N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 607
Subject: TINEY SHAW, EX-SLAVE OF WAKE COUNTY, 76.
Story Teller: Tiney Shaw
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[Illustration: Tiney Shaw]
TINEY SHAW
Ex-Slave of Wake County, 76.
"My papa wuz a free nigger, case he wuz de son of de master who wuz
named Medlin. When a chile wuz borned ter a slave woman an' its pappy
wuz de boss dat nigger wuz free from birth. I know dat de family wuz
livin' on Mis' Susy Page's place durin' de war an' we wus jist lak
slaves alldo' we wuz said to be free den.
"My pappy wuz named Madison Medlin, maybe for de president, an' my
mammy wuz a pretty, slim brown-skinned gal when I could remember. Dey
said dat she wuz named fer Betsy Ross. I had four brothers, Allison,
William, Jeems and John an' five sisters named Cynthy Ann, Nancy,
Sally, Caroline an' Molly.
"We hyard a heap 'bout de war, but de white folkses didn't want us to
know 'bout it. Most of de white wimmens had ter live by dere selves
durin' de time dat de men folkses wuz away at de war, but de niggers in
our neighborhood stuck ter de missus an' dar ain't no niggers from
other plantations come dar ter insult 'em nother.
"I 'members dat it wuz in April when de Yankees come an' I hyard Mis'
Susy cryin', case she wuz a widder 'oman; an' her crops wuz jist
started ter be planted. She knowed dat she wuz ruint, I reckon.
"Me an' my mammy wuz sittin' by de fireplace when de Yankees come. I
crawled under de wash bench but de Yankee officer drug me out an' he
sez, 'Go fetch me a dozen aigs, an' I wants a dozen now, mind yo'.'
"I looked till I found twelve aigs an' I started ter de house wid 'em,
but bein' so excited I drapped one uv dem an' cracked it. I wuz sceered
stiff now sho' nuff, an' I runned inter de back do' an' crawled under
de bed. De officer seed me do' an' he cracks his whup an' makes me come
out den he sez, 'Nigger what's dat out dar in dat barrel in de
hallway?'
"I sez, 'Lasses sir', an' he sez 'draw me some in dis cup.'
"I draws 'bout a half a cupful an' he sez, 'Nigger dat ain't no
'lasses,' an' he cracks his whup ag'in.
"I den draws de cup full as it could be an' he tells me ter drunk it.
"I drinks dat whole cupful uf 'lasses 'fore he'll lemmie 'lone. Den I
runs back ter my mammy.
"Atter awhile de Yankee comes back an' sticks his haid in de do' an' he
'lows, 'ole doman, yo' 'lasses am leakin'.'
"Sho' nuff it wuz leakin' an' had run all down de hall an' out in de
yard, but he done pull de stopper out fer meanness so he could laff at
mammy when she waded through dat 'lasses. Dey laffs an' laffs while she
go steppin' down through de 'lasses lak a turkey walkin' on cockleburs.
"Dem Yankees done a lot of mischief, I knows case I wuz dar. Dey robbed
de folkses an' a whole lot of darkies what ain't never been whupped by
de master got a whuppin' from de Yankee soldiers.
"De Ku Klux Klan warn't half as bad as dem Yankee robbers what stayed
in Raleigh atter de war, robbin', plunderin', an' burnin' up
ever'thing. De south had ter have de Ku Klux Klan but dey ain't had no
need fer de Yankees.
"De first winter atter de war wuz de worse winter I ever knowed, an'
I'se tellin' yo' dat wuz bad. Maybe yo' doan think so but nigh 'bout
ever' nigger in de world cussed ole Abraham Lincoln dat winter."