Untitled Section 001

A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY THE FEDERAL WRiTERS PROJEC t .~ 1936 1938 ASSEMBLED BY THE LIBRARY 0F CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPONSORED B~ THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated with Photographs WASHINGTON 1941 NARRATIVES SLAVE

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VOLU1~ VIII MkRYLAND NARRATIVES .7- Prepared by the Federal Writer9 Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Maryland

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INFORMANTS Brooks, Lucy Colos, Ch&rles Deane, James V. Fayrnan, Mrs. i~. S. Foote, Thomas Gassaway, ~Ienellis Hanmiond, Caroline Harris, Page Henson, A~inie Young Jackson, Rev. Silas 3~e.mes, James Caihart 1 ~rarnes, Mary Moriah Anne Susanna 4 ~rohnson, Phillip crones, George 6 Lewis, Alice 10 Lewis, Perry 14 Macks, Richard 1 ? Randall, Tom 19 22 Siiriins, Dennis 26 Taylor, iim 29 Wiggins, Tames 34 Williaris, Rezin (Parson) 37 41 44 46 49 51 57 60 63 66 68

Aunt Lucy Brooks. 004 001

(aryland -23-37 ~9O~()2 ~: t u~rie - (Ex- slave storise) ~ Referenoes s Interview with ~unt Lucy end her son, Lafayette Brooks. Aunt Liio y, au ex-slave, lives with her son, Lafayette Brooks, in a shack on the Carroll um Springe property at Forest Glen, Montgomery Co~mty, Md. To go to her home frc~ Rookville, 1~v the Coure House going east on Montgomery Ave ~ aiid follow US Kighivay No. 240, otherwise biown as the Rockyille Pike, in its southeasterly direction, four and one half miles to the junction with it OU the 1~tt (east) of the Garrett Park Road. This junction is directly opposite the entrance to the Georgeto~ Preparatory School, which is on thewest of this road. Turn left on the 9arrett Park Road and follow it through that ( place and crossing Rook Creek go to Kensington. Here cross the tracks of the B. & O. R.R. and parallel theia onward to Forest Glen. From the railroad station in this place go onward to Forest Glen. From the railrc*d station in thia place go onward on the same road to the third lane branching off to the left. This lane will be identified by the sign Carcoll Springs Inn. Turn left here and. enter the ground of the inn. &it do not go up in front of the jim itself ~1iich is one quarter of a mile from the road. netead, where the drive swings to the right to go to the inn, bear to the left and continue dom~v~rd fifty yards toward the swi~wiing pooL Lucy ; shack i. on the left end one hundred feet west of th pool it is about eleven miles froii Rookv~ille. Lucy is an usual type of Negro and moat probably is a descendant of less reliLotely remo~red African ancestors than the avrage plantation Negroes She does not appe~ to b. a mixed blood - a good guess would be that she is pure blooded Senega~tbien. She is tall and very thin, end oonsidering her evident great ag., very erect, her head is very broad overh*ngin~ ears her forehead broad en~ not so receeding as that of the average. Her eyes are side apart and are bright a~.

005 002

~ 2 keen. She liai no defeot in h.az ing. Following F~ 8O~O quertions and her an~were s ~Luoy~, did you belong to the Carrolla before the war? k~O8ah, I didxie lib around hah den. I.e born don on de bay . H~~ old are you? Dumic sah. ~LteS Arme, ahe had it written down in her book, ~zt she saidtwas too muoh trouble for her tc be al~ays lookin it up . (Her eon, Lafayette, says he was her eldest child and that he was born on the Severn River, in Maryland, the 15th day of October, 1872. Supposing the mother was tw~zity five years old then, she would be about ninety now. 8o~ue think she is more than a hundred years old). Who did you belong to? t I beloflged to Missus Ann Garner . Did she have ~iiy slavee? ( ,~ssuh. She had eevent -five left she hadnt sold when the war ended . What kind of work did you have to do? o, ehe would set me to pickin up feathers round de yaird. She had a powerful lot of geese. Den when I got a little bigger she had me set the table. i: ~as just a little gal then. Missue used to say that she ~a. going to make a nurse outen me. Said she was gwine to s~ me to Baltimo to learn to be a nurse . And uhat did you think about that? . Oh; I thought that would be tine.. but he uai came befo I got big enough to learn to be a nursa . I re~aebers vhen the soldiers came. I think they were Yankee soldiers. De never hurt anybody but they took what they oould find to eat and thay mad. us cook for them. I remebers that ~e and some other il gal s had a play house but when they came nigh I got skeered. I just ducked through a hole in the fenoe and ran out in the field. One of the soldiers seed me and he hollers look at that rat run . I remebere ithen the Great Eastern (steamship which laid the Atlantic cable) C into the bay. Missus inn, and ail the uhite folks went down to Fairhaven i!iarf

006 003

~I to se. dat big shop . I itayed on de plantatioEk awhile after d war and heped de MiSBUS in de house. Den I went away . I.e had eight ohillun. Dey ai . died and thirnin azil bis brothr (r.ferri4g to Lafayette). Den his brother died too. I said h. ou~it ter died inetid o hie brother. Why? Beoauee thisun got eo skeered when he was little bein carried on a hoe that he los hie .p.eoh and de wouldt let me ee im for two 4ay.. It waa a long time bfor he I earned to talk again . (To this day he has euoh an impediment of speech that it is painful to hear him nmke ~ the effort to talk). What did you bave to eat domi on the plantation, Aunt Lucy? I hab mostly olabber, fieI~- aM corn bread. We gets plenty of fish do~ on de bay . When ~ ot~n up here we worke in the oie Forest Glen hotel. Mistah Charley Keys owned the place th~. We stayed there after ir. Caseidy oc~e. (Mr. Caseidy was the founder of the National ~ark 8e~uinary, a school for girls ). My eon Lafayette worked that . f r thirty five years Then we awn to Carroll Spring. Inn .

Charles Coles, ex-slave. 007 004

Maryland ~u/15/37 ~ 19OC~36 Roaer~. . ~ (Ex-slave stories) 9 ~937 CHARLES COLES, Ex-slave ~eferenCe: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home, 1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, i~d. ~i was born near Pis~a1i, a small village in the western part of Charles Count~j, about 1851. 1 do not know who my parents were nor my relatives. I was reared on a large Larm owned by a man by the name of Silas.. Dorsey, a fine Christian gentleman and a member oi~ the Catholic Church. . ivir. Dorse~j was, a x~an of excellent reputation and character, was loved b~r all tho knew him, black arid white, especially his slaves. He was never known to be harshd~ cruel to an~ of his slaves, of which he had more than 75. The slaves were Mr. Dorsey s family group, he and his wife were very considerate in all their dealings. In the winter the slaves wore ~ood heavy clothes and shoes and in summer they were dressed in fine clothes. ni have been told that the Dorseys farm contained about 3500 acres, On which were 75 slaves. We had no overseers. Mr. and iv:rs Dor sey managed the farm . They re quired the farm hands to work ~ ~ from ~7 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.; after that their time was their own. There were no jails nor was any whipping done on the farm. No one was bought or sbld. 1fr. and Mrs. Dorsey conducted regular religious services of the Catholic church on the farm in a chapel erected for that purpose andin which the slaves were taught the catechism and some learned how to read and write and were aaslsted by some Catholic priests who came to the farm on church holidays and on Sundays for that purpose. ~then a child was boxn, it was baptised by ~ A t~ ~ ~ J

