RACHEL ADAMS, Age 78
300 Odd Street
Athens, Georgia
Written by:
Sadie B. Hornsby [HW: (White)]
Athens
Edited by:
Sarah H. Hall
Athens
and
John N. Booth
District Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Residencies 6 & 7
Augusta, Georgia
Rachel Adams' two-room, frame house is perched on the side of a steep
hill where peach trees and bamboo form dense shade. Stalks of corn at
the rear of the dwelling reach almost to the roof ridge and a portion of
the front yard is enclosed for a chicken yard. Stepping gingerly around
the amazing number of nondescript articles scattered about the small
veranda, the visitor rapped several times on the front door, but
received no response. A neighbor said the old woman might be found at
her son's store, but she was finally located at the home of a daughter.
Rachel came to the front door with a sandwich of hoecake and cheese in
one hand and a glass of water in the other. "Dis here's Rachel Adams,"
she declared. "Have a seat on de porch." Rachel is tall, thin, very
black, and wears glasses. Her faded pink outing wrapper was partly
covered by an apron made of a heavy meal sack. Tennis shoes, worn
without hose, and a man's black hat completed her outfit.
Rachel began her story by saying: "Miss, dats been sich a long time back
dat I has most forgot how things went. Anyhow I was borned in Putman
County 'bout two miles from Eatonton, Georgia. My Ma and Pa was 'Melia
and Iaaac Little and, far as I knows, dey was borned and bred in dat
same county. Pa, he was sold away from Ma when I was still a baby. Ma's
job was to weave all de cloth for de white folks. I have wore many a
dress made out of de homespun what she wove. Dere was 17 of us chillun,
and I can't 'member de names of but two of 'em now--dey was John and
Sarah. John was Ma's onliest son; all de rest of de other 16 of us was
gals.
"Us lived in mud-daubed log cabins what had old stack chimblies made out
of sticks and mud. Our old home-made beds didn't have no slats or metal
springs neither. Dey used stout cords for springs. De cloth what dey
made the ticks of dem old hay mattresses and pillows out of was so
coarse dat it scratched us little chillun most to death, it seemed lak
to us dem days. I kin still feel dem old hay mattresses under me now.
Evvy time I moved at night it sounded lak de wind blowin' through dem
peach trees and bamboos 'round de front of de house whar I lives now.
"Grandma Anna was 115 years old when she died. She had done wore herself
out in slavery time. Grandpa, he was sold off somewhar. Both of 'em was
field hands.
"Potlicker and cornbread was fed to us chillun, out of big old wooden
bowls. Two or three chillun et out of de same bowl. Grown folks had
meat, greens, syrup, cornbread, 'taters and de lak. 'Possums! I should
say so. Dey cotch plenty of 'em and atter dey was kilt ma would scald
'em and rub 'em in hot ashes and dat clean't 'em jus' as pretty and
white. OO-o-o but dey was good. Lord, Yessum! Dey used to go fishin' and
rabbit huntin' too. Us jus' fotched in game galore den, for it was de
style dem days. Dere warn't no market meat in slavery days. Seemed lak
to me in dem days dat ash-roasted 'taters and groundpeas was de best
somepin t'eat what anybody could want. 'Course dey had a gyarden, and it
had somepin of jus' about evvything what us knowed anything 'bout in de
way of gyarden sass growin' in it. All de cookin' was done in dem big
old open fireplaces what was fixed up special for de pots and ovens.
Ashcake was most as good as 'taters cooked in de ashes, but not quite.
"Summertime, us jus' wore homespun dresses made lak de slips dey use for
underwear now. De coats what us wore over our wool dresses in winter was
knowed as 'sacques' den, 'cause dey was so loose fittin'. Dey was heavy
and had wool in 'em too. Marse Lewis, he had a plenty of sheep, 'cause
dey was bound to have lots of warm winter clothes, and den too, dey
lakked mutton to eat. Oh! dem old brogan shoes was coarse and rough.
When Marse Lewis had a cow kilt dey put de hide in de tannin' vat. When
de hides was ready, Uncle Ben made up de shoes, and sometimes dey let
Uncle Jasper holp him if dere was many to be made all at one time. Us
wore de same sort of clothes on Sunday as evvyday, only dey had to be
clean and fresh when dey was put on Sunday mornin'.
