Untitled Section 001

SLAVE NARRATIVES

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A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Sktves 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 Illustrated with Photographs WASHINGTON 1941 SLAVE NARRATIVES

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VOLUME II ARKANSAS NARRATIVES PART 5 Prepared by the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Arkansas

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INFORMAMS McClendon, Charlie MeCloud, Lizzie MeConico, Avalena McCoy, Ike McDaniel Richard H. McIntosh, Waters Mack, Cresa MeKinney, Warren McMullen Victoria Madden, Nannie P. Madden, Perry Mann, Lewis Martin, Angeline Martin, sosie Mathis, Bc~ss Matthews Caroline Maxwell, Malindy Maxwell, Nellie May Ann Mayes, Joe Meeks, Rev. Jesse Metcalf, Jeff Miller, Hardy . - Miller, Henry Kirk . Miller, Matilda Miller, Nathan Miller, Sam Miller, W. D. 97 Minser, Mose 98 Minton, Gip 100 Mitchell, A. J. 103 Mitchell, Gracie 107 Mitchell, Hettie 111 Mitchell Mary 113 Mitchell, Moses ~ 114 Moon, Ben 118 Moore, ~imia 120 Moore, Patsy 123 Moorehead, Ada 125 Mooreman, Mary Jane (Mattie)l27 Morgan, Evelina 136 Morgan James 141 Morgan, Olivia 145 Morgan Toni 148 Morris, Charity 149 Morris, Emma 152 Moss, Claiborne 155 Moss, Frozie 167 Moss, Mose . 169 2~ Mullins, S. O. 170 4,7 Murdook, Alex ~ 173 9 Myers, Bessie 175 12 Myhand Mary 177 15 Myrax, Griffin 179 17. .. 25 Neal Torn Wylie 181 27,30 Neal3r (Neely), Sally 184,186 32 Neal3r, Wylie 188 39 Neland, Einaline 194 40 Nelson, Henry 197,201 47 Nelson, Iran 203 49 Nelson, Jatnes Henry 205 51 Nelson, J~ohn 208 53 Nelson, Lettie 209 55 Nelson, Mattie 210 57 Newborn, Dan 211 64 Newsom, Saille 213 66 Newton, Pate 216 68 Norris, Charlie 219 70,71 - 72 Oats, Erxm~a 22 . 74 Odan, Helen 226 78,86 Oliver, Jane 228 90 Osborne, Ivory 230 93 Osbrook, 3~ane 232 95 Page, Annie 239 Parker, Fannie 240 Parker, J. M. 242 Parker, Judy 249 Parker, R. F. 255 Parks, Annie 257 Parnell, Austin Pen 262 Parr, Ben 273 Patterson, Frank A. 276 Patterson, 3~ohn 284 Patterson, Sarah 3ane 286 Pattillo Solomon P. .. 292 Patton, Carry Alien 297 Payne, Harriett MoFarlin 300 Pa~nie, ~Tohn 304 Payne, Larkin 306 Perkins, Celia 308 Perkins Marguerite (Maggie) 311,314 Perkins, Rachel 315 234,235,237,238

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347,349 351 355 357 359 362 364 367 Perry, Dinah Peters, Alfred Peters, Mary Estes Peterson, John Pettis, Louise Pettus, Henry C. Phillips, Dolly Piggy, Tony 318,320 322 323 332 334 338 344 345 Pittrnan, Ella Pittman, Sarah Poe Mary Pollacks, W. L. Pope, 3~ohn (Doc) Porter, William Potter, Bob Prayer, Louise

[Interview with McClendon, Charlie] 006 001

I ~-:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ ~J ~- ~ ~ Interviewer Mrs.Bex,iiee Bowden 7 ~ ~ PerSon interviewed Charlie ~cC1endon ~ ~ - .- - - ~- - ( ~/4 ~: . 708 1. Pourth Avenue, Pine Bluff, Arkax~aas \ Age_W 7? - I don t know exactly how old I ~. I was six or seven when the war ended. I member dia ~ my moth3r a id I was born on Christmas day. Old master W~8 goin to war and he told her to take good. care of that boy ~ he was goin to make a fine little man. Did I live up to It? I reckon I waa bout as ~nart a man a~ you could jump up. The work dn t get too hard for ~. I tarmed and I sawxailled a lot Mo8t o~ my time was rarmin . I been in ~offerson County all my lire. I went to school three or four S888iOfl8~ About the war, I member dIs ~ I member they carried us to Camden end I saw the guards. I d say, Give me a pistol . They d say, Come back tomorrow and Il give you n They had me runnin back there every day and I never did get one. They was Yankee soldiers0 Our t olks master was William L Johnaon. Oh Lord, they was just as good to us as could be to be under slavery. After they got free my people stayed there a year or two and then our master broke up and went back to South Carolina and the folks went in different directions, Oh Lord, my parents sho was well treated, Ye8 xna m. 1fb he had a overseer, he wouldn t low him to whip the folks. He d Say, $ust leave em till I come home. Then he d give em a light breshin ,

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2, 2 My father run off and 8tay in the woods one or two months. Old master say, Now, J~ordan, why you rtin off? Now I m goin to give yau~ a light bre8hin and doia t you run off again. ~t t d n~n off again after awhile, He had one man named Mile8 ~ohnson just stayed in the woods 80 he put him on the block and sold him, i: seed the I ~i Klux. We colored folka had to make lt here to Pine Bluff to the county band, If the Rebels kotch you, you waa dead. Oh Lord yes, I voted. I voted the Publican ticket, they called it. You know they had this Au8tralia baLlot. ~ You was sposed to go in the caboose and votes They like to scared me to death one time, I had a description of the n~an I wanted to vote tor in my pocket and I was lookin at it so I d be sure to vote for the right man and they caught me, They said, What yau dom there? We re goin to ttum you over to the sheriff after electi id They had me scared to death. I hid out for a long time till I seed they wasn t goin to do nothin , My wl s brother was one of the judge s o~ the oie otion. Some of the other colored foiks was constables and magistrates ~ some of em are now ~ down in the country. I knew a lot about things but I knew I was in the United States and had to bow to the law, There was the compromise they give the colored folks ~ half ot the offices and thon they got em out after wards. Tohn M. Clayton was runnin for the senate and say he goin to see the colored people had equal rights, b~t they killed him as he was gwine through the country apealcin .

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~3. The white people have treated n~ ~y ~ but they don t :~7 UB enough for ottr woi~ k just enough to live on~ and hardly that. I can say with a clear conscience that it lt hadn t been tor thIs relIef, I don t know ivhat I d do ~ l in not able to work. I m -proud that God Almighty put the spirIt in the ~ (Roo se~elt ) to help us. ~ I

[Interview with McCloud, Lizzie] 009 004

. 4 Thterviewsr Mrs. Bernioe Bowden Person interview.d Lizzis MoCloud . ~ l2O38h ~rt 13th Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas Age 120? . .- ~ ~ ~ ~ I was one of em bless your heart. Yes rna m. yes ma m, I wouldn t tell you a lie bout that. It I can t tell you the truth I m not goin tell you nothin ! Oh yes, I ~is a young lady in slavery times ~ bred and born in Tennessee. Mise Lizzie and Mares ~Tohn Williams ~ I belonged to them sho did2 I was scared to death of the white folks. Miss Lizzie ~ she mean as the devil. She wouldn t step her foot on the ground, she so rich, No ma m wouldn t put her foot on the ground. Bave her carria~ drive up to the door ~nd have that silk carpet ~t dom for her to walk on. Yes Lord. Wouldn t halt feed us and they went and named me aft r her. I know all about the stars fallin . I was out in the field and just Coifle in tO ~5t our dinn r. Got so dark and the stars begin to play un. Mistress say, Lizzie, it e the jud~nent. She was just a hollerin . Yes ma m I was a young women. I been here a long ti~, yes ma m, I been here a long tine. Worked an~ whipped,. too. I run ofT many a time. Run oft to see my mammy three or four miles tr~ where I was0 I never was sold b~.tt they took we young wcmen and brought us doun in the country to another plantation where they raised corn, wheat, and hay.

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2. 5 C~verse.r whipped us too. Mar.. lohn had a brothr nei~d Mare. Andrsw and he was a good m. H d .~ to th ovsreasr Now don t whip thas girli 80 iflUCh, they can t work. Oh, he was a good men. Oh~ white folks wae the devil in slavery ti~s. I wa~ scared to death of sa. They d have thsee long cow hide whip.. Honey, I wae treated bad. I seen a time in this world. Oh Lord, y.., that was long tore the war. I wae right down on wy master e place when it atart.d. They said it wae to tree the niggers. ~ Lord, we wae right under it in Davidson Couzity where I o~e tr~. ~i Lord, yea, I knowed all about when the war started. I se a young ~ a you~ woman. We wa~ treated just like dogs and hogs. We seed a hard t ime I kiiow what I ~i talkizi aboet. Oh God, I seed the Yankees. I asw it a.ll We wae ao .carsd v run urAder the house and the Yankese called C~ ou~t Dinah ( dIdII t call non ~ us anything but Dinah) They said Dinah, we re fight in to tree you ~.d ~t you out tr n under bondage . I ~re understood that but I didn t fl~ve no better aense than to go back to mistreaa. ~Oh Lord yea I aeed the Eu Klux. They didn t bother ~ cause I ~i dL t atay where they could ; I wae way under the houas. YankeeB burned up everything Mares ~ ohn had. I looked up the pike &:~ seed the Yankeea a comin . They say ~ a tightin tor you, Dinah~ ~&ikees walked in, chile, juat walked right in on us. I tell you I ve seed a tii~ You talkin bout war you bettr wish no more war c~. : i~, when the war etarted. The Seoeaaore on this eide az~d the Ye~k.ea ~L that aide. Yea, Mies, I seen enough. My brother wnt and JIn.d the ~eoes3ora and they killed him tine he got in the war.

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3.. G No, Missy, I nev r went to no echool. White folka nsver learned me nothin . I bellevee ifl tellin white folks the truth. White folke didn t low us to marry ao I neyer married till I o~ to Arkansa3 and that was one year after eurrender. Pirat place I landed on wee sohn Clayton a place Mr. ~oJm Clayton waa a Yankee and he wae good to ua. We worked in the field and etayed there two ysari. I been all up and down the river end oh Lord I had a good time after I wae tree. I been treated right aince I was tree. My color is good to me and the white folks, too. I ain t goin to tell only the truth. Uncle Sam goin send n~ oroas the water if I don t tell the truth. Better not fool with dat m~

[Interview with McCloud, Lizzie] 012 007

~n ~ n ~ ~ ~:: ~ 7 Izr~e~viewer .. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ 1 ~~ ~ .* s --- ~ - ~- p.* T ~. ~ t _. I 4--T ~ ~ T ~ PerBon iu~ervi we Lizzie 3~,O1OU~1 ~ F;-A~1~ ~i ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Well, where you been? I been .oMerin bOUe ~ Yes L~wd. You mu s is lookin fin ~ Yes ~ hone~r, I was bred and bawn In Davidson Coun~y1 Tenneasee. Come hero one year ai ber ~ smr ider. I%~r daughfer there was a baby jue ~ sibtiri alone, now~ siltin alone when I o ae here to this Ar~ nBaB. I Iaiow what I m talld.nt about. Lizzie WillialDB, 1~ old miSais, waa rioh ae cream. Tes I~wd& I bw, ail about it oaase I worked for t~fl ~i ias a yo~mg misais when the War stat bed~ I W~8 woricin for ~q oiv~iers then. I a~0WOd uhen they was free-- uhen the~j said they waa free. The Ta~keea wouldn t call az~p of the eolored i~omon anything barb D~ah~ I didn t Iatow who the~r ~was till theLy told us. ~aid, ~ w~t B 0C~i2I~ tO free you. The ihite folks didn t try to soare us boixt the Yank~ee oau~e the~r too soared theirselveB. ThEmt Yankees wasn t pla~~1.nt ; th ~ was fitin . JesuaL Uad ~ ~work 1Iard-~.4I2d whipp d too. w~sn~ t played with. I~m Andrew in the field a heap a times aM BB~T~ tDoii t whip theia women e can t work. I thotiglrt a heap of I~rs Andr~ t, I used to see the Yanlcaes riding bOSSeS Bfld t;h~ breastplatea a eh~-ni~i . Yea 1Aw~ I d run and th~rtc1 BB~T1 tDine.h; we ain t gym. hurb 7OU.t 1AWd th j Yan1~~ didn t oaro for nOtIIiU . Oh~ they ~aa fine. :

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8 w ~t at a ~ ~*~:;a. .t, a~a, t~ ;~b a donna em~ ~ ~ t~. ~ ~ ~ it fl~ ~ Lt tim toms. ~ ~ Me I sa ~a I 1~ a ~ia c3*ytcaes es, ~ as t t*ts 83d he t g~ tW a ta, tPa ~ lint a 1~t w ta .~ ~

[Interview with McConico, Avalena] 014 009

~ r... ~ ~ L~ t2~t~ ~~:rrt a - ___ ~a :t*~flNMwL S~I~JIa lb ~.. ~ s ~ . . ~ . . ~ ~ .: ... ~EnI*arsmtsmsmi~~ _ t s ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~s t ~ ~ ~ ~W ~ ~ ~ -w~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .w ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *~ ~-~ as a ~~Pt t iSt ~e is .. ~ ~ ~ irns ~a ~ ~ra ~ :&~ 1 ~~ !~ IS at .s~ ~Sa ~i The at at a. ~ ~ :. ~ t~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t 3or~ a~ t ~ iN~ *S fl ~L 1!~ ~ St .~resd~ ~!bir sM ~ . t ~ 1~lIP lfl t~ ~!fl~ a ~ ~ 1~It 1~ n ~ ~z ~ ai~m~ t ~bs i ~ a da ~ 1~~a ~ t t a 11~ Sie ~zj ~ the. ~ ~t ~. ~ S C t t t~i a~ :~ ~ ~ nut ~ ist Ss~ut t i~ t ~flm ~ e ~ms e t flMu~ 1~ ht 1~ ~t bi ~i ~ ~ 1~ ~t fl as S *~I 1~bit as ~l%~ ~ ~t~ ~ a ~ ~L ~ ~ ~ir* tm~ ~I hear ~.___ . s~ ~ ~ iLs ~ .~. ~ ~ n ~ ~Iw ~mt ~ taat ~: ~ ~tt ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ n~ a tite ~ ~~ntt%4 ~ s ~ ~ a ~ t S ~ ~ ~ She ~ ~ t ~EL ~ ~W S ~ ~ ~ ____ ca~ t ~ t ~ ~k ~ tat fi at s n i~ at thar~ a~t ~ ~~~imt 4~j tt ~ ~ ~t ~t ~a, ~ ~rt t this as~ t t S J~ ~ ~ I ~ S 80 ~ ~ s ~ ~ ~ t i~t th~ *IS *i~ t biSt fl~ flevsr ~ ~ ~r at fl~: ~ ~ ~ ft lIS i ~r c~

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ID and the 1Mflb~ ~a~a ~ (~ 1~a~ ~~tvbS ~tw~ t t ~*t ISt t bo y DL ~ *tt*~ 1~~i~flS& t~~tiSI~tt b~~1~S 1fli *~fl ~ttt leave the In ~ft 1 ~ .~ ~ ~ ~. ~ ~ 1t~,, ~ i;~~ ~ ~ ~ ~S~W~P~i .~ t ____ The Y4~~~fl IMmase .2~bw..4rna ~ ~ t! *t 1lb~a~ ~imS tt1~ ts fcc m~ I~S. 1 ~ ~ S~S~ tlWflt fl)~ t t1S~ tfltt t thres tL n4~ ~ 1~1MmIrtt ~st ~rnere t t ~tt it. ~tt i~ a ~ leSt, it,, Strawje ass a ~cI. ~ :1m~E tt~, ~ernt ~ ~bE~ ~tbey ~m*s1~d i~ ~ S the wonds ~ ~* 44E: n tt ~btU e .~atss~ ~~ ~ai the ~flfl*~ ~t~M~k ~ : ~ the yaMs iss : ~u~ ~ *t t~ ~t. t~ ~ i~~_~s i~s. ~Wt~t ~v* it1P~ it Ei fifl ur~ tUl .~t i1S&1 Fis ~SS ibt la. -~ get ~flsr *s bi ~ot L~ .t~~aNeta? ~mm3A iu~M~t it.~a ~ttt te T~ ~t ait to his flfl~, :~t4 ~ . ~ se i~ ~ cd ~ isfl gp tar tis siofl.s. ~ imts s~Id tfl? c~d ne and ~ ~ ~a~sr 1~~* ~ ~ and to altes. Es .IiStt him tow to tiak the ds~ ~zd t~ ttSs 11~ a ~fl, ~t the and aD the t~il te :1~gs ~ *s~ trii e te ~ s was settw ~st t. ~ ~ ~ ~ ..c. . t s . ~ te~ He n~n~t aa~t ~gIa, ta Sit ~S ti fli~ itS 5 ~ 1A. .J~ * ~S ~S iS was xtl;a . nit ~ ~isr~ ~ ~as to3A ~ t.~ ~. d ail *~n~ fl t ~ hou s~s ~at W~st~ cd ~s ann ~ :~~y ai O .~ad ~ t~ ~ al ~iOR~ trie ~ ~&sd :.t~v .~cn ~ 1t~a~~ its ~1 is ik~ e~ t Jt~iii~ t aguir. to .)~. ~as;bta~. kw ~t~t ~ ~ ~~Sut~a t~ aiz~ ~ihe said tlwy :r~ ~ i~Ln. ~fl IS s~ 1~i S *~ S

016 011

5. 11 She said ou the way they pas8ed sc~ ahildmn. Th.~ iias playin . A little white boy was up in a perelon tree settin on a 11mb eating persi~one. He was so pretty and clean. Grandma says, You think you is sctne ~~pkiu, don t you, honey child. Be says, Scmie pumpkin ana ~ ei~non too. Grandma was a house girl. She got to keep her baby and brought him. He waa ~:;~ father. Uncle ~as born later. Then they wae treed. Grandma lived to be ainety-flve ysara old. lira, I~lphy looly and Mrs. Shelton was her young iii.tstresses. They kept her till she died, They kept her well. Qrandrna told us about rreedctn. ~ie wa~ hired out to the Browna to niaks sausage and dry out lard. l ive gina was in. the field ~burnin~ brtiah, The y was white girla-.4fra. Brown s girls They cane to the house and said some Blue Coats ecme by and said, You tree They told thetii back, That s no news we was born tree . ~ ~ said that night she melted pewter end made dots on her best dress. It ~aa shiny~ She wore it hcme next day cause she was tree aiid she DeTer left from about her own ~iite folks till she died and left them. ~?iines seem very good on black folks till hard cold winter and spring cofl~, then times is mighty, mighty bad. It Is so hard to keep warm tires and eno~ii to eat, Times have been good. Black toiks ix~ the youi~g ~nera~ ~ ion need more heart training and less book learning. Tii~s is so tait the yo~n~ set is too greedy. They is wasteful too. Scrnie Is hard workers and tries to live right, I wash and irons and keep a o~nan ~ little chile so she can work. I owns ~y h~.

[Interview with McCoy, Ike] 017 012

4~ \.~4 ~ ~ ~bt 12 ~ ~Sr~ ~ ~$~_~h__~_w% ... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *~ fio~e ~ . - ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ ~ ~.- -. ~ ~ ~ ~ ..~ ~ ~. ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ .~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ *~ w ~~*::~ ~ ~ ~*n~ ~ ~cey~ ~:: tr T 1b~T they ws t ~ flAt 1V ~ et !~rt~b~ 1~fl~e t4e~) 5~~&\ ~ ~ ~ r r~ ~ !E ~tMSec1. t~o .~ . fl~ Sn; tn~i4;& t,~ s 14tt~e ~ ~ 1*~ M~ W. hs~ +~kr wt tt&t 1r~b*c T )~tcrd ~ ~-kc isav~ ~hs~Wn?tr 1i~et ~$re .. ~ ~ ~r~t fc~ tr !~ .. n: h Thc ~ t~:~ vi~.rs~ ~he d~ei ~$s~bei~i ~ ~t!O~ r . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Pt(er ~ t ~ .. ~ iv. ~ gTh.~.cfl ~ T n~. T! ~rt ~b t T Anr~e n? ifte~ ~1*nx~y~ ~ :~ ~ tar ~ ~rM,s hiM thet~ 1~ms~e . ~ ~. . ..s tn the~~de~ .1Th, .. 1~_t1~~w ~ f~t.. ~ thoe~ ttd ~~r~aa3 ~ t~~st~ .p ~j ~ t~1I*tr~imms~e ~ Old ~bflr bit ~. flC.c. h;~ iy~ :~~ closet ..svt~ 1~k 4 itbicaif ut, fis !f~.s ?eee . ~ : TT. CC hSr~ cd ~t~i at~ ott rni ti~r ~ auto .~ ~ h~ ~tt~g 4r w bad . T:~r t~ ..c o ~ ~ ~ the ~P1ame *u~ at Plthg ~ Y~r wore h~. r~ Fe; d~. 2 ~ ~ ~ fl~ lctg ~*Ther ~ ~ n Tt4~it~ ~o; ~1~e 1 tard her say ~ . sold ail lais ~ fle War ~ ~ ~ ~ i~h ~ ttn ... ~ . ~ y ad ~ t M.tk te .ani~ Sh._etd ne ~ ~ hS~Lt,~4~ h4~a ThtY ~ .scid .jri_ti ina~~r_ t at~. ~ ~ ~ g te ~_$!2g off te . t~: ; . the~ thCUtiit~ tt 1L00~ .. ~ ~ DC42&* ~ ~ . a ___ ~ ~ ~ ~ they ~d~t ~ ~ . ~ Cfl to nr ~ ror~ it na . done~ ~~. ~ce didn t Ar; ~ IJ: 1fr.; ~. . ~ nc~ tfled ~ na sstptstt tat laa e ce tell t eLaaathj~ and ~ t~1. ths~* OU1OZ!tt~tWSfS ~T it ~1 D ~ 3Sk .toIr~ n~ ~ ~ ~ t~c<t~~ ~ ~ tot tS..~afl t~ tey.. . ouk to w1~ite to3kv tor r4ght .)~nd ~ . (10

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2. 13 ~ said evexy now~ and then tee soenebody going back to that ~an tried to got rid of th ~, They traveled by niglxt arxi beg along from black folks, In da~ti~$ they would stay in the woods so the pettyrollera wouldn t run up on the~n. The pettyrollers would ~whoop eir~ if they eatoli emt. Ma told abotrt~ one day the Yankees o~e and made the white wciaeii oo~ ~ help the nigger women cook up a big dinner. Ma was soared so bad she ~ ~ ~ld~ t see notiiing she wanted, She said there was no talking. They was t too ~oarod to say a word. They sot the table and never a one of th~i told. t em it was ready. She said bisouits so scarce after the War they took em round in I their pockets to nibble on they taste so good, I was eighteen years old when pa and ma took the notion to oorie otrb hero, All of us coima but one t~ister had r~.rried, and pa and one brother had a little difference, Pa had children ~. dicIn t have. They wezxt together ~a~ after slavery, We got tranaporbation to Maaphis by train and took a steamboat to Pillowim*unt. That close to Forrest City. Later on I oorie to Bisooe, They finally oorte too, UI been pretty independeirb all v~j life till I getting so feeble, I work a sight x~owo Itxa making boards to kiver my house out at the lot now, ~ I goh.~er get son~bo y to kiver it 800X1 as I get ~i~r boards ii~.do. ~ ttWe don t get no WA aid oeptin for t~o orphant babies we gob. They ~ are n~y wife s sister s little boys. Well sir-ree, folks could do if the young ones would. Yotui~ folks don t . have no consideration for the old wore~out pare@ts. They dance and th ~Lk it bodac3~ous y oixb on Saturday ebening and about till Sunday nighba ~i ~nay be wrong but I sees it thater way. lYhen we get old we get helpless.

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3. 14 I m ~ting feebler every yea~ I see that. Ti~ies goiner be bard ag in this wii~ber and nezL aprii~g ~nc~r j~ scarce no~ tor si~er time anci craps laid by. I feels that n~r awn self ~ ~ wii~ter times get tougii~

[Interview with McDaniel, Richard H.] 020 015

~ Interview.r ~ . ~ 1ft~i. irs .. n Robarteon ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : .~s~-~rn-~--- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ J ~ Person interviewed Bichax~d ~ Mc~niel Brinkley~ r~az~aas~ ~ Age 73 ~ __u____-s_~ .~rs I was born in Newton County, Miseiseippi the fir t year of the surrender. ~ I don t think my mother waa sold and I know my father was never sold. ;Tim McDaniel raised my father and one sister after ail letber died. One sister was~niarried when she died. 1 heaxd hia say when he got mad he would quit work. Ee aaid old ~ater wouldn t l t the mietrs8a whoop hini and she wouldn t let him whoop my father, My father was a black aa~ but my mother was light. ~er rather was a white man and hsr mother part Indian and White mixed, so what am I? My mothr was oined by pople nan~d Waah. Dick Waah was her young niostar. ~y parents names was Willie and Elsie McDaniel. When it was fresdc~ I heard them say ~ster McDaniel told them they was fre . Ue was broke. It they could do better go on, he du t blame them, he ouldn t pronii~e them much now. They moved ott on another man e place to share crop. They had to work sa bard and . didn t have no more than they had in e1av.ry~ That is what they ~ told me . They oou 4 move around and visit arotind wIthout aakin~. They eald lt didn t 12ghtsn. the work none but it lightened the rations ri~ht ~art~ Moater McDaniel nor my father neither one went to wax ~ Fro~n the way I alwaye beard i the ~i ~lux was the law like ni*t Watobman. When I was a boy there was a lot ~ ot stealing and bua1iwhackin~, Fo1k~ nieet you omit and kill ~ rob you, whoop y~x. 4 few of th black len dn t work and wanted to ~tial. That ~i Klux Wa. the law watching arowid. Polka was scared of m. I did 5S0 thUI~ ~ I would run hid..

021 016

. ~ 2. 16 *1 farmed up tili 1929.. ehen Z: be n do,$* .JC~b. .. . I. ~c* .. od on. ;eliat till they turned ins oft, aai4 I waa i~oC o)4 t o wOrk: ibu~ * ey wOfl t give ~ the penelon. I been trying to tlgux Out what I ~ to ~o. iaay, could you tell me? Work at jobs when I o~ get thim. I ailue been votin till late ysari. ~ It they let aeae folks vote in the flr8t leetlon, they would be putt1x~g in somebody got no business ~ in . th. gover /ment ~ ill t ~e fault I see ~ In white folks running the govr /ment is we colored rolka ain t got work we can do ai . the time to live on. I thou~t all the white folks had jobs what wanted jobs. Th. condit ions is hard for old men like ~. I ~y $3 for a house every I~Oflth. ~ It is a cold houes. This present generation is living a fast lite. What all don t they

[Interview with McIntosh, Waters] 022 017

3b959 Interviewer . ~ 8~el a.. Taj~or ~ . ~ ~ ~ J ~ aL.~*~. uisi~~ u u i- -~ ~ Person interviewed . ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ M~Intoah ~ 1 ~ -~1- - 1 ~ ~- _ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ -~- _~ rI~ ~ ~ 1900 Hoiard ~ Street, Little Bock~ ~ rkans*a A~jL ~ ~ ~I waa boTh J~uly 4, 1862 at 2:08 in the morning at Lynch~irg, Sumter County, South Carolina. Par nte ~ - My mother iaa ~~iamed Lucy Sanders. My father was named Sumter airant. Otir owner was Dr. ~J. L Saiiders, the son of Mr. Bartlett Sanders. Sumter Durant was a white men. ~r mother las fourteen years old when I was born. I was her second child. Airant was in the Contederate army and wae killed during the War in the sa~ year I was born, and before my birth. ~ Sold ihen I was a year old, my mother was sold for $1500 in gold, and I was sold for 500 in gold to William Carter who lived about five muai. eouth of Carteraville. The payment was made in fine gold. I was sold because my folk realized that treedcm was coming and they wanted to obtain the cash value of their slavea. Naine My name is spelled Waters b~t it is pronounced Walten. Than I was born, I was thought to be a very likely Child and it was proposed that I should be a waiter. Therefore I was called laters (but it was pronounced Waiters) They did not spell it w-a-~i-t.e r.e, but they pronounced it that way.

023 018

2. 18 ~ ffo* P~resdcm ~ ~ My mother said that they had bean waiting a bug time to hear what had become of the War, perhaps ofle or two we ks~ One day when th.7 w~ in the field moulding corn, going round the corn hoeing it and ~nitting a little hill around it, the conk sounded at about eleven o clock, and thy knew that the long expected time had cc~. They dropped their hoes and went to the big hous. They went around to the back where the master always met . the servants and he said to them, You are all. free fr., as I am. You can go or come as you pleaae. I want you to stay. If you will stay, I will give you half the crop. That was the beginning of the share cropping system. My mother came at once to the quartera, and when she found she pulled the end out of a corn sack, stuck holes on the sides, put a cord through the top pulled out the ~ end put it on me put on the only dresa . she had and made it back to the old hc~ (her first master s folk). Ihat the Slaves xpect d ~ When the slaves were treed, they got ihat they expected. ~ They were glad to get it and get away with it, and that was what mother and them did. &ar ~ Time Preaching One time when an old white man caine along who wanted to preach, the white people gave him a chance to preach to the nigger.. The aubatenca of his sermon was this: * Now when you servants are working for your masters, you ~at b honest. When YOU go to the mil1,~ don t carry along an extra sack and ~nit SOlD Of the neal or the flour in for yourself. And when you women are cooking

024 019

5. 19 In the big house doz~ t mak a big pocket under your dreaa and put a sack of coffee and a sack of sugar and other things you want in it, . They took Mm out and hanged him tor corrupting the morals of the slaves. Conditions itter the War Immediately after the War, there was a great scarcity of tood. Neither Negroes nor white folk had anything to eat. The few white people who did have something wouldn t let it be known. My grandmother who was sixty$ive years old and one of the old and respected inhabitanta of that time went out to find something for us to eat. A white woman named Mrs. Burton gave her a sack of meal and told her not to tell anybody where she got lt. My grandmother brought the meal home and cooked lt in a large skillet in a big cake. Villen it got done she cut it into slices in the way you would cut up a pie and divided it among us That all ~ we had to eat, Rouse The white people in those days built their houses back from the front. In South Carolina, there were lots of farms that had four to twelve thousand acres. Prom what mother told ~ Master Bill s place set back from the road. Then there was a great square place they called the yard. A fence divided the house and the yard adjoining it from that part of the grounds which held the barn. The yard In front and back of th house held a grove.

025 020

A E ~ square around the houee :~ the Negro quartera were I encloeed so that the lit ~ could not get out LtS were at work. assembled on porch when the %.~ called them In the ~ t:) ~. The b088 gave ~ from the porch, T ~d was an open space ( L~ the quarters and ~s court (where the lit-. ~ slave a played) ~ There I a gate between the and the big house. On the rear of the house, there was a porch from ~hicb the boss gave orders usually about Cour o clock in the morning and at which they would disbafld in the evening between nine and ten- no certain time but more or less not earlier than nine and not often later than ten. Back ot the house and. beyond lt was a fence extending clear across the yard. In one corner of this fence was a gate leading into the court. Leading out of the court was an opening surrounded by a semi-circular fence which en closed the Negro quarters, The cabins were usually built on the ground- no floors. The roofs were covered with clapboards. ~en I was a boy we used to sing, Bather be a nigger than a poor white rrian. ven in slavery they used to sing that. It was the poor white man who was freed by the War, not the Negroes, :~FUI fl1 ture There wasn t any furniture. Beds were built with one post out and the other three sides fastened to the sides of the house. ~ ~ ~ Y.~..

026 021

5. 21 Mar~7ing Time I remember one night the people were gone ~ to marry. That *as when ail the people in the co~inity married i~ediate1y after slavery. . ~&oata we had an open fireplace. That was at .Bartl tt Sand,r8. Place. Hs had close on to three thousand acres. Every grown person had gone to ths marrying, and I was at home in the bsd I just described. Mi)~randtath.r s mother had a chair and that was her5 only. ~ was named Senia and was about eighty years old. ~ We . burned nOthing but pina knots in the hearth. You would put one or two ot those on the fin end they would barn for hours. W, were all in bed and had been for en hour ox two. There were some others sleeping in the same x o~ There cerna a peculiar knocking on randinother ejchai~ It s hard to describe it. It was something like the distant beating or a drum. Grandmother was dead, of course. The boys got up and ran out and brought in some of the hands. . When they Caine in, a little thing about three and a halt feet high with legs about six or eight inches long ran out of the room lu flux flan Whenever there was a man of influence they terrorized him. They were at their height about the time ot Grant s election. Many a time my mother and ~ I have watched them pass our door. Th.y wore gowns and e~ kind of helmet. They would be going to catch some leading Negro and whip him. There was scarcely a night they couldn t take a leading Ne~o out and whip Min if they would catch him alone. On that account, ths Negro men did not stay at home in ~imter County, 3outh CarOlina at night. 1? I t

027 022

O ~) 6~. left hc~ nd stays1 to~sthir. Th. Ka KLux v ry seldom interfer~ a woman or a child. They often seared colored people by drinking large quantities ot water. They had acinthing that held a lot of water, and when they ~ u .d raise the bucket to their mouths to drink~ they would slip the water into white C*pa ~ The white caps operated further to the northwest of Where I lived. I ne ver came in contact with thm. They were not the same thing as the K~i Klux. ~ Voting ~In $outh Carolina under the Reconstruction, we voted right along~ In 1868 there were soldiers at all ot the election places to see that you did vote, Career Since the War . r~ i . In 1881 1 married. The year after that ~ 85~ I merchandised a little. Then I got converted. I got it in my head that it was wrong to take big protits trcm business, so I sold out. Then I was asked to assist the keeper of the jail. In . 1888 I went to school for the first ti~. I ~ was then twnty six years old. By the end of the tiret te~, I ~ew ai . that the teacher could teach, so he sent me to Claflin University. I left there in the third sear normal. When I returned h ~e, I taught school, at f~rat in a private school sud later in a public chool for 115 a month.

028 023

7. 23 A man named Boyle told me that he had some ground to seil. I saved up f45, the price he asked for it. When I offered lt to him, he said that he had decided .Eot to sell lt. I went to town and spent my f45. A few days later, he met me and offered me the place again. I~ told him I had spent my money. He then offered it to me on tim. There wasplenty of timber on the place, so I got some contracts with a man named Roland and delivered wood to him. When I went to collect the money, he said he would not pay me in money. A man named Pennington offered me ~ a day for labor. I asked if he would pay in money. He replied If you ra looking for money, t come . WI went home and said to my wits, I am going to leave here. I came to Forrest City, Arkansas J anuary 28, 1888. I armed in Forrest City, making one crop, and then I entered the ministry, and then I preached at Spring Park for two years. Then I entered Philander ~nith College where I stayed from l891.. 189?, I preached from the time I left Philander until 1913. Th n I studied law and completed the American Correspondence course In Law when I was fifty years old. I am still practicing. Wife and Family n In 1897 when I graduated from Thilander, my wife and six children were sitting on the front seat, . nI have eleven sons and daughters, of whom six are living. I had seven brothers and sisters, My wife and I have been married fifty.~six yeara. I had to 8teal her away from her parents, and she has never regretted coming to me nor I taking her. ~

029 024

8. 24 Interviewer s Connent Brother Mack as he la familiarly and affectionately known to hi. frienda 18 a man keen and vigorous, mentally and physically. He attende Sunday school, chur ~h both in the morning and evening, and ail departments of the ~pworth Iaag~te. He takes the Kpworth Herald, the Southwestern Christian Advocate, the Literary Digest, some poultry and farm magazines, the Arkansas Gazette and the St. Louis Democrat and several other journals. He is an omnivorous reader and a clear thinker. He raises chickens and goats end plants a garden as avocations. He has an Invincible reputation for honesty a~ well as tor thrift and thought. . Nothing is pleasanter than to view the relationship between him and his wife. They have been married fifty-six years and seem to have achieved a perfect understanding. She is an excellent cook and is devoted to her home . She attenda church regularly. Seems to be four or five years younger than her hu8band, Like him, however, she seems to enjoy excellent health.

[Interview with Mack, Cresa] 030 025

) r; f~rdI-J ~-~ -~-~-~ ~ -~-~- r~r~4s~. i~e~den_~ - ~ - - -- - Cresa Mack 1417 Short Indlexia St . Pine Bluff Ark. - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ~ . ~ ~I can tell you 8omethiflg about slavery daya. I wa~ born at South Bend, Arkanaae on the old Joe Clay place. I member they used to work !em SCandalOUs. They uaed n~ at the hou8e and I used to wait on old flh1atI~e38 brother. He was a old man named Cal Fletcher. i: member when they said the Yankees was commt the boss man put us in wagor~s and ruimed us to Texas. They put the wcmon and chillun In the wagons but the men had to walk, E know I waa something over twelve years old. MOld miatress, Mi s Sarah Clay, took her chillun and went to Mein.~ phi a. My white folks treated us very well. I mother but once but I seen some whipped till rna m I have. t, ~ can member a lot bout the war. The I member they used to sing Run nigger run, The padd3rrollere ll ketch you, Run nigger run. Corse if they ketch you out without a pass they d beat you nearly to death and tell you to ~o home to your master. Interviewer Person interviewed never seed ~em whip my they speechless. Yea Lord have mercy I se old.

031 026

_)( 2. One time I was totin water tor the woman what did the washin . I was gain along the road and seed somethin up in a tree that look like a dog. I said Look at that dog. The overseer was comin from the house and said That ain t no dog, that s a panther. You better not stop and he shot it out. Then I ve seen bears out iii the cane brakes. I thought they was big black bulla. I was young then ~ yes maw, I was young. When the Yankees cc~ne through they sot the house afire and the gin and burned up bout a hundred bales a cotton. They never bothered the niggers quarters. That was the time the overseer carried us to Texas to get rid of the Yankees. After the surrender the Yankees told the overseer to bring us all up in the front yard so he could read us the ceremony and he said .:we wa8 as free as any white man that walked the ground. I didn t know what twas about much cause I was too busy . WI didn t know what school was fore freedom, ~it I went about a month after peace was declared. Then papa died and mama took me out and put ins in the field. I was grown, bout twenty~four or five, when I married. Now my ohillun and grand chillun takes care of me.

[Interview with McKinney, Warren] 032 027

4~ :~~o q~ ) ~ ~ 44 (;~ J Interviewer Miss. Irene Robertson Per8O 1 iziterviewed Warren Mc!1nn y~ Hazen~ 4rkansaa Age~~_ 85 ~~ ~ I was born in Edgefield County, South Carolina. I am eighty five year8 old.. I was born a slave of George Strauter. I remembers hearing them say Thank God Ize free as a jay bird. My ma was a slave in the field. I was eleven years old when freedom was declared. When I was little,~Mr. Strauter whipped. my ma. It hurt me bad as it did. her. I hated him. She was crying. I chunked him wi~th rocks. He run after me, but he did.n t catch me. There was twenty five or thirty hands that worked in the field. They raised wheat, corn, oats, barle~~ and cotton. All the children that couldn t work stayed at one house. Aunt Mat kept the babies and ~na1l children that couldn t go to the field. He had a gin and a shop. The shop was at the Thrk of the roads. When de war come on my papa went to build forts. He quit nia and took another woman. When de war closed ma took her ~* f children, bundled em up and went to Augusta. The governnient give out rations there. My ma washed and ironed. People died in piles. I don t know till yet what was de matter. They said lt was the change of living. I seen five or six wooden, painted coffins piled up on wagons pass by our house. Loads passed every day lack you see Cotton pass here. Some said it was cholorea and some took consumption.

033 028

2~ 9 Lots of de colored people nearly starved. Not much to get to do and not irnich house rocm. ~evereJ. families had to live in one house. Lots of the colored folks went up north and froze to death. They couldn t stand the cold. They wrote back about them dieing. No they never sent them back. I heard some sent for money to come back. I heard plenty bout the Ku ~.ux. They scared the folks to death. People left Augusta in droves. About a thousand would all meet and walk going to hunt work and new home8. Some of them died, I had a sister and brother lost that way. I had another sister come to Louisiana that way. She wrote back. I don t think the colored folks looked for a share o ~ land.. They never got nothing cause the white folks didn t have nothing but barren hills lett. About all the mules was wore out hauling provisions in the army. Some folks say they ought to done more for de colored folks when dey i~ft, but dey say dey was broke. Freeing all de slaves left em broke. That reconstruction was a mighty hard pull. Me and ma dn t live A. man paid our ways to Carli sie Arkansas and we come. We started working for Mr. Einenson. He had a big store, tearns)and land. We liked it fine, and I been here fifty-~sii years now. There was so much wild game living was not so hard. If a fellow could get a little bread and a place to stay he was all right. After I come to dis state I voted some. I have farmed and worked at odd jobs. I farmed mostly. Ma went back to her old master. He persuaded her to come back home. Me and her went back and run a farm four or five years before she died. Then I come back here,

034 029

~- ~: 29 I first had 300 acres at Carlisiso I 801d lt and bought 80 aCres at ~ Green Grove. I married In South C ~ olina. We had a fine weddin, home wedd1r~. ~ach of our families furnished the weddin supper. We had 24 walters. That Is all the wife 1 ever had. W lived together 5? years. It Is hard for me to keep up with my mind since she died. She been dead five years nearly now. ~ I used to sing but I forgot all the $Oiigs. le had song books. I joined the church when I was twelve . ~ S years~old. ~ S S I think the ~ times are worse than they use to be. The people S is living mighty fast I tefl you. I don t get no help from the government. They won t give me the pension. I can t work and I can t pay taxes on my place . They just don t give me nothing but f a little out of the store. I can t get no pension.

Ex-slave - history. 035 030

~O566 ~ ~ t) FOLKLORE SUBJECTS .. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ . ~ ~ ~. ~ ~ . ~ \ . ~ ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . S, ~ ~ Name of Interviewer~ ~ ~ ~ j . Subjeot~ -.-.-~-~. - U~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .-- -~-- - --__: ~ - Story ~ Information (it uort enougii space on this peg. add pige) Warren MoKinney wae born in. .Edgetield County, South Carolina. ~ ife wa8 born a slave. His master was George Strauter. He ha a big plantation and worked twenty.4ive or thirty work handS. There were tw nty~u.fi~e or thirty ohiidren too email to work in the field. ~ey raised cotton, corn, oats, arzI wheat. 111e mother washed and ironed and cooked. He was small but we .1 remembers onoe when his mother had been sick and had just g tton out. George Strauter thipp.d her with a switch on her legs. Warren did rLot approve of it. Rooks were plentiful and he bgan throwing at him.. He said Mr. George took out after him b~ t didn t catch or whip him.,, . George Strauter tried to teaoh them ail how to be good farnera and be saving. Warren knew war was. go Ing on but he d idII t see any of it His father came home several time e 11e was off building forts. 11e said he remembered a big ~hur1y bur1y and he heard em saying, Thank GodItze free as a jay bird. He didn t know why they were fighting so he didn t ~ow then why they were saying that. . ~ George Strauter had a shop at the fork of the roads. R. had his . own gin. They sold cotton and bought pr vi s ions at &ugusta~ Georgia. They made some of their i~a1 and flour and raised ai . their meat and made enough lard to do the year around. He heard them talking about the Yankees burning up Augusta, but he saw where they had burned Uanburg, South Carolina or North Augusta they call it. After they were free he remembers his ~ mother bundling up her things and her family ~id them all going in ~i ox cart to Augusta to live Warren s mother washed, cooked and ironed for a living. Her husband went off and lived with another woman after freedom. Warren was about eleven years old then. The Government furnished food for them to . One thing that d istressed Warren was thewaypeople died form than ayea~ This Information given byWarre~MoK1nn.j ~ ~ ~ Place of Resideno, Hazes ~ Grove Settlen~nt, ~rkausaa ~ ~ Occupation ~ -~ - -_~~ ~ - AGE 84 Little ROOk Distriot

036 031

. . 31.~ He saw five or six ooffins piled up on a wagon being taken out to be buried. He ~ thought it was changing houses and ohanging ways of living. They didn t have shoes and warm loth i and weren t fed from white folks smoke house... j~ota o f the slaves had C onsmption~an4A~d4ght now. Stout iren and ~ w~n dl. du t live two years after they were freed. Lots: of them said. they didn t like that freedom and wanted to go back but the *sters were broke and oouldn t keep many of them if they went baolc. When warren was about fifteen years old, there was a white. man or two but colored leaders mostly got about a thousand colored people to start for t he West walking. Warren had sisters and brothers who etarted on this trip. Warren had some ~~y~ZOth~ ers, his mother was afraid would get in jail. They kept her un easy. They sh~~ed thT fr~ ~ ff by boat d train. He never saw them any mcre but 1~ heard from them . in Louisiana.. Louisiana had a bad nains in those days. VVhen Warren was about fourt~een and fffte~n, his mother had them on a farm, farming near Hamburg. ~ When he was sixteen or seventeen, his mother and4e other chi d ren oa~ on the train to about where Carlis le now is but it wasu t oalled by that name There were very few houses of any kind. Mr. Emerson had a big store a~1 lots of land. He worked black and white. Mt. Emerson let them have seven or e ight mules and wagons and they farn~ d near there. He remembers pretty so on there was a d epot where the depot now stands~ a -bank, a post offioe, and two or three more stores, all s~iall buildings. He liked coming ~ to Arkansas be,ause he got to ride on the train ~ a long s It was ~sy to live here, There were lots of game and fish. Warren never shot anything in his life. He was no hunter. ~ were awf u . Warren made smoke to run the~~~ from the I ~ cows Four or five deer would o ane to the smoke. Cows were afraid of t hem and would leave the smoke. When he would go the deer would leap four or five feet in the air at the sight of him. .. When Warren lived In Augusta, Georgia, they had schools a month at a time but Warren never did get to go to any, so he can t read or write But he learned to s ave his money. He j olned a Church when he was twelve years old in South Caroli~aa and belongs to the Baptist ohuroh at Green Grove now. ~ The old master in South Carolina persuaded his mother to oon~ back. They all went back four or five years bef re his mother died. While Warren was there he married a wcman on a joining farm.

[Interview with McMullen, Victoria] 037 032

30623 ~ 32: In tervlew!r ~ ~ ~ Person InterViewed ~- ~ ~ ~ 1-*- ~i~: i~ii ~it~ o~n~ ~ ~ OccupatIon $~ee~st~~ ~ *~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ rn ~o - ~ - _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ se ~ ~ _ ~s ~d ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ $ ~ ~ ~ ~7 -~ - My mother was bo~ March 16, 1865, and knew nothing of slavery. ~ Both my grandmothers and both grandfathers were slaves. My father was : born in the samo year ~ as my mother and like my mother knew nothing of slavery although both of thera might have been bem slaves. ~ I knew my mother s mother and father and my father s mother, but I didn t know my father s father. He was from Texas and he always stayed there. Be never did come . out to LouIsiana where I was born. My mother was born in LouIsIena~ but ~y father was born In Texas. I done t know what county or city ~y father was ~ born In. I just heard my grandmother on his side say he was born in ~xas, DLlring the War (he was born in 65 when the War ceased) Grandmother Katy-4hat was her na~, Katy, Katy Rlmore she was In Louisiana at f Irat she wa~ run out in Texas, I suppose, to be hidden from the Yankees. My ~ father was born there and my grandfath r stayed there Re ~ died in ~xas and ~ then Grandma Katy come back to Louisiana with my father and. settled In ~ Ouachita parish. Grandma Katy was sold from South Carolina into Louisiana to Bob Mo.~. Clendon, and she kept the n~ of . Ilmore who was her first owner in South Carolina, It was Bob McClendou who run her out . In ~xaa t~ hide her tr~ the Yankees, My grandfather in T6xas kept the na~ of J~auiiaon. That wae the name of his master in ~xaa. Bt~t grandma kept the nana of Elmoi e from South Carolina because he was go~~ ~ to her. He was better than Bob MCClandon,

038 033

2., ~ ~3~3 The easteX fl states sold their slaves to the southern state8 and got all the money, then they treed the a3~aves and that ~ lett the SOuth without anything, Grandma K~aty bad Creek IX4ia blood in her. She was ot n~dium size and height, copper colored, high cheek bon es, em~ll aquinchy eye3, black curly hair. Her hair was really pretty but she didn t curl it. ~ It was just naturally curly. 8he was a practical nurse as they call it, but she did more of wha~ soirie people call a midwife. They eaU it something else n W, They got a proper word for it. ~ . They got it in these government agencies. That is what she was even In slavery times. She worked for colored people and White people both, That was after she was freed uiitil she went blind. She went blind three years before she died. he died at the age ot exactly one hundred years, She treated women and babies. . They aid she was a real good doctor in her day. That is been fifty-four years ago. i will be fitty~~four years old tomorrow September 18, 1938. in slavery times my gran&ua was aimoat as free as she was in freedom because ot her work. . ~ :1 ~ :\ .~ ~ ~ 8he said that Bob MoClendon was cruel to her, Sometiaea he 4 ~t angry and take the shovel and throw hot ashes on the slaves. 4nd then he d see them with blisters on them and he would take a handsaw or a flat plank and bust the blisters. Louisiana was a ~ country and they wouldn!t bave much clothes on. When the slaves were treed he went cc~pleteIy broke. He had scarcely a place to live. . ~ I seen him onc.. Re 3ook like an old 4oaaurn. iie had a long beard down to his waist and he had long side ~xrns too. Tust a little ot his tac. showed, He~ was t5fl and stooping and he wore his hair ions and uncut do~ on his iieok. You know about what he looked like, Re had n blue jeans pants and brogar~ shoes and a oo~on shirt a work shirt. Ha wore yen co~on cloth .

039 034

3. 34 When they freed the Negroes, lt broke him up completely. B~ had been called a blg4O~d0 In his life but he wasn t nothing then. He owned Grandma Katy. Grandma Katy had a sister xiamed Maria and a brother named Peter0 He owned all three of them, I have seen ai . of them0 Grandma Katy was the oldest, She arid Uncle Peter stayed close together. He didn t have no wife and she dldn t have no husband, Thit Aunt Maria had a husband, She lived off from them after freedom. It was about twelve miles away. My great~ aunt aiid great~uncle 4hey were Maria and Peter~that was what they were~ Uncle Peter died first betore I left Louisiana, but Aunt Maria and Grandma Katy died atter I carne to Arkansas, Grandma Katy lived four years after I came here. After they was tree anti my father had gotten large enough to work and didn t have no horse, my grandma was going round waiting on women-..that is all she did all the rest of the people had gotten large and left homa, Papa made a crop with a hoe, He made three bales of cotton and about twelve loads of corn with that hoe, He used to tell me You don t know nothin bout work. You oughter see how I had to work. After that he bought him a horse1 Money was scarce then and it took something to buy the place and the horse both, They were turned loose from slavery without anything, Hardly had a surnaii~--Just Katy, Maria, and Peter. ~ I knew more about the slave a.tlnm history of my mother s folks than I did about my father s but I ll tell you that some other tine. My grand~ mother on by mother s side was born in Richmond, Virginia, She . was owned by a doctor but I an t call his nama . She gets her naz~ from her husband s Owners, They came from Virginia. They didn t take the zieme of their owners In Louisiana, ~ They took the n~ Of the owners in Virginia. She was a twin~

040 035

4. 35 her twin was a boy named Ywie and her nana wa~ Betty. Her master kept her brother to be a driver for him. She was sent from Virginia to Louisiana to people that were related to her Virginia people. She called her Louisiana mistress ~ite Ma she never did call her misais. The white folks and the colored folks too called her Indian because she was mixed with Choctaw. That S the Indian that has brown spots on the jaw. They re brownskin0 It was an Indian from the Oklahoma reservation that said my mother belonged to r the Choctaws~ She rode from Virginia to Louisiana on a boat at the age of twelve years. She was separatsd tram her mother and brothers and sisters and never did see them again. She was kept in the house for a nurse, &e was not a niidwite. She nursed the white babies. That was what she was sent to Louisiana for~$o nurse the babies. The Louisiana man that owned her was named George Dorkins. Thit I think this white woman caine from VIrginia. She married this Louisiana man)then sent back to her father s house and got grand~~. ma; sbe got her for a nurse. She worked only a year and a halt in the field bei ore peace was declared, After she got grown and married, my grandtather.s.~ r she had to stay with him and cook and keep house for him. That was during slavery time but after George 3~rkina died. Dorkins went and got hisselt a barrel of whiskey-..one of these great big old barre1s~.and set it up in his house, and put a faucet in it and didn t do nothin but drink whi8key, He said he was goin to drink hisseif to death. And he clido He was young enough to go to war and he said he would drink hisself to death before he would go, and he did. MY grandma used to steal news~. papers out of his house and take them down to the quarters and leave them there where there were one oi two slaves that could read and tell how the ~ar was goin on, I never did learn how the slaves learned to read,

041 036

5. 36 ~It she Was in th house and she could ateal the p pera and send them d Wa, Later she could slip off and they would t. 1 her the newa, ai~d then shs could slip the papers baok~ ~ . Her master drank so ich he couldn t walk wIthout tailing end she would have to help him out. Her mistress was really good. She never allowed the overseer to whip her. ~e was only whipped once In slave t~me while my father s mother was whipped more times than you. could count, Her rna ter often said, I ll drink myself to death before I ll go to war and be shot down like a damn target . She said in living with them in the house she learned to ~ eues from him. She said she was a eussin soul until she became a Christian. She wasn t fraid of them because she was kin to them in some way. There was another woman there who was so~ kin to them and she looked enough like my grandma for them to be kin t each other, We talked it over several times and said we believed we were related~, but none of us know for sure ~ When the slaves wanted soi~thing said they would have my grandma say it because they knew she wouldn t be. whipped tor it. Ihite Ma wouldn t let nobody whip her if she i ew it. She cussed the overseer out that tine for whipping her, ~/ When grandma was old they locked her up in the seed house once or twice for not going to church, You see they let the white folks go to the church in the mornin ~ and the colored folks in the evening, and my grandma didn t always want to go. 3h would be locked up in the seed bin and she would cuss the preacher out so he could hear her. She Would say, Master, let us out . And he would say, You. want to go to Church? And she would say, No, I don t want to hear that saie old sermon: Stay out o~ oi~r misajat ~ master s hen house. Don t steal ~ ~~ss1s

042 037

37 and master a CiliCk9 So 8ta~ o~t ot your ~iaais! and master a amo~cehouae, ~ Don t steal your miaa1a ~and iaat r a haina. . I don t atee~ . nothin ~~ Don t need to tell i~ not to. ~ . She was teilLa the truth too, She didn t steal because she didn t have to. She had plenty without ~ atealin I She got plenty, to eat in the house. a~t the other slaves d1dx~ t git nothin bu.t fat meat and. corn bread and molasses, And they got tired of that sane old thing. They want d 8OIIIe~. thing else sornetin~s.. They 4. go to the hen house and get chickens, They would go to the smokehouse and g&t hams and lard, And they would get flour and anything else they wanted and they would eat something they wanted, There wasn t no way to keep them from it. . The reason ehe ~ot whipped that time, the overser wanted her to help get a tree off the fence that had been blown down by a stoxm. She told him that wasn t her work and she waan t goin to do it Old miss waa away at that tine. g0 hit her a tow licks and she told old miss when she cai~ back. Old White Ma told the overseer, Don t never ~it your hands on her no more no matter what she does, That s more than I do. I dofl t hit her and you got no business to do it. Her husband, my grandfather, was a blacksmith, and he never did work In the field. 11e made wagons, plowe, plowatocka, buzzard winga.~they call them turning plows now. They used to make and put them on the stocka. H~ made anything-~.handles, baskets. He COuld till wagon wheels. He could sharpen tools. Anything that come under the line of blacksmith, that is what he did. Es used to fix wagons all the ti~ I knowed him. In harvest time in the tall he would drive trcm Bienvills where they ware slaves to Monroe in Ouaohita Pariah. He kept all the plow. and was sharpening and tixing anything ~hat got broke. Ha said he never did get no whipping.

