuttin de +corn pile right square in two. One wud git on one side, another on the +other side and see which out beat. They had brandy at the corn shuckin' +and I herd Sam talkin' about gittin' drunk. + +I 'member one 'oman dying. Her name wuz Caroline Covington. I didn't go +to the grave. But you know they had a little cart used with hosses to +carry her to the grave, jist a one horse wagon, jist slipped her in +there. + +Yes, I 'member a field song. It wuz 'Oh! come let us go where pleasure +never dies. Great fountain gone over'. Dat's one uv 'em. We had a good +doctor when we got sick. He come to see us. The slaves took herbs dey +found in de woods. Dat's what I do now, Sir. I got some 'erbs right in +my kitchen now. + +When the Yankees come through I did not know anything about 'em till +they got there. Jist like they were poppin up out of de ground. One of +the slaves wuz at his master's house you know, and he said, 'The Yankees +are in Cheraw, S. C. [HW correction: South Carolina] and the Yankees are +in town'. It didn't sturb me at tall. I wuz not afraid of de Yankees. I +'member dey went to Miss Emma's house, and went in de smoke house and +emptied every barrel of 'lasses right in de floor and scattered de +cracklings on de floor. I went dere and got some of 'em. Miss Emma wuz +my missus. Dey just killed de chickens, hogs too, and old Jeff the dog; +they shot him through the thoat. I 'member how his mouth flew open when +dey shot him. One uv 'em went into de tater bank, and we chillun wanted +to go out dere. Mother wouldn't let us. She wuz fraid uv 'em. + +Abraham Lincoln freed us by the help of the Lawd, by his help. Slavery +wuz owin to who you were with. If you were with some one who wuz good +and had some feelin's for you it did tolerable well; yea, tolerable +well. + +We left the plantation soon as de surrender. We lef' right off. We went +to goin' towards Fayetteville, North Carolina. We climbed over fences +and were just broke down chillun, feet sore. We had a little meat, corn +meal, a tray, and mammy had a tin pan. One night we came to a old house; +some one had put wheat straw in it. We staid there, next mornin', we +come back home. Not to Marster's, but to a white 'oman named Peggy +McClinton, on her plantation. We stayed there a long time. De Yankees +took everything dey could, but dey didn't give us anything to eat. Dey +give some of de 'omen shoes. + +I thinks Mr. Roosevelt is a fine man and he do all he can for us. + + + + +District No: 3 [320278] +Worker: Travis Jordan +No. Words: 1500 +Title: Ida Adkins Ex-slave +Interviewed: Ida Adkins + County Home, Durham, N. C. + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +IDA ADKINS + +Ex-slave 79 years. + +[TR note: Numerous hand written notations and additions in the following +interview (i.e. wuz to was; er to a; adding t to the contractions.) +Made changes where obvious without comment. Additions and comments were +left as notation, in order to preserve the flow of the dialect.] + + +I wuz bawn befo' de war. I wuz about eight years ole when de Yankee mens +come through. + +My mammy an' pappy, Hattie an' Jim Jeffries belonged to Marse Frank +Jeffries. Marse Frank come from Mississippi, but when I wuz bawn he an' +Mis' Mary Jane wuz livin' down herr near Louisburg in North Carolina +whare dey had er big plantation an' [HW addition: I] don' know how many +niggers. Marse Frank wuz good to his niggers, 'cept [HW addition: that] +he never give dem ernough to eat. He worked dem hard on half rations, +but he didn' believe in all de time beatin' an' sellin' dem. + +My pappy worked at de stables, he wuz er good horseman, but my mammy +worked at de big house helpin' Mis' Mary Jane. Mammy worked in de +weavin' room. I can see her now settin' at de weavin' machine an' hear +de pedals goin' plop, plop, as she treaded dem wid her feets. She wuz a +good weaver. I stayed 'roun' de big house too, pickin' up chips, +sweepin' de yard an' such as dat. Mis' Mary Jane wuz quick as er +whippo'-will. She had black eyes dat snapped, an' dey seed everythin'. +She could turn her head so quick dat she'd ketch you every time you +tried to steal a lump of sugar. I liked Marse Frank better den I did +Mis' Mary Jane. All us little chillun called him Big Pappy. Every time +he went [HW correction: come back] to Raleigh he brung us niggers back +some candy. He went to Raleigh erbout twice er year. Raleigh wuz er far +ways from de plantations--near 'bout sixty miles. [HW notation: +check--appears to be about 40 miles only.] It always took Marse Frank +three days to make de trip. A day to go, er' day to stay in town, an' a +day to come back. Den he always got home in de night. Ceptn' [HW +addition: when] he rode ho'se back 'stead of de carriage, [HW addition: +an'] den sometimes he got home by sun down. + +Marse Frank didn' go to de war. He wuz too ole. So when de Yankees come +through dey foun' him at home. When Marse Frank seed de blue coats +comin' down de road he run an' got his gun. De Yankees was on horses. I +ain't never seed so many men. Dey was thick as hornets comin' down de +road in a cloud of dus' [HW: correction "dust"]. Dey come up to de house +an' tied de horses to de palin's; [HW correction: dey was so many dey +was stan] 'roun' de yard [HW addition: fence]. When dey seed Marse Frank +standin' on de po'ch [HW correction: porch] wid de gun leveled on dem, +dey got mad. Time Marse Frank done shot one time [HW correction: "once +a"] a bully Yankee snatched de gun away an' tole Marse Frank to hold up +his hand. Den dey tied his hands an' pushed him down on de floor 'side +de house an' tole him dat if he moved [HW addition: a inch] dey would +shoot him. Den dey went in de house. + +I wuz skeered near 'bout to death, but I run in de kitchen an' got a +butcher knife, an' when de Yankees wasn' lookin', I tried to cut de rope +an' set Marse Frank free. But one of dem blue debils seed me an' come +runnin'. He say: + +'Whut you doin', you black brat! you stinkin' little alligator bait!' He +snatched de knife from my hand an' told me to stick out my tongue, dat +he wuz gwine to cut it off. I let out a yell an' run behin' de house. + +Some of de Yankees was in de smoke house gettin' de meat, some of dem +wuz at de stables gettin' de ho'ses, an' some of dem wuz in de house +gettin' de silver an' things. I seed dem put de big silver pitcher an' +tea pot in a bag. Den dey took de knives an' fo'ks an' all de candle +sticks an' platters off de side board. Dey went in de parlor an' got de +gol' clock dat wuz Mis' Mary Jane's gran'mammy's. Den dey got all de +jewelry out of Mis' Mary Jane's box. + +Dey went up to Mis' Mary Jane, an' while she looked at dem wid her black +eyes snappin', dey took de rings off her fingers; den dey took her gol' +bracelet; dey even took de ruby ear rings out of her ears an' de gol' +comb out of her hair. + +I done quit peepin' in de window an' wuz standin' 'side de house when de +Yankees come out in de yard wid all de stuff dey wuz totin' off. Marse +Frank wuz still settin' on de po'ch [HW correction: porch] floor wid his +han's tied an' couldn' do nothin'. 'Bout dat time I seed de bee gums in +de side yard. Dey wuz a whole line of gums. Little as I wuz I had a +notion. I run an' got me a long stick an' tu'ned over every one of dem +gums. Den I stirred dem bees up wid dat stick 'twell [HW correction: +'till] dey wuz so mad I could smell de pizen. An' bees! you ain't never +seed de like of bees. Dey wuz swarmin' all over de place. Dey sailed +into dem Yankees like bullets, each one madder den de other. Dey lit on +dem ho'ses 'twell [HW correction: till] dey looked like dey wuz live [HW +correction: alive] wid varmints. De ho'ses broke dey bridles an' tore +down de palin's an' lit out down de road. But dey [HW correction: dar] +runnin' wuzn' nothin' to what dem Yankees done. Dey bust out cussin', +but what did a bee keer about cuss words! Dey lit on dem blue coats an' +every time dey lit dey stuck in a pizen sting. De Yankee's forgot all +about de meat an' things dey done stole; dey took off down de road on er +[HW correction: a] run, passin' de horses. De bees was right after dem +in a long line. Dey'd zoom an' zip, an' zoom an' zip, an' every time +dey'd zip a Yankee would yell. + +When dey'd gone Mis' Mary Jane untied Marse Frank. Den dey took all de +silver, meat an' things de Yankees lef' behin' an' buried it so if dey +come back dey couldn' fin' it. + +Den day called ma an' said: + +'Ida Lee, if you hadn't tu'ned [HW correction: turned] over dem bee gums +dem Yankees would have toted off near 'bout everythin' fine we got. We +want to give you somethin' you can keep so' you'll always remember dis +day, an' how you run de Yankees away.' + +Den Mis' Mary Jane took a plain gold ring off her finger an' put it on +mine. An' I been wearin' it ever since. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320276] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 402 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Person Interviewed: Martha Allen +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"] + +[HW: good short sketch] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An interview with Martha Allen, 78, of 1318 South Person Street, +Raleigh. + + +I wuz borned in Craven County seventy eight years ago. My pappa wuz +named Andrew Bryant an' my mammy wuz named Harriet. My brothers wuz John +Franklin, Alfred, an' Andrew. I ain't had no sisters. I reckon dat we is +what yo' call a general mixture case I am part Injun, part white, an' +part nigger. + +My mammy belonged ter Tom Edward Gaskin an' she wuzn't half fed. De +cook nussed de babies while she cooked, so dat de mammies could wuck in +de fiel's, an' all de mammies done wuz stick de babies in at de kitchen +do' on dere way ter de fiel's. I'se hyard mammy say dat dey went ter +wuck widout breakfast, an' dat when she put her baby in de kitchen she'd +go by de slop bucket an' drink de slops from a long handled gourd. + +De slave driver wuz bad as he could be, an' de slaves got awful +beatin's. + +De young marster sorta wanted my mammy, but she tells him no, so he +chunks a lightwood knot an' hits her on de haid wid it. Dese white mens +what had babies by nigger wimmens wuz called 'Carpet Gitters'. My +father's father wuz one o' dem. + +Yes mam, I'se mixed plenty case my mammy's grandmaw wuz Cherokee +Injun. + +I doan know nothin' 'bout no war, case marster carried us ter Cedar +Falls, near Durham an' dar's whar we come free. + +I 'members dat de Ku Klux uster go ter de Free Issues houses, strip all +de family an' whup de ole folkses. Den dey dances wid de pretty yaller +gals an' goes ter bed wid dem. Dat's what de Ku Klux wuz, a bunch of +mean mens tryin' ter hab a good time. + +I'se wucked purty hard durin' my life an' I done my courtin' on a steer +an' cart haulin' wood ter town ter sell. He wuz haulin' wood too on his +wagin, an' he'd beat me ter town so's dat he could help me off'n de +wagin. I reckon dat dat wuz as good a way as any. + +I tries ter be a good christian but I'se got disgusted wid dese young +upstart niggers what dances in de chu'ch. Dey says dat dey am truckin' +an' dat de Bible ain't forbid hit, but I reckin dat I knows dancin' whar +I sees hit. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [ ] +Worker: Mrs. Edith S. Hibbs +No. Words: 275 +Subject: Story of Joseph Anderson +Interviewed: Joseph Anderson + 113 Rankin St., Wilmington, N. C. +Edited: Mrs. W. N. Harriss + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +[HW: Unnumbered] + +STORY OF JOSEPH ANDERSON + +1113 Rankin Street +Wilmington, N. C. + + +Yes'm I was born a slave. I belong to Mr. T. C. McIlhenny who had a big +rice plantation "Eagles Nest" in Brunswick County. It was a big place. +He had lots of slaves, an' he was a good man. My mother and father died +when I was fourteen. Father died in February 1865 and my mother died of +pneumonia in November 1865. My older sister took charge of me. + +Interviewer: "Can you read and write?" + +Joseph: "Oh yes, I can write a little. I can make my marks. I can write +my name. No'm I can't read. I never went to school a day in my life. I +just "picked up" what I know." + +I don't remember much about slave times. I was fourteen when I was +freed. After I was freed we lived between 8th and 9th on Chestnut. We +rented a place from Dan O'Connor a real estate man and paid him $5 a +month rent. I've been married twice. First time was married by Mr. Ed +Taylor, magistrate in Southport, Brunswick County. I was married to my +first wife twenty years and eight months. Then she died. I was married +again when I was seventy-five years old. I was married to my second wife +just a few years when she died. + +I was on the police force for a year and a half. I was elected April 6, +1895. Mr. McIlhenny was an ole man then an' I used to go to see him. + +I was a stevedore for Mr. Alexander Sprunt for sixty years. + +Joseph is now buying his house at 1113 Rankin Street. Rents part of it +for $8.50 a month to pay for it. He stays in one room. + +NOTE: Joseph's health is none too good, making information sketchy and +incoherent. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320086] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1905 +Subject: MARY ANDERSON +Person Interviewed: Mary Anderson +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 23 1937"] + +MARY ANDERSON + +86 years of age. 17 Poole Road, R. F. D. #2. Raleigh, N. C. + + +My name is Mary Anderson. I was born on a plantation near Franklinton, +Wake County, N. C. May 10, 1851. I was a slave belonging to Sam Brodie, +who owned the plantation at this place. My missus' name was Evaline. My +father was Alfred Brodie and my mother was Bertha Brodie. + +We had good food, plenty of warm homemade clothes and comfortable +houses. The slave houses were called the quarters and the house where +marster lived was called the great house. Our houses had two rooms each +and marster's house had twelve rooms. Both the slave and white folks +buildings were located in a large grove one mile square covered with oak +and hickory nut trees. Marster's house was exactly one mile from the +main Louisburg Road and there was a wide avenue leading through the +plantation and grove to marster's house. The house fronted the avenue +east and in going down the avenue from the main road you traveled +directly west. + +The plantation was very large and there were about two hundred acres of +cleared land that was farmed each year. A pond was located on the place +and in winter ice was gathered there for summer use and stored in an ice +house which was built in the grove where the other buildings were. A +large hole about ten feet deep was dug in the ground; the ice was put in +that hole and covered. [TR: HW note in left margin is illegible.] + +A large frame building was built over it. At the top of the earth there +was an entrance door and steps leading down to the bottom of the hole. +Other things besides ice were stored there. There was a still on the +plantation and barrels of brandy were stored in the ice house, also +pickles, preserves and cider. + +Many of the things we used were made on the place. There was a grist +mill, tannery, shoe shop, blacksmith shop, and looms for weaving cloth. + +There were about one hundred, and sixty-two slaves on the plantation +and every Sunday morning all the children had to be bathed, dressed, and +their hair combed and carried down to marster's for breakfast. It was a +rule that all the little colored children eat at the great house every +Sunday morning in order that marster and missus could watch them eat so +they could know which ones were sickly and have them doctored. + +The slave children all carried a mussel shell in their hands to eat +with. The food was put on large trays and the children all gathered +around and ate, dipping up their food with their mussel shells which +they used for spoons. Those who refused to eat or those who were ailing +in any way had to come back to the great house for their meals and +medicine until they were well. + +Marster had a large apple orchard in the Tar River low grounds and up +on higher ground and nearer the plantation house there was on one side +of the road a large plum orchard and on the other side was an orchard of +peaches, cherries, quinces and grapes. We picked the quinces in August +and used them for preserving. Marster and missus believed in giving the +slaves plenty of fruit, especially the children. + +Marster had three children, one boy named Dallas, and two girls, Bettie +and Carrie. He would not allow slave children to call his children +marster and missus unless the slave said little marster or little +missus. He had four white overseers but they were not allowed to whip a +slave. If there was any whipping to be done he always said he would do +it. He didn't believe in whipping so when a slave got so bad he could +not manage him he sold him. + +Marster didn't quarrel with anybody, missus would not speak short to a +slave, but both missus and marster taught slaves to be obedient in a +nice quiet way. The slaves were taught to take their hats and bonnets +off before going into the house, and to bow and say, 'Good morning +Marster Sam and Missus Evaline'. Some of the little negroes would go +down to the great house and ask them when it wus going to rain, and when +marster or missus walked in the grove the little Negroes would follow +along after them like a gang of kiddies. Some of the slave children +wanted to stay with them at the great house all the time. They knew no +better of course and seemed to love marster and missus as much as they +did their own mother and father. Marster and missus always used gentle +means to get the children out of their way when they bothered them and +the way the children loved and trusted them wus a beautiful sight to +see. + +Patterollers were not allowed on the place unless they came peacefully +and I never knew of them whipping any slaves on marster's place. Slaves +were carried off on two horse wagons to be sold. I have seen several +loads leave. They were the unruly ones. Sometimes he would bring back +slaves, once he brought back two boys and three girls from the slave +market. + +Sunday wus a great day on the plantation. Everybody got biscuits +Sundays. The slave women went down to marsters for their Sunday +allowance of flour. All the children ate breakfast at the great house +and marster and missus gave out fruit to all. The slaves looked forward +to Sunday as they labored through the week. It was a great day. Slaves +received good treatment from marster and all his family. + +We were allowed to have prayer meetings in our homes and we also went +to the white folks church. + +They would not teach any of us to read and write. Books and papers were +forbidden. Marster's children and the slave children played together. I +went around with the baby girl Carrie to other plantations visiting. She +taught me how to talk low and how to act in company. My association with +white folks and my training while I was a slave is why I talk like white +folks. + +Bettie Brodie married a Dr. Webb from Boylan, Virginia. Carrie married +a Mr. Joe Green of Franklin County. He was a big southern planter. + +The war was begun and there were stories of fights and freedom. The +news went from plantation to plantation and while the slaves acted +natural and some even more polite than usual, they prayed for freedom. +Then one day I heard something that sounded like thunder and missus and +marster began to walk around and act queer. The grown slaves were +whispering to each other. Sometimes they gathered in little gangs in the +grove. Next day I heard it again, boom, boom, boom. I went and asked +missus 'is it going to rain?' She said, 'Mary go to the ice house and +bring me some pickles and preserves.' I went and got them. She ate a +little and gave me some. Then she said, 'You run along and play.' In a +day or two everybody on the plantation seemed to be disturbed and +marster and missus were crying. Marster ordered all the slaves to come +to the great house at nine o'clock. Nobody was working and slaves were +walking over the grove in every direction. At nine o'clock all the +slaves gathered at the great house and marster and missus came out on +the porch and stood side by side. You could hear a pin drap everything +was so quiet. Then marster said, 'Good morning,' and missus said, 'Good +morning, children'. They were both crying. Then marster said, 'Men, +women and children, you are free. You are no longer my slaves. The +Yankees will soon be here.' + +Marster and missus then went into the house got two large arm chairs +put them on the porch facing the avenue and sat down side by side and +remained there watching. + +In about an hour there was one of the blackest clouds coming up the +avenue from the main road. It was the Yankee soldiers, they finally +filled the mile long avenue reaching from marster's house to the main +Louisburg road and spread out over the mile square grove. The mounted +men dismounted. The footmen stacked their shining guns and began to +build fires and cook. They called the slaves, saying, 'Your are free.' +Slaves were whooping and laughing and acting like they were crazy. +Yankee soldiers were shaking hands with the Negroes and calling them +Sam, Dinah, Sarah and asking them questions. They busted the door to the +smoke house and got all the hams. They went to the ice-house and got +several barrels of brandy, and such a time. The Negroes and Yankees were +cooking and eating together. The Yankees told them to come on and join +them, they were free. Marster and missus sat on the porch and they were +so humble no Yankee bothered anything in the great house. The slaves +were awfully excited. The Yankees stayed there, cooked, eat, drank and +played music until about night, then a bugle began to blow and you never +saw such getting on horses and lining up in your life. In a few minutes +they began to march, leaving the grove which was soon as silent as a +grave yard. They took marster's horses and cattle with them and joined +the main army and camped just across Cypress Creek one and one half +miles from my marster's place on the Louisburg Road. + +When they left the country, lot of the slaves went with them and soon +there were none of marster's slaves left. They wandered around for a +year from place to place, fed and working most of the time at some +other slave owner's plantation and getting more homesick every day. + +The second year after the surrender our marster and missus got on their +carriage and went and looked up all the Negroes they heard of who ever +belonged to them. Some who went off with the Yankees were never heard of +again. When marster and missus found any of theirs they would say, +'Well, come on back home.' My father and mother, two uncles and their +families moved back. Also Lorenza Brodie, and John Brodie and their +families moved back. Several of the young men and women who once +belonged to him came back. Some were so glad to get back they cried, +'cause fare had been mighty bad part of the time they were rambling +around and they were hungry. When they got back marster would say, 'Well +you have come back home have you, and the Negroes would say, 'Yes +marster.' Most all spoke of them as missus and marster as they did +before the surrender, and getting back home was the greatest pleasure of +all. + +We stayed with marster and missus and went to their church, the Maple +Springs Baptist church, until they died. + +Since the surrender I married James Anderson. I had four children, one +boy and three girls. + +I think slavery was a mighty good thing for mother, father, me and the +other members of the family, and I cannot say anything but good for my +old marster and missus, but I can only speak for those whose conditions +I have known during slavery and since. For myself and them, I will say +again, slavery was a mighty good thing. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320280] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 789 +Subject: Cornelia Andrews +Story Teller: Cornelia Andrews +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"] + +CORNELIA ANDREWS + +An interview on May 21, 1937 with Cornelia Andrews of +Smithfield, Johnston County, who is 87 years old. + + +De fust marster dat I 'members wuz Mr. Cute Williams an' he wuz a good +marster, but me an' my mammy an' some of de rest of 'em wuz sold to +Doctor McKay Vaden who wuz not good ter us. + +Doctor Vaden owned a good-sized plantation, but he had just eight +slaves. We had plank houses, but we ain't had much food an' clothes. We +wored shoes wid wooden bottom in de winter an' no shoes in de summer. We +ain't had much fun, nothin' but candy pullin's 'bout onct a year. We +ain't raised no cane but marster buyed one barrel of 'lasses fer candy +eber year. + +Yo' know dat dar wuz a big slave market in Smithfield dem days, dar wuz +also a jail, an' a whippin' post. I 'members a man named Rough somethin' +or other, what bought forty er fifty slaves at de time an' carried 'em +ter Richmond to re-sell. He had four big black horses hooked ter a cart, +an' behind dis cart he chained de slaves, an' dey had ter walk, or trot +all de way ter Richmond. De little ones Mr. Rough would throw up in de +cart an' off dey'd go no'th. Dey said dat der wuz one day at Smithfield +dat three hundret slaves wuz sold on de block. Dey said dat peoples came +from fer an' near, eben from New Orleans ter dem slave sales. Dey said +dat way 'fore I wuz borned dey uster strip dem niggers start naked an' +gallop' em ober de square so dat de buyers could see dat dey warn't +scarred nor deformed. + +While I could 'member dey'd sell de mammies 'way from de babies, an' +dere wuzn't no cryin' 'bout it whar de marster would know 'bout it +nother. Why? Well, dey'd git beat black an' blue, dat's why. + +Wuz I eber beat bad? No mam, I wuzn't. + +(Here the daughter, a graduate of Cornell University, who was in the +room listening came forward. "Open your shirt, mammy, and let the lady +judge for herself." The old ladies eyes flashed as she sat bolt upright. +She seemed ashamed, but the daughter took the shirt off, exposing the +back and shoulders which were marked as though branded with a plaited +cowhide whip. There was no doubt of that at all.) + +"I wuz whupped public," she said tonelessly, "for breaking dishes an' +'bein' slow. I wuz at Mis' Carrington's den, an' it wuz jist 'fore de +close o' de war. I wuz in de kitchen washin' dishes an' I draps one. De +missus calls Mr. Blount King, a patteroller, an' he puts de whuppin' yo' +sees de marks of on me. My ole missus foun' it out an' she comed an' got +me." + +A friend of the interviewer who was present remarked, "That must have +been horrible to say the least." + +"Yo' 'doan know nothin," the old Negro blazed. "Alex Heath, a slave wuz +beat ter death, hyar in Smithfield. He had stold something, dey tells +me, anyhow he wuz sentenced ter be put ter death, an' de folkses dar in +charge 'cided ter beat him ter death. Dey gib him a hundret lashes fer +nine mornin's an' on de ninth mornin' he died." + +"My uncle Daniel Sanders, wuz beat till he wuz cut inter gashes an' he +wuz tu be beat ter death lak Alex wuz, but one day atter dey had beat +him an' throwed him back in jail wid out a shirt he broke out an' runned +away. He went doun in de riber swamp an' de blow flies blowed de gashes +an' he wuz unconscious when a white man found him an' tuk him home wid +him. He died two or three months atter dat but he neber could git his +body straight ner walk widout a stick; he jist could drag." + +"I 'specks dat I doan know who my pappy wuz, maybe de stock nigger on de +plantation. My pappy an' mammy jist stepped ober de broom an' course I +doan know when. Yo' knows dey ain't let no little runty nigger have no +chilluns. Naw sir, dey ain't, dey operate on dem lak dey does de male +hog so's dat dey can't have no little runty chilluns." + +"Some of de marsters wuz good an' some of dem wuz bad. I wuz glad ter be +free an' I lef' der minute I finds out dat I is free. I ain't got no +kick a-comin' not none at all. Some of de white folkses wuz slaves, ter +git ter de United States an' we niggers ain't no better, I reckons." + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320026] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 22,289 +Subject: A SLAVE STORY + (Princess Quango Hennadonah Perceriah). +Reference: MARY ANNGADY [HW: 80 years] +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "OCT 25 1937"] + +MARY ANNGADY + +(Princess Quango Hennadonah Perceriah) +1110 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I was eighteen years old in 1875 but I wanted to get married so I gave +my age as nineteen. I wish I could recall some of the ole days when I +was with my missus in Orange County, playing with my brothers and other +slave children. + +I was owned by Mr. Franklin Davis and my madam was Mrs. Bettie Davis. I +and my brother used to scratch her feet and rub them for her; you know +how old folks like to have their feet rubbed. My brother and I used to +scrap over who should scratch and rub her feet. She would laugh and tell +us not to do that way that she loved us both. Sometimes she let me sleep +at her feet at night. She was plenty good to all of the slaves. Her +daughter Sallie taught me my A B C's in Webster's Blue Back spelling +Book. When I learned to Spell B-a-k-e-r, Baker, I thought that was +something. The next word I felt proud to spell was s-h-a-d-y, shady, the +next l-a-d-y, lady. I would spell them out loud as I picked up chips in +the yard to build a fire with. My missus Bettie gave me a blue back +spelling book. + +My father was named James Mason, and he belonged to James Mason of +Chapel Hill. Mother and I and my four brothers belonged to the same man +and we also lived in the town. I never lived on a farm or plantation in +my life. I know nothing about farming. All my people are dead and I +cannot locate any of marster's family if they are living. Marster's +family consisted of two boys and two girls--Willie, Frank, Lucy and +Sallie. Marster was a merchant, selling general merchandise. I remember +eating a lot of brown sugar and candy at his store. + +My mother was a cook. They allowed us a lot of privileges and it was +just one large happy family with plenty to eat and wear, good sleeping +places and nothing to worry about. They were of the Presbyterian faith +and we slaves attended Sunday school and services at their church. There +were about twelve slaves on the lot. The houses for slaves were built +just a little ways back from marster's house on the same lot. The Negro +and white children played together, and there was little if any +difference made in the treatment given a slave child and a white child. +I have religious books they gave me. Besides the books they taught me, +they drilled me in etiquette of the times and also in courtesy and +respect to my superiors until it became a habit and it was perfectly +natural for me to be polite. + +The first I knew of the Yankees was when I was out in my marster's yard +picking up chips and they came along, took my little brother and put him +on a horse's back and carried him up town. I ran and told my mother +about it. They rode brother over the town a while, having fun out of +him, then they brought him back. Brother said he had a good ride and was +pleased with the blue jackets as the Yankee soldiers were called. + +We had all the silver and valuables hid and the Yankees did not find +them, but they went into marster's store and took what they wanted. They +gave my father a box of hardtack and a lot of meat. Father was a +Christian and he quoted one of the Commandments when they gave him +things they had stolen from others. 'Thou shalt not steal', quoth he, +and he said he did not appreciate having stolen goods given to him. + +I traveled with the white folks in both sections of the country, north +and south, after the _War Between the States_. I kept traveling with them +and also continued my education. They taught me to recite and I made +money by reciting on many of the trips. Since the surrender I have +traveled in the north for various Charitable Negro Societies and +Institutions and people seemed very much interested in the recitation I +recited called "When Malinda Sings". + +The first school I attended was after the war closed. The school was +located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and was taught by a Yankee white +woman from Philadelphia. We remained in Chapel Hill only a few years +after the war ended when we all moved to Raleigh, and I have made it my +home ever since. I got the major part of my education in Raleigh under +Dr. H. M. Tupper[1] who taught in the second Baptist Church, located on +Blount Street. Miss Mary Lathrop, a colored teacher from Philadelphia, +was an assistant teacher in Dr. Tupper's School. I went from there to +Shaw Collegiate Institute, which is now Shaw University. + +I married Aaron Stallings of Warrenton, North Carolina while at Shaw. +He died and I married Rev. Matthews Anngady of Monrovia, west coast of +Africa, Liberia, Pastor of First Church. I helped him in his work here, +kept studying the works of different authors, and lecturing and +reciting. My husband, the Rev. Matthews Anngady died, and I gave a lot +of my time to the cause of Charity, and while on a lecture tour of +Massachusetts in the interest of this feature of colored welfare for +Richmond, Va., the most colorful incident of my eventful life happened +when I met Quango Hennadonah Perceriah, an Abyssinian Prince, who was +traveling and lecturing on the customs of his country and the habits of +its people. Our mutual interests caused our friendship to ripen fast and +when the time of parting came, when each of us had finished our work in +Massachusetts, he going back to his home in New York City and I +returning to Richmond, he asked me to correspond with him. I promised to +do so and our friendship after a year's correspondence became love and +he proposed and I accepted him. We were married in Raleigh by Rev. J. J. +Worlds, pastor of the First Baptist Church, colored. + +P. T. Barnum had captured my husband when he was a boy and brought him +to America from Abyssinia, educated him and then sent him back to his +native country. He would not stay and soon he was in America again. He +was of the Catholic faith in America and they conferred the honor of +priesthood upon him but after he married me this priesthood was taken +away and he joined the Episcopal Church. After we were married we +decided to go on an extensive lecture tour. He had been a headsman in +his own country and a prince. We took the customs of his people and his +experiences as the subject of our lectures. I could sing, play the +guitar, violin and piano, but I did not know his native language. He +began to teach me and as soon as I could sing the song _How Firm A +Foundation_ in his language which went this way: + + Ngama i-bata, Njami buyek + Wema Wemeta, Negana i + bukek diol, di Njami, + i-diol de Kak + Annimix, Annimix hanci + + Bata ba Satana i-bu butete + Bata ba Npjami i bunanan + Bata be satana ba laba i wa-- + Bata ba Njami ba laba Munonga + +We traveled and lectured in both the north and the south and our life, +while we had to work hard, was one of happiness and contentment. I +traveled and lectured as the Princess Quango Hennadonah Perceriah, wife +of the Abyssinian Prince. I often recited the recitation written by the +colored poet, Paul Lawrence Dunbar _When Malinda Sings_ to the delight of +our audiences. + + * * * * * + +The following incidents of African life were related to me by my husband +Quango Hennadonah Perceriah and they were also given in his lectures on +African customs while touring the United States. + +The religion of the Bakuba tribe of Abyssinia was almost wholly Pagan +as the natives believed fully in witchcraft, sorcery, myths and +superstitions. The witch doctor held absolute sway over the members of +the tribe and when his reputation as a giver of rain, bountiful crops or +success in the chase was at stake the tribes were called together and +those accused by the witch doctor of being responsible for these +conditions through witchery were condemned and speedily executed. + +The people were called together by the beating of drums. The witch +doctor, dressed in the most hellish garb imaginable with his body +painted and poisonous snake bone necklaces dangling from his neck and +the claws of ferocious beasts, lions, leopards and the teeth of vicious +man-eating crocodiles finishing up his adornment, sat in the middle of +a court surrounded by the members of the tribe. In his hand he carried a +gourd which contained beads, shot, or small stones. He began his +incantations by rattling the contents of the gourd, shouting and making +many weird wails and peculiar contortions. After this had gone on for +sometime until he was near exhaustion his face assumed the expression of +one in great pain and this was the beginning of the end for some poor +ignorant savage. He squirmed and turned in different directions with his +eyes fixed with a set stare as if in expectancy when suddenly his gaze +would be fixed on some member of the tribe and his finger pointed +directly at him. The victim was at once seized and bound, the doctor's +gaze never leaving him until this was done. If one victim appeased his +nervous fervor the trial was over but if his wrought-up feelings desired +more his screechings continued until a second victim was secured. He had +these men put to death to justify himself in the eyes of the natives of +his tribe for his failing to bring rain, bountiful crops and success to +the tribe. + +The witch doctor who sat as judge seemed to have perfect control over +the savages minds and no one questioned his decisions. The persons were +reconciled to their fate and were led away to execution while they +moaned and bade their friends goodbye in the doleful savage style. +Sometimes they were put on a boat, taken out into the middle of a river +and there cut to pieces with blades of grass, their limbs being +dismembered first and thrown into the river to the crocodiles. A drink +containing an opiate was generally given the victim to deaden the pain +but often this formality was dispensed with. The victims were often cut +to pieces at the place of trial with knives and their limbs thrown out +to the vultures that almost continuously hover 'round the huts and +kraals of the savage tribes of Africa. + +In some instances condemned persons were burned at the stake. This form +of execution is meted out at some of the religious dances or festivities +to some of their pagan gods to atone and drive away the evil spirits +that have caused pestilences to come upon the people. The victims at +these times are tortured in truly savage fashion, being burned to death +by degrees while the other members of the tribe dance around and go wild +with religious fervor calling to their gods while the victim screeches +with pain in his slowly approaching death throes. Young girls, women, +boys and men are often accused of witchcraft. One method they used of +telling whether the victim accused was innocent or guilty was to give +them a liquid poison made from the juice of several poisonous plants. If +they could drink it and live they were innocent, if they died they were +guilty. In most cases death was almost instantaneous. Some vomited the +poison from their stomachs and lived. + +The Bakubas sometimes resorted to cannibalism and my husband told me +of a Bakuba girl who ate her own mother. Once a snake bit a man and he +at once called the witch doctor. The snake was a poisonous one and the +man bitten was in great pain. The witch doctor whooped and went through +several chants but the man got worse instead of better. The witch doctor +then told the man that his wife made the snake bite him by witchery and +that she should die for the act. The natives gathered at once in +response to the witch doctor's call and the woman was executed at once. +The man bitten by the snake finally died but the witch doctor had +shifted the responsibility of his failure to help the man to his wife +who had been beheaded. The witch doctor had justified himself and the +incident was closed. + +The tribe ruled by a King has two or more absolute rules. The Kings +word is law and he has the power to condemn any subject to death at any +time without trial. If he becomes angry or offended with any of his +wives a nod and a word to his bodyguard and the woman is led away to +execution. Any person of the tribe is subject to the King's will with +the exemption of the witch doctor. Executions of a different nature than +the ones described above are common occurrences. For general crimes the +culprit after being condemned to death is placed in a chair shaped very +much like the electric chairs used in American prisons in taking the +lives of the condemned. He is then tied firmly to the chair with thongs. +A pole made of a green sapling is firmly implanted in the earth nearby. +A thong is placed around the neck of the victim under the chin. The +sapling is then bent over and the other end of the thong tied to the end +of the sapling pole. The pole stretches the neck to its full length and +holds the head erect. Drums are sometimes beaten to drown the cries of +those who are to be killed. The executioner who is called a headsman +then walks forward approaching the chair from the rear. When he reaches +it he steps to the side of the victim and with a large, sharp, +long-bladed knife lops off the head of the criminal. The bodies of men +executed in this manner are buried in shallow holes dug about two feet +deep to receive their bodies. + +The rank and file of the savage tribes believe explicitly [HW +correction: implicitly] in the supernatural powers of the witch doctor +and his decisions are not questioned. Not even the King of the tribe +raises a voice against him. The witch doctor is crafty enough not to +condemn any of the King's household or any one directly prominent in the +King's service. After an execution everything is quiet in a few hours +and the incident seems forgotten. The African Negroes attitude towards +the whole affair seems to be instinctive and as long as he escapes he +does not show any particular concern in his fellowman. His is of an +animal instinctive nature. + +The males of the African tribes of savages have very little respect for +a woman but they demand a whole lot of courtesies from their wives, +beating them unmercifully when they feel proper respect has not been +shown them. The men hunt game and make war on other tribes and the women +do all the work. A savage warrior when not engaged in hunting or war, +sleeps a lot and smokes almost continuously during his waking hours. +Girls are bought from their parents while mere children by the payment +of so many cows, goats, etc. The King can take any woman of the tribe +whether married or single he desires to be his wife. The parents of +young girls taken to wife by the King of a tribe feel honored and fall +on their knees and thank the King for taking her. + +The prince of a tribe is born a headsman and as soon as he is able to +wield a knife he is called upon to perform the duty of cutting off the +heads of criminals who are condemned to death by the King for general +crimes. Those condemned by the witch doctor for witchcraft are executed +by dismemberment or fire as described above. + + * * * * * + +My husband was a cannibal headsman and performed this duty of cutting +off persons heads when a boy and after being civilized in America this +feature of his early life bore so heavily upon his mind that it was +instrumental in driving him insane. By custom a prince was born a +headsman and it was compulsory that he execute criminals. He died in an +insane ward of the New Jersey State Hospital. + +[Footnote 1: [HW: ]Dr. Henry M. Tupper, a Union Army chaplain, who +helped to start Shaw University in 1865.] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320126] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1051 +Subject: JANE ARRINGTON +Story Teller: Jane Arrington +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 4 1937"] + +JANE ARRINGTON +84 years old +302 Fowle Street +Raleigh, N. C. + + +I ort to be able to tell sumpin cause I wus twelve years old when dey +had de surrender right up here in Raleigh. If I live to see dis coming +December I will be eighty five years old. I was born on the 18th of +December 1852. + +I belonged to Jackson May of Nash County. I wus born on de plantation +near Tar River. Jackson May never married until I wus of a great big +girl. He owned a lot of slaves; dere were eighty on de plantation before +de surrender. He married Miss Becky Wilder, sister of Sam Wilder. De +Wilders lived on a jining plantation to where I wus borned. + +Jackson May had so many niggers he let Billy Williams who had a +plantation nearby have part of 'em. Marster Jackson he raised my father +and bought my mother. My mother wus named Louisa May, and my father wus +named Louis May. My mother had six chilluns, four boys and two girls. +The boys were Richard, Farro, Caeser, and Fenner. De girls Rose and +Jane. Jane, dats me. + +We lived in log houses with stick an' dirt chimleys. They called 'em +the slave houses. We had chicken feather beds to sleep on an' de houses +wus good warm comfortable log houses. We had plenty of cover an' feather +pillows. + +My grandmother on my mother's side told me a lot of stories 'bout +haints and how people run from 'em. Dey told me 'bout slaves dat had +been killed by dere marster's coming back and worryin' 'em. Ole Missus +Penny Williams, before Jackson May bought mother, treated some of de +slaves mighty bad. She died an' den come back an' nearly scared de +slaves to death. Grandmother told all we chillun she seed her an' knowed +her after she been dead an' come back. + +John May a slave wus beat to death by Bill Stone an' Oliver May. Oliver +May wus Junius May's son. Junius May wus Jackson May's Uncle. John May +come back an' wurried both of 'em. Dey could hardly sleep arter dat. Dey +said dey could hear him hollerin' an' groanin' most all de time. Dese +white men would groan in dere sleep an' tell John to go away. Dey would +say, 'Go way John, please go away'. De other slaves wus afraid of 'em +cause de ghost of John wurried 'em so bad. + +I wurked on de farm, cuttin' corn stalks and tendin' to cattle in +slavery time. Sometimes I swept de yards. I never got any money for my +work and we didn't have any patches. My brothers caught possums, coons +and sich things an' we cooked 'em in our houses. We had no parties but +we had quiltin's. We went to the white folks church, Peach Tree Church, +six miles from de plantation an' Poplar Springs Church seven miles away. +Both were missionary Baptist Churches. + +There were no overseers on Jackson May's plantation. He wouldn't have +nary one. Billy Williams didn't have none. Dey had colored slave +foremen. + +After wurkin' all day dere wus a task of cotton to be picked an' spun +by 'em. Dis wus two onces of cotton. Some of de slaves run away from +Bill Williams when Marster Jackson May let him have 'em to work. Dey run +away an' come home. Aunt Chaney runned away an' mother run away. Marster +Jackson May kept 'em hid cause he say dey wus not treated right. He +wouldn't let 'em have 'em back no more. + +I never saw a grown slave whupped or in chains and I never saw a slave +sold. Jackson May would not sell a slave. He didn't think it right. He +kept 'em together. He had eighty head. He would let other white people +have 'em to wurk for 'em sometimes, but he would not sell none of 'em. + +If dey caught a slave wid a book you knowed it meant a whuppin', but de +white chillun teached slaves secretey sometimes. Ole man Jake Rice a +slave who belonged to John Rice in Nash County wus teached by ole John +Rice's son till he had a purty good mount of larnin'. + +We did not have prayer meeting at marster's plantation or anywhur. +Marster would not allow dat. + +When I wus a child we played de games of three handed reels, 'Old Gray +Goose', 'All Little Gal, All Little Gal, All Little Gal remember me'. We +took hold of hands an' run round as we sang dis song. + +We sang 'Old Dan Tucker'. Git outen de way, ole Dan Tucker, Sixteen +Hosses in one stable, one jumped out an' skined his nable an' so on. + +Dr. Mann and Dr. Sid Harris and Dr. Fee Mann and Dr. Mathias looked +arter us when we wus sick. Mother and de other grown folks raised herbs +dat dey give us too. Chillun took a lot of salts. + +Jackson May wus too rich to go to de war. Billy Williams didn't go, too +rich too, I reckons. I remember when dey said niggers had to be free. De +papers said if dey could not be freedom by good men dere would be +freedom by blood. Dey fighted an' kept on fightin' a long time. Den de +Yankees come. [HW correction: New paragraph] I heard dem beat de drum. +Marster tole us we wus free but mother an' father stayed on with +Marster. He promised 'em sumptin, but he give 'em nothin'. When de crop +wus housed dey left. + +Father and mother went to Hench Stallings plantation and stayed there +one year. Then they went to Jim Webbs farm. I don't remember how long +they stayed there but round two years. They moved about an' about among +the white folks till they died. They never owned any property. They been +dead 'bout thirty years. + +I married Sidney Arrington. He has been dead six years las' September. + +I am unable to do any kind of work. My arm is mighty weak. + +I know slavery wus a bad thing. I don't have to think anything about +it. Abraham Lincoln wus the first of us bein' free, I think he wus a man +of God. I think Roosevelt is all right man. I belongs to the +Pentecostal Holiness Church. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320031] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1,426 +Subject: SARAH LOUISE AUGUSTUS +Source: Sarah Louise Augustus +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +SARAH LOUISE AUGUSTUS +Age 80 years +1424 Lane Street +Raleigh, North Carolina + + +I wus born on a plantation near Fayetteville, N. C., and I belonged to +J. B. Smith. His wife wus named Henrietta. He owned about thirty slaves. +When a slave was no good he wus put on the auction block in Fayetteville +and sold. + +My father wus named Romeo Harden and my mother wus named Alice Smith. +The little cabin where I wus born is still standing. + +There wus seven children in marster's family, four girls and two boys. +The girls wus named Ellen, Ida, Mary and Elizabeth. The boys wus named +Harry, Norman and Marse George. Marse George went to the war. Mother had +a family of four girls. Their names wus: Mary, Kate, Hannah and myself, +Sarah Louise. I am the only one living and I would not be living but I +have spent most of my life in white folk's houses and they have looked +after me. I respected myself and they respected me. + +My first days of slavery wus hard. I slept on a pallet on the floor of +the cabin and just as soon as I wus able to work any at all I wus put +to milking cows. + +I have seen the paterollers hunting men and have seen men they had +whipped. The slave block stood in the center of the street, Fayetteville +Street, where Ramsey and Gillespie Street came in near Cool Springs +Street. The silk mill stood just below the slave market. I saw the +silkworms that made the silk and saw them gather the cocoons and spin +the silk. + +They hung people in the middle of Ramsey Street. They put up a gallows +and hung the men exactly at 12 o'clock. + +I ran away from the plantation once to go with some white children to +see a man hung. + +The only boats I remember on the Cape Fear wus the Governor Worth, The +Hurt, The Iser and The North State. Oh! Lord yes, I remember the stage +coach. As many times as I run to carry the mail to them when they come +by! They blew a horn before they got there and you had to be on time +'cause they could not wait. There wus a stage each way each day, one up +and one down. + +Mr. George Lander had the first Tombstone Marble yard in Fayetteville +on Hay Street on the point of Flat Iron place. Lander wus from Scotland. +They gave me a pot, a scarf, and his sister gave me some shells. I have +all the things they gave me. My missus, Henrietta Smith, wus Mr. +Lander's sister. I waited on the Landers part of the time. They were +hard working white folks, honest, God fearing people. The things they +gave me were brought from over the sea. + +I can remember when there wus no hospital in Fayetteville. There wus a +little place near the depot where there wus a board shanty where they +operated on people. I stood outside once and saw the doctors take a +man's leg off. Dr. McDuffy wus the man who took the leg off. He lived on +Hay Street near the Silk Mill. + +When one of the white folks died they sent slaves around to the homes +of their friends and neighbors with a large sheet of paper with a piece +of black crepe pinned to the top of it. The friends would sign or make a +cross mark on it. The funerals were held at the homes and friends and +neighbors stood on the porch and in the house while the services were +going on. The bodies were carried to the grave after the services in a +black hearse drawn by black horses. If they did not have black horses to +draw the hearse they went off and borrowed them. The colored people +washed and shrouded the dead bodies. My grandmother wus one who did +this. Her name wus Sarah McDonald. She belonged to Capt. George +McDonald. She had fifteen children and lived to be one hundred and ten +years old. She died in Fayetteville of pneumonia. She wus in Raleigh +nursing the Briggs family, Mrs. F. H. Briggs' family. She wus going home +to Fayetteville when she wus caught in a rain storm at Sanford, while +changing trains. The train for Fayetteville had left as the train for +Sanford wus late so she stayed wet all night. Next day she went home, +took pneumonia and died. She wus great on curing rheumatism; she did it +with herbs. She grew hops and other herbs and cured many people of this +disease. + +She wus called black mammy because she wet nursed so many white +children. In slavery time she nursed all babies hatched on her marster's +plantation and kept it up after the war as long as she had children. + +Grandfather wus named Isaac Fuller. Mrs. Mary Ann Fuller, Kate Fuller, +Mr. Will Fuller, who wus a lawyer in Wall Street, New York, is some of +their white folks. The Fullers were born in Fayetteville. One of the +slaves, Dick McAlister, worked, saved a small fortune and left it to +Mr. Will Fuller. People thought the slave ought to have left it to his +sister but he left it to Mr. Will. Mr. Fuller gives part of it to the +ex-slaves sister each year. Mr. Will always helped the Negroes out when +he could. He was good to Dick and Dick McAlister gave him all his +belongings when he died. + +The Yankees came through Fayetteville wearing large blue coats with +capes on them. Lots of them were mounted, and there were thousands of +foot soldiers. It took them several days to get through town. The +Southern soldiers retreated and then in a few hours the Yankees covered +the town. They busted into the smokehouse at marstar's, took the meat, +meal and other provisions. Grandmother pled with the Yankees but it did +no good. They took all they wanted. They said if they had to come again +they would take the babies from the cradles. They told us we were all +free. The Negroes begun visiting each other in the cabins and became so +excited they began to shout and pray. I thought they were all crazy. + +We stayed right on with marster. He had a town house and a big house on +the plantation. I went to the town house to work, but mother and +grandmother stayed on the plantation. My mother died there and the +white folks buried her. Father stayed right on and helped run the farm +until he died. My uncle, Elic Smith, and his family stayed too. +Grandfather and grandmother after a few years left the plantation and +went to live on a little place which Mrs. Mary Ann Fuller gave them. +Grandmother and grandfather died there. + +I wus thirty years old when I married. I wus married in my missus' +graduating dress. I wus married in the white folks' church, to James +Henry Harris. The white folks carried me there and gave me away. Miss +Mary Smith gave me away. The wedding wus attended mostly by white +folks. + +My husband wus a fireman on the Cape Fear river boats and a white man's +Negro too. We had two children, both died while little. My husband and I +spent much of our time with the white folks and when he wus on his runs +I slept in their homes. Often the children of the white families slept +with me. We both tried to live up to the standards of decency and +honesty and to be worthy of the confidence placed in us by our white +folks. + +My husband wus finally offered a job with a shipping concern in +Deleware and we moved there. He wus fireman on the freighter +Wilmington. He worked there three years, when he wus drowned. After his +death I married David Augustus and immediately came back to North +Carolina and my white folks, and we have been here ever since. I am a +member of several Negro Lodges and am on the Committee for the North +Carolina Colored State Fair. + +There are only a few of the old white folks who have always been good +to me living now, but I am still working with their offspring, among +whom I have some mighty dear friends. I wus about eight years old when +Sherman's Army came through. Guess I am about eighty years of age now. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320261] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 908 +Subject: A Slave Story +Story Teller: Charity Austin +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"] + +CHARITY AUSTIN +507 South Bloodworth Street, Raleigh, N. C. + + +I wus borned in the year 1852, July 27. I wus born in Granville County, +sold to a slave speculator at ten years old and carried to Southwest, +Georgia. I belonged to Samuel Howard. His daughter took me to Kinston, +North Carolina and I stayed there until I wus sold. She married a man +named Bill Brown, and her name wus Julia Howard Brown. My father wus +named Paul Howard and my mother wus named Chollie Howard. My old missus +wus named Polly Howard. + +John Richard Keine from Danville, Virginia bought me and sent me to a +plantation in Georgia. We only had a white overseer there. He and his +wife and children lived on the plantation. We had slave quarters there. +Slaves were bought up and sent there in chains. Some were chained to +each other by the legs, some by the arms. They called the leg chains +shackles. I have lived a hard life. I have seen mothers sold away from +their babies and other children, and they cryin' when she left. I have +seen husbands sold from their wives, and wives sold from their husbands. + +Abraham Lincoln came through once, but none of us knew who he wus. He +wus just the raggedest man you ever saw. The white children and me saw +him out at the railroad. We were settin' and waitin' to see him. He said +he wus huntin' his people; and dat he had lost all he had. Dey give him +somethin' to eat and tobacco to chew, and he went on. Soon we heard he +wus in de White House then we knew who it wus come through. We knowed +den it wus Abraham Lincoln. + +We children stole eggs and sold 'em durin' slavery. Some of de white +men bought 'em. They were Irishmen and they would not tell on us. Their +names were Mulligan, Flanagan and Dugan. They wore good clothes and were +funny mens. They called guns flutes. + +Boss tole us Abraham Lincoln wus dead and we were still slaves. Our +boss man bought black cloth and made us wear it for mourning for Abraham +Lincoln and tole us that there would not be freedom. We stayed there +another year after freedom. A lot o' de niggers knowed nothin' 'cept +what missus and marster tole us. What dey said wus just de same as de +Lawd had spoken to us. + +Just after de surrender a nigger woman who wus bad, wus choppin' cotton +at out plantation in Georgie. John Woodfox wus de main overseer and his +son-in-law wus a overseer. Dey had a colored man who dey called a nigger +driver. De nigger driver tole de overseer de woman wus bad. De overseer +came to her, snatched de hoe from her and hit her. The blow killed her. +He was reported to de Freedman's Bureau. Dey came, whupped de overseer +and put him in jail. Dey decided not to kill him, but made him furnish +de children of de dead woman so much to live on. Dere wus a hundred or +more niggers in de field when this murder happened. + +We finally found out we were free and left. Dey let me stay with Miss +Julia Brown. I was hired to her. She lived in Dooley County, Georgia. I +next worked with Mrs. Dunbar after staying with Mrs. Brown four years. +Her name wus Mrs. Winnie Dunbar and she moved to Columbia, South +Carolina takin' me with her. I stayed with her about four years. This +wus the end of my maiden life. I married Isaac Austin of Richmond +County, Georgia. He wus a native of Warrenton County and he brought me +from his home in Richmond County, Georgia to Warrenton and then from +Warrenton to Raleigh. I had two brothers and thirteen sisters. I did +general house work, and helped raise children during slavery, and right +after de war. Then you had to depend on yourself to do for children. You +had to doctor and care for them yourself. You just had to depend on +yourself. + +Dey had 320 acres o' cleared fields in Georgia and then de rice fields, +I just don't know how many acres. I have seen jails for slaves. Dey had +a basement for a jail in Georgia and a guard at de holes in it. + +No, No! you better not be caught tryin' to do somethin' wid a book. Dey +would teach you wid a stick or switch. De slaves had secret prayer +meetin's wid pots turned down to kill de soun' o' de singin'. We sang a +song, 'I am glad salvation's free.' Once dey heard us, nex' mornin' dey +took us and tore our backs to pieces. Dey would say, 'Are you free? What +were you singin' about freedom?' While de niggers were bein' whupped +they said, 'Pray, marster, pray.' + +The doctor came to see us sometimes when we were sick, but not after. +People just had to do their own doctorin'. Sometimes a man would take +his patient, and sit by de road where de doctor travelled, and when he +come along he would see him. De doctor rode in a sully drawn by a horse. +He had a route, one doctor to two territories. + +When de white folks were preparing to go to de war they had big dinners +and speakin'. Dey tole what dey were goin' to do to Sherman and Grant. A +lot of such men as Grant and Sherman and Lincoln came through de South +in rags and were at some o' dese meetings, an' et de dinners. When de +white folks foun' it out, dere wus some sick folks. Sometimes we got two +days Christmas and two days July. When de nigger wus freed dey didn't +know where to go and what to do. It wus hard, but it has been hard +since. From what de white folks, marster and missus tole us we thought +Lincoln wus terrible. By what mother and father tole me I thought he wus +all right. I think Roosevelt wus put in by God to do the right things. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320012] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 367 +Subject: BLOUNT BAKER +Person Interviewed: Blount Baker +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "SEP 10 1937"] + +BLOUNT BAKER + +An interview with Blount Baker, 106 Spruce Street, Wilson, North +Carolina. + + +Yes'um, I 'longed ter Marse Henry Allen of Wilson County an' we always +raise terbacker. Marse Henry wus good ter us so we had a heap of prayer +meetin's an' corn shuckin's an' such. + +I 'members de big meetin's dat we'd have in de summer time an' dat good +singin' we'd have when we'd be singin' de sinners through. We'd stay +pretty nigh all night to make a sinner come through, an' maybe de week +atter de meetin' he'd steal one of his marster's hogs. Yes'um, I'se had +a bad time. + +You know, missy, dar ain't no use puttin' faith in nobody, dey'd fool +you ever time anyhow. I know once a patteroller tol' me dat iffen I'd +give him a belt I found dat he'd let me go by ter see my gal dat night, +but when he kotch me dat night he whupped me. I tol' Marse Henry on him +too so Marse Henry takes de belt away from him an' gives me a possum fer +hit. Dat possum shore wus good too, baked in de ashes like I done it. + +I ain't never hear Marse Henry cuss but once an' dat wus de time dat +some gentlemens come ter de house an' sez dat dar am a war 'twixt de +north an' de south. He sez den, 'Let de damn yaller bellied Yankees come +on an' we'll give 'em hell an' sen' dem a-hoppin' back ter de north in a +hurry.' + +We ain't seed no Yankees 'cept a few huntin' Rebs. Dey talk mean ter us +an' one of dem says dat we niggers am de cause of de war. 'Sir,' I sez, +'folks what am a wantin' a war can always find a cause'. He kicks me in +de seat of de pants fer dat, so I hushes. + +I stayed wid Marse Henry till he died den I moved ter Wilson. I has +worked everwhere, terbacker warehouses an' ever'thing. I'se gittin' of +my ole age pension right away an' den de county won't have ter support +me no mo', dat is if dey have been supportin' me on three dollars a +month. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320244] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 745 +Subject: LIZZIE BAKER +Person Interviewed: Lizzie Baker +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +LIZZIE BAKER +424 Smith Street + + +I was born de las' year o' de surrender an'course I don't remember +seein' any Yankee soldiers, but I knows a plenty my mother and father +tole me. I have neuritis, an' have been unable to work any fer a year +and fer seven years I couldn't do much. + +My mother wus named Teeny McIntire and my father William McIntire. +Mammy belonged to Bryant Newkirk in Duplin County. Pap belonged to +someone else, I don't know who. + +Dey said dey worked from light till dark, and pap said dey beat him so +bad he run away a lot o' times. Dey said de paterollers come to whare +dey wus havin' prayer meetin' and beat 'em. + +Mammy said sometimes dey were fed well and others dey almost starved. +Dey got biscuit once a week on Sunday. Dey said dey went to de white +folks's church. Dey said de preachers tole 'em dey had to obey dere +missus and marster. My mammy said she didn't go to no dances 'cause she +wus crippled. Some o' de help, a colored woman, stole something when she +wus hongry. She put it off on mother and missus made mother wear +trousers for a year to punish her. + +Mammy said dey gave de slaves on de plantation one day Christmas and +dat New Years wus when dey sold 'em an' hired 'em out. All de slaves wus +scared 'cause dey didn't know who would have to go off to be sold or to +work in a strange place. Pap tole me 'bout livin' in de woods and 'bout +dey ketchin' him. I 'member his owner's name den, it wus Stanley. He run +away so bad dey sold him several times. Pap said one time dey caught him +and nearly beat him to death, and jest as soon as he got well and got a +good chance he ran away again. + +Mammy said when de Yankees come through she wus 'fraid of 'em. De +Yankees tole her not to be 'fraid of 'em. Dey say to her, 'Do dey treat +you right', Mammy said 'Yes sir', 'cause ole missus wus standin' dere, +an' she wus 'fraid not to say yes. Atter de war, de fust year atter de +surrender dey moved to James Alderman's place in Duplin County and +stayed dere till I wus a grown gal. + +Den we moved to Goldsboro. Father wus a carpenter and he got a lot of +dat work. Dat's what he done in Goldsboro. We come from Goldsboro to +Raleigh and we have lived here every since. We moved here about de year +o' de shake and my mother died right here in Raleigh de year o' de +shake. Some of de things mother tole me 'bout slavery, has gone right +out of my min'. Jes comes and goes. + +I remember pap tellin' me' bout stretchin' vines acrost roads and paths +to knock de patterollers off deir horses when dey were tryin' to ketch +slaves. Pap and mammy tole me marster and missus did not 'low any of de +slaves to have a book in deir house. Dat if dey caught a slave wid a +book in deir house dey whupped 'em. Dey were keerful not to let 'em +learn readin' and writin'. + +Dey sold my sister Lucy and my brother Fred in slavery time, an' I have +never seen 'em in my life. Mother would cry when she was tellin' me +'bout it. She never seen 'em anymore. I jes' couldn't bear to hear her +tell it widout cryin'. Dey were carried to Richmond, an' sold by old +marster when dey were chillun. + +We tried to get some news of brother and sister. Mother kept 'quiring +'bout 'em as long as she lived and I have hoped dat I could hear from +'em. Dey are dead long ago I recons, and I guess dare aint no use ever +expectin' to see 'em. Slavery wus bad and Mr. Lincoln did a good thing +when he freed de niggers. I caint express my love for Roosevelt. He has +saved so many lives. I think he has saved mine. I want to see him face +to face. I purely love him and I feel I could do better to see him and +tell him so face to face. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320182] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 339 +Subject: VINEY BAKER +Story Teller: Viney Baker +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +VINEY BAKER +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Viney Baker 78 of S. Harrington Street, Raleigh. + + +My mammy wuz Hannah Murry an' so fur as I know I ain't got no father, +do' I reckon dat he wuz de plantation stock nigger. I wuz borned in +Virginia as yo' mought say ter my marster Mr. S. L. Allen. + +We moved when I wuz little ter Durham County whar we fared bad. We +ain't had nothin' much ter eat an' ter w'ar. He had a hundert slaves an' +I reckon five hundert acres o' lan'. He made us wuck hard, de little +ones included. + +One night I lay down on de straw mattress wid my mammy, an' de nex' +mo'nin' I woked up an' she wuz gone. When I axed 'bout her I fin's dat a +speculator comed dar de night before an' wanted ter buy a 'oman. Dey had +come an' got my mammy widout wakin' me up. I has always been glad +somehow dat I wuz asleep. + +Dey uster tie me ter a tree an' beat me till de blood run down my back, +I doan 'member nothin' dat I done, I jist 'members de whuppin's. Some +of de rest wuz beat wuser dan I wuz too, an' I uster scream dat I wuz +sho' dyin'. + +Yes'um I seed de Yankees go by, but dey ain't bodder us none, case dey +knows dat 'hind eber' bush jist about a Confederate soldier pints a gun. + +I warn't glad at de surrender, case I doan understand hit, an' de +Allen's keeps me right on, an' whups me wuser den dan eber. + +I reckon I wuz twelve years old when my mammy come ter de house an' +axes Mis' Allen ter let me go spen' de week en' wid her. Mis' Allen +can't say no, case Mammy mought go ter de carpet baggers so she lets me +go fer de week-en'. Mammy laughs Sunday when I says somethin' 'bout +goin' back. Naw, I stayed on wid my mammy, an' I ain't seed Mis' Allen +no mo'. + +AC + + + + +District: No. 2 [320151] +No. Words: 733 +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +Subject: EX-SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Charlie Barbour +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"] + +[HW: A (circled)] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An interview on May 20, 1937 with Charlie Barbour, 86 of Smithfield, N. C. +Johnston County. + + +I belonged ter Mr. Bob Lumsford hyar in Smithfield from de time of my +birth. My mammy wuz named Candice an' my pappy's name wuz Seth. My +brothers wuz Rufus, William an' George, an' my sisters wuz Mary an' +Laura. + +I 'minds me of de days when as a youngin' [HW correction: youngun'] I +played marbles an' hide an' seek. Dar wuzn't many games den, case nobody +ain't had no time fer 'em. De grown folkses had dances an' sometimes +co'n shuckin's, an' de little niggers patted dere feets at de dances an' +dey he'p ter shuck de co'n. At Christmas we had a big dinner, an' from +den through New Year's Day we feast, an' we dance, an' we sing. De fust +one what said Christmas gift ter anybody else got a gif', so of cou'se +we all try ter ketch de marster. + +On de night 'fore de first day of Jinuary we had a dance what lasts all +night. At midnight when de New Year comes in marster makes a speech an' +we is happy dat he thanks us fer our year's wuck an' says dat we is +good, smart slaves. + +Marster wucked his niggers from daylight till dark, an' his thirteen +grown slaves had ter ten' 'bout three hundred acres o' land. Course dey +mostly planted co'n, peas an' vege'ables. + +I can 'member, do' I wuz small, dat de slaves wuz whupped fer +disobeyin' an' I can think of seberal dat I got. I wuz doin' housewuck +at de time an' one of de silber knives got misplaced. Dey 'cused me of +misplacin' it on purpose, so I got de wust beatin' dat I eber had. I wuz +beat den till de hide wuz busted hyar an' dar. + +We little ones had some time ter go swimmin' an' we did; we also +fished, an' at night we hunted de possum an' de coon sometimes. Ole +Uncle Jeems had some houn's what would run possums or coons an' he uster +take we boys 'long wid him. + +I 'members onct de houn's struck a trail an' dey tree de coon. Uncle +Jeems sen's Joe, who wuz bigger den I wuz, up de tree ter ketch de coon +an' he warns him dat coons am fightin' fellers. Joe doan pay much mind +he am so happy ter git der chanct ter ketch de coon, but when he ketched +dat coon he couldn't turn loose, an' from de way he holler yo' would +s'pose dat he ain't neber wanted ter ketch a coon. When Joe Barbour wuz +buried hyar las' winter dem coon marks wuz still strong on his arms an' +han's an' dar wuz de long scar on his face. + +I 'members onct a Yankee 'oman from New York looks at him an' nigh +'bout faints. 'I reckon', says she, dat am what de cruel slave owner or +driver done ter him'. + +Yes mam, I knows when de Yankees comed ter Smithfield. Dey comed wid de +beatin' of drums an' de wavin' of flags. Dey says dat our governor wuz +hyar makin' a speech but he flewed 'fore dey got hyar. Anyhow, we libed +off from de main path of march, an' so we ain't been trouble so much +'cept by 'scootin' parties, as my ole missus call' em. + +Dey am de darndest yo' eber seed, dey won't eat no hog meat 'cept hams +an' shoulders an' dey goes ter de smoke house an' gits 'em 'thout no +permission. Dey has what dey calls rammin' rods ter dere guns an' dey +knock de chickens in de haid wid dat. I hyard dem say dat dar warn't no +use wastin' powder on dem chickens. + +Dey went ober de neighborhood stealin' an' killin' stock. I hyard 'bout +'em ketchin' a pig, cuttin' off his hams an' leave him dar alive. De +foun' all de things we done hid, not dat I thinks dat dey am witches, +but dat dey has a money rod, an' 'cides dat some of de slaves tol' 'em +whar marster had hid de things. + +Yes 'um, I reckon I wuz glad ter git free, case I knows den dat I won't +wake up some mornin' ter fin' dat my mammy or some ob de rest of my +family am done sold. I left de day I hyard 'bout de surrender an' I +fared right good too, do' I knows dem what ain't farin' so well. + +I ain't neber learn ter read an' write an' I knows now dat I neber +will. I can't eben write a letter ter Raleigh 'bout my ole man's +pension. + +I 'members de days when mammy wored a blue hankerchief 'round her haid +an' cooked in de great house. She'd sometimes sneak me a cookie or a +cobbler an' fruits. She had her own little gyardin an' a few chickens +an' we w'oud ov been happy 'cept dat we wuz skeered o' bein' sold. + +I'se glad dat slavery am ober, case now de nigger has got a chanct ter +live an' larn wid de whites. Dey won't neber be as good as de whites but +dey can larn ter live an' enjoy life more. + +Speakin' 'bout de Ku Klux dey ain't do nothin' but scare me back in +'69, but iffen we had some now I thinks dat some of dese young niggers +what has forgot what dey mammies tol' 'em would do better. + +MH:EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320249] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 678 +Subject: MARY BARBOUR +Person Interviewed: Mary Barbour +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +MARY BARBOUR + +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Mary Barbour 81 of 801 S. Bloodworth Street, Raleigh, +N. C. + + +I reckon dat I wuz borned in McDowell County, case dat's whar my mammy, +Edith, lived. She 'longed ter Mr. Jefferson Mitchel dar, an' my pappy +'longed ter er Mr. Jordan in Avery County, so he said. + +'Fore de war, I doan know nothin' much 'cept dat we lived on a big +plantation an' dat my mammy wucked hard, but wuz treated pretty good. + +We had our little log cabin off ter one side, an' my mammy had sixteen +chilluns. Fas' as dey got three years old de marster sol' 'em till we +las' four dat she had wid her durin' de war. I wuz de oldes' o' dese +four; den dar wuz Henry an' den de twins, Liza an' Charlie. + +One of de fust things dat I 'members wuz my pappy wakin' me up in de +middle o' de night, dressin' me in de dark, all de time tellin' me ter +keep quiet. One o' de twins hollered some an' pappy put his hand ober +its mouth ter keep it quiet. + +Atter we wuz dressed he went outside an' peeped roun' fer a minute den +he comed back an' got us. We snook out o' de house an' long de woods +path, pappy totin' one of de twins an' holdin' me by de han' an' mammy +carryin' de udder two. + +I reckons dat I will always 'member dat walk, wid de bushes slappin' my +laigs, de win' sighin' in de trees, an' de hoot owls an' whippoorwills +hollerin' at each other frum de big trees. I wuz half asleep an' skeered +stiff, but in a little while we pass de plum' thicket an' dar am de +mules an' wagin. + +Dar am er quilt in de bottom o' de wagin, an' on dis dey lays we +youngins. An' pappy an' mammy gits on de board cross de front an' drives +off down de road. + +I wuz sleepy but I wuz skeered too, so as we rides 'long I lis'ens ter +pappy an' mammy talk. Pappy wuz tellin' mammy 'bout de Yankees comin' +ter dere plantation, burnin' de co'n cribs, de smokehouses an' 'stroyin' +eber'thing. He says right low dat dey done took marster Jordan ter de +Rip Raps down nigh Norfolk, an' dat he stol' de mules an' wagin an' +'scaped. + +We wuz skeerd of de Yankees ter start wid, but de more we thinks 'bout +us runnin' way frum our marsters de skeerder we gits o' de Rebs. Anyhow +pappy says dat we is goin' ter jine de Yankees. + +We trabels all night an' hid in de woods all day fer a long time, but +atter awhile we gits ter Doctor Dillard's place, in Chowan County. I +reckons dat we stays dar seberal days. + +De Yankees has tooked dis place so we stops ober, an' has a heap o' fun +dancin' an' sich while we am dar. De Yankees tells pappy ter head fer +New Bern an' dat he will be took keer of dar, so ter New Bern we goes. + +When we gits ter New Bern de Yankees takes de mules an' wagin, dey +tells pappy something, an' he puts us on a long white boat named Ocean +Waves an' ter Roanoke we goes. + +Later I larns dat most o' de reffes[2] is put in James City, nigh New +Bern, but dar am a pretty good crowd on Roanoke. Dar wuz also a ole +Indian Witch 'oman dat I 'members. + +Atter a few days dar de Ocean Waves comes back an' takes all ober ter +New Bern. My pappy wuz a shoemaker, so he makes Yankee boots, an' we +gits 'long pretty good. + +I wuz raised in New Bern an' I lived dar till forty years ago when me +an' my husban' moved ter Raleigh an' do' he's been daid a long time I +has lived hyar ober [TR: eber] since an' eben if'en I is eighty-one +years old I can still outwuck my daughter an' de rest of dese young +niggers. + +[Footnote 2: refugees] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320162] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 927 +Subject: Plantation Times +Person Interviewed: Alice Baugh +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +PLANTATION TIMES + +An Interview on May 18, 1937 with Alice Baugh, 64, who remembers hearing +her mother tell of slavery days. + + +My mammy Ferbie, an' her brother Darson belonged ter Mr. David Hinnant +in Edgecombe County till young Marster Charlie got married. Den dey wuz +drawed an' sent wid him down hyar ter Wendell. De ole Hinnant home am +still standin' dar ter dis day. + +Marster Charlie an' Missus Mary wuz good ter de hundred slaves what +belonged ter' em. Dey gib 'em good houses, good feed, good clothes an' +plenty uv fun. Dey had dere co'n shuckin's, dere barn dances, prayer +meetin's an' sich like all de year, an' from Christmas till de second +day o' January dey had a holiday wid roast oxes, pigs, turkey an' all de +rest o' de fixin's. From Saturday till Monday de slaves wuz off an' dey +had dere Sunday clothes, which wuz nice. De marster always gib 'em a +paper so's de patterollers won't git 'em. + +Dey went up de riber to other plantations ter dances an' all dem +things, an' dey wuz awful fond uv singin' songs. Dat's whut dey done +atter dey comes ter dere cabins at de end o' de day. De grown folkses +sings an' somebody pickin' de banjo. De favorite song wuz 'Swing Low +Sweet Chariot' an' 'Play on yo' Harp Little David'. De chilluns uster +play Hide an' Seek, an' Leap Frog, an' ever'body wuz happy. + +Dey had time off ter hunt an' fish an' dey had dere own chickens, pigs, +watermillons an' gyardens. De fruits from de big orchard an' de honey +from de hives wuz et at home, an' de slave et as good as his marster et. +Dey had a whole heap o' bee hives an' my mammy said dat she had ter +tell dem bees when Mis' Mary died. She said how she wuz cryin' so hard +dat she can't hardly tell 'em, an' dat dey hum lak dey am mo'nin' too. + +My mammy marry my pappy dar an' she sez dat de preacher from de +Methodis' Church marry 'em, dat she w'ar Miss Mary's weddin' dress, all +uv white lace, an' dat my pappy w'ar Mr. Charlie's weddin' suit wid a +flower in de button hole. Dey gived a big dance atter de supper dey had, +an' Marster Charlie dance de first [HW correction: fust] set wid my +mammy. + +I jist thought of a tale what I hyard my mammy tell 'bout de Issue +Frees of Edgecombe County when she wuz a little gal. She said dat de +Issue Frees wuz mixed wid de white folks, an' uv cou'se dat make 'em +free. Sometimes dey stay on de plantation, but a whole heap uv dem, long +wid niggers who had done runned away from dere marster, dugged caves in +de woods, an' dar dey lived an' raised dere families dar. Dey ain't +wored much clothes an' what dey got to eat an' to w'ar dey swiped from +de white folkses. Mammy said dat she uster go ter de spring fer water, +an' dem ole Issue Frees up in de woods would yell at her, 'Doan yo' +muddy dat spring, little gal'. Dat scared her moughty bad. + +Dem Issue Frees till dis day shows both bloods. De white folkses won't +have 'em an' de niggers doan want 'em but will have ter have 'em +anyhow. + +My uncle wuz raised in a cave an' lived on stold stuff an' berries. My +cousin runned away 'cause his marster wuz mean ter him, but dey put de +blood hounds on his trail, ketched him. Atter he got well from de +beatin' dey gib him, dey sold him. + +I'se hyard ole lady Prissie Jones who died at de age of 103 las' winter +tell 'bout marsters dat when dere slaves runned away dey'd set de +bloodhounds on dere trail an' when dey ketched 'em dey'd cut dere haids +off wid de swords. + +Ole lady Prissie tole 'bout slaves what ain't had nothin' ter eat an' +no clothes 'cept a little strip uv homespun, but my mammy who died four +months ago at de age 106 said dat she ain't knowed nothin' 'bout such +doin's. + +When de Yankees come, dey come a burnin' an' a-stealin' an' Marster +Charlie carried his val'ables ter mammy's cabin, but dey found 'em. Dey +had a money rod an' dey'd find all de stuff no matter whar it wuz. +Mammy said dat all de slaves cried when de Yankees come, an' dat most uv +'em stayed on a long time atter de war. My mammy plowed an' done such +work all de time uv slavery, but she done it case she wanted to do it +an' not 'cause dey make her. + +All de slaves hate de Yankees an' when de southern soldiers comed by +late in de night all de niggers got out of de bed an' holdin' torches +high dey march behin' de soldiers, all of dem singin', 'We'll Hang Abe +Lincoln on de Sour Apple Tree.' Yes mam, dey wuz sorry dat dey wuz free, +an' dey ain't got no reason to be glad, case dey wuz happier den dan +now. + +I'se hyard mammy tell 'bout how de niggers would sing as dey picked de +cotton, but yo' ain't hyard none uv dat now. Den dey ain't had to worry +'bout nothin'; now dey has ter study so much dat dey ain't happy nuff +ter sing no mo'. + +"Does yo' know de cause of de war?" Aunt Alice went to a cupboard and +returned holding out a book. "Well hyar's de cause, dis _Uncle Tom's +Cabin_ wuz de cause of it all; an' its' de biggest lie what ever been +gived ter de public." + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320157] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 341 +Subject: WHEN THE YANKEES CAME +Story Teller: John Beckwith +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +WHEN THE YANKEES CAME + +An Interview with John Beckwith 83, of Cary. + + +I reckon dat I wuz 'bout nine years old at de surrender, but we warn't +happy an' we stayed on dar till my parents died. My pappy wuz named +Green an' my mammy wuz named Molly, an' we belonged ter Mr. Joe Edwards, +Mr. Marion Gully, an' Mr. Hilliard Beckwith, as de missus married all of +'em. Dar wuz twenty-one other slaves, an' we got beat ever' onct in a +while. + +When dey told us dat de Yankees wuz comin' we wuz also told dat iffen +we didn't behave dat we'd be shot; an' we believed it. We would'uv +behaved anyhow, case we had good plank houses, good food, an' shoes. We +had Saturday an' Sunday off an' we wuz happy. + +De missus, she raised de nigger babies so's de mammies could wuck. I +'members de times when she rock me ter sleep an' put me ter bed in her +own bed. I wuz happy den as I thinks back of it, until dem Yankees +come. + +Dey come on a Chuesday; an' dey started by burnin' de cotton house an' +killin' most of de chickens an' pigs. Way atter awhile dey fin's de +cellar an' dey drinks brandy till dey gits wobbly in de legs. Atter dat +dey comes up on de front porch an' calls my missus. When she comes ter +de do' dey tells her dat dey am goin' in de house ter look things over. +My missus dejicts, case ole marster am away at de war, but dat doan do +no good. Dey cusses her scan'lous an' dey dares her ter speak. Dey robs +de house, takin' dere knives an' splittin' mattresses, pillows an' ever' +thing open lookin' fer valerables, an' ole missus dasen't open her +mouth. + +Dey camped dar in de grove fer two days, de officers takin' de house +an' missus leavin' home an' goin' ter de neighbor's house. Dey make me +stay dar in de house wid 'em ter tote dere brandy frum de cellar, an' +ter make 'em some mint jelup. Well, on de secon' night dar come de wust +storm I'se eber seed. De lightnin' flash, de thunder roll, an' de house +shook an' rattle lak a earthquake had struck it. + +Dem Yankees warn't supposed ter be superstitious, but lemmie tell yo', +dey wuz some skeered dat night; an' I hyard a Captain say dat de witches +wuz abroad. Atter awhile lightnin' struck de Catawba tree dar at de side +of de house an' de soldiers camped round about dat way marched off ter +de barns, slave cabins an' other places whar dey wuz safter dan at dat +place. De next mornin' dem Yankees moved frum dar an' dey ain't come +back fer nothin'. + +We wuzn't happy at de surrender an' we cussed ole Abraham Lincoln all +ober de place. We wuz told de disadvantages of not havin' no edercation, +but shucks, we doan need no book larnin' wid ole marster ter look atter +us. + +My mammy an' pappy stayed on dar de rest of dere lives, an' I stayed +till I wuz sixteen. De Ku Klux Klan got atter me den' bout fightin' wid +a white boy. Dat night I slipped in de woods an' de nex' day I went ter +Raleigh. I got a job dar an' eber' since den I'se wucked fer myself, but +now I can't wuck an' I wish dat yo' would apply fer my ole aged pension +fer me. + +I went back ter de ole plantation long as my pappy, mammy, an' de +marster an' missus lived. Sometimes, when I gits de chanct I goes back +now. Course now de slave cabins am gone, ever' body am dead, an' dar +ain't nothin' familiar 'cept de bent Catawba tree; but it 'minds me of +de happy days. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320163] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1,566 +Subject: JOHN C. BECTOM +Story Teller: John C. Bectom +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +[HW: N. C.] + +JOHN C. BECTOM + + +My name is John C. Bectom. I was born Oct. 7, 1862, near Fayetteville, +Cumberland County, North Carolina. My father's name was Simon Bectom. He +was 86 years of age when he died. He died in 1910 at Fayetteville, N. C. +My mother's name was Harriet Bectom. She died in 1907, May 23, when she +was seventy years old. My brother's were named Ed, Kato and Willie. I +was third of the boys. My sisters were Lucy, Anne and Alice. My father +first belonged to Robert Wooten of Craven County, N. C. Then he was sold +by the Wootens to the Bectoms of Wayne County, near Goldsboro, the +county seat. My mother first belonged to the McNeills of Cumberland +County. Miss Mary McNeill married a McFadden, and her parents gave my +mother to Mis' Mary. Mis' Mary's daughter in time married Ezekial King +and my mother was then given to her by Mis' Mary McFadden, her mother. +Mis' Lizzie McFadden became a King. My grandmother was named Lucy +Murphy. She belonged to the Murpheys. All the slaves were given off to +the children of the family as they married. + +My father and mother told me stories of how they were treated at +different places. When my grandmother was with the Murpheys they would +make her get up, and begin burning logs in new grounds before daybreak. +They also made her plow, the same as any of the men on the plantation. +They plowed till dusk-dark before they left the fields to come to the +house. They were not allowed to attend any dances or parties unless they +slipped off unknowin's. They had candy pullings sometimes too. While +they would be there the patterollers would visit them. Sometimes the +patterollers whipped all they caught at this place, all they set their +hands on, unless they had a pass. + +They fed us mighty good. The food was well cooked. They gave the slaves +an acre of ground to plant and they could sell the crop and have the +money. The work on this acre was done on moonshiny nights and holidays. +Sometimes slaves would steal the marster's chickens or a hog and slip +off to another plantation and have it cooked. We had plenty of clothes, +and one pair o' shoes a year. You had to take care of them because you +only got one pair a year. They were given at Christmas every year. The +clothes were made on the plantation. + +There were corn mills on the plantation, and rice mills, and threshing +machines. The plantation had about 300 acres in farm land. The enclosure +was three miles. My marster lived in a fine house. It took a year to +build it. There were about 16 rooms in it. We slaves called it the great +house. Some of the slaves ran away and finally reached Ohio. There was +no jail on the plantation. Sometimes the overseer would whip us. + +The Kings had no overseers. King beat his slaves with a stick. I +remember seeing him do this as well as I can see that house over there. +He became blind. An owl scratched him in the face when he was trying to +catch him, and his face got into sich a fix he went to Philadelphia for +treatment, but they could not cure him. He finally went blind. I have +seen him beat his slaves after he was blind. I remember it well. He beat +'em with a stick. He was the most sensitive man you ever seed. He ran a +store. After he was blind you could han' him a piece of money and he +could tell you what it was. + +There were no churches on the plantation but prayer meeting' were held +in the quarters. Slaves were not allowed to go to the white folk's +church unless they were coach drivers, etc. No sir, not in that +community. They taught the slaves the Bible. The children of the marster +would go to private school. We small Negro children looked after the +babies in the cradles and other young children. When the white children +studied their lessons I studied with them. When they wrote in the sand I +wrote in the sand too. The white children, and not the marster or +mistress, is where I got started in learnin' to read and write. + +We had corn shuckings, candy pullings, dances, prayer meetings. We went +to camp meetin' on Camp Meeting days in August when the crops were laid +by. We played games of high jump, jumping over the pole held by two +people, wrestling, leap frog, and jumping. We sang the songs, 'Go tell +Aunt Patsy'. 'Some folks says a nigger wont steal, I caught six in my +corn field' 'Run nigger run, the patteroller ketch you, Run nigger run +like you did the other day'. + +When slaves got sick marster looked after them. He gave them blue mass +and caster oil. Dr. McDuffy also treated us. Dr. McSwain vaccinated us +for small pox. My sister died with it. When the slaves died marster +buried them. They dug a grave with a tomb in it. I do not see any of +them now. The slaves were buried in a plain box. + +The marsters married the slaves without any papers. All they did was to +say perhaps to Jane and Frank, 'Frank, I pronounce you and Jane man and +wife.' But the woman did not take the name of her husband, she kept the +name of the family who owned her. + +I remember seeing the Yankees near Fayetteville. They shot a bomb shell +at Wheeler's Calvary, and it hit near me and buried in the ground. +Wheeler's Calvary came first and ramsaked the place. They got all the +valuables they could, and burned the bridge, the covered bridge over +Cape Fear river, but when the Yankees got there they had a pontoon +bridge to cross on,--all those provision wagons and such. When they +passed our place it was in the morning. They nearly scared me to death. +They passed right by our door, Sherman's army. They began passing, so +the white folks said, at 9 o'clock in the mornin'. At 9 o'clock at night +they were passin' our door on foot. They said there were two hundred and +fifty thousan' o' them passed. Some camped in my marster's old fiel'. A +Yankee caught one of my marster's shoats and cut off one of the hind +quarters, gave it to me, and told me to carry and give it to my mother. +I was so small I could not tote it, so I drug it to her. I called her +when I got in hollering distance of the house and she came and got it. +The Yankees called us Johnnie, Dinah, Bill and other funny names. They +beat their drums and sang songs. One of the Yankees sang 'Rock a Bye +Baby'. At that time Jeff Davis money was plentiful. My mother had about +$1000. It was so plentiful it was called Jeff Davis shucks. My mother +had bought a pair of shoes, and had put them in a chest. A Yankee came +and took the shoes and wore them off, leaving his in their place. They +tol' us we were free. Sometimes the marster would get cruel to the +slaves if they acted like they were free. + +Mat Holmes, a slave, was wearing a ball and chain as a punishment for +running away. Marster Ezekial King put it on him. He has slept in the +bed with me, wearing that ball and chain. The cuff had embedded in his +leg, it was swollen so. This was right after the Yankees came through. +It was March, the 9th of March, when the Yankees came through. Mat +Holmes had run away with the ball and chain on him and was in the woods +then. He hid out staying with us at night until August. Then my mother +took him to the Yankee garrison at Fayetteville. A Yankee officer then +took him to a black smith shop and had the ball and chain cut off his +leg. The marsters would tell the slaves to go to work that they were not +free, that they still belonged to them, but one would drop out and +leave, then another. There was little work done on the farm, and +finally most of the slaves learned they were free. + +Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest men that ever lived. He was the +cause of us slaves being free. No doubt about that. I didn't think +anything of Jeff Davis. He tried to keep us in slavery. I think slavery +was an injustice, not right. Our privilege is to live right, and live +according to the teachings of the Bible, to treat our fellowman right. +To do this I feel we should belong to some religious organization and +live as near right as we know how. + +The overseers and patterollers in the time of slavery were called poor +white trash by the slaves. + +On the plantations not every one, but some of the slave holders would +have some certain slave women reserved for their own use. Sometimes +children almost white would be born to them. I have seen many of these +children. Sometimes the child would be said to belong to the overseer, +and sometimes it would be said to belong to the marster. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320118] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 610 +Subject: AUNT LAURA +Story Teller: LAURA BELL +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"] + +AUNT LAURA + +An interview with Laura Bell, 73 years old, of 2 Bragg Street, Raleigh, +North Carolina. + + +Being informed that Laura Bell was an old slavery Negro, I went +immediately to the little two-room shack with its fallen roof and shaky +steps. As I approached the shack I noticed that the storm had done great +damage to the chaney-berry tree in her yard, fallen limbs litterin' the +ground, which was an inch deep in garbage and water. + +The porch was littered with old planks and huge tubs and barrels of +stagnant water. There was only room for one chair and in that sat a tall +Negro woman clad in burlap bags and in her lap she held a small white +flea-bitten dog which growled meaningly. + +When I reached the gate, which swings on one rusty hinge, she bade me +come in and the Carolina Power and Light Company men, who were at work +nearby, laughed as I climbed over the limbs and garbage and finally +found room for one foot on the porch and one on the ground. + +"I wus borned in Mount Airy de year 'fore de Yankees come, bein' de +fourth of five chilluns. My mammy an' daddy Minerva Jane an' Wesley +'longed ter Mr. Mack Strickland an' we lived on his big place near Mount +Airy." + +"Mr. Mack wus good ter us, dey said. He give us enough ter eat an' +plenty of time ter weave clothes fer us ter wear. I've hearn mammy tell +of de corn shuckin's an' dances dey had an' 'bout some whuppin's too." + +"Marse Mack's overseer, I doan know his name, wus gwine ter whup my +mammy onct, an' pappy do' he ain't neber make no love ter mammy comes up +an' takes de whuppin' fer her. Atter dat dey cou'ts on Sadday an' Sunday +an' at all de sociables till dey gits married." + +"I'se hearn her tell' bout how he axed Marse Mack iffen he could cou't +mammy an' atter Marse Mack sez he can he axes her ter marry him." + +"She tells him dat she will an' he had 'em married by de preacher de nex' +time he comes through dat country." + +"I growed up on de farm an' when I wus twelve years old I met Thomas +Bell. My folks said dat I wus too young fer ter keep company so I had +ter meet him 'roun' an' about fer seberal years, I think till I wus +fifteen." + +"He axed me ter marry him while he wus down on de creek bank a fishin' +an' I tol' him yes, but when he starts ter kiss me I tells him dat der's +many a slip twixt de cup an' de lip an' so he has ter wait till we gits +married." + +"We runned away de nex' Sadday an' wus married by a Justice of de Peace +in Mount Airy." + +"Love ain't what hit uster be by a long shot," de ole woman reflected, +"'Cause dar ain't many folks what loves all de time. We moved ter +Raleigh forty years ago, an' Tom has been daid seberal years now. We had +jest one chile but hit wus borned daid." + +"Chilluns ain't raised ter be clean lak we wus. I knows dat de house +ain't so clean but I doan feel so much lak doin' nothin', I jest went on +a visit 'bout seben blocks up de street dis mo'nin' an' so I doan feel +lak cleanin' up none." + +I cut the interview short thereby missing more facts, as the odor was +anything but pleasant and I was getting tired of standing in that one +little spot. + +"Thank you for comin'", she called, and her dog growled again. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320111] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1153 +Subject: EMMA BLALOCK +Story Teller: Emma Blalock +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"] + +EMMA BLALOCK +88 years old +529 Bannon Avenue +Raleigh, N. C. + + +I shore do 'member de Yankees wid dere blue uniforms wid brass buttons +on 'em. I wus too small to work any but I played in de yard wid my +oldes' sister, Katie. She is dead long ago. My mother belonged to ole +man John Griffith an' I belonged to him. His plantation wus down here at +Auburn in Wake County. My father wus named Edmund Rand. He belonged to +Mr. Nat Rand. He lived in Auburn. De plantations wus not fur apart. Dere +wus about twenty-five slaves on de plantation whur mother an' me +stayed. + +Marse John used ter take me on his knee an' sing, 'Here is de hammer, +Shing ding. Gimme de Hammer, shing ding.' Marster loved de nigger +chilluns on his plantation. When de war ended father come an' lived with +us at Marse John's plantation. Marster John Griffith named me Emmy. My +grandfather on my fathers side wus named Harden Rand, an' grandmother +wus named Mason Rand. My grandfather on my mother's side wus named Antny +Griffiths an' grandmother wus named Nellie. + +Our food wus a plenty and well cooked. Marster fed his niggers good. We +had plenty of homespun dresses and we got shoes once a year, at +Christmas Eve. I ken 'member it just as good. We got Christmas Holidays +an' a stockin' full of candy an' peanuts. Sometimes we got ginger snaps +at Christmas. My grandmother cooked' em. She wus a good cook. My +mother's missus wus Miss Jetsy Griffith and my father's missus wus Lucy +Rand. Dey wus both mighty good women. You know I am ole. I ken 'member +all dem good white folks. Dey give us Fourth July Holidays. Dey come to +town on dat day. Dey wore, let me tell you what dey wore, dey wore +dotted waist blouses an' white pants. Dat wus a big day to ever'body, de +Fourth of July. Dey begun singing at Auburn an' sung till dey reached +Raleigh. Auburn is nine miles from Raleigh. Dere wus a lot of lemonade. +Dey made light bread in big ovens an' had cheese to eat wid it. Some +said just goin' on de fofe to git lemonade an' cheese. + +In the winter we had a lot of possums to eat an' a lot of rabbits too. +At Christmas time de men hunted and caught plenty game. We barbecued it +before de fire. I 'members seein' mother an' grandmother swinging +rabbits 'fore de fire to cook 'em. Dey would turn an' turn 'em till dey +wus done. Dey hung some up in de chimbly an' dry 'em out an' keep 'em a +long time an' dat is de reason I won't eat a rabbit today. No Sir! I +won't eat a rabbit. I seed 'em mess wid 'em so much turned me 'ginst +eatin' 'em. + +I don't know how much lan' Marster John owned but, Honey, dat wus some +plantation. It reached from Auburn to de Neuse River. Yes Sir, it did, +'cause I been down dere in corn hillin' time an' we fished at twelve +o'clock in Neuse River. Marster John had overseers. Dere wus six of 'em. +Dey rode horses over de fields but I don't 'member dere names. + +I never seen a slave whupped but dey wus whupped on de plantation an' I +heard de grown folks talkin' 'bout it. My uncles Nat an' Bert Griffiths +wus both whupped. Uncle Nat would not obey his missus rules an' she had +him whupped. Dey whupped Uncle Bert 'cause he stayed drunk so much. He +loved his licker an' he got drunk an' cut up bad, den dey whupped him. +You could git plenty whiskey den. Twon't like it is now. No sir, it +won't. Whiskey sold fur ten cents a quart. Most ever' body drank it but +you hardly ever seed a man drunk. Slaves wus not whupped for drinkin'. +Dere Marsters give 'em whiskey but dey wus whupped for gittin' drunk. +Dere wus a jail, a kind of stockade built of logs, on de farm to put +slaves in when dey wouldn't mind. I never say any slave put on de block +an' sold, but I saw Aunt Helen Rand cryin' because her Marster Nat Rand +sold her boy, Fab Rand. + +No Sir, no readin' an' writin'. You had to work. Ha! ha! You let your +marster or missus ketch you wid a book. Dat wus a strict rule dat no +learnin' wus to be teached. I can't read an' write. If it wus not fur my +mother wit don't know what would become of me. We had prayer meetings +around at de slave houses. I 'member it well. We turned down pots on de +inside of de house at de door to keep marster an' missus from hearin' de +singin' an' prayin'. Marster an' his family lived in de great house an' +de slave quarters wus 'bout two hundred yards away to the back of de +great house. Dey wus arranged in rows. When de war ended we all stayed +on wid de families Griffiths an' Rands till dey died, dat is all 'cept +my father an' me. He lef' an' I lef'. I been in Raleigh forty-five +years. I married Mack Blalock in Raleigh. He been dead seven years. + +My mother had two boys, Antny an' Wesley. She had four girls, Katie, +Grissie, Mary Ella an' Emma. I had three chilluns, two are livin' yet. +They both live in Raleigh. + +We had big suppers an' dinners at log rollin's an' corn shuckin's in +slavery time ha! ha! plenty of corn licker for ever'body, both white an' +black. Ever'body helped himself. Dr. Tom Busbee, one good ole white man, +looked after us when we got sick, an' he could make you well purty +quick, 'cause he wus good an' 'cause he wus sorry fer you. He wus a +feelin' man. Course we took erbs. I tell you what I took. Scurrey grass, +chana balls dey wus for worms. Scurrey grass worked you out. Dey give us +winter green to clense our blood. We slaves an' a lot of de white folks +drank sassafras tea in de place of coffee. We sweetened it wid brown +sugar, honey, or molasses, just what we had in dat line. I think slavery +wus a right good thing. Plenty to eat an' wear. + +When you gits a tooth pulled now it costs two dollars, don't it? Well +in slavery time I had a tooth botherin' me. My mother say, Emma, take +dis egg an' go down to Doctor Busbee an' give it to him an' git your +tooth pulled. I give him one egg. He took it an' pulled my tooth. Try +dat now, if you wants to an' see what happens. Yes, slavery wus a purty +good thing. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320165] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 1430 +Subject: Days on the Plantation +Person Interviewed: Uncle David Blount +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +[HW: N. C. Good general story--] + +[HW: Good story +Hates the Yankees +boy beaten by overseer who is later discharged; +slaves make pact with Yankees] + +DAYS ON THE PLANTATION + +As told by Uncle David Blount, formerly of Beaufort County, who did not +know his age. "De Marster" he refers to was Major Wm. A. Blount, who +owned plantations in several parts of North Carolina. + + +Yes mam, de days on de plantation wuz de happy days. De marster made us +wuck through de week but on Sadays we uster go swimmin' in de riber an' +do a lot of other things dat we lak ter do. + +We didn't mind de wuck so much case de ground wuz soft as ashes an' de +marster let us stop and rest when we got tired. We planted 'taters in de +uplan's and co'n in de lowgroun's nex' de riber. It wuz on de Cape Fear +an' on hot days when we wuz a-pullin' de fodder we'd all stop wuck 'bout +three o'clock in de ebenin' an' go swimmin'. Atter we come out'n de +water we would wuck harder dan eber an' de marster wuz good to us, case +we did wuck an' we done what he ast us. + +I 'members onct de marster had a oberseer dar dat wuz meaner dan a mean +nigger. He always hired good oberseers an' a whole lot of times he let +some Negro slave obersee. Well, dis oberseer beat some of de half grown +boys till de blood run down ter dar heels an' he tole de rest of us dat +if we told on him dat he'd kill us. We don't dasen't ast de marster ter +git rid of de man so dis went on fer a long time. + +It wuz cold as de debil one day an' dis oberseer had a gang of us +a-clearin' new groun'. One boy ast if he could warm by de bresh heap. De +oberseer said no, and atter awhile de boy had a chill. De oberseer don't +care, but dat night de boy am a sick nigger. De nex' mornin' de marster +gits de doctor, an' de doctor say dat de boy has got pneumonia. He tells +'em ter take off de boys shirt an' grease him wid some tar, turpentine, +an' kerosene, an' when dey starts ter take de shirt off dey fin's dat it +am stuck. + +Dey had ter grease de shirt ter git it off case de blood whar de +oberseer beat him had stuck de shirt tight ter de skin. De marster wuz +in de room an' he axed de boy how come it, an' de boy tole him. + +De marster sorta turns white an' he says ter me, 'Will yo' go an' ast +de oberseer ter stop hyar a minute, please?' + +When de oberseer comes up de steps he axes sorta sassy-like, 'What yo' +want?' + +De marster says, 'Pack yo' things an' git off'n my place as fast as yo' +can, yo' pesky varmit.' + +De oberseer sasses de marster some more, an' den I sees de marster +fairly loose his temper for de first time. He don't say a word but he +walks ober, grabs de oberseer by de shoulder, sets his boot right hard +'ginst de seat of his pants an' sen's him, all drawed up, out in de +yard on his face. He close up lak a umbrella for a minute den he pulls +hisself all tergether an' he limps out'n dat yard an' we ain't neber +seed him no more. + +No mam, dar wuzent no marryin' on de plantation dem days, an' as one +ole 'oman raised all of de chilluns me an' my brother Johnnie ain't +neber knowed who our folkses wuz. Johnnie wuz a little feller when de +war ended, but I wuz in most of de things dat happen on de plantation +fer a good while. + +One time dar, I done fergit de year, some white mens comes down de +riber on a boat an' dey comes inter de fiel's an' talks ter a gang of us +an' dey says dat our masters ain't treatin' us right. Dey tells us dat +we orter be paid fer our wuck, an' dat we hadn't ort ter hab passes ter +go anywhar. Dey also tells us dat we ort ter be allowed ter tote guns if +we wants 'em. Dey says too dat sometime our marsters was gwine ter kill +us all. + +I laughs at 'em, but some of dem fool niggers listens ter 'em; an' it +'pears dat dese men gib de niggers some guns atter I left an' promised +ter bring 'em some more de nex' week. + +I fin's out de nex' day 'bout dis an' I goes an' tells de marster. He +sorta laughs an' scratches his head, 'Dem niggers am headed fer trouble, +Dave, 'he says ter me, 'an I wants yo' ter help me.' + +I says, 'Yas sar, marster.' + +An' he goes on, 'Yo' fin's out when de rest of de guns comes Dave, an' +let me know.' + +When de men brings back de guns I tells de marster, an' I also tells +him dat dey wants ter hold er meetin'. + +'All right,' he says an' laughs, 'dey can have de meetin'. Yo' tell +'em, Dave, dat I said dat dey can meet on Chuesday night in de pack +house.' + +Chuesday ebenin' he sen's dem all off to de low groun's but me, an' he +tells me ter nail up de shutters ter de pack house an' ter nail 'em up +good. + +I does lak he tells me ter do an' dat night de niggers marches in an' +sneaks dar guns in too. I is lyin' up in de loft an' I hyars dem say dat +atter de meetin' dey is gwine ter go up ter de big house an' kill de +whole fambly. + +I gits out of de winder an' I runs ter de house an tells de marster. +Den me an' him an' de young marster goes out an' quick as lightnin', I +slams de pack house door an' I locks it. Den de marster yells at dem, +'I'se got men an' guns out hyar, he yells, 'an' if yo' doan throw dem +guns out of de hole up dar in de loft, an' throw dem ebery one out I'se +gwine ter stick fire ter dat pack house.' + +De niggers 'liberates for a few minutes an' den dey throws de guns out. +I knows how many dey has got so I counts till dey throw dem all out, den +I gathers up dem guns an' I totes 'em off ter de big house. + +Well sar, we keeps dem niggers shet up fer about a week on short +rations; an' at de end of dat time dem niggers am kyored for good. When +dey comes out dey had three oberseers 'stid of one, an' de rules am +stricter dan eber before; an' den de marster goes off ter de war. + +I reckon I was 'bout fifteen or sixteen den; an' de marster car's me +'long fer his pusonal sarvant an' body guard an' he leabes de rest of +dem niggers in de fiel's ter wuck like de dickens while I laughs at dem +Yankees. + +Jim belonged to Mr. Harley who lived in New Hanover County during de +war, in fac' he was young Massa Harley's slave; so when young Massa Tom +went to de war Jim went along too. + +Dey wuz at Manassas, dey tells me, when Massa Tom got kilt, and de +orders wuz not to take no bodies off de field right den. + +Course ole massa down near Wilmington, doan know 'bout young Massa Tom, +but one night dey hears Jim holler at de gate. Dey goes runnin' out; an' +Jim has brung Massa Tom's body all dat long ways home so dat he can be +buried in de family burian ground. + +De massa frees Jim dat night; but he stays on a time atter de war, an' +tell de day he died he hated de Yankees for killing Massa Tom. In fact +we all hated de Yankees, 'specially atter we hear 'bout starve dat first +winter. I tried ter make a libin' fer me an' Johnnie but it was bad +goin'; den I comes ter Raleigh an' I gits 'long better. Atter I gits +settled I brings Johnnie, an' so we done putty good. + +Dat's all I can tell yo' now Miss, but if'n yo'll come back sometime +I'll tell yo' de rest of de tales. + +Shortly after the above interview Uncle Dave who was failing fast was +taken to the County Home, where he died. He was buried on May 4th, 1937, +the rest of the tale remaining untold. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320185] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 459 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Person Interviewed: Clay Bobbit +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 17 1937"] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An interview with Clay Bobbit, 100 of S. Harrington Street, Raleigh, +N. C., May 27, 1937. + + +I wuz borned May 2, 1837 in Warren County to Washington an' Delisia +Bobbit. Our Marster wuz named Richard Bobbit, but we all calls him Massa +Dick. + +Massa Dick ain't good ter us, an' on my arm hyar, jist above de elbow +am a big scar dis day whar he whupped me wid a cowhide. He ain't whupped +me fer nothin' 'cept dat I is a nigger. I had a whole heap of dem +whuppin's, mostly case I won't obey his orders an' I'se seed slaves beat +'most ter deff. + +I wuz married onct 'fore de war by de broom stick ceremony, lak all de +rest of de slaves wuz but shucks dey sold away my wife 'fore we'd been +married a year an' den de war come on. + +I had one brother, Henry who am wuckin' fer de city, an' one sister +what wuz named Deliah. She been daid dese many years now. + +Massa Dick owned a powerful big plantation an' ober a hundert slaves, +an' we wucked on short rations an' went nigh naked. We ain't gone +swimmin' ner huntin' ner nothin' an' we ain't had no pleasures 'less we +runs away ter habe 'em. Eben when we sings we had ter turn down a pot in +front of de do' ter ketch de noise. + +I knowed some pore white trash; our oberseer wuz one, an' de shim +shams[3] wuz also nigh 'bout also. We ain't had no use fer none of 'em +an' we shorely ain't carin' whe'her dey has no use fer us er not. + +De Ku Kluxes ain't done nothin' fer us case dar ain't many in our +neighborhood. Yo' see de Yankees ain't come through dar, an' we is +skeerd of dem anyhow. De white folks said dat de Yankees would kill us +if'en dey ketched us. + +I ain't knowed nothin' 'bout de Yankees, ner de surrender so I stays on +fer seberal months atter de wahr wuz ober, den I comes ter Raleigh an' +goes ter wuck fer de city. I wucks fer de city fer nigh on fifty years, +I reckon, an' jis' lately I retired. + +I'se been sick fer 'bout four months an' on, de second day of May. De +day when I wuz a hundert years old I warn't able ter git ter de city +lot, but I got a lot uv presents. + +Dis 'oman am my third lawful wife. I married her three years ago.[4] + +[Footnote 3: Shim Sham, Free Issues or Negroes of mixed blood.] + +[Footnote 4: The old man was too ill to walk out on the porch for his +picture, and his mind wandered too much to give a connected account of +his life.] