"Flat boat full up (with slaves trying to escape) gone down Waccamaw.
Uncle Andrew Aunt the one got he eye shoot out (by patrollers) took 'em
to camp on North Island. Never see so much a button and pin in my life!
Small-pox in camp. Had to leave 'em.
"Captain Ben and Captain Tom fadder--look how he die! Looker the blood!
Looker the people! Looker the blood! His boat call 'The Bull River.' Up
and down Pee Dee river. Meet flat! Bore hole in flat and women and
chillun go down! Take men off. He COME TO THIS COUNTRY. (Came down from
North before Civil War) Them darnish Yankee very percruel. (Peculiar?)
"My Great-grandmother Veenia, pirate captured and took all they money in
English war. (Revolution) Dem day Ladies wear bodkin fastened to long
gold chain on shoulder--needle in 'em and thimble and ting. Coming down
from New York to get away from English. My great grandmother little
chillun. Pirate come to her Missus. Take all they money--come cut bodkin
off her shoulder. Grandmother ma gone on the boat and twiss herself in
Missus' skirt. Pirate put 'em off to Wilmington. Come on down settle to
Pitch Landing near Socastee. Keep on till they get to Ark.
"My Great-Grandma Veenia didn't have a teet in her head--one hundred
ten years old and could eat hard a bread as any we."
Uncle Sabe Rutledge
Burgess, S.C.--P.O.
Horry County
Age 76 (Born 1861)
Ark Plantation.
=Project 1655=
=Genevieve W. Chandler=
=Georgetown County, S.C.=
=FOLKLORE=
=UNCLE SABE RUTLEDGE=
=(EX-SLAVE STORY)=
"They call him Rogerick Rutledge for shortness. My Grandpa REAL name
Jim. First time I big enough to realect (recollect) him he have on no
pants but something built kinder like overall and have a apron. Apron
button up here where my overall buckle and can be let down. All been dye
with indigo. Have weave shirt--dye with blue indigo boil with myrtle
seed. Myrtle seed must-a-did put the color in. Old brogan shoe on he
foot. Old beaver hat on he head. Top of crown wear out and I member he
have paste-board cover over with cloth and sew in he hat crown. My
Grandmother wear these here gingham cloth call gingham twill.
"Now the chillun! I member I was a big boy grown when I get my first
pants. All boy chillun wear a shirt----long down to knee and lower. Have
belt round the middle--just like you belt to hold 'em. Chillun have not
a shoe! Not a shoe for chillun on us plantation to the Old Ark. First
shoe I have, Pa get a cow hide and tan it. And a man name Stalvey make
my first pair of shoes. I was way near bout grown. Make the sole out the
thickness of the cow hide. Short quarter. No eye--just make the hole.
Last! Yes man! Yes man! Yes man! Keep 'em grease! Them shoe never wear
out!
"We raise all we get to eat. Hominy, cornbread, peas, potatoes, rice.
Morest we plant this here yellow corn. I cry many a day bout that yellow
corn! We say, 'Pa, this here yellow corn make hominy look like he got
egg cook in 'em; red corn look like hominy cook in red molasses!'
"But yellow corn stronger feed! Stronger feed! And Pa know 'em.
"Sunday come go to church in that same blue shirt! Little old pole
church--(gone now)--call 'Dick Green Bay Church'. (Named for a local
character.) When we go to church before freedom, Mudder and them have to
have the ticket.
"Old man John Tilghman at the Ark Plantation have no overseer--have
'Driver'. Most folks on Waccamaw have overseer and 'Driver'. My Pa been
the Ark 'Driver.'
"Old man Zachariah Duncan been the preacher. That the same man build the
first 'Heaven Gate' church after freedom. He got drift lumber on the
river and on the beach. Flat 'em--make a raft and float 'em over to the
hill and the man haul 'em to 'Heaven Gate' with ox. Yes. 'Heaven Gate'
built outer pick up lumber.
"Before freedom Parson Glennie--he was 'Piscopal--he would come give us
a service once a month on the plantation--so mother said.
"Patches of indigo all through the woods. You know cow eat indigo. Us
have too much ox! Have to haul rail all the time keep up the old fence.
Woods full up with cow. Cattle loose--free. When you want beef have to
hunt for 'em like we hunts deer now. I member some ox I helped broke.
Pete, Bill, Jim, David. Faby was a brown. David kinder mouse color. We
always have the old ox in the lead going to haul rail. Hitch the young
steer on behind. Sometimes they 'give up' and the old ox pull 'em by the
neck! Break ox all the time. Fun for us boys--breaking ox. So much of
rail to haul!
"(You can't tell me bout this pension? Look like to me somebody trying
to smother something. Letters come. Cards come. My name on outside
alright. Tell me to put my name on cards and hand 'em out to my friends.
Say send twenty-five cents. Next time say 'Send thirty-five cents'. He
cool off then and another man--Mr. Pope come in. Got two letter from him
and he tell me be still till I hear from him again. J.E. Pope. Last
blank I got from Mr. Pope he say not to look for more than thirty or
thirty-two dollars a month. Say there ain't going to be no two hundred a
month.)
"How come I know all these Buh Rabbit story, Mudder spin you know. Have
the great oak log, iron fire dog. Have we chillun to sit by the
fireplace put the light-wood under--blaze up. We four chillun have to
pick seed out the cotton. Work till ten o'clock at night and rise early!
Mudder and Father tell you story to keep you eye open! Pick out cotton
seed be we job every night in winter time--'cept Sunday! When we grow
bigger, Mudder make one card. One would spin and then Mudder go to
knitting. Night time picking these cotton seed out; day time in winter
getting wood!
"Fall----harvest peanut, peas, 'tater!
"I member all them Buh Rabbit story! Mudder tell 'em and we laugh and
wake up! They was one bout Buh Rabbit and Buh Patridge. You know Buh
Patridge the onliest one get the best of Buh Rabbit!
"Buh Rabbit bet Buh Patridge (Buh Rabbit think he so sharp you know!) He
bet Buh Patridge if he fly off down the road a piece and lit Buh Rabbit
can find 'em.--Buh Patridge bet him he can't! So Buh Patridge take off
and fly down the road a piece and lit--like a Patridge will do--lit and
turn up on he back and rake the leaves over him and kiver (cover) his
body all 'cept he two foots sticking up like stick!
"Now Buh Rabbit come! He hunt and he hunt and he hunt! Couldn't find 'em
and he get so hot he take off he coat and hang it on Buh Patridge foots!
