[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note
[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note
SLAVE NARRATIVES
A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
From Interviews with Former Slaves
TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY
THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
1936-1938
ASSEMBLED BY
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
WASHINGTON 1941
VOLUME VIII
MARYLAND NARRATIVES
Prepared by
the Federal Writers' Project of
the Works Progress Administration
for the State of Maryland
INFORMANTS
Brooks, Lucy [TR: and Lafayette Brooks]
Coles, Charles
Deane, James V.
Fayman, Mrs. M.S.
Foote, Thomas
Gassaway, Menellis
Hammond, Caroline
Harris, Page
Henson, Annie Young
Jackson, Rev. Silas
James, James Calhart
James, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna
Johnson, Phillip
Jones, George
Lewis, Alice
Lewis, Perry
Macks, Richard
Randall, Tom
Simms, Dennis
Taylor, Jim
Wiggins, James
Williams, Rezin (Parson)
[TR: Interviews were stamped at left side with state name, date, and
interviewer's name. These stamps were often partially cut off. Where
month could not be determined [--] substituted. Interviewers' names
reconstructed from other, complete entries.]
Maryland
[--]-23-37
Guthrie
AUNT LUCY [HW: BROOKS].
References: Interview with Aunt Lucy and her son, Lafayette Brooks.
Aunt Lucy, an ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack
on the Carroll Inn Springs property at Forest Glen, Montgomery County,
Md.
To go to her home from Rockville, leave the Court House going east on
Montgomery Ave. and follow US Highway No. 240, otherwise known as the
Rockville Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles
to the junction with it on the left (east) of the Garrett Park Road.
This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgetown
Preparatory School, which is on the west of this road. Turn left on the
Garrett Park Road and follow it through that place and crossing Rock
Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B.&O. R.R. and
parallel them onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this
place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place
go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left.
This lane will be identified by the sign "Carroll Springs Inn". Turn
left here and enter the grounds of the inn. But do not go up in front of
the inn itself which is one quarter of a mile from the road. Instead,
where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left
and continue downward fifty yards toward the swimming pool. Lucy's shack
is on the left and one hundred feet west of the pool. It is about eleven
miles from Rockville.
Lucy is an usual type of Negro and most probably is a descendant of less
remotely removed African ancestors than the average plantation Negroes.
She does not appear to be a mixed blood--a good guess would be that she
is pure blooded Senegambian. She is tall and very thin, and considering
her evident great age, very erect, her head is very broad, overhanging
ears, her forehead broad and not so receeding as that of the average.
Her eyes are wide apart and are bright and keen. She has no defect in
hearing.
Following are some questions and her answers:
"Lucy, did you belong to the Carrolls before the war?" "Nosah, I didne
lib around heah den. Ise born don on de bay".
"How old are you?"
"Dunno sah. Miss Anne, she had it written down in her book, but she said
twas too much trouble for her to be always lookin it up". (Her son,
Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the
Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the
mother was twenty-five years old then, she would be about ninety now.
Some think she is more than a hundred years old).
"Who did you belong to?"
"I belonged to Missus Ann Garner".
"Did she have many slaves?"
"Yassuh. She had seventy-five left she hadnt sold when the war ended".
"What kind of work did you have to do?"
"O, she would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a
powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the
table. I was just a little gal then. Missus used to say that she was
going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to sen me to Baltimo
to learn to be a nurse".
"And what did you think about that?"
"Oh; I thought that would be fine, but he war came befo I got big enough
to learn to be a nurse".
"I remebers when the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers.
De never hurt anybody but they took what they could find to eat and they
made us cook for them. I remebers that me and some other lil gals had a
play house, but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked through
a hole in the fence and ran out in the field. One of the soldiers seed
me and he hollers 'look at that rat run'."
"I remebers when the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic
cable) came into the bay. Missus Ann, and all the white folks went down
to Fairhaven wharf to see dat big shep".
"I stayed on de plantation awhile after de war and heped de Missus in de
house. Den I went away".
"Ise had eight chillun. Dey all died and thisun and his brother
(referring to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said he ought ter
died instid o his brother."
"Why?"
