by
Minnie Branham Stonestreet
Washington-Wilkes
Georgia
[MAY 8 1937]
Arrie Binns lives in Baltimore, a negro suburb of Washington-Wilkes, in
a little old tumbled down kind of a cottage that used to be one of the
neatest and best houses of the settlement and where she has lived for
the past sixty-odd years. In the yard of her home is one of the most
beautiful holly trees to be found anywhere. She set it there herself
over fifty years ago. She recalled how her friends predicted bad luck
would befall her because she "sot out er holly", but not being in the
least bit superstitious she paid them "no mind" and has enjoyed her
beautiful tree all these years. Many lovely oaks are around her house;
she set them there long ago when she was young and with her husband
moved into their new home and wanted to make it as attractive as
possible. She is all alone now. Her husband died some years ago and
three of her four children have passed on. Her "preacher son" who was
her delight, died not very long ago. All this sorrow has left Aunt Arrie
old and sad; her face is no longer lighted by the smile it used to know.
She is a tiny little scrap of a woman with the softest voice and is as
neat as can be. She wears an oldfashioned apron all the time and in cool
weather there is always a little black cape around her frail shoulders
and held together with a plain old gold "breastpin".
She was born in Lincoln County (Georgia), her mother was Emeline Sybert
and her father Jordan Sybert. They belonged to Mr. Jones Sybert and his
wife "Miss Peggy". After freedom they changed their surname to Gullatt
as they liked that better. Arrie was among the oldest of nine children.
The night she was born the stork brought a little baby girl to the home
of a white family just across the creek from the Syberts. The little
white girl was named Arine so "Miss Peggy" named the little new black
baby girl Arrie, and that is how it happened she was given such an odd
name.
Arrie said she was "15 or 16 years old when the war broke (1865), I wuz
big enough to be lookin' at boys an' dey lookin' at me." She remembers
the days of war, how when the battle of Atlanta was raging they heard
the distant rumble of cannon, and how "upsot" they all were. Her master
died of "the consumption" during the war. She recalls how hard it was
after his death. The Syberts had no children and there was no one to
turn to after his death. Arrie tells of her Master's illness, how she
was the housemaid and was called upon to fan him and how she would get
so tired and sleepy she would nod a little, the fan dropping from hands
into his face. He would take it up and "crack my haid with the handle to
wake me up. I wuz allus so sorry when I done that, but I jest had ter
nod."
She told about how bad the overseers were and the trouble they gave
until finally "old Miss turned off ther one she had an' put my Pa in his
place to manage things and look after the work." Arrie was never
punished, (not any more than having her head cracked by her Master when
she nodded while fanning him.) "No mam, not none of our niggers wuz
whipped. Why I recollect once, my brother wuz out without a pass an' de
patter rollers kotch him and brung him to old Miss and said he'd have
ter be whipped, old Miss got so mad she didn't know what ter do, she
said nobody wuz a goin' ter whip her niggers, but the patter roller men
'sisted so she said after er while, 'Well, but I'm goin' ter stan' right
here an' when I say stop, yer got ter stop', an' they 'greed to dat, an'
the third time dey hit him she raised her han' an' said 'STOP' an' dey
had ter let my brother go. My Miss wuz a big 'oman, she'd weigh nigh on
ter three hundred pound, I 'spect."
After her master's death Arrie had to go into the field to work. She
recalled with a little chuckle, the old cream horse, "Toby" she use to
plow. She loved Toby, she said, and they did good work. When not plowing
she said she "picked er round in the fields" doing whatever she could.
She and the other slaves were not required to do very hard work. Her
mother was a field hand, but in the evenings she spun and wove down in
their cabin. Aunt Arrie added "an' I did love to hear that old spinnin'
wheel. It made a low kind of a whirring sound that made me sleepy." She
said her mother, with all the other negro women on the place, had "a
task of spinnin' a spool at night", and they spun and wove on rainy days
too. "Ma made our clothes an' we had pretty dresses too. She dyed some
blue and brown striped. We growed the indigo she used fer the blue,
right dar on the plantation, and she used bark and leaves to make the
tan and brown colors."
