CALLIE ELDER, Age 78
640 W. Hancock Avenue
Athens, Georgia
Written by:
Sadie B. Hornsby
Athens
Edited by:
Sarah H. Hall
Athens
Leila Harris
Augusta
and
John N. Booth
District Supervisor
Federal Writers' Project
Residencies 6 & 7
[JUN 6 1938]
Callie lives with her daughter, Cornelia, in a 6-room house near the
crest of a hill. Their abode is a short distance from the street and is
reached by steep stone steps. In response to the call for Callie, a tall
mulatto woman appeared. Her crudely fashioned blue dress was of a coarse
cotton fabric and her dingy head rag had long lost its original color.
Straight black hair, streaked with gray, and high cheek bones gave the
impression that in her ancestry of mixed races, Indian characteristics
predominate. Her constant use of snuff causes frequent expectoration and
her favorite pastime seems to be the endeavor to attain an incredible
degree of accuracy in landing each mouthful of the amber fluid at the
greatest possible distance. As she was about to begin conversation, a
little yellow boy about five years old ran into the room and Callie
said: "'Scuse me please, I can't talk 'til I gits my grandboy off so he
won't be late to school at Little Knox. Set down in dat dar cheer and
I'll be right back."
Soon Callie returned and it was evident that her curiosity was aroused.
When the interviewer explained the purpose of the visit, she exclaimed:
"Lordy! Miss, what is de government gwine do next? For de God's truth, I
never knowed I would have to tell nobody what happened back in dem days,
so its jus' done slipped out of my mind.
"Anyhow, I warn't even born in Clarke County. I was born in Floyd
County, up nigh Rome, Georgia, on Marse Billy Neal's plantation. Ann and
Washin'ton Neal was my Mammy and Pappy. No Ma'am, no preacher never
married 'em. Marse Billy Neal, he owned bofe of 'em and atter my Pappy
axed him could he marry Mammy, Marse Billy made 'em go up to de hall of
de big house and jump backwards over a broom.
"Dere was six of us chillun: me and Frances, Beulah, Thomas, Felix, and
Scott. Dere was mighty little wuk done by chillun in slav'ry days. I
jus' played 'round and kicked up my heels wid de rest of de chillun.
When us played our hidin' game, us sung somepin' lak dis:
'Mollie, Mollie Bright
Three score and ten,
Can I git dere by candlelight?
Yes, if your laigs is long enough!'
"Sometimes us played what us called de 'Crow' game. Us spread our
fingers out, side by side and counted 'em out wid a rhyme. De one de
last word of de rhyme fell on had to be de crow. I didn't love to be
counted out and made de crow, but it was a heap of fun to count de
others out. Since I been knee high to a grasshopper, I ain't never done
nothin' but wuk 'round white folks' houses.
"Our log cabins what us lived in was daubed inside and out wid mud to
keep out bad weather. Our beds was held together by cords what was
twisted evvy which way. You had to be mighty careful tightenin' dem
cords or de beds was liable to fall down. Us slept on wheat straw
mattresses and had plenty of good warm quilts for kiver.
"Grown folks was fed cornbread and meat wid plenty of vegetables in de
week days and on Sunday mornin's dey give 'em wheat bread, what was
somethin' slaves didn't see no more 'til de next Sunday mornin'. 'Bout
four o'clock on summer atternoons, dey sot a big old wooden bowl full of
cornbread crumbs out in de yard and poured in buttermilk or potliquor
'til de crumbs was kivered. Den dey let de chillun gather 'round it and
eat 'til de bowl was empty. In winter chillun was fed inside de house.
"'Possums, Oh, mussy me! My grandpa hunted 'possums at night and fetched
in two and three at a time. Don't say nothin' 'bout dem rabbits for dere
warn't no end to 'em. Rabbits stewed, rabbits fried, and rabbits dried,
smoked, and cured lak hog meat! I et so many rabbits when I was young I
can't stand to look at 'em now but I could eat 'possums and gnaw de
bones all day long. Marse Billy let grandpa go fishin' and he was all
time bringin' back a passel of minnows and other fishes. Us rubbed 'em
down wid lard and salt and pepper, den rolled 'em in cornmeal and baked
'em. I never seed no fried meat 'til I was a big strappin' gal. Dere was
one big gyarden whar dey raised 'nough vegetables for all de white folks
and slaves too. All de bilin' was done in pots swung on cranes over
coals in de fireplace.