"He go on hunting and after while he call out,
"'Well I can't find Buh Patridge! Can't find Buh Patridge!'
"And Buh Patridge sing out,
"'Well, Buh Rabbit, here I is! You hang you coat on my feet!'
"Buh Rabbit have to pay the bet! (I don't member what the bet was). So
Buh Patridge was the onliest one I ever hear bout could get the best of
Buh Rabbit!
"When Father and Mudder tell them story we chillun noddin'! Some cackle
out and all jump up and go back to picking out cotton seed!
"There is another one bout Buh Bear. They goes out my head. I'll think
them Buh Rabbit up fore you come back Missus!"
And Uncle Sabe, who was sitting on the 'LOOK OUT' at the Floral Beach
Fishery, continued to let his eyes play all over the sea like
searchlights, ready to wave the black flag and march down toward the
fishery holding it aloft keeping himself in a line with the fish if fish
were sighted. Since way before what he called 'the big war' he and his
people have eaten mullet and rice for the three fall months. His home
was visited before Uncle Sabe was located and children and
grand-children, wife, sister and neighbors were found seated and
standing all over the kitchen floor and piazza floor and steps----each
one with a generous tin plate of rice and fresh, brown, hot 'spot'----a
fish not so valuable in summer but choice in fall and winter. Two hounds
and a large cat worked around among the feasters for their well chewed
bones.
SOURCE: Uncle Sabe Rutledge, The Ridge, Burgess, S.C., (Horry County)
Born first year of the Civil War.
(He owns his house and land,----some twenty-five acres under
cultivation. This is located on what appears to be a 'height of land'
lying between the Waccamaw and the Atlantic. Locally it is known as 'The
Sand Ridge'.)
=Project 1885 -1-=
=District #4=
=Spartanburg, S.C.=
=May 31, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Martha Ritter=
=FOLK-LORE: EX-SLAVES=
"I was born in Edgefield county, S.C., about 1854. I was the son of
Larkin and Cheny Ryan who was the slaves of Judge Pickens Butler who
lived at Edgefield Courthouse. I has some brothers and sisters, but
don't remember them all. We lived in a log house with but one room. We
had good beds to sleep in, and always had plenty to eat. Old Judge
Butler was a good man. I was 10 years old when he died. Before then I
worked in and around the house, and freedom come I stayed with the
Butler family two years, then went to Dr. Maxwell's.
"In slavery time we had extra patches of ground to work for ourselves
which we sometimes worked on Saturday afternoons as we had dat time off.
Judge Butler used to give us a little money, too, before freedom come,
for our work. We bought clothes and things we had to have. We had a big
plantation garden dat the overseers planted for all on de place to eat
out of.
"We used to hunt 'possums, rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, doves,
partridges, and set traps for partridges and set box gums for rabbits.
We had good food then, plenty peas, cornbread, and wild game. When
winter time come we put on wool clothes and heavy shoes.
"Old Marse Butler and his mistress was good, de best folks in de
country. They lived in a big house, had a girl and a boy, and over 1000
or maybe 2,000 acres of land, on several farms. One was on Saluda River.
His overseers some was no good, but master wouldn't let them treat
slaves cruel, just light whipping.
"We used to have to wake up at sun-up and work till sundown. We didn't
learn to read and write; but we had a prayer house on de plantation
where we could go to sometimes, until freedom come, then we went on to
it just the same. Old man Bennefield, a nigger preacher, talked to us
there. I can 'member one of de favorite songs we sung:
'Show pity, O Lord, forgive,
Let e'er repentant sinner live;
Are not thy mercies large and free,
May not a sinner trust in Thee.'
'My crimes are great, and can't surpass,
---------------------------------------'
"None of Major Pickens Butler's slaves ever went away from him, but some
in de neighborhood did run away, and day never heard of dem again.
"The paderrollers would catch a nigger if he didn't have a pass. Some
would pass and re-pass in the road, and maybe get catched and such
scuffling would go on!
"We worked on Saturday afternoons unless boss give time off to work our
own little patches or do some other work we had to do. But some would
frolic then and wash up for Sunday, or set around. On Sunday we went to
church and talked to neighbors. On Christmas we celebrated by having a
big dinner which the master give us. We had three days holiday or
sometimes a week. We had New Year's Day as a special day for working,
'cause it was a sign if we worked good dat day, we would work good all
de year. The white folks had corn-shuckings and cotton pickings in
slavery and after freedom, too. Den would have big supper. Some
neighbors walk ten miles, like walking to church or to school. Didn't
think anything of walking dat far.
"Some of de games played by children were marbles, jump-rope.
"Once an old man had his dog trained to say his prayers. The dog was fed
but wouldn't be allowed to eat until he put his paws in front and bow
his head on dem; de old man say to him, 'No, no, you die and go to hell
if you don't say your prayers.'
"Once another fellow, a nigger, said he was going to his wife's house to
see her; but he had to pass his old partner's place on de way, who was
dead. When he got opposite the partner's place something, maybe a ghost,
came to him and wrestled with him and wouldn't let him go on to see his
wife, so he come back to his master's house and stayed.
"When the slaves got sick they had doctors, and used old herbs.
'Jerusalem Ore' was a kind of herb for children, to build them up, and
there was field grass roots and herb roots which was boiled and tea
drunk for fevers. And 'Primer-rhine' tea which was drunk, too. Sometimes
they would hang garlic around small boys and girls necks to keep away
any kind of sickness.
"We didn't have schools; started them the second year after freedom. Old
General Butler give us old slaves a home each and a small patch to work.
"I married when I was 21 years old, the first time in Edgefield County,
now called Saluda County. I have six children, nine grand-children, and
four great-grand-children.
"I think Abe Lincoln was good man and he was Providential arrangement. I
think Jeff Davis was good man, same. Booker T. Washington is good man,
done lots for young niggers. I rather like it now, and not slavery time.
I joined church when I was 18 to turn from evil ways and to live a
better life."
SOURCE: Henry Ryan (83), Newberry, S.C.; by G. Leland Summer, Newberry,
S.C.
=Project 1885-1=
=Folklore=
=Spartanburg, Dist. 4=
=Oct. 11, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES=
"I live in a rented three-room house with my daughter. I am too old to
do much work, but I work where I can get little jobs that I can do.
"The slaves did not expect anything after Freedom, for the South was in
such a bad fix. They just got jobs where they could find them. Most of
them worked as share-croppers or wage hands on the farms, and have
worked like this since that time. Some few have rented farms. When any
moved to town they got jobs where they could.