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320190] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 793 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Story Teller: Henry Bobbitt +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +EX-SLAVE STORIES + +An interview with Henry Bobbitt, 87 of Raleigh, Wake County N. C. May 13, +1937 by Mary A. Hicks. + + +I wuz borned at Warrenton in Warren County in 1850. My father wuz named +Washington, atter General Washington an' my mamma wuz named Diasia atter +a woman in a story. Us an' 'bout forty or fifty other slaves belonged +ter Mr. Richard Bobbitt an' we wucked his four hundred acres o' land fer +him. I jist had one brother named Clay, atter Henry Clay, which shows +how Massa Dick voted, an' Delilah, which shows dat ole missus read de +Bible. + +We farmed, makin' tobacco, cotton, co'n, wheat an' taters. Massa Dick +had a whole passel o' fine horses an' our Sunday job wuz ter take care +of 'em, an' clean up round de house. Yes mam, we wucked seben days a +week, from sunup till sundown six days, an' from seben till three or +four on a Sunday. + +We didn't have many tear-downs an' prayer meetin's an' sich, case de +fuss sturbed ole missus who wuz kinder sickly. When we did have sompin' +we turned down a big wash-pot in front of de do', an' it took up de fuss, +an' folkses in de yard can't hyar de fuss. De patterollers would git +you iffen you went offen de premises widout a pass, an' dey said dat dey +would beat you scandelous. I seed a feller dat dey beat onct an' he had +scars as big as my fingers all ober his body. + +I got one whuppin' dat I 'members, an' dat wuz jist a middlin' one. De +massa told me ter pick de cotton an' I sot down in de middle an' didn't +wuck a speck. De oberseer come an' he frailed me wid a cotton-stalk; he +wuz a heap meaner ter de niggers dan Massa Dick wuz. I saw some niggers +what wuz beat bad, but I ain't neber had no bad beatin'. + +We libed in log houses wid sand floors an' stick an' dirt chimneys an' +we warn't 'lowed ter have no gyarden, ner chickens, ner pigs. We ain't +had no way o' makin' money an' de fun wuz only middlin'. We had ter +steal what rabbits we et from somebody elses [TR correction: else's] +boxes on some udder plantation, case de massa won't let us have none o' +our own, an' we ain't had no time ter hunt ner fish. + +Now talkin' 'bout sompin' dat we'd git a whuppin' fer, dat wuz fer +havin' a pencil an' a piece of paper er a slate. Iffen you jist looked +lak you wanted ter larn ter read er write you got a lickin'. + +Dar wuz two colored women lived nigh us an' dey wuz called "free +issues," but dey wuz really witches. I ain't really seen 'em do nothin' +but I hyard a whole lot 'bout 'em puttin' spells on folkses an' I seed +tracks whar day had rid Massa Dick's hosses an' eber mo'nin' de hosses +manes an' tails would be all twisted an' knotted up. I know dat dey done +dat case I seed it wid my own eyes. Dey doctored lots of people an' our +folkses ain't neber had no doctor fer nothin' dat happen. + +You wuz axin' 'bout de slave sales, an' I want ter tell you dat I has +seen some real sales an' I'se seed niggers, whole bunches of' em, gwin' +ter Richmond ter be sold. Dey wuz mostly chained, case dey wuz new ter +de boss, an' he doan know what ter 'spect. I'se seed some real sales in +Warrenton too, an' de mammies would be sold from deir chilluns an' dare +would be a whole heap o' cryin' an' mou'nin' 'bout hit. I tell you +folkses ain't lak dey uster be, 'specially niggers. Uster be when a +nigger cries he whoops an' groans an' hollers an' his whole body rocks, +an' dat am de way dey done sometime at de sales. + +Speakin' 'bout haints: I'se seed a whole lot o' things, but de worst +dat eber happen wuz 'bout twenty years ago when a han'ts hand hit me +side o' de haid. I bet dat hand weighed a hundred pounds an' it wuz as +cold as ice. I ain't been able ter wuck fer seben days an' nights an' I +still can't turn my haid far ter de left as you sees. + +I reckon 'bout de funniest thing 'bout our plantation wuz de +marryin'. A couple got married by sayin' dat dey wuz, but it couldn't +last fer longer dan five years. Dat wuz so iffen one of 'em got too +weakly ter have chilluns de other one could git him another wife or +husban'. + +I 'members de day moughty well when de Yankees come. Massa Dick he +walked de floor an' cussed Sherman fer takin' his niggers away. All o' +de niggers lef', of course, an' me, I walked clean ter Raleigh ter find +out if I wuz really free, an' I couldn't unnerstan' half of it. + +Well de first year I slept in folkses woodhouses an' barns an' in de +woods or any whar else I could find. I wucked hyar an' dar, but de +folkses' jist give me sompin' ter eat an' my clothes wuz in strings' +fore de spring o' de year. + +Yo' axes me what I thinks of Massa Lincoln? Well, I thinks dat he wuz +doin' de wust thing dat he could ter turn all dem fool niggers loose +when dey ain't got no place ter go an' nothin' ter eat. Who helped us +out den? Hit wuzn't de Yankees, hit wuz de white folkses what wuz left +wid deir craps in de fiel's, an' wuz robbed by dem Yankees, ter boot. My +ole massa, fur instance, wuz robbed uv his fine hosses an' his feed +stuff an' all dem kaigs o' liquor what he done make hisself, sides his +money an' silver. + +Slavery wuz a good thing den, but de world jist got better an' +outgrowed it. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320235] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 863 +Subject: HERNDON BOGAN +Story Teller: Herndon Bogan +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +HERNDON BOGAN + +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Herndon Bogan, 76 (?) of State Prison, Raleigh, N. C. + + +I wus bawned in Union County, South Carolina on de plantation o' Doctor +Bogan, who owned both my mammy Issia, an' my pap Edwin. Dar wus six o' +us chilluns; Clara, Lula, Joe, Tux, Mack an' me. + +I doan' member much 'bout slavery days 'cept dat my white folkses wus +good ter us. Dar wus a heap o' slaves, maybe a hundert an' fifty. I +'members dat we wucked hard, but we had plenty ter eat an' w'ar, eben +iffen we did w'ar wood shoes. + +I kin barely recolleck 'fore de war dat I'se seed a heap o' cocks +fightin' in pits an' a heap o' horse racin'. When de marster winned he +'ud give us niggers a big dinner or a dance, but if he lost, oh! + +My daddy wus gived ter de doctor when de doctor wus married an' dey +shore loved each other. One day marster, he comes in an' he sez dat de +Yankees am aimin' ter try ter take his niggers way from him, but dat dey +am gwine ter ketch hell while dey does hit. When he sez dat he starts +ter walkin' de flo'. 'I'se gwine ter leave yore missus in yore keer, +Edwin,' he sez. + +But pa 'lows, 'Wid all respec' fer yore wife sar, she am a Yankee too, +an' I'd ruther go wid you ter de war. Please sar, massa, let me go wid +you ter fight dem Yanks.' + +At fust massa 'fuses, den he sez, 'All right.' So off dey goes ter de +war, massa on a big hoss, an' my pap on a strong mule 'long wid de +blankets an' things. + +Dey tells me dat ole massa got shot one night, an' dat pap grabs de gun +'fore hit hits de earth an' lets de Yanks have hit. + +I 'members dat dem wus bad days fer South Carolina, we gived all o' de +food ter de soldiers, an' missus, eben do' she has got some Yankee folks +in de war, l'arns ter eat cabbages an' kush an' berries. + +I 'members dat on de day of de surrender, leastways de day dat we hyard +'bout hit, up comes a Yankee an' axes ter see my missus. I is shakin', I +is dat skeerd, but I bucks up an' I tells him dat my missus doan want +ter see no blue coat. + +He grins, an' tells me ter skedaddle, an' 'bout den my missus comes out +an' so help me iffen she doan hug dat dratted Yank. Atter awhile I +gathers dat he's her brother, but at fust I ain't seed no sense in her +cryin' an' sayin' 'thank God', over an' over. + +Well sar, de massa an' pap what had gone off mad an' healthy an' ridin' +fine beastes comes back walkin' an' dey looked sick. Massa am white as +cotton, an' so help me, iffen my pap, who wuz black as sin, ain't pale +too. + +Atter a few years I goes ter wuck in Spartanburg as a houseboy, den I +gits a job wid de Southern Railroad an' I goes ter Charlotte ter +night-watch de tracks. + +I stays dar eighteen years, but one night I kills a white hobo who am +tryin' ter rob me o' my gol' watch an' chain, an' dey gives me eighteen +months. I'se been hyar six already. He wus a white man, an' jist a boy, +an' I is sorry, but I comes hyar anyhow. + +I hyard a ole 'oman in Charlotte tell onct 'bout witchin' in slavery +times, dar in Mecklenburg County. She wus roun' ninety, so I reckon she +knows. She said dat iffen anybody wanted ter be a witch he would draw a +circle on de groun' jist at de aidge o' dark an' git in de circle an' +squat down. + +Dar he had ter set an' talk ter de debil, an' he mus' say, 'I will have +nothin' ter do wid 'ligion, an' I wants you ter make me a witch.' Atter +day he mus' bile a black cat, a bat an' a bunch of herbs an' drink de +soup, den he wuz really a witch. + +When you wanted ter witch somebody, she said dat you could take dat +stuff, jist a little bit of hit an' put hit under dat puson's doorsteps +an' dey'd be sick. + +You could go thru' de key hole or down de chimney or through de chinks +in a log house, an' you could ride a puson jist lak ridin' a hoss. Dat +puson can keep you outen his house by layin' de broom 'fore de do' an' +puttin' a pin cushion full of pins side of de bed do', iffen he's a mind +to. + +Dat puson can kill you too, by drawin' yore pitcher an' shootin' hit in +de haid or de heart too. + +Dar's a heap o' ways ter tell fortunes dat she done tol' me but I'se +done forgot now 'cept coffee groun's an' a little of de others. You +can't tell hit wid 'em do', case hit takes knowin' how, hit shore +does. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320022] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1,741 +Subject: ANDREW BOONE +Story Teller: Andrew Boone +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +ANDREW BOONE +age 90 years. + +Wake County, North Carolina. Harris Farm. + + +I been living in dese backer barns fifteen years. I built this little +shelter to cook under. Dey cut me off the WPA cause dey said I wus too +ole to work. Dey tole us ole folks we need not put down our walkin' +sticks to git work cause dey jes' won't goin' to put us on. + +Well, I had some tomatoes cooked widout any grease for my breakfast. I +had a loaf of bread yesterday, but I et it. I ain't got any check from +the ole age pension an' I have nothin' to eat an' I am hongry. I jes' +looks to God. I set down by de road thinkin' bout how to turn an' what +to do to git a meal, when you cum along. I thanks you fer dis dime. I +guess God made you give it to me. + +I wus glad to take you down to my livin' place to give you my story. +Dis shelter, an ole tobacco barn, is better dan no home at all. I is a +man to myself an' I enjoy livin' out here if I could git enough to eat. + +Well de big show is coming to town. It's de Devil's wurk. Yes sir, it's +de Devil's wurk. Why dem show folks ken make snakes an' make 'em crawl +too. Dere wus one in Watson Field in de edge of Raleigh not long ago an' +he made snakes an' made 'em crawl too. All shows is de Devil's wurk. + +I never done anything fer myself in all my life. I always wurked fer de +Rebels. I stuck right to 'em. Didn't have no sense fer doin' dat I +guess. + +One time a Rebel saw a Yankee wid one eye, one leg an' one arm. De +Yankee wus beggin'. De Rebel went up to him an' give him a quarter. Den +he backed off an' jes' stood a-lookin' at de Yankee, presently he went +back an' give him anudder quarter, den anudder, den he said, 'You take +dis whole dollar, you is de first Yankee I eber seed trimmed up jes' to +my notion, so take all dis, jes' take de whole dollar, you is trimmed up +to my notion'. + +I belonged to Billy Boone in Slavery time. He wus a preacher. He lived +on an' owned a plantation in Northampton County. The plantation wus near +woodland. The nearest river to the place wus the Roanoke. My ole missus' +name wus Nancy. When ole marster died I stayed around wid fust one then +another of the chilluns, cause marster tole me jes' fore he died fer me +to stay wid any of 'em I wanted to stay with. All dem ole people done +dead an' gone on. + +Niggers had to go through thick an' thin in slavery time, with rough +rations most of de time, wid jes' enough clothin' to make out wid. Our +houses were built of logs an' covered wid slabs. Dey wus rived out of +blocks of trees about 3-6 and 8ft in length. De chimleys wus built of +sticks and mud, den a coat of clay mud daubed over 'em. De cracks in de +slave houses wus daubed wid mud too. + +We wurked from sun to sun. If we had a fire in cold weather where we +wus wurkin' marster or de overseer would come an' put it out. We et +frozen meat an' bread many times in cold weather. After de day's wurk in +de fields wus over we had a task of pickin' de seed from cotton till we +had two ounces of lint or spin two ounces of cotton on a spinnin' wheel. +I spun cotton on a spinnin' wheel. Dats de way people got clothes in +slavery time. + +I can't read an' write but dey learned us to count. Dey learned us to +count dis way. 'Ought is an' ought, an' a figger is a figger, all for de +white man an' nothin' fer de nigger'. Hain't you heard people count dat +way? + +Dey sold slaves jes' like people sell hosses now. I saw a lot of slaves +sold on de auction block. Dey would strip 'em stark naked. A nigger +scarred up or whaled an' welted up wus considered a bad nigger an' did +not bring much. If his body wus not scarred, he brought a good price. I +saw a lot of slaves whupped an' I was whupped myself. Dey whupped me wid +de cat o' nine tails. It had nine lashes on it. Some of de slaves wus +whupped wid a cabbin paddle. Dey had forty holes in' em an' when you wus +buckled to a barrel dey hit your naked flesh wid de paddle an' every +whur dere wus a hole in de paddle it drawed a blister. When de whuppin' +wid de paddle wus over, dey took de cat o' nine tails an' busted de +blisters. By dis time de blood sometimes would be runnin' down dere +heels. Den de next thing wus a wash in salt water strong enough to hold +up an egg. Slaves wus punished dat way fer runnin' away an' sich. + +If you wus out widout a pass dey would shore git you. De paterollers +shore looked after you. Dey would come to de house at night to see who +wus there. If you wus out of place, dey would wear you out. + +Sam Joyner, a slave, belonged to marster. He wus runnin' from de +paterollers an' he fell in a ole well. De pateroller went after marster. +Marster tole' em to git ole Sam out an' whup him jes' as much as dey +wanted to. Dey got him out of de well an' he wus all wet an' muddy. Sam +began takin' off his shoes, den he took off his pants an' got in his +shirt tail. Marster, he say, 'What you takin' off you clothes fer Sam?' +Sam, he say, 'Marster, you know you all can't whup dis nigger right over +all dese wet clothes.' Den Sam lit out. He run so fas' he nearly flew. +De paterollers got on dere hosses an' run him but dey could not ketch +him. He got away. Marster got Sam's clothes an' carried 'em to de house. +Sam slipped up next morning put his clothes on an' marster said no more +about it. + +I wus a great big boy when de Yankees come through. I wus drivin' a two +mule team an' doin' other wurk on de farm. I drove a two hoss wagon when +dey carried slaves to market. I went to a lot of different places. + +My marster wus a preacher, Billy Boone. He sold an' bought niggers. He +had fifty or more. He wurked the grown niggers in two squads. My father +wus named Isham Boone and my mother wus Sarah Boone. Marster Boone +whupped wid de cobbin paddle an' de cat o' nine tails an' used the salt +bath an' dat wus 'nough. Plenty besides him whupped dat way. + +Marster had one son, named Solomon, an' two girls, Elsie an' Alice. My +mother had four children, three boys an' one girl. The boys were named +Sam, Walter and Andrew, dats me, an' de girl wus Cherry. + +My father had several children cause he had several women besides +mother. Mollie and Lila Lassiter, two sisters, were also his women. +Dese women wus given to him an' no udder man wus allowed to have +anything to do wid 'em. Mollie an' Lila both had chilluns by him. Dere +names wus Jim, Mollie, Liza, Rosa, Pete an' I can't remember no more of +'em. + +De Yankees took jes' what dey wanted an' nothin' stopped 'em, cause de +surrender had come. Before de surrender de slave owners begun to scatter +de slaves 'bout from place to place to keep de Yankees from gittin' 'em. +If de Yankees took a place de slaves nearby wus moved to a place further +off. + +All I done wus fer de Rebels. I wus wid 'em an' I jes' done what I wus +tole. I wus afraid of de Yankees 'cause de Rebels had told us dat de +Yankees would kill us. Dey tole us dat de Yankees would bore holes in +our shoulders an' wurk us to carts. Dey tole us we would be treated a +lot worser den dey wus treating us. Well, de Yankees got here but they +treated us fine. Den a story went round an' round dat de marster would +have to give de slaves a mule an' a year's provisions an' some lan', +about forty acres, but dat was not so. Dey nebber did give us anything. +When de war ended an' we wus tole we wus free, we stayed on wid marster +cause we had nothin' an' nowhere to go. + +We moved about from farm to farm. Mother died an' father married Maria +Edwards after de surrender. He did not live wid any of his other slave +wives dat I knows of. + +I have wurked as a han' on de farm most of de time since de surrender +and daddy worked most of de time as a han', but he had gardens an' +patches most everywhere he wurked. I wurked in New York City for fifteen +years with Crawford and Banhay in de show business. I advertised for +'em. I dressed in a white suit, white shirt, an' white straw hat, and +wore tan shoes. I had to be a purty boy. I had to have my shoes shined +twice a day. I lived at 18 Manilla Lane, New York City. It is between +McDougall Street and 6th Avenue. I married Clara Taylor in New York +City. We had two children. The oldest one lives in New York. The other +died an' is buried in Raleigh. + +In slavery time they kept you down an' you had to wurk, now I can't +wurk, an' I am still down. Not allowed to wurk an' still down. It's all +hard, slavery and freedom, both bad when you can't eat. The ole bees +makes de honey comb, the young bee makes de honey, niggers makes de +cotton an' corn an' de white folks gets de money. Dis wus de case in +Slavery time an' its de case now. De nigger do mos' de hard wurk on de +farms now, and de white folks still git de money dat de nigger's labor +makes. + +LE + + + + +STATE EDITORIAL IDENTIFICATION FORM [320002] + +STATE: North Carolina +RECEIVED FROM: (State office) Asheville +MS: Interview with W. L. Bost, Ex-Slave. +WORDS: 2,000 +DATE: Sept. 27, 1937 + +Interview with W. L. Bost, Ex-slave [HW: 88 years] +63 Curve Street, +Asheville, N. C. + +By--Marjorie Jones + + +My Massa's name was Jonas Bost. He had a hotel in Newton, North +Carolina. My mother and grandmother both belonged to the Bost family. My +ole Massa had two large plantations one about three miles from Newton +and another four miles away. It took a lot of niggers to keep the work a +goin' on them both. The women folks had to work in the hotel and in the +big house in town. Ole Missus she was a good woman. She never allowed +the Massa to buy or sell any slaves. There never was an overseer on the +whole plantation. The oldest colored man always looked after the +niggers. We niggers lived better than the niggers on the other +plantations. + +Lord child, I remember when I was a little boy, 'bout ten years, the +speculators come through Newton with droves of slaves. They always stay +at our place. The poor critters nearly froze to death. They always come +'long on the last of December so that the niggers would be ready for +sale on the first day of January. Many the time I see four or five of +them chained together. They never had enough clothes on to keep a cat +warm. The women never wore anything but a thin dress and a petticoat and +one underwear. I've seen the ice balls hangin' on to the bottom of their +dresses as they ran along, jes like sheep in a pasture 'fore they are +sheared. They never wore any shoes. Jes run along on the ground, all +spewed up with ice. The speculators always rode on horses and drove the +pore niggers. When they get cold, they make 'em run 'til they are warm +again. + +The speculators stayed in the hotel and put the niggers in the quarters +jes like droves of hogs. All through the night I could hear them +mournin' and prayin'. I didn't know the Lord would let people live who +were so cruel. The gates were always locked and they was a guard on the +outside to shoot anyone who tried to run away. Lord miss, them slaves +look jes like droves of turkeys runnin' along in front of them horses. + +I remember when they put 'em on the block to sell 'em. The ones 'tween +18 and 30 always bring the most money. The auctioneer he stand off at a +distance and cry 'em off as they stand on the block. I can hear his +voice as long as I live. + +If the one they going to sell was a young Negro man this is what he say: +"Now gentlemen and fellow-citizens here is a big black buck Negro. He's +stout as a mule. Good for any kin' o' work an' he never gives any +trouble. How much am I offered for him?" And then the sale would +commence, and the nigger would be sold to the highest bidder. + +If they put up a young nigger woman the auctioneer cry out: "Here's a +young nigger wench, how much am I offered for her?" The pore thing +stand on the block a shiverin' an' a shakin' nearly froze to death. When +they sold many of the pore mothers beg the speculators to sell 'em with +their husbands, but the speculator only take what he want. So meybe the +pore thing never see her husban' agin. + +Ole' Massa always see that we get plenty to eat. O' course it was no +fancy rashions. Jes corn bread, milk, fat meat, and 'lasses but the Lord +knows that was lots more than other pore niggers got. Some of them had +such bad masters. + +Us pore niggers never 'lowed to learn anything. All the readin' they +ever hear was when they was carried through the big Bible. The Massa say +that keep the slaves in they places. They was one nigger boy in Newton +who was terrible smart. He learn to read an' write. He take other +colored children out in the fields and teach 'em about the Bible, but +they forgit it 'fore the nex' Sunday. + +Then the paddyrollers they keep close watch on the pore niggers so they +have no chance to do anything or go anywhere. They jes' like policemen, +only worser. 'Cause they never let the niggers go anywhere without a +pass from his master. If you wasn't in your proper place when the +paddyrollers come they lash you til' you was black and blue. The women +got 15 lashes and the men 30. That is for jes bein' out without a pass. +If the nigger done anything worse he was taken to the jail and put in +the whippin' post. They was two holes cut for the arms stretch up in +the air and a block to put your feet in, then they whip you with cowhide +whip. An' the clothes shore never get any of them licks. + +I remember how they kill one nigger whippin' him with the bull whip. +Many the pore nigger nearly killed with the bull whip. But this one die. +He was a stubborn Negro and didn't do as much work as his Massa thought +he ought to. He been lashed lot before. So they take him to the whippin' +post, and then they strip his clothes off and then the man stan' off and +cut him with the whip. His back was cut all to pieces. The cuts about +half inch apart. Then after they whip him they tie him down and put salt +on him. Then after he lie in the sun awhile they whip him agin. But when +they finish with him he was dead. + +Plenty of the colored women have children by the white men. She know +better than to not do what he say. Didn't have much of that until the +men from South Carolina come up here and settle and bring slaves. Then +they take them very same children what have they own blood and make +slaves out of them. If the Missus find out she raise revolution. But she +hardly find out. The white men not going to tell and the nigger women +were always afraid to. So they jes go on hopin' that thing won't be that +way always. + +I remember how the driver, he was the man who did most of the whippin', +use to whip some of the niggers. He would tie their hands together and +then put their hands down over their knees, then take a stick and stick +it 'tween they hands and knees. Then when he take hold of them and beat +'em first on one side then on the other. + +Us niggers never have chance to go to Sunday School and church. The +white folks feared for niggers to get any religion and education, but I +reckon somethin' inside jes told us about God and that there was a +better place hereafter. We would sneak off and have prayer meetin'. +Sometimes the paddyrollers catch us and beat us good but that didn't +keep us from tryin'. I remember one old song we use to sing when we meet +down in the woods back of the barn. My mother she sing an' pray to the +Lord to deliver us out o' slavery. She always say she thankful she was +never sold from her children, and that our Massa not so mean as some of +the others. But the old song it went something like this: + + "Oh, mother lets go down, lets go down, lets go down, lets go down. + Oh, mother lets go down, down in the valley to pray. + As I went down in the valley to pray + Studyin' about that good ole way + Who shall wear that starry crown. + Good Lord show me the way." + +Then the other part was just like that except it said 'father' instead +of 'mother', and then 'sister' and then 'brother'. + +Then they sing sometime: + + "We camp a while in the wilderness, in the wilderness, in the + wilderness. + We camp a while in the wilderness, where the Lord makes me happy + And then I'm a goin' home." + +I don't remember much about the war. There was no fightin' done in +Newton. Jes a skirmish or two. Most of the people get everything jes +ready to run when the Yankee sojers come through the town. This was +toward the las' of the war. Cose the niggers knew what all the fightin' +was about, but they didn't dare say anything. The man who owned the +slaves was too mad as it was, and if the niggers say anything they get +shot right then and thar. The sojers tell us after the war that we get +food, clothes, and wages from our Massas else we leave. But they was +very few that ever got anything. Our ole Massa say he not gwine pay us +anything, corse his money was no good, but he wouldn't pay us if it had +been. + +Then the Ku Klux Klan come 'long. They were terrible dangerous. They +wear long gowns, touch the ground. They ride horses through the town at +night and if they find a Negro that tries to get nervy or have a little +bit for himself, they lash him nearly to death and gag him and leave him +to do the bes' he can. Some time they put sticks in the top of the tall +thing they wear and then put an extra head up there with scary eyes and +great big mouth, then they stick it clear up in the air to scare the +poor Negroes to death. + +They had another thing they call the 'Donkey Devil' that was jes as bad. +They take the skin of a donkey and get inside of it and run after the +pore Negroes. Oh, Miss them was bad times, them was bad times. I know +folks think the books tell the truth, but they shore don't. Us pore +niggers had to take it all. + +Then after the war was over we was afraid to move. Jes like tarpins or +turtles after 'mancipation. Jes stick our heads out to see how the land +lay. My mammy stay with Marse Jonah for 'bout a year after freedom then +ole Solomon Hall made her an offer. Ole man Hall was a good man if there +ever was one. He freed all of his slaves about two years 'fore +'mancipation and gave each of them so much money when he died, that is +he put that in his will. But when he die his sons and daughters never +give anything to the pore Negroes. My mother went to live on the place +belongin' to the nephew of Solomon Hall. All of her six children went +with her. Mother she cook for the white folks an' the children make +crop. When the first year was up us children got the first money we had +in our lives. My mother certainly was happy. + +We live on this place for over four years. When I was 'bout twenty year +old I married a girl from West Virginia but she didn't live but jes +'bout a year. I stayed down there for a year or so and then I met +Mamie. We came here and both of us went to work, we work at the same +place. We bought this little piece of ground 'bout forty-two years ago. +We gave $125 for it. We had to buy the lumber to build the house a +little at a time but finally we got the house done. Its been a good home +for us and the children. We have two daughters and one adopted son. Both +of the girls are good cooks. One of them lives in New Jersey and cooks +in a big hotel. She and her husband come to see us about once a year. +The other one is in Philadelphia. They both have plenty. But the adopted +boy, he was part white. We took him when he was a small and did the best +we could by him. He never did like to 'sociate with colored people. I +remember one time when he was a small child I took him to town and the +conductor made me put him in the front of the street car cause he +thought I was just caring for him and that he was a white boy. Well, we +sent him to school until he finished. Then he joined the navy. I ain't +seem him in several years. The last letter I got from him he say he +ain't spoke to a colored girl since he has been there. This made me mad +so I took his insurance policy and cashed it. I didn't want nothin' to +do with him, if he deny his own color. + +Very few of the Negroes ever get anywhere; they never have no education. +I knew one Negro who got to be a policeman in Salisbury once and he was +a good one too. When my next birthday comes in December I will be +eighty-eight years old. That is if the Lord lets me live and I shore +hope He does. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320279] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: Mary Wallace Bowe + Ex-slave 81 Years + Durham County Home + Durham, N. C. + +[HW: Lovely story about Abraham Lincoln] + +[TR: This interview was heavily corrected by hand. i.e. wuz to was, er +to a, etc. Changes made without comment.] + +MARY WALLACE BOWE +Ex-slave 81 years + + +My name is Mary Wallace Bowe. I was nine years ole at de surrender. + +My mammy an' pappy, Susan an' Lillman Graves, first belonged to Marse +Fountain an' Mis' Fanny Tu'berville, but Marse Fountain sold me, my +mammy an' my brother George to Mis' Fanny's sister, Mis' Virginia +Graves. Mis' Virginia's husban' was Marse Doctor Graves. Dey lived on de +ole Elijah Graves estate not far from Marse Fountain's plantation here +in Durham county, an' Mis' Virginia an' Mis' Fanny seed each other near +'bout every day. + +I was little when Marse Fountain an' Marse Doctor went to de war but I +remembers it. I remembers it kaze Mis' Fanny stood on de po'ch smilin' +an' wavin' at Marse Fountain 'til he went 'roun' de curve in de road, +den she fell to de floor like she was dead. I thought she was dead 'till +Mis' Virginia th'owed some water in her face an' she opened her eyes. + +De nex day Mis' Virginia took me an' mammy an' we all went over an' +stayed wid Mis' Fanny kaze she was skeered, an' so dey'd be company for +each other. Mammy waited on Mis' Virginia an' he'ped Surella +Tu'berville, Mis' Fanny's house girl, sweep an' make up de beds an' +things. I was little but mammy made me work. I shook de rugs, brung in +de kindlin' an run 'roun' waitin' on Mis' Virginia an' Mis' Fanny, doin' +things like totin' dey basket of keys, bringin' dey shawls and such as +dat. Dey was all de time talkin' about de folks fightin' an' what dey +would do if de Yankees come. + +Every time dey talk Mis' Fanny set an' twist her han's an' say: "What is +we gwine do, Sister, what is we gwine do?" + +Mis' Virginia try to pacify Mis' Fanny. She say, 'Don' yo' worry none, +Honey, I'll fix dem Yankees when dey come.' Den she set her mouf. When +she done dat I run an' hid behin' Mis' Fanny's chair kaze I done seed +Mis' Virginia set her mouf befo' an' I knowed she meant biznes'. + +I didn' have sense enough to be skeered den kaze I hadn' never seed no +Yankee sojers, but 'twaren't long befo' I wuz skeered. De Yankees come +one mornin', an' dey ripped, Oh, Lawd, how dey did rip. When dey rode up +to de gate an' come stompin' to de house, Mis' Fanny 'gun to cry. 'Tell +dem somethin', Sister, tell dem somethin'; she tole Mis' Virginia. + +Mis' Virginia she ain' done no cryin'. When she seed dem Yankees comin' +'cross de hill, she run 'roun' an' got all de jewelry. She took off de +rings an' pins she an' Mis' Fanny had on an' she got all de things out +of de jewelry box an' give dem to pappy. "Hide dem, Lillmam" she tole +pappy, 'hide dem some place whare dem thieves won't find dem'. + +Pappy had on high top boots. He didn' do nothin but stuff all dat +jewelry right down in dem boots, den he strutted all' roun' dem Yankees +laughin' to heself. Dey cussed when dey couldn' fin' no jewelry a tall. +Dey didn' fin' no silver neither kaze us niggers done he'p Mis' Fanny +an' Mis' Virginia hide dat. We done toted it all down to de cottin gin +house an' hid it in de loose cotton piled on de floor. When dey couldn' +fin' nothin' a big sojer went up to Mis' Virginia who wuz standin' in de +hall. He look at her an' say: 'Yo's skeered of me, ain' yo'?' + +Mis' Virginia ain' batted no eye yet. She tole him, "If I was gwine to +be skeered, I'd be skeered of somethin'. I sho ain' of no ugly, braggin' +Yankee." + +De man tu'ned red an he say: "If you don' tell me where you done hide +dat silver I'se gwine to make' you skeered." + +Mis' Virginia's chin went up higher. She set her mouf an' look at dat +sojer twell he drap his eyes. Den she tole him dat some folks done come +an' got de silver, dat dey done toted it off. She didn' tell him dat it +wuz us niggers dat done toted it down to de cotton gin house. + +In dem days dey wuz peddlers gwine 'roun' de country sellin' +things. Dey toted big packs on dey backs filled wid everythin' +from needles an' thimbles to bed spreads an' fryin' pans. One day +a peddler stopped at Mis' Fanny's house. He was de uglies' man +I ever seed. He was tall an' bony wid black whiskers an' black +bushy hair an' curious eyes dat set way back in his head. Dey +was dark an' look like a dog's eyes after you done hit him. He +set down on de po'ch an' opened his pack, an' it was so hot an' +he looked so tired, dat Mis' Fanny give him er cool drink of milk +dat done been settin' in de spring house. All de time Mis' Fanny +was lookin' at de things in de pack an' buyin', de man kept up a +runnin' talk. He ask her how many niggers dey had; how many men +dey had fightin' on de 'Federate side, an' what wuz was she gwine do +if de niggers wuz was set free. Den he ask her if she knowed Mistah +Abraham Lincoln. + +'Bout dat time Mis' Virginia come to de door an' heard what he said. She +blaze up like a lightwood fire an' told dat peddler dat dey didn't want +to know nothin' 'bout Mistah Lincoln; dat dey knowed too much already, +an' dat his name wuzn [HW correction: wasn't] 'lowed called in dat [HW +correction: her] house. Den she say he wuzn [HW correction: wasn't] +nothin' but a black debil messin' in other folks biznes' [HW correction: +business], an' dat she'd shoot him on sight if she had half a chance. + +De man laughed. "Maybe he [HW correction: Mr. Lincoln] ain't so bad,' he +told her. Den he packed his pack an' went off down de road, an' Mis' +Virginia watched him 'till he went out of sight 'roun' de bend." + +Two or three weeks later Mis' Fanny got a letter. De letter was from dat +peddler. He tole her dat he was Abraham Lincoln hese'f; dat he wuz +peddlin' over de country as a spy, an' he thanked her for de res' on her +shady po'ch an' de cool glass of milk she give him. + +When dat letter come Mis' Virginia got so hoppin' mad dat she took all +de stuff Mis' Fanny done bought from Mistah Lincoln an' made us niggers +burn it on de ash pile. Den she made pappy rake up de ashes an' th'ow +dem in de creek. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320148] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 377 +Subject: Ex-Slave Recollections +Person Interviewed: Lucy Brown +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"] + +EX-SLAVE RECOLLECTIONS + +An interview with Lucy Brown of Hecktown, Durham, Durham County, May 20, +1937. She does not know her age. + + +I wuz jist a little thing when de war wuz over an' I doan 'member much +ter tell yo'. Mostly what I does know I hyard my mammy tell it. + +We belonged to John Neal of Person County. I doan know who my pappy +wuz, but my mammy wuz named Rosseta an' her mammy's name 'fore her wuz +Rosseta. I had one sister named Jenny an' one brother named Ben. + +De marster wuz good ter us, in a way, but he ain't 'lowin' no kinds of +frolickin' so when we had a meetin' we had ter do it secret. We'd turn +down a wash pot outside de do', an' dat would ketch de fuss so marster +neber knowed nothin' 'bout hit. + +On Sundays we went ter church at de same place de white folkses did. De +white folkses rid an' de niggers walked, but eben do' we wored wooden +bottomed shoes we wuz proud an' mostly happy. We had good clothes an' +food an' not much abuse. I doan know de number of slaves, I wuz so +little. + +My mammy said dat slavery wuz a whole lot wuser [HW correction: wusser] +'fore I could 'member. She tol' me how some of de slaves had dere +babies in de fiel's lak de cows done, an' she said dat 'fore de babies +wuz borned dey tied de mammy down on her face if'en dey had ter whup her +ter keep from ruinin' de baby. + +She said dat dar wuz ghostes an' some witches back den, but I doan know +nothin' 'bout dem things. + +Naw. I can't tell yo' my age but I will tell yo' dat eber'body what +lives in dis block am either my chile or gran'chile. I can't tell yo' +prexackly how many dar is o' 'em, but I will tell you dat my younges' +chile's baby am fourteen years old, an' dat she's got fourteen youngin's +[HW correction: youngun's], one a year jist lak I had till I had +sixteen. + +I'se belonged ter de church since I wuz a baby an' I tells dem eber'day +dat dey shore will miss me when I'se gone. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320115] +Worker: Mary Hicks +No. Words: 462 +Subject: PLANTATION LIFE IN GEORGIA +Reference: Midge Burnett +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"] + +PLANTATION LIFE IN GEORGIA + +An interview with Midge Burnett, 80 years old, of 1300 S. Bloodworth +Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I wus borned in Georgia eighty years ago, de son of Jim an' Henretta +Burnett an' de slave of Marse William Joyner. + +I wurked on de farm durin' slavery times, among de cotton, corn, an' +sugar cane. De wurk wusn't so hard an' we had plenty of time ter have +fun an' ter git inter meanness, dat's why Marse William had ter have so +many patterollers on de place. + +Marse William had near three hundret slaves an' he kept seben +patterollers ter keep things goin' eben. De slaves ain't run away. Naw +sir, dey ain't, dey knows good things when dey sees dem an' dey ain't +leavin' dem nother. De only trouble wus dat dey wus crazy 'bout good +times an' dey'd shoot craps er bust. + +De patterollers 'ud watch all de paths leadin' frum de plantation an' +when dey ketched a nigger leavin' dey whupped him an' run him home. As I +said de patterollers watched all paths, but dar wus a number of little +paths what run through de woods dat nobody ain't watched case dey ain't +knowed dat de paths wus dar. + +On moonlight nights yo' could hear a heap of voices an' when yo' peep +ober de dike dar am a gang of niggers a-shootin' craps an' bettin' +eber'thing dey has stold frum de plantation. Sometimes a pretty yaller +gal er a fat black gal would be dar, but mostly hit would be jist men. + +Dar wus a ribber nearby de plantation an' we niggers swum dar ever' +Sadday an' we fished dar a heap too. We ketched a big mess of fish ever' +week an' dese come in good an' helped ter save rations ter boot. Dat's +what Marse William said, an' he believed in havin' a good time too. + +We had square dances dat las' all night on holidays an' we had a +Christmas tree an' a Easter egg hunt an' all dat, case Marse William +intended ter make us a civilized bunch of blacks. + +Marse William ain't eber hit one of us a single lick till de day when +we heard dat de Yankees wus a-comin'. One big nigger jumps up an' +squalls, 'Lawd bless de Yankees'. + +Marse yells back, 'God damn de Yankees', an' he slaps big Mose a +sumerset right outen de do'. Nobody else wanted ter git slapped soe +ever'body got outen dar in a hurry an' nobody else dasen't say Yankees +ter de marster. + +Eben when somebody seed de Yankees comin' Mose wont go tell de' marster +'bout hit, but when Marster William wus hilt tight twixt two of dem big +husky Yankees he cussed 'em as hard as he can. Dey carries him off an' +dey put him in de jail at Atlanta an' dey keeps him fer a long time. + +Atter de surrender we left dar an' we moves ter Star, South Carolina, +whar I still wurks 'roun' on de farm. I stayed on dar' till fifty years +ago when I married Roberta Thomas an' we moved ter Raliegh. We have five +chilluns an' we's moughty proud of 'em, but since I had de stroke we has +been farin' bad, an' I'se hopin' ter git my ole aged pension. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320274] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: Fanny Cannady + Ex-Slave 79 Years + Durham County +[TR No. Words: 1,444] + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +FANNY CANNADY +EX-SLAVE 79 years + + +I don' 'member much 'bout de sojers an' de fightin' in de war kaze I +wuzn' much more den six years ole at de surrender, but I do 'member how +Marse Jordan Moss shot Leonard Allen, one of his slaves. I ain't never +forgot dat. + +My mammy an' pappy, Silo an' Fanny Moss belonged to Marse Jordan an' +Mis' Sally Moss. Dey had 'bout three hundred niggahs an' mos' of dem +worked in de cotton fields. + +Marse Jordan wuz hard on his niggahs. He worked dem over time an' didn' +give den enough to eat. Dey didn' have good clothes neither an' dey +shoes wuz made out of wood. He had 'bout a dozen niggahs dat didn' do +nothin' else but make wooden shoes for de slaves. De chillun didn' have +no shoes a tall; dey went barefooted in de snow an' ice same as 'twuz +summer time. I never had no shoes on my feets 'twell I wuz pas' ten +years ole, an' dat wuz after de Yankees done set us free. + +I wuz skeered of Marse Jordan, an' all of de grown niggahs wuz too 'cept +Leonard an' Burrus Allen. Dem niggahs wuzn' skeered of nothin'. If de +debil hese'f had come an' shook er stick at dem dey'd hit him back. +Leonard wuz er big black buck niggah; he wuz de bigges niggah I ever +seed, an' Burrus wuz near 'bout as big, an' dey 'spized Marse Jordan +wus'n pizen. + +I wuz sort of skeered of Mis' Polly too. When Marse Jordan wuzn' 'roun' +she wuz sweet an' kind, but when he wuz 'roun', she wuz er yes, suh, +yes, suh, woman. Everythin' he tole her to do she done. He made her slap +Marmy one time kaze when she passed his coffee she spilled some in de +saucer. Mis' Sally hit Mammy easy, but Marse Jordan say: 'Hit her, +Sally, hit de black bitch like she 'zerve to be hit.' Den Mis' Sally +draw back her hand an' hit Mammy in de face, pow, den she went back to +her place at de table an' play like she eatin' her breakfas'. Den when +Marse Jordan leave she come in de kitchen an' put her arms 'roun' Mammy +an' cry, an' Mammy pat her on de back an' she cry too. I loved Mis' +Sally when Marse Jordan wuzn' 'roun'. + +Marse Jordan's two sons went to de war; dey went all dressed up in dey +fightin' clothes. Young Marse Jordan wuz jus' like Mis' Sally but Marse +Gregory wuz like Marse Jordan, even to de bully way he walk. Young Marse +Jordan never come back from de war, but 'twould take more den er bullet +to kill Marse Gregory; he too mean to die anyhow kaze de debil didn' +want him an' de Lawd wouldn' have him. + +One day Marse Gregory come home on er furlo'. He think he look pretty +wid his sword clankin' an' his boots shinin'. He wuz er colonel, +lootenent er somethin'. He wuz struttin' 'roun' de yard showin' off, +when Leonard Allen say under his breath, 'Look at dat God damn sojer. He +fightin' to keep us niggahs from bein' free.' + +'Bout dat time Marse Jordan come up. He look at Leonard an' say: 'What +yo' mumblin' 'bout?' + +Dat big Leonard wuzn' skeered. He say, I say, 'Look at dat God damn +sojer. He fightin' to keep us niggahs from bein' free.' + +Marse Jordan's face begun to swell. It turned so red dat de blood near +'bout bust out. He turned to Pappy an' tole him to go an' bring him dis +shot gun. When Pappy come back Mis' Sally come wid him. De tears wuz +streamin' down her face. She run up to Marse Jordan an' caught his arm. +Ole Marse flung her off an' took de gun from Pappy. He leveled it on +Leonard an' tole him to pull his shirt open. Leonard opened his shirt +an' stood dare big as er black giant sneerin' at Ole Marse. + +Den Mis' Sally run up again an' stood 'tween dat gun an' Leonard. + +Ole Marse yell to pappy an' tole him to take dat woman out of de way, +but nobody ain't moved to touch Mis' Sally, an' she didn' move neither, +she jus' stood dare facin' Ole Marse. Den Ole Marse let down de gun. He +reached over an' slapped Mis' Sally down, den picked up de gun an' shot +er hole in Leonard's ches' big as yo' fis'. Den he took up Mis' Sally +an' toted her in de house. But I wuz so skeered dat I run an' hid in de +stable loft, an' even wid my eyes shut I could see Leonard layin' on de +groun' wid dat bloody hole in his ches' an' dat sneer on his black mouf. + +After dat Leonard's brother Burrus hated Ole Marse wus' er snake, den +one night he run away. Mammy say he run away to keep from killin' Ole +Marse. Anyhow, when Ole Marse foun' he wuz gone, he took er bunch of +niggahs an' set out to find him. All day long dey tromped de woods, den +when night come dey lit fat pine to'ches an' kept lookin', but dey +couldn' find Burrus. De nex' day Ole Marse went down to de county jail +an' got de blood houn's. He brung home er great passel of dem yelpin' +an' pullin' at de ropes, but when he turned dem loose dey didn' find +Burrus, kaze he done grease de bottom of his feets wid snuff an' hog +lard so de dogs couldn' smell de trail. Ole Marse den tole all de +niggahs dat if anybody housed an' fed Burrus on de sly, dat he goin' to +shoot dem like he done shot Leonard. Den he went every day an' searched +de cabins; he even looked under de houses. + +One day in 'bout er week Mis' Sally wuz feedin' de chickens when she +heard somethin' in de polk berry bushes behin' de hen house. She didn' +go 'roun' de house but she went inside house an' looked through de +crack. Dare wuz Burrus layin' down in de bushes. He wuz near 'bout +starved kaze he hadn' had nothin' to eat since he done run away. + +Mis' Sally whisper an' tole him to lay still, dat she goin' to slip him +somethin' to eat. She went back to de house an' made up some more cawn +meal dough for de chickens, an' under de dough she put some bread an' +meat. When she went 'cross de yard she met Marse Jordan. He took de pan +of dough an' say he goin' to feed de chickens. My mammy say dat Mis' +Sally ain't showed no skeer, she jus' smile at Ole Marse an' pat his +arm, den while she talk she take de pan an' go on to de chicken house, +but Ole Marse he go too. When dey got to de hen house Ole Marse puppy +begun sniffin' 'roun'. Soon he sta'ted to bark; he cut up such er fuss +dat Ole Marse went to see what wuz wrong. Den he foun' Burrus layin' in +de polk bushes. + +Ole Marse drag Burrus out an' drove him to de house. When Mis' Sally +seed him take out his plaited whip, she run up stairs an' jump in de bed +an' stuff er pillow over her head. + +Dey took Burrus to de whippin' post. Dey strip off his shirt, den dey +put his head an' hands through de holes in de top, an' tied his feets to +de bottom, den, Ole Marse took de whip. Dat lash hiss like col' water on +er red hot iron when it come through de air, an' every time it hit +Burrus it lef' er streak of blood. Time Ole Marse finish, Burrus' back +look like er piece of raw beef. + +Dey laid Burrus face down on er plank den dey poured turpentine in all +dem cut places. It burned like fire but dat niggah didn' know nothin' +'bout it kaze he done passed out from pain. But, all his life dat black +man toted dem scares on his back. + +When de war ended Mis' Sally come to Mammy an' say: 'Fanny, I's sho glad +yo's free. Yo' can go now an' yo' won' ever have to be er slave no +more.' + +But Mammy, she ain't had no notion of leavin' Mis' Sally. She put her +arms' roun' her an' call her Baby, an' tell her she goin' to stay wid +her long as she live. An' she did stay wid her. Me an' Mammy bof stayed +Mis' Sally 'twell she died. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320193] +Field Worker: Esther S. Pinnix +Word Total: 3,199 +Editor: P. G. Cross +Subject: "Negro Folklore of the Piedmont". +Consultants: Mrs. P. G. Cross, + Miss Kate Jones, + Descendants of Dr. Beverly Jones. + +Sources of Information: Aunt Betty Cofer--ex-slave of Dr. Beverly Jones + +[HW: Cofer] + +NEGRO FOLK LORE OF THE PIEDMONT. + + * * * * * + +The ranks of negro ex-slaves are rapidly thinning out, but, scattered +here and there among the ante-bellum families of the South, may be found +a few of these picturesque old characters. Three miles north of +Bethania, the second oldest settlement of the "Unitas Fratrum" in +Wachovia, lies the 1500 acre Jones plantation. It has been owned for +several generations by the one family, descendants of Abraham Conrad. +Conrad's daughter, Julia, married a physician of note, Dr. Beverly +Jones, whose family occupied the old homestead at the time of the Civil +War. + +Here, in 1856, was born a negro girl, Betty, to a slave mother. Here, +today, under the friendly protection of this same Jones family, +surrounded by her sons and her sons' sons, lives this same Betty in her +own little weather-stained cottage. Encircling her house are lilacs, +althea, and flowering trees that soften the bleak outlines of unpainted +out-buildings. A varied collection of old-fashioned plants and flowers +crowd the neatly swept dooryard. A friendly German-shepherd puppy rouses +from his nap on the sunny porch to greet visitors enthusiastically. In +answer to our knock a gentle voice calls, "Come in." The door opens +directly into a small, low-ceilinged room almost filled by two double +beds. These beds are conspicuously clean and covered by homemade +crocheted spreads. Wide bands of hand-made insertion ornament the +stiffly starched pillow slips. Against the wall is a plain oak dresser. +Although the day is warm, two-foot logs burn on the age-worn andirons of +the wide brick fire place. From the shelf above dangles a leather bag +of "spills" made from twisted newspapers. + +In a low, split-bottom chair, her rheumatic old feet resting on the warm +brick hearth, sits Aunt Betty Cofer. Her frail body stoops under the +weight of four-score years but her bright eyes and alert mind are those +of a woman thirty years younger. A blue-checked mob cap covers her +grizzled hair. Her tiny frame, clothed in a motley collection of +undergarments, dress, and sweaters, is adorned by a clean white apron. +Although a little shy of her strange white visitors, her innate dignity, +gentle courtesy, and complete self possession indicate long association +with "quality folks." + +Her speech shows a noticeable freedom from the usual heavy negro dialect +and idiom of the deep south. "Yes, Ma'am, yes, Sir, come in. Pull a +chair to the fire. You'll have to 'scuse me. I can't get around much, +'cause my feet and legs bother me, but I got good eyes an' good ears an' +all my own teeth. I aint never had a bad tooth in my head. Yes'm, I'm +81, going on 82. Marster done wrote my age down in his book where he +kep' the names of all his colored folks. Muh (Mother) belonged to Dr. +Jones but Pappy belonged to Marse Israel Lash over yonder. (Pointing +northwest.) Younguns always went with their mammies so I belonged to the +Joneses. + +"Muh and Pappy could visit back and forth sometimes but they never lived +together 'til after freedom. Yes'm, we was happy. We got plenty to eat. +Marster and old Miss Julia (Dr. Jones' wife, matriarch of the whole +plantation) was mighty strict but they was good to us. Colored folks on +some of the other plantations wasn't so lucky. Some of' em had +overseers, mean, cruel men. On one plantation the field hands had to +hustle to git to the end of the row at eleven o'clock dinner-time +'cause when the cooks brought their dinner they had to stop just where +they was and eat, an' the sun was mighty hot out in those fields. They +only had ash cakes (corn pone baked in ashes) without salt, and molasses +for their dinner, but we had beans an' grits an' salt an' sometimes +meat. + +"I was lucky. Miss Ella (daughter of the first Beverly Jones) was a +little girl when I was borned and she claimed me. We played together an' +grew up together. I waited on her an' most times slept on the floor in +her room. Muh was cook an' when I done got big enough I helped to set +the table in the big dinin' room. Then I'd put on a clean white apron +an' carry in the victuals an' stand behind Miss Ella's chair. She'd fix +me a piece of somethin' from her plate an' hand it back over her +shoulder to me (eloquent hands illustrate Miss Ella's making of a +sandwich.) I'd take it an' run outside to eat it. Then I'd wipe my mouth +an' go back to stand behind Miss Ella again an' maybe get another snack. + +"Yes'm, there was a crowd of hands on the plantation. I mind 'em all an' +I can call most of their names. Mac, Curley, William, Sanford, Lewis, +Henry, Ed, Sylvester, Hamp, an' Juke was the men folks. The women was +Nellie, two Lucys, Martha, Nervie, Jane, Laura, Fannie, Lizzie, Cassie, +Tensie, Lindy, an' Mary Jane. The women mostly, worked in the house. +There was always two washwomen, a cook, some hands to help her, two +sewin' women, a house girl, an' some who did all the weavin' an' +spinnin'. The men worked in the fields an' yard. One was stable boss an' +looked after all the horses an' mules. We raised our own flax an' +cotton an' wool, spun the thread, wove the cloth, made all the clothes. +Yes'm, we made the mens' shirts an' pants an' coats. One woman knitted +all the stockin's for the white folks an' colored folks too. I mind she +had one finger all twisted an' stiff from holdin' her knittin' needles. +We wove the cotton an' linen for sheets an' pillow-slips an' table +covers. We wove the wool blankets too. I use to wait on the girl who did +the weavin' when she took the cloth off the loom she done give me the +'thrums' (ends of thread left on the loom.) I tied 'em all together with +teensy little knots an' got me some scraps from the sewin' room and I +made me some quilt tops. Some of 'em was real pretty too! (Pride of +workmanship evidenced by a toss of Betty's head.) + +"All our spinnin' wheels and flax wheels and looms was hand-made by a +wheel wright, Marse Noah Westmoreland. He lived over yonder. (A thumb +indicates north.) Those old wheels are still in the family'. I got one +of the flax wheels. Miss Ella done give it to me for a present. Leather +was tanned an' shoes was made on the place. 'Course the hands mostly +went barefoot in warm weather, white chillen too. We had our own mill to +grind the wheat and corn an' we raised all our meat. We made our own +candles from tallow and beeswax. I 'spect some of the old candle moulds +are over to 'the house' now. We wove our own candle wicks too. I never +saw a match 'til I was a grown woman. We made our fire with flint an' +punk (rotten wood). Yes'm, I was trained to cook an' clean an' sew. I +learned to make mens' pants an' coats. First coat I made, Miss Julia +told me to rip the collar off, an' by the time I picked out all the +teensy stitches an' sewed it together again I could set a collar right! +I can do it today, too! (Again there is manifested a good workman's +pardonable pride of achievement) + +"Miss Julia cut out all the clothes herself for men and women too. I +'spect her big shears an' patterns an' old cuttin' table are over at the +house now. Miss Julia cut out all the clothes an' then the colored girls +sewed 'em up but she looked 'em all over and they better be sewed right! +Miss Julia bossed the whole plantation. She looked after the sick folks +and sent the doctor (Dr. Jones) to dose 'em and she carried the keys to +the store-rooms and pantries. [HW: paragraph mark here.] Yes'm, I'm +some educated. Muh showed me my 'a-b-abs' and my numbers and when I was +fifteen I went to school in the log church built by the Moravians. They +give it to the colored folks to use for their own school and church. +(This log house is still standing near Bethania). Our teacher was a +white man, Marse Fulk. He had one eye, done lost the other in the war. +We didn't have no colored teachers then. They wasn't educated. We +'tended school four months a year. I went through the fifth reader, the +'North Carolina Reader'. I can figger a little an' read some but I can't +write much 'cause my fingers 're--all stiffened up. Miss Julia use to +read the bible to us an' tell us right an' wrong, and Muh showed me all +she could an' so did the other colored folks. Mostly they was kind to +each other. + +"No'm, I don't know much about spells an' charms. Course most of the +old folks believed in 'em. One colored man use to make charms, little +bags filled with queer things. He called 'em 'jacks' an' sold 'em to the +colored folks an' some white folks too. + +"Yes'm, I saw some slaves sold away from the plantation, four men and +two women, both of 'em with little babies. The traders got 'em. Sold 'em +down to Mobile, Alabama. One was my pappy's sister. We never heard from +her again. I saw a likely young feller sold for $1500. That was my Uncle +Ike. Marse Jonathan Spease bought him and kept him the rest of his life. + +"Yes'm, we saw Yankee soldiers. (Stoneman's Cavalry in 1865.) They come +marchin' by and stopped at 'the house. I wasn't scared 'cause they was +all talkin' and laughin' and friendly but they sure was hongry. They +dumped the wet clothes out of the big wash-pot in the yard and filled it +with water. Then they broke into the smokehouse and got a lot of hams +and biled 'em in the pot and ate 'em right there in the yard. The women +cooked up a lot of corn pone for 'em and coffee too. Marster had a +barrel of 'likker' put by an' the Yankees knocked the head in an' filled +their canteens. There wasn't ary drop left. When we heard the soldiers +comin' our boys turned the horses loose in the woods. The Yankees said +they had to have 'em an' would burn the house down if we didn't get 'em. +So our boys whistled up the horses an' the soldiers carried 'em all off. +They carried off ol' Jennie mule too but let little Jack mule go. When +the soldiers was gone the stable boss said,'if ol' Jennie mule once gits +loose nobody on earth can catch her unless she wants. She'll be back!' +Sure enough, in a couple of days she come home by herself an' we worked +the farm jus' with her an' little Jack. + +"Some of the colored folks followed the Yankees away. Five or six of our +boys went. Two of 'em travelled as far as Yadkinville but come back. The +rest of 'em kep' goin' an' we never heard tell of' em again. + +"Yes'm, when we was freed Pappy come to get Muh and me. We stayed around +here. Where could we go? These was our folks and I couldn't go far away +from Miss Ella. We moved out near Rural Hall (some 5 miles from +Bethania) an' Pappy farmed, but I worked at the home place a lot. When I +was about twenty-four Marse R. J. Reynolds come from Virginia an' set up +a tobacco factory. He fotched some hands with 'im. One was a likely +young feller, named Cofer, from Patrick County, Virginia. I liked 'im +an' we got married an' moved back here to my folks.