*Interview with Gus Brown*
--_Alexander B. Johnson, Birmingham, Alabama_
_GUS SAW MASSA'S HAT SHOT OFF_
"They is all gone, scattered, and old massa and missus have died." That
was the sequence of the tragic tale of "Uncle" Gus Brown, the body
servant of William Brown; who fought beside him in the War between the
States and who knew Stonewall Jackson.
"Uncle Gus" recalled happenings on the old plantation where he was
reared. His master was a "king" man, he said, on whose plantation in
Richmond, Virginia, Uncle Gus waited on the tables at large feasts and
functions of the spacious days before the War. He was entrusted to go
with the master's boys down to the old swimming hole and go in "washin."
They would take off their clothes, hide them in the bushes on the side
of the bank, put a big plank by the side of the old water hole and go in
diving, swimming and have all the fun that youngsters would want, he
said.
Apparently his master's home was a plantation house with large columns
and with all the glitter and glamour that the homes around Richmond have
to offer. About it were large grain storage places for the master was a
grain dealer and men on the plantation produced and ground large
quantities into flour.
Gus worked around the house, and he remembers well the corn shuckings as
he called them on which occasions the Negroes gave vent to emotion in
the form of dancing and music. "On those occasions we all got together
and had a regular good time," he said.
"Uncle," he was asked, "do you remember any of the old superstitions on
the plantation? Did they have any black cat stories?"
"No sir, boss, we was educated Negroes on our plantation. The old
bossman taught his Negroes not to believe in that sort of thing.
"I well remember when de war came. Old massa had told his folks befo' de
war began dat it was comin', so we was ready for it.
"Beforehand the master called all the servants he could trust and told
them to get together all of the silver and other things of value. They
did that, he explained and afterward they took the big box of treasures
and carried it out in the forest and hid it under the trunk of a tree
which was marked. None of the Negroes ever told the Yankees where it was
so when the war ended the master had his silver back. Of course the war
left him without some of the things which he used to have but he never
suffered.
"Then de war came and we all went to fight the Yankees. I was a body
servant to the master, and once a bullet took off his hat. We all
thought he was shot but he wasn't, and I was standin' by his side all
the time.
"I remember Stonewall Jackson. He was a big man with long whiskers, and
very brave. We all fought wid him until his death.
"We wan't beaten, we was starved out! Sometimes we had parched corn to
eat and sometimes we didn't have a bite o' nothin', because the Union
mens come and tuck all the food for their selves. I can still remember
part of my ninety years. I remembers we fought all de way from Virginia
and winded up in Manassas Gap.
"When time came for freedom most of us was glad. We liked the Yankees.
They was good to us. 'You is all now free. You can stay on the
plantation or you can go.' We all stayed there until old massa died. Den
I worked on de Seaboard Airline when it come to Birmingham. I have been
here ever since.
[Illustration: _Gus Brown, Birmingham, Alabama_]
"In all de years since de war I cannot forget old massa. He was good and
kind. He never believed in slavery but his money was tied up in slaves
and he didn't want to lose all he had.
"I knows I will see him in heaven and even though I have to walk ten
miles for a bite of bread I can still be happy to think about the good
times we had then. I am a Confederate veteran but my house burned up wid
de medals and I don't get a pension.
"Thank you, mister bossman, fer the quarter. It will buy me a little
grub. I'se too old to work but I has to."
The reporter left him sitting with his little pack and a long fork in
his hands; in his eyes, dimmed with age, a far-off look and a tear of
longing for the Old Plantation.