043 038

. 7.; 38 His naze waa Torn Zldridgse They celled hi~ UnCle Tc~ They w~a ~he mother and father of twelve children. 8ix lived and ~ ~ix died. One boy and five gir .a lived. Axid one girl and five boys died half and half. He died at the age of seventy flve, J une 6, 1908, ~ She died J anuary 1920, \~ ~ ~ RI came out here in J~anuary 1907. 1 lived in Pine Bluff. Frcm Louisiana I came to Pine Bluff in 1906. In 190? 1 went to Kerr in Lonoks County and lived there eight years and then I came to Little Book, I farn~d at Kerr and just woz ked round town thoae few months In Pine Bluff. lixcuaing the time I was in Pine RLuff and Little Rook I tarrned~ I farmed In Ouachita Pariah, Louisiana. ~

[Interview with Madden, Nannie P.] 044 039

3~O434 Interviewer ~ .-~- 3iissire eRobertson Person interviewed~ai~e P.~4de~.WestMa~this, Arkansas Age69 I am Martha J~ohnson s sister. I was born at Lake Village, Arkansas. I am 69 years old. ~ I was born on Mr. I~ce Wethingtona place. Pa was renting. Mother died in 18 ?6 on this ~ We called it Red Leaf plantati on. Father died at Martha ~ohnson a here in West Memphis when ~he was 88 years old. Mother was not counted a slave. Her master s Southern wife (white wife ) di sliked I~er very imich 1~ut kept her t ill her death, Mother had thre white children by her master. After freedom she married a black nmn and had four c~41dren ~y him. We e~e In the last set, We was born after slavery and a11 we k~iow is l rom hearing our people talk. Father talked all time about slavery. Ee was a sol.. dier. I couldn t t.ll you.straight. I ea~i give you so~ bpoka on slavery: Booker T. Washington s Own $tory of His Lite and Work,. 64 page supplement, by 4lbon L. Holsey Authentic ~dition ~.in office of Library. of Congress, Washington, D.. C., 1915, copywrighted by ~J. L. Nichols Co. ~ The Master Mind o~ a Child of Qavery.~~Booker T, Washington, by ~rederiok. Z . brinker, .. Washington, D. C. I have read them both.~ Yes, they ~are my qwn bo~ka, I farmed and cooked all my lite.

[Interview with Madden, Perry] 045 040

30592 . . : 40 Interviei.r~ r. T ~ U1I ~ ~ ~~ ~TU -: u ~ u ~ -~- Person Interviewed : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~tj~ j~ ~ ~ ~ ~ __ _.- ruisui~~ ~ ~~ ;- ~ ~ - - --I ~ ~ ~ ThlZ tsOflth: Stret, 8OUth lid., one block eait ~tge_,A~out * of Boyle ParkRoad -~ - ~ Route 6, Cars L. G. Cotton, Little Rock, Arkansas ~ ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Birth and Age I have been hers quit. a few years. This lit. is short. A sian ought to prepal s for eternity. I had an uncis iuho used to say that a person who went to torment stayed as . long a~ there was a grain of sand on the sea. I was a little boy when slavery broke. I used to gO out with my brother. He watched gaps. I did not have to do anything; I just went out with him to keep him company. I was scared of the old ~ater. I used to f call him the Big Bear. He was a great big old men. . I was about SIX years old when the lai ended, I guess. I don t know how old I am. The Insurance ~n ~A1t me down as seventy-three. I know I was here in slavery time, and I was just about . six years old when the War ended. . Schooling . nI got my first learning in Alabama. I didn t learn anything at all in slavery times. I went to school. I would go to the house in slavery time, and there wouldn t be nobody hoe., and t would go to the bed and get under lt because I was scared. When I would wake up it would ~ be way in the night and dark, and I would be in bed. I got my schooling way after the airreuder. We would a&ce crops. The third time we moved, dad started me to school. I had colored teachers. I was in Talladega County. I made the fifth i ~de bfor. I stopped. MT fathar died and then I had to atop Sfld take cars of ~ mother.

046 041

41 An AUnt Carolin~s Story I know that sane pople can ten thifl that are goin to happen. Old man ~J U1k8 lived at Puipkin Bend. Re had a colt that diaappard. Ne woiit to Aunt Caroline ~-that e Caroline Dy., ~ She told him juat whers the colt was and who had it and how h. had to get lt back. ~ie de8cribed th colt and told him that was What he coite to find out about bstors he had a chance to ask her anything. 8he told hi~ that white peop ~s had lt and told hiii where they lived and told him he would have to have a white man go and git it for him. Re was working for a good man and he told him about it. He advertised for the colt and the next day, the ~ that stole lt ~ and told him that a colt had been tound over on his place and for him to co~ over and arrange to git it. ~tt he said, No, I ve placed that matter In . the hands of my boas. He told his boss about it, but the fellow brought the horse and give it to the boas without any ar~ment. Pamily and Maater. My old master a elavea were called fre niggers. He and his wits never mistreated their slaves. When any of Madden e ilavea were out and the pateroles got after them, it they could make it horns, that ended it. Nobody beat Madden s niggere. My father s name was Allen Madden and my mother s ~ was A~y Madden. I knew my grandfather and grandmother on my mother a .id~ My grandtather arid grandmother never were round ~ though that I can rsi~ber. When the old man died, the N.groea were divided out. Thia boy got so many and that one got so many. The old ~n, Mabe Madden, . had two eons, Zohn and Litti. Mabe My woth r and father vent to 7ohn. They WSPS in Ta .lad.~ because J ohn stayed thera.

047 042

3. 42 My father s mother and father fell to Little 3~abe Madden. They never did come to Alabama but I have heard my tatzier ~aIk about them 80 much. My father s father was named Harry. HIS last name must have been Madden. My grandfather on my mother s side was named Charlie Hail, He married into the Madden family. ~e belonged to the Halls before he married, Old man Charl is his master, had a plantation that wean t far from the Madden s plazitation. In those days, it you met a girl and tell. in love with her, you could git a pass and go to see her if you wanted to. You didn t have to be on the same plantation at all. And you could marry her and go to see her, and have children by her even though you belonged to different masters. The Liaddens never did buy Hall. Grandma never would change her name to Hall. He stayed at my house after we ~rried, stayed with me sometimes, and stayed with his other son s ietimea. My mother was born a Madden0 She ~as born right at Madden s place. When grandma rnarried Hall, like it is now, she would have been called Hall. ~t she was born a Madden and stayed Madden and never did change to her husband s naine So my mother was born a Madden although her father s n~e was Hall. I don t know what sort o~ man Mabe was, and I only know what my parents said about John. They said he was a good man and I have to say what they said. He didn t let nobody impose on his niggers. Pateroles dId git after them and bring them in with the hounds, but when they got in, that Settled it. Madden never would allow white people to beat on his niggers, They tried to git my daddy out so that they could whip him, but they CoUldn t catch hini. They shot him-P-the pateroles did--but he whipped them. ~y daddy was a coon. I mean he was a good mai~

048 043

43 . . larly Lite ~ My brother was big enough to mind gaps. That waa in alav ry tise., They had good fences around the field. ~ ai~ t have gates like they do now. They had gaps. The fence would zigzag, and the rails could be lift.d down at one section, and that would leave a gap. It you iett a gap, the stock would go Into the field. When there was a gap, my brother would tay . in it and keep the stock . tram paaeing. Ihen the tolka would come to dinner, he would go in and eat dinner with them just as big as anybody. When they would leave, the gap would stay down till night. It atayed dawn from morning till noon and trom one o clock till the men came in at ni~t. The gap was a place in the rails like I told you where they could take dom. the rails to pass. It took time to lay the rails down and mors time to plac. thm baCk up again. They wouldn t do it. They would leave them down till they cc~ back during the work houra and a boy that was too email to do anything ela was put to mind them, My brother used to do that and I would keep him company. ~en I heard old master coming there, I d b gone, yea aire.. I would see him when he left the house and when he got to the gap, I w~.ld bs home or at niy grandfather s. Occupational Experiencea nI have followed tarming all my life. That is the sweetest lite a man can lead. I have been farming ail my life principally. My occupation is farming. That Is it was until I lost my health. I ain t done nothin tor about Thur years now. I would follow piblic work in the tall of the yar and make a crop every year. Never failed till I Ot di8~bled. I used to niake all I used and all I needed to feed my stock, fi even raisd ~ own wheat betore I left home in Alabama. That is a wheat country. They don t raise it out here~J 7

049 044

b.; 44 I came hore ~ 1enzae see, about how many yeara ago did I come here0 I gttess I have been In Arkansas about twenty-eight years aince the first tj~ I come here I have gone in and out as I got a chance to work aomewhei ea, I have seen living in this house about three yeara. ~ . I preached for about twenty or more year . I don t know that I call myselt a preacher. I am a pretty good talker aoinetimea. I have never pastored a church; somehow or nother the word come to me to go and I go and talk. I ain t no pulpit chinch. I could have taken two or three men s churches out from under them, but I didn t. Freedom and Soldiera I can t remember just how my father got freed. Old f Olks then didn t let you stan end listen when they talked. It you did it once, you didn t do it again. They would talk while they were together, but the children would have bUsiziesa outdoors0 ~ Yes airee, E never heard them say much about how they got freedom. I was there when the Yankees come through. That was in slave ti~. They marched right through old man Madden a grove. They wer playing the fifes and beating the druma. Aiid they were playing the fiddle. Yea air, they were playing the fiddle too. It must have been a fiddle; it sounded jU8t like one. The soldiers were all just a aingin They didn t bother nobody at our house. If they bothered anything, nothing was told me about it. I heard my ~xncla say they took a horse from my old manager. I didn t see it, They took the best horse in the lot my uncle said. Pardon me, they didn t take him. A peckerwood took him sud let the Yankees get him. I have heard that they bothered plenty of other places. Took the best mules, ei~d left old broken dowa ones and things like that Broke things up. I have heard that about other places, but I didn t 8~8 ShY Of it.

050 045

6.. 45 Right after the War Right after the War, my father went to farming-.renting land. I mean he sharecropped and done around. Thing la come way up from then when the Negroes first started. They didn t have no stock nor nothin then. They made a crop just for the third of it, When they quit the third, they started ~ivin them two~4iftha. That s more than a third, ain t it? Then they moved up from that and give them half and they are there yet If you furnish, they give you two-thirds and take one~third. Or they give you 80 much per acre or give him produce in rent. Marriage I was married in 1883. My wife 8 name was Mary Elaton. Her mother died when she was an infant, Her grandmother was an Elaton at first. Then she changed her name to Cwiningham. ~t she always went in the neme of ~1ston, and was an ~lston when she married me. My wife I mean. I married on a Thursday in the Christmas week. Thi8 December 1 will be married f ifty~ five years. Thi8 is the only wife I have ever had. We had three children and all of them are dead. All our birthed children are dead. One of them was just three months old when he died. My baby girl had three children and she lived to see all of them married. Opinions Our own folks 18 about the worst enemies we have. They will come and sweet talk you and then work against you, I had a fellow in here not long ago who came here for a dollar, and I never did hear from him a~aln after he ~ot it. He couldn t get another favor from me. No man can fool me more than one time I have been beat out of lots of money and I have got hurt trying to help people,

051 046

7. 46 The young folks now is just gone astray. I tell you the trath, I wouldii t give you forty cent8 a dozen for these young folks. They are sassy and disrespectful. Thn t reapect th~nselves and nobody else~ Wizen they get off from hc~ne they ll respect somebody else better n they will their own mothers, If they would do away with this stock law, they would do better every~ where0 If you would say fence up your place and raise what you want I could get along. ~it you have to keep somebody to watch your stock. If you don t, you ll have to pay something out. It s a bad old thing this stock law. It 8 detrimental to the welfare of man.~

[Interview with Mann, Lewis] 052 047

~1 ~ ~f j ~--~ -~ - -- --w-- ~ ~~?1S~!~ P~U~ ~ a - - p ~ _ - ~ : -~ ~ -.--- ~ ~ ~ -WU-- _~ 1501 BOl . Street, Pine Bluff, Arkaneaa As nigh as I can come at it, I was bout five or six time of the war, I remember when the war ceasted. I was a good-~sized chap. Du~rin the war my mother s master sent us to Texas; western Texaa i~ they stopped ins. We stayed there two years and then they brought ue after surrender. I remember when the war cea3ted and rerii~nber the soldiers ref~gee1n through the country. I m 8omewhar round eighty~one. I m tellin you the tru . I ain t just now come here. I was born r iglit here in Arkansas. My t a master was old B. D. Williaiiis of Tennessee and we worked for his son Mac H. Williema here in Arkansaa, They was good to my mother. Alwaya had nursea for the colored ch1idn~n while the old fOlks was in the field, After the war I uaed to work in tI~a house for my white folka .~ for Dr. Bob Williams way up there in the country on the river. I stayed with his brother Mac Williams mi~t near twenty..five or thirty yeara. Worked around the house servin and dom arrands different placee. I went to school a little bit a good piece after the war and learned to reacj and write. t, ~ t ye heard too much of the Ku Klux. I ren~mber when they was Ku K ail round through here. Interviewer per8on interviewed Aga~~18i back

053 048

2. 48 Lord I don t know how many times I ever voted. I uaed to vote every time they had a~a election. I voted before I could read. The white man showed me how to vote and asked me who I wanted to vote for. Oh Lord, I was might near grown when I learned to read. I been married just one time in my life and my wife s been dead thirteen years. ni tell you, Miss, I don t know hardly what to think of things now. Everyth1n~ so changeable I can t brine xiothin to remembrance to hold it, I didn t do nothin when I was young 1~it just knock around with the white folks. 0h Lord, when I was young I delighted in partiee. Don t nothin 1 ike that worry me now. Don t go to no parad~es or nothin . Don t have that on ray brain like I did wh~zi I was young. I goes to church all the place I does go. NI ain t never had. no accident. Don t get in the way to have no accident cause I know the age I is if I injure the se bones there am t anything more to me. My mother had eight chiidrun and just my sister and me left, I can t do a whole day s work to save my lite ~ I own this place and my si ster-.in~ law cives me a little somethin to eat. I used to be on the bureau but they took me oft that.~

[Interview with Martin, Angeline] 054 049

~:i 9 Intevie~r~~ L ~ 1M1?!... ~ Bowden ~ ~ Per8OE~ intervi.~ed Angsline Martin, KanataCity, M1saouri~ Vialting at 1105 LouisIana St . Pine Bluff, Arkar~aaa ~We11, I was livin then. I ias born in Georgia. Honey, I don t know what year. I was born before the wer. I was about ten when freedom coirie. I don t remember when it started but I remember when lt ended. I think I m In the 80 a ~ ha ~ the way I count lt. My master was dead and my mistreas was a widow ~ Misa Sarah Childe. She had a guardeen. ~hen the war come, old mietresa and her daughter refugeed to Miss Issippi. The guardeen wouldn t let me go, said I was too young. My parents stayed on the plantation. My white folks hou8e was vacant and the Y~~ikee8 come and used it for headquarters. They never had put 8hoes on me and when the Yankee8 shot the chickens I d run end get em. They didn t burn up nothin , just kill the hogs and chickens and give us plenty. I didn t know what the war was about. You know chullun in them clays dldn t have as much sense as they got now. Ltter freedom, my folks stayed on the place and worked on the sharea. I went to 8Ch003. rIght after the war. I went every year till we left there. We cone to thia country in seventy 8omethlng. We cone here and stopped at the Ounmina place. I worked in the field till I OO~ to town bout fifty years ago. Since then I cooked some and done laundry work.

055 050

. r 2. I marrisd wh n I was aevsnt~s~i. Had aix children. I bssn livin iii Kana~ City twnty~4hre years. Pollowd my boy up thsrs. I like it up there a lot better than I do hers. Oh ~ yes, thee a~ a lot o~ colored people in Eansaa Cit~.~ .

[Interview with Martin, Josie] 056 051

r ~ 30799 . . . ~ ~ ; . . % ~ ~ ~ 51~~ IntervieWOr,~~.r i~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ r ~ ~ - Person 1nterviewsd~~ ~ . . RJ.D., ~41iaofl, ~&rkaneae ~ O ~ .. - - ~ ~~ ~ s. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . a~ ~ ~ I was born up near Cotton Plant but took down near Kelena to ujv.~ My parents named Saille and Bob Martin. They had asve ~ n childr.n. I heard mother say she waa sold on a block in ILt.aiaelppi when ehe waa twelve years old. My father was a Creek Indian ; . he was dark. Mother was a Ohoctaw Indian; 8he was bright. Mother died when I was ~t a girl and left a tarn ily on my har~ds. I sent my baby brother end sister to school and ~ I cookd on a boarding train. The railroad hands WOrkiag on the tracks rocaed end. et on the train. They are all dead now And I m lone in the world. My greatest pleasure wee indepsndence~mmake my money, go end spend it as I see fit. I waan t popular with ~n. I nsver danced. I did sell herbs for diarrhea and piles and what ail s you. I don t sell no rnors. Folks too close to drug stores now. I had long sti aigbt hair nearly to ~ knees. It come out after a spell of typhoid fevero . It never corne in to do no good. (Baidheaded like a man and she shaves. $he is~ a hei rnaphrodit ) reason for never marrying.) I made and saved up at one ti~ twenty three thousand dollars cooking and field work. I let it ~1iP out frOEn ~ in dribs, 1 used to run frorn the Yankees. I vs seen them go in drovee along the road. They found old colored cxtple, went out, took their hog and made thera barbecue it, They drove up a stob, nailed~ a piece to a tree and stacked their guns. They rested around %iPII everything was ready.

057 052

2. 52 They et at one o clock at ni~t and alter t1~r fS~ ~ . y, on. ~ey wasn t so good to Negroes. Tizey waa good, to .th~jr o~ t.els.ngs, ?i~ey et up all that old couple had to eat in their house azt4 the pig they raised. I reckon their owners ~1ve them mor to eat. ~ They lived off alone and the soldiers stopped there and *orked the old man and woman nearly to death, Our master told us about fre dcm. Ris name was Maater Mtrti~t. ils come here from Mississippi. I don t recollect his temily. I get help from the W~lTh.re~ I had paralyaiaa I never. ~ot over my stroke. I aiII~t no count to work.*

[Interview with Mathis, Bess] 058 053

F ~ 53 Interview9r~~ ~ Mj~ fr~. ~ Person interviewed Bess Mathls, Hazen,Arkau8aa . . ___ I was born in De Sota County, Miesissippl. My parents owners was Mars Haxieoek. Mama was a cook and field hand. Papa milked and i~rked In the field. Mama had jes one child, that me. I had six childern. I got five liviii . They kri~owed they tree It wex t rou.nd from mouth to mouth. Mama said. ~4ar Hancock was good er slave holder as ever lived she recken. I heard her come over that er good many times. Dit they wanted to be free. I jea heard em talk bout the Ku Klux. They said the Ku Klux made lot of em roainin round go get a place to live and start workin They tell how they would ride at night and how scarry lookin they was. I heard em say if Mars Hancock didn t want to give em meat they got tree a coon or possum. Cut the tree down or climb it and then come home and cook it. They had no guns. They had dog$ or could get one. Game helps out lots. The women chewed for their children after they weaned. em, They don t none of ei~n do that way now. Women wodn t cut the baby a fjnger nails, They bite em off. They said if you cut its nails off he would steal. They bite its toe nails off, too. ~nd if they wanted the children to have long pretty hair, they would trim the ends off on the now of the moon. That would Cauae the hair to grow long. White folks and darkies both done them things. I been dom whatever come to hand -~ farmin cookin washin iror~j~ ~ I never expects to vote neither. I sure ain t voted.

059 054

2.. Cond1t1on~ pretty bad ~crnetjna, t don t know ihat oaus Lt. Tou got beyond me 110W. 1 don t ~.w What going becoas of the young .. ~ folks, and they ain t st~.tdyin it, They ain1t kind. Got no raisin t c u it. t tried to raise em to work and beha~e. The7 work aozz~ My aon le takin care o:t me now. .

[Interview with Matthews, Caroline] 060 055

~ ~ ~ Interviewer Ura..~B.rniceBoWd.n ~ ~ ~ Person interviewed ~ro1ia.~att~ewa~ - ~ -~ 812 $pruie *tr et M~e B~.Uf ..~ ~ f, Arkanaaa ~Yes m, I was born in slavery times in Mlssia8ippi. Now, the only thing I remember was s~e soldiers come along on acne ~n,.les. I remember my mother and father waa sittin on the gallery and they say, Look a ther, them s soldiers. And I remeniber then my parents nui off. I was with em and I cried for em to tote me. My mother s first owner was nan~d Armstrong. She said she was about eleven years old when he bought her. I heard her say they just changed around a lot. . Freedom was camin and her last owners had~ carried her to a state where it hadn t egme yet The a right -it wae Texas. S Her first owners was good. She said they wouldn t low the overseer to buke the women at all. But her last owners was cruel. 8h. said one day old misais was out in the yard and backed up and tell into a ~ of hot Water and ~hen her husband V COnTe she told him and he tried to bake my mother. You know if scii~body tryin to get the best of you and you can help yourself, you gwlne do it. So mama throwed up her arm and old master hit it with a stick and cut it bad. So my parents run off. That was in Texas. 9She said we was a year commt back and I know they stopped at the Dillard Place and made a crop. 1 nd they lost . one child on the way-~that was Xittis.

061 056

2. 56 I heard mama say they got back here to Arkanaaa and got to the bureau and they treed em. I know the War waan t over yet cau~ae I know I heard mama say, Just listen to them guxis at i8UX t When I waa little, I was so sickly. I took down with the whoopin cough and I was sick so long. ~xt marna say to the old woman what stayed with me, This gal gwine be here to see many a winter cause she so stout in the jaws I can t give her no x edicine. When I commenced to reiriember anything, I heered em talkin bout Grant and Colfax. Used to wear buttons with Grant and Coifax. ~ ~ I was vi in Abraham Linco In a t Irne ~ Chillun them days didn t know i Why, woman, I was twelve years old fore I knowed babies didn t come out a holler log. I used to go round lookin in loge for a baby. ~ ~ I ni had seven sisters and three brothers and they all dead but me. had three younger than ins They was what they called freeborn chillun. After freedom my parents worked ~or Major Rosa. I know when mama fixed US U~ to go to Sunday school we d ~o by Major Rosa foi~ him to see us. I know d go so early, sometimes he d at ill be in his drawers. I know one thing~whsn I was . about sixteen years old things was good here. J~ver body had a good. living.~

[Interview with Maxwell, Malindy] 062 057

5~ ~ :3os ~ ~ Interviewer ~ : ~ ~- ~--~- - ~ Person interviewed. MIdLi$y ~ ~ ~ in8O s~ ~ I was born close to Coeto and Sardia, Mississippi. My master and mistress was Sam Shans and Misa Cornella Shena. I was born a slave~ They owixed mania and Master Rnb Sanders owned pa. Neither owner wouldn t sell but they agreed to let ~ia and. pa marry. They had a white preacher and they married out in the yard and had a big table full of weddin s~ippr, end the white folks et In the house, They had. a big supper too. Ma eald they had a big crowd. The preacher read the oeremox~y. Miss Corne ia give her a white dress and white shoes and Miss Clos Wifl~irn give her a veil.. Miss Cloe was some connection ot Rube Sanders. They had seven children. I m the oldeat~.~iree, of us living. j .c After man~ipation (SJ,Liim) pa want to see about marrying ma agen and they told him that marriage would stand long as ever he ! M~na was sold at twelve years old in 4tlanta, Georgia. Ma and pa was eIway8 field hands. Grandma got to be one of J~Ohfl Sandera~ leading handa to work inong the women folks. They said Yohn Senders was bieauest man ever lived or d1ed~ According to pa B saying, Mare Rt~ben was a good sorter men. Pa said ~Tohn Sanders was too mean a men to have a wits. Re was mean to Misa 8arah. They said he beat her, his wite, like he b at a nigger

063 058

2. 58 Miss Sarah say, Come g~t your rations early Saturday morning, clean up your house w~ah and iron, and we U go to preaching tcmorrow~ Sunday. I want you to all come out clean Monday morning. They go ask Mara ;rohn Sanders if~ they could go to preaching. I recken from what they said they walked. Mars JoIm, when they git their best clothes on, make them turn round and go to the field and work all day long. He was just that tnearL. Work all day long sunday. ~&iss Sarah was a Primitive Baptist and that is what I ~ till this day. ~oxne folks call us Hardehell Baptist. The colored tolks set in the back of the church. The women all set on one side and the men on the other. If they had a middle row, there was a railing dividing mena seats froni the woinens seats on the very same benches. Misa Clos, Miss Cornelia, and Miss Sarah cook tip a whole lot oi~ good things to eat and go to camp meeting. Sometimes they woifid stay a week and longer. They would take time bout letting the colored folks go long. ~ had big times, My grandpa took a gingercake cutter with him and sold gin~ercakes when they ccme out of the church. He could keep that money his own. I don t know how he sold them. My sister has the cutter now I expect. My girl has seen it. It was a foot long, this wide (5 inches), and fluted all around the edges, and had a handle like a biscuit cutter. They was about an inch thick, He made good ones and he sold all he could ever make. Grandpa took carpet sacks to carry his gingercakes in to sell them. I rei~iember that mighty well. ( The shape of the cutter was like this : f~~~ .) He purt nigh always got to go to ~ll the camp meetings. Folks got happy and shouted in them days. It woifl.d be when somebody got religion. At some big meetings they didn t shout.

064 059

3.: 59 When I was born they h~d a white mid-wits, Misa Martin. My mietreas was in the cabin ehen I was born. I ~ as born toot to~emost and had a veil. 031 fl3~ face and down on my body a piece. They call it ~ a ~ cul. 8ometiaee I see :roims au~ they vaniah~ I can see sori~ out et one eye now. But I ve always seen things ehen my sight was good. It is like when you are dreaming at nicht ~xtt I see them at times that plain in day. e 1 dOn t know how old I am but I was a. good size girl when man~ipation ~ come on. Miss Cornelia had my age in her Bible. They done took me frcrn the cabin and I was staying at the house I slept on a trundle bed under Miss Cornai la a bed. Her bed was a teaater.- way high up, had a ~ big stool to step on to go up in there and she had it curtained off. I had a ood cotton bed and I slept good up under them. ~ Her be was corded with ~ sea grass rope. it didn t have no slats like beds do now. Colored ~o1ks slept on cotton beds and white tolka-~a~e o~ em at least--picked geese and made feather beds and down. pillows. They carded and washed sheep s wool and put l.a their q~uilts . $on~a of them, they d ~ be light and warm. Colored ~0)j~8t bed had one leg. Then lt was holes hewed in the wall on the other three sides and wooden slats across it. Now that wasn t no bad bed. Some or them was big enough ~or three to sleep on good. When the children was ~nall tour could sleep easy cross ways, and they slept that way. They had shelves and tables and chairs. They made cheats and put things i there ~ and set on top Of it too. White tolks had fine chests to keep their bed clothes in. Some of them was made oe oak1, and pine, and Cypress. They would cook walnut hulls and bark and paint them dark with the tea.

065 060

60 RI recollect a right smart of the Civil War. We was close nou~ to hear the roar ax~d rumble and the ~ big cannons slialce the things In the houes., I dom t know where they was righting~ a long ways ott. I ~i: saw the soldiere acoutlng. They come ~iost any time. They go i and take every drop of milk out or the clrnxn. They took anything they could find and went away with it. I seen the cavalry come through. I thought they looked so pretty. Their~cauteens was shining in the eun~ Miss Cornelia told me to hide, the soldiers might take~ on with them. I didx~ t want to go I was very ~el1 pleased there at Misa mi a. I seen the cavalry coene ~ throu~1i that raised the white shee I know now it must have been a white flag but they called it a white sheet to quit righting. It was raised a short time after they passed and thiy said they was the ones raised it I don t know where it was ~ I recken it was a big white flag they rared up. It was so they would stop fighting. Mars Sam 8han didn t go to no war ; he hid out. ~e said it waa a useless war, he wasu t going to get shot up for no use a tail and he . never went a step. He hid out. I don t know where. I know charles wuld take the baskets off. Charles tended to the stock and the carriage. He drove the wagon and carriage. He fetched water and wood. lie was a black boy. Mars Sein Shan said he wasn t golner loose his 1i~e for nothing. Misa Cornelia would cook corn light bread and muffins and anything they had to cook. Rations got down mi~ity scarce before it was done They ptit the big round basket nearly big as a split cotton basket out on the back portico. ~ Charles come and disappear with it. Chess and Charles was colored overseers. He didn t have white Overseers. Miss Cornelia and Miss Cloe would walk the floor and cry

066 061

and I would walk between. I would cry f e1~ng aor:ry roi them, but I d d~ t know why they cried 80 fliLich. I know now it wae ac~ua11y times. Ieth is horDible. . Mars Sam Shan come hcme~ went sown to the cabix~ they was acattered ~ over the fields and told them the War was over, they was free but that ~ they could stay. Then come acme runners, white men. They was Yanicee nan. ~ I know that no s. They say yo must get pay or go off. We stayed that ~ year. Another man went to pa ansi said he would give him half of what he ~ made. He got us all up and we went to Pleasant Hill. We done to1er~b .e well, S Then he tried to buy a ktise and five acres and got beat out ot it. ~ The minor heirs corne and took it. I x~ever 1~nt in books till I went to : school. Seem like things was in a cou~aion after I got big nough for ~ that. I d sweep and rake an~ cook and wash ths dishes, card, . spin, hoe, ~ scour the floors and tables. I would knit at nightheap of times. We d ~ sing some at nicht. ~ Colored tolk8 coul~u t read so they couldn t sing at church lesan ~ they learnt the T songs by hearing them at hoi~ Colored folks would ~et and sing ai~d pray end prea h at the cabine. ~ My first teacher was a white man, Mr. Babe Wiliroy. I went to him Several short sessions and on rainy days and cold days cou.ldn t work in the field. I worked In the field all my life. Cook out in the winter~back to the field in the spring till fall again Well I Jes had this one girl I carried her along wIth me She Would play round and. then. ehe was a heap of help. She is mighty good to ~ flow.

067 062

6. 62 I never seen a Ku Klux in my lire. Now, I couldn t tell you about them. My names was Lou Sanders and Anthony Sanders. Ma a mother was a Rockinore and her husband was a Cherokee Indian. I recollect them well. He was a free man and was fixing to buy her freedom. Her young mistress married Mr. J~oe Bues and she heired her. Mr. roe . ~es drunk her ~ up and they come an~ got her and took her off. They run her to Memphis ~ before his wife could write to her pa. He was Mars Rockmore. ~ Grandma was p~t on a block and sold fore grandpa could cumerlate nough Ca8h to buy her for his wire. Grandma never seen her ma no more. Grandpa followed her and Mr. 8am Shans bought her and took her to Mias~ issippi with a lot more he bought. My s nia long to J ohn Sanders and grandpa long to Rube Sanders. They was brothers. Rube Sanders bought grandpa tram Enoch Bobo down in Mississippi . The Bobo s had a heap of slaves and land. Now, he was the one that sold gin~ercakes. He was a blacksxii.tth too. Both my grandpaa was ~ blacksmiths but my Indian grandpa could make wagons, tray$, bowls, shoes, and thing~s out of i~vood too. Him being a free man made his living that way. But he uever could cuxaolate enough to buy grandma. ~ My other grandma was blacker than I am and grandpa too. When grandpa ~ died he was carried back to the Bobo graveyard and buried on ~noch Bobo s ~ place. It was his request all his slaves be brought back and buried on his ~ land. I went to the burying. I recollect that but ria and pa had to ask ~ could we go. We all got to gO~&ll who wanted to go. It was a big crowd. It was John Sanders let us go moan as he was.

068 063

63 Misa Cornelia had the ciatern cleand o t and they paeksd up th.jr pretty china diahes and silvr in a big fiat sorter box, ~ierlea took th down a ladder to the bottcmi of the dark ciaiern and put dirt oysr it ~ll and then scattered soir~ old rubbish rauM, took the ladder out. The Yankees never nn.ioh as peareti to see that old open cistern. ~ I don t know if they burled money or not. They packed up a lot Otnice thinga. It waan t touched thU after the 1er was over. PI been :tarming and cooking all my lite. I worked for ~Iajor &ack~ Mr. Ben Tolbert Mi. lilliame at RLeasen.t Hill Miasisaippi. I married and long tine after come to Arkenesa, They eaid you could rajas atoek her~ no fence law. I get $8 end coninodities because I m blind. I liTe ulth my dez~ghter here.~

[Interview with Maxwell, Nellie] 069 064

$0576 #651 Diterviewel ~ ~ ~ *.~.Ir~eRob~pt~.n11 ~ ~ ~ I eraoii interviewed _1ui : ~ ~~ ~~_fr ~ 4yk~~ ~ u. Aga63~~ _ _ ~ ~ S ~ ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ de ~. ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mama was Karriett ~tdw1n. She wai born la Y1rg1Id1~ E z~ oi~rs was Mistrm Mollie Plaher an MaSter Co on Pi er, it was so cold ori~e winter that they burned up their t~rnit r k eping a tire~ Said sse ed like they would freeze in spite of i~at all they could d . . ~ ~Grandpa waa~ sold away from grandiaa awl three children. H~ didn t want to be sold nary bit. When they would be ta1kin~ about selling him he go hide under the house0 They gs on off. He d co~ ~ Ihn be was aoid h. . went wider there. B~ ect~ out anil went on off when they tOUIIcI him eM told hi~ he wa~ sold to this ivan. Grandma aaid he ~ obedient. They never hit him. He was her beat huaband. They never sold ~a d~ end ~h couldn t count for hin being 1~t go, Grandma ha another husband after freedc~ and two niore children. They left there in a ~ crowd and all c~te to . Axkan a.. Grandma was a cook for the field hands. 15h. had charge et ringing a big d1iuier-~bell hung up in a tree. ~e waa black aa charcoal. W~a and graia~ said Master Coon and old Mistress Mollie wee good to them. That the reason grandpa would ~o under the house. Re didn t want to be sold. He nver was seen no more by th~. Grandma said sciietines the meals was carried to the fields andH ~ey ted the children out of t1 OU~1B. They took all the Children to the s rin~ end set them in a row. They had a tubful of 11~tO1~ and they Washed this and dried them and put on their clean ol~thea.. TheY used hce~niade l~e $O~P

070 065

2. 65 and greased them with ta3iow a~ ~ xet. meat rnade them ahi.IIe, ~ They kept them gre&eed io their knee. and knue~ s would ru.ff ~ ~ up and bleed. Nck,andrna ai~d m~ia itopped at lourehe D~t~ They was io glad to be free and go about. Then it seared th~ to hear talk ot being aold. it divided them aiid some ownerw wai mean. In my time. it I done wron moit ar~y groin. pei aon wkoop ine~ Then mama find it out ahe give me another one, I got a double whoopin ~. Times is power~fu1 bad to raise u~p a temily, Drinking and gambling, and it takea too much to teed a family i~ow. Time. la so mu~ch harder that way then when I wa~ growing.

[Interview with May, Ann] 071 066

30376 ~ ~66~ - Interie~r~ ~-I~ - ~ --- 1~i1~i~ ~!1~u:~j~ ~ -- ~ :~ ~ ~ - ~ Person ~tervie~d~~ ~ 43~~Ls~ ~ .~ Ago 82~r_ ~ ~ -~ ~~ ~ .. ~ ~ ~ ~ I was born at Qabin Crssk (Lamer flOW) bit I atill cs1~1 it ~Jabi* Creek. I an t call lt anything e .as) I was sold With ~y mother when I was a little girl and liTed. with our white folks until attr the war and waa freed. We 1ive~. on a farm. My tather belong to another te* Ily, a neighbor of our.. le eli 1ivs~ with the white folks. My aother took care of ail of theia. They was alwaya as good aa they could be to us and after the war we stayed on with the white folks who ~ed ~y father and worked on the term for hin. Rie master gave us hait of everything we matte unt il we could get started our ae1~ei, thsu oer white tolke told my father to hcaastead a place near him, and he did. We lived there uxitil after father died. Is paii taxeS arid lived just like the white foika. le did what the White folks toN us to do ~ and never lost a thing by doing it. After I married my Irnaband workd at the mill for your father end made a hYing for me and I worked for the white folks. Now I am too old to cook ~it I have a few waahin a for the white folks end am getting my old age penalon that help. ~ a lot. I don t know what I think about the young gsneration. I at IV~ Stopping place. The eon~a we sang were Caet ye that love the Lord end l.t your joys be known When You and I Were Ycung, Maggie !J\ianjta ~ .

072 067

2, 67 J~18t Bt0 ? tb* Batti., Moth.r . ~ !Darli3lg N.11X. ~Iyr !Carr~y M. Ba k to Old Virginia Old Black 7o . . of course we sang Dixie . Is had to aing that it was tI~ leading aong.*

[Interview with Mayes, Joe] 073 068

:30901 68 ~ Interviewer - - ~ . . -~. Misslrene Robertson ~ ~ Person interv1ewed~ foe !aJ!5~ !~d oA.~ ~ .- ~ ~ I was born a slave two years. I never will forget man come and told mother she was free. She cooked, She never worked in the field till after freedom, In a few days another man come and made thera . They du t hold them in Kentucky. The owners give her provisions, meat, lasses, etc. ~- They cive her her clothes. She had four children and I was her youngest. The two oldest was girls. Father was dead. I don t remember him. Mother finally madearrangements to go to Will Bennett s place. Another thing I remember: Frank Mayes sold mother to Isaac Tremble after she was free. She didn t know she was free. Neither did Isaac Prernble. I don t know whether Frank Mayes was honest or not. The part I remember was that us boys stood on the block and never was parted from her. V~e had to leave our sisters. One was sold to Miss Margaret Mousy, the other to Miss Alinyra Winder. (He said MISS but they may have been widows. He didn t seem to 1~ow ~ ed.) Father belong to a Master Mills. ~l our family got together after we found out we had been treed. The Ku Klux: I went to the well little after dark. It was a good piece I roin our house. I looked up and saw a man with a robe and cap on. It scared me nearly to death. I nearly fell out. I had heard about the boo~er man and learned better then. ~it there he was. I had heard a lot about Ku Klux.

074 069

2. 69 There was a big gourd han~1ng up by the well. We kept it there. There was a bucket tUII ~. Be said, Give me wate i handed over the gourd full. He doue something with It. u.. kept me hax~ding hi~ water. K. 8aid, Hold my crowi~ aiid draw me u~p another bucket fui. I was so seared I lit out hard as I could run. ~ It was dark enough to hide me when I got a piece out o~ his way. The owners was pretty good to mother to be slavery. Sh had clothes and enough to eat ai . the time. I used to go back to see ail our white folks in Kentucky. They are about all dead now I expect. Mother was glad to be free but for a long tinie her life was harder. After we ~ot up larger she got along better. I worked on a steamboat twelve or thirteeii years. I was a roustabout and freight picker. I was on passenger boats mostly but they carried freight. I went to school acme. I always had colored teachers. I farmed at Bughea and Madison. ever sines excepting one year in Mississippi. I live alone. I get $8 and coimnoditles from the 8ociable Welfare. The young folks would do better, work better, if they coull get work all time. It is hard at times to get work right now. The times is all right. Better everything but work. I know colored folks is bad rnanagsrs, That has been bad on us always. I worked on boats from ivanaville, St. Louis, Memphis to New Orleans mostly. It was hard work but a fine living. I was stout th~n.~

[Interview with Meeks, Jesse] 075 070

30680 ~ . ~ ~ ~7 Intervieisr~. ~ ~ Peraon InterTiewed ~ V.~ ~ J~i~k~ ~ :~ ~ ~. ~ _ ~ VO? ~a S%rst, P1~i ~B3*ff, 4~~kan8a ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~uu seventy-aix. t ~ ~ wa~ young in slavery tiasa, ~ bit I can remeiaber acme things. I r imbir how they used to feed us. ~t milk and bread or poke 3alad and corn-emal dumIilin a in a trou~ and gj~ you a wooden spoon and aU the children sat together. We stayed with our old master fourteen years. They were good folks and treated ~iB right. My old n~.atez 8 fl8~e ~J Sam Meek.- 4.n Longvi.w, Drew County, Lrkansaa, down here below Mont icell . I got a letter here aboUt a month ago frcm tba da ghter of ny young ~ mi8trees. I wrote to m~ young mistress and ah. was dead, so her daughter got the letter. She anewered it and sent me a dollar and asked ~ ~a I on ~ the Old Age Pension list. ~ ~A far as i icaow, i em the onliest one of the old darkies hYing that ~ belonged to ~am ioeka. ~ WI remenber when the K~L KlUX run in on ~y old master, That was after ~ the War. He was at the breakfast table with his wife. Toe know in them ~ rlaya they dldn t hare locks and keys. EM a hole bored through a boi~d end put a pe~ in it, and I kaot the ~ flux e~ UP a~d stuck a ~z throu~ the auger hole and. ehot at old asater bit aiaasd him. H. run to the door and $hot at the ~ flux. I kflOV us children found on of em dom at the 8Prtfl~ bathj~ his leg where old master had shot him. Ohs they were good folks and treated us right.*

Superstitions. 076 071

~oG~77 . 71 FO~ ~m~~c~rs ~ Nam of interviewer~_ Mr~~ Ber~Ue. Bowden Subject ~ ~-.~ - - i1~eratitions Story - Ixfformation ( If not enough apace on this page, add page ) I remember there was an old ~n called Billy Mann lived down here at Noble lake, He said he could give you a hand. If you aM your wire waan t gettin along very iell and you wanted to get acm~body else he said he could gLve you a hand and that would enable you to get anybody you wanted. That a what he said. And I vo heard em say they could make a ring around you and you couldn t got out. I don t believe in that though cause I m in the ministerial work and it don t pay me to believe in things like that. That is the work ot the devil.~ Th18 information given by 3~eaae ~eeka ~ r ~ ~ J Place o:t residence ~ I ~ ~ Street, Pine Bluff~,Arkansaa Occupation - ~~- ~ -. - ~-~~ ~

[Interview with Metcalf, Jeff] 077 072

e~r~ I ~-1r~ t~)U~~1(t) . ~ ~ . 72 Interviewer ~ ~j~ ~ ~ ~ _ . . Person interviowed~~ ~ . . RJ.Da & i kley, 4xkanaaa Age~ ~ My mother s namc was lulla Metcalf and my father s name was Thn Metcalf. They belong to an old bachelor nenmd Bill Metca .~. I ~ think I was born Izi Lee County, Misaissippi. They did not leave when the war waa over. They stayed on th9 ~B1ll Metcalf place till they died. I reck,~ I do remember him. . I can t tell you. bout the war nor slavery~ I don t know a thing bout lt. I heard but I couldn t tell you it been eo long agoo They didn t expect nothing but freedom. They got along In the Reconstruction days about like they had been getting along. Seemed like they didn t know much about the war. They heard they was free. I don t remember the Ku ~lux Klan. I heard old folks talk bout it. . I don t know if my father ever vote4 but I guess he did. I have voted but I don t vote now. In part I proves of the wc~en votin ~ I think the men outer vote and aupport his family fur as he can. I corne here in 1914 from Mississippi. I got busted farmin .. I knowed a heap o people said they was doing so well I corne too. I cc~e oil the train. I ain t got no home, no lend. I got a hog. No garden. Two tinies in the year flow Is hard ~ winter and su~ner. In acme ways tiiMa is better. Iii 8O1fl~ ways they Is worser~ When a trade used to be made

078 073

2. 73~ to let ~OU hav provi~ione, you k~ow ~ you WoUit~ etarve~ ~ No~ if y~ou can t get work you bout atarve aut~ can t get no credit. Cropa been good last tew yeara and prices fair tt~r jt~ B~it ~ney won~t buy~ n~thln now. ~verything 13 80 high Meat is 80 hIgh. Working man have to eat meat. If he don t he get weak. The y9ung folks do work. They can t save much rmi ~ It they could do pablic work between times it be bette ,, I had a hard~ tine in 3 uly and Auguste I got six children, they grown and gone, My wife ja 72 years old. She am t no count for work no more The Government give me an her ~lO a month between us two. Her name is Hannah Metcalf. I wish I did know somethin to tell you, lady, bout the Civil War arid the slavery timee. I done frgot bout all I heard ein teIkin . Then you see Hannah she might know

[Interview with Miller, Hardy] 079 074

Interviewer ~ ~ Bowden ~ ~ ~ _U ~ _ ____L r ~ ~ ~ - _ L_-- U~ _ ~ ~I -~~-~ R ~-S Person interviewed ~ i~ll~r 7Gaf w. S ond Avernii Pine Bluff Arkansas Age___85 ~ Oooupation~ Yardme~ Mistress, 1,11 tell you what my mother said. She said she birthed ~ on Christmas morning in 1852 in &mipter County, Georgia. It was on her old master s place. Bright Herring was hIs n~e. Old mistress name was Miss Lizzie. My father belonged to a different owner. Mac McClendon and 3~ohn Mourning was two nigger traders and they brought my mother and sister Nancy and sister I4za and my sister Anna and Hardy Miller - - that s me - out here on the train from Americus Georgia to Meniphis and put us on a steamboat and brought us here to Pine Bluff and sold me to 1h . Pope. He was a poor white man and he wanted a pair of zug gore. He bought me and Laura Beckwith. In them days a doctor examined you aud if your heart was sound and your lungs was sound and you didn t have no broken bones have to pay one hundred dollars for every year yotu was old, That was in 1862 arid I was ten years old so they sold me 2or one thousand dollars end one thousand dollars for Laura cause she was sound too. Carried us down to Monticello and when I got free my mammy came &fter fl~s Fore I left Georgia, my daddy belonged to a man named Bill Ramsey. You see niggera used the name of their masters, I can remember when I was a boy Bill Ramsey set my father free and give him a free pass and anybody hire him have to pay just like they pay a nigger now. My daddy hired my maniny from her master. My memmy was her ~fla8ter s daughter by a colored woman,

080 075

2. My daddy bad a hose named Salem and had a cart and he would take It~ and my man~ny and my sister Liza and go to Amenious and 1*iy rat ions for the next week. I member when the war started in 1861 my mammy hired me out to Mrs. Brewer and she used to git after me and say, You btter do that good or I 11 whip you, My hua~nd gone to war now on ac count of you nig~ra and it 2 a pity you niggera ever been cause he may get killed and I 11 never see him again. I, ~ member see in General Bragg s men and Genera). Steele and General Marinaduke. Had a fig~it down at Mark s Mill. W~ just lived six miles from there. Seen the Yankees commt by along the big public road. The Yankee s whipped and fought em so strong they didn t have t 1mo to bury the dead. We oould see the buzzards and carrion crows. I used to hear old mistress say, There goes the buzzards, done et ai . the meat off. I used to go to mill and we could see the bones. Used to g~ out and look at their teeth. No ma m, I wasn t scared, the white boys was with n~. Dr. Pope was good to ~ better to me than he was to Master Walter and Master Billy and my young Misa, Aurelia, cause me and Laura was $cared of em and we tried to do everything they wanted~ Then the war ended in 1865 we was out in the field gettin pumpklns. Old master come out and said, Hardy, you and Laura is free now. You can stay or you can go and live with so~nebody else. We stayed till 1868 and then our inan~nies come after us, I was seventeen. ~After freedom my men~ny sent me to school. Teacher s neue was W. H. Young. Name was William Young b~t he went under the head of W. H. Young.

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. ~ 5~. ~ 7G ~ WI went to school fou; y.are ad then I got too old. I 1.arned a whole lot. Iaarn.d to rsad and sp.il and figger. I done pretty good. I learned how to add and nniltiply sud how to cancel and how to work square root. What I ve bien dom all my lif is termin dowa at Yairti.ld ou the Murphy place. VotVi Good LOrd3 E doue ~oxe votin Toted for aU the Pr.sid.*ts. Yanke s wo~gdn t let us vot ~mocrat, had to vote Republican. Th.y d be there ~1tatin . ~ SteAd right there and tel . ~ the one to vote fo~ I done q~iit votin . I voted for Goolidgo we called him .U..~ ~ that s the last votin I did. Oias of my friends, Levi ftrntsr, he was a coloxed magl 3trate down at Pairfield. Xii KluX? What yeti telkin about? ~i Klux oo~ to our 1touas~ M~ . sister Ellents husband wut to war on the Yankee aide duz ixi the iar ~ on the Republican side and fought the ~iuocrats After the war the ~t flux c~ sud got the colored tOlka ~*t fought and killed sa. I saw em ki .~P a igg~r right off his autO. Pill oft on hie sack of corn end the old ~l,kep on goin . Ku Klux used to wear. big old long robe with ~nches of cottou se~d ail over it. I meiiber one time ws as h*Ytfl CIIXU Oh end a L~ Klux w~ bid up in the scaffold. The preacher ~s readin the Bible end tel i~n the tolka thexe was a man sent frCN God and ear an e~el be hexe directly. Just then the ~i Klux fell down end the niggers all thought Was the angel and they got up and f .V. S ~Ku Klux used to came to the Church well e*d ask for a drink and say, I ain t had a bit of watsr ai~ce E faight the battle of ~iloh.

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V Might as well tell the tnith had just as good a time when I was a slaV8 as when I was free. Had all the hog meat and milk and everything else to eat, t, I member one time when old master waan t at home the Yankees cc~ and say to old mistress, Madam, we is foragin . Old mistress say, My husband ain t home; I can t let you. Yankees say, Well, we re goin to anyway. They st~y, Where you keep your milk and butter ? Old mistress standin up there her face as red as blood and say I ha t any milk or butter to spare . :~it the Yankees would hunt t ill they found it. After a battle ehen the dead soldiers was layin around and didn t have on no uniform cause some of the other soldiers took em, I ve heard the old folk what knowed say you could tell the Yankees from the Rebels cause the Yankees had blue veins on their bellies and the Rebels didn t. Now you want me to tell you bout this young nigger generation? I never thought I d live to see this young generation coi~ie out and do as well as they is dom . I m goin tefl you the truth. When I was young, boys and girls used to wear long white Shirt come down to their ankles, cause lt would shrink, with a hole cut out for their head. I think they is doiri a whole lot better. Got better clothes. Almost look as well as the white folks. I just say the niggers dresain batter than the white folks used to, Then I see some niggers got automobiles. 3 ust been free bout 3eventy~..two years and~ soIns of em actin lust like white folks now. Well, good.mbye ~ if I don t see you again I ll meet you in Heaven.

[Interview with Miller, Henry Kirk] 083 078

30312 . . . . : . 78 ~ ~ . . Thtervlewel! ~ ~ 4~:-~n~ ~h* ~ Person Interviewed ~ ~ L mi~ _ ~ -- - 4go ~ 1513 State Street, Little Rock, Arkansas ~ No ma em, lt will not bother me one bit if you. want to have a long visit with me. . . . Yes, I was a little busy, but it can wait, I was getting my dishes ready for a party tomorrow night. ~Yea ma am, I was born during slavery. I was born at a little place called Fort Valley In Georgia, J uly 25, 1851. Port Valley is about 30 miles from Macon. I ca~ to Little Rock in 1873. ~ old mistrecs was a widow. As well as Z can rernembex ~she did not have any slaves but my tather and mother and the six children. No ma ~, her ~ naine was not Miller, lt was lade. . . . There did I get my na~, then? ~ It came from my grandfather on my father s side . . . . Well now, Mies, I can t tell you where he got that na~.. From eo~ white master, I reckon. We got free in Georgia J~une 15, 1865. PU never forget that date. What I sean is, that was ~he day the big freedom ce~e. &tt we didn t know it and just worked on. My father Was a shoemaker tor old mistress. Only one In town, fai a~ I recollect. ~e made a lot of money for mistress. Mother was houseworker tor her. As fast ~s us children got big enough to hire out, she leased us to anybody who would pay for our hire. I was put out with another widow worn who lived about 20 miles. She worked me on her cotton Plantation. Old mistress sold one of my sisters, took cotton ~or pay.

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2. 79 I remember hearing thm tsil about tbe big pric ehe brought boauas cotton was so high. Old mistress got is ~ai 8 ot cotton tor ai.tsr~ and it was only a few days till fr.Odo~ case anti th~ ~ ~o had traded all them bales of cotton bet my aiatsr, iut old mistress kept the. cotton. She was ~art, wasn t ehe? She knew freedom ~as right there. Sister came right back to niy parents. .: i~?Just give me time, miss, ~and I ll tell you the whole story. This woman what had me hired tried to run away and take all her slaves along. I don t remember just how mai~y, but a dozen or more. Lots of white folks tried to rtin away and hide their slaves until after the Yankee soldiers had been through the town searching for them vhat had not been set tree. She was trying to get to the woods country. ~it she got nervous and scared and done the worst thing she could. She nul right into a Yankee camp. Cour8e they asked where we all belonged and sent us where we belonged. They had always taught us to be scared ot the Yankee8. I remember just as well when I got back to where my mother was she asked me : ~Boy, why you come here? Do t you know old mistress got you rented out? You re goin be whipped for sure. I told her no now we got freedom. That was the first they had heard. So then she had to tell my father and mother. She tole them how they have no place to go, no money, ~othi~g to start life on; they bet ter stay on with her. So my father and mother kept on with her; she let them have a part of what they made ; ehe took some for board, as was right . The white ladies what had me between them fixed it up that I would serve out the time I was rented out ~ for. It was abou~t six months more. My parents saved money and we all went to a farm. y

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5. 8O~ I stayed with them till I was 19 year. old. . Ot co~ree they got a .1 the money I made. I married when I wa8 20, atIll living in Georgia. We tried to farm on shame. L ~ fr~ I~rk~saa cerne there, gt ting up a colony of colored to go to Ark~sas to tarm~ Told big tales of tine land. with nobody to work it, Not h~1f as many Negroes in ALrkansa8 as in Georgia. Me arid my wits joined up to go. I Well ma am, :t didn t get enough education to be what you oeil a educated mau. My tether paid for a six mouths night course 1~or me after peace~ I learned to read and write and figure a little. I have used my tablespoon tufl of brains ever since, always adding to that start. I learned everything I could from the many white friends I have had. Any way misa I have known enough to make a good living all these years. ~~ Now I ll get on With the story. Pirat work I got in Arkansas was working on a farm; me and her bots ; is always tried to stay together. le could not make anything on the Garner term, and it was mighty unhealthy down in Yourche bottoms. I carried her back to Little Rock and I got work as house men in the Bunch hc~e~ Prom there I went to the ho~ of Aidley L J~ones and stayed there 28 years. That was the beginning of my catering~ I just naturally took to cooking and serving. Ihite tolks was still used to having colored wait on them arid they liked my style. Mr. Zones was so kind. He told his friends about how I could plan big dinners and. banquets; then cook and serve them. Bight soon I was handling most of the big swell weddings for the society folks. Child, if I could call off the fl8Ifle~ o~ the folks i: have served, it would be mighty near everybody

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4. 81 of ~XLY consequsnes lii Litt ~ Rock roi more then 55 years. Tea aa em, I m nOW being called on to serve the grandchildren of my tiret eus~omera. * ~7fl1xiD~g the 28 yeara I lived In Mr. J onea ternily I was ierving baru~ueta, big p~iblic dinners, aU. kinds ot big affairs. I have h~d the spring aiid fall banquets ~or the Scottish Rite Masons tor sore than 4 . yeari. I have served nearly all the Governor a banqueta, college graduat ion and reunion parties ; I took care of President Roosevelt - not this one, but Teddy -. Served about 600 that day. Any big part les for colored people? . . . Yes ma em! Don t you remember when Booker T. Washington was here? . . . No ina am. White folk8 didn t have a thing to do with It, excepting the city let us have the new fire station. It was just finished but the tire engines ain t moved in yet. I served about 600 that time. Yes ina am, there was a lot or white folks there. Then, I have been called to other places to do the catering. Lonoke, Benton, Malvern, Conway a heap 0fb places like that. ~ No miss, I didn t always have all the catering business; oh, noa There was Mr. Rossner. He was a fine man. White gentleman. I used to help him a lot. ~it when he sold out to Bott, I got a lot of what business Mr. Roasner had had~. Mr. Bott was a J~ew. All that time my wife was my best helper. I took a young colored teflow named 1~reeling Alexander and taught him the business. He never been able to make it go on his own, but does fine working on salary. He has a cafeteria now. :~Well thank you miss, apeaking about my home like that. Yes ma arn, I sure do own it. Fittytwo years I been living right here.

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5. 82 First I bought the lot; it took n~ two years to pay for ~ Next I build a little house. The big pin oak trees out front was only saplings when I set them out. Co~ out in the baok yard and see my pecan tree. . . . It is a giant, ain t it? Yes ma am, it was a tiny thing when I set it out fifty two years a o. Our on.iy child was born in this house, a dear daughter - end her three babies were born here too. After my wire and daughter died, me and the children kept on ~rying to keep th home together. I have taught them the catering business. ~ Both granddaughters are high school graduates. The boy is in Mexico. Betore he went he signed his naine to a check and said: Here, grant pa. You ain t going to want for a thing while I m gone. If something happens to your catering business, or you get so you. can t work, till this in for whatever you need. ~it thank the good Lord, I m still going trong. Nobody has ever had to take care of H. K. Miller. NoW let me tell you something else about this place For more than ten years I have ~ been paying $64. 64 every year for my part of that asphalt paving you see out in front. Yea ma ani, the lot la 50 toot front, and I am paying for only half of it; from my curb line to the middle of the street. Maybe if I live long enough I l . get it paid for sometii~. ~ I haven t tried to ~ lay by much money. I don t suppose there is any other colored men uneducated like ~ - what has done more for his conimunity. I have given as high as $80 and $100 at one time to help out on the church debt or when they wanted to build. I always help in times of floods and things like that. I ve he1~ed manY white persons In my lifetime.

