[TR: ***] = Transcriber Note
[HW: ***] = Handwritten Note
SLAVE NARRATIVES
A Folk History of Slavery in the United States
From Interviews with Former Slaves
TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY
THE FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT
1936-1938
ASSEMBLED BY
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
WASHINGTON 1941
VOLUME VII
KENTUCKY NARRATIVES
Prepared by
The Federal Writers' Project of
The Works Progress Administration
For the State of Kentucky
[TR: All county names added. Names, information in brackets added.]
INFORMANTS
Bogie, Dan
Henderson, George
Mason, Harriet
Mayfield, Bert
Oats, Will
Robinson, Belle
Shirley, Edd
Woods, Wes
COMBINED INTERVIEWS
ANDERSON CO:
Ann Gudgel
UNION CO:
Mrs. Heyburn
CALLOWAY CO:
George Scruggs
GARRARD CO:
Harriet Mason
BOYD CO:
Rev. John R. Cox
WAYNE CO:
[Mrs. Duncan]
DAVIES CO:
[Mrs. Elizabeth Alexander]
LAUREL CO:
Amelia Jones
Jenny McKee
JEFFERSON CO:
Susan Dale Sanders
John Anderson
Joana Owens
[Martha J. Jones]
FLOYD CO:
Charlie Richmond
OWENS CO:
George Dorsey
CHRISTIAN CO:
Annie B. Boyd
Kate Billingsby
Nannie Eaves
Mary Wright
CLAY CO:
Sophia Word
BOYD CO:
BELL CO:
Mandy Gibson
BREATHITT CO:
Scott Mitchell
UNION CO.
[A Bill of Sale.]
[WILL--Nancy Austin.]
ROCKCASTLE CO.
CLARK CO.
MONTGOMERY CO.
MONROE CO:
Edd Shirley
[Mrs. C. Hood]
ESTILL CO:
Peter Bruner
CHRISTIAN CO:
Easter Sudie Campbell
[Uncle Dick]
Annie Morgan
Cora Torian
Mary Wooldridge [TR: name corrected per interview.]
CALDWELL CO.
BALLARD CO.
[Tinie Force and Elvira Lewis]
LAWRENCE CO.
LESLIE CO.
GARRARD CO.
[Mrs. Jennie Slavin]
WEBSTER CO.
CALDWELL CO.
Esther Hudespeth
ANDERSON CO.
KNOX CO.
CLARK CO.
CASEY CO.
CHRISTIAN CO.
HOPKINS CO.
MARTIN CO.
[TR: This volume contains a high number of misspellings and typing
errors. Words that are apparent misspellings to render dialect, such as
'morster' for 'master', or that reflect spelling errors of a particular
interviewer or typist, such as 'posess' for 'possess' or 'allegience'
for 'allegiance', have not been changed; words that are apparent typing
errors such as 'filed' for 'field', 'ot' for 'of', 'progent' for
'progeny', have been corrected without note, to avoid interrupting the
narrative.]
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 9]
Interview with Dan Bogie:
Uncle Dan tells me "he was born May 5, 1858 at the Abe Wheeler place
near Spoonsville, now known as Nina, about nine miles due east from
Lancaster. Mother, whose name was Lucinda Wheeler, belonged to the
Wheeler family. My father was a slave of Dan Bogie's, at Kirksville, in
Madison County, and I was named for him. My mother's people were born in
Garrard County as far as I know. I had one sister, born in 1860, who is
now dead, and is buried not far from Lancaster. Marse Bogie owned about
200 acres of land in the eastern section of the county, and as far as I
can remember there were only four slaves on the place. We lived in a
one-room cabin, with a loft above, and this cabin was an old fashioned
one about hundred yards from the house. We lived in one room, with one
bed in the cabin. The one bed was an old fashioned, high post corded bed
where my father and mother slept. My sister and me slept in a trundle
bed, made like the big bed except the posts were made smaller and was on
rollers, so it could be rolled under the big bed. There was also a
cradle, made of a wooden box, with rockers nailed on, and my mother told
me that she rocked me in that cradle when I was a baby. She used to sit
and sing in the evening. She carded the wool and spun yarn on the old
spinning wheel. My grandfather was a slave of Talton Embry, whose farm
joined the Wheeler farm. He made shingles with a steel drawing knife,
that had a wooden handle. He made these shingles in Mr. Embry's yard. I
do not remember my grandmother, and I didn't have to work in slave days,
because my mother and father did all the work except the heavy farm
work. My Mistus used to give me my winter clothes. My shoes were called
brogans. My old master had shoes made. He would put my foot on the
floor and mark around it for the measure of my shoes.
Most of the cooking was in an oven in the yard, over the bed of coals.
Baked possum and ground hog in the oven, stewed rabbits, fried fish and
fired bacon called "streaked meat" all kinds of vegetables, boiled
cabbage, pone corn bread, and sorghum molasses. Old folks would drink
coffee, but chillun would drink milk, especially butter milk.
Old master would call us about 4 o'clock, and everybody had to get up
and go to "Starring"[TR:?]. Old Marse had about 30 or 40 sugar trees
which were tapped, in February. Elder spiles were stuck in the taps for
the water to drop out in the wooden troughs, under the spiles. These
troughs were hewed out of buckeye. This maple water was gathered up and
put in a big kettle, hung on racks, with a big fire under it. It was
then taken to the house and finished upon the stove. The skimmings after
it got to the syrup stage was builed down and made into maple sugar for
the children.
We wore tow linen clothes in summer and jeans in winter. Sister wore
linsey in winter of different colors, dyed from herbs, especially poke
berries; and wore unbleached cotton in summer, dyed with yellow mustard
seed.
