An' he goes on, 'Yo' fin's out when de rest of de guns comes Dave, an'
let me know.'
When de men brings back de guns I tells de marster, an' I also tells
him dat dey wants ter hold er meetin'.
'All right,' he says an' laughs, 'dey can have de meetin'. Yo' tell
'em, Dave, dat I said dat dey can meet on Chuesday night in de pack
house.'
Chuesday ebenin' he sen's dem all off to de low groun's but me, an' he
tells me ter nail up de shutters ter de pack house an' ter nail 'em up
good.
I does lak he tells me ter do an' dat night de niggers marches in an'
sneaks dar guns in too. I is lyin' up in de loft an' I hyars dem say dat
atter de meetin' dey is gwine ter go up ter de big house an' kill de
whole fambly.
I gits out of de winder an' I runs ter de house an tells de marster.
Den me an' him an' de young marster goes out an' quick as lightnin', I
slams de pack house door an' I locks it. Den de marster yells at dem,
'I'se got men an' guns out hyar, he yells, 'an' if yo' doan throw dem
guns out of de hole up dar in de loft, an' throw dem ebery one out I'se
gwine ter stick fire ter dat pack house.'
De niggers 'liberates for a few minutes an' den dey throws de guns out.
I knows how many dey has got so I counts till dey throw dem all out, den
I gathers up dem guns an' I totes 'em off ter de big house.
Well sar, we keeps dem niggers shet up fer about a week on short
rations; an' at de end of dat time dem niggers am kyored for good. When
dey comes out dey had three oberseers 'stid of one, an' de rules am
stricter dan eber before; an' den de marster goes off ter de war.
I reckon I was 'bout fifteen or sixteen den; an' de marster car's me
'long fer his pusonal sarvant an' body guard an' he leabes de rest of
dem niggers in de fiel's ter wuck like de dickens while I laughs at dem
Yankees.
Jim belonged to Mr. Harley who lived in New Hanover County during de
war, in fac' he was young Massa Harley's slave; so when young Massa Tom
went to de war Jim went along too.
Dey wuz at Manassas, dey tells me, when Massa Tom got kilt, and de
orders wuz not to take no bodies off de field right den.
Course ole massa down near Wilmington, doan know 'bout young Massa Tom,
but one night dey hears Jim holler at de gate. Dey goes runnin' out; an'
Jim has brung Massa Tom's body all dat long ways home so dat he can be
buried in de family burian ground.
De massa frees Jim dat night; but he stays on a time atter de war, an'
tell de day he died he hated de Yankees for killing Massa Tom. In fact
we all hated de Yankees, 'specially atter we hear 'bout starve dat first
winter. I tried ter make a libin' fer me an' Johnnie but it was bad
goin'; den I comes ter Raleigh an' I gits 'long better. Atter I gits
settled I brings Johnnie, an' so we done putty good.
Dat's all I can tell yo' now Miss, but if'n yo'll come back sometime
I'll tell yo' de rest of de tales.
Shortly after the above interview Uncle Dave who was failing fast was
taken to the County Home, where he died. He was buried on May 4th, 1937,
the rest of the tale remaining untold.
N. C. District: No. 2 [320185]
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 459
Subject: Ex-Slave Story
Person Interviewed: Clay Bobbit
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 17 1937"]