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6. 83 ~We11, now, I ll tell you what I thll3k about the voting syatein. I think this. Of course we ere still in subjection to the white people; they are in the majority and have moat of the govermnent on their aide. :~~t I think that, er, er, ~ well Vu. taU you, while ItaU right for them to ie at the head at things, they ought to do what la right. Being educated, they ought to know right rrcm wrong. I believe in the Bible misa. Look here mi a little book Gospel of St J ohn haa been carried In my pocket ev~ry day for years and years. And I never JUl38 a day reading it. I don t aee how acme people can be so unjuet, I guess they never read their Bible. The reason I been able to make my threescore years and ten is because I obeys what the Good. Book eaya. ~ Now, let me see. I can remember that I been voting mighty near ever since I been here. I never had any trouble voting. I have nevr been objected troxn voting that I remember of. . Now you ask about what I think of the young people. Well, I tell you. I think really that the young people of today had better begin to check up, a little. They are going too taat. They don t seem to have enough coasideration. When I see so many killed in automobile accidents, and know that drinking is the cause of so many car accidents ~ . well, yes ma am, drinking sure does have a lot to do with it. I think they should more consider the way they going to make a living. Make a rule to look before they act. Aflother thing the education being given them - they are not taking advantage of it. If they would profit by what they learn they could benefit theirselvea. A lot of them now spend heap ot tinie trying to get to be doctors and lawyers and like that. That is a fl~i8take. There is not enough work among colored people to a~izpport them. 4

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F. I know. Negroes do not have confidence in their race tor this kind of business. No ma em. Colored will. go for a white doctor and white lawyer cause they think they know more about that kind of bualnesa. I would recoimnend as the best means of making a living tor colored young people is to select some kind of work that la absolutely nec~ essary to be done and then do it honestly. The trades, carpentering, paper hanging, painting, garage work. Some work that white people need to have done and they just as soon colored do it as white. White folks ain t never going to have Negro doctors and lawyers, I reckon. That s the reason I took up catering - even that long ago. fifty-five years ago I knew to look around and find s~ work that white folks would need done. There s where your living comes from. /1 Yes miss my business is slack falling off, as you say. Catering is not what it used to be. You see, 30 or 40 years ago, people s homes were grand and. big; big dining rooms, built for parties and banquets. ~it for the big affairs with 500 or 600 guests, they went to the hotels. Even the hotels had to rent my dishes, silver and linens . . . . Oh, lord yes mi sa. I always had my own. It took ~ ten years to save enough money to start out with my first 500 of every~ thing. . . . You want to see them? . . . . &u e, I keep them here at home . . Look. Here e my silver cheats ail packed . to go. I have them divided Into different sizes. This one has fifty of every kind of silver, so if fifty gtiesta are to be provided for. I keep my linens, plates of different sizes, glasses and everything the sane way. A 200.guest outfit is packed in those chests over there. NC, nia am, I aon t have xi~ch trouble of losing silver, because it all has m~ Initiale on;

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8. look: E.K.M. on every piece. Heap o~ dishes are broken every time I have a big catering. I fouzid one plate yesterday - the last of a full pattern I had fifteen years ago. About every ten years is a complete turnover of china. Glassware goes faster, and of course, the linen is the greatest overhead. Yes nia aiu, a~ I was telling you, catering is slack because of clubs. So many women take their parties to clubs now. Another thing, the style of food has changed. In those old days, the table was loaded with three four meats, fish, halt dozen vegetable dishes, entrees, different kinds of wine, and en array of desserts. Now what do they have? Liquid punch, frozen punch and cakes. In lune r had a wedding party for 400, and that s all they served. I had to have 30 punch bowls, but borrowed about half from my white friends. I ~ You have got that wrong about nie living with my grandchildren. No in&arn~ They are living with me. They make their home with me. I don t expect ever to marry again. I m 86. In my will I am leaving everything I have to my three grandchildren. i~, ~el1 fl188, you re looking young and blooming. Guess your husband is right proud of you? Say you re a widow? Well now my goodness. Some oI~ these days a fine man going to find you and then, er er, lady, let nie cater for the wedding? ~

[Interview with Miller, Henry Kirk] 091 086

3()~82 :~ Q i,~ ~ 8G )-~ .~- ~ InterV1eWer~ SamuelS.Pajlor ~ Person interviewed ~ KirkMlller . 8~ 1513 Stati Street, Little Rock, Arkansai Age /8~7~~ (~7 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ .uI ni am eighty-six years old. eighty-slx years and six months. I wa~ born 1Tuly 2~5, 1851, 1 waa a slave, Didn t get free till lune 1865. 1 Wa8 a boy fifteen years old when I got free. ni have been living lii this house fifty years, I have been living In Arkansas ever since 18?3. That makes about sixty five years. The engineer who got killed in that wreck the other day (a wreck which occurred February 7, 1938, Monday morning at three and in which the engineer and five other people were killed) came right from my town, Fort Valley, GeorgIa. I caine here from there in. 18?3. I don t know anybody living In Fort Valley now unless it s my own folks. And I don t speot I d know them now. When I got married and left there, I was only twenty one years old, ~ Parent8 and Relatives My mother and tather were born In South Carolina. After their master and mi8sis married they came to Georgia. Back there I don t ~ow. Then I remember anything they were in Georgia. They saId they came from South Carolina to Georgia. I don t know how they ca~. Both of m~ Parents were Negi oes. They CWT~ to ~Zk811&8~8 ahead of IflS. I have their pictures. (He Carried me into the parlor and showed n~ lIfe~1zed bust portraits of~ his mother and father,)

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2. There were eig~iteen ot ua: s~x i~oya an~ tw.jy. gj~*j~~ They ars all. dead nOW but InYSe 1 and one sister. She livea in A~t1anta, Geor ia. I ~ older than she le. OCcupation ~ ~ ii~ I am a caterer. I have been serving the Scottleh fl~kIe Maaozta iii the li ~ annual reunion every six inontha toi torty~one yeare, W. are going to the Seventh Street Entrance2 this Priday. One ot the orders will have a dinner and I em going down to serve it, I served the dinner for ~ddy ~ Roosevelt them, thirty yeara ago. Thia Roosevelt Is a couain of hie. Nastera My parents master was named~ Wade. When he died, I waa so little that they had to lift me up t o let me see into the ~ coffin so I could look at him. I went to hie daughtez~ My ne~ la after ~ e father. My grandfather waa named Miller, I took hie nana. K. was a white man. .-~. .- ..-. ~..- ~ Wade s daughter was uamed~ Riley, but I keep my grandtather a nama. My mother and father were then tranaferred to the Rlleya too, end they took the name ot Riley. It wee after freedom that I took the n~ Millsr frcm my ori~1nal pa, Haven Riley a tath.r waa my brother.* (H~Yii Riley IlVe8 iii Little Rock and wae formerly an inatructor at P~ilandsr ~ith Co11e~e. Now he is a public stenographer and a private teacher.) Wade owned all of my brothers and sisters and parente and acme of my kln~.4ather s sister and brother. There might have been acme more I can t remember. Wade was a farmar. ~ * I remember once when my mother and father were going to the field to work, I went with them aa usual. That waa before lade died and hie daughter drew 118e .

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3. 88 My wife died six years ago. If she had lived till tcmorrow, she would have been married to me sixty years. aus ~ ~ the tenth of FebruaDY and we were marriei~ on the sixth. We just laoked five years of being married sixty years when she died. . Jood For food I on t know anything more then bread and meat Meal, O meat, molasses were the only rations I eaw~ in those times the white people had what wa8 known as the white people a house and then ihat was laioin as nlggei quartera. The children that weren t bj enough to work were fed at the white people S hou e. We got milk and mush for breakfast. When they boiled cabbage we got bread and pot ~liquor., For supper we got milk and bread. They had cows and the children were fed mostly on milk and mush or milk and bread. We used to bake a corn cake In the ashes1 ash eake~ and put it in the milk. The chicken8 used. to lay out in the barn. If we children would find the nests and bring the eggs in our misais would give us a biscuit, and ~ always got biacuita for Christmas. Houses in the Negro ~uartere In the nigger quartera there were nothing but log houses. I don t rer~ienib~r any house other than a log house. They d Just go out in the woods and get logs and put up a log house. Iktt dirt and mud or clay in the Cracks to seal it. Notch the log8 in the end to hitch them at corners, Nailed planks at the end of the logs to make a door trame. My people all ate and cooked and lived in the same room. Some of the slave8 had dirt floors and acne of them had plank floors.

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4. 89 Food was kept in the house in a sort o~ box or chest, built in the wall sarnetllfl8. Mostly it was kept ~ on the taue. In cooking they bad a round oven made like a pot only the bottcm would be flat. It had an iron top. The ofen was a bought oven. it was shaped like a barrel. The top lifted ~ip. Coal was placed tmder the ove~~ and a little on top. . Tables and chairs Tables were just boards nailed together. Nothing but piai~ke nailed ~ together. I don t remember nothing but homemade b nchea tor chaire, They sometimes made platted or split.bottom chairs out of white oak. Strip. of oak were seven feet l ng. ~ They put them in water so they would bend easily and Wove them while they were flexible and fresh. The whole chair bottc~ was made out or one strip just like in Cating. Those chairs were stouter than the chairs they make now. . (To be continued)

[Interview with Miller, Matilda] 095 090

30334 . 9 ~ Interviewer~ Mre. kinle ~ !~Pt~t r ~ Parson interviewed Matilda.MlUer . . r~ _~ i~i~ip~rey, ~ . Age79~ ~ ~ I. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The day of the Interview Matilda, a nice e1ean-1ookiz~g Negro woman, was in bed, suffering from som .kindof a pain In her head. She lives In a little two-broom unpainted boxed house beside the highway In Humphrey. Her house is almost in the.. .. shadow of the b~g tank which was put up recently when the town acquired its water systeni. When told that the visitor wanted to. talk with her about her early lIfe, Matilda said, Well, honey, I U tell YOU: all I can, but you see, I was just a little girlwhen the waz~ was, but I ve beard my mother tell lots of things about then. I was born a s lave ; my mother and daddy both were owned by Judge Richard Gamble at Crockett s Bluff. I was born at Boor~H1ll - about twelve miles north of DeWitt and how come lt named Boone Hill, that farni was my young mistres t3 Rer papa give it to her, just like he give me to her when I was lit tie, and after she married Mr. Oliver Boone and lived there the farm always went by the name of Boone ~II1. The house le right on top of .a lili, 70U ~oW, lt shure was a pretty place when Miss Georgia lived there, *Ith great big Magnolia trees all in the front yard. I. belonged to Miz.s Georgia, my young mie tress, and when the ziiggere were freed my ma~ia staid on With here She was right there when both of his eht,ilun were born,

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a. Mr. John Boone and M1s~ Mary~ too.. i nursed both of them eh11 lun. You know who Miss Maz y la now, ~on t you ? Yea t~, she ~iIr. Lester Black a wife and ~ ~ good, too. HI was de oney child rn~ mother had tIU twelve years after the surrender You see my papa went oi~ witii Yanicees and id.t t conte baek till twelve years ~ after we was free and then I had some brothere and sieters. Exactly nine months from the day my daddy come home, I had a baby brother born. My mother ~ said she knew my daddy had been married or took up with some other woman, but she hadn t got a divorce and still counted him her husband. They lived for a long time with our white folka, for they were good to ua, but you know after the boys and girls got grown and began to marry and live in different places, my parents wanted to be with them and left the white folks. I~1o maui, I didn t see any fighting, but we eould hear the big guns booming away off in the distance. I was married when I was 21 to Henry Miller and lived with him 51 years and ten months ; he died from old age and hard work We had two chiliun, both girls. One of them lives here with me in that other room. Mainnia said the Yankees told the Negroes when they got em freed they d give em a mule and a farm or maybe a part of the plantation theytd been working on for their white folks. She thought they just told ein that to make them dissatisfied and to get more of them to join up with em and they were dressed in pretty blue Clothes and had niee horses and that made lots of the Negro men go with them. None of em ever got anything but what their white f~1k~ give em, and Just lots Bild lOte of em never eonie back after

097 092

3. .92 the war cause the Yankees put them In. front where the shooting was and they was killed. My husband Henry Miller died four years ago. He followed pi~ibIie work and made plenty of money but he had lots of friends and his money went easy too. i don t spect t :ii live long for this hu in my head is awft~1 bad ~ sometime.

[Interview with Miller, Nathan] 098 093

3O&~~ 30308 Thterviewerm ~ - ~ ~ Ilias ireueRobert.on Person interviewed .~ Nathai~ Mi11.r~Ma4taon~1rkanaaa Age Born in 1862 -~ ~* ~ Lady, 1,11 t~11 you it~at I know t*it lt won t nigh flU your book. I was born. in 1862 south of 1~ekosburg,Arkausaa. My parente waa ~ Aarther and Burl Miller. They told me their ~wner~ o~e here from North Carolina in 1820. They owned Iota ot slaves and~ lots ot lend.. Mother wa~ mediun~ 1ight~ about my color. See Put mixed. My hair is white. I heard mother say she never worked in the field. lather was a blacksmith on the place. He wasn t a slave His grandfather willed him free at ten years ot~ age It was tried in the 8upre~e court They set him tree. Said they eouldxi t break the dead man a will. My father wae a real bright colored mafl. It caused some dia. turbance. Father went back and forth to Kansas. They tried to aak. him leave if he was a free ni~. They said I would have to be a slave severs . years or leave the State. PresdoflI settled that for me. My great grandmother on my mother s side belong to Thc~aa ~efferao~. He wa~ good to her. She used to tell me stories on her lap. She cc~ frc~n Virginia to Tennessee~ They all cried to go back to Virginia and their master ~ot Iflad and sold them Ha was a meaner ~n. Her na~ Was Sarah J efferson~. Marish was her daughter and Marther was my mother. They Wa8 reaj. dark roiks but mother was my color, or a ahade darker~

099 094

2. 94 cj~randmother said she picked cotton from the seed all day till her fingers nearly bled. That was fore gin day. They said the more hills of to~aeCO you could cultivate was how much you was worth. I t remember the Ku Klux. The y was in my little boy days but they never bothered me~ All my life I been working hard~.steamboat, railroad, farming. Wore clean out now. Times is awful hard. I sin worn clean out.. I ~n not sick. I m ashamed to say I can t do a good day s work but I couldn t. I ~i proud to own I ~et ec~nmodities and $8 from the Relief.

[Interview with Miller, Sam] 100 095

;3O3~8 ~ . 95 Interviewer..~ T ~ ~ r - ~ ~ ~ ~ 2!S IO~7~ Person interviewed sam Miler~M~,i1to~Arkenaaa - - - - - S I la ninety eight years old, euh, My name a 8am Miller, and I waa born iii Texas in l84O-~.don t know de month nor de day. My parent a died when I was jea a little chap, and we come to Conway County, Arkaneaa fifty years ago ; been in here ever aines ~ My wife a name wae Annie William.. SOn. We am t got no chillun and never had noue I don t belong to no chu oh but my wife J. a a Ba . Can t see to git around much now. No, euh, I can t read or write, neither. My memory ain t so good about thing~ when I was little, away back yonder, but I sure m~nbera dem Ku Klux Klaus and de militia. They used to ketch people and take em out and whup em. Do t rickolleek any of de old songs but one or two~~oh, yea dey U8ed to sing Old time religion a good enough tor me and songe like dat. De young people Z Lawzy, I jest dunno how to take em. Can t under~ stand ein at all. Dey too much for meIR NO~: The old fellow chuckled and shook his head but said very little S more, He could have told much ~x~t for his faulty memory, no doubt. He wae ~& 8JJflOst non~ccngnj~J. as to facte of slavery days, the War between the 8tatee, and Recon8truction period. Has the sense of humor that eeems to b a ob.ar~ actertetic Ot moat Ot the old~time Negroea, but aside trcii~ a whimsical chuckle

101 096

2. ShOWS little of the interest that le u~sually associated with the old generatiOfl~ Of Negroes.

[Interview with Miller, W.D.] 102 097

30733 97. Interviewer ~L lissireneRobertaon Person interviewed T ~ D. U.tU,r~ Je~t~mphja, Arkansas Age 6~5?_~~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Grandpa was sold twice in Baleigh, North Carolina. He was sold twice to the same people, from the Millers to the Robertso (Robersons, Robinsona, etc.?). He said the Bobertao were not so very good to him but the Millers were. Grandma was washing when a Yank coene and told thee they had been sot free. They quit washing and went frc~ house to house rejoicing. My parents n~es was J~esse and Mary Miller, end Grandma Agnes and Grandpa Peter Miller. The Robertaons was hill wheat farmers. The Millers had a cloth factory. ~.n Miller owned it and he raised wheat. Mama was a puny woman and they worked her in the factory. ~ie made cloth and yarn, I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina or close by there. ~ father s uncle J~ohn Rouse brought about one hundred families frc~ North Carolina to ~iittenden County, Mississippi. I was seven years old. He said they rode mules to pick cotton, it growed up like trees. We c~e in car boxes. I c~e to Heath end Helena eleven years ago. Papa stayed with his master ~n Miller till my uncle tolled hia away. He died with ~nallpox soon after we come to Mississippi. ~It is a very good cc~intry but they don t pick cotton riding 011 mules at least I alu t seed none that way. ~

Slavery customs. 103 098

E . Dorado District FOLKLORE SUBJECTS . Nari~ of Interviewer - PernellaMiderson ______ SubjeOt~ -.----- -. ~ ~ -- ------------ - ~- --~~- - Story Information (If not enough space on this page add page) Ah use ter could tawk an tell a thing plum well but ah been broke up by a cah. Cah run ovah mah haid an ah couldn tawk fuh 30 days. So now ah ~ amt no good fuli nothin. Ah rrcollect one ni~t a~j dream a dream. De dream at ah dreamt, next morning dat dream ooi~ true. Jes like ah dreamt hit. Yes hit did. Ah wuz heah in slavery time. Ah membuh when dey freed us niggers. Se here, ah wuz a ourty good size kid when dey free us. ~ii kin membuli our house. Sot dis way. An oie Marster called all his niggers up. Dey ail conie along roun in a squad on de porch. Ah did not heah whut he said tuli em. But mali step pa wuz dere an tole us we wuz free. ~n atter dey freed mah step.pa ah recol eot he went on home and fried some aigs(eggs) in de ubben. Know we didn have no stove we cooked on de fiuhplace. As ah said cook dein aigs, ginme some uv hit, an he lef den. Went east and ah amt nevah seed dat man since. Ah meinbuhs once ah got a whoopin bout goin tuh de ohinquepin tree. Some uv um tole me oie master wuz ~wianter let us quit at dinnuh an so in place uv me goin ter dinnuh ah went on b:T de chinquepin tree tuh g t some chanks. Ah had a brothuh wid n~. so ah come tuh fine out dat dey gin tuh callin us. Dey hollered tuh corne on dat we ~z gointer pick cotton. SO in ~laoe uv us goin on tuh de house we went on back tuh de fiel . Our fiel wuz bout a mile fum de house. 01e Moster waited doiivn dere at de gate. He call me when ah got dore an wanted tuh know why ah didn come and git i~h dinnah SOS ah could pick cotton. So he taken mnah britches down dat day. Mah chinks all run out on de groun an he tole maki brothah tuki pick um up. Ah knocked maki brothuh ovah fuh piokin um up an aftuh ah do~ dat oie moster taken his red pocket han oher out and tied hit ovah mah e es tuh keep me fwn seem inah brothuh pick uni up. ihj5 IXLforniation given by Mose Minser _ ~ ~Age~I8 Place of Res idence ~ -~ miles from El Dorado ~ Seotion8

104 099

#2 ~ 99 So WhOXI he got through wid me and put mah britches back on me ah went on tuh de fiel and went tuii piokin cotton. Dat evenin when us stop piolcin cotton au took inah brothah down and taken n~h ohinquapins.

[Interview with Minton, Gip] 105 100

Tnterviewer~ Misa Irene Robertson Person interv1ewed~~ Mint~ij ~ Age_~j~ k I was born at Jackson, Alabama on the Tennessee River. It was 3ho a putty river. I never did know my grandfolka. I think my father was a soldier. My master was a soldier, I think. He was in de war. I do remember the Civil War. I remember the last battle at Soottaboro. There was several 1x~t one big battle and they got to Belfontain. That is where tt seemed they were trying to go. I don t recollect who won the battle. I heard them fighting and saw the smoke and after they ~nt on saw the bodies dead and all that waa left was like a cyclone had swept by. There was a big regiznent sta tion~ed at Sootteboro. It was just like any war fought with g~na and they lived in tente. They took everything they could find. Looked like starvation was upon de land. \t~ ~ had two sisters and one brother and my mother died when I was a baby. I come out here to Arkansas with my mothers old in~ster and mistress and never did ~ee nor hear of none of them. No I never did hear from none of them. I come out here when I was ten or twelve years old. It waa, it was right after the war, I recken I wa8 freed, but I was raised by white folks and I stayed right on wid ein. E~t freedom ain t never bothered m~.

106 101

2. 1(~1 ~ ~My ni~ster and mistress nauie~ was M~ter Alfred Minton, Dey call me Gip for him. Gip Minton is what they always called me. mistress was Miss annie Minto~. I stayed right wid em, They raised me arid I CoIr~ on here wid em. I don t know nothin abou~t that tree dom. \\ ~ recken they was good to ~. I et in de kitchen when they got thro ~gh or on a table out Iii de back yard sometimes. I slept in an outhou3e they fixi.d up mostly, when I got up big. t~\ We come on the t rain to Memphi s and they come on thater way to Lonoke whar we settled. tk,w Shirley was the mari I come on horse back with from Memphis to Lonoke. He was a m what d~lt in horses. Sure he was a white man. He s where we got soins horses. I don t remember if he lived at Lonoke or not. ~ have voted, yea ma em, a heap of times. I don t remember what kind er ticket I votes. I m a Democrat, I think so. I ain t voted ~r sometime now. I don t ~ow if I ll vote any more times or not. I don t know what is right bout votin and what ain t right. \ ~~TRhen I was a boy I helped farm. We had what we made. I guess it wa8 plenty. I had more to eat and I didn t have as many changes o~ clothes as folks has to have nowdays bout all de difference, They raised lots more. They bought things to do a year and didn t be allus goin to town. it was hard to coins to to~in. Yes ~in it did take a loii~ time, sometimes in a ox wagon, The oxen pulled more over muddy roads. Took three days to cote to town and git back. I farmed one :rLaIr~eor.4he~.~other and on shear crop. Weil one~ut good as the other.

107 102

V2 ~ (~4 ~ Q. Bout all anybody can make farmin is plenty to eat and a little to wear long time ago and nows the sa~ way~. The most I recken I ever did make was on Surrounded Hill (Biscoe) when I fanned one~half~$ur~de~udder for Sheriff Reinhardt. The ground was new and rich and the seasons hit just fine. No masm I never owned no farm, no livestock, no home The only thing I owned was a horse one t ime ~ I worked 16 or 1? years for Mr. Brown and for Mr. Pluxikett and Son. I drayed all de time fur em. Hauled frei ght up from the old dapot ( wharf ) down ~n the river. ; ~:~ng time fore a railroad was thougzit of. I helped. load cottox~ and hides on the boats. We loaded all day and all night too heap o nig~ata. We worked till we got through and let em take the ship ~\ The times is critical for old folks, wages low and everything is so high. The young folks got heap better educations t~t seems like they can t use it. They don t know how to any avantage. I know they don t have as good chances at farmin as de older folks had. I don t know why it is. My son ~rka ~ip at the lumber yard. Yea he owns this house. a all he owns. He make nough to get by on, I recken. He works hard yea masm. He helps me if he can. I get $ a month jan-i itoz at the Farmers and Merchants ~nk (Des Arc). T works a little ~~arden and cleans off yards. No masm it hurts my rheumati~n to ntn the yard mower. I works mien I sho can t hardly go. Nothin matter cept I m bout wo~out, I plied for the old folks Pen~sh~n but I ain t ~ot nuthin yet, I signed up at the bank fur it agin not long ago. I has been allus Self sportin. Didn t Pend on no livin sou . but myself.

[Interview with Mitchell, A.J.] 108 103

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : Intervie~Sr.~~~ ~ J- ~ ~ Person ~ !~U f~ ~ ~ r A ~ -: ~ : ~ ~I~ 419 Z. 11th Averuis, Pifle Bluff, rkaneai Age~~_Y8 ~ Occupat ton ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~i~L ~ ~ ~ ~ - ni was bou~t aeven when they aurrendered, I can remember when my old master sold Aunt 8~iaan. She ra1aed~ me. I ae,n old master when he waa tryiii to whip old Aunt &iaan. 8h. was the cook. She said, I ain t goiii let you whip ins and I heard my sister say next day he done sold Aunt Susan. I ain t seed her sines. I called ber ~a. My mother died whorL I was two years old. She was tu.ll Injun. 3I~ father was black ~*tt his hair was stra1~ht. Ris face ~aa so black it shine4. I~Oked like it was greased. My father said he was freeborn end I ve seen stripes on hie back look like the veine on back or my heM where they ihipped him tryin to make hini disown his freedoen. Old J~aek Clifton wee my master. Tes u~a m, that was his name. I member when they had those old looms -- makin cloth and old shuttle to put the thread on. I can see em now. I can meniber when this used to be a injun place. I ve seen old Injun mounds White tolke come and run em out and give ~ ~ IflJUfl Territory, ~ I heered the gins in the war and seed the tolks commt home ehen the war broke. They said they was fitin bOUt t3?OedC~, tryin to free the people. I member when they was f~in at Marks Mill. I kflOW ICIfl Ot the people said. that was ~iere they was sot tree. ~ .

109 104

2. 1O4 I don t know as I see4 eny ~t Elux when they was. goin round. Hearin bout m scared ~ ~ bay a good recollection. I can remember the first dre~ I ever had and the first ti~ i whistled. I can remember when I was two or three years old. Re~mber when they had a big old conch 8heU. Old master would blow it at twelve o cloak for em to come in. . Old master was good to us but I member he had a leather strap and if we chillun had done anything he d make us youngune p.tt our head tween his legs and put that strap on us. My goodnesel ~e called ~ Pat and called his own son Bug ~ his own son Zunie. le played together. Old master had nicknames for everybody. My first mistress was named Miss Mary but she died. I member when old master married and brought Miss Becky hom. . Marse J ohn (he was old ma s oldest son) he used to tote me about in his saddle bags. He was the overseer. ni member old master s ridin hose a little old ~y pony called him Hardy. I never remember obody else bein on it ~ that was his ridin hose, Old master had dogs. One was ~s and one named Brute (he was a red bone hound) And 0fl little dog they called Tri gar. Old master e head as white as cotton, WI do remember the day they said the people was free -~ after the war broke My father come and got ~. Now I m givin you a true statement. I ve been stayin by myself tWeflty~..three years. I been here In Pine Bluff ~ well I jest had got here when th~ people was comin back from that German war.

110 105

3. :li:)5 My God, we had the fineat time when we killed h088 ~ make sausags. We d eat kl a ~ oh, we thou~t they wa t nothin like cracklin s. The LOI d have mercy, there was an old beech tree set there in ay iaastr ~ yard. You could hear that old tree pop ever s~y bou t the same tim, ~ twelve o clock. ~ We used to eat beech maea~ Goo~?Yes ma m! I th1n~c about lt often and wonder why it was right in old master a yard. I ve cast ft maiiy~ a vote. Not a bit of trouble In the world. Hope elect most all the old officers here in tows. I had a brother was a con~ stable under Squire Gaines. IOU of course Misa, I t think a right when they disfranchised the colored people. I tell you, Miss, I read the Bible and the Bible says every man has his rights ~ the poor and the free and the bound. I got good sense from the time I leaped in this world. I member well I used to go and cast my vote just that ~uiok but they ~ot so they wouldn t let you vote unless you could read. I va had ~ to offer n~ money to vote the ~moorat ticket I told him, nO. i didn t think that was principle. The colored man ain t got no representive now, Colored i~n used to be elected to the le&~alature and they d go and sel . out. 801M of em used to vote the ~mocrat ticket. God wants every man to have his birthright, I tell you one thing they did. This here no fence law was one of the lowest things they ever did. I don t know what the governor was studyin t bout If they would let the old people rai S meat they uldn t have to get ~ much help trc~t the ~vemment. God don t like that, God wants the people to raise thin~a. I could make a livin but they won t let ~. The first thing I remember bout stydyin w~s J~unie, old master a son, Studyjn his book and I heard em apell the word baker ~ That was when they used the old Blue Back SpeUer.

111 106

I went to school, I m goin tell you as nearly as I can. That irai, madam, let ins see, ti~at was in sixty ~nine as near as i can come at it. Mis3, I don t know how 1on~ I . My father wouldn t let me I dldn t know nothlfl but work I weighed cotton ever since I was a little 1~oy. I always wanted to be weighin . Looked like it was xriy gift ~ weighin cotton. I m a Mis8ionary Baptist preacher. Got a license to preach. You go down and try to preach without a license and they put you up. Madam, you asked me a question I think I can answer with knowledge and understanding. The young people is goin too fast. The people la growin weaker and wiser. You take my f olka gem to school but not dom anything. I don t think there a much to the younger generation. Don t think they re dom much good. I was brought up with what they called fireside teachin . 4. loG

Ex-slaves. 112 107

POI~A # 7K ~wn~taflc:I~. 9~i Inierview ~ NA E OF ~ORKEIi Bernice Bowden ~ ~ ADDBESS~lO 6 Oak Street, Pine ~1~iff, ~ ~ DATE~~November 2 1938 SU&TECT_ ExslaYea 1. Name and~ address of informant Gracie Mitchell 2. Date and time of interyisw~ November 1, 1938, kOO ~ 3. Place of interview -117 Worthen Street 4. Nanie and addrese of persOn, if any, who put you in touch with informant~~ Bernice Wilburn, 101 Miller Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansae 5. Nanie and address of person, if any, accompanying ~ou~- None 6. Description of room, house, surrounding., etc. -A frame houee (rented), bare floors, no window shades; a bed. ai~1 some boxes and three straight chairs. In ~ adjoining room were another bed, heating stove, two trunks, one straight chair, one rockixig chair. A third room the kitchen, con tamed cookstove and table and chairs. ~!!~x:t of Interview They 8aid I was bo rn in Alabama. ~y trio ther s name was Sali ie and. ray father was Andrew Wheeler. I oou.ldn t tell when I was born my fOlks never did tell me that. Belonged to 1k . Moore and when his daughter married he give my t~other t o he r and she went to MObil e. They said I t weaned yet . MY ~ mother told. nie that. She is dead flOw. DOn t know nothin bout nary one o my white folks. I don t recollect nothin bout a one of em cept my old boss. He took u~s to Texas and stayed till the niggers was all free and then he went back. Good to me? NO IRft fl~~flO good there. And. if 70U. didfl t work he d. eee~. what was the matter. Lived near Coffeyville in Upshaw county. Th8.t s whar ~y hii8b~d found me. I was living with my aaL*t ath uncle. They said the res8O~ I had such a good gift iiiakin quilts was cause my mother was a seamstress.

113 108

. ~ 108 I cooked fore I married and I co~* make my own dresses, piece quilts aud Q~11t That s iflOstly what I done. No laundry work. I never did. farm till I was married. After ws went to Chicago in 1922, 1 took care of Other folks ~hil1Ufl, colored folks, whilethey was working in laundries and. factories. I eure has wt~rked. I ain t nobody to what I was when I was first married. I ~.nowed how to turn, i~w~ i d t b~ whar to t urn now~ i am t able. I u.se to could plow just as good. as any man. I could put that dirt up against that cotton and. corn. I d mold it up. Lay it by? Yes ma m I d~ lay it by, too. They didn t send me to acbool bat they learned toe how to work. I had a quilt book with a lot o different patterns but I loaned it to ~ a wOfliall and she carried it to OklaI~oma. Mighty few people you can put confi dence in nowdays. ttI don t ~o out much cept to churoh ~-folks is so critical. You~ have to mind how you. walk ou the cross; If you don t, your foot will slip, And. your soul will be lost.~ ~ I was a motherless chile but the Lord ruade up for it by givin me a good husband and I d~on t want for anything.

114 109

109 Interviswer a Comment NA~ OF ~ORKER--Eern~.ce Bowd~en S NAL~ ~.ND ADDRESS OF fl~FORMANP~~~ Gr&cie Mitchell, 117 Worthen Street, Pine Bluff Accordln~ to her hu~sband, Gracie spends every spare moment piecing quilts. He said they use to go fishing ~nd that Gracie always took her quilt pieces aiox~g and. 1f the fish were not biting she would. sew. She slxwed me twenty two finished quilt tops, each of a different design and several of the saine design, or about thirty quilts in all. Pwo were entirely of silk, two of applique design which she called laid ~rk . They were foldet up in a trunk and as she took them ou:t and spread them on the bed for me to see sue izld. me the n~~ne of the design. The following are the nanies of the disigna: 1. Breakfast Dish 2. Sawtooth (silk) 3. ~ulip design (Laid work) 4. Prickls~ Pear 5. Little Bo;y e Breeches 6. Birds All Over tk~ Elements S 7. Drunkard s Path S 8. Railroad. Crossiz~ 9. Cocoanut Leaf ( That s Laid Work ) 10. Cotton Leaf Il. Half an Orange 12. Tree of Paradise 13. Sunflower 14. Ocean Wave (silk) 15. ~uble Star S 16. Swan s Nest 17. Log Cabin in the Lane 18. Reel 19. Lily in de Valley (Silk) 20. YIatI*red Star 21 Fish Tail 22. Whirligig ) Gracie 8howed me her winter coat bought in Chicago of fur fabric called filOleskin, and with fur collar and cuffs. She sells the quilt tops whenever she can. Many are made of new material which they IXLy.

115 110

FORM B . ~ #7~4 :1:1() ?~!~~oIia~ Ristor1 of infornarit ~ STATE_~Ark~~2aS . ~ OF ~ORKER--Berni ce Bowden DDLESS~iOO6 Oak Street ~ 2 1938 5~JEcT-~~ slav es NA~ AND ADDRESS OF I~D~MAN~I~Gracie Mitchell, 117 Worthen Street, pine Bluff 1. Ancestry Father, Andrew Wheeler; Saille Wheeler, mother. 2. Place and dat e o f bi rth--~Aiabama. No dat e known, about 80 years old. 3. Family--Husband and one grown son. 4. Places lived in, with dates -Alabama, Texas till 1897, ~rkansas 1897-1922, Chicago, 1922 to 1930. Arkansas 1930 to date. b. EducatiOn, with dates No education. 6, Occapations and accomplishments, with dates Cooked before marriage at 16; farmed after marriage; home sewing. 7. Special skills and interests- ~ui1t making aid knitting. 8. Community and religious activities-~A8$isted husband In ministry. 9. Description of informant Hair divided into max~y pigtails and. wrapped with rags. skin, dark. Medium he ight s lender, clothing soiled. 10. Other points gained. in interview- Spends all her time piecing quilts, aside fro~n housework.

[Interview with Mitchell, Hettie] 116 111

I I I Intervie~r~~ Mi sairene Robertson Person interviewed_~ HettipMitch.l1 1~i2~at4~o) ~~Brinkley, Arkansas ige69 ~ am sixtyu.nine years old. I was raised in Dy.ra~irg, Tenneases. I can tell you a few things mother told us. My own grandma on mother s aids la lu South Carolina. st~e was stole when a child and brought to Tenne3see in a covc3red wagon. Rer mother died from the grief of it, She was hired out to nurse for these people. The people that stole her was nei~d Spence. S~e was a house women for them till freedom. She was nover sold. Spencea wa5 flOt cruel people. )(other was never sold. 8he was the mother of twelve and raised nine to a good age ~ more than grown. The Spencea seemed to always care for her children. When I go to Dyeraburg they always want us to conie to aee them and they treat us mighty well. Mother was light. $he 8aid she had Indian strain (blood) but father wa8 very light and it was white blood but he never discussed it before his children. So I can t tell you excepting he said he was owned by the Bri-btians in South carolina. He 8~id his mother died soon after he was sold. He was sold to a nigger trader and co~ in the gang to ~mphia, Tennes3ee and was put on the block and auctioned off to the hi~heat bidder. He w~ a farm hand. ~tMother married father ~aen ~he was nineteen years old. She was a ~ ~iri. She lived close to her old mistress. She was very, very old eiid beI~ore she died she nearly stayed at my moTher a house Her mind wasfl~t right and mother understood how to take care of her and was kind tc~ h x~

117 112

The ~penOO8 heard about grandma. They wrote and visited years after when mother was a girl. The way that father found out ab~t hie kin ~olke was this: One day a creek was n~ned and he told the white man, I was born close to that creek and played there in the white sand and water when I was a little boy. The white man asked his name, said he knew the creek well too. Father told hi~ he never was nan*d till he was sold and they named him 2am ~ nett. I~e was sold to Barnett in Memphis. Ekit his dear own mother called hi~ Candy. The white man found out about his people for him and they found out his own dear mother died that same year he was taken fran South Carolina from grief, He heard from sonie of his people from that time on tIll he died. I worked on the rami in Tennesse till I married, I ironed, washed, and have kept my own house and done the work that goes along with raising a ~ina11 1~ atni1y. We own our hoi~. We have saved all we could along. I have never had a real hard tine like some I know. I guess my tiras is at hand now. I don t know which way to turn since my husband got down sick. I don t vote. Seem like it used to not be a nice place for wo~n to go where voting was taking place. Now they go mix up and vote. That is Cue big change. Tine is changing and changing the people. ~Laybe it is the people j~ changing up the world as time ~es by. We colored folks look to the white folks to know the way to do. We have always done it.~ 2.

[Interview with Mitchell, Mary] 118 113

0852 ~ . . ~ ~ :I~13 Interviewer ~ Person interviewed Marir~ ~t~che1l,J~a~x, ~kan~a~ ~e6O ~ I was born lu Trenton, Tennessee. My parents had five children, They were named ~ William and Charlotte Wells, My father ran away and left my mother with all the children to raise. By birth mother was a Mississippian. She had. been a nurse and ray father was a timber man and fari~ier. My mother said she had her hardest time raising ~ her little children, She wa~ taken. from her parents when a ~na11 girl and put on a block and sold. S2ie never said if her owners was bad to her, but she said they was rough on Uncle Peter. He would fight. She said they would tie Uncle Peter and whoop him with a strap. ~ roni what she said there was a gang of 5laves on Mr. Wadets place. He owned her. I never heard her ment ion ftee~om but she said they had a big farm bell on a tall post in the back yard and they had a horn to blow, It was a whistle made of a cow s horn, She said they ~as all afraid of the Ku Klux, They would ride across the field and they could see that they was around, but they never come up close to

Exslaves. 119 114

~ ORMA #763 ~. Circumstances of Interview STATE- - p~rkansas N~J~ OF ~ Bernice Bowden LDDRLSS-- 1006 Oak Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas DATL~ november 3, 1938 SUBJECT~ &slaves 1. Name and address o1~ informant Mses Mitchell, 117 Worthen Street F 2. Date and time of interview November 1, 1938, 1:00 p.m. 3. Place of interview 117 Worthen Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas 4. Nanie and. address of persOn, if any, who put you in touch with informant . Bernice ~ilburn, 101 Miller Street, Pine Bluff, Arkansas ~ b. Naine an :i address of p rson, if any, acco~npanying you None ~ 6, Description of room, house, ~irrouthings, etc.- A frame house (rented), bare floors, no window shades; a bed and some boxes and. three straight chairs. In ati adjoining room were another bed, heatir~ stove, two trunks, one straight chair, one rocking chair. A third room, the kitchen, con tamed cooketove and table &id chairs. Text of Interview 1 was born down here on White River near Arkansas Post, August, 1849. I belonged to Thomas Mitchel and when they (Yankees) took Arkansas Post, our Owners gathered us up and ~nY YOUfl~ master took us to Texas and he sold. me to an Irishm~ named John Melnish in Marshall fr 4~l5OO. ~5OO in gold and the rest in Confederate money. They called it the new issue. I was twelve years old then arid I stayed in Texas till I was forty- eight. I was at Tyler, Texas when they freed us. When they took us to Texas they left my mother and baby sister here in Arkansas, down here on Oak Log Bayou. I never saw her again and when I caine back here to Arkansas, they said s~ ha~ been dead twenty eight years. Never cUd hear of mY father a ain.

120 115

I m suppOsed to be part Creek Indian. ~n t know how much. We have ~n6 sOn, a farmer, lives across ~e river. MaPrT1ec~ this wife In 1873. My wife and I left Texas forty~one years ago and carne back here to Ar~ ~ kazisas and. stayed till 1922. Then we went to Chicago and stayed till 1930, and. then carne back here. I d. like to go back up there, bat I guess I m gettin too old. While I was there I preached and I worked. all the time. I worked. on ~the streets and the driveways in Lincoin Park. I was in the brick and block depart~ ment. Then I went from there to the asphalt department. There s where I coined the cuoney. Made ~6.6O in the brick and. block and ~7.2O a day in the asphalt. ~wn here they don t know no anoz e about asphalt than a pig does abou.t a holiday. ~__~11 th1a~~ s from the Southandnever been nowhere don t knnoi a woman either. Yes rna rfl, I m a preacher. Just a local preacher, wasn t ord.ai~d. The ~ reason for that was in ~exas a man over forty~f1ve could.n t join the travel Ing ~ connection. I was licensed, but of course I couldn t perform marriage cere~ ~ monies. I Was just within one step of that. I went to school two days in my lif~. I was privileged to go to the first free school In Texas. Had. a teacher named Goldman. 1~n t know what year that was but they found out me and another fellow was too old so they .wou.ldn t 1~t ~is go no nio re But I caught ray alphabet In them two days . SO I j ust caight what educat Ion I ye got here and there. I can. read wel1-~ best on my Bibl e and. ~starnent and I read. the newspapers. I can aorta scribble my name. H, ye been a farmer most o f my 1 1 fe and a pr eacher f0 r fi ft y-fI ye years. I can repair shoes and use to do common carpenter work. I can help build a hou~e. I only preach occasionally now, here and. there. I belong to the Allen Pe~ip1e in Hoboken (3~st Pine Blfltt). I think the young generation is gone to natight. They re a different cu.t to what they was in my comm 115

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2 ~ 11G Int,rvi wer s Comment . ---- ~ -~uU~-i-~- -- -~-- _-L-~ ~ This fl~a.fl 8.fl~1 ILls wife live In the ou~t skirts of West Pine Bittif. They ~ recei ~ a Small aiim of money and. commodities from the County Welfare Depart ~ ment. He has a ye ry pleasant personailty, a good i~e~ory aui intelligence above the ordinary. Beads the ally graphie and. Ark~sas gazette. ~ge 89 He said, Here sthei~ea~p~eed~omia worthitall. f

122 117

r FOBMB 117 Personal History of Informant 1~A~ OF WORKER~ Bernice ~ow~en ADDB~S~lOO6 Oak Street DA~E_~November 3 1938 5UBJECT~ Ex-slaves ~ AND ADDBESS OF INPORM~- *see Mitchell, 117 Worthen Street, Pine Bluff 1. incestry- Father, Lewis Mitchell; Mother, Rhoda Mitchell 2, Place ar~1 date of birth- Oak Log Bayou., White River, near Arkansas Post, Ark. 3, Family-- Wife and one grown son. ~ 4. Places lived In, with dates- Taken to Pexas by his young master and sold in Mar3hall diirirg the war. Lived in Tyler, Texas until forty-eight years of ace; came back to Arkansas in 1897 and atay~ until 1922; went to Chica~ and lived until 1930 ; back to Jefferson County Arkansas. 5, Education with dat ea -~ days after twenty~one ye ars of No dat e. 6. Occupat ions and accoznplisbments, with dates-~ Parrner, preacher, con~non carpenter, cobbler, public ~r1c on streets in Chicago. Farmed and preached until he went to Chicago in 1922. The he ~rked in the maintenance depart ment of city streets of Chicago ar4 of Lincoln Park, Chicago. 7, Special skills and interests -Asphalt worker 8. Cominuiiity and. religious act ivitlee- Licerised ~t~d1et Preach& No as slgnznent now. 9. Description of informant Five feet sight luche s tall; weight 165 pounds, nearly bald. Ve17 prominent cheek bones. Keen intelligence. Neatly dressed. 10. Other points gained in interview Beads daily papers; knowledge of world affairs. ~

Negro customs. 123 118

~ sine PMI~rit fl$ FOLKLORE SUBJECTS ~ Name of Interviewer . .. Martin ~ Barker ~ ~ S~bject~egrOCUStCm1 . Story ~ I was born on the Walker place, in 1869. My father was a slave . .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ to ~r Bob. I used to drive Miss Lelia (Eulalie) to the Gatholie church here in Pine Bluff. She used to let me go barefooted, and bare headed. . . I,~iss Lelia was the daughter of C l. Creed Taylor. All during slavery time I drove her gins. ~e had eight ~nules. eight at a time hitched to each lever, they would weave in an out but they was so hitched that they never got in any bodyts ~ They just walked around and round like they did in those. days. ~ . e had. herds of sheep, we sheared them and wove yaru for socks. . le raised wheat when it was ripe we laid a canvas cloth on the groundand put wheat 0x1 it, then men and women on horse back rode over it, and thrashed it that way. . ~L~ hey called it treading it. Then We took it to the mill and ground it and made it into flour. For breakfast (we ate awful s oon in t1~e morning) about 4 ~ t~ ion we packed lunch in tin buckets and eat again at~daylight. Fat meat, cornbread and molasses. Some would have turnip greens 4 ~ for breakfast. Swmaertirno, Miss Lelia would plant plenty of fruit, and we wOuld :~ave fried apples stewed peaches and things .

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2. 119 Sunday mornings we would have biscuit, butter, molasses, chicken, J_ ~ e~C. . For our work they paid us seventy~five cents a d~y and when ean~e C ot toll pick ng~. time old rule seventy five cents for piokin o, CIir is tinas time plenty of jew, plenty to drink and. everything. We would danoo all Christ~nas. ;~1I kind of game was plentiful, plenty of coon, posswn, used up. everyth~ig that grew in the woods. Plenty of corn, we look it ~bo the grist mill every Saturday. Ark. nv. boats passed the Walker place, and dey was a landing right at dere place, and one at the Wright plaee that is where the airport is now. ~ ~ ;~.11 de white folks had plenty of cattle den and in de winter time dey was all turned in on the fields and with what us niggers had, that made a good inaziy, arid you loiow yorseif dat was good for de ground. ~.1other was a slave on the Merriweather ph~ce, her marster was I~ick Lerriweather. My grathaa was Gusta MerriWeather, my ~~other Lavina and lived on the Merriweather place in what was. then Dorsey county, near Edinburg, now. Cleveland~o. LIy grandfather was Louis Barnett, owned by Nick Barnett of Cleveland co., then Dorsey co. Fathers people ias owned by Marse Bob 1a lker. Miss Lei la (Eulal le ) was ii. Mis s Maggie Ben~on T1F~.S ~OUfl~ mistis. I dont believe in ghosts or spirits. Information by Ben Moon Place of residence

[Interview with Moore, Emma] 125 120

.. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3~ :~3os2o ~ ~ 12() IntervieWer~ ~ ~ Bs~j~~ ~ . ~ . Person Interviewed .~ Ioc~ .. ~ th5 Short Weat SocoM, Pine Blurt, Lrl naas ~ ~ ~ Oceiipation~_ ~ ~4uM~7 w o1rk ~ I se born in slavery t1~ea. . Ih~n my daddy come back fr~a th War, he said I was gwine on seven or eight. He stayed in~ the War three yere and aix months. X know that s what ~ he always told U8. He sent with his master, 70e Rorton. Looke like I cn ~ see old Marse ~roe now. g~ai lone sandy whiskers. The laa ti I seed hia he come to my uncle e house. We was all Ilvin in a row of houses, Called em the quarters. I never will tergit it, I was born on Horton s Island here in ArkanaaaI That s what they told ni know when my daddy went to war and when he cox~ back, he put o~ hie C ?UdjIfl~flt8 (accoutrements) to let us see how he looked. I seed the soldiera gvine to war and coinin back. Look like to I was glad to see em till I seed too many of em~ ~Yaiikees i~taed to cane down and take provision.. Tea, twaa the Yaiikee3Z My granddadd~y was the whippin boas. Kad a white bose too ne~d Massa Fred. Massa Joe used to come dowxt and play with us chilun. Ria naine was ~oe Horton. Ever body can tell you that was his nei~ Old aissis n~d ~ Mary. She didn t p187 with us nuxoh.

126 121

Yes ma ani, they sure did take us to Texas dunn of the War in a ox wagon. Stayed down there a long time. .. We d idn t have plenty to eat but we had to eat what ~ we did have . I ~nember they wouldn t give us chillun no meats 3us ~eaae my mouf and make fly mother think we had meat. Now my mother told me, at night sane of the folks ~ used to steal one of old massa a 8hoate and cook it at night. I ~ow when that pot was on the rack but you better not say nothin bout . . All Us chillun stayed in a big long log house. Dar is ~here us chillun stayed in~ the daytime right close to Mise Mary WI used to sit on the lever at the gin. Ton know that was glory to me to ride I whipped the old mule. Zver now and then I d give him a When they pressed the cotton, they wet the preSs and I member one time they wet it too much. I don t say they sont it back ~it I think they made em pay tor it. And they used to ptit chunk. in the bale to make it weigh heavy. Right there on that lake where I was born. Used to work in the field. These white folks can tell you I loved to work0 I used to get as mUCh as the men. MY 1fl~P~Ifl7 W8 a worker and as the salin is, I was a chip off the old block. The first teacher I went to school to was named Mr. cuebmen. Didn t go only on rainy days. That was the first school end you~ fni~ht say the las one cause I had to nues them ohillun. You know old massa used to keep all our ages and my daddy 8aid I was flineteen when I married, but I don t know what year twae..-honest I don t, 2~ ~ 121.

127 122

3. 122 I been married three tin~a. I member one t1n~ I W~s goin to a buryin I was hurryin to get dressed. :i: wanted to be ready when they come by for me cause they say a bad luck to stop a BOo If you don t know that I do~ ~you ~ow if they had done started from the houae. My mama and daddy said they was born in Tennessee and was bought and brought here. ni been goin to one of theae gov ment schools and got my eyes so weak I eantt hardly see to thread a needle. I se crazy bout it I m teflin you. I sit up here till God knows how long. They give me a copy to practice and they d brag on me and. that turned rae foolish. I jus thought I was the teacher herselt almoa . Thatta the truf now. I can t read. mu~ch. I don t tool with no newspaper. I wish I could, woman-.-I sure do. I keep tellin these young ~olks they better learn somethin . I tell em they better take this chance. This young generation-~.I dou t know m~ich bout the whites a~~I m tellin you these colored is a sight. Well I m gwine away front here d rectly.~-ain t gwine be here mach 1on~er, I:t I don t see you again I ll meet you in heaven.~

[Interview with Moore, Patsy] 128 123

3()848 InterViewer ~L ~ -~ ~- ~ ~ ~ - -r ~ Person interviewed ~ty~Moox!e,Mad,iao~~ Arkanasa Age~~7~~ 1~Iy mother waa sold in .Tameatown, Virginia to I~phney Hull. Her White folks ~ot in debt. My papa was born in Georgia. rolice n~rie iiiiiaiua owned him. ~a never seen her iua no more but William Hull went to Virginis~ and bought her two aistera. I was named Patay after grandma in Virginia. ~e had. twanty.~.one ~ children to nia s knowing. Ma waa a light oo1or~ Pa was a Molly Laspy man, ~ That means he was Indian and African. Molly laapy folka was nearly alwaya t~ree folka. Ma waa named Mattie. I~ they Wc*ild have no children they got trafficked about. 9~phney Hull was good 1~t Wi11i~i Hull and hia wite waa both i~an. They lived on the main road to Holly Springe. J~pbney Hull waa a Methodist man, kind-hearted and good. Re ~a a bachelor I think. He kept a wctnan to cook and keep his house. Auntie said the Yankees was mean to Mr. Wi11i~ Hull s wife They took all their money and meat. They had their money hid and some of the black tolka let the Yankees find out where it wasp They got it1 Papa was a soldier. He sent ror us. We coene to Me~uphia, Tennessee in a wagon. We lived there five or six years. Pa got a pension till he died. Both my parents was field hands in slavery. Ma took in washing and ironing in Metiaphis, I was born in D. Sota County, Mississippi, I r&t~ber Forrest s battl in 5!fl8 I didn t have sense to be scared. I seen black and white dead

129 124

8. 124 ~ in the streets and alleys. le went to the ~ ~ for protection, end ~ we played and stayed there. They tried to open the magazine house i~t couldn t. When freedom come, folks left hc~, out in the streets, crying, prayiflg, singing, shouting, yelling, and knocking down everything. Some shot off big g~.Lfl . i~n come the calm. It wa~ sad then. So many folks done dead, things tore up and nowheres to go and nothing to eat, nothing to do. It got squally. Folks got sick, so hungry. S ~e folks starved nearly to death, Times got hard. We went to the washtub onlie8t way we all could live. Ma was a cripple woman. Pa couldn t find work tor so long when he mustered out. I do recollect the Civil War well. I live with my daughter. I have a cough since I had flu and now I have chill8 and fever. My daughter helps ~ all I get. ~ie lives with ~. Some of the young folks is mighty good. I reckon acme is too loose acting. Times is hard. Harder in the winter than in au~ner time. We has our garden and chickens to help us out in 8un~ner.~

[Interview with Moorehead, Ada] 130 125

f ~. ~ rI~ ~ . ~ . ~ .:~4 (~ ~ ~J~) J~_~ Interviswer . .~ I~ B~raic. Bowdon ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~- J-~J !-~-- W ~ ~ LJ1~~T . ~ Peraon int.rview.d~1~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 4~-~ !1!!~$ p --. ~ 1 ~ ~ ~. . ~ 25~O L ~r~ qu , Pin. Bluff, Arka aa ~ I was here in 8lavery tiu~a, honey, but I don t know exactly how old Z ~ am. I was born in Huntsville *iabeaa ~t you know In them days old folks didn t tell the young folks nothin and I was so ~fl when thsy brought me here. I don t know wbat year I was born but I believe I m about eighty.. two. You know when a person alu t able to work and dabble out hie own clothes, you know he a gons a long ways. My white folks was M Ihite what owned ~. Called him MarBe Ad. Don t call folks marss rnuoh now days. ~ My father was sold away from us in Alabama and we heard he was h ~ in Pine Bluff so Aunt lenny brought us hsre. ~ie just had a road full of us and brought us here to 4rkaneas. is walked. We was a week on the road. I know we started hers on Monday morning and we got her to the Courthou~ on the next Monday round about noon. That was that old court house. I reckon that ground is in the river now. When we got here I saw ay father. H. took me to his ~ sister that was my Aunt Savannah ~ ~ and dropped we down. ~. Mi~e~ Reynolds ~ aiaod ~ . ~ie ccme to Aunt Savazinah s house and hired m~ the very same day I got hsre. I nuseed Miss X~atie. ~is Waa bout a month old. You know -~ a little lon dress baby. ~n t war them long th?esses now - gsttin wiser,

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10e 2. Mrs. Reynolds sho was good to ~. And since she s gone looks like I m gone too ~ gone to the dogs0 Cause when Mrs. Reynolds got a dress for Mise zatle -~ ~ot one for me too, My father was a soldier in the war. Last time I heard from him I he was hauling salt to the breastworka. Yea, I was here in the war. was all right to izis b~t I wished a many a tb~ I wasn t here. I went to school two or three days in a week for about a term, 3it I didn t learn to read much. Had to hire out and help raise my brother and sister. l in goin to this here government school now. I goes every atter~ noon. Since I got old I can think bout the old timee. It comes to ~. I didn t pay attention to nothin mach when I was young. Oh Lord, I don t know wha s goin to become of us old folk8. Waan t for the Welfare I don t know what I d do, I was sixteen when I married. I eure did marry young. I married young so I could see my ehillun grown. I never married bit once and I stayed a married wc~nan forty nine years to the very day ~ old man died. Lived with one man forty-nine years. I had my hand and heart full. I had a home of zay own. How many chillun? Me? I had nine of WY OWII aiid I raised other rolka chillun. Oh, I been over this world right sniart first one thing axid then another. I kflow a lot of white folks. The7 all been pretty good to me. ~

[Interview with Mooreman, Mary Jane (Mattie)] 132 127

intsrylsw .~ ~ ~. ~ ~ ~ peraoe lfltrvisw d ir.. Mafl 3~ane j~attis~oorem8n Ron. ~ ~ ~ 9Q fly,.. na en. Pvc been in Kot bringe, been in tiot Sp:ringa 57 ysars. fiat s a long tIm. Lot. of changea hays s~*u---i vs seen loti of ehang.a h~re~changed tr~ wooden aidsialka and little wood. bUiIdIUgI. Your name e Eudgini ? I knew tas Ei~dgins.a.~* KAsw Miss Nore welt, What s that ? Did I know &d. in. ? Did :i know d.linsi Do you mean to tell .me she s ~tiU alite ? Adelin.& Iby Mies Mauds,~ ( addrea.ing ~. Ejeels, for whoii she works---and who at nearby to kelp in the interview) Iii.. lisud.., I tell you Ad.ltris a Wlil?I ahs s white clean tb?O~$ C ses inte ~ visi with Ld.lins ~elsy, who incid.ntally I. as black ae th. fi ace of spadee -- -~in pi~uentation,) Misa N*uds, you never knew anybody like Ldslin.. ~i. bossed those children and. made them nind-~-4uat like they wae hsra. She took i-~ 127

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Hudgins Mattie Moorentan good care o:t thsm~.~ (Turning to the interviewer) You know Iiov~ the HudglnB alwaya was about their ehi~dren. Adelin thought every one of em was made out of ~o1d~--made out of pure GGLD. ~he made em mind. I remember one., she waa down on Central Avenus w Ith Ross end he ttd~ somthing or other that wasn t nice. She walked over to the umbrella stand, you remember how they used to have imbrsllae l or sais out in front of the stoi~ea, She grabbed an umbrella and she whipped Ross with it~-.she didn t hurt h5~m. Then she put it back in the stand an& said to the nian who run the store, If that umbrella ~ ~ Just charge it to KarTs Hudgina. Th s the way Adelins was SO eh ~ still alive Law ho~i I d like to see her. Bring me a picture of her. Oh Miss Mary, I d love to have it. Me ? I was born on Green. river near Hartford Kentucky. G~ues~s I was about a year and a hait, tram. what they toid~ ms when my mistress iaarried~. Don t know how she ever niet my ~iaster. She was raised in a convent and his folks lived e~ long way froni hers. But anyhow she did1. $hs was ~uat 13 wheii she married. The man she married was named Charles ~Ooreman ~ 1~isy had a son called Oharles W~c1i~f Mooreman. He Wa~ n~Led for his mother s people, I got a son I called Charles Wyoliff too. He works at the

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Mattis Mooteman HtiO~gina 129 F ~r11ngton. ne s a waiter. They say he looks Just like m. ~ Mr. Charles Wyclltt Moorm~n~-back in Kentucky. ~ still ~ gets letters trozn him. ~Uss Mary I guess I had. a pretty easy time in slavery ~ay8. They was good to us. Besides I was a house niggah. ( ThOse who have been house niggaha never quibble at the ~vord slave or negro. A subtle social distinction brewed. in the black race to separate house servants from. field. hands as far as wealthy planters from poor white trash . ) Once I heard a flL8fl say of my niother, You could put on a white bo1le~ shirt and lie flat down on the floor in her kitchen and~ not ~et dirty.* Cook ? No, ma a.m$ ( with dignity and indignation) I~ never cooked. until after I was married, and I never washed, never washed so much as a rag. A.t1 I washed was the babi~i and maybe lay mistress s feet. I was a lady s maid. I d ~vait on my mistress and I d knit soi for all the rolke. When they would sleep it was our duty- ~us maida-~ to fan ein with reathers made out of turkey feathers~-teather tans. Pert of it was to keep em cool. Then they didn t have screens like we have today. so part of it was to keep the flies off. I ren~e~ber how we couldn t stomp our feet to keep the flies rrom biting for tear of waking em up.

