*Interview with Sarah Graves,*
*Skidmore, Missouri.*
_Still Carries Scars From Lashes_
"Sweet are the uses of Adversity,
"Which like a toad, ugly and venomous,
"Wears yet a Jewel in its head."
--Shakespeare.
Childhood and girlhood memories are vivid to Sarah Frances Shaw Graves,
an 87 year old Negro woman whose indomitable courage and steadfast
purpose overcame obstacles and made possible the ownership of the 120
acre farm near Skidmore, on R.F.D. #4, where she lives with her bachelor
son, Arza Alexander Graves.
The frame house which is their home, though small, is comfortable. It is
surrounded by a neatly kept yard, with flower beds and a cement walk
which leads from the gate to the front door.
The visit had been arranged by telephone, and as the interviewer neared
the home, Aunt Sally could be seen standing, on the front porch, eagerly
watching and waiting. A "close up" showed that her immaculately washed,
stiffly starched, print dress and apron were unwrinkled. Evidently she
had stood up ever since she had put them on.
Her white hair was combed back off her fore-head, and held in place by
side combs. Although age has lined her hands, and put deep furrows in
her brown cheeks, her unquenchable will to overcome handicaps has held
her body erect and shoulders undrooped. In spite of her years, most of
which were spent in gruelling labor, she is rugged and healthy, and
meets the world with a smile and ready sympathetic laughter.
She was eager to begin her story, and led the way into the house, where
at once the unmistakable signs of good housekeeping, cleanliness and
tasteful arrangement are apparent. The home, though small, is moderately
and comfortably furnished. They also enjoy the conveniences and
accommodations of the rural telephone, a radio and a daily newspaper.
Her life story is one of contrasts; contrasts of thought; contrasts of
culture, beneficial inventions and suffrage. Not far from her home the
glistening streamlined Zephyr speeds on twin rails beside the Missouri
River, near the route of the slow-moving, creaking wagons on the ox-road
of the 1850's.
[Illustration: _Sarah Frances Shaw Graves_]
Skidmore, Nodaway Co., Missouri.
"My name is Sarah Frances Shaw Graves, or Aunt Sally as everybody calls
me. Yes'm that's a lot of name an' I come by it like this. My husband
was owned by a man named Graves, and I was owned by a man named Shaw, so
when we was freed we took the surnames of our masters.
"I was born March 23, 1850 in Kentucky, somewhere near Louisville. I am
goin' on 88 years right now. (1937). I was brought to Missouri when I
was six months old, along with my mama, who was a slave owned by a man
named Shaw, who had allotted her to a man named Jimmie Graves, who came
to Missouri to live with his daughter Emily Graves Crowdes. I always
lived with Emily Crowdes."
The matter of allotment was confusing to the interviewer and Aunt Sally
endeavored to explain.
"Yes'm. Allotted? Yes'm. I'm goin' to explain that," she replied. "You
see there was slave traders in those days, jes' like you got horse and
mule an' auto traders now. They bought and sold slaves and hired 'em
out. Yes'm, rented 'em out. Allotted means somethin' like hired out. But
the slave never got no wages. That all went to the master. The man they
was allotted to paid the master."
"I never was sold. My mama was sold only once, but she was hired out
many times. Yes'm when a slave was allotted, somebody made a down
payment and gave a mortgage for the rest. A chattel mortgage."
A down payment!!
"Times don't change, just the merchandise.
"Allotments made a lot of grief for the slaves", Aunt Sally asserted.
"We left my papa in Kentucky, 'cause he was allotted to another man. My
papa never knew where my mama went, an' my mama never knew where papa
went." Aunt Sally paused a moment, then went on bitterly. "They never
wanted mama to know, 'cause they knowed she would never marry so long
she knew where he was. Our master wanted her to marry again and raise
more children to be slaves. They never wanted mama to know where papa
was, an' she never did", sighed Aunt Sally.
Only those who have lost their mate, and never know the end of the tale,
can understand such heart anguish.
