*Interview with Robert Bryant,*
*Herculaneum, Missouri.*
_Slave Married 4 Times_
"I was born out by Caledonia and is 75 years old. My mother came from
another family. My old master bought her from another man. She died when
I was about eight years old and my father died about forty years ago.
His name was George Bryant but he went by de name of Brock. I was livin'
in Pilot Knob when Price's raid come through. De government gave de old
man a team to make it to St. Louis. Me and my mother and my brother who
was deaf and dumb went with dem but de soldiers captured us and de old
man jumped off de mule and high tailed it to de woods. My mother got out
of de wagon and took my brother to de woods too. De soldier rid up to de
wagon and said, 'Little boy, you don't need to be afraid, I'm after your
father.'
"I started to get out of de wagon and fell down under de mule and dere I
was on de ground. I got up and made for de woods and got in a hole where
de hogs was a-wallerin'. I had on a dress and was standin' in de mud up
to my knees. I got lost out in de woods for three days. I just laid
around and slept behind a log at night and durin' de day I played in dat
mud-hole. If I see'd somebody comin' in de woods I would go and hide.
"A colored lady found me after three days and called me and took me
along. I stayed with her three weeks before my mother found me. I like
to eat up everything dey had when I first got something to eat after
bein' in de woods so long. We went from one place to another and along
about two o'clock in de night you would hear something hit de house like
hail. Den we had to come out of dere and hit for de woods. We would go
to another house 'bout eight or nine miles away and I'll be switched if
dere would not be hail fallin' on dat house about two o'clock in de
mornin'. It was them bushwhackers again. We kept runnin' for about three
weeks. We would go to peoples' houses for food and some of dem would
give us enough food to eat for two or three days.
"I'll show you now how my mother happened to find me. One night we was
in a old house and we didn't dare talk loud 'cause we was afraid de
soldiers would hear us. We was afraid to light a light. All at once my
mother who was in one side of de room said: 'I wish I could find my
little boy.' Den de lady I was with said: 'I found a little boy playin'
in de hole where de hogs wallowed. Come over here and see if dis is your
boy.' So my mother come over and said: 'I can't see him but I sure can
tell by puttin' my hand on his head.' So she put her hand on my head and
said: 'Yes, dat's sure 'nough my boy.'
"But I wouldn't go with her. I wouldn't leave dat other woman. About 2
o'clock dat night de hail began to hit de house and we had to git out.
So I went with de other woman and it was about two or three days before
I would go with my mother. Two or three days later we all met again and
my mother said: 'Don't you know your mother.' I knowed it was my mother
'cause my brother what was deaf and dumb was with her. Den I went on
with her. I would talk to my brother with signs.
"Den we went to a little place away, away from Pilot Knob. Den my mother
was free and she said, 'Robert, we is all free.' I was too young to know
anything 'bout it. After we was free we put in a little stuff in de
ground. We had to go to de woods to get some brush and make a brush
fence around de garden to keep de cattle out. We got permission from a
man dat owned a farm to build our own log house. It took two or three
days to build a one room house. We made up some mud with water and made
it stiff enough to stick to de chinckin'. Den we cut a big hole in one
end of de building and got some flat rocks and made a fireplace. We put
mud on de inside and outside of de chimney. Sometimes de chimney would
catch on fire and we had to run to de branch to get water and put it
out. Sometimes it would catch on fire twice or three times in one night.
"We took old gunny sacks and put leaves in dem to make a bed and we
slept on de floor and had a old spread and de white folks gave us some
old quilts. To make a fire we got some spunk out of a log and then took
two flint rocks and to-reckly it would make a spark and catch that
spunk. We banked de fire at night.
"We never had no doctor. My mother would go out in de woods and get
herbs and if I had de stomach ache we would put a little bit of
turpentine on a piece of sugar. If I had de headache we would put a
piece of brown paper and vinegar or horse radish leaves on de head. In
two or three hours us kids would be out playin' and kickin' up our
heels. We would go out and get some goose grass and make a little bit of
tea and pour it down for de stomach ache. We would get dis black root
for constipation. We used a turnip and scraped it and would bind de foot
when it was frost bit.
"I'se been married four times and had children by two wifes, had eight
children altogether and all are girls but two. Ain't but one living and
dat is Ed McFadden what's livin' in Fredericktown, Mo. He works for
Deguire at de lumber mill and has been workin' dere for about 30 years.
Most of my children died young, but three girls lived to get married.
I'se married three times by a preacher and once by de squire.
"I steamboated six years on de Mississippi between St. Paul and New
Orleans. I got $1 a day and board, and we sure would pack dem sacks and
sing dem songs. De old mate would holler at us: 'Give me a song boys'.
And den we would start out. It 'peared like de work went ahead easier
when we was singin'. It would take us four weeks to make de rounds
before we got back to St. Louis. We hauled potatoes, sheep, wheat, corn,
cattle, horses, and cotton. There was 45 of us altogether. I never got
hit but one time on de boat. De mate with knucks on hit at another
feller for 'cause he was loafin' and hit me and knocked me and my load
in de river. I couldn't swim but dey fished me back in de boat and
rolled me over and over to run dat water out of me. I run on de 'Bald
Eagle' and de 'Spread Eagle'. My mamma got after me to quit and when I
got hit she got uneasy about me, but I would hear dat whistle blowin' my
feet'd begin to itch and I could not help but go down to de old boat
again. De old mate had my name 'doubled up'. It was Bob Rob.