My grandfather, Jim Embry mended shoes and made fairly good ones.
There were four slaves. My mother did cooking and the men did the work.
Bob Wheeler and Arch Bogie were our masters. Both were good and kind to
us. I never saw a slave shipped, for my boss did not believe in that
kind of punishment. My master had four boys, named Rube, Falton, Horace,
and Billie. Rube and me played together and when we acted bad old Marse
always licked Rube three or four times harder then he did me because
Rube was older. Their daughter was named American Wheeler, for her
mother.
White folks did not teach us to read and write. I learned that after I
left my white folks. There was no church for slaves, but we went to the
white folks church at Mr. Freedom. We sat in the gallery. The first
colored preacher I ever heard was old man Leroy Estill. He preached in
the Freedom meeting house (Baptist). I stood on the banks of Paint Lick
Creek and saw my mother baptized, but do not remember the preachers name
or any of the songs they sung.
We did not work on Saturday afternoon. The men would go fishing, and the
women would go to the neighbors and help each other piece quilts. We
used to have big times at the corn shuckings. The neighbors would come
and help. We would have camp fires and sing songs, and usually a big
dance at the barn when the corn was shucked. Some of the slaves from
other plantations would pick the banjo, then the dance. Miss Americe
married Sam Ward. I was too young to remember only that they had good
things to eat.
I can remember when my mothers brother died. He was buried at the
Wheeler, but I do not recall any of the songs, and they did not have a
preacher. My mother took his death so hard.
There was an old ash hopper, made of slats, put together at the bottom
and wide at the top. The ashes were dumped in this and water poured over
them. A drip was made and lye caught in wooden troughs. This was then
boiled down and made into soap. My mother let me help stir it many a
time. Then the big kettle would be lifted from the fire and left until
cold. My mother would then block it off, and put on a wooden plank to
dry out until ready for use."
Bibliography:
Interview with Dan Bogie, Ex-Slave.
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 13]
Interview with George Henderson:
Uncle George tells me that he was born May 10, 1860 near Versailles, in
Woodford County, Kentucky. His father's name was Bradford Henderson, who
was a slave of Milford Twiman who belonged to the Cleveland family. He
does not know where his family came from. There were 21 children
including two or three sets of twins. All died while young, except his
brothers: Milford, Sam, and Joe; and sisters: Elle and Betsy. All the
slaves lived in log cabins and there were about 30 or 40 of them on a
plantation of 400 acres. "The cabin I was born in had four rooms, two
above and two below. The rooms above were called lofts, and we climbed
up a ladder to get to these rooms. We slept on trundle-beds, which were
covered with straw ticks. Our covers were made in big patches from old
cast-off clothes. When we got up in the morning we shoved the trundle
bed back under the big bed. Some boy would ring a great big bell, called
the "farm bell" about sunrise. Some went to the stables to look after
the horses and mules. Plowing was done with a yoke or oxen. The horses
were just used for carriages and to ride. My work was pulling weeds,
feeding chickens, and helping to take care of the pigs. Marse Cleveland
had a very bad male hog and had to keep him in a pen about 10 feet high.
Sometimes he would break out of the pen and it would take all the
bulldogs in the county to get him back. I never did earn any money, but
worked for my food and clothes. My daddy used to hunt rabbits and
possums. I went with him and would ride on his back with my feet in his
pockets. He had a dog named Brutus which was a watch dog. My daddy would
lay his hat down anywhere in the woods and Brutus would stay by the hat
until he would come back. We ate all kinds of wild food, possum, and
rabbits baked in a big oven. Minnows were fished from the creeks and
fried in hot grease. We ate this with pone corn bread. We had plenty of
vegetables to eat. An old negro called "Ole Man Ben" called us to eat.
We called him the dinner bell because he would say "Who-e-e, God-dam
your blood and guts".
Out clothes were made of jeens and linsey in winter. In the summer we
wore cotton clothes. They gave us shoes at Christmas time. We were
measured with sticks. Once I was warming my shoes on a back log on the
big fire place, they fell over behind the logs and burnt up. I didn't
marry while on the plantation.
My master and mistress lived in the big brick house of 15 rooms, with
two long porches. One below and one below. My mistus was Miss Lucy
Elmore before she married. Her children were named Miss Mat, Miss Emma,
and Miss Jennie.
I saw the slaves in chains after they were sold. The white folks did not
teach us to read and write. We had church on the plantation but we went
from one plantation to another to hear preaching. White folks preacher's
name was Reuben Lee, in Versailles. A meeting of the Baptist Church
resulted in the first baptizing I ever saw. It was in Mr. Chillers pond.
The preacher would say 'I am baptizing you in Mr. Chillers pond because
I know he is an honest man'. I can't remember any funeral.
I remember one slave named Adams who ran away and when he came back my
old master picked up a log from the fire and hit him over the head. We
always washed up and cleaned up for Sunday. Some time the older ones
would get drunk.
On Christmas and New Years day we would go up to the house and they
would give us candy and fruit and fire-crackers. We were given some of
all the food that the white folks had, even turkey. Would have heaps of
corn-shuckings, the neighbors would come in and then we'd have big
dances and old Marse would always have a "jug of licker".
If a cat crossed our path we would turn backwards for a while. When I
was about 9 or 10 years old I went from the cabin to the big kitchen to
make the fire for my mammy to get the breakfast and I saw ole man Billie
Cleveland standing looking up in the sky. He had been dead about 3 or 4
years; but I saw him.
The white folks looked after us when we were sick. Used dock leaves,
slippery elm for poultices. They put polk root in whiskey and gave it to
us.
