amounts varying according to the number in each family. Usually a small
family received three lbs. of bacon, one peck of meal, and one quart of
syrup.
Slaves on the Freeman plantation never knew anything but kind treatment.
Their mistress was a religious woman and never punished unless it was
absolutely necessary. On other plantations however, some slaves were
treated cruelly. When a slave resented this treatment he was quickly
gotten rid of. Many were sent to Mississippi and Texas. White offenders
were sent to chain gangs, but there were no gangs for slaves. "Patter
rollers" were known more for their cruelty than many of the slave owners
and would often beat slaves unmercifully". "I remember one," remarked
Mr. Hammond, "The Patter rollers fot after a man on our place." Booker
went to see his wife and took along an old out of date pass. The
Patter-rollers asked to see the pass which he quickly handed to them and
kept walking. After inspecting the pass closely they called Booker and
told him the pass was no good. "Well this is" he replied and started
running just as fast as he could until he safely reached the plantation.
"I never needed a pass."
Through the week the slaves were allowed to conduct prayer meeting in
the quarters themselves; but on Sundays they attended the white churches
for their weekly religious meetings. We were told to obey our masters
and not to steal. "That is all the sermon we heard," remarked Mr.
Hammond. Their services were conducted in the basement of the church in
the afternoons.
Marriages on the Freeman Plantation, were conducted in much the same
manner as they are today. Mr. Hammond only remembers attending just one
marriage of a colored couple. A white minister performed the ceremony
right in the mistress's yard as every one white and colored looked on.
After the ceremony the usual frolic did not take place; however on other
plantations frolics often took place immediately following a marriage.
Whiskey served as refreshment for some while others had to content
themselves with barbecue.
"When we got sick we were not allowed to suffer through negligence on
the part of our owner", remarked Mr. Hammond. Family doctors of the
white families attended the slaves and through them they were well cared
for. Castor oil was the favorite home remedy used in those days and it
could always be found on the family shelf.
"My first impression of the civil war was received when the methodist
and Baptist Churches began to disagree", remarked Mr. Hammond. He
continued,--"One day as my uncle and I worked on Miss Adeline's truck
farm Wheeler's Calvary, a group of Confederate soldiers came to the
field and forced us to give them our two best mules. In their place they
left their old half starved horses. We immediately rode to town
and informed the mistress of what had taken place. During this time
Confederate soldiers were known to capture slaves and force them to dig
ditches, known as breastworks. My mistress became frightened, and locked
me in the closet until late in the evening. She then fixed a basket of
food and instructed me as to the direction in which to travel back to
the field. It was a common sight to see soldiers marching on to Macon,
Ga., in the mornings and in the evenings see the same group on their way
back running from the Yanks".
Mr. Hammond made the following statement concerning the end of the war.
"Our mistress told us we were free; however, I was too young to realize
just what freedom would mean to us, but somehow I knew that we would
have to be responsible for our own upkeep. Doctors bills, medicines,
clothing, (etc) would have to be paid by us from then on. After that we
worked for anyone who would hire us and never earned over 25 or 30 cents
a day. Sometimes our pay consisted of a peck of meal or a piece of
meat."
As a close to the interview Mr. Hammond stated he married at the age of
23 and was the father of 7 children. He has lived in Atlanta for the
past 65 years working at various jobs. At one time he owned a dray. "My
old age is the result of taking care of myself and not being exposed."
Besides this Mr. Hammond attends Bethel A.M.E. church regularly. As
writer prepared to leave, Mr. Hammond remarked, "I never knew much about
slavery, you see; I've always been treated as a free man".
JANE SMITH HILL HARMON
of
WASHINGTON-WILKES
by
Minnie Branham Stonestreet
Washington-Wilkes
Georgia
JANE SMITH HILL HARMON of WASHINGTON-WILKES
A comical little old black woman with the happy art of saying and doing
as she pleases and getting by with it, is Jane Smith Hill Harmon of
Washington-Wilkes. She lives alone in her cabin off the Public Square
and is taken care of by white friends. She is on the streets every day
carrying her long walking stick which she uses to lean on and as a
"hittin' stick". She doesn't fail to use it vigorously on any "nigger"
who teases her. She hits hard and to hurt, but it seems they had rather
hear what she has to say, and take the penalty, then to let her alone.