"I never thought much about Reconstruction. Some slaves voted at first,
but when Wade Hampton was elected they didn't get to vote much.
"I think the younger generation has too much freedom and doesn't stay
home enough. They want to have their own way.
"Over in old Edgefield where I was raised we had plenty to eat; plenty
peas, corn bread, turnips and other things. We hunted wild game, too. I
was a slave of Major Pickens Butler. He was a good man and sometimes
gave us a little money for our work. Our master gave us a small patch of
land to work for ourselves and plant anything we wanted.
"No, I never think anything about voting. I am satisfied just to get
along."
Source: Henry Ryan (N--83), Newberry, S.C.
Interviewer: G.L. Summer, Newberry, S.C. 8/18/37.
=Project 1885-1=
=FOLKLORE=
=Spartanburg Dist. 4=
=May 25, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES=
"I am bad-sick woman, in bed and can't hardly talk and can't 'member
much. I was born near Broad River in de Blair section. I belonged in
slavery to de Blair family. My mudder and papa was Grace and Samuel
Blair, and dey belonged to Capt. Blair. When dey was sold, I was put in
de house wid a good free nigger woman to raise me and to stay 'till de
war was over. Den I come to de Blair house, and helped around de house.
My sisters could card, spin and weave, and I helped dem wid it. I didn't
have but one dress. When it got dirty, I went down to de creek and
washed it and put it against de lims to dry, but I had to put it back on
before it got good dry.
"When I got old enough, I worked in de field, hoeing and picking
cotton."
Source: Emoline Satterwhite (82), Newberry, S.C.
Interviewer: G.L. Summer, Newberry, S.C. May 19, 1937
=Project 1885-1=
=FOLKLORE=
=Spartanburg, Dist. 4=
=Sept. 9, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES OF EX-SLAVES=
"Marster Charner Scaife a-laying on his bed of death is 'bout de first
thing dat stuck in my mind. I felt sorry fer everybody den. Miss Mary
Rice Scaife, his wife, was mean. She died a year atter. Never felt sad
nor glad den; never felt no ways out of de regular way, den.
"Overseers I recollects was, Mr. Sam Hughes, Mr. Tom Baldwin, and Mr.
Whitfield Davis. Mr. Baldwin was de best to me. He had a still-house out
in a field whar liquor was made. I tote it fer him. We made good corn
liquor. Once a week I brung a gallon to de big house to Marster. Once I
got happy off'n it, and when I got dar lots of it was gone. He had me
whipped. Dat de last time I ever got happy off'n Marster's jug.
"When I was a shaver I carried water to de rooms and polished shoes fer
all de white folks in de house. Sot de freshly polished shoes at de door
of de bed-room. Get a nickle fer dat and dance fer joy over it. Two big
gals cleaned de rooms up and I helped carry out things and take up ashes
and fetch wood and build fires early every day. Marster's house had five
bedrooms and a setting room. De kitchen and dining-room was in de back
yard. A covered passage kept dem from getting wet when dey went to de
dining-room. Marster said he had rather get cold going to eat dan to
have de food get cold while it was being fetched to him. So he had de
kitchen and dining-room jined, but most folks had de dining-room in de
big house.
"It took a week to take de cotton boat from Chester to Columbia. Six
slaves handled de flat-boat. Dere was six, as I said, de boatman, two
oarsmen, two steermen and an extra man. De steermen was just behind de
boatman. Dey steered wid long poles on de way up de river and paddled
down de river. De two oarsmen was behind dem. Dey used to pole, too,
going up, and paddling going down. Seventy-five or eighty bales was
carried at a time. Dey weighed around three hundred pounds apiece. In
Columbia, de wharfs was on de Congree banks. Fer de cotton, we got all
kinds of supplies to carry home. De boat was loaded wid sugar and coffee
coming back. On Broad River we passed by Woods Ferry, Fish Dam Ferry,
Hendersons Ferry and Hendersons Island and some others, but dat is all I
recollect. We unloaded at our own ferry, called Scaife Ferry.
"I split rails fer fences. On Christmas we had coffee, sugar and biscuit
fer breakfast."
Source: Alexander Scaife (82), Box 104, Pacolet, S.C.
Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S.C.
=Project #-1655=
=Phoebe Faucette=
=Hampton County=
=FOLKLORE=
=ELIZA SCANTLING EX-SLAVE=
=87 Years=
"If you wants to know about de slavery times," said old Aunt Eliza,
"you'se sure come to de right person; 'cause I wuz right dere." The
statement was easy to believe; for old Aunt Eliza's wrinkled face and
stiff, bent form bore testimony to the fact that she had been here for
many a year. As she sat one cold afternoon in December before her fire
of fat lightwood knots, in her one-room cabin, she quickly went back to
her childhood days. Her cabin walls and floor were filled with large
cracks through which the wind came blowing in.
"I gits along pretty good. My chillun lives all around here, and my
granddaughter that's a-standin' at the window dere, takes care of me.
Den de government helps me out. It sure is a blessing, too--to have sech
a good government! And 'Miss Maggie' good to me. She brought me dis
wood. Brought it in her truck herself. Had a colored man along to handle
it for her. But I so stiff I sometimes kin hardly move from me waist
down. And sometimes in de morning when I wake, it is all I kin do to get
up an' wash me face. But I got to do it. My granddaughter bring me my
meals.
"I is 87 years old. I know 'cause I wuz so high when de war broke out.
An' I plowed my January to July de year 'fore peace declare. I remember
dat. I wuz a good big girl; but jes' a child--not married yet. Yes'm I
plowed a mule an' a wild un at dat. Sometimes me hands get so cold I
jes' cry. But dey all say I 'wuz a nigger what wuz a nigger!'
"In May peace declare. De first president of de country wuz Lincoln. He
took his seat in March. But I work for de white people 'fore dat. On a
Friday mornin' our Massa, Mr. Richard Davant come an' told us peace
declare. He come an' told us hisself. I wuz in de cornhouse a-shuckin'
corn to go to de mill on Saturday. After freedom all de niggers left
'cept my Mamma. My father brought us back here to Col. Alex Lawton's
place at Robertville. He used to belong to Col. Lawton. Many years atter
dat Col. Lawton moved to Savannah; but when he died dey brought him back
here an' buried him at Robertville.
"My young Missus was de daughter of Mr. Sam Maner, my old Massa; so when
she marry Mr. Davant I went wid her. Dey had bought a place in Screven,
Georgia. Seven year 'fore peace declare we went to Georgia. On a Monday
mornin' a colored man come along an' tell Miss Anna de Yankees had took
Waynesboro. We all went to see it. De fire had left de place clean.
