*Interview with Henry Cheatam*
--_Ila B. Prine_
_I HEARD LINCOLN SET US FREE_
"White folks, I'se glad you drapped by to have a talk wid me. I was
gittin' powerfully lonely," said Henry Cheatam, who lives in Marysville,
a Mobile suburb. "Sho' I'll be glad to tell you some about de slave
days. I sho' 'members plenty. Well, to begin wid, I was born in 1850
near West Point. Dat's in Clay County, Mississippi, you know. I b'longed
to Mr. Tom Hollingshead who was killed in de Cibil War. I 'members all
de slaves agoin' in to take a last look at him atter dey done brung his
body home.
"My mammy's name was Emmeline Cheatam, an' my pappy's was Sam Cheatam. I
don't remember my grandpappy an' grandmammy atall.
"Us slaves libed in log cabins what was daubed wid clay to keep de rain
an' win' out, an' de chimneys was made of clay an' sticks. De beds was
home-made an' nailed agin' de wall wid legs on de outer side. De Massa's
house was build of logs too, but it was much bigger'n de nigger cabins
an' sot way out in front of ourn. Atter de massa was kilt, old Miss had
a nigger oberseer an' dat was de meanest debil dat eber libbed on de
Lawd's green yearth. I promise myself when I growed up dat I was agoin'
to kill dat nigger iffen it was de las' thing I eber done. Lots of times
I'se seen him beat my mammy, an' one day I seen him beat my Auntie who
was big wid a chile, an' dat man dug a roun' hole in de groun' an' put
her stummick in it, an' beat an' beat her for a half hour straight till
the baby come out raght dere in de hole.
"Why de Mistis 'low such treatment? A heap of times ole Miss didn't know
nuthin' 'bout it, an' de slaves better not tell her, 'caze dat oberseer
whup 'em iffen he finds out dat dey done gone an' tol'. Yassun, white
folks, I'se seed some turrible things in my time. When de slaves would
try to run away our oberseer would put chains on dere legs wid big long
spikes tween dere feets, so dey couldn't git away. Den I's seen great
bunches of slaves put up on de block an' sol' jus' lak dey was cows.
Sometimes de chilluns would be seprated from dere maws an' paws.
"I come pretty near to bein' tuk away from my maw. When de slaves was
bein' 'vided, one of ole Miss' datters was agoin' to Texas, an' I was
goin' to have to go when somebody hollered 'Freedom', an' I sho' was
glad 'caze I could stay wid my mammy now.
"In dose days us had plenty of good, plain food; such as pot likker,
greens, cornbread, 'taters, peas, pears, an' at hog killin' us had
chittlin's an' pig jowls an' back bone. Den us would cotch 'possums at
night when dey come up in de corn fiel'. Us neber seed no flour dough.
"As for fishin', we neber did none, 'caze we hadda work too hard. We
worked from 'can to can't.' Git up at sunrise, go to de fiel' an' stay
till dark. In de middle of de day dey would sen' our somp'n t'eat to de
fiel' wid a barrel of water. But for breakfas' an' supper, us hadda cook
our own grub dey gib us.
"Our clo's warn't many. Us chilluns wo' a one-piece suit made outen
osnaburg, an' us would hab to take dat off at night, wash it an' put it
back on de nex' day. As for shoes, chillun neber had none. You see,
white folks, I was jus' a chile, jus' big enough to tote water to de
fiel's.
[Illustration: _Henry Cheatam, Marysville, Alabama_]
"I 'members when de Yankees was acomin' th'ough I hoped to ca'y de
hosses to de woods an' hoped to hide de meat an' bury de valu'bles,
'caze dem Yankees tuk whatever dey wanted, an' you better not say
nothin' neither 'caze dey had dem long swyords ahangin' at dere sides.
"In dem days, de slaves done all de work an' carried all de news. De
marsters sont notes from one plantation to anudder, an' when dey wanted
de niggers to come to de Big House dey would blow an ole cow horn. Dey
had certain number of blows for certain niggers. Dat is, de niggers dat
was somp'n. Dey would also use dis horn for 'possum an' coon huntin' at
night. De li'l niggers at night went to de big house to spin an' weave.
I'se spun a many roll an' carded a many bat of cotton. I'se also made a
many tallow candle by tyin' strings onto a long stick an' droppin dem
down into moulds filled wid tallow. I'se hid many a night in de fence
corners when I'd be agoin' som'ers to git my mammy some 'bacco. De
pattyrollers would be out lookin' for slaves dat didn't hab no pass from
dere oberseer, an' I'd hear dem acomin' an' I'd hide till dey pass on,
'caze iffen dey cotch me I sho' gwine have a sound beatin'.
