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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19932-h.zip b/19932-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e608350 --- /dev/null +++ b/19932-h.zip diff --git a/19932-h/19932-h.htm b/19932-h/19932-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7763ad7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19932-h/19932-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3218 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Tennessee Narratives, by Work Projects Administration. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: left; /* all headings left */ + clear: both; + } + + h3 {text-align: left; margin-top: 2em; clear: both} + + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: 0; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery +in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves + Tennessee Narratives + +Author: Work Projects Administration + +Release Date: November 27, 2006 [EBook #19932] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Diane Monico 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.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<p>[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note</p> +<p>[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + +<h1>SLAVE NARRATIVES</h1> + +<h2> +<i>A Folk History of Slavery in the United States<br /> +From Interviews with Former Slaves</i><br /> +<br /> +</h2> +<h4>TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY<br /> +THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT<br /> +1936-1938<br /> +ASSEMBLED BY<br /> +THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT<br /> +WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION<br /> +FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA<br /> +SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS<br /> +</h4> + +<h3><i>Illustrated with Photographs</i><br /><br /><br /><br /></h3> + +<h4>WASHINGTON 1941</h4> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h2><a name="VOLUME_XV" id="VOLUME_XV"></a>VOLUME XV</h2> + +<h2>TENNESSEE NARRATIVES</h2> + +<h3> +Prepared by<br /> +the Federal Writers' Project of<br /> +the Works Progress Administration<br /> +for the State of Tennessee<br /> +</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<h2>INFORMANTS</h2> + + +<div class='table'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>Batson, Frances</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Casey, Julia</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Chappel, Cecelia</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Childress, Wiley</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Falls, Robert</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Gaines, Rachel</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Goole, Frankie</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Gray, Precilla</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Greer, Jenny</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Grisham, Emma</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Hudson, Measy</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Hyde, Patsy</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Kannon, Ellis Ken</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Martin, Scott</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Matthews, Ann</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Moore, Rev. John</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Moss, Andrew</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Moss, Mollie</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Odell, Andy</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Parker, Laura Ramsey</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Reece, Naisy</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Simpkins, Millie</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Star, Joseph Leonidas</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Thomas, Dan</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Watkins, Sylvia</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Young, Narcissus</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +FRANCES BATSON<br /> +1213 Scovel St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I dunno jes how ole I ez. I wuz baw'n 'yer in Nashville, +durin' slabery. I must be way pas' 90 fer I member de Yankee +soldiers well. De chilluns called dem de 'blue mans.' Mah +white folks wuz named Crockett. Dr. Crockett wuz our marster +but I don't member 'im mahse'f. He d'ed w'en I wuz small. Mah +marster wuz mean ter mah mammy w'en her oler chilluns would run +'way. Mah oler br'er went ter war wid mah marster. Mah younger +br'er run 'way, dey caught 'im, tuk 'im home en whup'd 'im. He +run 'way en wuz nebber found."</p> + +<p>"We wuzn't sold but mah mammy went 'way, en lef' me en I +got up one mawnin' went ter mah mammy's room, she wuz gon'. +I cried en cried fer her. Mah Missis wouldn't let me outa' de +house, fer fear I'd try ter find her. Atter freedum mah br'er en +a Yankee soldier kum in a waggin en git us. Mah white folks sed, +I don' see why you ez takin' dez chilluns. Mah brudder said, +'We ez free now.' I member one whup'in mah missis gib me. Me +en her daughter slipped 'way ter de river ter fish. We kotch a +fish en mah missis had hit cooked fer us but whup'd us fer goin' +ter de river."</p> + +<p>"Whar de Buena Vista schul ez hit useter be a Yankee soldiers +Barrick. Eber mawnin' dey hadder music. We chilluns would go on +de hill, (whar the bag mill ez now) en listen ter dem. I member +a black hoss de soldiers had, dat ef you called 'im Jeff Davis +he would run you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>"I member de ole well on Cedar Street, neah de Capitol, +en six mules fell in hit. Dat wuz back w'en blackberries wuz +growin' on de Capitol Hill. En Morgan Park wuz called de +pleasure gyarden. En hit wuz full ob Yankee soldiers. Atter de +war dere wuz so many German peeple ober 'yer, dat fum Jefferson +Street, ter Clay Street, wuz called Dutch town."</p> + +<p>"I wuzn't bawn w'en de sta'rs fell. We didn't git nothin' +w'en we wuz freed. Dunno much 'bout de Klu Klux Klan."</p> + +<p>"Mah mammy useter tell me how de white folks would hire de +slaves out ter mek money fer de marster en she tole me sum ob de +marsters would hide dere slaves ter keep de Yankees fum gittin' +dem."</p> + +<p>"I don' b'leeve in white en black ma'iages. Mah sistah +ma'ied a lite man. I wouldin' marry one ef hit would turn me ter +gold. Dunno nothin' 'bout votin', allus tho't dat wuz fer de men."</p> + +<p>"I can't think ob any tales er nuthin 'bout ghos'. 'Cept one +'bout a marster tyin' a nigger ter a fence en wuz beatin' 'im. A +Yankee kum 'long made 'im untie de nigger en den de nigger beat +de white man."</p> + +<p>"Dis young peeples ez tough. I think half ob dem'll be hung, +de way dey throw rocks at ole peoples. Dat's why I's crippled now, +a white boy hit me wid a rock. I b'long ter de Methodist Chuch."</p> + +<p>"Since freedum I'se hired out, washed en cooked fer diff'ent +peeple. De only song I member: 'Hark Fum de Ground dis Mournful +Sound.'"</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +JULIA CASEY<br /> +811 9th Avenue, So.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>I wuz bawn in West Tennessee en wuz six y'ars ole w'en +war broke out.</p> + +<p>Mah Missis wuz Miss Jennie McCullough en she ma'ried +Eldridge Casey. Mah Missis's mammy wuz a widder en she gib +me, mah mammy, man sistah Violet, mah two br'ers Andrew en +Alfred ter Miss Jennie fer a wed'un gif'. Missis Jennie +en Marster Eldridge brung us ter Nashville 'fore de war sta'ted.</p> + +<p>Mah Missis wuz good ter us. I'se bin w'll tuk keer ob, +plenty ter eat en warm clothes ter w'ar. Right now I'se got on +long underw'ar en mah chemise.</p> + +<p>Mah mammy d'ed fust y'ar ob freedum. Dey tuk her 'way in +a two-hoss waggin, 'bout four o'clock one evenin'. Dere wuz no +hurses er caskets den. W'en mah mammy d'ed, I still stayed wid +Missis Jennie. She raised me. Dat's why folks say I'se so +peculiar. De Yankee soldiers tuk mah sistah en two br'ers 'way +durin' de war. I ez de mammy ob seven chilluns. All d'ed now +but one.</p> + +<p>Mah white folks didn't send me ter schul but I'se l'arned +a few things ob how ter act. Don't ax me 'bout der young people. +Dey ez pas' me. No manners 'tall.</p> + +<p>In slavery days you didn't hab ter worry 'bout yo clothes +en rations but dese days you hab ter worry 'bout eve'ything.</p> + +<p>I 'longs ter de Baptist Chuch. Useter go ter camp-meetin's +en hab a big time wid good things ter eat. Didn't go ter de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +baptizin' much. Dey would leave de chuch singin' en shoutin'. +Dere ez three days in September dat we hab dinnah on de groun' +en all Baptist git tergedder. We calls hit de 'sociation.</p> + +<p>I'se neber voted cose dat ez de man's job. Mah frens hab +nebber had political jobs. Don't b'leeve in ma'rige ob white en +black en hit shouldn't be 'lowed.</p> + +<p>Since freedom mah main job wuz cookin' but I'se done washin' +en ironin'. Atter mah health started failing, I done a lot ob +nusin'.</p> + +<p>I'se aint abul ter wuk fur de las' five y'ars en de white +folks hab he'ped me. De relief gibes me groc'eys, coal en pays +mah rent. I hope ter git de ole age pension soon. Mah ole +favo'ite song ez "Mazing Grace, How Sweet hit Sounds."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +CECELIA CHAPPEL<br /> +705 Allison Street<br /> +Nashville, Tenn.<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I'se bawn in Marshall County, Tennessee. I'm de +olest ob ten chilluns en I'se 102 ya'rs ole. I feels lak +I'se bin 'yer longer dan dat. Mah mammy wuz brought ter +Nashville en sold ter sum peeple dat tuck her ter Mississippi +ter live."</p> + +<p>"Mah Marster en Missus wuz named Bob en Nancy Lord. +Eve'y slave had ter say Missus en Marster en also ter de +white babies. I still says hit, en ef I kum ter yo do'r, I +nebber kums in 'till you ax me. Lots ob mah folks seze ter +me dat I ez too ole fash'on en I seze I don' keer I wuz raised +wid manners en too ole ter change."</p> + +<p>"Our Marster gib us good food en clothes. I wuz +l'arnt how ter nit, weav, sew en spin. On rainy days we wuz +gib a certain 'mount ob weavin' ter do en had ter git hit +don'. I dunno how ter read er rite. De white folks didn' +'low us ter l'arn nuthin'. I declar' you bettuh not git +kotch wid a papah in you han'. Ef I had half a chance lak +you chilluns hab, I'd go ter bed wid mah books."</p> + +<p>"Our Marster 'lowed us ter go ter chuch. I went +bar'foot en had a rag tied 'roun mah haid en mah dress kum +up ter mah 'nees. Dat preacher-man would git up dere en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +tell us "Now you min' yo Marster en Missis en don' steal +fum dem." I stayed wid mah Missis fer a long time atter +I got freedum en I cried lak a fool w'en I had ter leave +dem. Mah Missis seze "You ez jes as free as I ez," but I +allus had good clothes en good food en I didn' know how +I'd git dem atter I lef' her."</p> + +<p>"Mah white folks wuz tight on us but, as ole as I ez, +I offun think dat day nebber hit a lick dat I didn' need. +Ef'n dey hadn' raised me right, I might hab got in meaness +en bin locked up half de time, but I ain't nebber bin 'rested, +en I'se 'ferd ob de policemans. De fiel' slaves wuz +whup'd in de fiel's by de oberseer en de Marster en Missis +did hit at de house."</p> + +<p>"I tell you we had a hahd time. Mah Missis woulden' +let dem sell me. I wuz a nuss en house gal. I wuz whup'd +wid a bull whup, en got cuts on mah back menny a time. I'se +not shamed ter say I got skyars on mah back now fum Marster +cuttin' hit wid dat bull whup. Mah Missis also whup'd me. +W'en de Missis got ready ter whup me, she would gib us sum +wuk ter do, so she would kind ob git ober her mad spell 'fore +she whup'd us. Sum times she would lock us up in a dark +closet en bring our food ter us. I hated bein' locked up. +Atter dey tuk me out ob de house, I wuked in de fiel' lak +de urthurs. Long 'fore day break, we wuz standin' in de +fiel's leanin' on our hoes waitin' fer daylite en waitin' +fer de horn ter blow so we would start ter wuk. Ef'n we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +wan'ed ter go ter any place we had ter hab a pass wid our +Marster's name on hit en ef you didn' hab hit, you got tore +ter pieces en den you Marster tore you up w'en you got home."</p> + +<p>"One story mah daddy useter tell us wuz 'bout a slave +named Pommpy. He wuz allus prayin' fer de good Lawd ter tek +'im 'way. One nite he wuz down on his 'nees prayin', "Good +Lawd, kum en tek po Pommpy out ob his misery." De Marster +ob Pommpy 'year'd 'm en de Marster made a leetle noise en +Pommpy seze, "Who ez dat?" En his Marster seze, "Hits de +Lawd kum ter tek po Pommpy out ob his misery." Pommpy crawl +under de bed en seze, "Pommpy has bin gon' two er three days."</p> + +<p>"'Nurther story: A partridge en a fox 'greed ter kil' +a beef. Dey kilt en skinned hit. B'fo dey divide hit de fox +said, "Mah wife seze sen' her sum beef fer soup," so he tuck +a piece ob hit en carried hit down de hill, den kum back en +said mah wife wants mo' beef fer soup. He kep dis up 'til +all de beef wuz gon' 'cept de libber. De fox kum back en +de partridge seze now lets cook dis libber en both ob us +eat hit. De partridge cooked de libber, et hits part rite +quick, en den fell ovuh lak hit wuz sick; de fox got skeered +en said dat beef ez pizen en he ran down de hill en started +bringin' de beef back en w'en he brought hit all back, he lef' +en de partridge had all de beef."</p> + +<p>"Don't member much now 'bout de Klu Klux Klan en +nothin' 'bout slave 'risings at any place. I don' member +'bout de sta'rs fallin', but I did see de comet, en hit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +looked lak a sta'r wid a long tail; atter freedum, I nebber +year'd ob no slave gettin' land er money en I dunno nothin' +'bout de slave mart 'yer fer I didn' git ter kum ter town."</p> + +<p>"Since freed, I hab nussed, cooked en don' diff'unt +things. I wuk'ed fer one family fifteen y'ars en didn' miss +a day. I has stayed at dis place fer de las' five y'ars. +I had a stroke en wuz in de hospit'l a long time. I cain' git +out; en 'roun' 'yer in de house, I has ter walk wid a stick."</p> + +<p>"I ain' nebber voted. One day sum men kum 'yer ter +tek me ter vote. I tole dem w'en I got ready ter be a man, +I would put on overalls."</p> + +<p>"I'se a member ob de Missionary Baptist Chuch. I +ain' bin fer a long time kaze I ain' able ter go. De ole +song I members ez "Dixie Land," en "Run Nigger Run, de Pat-a +rollers Will Git You."</p> + +<p>"Oh Lawdy! I think sum ob is young peeple ain' no +count w'ile sum ob dem ez alright. I think each color should +ma'rie his own color. Hit makes me mad ter think 'bout hit. +Ef de good Lawd had wanted dat, he would hab had us all one +color."</p> + +<p>"Fer a long time de relief gib me a quart ob milk a +day, but now all I has ez w'at mah sistah Harriett gibs me. +She sin' got much wuk en sum days we don' hab much ter eat. +Ef mah Missis wuz livin' I wouldin' go hongry."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +WILEY CHILDRESS<br /> +808 Gay St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I'se 83 Y'ars ole en wuz bawn a slave. Mah mammy +b'longed ter de Bosley's en mah daddy b'longed ter de Scales."</p> + +<p>"W'en Miss Jane Boxley ma'ried Marster Jerry Scales, me +en mah mammy, br'er en sistah wuz gib ter Miss Jane."</p> + +<p>"Durin' de war mah Missis tuk mah mammy en us chilluns +wid her ter de mount'ins 'till de war wuz gon'. Did'nt see +no soldiers. Don't member now nuthin' 'bout dem Klu Klux +men en don't member de ole songs er 'bout slaves votin'."</p> + +<p>"Dunno 'bout de young persons, white er black, dey ez +all so wild now."</p> + +<p>"W'en we all wuz freed we had nuthin en no place ter go, +so dat mah mammy lived wid our Missis five y'ars longer."</p> + +<p>"De only story dat I member mah people tole me 'bout wuz +on Fedd, a slave on de next plantation. He wuz a big man en +wuz de strongest man neah dat part ob de kuntry. He wouldin' +'low nobody ter whup 'in. De Marster framed 'im by tellin' 'im +ter bring his saddle hoss en w'en he kum wid de hoss several men +'peahrd en tole Fedd dat dey wuz gonna whup 'im. He struck one +ob de mans so hahd dey had ter hab de doctuh. De Marster said +let 'im 'lone he's too strong ter be whup'd. I'll hab ter shoot +'im. One time Fedd run 'way en de white men whar he stopped know'd +he wuz a good fighter en made a $250.00 bet dat nobody could lick +'im. A nigger fum de iron wuks fought Fedd en Fedd won. De iron +wuks nigger wuz kilt right dere."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +"'fore Freedum de slaves wuz promused forty acres ob land +w'en freed but none eber got hit, en I 'year'd ob no one gittin' +any money. I dunno nuthin' ob de slave 'risin's, ghostus er +dreams, but I member mah folks talkin' 'bout fallin' sta'rs en +a comet but I don' member now w'at dey said."</p> + +<p>"I'se wuk'd at a lot ob diff'ent jobs since mah freedum. +I wuk'd at de Maxwell House 15 years as store room porter, en +hit wuz de only wo'th-while hotel in Nashville at dat time. +I wuk'd fuh de City fuh menny y'ars en den I wuk'd fuh Foster +& Creighton 'till dey wore me out. I off'n think ob deze +diff'nt men dat I wuk'd fuh but dey ez all de'd. De las' +job I had wuz buildin' fiers en odd jobs fuh a lady up de +street. She would gib me food en coal. She ez de'd now."</p> + +<p>"I'se not able ter wuk now en all I has ez a small +groc'ey order dat de relief gibs me. Dey keep promisin' ter +gib me de Old Age Pension en I wish dey would hurry hit up."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +<span class="u">SUBJECT</span><br /> +<span class="u">SLAVE STORIES</span><br /> +<br /> +ROBERT FALLS<br /> +608 South Broadway<br /> +Knoxville, Tennessee<br /> +<br /> +Interviewed by<br /> +<br /> +Della Yoe, Foreman<br /> +Federal Writers' Project,<br /> +First District, WPA<br /> +Room # 215 Old YMCA Building<br /> +State and Commerce Streets.<br /> +Knoxville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + + +<p>Robert Falls was born on December 14, 1840, in the rambling one-story +shack that accomodated the fifteen slaves of his Old Marster, [HW: Harry] Beattie Goforth, on +a farm in Claiborne County, North Carolina. His tall frame is slightly stooped, +but he is not subjected to the customary infirmities of the aged, other than +poor vision and hearing. Fairly comfortable, he is spending his declining years +in contentment, for he is now the first consideration of his daughter, Mrs. Lola +Reed, with whom he lives at #608 S. Broadway, Knoxville, Tennessee. His cushioned +rocking chair is the honor seat of the household. His apology for not offering it +to visitors, is that he is "not so fast on his feet as he used to be."</p> + +<p>Despite Uncle Robert's protest that his "mind comes and goes", his +memory is keen, and his sense of humor unimpaired. His reminiscences of slave days +are enriched by his ability to recreate scenes and incidents in few words, and by +his powers of mimicry. "If I had my life to live over," he declares, "I would die +fighting rather than be a slave again. I want no man's yoke on my shoulders no +more. But in them days, us niggers didn't know no better. All we knowed was work, +and hard work. We was learned to say, 'Yes Sir!' and scrape down and bow, and to +do just exactly what we was told to do, make no difference if we wanted to or not. +Old Marster and Old Mistress would say, 'Do this!' and we don' it. And they say, +'Come here!' and if we didn't come to them, they come to us. And they brought the +bunch of switches with them."</p> + +<p>"They didn't half feed us either. They fed the animals better. They +gives the mules, ruffage and such, to chaw on all night. But they didn't give us +nothing to chaw on. Learned us to steal, that's what they done. Why we would +take anything we could lay our hands on, when we was hungry. Then they'd whip us +for lieing when we say we dont know nothing about it. But it was easier to stand, +when the stomach was full."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +"Now my father, he was a fighter. He was mean as a bear. He was so +bad to fight and so troublesome he was sold four times to my knowing and maybe +a heap more times. That's how come my name is Falls, even if some does call me +Robert Goforth. Niggers would change to the name of their new marster, every +time they was sold. And my father had a lot of names, but kep the one of his +marster when he got a good home. That man was Harry Falls. He said he'd been +trying to buy father for a long time, because he was the best waggoner in all +that country abouts. And the man what sold him to Falls, his name was Collins, +he told my father, "You so mean, I got to sell you. You all time complaining +about you dont like your white folks. Tell me now who you wants to live with. +Just pick your man and I will go see him." Then my father tells Collins, I +want you to sell me to Marster Harry Falls. They made the trade. I disremember +what the money was, but it was big. Good workers sold for $1,000 and $2,000. +After that the white folks didn't have no more trouble with my father. But he'd +still fight. That man would fight a she-bear and lick her every time."</p> + +<p>"My mother was sold three times before I was born. The last time +when Old Goforth sold her, to the slave speculators,—you know every time they +needed money they would sell a slave,—and they was taking them, driving +them, just like a pack of mules, to the market from North Carolina into South +Carolina, she begun to have fits. You see they had sold her away from her +baby. And just like I tell you she begun having fits. They got to the jail house +where they was to stay that night, and she took on so, Jim Slade and Press +Worthy—them was the slave speculators,—couldnt do nothing with her. Next morning +one of them took her back to Marse Goforth and told him, "Look here. We cant +do nothing with this woman. You got to take her and give us back our money. And +do it now,' they says. And they mean it too. So Old Marse Goforth took my mother +and give them back their money. After that none of us was ever separated. We +all lived, a brother and two sisters and my mother, with the Goforths till freedom."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>"And do you know, she never did get over having fits. She had them +every change of the moon, or leastways every other moon change. But she kept +on working. She was a hard worker. She had to be. Old Mistress see to that. She +was meaner than old Marster, she was. She would sit by the spinning wheel +and count the turns the slave women made. And they couldn't fool her none neither. +My mother worked until ten o'clock almost every night because her part was to +'spend so many cuts' a day, and she couldnt get through no sooner. When I was +a little shaver, I used to sit on the floor with the other little fellows while +our mothers worked, and sometimes the white folks girls would read us a Bible +story. But most of the time we slept. Right there on the floor. Then later, when +I was bigger, I had to work with the men at night shelling corn, to take to +town early mornings."</p> + +<p>"Marster Goforth counted himself a good old Baptist Christian. The +one good deed he did, I will never forget, he made us all go to church every +Sunday. That was the onliest place off the farm we ever went. Every time a slave +went off the place, he had to have a pass, except we didnt, for church. Everybody +in thet country knowed that the Goforth niggers didn't have to have no pass +to go to church. But that didn't make no difference to the Pattyroolers. They'd +hide in the bushes, or wait along side of the road, and when the niggers come +from meeting, the Pattyroolers's say, 'Whar's your pass'? Us Goforth niggers used +to start running soon as we was out of church. We never got caught. That is why I +tell you I cant use my legs like I used to. If you was caught without no pass, +the Pattyroolers give you five licks. They was licks! You take a bunch of five to +seven Pattyroolers each giving five licks and the blood flows."</p> + +<p>"Old Marster was too old to go to the war. He had one son was a soldier, +but he never come home again. I never seen a soldier till the war was over and +they begin to come back to the farms. We half-grown niggers had to work the farm, +because all the famers had to give,—I believe it was a tenth—of their crops to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +help feed the soldiers. So we didnt know nothing about what was going on, no +more than a hog. It was a long time before we knowed we was free. Then one +night Old Marster come to our house and he say he wants to see us all before +breakfast tomorrow morning and to come on over to his house. He got something to +tell us."</p> + +<p>"Next morning we went over there. I was the monkey, always acting +smart. But I believe they liked me better than all of the others. I just spoke +sassy-like and say, "Old Marster, what you got to tell us"? My mother said, +"Shut your mouth fool. He'll whip you!" And Old Marster say,—"No I wont whip +you. Never no more. Sit down thar all of you and listen to what I got to tell +you. I hates to do it but I must. You all aint my niggers no more. You is free. +Just as free as I am. Here I have raised you all to work for me, and now you +are going to leave me. I am an old man, and I cant get along without you. I dont +know what I am going to do." Well sir, it killed him. He was dead in less than +ten months."</p> + +<p>"Everybody left right now, but me and my brother and another fellow. +Old Marster fooled us to believe we was duty-bound to stay with him till we was +all twenty-one. But my brother, that boy was stubborn. Soon he say he aint going +to stay there. And he left. In about a year, maybe less, he come back and he +told me I didnt have to work for Old Goforth, I was free, sure enough free, and +I went with him and he got me a job railroading. But the work was too hard for +me. I couldnt stand it. So I left there and went to my mother. I had to walk. It +was forty-five miles. I made it in a day. She got me work there where she +worked."</p> + +<p>"I remember so well, how the roads was full of folks walking and +walking along when the niggers were freed. Didnt know where they was going. Just +going to see about something else somewhere else. Meet a body in the road and +they ask, 'Where you going'? 'Dont know.' 'What you going to do'? 'Dont know.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +And then sometimes we would meet a white man and he would say, 'How you like +to come work on my farm'? And we say, 'I dont know.' And then maybe he say, +"If you come work for me on my farm, when the crops is in I give you five +bushels of corn, five gallons of molasses, some ham-meat, and all your clothes +and vittals whils you works for me." Alright! That's what I do. And then something +begins to work up here, (touching his forehead with his fingers) I begins +to think and to know things. And I knowed then I could make a living for my +own self, and I never had to be a slave no more."</p> + +<p>"Now, Old Marster Goforth, had four sisters what owned slaves, +and they wasnt mean to them like our Old Marster and Mistress. Some of the +old slaves and their folks are still living on their places right to this day. +But they never dispute none with their brother about how mean he treat his +slaves. And him claiming to be such a Christian! Well, I reckon he's found +out something about slave driving by now. The good Lord has to get his work in +some time. And he'll take care of them low down Pattyroolers and slave speculators +and mean Marsters and Mistress's. He's took good care of me in the +years since I was free'd, only now, we needs Him again now and then. I just stand +up on my two feet, raise my arms to heaven, and say, 'Lord, help me!' He never +fails me. I asked him this morning, didnt I Lola? Asked him to render help. We +need it. And here you come. Lola, just watch that lady write. If you and me had +her education, we'd be fixed now wouldnt we? I never had no learning."</p> + +<p>"Thank you Lady! (tucking the coin into his pocket wallet, along +with his tobacco.) And thank you for coming. It does me a heap of good to see +visitors and talk about the old times. Come again, wont you? And next time you +come, I want to talk to you about old age pensions. I come here from Marian, N.C. +three years ago, and they tell me I have to live here four, before I gets a pension. +And as I done left North Carolina, I cant get a pension from them. But +maybe you can tell me what to do. I likes this place. And I do hopes I get a +pension before I gets to be a 'hundred."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +RACHEL GAINES<br /> +1025 10th Ave. N.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"Lawdy! I'se dunno how ole I ez. B'leeves I'se 'round +95 ter 100 y'ars. De fust thing I members ez I wuz tuk in a +waggin ter Trenton, Kentucky en sold ter Dr. Bainbridge +Dickerson jest lak dey sold cows en hosses. Mah sistah wuz +sold in de same way at Bowling Green, Kentucky ter 'nuther +Marster."</p> + +<p>"I wuz sold only one time in mah life en dat wuz w'en +Marster Dickinson bought me. Atter freedum wuz 'clared de +Marster tole all his slaves dat dey could go wharever'y dey +pleased but ef'n dey couldn't mek dere own livin' ter kum ter +'im en he would he'ps dem."</p> + +<p>"Missus Dickinson kep' me dere kaze I wuz nuss ter dere +son Howard who wuz sho a wild one. I member how he would tote +out fried chicken, pig meat en uthuh good stuff ter us darkies. +Dey 'greed ter pay me $35.00 a yeah (en keep) en hit wuz gib me +eve'y Christmus mawning. Dey treated me good, gib me all de +clothes en uthuh things I needed ez ef'n I wuz one ob de fam'ly."</p> + +<p>"Eve'y two weeks de Marster would sen' fer Jordan McGowan +who wuz de leader ob a string music ban'. Dey would git dere +Friday nite early en de slaves would dance in de grape house +dat nite en all day Saturday up ter midnite. You don't hab +now as good dance music en as much fun as de ole time days had. +We allus had a big barbecue er watermelon feast eve'y time we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +had a dance. Neber 'gin 'll dere be as good times as we +useter hab. In mah time we neber y'ard ob wukouses er pen +but now dey ez all filled."</p> + +<p>"I kin see now in mah mind de ole ice house on de plantation. +In de wint'r de slaves would fill hit wid ice dey got +off de crik en hit wuz not used 'til warm wedder cum. 