"Our clothes was made new for us in de fall out of cloth wove in looms
right dar on de plantation. Top clothes was dyed wid hick'ry bark. De
full skirts was gathered to tight fittin' waisties. Underskirts was made
de same way. De dresses had done wore thin 'nough for hot weather by de
time winter was gone so us wore dem same clothes straight on through de
summer, only us left off de underskirts den. Slave chillun didn't never
wear no shoes. Our foots cracked open 'til dey looked lak goose foots.
Us wore de same on Sunday as evvy day, 'cept dat our clothes was clean,
and stiff wid meal starch when us got into 'em on Sunday mornin's.
"Marse Billie Neal was our owner and Miss Peggy was his old 'oman. Dey
was jus' as good to us as dey could be. Deir two chillun was Marse Tom
and Marse Mid. De car'iage driver never had much to do but drive Marse
Billy and Miss Peggy 'round and, course he had to see dat de hosses and
car'iage was kept clean and shiny. I don't 'member if he tuk de chillun
'round. Chillun didn't stand de show dey does now.
"Oh, no Ma'am, I sho' can't tell nothin' t'all 'bout how big dat old
plantation was, but it was one whoppin' big place. Dere was too many
slaves on dat plantation for me to count. De overseer got 'em up by 4:00
o'clock and de mens had to be in de fields by sunrise. De 'omans went
out 'bout 8:00 o'clock. Dey stopped wuk at sundown and by de time dey et
and done de chores for de day it was 10:00 o'clock 'fore dey hit de bed.
De cabins was built in a circle and de overseer went de rounds evvy
night to see if de slaves was in bed.
"Yes Ma'am, dey whupped de Niggers. My Pappy and grandpa was de wust
ones 'bout gittin' licked. Evvy time Pappy runned away Marse Billy
sicked dem hounds on his heels and dey was sho' to ketch him and fetch
him back. Dey had to keep knives from Pappy or when dem dogs cotch him
he would jus' cut 'em up so dey would die. When dey got him back to de
house, dey would buckle him down over a barrel and larrup him wid a
plaited whup. 'Omans warn't whupped much. My grandpa York was so bad
'bout runnin' 'way Marse Billy made him wear long old horns. One Sunday
Marse Billy went by our church to see if all his Niggers was dar what
was sposen to be dar. And dere grandpa was a-sottin' wid dem horns on
his head. Marse Billy told him he could take de horns off his head
whilst he was in de meetin' house. At dat grandpa dropped dem horns, and
lit a rag to de woods and it tuk de dogs days to find him.
"If one slave kilt another, Marse Billy made de overseer tie dat dead
Nigger to de one what kilt him, and de killer had to drag de corpse
'round 'til he died too. De murderers never lived long a-draggin' dem
daid ones 'round. Dat jus' pyorely skeered 'em to death. Dere was a
guard house on de farm, whar de wust Niggers was kept, and while dey was
in dat guard house, dey warn't fed but once a day. It warn't nothin'
unusual for Marse Billy to sell slaves, but he never sold his best
Niggers. De ones he sold was allus dem he couldn't git no wuk out of.
"Not a Nigger could read or write on Marse Billy's plantation. Dey was
all too dumb to larn. Dere was a shackly sort of church house on our
plantation and on Sundays atter de Niggers had cleaned deyselfs up, if
dey told Marse Billy dey wanted to go to church, he sent 'em on. All I
knows 'bout baptizin's is dey jus' tuk 'em to de river and plunged 'em
in. Dey sung somepin' 'bout: 'Gwine to de River for to be Baptized.' Us
had prayer meetin's on Wednesday nights sometimes.
"Oh, Mussy! Don't ax me 'bout fun'rals. I got de misery in my laigs and
I feels too bad dis mornin' to let myself even think 'bout fun'rals.
