*Interview with Mary Ella Grandberry*
--_Levi D. Shelby, Jr., Tuscumbia, Alabama_
_TODAY'S FOLKS DON'T KNOW NOTHIN'_
Life as a child is not clear in the ninety-year old memory of Mary Ella
Grandberry, who lives in Sheffield, but she remembers that she did not
have time to play as do children of today.
"I don't know jes' how old I is," Mary Ella said, "but I knows dat I'm
some'ers nigh ninety yars ol'. I was borned in Barton, Alabama. My
father an' mother come from Richmond, Virginny. My mammy was name
Margaret Keller an' my pappy was Adam Keller. My five sisters was
Martha, Sarah, Harriet, Emma an' Rosanna, an' my three brothers was
Peter, Adam, Jr., an' William.
"Us all live in a li'l two-room log cabin jes' off the Big House. Life
wan't ver' much for us, 'caze we had to work an' slave all de time.
Massa Jim's house was a little ol' frame buildin' lack a ord'nary house
is now. He was a single man an' didn't hab so terr'ble much, it seem. He
had a whole lot, too, but jes' to look at him you'd thank he was a po'
white man. Dere was a lot o' cabins for de slaves, but dey wasn't fitten
for nobody to lib in. We jes' had to put up wid 'em.
"I don' 'member much about when I was a chil'. I disremembers ever
playin' lack chilluns do today. Ever since I kin 'member I had a water
bucket on my arm totin' water to de han's. Iffen I wan't doin' dat, I
was choppin' cotton. Chilluns nowadays sees a good time to w'at we did
den. Ever' mornin' jes' 'bout hip of day de oberseer was 'roun' to see
dat we was ready to git to de fiel's. Plenty times us had to go widouten
breakfas', 'caze we didn' git up in time to git it 'fo' de man done come
to git us on de way to de fiel'. Us wukked 'twell dinner time jes' de
same before we got anythang to eat.
"De food we et was fix jes' lack hit is now. My mammy fixed our grub at
home. De on'y diffe'nce 'tween den an' now was us didn' git nothin' but
common things den. Us didn' know what hit was to git biscuits for
breakfas' ever' mornin'. It was cornbread 'twell on Sundays den us'd git
fo' biscuits apiece. Us got fatback mos' ever' mornin'. Sometimes us
mought git a chicken for dinner on a Sunday or some day lack Chris'mas.
It was mighty seldom us gits anythin' lack dat, dough. We lacked possums
an' rabbits but dey didn' come twell Winter time when some of de men
folks'd run 'crost one in de fiel'. Dey never had no chanst to git out
an' hunt none.
"Dere was no sech thang as havin' diffe'nt clo's for winter an' Summer.
Us wore de same thang in summertime as in de wintertime. De same was
true 'bout shoes. Us wore brogans from one yeah to de yuther.
"My Ol' Massa was a putty good man but nothin' exter. One thang 'bout
him, he wouldn' 'low none of de oberseers to whup none of us, lessen he
was dar to see hit done. Good thang he was lack dat, too, 'caze he sabed
de blacks a many a lick what dey'd got iffen he hadn' been dar. Massa
Jim was a bach'lor, an' he ain't never had much truck wid women folks.
Iffen he had any chilluns, I never knowed nothin' 'bout 'em.
"De oberseers was terrible hard on us. Dey'd ride up an' down de fiel'
an' haste you so twell you near 'bout fell out. Sometimes an' most
inginer'ly ever' time you 'hin' de crowd you got a good lickin' wid de
bull whup dat de driver had in de saddle wid him. I hearn mammy say dat
one day dey whupped po' Leah twell she fall out like she was daid. Den
dey rubbed salt an' pepper on de blisters to make 'em burn real good.
She was so so' 'twell she couldn' lay on her back nights, an' she jes'
couldn' stan' for no clo's to tech back whatsomever.
"Massa Jim had 'bout one of de bigges' plantations in dat section. I
guess he had nigh onto a hun'erd blacks on de place. I never knowed
'zackly how many thar was nor how big de place was.