Aunt Arrie said the Doctor was always called in when they were sick,
"but we never sont fer him lesse'n somebody wuz real sick. De old folks
doctored us jest fer little ailments. Dey give us lye tea fer colds.
(This was made by taking a few clean ashes from the fire place, putting
them in a little thin bag and pouring boiling water over them and let
set for a few minutes. This had to be given very weak or else it would
be harmful, Aunt Arrie explained.) Garlic and whiskey, and den, dar
ain't nothin' better fer the pneumony dan splinter tea. I've cured bad
cases with it." (That is made by pouring boiling water over lightwood
splinters.)
Aunt Arrie told of their life on the plantation and it was not unlike
that of other slaves who had good masters who looked after them. They
had plenty to eat and to wear. Their food was given them and they cooked
and ate their meals in the cabins in family groups. Santa Claus always
found his way to the Quarters and brought them stick candy and other
things to eat. She said for their Christmas dinner there was always a
big fat hen and a hog head.
In slavery days the negroes had quiltings, dances, picnics and everybody
had a good time, Aunt Arrie said, "an' I kin dance yit when I hears a
fiddle." They had their work to do in the week days, but when Sundays
came there was no work, everybody rested and on "preachin' days" went to
Church. Her father took them all to old Rehoboth, the neighborhood white
church, and they worshiped together, white and black, the negroes in
the gallery. That was back in the days when there was "no lookin'
neither to the right nor to the left" when in church; no matter what
happened, no one could even half way smile. This all was much harder
than having to listen to the long tiresome sermons of those days, Arrie
thinks, specially when she recalled on one occasion "when Mr. Sutton wuz
a preachin' a old goat [HW: got] up under the Church an' every time Mr.
Sutton would say something out real loud that old goat would go 'Bah-a-a
Bah ba-a-a' an' we couldn't laugh a bit. I most busted, I wanted ter
laugh so bad."
"Yassum, in dem days" continued Aunt Arrie, "all us colored folks went
to the white folks church kase us didn't have no churches of our own and
day want no colored preachers den, but some what wuz called
"Chairbacks". The Chairback fellows went er round preachin' an' singin'
in the cabins down in the Quarters and dey use ter have the bes'
meetin's, folks would be converted an' change dey way. De hymns dey sung
de most wuz "Amazin' Grace" an' "Am I Born ter Die?" I 'members de
meetin's us use ter have down in our cabin an' how everybody would pray
an' sing."
"Dey ain't nothin' lak it use ter be," sighed Aunt Arrie, "Now when I
first could recollect, when a nigger died they sot up with de corpse all
night and de next day had de funeral an' when dey started to the burial
ground with the body every body in the whole procession would sing
hymns. I've heard 'em 'nough times clear 'cross the fields, singin' and
moanin' as they went. Dem days of real feelin' an' keerin' is gone."
When freedom came there were sad times on the Sybert plantation, Arrie
said. "Old Miss cried and cried, and all us cried too. Old Miss said
'You'al jest goin' off to perish.' Aunt Jennie, one of the oldest women
slaves stayed on with her and took keer of her, but all us stayed on a
while. Us didn't know whar to go an' what ter do, an' den come Dr.
Peters and Mr. Allen frum Arkansas to git han's to go out dar an' work
fer dem. My Pa took his family and we stayed two years. It took us might
nigh ar whole week to git dar, we went part way on de train and den rid
de steam boat up de Mississippi River ter de landin'. We worked in the
cotton field out dar and done all kinds er work on de farm, but us
didn't like an' Dr. Peters an' Mr. Allen give my Pa money fer us ter
come home on. 'Fore we could git started my oldest brother wanted to
come home so bad he jest pitched out and walked all de way frum Arkansas
to our old home in Georgy. We come back by Memphis and den come on home
on de train. When we wuz out dar I went to school an' got as far as
'Baker'. Dat's de only schoolin' I ever had."