Back den when slave folks died dey jus' put 'em in home-made pine
coffins what dey throwed in a wagon and tuk 'em to de graveyard. At dem
buryin's, dey used to sing:
'Am I born to die
To let dis body down.'
"None of our Niggers ever runned away to de North. Dey was too busy
runnin' off to de woods. Jus' to tell de truth dem Niggers on our place
was so dumb dey didn't even take in 'bout no North. Dey didn't even know
what de war was 'bout 'til it was all over. I don't know whar to start
'bout dem patterollers. Dey was de devil turned a-loose. Dere was a song
'bout 'Run Nigger run, de patteroller git you!' and dey sho' would too,
I want to tell you.
"What de slaves done on Saddy night? Dey done anything dey was big
'nough to do. Dere warn't no frolickin' 'cept on Sadday night. Niggers
on our place wukked all day Sadday 'cept once a month. Some of de slaves
would slip off and stay half a day and de overseer wouldn't miss 'em
'cause dere was so many in de field. It was jus' too bad for any Nigger
what got cotched at dat trick. Sadday night, slaves was 'lowed to git
together and frolic and cut de buck.
"Christmas Day Marse Billy called us to de big house and give us a
little fresh meat and sweet bread, dat was cake. Christmas warn't much
diff'unt f'um other times. Jus' more t'eat. Us jus' had dat one day off,
and New Year's Day was used as a holiday too.
"Oh, dem cornshuckin's! All day 'fore a cornshuckin' dey hauled corn and
put it in great piles as high as dis here house. Us sung all de time us
was shuckin' corn. Dere was a lot of dem old shuckin' songs. De one us
sung most was: 'Whooper John and Calline all night.' Marse Billy, he
give 'em coffee and whiskey all night and dat made 'em git rough and
rowdy. Den de shucks did fly. Us had one more grand feast when de last
ear of corn had done been shucked. Dere warn't nothin' lackin'.
"Cotton pickin's warn't planned for fun and frolic lak cornshuckin's. If
Marse Billy got behind in his crops, he jus' sent us back to de fields
at night when de moon was bright and sometimes us picked cotton all
night long. Marster give de 'oman what picked de most cotton a day off,
and de man what picked de most had de same privilege.
"Old Aunt Martha what nussed de chillun while deir Mammies wukked in de
field was de quiltin' manager. It warn't nothin' for 'omans to quilt
three quilts in one night. Dem quilts had to be finished 'fore dey
stopped t'eat a bit of de quiltin' feast. Marse Billy 'vided dem quilts
out 'mongst de Niggers what needed 'em most.
"Dem blue and white beads what de grown 'omans wore was jus' to look
pretty. Dey never meant nothin' else. Mammy would skeer us down 'bout
Rawhead and Bloody Bones. Us was all time a-lookin' for him, but he
never got dar. What skeered us most was painters (panthers) a-howlin'
close to our cabins at night. You could hear 'em most any night. When
Mammy wanted to make us behave all she had to say was: 'I hears dem
painters comin'!' Dat made us jus' shake all over and git mighty still
and quiet. De mens tried to run dem painters down, but dey never did
ketch one.
"One of de cabins was allus ha'nted atter some of de slaves got kilt in
it whilst dey was fightin'. Nobody never could live in dat cabin no more
atter dat widout ha'nts gittin' atter 'em. De wust of 'em was a 'oman
ha'nt what you could hear sweepin' up leaves in de yard and all dat time
you might be lookin' hard and not see a leaf move. In dat cabin you
could all time hear ha'nts movin' cheers and knockin' on de wall. Some
of dem ha'nts would p'int a gun in your face if you met 'em in de dark.
Dem ha'nts was too much for me.
"Our white folks was good as dey knowed how to be when us got sick. I
don't 'member dat dey ever had a doctor for de slaves, but dey give us
all kinds of home-brewed teas. Pinetops, mullein and fat light'ood
splinters was biled together and de tea was our cure for diff'unt
ailments. Scurvy grass tea mixed wid honey was good for stomach
troubles, but you sho' couldn't take much of it at a time. It was de
movin'est medicine! Round our necks us wore asafetida sacks tied on
strings soaked in turpentine. Dat was to keep diseases off of us.