"De folks now'days is allus complainin' 'bout how dey is havin' sech
hard times, but dey jes' don' know nothin'. Dey should hab come up when
I did an' dey'd see now dey is libin' jes' lack kings an' queens. Dey
don' have to git up 'fo' day when hit's so dark you kin jes' see your
han's 'fo' your eyes. Dey don' know what it's lack to have to keep up
wid de leader. You know dey was allus somebody what could wuk faster dan
de res' of de folks an' dis fellow was allus de leader, an' ever'body
else was s'pose to keep up wid him or her whatsomever hit was. Iffen you
didn' keep up wid de leader you got a good thrashin' when you gits home
at night. Hit was allus good dark when de han's got in from de fiel'.
Co'se iffen dar was a lady what had a baby at home, she could leave jes'
a little 'fo' de sun sot.
"Younguns now'days don' know what it is to be punish'; dey thank iffen
dey gits a li'l whuppin' from dey mammy now dat dey is punish' terrible.
Dey should of had to follow de leader for one day an' see how dey'd be
punish' iffen dey gits too far behin'. De bigges' thang dat us was
punish' for was not keepin' up. Dey'd whup us iffen we was caught
talkin' 'bout de free states, too. Iffen you wan't whupped, you was put
in de 'nigger box' an' fed cornbread what was made widouten salt an' wid
plain water. De box was jes' big 'nough for you to stan' up in, but hit
had air holes in hit to keep you from suffocatin'. Dere was plenty
turnin' 'roun' room in hit to 'low you to change your position ever'
oncet in a while. Iffen you had done a bigger 'nough thang you was kep'
in de 'nigger box' for months at de time, an' when you got out you was
nothin' but skin an' bones an' scurcely able to walk.
"Half de time a slave didn' know dat he was sol' 'twell de massa'd call
him to de Big House an' tell him he had a new massa from den on. Ever'
time dat one was sol' de res' of 'em'd say, 'I hopes nex' time'll be
me.' Dey thought you'd git a chanst to run away to de free states. I
hearn my mammy say dat when she come from Virginny dat she come on a
boat built outten logs. She say she never was so sick in all her life. I
seed a 'hole wagon load of slaves come through our farm one day what was
on dere way to Arkansas. Dey was de mos' I ever seed travel at de same
time.
"De white folks didn't 'low us to even look at a book. Dey would scol'
an' sometimes whup us iffen dey caught us wid our head in a book. Dat is
one thang I sho'ly did want to do an' dat was to learn to read an'
write. Massa Jim promised to teach us to read an' write, but he neber
had de time.
"Dere wan't but one chu'ch on de place what I lived on, an' de colored
and de white both went to hit. You know we was neber 'lowed to go to
chu'ch widoutten some of de white folks wid us. We wan't even 'lowed to
talk wid nobody from anudder farm. Iffen you did, you got one of de wus'
whuppin's of your life. Atter freedom Massa Jim tol' us dat dey was
'fraid we'd git together an' try to run away to de No'th, an' dat was
w'y dey didn' wan' us gittin' together talkin'.
"A few years 'fo' de war my pappy learnt to read de Bible. (Mary Ella
apparently forgot her previous comment on penalties for learning to
read). Whenever we would go to chu'ch he would read to us an' we'd sing.
'Bout de mos' two pop'lar songs dey sung was 'Steal Away' an' 'I Wonder
Whar Good Ol' Dan'el Was.' 'Steal Away' is sech a pop'lar song what
ever'body knows hit. De yuther one is done mought' nigh played out, so
I'll sing hit for you. It goes lack dis:
I wonder whar was good ol' Dan'el,
I wonder whar was good ol' Dan'el,
I wonder whar was thankin' (thinking) Peter,
I wonder whar was thankin' Peter.
(Chorus)
I'm goin' away, goin' away.
I'm goin' away, goin' away.
I wonder whar was weepin' Mary,
I wonder whar was weepin' Mary,
I'm goin' away, I'm goin' away,
I'm goin' away to live forever,
I'll never turn back no mo'.
"De slaves would git tired of de way dey was treated an' try to run away
to de No'th. I had a cousin to run away one time. Him an' anudder fellow
had got 'way up in Virginny 'fo' Massa Jim foun' out whar dey was. Soon
as Massa Jim foun' de whar'bouts of George he went atter him. When Massa
Jim gits to George an' 'em, George pertended lack he didn' know Massa
Jim. Massa Jim as' him, "George don't you know me?' George he say, 'I
neber seed you 'fo' in my life.' Den dey as' George an' 'em whar did dey
come from. George an' dis yuther fellow look up in de sky an' say, 'I
come from above, whar all is love.' Iffen dey had owned dey knowed Massa
Jim he could have brung 'em back home. My pappy tried to git away de
same time as George an' dem did, but he couldn' see how to take all us
chillun wid him, so he had to stay wid us. De blacks an' de whites would
have de terr'bles' battles sometimes. Dat would be when de blacks would
slip off to de No'th an' was caught an' brung back. De paterollers'd
ketch de colored folks an' lock 'em up twell de owner came atter 'em.