Could pick up a pin behind it. Other than dat I see nothin'. I never see
no house burn down. I never hear no gun fire. I jes' see de uniform, an'
see 'em kill de hog an' sling 'em 'cross de saddle. Den when we come
back to Robertville, we see de destruction left behind.
"After I git of size I mind de birds off de corn an' rice an' sech like.
Den I'd take care of de turkeys. An' we'd sweep de yards. Carry de
leaves off to de stable in a wheelbarrow.
"Both my missus wuz good to me. De last missus I own treat me jes' de
same as her own child. I stayed right dere in de house wid her, an' if I
wuz sick or anything she'd take care of me same as her own chillun. I
nurse one of her chillun. An' dat child would rather be wid me than wid
her own mother!"
Source: Elisa Scantling, Scotia, S.C. age 87 years.
=Code No. 390166=
=Project No. 1885-(1)=
=Prepared by Mrs. Lucile Young & H. Grady Davis=
=Place, Florence, S.C.=
=Date, May 25, 1937=
=Typed by M.C., N.Y.A.=
=No Words_______________=
=Reduced from ____ Words=
=Rewritten by=
=Mary Scott=
=Gourdin, S.C.=
=Ex-Slave, About 90 years old=
"Where and when were you born?"
"On Gaston Gamble place, between here and Greeleville. In da Gamble's
Bible is my age. Don't know my age. Pretty much know how old, I bout 90.
I wuz little girl when freedom come."
"Give the names of your father and mother."
"Father, John Davis. Mother, Tina Davis. Belonged to last mausa. Darby
Fulton. Gamble sold mama and three children to Fulton. Belonged to Davis
after freedom. Father belonged to Davis. Take first mausa's name. Sold
to Arnold Mouzon. Didn't take Mouzon name."
"Where did your father and mother come from?"
"Right where Grandma go, Gamble place."
"Did you have any brothers and sisters?"
"James and Benjamin. All ded."
"Describe the beds and where you slept."
"Had plenty slaves. I don't know exactly how many. In dem times you
know, we had to get ticket to go to see dere family."
"What kind of house did you have to live in?"
"Better dan dis. Better dan dis. Good house. Sleep on wooden bed. Straw
and feather mattress."
"Do you remember anything about your grandparents or any stories told
you about them?"
"I ain't know my grandmother, grandfather either."
"What work did you do in slavery times."
"Didn't do no kind of work. Mother milked, tended to de butter."
"Did you ever earn any money?"
"No money."
"What did you eat and how was it cooked?"
"Boil meat and put peas or greens, rice cooked dry, take up in plate and
eat. One girl get done and wash dishes and put dem up."
"Did you ever eat any possums?"
"Yes, my brother catch possum and raccoon."
"Fish?"
"Fishing in de branch."
"Did the slaves have their own gardens?"
"Yes, sir, plant big garden, no use plant, go to dere garden and get
it."
"What clothes did you wear in cold weather?"
"Thick. I could weave it with stripes and put one check one way and
nother strip nother way."
"Hot weather?"
"In winter warm clothes and shoes. Had Sunday clothes. I had a green
worsted dress."
"Did the slaves have a church on your plantation?"
"Go to white people church and sit out of doors and wait till dey come
out and den we go in and have preaching."
"White or colored preacher?"
"White preacher."
"Was your master a good man?"
"Mr. Gamble like to drink liquor but still good people. All who I
talking about good people."
"What was Mr. Gamble's name?"
"Mr. Gamble name Gastron Gamble. Son living in dat big house and grandson
living down dere."
"How many children did Mr. Davis have?"
"He had some not many. Mr. Gamble had some too."
"What kind of house did Mr. Gamble live in?"
"Medium size house. All had just common house, two-story."
"What about the overseer?"
"Overseer he see dat you work soon. Driver go in de field and stay 'til
12 o'clock."
"How many acres in the plantation?"
"Don't know how many acres."
"What time did the overseer wake the slaves up?"
"Wake dem up soon. Blow horn."
"Did you have to work hard?"
"Work 'til sundown."
"Did you see any slaves punished?"
"Some punished, but I ain't never see none whip. I heard stick strike de
ground and tie hands and feet. Paddle on dis side and den paddle on de
other side 'til sore."
"Did you ever see any slaves sold or auctioned off?"
"My mother and us sold. Mrs. Gamble died left my mama for a daily gift.
She wouldn't allow dem to whip me. I ain't know when we be sell, I wuz a
baby."
"Did you see slaves in chains?"
"No chains."
"Did the slaves have a church on your plantation?"
"Yes, de Gambles make us to go to Sunday school and learn us the Sunday
school lessons. I could plow. We went to white church and set down till
white people go out and de old man dat tend to de church and open up de
church and say come in, can't stay outside."
"Who preached for you all?"
"My uncle, Jefferie Pendergrass, mother's brother. If colored people
want preacher preach, he go in dere and made de children be quiet and
preach a nice sermon and have watch night but not in de church."
"Do you know any spirituals?"
"I forgets dem things. I use to be good singer but I ain't got no teeth.
I ain't been looking fer dis. If you hadn't come, I'd been gone."
"Where would you have gone?"
"Just to walk about. All gone to de field and de children so bad."
"Tell about baptizing."
"Baptized by de white people."
"Did the slaves run away to the North?"
"I ain't know 'bout dat."
"What about patrollers?"
"No patarollers. Have to get ticket, whip dem if dey didn't get it.
Colored people do more than white people allow. Caused dem to whip dem.
My sister, my sister-in-law and girl went and tell dem dey gwine have
play in white kitchen. Mr. Sam Fulton boss wouldn't go to war. My
sister, sister-in-law run up in de loft and tell dem come down and dey
come down and jump off de window and land in de mud hole wid dere best
dress on. Mr. Fulton let dem have it in de quarters."
"Did you hear of any trouble between the master and the slaves?"
"My grandmother went off and wouldn't come back. She write that she get
everyday what she could get fer Sunday."
"Did you work on Saturday evenings?"
"Some of de white people made dem work on Saturday evening. I had a
uncle when white people come by going to church he hoeing his rice. Dey
didn't want him work on Sunday. Miss Elizabeth Gamble tell dem he gwine
to chop his rice on Sunday."
"What did you do on Sunday?"
"Go to church."
"Christmas day?"
"I don't remember what dey give on Christmas day. My family got
clothes."
"What did you do at a wedding or funeral among the slaves?"