Her wardrobe consists of out-of-style clothes and hats given her and it
is her delight on Saturday afternoons to dress up in her finest and
fanciest creations and come strutting along down town proud of the
attention she is attracting.
Unlike most old people, Aunt Jane doesn't like to talk about the past.
She enjoys life and lives in the present. It was hard to get her to tell
anything much of her early life. Finally, however, she grew a bit
reminiscent and talked of the past for a little while.
"Yassum, I'se 88 years ole last gone May, an' I been in Washington,
Georgy fuh 53 years an' I ain't been in no Council scrape an' no Cote
nor nothin' bad lak dat, kase I 'haves myself an' don't lak niggers an'
don't fool 'long wid 'em. No'm, I sho' ain't got no use fuh niggers
'tall. An' as fuh yaller niggers--huh! I jes' hates 'em--dey's de wust
niggers de're is, dey's got dirty feets, an' dey's nasty an' mean, I
hates 'em, I tells yuh!
"I wuz borned an' raised on de Smith plantation out here a piece frum
town. I wuz one of fourteen chillun, I think I wuz de 10th 'un. We wuz
well took keer of by our Marster an' his fust wife, she wuz jes' as good
ter us as she could be, my fust Mistess wuz, but she died an' Marster
married agin an' she wuz mean ter us little niggers. She'd whup us fuh
nothin', an' us didn't known what ter do, kase our fust Mistess wuz so
good ter us, but dat last 'oman, she sho' wuz mean ter us.
"My Marster had lots of slaves an' us all had work ter do. De fust work
I done wuz churnin' an' I loved ter do 'hit kase I loved milk an' butter
so good. I'd dance an' dance 'round dat ole churn, churnin' an' churnin'
'till de butter wuz come. I allus could dance, I cuts fancy steps now
sometimes when I feels good. At one o' dem big ole country breakdowns
(dances), one night when I wuz young, I danced down seben big strong
mens, dey thought dey wuz sumpin'! Huh, I danced eb'ry one down!
"I uster play dolls wid de overseer's chillun, an' look fuh aigs, an'
tote in wood an' pick up chips. Us had good times togeder, all us little
niggers an' de little white chilluns. Us had two days at Chris'mus, an'
no work wuz done on de place of a Sunday. Everybody white an' black had
ter go ter Chu'ch. De overseer piled us all in de waggin an' took us
whether us wanted ter go or no. Us niggers set up in de loft (gallery),
an' de white folks wuz down in de Chu'ch too.
"Atter er while dey s'lected me out to be a housegirl an' den I slep' in
de big house. All de little niggers et in de white folks' kitchen out'n
er big tray whut wuz lak a trough. De cook put our victuals in de tray
an' gib us a spoon an' pone er bread a piece an' made us set 'roun' dat
tray an' eat all us wanted. 'Hit wuz good eatin', too.
"All durin' of de War my Marster wuz off fightin' an' de overseer wuz
hard on us. We wuz glad when Marster cum home er gin. De Yankees wuz
a-comin' an' Daddy Charles, he wuz a ole black man on de place, knowed
'bout Marster's money, an' he took hit all an' put it in er big box an'
went out in de night time an' buried hit 'way down deep in some thick
woods an' put leaves all over de place an' dem Yankees couldn't fin' hit
nowhar, an' dey went on off an' let us 'lone.
"My Ma wuz a 'spert spinner an' weaver, an' she spun an' wove things ter
be sont ter de Soldiers in de War. I 'members dat, her er spinnin' an'
dey say hit wuz fer de soldiers.
"Atter we wuz free I went ter school er mont'. I fit so wid all de
chillun I quit. Dey said I mustn't fight an' I knowed I couldn't git er
long widout fightin' so I jes' quit an' ain't never been ter no mo'
schools. My Marster said he wuz goin' ter have a school on de place fer
all his niggers, but freedom cum an' he didn't do hit.