008 005

-2- 5 the priest, and given names and they were recorded in the Bible. We were taiight the rituals of the CathoI c~ church and when any one died, the funeral was conducted by a priest, the corpse was buried in the Dorseys graveyard, a lot of about 1~ acres, surrounded b~j cedar trees and well cared for. The only difference in the craves was that the Dorsey people had marble markers and the slaves had plain stones. TrI have never heard of any of the Dorseys L slaves running away. We did not have any trouble with the white people. The slaves lived in good quarters, each house was weatherboarded and stripped to keep out the cold. I do not reniember whether the slaves worked or not on Satt~rdays, but I know the holidays were their own. LIr. Dor~ey did not have dances and other kinds of antics that you expected to. sind on other plantation8. We had many marbles and toys that poor children had, in that day my favorite game was marbles. Then we took s ick Mr and Ivirs . Dorsey had a doctor who admistered to the slaves, giving madical care that they needed. I am still a Catholic and will always be a member of St. Peter Clavier urt1

James V. Deane, ex-slave. 009 006

V1~.nd ~J r~ k:;. 20, 1937. ~ ~rs (Stories from ex-slaves) G JAMES V DEANE Ex-slave. Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave on Sept. 1937, at his home~l514 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore. My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose Bay in Charles County, ~Iay 20, 1850. ~y mother was the daughter of Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my fatherts people. I have two sisters both of whom are living, Sarah and Elizabeth Ford, I Was born in a lo~ cabin, a t,rpical Charles County log cabin, ab Goose Bay on the Potomac River. ~he plantation on which I was born fronted more than three miles on the rive~. The cabin had two rooms, one up and one down, very large with two windows, one in each room. There were no porches, over the door was a wide board to keep the rain e~id snow from beating over the top of the door, with a large log chimney on the outside, plastered he~ tween the iogs, in which was a fireplace with an open grate to cook on and to put logs on the fire to heat.~ We slept on a home-~made bedstead, on which was a stx~aw mattress and upon that wasa ieather mattress, on which we used quilts made by my mother to .~ ~ cover. As a slave I worked on the farm with other small boys thinning corn, watching watermelon p~ttches and later I worked in wheat and tobacco fields. The slaves never had nor earned any cash money. Our food was very plain, such as fat hog meat, fish and vegetables raised on the farm and corn bread made up with salt a~id water. . s, I have hunted o po ssums and coons The last time I went coon hwating, we treed something. It fell out of the tree, everybody took

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2 to their heels, ~white and colored, the white men outran the colored hu L~er, leading the gang. I never went hunting afterwards, . My choice food was fish and crabs cooked in all styles by mother. You have asked about gardens, yes, some slaves had small garden patches which they worked by moonlight. ~ As for clothes, we all wore home-made clothes, the material woven on the looms in the clothes house. In the winter we had woolen clothes and in summer urfclothes were made from cast-off clothes an&Kentucky jeans. Our shoes were brogans with brass tips. On Sunday we fed the stock, after which we di d what we wanted. nI have seen in~ny slave weddings, the master holding a broom handle, the groon jumping over it as a p~rt. of the wedding ceremony. When a slave married someone frc~a another plantation, the master of the wife owned all the children, For the wedding the groom wore ordinary clothes, sometimes you could not tell the ori~iral outfit for the patohe~, and sometimes Kentucky jeans. The bride s trousseau, she would wear the oast~off clothes of the mistress, or, at. other times the clothes made by other slaves. lIt was said our plantation contained I ,000 acres. We had a large number of slaves, I do not know the number. Our work was hard, from sunup to sundowti. The slaves were not whipped. There was only one slave ever sold from the plantation, she was my aunt. The mistress slapped her one day, she struck her back. She was sold and taken south. We never saw o r heard of her afterwards. We went to the white Methodist church with slave gallery, only white preachers. We sang with the white people.. The Methodists were christened and ~ the Baptists were baptised. I have seen many colored ~unerals with no service.. 4 graveyard zt the place, only a wooden post tO sh * where you were b ried.

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8 3-s None of the slaves ran away. I have seen and heard iitar~y patro11ers~, but they never whipped any of Mason s slaves. The method of conveying news, you tell me and I tell you, but be careful, no troubles between whites and blacks. After work was done, the slaves would smoke, sing, tell ghost stories and tales, danc~es, music, home-made fiddles. Saturday was work day like any other day. ~e had all legal holidays. Christmas momin~ we went to the bi~ house and got presents and had a big time ai . day. At corn shucking all the slaves fr m other plantations would corne to the barn, the fiddler would sit on top of the highest barrel of corn, and play all kinds of songs, a barrel of cider, jug of whiskey, one man to dish out a drink of liquor each hour, cider when wanted, We had supper at twelve, roast pig for everybody, apple sauce, hominy, and corn bread. We went back to shucking. 1 The carts from other farms would b~ there to haul it to the corn crib, dance would start after the corn was stored, we danced until daybreak. The only games ~ we played were marbles mumbl e pegs and ring plays. We sang London Bridge. When we wanted to meet at nicht we had an old conk, we blew that, We all woul d meet on the bank o f the Potomac River and sing acre s s the river to the slaves in Virginia, and they would sing back to us. ~tSome people say thereare no ghosts, but I saw one and I ara satisLied, I saw a~ old lady who was dead, she was only five feet from me, I met her face to face. She was a white woman, I knew her, I liked to tore the door off the hinges getting away. My master s name was Thomas Mason, he was a man of weak mental disposition, his mother managed the affairs. 11e was kind, Mrs. Mason had a good disposition, she never permitted the slaves to be punished. The ir~ain house was very large with porches on three sides. No children, no overseer.

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1 ~ -. 4. ~/ The poor white people in Charles County were worse off thtn the slaves, because they could not get any work to do, on the plantation, the slaves did ail the work. Some time ago you asked did I ever see slaves sold. I have seen slaves tied behind buggies going to Washington and some to Baltimore. et~o one was taught to read. We were taught the Lord s Prayer and catechism. Wh~i the slaves took sick Dr. Hen~ y Mudd, the one who gave Booth first aid, was our doctor. The slaves had herbs of their owa, and made their owil salves. The only charms that were worn were made out of bones. 1 . ~ . ~ ~ ~ .. . ~

Mrs. M. S. Fayman. 013 010

Maryland 11/3/37 . It) Ro erS ~ ~ (Ex-~s1ave stories) -~ ~/~Li~~)( MRS . M . S FAYi~AN Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayrnan, at her home, Cherry fleights near Baltimore, IVid. UI was born in St. Nazaire Parish ii-j Louisiana, about 60 miles south of Baton Rouge, in 1850. M~ father and mother were Creoles, both of them were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very infLuential. My father s name was Henri de Sale s and. mother s maiden name Marguerite Sanche z De Haryne I had two brothers Henri and Jackson named after General Jackson, both of whom died quite young, leaving irie th only living child. Both mother and father were born and reared in Louisiana. We 1ived~ ~ ( in a large and spacious house surrounded by flowers and situated o~J~ ~ 7,.~. ~ a farm containing about 750 acres, on which we raised pelicans for~~ ~ sale in the market at New Orleans. When I was about b years old I was sent to a private School in Baton Rouse, conducted by French sisters, where I stayed until I was kidnapped in 1860. At that time I did not know how to speak English ; French was the language spoken in my household and by . the people in the parish. Baton Rouge, situated on the Mississippi, was a river port and stopping place for all largeriver boats, especially between New Orleans and large towns and cities x~orth. We children were taken out by the si8ters after school and on Saturdays and holidays to walk. One of1 the places we went was the wharf. One day in June and on &. Saturday a large boat was at the wharf going north on the Mississippi River. We children were there. Somehow, I was separated from the other children. I was taken upbodily by a whtte man, carried on ~

