*Personal interview with "Aunt Annie" Stanton*
*Rylands Lane, Mobile, Alabama*
--_Ila B. Prine, Mobile, Alabama_
Out on Ryland's Lane is an old negro woman 84 years of age who is
totally blind, but whose mind is clear in regards to things pertaining
to the long ago.
"Aunt Annie" says that things that happened when she was a child are
much more vivid in her mind than are things of today. She said "Sumtimes
I now starts tuh do dumpin' an' fogits what I wants tuh do, den I ahs
tuh go bac' tuh de place whar I started from so I kin 'member whats I
started tuh do".
"Aunt Annie" was born on Knight's Place on the Alabama River, June 2nd.,
1853. This place is now known as Finchburg, in Monroe County, Alabama.
Her mother's name was Mary Knight and her father's name was Atlas
Williams, who had the same name as his owner, Mr. Offord Williams. "Aunt
Annie's" mother's people were owned first by Mr. Cullen Knight and after
his death, were owned by Mr. John Marshall.
"Aunt Annie" was seven years old then the Civil War started, and that
she had "nursed two cullered chillun afore de war."
When asked by the writer about nursing these children, so as to be sure
she said colored children, she replied, "dat de slaves lived on de
plantation, and dey had an overseer who libed on dis place, an' she
neber seed de Marshall's place 'til after dey was freed. As I growed
bigger into a big yearlin' gal I was tuk intuh de oversee'rs home to
'tend tuh de dinin' room table sich as settin' hit an' washin' de dishes
an' cleanin' up, an' later on I was showed how to iron, spin thread,
weave cloth, and make candles. Honey, folks talkin' 'bout depression now
don't kno' nothin' 'bout hard times. In dem days folks didn't hab
nothin' 'ceptin' what dey made. Eben if yo' had a mint ob money, dere
was nothin' to buy. We made de candles to burn by tying strings on the
stick and puttin' dem down in melted tallow in moulds. In dem times we
had no matches, folks made fire by strikin' flint rocks together an' de
fire droppin' on cotton. I don't know whether dese rocks were ones dat
de Indians lef' or no, but day was dif'rent from other rocks. People
usta carry dem an' de cotton roun' in boxes sumtin lak snuff boxes tuh
keep de cotton dry. Sumtimes when dey could'nt get de fire no odder way,
dey would put de cotton in de fireplace and shoot up in dere an' set hit
on fire."
"Aunt Annie" said she never could start a fire with the flint rock and
cotton, and she said, "de fust matches and lantern I'se eber seed was
when de Yankees cum tuh dere place, I th'ot dey was two officers, 'couse
dey had de matches and lantern. Two years a'ter I was freed, an' twar
den I seed mah first lamp.
"De men did mos' ob de farm wurk, dey planted cotton, corn, potatoes,
cane, peas and pumpkins, an' dey ginned de cotton by hitching four
horses tuh de gin, and dey run hit dat way."
When asked if they had plenty to eat when they were slaves, "Aunt Annie"
said:
"Lor', yes I guess we had 'nough, but, 'tearn't much, c'ase I 'members
when we was li'l chillun we had a big wooden tray dat dey put de food in
and we all set 'round dat an' et like li'l pigs. De rations for a week
was 3 lbs of meat a week, 1 peck ob meal, potatoes an' syrup. At
Christmas times de overseer called all de men an' women in an' gib each
woman a dress, a head handkerchief, an' tuh de men he gave a hat, knife,
an' a bottle of whiskey. De overseer also gib tuh us flour and sugar fo'
Christmas, an' I 'members one Christmas when I was a li'l gal, a'ter de
overseer gib all de women a dress dere was a short piece ob cloth lef'
an' he gib dat tuh me." "Aunt Annie" said "dat de slaves went tuh de
white folks church, an' sot on de seats on de outside ob de church, an'
dat church was a hewed log building. Atter de white folks got thro'
preachin', den de cullered preacher would preach. Sumtimes de cullered
folks would hab church when de white folks didn't an' den de slaves
would hab tuh get a pass from his owner, 'ca'se dere would be some mean
folks what would beat de niggers ef dey didn't hab a pass from dere
owners or bosses."
"Aunt Annie" also said, "I'se neber hyeard of no hoodoo stuff 'til in
late years, dey's mo' ob dat foolishness now dan I'se ebber hyeard of in
mah life. Nowadays de hoodoos doctors, what is allus agoin' 'round
foolin' folks out ob dey money, looks lack de dogs might ob and' dem,
dey is so turrible lookin'. I don't believes in dem. Us folks a long
time ago neber hab no money fo' dem to git. Us had tuh make own
medicine. When de babies had de colic us wud tie soot up in a rag an'
boil it, and den gib dem de water, an' tuh ease de prickly heat us used
cotton wood powdered up fine, and fo' de yellow thrash us would boil de
sheep thrash an' gib em de tea."
"Aunt Annie" has been married twice, her first husband left her years
ago, when she married Louis Stanton and had five children by him. Louis
was killed in a hailstorm, April 13, 1903, and all of her children are
dead. She is now being cared for by friends, and she said, "that ef I's
didn't git a li'l he'p from de Government tuh gib dis frien'" she didn't
know what she would do as she has been totally blind for two years.