135 130

Nattie Mooreman ~utg1ns 13() NO, Misa Mery, w didn t get suck good. food. Nobody had all the kinds of th n s we have todaye w. hat mostly buttermilk and eox nbcrsad and tat meat. Cak. ? D ed ws d,idntt. I rF,m b,r once they baked a cake and ~. ierl.s ~y~ ~11tt --h . was just a lltti bc~~he got in and took a whole fistful out of the eak . When Miss foun ~ d out about It, she give us all do~s of salts~~~~ msnougk to make us all throw up. Shs gave It to all ths nlggaha arid the chlldrsu- the white chlldrsn. And what did sho tizid out ? It was her own ehild who had done it. ~ Yes ma ~.ws learned to read and write. Oh, Mise Mauds ~0~11~L~1 don t want to recIte~ I don t want to.~( ~it she did Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and ~. Playful EIttn -~the latter all of4Olines.) ~X think, I think they both come out of MeGuffey s Second Reader. Yes ma am I renieinbex~ s. McGuftsy e and the Blueback Sp.llex too. No, Miss Ma?7~ there wa~. t so much of the war that was fought around us, I r~eIftbSr that old Master ue d to 0 out in the front yard ~ and stand by a locust tres and put his ear against It. He said that wiy hs could hear the cannon down to Bowling Green. No I didn t neyer hear any 8hOOtI~g from the wer myself.

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Mattie Mooreinan Hudgiris Yes ma aui, the Gonfederates used to corne through lots. I reiaoniber how we used to go to the spr1n~ for water tor em. Then we d stand with the buckets on our heads while they drank~--~drank out et a big gourd. When the buckets was empty we d ~ back to the spring for rn~ore water. Once the Yankees eonie by the place. It was at nicht. They went out to the quartera and they tried to ~et em to rise up~ Told. ein to come on in the big house and take what they wanted. Told em to take anything they wanted to t~~ake take Naster e silver spoons and Miss silk dress. o If they t liks it w 11 shot their brains out ~ V they said. Next morning they told Master. ~e got scared and moved~ ~t that time we was living at Cloverport. It was near the end ot the war and we was already free, only we didn t know lt. 11e moved on up to 8tephensport~ That s on the Ohio too, He took me and a br ther of mine and another black boy. While we was there I remember he took me to a circus. I remember how the lady --she was dressed in pink come walking down a wire~ -~straight on down to the ~round~ She was carrying a long pole. I won t never forget that. Not long afterwards I was married. We was all free then~ MY husband asked my master if he could marry o He

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Ht~dgins Mattie Mooreman told biN You re a good man. You can come and live on my farE and ~ork for lae, but you can t have Mattie.~ SO we moved off to his raster s farm. A little while after that his Master bought a big farm in ~kanSa8. He wanted to hire as many people as he could, so we went with him. He started out well, but the first stn~mer he died. SO everything had to be sold. A man what come down to bid. on some of the farm tools and stock---~come to the auction, h~ told us to come on up to Woodruff county and work for him. ~e was there 7 years and he v~orked the farm and I took care of niyselr and my babies, Then he went off and left me. I went in to otton Plant and started working there. Finally he wrote ~te and tried to get me to Say we hadn t never been married. 3aid he wanted to niarry another woman, The white folks I worked for wouldn t let me. I d been married right and they wouldn t let zus disgrace myself by writing such a 1~tter, Finally I came on to Hot Springs. For a while I cooked and washed, Then I started working for folks~ regular. For g years, tho, I mostly washed and ironed. I came to Hot springs on the 7th of February ~ I think it ~as 57 years ago. YOU remember Miss Maude~-it was Just before that big hail stOi~. You was here, don t you remember~-that

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Mattie Mooreman Hudgins hail storm that took all the windows out of all the houses, tore off roofs and. swept dishes and table-cloths right off the tables. Can t nobody forget that who s seen it. Miss Mary, do you know Miss rulia Huggins ? I worked. for her a longtime. Worked for her before she went away and after she came back. Between times I cooked for MX s. Button C Burton~~but called Button by everyone) Housley. V~hen Miss ~TuIia come back she marches right down to ~rs. Housley s and tells me she wants me to work for her again. Can t get her now,* says Mrs. Housley, Mattie s done found out she s black.~ But anyhow I went to see her, and I went back to work for her, pretty foxy Miss Julia was. I beel working for Mrs. Elsele pretty near twenty five years. Saw her children grow up and the g~ and children. Lancing, he s my heart, Once when Mr. and Mrs. !isele went to see Mrs. Brown, Lancing s mother, they took nie with them. All the way to Watertown, Wisconsin. There wasn t any more fli~gas iA the town and all the children thought I was sonithing to look at. They d corne to see nie and they d bring their friends w~th em, Once while we was there, a circus come to town. The children wanted me to see it, Told. rae there was a negro boy i_fl it. Guess they thought it would be a treat to me to see another higgah. I told ein, Law, don t you think I see lots, 1~t~ zriore than I wants, everyday when I is at homeV

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Hud ina :1 3.4 Matt le Moor eman B It iLeed to scare me. The folks would go otf to a party or a show and leave me alone with the baby. No, Miss Mary, I wasn t scared for myself . I thought somebody might conie in and kidnap that baby. No rriatter how late they was I~d sit on the top step of the stairs leading upstairs~just outside the door where Lansing was asleep. NO iuatter wh at t me th e y C orne home they d. f I nd me tb er e . Vihy don t you go on in your bedrooxn and lie down V they d ask ms~ t NO, I~d. tell eni, somebody mi ht come in, and they would have to get that baby over my dead body. ;ronnie, t1~at s my daughter ( Ira. D.G. Murphy, 33B Walnut Street-~a large stucco house with well oared for lawn) she wants me to quit work. I told her, You put that over on Mrs. Murphy-~--~you made her quit work and took care of her. What happened to her ? She diedL You re not going to niake me old. Twice she s got me to quit work. Once, she told. me it was against the law. Told me there was a law old folks ooul~in t work. I believed her and I quit. Then I come on down and I asked Mr. Elsele ( an important ~i ~ea ~3 b~~1n~~s executive and. prominent in civic affairs,~ He rared b~ck and he said, I d like to see anybody stop nie from working0 so t come on backo

140 135

Mtttte Moorenen ~dgini ~ 135 Aiiothsr ti~., it waa when t,: o d~ age pensione corns in. they t ied to stop me a~in~ io . Id m I had to teks lt. I asked M:r. Elisle if :i could work 3ust the seine. ~O~ he says it you talcs It, you ll have to quit work. BOX stamped my foot and I says, I won t take nobody apnsion. ~Le o~er day Jonnis cal I.& up here and she started to crying. Lots of to&ks write her notes ant say ehe s bad to let me wo?k.Somebo47 told her that they had seen me going by to work at 4 otciock 1~n the rning. it wa~ t no sue. I asked a man when I was on the way and t was *5 minutes until 5. Besi~ss, my c2ock ~ had stopped and I co~.1dn tt 11 w~t tinte lt was. Tes, Mise Mary, I dose get hers sort of eariy~ but then I like t. I J~ust ait in ths kitohe~ until the talks getup. You ass that pioture over there, it s ~. Eisie wh nh was 1?. I d knob that smiling face anywhere. He s a~iways good to ~e When ~ they go away to Florida I can go to ths store end ~et money whenever X nsed it.. But ~ it s always soot to see them come back. Miss Maude says I ~ eure to ~ to leaven, PR IU~h a good worker~ ID. Mi81 Mar7, I m not going to quit woik. Not until I get 014.

[Interview with Morgan, Evelina] 141 136

30713 . . :i:i~~. . Interviewer~ . ~ ~ ?a;lor . . Person interviewed i~Y6l a M~rg~n . 131 ? L Si~eenth Stiest, Little Rock., ~kansaa Age 4p~P. ~k~- .~ ..-.~-- ~ ---..---- -. I was six years old during of the War. My ma told me my age, but I forgot it; I never did have it put do~n. The only way I gits a pension, I just telle em I was six years old during of the War, and they figures out the age. Sorta like that. ~t I know I was six years old when the Rebel. ~nd the Yankeea was fighting. I seed the Yankees oox~ through. I seed that. They c~e in the tiii~ old master was gone. Re nui off~-~he nm away. He didn t let em git him. I was a little child. They stayed there all day breaking into things breaking into the molasses and all like that. Old mistress . stayed upstairs hiding. The soldiers went down in the basement and th.roved things around. Old master was a seEator; they wanted to git him. They sure did cuss him: The -~ ~ -~ old senator, ~ they would say. B~e took his finest horses and all the gold and silver with him scmewherea. They couldu t git im. They was after senators and. high ups like that. The soldiers tickled ~. They sung. The white people s yard was jus full of them playing Yankee Doodle and RanI 3 eff Davis On a Soui A~le Tree All the ~ite people ~ne ~ Punny how they ru~n away like that They had to save their SelVes. I IflSIflb8r they took one old bOSS ~8fl ~fld hung him up in a tree across a drain of water, jus let his foot touch and SOmebOd7 eut hirn dom after while. Those white folks had ~ to nm away.

142 137

2. :137 ~ ~&1L~A( .~ ~_~_ . I was born1 in Wedgeboro, North Carolina, on the plantation o~.1et ~ see what that IMIL~8 name was. He was an old lawyer. I done for~t that old white man s name Old Tom Ash! Senator Ash--~that s his naine. He was good to bi s slaves. He had so ~y niggera he d idn t know them all . My father s name was Aiphonso Dorgens and my s name was Lizzie DorienS Both of them dead I t know what her name was before she married My pa belonged to the Dorgens and he married my ma. That is how she corne to be a Dorgen. Old Man Ash never did buy him. He just visited my mother. They all was in the sax~ neighborhood. B~g plantations. Both ot them had masters that owned lots of land. I don t know how often he visited fly mother after he married her. He was over there all the tiiae~ They were right adjoining plantations. I was born in a trame house. I don t know nothin about it no more than that. It was j ixted to the kitchen. My mother had two rooms j ined to the kitchen. She was the old mistress cook. She could come right out of the kitchen and go on in her room., My father worked on. the farm. They red the slaves meat and bread, That is all I remember..~meat and bread and potatoes. They made lots of potat 0e s. They gave em what they raised. You could raise stuff for your self if you wanted to, My mother took care of her children. We children was on the place there with her. She didn t have body s children to take care of ~t Us. Patrollers I used to hear them all talk about the patrollers. I used to hear fly mother talking about them. My ma said. my master wouldn t let the patrollers come on his place. They could go on anybody else s place

143 138

3. :138 ~it ~ie never did let them come on hia place. Some of the slavea were treated very bad0 ~ ~ ~ said he didn t allow a patroller on the place and he didn t allow ~ other white nian to touch his niggera. He was a big white man-~a senator. He didn t know all his Negroes but he didn t allow nobodY to Impose on them. He didn t let no patroller and nobody else beat up hi$ nig~ers. How Freedom Cerne I don t know how freedom carne. I know the Yankeea carne through and they d pat we little niggers on the head and say, Nigger, yot. are juat as free as I am. And I would say, Yes rn. Right After Freed~ Right after the War my mother and father moved off the place and went on another plantation somewheres -I don t know where. They share cropped, I don t know how long0 Old mistress didn t ~nt them to move at all. I never will forget that, Pro sent Occupation and Opinions r, ~ used t o cook out all the t line when I got grown. I couldn t tell you when I married. You got enough junk down there now, So I ain t giving you no more. My husband s been dead about seven years, I goes to the Methodist church on Ninth and Broadway. I ain t able to do no work now. I gets a l1tt1~ pension, and the Lord takes care of me I have a hard time ~ time, ~. I ain t bothered about these young folks. They is sornethi~!~awtula It Wouj~ be wonderful to write a book from that. They ought to git a history of the se young people You could git a wonderful book out of that.

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The colored folks hare come a long way since treedcm. Lud it the white folks didn t pin em down they d go further. Old ~ eff ~vis said when the niggers was turned loose, Dive up your knives and forks with them. But they d1dnht~ ~meni~rB was sharp ai4 got something. And they ~ ~ it just like they got it. Look at ~ish. I b ow two or three big niggers got a lot and ain t got nothin left now. Well I alu t got no time l or no more junk. you got enough down there. You take that and go J ft oIl. Inrvi a Comment During the interview, a little ~pickaninny came in with his mother, His grandmother and a f~orlorn little dog were also along. Teil grandma what you want, his mother pro~ipted. RIS that your grandson? I interrupted. No, she said, ~He ain t no kin to me, but he calls me ma and acta as it I was his grandma. The little fellow hung back. He was just about twenty~ two raonths old, but large and mature for that age. Tell ma what you waiit ~ hi s grandmother pit in. Finally, he mad~e up his mind and stood in front of her and said, ~~ih~er.e His mother explained,. I ye done made him acme corn bread, t*it he am t got no butter to put on it and he wants you to give him some. Sister Morgan sat silent awhile. Then she rose deliberately and went slowly to the ancient ice~box, opened it and took out a tin of butter which she had evidently churned herself in. some manner and carefully cut out a small piece and wrapped it neatly and handed it to the little one. After a few amenities, they passed out, 4. :139

145 140

. 5. 14:0 ~TOU with her pitiful and meagre lot, the old lady eVidently means to giiare her bare necessities with others. The manner of her calculation of her age is intereating. She wae six years old when the Ja~ was going on. She definitely reimbers seeing Sherman s army and Wheeler a cavalry after she was six. Since they were in her neighborhood in 1864, she is undoubtedly sore than eighty. Eighty-on is a fair estimate, .

[Interview with Morgan, James] 146 141

141 InterTieer~ - - - - . . - ~ 8,Taylor ~ ~ -. .~--- Person interviewed Z~a Morj~an . :T~ ~- ~ 8i9~I ~ ~.T Stree~, Little RocI~ ArVa ~a ~ Ag9~ ~ t~.tring th. slave t i~ the paterolea used to go frc~ one plantation to the other hunt ing Negroes~, They would catch them at the door and throw hot ashes ~n their faces. You could go to another plantation and steal or do anything you wanted if you cc*ild x~na~ to get back to your old master s place. att if you got caught away from your plantati on, they w~ild get you, 3ontetin~s a nigger didn t want to get caught and beat, so he would throw a shovel of hot ashes in the pateroles faces and beat it away~ My daddy used to tell lots of stories about slavery ti~s. He s been dead forty~three years and my mother has been dead forty-one years-.forty.. one years this May. I was quite young and lots of the things they told ~ I remember, and some of them, I don t, t!I was born in 1873, That was eight years after the War ended, ~ ~- ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~. father s n~ was Aaron and my mother s name was Rosa. ~t~-~of--th~wa.--in 8lav~ry, I got a brother that was a baby in her lap when the Yankee soldiers got after a chicken, The chicken flew up in her lap and they never got that ones The white folks lost it, but the Yankees didn t get it. I have heard my mother tell all sorts of things. ~t they just cc~ to at ti~a. The 8O1d~ers would take chickens or anything they could get their hands on.. thoee Soldiers would. My mother married the first tine in slavery. Her first husband was sold ~ slavery, That is the onliest brother I m got living now out of ten~that one that was settin in her lap when the soldiers co~ through.

147 142

2. 142 ae 8 in Boydsl.t, Arkanias now. It usd to b. oiU.d ~rr11. It ia about one hUfld~d tvaty c~ ~i1.. frc~ bore, b caues ~~ott is on hundrsd nm. and ~oyde11 il about t~1vs ail.. rurth.r . It e in Na8hYille County. My brother was a gxeat big old baby iii elavery tu... ~s ~a ~ a~tiier . child by her first hU8b~fld~ Alt tb. rest of th~~ is dsad and he le th .onlisat one that la 11vi ~ ni waa a ection forezan for the Missouri Pacific for twenty two yeaz a. I worked there altogether tor thiz ty 41v 7S~8, b~t I ~ aection tor~n tor twenty-two years. There ~ m~y card 8. c0~.nt~.d~ ~iot. of usa stayed on the job till it ~ th.~ outs ~iia Hol~a did t~t. It voeild take him two hours to welk trott here to his hcs~is4f he ever managed it at *It,e warm today aud it uill bring a lot of tIiS~. 711G. don t d~. La the w1nt~r0 iota of toiic. t)tJJk they do. ~t.y go up in cracks and litti. places like that under tbs w.athsi board th.r.~Sny placs ih~s it is wai~ and there they huddl up and stay till it ~ti wara. Then they cous out ~nd get s iethiitg to eat end go back again uhen it cools off. They live right ou through the winter In their hiding placs. Both of ~ny parente said th.y al~ye did their work ithatever the taak might be. And my daddy said he nsver got no whippiig at all. You know tlmy tould ~tt a task on you end if you didn t do it, you would get a whipping~ My daddy wouldn t stand to be ihippsd by a pat.r ls, and h didn t have to be whipped by nobody ls, boC~USS h~ $1W~78 did hi~ WO~ki~ Re was one of the ones that the pat.role. couldn t catch. When the pa~~~lea vould be trying to brs in ec~ place where he was, and the other nig~re would b. etanding round frightened to death and WOflderth ihat to do, he would bi gsttin up a shov&~fu1 ot azhss.

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5. . 143 *hen the door woeld bs opened ~ and they w~i .d b ruehin j~, ~ would acatter the ashes in their~ tassa and rush oet. It hs couldn t find no ashes, hs ~ou1d always have a handful of ps~per with hie, and he would throw that in their face5 and bsat it. Re would foOl dogs that way too. My daddy nsver did run away. B~ said he didn t haTe no ned to run away. They treated h1~ ai . right. H. did 1113 work. H. woeld get thr ~b with .verytking and aciaetiiaa he wou1~ be hoene be:tors six o clock. My moth r said that Iota of tiiie~ abe would pick cotton and give it to ths others that couldn t keep up 80 that tbay wot~1dn t b. punished. $h had a brother they used to whip all the tla bs. cause he didn t keep up. My father told ~- that his old mastr told him h. wae tr... H. stayed with hie meter till he retired end cold the ~lao.. H. workid on shares with him. Hi. old xi*eter aold the place and went to Monticello and died. He stayed iith him about fifteen or sixteen yeara after h. i~. freed, stayed on that place till the GOY8rITh~nt donated him one hundt .d Bixty acres and charged hin only a dollar end sixty cents for it. He ~iilt a houas on it and cleared it UP. That s what ~y daddy did. 8os~ folk. don t believe ~ when I t~U oet the Ooverni~nt gave hin a hundred and sixty acres of lend and charged him only a dollar and sixty cents for it a nenni a aol!.. RI am retired now. Been rtired amos 1932, The Governaent took over the railroad penaion and it Pall ~ nov. That is under the SecuritY ACt. Each and every man on the railroad Pa7 in to th Oovern~nt. I have been married right around thirty-nm. y.ars. 1 .-wa& bora:-ift~i4 t C~M1~t7~Al!kSfl$I~ M7 f~tth~l! W~8 bOl!fl jfl Georgia end brought hers by hie master. He coins b.re in a old coverd ox wagon I don t know how tbay happ.ned to d.cide to c~ here. My mother was bora

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4. i~44~ in 8outh Carolina4. 8~I5 ~t my father hrs in 44rkanaas~ They sold hsr ~~~ and and ehe mac brou~it hsrs. ttsr maos ~as dslar.d she ~t my daddy. I~er first husband was cold in South caro ,in~ and ahs never did k o, ihat bOO~ ofhim. They i*it himup on the Nook and sold himand she never did knOw which ~ h vsn~ H. stt h.r with tso boys right thsn. ~s had a gjeter tha~t stayed in South Carolba. 8c~bo4y bought her tb.rs and kept her and somebody bought my mother end brought her hers,, )i~y father s master tas named Mofleria,tt. My mother s last mastir i~s ~ed Beicher or e~thing like that. ~ I don t belong to any church. I have always liv.d d~sc.nt and kept out of ti~oub1e.* ~ Intsrviowsr s ~ Then Morgsn said *th~1. is my record , he ~oired ne a pass for th. year 1938..39 for himself cud his iif~s bstss.n all stations on ths Missouri Pacific lines Si~ed by L. L BIldWifl, Chi.t Ix.cutivs Officsx. He is a good nen even it he is not * Ohristian as to chureh membership0

[Interview with Morgan, Olivia] 150 145

1:45 ~ 30424 . . ~ Interviewer_____Mi38 Irene Robertson ~ Pers on Interviewed. M1i~1aMorgan Age ~ ~ . ~ ~-~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~. ** UI am 62 years old. I was born In Lafayette County close to New Lewisville. I heard maria say many a time she was nanied after her state - North Carolina. Her name was Carolina 1exan-~ dna. They brought her a slave girl to this new eountry. She and papa must of met up toreckly after freedom. She had some children and I in one of my papa s oldest children. . Papa come here long fore the war s tarted, The old master. in Atlanta, Georgia - Abe Smith - give his son three boys and one girl. He emigrated to Arkansas. Marna said her first hus1~and and the young master went off and he never come back as she knowed of. Young master played with mama s second girl. a whole heap. One day they was playing. hiding round, Just as she come running ~ to the base from round the house, young master hit her on the forehead with a rock, It killed her. Old master tried to school him but he worried so they sent him off ~ thought it would do his health good to travel. I dont t thinj~ they ever coxne back. After freedom mama married and went over to papa s master s. Papa stayed round there a long time, They got news some way they Was to get forty acres land and a rutile to start out with but they said they never got nothing. ttMy papa said he knowed it to be a fact, the Ku Klux eut a

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0oiored woinan~s breast off. I don t recollect why he said they got after her. The Jayh~wkers was bad too, ~~i~ey all went wild; some of ein left men hanging up in treee, They needed a good master tO protect em worse after the war than they needed ein before. They said they had a Yankee government then was reason of the Ku Klux They run the Jayhawkex s out and made the Yankees go on . Everybody bad a hard time Bread was mighty s caree when I was a child. Times was hard. Men that had. land had to let it lay out . They had hi to feed the hands on, no money to pay, no seed, no stook to work. The fences all went to rack and all the hou ~ e s near ly down When I was a clii Id they was ~ times. Itm a country woman. I farmed all my life. I been married two times; I married Holmes, then Morgan. They dead. I washed, ironed, cooked, all at Mr. Jim Buehannan s sawmill close to Lewisville two years and eight months; then I went back to farmin up at Pine Bluff, My oldest sister washed and ironed for Mrs. Buohannan till she moved from the sawmill to Texarkana. He lived right at the sawmill ground. My papa voted a Republican ticket. I don t vote. !~fy hus-~ bands have voted along. If the women would let the men have the business I thiflk times would be better. I dontt believe in women Voting . The men ought to make the livings for the faini lies but the women doing too much, They crowding the men out of work. 1f Some folks s s orry in all co lors Sf~ ems like the young fO1k~ ain t got no use for quiet country life. They buying too flP~ich. They say they have to buy everything I am t had no de- 2. 146

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p~eSSi0fl yet. I been at work and we had crop failures but I made it through. Some folks good and some am t Time s is bout to run away with 8ome ~ the folks. They all say times is better than they been since 1928. I hope times is on the mend. 3. 147

[Interview with Morgan, Tom] 153 148

Interviewer ~ . ~ . .~j :~5~5 3~~$fl ~ _-u-.--_t -~ - _ -_-u- -~ ~ __~ ~ ~ ~HT -~ s I _ ~ ~ _ .~ j- ____-._______w_- Person lntsi vlewsd ~ ~ Arkansas Age?i ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My mother was ths iother of fourteen of us Children. Their noass u Sarah and Richard Morgsn . My grsat grandfathei b long to Bill WOOdS. ~i,y had b long to the Morgana and ~i u frsdc~ casa they Changed th.ir noies back. &as of them stiLl o~sd by Morgana, Mothei~ s oisera isa Auna az~d L~~c.Ua Nari ii. ~.y had a boy named Karisy Harris and a girl. 11 had a ~e11 tara. Mother said her master waai t. bed, ~ ~ntt ~y fathsr said his oiner las tough on h1~U4OV4h on all of th~. They isa all fisid honda. They had to git up end bo doing. Es said they fed by torch aorni~ aid night and rested in the heat of tk. day two or thrss h*irs. Ybed tbo oxen and Mll s. In thea days stock end folks all .t tbi as tiass a day I does i~ea1 weil now to get two assis a day, soastiasa bot ones Tboy clone a~ kind of i~k all the year round~ H. said they had tasks. They better git the task dons or th.y isould get a boating. I havon t voted in so long a ti. I. voted Rspubiicsn. I tho~xght I di~ I worked at the railrOad till they ptit as off. Th.y ~*tt off oa dlaability. frying to git ny pap.rs tized ~p to pork or get $~ething one. ~ek on ths railroad Job. t faJasd ihm I isa Young.

Slavery days - cruel master murdered by slaves. 154 149

~ ~ ~ 1r EL DORADO DISTRICT i4~_3 ~ ut~ ~ h) 9~K~QRE~ ~ . . . . . ~ju~e of Intei Vt~0r ~ --~- --- ~ -~u Subjeot . ~ ~ - Slavo~j~~ - ~ .~M.t.t~.*1~r4!.!.tcLBj ~ ~ J story ~ Information (Ir n t enough ~ spaoe~ on this page add page) ~Ah WUZ born in Carolj~a ub slave an ah w~iz de eldest daughtuh of Christlana ~Y@bb whose owner wuz Master LO is Moe. Nah maim~ had lots uv ohillun an she also mainmied de ithite ohillun, ~hut wuz let msinii~le . When eh was ~ery small dey rented me out tuh on very p, wtiite fokes. ~~ey wuzn use tt i slaves so mari ~ ~~j: erster made him promise~tuh beat me or knock ~ bout. Dey promise dey woulthi. D01 oahried ~re home an ah dare dey wus so n~an tuh ~ till ah run off an tried tuh fin de way back tuh ash mareter. Night caught me in de woode. Ah ~ho vus skeered. Ah uuz skeered izv bears an panthers so ah crawled up in a ole bandoned crib au orouohed dawn gainet de loft. ~h went off t~h sleep but vus woke by somethin soratohin on de wall below. Ah stayed close as ah could tuh de wa31 an gin er prayin. Dat thing ~oratohed all night an eh prayed all night. 1~ flex? mawnin dese White fokee sent word -buh Marster dat ah had let so Marster foun me en took ~ home and let me stay dar too. Ah didn work in de fl l eh worked in de house. We lived in uh log sabin. Eveh Sunda mawnin Marster Louis would have all us slaves tub de house while he would sing an pray an read de Bibi, tuli us all. De people dat owned de plantation near us had lots of slaves. Dey owned lots UT xnah kin fokes. D~ marster would beat dem at night when dey oo~ fun de fiel an lock em up. fie d whoop un an sen ~ tuk defielt. Dey oouidn visit ne slaves mi flo slaves was lowed tuh visit en. S nah cousin Salue watched him hide de key so she moved den a li l further back so dat he had buh lean avsh tuh reach dein. Dat maivnin soon when he o~ tuh let em out she cracked him in de haid wSA de poker an made litt .. Joe help put his haid in de fluh place. Dat day in de fiel Littl6 Joe made er song: If YO ~ ~ bleave Aunt SalIt. kilt Mars, Jii& de bleed is on huh under dress . lie joe hollered hit. ~ ~is Information given by Charit~7 Norris __. - m~~m ~ ~ ~.J~aoe of Res idenee . ~ rk~ias. AGR i~.

155 150

.2- :154:) Aunt Saille kilt Marse Jim. Dey zamined Aunt Sallie 8 under dress so dey put huh 1X1 jail till de baby come den dey tried huh an sentenoed huh tuh be hung an she ~ Our Marster use tUh tell us if we left de hou8e de pataroller3 would eatch US. 0110 night de pataroilere run mah two brother3 home, Joe an Henry. ?~hen de oie haid died out dey ohuliun got de property. Yo see we slaves wuz do property. Den we got separated. Some sent one way an some nother. Hit jei happent dat Marae ~ drawed ~. lathen de Wali broke out we could heah ii i things bein said. We couidn meke out. So we begin tuh move erbout. Later we learnt we wu~~ rwm~n tun~ de wh~ runnin we run intuit a b noh uv soldiers dat had got kilt. Oh dat wuz terri~,1s. ~tftuh n~h bruddera foun out dat dey vuz Lightin tuh free us dey stole hosses an run erway tuh keep furn bein set free. Aftuth we got tuh Morris Creek hit wuz bloody an dar ~Z: one uv de hossea turnin roun an roun in de witub wid his eyes shot out. We nevah saw nuthin else uv Joe. nor Henry nor de othuh horse from dat day tuh d is one. But we went on an on t iii we ~ tuli a rod house and dat red house represented free. De white fokes wouldn go dat way cause dey hated tuh give us up. Dey turnt an went de othuh way but hit wuz too late. De news oo~ dat Mr Lincoln had signed de papuha dat made u s al I free ~t dere wuz so~ joie Ing ah tells yo. Ah wuz a grown woi~n at dat tue. 01e Moater Amos brought us on as fur as Fo dyoe an turnt us a loose. Dat s wha dey settled. Some uv de slaves stayed wid em au some went tuh othuh places. Me an n*h sistuh oon~ tuh Caj~den an settled. Ah mahried George Morris. We havn seen our pa ~ ~ sinoe we ~ vided and since we wuz ohil m. When we gottuh Camden and settled down we went tuh work ~ an sont back tuh de oie country aftuh ma an pa. Enroute tuh dis countr7 we cone through Tennecsee an ah i~mbuh comm through Memphis ~i Pine Bluff to Fordyce. As we wuz comm we stopped at de MissiesippiRivuh. ~h wuz standin on de banj~ lookin at de great roll UT watuh high in de air. Somebody snatched i~ bao~ and de watuh took in de bank wha ah ~uz standin. To oound n stand too close tuh de r~j~ count UT de waves.

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151 Der WUZ a col wintuh and at night we wEMild gather rouit a large eamp fire an play sieh games as Jaok in de~buah out him doun an 01. gras ~u1e out ride him.1 Yaul know dem. games ah know. An in de su~ r times at night we played ~ On our way tuh ~&z kaneas w. drove ox teams, jinnie teams, don- key tea1~, mule teams an horse teams. We sho had a good time.

[Interview with Morris, Emma] 157 152

i0906 . 152. Interv1eWe~ - - - - M~i~a ~~Ir~xi~ Boberteon Person interviewed ~ sana Morria~7orrestCitj~ ~k~a?sa~ ~ -- ---W ~ ~ ~ --~ ~ --~ ~ ~ -~ ~-~- ~ My parents was sane and Sam McOaslin. They come from 0108e to Atlanta, Georgia to Hernazido, Mississippi after slaTery. Ma was heired and they bought pa before they left North Carolina. They bought pa out of a nigger drove a.tter he was grown.. lie raised tobacco and corn. pa helped farm and they raised hogs. He drove hogs to sell. He didn t say where they took the hogs, only they would have to stay up all night driving the hoes, and they rode horses and. walked too and had shepherd dogs to keep them in a drove. Pa was a B~wiek (B( our) lok) 1~t I never heard him say nothing bout ~iaster Bowick, so I don t know his other name. He said theygot In a tight and had to sell acme of the slaves and he being young would bring more then one of the older x~n. He was real black. Ma was lighter but not very light. ~1eCaslin was a low heavy set mau and he rented out hacks and horses in Atlanta and pa drove, greased the harness and curried and sheared the horsee. baster McCaslin brought them in town and ranted them o He didn t have a livery stable He just ~urfli shed. conveYancea. I heard him tell about a good hitching post where he could more than apt rent out his rig and how he always stopped and fed the horses when eating time co~. He took a feed box &1on~ all the time. Master McCaslin would tell him to not drive too h8Xd when he had to make long drives. He never would let him take a whoop.

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2. 153 He had aome gll 1$ I heard him say. May and Alice was their xiernes, He djdn t say xnueij about the family. ~e took a basket o~ prov~aio~ w~tii him to eat Miss May a~j ~ nice tixei up, ~ basket was ciose wove an~ had a lid. The old man tar~ne~i. fle drove too. IXe drove a hack. Ma worked in the field. I heard her tell about the cockleburs. Well, ehe said they would stick on your dress aztd stick your legs and you would have to pick them off and sometimes the beggar s lice would be thick on their elothea and they would pick them off. ~ ~ ien they would clean out the fence cornera (rail fence ) they would leave every little wild plum tree and leave a whole lot of briera so they would have wild plums and berries. They raised cotton. Sometime during the ~ar old Master MCCaSIiXI took all his alaves and stock way back in the~ bottci~s. The cane wa.s big as ma s wriat she said. They put up some cabins to live iii and shelter the 8tOCk. Pa said some of em went in the az~y. Re didn t want to ~o, They worked a corn crop over lu there. They left soon as they was freed. I don t know how they found it oat. They walked to way over in Alabama aud pa made terras with a man. to cone to Misaissippi. Then they cowe in a wagon and walked too. She had three ~-~4 W little children. I was 0108e to Montgomery, Alab~ in September but I don t know how long it was after the War. I was the first girl. There was two more boys and three more girls after me. Ma had children born in three states~ Ma died with the typhoid fever. Then two sisters and a brother died. Pa had it all sun~ner ~and he got well. Misa (Mrs. ) Betty Chamlin took us Children to a house and fed us away from ma and the sick girls arid boy. We WF~S o~ her place. She had two families then. We got water from a spring.

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s~ 154. It was a pretty sprixt wider a big hill. Wo wouid~ wade where the spring ruxi off. She moved us out ot that hou~se. AMiss Betty was a widow. Sh~ had several boys, They worked in the field all the time. We stayed till the boys left and she sold her place. ~he went back to her f~olka. I never did see her no more. We scattered out. Pa lived about vid us till he died. I got three girls living. I got five children dead. I got one girl out here from town and one girl at Meridian and my olde3t girl in Memphis. I takes it time around wid em. ni. seen the K\i Klux but they never bothered us. I seen them in Alabama, I recken it was. I was so small I jea do remember seeing them, I was the onliest child born in Alabama. Pa made one crop. I don t know how they got along the rest ot the time there. We started share cropping in }~iiss1ssippi. Pa was always a good hand with stock. If they got sick they sent for him to tell them what to do. He never owned no land, no home neither, I farmed all my life. I used to make a little money along during the year washing and ironing, I don t get no help. I live with the girls. My girl in Memphis sends me a little chance to buy my snuff and little th~nge I have to have. She cooks for a lawyer now. She did take care of an lady. She died. since I been here and she moved. I rather work in the field than do vzhat she done when that old lady lived~ She was like a baby to tend to. ~he had to stay in that house all the time. The young folks don t learn manners now like th.y~ used to Times je better than I ever seen em. Poor folks have a hard time any t1n~. 8cme tO1k~ got a lot and some ain t got nothing everywhere.

[Interview with Moss, Claiborne] 160 155

t)~j(Ut) 15~i) Interviewer - ~ Person interviewed Claiborne M088 1812 Marshal , Street, Little Rock, Arkansas Age~~1 nI was born In Washington County, Georgia, on Archie Duggins plantation, fifteen railes from Sandersville, the county.~seat, June 18, 1857. . My mother s name was ~11en Moss She was born In Ge orgia too in Hancock County, near ~3parta, the county-seat. My father was fluellon MOss. He, too, was born in Hancock County. Bill Moss was his owner, J esse Battle was my mother s owner before she married. My mother and father had ten children, none of them living now but ras, so far as I know. I was the fifth in line. There were Thur older than I. The oldest was ten years older than I. Bill Moss and Jesse Battle s plantations were not far apart. I never heard my father say how he first met my mother. I was only eight years old when he died. They wore all right there in the same neighborS. hood, and they would go visiting. Battle and Moss and ~irana all had plantations in the seine neighborhood and they would go from one place to the others When Bill Moss went to Texas, he gave my mother and father to Mrs. Beck, Mrs. Beck was Battle s daughter and. Mrs. Beck bought my father from ~ and that kept them together. He was that good. Moss sold out and went to Texas and all his slaves went walking while he went on the train. He had. about a hundred of them. when he got there, he couldn t hear from them,

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2. 156 He didn t know where they was..-.they was walking and he had got on the train...~ so he killed hisseif, When they got there, just walking along, they found him dead. Moss nephew, Whaley, got two parts of all he had. Another fellow~I can t call his ne~ie~-got one part His sister, they sent her back f ive~~ three of lay uncles and. two of my aunties. tt~fl~ere I was raised, Dtiggins wasn t a mean r~an. His slaves didn t get out to work till after sunup. His brother, who lived three miles out from us, made his folks get up before sunup. But Duggins didn t do that. He seemed t o think something of his folks. Every Saturday d give lard, flour, hog meat, syrup. That was all he had to give. That was extra. War was going on and he couldn t get nothing else. On ~ednesday night he d give it to them again. Of course, they would get coim meal and other things from the kitchen. They didn t eat in the kitchen or any place together. I~verybody got what there was on the place and cooked it in his cabin. Before I was born, Beck sold zay mother and father to D.iggins. I dontt know why he sold them. They had an auction block in the town, but out in the country they didn t have no block. If I had seen a ni~ er and wanted to buy him, I would just ~o up to the owner and do business with him. That was the way it was with Beck and Duggins. Selling my mother and father was just a private transaction between them0 ~ Rations Twice a week, flour, syru~p, meat, and. lard. were given to the slaves. Yo~ ~ other food from the kitchen. Meat, vegetables, milk,~~allthe milk you ~

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:5. 1_57 A Mean Owner Beck Mo s Battle and D~ggins they wa~ all good. people ~ But KenyOfl Morps now talk about a mean man there was . He lived on a hill a little off from the lXiggin8 plantation. His women never give birth to children in the house, lie d never let em quit work before the time, He wanted them to work~work right up to the last minute. Children were all born in the field and in fence corners, Then he had to let ein stay in about a week. Last I seen him, he didn t have nothin , and was ragged as a jay bird, Houses Ou.r house was a log house, It had a large room, and then it had another room as lar e as that one or larger built on to it. Both of these rooms were for our use . My ruother and. father slept in the log cabin and the kids slept back in the. other room. My sister stayed with Joe IX~gins. Her i~iissis was a schooL-teacher, and she loved sister. My master gave my si$ter to ~Toe IY~gins. Mrs. Thiggins taught my sister, Fannie, to read and spell but not to write. If there was a slave man that knowed how to write, they used to cut off his thumb so that he couldn t write, There was some white people wouldn t have the darkies eating butter; our ~thite people let us have butter, biscuits, and ham every day. They would Dut it up for ins. ~ t : had more sense than any kid on the plantation, I would do anything they kianted done no matter how hard it was. I walked five miles through the woods once on an errand. The old lady who I went to said: t, You walk way down here by yourself? I told her, yes ,

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4. 158 rfShe said, Well, you ain t going back by yo self becau e you re too little and she sent her olde st son back with me He wa~ white ~ My boss was sick once, and he wanted to get hi$ mail. The post office was five miles away. He said to me: I Can tyou get my mail if I let you ride on my horse? I said, Yes sir. I rode up to the platform on the horse. They run out aiid took me off the horse and. filled up the saddle bags. Then they put nie back on and told me not to get off until I reached my master. 1lthen I got back, everybody was standing out watching for me. When my boss heard ~18 coming, he jumped out the bed and ran out and took me off the horse and carried me and the sacks and all back into the house. Soldiers I saw all of Wheeler s cavalry. Sherman come through first. He came and stayed all night. Thousa~ds and thousands of soldiers passed throu~ during the night. Cooper Cuck was with them. He was a fellow that used to peddle around in all that country before the War. He went all through the ~owbh and learned everything. Then he joined up wIth the Yankees. He come there. Nobody seen him that ni&it. He ~owed everybody knowed him. He went and hid under something somewhere, He was under the hill at daybreak, b1~t nobody seen him. When the last of the soldiers was coing out in the rriornin~, one fellow lagged behind and rounded a corner. Then he galloped a l1tti~ ~ ays and motioned with his arms. Cooper Guck come out from under the hill and he and Cooper Guck both came back and stole everything that they could lay their hands on tall the gold and silver that was in the house and everything they could carry. ~heeler s cavalry was about three days behind Sherman. They c~u~ht up with Sherman, but it would have been better if they hadn t,

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5. 159 cause he whipped em and drove em back and went right on. They dlthi t baV~O iiiUCh fighting In my country. They had a little ac2iana~e once thirty-SIX men was all they was in it. One of the Yankees got bet from his COfl1P~flY. He cone back and Inquired the way to Loujeville. The old bos8 pointed the way with h18 left hand and while the fellow was looking that way, he drag him off hia hor8e and cut his throat and took his gun oWn him and. killed hiDI~ Sherman e men etayed one night and left, I mean, hie officers atayed. Y~e had to feed them. They didn t pay nothing for what they was fed, The other men cooked and ate their ow~i gi iib. They took every horse and mule we had. I was sitting beeide my old misais, 3he 8aid: ~ s tpleasedoflft let ?~ take all our horeeaa The fellows ~he was talking to never looked around. He just said: Every damn horse goes, The Yankees took my Uncle Ben with them when they left. He didn t $tay but a couple of days. They got in a fight. ~ They give Uncle Ben five horses, five sacks of silverware, and five saddles. The goods was taken in the fight. Uncle Ben brought it back with him. The boss took all that silver away from him. Uncle Ben didn t know what to do with it. The Yankees had taken all my master s and he took Ben s. Ben.give it to him. He corj~ back cause he wanted to. ~ . . When Wh s cavalry caine through they dn t take nothing nothing but what they et, ~ I heard a fellow say, Have you got anything to eat? My mother said, I ain t got nothin but s~e chitlins. lie said, Giimne some of those; I love chitlina.

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Mother gave em to me to carry to him.. I didn t get half way to him before the re st ot th men grabbed me an.d took em away from me and et em up. The man that asked for them didn t get a one. 8lave Money The slaves would scmetimes have five or six dollars. Mostly, they ~ou1d make charcoal and sell it to get money. Patrollera I seen patrollera. They come to our house. They didn t whip nobody. Our folks didn t care nothin about ems They come looking i~or keys and whiskey. They couldn t whip nobody on my master s plantation. When they would come there he would be sitting up with em. He would sit there in his back door and look at em. Wouldn t let em hit nobody. Them colored women had more fiin that enough-4aughing at them patrollers. !ool em an~ then laugh at em. Make out like they was trying to hide something and the patrollera would come running up, grab em and try to see what it was. And the women would laugh and show they ha& nothing, Couldn t do riothin about it. Never whipped anybody round there. Couldn t whip nobody on our place; couldn t whip nobody on ~J esaie Mills place.; d t whip nobody on Stephen Mills place; uldn t whip nobody on. Betsy Geesley s place; couldn t whip nobody on Nancy Mills place; couldn t whip nobody on Potter DUggiXLs place. Potter ~2~ifls was a cousin to my master. Nobody run them peoples plantations but theirselvas, Social Life ~Ihen slaves wanted to, they would have dances. They would have dances fr~ one plantation to the other. The master dIdn t object, 6. 16()

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7. :161 They had fiddlea, banjo and qu~i11a. They i~ade the q~uiUa and b .owed. em to beat the b .nd, Good imisic. They would make the quills out of reeds, Those reeds would sound just like a plano. They didn t have no piano, They didn t serve nothing. I~othjng to eat ar~c~ not ~ing to ~~r1x~k except them that brought whiskey. The white roiks made the whiskey, but the colored folks would get it. We had. church twice a month The Uziion Church was three mule8 away fr~ii US, My eathex and I would go when they had a meeting. Bethlehem Church was five miles away. everybody on the plantation belonged to that church. Both the colored and the white belonged and went there. They had the saine pastor for Bethlehem, Union, and ~iry nn~ Hie nana was Tom Adams. He was a white man. Colored Thlk$ would go to Dairy Ann sometimea, They would go to Union too. SOfl~9ti1fl~8 they would have meetings from house to house, the colored folk8. The colored folks 4had those house t o house meetings any time they Mt like it. The maaters did~ t care. They diclu t care how much they prayed. Sometimes they had. corn ahuckinga. That was where they did the serving, and: that was where they had the big eatings, They d lay out a big pile of corn, everybody would get down and throw the corn out as they shucked. it, They would have a fellow there they would call the general. 11e would walk from one person to another and froth one end et the pile to the other and holler and the boys would answer, His id~ea was to keep them WOrkingS I~ they dIdII t dO something to keep them working, they wouldu t ~et that corn shucked that night. Them people would be shucking corn There wo~jd be a prize to the one who got the most done or who would be the first to get done. They would sing while they were ahuckix~g,

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8. 162 They had one song they would slug when they were getting c1o~e ~ to the fj~13h Part of ~ lt went like this: . fled Shirt, red ahirt Nigger got a red shirt. After the shucking was over, they would have plea, beef, biscuita, corn bread, whiskey if you. wanted it. I believe that was the moat they had, They idn t have any ice.eream~ They didn t use ice cream much in those days. Didx~t have no ice down there In the country. Not a bit or ice there Il~ they had. anything they wanted to save they would let it down O in the well with a rope and. keep it cool down there. They used to do that hero until they stopped them prom having the wells, Ring plays too. Sometimes when they wanted to amuse themselve8, they would play ring plays. They all take hands and form a ring and there iou 4 be one in the center ot the ring. Now he Is got to get out. He would cc~e lip and say, I am in this lady s garden, and I ll bet you tive dollars I can get out of here. And d reckly he would break somebody s handa apart and get out, j. low Freedont Can~e ~The old boss called em up t o the house and told. era, You are tree as I ani That was one day in un. I went on in the houae arid got s~e thing to eat. My mother and father, he hired thera to stay and look after the crop. 1~ext year, my mother and. father went t Ben Uook s place and farmed on shares, ~it Ifly father died there about May. Then It wasn t nobody working but me and my sister and mother. What the Slaves Got O The slave8 never got nothing. ~lexsnder Stephens the Vice..~reaident O of the Confederacy, divided his plantation up and gave lt to his darktea

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L ~ 9. 163 when ~e died, I knew him and his brother too. Aiexanddn.ver cuci wai~ He wa8 defoXfll d. Big headed. rascal, but he had aenae~ ~is brother was * named Leonard. He was a lawyer. He really killed himself. He wa~ one of these die-4iard Southemera. He dici something ani they arreated him. It iiiade hill SO mad. He d bought him a horae. He got on that home and feil off and broke his neck. That was right after the. War. They kept garrisone In all the countie8 right after the War. . . I was in Hancock County when I knew Vice-President Stephena. I don t ( roJia~ erro) know where he was born but he had a plantation in To1iver~Count~. Most of the Stephense8 was lawyers. He was a lawyer too, and he would come to Sparta. That is where I waa living then. There was more polities and political doings in Sparte than there was in Crawfordvifle where he lived. He lived between Montgcmery and Riobmond during the War, for the capital of the Confederacy was at Montgot~ery o~e time and Richmond another, After the War, the Republicans nominated Alexander Stephens for governor. The Democrats knew the y couldn t beat him, 80 they turned round and nominated him too. He had a lot of sense. He said, lVhat we lost on the batt1e-4~ie1d, we will get it back at the ballot Seeb Reese, United states Senator from Hancock County, 8aid, It you let the nigger have four or five dollars in his pocket he never will steal. Life Since Freedcan ~ . After ray father died, my niother stayed where she was till Christmas. Then she moved back to thi place she came from. We went to farming. LIy brother and my uncle went and fazned up in Hancock County; so the flext year we moved up there. ~e stayed there sud farmed for a long Whjl0. My mother married three years afterwards. We still farmed. After awhile I got t o be sixteen years old and I wouldn t work with my stepfather,

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10. I told my mother to hire me out; ii she didn t I wott 4 be one. &e hired no OU~ all right. Bu~t tue oi~ ~ ~ised a~Ii n~y money. me next ye.~r i made S it plain to her that I wanted her to hire me out again but ~ that nobody waa ~ to u8e a dollar ot ~ny money. ~y mother could get as auch of . it ae ~e ~ wanted but he couldn t ~ The ~j ~ year I bought a buggy tor tiien~~. The old man did&t want irie to use it at all. I said, Well then, he can t uae my nioney no mo~. But I didn t atop helping him and giving him things. I would buy beef and give it to icy mother. I knew they would all eat it. He asked me for some wheat. I wouldn t $teal it like he wanted me to but I asked the niaii I was working for for it. He said, tTake ju8t as much aa you want . So I let him come up and get it He would carry it to the mill. Ku ~lux laan ~ The Ku Klux got after Uncle Will once, He was a bravo man. He had a little mare that was a race horse. 1111 rode right through the bunch ~ before they ever realized that it was him. He got on the other side of ~ them. She was gone ~ They kept on after him. They went down to his house ~ one night He would,~ ni~n for nothing. He shot two of them arid they sent ~ away, Then he was out oib aii~ition. People urg d him to leave, for they ~ knew he i .n t have no more bullets; but he wouldh t at~d they came back and ~ killed him. ~ ~ They came doirn~ to iiancock County one ni&it and the boys hid on both ~ sides of the bridge. When they got in the middle of the bridge, the boys Coninienced to fire on thera ~rOIn both aides, and they jumped into the river, The ciarkies went on home when they got through shooting at them but there waan t no more Ku KLux in Hancock County. The better thinking white folka ~ot tOgether and stopped it.

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11. :165 The Ku Klux kept the niggers scared. They cowed them down so that they wouIdrL t go to the polls, I stood there one night when they were ~0Uflt~fl~ ballots. I belonged to the County Centrai Committee. i went in and stood and looked0 Our ballot wa~ long; their8 was short. I stood and seen Glait Tu,rner calling their names from our ballots. I went out and got Rube Turner and then we both went back. They couldn t call the vote8 that they had put down they had. Rube saw it, Then they said, Are you goin~ to test this? Rube said, Yes, B~it he didn t because it would have cost too much nioney. Rube was chairman of the committee. The Ku Klux did a whole 1~t to keep the niggers away from the polls in ~~ashington and Baldwin counties. They killed a many a nigger down there. They hanged a Ku Klux for killing his wIfe and. he said he didn t mind being hung but he didn t want a dwm~i nigger to see him die. B~it they couldn t keep the niggers in Hancock County away from the polls. There was too many of them. Work in Little Rock t,1 came to Little Rock, November 1, 1903, 1 came here with surveyors, They wanted to send me to Miami but I wouldn t go. Then I went to the mortar box and made mortar. Then I went to the school board. After that I ain t had no job. I was too old. I get a little help from the government. Opinions o~ the Present nI think that the young folks ought to make great men and women. Bit I don t see that they are making that stride. Most ot them is dropping b~1 ~ the mark. I think we ought to have sa~ne powerl ul men and women but fron what I see they don t stand up like they should.