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~2 - t the boat, put in a cabin and kept there until we got to ~ouisvi11e, Kentucky, where I was taken off. After I arrived in Louisville I was taken to a farm near Frarikfort and installed there virturally a slave until 1864, when I escaped through the kindness of a delightful Episcopalian woman from C Inc innat~i Ohio As I could not speak English, my chores were to act as a tutor and companion for the children of Pierce Buekran :aaynes, a well known slave trader and plantation oWner in Kentucky. Haynes wanted his children to s~peak French and it was. my duty to teach theni. I was the private companion of 3 girls and one small boy, each day I had to talk French and write French for them. They became very proficient in French and I in the .~ ( rudiment s of the English language . n ~ slept in the children s quarters with the Hayne s children, ate and played with them. I had all the privileges of the household accorded me with the exception of one, I never was taken off nor permitted to leave the plantation. While onthe plantation I wore good clothes, siniilar.to those of the white children. Hayne s wa s 8. inerc ile s s brutal tyrant with hi s s Ia ye s punishing them severly and cruelly, both by the lash and in the jail on the plantation. . . ~ tiThe name of the plantation where I was held as a slave was called Beatrice Manor, after the wife of Haynes.. Itcontained 8000 acre~,. of which more than 6000 acres were~ under cultivation, and having about 350 colored slaves and 5 or 6 overseers all ~of whoiu were white . The overseers were the overlords of the ina~or; as flaynes dealt extensively in tobacco and trading in slaves, he was away from the plantation nearly all the time There was 1cc at~

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12 ed on the top of the large tobacc.o warehouse a large bell, which was rung at sun up, twelve o1clock and. at sundown, the year round. Cn the farm the slaves were assigned a task to do each da~r and in the event it was not finished they were severely whipped. While I never saw a slave whipped, I did see ti~ern afterwards, they were veri badly marked and striped by the overseers who did the whippin~. HI have been back to the farni on several occasions, the first time in 1B72 when. I took ray father there to show him the arm0 At t:~at time it was owned by Colonel Hawkins, a Confederate Arm~j officer. Let me describe the huts, these buildings were built of stone, each one about 20 feet v~ide, 50 feet long, 9 feet high in the rear, about 12 feet high in front, with a slanting roof of chestnut boards and with a sliding door, two windows between each door back and front about 2 x 4 feet, at each end a door and window similar to those on the side. There were ten such buildings, to each building there was another building 12 x 15 feet, this was where the cooking was done At each end of each building there was a fire place built and used Thr heating purposes. In front of each building there were barrels filled with water supplied by pipes from a large spring, situated about 300 yards on the side of a hill which was very rocky, where the stones were quarried to build the buildings on the farm. On the outside near each window and door there were iron rings firmly attached to the walls, through which an Iron rod was inserted and locked each end every night, making it impossible for those inside to escape. There was one building used as a jail, built of stone about 20x40 feet with a hip roof about 25 feet high, 2-story, On

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-4rn. the ground In each end was a fire place; in one end a small room, which was used as office; adjoining, there was another room where the whipping was done. To reach the second story there was built on the outside,steps leadin~g to a door, through which the fema1e~ prisoners were taken to the room. All o1~ the buildings had dirt floors. . UI do not know much about the Negroes on the plantation who were there at that time . Slave s were brought a~d taken away always chained together, men walkin~g and women in ox carts. I had heard of several escapes and many were captured. One of the overseers had a pack of 6 or 8 trained blood hounds which were used to trace escaping slaves. ~ Before I close let me give you a sketch of my family tree. My grandmother was a Haitian Negre s s grandfather a Frenchman . My father was a Creole. . ttAfter returning home in 1864, I completed my high school education in New Orleans in 1870, graduated from Fisk University 1874, taught French there until l88~3, married Prof. Fayman, teacher of history and English. Since then I have lived in Washington, New York, and Louisiaxma. For further information, write me (col.), Baltimore, to be forwardedtt.

Thomas Foote's story (a free Negro). 017 014

r ~i.y1and (Negro material) ~ 16, 1937 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~)th gez S ~ ~ p THOMLS FOOTE S STORY (A free Negro) Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote at his home, Cookeysville, Md. My mother s name was Eliza Foote and my father s name was Thomas Foote. Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm about a mile east of Cookeysville, a village situated on the Northern Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City. My mother s maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of Baltimore County. In her younger days she was employed by Dr.~Ensor, a homeopathic medical doctor of Cobkeysville who was a noted doctor in his day. Mrs. Ensor, a very refined and cultured woman, taught her to read and write. My mother s duty along with her other work was to assist Dr. Eiisor in the making of some of his medicine. In gaining practicCai experience and knowledge of different herbs. and roots that Dr. Ensor used in the compounding of hisraedicine, used them for ccxmxnercial purposes for herself among the slaves and free colored p~ ople of Baltimore County, especially of the Merryxnans, Ridgelys, Roberts, Cockeye and Mayfields. Her faine reached as far south as Baltimore City aixi north of Balti- more as far as the Pennsylvania line and the surrounding territo ry. She was styled and caLled the doctor woman both by the slaves and the free people. She was suspected by the white people i~ut confided in by the colored people both for their ills and their troubles. My mother prescribed for her people and ccmpounded medicine out of the same le ayes herbs and roots that Dr Ensor did. Naturally her success along these lines was good. She also delivered many babies and acted as a midwife for the poor whites and the slaves and free Negroes of which there were a number in Baltimore County/ The colored people have always been religiously inclined, believed in the power of prayer and whenever she attended anyone she always preceeded

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~. :15 -2 with a prayer. Mother told me and I have heard ~r te .1 othex~ hundreds of times, that one time a slave of old man Cockey was seen oomin~ from her home early in the morning. He had been there for treatn~ent of an ailment whioh Dr. Ensor had failed to cure. After being treated by my mother for a tinte, he got well. ~When this slave was searched, he had in his possession a sinai). bag in which a stone of a peculiar shape and several roots were found. He said that mother had given it to him, and it had the power over all with whom it osiue in contaot. There were about this time a nwnber of white people ~io had been going through Cookeysville, some trying to find out if there was any concerted move on the part of the slaves to run away, others oontlaoting the free people to find out to what extent they had ~ ~..t news of the action of the .r~ egroes The Negro was who h&c1~ ~een~ seen coming from mot~1er s hoene ran away. She wa8 iirnnediately accused of Voodooism by the whites of Cookeysville, she was taken to Towson jail, there confined and grilled by the sheriff of Baltimore County the Cockeye, and several other men, all demanding that she tell where the escaped slave was. She knowing that the only way he could bave escaped was by the York Road, north or south, the florthern Central Railroad or by th way of Deer Creek, a small creek east of Cockeysville. Both the York Road and the railroad were being watched, she logical y thought that the only place was Deer Creek, so she told the sheriff to searoh Deer Creek. By accident he was found about eight miles up Deer Creek in a swamp with several . other colored men who had run av~ay. Mother was ordered to leave Baltimore County or to be sold into slavery. She went to York, Pennsylvania, where she stayed until l8~35, when she returned to her home in Gockoyeville; where a great i~.hy of her descendants live, now, on a bill that slopes west to Cookeysville Station, and is known as Foote s Hill by both white and colored people of Baltimore County today.