"Just say got a wife, ain't married. If anybody ded everything stop."
"What games did you play as a child?"
"I don't know what all I played."
"Do you know any funny stories?"
"No, sir, I used to tell my grands things."
"Did you ever see any ghosts?"
"I ain't believe in it, but I see dem. Jest pass by and dey want bother
you. Don't know where dey come from. Dey look like people."
"You don't believe in them?"
"No, sir, but I know one thing, dey say fox gwine mad. Say cat gwine mad
but dat ain't so. I ain't scared of nothing."
"You are not scared at night?"
"When de moon shining. Moon ain't shine might fall and cripple. When we
holler voice way back dere."
"When the slaves became sick, who tended to them?"
"White people tended to dem. Use medicine."
"Do you make medicine out of herbs?"
"No, sir, don't make it."
"Did you ever see anybody wear a ten-cent piece around the ankle?"
"I see dem wear it, but I ain't know what fer."
"What do you remember about the war that brought you freedom?"
"I know just as good when peace declared. Gun rolled in dat direction.
Must be guns. Cook say roll thunder roll and I say de sun shine it ain't
gwine rain. I wuz too little to know but my sister say every man and
every woman got to work for demselves."
"What did your master say?"
"I ain't know what master say, he single man and didn't talk much."
"Did you stay with him the year after freedom?"
"No, he didn't treat my mother right."
"Any schools for Negroes?"
"Pretty good time before schools."
"Did the slaves buy any land?"
"No land bought."
"Do you remember your wedding?"
"I member jest as good 'bout my wedding. I married on Thursday night.
Some white people from Kingstree and different ones come and pile it up
and when I get all dem presents some one stick fire and burn it all
down."
"Whom did you marry?"
"John Scott."
"Do you have any children?"
"One gone in de field and dis one."
"What are they doing?"
"Working on farms. Jane got killed in de wreck."
"Who is Jane?"
"My daughter. She wuz coming to see me. Train wreck and kill her coming
from Norfolk."
"How long ago was that?"
"'Bout two years ago."
"What do you think of Abraham Lincoln?"
"I see picture of dem. Picture in dere of Lincoln."
"Now that slavery time is ended, what do you think of it?"
"I believe colored people do better in de slavery than now."
"Do you belong to the church?"
"Yes, Promise Land Baptist church."
"Why do you think people ought to go to church?"
"To have some protection and when you go in a church dat is a place for
you to be taken care of. Dey ain't got no religion."
"Was the overseer 'poor white trash?'"
"I could hear de people talk 'bout him. Some like him and some don't. If
I got a wife over yonder, I got to get ticket before I could go to see
her. Had to work hard too."
"Let us see the picture of Lincoln."
"Dis is it." (Granddaughter shows us Aunt Mary's picture)
"Is that the one?"
"Yea, I think so."
"Let me see, dat ain't de one. Here is." (Aunt Mary showed us a picture
which looked to be taken from some New York newspaper. It was probably a
screen star).
"Who told you that was Lincoln?"
"Some preacher or somebody come here and tell me."
=Project 1885-1=
=FOLKLORE=
=Spartanburg--Dist. 4=
=May 18, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES=
"Aunt" Nina Scot sat on her front porch. She was drinking some liquid
from a bottle which she said would help her trouble. Being short of
breath, she was not able to talk very much. She said that she was very
small at the time she was set free. "My Marster and his folks did not
treat me like a nigger," she said, "they treated me like they did other
white folks." She said that she and her mother had belonged to Dr.
Shipp, who taught at Wofford College, that they had come here from
Chapel Hill, N.C. and that she was a tarheel negro. She said that white
people in slavery days had two nurses, one for the small children and
one for the older ones. "Yes sir, those were certainly fine people that
lived on the Campus during those days. (Wofford Col. Campus) When the
'raid' came on, people were hiding things all about their places." She
referred to the Yankee soldiers who came to Spartanburg after the close
of the Civil War. "My mother hid the turkeys and told me where she had
hidden them." Dr. Shipp came up to Nina one day and asked her where the
turkeys were hidden. She told him they were hidden behind a clump of
small trees, and pointed them out to him. "Well," he said, "tell your
mother to go and hide them somewhere else and not to tell you about it.
You would tell the Yankees just where those turkeys were hidden." Aunt
Nina recalls that Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Duncan (formerly of Wofford College)
had a habit of getting a slice of bread and butter for all the
neighboring children (black or white) whenever their nurses brought them
to their home.
SOURCE: "Aunt" Nina Scott, 260 N. Converse St., Spartanburg, S.C.
Interviewer: F.S. DuPre, Spartanburg Office, Dist. 4
(May 17, 1937)
=Project 1885-1=
=FOLKLORE=
=Spartanburg Dist. 4=
=May 25, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES OF EX-SLAVES=
"I was born in Newberry County, near the Laurens County line, above
Chappells Depot. My father and mother were Tom and Francis Scurry and
belonged as slaves to the Drury Scurry family. Dr. Drury Scurry bought
them from Col. Cooper of Laurens County. He was a fine man and mighty
good to his slaves. I worked around the house as a boy, and in the
fields when I got old enough. Some of the nigger boys hunted 'possums,
rabbits and squirrels. Dr. Scurry had 100 acres in woods. They were just
full of squirrels and we killed more squirrels than you can count.
"The slaves didn't have a garden, but after the war, we stayed on wid
Marse Scurry. When freedom come, he come to us in the yard where we had
congregated and told us we was free and could go anywhere we wanted, but
if any wanted to stay on wid him, he would pay wages. All of us stayed
on wid him. He give us a one-acre patch of ground to raise anything we
wanted to raise. He had white overseers during slavery, but none ever
whipped us 'cause the master wouldn't let them. He had a plantation of
about 300 acres and 40 or 50 slaves. They got up at sun-up and worked
'till sun-down each day, but had Saturday afternoons off when dey could
do anything dey wanted to.
"There wasn't much time for learning to read and write. The white folks
sometimes had niggers to go to their church and set in the back of
gallery. In our neighborhood, niggers had their own church dat they made
of poles and brush, and called it, 'Brush Harbor'. They made seats from
small logs sawed off of rough plank.
"On Christmas day, the master would have a big dinner for his slaves and
spread it out in the yard. Corn shuckings were popular and so were
cotton pickings, where big eats were prepared for those who helped.