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124 166 Own Family S S I have three daughters, x~o sOn~s. These three datighters have twelve grandchi1d1~~fl~ R

[Interview with Moss, Frozie] 172 167

30446 Intervieler . - -- - ~ Irene ~obej~tao~ ~ Person interviewed J i ozie Moafl (dark imilatto). kinkl~~ Arkan~a~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ ~ ~ lVhen my grandma whut raised me got free ahi and grandpa cons to Morn- phie and didn t stay thsre long till they went to Crittenden County on a men S farm. My grandma was born in Alabama and my grandpa in Virginia. I know he wasn t in ths Nat Thrnei~ rebllion, for ~y mother had nine children and all but me at Holly Grov , Mississippi. I was born up in Crittenden County. She died. I remember very little about my fatber. I j.. remembr tather a little. He died too. My grand parents lived at Holly Grove *1 . ~. during the war. They used to talk abo it how they did. She said hardest time she ever lived through was at Mernphie. Nothing to do, nothing to eat and no places to stay. I don t know why they l.ft and come on to Memphis. She said her master s name was Pig ge. He wasn t married. He and his ai8ters lived together. My grandmother was a elave thirty years. She was a field hand. $he said she w~ild be right back in the field when her baby wa8 two weeks old. They didn t want the slaves to die, they cost too nich money, b~tt they give them mighty hard work to do a netimes. Grsndzr~ and grandpa was heap stronger I am at my age. They didn t know how old they Iaa. Her master told her how long he had her when they l.tt him and hie father owned her before he died. I think they had a heap easier time after they come to Arkansas from what she said. I can t answer yo questions bscauas I ni just tellin you what I remembers and I was little when they usd to talk 80 much,

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If the young generation would save anything for the tIme when they can t work I think they would be all right. I don t hear about them saving. They buys too much. That their only trouble They don t know how to see aiiead. nI owns this house is all. I been sick a whole heap, spent a lot on ~y medicines and doctor blil. I worked on the ta~ till after I co~ to Brinkley We bought this place here and I cooks. I cooked for Miss Molly Brinkkell, Mr. Adams and Mre~ Fowler. I washes ~nd irons some when I can ge~ lt. Washing and ironing bout go13 out of fashion now. I don t get no nioney. I get coninodities from the 8ociable Welfare. My son works and they don t give me no money. 2. 168

[Interview with Moss, Mose] 174 169

I ~ . .. ~ ~ ~ H ~ 30354 1 ~ : Interviewer ~ ~ ~ ~b Person interviewed Moe. $.~ Ruase1lvi11e,~ .4rkansas ~ ~ Age~_1~~~ Moss Moss is my name, nih, end I was born in 1875 in Yell County. My ~ father was born in old Vir ginny in 1831 and died in Tel . county, Arkansas, ~ eight miles rrom Dardanelle, in 1916. Yes euh, ~ ve lived in Pope County a ~ good many years. i recoliects some things pretty well. and some not so good. ~ Yes suli, my father used to talk a heap about the ~i Klux flan, and a lot of the Negroes were afraid of em end would run when they heard they was commt around, ~ My father s name waa Henry Mcae. lie run awey from the plantation in Virginia before the War had been goin on very long, end. he j ined the ai~y in Tennessee yes euh, the conredrit/~:rmy. No euh, his name was never fou d on the records, so di&n t flaYer draw no pension. After he was treed. he always voted the Republican tickst till he died, After the War he served as 3~ustice of the Peace In his township in Tell G ~iity. Yes siili, that was the time they called the Re~com..atrt~ciiotion. ~ I vote the Republican tickst but sometii~8 I don t vote at the reg ler ~ 8lectjons~ No i ye neyer had any trouble with m~ votin . 1 works at first one thing and another tRat ein t dom imich now, No~k is hare to get. Used to work mostly at the minea. Not able to do nich of late Yetrs, Oh, yes, I remember some of the old songs they used to sing when my Parents was living: Old~I?ime Religion was one of em, and Swing Iow~ Sweet Chariot was another one we liked to sing.*

[Interview with Mullins, S. O.] 175 170

$0488 ~ ~ . ~ : . 170 intarviewe~ ~. ~ ~ -~-u-~ ~ ~1~ M;~~ Irp1~e~i~oJ3ertaQ~1 ~ ~ -~ Person interviewei 8.O.Mi*U1ns1~~ Ce~r4on~ ~ . Janitor~ for M ontc H~11 ge8 O~ H. wears a Masonic ring ~ .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My master was B. F. lallaos ~ Benj~rnix~ Franklin Wallace and Eati, ~ia11ace. They had no children to my recollection. I was born at Brittirille, Alabama. My parents namea was George W. Mullins and Millie. They had, to my recollection, one girl and three boy8. Mr. Wallace moved. to Arkansas betore the Civ~i1 War. They moved to Phillips County. My mother and father both farm hands and when my grandmother waa no longer able to do the cookin my mother took her place. I was rally too little to recollect but they aliays pra.laed Wallaoea They said he never whipped one ot his slaves in his lifeo His elaves wae about free borore freedom was declared. They said he was a good man. Well when freedom was declared all the white folks knowed it tiret. H~e caine down to the cabins and told ue. He said you can stay and finish the crops. ~ I will feed and clothe you and give you men *10 and you wo~n *5 apIece Christmas. That was more money then than It le now. We all stayed 0mm eiid worked on 8haThS the next year. We etayett around Poplar Grove till he died. When I was nineteen I got 8 job, porterS ~n the railroada I brou~t my mother to Clarendon to live with me. I was In the railroad aer~ Vice at least fifteen years~ I waa on time passenger train. Then I went to a sawmill here and then I farm.da I been doing every little thing I Could find to do since I been old. All I owue la a little houe. and eix lots in the new addition. I live with my wife. She is my second wit.,

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. . . a :17:1 Cause I am old they wouldn t let me work on the 1e rye I~ X i*en young I could have got work. My age icno ~s me ont o:r bout all the jobs. Some of ~t Ioould do. I ~u~ e don t get no old age pension.. I gets..$ every two iaonth8 je.flitor of the Masonic Hallo I have a garden. No place for hog nor cow. My boys in Chicago. They need bout all they can get. They don t The preaeut conditions seem good. They can get cotton to pick and two sawmills run in the winter (100 men. each) where falke can get work if they hire then. The etay (etave) mill Is shut down and ao la the button f actory. That outs out a lot ot work here. The present generat ion is beyond me Seems like they are gone hog wild. ~ / Interviewer e Note ~ ( ~ . ~ ~ . ~ ~ The ziert afternoon he met me and told me the following atory: --~ ~ ~ ~ ~: ~ ~ ~ ~ W-.. One night the servants quartera ~as overtlowln und Yankee soldiera. I Was seared nearly to death, )Ly mother lert me and ray f little brother cause she didn t wanter sleep in the house iheDe the soldiers was, We alept on the floor and they used our beds. They left next mornin . They camped In our yard under the trees. ~ Next morning they was ridin out when old mistress saw em. She aeld they d get lt pretty aoon. When they crossed the creek ~ Big creek half mile from ou~r cabins i: heard the gi~uia turn in on em. The nei~hbora all tell out wid niy inaater. They say he orter go tight too. Me w~ sick all tin~. Course he wasn t 310k. They ecm~e and took oft 2~ muiea and all the chickens aiLd he never got lIP They took two fine Carriage horses WS1~,hSd 2,000 pOunds apiece I speck. One named lee

177 172

z ~1* and one Stone Wall. He never went out there. He claimed he was sick all time. One of the carriage hor8es w~s a fine big white horse and had a bay match. Folks didn t like him ~ said he was a coward. When I went over cross the creek after the fightin was over, men just lay like dis* piled on top each other. * (He used, h18 fingers to show n~e how the soldier8 were crossed.)

[Interview with Murdock, Alex] 178 173

InterVieWer~~. uj~ ~ Person interviewed Alex thirdock dmo~dao~k~ans~ Age ~ -~ ( My owner or least my folks was owned by Dr. ~irdock) ~ lie had a big farm. He was a widower. He had no children as ever I knowed ot. 4j~r.~Murder raised my father s mother. He bought her at Tupelo, Miss.. issippi. He raised mother too. She was bright color. I m sure they stayed on after freedom cause I stayed there till we come to Arkansas, Father was a teamster. He followed that till he died. He owned a dray and died at Brinkley. Ii~ was well known and honorable. I worked in the oil mill at Brinkley~American Oil Company. Mother was learned dunn slavery but I couldn t say who done it. ~he taucht school round B~ena Vista and Okolona, Mississippi. She learned me. I was born l874 -~November 25, 1874. 1 heard her say she worked in the field one year. They give her some land and ploughed it so she could have a patch. It was all she could work. I don t know how much. It was her patch. Ot~r (;~j~ ~Y~(4~y~ depot was Prairie Station, Mississippi. My parents was Monroe,M~irdoeW~ ~rderj and Lucy Aim M~rd~ek. It is spelled M-u~r d-o-~c~.k. I farmed all my whole life. Oil milling was the surest, quickest livjng but I likes farmin all right. WI never contacted the ~ Kluxes. They was bout gone when I come on, I voted off an on, This is the white folks country and they going to ru~ their gov mint. The thing balls us up is, some tells us one way and 8Oiij~ ziiore tells u~s a different way to do And we don t know the beat waY.

179 174

8. :1~74 That bails 118 Up. Tiiies is better than. ever I aeon them, for the ma~n that wanta to work. ~ IworkaflIean.ii .

[Interview with Myers, Bessie] 180 175

.i ~ ~ interviewer ~ r- ~ Ireiie Robertson ~ -- Person interviewed Beasie ~ Ar~sas ~ge_ 5o ?~1~Aidn t_ ~cx~c~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. ~ ~ My mother was named J~ennie Bell. She was born in North Ca lina (Carolina) . ~3he worked about the house. She said there was others at the house working aU. the time with her. She said they daresn t to cross the fence on other folks land or go off up the road lessen you had a writing to show. One w~an could write. She got a pass and this woman made some more. She said couldn t find nothing to make passes c~, It happened they never got caught up. That woman didn t live very close by. She talked like she was free but was one time a slave her o~n self. Mother said she would run hide every time the Yankee men c~ . ~3he said she felt safer in the dark. They took so many young w~en to wait on them and mother was afraid every time they would take her. She said she had been at the end of a corn row at daylight ready to start chopping it over, or p~&1l fodder, or pull ears either. She said they thought to lie in bed late made you weak. Said the early fresh air what made children strong. On wash days they all met at a lake and washed.. They had good times then, They put the clothes about on the bushes and briers and rail fences. Some o~ or two had to stay about to keep the clothes from a stray bog or goat tfll they dried. And they would forage about in the woods. It was cool a~d pleasant. They had to gather up the clothes in hamper baskets

181 176

~-. _4 ~ ~ .~. 1W a~d bring them up to iroa. Mother ~ eald they didn t mind wo?k ich. They got used to it. ( *Moth.r to~1~d aboUt carried loney in aacka. Ibn thsy bought a elaTe, the7 O~I fl Up a sack end ~iU out gold and silvsi~, ~The ~ay ehe talked she didn t mind a1a~ery ich. Papa lived till a few years ago but he n~ever would talk about slav.ry at aU~ Eta name wei !ilhiB Bell.* ~

[Interview with Myhand, Mary] 182 177

30378 ~ 1%~ InterY~OS?J f: ~ ~ Person intrni,W.d~: ~ ~ Ags~83 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My rnarwtte died~ whsii X waa a little girl. She had thz ee chi1d2~fl end our white folka took us i~ ~ their houa and raleed ~ us. Two of us had fever and would have died if they hadn t got tie a good doctor. Ths doctor th p had first waa a quack and wo wrs ~ett1z~g wora until they called the other doctor, then ire cci~ence to get well. I don t know how old I ein. Our birthdays was dom in the mistress Bibi. and when the old war cc~e up, the house was bu2 ned and bat everything bzt I know I .~ at least 83 or 84 yesre old. Our white folks vas so good to eis. They nsvsr whippet us, eM ~ sat ihat they sat and when they eat. I ~ae born in White County, Tennessee sad moved to Missouri but the folks did not like it there so vo cc~ to Bsnton County, Arkaneas. On. side of the road was B.wbon County and the other side was Waahing ~on County ~t is sivays had to ~o to Bentonville, the county seat, to tend to t~isineis. I was a little tod of a ~ir1 when the war o~ ~p. One clay word c~s that the Fade ~ ccming through and kill aU of the old rn and take all the boys with theia, so master took my brother end a grandson of his end started SOILth. t was so scared. I toUo~d thorn about a half mils before they found end I begged so herd they took ~ with thei~. le wsnt to Texas and was there about ons year iihen th ~ds save the women on our place orders to leave their hC~ ~id they oi ed it s ~ They had just got to ~ whiro ~ when ths South eurrsnderd end e a.U cc~s back h~.

183 178

2. We stayed with our white folks for about twenty years after the war. They shore was good to r~. I worked for them in the house but never worked in the field. I cerne across the mountain to Clarksville with a Methodist preacher and his family and married here. My husband worked in a livery stable until he died, then I worked for the white folks until I fell and hurt my knee and ~ot too old. I draws my old age pension. I do not know about the young generation. I am old and crippled and don t ~o out .

[Interview with Myrax, Griffin] 184 179

3~:~)93 . S ~ . 179 Interviewer # Mrs. B$~~xLio~ Bowd n . ~ . ___-_~-~_ -~ -~ I - . ~ ~-- -~ r- - ~ ~ .~s~-~, -y~u ----- Person interv1e~ed ~ Griffin ~ -. 5 . 9~ 3 Mis Oui~i StrE t, ~ Pine ~ Bluff, Arkauaa . . S ~ ~ . I don t know ins age exaetly. You know In them ~ days people ~ didn t take care of their ages like they do now. I couldn t give ycm any trace of the war, but I do remember when the Xa ~ux was ~innin ~ ~: around. Oh Lox d, so much of the time I heard my mother talk about the slavery. I was born in Oklahoma and my grandfather was a fuU.~ blooded Crete Indien. He wa~ very much of a nian and lived to be one : hundred thirty years old, All Crete Thdiana named after son~ herb ~ ~ t s what the name Myrax means, . ni heard zu~r mother say that in slavery times the insu worked ai . day with weights on their f eet so when night come they take them oft and their teet feel so light they could outmtx the Ku Klux. Now I heard her tell that, S My parents moved from Oklahoma to .Texaa and I went to school in Mar~ha11, Texas. All my schoolin was In Texas my people was tiOd up there. My last sohoolin was in Bichanan, Texas. The professor told my mother she would have to take me out of school for awhile, I studied too hard, I treasured my books. When other children was out playin I was studyin

185 180

2, 18() There was sonie folks in that country :thet dIdII t .g~t along so well. I remember there was a blind woman that the folks sent scmethin~ to eat by another colored wo~s~. ~ si~a eat it up an~ cooked a toadfrog for the old blind wc~nan. That didn t occur on our place ~t in the neighborhood. When the people. found it out they whipped her sufficient. When my gx~andfather died ~ he dIdXI t have a decayed tooth in his head. They was worn off like a horse s teeth but he had all of them, I always followed sawmill work and after I left that I followed railroading. I liked railroading. I more or less kept that in my view9 About this slavery ~ I dn t hardly pass my sentiments on. It, The world is so far gone it would be the hardest thing to put the bridle on son e of the people that ~ rannin wild. now.

Ex-slaves - dreams - herbs: cures and remedies. 186 181

- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ L~tt1e ~oeir v~1:etri c4~ ~ ~ FOLKLORE SUBJEETS ~ ~ % : ~. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ . . f. ~ ~ IntervieWer~ ~ ~ ~oi~erts~z~ ~ ~ .. Su~j~- t~ --~ ~ Ex- slaves - Dreams ~ IlerbssCuresend Remedies ~- ~- ~~ory ~ Information (If not enough spaoe on th.is,page addpage) . ~lis father and mother belonged to Torn Neal at Calhoun,. Georgia. T~e ~ the big battle at Atlanta Ga. He was eight years old.~. He saw ~: ~ i~r ht$, ~aw the bullets in the airat nigh~and heard the b.oou~, boom of ~ ~ cannons. ~l~ey passed along with loaded wagons and in uniforms. The ~ ~re beautiful, and he saw lots of fine saddles and bridles. ~ is n1i8~ tr~s~1~r~ was Mrs. Torn Neal. ~ She had the property and married To~Neal. Sh~ ~ ~ ~I ~d before and her first husband died but her first h4band s ziame ~ ~aL ~ ~ ~ recalled. She had two oMidren ~ girls ~ by her first husband. fler ~ . ~ ~~--J :~~sband just married her to protect them all he could. ~ ~e didn t. do . . ~ ~ ~:1~g unless the old mistress told him to do it and how to do it. Viylie :~aI ~ raised. up with the old mistress~ohiith en. Hewas born.a slave and ~ ~ ~ thirteen years.~ ~ The family had some better to eat and lots more ~to . 7:~.r . ~ they gave nie plenty and r~ever d Id mistreat un . They had a .p~afowI.., ~ ~ s good luck, to keep some of them about ~n the place. They had guineas, ~ ~ ~ a~d turkeys. They never had a farm bell. He never saw one till he ~ ~ r.. 3~:.~T ~ Arkansas. They blew a big Conc% shell s instead~. Mistress had oow~ ~-: ~ ~.~ould pour.milk or pot- liquor out in a big ~er bowl on a stump and ~ LL? 1~ren would ooiae up there from the cabins and eat~ill the field hand.e / ~ . . ~ .~ to oook a meaij Wylie s inotherwas a fie d hand. They draxiic out of ~:: ~:~s and gourds. ~ The master rnate~ his hands. Some times he would .a~k his : :~: . r or woman if they knew anybody they would like t~o nmrry that he was ~ ~ ~ -~ .L ~ ~y more help and ~ if they knew anybqdy he would buy them if he oould. ~ ~aaf~ on given by_~o~a T~ylie Neal ~ ~esidence Eazen~Arkansas -NearGreen Gro~v e I OU ~ Farmer ~ Feeds cattle intT~ie~nter foratnan ~n ~GE 85 itazen. ~ -~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ ~

187 182

2. ~ ~ ~e ~j they ~t folks they would get asked to o orn SbUeICiXlg8 and log roflings I ~ ~ ~ r c Neal always took s orne of her ca bred people to ohurob to attend to t~e sto~k,t16 the horses and hitch up, n~a~ybe feed a~d to ~ her little ~ girI3 E~t church. The colored folks sa.t on the back seats over in a corner . . ~ ~ If they didn t behave or talked out they got a whipping or didn t -.~ r~) ~re. They kept the colored people soared to be ~ C The colored folks believed in ~oodoo aT1d~tohes. Ueardthern talking 1:~t3 ~o~t ~fttohes. p1ev said ii: they found anybody was a witch they would kill c~ ~t~~1OS took on other forms and went out to do mea~as. They said so~ie~ ~T:T ~3 ~rne of them got thrbugh latch holes. They. used buttons and door ~ ~ ;11ft~:1~d out of woods and door latches with strin~gs. . ~ people married early in Them days when Mistress~ oldest girl married 1 ~ ~ her Sumanthy, ~ylies oldest sist.er when they come home ~hey would let ~ ~er ~.;:re~ They sent .their children to school some but the colored folks didu tt (~ ~ ~ ~Lt was pay school. Every year they had pertracted meeting. T !i~e a thousand people come and stayed two or three weeks along in August, ~\ ~ri te~ts. We had a big time then and ~ome time we d see a colored girl weed. :.~, ~c ~ .L ,~ ~~ster to buy.4 ~4hey d preach to the colored folks sor~ days. Teli ~ L r ~ la ~ ~Tow o behave and serve the Lord. ~ ~hen W~r1i was twelve years r~i~ ~t~Ta~>can~ and tore up the farm. ~It was just like these cyclones 4~H~- ~ ~ : around here in Arkansas, exactly like that. ~ ? ~ ~ ( ~Qh~~f!~eU) :iis mistress left and he never saw her again, General Hood w~s.the . A ~ ~ ~::: ::.: :io thinks1 but he ~was given to Captain Condennens to wait on him. They:, : ~ ;:~t ~(:: ~ariotta, Ga.1 and Kingston, Ga. ~ came about that wewere free ~ ~ 2 ~ ~ ry ~o dy was d rifting ar The U. S G av e rnment gave us food then I Ike . . 4 c~ -~ ~ ~ aiid we hunted work. Everybody nearly fro ze and sta rv~ cl ~e wore ~ ~ and slept enywhere we could find, an old house or pisee of a hous~ ?~ ~ _ 1869 the Ku KlUX W&S riser~bl~ n the col red folks. ~ Of foike ~ra ~j- of consumption in the spring and trneumonia aU winter r There wasn t any d

188 183

3. ~ - . ti . . ~ ~ . ~ ~ J j~U thej use cl herbs only inedi o me 1~hey e ould get. Only he~s he remembers he use~( chew black snake roots to settle ~ ~ ~! ~ ~o ~ orr~ach. Fl~z weed tea for disordered sto~ac1i. People eat so much ~nessed U? 1~C~ lot of them got siok.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ . iylie Neal wandered about and finally carrie to Chattanooga. They got ~L-i ~i2orms and victuals from the Yk~ about a year. . . ~ Colonel Stocker come and. got up a lot of hands and paidthe~.rw~y 4~o ~ ~ ~)n the train. From there they were put on ~the Molly ~iaiailton boat and . ~ -. -S - - ~ ~ ~L ;v_~- ~ ~o Linden, Arkansas~on the St..Fx arioi ~River. He f~edfin ~there.In ~ ~ caine to Hazen and sinoe then he has owned small farms at ~iscoe and ~ ~ ~~r&y acres near Hazen. ~ It wa joining the ld Joe Perry pla e. Dr..s~..s got ~. .:1~i~tgageon it and took it. Wylie Nea liv s W1~1I his niece and she is 4~1d . tC~j ~O L~~ey get relief and a pension. ~ ~ ~ He don t believe i.n dreams but some dreams like when you dream of e~u t1~ere s sho~ goner be falling weather. He ~d~rn t dream much he says. ~e ias a birthmark on lus leg. It looks like a bunch of berx Ies. He ~~L;\r~r heard what oausedl . It has al*ays be n there. ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~

[Interview with Nealy, Sally] 189 184

Interviewar Pereon interviewed____________________________________ A~~_~~91 ; ~ ~ Yea 1Mm, :i: was a alavel I wae aixteen year. old whe~i the war begLul. I was born in Texas. My old master waa J ohn Hall and zuy young maeter was Maree Dick. Marse sohn nt to war the 5th day of May in 1861 and he was killed iii ~Tune. They waan t nothin left to bring home but hie right leg and his left arm. They knowed lt waa him cause his name was tattooed on his leg. He wae a mean rascal He brought us up from the pat us ou the head and give us a little whisky end say Sally or Mery or Ilose just like we ~s doge. ~My old mistress, Mise Caroline, was a ~an one too. She was the mother of eight children five girl. and three boys. When ehe combed her hair down low on her neck she was all right but when ehe come down with it done up on the top ot her head look out. It was my Job to scrub the big cedar churns with brick duet and irtsh potato and polish the knives and forks the same way. Then every other day I had to mold twelve dozen candles and sweep the yard with a dogwood bresh broom. -*-- - -- - ~!.~~B.FflLJko~e Bowd n ~ R ~ ~ e-I-- Sallyi ~eal~v~ - I 105 ~1b.i~ry~Sti. t, Phi. Bluft~ Arkansas plantation end Your name is iSi

190 185

185 Shs didn t give us no biscuit. or sugir ospt on hri~ai. J .st ihort~ sud molasse. for oUr o ttse ~ . ~ ~Wh.n .th Y*:..I~ 00 .~ . ~*~r5 . cams through old *i~tru run nd h~ds in the oeUsr b~t ~ t the !~*ks~ is*t dom in ths oeUar too ~d took all 1h. h~s end hon.y ~d brandied peaoh s she had. ~Thsy didn t have no doctors for the niggsrs than. Old aistr.ss just give tt~ scsi bitus iiau SM suitor oil and thsy didn t giv you nothin to talcs th tut out your aowth .ither. eoh Lord, I know bout ~them itt Klux. They wore talai went around whippin people. *Atts2~ the surrendir I wint to stay with Misa lUitca. good to ~ md I stiysd with h.r slavon ywsrs. ~i. lentil old I was so ~ father went to Mise Osroline and ah. say! fac.. and ai. vas to know how bout twenty ~8 ~ white tolks vas good to th.iX slaves. I know one ais, o Yates, whin he killed hogs hi givs the niggsrs tivs of em. Coures h. took tba bist 1*it that vas aU right. ~A~et.r trsid~ the Tenk~e. c~ and took the oolord tolks awey to the aershal s yard and kept th a till they ~t jobs tor sa. They i~nt to the whit. folks houses end took ~ things to feed the ai~gsrs. *Iain~t beonnarried but oflhs. I thou t lys i*lov. but I w*an t. Loi,. u a Itchin !~nd thS h.a~t yO~ S$*t ~St at to seratoh~ *1 bir ose .cs~ they ng dunn th. wer - The ~kees ax. c~in thron~i ~ tau s I ~!~ 1 aLt dri*k ~ itoue . bUM . :ob*nytiunpth.bo~1.

Songs of Civil War days. 191 186

30862 186 ~oi~a~ SUB~~ECT8 Name of interviewr Mra.~rnice Bowden Subject ~r ~. ~ -~--~--1- Story Information ( If not enough space on this page, add par) (1) In eighteen hundred and eixtya.on. Football C?) sea I; in eighteen hundred and sixty-one That 8 the year the war begun We ll all drink stone blind, J ohnny, cc~ fill up the bowl. ~ (2) In eighteen hundred and sixty-two lootball ( e) sez I; In eighteen hundred and sixty-two That e the year we put em through Je, 11 all drink stone blind, 7ohnny, oo~ till up the bowl. (s) In eighteen hundred end sixtythrs. Pootball ( t) sez I; In eighteen hundred and aixty-thrss That s the year we didn t a~ee we ll all drink stone blind, J~ohniiy, c~ fiU up the bowl. (4) In eighteen hundred and sixty-four :rootball C?) sea I; In eighteen hundred and sixty-four We ll all go hom and fight no mors We ll all drink stone blind, Zohuiiy, cans fill up the bowl. (5) In eighteen hundred and eixty-tiv .Yootball (?) sez I; In eighteen hundred~ and sixty-five We ll have the Rebels dead or alive We f Il all drink atone blind, Tohnny, come fill up the bowl. mia information given by~ ~SQJ~j NJOSJ!7 ~ ~ -~ . . ~( Place of residenc ~ - :I~o5 L $ilberrv. Pin. Bluff. Arkansaa Oooupation~ Non Age ~

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~. (a) In .ight. n hundxsd and sixty-six :Footbsll (?) sez I; In eight.sn hundred and sixty-six We ll have the Rebels in a helava fix We ll .11 drink stone blind, ~obDzy, come till up the bozi. (7) In eighteen hundred and sixty-seven Football C?) sez I; In eighteen bUXLdred end sixty-seven t 11 have the Robe . a dead and at the devil We Li. ai . drink atone blind, J~ohnny, come fill up the bowl. Interviewer s Cc~~nt The word football doesn t sound right in this song, but I was unabis to find it in print, and Sally seemed to think it was the right word~ Sally is a very wicked old wo~ and swears like a sailor, but she has a remarkable memory. She was bred and born in Thisk County, Texas and says she came to Pine Bluff when it was *ju~t a little pig. Says she was sixteen ihen the Civil War began. I have p1 eT1c*~517 reported an interview with her.

[Interview with Nealy, Wylie] 193 188

~o~~35 188 Iiitervlewer ~ur ~ MisalreneRobertaon. J Person Interviewed WyfleNe~1y ~s c~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Age ~ I was born in. 1852. 1 am 85 years o1d.~ I was born In Gordon Co~inty. The closest town was Calhoun, South Carolina. My sister died in 59. That s the first deadperson I ever saw. One of my sisters was give away and another one was sold ~ before the Civil War started. Sister Mariah was give to the young mistres , Miss !lla Conley. I didn t see her sold. I never seed nobody sold bit I heard ein talking about it. I had five sisters and one brother0 My father was a free man always. He was a Choctaw Indian. Mother was part Cherokee Indian. My mother s mistress was Mrs. Martha Christian. He died and she married Tom Nealy, the one t~iey call me fur, Wylie Nealy. Liberty and 11 reedom was all I ever heard any colored folks say dey eipected to get out o ~ de war, and ~1ght~ proud of dot. Nobody knovxed they was goin to have a war till it was done broke out and they was fightin about it. Didn t nobody want land .~ey jess wanted fre~ dom. I remembers when Lincoln was made the President both times end when he was killed. I recolleots all that like yesterday. The army had been through and swept out everything. There wasn t a chicken or hog nowhere to be had, took the stock and. cattle and all the provjsj~fl~~ So de slaves jess had to scatter out and leave right now,

194 189

2. 189 ~Aii~ after de army coma through I was goin back down to the old pi~oe and 8OIfl~ soldiers passed riding a1on~ ari.d one said ~Boy where you~ goin? Said nothing up there ~ I says I icaowa it ~ Then he say Come on here, walk along back there and I followed hlni. I was twelve years old He was Captain McClendenny. Then when. I got to the camp wid him he say You. help around here. I got sick and they l~t me go back home then to Resacca, Georgia and my mother died. When I went back they sent me to Chattanooga with Captain Story. I was in a colored reginient nine months. I saw my father several times while I was at Chattanooga. We was in Shermans army till it went past Atlazita. They burned up the city. Two of my masters come out of the war alive and two dead. I was naistered out in August 1865. 1 stayed in camp till my sisters found a cabin to move in. ~verybody got rations issued out. It was a hard time, I got hungry lotB times. No plantations was divided and the masters didn. t have no more than the slave s had when the war was done. Mter the Yankees come in and ripped them up old ruissus left and Mr. Tom Nealy was a Home ~ard. He had a class of old. men. Never went back or seen any more of them. Everybody left and a heap of the colored folks went where rations could be issued to then:~ and some followed on in the armies. After I was mustered ou.t I stayed around the camps and went to my sister 8 cabin till we left there. Made anything we could pick up. Men cane in there getting people to go work for them. Some folks went to Chicago. A heap of the slaves went to the northern cities. Colonel Stocker, a officer in the Yankee army, got Us to come to* a farm in Arkansas. We wanted to stay together is why we all went on the farm. May 1866, when we come

195 190

3. . :190 to Arkansas la the first farmin I had seen done since I left Torn Nealy s place. Colonel Stocker is mighty well known in St.. Francis County. 11e brought lots of families, brought me and my brother, my two brothera and a nephew. We conie on the train. ~ It took f our or five days. Then we got to Memphis we corne to Linden on a boat Molly Hamilton they called it. I heard it was sunk at Madison long time after that. Colonel Stocker promised to pay S~& a month and feed us. When Chri strn~s come ~ he said all I was due was ~l2 . 45. We made a gOod crop. That t i Been there since May. Had to stay till got all the train and boat fare paid. There wasn t no difference in that and slavery cept they couldn t sell us. I heard a heap about the Ku Xlux but I nebber seed them. . Xvery.~ body was scared of them. ~ The first votin I ever heard of was in ~ Grant s election. . Both black and white voted. I voted Republican for Grant. I~t et the southern soldiers was ranchised and couldn t vote. 3ust the private soldiers could vote at tall. I don t know why lt was. I was a slave for thirteen years from birth. Every slave could vote after freedom. Saine colored folks held office. 1 knew several magistrates and sheriffa~ There was one at Helena (Arkansas) and one at Marianna.. He was a Hlg~LSherift. I voted some after that but I never voted in the last Presidento election, I heard em say it wasn t . no use this man v ould be elected anyhow. I sorter quit off long time ago. In. 1874 and 1875 1 worked for halves and made nough to buy a farm in St Francis County. It cost $925. I bought it in 188?.

196 191

~j~hty acres to be cleared down in the bottoms, My Thmily helped and when Ely help got shallow, the children leav1n~ me I sold lt for ~2,OOO, In 1904. 1 was married jess once and had. eight children; five livin and three dead. Me and the old woman went to Oklahoma. We went in Yanuai~y and come back to Biscoe (Arkansas) in September, It wasn t no place for farming. I bought 40 acres from Mr. .Lydelott ~nd paid him ~5OO. I sold lt and come to Mr. 3oe Perry s place, paid $500 for 40 acres of timber land. We cleared it and I got way In debt and 108t lt. Clear lost lt~ Ize been working any ~here I could nicke a little since then. ~r wife died and I been doing little jobs and stays about with my children. The Welfare gives n~ a little check and some supplies now and then. No maatn, I can t read much. I was not learnt. I could figure a little before my eyes got bad. The white folka did send their children to pay schools but we colored children had to stay around the house and about in the field to work. I never ~ot nosehoolin. I went with old missus to camp meeting down in Georgia one time and got to ~o to white church sometimes. At the camp meeting there was a bi~ tent and all around it there was brush harbors and tents where people stayed to attend the nieetins. They had four rneetins a day. Lots of folk got converted and shouted. They had a lot of singing, They had a lots to eat and a big time. r don t think much about these young folks now. It seems lack everybody is having a hard time to live among us colored folks. Some white folks has got a heap and fine cars to get about iii. I don t k~o~ what goin to become of em. 4. :E~i

197 192

5. 192 People did sing more than I hear them now but I never could sing. They sing a lot ot foolish songs and mostly religious a~ngs, I don t recollect of any slave uprisina, T never heard of any. We didn t know they was going to have a war till they was fighting. Yes inaam, they heard Lincoln was going to set em free, but they didn t know how he was going to do it. Zverybody wanted freedom. Mr. Haxnniond (white) ask rae not long ago if I didn t think it best to bring us from Afrioa and be slaves than like wild animals in Africa. He said we was taught about God and the Gospel over here if we was. slaves, I told him I thought dot freedom was de best any~ where. We had a pretty. hard time before freedom. ~ My mother was a field woman. Then they didn t need her to work theyhired her out and they ~ot the pay. The master mated the colored people. I got fed from the white folks table whenever I curried the horses. I was sorter raised up with Mr. Nealy s children. They didn t mistreat me. On Saturday the mistress would blow a cone shell and they knowed to go and get the rations. We got plenty to eat. They had chickens and th~cks and geese and plenty milk. They did have hogs. They had seven or eight gaineas and a lot of peafowis. I never heard a farm bell till I come to Arkansas. The children et from pewter bowls or earthen were, Sornetiiaes they et greens or milk from the same bowl, all jea8 dip in. The Yankees took me to General Hood s army and I was Captain MeCondennen s helper at the camps. le went down through Marietta and Atlanta and through Kingston. &LellS come over where we lived.

198 193

6.~ :193 I saw em fight all the time Saw the light and heard the roaring 0fb d.~ guns miles away. It looked like a storm where the army went along. They tramped the wheat and oats and cotton down and turned the horses in on the corn. The slaves show did hate to see the Yaxikees waste everything. They promised a lot and wasn t as good as the old masters. ALl dey wanted was to be waited on too. The colored folks was freed when the Yankees took all the stock and cattle and rations. ~verybody had to leave and let the govertiment j ssue them rations . Everybody was proud t o be tree . They shouted and sung. They all did pretty well till the war was about to end then they was told to scatter and no whars to go. Cabins all tore down or burned. No work to do. There was no money to pay. I wore old uniforms 2retty well till I corne to Arkansas. I been here in Hazen since 1906. 1 come on a boat from Memphis to Linden. Colonel Stocker brought a lot of us on the train. The name of the boat was Molly Hamilton. It was a big boat and we about filled it. I show was glad to get back on a farm. I don t know what is goin to becon~ of the young folks. ~very~ thing is so different now and. when I was growin up I don t know what will become of the younger generation,

[Interview with Neland, Emaline] 199 194

3O~21 . 194 Inteviewer~~ ~ ~ Person Interviewed Km~~1~1ne Neland ~ larienna ~rkanaaa ~ -u--it_I - -u~ -u rn *~ s * u _-~ r ~ - ~~~~--* ~-._~---. _~_r-i- * ~ i8A9~~~ I was born two years before the Jar. I waa born In ~ri~ay County, Tenne8see It was iddle Tennesaee Then I come to remembrance I waa in, GraxLt County, AZ kansa8. Ihen I remember they raised wheat and corn and tobacco. Mother s master wai Dr. Harrison. His aon was iiarrie~ anc~ me end ~y brother Anderson was give to hin. He coes to 4rkan~as tfbore ever I could remember. He was a taraer but I never seen him hit a lick ot work in my lite. He was good to me and my brother. She wee good too. X was the nurse. They had two children. Brother was a house boy. Me and her girl was about the aeme size but I was the oldest. Being with the other children I called her mother too. I didn t know no other mother till freedom. Freedomi Well, here ja the very way it all was: Old. master told her (mother) she was free. He say, Go get your children, you free as I is now. Ain t I heard her say it meaty a time? Well, mother come in a ox wagon what belong to him and got us. They run me down, caught me and got me in the ~a~on. They drove twenty-live miles. Old Dr. Karriaon had moved to Arkansas. Being With the other children I soon lea~rnt to cal . her ma~ She had jjj all ten or eleven children. She was real dark. Pa was a sla*e too. He was a low ~n. H~ was a real bright man. He was brighter than I is. He belong to a widow ~man named Tedford~. Ha re~ ilamed his self after treed~om. He took the naine Broin stead of Tedtord I never hear~~ him say why he wasn t satisfied with his own na~. He was a 8oldjer. He worked for the Yankees.

200 195

2. :195 After the lai pa and aa ~ot back together and lived together till she died. There was five days difference in their deaths. They died or Dneuruonia. He was 64 years old end she was 54 years old. I was at home when pa come from the War. All my sisters was light, one sister had sandy hair like pa., ~ was real light. ~ ~ a good all rou.n~ woman. s~e cooked more than anything else. ahe imraed. Dr. Harrison told her to stay till her husband some back or all the time it he didn t ever come back. Ma never worked in the field. Then pa come he moved us on a place to share crop. Ma never worked in the field. He was buying a home in Grant County. He started to Mississippi and stopped close to Helena and ten or twelve miles from Marianna. He had a soldier friend wouldn t let him go. He told him this was a better country. He decided to stay down in here. I heard a whole heap about the ~i aux. One time when a crowd was going to church we heard horse s feet coming; sound like they would mn over us. We all got clear out of reach so they wouldn t mn over us. They had on fbunny caps was all I could see they went so fast We give them the clear road and they went on. That is all I ever seen of the K~i flux. nI seen Dr. Harrison s wife. She was a little old lady but we left after I went there, I used to sew for the public. Yes, white and colored tolks. I learnt nil own self to sew. I never had but one boy in my life. He died. at seven weeks old. I raised a stepson. I married twice. I married at home both times. J~ust a quiet marriage and a colored preacher married me both timeg, ~ The present oondition~a is hard. I want things and can t get em. If I had the streiigth to hold out to work I could get along.

201 196

3. 196 The present generation~young whit. and black-blinds ~ They turne corners too fait. They go~~~g eo ~ ~asj they d~z~ t have time to taire advice, They promise to. do better but they don t. They do like they want to do end don t tell nobody till they done it. i ~ they just running way with their selves. I get $8 and a little help along. I m thankful for it. It i~ a blessing ~: tell you.~

[Interview with Nelson, Henry] 202 197

. ~?69 19? ;~~3(i(; Interviewer ~ s. ~ -.-__ ______________1__ 1- ~ ___-_ a- -W. ~ -S-:- ~a~ _* -~ ~-- s. .~~~----_ _-__ -~*- -s - ~ Person iatervie~ed ~ _.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ L ~ 904 Es Fifth Street, Little Rock, Arkansaa ~ 4~U~Q -~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. ~ ~ . ~. ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ My ziame la R~nry Nelson. I was born in Arkansa~a.Cr1ttenden. County near Memphis, Texmeaaee~ I was born not far from Memphis but on thia aide. My mother a name was Adeline Taylor, That was her old alavery folks nana ~ ~he was a Taylor before ahe married my father~~ ~Nelaon. My father a first nanie was Green, I don t renieniber none of my grandparents. My father s mother died befo re I cc~ to re~nember and I know my mother a mother died before I could re~rnber, My father was born in Missiasippi.- Sardia, Miasissippi and iriy mother was a Tenneaseean.~ Carteravi1le, Tennessee, twenty-five miles above M~iiiphia~ After peace was declared they met in Tennessee. That was where my mother wa~ born, you kUOWA They tell in love with one another in Shelby County, and married there, My mother had been married once before during 8lavery t in~ She had been made to marry by her master. Her first husband was named Eli. H9 was my olde at sister a father. Hirn and m~ mother had the same master and misais. She waa made to marry him. She was only thirteen years old when she married him, She was fine and atout and her hu8bafld waa fine and atout, and they wanted more from that stock. I donti know how old he was but he was a lot older than she was. He was a kind of an elderly iiian. She had just one child by him...~my oldest ai8ter, Georgia. She w~ only married a short time before freedom ca~.

203 198

My f~ather tari~d9 He was always a ta~r.~ra13ed cotton and corn, M~r mother was a farmer too0 Both of thsii 4hat is both of her huebenda ~ were farn~r8. My mother and father used to go off to plaoea to dance arid the pateroles would get after them. You had to have a pass to go off your plaee and if you didn t have a paa, they would make you wa~i. 8c~ of them would get cau~,ht sometimes and the paterolea would whip them. They would sure get vihipped. if they did.n t have a PaBe. The old maater come out and told them they were tree when peace waa declared. He eald, You are free this morning free as I ana~ Right after the War, my mother come fi~trther down in 1~auessee, . and that 18 how ehe niet my father where she was when she waa married. They went farming. They tarn~d on eharea~aharecropped, They were on a big place called Enaley place. The man that owned the place was called Nuck Thsley. My mother and father didn t have no schooling. I never heard that they were bothered by the Ku Klux. She didn t live with her first huaband. after slavery. She left him when she was treed. She never d Id intend to marry him, She was forced to that. ~ ~ 3 ~i~4~4 ~ L~triO C~:~ ~ ~i~tte Interviewer s C nm nt Nel son evidently rents rooms, A yellow aa1lo*~faced, cadaver us and dls8atjafjed looking gentleiflan went into the house eYein ~ suapiciously as he passed, In a mon~nt he was out again interrupting the old ~an~ 2. ~ 198

204 199

3. :199 with pointless remarks. In out aga1n~ standing over n~- peer1ng on my paper in the offensive way that 111 bred people have. He 8traightened up with a di8gusted look on hie face, He couldn t read shorthand~ What 8 that you re writ in ? Shorthand. ~Ihat a that about? list 017. History UT whut? Slavery, He don t Iciow riothin about slavery. Thank you. However, U~ he says he does, I ll just continue to listen to hirn if you don t mind~ Humpli, and the yellow gentleman passed in, Out a~ain-~ eyein~ both the old man and me with disgust that was inconcea3,ed~ To him, You don t know whutchu re dom . Dee~ silence by all. ~xit the yellow brother. To the old man, I said, Is that your son? Lawd, no s jus a roomer. Out came the yellow brother again, See here, Uncle, if you want me to fix that rence d bettuh come awn out heah now. s gott in dark. I closed my notebook and arosa, Don t let me interfere with your program, Brother Nelson. The old man settled back in his chair, His eyes inspected the sky, his jaw ~ sorta set. The yellow brother looked at him a minute and passed on4 Pive minutes later. Enter, the Madam. ~She also was ot the yellow Variety with the suspicious and spiteful look ot an undersized black ~e1gian police dog.,/A moment of silence a wo~?d to him.

205 200

4. 20() You don t k~iow whutchu re dom . Silence all around~ To me, You re in ~r works I arose Uadam, I in sorry. The old man spoke, RYou ain t keepin me from nothuz~ . Weli, I said, you ve given me a nice start; I ll come again and get the reste

[Interview with Nelson, Henry] 206 201

\~SS 3O731~ . 2()i Interviewer Miss Irene Robertson - Person intarviewed Henry Ne1son~ Zdmondson, Arkansas Age ?~O My mother belong to the Taylors close to Cartervilie, Tennessee. My father never was 8014. Be belong to the Ne1sor~s. My parente married toreckly after the surrender and coins on to this state. I was born ten miles froni Edmondson. Their names was Adeline and Green Nelson. They didn t get nothing after freedom like land or a horse. I m seventy years old and I would have known. I was at Alton, illinois in the lead works thirteen years ago and I had a stroke. I been cripple ever since. ~ ~y folks never spoke oe being nothing but field hands. Poiks used to ~ be proud or their crops, go look over theni on &uiday when coiupany cone. Now ~ if they got a garden they hide it and don t mention it.~ Times ~s changed ~that way. - ~ Clothes ain .t as lasty as they used to be. People has a heap more ~ money to spend and don t raise and have much at home as they did when I was ~ a child. Times is all turned around and folks too. I always had plenty till I couldn t do hard work. I rarzr~d my early life. We didn t have much money tait we had ThtiOfl8 and warm clothes. I cleared new ground, hauled Wood, big logs. I steamboated on the Sun, Kate ~ dems, and One Arm ~J ohn. I helped with the freight. I ~ilro~ded with pick and shovel and in the lead Ir~ines, I worked from Memphis t o Helena on boats a good while I come back here to farn~~ Time is changed and I m changed,

207 202

2. ~ ~ It has been so long since I heard my parents tell about slavery I ~ ~1dfl t tell you straight. She told. till she died, talked about how the yankees done when they cczae through. They took axes ~nd busted up good ft~rnit1fl~e. They et up and wasted the rations, then humor up the black tolks like they was in their favor ihen they was ettin out wasting their livix~g. They done made it to live on. Some followed them and some stayed on. They wanted ~reedom but it wasn t like they thought it iould be. They didn t kiiow how it would b . ~ They dn t know it meant aetout Seem like they left. In some ways times was better and some ways it was worse. They had to work or 8tarve is what they told me . That s the way I found freedom0 Course their owners made them work and. he looked out for the ration end in slavery. I keeps up my own self all I can. I don t get help.~

[Interview with Nelson, Iran] 208 203

t ~ ~ ~ -~- ~ / :~ ~ /L~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 2()3 r Interviewer Mrs. Bamico Bowden Person interviewed IranNelson 603 ~E Fourteenth Ave . Pine Bluff Ark. Age~~ ~ Ye8 ma iii, they fotch me fran Mississippi to Arkansas on the steamboat ~ you. know they dd t have rai1road~s then. They fotch my mother and they went back after grandfather and. granthuother too, Dr. Noell was our master and he had us under mortgage to his brcther in-law. They fotched us here till he could get straight from that debt, but fore that could be, we got free, I kxiowed slavery times. I member $eein em lash some of the rest but you know I wasn t big exiough to put in the field, Old mistress say when I got big enough, she goin take me for a house girl. When they fotched mama and grandmother here they had ei ghty some ~ odd head of niggers. They was gwine carry em back home after they got that mortgage paid but the war come. I member when the Yankees coins, my white folks would nm artd hide hide uscolored folks too. Boss man had the colored folks get all r~at out of the ~nokehouse sud. hide it in the peach orchard in the I used to play with old mistress daughter Addle. We would play In the parlor and after we moved to town some of the little girls would pick up and. go home You know these town folks didn t believe iii. playin. with the colored folks,

209 204

2. 2()4. After mama wa5 tree she atay~i ~right ~ there . ou the place and ~ made a C1 OP. Baised eight hundred bales aM the avera~ was nin~~. Wwia plowed and hoed too, I had to work right With h?r too, I xiever went to echool b~t once . I learned my ABC e bit couldn t read. My aext ~&BC a was a hoe in my haxtd. Marna had a switch right under her belt. I worked 1~tt I couldn t keep up. Just seem that switch Was enough. I had a pretty good time ihen I was young, but I had to go all the tijx~,

[Interview with Nelson, James Henry] 210 205

. .. . 4~$ \ ~ ~ ~?t~.1~) . InterViewer~, ~ ~ ~t ~ person interviewsd ~Tem.s H.nry Nei.on ~ ~ b~en~ ~iie~ ~ttt, A~I ~I .. Age~_~~M ~ . Oconpation~ - - ~ft_n~ p. p. ~ u. p. p. p. u. u. p. p. p. p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p.p. p. u. p. - u. u. p. p. . p. I member all about the war ~ why of coes I saddled many a . caval~ hoss. I t.ll ~rou how I know bow old I sa. Old master, Henry Stanley of Athens, Alabama, mov.d to Pulaski, Tenn ssee and l tt me with young mi.t1~O88 to take care ot th1nga~ One dsy~ we was drivin up some stock and I said, Miss Nannie, how old is you? And, ehe said, I m seventeen. I was old enough to haTe the ~Owledg. she would know how old I was end I said, How old sa I? And she said, You i~ svsn ~rears old. That was dunn the war, I rsaemben the soldiers ccmin ~ stoppin at our building ~. Ta~kees and Southern soldiers, too. They fit all around our plantation. The Yankees taken.me when I was a little fellow. About two years after the war started, young Mares Benny went to war and took a. colored man with him but he ran away he wouldn t stay with the Rebel n~. So young Manse Henry took i~. i reckon I was bout ten. I know I was big enough to saddle a cavalry hoes. le carnisd. three horses ~. his hoes, my hoss exid a Pack hoes. You k~ow ohillun them days, they made em do ~ a man a work. I studied bout my mother dunn the war, so they let ~ go hc~. On~e day I went to alU. They didn t low the chiliun to lay around, and while I was at the mill a Yar~kee soldier nI.dIn a white hou captured ~ and took 1M to Pulaski, TSD3ISISSS ~fld thn I was in the Tank., armi. I wasn t no size and I don t think be ~uld a took me it it hadn t been ton th. hos ~ .

211 206

a. *1. co~ baok to Athens end the Reble ce~tuxsd the uhole ar~. Colonel Camp was in chargs enl Gsn.rl Tpz r.st captured us and I wu carried south. te ~ m~rchi~ cong tb.e lins end ~ Rebsi. soidi.r eaid~ Don t you want to go hc~ and etay with ~y wits? And 80 1 ws~t ~thsre, to ittU~iUe, Alabsma. Then b. bound ~ to ~ friend t hia and I stayed thers tifl the ~ar bout ended. I was getting along very well bitt a old,r boy L ~uaded me to mn away to Decatur1 4labams. Oh I seen lots of ths war. Bof sides was good to ~. I ve seen many a scout The captain would asy By G, close the ranks. Oaptain. Is right crabbed. I stay.d~ back Vit~I the hoasse, After the wer I vorket about for this one and that one. Sc~ paid me and SOEflS didUtt~ ~1 can re~sembsr back to Brecksnxid; and I can rswaxrtber hearin em say Hurrah for ~ihw~en I m juat t.flin you to show how fur back I can remember. I used to have a book with a picture or ibr~em Lincoln with SIL 8X0 on his shoulder and a pic~.rs ot that log cabin, but somebody stole ~ book. I worked tor whoever w~.l4 take me ~ I had no mother then. If I had, had parents to make me go to school, but I got along very well. The white folks taught me not to haTs flO bad~ talk. They a all dead ~ow and it they wasn t I d be With this. ~ ~ I m a natural born fsx~sr ~ ha ~ all 1 know. The big overflow th ownded me o~t aZLd my wife ctied ~1t1~ PS11S 1?~ iii 27. 8Ii~ IS a good lOEnan end nice to ihite tolk*. I~nt just a bachixk here now. I did stay with xr~y daughter but eh is mean to me, so I just picked up my rage and moved into this rocs where I can live in peace. I m a christian aan~

212 207

. 5. 207 and I can t live r ~t with her. When colorsd folks la mesn, they . meaner than white . tolks. ~ I m ~ttin el ng very isU ow~ I been with White i olke all my~ day -~ and lt a hard tor me to ~t alone with my tolka. In one way the world l~ crueler then they used to be. They don t appreciate things lIke they used to. They have no feslin s end don t oars nothin bout the olden people, NeU good bye I m proud of you. ~

[Interview with Nelson, John] 213 208

I ~2 . /~ ~. :~-~ ~ 208 \y j ~ ~ a - u ~ ~ ~ ~ -t - - ~ p P rson interviewed ~ ~ohnNe1son~, Ho1I~ Grove~Arkapaa ~ ~ ~iy parents was Tazz Nelson. and Mahaney Nelson. He come from Louiaiax~ dunn slavery. She come trciu Rlcbmon&, Virginia. I think from what they said he cixie to Louisiana from there too ~ They was plain field handa. ~My folks belong to Misa Mary Inn Richardson and Massa Harve Richardson. They had five children and every one dead now. They lived at Duncan Station. The white roiks told em they was tree. They had no place to go and they been workin the crop. White tolks glad tor em to stay and. work on. And the truth is they was glad to git to stay on cause they had no place to go. They kept stayin on a long ti~. *1 was so anmil Idon t know it the K1~ Klux ever did come bout our place at tall.

[Interview with Nelson, Lettie] 214 209

30766 9 . . . ~ ~o9 InterYisIr ~ ~ Pereon int.rvisw d~~ ~ ~ti~ Je~~.on ~ at. larys Btr etr ~ H )1fl*, Arkansas ~ 56~2~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~ Grandma waa Patsy ~ith. ~e .aid in alavsry they had a certain amount ot cotton to pick. It they didn t havi that amount they wou34 put their beads between the raila of the fences end whoop thent. They whooped them In the ebenin when they weighed u~ the cotton. Grandma ~ rajeed in Virginia. She was light. Mama waa 1i~ht. They was carried trcm Virginia.. to Louisiana in wagons. They tound elothee along the roat people had 1O.t She said several 1~iud1es o~ good cloths.. They thought they had dropped off ot wagona ahead of them. They waahsd end tore the clothes. Scm. of em fit so they wore thsm. Mama left her husband end brother in Virginia. Id ~itb was her second husband. lis was a 1ig1~t aan. )ty grandpa was a field men. I never heard it grandpa was sold. JiIUnIe Stan.b.rry was the man that bought or brought mama and grandma to LO*i8~SJla. Maas cook d and worked in the field both. Grend~ia did too. ~ze cooked in Louisiana more than mmi. They belong to Lou and ~ i~~iie 8tensberry end they had two boys. They Lived does to Minden~ Louisiei~~a. I don t knOw so auch about my parents end grsnd~a talked but is didn t pay enough attention to r.I~mb.r it all. ~is Was old an~I got thing. confused. They ias glad ibm fresdcD co~ but they lived on with J~iiui. Stans . berry. I rsrnbsr them Grandma raised me after ~y parents died. Thrni she 11y~d with tlfl she died. She was aiful old when ehe died. They wcaald talk about how different Virginia and Loui*sisna las. It took them a long time to asks that trip.* ~ .

[Interview with Nelson, Mattie] 215 210

. . O 21() Interviewer~ 1fr~.BernjceBowdan Person into~1ewed~_~ MattieNe1aon~ ~ 710 E. Fourth Street, Pine Bluff, Arkanaae ~I was born in Chicot County, Arkansa8 in 65. They aaid I waa born on the roadside while we was on our way here frcm Texas. ~ They had to camp they said. $cme people called it emigrate. Now that s the. straightest way I can tell it. Our miatteas and niaster was nan~d Chap~nan. I member when I was a child mistress used to be so good to us. After surrender my parents stayed right on there with the Chapinans, stayed right on the place till they died. My xwidder and pappy neither one of em could read or write but I went to school. I always was apt. I em now. I always was one to work ~ yes rna m ~ rolled logs, hope clean up new ground ~ yes ma m. When we was totln logs, I d say, Pu~t the big end on me~ but they d say, 9 y re a woman. Yes ma m I been here a long ti~ I do believe In stirrin work for your livin , yes ma m, that s what I believe in. nI been workin ever since I was six years old. My daughter was just like me ~ she had a gift, but she died. I seen all my folks die and that lets me know I got to die too. White folks used to corne along in b~iggies, and boss back too, and stop and watch me plow. Seem like the hotter the am was the better I liked it, . F Yea ma m, I done all kinds a work and I feels it now, too.

[Interview with Newborn, Dan] 216 211

30750 . . 211 ~ Interviewer -- -- ~ ~-~- _j~. ~ Per8on interviewed -----W ~ ~- - 1000 Loui iana, Pine Bluff, Arkansas ~ge78 I was born in 1860. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee. I suppose it was in the country. Solomon Walton was my mother s owiier and niy father belonged to the i~ewborns. 1~Iy grandmother be1on~ed. to the Baggs iii Richmond, Virginia and. she was 3old to the Waltons. When my mother died in 65 my grandmother raised me. At~ter she was freed she went to the Powell Clayton place. Her daughter lived there and she sent up the river and. got her. I went too. ~ie and two more boys. I never went to school but about thirty days. Hardly learned my alphabet, u In ~ 66 my grandmother bound two of us to Powell Clayton for our vittils and clothes and schoolin , but I didn t get no schoolin . I Waited in the house. Stayed there three years, then we come back to the ~alton place. My grandmother said the Waltons treated. her mean. Beat her on the and that was part of her death. Every spring her head. would run. She they didn t get much of somethin to eat. I was married efore my grandmother dled .4o this wife that died. two months ago. We stayed together fifty seven years. To ray idea, this younger generation is too wiid-~ not near as settled do ~vn ~ when I was commt up. They used to obey. Why, I slept in the bed

217 212

2. 212 ~jth mY ~randxaother till I was married. She whipped me the day before I was rnarried, It was cause I had disobeyed her. Children will resist their mothers now. ni think the colored people is better off now cause they got more priViie~e, but the way some of em use their privilege, I think they ought to be slaves. My grandmother taught me not to steal. My white olks here have trusted me with two and three hundred dollars. I don t want nothin in the world but mine. I been workin here for Fox Brothers thirty-eight years and they ll tell you there s not a black ~rk against me. I used to be a mortar maker and used to sample cotton. Then I worked at the Cotton Belt Shops eight years. I ve bought me a home that cost ~78O. I don t niind tellin about myself cause I ve been honest and you can ~o up the river and. get my record. Out of aildue respect to everybody, the Yankees is the ones I like. Vote? Oh y88, Republican ticket. I like Roosevelt s administration, If ~ could vote now, i d vote for him. He has done a whole lot of good.