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:1 3- nI was born iii Cockeysville in 1867, where I have lived since; ~ reared a family of five children, three boys and two girls. I ara a member of the A.M.E. Church at Cookeysvi .Ie, I am a meraber of the Masonic Lodge and belong to Odd Fellows at Towson, Maryland. The Foote s descendants still own five or more homes at Cockeysville, and we are kno~n from one end of the county 0$ to the other. (

Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave. 020 017

~r1and t. 22, 1~7 ~ ~ers ~ (Stories from ex-slaves) :1~7 ~. ~I !ELLIS GASSAYJAY~, Ex-slave. Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave, on Sept. 1937, at M.E. Home, Carroilton Ave., Baltimore. My naine i~ ~onel1is Gassaway, son of Ovdn~ and innabel Gassaway. I was born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about l85Q~ or 52, brother of Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll County near Eld.ersherg in a stone and log c&bin, consisting of two rooms, one up and one down, with four windows, two in each room, on a small farm situated on a public road, I don t know tile name. H~y father worked on a small farm with no other slaves, but our family. We raised on the farm ve~etabIes and grain, consistin~ of oorn and wheat. Our farm produced wheat and corn, which was taken to the grist mill to be ground; besides, we raised hogs and a small number of other stock for food. t~j~rjfl~ the time I was a slave and the short time it was, I can t remember what we wore or very much about local conditions. The people, that is the white people, were friendly with our family and other colored people so far aS I c~n recall. I do not recall of seeing slaves sold nor did the man who owtied our family buy or se l slaves. He was a small man. n As to the farm, I do not know the size, but I know it was small. On the farm there was no jail, or punishment inflicted on Pap or. Ma while they were there. ttThere was no church on the farm, but we were members of the old side Methodist church, having a colored preacher. The church was a long ways ~ ~ fr ~ the ~ 4~*. . ~

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-2- 18 My father negleoted his own education as well as his children. He could not read himself. He did not teach any of his children to read, of which we in later years saw the advantage. In Carroll County there were so many people who were Union men that it was dangerous for whites in some places to say they were Rebels. This made the colored and white people very friendly. Pap was given holidays when he wanted. I do not lmow whether he worked on Saturdays or not. On Sunday we went to church. My father was owned by a man by the name of !~rir. Dorsey. My mother was bound out by Mr. Dorsey to a man by th narrte of Mr. Norris of Frederick County. I have never heard of m~ny ghost stories, But I believe once, a conductor on the railroad train was killed and headed ~ beheaded~ and after that, a ghost would appear on the spot where he was killed. Many people in the neighborhood saw him and people on the train often saw him when the train passed the spot where he was killed. So far as being sick, we did not have any doctors. The poor white could not afford to hire one, arxl the colored doctored themselves with herbs, teas and salves made by themselves .

Caroline Hammond (a fugitive). 022 019

u. ~ 1938 ~e1$ (Ex~c1ave stories) ~ ~ .~ 19 CAPOLDJE HA!V~OND : ~ ~: ~ ~ ~ (A fugitive) 4 : ~ ~ ~ ***** ** Interview ~\t her hoene, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md. ~ I P s I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 ~i1es from South River 11) the year 1844. The dau~ter of a free irian and a s I ave wonian, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a s lave owner and farmer of ~jine Anu~del. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farn all of whom lived in small huts with the exception of several of the household help vtho ate arid slept in the manor house. My mother being one of the household ~iaves, enjoyed certain privileges that the farm slaves d~d not. She was the head cook of Mr. Davidson s household. ~ ( Mr. Davidson and his family were considered people of high social standing in Annapolis and the people in the county. Mr. Davidson entertained on a large scale, especially ma~iy of the officers of the Naval Adadei~r at Annapolis and his friends from Baltimore. Mrs. Davidson s dishes were con~sidered the finest, and to receive an invitation from the Davidsons nieant that you would enjoy 1~ryland s finest terrapin and chicken besides the best wine and champagne on the market. All of the cooking was supervised by mother, and the table was waited on by Uncle Billie, dressed in a uniform, decorated with brass buttons, braid and a fancy 7est, his hands incased in white gloves. I can see him naw, standing at the door, after he had runc the bell, When the family and guests came in he took his position behind Mr. Davidson ready to serve or to pass the plates, after they had been decorated withmeats, fowl or ~whatever Was to be eaten by the family or guest. Mr. Davidson was very good to his slaves, treating them with every consideration that he oouild, with the exo eption of freeing them; but Mrs Davidson was har4 on all the slaves, whenever she had the opportunity, driving them

023 020

:. 2() 2-. ~ 1~11 speed when working, giving different food of a coarser grade and not much of it. She was the daug,hter of one of the Revel is of the county, a family whose reputation was known all over Llaryland for their brutality with their slav ~s, I:lothor with the consent of Mr. Davidson, married George Berry, a free colored mau of Annapolis with the proviso that he was to purchase mother within three years after marriage for ~75O dollars and if any children were born they ;rere to go with lier. My father was a carpenter by trade, his services were much ~r. demand. This cave him an opportunity to save money. Father often told me that he could save more than he~lf of his income. He had pl i~ty of work, doing repair and building, both for the white people and free colored people. Father paid Mr. Davidson for mother on the partial pa~mentplan. He had paid up all but ~4O on mother s account, when by accident Mr. Davidson was shot while ducking on the South River by one of the du~ok hunters, dying instantly. Mrs. Davidson assumed full control of the farm and the slaves. When father wanted to pay off the balance due, ~4O.OO, Mes. Davidson refused to accept it, thus nother and I were to remain in slavery. Being a free man father had the privilege to go where he wanted to, provided he was endorsed by a white man who was known to the people and sheriffs, constables and fficials of public convei-. ances. By bribery of the sheriff of Anne Arunde . County father was given a passage to Bal timor o for mother and me On arri ving in Baltimo re moth er, fa ther and I went to a white family on Ross Street -. now Druid Hill Ave., where ~re were shelter-. od by the occupants, who were ardent supporters of the Underground Railroad. A reward of ~5O.OO each was offered for my father, mother and me, or~ by Mrs. Davidson and the other by the Sheriff of Anne Arundel County. At this time the Hooketown Road was one of tho main tur~ipikes into . A Mr. ~ Coleman whose brother-in-.law lived in Pennsylvania, used a large covered wagon to tran8-. port merchandise from Bal thnore to different villages along the turnpike to Hanover, Pa., where he lived. Mother and father and I were concealed in a large wagon drawa by six horse8. On our way to Pennsylvania, we never alighted on the ground

024 021

-3- 21 in any co~uriunity or close to any settlement, fearf~d of being apprehended by people who were always looking for rewards. After arriving at Hanover, Peimsylvania~ it was easy for us to ~et transportation farther north. They made their wa~ to Scranton, Pen~nsy1~ vania, in which place they both secured positions in the saine family. Father artd mother s salary combined was ~27.5O per month. They stayed there until 1869. In the meantime I Was beine taucht at a quaker mission in Scranton. ~flien we came to Baltimore I entered the 7th grade grammar school in South Baltimore. After fitishing the grammar school, I followed ~ookin~ all my life before and after inarria~,e. lAy husband James Berry, who waited at the iioviard House, died in 1927 aced 84. On my next birthday, which will occur on the 22nd of November, I will be 95. I can see well, have an excellent appetite, ~ r~ grandchildren will act me eat only certain things that they say the doctor ordered I should eat. On Chris nas Day 49 children and grand children and saine great-grandchildren gave me a Xmas dinner and one hundred dollars for Xmas. I am happy with all the comforts d~ a poor person not dependant on any one else for tomorrow .