They had big feasts at marriages, and even the slaves had feasts at
their marriages, the master and his family taking part in the
ceremonies. I was married in 1887, and at that time I was living with
Mr. Renwick, and my girl with Dr. Tom Brown. Dr. Brown had us to marry
in his yard in the grove, and over 200 persons was there to see it. The
next day, he give us a big 'infair' with all kinds of good things to
eat, presents and dances. We never had any children. After we moved to
town, my wife was a nurse or midwife among some of the white families
for a long time.
"In Ku Klux times, I met five or ten of them in the road one night. They
never bothered me. They had long white sheets over them and the horses.
Slits were cut for the head, eyes, nose and mouth.
"The niggers had an old field song: 'Give me dat good ole time religion'
which they sang most of the time. There was another song they sang:
'Dark midnight is my cry--Give me Jesus, You may have all this world,
but give me Jesus.'
"Some old-time cures for the sick was--barks of cherry tree, dogwood,
and olive bush, made into tea and drunk.
"I thought Abe Lincoln was a fine man, done mighty good and saved the
country. Jeff Davis was a good man. Booker Washington was a great man. I
think slavery was bad; yet our white folks was good to us, but some
white masters was mean. I think everybody should belong to the church
and be a Christian."
SOURCE: Morgan Scurry (78), Newberry, S.C.; interviewed by:
G.L. Summer. Newberry, S.C. May 19, 1937.
=S-260-264-N=
=Project #935=
=Hattie Mobley=
=Richland County=
=South Carolina=
=Uncle Ransom Simmons=
=Richland County, South Carolina.=
Uncle Ransom is one of the few remaining slaves who still lives and
whose mind is still clear and active. He has just passed his one-hundred
and fourth birthday, was born in Mississippi, and brought to South
Carolina by his master Wade Hampton, the father of the illustrious
General Wade Hampton, before the Civil War.
When the war broke out and General Wade Hampton went to war Uncle Ransom
cried to be allowed to follow his young master. He went and served as a
body guard. Uncle Ransom learned to read the Bible while attending a
night school held for slaves before freedom, and it was only in recent
years that he was taught to write his name.
This old man lives alone in a shack at Taylor, a little village on the
outskirts of Columbia. He is furnished with all the milk and ice cream
he can eat by the Columbia Dairy. He purchases a little food with the
state pension of twenty-five dollars a year paid to Negroes who served
the Confederacy in some military capacity.
Uncle Ransom says his master was the kindest man in the world, and that
as far as he is concerned, he has never had a worry in his life, and as
he said this, his face radiated with a broad and satisfied smile.
Reference:
Personal interview with Ransom Simmons age 104.
=Project #1655=
=Stiles M. Scruggs=
=Columbia, S.C.=
=ALFRED SLIGH=
=_EX-SLAVE 100 YEARS OLD._=
Alfred Sligh, who lives in a rented house at 1317 Gregg Street, says he
was born in Newberry County, South Carolina, in 1837. His hair is white
and he is feeble. He goes about the city, on fair days, collecting small
sums of money from his white friends and sometimes from his own race. In
this way he earns most of his income.
"My folks was slaves of the Sligh family for many years, befo' I was
born. My mammy and daddy and me b'long to Butler Sligh, at de time I
begin to do chores and take notice of things. I be nearly half grown
when my young master, Butler Sligh, am just four years old. He die, four
or five years ago. I guess you 'member, 'cause he was a powerful
well-known white man. He was seventy-five years old when he die.
"De young master, he name for my old master. De old master and 'most all
de white men of de neighborhood, 'round 'bout us, march off to de war in
1861. One day I see them ridin' down de big road on many hosses and they
wavin' deir hats and singin': 'We gwine to hang Abe Lincoln on a sour
apple tree!' and they in fine spirits. My young master, Butler, who they
call Junior at de time, he am too young to go with them so we stay home
and farm. I go with him to de fields and he tell de slaves what to do.
Durin' de war I see much of de soldiers who say they not quit fightin'
'til all de damn-Yankees am dead. Dis was so, durin' de first two years.
After dat I see more and more of de damn-Yankees, as they pass through
'flictin' punishment on 'most everybody.
"Sho' we hear dat all Negroes am free in 1863, but dat rumor not affect
us. We work on, 'til Sherman come and burn and slash his way through de
state in de spring of 1865. I just reckon I 'member dat freedom to de
end of my life.
"We gang up at my grandmother's cabin and she tell us it am so. We look
scared, lak mules in de midst of a hornet nest, as we stood dere. We
didn't wait long, for old Mistress Sligh she come 'long and say: 'Sho'
it am so, you am free.' Many of de slaves, 'cludin' me, tell her we love
to stay on and work as usual 'til de big white folks come. She smile and
say: 'All right, maybe we be able to feed and clothe you, and when your
old master git back from Virginia, maybe he will hire you!'
"When I first marry, which was at de start of de war, I marry Sarah, a
slave gal on de Sligh plantation. We has several chillun, befo' she die,
which was soon after we move to Columbia. De chillun, at least two boys
and two gals, all git grown, but they go North a long time ago, and I
never hears from them.
"When I come to Columbia in 1866, I find work on houses, and building
was plentiful then. I git 'long pretty well, then, 'cause if I did not
land a job, I could go to de Freedman's Aid Office at Assembly and
Gervais streets and git rations and a little cash for my family. After
de Freedman's Aid left town I had no trouble findin' work. And soon I
was pretty prosperous. I kept that way, so long as I was able to do my
share of de work.
"It was in 1913, as I was walkin' 'long Hampton Street, dat I see my
present wife, Sadie. She pass by me, and smile and look and I smile and
look, and she slow up a little and say: 'What's happen, big boy?' I am
so tickled, I say: 'I just have to tell you:
'De rose am red,
De violet's blue,
No knife can cut
My love in two.'
"She say; 'Pretty good, big boy, pretty good! Come 'round and see me
sometime.' I answer: 'I sho' will, Peaches and Cream'. And dat am just
what I did. We got married dat same year, and we have been happy, 'til I
git too old and feeble to work much. She work now to de best of her
ability and we somtimes has a big squeeze to pay de rent. Dat is why I'm
hopin' to get de old age pension, made possible by de greatest President
of them all.
"Does I recall de 'sassination of de first President dat died dat way?
Yes sir, I sho' do. De first one was Abraham Lincoln, a little after de
close of de war. He was shot while sittin' in a seat in de theater at
Washington. James A. Garfield, was de nex' one. He was shot in de depot,
at Washington. De nex' one was McKinley. He was shot while at a show
place, in Buffalo."