"What does I 'member 'bout de war? Well, it was fit to fetch our
freedom. Marse Billy had a fine stallion. When de sojers was comin', he
sont Pappy to de woods wid dat stallion and some gold and told him not
to let dem yankees find 'em. Dat stallion kept squealin' 'til de yankees
found him, and dey tuk him and de gold too. Grandma was a churnin' away
out on de back porch and she had a ten dollar gold piece what she didn't
want dem sojers to steal, so she drapped it in de churn. Dem yankees
poured dat buttermilk out right dar on de porch floor and got grandma's
money. Marse Billy hid hisself in a den wid some more money and other
things and dey didn't find him. Dey tuk what dey wanted of what dey
found and give de rest to de slaves. Atter de sojers left, de Niggers
give it all back to Marster 'cause he had allus been so good to 'em.
"Us stayed on wid Marse Billy for sev'ral years atter de war. He paid us
$10 a month and he 'lowanced out de rations to us evvy week; most allus
on Monday 'cause Sundays us had 'nough company to eat it all at one
time. He give us three pounds of fat meat, a peck of meal, a peck of
flour, 25¢ worth of sugar, and a pound of coffee. Dat had to last a
whole week.
"I didn't take in nothin' 'bout Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and dat
dar Booker T. Washin'ton man, but I heared folks say dey was all right.
"What is you talkin' 'bout Miss? I didn't need to have no big weddin'
when I married Lige Elder. It was a big 'nough thing to git a man lak
what I got. What did I want to have a big weddin' for when all I was
atter was my man? Us had done been married 25 years 'fore us had no
chillun. Dis here Cornelia what I lives wid was our first chile. She
ain't got no chillun. Isaac, my boy, has got four chillun. My old man
died 'bout two years ago.
"I j'ined de church 'cause I was happy and wanted de world to know I had
done got 'ligion. I think evvybody ought to git 'ligion. God says if us
do right he will give us all a home in His Heaven.
"I'd rather have de days as dey is now in some ways. But one thing I
does lak to do is eat and us had a plenty of good eatin' den and never
had to worry none 'bout whar it was a-comin' f'um. Miss, ain't you
through axin' me questions yet? I'm tired of talkin'. I done let de fire
go out under my washpot twice. Dem white folks ain't gwine to lak it if
dey has to wait for deir clothes, and dis misery in my laigs, it sho'
does hurt me bad dis mornin'."
MARTHA EVERETTE, EX-SLAVE
Hawkinsville, Georgia
(Interviewed By Elizabeth Watson--1936)
[JUL 20 1937]
Born in Pulaski County about 1848, the daughter of Isaac and Amanda
Lathrop, Martha Everette has lived all her life near where she was born.
Prior to freedom, her first job was "toting in wood", from which she was
soon "promoted" to waiting on the table, house cleaning, etc. She make
no claims to have ever "graduated" as a cook, as so many old
before-the-war Negresses do.
"Aunt" Martha's owner was a kind man: he never whipped the slaves, but
the overseer "burnt 'em up sometimes." And her mother was a "whipper,
too"--a woman that "fanned" her children religiously, so to speak, not
overlooking Martha. All the Watson slaves attended the (White) Baptist
church at Blue Springs.
Rations were distributed on Sunday morning of each week, and the slaves
had plenty to eat. The slaves were also allowed to fish, thus often
adding variety to their regular fare.
Negro women were taught to sew by the overseers' wives, and most of the
slaves' clothes were made from cloth woven on the plantation. The
Yankees visited the Lathrop plantation in '65, asked for food, received
it, and marched on without molesting anything or any body. Truly, these
were well-behaved Yankees!
"Aunt" Martha says that she remembers quite well when the Yankees
captured Jefferson Davis. She and other slave children were in the "big
house" yard when they heard drums beating, and soon saw the Yankees pass
with Mr. Davis.
"Aunt" Martha, now old and decrepit, lives with one of her sons, who
takes care of her. This son is a gardener and a carpenter and, being
thrifty, fares much better than many Negroes of his generation.
