*Interview with Silvia Witherspoon*
--_Susie R. O'Brien, Uniontown, Alabama_
_FOOTS GETS TIRED FROM CHOPPIN' COTTON_
Aunt Silvia Witherspoon sat dozing on the steps of her small cabin, her
bare feet stretched out in the dry dust of the yard. A large horsefly
settled upon her broad nose and after a moment Aunt Silvia's composure
was disturbed to such an extent that she waved it off with her hand. On
doing so her eyes opened and she saw me approaching the steps. She
straightened. "Mawnin', Mistis. Jus' settin' heah coolin' off my foots.
I'se plum wo' out f'um choppin' cotton.
"Yassmam," she continued, after I had asked a few questions, "I
remembers some things 'bout de slavery days. 'Co'se I can't remember
jus' 'zactly how old I is, but I mus' be mought nigh on to ninety,
'ca'se I was a raght sizable gal when de war ended. I was bawn on a
plantation in Jackson, Mississippi, dat belonged to my Massa, Dr. Minto
Witherspoon. My Pappy an' Mammy was name Lum an' Phyllis Witherspoon. De
white folks lived in a big, white house made outten logs. Honey, Massa
an' Mistis Witherspoon was quality! Yassmam, dey was quality. Us slaves
was treated lak we was somp'n round dat place. Massa didn't 'low no
oberseer to tote no strop 'hine his niggers. Besides dat we was fed good
an' had good clothes. He useta done had brogans sont out in boxfuls f'um
Mobile. My job was to do little things aroun' de white folks' house, but
befo' dat I stayed in de quarters an' nussed my mammy's chilluns, while
she worked in de fiel's. She would tie de smalles' baby on my back so's
I could play widout no inconvenience. I laked to stay at de big house,
dough, an' fan de flies offen de white folks while dey et. Dat was de
bes' job I eber had. Mistis gived me a dress dat de white chilluns done
out-growed an' on Sunday I was de dressed-upest nigger in de quarter.
"Massa 'longed to de Presbyterian chu'ch, so all us niggers was
Presbyterians too. We all went to our own chu'ch dat was on de place
dar.
"Massa kep' a pack of blood hounds but it warn't often dat he had to use
'em 'ca'se none of our niggers eber runned away. One day, dough, a
nigger named Joe did run away. Believe me Mistis, dem blood hounds cotch
dat nigger 'fo' he got to de creek good. It makes me laugh till yit de
way dat nigger jumped in de creek when he couldn't swim a lick jus'
'ca'se dem houn's was atter him. He sho made a splash, but dey managed
to git him out 'fo he drowned.
"I ma'ied about a year atter de war, an' Mistis, I didn't have no pretty
dress to git ma'ied in. I ma'ied dat ole nigger in a dirty work dress
an' my feets was bare jus' lak dey is now. I figured dat iffen he loved
me, he loved me jus' as well in my bare feets as he would wid my shoes
on.
"Does I believe in ghosties? Sho I does. I don't suppose you was bawn
wid a veil on yo' face lak I was, 'ca'se I can see dem ghosties as plain
as dey was here raght now. I'll tell you 'bout one dat comes out de
white folks chu'ch yard. On dark rainy nights, I sees him, tall wid long
white robes drappin f'um him. He carries a big light so bright dat you
can't see his face, but he looks jus' lak a man. It don't bother me
none, 'ca'se I don't bother it.
"I keeps a flour sifter an' a fork by my bed to keep de witches f'um
ridin' me. How come I knows dey rides me? Honey, I bees so tired in de
mawnin' I kin scarcely git outten my bed, an' its all on account of dem
witches ridin' me, so I putt de sifter dere to cotch 'em. Sometimes I
wears dis dime wid de hole in it aroun' my ankle to keep off de conjure,
but since Monroe King tuk an' died us ain't had much conjerin' 'roun'
here. You know dat ole nigger would putt a conjure on somebody for jus'
a little sum of money. He sold conjure bags to keep de sickness away. He
could conjure de grass an' de birds, an' anything he wanted to. De
niggers 'roun' useta give him chickens an' things so's he wouldn't
conjure 'em, but its a funny thing Mistis, I ain't never understood it,
he got tuk off to jail for stealin' a mule, an' us niggers waited 'roun'
many a day for him to conjure hisself out, but he never did. I guess he
jus' didn't have quite enough conjurin' material to git hisself th'ough
dat stone wall. I ain't never understood it, dough."