"Because thisun got so skeered when he was little bein carried on a hos
that he los his speech and de wouldt let me see im for two days. It was
a long time befor he learned to talk again". (To this day he has such an
impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him make the effort to
talk).
"What did you have to eat down on the plantation, Aunt Lucy?"
"I hab mostly clabber, fish and corn bread. We gets plenty of fish down
on de bay".
"When we cum up here we works in the ole Forest Glen hotel. Mistah
Charley Keys owned the place then. We stayed there after Mr. Cassidy
come. (Mr. Cassidy was the founder of the National Park Seminary, a
school for girls). My son Lafayette worked there for thirty five years.
Then we cum to Carroll Springs Inn".
Maryland
11/15/37
Rogers
CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home,
1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md.
"I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles
County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives.
I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey,
a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church.
"Mr. Dorsey was a man of excellent reputation and character, was loved
by all who knew him, black and white, especially his slaves. He was
never known to be harsh or cruel to any of his slaves, of which he had
more than 75.
"The slaves were Mr. Dorsey's family group, he and his wife were very
considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore good
heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes.
"I have been told that the Dorseys' farm contained about 3500 acres, on
which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey managed
the farm. They required the farm hands to work from 7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.;
after that their time was their own.
"There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was
bought or sold. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services
of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose
and in which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how
to read and write and were assisted by some Catholic priests who came to
the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. When a
child was born, it was baptised by the priest, and given names and they
were recorded in the Bible. We were taught the rituals of the Catholic
church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the
corpse was buried in the Dorseys' graveyard, a lot of about 1-1/2 acres,
surrounded by cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the
graves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had
plain stones.
"I have never heard of any of the Dorseys' slaves running away. We did
not have any trouble with the white people.
"The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weather-boarded and
stripped to keep out the cold. I do not remember whether the slaves
worked or not on Saturdays, but I know the holidays were their own. Mr.
Dorsey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected
to find on other plantations.
"We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my
favorite game was marbles.
"When we took sick Mr. and Mrs. Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to
the slaves, giving medical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic
and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier Church."
Maryland
Sept. 20, 1937
Rogers
JAMES V. DEANE, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave,
on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave.,
Baltimore.
"My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose
Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of
Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father's people. I have two
sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford.
"I was born in a log cabin, a typical Charles County log cabin, at Goose
Bay on the Potomac River. The plantation on which I was born fronted
more than three miles on the river. The cabin had two rooms, one up and
one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no
porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain and snow from
beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the
outside, plastered between the logs, in which was a fireplace with an
open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.
"We slept on a home-made bedstead, on which was a straw mattress and
upon that was a feather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my
mother to cover.
"As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn,
watching watermelon patches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco
fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money.
"Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables
raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt and water.
"Yes, I have hunted o'possums, and coons. The last time I went coon
hunting, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took to
their heels, white and colored, the white men outran the colored hunter,
leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards.
"My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You
have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches
which they worked by moonlight.
"As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on
the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and
in summer our clothes were made from cast-off clothes and Kentucky
jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the
stock, after which we did what we wanted.
"I have seen many slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the
groom jumping over it as a part of the wedding ceremony. When a slave
married someone from another plantation, the master of the wife owned
all the children. For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes,
sometimes you could not tell the original outfit for the patches, and
sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride's trousseau, she would wear the
cast-off clothes of the mistress, or, at other times the clothes made by
other slaves.
"It was said our plantation contained 10,000 acres. We had a large
number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from
sunup to sundown. The slaves were not whipped.
"There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my
aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was
sold and taken south. We never saw or heard of her afterwards.
"We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white
preachers. We sang with the white people. The Methodists were christened
and the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored funerals with
no service. A graveyard on the place, only a wooden post to show where
you were buried.
"None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard many patrollers, but
they never whipped any of Mason's slaves. The method of conveying news,
you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between whites
and blacks.
"After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories
and tales, dances, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like
any other day. We had all legal holidays. Christmas morning we went to
the big house and got presents and had a big time all day.
"At corn shucking all the slaves from other plantations would come to
the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn,
and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man
to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted. We had
supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn
bread. We went back to shucking. The carts from other farms would be
there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was
stored, we danced until daybreak.