(the Jones family) We +started to buy our little place an' raise a family. I done had four +chillen but two's dead. I got grandchillen and great-grandchillen close +by. This is home to us. When we talk about the old home place (the Jones +residence, now some hundred years old) we just say 'the house' 'cause +there's only one house to us. The rest of the family was all fine folks +and good to me but I loved Miss Ella better'n any one or anythin' else +in the world. She was the best friend I ever had. If I ever wanted for +anythin' I just asked her an she give it to me or got it for me somehow. +Once when Cofer was in his last sickness his sister come from East +Liverpool, Ohio, to see 'im. I went to Miss Ella to borrow a little +money. She didn't have no change but she just took a ten dollar bill +from her purse an' says 'Here you are, Betty, use what you need and +bring me what's left'. + +"I always did what I could for her too an' stood by her--but one time. +That was when we was little girls goin' together to fetch the mail. It +was hot an' dusty an' we stopped to cool off an' wade in the 'branch'. +We heard a horse trottin' an' looked up an' there was Marster switchin' +his ridin' whip an' lookin' at us. 'Git for home, you two, and I'll +'tend to you,' he says, an' we got! But this time I let Miss Ella go to +'the house' alone an' I sneaked aroun' to Granny's cabin an' hid. I was +afraid I'd git whupped! 'Nother time, Miss Ella went to town an' told me +to keep up her fire whilst she was away. I fell asleep on the hearth and +the fire done burnt out so's when Miss Ella come home the room was cold. +She was mad as hops. Said she never had hit me but she sure felt like +doin' it then. + +"Yes'm, I been here a right smart while. I done lived to see three +generations of my white folks come an' go, an' they're the finest folks +on earth. There use to be a reg'lar buryin' ground for the plantation +hands. The colored chillen use to play there but I always played with +the white chillen. (This accounts for Aunt Betty's gentle manner and +speech.) Three of the old log cabins (slave cabins) is there yet. One of +'em was the 'boys cabin'. (house for boys and unmarried men) They've got +walls a foot thick an' are used for store-rooms now. After freedom we +buried out around our little churches but some of th' old grounds are +plowed under an' turned into pasture cause the colored folks didn't get +no deeds to 'em. It won't be long 'fore I go too but I'm gwine lie near +my old home an' my folks. + +"Yes'm, I remember Marse Israel Lash, my Pappy's Marster. He was a low, +thick-set man, very jolly an' friendly. He was real smart an' good too, +'cause his colored folks all loved 'im. He worked in the bank an' when +the Yankees come, 'stead of shuttin' the door 'gainst 'em like the +others did, he bid 'em welcome. (Betty's nodding head, expansive smile +and wide-spread hands eloquently pantomime the banker's greeting.) So +the Yankees done took the bank but give it back to 'im for his very own +an' he kep' it but there was lots of bad feelin' 'cause he never give +folks the money they put in the old bank. (Possibly this explains the +closing of the branch of the Cape Fear Bank in Salem and opening of +Israel Lash's own institution, the First National Bank of Salem, 1866.) + +"I saw General Robert E. Lee, too. After the war he come with some +friends to a meeting at Five Forks Baptist Church. All the white folks +gathered 'round an' shook his hand an' I peeked 'tween their legs an' +got a good look at' im. But he didn't have no whiskers, he was +smooth-face! (Pictures of General Lee all show him with beard and +mustache) + +"Miss Ella died two years ago. I was sick in the hospital but the doctor +come to tell me. I couldn't go to her buryin'. I sure missed her. +(Poignant grief moistens Betty's eyes and thickens her voice). There +wasn't ever no one like her. Miss Kate an' young Miss Julia still live +at 'the house' with their brother, Marse Lucian (all children of the +first Beverly Jones and 'old Miss Julia',) but it don't seem right with +Miss Ella gone. Life seems dif'rent, some how, 'though there' lots of my +young white folks an' my own kin livin' round an' they're real good to +me. But Miss Ella's gone! + +"Goodday, Ma'am. Come anytime. You're welcome to. I'm right glad to have +visitors 'cause I can't get out much." A bobbing little curtsy +accompanies Betty's cordial farewell. + +Although a freed woman for 71 years, property owner for half of them, +and now revered head of a clan of self respecting, self-supporting +colored citizens, she is still at heart a "Jones negro," and all the +distinguished descendants of her beloved Marse Beverly and Miss Julia +will be her "own folks" as long as she lives. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320188] +No. Words: 340 +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +Subject: Ex-slave Story +Story Teller: John Coggin +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +JOHN COGGIN. +Ex-Slave Story. + +An interview with John Coggin 85, of Method, N. C. + + +When the interviewer first visited Uncle John he was busy cutting hay +for a white family nearby, swinging the scythe with the vigor of a young +man. In late afternoon he was found sitting on the doorsteps of his +granddaughter's house after a supper which certainly had onions on the +menu and was followed by something stronger than water. + +"I was borned on March 1, 1852 in Orange County. My mammy wuz named +Phillis Fenn an' she wuz from Virginia. I ain't neber had no paw an' I +ain't wanted none, I ain't had no brothers nar sisters nother." + +"We 'longed ter Doctor Jim Leathers, an' de only whuppin' I eber got wuz +'bout fightin' wid young Miss Agnes, who wuz sommers long' bout my age. +Hit wuz jist a little whuppin' but I' members hit all right." + +"We wucked de fiel's, I totin' water fer de six or seben han's that +wucked dar. An' we jist wucked moderate like. We had plenty ter eat an' +plenty ter w'ar, do' we did go barefooted most of de year. De marster +shore wuz good ter us do'." + +"I 'members dat de fust I hyard of de Yankees wuz when young marster +come in an' says, 'Lawd pa, de Yankees am in Raleigh.'" + +"Dat ebenin' I wuz drawin' water when all of a sudden I looks up de +road, an' de air am dark wid Yankees. I neber seed so many mens, hosses +an' mules in my life. De band wuz playin' an' de soldiers wuz hollerin' +an' de hosses wuz prancin' high. I done what all of de rest o' de slaves +done, I run fer de woods." + +"Atter de surrender we moved ter a place nigh Dix Hill hyar in Raleigh +an' my mammy married a Coggin, dar's whar I gits my name. All of us +slaves moved dar an' farmed." + +"Way long time atter dat ole Marster Jim come ter visit his niggers, an' +we had a big supper in his honor. Dat night he died, an' 'fore he died +his min' sorta wanders an' he thinks dat hit am back in de slave days +an' dat atter a long journey he am comin' back home. Hit shore wuz +pitiful an' we shore did hate it." + +"Yes 'um honey, we got 'long all right atter de war. You knows dat +niggers ain't had no sense den, now dey has. Look at dese hyar seben +chilluns, dey am my great gran'chillun an' dey got a heap mo' sense dan +I has right now." + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320150] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 433 +Subject: MANDY COVERSON +Story Teller: Mandy Coverson +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 7 1937"] + +MANDY COVERSON +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Mandy Coverson, 78, of 103 South Wilmington Street, +Raleigh. + + +I wuz borned in Union County to Sarah an' Henderson Tomberlin. My +mother belonged to Mr. Moses Coverson, an' my pappy belonged to Mr. +Jackie Tom Tomberlin. I stayed wid my mammy, of course, an' Marster +Moses wuz good ter me. Dey warn't so good ter my mammy, case dey makes +her wuck frum sunup till sundown in de hot summertime, an' she ain't had +no fun at all. She plowed two oxes, an' if'en yo' has eber been around a +steer yo' knows what aggravatin' things dey is. + +De oberseer, whose name I'se plumb forget, wuz pore white trash an' he +wuz meaner dan de meanest nigger. Anyhow I wuz too little ter do much +wuck so I played a heap an' I had a big time. + +My mammy, died 'fore I wuz very old an' missus kept me in de house. I +wuz petted by her, an' I reckon spoiled. Yo' knows dat den de niggers +ain't neber eat no biscuits but missus always gimmie one eber meal an' +in dat way she got me interested in waitin' on de table. + +I wuzn't old enough ter know much, but I does 'member how de fambly hid +all de valuables 'fore de Yankees come, an' dat Marster Moses in +pickin' up de big brass andirons hurt his back an' dey said dat dat wuz +de cause of his death a little while atterwards. Anyhow de andirons wuz +saved an' dar warn't no trouble wid de Yankees who comed our way, an' +dey ain't hurt nobody dar. + +Dey did kill all de things dat dey could eat an' dey stold de rest of +de feed stuff. Dey make one nigger boy draw water fer dere hosses fer a +day an' night. De Yankees wuz mean 'bout cussin', but de southern +soldiers wuz jist as bad. Wheeler's Cavalry wuz de meanest in de whole +bunch, I thinks. + +De Ku Kluxes wuz pretty mean, but dey picked dere spite on de Free +Issues. I doan know why dey done dis 'cept dat dey ain't wantin' no +niggers a-favorin' dem nigh by, now dat slavery am ober. Dey done a heap +of beatin' an' chasin' folkses out'n de country but I 'specks dat de +Carpet Bagger's rule wuz mostly de cause of it. + +I married Daniel Coverson, a slave on de same plantation I wuz on, an' +forty years ago we moved ter Raleigh. We had a hard time but I'se glad +dat he an' me am free an' doan belong ter two diff'ent famblies. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320212] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 914 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Story Teller: Willie Cozart +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An Interview by Mary A. Hicks with Willis Cozart of Zebulon, (Wake Co. +N. C.) Age 92. May 12, 1937. + + +No mam, Mistress, I doan want ter ride in no automobile, thank you, +I'se done walked these three miles frum Zebulon an' walkin' is what has +kept me goin' all dese years. + +Yes'm I'se a bachelor an' I wuz borned on June 11, 1845 in Person +County. My papa wuz named Ed an' my maw wuz named Sally. Dar wuz ten of +us youngins, Morris, Dallas, Stephen, Jerry, Florence, Polly, Lena, +Phillis, Caroline, an' me. Mr. Starling Oakley of Person County, near +Roxboro wuz my master an' as long as him an' ole mistress lived I went +back ter see dem. + +He wuz right good to de good niggers an' kinder strick wid de bad ones. +Pusonly he ain't never have me whupped but two or three times. You's +hyard 'bout dese set down strikes lately, well dey ain't de fust ones. +Onct when I wuz four or five years old, too little to wuck in de fiel's, +my master sot me an' some more little chilluns ter wuck pullin' up weeds +roun' de house. Well, I makes a speech and I tells dem le's doan wuck +none so out we sprawls on de grass under de apple tree. Atter awhile ole +master found us dar, an' when he fin's dat I wuz de ring-leader he +gives me a little whuppin'. + +Hit wuz a big plantation, round 1,200 acres o' land, I reckon, an' he +had 'bout seventy or eighty slaves to wuck de cotton, corn, tobacco an' +de wheat an' vege'bles. De big house wuz sumpin to look at, but de slave +cabins wuz jist log huts wid sand floors, and stick an' dirt chimneys. +We wuz 'lowed ter have a little patch o' garden stuff at de back but no +chickens ner pigs. De only way we had er' makin' money wuz by pickin' +berries an' sellin' 'em. We ain't had much time to do dat, case we +wucked frum sunup till sundown six days a week. + +De master fed us as good as he knowed how, but it wuz mostly on bread, +meat, an' vege'bles. + +I 'members seberal slave sales whar dey sold de pappy or de mammy 'way +frum de chillums an' dat wuz a sad time. Dey led dem up one at de time +an' axed dem questions an' dey warn't many what wuz chained, only de bad +ones, an' sometime when dey wuz travelin' it wuz necessary to chain a +new gang. + +I'se seed niggers beat till da blood run, an' I'se seed plenty more wid +big scars, frum whuppin's but dey wuz de bad ones. You wuz whupped +'cordin ter de deed yo' done in dem days. A moderate whuppin' wuz +thirty-nine or forty lashes an' a real whuppin' wuz a even hundred; most +folks can't stand a real whuppin'. + +Frum all dis you might think dat we ain't had no good times, but we had +our co'n shuckin's, candy pullin's an' sich like. We ain't felt like +huntin' much, but I did go on a few fox hunts wid de master. I uster go +fishin' too, but I ain't been now since 1873, I reckon. We sometimes +went ter de neighborhood affairs if'n we wuz good, but if we wuzn't an' +didn't git a pass de patter-rollers would shore git us. When dey got +through whuppin' a nigger he knowed he wuz whupped too. + +De slave weddin's in dat country wuz sorta dis way: de man axed de +master fer de 'oman an' he jist told dem ter step over de broom an' dat +wuz de way dey got married dem days; de pore white folks done de same +way. + +Atter de war started de white folks tried ter keep us niggers frum +knowin' 'bout it, but de news got aroun' somehow, an' dar wuz some talk +of gittin' shet of de master's family an' gittin' rich. De plans didn't +'mout to nothin' an' so de Yankees come down. + +I 'members moughty well when de Yankees come through our country. Dey +stold ever'thing dey could find an' I 'members what ole master said. He +says, 'Ever' one dat wants ter wuck fer me git in de patch ter pullin' +dat forty acres of fodder an' all dat don't git up de road wid dem d---- +Yankees.' Well we all went away. + +Dat winter wuz tough, all de niggers near 'bout starved ter death, an' +we ain't seed nothin' of de forty acres of land an' de mule what de +Yankees done promise us nother. Atter awhile we had ter go ter our ole +masters an' ax 'em fer bread ter keep us alive. + +De Klu Klux Klan sprung right up out of de earth, but de Yankees put a +stop ter dat by puttin' so many of dem in jail. Dey do say dat dat's +what de State Prison wus built fer. + +I never believed in witches an' I ain't put much stock in hain'ts but +I'se seed a few things durin' my life dat I can't 'splain, like de thing +wid de red eyes dat mocked me one night; but shucks I ain't believin' in +dem things much. I'se plowed my lan', tended it year atter year, lived +by myself an' all, an' I ain't got hurted yet, but I ain't never rid in +a automobile yet, an' I got one tooth left. + +B. N. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320159] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1453 +Subject: HANNAH CRASSON +Story Teller: Hannah Crasson +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: HW notes at bottom of page illegible] + +HANNAH CRASSON + + +My name is Hannah Crasson. I wuz born on John William Walton's +plantation 4 miles from Garner and 13 miles from Raleigh, N. C. in the +County of Wake. I am 84 years ole the 2nd day uv dis las' gone March. I +belonged to Mr. John William Walton in slavery time. My missus wuz named +Miss Martha. + +My father wuz named Frank Walton. My mother wuz named Flora Walton. +Grandma wuz 104 years when she died. She died down at de old plantation. +My brothers were named Johnnie and Lang. My sisters were Adeline, +Violet, Mary, Sarah, Ellen, and Annie. Four of us are livin', Ellen, +Mary, Sarah and me. + +De old boss man wuz good to us. I wuz talkin' about him the udder +night. He didn't whup us and he said, he didn't want nobody else to whup +us. It is jis like I tell you; he wuz never cruel to us. One uv his sons +wuz cruel to us. We had a plenty to eat, we shore did, plenty to eat. We +had nice houses to live in too. Grandma had a large room to live in, and +we had one to live in. Daddy stayed at home with mother. They worked +their patches by moonlight; and worked for the white folks in the day +time. + +They sold what they made. Marster bought it and paid for it. He made a +barrel o' rice every year, my daddy did. + +Mr. Bell Allen owned slaves too. He had a plenty o' niggers. His +plantation wuz 5 miles from ourn. We went to church at the white folks +church. When Mr. Bell Allen seed us cummin' he would say, 'Yonder comes +John Walton's free niggers.' + +Our marster would not sell his slaves. He give dem to his children when +they married off do'. I swept yards, churned, fed the chickens. In de +ebening I would go with my missus a fishin'. We eat collards, peas, corn +bread, milk, and rice. We got biskit and butter twice a week. I thought +dat de best things I ever et wuz butter spread on biskit. We had a corn +mill and a flour mill on the plantation. There wuz about 24 slaves on de +place. Dey had brandy made on de plantation, and de marster gib all his +slaves some for dere own uses. + +My grandmother and mother wove our clothes. Dey were called homespun. +Dey made de shoes on de plantation too. I wuz not married til atter de +surrender. I did not dress de finest in the world; but I had nice +clothes. My wedding dress wuz made of cream silk, made princess with +pink and cream bows. I wore a pair of morocco store bought shoes. My +husband was dressed in a store bought suit of clothes, the coat wuz made +pigen [HW correction: pigeon] tail. He had on a velvet vest and a white +collar and tie. Somebody stole de ves' atter dat. + +One of our master's daughters wuz cruel. Sometimes she would go out +and rare on us, but old marster didn't want us whupped. + +Our great grand mother wuz named granny Flora. Dey stole her frum +Africa wid a red pocket handkerchief. Old man John William got my great +grandmother. De people in New England got scured of we niggers. Dey were +afrid me would rise aginst em and dey pushed us on down South. Lawd, why +didn't dey let us stay whur we wuz, dey nebber wouldn't a been so menny +half white niggers, but the old marster wuz to blame for that. + +We never saw any slaves sold. They carried them off to sell 'em. The +slaves travelled in droves. Fathers and mothers were sold from their +chilluns. Chilluns wuz sold from their parents on de plantations close +to us. Where we went to church, we sat in a place away from de white +folks. The slaves never did run away from marster, because he wuz good +to 'em; but they run away from other plantations. + +Yes, we seed the patterollers, we called 'em pore white trash, we also +called patterollers pore white pecks. They had ropes around their necks. +They came to our house one night when we were singin' and prayin'. It +wuz jist before the surrender. Dey were hired by de slave owner. My +daddy told us to show 'em de brandy our marster gib us, den dey went on +a way, kase dey knowed John Walton wuz a funny man about his slaves. Dey +gave us Christmas and other holidays. Den dey, de men, would go to see +dere wives. Some of the men's wives belong to other marsters on other +plantations. We had corn shuckin's at night, and candy pullin's. +Sometimes we had quiltings and dances. + +One of the slaves, my aint, she wuz a royal slave. She could dance all +over de place wid a tumbler of water on her head, widout spilling it. +She sho could tote herself. I always luved to see her come to church. +She sho could tote herself. + +My oldest sister Violet died in slavery time. She wuz ten years old +when she died. Her uncles were her pall bearers. Uncle Hyman and Uncle +Handy carried her to the grave yard. If I makes no mistake my daddy made +her coffin. Dere wuz no singin'. There were seven of the family dere, +dat wuz all. Dey had no funeral. Dere were no white folks dere. + +Dey baptized people in creeks and ponds. + +We rode corn stalks, bent down small pine trees and rode' em for +horses. We also played prison base. Colored and white played, yes sir, +whites and colored. We played at night but we had a certain time to go +to bed. Dat wuz nine o'clock. [HW: New paragraph indicated] + +De boss man looked atter us when we wuz sick. He got doctors. I had the +typhoid fever. All my hair came out. Dey called it de "mittent fever." +Dr. Thomas Banks doctored me. He been dead a long time. Oh! I don't know +how long he been dead. Near all my white folks were found dead. Mr. John +died outside. + +Walton died in bed. Marster Joe Walton died sitting under a tree side de +path. Miss Hancey died in bed. + +I 'member the day de war commenced. My marster called my father and my +two uncles Handy and Hyman, our marster called 'em. Dey had started back +to the field to work in the afternoon. He said, 'Cum here boys,' that +wuz our young marster, Ben Walton, says 'cum here boys. I got sumptin' +to tell you.' Uncle Hyman said, 'I can't. I got to go to work.' He said +'Come here and set down, I got sumptin' to tell you.' + +The niggers went to him and set down. He told them; 'There is a war +commenced between the North and the South. If the North whups you will +be as free a man as I is. If the South whups you will be a slave all +your days.' + +Mr. Joe Walton said when he went to war dat dey could eat breakfast at +home, go and whup the North, and be back far dinner. He went away, and it +wuz four long years before he cum back to dinner. De table wuz shore set +a long time for him. A lot of de white folks said dey wouldn't be much +war, dey could whup dem so easy. Many of dem never did come back to +dinner. I wuz afraid of the Yankees because Missus had told us the +Yankees were going to kill every nigger in the South. I hung to my mammy +when dey come through. + +I thought Abraham Lincoln wuz the Medicine man, with grip in his han', +cause he said every borned man must be free. + +I did not think anything of Jeff Davis. I thank de will of God for +setting us free. He got into Abraham Lincoln and the Yankees. We are +thankful to the Great Marster dat got into Lincoln and the Yankees. Dey +say Booker Washington wuz fine, I don't know. + +The white folks did not allow us to have nuthing to do wid books. You +better not be found, tryin' to learn to read. Our marster wuz harder +down on dat den anything else. You better not be ketched wid a book. Day +read the Bible and told us to obey our marster for de Bible said obey +your marster. + +The first band of music I ever herd play the Yankees wuz playin' it. +They were playin' a song. 'I am tired of seeing de homespun dresses the +southern women wear'. + +I thinks Mr. Roosevelt is a fine man. Jus' what we need. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320169] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 130 +Subject: EX-SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Julia Crenshaw +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: HW circled "I"] + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +As Julia Crenshaw recalled her mother's story. + + +My mammy wuz named Jane an' my pappy wuz named Richard. Dey belonged +ter Lawyer R. J. Lewis in Raleigh, dar whar Peace Institute am ter day. +Mammy said dat de white folkses wuz good ter dem an' gib 'em good food +an' clothes. She wuz de cook, an' fer thirty years atter de war she +cooked at Peace. + +Before de Yankees come Mr. Lewis said, dat he dreamed dat de yard wuz +full uv dem an' he wuz deef. When dey comed he played deef so dat he +won't have ter talk ter 'em. Him he am dat proud. + +Mammy said dat she ain't cared 'bout been' free case she had a good +home, but atter all slavery wusn't de thing fer America. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320239] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1,414 +Subject: ZEB CROWDER +Story Teller: Zeb Crowder +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 30 1937"] + +ZEB CROWDER +323 E. Cabarrus Street + + +I wont nuthin' in slavery time and I aint nuthin' now. All de work I am +able ter do now is a little work in de garden. Dey say I is too ole ter +work, so charity gives me a little ter go upon every week. For one weeks +'lowance o' sumptin' ter eat dey gives me, hold on, I will show you, dat +beats guessin'. Here it is: 1/2 peck meal (corn meal), 2 lbs oat meal, 2 +lb dry skim milk, and 1 lb plate meat. Dis is what I gits fer one week +'lowance. I can't work much, but de white folks gib me meals fur washin' +de woodwork in dere houses, de white folks in Hayes's Bottom. What +little I do, I does fer him. He gives me meals for workin'. De charity +gives me about 80 cts worth o' rations a week. + +I wus seven years old when de Yankees come through. All de niggers +'cept me an' de white folks ran to de woods. I didn't have sense enough +ter run, so I stayed on de porch where dey were passin' by. One of 'em +pointed his gun at me. I remember it as well as it was yisterday. Yes +sir, I seed de Yankees and I remember de clothes dey wore. Dey were blue +and dere coats had capes on' em and large brass buttons. De niggers and +white folks were afraid of' em. De ole house where dey came by, an' me +on de porch is still standin', yes sir, and dey are livin' in it now. It +belongs to Ralph Crowder, and he has a fellow by de name o' Edward, a +colored man, livin' dere now. De house is de udder side o' Swift Creek, +right at Rands Mill. I belonged ter ole man William Crowder durin' +slavery, Tom Crowder's daddy. Ralph is Tom's son. My missus wus named +Miss Melvina an' if I lives ter be a hundred years old I will never +forget dem white folks. Yes sir, dey shore wus good ter us. We had good +food, good clothes and a good place ter sleep. + +My mother died before de war, but Miss Melvina wus so good ter us we +didn't know so much difference. Mother wus de first person I remember +seein' dead. When she died Miss Melvina, marster's wife, called us +chillun in and says, 'Chillun your mother is dead, but anything in dis +kitchen you wants ter eat go take it, but don't slip nuthin'. If you slip +it you will soon be stealin' things.' I had four brothers and one +sister, and none of us never got into trouble 'bout stealin'. She taught +us ter let other people's things alone. + +My father wus named Waddy Crowder. My mother wus named Neelie Crowder. +Grandpa was named Jacob Crowder and grandma was named Sylvia Crowder. I +know dem jist as good as if it wus yisterday. + +Never went ter school a day in my life. I can't read an' write. Dey +would not 'low slaves ter have books, no sir reee, no, dat dey wouldn't. +We went wid de white folks to church; dey were good ter us, dat's de +truth. Dere aint many people dat knows 'bout dem good times. Dey had a +lot o' big dinners and when de white folks got through I would go up and +eat all I wanted. + +I 'member choppin' cotton on Clabber branch when I wus a little boy +before de surrender. When de surrender come I didn't like it. Daddy an' +de udders didn't like it, 'cause after de surrender dey had to pay +marster fer de meat an' things. Before dat dey didn't have nuthin' to do +but work. Dere were eight slaves on de place in slavery time. Clabber +branch run into Swift Creek. Lord have mercy, I have caught many a fish +on dat branch. I also piled brush in de winter time. Birds went in de +brush ter roost. Den we went bird blindin'. We had torches made o' +lightwood splinters, and brushes in our han's, we hit de piles o' brush +after we got 'round 'em. When de birds come out we would kill 'em. Dere +were lots o' birds den. We killed' em at night in the sage fields[5] +where broom grass was thick. Dem were de good times. No sich times now. +We killed robins, doves, patridges and other kinds o' birds. Dey aint +no such gangs o' birds now. We briled 'em over coals o' fire and fried +'em in fryin' pans, and sometimes we had a bird stew, wid all de birds +we wanted. De stew wus de bes' o' all. Dere aint no sich stews now. We +put flour in de stew. It was made into pastry first, and we called it +slick. When we cooked chicken wid it we called it chicken slick. + +Dere were no overseers on our plantation. Marster wouldn't let you have +any money on Sunday. He would not trade on Sunday. He would not handle +money matters on Monday, but 'ceptin' dese two days if you went to him +he would keep you. He was who a good ole man. Dat's de truf. + +The Ku Klux would certainly work on you. If dey caught you out of your +place dey would git wid you. I don't remember anything 'bout de +Freedman's Bureau but de Ku Klux Klan was something all niggers wus +scared of. Yes sir, dey would get wid you. Dats right. Ha! Ha! Dat's +right. + +I never seen a slave whupped, no sir, I never see a slave sold. I saw +de speculators do'. I saw de patterollers, but dey didn't never whup my +daddy. Dey run him one time, but dey couldn't cotch him. Marster Crowder +allus give daddy a pass when he asked fer it. + +I believe ole marster an' ole missus went right on ter Heaven, Yes, I +do believe dat. Dat's de truf. Yes, my Lawd, I would like to see' em +right now. Dere is only one o' de old crowd livin', an' dat is Miss +Cora. She stays right here in Raleigh. + +We used to have candy pullin's, an' I et more ash cakes den anybody. We +cooked ash cakes out o' meal. We had dances in de winter time, and other +plays. I played marbles an' runnin' an' jumpin' when I wus a chile. Dey +give us sasafrac tea sweetened to eat wid bread. It shore wus mighty +good. My father never married enny more. He settled right down after de +war and farmed fer his old marster and all we chillun stayed. We didn't +want ter leave, an' I would be wid 'em right now if dey wus livin'. + +I got married when I wus 21 years old, and moved ter myself in a little +house on de plantation. De house is standin' dere now, de house where I +lived den. I seed it de udder day when I went out dere to clean off my +wife's grave. I married Lula Hatcher. She died 'bout ten years ago. I +married her in Georgia. I stayed dere a long time when missus' brother, +Wiley Clemmons, went ter Georgia ter run turpentine an' tuck me wid him. +I stayed dere till he died; an' Mr. Tom Crowder went after him an' +brought him back home an' buried him at de ole home place. He is buried +right dere at de Crowder place. + +I have worked wid some o' de Crowders mos' all my life and I miss dem +people, when one of 'em dies. Dey allus give my daddy outside patches, +and he made good on it. He cleaned up seven acres, and do you know how +he fenced it? Wid nuthin' but bresh. An' hogs an' cows didn't go in dere +neither. We had lots o' game ter eat. Marster 'lowed my daddy ter hunt +wid a gun, and he killed a lot o' rabbits, squirrels, an' game. We +trapped birds an' caught rabbits in boxes. Daddy caught possums an' +coons wid dogs. One o' my brothers is livin' at Garner, N. C. I am four +years older den he is. From what little judgment I got I thought a right +smart o' Abraham Lincoln, but I tells you de truf Mr. Roosevelt has done +a lot o' good. Dats de truf. I likes him. + +[Footnote 5: The Negroes call the tall grass sage.] + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320243] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 585 +Subject: ADELINE CRUMP +Story Teller: Adeline Crump +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +ADELINE CRUMP +526 Cannon Street + + +My name is Adeline Crump, and I am 73 years old. My husband's name wus +James Crump. My mother's wus Marie Cotton and my father's name wus +Cotton. My mother belonged to the Faucetts; Rich Faucett wus her +marster. Father belonged to the Cottons; Wright Cotton wus his marster. +My maiden name wus Cotton. Mother and father said they were treated all +right and that they loved their white folks. They gave them patches, +clothed them tolerably well, and seed that they got plenty to eat. The +hours of work wus long. Nearbout everybody worked long hours then, but +they said they wus not mistreated 'bout nothing. When they got sick +marster got a doctor, if they wus bad off sick. + +They wus allowed holidays Christmas and at lay-by time, an' they wus +'lowed to hunt possums an' coons at night an' ketch rabbits in gums. +They also caught birds in traps made of splinters split from pine wood. + +Mother and father had no learnin'. They would not allow them to learn +to read and write. Marster wus keerful 'bout that. I cannot read an' +write. My mother and father told me many stories 'bout the patterollers +and Ku Klux. A nigger better have a pass when he went visitin' or if +they caught him they tore up his back. The Ku Klux made the niggers +think they could drink a well full of water. They carried rubber things +under their clothes and a rubber pipe leadin' to a bucket o' water. The +water bag helt the water they did not drink it. Guess you have heard +people tell 'bout they drinking so much water. + +Marster didn't have no overseers to look after his slaves. He done that +hisself with the help o' some o' his men slaves. Sometimes he made 'em +foreman and my mother and father said they all got along mighty fine. +The colored folks went to the white folk's church and had prayer meeting +in their homes. + +Mother lived in the edge o' marster's yard. When the surrender come +after the war they stayed on the plantation right on and lived on +marster's land. They built log houses after de war cause marster let all +his slaves stay right on his plantation. My mother had twenty-one +chillun. She had twins five times. I was a twin and Emaline wus my +sister. She died 'bout thirty years ago. She left 11 chillun when she +died. I never had but four chillun. All my people are dead, I is de only +one left. + +Marster's plantation was 'bout six miles from Merry Oaks in Chatham +County. We moved to Merry Oaks when I wus fourteen years old. I married +at seventeen. I have lived in North Carolina all my life. We moved to +Raleigh from Merry Oaks long time ago. My husband died here seventeen +years ago. I worked after my husband died, washin' and ironin' for +white folks till I am not able to work no more. Hain't worked any in fo' +years. Charity don't help me none. My chillun gives me what I gits. + +Slavery wus a bad thing, cause from what mother and father tole me all +slaves didn't fare alike. Some fared good an' some bad. I don't know +enough 'bout Abraham Lincoln an' Mr. Roosevelt to talk about 'em. No, I +don't know just what to say. I sho' hopes you will quit axin' me so many +things cause I forgot a lot mother and father tole me. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320232] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 844 +Subject: BILL CRUMP +Person Interviewed: Bill Crump +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +[HW: "photo"] + +BILL CRUMP +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Bill Crump, 82 of State prison, Raleigh North +Carolina. + + +I reckon dat I wus borned in Davidson County on de plantation of Mr. +Whitman Smith, my mammy's marster. + +My daddy wus named Tom an' he 'longed ter Mr. Ben Murry fust an' later +ter Mr. Jimmy Crump. Daddy wus named atter his young marster. Dey lived +in Randolph, de county next ter Davidson whar me mammy an' de rest of de +chilluns, Alt, George, Harriet, Sarah, Mary an' de baby libed. + +Both of de marsters wus good ter us, an' dar wus plenty ter eat an' +w'ar, an' right many jubilees. We ain't none of de dozen er so of us +eber got a whuppin', case we ain't desarved no whuppin'; why, dar wusn't +eben a cowhide whup anywhar on de place. We wucked in de fie'ls from +sunup ter sundown mos' o' de time, but we had a couple of hours at +dinner time ter swim or lay on de banks uv de little crick an' sleep. +Ober 'bout sundown marster let us go swim ag'in iff'en we wanted ter do +it. + +De marster let us have some chickens, a shoat an' a gyarden, an' 'tater +patch, an' we had time off ter wuck 'em. In season we preserved our own +fruits fer de winter an' so we larned not ter be so heaby on de +marster's han's. + +My daddy wus a fiddler, an' he sometimes played fer de dances at de +Cross Roads, a little village near de marster's place. All what ain't +been mean could go, but de mean ones can't, an' de rest o' us has ter +habe a pass ter keep de patterollers from gittin us. + +Yes mam, we had our fun at de dances, co'n chuckin's, candy pullin's, +an' de gatherin's an' we sarbed de marster better by habin' our fun. + +I'se seed a bunch o' slaves sold a heap of times an' I neber seed no +chains on nobody. Dey jist stood dem on de table front of de post office +at Cross Roads an' sol' 'em ter de one what bids de highes'. + +We hyard a whisper 'bout some slaves bein' beat ter death, but I ain't +neber seed a slave git a lick of no kin', course atter de war I seed de +Ku Klux runnin' mean niggers. + +Dar wus no marryin' on de plantation, iffen a nigger wants a 'oman he +has got ter buy her or git her marster's permit, den dey am married. + +When one o' de slaves wus sick he had a doctor fast as lightnin', an' +when de died he wus set up wid one night. De marster would gibe de +mourners a drink o' wine mebbe, an' dey'd mo'n, an' shout, an' sing all +de night long, while de cop'se laid out on de coolin' board, which +'minds me of a tale. + +Onct we wus settin' up wid a nigger, 'fore de war an' hit bein' a hot +night de wine wus drunk an' de mo'ners wus settin' front o' de do' +eatin' watermillons while de daid man laid on de coolin' board. Suddenly +one of de niggers looks back in at de do', an' de daid man am settin' up +on de coolin' board lookin right at him. De man what sees hit hollers, +an' all de rest what has been wishin 'dat de daid man can enjoy de wine +an' de watermillons am sorry dat he has comed back. + +Dey doan take time ter say hit do', case dey am gone ter de big house. +De marster am brave so he comes ter see, an' he says dat hit am only +restrictions o' de muscles. + +De nex' mornin', as am de way, dey puts de man in a pine box made by +'nother slave an' dey totes him from de cabin ter de marster's buryin' +groun' at de cedars; an' de slaves bury's him while de marster an' his +fambly looks on. + +I doan know much 'bout de Yankees case de warn't none 'cept de skirtin' +parties comed our way. + +Atter de war we stays on fer four or five years mebbe, an' I goes ter +school two weeks. De teacher wus Mr. Edmund Knights from de No'th. + +I'se sarbed four years an' ten months of a eight ter twelve stretch fer +killin' a man. Dis man an' a whole gang o' us wus at his house gamblin'. +I had done quit drinkin' er mont' er so 'fore dat, but dey 'sists on +hit, but I 'fuses. Atter 'while he pours some on me an' I cusses him, +den he cusses me, an' he says dat he am gwine ter kill me, an' he +follers me down de road. I turns roun' an' shoots him. + +Dat am all of my story 'cept dat I has seen a powerful heap of ghostes +an' I knows dat dey comes in white an' black, an' dat dey am in de shape +er dogs, mens, an' eber'thing dat you can have a mind to. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2. [320148] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 652 +Subject: CHARLIE CRUMP +Person Interviewed: Charlie Crump +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "--- 11 1937"] + +CHARLIE CRUMP +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Charlie Crump 82 of Cary (near) + + +I wuz borned at Evan's Ferry in Lee or Chatham County, an' I belonged +ter Mr. Davis Abernathy an' his wife Mis' Vick. My pappy wuz named +Ridge, an' my mammy wuz named Marthy. My brothers wuz Stokes an' Tucker, +an' my sisters wuz Lula an' Liddy Ann. Dar wuz nine o' us in all, but +some o' dem wuz sold, an' some o' dem wuz dead. + +De Abernathy's wuzn't good ter us, we got very little ter eat, nothin' +ter wear an' a whole lot o' whuppin's. Dey ain't had no slaves 'cept +seben or eight, in fact, dey wuz pore white trash tryin' ter git rich; +so dey make us wuck. + +Dey wucks us from daylight till dark, an' sometimes we jist gits one +meal a day. De marster says dat empty niggers am good niggers an' dat +full niggers has got de debil in dem. An' we ain't 'lowed ter go nowhar +at night, dat is if dey knowed it. I'se seed de time dat niggers from +all ober de neighborhood gang up an' have fun anyhow, but if dey hyard +de patterollers comin' gallopin' on a hoss dey'd fly. Crap shootin' wuz +de style den, but a heap of times dey can't find nothin ter bet. + +I toted water, case dat's all I wuz big enough ter do, an' lemmie tell +yo' dat when de war wuz ober I ain't had nary a sprig of hair on my +haid, case de wooden buckets what I toted on it wored it plumb off. + +When we got hongry an' could fin' a pig, a calf or a chicken, no matter +who it had belonged to, it den belonged ter us. We raised a heap o' cane +an' we et brown sugar. Hit 's funny dat de little bit dey gibed us wuz +what dey now calls wholesome food, an' hit shore make big husky +niggers. + +My mammy had more grit dan any gal I now knows of has in her craw. She +plowed a hateful little donkey dat wuz about as hongry as she wuz, an' +he wuz a cuss if'en dar eber wuz one. Mammy wuz a little brown gal, den, +tough as nails an' she ain't axin' dat donkey no odds at all. She uster +take him out at twelve an' start fer de house an' dat donkey would hunch +up his back an' swear dat she wuzn't gwine ter ride him home. Mammy +would swear dat she would, an' de war would be on. He'd throw her, but +she'd git back on an' atter she'd win de fight he'd go fer de house as +fast as a scaulded dog. + +When we hyard dat de Yankees wuz comin' we wuz skeerd, case Marse +Abernathy told us dat dey'd skin us alive. I'members hit wuz de last o' +April or de fust o' May when dey comed, an' I had started fer de cane +fil' wid a bucket o' water on my haid, but when I sees dem Yankees +comin' I draps de bucket an' runs. + +De folks thar 'bouts burnt de bridge crost de ribber, but de Yankees +carried a rope bridge wid 'em, so dey crossed anyhow. + +Dem Yankees tuck eber thing dat dey saw eben to our kush, what we had +cooked fer our supper. Kush wuz cornmeal, onions, red pepper, salt an' +grease, dat is if we had any grease. Dey killed all de cows, pigs, +chickens an' stold all de hosses an' mules. + +We wuz glad ter be free, an' lemmie tell yo', we shore cussed ole +marster out 'fore we left dar; den we comed ter Raleigh. I'se always +been a farmer an' I'se made right good. I lak de white folkses an' dey +laks me but I'll tell yo' Miss, I'd ruther be a nigger any day dan to be +lak my ole white folks wuz. + +M. A. H. +L. E. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320050] +Worker: Mary Hicks +No. Words: 10,018 +Subject: BEFORE AND AFTER THE WAR +Story Teller: MATTIE CURTIS +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[HW: 8/31/37] + +BEFORE AND AFTER THE WAR + +An interview with Mattie Curtis, 98 years old, of Raleigh, +North Carolina, Route # 4. + + +I wus borned on de plantation of Mr. John Hayes in Orange County +ninety-eight years ago. Seberal of de chilluns had been sold 'fore de +speculator come an' buyed mammy, pappy an' we three chilluns. De +speculator wus named Bebus an' he lived in Henderson, but he meant to +sell us in de tobacco country. + +We come through Raleigh an' de fust thing dat I 'members good wus goin' +through de paper mill on Crabtree. We traveled on ter Granville County +on de Granville Tobacco path till a preacher named Whitfield buyed us. +He lived near de Granville an' Franklin County line, on de Granville +side. + +Preacher Whitfield, bein' a preacher, wus supposed to be good, but he +ain't half fed ner clothed his slaves an' he whupped 'em bad. I'se seen +him whup my mammy wid all de clothes offen her back. He'd buck her down +on a barrel an' beat de blood outen her. Dar wus some difference in his +beatin' from de neighbors. De folks round dar 'ud whup in de back yard, +but Marse Whitfield 'ud have de barrel carried in his parlor fer de +beatin'. + +We ain't had no sociables, but we went to church on Sunday an' dey +preached to us dat we'd go ter hell alive iffen we sassed our white +folks. + +Speakin' 'bout clothes, I went as naked as Yo' han' till I wus fourteen +years old. I wus naked like dat when my nature come to me. Marse +Whitfield ain't carin', but atter dat mammy tol' him dat I had ter have +clothes. + +Marse Whitfield ain't never pay fer us so finally we wus sold to Mis' +Fanny Long in Franklin County. Dat 'oman wus a debil iffen dar eber wus +one. When I wus little I had picked up de fruit, fanned flies offen de +table wid a peafowl fan an' nussed de little slave chilluns. De las' two +or three years I had worked in de fiel' but at Mis' Long's I worked in +de backer factory. + +Yes mam, she had a backer factory whar backer wus stemmed, rolled an' +packed in cases fer sellin'. Dey said dat she had got rich on sellin' +chawin' terbacker. + +We wus at Mis' Long's when war wus declared, 'fore dat she had been +purty good, but she am a debil now. Her son am called ter de war an' he +won't go. Dey comes an' arrests him, den his mammy tries ter pay him +out, but dat ain't no good. + +De officers sez dat he am yaller an' dat day am gwine ter shoot his +head off an' use hit fer a soap gourd. De Yankees did shoot him down +here at Bentonville an' Mis' Long went atter de body. De Confederates +has got de body but dey won't let her have it fer love ner money. Dey +laughs an' tells her how yaller he am an' dey buries him in a ditch like +a dog. + +Mis' Long has been bad enough fore den but atter her son is dead she +sez dat she am gwine ter fight till she draps dead. De nex' day she +sticks de shot gun in mammy's back an' sez dat she am gwine ter shoot +her dead. Mammy smiles an' tells her dat she am ready ter go. Mis' Long +turns on me an' tells me ter go ter de peach tree an' cut her ten limbs +'bout a yard long, dis I does an' atter she ties dem in a bundle she +wears dem out on me at a hundret licks. Lemmie tell yo', dar wus pieces +of de peach tree switches stickin' all in my bloody back when she got +through. + +Atter dat Mis' Long ain't done nothin' but whup us an' fight till she +shore nuff wore out. + +De Yankee captain come ter our place an tol' us dat de lan' was goin' +ter be cut up an' divided among de slaves, dey would also have a mule +an' a house apiece. + +I doan know how come hit but jist 'fore de end of de war we come ter +Moses Mordicia's place, right up de hill from here. He wus mean too, +he'd get drunk an' whup niggers all day off' an' on. He'd keep dem tied +down dat long too, sometimes from sunrise till dark. + +Mr. Mordicia had his yaller gals in one quarter ter dereselves an' dese +gals belongs ter de Mordicia men, dere friends an' de overseers. When a +baby wus born in dat quarter dey'd sen' hit over ter de black quarter +at birth. Dey do say dat some of dese gal babies got grown an' atter +goin' back ter de yaller quarter had more chilluns fer her own daddy or +brother. De Thompson's sprung from dat set an' dey say dat a heap of dem +is halfwits fer de reason dat I has jist tol' yo'. Dem yaller wimen wus +highfalutin' too, dey though [HW correction: thought] dey wus better dan +de black ones. + +Has yo' ever wondered why de yaller wimen dese days am meaner dan black +ones 'bout de men? Well dat's de reason fer hit, dere mammies raised dem +to think 'bout de white men. + +When de Yankees come dey come an' freed us. De woods wus full of Rebs +what had deserted, but de Yankees killed some of dem. + +Some sort of corporation cut de land up, but de slaves ain't got none +of it dat I ever heard about. + +I got married before de war to Joshua Curtis. I loved him too, which is +more dam most folks can truthfully say. I always had craved a home an' a +plenty to eat, but freedom ain't give us notin' but pickled hoss meat +an' dirty crackers, an' not half enough of dat. + +Josh ain't really care 'bout no home but through dis land corporation I +buyed dese fifteen acres on time. I cut down de big trees dat wus all +over dese fields an' I milled out de wood an' sold hit, den I plowed up +de fields an' planted dem. Josh did help to build de house an' he worked +out some. + +All of dis time I had nineteen chilluns an' Josh died, but I kep' on +an' de fifteen what is dead lived to be near 'bout grown, ever one of +dem. + +Right atter de war northern preachers come around wid a little book +a-marrying slaves an' I seed one of dem marry my pappy an' mammy. Atter +dis dey tried to find dere fourteen oldest chilluns what wus sold away, +but dey never did find but three of dem. + +But you wants ter find out how I got along. I'll never fergit my first +bale of cotton an' how I got hit sold. I wus some proud of dat bale of +cotton, an' atter I had hit ginned I set out wid hit on my steercart fer +Raleigh. De white folks hated de nigger den, 'specially de nigger what +wus makin' somethin' so I dasen't ax nobody whar de market wus. + +I thought dat I could find de place by myself, but I rid all day an' +had to take my cotton home wid me dat night 'case I can't find no place +to sell hit at. But dat night I think hit over an' de nex' day I goes' +back an' axes a policeman 'bout de market. Lo an' behold chile, I foun' +hit on Blount Street, an' I had pass by hit seberal times de day +before. + +I done a heap of work at night too, all of my sewin' an' such an' de +piece of lan' near de house over dar ain't never got no work 'cept at +night. I finally paid fer de land. Some of my chilluns wus borned in de +field too. When I wus to de house we had a granny an' I blowed in a +bottle to make de labor quick an' easy. + +Dis young generation ain't worth shucks. Fifteen years ago I hired a +big buck nigger to help me shrub an' 'fore leben o'clock he passed out +on me. You know 'bout leben o'clock in July hit gits in a bloom. De +young generation wid dere schools an dere divorcing ain't gwine ter git +nothin' out of life. Hit wus better when folks jist lived tergether. +Dere loafin' gits dem inter trouble an' dere novels makes dem bad +husban's an' wives too. + +EH + + + + +By Miss Nancy Woodburn Watkins [320227] +Rockingham County +Madison, North Carolina + +[TR: No. Words: 1,165] + +Ex-Slave Biography--Charles Lee Dalton, 93. + + +In July, 1934, the census taker went to the home of Unka Challilee +Dalton and found that soft talking old darky on the porch of his several +roomed house, a few hundred feet south of the dirt road locally called +the Ayersville road because it branches from the hard surfaced highway +to Mayodan at Anderson Scales' store, a short distance from Unka +Challilie's. Black got its meaning from his face, even his lips were +black, but his hair was whitening. His lean body was reclining while +the white cased pillows of his night bed sunned on a chair. His +granddaughter kept house for him the census taker learned. Unka +Challilie said: "I'se got so I ain't no count fuh nuthin. I wuz uh +takin' me a nap uh sleepin' (' AM). Dem merry-go-wheels keep up sich a +racket all nite, sech a racket all nite, ah cyan't sleep." This +disturbance was "The Red Wolfe Medicine Troop of Players and Wheels" +near Anderson Scales' store in the forks of the Mayodan and the +Ayresville roads. + +In 1937 in the home of his son, Unka Challilie ninety-three, told the +cause of his no "countness." "I wuz clean-up man in de mill in Mayodan +ontill three years ago, I got too trimbly to git amongst de machinery. +Daze frade I'd fall and git cut." + +I cum tuh Madison forty-five yeah ago, and I bought one acre, and built +me a house on it, an' razed my leben chillun dyah. My wife was Ellen +Irving of Reidsville. We had a cow, pigs, chickens, and gyardum of +vegetables to hope out what I got paid at de mill. + +Nome I nevah learned to read an write. Ounct I thought mebbe I'd git +sum lunnin but aftah I got married, I didn't think I would. + +My old Marse wuz Marse Lee Dalton and I stayed on his plantation till +forty-five years ago when I cum tuh Madison. His place wuz back up dyah +close tuh. Mt. Herman Church. Nome we slaves ain't learn no letters, but +sumtimes young mistis' 'd read de Bible tuh us. Day wuz pretty good tuh +us, but sumtimes I'd ketch uh whippin'. I wuz a hoe boy and plow man. My +mothers' name wuz Silvia Dalton and my daddy's name wuz Peter Dalton. +Day belonged to Marse Lee and his wife wuz Miss Matilda Steeples +(Staples). Marse Lee lived on Beaver Island Creek at the John Hampton +Price place. Mr. Price bought it. He married Miss Mollie Dalton, Marse +Lee's daughter. Dyah's uh ole graveyard dyah whah lots uh Daltons is +buried but no culled fokes. Day is buried to the side uh Stoneville +wiff no white fokes a-tall berried dyah. De ole Daltons wuz berried on +de Ole Jimmy Scales plantation. Day bought hit, an little John Price +what runs uh tuhbaccah warehouse in Madison owns hit now. (1937) His +tenant is Marse Walt Hill, an hits five miles frum Madison. I knose whah +de old Deatherage graveyard is, too, up close to Stoneville whah sum +Daltons is berried. Ole Marse Lee's mother was a Deatherage. + +Ole Marse was kind to us, an' I stayed on his plantation an' farmed +till I kum to Madison. Dee Yankees, day didn't giv us nuthin so we had +kinduh to live off'n old Marse. + +Fuh ayteen yuz I kin member ah de Mefodis Church byah in Madison. I +wuzn't converted unduh de Holiness preachment uh James Foust but duh de +revival of Reverend William Scales. William didn't bare much lunnin. His +wife wuz Mittie Scales an huh mother wuz Chlocy Scales, sister to Tommie +Scales, de shoemaker, what died lase summuh (July, 1936). William jes +wanted so much tuh preach, and Mittie hoped him. I'se been uh class +leader, an uh stewart, an uh trustee in de church. It's St. Stephen's +and de new brick church was built in 1925, an Mistuh John Wilson's son +wrote uh peace uh bout hit in de papuh. De fuss chuch wuz down dyah +cross de street fum Jim Foust's "tabernacle." But de fuss cullud chuch +in Madison wuz a Union chuch over dyah by de Presbyterian graveyard whah +now is de Gyartuh factry. An' Jane Richardson wuz de leader. + +Yess'm I got so no count, I had to cum live with mah son, Frank Dalton. +Frank married Mattie Cardwell. You remembuh Mary Mann? She married +Anderson Cardwell. Day's bofe dade long time. Days berried jess up hyuh +at Mayodan whah Mr. Bollin's house is on and dem new bungyloes is on top +um, too. Uh whole lots uh cullud people berried in dah with de slaves of +Ole Miss Nancy (Watkins) Webster on till de Mayo Mills got started and +day built Mayhodan at de Mayo Falls. An' dat's whah my daughter-in-law's +folks is berried. + +My leben chillun--Frank, one died in West Virginia; Cora married Henry +Cardwell; Hattie married Roy Current and bafe ob dem in Winston; Della +married Arthur Adkins, an' Joe, an' George an' Perry an' Nathaniel +Dalton, an'. + +Yes'm mah daughter-in-law has de writings about de brick chuch, dem +whut started hit, an' she'll put it out whah she can git hit fuh you +easy, when you coun back fuh hit. + +Nome, up at Marse Lee Dalton's fob de s'renduh us slaves didn't nevuh +go tuh chuch. But young Miss'ud read de Bible to us sometimes. + +Here in the five room, white painted cottage of his son, Frank, Unka +Challilie is kindly cared for by his daughter-in-law, Mattie. A front +porch faces the Mayodan hard road a few doors from the "coppubration +line." A well made arch accents the entrance to the front walk. A +climbing rose flourishes on the arch. Well kept grass with flowers on +the edges show Mattie's love. At the right side is the vegetable garden, +invaded by several big domineckuh chickens. A kudzu vine keeps out the +hot west sun. Unka Challilie sits on the front porch and nods to his +friends [HW: , or] else back in the kitchen, he sits and watches Mattie +iron after he has eaten his breakfast. Several hens come on the back +porch and lay in boxes there. One is "uh settin" fuh fried chicken +later! A walnut tree, "uh white wawnut", waves its long dangly green +blooms as the leaves are half grown in the early May. Well dressed, +clean, polite, comforted with his religion, but very "trimbly" even on +his stout walking stick, Unka Challilie often dozes away his "no +countness" with "uh napuh sleepin" while the mad rush of traffic and +tourist wheels stir the rose climbing over the entrance arch. An +ex-slave who started wiff nuffin de Yankees gave him, who lived on his +old Marse's place ontil he wuz forty-eight, who cleaned the Mayo Mills +ontill he wuz too trimbly to get amongst de machinery, who raised eleven +children on an acre of red Rockingham county hillside, faces the next +move with plenty to eat, wear, plenty time to take a nap uh sleepin. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320281] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 386 +Subject: JOHN DANIELS +Story Teller: John Daniels +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +JOHN DANIELS +Ex-Slave Story [HW: (?)] + + +I'se named fer my pappy's ole massa down in Spartanburg, South +Carolina, course I doan know nothin' 'bout no war, case I warn't borned. +I does 'member seein' de ole 'big house' do', maybe you want me ter tell +you how hit looked? + +It wuz a big white two-story house at de end uv a magnolia lane an' +a-settin' in a big level fiel'. Back o' de big house wuz de ole slave +cabins whar my folks uster live. + +Dey said dat de massa wuz good ter 'em, but dat sometimes in de mo'nin' +dey jist has lasses an' co'nbread fer breakfas'. + +I started ter tell you 'bout de Joe Moe do'. + +You mebbe doan know hit, but de prisoners hyar doan git de blues so bad +if de company comes on visitin' days, an' de mail comes reg'lar. We's +always gittin' up somepin' ter have a little fun, so somebody gits up de +Joe Moe. + +Yo' sees dat when a new nigger comes in he am skeerd an' has got de +blues. Somebody goes ter cheer him up an' dey axes him hadn't he ruther +be hyar dan daid. Yo' see he am moughty blue den, so mebbe he says dat +he'd ruther be daid; den dis feller what am tryin' ter cheer him tells +him dat all right he sho' will die dat [HW correction: 'cause] he's got +de Joe Moe put on him. + +Seberal days atter dis de new nigger fin's a little rag full of somepin +twix de bed an' mattress an' he axes what hit am. Somebody tells him dat +hit am de Joe Moe, an' dey tells him dat de only way he can git de spell +off am ter git de bag off on somebody else. Ever'body but him knows' +bout hit so de Joe Moe keeps comin' back till a new one comes in an' he +l'arns de joke. + +Talkin' 'bout ghostes I wants ter tell you dat de air am full of 'em. +Dar's a strip from de groun' 'bout four feet high which am light on de +darkes' night, case hit can't git dark down dar. Git down an' crawl an' +yo'll see a million laigs of eber' kin' an' if'en you lis'ens you'll +hyar a little groanin' an' den you has gone through a warm spot. + +B. N. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320186] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 725 +Subject: HARRIET ANN DAVES +Story Teller: Harriet Ann Daves +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +HARRIET ANN DAVES +601 E. Cabarrus Street + + +My full name is Harriet Ann Daves, I like to be called Harriet Ann. If +my mother called me when she was living, I didn't want to answer her +unless she called me Harriet Ann. I was born June 6, 1856. Milton +Waddell, my mother's marster was my father, and he never denied me to +anybody. + +My mother was a slave but she was white. I do not know who my mother's +father was. My mother was Mary Collins. She said that her father was an +Indian. My mother's mother was Mary Jane Collins, and she was +white--maybe part Indian. My grandfather was old man William D. Waddell, +a white man. I was born in Virginia near Orange Courthouse. The Waddells +moved to Lexington, Missouri, after I was born. I guess some of the +family would not like it if they knew I was telling this. We had good +food and a nice place to live. I was nothing but a child, but I know, +and remember that I was treated kindly. I remember the surrender very +well. When the surrender came my grandfather came to mother and told +her: 'Well, you are as free as I am.' That was William D. Waddell. He +was one of the big shots among the white folks. + +My white grandmother wanted mother to give me to her entirely. She said +she had more right to me than my Indian grandmother that she had plenty +to educate and care for me. My mother would not give me to her, and she +cried. My mother gave me to my Indian grandmother. I later went back to +my mother. + +While we were in Missouri some of my father's people, a white girl, +sent for me to come up to the great house. I had long curls and was +considered pretty. The girl remarked, 'Such a pretty child' and kissed +me. She afterwards made a remark to which my father who was there, my +white father, took exception telling her I was his child and that I was +as good as she was. I remember this incident very distinctly. + +My mother had two children by the same white man, my father. The other +was a girl. She died in California. My father never married. He loved my +mother, and he said if he could not marry Mary he did not want to marry. +Father said he did not want any other woman. My father was good to me. +He would give me anything I asked him for. Mother would make me ask him +for things for her. She said it was no harm for me to ask him for things +for her which she could not get unless I asked him for them. When the +surrender came my mother told my father she was tired of living that +kind of a life, that if she could not be his legal wife she wouldn't be +anything to him, so she left and went to Levenworth, Kansas. She died +there in 1935. I do not know where my father is, living or dead, or what +became of him. + +I can read and write well. They did not teach us to read and write in +slavery days. I went to a school opened by the Yankees after the +surrender. + +I went with my mother to Levenworth, Kansas. She sent me to school in +Flat, Nebraska. I met my husband there. My first husband was Elisha +Williams; I ran away from school in Flat, and married him. He brought me +to Raleigh. He was born and raised in Wake County. We lived together +about a year when he died July 1st, 1872. There was one child born to us +which died in infancy. + +I married the second time Rufus H. Daves in 1875. He was practically a +white man. He wouldn't even pass for a mulatto. He used to belong to the +Haywoods. He died in 1931 in Raleigh. + +I think Abraham Lincoln was a fine, conscientious man; my mother +worshipped him, but he turned us out without anything to eat or live on. +I don't think Mr. Roosevelt is either hot or cold--just a normal man. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320257] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 429 +Subject: JERRY DAVIS +Story Teller: Jerry Davis +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"] + +JERRY DAVIS +Ex-Slave Story +and +Folk Tale + +An interview with Jerry Davis 74 of 228 E. South Street, Raleigh, North +Carolina. + + +I wus borned in Warren County ter Mataldia an' Jordan Davis. Dere wus +twenty-two o' us chilluns, an' natu'ally Marster Sam Davis laked my +mammy an' daddy. He owned two hundert an' sebenty slaves, an' three, +four, or five scopes o' lan'. + +Marster wus good ter us, he gibe us plenty ter eat, an' w'ar, an' he +wus good an' kind in his talkin'. I warn't big 'nuff ter do much 'sides +min' de chickens, an' sich lak. + +I doan 'member so much 'bout de Yankees comin' 'cept sein' dem, an' dat +dey gibe my pappy a new blue overcoat an' dat I slep' on it onct er +twict. I knows dat de Yankees wus good ter de niggers but dey warn't so +good ter de ole Issues. Dey did 'stroy most eber'thing do'. + +I can't 'member, but I'se hyard my mammy tell o' dances, co'n +shuckin's, wrestlin' matches, candy pullin's an' sich things dat wus had +by de slaves dem days. + +My pappy tol' me 'bout de cock fights in de big pits at Warrenton an' +how dat when de roosters got killed de owner often gibe de dead bird ter +him. I'se also hyard him tell 'bout de hoss races an' 'bout Marster +Sam's fine hosses. + +I knows dat de marster an' missus wus good case my mammy an' daddy +'sisted on stayin' right on atter de war, an' so dey died an' was buried +dar on Marster Sam's place. + +I wucked in de Dupont Powder plant durin' de World War but I wus +discharged case I had acid injury. + +Yessum, I'll tell you de only rale ole tale dat I knows an' dat am de +story' bout----Jack. + + +JACK + +Onct dar wus a white man down in Beaufort County what owned a nigger +named Jack. Dis man owned a boat an' he was fer ever more goin' boat +ridin', fer days an' nights. He larned Jack how ter steer an' often he'd +go ter sleep leavin' Jack at de wheel, wid 'structions ter steer always +by de seben stars. + +One night as Jack steered for his master to sleep, Jack suddenly fell +asleep too. When he awake it wuz jist at de crack of dawn so no stars +wus dar. + +Jack went flyin' ter de marster hollerin', 'please sur marster, hang up +some mo' stars, I done run by dem seben'. + + +JACK AND THE DEVIL + +Onct Jack an' de debil got inter a 'spute 'bout who can throw a rock de +ferderest. De debil sez dat he can throw a rock so fur dat hit won't +come down in three days. + +Iffen you can throw a rock furder dan dat, sez de debil, I'll give you +yer freedom. + +De debil chunks a rock an' hit goes up an' stays fer three days. When +hit comes down Jack picks hit up an' he 'lows, 'Good Lawd, move de stars +an' de moon case dar's a rock comin' ter heaben'. + +De debil sez, 'Iffen you can do dat den you can beat me case I can't +throw a rock in a mile o' heaben'. + +AC. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320240] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1025 +Subject: A Slave Story +Story Teller: W. S. Debnam +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 30 1937"] + +W. SOLOMON DEBNAM. +701 Smith Street. + + +Yes, I remember the Yankees coming to Raleigh. I don't know very much +about those times, I was so young, but I remember the Yankees all right +in their blue clothes; their horses, and so on. I'll be 78 years old the +8th of this comin' September an' I've heard mother an' father talk about +slavery time a whole lot. We belonged to T. R. Debnam at Eagle Rock, Wake +County. His wife was named Priscilla Debnam. My father was named Daniel +Debnam an' my mother was named Liza Debnam. My master had several +plantations an' a lot of slaves. I don't know how many, but I know he +had 'em. He fed us well; we had a good place to sleep. We had wove +clothes, enough to keep us warm. He treated me just like he had been my +father. I didn't know the difference. Marster an' missus never hit me a +lick in their lives. My mother was the house girl. Father tended +business around the house an' worked in the field sometimes. Our houses +were in marster's yard. The slave quarters were in the yard of the great +house. I don't remember going to church until after the surrender. + +I remember the corn shuckin's, but not the Christmas and the fourth of +July holidays. They had a lot of whiskey at corn shuckin's and good +things to eat. + +I heard pappy talk of patterollers, but I do not know what they were. +Pappy said he had to have a pass to visit on, or they would whip him if +they could ketch him. Sometimes they could not ketch a nigger they were +after. Yes, they taught us to say pappy an' mammy in them days. + +I remember the coon and possum hunts an' the rabbits we caught in gums. +I remember killin' birds at night with thorn brush. When bird blindin' +we hunt 'em at night with lights from big splinters. We went to grass +patches, briars, and vines along the creeks an' low groun's where they +roosted, an' blinded 'em an' killed 'em when they come out. We cooked +'em on coals, and I remember making a stew and having dumplings cooked +with 'em. We'd flustrate the birds in their roostin' place an' when they +come out blinded by the light we hit 'em an' killed 'em with thorn brush +we carried in our han's. + +Marster had a gran'son, the son of Alonza Hodge an' Arabella Hodge, +'bout my age an' I stayed with him most of the time. When Alonza Hodge +bought his son anything he bought for me too. He treated us alike. He +bought each of us a pony. We could ride good, when we were small. He let +us follow him. He let us go huntin' squirrels with him. When he shot an' +killed a squirrel he let us race to see which could get him first, while +he laughed at us. + +I didn't sleep in the great house. I stayed with this white boy till +bed time then my mammy come an' got me an' carried me home. When marster +wanted us boys to go with him he would say, 'Let's go boys,' an' we +would follow him. We were like brothers. I ate with him at the table. +What they et, I et. He made the house girl wait on me just like he an' +his son was waited on. + +My father stayed with marster till he died, when he was 63 an' I was +21; we both stayed right there. My white playmate's name was Richard +Hodge. I stayed there till I was married. When I got 25 years old I +married Ida Rawlson. Richard Hodge became a medical doctor, but he died +young, just before I was married. + +They taught me to read an' write. After the surrender I went to free +school. When I didn't know a word I went to old marster an' he told me. + +During my entire life no man can touch my morals, I was brought up by +my white folks not to lie, steal or do things immoral. I have lived a +pure life. There is nothing against me. + +I remember the Yankees, yes sir, an' somethings they done. Well, I +remember the big yeller gobler they couldn't ketch. He riz an' flew an' +they shot him an' killed him. They went down to marster's store an' +busted the head outen a barrel o' molasses an' after they busted the +head out I got a tin bucket an' got it full o' molasses an' started to +the house. Then they shoved me down in the molasses. I set the bucket +down an' hit a Yankee on the leg with a dogwood stick. He tried to hit +me. The Yankees ganged around him, an' made him leave me alone, give me +my bucket o' molasses, an' I carried it on to the house. They went down +to the lot, turned out all the horses an' tuck two o' the big mules, +Kentucky mules, an' carried 'em off. One of the mules would gnaw every +line in two you tied him with, an' the other could not be rode. So next +morning after the Yankees carried 'em off they both come back home with +pieces o' lines on 'em. The mules was named, one was named Bill, an' the +other Charles. You could ride old Charles, but you couldn't ride old +Bill. He would throw you off as fast as you got on 'im. + +After I was married when I was 25 years old I lived there ten years, +right there; but old marster had died an' missus had died. I stayed with +his son Nathaniel; his wife was named Drusilla. + +I had five brothers, Richard, Daniel, Rogene, Lorenzo, Lumus and +myself. There wont places there for us all, an' then I left. When I left +down there I moved to Raleigh. The first man I worked fer here was +George Marsh Company, then W. A. Myatt Company an' no one else. I worked +with the Myatt Company twenty-six years; 'till I got shot. + +It was about half past twelve o'clock. I was on my way home to dinner +on the 20th of December, 1935. When I was passing Patterson's Alley +entering Lenoir Street near the colored park in the 500 block something +hit me. I looked around an' heard a shot. The bullet hit me before I +heard the report of the pistol. When hit, I looked back an' heard it. +Capt. Bruce Pool, o' the Raleigh Police force, had shot at some thief +that had broken into a A&P Store an' the bullet hit me. It hit me in my +left thigh above the knee. It went through my thigh, a 38 caliber +bullet, an' lodged under the skin on the other side. I did not fall but +stood on one foot while the blood ran from the wound. A car came by in +about a half hour an' they stopped an' carried me to St. Agnes Hospital. +It was not a police car. I stayed there a week. They removed the bullet, +an' then I had to go to the hospital every day for a month. I have not +been able to work a day since. I was working with W. A. Myatt Company +when I got shot. My leg pains me now and swells up. I cannot stand on it +much. I am unable to do a day's work. Can't stand up to do a day's work. +The city paid me $200.00, an' paid my hospital bill. + +Abraham Lincoln was all right. I think slavery was wrong because birds +an' things are free an' man ought to have the same privilege. + +Franklin Roosevelt is a wonderful man. Men would have starved if he +hadn't helped 'em. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320199] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: SARAH DEBRO + EX-SLAVE 90 YEARS + Durham, N. C. + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUL 24 1937"] + +SARAH DEBRO +EX-SLAVE 90 YEARS + + +I was bawn in Orange County way back some time in de fifties. + +Mis Polly White Cain an' Marse Docter Cain was my white folks. Marse +Cain's plantation joined Mistah Paul Cameron's land. Marse Cain owned so +many niggers dat he didn' know his own slaves when he met dem in de +road. Sometimes he would stop dem an' say: 'Whose niggers am you?' Dey'd +say, 'We's Marse Cain's niggers.' Den he would say, 'I'se Marse Cain,' +and drive on. + +Marse Cain was good to his niggers. He didn' whip dem like some owners +did, but if dey done mean he sold dem. Dey knew dis so dey minded him. +One day gran'pappy sassed Mis' Polly White an' she told him dat if he +didn' 'have hese'f dat she would put him in her pocket. Gran'pappy wuz +er big man an' I ax him how Mis' Polly could do dat. He said she meant +dat she would sell him den put de money in her pocket. He never did sass +Mis' Polly no more. + +I was kept at de big house to wait on Mis' Polly, to tote her basket of +keys an' such as dat. Whenever she seed a chile down in de quarters dat +she wanted to raise be hand, she took dem up to do big house an' trained +dem. I wuz to be a house maid. De day she took me my mammy cried kaze +she knew I would never be 'lowed to live at de cabin wid her no more +Mis' Polly was big an' fat an' she made us niggers mind an' we had to +keep clean. My dresses an' aprons was starched stiff. I had a clean +apron every day. We had white sheets on de beds an' we niggers had +plenty to eat too, even ham. When Mis' Polly went to ride she took me in +de carriage wid her. De driver set way up high an' me an' Mis' Polly set +way down low. Dey was two hosses with shiney harness. I toted Mis' +Polly's bag an' bundles, an' if she dropped her hank'chief I picked it +up. I loved Mis' Polly an' loved stayin' at de big house. + +I was 'bout wais' high when de sojers mustered. I went wid Mis' Polly +down to de musterin' fiel' whare dey was marchin'. I can see dey feets +now when dey flung dem up an' down, sayin', hep, hep. When dey was all +ready to go an' fight, de women folks fixed a big dinner. Aunt Charity +an' Pete cooked two or three days for Mis' Polly. De table was piled wid +chicken, ham, shoat, barbecue, young lam', an'all sorts of pies, cakes +an' things, but nobody eat nothin much. Mis' Polly an' de ladies got to +cryin.' De vittles got cold. I was so sad dat I got over in de corner +an' cried too. De men folks all had on dey new sojer clothes, an' dey +didn' eat nothin neither. Young Marse Jim went up an' put his arm 'roun' +Mis' Polly, his mammy, but dat made her cry harder. Marse Jim was a +cavalry. He rode a big hoss, an' my Uncle Dave went wid him to de fiel' +as his body guard. He had a hoss too so if Marse Jim's hoss got shot +dare would be another one for him to ride. Mis' Polly had another son +but he was too drunk to hold a gun. He stayed drunk. + +De first cannon I heard skeered me near 'bout to death. We could hear +dem goin' boom, boom. I thought it was thunder, den Mis Polly say, +'Lissen, Sarah, hear dem cannons? Dey's killin' our mens.' Den she 'gun +to cry. + +I run in de kitchen whare Aunt Charity was cookin an' tole her Mis' +Polly was cryin. She said: 'She ain't cryin' kaze de Yankees killin' de +mens; she's doin' all dat cryin' kaze she skeered we's goin' to be sot +free.' Den I got mad an' tole her Mis' Polly wuzn' like dat. + +I 'members when Wheelers Cavalry come through. Dey was 'Federates but +dey was mean as de Yankees. Dey stold everything dey could find an' +killed a pile of niggers. Dey come 'roun' checkin'. Dey ax de niggahs if +dey wanted to be free. If dey say yes, den dey shot dem down, but if dey +say no, dey let dem alone. Dey took three of my uncles out in de woods +an' shot dey faces off. + +I 'members de first time de Yankees come. Dey come gallupin' down de +road, jumpin' over de palin's, tromplin' down de rose bushes an' messin' +up de flower beds. Dey stomped all over de house, in de kitchen, +pantries, smoke house, an' everywhare, but dey didn' find much, kaze +near 'bout everything done been hid. I was settin' on de steps when a +big Yankee come up. He had on a cap an' his eyes was mean. + +'Whare did dey hide do gol' an silver, Nigger?' he yelled at me. + +I was skeered an my hands was ashy, but I tole him I didn' nothin' 'bout +nothin; dat if anybody done hid things dey hid it while I was sleep. + +'Go ax dat ole white headed devil,' he said to me. + +I got mad den kaze he was tawkin' 'bout Mis' Polly, so I didn' say +nothin'. I jus' set. Den he pushed me off de step an' say if I didn' +dance he gwine shoot my toes off. Skeered as I was, I sho done some +shufflin'. Den he give me five dollers an' tole me to go buy jim cracks, +but dat piece of paper won't no good. 'Twuzn nothin' but a shin plaster +like all dat war money, you couldn' spend it. + +Dat Yankee kept callin' Mis' Polly a white headed devil an' said she +done ramshacked 'til dey wuzn' nothin' left, but he made his mens tote +off meat, flour, pigs, an' chickens. After dat Mis' Polly got mighty +stingy wid de vittles an' de didn' have no more ham. + +When de war was over de Yankees was all 'roun' de place tellin' de +niggers what to do. Dey tole dem dey was free, dat dey didn' have to +slave for de white folks no more. My folks all left Marse Cain an' went +to live in houses dat de Yankees built. Dey wuz like poor white folks +houses, little shacks made out of sticks an' mud wid stick an' mud +chimneys. Dey wuzn' like Marse Cain's cabins, planked up an' warm, dey +was full of cracks, an' dey wuzn' no lamps an' oil. All de light come +from de lightwood knots burnin' in de fireplace. + +One day my mammy come to de big house after me. I didn' want to go, I +wanted to stay wid Mis' Polly. I 'gun to cry an' Mammy caught hold of +me. I grabbed Mis' Polly an' held so tight dat I tore her skirt bindin' +loose an' her skirt fell down 'bout her feets. + +'Let her stay wid me,' Mis' Polly said to Mammy. + +But Mammy shook her head. 'You took her away from me an' didn' pay no +mind to my cryin', so now I'se takin' her back home. We's free now, Mis' +Polly, we ain't gwine be slaves no more to nobody.' She dragged me away. +I can see how Mis' Polly looked now. She didn' say nothin' but she +looked hard at Mammy an' her face was white. + +Mammy took me to de stick an' mud house de Yankees done give her. It was +smoky an' dark kaze dey wuzn' no windows. We didn' have no sheets an' no +towels, so when I cried an' said I didn' want to live on no Yankee +house, Mammy beat me an' made me go to bed. I laid on de straw tick +lookin' up through de cracks in de roof. I could see de stars, an' de +sky shinin' through de cracks looked like long blue splinters stretched +'cross de rafters. I lay dare an' cried kaze I wanted to go back to Mis' +Polly. + +I was never hungry til we waz free an' de Yankees fed us. We didn' have +nothin to eat 'cept hard tack an' middlin' meat. I never saw such meat. +It was thin an' tough wid a thick skin. You could boil it allday an' all +night an' it wouldn' cook dome, I wouldn' eat it. I thought 'twuz mule +meat; mules dat done been shot on de battle field den dried. I still +believe 'twuz mule meat. + +One day me an' my brother was lookin' for acorns in de woods. We foun' +sumpin' like a grave in de woods. I tole Dave dey wuz sumpin' buried in +dat moun'. We got de grubbin hoe an' dug. Dey wuz a box wid eleven hams +in dat grave. Somebody done hid it from de Yankees an' forgot whare dey +buried it. We covered it back up kaze if we took it home in de day time +de Yankees an' niggers would take it away from us. So when night come we +slipped out an' toted dem hams to de house an' hid dem in de loft. + +Dem was bad days. I'd rather been a slave den to been hired out like I +was, kaze I wuzn' no fiel' hand, I was a hand maid, trained to wait on +de ladies. Den too, I was hungry most of de time an' had to keep +fightin' off dem Yankee mens. Dem Yankees was mean folks. + +We's come a long way since dem times. I'se lived near 'bout ninety years +an' I'se seen an' heard much. My folks don't want me to talk 'bout +slavery, day's shame niggers ever was slaves. But, while for most +colored folks freedom is de bes, dey's still some niggers dat out to be +slaves now. Dese niggers dat's done clean forgot de Lawd; dose dat's +always cuttin' an' fightin' an' gwine in white folks houses at night, +dey ought to be slaves. Dey ought to have an' Ole Marse wid a whip to +make dem come when he say come, an' go when he say go, 'til dey learn to +live right. + +I looks back now an' thinks. I ain't never forgot dem slavery days, an' +I ain't never forgot Mis' Polly an' my white starched aprons. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320147] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 805 +Subject: CHARLES W. DICKENS +Story Teller: Charles W. Dickens +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[HW note: 26] + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 11 1937"] + +CHARLES W. DICKENS +1115 East Lenoir Street + + +My name is Charles W. Dickens. I lives at 1115 East Lenoir Street, +Raleigh, North Carolina, Wake County. I wuz born August 16, 1861, de +year de war started. My mother wuz named Ferebee Dickens. My father wuz +named John Dickens. I had nine sisters and brothers. My brothers were +named Allen, Douglas, my name [HW: question mark above "my name"], Jake, +Johnnie and Jonas. The girls Katie, Matilda Francis, and Emily Dickens. + +My grandmother wuz named Charity Dickens. My grandfather wuz Dudley T. +Dickens. I do not know where dey came from. No, I don't think I do. My +mother belonged to Washington Scarborough, and so did we chilluns. My +father he belonged to Obediah Dickens and missus wuz named Silvia +Dickens. Dey lowed mother to go by the name of my father after dey wuz +married. + +We lived in log houses and we had bunks in 'em. Master died, but I +'member missus wuz mighty good to us. We had tolerable fair food, and as +fur as I know she wuz good to us in every way. We had good clothing made +in a loom, that is de cloth wuz made in de loom. My father lived in +Franklin County. My mother lived in Wake County. I 'member hearin' +father talk about walkin' so fur to see us. There wuz about one dozen +slaves on de plantation. Dere were no hired overseers. Missus done her +own bossing. I have heard my father speak about de patterollers, but I +never seed none. I heard him say he could not leave the plantation +without a strip o' something. + +No, sir, the white folks did not teach us to read and write. My mother +and father, no sir, they didn't have any books of any kind. We went to +white folk's church. My father split slats and made baskets to sell. He +said his master let him have all de money he made sellin' de things he +made. He learned a trade. He wuz a carpenter. One of the young masters +got after father, so he told me, and he went under de house to keep him +from whuppin' him. When missus come home she wouldn't let young master +whup him. She jist wouldn't 'low it. + +I 'members de Yankees comin' through. When mother heard they were +comin', she took us chillun and carried us down into an ole field, and +after that she carried us back to the house. Missus lived in a two-story +house. We lived in a little log house in front of missus' house. My +mother had a shoulder of meat and she hid it under a mattress in the +house. When the Yankees lef, she looked for it; they had stole the meat +and gone. Yes, they stole from us slaves. The road the Yankees wuz +travellin' wuz as thick wid' em as your fingers. I 'member their blue +clothes, their blue caps. De chickens they were carrying on their horses +wuz crowing. Dey wuz driving cows, hogs, and things. Yes sir, ahead of +'em they come first. The barns and lots were on one side de road dey +were trabellin' on and de houses on de other. Atter many Yankees had +passed dey put a bodyguard at de door of de great house, and didn't 'low +no one to go in dere. I looked down at de Yankees and spit at 'em. +Mother snatched me back, and said, 'Come back here chile, dey will kill +you.' + +Dey carried de horses off de plantation and de meat from missus' +smokehouse and buried it. My uncle, Louis Scarborough, stayed wid de +horses. He is livin' yet, he is over a hundred years old. He lives down +at Moores Mill, Wake County, near Youngsville. Before de surrender one +of de boys and my uncle got to fightin', one of de Scarborough boys and +him. My uncle threw him down. The young Master Scarborough jumped up, +and got his knife and cut uncle's entrails out so uncle had to carry 'em +to de house in his hands. About a year after de war my father carried us +to Franklin County. He carried us on a steer cart. Dat's about all I +'member about de war. + +Abraham Lincoln wuz de man who set us free. I think he wuz a mighty +good man. He done so much for de colored race, but what he done was +intended through de higher power. I don't think slavery wuz right. + +I think Mr. Roosevelt is a fine man, one of the best presidents in the +world. I voted for him, and I would vote for him ag'in. He has done a +lot for de people, and is still doin'. He got a lot of sympathy for 'em. +Yas sir, a lot of sympathy for de people. + +MM + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320184] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 655 +Subject: MARGARET E. DICKENS +Story Teller: Margaret E. Dickens +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 11 1937"] + +MARGARET E. DICKENS +1115 E. Lenoir St. + + +My name is Margaret E. Dickens and I was born on the 5th of June 1861. +My mother wuz free born; her name wuz Mary Ann Hews, but my mother wuz +colored. I don't remember anything about Marster and Missus. My father +was named Henry Byrd. Here is some of father's writing. My mother's +father was dark. He had no protection. If he did any work for a white +man and the white man didn't like it, he could take him up and whup him. +My father was like a stray dog. + +My name was Margaret E. Byrd before I got married. Here is some of +father's writing--"Margaret Elvira Byrd the daughter of Henry and Mary +Ann Byrd was born on the 5th June 1861." My grandfather, my mother's +father was a cabinet maker. He made coffins and tables and furniture. If +he made one, and it didn't suit the man he would beat him and kick him +around and let him go. Dis was told to me. My father was a carpenter. He +built houses. + +I can read and write. My father could read and write. My mother could +read, but couldn't write very much. + +I have heerd my mother say when she heerd the Yankees were commin' she +had a brand new counterpane, my father owned a place before he married +my mother, the counterpane was a woolen woven counterpane. She took it +off and hid it. The Yankees took anything they wanted, but failed to +find it. We were living in Raleigh, at the time, on the very premises we +are living on now. The old house has been torn down, but some of the +wood is in this very house. I kin show you part of the old house now. My +mother used to pass this place when she wuz a girl and she told me she +never expected to live here. She was twenty years younger than my +father. My mother, she lived here most of the time except twenty-four +years she lived in the North. She died in 1916. My father bought the +lan' in 1848 from a man named Henry Morgan. Here is the deed.[6] + +When we left Raleigh, and went North we first stopped in Cambridge, +Mass. This was with my first husband. His name was Samuel E. Reynolds. +He was a preacher. He had a church and preached there. The East winds +were so strong and cold we couldn't stan' it. It was too cold for us. We +then went to Providence, R. I. From there to Elmira, N. Y. From there we +went to Brooklyn, N. Y. He preached in the State of New York; we finally +came back South, and he died right here in this house. I like the North +very well, but there is nothing like home, the South. Another thing I +don't have so many white kin folks up North. I don't like to be called +Auntie by anyone, unless they admit bein' kin to me. I was not a fool +when I went to the North, and it made no change in me. I was raised to +respect everybody and I tries to keep it up. Some things in the North +are all right, I like them, but I like the South better. Yes, I guess I +like the South better. I was married to Charles W. Dickens in 1920. He +is my second husband. + +I inherited this place from my father Henry Byrd. I like well water. +There is my well, right out here in the yard. This well was dug here +when they were building the first house here. I believe in havin' your +own home, so I have held on to my home, and I am goin' to try to keep +holdin' on to it. + +[Footnote 6: An interesting feature of the deed is the fact that +Henry Morgan made his mark while Henry Byrd's signature +is his own.] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320156] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1369 +Subject: REV. SQUIRE DOWD +Story Teller: Rev. Squire Dowd +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[HW: Minister--Interesting] + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +[HW: language not negro, very senternous & interesting.] +[TR: The above comment is crossed out.] + +REVEREND SQUIRE DOWD +202 Battle Street +Raleigh, N. C. + + +My name is Squire Dowd, and I was born April 3, 1855. My mother's name +was Jennie Dowd. My father's name was Elias Kennedy. My mother died in +Georgia at the age of 70, and my father died in Moore County at the age +of 82. I attended his funeral. My sister and her husband had carried my +mother to Georgia, when my sister's husband went there to work in +turpentine. My mother's husband was dead. She had married a man named +Stewart. You could hardly keep up with your father during slavery time. +It was a hard thing to do. There were few legal marriages. When a young +man from one plantation courted a young girl on the plantation, the +master married them, sometimes hardly knowing what he was saying. + +My master was General W. D. Dowd. He lived three miles from Carthage, in +Moore County, North Carolina. He owned fifty slaves. The conditions were +good. I had only ten years' experience, but it was a good experience. No +man is fool enough to buy slaves to kill. I have never known a real +slave owner to abuse his slaves. The abuse was done by patterollers and +overseers. + +I have a conservative view of slavery. I taught school for four years +and I have been in the ministry fifty years. I was ordained a Christian +minister in 1885. I lived in Moore County until 1889, then I moved to +Raleigh. I have feeling. I don't like for people to have a feeling that +slaves are no more than dogs; I don't like that. It causes people to +have the wrong idea of slavery. Here is John Bectom, a well, healthy +friend of mine, 75 years of age. If we had been treated as some folks +say, these big, healthy niggers would not be walking about in the South +now. The great Negro leaders we have now would never have come out of +it. + +The places we lived in were called cabins. The Negroes who were thrifty +had nice well-kept homes; and it is thus now. The thrifty of the colored +race live well; the others who are indolent live in hovels which smell +foul and are filthy. + +Prayer meetings were held at night in the cabins of the slaves. On +Sunday we went to the white folk's church. We sat in a barred-off place, +in the back of the church or in a gallery. + +We had a big time at cornshuckings. We had plenty of good things to +eat, and plenty of whiskey and brandy to drink. These shuckings were +held at night. We had a good time, and I never saw a fight at a +cornshucking in life. If we could catch the master after the shucking +was over, we put him in a chair, we darkies, and toted him around and +hollered, carried him into the parlor, set him down, and combed his +hair. We only called the old master "master". We called his wife +"missus." When the white children grew up we called them Mars. John, +Miss Mary, etc. + +We had some money. We made baskets. On moonlight nights and holidays we +cleared land; the master gave us what we made on the land. We had +money. + +The darkies also stole for deserters during the war. They paid us for +it. I ate what I stole, such as sugar. I was not big enough to steal for +the deserters. I was a house boy. I stole honey. I did not know I was +free until five years after the war. I could not realize I was free. +Many of us stayed right on. If we had not been ruined right after the +war by carpetbaggers our race would have been, well,--better up by this +time, because they turned us against our masters, when our masters had +everything and we had nothing. The Freedmen's Bureau helped us some, but +we finally had to go back to the plantation in order to live. + +We got election days, Christmas, New Year, etc., as holidays. When we +were slaves we had a week or more Christmas. The holidays lasted from +Christmas Eve to after New Years. Sometimes we got passes. If our +master would not give them to us, the white boys we played with would +give us one. We played cat, jumping, wrestling and marbles. We played +for fun; we did not play for money. There were 500 acres on the +plantation. We hunted a lot, and the fur of the animals we caught we +sold and had the money. We were allowed to raise a few chickens and +pigs, which we sold if we wanted to. + +The white folks rode to church and the darkies walked, as many of the +poor white folks did. We looked upon the poor white folks as our equals. +They mixed with us and helped us to envy our masters. They looked upon +our masters as we did. + +Negro women having children by the masters was common. My relatives on +my mother's side, who were Kellys are mixed blooded. They are partly +white. We, the darkies and many of the whites hate that a situation like +this exists. It is enough to say that seeing is believing. There were +many and are now mixed blooded people among the race. + +I was well clothed. Our clothes were made in looms. Shoes were made on +the plantation. Distilleries were also located on the plantation. When +they told me I was free, I did not notice it. I did not realize it till +many years after when a man made a speech at Carthage, telling us we +were free. + +I did not like the Yankees. We were afraid of them. We had to be +educated to love the Yankees, and to know that they freed us and were +our friends. I feel that Abraham Lincoln was a father to us. We consider +him thus because he freed us. The Freedmen's Bureau and carpet baggers +caused us to envy our masters and the white folks. The Ku Klux Klan, +when we pushed our rights, came in between us, and we did not know what +to do. The Ku Klux were after the carpet baggers and the Negroes who +followed them. + +It was understood that white people were not to teach Negroes during +slavery, but many of the whites taught the Negroes. The children of the +white folks made us study. I could read and write when the war was up. +They made me study books, generally a blue-back spelling book as +punishment for mean things I done. My Missus, a young lady about 16 +years old taught a Sunday School class of colored boys and girls. This +Sunday School was held at a different time of day from the white folks. +Sometimes old men and old women were in these classes. I remember once +they asked Uncle Ben Pearson who was meekest man, 'Moses' he replied. +'Who was the wisest man?' 'Soloman', 'Who was the strongest man?' was +then asked him. To this he said 'They say Bill Medlin is the strongest, +but Tom Shaw give him his hands full.' They were men of the community. +Medlin was white, Shaw was colored. + +I do not like the way they have messed up our songs with classical +music. I like the songs, 'Roll Jordan Roll', 'Old Ship of Zion', 'Swing +Low Sweet Chariot'. Classical singers ruin them, though. + +There was no use of our going to town of Saturday afternoon to buy our +rations, so we worked Saturday afternoons. When we got sick the doctors +treated us. Dr. J. D. Shaw, Dr. Bruce, and Dr. Turner. They were the +first doctors I ever heard any tell of. They treated both whites and +darkies on my master's plantation. + +I married a Matthews, Anna Matthews, August 1881. We have one daughter. +Her name is Ella. She married George Cheatam of Henderson, N. C. A +magistrate married us, Mr. Pitt Cameron. It was just a quiet wedding on +Saturday night with about one-half dozen of my friends present. + +My idea of life is to forget the bad and live for the good there is in +it. This is my motto. + +B. N. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320079] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 862 +Subject: FANNIE DUNN +Story Teller: Fannie Dunn +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 17 1937"] + +FANNIE DUNN +222 Heck Street, Raleigh, N. C. + + +I don't 'zakly know my age, but I knows and 'members when de Yankees +come through Wake County. I wus a little girl an' wus so skeered I run +an hid under de bed. De Yankees stopped at de plantation an' along de +road fur a rest. I 'members I had diphtheria an' a Yankee doctor come +an' mopped my throat. Dey had to pull me outen under de bed so he could +doctor me. + +One Yankee would come along an' give us sumptin' an another would come +on behind him an' take it. Dats de way dey done. One give mother a mule +an' when dey done gone she sold it. A Yankee give mother a ham of meat, +another come right on behind him an' took it away from her. Dere shore +wus a long line of dem Yankees. I can 'member seeing 'em march by same +as it wus yisterday. I wus not old enough to work, but I 'members 'em. I +don't know 'zackly but I wus 'bout five years old when de surrender +wus. + +My name before I wus married wus Fannie Sessoms an' mother wus named +Della Sessoms. We belonged to Dr. Isaac Sessoms an' our missus wus named +Hanna. My father wus named Perry Vick, after his marster who wus named +Perry Vick. My missus died durin' de war an' marster never married +anymore. + +I don't 'member much 'bout missus but mother tole me she wus some good +woman an' she loved her. Marster wus mighty good to us an' didn't allow +patterollers to whip us none. De slave houses wus warm and really dey +wus good houses, an' didn't leak neither. + +I don't 'member much 'bout my grandparents, just a little mother tole +me 'bout 'em. Grandma 'longed to de Sessoms an' Dr. Isaac Sessoms +brother wus mother's father. Mother tole me dat. Look at dat picture, +mister, you see you can't tell her from a white woman. Dats my mother's +picture. She wus as white as you wid long hair an' a face like a white +woman. She been dead 'bout twenty years. My mother said dat we all fared +good, but course we wore homemade clothes an' wooden bottomed shoes. + +We went to the white folks church at Red Oak an' Rocky Mount Missionary +Baptist Churches. We were allowed to have prayer meetings at de slave +houses, two an' three times a week. I 'members goin' to church 'bout +last year of de war wid mother. I had a apple wid me an' I got hungry +an' wanted to eat it in meetin' but mother jest looked at me an' touched +my arm, dat wus enough. I didn't eat de apple. I can 'member how bad I +wanted to eat it. Don't 'member much 'bout dat sermon, guess I put my +mind on de apple too much. + +Marster had about twenty slaves an' mother said dey had always been +allowed to go to church an' have prayer meetings 'fore I wus born. +Marster had both white an' colored overseers but he would not allow any +of his overseers to bulldoze over his slaves too much. He would call a +overseer down for bein' rough at de wrong time. Charles Sessoms wus one +of marster's colored overseers. He 'longed to marster, an' mother said +marster always listened to what Charles said. Dey said marster had +always favored him even 'fore he made him overseer. Charles Sessoms fell +dead one day an' mother found him. She called Marster Sessoms an' he +come an' jest cried. Mother said when Marster come he wus dead shore +enough, dat marster jest boohooed an' went to de house, an' wouldn't +look at him no more till dey started to take him to de grave. Everybody +on de plantation went to his buryin' an' funeral an' some from de udder +plantation dat joined ourn. + +I 'members but little 'bout my missus, but 'members one time she run me +when I wus goin' home from de great house, an' she said, 'I am goin' to +catch you, now I catch you'. She pickin' at me made me love her. When +she died mother tole me 'bout her bein' dead an' took me to her buryin'. +Next day I wanted to go an' get her up. I tole mother I wanted her to +come home an' eat. Mother cried an' took me up in her arms, an' said, +'Honey missus will never eat here again.' I wus so young I didn't +understand. + +Dr. Sessoms an' also Dr. Drake, who married his daughter, doctored us +when we wus sick. Dr. Joe Drake married marster's only daughter Harriet +an' his only son David died in Mississippi. He had a plantation dere. + +I been married only once. I wus married forty years ago to Sidney Dunn. +I had one chile, she's dead. + +From what I knows of slavery an' what my mother tole me I can't say it +wus a bad thing. Mister, I wants to tell de truth an' I can't say its +bad 'cause my mother said she had a big time as a slave an' I knows I +had a good time an' wus treated right. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320187] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 382 +Subject: JENNYLIN DUNN +Person Interviewed: Jennylin Dunn +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +JENNYLIN DUNN +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Jennylin Dunn 87, of 315 Bledsoe Avenue, Raleigh, N. C. + + +I wuz borned hyar in Wake County eighty-seben years ago. Me an' my +folks an' bout six others belonged ter Mis' Betsy Lassiter who wuz right +good ter us, do' she sho' did know dat chilluns needs a little brushin' +now an' den. + +My papa wuz named Isaac, my mammy wuz named Liza, an' my sisters wuz +named Lucy, Candice an' Harriet. Dar wuz one boy what died 'fore I can +'member an' I doan know his name. + +We ain't played no games ner sung no songs, but we had fruit ter eat +an' a heap of watermillions ter eat in de season. + +I seed seberal slabe sales on de block, front of de Raleigh Cou't +house, an' yo' can't think how dese things stuck in my mind. A whole +heap o' times I seed mammies sold from dere little babies, an' dar wuz +no'min' den, as yo' knows. + +De patterollers wuz sumpin dat I wuz skeerd of. I know jist two o' 'em, +Mr. Billy Allen Dunn an' Mr. Jim Ray, an' I'se hyard of some scandelous +things dat dey done. Dey do say dat dey whupped some of de niggers +scandelous. + +When dey hyard dat de Yankees wuz on dere way ter hyar dey says ter us +dat dem Yankees eats little nigger youngins, an' we shore stays hid. + +I jist seed squeamishin' parties lookin' fer sumpin' ter eat, an' I'se +hyard dat dey tuck ever'thing dey comes 'crost. A whole heap of it dey +flunged away, an' atterwards dey got hongry too. + +One of 'em tried ter tell us dat our white folks stold us from our +country an' brung us hyar, but since den I foun' out dat de Yankees +stole us dereselves, an' den dey sold us ter our white folkses. + +Atter de war my pappy an' mammy brung us ter Raleigh whar I'se been +libin' since dat time. We got along putty good, an' de Yankees sont us +some teachers, but most o' us wuz so busy scramblin' roun' makin' a +livin' dat we ain't got no time fer no schools. + +I reckon dat hit wuz better dat de slaves wuz freed, but I still loves +my white folkses, an' dey loves me. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320125] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 1119 +Subject: AUNT LUCY'S LOVE STORY +Person Interviewed: Lucy Ann Dunn +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 1 1937"] + +AUNT LUCY'S LOVE STORY + +An interview with Lucy Ann Dunn, 90 years old, 220 Cannon Street, +Raleigh, N. C. + + +My pappy, Dempsey, my mammy, Rachel an' my brothers an' sisters an' me +all belonged ter Marse Peterson Dunn of Neuse, here in Wake County. Dar +wus five of us chilluns, Allen, Charles, Corina, Madora an' me, all +borned before de war. + +My mammy wus de cook, an' fur back as I 'members almost, I wus a house +girl. I fanned flies offen de table an' done a heap of little things fer +Mis' Betsy, Marse Peterson's wife. My pappy worked on de farm, which wus +boun' ter have been a big plantation wid two hundert an' more niggers +ter work hit. + +I 'members when word come dat war wus declared, how Mis' Betsy cried +an' prayed an' how Marse Peter quarreled an' walked de floor cussin' de +Yankees. + +De war comes on jist de same an' some of de men slaves wus sent ter +Roanoke ter hep buil' de fort. Yes mam, de war comes ter de great house +an' ter de slave cabins jist alike. + +De great house wus large an' white washed, wid green blinds an' de +slave cabins wus made of slabs wid plank floors. We had plenty ter eat +an' enough ter wear an' we wus happy. We had our fun an' we had our +troubles, lak little whuppin's, when we warn't good, but dat warn't +often. + +Atter so long a time de rich folkses tried ter hire, er make de po' +white trash go in dere places, but some of dem won't go. Dey am treated +so bad dat some of dem cides ter be Ku Kluxes an' dey goes ter de woods +ter live. When we starts ter take up de aigs er starts from de spring +house wid de butter an' milk dey grabs us an' takes de food fer +dereselbes. + +Dis goes on fer a long time an' finally one day in de spring I sets on +de porch an' I hear a roar. I wus 'sponsible fer de goslins dem days so +I sez ter de missus, 'I reckin dat I better git in de goslins case I +hear hit a-thunderin'. + +'Dat ain't no thunder, nigger, dat am de canon', she sez. + +'What canon', I axes? + +'Why de canon what dey am fightin' wid', she sez. + +Well dat ebenin' I is out gittin' up de goslins when I hears music, I +looks up de road an' I sees flags, an' 'bout dat time de Yankees am dar +a-killin' as dey goes. Dey kills de geese, de ducks, de chickens, pigs +an' ever'thing. Dey goes ter de house an' dey takes all of de meat, de +meal, an' ever'thing dey can git dere paws on. + +When dey goes ter de kitchen whar mammy am cookin' she cuss dem out an' +run dem outen her kitchen. Dey shore am a rough lot. + +I aint never fergot how Mis' Betsy cried when de news of de surrender +come. She aint said nothin' but Marse Peter he makes a speech sayin' +dat he aint had ter sell none of us, dat he aint whupped none of us bad, +dat nobody has ever run away from him yet. Den he tells us dat all who +wants to can stay right on fer wages. + +Well we stayed two years, even do my pappy died de year atter de +surrender, den we moves ter Marse Peter's other place at Wake Forest. +Atter dat we moves back ter Neuse. + +Hit wus in de little Baptist church at Neuse whar I fust seed big black +Jim Dunn an' I fell in love wid him den, I reckons. He said dat he loved +me den too, but hit wus three Sundays 'fore he axed ter see me home. + +We walked dat mile home in front of my mammy an' I wus so happy dat I +aint thought hit a half a mile home. We et cornbread an' turnips fer +dinner an' hit wus night 'fore he went home. Mammy wouldn't let me walk +wid him ter de gate. I knowed, so I jist sot dar on de porch an' sez +good night. + +He come ever' Sunday fer a year an' finally he proposed. I had told +mammy dat I thought dat I ort ter be allowed ter walk ter de gate wid +Jim an' she said all right iffen she wus settin' dar on de porch +lookin'. + +Dat Sunday night I did walk wid Jim ter de gate an' stood under de +honeysuckles dat wus a-smellin' so sweet. I heard de big ole bullfrogs +a-croakin' by de riber an' de whipper-wills a-hollerin' in de woods. Dar +wus a big yaller moon, an' I reckon Jim did love me. Anyhow he said so +an' axed me ter marry him an' he squeezed my han'. + +I tol' him I'd think hit ober an' I did an' de nex' Sunday I tol' him +dat I'd have him. + +He aint kissed me yet but de nex' Sunday he axes my mammy fer me. She +sez dat she'll have ter have a talk wid me an' let him know. + +Well all dat week she talks ter me, tellin' me how serious gittin' +married is an' dat hit lasts a powerful long time. + +I tells her dat I knows hit but dat I am ready ter try hit an' dat I +intends ter make a go of hit, anyhow. + +On Sunday night mammy tells Jim dat he can have me an' yo' orter seed +dat black boy grin. He comes ter me widout a word an' he picks me up +outen dat cheer an' dar in de moonlight he kisses me right 'fore my +mammy who am a-cryin'. + +De nex' Sunday we wus married in de Baptist church at Neuse. I had a +new white dress, do times wus hard. + +We lived tergether fifty-five years an' we always loved each other. He +aint never whup ner cuss me an' do we had our fusses an' our troubles we +trusted in de Lawd an' we got through. I loved him durin' life an' I +love him now, do he's been daid now fer twelve years. + +The old lady with her long white hair bowed her head and sobbed for a +moment then she began again unsteadily. + +We had eight chilluns, but only four of dem are livin' now. De livin' +are James, Sidney, Helen an' Florence who wus named fer Florence +Nightingale. + +I can't be here so much longer now case I'se gittin' too old an' feeble +an' I wants ter go ter Jim anyhow. The old woman wiped her eyes, 'I +thinks of him all de time, but seems lak we're young agin when I smell +honeysuckles er see a yaller moon. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320271] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: Tempie Herndon Durham + Ex-Slave 103 Years Old + 1312 Pine St., Durham, N. C. + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 23 1937"] + +TEMPIE HERNDON DURHAM +EX-SLAVE 103 YEARS OLD +1312 PINE ST., DURHAM, N. C. + + +I was thirty-one years ole when de surrender come. Dat makes me sho +nuff ole. Near 'bout a hundred an' three years done passed over dis here +white head of mine. I'se been here, I mean I'se been here. 'Spects I'se +de olest nigger in Durham. I'se been here so long dat I done forgot near +'bout as much as dese here new generation niggers knows or ever gwine +know. + +My white fo'ks lived in Chatham County. Dey was Marse George an' Mis' +Betsy Herndon. Mis Betsy was a Snipes befo' she married Marse George. +Dey had a big plantation an' raised cawn, wheat, cotton an' 'bacca. I +don't know how many field niggers Marse George had, but he had a mess of +dem, an' he had hosses too, an' cows, hogs an' sheeps. He raised sheeps +an' sold de wool, an' dey used de wool at de big house too. Dey was a +big weavin' room whare de blankets was wove, an' dey wove de cloth for +de winter clothes too. Linda Hernton an' Milla Edwards was de head +weavers, dey looked after de weavin' of de fancy blankets. Mis' Betsy +was a good weaver too. She weave de same as de niggers. She say she love +de clackin' soun' of de loom, an' de way de shuttles run in an' out +carryin' a long tail of bright colored thread. Some days she set at de +loom all de mawnin' peddlin' wid her feets an' her white han's flittin' +over de bobbins. + +De cardin' an' spinnin' room was full of niggers. I can hear dem +spinnin' wheels now turnin' roun' an' sayin' hum-m-m-m, hum-m-m-m, an' +hear de slaves singin' while dey spin. Mammy Rachel stayed in de dyein' +room. Dey wuzn' nothin' she didn' know' bout dyein'. She knew every kind +of root, bark, leaf an' berry dat made red, blue, green, or whatever +color she wanted. Dey had a big shelter whare de dye pots set over de +coals. Mammy Rachel would fill de pots wid water, den she put in de +roots, bark an' stuff an' boil de juice out, den she strain it an'put in +de salt an' vinegar to set de color. After de wool an' cotton done been +carded an' spun to thread, Mammy take de hanks an' drap dem in de pot of +bollin' dye. She stir dem' roun' an' lif' dem up an' down wid a stick, +an' when she hang dem up on de line in de sun, dey was every color of de +rainbow. When dey dripped dry dey was sent to de weavin' room whare dey +was wove in blankets an' things. + +When I growed up I married Exter Durham. He belonged to Marse Snipes +Durham who had de plantation 'cross de county line in Orange County. We +had a big weddin'. We was married on de front po'ch of de big house. +Marse George killed a shoat an' Mis' Betsy had Georgianna, de cook, to +bake a big weddin' cake all iced up white as snow wid a bride an' groom +standin' in de middle holdin' han's. De table was set out in de yard +under de trees, an' you ain't never seed de like of eats. All de niggers +come to de feas' an' Marse George had a dram for everybody. Dat was +some weddin'. I had on a white dress, white shoes an' long white gloves +dat come to my elbow, an' Mis' Betsy done made me a weddin' veil out of +a white net window curtain. When she played de weddin ma'ch on de piano, +me an' Exter ma'ched down de walk an' up on de po'ch to de altar Mis' +Betsy done fixed. Dat de pretties' altar I ever seed. Back 'gainst de +rose vine dat was full or red roses, Mis' Betsy done put tables filled +wid flowers an' white candles. She done spread down a bed sheet, a sho +nuff linen sheet, for us to stan' on, an' dey was a white pillow to +kneel down on. Exter done made me a weddin' ring. He made it out of a +big red button wid his pocket knife. He done cut it so roun' an' +polished it so smooth dat it looked like a red satin ribbon tide 'roun' +my finger. Dat sho was a pretty ring. I wore it 'bout fifty years, den +it got so thin dat I lost it one day in de wash tub when I was washin' +clothes. + +Uncle Edmond Kirby married us. He was de nigger preacher dat preached at +de plantation church. After Uncle Edmond said de las' words over me an' +Exter, Marse George got to have his little fun: He say, 'Come on, Exter, +you an' Tempie got to jump over de broom stick backwards; you got to do +dat to see which one gwine be boss of your househol'.' Everybody come +stan' 'roun to watch. Marse George hold de broom 'bout a foot high off +de floor. De one dat jump over it backwards an' never touch de handle, +gwine boss de house, an' if bof of dem jump over widout touchin' it, dey +won't gwine be no bossin', dey jus' gwine be 'genial. I jumped fus', +an' you ought to seed me. I sailed right over dat broom stick same as a +cricket, but when Exter jump he done had a big dram an' his feets was so +big an' clumsy dat dey got all tangled up in dat broom an' he fell head +long. Marse George he laugh an' laugh, an' tole Exter he gwine be bossed +'twell he skeered to speak less'n I tole him to speak. After de weddin' +we went down to de cabin Mis' Betsy done all dressed up, but Exter +couldn' stay no longer den dat night kaze he belonged to Marse Snipes +Durham an' he had to back home. He lef' de nex day for his plantation, +but he come back every Saturday night an' stay 'twell Sunday night. We +had eleven chillun. Nine was bawn befo' surrender an' two after we was +set free. So I had two chillun dat wuzn' bawn in bondage. I was worth a +heap to Marse George kaze I had so manny chillun. De more chillun a +slave had de more dey was worth. Lucy Carter was de only nigger on de +plantation dat had more chillun den I had. She had twelve, but her +chillun was sickly an' mine was muley strong an' healthy. Dey never was +sick. + +When de war come Marse George was too ole to go, but young Marse Bill +went. He went an' took my brother Sim wid him. Marse Bill took Sim along +to look after his hoss an' everything. Dey didn' neither one get shot, +but Mis' Betsy was skeered near 'bout to death all de time, skeered dey +was gwine be brung home shot all to pieces like some of de sojers was. + +De Yankees wuzn' so bad. De mos' dey wanted was sumpin' to eat. Dey was +all de time hungry, de fus' thing dey ax for when dey came was sumpin' +to put in dey stomach. An' chicken! I ain' never seed even a preacher +eat chicken like dem Yankees. I believes to my soul dey ain' never seed +no chicken 'twell dey come down here. An' hot biscuit too. I seed a +passel of dem eat up a whole sack of flour one night for supper. +Georgianna sif' flour 'twell she look white an' dusty as a miller. Dem +sojers didn' turn down no ham neither. Dat de onlies' thing dey took +from Marse George. Dey went in de smoke house an' toted off de hams an' +shoulders. Marse George say he come off mighty light if dat all dey +want, 'sides he got plenty of shoats anyhow. + +We had all de eats we wanted while de war was shootin' dem guns, kaze +Marse George was home an' he kep' de niggers workin'. We had chickens, +gooses, meat, peas, flour, meal, potatoes an' things like dat all de +time, an' milk an' butter too, but we didn' have no sugar an' coffee. We +used groun' pa'ched cawn for coffee an' cane 'lasses for sweetnin'. Dat +wuzn' so bad wid a heap of thick cream. Anyhow, we had enough to eat to +'vide wid de neighbors dat didn' have none when surrender come. + +I was glad when de war stopped kaze den me an' Exter could be together +all de time 'stead of Saturday an' Sunday. After we was free we lived +right on at Marse George's plantation a long time. We rented de lan' for +a fo'th of what we made, den after while be bought a farm. We paid three +hundred dollars we done saved. We had a hoss, a steer, a cow an' two +pigs, 'sides some chickens an' fo' geese. Mis' Betsy went up in de +attic an' give us a bed an' bed tick; she give us enough goose feathers +to make two pillows, den she give us a table an' some chairs. She give +us some dishes too. Marse George give Exter a bushel of seed cawn an +some seed wheat, den he tole him to go down to de barn an' get a bag of +cotton seed. We got all dis den we hitched up de wagon an' th'owed in de +passel of chillun an' moved to our new farm, an' de chillun was put to +work in de fiel'; dey growed up in de fiel' kaze dey was put to work +time dey could walk good. + +Freedom is all right, but de niggers was better off befo' surrender, +kaze den dey was looked after an' dey didn' get in no trouble fightin' +an' killin' like dey do dese days. If a nigger cut up an' got sassy in +slavery times, his Ole Marse give him a good whippin' an' he went way +back an' set down an' 'haved hese'f. If he was sick, Marse an' Mistis +looked after him, an' if he needed store medicine, it was bought an' +give to him; he didn' have to pay nothin'. Dey didn' even have to think' +bout clothes nor nothin' like dat, dey was wove an' made an' give to +dem. Maybe everybody's Marse an' Mistis wuzn' good as Marse George an' +Mis' Betsy, but dey was de same as a mammy an' pappy to us niggers. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320160] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 466 +Subject: EX-SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: George Eatman +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An Interview on May 18, 1937 with George Eatman, 93, of Cary, R. #1. + + +I belonged ter Mr. Gus Eatman who lived at de ole Templeton place on de +Durham highway back as fer as I can 'member. I doan r'member my mammy +an' pappy case dey wuz sold 'fore I knowed anything. I raised myself an' +I reckon dat I done a fair job uv it. De marster an' missus wuz good to +dere twenty-five slaves an' we ain't neber got no bad whuppin's. + +I doan 'member much playin' an' such like, but I de 'members dat I wuz +de handy boy 'round de house. + +De Confederate soldiers camp at Ephesus Church one night, an' de nex' +day de marster sent me ter de mill on Crabtree. Yo' 'members where ole +Company mill is, I reckon? Well, as I rode de mule down de hill, out +comes Wheeler's Calvalry, which am as mean as de Yankees, an' dey ax me +lots uv questions. Atter awhile dey rides on an' leaves me 'lone. + +While I am at de mill one uv Wheeler's men takes my mule an' my co'n, +an' I takes de ole saddle an' starts ter walkin' back home. All de way, +most, I walks in de woods, case Wheeler's men am still passin'. + +When I gits ter de Morgan place I hyars de cannons a-boomin', ahh--h I +ain't neber hyar sich a noise, an' when I gits so dat I can see dar dey +goes, as thick as de hairs on a man's haid. I circles round an' gits +behin' dem an' goes inter de back uv de-house. Well, dar stan's a +Yankee, an' he axes Missus Mary fer de smokehouse key. She gibes it ter +him an' dey gits all uv de meat. + +One big can uv grease am all dat wuz saved, an' dat wuz burried in de +broom straw down in de fiel'. + +Dey camps roun' dar dat night an' dey shoots ever chicken, pig, an' +calf dey sees. De nex' day de marster goes ter Raleigh, an' gits a +gyard, but dey has done stole all our stuff an' we am liven' mostly on +parched co'n. + +De only patterollers I knowed wuz Kenyan Jones an' Billy Pump an' dey +wuz called po' white trash. Dey owned blood houn's, an' chased de +niggers an' whupped dem shamful, I hyars. I neber seed but one Ku Klux +an' he wuz sceered o' dem. + +Atter de war we stayed on five or six years case we ain't had no place +else ter go. + +We ain't liked Abraham Lincoln, case he wuz a fool ter think dat we +could live widout de white folkses, an' Jeff Davis wuz tryin' ter keep +us, case he wuz greedy an' he wanted ter be de boss dog in politics. + + + + +District: No. 3. [320121] +Worker: Daisy Whaley +Subject: Ex-slave Story. +Interviewed: Doc Edwards, + Ex-slave. 84 Yrs + Staggville, N. C. + +[HW: Capital A--circled] + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"] + +DOC EDWARDS +EX-SLAVE, 84 Yrs. + + +I was bawn at Staggville, N. C., in 1853. I belonged to Marse Paul +Cameron. My pappy was Murphy McCullers. Mammy's name was Judy. Dat would +make me a McCullers, but I was always knowed as Doc Edwards an' dat is +what I am called to dis day. + +I growed up to be de houseman an' I cooked for Marse Benehan,--Marse +Paul's son. Marse Benehan was good to me. My health failed from doing so +much work in de house an' so I would go for a couple of hours each day +an' work in de fiel' to be out doors an' get well again. + +Marse Paul had so many niggers dat he never counted dem. When we opened +de gate for him or met him in de road he would say, "Who is you? Whare +you belong?" We would say, "We belong to Marse Paul." "Alright, run +along" he'd say den, an' he would trow us a nickel or so. + +We had big work shops whare we made all de tools, an' even de shovels +was made at home. Dey was made out of wood, so was de rakes, pitchforks +an' some of de hoes. Our nails was made in de blacksmith shop by han' +an' de picks an' grubbin' hoes, too. + +We had a han' thrashing machine. It was roun' like a stove pipe, only +bigger. We fed de wheat to it an' shook it' til de wheat was loose from +de straw an' when it come out at de other end it fell on a big cloth, +bigger den de sheets. We had big curtains all roun' de cloth on de +floor, like a tent, so de wheat wouldn' get scattered. Den we took de +pitchfork an' lifted de straw up an' down so de wheat would go on de +cloth. Den we moved de straw when de wheat was all loose Den we fanned +de wheat wid big pieces of cloth to get de dust an' dirt outen it, so it +could be taken to de mill an' groun' when it was wanted. + +When de fall come we had a regular place to do different work. We had +han' looms an' wove our cotton an' yarn an' made de cloth what was to +make de clothes for us to wear. + +We had a shop whare our shoes was made. De cobbler would make our shoes +wid wooden soles. After de soles was cut out dey would be taken down to +de blacksmiyh an' he would put a thin rim of iron aroun' de soles to +keep dem from splitting. Dese soles was made from maple an' ash wood. + +We didn' have any horses to haul wid. We used oxen an' ox-carts. De +horse and mules was used to do de plowin'. + +When de Yankees come dey didn' do so much harm, only dey tole us we was +free niggers. But I always feel like I belong to Marse Paul, an' i still +live at Staggville on de ole plantation. I has a little garden an' does +what I can to earn a little somethin'. De law done fixed it so now dat I +will get a little pension, an' I'll stay right on in dat little house +'til de good Lawd calls me home, den I will see Marse Paul once more. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 11 [320001] +Worker: Mrs. W. N. Harriss +No. Words: 658 +Subject: John Evans + Born in Slavery +Editor: Mrs. W. N. Harriss + +Interviewed + +John Evans on the street and in this Office. +Residence changes frequently. + +[TR: Date Stamp "SEP--1937"] + +Story of John Evans +Born in Slavery. + + +I was born August 15th, 1859. I am 78 years old. Dat comes out right, +don't it? My mother's name was Hattie Newbury. I don't never remember +seein' my Pa. We lived on Middle Sound an' dat's where I was born. I +knows de room, 'twas upstairs, an' when I knowed it, underneath, +downstairs dat is, was bags of seed an' horse feed, harness an' things, +but it was slave quarters when I come heah. + +Me an' my mother stayed right on with Mis' Newberry after freedom, an' +never knowed no diffunce. They was jus' like sisters an' I never knowed +nothin' but takin' keer of Mistus Newberry. She taught me my letters an' +the Bible, an' was mighty perticler 'bout my manners. An' I'm tellin' +you my manners is brought me a heap more money than my readin'--or de +Bible. I'm gwine tell you how dat is, but fust I want to say the most I +learned on Middle Sound was' bout fishin' an' huntin'. An' dawgs. + +My! But there sho' was birds an' possums on de Sound in dem days. +Pa'tridges all over de place. Why, even me an' my Mammy et pa'tridges +fer bre'kfust. Think of dat now! But when I growed up my job was +fishin'. I made enough sellin' fish to the summer folks all along +Wrightsville and Greenville Sounds to keep me all winter. + +My Mammy cooked fer Mis' Newberry. After a while they both died. I never +did'nt git married. + +I don't know nothin' 'bout all the mean things I hear tell about slaves +an' sich. We was just one fam'ly an' had all we needed. We never paid no +'tention to freedom or not freedom. I remember eve'ybody had work to do +in slavery an' dey gone right on doin' it sence. An' nobody don't git +nowheres settin' down holdin' their han's. It do'n make so much diffunce +anyhow what you does jes so's you does it. + +One time when I was carryin' in my fish to "Airlie" [TR: difficult to +read] Mr. Pem Jones heard me laff, an' after I opened dis here mouf of +mine an' laffed fer him I didn't have to bother 'bout fish no mo'. +Lordy, dose rich folks he used to bring down fum New Yo'k is paid me as +much as _sixty_ dollars a week to laff fer 'em. One of 'em was named Mr. +_Fish_. Now you know dat tickled _me_. I could jes laff an' laff 'bout +dat. Mr. Pem give me fine clo'es an' a tall silk hat. I'd eat a big +dinner in de kitchen an' den go in' mongst de quality an' laff fer' em +an' make my noise like a wood saw in my th'oat. Dey was crazy 'bout dat. +An' then's when I began to be thankful 'bout my manners. I's noticed if +you has nice manners wid eve'ybody people gwine to be nice to you. + +Well, (with a long sigh) I don't pick up no sich money nowadays; but +my manners gives me many a chance to laff, an' I never don't go hungry. + +John has been a well known character for fifty years among the summer +residents along the sounds and on Wrightsville Beach. He was a fisherman +and huckster in his palmy days, but now John's vigor is on the wane, and +he has little left with which to gain a livelihood except his unusually +contagious laugh, and a truly remarkable flow of words. "Old John" could +give Walter Winchel a handicap of twenty words a minute and then beat +him at his own game. His mouth is enormous and his voice deep and +resonant. He can make a noise like a wood saw which he maintains for 2 +or 3 minutes without apparent effort, the sound buzzing on and on from +some mysterious depths of his being with amazing perfection of +imitation. + +Any day during the baseball season John may be seen sandwiched between +his announcement boards, a large bell in one hand, crying the ball game +of the day. "Old John" to the youngsters; but finding many a quarter +dropped in his hand by the older men with memories of gay hours and +hearty laughter. + + + + +District: No. 3 [320198] +Worker: Daisy Whaley +Subject: EX-SLAVE +Storyteller: Lindsay Faucette + Ex-Slave + Church Street, + Durham, N. C. + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUL 2 1937"] + +LINDSEY FAUCETTE, 86 Yrs. +Ex-slave. + + +Yes, Mis', I wuz bawn in 1851, de 16th of November, on de Occoneechee +Plantation, owned by Marse John Norwood an' his good wife, Mis' Annie. +An' when I say 'good' I mean jus dat, for no better people ever lived +den my Marse John an' Mis' Annie. + +One thing dat made our Marse an' Mistis so good wuz de way dey brought +up us niggers. We wuz called to de big house an' taught de Bible an' dey +wuz Bible readin's every day. We wuz taught to be good men an' women an' +to be hones'. Marse never sold any of us niggers. But when his boys and +girls got married he would give dem some of us to take with dem. + +Marse never allowed us to be whipped. One time we had a white overseer +an' he whipped a fiel' han' called Sam Norwood, til de blood come. He +beat him so bad dat de other niggers had to take him down to de river +an' wash de blood off. When Marse come an' foun' dat out he sent dat +white man off an' wouldn' let him stay on de plantation over night. He +jus' wouldn' have him roun' de place no longer. He made Uncle Whitted de +overseer kase he wuz one of de oldest slaves he had an' a good nigger. + +When any of us niggers got sick Mis' Annie would come down to de cabin +to see us. She brung de best wine, good chicken an' chicken soup an' +everything else she had at de big house dat she thought we would like, +an' she done everything she could to get us well again. + +Marse John never worked us after dark. We worked in de day an' had de +nights to play games an' have singin's. We never cooked on a Sunday. +Everything we ett on dat day was cooked on Saturday. Dey wuzn' lighted +in de cook stoves or fire places in de big house or cabins neither. +Everybody rested on Sunday. De tables wuz set an' de food put on to eat, +but nobody cut any wood an' dey wuzn' no other work don' on dat day. +Mammy Beckie wuz my gran'mammy an' she toted de keys to de pantry an' +smoke house, an' her word went wid Marse John an' Mis' Annie. + +Marse John wuz a great lawyer an' when he went to Pittsboro an' other +places to practice, if he wuz to stay all night, Mis' Annie had my mammy +sleep right in bed wid her, so she wouldn' be 'fraid. + +Marse an Mistis had three sons an' three daughters,--De oldest son wuz +not able to go to war. He had studied so hard dat it had 'fected his +mind, so he stayed at home. De secon' son, named Albert, went to war an' +wuz brought back dead with a bullet hole through his head. Dat liked to +have killed Marse John an' Mis' Annie. Dey wuz three girls, named, Mis' +Maggie, Mis' Ella Bella and Mis' Rebena. + +I wuz de cow-tender. I took care of de cows an' de calves. I would have +to hold de calf up to de mother cow 'til de milk would come down an' den +I would have to hold it away 'til somebody done de milkin'. I tended de +horses, too, an' anything else dat I wuz told to do. + +When de war started an' de Yankees come, dey didn' do much harm to our +place. Marse had all de silver an' money an' other things of value hid +under a big rock be de river an' de Yankees never did fine anything dat +we hid. + +Our own sojers did more harm on our plantation den de Yankees. Dey +camped in de woods an' never did have nuff to eat an' took what dey +wanted. An' lice! I ain't never seed de like. It took fifteen years for +us to get shed of de lice dat de sojers lef' behind. You jus' couldn' +get dem out of your clothes les' you burned dem up. Dey wuz hard to get +shed of. + +After de war wuz over Marse John let Pappy have eighteen acres of land +for de use of two of his boys for a year. My pappy made a good crop of +corn, wheat an' other food on dis land. Dey wuz a time when you couldn' +find a crust of bread or piece of meat in my mammy's pantry for us to +eat, an' when she did get a little meat or bread she would divide it +between us chillun, so each would have a share an' go without herself +an' never conplained. + +When pappy wuz makin' his crop some of de others would ask him why he +didn' take up some of his crop and get somethin' to eat. He would answer +an' say dat when he left dat place he intended to take his crop with him +an' he did. He took plenty of corn, wheat, potatoes an' other food, a +cow, her calf, mule an' hogs an' he moved to a farm dat he bought. + +Later on in years my pappy an mammy come here in Durham an' bought a +home. I worked for dem' til I wuz thirty-two years old an' give dem what +money I earned. I worked for as little as twenty-five cents a day. Den I +got a dray an' hauled for fifteen cents a load from de Durham depo' to +West Durham for fifteen years. Little did I think at dat time dat I +would ever have big trucks an' a payroll of $6,000.00 a year. De good +Lawd has blest me all de way, an' all I have is His'n, even to my own +breath. + +Den one day I went back home to see my old Marse an' I foun' him sittin' +in a big chair on de po'ch an' his health wuzn' so good. He sed, +"Lindsey, why don' you stop runnin' roun' wid de girls an' stop you +cou't 'n? You never will get nowhere makin' all de girls love you an' den +you walk away an' make up with some other girl. Go get yourself a good +girl an' get married an' raise a family an' be somebody." An' I did. I +quit all de girls an' I foun' a fine girl and we wuz married. I sho got +a good wife; I got one of de best women dat could be foun' an' we lived +together for over forty-five years. Den she died six years ago now, an' +I sho miss her for she wuz a real help-mate all through dese years. We +raised five chillun an' educated dem to be school teachers an' other +trades. + +I have tried to live de way I wuz raised to. My wife never worked a day +away from home all de years we wuz married. It wuz my raisin an' my +strong faith in my Lawd an' Marster dat helped me to get along as well +as I have, an' I bless Him every day for de strength He has given me to +bring up my family as well as I have. Der is only one way to live an' +dat is de right way. Educate your chillun, if you can, but be sho you +give dem de proper moral training at home. De right way to raise your +chillun is to larn dem to have manners and proper respect for their +parents, be good citizens an' God fearin' men an' women. When you have +done dat you will not be ashamed of dem in your old age. I bless my +Maker dat I have lived so clos' to Him as I have all dese years an' when +de time comes to go to Him I will have no regrets an' no fears. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320223] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 567 +Subject: A SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Ora M. Flagg +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +ORA M. FLAGG +811 Oberlin Road + + +My name is Ora M. Flagg. I wus born in Raleigh near the Professional +Building, in the year 1860, October 16. My mother wus named Jane Busbee. +Her marster wus Quent Busbee, a lawyer. Her missus wus Julia Busbee. She +wus a Taylor before she married Mr. Busbee. Now I tell you, I can't tell +you exactly, but the old heads died. The old heads were the Scurlocks +who lived in Chatham County. I heard their names but I don't remember +them. Their children when they died drawed for the slaves and my mother +wus brought to Raleigh when she wus eight years old. She came from the +Scurlocks to the Busbees. The Taylors were relatives of the Scurlocks, +and were allowed to draw, and Julia Taylor drawed my mother. It wus +fixed so the slaves on this estate could not be sold, but could be +drawed for by the family and relatives. She got along just middlin' +after her missus died. When her missus died, mother said she had to look +after herself. Mr. Busbee would not allow anyone to whip mother. He +married Miss Lizzie Bledsoe the second time. + +I wus only a child and, of course, I thought as I could get a little +something to eat everything wus all right, but we had few comforts. We +had prayer meeting and we went to the white people's church. I heard +mother say that they had to be very careful what they said in their +worship. Lots of time dey put us children to bed and went off. + +About the time of the surrender, I heard a lot about the patterollers, +but I did not know what they were. Children wus not as wise then as they +are now. They didn't know as much about things. + +Yes sir, I remember the Yankees coming to Raleigh, we had been taken +out to Moses Bledsoe's place on Holleman's Road to protect Mr. Bledsoe's +things. They said if they put the things out there, and put a family of +Negroes there the Yankees would not bother the things. So they stored a +lot of stuff there, and put my mother an' a slave man by the name o' Tom +Gillmore there. Two Negro families were there. We children watched the +Yankees march by. + +The Yankees went through everything, and when mother wouldn't tell them +where the silver wus hid they threw her things in the well. Mother +cried, an' when the Yankee officers heard of it they sent a guard there +to protect us. The colored man, Tom Gillmore, wus so scared, he and his +family moved out at night leaving my mother alone with her family. The +Yankees ate the preserves and all the meat and other things. They +destroyed a lot they could not eat. + +Mother and me stayed on with marster after the surrender, and stayed +on his place till he died. After that we moved to Peck's Place, called +Peck's Place because the property wus sold by Louis Peck. It wus also +called the 'Save-rent' section, then in later years Oberlin Road. + +I think slavery wus a bad thing, while it had its good points in +building good strong men. In some cases where marsters were bad it wus a +bad thing. + +Abraham Lincoln wus our friend, he set us free. I don't know much about +Booker T. Washington. Mr Roosevelt is all right. Jim Young seemed to be +all right. Jeff Davis didn't bother me. I guess he wus all right. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320214] +Worker: Mary Hicks +No. Words: 361 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Story Teller: Analiza Foster. +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An interview with Analiza Foster, 68 of 1120 South +Blount Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I wuz borned in Person County ter Tom Line an' Harriet Cash. My mammy +belonged ter a Mr. Cash an' pappy belonged ter Miss Betsy Woods. Both of +dese owners wuz mean ter dere slaves an' dey ain't carin' much if'en dey +kills one, case dey's got plenty. Dar wuz one woman dat I hyard mammy +tell of bein' beat clean ter death. + +De 'oman wuz pregnant an' she fainted in de fiel' at de plow. De driver +said dat she wuz puttin' on, an' dat she ort ter be beat. De master said +dat she can be beat but don't ter hurt de baby. De driver says dat he +won't, den he digs a hole in de sand an' he puts de 'oman in de hole, +which am nigh 'bout ter her arm pits, den he kivers her up an' straps +her han's over her haid. + +He takes de long bull whup an' he cuts long gashes all over her +shoulders an' raised arms, den he walks off an' leabes her dar fer a +hour in de hot sun. De flies an' de gnats dey worry her, an' de sun +hurts too an' she cries a little, den de driver comes out wid a pan +full of vinegar, salt an' red pepper an' he washes de gashes. De 'oman +faints an' he digs her up, but in a few minutes she am stone dead. + +Dat's de wust case dat I'se eber hyard of but I reckon dar wuz plenty +more of dem. + +Ter show yo' de value of slaves I'll tell yo' 'bout my gran'ma. She wuz +sold on de block four times, an' eber time she brung a thousand dollars. +She wuz valuable case she wuz strong an' could plow day by day, den too +she could have twenty chilluns an' wuck right on. + +De Yankees come through our country an' dey makes de slaves draw water +fer de horses all night. Course dey stold eber'thing dey got dere han's +on but dat wuz what ole Abraham Lincoln tol' dem ter do. + +MH:EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320088] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 570 +Subject: A SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Georgianna Foster +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 23 1937"] + +GEORGIANNA FOSTER +1308 Poole Road, Route # 2. Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I wus born in 1861. I jes' can 'member de Yankees comin' through, but I +'members dere wus a lot of 'em wearin' blue clothes. I wus born at +Kerney Upchurch's plantation twelve miles from Raleigh. He wus my +marster an' Missus Enny wus his wife. My father wus named Axiom Wilder +and my mother wus Mancy Wilder. De most I know 'bout slavery dey tole it +to me. I 'members I run when de Yankees come close to me. I wus 'fraid +of 'em. + +We lived in a little log houses at marsters. De food wus short an' +things in general wus bad, so mother tole me. She said dey wus a whole +lot meaner den dey had any business bein'. Dey allowed de patterollers +to snoop around an' whup de slaves, mother said dey stripped some of de +slaves naked an' whupped 'em. She said women had to work all day in de +fields an' come home an' do de house work at night while de white folks +hardly done a han's turn of work. + +Marse Kerney had a sluice of chilluns. I can't think of 'em all, but I +'members Calvin, James, Allen, Emily, Helen, an' I jest can't think of +de rest of de chilluns names. + +Mother said dey gathered slaves together like dey did horses an' sold +'em on de block. Mother said dey carried some to Rolesville in Wake +County an' sold 'em. Dey sold Henry Temples an' Lucinda Upchurch from +marster's plantation, but dey carried 'em to Raleigh to sell 'em. + +We wore homemade clothes an' shoes wid wooden bottoms. Dey would not +allow us to sing an' pray but dey turned pots down at de door an' sung +an' prayed enyhow an' de Lord heard dere prayers. Dat dey did sing an' +pray. + +Mother said dey whupped a slave if dey caught him wid a book in his +hand. You wus not 'lowed no books. Larnin' among de slaves wus a +forbidden thing. Dey wus not allowed to cook anything for demselves at +de cabins no time 'cept night. Dere wus a cook who cooked fur all durin' +de day. Sometimes de field han's had to work 'round de place at night +after comin' in from de fields. Mother said livin' at marster's wus hard +an' when dey set us free we left as quick as we could an' went to Mr. +Bob Perry's plantation an' stayed there many years. He wus a good man +an' give us all a chance. Mother wus free born at Upchurch's but when de +war ended, she had been bound to Wilder by her mother, an' had married +my father who wus a slave belongin' to Bob Wilder. Dey did not like de +fare at Marster Upchurch's or Marster Wilder's, so when dey wus set free +dey lef' an' went to Mrs. Perry's place. + +Dey had overseers on both plantations in slavery time but some of de +niggers would run away before dey would take a whuppin'. Fred Perry run +away to keep from bein' sold. He come back do' an' tole his marster to +do what he wanted to wid him. His marster told him to go to work an' he +stayed dere till he wus set free. God heard his prayer 'cause he said he +axed God not to let him be sold. + +Mother an' father said Abraham Lincoln come through there on his way to +Jeff Davis. Jeff Davis wus de Southern President. Lincoln say, 'Turn dem +slaves loose, Jeff Davis,' an' Jeff Davis said nuthin'. Den he come de +second time an' say, 'Is you gwine to turn dem slaves loose?' an' Jeff +Davis wouldn't do it. Den Lincoln come a third time an' had a cannon +shootin' man wid him an' he axed, 'Is you gwine to set dem slaves free +Jeff Davis?' An' Jeff Davis he say, 'Abraham Lincoln, you knows I is not +goin' to give up my property, an' den Lincoln said, 'I jest as well go +back an' git up my crowd den.' Dey talked down in South Carolina an' +when Jeff Davis 'fused to set us free, Lincoln went home to the North +and got up his crowd, one hundred an' forty thousand men, dey said, an' +de war begun. Dey fighted an' fighted an' de Yankees whupped. Dey set us +free an' dey say dat dey hung Jeff Davis on a ole apple tree. + +EH +[HW in margin:--illegible] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320247] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 815 +Subject: FRANK FREEMAN +Story Teller: Frank Freeman +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +FRANK FREEMAN +216 Tappers Lane + + +I was born near Rolesville in Wake County Christmas Eve, 24 of December +1857. I am 76 years old. My name is Frank Freeman and my wife's name is +Mary Freeman. She is 78 years old. We live at 216 Tuppers Lane, Raleigh, +Wake County, North Carolina. I belonged to ole man Jim Wiggins jus' this +side o' Roseville, fourteen miles from Raleigh. The great house is +standin' there now, and a family by the name o' Gill, a colored man's +family, lives there. The place is owned by ole man Jim Wiggins's +grandson, whose name is O. B. Wiggins. My wife belonged to the Terrells +before the surrender. I married after the war. I was forty years ole +when I was married. + +Old man Jim Wiggins was good to his niggers, and when the slave +children were taken off by his children they treated us good. Missus +dressed mother up in her clothes and let her go to church. We had good, +well cooked food, good clothes, and good places to sleep. Some of the +chimneys which were once attached to the slave houses are standing on +the plantation. The home plantation in Wake County was 3000 acres. + +Marster also owned three and a quarter plantations in Franklin County. +He kept about ten men at home and would not let his slave boys work +until they were 18 years old, except tend to horses and do light jobs +around the house. He had slaves on all his plantations but they were +under colored overseers who were slaves themselves. Marster had three +boys and five girls, eight children of his own. + +One of the girls was Siddie Wiggins. When she married Alfred Holland, +and they went to Smithfield to live she took me with her, when I was two +years old. She thought so much o' me mother was willing to let me go. +Mother loved Miss Siddie, and it was agreeable in the family. I stayed +right on with her after the surrender three years until 1868. My father +decided to take me home then and went after me. + +They never taught us books of any kind. I was about 8 years old when I +began to study books. When I was 21 Christmas Eve 1880, father told me I +was my own man and that was all he had to give me. + +I had decided many years before to save all my nickles. I kept them in +a bag. I did not drink, chew, smoke or use tobacco in any way during +this time. When he told me I was free I counted up my money and found I +had $47.75. I had never up to this tasted liquor or tobacco. I don't +know anything about it yet. I have never used it. With that money I +entered Shaw University. I worked eight hours a week in order to help +pay my way. + +Later I went into public service, teaching four months a year in the +public schools. My salary was $25.00 per month. I kept going to school +at Shaw until I could get a first grade teacher's certificate. I never +graduated. I taught in the public schools for 43 years. I would be +teaching now, but I have high blood pressure. + +I was at Master Hollands at Smithfield when the Yankees came through. +They went into my Marster's store and began breaking up things and +taking what they wanted. They were dressed in blue and I did not know +who they were. I asked and someone told me they were the Yankees. + +My father was named Burton, and my mother was named Queen Anne. Father +was a Freeman and mother was a Wiggins. + +There were no churches on the plantation. My father told me a story +about his young master, Joe Freeman and my father's brother Soloman. +Marster got Soloman to help whip him. My father went in to see young +Missus and told her about it, and let her know he was going away. He had +got the cradle blade and said he would kill either of them if they +bothered him. Father had so much Indian blood in him that he would +fight. He ran away and stayed four years and passed for a free nigger. +He stayed in the Bancomb Settlement in Johnson County. When he came home +before the war ended, Old Marster said, 'Soloman why didn't you stay?' +father said, 'I have been off long enough'. Marster said 'Go to work', +and there was no more to it. Father helped build the breastworks in the +Eastern part of the State down at Ft. Fisher. He worked on the forts at +New Bern too. + +I think Abraham Lincoln worked hard for our freedom. He was a great +man. I think Mr. Roosevelt is a good man and is doing all he can for the +good of all. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320010] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 976 +Subject: ADDY GILL +Story Teller: Addy Gill +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "SEP 10 1937"] + +ADDY GILL 1614 "B" St. Lincoln Park Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I am seventy four years of age. I wus born a slave Jan. 6, 1863 on a +plantation near Millburnie, Wake County, owned by Major Wilder, who +hired my father's time. His wife wus named Sarah Wilder. I don't know +anything 'bout slavery 'cept what wus tole me by father and mother but I +do know that if it had not been for what de southern white folks done +for us niggers we'd have perished to death. De north turned us out wid +out anything to make a livin' wid. + +My father wus David Gill and, my mother wus Emily Gill. My father wus a +blacksmith an he moved from place to place where dey hired his time. +Dats why I wus born on Major Wilders place. Marster Gill who owned us +hired father to Major Wilder and mother moved wid him. For a longtime +atter de war, nine years, we stayed on wid Major Wilder, de place we wus +at when dey set us free. + +Mr. Wilder had a large plantation and owned a large number of slaves +before de surrender. I only 'members fourteen of de ones I know belonged +to him. Mr. Wilder wus a mighty good man. We had plenty to eat an plenty +work to do. Dere wus seven in the Major's family. Three boys, two girls, +he an his wife. His boys wus named Sam, Will and Crockett. De girls wus +named Florence and Flora. Dey are all dead, every one of 'em. De whole +set. I don't know nary one of 'em dats livin. If dey wus livin I could +go to 'em an' git a meal any time. Yes Sir! any time, day or night. + +I farmed for a long time for myself atter I wus free from my father at +21 years of age. Den 'bout twelve years ago I come to Raleigh and got a +job as butler at St. Augustine Episcopal College for Colored. I worked +dere eight years, wus taken sick while workin dere an has been unable to +work much since. Dat wus four years ago. Since den sometimes I ain't +able to git up outen my cheer when I is settin down. I tells you, +mister, when a nigger leaves de farm an comes to town to live he sho is +takin a mighty big chance wid de wolf. He is just a riskin parishin, +dats what he is a doin. + +I married forty five years ago this past November. I wus married on de +second Thursday night in November to Millie Ruffin of Wake County, North +Carolina. We had leben chilluns, six boys an five gals. Four of the boys +an one of de gals is livin now. Some of my chilluns went north but dey +didn't stay dere but two months. De one dat went north wus Sam, dat wus +de oldest one. He took a notion to marry so he went up to Pennsylvania +and worked. Just as soon as he got enough money to marry on he come back +an got married. He never went back north no more. + +Mother belonged to Sam Krenshaw before she wus bought by Marster Gill. +Her missus when she was a girl growin up wus Mrs. Louise Krenshaw. De +missus done de whuppin on Mr. Krenshaw's plantation an she wus mighty +rough at times. She whupped mother an cut her back to pieces so bad dat +de scars wus on her when she died. Father died in Raleigh an mother died +out on Miss Annie Ball's farm 'bout seven miles from Raleigh. Mother an +father wus livin there when mother died. Father den come to Raleigh an +died here. + +I caint read an write but all my chilluns can read and write. Mother +and father could not read or write. I haint had no chance. I had no +larnin. I had to depend on white folks I farmed wid to look atter my +business. Some of em cheated me out of what I made. I am tellin you de +truth 'bout some of de landlords, dey got mighty nigh all I made. Mr. +Richard Taylor who owned a farm near Raleigh whur I stayed two years wus +one of em. He charged de same thing three times an I had it to pay. I +stayed two years an made nothin'. Dis is de truth from my heart, from +here to glory. I members payin' fur a middlin of meat twice. Some of de +white folks looked out fur me an prospered. Mr. Dave Faulk wus one of +'em. I stayed wid him six years and I prospered. Mr. John Bushnell wus a +man who took up no time wid niggers. I rented from him a long time. + +He furnished a nigger cash to run his crap on. De nigger made de crap +sold it an carried him his part. He figgered 'bout what he should have +an de nigger paid in cash. He wus a mighty good man to his nigger +tenants. I never owned a farm, I never owned horses or mules to farm +with. I worked de landlords stock and farmed his land on shares. Farmin' +has been my happiest life and I wushes I wus able to farm agin cause I +am happiest when on de farm. + +I had a quiet home weddin' an I wus married by a white magistrate. I +got up one night an' wus married at 1 o'clock. + +Atter de weddin she went back home wid me. We have had our ups and +downs in life. Sometimes de livin' has been mighty hard, but dere has +never been a time since I been free when I could not git a handout from +de white folks back yard. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320020] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 2,118 +Subject: A SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Robert Glenn +Editor: George L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "SEP 10 1937"] + +ROBERT GLENN 207 Idlewild Avenue Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I was a slave before and during the Civil War. I am 87 years old. I was +born Sept. 16, 1850. I was born in Orange County, North Carolina near +Hillsboro. At that time Durham was just a platform at the station and no +house there whatever. The platform was lighted with a contraption shaped +like a basket and burning coal that gave off a blaze. There were holes +in this metal basket for the cinders to fall through. + +I belonged to a man named Bob Hall, he was a widower. He had three +sons, Thomas, Nelson, and Lambert. He died when I was eight years old +and I was put on the block and sold in Nelson Hall's yard by the son of +Bob Hall. I saw my brother and sister sold on this same plantation. My +mother belonged to the Halls, and father belonged to the Glenns. They +sold me away from my father and mother and I was carried to the state of +Kentucky. I was bought by a Negro speculator by the name of Henry long +who lived not far from Hurdles Mill in Person County. I was not allowed +to tell my mother and father goodbye. I was bought and sold three times +in one day. + +My father's time was hired out and as he knew a trade he had by working +overtime saved up a considerable amount of money. After the speculator, +Henry Long, bought me, mother went to father and pled with him to buy me +from him and let the white folks hire me out. No slave could own a +slave. Father got the consent and help of his owners to buy me and they +asked Long to put me on the block again. Long did so and named his price +but when he learned who had bid me off he backed down. Later in the day +he put me on the block and named another price much higher than the +price formerly set. He was asked by the white folks to name his price +for his bargain and he did so. I was again put on the auction block and +father bought me in, putting up the cash. Long then flew into a rage and +cursed my father saying, 'you damn black son of a bitch, you think you +are white do you? Now just to show you are black, I will not let you +have your son at any price.' Father knew it was all off, mother was +frantic but there was nothing they could do about it. They had to stand +and see the speculator put me on his horse behind him and ride away +without allowing either of them to tell me goodbye. I figure I was sold +three times in one day, as the price asked was offered in each instance. +Mother was told under threat of a whupping not to make any outcry when I +was carried away. He took me to his home, but on the way he stopped for +refreshments, at a plantation, and while he was eating and drinking, he +put me into a room where two white women were spinning flax. I was given +a seat across the room from where they were working. After I had sat +there awhile wondering where I was going and thinking about mother and +home, I went to one of the women and asked, 'Missus when will I see my +mother again?' She replied, I don't know child, go and sit down. I went +back to my seat and as I did so both the women stopped spinning for a +moment, looked at each other, and one of them remarked. "Almighty God, +this slavery business is a horrible thing. Chances are this boy will +never see his mother again." This remark nearly killed me, as I began to +fully realize my situation. Long, the Negro trader, soon came back, put +me on his horse and finished the trip to his home. He kept me at his +home awhile and then traded me to a man named William Moore who lived in +Person County. Moore at this time was planning to move to Kentucky which +he soon did, taking me with him. My mother found out by the "Grapevine +telegraph" that I was going to be carried to Kentucky. She got +permission and came to see me before they carried me off. When she +started home I was allowed to go part of the way with her but they sent +two Negro girls with us to insure my return. We were allowed to talk +privately, but while we were doing so, the two girls stood a short +distance away and watched as the marster told them when they left that +if I escaped they would be whipped every day until I was caught. When +the time of parting came and I had to turn back, I burst out crying +loud. I was so weak from sorrow I could not walk, and the two girls who +were with me took me by each arm and led me along half carrying me. + +This man Moore carried me and several other slaves to Kentucky. We +traveled by train by way of Nashville, Tenn. My thoughts are not +familiar with the happenings of this trip but I remember that we walked +a long distance at one place on the trip from one depot to another. + +We finally reached Kentucky and Moore stopped at his brother's +plantation until he could buy one, then we moved on it. My marster was +named William Moore and my missus was named Martha Whitfield Moore. It +was a big plantation and he hired a lot of help and had white tenants +besides the land he worked with slaves. There were only six slaves used +as regular field hands during his first year in Kentucky. + +The food was generally common. Hog meat and cornbread most all the +time. Slaves got biscuits only on Sunday morning. Our clothes were poor +and I worked barefooted most of the time, winter and summer. No books, +papers or anything concerning education was allowed the slaves by his +rules and the customs of these times. + +Marster Moore had four children among whom was one boy about my age. +The girls were named Atona, Beulah, and Minnie, and the boy was named +Crosby. He was mighty brilliant. We played together. He was the only +white boy there, and he took a great liking to me, and we loved each +devotedly. Once in an undertone he asked me how would I like to have an +education. I was overjoyed at the suggestion and he at once began to +teach me secretly. I studied hard and he soon had me so I could read and +write well. I continued studying and he continued teaching me. He +furnished me books and slipped all the papers he could get to me and I +was the best educated Negro in the community without anyone except the +slaves knowing what was going on. + +All the slaves on marster's plantation lived the first year we spent in +Kentucky in a one room house with one fireplace. There was a dozen or +more who all lived in this one room house. Marster built himself a large +house having seven rooms. He worked his slaves himself and never had any +overseers. We worked from sun to sun in the fields and then worked at +the house after getting in from the fields as long as we could see. I +have never seen a patteroller but when I left the plantation in slavery +time I got a pass. I have never seen a jail for slaves but I have seen +slaves whipped and I was whipped myself. I was whipped particularly +about a saddle I left out in the night after using it during the day. My +flesh was cut up so bad that the scars are on me to this day. + +We were not allowed to have prayer meetings, but we went to the white +folks church to services sometimes. There were no looms, mills, or shops +on the plantation at Marster Moore's. I kept the name of Glenn through +all the years as Marster Moore did not change his slaves names to his +family name. My mother was named Martha Glenn and father was named Bob +Glenn. + +I was in the field when I first heard of the Civil War. The woman who +looked after Henry Hall and myself (both slaves) told me she heard +marster say old Abraham Lincoln was trying to free the niggers. Marster +finally pulled me up and went and joined the Confederate Army. Kentucky +split and part joined the North and part the South. The war news kept +slipping through of success for first one side then the other. Sometimes +marster would come home, spend a few days and then go again to the war. +It seemed he influenced a lot of men to join the southern army, among +them was a man named Enoch Moorehead. Moorehead was killed in a few days +after he joined the southern army. + +Marster Moore fell out with a lot of his associates in the army and +some of them who were from the same community became his bitter enemies. +Tom Foushee was one of them. Marster became so alarmed over the threats +on his life made by Foushee and others that he was afraid to stay in his +own home at night, and he built a little camp one and one half miles +from his home and he and missus spent their nights there on his visits +home. Foushee finally came to the great house one night heavily armed, +came right on into the house and inquired for marster. We told him +marster was away. Foushee lay down on the floor and waited a long time +for him. Marster was at the little camp but we would not tell where he +was. + +Foushee left after spending most of the night at marster's. As he went +out into the yard, when leaving, marster's bull dog grawled at him and +he shot him dead. + +Marster went to Henderson, Kentucky, the County seat of Henderson +County, and surrendered to the Federal Army and took the Oath of +Allegiance. Up to that time I had seen a few Yankees. They stopped now +and then at marster's and got their breakfast. They always asked about +buttermilk, they seemed to be very fond of it. They were also fond of +ham, but we had the ham meat buried in the ground, this was about the +close of the war. A big army of Yankees came through a few months later +and soon we heard of the surrender. A few days after this marster told +me to catch two horses that we had to go to Dickenson which was the +County seat of Webster County. On the way to Dickenson he said to me, +'Bob, did you know you are free and Lincoln has freed you? You are as +free as I am.' We went to the Freedmen's Bureau and went into the +office. A Yankee officer looked me over and asked marster my name, and +informed me I was free, and asked me whether or not I wanted to keep +living with Moore. I did not know what to do, so I told him yes. A fixed +price of seventy-five dollars and board was then set as the salary I +should receive per year for my work. The Yankees told me to let him know +if I was not paid as agreed. + +I went back home and stayed a year. During the year I hunted a lot at +night and thoroughly enjoyed being free. I took my freedom by degrees +and remained obedient and respectful, but still wondering and thinking +of what the future held for me. After I retired at night I made plan +after plan and built aircastles as to what I would do. At this time I +formed a great attachment for the white man, Mr. Atlas Chandler, with +whom I hunted. He bought my part of the game we caught and favored me in +other ways. Mr. Chandler had a friend, Mr. Dewitt Yarborough, who was an +adventurer, and trader, and half brother to my ex-marster, Mr. Moore, +with whom I was then staying. He is responsible for me taking myself +into my own hands and getting out of feeling I was still under +obligations to ask my marster or missus when I desired to leave the +premises. Mr. Yarborough's son was off at school at a place called +Kiloh, Kentucky, and he wanted to carry a horse to him and also take +along some other animals for trading purposes. He offered me a new pair +of pants to make the trip for him and I accepted the job. I delivered +the horse to his son and started for home. On the way back I ran into +Uncle Squire Yarborough who once belonged to Dewitt Yarborough. He +persuaded me to go home with him and go with him to a wedding in Union +County, Kentucky. The wedding was twenty miles away and we walked the +entire distance. It was a double wedding, two couples were married. +Georgianna Hawkins was married to George Ross and Steve Carter married a +woman whose name I do not remember. This was in the winter during the +Christmas Holidays and I stayed in the community until about the first +of January, then I went back home. I had been thinking for several days +before I went back home as to just what I must tell Mr. Moore and as to +how he felt about the matter, and what I would get when I got home. In +my dilema I almost forgot I was free. + +I got home at night and my mind and heart was full but I was surprised +at the way he treated me. He acted kind and asked me if I was going to +stay with him next year. I was pleased. I told him, yes sir! and then I +lay down and went to sleep. He had a boss man on his plantation then and +next morning he called me, but I just couldn't wake. I seemed to be in a +trance or something, I had recently lost so much sleep. He called me the +second time and still I di [HW: d] not get up. Then he came in and +spanked my head. I jumped up and went to work feeding the stock and +splitting wood for the day's cooking and fires. I then went in and ate +my breakfast. Mr. Moore told me to hitch a team of horses to a wagon and +go to a neighbors five miles away for a load of hogs. I refused to do +so. They called me into the house and asked me what I was going to do +about it. I said I do not know. As I said that I stepped out of the +door and left. I went straight to the county seat and hired to Dr. +George Rasby in Webster County for one hundred dollars per year. I +stayed there one year. I got uneasy in Kentucky. The whites treated the +blacks awful bad so I decided to go to Illinois as I thought a Negro +might have a better chance there, it being a northern state. I was +kindly treated and soon began to save money, but all through the years +there was a thought that haunted me in my dreams and in my waking hours, +and this thought was of my mother, whom I had not seen or heard of in +many years. Finally one cold morning in early December I made a vow that +I was going to North Carolina and see my mother if she was still living. +I had plenty of money for the trip. I wrote the postmaster in Roxboro, +North Carolina, asking him to inform my mother I was still living, and +telling him the circumstances, mailing a letter at the same time telling +her I was still alive but saying nothing of my intended visit to her. I +left Illinois bound for North Carolina on December 15th and in a few +days I was at my mother's home. I tried to fool them. There were two men +with me and they called me by a ficticious name, but when I shook my +mother's hand I held it a little too long and she suspicioned something +still she held herself until she was more sure. When she got a chance +she came to me and said ain't you my child? Tell me ain't you my child +whom I left on the road near Mr. Moore's before the war? I broke down +and began to cry. Mother nor father did not know me, but mother +suspicioned I was her child. Father had a few days previously remarked +that he did not want to die without seeing his son once more. I could +not find language to express my feeling. I did not know before I came +home whether my parents were dead or alive. This Christmas I spent in +the county and state of my birth and childhood; with mother, father and +freedom was the happiest period of my entire life, because those who +were torn apart in bondage and sorrow several years previous were now +united in freedom and happiness. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [ ] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: SARAH ANNE GREEN + Ex-Slave, 78 Years + Durham County + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +SARAH ANNE GREEN +EX-SLAVE 78 YEARS + + +My mammy an' pappy wuz Anderson an' Hannah Watson. We fus' belonged to +Marse Billy an' Mis Roby Watson, but when Marse Billy's daughter, Mis' +Susie ma'ied young Marse Billy Headen, Ole Marse give her me, an' my +mammy an' my pappy for er weddin' gif'. So, I growed up as Sarah Anne +Headen. + +My pappy had blue eyes. Dey wuz jus' like Marse Billy's eyes, kaze Ole +Marse wuz pappy's marster an' his pappy too. Ole Marse wuz called +Hickory Billy, dey called him dat kaze he chewed hickory bark. He +wouldn' touch 'bacca, but he kept er twis' of dis bark in his pocket +mos' all de time. He would make us chillun go down whare de niggers wuz +splittin' rails an' peel dis bark off de logs befo' dey wuz split. De +stuff he chewed come off de log right under de bark. After dey'd skin de +logs we'd peel off dis hickory 'bacca in long strips an' make it up in +twis's for Ole Marse. It wuz yellah an' tas' sweet an' sappy, an' he'd +chew an' spit, an' chew an' spit. Mis' Roby wouldn' 'low no chewin' in +de house, but Ole Marse sho done some spittin' outside. He could stan' +in de barn door an' spit clear up in de lof'. + +Ole Marse an' Mis Roby lived on er big plantation near Goldston an' dey +had 'bout three hundred slaves. Hannah, my mammy, wuz de head +seamstress. She had to 'ten' to de makin' of all de slaves clothes. De +niggers had good clothes. De cloth wuz home woven in de weavin' room. +Ten niggers didn' do nothin' but weave, but every slave had one Sunday +dress a year made out of store bought cloth. Ole Marse seed to dat. Ole +Marse made de niggers go to chu'ch too. He had er meetin' house on +plantation an' every Sunday we wuz ma'ched to meetin'. Dey wuz preachin' +every other Sunday an' Sunday School every Sunday. Marse Billy an' Mis' +Roby teached de Sunday School, but dey didn' teach us to read an' write, +no suh, dey sho didn'. If dey'd see us wid er book dey'd whip us. Dey +said niggers didn' need no knowledge; dat dey mus' do what dey wuz tole +to do. Marse Billy wuz er doctor too. He doctored de slaves when dey got +sick, an' if dey got bad off he sen' for er sho nuff doctor an' paid de +bills. + +Every Chris'mas Marse Billy give de niggers er big time. He called dem +up to de big house an' give dem er bag of candy, niggertoes, an' sugar +plums, den he say: 'Who wants er egg nog, boys?' All dem dat wants er +dram hol' up dey han's.' Yo' never seed such holdin' up of han's. I +would hol' up mine too, an' Ole Marse would look at me an say, 'Go 'way +from hear, Sarah Anne, yo' too little to be callin' for nog.' But he +fill up de glass jus' de same an' put in er extra spoon of sugar an' +give it to me. Dat sho wuz good nog. 'Twuz all foamy wid whipped cream +an' rich wid eggs. Marse Billy an' Mis' Roby served it demselves from +dey Sunday cut glass nog bowl, an' it kept Estella an' Rosette busy +fillin' it up. Marse Billy wuz er good man. + +When de war come on Marse Billy was too ole to go, but young Marse Billy +an' Marse Gaston went. Dey wuz Ole Marse's two boys. Young Marse Billy +Headen, Mis' Susie's husban' went too. + +De day Ole Marse heard dat de Yankees wuz comin' he took all de meat +'cept two or three pieces out of de smoke house, den he got de silver +an' things an' toted dem to de wood pile. He dug er hole an' buried dem, +den he covered de place wid chips, but wid dat he wuzn' satisfied, so he +made pappy bring er load of wood an' throw it on top of it, so when de +Yankees come dey didn' fin' it. + +When de Yankees come up in de yard Marse Billy took Mis' Roby an' locked +her up in dey room, den he walk 'roun' an' watched de Yankees, but dey +toted off what dey wanted. I wuzn' skeered of de Yankees; I thought dey +wuz pretty mens in dey blue coats an' brass buttons. I followed dem all +'roun' beggin' for dey coat buttons. I ain't never seed nothin' as +pretty as dem buttons. When dey lef' I followed dem way down de road +still beggin', 'twell one of dem Yankees pull off er button an' give it +to me. 'Hear, Nigger,' he say, 'take dis button. I's givin' it to you +kaze yo's got blue eyes. I ain't never seed blue eyes in er black face +befo'.' I had blue eyes like pappy an' Marse Billy, an' I kept dat +Yankee button 'twell I wuz ma'ied, den I los' it. + +De wus' thing I know dat happened, in de war wuz when Mis' Roby foun' de +Yankee sojer in de ladies back house. + +Down at de back of de garden behin' de row of lilac bushes wuz de two +back houses, one for de mens an' one for de ladies. Mis' Roby went down +to dis house one day, an' when she opened de door, dare lay er Yankee +sojer on de floor. His head wuz tied up wid er bloody rag an' he look +like he wuz dead. + +Mammy say she seed Mis' Roby when she come out. She looked skeered but +she didn' scream nor nothin'. When she seed mammy she motioned to her. +She tole her 'bout de Yankee. 'He's jus' er boy, Hannah,' she say, 'he +ain't no older den Marse Gaston, an' he's hurt. We got to do somethin' +an' we can't tell nobody.' Den she sen' mammy to de house for er pan of +hot water, de scissors an' er ole sheet. Mis' Roby cut off de bloody ran +an' wash dat sojer boy's head den she tied up de cut places. Den she +went to de house an' made mammy slip him er big milk toddy. 