'nother +thing I members ez de "Pat-a-rollers" (she refers to the Police +Patrol of that day) who would kotch en whup runaway slaves en +slaves 'way fum dere own plantations widout a pass wid dere +Marsters name signed on hit."</p> + +<p>"I member w'en Nashville fust had street cars pulled +'long by hosses er mules en I also member de ole dummy cars, +run by steam, ter Glendale Park also New Town (now called West +Nashville)."</p> + +<p>"We had sum bad en good luck signs but I'se fergettin' sum, +but I'se members 'bout a black cat crossin' ovuh de path in +frunt ob you dat you sho would hab bad luck. W'en dat happened +ter me, I would spit on de ground, turn 'round en back ober de +place de cat crossed en de "bad luck" wuz gon' fum me. Ef'n you +found a ole hoss shoe dat had bin drapt'd by de hoss, hit meant +good luck. Sum peeples, white en black, w'en dey fin' a hoss +shoe, dey would tack hit up on de frunt door frame wid de toe +ter de groun'."</p> + +<p>"Atter de Marster en Missus d'ed, I went ter Nashville en +made mah way fur menny y'ars by washin' en ironin' fer white +peeple but atter I went blind I kum 'yer ter live wid mah +daughter."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +FRANKIE GOOLE<br /> +204 5th Ave. So.<br /> +Nashville, Tenn.<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in Smith County on uther side ob Lebanon. Ah'll +be 85 y'ars ole Christmas Day.</p> + +<p>Mah ole Missis wuz named Sallie, en mah Marster wuz George +Waters. Mah mammy's name wuz Lucindia, she wuz sold fum me w'en +I wuz six weeks ole, en mah Missis raised me. I allus slept wid +her. Mah Missis wuz good ter me, but (her son) mah Marster whup'd +me.</p> + +<p>Dunno ob any ex-slaves votin' er holdin' office ob any kin.</p> + +<p>I member de Ku Klux Klan en Pat-a-rollers. Dey would kum +'roun en whup de niggers wid a bull whup. Ef'n dey met a niggah +on de road dey'd say, "Whar ez you gwin dis time ob mawnin'?" +De slaves would say, "We ez gwine ovuh 'yer ter stay aw'ile," +en den dey would start beatin' dem. I'se stod in our do'er en +'yeard de hahd licks, en screams ob de ones dat wuz bein' whup'd, +en I'd tell mah Missis, "Listen ter dat!" She would say, "See, +dat ez w'at will happen ter you ef'n you try ter leave." I +member one nite a Ku Klux Klan rode up ter our do'er. I tole +mah Missis sum body wuz at de do'er wantin' ter know whar mah +Marster wuz. She tole 'im he wuz d'ed en her son had gon' 'way +dat mawnin'. He hunted all thro de house, en up in de loft, en +said whar ez de niggers? Mah Missis tole i'm [TR: 'im] dey wuz down in de +lettle house. He went down dere, woke dem up, axed dem 'bout +dere Marster en den whup'd all ob dem. Ef de had de Ku Klux Klan +now dere wouldin' be so menny peeples on de kounty road en in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +de pen.</p> + +<p>I useter drive up de cows en mah feet would be so cole en +mah toes cracked open en bleedin', en I'd be cryin' 'til I got +almos' ter de house den I'd wipe mah eyes on de bottom ob mah +dress, so de Marster wouldin' know dat I had bin cryin'. He'd +say, "Frankie ain't you cryin'?" I'd say, "No suh." "Ez you +cole?" "Yes, sir." He would say kum on en warm.</p> + +<p>W'en de niggers wuz freed, all ob mah Missis slaves slipped +'way, 'cept me. One mawnin' she tole me ter go down en wake +dem up, I went down en knocked, no body said nuthin'. I pushed +on de do'er—hit kum op'n—en I fell in de room en hurt mah +chin. I went back ter Missis—en she sezs, "W'at ez de matter +wid you?" I sezs, "Uncle John en all ob dem ez gon'; I pushed +on de do'er en fell in." She sezs you know dey ez not gone, go +back en git dem up. I had ter go back, but dey wur'ent dere.</p> + +<p>No, I don't member de sta'rs fallin'.</p> + +<p>Mah Missis didunt gib me nuthin, cept mah clothes, en she +put dem in a carpet bag. Atter freedom mah mammy kum fum +Lebanon en got me. Ah'll neber fergit dat day—Oh Lawdy! I +kin see her now. Mah ole Missis' daughter-in-law had got a bunch +ob switches ter whup me, I wuz standin' in de do'er shakin' all +ovuh, en de young Missis wuz tellin' me ter git mah clothes off. +I sezs, "I se'd a 'oman kum'g thro de gate." Mah Missis sezs, +"Dat ez Lucindia" en de young Missis hid de switches. Mah mammy +sezs I'se kum ter git mah chile. Mah Missis tole her ter let me +spend de nite wid her, den she'd send me ter de Court House at +9 o'clock next mawnin'. So I stayed wid de Missis dat nite, en +she tole me ter alluz be a good girl, en don't let a man er boy +trip me. I didunt know w'at she mean but I allus membered w'at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +she sai. I guess I wuz 'bout 12 y'ars ole w'en I lef' mah +Missis en mah mammy brought me ter Nashville en put me ter +wuk. De mawnin' I lef' mah Missis, I went ter de Court House +en met mah mammy; de Court room wuz jammed wid peeple. De +Jedge tole me ter hold my right hand up, I wuz so skeered I +stuck both hands up. Jedge sezs, "Frankie ez dat yo mammy?" +I sezs, "I dunno, she sezs she ez." (W'at did I know ob a +mammy dat wuz tuk fum me at six weeks ole). He sezs, "Wuz yo +Marster good ter you?" I sezs, "Mah Missis wuz, but mah Marster +wasn't—he whup'd me." De Jedge said, "Whar did he whup you?" +I tole him on mah back. He sezs, "Frankie, ez you laughin'?" +I sezs, "No, sir." He said ter mah mammy, "Lucindia tek dis +chile en be good ter her fer she has b'en mistreated. Sum day +she can mek a livin' fer you." (En thank de Lawd I did keep +her in her ole days en wuz able ter bury her.) At dat time +money wuz called chin plaster en w'en I lef' out ob de court +room diff'ent peeple gib me money en I had mah hat almos' full. +Dat was de only money I had gib ter me.</p> + +<p>I nussed Miss Sadie Pope Fall; she ma'ried Mat Gardner. I +also nussed Miss Sue Porter Houston. I den wuk'd at de Bline +Schul.</p> + +<p>De fust pa'r ob shoes I eber had wuz atter I kum ter +Nashville. Dey had high tops en wuz called bootees. I had sum +red striped socks wid dem.</p> + +<p>De ole songs I member:</p> + +<p> +"De Ole Time 'ligion."<br /> +"I'm Goin' ter Join de Ban."<br /> +</p> + +<p>W'en dey would sing deze songs hit would almos' mek you ha'r +stand up on yo haid, de way dem peeples would jump en shout!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>I member w'en sum ob de slaves run 'way durin' slavery.</p> + +<p>I dunno any tales; mah mammy wasn't a 'oman ter talk +much. Maybe ef she had bin I would hab had an easier time. +As far as I know de ex-slaves hab had diff'ent kinds ob wuk +since dere freedum. No, I ain' nebber se'd any ghos'. I'se +bin in de woods en dark places, but didn't see nothin', en +I'se not goin' ter say I did kaze I might git par'lized.</p> + +<p>I went ter schul one y'ar at Fisk in de y'ar 1869.</p> + +<p>De last man I wuk'd fer wuz at de Link Hotel. Den I +started keepin' boarders. Hab fed all deze Nashville police. +De police ez de ones dat hep'ed git deze relief orders fer me. +I hab lived on dis street fer 60 years. I lived 22 y'ars whar +de Hermitage Laundry ez. Dat ez whar I got de name "Mammie." +W'iles livin' dere I raised eighteen chilluns white en black, +en sum ob dem iz good ter me now.</p> + +<p>I had sum papah's 'bout mah age en diff'ent things, but +w'en de back waters got up, dey got lost. I didn't hab ter +move but I kep prayin' en talkin' ter de Lawd en I b'leeve +he 'Yeard me fer de water didn't git in mah house.</p> + +<p>I member w'en de yellow fever en de cholera wuz 'yer, in +1870 en 1873. Dey didn't hab coffins nuff ter put dem in, +so dey used boxes en piled de boxes in waggins lak hauling wood.</p> + +<p>I'se aint worth a dime now w'en hit kums ter wukin' fer +I'se aint able ter do nuthin, thoo I can't complain ob mah +livin' since de relief has bin takin' keer ob me.</p> + +<p>Dis young peeples, "Oh mah Lawd!" Dey ain' worth talkin' +'bout. I tries ter shame deze 'omen, dey drink (I call hit ole +bust haid whiskey), en do such mean things. I'se disgusted at +mah own color. Dey try ter know ter much, en dunno muthin', en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +dey don' do 'nuff wuk.</p> + +<p>I nebber voted en dunno nothin' 'bout hit. Hab nebber +had any frens in office. Cain' member nothin' 'bout re'structon. +I hab bin sick en still don' feel right. Sumtimes I feels krazy.</p> + +<p>Hab bin tole dat black cat crossin' road in frunt ob you +wuz bad luck. I nebber did b'leeve in any signs. Ef I ez ter +hab bad luck, ah'll hab hit.</p> + +<p>I b'long ter de Baptist Chuch.</p> + +<p>De culored peeples useter hab camp meetin's, en dey'd last +fer two weeks. Lawd hab mercy did we hab a time at dem meetin's, +preachin', singin', en shoutin'. En ovuh sum whar neah dey +would be cookin' mutton en diff'ent good things ter eat. Sum ob +dem would shout 'til dere throats would be sore en hit seemed +dat sum ob dem niggahs didn't keer ef dey got home ter wuk er not.</p> + +<p>I sumtimes wish fer de good ole days. Deze days folks don't +hab time fer 'ligion. De dog-gone ole radio en udder things ez +takin' hits place.</p> + +<p>Oh Lawdie how dey did baptize down at de wha'f! De Baptist +peeple would gather at de wha'f on de fust Sunday in May. Dey +would kum fum all de Baptist Chuches. Would leave de chuch +singin' en shoutin' en keep dat up 'til dey got ter de river. +Hab seen dem wid new clothes on git down on de groun en roll en +git covered wid dirt. Sum ob dem would almos' luze dere clothes, +en dey'd fall down lak dey wuz dying.</p> + +<p>Deze last few y'ars dey hab got ter stylish ter shout.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +Precilla Gray<br /> +807 Ewing Ave.<br /> +Nashville, Tenn.<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>I think I'se 107 Y'ars ole. Wuz bawn in Williamson County 'fore +de Civil wah. Guess de reason I hab libed so long wuz cose I tuk good +keer ob mahself en wore warm clo'es en still do, w'ar mah yarn pettycoats +now. Hab had good health all mah life. Hab tuk very lettle +medicine en de wust sickness I eber had wuz small-pox. I'se bin a +widah 'bout 70 y'ars.</p> + +<p>Mah mammy d'ed w'en I wuz young but mah daddy libed ter be 103 +y'ars ole. I nebber went ter schul a day in mah life, ma'ied 'fore +freedum en w'en I got free, had ter wuk all de time ter mek a libin' +fer mah two chillen. One libes in California en I lives wid de uther, +tergedder wid mah great, great, grandson, five y'ars ole, in Nashville.</p> + +<p>Mah fust marster en missis wuz Amos en Sophia Holland en he made +a will dat we slaves wuz all ter be kep' among de fam'ly en I wuz heired +fum one fam'ly ter 'nother. Wuz owned under de "will" by Haddas Holland, +Missis Mary Haddock en den Missis Synthia Ma'ied Sam Pointer en I libed +wid her 'til freedum wuz 'clared.</p> + +<p>Mah fust mistress had three looms en we had ter mek clothes fer +ev'ery one on de plan'ashun. I wuz taught ter weav', card, spin en +'nit en ter wuk in de fiel's. I wuz 'feared ob de terbacker wums at +fust but Aunt Frankie went 'long by me en showed me how ter pull de +wum's head off. Hab housed terbacker till 9 o'clock at nite. Our +marster whupped us w'en we needed hit. I got menny a whuppin'.</p> + +<p>Marster Amos wuz a great hunter en had lots ob dogs en me en +mah cousin had de job ob cookin' dog food en feedin' de dogs. One +day de marster went huntin' en lef three dogs in de pen fer us ter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +feed. One ob de dogs licked out ob de pan en we got a bunch ob switches +en started wearin' de dogs out. We thought de marster wuz miles 'way +w'en he walked up on us. He finished wearin' de bunch ob switches out +on us. Dat wuz a whuppin' I'll nebber fergit.</p> + +<p>W'en I wuz heired ter Missis Synthis, I wuked in de fiel's 'til +she started ter raise chillens en den I wuz kep in de house ter see +atter dem. Missis had a lot ob cradles en dey kep two 'omen in dat +room takin' keer ob de babies en lettle chillens 'longin' ter dere +slaves. Soon as de chillens, wuz seven y'ars ole, dey started dem +ter 'nittin'.</p> + +<p>Marster Sam Pointer, husband of Missis Synthis, wus a good man +en he wuz good ter us en he fed en clothed us good. We wore yarn hoods, +sha'ls, en pantletts which wuz 'nit things dat kum fum yo shoe tops +ter 'bove yo knees.</p> + +<p>De marster wuz also a 'ligious man en he let us go ter chuch. +He willed land fer a culled chuch at Thompson Station. I 'longs +ter de foot washin' Baptist, called de Free Will Baptist. De marster +bought mah husband William Gray en I ma'ied 'im dere.</p> + +<p>W'en de Civil wah wuz startin' dere wuz soldiers an tents eve'ywhar. +I had ter 'nit socks en he'ps mek soldiers coats en durin' de +wah, de marster sent 100 ob us down in Georgia ter keep de Yankees +fum gittin' us en we camped out durin' de whole three y'ars.</p> + +<p>I member de Klu Klux. One nite a bunch ob us went out, dey got +atter us. We waded a big crik en hid in de bushes ter keep dem fum +gittin' us.</p> + +<p>Hab gon' ter lots ob camp-meetin's. Dey'd hab lots ob good things +ter eat en fed eberbody. Dey'd hab big baptizin's down at de Cumberland +Riber and menny things.</p> + +<p>W'en freed, our white folks didn't gib us nuthin'. We got 'way +en hired out fer an'thin' we could git. Nebber knowed ob any plantashuns +[TR: illegible; possibly "men"] be divided. D'ant member 'bout slave 'risings en niggers voting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +en wuz not ole er'nuff ter member de sta'rs fallin'. Songs we use'ter +sing wuz, "On Jordan's Bank I Stand en Cast a Wistful Eye en Lak Drops +ob Sweat, Lak Blood Run Down, I Shed mah Tears."</p> + +<p>I try not ter think 'bout de ole times. Hit's bin so long ago +so I don' member any tales now.</p> + +<p>I'se had a lot ob good times in mah day. Our white folks would +let us hab "bran dances" an we'd hab a big time. I has nebber voted +en I think dat ez a man's wuk. Don't b'leeve in signs, I hab allus +tho't whut ez gwine ter be will be, en de only way ter be ez de rite +way.</p> + +<p>Eber since slavery I'se cooked fer peeple. I cooked fer Mr. Lea +Dillon fifteen y'ars. Wuked at de Union Depot fer y'ars. Five y'ars +fer Dr. Douglas at his Infirmary en I cooked fer en raised Mrs Grady's +baby. Hab wuked fer diff'ent folks ovuh town ter mek mah livin'. I +ain't bin able ter wuk fer eight y'ars. Dunno how much I weigh now, +I hab lost so much. (she weighs now at least 250 pounds). All de ex-slaves +I know hab wuked at diff'ent jobs lak I has.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +EX-SLAVES<br /> +JENNY GREER<br /> +706 Overton, Street.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"Am 84 y'ars ole en wuz bawn in Florence, Alabama, 'bout +seben miles fum town. Wuz bawn on de Collier plantashun en +Marster en Missis wuz James en Jeanette Collier. Mah daddy en +mammy wuz named Nelson en Jane Collier. I wuz named atter one +ob mah Missis' daughters. Our family wuz neber sold er divided."</p> + +<p>"I'se bin ma'ied once. Ma'ied Neeley Greer. Thank de Lawd +I aint got no chilluns. Chilluns ez so bad now I can't stand +dem ter save mah life."</p> + +<p>"Useter go ter de bap'isin's en dey would start shoutin' +en singin' w'en we lef' de chuch. Went ter deze bap'isin's in +Alabama, Memphis, en 'yer in Nashville. Lawdy hab mercy, how +we useter sing. Only song I members ez 'De Ole Time 'ligion.' +I useter go ter camp meetin's. Eve'rbody had a jolly time, +preachin', shoutin' en eatin' good things."</p> + +<p>"We didn't git a thing w'en we wuz freed. W'en dey said +we wuz free mah people had ter look out fer demselves."</p> + +<p>"Don' member now 'bout K.K.K. er 'structshun days. Mah +mammy useter tell us a lot ob stories but I'se fergot dem. I'se +neber voted en dunno ob any frens bein' in office."</p> + +<p>"No mam, no mam, don't b'leeve in diff'ent colurs ma'rin. I +member one ole sign—'bad luck ter empty ashes atter dark.'"</p> + +<p>"I'se hired out wuk'n in white folks house since freedum. +I'se a widow now en live 'yer wid mah neice en mah sistah."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +EMMA GRISHAM<br /> +1118 Jefferson St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in Nashville. I'se up in 90 y'ars, but +I tell dem I'se still young. I lived on Gallatin Pike +long 'fore de war, an uster se'd de soldiers ride by."</p> + +<p>"Mah marsters name wuz Wm. Penn Harding. Mah daddy +wuz sold at Sparta, Tennessee 'fore I wuz bawn en Marster +Harding bought 'im. Mah mammy erready 'longed ter de +Hardings."</p> + +<p>"I don' member much 'bout slavery I wuz small, but I +know I wore a leetle ole slip wid two er three bottons in +frunt. Mammy would wash me en I'd go out frunt en play +wid de white chilluns."</p> + +<p>"W'en de fightin' got so heavy mah white peeple got +sum Irish peeple ter live on de plantation, en dey went +south, leavin' us wid de Irish peeple."</p> + +<p>"I wuz leetle en I guess I didn't think much 'bout +freedum, I'd allus had plenty ter eat en w'ar."</p> + +<p>"Dunno ob any slaves gittin' nuthin at freedum."</p> + +<p>"Our white folks didn't whup mah peeple; but de oberseers +whup'd de slaves on uther plantations."</p> + +<p>"De Yankees had camps on de Capitol hill. En dere wuz +soldier camps in east Nashville en you had ter hab a pass +ter git thro?"</p> + +<p>"I member w'en de pen wuz on 15th en Chuch, en de +convicts wuk'd 'round de Capitol."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +"I went ter schul at Fisk a short time, w'en hit wuz +neah 12th en Cedar, en a w'ile down on Chuch St. Mah teacher +allus bragged on me fer bein' clean en neat. I didn't git +much schuling, mah daddy wuz lak mos' ole folks, he though +ef'n you knowd yo a, b, c's en could read a line, dat wuz 'nuff. +En he hired me out. Dunno w'at dey paid me, fer hit wuz paid +ter mah daddy."</p> + +<p>"I wuz hired ter a Mrs. Ryne fer y'ars, whar de Loveman +store ez now. Dere wuz a theatre whar Montgomery Ward store +ez, a lot ob de theatre peeple roomed en bo'ded wid Mrs. Ryne, +en dey would gib me passes ter de sho' en I'd slip up in de +gall'ry en watch de sho'. I couldn't read a wud but I 'joy'd +goin'. Mah daddy wuz a driver fer Mr. Ryan."</p> + +<p>"I nussed fer a Mrs. Mitchell en she had a boy in schul. +One summer she went 'way. A Mrs. Smith wid 10 boys wanted me +ter stay wid her 'til Mrs. Mitchell got back en I staid en laked +dem so well dat I wouldin go back ter Mrs. Mitchell's."</p> + +<p>"I went ter Memphis en ma'ied George Grisham in 1870. He +jinned de army, as ban' leader, went ter San Antonio, Texas en +I kum back ter Mrs. Smith's en stayed 'til her mammy lost her +mind. Mah husband d'ed in Texas, fum heart truble. All his +things wuz sent back ter me, en eve'y month I got a $30.00 +pension fer me en mah daughter. W'en she wuz 16 dey cut hit +down en I only git $12.00 now."</p> + +<p>"I edj'cated mah daughter at Fisk; en she's bin teachin' +schul since 1893. She buy dis place en we live tergedder. +We hab good health en both ez happy. I hab a 'oman kum eve'y +Monday en wash fer us."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +"De ole songs I member ez:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Harp fum de Tomb dis Mournful Sound."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Am I a soldier ob de Cross."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Ole signs ez: Dream ob snakes, sign ob de'th.—Ef a +hen crows a sign ob de'th.—Sneeze wid food in mouth means +de'th.—Ef a black cat crosses de road, walk backwards 'til +you git pas' whar hit crossed. Mah parents useter tell lots +ob tales but I can't think ob dem."</p> + +<p>"Oh honey, I dunno w'at dis young peeples ez kum'n ter. Dey +ez so diff'ent fum de way I wuz raised. I don't think much ob +dis white en black mar'ages. Hit shouldn't be 'lowed."</p> + +<p>"I 'long ter de Missionary Baptist."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +MEASY HUDSON<br /> +1209 Jefferson St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"Wuz bawn' in North Carolina en I'se 90 y'ars ole +in November. W'en war broke out we kum ter Tennessee en +hab bin 'yer eber since. Wuz 'yer w'en old Hood fi'rd +de cannons. He said he wuz kum'n 'yer ter Christmas +dinnah, but he didn't do hit."</p> + +<p>"Mah white folks wuz named Harshaw. Marster Aaron Harshaw +d'ed en we wuz willed ter his chilluns en dat we wuz +not ter be whup'd er 'bused in anyway. We wuz sold, but +long 'fore de war mah daddy wuz freed en mah manny wuz not +freed, but kep' a slave."</p> + +<p>"De marster's chilluns wuz small en eber New Y'ar Day, +we wuz put on a block en hired out ter de high bidduh, en +de money spent ter school de marster's chilluns."</p> + +<p>"I wuz tole dat sum ob de white peeples wuz so mean ter +dere slaves dat de slaves would tek a pot en turn hit down +in a hollow ter keep dere whites fum yearin' dem singin' +en prayin'. De Ku Klux wuz bad on de ex-slaves at fust."</p> + +<p>"De white folks 'fore de war had w'at dey called +"Muster" en I would go down wid dem. I would dance en de +folks would gib me money er gib me candy en durin' de war +de soldiers wuz de prettiest things."</p> + +<p>"Got nuthin' at freedum en wuz not lookin' fuh nuthin'. +Ef marster had lived he might hab gib us sump'in. He wuz a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +good man en good ter us. Eber since mah freedum, I'se wuk'd +as a laundress. Wuk'd fer one fam'ly ober 21 y'ars. 'Bout +two y'ars ago I lefted a tub, en hurt mahself. I'se not able +ter wuk now. I hab bin ma'ied twice en I'se voted three times."</p> + +<p>"I went ter schul at Fisk, a short time, w'en hit wuz on +12th Avenue, but I diden' git ter go long 'nuff ter git en +edj'cation."</p> + +<p>"Jis 'fore de Civil War I members de comet. Hit wuz +lak a big sta'r wid a long tail. Eve'body said hit wuz a +sign ob Judgement Day."</p> + +<p>"Bad luck signs: Ef'n a picture falls, hit's a sign ob +de'th—bad luck ter step ovuh a broom—ef a clock stop +runnin' en later hit strike, dat means de'th."</p> + +<p>"Sum ob de young peeple terday ez good but sum ob dem +don't wan'ter be nuthin'. De last war ruined mos' ob de +white en de black."</p> + +<p>"I b'leeves in de Baptist 'ligion en 'longs ter de +Baptist Church, 9th Avenue N. on Cedar Street. De white +'oman I wuk'd fuh wan'ed me ter join de Christian (colored) +chuch. Only song I now members ez "On Jordans Banks I Stand." +"Don't think dis marrin' ob whites wid blacks should be +'lowed en think eve'y culor should stay ter hits-sef."</p> + +<p>"I don't member now 'bout any stories tole back in ole +times. Our white folks wuz Christians en tried ter teach us +right en dey diden' tek up much time tellin' stories."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +PATSY HYDE<br /> +504 9th Avenue N.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"Dunno how ole I ez. I wuz bawn in slavery en b'longs +ter de Brown family. Mah Missis wuz Missis Jean R. Brown en +she wuz kin ter Abraham Lincoln en I useter y'ar dem talkin' +'bout 'im livin' in a log cabin en w'en he d'ed she had her +house draped in black. Marster Brown wuz also good ter his +slaves. De Missis promus Marster Brown on his de'th bed +nebber ter let us be whup'd en she kep her wud. Sum ob de +oberseers on urthur plantations would tie de slaves ter a +stake en gib dem a good whup'in fer sump'in dey ought not ter +done."</p> + +<p>"All cul'ed people wore cotton goods en de younger boys +run 'round in der shurt tails. Mah Missis nit all de white +chilluns stockin' en she made me sum. I had ter hold de yarn +on mah hans w'en she wuz nittin'. I members one time I wuz +keepin' flies off de table usin' a bunch ob peacock feathers +en I went ter sleep standin' up en she tole me ter go back ter +de kitchen." "I went en finish mah nap."</p> + +<p>"One day ole Uncle Elick woke Marster Brown fum his +atter-noon nap tellin' 'im dat de prettiest men dat I ever seed +wuz passin' by on de road. He went ter de winder en said, "Good +Gawd, hit's dem damn Yankees." Mah white folks had a pretty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +yard en gyarden. Soldiers kum en camped dere. I'd slip ter +de winder en lissen ter dem." "W'en dey wuz fightin' at Fort +Negley de cannons would jar our house. De soldier's ban' +play on Capitol Hill, en play "Rally 'roun' de Flag Boys, +Rally 'roun de Flag."</p> + +<p>"De slaves would tek dere ole iron cookin' pots en +turn dem upside down on de groun' neah dere cabins ter keep +dere white folks fum hearin' w'at dey wuz sayin'. "Dey claimed +dat hit showed dat Gawd wuz wid dem."</p> + +<p>"In slavery time peeples b'leeved in dreams. I members +one nite I dreamed dat a big white thing wuz on de gatepost wida +haid. I tole mah mammy en she said, "Gawd wuz warning us." +De ma'rige cer'mony in de days ob slavery wuz by de man en 'oman +jumpin' ovuh a broom handle tergedder."</p> + +<p>"I don' member much 'boud de Ku Klux Klan, but I does +member seein' dem parade one time in Nashville." (She evidently +refers to the Klan's last parade in 1869 in Nashville, +immediately preceeding the disbandment of the Klan at Fort +Negley.)</p> + +<p>"I members dat de northern soldier's ban' would play +Union Ferever, Rally 'roun de Flag, en Down Wid de Traitors +en up Wid de Sta's en Stripes."</p> + +<p>"De songs I members ez:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I'se a Soldier ob de Cross.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Follow de Lamb.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I would not Live Allus.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I Axs not ter Stay."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +"I member w'en de stars fell. Hit wuz so dark en eberbody +wuz skeered, en I member a comet dat looked lak a big red ball +en had sump'in lak a tail on hit. Eber one wuz skeered en wuz +'feard hit would hit de groun' en burn de worl' up. I member +de fust street lites in Nashville. W'en de lamp mans would kum +'round en lite de lamps dey would yell out "all ez well" en I +also members de Southern money goin' out en Yankee money kum'n +in, en also w'en dere wuzn't any coal 'yer en eve'ythin' wuz wood +en mos' ob dis town wuz in de woods."</p> + +<p>"De slaves wuz tole dey would git forty ak'rs ob groun' en a +mule w'en dey wuz freed but dey nebber got hit. W'en we wuz free +we wuz tuned out widout a thing. Mah grandmammy wuz an "Ole mammie" +en de Missis kep her. Atter freedum a lot ob Yankee niggah gals +kum down 'yer en hire out."</p> + +<p>"W'en I wuz a young girl hund'eds ob people went ter de wharf +at de foot ob Broadway on de fust Sunday in May ob eber'y year fer +de annual baptizin' ob new members inter de Baptist (culored) churches +ob de city. Thousands ob white people would crowd both sides ob de +Cumberland Riber, Broadway en de Sparkman Street Bridge ter witnus +de doin's. On leavin' de chuches de pastor would lead de parade ter +de wharf. Dey would sing en chant all de way fum de chuch ter de +river en sum ob de members would be ovuhkum wid 'ligious feelin' en +dey would hop up en down, singin' en shoutin' all de time, or may +be dey would start ter runnin' down de street en de brethern would +hab ter run dem down en bring dem back."</p> + +<p>"We useter hav' dem champ meetin's en dey wuz "honeys," en I +enjoy dem too. We wore bandanna handkerchiefs on our haids en long +shawls ovuh our shoulders. At deze meetin's dey had all kinds ob +good things ter eat en drink."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +"Atter mah freedum I dun washin' en Ironin' fer white families. +Neber ma'ried but I neber worries no matter w'at happens en dat's +may be cause ob mah livin' so long."</p> + +<p>"Things ter day ez mighty bad. Not lak de ole days. Worl' ez +gwin ter end soon."</p> + +<p>"Atter I got ter feeble ter do washin' en ironin' fer mah +livin', I went ter de Relief Office ter git dem ter he'ps me, +but dey wouldn't do a thing. I had no place ter go er no money +ter do wid. Dis culid 'oman tuk me in en does all she can fer me +but now she ez disable ter wuk en I dunno w'at ter do. Ef'n I +could git a small grocer order each week til I git de ole Age +Pension hit would he'p lots."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +ELLIS KEN KANNON<br /> +328 5th Avenue N.<br /> +St. Mary's Church<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I dunno jes how ole I ez. I wuz bawn in Tennessee as +a slave. Mah mammy kum frum Virginia. Our marster wuz Ken +Kannon."</p> + +<p>"Our Mistress wouldn't let us slaves be whup'd but I +member mah daddy tellin' 'bout de Overseer whuppin' 'im en +he run 'way en hid in a log. He tho't de blood hounds, he +heered 'bout a half mile 'way, on his trail could heer 'im +breathe but de hounds nebber fin' 'im. Atter de hounds pas' +on, mah daddy lef' de log hidin' place en w'en he got ter a +blacksmith shop, he se'ed a white man wid a nigger who had +handcuffs on en w'en de white man tuk off de handcuffs, de +nigger axed mah daddy whar he wuz gwine en he tole 'im back +ter mah Mistress en de nigger sezs I ez too. Mah daddy +slipped 'way fum 'im en went home."</p> + +<p>"W'en I wuz a young boy, I didn't wear nothin' but a +shirt lak all urthur boys en hit wuz a long thing lak a slip +dat kum ter our knees. Our Mistress had a big fier place en +w'en we would kum in cole she would say ain't you all cole. +(You all was always used in the plural and not singular as +some writers have it). W'ile we wuz warmin' she often played +de organ fer us ter heer."</p> + +<p>"I waited on mah Marster 'til he d'ed. Dey let me stay +rite wid de body. Mah Mistress, Mammy ob de Marster, wuz in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +bad health at dat time, en 'fore we sta'ted ter de graveyard, +I put a feather bed in de car'age en got a pitcher ob water +ready en 'fore we git dere she got awful sick."</p> + +<p>"Durin' slavery de slaves hadder keep quiet en dey would +turn a kittle upside down ter keep de white folks 'yearin dere +prayers en chants. W'en a slave wanted ter go ter 'nother +plantation he had ter hab a pass. Ef' dey disobeyed dey got a +whuppin, en ef dey had a pass widout de Marsters signature dey +got a whuppin. <span class="u">Ef'n dey had ter hab passes now dere wouldin' +be no meaness</span>."</p> + +<p>"I member de Klu Klux Klan kumin ter mah daddy's home axin +fer water en dey would keep us totin' water ter dem fer fifteen +ter twenty minutes. Dey didn't whup er hurt any ob us. I also +member 'yearin mah mammy en daddy tellin' us 'bout de sta'rs +fallin'. I member de comet. Hit wuz a big ball en had a long +tail."</p> + +<p>"I hab 'yerd dem tell 'bout Mr. Robertson. He wuz mean +ter his slaves en dey sezs dey could see a ball ob fier rollin' +on de fence en w'en dey would git ter de spring, a big white +thing lak a dog would crawl under de rock. De slaves wuz +natur'ally superstitious en b'leeved in dreams, ole sayings en +signs. I hab mahse'f se'ed things dat I ain't onderstan'. Hab +almost seen de things dat (apostle) John seed."</p> + +<p>"Dunno nuthin 'bout any ob de ex-slaves voting er de Nat +Turner 'Bellion."