"The only games we played were marbles, mumble pegs and ring plays. We
sang London Bridge.
"When we wanted to meet at night we had an old conk, we blew that. We
all would meet on the bank of the Potomac River and sing across the
river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us.
"Some people say there are no ghosts, but I saw one and I am satisfied,
I saw an old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met
her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her. I liked to tore the
door off the hinges getting away.
"My master's name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental
disposition, his mother managed the affairs. He was kind. Mrs. Mason had
a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The
main house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no
overseer.
"The poor white people in Charles County were worse off than the slaves;
because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation, the slaves
did all the work.
"Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves
tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore.
"No one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord's Prayer and
catechism.
"When the slaves took sick Dr. Henry Mudd, the one who gave Booth first
aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their own, and made their
own salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones."
Maryland
11/3/37
Rogers
MRS. M.S. FAYMAN.
Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman,
at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md.
"I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of
Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them
were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very
influential. My father's name was Henri de Sales and mother's maiden
name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson
named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving me
the only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in
Louisiana. We lived in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers
and situated on a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised
pelicans for sale in the market at New Orleans.
"When I was about 5 years old I was sent to a private School in Baton
Rouge, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped
in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English; French was
the language spoken in my household and by the people in the parish.
"Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping
place for all large river boats, especially between New Orleans and
large towns and cities north. We children were taken out by the sisters
after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of the places we
went was the wharf. One day in June and on a Saturday a large boat was
at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were
there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken up
bodily by a white man, carried on the boat, put in a cabin and kept
there until we got to Louisville, Kentucky, where I was taken off.
"After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frankfort and
installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through
the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from Cincinnati, Ohio.
As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and
companion for the children of Pierce Buckran Haynes, a well known slave
trader and plantation owner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to
speak French and it was my duty to teach them. I was the private
companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French
and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I
in the rudiments of the English language.
"I slept in the children's quarters with the Haynes' children, ate and
played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me
with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave
the plantation. While on the plantation I wore good clothes, similar to
those of the white children. Haynes was a merciless brutal tyrant with
his slaves, punishing them severly and cruelly both by the lash and in
the jail on the plantation.
"The name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called
Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes. It contained 8000 acres, of
which more than 6000 acres were under cultivation, and having about 350
colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all of whom were white. The
overseers were the overlords of the manor; as Haynes dealt extensively
in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly
all the time. There was located on the top of the large tobacco
warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o'clock and at
sundown, the year round. On the farm the slaves were assigned a task to
do each day and In the event it was not finished they were severely
whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see them afterwards,
they were very badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the
whipping.
"I have been back to the farm on several occasions, the first time in
1872 when I took my father there to show him the farm. At that time it
was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Army officer.
"Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one
about 20 feet wide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet
high In front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a
sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2x4
feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There
were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building
12x15 feet, this was where the cooking was done. At each end of each
building there was a fire place built and used for heating purposes. In
front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by
pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a
hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the
buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there
were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an iron rod
was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for
those inside to escape.
"There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet
with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story. On the ground in each end
was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office;
adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach
the second story there was built on the outside, steps leading to a
door, through which the female prisoners were taken to the room. All of
the buildings had dirt floors.
"I do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there
at that time. Slaves were brought and taken away always chained
together, men walking and women in ox carts. I had heard of several
escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or
8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves.
"Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My
grandmother was a Haitian Negress, grandfather a Frenchman. My father
was a Creole.
"After returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in
New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French
there until 1883, married Prof. Payman, teacher of history and English.
Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisianna. For
further information, write me c/o Y.W.C.A. (col.), Baltimore, to be
forwarded".
Maryland
Dec. 16, 1937
Rogers
THOMAS FOOTE'S STORY, A free Negro.
Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote,
at his home, Cockeysville, Md.
"My mother's name was Eliza Foote and my father's name was Thomas Foote.
Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm
about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern
Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City.
"My mother's maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of
Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr. Ensor, a
homeopathic medical doctor of Cockeysville who was a noted doctor in his
day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read
and write. My mother's duty along with her other work was to assist Dr.