When the news came we were freed every body was glad. The slaves cleared
up the ground and cut down trees. Stayed with Marse Cleveland the first
year after the war. Have heard the Klu Klux Klan ride down the road,
wearing masks. None ever bothered me or any of Marse Clevelands slaves.
I married years after I left Marse Cleveland. Married Lucy Mason the
first time and had three children, two girls and 1 boy. I didn't have no
children by my second marriage, but the third time I had four. One died.
I have eight grandchildren.
We had no overseer but Marse Hock was the only boy and the oldest child.
We had no white trash for neighbors. I have seen old covered wagons
pulled by oxen travelling on the road going to Indianny and us children
was whipped to keep us away from the road for fear they would steal us."
Bibliography:
Interview with George Henderson, Ex-slave.
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison) [HW: Ky 11]
Aunt Harriet Mason--Ex-Slave:
She was born one mile below Bryantsville on the Lexington Pike in
Garrard County, and was owned by B.M. Jones. She gives the date of her
birth as April 14, 1847. Aunt Harriet's father was Daniel Scott, a slave
out of Mote Scott's slave family. Aunt Harriet's mother's name was Amy
Jones, slave of Marse Briar Jones, who came from Harrodsburg, Ky. The
names of her brothers were Harrison, Daniel, Merida, and Ned; her
sisters were Susie and Maria. Miss Patsy, wife of Marse Briar gave Maria
to Marse Sammy Welsh, brother of Miss Patsy's and who lived with his
sister. He taught school in Bryantsville for a long time. "General Gano
who married Jane Welsh, adopted daughter of Marse Briar Jones, took my
sisters Myra and Emma, Brother Ned and myself to Tarrant County, Texas
to a town called Lick Skillet, to live. Grapevine was the name of the
white folks house. It was called Grapevine because these grapevines
twined around the house and arbors. Sister Emma was the cook and Myra
and me were nurse and house maids. Brother married Betty Estill, a slave
who cooked for the Estill family. Mr. Estill later bought Ned in order
to keep him on the place. I didn't sleep in the cabins with the rest of
the Negroes; I slept in the big house and nursed the children. I was not
paid any money for my work. My food was the same as what the white folks
et. In the summer time we wore cotton and tow linen; and linsey in the
winter. The white folks took me to church and dressed me well. I had
good shoes and they took me to church on Sunday. My master was a
preacher and a doctor and a fine man. Miss Mat sho was hard to beat. The
house they lived in was a big white house with two long porches. We had
no overseer or driver. We had no "Po white neighbors". There was about
300 acres of land around Lick Skillet, but we did not have many slaves.
The slaves were waked up by General Gano who rang a big farm bell about
four times in the morning. There was no jail on the place and I never
say a slave whipped or punished in any way. I never saw a slave
auctioned off. My Mistus taught all the slaves to read and write, and we
set on a bench in the dining room. When the news came that we were free
General Gano took us all in the dining room and told us about it. I told
him I wusn't going to the cabins and sleep with them niggers and I
didn't. At Christmas and New Years we sho did have big times and General
Gano and Miss Nat would buy us candy, popcorn, and firecrackers and all
the good things just like the white folks. I don't remember any
weddings, but do remember the funeral of Mr. Marion who lived between
the big house and Lick Skillet. He was going to be buried in the
cemetery at Lick Skillet, but the horses got scared and turned the
spring wagon over and the corpse fell out. The mourners sure had a time
getting things straightened out, but they finally got him buried.
They used to keep watermelon to pass to company. Us children would go to
the patch and bring the melons to the big spring and pour water over
them and cool 'em. When news came that we were free we all started back
to Kentucky to Marse Jones old place. We started the journey in two
covered wagons and an ambulance. General Gano and Miss Nat and the two
children and me rode in the ambulance. When we got to Memphis we got on
a steam boat named "Old Kentucky". We loaded the ambulance and the two
wagons and horses on the boat. When we left the boat, we got on the
train and got off at Georgetown in Scott County and rode from there to
General Gano's Brother William in Scott County, on a stage coach. When I
took the children, Katy and Maurice, upstairs to wash them I looked out
the window into the driveway and saw the horses that belonged to Marse
Briar Jones. They nickered at the gate trying to get in. The horses were
named Henry Clay and Dan. When the children went down I waved at the
horses and they looked up at the window and nickered again and seemed to
know me. When we were coming back from Texas, Maurice held on the plait
of my hair all the way back. I didn't marry while I belonged to the Gano
family. I married Henry Mason after I came to Lancaster to live about
sixty years ago. I am the mother of nine children, three boys and six
girls. There are two living. I have no grand-children. I joined the
church when the cholera epidemic broke out in Lancaster in 1878. The
preacher was Brother Silas Crawford, of the Methodist Church. I was
baptized in a pond on Creamery Street. I think people ought to be
religious because they live better and they love people more."
Aunt Harriet lived at the present behind the White Methodist Church in
Lancaster. The daughter with whom she lives is considered one of the
high class of colored people in Lancaster. She holds an A.B. Degree,
teaching in the colored city school, and is also a music teacher. She
stands by the teaching of her mother, being a "Good Methodist"; giving
of her time, talent, and service for her church.
Bibliography:
Interview with Aunt Harriet Mason, Lancaster, Kentucky.
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison)
Interview with Bert Mayfield:
Bert Mayfield was born in Garrard County, May 29, 1852, two miles south
of Bryantsville on Smith Stone's place. His father and mother were Ped
and Matilda Stone Mayfield, who were slaves of Smith Stone who came from
Virginia. His brothers were John, Harrison, Jerry, and Laurence, who
died at an early age.