"Iffen a slave was cotched out after nine o'clock he was whupped. Dey
didn' 'low nobody out atter it was dark 'lessen he had a pass from de
Massa. One night, 'fo' George an' dis fellow (I disremembers his name,
but I thinks it was Ezra) runned away, George tried to git over to de
bunk whar he lived an' one of de oberseers seen him an' dey put him in
de 'nigger box' for three weeks. Jes' as soon as he got out again,
George an' dis Ezra slipped off. Dey had a sign dat dey would give each
yuther eve'y night atter sundown. George would hang de lantern in de
window, an' den he would take it outen de window an' hang it raght back
in dar ag'in. I couldn't never make no sense outen it. I axed him one
day whut he was adoin' dat for. He say dat 'fo' long I'd know 'zackly
what is all about. Dis was de sign of how long dey have to wait 'fo' dey
try to git away.
"Atter de day's work was over, de slaves didn't have nothin' to do but
go to bed. In fac', dey didn't feel lack doin' nothin' else. On Satiday
dey sot up an' washed so's dey could have some clean clothes to wear de
comin' week. We wukked all day, ever' day 'cep'n some Sat'days, we had a
half day off den. Us didn' git many an' on'y when us as' for 'em. On
Sundays us jes' laid 'roun' 'mos' all day. Us didn't git no pleasure
outten goin' to church, 'caze we warn't 'lowed to say nothin'. Sometimes
even on Chris'mas us didn't git no res'. I 'members on one Chris'mas us
had to build a lime kiln. When us git a holiday us rested. Iffen dere
was a weddin' or a funeral on our plantation us went. Odderways we don't
go nowhar.
"De war come when I was a big gal. I 'member dat my uncle an' cousin
jined in wid de Yankees to hope fight for de freedom. De Yankees come to
our place an' runned Massa Jim away an' tuk de house for a horsepittil.
Dey tuk all of Massa Jim's clothes an' gived dem to some of dere
frien's. Dey burned up all de cotton, hay, peas an' ever'thing dat was
in de barns. Dey made de white folks cook for de colored an' den serve
'em while dey et. De Yankees made 'em do for us lak we done for dem. Dey
showed de white folks what it was to work for somebody else. Dey stayed
on our place for de longes'. When dey did leave, dere warn't a mouthful
to eat in de house. When de war was over, Massa Jim told us dat we had
to find som'ers else to live. Co'se some of my folks had already gone
when he come home. Us lef' Massa Jim's an' moved to anudder farm. We got
pay for de wuk what we did on dis yuther place. Raght atter de war de Ku
Klux got atter de colored folks. Dey would come to our houses an' scare
us mos' to death. Dey would take some of de niggers out an' whup 'em an'
dose dat dey didn't whup dey tied up by dere fingers an' toes. Dese Ku
Klux would come to our windows at night an' say: 'Your time ain't long
acomin'.' De Ku Klux got so bad dat dey would even git us in de daytime.
Dey tuk some of de niggers an' throwed 'em in de river to drown. Dey
kep' dis up 'twell some folks from de North come down an' put a stop to
it.
"I ma'ied Nelson Granberry. De weddin' was private. I don't have no
chilluns, but my husban' got fo'. I haven't heered from any of 'em in a
long time now. I guess dey all daid.
"Abe Lincoln was de bes' president dat dis country eber had. Iffen it
hadn't been for him we'd still be slaves raght now. I don't think so
much of Jeff Davis 'caze he tried to keep us slaves. Booker T.
Washington was one of de greates' niggers dat ever lived, he always
tried to raise de standard of de race.
"I joined the church 'caze de Bible says dat all people should join de
church an' be Christians. Jesus Christ set up de church an' said dat
ever'body what wanted to be saved to come unto him. Sin is de cause of
de world bein' in de fix dat it's in today. De only way to fight sin is
to git together. Iffen we can do away wid sin raght now, de world would
be a paradise. In de church we learn de will of God an' what he would
have us do.
"Dere was no po' white trash in our 'munity; dey was kep' back in de
mountains."