Aunt Arrie told about her courtship and marriage, she remembers all
about it and grew rather sentimental and sad while she talked. She said
that Franklin Binns was going with her before she went to live in
Arkansas and when she came home he picked up the courtship where he had
left off when she went away. He would ride 20 miles on horseback to see
her. He brought her candy and nice things to eat, but she still wouldn't
"give him no satisfaction 'bout whether she keered fer him er not." She
said other men wanted to come to see her, but she paid them not one bit
of attention. "No mam, I wouldn't 'cept of them, I never did go with in
an' everybody, I don't do dat yit." She said one day Franklin was to see
her and said "Less us marry, I think 'nough of you to marry." She said
she wouldn't tell him nothin' so he went to see her parents and they
agreed, so she married him sometime later. They were married by a white
minister, Mr. Joe Carter.
Aunt Arrie leads a lonely life now. She grieves for her loved ones more
than negroes usually do. She doesn't get about much, but "I does go over
to see Sis Lou (a neighbor) every now an' den fer consolation." She says
she is living on borrowed time because she has always taken care of
herself and worked and been honest. She said that now she is almost at
the close of her life waiting day by day for the call to come, she is
glad she knew slavery, glad she was reared by good white people who
taught her the right way to live, and she added: "Mistess, I'se so glad
I allus worked hard an' been honest--hit has sho paid me time an' time
agin."
[HW: Dist. 5
ExSlv. #7
Driskell]
HENRY BLAND--EX-SLAVE
[MAY -- --]
Henry Bland is one of the few living ex-slaves who was born on a
plantation near Edenton, Ga., in 1851. His parents were Martha and Sam
Coxton. In this family group were three other children, two girls and
one boy, who was the oldest. When questioned regarding the birthplace
and the movements of his parents, Mr. Bland stated that his father was
born in Hancock County, Ga. His mother along with her mother was brought
to Georgia by the speculator with a drove of other slaves. The first
thing that he remembers of his parents is when he was quite small and
was allowed to remain in the Master's kitchen in the "big house" where
his mother was cook.
Mr. Coxton, who was the owner of Mr. Bland and his family, was described
as being very rich and influential man in the community where he lived.
Says Mr. Bland, "His only fault was that of drinking too much of the
whisky that he distilled on the plantation." Unlike some of the other
slave owners in that section, Mr. Coxton was very kind to his slaves.
His plantation was a large one and on it was raised cotton, corn,
cane[TR:?], vegetables, and live stock. More cotton was grown than
anything else.
From the time he was 1 year and 6 months of age until he was 9 years old
he lived in the "big house" with his mother. At night he slept on the
floor there. In spite of this, his and his mother's treatment was
considerably better than that received by those slaves who worked in the
fields. While their food consisted of the same things as did that of the
field slaves, sometimes choice morsels came back to the kitchen from the
Master's table. He says that his mother's clothes were of better quality
than the other slave women (those who were not employed in the house).
As a child his first job was to cut wood for the stove, pick up chips,
and to drive the cows to and from the pasture. When 9 years old he was
sent to the field as a plow boy. Here he worked with a large number of
other slaves (he does not know the exact number) who were divided into
two groups, the plow group and the hoe group. His father happened to be
the foreman of the hoe gang. His brothers and sisters also worked here
in the fields being required to hoe as well as plow. When picking time
came, everyone was required to pick. The usual amount of cotton each
person was required to pick was 200 lbs. per day. However, when this
amount was not picked by some they were not punished by the overseer, as
was the case on neighboring plantations, because Mr. Coxton realized
that some could do more work than others. Mr. Coxton often told his
overseer that he had not been hired to whip the slaves, but to teach
them how to work.
Says Mr. Bland: "Our working hours were the same as on any other
plantation. We had to get up every morning before sun-up and when it was
good and light we were in the field. A bugle was blown to wake us." All
the slaves stayed in the field until dark. After leaving the field they
were never required to do any work but could spend their time as they
saw fit to. No work was required on Saturday or Sunday with the
exception that the stock had to be cared for. Besides those days when no
work was required, there was the 4th of July and Christmas on which the
slaves were permitted to do as they pleased. These two latter dates were
usually spent in true holiday spirit as the master usually gave a big
feast in the form of a barbecue and allowed them to invite their
friends.