"Marse Lewis Little and his wife, Miss Sallie, owned us, and Old Miss,
she died long 'fore de surrender. Marse Lewis, he was right good to all
his slaves; but dat overseer, he would beat us down in a minute if us
didn't do to suit him. When dey give slaves tasks to do and dey warn't
done in a certain time, dat old overseer would whup 'em 'bout dat.
Marster never had to take none of his Niggers to court or put 'em in
jails neither; him and de overseer sot 'em right. Long as Miss Sallie
lived de carriage driver driv her and Marse Lewis around lots, but atter
she died dere warn't so much use of de carriage. He jus' driv for Marse
Lewis and piddled 'round de yard den.
"Some slaves larnt to read and write. If dey went to meetin' dey had to
go wid deir white folks 'cause dey didn't have no sep'rate churches for
de Niggers 'til atter de war. On our Marster's place, slaves didn't go
off to meetin' a t'all. Dey jus' went 'round to one another's houses and
sung songs. Some of 'em read de Bible by heart. Once I heared a man
preach what didn't know how to read one word in de Bible, and he didn't
even have no Bible yit.
"De fust baptizin' I ever seed was atter I was nigh 'bout grown. If a
slave from our place ever jined up wid a church 'fore de war was over, I
never heared tell nothin' 'bout it.
"Lordy, Miss! I didn't know nothin' 'bout what a funeral was dem days.
If a Nigger died dis mornin', dey sho' didn't waste no time a-puttin'
him right on down in de ground dat same day. Dem coffins never had no
shape to 'em; dey was jus' squar-aidged pine boxes. Now warn't dat
turrible?
"Slaves never went nowhar widout dem patterollers beatin' 'em up if dey
didn't have no pass.
"Dere was hunderds of acres in dat dere plantation. Marse Lewis had a
heap of slaves. De overseer, he had a bugle what he blowed to wake up
de slaves. He blowed it long 'fore day so dat dey could eat breakfast
and be out dere in de fields waitin' for de sun to rise so dey could see
how to wuk, and dey stayed out dar and wukked 'til black dark. When a
rainy spell come and de grass got to growin' fast, dey wukked dem slaves
at night, even when de moon warn't shinin'. On dem dark nights one set
of slaves helt lanterns for de others to see how to chop de weeds out of
de cotton and corn. Wuk was sho' tight dem days. Evvy slave had a task
to do atter dey got back to dem cabins at night. Dey each one hed to
spin deir stint same as de 'omans, evvy night.
"Young and old washed deir clothes Sadday nights. Dey hardly knowed what
Sunday was. Dey didn't have but one day in de Christmas, and de only
diff'unce dey seed dat day was dat dey give 'em some biscuits on
Christmas day. New Year's Day was rail-splittin' day. Dey was told how
many rails was to be cut, and dem Niggers better split dat many or
somebody was gwine to git beat up.
"I don't 'member much 'bout what us played, 'cept de way us run 'round
in a ring. Us chillun was allus skeered to play in de thicket nigh de
house 'cause Raw Head and Bloody Bones lived der. Dey used to skeer us
out 'bout red 'taters. Dey was fine 'taters, red on de outside and
pretty and white on de inside, but white folks called 'em
'nigger-killers.' Dat was one of deir tricks to keep us from stealin'
dem 'taters. Dere wern't nothin' wrong wid dem 'taters; dey was jus' as
good and healthy as any other 'taters. Aunt Lucy, she was de cook, and
she told me dat slaves was skeered of dem 'nigger-killer' 'taters and
never bothered 'em much den lak dey does de yam patches dese days. I
used to think I seed ha'nts at night, but it allus turned out to be
somebody dat was tryin' to skeer me.
"'Bout de most fun slaves had was at dem cornshuckin's. De general would
git high on top of de corn pile and whoop and holler down leadin' dat
cornshuckin' song 'til all de corn was done shucked. Den come de big
eats, de likker, and de dancin'. Cotton pickin's was big fun too, and
when dey got through pickin' de cotton dey et and drunk and danced 'til
dey couldn't dance no more.
"Miss, white folks jus' had to be good to sick slaves, 'cause slaves was
property. For Old Marster to lose a slave, was losin' money. Dere warn't
so many doctors dem days and home-made medicines was all de go. Oil and
turpentine, camphor, assfiddy (asafetida), cherry bark, sweetgum bark;
all dem things was used to make teas for grown folks to take for deir
ailments. Red oak bark tea was give to chillun for stomach mis'ries.