</p> + +<p>"Atter freedum mos' ob de slaves wuk'd fer dere livin' jes +as I ez. De men in de fiel's, de 'omen in de house. I wuk'd at +a hotel in McMinnville en one day, I wuz keepin' de flies off de +table wid a brush made frum fine strips ob papah en de string<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +broke en hit fell on de table. One man jumped up grabbed a +cheer sayin' ah'll knock you down wid dis cheer."</p> + +<p>"De slave 'pected ter git 40 akers ob land en a mule but +nobody eber got hit as fur as I know. We didn't git nuthin. +Our white peeple wuzzent able ter gib us anyting. Eve'ythin' +dey had wuz tuk durin' de wah. Dey wuz good ter us an stuck +wid us en mah peeple stayed wid mah Mistress."</p> + +<p>"Dis young gineratshun ob niggers, I 'clare dey ez jes +'bout gon'. Dey won't wuk, all's stealin' en mabe wuk long +'nuff ter git a few clothes ter strut 'round in. I may be +wrong but dat ez mah hones' pinion."</p> + +<p>"De songs—I member ez:</p> + +<p> +De Ole Ship ob Zion.<br /> +Do You Think You'll be Able ter tek me Home."<br /> +</p> + +<p>"I has bin 'yer fifteen y'ars en hab wuked onder two Priests +en now wukin under de third. Dey hab all bin nice ter me. Hab +neber had any trubble wid white peeple en you'd be sprized how +good dey ez ter me. Dey don't treat me lak a nigger."</p> + +<p>"Eber since I got mah freedum en 'fore I got dis chuch job, +I dun all kinds ob odd jobs, waited on tables, pressin' clothes +en anyting else dat kum 'long, but sum jobs wuz small pay but hit +kep me 'live."</p> + +<p>"Don't member any slave uprisin's. Our peeple wuz good ter +us."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +SCOTT MARTIN<br /> +438 Fifth Ave., No.<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I'se 90 y'ars ole and wuz bawn in slavery in Sumner +County, Tennessee and I b'long to Marster Dr. Madison Martin +an' mah Misses Mary. And I wuk'd wid de stock an' wuz de +houseman."</p> + +<p>"I hab neber been in any truble, neber 'rested en +neber bin in jail. I knows how ter behave, but de young +peeples ob terday ain' dun rite en dey don' 'mounts ter much. +Dar am a few dat am all rite. In de ole days dey wer' bettuh +dan dey ez terday. De white and black ougher not ma'rie."</p> + +<p>"I has voted two times, but I disremembers who I +voted fer. Neber hadney frens in office en I nebr met any +of de Klu Klux men. I didn' go out much en I neber wuz +kotched w'en I did git out. I heered lots 'bout nigger +uprisin' but dey wuz away off."</p> + +<p>"I b'long ter de Missionary Baptist chuch an' I useter +preach in mah chuch 'ouse en udders w'en called. Once a +y'ar I wud be at de Cumberland Riber wha'f en' baptiz' +culled peeples all da'. We useter hab camp meetin' in de +ole days en hab good things ter eat en I would preach all +day. I went ter schul two sessions en den I went to wuk."</p> + +<p>"I member de fust street kar line that run on East +side of Cumberland Riber ter East end ob de ole wood bridge +dat de 'arly settlers build. De kars wer' pulled by hosses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +en' mules. De whites en blacks mixed tergedder en den de +law made de whites rid' in frunt en the blacks in de rearuh. +I think dat wuz rite, but sum ob mah race wuz mad 'bout hit. +I wuz on a kar one day and mules run'd 'way en de ole red +mule got loose frum de kar en run'd ober a mile 'fore dey +ketched him en dey brot 'im ba'k en de kar' pas' on. I +members de ole L & N Railroad on de East side. W'en my folks +wud ride de train dey had 'ter hold me tite or I wuld git +'way frum dem en run en hide 'hind sum logs. I wuz scar'et +ter ride on de kars."</p> + +<p>"Atter freedum de slaves had'n no truble ter go whar +dey wan'. Menny lef' but menny stay wid der ole marsters. +I stay wid my marster tell he d'ed. I den kum an' lib wid +mah daddy on Lebanon Road. Atter dat I libed on Gallatin +Road an' den I kum ter Nashville, an' wuk wid pic' and shovel +on streets, sewers an' udder jobs. I heered dem sez dat de +slaves wud git lan', hoss, money er sumpin' but I neber heerd +ob nobody gittin nuthin'. Dere wuz not slave 'raisings eroun' +whar I wuz."</p> + +<p>"De fallin' st'ars wuz 'fore mah time, but I'se heer'd +mah daddy tole 'bout hit. I se'd de comet wid hit shinnin' +tail an' I fust b'leevd sumbody put hit up dere."</p> + +<p>"Good luck sign wuz w'en a stray cat kum ter yo' house +an' stay dere. Bad luck sign wuz a black kat crossin' yo' +path in frunt ob yer. Ter ke'p frum havin' de bad luck yo' +back up pas' whar hit crossed yer path en den spit an' yer +hab no bad luck."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +"Dem air ships luk nice but dey ez spoke 'boud in de +Holy Bible, dat sum day dere wud be flyin' things in de +air'h an' I think dat dese things am it. De otomobeels kiver +nuder passag' in de Bible which seze de peeple 'll rid' on +de streets widout hosses en mules."</p> + +<p>"Mah fav'rite songs am "I Gwine to Jine de Gideon +Band," and "Keep Yo' Lits Bunnin'."</p> + +<p>"Ter ole now ter wuk an' mah haid don' se'm ter be +tergedder an' I'se gits he'ps frum de Welfare."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +ANN MATTHEWS<br /> +719 9th Ave. South<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in Murfreesboro on Stones River. I dunno +how ole I ez en hit meks me 'shamed ter tell peeple dat, but +mah mammy would hit me in de mouth w'en I'd ax how ole I +wuz. She say I wuz jes' tryin' ter be grown."</p> + +<p>"Mah mammy's name wuz Frankie en mah daddy wuz Henry Ken +Kannon. Don' member much 'bout mah mammy 'cept she wuz a sho't +fat Indian 'oman wid a turrible tempah. She d'ed, durin' de war, +wid black measles."</p> + +<p>"Mah daddy wuz part Indian en couldn't talk plain. W'en +he go ter de store he'd hab ter put his han' on w'at he want +ter buy. He d'ed eight months 'fore de Centennial."</p> + +<p>"Our marster en missis wuz Landon en Sweenie Ken Kannon. +Dey wuz good ter us, en we had'n good things ter eat."</p> + +<p>"I member de Yankee en Southern soldiers. One day me +en mah young missis, en sum chilluns went up ter de road en we +se'ed sum Yankee soldiers kumin', I clum'ed on de fence, de +urthurs run 'way en hid. One ob de soldiers sezs ter me, +'Lettle girl who wuz dat wid you,' en I sezs, 'Hit wuz Miss Puss +en sum chilluns.' He laughed en sezs, 'You ez brave ain' you?'"</p> + +<p>"Our missis let us go ter chuch. I 'long ter de chuch +ob Christ."</p> + +<p>"I dunno ob but one slave dat got lan' er nothin' w'en +freedum wuz 'clared. We didn't git nuthin at freedum. Mah +daddy went back in de woods en built us a saplin house en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +dobbed hit wid mud. Atter freedum mah daddy went 'way, en we +chilluns staid in dat house in de woods by oursel's. Dere wuz +two weeks we didn't see a bit ob bre'd. I went up w'at ez called +de nine mile cut neah Tullahoma, en axed a 'oman ef she would +let us hab sum bre'd. She gib me sum meat en bre'd, en tole me +ter kum back. I went back home en we et sump'in, en I went back +ter de 'oman's house, she gib me a sack ob flour en a big piece +ob midlin' meat. We wuz skeered, bein' dere 'lone so I would +set up wile mah br'ers slep', den I'd sleep in de daytime. One +nite sumbody knocked at de do'er en hit wuz mah daddy en he had +two sacks ob food, en de urthur chilluns got up en we et a big +meal."</p> + +<p>"I useter 'yer de folks talk 'bout de sta'rs fallin', but +dat happen' 'fore I wuz bawn."</p> + +<p>"I didn't go ter schul, mah daddy wouldin' let me. Said +he needed me in de fiel wors den I needed schul. I wuz allus +sassy en stubbun. I run 'way fum mah daddy en kum ter Nashville. +I stayed at a schul on Franklin Pike, run by Mrs. McGathey. I +wuz de only cul'ed person dere. Dey wuz good ter me en eve'y +Chrismus I would git a big box ob clothes en things."</p> + +<p>"In Manchester de Klu Klux Klan wore big high hats, red +handkerchiefs on dere faces en red covers on dere hosses. Dey +tuk two niggers out ob jail en hung dem ter a chestnut tree."</p> + +<p>"One nite w'en I wuz gwine wid mah daddy fum de fiel' home, +we met sum ob de K.K.K. en dey said, 'Ain't you out late Henry? +En who ez dat gal wid you?' Mah daddy said, 'We ez gwine home +fum wuk, en dis ez mah daughter.' Dey said, 'Whar has she bin, +we ain't nebber se'ed her.' He told dem, 'I'd bin in Nashville.' +Dey said dey'd be back dat nite but we didn't see dem."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +"W'en I wuz in Manchester I promus de Lawd I wouldin' +dance. But one nite I wuz on de ball floor, dancin' fum one +end ob de room ter de urthur en sump'in sezs go ter de do'er. +I didn't go right den en 'gin hit sezs you ez not keepin' yo +promus. I went ter de do'er en you could pick a pin off de +groun' hit wuz so light. In de sky wuz de prettiest thing you +ebber se'ed, so many culors, blue, white, green, red en yellow."</p> + +<p>"Since freedum I'se wuked wid diff'ent peeple, cookin' en +keepin' house. I'se de mammy ob three chilluns. Two ob dem ez +'way fum 'yer, en I live 'yer wid mah daughter."</p> + +<p>"Old songs, I member ez:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dark wuz de Nite.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I'll Live wid Gawd Forever, Bye en Bye.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fum dis Earth I go, Oh Lawd, W'at Will 'kum ob Me."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"So yer wan't me ter tell you de truf? I think de young +peeple ez nothin'. Dey think dey ez smaht. Most ob de ex-slaves +I'se knowed has cooked en nussed, done laundry wuk; wuked in +fiel's en diff'ent things."</p> + +<p>"I'se neber voted en hab neber paid any 'tention ter de +niggers gittin' ter vote. Don't hab any frens in political +office. Can't member any tales er signs."</p> + +<p>"I don't b'leeve in dese mixed white and black families en +hit shouldn't be 'lowed."</p> + +<p>"Durin' slavery de white folks didn't want de niggahs ter +sing en pray, but dey would turn a pot down en meet at de pot +in de nite en sing en pray en de white folks wouldn't 'yer dem."</p> + +<p>"Ef a slave died de white folks wouldn't let nobody set +up wid de body 'cept de niggers ob dat plantation, but urthur +slaves would slip in atter dark, set up en den slip back ter +dere plantation 'fore day."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +"W'en I useter go ter camp meetin' dey had big dinnahs en +spread hit on de groun'. Dey preached, sung, shouted en +eve'ybody had a good time."</p> + +<p>"Fum de camp meetin's dey would go ter de wharf en baptize. +Dey would tie handkerchiefs 'roun dere haids. W'en dey wuz +dipped under de water sum ob dem would kum up shoutin'."</p> + + +<p>A TALE</p> + +<p>One time de preacher wuz in de river fixin' ter baptize a +man. Eve'ybody wuz singin' ole time 'ligion. A 'oman sung, +"I don' lak dat thing 'hind you." Bout dat time de pahson en +de udder man se'd an alligator. De parson sezs, "No-By-God +I Don't Either." He turned de man loose en dey both run 'way.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +REV. JOHN MOORE<br /> +809 7th Avenue So.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in Georgia (exact time not known) en mah +mammy wuz half Indian en mah daddy a slave. Both ob dem +owned by William Moore. Sum time atter dat Marster Moore +sold mah daddy en den de Moore Sistuhs looked atter me en +wuz allus good ter me. "Lawdy, dey wuz good white folks."</p> + +<p>"Durin' slavery times de slaves would hab ter git fum +dere marster a pas' 'fore dey could visit dere own people on +de uther plantations. Ef'n you had no pass you would git in +trouble ef caught wid out one which allus ment a good whuppin' +w'en dey returned. At dat time menny slaves would run 'way en +hide in caves en menny ob dem would go by de "ondergroun' +railroad" ter Canada whar slavery wuz not recognized." (The +underground railroad consisted of hiding places throughout the +states to Canada and the slaves would make the trip under cover +from station to station.)</p> + +<p>"De slaves would slip out at nite ter private meetin's en +turn a pot bottom up on de groun' en leave a little hole under +hit so de sound ob dere talkin' would go onder de pot en no one +would 'year whut dey wuz talkin' 'bout."</p> + +<p>"De ex-slaves ob de better class did vote en de white +peeple stuck wid de good cul'ed folks. I don' member now 'bout +de Nat Turner 'Bellion."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +"Atter freedum de slaves wuz 'lowed ter stay on de +plantation en 'lowed ter farm en gib half dey made. Atter +slavery I useter wuk fer fifty cents en git a peck ob meal, +three pounds ob bacon en a quart ob syrup which would las' +a week."</p> + +<p>"De Ku Klux Klan's plan wuz ter whup all white er +cul'ed people dat didn't stay at home en support dere +families but would run 'roun en live a bad life. W'en de +Klan would be passin' through de slaves would call dem +ghostus."</p> + +<p>"One nite mah br'er en me wuz sleepin' in de dining +room. Sumpin woke us an we seed sumpin' dat kum through +de yard en got hold ob sum blocks. Dat thing didn't hab +no haid en didn't hab no tale en looked lak hit wuz backin' +up on all four legs. Nex mawnin' we could fin' no tracks +ob whuteber hit wuz en de gate wuz also fasened."</p> + +<p>"Dis young peoples 'cordin' ter de Bible ez on de broad +road ter ruin. Dey think dey ez as good as de white people +but dey ez classed as niggahs in mah eyes."</p> + +<p>"Caint member any ob de ole songs now."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +SUBJECT—EX-SLAVE STORIES<br /> +<br /> +Andrew Moss<br /> +#88 Auburn Streets<br /> +Knoxville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"One ting dat's all wrong wid dis world today," according to Andrew +Moss, aged negro, as he sits through the winter days before an open grate fire +in his cabin, with his long, lean fingers clasped over his crossed knees, "is +dat dey ain no 'prayer grounds'. Down in Georgia whar I was born,—dat was 'way +back in 1852,—us colored folks had prayer grounds. My Mammy's was a ole +twisted thick-rooted muscadine bush. She'd go in dar and pray for deliverance +of de slaves. Some colored folks cleaned out knee-spots in de cane breaks. Cane +you know, grows high and thick, and colored folks could hide de'seves in dar, +an nobody could see an pester em."</p> + +<p>"You see it was jes like dis. Durin' de war, an befo de war too, white +folks make a heap o fun of de colored folks for alltime prayin. Sometime, say, +you was a slave en you git down to pray in de field or by de side of de road. +White Marster come 'long and see a slave on his knees. He say, 'What you prayin' +'bout?' An you say, 'Oh, Marster I'se jes prayin' to Jesus cause I wants to go +to Heaven when I dies.' An Marster say, 'Youse my negro. I git ye to Heaven. Git +up off'n your knees.' De white folks what owned slaves thought that when dey +go to Heaven de collored folk's would be dar to wait on em. An ef'n it was +a Yank come 'long, he say too, 'What you prayin' 'bout?' You gives de same +'sponse. An he say, 'We'se gwine save you. We goin' to set you free. You wants +to be free, dont you?' 'Yessir, Boss!' 'Well den, Yank say, come go 'long wid +me.' Ain no use keep sayin' 'Please sir Boss, I'll have to arsk my Master.' +Yank say, 'what you mean, Marster? You aint got no Marster. We's settin' you +free.'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +"Sometimes dey takes a' tie a rope 'round you, and they starts ridin' +off but dey dont go too fas' so you walks behind. Sometimes 'long comes +another Yank on a horse an he arsk, 'Boy ain you tired?' 'Yessir Boss.' 'Well +den you git up here behind me and ride some.' Den he wrop de rope all 'round +de saddle horn. Wrops and wrops, but leaves some slack. But he keeps you tied, so's +you wont jump down and run away. An many's de time a prayin' negro got took off +like dat, and want never seen no more."</p> + +<p>"'Course ef'n you goes wid em, you 'member your trainin' and 'fore you +leaves de field, you stacks your hoe nice, like you was quittin' de days work. +Dey learned the little'uns to do dat, soon's dey begins to work in de fields. +Dey had little hoes, handles 'bout de size of my arm, for de little fellers. +I've walked many a mile, when I was a little feller, up and down de rows, +followin' de grown folks, an chopping wid de hoe 'round de corners whar de +earth was soft so de little uns could hoe easy. Whoopee! Let dat dinner horn +blow, and evy body stacks dey hoes, nince, neat stacks standin up, and starts +to run. Some eats in dey own cabins, but dem what eats at de big house, sets +down at a long table, and gets good grub too! Evy night, our Marster give +us evy one a glass o whiskey. Dat's to keep off decease. Mornins' we had to +all drink tar water for de same purpose. Dat want so tasty."</p> + +<p>"My Marster's name was George Hopper. Dat man paid taxes on more'n +two-thousand acres of land in two counties. I lived in dem two counties. Was +born in Wilkes and raised in Lincoln County, Georgia. We called it de middle-south. +My Marster he never did marry. Lots of folks didnt, dey jes took up wid +one another. Marster Hopper had five children by my grandmother. She was his +house woman, dat's what he call 'er. An when he died he willed her and all dem +chilluns a house, some land, and a little money. He'd of left em a heap more +money and ud been one of the richest men in the country, ef'n de war hadn't broke out. +When it was over he had a barrel full of 'Federate greenbacks. But t'want no count.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +He done broke den. One day my uncle, he was the colored overseer, he went to +Danbury, six miles from whar we lived at, and he paid $5 for a pound of +coffee. Dat was befo de North whupped de South, and dey had'n killed-down de +money value for de South."</p> + +<p>"Talk about hard times! We see'd em in dem days, durin' de war and +most specially after de Surrender. Folks dese days dont know what trouble looks +like. We was glad to eat ash-cakes and drink parched corn and rye 'stead o +coffee. I've seed my grandmother go to de smoke house, and scrape up de dirt +whar de meat had drapped, and take it to de house fer seasonin. You see, both +armies fed off'n de white folks, and dey cleaned out dey barns and cellars and +smoke houses when dey come. One time, when de Yanks was on de way to Augusta, I +was picking up chips to make the supper fire, when I see'd em comin'. I hit it +out from dar and hide behind two little hills down by de big spring. After +awhile my brother find me and he tell me to come on back to the house and see +dem white mens dance. De Yanks kep' comin' and dey eat all night. By daylight +they was through marchin past."</p> + +<p>"An den come de Rebels. When dey come we had five-thousand bushel of +corn, one-hundred head o hogs, three-hundred and fifty galons of syrup 'en +sech. When dey left, they took an set fire to evything, to keep it away +from the Yanks, aimin to starve em out o dat country. Dat's what dey done. +Some of dem Rebs was mean as the Yanks. And dat was bein' mean. Some called +de Yanks, 'de Hornets', 'cause dey fight so. Take a Yank an he'd fight +acrost a buzz saw and it circlin' fifty mile a minute."</p> + +<p>"Dat time when the Yanks was goin' to Augusta, an I went to black my +Marster's boot,—he'd give us a two-cent peice, big as a quarter—for boot +blackin, I say, 'Marster who is dem soldiers?' An he say to me, 'Dey's de Yankees, +come to try to take you awy from me.' An I say, 'Looks like to me Marster, ef'n +dey wants to take us dey'd arsk you fer us.' Marster laughed and say, 'Boy! Dem +fellers dont axes wid words. Dey does all dey talkin' wid cannons.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +Did you know that a white woman shot de first cannon dat was ever fired in de +state o Georgia? She was a Yankee Colonel's wife, dey say, named Miss Anna, I +dunno the rest o her name. She wants to be de first to fire a cannon she say, +to set the negroes free. Dat was befo' de war, begin. De roar of dat cannon +was in folkes ears for more'n five days and nights."</p> + +<p>Uncle Andrew gave a little grunt as he lifted himself out of his chair. +His little frame seemed lost in the broad-shouldered lumber jacket that he wore. +He had laid aside the paper sack from which he had been eating, when the visitor +came, and removed an old stocking cap from his head. When the visitor suggested +that he keep it on, as he might catch cold he replied, "I dont humor myself none." +The sunlight fell upon his head and shoulders as he stood, to steady himself on +his feet. Traces of his ancestry of Indian blood,—one of his grandfathers was +a Cherokee Indian,—were evident in his features. His skin is jet-black, but his +forehead high and his nose straight, with nostrils only slightly full. There was +dignity in his bearing and beauty in his face, with its halo of cotton-white +hair and beard, cut short and neatly parted in the middle of his chin.</p> + +<p>Walking about the room, he called the visitor's attention to family portraits +on the walls. Some were colored crayons, and a few were enlarged snap-shots. +Proudly he pointed to the photograph of a huge-sized Negro man, apparently +in his thirties, and said, "He was our first comins'. Reckon he took after his +great granddaddy, who was eight feet tall and weighed twe-hundred and fifty +pounds. That man's arms was so long, when dey hung down by his side, his fingers +was below his knees. Dis grandfather was free-born. My father, Dave Moss, he was +sold three times. He had twenty-five children. But he had two wives. As I +aforesaid, folks didn't always marry in dem days, jes took up wid one another. +My mother was his title-wife. By her, he jes had me and my two full-brothers +an one sister. My mother died two years after de war. My father give my +sister to my grandmother. Jes give 'er to 'er."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +"How come I live in Knoxville, I was a young man, when I started off +from Georgia, aimin to go over de mountains to Kentucky whar I heard dey pay +good wages. I stopped in Campbell country, Tennessee wid another feller, an' I +see'd a pretty gal workin' in de field. An I say's, I'm goin' to marry dat gal. +Sho 'nough me an her was married in less dan six months. Her Marster build us +a log house and we lived dar 'till we come to Knoxville, Tennessee. Now, all o +my boys is dead. Evy one o em worked for Mr. Peters (Peters and Bradley Flour +Mills, of Knoxville)—and dey all died workin' fer him. So Mister Willie, he +say he gwine let me live here, in de company house, the rest o my days."</p> + +<p>The four room frame house stands near a creek at the dead end of an +alley on which both whites and negroes live. The huge double bed, neatly made, +stands between two windows from which there is an unobstructed view of the +highway traversing north and south through northern Knoxville, several blocks +away from Andrew's home. "I jes lay down on dat bed nights and watch them +autimobiles flyin by. Dey go Blip! Blip! and Blip! An I say to my self, 'Watch +them fools!' Folkes ain got de sense dey's born wid. Ain smart like dey used +to be. An times ain good like dey was. Ef'n it hadnt been for some of dem crazy +fools, actin up and smarty, me an my wife'd be gittin maybe a hun'ered an' +more dollars a month, 'stead o the fifteen we gits 'tween us for ole' age help. +They'd ought to let Rosevelt alone. An its his own folks as is fitin' 'im. He is +a big man even ef he is a Democrat. I'm a Republican though. Voted my first +time for Blaine."</p> + +<p>"Yes I votes sometimes now, when dey come gits me. An befo I got sick, +I would ride the street car to town. An I goes down to de Court House, and when +I see dem cannons in deyard I cain keep from cryin'. My wife arsk me what make +me go look at dem cannon ef'n dey makes me cry. An I tells her I cry 'bout +de good and de bad times dem cannon bringed us. But no cannons or nothin' else, +seems like going to bring back de good old times. But I dont worry 'bout all dese +things much. Accordin' to de Good Book's promise, weepin' may endure for a night,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +den come joy in de mornin. An I knows dat de day's soon come when I goes +to meet my folks and my Lord an Marster in his Heaven, whar dey ain no more +weepin.'"</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +SUBJECT—EX-SLAVE STORIES<br /> +<br /> +Aunt Mollie Moss<br /> +# 88- Auburn Street,<br /> +Knoxville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>There is no street sign or a number on any of the ramshackled frame +cottages that seemingly lean with the breezes, first one direction, then another, +along the alley that wind's through the city's northernmost boundary +and stops its meanderings at the doorstep of "Uncle Andrew Moss" and his wife, +"Aunt Mollie."</p> + +<p>The City Directory of Knoxville, Tennessee officially lists the Moss +residence as # 88 Auburn Street. It rests upon its foundations more substantially, +and is in better kept condition than its neighbors. In lieu of a +"reg'lar" house number, the aged negro couple have placed a rusty automobile +lisence tag of ancient vintage conspicuously over their door. It is their +jesture of contempt for their nearest white neighbors who "dont seem to care +whedder folkses know whar dey lib an maybe don wants em to."</p> + +<p>As for Aunt Mollie, she holds herself superior to all of her neighbors. +She "Ain got no time for po white trash noway." She shoo'ed two little +tow-headed white girls from her doorstep with her broom as she stood in her +door and watched a visitor approach. "G'wan way frum here now, can be bodder +wid you chillun messin ups my front yard. Take yo tings an go on back to yo +own place!"</p> + +<p>"Dats way dey do," she mummled as she lead the visitor inside the +cottage, through the dining-room and kitchen into the living-room and bedroom. +"Don know what I gwine do when come summer time. Keeps me all time lookin out +for dem chilluns. Dey's dat troublesome. Brings trash in on my flo what I jes +scoured, an musses 'roun, maybe tryin to steal sumpin an me watchin em too. +Dey wasnt teached manners and 'havior in odder folkses houses like what I war."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +When Aunt Mollie learned that it was to hear her story of how she was +trained in manners end behaviorism, that the visitor had come, and to hear +something of her recollections of slave days, her belligerent mood vanished. +The satisfied manner in which she drew up chairs before the fire, took a pinch +of snuff and settled her skirts, indicated that was going to be quite a session. +She leaned her elbows on her knees, held her head between the palms of her +hands and fumbled in her cloudy memory to gather a few facts to relate.</p> + +<p>Uncle Andrew, the more intelligent of the two, and quick to seize upon +his opportunity, began his reminiscences immediately, saying "Honey, wait now," +when his wife thought herself well organized to talk, and frequently broke into +his narrative. "Wait untell I gits through. Den you can talk." Aunt Mollie would +frown and grunt, mumble to herself as she rocked back and forth in her chair. +She pulled the two long braids of brown silky hair, streaked with white, and +tied at the ends with cotton strings. She spat vigorously into the fire, kept +muttering and shuffling her feet, which were encased in men's shoes.</p> + +<p>At last it came Aunt Mollie's turn to talk war-times. Uncle Andrew, well +pleased with his recital, retired to his corner by the hearth and listened +"mannerdly"—after first warning the visitor in a gentle undertone, that "My +wife she ain got much mem'ry an she don hear good." Aunt Mollie's rambling +reminiscences backed up his statement. She began.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I mus be 'bout eighty-two, three year old. I dunno exactly. +Ef I knowed whar to find em, deys some my white folkes lib in dis town. Seem like +I can 'member dey names. I b'longed to Marster Billy Cain, and was raised on +his farm in Campbell county, Tennessee. Oh, 'bout six, seven mile from Jacksboro. +Wish I could go back dar some time. Ain been dar sence me an Moss married an +live eight, ten or some more years in a log cabin he built for us. We was +married March 7, de day atter Cleveland was 'lected presi-dent. In 1885 did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +you say? Well, reckon you're right. I ain had no schoolin an I can 'member +lots o tings I used to know."</p> + +<p>"Billy Cain worked me in de fields. An his wife Miss Nancy say she +gwine stop it, 'cause I was so pretty she fraid somebody come steal me." Aunt +Mollie buried her face in her apron and had a good laugh. "Dey said I was +de pretties' girl anywhars about. Had teeth jes like pearls. Whoops! Look at em +now. Ain got 'nuff left to chaw wid. You notices how light-complected I is? +My own father was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. De Yanks captured him an +killed him."</p> + +<p>"I was hoein in de field dat time Moss com 'long and see me and say +he gwine marry me. An, jes like he tell you, we was married in less dan six months. +We been livin togedder evy since and we gits along good. We have had blessins' +and got a lot to be thankful for. Could have more to eat sometimes, but we gits +along someways. I am a good cook. Miss Nancy she teached me all kinds o cookin, +puttin up berries, makin pickles and bakin bread and cake an evy'ting. Her ole +man Cain give us good grub dem days. Monday mornins' we go to de Cains to git +rations for de week. Dey gib us three pounds wheat, a peck o meal, a galon o +molasses, two pound o lard, two pound o brown sugar, rice an evy'ting. I use to +have plates an china white folks gib me. White woman come one day, say she wan +buy 'em. Took plum nigh all I had. Did'n pay me much o nothin' either."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lord. I does 'member 'bout de war. I've see'd de blue an I've see'd +de grey. In 1862 I see'd de soldiers formin' in line. I was a great big girl. +Dem swords glisen' like stars. Can' member whar dey was goin dat time. But I +ain forgit de times soldiers come foragin. Dey got all dey wanted, too. Hep' +dey sef's an dont pay for it, never. Soldier see a chicken go under de house, +he plop down and shoot, and den call me to crawl under de house and fetch it +out." Aunt Mollie buried her head in her apron again and laughed like a child. +"Lordy how scared I was of de old gander dat blowed at me, whilst I was tryin' +to drag 'em out alive, when I see'd de soldiers comin'."