[HW: Dist. 5
Ex-Slave #30]
By E. Driskell
Typed by A.M. Whitley
1-29-37
FIRST COPY OF ARTICLE ENTITLED:
"AN INTERVIEW WITH LEWIS FAVOR," EX-SLAVE
[MAY 8 1937]
[TR: informant also referred to as Favors in this document.]
Among Atlanta's few remaining ex-slaves is one Lewis Favors. When he
fully understood this worker's reasons for approaching him he consented
to tell what he had seen and experienced as a slave. Chewing slowly on a
large wad of tobacco he began his account in the following manner: "I
was born in Merriweather County in 1855 near the present location of
Greenville, Georgia. Besides my mother there were eight of us children
and I was elder than all of them with one exception. Our owner was Mrs.
Favors, but she was known to everybody as the "Widow Favors." My father
was owned by a Mr. Darden who had a plantation in this same county. When
the "Widow's" husband died he left her about one-hundred acres of land
and a large sum of money and so she was considered as being rich. She
didn't have many slaves of her own and so her son (also a plantation
owner) used to send some of his slaves over occasionally to help
cultivate her crops, which consisted of cotton, corn, and all kinds of
vegetables."
In regard to her treatment of the slaves that she held Mr. Favors says:
"She wasn't so tight and then she was pretty tight too."
Those slaves who were field hands were in the field and at work by the
time it was light enough to see. They plowed, hoed, and then later in
the season gathered the crops. After the harvesting was over the fences
were repaired and rails were split. In rainy weather nobody had to work
out of doors, instead they shelled the peas and corn and sometimes
ginned the cotton. At night the women were required to spin and to
weave. In the winter season no work was required at night unless they
had not spun as much thread as was required. At such times they had to
work at night until the amount set had been reached.
Mr. Favor's mother was the cook for the "Widow Favors" and her two
neices who lived with her. The Favors had paid the owner of a hotel Four
hundred dollars to have the hotel cook teach her (Mr. Favors mother) to
prepare all kinds of fancy dishes. His father was a field hand on the
Darden plantation. In addition to this he repaired all the shoes when
this was necessary.
As a child Mr. Favors was not very strong physically and because of this
the "Widow" made him her pet. He never had to do any work other than
that of waiting on the mistress while she ate her meals. Even in this he
had to get up at four o'clock in the morning and help his mother in the
kitchen. Sometimes he would sweep the yards if he felt like doing so.
When he grew older he was given the task of picking the seed out of the
cotton at night.
On Sundays all the servants were free to do as they pleased, that is,
with the exception of Mr. Favors, his mother, and the two women who
serve as maids to the "Widow's" two neices. At other times if a task was
done before the day was over with they were given the remaining time to
do as they pleased. However, everybody had a one week holiday at
Christmas.
Mr. Favors made the following statement in regard to the clothing:
"Everybody wore the homespun cotton clothes that were made on the
plantation by the slave women. The women wore striped ausenberg dresses
while the men wore ausenberg pants and shirts that had been made into
one garment. My clothes were always better than the other little
fellows, who ran around in their shirttails because I was always in the
house of the "Widow." They used red clay to do the dyeing with. In the
winter time cracked feet were common. The grown people wore heavy shoes
called brogans while I wore the cast-off shoes of the white ladies. We
all wrapped our feet in bagging sacks to help them to keep warm. We
were given one complete outfit of clothes each year and these had to
last until the time for the next issue."
Sheets for the beds were also made out of homespun material while the
heavier cover such as the quilts, etc., were made from the dresses and
the other clothing that was no longer fit for wear.
As a general rule all of the slaves on this plantation had enough food
to keep them well and healthy. At the end of each week the field hands
were given enough food to last them seven days. For most of them the
week's supply consisted of three and one-half pounds of pork or fat
meat, one peck of meal, flour, and black molasses. The only meals that
they had to prepare from the above mentioned articles were breakfast and
supper. Dinner was cooked in the plantation kitchen by one of the women
who was too old for work in the fields. For this particular meal the
slaves had some different type of vegetable each day along with the fat
meat, corn bread, and the pot liquor which was served every day. They
were allowed to come in from the fields to the house to be served.