"All I can ricollect 'bout de comin' of freedom was Old Marster tellin'
us dat us was free as jack-rabbits and dat from den on Niggers would
have to git deir own somepin t'eat. It warn't long atter dat when dem
yankees, wid pretty blue clothes on come through our place and dey stole
most evvything our Marster had. Dey kilt his chickens, hogs, and cows
and tuk his hosses off and sold 'em. Dat didn't look right, did it?
"My aunt give us a big weddin' feast when I married Tom Adams, and she
sho' did pile up dat table wid heaps of good eatments. My weddin' dress
was blue, trimmed in white. Us had six chillun, nine grandchillun, and
19 great-grandchillun. One of my grandchillun is done been blind since
he was three weeks old. I sont him off to de blind school and now he kin
git around 'most as good as I kin. He has made his home wid me ever
since his Mammy died.
"'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', Abraham Lincoln done a good thing when
he sot us free. Jeff Davis, he was all right too, 'cause if him and
Lincoln hadn't got to fightin' us would have been slaves to dis very
day. It's mighty good to do jus' as you please, and bread and water is
heaps better dan dat somepin t'eat us had to slave for.
"I jined up wid de church 'cause I wanted to go to Heben when I dies,
and if folks lives right dey sho' is gwine to have a good restin' place
in de next world. Yes Mam, I sho b'lieves in 'ligion, dat I does. Now,
Miss, if you ain't got nothin' else to ax me, I'se gwine home and give
dat blind boy his somepin t'eat."
[HW: Dist. 6
Ex-Slv. #4]
WASHINGTON ALLEN, EX-SLAVE
Born: December --, 1854
Place of birth: "Some where" in South Carolina
Present Residence: 1932-Fifth Avenue, Columbus, Georgia
Interviewed: December 18, 1936
[MAY 8 1937]
[TR: Original index refers to "Allen, Rev. W.B. (Uncle Wash)"; however,
this informant is different from the next informant, Rev. W.B. Allen.]
The story of "Uncle Wash", as he is familiarly known, is condensed as
follows:
He was born on the plantation of a Mr. Washington Allen of South
Carolina, for whom he was named. This Mr. Allen had several sons and
daughters, and of these, one son--George Allen--who, during the 1850's
left his South Carolina home and settled near LaFayette, Alabama. About
1858, Mr. Washington Allen died and the next year, when "Wash" was "a
five-year old shaver", the Allen estate in South Carolina was
divided--all except the Allen Negro slaves. These, at the instance and
insistence of Mr. George Allen, were taken to LaFayette, Alabama, to be
sold. All were put on the block and auctioned off, Mr. George Allen
buying every Negro, so that not a single slave family was divided up.
"Uncle Wash" does not remember what he "fetched at de sale", but he does
distinctly remember that as he stepped up on the block to be sold, the
auctioneer ran his hand "over my head and said: Genilmens, dis boy is
as fine as split silk". Then when Mr. George Allen had bought all the
Allen slaves, it dawned upon them, and they appreciated, why he had
insisted on their being sold in Alabama, rather than in South Carolina.
Before he was six years of age, little "Wash" lost his mother and, from
then until freedom, he was personally cared for and looked after by Mrs.
George Allen; and the old man wept every time he mentioned her name.
During the '60's, "Uncle Wash's" father drove a mail and passenger stage
between Cusseta and LaFayette, Alabama--and, finally died and was buried
at LaFayette by the side of his wife. "Uncle Wash" "drifted over" to
Columbus about fifty years ago and is now living with his two surviving
children.
He has been married four times, all his wives dying "nachul" deaths. He
has also "buried four chillun".
He was taught to read and write by the sons and daughters of Mr. George
Allen, and attended church where a one-eyed white preacher--named Mr.
Terrentine--preached to the slaves each Sunday "evenin'" (afternoon).
The salary of this preacher was paid by Mr. George Allen.
When asked what this preacher usually preached about, "Uncle Wash"
answered: "He was a one-eyed man an' couldn' see good; so, he mout
a'made some mistakes, but he sho tole us plenty 'bout hell fire 'n
brimstone."
"Uncle Wash" is a literal worshipper of the memory of his "old time
white fokes."