[Interview with Newsom, Sallie] 218 213

~O4i7 213 Interviewer Miss Irene Robertson Person Interviewed Saille Newsoxn Age75? Brink1p~y~rk. ~1:Mis s I t t know my age but I Imow I Is old. I in sj~k now. Hwy. din s mis tr e s s and mama s ml s tre s s and my mis tress was 1~iss Jem e Brawner at Thomasville, Georgia. Me and my oldest sister was born In Atlanta. Then freedom come on. r~iy own papa wanted mama to follow him to Mississippi. He had a wife there She dnT t go. She stayed on a while with Mr . Ac~r and ~:1~s Jennie. They come from Virginia. Her name was Catherine. ttGrandr~a toted her big hoop dresses about and carried her trains up off the floor. Combed her long glossy hair. Mama was a house girl too, but then grandma took to the kitchen. She was the cook then. Old Miss Jennie wanted marna to give her nay oldest sister Lulu, so mama gave her to her. Then when we started to come to Folly Grove, Mississippi, Miss Jennie still wanted her. Mama dithitt want to part from her. She was married again and brought me but my aunts told mama to leave her there, she would have a good home and be educated, so she greed to leave her two years. She sent back for her at the end of two years; she wrote and d t want to come She was s t i Il at Mis s Jenni et ~ I haben Seen her from the day we left Atlanta till this very day. A Woman, colored woman, was here in Brinkley once seen her. Said

219 214

2. 214 she was so fine and nice. Had. nice ~oft~ skin and was well to do. I have wrote but 1fl7 letters come back. I know Miss J nnie Is dead, and my sister may be by now. My papa was Abe Brooks. His master was Mars Jonas Brooks. Old master give him to the youngmaster. He was rIch, rieh, and traveled all time, His pa give him a servant, He cooked for him, drove his carriage they called it a brake in them days followed him t o the hote is and bar~rooms He drink and give him a drain. When he was freed he corne to Mississippi with the Brooks to farm for them, I went to see my papa at Waterford, Miss.\ ttThen we was at Holly Springs, Mi8sissippi my cousin was a railroad man so he helped me run away. He paid my way. I come to Clarendon. I cooked, washed and ironed. In two or three years I went back to se e mama . They was glad to se e me They had eight children. n ~ dn t guarante e you about the e ight younger children, but there ain t a speck of no kind of blood about nie and Lulu Violet but African. We are slick black Negroes. (She is very black, large and bony.) Miss Jennie Brawner had one son Gus Brawner - and he may be living now in Atlanta. ~. My uncle said he seen the Yankees come through Thomas- ~ ville, Georgia. I never seen an army of thema I seen soldiers, plenty oit em. None of the Brooks or Brawners went to war that I heard of. I was kept close and too young to know much of what happened. I heard about the Ku Klux but I never seen them, I know Miss Jennie Brawner come from Virginia but I dontt

220 215

3. 215 know if she brought grandma with her or bought her. She never did say. t, I don t vote My husband voted. I d t know how he y~t~d. Since I been sick, I get a check and coimnodities.

[Interview with Newton, Pate] 221 216

30375 . 216 Intervl vsr . Miss Salue C. Miller ~ a.~J1* ~ - --~ - - ~ -~ ~-- ~ -.--. i~~ ~ Person 1~tervirnd ~t~IeItoeLC1erkevi11f,Arkanss. Me~ ~83 ~ Occupation ~ 7ax~ ~d ~j labor.r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My white folks was as good to ~ as they could b.. I ain t got no kick to make about my white peopis. The boya was ai . brave. I iaa raiasd on the rai m. I staid With my boss till I W~8 nearly gro~. Ihen the wer got so hot my boas was afraid the lode would get us. Be aent my manay to Texas and sent n~ in the e.nxiy with ~9 Baeho~ to take care at his horses. I was about eleven or twelve years old. (~3 Ba$hc~ was always good to ~. R. always found a place for me to sleep an~ eat. S ~tj~a after the colonel left the folks would run off and not let stay ~t ~ r never told the colonel. I went to Boston, Texas with the colonel and his men and ihen he went on the bi raid Into Missouri he left -- in Sevier County, Arkansas with his horses Litti. ~1dy an~ Or~hsn Boy . They was race horses. The colonel always had race horses. Re was killed ~ at Pilot Knotb, ~1580~U 1~ After the colonel was killed hi. eon Georg (I shore did think a lot ot George ) eo~ne after i~ and the horses and brOU&1 us honie. . While I was in Arkadslphia with Col. Baehcin a horses, I went down to the spring to water th horsea. The artiller~r was there cleenln ~ big oa~o~ they called Old T~ Of coure I went u~ to watch them. One of the men saw me and hollered, St lok his head in the annon It liked to soared me to death. I jumped on that race horse eM ~1n.

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8. 2i~ . I reconed I woti~ ~ ~ kUld but n~ unc~s waa there aj4 ~ ~ aM ~~opped the horus. Another time ~s went to a place and ii~ and ex~other colored boy was taking cars ot the horses ~h11S our masters eat dinner. I saw sc~ water-. melons in the garden with a paling fence around it. I said it the other boy would pull a paling oft I would crawl throu~ and ~t us a wats~s1on. Es did ~t the man who owned ~ the place saw n~ Just as I got the ~lon aM whipped us and told us if we hollered he wou 4 kill us. We didn t holler and we never told. Col. Bashom either. After the war n~r p~nj, come back frc~ Texas aM took ~ over to Dover to Ifte b~tt my old~ boss told her it ahe ~uld let him have n~ he would raise and educate me like his own children. When I got back the old boss already had a boy so I went to live With on of his eons. Es told me lt was time tor me to learn how to work. My boas was rou~h ~tt he was good to ~ and taught ~ how to work. ~is old. boas ha~ ~ivs eons in the army and all was *unded except ~ one One of them was shot thrOU~ and thr~a~ in the battle of Oak Hill. He ~ot a furlou~i end cc~ baok and died. I left my white folks in 1869 and want to tsraing for myself up In Hartman bottout. I married when I was about seventeen years old. They though a house near us was hainted. Nobod.y wanted to live in it so they went to see ~iat the n iae was. They found a pet coon with a piecs of chain around his neck. The coon ~uld run across the floor aM drag the chain. The children now are bs~I. No telling ~at will be in the next tweitty or thirty years everythln~ la so changed now.

223 218

3. 218 I loarnt to aiiig thehyana but iaver sang in the ohoSx. We aeng mxi. , sohn Broin s Body Lie., eto. ~ ~~iita , Zuat B.tori the Battle Mother Old Black ~o

[Interview with Norris, Charlie] 224 219

219 3~~~4:~3Og13 Interviewer 8.Bs~ice Bowden ~ ~ ~ Peraon interviewed ~ . .Q~ariie Nc~x is~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ . . ~ Mifl r ~ ~ ~ ~ Arlcans Ag~81~ Born in slavery tirnea? That 8 me I reckoi~ I vas born Oct ober 1, 185? in Arkax~sas in Unioii County, Torn Murphyr was old master e na~ Yes ma am, I rerneniber the tirat re~1ment left Arkanaaa.~iirent to Virginia. I member our white tolks had us packin grub out in the vroods cause they was ~pectin the Yankees, I member when the first regiment started o~it. Th nnisic boat come to the laxidin and played Y~ee Doodle. They carried all us chillun. out there. ~fter they fit they ~ ju~st . come by frcin daylight t ill dark to eat, They was death on bread. My mother end Sttsau Murphy, that was the Old lady herself, cooked bread 1~or em. I stayed with the Miirphya .round on the plantation amongst em foz five or six years after freedcm~ ~Andrew Norris, my f~ather a old mastei , was the first sheriff or Ouachita County. My mother belonged to the Murphys and my father belonged to the Norrjses and after freedom they never did go back together. My mother told me that Susan ~xrphy wouli euckle me when my mother was out workin and then my mother would ~ick1e her daughter. I was raised up in the houas you might say till I was a big nigger, Rad plenty to eal;. That s one thing they did do, I lived right eaxnget a 8ett1~ent or what they called. free niggere cause they was treated so well.

225 220

2. 220 Sometimes ~iean M~r~hy got after me and whipped me and old Marie T i would tell n~ to run and x~ot let her whip ie~ Zou ae I was worth ~l,5OO to him and he thought a lot of u~ black kid3, Old men ~r a ~~trphy raiad m up to a big nigger and never did whip me but twice and that wae cause I got drnnk on tobacco and turned out hie horse, EYes ma am, ~ voted till bout two ~ or three yeara ago~ Oh Lawd, the colored used to hold offi ce dciii . in t he country. I ye voted tor white and black. ~ Some of the colored tolka better off tree and some not That 8 what ! think but they don t.

[Interview with Oats, Emma] 226 221

30490 ~ ~ . . :~ ~ ~ ~ Interviewer Miss Irene ~ Person Interviewed ~ ~ ~ ge9Oorolder . Holly Grove, Ark. . UI was born in St. Louis, My mother died when I was little. I never knowed no father. (He was probably a white inan~ ) Jack Oats raised nie. Jim Oats at Helena was his son. He is still liv- Ing He corne through here ( Holly Grove ) not long ago . I was raised on th Esque plac . fi was fraid of my grandma. I wouldn t live with her. I know d her. She was a big woman, big white eyes, big thick lips, and. had Molly Glaspy hair, long straight soft )iair. She was a African woman. She made my clothes. I was fraid of her. I never lived with her. My folks was all free folks. When my mother died my une le took us - me and brother He hired us out and we got stole. Gene Oglesby stole us and~brought us to Memphis to Joe Nivers. I recken he sold us then. Then they stood me up in the parlor and sold me to Jack Oats. They said I was tgood pluck. Joe Nivers sold me to Jack Oats for ~l,l5O.OO when I was four years old. My brother was na ie Milton Smith, I ain t seen him from that day till this. Joe Nivers kept him, I recken. I come here on a legal tender - name of the boat I recken. I kz~ow that. I recken it was name of a boat. I got off and Thornton walls, old colored man, toted me cross every mud hole we come to. He belong to Bud Walls (white man at Holly Grove ) daddy. When We got home Jack Oats and all of em was there,

227 222

. ~ 2. III slept on a pallet and lounge and took care of their 0hildren. I played round. Done bout as I pleased. They had. a cook they called Aunt Joe Joe Oats. We had plenty to eat and wear. They dressed me like one their children. We had good flanxle 1 e lothe s . When she washed her chi .dren she washe cl. nie too. When she combed their hair she combed mine too. She kept working with it tiU I b~d pretty hair. Some of her ehiidren died. It hurt me bad as it did them. All I done was play with em and see after em. Their names was Sam, John, Dixie, SalUe, Jim. I . went in the hack to church; if she took the children, she took me. I was a good size girl when she died. The last word she spoke was to me ; she said, Emma, take care of my children. Dr. Joirn Chester was her doctor. Oat come here from North Alabama. Will Oats, Wyatt Oats, and Jaek Oats - all brothers. !IW~:n mistress living we took a bath every Friday in a sawed-into barrel (wooden tub ) The cook done our washing We had clean fresh clothes We had to dre s~ up every few days If we get dirty she say she would give us lashes. She never give me none, I never was sassy (saucy). That what most of em got 10 1ashe~, 25, 50 lashes for. ~ ~VVhen I was bout grown I went to school a little bit to James A. Kerr here at Holly Grove. I was good and grown too. ~1 was settint on the gate post ~ they had a picket fence. I seen some folks coming to our house. I run in the house and says t Mis s }i~ai Liza the Yankees coming here t She told her hus band to get in the bed. He says, tO~j God, what she know bout

228 223

3. 223 Yanke e s ? T Mis s Mal Li z a ~ ay, T ~ T ~ know ; s one of em, I speck she knows em. One of the officers come in and asked him ~h8t was the matter. Ho said he was sick. He had boils bout on him. He had a Masonic pin on his shirt He showed it to the ~ffi cer He asked Lou and Becky and all the s ervants if he hadn ~ t been bushwhacking. They ail said, No, He said he wanted something to eat They went to the we 11 hous e and got hirn s orne milk. They camped below the house. They went to their store house and brought more rations up there in a wagon. Lou cooked and she had help. She set a big table and they had the biggest dinner. They had more hams. They had tLjncoln Coffee there that day. It was a jolly day. They never et up there no more or bothered round our hous e no more The officer had something on his bare arm he showed. He said, when he went to leave, A~t Lou, you shall not be hurt. Mr. Oats had taken long before that day all his slaves to Texas. He took all but Wash Martin. They went in wagons and none of them ever come back. Miss Callie Edwards was older than Miss Henrietta Jackson. They kept Wash Martin going through the bottoms nearly all time from their houses at GoldenHill to Indian Bay. They kept him from one place to the other to keep him out of the war. They hired him out to school Miss Henrietta. Miss Callie Edwards died then they give him to Miss Henrietta. During the war Mrs. Keeps cone up to our house. They heard a gun. She was jes visiting Mrs. Oats. Mrs. Keeps went honte and the bushwhackers had killed him. He was dead.

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4. 224 1 never seen no K~i Klux ~ in my whole life . II remember the stage coach that run every two or three days from Helena to Clareridon. I dontt remember bout freedom. t~r. Green, Hall Green s daddy, told his colored folks they was free. They told our folks. I heard e~i talking bout lt. I was keDt quiet. It was done freedom . fore I knowed it I stayed on and done like I been dom . I stayed on and on. Then I was grown I come here to school and soon n~arr1ed. I washed and Ironed and cooked all over Holly Grove, I was waitIng on ~ the table at the boarding house here at Holly Grove Mr. Oats was talking bout nanilng the town. Phey had put the railroad through. I ask em why dd t they name the town Holly Grove It was thick with holly trees. They named it that, and put it p on the side of the depot. That wa~y I named the town. My roiks give me five acres ~of land and Julia Woolfolk give a blind wcman on the place five acres. I didn t know what to do wid it. I didn t have no husband. I was young and foolish. Iletitbe. ~ . My husband farmed. I raisedm~ family, chopped and picked cotton and done other things along with that. I haie worked all my life till way after my husband died. My husband could jump up, knock heels together three times before he come down. He died May 12, 1909. He was 83 years old February 16, 1909. I never voted. I never heard my husband say much bout VOting. I know some colored folks sold their voting rights. That was wrong.

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.5. 225 t I lived at Baptis t Bottoms two ~y~ears I~ lack to killed wyatt Oats and Miss Caille Edwards owned the husband of Emma Oat s She was married once and had two girls and two boys ~ one boy dead. now. Emma lives at one of her daughterst homes.

[Interview with Odom, Helen and Sarah] 231 226

Q4~4i f~ . ~)rItt, : t) ~ J~V ~ ~ ~ f~(;~u ~ ~ Interviewer ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~.--~--~ ~ *- ~s -P- --- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ !. S ~ ~ -si--- ~ ~ ~U ~ ~ ~ ~* Person int i leued ~ ~ Th31eI Odc~ t mo~th ~ ~ ~ Od~ ~ ~ ~ -~tr~.-i-~~ ~ L~S_U-~- ~ ~ -L! !~ ~j4-~ -u-~ -~ ~ ~- ~S~ ~- *-~P~N~ ~ . t S ~ Biscoe Arkansas Age 8O~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~- ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ Qreat-~grandmother waa part 4!rieaii, Indian, and caucasian. She had two girls betore slavery ended by her own mast r-4(aater Temple. He waa also caucasian (white ) . ~xe was cook and housemaid at hie home He was a bachelor. Grandmother s na~ waa Rachaal and her siater a name waa Guy. Before treedc~ )&ater Temple had another wlte. By her he had. one boy and two gina. He never had a caucasian wire. In tact he was always a bachelor. Grandmother was a field hand and so was her siater, Gilly. ~t after freedcm grandmother married a Union soldier. His took..on usme was George Washington T nb. He was generally called Paraon Tomb (preacher) . He met Grandmother Rachael in Arkansas. When Master I~emple died hie nearest relative was Yim MCNeIIIy. He made a will leaving everything he posseaeed to Master McNeill7. The eatate had to be settled, so he brought the two sisters to Little Rook we think to be sold. They rode horseback and walked and brought wagona With bedding and ~ Provisiona to camp alone the road. ~ie blankets were troze and stood alone. ~ It wa~ so cold. Grandmother waa p t up on the block to be auetioned off and ~ freedom was declared! Aunt amy ne~,r got to the block. Grandmother ~ married and was separated fr i h r aister. Whether the other three children were brought to Arkanaaa then I don t know but this I know that they went by the name M~Neilly.

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2. 227 They Ch5J~d~ their names or it was done for them. They are all dead now ~nd my OWfl mother is the only one now living. Their names were ~To1m, Porn, and Netline. Mother says they were sold. to Jbhnaon, and went by that name too as much as MoNeilly. They remained with Johnaoxi. till freedom, in Tennessee. . My mother e name is Sarah. They seem to think they were treated good till Master Temple died. They nearly froze coming to Arkansas to be sold0 I heard this told. over and over so many, many times betore grandmother died. Seemed it was the greatest event of her life. She told other smaller things I can t remember to tell With sense at all. Nothing so important as ~ her master and owe. father s death and being sold. Times are good, very good. with me. Our African race is advancing with the t1mes.~ Interviewer s Comment Teacher in Biscoe school. Father was a graduate doctor ot medicine arid in about 1907, 08, 09 school director at Biscee.

[Interview with Oliver, Jane] 233 228

Interviewer )Irs~ Bernice Bowden - - ~ ~.-~-- - .- ___~-~--__-_~__~-___.J___ . ~-- - ~ ~ S- ~ ~ ~ Person interviewed~~_ ~ ~ ~ _ J8Q~!~~ Rottts 4, near airport, Pine Bluff, Arkansas A~ ~_ t, I m certainly one ot em, cause I was in the big house When isa LIza n~ari ied they give sister to her and I stayed with Miss Netta. lier ~ax~ was Drunetta RaVis. That was in Miesisaippi. We cc~ to Arkansas when I was ~nall. tI remember when they rua us to 1~~xas, and we stayed there till freedom c~ I ren~mber hearin em road the free papers. Mania died in Texa8 and they burted her the day they read the tree papers. I know. I was out playin end MISS Lucy, that was my young mistress cou e out and say, t sane, you go in and see your mother she wants y~i I was busy playin and didn t want to go in and I u~mber Mies Lacy say, Poor little tool ~ig~ger don t know her mother s dyin . I went in than and said, Mama, is you dyin ? Skis say, No I am t ; I died wbin you was a ba You know, Bh~ meant she had died in ein. She was a christian. ~Me and I~toy played together all the t ii~ ~ r~ind about the house and In the kitchen. Little ~ H5fl~7, tMt ~ big old Mares Henry e son, he w~ a captain in the ai u~y. We all called him Little Marse Henry. Old ~nistress was good to UBo Us chillun called her Miss Netta, Beat woman I eTer seed. Me and Lucy growed up together. Looks like I can sas just the w~y the house looked and how we used to go down to the big gate and play. I ~ita here and studies and wonders it I d know that place today. That s ~ I study bout.

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2. ni u.stl to hear m aay w only 3tayed in Texas nine months and ths !hite folks brc~ght na b~ k. $ ~y unole Simon Rails, b. took u~ after the war. Thsn I worked for Mrs. Adkina. ?ei ~nt to echool a little and learned to react print. The teaCher tried~ to get me to write 1~it I wouldn t do it. And eiiioe then I have ~1shed so much I had learaed to writ. Oh inercyZ Old folke would tel , i~, Weil when yoti ~st up the road, you 11 wi ah yo~ had~. I did.u t know what they meant t*tt I know now they mant when I got old. I was married when I wae young ~ I don t think I wae fiftssn. Ye s nia am, I ye worked hard. I vs always lived in the ci~intry. I can r~aeabr when the white folke refugeed ue to Tsx*e. Oh we did the Tankeec. If I ever seed a Yankee I dHn t know it but I heard the folks talkin bout a. I used to hear em talk bout old J~etf I~via and Abe Lincoln. Bradley County was where we lived fore we went to Texas and after~ ward3 Colonel ~d Hampton s plantation jined the Rawla plantation on the Arkansas River where ! t overflowed the land. I loved that better then any place I ever seed in my life. I couldn t eay what I think of the young folke now. They la differsnt from Nhat we was. Yse, Lord, they ia different. 8ometin~s I think they ie better and eometin~e w~ie8. I jUBt th flka the Lord that I m hero ~ have Corne this far. ~ When I bought thia place troni Mr. R. L Knox he said, When I m in xny ~ave you~ Il thank D1~ that you took my advice and pit your savings in a ho~ie ~ I ~ do ~ thank hinL. I been here thirty years and I get alone, God ble8s yott.~

[Interview with Osborne, Ivory] 235 230

Interviewer ~ ~ ~ . B9w~d~21 ~ ~ ~ L -~ Persom interviewed ~ . ~ - . ~ _~ ~$~ . ~ ~ ~ . ~-. Route 5, Box :l~, Pine B1~tff, Arkansas ~ Know about slavery? $iio I do ~ t was born in 52. Born in ArkW1S~3? No ma m, born in Texas. Oh yes, indeed, I had a good. master. Good to me, indeed. I was that high ihen the war 8tarted. I member everything. Take ins from nov; till dark to tell you everything I know bout slavery. I put in three years and five months, choppin , cotton and corn. I member the very day, n the 10th ot May, old. mistress blowed the conk and told us we was tree, Oh Lord, I had. a good tine. I never was whipped. . ~ KtL Klitx used to run ute Run m~e clear from the plum orchard bout a mile from the house. Bun to my mistress at the big house. Miss An.u had eight darkies and told her stepinother, Don t you put your hand. on em. ~ie d drL t either. I went to school since uiancipatioa in Nacitosh. Learned to read. and write. Was in the eighth grade when I lett~ Stood at the head ot every class. They couithi t get ins dom. I done got old end forgot now. PI du t know the difference between slavery and free I never Was whipped.

236 231

2. 231 Did I ever vote? You know I Toted, old as I am. Ain t voted in over torty years. I aiii t nobody. My wife 8 eighty. I ve had her forty years. c~c?~812. I voted the Republican ticket. You never seed a colored person a Democrat in your lite. Li slavery days we killed seventy-five or eighty hogs every year. Arid I don t mean shoats, I mean hog8. I ain t lost my xnembrance.

[Interview with Osbrook, Jane] 237 232

3015(3. . . . 232 Interviewer lire. Bernice Boim~p~ ~u t .~ ~ ~ ~!.!~ ~. ~ ~ - s ~ ~ J~~ ir1RUI-S1r Person interviewed Jane Osbro.k ~Up~IruLt~~ ~ ~ -~I~$ ~ t.-~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~1~V 502 L ZLfl M8~US, !1*e Bluff, Arkansas ~ Yea aa m, I was li~in j.n aiat.ry. days. .1 was bornet in Axksnea. I reckon~. I was borned Within thres musa of C~.n but 1 wasn t raia d . Ne inovsd to sline County directly after peace was declared. I don t know that year I was born b.causs you see I m not educated bu~t I was ninety the 27th of this last pait ~y. Yea ~ia m, l a a old bo~d~ a~ woeafl. I can say i~hat a heap of em can t say .. -. I can tell the truth. bout it. I b.li.vs in the truth. I iias brought up to till the tru~th~ I m no young girl. Ily old master was Mkison Biliing8ly. ~y old aiatx!sas treated us j~xat like her own children. She said bad feelin . end tastes. I visited her long after the wsr~ lent tharo sud stayed si . UlIht. ~1~ member when they had the ti~t at 7~*ins Ie~1. Old Steei hat 30,000 and he coins down to take Little Rock, Pine Bluff and others. ~Ipt*iII Webb with 1,500 Rebels was tollosiii him. tad *sn theY got to 8~iifl RIYr theyhad s battle. I m. next; ~anday my father carried all US children and sc~s of th. white folks to see the battle ti.id. I niembar the dsad ~a lyin in graves jUst One 10W after another and hadJi t eian bean cov.red up. Oh yss, I can tell .11 bout that. Noth.r tias th.rs was toei~ hUndred fifty colored and ttvs ~uhits Tankes soldiers oo~ eM ask my father

238 233

2. 4 Mi ~ ) ~) if old mistress treated us right. We told em we had was SO scared in my life. Them colored soldiers was and had red eyes. Oh yes n~a in, they had on the blue was fIaId ofb ~ ~ you know them eyes, They said, Now uncle, we went you to tell the you well? My ma did ail the cookin and we had good dai.tghter we :rared ten thou~sand times better than now. RI come up in the way of obedience. ~Any time I wanted to go, had to ~o to old miat~ress and she say, Ikrn t let the sun go down on you. And when we come heine the sun was in the trees, If you 8eed the sun was goin down on you, you run. I ain t goin tell nothin but the truth. Truth better to live with and better to die with. Some of the folks said they never seed a biscuit from Christmas to Christi ias but we had. em every day. Never seed no sodie till peace was dared used saleratus. In my commt up it was Thigs and Democrats. Never heard ot no ~epublioans till after the war. I ve seed a man get upon that platform and wipe the sweat from his brow. I ve seed em get to fightin too. That Was done at our white folks house ~ arguin po1iti~s. I never did go to school. I married right after the war you know, That you talkin bout ~ bein married and goin to school? I was house kee~jn ~ Standin right in my own light and didn t know 1t.~ good oiinera. I never so tall and so black uniforme. Oh, we sure truth, does she livin . I tole teed my

[Interview with Page, Annie] 239 234

Interviewer Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person interviewed Annie Paie ~-4l:2* ?ifl.len Striet, Pine Bluff, ArkansaTa Age86 s ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ s. ~ s. ~ ~ ~ ~ s. s. I was born 1852, they tell me, on the fifteenth of March. I was workin a good while fore surrender. Bill Jiziinerson was my old master. He was a captain in Marinas. duice s army. Come home on thirty days turlough once and he and 1~niol Cai~uack got into some kind ot a ar~iment bout acme whisky and 1~nie1. Caitirnack stabbed. him with a penknife. Stabbed him three times. Be was black as tar when they brought him home. The blood had done settled. Oh Lawd, that was a t1~. 0My .y58 ben goin blind. bout six years till I got so I can t excern ( di seem) anything. Old misa used to box me oier the head mightily and the colored folks used to hit over the head till seem like I could hear a bell for two or three days. Nlggera ain t got no sense. Put em in authority and they gita so uppity. My brother brought me here and left me here with a colored woman nained~ Rachael Ross And oh Lawd, she was hard on o Never had to do in elavery times what I had to do then. ~t the devil got her and all her chillun now I reckon. They tell me when death struck her, they asked it the Laid called her, end they say she just t~irned over and over in the bed like a worm in hot a~thes,R

[Interview with Page, Annie] 240 235

?~ r 30111 ~ ~ ~ . . ~ ~ O L~ tntervi wr Mra.~ BSr*ie~ Bowden __s~__-~_ ~-~- ~ - .- W ~ ~ -t - ~ ~ !-_~*_n.LZ ~ Person intervi.wsd 1ZW14P* ~ .~ ~ 400 BloCk l t ~1I~n, Pine Biitff, 4rkana.s ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~ ~ ~ Ye8!m I me~r the War. I nevr knowed Why they caU.sd lt the Civil War tiiough ~ ~ ei was born in Union County, Arkansas, bout a mile frc~n Beaz~ Creek, in 1852. Tha a what my Id m.tatreas tole me the morning we was sot free. ~ My mistress wa~ a 1~moc~*t. Old maBter was a captain in f Marmaduk ~ army. ~ . ei used to ho:pe (help) apln the thread to make the soldiers . ~ clothes. Old DIiStIUS car ~or ~. bicy Zinnnerson ~ t~e the onliest mi8treea I ever had. She wanted to send us away to Texas but old master say it want no use. Cause if the Yankees ~n, they have to bring us back, so we didn t go, Did they whii~ us? Ihy I bet I can show you soars now, . Old Mies whip me when she feel like fi ghtin Her granddaughter, Mary Jane, tried to learn me my BC e outoi the old Blue Back Sp.Uer. We d be out on the seesaw, but old Misa dn t know what we dom . Law, she pull our hair. Directly she see ue and say What you dom ? Bring that book here I One day old master come home on a thirty-day furlough. Re was aiftil hot~rnheaded ~ he got into a argument With Daniel Carmack

241 236

2. 236 and old ~nie1 atobbed hla r~t i~i the heart. Yore he di, he say to bury him b. the side of the road eo h. c~ s e the nig~re goin to work. ~ . ni never aeon n~o L~ Klux but I heart of ein reotly after th war. *IIae b1ind~ I jeet can eee enough to get around. The Welfare gives me eight dollara a month. My mother died aoon after the war ended and after that I was Jest knocked over the hewl. I w nt to Camblin and worked for ara. Peters. Then I runned away and married my firat husband Mike Samaon. I been married twice and had two children but they aU. dead now. Law, I jest scared of thea young ones as I can be. I on t have no dea.llna, with em. ~ ~.

Apparitions. 242 237

23? POI~LORE W~8 . ~ ~.a. Bei~ce Bowd n~ .- ~ JTw-1,~J~p_,-~~- ~ ~~_1--~. E4;ariti~ua ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ :- ~ S--~t T ~S-J- ~a u -i -~--w~~~ . ~ .u .*i.r-_,~ ~ 4JJ..J~*~l~.. .a ~. iu---~i~--e n~p ~ ~ ... ( ir not enough space on this page ~ add page) I told ~ b~t old. master ~ death. Mama had done Sent ~e out to feed the chickens soon ot a mor~aing. ~Iere was the amokehouse and. there was a turkey in a coop. 4iid when. I throwed it the feed I heard sznethin aounded just like you waa iragglit a bru~ah over leaves. It ccii~ around. the corner of the ~oke.. house and look like a tall wcman. It kept on goin toward the houae till lt got to the hickory nut tree and. still. sound like draggin a brush. When it got to the hickory nwt tree it chaxtgsd and look like a men I looked and I Said, t ~ old master. And the next day he got killed. I ruE. to the house and told marne, Look at that man 81ie said t Shut your mouth, you don t see no mai Old miss heard and eaid, ~ho do you. e pose lt could be?t Thxt mena wouldn t let ne talk. But I know it was a sign that old master was goin. to die.* This information given ~ Place oe residence 41#j ?.illen Street Pine Bl~iff ~ 4xkaneaa -p i-~*~t1~ * ~ r m~i~I IU~ ~J~U J~L~1 I *~L* ~ui$P~l1~~i* ~ p~ o coupation ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ~. ~ _.~ ~6 Name of interviewer $ubject Story ~ lifformat ion

Superstitions. 243 238

2:~36 I was born with a caul said lt hung from the top of~ waist.~ over my face Old misa my head halt way to my She kept lt and. when I got big enough she said, Now that a your veil you play with lt But I lost lt out In the orchard. one d~ay. They eald lt would keep you frcm eseln ha uts. This Information given by ~ ~ ~ ) Place ot residence 4l2~ Pullen 8treet Pine Bluff Arkansas ~ - ~ ~ ~ m- .~ L!J~uL-uL ~ ~ UL . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ u Oecupation None Age 86 ___~.~J_u_ u ~ ~* t _ *--- -~ ~p -r ~ i!~ ~ ~- 1~ -~ ~m~-m :- ~-J.-~- iu-~s-~-s ~ ~ ~ ~ U T FOW~8E ~JBJE~B Name et interviewer . ... O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ J~8~~.nice . &~Wden ...... ~ S ~ ~ ~ ~ s ~ ~sI~ ~LL~11I~ ~U ~ ~ _~ L. Su bjeet ~ ~ ~_ ~ _ --u --~ _ ~ . .. ~ .~. . ~ . . ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ Story Iiit rmat Ion ( If not e ot~gh e~ee on this pa, aM p~g9)

Birthmarks. 244 239

C) )( :~ FOLKLORE WBJ~ECT8 Name of inte~iewer . ~ Mr~, ~rnice Bowden ~ . .w--I-~--~- _- ~ - ~ ~-I ~ ~ ~ ~ 1~ -m t. ~ ~. ~ T L~EJ1~ * Subject ~ . ~ ~ . . ~ .Birth~*i ks ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~- - ~ 4~--~-~~ storI~~*~ information (It not eno~igh space on this ~ p ~e, ~ add page) ~!illiam J itninerson s wife had a daughter w~a born blind, and she said it was her husband s ~ She was de1icate~ you knc~w, and one afternoon she was layin thwn and I was sittin there ten um her with a peafowl tan. K r huSband was layin there too and I guess I must a nodded and let the fan drop down In his face, Re juxaped up and pressed his thumbi on my e~s till th y waa l1 bloodshot and when he let loose I feil down on th~ floor. Mie. Phenie said, Oh, William, don t do that I can remember it jus~ as oll. My eyes like to went out wid do you know, when her baby was born lt was blind. I e eyes just looked like two balls of blood. It died though, just lived ~ bout two Neeka.~ This inl ormation given by Afln pL~~~ ~ ) Place of residence 4l2~ W~ I~ll~en~, Pine Blutt,~ 43t~msa. ~ ~ Occupation None ~ b&IXLd . S ~ Ag~ 86 _JUs~ s __t--,_m R L -~- ~_ -_ ~ -~ I ~ plpP~1Ir iu .t~ m~ ~ r---rpv- p ii

[Interview with Parker, Fannie] 245 240

j - -- -- Mra.B.rniosBowden ~- Iannie Parker - 1~ W. 8iith Sti~et Pine Bluff Arkansas Interviewer Person interviewed_________________________________________ Yea, honey, this is old Fannie. I se just a poor old nigger waltin for ~estis to come and take n~ to Heaven. I was just a young strip of a girl when the war c~. ~. M. C. Corner was my owner. His wife was Elizabeth Corner. I said Marss and ~iistis in them days and when old mistress called ~ I went ruimin like a turkey. They called her Mise Betsy. Yes Lord, I was in slavery days. Master and mistress was boasin me then. We all come under the rules. We lived in Monticello ~ right in the city of Monticello. All I can tell you is just what I remember. I seed the Yankees, I reni mber a whole host ot ont c~e to our house and wanted something to eat. They got it too2 They cooked it them selves and then they burned every~ thIng they could get their hands on. They said plenty to me. They said so much I don t know what they said. I know one thing they said I belonged to the Yankees. Yea Lord, they wanted me to tell em if I was tree. I told era I was free indeed and that I belonged to Miss Betsy. I didn t know whet else to say. We had plenty to eat, plenty of hog ri~at and buttermilk and cornbread. Yes i~ m don t talk about that now. tk:~n t tell me bout old ~ eff 1~vie ~ he oughta been killed. Abreh~ Ljn~ol~ thought what was right was rig~it and what was irong was wrong. Abrah~ was a great man cause he was the President. When the rebels ceded fro:ii the Union he made em fight the North. Abraham Lincoln studied that

246 241

2. and he had it all in his mind. He wasn t no fighter 1~t he carried his own and the North give em the devil, Grant was a good man too. They tried to kill him but he was just wrapped up in silver and gold. I remember when the stare fell. Yes, honey, I know I was ironin and it got so dark I had to light the lamp. Yes, I did! n ~ ~ ~ been a long t 1mo and my mind s not 80 good now ~xit I remember old Corner put U8 through. Good..bys and God. bless yout~

Ex-slavery. 247 242

. ~ .....~. ~ . ~. ~ ~3o7I2 . ~ 242 InterviewerS Subject ~: ~tory~ s. ~ ~ ~ Birth, Parent s i ~si~er. *1 was born lu South Carolina ~I~t erloo in ~wrence3aounty, ( Aw~#i,~ C~, in 1861, April 5th. Waterloo is a little town in South Carolizia. I be1ie~!~ that fellow shot the first gun of the war when I was born ~ i: knew then I was go ing to b:e ~ free Of course that is just a 1ie~ I made that up Anyway I was born in i86i. ~Co1one1 Rice was our master. He was in the war too. The name parker came in by inter~rriage, you see. My rnother belonged to Rice. She could have been a Simme before she married. My father s name ias Edmund Parker. He belonged to the Rices also ~ That was his n~ster; Colonel Rice and him were boys together. He went down there to Charleston, S ~. outh Garolina to build breaeCworks. ~ii1e ~ down there, he slipped off and brou~ht~hundred men away frog Ghar1es~ ton back to lawrence County ihere the men was that owned them. He was a business man, father was. Brought em all through the swamps. They were slaves and he brought em all back home. They all followed his advice. My mother s name was Rowena Parker after she married. ?erso~ Lnterviewed ~M.P~er~ ~ j4rk~brow~1 Addrese iOO2RingoStr et,Little Roc~Arkansas ~ ~ __ Cocupation~ !ornierly a a~pen~~~ ~ 4 j6.-

248 243

I . 2. 243 ~to1one1 Rie, was a pretty fair man-- a pretty good fe11o~. He was a eoionel in the war and stood pretty high. Bound to be that way by him being a colonel. Seemed like him and my father had about the same number of kids . He thought there was nobody like my mother. He never wh~ppedthes1aveshi~tse1f but his ye~s~r~~ou 4 some- ~ The Rice family was very good to our people. The men being gone theywere left in the hands of the~stress. She never touched anybody. She never had no reason to~ Pateroles ~Pattero11ers didn t bother us,, but we were in that country. during the war, mostof the men that amounted to anything were in the war and the ~tro1ers didn t bother you much. The overseer didn t have so much power over me tk~en. That pretty well left the colored people to come up without being abused during the war. The white folks was forced to go to t}~e war. They drafted them just like they do now. They d shoot:a p0 white man if he didn t oeme. Breeding. W~1y master didn t force men and women to marry. ~ put em together just to get more slaire. Some times other people would have women and men J~iBt for that purpose. BUt there wasn t much o f it in my country. House, Stock, Pa~ents Occupations Our house was a franie building, boxed in with one~by~twelve like we have here in the country. That was a good house with reg~1ar flooring, tongue and groove. We was raised up in a good

249 244

3. house. Old. O~olone1 R~ice had to proteet his standing. He had good stock. My father ~as a carriage man. Jie ha~ to keep those horses clean and they always looked good. That carriage had to shine too.. Golonel Rice was a high stepper . K. d take his handkerchief and rub it over the horses hair to see if they were really clean. He would al ays find em clean though when the old man got through with them0 He would drive fine stock. ifad some fine horses. Gould ri t trust em with just &nybody~. ~Mi uiother was cook. She helped Krs. Rice take care of the kids, and cooked around the house. She took care of her kids, too. ~The house we was born and bred in was built for a carriage house, but somehow or notherthey give it to us to live in~ My mother being a cook, she got what she wanted. That wasa good house too. It was sea1ed~ It had good floors. It had two rooms. It had about thre windows and good doors to each room. .~w. had just common furniture. Nigger s didn t have much then. My father was a good mechanic though, arid he would make anything he want ed We didn t hay e much, j ust common th Inge . But al 1 my peo ~l e were mechanics, ~ they sould make any~ thing. Young Sani Parker could make any kind of shoe. He made shoes for the white folks; Young Jacob was a blacksmith; he ~de horse~ shoes and anything else out of iron. He may still be living. In fact ~ he made anythin~ he. could get his hands on. ~y yo ung uncles on my mother s side, 1 don t know much about them, because they were all mechanics. My grandfather am my mother s side could make baskets ~ any kind- could make baskets that would hold water.

250 245

4. 245 ~Iy father had thirteen children. Three of them ar living flow. My brother lives }~iere in the city. He was born during the war and his mother was supposed to~e free when he was born. Right. Af~er the War~ *Thatts what my mother told nie. I can remernbera long ways back myself. kfter the war, it wasn t long before they began to open up sehools+ They used to run school three. or four months a year. Both white and colored~ in the country had about three or four months. That is all they had. There weren t so very many white folks that took an interesi in education during slave time. Colored people got just about as much as they did right after the war. What time we went to school we went the whole day. We would come home and work in the evening like. We had pretty fair teachers. All white then at first. They Lidn t have no colored till afterwards. Ifthey did, they had so few, X never heard of them. ~The first teacher I had was Kat ie ihitefold (white ) . That was in Waterloo Mise Richardson was our next teacher . She was white too. We went to school two terms under white women. After that we began to ~t teachers~ from Columbia, South Garolina, where the normal school was. ~The white teachers who taught us were people who had been raised right around Waterloo. l never had no North~i teachers as I knows of. ~. f j colored teacher was Vurry trans He was a preacher. He was one of our leading preachers too.

251 246

50 246 After him our colored women began to come in anct stand examination wasn t ~so hard at that time, but they nade a good showing. There were goo& scholars. . *1 went to school too much I went to school at Philander Smith College some, too. I went ~ a good pieee in school. Come pretty ~t~r t? near finishing the English couree(higb.,sehool.) . I finiahe~ Good ~ ~ ~ St~. Broi,n s *Grammer of Graxnm~re . Profe~cr Backensto (the spelling is . 1 ~- ~ the interviewer i~) sent away and got it arid sold it to us. W~e was his students . He was a white man from the North and a good scholar We got in those grammars and got the same lessons they give him when he was lU school -- nine pages a lesson and we had torepeat that lesson ~ three times. When my a~other died, I was oft i~z the normal school. 0Right after the war, my. pazents farmed. He followed his trade. That always gave us something to eat you know. When. we farmed, we sharecro pped -~ a third and a fourih-~that is we got a third of the f cotton and a fourth of the corn. Potatoes and things like that went free. All women got an acre tree. My mother always got an acre and ~ s she worked it good too. 4he always had her bale of cotton.. And if she didn t have a bales she laid it next to the white folks and niade it out . They knew it and they didn t care She stood well with the white people. ~ Helped all of em raise their children~ and they all liked that. sI went along with my father whenever he had a big job and needed help. I got to be as good a carpenter as he was.

252 247

6. 247 WI married out here. About eighty-five. People were emigrating to this country. There was a boom to emigrating t1~ien. Emigrating was a little dangerous when a man was trying to get hands. White folks would lay traps and kill men that were taking away their hands- they would kill white just as quick as they would black. I started out under a white man -~ I can t remember his name. He turned in~e over to ) adden, a colored n~.n who was raised in Waterloo. Ye came from there to Greenwood,South Carolina where everything was. straight. After that we had nothing t o do but get on the train and keep coming . W~e was with our agent then and we had no more trouble after that. ~l got off at Brinkley over at Minor Gregory s farm. He needed hands then and was glad to ~t us Re is dead now I stayed in Brinkley the apace of about a year. Then he gave us transportation to Little Rock. The train came from Memphis, and we struck out for Little Rock. i: married after I come to Little Rock. I forget what year. But anyway my wife is dead and gone and all the children. So I m single now. . Opinions of the Present ~1 think times are about dead now . Things ought to g et better. I believe things are going to get better for all of us. People have got to think more. People have got to get together more. War doesn t always make thing better. It didn t after the Civil War. And it didn t after the World War. The young people are all right in their way. It would just take another war to learn em a lesson. . Support

253 248

7. 48 ~ : can t do any work now. I get a little help from the we ~ fare e It doesn t corns regular. I need a check right now. I think s due now But they haven t sent it out yet . That is, I haven t got it. l in a christian. All ~y family were Itethodiste. I belong to Wesley.

[Interview with Parker, Judy] 254 249

30330 . . ~ 249 Interviewer Mary D.H~~g1ns Person Interviewed ~- ~t~y Parker Aged 7.? Hone &18WadeStreet~ Hot ~rings ~ Ark. FcT~ iocatioi~ of Wade Street see intervi ow with ~nraa Sanderson, . ~ . . $ the interviewer walked down. Silver Street a saddle eolored girl cant~ out on a porch for a bat of wood, 1 beg your pardon, she began, pausing, can you tell rae where I will find EtnniaSanderson ? ni sure ean. The girl left the porch and cama out to the street, I ll walkdown with you and show you~. That way it ll be easier. Kind of cold, ain t it? ~ . It surely is, this from the interviewer, Isn t it too. cold. for you, can t you just tell rne~ I think I can find ita The girl had. expected to be only on the porch and didn t have a coats No, ma am. It s all right. N~ we re far enough for you to see. You see those two houses jam up against one and tother ? Well Miz Parker lives in the one this way. I goes down to look after her most every day. That s where you ll find her,-~-~No ma &ni~ - twaren t no bother.

255 250

~rudy Parker ~ ~~jI1~ 250 The gate sagged s1i~ht1y at the house this way o ~ the tvio ~am up against one and. tother. 4. large slab from an oak 1o~ in the front yard n~ear a woodpile bore xaute evidence of many an ax blow. ($tove wood. is ~enera1ly split in the rural South ~~one end of the stick resting against the ground, the other atop a srriall log,) Up a couple of rickety steps the intervie ~er climbed, She knocked three times . When she was ba~to enter she opened the doer to find. an old women sitting near a wood stove combing her long ~hite hair. Mrs. Parker was expecting the visit, j~. few deys befa~e the interviewer had had a visit from a couple et colored ~o:ien who had heard tell how you is investigati~g the old peopleT~-~been trying to ~et on old age pension for a long time~-~glad you corne to get us on.~-~~-~o I Oh, I see you is the Townsend woman. ( An explanation of her true capacity .was almost impossible for the interviewer) Mrs. Parker, however, seemed to comprehend the idea perfectly. She expecte d nothing saie the chance to tell her story. Her joy at the gift of a qua~rter ( the amc~xnt the interviewer set aside from her salery for each interviewee) W&S pitiful. Evidently it had been a long time since she had possessed a similar sum. to spend exactly as she pleased~

256 251

~ tt~y Parker Mary D. Th~uiis 3 . ~ 251 ni &ontt ri~ht1y know how old. I. is. M~ mother used to tell niethat I ~as a little baby, six months old when. ~ur raaster, ~oe Potts iiuas his n~me)got ready te deer OUt O~ Florida, You see he had heard t~11 o~ the ~ar scare, So he started drifting out of the way, Bet it d1dn~t take him. long after he made tip his mind. He was a right decided man,, Mister ~Toe was~ ~ . How did. we like him ? Well, he was always good to us. He was well thought o~ Seeiited to be a pretty clever wan, Mr. ~Toe did. ( Clever in plantation 1~nguage like smart refers more to musculer than mental activity. They might alnost be used as synonyms for hard working on the labor level.) So ~t,. J~oe got ready to go to Texas. Law, Miss, I don t rightly know whether he had a family o ~ not, Never heard i~iy Mother say. Anyhow he come through Arkansas intending t o dz if t Ofl out jut o Texas ~ But w hen he go t ne ar th e border Vwix t and between ~kansas and E~exas he stopped. The talk about war had about settled down, So he stopped. He stopped near where the big bridge is. You I~.ow vthere Little River County is don t yo~ ~e stopped and he sta. ted to work. Started to xaake a crop. O~ourse I can t remember none about thet. Yust ~ihat my ~Tother told me. But I remembers him froni later,

257 252

~rudz Parker H%4dgirs~ ~ 252~ ne went at ~t the good. way. 3ettled down~ and tried to open UP a kome~ They put in a crop and got along pretty good~ ~j~ie passe& and the war talk started floating again. T hat time he dith1 ~ pay muek attention and it got him~ it was on. a Sunday ~orning when he went away. I never knew vvhether they made him go ~ or not But I kind o ~ think t hey mu st ot .~ ~aus e h e w d t have ~ moved oI1f i~rom Florida if he had wanted to go to war. He took my daddy with him~ Matam~~did he take h~ to fi~t or to wait on hirn~-~-~on t know zna ain, but sort of think he took him to wait on hin~ B~t he didn~t bring hini back. My daddy ~ot killed in the v~ar0 MO nia am. I don t rightly know how he got Icilied. Never heard nobody say. I was just a little giri~~nobody bothered to tell me mueh~ Yes, tl)at we did. We stayed on on the farm. and we made acrop.~-.the old folks did. Mr. Joe, when he went off, said Now you stay on here, you make a rop and you use all you need. Then y~ ~put up the rest and save for me, He was a right ~ood mai Mr~ roe was. NO, we.didn t never see no fi~iting. There waSntt nothi:g tobe soared oi~. Didntt see iio Yankees until the war was thrnugh. ~heri they stated passing. Lawsey, I couldn t tel I now many of thera there ~i&S. Jore than you could count. We had all stayed on. I w~s the oldest of my niotherts But she had two more after ir~es There was oui family and Children.

258 253

5 . ~~dy Parker ~ H~gins 253 L1Y two ~inc1es and niy grandmother. Then there was sonie other colored folks. But we wasn t seared. of the Yankees. Mr. ~ ~vas there by that time. They camped. all arouii~d in the .~oods near us. They got us to do their washing. Lav~sey they was as filthy as h.o~s. I nev r see such tolks~ They asked. DAr. ~Toe if ~e could do their washing. Everythi g on the place that come near those clothes got lousey. Those men was covered ~ith them. I never see nothi .g like it.. ~ ~ot covered with the~ No, rna axn, we got rid of e~~ pretty easy. !~hey ain t so hard to get rid o~, if you keep cleans L~ter it was all over Master be ~ot ready to go back to Floridaa Ee to~k Warley and ~Tenny with him. They was S children he had had by a black wo~an~~you know folks did such things in their days~ ae asked the rest of us if they ~~ianted to ~o back too. But my folks made up their minds they didn t~ You see, they didn t know how they d get along and how long it would tak theni to pay for the trip back, so they stayed right where they was~ Lots of tern weni~ to Rondo and some of us worked for Herb Jeans~-~-he lived farth r up Red Rivers After my mother died I was with ~iy grandmother. She washed and cooked for }~erb J~earists family. I stayed on with. her, helped out until I ~ot married~ I was about fifteen when that ti e co~e~

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6 ;r~y Parker 254 M~ man owued~ his place. Sure he did$ Owiied it when. I ~narr1ed him~. He owned it himself and farxaed. it good. Yes ma ai~ we stayed with the land. He made good c~r ps- -corn and, ~ottou, mostly. -Course we raised potatoes and the truck we needed,--~-~a11 stuff like that. Yes, nia ani vue had thirteefl children.. ~Tust three o~ them s: living. All of them. is boys. Yes nia ani we got along good. My husband made good crops and we got along dust good. But bout eight years ago ray husband he got sick. SO he sold. out the farn.~-so1d out everything a Then. he come here. Be ore he died. he spent every last cent-~~every last cent.-~~left nie to get along the very best way I kia, I stays v~ith my son. Ee takes care of me. He don7t make much, but he does the best he kin, No raa am, I likes living down. in the country. Down there near Red River lt s soft and sandy. Up he~:e in Hot Springs the rocks tear up your feet. If you s country raised~~ you like the country. Yes r~ ~ you like the country. S she left the intei~viev~er hande6. her a quarter. .~t first the old woman s face was expressionless. But she moved tus coin. nearer to her eyes and a smile broke and widened until her whole fsce was a wrinkle of joy. ~Vhen she turned in the ~k hi~I doorway, the interviei1~er noticed that~~~ jamn~ed into an apron pocket was clutched into a possessive fist, oredling the precious t wenty five cents.

[Interview with Parker, R.F.] 260 255

30815 255 Interviewer ~ ~ Irir..Berntce ... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Person interviewed ~ .. B. 7,Paj~er. ~ 619 N. Hickory, ~ Pine B~Liiff, Arkansas Aga~ ~k. - - ~~ ~~ ~ ~- ._ ~ -. ~ ~ ~. ~ -. ~ . ~ . ~ - I was born in 62. 1 reckon I was born in slavery times. Born in Ripley County, Missouri. Old man Billy ?arker was my master, and m~ young ma~3ter was ;rlm Parker. They bought my mother in Tennessee when she was a child. I wasn t big enough to remember much about slavery but I was big enough to know when they turned ~ my mother loose md we cc~ to Lawrence County, Arkansas. I remember my raother sayin she had to plow while her young master, fl.m Parker, was off to war, but I don t know what side h was on. I remember seem some so1d~iers ridin down the road, about sevent~. five of eD3~. I know I run under a corn pen and hid. I thought they was after ins, They stopped right there and turned~ their horses loose round that pen. I can remeniber that all right. They went in the white folks liou8e and took a shotgun. I know I remember hearin mama talk about it. I think they had on blue clothes. I was goin on seven whet~ . we come to Arkansas. I know I d walk a while and. eh d tote ins a while BL~t we was lucky enough to get in with $OI~3 white people that was inovin to Arkansas. We was comm to a place called t The Promised Land . We stayed there till 92, I have farn~ and done public work. I worked nine ysara at that heading factory in the east end~ (of Pine Binif),

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2. 256 nI used to vote. When I was in north Arkansas, I voted in all kinds of elections. But after I ccme down here to ~efferson County, I couldn t vote in nothin but the presidential elections. I don t think the young people are goin to amount to much. They are a heap wilder than when I was young. They ~ot a chance to graduate now soLlething I didn t get to do. I never went to school a day in my lite, but the white people where I worked learned rue to read and write. InterlrieWer 8 COEmnent Th18 man could easily pass for a white person.

[Interview with Parks, Annie] 262 257

()~3(~53 ~ 257 interviewer ~ ~ perzon interviewed~ Atmi. Parks ~ - 17!t~ ~ II~W~i u-- Age ~ ~ ~ 1 Ooeupation Foriner ~r house au~ field work _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ I was born aM raised ~n Mer Rouge, Louisiana. Th~ is bebween here and Monroe. I have been here in Liti~1e Rook more tban bweuty-five yeai a, zr n~ther ~ fl52~tO was Sarah Milohell. That ~was her married name. I don b lciow what her f&iher s naine was. 1~r father s neae wa~ Willie Ciapp. He wa~ killed in the first waru~the Civil WELl . ~T father went to the war from Mer Rouge, Ipuisiem. I don t r ~en~ber him at a 1. Bu b that is what i~r mother told me about hi~n. )~r mother said he had very good people. Afber he married i~r mothers old n~.n Offord bought him. Offord s name ~ was Warre~i Offord. They buried him while I was still there in Moi Rouge. B~e was a old-time Ms~eon. Tbat was ix~r mother s n~ster..-in o1d~ days. His grandmother book n~r mother across the seas with her, ~h. (hie greii~dinother) died on shipboard, and the~r throwed her body in o tho water, Thero~ s people denies it, but n~r mother told me it was so~ Young Davonporb is $tifl living. He is a relative of Offorda. ~ mother never did g& no pension for n~j father, Slave House and Oooupation t, I was born in a log house, There were two doors a front and a baok.~.. and there were two w~indows, ~T ~nother had no furniture ~ oept az~ old-t~ii~e wooden bed-~.big bed. She was a nurse all the. time in the house, I heard her sa~r she milked and waited on thoet in the house. ~p father ~ oooupation ~8 famtin~ during slavery t~iiie~.

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2. 238 L~r mother always said she didn t have no master to boat on her. I 11ko to tell the tnrbh. ~r mothert 5 master never let no overseer beat his slaves around. She didn t say just what we had to eat. But they always give us a plenty, and there wasn t none of us mistreated. ~ father could have an exbra patch and make a bale of ootton or what over he wanted to on it. That was so that he oould make a little ntone~r to buy things for hisself and his family. And if he raised a bale of cotton on his patch and wanted to sell it to the agent, that was all right. F~1y ~ t, I have a brother named Manuel Clayton, If he s living still, he is youziger than I am. He is the bab~j boy. I doesn t r iember his father at all. I had five sisters with n~rself and tw o brothers. All of them were older than Ifl except ~nuel. ~ mother had one brother and two sisters~ Her brother1 s nezue w~~s Lin Urbin. We always called him Big Buddy. He ha~iitt been so long died. ~r older brother is named Willis CIa~yton -if ho s still living. Willis has a half dozen sous. He is n~r oldest brother. He lives way ottt in the country t ~ oiiiiA Mer Rouge. Free dont w mother said they proanised to thea money when they were freed. Sonte oi~ 1h~ gava ther~t s tethiu~, arid so~ne of thent didn t. ~r ~nother s folks d~dr. t give her nothin The Government dic3n t give her nothin either. I do:~t ~ Imow just who told her she ~vas free nor how. I done t r~n nber ntyself. Patrollers and Ku Klux T, I never heard much about pateroles. ~ mother said they used to whip you 5~f they would catch you out vdthout a pass. I heard her talk about the I~u Iciu~ aIMer freedcat

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3. 259 Slave Wbrahip t~r mother could always go Lo church on Surtda~. Her s1ave.#~ine preacher was Tom~ JoImz3on~ flenry Soates and Watt Taylor were s1avory t~zne preacherB b O~ Old ~~an Jacob Azideraon too ~ms a. great preaohGr in s1a ~i thne. There was a big arbor ~rhero they held ohurch~ That v~as outdoors~ There ~s just a wood 1~~e and green leaves laid over it. Ht~ndreds of people sat under there and heard the Gospel preached. The Offords didiitt ~ care ho~r niuoh you worshipped. If I was with theta, I wouldn t have no ~roub1e. In the winter time they bad a sn~.fl place to meet in. They bUilt a church alter the v~ar~ When I weut; home, eight or nine years ago, I walked all ro~ and lo ked at a . . the old. places. . Health You I~iiow ir~r r a thrazioe ooeies axid goes. I am t had no good rei~ abranoe since I been sick. I been TIi5.ghty si.ck with high blood pressure. I can t vork and I can t even go ouIs~ Pm fraid I ll fall dovm and get n~yse1f hurl or nui overt Support . III c1on~t ge b rio help cept what n~r daughter gives ines I oaii t get no Old Age Pension. I never did get nothin for i~y father. I~r mother didn t eliher, He was killed in the war, but they didn t give nobody nothin for his death.~ They told me they d give ute scmething and then they told ~te the~r 1~rouldn1t, I~1U dependeub on what i~r daughter does for me If I was back in }t~er Rouge1 I wouldn t have no trouble gettin a pension, nor nothin el e,

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4. 260 Sla*s11e 1~rriages on the Offord Plantation tI~r mother said the~r just read t IL together~ slavery times. I thiz~1c she r~aid that the preacher niarried th i on the Offord plantation. The~y dldfl t get; no license. A3mlsemeTLta They had quiltings end oorn thmckings. I don t aiow ~mt other aamise mcr.t~ the~r had, but I biaw everything was pleasart on the Offord plantation. If slaves went out vrlthout a pass, ir~r mother said her master ~ allow them. to beat on them when they cotte in~ They had plenty to eat, and they had substantial clothe , and they had a. good fire. Age 7 I dont t i~2~.ow how o Id I am I was born before the war. ~r father went th the war when it begun. I had another brother that was born before the vrar, 11e dontt ranember nothiu about n~j fathers I don t neither. I was too young. Interviewer c Ccnmnezit AIIaVriXIg for a year ~ difference between the two youngest children~ an~1 a11o ~Ting that the boy v~as born iimnediate y before the War, the girl could 1io~ b~ younger than 8eventy eight. She could be older. She tates all facls ae through her mother, but she seems to have experienced soene of the things ehe relates, Her m aory is fading. Failure to get penzion or old ace assistance opresses her mind, She comes back to it again and again. She Ca~jes her card and her o mnodity order with her in her pookeibooic.