"I mari'ed in my white folks' kitchen, mari'ed de fust time when I wuz
19 years ole. I been mari'ed two times an' had good husban's. Dey wuz
good ter me.
"Doctors? Doctors? I don't know nothin' 'bout no doctors! I ain't never
been sickly. Dis year (1936) I done had to have mo' ter do wid doctors
dan ever in my life. I'se gittin' now to whar I kain't walk lak I uster,
all crippled up in my laigs wid sumpin'.
"Ain't nobody lef' now but me an' one o' my six chillun. He lives up in
dat Phillerdelma (Philadelphia) an' I 'cided onst three er fo' year
ergo, to go up da're an' live wid 'im. Lawdy, Lawdy, I ain't been so
glad o' nothin' in my life as I wuz ter git back ter Washington, Georgy!
I ain't goin' 'way frum here 'till I dies. Son is mari'ed, an' sich er
'oman as he's got! She's un o' dem smart No'th'n niggers. She 'bused de
So'th an' de white folks down here all de time. I'd er beat her wid my
stick ef'n I'd er had 'tection, but I wuz way off up da're in de No'th
an' didn't know nobody. But I did found a gal what use ter live here an'
went an' stayed wid her 'till I worked an' got 'nough money ter git home
on. Jes' soon as I got here I went straight ter Mr. Sheriff Walton an'
Mr. Sturdivant (Chief of Police) an' tole dem 'bout dat sassy hateful
nigger up da're talkin' 'bout de So'th an' de white folks lak she done,
an dat she say she wuz comin' down here ter see me. I axed dem when I
got er letter sayin' she wuz a-comin' would dey take me ter Augusty ter
meet her an' when she stept off'n de train ter let me take my stick an'
beat her all I wanted ter fer talkin' bout my white folks lak she done.
Dey said: "Aunt Jane, jes' you let us know an' we sho' will take you to
Augusty ter meet her, an' let you beat her all you want ter." But she
ain't never come--she skeered, an she sho' better be, kase I'se home
down here an got all de 'tection I needs. Ef'n she ever do come, I'm
goin' ter beat her wid dis stick an sen' her back to her country up
da're in dat Phillerdelma. She ain't got no sense an' no raisin, neider,
talkin' 'bout de So'th an' my white folks what lives here."
And from the wicked flash from Aunt Jane's eyes, it will be well for her
"sassy" daughter-in-law to stay "up No'th".
PLANTATION LIFE
As viewed by
Ex-Slave
DOSIA HARRIS
159 Valley Street
Athens, Georgia
Written by: Sadie B. Hornsby
Athens --
Edited by: Sarah H. Hall
Athens --
Leila Harris
Augusta --
and
John N. Booth
District Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Residencies 6 & 7.
DOSIA HARRIS
Ex-Slave--Age 78
Dosia lives in a red painted frame house. Her very black skin, thick
lips, and broad nose are typical of her African ancestry. She is tall,
thin, and a little stooped, and her wooly hair is fast fading from gray
to almost white. When she greeted the interviewer, she was wearing a
blue striped dress which displayed a large patch of blue print on the
front of the skirt over her knees. Over her dress a black silk blouse,
lavishly trimmed with black beads, was worn for a wrap, and a pair of
men's brown shoes, sans laces, completed her costume. Due to illiteracy
Dosia has retained the dialect of the old southern darky.
Asked to relate her experiences as a slave, she replied: "Oo, Miss! What
does you want to know 'bout dat for? Well, anyhow I was borned in Greene
County. Mary and Auss Downs was my Ma and Pa. I cain't tell you whar dey
come from.
"I played 'round de yard wid de rest of de chillun and picked a little
cotton up and down de rows. I was de onliest chile my Mammy had. My Pa
was married two times, and I was his fust chile. I had four half
sisters: Fannie, Clara, Daisy, and Martha Ann, but I never had no
brothers.
"All de houses in de slave quarters was log cabins 'cept two. Dey was
made of boards what was put on straight up and down. All de houses had
chimblies made out of mud and sticks. De beds had high posties and some
of 'em was nailed to de wall of de cabin. Dey didn't know nothin' 'bout
no wire springs den, and dey strung de beds wid heavy cords for springs.