"Den I went to wheelin' iron ore at Sulphur Springs. All day long I
worked with 16 men loading barges with wheel barrows. Every time you
took a load it had 800 pounds, and I'se telling you all, dat's some
iron. This iron ore came from dat big hill down in Pilot Knob. We had
straps over our shoulders and dey saved our hands and arms. It took
about a day and a half to load a barge and we got paid by de ton. I did
dat for about a year.
"I give my wife all my money and all de time she was givin' it away to
another man. So dat was when I left her flat and went down to
Charleston, Cairo, and Kentucky and stayed three years. I was workin' in
de tobacco for three years. Dere was too much stoopin' in dat and I
decided to come back to St. Louis. We only got $12 a month in de tobacco
fields and worked from 4 o'clock in de morning to 8 or 9 o'clock in de
night time. Dere was 9 or 10 in de tobacco field.
"Den I worked in de iron foundry in a St. Louis furnace. I carried iron
and hustled in de casting hole. Dey paid pretty good and we got $1.50 to
$1.75 a day. I worked up dere two years and den come to Sulphur Springs
and went on de farm and got $26 a month. I got to be a trusty and dey
put it in my hands. I worked here five years for old Mike Green. I was
single den. I went down on John Coffman's farm in Ste. Genevieve County
to work for him. Worked on his farm for 'bout 15 years and got $26 a
month and board. He had a gang of 'em working for him. He had rows of
cabins 'most a mile long. Dat was where I got married a second time.
"After I left dere I went down below Fredericktown and went on a farm
again and stayed right dere for seven years. I lost my wife at dat place
and sold my land. I paid $90 for 40 acres dere and had paid 'bout half
on it. So I sold it back to de man what I bought it from for $45 and
went to Bonne Terre and worked for de St. Joe Lead Co. and worked on de
lead well and den went to tappin'. I got $1.60 for 12 hours. I worked
dere until dey moved de works up here and den I followed de works right
up here. Den I worked 'bout 30 years here doing de same kind of work
with the same pay.
"When I quit workin' here it was about 13 years ago and I was about 62
years old. De company just laid me off on account of age. Den de
supervisor dere got me a job as janitor at de colored school here at
$7.00 a month. I've been janitor ever since. Dere is ten colored
families in Herculaneum, and about 50 colored people here now but dere
used to be mostly all colored but most of 'em done left. I lived here in
dis house a little more dan 5 years without payin' rent. Den after my
son got on the WPA dey begins to take $3.85 rent a month. We been payin'
rent 'bout two years. The St. Joe Company owns all de houses here. We
gets our water free. I'se been gettin' a pension about a year now.
"I shot a fellow once in de leg. It was de man who my wife was givin' my
money to. I had a trial at Kimmswick before de Justice of Peace and
served three months in de county jail at Hillsboro. The white folks come
down and got me out and it didn't cost me a thing.
"A man has got more his own say now dan he did have. We can do more what
we want to and don't have to go to de other fellow. Slavery might a done
de other fellow some good but I don't think it ever done de colored
people no good. Some of dem after freedom didn't know how to go out and
work for demselves. Down at old John Coffman's lots of dem stayed with
him right along same as if dey wasn't free. Dey didn't want to leave
here 'cause dey didn't think dey could live if dey left him. But when
dey got away up here in St. Louis dey know they can make a livin',
without Marse John, but they got to 'go up against it.' Dependin' on
somebody else is poor business. When I was workin' I depended on myself.
If dey would have freed de slaves and give dem a piece of ground I think
dat would been a heap better dan de way dey did. Look at de Indians!
They're all livin'. I'se always been able to eat and sleep.
"I can't hardly tell about de younger generation, I can say dat if it
was not for de old generation today de young ones would go up 'salt
creek'. Dey don't want to work. Some of dem is pretty smart. Pride is de
reason dey don't want to work. Dey dress up and strut out and have a
good time. De old folks is de cause of it. Dey say, 'I don't want my boy
to do dat; I don't want him to work hard'. I say, let him make out de
same as us old folks did. If de colored people don't pick up and see
about business dey is going to be behind. Dese young people won't go to
church. You can't get dem in dere. Dat's de place dey ought to go. I'se
been goin' to church since I was a boy. Colored folks did not raise me.
White folks learned me to go to church. Mrs. Baker, at Cook's
Settlement, would read de Bible every night at 9 o'clock and she would
'splain it to me. If she was not able, her daughter read it. We need a
workhouse for de young people.
"De first time I ever cast my vote was for Garfield who got killed. It
was in Kimmswick. Been votin' ever since, and vote all through dem all.
I'se been talked to lots of times, tellin' me how to vote. Dey even give
me a ballot and show me how to vote. I would stick dat in my pocket and
vote like I pleased. I ain't never sold my vote but I'se been offered
$10 for it. But I say if you is goin' to get beat, I say you is just
beat. You ain't no man to go over there and cast your vote. You got to
stand for your point.
"De first automobile I ever seen had buggy wheels. It made a terrible
racket. Mrs. Baker told me dat people was goin' sometime to be ridin' in
automobiles and in de air."