When darkness came they sang and danced and this was what they called a
"frolic." As a general rule this same thing was permitted after the
crops had been gathered. Music for these occasions was furnished by
violin, banjo and a clapping of hands. Mr. Bland says that he used to
help furnish this music as Mr. Coxton had bought him a violin.
On the Coxton plantation all slaves always had a sufficient amount of
clothing. These clothes which were issued when needed and not at any
certain time included articles for Sunday wear as well as articles for
work. Those servants who worked in the "big house" wore practically the
same clothes as the master and his wife with the possible exception that
it met the qualification of being second-handed. An issue of work
clothing included a heavy pair of work shoes called brogans, homespun
shirts and a pair of jeans pants. A pair of knitted socks was also
included The women wore homespun dresses for their working clothes. For
Sunday wear the men were given white cotton shirts and the women white
cotton dresses. All clothing was made on the plantation by those women
who were too old for field work.
In the same manner that clothing was sufficient, so was food plentiful.
At the end of each week each family was given 4 lbs. of meat, 1 peck of
meal, and some syrup. Each person in a family was allowed to raise a
garden and so they had vegetables whenever they wished to. In addition
to this they were allowed to raise chickens, to hunt and to fish.
However, none of the food that was secured in any of the ways mentioned
above could be sold. When anyone wished to hunt, Mr. Coxton supplied the
gun and the shot.
Although the slaves cooked for themselves, their breakfast and dinner
were usually sent to them in the fields after it had been prepared in
the cook house. The reason for this was that they had to get up too soon
in the morning, and at noon too much time would be lost if they were
permitted to go to their cabins for lunch.
The children who were too young to work in the field were cared for by
some old slave who likewise was unable to do field work. The children
were usually fed pot liquor, corn bread, milk, syrup, and vegetables.
Each one had his individual cup to eat from. The food on Sunday was
usually no different from that of any other day of the week. However,
Mr. Bland says that they never had to break in the smokehouse because of
hunger.
When asked to describe the living quarters of the slaves on his
plantation he looked around his room and muttered: "Dey wuz a lot better
than dis one." Some of the cabins were made of logs and some of
weatherboards. The chinks in the walls were sealed with mud. In some
instances boards were used on the inside to keep the weather out. There
were usually two windows, shutters being used in the place of window
panes. The chimney and fireplace were made of mud and stones. All
cooking was done at the fireplace as none of them were provided with
stoves. Iron cooking utensils were used. To boil food a pot was hung
over the fire by means of a hook. The remaining furniture was a bench
which served as a chair, and a crude bed. Rope running from side to side
served as bed springs. The mattress was made of straw or hay. For
lighting purposes, pine knots and candles were used. The slaves on the
Coxton plantation were also fortunate in that all cabins had good
floors. All cabins and their furnishings were built by the slaves who
learned the use of hammer and saw from white artisans whom Mr. Coxton
employed from time to time. Mr. Bland remarked that his father was a
blacksmith, having learned the trade in this manner.
A doctor was employed regularly by Mr. Coxton to minister to the needs
of the slaves in time of illness. "We also had our own medicine," says
Mr. Bland. At different times excursions were made to the woods where
"yarbs" (herbs) were gathered. Various kinds of teas and medicines were
made by boiling these roots in water. The usual causes of illness on
this plantation were colds, fevers, and constipation. Castor oil and
salts were also used to a great extent. If an individual was too ill to
work an older slave had to nurse this person.
No effort was made by Mr. Coxton to teach his slaves anything except
manual training. A slave who could use his hands at skilled work was
more valuable than the ordinary field hand. If, however, a slave secured
a book, Mr. Coxton would help him learn to read it. Above all, religious
training was not denied. As a matter of fact, Mr. Coxton required each
one of his servants to dress in his Sunday clothes and to go to church
every Sunday. Services for all were held at the white church--the slaves
sitting on one side and the masters on the other. All preaching was done
by a white pastor.