"De owners always tuk care of us, and when us got sick dey would git a
doctor, an' ole Miss was all right, but dat oberseer was a debil. He
wouldn't 'low no meetin' on de place. Sometimes us would slip down de
hill an' turn de wash pot bottom up'ards so de soun' of our voices would
go under de pot, an' us'd have a singin' an' prayin' raght dere.
"Mos' of de slave could go sometimes to de white folks church when dey
gits a pass from dere Massa, but dat mean oberseer always tried to keep
us from goin' so's us couldn't learn nothin'. He didn't want us to learn
to read or write neither.
"No'm us didn't have nothin' lak matches till I was growed. Us used
flint rocks an' cotton to start de fires.
"Us didn't have nothin' but food an' clothes. We didn't have no garden
of our own an' der wan't no celebratin', 'ceptin' at hog killin'. Dat
was de bigges' day of de year.
"On Sat'day afternoon we was 'lowed to play, but I can't 'member none of
de games. Us jus' played lak all li'l niggers did den. At night time us
jus' went to our cabins an' went to bed, 'caze we warn't 'lowed to do no
singing. Mos' of de singin' was done in de fiel's.
"Cornshuckin' time come when dey wanted to git de seed corn for
plantin', an' us would commence de shuckin' when it commence rainin'.
"You axed me 'bout funerals an' weddin's. Us niggers nebber ma'ied an'
don't 'member any big weddin's of de white folks. But dey buried folks
den de same as dey does now, in a box. Dey would bury de slaves same as
dey done de white folks, but us didn't eben have no babtizin' on 'count
of dat oberseer. He didn't lak for us to git no religion. Cose all
slaves didn't have hard treatment lak us did, 'caze dere oberseer an'
Marster warn't as mean as ourn.
"No'm we didn't know nothin' 'bout no hoodoo stuff in dem days. Dey only
had homemade medicines, dat is unless dey got sho' nuff powerful sick
an' den dey would go to see a doctor. Us used bone-set tea made from a
weed. Lawd, it was bitterer dan quinine, an' it were good for de chills
an' fever, an' it would purge you too. Den us used life-everlastin' tea
for fever, an' Jerusalem brush-reed to get rid of worms.
"But, Miss, I knows dere is gostes, 'caze when I was a little boy my
mammy come in from de fiel' an' laid across de bed an' I was sittin' in
front of de fireplace an' a big somp'n lak a cow widout no haid come in
de do' an' I commence to beat on it wid my fists. Den my mammy say:
'What matter wid you, nigger?' Den dat critter he walk raght out de do'.
I looked outen de window an' dere it was a-goin' in Aunt Marfa's cabin.
I neber did see it no mo'. Den anudder time a white man died an' my
mammy was a stayin' wid his sister an' dis spirit lak an angel come to
my mammy an' tol' her to tell de white lady to read de Bible back'ards
three times, 'caze dere was one talent 'tween her an' Jesus. Atter dat
she were comforted. Anudder time, my pappy, Sam Cheatam, who was a
wicked man, was a-sittin' in front of de fire an' a big brindle dog come
to de do' an' started barkin'. My pappy say: 'What in de Hell am dat?'
an' snapped his fingers at de dog. De dog he den dropped daid. Some
folks say dat dere ain't no sich things as gostes, but I know dere is,
'caze dere is good spirits an' bad spirits.
"Dem was good ol' days, Mistis, even iffen us did have a hard time an' I
don't know iffen it warn't better'n it is now. I has to almos' go
hongry, an' I can't git no he'p from de government, 'caze I is over 65
years old. Fact is, I believe I 'druther be alivin' back dere dan today
'caze us at least had plenty somp'n t'eat an' nothin' to worry about.
An' as for beatin'; dey beats folks now iffen dey don't do raght, so
what's de difference? Yassum, Mistis, I worked as long as I was able an'
didn't axe nobody for nothin', but now it's diff'rent, 'caze I ain't
able to do no work. I'se tried to do raght and ain't never been in but
one fight in my life. I now belongs to de Corinthian Babtist Church, an'
I's tryin' to live so when de good Lawd calls I'll be ready to answer
wid a clean soul.
"I'se had two wives, but I was only a young nigger when I had de fust
un, an' had two chilluns by her, den I lef' her 'caze she warn't no
'count. Dat's been forty year ago, an' I ain't neber seen my chilluns in
all dem years. My second wife I got when I lived thirty miles below
Birmingham, Alabama, at de ol' Bank Mines. Dat's been thirty-five year
ago an' us is still together. Us ain't neber had no chilluns. No'm, I
don't know nothin' 'bout Abe Lincoln 'ceptin' dey say he sot us free,
an' I don't know nothin' 'bout dat neither."