Breakfast usually consisted of fat meat, molasses, and corn bread while
supper consisted of pot-liquor, bread, and milk. The only variation from
this diet was on Sunday when all were allowed to have bisquits instead
of corn bread. Mr. Favors was asked what happened if anyone's food was
all eaten before it was time for the weekly issue and he answered: "It
was just too bad for them 'cause they would have to do the best they
could until the time came to get more." When such a thing happened to
anyone the others usually helped as far as their limited supplies would
permit.
Mr. Favors says that he, his mother, and the two maids ate the same kind
of food that the "Widow," and her nieces were served. After he had seen
to the wants of all at the table he had to take a seat at the table
beside his owner where he ate with her and the others seated there.
There were two one-roomed cabins located directly behind the four-roomed
house of the "Widow," the entire lot of them were built out of logs.
These two cabins were for the use of those servants who worked in the
house of their owner. At one end of each cabin there was a wide
fireplace which was made of sticks, stones, and dried mud. Instead of
windows there were only one or two small holes cut in the back wall of
the cabin. The beds were made out of heavy planks and were called
"Georgia Looms," by the slaves. Wooden slats were used in the place of
bed springs while the mattresses were merely large bags that had been
stuffed to capacity with hay, wheat straw, or leaves. The only other
furnishings in each of these cabins were several benches and a few
cooking utensils. Mr. Favors says: "We didn't have plank floors like
these on some of the other plantations; the plain bare ground served as
our floor." As he made this statement he reminded this worker that he
meant his mother and some of the other house servants lived in these
cabins. He himself always lived in the house with the "Widow Favors,"
who had provided a comfortable bed along with a small chair for his use.
These slaves who worked in the fields lived in several cabins that were
somewhat nearer to their fields than the other two cabins mentioned
above.
The remaining buildings on the Favors' plantation were the smokehouse
and the cook house where in addition to the cooking the younger children
were cared for by another old person. The woman who cared for these
children had to also help with the cooking.
Whenever any of the slaves were sick the doctor was called if
conditions warranted it, otherwise a dose of castor oil was prescribed.
Mr. Favors stated that after freedom was declared the white people for
whom they worked gave them hog-feet oil and sometimes beef-oil both of
which had the same effect as castor oil. If any were too ill to work in
the field one of the others was required to remain at the cabin or at
some other convenient place so as to be able to attend to the wants of
these so indisposed.
When Mr. Favors was asked if the servants on this plantation ever had
the chance to learn how to read or to write he answered: "They was all
afraid to even try because they would cut these off," and he held up his
right hand and pointed to his thumb and forefinger. At any rate the
"Widow," nieces taught him to read a few months before the slaves were
set free.
On Sunday all were required to attend the white church in town. They sat
in the back of the church as the white minister preached and directed
the following text at them: "Don't steal your master's chickens or his
eggs and your backs won't be whipped." In the afternoon of this same day
when the colored minister was allowed to preach the slaves heard this
text: "Obey your masters and your mistresses and your backs won't be
whipped." All of the marriages ware performed by the colored preacher
who read a text from the Bible and then pronounced the couple being
married as man and wife.
Although nobody was ever sold on the Favors plantation Mr. Favors has
witnessed the selling of others on the auction block. He says that the
block resembled a flight of steps. The young children and those women
who had babies too young to be separated from them were placed on the
bottom step, those in their early teens on the next, the young men and
women on the next, and the middle-aged and old ones on the last one.
Prices decreased as the auctioneer went from the bottom step to the top
one, that is, the younger a slave was the more money he brought if he
was sold.
Sometimes there were slaves who were punished by the overseer because
they had broken some rule. Mr. Favors says that at such times a cowhide
whip was used and the number of lashes that the overseer gave depended
on the slave owner's instructions. He has seen others whipped and at
such times he began praying. The only punishment that he ever received
was as a little boy and then a switch was used instead of the whip. If
the "Patter-Roller" caught a slave out in the streets without a pass
from his master they proceeded to give the luckless fellow five lashes
with a whip called the cat-o-nine-tails. They gave six lashes if the
slave was caught out at night regardless of whether he had a pass or
not.
