~1and
pis. 23, 1937 ~ ~(~4(~	(Stories from ex-‘slaves) ~gerS.

M&RY NORIAH ANNE SUSA1~NA JAIvIES ‚ Ex-slave.



Reference:	Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave, ~ Sept. 1937, at her home, 618 flaw St., Baltimore, Md.





	“My father‘s naine was Caleb Harris James, and my mother‘s name was lVary Moriah. Both of them were o~ied by Silas Thornton RandQrph, a distant relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the pict‘fre of Patrick Henry ~rtany a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and two brothers. Two of my sisters were sold to a slave dealer from Georgia, one died in 1870. One brother ran away and the other joined the Union Army; he died in the soldiers‘ home in W~.shington in 1932 at the age of 84.

	“Now let me ask you, who told you ahou-~ me? I knew that a stranger was coming, my nose has been itching for several days. Now about my home life in Virginia, we lived on the James River in Virginia, on a farm conta5ning more than 8,000 acres, fronting 3 1/2 miles on the river, with a landing where boats used to come to load tobacco and unload goods for the farm. .

	“The quarters where we lived on the plantation oalt~d Randorph Manor were built like horse stables that you see on race tracks; they were I 1/2 story high, about 25 feet wide, and about 75 feet long, with windows in the sides of the roofs. A long shelter on the front and at the rear. In front, people would have benches to sit on, and on the back were nails to hang pots and pans. Each fathly would haire rooms according to the size of the family. There were 8 such houses, 6 for families and one for the girls and the other for the boys • In the quarters we had furniture made by the overs eer and o ob red carpenters; they would make the tables, benches and beds for everyb9dy. Our beds were ticking filled with straw and covers made of anything we could cet.

‚ ~ “I have a faint recol lection of my grandparents . My grandfather