Dink Walton Young, better known as "Mammy Dink", is one of the oldest
ex-slaves living in Muscogee County. She was born the chattel of Major
Jack Walton, the largest ante-bellum planter and slave-holder of Talbot
County, a man who owned several hundred Negroes and ten thousand or more
acres of land. As a child, "Mammy Dink" was "brung up" with the Walton
white children, often joining and playing with them in such games as
"Mollie Bright", "William Trembletoe", and "Picking up Sticks".
The boys, white and black, and slightly older than she, played "Fox" and
"Paddle-the-Cat" together. In fact, until the white boys and girls were
ten or twelve years of age, their little Negro playmates, satellites,
bodyguards, "gangs", and servants, usually addressed them rather
familiarly by their first names, or replied to their nicknames that
amounted to titles of endearment. Thus, Miss Susie Walton--the later
Mrs. Robert Carter--was "Susie Sweet" to a host of little Negro girls of
her age. Later on, of course, this form of familiarity between slave
child and white child definitely ceased; but for all time there existed
a strong bond of close friendship, mutual understanding, and spirit of
comradeship between the Whites and Blacks of every plantation. As an
example, Pat Walton, aged 18, colored and slave, "allowed" to his young
master in 1861: "Marse Rosalius, youse gwine to de war, ain't yer?" and
without waiting for an answer, continued: "So is Pat. You knows you
ain't got no bizness in no army 'thout a Nigger to wait on yer an keep
yer outa devilment, Marse Rosalius. Now, doen gin me no argyment, Marse
Rosalius, case ise gwine 'long wid yer, and dat settles it, sah, it do,
whether you laks it or you don't lak it." Parenthetically, it might be
here inserted that this speech of Pat's to his young master was typical
of a "style" that many slaves adopted in "dictating" to their white
folks, and many Southern Negroes still employ an inoffensive, similar
style to "dominate" their white friends.
According to "Mammy Dink", and otherwise verified, every time a Negro
baby was born on one of his plantations, Major Dalton gave the mother a
calico dress and a "bright, shiny", silver dollar.
All Walton slaves were well fed and clothed and, for a "drove" of about
fifty or sixty little "back-yard" piccaninnies, the Waltons assumed all
responsibility, except at night. A kind of compound was fenced off for
"dese brats" to keep them in by day.
When it rained, they had a shelter to go under; play-houses were built
for them, and they also had see-saws, toys, etc. Here, their parents
"parked dese younguns" every morning as they went to the fields and to
other duties, and picked them up at night. These children were fed about
five times a day in little wooden trough-like receptacles. Their
principal foods were milk, rice, pot-licker, vegetables and corn
dumplings; and they stayed so fat and sleek "dat de Niggers calt 'em
Marse Major's little black pigs."
The average weekly ration allowed an adult Walton slave was a peck of
meal, two "dusters" of flour (about six pounds), seven pounds of flitch
bacon, a "bag" of peas, a gallon of grits, from one to two quarts of
molasses, a half pound of green coffee--which the slave himself parched
and "beat up" or ground, from one to two cups of sugar, a "Hatful" of
peas, and any "nicknacks" that the Major might have--as extras.
Many acres were planted to vegetables each year for the slaves and, in
season, they had all the vegetables they could eat, also Irish potatoes,
sweet potatoes, roasting ears, watermelons and "stingy green" (home
raised tobacco). In truth, the planters and "Niggers" all used "stingy
green", there then being very little if any "menufro" (processed
tobacco) on the market.
The standard clothes of the slaves were: jeans in the winter for men and
women, cottonades and osnabergs for men in the summer, and calicos and
"light goods" for the women in the summer time. About 75% of the cloth
used for slaves' clothing was made at home.
If a "Nigger come down sick", the family doctor was promptly called to
attend him and, if he was bad off, the Major "sat up" with him, or had
one of his over-seers do so.
Never in her life was "Mammy Dink" whipped by any of the Waltons or
their over-seers. Moreover, she never knew a Negro to be whipped by a
white person on any of the dozen or more Walton plantations. She never
"seed" a pataroler in her life, though she "has heard tell dat Judge
Henry Willis, Marses Johnnie B. Jones, Ned Giddens, Gus O'Neal, Bob
Baugh, an Jedge Henry Collier rid as patarolers" when she was a girl.
When the Yankee raiders came through in '65, "Mammy Dink" was badly
frightened by them. She was also highly infuriated with them for
"stealin de white fokes' things", burning their gins, cotton and barns,
and conducting themselves generally as bandits and perverts.
In 1875, the year of the cyclone "whooch kilt sebenteen fokes twixt
Ellesli (Ellerslie) and Talbotton", including an uncle of her's. "Mammy
Dink" was living at the Dr. M.W. Peter's place near Baughville. Later,
she moved with her husband--acquired subsequent to freedom--to the Dr.
Thomas D. Ashford's place, in Harris County, near Ellerslie. There, she
lost her husband and, about thirty-five years ago, moved to Columbus to
be near Mrs. John T. Davis, Jr., an only daughter of Dr. Ashford, to
whom she long ago became very attached.
When interviewed, "Mammy Dink" was at Mrs. Davis' home, "jes piddlin
'round", as she still takes a pride in "waiting on her white fokes."
Naturally, for one of her age, the shadows are lengthening. "Mammy Dink"
has never had a child; all her kin are dead; she is 96 and has no money
and no property, but she has her memories and, "thank Gawd", Mrs.
Davis--her guardian-angel, friend and benefactress.
Whitley,
4-29-37
Ex-Slave #119
MAMMY DINK IS DEAD
[HW: (From Columbus News-Record of Dec-8-1936)]
Mammy Dink, who cooked and served and gained pure joy through faithful
service, has gone to the Big House in the skies. She lacked but a few
years of a hundred and most of it was spent in loving service. She was
loyal to the families she worked for and was, to all practical intents,
a member of the family circle. She was 94 or 95 when she passed
away--Mammy was about to lose track of mere age, she was so busy with
other things--and she was happily at work to within a week of her death.
She was an institution in Columbus, and one of the best known of the
many faithful and loyal colored servants in this city.
Mammy Dink--her full name, by the way, was Dink Young--started out as a
cook in a Talbot county family and wound up her career as cook for the
granddaughter of her original employer. She was first in service in the
home of Dr. M.W. Peters, in Talbot county, and later was the cook in the
family of Dr. T.R. Ashford, at Ellerslie, in Harris county. Then, coming
to Columbus, she was cook in the home of the late Captain T.J. Hunt for
some 20 years.
For the last 27 years she had been cook for Mrs. John T. Davis, just as
she had been cook in the home of her father, Dr. Ashford, and her
grandfather, Dr. Peters.
Mammy, in leisure hours, used to sit on the coping at the Sixteenth
street school, and watch the world go by. But her greatest joy was in
the kitchen.
The Davis family was devoted to the faithful old servant. A week ago she
developed a severe cold and was sent to the hospital. She passed away
Saturday night--the old body had given out. The funeral service was
conducted yesterday afternoon from St. Philips colored church in Girard.
She was buried in a churchyard cemetery, two or three miles out, on the
Opelika road. The white people who were present wept at the departure of
one who was both servant and friend.
Thus passes, to a sure reward, Mammy Dink, whose life was such a
success.
[HW: Mammy Dink died Saturday night, Dec. 5th, 1936]