*Interview with Sam Polite, age 93*
--_Mrs. Chlotilde R. Martin, Beaufort County_
"W'en gun shoot on Bay Pint (Bay Point) for freedom, I been sebenteen
year old wuking slabe. I born on B. Fripp Plantation on St. Helena
Island. My fadder been Sam Polite and my mudder been Mol Polite. My
fadder b'long to Mister Marion Fripp and my mudder b'long to Mister Old
B. Fripp. I don't know how mucher land, neider how much slabe he hab,
but he hab two big plantation, and many slabe--more'n a hundred slabe.
"Slabe lib on Street--two row ob house wid two room to de house. I hab
t'ree sister name, Silvy Polite, Rose Polite and Minda Polite. Hab
brudder, too, but he die.
"My fadder and mudder ain't marry. Slabe don't marry--dey jest lib
togedder. All slabe hab for stay on plantation in day time but w'en wuk
done, kin wisit wife on odder plantation. Hab pass, so Patrol won't git
um.
"W'en I been leetle boy, I play en Street--shoot marble play aa'my and
sech t'ing. W'en hawn blow and mawning star rise, slabe' hab for git up
and cook. W'en day clean, dey gone to field. 'Ooman too old for wuk in
field hab for stay on Street and mind baby. Old mens follow cow. Chillen
don't wuk in field 'till twelve or t'irteen year old. You carry dinner
to field in your can and leabe um at de heading (end of row). W'en you
feel hongry, you eat. Ebery slabe hab tas' (task) to do. Sometime one
task (quarter acre), sometime two tas', and sometime t'ree. You haf for
wuk 'til tas' t'ru (through). W'en cotton done mek, you hab odder tas'.
Haffa cut cord ob maash (marsh) grass maybe. Tas' ob maash been eight
feet long and four feet high. Den sometime you haffa (have to) roll cord
ob mud in cowpen. 'Ooman haffa rake leaf from wood into cowpen. (This
was used for fertilizer.)
"W'en you knock off wuk, you kin wuk on your land. Maybe you might hab
two or t'ree tas' ob land 'round your cabin what Maussa gib you for
plant. You kin hab chicken, maybe hawg. You kin sell aig (egg) and
chicken to store and Maussa will buy your hawg. In dat way slabe kin hab
money for buy t'ing lak fish and w'atebber he want. We don't git much
fish in slabery 'cause we nebber hab boat. But sometime you kin t'row
out net en ketch shrimp. You kin also ketch 'possum and raccoon wid your
dawg.
"On Sattidy night ebery slabe dat wuks gits peck ob corn and pea, and
sometime meat and clabber. You nebber see any sugar neider coffee in
slabery. You has straw in your mattress but dey gib you blanket. Ebery
year in Christmas month you gits four or eider fibe yaa'd cloth 'cording
to how you is. Out ob dat, you haffa mek your clote (clothes). You wears
dat same clote till de next year. You wears hit winter en summer, Sunday
en ebery day. You don't git no coat, but dey gib you shoe. In slabery,
you don't know nutting 'bout sheets for your bed. Us nebber know nutting
'bout Santa Claus 'till Freedom, but on Christmas Maussa gib you meat
and syrup and maybe t'ree day widout wuk. Slabe wuk 'till daa'k on
Sattidy jest lak any odder day--I still does wuk 'till daa'k on Sattidy.
But on Sunday slabe don't wuk. On Fourth ob July, slabe wuk 'till twelbe
o'clock and den knocks off. On Sunday slabe kin wisit back and fort'
(forth) on de plantations.
"Slabe don't do mucher frolic. W'en 'ooman hab baby he hab mid-wife for
nine day and sometime don't haffa wuk for month w'en baby born, Missis
send clote (clothes) from Big House. W'en nigger sick, Maussa sen'
doctor. If you been berry sick, doctor gib you calomus (calomel) or
castor oil. Sometime he gib you Dead-Shot for worms, or Puke (powder) to
mek you heave. If I jest hab a pain in muh stummick, my mudder gib me
Juse-e-moke w'at he git outen de wood." (I was unable to get any
definite idea of what 'Dead-Shot', 'Puke' or 'Juse-e-moke' were.)