Dey made mattress ticks out of coarse home-wove cloth; some was striped
and some was plain unbleached white. Atter de wheat was thrashed evvy
year de 'omans tuk deir ticks and emptied out de old straw and went and
filled 'em wid new wheat straw. Wisht I had a nice fresh made wheat
straw mattress now. Us had plenty of good quilts for kivver.
"Some of de slave chillun slept on de flo', but me, I slept wid my
grandma. She was Crecia Downs, and she done raised me, 'cause my Mammy
died when I was three days old, or come to think of it, was I three
weeks old when dat happened? I'se done got so old I forgits lots of
things lak dat. Mammy died of some kind of fever dat was mighty
catchin'. Twenty-five Niggers died on dat one plantation 'bout de same
time, from dat fever. Atter grandma got too old to wuk in de field, she
didn't do nothin' but piddle 'round de yard and bile slops for de hogs.
Grandpa Joe Downs, he was de carpenter, but he done most any kind of wuk
dat come up to be done; he wuked in de fields and driv cows, or jus'
anything.
"Money! No Ma'am! All dey ever give slaves was a belly full of somepin
t'eat, de clo'es dey wore, and de orders to keep on wukin'. Now come to
think of it, I did see $8,000 of Jeff Davis fodder what de white folks
th'owed 'way atter de War. Us chillun picked it up and played wid it.
"What did us have t'eat? Oo-o! Dey give us plenty good victuals. Dere
was bread and meat; peas, greens, and other vegetables; all de milk us
wanted, and sometimes dere was good old gingercakes made wid sorghum
syrup. As for me, I laked fried fat meat and cornbread cooked in de
ashes better dan greens and sweet things any old time. All de cookin'
was done in great big open fireplaces dat was plum full of ovens,
skillets and all sorts of long handled pans and things. Gentlemen! Dat
pot would bile down wid dem peas in it 'fore you knowed it if you didn't
watch it close. Dere never was no other bread good as what us baked in
dem ovens and in de ashes.
"'Possums! You jus' makes my mouth water, talkin' 'bout 'possums. Folks
thought so much of deir 'possum dogs dem days dey fed 'em 'til dey was
jus' fat and lazy. Dey cotched de 'possums, singed and scraped de hair
off of 'em, finished dressin' 'em and drapped 'em in de pot to bile 'til
dey was tender. Den dey put 'em in bakin' pans and kivvered 'em over wid
strips of fat meat and baked 'em jus' as nice and brown, and if dey had
good sweet 'tatoes, dey roasted 'em in de ashes, peeled 'em, and put 'em
on de big old platters wid de 'possums. Rabbits was plentiful too and I
loves 'em 'til dis good day. Most of de young tender rabbits what dey
cotched was fried, but if dey brung in some old tough ones dey was
throwed in de pot wid a piece of fat meat and biled 'til dey was done.
Squirrels was cooked jus' lak rabbits. Dere was plenty of fish down dar
in Greene County whar us lived, but I never did eat 'em. Slaves would
wuk all day and fish all night, but you never did ketch Dosia foolin'
'round no fish ponds. Slave famblies was 'lowed to have little gyarden
patches if dey wanted 'em. I ricollect how I used to go to de gyarden in
de winter and cut down collards atter frost had done hit 'em and fetched
'em to de house to be biled down for dinner.
"What us wore in summer? Well, it was lak dis--little Nigger chillun
didn't stay out of de branch long 'nough to need much clothes in hot
weather, but in de winter dey give us dresses made out of coarse cloth
wove on de loom right dar on de plantation. Some of dem dresses was red
and some was blue. De cloth was dyed wid red oak bark and copperas, and
dey used indigo what dey raised on de place to dye de blue cloth. De
waisties was close fittin' and sorter skimpy skirts was gathered on to
'em. De underskirts was unbleached white cloth made jus' lak de dresses
only some skimpier. Old Marster raised plenty of cattle and saved de
hides what he sont to de tannery to be got ready for my uncle, Moses
Downs, to make our brogan shoes. Dem shoes had brass toes to keep 'em
from wearing out too quick. Uncle Mose was sho' a smart shoemaker. He
had to make shoes for all de slaves on de whole plantation.