"Mama said she would never marry again to have children," continued Aunt
Sally, "so she married my step-father, Trattle Barber, 'cause he was
sick an' could never be a father. He was so sick he couldn't work, so me
and mama had to work hard. We lived in a kitchen, a room in a log house
joined on to the master's house. My mama worked in the field, even when
I was a little baby. She would lay me down on a pallet near the fence
while she plowed the corn or worked in the field.
"Stepfather and mama often tended their own tobacco and grain in the
moonlight. This they could sell and have the money. We could go to
church which was held in the school house. Sometimes they let us play
with the other children after the noon dishes were washed and there
wasn't anything else to do.
"There was most always something to do. Master never allowed nobody to
be idle. Mama worked in the house and the fields too. At night after she
come home from the field, she had to grate corn for the family next day.
We didn't have many grist mills them days, an' we would punch holes in a
piece of tin, and rub the ear of corn across it and make meal for our
use.
"Nowadays, when you all want a nice wool dress, all you got to do is go
to the store and get it", Aunt Sally commented, when asked to tell about
their clothing.
"When I was growin' up an' wanted a nice wool dress, we would shear the
sheep, wash the wool, card it, spin it and weave it. If we wanted it
striped, we used two threads. We would color one by using herbs or
barks. Sometimes we had it carded at a mill, an' sometimes we carded it
ourselves. But when we did it, the threads were short, which caused us
to have to tie the thread often, makin' too many knots in the dress. I
have gathered the wool off the fences where it had been caught off the
sheep, an' washed it, an' used it to make mittens.
"Yes'm. I worked in the fields, and I worked hard too. Plantin' and
harvestin' in those days was really work. They used oxen to break up the
ground for corn, an' for plowin' it too. They hoed the corn with a hoe,
and cut the stalks with a hoe and shocked 'em. They cut the grain with
the cradle and bound it with their hands, and shocked it. They threshed
the grain with a hickory stick. Beating it out.
"I carried water for the field hands. I've carried three big buckets of
water from one field to another, from one place to another; one in each
hand and one balanced on my head.
"Yes'm. Some masters was good an' some was bad. My mama's master whipped
his slaves for pastime. My master was not so bad as some was to their
slaves. I've had many a whippin', some I deserved, an' some I got for
being blamed for doin' things the master's children did. My master
whipped his slaves with a cat-o'-nine-tails. He'd say to me, 'You ain't
had a curryin' down for some time. Come here!!!' Then he whipped me with
the cat. The cat was made of nine strips of leather fastened onto the
end of a whip. Lots of times when he hit me, the cat left nine stripes
of blood on my back. Yes ma'am."
Aunt Sally brooded over the whipping memories, then under the influence
of a brighter thought continued:--
"I belong to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an' I ain't never
cussed but once in my life, an' that was one time I nearly got two
whippin's for somethin' I didn't do. Some of master's kin folks had a
weddin', an' we walked to the church, an' somebody kicked dust on the
bride's clothes, an' I got blamed but I ain't never kicked it. The
master's daughter Puss, she kicked it. Ole mistress she whipped me.
Yes'm, she whipped me. It was the worst whippin' I ever got. The worst
whippin' in my whole life, an' I still got the marks on my body. Yes'm.
I got 'em yet.
"When the master come home, he was goin' to whip me again, an' I got
mad, an' told him it was a lie, an' if Puss said I kicked dust on the
white folks she was a DAMNED LYIN' DEVIL. He took the switch an' gave
Puss a whippin' for tellin' a lie. Yes'm. That's the only time I ever
cussed in my life.
"Yes'm, an' that's about all I knows about slavery and folks ways
hereabouts. I can tell you about after we was freed. When we was freed
all the money my mama had was 50 cents. I never went to school till
after I was freed. I went two winters and a little more to school near
Burlington Junction. I never went a full term 'cause I had to work.
"I knowed my husband all my life. He was brought here by that man Jimmie
Graves, that mama was allotted to. My husband took that name. His full
name was Joseph H. Graves. We had one child, a boy. His name is Arza
Alexander Graves. He lives here with me. It's our farm.
