An interview with Laura Bell, 73 years old, of 2 Bragg Street, Raleigh,
North Carolina.
Being informed that Laura Bell was an old slavery Negro, I went
immediately to the little two-room shack with its fallen roof and shaky
steps. As I approached the shack I noticed that the storm had done great
damage to the chaney-berry tree in her yard, fallen limbs litterin' the
ground, which was an inch deep in garbage and water.
The porch was littered with old planks and huge tubs and barrels of
stagnant water. There was only room for one chair and in that sat a tall
Negro woman clad in burlap bags and in her lap she held a small white
flea-bitten dog which growled meaningly.
When I reached the gate, which swings on one rusty hinge, she bade me
come in and the Carolina Power and Light Company men, who were at work
nearby, laughed as I climbed over the limbs and garbage and finally
found room for one foot on the porch and one on the ground.
"I wus borned in Mount Airy de year 'fore de Yankees come, bein' de
fourth of five chilluns. My mammy an' daddy Minerva Jane an' Wesley
'longed ter Mr. Mack Strickland an' we lived on his big place near Mount
Airy."
"Mr. Mack wus good ter us, dey said. He give us enough ter eat an'
plenty of time ter weave clothes fer us ter wear. I've hearn mammy tell
of de corn shuckin's an' dances dey had an' 'bout some whuppin's too."
"Marse Mack's overseer, I doan know his name, wus gwine ter whup my
mammy onct, an' pappy do' he ain't neber make no love ter mammy comes up
an' takes de whuppin' fer her. Atter dat dey cou'ts on Sadday an' Sunday
an' at all de sociables till dey gits married."
"I'se hearn her tell' bout how he axed Marse Mack iffen he could cou't
mammy an' atter Marse Mack sez he can he axes her ter marry him."
"She tells him dat she will an' he had 'em married by de preacher de nex'
time he comes through dat country."
"I growed up on de farm an' when I wus twelve years old I met Thomas
Bell. My folks said dat I wus too young fer ter keep company so I had
ter meet him 'roun' an' about fer seberal years, I think till I wus
fifteen."
"He axed me ter marry him while he wus down on de creek bank a fishin'
an' I tol' him yes, but when he starts ter kiss me I tells him dat der's
many a slip twixt de cup an' de lip an' so he has ter wait till we gits
married."
"We runned away de nex' Sadday an' wus married by a Justice of de Peace
in Mount Airy."
"Love ain't what hit uster be by a long shot," de ole woman reflected,
"'Cause dar ain't many folks what loves all de time. We moved ter
Raleigh forty years ago, an' Tom has been daid seberal years now. We had
jest one chile but hit wus borned daid."
"Chilluns ain't raised ter be clean lak we wus. I knows dat de house
ain't so clean but I doan feel so much lak doin' nothin', I jest went on
a visit 'bout seben blocks up de street dis mo'nin' an' so I doan feel
lak cleanin' up none."
I cut the interview short thereby missing more facts, as the odor was
anything but pleasant and I was getting tired of standing in that one
little spot.
"Thank you for comin'", she called, and her dog growled again.
N. C. District: No. 2 [320111]
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1153
Subject: EMMA BLALOCK
Story Teller: Emma Blalock
Editor: Geo. L. Andrews
[TR: Date Stamp "AUG 6 1937"]
EMMA BLALOCK
88 years old
529 Bannon Avenue
Raleigh, N. C.
I shore do 'member de Yankees wid dere blue uniforms wid brass buttons
on 'em. I wus too small to work any but I played in de yard wid my
oldes' sister, Katie. She is dead long ago. My mother belonged to ole
man John Griffith an' I belonged to him. His plantation wus down here at
Auburn in Wake County. My father wus named Edmund Rand. He belonged to
Mr. Nat Rand. He lived in Auburn. De plantations wus not fur apart. Dere
wus about twenty-five slaves on de plantation whur mother an' me
stayed.
Marse John used ter take me on his knee an' sing, 'Here is de hammer,
Shing ding. Gimme de Hammer, shing ding.' Marster loved de nigger
chilluns on his plantation. When de war ended father come an' lived with
us at Marse John's plantation. Marster John Griffith named me Emmy. My
grandfather on my fathers side wus named Harden Rand, an' grandmother
wus named Mason Rand. My grandfather on my mother's side wus named Antny
Griffiths an' grandmother wus named Nellie.
Our food wus a plenty and well cooked. Marster fed his niggers good. We
had plenty of homespun dresses and we got shoes once a year, at
Christmas Eve. I ken 'member it just as good. We got Christmas Holidays
an' a stockin' full of candy an' peanuts. Sometimes we got ginger snaps
at Christmas. My grandmother cooked' em. She wus a good cook. My
mother's missus wus Miss Jetsy Griffith and my father's missus wus Lucy
Rand. Dey wus both mighty good women. You know I am ole. I ken 'member
all dem good white folks. Dey give us Fourth July Holidays. Dey come to
town on dat day. Dey wore, let me tell you what dey wore, dey wore
dotted waist blouses an' white pants. Dat wus a big day to ever'body, de
Fourth of July. Dey begun singing at Auburn an' sung till dey reached
Raleigh. Auburn is nine miles from Raleigh. Dere wus a lot of lemonade.