Page Harris, ex-slave. 025 022

~1aud . . ~ .. o. 13, 1937 i~ ~ gerS ~ (Ex-elave etorie ) ~ 22 PAGE HARRIS, Ex-alave Reference z - Personal interview with Page Harria at hie home Camp Paroi e, A.Lc. Co., Md. I was born in 1858 about 3 inilea west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as Blood Houmd Manor. This name was applied beoause Mr. Stafford raised and trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to flaveholders of Maryland, Virginia and other southern states as far south as Miasissippi and Louisiana. My father s nana was Sam and mother a Mary, ~both of wh~a belonged to the Stafforda and were reared in~Oharles County. They r~ red a family of nine children, I being the oldest and the only one born a slave, the rest free. I think it was in 1859 or it might be 1860 when the Staffords I iberated ~ parents, not because he believed in the freedom of slaves but because of saving the lives of hie entire family. Mr. Stafford oame from Prince Will jam County, Virginia, a county on the west aide of the Potomac River in Virginia. Mr. end Mrs Stafford had a large rowboat that they used on the Potomac as a fishing and oyster boat as well as a transportation boat across the Potomac River to Quantioo, a small town in Prinee William County, Va., and up Quantico Creek fn the same county. ~ I have been told by my parents and also by Joshua Stafford, the oldest son of Mr. Stafford, that one Sunday morning on the date as related in the story previously Mrs. Stafford and her 3 children were being rowed across the Potomac River to attend a Baptist church in Virginia of whioh she was a wember. . Suddenly a wind and a thunder storm arose causing the boat to capsize. 4 father was fishing front a log raft in the river, immediately w tt to their rescue The wind blew the raft towards the oentre of the stream and in line

026 023

-2 ~ 23 with the boat. He was able without assistance to save the ~hole family, diving into the river to resoue Mrs. Stafford after she had gone down. He pulled her on the raft and lt was blown ashore with all aboard, but several miles down the stream, Everybody thought that the Staffords had been dro~wned as the boat floated to the shore bottom upwards. As a re~ward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata, the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the enamclpation of him, my mother, and me, besides giving him monej to help him to take his family to Philadelphia. I have a vague recollection of the Staffordf~j i1axnily, not enough to de8oribe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part bounding on the Potomac Riv~er and a cove that extends into the fa m property. Much of the farm property was inar8hy and was suitable for the purpo se of Mr. Stafford s 1 lying ~ raising and training bIo od hounds I have been told by mother and father on xnax~y occasions that there were as many as a hundred dogs on the fanii at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50 slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood un, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end, the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an ol d dog, sometimes by several older dogs, would trail th ~ slave until they reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away bythe men who had charge of the dogs. -~ Mr. Stafford s dogs were often sought to apprehenl runaway slaves. He would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina,~besides beine used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slav was captured, besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bit~he slave to make him anxious to hunt hwnan beings.

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24 3 There was a 8laveho .der in Charles County who had a very val . uable slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much sought after by the people in SoutheriMaryland. This slave could elude the best blood hounds in the State. It was a1~ia~s said that slaves, when they~ ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she could ~et dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently burie d, sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave, and would howl and return home. . Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he d . cided to run away a8 he had done on several previous occasions. He was kno wn by some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any condition n D would he work unless he ~ras paid sometMn~. It was said that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away. He w~s charged. with aiding a girl to flee. ~ He was to be whipped by the sheriff of Charle County for aiding the girl to run away. He heaI d of it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived. He eluded the dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day has any idea how he did it; but he did. In the year of 1866 ~r f ther retui ned to Maryland bringing with him mother and my brothers and 8ister. He selected A~inapo is for his future home, where he secured work as a waiter at the Naval Academy, he continued there for more than 20 years. In the meantime after 1866 or 1868, when schools were opened for colored people, I went to a school that was stablished for colored children and taught by white teacher until I was about 17 years old, then I too worked at the Naval Academy waiting on the midshipmen. In those days you could make extra money, sometimes making r&re than your wages &bout 1996 or 97 1 purchased a farm near Camp Parole containing 120 acres, upon which I have lived since, raising a variety of vegetables for which Anne Arundel

028 025

25 County is noted. I have been a member of Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, Annapolis, for more than 40 years. All of my children, 5 in number, have grown to be men and women, one living hoiae with me, one in New York, two in Baltiiaore, and one working in Washington, D. C. (

Annie Young Henson, ex-slave. 029 026

~r~1az~ 1937 J90044 (Stories front ex-slaves) gers ~ . 26 ANNIE YOU1~G HENSON, Ex-slave Reference:- Personal interview with Annie Youni~ Henson, ex-slave)at African M. E. :~or~e, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore. i was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Dau~ter of Mina and Torn Miller. I had one brother Feelin~chin and two sisters, Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Helium. The farm was called Traveler s Rest. The farm s named hecause a man once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there and asked for something to eat arid lodging for the nicht; both of which was given and welcomed by the wayfarer. The house being very spacious with porches on each side, situated on a high hill, with trees on the lawn giving homes to the birds and shade to the master, mistres~ and their guests where they cbuld hear the chant of the lark or the melodious voices of the slaves hu~ning some familiar tunes that suited their taste, as they worked. Nearby was the slave quarters and the log cabin, where we lived, built about 25 feet from the other quarter. Our cabin was separate and distinct from the others, It contained two rooms, one up and one down, with a window in each room. This cabin was about 25 feet from the kitchen of the manor house, where the cooking was done by the kitchen help for the master, mistress and their ~e~ts, and from which each slave received his or h~weekly rat on, about 20 pounds of food each. The food consisted of beef, hog meat, and lamb or mutton and of the kind of vegetables that we raised on the farm. My position was second nurse for the doctor s family, or one of the Inner servants of the family, not one of the field hands. In my position my clothes ~ we~r emade better, and better qu~iity than the ot~rs, all madeand arranged to suit ~ ~

030 027

the i taste. I go-L a few things of fenilne dainty that was dis carded by the mistress, bub no money nor did I have any to spend. Thiring in~r life as a slave I was whipped only once, and that was for a lie that was told on rn.e by the first nurse who was jealous of my looks. I slept in the mistress room in a bed that we pushed under the mistress in the day or after I arose. Old Master had special dogs to hunt opossum, rabbit, coons and birds, and men to ~o with them on the hunt. When we seined, other slave owners would send some of their slaves to join ours and we thon divjdin~ the spoils of the ca+chI We had 60 slaves (fl the plantation, each family housed in a cabin bUiJt by the slaves for Nellums to accommodate the families according to the number. For clothes wo had Cood clq thes, as we raised sheep, we had our own wool, out ofwhichwe weaved our cloth, we called the cloth box and dice . teifl the winter the field slaves would shell corn, cut wood and thrash wheat and take care of the stock. We had our shoes made to order by the shoe maker. My mistress was not as well off before she married the doctor as afterward. I was small or younc during my slave days, I always heard my mistress married for money and social condition. She would tell us how she used to say before she was married, when she s~w the doctor coming, here comes old Dr. Nellumsf. Another friend she would say here comes cozen Auckney . We never had any overs~rs on the plantation, we had an~old colored man by the name of Peter Taylor. His orders was law, if you wanted to please Mistress and Master, obey old Peter. The farm was very large, the slaves worked fr~ n sunup to sundown, no one was harshly treated or punished. They were punished only iivhen proven guilty of crime charged. Our master never sold any slaves~ We had t~ eix~room house, where the slaves entert~.ined and had them good times at nights and on holidays. We had no

031 028

-.3- 28 jail on the plantation. We were ~ not taucht to read or write, we were never told our age. We went to the white church on Sunday, up in the slave gallery where the slaves worshipp~c1sometimes. The gallery was overcrowded with ours and slaves from other plantations. My mistress told me that there was, once an old colored man who attended, taking his seat up in the gallery directly over the pulpit, he had the habit of saying Amen. A member of the church said to him, John, if you don t stop hollowing Amen you can t cone to church ; he got so ftill of the Holy Ghost he yelled out ~nen upon a venture, the congregation wa~ so tickled with him and at his antics that they told him to come when and as often as he wanted. During my slave days only one slave ran away, he was n~r uncle, when the Yankees came to Virginia, he ran ~vay with them. He was later captured by (6 the sheriff and taken to the county jail. The Doctor went to the court house, after which we never heard nor saw my uncle afterwards. !~I have seen and heard white~cappers, they whipped several colored men of other plantations, just prior to the soldiers/ drilling to go to war. I remember well the day that Dr, Nelluin, just as if it were yesterday, that we went to the court house to he set free. Dr. NelIu.ta walked in front, 65 of us behind him. When we got there the sheriff asked him if they were his slaves. The Dr. said they were, but not now, after the papers were signed we all went back to the plantation. Some stayed there, others went away. I came to Baltimore and I have never been back since. I think I was about 17 or 18 years old when I came away. I worked for Mr. Marshall a flour merchant, who lived on South Charles Street, getting ~6.OO pe~ month. I have been told by both white and colored people of Virginia who Imew Dr. Neihun, he lost his mind?

Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave. 032 029

~ar~r1a ~d ~ 29 ~ept. 29, 1937 ~ (Stories from ex- slaves) ~ogerS j ~ ) S 5 REV. SILAS J~~ChSON, Ex-~s1ave. fleference:~- Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-.~1ave, at his home, 1630 N. Gilinor St., 9altimore. HI was born ai~ or near 2~shbie s Gap in Virginia, either in the year of 1846 or 47. 1 do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. ~ir father s naine was Sling and mother s Sarah Louis. They wore purchased by my master from a s1~e brader ia Richmond, Vir- girila, L~y father was a man of 1ar~:e stature and my mother was tall and stately. They originally came from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I thin.k from the Legg estate, heyofid th~tt I do not know. I had three brothers and two sisterz. My brothers older than I, and my sisters younger. Their names were Silas, Carter, Rap or Raymond, I do not remember; my sisters were Jane ~nd Susie, both of whom are living in Virginia now. Only one I have ever seen and he came north with General Sherman, he died in 1925. He was a Baptist minister like myself. The only things I know about my grandparents were: L~y gran&. father ran away through the aid of Harriet TuL~nan and went to Philadelphia and saved ~350, and purchased my grandmother through the aid of a quaker or an Episcopal minister, I do not know. I have on several occasions tried to ~race this part of my farnily~s past history, but without success. . I was a large boy for ii~y ace, when I was nine years of age my task began and continued until 1864. You see ~~4 I was a slave. In Virginia where I iwa.s, they re~ised tobacco, wheat, corn and farm products . I have had a taste of al I the work on the farm, besides of digging and clearing up new grouaadtoino rease the acreage to the fana. We~ ail had task work to do - men, women and boys We began work on Monday

033 030

2.. and worked until Saturday. That day we were allowed to work for ourselves and to garden or to do extra work. When we could get work, or ~vork on corne one else s place, we got a pass from the overseer to go off the planta~ tion, but to be back by nine o clock on Saturday night or when cabin inspection was made. Seine time we could earn as much as 50 cents a day, which we used to buy cakes, candies)or clothes. On Saturday each slave was given 10 pounds corn meal, a quart of black strap, G pounds of fat back, 3 pounds of flour and vegetables, all of which were raised on the farm. All of the slaves hunted or those who wanted, hunted rabbits, oposrn.uas or fished. These were our choice food as we did not ~et anything special from the overseer. Our food was cooked bY( our mothers or sisters and for those who were not married by the old women and men assigned for that work. ttEaoh family was given 3 acres to raise their chickens or vegetables and i.f a man raised his oi~vn food he was given ~jlO.OO at Christmas time extra, besides his presents. In the summer or when warm weather cane each slave was given some~ thing, the women, linsey goods or gingham clothes, the men overalls, muslin shirts, top and underclothes, two pair of shoes, and a straw hat to work in. In the oold weather, we wore woolen clothes, all made at the sewing cabin. My master was named Tom Ashbie, a meaner man. was never born in Virginia ~ brutal, wicked and hard. He always carried a cowhide with him. If he saw anyone doing something that did not suit his taste, he would have the slave tied to a tree, man or woinan~and then would coiivhide the victim until he got tired, or sometimes, the slave would faint. The Ai s home was a large stone tansion, with a porch on three sides. Wide halls in the center up and do~wn stairs, numerous rooms and a stone kitchen built on the back conneoted With dining room. ~ Mrs. Ashbie was kind and lovely to. her slaves when Mr. Ashbie was

034 031

out. The Ashbies did not have any children of their own, but they had boy$ and ~ r1s of his own sister and they were much like him, they had maids or private waiter for the young men ~f th~,r wanted them. fi have heard it said by people in authority, Tom Ashbie owiied 9000 acres of farm land besides of wood land. He was a large slave owner having more than 100 slaves on his farm. They were awakened by blowing of the horn before sunrise by the overseer, started work at sunrise and worked all day to sundov~n, with not time to go to the cabin for dinner, you carried your dinner with you. The slaves were driven at top speed and whipped at the snap of th,e finger by the overs eers we had four overs eers on the farm all hired white mon. HI have seen men beaten ~antil they dropped in their tracks or knock- od over by clubs, women stripped dov~i to their wai~t and cowhided. I have heard it said that Tom Ashbie s father went to one of the babins late at night, the slaves were having a secret prayer meeting. He heard one slave ask God to change the heart of his master and deliver him from slavery so that he may enjoy freedom. Before the next day the r~n disappeared, no one ever seeing him again; but after that down in the swamp at certain times of the moon, you could hear the man who prayed in the cabin praying. When old man ~shbie died, just before he died he told the white Baptist minister, that he had killed Zeek for praying and that he was going to hell. There was ~. stone buildir~ on the farm, it is there today. I saw it this swnmer while visiting in Virginia. The old jaili~ it is now used as a garage. ~ Downstairs there were two rooms, one where some of the whipping was done, and the other used by the overseer. Upstairs was used for women and girls. ~The iron bars have coroded, but you can see where they were. I have never seen sl ayes ~o id on the farm, but I have seen them taken away, and brought there~. Several times I have seen slaves chained takeii away

035 032

-.4 f) ~ and chained when they carne. No one on the place was taught to read or write. On Sunday the slaves who wanted to worship would gather at one of the large cabins with one of the overseers present and have their ch irch. After which t~t~ overseer would talk. v~hen communion was given the overseer was paid for stayini~ there with half of the collection taken up, some time he would get 25%. No one could read the Bible. Sandy Jasper, ~r. ~shbie?s coaci-urian was the preacher, he would go to the white Baptist church on ~t~nday with family and would be better informed because he heard the white preacher. Twice each year, after harvest and after New Year s, the slaves would have their protracted meeting or their revival and after each closing they would baptize in the creek, ~ sornetirnes in the winter they would break the ice singing Goirw to the Y~ater or some other h~cf that nature. And at each funeral, the Ashbies would attend the service conducted in the cabin v~here the deceased was, from there taken to the slave graveyard. A lot dedicated l or that purpose, situated about 3/4 of a mile from cabins near a hill. There were a number of slaves on our plantation who ran away, some were captured and sold to a Georgia trader, othJwho were never captured. ~ To intimidate the slaves, the overseers were connected with the patrollers, not only to watch our slaves, bu sometimes for the rewards for other slaves who had run a~y from other plantations. This feature causeU a great deal of trouble between the whites and blacks. In 1658 two white iaen were murdered near W rren~ ton on the road by colored people, it was never known whether by free people or slaves. ~ ~ ~1hen work was done the slaves rptired to their cabins, some played games, others cooked or rested or did what they wanted. We did not work on Saturdays unless harvest times, then Saturdays were days of work, At other times, on Saturdays you were at leisure to do what you wanted. ~i Christ~ias

036 033

5 33 day Mr i~shbie would call all the slaves together give them presents money, alter which they spent the day as they liked. On .New Year s day we all were scared, that was the time l or selling, buying and trading slaves. We did not know who was to go or come. I do not remember of playing any particular gaine, ~iy sport was fish- ing. You see I do not believein ghost stories nor v~ooism, I have nothing to say. We boys used to take the horns of a dead cow or bull, cut the end off of it, we could blow it, some having different notes. We could tell who was blowin~ and from what plantation. ~Yhen a slave took sick she or he would have to depend on herbs, salves or other remedies prepared by someone who knew the medicinal value. ~hen a valuable hand took sick one~of the overseers would go to Upper Ville for a doctor.