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +"Billy Cain, he was brudder-in-law to Old Townslee, who lived on a +plantation in Alabama. How come my mother was give to Cain an come to +Tennessee, was one mornin' Old Townslee rode his horse out under a tree to +blow up de slaves. Blow de horn you know, to call 'em to work. Somebody shot 'im. +Right off his horse. It was so dark, 'fore daylight, an' couldnt see and dey +never did find out who shot 'im. Heap o white folks had enemies dem days. So +de slaves he owned was divided munxt his chilluns. My mother was one of nine +dat come to Billy Cain dat way."</p> + +<p>"Talk 'bout your shootin jest for devilment. Lemme tell you 'bout old +men John Wynn. He live down dar 'bout ten mile from whar Moss lived when he was +a boy. I've heard em tell it many a time. Dey say John Wynn had 185 slaves. +Evy time it come George Washington's birthday, Old Wynn he had a feast and +invite all de slaves! He celebratin! he say. He seta a long table wid all +kind good tings to eat. An he count de slaves, so's to be sure dey all come. +An' den he'd take an pick out one and shoot him! Den he say, "Now youse all +can go 'head an eat. Throw dat nigger 'side an we bury im in mornin'." And he +walks off to de big house. No! He wasn't drunk. Jes de debil in 'im. Well, +he shot ten, twelve, maybe thirty dat way. An den de white folks hanged 'im to +a tree. Hanged im t'well he was good and dead, dey did."</p> + +<p>"Now folkes can 'joy dey victuals wid sech goin's on. De slaves git so's +dey scared to hear de bell ring. Don' know what it mean. Maybe death, maybe fire, +maybe nudder sale o some body. Gwine take 'em way. But when de bell ring dey had +to come. Let dat ole bell ring and de woods was full o negroes. Maybe 500 hundred +come from all over date county."</p> + +<p>Aunt Mollie was beginning to ramble and babble incoherently, her memories +of her own and the experiences of others all confused in her mind. When she had +about finished a story about how one of the slave women, "bust de skull" of the +head of her marster,'" 'cause she was nussin a sick baby an' he tell her she got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +to git out in dat field an hoe" and the gory details of what the shovel did to +the white marster's head, it was time for the visitors to close the interview.</p> + +<p>Both Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mollie followed the visitor to the front +door, and wished her "All de luck in de world. An thank you for comin'. An +come see us agin, nudder time."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +ANDY ODELL<br /> +1313 Pearl Street<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn east ob Spring Hill, Tennessee. I dunno +in w'at y'ar, but I wuz a ful' grown man w'en I wuz freed. +(This will make him about 96 years old.). I wuz an onlies' +chile en I nebber knowed mah daddy. Mah mammy wuz sold 'way +fum me. She ma'ied a man named Brown en dey had seven +chillun."</p> + +<p>"At fust I 'longed ter Marster Jim Caruthers. W'en +his daughter ma'ied Fount Odell, I wuz willed ter her en +den mah marsters wuz Fount en Albert Odell who wuz br'ers. +Mah white folks let us go ter chuch. I b'leeves in de Baptist +'ligion. I nebber knowed any slave dat had ter hide ter sing +er pray. I members de comet en hit wuz a sta'r wid a long +tail en looked lak hit wuz burnin'. De sta'rs fell 'fore I +wuz bawn." (The stars fell in 1833).</p> + +<p>"We had ter hab passes en if you didn't hab one, you +got whupped. Mah marster let me go ter chuch wid' out a +pass. I members de Klu Klux Klan but dey nebber bothered +me, tho I 'yeard a lot 'bout dem. Dey called demselves +"White Caps" en said dey wuz rite fum de grave. W'en a slave +got whupped hit wuz cose dey disobey dere white folks en de +overseer whupped dem. I though mah white folks wuz awful mean +ter me sumtime."</p> + +<p>"I nebber b'leeved in ghos' but hab yeard lots 'bout dem. +Lots of peeples did b'leeve in dem back in dem times. Uster<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +sing a lot but I dunno names ob dem now. I dunno w'at ez gwine +ter 'kum ob dis young crowd. I sho don't think diff'ent culers +oughter ma'rie. De Lawd didn't mean fer hit ter be dun. Dunno +ob any slave 'risin's in Virginia er any uther place. Don't +member now de tales en sayin' ob de ole times."</p> + +<p>"Member well w'en de war broke out en how dey had big +dinners en marched 'round ovuh de fiel's, gittin' ready fer +de war. I had a br'er kilt in de war en mah mammy got a +lettle money fum 'im. Also member dat w'en mah mammy got de +money she bought me a hat."</p> + +<p>"I don't git nuthin at freedum en I dunno ob any slaves +gittin' any land er money. I know dat w'en we wuz freed Marster +Albert called us slaves in en said, "You all ez as free as I ez, +but you can stay 'yer en wuk fer me ef'n you want ter." I staid +wid 'im a good w'ile attar freedum."</p> + +<p>"Since freedum I hab plowed, hoed, cut wood, en wuk'd in +quarries pecking rock. Hab nebber wuk'd in town fer I dunno +de things 'bout town. I hab voted almost eve'y election since +freedum 'til dese last few years. I hab had two frens in office +but both ez de'd now. I uster think 'omen shouldn't vote, but I +guess hit ez alri'te."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +LAURA RAMSEY PARKER<br /> +715 Gay St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I'se 87 y'ars ole. Wuz bawn in slavery. Wuz freed +w'en de slavery stopped. Mack Ramsey wuz mah marster en +he wuz sho good ter his slaves. He treated dem as human +bein's. W'en he turned his slaves 'loose he gib dem no +money, but gib dem lands, clothin' en food 'til dey could +brang in dere fust crop. Mah daddy rented a strip ob land +'til he wuz able ter buy de place. He lived on de same fer +menny y'ars."</p> + +<p>"W'en I wuz ole er'nuff I wuz taught ter spin en weav. +I bucum de nuss ter de marster's onlies' chile. Soon atter +I wuz freed, I went ter Wisconsin, but only wuz dere fer a +y'ar, den I kum back ter Tennessee en Nashville. I settled +in dis house en I'se bin livin' in hit fer ovuh fifty y'ars. +Dere wuz no uther houses 'round 'yer at de time. I own de +place. Hab wuk'd all mah life seem ter me. At one time I +wuz a chambermaid at de Nicholson House now de Tulane en +later 'kum a sick nuss, a seamstress, dressmaker but now I +pieces en sells bed quilts. I does mah own housekeepin' en +washin'."</p> + +<p>"I don't member now, very much 'bout de Ku Klux Klan. I +do member dat one nite dey passed our home en I grab'ed a +shotgun en said dat I wuz gwine ter shoot dem ef dey kum on +de place. I members de Battle ob Murfreesboro, but I'se<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +got no membrances ob any slave uprisin'."</p> + +<p>"I think very lettle ob de younger ginerashon. Dere's +many things ter day dat should be changed, but I'se 'yer +en can't do nuthin' ter change hit. I's min'in mah own +business. I puts mah faith en trust in Gawd's han's; en +treats mah nabers right; en lives honest. I 'longs ter de +Christian Chuch, but don't wan'ter be called a "Campbellite."</p> + +<p>"De songs I members ez:</p> + +<p> +Am I a Soldier ob de Cross.<br /> +Am I Bawn ter Die?<br /> +'Tis 'Ligion Dat Can Gib."<br /> +</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +NAISY REECE<br /> +710 Overton St.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in slavery, in Williamson County, guess +I'se 'bout 80 y'ars ole. Think I wuz fou' w'en de wah +started."</p> + +<p>"Mah mammy en daddy wuz Mary en Ennock Brown."</p> + +<p>"Mah missis en marster wuz Polly en Randall Brown."</p> + +<p>"Dunno ob any ob our fam'ly bein' sold. W'en freedum +wuz declar' we wuz tu'n loose wid nothin'. Mah daddy tuk us +down in de kuntry, raised crops en made us wuk in de fiel'."</p> + +<p>"I'se cooked a leetle fer urther peeple, but mos' ob +mah wuk has bin laundry. I didn't go ter schul much. I +dunno w'at ter say 'bout de younger gineratshun; dere ez sich +a diff'unce now ter w'at hit wuz w'en I wuz a girl. Dunno +any tales dat I useter 'year."</p> + +<p>"Didn't see any Klu Klux Klan, but I alluz got skeered +en hid w'en we'd 'year dey wuz kumin'. I 'long ter de Baptist +Church. I neber went ter menny camp-meetin's, but went ter +a lot ob baptizins."</p> + +<p>"Mammy tole us how de sta'rs fell en how skeered eberybody +got. I saw de long tail comet."</p> + +<p><span class="u">Signs</span>: "Good luck ter git up 'fore day-lite ef'n youer +gwin sum place er start sum wuk." "Bad luck ter sweep flo'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +atter dark en sweep de dirt out."</p> + +<p> +<span class="u">Songs</span>: "I Couldn't Hear Anybody Pray."<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Ole Time 'Ligion."</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Cross De Riber Jordan."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"I'se neber voted, en hab neber had any frens in +office. Neber knowed nothin' 'bout de slave mart er de +'structshun days."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +MILLIE SIMPKINS<br /> +"BLACK MAMIE"<br /> +1004 10th Avenue, No.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>I claims I's 109 ye'ars ole en wuz bawn neah Winchester, +Tennessee. Mah marster wuz Boyd Sims en mah missis wuz Sarah +Ann Ewing Sims. Mah mammy wus named Judy Ewing en mah daddy +wuz Moses Stephens en he wus "free bawn." He wuz de marster's +stable boy en followed de races. He run 'way en nebber kum +back.</p> + +<p>Mah fust missis wuz very rich. She had two slave 'omen ter +dress her eve'y mawnin' en I brought her breakfust ter her on a +silvah waitah. She wuz ma'ied three times, her second husband +wuz Joe Carter en de third wuz Judge Gork.</p> + +<p>Mah fust missis sold me kaze I wuz stubborn. She sent me ter +de "slave yard" at Nashville. De yard wuz full ob slaves. I stayed +dere two weeks 'fore marster Simpson bought me. I wuz sold 'way fum +mah husband en I nebber se'd 'im 'gin. I had one chile which I +tuk wid me.</p> + +<p>De slave yard wuz on Cedar Street. A Mr. Chandler would bid +de slaves off, but 'fore dey started biddin' you had ter tek all ob +yo Clothes off en roll down de hill so dey could see dat you didn't +hab no bones broken, er sores on yer. (I wouldin' tek mine off). Ef +nobody bid on you, you wuz tuk ter de slave mart en sold. I wuz sold +dere. A bunch ob dem wuz sent ter Mississippi en dey had dere ankles +fas'end tergedder en dey had ter walk w'iles de tradahs rid.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +W'en I wuz sold ter marster Simpkins, mah second mistress +made me a house slave en I wuked only at de big house en mah wuk +wus ter nuss en dress de chilluns en he'ps mah missis in her dressin'.</p> + +<p>De young slaves wuz hired out ter nuss de white chilluns. I wuz +hired as nuss girl at seven y'ars ole en started cookin' at ten. +I nebber had a chance ter go ter schul.</p> + +<p>I'm de mammy ob 14 chilluns, seven boys en seven gals. I wuz +next ter de olest ob four chillun. Mah missis useter hire me out +ter hotels en taverns.</p> + +<p>Sum marsters fed dare slaves meat en sum wouldin' let dem hab +a bite. One marster we useter 'yer 'bout would grease his slaves +mouth on Sunday mawnin', en tell dem ef any body axed ef dey had +meat ter say "yes, lots ob hit".</p> + +<p>W'en dey got ready ter whup dem dey'd put dem down on a pit +widout any clothes, stand back wid a bull whup en cut de blood out. +I member de niggers would run 'way en hide out.</p> + +<p>De only fun de young folks had wuz w'en de ole folks had +a quiltin'. W'ile de ole folks wuz wukin' on de quilt de young +ones would git in 'nuther room, dance en hab a good time. Dey'd +hab a pot turned down at de do'er ter keep de white folks fum +'yearin' dem. De white folks didn't want us ter l'arn nothin' en ef +a slave picked up a lettle piece ob papah, dey would yell "put dat down +you—you wan't ter git in our business."</p> + +<p>De white folks wouldin' let de slaves pray, ef dey got ter pray +hit wuz w'iles walkin' 'hind de plow. White folks would whup de +slaves ef dey 'yeard dem sing er pray.</p> + +<p>I wuz a big girl w'en dey build de Capitol. I played on de +hill 'fore hit wuz built en I toted blocks fum dere w'en hit wuz<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +bein' built. I wuz livin' in Dickson County w'en Fort Donelson +wuz tuk. I seed de fust gun boat dat kum up de Cumberland River. +I wuz standin' in de Do'er w'en I se'd hit kumin', but hit didn't +tek me long ter git back in de back ob de house. I wuz skeered +dey would shoot.</p> + +<p>Mah marster run a fer'y en atter de gun boat kum up de riber, +he got skeered en gib mah ole man de fer'y, en w'en de soldiers +kum ter tek Fort Negley he set dem 'cross de river.</p> + +<p>A man at Ashland City dat made whisk'y would hab Mr. Simpkins +bring a load ob logs up ter Ashland City en den bring a load ob +whiskey down en hide hit so de Yankees would'nt git hit.</p> + +<p>Mah marster had a fish trap at de mouth ob Harper en w'en de +gun boat passed dey shot thro' de trap.</p> + +<p>I wuz right 'yer w'en de Civil wah wuz gwin on, en de soldiers +wuz dressed up en beatin' de drums.</p> + +<p>No honey we didn't git nothin' w'en we wuz freed. Jes druv +'way widout nothin' ter do wid. We got in a waggin en druv ter +nuther man's plantashun. Mah ole man made a crap dere. Sum ob de +slaves might hab got sump'in but I dunno nobody dat did. I wuz +skeered ter op'n mah do'er atter dark on 'count ob Ku Klux Klan, +dey wuz red hot.</p> + +<p>I member w'en de sta'rs fell. I wuz small but de ole folks run +out en looked at dem, kum back set down en cried, dey tho't hit +me'nt de worl' wuz kumin' ter an end.</p> + +<p>De peeple wuz skeered w'en dey se'd de comet wid de long tail. +Dey tho't hit wuz a sign ob wah.</p> + +<p>I'se cooked eve'y since I wuz freed. I stayed in Henry Galbles +kitchen five long y'ars, en since I'se had dese strokes hit's broke +me up 'till I kin do nothin'. I 'long ter de Methodist Church. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +think de young peeples ez turrible, en dis white en black mar'iags not +be 'lowed.</p> + +<p>De songs I member ez:</p> + +<p> +"Dark wuz de Night".<br /> +"Good Ole Daniel".<br /> +</p> + +<p>I'se nebber voted but I'se electioneered fer dem. Hab nebber +had any frens in office.</p> + +<p>I wuz 'yer w'en Henry Clay en James K. Polk wuz runnin'. +I wuz hired at de ole City Hotel ovuh on de river. I wuz din'in +room servant dere. Mah marster would hab me sing a song fer him +'bout de Democrats. "Hooray de kuntry ez risin'; rise up en +drown ole Clay en his pizen". I guess ole Clay wuz a right good +fellow but he played cards wid de niggers in de cellar.</p> + +<p>De only thing I member 'bout de 'structshun time wuz sum +ob de whites didn't wan' de niggers ter vote.</p> + +<p>I stays 'yer wid mah daughter. Dat ez de only support I hab +since I had deze strokes en bin unable ter do fer mahse'f.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +<span class="u">Ex-Slave Stories</span><br /> +<br /> +Subject: <span class="u">Joseph</span> <span class="u">Leonidas</span> <span class="u">Star</span>,<br /> +# 133 Quebec Place,<br /> +<span class="u">Knoxville</span>, <span class="u">Tennessee</span><br /> +</h3> + + +<p>If the poetic strain in the Dunbar Negroes of the south is an inheritance +and not "just a gift from On High," Knoxville, Tennessee's aged Negro +Poet,—born Joseph Leonidas Star,—but prominently known in the community as +"Lee" Star, Poet, Politician and Lodge Man,—thinks that Georgia's poetic genius +Paul Lawrence Dunbar, "maybe took his writin' spells" from him.</p> + +<p>"My grandfather and Paul Lawrence Dunbar's grandfather was cousins. +He were a much younger man than I am, for I was eighty-one years old the +twenty-sixth of December, 1937. So I reckon I give it down to my kin-man. But +it seem to me, that Poets is just born thataway. Po'try is nothin' but Truth +anyway, and it's Truth was sets us free. And that makes me a free-born citizen +bothways and every ways. I were born free. I were always happy-natured and I +expect to die thataway. One of my poems is named, 'Be Satisfied!' and I say in +it that if a man's got somethin' to eat, and teeth to bite, he should be +satisfied. You cant take your goods with you. Old man Rockefeller, when he died +here awhile back, went away from here 'thout his hat and shoes. That's the way +its goin' to be with all us, no matter what our color is."</p> + +<p>"The people 'round here calls me "Lee" Star, and I want to tell you, +Lee Star is a free-born man. But of course, things bein' as they were, both +my mother and father were slaves. That is for a few years. They lived in +Greenville, Tennessee. My mother, Maria Guess, was free'd before the emancipation, +by the good words of her young white mistress, who told 'me [TR: 'em] all when she was +about to die, she wanted 'em to set Maria free, 'cause she didn't want her +little playmate to be nobodys else's slave. They was playmates you see. My mother +was eleven years old when she was freed."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +"When she was about fourteen and my father Henry Dunbar wanted to +marry he had to first buy his freedom. In them times a slave couldn't marry a +free'd person. So he bought his freedom from his Marster Lloyd Bullen, and a +good friend of Andrew Johnson, the presi-dent. My father an' him was friends +too. So he bought his freedom, for just a little of somethin' I disremember +what, 'cause they didn't aim to make him buy his freedom high. He made good +money though. He was a carpenter, blacksmith, shoe maker and knowed a lot more +trades. His Master was broadhearted, and good to his slaves, and he let 'em work +at anything they want to, when they was done their part of white folks chore-work."</p> + +<p>"Both my father and mother was learned in the shoe makin' trade. When +they come to Knoxville to live, and where I was born, they had a great big +shoe shop out there close to where Governor Brownlow lived. Knoxville just had +three streets, two runnin' east and west and one run north and south. I well +remember when General Burnside come to Knoxville. That was endurin' the siege of +Knoxville. Before he marched his men out to the Battle of Fort Saunders, he +stopped his solider [TR: soldier] band in front of our shoe shop and serenaded my mother +and father. I was a little boy and I climed up on the porch bannisters and +sat there and lissen' to that music."</p> + +<p>"I remember another big man come here once when I was a boy and I +served the transient trade at a little eatin' place right where the Atkin Ho-tel +is now. Jeff Davis come there to eat, when he stopped over between trains. That +was in 1869. No, I disremember what he eat or how he behave. He didnt seem no +different from any other man. He was nince lookin' wore a long tail coat and +his boots was plenty blacked. He favored pictures of Abraham Lincoln. Was about +middle-height and had short, dark chin-whiskers. I were very busy at the time, an' +if they was any excitement I didnt know it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>"Yes, I've seen many a slave in my day. One of my boy playmates was a +slave child. His name is Sam Rogan and he lives now at the County Poor Farm. +I make it a point not to dwell too much on slave times. I was learned different. +I've had considerable schoolin', went to my first school in the old First +Presbyterian church. My teachers was white folks from the North. They give us +our education and give us clothes and things sent down here from the North. +That was just after the surrender. I did see a terrible sight once. A slave +with chains on him as long as from here to the street. He was in an ole' buggy, +settin' between two white men and they was passin' througn Knoxville. My mother +and father wouldnt lissen' to me tell 'em about it when I got home. And I hope +I forget everything I ever knowed or heard about salves [TR: slaves], and slave times."</p> + +<p>Joseph Leonidas Star, no longer works at the shoemakers trade. He +writes poetry and lives leisurely in a three room frame shanty, in a +row of shabbier ones that face each other disconsolately on a typical Negro +alleyway, that has no shade trees and no paving. "Lee's" house is the only +one that does not wabble uneasily, flush with the muddy alley. His stands +on a small brick foundation, a few feet behind a privet hedge in front, +with a brick wall along the side in which he has cemented a few huge conch +shells.</p> + +<p>After fifty-four years residence here, a political boss in his ward, +and the only Negro member of the Young White Men's Republican League, Star's +influence in his community is attested by the fact that when he "destructed", +the Knoxville City Council to "please do somethin' about it, Knoxville being +too big a city to keep callin' street's alleys," the City Council promptly and +unanimously voted to change the name of King's Alley to Quebec +Place.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +When the interviewer called, Star's door was padlocked. But he appeared +soon, having received word by the grape-vine system that some one "was to +see him",—"They told me it was the Sherriff" he laughed. He came down the +long muddy alley at a lively clip. He claimes he is able to walk about 20 miles +each day, just to keep in condition. He wore a broad-brimmed black "derby-hat", +a neatly pressed serge suit in two tones, a soiled white pleated shirt and a +frazzled-edged black bow tie. His coat lapels and vest-front were adorned with +badges and emblems, including his Masonic pins, a Friendship Medal, his Republican +button and a silver crucifix. The Catholic church, according to Lee, is +the only one in Knoxville which permits the black man to worship under the same +roof with his white brothers.</p> + +<p>Many of Star's poems have been published in the local and state papers. +He keeps a record of deaths of all citizens, and has done so for sixty years. +He calls the one, which records murders and hanging, his "Doomsday Book", +and "encoached" in it he claims is an accurate date record of all such events of +importance in his lifetime. His records are neatly inscribed in a printing +form and very legible. His conversation is marked by grammatical incongruities, +but he does not speak the Negro dialect.</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +DAN THOMAS<br /> +941 Jefferson Street<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I wuz bawn in slavery in 1847 at Memphis, Tennessee en +mah marster wuz Deacon Allays. Mah mammy wuz de cook at de +big house. Mah mammy d'ed soon atter I wuz bawn, en de +Missis had me raised on a bottle. Marster en Missis treatus +all dere slaves kindly en plenty ter eat en eve'y one wuz happy. +I dunno nuthin 'bout mah daddy er whar he went. I hab no kin +in dis worl'. All I eber yeard wuz dat all mah folks kum fum +Africa. Mah Missis would tell me dat I mus' be good en mine en +eberbody will lak' you en ef she d'ed, dey would tek keer ob me. +Dat ez w'at dey hab don."</p> + +<p>"I wuked 'round de house 'tel I wuz 'bout ten y'ars ole en +de Marster put me ter wuk in his big whiskey house. W'en I got +'bout 21 y'ars ole, I would go out ter collect bills fum +Marster's customers en hit tuk me 'bout a week ter git all 'round. +I wuzn't 'lowed ter tek money but had ter git dere checks. I also +wuked 18 y'ars as bar tender. Marster en Mistress d'ed 'bout four +y'ars 'fore whiskey went out ob de United States. I stay wid dem +'til dey d'ed."</p> + +<p>"Atter de Marster en Missis d'ed de doctor sezs I would hab +ter leave Memphis on 'count ob my health. I kum ter Nashville en +got a job at de "Powder Plant" durin' de Worl' War, en stayed +dere 'til hit wuz ovuh. I den gets wuk at Foster en Creighton +in Nashville 'till dey tole me dat I wuz too ole ter wuk. I +makes mah livin' now by haulin' slop en pickin' up things dat de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +white folks throw in dere trash pile en sum ob hit I sell ter +de papah en junk dealers. De white peeple he'p me now also."</p> + +<p>"I se'd dem sell a lot ob slaves in Mississippi, jes' lak +hosses en hogs, one time w'en de Marster en Mistress made a +trip down dere. Lots ob times dey made trips 'round de kuntry +en dey allus tuk me 'long. I se'd sum cru'l Marsters dat hitched +up dere slaves ter plows en made dem plow lak hosses en mules did."</p> + +<p>"Atter de slaves got dere freedum, dey had ter look atter +demselves, so dey would wuk on plantations till dey got so dey +could rent a place, lak you rent houses en farms terday. Sum +got places whar dey wuk'd fer wages."</p> + +<p>"I voted three times in mah life but lawdy dat wuz a long +time ago. I voted fer Teddy Roosevelt en Woodrow Wilson, en +mah last vote wuz 'bout two y'ars pas'."</p> + +<p>"Hab no tales handed down by mah peeple. W'en I would +try ter git info'mation, atter I got o'ler, all dey would say +wuz, "You wuz raised on a bottle en hab no peeple ob you own."</p> + +<p>"Oh mah goodness! Hit jes par'lises me ter see how dem +young peeple ez doin' terday. Lawdy hab mercy but dere ez as +much diff'ent fum ole times as day en nite en hit looks lak +things hab gone astray. Wuz tole lots 'bout de Ku Klux Klan +en how dey would catch en whup de cul'ed peeple, but mah white +folks made me stay in en dey neber got me."</p> + +<p>"I member seein' Andrew Jackson, General Grant en Abraham +Lincoln, member seein' General Andrew Jackson git'in ready +fer war by marchin' his soldiers erroun'. I se'd 'im ride his +big white hoss up en down ter see how dey marched."</p> + +<p>"One song I lack'd best ob all wuz, 'Mah ole Mammy ez De'd +en Gon',' 'Let me Sit B'neath de Willow Tree.' Don't member +uther songs now."</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +Sylvia Watkins<br /> +411 14th Avenue N.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee.<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>I'se said ter be 91 y'ars ole. I wuz young w'en de War wuz goin' +on. I wuz bawn in Bedford County. Mah mammy wuz named Mariah. She +had six chillun by mah daddy en three by her fust husband.</p> + +<p>Mah missis wuz named Emily Hatchet en de young missises wuz Mittie +en Bettie, dey wuz twins. We had good clothes ter w'ar en w'en we went +ter de table hit wuz loaded wid good food en we could set down en eat +our stomachs full. Oh Lawd I wish dem days wuz now so I'd hab sum good +food. Ob course, we had ter wuk in de fiel's en mek w'at we et.</p> + +<p>Wen we'd finish our day's wuk our missis would let us go out en +play hide en seek, Puss in de corner, en diff'ent games.</p> + +<p>Mah mammy wuz sold in Virginia w'en she wuz a gurl. She sezs +'bou 60 ob em wuz put in de road en druv down 'yer by a slave trader, +lak a bunch ob cattle. Mah mammy en two ob mah sistahs wuz put on a +block, sold en carried ter Alabama. We neber 'yeard fum dem nomo', +en dunno whar dey ez.</p> + +<p>I wuz willed ter mah young missis w'en she ma'ried. I wuz young +en, ob course, she whuped me, but she wasn't mean ter me. I needed +eve'y whupin' she eber gib me, cause I wuz allus fightin'. Mah missis +allus called me her lettle nig.</p> + +<p>Mah daddy could only see mah mammy Wednesday en Saturday nites, +en ef'n he kum wid'out a pass de pat-rollers would whup 'im er run +'im 'til his tongue hung out. On dem nites we would sit up en look +fer daddy en lots ob times he wuz out ob bref cose he had run so much.</p> + +<p>Mah white folks had a loom en we wove our own clothes. I wuz nuss +en house girl en l'arned how ter sew en nit. Mah young missis wuz<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +blind 'fore she died. I useter visit her once a Ye'r en she'd load +me down wid things ter tek home, a linsey petticoat, ham bones, cracklins +en diff'ent things. She died 18 years ago almos' a 100 ye'r ole.</p> + +<p>De white folks wouldn't let de slaves hab a book er papah fer fear +dey'd l'arn sumpin', en ef dey wan'ed ter pray dey'd tu'n a kettle down +at dere cabin do'er. I member yearin' mah mammy pray "Oh Father op'n +up de do'ers en sho us lite." I'd look up ter de ceiling ter see ef +he wuz gonna op'n up sumpin'; silly, silly me, thinkin' such. I's +'longs ter de Missionary Baptist chuch but I don't git ter go very off'n.</p> + +<p>I wuz tole 'fore freedum dat de slaves would git a mule, land en +a new suit, but our missis didn't gib us a thing. She promis' me, mah +br'rer, en three sistahs ef'n we would stay wid her a ye'r, en he'p +her mek a crop she would gib us sump'in ter start us a crop on w'en +we lef' her.</p> + +<p>Mah daddy's marster wus named Bob Rankin, he gib mah daddy a hog, +sum chickens, let him hab a cow ter milk en land ter raise a crop on. +He wan'ed mah daddy ter git us tergedder ter he'p daddy raise a crop +but since mah missis had promised us so much, daddy let us stay wid +her a ye'r. On de nite mah daddy kum fer us, mah missis sezs I've not +got nuthin ter gib you, fer I won't hab nobody ter do nuthin fer me. +We went wid our daddy. We lived dere on Marster Rankin's farm fer +ye'rs in fact so long we tho't de place 'longed ter mah daddy. We +had a house wid big cracks in hit, had a big fier place, a big pot dat +hong on de fier en a skillet dat we cooked corn bread in. Had a hill +ob taters under de house, would raise up a plank, rake down in de dirt +git taters, put dem in de fier ter roast. We had meat ter eat in de +middle ob de day but none at mawnin' er nite. We got one pair ob shoes +a ye'r, dey had brass on de toes. I uster git out en shine de toes +ob mine, we called hit gol' on our shoes. We wuked in de fiel' wid +mah daddy, en I know how ter do eberting dere ez ter do in a fiel' +'cept plow, I wuz allus ter slender ter hold a plow. We had grease<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +lamps. A thing lak a goose neck wid platted rag wick in hit. Would +put grease in hit.</p> + +<p>Durin' slavery ef one marster had a big boy en 'nuther had a big +gal da marsters made dem libe tergedder. Ef'n de 'oman didn't hab any +chilluns, she wuz put on de block en sold en 'nuther 'oman bought. You +see dey raised de chilluns ter mek money on jes lak we raise pigs ter +sell.</p> + +<p>Mah mammy tole me 'bout de sta'rs fallin' en den I se'ed de second +fallin' ob sta'rs. Dey didn't hit de groun' lak de fust did. I member +de comet hit had a long tail. I lef' mah daddy en kum ter Nashville +wid missis Nellie Rankin, (daddy's young missus) in 1882; hab bin 'yer +eber since. I'se dun house wuk fer a lot ob peeples. Kep house fer +a 'oman in Belle Meade fer 14 ye'rs. Now I'se aint able ter do nothin. +I'se bin ma'ried twice. Ma'ried Jimm Ferguson, libed wid 'im 20 ye'ars +he d'ed. Two ye'ars later I mar'ed George Watkins, lived wid him 8 +ye'ars; two ye'ars ago he died. I'se neber had any chilluns. I kep +wan'in ter 'dopt a lettle gal, de fust husban' wouldn't do hit. 