No promiscuous relationships were allowed. If a man wanted to marry he
merely pointed out the woman of his choice to the master. He in turn
called her and told her that such and such an individual wished her for
a wife. If she agreed they were pronounced man and wife and were
permitted to live together.
The slaves on his plantation were great believers in roots and their
values in the use of conjuring people.
Mr. Bland doesn't remember ever seeing anyone sold by Mr. Coxton, but he
heard that on other nearby plantations slaves were placed on an auction
block and sold like cattle.
None of the slaves were ever whipped or beaten by Mr. Coxton or by
anyone else. If a rule was broken the offender was called before Mr.
Coxton where he was talked to. In some cases a whipping was promised and
that ended the matter. The "Paddie Rollers" whipped the slaves from
other plantations when they were caught off of their premises without a
"pass" but this was never the case when a slave belonging to Mr. Coxton
broke this rule. Mr. Bland remembers that once he and some of his fellow
slaves were away from home without a pass when they were seen by the
"Paddie Rollers" who started after them. When they were recognized as
belonging to Mr. Coxton one of them (Paddie Rollers) said: "Don't bother
them; that's them d---- 'free niggers'." The Paddie Rollers were not
allowed to come on the Coxton plantation to whip his slaves or any other
owner's slaves who happened to be visiting at the time. Mr. Coxton
required that they all be on the plantation by nightfall.
(The above seems to be rather conclusive proof of Mr. Coxton's influence
in the community.) [TR: Parentheses added by hand.]
Whenever a slave committed a crime against the State, his master usually
had to pay for the damage done or pay the slave's fine. It was then up
to him to see that the offender was punished.
Mr. Coxton once saw him (Mr. Bland) beat another slave (who was a guest
at a frolic) when this visitor attempted to draw a pistol on him. Mr.
Bland was upheld in his action and told by Mr. Coxton that he had better
always fight back when anyone struck him, whether the person was white
or black. Further, if he (Mr. Coxton) heard of his not fighting back a
whipping would be in store for him.
Mr. Coxton was different from some of the slave owners in that he gave
the head of each family spending money at Christmas time--the amount
varying with the size of the family.
"When the Civil war was begun the master seemed to be worried all the
time" states Mr. Bland. "He was afraid that we would be freed and then
he would have to hire us to do his work."
When asked to describe his feelings about the war and the possibility of
his being freed, Mr. Bland said that he had no particular feeling of
gladness at all. The outcome of the war did not interest him at all
because Mr. Coxton was such a good master he didn't care whether he was
freed or not. His fellow slaves felt the same way.
When Sherman and the Yankees were marching through they took all of the
live stock but bothered nothing else. The buildings on the adjoining
plantation were all burned. A small skirmish took place about 2 miles
away from Mr. Coxton's plantation when the Yankees and Confederates met.
Mr. Coxton's two sons took part in the war.
Mr. Bland was taken by Sherman's army to Savannah and then to Macon. He
says that he saw President Jeff Davis give up his sword to General
Sherman in surrender.
After the war Mr. Coxton was still well off in spite of the fact that he
had lost quite a bit of money as a result of the war. He saved a great
deal of his cash by burying it when Sherman came through. The cattle
might have been saved if he (Mr. Bland) could have driven them into the
woods before he was seen by some of the soldiers.
At the close of the war Mr. Coxton informed all the slaves that they
were free to go where they wished, but they all refused to leave. Most
of them died on the plantation. Mr. Bland says that when he became of
age his former master gave him a wagon, two mules, a horse and buggy and
ten pigs.
Mr. Bland thinks that old age is a characteristic in his family. His
grandmother lived to be 115 years old and his mother 107 years old.
Although in his 80's, Mr. Bland is an almost perfect picture of health.
He thinks that he will live to become at least 100 years old because he
is going to continue to live as sane a life as he has in the past.