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5. 261 She had asked me to write s~e 1~ter2 Lox her whezi her daught~ j~erfered and said that she didn~t want it done. She said t ~M she bad ~o1d the ease worker that her husband worked at the Missouri paoifio Shop axid that the case worker had asked her if she woulthitt p ovide for her mother. Th~r live in a iioat rexibod house. The mother weighs about a hundred and ten pounds and is tall, The daughter is about the sente height b r~ weighs about two hundred and fiThy, Time and again, the old 1ad~r tried 1;o convey to nie a message that she didn t want her daughter to hear, bixt I could riot ma it out. The daughter ~waa be1liger xb~ as is soenetitnes the ct~se5 and it was only by wa kthg in the very middle of the straight end xmrrow path that I maimged to get n~r story.

[Interview with Parnell, Austin Pen] 267 262

30715 . InterTiewer -..~ S~i~.i5.~y1or ~ ~ ~ Person interviewed Matin POnParneil 4314 W. Seventeenth Street Little Rock, Arkansas Age~~1~ ~ ~ Occupation Car~~Ltsr ~ Birth and General Pact About Life I was born April fifteenth, 1865, the day Lincoln was assassinated, in Carroll County, Mississippi, about ten miles from Grenada. It s about half the distance between Grenada and Carroilton. Carroliton is our county seat, but we went to Grenada more than we went to Carroilton. ~ I got older, I moved to Grenada and I come fr i there here I was about thirty five years old when I moved to Grenada. About 160 acres of land in Grenada was mine. I bought it, but heirs claimed the place and I had to leave. I had no land then~only a lot here and I came over here to look it over, A lady had come to Mississippi sefling property and she had. a plat which she said was in Little Rock not far from the capitol. Her name was Mrs. Putman. The place was on the other side of the Fourche ~it I didn t know that until I came here. She misguided Ii s. i came to Arkansas and looked at the lot and didn t want it. I made a trip over here twice before I settled on living in Little Rock. I told the other8 who had bought property frcm her the truth about its location. They asked me and I hate to lie. I didn t lcnoclc; I just answered quest ions and didn t volunteer nothing. They all quit making their pay.Zuents, just like I did.. My land had a rock on it as big as a bale of cotton. Mr. Herring thought hard of me because I told the others the truth. I went into the office one day and Mr. Herring said, Parnell, I understand you have been knocking on me I said Well I 11 tell u., Mr . Herring,

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2. 263 it telling the truth about things Is knocking on them, I certainly did. He never said anything more about it and I did.n t either4 I rented a place on Twelfth and Maple and then rented around there two or three times, and finally bought a place at 3704 West Twelfth Street. I moved to Little Rock March 18, 1911. That was twenty-seven years ago. Parents $~4y father was nan~d Henry Parnell. He died in the year 1917 in the time of the great war. He was ninety~-five years old when he died. His niaster had the same name My mother s name was Priscilla Parnell She belonged to the same family as he did. They married before freedc~. My father was a reimer and my mother was a housewife and ahe d ~rk in the field too, My grandmother on my mother s s ide was named HesterParnell I don t know what her husband s name was. My mother, father, and grandmother were all from North Carolina. My grandmother did house and field work. House My mother and tather lived in a two-room house hewed out of big loge . great big logs. The logs were about rour inches thick and twelve inches wide It didri t take many ot them to build a wall -about ten ox twelve of them on a side. They were notched dov.n so as to almost come together. They chinked up the cracks with mud and covered it with a board. I laid in. bed many a night and looked up through the cracks in the roof. Snow would come through there when it snowed and cover the bed Covers. . le thought you ouldn t ~xild a roof so that it *uld keep out rain and snow, but we were mi8taken. Before you would make a fire in them deys, you had to sweep out the snow ~ that it wouldn t melt up in the house

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3. 264 ~nd make a mess. :~~t we kept healthy j~xat the aeme Didn t have no pneunionia In thoae days. The house had two rooms about eight feet apart. The rooms were connected by a hail which we called a gallery In those days. The hal . was covered by the same root as the house and it had the same floor. The house V .~2! east and west and had a chimney In each end. The chimneys were made out of sticks and mud. I can build a chimney now like that. wIt was large at the bottom and tapered at the top. It was about six 01 seven reet square at the bottom. It grew ~nal1er as it went toward the top. You could get a piece of wood three and a halt or four feet long in the ~ ~ ~ So~times the wood would be too large to carry and you would just have to roll it in. The floors was boards about one by twelve. There were two doors in each room~one leading outside and the other to the hail. if there were any windows, I can t remember them. We didn t need no windows for ventilation. This was the house that I remember first after freedom. I remember living in it. That was about seven or eight years after freedom. My father rented it fran the big man named AlfGeorge for whom he worked. Mr. George used to come out and eat breakfast with us. We d get that hoecake out of the ashes and wash it off until it looked 1like it was as clean as bread cooked in a skillet. I have seen my grandmother cook a many a one in the fires We didn t use no skillet for corn bread. The bread would have a good firm antat on it. But it didn t get too hard to eat and enjoy. ltt d take a poker befo i s she put the bread in and rake the ashes off the hearth down to the solid stone or earth bottcin, and the ashes would be banked in two hills to one 8ide and the other. Then she wuld put the batter down on it; the batter would be about an inch thick and about nine inches across.

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4. 265 She d put down three cakes at a time and let em stay there till, the cakes were firm--about five minutes on the bare hot hearth. They would almost bake before she covered them up. Sometimes she would lay down as many as four at a time The cakes had to be dry betore they were covered up, because 1;t the ashes ever stuck to them while they were wet, there would be ashes in them when you would take them out to eat. She d take her poker then and rake the ashes back on the top ot the cakes and let em stay there till the cakes were done. I don t know just how long -~naybe about ten or twelve minute s. She knew how long to cook them. Then she d rake down the . hearth gently, backward and forward, with the poker till she got down to them and then she d put the poker under them and lift them ou~t That poker was a kind o~ flat iron. It wasn t a rotuid one. Then we d wash ein off like I told. you and they be ready to eat. Mr. George would eat the ash cake and drink sweet milk. Auntie, I some of that ash cake and some of~ that good sweet milk. We had plenty want of COW8, Two-thirds o~ the water used In the ash cake was hot water, and that made the batter stick together like it was biscuit dough. She could put lt together and take it In her hand and pat it out flat and lay it on the hearth. It would be Just as round! That was the art of it! Then I go back to Mississippi, I m going back to that house again. I don t remember seeing the house I was born In. 3~t I was told it wa~ an ordinary log house just like those all thie other slaves had,~ju t a one~ room log house.

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5.. 266 !reedom My father went to the Jar. He was on the Confederate aide. They carried him there aa a worker. They cut dowit ai . the timber round the place where they wei~ to keep the Yankee ~inboats fr~ shelling them end knocking the logs down on them. Thit them Yankees were sharp. They atayed away till everything got dry as a. chip. Then they c~e down and est au that wood afire with their shells, arid the wind seemed to be in their favor, The Rebels had to get away frcm there. ~He got sick betore the War cloaed and he had to cone hc~. Hie young master and the other folks stayed there four or five months longer. Eis young master was named Torn. When Torn came home he waited about five ~ or six months berore he would tell them they was free. Then he said, You all fres as I am. You can stay here it !0u want CI 70U Can go You. are free. They all got together axid told him that if he would treat thm right he wouldn t have to do no work. They would stay and do hi s work and theirs too . They would work the land and he would give them their part. I don t know just what the agreement was. I think it was about a third. Anyway, they worked on shares. When the landlord furnished a teem usually it was halves. ~it when the worker furnished his own te~, it was usually two~..thirda or three.. fourth8 that the worker got. Rit none of them owned teams at that time. They were just turned loose. le stayed there with them people a good while. I don t know just howiong, but it was several years. ~ Catching a flog eOne t line a slave went to steal a hog. I don t know the name of the luau; I just hear my father tell what happened, and I m repeating it. It was a great big hog end kind ot wild. His plan to catch the hog

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6. 2G~ was to climb a tree and carry a yeex of corn up the tree and at the same ~ ~ . time d carry a long rope . Kehad pit a running noose In the end of the ~ ~ rope and laid it on the ground and shelled the corn into the ring. Ke had ~ ~~: ~ : the other end of the rope tied around himself; he wa~ up the tree. About ~ ~ :~ the time he got the noose pulled up around the hog $0 that he could tighten ~ ~ up on it, he dropped hie hat and scared the hog. The hog didn t know he was ~ . around until the hat tell, and the falling of the hat acared it so that it ~ . made a big Jump and ran a little ways off. That jerked the man out of the ~ ~ ~ ~ tree. Him falling scared the hog a second time and got him to running right. ~ He was a bIg ~gut~hog, and the man s weight didn t hold him back mtich. The ~ man didn t know what to ~o to stop the hog. The hog was running draggin :~ ~ : him along, snatching him over loga. . There was nothin else he could do, so ~. . he tried prayer. But the hog didn t atop. Seemed like even the Lord . ~ ~ : couldii t atop him. Then he questi oned the Lord ; he said Lawd, what sawt (so~ t) ~ ~ ~ I ~: of a Lawd is you? You can atop the wind; you can stop the rain; you can atop ~ S the ocean; but you can t stop this hog. ~ ~: ~ : The hog ran till he came to a big ditch. He jumped the ditch, but the ;~ . ~ S man fell in it and that compelled the hog to stop . The man s hollering niade somebody hear him and come and git him loose from the hog. He was so ~1ad to git loose, he didn t mind losing the hog and gattin ~inished. He dithi t get the hog. He just got a lot f bruises. I don t remember just how they punished him. E~i Klux Klan Once after the lar there was a lot of colored people at a prayer meeting, It was in the winter and they had a fir., The Ku KLux come up.

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7. 268 They j118t StOOd outside the door, 1~t the people thought they were coming in and they got scared. They didn t Jcnow hardly how to ~et out. One man got a big shovelful of hot coals and a8hea out of the fireplace and threw it out over Ihem, and while they was dusting off the ashes and coals, the niggers all got away. ~ Patroilers ~1 remember my father telling tales about the patroU.era, bu~t I can t rem~nber them just now. There wa~ an old song about them. Part o~ lt went like this: Bun, nigger, run . The paro Li get you. That nigger run That nigger flew That nigger bust nia &inday shoe. RuIL, nigger run The paterolea 11 get ou That s all I know of that There is more to it I used to hear the boys sing it, and I used to hear em pick it out on the banjo and the guitar. Old Massa Goes Way Old niaisa went off one ti~ and~ left the niggera. Re told em that he was goin to New York. He JUS wanted to see what they would do if they thought he was away. The niggera couldn t call the n~ New York, and they said, Old ~583~. ~ S gone to Phamewk They went in the pantry and got everything they wanted to eat. And they had a big feast Ihile they were feast lug, the old ~n came in dis~ g~ilsed as a tramp~tace &iui~tty and clothes all dirty and raggedy. They cotadn t tell who he was. Ue walked up just as though he wanted to eat

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p 8. 269 and begged the boys for scinething to eat. The boys aald to h1~, $ten back, you shabby rascal, you; it n they s anything left, you get acme; lVn they am t none lett you~ get none. Thia I a our time Old ~aaa done. gone to ~i1axneYawk and re having a big time. . Atter they were thro~i~, they did give him a ~1itt1e ecmething bu~t they still didii t know him. I never did learn the detajl8 about what happened after they found out who the tramp was. My tather told me abou,t it. . . . Ihipping a Slav ~ . .tI beard my rather say his old master give him two licks with a whip once . ~im and another man had. been off and they came in, Master drove up In a double surrey. He had been to town and had bought the boys a pair of boots apie e. Re told them as he got out of ~e surrey to take his horses out and teed them. My father s friend was there with him and he said : Le s get our boots before we feed. the horses. After that the master walked out on the porch and he had on crying boots. The horses heard them squeaking and they nickered. Master said, Benry, I thought I told you to feed them horses, Henry was so taken aback that he uldn t say a thing Henry was my father, you know, Master went and got his cowhide. He said, Are you going to obey my orders? About the time he said that he hit my father twic with the cow~ hide and my father said t Oh pray, master, oh pray, and he let him go. He beat the other fellow pretty bad because he told him to Le s get the boots first. Old master iould get drunk sometimes and get on the niggers and beat them up. He would have them stark naked and would be beating them.

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. 9. Then old misais would come right out there and stop him. She would say, I~ didn t corne all the way here frc~ North Carolina to have my niggera beat up for nothin . 8h ~ take hold of the cowhide and he would have to quit. My father had bOth her pleture and the old m~n a. . . Prayer I can remember how my mother used to pray out in the field. We d be picking cotton. ~he would ~ off out there in the ditch a little weya, It wouldn t be far, and I would listen to her. She would say to ~: Pray, t and I would say, Mother, I don t bmw how to pray, and she would say, Well, ~uat say Lord have mercy. That ~ve me religious Inclinations. I cultivated religion from that time on. I would try to pray and finally I learned. One day I was out In the field and it was pouring down rain, and I was standing up with tears in my eyes trying to pray as she taught me to. ~Ie weren t picking cotton then. I was just walking out. My mother was dead. I would be walking out and whenever I would get the notion I would atop ri~t there and go to praying, . In slave times, they would have a prayer ~eting out in ec~e of the places and they would turn a pot down out in front of the door. It Jould be on a stick or scmeth1~g and raised up a short distance from the round ao that it wouldn t set flat on the ground. It seems that that would catch th soui~d and keep it right around thera. They ~uld sing that old song: We will camp awhile in the wilderness And then l a going oes I don t know any more ot the ~ rda of that song.

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IA LU. ~ar1y Schooling ni started to school when I was about six or seven years old. I didn t get to school regular becaua my father had. p enty of work and he had a habit of taking me out to help him when he needed me in his work. My first teacher was a white man named Jon... I don t remembr his first na~. Ee was a northerner and a Bepiblican. He taught in the publie school with us. His boy, J~ohn, and bis girl, Louisa, went to the sa~ school, end were in classes with us. The kids would beat them up sometimes but he didn t eut up about it. Re was pretty good men. ~ After him, I had a colored man n~ed L K. I~v1s as a teacher. Re would say to my father, Henry, that is a bright boy; he will be a credit to you if you will keep him at school and give hin a chance. Don t make him lose so much time. My father would say, Yes, that is right. &it as soon as another job ce~ up, he would keep me out again. ei soon got so my learning was a help to him in his work. Whenever any figuring was to be done, I had to ~ it if it was done right. Re never had a chance to get any schooling and he couldn t figure well. So they used to beat him out of plenty when he ~uId work for them. One day we had picked cotton for a white man and when the time came to pay off, the man Paid father, but I noticed that he didn t give him all he should have. I didn t say anything while we was standing th re but after we got away I said, Papa, he didn t give you the right money. ~Papa said, Bow im~ch should he have given me? nI told him, and he said to me, Will you say that to him? I said, Yes, papa. He turned round and we went on back to the place and pa said, My boy says you didn t pay me all that was comm to me

277 272

il. 272 eThs white man turned to me at oucs end said, ~ How imich was coming to RI to1d~ hia~ He said, What makes you think that? n : 8aid, We picked so many pound8 of cotton at so much per hu.ndred pounds and that would amount to so many dollars and 80 many cents. When I said that, he tell over on the ground and like to killed hia self laughing. He counted out the right money to my father and said, Henry, you better watch that little akinny~eyed nigger; he knows something. . Prea~t &ipport ~I don t get anything from the government. I live by what littl I make at odd jobi, Note: In this interview this man used correct Engliah moat of the tinie and the Interview is given in his own words0 Lapses into dialect sill be noticed.

[Interview with Parr, Ben] 278 273

~ ~ ~-~--~ 273 ~) -~ ~~#j!~ f~ j~() j Interviewer Misa Irne Robertson ~ - --- -~-_-_-*.---u~-u u ~ ~ ~- --I ~ ~ _- ~ \~ ~ Person interviewed Ban Parr~ Brin1c1ej~ Axj ~n~s ~ ~ t1~8~I I was born in Tennessee 3108e to Ripley. My master was Charles Warpoo and Catherine Warpoo. They had three boya and two girls. They owned my mania and me and Gentry was the oldest child. He died last year. My m~a raised twelve children. My papa belong to people over on the Mississippi River. Their name was Parr bu~t I couldn t tell a thing about them. When I corne to know about them was after freedom. There was J~im Parr, Dick Parr, Columbus Parr. We lived on their place Both my parents was tarin hands, and all twelve children wid them. Well, the fir8t I recollect is that we lived on the five acre lot, the big house, and some of the slaves lived in houssa around the big yard all fenced with pailinga arid nice pickett fence in front of Oharlie Warpoo s house. We played around under the trees all day. The soldiers c~e nearly every day and nearly et us out of house and home. The blue coats seen~d the hungriest or greediest pear lack. They both come. Master didn t go to war ; hi s boys was too young to go so we was all at home ~ My papa shunned the war. He said he didn t give a pickayune whether he be tree or not, it wouldn t do no good 1f he be dead nohow. He didn t live with us doe (though). They kept papa pretty well hid out with stock in the Mississippi River bottoms. He wasn t scared ceptin when he come over to see my mama and us. When we come to know anything we was free.

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2. 2 74 WI n ver ae ~ nobody sold. None of my folks was old. The folks raised my mama and they didn ! t want her to leave~ The folks ~lsed papa what had him at freedcm~ He said him and mu~a was married long betor the war sprung up. I don t know how they married nor where. ~e was young when they marrIed. ni remember hearin ~ ~ema say when you went to preaching you alt in the back ot the church and sit still till the preaching was all o~er. They had no leaving. ~I know when I was a Child people raised children, now they let them grow up. Children ~ was saut off or out to play, not alt and li ate~ to what grown folks had to say. Now the children le educated and . too ~art to listen to good advice. They are going to ruix~atlon. M,ma used to hais our girls knit at night and she spin, weave, sew~ They would tell us how to be polite and honeat and how to work./Toung toiics too ~art to tate advice now. ~Mama~waa cooking at the Ierpoo a houes; she cooked breakfast. Oz morning I woke up and here was a yard full of Peds. I was hungry. T went through the ihole regiment -~ a yard fui . to mama hard as I could 8plit They CU&U t bother me I wea afraid they would carry me oft aome.a* times. They was great hands to tease and worry the little Negro children. ~ at Dyeraburg, Tennessee the Li Klux was bad ~efferie Se~eaa wa8 pretty prosperous, owned bis oi ho~. Zolm Garson whooped him, cut his ear oft, treated him bad. HIgh Sheriff they. said was a led. He put twenty.4our buck shots In John Carson. That waa the last of the Ku flux at Dyersbi~rg. The Negroes all left Dyreraburg. They kept leaving. The ? Feds was meaner to them than the owners. In 1886 three weeks before Christzaaa, one hundred head of Negroes got off the train here at ~rtnkley.

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5. 275 The Ku flux was the tail end of th wer, whooping around. It was a tight between the lodS and the old owners ~ both sides telling the Negroes what to ~o. The best way was stay at home and work to kesp out ot trouble. The buahwhacker3 kifled Ra~imond Ton,a ( black man) before the wax closed. Well, :i don t know what they ambushed tor. I paid ~y o vn way to 4.rkansas. I brought my wits. Marna was dead~. If the Negro is a tax~a~er he ought to vote like uhite tolka. ~t they can t run the gov rrnueut. That was triel out after that war we been talking about . ~ Our e olor haa faith in white folks arid ~ this is their country. I vote som. We got a good right to vote. We helped clear out the country. lt is our home now. The present tiass is too fast. I can t place thia young generation, This is my second wife I ra living wid now. 8h e got children. I never had a ohil~. le gets $10 off of the Welters and I work around at pick-up Jobs. I tarmed all my whole 1ite.~ 1*

[Interview with Patterson, Frank A.] 281 276

4( I ~ ~ ~ ~~k\.j?~4~ ~ Interv1aw~r~ Samuel ~. Taylor ~ Person Interviewed Frank.A. Patterson 906 Chester Street, Little Rock, ~rkansas I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1850. My father was born in Baltimore, Maryland. My mother and father was sold into Bibb County, Georgia0 I doii t know how xmich they sold for. I don t know how mtxch they paid for them. I don t know how iia~ch the 8peculator asked f~or them. Used to have them in droves and you would go in and pick em out and pay dit-. ferent amounts for them, I was never sold, My old boss didn t believe in selling slaves. He would buy em Lut he wodxi t sell em. I li say that much for him. Master I belonged to a man named Thomas Johnson Cater. . Houses They lived in log houses. Soins ot them had weatherboard houses but the majority of them was log houses. Two doors and one window. Some of them had plank floors. Soins of them had floors what was hewed, you know, sills. They had stick and dirt chixnxieys. Some of them had brick chimneys. it depended on the master -.on the situation of the master. Furniture . .. They just had bunks built up side the wall. The best expe~1enced colored people had these teester beds. Didn t have no slats. Had ropes.

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2. 277 They Called em ~ eord beds sometiaes. They had tablea juat like we have now ~ what they made themselves. Chaira were 1on~ benches made out of planks, Little kids had big blocka to sit o where they sawed off~ timber. They had what they called a cupboard ~ to keep the food In. Some of them had chests made out ot lank, you know. That I s the way they kept it. They put a hasp and steeple on it so asto ksep the children out when they was ~OflO to the field~ . ~ Food They give em three pounds of meat a week, peck of meal pint of molasses; sonm of them give em three to five pounds f flour on a &inday morning according to the size of the family. The majority. of them had ahorts from the wheat . Soins of the alavea w uld clean up a flat in titi bottoms and plant rice in lt. That was where they would allow the slaves to have truck patches. ~ ~Some few of them had chickens that was allowed to have them. 8~e of them had owners that wouldn t allow their slaves to wn chickens. They never allowed them to have hogs or COWS. Wherever there was a family that had a whole lot of children they would allow them to have a cow to milk for to ~et milk fo r the I r children. They claimed the cow, but the ~ master was the owner of it. it belonged to hiDI. . ~ He would just ~ let them milk it. as would just let them raise their children off of the milk it ~ave. . Clothes There waa no child ever had a pair of 811008 Until he got old enough to go in the field. That waa when he was twelve years old. That is about all I kILOW about it,

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. 3. 2~8 Schooling . I, ~ never wont to 3chool in my life I ~ot hold of one of thorn old blue. back spelling booke, My young boas gave lt to me after I wa~ free. ae told me that I was free now and I had to think and act for myseI~. Bigns of War Before the Way I saw the elements all red as blood and I saw after that a great comet ; and. they said there was. going to be a war. M~xnories of the Pre-~War Campaign When Fillmore Buchanan, and Lincoln ran for President one ot my old bosses said Hurrah for )~iehanau and I said, . hurrah for Lincoln.. One of my Ifli8treSBea Said, Ihy do you say, Hurrah for L1x~co1n? And ~ I aaid~, Because he s goin to set me rree. Airing that campaign, Lincoln ean~ to 1~Torth Carolina and ate break fast. with my master. In tho8e days, the kitchen was off from the hous, They had for breaktast ham with cream gravy made out of sweet milk and. they had~ biscuita, poached eggs on toast, coffee and tea, and grits, They had waffles and hon.ey and maple ayn~p. That was what they h~d for break~~ fast. He told my old. boss that our SOfl8 are cein children. by slaves and buyi& and sellin our owii blood and it will have to be stopped. And. that is what I know about that. Refugeein~ At the close of the ~ar, we had refugeed dom in Houston County in Georgia.

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4, 279 War Menoriea 7 ~Sherinan s army caine titroug~i there looking for Thtf ~vi8, and they told me that they waan t fWIt in~ aiiy mci s --that I was free . They said You am t got n.o master and no mistre8a. They et dinner there~ All the old folks went uDataira and turned the house ver to me ax4 the cook. And they et dinner. One of theni said, t~y little men, brix~g your hat round now and we are going to pay y and they passed the hat t round end give me a hat full ot money. I thought it wa8n t rio good and I earn ed it end give it t o my old mistress, but it was good. They asked me if I had ever seen 1 eft Davia. I said No . Then they said, That s him sittin there . He had on a black dress and a pair o~ boots and a mantua over his ahoulders az~d a Qjiaker bonxi~et aiad a black veil, They got up from the dining table and 8herman ordered them to ~ Be~ cover arma. He had. on a bi black hat ull ot eagles and he had etara x~d atripea all pver hii~n. That wee Shei~nan 8 artiuery. They had imilee wi~th pots. and skilleta, and frying pans, and axea, and picks, grubbing hoes, and spades, and so on, all strapped on tho8e mules. And the mules didn t have no bridles1but they iwent on ju~at as though they had bridles. One of the Yanks started a song when he picked up his gun . Here s my little gun His D~ 1flO ia UU3ZLber one Pour and five rebela We 11 slay ~ em aa they come ~~oin the ban The rebels understan - Give up all the Ian To my brother Abraham Old Qen l Lee Who is he? J:~e a not atch a man Aa our Oen l Grant~

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5 . Snap Poo, Snap Peter Real rebel eater I left my ply $tOCk ~ Standlia in the mould I left my family ~ And silver end gold Snap Poo, Snap Peter Real rebel eater Snap Poo, Snap Peter. And Genera . Sherman gave the con~an i and ? Silence roared one man, and it rolled all down the line, Silence, silence, silence, silence .Lud they all got 8ilent. How Freedcm Came They had a notification for a big speaking and that was lu Perry, Georgia. I~Terybody that was able throughout the State went to that conven tion where that speaking was, And that is where peace was declared. i!very man was his own free agent. No more master, no more mistress. You are your own tree moral agent ThIUk and act for 8~ That la how it was declared. I didn t go to the meeting. I was right there in the town. There was too many people there. You couldn t stir them with hot fire. Bat my mother and father went. What the Slaves Ixpected They didn t expect anything but freedcza. Some of them didn t have sense enough to secure a home for themselves. They didn t have no sense. Some of them wasn t eligible to speak for themselves, They wanted somebody to speak for them, What They Got I don t know that they got anything.

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6. ~ 281 H . ~ Ii~iediat&~ tter the Waa~ Bight after tII War, I stayed With the people . that owned *ie and worked, They gire ~ two dollars a month and my tood and clothea. I stayed with them five years and than I quit. I had sense enough to quit and I went to work for wages. I got tire dollars a month. And I thought that was a big salary. I didn t know no better. I learnt better by experience. . Negroes In Polities *Ittat after the War, the Bepubli ans uaed to have representatives at the state convent ion. ~ ~ !ter the Democrats got in ~ p wer they knocked ail that in the head. Colored. people used to be on juries. ~it they won t let . them serve now. (Ne~roea served on local grand jury last year.) ei knew one nigger politician in Georgia named I. B. 8i~na. U. was a school-teacher. E~ never held any office. I knowed a nigger politician here by the name of. John Bush. Re had the United States Land Office. Ihen the Demoerata got in power they put him o~it. I knowed another fellow used to be here named Crockett Brown. He lived in Lee County, 4rkansas. ~e was a Congrea~nan.. I don t know whether he ever got to the White House or not, I am ~ t never seen no account of it I can t tell you all any more now. Memories ~ot Fred Douglass I knowed~ Fred Douglass. I shook hands with him ~ and t lked with him here in Little Rock. They give him the opera house. W~ had the tiret floor, The white tolka had the gallery. That was when the Republicans were in power, flue said : They all seem to be amazed and dumbfounded over me . having a white woman for a wife. He said, You ai). don t know that my rather was my fliOther ~ master and she was as black as a crow. Do t it seem natural

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7. ~ that hiatO)7 siu~u1d repeat itasi~?.. X have. ofteu:wonderd wh~ he liked .uch a black wanan as iny~ mo$her. I was jus . a chip off the old blo k. ~ Voting ~ ni voted for U. S. &rsxit. He was the f1rst.~Preaident we had after the Civil War. I shook hands with him twice In Little Rock. He put up at the Capitol Botel and I was a-cooking there~ ~ ~ Iti vot d tor McKinley. I saw him too. I had. a walking cane with his head on it. That i~ about all I remember right now. 1~e wa~ the one that r got up this gold standard. He liked to put thia state under bayonet lawa when he was working under that gold standard. The South was bitterly against him. Occupation . *1 followed cooking all my lite. I have had the white peoples lives in niy hand all my lite I Worked on the Government ~ Wichita. I ~ wen~t out of season and they built a boat called the4rkansaa, X cooked on it. Captain Griffin was the master of it. When it went out of semce,~ Captain Newcotue froTa the War Department trall8rerred me over to the Mississippi River on the Arthur Hider f?). My headqjiartera were in Greenville, Mississippi. It was far fr a home, so after nine months I quit and carne home (Little Rock) . Captain Van trank give me a posit ion on a -hedge ~at an~ tire people were so bad on there I wouldn t stay. I cerne away. I wodn t stay inongst em, Religion I want you to know that I am a christ Ian and I want ~you to know I e~i, t got no compromi se with nobody on God s word. I am t got but one way and that is the. way 3e~u~~ said:

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8. 283 Come unto m ail ye that are heavy ladOn, aM I will give ya~ re t. Uo that believeth on me Shall i* saved. ~ You all fix aE~ything anyway you waut I am t bothered b ut you~.~ My people were good christian people.R I

[Interview with Patterson, John] 289 284

30791 284 Interviewer ~ Miss Irene Robertson Person interviewed J ohn Patterson1 Uolena~ Arkansas ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I was born near Padu ah, Kentucky. Mother was never sold. $he belong to Master Arthur Patterson. Mother was what folks called black folks. I nover seen a father to knows I never heard mother say a thing about my father if I had one He never was no use to me nor her neither Mother brought me here in time of the Civil War. I was four years old. We cc~e here to be kept from the Yankee soldiers. We was 8ent with sc~ of the r2atter8ons. At the end of the war mother cooked for Nick Rightor (?) and his wife here in North Helena. He was a farmer but his son is a ear, eye, nose specialist, . . I farmed, cleaned house and yards for these Helena people. I was janitor at the Epl800pal church in Helena sixteen years and four months. They paid me forty.-flve dollars a month. Yes nia ani, I have heard about the Ku Klux. Heard talk but never seen o I never been in jail. I never been drunk. FOlk8 In Helena will tell you Yohn Patterson can be trusted. I saved up one thousand dollars, just let lt slip. The present times are hard. Times are hard. I get ten dollars and co~issary helps. I got one in family. I think mother said she was treated very good in slavery. She didn t tell me much about lt.

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2. 285 I own a home It come through a wiLl. from my aunt My uncle was a drayman hare In Helena and a close liver. I want ~o hold to it if I can. If you d ask me what all. ain t took place since I been here I could come nigh telling you. We had colored officers hero. Austin Barrer was sheriff. Half of the offioera was colored at one ~tin~. John Yones was Pol ice No they w t friends of mine I seen lhe se levies built One vzas here In 1897. It was rebuilt then. It seems to nie the country 18 going down. When they put in the Stock Law people had to sell so much stock, Milch cows sold fpr six dollars a head, People that want and need stock have no place to raise it. People are not as industrious as they was and they accuinolate more lt seems to me, ~ie used to make our living at honie. I think that is the best way. I voted a Republican ticket years ago. X don t believe in women vot Ing. The Lord don t believe in that I belons to the Baptist church. Young ~o1ks don t act on education principles. Folks u8ed to fight with fist0 Now one shoot8 the other down, Times are not improving morally. !olks don t even think it is wrong to take things; that is stealing. They drink up all the money they can get. I don t see no colored folks ever save a doUar. They did long time ago. Times worse in some ways. I forgot our plough songs: I wonder where my darling Nigger makes de cotton and de White man gets the money. Everybody used to sing. We worked fr i sun to sun; we courted and was happy. People not happy now. They are craving now0 About four o clock we all start up singing. Sing till dark.

[Interview with Patterson, Sarah Jane] 291 286

3083G 2S6 Interviewer~ Samuel 8.Ta pr .~ ~ ~ Person interviewed Sarah Tane Patterson 2611 Orange Street, North Little Rock, Arkansas Age~ ~ ~ ~~9O I was born in Bartow County, Georgia, i~anuary 1 ?, 1848. You can go there and~ look in that Bible over there and you will ri~id it all written down. My mama kept a record of all our ages. Her old mistress kept the record. and ave lt to my mother after freedom. Parents My parents were ~oe Patterson and Mary Adelthe Patterson. My mother s name before she married was Mary Adeline Huff. My grandfather on my mother s side was named Huff. My mother s sisters were Mahala, and Saille. And them a the onliest two I remember. She had two brothers bt.tt I don t remember their names. How Freedom Came I was living in Bartow Couiity in north Georgia when freedom came, I don t remember how the slaves found it out. I remember them saying, Well, they s all tree. And that la all I remember. And I remember some on saying-~asking a question, You got to say master? And somebody answered ~nd said, Naw. ~.tt they said it all the same. They said it for a long time. B~t they learned better though. Family I have brother Willis, Lizzie, Mary, Maud, and myself, There was four sisters and one brother. I had just one child- a boy.

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2. He lived to be a grown man and ra.i~ed a family. His wife had thres children and all ot them is gone. The eather, the mother, and the children. I was a woman. I sn t no man. I just had one child but the Lord ble seed me, I have three siatera and a brother dead. Master My old master s name was J olm Patterson and my old mistress was named Lucy Pattereon. She had a eon named Bill and a a~n named Toimny and a son named Charles and a boy named Bob and a girl named Marion. We are so far apart they an t help nie none I know Bob e boys are dead because they got killed In a fight in Texas. Crippled in Slave Time ~1 been crippled all my life. We was on the lawn playing and the white boy had been to the pond to water the horses. He came back and said he was going to run over us. We all ran and climbed up on the top of a ten rail fence. The te~ice gave way and broke and tell down with us. I caught the load. They all tell on ins. It knocked the knee out of place. They carried me to Stilesboro to Dr. J eftrey, a white doctor in slavery time. I don t know what he did, but he left ins with my knee out of joint after be treated it. I can t work my toes and I have to walk with that stick. Soldiers I was a tot when I seen the soldiers coming dressed in blue, and I r~Ln. They was very nice to the colored people, never beat em or nothin . I was in Bartow County uhen they come through. They took a lot of things, but I can t remember exactly what it was. I tended to the children then....~both the white and colored children, but mostly the white.

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3 . Good Masters My old master, ~ Patterson, never beat up the women and men he bossed. PatroUera I have heard people talk about the pateroles raising sand with the niggera. Scme ot the niggera would say they gc~t whipped. I was small. I would hear em say, The pateroles is out tonight. Ku Klux Klan nI have seed the old Ku Klux. That was after treedcsu. They cen~ round to my old master where my mama stayed. They were just after whipping folks. &~me of them they couldn t whip. ~~ipport nI used to get a little money from Mr. 1~nt long as he was living. I wotU.d go over there and he would give me a dollar or two. Since he s been dead, h~a wits don t have much to give ma. She gives me something to eat ~3ometii~s but she doesn t have any money now that her husband is dead. I can t get up to the Welfare. Crippled as I am, I can t walk up and down those stairs and I can t git there nohow. I been tryin to git ac~ one to take me up there. Mr. Pratt helps me from time to time but he am t sent me nothin now in a good while. He s right &mrt busy, but it I go to him, I spect he ll stir up somethin for ~. Travels I wouldn t never a left Bartow County, but the white people made out that this was a rich country and you could make so xmich out here,

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4. 289 and we moved out here. We was young then. We cerne out on the train. It was a long time back but it was too far to ccxne on a wagon. I don t remember just how 1on~ ago lt was. Occupat ion I used to quilt until my fingers got too stiff. I got some patterns in there now if you waat to see them. Interviewer s Coxrxnent The old lady took me In the hou8e and showed me about a dozen quilts, beautifully patterned and made. She had also sine unfinished tops. She says that 811e does not have much of a sale tor them now because the quality of folks who liked such things well enough to buy them is just about gone. She is crippled and unable to walk with facility. She has a great deal of difficulty in getting off and on her porch. Still she does not inipress one as feeble so much as just disabled In one or two particulars. She ha8 a crippled knee9 and both of her hands are peculiarly stiff In the finger joints, one more so than the other. If it were not for the dis.. abilities, as old as she is, I believe that she could give a good account of herself. I didn t have the heart to tell the old lady that her Bible record is not what she thiiiks it is. It is not the old original record which her mistress possessed. Neither is it the copy of the record of her mistress which her mother kept. From questioning, I gather that the old ~~istress dictated the original record to sc~e one connected with her mother,

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5. ~- ~ I ~ J might have written it out heraelt on a sheet of paper. From time to time, a8 new deaths and births occurred, scraps of paper containing them were added to the first paper, and as the papere got worn, blurred, and dog. eared, they were copied--probably not without errors. Time came when the ~randohi1dren up In the grades and with semi-modern ideas copied the scrape into the family Bible. By that time aging and blurring of the original lead pencil note8,together with recopying1had invalidated the record till it is no longer altogether reliable. The birtha recorded in the Bible are aa followe and in the exact order given below: Mary Patterson lO..ll m1866 Harris Donesson 3~l3- 72 Lilley Donesson ?.~.2l. 85 Pearly Doneason 3.-29.. 92 Silvay Williams ~ 84 Beney Williams 11-24. 85 Milhia A. Williame 12-30.. 88 be Patter8on 1 3- 7? H. Patterson 7.49... 79 Maria L Patter8on U..19.. 81 3~ennie Patterson l2 ~24.. 84 Alex Patter8on ?-~ 5. . 88 . ~rames Patterson &.- 20 90 J anie Patterson l 2?. 60 Amanda Pattereon l..~28-~ 63 ;J amea Rafield Walker 8.-Il .. 99 Cornelius Walker ?21.1902 Willie Walker l1~ .20.. 03 Eliaa Walker ?- 21 . 11 Eimi~t Brown l. 23 .~ 22 Leon Harria l2.ml3..~ 21 The following marriages were given May Lee Brown 2.. 26..1926 ;Tamea Walker Brown 2a~2l~ 35 Tennie Walker 6-20~. 15 Lillie Jean Walker 12~ 6- 36 The name of Sarah ~Yane Patterson la not in the liet. The li8t itself is not chronological. It is written in ink but in the stiff cramped hand

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6. 291 ~o b ezpct.d ot s 8O~ooi child no$ ye$ thorrnghly familier with th pen~ The ys tixu on the nam ot Zaate Patte3 80*, 1~?.i86O. It does not eee~ probable that thu L~ orreat it j,t is. me*nt to be 38~th 7 nO~ 8a~ ah Ja*e cou1d~ giv no help excipt to answer qu.stioua about tha rneu er in Which tba record waa aade. Thea. conaidsratioua 1 d as to a t th record aaid in my own im eo far as Sarsh Zen Pattereon a a~ is conc ra d and to tek. her word. ~ie has a T X y clou conc.ption of the change fron ilavsry to treodcm. ~ r memori a ~ bliirrsd and indistinct, but ahs recollect. that thu Mttsr waa during ilav ry ~ times and that during frs.dc~ It a eaa that ahO had the cars of the sasUer ohildrsn during alavsry tias~at the tim. ahs ~ai the aoldisra marching throu~h~ Thia was not during the ti~ ot trsedc~. becauss ah. distiiw4ah.d clearly th L~ Klux ti*e. ~. would have to bs at least etghty to hai. cared for ohildz~n. Har tenacious aernory ot ntuty ~ may haTe 803M found*ti~oa, theretor.~ MOrO0YOEr where wz itlng is done in 1.ad pencil end hurriedly , aix ii often made to look like tour and a part of i~t ~y becom. blurred till it looks like a zero. That would account to~ 1848 bs~ng tranacribfd aa 1860 Thei s would b nothing urn~ial, howover, in a Sarah Yane and a Zana I negleat d to cover that point in.a q~ue8tiona

[Interview with Pattille, Solomon P.] 297 292

~_)~ ~ r ~ ~1 :~ J ~ _ nto~iewer~~ SaIm~.18. Taylor POr Ofl Interviowed Solcmon P. PattIllo 1502 MartIn Street, Little Rock, Arkanaa8 Age ~ Occupation -~L Formerly faru~r, t~achex1 and __ ~na11 dealer..snow blind ni was born November 1862. I was three yeara old at the time of the surrender. I was born right here in Arkansas ~ right down here in Tulip, Dallas County~ Arkanaae. I have never been out of tne state but twice. Refugeeing My daddy carried nie out once when they took him to Toxaa during the war to keep the Yanks from setting him tree. Then I went out once long after slavery to get a load of sand. On the way back, my boat nearly sank. Those are the only two times I ever left the state. Parents My fathers ~ ~ was ThOmas ~nith, i~t the Pattillos bought him and he took the name of Pattillo. I don t know how much he sold for. That waa the only tii~e he was ever sold. I believe that my father was born in North Carolina, It seoms like to xzie I recollect that is where he said he was born, My mother was born in Virginia. I don t know how she got here unless she was sold like my tather was. I don t know her name before she got i~iarried, Yes, I do; her name was Fannie ~nith, I believe.

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L ) .t ~ 2 . ~ ~ Housea ~We lived In old log cabins. We had bedsteada nailed to the wall. Theii we had them old taahioned cordboard spring.. They had ropes made Into springi. That was a high claaa bed. People who had those cord sprInge felt themse ve a. They made good aleeping. My father had one Rope. were woven back and forth across the bed frez~. We had those old spinning wheels. Three cut5 wae a day 8 wO~4 A c~it was so many threads. It was quite a day to make them. They had hanka too. The threads were all linked together, My mother was a spinner. My father was a farmer. Both of thm worked for their master, ~ old Massa, they called him, or Massa, Masi Tom, Maas 3ohn or Masata. War Recollections RI remember during the war ilion I was in Texas with a fe~Ily of Moody s how old Mistias had me packing rocks out of the yard In a basket and cleaning the yard. I didn t know it then, ~t my daddy told me later that that was when I was in Texas, ~ during the war. I remember that I used to work in n~y shirt tall. wThe soldiers used to come In the house somewhere and take anything they could get or wanted to take, Paterolea 9hen I was a boy they had a song, Run, Nigger, run; The Paterolea will get you~ They would run you In end I have been told they would whip you. It you overstayed your t line whan your master had let you go out, he would notify the paterolea and they ~u1d hunt you up and turn you over ~t;o him.

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:5. church Meetings Way long then, my father and mother used to say that man doesn t serve the Lord ~ the true and living God and let it be known. A bunch of them got together and resolved to serve Hirn any way. First they sang in a whisper, Coi~ ye that love the I~rd. Finally they got bold and began to sing in tones that could be heax~ everywhere, Oh for a thousand tongues t :~ s1n~ my Great Redeemer s prai~e~~ After After the war my father f arx~d how aoi~ one took his horse and left She looked like a nag. When she got one that was took. His first farm was down here in Dallas County. He made a share orop with his fQr~r master, Pattillo. He never had no trouble with hin. K~Klux WI heard a ~od deal of talk about the Ku Klux Klan, but I don t know anything much about it. They never bothered my father and mother. My father was given the naine of being an obedient servant ~ a~aong the best help they had. My father farn~d all his life, He died at the age of seventy~two in Talip, near the year 1885, just before Cleveland s inaugu~rati on. He died of ~ yphoid 4~newnonia. My mother was ninety~.six years old when she died in igog. Little Rook $1 cane to Little Rock in 1894. 1 cai~ up here to teach in Fourche Dem. Then I moved here. I taught my first school in thIs county at osto. the War __ made share crops, I remember once an old tired horse in the stable. rested up she was better than th

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4. 295 I quit t ching bCaOO ay salary eas ao poox and th n E ~nt jut. ~hS butcher a business1 ~ and ti~ the wood busin. . I fa~d all th iIIiIO. ~ i: taught .shool for twenty~-oa. yeats. I always waS a auce.satui teachSr.. I did my beet. It you contract to do a job * r ten doUer~ do ai zch as though you were getting a hund~d. That will always help you to get a bstt r job. ..I have taraed all my life in connection with my teachinj. I ~snt into other bucinesass like I said a mcment sg.~ I was a osretaker at ths Haven of Rest Ceastery ~or aometi. . ~ v~ .*i waa ~poetmaat.r from 1904 to 1911 at S~.et HomO. At on ums I ia. employed on ths United States Census. ~1 get a little blind pension now. I ha~ no othr msana of sapport. Lois of Z~si am. doctor maya I bat iiy.ysaigkt on account t cataracts. I had an opration and ~hsn I o~ ~ I got to stirring around and it caused ne to have a hemorrbags of t~ y,. You ass I couldn t stay at the hospital bscaus it la. coating ~ $5 a day aM I didn t have Lt. They hadto t s one eye cisan mit. Nothing can be done for them, but ..~how 1 f..1 that the i~rVi going to let ne ass agtin. That e the way I fel ab~t it. sI have ltved hors in this irnrld this longend nsv.r had a tight in my lit . I hav nev r been mistreated by a white am in ay life. I alwaya knew my plsos. 8a~ fellow. ~t mistreated because they get out of their plac. $1 vaa told I couldn t stay in ~nt~ beoauae that was a whit nan s tovn~ I wsnt thsrs aM thy tr.atsd 4whit.. I tlId to 8tq

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296 with a oolor.d t~ily iay oat. .Th.y wsr ecar.d to take a,~ I bed gon there : ~ attend to e~e 1~i.in. ~. Then I wsnt to the sheriff and ~ h told m that it they were scared to have me stay at their hc~, I could tay at the hotsi and p~t ay hores in tbi livery siab.te~ I at~ysd out in th wagon yar~ ~at I wie invited into the hoteL They took oars or ~ horee end fed ~t and they brought me ~iy aisle. The next morning, they cleaned and curried and hitcb.d my horse ror . RI have toted all ay lits, I nevr had aimy trouble about it. ~ I~ flux never bothered ~ Nobody else ever did. It vs liTe io that ~srybody wiU r..p.ct u., the bsttsr class will always try to help L..a ~

[Interview with Patton, Carry Allen] 302 297

~3Q9O7 29~ Interviewer Miss Irene RobertsOn Persoi~ inteviewed~_Oarr~ Allen Pattons Forrest City,~&rkansaa Age 71 5 I was born in Shelby County, Tennessee. My parents was Pluie Watts and Pierce Allen. He come from Lou~isiana reckly (directly) after the surrender. My mother come from Virginia. $he was sold in Virginia and brought to middle Tennessee close to Murfreesboro and then brought to Momphis and sold. She was dark and my father was too. They was living close to Wilma~,Arkansas when the yellow fever was so bad. I don t remember lt. Heard them talk about lt. 5 I heard my mother say how Mr. .Take Watts saved his money from the Yankees. They had a great big rock flat on both sides. They put on the joints of big meat to weight it down when they salted it down in a barrels They didn t unjoint the meat and in the joint is where it started to spoil. Well, he put his silver and gold in a pot. It was a big round pot and was smaller around the top. He dug a hole after midnight. He and his two boys ;raxnes arid Dock put the money in this hole In the back yard. They covered the pot with the big flat rock and put dirt on that and next morning they planted a good big cedar tree over the rock, money and all. Old Master Take died during the V~ar and their house was burned but James lived in one of the cabins in the yard. Dock went to the War. My mother said when they left that tree was standing. My mother run off. She thought she would go cook for the men in the camps but before she got to the camps a wagon overtook her.and they stole her.

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2. 2:8 They brought her to Mem his and sold her on a block. ~ They guard d her, ~ She nevir did know who they was nor what beccie of them~ ~ They kept her in the wagon on the outskirts of the city nearly a month. One man aliaye stayed to watch her. She was scared to death of both of them~ One of the men kept a ~ug of whiskey in the wagon and drank it but he never would gst dead drunk so she could slip off. . ~ . ~ ~ J ohnson bought her ~ and when the surrender come on, Master ~J ohnson took his fatuily and went to ~ ~ &e begged him to take her to nurse but he said if it wasn t freedom he would send her back to Mastir 1Tames latte and he would let her go back then. E give her soge money but ehe never went back. She was afraid to start walking and before her money give clear out she met up with my father ~ and he talk d her out of going back. 8he had a baby ~ pretty soon. It was by them men that stole he~ le was light. He died when he got nearly grO~. I recollect him good. I was born Close to Memphis. The boy died of dysentery. elhen ~y mother was sold in Virginia she was carried In a wagon to the block and thought she was going to market. She never seen her folks no more1. They let them go along to market aometjznes and set In the wagon. She had a little pair of gloves she wore when she was sold her grendina had knit for her. They was white had half thumb and no fingers. Ihen she difd I put them in her coffin. She had twins born dead besides ~. They was born close to W1Irna~,.. 4rkan~as. als. termed all my life in ~kansas and Mississippi. I married in Mississippi and we come back here before Zoo died. I live out here and in Meniphis. My son is a Janitor at the Sellers Brothers Store in Mentphia. My daughter cooks about her in town sud I keep her childr~i. I rather farm i:~ I was able.

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5. 299 ~1 think young tolka~ both co1o~ shuns work, ~. Times is running away with Itaelt. ~ ~7olk5 is living too fast. They i ide too tast and drinks and do all kinds .ot meanness. ~My father was a mighty poor hand at talking. ~ He said he was sold In a gang shipped to Memphis from New Orleans. Master Allen bought him. He was a boy. I don t know how big. Ee cleaned fish-~sCaled th~ lie ~ butchered and in a tew months Mr. Allen set b1~ tree. It was sttrrender when he was sold bu~t Mr. AUen di4n t know it or else he meant to keep him on a few yeara. When he got loose he started tarnung and farmed till he died. He farmed In Tennessea, Mississippi, and Arkansas. ~e owned a place but a dzottth come along. ~ Re got in debt az~d white folks took it. I married in Mississippi. Ily husband 1n~ grated frcm . South Garolina. He was ~oe Patton. I washed ant ironed and tBX~d. I rather tara now if I was able, I never got xio goT ment help. I was in Tennessee when it come on. months. I never do stay.~ I ain t posing it. It is a fine thing. They said I t~ have to stay here six

[Interview with Payne, Harriet McFarlin] 305 300

30335 ~ ~ ~ ~ Interviswe?. ~ Mz~e. ~ Annie L. ~ I~a.Cotts ~ .____~ ~ t . ~ a--- ._-__-_--~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ *i Lu~IJ ~ ~ ~ - \~ ~ Pereon Interviewed Eaz~riett . Mc~ri1n Payne ~ ~ ~ - ~ Age83 _~ . . ~ = ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ Aunt }rarriett, were you born in ~1avery i~ime? Yes, mami I was big enough to remember well, ue eo~alug back from Texas after we re1~ugeed there when the fighting of the war was so bad at St G1~ar1ea . . We stayed in Texas till the surrender then we ai . come back in lots of wagons I was siek but the7 put me on a little bed and me and all the little ehullun rode in a Jerse7 ~ that one of the old. Negro irnirmii s drove, along behind the wagons, arid our young master, Colonel Bob Ohaney rode a great big black horse. 0hZ he nice-looking on dat horse 1 Every once arid awhile he d ride back to theO last wagon to see if everything was a)%right. I remember how s oared us chillun was when we cross ed the Red rFuer. Aunt Mandy said, We ~ crossin you old Red river today, but we not going ~ to eros s you any more cause we are going home ~ now back to Arkansas That day when we stopped to cook our dinner I picked up a lot little blick~ack acorns and -when m~ mairim~ saw them she said, tThrow them things down, chile. They ll make you wormy.1 ~ cried because I thought they were chinquapina.~\ I begged my daddy to lees go back toTexas, bu t he said, No I No I We going with our white roiks-.---! . ~ M~ mama and daddy belonged to Col. Jesse Obaney, much of a gentlem:in, and his wife Mj86 Salu Was the best mistress anybody evex~ had... She was a

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2.~.3O1~ Cbristian. I can hei.r her praying yetI~ She ~ wouldn t let one of her slaves hit a tap on Sunday. Tbey~iust rest and go to church. They had preaching at the cabin of some one of the. slaves, and in the umrnertime sometimes they had it out in the shade under the trees . ~ Yes and the slave on each plantation had their own ehureh. They didn t go galavanting over the neighborbood or country like niggera do now. Col. Chaney had lots and lots of slaves and all their houses were in a row, ail oneroom cabins Everything happened in that one room, --birth, si cime s s death and everything but in them days niggers kept their houses clean arid their door yards too. These houses where they lived was called the ~uarters . I used to love to walk down by that row of houses. It looked like a town and late of an evening as you d go by the doors you could smell meat ~ a frylug, coffee making and good things cooking. We were fed. good and had plenty clothes to keep us dry and warm. Along about time for de surrender, Col, Je~se, our mas~ ter, took sick and died with some kind of head trouble. Then Go I Bob our young mas ter took care of his ma and the ~ slaves. All the grown folks went to the field to work and the little ehullun would be left at a big room called the nursing homes UI us little ones would be nursed and fed by an old ma~y, Aunt Mandy. She was too old to go to the field, you ~ow. We wo~uldn t see our manmiy and daddy from early in the morning till night when their work was then they d go by Aunt Mandy s and ~ get their eh hun and go home tiU work time in the ~ morning. ~----~ .-~ Some o,f the slaves were house negroes. They didn t go

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3. 302 to work In the fields they ea~th one had their own j ob around the houae barn, orchard, milk house and things like that. When washday come Lord, the pretty white clothe s ~ It would take tliree or four women a washing all day. ~When two of de slaves wanted to get married, they d dress up nice as they could and go up to the big house and the master would marry them, They d stand up before him and he d read out of a book called the discipline and say, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy strength, with all thy might and thy neighbor as thyself. Then he d say they were man and wife and tell them to live right and be honest and kind to each other. All the slaves would be there too, seeing the wedden Our Miss Salue was the sweetest best thing in the wor Id I She was so good and kind to everybody and she loved her slaves, too, I can remember when Uncle Tony died how she cried Z Uncle Tony Wadd was Miss Sallie s favorite servant. He stayed in a little house in the yard and made fires for her, brought in wood and water and just waited on the house. He was a little black man and white-headed as cotton, when he died. Miss Saille told the niggers when they come to take him to the grave yard, to let her know when they got him in his coffin, and when they sent and told her she come out with all the little white chillun, her little grandohillun, to see Uncle Tony. She just cried and stood for a long time looking at him, then she said, Tony, you have been a good and faithful servant, Then the Negro men walked and carried him to the graveyard out in a big grove in de

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4.. 3O3~ field, Every plantation had its own graveyard and buried its own folks .. and slaves right on the plaee.. If all slaves had belonged to white folks. like ours, there wouldntt been any freedom wanted.