He lived on a large plantation with a large old farm house, built of
logs and weatherboards, painted white. There were four rooms on the
first floor, and there were also finished rooms on the second floor. An
attic contained most of the clothes needed for the slaves. "Uncle Bert"
in his own language says, "On Christmas each of us stood in line to get
our clothes; we were measured with a string which was made by a cobbler.
The material had been woben by the slaves in a plantation shop. The flax
and hemp were raised on the plantation. The younger slaves had to
"swingle it" with a wooden instrument, somewhat like a sword, about two
feet long, and called a swingler. The hemp was hackled by the older
slaves. The hackle was an instrument made of iron teeth, about four
inches long, one-half inch apart and set in a wooden plank one and
one-half feet long, which was set on a heavy bench. The hemp stalks were
laid on these benches and hackled herds were then pulled through and
heaped in piles and taken to the work shops where it was twisted and
tied then woven, according to the needs. Ropes, carpets, and clothing
were made from this fiber.
"Our cabins were usually one room with a loft above which we reached by
a ladder. Our beds were trundle beds with wheels on them to push them
under the big beds. We slept on straw ticks covered with Lindsey
quilts, which were made from the cast-off clothes, cut into squares and
strips."
Bert can just remember his grandparents.
He would feed pigs; pulled "pusley" out of the garden for them "and them
pigs loved it mighty well".
No money was paid for work. Bacon and "pone bread" baked in the yard in
an oven that had legs and lid on top was the chief food and his
favorite. The coals were put on top as well as under the oven. They
drank sweet milk and butter milk, but no coffee; they also ate cabbage,
squash, sweet and Irish potatoes, which were cooked with, skins on,
greased, and put in the oven. "Possum" and coon hunts were big events,
they would hunt all night. The possums were baked in the ovens and
usually with sweet potatoes in their mouths. The little boys would fish,
bringing home their fish to be scaled by rubbing them between their
hands, rolled in meal and cooked in a big skillet. "We would eat these
fish with pone corn bread and we sho' had big eatins!"
Marse Stone had a big sugar camp with 300 trees. We would be waked up at
sun-up by a big horn and called to get our buckets and go to the sugar
camps and bring water from the maple trees. These trees had been tapped
and elderwood spiles were placed in the taps where the water dripped to
the wooden troughs below. We carried this water to the big poplar
troughs which were about 10 feet long and 3 feet high. The water was
then dipped out and placed in different kettles to boil until it became
the desired thickness for "Tree Molasses". Old Miss Polly would always
take out enough of the water to boil down to make sugar cakes for us
boys. We had great times at these "stirrin' offs" which usually took
place at night.
The neighbors would usually come and bring their slaves. We played
Sheep-meat and other games. Sheep-meat was a game played with a yarn
ball and when one of the players was hit by the ball that counted him
out. One song we would always sing was "Who ting-a-long? Who
ting-a-long? Who's been here since I've been gone? A pretty girl with a
josey on".
There was no slave jail on the Stone place, and I never saw a slave sold
or auctioned off. I was told that one of our slaves ran off and was gone
for three years. Some white person wrote him to come home that he was
free. He was making his own way in Ohio and stopped in Lexington,
Kentucky for breakfast; while there he was asked to show his Pass papers
which he did, but they were forged so he was arrested. Investigators
soon found that his owner was Mr. Stone who did not wish to sell him and
sent for him to come home. Uncle Ned's own Tim said he "would go fetch
him back" but instead he sold him to a southern slave trader. My old
Mistus Meg taught me how to read from an old national spelling book, but
I did not learn to write. We had no church, but the Bible was read to us
on Sunday afternoons by some of the white folks. The first Church I
remember was the Old Fork Baptist Church about four miles from Lancaster
on the Lexington Pike. The first preacher I remember was Burdette
Kemper. I heard him preach at the old church where my Mistus and Master
took me every Sunday. The first Baptizin' that I remember was on Dix
Fiver near Floyd's Mill. Preacher Kemper did the Baptizin' and Ellen
Stone, one of our slaves was Baptized there with a number of
others--whites and blacks too. When Ellen came up out of the water she
was clapping her hands and shouting. One of the songs I remember at this
Baptizing was:
"Come sinners and Saints and hear me tell
The wonders of E-Man-u-el,
Who brought my soul with him to dwell
And give me heavenly union."
"The first funeral sermon I remember was preached by John Moran, negro
at the first Baptist here in Lancaster.
"The negroes would talk among themselves, but never carried tales to the
white folks. I never heard of any trouble between blacks and whites. On
Sunday's we would hold prayer meetings among ourselves. The neighbors
would come when slaves were sick. Old Mistus looked after us, giving us
teas made of catnip and vermifuge. Poultices of dock leaves and slippery
elm were also used when were sick. Some of the slaves wore rabbit feet
for charms and skins of snakes for a belt as a charm.
"My first wedding was 53 years ago. The woman was named Emma Barren,
raised by Dr. Pettus. I had no children. We went to Mr. Spencer Hubble
to live, in Lincoln County. We had no chil [TR: This sentence appears to
have been unfinished or erased.]
I received the first news of freedom joyfully. I went to old man
Onstott's to live. I lived there two or three years. I think Abe Lincoln
a great man. He did not believe in slavery and would have paid the
southern people for their slaves if he had lived. All the slaves on
Morse Stone's place were treated well.
Bibliography:
Interview with Bert Mayfield.
Mercer County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Hazel Cinnamon)
Interview with Will Oats--Ex-Slave:
Will Oats, 84 years of age, was born in Wayne County, up Spring Valley
in 1854. He was the son of Betty Oats and Will Garddard of North
Carolina. He has three sisters: Lucy Wilson, Frances Phillips that live
in Ohio, and Alice Branton of Mercer County, Kentucky. He has two
brothers; Jim Coffey and Lige Coffey of Harrodsburg.
