*Interview with Charles Hayes*
--_Mary A. Poole, Mobile_
_SHO' I BELIEVES IN SPIRITS, SAYS CHARLES_
"Mistis," said Charles Hayes from his porch in Maysville, near Mobile,
Alabama, "I was a little bitty nigger when de war broke out, an' I
belonged to Massa Ben Duncan who lived at Day's Landin' on de Alabamy
Ribber.
"Marse Ben's house was de regulation plantation wid slave quarters. Most
of de things us used was made raght dere on de plantation, sich as:
beds, buckets, tools, soap, brogans, breeches, an' chairs. Our
mattresses was either made outen cornshucks or cotton bolls. Us cooked
on an open fireplace, an' eve'y Sadday night us would go to de big house
for supplies. Marse Ben was good to his slaves an' he 'lowed dem to have
a little plot of groun' nex' to de cabins whar dey could raise dere own
little crop.
"My mammy was a fiel' han' an' my pappy was a mechanic an' he use to be
de handy man aroun' de big house, makin' eve'thing f'um churns an'
buckets to wagon wheels. My pappy also useta play de fiddle for de white
folks dances in de big house, an' he played it for de colored frolics
too. He sho could make dat thing sing.
"Us useta have all sorts of cures for de sick people, f'rinstance, us
used de Jerusalem weed cooked wid molasses into a candy for to give to
de chilluns to git rid of worms. Den us'd bile de root an' make a kinda
tea for de stomach worms. You know de kinds dat little puppies an'
little chilluns has dat eats all de food dat goes in to de stomach, an'
makes de chile or dog eat plenty but don't git no benefits f'um all
dey're eatin'. Horehound, dat growed wild in Clarke County, was used for
colds. Mullen tea was used for colds an' swollen j'ints. Den dere was de
life everlastin' tea dat was also good for colds and horse mint tea dat
was good for de chills an' fevers. Co'se, Mistis, us niggers had a
regular fambly doctah dat 'tended to us when we was sho 'nough down
raght sick, but dese remedies I's tellin' you 'bout us used when warn't
nothin' much ailin' us. It was always to de owner's interest, Mistis, to
have de niggers in a good, healthy condition.
"Does I believe in spirits, you says? Sho I does. When Christ walked on
de water, de Apostles was skeered he was a spirit, but Jesus told dem
dat he warn't no spirit, dat he was as 'live as dey was. He tol' 'em dat
spirits couldn't be teched, dat dey jus' melted when you tried to. So,
Mistis, Jesus musta meant dat dere was sich a thing as spirits.
"Atter de war my pappy an' mammy stayed on de Duncan plantation en'
worked on share crops. Dere was a school on de groun's for us slave
chilluns, an' my gran'mammy, Salina Duncan, taught de bible, 'ca'se she
was f'um Virginny an' had been learnt to read an' write by her Mistis up
dere.
"My fus' wife was named Alice Bush, an' us had ten chilluns; my second
one was named Caroline Turner an' us didn't have but eight. Both my ole
womens is daid now, white folks, an' I stays here wid one of my
daughters. You see, my eyesight is almos' gone due to one day when I was
a workin' in de forge, a hot piece of iron flew up an' landed in my eye.
'Twarn't long befo' it started to hurtin' in my udder eye. Now both is
'bout to give out."