[Interview with Payne, John] 309 304

;304ft8 . .. : 3d4 ~ . Interviewer Mlzs Ir ~eRobe~tson ~ Person interviewed J~ohn ~ P~jne ~ ~ -~ ~ ~ ~1 ~k1ey, ~5;k. - ~ kge74 S ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ . i: waa born in Georgia, 0103e to Bowlea Spring, In. Franklin County. My inama ~ master waa Reverend David Payne. He wa~ a Baptlzt preacher. My mama said my father was Monroe G1a~sby. ~ He was a youngster on a nelgbboring plantation. He was white. His father wa~ a landowner. I think ~he $aid lt wa~ 70 ml1e~ ea5t of Atlanta where they went to trade, They went to town two or three tirne5 a year, It took about a we ek to go and come . ~ ~ . Fromwhat Mania said they dldn t know it wa~ fx eedcm for a long time. They worked on I know till that crop wa~ made ax~d gathered. SomebOdy $eflt woxdto the master, Eev. David, he be tter turn them s lave s loose Some of th~~iiand$ heard ~ the message. That wa~ the firzt they knowed it wa~ freedom. My mama 3ald ehe seen ~oldler$ and heard fighting. She had heard that 1f the Yar&eee won the war au the 3laveB be free, She a et to ~ yt what ahe would do She didn t know what to do. So when she beard lt she a3ked 1f 8be had to be free, She told Rev. David she wanted to stay like ~he had been staying. After I wa~ up a go od s iz e boy we went to Banke County. She done house work and field work too arid I ~ done farm work. All kinde and from sun-up till dark every day. Sometimes I get in so late I have to make a torch light to see how to put the feed in

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. ~ . . ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ 2. 3()5 : the troughs . We had plenty litard . - pine knots - they was rich to burn. ~ n : u3ed to vote but I quit since I coins to Lvkansaa. I come iii 1902 I paid my own way and wrote back for my fanlily. I paid their way too. I got one little grandaughter, 20 years old. She is off trying to make hex way through eo .. lege . My wife had a stroke and she cant t do much no more I got a piece of a house. It need repairs. I can t hardly pay my taxes I can t work much. I got two cows and six little pigs. I got eighty acres land. I worked fourteen years for John Gazolla and that is when I made enough to buy my place. I. am in debt but I am still working. Seems like one oldmart can t make nrucb,R

[Interview with Payne, Larkin] 311 306

30458 . . ~3OG Interviewer Misa Irene Robertson . Person IntervlewedLarklnPayne Age~~ Brinkley, Ark. ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ .~ 1~4 ~ a ~ ~i ~ ~ I wa~ born in North Carollua. I do&t recall my moster s name. My parents was Sarah Hadyn and Joim Payne~ They had seven children, None of them wa~ ~o1d. My pa was 801d, He had tlwee Sons In the Clvii War, N ne of em was killed. One was in the war four years the others a good port ion of two years . They wa~ helpers. ~Grandma bought ~ grandpa ~ ~ fre edorn. My groat grandma was an Indian woman. My mother wa~ dark brown. My father was tolera . able light. When I was small child they come in and te . . bout people being sold. I heard a whole lot about it that way. It was great grandma Hadyn that was the Indian. My folk3 worked in the field or anywhere as well as I recolleet. When freedom come on my folks moved to East Tennessee. I don t know whether they got good treatment or not. They wa~ freedoni loving folks. The Ku Klux never bothered us at home. I heard a lot of em. They was pretty hot furtheT south. I had two brothers soared pretty bad. They went wid some white men to South Carolina and drove hog~. The white men come back in bug- ~ gies or on the train - left them to walk back. The Ku Klux got after them. They had a hard t mie getting home I heard the Ku Klux was bad down in Alabama. They had settled down fore I went to Alabama. I owned a home in Alabama, I took stock for it.

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2. 30? Sold the stock and. come to rkansas I had seven children. We raised three. When my folks was set free they never got nothing. The mountain folks raised corn and ~nade whiskey. They made red corn cob molasses; lt was good. They put lye in the whiskey; it would kill you. They raised hogs plenty. My folks raised hogs and corn. They dithI t make no whiskey. I seen em niake lt and sell lt too. . PI heard folks say they rether be under the home men over- seers than Northern overseers. They was kinder to em lt seem like. I was jes beglnnin to go to the field when freedom come on. I helped pile brush to be burned before freedom. I farmed I when I was a boy; pulled fodder and bundled lt. I shucked corn, f ~ ~ s lopped pigs milked plowed a mule over them rocks thlnn d out ~ ~ corn. I worked twenty days in East Tennessee on the section, I cut and haul wood all winter. ~ My parent s both died in Arkansas We conie here to get to a fine farmin country. We did like lt fine. I m still here. Iti have voted. I vote if I m needed. The white folks country and they been runn ~ it I don t want no enemies . . They been good to nie. I got no egercatlon much. I sorter follows bout votin . W~ look to the white folks to look after our welfare. lt1 get 418.00 and commodities. I work all I can g t to do. ~

[Interview with Perkins, Cella] 313 308

30696 . ~ . 308 Intervis~ar ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ Misa .ir,~Bokrtaon ~ ~ ~ j ~l ~~L__ itL ~ _ ~ ~1:,U~ r~ ~p . 1 ~- ~ r .1. ~ ~ 1~- ~ ~ _ ~ ~ ~ Person int.rviev d ~ ~ ~ ~ .. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~i~Jkifla ~ . ~ .: ~ ~ . ~ . . ~ ~ ..~1, ~ Ag. ~ ~ __ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~M ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ PI was born close to Macon, Georgia. Mama a old aistrsss, Miss ~i (Marse) Beth Woods, bru*g her there trcm fitt..n ailes outer Atlant ~ After amaloipation lias Mari Beth s husband got killed. A horse kicked him to death. It ahy.d at ac~thing and it run in front ot the horae~ Re held the horse so it couldn t run. It ki ksd the foot board clean ott, ki~k.d h1~ in th stomach. Eis boy crawled out of ths bug~ ~ That s the way we knoved how it happened. &e didu t hurt the boy. Ei. nain was Bsnja~in Ioods~ Pa went to wax with hi. ma. ter aiid h neyer COEflO back to ~iame, ~e never heard frciit hil after fr.d~ Ne got captured and got to be a soldier and went way off. ~ie didn t ~ev9r know it he got killed or boat hie way back kcue. . ,)_ cooked and kept up the house, Miss Mari Beth kept a boarding~ house in. Macon till way after I was a big girl. I stood on a box and washed diahea and dried thea for in~. 1fr. Ben was grown when we come to Arkansas. E. got hi. ~ to go to Kentu~cky with him and I heard about Ar1ci~ aas. Ms and mama come to Palestine. le come in a crowd. A man give us tickets and we c~ by our lone selves till ~ got to ~enasa8.s. A big cro~ ec~s fr~ Dysrs~irg, Tenneaa. Ma got to talking and tound out we waa hatd to the amne plac in Arkan~~ sas. ..

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2. 3Q9 Ma t lkid a i~ols h.ap at tiTh.i ni r. 6* others (this.) ab~it slavery tlnrna, Rer mater didn t take on over herisich ~hex~ he found iit ShS*a* a ~ cuan. The old aan Crum~ton give bir to his ~oufl~st da~t.r~ Mari Beth. She always had to do all kinds of work and hou~ae tiIi ~ ~ After inai~& 8 slavery husbe.~d dIdn t cc ~ heck aid she was living in Macon, she tell in love with ~ another ~an il I was a pioked.~up baby. Marna said Mies Mari Beth lost faith in her ib n I was born. ~zt she n edsd her and kept her on. Said seem like ~ie thought ~e wa8 too old to start up when she never had children when her papa ownet her~ They didn t like as, ~e said she could trt~st me~ b~.t she didn t know my stock. He was a black m~ llama was black as I is. Mise Mari Beth had a r und double table. The top table t~trn8d with the victuals on it. I knocked flies three tl*e. a di~y~ over that tabl . ~1 never had a store..bou~t dress in ~y life till ~a batz~ht as one at Madison, Arkansas. I wan ted e i~irs white dress. &e said it we made a good crop ehe was going to give me a drs e. LU the dresses I ever bad was made out of Miss Mari Beth s dresses 1~t I naver had a pure white one. I never had one boeght for me till 1 was nearly ~ I was so proud ot it. When I would go and cciae back, I would pull it off and put it away. I wors it on, si~er white an~ the next swiner I blu~ed it and had a new dress. .1 had a white dress nearly every year till I got too old to d~esa up ~y now. ~I got a white bonnet and apron I wears right now. ~ ~Mama said Master Cruapton bou~&t up babies to raise. She was tekon away frcm her folks so soon she never heard ot thea. ~nt ~t raiesd her up in Atlanta and out on hi. place. He had a place in town t~t kept theit on a place in the country. Re had a drove of th~a. Re hired th~ out,

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\ H8 14r.d mama once to a doctor, Dr. Wilibanka. Mama said old master . thought she would learn how to have children from him the reascn he sent her th.ere so much. When they had big toa.4oa old master sent m~a over there. She never seen no money till abou.t freedoni. She loved to get hired out to be oft fro~n him. They all had young babies about 1~it her. He was cross and her husband was cross, She had pleasure hired out. ~ie said he didn t whoop much. He stamped his foot. They left right now. ~I hab three girls living; one here (Palestine ) one at MarveU and OD.~ in 3t. Louis. My youngest girl teaches music at a big colored school. ~e sends me my money and I lives with these girls. I been up there and I sure don t aim to live in no city old as I is. It s too dangerous slow as I got to be and so much racket I never slept a night I was there. I was there a month. She brung me home and I didn t go back. RI cooked and washed and ironed and worked in the field. I do ac~ work yet. I helps out where I ~. The times is better I think from accounts I hear. This generation all. r living too 1~ast er lives. They don t never be still a minute.~ 3. 31()

Ex-slaves - slavery times. 316 311

30355 . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~.: ~ ~ ~ . .~ ~ Pine Bluff DistHet Q ~ t,, ~. FOLKLORE ~ SUBJEC TS Name of Interviewer Martin & Barker ~ ~ Subje~t ~ ~ Ex-Slaves-Slavery T~rnes Story - Information (ir nOt enough space on this page add page) My folks lived in S. Carolina and belonged to Co . Bob Baty and his family. I f I should lay down tonig~it I oould tel . when my fo ike were going to die, beea~se the Lawd would tell mr~ in a vision. Just before my grandmother died, I got up one morning and told lily aunt that granma was dead. twit said she did not want me telling 1 les. Then I saw another aunt laying on the bed, and she had her hand under her jaw. She was smil*ng. The house was full of people. After awhile they heard that her aunt was dead too, and after that they paid attention to me when I told them somebody was going to die. I se a member of the Holiness Church. I believes step up right and keep the faith . I seen my aunt walking up and down on a glass. The Lawd tells ~ in a vision to step right up and see the faith. I ~m living in Jesus. He is coming to Pine Bluff soon. He is going to separate the lions from the sheep. I was born in slavery times. I member folks riding around on horses. This Information given by_~ Ma~ie Perkins Place of Residence W. 6th. St.

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. ~ #2 312 ~1~hern days :i: uaedto wash my mistia feet and legs, and son times I would fall asleep against my mistis knees. I telle the young fry to give honor to the white folks, and ~ preacher tell em to obey the wh~.te folks, dat dey are our best friends, dey is our dependence and it would be hard getting on if we didn t have em to help us. 3pirits M, and n~r husband moved into a house that a ~n, ~unole Bill Hearn died in, and we wanted dat house so bad we moved right in as soon as he was taken out, we ate supper and went to bed. By the time we got to sleep we heard sounds like someone was emptying shelled corn, and I hunched up under my husband soared to death and then moved out the next day. The dead haven t gone to Heaven. ~then death comes, he comes to your h eart. He has your number and knows where to find you. He won t let you off, he has the key. Death oomes and unlocks ihe heart and twists the breath out of that heart and carries it back to God. ~ Nobody has gone to Heaven, no one can get pass jesus until t1~ day of his redemptions which is judgen~nt day. We can t pass the door without being judged. On the day of res sureotion the trumpet will sound and us will wake up out of he grave yard, and come forth to be judged. The sea shall give up its dead. Every nation Will have to appear before God and be judged in a tWirIICIIII of an eye. If you aren t prepared before Jesus comes, it will be too late. God is everywhere, he is the almight. God is a ni ~e God, he is a olean Gad, he is a good God. I would be afraid to tell you a lie fa God would strike me down. ~ Ei~t years ago I oouldn t see, I wore specs 3 years. I forgot n~ specs one- morning, I prayed for my eyesight and it was restored that tnornihg. ~ Our marster was a good m. De overseers so~ti~ s wuz bad, but dey did not let marstere know how dey treated their girl slaves.

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#3 313 My grandmother was whipped by de overseers one tlme, it made welts on her back. My sister Mary had a child by a white man. ~ To get joy in de morning, get up and pray and ask Him to bless you. God will feed all alike, he is no respeotor of persons. He shows no extra favors twixt de rich and de poor.

[Interview with Perkins, Marguerite (Maggie)] 319 314

- . #781 ~-~ .~ /- ~ Interviewer Bernice Bowden Person Interviewed Margu.eri~e Perkins West Sixth and Catalpa Streiti, Piri Bluff, Arkansas Age 81 . I was born in slavery times, Miss. I was born in South Carolina, Union Couiity. I was born in May. II knOw I member old Missy. I ju.st been washin her feet and legs when they said the Yankees was comm. Old Miss naine was Miss Sally. Her husband was a colonel. ~Ihat is a colonel? I got some white cousins. They tell me they was the boss man s chillun. Yes ni, i: reckon Miss Sally was good to me. l in a old nigger. All us niggers belong~1 to Colonel Beatty. I went to school a little while but I didn t learn nothin . I use to be a nurse girl and sleep right upstairs. Missus, you know people just walkin along the street droppin dead with heart trouble and white wmen kuhn men. I tell you lady it s awful. nI been married just once. The Lord took him out o my house one Sunday mo rning fo re day. I The thing about it is I got that high blood pressure. Well, Missus, I had it five years agO and I went to Memphis and. the Lord healed me. All we got to do is believe in the Lord and He will put you on you.r feet. I had four sisters and three brothers and all of em dead but me, darlin. 1~ow let me tell you somethin . Old as I is, I ain t never been to but one picture show in my life. Old as I is, I never was on a base ball ground in my life. The onliest place I go now is to church.

[Interview with Perkins, Rachel] 320 315

3 829 315 Interviewer . ~ ~ ~ ~ i~ Ofl~ Robertson ~ - IL ~1 ~ ~ ~ L_~~* ~ _-~- iur~-~~~- * w-i ~ . ~ __ u~ .* .--.-i ~ ~ ~ . u~ ~ -~ Person interviewed Rachel ~rkths Goodwin Arkansas . ~. ~ ~ ~. ~ ..~._ __ -_. . ~r~- ..~ ~ r Age Y ~ Baby during the Civ il War . ~ ~ ~ ~ a~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ j. ~. ~I ~I was born in Greensboro, Alabama. Salue Uouaton and Peter Uouston was my parents. They had two girls and a boy. They died. when they was small but me. They always told me mother died when I was three days old in the cradle. I don t fur a fact know much about ~y own people. Miss Agnes took nie~ to raise n~ fur a house. girl. She nursed me wid her Mary. My mother ~ and father s owners was Alon~o Brown and Miss Agnes Brown. Their two girls was Mary and I~cy and their three boys las Bobby, Jesse, and Frank. Miss Agnes rocked the babies to sleep in a big chair out on the gallery. We slept there all night. company coene and say, Ihere the babies? Miss Agnes take thera back and show us off. They say, Ihere the little bla;k chile? They d try to get me to corns go live wid them. Theysay they be good to ~e. I d tell ~ No, I stay here. It was good a home as T wanted. We slept on the front gallery till D~tcy come on, . then we had sheep skin ;allets, She got the big chair. She put us out thore because it was cool. ~I left Miss Agnes when I got to be my own w~nen. Didn t nobody toll me off. I kriowed I ought to go to niy own race of people. They c ae after me once. Then they sent the baby boy after me what I had nursed. I wanted to go but I never went. Miss I~icy and Miss Mary both in college. It was lonesome for me. I wanted to go to my eolor. I jus picked up and walked on off,

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2. 316 M1y girl is half Indian. I m titteen. years oide~~ then my girl. Then I marrIed Wesley Perkins, my husband. ~e la black i ur~ a fact. Re liecl laat fall. ~ X married at ay husband s brother s by a colored preacher. . Screws was his naine, I~e was a Baptist preacher. n : r~ever went to school a day in my lite. I can t read. I cari count money. 3eem~ lack it jus coene natural I never learned it at no ori.e tim. It jus eome~ to me. ~ In warm weather I slept on the gallery and in cold ~ea~the~ I slept by the fire. I made down my own bed. I cleaned the ho~iae. I took the cows off to the pasture. I nursed the babies, washed axid dried the dishea I made up the beds and cleaned. the yszda. Master Brown owned two fa~s. Es had. plenty hands on his f~arma. I did never go down to the farms im~oh but I knowed the hands. On Saturday little later than other days they brought the stock to the house and ted. Then they went to the ~okehouse for their rations. He had a great big garden, strawberries and grape arbors. One thing I bad to do was worm the plauts. I put the worma In a bottle and. leave it in the row where the sun would dry the worms u~p. When a light frost come I would water the planta that would wilt before the sun riz and ag in at night. Then the plant3 iiever relt the troat. Certainly it didn t kill em. It didn t hurt em. ~ulaiie was the regular milk wcman. She milked arid straix.ed the zailk. I churned and teuded to the chickens. Misa A~aea sot the hens her own self. She marked the eggs with a piece of charcoal to see it other hens laid by the setting hen. If they did ah d take the new egg out o~ the nest.

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3, ~3i7 we had flower gardens. ~ We had. mint, rosemary, tanay, sage, mullen, catnip, horseradish, artichokes, hoarhound all good home remedies. n ~ never knowed when we moved to that farm. I was so small. I heard Misa Agnes Brown say I was a baby when they moved to Boldan depot, not far frcm Clinton, Mississippi. . eWhen I left Miss Agnes I went to samts folks my own color on another farm joining to their farni. Of course I took my baby. I took Anna and I been living with Auna ever since. that I d do now without her, (Anna is an Indian and very proud of being half Indian.) My husband done dead. ni get ei~,ht dollars welfare help. And I do get some cc~muodities, Arma does all right but she got hit on the shoulder an~ about lost use f her am. One of the railroad hands up hre got mad and hit her. I had doctors They done it a, little good. It s been hurt three years or more now. WI wieht I knowd where to find a bed of mullen. soil it down to a syrup and add some molasses, boil that down. It makes a good syrup for COUghS and colds. ni never went to white folks church none hardly. Miss Agr~es sent me a.long with her cook to my own color s cimrob. My husband sure was good t me. We never had bt~t one fight. Neitber one whooped. This young generation is going backward. They tired of trainix~g. They don t want no advice They don t want to work out no more They don t know what they want . I think falke is trifling than they was when I come on. The times is all right and some of the people. I m talking about mine and 70 color both.

[Interview with Perry, Dinah] 323 318

30057 318 Inter~imx~ ~ Xra.brniee Boift.~ ~ - ~ Person intsrTi.ired ~ : .Djijsh P~3?)~ i r-1- L ~iU _~~J -_-~ ~ L - 1-_~- ~~ _- lU ~ T 1800 Ohio 3tr st~ Pin. Blurt, Arkansas . ~ . ~ - - - ~Tea ma ~, I lived in a1av.ry~ times. They bDOLIght ~ frcm ilabawa, a baby, right here to this lass wh.r. I em at, Xr~ Sterling COCkrII ~ X don t kflOW ZaCkly when I Wa born bat I member boa t the ~ slave times. Yes wa aia, I do. After I growed up scu~e, I member the overaser~. I do. I can renawber 1fr. &irna. I member ehen he took the hands to ~ Left the chillun and the old folks here. ~Oh Lord, this was a big plantation. Had bout four or five hundred head of niggers. My n~cther dose the milkin and the weavin . After fre. times, I . WOTS me a dress. My aother f1Xed~ it for me and I wove it. They d knit stOckin a too. ~Lt *0W they wssr silk. Don t ~ p ~ legs w~ *1 aember when they fit hers In Pixie Bluff. I membsr when Mirmajuice sent WOXd he was gem to teks breakfast with Clayton that mcirnia and they just fit, I can rea.mbsr that was ~raajukso It certai~ ,y ~ was 9~iinaJuks. The Rebats tried. to carry ~ away but the wagon was so full I didu t get in and I was ~3~ad they didn t. My ~ther was runnin trcm the Rebels and she hi~ under the cotehouss. After the battle was over she con . back here to the plantation. WI had thrs brothers sud three sisters went to TOxas and I know I didu t know em when they cc~ back.

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2.319 ~,x~:_ .. bBX : Ihen they fit hers a bum.Sh.U feil right in th~ yard. it was b~g around as ~ this St vopi . end was ail full of chains an d thing.~ ~ ~~ tt r trse tin. my folks stayet right hors and worksd o~ the ahar e. I was~ the baby chile a~id nOvir done no *rk till t ~arri.d when I la. tit~i teen, After tho Wax~ I went to ashool to whit.. teachers frc~ the No~h~ .1 never went to nethin bat th a. I went silt I was in the fifth grad.. ~ My daddy 1strn~d me to spelL 1~idy aM baker and ~ shady tors went ~o school. I learned ail my *30 s too. I ~ot out of the first reader the second dey. I could just read ~ it right on throu~ I oould spell and just ~ stand at the head. ot the class till the teacher sent me to the foot all the time. ~ ~ ~II 7 daddy was his old aiatras pet. ~He used to carry h r to school en the time and I guess that s ~ he got his )eernin . After I was married I worked in the field, Roiled. logs, cut brUah, chopped and picked eotton. I ~bsr when they had that Bachelor (Brook&iBaxter~ Wer up hera at Little Rook. . . ~ ~Att.r ~ ohiliun died, I never went to the field no a.ors~ I 3ust stayed round mong.t the white folks nuasin LU the chi iun I nuseed ii tarried and grown now. All this younger gsn ration,~hite and color d i don t know what s gvine ~oome of s~. The poet says: . Each gym. a diff xsnt ws~ . ~4nd a11 the doinvard road. .

[Interview with Perry, Dinah] 325 320

320 ~:~ ~ Interviewer Person interviewed Age_1 ~ t? ~ ~ balv2l in Alabai ~ and broughl hero to Ar ~nsas a baby. I couldn t tell what year I was bawu oause I was a baby. A ohile can t tell what year. he waa ba~IT1 less thc~r tells him and the~r ~ didn t tell me, Whe~n t d wake up in the mawniri n~r mother would be gone to the fiel~ ~S ne things I eau reiaember good bixt you iaiow old folks didn t T low ohillun to stand around when they was talkin in dem days. They had to go pl ~r. The~r had to be mighty partiO~I1ar or they d get a whippin. . Chillun was botter in thea days t cause the old folks was striot on ~ Chillun is ~s~j5j1~t theirselves today. t, I T~ber one song they used to sii~ig T Il land over shore We ll land over shore; And we li live forever more. They called it a i~rmn. They d sin~ it in church, then t1ic~r d ai . get to shoutin ~ Superstitions? Well, I seen a uiigineer goin to work the other day and a black cat run in front of him, and he went back cause he said he would have a wreck With his train if he didn t. So you see, the white folks believes in. things like that too. t I never was ax~r hand to play any gaitea T cept ~ chick, Chick. you d ketch hold a hands an4 ~ j~ ~ ~j ~ ~jajde was the havik and sc~ inside was the hou and chickens. The old mother hen would sa~ Ifrs. Bernice Bowden -w- -~ -~ -~ ~ ._~ - ~ ~ _~a- ~r ----~ ~ - -~ ~ s--.__,__ U - ~ ~~r.ta - Dinah Pony ~ L W~d ~ ~ ~fr;T~iau~s~i ~ -

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2. 32~ . tC~e-b a~~~ina, cii~k.uiaii,wa, ~ ~ erow~ ~ _j_ to tI~e well to.iaeh ~ toe; ehen I ccme baok n~ Chicken wO ~ gon. Iliat time is it~ oid witoh? ~. One ahieken was stposed to get oub ai~d thei the hawk would tx~ to ketch Ithn. w. was more ligiou.s than the ehillun nowadays. We uBed to p1a~ preaohiu and bapti~in We d put ~n dam in the water and souse t ~ ~M we d shout :Ju5t like the old fo1~ Tee zi&ea.

[Interview with Peters, Alfred] 327 322

308$ 322 Thtervi.wer ~ ~re.Bsrnice ~Bow~n Person interviewed Alfred P~t.re ~ 1518 Bell Street, Pine Bluff kv~kanaaa ~ 78. w ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ I was born aeven alleB from Camden. ~ 11 was leren montha old when they carried us to Texaa. Pirst thing I I~eIUember I was in Texas. . RIL~c1,1Is Qt~iniii waa old maater. Hets been dead a long time. His wife died bou~t two years after the Civil War az~d he died twenty $ive years after. . . ni menaber dunn O~ the war he buried his 8tuf~-ailverwere and stutf--aiad he never took it up. And after he died his . brother s aon. lived in California, and he come back end dug it ~ip. ~ The Yankaes burned up to~zr hundred balsa or cotton and taken ~ the meat and two cribs of corn. . I heerl exii talk bout the L~ Klux but I never did see t~j~ My mother said old Mars Liciu.a was good to his folks. Sb. said he first bought hex and then she worried so bout my father, he paid twenty-five hundred doUars for him. ~ . ~Big~esi part of my life I farmed, and then I done oarpeuter york. ni ~been blind four years. The doct or says it s cataracte. ei think the younger generation goin to canes another war, They jill t stidyin nothin but pleasure

[Interview with Peters, Mary Estes] 328 323

30617 823 ~ interviewer .. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3. 5 ~1or~ ~ Person interviewed ~ ~ ~ btes~te~ ~ . ~ ~ 3115 1. 17th Stz~ t, Little ;Rock, Arkansas ~ ~78 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Biographical Mary late. Peters was born a slave Zanuery 50, 1860 in Missouri s~where. lier aother was colored and her tether white, the ihits parent~ age being very e~idant in her color and features and hair. She is very reticent about the facts of bar birth. The subject had to be approached frc~t niany angles and ~n many ways and by two different persona before that part of the story could be gotten. . AlthOugh she vas born in Missouri, ehe was reftigeed first to Mise.~ isaippi and then here, Arkansas. 8h. la convinced that her mother was sol4 at least twice after feed~, ~once into Ilisaisaippi, onc into Helena, and probably once acre after reaching Axkansaa, Mary herself being sill . a ier~ small child. i: think she is aistakem on this point. I did not debate With bar but I cross*sexeptined her carefully and it appears to me that there was probably in her mother a mind a confused knoviedge of the issuance of tha ~tancipation Proclamation in 1862. Lincoln s Ccmpenaation ~max~cipation plan advocated in March 1862, the Abolition in the District of Columbia in 1862 in April, the announcement ot Lincoln s t~anc ipation intention in J uly 1862, the prohibition of slavery in present and tut r. t rritor~ea, ~une 19~ 1862, together with the actual issuance of the I~eneipation En 8spt~bsr 1862, ~ ~ ~ and the effectiveness of the proc1e~ation in J~m~ary,. 1, 18rn, would veil

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2. 324 . give rias to an IIEPTh.8LOZL anong many~ alaise that emancipation had b.en ccm~let d. . ~ ~ . A a matter Of tact, ~ Missouri did not secede; the ~ ivil War which nevertheless enet~ed would find soma alaveholders exposed to the full fores of the 1862 proclamation in 1863 at the time of its first effectiieneae. Naturally it did not become effective in many other places till 1865. Ii would very naturally happen. then that a sale in Missouri in the latter part of 1862 01 afly tilfl5 thereafter might be weil conatraed by ex-slaves as a sale after emancipation, especially since they do not as a raie pay as naich attention to the dates of occurrences as to their sequence. This inter~ pretation accords with the story. . Only such an exxlanation could make probable a narrative which places the subject as a newborn babe in 1860 and sold after slavery. had ceased while still too youn~g to remember. E~sr earliest recollections are recollections of Arkansas. She has lived in Arkansas ever since the Civil War and in Little Rqok ever since 1879. She made a living as a seaniatresa tor awhile but is now unable to sew because of fading eyeai~t. ~e ~rried in 1879 and led a long and contented married life until the recent death ot her husband. She lives with her husband s nephew and ekes out a living by fra~aentary jobs. ~L h~S a good memory and a clear mind for her a~ . . 81a~e After Freodcm . My mother was sold after freedoei. It was the young folks . did all that devilment. They found they could get ace money out of her and they did it, ~1s was put on the block in St 1~uis and sold down into Vicksburg, ~ Miaaiaaipp~ . *

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E) _) u~ L~ Then they sold her into Helena, Arkansas. After that they carried hex down into Trenton (t), Arkansas. t don t know whether they sold her that t1i~ A, ox not~ but I reckon they did. Leastways, th.~ carried her down there. All this was done after freedom. M~ mother was only fifteen years old when ehe was sold the first time, and I was a baby in her arms. I don t know noth~ ing about lt myself, but I have heard her t.1l about lt many and many a t irne It was after freedc~. Of course she du t know she was tree. *It was a good while before my mother re~lized she was free. eis. noticed the other colored people going to and fro and she wondered about it. They didn t allow you to go round in slave times. &e asked them about it and they told her, Don t you know you are free? . ome ot the white people toot told her that she was free. After that, trcm the w y~ ehe talked, t guess she stayed arouth there until she could go some place and get wages for her work. She was a good~99k. Mean kiatrese *1 have seen many a scar on my iwther. ~ie had mean iliite tolke~ ~ie had one big scar on the side of her head. The hair never did ~ ow back on that place. ~te used to o~b her hair over it so that it wouldn t show. The way she got lt was this: One day her mistress went to high aass and left a lot of work tor my mother to do. he was only a girl and it was too ~eh. There was ~re work than she could get done. She had too big a task for a child to get done~ When her old mistress came back and her work was not aU done, she beat my wother down to the ~ and then she took one of the skillets. and bust her overthe~ad with lt~trying to kill her, I reckon. I have scen the scar with my own eyes. ~ It was an awtul thing.

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4. 32G w mother was a house servant In Missouri and Mississippi. Nevr done no hard wor~c till she ~ came here (Arkansas) . ~ When they brought her here they tried to make a field hand out of her. She hadn t been used~to chopping cotton. When she didn~ t chop lt tast as the others did, they would beat her. ~he dIdU t know nothing about no 1~armwork. She had all kinds o:~ trouble They just didn t treat her ~ good. She used to have good times in Missouri and M1ss1~sippi but not in Arkansas. They just didn t treat her good. In them days, they d whip anybody. They d tie yoi~ to the bed or have somebody hold you down on the floor and whip y till the blood ran. sit, Lawd, my mother never had no use tor ~atholios because it was a Catholic that hit her over the head with that skiUet~ right after she cc~ trcm mae. Pood My mother said that they used to potir the tood into troughs and give it to the slaves~ They d give them an old wooden spoon or something and they all eat out of the same dish or trough. They wouldn t let the slaves eat out of the things they et out ot. Fed them just like they would hogs, When I was little, she used to co~ to feed i~ about twelve o clock every day. She hurry in, give me a little bowl of something, and then hurry right on out because she had to go right back to her work. ~e didn t have time to stay and see how I et. If I had enough, it was all right. If I didn t have enough, lt was all right. It laight be pot licjuor or it might be just anything. NOne day she left me alone and I was lying on the floor in front or the fireplace asleep. I didn t have no bed nor nothing then~

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-. The fi:? . must have popped out and aet me on fire. You see they ~ done a whole lot of weavin~ in them days. And they put some ~ sort of ~ lint on the child ren. ~ ni don t reckon children them days knowed what a biscuit waa. They Just raked u.p whatever was left ott the table and brung it to you. Child ren have a good t line nowadays. . People goin to work heard me hollering and came in and put out the tire. I got scars all round my waist today I could show y . Another time my mother had to go off and leave ~. T was older then. I guess I mL~st have gotten hungry and wanted to get aomethin to eat. So I got up and wandered ofr into the wooda. There weren t many people living round there then. ~ (This was in Trenton ( ?) Arkansaa a ~nall place not far .lllt ~ fr~ Helena. ) And the place waa built up much then and they had lots or wolves. Wolves make a lot of noi8e when they get to traum anything. I got about a halt mile from the road and the wolvea got after ~. I guesa they gould have eat me up but a man heard them howling, and he knew there wasn t no house around there but ours, and he came to see what was up, and he beat off the wolves and carried me back h~e. There wasn t nare another house round there but ours and he knew I nn,iat have co~ from there. Mother was working then. It was night though. They brung the news to her and they wouldn t let her come to x~. Mother said she felt like getting a ~.in and kuhn them. Her child out like that and they wouldn t let her go h~ie.~ ~That must have happened after freed~n, because it was the last miaas~ tress she had, Almost ail ber beatings and trouble cerne froet her last mistress. That woman sure gave 13er a lot of trouble.

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C~() V., Age, Good Masters ~A11 I know about my age is what my mother told me. *The first people that ra1se~ my mother had her age In the Bible, She ~Q said she was about fifteen years old when ~~e,was born. From ihat she told me, I mLlst be a~xut aeventy-e1g1~t years old. She taught me that I was born on Sunday, on the thirtieth of January, in the year before the War. My mother s name was Myles. I don t knowwbat her first master s nana was. She told me I was born in ~aelps. County, Missouri; I guess you d call it St. Louis now. I am giving you the straight trtith just as she gave it to me. From the way she talked, the people what raised her from a child were to her. They raised her with their children.. Theta people fed her like they f~ed their own children. Color and Birth RThere was a light brownekin boy around there and they give ~ini any~ thing that he wanted. B~t they didn t like my mother and me..~on account of my color. They would talk about it. They tell their children that when I got~ big enough, I would think I was good as they was. I couldn t help my color. My mother cou~thn t either. My mother s mistress had three boys, one twenty-one, one nineteen, arid one seventeen.~\ Old mistress had ~ne away to spend the day one day. Mother always worked in the house. She didn t work on the farm in Missouri. While she was alone, the boys caine in and threw her down on the floor and tied her down so she couldn t struggle, and one after the other used her as long as they wanted for the whole afternoon. Mother was sick when her mi8trees came home. When old mistress wanted to know what was the matter with her, good just

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. ~ 3~3 ~ she told her what the boya had done She whl~ped them and that s the way I cemetob.her~ . ~ ~ Sales ai4 Separation. My mother was separated frcm her mother when she was three 3T5~1 8 old. They sold my mother away from nay grandz~ther. She don t know nothing about her people. 8h. never did see her xr~ther s tolks. She heard from them. It must have been after freedan.~ 3it she never did ~ get~ no tU11 understanding about them Sorae of them was In Kansas City, X~anaaa. My graw2mother I don t know what became of her. Whex~ ~y mother was sold into St Louis they would have sold ~ away from her ~zit she cried and went on so that they bought me too. I don t know nothing about it rnyaeli~, 1~xt my mother told n~. I was just z~ins months old then. They would call lt refu.geeing. These people that had raised her wanted to get scmething out of her because they t~nd out that the colored people was going to be free. Those white people in Mlsaouri didn t have many slaves. They just had four slavea~my mother, myself~ another woman and az~ old colored man called Uncle ~ oe.~ They didn t get to sell him because he bought hieseif. He made a little ~ney ~r~lng on people with rheumatiem. They would run the niggere from state to state about that time to keep thera trcm getting free and to get something out of them. My mother was sold into Mississippi atter freedom. Then she was refugeed from one place to another through Helena ~ to frenton (?) Arkanaaa. ~ ~ Marriagee My~ mother used to laugh at that. The master ~ would do all the marryln I have heard her say that ~ny a time. They would call themselvee

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juinpin the broo . I don t know ~at they di~ Whatever the maSter seid put them together. I don t know just how it was fixed up, but they helt the broom and master would say, I pronounce you man and wife or thing like that. I~K1ux My mother talked about the Ku Klux but I don t know mach about th.~. 8h. talked about how they would ride and how they would go in and deatroy different p.pl s things. Go in the smoke house and eat the ~op1e e stuff. She said that they didn t give the colored people mach trou~b1e. &zt~tiass they would give them sc*imthing to sat. ~Ihen they went to a place uhere they didn t give th colored people imiob to eat, what they didn t destroy they would say, Go~get it. I don t know how it was but the Kn Klux dI IL t have much use ~or certain ihite people end they would destroy everything they he~ : ~ ~I have lived in Arkansas abc~it ail ~ lite. .1 hare been in Little Rock ever since ~enuary 30, 1879. 1 don t know how I ~ happened to aove on my birthday. My husband brought me here for my rheumati . ~1 married in 1879 and. moved here frcm Marianna. I had lived in Helena before Marianne. ~ Voting The niggers voted in Marianne ath in Relena. They voted in Little Rock too. I dn t know any of them. It eee~ia like aoz~ f the people didn t make so much talk about it. They Aid, I mess thou~ Many o! th tar~rs would t ll their hands wt~o they wanted then to vote for, and they would do it.

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g. :331 Them was critical times. A man would kill you if he got beat. They would say, So and so lost the lect ion, and then somebody would go to Jud~nent. I remember once they had a big barbecue in Helena Just after the ~1eet1on They had it for the white and for the colored alike. We didn t A know there was any trouble. The shooting started on a hill where everybody cot~ld see. !irst thing you know, one man fell dead. Another dropped down on all fours bleeding, but he retch in under him and dragged out a pi8tol and shot down the man that shot him. That was a sad time. Niggers end white folks were all mixed up together and shooting. It was the first tiwa I had ever been out. My mother never would let me go out before that. ~ Seamstress I ain t able to do much o~ anything now. I used to make a good living as a dres~aker. I can t sew now because of my eyes. I used to make many a dollar before my eyes ot to failing me. Make pants, dresses, any-. thing. When you get old, you fail in what you been doing. I don t get anything frc~n the government They don t give nie any kind of help.

[Interview with Peterson, John] 337 332

30814 332 Interviewer Mrs. Bernice Bowden Person interviewed fohn Peterson - 1810 Eureka S~reet Pius Bluff Arkansas ~ I was small but I can re mber some bout slavery days. I was born down here in Louisiana. . ~I seed dem Yankees come through. Dey stopped dere and broke up all de bee gums. 3~ust tore em up. And took what dey could eat and went on. Dey was dom all dey could do. No teilLa what dey didn t do. People what owned de place just run off and left. Yankees come dero in de night. I tmem~r dat. ifad eirer thing excited, so my white folks just skipped out. Oh, yes, dey come back after the Yankees had gwine on. You could hear dem guns shoot in around. I heered my mother and father say de Yankees was fightin to free slavery. Run off? Oh Lawd yes ma ~ I heered em say dey was plenty of ~ em run off. George Swapsy was our owner. I know one thing, dey beat nie enough. Had. nie watchin.t de garden to keep de chickens out. And a~ietimes I d git to playin and fergit and de chickens would gi t in de garden and I d pay for it too. I can tm~,~r dat. Yes m, dat was before freedom. Dey was whippin all de colored people~..and me too. Yes m, dey give us plenty to eat, but dey didn t give us no clothes. I was naked halt my time. 1~t was when I was a little fellow. We all belonged to de same man. Dey never did ~ p~ us. &~t my mother was sold away from her people ~-~and my father, too. 11e come from Virginia.

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2. 333 No ma am, dey didn t have a big p1entation ~just a little place cleared up in the woods, He didn t have no wife~-~just two grown 20fl8 and dey bof went to the tar. Mars George died fore peace declared. He was a old fellow.~-and mean as he could be, I never went to school till I W~8 sixteen or seventeen years old, L~m was a colored fellow had a little learnin and we hired him two nights ixl de week for three dollars a month. Did it for three years. I can read a little and write n~y own nex~ie and sort of tend to my ovin business. Yes m, I used to vote after I got grown. Yes m, I did vote Republican. But de white people stopped us from votin . Dat was when Seymour and Blair was runnin , and I ain t voted none since~ I just quit. P ye known white people to ~o to the polls wif der ~ns and keep de colored folks from votin . Oh, dey was plenty of Ku Klux. I ve known ein to ketch people and whip ein and kill em. Dey didn t bother me WI didn t give em a chance. ia~ iau~ ~i eure member dem, ~ Younger generation? Well, ~ ss ~ re a lit tie too hard for rae . Hard to tell what ll become of em. I know one thing-~-.dey is wiser. Oh, my Lawdll A chile a year old know inore n I did. when T was ten. ~ie didn t have no chance. Didn t have nobody to learn us nothin , People is just gittin WU8S ever day. Kuhn em up ever day. Wuss now than dey was ten years a.

[Interview with Pettis, Louise] 339 334

#~j~ ~) ~ Interviewer MissIronoRoberbsor~ Person interviewed Louisepettis, Brinkley,Arkaaisas Age59 ~ St ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ Icr ~ ~wEs born at Aiken, South Carolina, She was Fr~ces Ro1~ens I was boni at Elba, South Carolina, forty miles belovr Augusta, eorgia. ~r pape. WRE born at Macon, Georgia. Both ~r par& s ~s sIave~ He farmed azid wac a Baptist pr&~cher1 Mama vrac e~ cook, M~~ was owned by soiiie o ~ the Willis. There viag threes Mike, Bill, and Logie Wi11i~, all brothers, and she lived with theia aU but ~who ciwned her I don t know, She never was sold. Papa ~waz~i t either, ~.ma lived at Aiken till papa ii~rried her, She belong to some of the Willis. They rarried after freedoia. She had throe husbands and fifteen children, Maiua had a soldier husband. He kook her to James Island. She rurzne~3 off frort him, Got back across the sea to Char1e~t~on to Auir~ Anette s~ She was inaitrn ~ ~ ister, ~rta sent back to Aiken and they got her took to her o ica~ Aunt Ariette had been sold to fo1k~ at Charleston. ~ waE~ Rachel Willis. She suokied some oi~ the Willis children. L~~ia suckled me and Mike Willis bogether, His n~na got sick and r~r n~ took him and raised hin, She got weil but their namers have left me. V~hen wo got sick the Willis wo~.en would send a hatiper basket f~u11 of ~rovisiona~ soii~~e cooked and so~r~o io be oooked~ I used to aweep their yards, They was white sand and not a sprig of grass nor a weed in there, ~MarL~a E~.nd papa was both &Iavcry nigger~ and they spoke mighty weil of their owners1

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2. 335 Papa said in slavezy times about two nights Lu a week they would have a dance. He. would slip off and go. Scunetimes he would get a pasBo He was a figger oaller bill he fessed religion ~ e time the pattyrollera oc~e iii. They said, All got passes tonight. When the~r had about danced dawn ii~r dadd~r got a shovelful of live coals and run about soa~bering it on th floor. All the niggera run out and he vias gone too. It was a dark night. A orowd went up the road and hero o ie the pattyrollers. One run into grapevLn s 8.01 OSS the road and tt~nbled off his horse. The niggers took to the *o~s theii. Pa tole us about liaw he studied up a way to g~b himself ai~d several others outer show~iig their passes that night. Master never found that out onhim. ~ Duril2g the War the~r sent a lot of the meat to feed the soldiers ou and kept the skins and sides. The~r tole thea if the Yanke s ask th a if th~r had enough to eat saar, tSee how greasy and sliok I is.t The~ greased their legs and arms to make thoen shine and look fat. The d st made the Ohapa look rusty. ~ Papa sexed his young mi life~ His naster was gone t , waz. He had proenised with others to take care of hei~ The Yankees come and didn t find moat. Il; was buried~ They oouldn t find much. Th~ got ~d and burned the house. Pa was a bqy, He rtm up there and begged folks not to burn the house; they prcmiised to take oare of e v erythbg. Papa bogged be let him get his mi tress and three-day old bab~r~ They cursed h n but he run in and got her and the baby. The house fell in beton th~ got out of the yard. He took her to the quarbers. ~pa ~a overstra~ed oarz~~g a log and limped as long as he lived~ Pa ivas hired o~r~ and they ~waa goner whoop hain and ho rim off and g.b back to the master. )~ nor pa. was never sol4

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3.. 336 We bad a reason to o ae owb here to Arkansa4 woran bad a whit husband and a black one too. The black busband told the white husband not ecsle about there no ~re. He cc o~ The black ~n ~.lled the white ~n at his door. They ~jnohod six or seven nigger4 They sure dH kill him~ That dissatisfied all the niggers. That took place in Barnwell C W~ South Carolins~ Three train loads of us lef t~. There was fifteen in our Thmi y. We was doing well. )~r pa had cattle a~id mone~j, They stopped the train befo ~ behind us the train wo was on. Put the ArI~nsas wbit ~n in A gusta jai34 They stopped us all there. We got to ec~ on We was headed for Pine Bluff, We got down there b ut Altheimer and they was living ~ in tezxt~s. Pa said he wasn t goiner teXr~ he didn t run aws~y froza South Carolina and he d go straight back. 1fr. ~ydelotb got eigl* families on track ab I~ob Roy to c me to Biscoe. We got a house here. Pa was old and theiy would listai at what he said~ He made a speech at Rob Rc~ ami told theta ~ ooeie to Biscoe. Eleven families ccms~ He had two hundred or three hundred dollars then in hiepooket to rattle. fie could get more. He grieved for South Carolina, so he went ba k and took us but ~ wanted to 001M back. The~r stayed back there a year or two~ Wo n~de a crap. Pa was the oldest bose in his cr wd.. We all come baok There was more room oixb here and so xnar~r ~ of us. The schools was better out there. I went to Miss Soofio3.dts College. All the teachers but three was oolored~ There was eight or te~i colored. teachers. It was at Aiken, South Carolina. Miss Criley was om sewbg mistress~ Miss Crile~r was white ai~d Miss Soofield was toot I didn t hare to re~sr. Rich folle in the Nortth run the school. No white children we~xt there~ I ththk the teaohers was eenb there

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4. 4~~) ~-4 jt_) j I taught; aehool out here at Blac cton and Moro and in Prairie County about. I got tired of it. I ~ie.rried and settled dawn. We owns ii~ hcsie here. J~r husband ivas a railroad nan. We lives by the hardest. nI don t laiow what beoom5ng of the young generatioi~ They shuns the field work. T~anes is faster than I ever seen thea. I liked the way times was before ihat last war (World War) Reckon when Will they get back like that ?tt

[Interview with Pettus, Henry C.] 343 338

30807 . ~ 338 Interviewer Miss Irene Robertson P91 80fl interviewed Een~vyC.~. Pettua~ Marianna~ Arkansas A~e8O I was born in Wilkes County, near Wash1n~ton, Georgia, My mother s owners was Dr. Pa1m~r and Sarah Palmer, They had three boys; Steve, George and ~ohn1e They lived in Washington and the farm I lived on was five miles southeast of town. It was fifty miles from Aug~ista, Georgia. He had another farm on the Augusta Road. He had a white mari overseers His name was Tom Newsom and his nephew, Tirranie Newsom, helped. He was pretty smooth most of the time. He got rough sometimes. Tom s wife was named Susie Newsom, Dick Gilbert had a place ~vsr back of ourse They sent things to the still at Dick Gilbert s. Sent peaches and apples and surplus corn. The st ill was across the ~hil1 from Dr. Palmer s farm. He d,idn t seem to drink much but the boys did. All three did. Dr. Palmer died in 1861. People kept brandy and whiskey in a closet and some had fancy bottles they kept, one brandy, one whiskey, on their mantel, Some owners passed drinks around like on Sunday morning. Dr. Palmer didn t do that but it wa~ done on some places before the Civil War. It wasn t against the law to make spirits for the ir own use That I s the way it was made Meal and flour was made the same way then. Mother lived in Dr. Palmerts office in Warren County. It was a very nice log house and had a fence to make the front on the road and the back enclosed like, Inside the fence was a tanyard and house at some distance

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2~ 339 and a very nice log house where Mr. Hudson lived. Dr. Palmer azid Mr. Hud8on had that place together. The shoemaker lived in Wa8hington In Dr. Palmer 8 back yard. He had his office and home all in the same. Mr. Anthony made all the shoes for Dr. Palmer s slaves and for white folk8 in town. He made rine nice shoes. He was considered a high class shoemaker. Mother was a field haiid, She wasn t real black. My father never did do much. He was a sort of a ftreman. He rode around, He was lighter than I am. He was old man Pettus ~ Old man Pettus had a great big farm~ land! land~ land~ Wiley and M1itO~ Roberts had fanas between Dr. Palmer and old man Pettus farm. Mother originally be1on~ to old man Pettus. He give Miss Sarah Palmer her place on the Augusta Road and his son the place on which his own h x~e was, They was his white children. He had two. Mother was h$ired by her young mistress Dr Palmer s wife Mi as Sarah. Father rode around, upheld by the old man Pettus. He never worked hard, I don t know if old man Pettus raised grandma or not; he never grandpa~ He was a Terrai, He died. when I was small. Grand~a was a field hand, He was the only colored man on the place allowed to have a dog, He was Dr. Palnier s stock man. They raised their own stock; sheep, goats, cows, hogs, mules, and horses~ None of us was ever seid that I know of. Mother had three boys and three girls. One sister died in infancy. One sister was married and renamed in Georgia. Two of my brothers and one sister come to Arkansas. Mother brought us boys to a new country. Father got shot and died from the wotab, He was a captain in the war. He was shot accidentally. Some of them was drinking and pranking with the guns. We lived on at Dr. Palmer a place till 1866. That was our first year in Arkansas, That was nearly two years. We never was abused0 My early life was very tavorable.

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3. 340 The quarters was houses b~i1t on each side of the road. Some set off In the field, They mu et have had stock law. We had pastures. The houses was joining the pasture. Mr~ Pope had a sawmill on his place. The saw run perpendicularly up and down. He had a grist mill there too, I like to go to mill. It was dangerou8 for young boys. Mr. Pope s farm joined us on one side. Oxen was used as team for heavy loads, Such a contrast in less than a century as trucks are in use now. I learned about oxen. They didn t go fast ceptin when they ran away. They would run at the sight of watcr in hot weather. They was dangerous if they saw the river and had to go down a steep bank, load or no load the way they went, If it was shallow they would wade but if lt was deep they would swim unless the load was heavy enough to pull them down. Oxen was interesting to me always. Children dithi t stay in town like they do now. They was left to think more for themselves. They hardly ever got to go to town. We raised a pet pig. Nearly every year we raised a pet pig. When mother would be out that pig would get my supper in spite of all I could do, The pig was nearly as large as I was. I couldn t do anything. We had a watermelon patch and soxnetimes sold Dr. Palmer melons. He let us have a melon patch end a cotton patch our own to work, Mother worked In moonli~ht and at odd times. They give that to her extra. We helped her work it, They give old people potato patches and let the children have goober rows, Land was plentiful. Dr. Palmer wasn t stingy with his alaves~very liberal. He was a man willing to live and let live so far as I can know of him. ~1X2~ring the Civil War things was quiet like where I was. The soldiers didn t e~ae throtigh till after the war was over. Then the Union soldiers took Washington. They come there after the surrender.

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4. :3411 Freedom The Union soldiers came in a gang out from Waahington ai . over the surrounding country, scouting about, and notified all the black fOlks of freedom. My tolka made arrangeraents to stay on. Pwo colored men went through the country getting folks to move to southwest Georgia but before mother decided to move anywhere along come two men and they had a he1per~ Mr~ Allen, It was Mr~ William H. Wood and Mr. Peter8 over here on Cat Island. They work d from Washington, Georgia. We consented to leave and 00x118 to Arkansas. We started and went to Barnetta station to Au~sta, t. Atlanta. There was so many tracks out of order, bridges been burnt. We crossed the river at Chattanooga, theu to Nashville, then to J ohn8onville. We took a boat to Cairo, then to Mexnphi8, then on to some landing out here~ Well, I never heard. We went to the Woods place and made a crop here in Arkansas iii 1866. I worked with sohn I. Foreman till 18 ?O and went back to the Woods farn till 1880. Then I went to the Bash place (now Mccullough tarin) s I farnied all along through lite till the last twelve years~ I started preaching In 18?5. I preach yet occasionally. I preached here thirty-8ix years in the Marianne Baptist church. I quit last year. My health broke down. Chilli waa ray worst worry In these swanipa. We made fine crops. In 1875 yellow fever come on. Black folks didn t have yellow fever at first but they later cane to have it. Some died of it. White folks had died in piles, It was hard times for some reason then. It was hard to get scme. thing to eat We couldn t get nothing from Memphis. Arrangements was made to get supplies from . Louis to Little Rock and we could go get them and send boats out here.

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5. p.1 ) tJ:t( J~ Iii 1875 was the tightest, hardest time In all my llfea A chew of tobacco cost ten cents0 In 1894-. 95 hard tintes struck me again. Cotton wae four and five cents a pounds flour three dollars a barrel, and meat Thur and five centa a pound0 We rai8ed so much of our meat that dlthi t make uxtich differences Money waa 80 SC~TC . Ku Klux I never was in the niid8t of them, They waa pretty bad In Georgia and In northeast part of this county. They was bad. 80 I heard. They sent for troops at Helena to settle things up at about Marion, Arkan8as now. I heard more of the Ku Klux In Georgia than I heard after we c i~e here And as t une went on and law was organized the Kti Klux disbanded everywhere. ~Trave1ing cond It ions was bad when we came to Arkansas. We rode in box cars, shabby passenger coaches. The boats was the best riding. As I told yotl we went way around on account of burnt out and torn up bridges. The South looked shabby. I haven t voted since 192? except I voted in favor of the Cotton Control Saturday before last. Times has corne up to a most deplorable condition, Craving exists. Ungratefulness. People want more than they can make. Some don t work hard and some won t work at all. I don t know how to improve conditions except by work except economical living, Sane would ~rk if they could. Some can work but t Sorae do work hard, I believe in bread by the sweat of the brow, and all work. The slaves didn t expect anything. They didn t expect war. It was going on a while before my parents heard of It, I was a little boy. They didn t know what it was for except their freed i.

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6. They didn t know what freedom was, They couldn t read. They never seen a newspaper like I take the Cc~mnercial Appeal now. I went to school a little in Arkansas. My father being old man Pettus son as he was may have been given s uetbin~ by Misa Sarah or Dr. Palmer or by his white son, but the old man was dead and I doubt that. Father was killed and mother left. Mother knew she had a home on Dr. Palmer ~ land. as 1on~ as she needed one but she left to do better. In sane ways we have done better but it was hard to live in the se bottoms, It is a fine country now. I own eighty aeres of land. and this house. (Good house and furnished well0) We made six bales of cotton last year. My son lives here and his wife~a Chicago reared i~ulatto, a cook. He runs my farm. I live very well.

[Interview with Phillips, Dolly] 349 344

eD~ ~. ~ C .~ . !~j~j~ .~ . 344 Interviewer Miss ~ Person interviewed Dolly Thiiliys~ Olarendon~, A~aiisas~ A e~_~k? ~ I ain t no ex-slave. I am 6? years old. I was born out here on the Mullin8 place. My mother s master was Mr. Ricks and MISS ~imna Ricks. My mother named Diana and my father Henry ~lline. I never saw my grand fathers and I seen one grandma I reu~embers. My mother had ten children. My father said he never owned mithin tu his life but six horses. ehen they wa~ treed they got oft to their selves and started farming. See they belong to different folks. My father smaster was a captain of a mixed regiment. They was in the war four years. I heard em say they went to Galveston, Texas. The Yankees was after em. ~it I don t know how it was. ~I heard em say they put their heads under big black pot to pray. They say sing easy, pray easy. I forgot whut all she say. I lives wid my daughter. I get8 commodities from the Welfare some. The YOUfl folks drinks a heap now. It look lack a waste of money to ~

[Interview with Piggy, Tony] 350 345

~:;:/~\ I t_._1 ~J ~-:1i: 3 t; . ~ ~ Interviewer Miss Irene Robertson Person IntervlewedTorQ Pi$~y Age75 Brinkley, Ark. ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ I wa~ born near Selma, Alabama, but I was raised in Mississippi. My grandpa was sold from South Carolina to Moster Alexander Piggy. He didn t talk plain but rn~ papa didn t nother, Moster Piggy bought a gang of blaok folks in South CarolIna and brought em into the state of Alabama. My papa was mighty near full-blood African, I ll tell you. Now nia was mixed, 01 m most too young to recollect the war. Right after the war we had small pox. ~viy uncle died and there was seven children had em at one time, The bushwhackers come in and kicked us around - kicked my uncle around, We lived at Union Town, Alabama then. Aunt Connie used to whip us. Mama had no time; she was a chambermaid (housewoman). The only thing I recollect bout slavery time to tell is Old Mistress pour out a bushell of ponders (peanuts) on the grass to see us pick ein up and set out eating em. Then they wont to town they would bring back things like cheese good to eat. We got some of what the~r had most generally. She wasn t so good ; she whoop me with a cow whip. She d make pull candy for us too. I got a right smart of raisin in a way but I growed up to be a wild young man. I been converted since then. Well, one day pa corne to our house and told mama tW0 free, don t bs~ve to go to the house no more, git ready, we all goin to

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Mississippi. Moster Piggy goiner go. He gonex~ rent us twenty acres and we goner take two cows and a mule. We was all happy to be free and goin oIT somewhere. Moster Piggy bought land In Mississippi and put familles renters on it. Moster Piggy was rough on the grown folks but good to the children. The work didn t let up. We railly had more clearin and fences to make. His place In Alabama was pore and that was new ground. There was all toll nine children In my family. Ma was named Matty Piggy. Papa was named Ezra Piggy. Moster Alexander Piggy s wife named Harriett. I knowed Ed, Charley, Bowls, Ells, and Liza. That s all I ever knowd. ni have done so many things. I run on a steamboat from Cairo to New Orleans - Kate Adams and May F. Carter. They called me a Rouster - that means a working man. I run on a boat from Newport to Memphis. Then I farmed, done track work on the raIl road, and farmed some more. The young gener~tion aintt got respect for old people and they tryin to live withput work. I ain t got no fault to f md with the times If I was bout forty years younger than I is now I C OU id work ri ght ahead. ~? /~ (~ L~U

[Interview with Pittman, Ella] 352 347

34~ #784 lute rviewer Bernie e Bowden Per8on interviewed Ella Pittman L.4 ~ We8t ~1ev& th~treet, ~The ~iuff, A1 kans Age~4 Yes ma m, I was born in slavery days. I tell you I never had no n~ne. : iy old. master named me ~ ~u.st called me Puei7 and sa