'Bout +5-1/2 ye'ars ago de second husban' George kum in wid a tiny baby, sezs +'yer ez a boy baby I 'dopted. I sezs dat ez you own baby cose hits +jes like yer. He denied hit, but eben now de boy ez e'zackly lak George. +He's six ye'rs ole en gwine ter school. I'se got mah hands full tryin' +ter raise 'im 'lone. W'en George died he had a small inshorance policy. +I paid mah taxes, I owns dis home, en bought mahself three hogs. I +sold two en kilt one. Den I got three mor' jes' a short time ago. +Sum kind ob zeeze got among dem en dey all d'ed.</p> + +<p>Yas I'se voted four er five times, but neber had any frens in +office. I don' think dis white-black mar'iage should be 'lowed. Dey +should be whupped wid a bull whup.</p> + +<p>As far as I know de ex-slaves hab wuked at diff'ent kins ob jobs +en now sum I know ez in de po-house, sum git' in relief order en urthers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +ez lak mahself, hab dere homes en gettin' 'long bes' dey kin. I needs +milk en cod liver oil fer dis lettle boy but can't buy it.</p> + +<p>I dunno nothin' 'bout slave uprisin's. De songs I member ez:</p> + +<p> +"All Gawds Chilluns up Yonder."<br /> +"I want ter Shout Salvation."<br /> +"Down by de River Side."<br /> +</p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h3> +INTERVIEW<br /> +NARCISSUS YOUNG<br /> +Rear 532 1st Street No.<br /> +Nashville, Tennessee<br /> +</h3> + + +<p>"I'se 96 y'ars ole. Bawn in slavery en mah marster +wuz Isham Lamb en mah missis wuz Martha Lamb. Mah mammy +d'ed w'en I wuz three y'ars ole en I wuz raised in de +house 'til I wuz big 'nuff ter wuk out in de fiels wid de +uthers. Mah missis l'arn me ter sew, weav en spin. I also +he'lped ter cook en wuk in de house. Atter I got big'er I +went ter chuch wid mah white folks en had ter set wid urther +slaves in dat part ob de chuch whar nobody but slaves would +be 'lowed. In slavery I'se git no money fer wuk'n but I don' +steal as mah white folks sho gib me en de uther slaves plenty +good things ter eat. Clothes good 'nuff fer anybody, candy, en +we went ter parties en urther places, en w'at else could I'se +wan'?"</p> + +<p>"Mah missis l'arned me ter pray, "Now I lay me down ter +sleep. I pray de Lawd mah soul ter keep, but if I should +die 'fore I wake, I pray de Lawd mah soul ter tek." I jined +de Primitive Baptist Chuch w'ile young en b'en dere ebe'y since."</p> + +<p>"I member de ole song back dere, "Rock a Bye Baby, Yo Daddy's +gon' a Huntin' ter git a Rabbit Skin ter put de Baby in."</p> + +<p>"I wuz whup'd by mah missis fer things dat I ought'n dun, +but dat wuz rite. De hahdest whup'in she eber gib me wuz 'bout +two hen aigs. I had gathured de aigs in a bucket en tuk dem ter +de house en I se'd de big fier in de fier-place so I tuk out two +ob de aigs en put dem in de hot ashes ter bake. Mah missis se'd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +de aigs en axed who put dem dere. I tole her I didunt do hit, +but she knowed I did. So she tole me she don' keer 'bout de +two aigs, but dat she wuz gwine ter whup me fer tellin' a lie. +Dey don't raise chilluns lak dat now."</p> + +<p>"I don't b'leeve in Niggers en whites ma'rin' en I wuz +raised by de "quality" en I'se b'leeves eber one should ma'rie +in dere culor."</p> + +<p>"I think de young peeples ob ter day ez dogs en sluts, en +yer kin guess de rest."</p> + +<p>"One day 'bout 12 o'clock we se'd de Yankee soldiers pas' +our house. De missus hid her fine things, but dey don' kum on +de place. All us Niggers run ter de cellar en hid. We found +de sugah barrels en we scracht 'round fer sum sugah ter eat."</p> + +<p>"One time de Ku Klux Klan kum ter our house but dey harm +nobody. Guess day wuz lookin' fer sum slave er sum one fum +'nother plantation widout dere marster's pass."</p> + +<p>"I se'd a lot ob sta'rs fall one time but dey neber teched +de groun'. En I members seein' a comet wid a long bright shinin' +tail."</p> + +<p>"Atter freedom all de slaves lef' de plantation but I +stayed dere a long time. I kum ter Nashville ovah thurty +y'ars ago en I'se wuk'd as cook en house wuk'r twenty y'ars fer +one party; eleben y'ars fer 'nother, en menny y'ars fer 'nother. +I knows you won't b'leeve me but at one time I weigh ovuh 400 +pounds, but now I'm nothin' but skin en bon'. (She weighs at +least 200 pounds now). I bekum feeble en couldn't wuk out, +en eber since den I'se bin kum' up a mountain, but now I git he'ps +by de Social Security."</p> + + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<h4>Transcriber's Notes</h4> + +<p>Corrected the typos per handwritten instructions. The inconsistencies +in spelling and punctuation have been left as in the original text, +except for adding the missing opening and closing quotation marks for +consistency in certain interviews.</p> + +<p>One word at the bottom of page 25 was illegible, but upon careful +examination at high magnification, and considering that the other +interviewers asked whether families were divided, my best guess is +the word may be men: Nebber knowed ob any plantashuns men be divided.</p> + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of +Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 19932-h.htm or 19932-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/3/19932/ + +Produced by Diane Monico and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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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 + Tennessee Narratives + +Author: Work Projects Administration + +Release Date: November 27, 2006 [EBook #19932] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + + + + +Produced by Diane Monico 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.) + + + + + + + + + +[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note</p> +[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note</p> + + + + +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 + + + + +VOLUME XV + +TENNESSEE NARRATIVES + +Prepared by +the Federal Writers' Project of +the Works Progress Administration +for the State of Tennessee + + + + +INFORMANTS + + +Batson, Frances 1 + +Casey, Julia 3 +Chappel, Cecelia 5 +Childress, Wiley 9 + +Falls, Robert 11 + +Gaines, Rachel 17 +Goole, Frankie 19 +Gray, Precilla 24 +Greer, Jenny 27 +Grisham, Emma 28 + +Hudson, Measy 31 +Hyde, Patsy 33 + +Kannon, Ellis Ken 37 + +Martin, Scott 40 +Matthews, Ann 43 +Moore, Rev. John 47 +Moss, Andrew 49 +Moss, Mollie 55 + +Odell, Andy 60 + +Parker, Laura Ramsey 62 + +Reece, Naisy 64 + +Simpkins, Millie 66 +Star, Joseph Leonidas 70 + +Thomas, Dan 74 + +Watkins, Sylvia 76 + +Young, Narcissus 80 + + + + +INTERVIEW +FRANCES BATSON +1213 Scovel St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I dunno jes how ole I ez. I wuz baw'n 'yer in Nashville, durin' +slabery. I must be way pas' 90 fer I member de Yankee soldiers well. +De chilluns called dem de 'blue mans.' Mah white folks wuz named +Crockett. Dr. Crockett wuz our marster but I don't member 'im mahse'f. +He d'ed w'en I wuz small. Mah marster wuz mean ter mah mammy w'en her +oler chilluns would run 'way. Mah oler br'er went ter war wid mah +marster. Mah younger br'er run 'way, dey caught 'im, tuk 'im home en +whup'd 'im. He run 'way en wuz nebber found." + +"We wuzn't sold but mah mammy went 'way, en lef' me en I got up one +mawnin' went ter mah mammy's room, she wuz gon'. I cried en cried fer +her. Mah Missis wouldn't let me outa' de house, fer fear I'd try ter +find her. Atter freedum mah br'er en a Yankee soldier kum in a waggin +en git us. Mah white folks sed, I don' see why you ez takin' dez +chilluns. Mah brudder said, 'We ez free now.' I member one whup'in mah +missis gib me. Me en her daughter slipped 'way ter de river ter fish. +We kotch a fish en mah missis had hit cooked fer us but whup'd us fer +goin' ter de river." + +"Whar de Buena Vista schul ez hit useter be a Yankee soldiers Barrick. +Eber mawnin' dey hadder music. We chilluns would go on de hill, (whar +the bag mill ez now) en listen ter dem. I member a black hoss de +soldiers had, dat ef you called 'im Jeff Davis he would run you." + +"I member de ole well on Cedar Street, neah de Capitol, en six mules +fell in hit. Dat wuz back w'en blackberries wuz growin' on de Capitol +Hill. En Morgan Park wuz called de pleasure gyarden. En hit wuz full +ob Yankee soldiers. Atter de war dere wuz so many German peeple ober +'yer, dat fum Jefferson Street, ter Clay Street, wuz called Dutch +town." + +"I wuzn't bawn w'en de sta'rs fell. We didn't git nothin' w'en we wuz +freed. Dunno much 'bout de Klu Klux Klan." + +"Mah mammy useter tell me how de white folks would hire de slaves out +ter mek money fer de marster en she tole me sum ob de marsters would +hide dere slaves ter keep de Yankees fum gittin' dem." + +"I don' b'leeve in white en black ma'iages. Mah sistah ma'ied a lite +man. I wouldin' marry one ef hit would turn me ter gold. Dunno nothin' +'bout votin', allus tho't dat wuz fer de men." + +"I can't think ob any tales er nuthin 'bout ghos'. 'Cept one 'bout a +marster tyin' a nigger ter a fence en wuz beatin' 'im. A Yankee kum +'long made 'im untie de nigger en den de nigger beat de white man." + +"Dis young peeples ez tough. I think half ob dem'll be hung, de way +dey throw rocks at ole peoples. Dat's why I's crippled now, a white +boy hit me wid a rock. I b'long ter de Methodist Chuch." + +"Since freedum I'se hired out, washed en cooked fer diff'ent peeple. +De only song I member: 'Hark Fum de Ground dis Mournful Sound.'" + + + + +INTERVIEW +JULIA CASEY +811 9th Avenue, So. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +I wuz bawn in West Tennessee en wuz six y'ars ole w'en war broke out. + +Mah Missis wuz Miss Jennie McCullough en she ma'ried Eldridge Casey. +Mah Missis's mammy wuz a widder en she gib me, mah mammy, man sistah +Violet, mah two br'ers Andrew en Alfred ter Miss Jennie fer a wed'un +gif'. Missis Jennie en Marster Eldridge brung us ter Nashville 'fore +de war sta'ted. + +Mah Missis wuz good ter us. I'se bin w'll tuk keer ob, plenty ter eat +en warm clothes ter w'ar. Right now I'se got on long underw'ar en mah +chemise. + +Mah mammy d'ed fust y'ar ob freedum. Dey tuk her 'way in a two-hoss +waggin, 'bout four o'clock one evenin'. Dere wuz no hurses er caskets +den. W'en mah mammy d'ed, I still stayed wid Missis Jennie. She raised +me. Dat's why folks say I'se so peculiar. De Yankee soldiers tuk mah +sistah en two br'ers 'way durin' de war. I ez de mammy ob seven +chilluns. All d'ed now but one. + +Mah white folks didn't send me ter schul but I'se l'arned a few things +ob how ter act. Don't ax me 'bout der young people. Dey ez pas' me. No +manners 'tall. + +In slavery days you didn't hab ter worry 'bout yo clothes en rations +but dese days you hab ter worry 'bout eve'ything. + +I 'longs ter de Baptist Chuch. Useter go ter camp-meetin's en hab a +big time wid good things ter eat. Didn't go ter de baptizin' much. +Dey would leave de chuch singin' en shoutin'. Dere ez three days in +September dat we hab dinnah on de groun' en all Baptist git tergedder. +We calls hit de 'sociation. + +I'se neber voted cose dat ez de man's job. Mah frens hab nebber had +political jobs. Don't b'leeve in ma'rige ob white en black en hit +shouldn't be 'lowed. + +Since freedom mah main job wuz cookin' but I'se done washin' en +ironin'. Atter mah health started failing, I done a lot ob nusin'. + +I'se aint abul ter wuk fur de las' five y'ars en de white folks hab +he'ped me. De relief gibes me groc'eys, coal en pays mah rent. I hope +ter git de ole age pension soon. Mah ole favo'ite song ez "Mazing +Grace, How Sweet hit Sounds." + + + + +INTERVIEW +CECELIA CHAPPEL +705 Allison Street +Nashville, Tenn. + + +"I'se bawn in Marshall County, Tennessee. I'm de olest ob ten chilluns +en I'se 102 ya'rs ole. I feels lak I'se bin 'yer longer dan dat. Mah +mammy wuz brought ter Nashville en sold ter sum peeple dat tuck her +ter Mississippi ter live." + +"Mah Marster en Missus wuz named Bob en Nancy Lord. Eve'y slave had +ter say Missus en Marster en also ter de white babies. I still says +hit, en ef I kum ter yo do'r, I nebber kums in 'till you ax me. Lots +ob mah folks seze ter me dat I ez too ole fash'on en I seze I don' +keer I wuz raised wid manners en too ole ter change." + +"Our Marster gib us good food en clothes. I wuz l'arnt how ter nit, +weav, sew en spin. On rainy days we wuz gib a certain 'mount ob +weavin' ter do en had ter git hit don'. I dunno how ter read er rite. +De white folks didn' 'low us ter l'arn nuthin'. I declar' you bettuh +not git kotch wid a papah in you han'. Ef I had half a chance lak you +chilluns hab, I'd go ter bed wid mah books." + +"Our Marster 'lowed us ter go ter chuch. I went bar'foot en had a rag +tied 'roun mah haid en mah dress kum up ter mah 'nees. Dat +preacher-man would git up dere en tell us "Now you min' yo Marster en +Missis en don' steal fum dem." I stayed wid mah Missis fer a long time +atter I got freedum en I cried lak a fool w'en I had ter leave dem. +Mah Missis seze "You ez jes as free as I ez," but I allus had good +clothes en good food en I didn' know how I'd git dem atter I lef' +her." + +"Mah white folks wuz tight on us but, as ole as I ez, I offun think +dat day nebber hit a lick dat I didn' need. Ef'n dey hadn' raised me +right, I might hab got in meaness en bin locked up half de time, but I +ain't nebber bin 'rested, en I'se 'ferd ob de policemans. De fiel' +slaves wuz whup'd in de fiel's by de oberseer en de Marster en Missis +did hit at de house." + +"I tell you we had a hahd time. Mah Missis woulden' let dem sell me. I +wuz a nuss en house gal. I wuz whup'd wid a bull whup, en got cuts on +mah back menny a time. I'se not shamed ter say I got skyars on mah +back now fum Marster cuttin' hit wid dat bull whup. Mah Missis also +whup'd me. W'en de Missis got ready ter whup me, she would gib us sum +wuk ter do, so she would kind ob git ober her mad spell 'fore she +whup'd us. Sum times she would lock us up in a dark closet en bring +our food ter us. I hated bein' locked up. Atter dey tuk me out ob de +house, I wuked in de fiel' lak de urthurs. Long 'fore day break, we +wuz standin' in de fiel's leanin' on our hoes waitin' fer daylite en +waitin' fer de horn ter blow so we would start ter wuk. Ef'n we +wan'ed ter go ter any place we had ter hab a pass wid our Marster's +name on hit en ef you didn' hab hit, you got tore ter pieces en den +you Marster tore you up w'en you got home." + +"One story mah daddy useter tell us wuz 'bout a slave named Pommpy. He +wuz allus prayin' fer de good Lawd ter tek 'im 'way. One nite he wuz +down on his 'nees prayin', "Good Lawd, kum en tek po Pommpy out ob his +misery." De Marster ob Pommpy 'year'd 'm en de Marster made a leetle +noise en Pommpy seze, "Who ez dat?" En his Marster seze, "Hits de Lawd +kum ter tek po Pommpy out ob his misery." Pommpy crawl under de bed en +seze, "Pommpy has bin gon' two er three days." + +"'Nurther story: A partridge en a fox 'greed ter kil' a beef. Dey kilt +en skinned hit. B'fo dey divide hit de fox said, "Mah wife seze sen' +her sum beef fer soup," so he tuck a piece ob hit en carried hit down +de hill, den kum back en said mah wife wants mo' beef fer soup. He kep +dis up 'til all de beef wuz gon' 'cept de libber. De fox kum back en +de partridge seze now lets cook dis libber en both ob us eat hit. De +partridge cooked de libber, et hits part rite quick, en den fell ovuh +lak hit wuz sick; de fox got skeered en said dat beef ez pizen en he +ran down de hill en started bringin' de beef back en w'en he brought +hit all back, he lef' en de partridge had all de beef." + +"Don't member much now 'bout de Klu Klux Klan en nothin' 'bout slave +'risings at any place. I don' member 'bout de sta'rs fallin', but I +did see de comet, en hit looked lak a sta'r wid a long tail; atter +freedum, I nebber year'd ob no slave gettin' land er money en I dunno +nothin' 'bout de slave mart 'yer fer I didn' git ter kum ter town." + +"Since freed, I hab nussed, cooked en don' diff'unt things. I wuk'ed +fer one family fifteen y'ars en didn' miss a day. I has stayed at dis +place fer de las' five y'ars. I had a stroke en wuz in de hospit'l a +long time. I cain' git out; en 'roun' 'yer in de house, I has ter walk +wid a stick." + +"I ain' nebber voted. One day sum men kum 'yer ter tek me ter vote. I +tole dem w'en I got ready ter be a man, I would put on overalls." + +"I'se a member ob de Missionary Baptist Chuch. I ain' bin fer a long +time kaze I ain' able ter go. De ole song I members ez "Dixie Land," +en "Run Nigger Run, de Pat-a rollers Will Git You." + +"Oh Lawdy! I think sum ob is young peeple ain' no count w'ile sum ob +dem ez alright. I think each color should ma'rie his own color. Hit +makes me mad ter think 'bout hit. Ef de good Lawd had wanted dat, he +would hab had us all one color." + +"Fer a long time de relief gib me a quart ob milk a day, but now all I +has ez w'at mah sistah Harriett gibs me. She sin' got much wuk en sum +days we don' hab much ter eat. Ef mah Missis wuz livin' I wouldin' go +hongry." + + + + +INTERVIEW +WILEY CHILDRESS +808 Gay St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I'se 83 Y'ars ole en wuz bawn a slave. Mah mammy b'longed ter de +Bosley's en mah daddy b'longed ter de Scales." + +"W'en Miss Jane Boxley ma'ried Marster Jerry Scales, me en mah mammy, +br'er en sistah wuz gib ter Miss Jane." + +"Durin' de war mah Missis tuk mah mammy en us chilluns wid her ter de +mount'ins 'till de war wuz gon'. Did'nt see no soldiers. Don't member +now nuthin' 'bout dem Klu Klux men en don't member de ole songs er +'bout slaves votin'." + +"Dunno 'bout de young persons, white er black, dey ez all so wild +now." + +"W'en we all wuz freed we had nuthin en no place ter go, so dat mah +mammy lived wid our Missis five y'ars longer." + +"De only story dat I member mah people tole me 'bout wuz on Fedd, a +slave on de next plantation. He wuz a big man en wuz de strongest man +neah dat part ob de kuntry. He wouldin' 'low nobody ter whup 'in. De +Marster framed 'im by tellin' 'im ter bring his saddle hoss en w'en he +kum wid de hoss several men 'peahrd en tole Fedd dat dey wuz gonna +whup 'im. He struck one ob de mans so hahd dey had ter hab de doctuh. +De Marster said let 'im 'lone he's too strong ter be whup'd. I'll hab +ter shoot 'im. One time Fedd run 'way en de white men whar he stopped +know'd he wuz a good fighter en made a $250.00 bet dat nobody could +lick 'im. A nigger fum de iron wuks fought Fedd en Fedd won. De iron +wuks nigger wuz kilt right dere." + +"'fore Freedum de slaves wuz promused forty acres ob land w'en freed +but none eber got hit, en I 'year'd ob no one gittin' any money. I +dunno nuthin' ob de slave 'risin's, ghostus er dreams, but I member +mah folks talkin' 'bout fallin' sta'rs en a comet but I don' member +now w'at dey said." + +"I'se wuk'd at a lot ob diff'ent jobs since mah freedum. I wuk'd at de +Maxwell House 15 years as store room porter, en hit wuz de only +wo'th-while hotel in Nashville at dat time. I wuk'd fuh de City fuh +menny y'ars en den I wuk'd fuh Foster & Creighton 'till dey wore me +out. I off'n think ob deze diff'nt men dat I wuk'd fuh but dey ez all +de'd. De las' job I had wuz buildin' fiers en odd jobs fuh a lady up +de street. She would gib me food en coal. She ez de'd now." + +"I'se not able ter wuk now en all I has ez a small groc'ey order dat +de relief gibs me. Dey keep promisin' ter gib me de Old Age Pension en +I wish dey would hurry hit up." + + + + +_SUBJECT_ +_SLAVE STORIES_ + +ROBERT FALLS +608 South Broadway +Knoxville, Tennessee + +Interviewed by + +Della Yoe, Foreman +Federal Writers' Project, +First District, WPA +Room # 215 Old YMCA Building +State and Commerce Streets. +Knoxville, Tennessee + + +Robert Falls was born on December 14, 1840, in the rambling one-story +shack that accomodated the fifteen slaves of his Old Marster, +[HW: Harry] Beattie Goforth, on a farm in Claiborne County, North +Carolina. His tall frame is slightly stooped, but he is not subjected +to the customary infirmities of the aged, other than poor vision and +hearing. Fairly comfortable, he is spending his declining years in +contentment, for he is now the first consideration of his daughter, +Mrs. Lola Reed, with whom he lives at #608 S. Broadway, Knoxville, +Tennessee. His cushioned rocking chair is the honor seat of the +household. His apology for not offering it to visitors, is that he is +"not so fast on his feet as he used to be." + +Despite Uncle Robert's protest that his "mind comes and goes", his +memory is keen, and his sense of humor unimpaired. His reminiscences +of slave days are enriched by his ability to recreate scenes and +incidents in few words, and by his powers of mimicry. "If I had my +life to live over," he declares, "I would die fighting rather than be +a slave again. I want no man's yoke on my shoulders no more. But in +them days, us niggers didn't know no better. All we knowed was work, +and hard work. We was learned to say, 'Yes Sir!' and scrape down and +bow, and to do just exactly what we was told to do, make no difference +if we wanted to or not. Old Marster and Old Mistress would say, 'Do +this!' and we don' it. And they say, 'Come here!' and if we didn't +come to them, they come to us. And they brought the bunch of switches +with them." + +"They didn't half feed us either. They fed the animals better. They +gives the mules, ruffage and such, to chaw on all night. But they +didn't give us nothing to chaw on. Learned us to steal, that's what +they done. Why we would take anything we could lay our hands on, when +we was hungry. Then they'd whip us for lieing when we say we dont know +nothing about it. But it was easier to stand, when the stomach was +full." + +"Now my father, he was a fighter. He was mean as a bear. He was so bad +to fight and so troublesome he was sold four times to my knowing and +maybe a heap more times. That's how come my name is Falls, even if +some does call me Robert Goforth. Niggers would change to the name of +their new marster, every time they was sold. And my father had a lot +of names, but kep the one of his marster when he got a good home. That +man was Harry Falls. He said he'd been trying to buy father for a long +time, because he was the best waggoner in all that country abouts. And +the man what sold him to Falls, his name was Collins, he told my +father, "You so mean, I got to sell you. You all time complaining +about you dont like your white folks. Tell me now who you wants to +live with. Just pick your man and I will go see him." Then my father +tells Collins, I want you to sell me to Marster Harry Falls. They made +the trade. I disremember what the money was, but it was big. Good +workers sold for $1,000 and $2,000. After that the white folks didn't +have no more trouble with my father. But he'd still fight. That man +would fight a she-bear and lick her every time." + +"My mother was sold three times before I was born. The last time when +Old Goforth sold her, to the slave speculators,--you know every time +they needed money they would sell a slave,--and they was taking them, +driving them, just like a pack of mules, to the market from North +Carolina into South Carolina, she begun to have fits. You see they had +sold her away from her baby. And just like I tell you she begun having +fits. They got to the jail house where they was to stay that night, +and she took on so, Jim Slade and Press Worthy--them was the slave +speculators,--couldnt do nothing with her. Next morning one of them +took her back to Marse Goforth and told him, "Look here. We cant do +nothing with this woman. You got to take her and give us back our +money. And do it now,' they says. And they mean it too. So Old Marse +Goforth took my mother and give them back their money. After that none +of us was ever separated. We all lived, a brother and two sisters and +my mother, with the Goforths till freedom." + +"And do you know, she never did get over having fits. She had them +every change of the moon, or leastways every other moon change. But +she kept on working. She was a hard worker. She had to be. Old +Mistress see to that. She was meaner than old Marster, she was. She +would sit by the spinning wheel and count the turns the slave women +made. And they couldn't fool her none neither. My mother worked until +ten o'clock almost every night because her part was to 'spend so many +cuts' a day, and she couldnt get through no sooner. When I was a +little shaver, I used to sit on the floor with the other little +fellows while our mothers worked, and sometimes the white folks girls +would read us a Bible story. But most of the time we slept. Right +there on the floor. Then later, when I was bigger, I had to work with +the men at night shelling corn, to take to town early mornings." + +"Marster Goforth counted himself a good old Baptist Christian. The one +good deed he did, I will never forget, he made us all go to church +every Sunday. That was the onliest place off the farm we ever went. +Every time a slave went off the place, he had to have a pass, except +we didnt, for church. Everybody in thet country knowed that the +Goforth niggers didn't have to have no pass to go to church. But that +didn't make no difference to the Pattyroolers. They'd hide in the +bushes, or wait along side of the road, and when the niggers come from +meeting, the Pattyroolers's say, 'Whar's your pass'? Us Goforth +niggers used to start running soon as we was out of church. We never +got caught. That is why I tell you I cant use my legs like I used to. +If you was caught without no pass, the Pattyroolers give you five +licks. They was licks! You take a bunch of five to seven Pattyroolers +each giving five licks and the blood flows." + +"Old Marster was too old to go to the war. He had one son was a +soldier, but he never come home again. I never seen a soldier till the +war was over and they begin to come back to the farms. We half-grown +niggers had to work the farm, because all the famers had to give,--I +believe it was a tenth--of their crops to help feed the soldiers. So +we didnt know nothing about what was going on, no more than a hog. It +was a long time before we knowed we was free. Then one night Old +Marster come to our house and he say he wants to see us all before +breakfast tomorrow morning and to come on over to his house. He got +something to tell us." + +"Next morning we went over there. I was the monkey, always acting +smart. But I believe they liked me better than all of the others. I +just spoke sassy-like and say, "Old Marster, what you got to tell us"? +My mother said, "Shut your mouth fool. He'll whip you!" And Old +Marster say,--"No I wont whip you. Never no more. Sit down thar all of +you and listen to what I got to tell you. I hates to do it but I must. +You all aint my niggers no more. You is free. Just as free as I am. +Here I have raised you all to work for me, and now you are going to +leave me. I am an old man, and I cant get along without you. I dont +know what I am going to do." Well sir, it killed him. He was dead in +less than ten months." + +"Everybody left right now, but me and my brother and another fellow. +Old Marster fooled us to believe we was duty-bound to stay with him +till we was all twenty-one. But my brother, that boy was stubborn. +Soon he say he aint going to stay there. And he left. In about a year, +maybe less, he come back and he told me I didnt have to work for Old +Goforth, I was free, sure enough free, and I went with him and he got +me a job railroading. But the work was too hard for me. I couldnt +stand it. So I left there and went to my mother. I had to walk. It was +forty-five miles. I made it in a day. She got me work there where she +worked." + +"I remember so well, how the roads was full of folks walking and +walking along when the niggers were freed. Didnt know where they was +going. Just going to see about something else somewhere else. Meet a +body in the road and they ask, 'Where you going'? 'Dont know.' 'What +you going to do'? 'Dont know.' And then sometimes we would meet a +white man and he would say, 'How you like to come work on my farm'? +And we say, 'I dont know.' And then maybe he say, "If you come work +for me on my farm, when the crops is in I give you five bushels of +corn, five gallons of molasses, some ham-meat, and all your clothes +and vittals whils you works for me." Alright! That's what I do. And +then something begins to work up here, (touching his forehead with his +fingers) I begins to think and to know things. And I knowed then I +could make a living for my own self, and I never had to be a slave no +more." + +"Now, Old Marster Goforth, had four sisters what owned slaves, and +they wasnt mean to them like our Old Marster and Mistress. Some of the +old slaves and their folks are still living on their places right to +this day. But they never dispute none with their brother about how +mean he treat his slaves. And him claiming to be such a Christian! +Well, I reckon he's found out something about slave driving by now. +The good Lord has to get his work in some time. And he'll take care of +them low down Pattyroolers and slave speculators and mean Marsters and +Mistress's. He's took good care of me in the years since I was free'd, +only now, we needs Him again now and then. I just stand up on my two +feet, raise my arms to heaven, and say, 'Lord, help me!' He never +fails me. I asked him this morning, didnt I Lola? Asked him to render +help. We need it. And here you come. Lola, just watch that lady write. +If you and me had her education, we'd be fixed now wouldnt we? I never +had no learning." + +"Thank you Lady! (tucking the coin into his pocket wallet, along with +his tobacco.) And thank you for coming. It does me a heap of good to +see visitors and talk about the old times. Come again, wont you? And +next time you come, I want to talk to you about old age pensions. I +come here from Marian, N.C. three years ago, and they tell me I have +to live here four, before I gets a pension. And as I done left North +Carolina, I cant get a pension from them. But maybe you can tell me +what to do. I likes this place. And I do hopes I get a pension before +I gets to be a 'hundred." + + + + +INTERVIEW +RACHEL GAINES +1025 10th Ave. N. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"Lawdy! I'se dunno how ole I ez. B'leeves I'se 'round 95 ter 100 +y'ars. De fust thing I members ez I wuz tuk in a waggin ter Trenton, +Kentucky en sold ter Dr. Bainbridge Dickerson jest lak dey sold cows +en hosses. Mah sistah wuz sold in de same way at Bowling Green, +Kentucky ter 'nuther Marster." + +"I wuz sold only one time in mah life en dat wuz w'en Marster +Dickinson bought me. Atter freedum wuz 'clared de Marster tole all his +slaves dat dey could go wharever'y dey pleased but ef'n dey couldn't +mek dere own livin' ter kum ter 'im en he would he'ps dem." + +"Missus Dickinson kep' me dere kaze I wuz nuss ter dere son Howard who +wuz sho a wild one. I member how he would tote out fried chicken, pig +meat en uthuh good stuff ter us darkies. Dey 'greed ter pay me $35.00 +a yeah (en keep) en hit wuz gib me eve'y Christmus mawning. Dey +treated me good, gib me all de clothes en uthuh things I needed ez +ef'n I wuz one ob de fam'ly." + +"Eve'y two weeks de Marster would sen' fer Jordan McGowan who wuz de +leader ob a string music ban'. Dey would git dere Friday nite early en +de slaves would dance in de grape house dat nite en all day Saturday +up ter midnite. You don't hab now as good dance music en as much fun +as de ole time days had. We allus had a big barbecue er watermelon +feast eve'y time we had a dance. Neber 'gin 'll dere be as good times +as we useter hab. In mah time we neber y'ard ob wukouses er pen but +now dey ez all filled." + +"I kin see now in mah mind de ole ice house on de plantation. In de +wint'r de slaves would fill hit wid ice dey got off de crik en hit wuz +not used 'til warm wedder cum. 