An interview with Clara Jones of 408 Cannon Street,
Raleigh, North Carolina.
"I doan know how old I is but I wus borned long time ago case I wus a
married 'oman way 'fore de war. We lived on Mr. Felton McGee's place
hear in Wake County. I wurked lak a man dar an' de hours wus from sunup
till dark mostly. He ain't had but about fifty slaves but he makes dem
do de wurk of a hundret an' fifty. We ain't had no fun dar, case hit
takes all of our strength ter do our daily task. Yes'um we had our
tasks set out ever' day.
"One day, right atter my fifth chile wus borned, I fell out in de
fiel'. Marster come out an' looked at me, den he kicks me an' 'lows, 'a
youngin' ever' ten months an' never able ter wurk, I'll sell her'.
"A few days atter dat he tuck me an' my two younges' chilluns ter
Raleigh an' he sells us ter Marse Rufus Jones.
"Marse Rufus am a good man in ever' way. He fed us good an' he give us
good clothes an' we ain't had much wurk ter do, dat is, not much side
of what we had ter do on McGee's plantation.
"We had some fun on Marse Rufus' plantation, watermillion slicin's,
candy pullin's, dances, prayer meetin's an' sich. Yes mam, we had er
heap of fun an' in dat time I had eleben chilluns.
"My husband, William, still stayed on ter Mister McGee's. We got
married in 1860, de year 'fore de war started, I think. I can't tell
yo' much 'bout our courtin' case hit went on fer years an' de Marster
wanted us ter git married so's dat I'd have chilluns. When de slaves on
de McGee place got married de marster always said dat dere duty wus ter
have a houseful of chilluns fer him.
"When de Yankees come Mis' Sally, Marse Rufus' wife cried an' ordered
de scalawags outen de house but dey jist laughs at her an' takes all we
got. Dey eben takes de stand of lard dat we has got buried in de ole
fiel' an' de hams hangin' up in de trees in de pasture. Atter dey is
gone we fin's a sick Yankee in de barn an' Mis' Sally nurses him. Way
atter de war Mis' Sally gits a letter an' a gol' ring from him.
"When de news of de surrender comes Mis' Sally cries an' sez dat she
can't do widout her niggers, so Marse Rufus comes in an' tells us dat
we can stay on.
"William moves ober dar, takes de name of Jones an' goes ter farmin'
wid a purpose an' believe me we makes our livin'. We stay dar through
all of de construction days an' through de time when de Ku Kluxes wus
goin' wild an' whuppin's all de niggers. We raise our eleben chilluns
dar an' dar's whar my husban' died in 1898 an' den I comes ter Raleigh.
"I wurked till four years ago when I had a stroke now I ain't able ter
wurk an' I sho' does want my pension. Will yo' tell dem ter sen' hit in
de nex' mail."
N.C. District: No. 3
Writer: Daisy Whaley
No. Words: 250
Subject: Abner Jordan, Ex-slave
Of Durham County.
Interviewed: Abner Jordan
Durham County Home.
Abner Jordan
Ex-slave, 95 years.
"I wus bawn about 1832 an' I wus bawn at Staggsville, Marse Paul
Cameron's place. I belonged to Marse Paul. My pappy's name wus Obed an'
my mammy wus Ella Jordan an' dey wus thirteen chillun on our family.
"I wus de same age of Young Marse Benehan, I played wid him an' wus his
body guard. Yes, suh, Whare ever young Marse Benehan went I went too. I
waited on him. Young Marse Benny run away an' 'listed in de war, but
Marse Paul done went an' brung him back kaze he wus too young to go and
fight de Yankees.
"Marse Paul had a heap of niggahs; he had five thousan'. When he meet
dem in de road he wouldn' know dem an' when he azed dem who dey wus an'
who dey belonged to, dey' tell him dey belonged to Marse Paul Cameron
an' den he would say dat wus all right for dem to go right on.
"My pappy wus de blacksmith an' foreman for Marse Paul, an' he blew de
horn for de other niggahs to come in from de fiel' at night. Dey
couldn' leave de plantation without Marse say dey could.
"When de war come de Yankees come to de house an' axed my mammy whare
de folks done hid de silver an' gol', an' dey say dey gwine to kill
mammy if she didn' tell dem. But mammy say she didn' know whare dey put
it, an' dey would jus' have to kill her for she didn' know an' wouldn'
lie to keep dem from hurting her.
"De sojers stole seven or eight of de ho'ses an' foun' de meat an'
stole dat, but dey didn' burn none of de buildin's nor hurt any of us
slaves.
"My pappy an' his family stayed wid Marse Paul five years after de
surrender den we moved to Hillsboro an' I's always lived 'roun' dese
parts. I ain' never been out of North Carolina eighteen months in my
life. North Carolina is good enough for me."
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1044
Subject: JANE LASSITER
Story teller: Jane Lassiter
Editor: Geo. L. Andrews
[TR: Date stamp: AUG 6 1937]
JANE LASSITER
About 80 years old.
324 Battle Street
Raleigh, N.C.
