*Interview with Mintie Wood,*
*St. Louis, Missouri.*
_Ex-slave Blind But Happy_
The subject of this sketch is Mintie Gilbert Wood, 90 years old. She
lives at 4321 West Belle Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, with her widowed
daughter, Emma Swift, 69 years old.
In the living room of a 10 room brick residence located in the better
class section of the Negro district of the city, Mintie lives with her
oldest daughter and two granddaughters. The old woman has been blind for
8 years. She is quite bent and shows the burden of her years. She is
hard of hearing and her mind is no longer keen and alert. Her daughter
claims a recent illness has caused the latter trouble. However, the
ex-slave very feebly tells the following story.
"I was born down in Bethel, Giles County, Tennessee, September 9, 1847.
Marse Carey Gilbert was my owner and I lived on his farm until 1892,
when I moved to little Rock, Arkansas. Marse Carey was mighty nice to
his slaves and he had a host of 'em. Can't begin to say how many. My old
uncle was de overseer of us younguns, about 50 young darkies, and he
trained us up till we get a certain age, then they turn us over to the
grown up lot, where the white overseer took charge of us. I don't
'member every thing so good, but I do de best I can. I 'member when
Marse Gilbert's daughter Miss Rebecca married Marse Maples, they lived
'bout 8 or 10 miles from her daddy's farm, and she use to come home ever
so often to visit. She looked so fine de slaves working in de field see
her coming dey all stop and rest on der hoe to look at her pass by on
her way to see her mamma, and she would tell 'em, you niggers better
pray my father never die. Cause if he died, I wouldn't 'low none you
niggers to lift your heads from de time you go to work till you quit. My
niggers work and never stop. Marse Gilbert gave her 4 slaves as a
wedding present, and they had a hard time, but her parents was mighty
fine.
"Dey owned so much land, cattle, corn, sorghum, tobacco, millet, barley
and everything the very finest kind and the wealth was handed down from
one generation of the Gilberts to the other. Dey was so rich dey didn't
know how much dey was worth themselves, but dey was altogether different
than most of dem slave owners. Dey was prosperous 'cause dey was better
folks. When peace was declared everyone of Marse Gilbert's slaves dat
had sense enough and did stay wid him, got half of everything they
earned turned in on land and stock to be independent right der on de
same spot where we had been a slave. And he had so many of his family
and darkies, too, he has his own graveyard where everyone of us black or
white dat ever been in de Gilbert family can be buried without costing
us a penny.
"He owned so much I can't begin to tell it, and nobody else I don't
expect. Right now a gang of his old slaves' children is livin' right
there owning and working property their parents slaved on, de old
Gilbert estate and his folks der wid' em, yes mam. None of us never
cared for Miss Rebecca. She made her slaves eat wid de hogs, even poured
der milk in the hog trough and de hogs and slaves ate and drink
together. She was worse dan de whole family of Gilberts. I get a blind
pension.
"I never did learn to read or write, but my husband was a school teacher
and he never was a slave. He was a soldier in the Rebel army. I had 6
children, 6 grandchildren, 3 great grand children and 3 great, great
grandchildren. I liked to sew, knit and make quilts fore I was blind. I
never used snuff or tobacco in my whole life. I have 2 sisters living,
one 82 years old, one 84 years old and a brother 87 years old. Dey all
live in Prospect Tennessee, where they were born and raised. My husband
died in 1914. Den I went back to Tennessee to live with my father until
1916 when I came to St. Louis to live with my younger daughter Lydia
King Davidson until 1920.
"Den I was called back home on account of the death of my father. After
the funeral I went to Lonoke, Arkansas, to live with my oldest daughter,
Emma Swift and been with her often and on ever since. I only eat 2 meals
a day, that's breakfast around 7 o'clock and dinner between 1 and 2
o'clock, the rest of the time I drink plenty water all day and all
through the night.
"We moved to St. Louis in the year 1922. I just can't get used to this
younger generation. Dey sure is a reckless lot. Cause my life had plenty
work 'tached to it. When I was coming along I split rails, hauled wood,
raised de white folks family den turned right around and raised my own
family.
"I believe in regular hours doing things, work, rest and everything else
it takes to make up life. I worked as hard after freedom as I did in
slavery. After all we got to work for a livin'. I don't believe in all
dis gallivantin' around at night. You ain't fit for no work in de day
when you don't rest at night. And I always believe in helping de fellow
who needs help and can't help hisself, much as I can. I even ask my
neighbors to save me all the old rags and bottles, anything they don't
want no more so as I can sell it and git hol' of a little somethin' to
help somebody, what ain't got some help like I got. I don't lose nothin'
for that, and I get joy out of it. I always keeps my little old pocket
book pinned in my pocket to put that little extra change in, and I got
it here right now and some change in it, too. I never did vote, and
never lived in Virginia nor know nothing about it. I do know de slaves
'spected a salary for der work when dey got free. Some of 'em got part
of de promise, but most of 'em got nothin' but de promise. My owners was
exceptions. Dere might of been some more like 'em but not many. At least
I never heard of em. All my old favorite songs us slaves use to sing, I
can't separate 'em anymore. I try to think of 'em, so I can sing 'em,
but I jest find myself mixin' 'em up, and can't tell one from the other.
Just singing. But the songs I like best dis day and time is 'Life Is
Like A Mountain Railroad', 'God Will Take Care Of You', and 'I maybe
blind, and I can not see, I may be crippled and I can not walk, But I'll
meet you at the Station when the train comes along."