As none of the slaves held by the "Widow" or her son ever attempted to
run away there was no punishment for this. However, he has heard that on
other plantations blood hounds were used to trail those who ran away and
if they were caught a severe beating was administered.
Sometime after the civil war had begun the "Widow Favors" packed as many
of her belongings as possible and fled to LaGrange, Georgia. He and his
mother along with several other slaves (one of whom was an old man) were
taken along. He never heard any of the white people say anything about
the war or its possible results. At one time a battle was being fought a
few miles distant and they all saw the cannon balls fall on the
plantation. This was when the journey to LaGrange was decided upon.
Before leaving the "Widow" had the slaves to bury all the meat, flour,
and other food on the plantation so that the Yankee soldiers would not
get it. Mr. Favors was given about two thousand dollars in gold currency
to keep and protect for his owner. At various intervals he had to take
this money to the "Widow". so that she might count it. Another one of
the slaves was given the son's gold watch to keep on his person until
the Yanks left the vicinity.
Before freedom was declared Mr. Favors says that he prayed all of the
time because he never wanted to be whipped with the cowhide, like others
he had seen. Further he says that it was a happy day for him when he was
told that he could do as he pleased because he realized then that he
could do some of the things that he had always wanted to do.
When freedom was declared for the slaves the Favors family freed slaves
valued at one-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The live stock that
they sold represented a like sum. Mr. Favors and his mother remained
with the "Widow," who gave him his board in return for his services and
paid his mother twenty-five dollars per year for hers as cook.
"Even after the war things were pretty tough for us" stated Mr. Favors.
"The plantation owners refused to pay more than thirty or forty cents to
a person for a days work in the fields. Some of them would not allow an
ex-slave to walk in the streets in front of their homes but made them
take to the out-of-the-way paths through the woods to reach their
various destinations. At other times white men cut the clothes from the
backs of the ex-slaves when they were well dressed. If they didn't beg
hard enough when thus accosted they might even be cut to death!" After
the first three years following the war conditions were somewhat better,
he continued.
Mr. Favors says that his old age is due to the fact that he has always
taken good care of himself and because he has always refrained from
those habits that are known to tear a person's health down.
[HW: Dist. 6
Ex-Slave #28]
THE STORY OF AUNT MARY FERGUSON, EX-SLAVE
1928 Oak Street
Columbus, Georgia
December 18, 1936
"Aunt" Mary Ferguson, née Mary Little, née Mary Shorter, was born
somewhere in Maryland; the exact locality being designated by her simply
as "the eastern shore" of that state. She was born the chattel of a
planter named Shorter, so her first name, of course, was Mary Shorter.
For many years she has resided with a daughter and a granddaughter, at
1928 Oak Avenue, Columbus, Georgia.
"Aunt" Mary was about thirteen years old when, in 1860, she was sold and
brought South. The story of which, as told in her own words is as
follows:
"In 1860 I wuz a happy chile. I had a good ma an a good paw; one older
bruther an one older suster, an a little bruther an a baby suster, too.
All my fambly wucked in de fields, 'ceptin me an de two little uns,
which I stayed at home to mind. (mind--care for).
"It wuz durin' cotton chopping time dat year (1860), a day I'll never
fergit, when de speckulataws bought me. We come home from the fiel'
'bout haf atter 'leven dat day an cooked a good dinner, I hopin her. O,
I never has forgot dat last dinner wid my fokes! But, some-ow, I had
felt, all de mawnin, lak sumpin was gwineter hapin'. I could jes feel it
in my bones! An' sho nough, bout de middle of the even', up rid my young
Marster on his hoss, an' up driv two strange white mens in a buggy. Dey
hitch dere hosses an' cum in de house, which skeered me. Den one o' de
strangers said, 'git yo clothers, Mary; we has bought you frum Mr.
Shorter." I c'menced cryin' an' beggin' Mr. Shorter to not let 'em take
me away. But he say, 'yes, Mary, I has sole yer, an' yer must go wid
em.'