Dey made light bread in big ovens an' had cheese to eat wid it. Some
said just goin' on de fofe to git lemonade an' cheese.
In the winter we had a lot of possums to eat an' a lot of rabbits too.
At Christmas time de men hunted and caught plenty game. We barbecued it
before de fire. I 'members seein' mother an' grandmother swinging
rabbits 'fore de fire to cook 'em. Dey would turn an' turn 'em till dey
wus done. Dey hung some up in de chimbly an' dry 'em out an' keep 'em a
long time an' dat is de reason I won't eat a rabbit today. No Sir! I
won't eat a rabbit. I seed 'em mess wid 'em so much turned me 'ginst
eatin' 'em.
I don't know how much lan' Marster John owned but, Honey, dat wus some
plantation. It reached from Auburn to de Neuse River. Yes Sir, it did,
'cause I been down dere in corn hillin' time an' we fished at twelve
o'clock in Neuse River. Marster John had overseers. Dere wus six of 'em.
Dey rode horses over de fields but I don't 'member dere names.
I never seen a slave whupped but dey wus whupped on de plantation an' I
heard de grown folks talkin' 'bout it. My uncles Nat an' Bert Griffiths
wus both whupped. Uncle Nat would not obey his missus rules an' she had
him whupped. Dey whupped Uncle Bert 'cause he stayed drunk so much. He
loved his licker an' he got drunk an' cut up bad, den dey whupped him.
You could git plenty whiskey den. Twon't like it is now. No sir, it
won't. Whiskey sold fur ten cents a quart. Most ever' body drank it but
you hardly ever seed a man drunk. Slaves wus not whupped for drinkin'.
Dere Marsters give 'em whiskey but dey wus whupped for gittin' drunk.
Dere wus a jail, a kind of stockade built of logs, on de farm to put
slaves in when dey wouldn't mind. I never say any slave put on de block
an' sold, but I saw Aunt Helen Rand cryin' because her Marster Nat Rand
sold her boy, Fab Rand.
No Sir, no readin' an' writin'. You had to work. Ha! ha! You let your
marster or missus ketch you wid a book. Dat wus a strict rule dat no
learnin' wus to be teached. I can't read an' write. If it wus not fur my
mother wit don't know what would become of me. We had prayer meetings
around at de slave houses. I 'member it well. We turned down pots on de
inside of de house at de door to keep marster an' missus from hearin' de
singin' an' prayin'. Marster an' his family lived in de great house an'
de slave quarters wus 'bout two hundred yards away to the back of de
great house. Dey wus arranged in rows. When de war ended we all stayed
on wid de families Griffiths an' Rands till dey died, dat is all 'cept
my father an' me. He lef' an' I lef'. I been in Raleigh forty-five
years. I married Mack Blalock in Raleigh. He been dead seven years.
My mother had two boys, Antny an' Wesley. She had four girls, Katie,
Grissie, Mary Ella an' Emma. I had three chilluns, two are livin' yet.
They both live in Raleigh.
We had big suppers an' dinners at log rollin's an' corn shuckin's in
slavery time ha! ha! plenty of corn licker for ever'body, both white an'
black. Ever'body helped himself. Dr. Tom Busbee, one good ole white man,
looked after us when we got sick, an' he could make you well purty
quick, 'cause he wus good an' 'cause he wus sorry fer you. He wus a
feelin' man. Course we took erbs. I tell you what I took. Scurrey grass,
chana balls dey wus for worms. Scurrey grass worked you out. Dey give us
winter green to clense our blood. We slaves an' a lot of de white folks
drank sassafras tea in de place of coffee. We sweetened it wid brown
sugar, honey, or molasses, just what we had in dat line. I think slavery
wus a right good thing. Plenty to eat an' wear.
When you gits a tooth pulled now it costs two dollars, don't it? Well
in slavery time I had a tooth botherin' me. My mother say, Emma, take
dis egg an' go down to Doctor Busbee an' give it to him an' git your
tooth pulled. I give him one egg. He took it an' pulled my tooth. Try
dat now, if you wants to an' see what happens. Yes, slavery wus a purty
good thing.
N. C. District: No. 2 [320165]
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 1430
Subject: Days on the Plantation
Person Interviewed: Uncle David Blount
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"]
[HW: N. C. Good general story--]
[HW: Good story
Hates the Yankees
boy beaten by overseer who is later discharged;
slaves make pact with Yankees]