'Bout dat +time she seed some ho'seman comin' down de road. When dey got closer she +seed dey wuz 'Federate sojers. Dey rode up in de yard an' Marse Billy +went out to meet dem. Dey tole him dat dey wuz lookin' for er Yankee +prisoner dat done got away from dey camp. + +After Ole Marse tole dem dat he ain't seed no Yankee sojer, dey tole him +dat dey got to search de place kaze dat wuz orders. + +When Mis Roby heard dem say dat she turned an' went through de house to +do back yard. She walk 'roun' 'mong de flowers, but all de time she +watchin' dem 'Federates search de barns, stables, an' everywhare. But, +when dey start to de lilac bushes, Mis' Roby lif' her head an' walk +right down de paf to de ladies back house, an' right befo' all dem mens, +wid dem lookin' at her, she opened de door an' walk in. She sholy did. + +Dat night when 'twuz dark Mis' Roby wrap' up er passel of food an' er +bottle of brandy an' give it to dat sojer Yankee boy. She tole him dey +wuz ho'ses in de paster an' dat de Yankee camp wuz over near Laurinburg +or somewhare like dat. + +Nobody ain't seed dat boy since, but somehow dat ho'se come back an' in +his mane wuz er piece of paper. Marse Billy foun' it an' brung it to +Mis' Roby an' ax her what it meant. + +Mis' Roby took it an' 'twuz er letter dat sojer boy done wrote tellin' +her dat he wuz safe an' thankin' her for what she done for him. + +Mis' Roby tole Marse Billy she couldn' help savin' dat Yankee, he too +much of er boy. + +Marse Billy he look at Mis' Roby, den he say: 'Roby, honey, yo's braver +den any sojer I ever seed.' + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320356] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 624 +Subject: DORCAS GRIFFETH +Person Interviewed: Dorcas Griffeth +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"] + +DORCAS GRIFFETH +602 E. South Street + + +You know me every time you sees me don't you? Who tole you I wus Dorcas +Griffith? I seed you up town de other day. Yes, yes, I is old. I is 80 +years old. I remember all about dem Yankees. The first biscuit I ever et +dey give it to me. I wus big enough to nus de babies when de Yankees +came through. Dey carried biscuits on dere horses, I wus jist thinkin' +of my young missus de other day. I belonged to Doctor Clark in Chatham +County near Pittsboro. My father wus named Billy Dismith, and my mother +wus named Peggy Council. She belonged to the Councils. Father, belonged +to the Dismiths and I belonged to the Clarks. Missus wus named Winnie. +Dey had tolerable fine food for de white folks, but I did not get any of +it. De food dey give us wus mighty nigh nuthin'. Our clothes wus bad and +our sleepin' places wus not nuthin' at all. We had a hard time. We had a +hard time then and we are havin' a hard time now. We have a house to +live in now, and de chinches eat us up almos, and we have nuthin' to +live on now, jist a little from charity. I fares mighty bad. Dey gives +me a half peck of meal and a pound o' meat, a little oat meal, and +canned grape juice, a half pound o' coffee and no sugar or lard and no +flour. Dey gives us dat for a week's eatin'. + +De Yankees called de niggers who wus plowin' de mules when dey came +through an' made 'em bring 'em to 'em an' dey carried de mules on wid +em. De niggers called de Yankees Blue Jackets. + +I had two brothers, both older dan me. George de oldest and Jack. Let +me see I had four sisters 1, 2, 3, 4; one wus named Annie, one named +Rosa, Annie, and Francis and myself Dorcas. All de games I played wus de +wurk in de field wid a hoe. Dere wus no playgrounds like we has now. No, +no, if you got your work done you done enough. If I could see how to +write like you I could do a lot o' work but I can't see. I kin write. I +got a good education acording to readin', spellin, and writin'. I kin +say de 2nd chapter of Matthey by heart, the 27 chapter of Ezelial by +heart, or most of Ezekial by heart. + +I learned it since I got free. I went to school in Raleigh to de +Washington School. Dey wouldn't let us have books when I wus a slave. I +wus afraid ter be caught wid a book. De patterollers scared us so bad in +slavery time and beat so many uv de slaves dat we lef' de plantation +jus' as soon as we wus free. Dat's de reason father lef' de plantation +so quick. I also remember de Ku Klux. I wus afraid o' dem, and I did not +think much of 'em. I saw slaves whupped till de blood run down dere +backs. Once dey whupped some on de plantation and den put salt on de +places and pepper on 'em. I didn't think nuthin in de world o' slavery. +I think de it wus wrong. I didn't think a thing o' slavery. + +All my people are dead, and I am unable to work. I haven't been able to +work in six years. I thought Abraham Lincoln wus a good man. He had a +good name. + +I don't know much about Mr. Roosevelt but I hopes he will help me, +cause I need it mighty bad. + + + + +[TR: No Header Page] + +SARAH GUDGER [320005] +Ex-slave, 121 years + + +Investigation of the almost incredible claim of Aunt Sarah Gudger, +ex-slave living in Asheville, that she was born on Sept. 15, 1816, +discloses some factual information corroborating her statements. + +Aunt Sarah's father, Smart Gudger, belonged to and took his family name +from Joe Gudger, who lived near Oteen, about six miles east of Asheville +in the Swannanoa valley, prior to the War Between the States. Family +records show that Joe Gudger married a Miss McRae in 1817, and that +while in a despondent mood he ended his own life by hanging, as vividly +recounted by the former slave. + +John Hemphill, member of the family served by Aunt Sarah until +"freedom," is recalled as being "a few y'ars younge' as me," and indeed +his birth is recorded for 1822. Alexander Hemphill, mentioned by Aunt +Sarah as having left to join the Confederate army when about 25 years of +age, is authentic and his approximate age in 1861 tallies with that +recalled by the ex-slave. When Alexander went off to the war Aunt Sarah +was "gettin' t' be an ol' woman." + +Aunt Sarah lives with distant cousins in a two-story frame house, +comfortably furnished, at 8 Dalton street in South Asheville (the Negro +section lying north of Kenilworth). A distant male relative, 72 years of +age, said he has known Aunt Sarah all his life and that she was an old +woman when he was a small boy. Small in stature, about five feet tall, +Aunt Sarah is rathered rounded in face and body. Her milk-chocolate face +is surmounted by short, sparse hair, almost milk white. She is somewhat +deaf but understands questions asked her, responding with animation. She +walks with one crutch, being lame in the right leg. On events of the +long ago her mind is quite clear. Recalling the Confederate "sojers, +marchin', marchin'" to the drums, she beat a tempo on the floor with her +crutch. As she described how the hands of slaves were tied before they +were whipped for infractions she crossed her wrists. + +Owen Gudger, Asheville postmaster (1913-21), member of the Buncombe +County Historical Association, now engaged in the real estate business, +says he has been acquainted with Aunt Sarah all his life; that he has, +on several occasions, talked to her about her age and early +associations, and that her responses concerning members of the Gudger +and Hemphill families coincide with known facts of the two families. + +Interviewed by a member of the Federal Writers' Project, Aunt Sarah +seemed eager to talk, and needed but little prompting. + + +SARAH GUDGER +(born September 15, 1816) +Interview with Mrs. Marjorie Jones, May 5, 1937 + + +I wah bo'n 'bout two mile fum Ole Fo't on de Ole Mo'ganton Road. I sho' +has had a ha'd life. Jes wok, an' wok, an' wok. I nebbah know nothin' +but wok. Mah boss he wah Ole Man Andy Hemphill. He had a la'ge +plantation in de valley. Plenty ob ebbathin'. All kine ob stock: hawgs, +cows, mules, an' hosses. When Marse Andy die I go lib wif he son, +William Hemphill. + +I nebbah fo'git when Marse Andy die. He wah a good ole man, and de +Missie she wah good, too. She usta read de Bible t' us chillun afoah she +pass away. + +Mah pappy, he lib wif Joe Gudgah (Gudger). He ole an' feeble, I +'membahs. He 'pend on mah pappy t' see aftah ebbathin' foah him. He +allus trust mah pappy. One mo'nin' he follah pappy to de field. Pappy he +stop hes wok and ole Marse Joe, he say: "Well, Smart (pappy, he name +Smart), I's tard, wurried, an' trubble'. All dese yeahs I wok foah mah +chillun. Dey nevah do de right thing. Dey wurries me, Smart. I tell yo', +Smart, I's a good mind t' put mahself away. I's good mind t' drown +mahself right heah. I tebble wurried, Smart." + +Pappy he take hole Ole Marse Joe an' lead him t' de house. "Now Marse +Joe, I wudden talk sich talk effen I's yo'. Yo' ben good t' yo' fambly. +Jest yo' content yo'self an' rest." + +But a few days aftah dat, Ole Marse Joe wah found ahangin' in de ba'n by +de bridle. Ole Marse had put heself away. + +No'm, I nebbah knowed whut it wah t' rest. I jes wok all de time f'om +mawnin' till late at night. I had t' do ebbathin' dey wah t' do on de +outside. Wok in de field, chop wood, hoe cawn, till sometime I feels lak +mah back sholy break. I done ebbathin' 'cept split rails. Yo' know, dey +split rails back in dem days. Well, I nevah did split no rails. + +Ole Marse strop us good effen we did anythin' he didn' lak. Sometime he +get hes dandah up an' den we dassent look roun' at him. Else he tie yo' +hands afoah yo' body an' whup yo', jes lak yo' a mule. Lawdy, honey, I's +tuk a thousand lashins in mah day. Sometimes mah poah ole body be soah +foah a week. + +Ole Boss he send us niggahs out in any kine ob weathah, rain o' snow, it +nebbah mattah. We had t' go t' de mountings, cut wood an' drag it down +t' de house. Many de time we come in wif ouh cloes stuck t' ouh poah ole +cold bodies, but 'twarn't no use t' try t' git 'em dry. Ef de Ole Boss +o' de Ole Missie see us dey yell: "Git on out ob heah yo' black thin', +an' git yo' wok outen de way!" An' Lawdy, honey, we knowed t' git, else +we git de lash. Dey did'n cah how ole o' how young yo' wah, yo' nebbah +too big t' git de lash. + +De rich white folks nebbah did no wok; dey had da'kies t' do it foah +dem. In de summah we had t' wok outdoo's, in de wintah in de house. I +had t' ceard an' spin till ten o'clock. Nebbah git much rest, had t' git +up at foah de nex' mawnin' an' sta't agin. Didn' get much t' eat, +nuthah, jes a lil' cawn bread an' 'lasses. Lawdy, honey, yo' caint know +whut a time I had. All cold n' hungry. No'm, I aint tellin' no lies. It +de gospel truf. It sho is. + +I 'membah well how I use t' lie 'wake till all de folks wah sleepin', +den creep outen de do' and walk barfoot in de snow, 'bout two mile t' +mah ole Auntie's house. I knowed when I git dar she fix hot cawn pone +wif slice o' meat an' some milk foah me t' eat. Auntie wah good t' us +da'kies. + +I nebbah sleep on a bedstead till aftah freedom, no'm till [HW: +asterisk] aftah freedom. Jes' an ole pile o' rags in de conah. Ha'dly +'nuf t' keep us from freezin'. Law, chile, nobuddy knows how mean +da'kies wah treated. Wy, dey wah bettah t' de animals den t' us'ns. Mah +fust Ole Marse wah a good ole man, but de las'n, he wah rapid--- he sho +wah rapid. Wy, chile, times aint no mo' lak dey usta be den de day an' +night am lak. In mah day an' time all de folks woked. Effen dey had no +niggahs dey woked demselves. Effen de chillun wah too small tuh hoe, dey +pull weeds. Now de big bottom ob de Swannano (Swannanoa) dat usta grow +hunners bushels ob grain am jest a playgroun'. I lak t' see de chillun +in de field. Wy, now dey fight yo' lak wilecat effen it ebben talked +'bout. Dat's de reason times so ha'd. No fahmin'. Wy, I c'n 'membah Ole +Missie she say: "Dis gene'ation'll pass away an' a new gene'ation'll cum +'long." Dat's jes' it--ebbah gene'ation gits weakah an' weakah. Den dey +talk 'bout goin' back t' ole times. Dat time done gone, dey nebbah meet +dat time agin. + +Wahn't none o' de slaves offen ouh plantation ebbah sold, but de ones on +de othah plantation ob Marse William wah. Oh, dat wah a tebble time! All +de slaves be in de field, plowin', hoein', singin' in de boilin' sun. +Ole Marse he cum t'ru de field wif a man call de specalater. Day walk +round jes' lookin', jes'lookin', All de da'kies know whut dis mean. Dey +didn' dare look up, jes' wok right on. Den de specalater he see who he +want. He talk to Ole Marse, den dey slaps de han'cuffs on him an' tak +him away to de cotton country. Oh, dem wah awful times! When de +specalater wah ready to go wif de slaves, effen dey wha enny whu didn' +wanta go, he thrash em, den tie em 'hind de waggin an' mek em run till +dey fall on de groun', den he thrash em till dey say dey go 'thout no +trubble. Sometime some of dem run 'way an cum back t' de plantation, den +it wah hardah on dem den befoah. When de da'kies wen' t' dinnah de ole +niggah mammy she say whar am sich an' sich. None ob de othahs wanna tell +huh. But when she see dem look down to de groun' she jes' say: "De +specalater, de specalater." Den de teahs roll down huh cheeks, cause +mebbe it huh son o' husban' an' she know she nebbah see 'em agin. Mebbe +dey leaves babies t' home, mebbe jes' pappy an' mammy. Oh, mah Lawdy, +mah ole Boss wah mean, but he nebbah sen' us to de cotton country. + +Dey wah ve'y few skules back in day day an time, ve'y few. We da'kies +didn' dah look at no book, not ebben t' pick it up. Ole Missie, dat is, +mah firs' Ole Missie, she wah a good ole woman. She read to de niggahs +and t' de white chillun. She cum fum cross de watah. She wahn't lak de +sma't white folks livin' heah now. When she come ovah heah she brung +darky boy wif huh. He wah huh pussonal su'vant. Co'se, dey got diffent +names foah dem now, but in dat day dey calls 'em ginney niggahs. She wah +good ole woman, not lak othah white folks. Niggahs lak Ole Missie. + +When de da'kies git sick, dey wah put in a lil' ole house close t' de +big house, an' one of the othah da'kies waited on 'em. Dey wah ve'y few +doctahs den. Ony three in de whole section. When dey wanted med'cine dey +went t' de woods an' gathahed hoahhound, slipperelm foah poltices an' +all kinds ba'k foah teas. All dis yarbs bring yo' round. Dey wah ve'y +few lawyers den too, but lawsy me, yo' cain't turn round fer dem now. + +I 'membahs when mah ole mammy die. She live on Rims (Reems) Crick with +othah Hemphills. She sick long time. One day white man cum t' see me. He +say: "Sarah, did yo' know yo' manmy wah daid?" "No," I say, "but I wants +t' see mah mothah afoah dey puts huh away." + +I went t' de house and say t' Ole Missie: "Mah mothah she die tofay. I +wants t' see mah mothah afoah dey puts huh away," but she look at me +mean an' say: "Git on outen heah, an' git back to yo' wok afoah I wallup +yo' good." So I went back t' mah wok, with the tears streamin' down mah +face, jest awringin' mah hands, I wanted t' see mah manmy so. 'Bout two +weeks latah, Ole Missie she git tebble sick, she jes' lingah 'long foah +long time, but she nebbah gits up no mo'. Wa'nt long afoah dey puts huh +away too, jes' lak mah mammy. + +I 'membahs de time when mah mammy wah alive, I wah a small chile, afoah +dey tuk huh t' Rims Crick. All us chilluns wah playin' in de ya'd one +night. Jes' arunnin' an' aplayin' lak chillun will. All a sudden mammy +cum to de do' all a'sited. "Cum in heah dis minnit," she say. "Jes look +up at what is ahappenin'", and bless yo' life, honey, de sta's wah +fallin' jes' lak rain.[7] Mammy wah tebble skeered, but we chillun +wa'nt afeard, no, we wa'nt afeard. But mammy she say evah time a sta' +fall, somebuddy gonna die. Look lak lotta folks gonna die f'om de looks +ob dem sta's. Ebbathin' wah jes' as bright as day. Yo' cudda pick a pin +up. Yo' know de sta's don' shine as bright as dey did back den. I wondah +wy dey don'. Dey jes' don' shine as bright. Wa'nt long afoah dey took +mah mammy away, and I wah lef' alone. + +On de plantation wah an ole woman whut de boss bought f'om a drovah up +in Virginny. De boss he bought huh f'om one ob de specalaters. She laff +an' tell us: "Some ob dese days yo'all gwine be free, jes' lak de white +folks," but we all laff at huh. No, we jes' slaves, we allus hafta wok +and nevah be free. Den when freedom cum, she say: "I tole yo'all, now +yo' got no larnin', yo' got no nothin', got no home; whut yo' gwine do? +Didn' I tell yo'?" + +I wah gittin along smartly in yeahs when de wah cum. Ah 'membah jes' lak +yestiddy jes' afoah de wah. Marse William wah atalkin' t' hes brothah. I +wah standin' off a piece. Marse's brothah, he say: "William, how ole +Aunt Sarah now?" Marse William look at me an' he say: "She gittin' nigh +onta fifty." Dat wah jes' a lil while afoah de wah. + +Dat wah awful time. Us da'kies didn' know whut it wah all bout. Ony one +of de boys f'om de plantation go. He Alexander, he 'bout twenty-five +den. Many de time we git word de Yankees comin'. We take ouh food an' +stock an' hide it till we sho' dey's gone. We wan't bothahed much. One +day, I nebbah fo'git, we look out an' see sojers ma'chin'; look lak de +whole valley full ob dem. I thought: "Poah helpless crittahs, jes' goin' +away t' git kilt." De drums wah beatin' an' de fifes aplayin'. Dey wah +de foot comp'ny. Oh, glory, it wah a sight. Sometime dey cum home on +furlough. Sometime dey git kilt afoah dey gits th'ough. Alexander, he +cum home a few time afoah freedom. + +When de wah was ovah, Marse William he say: "Did yo'all know yo'all's +free, Yo' free now." I chuckle, 'membahin' whut ole woman tell us 'bout +freedom, an' no larnin. Lotta men want me t' go t' foreign land, but I +tell 'em I go live wif mah pappy, long as he live. I stay wif de white +folks 'bout twelve months, den I stay wif mah pappy, long as he live. + +I had two brothahs, dey went t' Califonny, nebbah seed 'em no mo', no' +mah sistah, nuther. I cain't 'membah sech a lot 'bout it all. I jes' +knows I'se bo'n and bred heah [HW correction: here] in dese pa'ts, +nebbah been outten it. I'se well; nebbah take no doctah med'cine. Jes' +ben sick once; dat aftah freedom. + +[Footnote 7: (One of the most spectacular meteoric showers on record, +visible all over North America, occurred in 1833.)] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320007] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 734 +Subject: THOMAS HALL +Person Interviewed: Thomas Hall +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "SEP 10 1937"] + +THOMAS HALL +Age 81 years +316 Tarboro Road, Raleigh, N. C. + + +My name is Thomas Hall and I was born in Orange County, N. C. on a +plantation belonging to Jim Woods whose wife, our missus, was named +Polly. I am eighty one years of age as I was born Feb. 14, 1856. My +father Daniel Hall and my mother Becke Hall and me all belonged to the +same man but it was often the case that this wus not true as one man, +perhaps a Johnson, would own a husband and a Smith own the wife, each +slave goin' by the name of the slave owners, family. In such cases the +children went by the name of the family to which the mother belonged. + +Gettin married an' having a family was a joke in the days of slavery, +as the main thing in allowing any form of matrimony among the slaves was +to raise more slaves in the same sense and for the same purpose as stock +raisers raise horses and mules, that is for work. A woman who could +produce fast was in great demand and brought a good price on the auction +block in Richmond, Va., Charleston, S. C., and other places. + +The food in many cases that was given the slaves was not given them for +their pleasure or by a cheerful giver, but for the simple and practical +reason that children would not grow into a large healthy slave unless +they were well fed and clothed; and given good warm places in which to +live. + +Conditions and rules were bad and the punishments were severe and +barbarous. Some marsters acted like savages. In some instances slaves +were burned at the stake. Families were torn apart by selling. Mothers +were sold from their children. Children were sold from their mothers, +and the father was not considered in anyway as a family part. These +conditions were here before the Civil War and the conditions in a +changed sense have been here ever since. The whites have always held the +slaves in part slavery and are still practicing the same things on them +in a different manner. Whites lynch, burn, and persecute the Negro race +in America yet; and there is little they are doing to help them in +anyway. + +Lincoln got the praise for freeing us, but did he do it? He give us +freedom without giving us any chance to live to ourselves and we still +had to depend on the southern white man for work, food and clothing, and +he held us through our necessity and want in a state of servitude but +little better than slavery. Lincoln done but little for the Negro race +and from living standpoint nothing. White folks are not going to do +nothing for Negroes except keep them down. + +Harriet Beecher Stowe, the writer of Uncle Tom's Cabin, did that for +her own good. She had her own interests at heart and I don't like her, +Lincoln, or none of the crowd. The Yankees helped free us, so they say, +but they let us be put back in slavery again. + +When I think of slavery it makes me mad. I do not believe in giving you +my story 'cause with all the promises that have been made the Negro is +still in a bad way in the United States, no matter in what part he +lives it's all the same. Now you may be all right; there are a few white +men who are but the pressure is such from your white friends that you +will be compelled to talk against us and give us the cold shoulder when +you are around them, even if your heart is right towards us. + +You are going around to get a story of slavery conditions and the +persecusions of Negroes before the civil war and the economic conditions +concerning them since that war. You should have known before this late +day all about that. Are you going to help us? No! you are only helping +yourself. You say that my story may be put into a book, that you are +from the Federal Writer's Project. Well, the Negro will not get anything +out of it, no matter where you are from. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote +Uncle Tom's Cabin. I didn't like her book and I hate her. No matter +where you are from I don't want you to write my story cause the white +folks have been and are now and always will be against the negro. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320016] +Worker: Travis Jordan +Subject: Hecter Hamilton + Ex-slave 90 Years. + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 30 1937"] + +HECTER HAMILTON +EX-SLAVE 90 YEARS + + +Dey wuz two General Lee's, in de 'Federate War. One los' his fight, but +de other won his. + +One of dese Generals wuz a white man dat rode a white hoss, an' de other +wuz a mean fightin' gander dat I named General Lee, though I didn' know +den dat he wuz goin' to live up to his name. But when de time come dat +long neck gander out fit de whole 'Federate army. + +My white fo'ks lived in Virginia. Dey wuz Marse Peter an' Mis' Laura +Hamilton. Dey lived on de big Hamilton plantation dat wuz so big dat wid +all de niggers dey had dey couldn' 'ten' half of it. Dis lan' done been +handed down to Marse Peter from more den six gran'pappys. Dey wuz cotton +an' 'bacca fields a mile wide; de wheat fields as far as yo' could see +wuz like a big sheet of green water, an' it took half hour to plow one +row of cawn, but dey wuz plenty of slaves to do de work. Mistah Sidney +Effort, Marse Peter's overseer, rode all over de fields every day, +cussin' an' crackin' his long blacksnake whip. He drove dem niggers like +dey wuz cattle, but Marse Peter wouldn' 'low no beatin' of his niggers. + +Marse Peter had acres an' acres of woods dat wuz his huntin' 'zerve. Dey +wuz every kind of bird an' animal in dem woods in shootin' season. Dey +wuz snipes, pheasants, patridges, squirrels, rabbits, deers, an' foxes; +dey wuz even bears, an' dey wuz wolfs too dat would come an' catch de +sheeps at night. + +Dey wuz always a crowd at Easy Acres huntin' ridin' dancin' an' havin' a +good time. Marse Peter's stables wuz full of hunters an' saddlers for +mens an' ladies. De ladies in dem days rode side saddles. Mis' Laura's +saddle wuz all studded wid sho nuff gol' tacks. De fringe wuz tipped wid +gol', an' de buckles on de bridle wuz solid gol'. When de ladies went to +ride dey wore long skirts of red, blue, an' green velvet, an' dey had +plumes on dey hats dat blew in de win'. Dey wouldn' be caught wearin' +britches an' ridin' straddle like de womens do dese days. In dem times +de women wuz ladies. + +Marse Peter kept de bes' sideboa'd in Princess Anne County. His cut +glass decanters cos' near 'bout as much as Mis' Laura's diamon' ear +rings I's goin' tell yo' 'bout. De decanters wuz all set out on de +sideboard wid de glasses, an' de wine an' brandy wuz so ole dat one good +size dram would make yo' willin' to go to de jail house for sixty days. +Some of dat wine an' likker done been in dat cellar ever since Ole Marse +Caleb Hamilton's time, an' de done built Easy Acres befo' Mistah George +Washington done cut down his pappy's cherry tree. Dat likker done been +down in dat cellar so long dat yo' had to scrape de dus' off wid a +knife. + +I wuz Marse Peter's main sideboa'd man. When he had shootin' company I +didn' do nothin' but shake drams. De mens would come in from de huntin' +field col' an' tired, an' Marse Peter would say: 'Hustle up, Hecter, fix +us a dram of so an' so.' Dat mean dat I wuz to mix de special dram dat +I done learned from my gran'pappy. So, I pours in a little of dis an' a +little of dat, den I shakes it 'twell it foams, den I fills de glasses +an' draps in de ice an' de mint. Time de mens drink dat so an' so dey +done forgot dey's tired; dey 'lax, an' when de ladies come down de +stairs all dredd up, dey thinks dey's angels walkin' in gol' shoes. Dem +wuz good times befo' de war an' befo' Marse Peter got shot. From de day +Marse Peter rode his big grey hoss off to fight, we never seed him no +more. Mis' Laura never even know if dey buried him or not. + +After de mens all went to de war dey won't no use for no more drams, so +Mis' Laura took me away from de sideboa'd an' made me a watchman. Dat +is, I wuz set to watch de commissary to see dat de niggers wuzn' give no +more den dey share of eats, den I looked after de chickens an' things, +kaze de patter-rollers wuz all 'roun' de country an' dey'd steal +everythin' from chickens to sweet taters an cawn, den dey'd sell it to +de Yankees. Dat's when I named dat ole mean fightin' gander General Lee. + +Everywhare I went 'roun' de place dat gander wuz right at my heels. He +wuz de bigges' gander I ever seed. He weighed near 'bout forty pounds, +an' his wings from tip to tip wuz 'bout two yards. He wuz smart too. I +teached him to drive de cows an' sheeps, an' I sic'd him on de dogs when +dey got 'streperous. I'd say, Sic him, General Lee, an' dat gander would +cha'ge. He wuz a better fighter den de dogs kaze he fit wid his wings, +his bill, an wid his feets. I seed him skeer a bull near 'bout to death +one day. Dat bull got mad an' jump de fence an' run all de niggers in +de cabins, so I called General Lee an' sic'd him on dat bull. Dat bird +give one squawk an' lit on dat bull's back, an' yo' never seed such +carryin's on. De bull reared an' snorted an' kicked, but dat gander held +on. He whipped dat bull wid his wings 'twell he wuz glad to go back in +de lot an' 'have hese'f. After dat all I had to do to dat bull wuz show +him General Lee an' he'd quiet down. + +Now I's goin' to tell yo' 'bout Mis' Laura's diamon' ear rings. + +De fus' Yankees dat come to de house wuz gentlemens, 'cept dey made us +niggers cook dey supper an' shine dey muddy boots, den dey stole +everythin' dey foun' to tote away, but de nex ones dat come wuz mean. +Dey got made kaze de fus' Yankees done got de pickin's of what Mis' +Laura hadn' hid. Dey cut open de feather beds lookin' for silver; dey +ripped open de chair cushings lookin' for money, dey even tore up de +carpets, but dey didn' fin' nothin' kaze all de valuables done been +buried. Even mos' of de wine done been hid, 'twuz' all buried in de ole +graves down in de family grave yard wid de tombstones at de head an' +foots. No Yankee ain't goin' be diggin' in no grave for nothin'. + +Dey wuz one Yankee in dis las' bunch dat wuz big an' bustin'. He strut +bigoty wid his chist stuck out. He walk 'roun' stickin' his sword in de +chair cushions, de pictures on de walls an' things like dat. He got +powerful mad kaze he couldn' fin' nothin', den he look out de window an' +seed Mis' Laura. She wuz standin' on de po'ch an' de sun wuz shinin' on +de diamon' ear rings in her ears. Dey wuz de ear rings dat belonged to +Marse Peter's great-great-gran'mammy. When de sojer seed dem diamon's +his eyes 'gun to shine. He went out on de po'ch an' went up to Mis' +Laura. 'Gim me dem ear rings,' he say jus' like dat. + +Mis' Laura flung her han's up to her ears an' run out in de yard. De +sojer followed her, an' all de other sojers come too. Dat big Yankee +tole Mis' Laura again to give him de ear rings, but she shook her head. +I wuz standin' 'side de house near 'bout bustin' wid madness when dat +Yankee reach up an' snatch Mis' Laura's hands down an' hold dem in his, +den he laugh, an' all de other sojers 'gun to laugh too jus' like dey +thought 'twuz funny. 'Bout dat time Ole General Lee done smell a fight. +He come waddlin' 'roun' de house, his tail feathers bristled out an' +tawkin' to he'sef. I point to dem sojers an say, "Sic him, General Lee, +sic him." + +Dat gander ain't waste no time. He let out his wings an' cha'ged dem +Yankees an' dey scatter like flies. Den he lit on dat big sojer's back +an' 'gun to beat him wid his wings. Dat man let out a yell an' drap Mis' +Laura's hands; he try to shake dat goose, but General bit into his neck +an' held on like a leech. When de other sojers come up an' try to pull +him off, dat gander let out a wing an' near about slap dem down. I ain't +never seed such fightin! Every time I holler, Sic him, General Lee start +'nother 'tack. + +'Bout dat time dem Yankees took a runnin' nothin. Dey forgot de ear +rings an' lit out down de road, but dat gander beat dat bigoty yellin' +sojer clear down to de branch befo' he turned him loose, den he jump in +de water an' wash hese'f off. Yes, suh, dat wuz sho some fightin' goose; +he near 'bout out fit de sho nuff Marse General Lee. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320230] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 942 +Subject: GEORGE W. HARRIS +Story Teller: George W. Harris +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +GEORGE W. HARRIS + +604 E. Cabarrus Street, Raleigh, N. C. + + +Hey, don't go 'roun' dat post gitting it 'tween you and me, it's bad +luck. Don't you know it's bad luck? Don't want no more bad luck den what +I'se already got. My name is George Harris. I wuz born November 25, 82 +years ago. I have been living in the City of Raleigh onto 52 years. I +belonged to John Andrews. He died about de time I wuz born. His wife +Betsy wuz my missus and his son John wuz my marster. + +Deir plantation wuz in Jones County. Dere were about er dozen slaves on +de plantation. We had plenty o' food in slavery days during my boyhood +days, plenty of good sound food. We didn't have 'xactly plenty o' +clothes, and our places ter sleep needed things, we were in need often +in these things. We were treated kindly, and no one abused us. We had as +good owners as there were in Jones County; they looked out for us. They +let us have patches to tend and gave us what we made. We did not have +much money. We had no church on the plantation, but there wuz one on +Marster's brother's plantation next ter his plantation. + +We had suppers an' socials, generally gatherings for eatin', socials +jist to git together an' eat. We had a lot o' game ter eat, such as +possums, coons, rabbits and birds. + +De plantation wuz fenced in wid rails about 10 ft. in length split from +pine trees. De cattle, hogs an' hosses run out on de free range. The +hosses ran on free range when de crap wuz laid by. There wuz an ole mare +dat led de hosses. She led 'em an' when she come home at night dey +followed her. + +De first work I done wuz drappin' tater sprouts, drappin' corn, thinnin' +out corn and roundin' up corn an' mindin' the crows out of de field. Dey +did not teach us to read an' write, but my father could read, and he +read de hymn book and Testament to us sometimes. I do not remember ever +goin' to church durin' slavery days. + +I have never seen a slave whipped and none ever ran away to the North +from our plantation. + +When I wuz a boy we chillun played marbles, prison base, blind fold and +tag, hide an' seek. Dey gave us Christmas holidays, an' 4th of July, an' +lay-by time. Dey also called dis time "crap hillin' time." Most o' de +time when we got sick our mother doctored us with herbs which she had in +de garden. When we had side plurisy, what dey calls pneumonia now, dey +sent fer a doctor. Doctor Hines treated us. + +We lived near Trenton. When de Yankees took New Bern, our marster had us +out in de woods in Jones County mindin' hosses an' takin' care o' things +he had hid there. We got afraid and ran away to New Bern in Craven +County. We all went in a gang and walked. De Yankees took us at Deep +Gully ten miles dis side o' New Bern an' carried us inside de lines. Dey +asked us questions and put us all in jail. Dey put my father ter cookin' +at de jail and give us boys work 'roun' de yard. Dey put de others at +work at de horse stables and houses. + +De smallpox and yaller fever caught us dere and killed us by de +hundreds. Thirteen doctors died dere in one day. Jist 'fore Gen. Lee +surrendered dey carried us to Petersburg, Va., and I waited on Major +Emory and de others worked fer de Yankees. When de surrender came we +went back home to Craven County, next to Jones County, and went to +farmin'. Sumpin' to eat could not hardly be found. De second year atter +de war we went back to old marster's plantation. He wuz glad ter see us, +we all et dinner wid him. We looked over de place. I looked over de +little log cabin where I wuz born. Some of de boys who had been slaves, +farmed wid old marster, but I worked at my trade. I wuz a brick moulder. +Yes, a brick maker. + +My mother was named Jennie Andrews and my father was Quash Harris. My +father belonged to de Harris family on de nex' plantation in Jones +County. Atter de surrender we all went in his name. We changed from +Andrews to Harris. I do not recollect my grandmother and grandfather. I +can't recollect them. + +Marster told us directly after dey declared war dat he expected we would +all soon be free. De majority of de slaves did not want to be free. Dey +were stirred up. Dey didn't want it to be. Dey didn't want no fightin'. +Dey didn't know. + +I married Mary Boylan first, of Johnston County, at Wilsons Mills, Jan. +4, 1878. Here is de family record. Ole marster made me copies after de +war, and I copied dis. 'George Harris was married the year 1878, January +the 4th. George Harris was born the year 1855 November the 25th.' + +I had five brothers, but they are all dead, fur as I know: John Nathan, +Louis, David, Jefferson, Donald and my name George. My sisters, Mary +Ann, Sara, Lucy, Penny, Emaline, Lizzie, Nancy, Leah and one I can't +remember. Dats all. + +I thought Abraham Lincoln wuz a great man. I remember him well. I think +he done de best he knowed how to settle de country. Mr. Roosevelt is a +smart man. He is doing de best he can. I think he is goin' to help de +country. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320183] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 660 +Subject: AN EX-SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Sarah Harris +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[HW: Good points] + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 11 1937"] + +SARAH HARRIS + +Interviewed May 19, 1937. + + +Sarah Harris is my name. I wuz borned April 1861, on the plantation of +Master John William Walton. My father wuz name Frank Walton and my +mother wuz name Flora Walton. My brothers wuz name Lang and Johnny. My +sisters: Hannah, Mary, Ellen, Violet and Annie. My grandmother wuz name +Ellen Walton. She wuz 104 years old when she died. My mother wuz 103 +years old when she died; she has been dead 3 years. She died in October, +3 years this pas' October. + +I 'member seeing the Yankees. I wuz not afraid of 'em, I thought dey +were the prettiest blue mens I had ever seed. I can see how de chickens +and guineas flew and run from 'em. De Yankees killed 'em and give part +of 'em to the colored folks. Most of de white folks had run off and hid. + +I can't read and write. I nebber had no chance. + +De Yankees had their camps along the Fayetteville road. + +Dey called us Dinah, Sam, and other names. + +Dey later had de place dey call de bureau. When we left de white folks +we had nothing to eat. De niggers wait there at de bureau and they give +'em hard tack, white potatoes, and saltpeter meat. Our white folks give +us good things to eat, and I cried every day at 12 o'clock to go home. +Yes, I wanted to go back to my white folks; they were good to us. I +would say, 'papa le's go home, I want to go home. I don't like this +sumptin' to eat.' He would say, 'Don't cry, honey, le's stay here, dey +will sen' you to school.' + +We had nothing to eat 'cept what de Yankees give us. But Mr. Bill +Crawford give my father and mother work. Yes, he wuz a Southern man, one +o' our white folks. Daddy wuz his butcher. My mother wuz his cook. We +were turned out when dey freed us with no homes and nuthin'. Master said +he wuz sorry he didn't give us niggers part of his lan'. + +While I wuz big enough to work I worked for Porter Steadman. I got 25 +cent a week and board. We had a good home then. I just shouted when I +got dat 25 cent, and I just run. I couldn't run fas' anuff to git to my +mother to give dat money to her. My father died, and my mother bought a +home. She got her first money to buy de home by working for de man who +give her work after de surrender. The first money she saved to put on de +home wuz a dime. Some weeks she only saved 5 cents. Lan' sold fur $10 a +acre den. + +Just after de war de white and colored children played together. Dey had +a tent in our neighborhood. I wuz de cook for de white chilluns parties. +We played together fer a long time after de war. + +I married Silas Cooper of Norfolk Va. He worked in the Navy yard. I wuz +married in Raleigh. I had a church wedding. + +I think Abraham Lincoln wuz a great man. He would cure or kill. But I +like my ole master. The Lord put it into Abraham Lincoln to do as he +done. The Lord knowed he would be killed. + +I think slavery wuz wrong. I have a horror of being a slave. You see all +dis lan' aroun' here. It belongs to colored folks. Dey were cut off wid +nothin', but dey is strugglin' an' dey are comin' on fast. De Bible say +dat de bottom rail will be on top, and it is comin' to pass. Sometime de +colored race will git up. De Bible say so. + +I think Mr. Roosevelt is one of the greatest mans in de world. He wants +to help everybody. + +I doan think much of Mr. Jeff Davis. Dey used to sing songs uv hanging +him to a apple tree. Dey say he libed a long time atter de war dressed +like a 'oman, he wuz so skeered. + +TPM:EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 3 [320122] +Worker: Daisy Whaley +Subject: Cy Hart + Ex-slave, 78 years. + Durham, N. C. + +[HW: 48] + +[TR: Date Stamp: "AUG 6 1937"] + +CY HART, 78 Yrs. +Ex-Slave. + + +Ephram Hart was my pappy and my mammy's name was Nellie. He belonged to +Marse Ephram Hart. One day Marse Hart took some of his niggers to de +slave market an' my pappy was took along too. When he was put on de +block an' sold Marse Paul Cameron bought him. Den Marse Hart felt so +sorry to think he done let my pappy be sold dat he tried to buy him back +from Marse Paul, an' offered him more den Marse Paul paid for him. But +Marse Paul said, "No, Suh. I done bought him an' I want det nigger +myself an' I am goin' take him home wid me to Snow Hill farm." + +Pappy married my mammy an' raised a family on Marse Paul's plantation. +We had to be eight years ole before we 'gun to work. I tended de +chickens an' turkeys an' sech. I helped tend de other stock too as I +growed older, an' do anythin' else dat I was tole to do. When I got +bigger I helped den wid de thrashin' de wheat an' I helped dem push de +straw to de stack. + +We had what wuz den called a 'groun' hog. It wuz a cylinder shaped +contraption. We put de wheat straw an all in it an' knock de grain loose +from de straw. Den we took de pitchforks an' tossed de straw up an' +about, an' dat let de wheat go to de bottom on a big cloth. Den we fan +de wheat, to get de dust an' dirt out, an' we had big curtains hung +'roun' de cloth whar de wheat lay, so de wheat wouldn' get all +scattered, on de groun'. Dis wheat was sacked an' when wanted 'twus took +to de mill an' groun' into flour. De flour wuz made into white bread an' +de corn wuz groun' into meal an' grits. + +When de war started der wuz some bad times. One day some of Wheeler's +men come an' dey tried to take what dey wanted, but Marge Paul had de +silver money another things hid. Dey wanted us niggers to tell dem whar +everythin' wuz, but we said we didn' know nuthin'. Marse Paul wuz hid +in de woods wid de horses an' some of de other stock. + +Den Wheeler's men saw de Yankees comin' an' dey run away. De Yankees +chased dem to de bridge an' dey done some fightin' an' one or two of +Wheeler's men wuz killed an' de rest got away. + +Den de captain of de Yankees come to Mammy's cabin an' axed her whar de +meat house an' flour an' sech at. She tole him dat Pappy had de keys to +go an' ax him. "Ax him nothin'", de captain said. He called some of his +mens an' dey broke down de door to de meat house. Den dey trowed out +plenty of dose hams an' dey tole Mammy to cook dem somethin' to eat and +plenty of it. Mammy fried plenty of dat ham an' made lots of bread an' +fixed dem coffee. How dey did eat! Dey wuz jus' as nice as dey could be +to Mammy an' when dey wuz through, dey tole Mammy dat she could have de +rest, an' de captain gave her some money an' he tole her dat she wuz +free, dat we didn' belong to Marse Paul no longer. Dey didn' do any harm +to de place. Dey wuz jus' looking for somethin' to eat. Den dey left. + +We didn' leave Marse Paul but stayed on an' lived wid him for many +years. I lived wid Marse Paul 'til he died an' he done selected eight of +us niggers to tote his coffin to de chapel, an' de buryin' groun'. He +said, "I want dese niggers to carry my body to de chapel an' de grave +when I die." We did. It wuz a lood [HW correction: load] I would have +been glad had der been two or four more to help tote Marse Paul for he +sho wuz heavy. After everythin' wuz ready we lifted him up an' toted him +to de chapel an' we sat down on de floor, on each side of de coffin, +while de preacher preached de funeral sermon. We didn' make any fuss +while sittin' dere on de floor, but we sho wuz full of grief to see our +dear ole Marse Paul lying dere dead. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320130] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 381 +Subject: THE BLACKSMITH +Person Interviewed: Alonzo Haywood +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG--1937"] + +THE BLACKSMITH + +An interview with Alonzo Haywood, 67 years old of 1217 Oberlin Road. + + +On East Cabarrus Street is a blacksmith shop which is a survival of +horse and buggy days, and the smiling blacksmith, a Negro, although he +has hazel eyes, recounts the story of his father's life and his own. + +My father was Willis Haywood and in slavery days he belonged to Mr. +William R. Pool. Mr. Pool liked father because he was quick and obedient +so he determined to give him a trade. + +Wilson Morgan run the blacksmith shop at Falls of Neuse and it was him +that taught my father the trade at Mr. Pool's insistence. + +While father, a young blade, worked and lived at Falls of Neuse, he fell +in love with my mother, Mirana Denson, who lived in Raleigh. He come to +see her ever' chance he got and then they were married. + +When the Yankees were crossing the Neuse Bridge at the falls, near the +old paper mill, the bridge broke in. They were carrying the heavy +artillery over and a great many men followed, in fact the line extended +to Raleigh, because when the bridge fell word passed by word of mouth +from man to man back to Raleigh. + +Father said that the Yankees stopped in the shop to make some hoss +shoes and nails and that the Yankees could do it faster than anybody he +ever saw. + +Father told me a story once 'bout de devil traveling and he got sore +feet and was awful lame but he went in a blacksmith shop and the +blacksmith shoed him. + +The devil traveled longer and the shoes hurt his feet and made him lamer +than ever so he went back and asked the blacksmith to take off de shoes. + +The blacksmith took them off under the condition that wherever the devil +saw a horse shoe over a door he would not enter. That's the reason that +people hang up horseshoes over their door. + +Mother died near twenty years ago and father died four years later. He +had not cared to live since mother left him. + +I've heard some of the young people laugh about slave love, but they +should envy the love which kept mother and father so close together in +life and even held them in death. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320127] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 547 +Subject: AUNT BARBARA'S LOVE STORY +Story Teller: Barbara Haywood +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 4 1937"] + +AUNT BARBARA'S LOVE STORY + +An interview with Barbara Haywood, 85 years old. Address +1111 Mark Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +Anything dat I tells you will near 'bout all be 'bout Frank Haywood, my +husban'. + +I wus borned on de John Walton place seben miles southeast of Raleigh. +My father, Handy Sturdivant, belonged to somebody in Johnston County but +mother an' her chilluns 'longed ter Marse John Walton. + +Marse John had a corn shuckin' onct an' at dat corn shuckin' I fust saw +Frank. I wus a little girl, cryin' an' bawlin' an' Frank, who wus a big +boy said dat he neber wanted ter spank a youngin' so bad, an' I ain't +liked him no better dan he did me. + +He 'longed ter Mr. Yarborough, what runned de hotel in Raleigh, but he +wus boun' out ter anybody what'ud hire him, an' I doan know whar he got +his name. + +I seed Frank a few times at de Holland's Methodist Church whar we went +ter church wid our white folks. + +You axes iffen our white folks wus good ter us, an' I sez ter yo' dat +none of de white folks wus good ter none of de niggers. We done our +weavin' at night an' we wurked hard. We had enough ter eat but we was +whupped some. + +Jest 'fore de war wus ober we wus sent ter Mr. William Turner's place +down clost ter Smithfield an' dats whar we wus when de Yankees come. + +One day I wus settin' on de porch restin' atter my days wurk wus done +when I sees de hoss-lot full of men an' I sez ter Marse William, who am +talkin' ter a soldier named Cole, 'De lot am full of men.' + +Marse Cole looks up an' he 'lows, 'Hits dem damned Yankees,' an' wid dat +he buckles on his sword an' he ain't been seen since. + +De Yankees takes all de meat outen de smokehouse an' goes 'roun' ter de +slave cabins an' takes de meat what de white folkses has put dar. Dat +wus de fust hams dat has eber been in de nigger house. Anyhow de Yankees +takes all de hams, but dey gibes us de shoulders. + +Atter de war we moved ter Raleigh, on Davie Street an' I went ter school +a little at Saint Paul's. Frank wus wurkin' at de City Market on +Fayetteville Street an' I'd go seberal blocks out of my way mornin' an' +night on my way ter school ter look at him. You see I has been in love +with him fer a long time den. + +Atter awhile Frank becomes a butcher an' he am makin' pretty good. I is +thirteen so he comes ter see me an' fer a year we cou'ts. We wus settin' +in de kitchen at de house on Davie Street when he axes me ter have him +an' I has him. + +I knows dat he tol' me dat he warn't worthy but dat he loved me an' dat +he'd do anything he could ter please me, an' dat he'd always be good ter +me. + +When I wus fourteen I got married an' when I wus fifteen my oldes' +daughter, Eleanor, wus borned. I had three atter her, an' Frank wus +proud of dem as could be. We wus happy. We libed together fifty-four +years an' we wus always happy, havin' a mighty little bit of argument. I +hopes young lady, dat you'll be as lucky as I wus wid Frank. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320210] +Worker: Mrs. Edith S. Hibbs +No. Words: 550 +Subject: Story of Isabell Henderson, Negro +Interviewed: Isabell Henderson + 1121 Rankin St., Wilmington, N. C. +Edited: Mrs. W. N. Harriss + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +STORY OF ISABELL HENDERSON, NEGRO + + * * * * * + +1121 Rankin St., +Wilmington, N. C. + + +I'll be 84 years old come August 9. My gran'-daughter can tell you what +year it was I was born I don' 'member but we has it down in the Bible. + +I lived near the "Clock Church" (Jewish Synagogue)[8], 4th and Market. +We had a big place there. My gran'mother did the cookin'. My mother did +the sewin'. I was jus five years old when the men went away. I guess to +the war, I don' know. Some men came by and conscip' dem. I don' know +where they went but I guess dey went to war. I was such a little girl I +don't 'member much. But I does know my Missus was good to me. I used to +play with her little boy. I was jes' one of the family. I played with +the little boy around the house' cause I was never 'lowed to run the +streets. They was good to me. They kept me in clothes, pretty clothes, +and good things to eat. Yes'm we was slaves but we had good times. + +Interviewer: "What did you eat?" + +Isabell: "Oh I don't 'member 'special but I et jes what the family et." + +Maybe my father was killed in the war maybe he run away I don' know, he +jus' neber come back no mo'. + +Yes'm I remember when the soldiers came along and freed us. They went +through breakin' down peoples shops and everything. + +My mother married again. She married Edward Robertson. He was good to +me. Yes'm he was better to me than my father was. He was a preacher and +a painter. My mother died. When my father, (step-father) went off to +preach, me and my sister stayed in the house. + +I stayed home all my life. I just wasn't 'llowed to run around like most +girls. I never been out of Wilmington but one year in my life. That year +I went to Augusta. No'm I don't likes to go away. I don't like the +trains, nor the automobiles. But I rides in 'em (meaning the latter). + +I remember when the 4th Street bridge was built. I was married over +there in St. Stephen's Church, 5th and Red Cross. Yes M'am my auntie she +gib me a big weddin'. I was 22 and my husband was 22 too not quite 23. +Not a year older than I was. He was a cooper. Yes Ma'm I had a big +weddin'. The church was all decorated with flowers. I had six +attendants. Four big ones and two little ones. My husband he had the +same number I did four big ones and two little ones. I had on a white +dress. Carried flowers. Had carriages and everything. My husband was +good to me. I didn't stay home with my father but about a month. We +wanted to go to ourselves. + +We went in our own home and stayed there until I got a "sickness." (She +looked shy) I didn't know what was the matter with me. My father told me +I better come home. So I went home to my father and stayed there about +two years. + +I have had five children. Three are livin'. Two are dead. + +I never worked until after he died. He left me with five little children +to raise. + +He was the only man I ever 'knowed' in all my life from girlhood up. + +[Footnote 8: The Synagogue has no clock on the exterior, but Isabell +persisted with her name of "Clock Church."] + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320017] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 738 +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Story Teller: Essex Henry +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"] + +ESSEX HENRY + +Ex-Slave Story + +An interview with Essex Henry 83 of 713 S. East Street, Raleigh, N. C. + + +I wus borned five miles north of Raleigh on de Wendell Road, 83 years +ago. My mammy wus Nancy an' my pappy wus Louis. I had one sister, Mary, +an' one bruder, Louis. + +We 'longed ter Mr. Jake Mordecai, an' we lived on his six hundert acres +plantation 'bout a mile from Millbrook. Right atter de war he sold dis +lan' ter Doctor Miller an' bought de Betsy Hinton tract at Milburnie. +Mr. Jake had four or five hundert niggers hyar an' I doan know how many +at de Edgecombe County place. + +De wuck wus hard den, I knows case I'se seed my little mammy dig ditches +wid de best of 'em. I'se seed her split 350 rails a day many's de time. +Dat wus her po'tion you knows, an' de mens had ter split 500. I wus too +little ter do much but min' de chickens outen de gyarden, an' so I fared +better dan most of 'em. You see Miss Tempie 'ud see me out at de gate +mornin's as dey wus eatin' breakfas' on de ferander, an' she'ud call me +ter her an' give me butter toasted lightbread or biscuits. She'd give me +a heap in dat way, an' do de rest of de slaves got hungry, I doan think +dat I eber did. I know dat Miss Jenny Perry, on a neighborin' +plantation, 'ud give my mammy food, fer us chilluns. + +Mo'nin's we sometimes ain't had nothin' ter eat. At dinner time de cook +at de big house cooked nuff turnip salet, beans, 'taters, er peas fer +all de han's an' long wid a little piece of meat an' a little hunk of +co'nbread de dinner wus sont ter de slaves out in de fiel' on a cart. + +De slaves 'ud set roun' under de trees an' eat an' laugh an' talk till +de oberseer, Bob Gravie, yells at 'em ter git back ter wuck. Iffen dey +doan git back right den he starts ter frailin' lef' an' right. + +Dar wus a few spirited slaves what won't be whupped an' my uncle wus +one. He wus finally sold fer dis. + +Hit wus different wid my gran'mother do'. De oberseer tried ter whup her +an' he can't, so he hollers fer Mr. Jake. Mr. Jake comes an' he can't, +so he hauls off an' kicks granny, mashin' her stomick in. He has her +carried ter her cabin an' three days atterward she dies wid nothin' done +fer her an' nobody wid her. + +Mr. Jake orders de coffinmaker ter make de pine box, an' den he fergits +hit. De slaves puts de coffin on de cyart hin' de two black hosses an' +wid six or maybe seben hundert niggers follerin' dey goes ter de Simms' +graveyard an' buries her. All de way ter de graveyard dey sings, 'Swing +Low Sweet Chariot,' 'De Promised Lan', 'De Road ter Jordan,' an' 'Ole +Time Religion.' + +Hit's a good thing dat none of de white folkses ain't went to de +funerals case iffen dey had de niggers can't sing deir hymns. Does you +know dat dey warn't no 'ligion 'lowed on dat plantation. Ole lady Betsy +Holmes wus whupped time an' ag'in fer talkin' 'ligion er fer singin' +hymns. We sometimes had prayermeetin' anyhow in de cabins but we'd turn +down de big pot front o' de door ter ketch de noise. + +Dey won't gib us no pass hardly, an' iffen we runs 'way de patterollers +will git us. Dey did let us have some dances do' now an' den, but not +offen. Dey let us go possum huntin' too case dat wus gittin' something +ter eat widout Mr. Jake payin' fer hit. + +Mr. Henry, Mr. Jake's bruder an' his Uncle Moses uster come a-visitin' +ter de house fer de day. Mr. Henry wus little wid a short leg an' a long +one, an' he had de wust temper dat eber wus in de worl'; an' he loved +ter see slaves suffer, near 'bout much as he loved his brandy. We knowed +when we seed him comin' dat dar wus gwine ter be a whuppin' frolic 'fore +de day wus gone. + +Dar wus three niggers, John Lane, Ananias Ruffin an' Dick Rogers what +got de blame fer eber'thing what happens on de place. Fer instance Mr. +Henry 'ud look in de hawg pen an' 'low dat hit 'peared dat he bruder's +stock wus growin' less all de time. Den Mr. Jake sez dat dey done been +stold. + +'Why doan you punish dem thievin' niggers, Jake'? + +Jake gits mad an' has dese three niggers brung out, deir shirts am +pulled off an' dey am staked down on deir stomichs, an' de oberseer gits +wored out, an' leavin' de niggers tied, dar in de sun, dey goes ter de +house ter git some brandy. + +Dey more dey drinks from de white crock de better humor dey gits in. Dey +laughs an' talks an' atter awhile dey think o' de niggers, an' back dey +goes an' beats 'em some more. Dis usually lasts all de day, case hit am +fun ter dem. + +Atter so long dey ketched Jack Ashe, a Free Issue, wid one of de pigs, +an' dey whups him twixt drinks all de day, an' at night dey carried him +ter de Raleigh jail. He wus convicted an' sent ter Bald Head Island ter +wuck on de breastworks durin' de war an' he ain't neber come back. + +[HW: Asterisk in margin] Dar wus a man in Raleigh what had two blood +houn's an' he made his livin' by ketchin' runaway niggers. His name wus +Beaver an' he ain't missed but onct. Pat Norwood took a long grass sythe +when he runned away, an' as de fust dog come he clipped off its tail, de +second one he clipped off its ear an' dem dawgs ain't run him no more. + +De war lasted a long time, an' hit wus a mess. Some of Marster Jake's +[HW: Asterisk] slaves lef' him an' when de Yankees got ter Raleigh dey +come an' tol' 'em 'bout de way Mr. Jake done. Well in a few days hyar +comes de Yankees a-ridin', an' dey sez dat dey had tentions o' hangin' +Mr. Jake on de big oak in de yard iffen he 'uv been dar, but he ain't. +He an' his family had flewed de coop. + +Dem Yankees went in de big house an' dey tored an' busted up all dey +pleased, dey eben throwed de clothes all ober de yard. + +Dey took two big barns o' corn an' haul hit off an' down Devil's Jump on +Morris Creek dey buried ever so much molasses an' all. + +At Rattlesnake Spring de Yankees fin's whar Marster Jake's still had +been, an' dar buried, dey fin's five barrels o' brandy. + +Atter de war we stayed on as servants o' Doctor Miller fer seberal +years. I 'members de only time dat I eber got drunk wus long den. De +doctor an' his frien's wus splurgin', an' I went wid another nigger ter +git de brandy from de cellar fer de guests. When I tasted hit, hit drunk +so good, an' so much lak sweetin water dat I drunk de pitcher full. I +wus drunk three days. + +I married Milly, an' sixty years ago we moved ter town. We scuffled +along till twenty-eight years ago we buyed dis shack. I hopes dat we can +git de ole age pension, case we shore need hit. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320015] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +Subject: Ex-Slave Story +Story Teller: Milly Henry +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + + +An interview with Milly Henry 82 of 713 South East Street, Raleigh, N. C. + +I wus borned a slave ter Mr. Buck Boylan in Yazoo City, Mississippi. I +doan know nothin' 'bout my family 'cept my gran'maw an' she died in +Mississippi durin' de war. + +Marster Buck owned three plantations dar, de Mosley place, Middle place, +an' de Hill place. Me an' gran'maw lived at de Mosley place. One day +Marster Buck comes in, an' we sees dat he am worried stiff; atter awhile +he gangs us up, an' sez ter us: + +De Yankees am a-comin' to take my slaves 'way from me an' I don't 'pose +dat dey am gwine ter do dat. Fer dem reasons we leaves fer No'th +Carolina day atter termorror an' I ain't gwine ter hyar no jaw 'bout +hit.' + +Dat day he goes over de slaves an' picks out 'roun' five hundret ter go. +He picks me out, but my gran'maw he sez dat he will leave case she am so +old an' feeble. I hates dat, but I don't say nothin' at all. + +We leaves home in kivered wagons, wid a heap walkin' an' in 'bout three +weeks, I reckon, we gits ter Raleigh. You should have been 'long on dat +trip, honey; When we camps side of de road an' sleeps on de groun' an' +cooks our rations at de camp fires. I think dat dat wus one spring 'fore +de surrender wus de nex'. + +Marster Buck carries us ter Boylan Avenue dar whar de bridge am now an' +we camps fer a few days, but den he sen's us out ter de Crabtree +plantation. He also buys a place sommers east o' Raleigh an' sen's some +dar. + +I misses my gran'maw fer awhile, but at last Uncle Green comes from +Mississippi an' he sez dat gran'maw am daid, so I pretty quick stops +worrin' over hit. + +Marster' cides ter hire some o' us out, an' so I gits hired out ter Miss +Mary Lee, who I wucks fer till she got so pore she can't feed me, den I +is hired out ter Miss Sue Blake an' sent ter de Company Shop up above +Durham. + +Miss Mary wus good, but Miss Sue she whup me, so I runs away. I went +barefooted an' bareheaded ter de train, an' I gits on. Atter awhile de +conductor comes fer a ticket an' I ain't got none. He axes me whar I'se +gwine an' I tells him home, so he brung me on ter Raleigh. + +I went right home an' tol' Mr. Buck dat Miss Sue whupped me, an' dat I +runned away. He said dat hit wus all right, an' he hired me out ter Mis' +Lee Hamilton who lived dar on de Fayetteville Street. + +She wus a widder an' run a boardin' house an' dar's whar I seed de +first drunk man dat eber I seed. He put de back o' his knife ginst my +neck an' said dat he wus gwine ter cut my throat. I tell you dat I is +knowed a drunk eber since dat time. + +I wus drawin' water at de well at de end of Fayetteville Street when de +Yankees comed. I seed 'em ridin' up de street wid deir blue coats +shinin' an' deir hosses steppin' high. I knowed dat I ought ter be +skeered but I ain't, an' so I stands dar an' watches. + +Suddenly as dey passes de bank out rides two mens frum Wheeler's calvary +an' dey gits in de middle o' de street one of de hosses wheels back an' +de man shot right at de Yankees, den he flewed frum dar. + +Two of de Yankees retracts frum de army an' dey flies atter de Rebs. +When de Rebs git ter de Capitol one o' dem flies down Morgan Street an' +one goes out Hillsboro Street wid de Yankees hot in behin' him. + +Dey ketched him out dar at de Hillsboro Bridge when his hoss what wus +already tired, stumbles an' he falls an' hurts his leg. + +Durin' dat time de big man wid de red hair what dey calls Kilpatrick +brung his men up on de square an' sets under de trees an' a gang o' +people comes up. + +When dey brung de young good lookin' Reb up ter de redheaded Gen'l he +sez 'What you name Reb?' + +De boy sez, 'Robert Walsh, sir. + +What for did you done go an' shoot at my army? + +"Case I hates de Yankees an' I wush dat dey wus daid in a pile," de Reb +sez, an' laughs. + +"De Gen'l done got his dander up now, an' he yells," 'Carry de Reb +sommers out'r sight o' de ladies an' hang him.' + +De Reb laughs an' sez, 'kin' o' you sir,' an' he waves goodbye ter de +crowd an' dey carried him off a laughin' fit ter kill. + +Dey hanged him on a ole oak tree in de Lovejoy grove, whar de Governor's +mansion am now standin' an' dey buried him under de tree. + +Way atter de war dey moved his skileton ter Oakwood Cemetery an' put him +up a monument. His grave wus kivered wid flowers, an' de young ladies +cry. + +He died brave do', an' he kep' laughin' till his neck broke. I wus dar +an' seed hit, furdermore dar wus a gang of white ladies dar, so dey +might as well a hanged him on de Capitol Square. + +De Yankees wus good ter me, but hit shore wus hard ter git a job do', +an' so I ain't fared as good as I did' fore de war. + +Mr. Buck wus good ter us. Sometimes he'd lose his temper an' cuss, den +he'd say right quick, 'God forgive me, I pray.' Dat man believed in +'ligion. When de oberseer, George Harris, 'ud start ter beat a slave dey +larned ter yell fer Mr. Buck an' make lak dey wus gittin' kilt. + +Mr. Buck'd come stompin' an' yellin' 'stop beatin' dat nigger. + +Course dis ruint de slaves, case dey could talk lak dey pleased ter Mr. +Harris, an' iffen dey could yell loud nuff dey ain't got no whuppin'. + +Yessum, I'se glad slavery am over; we owns dis home an' some chickens, +but we shore does need de ole age pension. I'se got two fine gran'sons, +but let me tell you dey needs ter wuck harder, eat less, an' drink less. + +On de count o' dem boys I wants de ABC Stores so's dey won't drink box +lye. + +EH + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320047] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 737 +Subject: CHANEY HEWS +Person Interviewed: Chaney Hews +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +CHANEY HEWS +80 years old. 104 Cotton Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +My age, best of my recollection, is about eighty years. I was 'bout +eight years ole when de Yankees come through. Chillun in dem days wus +not paid much mind like dey is now. White chillun nor nigger chillun wus +not spiled by tenshun. + +I got enough to eat to live on an' dat wus 'bout all I keered 'bout. Des +so I could git a little to eat and could play all de time. I stayed +outen de way of de grown folks. No, chillun wus not noticed like dey is +now. + +I heard de grown folks talkin' 'bout de Yankees. De niggers called 'em +blue jackets. Den one mornin', almost 'fore I knowed it, de yard wus +full of 'em. Dey tried to ride de hosses in de house, dey caught de +chickens, killed de shoats and took de horses an' anything else dey +wanted. Dey give de nigger hardtack an' pickled meat. I 'members eating +some of de meat, I didn't like. + +We had reasonably good food, clothin', and warm log houses wid stick an' +dirt chimleys. De houses wus warm enough all de time in winter, and dey +didn't leak in rainy weather neither. + +Dere wus a lot of slaves an' marster an' missus wus good to father an' +mother. When dey had a cornshuckin' we slaves had a good time, plenty to +eat, whiskey for de grown folks and a rastlin' match after de corn wus +shucked. A nigger dat shucked a red ear of corn got a extra drink of +whiskey. Dat wus de custom in dem days. + +No prayermeetings wus allowed on de plantation but we went to Salem to +white folks church and also to white folks church at Cary. + +Dey whupped mother 'cause she tried to learn to read, no books wus +allowed. Mother said dat if de blue jackets had not come sooner or later +I would have got de lash. + +Mother belonged to Sam Atkins who owned a plantation about ten miles +down de Ramkatte Road in Wake County. Father belonged to Turner Utley +and father wus named Jacob Utley and mother wus named Lucy Utley. My +maiden name wus Chaney Utley. Dey wurked from sun to sun on de +plantation. + +When de surrender come father an' mother come to town an' stayed about a +year an' den went back to ole marster's plantation. Dey wus fed a long +time on hardtack and pickled meat, by de Yankees, while in town. Dey +stayed a long time wid ole marster when dey got back. Mother wus his +cook. Rats got after mother in town an' she went back to marsters an' +tole him 'bout it an' tole him she had come back home, dat she wus fraid +to stay in town an' marster jes' laughted an' tole us all to come right +in. He tole mother to go an' cook us all sumptin to eat an' she did. We +wus all glad to git back home. + +I wus too little to wurk much but I played a lot an' swept yards. We +drank water outen gourds an' marster would tell me to bring him a gourd +full of cool water when he wus settin' in his arm chair on de porch. I +thought big of waitin' on marster, yes, dat I did. + +Dere wus fourteen of us in family, father, mother an' twelve chilluns. +Dere is three of us livin', two of de boys an' me. + +Slavery wus a good thing from what I knows 'bout it. While I liked de +Yankees wid dere purty clothes, I didn't like de way dey took marster's +stuff an' I tole 'em so. Mother made me hush. Dey took chickens, meat, +hogs an' horses. + +We finally left ole marster's plantation an' moved Jes' a little way +over on another plantation. Mother an' father died there. + +I married Sam Hews in Wake County when I wus fifteen years old. I had no +children. After we wus married we stayed on de farm a year or two den we +moved to Raleigh. We have wurked for white folks ever since, an' I am +still wurkin' for 'em now all I am able. I washes an' irons clothes. +Sometimes I can't wash, I ain't able, but I does de bes' I can. De white +folks is still good to me an' I likes' em. + +LE + + + + +District: No. 2 [320158] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 1554 +Subject: Joe High +Person Interviewed: Joe High +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +[HW: interesting first & last paragraph glad slavery ended but loved +Missus] + +JOE HIGH +[HW:--80 years] + + +Joe High interviewed May 18, 1937 has long been one of the best +independent gardners in Raleigh, working variously by the hour or day. + +My name is Joe High. I lives at 527 So. Haywood. St. Raleigh, N. C. Now +dere is one thing I want to know, is dis thing goin' to cost me +anything. Hold on a minute, and le' me see. I want to be square, and I +must be square. Now le' me see, le' me see sumpin'. Sometimes folks come +here and dey writes and writes; den dey asts me, is you goin' to pay dis +now? What will it cost? Well, if it costs nothin' I'll gib you what I +knows. + +Let me git my Bible. I wants to be on de square, because I got to leave +here some of dese days. Dis is a record from de slave books. I've been +tryin' to git my direct age for 35 years. My cousin got my age. I wuz +born April 10, 1857. My mother's name wuz Sarah High. Put down when she +wuz born, Oct. 24, 1824. This is from the old slave books. We both +belonged to Green High, the young master. The old master, I nebber seed +him; but I saw old missus, Mis' Laney High. The old master died before I +wuz born. We lived two miles north uv Zebulon. You know where Zebulon is +in Wake County? I had two brothers, one brother named Taylor High, +'nother named Ruffin High. My sister died mighty young. She come here +wrong; she died. I' member seeing my uncle take her to the grave yard. I +don't know whe're there's enny rec'ord o' her or not. + +My work in slavery times wuz ridin' behin' my Missus, Clara Griffin, who +wuz my old missus' sister's daughter. She came to be our missus. When +she went visiting I rode behind her. I also looked atter de garden, kept +chickens out uv de garden, and minded de table, fanned flies off de +table. They were good to us. Dey whupped us sometime. I wuz not old +enough to do no fiel' work. + +One time I slep' late. It wuz in the fall uv the year. The other +chilluns had lef' when I got up. I went out to look for 'em. When I +crossed the tater patch I seen the ground cracked and I dug in to see +what cracked it. I found a tater and kept diggin' till I dug it up. I +carried it to the house. They had a white woman for a cook that year. I +carried the tater and showed it to her. She took me and the tater and +told me to come on. We went from the kitchen to the great house and she +showed the tater to the old missus sayin', 'Look here missus, Joe has +been stealin' taters. Here is the tater he stole'. Old missus said, 'Joe +belongs to me, the tater belongs to me, take it back and cook it for +him. When the cook cooked the tater she asked me for half uv it. I gave +it to her. If I had known den lak I knows now, she wuz tryin' to git me +to git a whoppin' I wouldn't 'er give her none uv dat tater. + +There were some frame houses, an part log houses, we called 'em the +darkey houses. The master's house wuz called 'the great house'. We had +very good places to sleep and plenty to eat. I got plenty uv potlicker, +peas, and pumpkins. All us little darkies et out uv one bowl. We used +mussel shells, got on the branch, for spoons. Dey must not er had no +spoons or sumpin. The pea fowls roosted on de great house evey night. I +didn't know whut money nor matches wuz neither. + +I 'member seein' Henry High, my first cousin, ketch a pike once, but I +never done no fishin' or huntin'. I 'member seein' the grown folks start +off possum huntin' at night, but I did not go. + +I wore wooden bottom shoes and I wore only a shirt. I went in my shirt +tail until I wuz a great big boy, many years atter slavery. There were +50 or more slaves on the plantation. Old women wove cloth on looms. We +made syrup, cane syrup, with a cane mill. We carried our corn to +Foster's Mill down on Little River to have it ground. It wuz called +Little River den; I don't know whut it is called in dis day. + +There wuz a block in de yard, where missus got up on her horse. There +were two steps to it. Slaves were sold from this block. I 'member seein' +them sold from this block. George High wuz one, but they got him back. + +Dey did not teach us anything about books; dey did not teach us anything +about readin' and writin'. I went to church at the Eppsby Church near +Buffalo, not far from Wakefield. We sat in a corner to ourselves. + +My brother Taylor ran away. Young master sent him word to come on back +home; he won't goin' to whup him, and he come back. Yes, he come back. + +We played the games uv marbles, blind fold, jumpin', and racin', and +jumpin' the rope. The doctor looked atter us when we were sick, +sometimes, but it wuz mostly done by old women. Dey got erbs and dey gib +us wormfuge. Dey worked us out. I wuz not old enough to pay much +attention to de doctor's name. + +I 'members one day my young master, Green High, and me wuz standin' in +de front yard when two men come down the avenue from de main road to the +house. Dey wanted to know how fer it wuz to Green High's. Master told +'em it wuz about 2 miles away and gave 'em the direction. Dey were +Yankees. Dey got on their horses and left. Dey didn't know dey wuz +talking to Green High then. When dey left, master left. I didn't see +him no more in a long time. Soon next day the yard wuz full uv Yankee +soldiers. I 'members how de buttons on dere uniforms shined. Dey got +corn, meat, chickens, and eveything they wanted. Day didn't burn the +house. + +Old man Bert Doub or Domb kept nigger hounds. When a nigger run away he +would ketch him for de master. De master would send atter him and his +dogs when a nigger run away. I 'member one overseer, a Negro, Hamp High +and another Coff High. Nobody told me nothin' about being free and I +knowed nothin' 'bout whut it meant. + +I married Rosetta Hinton. She belonged to the Hintons during slavery. +She is dead; she's been dead fourteen years. We were married at her +mother's home; the river plantation belonging to the Hintons. I wuz +married by a preacher at this home. Atter the wedding we had good things +to eat and we played games. All stayed there that night and next day we +went back to whar I wuz workin' on de Gen. Cox's farm. I wuz workin' +dere. We had 6 chillun. Two died at birth. All are dead except one in +Durham named Tommie High and one in New York City. Tommie High works in +a wheat mill. Eddie High is a cashermiser, (calciminer) works on walls. + +I thought slavery wuz right. I felt that this wuz the way things had to +go, the way they were fixed to go. I wuz satisfied. The white folks +treated me all right. My young missus loved me and I loved her. She +whupped me sometimes. I think just for fun sometimes, when I wuz ridin' +behind her, she would tell me to put my arms around her and hold to her +apron strings. One day she wuz sittin' on the side saddle; I wuz sittin' +behind her. She wud try to git old Dave, the horse she wuz a ridin to +walk; she would say, 'Ho Dave', den I wud kick de horse in de side and +she wud keep walkin' on. She asked me, 'Joe, why does Dave not want to +stop?' + +I saw a lot of Yankees, I wuz afraid of 'em. They called us Johnnie, +Susie, and tole us they wouldn't hurt us. + +I think Abraham Lincoln is all right, I guess, the way he saw it. I +think he was like I wuz as a boy from what I read, and understand; he +wuz like me jest the way he saw things. I liked the rules, and ways o' +my old master and missus, while the Yankees and Abraham Lincoln gave me +more rest. + +How did I learn to read? Atter de war I studies. I wonts ter read de +hymms an' songs. I jis picks up de readin' myself. + +It's quare to me, I cannot remember one word my mother ever said to me, +not nary a word she said can I remember. I remember she brought me hot +potlicker and bread down to the house of mornings when I wuz small; but +I'se been tryin to 'member some words she spoke to me an' I cain't. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320246] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 936 +Subject: SUSAN HIGH +Story Teller: Susan High +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +SUSAN HIGH +519 Haywood Street +Raleigh, N. C. + + +My name is Susan High. I wus born in June. I am 70 years old. My mother +wus named Piety an' she belonged to de ole man Giles Underhill before de +surrender. My father he wus George Merritt an' he belonged to Ben +Merritt, Ivan Proctor's grandfather. Dey lived on a plantation near +Eagle Rock, Wake County. Dey called de creek near by Mark's Creek. + +My parents said dat dey had a mighty hard time, an' dat durin' slavery +time, de rules wus mighty strict. De hours of work on de farm wus from +sun to sun wid no time 'cept at Christmas and at lay-by time, 4th of +July for anything but work. Dey were not 'lowed no edication, and very +little time to go to church. Sometimes de went to de white folks church. +Mother said dey whupped de slaves if dey broke de rules. + +Dey said de overseers were worse den de slave owners. De overseers were +ginerally white men hired by de marster. My father said dey had poor +white men to overseer, and de slave owner would go on about his business +and sometimes didn't know an' didn't eben care how mean de overseer wus +to de slaves. + +Dere wus a lot o' things to drink, dey said, cider, made from apples, +whiskey, an' brandy. Dey said people didn't notice it lak dey do now, +not many got drunk, cause dere wus plenty of it. Father said it wus ten +cents a quart, dat is de whiskey made outen corn, and de brandy wus +cheap too. + +Dey said de clothes were wove, an' dat mos' chillun went barefooted, an' +in dere shirt tails; great big boys, goin' after de cows, and feedin' de +horses, an' doin' work around de house in deir shirt tails. Grown slaves +got one pair o' shoes a year an' went barefooted de res' o' de time. +Biscuit wus a thing dey seldom got. + +Women cleared land by rollin' logs into piles and pilin' brush in de new +grounds. Dey were 'lowed patches, but dey used what dey made to eat. +Daddy said dey didn't have time to fish and hunt any. Dey were too tired +for dat. Dey had to work so hard. + +Daddy said he wus proud o' freedom, but wus afraid to own it. Dey prayed +fer freedom secretly. When de Yankees come daddy saved a two horse wagon +load of meat for marster by takin' it off in de swamp and hidin' it, an' +den marster wouldn't give him nary bit uv it. After de surrender, dey +turned him out wid a crowd o' little chillun wid out a thing. Dey give +him nothin'. My mother saved her marster's life, Charles Underhill. + +Well you see he wus takin' care uv a lot o' meat and whiskey for Dick +Jordon, an' de Yankees come an' he treated 'em from whiskey he had in a +bottle, an' tole 'em he had no more. Dey searched his home an' found it +in a shed room, an' den dey said dey were goin' to kill him for tellin' +'em a lie. She herd [HW correction: heard] 'em talkin' and she busted +through de crowd and told 'em dat de stuff belonged to anudder man and +dat her marster was not lyin', an' not to hurt 'im. De Yankees said, +'You have saved dis ole son of a bitch, we won't kill' em den.' Dey took +all de meat, whiskey, an' everything dey wanted. Marster promised mother +a cow, and calf, a sow, and pigs for what she had done for him an' to +stay on an' finish de crop. When de fall o' de year come he did not give +her de wrappin's o' her finger. Dat's what my mudder tole me. We wus +teached to call 'em mammie and pappie. I is gwine to tell you just +zackly like it is we were taught dese things. I wants to be pasidefily +right in what I tell you. + +We lef' dat place an' mammie an' pappie farmed wid Solomon Morgan a Free +Issue for several years. De family had typhoid fever an' five were down +with it at one time. But de Lawd will provide. Sich as dat makes me say +people wont die till deir time comes. Dere is some mighty good white +people in dis place in America, and also bad. If it hadn't been for 'em +we colored folks would have ben in a mighty bad fix. We got our jobs and +help from 'em to git us to de place we are at. Dr. Henry Montague +doctored us and none died. It wusn't dere time to go. No, no, hit wasn't +deir time to go. We then moved back to Marster's for a year, and then we +moved to Rolesville in Wake County. + +I married den and moved to Raleigh. I married Robert High. He is dead. +He been dead 'bout 30 years. I don't know much 'bout Abraham Lincoln I +think he wus a fine man. Mr. Roosevelt's ideas is fine if he can carry +'em out. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320084] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 878 +Subject: KITTY HILL +Person Interviewed: Kitty Hill +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 17 1937"] + +KITTY HILL +329 West South Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I tole you yisterday dat my age wus 76 years old, but my daughter come +home, an' I axed her' bout it an' she say I is 77 years old. I don't +know exactly the date but I wus born in April. I wus a little girl 'bout +five years ole when de surrender come, but I don't' member anything +much' bout de Yankees. + +I wus born in Virginia, near Petersburg, an' mother said de Yankees had +been hanging' round dere so long dat a soldier wus no sight to nobody. + +'Bout de time de Yankees come I' member hearin' dem talk 'bout de +surrender. Den a Jew man by the name of Isaac Long come to Petersburg, +bought us an' brought us to Chatham County to a little country town, +named Pittsboro. Ole man Isaac Long run a store an' kept a boarding +house. We stayed on de lot. My mother cooked. We stayed there a long +time atter de war. Father wus sent to Manassas Gap at the beginning of +de war and I do not 'member ever seein' him. + +My mother wus named Viney Jefferson an' my father wus named Thomas +Jefferson. We 'longed to the Jeffersons there and we went by the name of +Jefferson when we wus sold and brought to N. C. I do not 'member my +grandparents on my mother's or father's side. Mother had one boy an' +three girls. The boy wus named Robert, an' the girls were Kate, Rosa and +Kitty. Marster Long bought mother an' all de chilluns, but mother never +seed father anymore atter he wus sent off to de war. + +I married Green Hill in Chatham County. I married him at Moncure about +nine miles from Pittsboro. We lived at Moncure and mother moved there +an' we lived together for a long time. When we left Moncure we come ter +Raleigh. Mother had died long time 'fore we left Moncure, Chatham +County. We moved ter Raleigh atter de World War. + +Mother used ter tell we chilluns stories of patterollers ketchin' +niggers an' whuppin' 'em an' of how some of de men outrun de +patterollers an' got away. Dere wus a song dey used to sing, it went +like dis. Yes sir, ha! ha! I wants ter tell you dat song, here it is: + + 'Somefolks say dat a nigger wont steal, I caught two in my corn + field, one had a bushel, one had a peck, an' one had rosenears, + strung 'round his neck. 'Run nigger run, Patteroller ketch you, run + nigger run like you did de udder day.' + +My mother said she wus treated good. Yes she said dey wus good ter her +in Virginia. Mother said de slave men on de Jefferson plantation in +Virginia would steal de hosses ter ride ter dances at night. One time a +hoss dey stole an' rode ter a dance fell dead an' dey tried ter tote him +home. Mother laughted a lot about dat. I heard my mother say dat de +cavalry southern folks was bout de meanest in de war. She talked a lot +about Wheeler's cavalry. + +Dere wus a lot of stealin' an' takin' meat, silver, stock an' anything. +Hosses, cows an' chickens jist didn't have no chance if a Yankee laid +his eyes on 'em. A Yankee wus pisen to a yard full of fowls. Dey killed +turkeys, chickens and geese. Now dats de truth. Mother said de Yankees +skinned turkeys, chickens and geese 'fore dey cooked 'em. Sometimes dey +would shoot a hog an' jist take de hams an' leave de rest dere to spile. +Dey would kill a cow, cut off de quarters an' leave de rest ter rot. + +Mother said no prayer meetings wus allowed de slaves in Virginia where +she stayed. Dey turned pots down ter kill de noise an' held meetings at +night. Dey had niggers ter watch an' give de alarm if dey saw de white +folks comin'. Dey always looked out for patterollers. Dey were not +allowed any edication an' mother could not read and write nuther. + +I 'member de Ku Klux an' how dey beat people. One night a man got away +from 'em near whar we lived in Chatham County. He lived out in de edge +of de woods; and when dey knocked on de door he jumped out at a back +window in his night clothes wid his pants in his hands an' outrun 'em. +Dere wus rocks in de woods whar he run an' dat nigger jist tore his feet +up. Dey went ter one nigger's house up dere an' de door' wus barred up. +Dey got a ax an' cut a hole in de door. When de hole got big enough de +nigger blammed down on 'em wid a gun an' shot one of dere eyes out. You +know de Ku Klux went disguised an' when dey got ter your house dey would +say in a fine voice, Ku Klux, Ku Klux, Ku Klux, Ku Klux. + +[HW correction: New paragraph] Some people say dey are in slavery now +an' dat de niggers never been in nothin' else; but de way some of it wus +I believe it wus a bad thing. Some slaves fared all right though an' had +a good time an' liked slavery. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320218] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 997 +Subject: JERRY HINTON +Person Interviewed: Jerry Hinton +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +JERRY HINTON + + +My full name is Jerry Hinton. I wus borned in February, 1855. I am not +able ter work. I work all I can. I am trying ter do de best I can ter +help myself. Yes, just tryin' ter do sumpin, ain't able ter work much. I +am ruptured, an' old. My old house looks 'bout old as I do, it's 'bout +to fall down, ain't able ter fix it up. It needs repairing. I ain't able +ter make no repairs. + +I wus born on a plantation in Wake County. My master wus Richard +Seawell, an' Missus wus named Adelaide. His plantation wus on Neuse +River. He had two plantations, but I wus a little boy, an' don't +remember how many acres in de plantation or how many slaves. There wus a +lot of 'em tho'. I would follow master 'round an' look up in his face so +he would give me biscuit an' good things ter eat. + +My mother, before marriage, wus named Silvia Seawell, an' father wus +named Andrew Hinton. Atter they wus married mother went by the name of +Hinton, my father's family name. I had--I don't know--mos' anything wus +good ter me. Master brought me biscuit an' I thought that wus the +greatest thing at all. Yes, I got purty good food. Our clothes wus not +fine, but warm. I went barefooted mos' o' the time, an' in summer I went +in my shirt tail. + +Dey called de slave houses 'quarters', de house where de overseer lived +wus de 'Overseer's House'. Master had a overseer to look atter his men; +De overseer wus named Bridgers. De house where Master lived wus de +'Great House'. + +Dey would not allow us any books. I cannot read an' write. I have seen +de patterollers, but I neber saw' em whip nobody; but I saw' em lookin' +fer somebody ter whup. I've neber seen a slave sold. I've neber seen a +jail fer slaves or slaves in chains. I have seen master whup slaves +though. I wus neber whupped. Dey wrung my ears an' pulled my nose to +punish me. + +Dere wus no churches on de plantation, but we had prayer meetin's in our +homes. We went to de white folks church. My father used to take me by de +hand an' carry me ter church. Daddy belonged ter de Iron Side Baptist +Church. We called our fathers 'daddy' in slavery time. Dey would not let +slaves call deir fathers 'father'. Dey called 'em 'daddy', an' white +children called deir father, 'Pa'. I didn't work any in slavery time, +'cept feed pigs, an' do things fer my master; waited on him. I went +'round wid him a lot, an' I had rather see him come on de plantation +any time dan to see my daddy. I do not remember any possums or other +game being eaten at our house. I do not remember eber goin' a-fishin +durin' slavery time. + +Master had two boys ter go off ter de war. Dey carried 'em off ter de +war. I don't know how many children dey had, but I remember two of 'em +goin' off ter de war. Don't know what became of 'em. + +I shore remember de Yankees. Yes sir, Ha! ha! I shore remember dem. Dem +Yankees tore down an' drug out ever'thing, dey come across. Dey killed +hogs, an' chickens. Dey took only part of a hog an' lef' de rest. Dey +shot cows, an' sometimes jest cut off de hind quarters an' lef de rest. +Dey knocked de heads out o' de barrels o' molasses. Dey took horses, +cows an' eber'thing, but they did not hurt any o' de children. Dey wus +folks dat would tear down things. + +Atter de surrender my mother moved over on de plantation where my father +stayed. We stayed dere a long time, an' den we moved back to Richard +Seawell's, old master's plantation, stayin' dere a long time. Den we +moved to Jessie Taylor's place below Raleigh between Crabtree Creek an' +Neuse River. When we lef' Taylor's we moved ter Banner Dam northeast of +Raleigh near Boone's Pond. Mother an' father both died dere. Atter +leaving dere I come here. I have lived in Oberlin ebery since. Guess +I'll die here; if I can git de money to pay my taxes, I know I will die +here. + +I think slavery wus good because I wus treated all right. I think I am +'bout as much a slave now as ever. + +I don't think any too much o' Abraham Lincoln, Jeff Davis or any o' dem +men. Don't know much 'bout 'em. Guess Mr. Roosevelt is all right. 'Bout +half the folks both black an' white is slaves an' don't know it. When I +wus a slave I had nothin' on me, no responsibility on any of us, only to +work. Didn't have no taxes to pay, neber had to think whur de next meal +wus comin' from. + +Dis country is in a bad fix. Looks like sumptin got to be done someway +or people, a lot of 'em, are goin' to parish to death. Times are hard, +an' dey is gettin' worse. Don't know how I am goin' to make it, if I +don't git some help. We been prayin' fer rain. Crops are done injured, +but maybe de Lawd will help us. Yes, I trust in de Lawd. + +I been married twice. I married Henritta Nunn first, an' den Henritta +Jones. I had three children by first marriage, an' none b [HW: y] second +marriage. My wife is over seventy years old. We have a hard time making +enough to git a little sumptin to eat. I wus mighty glad to see you +when you come up dis mornin', an' I hopes what I have told you will help +some one to know how bad we need help. I feels de Lawd will open up de +way. Yes sir, I do. + +LE + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320179] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 568 +Subject: MARTHA ADELINE HINTON +Person Interviewed: Martha Adeline Hinton +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: HW Date "8/31/37"] + +MARTHA ADELINE HINTON +#2--Star St., Route 2, Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I wus born May 3, 1861 at Willis Thompson's plantation in Wake County +about fifteen miles from Raleigh. He wus my marster an' his wife Muriel +wus my missus. My father's name wus Jack Emery an' mother's name was +Minerva Emery. My mother belonged to Willis Thompson and my father +belonged to Ephriam Emery. Mother stayed with my marster's married +daughter. She married Johnny K. Moore. + +Marster had three children, all girls; dere names wus Margaret, Caroline +and Nancy. There wus only one slave house dere 'cause dey only had one +slave whur my mother stayed. Marster Thompson had five slaves on his +plantation. He wus good to slaves but his wife wus rough. We had a +reasonably [HW correction] good place to sleep an' fair sumptin to eat. +You sees I wus mighty young an' I members very little 'bout some things +in slavery but from what my mother an father tole me since de war it wus +just 'bout middlin' livin' at marster's. Slaves wore homemade clothes +an' shoes. De shoes had wooden bottoms but most slave chilluns went +barefooted winter an' summer till dey wus ole 'nough to go to work. De +first pair of shoes I wore my daddy made 'em. I 'member it well. I will +never furgit it, I wus so pleased wid 'em. All slave chillun I knows +anything 'bout wore homemade clothes an' went barefooted most of the +time an' bareheaded too. + +I member de Yankees an' how dey had rods searchin' for money an' took +things. I members a Yankee goin' to mother an' sayin' we was free. When +he lef' missus come an' axed her what he say to her an' mother tole +missus what he said an' missus says 'No he didn't tell you you is free, +you jes axed him wus you free.' Father wus hired out to Frank Page of +Gary. He wus cuttin cord wood for him, when he heard de Yankees wus +coming he come home. When he got dere de Yankees had done been to de +house an' gone. + +Durin' slavery dey tried to sell daddy. De speculator wus dere an 'daddy +suspicion sumpin. His marster tole him to go an' shuck some corn. Dey +aimed to git him in de corn crib an' den tie him an' sell him but when +he got to the crib he kept on goin'. He went to Mr. Henry Buffaloe's an' +stayed two weeks den he went back home. Dere wus nuthin' else said 'bout +sellin him. Dey wanted to sell him an buy a 'oman so dey could have a +lot of slave chilluns cause de 'oman could multiply. Dey hired men out +by the year to contractors to cut cord wood an' build railroads. Father +wus hired out dat way. Ole man Rome Harp wus hired out day way. He +belonged to John Harp. + +Daddy said his marster never did hit him but one blow. Daddy said he +wurked hard everyday, an' done as near right as he knowed how to do in +everything. His marster got mad ah' hit him wid a long switch. Den daddy +tole him he wus workin' bes' he could for him an' dat he wus not goin' +to take a whuppin. His marster walked off an' dat wus de last of it, an' +he never tried to whup him again. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320225] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 775 +Subject: ROBERT HINTON +Story Teller: Robert Hinton +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +ROBERT HINTON +420 Smith Street, Raleigh, N. C. + + +My name is Robert Hinton. I ain't able to work, ain't been able to do +any work in five years. My wife, Mary Hinton, supports me by workin' +with the WPA. She was cut off las' May. Since she has had no job, we +have to live on what she makes with what little washin' she gets from de +white folks; an' a little help from charity; dis ain't much. Dey give +you for one week, one half peck meal, one pound meat, one pound powdered +milk, one half pound o' coffee. Dis is what we git for one week. + +I wus borned in 1856 on de Fayetteville Road three miles from Raleigh, +south. I belonged to Lawrence Hinton. My missus wus named Jane Hinton. +De Hintons had 'bout twenty slaves on de plantation out dere. Dey had +four chillun, de boy Ransom an' three girls: Belle, Annie an' Miss Mary. +All are dead but one, Miss Mary is livin' yit. My mother wus named Liza +Hinton an' my father wus named Bob Hinton. My gran'mother wus named Mary +Hinton an' gran'father Harry Hinton. + +We had common food in slavery time, but it wus well fixed up, an' we +were well clothed. We had a good place to sleep, yes sir, a good place +to sleep. We worked from sunrise to sunset under overseers. Dey were +good to us. I wus small at dat time. I picked up sticks in de yard an' +done some work around de house, but when dey turned deir backs I would +be playin' most o' de time. We played shootin' marbles, an' runnin', an' +jumpin'. We called de big house de dwelling house an' de slave quarters +de slave houses. Some of 'em were in marster's yard and some were +outside. Dey give all de families patches and gardens, but dey did not +sell anything. + +We had prayer meetin' in our houses when we got ready, but dere were no +churches for niggers on de plantation. We had dances and other socials +durin' Christmas times. Dey give us de Christmas holidays. + +No sir, dey did not whup me. I wus mighty young. Dey didn't work chillun +much. I have seen 'em whup de grown ones do'. I never saw a slave sold +and never saw any in chains. Dey run away from our plantation but dey +come back again. William Brickell, Sidney Cook, Willis Hinton all run +away. I don't know why dey all run away but some run away to keep from +being whupped. + +I have lived in North Carolina all my life, right here in Wake County. +We used to set gums and catch rabbits, set traps and caught patridges +and doves. + +Yes sir, I went blindin'. I 'members gittin' a big light an' jumpin' +'round de bresh heaps, an' when a bird come out we frailed him down. We +went gigging fish too. We found 'em lying on de bottom o' de creeks an' +ponds at night, an' stuck de gig in 'em an' pulled 'em out. + +De white folks, ole missus, teached us de catechism, but dey didn't want +you to learn to read and write. I can read and write now; learned since +de surrender. Sometimes we went to de white folks church. I don't know +any songs. + +When we got sick our boss man sent for a doctor, Dr. Burke Haywood, Dr. +Johnson, or Dr. Hill. + +I 'members when de North folks and de Southern folks wus fightin'. De +Northern soldiers come in here on de Fayetteville Road. I saw 'em by de +hundreds. Dey had colored folks soldiers in blue clothes too. In de +mornin' white soldiers, in de evenin' colored soldiers; dats de way dey +come to town. + +I married first Almeta Harris. I had six children by her. Second, I +married Mary Jones. She is my wife now. We had six children. My wife is +now 65 years old and she has to support me. I am done give out too much +to work any more. + +Yes sir, that I have seen de patterollers, but my old boss didn't 'low +'em to whup his niggers. Marster give his men passes. + +I know when de Ku Klux was here, but I don't know much about 'em. + +I thought slavery wus a bad thing' cause all slaves did not fare alike. +It wus all right for some, but bad for some, so it wus a bad thing. + +I joined the church because I got religion and thought the church might +help me keep it. + +I think Abraham Lincoln wus a good man, but I likes Mr. Roosevelt; he is +a good man, a good man. + +AC + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320048] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 922 +Subject: WILLIAM GEORGE HINTON +Person Interviewed: William George Hinton +Editor: G. L. Andrews + +[TR: HW Date: "8/31/37"] + +WILLIAM GEORGE HINTON +Star Street, R. F. D. #2, Box 171 + + +I was born in Wake County in de year 1859. August 28th. I 'members +seeing de Yankees, it seems like a dream. One come along ridin' a mule. +Dey sed he wus a Yankee bummer, a man dat went out raging on peoples +things. He found out whur the things wus located an' carried the rest +there. The bummers stole for de army, chickens, hogs, an' anything they +could take. Atter de bummer come along in a few minutes de whole place +wus crowded wid Yankees. De blue coats wus everywhere I could look. + +Marster didn't have but five slaves, an' when de Yankees come dere wus +only me an' my oldest sister dere. All de white folks had left except +missus and her chillun. Her baby wus only three weeks ole then. + +A Yankee come to my oldest sister an' said, 'Whur is dem horses?' He +pulled out a large pistol an' sed, 'Tell me whur dem horses is or I will +take your damn sweet life.' Marster hid de horses an' sister didn't +know, she stuck to it she didn't know an' de Yankees didn't shoot. + +Dey come back, de whole crowd, de next day an' made marster bring in his +horses. Bey took de horses an' bought some chickens an' paid for 'em, +den dey killed an' took de rest. Ha! ha! dey shore done dat. Paid for +some an' took de rest. + +I seed de Yankees atter de surrender. Dey wus staying at de ole Soldiers +Home on New Bern Avenue. One day mother carried me there to sell to 'em. +One time she went there an' she had a rooster who wus a game. His eyes +wus out from fighting another game rooster belonging to another person +near our home, Mr. Emory Sewell. She carried de rooster in where dere +wus a sick Yankee. De Yankee took him in his hands an' de rooster +crowed. He give mother thirty-five cents for him. De Yankee said if he +could crow an' his eyes out he wanted him. He said, he called dat spunk. + +Dere wus a man who wus a slave dat belonged to Mr. Kerney Upchurch come +along riding a mule. My oldest sister, de one de Yankees threatened, +tole him de Yankees are up yonder. He said, 'Dad lim de Yankees.' He +went on, when he got near de Yankees dey tole him to halt.' Instead of +haltin' he sold out runnin' the mule fur de ole field. Der wus a gang of +young fox hounds dere. When he lit out on de mule, dey thought he wus +goin' huntin' so dey took out atter him, jest like dey wus atter a fox. +Some of de Yankees shot at him, de others just almost died a laughin'. + +We didn't git much to eat. Mother said it wus missus fault, she was so +stingy. + +We had homemade clothes an' wooden bottom shoes for de grown folks, but +chillun did not wear shoes den, dey went barefooted. + +All de slaves lived in one house built about one hundred yards from the +great house, marsters house wus called the great house. + +My father wus named Robin Hinton an' my mother wus named Dafney Hinton. +My father belonged to Betsy Ransom Hinton an' mother belonged first to +Reddin Cromb in Lenoir County an' then to James Thompson of Wake County. +I wus borned after mother wus brought to Wake County. Marster had one +boy named Beuregard, four girls, Caroline, Alice, Lena and Nellie. I do +not remember my grandparents. + +I saw a slave named Lucinda, sold to ole man Askew, a speculator, by +Kerney Upchurch. I seed 'em carry her off. + +One of de slave men who belonged to ole man Burl Temples wus sent to +wurk for Mr. Temples' son who had married. His missus put him to totin' +water before goin' to wurk in de mornin'. Three other slaves toted water +also. He refused to tote water an' ran. She set de blood hounds atter +him an' caught him near his home, which wus his ole marster's house. Ole +marster's son come out, an' wouldn't let 'em whup him, an' they wouldn't +make him go back. + +Missus Harriet Temples wus a terrible 'oman, a slave jest couldn't suit +her. De slave dat run away from young marster wus finally sent back. +His marster give him a shoulder of meat before he left. He hung it in a +tree. Missus tole him to put it in the smoke house. He refused, sayin' +he would see it no more. + +A slave by the name of Sallie Temples run away 'cause her missus, Mary +Temples, wus so mean to her. She stuck hot irons to her. Made 'em drink +milk an' things for punishment is what my mother an' father said. Sallie +never did come back. Nobody never did know what become of her. + +Soon as de war wus over father an' mother left dere marsters. Dey went +to Mr. Tom Bridgers. We lived on de farm atter dis. Mother cooked, +sister an' I worked on de farm. Sister plowed like a man. De first help +my mammy got wus from de Yankees, it wus pickle meat an' hardtack. I wus +wid her an' dey took me in an' give me some clothes. Mother drawed from +'em a long time. We have farmed most our lives. Sometimes we worked as +hirelings and den as share croppers. I think slavery wus a bad thing. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320116] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 465 +Subject: Eustace Hodges +Story Teller: Eustace Hodges +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"] + +EUSTACE HODGES + +An interview with Eustace Hodges, 76 years old, of 625 W. Lenoir Street, +Raleigh, North Carolina. + + +I doan know when I wus borned, ner where but at fust my mammy an' me +'longed ter a McGee here in Wake County. My mammy wurked in de fiel's +den, ditchin' an' such, even plowin' while we 'longed ter McGee, but he +sold us ter Mr. Rufus Jones. My daddy still 'longed ter him but at de +close of de war he comed ter Mr. Jones' plantation an' he tuck de name +of Jones 'long wid us. + +Marse Rufus wus gooder dan Marse McGee, dey said. He give us more ter +eat an' wear an' he ain't make us wurk so hard nother. We had our wurk +ter do, of course, but mammy ain't had ter ditch ner plow no mo'. She +wurked in de house den, an' none of de wimmen done men's wurk. Course +she can't wurk so hard an' have 'leben chilluns too. She had a baby one +day an' went ter wurk de nex' while she 'longed ter McGee, but at Marse +Rufus' she stayed in de bed seberal days an' had a doctor. + +Marse Rufus uster let us take Sadday evenin' off an' go swimmin' er +fishin' er go ter Raleigh. I 'members dat somebody in town had a fuss +wid Marse Rufus 'bout lettin' his niggers run loose in town. Marse Rufus +atter dat had a oberseer in town ter see 'bout his niggers. + +I got a whuppin' once fer punchin' out a frog's eyes. Miss Sally giv' +hit ter me long wid a lecture 'bout bein' kin' ter dumb brutes, but I +ain't neber seed whar a frog am a brute yit. + +Yes'um I heard a heap 'bout de Yankees but I ain't prepared fer dere +takin' eben our bread. Miss Sally ain't prepared nother an' she tells' +em whar ter go, den she goes ter bed sick. I wus sorry fer Miss Sally, +dat I wus. + +De day dat news of de surrender come Miss Sally cried some more an' she +ain't wanted mammy ter go, so Marse Rufus said dat we can stay on. Dey +said dat Mister McGee runned his niggers offen his place wid a bresh +broom dat day. + +Atter de war we stayed on Marse Rufus' place till 1898 when pa died. I +had married a feller by de name of Charlie Hodges, what lived on a +nearby plantation an' we wus livin' on Marse Rufus' place wid pa an' ma. +We moved ter Raleigh den an' atter seberal years mammy moved hear too. +You can fin' her on Cannon Street, but I'll tell you dat she's pretty +puny now, since her stroke. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320195] +Worker: Mrs. Edith S. Hibbs + and Mrs. W. N. Harriss +No. Words: 795 +Subject: Alex Huggins' Story +Interviewed: Alex Huggins, + 920 Dawson St, Wilmington, N. C. +Edited: Mrs. W. N. Harriss + +[TR: No Date Stamp] + +STORY OF ALEX HUGGINS, EX-SLAVE + +920 Dawson Street, Wilmington, N. C. + + +I was born in New Bern on July 9, 1850. My father and mother belonged to +Mr. L. B. Huggins. My father was a carpenter and ship builder an' the +first things I remember was down on Myrtle Grove Sound, where Mr. +Huggins had a place. I was a sort of bad boy an' liked to roam 'round. +When I was about twelve years old I ran away. It was in 1863 when the +war was goin' on. + +Nobody was bein' mean to me. No, I was'nt bein' whipped. Don't you know +all that story 'bout slaves bein' whipped is all _Bunk_, (with scornful +emphasis). What pusson with any sense is goin' to take his horse or his +cow an' beat it up. It's prope'ty. We was prope'ty. Val'able prope'ty. +No, indeed, Mr. Luke give the bes' of attention to his colored people, +an' Mis' Huggins was like a mother to my mother. Twa'nt anythin' wrong +about home that made me run away. I'd heard so much talk 'bout freedom I +reckon I jus' wanted to try it, an' I thought I had to get away from +home to have it. + +Well, I coaxed two other boys to go with me, an' a grown man he got the +boat an' we slipped off to the beach an' put out to sea. Yes'm, we sho' +was after adventure. But, we did'n get very far out from sho', an' I saw +the lan' get dimmer an' dimmer, when I got skeered, an' then I got +seasick, an' we was havin' more kinds of adventure than we wanted, an' +then we saw some ships. There was two of 'em, an' they took us on board. + +They was the North Star an' the Eastern Star of the Aspinwal Line, a +mail an' freighter runnin' between Aspinwal near the Isthmus of Panama +and New York. We used to put in off Charleston. + +Then, in 1864 I joined the Union Navy. Went on board our convoy, the +Nereus. We convoyed to keep the Alabama, a Confederate privateer, away. +The Commander of the Nereus asked me how's I like to be his cabin boy. +So I was 2nd class cabin boy an' waited on the Captain. He was Five +Stripe Commander J. C. Howell. He was Commander of the whole fleet off +Fort Fisher. When the Captain wanted somethin' good to eat he used to +send me ashore for provisions. He liked me. He was an old man. He didn't +take much stock in fun, but he was a real man. I was young an' was'nt +serious. I jus' wanted a good time. I don't know much about the war, but +I do know two men of our boat was killed on shore while we was at Fort +Fisher. + +After the battle of Fort Fisher, we was on our way to Aspinwal. Layin' +off one day at Navassa Island, the Mast Head reported a strange sail. +'Where away?' 'Just ahead'. 'She seems to be a three mast steamer!' +'Which way headed?' We decided it was the Alabama going to St. Nicholas +Mole, West Indies. + +Our Captain called the officers together an' held a meetin'. Says he: +'We'll go under one bell (slow). Lieutenant will go ashore an' get some +information.' When we got there she had a coal schooner alongside taking +on coal. Our Captain prepared to capture her when she came out. But she +did'n come out 'til night. She dodged. Good thing too. She'd a knocked +hells pete out o' us. She was close to the water and could have fought +us so much better than we could her. We didn't want to fight 'cause we +knowed enough to jest natu'ally be skeered. She was a one decker man o' +war. We was a two decker with six guns on berth deck, an' five guns on +spar deck. I never saw her after that, but I heard she was contacted by +the Kearsage which sunk her off some island. + +I stayed in the navy eighteen months. Was discharged at the Brooklyn +Navy Yard. Admiral Porter was Admiral of the U. S. Navy at that time. + +I stayed in New York five or six years, then I cane home to my mother. I +was in the crude drug business in Wilmington for twenty years. + +Yes'm I went to church and Sunday school when I was a child, when they +could ketch me. Whilst I was in New York I went to church regular. + +I married after awhile. My wife died about ten years ago. We had one +son. I b'lieve he's in Baltimore, but I ain't heard from him in a long +time. He don't keer nothin' about me. Of co'se I'm comfortable. I gits +my pension, $75 a month. I give $10 of it to my nephew who's a cripple. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320124] +Worker: T. Pat Matthews +No. Words: 645 +Subject: CHARLIE H. HUNTER +Story Teller: C. H. Hunter +Editor: Geo. L. Andrews + +[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 4 1937"] + +CHARLIE H. HUNTER, 80 years old, +2213 Barker Street +West Raleigh + + +My full name is Charlie H. Hunter. I wus borned an' reared in Wake +County, N. C., born May, 1857. My mother wus Rosa Hunter an' my father +wus named Jones. I never saw my father. We belonged to a family named +Jones first, an' then we wus sold to a slave owner seven miles Northwest +by the name Joe Hayes an' a terrible man he wus. He would get mad 'bout +most anything, take my mother, chain her down to a log and whup her +unmercifully while I, a little boy, could do nothing but stan' there an' +cry, an' see her whupped. We had fairly good food an' common clothing. +We had good sleeping places. My mother wus sold to a man named Smith. I +married first Annie Hayes who lived sixteen months. + +No prayer meetings wus allowed on de plantations an' no books of any +kind. I can read an' write, learned in a school taught by Northern folks +after the surrender, Mr. an' Mrs. Graves who taught in Raleigh in the +rear of the African Methodist Episcopal church. The school house wus +owned by the church. We played no games in slavery times. I saw slaves +sold on the block once in Raleigh. + +I wus to be sold but the surrender stopped it. When the Yankees come +they asked me where wus my marster. I told them I didn't know. Marster +told me not to tell where he wus. He had gone off into the woods to hide +his silver. In a few minutes the ground wus covered with Yankees. The +Yankees stole my pen knife. I thought a lot of it. Knives wus scarce and +hard to get. I cried about they taking it. They got my marster's +carriage horses, two fine gray horses. His wife had lost a brother, who +had been in the army but died at home. He wus buried in the yard. The +Yankees thought the grave wus a place where valuables wus buried and +they had to get a guard to keep them from diggin' him up. They would +shoot hogs, cut the hams and shoulders off, stick them on their +bayonetts, throw them over the'r shoulders an' go on. + +We called our houses shanties in slavery time. I never saw any +patterollers. I don't remember how many slaves on the plantation wus +taken to Richmond an' sold. My mother looked after us when we wus sick. +I had four brothers an' no sisters. They are all dead. I did house work +an' errands in slavery time. I have seen one gang of Ku Klux. They wus +under arrest at Raleigh in Governor Holden's time. I don't remember the +overseer. + +We moved to Raleigh at the surrender. Marster give us a old mule when we +left him, an' I rode him into Raleigh. We rented a house on Wilmington +Street, an' lived on hard tack the Yankees give us 'til we could git +work. + +Mother went to cooking for the white folks, but I worked for Mr. Jeff +Fisher. I held a job thirty-five years driving a laundry truck for L. R. +Wyatt. The laundry wus on the corner of Jones an' Salisbury Street. + +I married Cenoro Freeman. We lived together fifty-six years. She wus a +good devoted wife. We wus married Dec. 9, 1878. She died in May +1934. [HW: bracket] Booker T. Washington wus a good man. I have seen him. +Abraham Lincoln wus one of my best friends. He set me free. The Lawd is +my best friend. I don't know much 'bout Jefferson Davis. Jim Young an' +myself wus pals. + +My object in joining the church wus to help myself an' others to live a +decent life, a life for good to humanity an' for God. + + + + +N. C. District: No. 2 [320154] +Worker: Mary A. Hicks +No. Words: 670 +Subject: EX-SLAVE STORY +Story Teller: Elbert Hunter +Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt + +[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"] + +EX-SLAVE STORY + +An interview on May 19, 1937 with Elbert Hunter of Method, N. C., 93 +years old. + + +I wuz borned eight miles from Raleigh on de plantation of Mr. Jacob +Hunter in 1844. My parents were Stroud and Lucy an' my brothers wuz Tom, +Jeems an' Henderson. I had three sisters who wuz named Caroline, Emiline +an' Ann. + +Massa Hunter wuz good to us, an' young Massa Knox wuz good too. My mammy +wuz de cook an' my pappy wuz a field hand. Massa ain't 'lowed no +patterollers on his place, but one time when he wuzn't ter home my mammy +sent me an' Caroline ter de nex' door house fer something an' de +patterollers got us. Dey carried us home an' 'bout de time dat dey wuz +axin' questions young Massa Knox rid up. + +He look dem over an' he sez, 'Git off dese premises dis minute, yo' +dad-limb sorry rascals, if us needs yo' we'll call yo'. 'My pappy +patterolls dis place hisself.' + +Dey left den, an' we ain't been bothered wid 'em no more. + +I toted water 'fore de war, minded de sheeps, cows and de geese; an' I +ain't had many whuppin's neither. Dar wuz one thing dat massa ain't +'low an' dat wuz drinkin' 'mong his niggers. + +Dar wuz a ole free issue named Denson who digged ditches fer massa an' +he always brung long his demijohn wid his whiskey. One ebenin' Missus +tells me an' Caroline ter go ter de low groun's an' git up de cows an' +on de way we fin' ole man Denson's demijohn half full of whiskey. +Caroline sez ter lets take er drink an' so we does, an' terreckly I gits +wobbly in de knees. + +Dis keeps on till I has ter lay down an' when I wakes up I am at home. +Dey says dat Massa Jacob totes me, an' dat he fusses wid Denson fer +leavin' de whiskey whar I can fin' it. He give me a talkin' to, an' I +ain't neber drunk no more. + +When we hyard dat de Yankees wuz comin' ole massa an' me takes de cattle +an' hosses way down in de swamp an' we stays dar wid dem fer seberal +days. One day I comes ter de house an' dar dey am, shootin' chickens an' +pigs an' everthing. I'se seed dem cut de hams off'n a live pig or ox an' +go off leavin' de animal groanin'. De massa had 'em kilt den, but it wuz +awful. + +Dat night dey went away but de nex' day a bigger drove come an' my mammy +cooked fer 'em all day long. Dey killed an' stold ever'thing, an' at +last ole massa went to Raleigh an' axed fer a gyard. Atter we got de +gyard de fuss ceased. One of de officers what spent de night dar lost +his pocket book an' in it wuz seven greenback dollars, de fust I eber +seed. + +We wuz glad ter be free even do' we had good white folks. De wuck hours +wuz frum daybreak till dark, an' de wimmens had ter card an' spin so +much eber night. We had our own chickens an' gyarden an' little ways of +makin' money, but not so much fun. + +We played cat, which wuz like base ball now, only different. De children +played a heap but de grown folks wucked hard. De cruelest thing I eber +seed wuz in Raleigh atter slavery time, an' dat wuz a nigger whuppin'. + +De pillory wuz whar de co'rthouse am now an' de sheriff, Mr. Ray whupped +dat nigger till he bled. + +I neber seed a slave sale, an' I neber seed much whuppin's. I larned +some long wid de white chilluns, 'specially how ter spell. + +No mam, I doan know nothin' 'bout witches, but I seed a ghos'. Hit wuz +near hyar, an' hit wuz a animal as big as a yearlin' wid de look of a +dog. I can't tell you de color of it case I done left frum dar. + +B. N. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: a Folk History of +Slavery in the United States, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 22976.txt or 22976.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/7/22976/ + +Produced by Marcia Brooks, 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) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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