Ensor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practical
experience and knowledge of different herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor
used in the compounding of his medicine, used them for commercial
purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored people of
Baltimore County, especially of the Merrymans, Ridgelys, Roberts,
Cockeys and Mayfields. Her fame reached as far south as Baltimore City
and north of Baltimore as far as the Pennsylvania line and the
surrounding territory. She was styled and called the doctor woman both
by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people
but confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their
troubles.
"My mother prescribed for her people and compounded medicine out of the
same leaves, herbs and roots that Dr. Ensor did. Naturally her success
along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as
a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which
there were a number in Baltimore County.
"The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in
the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always
preceeded with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard her tell others
hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was seen
coming from her home early in the morning. He had been there for
treatment of an ailment which Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being
treated by my mother for a time, he got well. When this slave was
searched, he had in his possession a small bag in which a stone of a
peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had
given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it came in
contact.
"There were about this time a number of white people who had been going
through Cockeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted
move on the part of the slaves to run away, others contacting the free
people to find out to what extent they had 'grape-vine' news of the
action of the Negroes. The Negro who was seen coming from mother's home
ran away. She was immediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of
Cockeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled
by the sheriff of Baltimore County--the Cockeys, and several other men,
all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing
that the only way he could have escaped was by the York Road, north or
south, the Northern Central Railroad or by the way of Deer Creek, a
small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad
were being watched, she logically thought that the only place was Deer
Creek, so she told the sheriff to search Deer Creek. By accident he was
found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several other
colored men who had run away.
"Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into
slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until 1865,
when she returned to her home in Cockeysville; where a great many of her
descendants live, now, on a hill that slopes west to Cockeysville
Station, and is known as Foote's Hill by both white and colored people
of Baltimore County today.
"I was born in Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; reared a
family of five children, three boys and two girls. I am a member of the
A.M.E. Church at Cockeysville. I am a member of the Masonic Lodge and
belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote's descendants still
own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are known from one end of
the county to the other."
Maryland
Sept. 22, 1937
Rogers
MENELLIS GASSAWAY, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave,
on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore.
"My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was
born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of
Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll
County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two
rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a
small farm situated on a public road, I don't know the name.
"My father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family.
We raised on the farm vegetables and grain, consisting of corn and
wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist
mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other
stock for food.
"During the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can't
remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people,
that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other
colored people so far as I can recall.
"I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owned our
family buy or sell slaves. He was a small man.
"As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the
farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or Ma while they
were there.
"There was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side
Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways
from the farm.
"My father neglected his own education as well as his children. He could
not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of which
we in later years saw the advantage.
"In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it
was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This
made the colored and white people very friendly.
"Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not know whether he worked
on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church.
"My father was owned by a man by the name of Mr. Dorsey. My mother was
bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by the name of Mr. Morris of Frederick
County.
"I have never heard of many ghost stories. But I believe once, a
conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed (beheaded), and
after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many
people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him
when the train passed the spot where he was killed.
"So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could
not afford to hire one, and the colored doctored themselves with herbs,
teas and salves made by themselves."
Maryland
[--] 11, 1938
Rogers
CAROLINE HAMMOND, A fugitive.
Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md.
"I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from
South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave
woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of
Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of
whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household
help who ate and slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the
household slaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves did
not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson's household.
"Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social
standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson
entertained on a large scale, especially many of the officers of the
Naval Academy at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs.
Davidson's dishes were considered the finest, and to receive an
invitation from the Davidsons meant that you would enjoy Maryland's
finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the
market.
"All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited
on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons,
braid and a fancy Test, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him
now, standing at the door, after he had rung the bell. When the family
and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to
serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated with meats,
fowl or whatever was to be eaten by the family or guest.
"Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every
consideration that he could, with the exception of freeing them; but
Mrs. Davidson was hard on all the slaves, whenever she had the
opportunity, driving them at full speed when working, giving different
food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daughter of one
of the Revells of the county, a family whose reputation was known all
over Maryland for their brutality with their slaves.
"Mother with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free
colored man of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother
within three years after marriage for $750 dollars and if any children
were born they were to go with her. My father was a carpenter by trade,
his services were much in demand. This gave him an opportunity to save
money. Father often told me that he could save more than half of his
income. He had plenty of work, doing repair and building, both for the
white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for
mother on the partial payment plan. He had paid up all but $40 on
mother's account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking
on the South River by one of the duck hunters, dying instantly.
"Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When
father wanted to pay off the balance due, $40.00, Mrs. Davidson refused
to accept it, thus mother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free
man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was
endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs,
constables and officials of public conveyances. By bribery of the
sheriff of Anne Arundel County father was given a passage to Baltimore
for mother and me. On arriving in Baltimore, mother, father and I went
to a white family on Ross Street--now Druid Hill Ave., where we were
sheltered by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the
Underground Railroad.
"A reward of $50.00 each was offered for my father, mother and me, one
by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At
this time the Hookstown Road was one of the main turnpikes into
Baltimore. A Mr. Coleman whose brother-in-law lived in Pennsylvania,
used a large covered wagon to transport merchandise from Baltimore to
different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived.
Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawn, by six
horses. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground in
any community or close to any settlement, fearful of being apprehended
by people who were always looking for rewards.
"After arriving at Hanover, Pennsylvania, it was easy for us to get
transportation farther north. They made their way to Scranton,
Pennsylvania, in which place they both secured positions in the same
family. Father and mother's salary combined was $27.50 per month. They
stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I was being taught at a Quaker
mission in Scranton. When we come to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade
grammar school in South Baltimore. After finishing the grammar school, I
followed cooking all my life before and after marriage. My husband James
Berry, who waited at the Howard House, died in 1927--aged 84. On my next
birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can
see well, have an excellent appetite, but my grandchildren will let me
eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat.
On Christmas Day 49 children and grandchildren and some
great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for
Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts of a poor person not dependant on
any one else for tomorrow".
Maryland
Dec. 13, 1937
Rogers
PAGE HARRIS, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home,
Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md.
"I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac
River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as
Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and
trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders
of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as
Mississippi and Louisiana.
"My father's name was Sam and mother's Mary, both of whom belonged to
the Staffords and were reared in Charles County. They reared a family of
nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the
rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords
liberated my parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves
but because of saving the lives of his entire family.
"Mrs. Stafford came from Prince William County, Virginia, a county on
the west side of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and
oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to
Quantico, a small town in Prince William County, Va., and up Quantico
Creek in the same county.
"I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest
son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in
the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed
across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of which
she was a member. Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the
boat to capsize. My father was fishing from a log raft in the river,
immediately went to their rescue. The wind blew the raft towards the
centre of the stream and in line with the boat. He was able without
assistance to save the whole family, diving into the river to rescue
Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and it
was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream.
Everybody thought that the Staffords had been drowned as the boat
floated to the shore, bottom upwards.
"As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata,
the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of
him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
family to Philadelphia.
"I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
purpose of Mr. Stafford's living--raising and training blood hounds. I
have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
had charge of the dogs.
"Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.
"There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
and would howl and return home.
"Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in
the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the
dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day
has any idea how he did it; but he did.
"In the year of 1866 my father returned to Maryland bringing with him
mother and my brothers and sister. He selected Annapolis for his future
home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he
continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or
1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school
that was established for colored children and taught by white teacher
until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy
waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money,
sometimes making more than your wages. About 1896 or '97 I purchased a
farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived
since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel County is
noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church,
Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have
grown to be men and women, one living home with me, one in New York, two
in Baltimore, and one working in Washington, D.C."
Maryland
Sept. 27, 1937
Rogers
ANNIE YOUNG HENSON, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave,
at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore.
"I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter
of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters,
Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum.
"The farm was called Traveler's Rest. The farm so named because a man
once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for
something to eat and lodging for the night; both of which was given and
welcomed by the wayfarer.
"The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a
high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to
the master, mistress and their guests where they could hear the chant of
the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves humming some familiar
tunes that suited their taste, as they worked.
"Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built
about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and
distinct from the others. It contained two rooms, one up and one down,
with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the
kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen
help for the master, mistress and their guests, and from which each
slave received his or her weekly ration, about 20 pounds of food each.
"The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the
kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm.