"If slabe don't do tas', de git licking wid lash on naked back. Driver
nigger gib licking, but Maussa 'most always been dere. Sometime maybe
nigger steal hawg or run 'way to de wood, den he git licking too. Can't
be no trouble 'tween white folks and nigger in slabery time for dey do
as dey choose wid you. But Maussa good to slabe If dey done day's tas'
and don't be up to no meanness. Missis don't hab nutting to do wid
nigger.
"In slabery, nigger go to white folks chu'ch. Slabe don't know nutting
'bout baptizing. W'en nigger dead, you can't knock off wuk for berry um.
You haffa wait 'till night time to put um in de graabe (grave). You
berry um by de light ob torch. Old Man Tony Ford bin de man w'at 'tend
to funerals. Dey wasn't no nigger preacher on de plantation but dey been
people to hold praise (prayers).
"I nebber see nigger in chain, but I shum (see them) in stock. I see
plenty nigger sell on banjo table. Dey put you up on flatform (platform)
en dey buy you. I see my uncle sell he brung one hundred dollar. 'Ooman
don't sell widout he chillen.
"Mister Johnnie Fripp been my n'oung Maussa. W'en he chillen git marry,
Old Maussa diwide de nigger. He gib Maussa Johnnie t'irty slabe and I
been one ob dem. Maussa buy plantation on de Main (mainland). He build
big house. He hab four boy and two gal. He hab five hundred acre. He
ain't hab no oberseer, jest driver. We don't know no poor white trash on
de Main, neider on St. Helena Islant.
"I wuk in field on Maussa Johnnie Fripp plantation. Sometime we sing
w'en us wuk. One song we sing been go lak dis:
Go way, Ole Man
Go way, Ole Man
W'ere you bin all day
If you treat me good
I'll stay 'till de Judgment day,
But if you treat me bad,
I'll sho' to run away.
"W'en war come, Missis tek me and two more niggers, put we and chillen
in two wagon and go to Baarnwell (Barnwell). My mudder been one ob de
nigger. We stay in Baarnwell all enduring (during) de war. My fadder he
been wid de Rebel--been wid Mr. Marion Chaplin. W'en Freedom come,
Missis didn't say nutting, she jest cry. But she gib we uh wagon and we
press (stole) a horse and us come back to St. Helena Islant. It tek
t'ree day to git home. W'en we git home, we fine de rest ob de nigger
yere been hab Freedom four year befo' we! I wuk for uh nigger name Peter
White. Muh fadder come back, and buy 20 acre ob land and we all lib
togedder. I gone to school one or two year, but I ain't larn (learn)
much. Four year after war, I buy fifteen acre ob land. Dat was dis yere
same place w'ere I libs now. After w'ile I goes to wuk in rock
(phosphate mines). I hears 'bout Ku Klux. Dey been bad people. Dey will
kill you. Been marry to four wife. Dis yere last one, he been born in
slabery too, but he don't 'members much 'bout um. He been leetle gal so
high jest big 'nuf for open gate for white folks. I hab t'ree chillen,
two libbing. I hear tell my boy William been marry to a w'ite 'ooman in
England and hab t'ree chillen. My gal Alice lib in New Yawk. Sometime
she send me money. I hab two great-gran.
"Abraham Lincoln? He de one w'at gib we liberty for wuk for we se'f. He
come to Beaufort 'fore de war. He come as uh rail-splitter and spy
'round. He gone back w'ere he come from and say: 'You eider got to gib
dese nigger t'ree day for deyse'f or dere will be blood-shed.' And he
been right. I would be glad for shum (see him) but I nebber shum.
"I don't know nutting 'bout dat genman Mister Davis, neider Mister
Washington--you say he been a nigger, too?
"Wat I t'ink 'bout slabery? I t'ink it been good t'ing. It larn nigger
to wuk. If it ain't mek nigger wuk, he wouldn't do nutting but tief
(thief). You don't find nigger wuk for slabery running 'round looking
for ready money--dat been all dese yere n'oung nigger want. Me--I
slabing for self right now. I don't want nobody for mek me wuk, but
slabery larn me for wuk. I hab wuk five hundred head ob man in rock and
today ain't one can come to me and say: 'Sam Polite, you beat me out ob
one penny.'
"Slabery done uh good t'ing for me, 'cause if he ain't larn me to wuk,
today I wouldn't know how to wuk."