=Project #1655=
=W.W. Dixon,=
=Winnsboro, S.C.=
=DAN SMITH=
=_EX-SLAVE 75 YEARS._=
Dan Smith lives in one room, rent free, of a three-room frame house, the
property of his son-in-law, Jim Cason. It is situated on the southeast
corner of Garden and Palmer streets in the town of Winnsboro, S.C. He is
tall, thin and toothless, with watery eyes and a pained expression of
weariness on his face. He is slow and deliberate in movements. He still
works, and has just finished a day's work mixing mortar in the
construction of a brick store building for Mr. Lauderdale. His boss
says: 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.' There is nothing
organically wrong with Dan but he appears, in human anatomy, as Doctor
Holmes's One Horse Shay must have looked the day before its final
collapse.
"You been here once befo' and now here you is again. You say you wanna
git additions? Well, I's told you dat I was born in Richland County, a
slave of Marse John Lever and on his plantation, January de 11th day,
1862, when de war was gwine on. How I know? 'Cause my mammy and pappy
told me so. They call my pappy Bob and my mammy Mary. Strange as it
seem, my mistress name Mary, just de same as my mammy, tho' marster
wasn't name Bob, lak pappy. Him name Marster John and de young marster,
an only child, was name Marse Jim. You better stop right dere 'til I
tell you pappy no b'long to de Levers. Him b'long to de Smiths. Him name
Bob Smith, after freedom. Dat's how come I be dis day, Dan Smith. You
ketch de p'int? Well dats de way it was.
"Befo' pappy take a shine to mammy in slavery time, her got mixed up
wid one of old Marse Burrell Cook's niggers and had a boy baby. He was
as black as long-leaf pine tar. Her name him George Washington Cook but
all him git called by, was Wash Cook. My full brudders was Jim, Wesley,
and Joe. All of them dead and gone long ago.
"Us chillun slept on de floor. Mammy had some kind of 'traption or
other, 'ginst de wall of de log house us live in, for her and de baby
child to git in at night. Us have plenty to eat, sich as: peas, 'tatoes,
corn bread, 'lasses, buttermilk, turnips, collards and fat meat.
"De only thing I 'member 'bout my mistress is: One day her come down to
de house and see my brudder Joe sucking his thumb. Mammy tell her, her
can't make him quit it. Mistress go back to de big house and come
runnin' back with quinine. Her rub Joe's thumbs wid dat quinine and tell
mammy to do dat once or twice a day. You ought to see dat baby's face de
first time and heard him squall! It sho' stopped him sucking his thumbs!
"Clothes? Didn't need no clothes in de summer time but a shirt. In de
winter, us just stood 'bout de fire. I'm talkin' 'bout us chillun, don't
'member 'bout old folks.
"Master and Mistress lived in a big white house, two stories high, tall
brick chimneys at de gable ends, and wide front and back piazzas de full
length of de dwelling. Us chillun had no shoes. Mammy had two pair all
de time but they had wooden bottoms. Dere was no white overseers 'round,
but patarollers (patrollers) ketched my pappy once, in de house, jerk
him out and whup him, while mammy and us chillun yell and cry and beg
them to stop.
"When de Yankees come, mammy hide us chillun under her bed 'traption.
They act mighty nice to her, so she say.
"What kinda work mammy do? Her was one of de weavers. Heard her tell
'bout how they make de thread and de cloth. They had spinnin' wheels.
Person turn de wheel wid de hand and walk back'ards and for'ards,
drawing out de thread. Dis kind of thread, her say, was rough. Later
they got a thing de spinners operate wid deir foots, settin' by de wheel
and workin' it wid deir foots, sorta lak a sewing machine is run. Her
'low de thread dat come to her in de weave-room from dis kind of
spinnin' was smoother and more finer than de other kind. After de yarn
was spin, it was reeled off de spools into hanks and then took to de
warper. Then she woofed it, warped it, and loomed it into cloth. Her
make four yards in a day.
"After freedom, pappy come and take mammy and all us chillun to a farm
on Cedar Creek, in dis county, Fairfield. I works dere 'til 1872, I
thinks. I gits concerned 'bout dis time wid two things, jinin' wid de
Lord, and jinin' wid de woman. De fust was easy. All I had to do was go
to de Methodis' revival, shout a little, and jine up befo' de preacher.
I just had to be convicted and convinced, but mind you, I was de one to
be convinced, de other was not so easy. De Lord was easy to find and
quick to take me, but de gal was hard to find and was slow to take me,
'cause she was de one to be convinced dis time, you see.
"I looks all 'round Cedar Creek. De ones I could git, I wouldn't have,
and de ones I would have I couldn't git. So dere it was. I mounts old
Betsy, dat was pappy's mule, one Sunday and come to Winnsboro. I spied a
gal at church, 'bout de color of a ripe pumpkin after de big frosts done
fall on it, hair black as a crow and meshed up and crinkled as a cucker
burr. Just lookin' at her made my mouth water. Me and old Betsy raise de
dust and keep de road hot from Cedar Creek to Winnsboro dat summer and
fall, and when us sell de last bale of cotton, I buys me a suit of
clothes, a new hat, a pair of boots, a new shirt, bottle Hoyt's cologne
and rigs myself out and goes 'round and ask her to marry me. Her name
Ida Benjamin. Did her fall for me right away? Did her take me on fust
profession and confession lak de Lord did? No sir-ree bob! Her say: 'I
got to go to school some more, I's too young. Got to see papa and mama
'bout it. Wait 'til you come nex' time and I'll tell you.' I was
confused then, I gits up, gives her de cologne bottle, and mounts old
Betsy, spurs her in de side, gallops, and cusses all de way back to
Cedar Creek. I confess to mammy. Her laugh and say: 'Dan, you knows
nothin' 'bout women and gals. Why it's mighty plain she gonna say yes,
nex' time.' Just lak her say, Ida did, and us got married de end of de
nex' school term, in May.
"Us had ten chillun. Dan, name for me, is at Concord, N.C. Oscar is in
Concord, N.C. Lucinda marry a Haltiwanger and is comfortable in
Baltimore, Md. Aurelia marry a Williams and is in Baltimore. Henrietta
marry a Sawney and is in Charlotte, N.C. Lilly marry Jim Cason and live
right in Winnsboro, in de house I have a room in.
"I got lots of gran'childs, too many to mention, They take after dere
grandma, lak to go to school and read de Bible and go to church and
Sunday School.
