An interview with Jane Lee, 81 years old, Selma, North Carolina.
"I wus borned de slave of Marse Henry McCullers down here at Clayton on
de Wake an' Johnston line. My daddy wus named Addison an' my mammy wus
named Caroline. Daddy 'longed to Mr. John Ellington who also lived near
Clayton. I doan know de number of Mr. Ellington's slaves, but I know
dat Marse Henry had six or seben.
"Marse Henry ain't had no oberseer ner no patterollers nother. He
managed his business hisself an' ain't needed nobody. He whupped dem
when dey needed hit but dat ain't often, not dat he ain't put de
whuppin' on dem what did need hit.
"I 'members de Yankees comin' good as iffen hit wus yesterday. Dey
comed wid a big noise, chasin' our white folks what wus in de army
clean away. Dey chase dem to Raleigh an' den dey kotch 'em, but dey
ain't had much time, ter do us any damage case dey wus too busy atter
de Rebs.
"De woods wus full of runaway slaves an' Rebs who deserted de army so
hit wus dangerous to walk out. Marse Henry give us a speech about hit
an' atter I seed one rag-a-muffin nigger man dat wus so hongry dat his
eyes pop out, I ain't took no more walks.
"Atter de war we moved on Mr. Ellington's place wid daddy an' dar I
stayed till I married Wyatt Lee. Wyatt wus a bad proposition an' he got
shot in Fayetteville atter we had five chilluns. Wyatt tuck a woman to
Fayetteville an' a man named Frank Mattiner killed him about her. Den
my oldest boy went to wurk in Virginia an' a man named Rudolphus killed
him 'bout a yaller gal. Both of de murderers runaway an' ain't never
been ketched.
"All five of my chilluns am daid now, an' fer de past ten years I'se
done ever'thing but cut cord wood.
"How does I live? Well I lives now an' den. De county gives me two
dollars a month an' de house am mine durin' my life time. Mr. Parrish
sold hit to Judge Brooks wid de understandin' dat hit am mine long as I
live. I don't know why, none of us never 'longed ter de Parrish's ner
nothin' dat I knows of."
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1138
Subject: CHANA LITTLEJOHN
Person Interviewed: Chana Littlejohn
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[TR: Date stamp: JUN 26 1937]
CHANA LITTLEJOHN
215 State Street
[HW marginal note: To P. 2] "I remember when de Yankees come. I
remember when de soldiers come an' had tents in Marster's yard before
dey went off to de breastworks. My mother wus hired out before de
surrender an' had to leave her two chilluns at home on Marster's
plantation. When she come home Christmas he told her she would not have
to go back any more. She could stay at home. This wus de las' year o'
de war and he tol' her she would soon be free.
"My eyes are mighty bad. De doctor said he would work on 'em if
somebody in de Agriculture Building would pay it.[4] I can't see at all
out of one eye and the other is bad.
"I doan reckon I wus ten years old when de Yankees come, but I wus
runnin' around an' can remember all dis. Guess I wus 'bout eight years
old. I wus born in Warren County, near Warrenton. I belonged to Peter
Mitchell, a long, tall man. There were 'bout a hundred slaves on de
plantation. My missus wus named Laura. Mother always called me 'ole
Betsy' when she wus mad at me. Betsy wus Marster Peter's mother. I
remember seein' her. She wus a big fat 'oman wid white hair. She give
biscuits to all de chillun on Saturdays. She also looked out for de
slave chilluns on Sunday. My father wus named Marcillus Littlejohn and
my mother wus named Susan Littlejohn.
"We had gardens and patches and plenty to eat. We also got de holidays.
Marster bought charcoal from de men which dey burnt at night an' on
holidays. Dey worked an' made de stuff, an' marster would let dem have
de steer-carts an' wagons to carry deir corn an' charcoal to sell it in
town. Yes sir, dis wus mighty nice. We had plank houses. Dere wus not
but one log house on de plantation. Marster lived in de big house. It
had eight porches on it.
"Dere wus no churches on de plantation, an' I doan remember any prayer
meetin's. When we sang we turned de wash-pots an' tubs in de doors, so
dey would take up de noise so de white folks could not hear us. I do
remember de gatherin's at our home to pray fur de Yankees to come. All
de niggers thought de Yankees had blue bellies. The old house cook got
so happy at one of dese meetin's she run out in de yard an' called,
'Blue bellies come on, blue bellies come on.' Dey caught her an'
carried her back into de house.
"When de overseer whupped one o' de niggers he made all de slaves sing,
'Sho' pity Lawd, Oh! Lawd forgive!. When dey sang awhile he would call
out one an' whup him. He had a sing fur everyone he whupped. Marster
growed up wid de niggers an' he did not like to whup 'em. If dey sassed
him he would put spit in their eyes and say 'now I recon you will mind
how you sass me.'
"We had a lot o' game and 'possums. When we had game marster left de
big house, and come down an' et wid us. When marster wan't off drunk on
a spree he spent a lot of time wid de slaves. He treated all alike. His
slaves were all niggers. Dere were no half-white chilluns dere.
"Marster would not let us work until we were thirteen years old. Den he
put us to plowin' in soft lan', an' de men in rough lan'. Some of de
women played off sick an' went home an' washed an' ironed an' got by
wid it. De oberseer tried to make two of 'em go back to work. Dey flew
at him an' whupped him. He told de marster when he come home, marster
said, 'Did you 'low dem women to whup you?' 'Yes', he replied, den
marster tole him if women could whup him he didn't want him. But he let
him stay on. His name wus Jack Rivers. He wus hired by marster. Marster
Rivers did not have any slaves. Dere wus no jail on de plantation, case
when er overseer whupped er nigger he did not need any jail.
"De black folks better not be caught wid a book but one o' de chilluns
at our plantation, Marster Peter Mitchell's sister had taught Aunt
Isabella to read and write, an' durin' de war she would read, an' tell
us how everythin' wus goin'. Tom Mitchell, a slave, sassed marster.
Marster tole him he would not whup him, but he would sell him. Tom's
brother, Henry, tol' him if he wus left he would run away, so marster
sold both. He carried 'em to Richmond to sell 'em. He sold 'em on de
auction block dere way down on Broad Street. When dey put Tom on de
auction block dey found Tom had a broken leg and marster didn't git
much fer him. He wanted to git enough fer these two grown settled men
to buy two young men. Tom wus married. He wus sold from his wife and
chilluns. Marster did not git enough fer 'em to pay for dese two young
boys. He had to pay de difference in money. De boys were 'bout 21 or 22
years ole. When marster got back wid 'em de overseer tole him he had
ruined his plantation. De boys soon become sick wid yeller fever an'
both died. Dey strowed it 'round, an' many died. Marster shore made a
mess o' things dat time.
"Dr. Ben Wilson, of Warren County wus Marster Mitchell's
brother-in-law. He 'tended de sick folks an' he made many trips.
Sometimes as soon as he got home dey sent fer him again.
"We played mumble-peg an' hop-scotch when I wus a child, we played
jumpin' de rope a lot.
"I have never been married. I had only one brother. He has been dead
six years. Since he died I have had a hard time makin' a livin'.
Brother John lived wid me until he died. I had only one sister. She
died many years ago. I think slavery wus mighty hard an' wrong. I
joined de church 'cause I had religion an' de church would help me to
keep it. People should be religious so dey will have a place in de
beyond.
"Abraham Lincoln wus a good man. I have his picture. I think Mr.
Roosevelt is a good God-fearin' man. When he gits sick I prays fer him.
When he is sick I is jist as scared as I kin be. I prays fer him ter
stay well."