"Den dese strange mens, whose names I ain't never knowed, tuk me an' put
me in de buggy an' driv off wid me, me hollerin' at de top o' my voice
an' callin' my Ma! Den dem speckulataws begin to sing loud--jes to drown
out my hollerin.'
"Us passed de very fiel whar paw an' all my fokes wuz wuckin, an' I calt
out as loud as I could an', as long as I could see 'em, 'good-bye, Ma!'
'good-bye, Ma!' But she never heared me. Naw, nah, daz white mens wuz
singin' so loud Ma could'n hear me! An' she could'n see me, caze dey had
me pushed down out o' sight on de floe o' de buggy.
"I ain't never seed nor heared tell o' my Ma an' Paw, an' bruthers, an'
susters from dat day to dis.
"My new owners tuck me to Baltymore, whar dey had herded tergether two
two-hoss wagon loads o' Niggers. All o' us Niggers wuz den shipped on a
boat to Savannah, an' frum dar us wuz put on de cyars an' sont to Macon.
"In Macon, us wuz sold out, and Doctor (W.R.) Little, of Talbotton,
bought me at oxion (auction) an' tuck me home wid 'im. Den I wuz known
as Mary Little, instid of Mary Shorter."
In the continuation of her narrative, "Aunt" Mary said that the Littles
trained her to be a nurse. Before the war ended, she was inherited by
Mr. Gus (the late Hon. W.A.) Little.
She remembers that all the "quality", young white men who went to the
war from Talbotton took Negro men-servants (slaves) along with them.
These were usually called body-servants, and it was a body-servant's
duty to cook, wash, and do general valet service for his master. In a
pinch, he was also supposed to raid a hen roost, or otherwise rustle
food for his "white fokes".
According to "Aunt" Mary, the Little Negroes were very religious and
given to much loud praying and singing, which often so disturbed Dr.
Little that he gave orders for them to stop it, and also ordered that
all lights in the slave quarters be out at 9 o'clock each night.
"So us tuck to slippin' off to a big gully in de pastur to sing and pray
whar de white fokes couldn' hear us.
"My fust baby wuz bawned in 1862, during de secon' year o' de war. I has
had several husbants, my las' un, he died 'bout seventeen years ago.
"I ain't never seed but one hant in my life, an' I didn' know it wuz a
hant 'til Aunt Peggy (an old slave woman) tole me so. Dis hant was in de
shape o' a duck, an' it followed me one day frum de big house kitchen
ter de hawg pen whar I wuz gwine ter slop de hawgs. When I got back, I
said, 'Aunt Peggy, dar's a strange duck done tuck up wid us!' And she
say, 'hush, chile, dat's a hant!' I been seein' 'im fur severrel years!
An' dat sholy skeert me!"
When asked if she had ever been whipped when a slave, "Aunt" Mary
replied, "Yes, and thank God fur it, fur ole Miss taught me to be hones'
an' not to steal." She admitted that being whipped for stealing made her
an honest woman.
"Aunt" Mary's oldest child is now a man of 74. Her hair is as white as
cotton and her eye sight is dim, but she is still mentally alert. She
says that colored people are naturally religious and that they learned
all their "devilment" from the Whites. She deplores the wickedness into
which the world has drifted, but thanks God that slavery ended when it
did.
She has never had any particular love for the Yankees, and thinks that
they treated the Southern white folks "most scandalously" after the
war, yet feels that she owes them a debt of gratitude for freeing her
people. She admits that her awful hatred of slavery was born of her sad
experience as a girl when she was so unceremoniously separated from her
loved ones, as previously told. She is also of the firm opinion the
those "speculataws" who brought her from Maryland to Georgia in 1860 are
"brilin in hell fur dey sin" of seperating her from her people.
Must Jesus bear the cross alone
and all the world go free?
No, there is a cross for every one;
there's a cross for me;
This consecrated cross I shall bear til
death shall set me free,
And then go home, my crown to wear;
there is a crown for me.
Sung for interviewer by Mary Ferguson, ex-slave, December 18, 1936.