*Interview with Letha Taylor Meeks,*
*Smelterville, Missouri.*
"My full name is Letha Taylor Meeks, an' I'se bahn down in Panola
County, Mississippi close to da Tallahatchie Ribbah. Mah fathuh an'
mothuh wuz Andy and Susan Tayluh. We belonged to Ole Massa Billie
Welborn an' our Misses wuz Ole Miss' Cloe.
"Dey had a fine big house, we call it de mansion. Dey had po'ches an'
galleries bof. Der wuz trees all aroun', pine trees an' cedahs, an' oak
trees. An' de yawd wuz full a flower bushes.--big snowballs an' lilacs,
an' rows of flags, an honeysuckle vines, wid de mockin' birds an' doves
a singin' roun'--an dey wuz jay birds too. An der wuz big vegitable
gahdens an fruit trees. In de sto' room in de fall der wuz a'ways bags
full er dried apples an' peaches, an' pumpkin an cahn, strings o' onions
a hanging up, an heaps o turnips an' sweet 'taters, an bins fulla
'taters. An' they wuz lotsa cabbages an' collards in shelters in de
gahden.
"Miss' Cloe dress mighty fine. She wear calico prints roun' home, but
when she dress up she wear silks an' satins' with hoop skirts an a
rare-back hat tied unduh her chin.
"When de white folks go tuh church at Fredonia us cullud folks go too
but we sits up in de gallery. We didden hab no school but sometime de
preacher an his wife 'ud come to stay wid de white folks an dey'd a'ways
hab classes fo' us chillern. One time dey stayed dar nearly a yeah.
"Us chillern usta play hide an seek, honey on de bee ball, frog in de
meadow, an' eberthing playable. Ah learned tuh spin an ah'd fill quills
till ah had a whole basket full an' I'd wind de broches. Mah mothaw
hepped with de weavin. Dey made all our clothes--'member one time dey
made sech fine gray homespun for de men's pants. Ole Mothuh Ret was
seamstress for de white folks--we called her Mothuh Ret--her name was
Henrietta. De looms an' spinning wheels was in a big room down in de
basement. Dere wuz a big fireplace in de room.
"Mothuh helped wuth de cookin, too. An ah'd help her on cleanin' days.
Our folks shore had fine funicher an' things, an' de fines' silver an
candles all ovah de house. We made de candles; put a string in de mold,
den po' de grease in--Dere was fine candles for company.
"'For de sojers came all de silver an' fine things wuz hid. Dey had two
basements--de big one unduh de whole house n'en a small one in
back--unduh de small one wuz a cellah, an in dat cellar dey hide all de
things--barrels o' taters, sacks o' dried fruits an vegetables, de meats
an' lawd, en puvisions--an de silver till dey had it full up--den dey
puts back de puncheon boahds--an' fills in wuth dirt jes like it warn't
nuthin unduh there.
"Dey had two sons go off tuh war. Columbus came back when de wah wuz
ovah but Wallace died wid measles. When he leave to go tuh war, he tell
me he gwine tuh come back, wid Lincoln's head on a stick but de Lawd
sent him back wid his head in a coffin. Dey had all us cullud folks come
through de house to see young Massa lyin dar in de big front room in his
coffin.
"Dey was mo dan a hundred slaves. Dey wus three cabins close to de
mansion an our fambly lived dar. In de quawters dey wuz 'bout fifty
cabins but dat wuz 'bout five mile fum us--over on de udduh place. Young
Massa Willyum live in de big house ovah der. He didden go tuh wah an one
time de sojers come an' look for him. Dey cain't fin' him so dey burn de
house down 'cause dey think he's in dar--but dey nebber bothuh our
place.
"Fust time ah ebber seed de Yankees, it wuz one Saturday--I went out tuh
let de calves into de grove. When ah look down de road an ah see one man
come roun de cornuh, den anudduh--den mo--till ah see it de whole ahmy
comin--Den ah's skeered an ah runs back to de house ahollerin', 'De
Yankees is comin'.' Dey comes on up de road an into de yawd an' one man
grab me an' he say 'Is you de little gal what run to tell um to hide
'cause we's comin'?' Ah tells um I'se de little gal whut run but ah
never tells nobody to hide. I is sho' skeered. He hol's me while de mens
look aroun' but dey don' tarry long.
"De nex' day, dat wuz Sunday, Ole Forrest come by wid his Rebel
sojers--an' dey stole Massa's fine mules. Massa had a fine pair o'
matched mules, dey wuz iron gray an' he druv dem to de carriage. Well,
early nex' mornin' de feeder, he wuz Henry Nance, he come to our cabin
an asks my fathuh is he seed Gains and Fox--dat's de mules. My fathuh
say no dey mus' be out in de grove, but he say no, he hunt an' he call
an' he whistle fo' em but he can't start 'um no place. Dey hunt some mo'
den say dey better go tell Massa. After a little Massa say 'Henry an'
Andy, you don' need tuh go to do fiel' dis mornin'.' Dey knows whut dat
mean an' dey jes sit dar. Den Massa go out to de dogwood thicket an' he
cut a bundle o' switches, all he cud carry. He take de men out to de
bahn lot, has 'em take off dey shirts an' he wears out all dose
switches. Den he say iffen dose mules not in de lot nex' Monday mawnin'
de gonna git double de dose. Massa think dey sell de mules to de sojers
an' pocket de money. But by nex' Monday mawnin' my fathuh an' Henry
Nance is in Memphis--dey runned away.
"An' de nex' time de Yankee sojers cum through dar, Ole' Uncle 'Lias tuk
Massa's fine carriage an' two mules an' him an' three women escaped to
Memphis.
"When de war is ovah Massa call us all up an' tell us we's free. He say
to my mathuh 'Now Sook',--her name's Susan but dey all call her Sook--he
say 'Now Sook, you is free as I is'--but we stay dar jes de same. An'
Massa he writ to Memphis fo' mah fathuh tuh come back, but he don' come
so Massa go tuh Memphis tuh git him. Massa's got a eatin' cancer an he
want my fathuh tuh come back. My fathuh wuz a'ways kind of a fohman.
Massa'd tell him whut he wanted dis group o' men to do, an' whut he
wanted dat group tuh do, an mah fathuh saw they don it. So when Massa
goes fo' him he comes back.
"In Memphis he tells Massa he knows whar one o' his hosses is whut wuz
stolen. Massa tells him kin he swear to it, he kin have it. So mah
fathuh goes to de law 'bout dat hoss--Dey asks him can he 'dentify
it--an' he say it got a white star on its face an' a white stockin on
lef' hin' foot. So he git de hoss.
"I'se married 63 years ago--got de license outa Sardis. 'Bout twenty
year ago ah went back dar tuh visit--tuk some o' my chillern an' showed
'em de chuch dere at Fredonia whar we usta 'tend service.
"Dey war mos'ly perty good to us down dah--'cose we nevah cud go nowhars
'thout a pass or we'd git whupped. Dey had a doctor woman to take care
o'us iffen we's sick. Her name's Miss Ellen--An' dey's good an' careful
'bout womens when dey's gonna have a baby. She wuz jes given light work
to do, 'cause dey wanted big healthy famblies.
"One time dey wuz Ku Klux come to de do. Ah nebber seed em 'cause ah run
an' crawl unner de bed, but ah heerd um say, 'Please gi' me some water,
I ain't had a drink since de battle o' Shiloh.'
"Ole Jeff Davis sho' made it hawd fo' de cullud folks but wid Abe
Lincoln an' de grace ob de Lawd we's all free now."