"I have lived on this place ever since I was married. That was in the
same year that Burlington Junction was started. We first bought 40 acres
for $10.00, then two years later we bought the back 80 acres for $15.00.
Things is changed. We workin' for ourself now, an' what we get is our'n,
an' no more whippin's. I worked in the fields and helped pay for this
land. I belong to the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Maryville."
The day her family was freed, they had 50 cents. Today these children of
a transplanted race, once enslaved, have through years of steadfast
courage overcome the handicap of race and poverty. They threshed grain
with a hickory stick, and made their corn meal by grating the ears
across a strip of tin with holes punched in it.
With all her handicaps, this Negro woman has lived to an honorable old
age, is self-supporting and has the respect of her neighbors. All this
she has accomplished despite the fact she was once a chattel and was
frequently "curried down" with a "cat-o'-nine-tails."
*Interview with Sarah Frances Shaw Graves,*
*R.F.D. #4, Skidmore, Missouri.*
Sarah Frances Shaw Graves (Aunt Sally) whose address is R.F.D. #4
Skidmore, Missouri is eighty-seven years of age. She lives with her
bachelor son on their one-hundred-twenty acre farm. The home though
small is moderately furnished and she enjoys the comforts of the rural
telephone and radio and daily newspapers in her home. The house is
surrounded by a nice yard containing many flowers and is enclosed with
an iron fence, a cement walk leading from the front gate to the house.
Aunt Sally had been informed that the reporter was intending to call on
her the following day and she was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the
visitor. The reporter was greatly impressed by the arrangement and
cleanliness of Aunt Sally's modest home. Aunt Sally was immaculately
dressed in a stiffly starched print dress and a fresh white apron. Her
white hair was combed straight back off her forehead and held back with
side combs. She was in a very excited talkative mood, and talked freely,
and laughed heartily when the reporter explained the purpose of the
interview and asked the privilege of taking her picture. Actual
interview follows:
"My name is Sarah Frances Shaw Graves or Aunt Sally as everybody calls
me. I am eighty-seven (87) years old and I was born March 23, 1850 in
Kentucky somewhere near Louisville. I was brought to Missouri when I was
six months old with my Mamma who was a slave owned by a man named Shaw
who had allotted her to a man named Jimmie Graves who came to Missouri
to live with his daughter. Emily Graves Crowdes. I always lived with
Emily Crowdes. We left my Papa in Kentucky as he belonged to another
man. My Papa never knew where my Mamma and me went and my Mama and me
never knew where my Papa went. They never wanted Mama to know where my
Papa was because they knew Mama would never marry as long as she knew
where he was. Our Master wanted Mama to marry again and raise more
children for slaves but Mama said she would never marry a man and have
children so she married my step-father, Trattle Barber, because she knew
he had a disease and could not be a father. He was sick and not able to
work so me and Mama had to work hard. We lived in a kitchen, a room in a
log house joined on to the Masters house. All I knew about that part was
what they told me. The Crowdes family who we came here with, settled
near Possum Walk which is near the place that is now called Burlington
Jct., Missouri. We were freed in 1863 but we heard so much about slavery
coming back that we stayed with the Crowdes' two years longer or until
1865 when we was sure that we was freed. When we was freed we took the
same name as our Masters. We then lived about two miles north of them
and worked for some of the neighbors who was poor and had children and
we lived on Lowell Livengood's grandfather's place for about two years.
Mamma had fifty (50c) cents coming to her and that is all the money we
had. My Mama did a washing for that money for a lady and the Mistress
told her that when the lady called for her washing that the fifty cents
belonged to us. This was after we was freed. I went to school near
Burlington Jct., Missouri and my teacher's name was Rachel Libbey. I
went to school two winters a little while, I never went a full term any
time. I had to work and when the busiest time was over I would go to
school when I didn't work. I knew my husband all my life. He was owned
by this man Jimmie Graves who Mama was alotted to, but was brought here
by the man he was alloted to, named Nicholas. My husband's full name was
Joe H. Graves. We had one child, a boy, whose name is Arza Alexander
Graves. I have lived on this place I am on now every since I was
married, that was the same year Burlington Jct., Missouri, started. We
first bought forty (40) acres and paid twenty ($20.00) dollars for that,
then about two years later we bought the back eighty (80) acres and I
think we paid fifteen ($15.00) dollars for that. I worked in the fields
and helped pay for this land. I belong to the African Methodist
Episcopal Church in Maryville, Missouri.