James Calhart James, ex-slave. 037 034

~-~~-~- ~ ~ :~~ .~ ~LJ ~tk~ (Ex.~s1ave stories) ~ JAMES CALJI&RT JA~s, Ex-slave Re ~erenc :~ Personal interview with James Calhar-b James, ex- slave,a-t his home, 2460 Druid Hill Ave., l3alt raore. iv:y father s name vvas Franklin Pearce Randolph of Virginia, a descendant of the Randolphs of Virginia who migrated to South Carolina and located near Fort Suinter, the fort that was surrendered to the Confederates in 1861 or the beginnin~ of the Civil War. My mother s name was Lottie Virginia James, daughter of an Indian and a slave woman, born on the Rapidan River in Virginia about 1823 or 24, 1 do not know which; she was a woxaan of fine features and very light in complexion with beautiful, Ion~ black hair. She was purchased by h~r master and taken to South Car~1ina when about 15 years old. She was the private maid ~ f 1~rs. Randolph until she dieci(and then continued as housekeeper for her ~ niaster, while there and in that capacity I was born on the Randolph s plantation ~ august 23, .1846. I was a half brother to the children of the Randolphs, four in number. After I was born rriother and I lived in the servant~t quarters of t}Th big house enjoying mai~r pleasures that the other slaves did not: eating ar~ sleeping in the big house, playing and associating with my half-brothers and sisters. ~ As for my ancestors I have no recollection of them, the history of the Randolphs in Virgixita is my background. My father told mother when I became of age, he was going to free me, send me north to be educated, but instead I was emancipated. During my slave days my father gave me money and good clothes to wear. I bought toys and games. My clothes were good both winter and summer aid according to the weather. My master was my father ; he ~ was kind to me but hard on the field hands who worked in the rice fields. My mistress died before I was born. ~ There : Were 3.,~ -iand one boy, they treated me fairly gdod ~ ~ or when X we.s * i~athsr was my they

038 035

:. 35 2 lived in a large white frame house containing about 15 rooms with every luxury of that day, my father being v~y rich. I have heard the Rando1ph ~. plantation contained about 4000 acres and at,out 300 slaves. We had white overseers on the plantation, they worked hard producing rice on a very large scale, and late and early. I know they were severe y punished, especially for not producing the amount of work assigned them or for things that the overseers throught they should be punished for. ~We had a jail over the rice barn where the slaves were confined, especially on Sundays, as punishment for things done during the week. I could read andv~nrite when I was 12 years old. I was taught by the teacher who was the governess for the Randolph~ children. Mother could also read and write. There was no church on the plantation; the slaves attended church on the next plantation, where the owner had a large slave church, he was a Baptist preacher, I attended the white church with the Randolph children. I was generally knov~n and called Jim Randolph. I was baptised by the white Baptist minister and christened by a ~ethodist minis~ber. There was little trouble between th~ white and blacks, you see I was one of the children of the house,I never came in contact much ~Lth other slaves. was told that the slaves had a drink that was raade of corn and rice which they drank. The overseers ~ometirnes themselves drank it very freely. On holidays and Sundays the slaves had their times, and I never knew any difference as I was treated well ~ by my father and did not associate with the other slaves. In the year of 1865, 1 left South Carolina, went to Washington, entered Howard. University 1868 graduated in 1873, taught schools in Virginia North Carol iria and Maryland, ret~ired 1910. Since then I have been connected With A.M.E. education~~al board. Wow I am home with my granddaughter, a life well spent. ~ tt~e of the songs sung by the slaves on the plantation I o~.u ~ remember a part of it. They sang it with great feelingof happiness - .~ ~ ; . ~ . Oh where shall we go when de g~8~t day comes ~ ~ ~ .

039 036

36 -3 An de blowing of de trumpets and de ban~ins of de drums Ythen General Sherm~ii comes. No more rice and cotton fields We will hear no more crying Old master will be sighing. HI carft remember the tune, people sanp it accordinE to. their o wn tune * ~ y.. .~ ~ : ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ . ~ 1-

Mary Moriah Anne Susanna James, ex-slave. 040 037

~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

041 038

2- 38 was sold to a man in South Carolina, to work in the rice field. Grandmother drowned herself in the river when she heard that grand-pap was going away. : was told that ~randpap was sold because he got religious and prayed that God wot~1d set him and grandraa free. tWhen I was ten years old I was put to work on the farta with other children, picking weeds~ ston up and tobacco worms and to do other work. We all ~ot new shoes for Christmas, a dress and ~2.5O for Christmas or suits of o lothe s We spent oiu money at Mr Ranr s ste re for thi~s that we wanted, but was punished if the money was spent at the county seat at other stores. tP~~r0 were allowed fat meat, corn meal, black molasses and vegetables, corn and grain to roast for coffee. Mother cooked ray food after stopping work on the farm for the day. I never a e possum. We would catch rabbits ir~ gums or traps and as we lived on the rivers, we ate any kind of fish we caught. The men and everybody would go fishing after work. Each family had a garden, we raised what we wanted. As near as I can recall, vie had about 150 sheep on the farm, producing our own wool. The old women weaved clothes; we had woolen clothes in the winter and cotton clothes in the sunimer. On Sunday we wore the clothes given to us at Christmas time and shoes likewise. ~ I was married on the farm 1863 and married my saine husband by a Baptist preacher in 1870 as I was told I had not been legally married. I was married in the dress given to me at Christmas of 1862. I did not get one in 1863. . . Old Silas Rando~ph was a mean man to bis slaves, especially when - drunk. He and the overseer would always be toge ther each of whom carried &~. whip,~andupon the least provocation would whip his slaves. ~j mistress~was not as mean as my master, but she was mea~i. There was only one son in the Rando~ph family. He went to a mil itary school somewhere in Vdrk ginia. I don t know

042 039

-3- 39 the natiie, 1~Ie y~ captured by the Union soldiers. I never saw him until after the war, when he came home with one arm. The overseer lived on the farm. He was the brother of Mrs. Randorph. He would whip men and women and children if he thou~t they were not working fast. The plantation house was a 1ar~e brick house over looking the river from a hill, a porc1~. on three sides, two-stories and attic. In the attic slept the house servants and coachnian. We did not come in contact with the white people very much. Our place was away from the village. There were 8,000 acres to the plantation, with more than 150 slaves on it. I do not know the time slaves woke up, but everybody was at work at sunrise and worked to sundo~n. The slaves were whipped for not work~ Ing fast or anything that suited the fancy of the master or overseer. I have seen slaves sold on the farm and I have seen slaves brought to the farm. The slaves were brought up the river in boats and unloaded at the landing, some crying a~nd some seem to be happy. No one was taught to read or write. There was no church on the farm. No one was allowed to read the Bible or anything else. ttl have heard it said that the Randotphs lost more slaves by running away than anyone in the oouniy. The patrollers wore many in the county; they would whip ai~y colored person caught off the place after night. Whenever a man i~ianted to run away he would go with someone el se e ither from the farm or from some other farm, hiding ih the swamps or along the river, making their way to some place where they thought would be safe, sometimes hiding on trains leaving Virginia. The slaves, after going to their quarters, cooked, rested or did what they w&iated. Saturdays was no different from Mondays

043 040

40 On Christmas morning all the slaves would go up to the porch, get the ~2.5O, shoes and clothes, go back to the cabins and do what they wanted. I On New Year s Day everybody was scared as that was the day that slaves were taken away or brought to the farm. You have asked about stories, I will tell you one I know. It is true. During the war one day some Union soldiers came to the farm lool& Ing for Rebels. There were a number of them in the woods near the landing; they had come across the river in boats. At night while the Union soldiers were at the landing, they we~re fired on by the Rebels. The Union soldiers went after them, killed ten, caught I think six and some were drowned in the river. Among the six was the overseer, and from that night people have ieard shooting and seen soldiers. One night many years after the Civil War, ~hule visiting afriend who now lives Within 500 feet from the landing where the fighting took place, there appeared some soldiers carrying a man out of the woods whom I recognized as being the overseer. He had been seen hundreds of times by other people. ~Vhite people will tell you the s~e thing. I will tell you for sure this is trug. . You must excuse me I wanted to see some friend~, this evefling?~.