"Marster Sam Downs owned us, and his wife, Miss Mary, was a mighty good
somebody to belong to--"Old Mist'ess" us called her. I don't 'member
nothin' 'tall 'bout Old Marster, 'cause he died 'fore I was knee high to
a duck. Old Marster and Old Mist'ess had five chillun. Dey was: Miss
Ellen, Marse Sam, Marse James Kelsey, Marse Tom, and Marse William. Old
Miss sho' was good to us Niggers, 'cause she was raisin' us to wuk for
her.
"When Marse William went to de War, he tuk my pappy wid him. Dey come
back home on one of dem flyloughs, (furloughs) or somepin lak dat, end
you jus' ought to have seed de way us chillun crowded 'round pappy when
he got dar. One of his fingers had done got shot off in de fightin',
and us chillun thought it was one of de funniest lookin' things us had
ever seed, a man wid a short finger. He said dem yankees had done shot
it off.
"Atter Old Marster died Old Mist'ess moved to a town called Woodstock,
or was it Woodville? It was Wood-somepin' or nother. She hired old man
John Akins to oversee de plantation, and she evermore did oversee him
and de plantation too. She had a fine pacing mule what wouldn't throw
her for nothin'. Evvy mornin' she got on dat mule and rid out to her
plantation. She allus fetched us somepin' t'eat; most of de time it was
a gingercake apiece.
"I couldn't rightly say how big dat plantation of hers was. Oo-o! But it
sho' was one more big place, and Niggers was scattered all 'round dar
lak blackbirds. Dat old overseer, he sho' was mean to de slaves. He
whupped 'em and he kept on whuppin' 'em, 'til sometimes it seemed lak he
jus' beat on 'em to hear 'em holler. It warn't long atter midnight when
he got 'em up to go to wuk and he kept 'em at hard labor 'til way atter
sundown. De biggest things he whupped Niggers for was for runnin' 'way
and for not doin' deir wuk right.
"Jails! Did you say jails? Yessum, dey had jails. You know slaves warn't
civilized folks den--all dey knowed was to fuss end fight and kill one
'nother. Dey put de Niggers in dem jails 'til dey hung 'em.
"Grandma was sold on de block to Marse Sam's Pa, Marse Kelsey Downs,
soon atter she was brung over to dis country from de homeland of de
black folks. She never did larn to talk dis language right plain. Us
used to git her to tell us 'bout when she was sold. De sale was in
December but it was so far off dat corn was in tassel 'fore my pore
grandmammy got to Greene County. She said dey camped at night and got up
long 'fore day and was driv lak cows, a man in front and 'nother one
back of 'em to keep 'em from branchin' out and runnin'.
"Niggers never had no chance to larn to read and write dem days. Dey
went to meetin' at Shiloh--dat was de white folks church nigh
Penfield--and Bethesda was 'nother of de white folks churches whar
slaves was brought to listen to de preachin'. One thing sho', Niggers
couldn't read de Bible, but dey jus' lumbered down 'bout de Lord from
deir heads.
"Slaves didn't run off to no North dat I ever knowed 'bout. I heared
tell 'bout one man named Si what run 'way wid dem yankees when dey come
through and dey made a black yankee soldier out of him atter he jined up
wid 'em. I heared tell of patterollers what cotched Niggers 'way from
home 'thout no pass. Folks said dey brushed you off and sont you home if
dey cotched you.
"All I knowed Niggers to do at night atter dey come in from de fields,
was to eat supper and fling deirselfs on de beds and go right off to
sleep, 'cept when dey wanted to hunt and fish, and most of dat sort of
thing was done atter de crops was laid by or atter dey had done been
gathered into de barns. On Saddy nights, de older womans ironed and
fixed up for Sunday whilst de men was busy gittin' de harness and tools
and things ready for de next week's wuk. Young folks never had nothin'
but good times on deir minds. Dey danced, frolicked, and cut de buck in
gen'ral. Dey didn't have no sho' 'nough music, but dey sho' could sing
it down. One of de dance songs went somepin' lak dis:
'Oh! Miss Liza, Miss Liza Jane!