As a child he lived with his mother, brothers, sisters, and grandmother.
Their quarters were in the yard of their master; and they were as
comfortable as any slaves--with plenty to eat and clothes to keep them
warm.
Will was just a boy at that time, and he cut wood and carried it in; and
did other chores around the house such as help to milk and feed the
stock. Their food was plentiful and they ate all kinds of vegetables,
and had plenty of milk and butter, fat meat, and bread.
The family all wore home made clothing, cotton shirts, heavy shoes, very
heavy underwear; and if they wore out their winter shoes before the
spring weather they had to do without until the fall.
Will was owned by Lewis Oats and his sister; they lived in a two story
house, built of log and weather boarded. They were very wealthy people.
The farm consisted of over 230 acres; they owned six slaves; and they
had to be up doing their morning work before the master would wake.
When working and the slaves would disobey their master, they were
punished in some way; but there was no jail. They didn't know how to
read or write, and they had no church to attend. All they had to do when
not at work was to talk to the older folks. On Christmas morning they
would usually have a little extra to eat and maybe a stick of candy. On
New Year's Day their work went on just the same as on any other day.
Will, as a boy loved to play marbles which was about the most
interesting game they had to play. Of course, they could play outside as
all children do now when they had spare time.
At that time there were few doctors and when the slaves would get hurt
or sick, they were usually looked after by the master or by their
overseer.
After the war had closed, Will's grandmother walked from Monticello to
Camp Nelson to get her free papers and her children. They were all very
happy, but they were wondering what they were going to do without a
home, work, or money. But after Will and his mother and grandmother got
their freedom, the grandmother bought a little land and house and they
all went there to live. Of course, they worked out for other people and
raised a great deal of what they ate. Will lived there until he grew
older and went out for himself; and later moved to Mercer County where
he now lives.
Bibliography:
Interview with Will Oats, Ex-Slave of Mercer County.
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison)
Aunt Belle Robinson:
I found Aunt Belle sitting on the porch, dressed nice and clean with a
white handkerchief pinned on her neck. When I went to her and told her
who I was and the reason for my visit her face beamed with smiles and
she said "Lawdy, it has been so long that I have forgot nearly
everything I knew".
Further investigation soon proved that she had not forgotten, for her
statements were very intelligent. She was working on a quilt and close
investigation found that the work was well done. Aunt Belle tells me "I
was born June 3rd, 1853 in Garrard County near Lancaster. My mother's
name was Marion Blevin and she belonged to the family of Pleas Blevin.
My father's name was Arch Robinson who lived in Madison County. Harrison
Brady bought me from Ole Miss Nancy Graham and when Mr. Brady died and
his property was sold Mrs. Brady bought me back; and she always said
that she paid $400 for me. I lived in that family for three generations,
until every one of them died. I was the only child and had always lived
at the big house with my mistus. I wore the same kind of clothes and ate
the same kind of food the white people ate. My mother and father lived
at the cabin in the yard and my mother did the cooking for the family.
My father did the work on the farm with the help that was hired from the
neighbors. I was too young to remember much about the slave days, but I
never heard of any slaves of the neighbors being punished. My "Mistus"
always took me to the Baptist Church with her. I do not remember any
preacher's names or any songs they sang."
Bibliography:
Interview with Aunt Belle Robinson, Ex-Slave of Garrard County.
Monroe County. Folklore.
(Lenneth Jones-242) [HW: Essay]
Uncle Edd Shirley (97):
Janitor at Tompkinsville Drug Co. and Hospital,
Tompkinsville, Ky.
[TR: Information moved from bottom of page.]
Slaves:
I am 97 years old and am still working as janitor and support my family.
My father was a white man and my mother was a colored lady. I was owned
three different times, or rather was sold to three different families. I
was first owned by the Waldens; then I was sold to a man by the name of
Jackson, of Glasgow, Kentucky. Then my father, of this county, bought
me.
I have had many slave experiences. Some slaves were treated good, and
some were treated awful bad by the white people; but most of them were
treated good if they would do what their master told them to do.
I onced saw a light colored gal tied to the rafters of a barn, and her
master whipped her until blood ran down her back and made a large pool
on the ground. And I have seen negro men tied to stakes drove in the
ground and whipped because they would not mind their master; but most
white folks were better to their slaves and treated them better than
they are now. After their work in the fields was finished on Saturday,
they would have parties and have a good time. Some old negro man would
play the banjo while the young darkies would dance and sing. The white
folks would set around and watch; and would sometimes join in and dance
and sing.
My colored grand father lived to be 115 years old, and at that age he
was never sick in his life. One day he picked up the water bucket to go
to the spring, and as he was on his way back he dropped dead.
Garrard County. Ex-Slave Stories.
(Eliza Ison)
Interview with Ex-Slave Uncle Wes Woods:
My first visit to uncle Wes Wood, and his wife Aunt Lizzie Wood, found
them in their own comfortable little home in Duncantown, a nice urban
section of the town, where most of the inhabitants are of the better
class of colored people. A small yard with a picket fence and gate
surround the yard, which had tall hollyhocks, rearing their heads high
above the fence.
A knock on the front door brought the cordial invitation "to come in".
Upon entering, I was invited to have a chair and "rest my hat". After
seating myself and making inquiry as to their health, I told them the
object of my visit, and their faces beamed when I asked if they
remembered "slave days". Aunt Lizzie set down the can of beans she was
preparing for their meal and said with a clasp of her hands, "Lawsey,
Honey, what I do know would fill a book".