'nother thing I members ez de +"Pat-a-rollers" (she refers to the Police Patrol of that day) who +would kotch en whup runaway slaves en slaves 'way fum dere own +plantations widout a pass wid dere Marsters name signed on hit." + +"I member w'en Nashville fust had street cars pulled 'long by hosses +er mules en I also member de ole dummy cars, run by steam, ter +Glendale Park also New Town (now called West Nashville)." + +"We had sum bad en good luck signs but I'se fergettin' sum, but I'se +members 'bout a black cat crossin' ovuh de path in frunt ob you dat +you sho would hab bad luck. W'en dat happened ter me, I would spit on +de ground, turn 'round en back ober de place de cat crossed en de "bad +luck" wuz gon' fum me. Ef'n you found a ole hoss shoe dat had bin +drapt'd by de hoss, hit meant good luck. Sum peeples, white en black, +w'en dey fin' a hoss shoe, dey would tack hit up on de frunt door +frame wid de toe ter de groun'." + +"Atter de Marster en Missus d'ed, I went ter Nashville en made mah way +fur menny y'ars by washin' en ironin' fer white peeple but atter I +went blind I kum 'yer ter live wid mah daughter." + + + + +INTERVIEW +FRANKIE GOOLE +204 5th Ave. So. +Nashville, Tenn. + + +"I wuz bawn in Smith County on uther side ob Lebanon. Ah'll be 85 +y'ars ole Christmas Day. + +Mah ole Missis wuz named Sallie, en mah Marster wuz George Waters. Mah +mammy's name wuz Lucindia, she wuz sold fum me w'en I wuz six weeks +ole, en mah Missis raised me. I allus slept wid her. Mah Missis wuz +good ter me, but (her son) mah Marster whup'd me. + +Dunno ob any ex-slaves votin' er holdin' office ob any kin. + +I member de Ku Klux Klan en Pat-a-rollers. Dey would kum 'roun en whup +de niggers wid a bull whup. Ef'n dey met a niggah on de road dey'd +say, "Whar ez you gwin dis time ob mawnin'?" De slaves would say, "We +ez gwine ovuh 'yer ter stay aw'ile," en den dey would start beatin' +dem. I'se stod in our do'er en 'yeard de hahd licks, en screams ob de +ones dat wuz bein' whup'd, en I'd tell mah Missis, "Listen ter dat!" +She would say, "See, dat ez w'at will happen ter you ef'n you try ter +leave." I member one nite a Ku Klux Klan rode up ter our do'er. I tole +mah Missis sum body wuz at de do'er wantin' ter know whar mah Marster +wuz. She tole 'im he wuz d'ed en her son had gon' 'way dat mawnin'. He +hunted all thro de house, en up in de loft, en said whar ez de +niggers? Mah Missis tole i'm [TR: 'im] dey wuz down in de lettle +house. He went down dere, woke dem up, axed dem 'bout dere Marster en +den whup'd all ob dem. Ef de had de Ku Klux Klan now dere wouldin' be +so menny peeples on de kounty road en in de pen. + +I useter drive up de cows en mah feet would be so cole en mah toes +cracked open en bleedin', en I'd be cryin' 'til I got almos' ter de +house den I'd wipe mah eyes on de bottom ob mah dress, so de Marster +wouldin' know dat I had bin cryin'. He'd say, "Frankie ain't you +cryin'?" I'd say, "No suh." "Ez you cole?" "Yes, sir." He would say +kum on en warm. + +W'en de niggers wuz freed, all ob mah Missis slaves slipped 'way, +'cept me. One mawnin' she tole me ter go down en wake dem up, I went +down en knocked, no body said nuthin'. I pushed on de do'er--hit kum +op'n--en I fell in de room en hurt mah chin. I went back ter +Missis--en she sezs, "W'at ez de matter wid you?" I sezs, "Uncle John +en all ob dem ez gon'; I pushed on de do'er en fell in." She sezs you +know dey ez not gone, go back en git dem up. I had ter go back, but +dey wur'ent dere. + +No, I don't member de sta'rs fallin'. + +Mah Missis didunt gib me nuthin, cept mah clothes, en she put dem in a +carpet bag. Atter freedom mah mammy kum fum Lebanon en got me. Ah'll +neber fergit dat day--Oh Lawdy! I kin see her now. Mah ole Missis' +daughter-in-law had got a bunch ob switches ter whup me, I wuz +standin' in de do'er shakin' all ovuh, en de young Missis wuz tellin' +me ter git mah clothes off. I sezs, "I se'd a 'oman kum'g thro de +gate." Mah Missis sezs, "Dat ez Lucindia" en de young Missis hid de +switches. Mah mammy sezs I'se kum ter git mah chile. Mah Missis tole +her ter let me spend de nite wid her, den she'd send me ter de Court +House at 9 o'clock next mawnin'. So I stayed wid de Missis dat nite, +en she tole me ter alluz be a good girl, en don't let a man er boy +trip me. I didunt know w'at she mean but I allus membered w'at she +sai. I guess I wuz 'bout 12 y'ars ole w'en I lef' mah Missis en mah +mammy brought me ter Nashville en put me ter wuk. De mawnin' I lef' +mah Missis, I went ter de Court House en met mah mammy; de Court room +wuz jammed wid peeple. De Jedge tole me ter hold my right hand up, I +wuz so skeered I stuck both hands up. Jedge sezs, "Frankie ez dat yo +mammy?" I sezs, "I dunno, she sezs she ez." (W'at did I know ob a +mammy dat wuz tuk fum me at six weeks ole). He sezs, "Wuz yo Marster +good ter you?" I sezs, "Mah Missis wuz, but mah Marster wasn't--he +whup'd me." De Jedge said, "Whar did he whup you?" I tole him on mah +back. He sezs, "Frankie, ez you laughin'?" I sezs, "No, sir." He said +ter mah mammy, "Lucindia tek dis chile en be good ter her fer she has +b'en mistreated. Sum day she can mek a livin' fer you." (En thank de +Lawd I did keep her in her ole days en wuz able ter bury her.) At dat +time money wuz called chin plaster en w'en I lef' out ob de court room +diff'ent peeple gib me money en I had mah hat almos' full. Dat was de +only money I had gib ter me. + +I nussed Miss Sadie Pope Fall; she ma'ried Mat Gardner. I also nussed +Miss Sue Porter Houston. I den wuk'd at de Bline Schul. + +De fust pa'r ob shoes I eber had wuz atter I kum ter Nashville. Dey +had high tops en wuz called bootees. I had sum red striped socks wid +dem. + +De ole songs I member: + +"De Ole Time 'ligion." +"I'm Goin' ter Join de Ban." + +W'en dey would sing deze songs hit would almos' mek you ha'r stand up +on yo haid, de way dem peeples would jump en shout! + +I member w'en sum ob de slaves run 'way durin' slavery. + +I dunno any tales; mah mammy wasn't a 'oman ter talk much. Maybe ef +she had bin I would hab had an easier time. As far as I know de +ex-slaves hab had diff'ent kinds ob wuk since dere freedum. No, I ain' +nebber se'd any ghos'. I'se bin in de woods en dark places, but didn't +see nothin', en I'se not goin' ter say I did kaze I might git +par'lized. + +I went ter schul one y'ar at Fisk in de y'ar 1869. + +De last man I wuk'd fer wuz at de Link Hotel. Den I started keepin' +boarders. Hab fed all deze Nashville police. De police ez de ones dat +hep'ed git deze relief orders fer me. I hab lived on dis street fer 60 +years. I lived 22 y'ars whar de Hermitage Laundry ez. Dat ez whar I +got de name "Mammie." W'iles livin' dere I raised eighteen chilluns +white en black, en sum ob dem iz good ter me now. + +I had sum papah's 'bout mah age en diff'ent things, but w'en de back +waters got up, dey got lost. I didn't hab ter move but I kep prayin' +en talkin' ter de Lawd en I b'leeve he 'Yeard me fer de water didn't +git in mah house. + +I member w'en de yellow fever en de cholera wuz 'yer, in 1870 en 1873. +Dey didn't hab coffins nuff ter put dem in, so dey used boxes en piled +de boxes in waggins lak hauling wood. + +I'se aint worth a dime now w'en hit kums ter wukin' fer I'se aint able +ter do nuthin, thoo I can't complain ob mah livin' since de relief has +bin takin' keer ob me. + +Dis young peeples, "Oh mah Lawd!" Dey ain' worth talkin' 'bout. I +tries ter shame deze 'omen, dey drink (I call hit ole bust haid +whiskey), en do such mean things. I'se disgusted at mah own color. Dey +try ter know ter much, en dunno muthin', en dey don' do 'nuff wuk. + +I nebber voted en dunno nothin' 'bout hit. Hab nebber had any frens in +office. Cain' member nothin' 'bout re'structon. I hab bin sick en +still don' feel right. Sumtimes I feels krazy. + +Hab bin tole dat black cat crossin' road in frunt ob you wuz bad luck. +I nebber did b'leeve in any signs. Ef I ez ter hab bad luck, ah'll hab +hit. + +I b'long ter de Baptist Chuch. + +De culored peeples useter hab camp meetin's, en dey'd last fer two +weeks. Lawd hab mercy did we hab a time at dem meetin's, preachin', +singin', en shoutin'. En ovuh sum whar neah dey would be cookin' +mutton en diff'ent good things ter eat. Sum ob dem would shout 'til +dere throats would be sore en hit seemed dat sum ob dem niggahs didn't +keer ef dey got home ter wuk er not. + +I sumtimes wish fer de good ole days. Deze days folks don't hab time +fer 'ligion. De dog-gone ole radio en udder things ez takin' hits +place. + +Oh Lawdie how dey did baptize down at de wha'f! De Baptist peeple +would gather at de wha'f on de fust Sunday in May. Dey would kum fum +all de Baptist Chuches. Would leave de chuch singin' en shoutin' en +keep dat up 'til dey got ter de river. Hab seen dem wid new clothes on +git down on de groun en roll en git covered wid dirt. Sum ob dem would +almos' luze dere clothes, en dey'd fall down lak dey wuz dying. + +Deze last few y'ars dey hab got ter stylish ter shout. + + + + +INTERVIEW +Precilla Gray +807 Ewing Ave. +Nashville, Tenn. + + +I think I'se 107 Y'ars ole. Wuz bawn in Williamson County 'fore de +Civil wah. Guess de reason I hab libed so long wuz cose I tuk good +keer ob mahself en wore warm clo'es en still do, w'ar mah yarn +pettycoats now. Hab had good health all mah life. Hab tuk very lettle +medicine en de wust sickness I eber had wuz small-pox. I'se bin a +widah 'bout 70 y'ars. + +Mah mammy d'ed w'en I wuz young but mah daddy libed ter be 103 y'ars +ole. I nebber went ter schul a day in mah life, ma'ied 'fore freedum +en w'en I got free, had ter wuk all de time ter mek a libin' fer mah +two chillen. One libes in California en I lives wid de uther, +tergedder wid mah great, great, grandson, five y'ars ole, in +Nashville. + +Mah fust marster en missis wuz Amos en Sophia Holland en he made a +will dat we slaves wuz all ter be kep' among de fam'ly en I wuz heired +fum one fam'ly ter 'nother. Wuz owned under de "will" by Haddas +Holland, Missis Mary Haddock en den Missis Synthia Ma'ied Sam Pointer +en I libed wid her 'til freedum wuz 'clared. + +Mah fust mistress had three looms en we had ter mek clothes fer ev'ery +one on de plan'ashun. I wuz taught ter weav', card, spin en 'nit en +ter wuk in de fiel's. I wuz 'feared ob de terbacker wums at fust but +Aunt Frankie went 'long by me en showed me how ter pull de wum's head +off. Hab housed terbacker till 9 o'clock at nite. Our marster whupped +us w'en we needed hit. I got menny a whuppin'. + +Marster Amos wuz a great hunter en had lots ob dogs en me en mah +cousin had de job ob cookin' dog food en feedin' de dogs. One day de +marster went huntin' en lef three dogs in de pen fer us ter feed. One +ob de dogs licked out ob de pan en we got a bunch ob switches en +started wearin' de dogs out. We thought de marster wuz miles 'way w'en +he walked up on us. He finished wearin' de bunch ob switches out on +us. Dat wuz a whuppin' I'll nebber fergit. + +W'en I wuz heired ter Missis Synthis, I wuked in de fiel's 'til she +started ter raise chillens en den I wuz kep in de house ter see atter +dem. Missis had a lot ob cradles en dey kep two 'omen in dat room +takin' keer ob de babies en lettle chillens 'longin' ter dere slaves. +Soon as de chillens, wuz seven y'ars ole, dey started dem ter +'nittin'. + +Marster Sam Pointer, husband of Missis Synthis, wus a good man en he +wuz good ter us en he fed en clothed us good. We wore yarn hoods, +sha'ls, en pantletts which wuz 'nit things dat kum fum yo shoe tops +ter 'bove yo knees. + +De marster wuz also a 'ligious man en he let us go ter chuch. He +willed land fer a culled chuch at Thompson Station. I 'longs ter de +foot washin' Baptist, called de Free Will Baptist. De marster bought +mah husband William Gray en I ma'ied 'im dere. + +W'en de Civil wah wuz startin' dere wuz soldiers an tents eve'ywhar. I +had ter 'nit socks en he'ps mek soldiers coats en durin' de wah, de +marster sent 100 ob us down in Georgia ter keep de Yankees fum gittin' +us en we camped out durin' de whole three y'ars. + +I member de Klu Klux. One nite a bunch ob us went out, dey got atter +us. We waded a big crik en hid in de bushes ter keep dem fum gittin' +us. + +Hab gon' ter lots ob camp-meetin's. Dey'd hab lots ob good things ter +eat en fed eberbody. Dey'd hab big baptizin's down at de Cumberland +Riber and menny things. + +W'en freed, our white folks didn't gib us nuthin'. We got 'way en +hired out fer an'thin' we could git. Nebber knowed ob any plantashuns +[TR: illegible, possibly "men"] be divided. D'ant member 'bout slave +'risings en niggers voting en wuz not ole er'nuff ter member de +sta'rs fallin'. Songs we use'ter sing wuz, "On Jordan's Bank I Stand +en Cast a Wistful Eye en Lak Drops ob Sweat, Lak Blood Run Down, I +Shed mah Tears." + +I try not ter think 'bout de ole times. Hit's bin so long ago so I +don' member any tales now. + +I'se had a lot ob good times in mah day. Our white folks would let us +hab "bran dances" an we'd hab a big time. I has nebber voted en I +think dat ez a man's wuk. Don't b'leeve in signs, I hab allus tho't +whut ez gwine ter be will be, en de only way ter be ez de rite way. + +Eber since slavery I'se cooked fer peeple. I cooked fer Mr. Lea Dillon +fifteen y'ars. Wuked at de Union Depot fer y'ars. Five y'ars fer Dr. +Douglas at his Infirmary en I cooked fer en raised Mrs Grady's baby. +Hab wuked fer diff'ent folks ovuh town ter mek mah livin'. I ain't bin +able ter wuk fer eight y'ars. Dunno how much I weigh now, I hab lost +so much. (she weighs now at least 250 pounds). All de ex-slaves I know +hab wuked at diff'ent jobs lak I has. + + + + +INTERVIEW +EX-SLAVES +JENNY GREER +706 Overton, Street. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"Am 84 y'ars ole en wuz bawn in Florence, Alabama, 'bout seben miles +fum town. Wuz bawn on de Collier plantashun en Marster en Missis wuz +James en Jeanette Collier. Mah daddy en mammy wuz named Nelson en Jane +Collier. I wuz named atter one ob mah Missis' daughters. Our family +wuz neber sold er divided." + +"I'se bin ma'ied once. Ma'ied Neeley Greer. Thank de Lawd I aint got +no chilluns. Chilluns ez so bad now I can't stand dem ter save mah +life." + +"Useter go ter de bap'isin's en dey would start shoutin' en singin' +w'en we lef' de chuch. Went ter deze bap'isin's in Alabama, Memphis, +en 'yer in Nashville. Lawdy hab mercy, how we useter sing. Only song I +members ez 'De Ole Time 'ligion.' I useter go ter camp meetin's. +Eve'rbody had a jolly time, preachin', shoutin' en eatin' good +things." + +"We didn't git a thing w'en we wuz freed. W'en dey said we wuz free +mah people had ter look out fer demselves." + +"Don' member now 'bout K.K.K. er 'structshun days. Mah mammy useter +tell us a lot ob stories but I'se fergot dem. I'se neber voted en +dunno ob any frens bein' in office." + +"No mam, no mam, don't b'leeve in diff'ent colurs ma'rin. I member one +ole sign--'bad luck ter empty ashes atter dark.'" + +"I'se hired out wuk'n in white folks house since freedum. I'se a widow +now en live 'yer wid mah neice en mah sistah." + + + + +INTERVIEW +EMMA GRISHAM +1118 Jefferson St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn in Nashville. I'se up in 90 y'ars, but I tell dem I'se +still young. I lived on Gallatin Pike long 'fore de war, an uster se'd +de soldiers ride by." + +"Mah marsters name wuz Wm. Penn Harding. Mah daddy wuz sold at Sparta, +Tennessee 'fore I wuz bawn en Marster Harding bought 'im. Mah mammy +erready 'longed ter de Hardings." + +"I don' member much 'bout slavery I wuz small, but I know I wore a +leetle ole slip wid two er three bottons in frunt. Mammy would wash me +en I'd go out frunt en play wid de white chilluns." + +"W'en de fightin' got so heavy mah white peeple got sum Irish peeple +ter live on de plantation, en dey went south, leavin' us wid de Irish +peeple." + +"I wuz leetle en I guess I didn't think much 'bout freedum, I'd allus +had plenty ter eat en w'ar." + +"Dunno ob any slaves gittin' nuthin at freedum." + +"Our white folks didn't whup mah peeple; but de oberseers whup'd de +slaves on uther plantations." + +"De Yankees had camps on de Capitol hill. En dere wuz soldier camps in +east Nashville en you had ter hab a pass ter git thro?" + +"I member w'en de pen wuz on 15th en Chuch, en de convicts wuk'd +'round de Capitol." + +"I went ter schul at Fisk a short time, w'en hit wuz neah 12th en +Cedar, en a w'ile down on Chuch St. Mah teacher allus bragged on me +fer bein' clean en neat. I didn't git much schuling, mah daddy wuz lak +mos' ole folks, he though ef'n you knowd yo a, b, c's en could read a +line, dat wuz 'nuff. En he hired me out. Dunno w'at dey paid me, fer +hit wuz paid ter mah daddy." + +"I wuz hired ter a Mrs. Ryne fer y'ars, whar de Loveman store ez now. +Dere wuz a theatre whar Montgomery Ward store ez, a lot ob de theatre +peeple roomed en bo'ded wid Mrs. Ryne, en dey would gib me passes ter +de sho' en I'd slip up in de gall'ry en watch de sho'. I couldn't read +a wud but I 'joy'd goin'. Mah daddy wuz a driver fer Mr. Ryan." + +"I nussed fer a Mrs. Mitchell en she had a boy in schul. One summer +she went 'way. A Mrs. Smith wid 10 boys wanted me ter stay wid her +'til Mrs. Mitchell got back en I staid en laked dem so well dat I +wouldin go back ter Mrs. Mitchell's." + +"I went ter Memphis en ma'ied George Grisham in 1870. He jinned de +army, as ban' leader, went ter San Antonio, Texas en I kum back ter +Mrs. Smith's en stayed 'til her mammy lost her mind. Mah husband d'ed +in Texas, fum heart truble. All his things wuz sent back ter me, en +eve'y month I got a $30.00 pension fer me en mah daughter. W'en she +wuz 16 dey cut hit down en I only git $12.00 now." + +"I edj'cated mah daughter at Fisk; en she's bin teachin' schul since +1893. She buy dis place en we live tergedder. We hab good health en +both ez happy. I hab a 'oman kum eve'y Monday en wash fer us." + +"De ole songs I member ez: + +"Harp fum de Tomb dis Mournful Sound." +"Am I a soldier ob de Cross." + +"Ole signs ez: Dream ob snakes, sign ob de'th.--Ef a hen crows a sign +ob de'th.--Sneeze wid food in mouth means de'th.--Ef a black cat +crosses de road, walk backwards 'til you git pas' whar hit crossed. +Mah parents useter tell lots ob tales but I can't think ob dem." + +"Oh honey, I dunno w'at dis young peeples ez kum'n ter. Dey ez so +diff'ent fum de way I wuz raised. I don't think much ob dis white en +black mar'ages. Hit shouldn't be 'lowed." + +"I 'long ter de Missionary Baptist." + + + + +INTERVIEW +MEASY HUDSON +1209 Jefferson St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"Wuz bawn' in North Carolina en I'se 90 y'ars ole in November. W'en +war broke out we kum ter Tennessee en hab bin 'yer eber since. Wuz +'yer w'en old Hood fi'rd de cannons. He said he wuz kum'n 'yer ter +Christmas dinnah, but he didn't do hit." + +"Mah white folks wuz named Harshaw. Marster Aaron Harshaw d'ed en we +wuz willed ter his chilluns en dat we wuz not ter be whup'd er 'bused +in anyway. We wuz sold, but long 'fore de war mah daddy wuz freed en +mah manny wuz not freed, but kep' a slave." + +"De marster's chilluns wuz small en eber New Y'ar Day, we wuz put on a +block en hired out ter de high bidduh, en de money spent ter school de +marster's chilluns." + +"I wuz tole dat sum ob de white peeples wuz so mean ter dere slaves +dat de slaves would tek a pot en turn hit down in a hollow ter keep +dere whites fum yearin' dem singin' en prayin'. De Ku Klux wuz bad on +de ex-slaves at fust." + +"De white folks 'fore de war had w'at dey called "Muster" en I would +go down wid dem. I would dance en de folks would gib me money er gib +me candy en durin' de war de soldiers wuz de prettiest things." + +"Got nuthin' at freedum en wuz not lookin' fuh nuthin'. Ef marster had +lived he might hab gib us sump'in. He wuz a good man en good ter us. +Eber since mah freedum, I'se wuk'd as a laundress. Wuk'd fer one +fam'ly ober 21 y'ars. 'Bout two y'ars ago I lefted a tub, en hurt +mahself. I'se not able ter wuk now. I hab bin ma'ied twice en I'se +voted three times." + +"I went ter schul at Fisk, a short time, w'en hit wuz on 12th Avenue, +but I diden' git ter go long 'nuff ter git en edj'cation." + +"Jis 'fore de Civil War I members de comet. Hit wuz lak a big sta'r +wid a long tail. Eve'body said hit wuz a sign ob Judgement Day." + +"Bad luck signs: Ef'n a picture falls, hit's a sign ob de'th--bad luck +ter step ovuh a broom--ef a clock stop runnin' en later hit strike, +dat means de'th." + +"Sum ob de young peeple terday ez good but sum ob dem don't wan'ter be +nuthin'. De last war ruined mos' ob de white en de black." + +"I b'leeves in de Baptist 'ligion en 'longs ter de Baptist Church, 9th +Avenue N. on Cedar Street. De white 'oman I wuk'd fuh wan'ed me ter +join de Christian (colored) chuch. Only song I now members ez "On +Jordans Banks I Stand." "Don't think dis marrin' ob whites wid blacks +should be 'lowed en think eve'y culor should stay ter hits-sef." + +"I don't member now 'bout any stories tole back in ole times. Our +white folks wuz Christians en tried ter teach us right en dey diden' +tek up much time tellin' stories." + + + + +INTERVIEW +PATSY HYDE +504 9th Avenue N. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"Dunno how ole I ez. I wuz bawn in slavery en b'longs ter de Brown +family. Mah Missis wuz Missis Jean R. Brown en she wuz kin ter Abraham +Lincoln en I useter y'ar dem talkin' 'bout 'im livin' in a log cabin +en w'en he d'ed she had her house draped in black. Marster Brown wuz +also good ter his slaves. De Missis promus Marster Brown on his de'th +bed nebber ter let us be whup'd en she kep her wud. Sum ob de +oberseers on urthur plantations would tie de slaves ter a stake en gib +dem a good whup'in fer sump'in dey ought not ter done." + +"All cul'ed people wore cotton goods en de younger boys run 'round in +der shurt tails. Mah Missis nit all de white chilluns stockin' en she +made me sum. I had ter hold de yarn on mah hans w'en she wuz nittin'. +I members one time I wuz keepin' flies off de table usin' a bunch ob +peacock feathers en I went ter sleep standin' up en she tole me ter go +back ter de kitchen." "I went en finish mah nap." + +"One day ole Uncle Elick woke Marster Brown fum his atter-noon nap +tellin' 'im dat de prettiest men dat I ever seed wuz passin' by on de +road. He went ter de winder en said, "Good Gawd, hit's dem damn +Yankees." Mah white folks had a pretty yard en gyarden. Soldiers kum +en camped dere. I'd slip ter de winder en lissen ter dem." "W'en dey +wuz fightin' at Fort Negley de cannons would jar our house. De +soldier's ban' play on Capitol Hill, en play "Rally 'roun' de Flag +Boys, Rally 'roun de Flag." + +"De slaves would tek dere ole iron cookin' pots en turn dem upside +down on de groun' neah dere cabins ter keep dere white folks fum +hearin' w'at dey wuz sayin'. "Dey claimed dat hit showed dat Gawd wuz +wid dem." + +"In slavery time peeples b'leeved in dreams. I members one nite I +dreamed dat a big white thing wuz on de gatepost wida haid. I tole mah +mammy en she said, "Gawd wuz warning us." De ma'rige cer'mony in de +days ob slavery wuz by de man en 'oman jumpin' ovuh a broom handle +tergedder." + +"I don' member much 'boud de Ku Klux Klan, but I does member seein' +dem parade one time in Nashville." (She evidently refers to the Klan's +last parade in 1869 in Nashville, immediately preceeding the +disbandment of the Klan at Fort Negley.) + +"I members dat de northern soldier's ban' would play Union Ferever, +Rally 'roun de Flag, en Down Wid de Traitors en up Wid de Sta's en +Stripes." + +"De songs I members ez: + +I'se a Soldier ob de Cross. +Follow de Lamb. +I would not Live Allus. +I Axs not ter Stay." + +"I member w'en de stars fell. Hit wuz so dark en eberbody wuz skeered, +en I member a comet dat looked lak a big red ball en had sump'in lak a +tail on hit. Eber one wuz skeered en wuz 'feard hit would hit de +groun' en burn de worl' up. I member de fust street lites in +Nashville. W'en de lamp mans would kum 'round en lite de lamps dey +would yell out "all ez well" en I also members de Southern money goin' +out en Yankee money kum'n in, en also w'en dere wuzn't any coal 'yer +en eve'ythin' wuz wood en mos' ob dis town wuz in de woods." + +"De slaves wuz tole dey would git forty ak'rs ob groun' en a mule w'en +dey wuz freed but dey nebber got hit. W'en we wuz free we wuz tuned +out widout a thing. Mah grandmammy wuz an "Ole mammie" en de Missis +kep her. Atter freedum a lot ob Yankee niggah gals kum down 'yer en +hire out." + +"W'en I wuz a young girl hund'eds ob people went ter de wharf at de +foot ob Broadway on de fust Sunday in May ob eber'y year fer de annual +baptizin' ob new members inter de Baptist (culored) churches ob de +city. Thousands ob white people would crowd both sides ob de +Cumberland Riber, Broadway en de Sparkman Street Bridge ter witnus de +doin's. On leavin' de chuches de pastor would lead de parade ter de +wharf. Dey would sing en chant all de way fum de chuch ter de river en +sum ob de members would be ovuhkum wid 'ligious feelin' en dey would +hop up en down, singin' en shoutin' all de time, or may be dey would +start ter runnin' down de street en de brethern would hab ter run dem +down en bring dem back." + +"We useter hav' dem champ meetin's en dey wuz "honeys," en I enjoy dem +too. We wore bandanna handkerchiefs on our haids en long shawls ovuh +our shoulders. At deze meetin's dey had all kinds ob good things ter +eat en drink." + +"Atter mah freedum I dun washin' en Ironin' fer white families. Neber +ma'ried but I neber worries no matter w'at happens en dat's may be +cause ob mah livin' so long." + +"Things ter day ez mighty bad. Not lak de ole days. Worl' ez gwin ter +end soon." + +"Atter I got ter feeble ter do washin' en ironin' fer mah livin', I +went ter de Relief Office ter git dem ter he'ps me, but dey wouldn't +do a thing. I had no place ter go er no money ter do wid. Dis culid +'oman tuk me in en does all she can fer me but now she ez disable ter +wuk en I dunno w'at ter do. Ef'n I could git a small grocer order each +week til I git de ole Age Pension hit would he'p lots." + + + + +INTERVIEW +ELLIS KEN KANNON +328 5th Avenue N. +St. Mary's Church +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I dunno jes how ole I ez. I wuz bawn in Tennessee as a slave. Mah +mammy kum frum Virginia. Our marster wuz Ken Kannon." + +"Our Mistress wouldn't let us slaves be whup'd but I member mah daddy +tellin' 'bout de Overseer whuppin' 'im en he run 'way en hid in a log. +He tho't de blood hounds, he heered 'bout a half mile 'way, on his +trail could heer 'im breathe but de hounds nebber fin' 'im. Atter de +hounds pas' on, mah daddy lef' de log hidin' place en w'en he got ter +a blacksmith shop, he se'ed a white man wid a nigger who had handcuffs +on en w'en de white man tuk off de handcuffs, de nigger axed mah daddy +whar he wuz gwine en he tole 'im back ter mah Mistress en de nigger +sezs I ez too. Mah daddy slipped 'way fum 'im en went home." + +"W'en I wuz a young boy, I didn't wear nothin' but a shirt lak all +urthur boys en hit wuz a long thing lak a slip dat kum ter our knees. +Our Mistress had a big fier place en w'en we would kum in cole she +would say ain't you all cole. (You all was always used in the plural +and not singular as some writers have it). W'ile we wuz warmin' she +often played de organ fer us ter heer." + +"I waited on mah Marster 'til he d'ed. Dey let me stay rite wid de +body. Mah Mistress, Mammy ob de Marster, wuz in bad health at dat +time, en 'fore we sta'ted ter de graveyard, I put a feather bed in de +car'age en got a pitcher ob water ready en 'fore we git dere she got +awful sick." + +"Durin' slavery de slaves hadder keep quiet en dey would turn a kittle +upside down ter keep de white folks 'yearin dere prayers en chants. +W'en a slave wanted ter go ter 'nother plantation he had ter hab a +pass. Ef' dey disobeyed dey got a whuppin, en ef dey had a pass widout +de Marsters signature dey got a whuppin. _Ef'n dey had ter hab passes +now dere wouldin' be no meaness_." + +"I member de Klu Klux Klan kumin ter mah daddy's home axin fer water +en dey would keep us totin' water ter dem fer fifteen ter twenty +minutes. Dey didn't whup er hurt any ob us. I also member 'yearin mah +mammy en daddy tellin' us 'bout de sta'rs fallin'. I member de comet. +Hit wuz a big ball en had a long tail." + +"I hab 'yerd dem tell 'bout Mr. Robertson. He wuz mean ter his slaves +en dey sezs dey could see a ball ob fier rollin' on de fence en w'en +dey would git ter de spring, a big white thing lak a dog would crawl +under de rock. De slaves wuz natur'ally superstitious en b'leeved in +dreams, ole sayings en signs. I hab mahse'f se'ed things dat I ain't +onderstan'. Hab almost seen de things dat (apostle) John seed." + +"Dunno nuthin 'bout any ob de ex-slaves voting er de Nat Turner +'Bellion." + +"Atter freedum mos' ob de slaves wuk'd fer dere livin' jes as I ez. De +men in de fiel's, de 'omen in de house. I wuk'd at a hotel in +McMinnville en one day, I wuz keepin' de flies off de table wid a +brush made frum fine strips ob papah en de string broke en hit fell +on de table. One man jumped up grabbed a cheer sayin' ah'll knock you +down wid dis cheer." + +"De slave 'pected ter git 40 akers ob land en a mule but nobody eber +got hit as fur as I know. We didn't git nuthin. Our white peeple +wuzzent able ter gib us anyting. Eve'ythin' dey had wuz tuk durin' de +wah. Dey wuz good ter us an stuck wid us en mah peeple stayed wid mah +Mistress." + +"Dis young gineratshun ob niggers, I 'clare dey ez jes 'bout gon'. Dey +won't wuk, all's stealin' en mabe wuk long 'nuff ter git a few clothes +ter strut 'round in. I may be wrong but dat ez mah hones' pinion." + +"De songs--I member ez: + +De Ole Ship ob Zion. +Do You Think You'll be Able ter tek me Home." + +"I has bin 'yer fifteen y'ars en hab wuked onder two Priests en now +wukin under de third. Dey hab all bin nice ter me. Hab neber had any +trubble wid white peeple en you'd be sprized how good dey ez ter me. +Dey don't treat me lak a