Axed Miss Liza to marry me
Guess what she said?
She wouldn't marry me,
If de last Nigger was dead.'
"Christmas was sho' one grand time. Der warn't no big heap of good
things lak dey has now. Old Mist'ess give de Niggers a little flour and
syrup for to make sweet cake. Dere was plenty of fresh hog meat and
chickens and all sorts of dried fruits. I was allus plum crazy 'bout de
rag doll grandma would make for my Christmas present. Come New Year's
Day, it was time to go back to wuk and evvy slave was made to do a heap
of wuk on dat day to start de year off right.
"Slaves had a big old time at cornshuckin's. Dey didn't care so much
'bout de somepin' t'eat jus' so dey got plenty of whiskey to drink, and
when dey got all het up on dat you could hear 'em a mile away a'whoopin'
and hollerin'. Sometimes dey kilt a cow and throwed it in a pot and
biled it down wid dumplin's, seasoned hot wid red pepper."
Asked what games she played as a child, Dosia replied: "Gentlemen! What
de giver'ment don't want to know, ain't wuth knowin' no how. What I
played? Well, now, let me see: =Mollie, Mollie Bright= was one of our
games; =Hiding de Switch= was de one whar you counted 'em out; dat
countin' run lak dis: 'Ten, ten, double-ten, forty-five, fifteen.'
Gentlemen! I could run lak a snake.
"Ha'nts? Why, I kin see dem things anytime. Dis hyar place whar I lives
is full of ha'nts, but dese folks would git mad wid me if I told 'bout
'em. Now, back in Greene County, I kin talk 'bout dem ha'nts all right.
Back dar Mrs. Babe Thaxton had a mighty pretty flower yard. She used to
tell me dat if I let anybody git any flowers from her yard atter she was
daid, she would sho' ha'nt me. She had done been daid a good while when
I was gittin' some flowers from her yard and a gal come along and axed
me to give her some. I started cuttin' flowers for her. At dat Miss
Babe, she riz up over me lak she was gwine to burn me up. She looked at
me hard and went off and sot in a tree whar she could look right down on
me. I ain't never cut no flowers out of dat yard no more. Now 'bout Raw
Head and Bloody Bones, Honey, don't you know dat ain't nothin' but a
cows head what's done been skint? Old folks used to ax us: 'Has you seed
Raw Head and Bloody Bones?' Us would run over one 'nother tryin' to git
dar fust to see him, and it allus turned out to be jus' a old skint up
cow head. Den in de nighttime us would have wild dreams 'bout dem old
skint cow heads.
"De onliest song I ever heared de Niggers sing in de fields run somepin
lak dis: 'Tarrypin, Tarrypin, (terrapin) when you comin' over, For to
see your wife and fam-i-lee.' Dey must a been wantin' to eat turkle
(turtle), when dey was a-singin' dat song.
"Old Mist'ess was mighty special good to her slaves when dey was sick.
Fust thing she done was send for de doctor. I kin see him now. He rid
horseback and carried his medicine in saddlebags. He used to put some
kind of powders in a glass of water and give it to de sick ones. Dere
was three old 'omans what Old Mist'ess kept to look atter sick slave
'omans. Dem old granny nurses knowed a heap about yarbs (herbs). May
apple and blacksnake roots, king of de meadow, (meadow rue) wild asthma
(aster) and red shank, dese was biled and deir tea give to de slaves for
diffunt ailments." Asked to describe king of the meadow, she continued:
"Honey, ain't you never seed none? Well, it's such a hard tough weed dat
you have to use a axe to chop it up, and its so strong and pow'ful dat
nothin' else kin grow nigh 'round it. Back in dem days folks wore tare
(tar) sacks 'round deir necks and rubbed turpentine under deir noses.
When deir ailments got too hot, lak when Mammy died, dey made 'em
swallow two or three draps of turpentine.