Uncle Wes had been a "shut-in" for eleven months, and was in bed, but
was cheerful and bright with an intelligent memory, rarely found in one
his age. Uncle Wes tells me that he was born May 21, 1864 in Garrard
County, near Cartersville, and was first a slave of Mrs. Eliza Kennedy,
who later married John Yeakey, of that section of the county. "My
father's name was Ben Woods, my mother's name was Janie Woods, but I do
not know what family she belonged to except the Woods. My master owned
about three or four hundred acres of land, and there were about twenty
slaves, including the children.
There were three or four cabins for the slaves to live in, not so very
far from the house. The cabin where my mother and father lived was the
closest to the house, for my mother did the cooking. Our cabin was one
long room, with a loft above, which we reached with a ladder. There was
one big bed, with a trundle bed, which was on wooden rollers and was
shoved under the big bed in the daytime. The oldest boys slept in a big
wooden bed in the loft. The cabins were built of logs and chinked with
rock and mud. The ceiling was of joists, and my mother used to hang the
seed that we gathered in the fall, to dry from these joists. Some of the
chimneys were made with sticks and chinked with mud, and would sometimes
catch on fire. Later people learned to build chimneys of rock with big
wide fire places, and a hearth of stone, which made them safer from
fire.
Second Interview:
"I chopped corn and pulled weeds and the other work hands would let me
ride behind them beck to the big house, and My! how hungry I wuz and how
we did eat. We would have beans, cooked in a big kettle in the back
yard, cabbage and potatoes, with corn pone bread, baked in a big oven In
the yard and plenty of good buttermilk to drink.
"My young bosses, when I lived in the Kennedy family would take the dogs
and let me go coon hunting at night with them, and what big times we
had. The possums were skinned and cooked in a big kettle hung over the
fire, then taken out and put in a big oven to take. A piece of streaked
meat was put in and a small pod of red pepper--My-My what eatin' we had!
"We fished with a stock pole and a twine string. We had big times
hunting fishing worms for bait. We used to catch Hockney, Hads and
Chubs. My mistus would not let me go fishing on Sunday, but I would slip
off and go anyhow. I nearly always had a good string caught and I would
tie them to a branch on the creek until the next day; then I would go
fishing and in about two hours I would come back with the fish, and she
would say, "Wes, you had good luck today"; and I would say, "Yes Mistus,
I did", but never did I tell her when I caught the fish.
"My first wife was Lou Burnsides and we had five children: Eliza,
Fannie, George, Julia, and Jennie. All of them are dead but two. I have
no children by my present wife.
"I never saw a slave whipped or in chains. My boss did not believe in
that kind of punishment. If the children needed whipping, it was done
like all other children are whipped when they need it.
"The first colored preacher I recall was named John Reed, a Baptist
preacher at Paint Lick. I joined the church at Lowell, not very far from
here. The preachers name was Leroy Estill, a "Predestinerian".
"Marse Woods had five children, two boys and three girls, none of them
are living.
"We were glad when the news came that we were free, but none of us left
for a long time, not until the Woods family was broken up. My father
hired me out to work for my vituals and clothes, and I got $25.00 at the
end of the year. I do not remember of any wedding or death in my old
masters house.
"I believe in heart-felt religion and prayer. The Good Book teaches us
we must be prepared for another world after this. I want to go to Heaven
when I die, and I try to live by the Bible."
Bibliography:
Interview with Wes Woods, Ex-Slave of Garrard County.
COMBINED INTERVIEWS:
Customs: By Counties
Slavery: Local History and Dialect
ANDERSON CO.
(Mildred Roberts)
Story of Ann Gudgel (age unknown):
"I doesn't know how old I am, but I was a little girl when dat man
Lincum freed us niggahs. My mammy neber tole us our age, but I knows
I'se plenty old, cause I feels like it.
"When I was a liddle girl all of us was owned by Master Ball. When
Lincum freed us neggahs, we went on and libbed with Master Ball till us
chilluns was bout growed up. None of us was eber sold, cause we belonged
to the Balls for always back as far as we could think.
"Mammy worked up at the big house, but us chilluns had to stay at de
cabin. But I didn't berry much care, cause ole Miss had a liddle child
jest bout my age, and us played together.
"The onliest time ole Miss eber beat me was when I caused Miss Nancy to
get et up wit de bees. I tole her 'Miss Nancy, de bees am sleep, lets
steal de honey.' Soon as she tetched it, day flew all ober us, and it
took Mammy bout a day to get the stingers outen our haids. Ole Miss jest
natually beat me up bout dat.
"One day they vaccinated all de slaves but mine neber took atall. I
nebber tole noboddy, but I jest set right down by de fireplace and
rubbed wood ashes and juice that spewed outen de wood real hard ober de
scratch. All de others was real sick and had the awfullest arms, but
mine neber did eben hurt."
UNION CO.
(Ruby Garten)
Mrs. Heyburn:
(These two stories were told by Mrs. Heyburn as she remembered them from
her grandmother).
"When the War was going on between the States and the Confederate
soldiers had gone south, the Yankee soldiers came through. There was a
little negro slave boy living on the farm and he had heard quite a bit
about the Yankees, so one day they happened to pass through where he
could see them and he rushed into the house and said, "Miss Lulu, I saw
a Yankee, and he was a man."
"I remember the slaves on my grandfather's farm. After they were freed
they asked him to keep them because they didn't want to leave. He told
them they could stay and one of the daughters of the slaves was married
in the kitchen of my grandfather's house. After the wedding they set
supper for them. Some of the slave owners were very good to their
slaves; but some whipped them until they made gashes in their backs and
would put salt in the gashes.