"Whut I have on my mind now is a pension. When a man git seventy-five
years old, (I hear folks talk 'round me) dat man should not be 'lowed to
work on de Supreme Court, him should be give a pension of $15,000.00 and
made to stop work. Him may have chillun dat can support him, all de
same, dat jedge gits his pension. Then in de name of goodness, why don't
they make me quit mixing mortar when I is seventy-five years old and
give me $240.00 a year? Sauce for de fat goose Supreme Court Jedge,
oughta be sauce for de mortar mixer poor gander, I 'low. It look lak
jestice for de rich jedge and mix more mortar for poor Dan."
=Code No.=
=Project, 1885-(1)=
=Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis=
=Place, Marion, S.C.=
=Date, July 22, 1937=
=No. Words=________
=Reduced from______words=
=Rewritten by=
_______________________
=HECTOR SMITH=
=Ex-Slave, 79 Years=
"I born down here in Wahee Neck. Easter Avant, dat was my mammy en my
father name Hector Smith. Coase I ain' never see him cause he die fore I
was born, but dat what dey tell me. Dat was a pretty rough time wid de
people den. I don' recollect so much bout de times back dere cause in
dat day en time chillun didn' have de heap of knowledge dey have dis day
en time, but I remembers seein de Yankees en de people gwine to de war.
Oh, dat was a tough time cause dey use de whip in dem days. Oh, yes'um,
my Massa whip my gran'mammy wid a leather strap. You see she had a knack
of gwine off for some cause or another en meetin de boat what run up en
down dat big Pee Dee river en bring fertilizer en all kind of goods to
de peoples. Massa Randall had told her not to go nowhe' bout dat boat,
but some people is sorta high strung like en dey go off anyhow no matter
bout de whip. Oh, yes'um, he sho whip her like he didn' have no soul to
save."
"I couldn' tell you nothin bout how many slaves Massa Randall Davis had,
but I know dat he had a right smart of them. I know it cause he had so
many field hands dey didn' none of em never have to work every day in de
field. Oh, dey just knock bout our Massa house en see after de stock en
such things as dat what time dey didn' have to work in de field."
"You knows when a thing happen so long back dere, it does vanish from a
person's remembrance some of de time en den it'll wander back to you
when you ain' thinkin bout it. I does recollect dat dere wasn' nothin
much more for de colored peoples in dat day en time den what dey got to
eat en de clothes dey had to wear. My Massa give everyone of he colored
family a peck of meal en a quart of syrup en so much of meat every week
en 'low em all to have a garden of dey own. Oh, dey work dey garden by
de moonshine en fore light good in de mornin cause dey had to turn dey
hand to dey Massa work when daylight come here. I tellin you corn bread
was sweet to me in dat day en time as pound cake ever been. Wasn' never
noways pickin' en choosin bout nothin. Oh, I forget bout all dem possums
en rabbits dat eat right smart in dem days. Use to catch em when dey had
swells of de water en dey come out de woods to hunt dry land. It just
like dis, dey couldn' conceal demselves in de open fields en dat
how-come we catch em so easy. Run em down wid de dogs en make em take to
de water. Dat how we catch em. Dat sho was sweet eatin in dem days."
"Den we had a log house to stay in what never had but just one room en
de furniture we had was worser den de house. Us beds was made wid four
stumps for de corners dat had boards lay cross em to put de mattress on.
Some of de colored peoples had bag mattress stuff wid hay en de others
had homespun mattress what was stuff wid dis here gray moss you see in
de woods. En I remembers all bout when de peoples had to cook in de
fireplace cause dere wasn' much stoves in circulation in dat day en
time."
"Well, I don' know so much bout dem things peoples call ghost, but I
know dat I has seen things. I knows once long time back I was gwine long
de road late on a evenin drivin me ox what I had hitch up to de cart en
a ghost or somethin or another cause dat cart wheel to go right in de
ditch. Well, de ox, he pull en he pull, but wid all me help, he couldn'
never pull dat cart out. I ax some of dem people bout dere what dey
reckon dat was en dey say all dey know to compare it to was a hant or a
ghost. No 'mam, didn' see it, just hear it cause it come right to my
back en knocked. It had been rainin en soon as it quit, de moon shine
out bright as ever was day en dat when de hant turn de cart loose."
"De next thing I see was one time when me en another fellow was sleepin
in de swamp. I couldn' tell whe' de moon rise den en when I come to my
senses, dere was one of dem things just a danglin in de air like dese
things show people have. Some people say dat was a ghost."
"Oh, de peoples didn' never worry bout no doctor den. Dey doctor was in
de field in dat day en time. I gwine tell you just like I know it, all
de older peoples use to get de herbs out de old fields for dey remedies.
My Massa en my Missus was de ones what doctor mostly in dem times. Use
to get old field ringdom, what smell like dis here mint, en boil dat en
let it steep. Dat what was good to sweat a fever en cold out you. Den
dere was life everlastin tea dat was good for a bad cold en cherry bark
what would make de blood so bitter no fever never couldn' stand it. Dem
what had de rheumatism had to take dat lion's tongue or what some
peoples calls wintergreen tea en some of de time, dey take pine top en
mix wid de herbs to make a complete cure. Oh, dey make it bad as dey
could so as to weaken de case. Another thing dat been good for de
rheumatism was dat red oak bark dat dey use to bathe de limbs wid.
Willow tea was somethin good for chill en fever en catnip en sage tea
was de thing for babies."
"It like I tell you de colored peoples never get no learnin but what
little dey catch from de plantation men in dem night schools. Oh, dey
give everyone of us a slate en slate pencil en we study dere in de
quarter in de night time by de light of de fire. Studied dem Blue Back
Websters. Dat was de text we know bout den."
"I tell you de truth I live so much in darkness den dat I think dat time
was bout good as dis time. Didn' know no better sense den. I tell you
just like I been know it, de peoples was coward like in dem days.
Couldn' never pluck up no ambition to do a heap of things de people do
dis day en time. Dat how-come I rather live in dis go round."
_Source_: Hector Smith, ex-slave, age 79, Wahee section of
Marion Co., S.C.
Personal interview, July 1937.
=Code No. 390144=
=Project, 1885-(1)=
=Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis=
=Place, Marion, S.C.=
=Date, July 14, 1937=
=No. Words________=
=Reduced from_____words=
=Rewritten by=
______________________
=HECTOR SMITH=
=Ex-Slave, 79 years=
"I studied en studied what songs would suit, but dem old familiar hymns
bout all I know dese days. You see dem old familiar hymns what de spirit
sings. It just like I tell you, I put all dem other kind of songs away
when I is change to a better way of livin. I does remember first one en
den de other of dem frolicksome song dat my grandparents learnt me."