An Interview on May 19, 1937, with Tom Wilcox of Method.
"I wuz borned on March 18th, 1856 durin' de biggest snow dat eber hit
Eastern Carolina; dey says dat hit wuz up ter de roof. De place whar I
wuz borned wuz in Warren County; jist acrost de Halifax County line. My
mammy's marster wuz Mr. B. Osco Harris an' his wife wuz named Martha.
"My mammy's name wuz Alice an' my pappie's name wuz Camelin. I had
three brothers, Little Berry, Cornelius James, an' C.J. Dar wuz four
gals, Anne, Pattie, Pennie, an' Mary Frances.
"De white folks wuz good ter us an' we loved 'em, but we wanted ter be
free, case de Lawd done make us all free.
"My missus wuz a religious woman an' I can't tell yo' de number uv
times she has beat me case I done some kind uv wuck on a Sunday. We
went ter church ever Sunday an' we wusn't 'lowed ter cuss an' sich
things.
"I wuz nine when de war commence. Durin' de war an' I wuz workin' in de
fiel', long wid de fifty or sixty other slaves. Dar wuzn't nary a
Yankee track made in our section, an' we ain't knowed much 'bout de
war.
"As I done tell yo' onct we wuz fed an' clothed good an' we lived fer
each other, but my pappy belonged ter one man an' my mammy ter another
one an' so we wanted ter be all together. Atter de war we stayed on
till '69, den we come ter Raleigh. Most uv de wimmens an' chilluns wuz
sent by de train, but me an' pappy an' Berry, we walked all de way by
Louisburg, an' driv' pappy's thirteen heads of cattle.
"In 1871 we buyed ten acres uv lan' at Method fer three dollars a' acre
an' moved out hyar.
"No mam, we ain't liked Jeff Davis, but we did like Mr. Lincoln. I
'members a verse uv a song dat we sung durin' de first uv de war. It
goes dis way.
"'Jeff Davis is a rich man,
Lincoln is a fool,
Davis rides a big fat horse,
Lincoln rides a mule.
Knick knack dey say
Walk ole Georgia row.'
"Dar wuz another song I 'members but I can't think uv no games, case we
ain't neber played none. Yo' has hyard dat atter a dog gits so full uv
fleas he can't tote no mo'. Well, dat's de way I is. I peddles my
peanuts, but I barely makes a livin'.
"Hyar's de song do' de best I 'members it an' it wuz sung atter de war.
"'Ole Confederate has done played out,
Shrew ball, shrew ball,
Ole Confederate has done played out
Shrew ball say I,
An' ole Gen'l. Lee can't fight no mo';
We'll all drink stone blind
Johnnies go marchin' home.
"'I bought me a chicken fur fifty cents,
Shrew ball, Shrew ball,
I bought me a chicken fur fifty cents
Shrew ball say I,
I bought me a chicken fur fifty cents
An' de son uv a bitch done jump de fence,
We'll all drink stone blind
Johnnies go marchin' home.
"'Eighteen hundret an' sixty one
Shrew ball, shrew ball,
Eighteen hundret an' sixty one
Shrew ball say I,
Eighteen hundret an' sixty one
An' dat's de year de war begun
We'll all drink stone blind
Johnnies go marchin' home.
"'Eighteen hundret an' sixty-five
Shrew ball, Shrew ball,
Eighteen hundret an' sixty-five
Shrew ball say I,
Eighteen hundret an' sixty-five
De Yankees et ole Lee alive;
We'll all drink stone blind
Johnnies go marchin' home.'"
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 723
Subject: CATHARINE WILLIAMS
Person Interviewed: Catherine Williams
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
CATHARINE WILLIAMS
2214 Barker Street
"My name is Catharine Williams. I was born December twenty fifth, 1851.
I remember my mother, but I do not know anything about my father. My
mother's name was Adeline Williams. Mother baked ash cakes, but my
children would not eat 'em. She died fifty years ago. I had four
children when she died, but I had three boys and two girls. I was born
in Virginia but I cannot tell what part. I was four years old when my
mother brought me to North Carolina. Our old master, Dabney Cosby,[10]
moved from Virginia to North Carolina then. We came straight into
Raleigh, North Carolina and have been living in Raleigh ever since.
"We were Williams when owned by Cosby and we were never sold again, but
remained in the same family till we were set free after the surrender.
We had good food, fair clothing and comfortable sleeping places. I know
what a pallet is. All slep' on 'em a lot in slavery days, especially
when it was hot weather. I makes 'em now sometimes.
"My missus wus named Fannie. I do not know how many slaves they owned,
but Marster did not have a plantation, he lived in town. He was a brick
mason, and he made brick. He had two brick kilns.
"Our missus and marster were kind to us but they did not teach us to
read and write. I learned to read and write since the surrender. I went
to church and Sunday school. There were no Negro preachers, but we
attended the white folks's church. We did not have any prayer meetings
because our homes were in the white folks's yard.
"I was never whupped, and mother and myself were well treated, so I
have no complaint to make against our white folks.
"The first work I done was nursing the children in the home, next I
waited on the table, then general house [HW: work].
"At the last days of the war Wheeler's Calvary camped around my house
at night. They tole us the Yankees would be in Raleigh the next morning
and shore 'nough they came in next morning. If the citizens had not
gone out and surrendered Raleigh to the Yankees they would have torn
Raleigh to pieces. We were living on the corner of Hargett and Dawson
Streets. The Yankees done us no harm. They done all right in Raleigh.
They did not take nothing around home. They put out guards around the
homes by the time they got in. We were not afraid of 'em, none of us
children, neither white nor colored; they played such purty music and
was dressed so fine. We run after the band to hear 'em play.
"I heard talk of the patterollers, but never saw any. I knew very
little about the jail in Raleigh for slaves. I never saw any slaves
sold or any in chains. I never knew of any slaves running away to the
North. We children both white and colored enjoyed the Christmas
holidays together. We played running and jumping and hide and seek.
"We had doctors when we got sick. Dr. Johnson was one of them. After
the war we stayed on with Marster and Missus until they died. I have
been on Oberlin Road about twenty-five years.
"No Sir, what you talkin' 'bout? No, there were no Negro schools in
Raleigh at the time of the surrender, but I have had a good time all my
life as far as bein' treated right is concerned.
"I have never married. I will have to find that man yet, and at this
age I don't expect to find him. Ha! ha! never found that man yet. I am
staying with my niece.
"I know nothing about Abraham Lincoln. He helped us to be free. I knew
nothing about Jefferson Davis, Booker T. Washington or Roosevelt. I
know very little about Jim Young, only he was a polititian."