*Interview with Delia Hill,*
*St. Louis County, Missouri.*
*(Written by Grace E. White,*
*St. Louis, Mo.)*
_Smoked 'Em Upside Down_
The subject of this sketch is Delia Hill, over 90 years old. She lives
at 1338 Argus Street, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Delia Hill is a good natured, well preserved old lady. She is quite
tall, medium in size, dark complexion and her hair is almost entirely
white. She is very neat in her quaint, frame three room cottage. She
shares her home with a widowed companion who appears to be well in her
50's but is able to work. Delia Hill's story follows:
"I was born in Cold Water, Mississippi more dan 90 years ago but don't
know jes' how old I is. My first owner's name was Marse John Hawkins and
he had a big mill. He had me and my mother with 14 other chillen, Aunt
Ellen and her 8 chillen, and Aunt Tilda with all her chillen. I don't
know how many Aunt Tilda had. Anyhow Marse John owned every one of us.
Later on he sold me to Marse Dave Stafford, a circuit rider. I got a
scar on my eye today whar de ole overseer throwed a fork at me cross de
table, 'cause I went to sleep, I was so tired while fanning flies off
him while he's eatin'. I had to fan flies every meal time with a fly
brush. They worked me so hard, I'd just go on to sleep standin' up. Dat
old overseer was a mean old devil any how. Well when old Marse come home
from de circuit ridin' I told him 'bout it, and he fired dat overseer
right then and told him if my eye went out, he would look him up and
kill him. I never seed him anymore.
"Dey sold us niggahs so bad down dere where I come from, dat when I was
little I got sold from my mother and she never found me till after de
war in 1871. Was we glad to see each other? I say we was. I was raised
up hard, honey. I can count de winters I ever even had shoes on my poor
feet. When Marse Dave bought my mother he only bought her and 6 us
chillun. He was fairly nice to niggahs, but he didn't have as big a
drove of 'em as de other plantation owners, but child we could hear
niggahs hollen' every night on different plantations all around us from
lashings dey gittin' from dere old overseers and masters too, for dat
matter.
"My owner raised mostly cotton and corn, my mother wove all de clothes
we wore, she even done all de spinning. During de Civil War, my old Miss
use to hide us niggahs in de woods to keep de Yankees from seein' us.
Dey pass through our place and got most all our stock just de same and
all dey wanted to eat besides. But dey never found a one of us. After
dey pass by we all go on back home.
"Dey sent us to church reglar and de preacher say to us, any you all see
anybody stealin' old Miss chickens or eggs, go straight to old Miss and
tell her who 'tis and all about it. Any one steal old Marse hogs or
anything belong to old Marse, go straight to him and tell him all about
it. Den he ask us, what your daddy bring home to you when he come, and
what he feed you chillun at night. We scared to death to tell anything
'cause, honey, if we did de niggah get a killin, and our mammy tie up
our feet and hang us upside down by our feet, build a fire under us and
smoke us, scare us plum to death. We swear mammy goin' to burn us up.
Lord, child, dat was an awful scare. Yes, mam, it was. De old preacher
told us go on work hard, tell old Miss and old Master de truth and when
we die God going let us in heaven's kitchen and sit down and rest from
all dis work we doin' down here.
"We believe dat den. We didn't know no better, honest we didn't, honey.
Our old Miss used to tell us, I want all my niggers to always tell de
truth. If dey kill you, die telling de truth. But bless your soul, our
mammy done smoked 'nough of us up side down, to not tell dem white folks
nothin', a lie, nor the truth. No sir'ree. Who want to get smoked up
likely to burn up hanging there as not. Now ain't dat so? No, sir, tell
dem white folks, dey find out anything, they jes' find out by
themselves, dat's it. I never did read or write. I been married three
times. My last husband I married October 31, 1901 and moved right out
here in dis house November 6, 1901, been here ever since. My husband
been dead now 18 years. My children all died while dey was babies. I had
six children. I wear glasses sometimes, but I praise God I can see good
without glasses.
"De government gives me a pension and I git along fairly middlin'. Since
peace been declared I made my living doing laundry work and cooking. I
nursed right smart in Memphis. My mother died in 1893 here in St. Louis.
Her name was Eliza Mullin, but I never did know how old she was. She
didn't neither. I am a Baptist and go to church reglar as I kin, but I
suffer so hard with indigestion. I can't go no place much. Guess dat's
'bout all I can remember worth 'membering, hope it helps de book out."