*Eliza Overton, age 88.*
*Interviews with Maggie Kennedy,*
*John Franks, and Emma Body,*
*Farmington, Missouri.*
(_Note:_ Since Eliza Overton, an ex-slave, is now with her daughter,
Mrs. Mamie Robinson, in Detroit, the following information was gained
from interviews with Mrs. Overton's children now living in Farmington.
They are: Mrs. Maggie Kennedy, age 66; John Franks, age 56; and Mrs.
Emma Body, age 71. The oldest of the three children can recall life
during these days and the others recall stories told them by their
parents.)
"Our muthuh, Eliza, was born a slave in 1849, on da farm of her boss,
Mr. Madden in New Tennessee, Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. Eliza's
muthuh wuz also a slave. Muthuh wuz sol' with our grandmuthuh to John
Coffman of near Coffman, Missouri, in Ste. Genevieve County. Mr. Coffman
had thousands of acres. He had three plantations an' one wuz at
Libertyville, Missouri. He had 'bout two hundred slaves. The negroes war
tak'n frum one plantashun ta the other, and our grandmuthuh work'd at
all three places. 'Ole man Coffman' wuz a mean ole slave hol'er. He war
afraid of his slaves an' had some one else ta do da whippin'. They war
rougher on ma aunt Eleanor, cause she war stubborn. They wud punish de
slaves severely fur 'membrance. They whoop'd with a rawhide whop an'
trace chains. Wilson Harris wuz whooped at a tree onc't an' when dey got
thro' he say he wud fight. They whop him some mor' 'til he was weak an'
bleedin'. The other slaves had to grease his shirt ta take it off his
back ta keep frum tearin' off de flesh. We can go down thar now and pick
out trees whar the slaves war tied an' whipp'd. The trees died on de
side whar de slaves war tied. There are three trees on de Coffman farm
that I seen dead on one side, an' sum' war in the yard. Thar is one
clos' to the Houck Railroad Station thar.
"When John Coffman was sick he say he wuz goin' ta ride 'Jap', a roan
hoss, into heaban. So he ask us ta take good care of 'Jap'. I know
Coffman didn't go ta heaban 'cause he died an' lef' 'Jap' here.
"Mr. Coffman had a whole row of slave cabins. Our cabins war small an'
we had a corded bed, trundle bed ta slip unda' the big bed ta save room,
home made split bottom chairs, tin plates, wood'n boxes, an' a
fireplace. John Coffman gave us a 'lowance of food. We had hogsheads an'
jowls. Many tha time we ran short on food so's one night muthuh went out
to whar the hogs war. Mr. Coffman had so many hogs he didn't know how
many he had. She had da water hot an' the hogs war a long ways from Mr.
Coffman's house. So she hit a hog in da head with the ax an' kill'd it.
Afta' killin' it she went to the cabin ta get the water an' when she
kum' bak one of the other slaves hed stole de dead hog. So she hit
another one in de head an' after fixin' it hid the hog under de puncheon
floor of the cab'n. This was done offen. Mr. Coffman use ta kill 'bout
one hundred hogs at one time an' den put dem in de smoke-house. Ma
muthuh ud get the key to the smoke-house an' load up an' carry some meat
home.
"Ma Aunt Comfort tole de white boy ta thro' a knife at ma muthuh. The
boy hit ma muthuh jus' 'bove de eye an' den grandmuthuh whop'd Aunt
Comfort fur tellin' the white boy to do this.
"In ever cab'n thar war fiddles an' on Sunday we could have a good time.
One of de games we wud play out in frunt of the cab'n was 'Swing-Ole
Liza Single'. This here game wuz play'd by havin' two rows line up an' a
man wud dance up or down the line an' swing each one. We wud all sing
an' pat our han's an' feet ta keep time for the dance.
"Thar wuz some preachin' goin' on in the cab'ns an' out under the arbors
on Saturday nights an' Sunday. The preacher wuz a slave too. Two songs
that we 'member they sung war: 'We'll Bow Around the Altar--Whil'st My
Lord Answers Prayer', and 'Git in the Chariot and Ride Right-Along'.
"Our fauthur wuz also a slave of a Mr. Patterson but he wus treat'd
well. When Mr. Patterson died our fauther was will'd ta Mr. Patterson's
daughter. Our fauthur, Jacob Franks, wuz a trusted negro an' a teamster
who drove frum Ste. Genevieve ta the plantashun. He used ta swim the
river 'Aux Vases with his team. He'ud bring bak things frum Ste.
Genevieve that war hard ta git. Salt wuz hard ta git at this time.
"Our muthuh, Eliza, married Jacobs Franks wen she wuz 16 years ole jus'
after she wuz free. She wuz always rather puny an' wuz worth very little
as a slave. Onc't she was sold with three others an' brot' only $50. Our
muthuh has 5 children livin', 19 great grandchildren, and two great
grandchildren, Paul Evans, 6, and Andres, 3. Our fauthur died 43 years
ago an' our muthuh married a Mr. Overton an' he is also dead now.
"A Mr. Jones bought our aunt an' tok' her ta Shelby County, Missouri.
Our aunt had two children by Mr. Jones. One of 'em wuz so white dat Mr.
Jones couldn't sell him fur a slave.
"When de slaves war freed, we war tole ta go anywhar we pleas'd.
For'nately muthuh married at onc't, but others did not care ta leave
thar way of livin' 'cause they had no money, no homes, and did not know
how ta do thar own work. But Jim Blackwell, who had been a slave fur
John Coffman, saved up a lot of food in his cab'n an' then when he was
freed, he went out in da woods an' built him a home of his own. He cut
down de trees an' made his cab'n thar an' liv'd.
"I hear a woman stan' up an' say we would be bettah off today in
slavery. I say,'Why?' She say: 'You would hab ta look aftah nothin' of
your welfare.' 'If that's what she wuz talkin' 'bout', I said, 'ma
fauthuh wuz ten years ole fore he put on a pair of pants. He had ta wear
wooden shoes an' a tow shirt.' I wud not liv' twenty-four hours, bein' a
slave now. I wud' not habe stood it with ma temper."