CALLOWAY CO.
(L. Cherry)
Story of Uncle George Scruggs, a colored slave:
I wuz a slave befo de wa. My boss, de man dat I b'long to, wuz Ole Man
Vol Scruggs. He wuz a race hoss man. He had a colod boy faw evy hoss dem
days and a white man faw evy hoss, too. I wuz bawn rite here in Murry.
My boss carrid me away frum here. I thought a heap uv him and he though
a heap uv me. I'd rub de legs uv dem hosses and rode dem round to gib em
excise. I wuz jes a small boy when my boss carrid me away from Murry. My
boss carrid me to Lexinton. I staid wid Ole Man Scruggs a long time. I
jes don no how long. My boss carrid me to his brother, Ole Man Finch
Scruggs. He run a sto and I had to sweep de flo uv de sto, wash dishes
and clean nives and falks evy day. Ole Man Finch Scruggs carrid my uncle
up thar wen Ole Vol carrid me. Ole Man Finch Scruggs liv'd at a little
town called Clintinvil on tuther side uv Lexinton. Wen Ole man Vol
Scruggs marid, he take me away from Old Man Finch Scruggs and carrid me
to liv wid him. I wuz den wid my ole boss again. He den hired me to wuk
faw a docta in Lexinton. My job wuz to clean up his ofis and wen he went
out en de cuntry, he took me long to open de gates. I had to skowa nives
and fawks and ole brass canel stix. Dats been a long time ago, Ize
tellin you, white man. While I wuz sweepin de doctas ofis one day I saw
droves uv colud folks gwine by wid two white men ridin in front, two
ridin in de midel, and two ridin behind. De colud folks wuz wulkin,
gwine down town to be sold. When I fust seen em comin I got scared an
started to run but de white man said, "stop, boy, we is not gwine a hurt
you." I staid wid dat boss docta sumpin like a yer, an den wont back to
my Ole Boss. I'd a been up thar wid im yet but he kep telin me I wuz
free. But I diden no whut he mean by sich talk. Wen my Ole Boss sole out
up thar, he brung me wid him on to Paducah.
He had a neffu in de wholesale grocy bisness in Paducah. My Old Boss
carrid me to his neffu and lef me thar. Dat wuz de las time I eva saw my
good Ole Boss caus he went on to Missouri. My Old Boss wuz sho good to
me, white man. I sho do luv im yet. Wy, he neva wood low me to go
barfooted, caus he wuz afraid I'd stick thorns in my feet, an if he eva
caut me barfooted, he sho wod make my back tell it. Wen he lef me in
Paducah, his neffu took me over to my ant, Rose Scruggs to stay all nite
wid her. Nex day I walked wid my cousin to Mayfield, carryin two toe
sacks uv cloes dat my Good Ole Boss give me wen he lef me in Paducah. De
cloze wuz faw me an my muther. Wen we got to Mayfield, we went strate to
Judge Williams caus he marrid my Ole Boss' sister and I wuz sho we could
stay wid dem. My Ole Boss an my muther wuz play-children together. My
muther's name wuz Patsy Malone. Mr. Maline's wife wuz my Ole Boss'
sister and my muther fell to her as a slave. Next day I come to Murry
whar my muther lived wid Miss Emily Malone. I wuz gone a long time caus
my Ole Boss took me way from Murry wen I wuz a small boy. I staid wid my
muther til she died. I now live in one mile uv de house whar I wuz bawn.
Mr. Hugh Wear sez I is 100 years old.
GARRARD CO.
(Sue Higgins)
Story of Aunt Harriet Mason age 100--a slave girl:
"When I was seven years old my missis took me to Bourbon County, when we
got to Lexington I tried to run off and go back to Bryantsville to see
my mammy. Mas'r Gano told me if I didn't come the sheriff would git me.
I never liked to go to Lexington since.
"One Sunday we was going to a big meetin' we heared som'in rattling in
the weeds. It was a big snake, it made a track in the dust. When we got
home missis asked me if I killed any snakes. I said to missis, snake
like to got me and Gilbert, too.
"They used to have dances at Mrs. Dickerson's, a neighbor of General
Gano (a preacher in the Christian Church). Mrs. Dickerson wouldn't let
the "Padaroes" come to the dances. If they did come, whe[TR:she?] would
get her pistol and make them leave.
"When General Gano went from Texas to Kentucky, he brought 650 head of
horses. He sold all of them but Old Black.
"Mas'r Gano went back to Texas to take up a child he had buried there.
The boat blowed up, and he came nigh gittin' drowned.
"One time I wus out in Mas'rs wheat field. I would get the wheat heads
and make chewin' wax. I told missis I want to go up to Bryantsville to
see my mammy. Mas'r took me in about a week.
"Up at Miss Jennie West's house they had an ole icehouse. Some boys made
out like they had a bear up there to scare every body away.
"I saw a flock of wild geese fly over one evenin' late. Some boys saw
them and one boy shot the leader. The rest of the flock wound round and
round, they didn't know where to go.
"One time when I was actin' nurse for missis, there was another nigger
gal there and we was playin' horse-shoes. Celia hit me in the head. It
got blood all over the baby's dress. Missis came out, she say, "I'll
hit you niggers if you don't stop playing with horse-shoes." The scar is
on my head yet whar Celia hit me. I ain't played since. Do you blame me?
"Missis told her brother Sam one day to whoop me. Every time he hit me,
I'd hit him. I wan't feared then. I didn't know no better. Look like
white folks goin' to have their way and niggers goin' to have theirs.
"I used to say I wish I'd died when I was little. But now I thank De
Lord I'm here and I want to stay here as long as Lilly (my daughter)
lives.