nigger." + +"Eber since I got mah freedum en 'fore I got dis chuch job, I dun all +kinds ob odd jobs, waited on tables, pressin' clothes en anyting else +dat kum 'long, but sum jobs wuz small pay but hit kep me 'live." + +"Don't member any slave uprisin's. Our peeple wuz good ter us." + + + + +INTERVIEW +SCOTT MARTIN +438 Fifth Ave., No. + + +"I'se 90 y'ars ole and wuz bawn in slavery in Sumner County, Tennessee +and I b'long to Marster Dr. Madison Martin an' mah Misses Mary. And I +wuk'd wid de stock an' wuz de houseman." + +"I hab neber been in any truble, neber 'rested en neber bin in jail. I +knows how ter behave, but de young peeples ob terday ain' dun rite en +dey don' 'mounts ter much. Dar am a few dat am all rite. In de ole +days dey wer' bettuh dan dey ez terday. De white and black ougher not +ma'rie." + +"I has voted two times, but I disremembers who I voted fer. Neber +hadney frens in office en I nebr met any of de Klu Klux men. I didn' +go out much en I neber wuz kotched w'en I did git out. I heered lots +'bout nigger uprisin' but dey wuz away off." + +"I b'long ter de Missionary Baptist chuch an' I useter preach in mah +chuch 'ouse en udders w'en called. Once a y'ar I wud be at de +Cumberland Riber wha'f en' baptiz' culled peeples all da'. We useter +hab camp meetin' in de ole days en hab good things ter eat en I would +preach all day. I went ter schul two sessions en den I went to wuk." + +"I member de fust street kar line that run on East side of Cumberland +Riber ter East end ob de ole wood bridge dat de 'arly settlers build. +De kars wer' pulled by hosses en' mules. De whites en blacks mixed +tergedder en den de law made de whites rid' in frunt en the blacks in +de rearuh. I think dat wuz rite, but sum ob mah race wuz mad 'bout +hit. I wuz on a kar one day and mules run'd 'way en de ole red mule +got loose frum de kar en run'd ober a mile 'fore dey ketched him en +dey brot 'im ba'k en de kar' pas' on. I members de ole L & N Railroad +on de East side. W'en my folks wud ride de train dey had 'ter hold me +tite or I wuld git 'way frum dem en run en hide 'hind sum logs. I wuz +scar'et ter ride on de kars." + +"Atter freedum de slaves had'n no truble ter go whar dey wan'. Menny +lef' but menny stay wid der ole marsters. I stay wid my marster tell +he d'ed. I den kum an' lib wid mah daddy on Lebanon Road. Atter dat I +libed on Gallatin Road an' den I kum ter Nashville, an' wuk wid pic' +and shovel on streets, sewers an' udder jobs. I heered dem sez dat de +slaves wud git lan', hoss, money er sumpin' but I neber heerd ob +nobody gittin nuthin'. Dere wuz not slave 'raisings eroun' whar I +wuz." + +"De fallin' st'ars wuz 'fore mah time, but I'se heer'd mah daddy tole +'bout hit. I se'd de comet wid hit shinnin' tail an' I fust b'leevd +sumbody put hit up dere." + +"Good luck sign wuz w'en a stray cat kum ter yo' house an' stay dere. +Bad luck sign wuz a black kat crossin' yo' path in frunt ob yer. Ter +ke'p frum havin' de bad luck yo' back up pas' whar hit crossed yer +path en den spit an' yer hab no bad luck." + +"Dem air ships luk nice but dey ez spoke 'boud in de Holy Bible, dat +sum day dere wud be flyin' things in de air'h an' I think dat dese +things am it. De otomobeels kiver nuder passag' in de Bible which seze +de peeple 'll rid' on de streets widout hosses en mules." + +"Mah fav'rite songs am "I Gwine to Jine de Gideon Band," and "Keep Yo' +Lits Bunnin'." + +"Ter ole now ter wuk an' mah haid don' se'm ter be tergedder an' I'se +gits he'ps frum de Welfare." + + + + +INTERVIEW +ANN MATTHEWS +719 9th Ave. South +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn in Murfreesboro on Stones River. I dunno how ole I ez en +hit meks me 'shamed ter tell peeple dat, but mah mammy would hit me in +de mouth w'en I'd ax how ole I wuz. She say I wuz jes' tryin' ter be +grown." + +"Mah mammy's name wuz Frankie en mah daddy wuz Henry Ken Kannon. Don' +member much 'bout mah mammy 'cept she wuz a sho't fat Indian 'oman wid +a turrible tempah. She d'ed, durin' de war, wid black measles." + +"Mah daddy wuz part Indian en couldn't talk plain. W'en he go ter de +store he'd hab ter put his han' on w'at he want ter buy. He d'ed eight +months 'fore de Centennial." + +"Our marster en missis wuz Landon en Sweenie Ken Kannon. Dey wuz good +ter us, en we had'n good things ter eat." + +"I member de Yankee en Southern soldiers. One day me en mah young +missis, en sum chilluns went up ter de road en we se'ed sum Yankee +soldiers kumin', I clum'ed on de fence, de urthurs run 'way en hid. +One ob de soldiers sezs ter me, 'Lettle girl who wuz dat wid you,' en +I sezs, 'Hit wuz Miss Puss en sum chilluns.' He laughed en sezs, 'You +ez brave ain' you?'" + +"Our missis let us go ter chuch. I 'long ter de chuch ob Christ." + +"I dunno ob but one slave dat got lan' er nothin' w'en freedum wuz +'clared. We didn't git nuthin at freedum. Mah daddy went back in de +woods en built us a saplin house en dobbed hit wid mud. Atter freedum +mah daddy went 'way, en we chilluns staid in dat house in de woods by +oursel's. Dere wuz two weeks we didn't see a bit ob bre'd. I went up +w'at ez called de nine mile cut neah Tullahoma, en axed a 'oman ef she +would let us hab sum bre'd. She gib me sum meat en bre'd, en tole me +ter kum back. I went back home en we et sump'in, en I went back ter de +'oman's house, she gib me a sack ob flour en a big piece ob midlin' +meat. We wuz skeered, bein' dere 'lone so I would set up wile mah +br'ers slep', den I'd sleep in de daytime. One nite sumbody knocked at +de do'er en hit wuz mah daddy en he had two sacks ob food, en de +urthur chilluns got up en we et a big meal." + +"I useter 'yer de folks talk 'bout de sta'rs fallin', but dat happen' +'fore I wuz bawn." + +"I didn't go ter schul, mah daddy wouldin' let me. Said he needed me +in de fiel wors den I needed schul. I wuz allus sassy en stubbun. I +run 'way fum mah daddy en kum ter Nashville. I stayed at a schul on +Franklin Pike, run by Mrs. McGathey. I wuz de only cul'ed person dere. +Dey wuz good ter me en eve'y Chrismus I would git a big box ob clothes +en things." + +"In Manchester de Klu Klux Klan wore big high hats, red handkerchiefs +on dere faces en red covers on dere hosses. Dey tuk two niggers out ob +jail en hung dem ter a chestnut tree." + +"One nite w'en I wuz gwine wid mah daddy fum de fiel' home, we met sum +ob de K.K.K. en dey said, 'Ain't you out late Henry? En who ez dat gal +wid you?' Mah daddy said, 'We ez gwine home fum wuk, en dis ez mah +daughter.' Dey said, 'Whar has she bin, we ain't nebber se'ed her.' He +told dem, 'I'd bin in Nashville.' Dey said dey'd be back dat nite but +we didn't see dem." + +"W'en I wuz in Manchester I promus de Lawd I wouldin' dance. But one +nite I wuz on de ball floor, dancin' fum one end ob de room ter de +urthur en sump'in sezs go ter de do'er. I didn't go right den en 'gin +hit sezs you ez not keepin' yo promus. I went ter de do'er en you +could pick a pin off de groun' hit wuz so light. In de sky wuz de +prettiest thing you ebber se'ed, so many culors, blue, white, green, +red en yellow." + +"Since freedum I'se wuked wid diff'ent peeple, cookin' en keepin' +house. I'se de mammy ob three chilluns. Two ob dem ez 'way fum 'yer, +en I live 'yer wid mah daughter." + +"Old songs, I member ez: + +Dark wuz de Nite. +I'll Live wid Gawd Forever, Bye en Bye. +Fum dis Earth I go, Oh Lawd, W'at Will 'kum ob Me." + +"So yer wan't me ter tell you de truf? I think de young peeple ez +nothin'. Dey think dey ez smaht. Most ob de ex-slaves I'se knowed has +cooked en nussed, done laundry wuk; wuked in fiel's en diff'ent +things." + +"I'se neber voted en hab neber paid any 'tention ter de niggers +gittin' ter vote. Don't hab any frens in political office. Can't +member any tales er signs." + +"I don't b'leeve in dese mixed white and black families en hit +shouldn't be 'lowed." + +"Durin' slavery de white folks didn't want de niggahs ter sing en +pray, but dey would turn a pot down en meet at de pot in de nite en +sing en pray en de white folks wouldn't 'yer dem." + +"Ef a slave died de white folks wouldn't let nobody set up wid de body +'cept de niggers ob dat plantation, but urthur slaves would slip in +atter dark, set up en den slip back ter dere plantation 'fore day." + +"W'en I useter go ter camp meetin' dey had big dinnahs en spread hit +on de groun'. Dey preached, sung, shouted en eve'ybody had a good +time." + +"Fum de camp meetin's dey would go ter de wharf en baptize. Dey would +tie handkerchiefs 'roun dere haids. W'en dey wuz dipped under de water +sum ob dem would kum up shoutin'." + + +A TALE + +One time de preacher wuz in de river fixin' ter baptize a man. +Eve'ybody wuz singin' ole time 'ligion. A 'oman sung, "I don' lak dat +thing 'hind you." Bout dat time de pahson en de udder man se'd an +alligator. De parson sezs, "No-By-God I Don't Either." He turned de +man loose en dey both run 'way. + + + + +INTERVIEW +REV. JOHN MOORE +809 7th Avenue So. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn in Georgia (exact time not known) en mah mammy wuz half +Indian en mah daddy a slave. Both ob dem owned by William Moore. Sum +time atter dat Marster Moore sold mah daddy en den de Moore Sistuhs +looked atter me en wuz allus good ter me. "Lawdy, dey wuz good white +folks." + +"Durin' slavery times de slaves would hab ter git fum dere marster a +pas' 'fore dey could visit dere own people on de uther plantations. +Ef'n you had no pass you would git in trouble ef caught wid out one +which allus ment a good whuppin' w'en dey returned. At dat time menny +slaves would run 'way en hide in caves en menny ob dem would go by de +"ondergroun' railroad" ter Canada whar slavery wuz not recognized." +(The underground railroad consisted of hiding places throughout the +states to Canada and the slaves would make the trip under cover from +station to station.) + +"De slaves would slip out at nite ter private meetin's en turn a pot +bottom up on de groun' en leave a little hole under hit so de sound ob +dere talkin' would go onder de pot en no one would 'year whut dey wuz +talkin' 'bout." + +"De ex-slaves ob de better class did vote en de white peeple stuck wid +de good cul'ed folks. I don' member now 'bout de Nat Turner +'Bellion." + +"Atter freedum de slaves wuz 'lowed ter stay on de plantation en +'lowed ter farm en gib half dey made. Atter slavery I useter wuk fer +fifty cents en git a peck ob meal, three pounds ob bacon en a quart ob +syrup which would las' a week." + +"De Ku Klux Klan's plan wuz ter whup all white er cul'ed people dat +didn't stay at home en support dere families but would run 'roun en +live a bad life. W'en de Klan would be passin' through de slaves would +call dem ghostus." + +"One nite mah br'er en me wuz sleepin' in de dining room. Sumpin woke +us an we seed sumpin' dat kum through de yard en got hold ob sum +blocks. Dat thing didn't hab no haid en didn't hab no tale en looked +lak hit wuz backin' up on all four legs. Nex mawnin' we could fin' no +tracks ob whuteber hit wuz en de gate wuz also fasened." + +"Dis young peoples 'cordin' ter de Bible ez on de broad road ter ruin. +Dey think dey ez as good as de white people but dey ez classed as +niggahs in mah eyes." + +"Caint member any ob de ole songs now." + + + + +SUBJECT--EX-SLAVE STORIES + +Andrew Moss +#88 Auburn Streets +Knoxville, Tennessee + + +"One ting dat's all wrong wid dis world today," according to Andrew +Moss, aged negro, as he sits through the winter days before an open +grate fire in his cabin, with his long, lean fingers clasped over his +crossed knees, "is dat dey ain no 'prayer grounds'. Down in Georgia +whar I was born,--dat was 'way back in 1852,--us colored folks had +prayer grounds. My Mammy's was a ole twisted thick-rooted muscadine +bush. She'd go in dar and pray for deliverance of de slaves. Some +colored folks cleaned out knee-spots in de cane breaks. Cane you know, +grows high and thick, and colored folks could hide de'seves in dar, an +nobody could see an pester em." + +"You see it was jes like dis. Durin' de war, an befo de war too, white +folks make a heap o fun of de colored folks for alltime prayin. +Sometime, say, you was a slave en you git down to pray in de field or +by de side of de road. White Marster come 'long and see a slave on his +knees. He say, 'What you prayin' 'bout?' An you say, 'Oh, Marster I'se +jes prayin' to Jesus cause I wants to go to Heaven when I dies.' An +Marster say, 'Youse my negro. I git ye to Heaven. Git up off'n your +knees.' De white folks what owned slaves thought that when dey go to +Heaven de collored folk's would be dar to wait on em. An ef'n it was a +Yank come 'long, he say too, 'What you prayin' 'bout?' You gives de +same 'sponse. An he say, 'We'se gwine save you. We goin' to set you +free. You wants to be free, dont you?' 'Yessir, Boss!' 'Well den, Yank +say, come go 'long wid me.' Ain no use keep sayin' 'Please sir Boss, +I'll have to arsk my Master.' Yank say, 'what you mean, Marster? You +aint got no Marster. We's settin' you free.'" + +"Sometimes dey takes a' tie a rope 'round you, and they starts ridin' +off but dey dont go too fas' so you walks behind. Sometimes 'long +comes another Yank on a horse an he arsk, 'Boy ain you tired?' 'Yessir +Boss.' 'Well den you git up here behind me and ride some.' Den he wrop +de rope all 'round de saddle horn. Wrops and wrops, but leaves some +slack. But he keeps you tied, so's you wont jump down and run away. An +many's de time a prayin' negro got took off like dat, and want never +seen no more." + +"'Course ef'n you goes wid em, you 'member your trainin' and 'fore you +leaves de field, you stacks your hoe nice, like you was quittin' de +days work. Dey learned the little'uns to do dat, soon's dey begins to +work in de fields. Dey had little hoes, handles 'bout de size of my +arm, for de little fellers. I've walked many a mile, when I was a +little feller, up and down de rows, followin' de grown folks, an +chopping wid de hoe 'round de corners whar de earth was soft so de +little uns could hoe easy. Whoopee! Let dat dinner horn blow, and evy +body stacks dey hoes, nince, neat stacks standin up, and starts to +run. Some eats in dey own cabins, but dem what eats at de big house, +sets down at a long table, and gets good grub too! Evy night, our +Marster give us evy one a glass o whiskey. Dat's to keep off decease. +Mornins' we had to all drink tar water for de same purpose. Dat want +so tasty." + +"My Marster's name was George Hopper. Dat man paid taxes on more'n +two-thousand acres of land in two counties. I lived in dem two +counties. Was born in Wilkes and raised in Lincoln County, Georgia. We +called it de middle-south. My Marster he never did marry. Lots of +folks didnt, dey jes took up wid one another. Marster Hopper had five +children by my grandmother. She was his house woman, dat's what he +call 'er. An when he died he willed her and all dem chilluns a house, +some land, and a little money. He'd of left em a heap more money and +ud been one of the richest men in the country, ef'n de war hadn't +broke out. When it was over he had a barrel full of 'Federate +greenbacks. But t'want no count. He done broke den. One day my uncle, +he was the colored overseer, he went to Danbury, six miles from whar +we lived at, and he paid $5 for a pound of coffee. Dat was befo de +North whupped de South, and dey had'n killed-down de money value for +de South." + +"Talk about hard times! We see'd em in dem days, durin' de war and +most specially after de Surrender. Folks dese days dont know what +trouble looks like. We was glad to eat ash-cakes and drink parched +corn and rye 'stead o coffee. I've seed my grandmother go to de smoke +house, and scrape up de dirt whar de meat had drapped, and take it to +de house fer seasonin. You see, both armies fed off'n de white folks, +and dey cleaned out dey barns and cellars and smoke houses when dey +come. One time, when de Yanks was on de way to Augusta, I was picking +up chips to make the supper fire, when I see'd em comin'. I hit it out +from dar and hide behind two little hills down by de big spring. After +awhile my brother find me and he tell me to come on back to the house +and see dem white mens dance. De Yanks kep' comin' and dey eat all +night. By daylight they was through marchin past." + +"An den come de Rebels. When dey come we had five-thousand bushel of +corn, one-hundred head o hogs, three-hundred and fifty galons of syrup +'en sech. When dey left, they took an set fire to evything, to keep it +away from the Yanks, aimin to starve em out o dat country. Dat's what +dey done. Some of dem Rebs was mean as the Yanks. And dat was bein' +mean. Some called de Yanks, 'de Hornets', 'cause dey fight so. Take a +Yank an he'd fight acrost a buzz saw and it circlin' fifty mile a +minute." + +"Dat time when the Yanks was goin' to Augusta, an I went to black my +Marster's boot,--he'd give us a two-cent peice, big as a quarter--for +boot blackin, I say, 'Marster who is dem soldiers?' An he say to me, +'Dey's de Yankees, come to try to take you awy from me.' An I say, +'Looks like to me Marster, ef'n dey wants to take us dey'd arsk you +fer us.' Marster laughed and say, 'Boy! Dem fellers dont axes wid +words. Dey does all dey talkin' wid cannons.' Did you know that a +white woman shot de first cannon dat was ever fired in de state o +Georgia? She was a Yankee Colonel's wife, dey say, named Miss Anna, I +dunno the rest o her name. She wants to be de first to fire a cannon +she say, to set the negroes free. Dat was befo' de war, begin. De roar +of dat cannon was in folkes ears for more'n five days and nights." + +Uncle Andrew gave a little grunt as he lifted himself out of his +chair. His little frame seemed lost in the broad-shouldered lumber +jacket that he wore. He had laid aside the paper sack from which he +had been eating, when the visitor came, and removed an old stocking +cap from his head. When the visitor suggested that he keep it on, as +he might catch cold he replied, "I dont humor myself none." The +sunlight fell upon his head and shoulders as he stood, to steady +himself on his feet. Traces of his ancestry of Indian blood,--one of +his grandfathers was a Cherokee Indian,--were evident in his features. +His skin is jet-black, but his forehead high and his nose straight, +with nostrils only slightly full. There was dignity in his bearing and +beauty in his face, with its halo of cotton-white hair and beard, cut +short and neatly parted in the middle of his chin. + +Walking about the room, he called the visitor's attention to family +portraits on the walls. Some were colored crayons, and a few were +enlarged snap-shots. Proudly he pointed to the photograph of a +huge-sized Negro man, apparently in his thirties, and said, "He was +our first comins'. Reckon he took after his great granddaddy, who was +eight feet tall and weighed twe-hundred and fifty pounds. That man's +arms was so long, when dey hung down by his side, his fingers was +below his knees. Dis grandfather was free-born. My father, Dave Moss, +he was sold three times. He had twenty-five children. But he had two +wives. As I aforesaid, folks didn't always marry in dem days, jes took +up wid one another. My mother was his title-wife. By her, he jes had +me and my two full-brothers an one sister. My mother died two years +after de war. My father give my sister to my grandmother. Jes give 'er +to 'er." + +"How come I live in Knoxville, I was a young man, when I started off +from Georgia, aimin to go over de mountains to Kentucky whar I heard +dey pay good wages. I stopped in Campbell country, Tennessee wid +another feller, an' I see'd a pretty gal workin' in de field. An I +say's, I'm goin' to marry dat gal. Sho 'nough me an her was married in +less dan six months. Her Marster build us a log house and we lived dar +'till we come to Knoxville, Tennessee. Now, all o my boys is dead. Evy +one o em worked for Mr. Peters (Peters and Bradley Flour Mills, of +Knoxville)--and dey all died workin' fer him. So Mister Willie, he say +he gwine let me live here, in de company house, the rest o my days." + +The four room frame house stands near a creek at the dead end of an +alley on which both whites and negroes live. The huge double bed, +neatly made, stands between two windows from which there is an +unobstructed view of the highway traversing north and south through +northern Knoxville, several blocks away from Andrew's home. "I jes lay +down on dat bed nights and watch them autimobiles flyin by. Dey go +Blip! Blip! and Blip! An I say to my self, 'Watch them fools!' Folkes +ain got de sense dey's born wid. Ain smart like dey used to be. An +times ain good like dey was. Ef'n it hadnt been for some of dem crazy +fools, actin up and smarty, me an my wife'd be gittin maybe a hun'ered +an' more dollars a month, 'stead o the fifteen we gits 'tween us for +ole' age help. They'd ought to let Rosevelt alone. An its his own +folks as is fitin' 'im. He is a big man even ef he is a Democrat. I'm +a Republican though. Voted my first time for Blaine." + +"Yes I votes sometimes now, when dey come gits me. An befo I got sick, +I would ride the street car to town. An I goes down to de Court House, +and when I see dem cannons in deyard I cain keep from cryin'. My wife +arsk me what make me go look at dem cannon ef'n dey makes me cry. An I +tells her I cry 'bout de good and de bad times dem cannon bringed us. +But no cannons or nothin' else, seems like going to bring back de good +old times. But I dont worry 'bout all dese things much. Accordin' to +de Good Book's promise, weepin' may endure for a night, den come joy +in de mornin. An I knows dat de day's soon come when I goes to meet my +folks and my Lord an Marster in his Heaven, whar dey ain no more +weepin.'" + + + + +SUBJECT--EX-SLAVE STORIES + +Aunt Mollie Moss +# 88- Auburn Street, +Knoxville, Tennessee + + +There is no street sign or a number on any of the ramshackled frame +cottages that seemingly lean with the breezes, first one direction, +then another, along the alley that wind's through the city's +northernmost boundary and stops its meanderings at the doorstep of +"Uncle Andrew Moss" and his wife, "Aunt Mollie." + +The City Directory of Knoxville, Tennessee officially lists the Moss +residence as # 88 Auburn Street. It rests upon its foundations more +substantially, and is in better kept condition than its neighbors. In +lieu of a "reg'lar" house number, the aged negro couple have placed a +rusty automobile lisence tag of ancient vintage conspicuously over +their door. It is their jesture of contempt for their nearest white +neighbors who "dont seem to care whedder folkses know whar dey lib an +maybe don wants em to." + +As for Aunt Mollie, she holds herself superior to all of her +neighbors. She "Ain got no time for po white trash noway." She shoo'ed +two little tow-headed white girls from her doorstep with her broom as +she stood in her door and watched a visitor approach. "G'wan way frum +here now, can be bodder wid you chillun messin ups my front yard. Take +yo tings an go on back to yo own place!" + +"Dats way dey do," she mummled as she lead the visitor inside the +cottage, through the dining-room and kitchen into the living-room and +bedroom. "Don know what I gwine do when come summer time. Keeps me all +time lookin out for dem chilluns. Dey's dat troublesome. Brings trash +in on my flo what I jes scoured, an musses 'roun, maybe tryin to steal +sumpin an me watchin em too. Dey wasnt teached manners and 'havior in +odder folkses houses like what I war." + +When Aunt Mollie learned that it was to hear her story of how she was +trained in manners end behaviorism, that the visitor had come, and to +hear something of her recollections of slave days, her belligerent +mood vanished. The satisfied manner in which she drew up chairs before +the fire, took a pinch of snuff and settled her skirts, indicated that +was going to be quite a session. She leaned her elbows on her knees, +held her head between the palms of her hands and fumbled in her cloudy +memory to gather a few facts to relate. + +Uncle Andrew, the more intelligent of the two, and quick to seize upon +his opportunity, began his reminiscences immediately, saying "Honey, +wait now," when his wife thought herself well organized to talk, and +frequently broke into his narrative. "Wait untell I gits through. Den +you can talk." Aunt Mollie would frown and grunt, mumble to herself as +she rocked back and forth in her chair. She pulled the two long braids +of brown silky hair, streaked with white, and tied at the ends with +cotton strings. She spat vigorously into the fire, kept muttering and +shuffling her feet, which were encased in men's shoes. + +At last it came Aunt Mollie's turn to talk war-times. Uncle Andrew, +well pleased with his recital, retired to his corner by the hearth and +listened "mannerdly"--after first warning the visitor in a gentle +undertone, that "My wife she ain got much mem'ry an she don hear +good." Aunt Mollie's rambling reminiscences backed up his statement. +She began. + +"Reckon I mus be 'bout eighty-two, three year old. I dunno exactly. Ef +I knowed whar to find em, deys some my white folkes lib in dis town. +Seem like I can 'member dey names. I b'longed to Marster Billy Cain, +and was raised on his farm in Campbell county, Tennessee. Oh, 'bout +six, seven mile from Jacksboro. Wish I could go back dar some time. +Ain been dar sence me an Moss married an live eight, ten or some more +years in a log cabin he built for us. We was married March 7, de day +atter Cleveland was 'lected presi-dent. In 1885 did you say? Well, +reckon you're right. I ain had no schoolin an I can 'member lots o +tings I used to know." + +"Billy Cain worked me in de fields. An his wife Miss Nancy say she +gwine stop it, 'cause I was so pretty she fraid somebody come steal +me." Aunt Mollie buried her face in her apron and had a good laugh. +"Dey said I was de pretties' girl anywhars about. Had teeth jes like +pearls. Whoops! Look at em now. Ain got 'nuff left to chaw wid. You +notices how light-complected I is? My own father was a full-blooded +Cherokee Indian. De Yanks captured him an killed him." + +"I was hoein in de field dat time Moss com 'long and see me and say he +gwine marry me. An, jes like he tell you, we was married in less dan +six months. We been livin togedder evy since and we gits along good. +We have had blessins' and got a lot to be thankful for. Could have +more to eat sometimes, but we gits along someways. I am a good cook. +Miss Nancy she teached me all kinds o cookin, puttin up berries, makin +pickles and bakin bread and cake an evy'ting. Her ole man Cain give us +good grub dem days. Monday mornins' we go to de Cains to git rations +for de week. Dey gib us three pounds wheat, a peck o meal, a galon o +molasses, two pound o lard, two pound o brown sugar, rice an evy'ting. +I use to have plates an china white folks gib me. White woman come one +day, say she wan buy 'em. Took plum nigh all I had. Did'n pay me much +o nothin' either." + +"Yes, Lord. I does 'member 'bout de war. I've see'd de blue an I've +see'd de grey. In 1862 I see'd de soldiers formin' in line. I was a +great big girl. Dem swords glisen' like stars. Can' member whar dey +was goin dat time. But I ain forgit de times soldiers come foragin. +Dey got all dey wanted, too. Hep' dey sef's an dont pay for it, never. +Soldier see a chicken go under de house, he plop down and shoot, and +den call me to crawl under de house and fetch it out." Aunt Mollie +buried her head in her apron again and laughed like a child. "Lordy +how scared I was of de old gander dat blowed at me, whilst I was +tryin' to drag 'em out alive, when I see'd de soldiers comin'." + +"Billy Cain, he was brudder-in-law to Old Townslee, who lived on a +plantation in Alabama. How come my mother was give to Cain an come to +Tennessee, was one mornin' Old Townslee rode his horse out under a +tree to blow up de slaves. Blow de horn you know, to call 'em to work. +Somebody shot 'im. Right off his horse. It was so dark, 'fore +daylight, an' couldnt see and dey never did find out who shot 'im. +Heap o white folks had enemies dem days. So de slaves he owned was +divided munxt his chilluns. My mother was one of nine dat come to +Billy Cain dat way." + +"Talk 'bout your shootin jest for devilment. Lemme tell you 'bout old +men John Wynn. He live down dar 'bout ten mile from whar Moss lived +when he was a boy. I've heard em tell it many a time. Dey say John +Wynn had 185 slaves. Evy time it come George Washington's birthday, +Old Wynn he had a feast and invite all de slaves! He celebratin! he +say. He seta a long table wid all kind good tings to eat. An he count +de slaves, so's to be sure dey all come. An' den he'd take an pick out +one and shoot him! Den he say, "Now youse all can go 'head an eat. +Throw dat nigger 'side an we bury im in mornin'." And he walks off to +de big house. No! He wasn't drunk. Jes de debil in 'im. Well, he shot +ten, twelve, maybe thirty dat way. An den de white folks hanged 'im to +a tree. Hanged im t'well he was good and dead, dey did." + +"Now folkes can 'joy dey victuals wid sech goin's on. De slaves git +so's dey scared to hear de bell ring. Don' know what it mean. Maybe +death, maybe fire, maybe nudder sale o some body. Gwine take 'em way. +But when de bell ring dey had to come. Let dat ole bell ring and de +woods was full o negroes. Maybe 500 hundred come from all over date +county." + +Aunt Mollie was beginning to ramble and babble incoherently, her +memories of her own and the experiences of others all confused in her +mind. When she had about finished a story about how one of the slave +women, "bust de skull" of the head of her marster,'" 'cause she was +nussin a sick baby an' he tell her she got to git out in dat field an +hoe" and the gory details of what the shovel did to the white +marster's head, it was time for the visitors to close the interview. + +Both Uncle Andrew and Aunt Mollie followed the visitor to the front +door, and wished her "All de luck in de world. An thank you for +comin'. An come see us agin, nudder time." + + + + +INTERVIEW +ANDY ODELL +1313 Pearl Street +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn east ob Spring Hill, Tennessee. I dunno in w'at y'ar, but +I wuz a ful' grown man w'en I wuz freed. (This will make him about 96 +years old.). I wuz an onlies' chile en I nebber knowed mah daddy. Mah +mammy wuz sold 'way fum me. She ma'ied a man named Brown en dey had +seven chillun." + +"At fust I 'longed ter Marster Jim Caruthers. W'en his daughter ma'ied +Fount Odell, I wuz willed ter her en den mah marsters wuz Fount en +Albert Odell who wuz br'ers. Mah white folks let us go ter chuch. I +b'leeves in de Baptist 'ligion. I nebber knowed any slave dat had ter +hide ter sing er pray. I members de comet en hit wuz a sta'r wid a +long tail en looked lak hit wuz burnin'. De sta'rs fell 'fore I wuz +bawn." (The stars fell in 1833). + +"We had ter hab passes en if you didn't hab one, you got whupped. Mah +marster let me go ter chuch wid' out a pass. I members de Klu Klux +Klan but dey nebber bothered me, tho I 'yeard a lot 'bout dem. Dey +called demselves "White Caps" en said dey wuz rite fum de grave. W'en +a slave got whupped hit wuz cose dey disobey dere white folks en de +overseer whupped dem. I though mah white folks wuz awful mean ter me +sumtime." + +"I nebber b'leeved in ghos' but hab yeard lots 'bout dem. Lots of +peeples did b'leeve in dem back in dem times. Uster sing a lot but I +dunno names ob dem now. I dunno w'at ez gwine ter 'kum ob dis young +crowd. I sho don't think diff'ent culers oughter ma'rie. De Lawd +didn't mean fer hit ter be dun. Dunno ob any slave 'risin's in +Virginia er any uther place. Don't member now de tales en sayin' ob de +ole times." + +"Member well w'en de war broke out en how dey had big dinners en +marched 'round ovuh de fiel's, gittin' ready fer de war. I had a br'er +kilt in de war en mah mammy got a lettle money fum 'im. Also member +dat w'en mah mammy got de money she bought me a hat." + +"I don't git nuthin at freedum en I dunno ob any slaves gittin' any +land er money. I know dat w'en we wuz freed Marster Albert called us +slaves in en said, "You all ez as free as I ez, but you can stay 'yer +en wuk fer me ef'n you want ter." I staid wid 'im a good w'ile attar +freedum." + +"Since freedum I hab plowed, hoed, cut wood, en wuk'd in quarries +pecking rock. Hab nebber wuk'd in town fer I dunno de things 'bout +town. I hab voted almost eve'y election since freedum 'til dese last +few years. I hab had two frens in office but both ez de'd now. I uster +think 'omen shouldn't vote, but I guess hit ez alri'te." + + + + +INTERVIEW +LAURA RAMSEY PARKER +715 Gay St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I'se 87 y'ars ole. Wuz bawn in slavery. Wuz freed w'en de slavery +stopped. Mack Ramsey wuz mah marster en he wuz sho good ter his +slaves. He treated dem as human bein's. W'en he turned his slaves +'loose he gib dem no money, but gib dem lands, clothin' en food 'til +dey could brang in dere fust crop. Mah daddy rented a strip ob land +'til he wuz able ter buy de place. He lived on de same fer menny +y'ars." + +"W'en I wuz ole er'nuff I wuz taught ter spin en weav. I bucum de nuss +ter de marster's onlies' chile. Soon atter I wuz freed, I went ter +Wisconsin, but only wuz dere fer a y'ar, den I kum back ter Tennessee +en Nashville. I settled in dis house en I'se bin livin' in hit fer +ovuh fifty y'ars. Dere wuz no uther houses 'round 'yer at de time. I +own de place. Hab wuk'd all mah life seem ter me. At one time I wuz a +chambermaid at de Nicholson House now de Tulane en later 'kum a sick +nuss, a seamstress, dressmaker but now I pieces en sells bed quilts. I +does mah own housekeepin' en washin'." + +"I don't member now, very much 'bout de Ku Klux Klan. I do member dat +one nite dey passed our home en I grab'ed a shotgun en said dat I wuz +gwine ter shoot dem ef dey kum on de place. I members de Battle ob +Murfreesboro, but I'se got no membrances ob any slave uprisin'." + +"I think very lettle ob de younger ginerashon. Dere's many things ter +day dat should be changed, but I'se 'yer en can't do nuthin' ter +change hit. I's min'in mah own business. I puts mah faith en trust in +Gawd's han's; en treats mah nabers right; en lives honest. I 'longs +ter de Christian Chuch, but don't wan'ter be called a "Campbellite." + +"De songs I members ez: + +Am I a Soldier ob de Cross. +Am I Bawn ter Die? +'Tis 'Ligion Dat Can Gib." + + + + +INTERVIEW +NAISY REECE +710 Overton St. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn in slavery, in Williamson County, guess I'se 'bout 80 +y'ars ole. Think I wuz fou' w'en de wah started." + +"Mah mammy en daddy wuz Mary en Ennock Brown." + +"Mah missis en marster wuz Polly en Randall Brown." + +"Dunno ob any ob our fam'ly bein' sold. W'en freedum wuz declar' we +wuz tu'n loose wid nothin'. Mah daddy tuk us down in de kuntry, raised +crops en made us wuk in de fiel'." + +"I'se cooked a leetle fer urther peeple, but mos' ob mah wuk has bin +laundry. I didn't go ter schul much. I dunno w'at ter say 'bout de +younger gineratshun; dere ez sich a diff'unce now ter w'at hit wuz +w'en I wuz a girl. Dunno any tales dat I useter 'year." + +"Didn't see any Klu Klux Klan, but I alluz got skeered en hid w'en +we'd 'year dey wuz kumin'. I 'long ter de Baptist Church. I neber went +ter menny camp-meetin's, but went ter a lot ob baptizins." + +"Mammy tole us how de sta'rs fell en how skeered eberybody got. I saw +de long tail comet." + +_Signs_: "Good luck ter git up 'fore day-lite ef'n youer gwin sum +place er start sum wuk." "Bad luck ter sweep flo' atter dark en sweep +de dirt out." + +_Songs_: "I Couldn't Hear Anybody Pray." + "Ole Time 'Ligion." + "Cross De Riber Jordan." + +"I'se neber voted, en hab neber had any frens in office. Neber knowed +nothin' 'bout de slave mart er de 'structshun days." + + + + +INTERVIEW +MILLIE SIMPKINS +"BLACK MAMIE" +1004 10th Avenue, No. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +I claims I's 109 ye'ars ole en wuz bawn neah Winchester, Tennessee. +Mah marster wuz Boyd Sims en mah missis wuz Sarah Ann Ewing Sims. Mah +mammy wus named Judy Ewing en mah daddy wuz Moses Stephens en he wus +"free bawn." He wuz de marster's stable boy en followed de races. He +run 'way en nebber kum back. + +Mah fust missis wuz very rich. She had two slave 'omen ter dress her +eve'y mawnin' en I brought her breakfust ter her on a silvah waitah. +She wuz ma'ied three times, her second husband wuz Joe Carter en de +third wuz Judge Gork. + +Mah fust missis sold me kaze I wuz stubborn. She sent me ter de "slave +yard" at Nashville. De yard wuz full ob slaves. I stayed dere two +weeks 'fore marster Simpson bought me. I wuz sold 'way fum mah husband +en I nebber se'd 'im 'gin. I had one chile which I tuk wid me. + +De slave yard wuz on Cedar Street. A Mr. Chandler would bid de slaves +off, but 'fore dey started biddin' you had ter tek all ob yo Clothes +off en roll down de hill so dey could see dat you didn't hab no bones +broken, er sores on yer. (I wouldin' tek mine off). Ef nobody bid on +you, you wuz tuk ter de slave mart en sold. I wuz sold dere. A bunch +ob dem wuz sent ter Mississippi en dey had dere ankles fas'end +tergedder en dey had ter walk w'iles de tradahs rid. + +W'en I wuz sold ter marster Simpkins, mah second mistress made me a +house slave en I wuked only at de big house en mah wuk wus ter nuss en +dress de chilluns en he'ps mah missis in her dressin'. + +De young slaves wuz hired out ter nuss de white chilluns. I wuz hired +as nuss girl at seven y'ars ole en started cookin' at ten. I nebber +had a chance ter go ter schul. + +I'm de mammy ob 14 chilluns, seven boys en seven gals. I wuz next ter +de olest ob four chillun. Mah missis useter hire me out ter hotels en +taverns. + +Sum marsters fed dare slaves meat en sum wouldin' let dem hab a bite. +One marster we useter 'yer 'bout would grease his slaves mouth on +Sunday mawnin', en tell dem ef any body axed ef dey had meat ter say +"yes, lots ob hit". + +W'en dey got ready ter whup dem dey'd put dem down on a pit widout any +clothes, stand back wid a bull whup en cut de blood out. I member de +niggers would run 'way en hide out. + +De only fun de young folks had wuz w'en de ole folks had a quiltin'. +W'ile de ole folks wuz wukin' on de quilt de young ones would git in +'nuther room, dance en hab a good time. Dey'd hab a pot turned down at +de do'er ter keep de white folks fum 'yearin' dem. De white folks +didn't want us ter l'arn nothin' en ef a slave picked up a lettle +piece ob papah, dey would yell "put dat down you--you wan't ter git in +our business." + +De white folks wouldin' let de slaves pray, ef dey got ter pray hit +wuz w'iles walkin' 'hind de plow. White folks would whup de slaves ef +dey 'yeard dem sing er pray. + +I wuz a big girl w'en dey build de Capitol. I played on de hill 'fore +hit wuz built en I toted blocks fum dere w'en hit wuz bein' built. I +wuz livin' in Dickson County w'en Fort Donelson wuz tuk. I seed de +fust gun boat dat kum up de Cumberland River. I wuz standin' in de +Do'er w'en I se'd hit kumin', but hit didn't tek me long ter git back +in de back ob de house. I wuz skeered dey would shoot. + +Mah marster run a fer'y en atter de gun boat kum up de riber, he got +skeered en gib mah ole man de fer'y, en w'en de soldiers kum ter tek +Fort Negley he set dem 'cross de river. + +A man at Ashland City dat made whisk'y would hab Mr. Simpkins bring a +load ob logs up ter Ashland City en den bring a load ob whiskey down +en hide hit so de Yankees would'nt git hit. + +Mah marster had a fish trap at de mouth ob Harper en w'en de gun boat +passed dey shot thro' de trap. + +I wuz right 'yer w'en de Civil wah wuz gwin on, en de soldiers wuz +dressed up en beatin' de drums. + +No honey we didn't git nothin' w'en we wuz freed. Jes druv 'way widout +nothin' ter do wid. We got in a waggin en druv ter nuther man's +plantashun. Mah ole man made a crap dere. Sum ob de slaves might hab +got sump'in but I dunno nobody dat did. I wuz skeered ter op'n mah +do'er atter dark on 'count ob Ku Klux Klan, dey wuz red hot. + +I member w'en de sta'rs fell. I wuz small but de ole folks run out en +looked at dem, kum back set down en cried, dey tho't hit me'nt de +worl' wuz kumin' ter an end. + +De peeple wuz skeered w'en dey se'd de comet wid de long tail. Dey +tho't hit wuz a sign ob wah. + +I'se cooked eve'y since I wuz freed. I stayed in Henry Galbles kitchen +five long y'ars, en since I'se had dese strokes hit's broke me up +'till I kin do nothin'. I 'long ter de Methodist Church. I think de +young peeples ez turrible, en dis white en black mar'iags not be +'lowed. + +De songs I member ez: + +"Dark wuz de Night". +"Good Ole Daniel". + +I'se nebber voted but I'se electioneered fer dem. Hab nebber had any +frens in office. + +I wuz 'yer w'en Henry Clay en James K. Polk wuz runnin'. I wuz hired +at de ole City Hotel ovuh on de river. I wuz din'in room servant dere. +Mah marster would hab me sing a song fer him 'bout de Democrats. +"Hooray de kuntry ez risin'; rise up en drown ole Clay en his pizen". +I guess ole Clay wuz a right good fellow but he played cards wid de +niggers in de cellar. + +De only thing I member 'bout de 'structshun time wuz sum ob de whites +didn't wan' de niggers ter vote. + +I stays 'yer wid mah daughter. Dat ez de only support I hab since I +had deze strokes en bin unable ter do fer mahse'f. + + + + +_Ex-Slave Stories_ + +Subject: _Joseph_ _Leonidas_ _Star_, +# 133 Quebec Place, +_Knoxville_, _Tennessee_ + + +If the poetic strain in the Dunbar Negroes of the south is an +inheritance and not "just a gift from On High," Knoxville, Tennessee's +aged Negro Poet,--born Joseph Leonidas Star,--but prominently known in +the community as "Lee" Star, Poet, Politician and Lodge Man,--thinks +that Georgia's poetic genius Paul Lawrence Dunbar, "maybe took his +writin' spells" from him. + +"My grandfather and Paul Lawrence Dunbar's grandfather was cousins. He +were a much younger man than I am, for I was eighty-one years old the +twenty-sixth of December, 1937. So I reckon I give it down to my +kin-man. But it seem to me, that Poets is just born thataway. Po'try +is nothin' but Truth anyway, and it's Truth was sets us free. And that +makes me a free-born citizen bothways and every ways. I were born +free. I were always happy-natured and I expect to die thataway. One of +my poems is named, 'Be Satisfied!' and I say in it that if a man's got +somethin' to eat, and teeth to bite, he should be satisfied. You cant +take your goods with you. Old man Rockefeller, when he died here +awhile back, went away from here 'thout his hat and shoes. That's the +way its goin' to be with all us, no matter what our color is." + +"The people 'round here calls me "Lee" Star, and I want to tell you, +Lee Star is a free-born man. But of course, things bein' as they were, +both my mother and father were slaves. That is for a few years. They +lived in Greenville, Tennessee. My mother, Maria Guess, was free'd +before the emancipation, by the good words of her young white +mistress, who told 'me [TR: 'em] all when she was about to die, she +wanted 'em to set Maria free, 'cause she didn't want her little +playmate to be nobodys else's slave. They was playmates you see. My +mother was eleven years old when she was freed." + +"When she was about fourteen and my father Henry Dunbar wanted to +marry he had to first buy his freedom. In them times a slave couldn't +marry a free'd person. So he bought his freedom from his Marster Lloyd +Bullen, and a good friend of Andrew Johnson, the presi-dent. My father +an' him was friends too. So he bought his freedom, for just a little +of somethin' I disremember what, 'cause they didn't aim to make him +buy his freedom high. He made good money though. He was a carpenter, +blacksmith, shoe maker and knowed a lot more trades. His Master was +broadhearted, and good to his slaves, and he let 'em work at anything +they want to, when they was done their part of white folks +chore-work." + +"Both my father and mother was learned in the shoe makin' trade. When +they come to Knoxville to live, and where I was born, they had a great +big shoe shop out there close to where Governor Brownlow lived. +Knoxville just had three streets, two runnin' east and west and one +run north and south. I well remember when General Burnside come to +Knoxville. That was endurin' the siege of Knoxville. Before he marched +his men out to the Battle of Fort Saunders, he stopped his solider +[TR: soldier] band in front of our shoe shop and serenaded my mother +and father. I was a little boy and I climed up on the porch bannisters +and sat there and lissen' to that music." + +"I remember another big man come here once when I was a boy and I +served the transient trade at a little eatin' place right where the +Atkin Ho-tel is now. Jeff Davis come there to eat, when he stopped +over between trains. That was in 1869. No, I disremember what he eat +or how he behave. He didnt seem no different from any other man. He +was nince lookin' wore a long tail coat and his boots was plenty +blacked. He favored pictures of Abraham Lincoln. Was about +middle-height and had short, dark chin-whiskers. I were very busy at +the time, an' if they was any excitement I didnt know it." + +"Yes, I've seen many a slave in my day. One of my boy playmates was a +slave child. His name is Sam Rogan and he lives now at the County Poor +Farm. I make it a point not to dwell too much on slave times. I was +learned different. I've had considerable schoolin', went to my first +school in the old First Presbyterian church. My teachers was white +folks from the North. They give us our education and give us clothes +and things sent down here from the North. That was just after the +surrender. I did see a terrible sight once. A slave with chains on him +as long as from here to the street. He was in an ole' buggy, settin' +between two white men and they was passin' througn Knoxville. My +mother and father wouldnt lissen' to me tell 'em about it when I got +home. And I hope I forget everything I ever knowed or heard about +salves [TR: slaves], and slave times." + +Joseph Leonidas Star, no longer works at the shoemakers trade. He +writes poetry and lives leisurely in a three room frame shanty, in a +row of shabbier ones that face each other disconsolately on a typical +Negro alleyway, that has no shade trees and no paving. "Lee's" house +is the only one that does not wabble uneasily, flush with the muddy +alley. His stands on a small brick foundation, a few feet behind a +privet hedge in front, with a brick wall along the side in which he +has cemented a few huge conch shells. + +After fifty-four years residence here, a political boss in his ward, +and the only Negro member of the Young White Men's Republican League, +Star's influence in his community is attested by the fact that when he +"destructed", the Knoxville City Council to "please do somethin' about +it, Knoxville being too big a city to keep callin' street's alleys," +the City Council promptly and unanimously voted to change the name of +King's Alley to Quebec Place. + +When the interviewer called, Star's door was padlocked. But he +appeared soon, having received word by the grape-vine system that some +one "was to see him",--"They told me it was the Sherriff" he laughed. +He came down the long muddy alley at a lively clip. He claimes he is +able to walk about 20 miles each day, just to keep in condition. He +wore a broad-brimmed black "derby-hat", a neatly pressed serge suit in +two tones, a soiled white pleated shirt and a frazzled-edged black bow +tie. His coat lapels and vest-front were adorned with badges and +emblems, including his Masonic pins, a Friendship Medal, his +Republican button and a silver crucifix. The Catholic church, +according to Lee, is the only one in Knoxville which permits the black +man to worship under the same roof with his white brothers. + +Many of Star's poems have been published in the local and state +papers. He keeps a record of deaths of all citizens, and has done so +for sixty years. He calls the one, which records murders and hanging, +his "Doomsday Book", and "encoached" in it he claims is an accurate +date record of all such events of importance in his lifetime. His +records are neatly inscribed in a printing form and very legible. His +conversation is marked by grammatical incongruities, but he does not +speak the Negro dialect. + + + + +INTERVIEW +DAN THOMAS +941 Jefferson Street +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I wuz bawn in slavery in 1847 at Memphis, Tennessee en mah marster +wuz Deacon Allays. Mah mammy wuz de cook at de big house. Mah mammy +d'ed soon atter I wuz bawn, en de Missis had me raised on a bottle. +Marster en Missis treatus all dere slaves kindly en plenty ter eat en +eve'y one wuz happy. I dunno nuthin 'bout mah daddy er whar he went. I +hab no kin in dis worl'. All I eber yeard wuz dat all mah folks kum +fum Africa. Mah Missis would tell me dat I mus' be good en mine en +eberbody will lak' you en ef she d'ed, dey would tek keer ob me. Dat +ez w'at dey hab don." + +"I wuked 'round de house 'tel I wuz 'bout ten y'ars ole en de Marster +put me ter wuk in his big whiskey house. W'en I got 'bout 21 y'ars +ole, I would go out ter collect bills fum Marster's customers en hit +tuk me 'bout a week ter git all 'round. I wuzn't 'lowed ter tek money +but had ter git dere checks. I also wuked 18 y'ars as bar tender. +Marster en Mistress d'ed 'bout four y'ars 'fore whiskey went out ob de +United States. I stay wid dem 'til dey d'ed." + +"Atter de Marster en Missis d'ed de doctor sezs I would hab ter leave +Memphis on 'count ob my health. I kum ter Nashville en got a job at de +"Powder Plant" durin' de Worl' War, en stayed dere 'til hit wuz ovuh. +I den gets wuk at Foster en Creighton in Nashville 'till dey tole me +dat I wuz too ole ter wuk. I makes mah livin' now by haulin' slop en +pickin' up things dat de white folks throw in dere trash pile en sum +ob hit I sell ter de papah en junk dealers. De white peeple he'p me +now also." + +"I se'd dem sell a lot ob slaves in Mississippi, jes' lak hosses en +hogs, one time w'en de Marster en Mistress made a trip down dere. Lots +ob times dey made trips 'round de kuntry en dey allus tuk me 'long. I +se'd sum cru'l Marsters dat hitched up dere slaves ter plows en made +dem plow lak hosses en mules did." + +"Atter de slaves got dere freedum, dey had ter look atter demselves, +so dey would wuk on plantations till dey got so dey could rent a +place, lak you rent houses en farms terday. Sum got places whar dey +wuk'd fer wages." + +"I voted three times in mah life but lawdy dat wuz a long time ago. I +voted fer Teddy Roosevelt en Woodrow Wilson, en mah last vote wuz +'bout two y'ars pas'." + +"Hab no tales handed down by mah peeple. W'en I would try ter git +info'mation, atter I got o'ler, all dey would say wuz, "You wuz raised +on a bottle en hab no peeple ob you own." + +"Oh mah goodness! Hit jes par'lises me ter see how dem young peeple ez +doin' terday. Lawdy hab mercy but dere ez as much diff'ent fum ole +times as day en nite en hit looks lak things hab gone astray. Wuz tole +lots 'bout de Ku Klux Klan en how dey would catch en whup de cul'ed +peeple, but mah white folks made me stay in en dey neber got me." + +"I member seein' Andrew Jackson, General Grant en Abraham Lincoln, +member seein' General Andrew Jackson git'in ready fer war by marchin' +his soldiers erroun'. I se'd 'im ride his big white hoss up en down +ter see how dey marched." + +"One song I lack'd best ob all wuz, 'Mah ole Mammy ez De'd en Gon',' +'Let me Sit B'neath de Willow Tree.' Don't member uther songs now." + + + + +INTERVIEW +Sylvia Watkins +411 14th Avenue N. +Nashville, Tennessee. + + +I'se said ter be 91 y'ars ole. I wuz young w'en de War wuz goin' on. I +wuz bawn in Bedford County. Mah mammy wuz named Mariah. She had six +chillun by mah daddy en three by her fust husband. + +Mah missis wuz named Emily Hatchet en de young missises wuz Mittie en +Bettie, dey wuz twins. We had good clothes ter w'ar en w'en we went +ter de table hit wuz loaded wid good food en we could set down en eat +our stomachs full. Oh Lawd I wish dem days wuz now so I'd hab sum good +food. Ob course, we had ter wuk in de fiel's en mek w'at we et. + +Wen we'd finish our day's wuk our missis would let us go out en play +hide en seek, Puss in de corner, en diff'ent games. + +Mah mammy wuz sold in Virginia w'en she wuz a gurl. She sezs 'bou 60 +ob em wuz put in de road en druv down 'yer by a slave trader, lak a +bunch ob cattle. Mah mammy en two ob mah sistahs wuz put on a block, +sold en carried ter Alabama. We neber 'yeard fum dem nomo', en dunno +whar dey ez. + +I wuz willed ter mah young missis w'en she ma'ried. I wuz young en, ob +course, she whuped me, but she wasn't mean ter me. I needed eve'y +whupin' she eber gib me, cause I wuz allus fightin'. Mah missis allus +called me her lettle nig. + +Mah daddy could only see mah mammy Wednesday en Saturday nites, en +ef'n he kum wid'out a pass de pat-rollers would whup 'im er run 'im +'til his tongue hung out. On dem nites we would sit up en look fer +daddy en lots ob times he wuz out ob bref cose he had run so much. + +Mah white folks had a loom en we wove our own clothes. I wuz nuss en +house girl en l'arned how ter sew en nit. Mah young missis wuz blind +'fore she died. I useter visit her once a Ye'r en she'd load me down +wid things ter tek home, a linsey petticoat, ham bones, cracklins en +diff'ent things. She died 18 years ago almos' a 100 ye'r ole. + +De white folks wouldn't let de slaves hab a book er papah fer fear +dey'd l'arn sumpin', en ef dey wan'ed ter pray dey'd tu'n a kettle +down at dere cabin do'er. I member yearin' mah mammy pray "Oh Father +op'n up de do'ers en sho us lite." I'd look up ter de ceiling ter see +ef he wuz gonna op'n up sumpin'; silly, silly me, thinkin' such. I's +'longs ter de Missionary Baptist chuch but I don't git ter go very +off'n. + +I wuz tole 'fore freedum dat de slaves would git a mule, land en a new +suit, but our missis didn't gib us a thing. She promis' me, mah +br'rer, en three sistahs ef'n we would stay wid her a ye'r, en he'p +her mek a crop she would gib us sump'in ter start us a crop on w'en we +lef' her. + +Mah daddy's marster wus named Bob Rankin, he gib mah daddy a hog, sum +chickens, let him hab a cow ter milk en land ter raise a crop on. He +wan'ed mah daddy ter git us tergedder ter he'p daddy raise a crop but +since mah missis had promised us so much, daddy let us stay wid her a +ye'r. On de nite mah daddy kum fer us, mah missis sezs I've not got +nuthin ter gib you, fer I won't hab nobody ter do nuthin fer me. We +went wid our daddy. We lived dere on Marster Rankin's farm fer ye'rs +in fact so long we tho't de place 'longed ter mah daddy. We had a +house wid big cracks in hit, had a big fier place, a big pot dat hong +on de fier en a skillet dat we cooked corn bread in. Had a hill ob +taters under de house, would raise up a plank, rake down in de dirt +git taters, put dem in de fier ter roast. We had meat ter eat in de +middle ob de day but none at mawnin' er nite. We got one pair ob shoes +a ye'r, dey had brass on de toes. I uster git out en shine de toes ob +mine, we called hit gol' on our shoes. We wuked in de fiel' wid mah +daddy, en I know how ter do eberting dere ez ter do in a fiel' 'cept +plow, I wuz allus ter slender ter hold a plow. We had grease lamps. A +thing lak a goose neck wid platted rag wick in hit. Would put grease +in hit. + +Durin' slavery ef one marster had a big boy en 'nuther had a big gal +da marsters made dem libe tergedder. Ef'n de 'oman didn't hab any +chilluns, she wuz put on de block en sold en 'nuther 'oman bought. You +see dey raised de chilluns ter mek money on jes lak we raise pigs ter +sell. + +Mah mammy tole me 'bout de sta'rs fallin' en den I se'ed de second +fallin' ob sta'rs. Dey didn't hit de groun' lak de fust did. I member +de comet hit had a long tail. I lef' mah daddy en kum ter Nashville +wid missis Nellie Rankin, (daddy's young missus) in 1882; hab bin 'yer +eber since. I'se dun house wuk fer a lot ob peeples. Kep house fer a +'oman in Belle Meade fer 14 ye'rs. Now I'se aint able ter do nothin. +I'se bin ma'ried twice. Ma'ried Jimm Ferguson, libed wid 'im 20 ye'ars +he d'ed. Two ye'ars later I mar'ed George Watkins, lived wid him 8 +ye'ars; two ye'ars ago he died. I'se neber had any chilluns. I kep +wan'in ter 'dopt a lettle gal, de fust husban' wouldn't do hit. 'Bout +5-1/2 ye'ars ago de second husban' George kum in wid a tiny baby, sezs +'yer ez a boy baby I 'dopted. I sezs dat ez you own baby cose hits jes +like yer. He denied hit, but eben now de boy ez e'zackly lak George. +He's six ye'rs ole en gwine ter school. I'se got mah hands full tryin' +ter raise 'im 'lone. W'en George died he had a small inshorance +policy. I paid mah taxes, I owns dis home, en bought mahself three +hogs. I sold two en kilt one. Den I got three mor' jes' a short time +ago. Sum kind ob zeeze got among dem en dey all d'ed. + +Yas I'se voted four er five times, but neber had any frens in office. +I don' think dis white-black mar'iage should be 'lowed. Dey should be +whupped wid a bull whup. + +As far as I know de ex-slaves hab wuked at diff'ent kins ob jobs en +now sum I know ez in de po-house, sum git' in relief order en urthers +ez lak mahself, hab dere homes en gettin' 'long bes' dey kin. I needs +milk en cod liver oil fer dis lettle boy but can't buy it. + +I dunno nothin' 'bout slave uprisin's. De songs I member ez: + +"All Gawds Chilluns up Yonder." +"I want ter Shout Salvation." +"Down by de River Side." + + + + +INTERVIEW +NARCISSUS YOUNG +Rear 532 1st Street No. +Nashville, Tennessee + + +"I'se 96 y'ars ole. Bawn in slavery en mah marster wuz Isham Lamb en +mah missis wuz Martha Lamb. Mah mammy d'ed w'en I wuz three y'ars ole +en I wuz raised in de house 'til I wuz big 'nuff ter wuk out in de +fiels wid de uthers. Mah missis l'arn me ter sew, weav en spin. I also +he'lped ter cook en wuk in de house. Atter I got big'er I went ter +chuch wid mah white folks en had ter set wid urther slaves in dat part +ob de chuch whar nobody but slaves would be 'lowed. In slavery I'se +git no money fer wuk'n but I don' steal as mah white folks sho gib me +en de uther slaves plenty good things ter eat. Clothes good 'nuff fer +anybody, candy, en we went ter parties en urther places, en w'at else +could I'se wan'?" + +"Mah missis l'arned me ter pray, "Now I lay me down ter sleep. I pray +de Lawd mah soul ter keep, but if I should die 'fore I wake, I pray de +Lawd mah soul ter tek." I jined de Primitive Baptist Chuch w'ile young +en b'en dere ebe'y since." + +"I member de ole song back dere, "Rock a Bye Baby, Yo Daddy's gon' a +Huntin' ter git a Rabbit Skin ter put de Baby in." + +"I wuz whup'd by mah missis fer things dat I ought'n dun, but dat wuz +rite. De hahdest whup'in she eber gib me wuz 'bout two hen aigs. I had +gathured de aigs in a bucket en tuk dem ter de house en I se'd de big +fier in de fier-place so I tuk out two ob de aigs en put dem in de hot +ashes ter bake. Mah missis se'd de aigs en axed who put dem dere. I +tole her I didunt do hit, but she knowed I did. So she tole me she +don' keer 'bout de two aigs, but dat she wuz gwine ter whup me fer +tellin' a lie. Dey don't raise chilluns lak dat now." + +"I don't b'leeve in Niggers en whites ma'rin' en I wuz raised by de +"quality" en I'se b'leeves eber one should ma'rie in dere culor." + +"I think de young peeples ob ter day ez dogs en sluts, en yer kin +guess de rest." + +"One day 'bout 12 o'clock we se'd de Yankee soldiers pas' our house. +De missus hid her fine things, but dey don' kum on de place. All us +Niggers run ter de cellar en hid. We found de sugah barrels en we +scracht 'round fer sum sugah ter eat." + +"One time de Ku Klux Klan kum ter our house but dey harm nobody. Guess +day wuz lookin' fer sum slave er sum one fum 'nother plantation widout +dere marster's pass." + +"I se'd a lot ob sta'rs fall one time but dey neber teched de groun'. +En I members seein' a comet wid a long bright shinin' tail." + +"Atter freedom all de slaves lef' de plantation but I stayed dere a +long time. I kum ter Nashville ovah thurty y'ars ago en I'se wuk'd as +cook en house wuk'r twenty y'ars fer one party; eleben y'ars fer +'nother, en menny y'ars fer 'nother. I knows you won't b'leeve me but +at one time I weigh ovuh 400 pounds, but now I'm nothin' but skin en +bon'. (She weighs at least 200 pounds now). I bekum feeble en couldn't +wuk out, en eber since den I'se bin kum' up a mountain, but now I git +he'ps by de Social Security." + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes + +Corrected the typos per handwritten instructions. The inconsistencies +in spelling and punctuation have been left as in the original text, +except for adding the missing opening and closing quotation marks for +consistency in certain interviews. + +One word at the bottom of page 25 was illegible, but upon careful +examination at high magnification, and considering that the other +interviewers asked whether families were divided, my best guess is +the word may be men: Nebber knowed ob any plantashuns men be divided. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Slave Narratives: A Folk History of +Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, by Work Projects Administration + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SLAVE NARRATIVES *** + +***** This file should be named 19932.txt or 19932.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/9/3/19932/ + +Produced by Diane Monico and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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