"I am 'bout 80 years old. I am somewhere in my seventies, don't zackly
know my age. I wus here when de Yankees come an' I 'member seein' dem
dressed in blue. I wus a nurse at dat time not big enough to hold a
baby but dey let me set by de cradle an' rock it.
"All my white folks dead an' all my people am dead an' I haint got no
one to ax 'bout my age. Dey had my age an' my mother's age in de Bible
but dey am all dead out now an' I don't know whur it is.
"My mother an' me belonged to the Councils. Dr. Kit Council who lived
on a plantation in de lower edge of Chatham County, 'bout three miles
from New Hill.[3] My father belonged to de Lamberts. Their plantation
wus near Pittsboro in Chatham County. My father wus named Macon Lambert
an' his marster wus named At Lambert. Our missus wus named Caroline an'
father's missus wus named Beckie. My grandfather wus Phil Bell. He
belonged to the Bells. They lived in Chatham County. My grandmother wus
named Peggy an' she belonged to de same family.
"We lived in little ole log houses. We called 'em cabins. They had
stick an' dirt chimleys wid one door to de house an' one window. It
shet to lak a door.
"We did not have any gardens an' we never had any money of our own. We
jest wurked fer de white folks.
"We had plenty sumptin to eat an' it wus cooked good. My mother wus de
cook an' she done it right. Our clothes wus homemade but we had plenty
shiftin' clothes. Course our shoes wus given out at Christmas. We got
one pair a year an' when dey wore out we got no more an' had to go
barefooted de rest of de time. You had to take care of dat pair uv
shoes bekase dey wus all you got a year. The slaves caught game
sometime an' et it in de cabins, but dere wus not much time fer huntin'
dere wus so much wurk to do.
"Dere wus 'bout fifty slaves on de plantation, an' dey wurked from
light till dark. I 'member dey wurkin' till dark. Course I wus too
small to 'member all 'bout it an' I don't 'member 'bout de overseers. I
never seen a slave whupped, but I 'members seein' dem carryin' slaves
in droves like cows. De white men who wus guardin' 'em walked in front
an' some behind. I did not see any chains. I never seen a slave sold
an' I don't 'member ever seein' a jail fer slaves.
"Dere wus no books, or larnin' uv any kind allowed. You better not be
ketched wid a book in yore han's. Dat wus sumptin dey would git you
fer. I ken read an' write a little but I learned since de surrender. My
mother tole me 'bout dat bein' 'ginst de rules of de white folks. I
'members it while I wus only a little gal. When de Yankees come thro'.
"Dere wus no churches on de plantation an' we wus not 'lowed to have
prayer meetings in de cabins, but we went to preachin' at de white
folks church. I 'member dat. We set on de back seat. I 'member dat.
"No slaves ever run away from our plantation cause marster wus good to
us. I never heard of him bein' 'bout to whup any of his niggers. Mother
loved her white folks as long as she lived an' I loved 'em too. No
mister, we wus not mistreated. Mother tole me a lot 'bout Raw Head an'
Bloody Bones an' when I done mean, she say, 'Better not do dat any more
Raw Head an' Bloody Bones gwine ter git yo'.' Ha! ha! dey jest talked
'bout ghosts till I could hardly sleep at nite, but de biggest thing in
ghosts is somebody 'guised up tryin' to skeer you. Ain't no sich thing
as ghosts. Lot of niggers believe dere is do'.
"We stayed on at marsters when de surrender come cause when we wus
freed we had nothin' an' nowhere to go. Dats de truth. Mister, dats de
truth. We stayed with marster a long time an' den jest moved from one
plantation to another. It wus like dis, a crowd of tenants would get
dissatisfied on a certain plantation, dey would move, an' another gang
of niggers move in. Dat wus all any of us could do. We wus free but we
had nothin' 'cept what de marsters give us.
"When we got sick, you sees we stayed wid a doctor, he looked after us,
but we had our herbs too. We took sassafras tea, catnip an' horehound
tea an' flag. Flag wus good to ease pain. Jest make a tea of de
flagroots an' drink it hot.
"I married Kit Lassiter in Chatham County an' I had seven chilluns.
Three boys an' four girls. All am dead but two. Two girls are livin'.
One named Louie Finch, her husband dead. She stays wid me an' supports
me. She cooks an' supports me. My other livin' daughter is Venira
McLean. She lives across de street wid her husband. Her husband had a
stroke an' ain't able to wurk no more. Dey live on five dollars a week.
Dey ain't able to help me now. I moved ter Raleigh 20 years ago. My
husband died here.
"I heard 'bout de Ku Klux but dey never give our family no trouble
cause we didn't give 'em no cause to bother us. I don't know all 'bout
slavery but I 'members dere wus a lot of big fat greasy niggers goin'
around, an' I reckin dey fared good or dey wouldn't a been so fat. Dey
got plenty to eat even if dey did wurk 'em.
"I believe slavery wus all rite whur slaves wus treated right. I haint
got nuff edication to tell you nothin' 'bout Lincoln an' dem udder men.
Heard 'em say he come thro', reckon he did too. I belong to the 'United
Holiness Church'."