"My position was second nurse for the doctor's family, or one of the
inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position
my clothes were made better, and better quality than the others, all
made and arranged to suit the mistress' taste. I got a few things of
femine dainty that was discarded by the mistress, but no money nor did I
have any to spend. During my life as a slave I was whipped only once,
and that was for a lie that was told on me by the first nurse who was
jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress' room in a bed that we
pushed under the mistress' in the day or after I arose.
"Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds,
and men to go with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners
would send some of their slaves to join ours and we then dividing the
spoils of the catch.
"We had 60 slaves on the plantation, each family housed in a cabin built
by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the
number. For clothes we had good clothes, as we raised sheep, we had our
own wool, out of which we weaved our cloth, we called the cloth 'box and
dice'.
"In the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash
wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the
shoe maker.
"My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as
afterward. I was small or young during my slave days, I always heard my
mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how
she used to say before she was married, when she saw the doctor coming,
'here comes old Dr. Nellums'. Another friend she would say 'here comes
cozen Auckney'.
"We never had any overseers on the plantation, we had an old colored man
by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please
Mistress and Master, obey old Peter.
"The farm was very large, the slaves worked from sunup to sundown, no
one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only when proven
guilty of crime charged.
"Our master never sold any slaves. We had a six-room house, where the
slaves entertained and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We
had no jail on the plantation. We were not taught to read or write, we
were never told our age.
"We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where
the slaves worshipped sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours
and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was
once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery
directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of
the church said to him, 'John, if you don't stop hollowing Amen you
can't come to church'; he got so full of the Holy Ghost he yelled out
Amen upon a venture, the congregation was so tickled with him and at his
antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted.
"During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was my uncle, when the
Yankees came to Virginia, he ran away with them. He was later captured
by the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the
court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards.
"I have seen and heard white-cappers, they whipped several colored men
of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers drilling to go to war.
"I remember well the day that Dr. Nellum, just as if it were yesterday,
that we went to the court house to be set free. Dr. Nellum walked in
front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if
they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the
papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed
there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back
since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked
for Mr. Marshall, a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street,
getting $6.00 per month. I have been told by both white and colored
people of Virginia who knew Dr. Nellum, he lost his mind."
Maryland
Sept. 29, 1937
Rogers
REV. SILAS JACKSON, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave,
at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore.
"I was born at or near Ashbie's Gap in Virginia, either in the year of
1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My
father's name was Sling and mother's Sarah Louis. They were purchased by
my master from a slave trader in Richmond, Virginia. My father was a man
of large stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally
came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I think from the Legg estate,
beyond that I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisters. My
brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas,
Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane and
Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever
seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a
Baptist minister like myself.
"The only things I know about my grandparents were: My grandfather ran
away through the aid of Harriet Tubman and went to Philadelphia and
saved $350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a Quaker or
an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried
to trace this part of my family's past history, but without success.
"I was a large boy for my age, when I was nine years of age my task
began and continued until 1864. You see _I saw and_ I was a slave.
"In Virginia where I was, they raised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm
products. I have had a taste of all the work on the farm, besides of
digging and clearing up new ground to increase the acreage to the farm.
We all had task work to do--men, women and boys. We began work on Monday
and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for
ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or
work on some one else's place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off
the plantation, but to be back by nine o'clock on Saturday night or when
cabin inspection was made. Some time we could earn as much as 50 cents a
day, which we used to buy cakes, candies, or clothes.
"On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black
strap, 6 pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of
which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who
wanted, hunted rabbits, opossums or fished. These were our choice food
as we did not get anything special from the overseer.
"Our food was cooked by our mothers or sisters and for those who were
not married by the old women and men assigned for that work.
"Each family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and
if a man raised his own food he was given $10.00 at Christmas time
extra, besides his presents.
"In the summer or when warm weather came each slave was given something,
the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin
shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work
in. In the cold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing
cabin.
"My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man was never born in
Virginia--brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him.
If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would
have the slave tied to a tree, man or woman, and then would cowhide the
victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint.
"The Ashbie's home was a large stone mansion, with a porch on three
sides. Wide halls in the center up and down stairs, numerous rooms and a
stone kitchen built on the back connected with dining room.
"Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was out.
The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boys
and girls of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids
or private waiter for the young men if they wanted them.