"Missis wanted all of us little niggers to call Kate, Missis' little
daughter, Miss Kate. But missis say, "They will call me old missis
then".
"Kate had red hair. A little nigger boy say, 'Look! Harriet, the town's
on fire', I say git away from here nigger, I ain't goin' to have you
makin' fun of my chil'en.
"Me and missis was goin' to a neighbor's house one day in a sleigh. The
baby was wrapped up in a comfort (it had a hole in it). The baby slipped
out. I say, 'Lor' missis, you're lost that baby.'
"No, I haven't, Missis say. We stopped and shook the comfort and John
was gone. 'Ain't that awful, Miss Mat?' We went back and found him a
mile behind."
I asked Aunt Harriet to sing. She said, "I have to wait for the speret
to move me". (S. Higgins).
BOYD CO.
(Carl F. Hall)
Rev. John R. Cox:
It is probable that slave labor was more expensive to the white masters
than free labor would have been. Beside having cost quite a sum a
two-year old negro child brought about $1,500 in the slave market, an
adult negro, sound and strong, cost from $5,000 up to as high as
$25,000, or more. The master had to furnish the servant his living. The
free employee is paid only while working; when sick, disabled or when
too old to work, his employer is no longer responsible.
A slave owner, in West Virginia, bought a thirteen year old black girl
at an auction. When this girl was taken to his home she escaped, and
after searching every where, without finding her, he decided that she
had been helped to escape and gave her up as lost. About two years after
that a neighbor, on a closely farm, was in the woods feeding his cattle,
he saw what he first thought was a bear, running into the thicket from
among his cows. Getting help, he rounded up the cattle and searching the
thick woodland, finally found that what he had supposed was a wild
animal, was the long lost fugitive black girl. She had lived all this
time in caves, feeding on nuts, berries, wild apples and milk from cows,
that she could catch and milk. Returned to her master she was sold to a
Mr. Morgan Whittaker who lived near where Prestonsburg, Kentucky now is.
A Dr. David Cox, physician from Scott County, Virginia, who treated Mr.
Whitaker for a cancer, saw this slave girl, who had become a strong
healthy young woman, and Mr. Whitaker unable to otherwise pay his doctor
bill, let Dr. Davis have her for the debt.
At this time the slave girl was about twenty-one years of age, and Dr.
Davis took her home to Scott County, Virginia where he married her to
his only other slave, George Cox, by the ceremony of laying a broom on
the floor and having the two young negroes step over the broom stick.
Among the children of George Cox and his wife was Rev. John R. Cox, Col.
who now lives in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and is probably the only living
ex-slave in this county.
After the Emancipation Proclamation, by President Lincoln, in 1865, John
managed to get four years of schooling where he learned to read and
write and become very proficient in arithmetic.
He says that had he had the opportunity to study that we have today he
could have been the smartest man in the United States. He also says,
that before freedom, the negroes in his neighborhood were allowed no
books, if found looking at a book a slave was whipped unmercifully.
John's master, in allowing his slaves to marry, was much more liberal
than most other slave owners, who allowed their slaves no such liberty.
As a rule negro men were not allowed to marry at all, any attempt to
mate with the negro women brought swift, sure horrible punishment and
the species were propogated by selected male negroes, who were kept for
that purpose, the owners of this privileged negro, charged a fee of one
out of every four of his offspring for his services.
The employing class of Kentuckians, many of them descendants of slave
owners, are prone to be reactionary in their attitude towards those who
toil, this is reflected in low wages and inferior working conditions, a
condition which affects both white and black labor alike, in many
sections of the state. (Bibliography: Rev. John R. Cox (colored)
Catlettsburg, Kentucky. Born 1852 (does not know day and month),
Minister A.M.E. Church. First truant officer Catlettsburg, Kentucky.
Interviewed Dec. 23, 1936.)
WAYNE CO.
(Gertrude Vogler)
[Mrs. Duncan:]
"After the War was over mammie's old man did not want us with them, so
he threatened to kill us. Then my old mammie fixed us a little bundle of
what few clothes we had and started us two children out to go back to
the Campbell family in Albany. The road was just a wilderness and full
of wild animals and varmints. Mammie gave us some powder and some
matches, telling us to put a little down in the road every little while
and set fire to it. This would scare the wild animals away from us.
"We got to the river at almost dark and some old woman set us across the
river in a canoe. She let us stay all night wit her, and we went on to
'Grandpap Campbells'' (We always called him grandpap instead of master,
as the others did.) When he saw us comin' he said 'Lawd have mercy here
comes them poor little chillun'.
"I stayed with them that time until I was big enough to be a house girl.
Then I went to live with the Harrison family in Albany; and I lived with
them till I married old Sam Duncan and come to Wayne County to live.
I've raised a family of nine children and have thirty-seven grand
children and twenty great grand children.
"Every one of my children wears a silver dime on a string around their
leg, to keep off the witches spell. One time, before my daughter Della
got to wearing it, she was going down the road, not far from our house,
when all at once her leg gave way and she could not walk. Of course I
knowed what it was. So I went after Linda Woods, the witch doctor. She
come with a bottle of something, all striped with all colors, but when
you shake it up it was all the same color. She rubbed her leg with it
and told me to get all the life everlasting (a weed you know) that I
could carry in my arm, and brew it for tea to bathe her leg in. Then
pour it in a hole in the ground, but not to cover it up. Then not to go
down the same road for nine days.
"We did all she said, and her leg got all right as soon as we bathed it.
But she did not wait nine days, and started down the road the next day.
The very same thing happened to her again. Her leg give way under her
and she could not walk a step.