"When I was growing up and wanted a nice wool dress we would shear the
sheep, wash the wool, card it, spin it, and weave it. If we wanted it
striped we used two threads, we would color one by using herbs and
barks. We sometimes had it carded at a mill and sometimes we carded it
ourselves but when we did it the threads were short which caused us to
have to tie the thread often making more knots in the dress. In planting
corn in them days they broke up the ground, one layed off the rows, one
would go along and drop the corn or grain and if they wanted to plant
beans in with the corn one would go along and drop the seed. They
covered it over with a hoe and they cut the stalks with the hoe and
stacked up the stalks. The way they raised the corn after it came up
they took one horse and went on each side of a row and in the middle of
every row to plow the corn. It took three rounds on every row to get it
plowed. They used oxen sometimes to plow and nearly always used oxen to
plow up the ground. They cut the grain with the cradle and bound it with
their hands and shocked it up. They thrashed the grain with a hickory
stick by beating it out. Many times I have carried three big buckets of
water from one place to another, one in each hand and one balanced on my
head. My Master was not as bad as some Masters was to their slaves. One
time when I had over worked my Master said, "You have not had a currying
down for a long time, come over here," and he whipped me with a
cat-o'-nine-tails. This cat was made of nine small pieces of leather
fastened on to the end of the whip. Lots of times when they hit with the
cat it left nine stripes of blood. Mama's Master whipped his slaves for
past-time. I have got many whippings for being blamed for doing things
the Master's children did and I was blamed for it. One time when a
couple was married, me and other members of the family were walking down
the road and I was very careful not to kick up any dirt and to be very
nice to the couple but when we got home one of the Master's daughters
told that I was mean and that I kicked up dirt so that dust would get on
the lady's dress and I got the worst whipping I ever got in my life by
the Mistress and I still have the marks on my body, and when the Master
came I was carrying the vitales from the kitchen to the dining room
which was the living and bed room and when I went in I took the bread
and when I came back he was standing in the door and he told me what
they told him about me and I said I did not do it and if "Puss" said I
did she is a "Damned lying devil" and he dropped the switch and went and
talked to his daughter and gave her a whipping for telling the untruth.
That was the only time I ever swore. In a few days the bride came over
visiting and told them they had the sweetest little colored girl she was
so lovely and kind. We were never allowed to be idle, always doing
something and my work often was choring around to say I was doing
something. I have gathered the wool off the fences where it had been
caught off the sheep and washed it and used it to make mittens. I never
was sold and my Mama was sold only once but she was hired out many
times. We slept on what they called a bed, a tick filled with straw on
the bed. My Mama's Master had a child near my age and my Mama always
left me at the house with the Mistress and I nursed the Mistress, Mrs.
Crowdes, as well as her own child until one day the curtain, which was
used as a partition around a bed on which I lay near, caught on fire and
then my Mama always took me to the field with her and would lay me on a
pallet near the fence while she plowed the corn or worked in the field.
Stepfather and Mama often tended to their own tobacco and grain in the
moonlight which they could sell and have the money. One thing we could
go to church which was held in the school house. Sometimes they would
let me go out and play with the other children after the noon dishes
were washed and there wasn't anything else to do then. I often sewed
strips of cloth together to make carpet rags, there was always something
to do. Mama worked in the field and in the house too. They nearly always
kept a girl in the house. We did not have many mills and sometimes we
could not get to the mill and we would punch holes in a piece of tin and
rub the ear of corn across it to grate it for our use. Many times Mama
would work in the field all day and in the evening she would grate
enough corn for the family use the next day. The Masters had stores and
you had to go to that store and get your needs and when the month was up
you had nothing as it took all you earned to pay your bill."