Phillip Johnson - an ex-slave. 044 041

~ary1and ~ ~ 9/14/37 . 411 Guthri e ( Ex slave stories ) ~I~ILLIP JOHNSON ~ AN EX-SlAVE Ref: - Phillip JohflSOfl, R.F.D. Poolesville, Md. The subjeot of this ~ketEth is a pure blooded W~gro, w~iose icinicy Jmir is now white, likewise his scraggy beard. He is of medium sise and some what stooped with age, but still aotive enough to plant and tend ~ patch of corn and~the chores about hi8 little plaoe at Sugarlands. His home is a sn~l1 cabin with one or two rooms upstairs and three down, including the kitchen ~whioh is a leanto, The oabin is in great di repair. Phillip John is above the av~rage in intelligence, has some eduoation and is quite well versed in the Holy Soriptures, having been for many years a Methodist preacher among his people. lie uses fairly good E~glish and freely talks in answer to questions. Without giring the questions put to him by this, writer, his remarks given in the first person and as near his own idiom.~.re as follows: I Il be ninety years old next Deoeinber I dunno the day. My Misais had the colored folks ages written in a book but it ~s destroyed w~ien the Confederate soldiers came through. But she had a son born two or three months younger than me and she remember that I ~s born in December, 1847, but she L~d forgot the day of the month. III ~s born down on the ~ river bottom about four miles below Ed~ard s Ferry, on the Eight Mile Le, between Edwardi!ft\ Ferry and Seneoa I belonged to oie Doota.h White. H.e owned a lot o Ian down on de bottom. I dunno his first name Everybody~ called him Dootah White. Yes, he ~s related to Dootah Elijah White. All the Whites in Montgomery County is related. Yes sah, Doctah White as good to his slaves. Yes sah, he had n~ny sla~ee. I dunno how many. My

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2- 42 ~Lissis took me aiay from de bottom when I was a little boy, cau8e de overseer he was so ortiel to me. Yea sah he ~s mean. I pramised him a kuhn if ever I got bi~ enough. . we all liked the Misais. Everybody in dem days used to ride horsebaok. She would come ridin her horse down to d~. bottom with a great big basket of biscuits. We thoug~it they were fine. We ai . glad to see de MiSSi8 a oomin. We always had plenty to eat, suoli as it ~s. We had coarse food but there was plenty of it. The ~ite folks made our clothes for us. They made linsey for the woman and woolen cloth for de men. They gave clothes sufficient to keep em wax~t. The men had wool clothes with brass buttons that had shanks on em. They looked good when they ~re new. They had better clothes then than most of us have now. They raised mostly oornan hate an wiisat down on de river bottom in those days. They didn t raise tobaoco. But I ve heard say that they used to raise it lone before I was born. They out grain with cradles in dem days. They had a lot o men and would slay a lot o wheat in a day. It ~ pretty work to see four or five oradlers in a field and others fo1lowin~ them raking the ivheat in bunches and others following binding them in bundles The first reapers that came were called Dorsey reapera. They out the grain and bunched it. It was then bound by hand. ~When my Miseis took me away from the river bottom I lived in Poolesville where the Kohihos s home and garage i s I worked around the house and garden . ~ I remember when/ the Yankee and Confederate soldiers both oase -to Poolesville. Capn Sam ~hite (eon of the doot r:) he join the Confederate in Virginia. lie come home and say he ~ g.S.a to take me along baok with him for to serve him. But the Yankees came and be left very sudden and leave me behind. I was glad I didn t have to go With him. I saw all that fightin around Pooleeville. ~ used to like to wateb em fightin. I saw a Yankee soldier shoot a Confederate and ~ll

046 043

-3- ~ 43 him. He rais3d bis gun twice to shoot but he kept dodgin around the house an he didn want to shoot when he might hit s~eone else. When he ran from the house he shot him. Yes sah, them Confederates done more things around here than the Yankees did. I remember once during the war they came to town. It ~s Sunday morning an IW~8 sittin in the gallery of the ole brick Methodist church. One of them came to de door and he ~ pointed hi s pi stol right at that s head. The gallery had an outside stairs then. I ran to de door to go down de stairs but there was another un there pointing hi s gun and they say don t. nobody leave dis building. The others they was a cleanin up all the hosses and wagons round the church. The one who was guarding de stairs, he kept a lookin to see if dey was done cleaning up de hosses, and when he wasn t watching I slip half ~ay down de stairs, an when be turn his back ~ jump down and run. When he looks he jus laugh. fl~y father he lived to be eighty nine He died right here in this house and he s btjried over by the church. His name was Sam. They called my mother Willie Ann. She died ehen I was small. I had three brothers and one sister. My father married again and had seven or eight other children. ni ty0 had eleven children ; five livin, s ix . I vo been preaching for forty years and I }mve seen many souls saved. I don t preach regular anymore but once in a while I do. I have preached in all these little churches around here. I preached six years at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The presidin elder he wants me to go there. The man that had left there jus tore that church up. I went up there one Sunday and I didn t see anything that I could do. I think I m not able for this. I said they needs a more experienced preacher than me. But the presidiil elder keeps after me to go there and I says, ~ell, I go for one year. Next thing it ~as the s~e thing. I stays on another year and so on for six years When I left there that church was in pretty good shape. UI think preaching the gospel is the greatest work in the world. But folks don t seem to take the interest in church that the~ used to.

George Jones, ex-slave. 047 044

~i ~nd epl. 30, 1937. 190G47 (Stories from ex~slaves) ~ 44 rogerS GEORGE JO~1ES, Ex-slave Reference t Pers onal interview with George Jones Ex-. s lave, at Afri can M. E. lene, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore, I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853 ~r father s tame was Henry and mot ~ Jane ; bro-t~hers Dave, Joe, Henry, John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father . ~. ~ and mother were slaves, but I do not recall to ~1iom they belonged. I remember my grandparents. My father used to teli~r~ie how he would hide in the hay stacks at night, because he was whipped and treated badly by his master who was rough and hard.-boiled ~ his slaves . Many a time the owner of the slaves and farm would come to the cabins late at night to catch the slaves in their dingy little hovels, which were constructed in cabin fashion end of~ stone and b gs with their typical windows and rooms of one room. up and one down with a window in each, the fireplaces built to heat and cook for occupants. ~ ~ The farm was like all other farms in Frederick County, raising grain, such as corn, wheat and fruit and on which work was seasonable, depending upon the weather, some seasons producing more and some ~ ss. ~hen the s eason was good for the crop and crops plentifXil, ~ve had a I ittle . : ~ moti~y as the p~antation oviner gave us some to spe~id.~ ~ . ~ tw:hen hunting came, especially in the fall end winter, the weather was cold I have often heard xoy father speak of ~ rabbi& opos sums a~nd ooon ~ hwxt;ing and his dogs. You know in Frederick County there are plenty of ~- ~ 1~t giving hcrnes and hiding places. for sueh

048 045

45 -2 We dressed to meet the weather condition and wore shoes to ~~jt rough traveling through woods and up and down the hills of the country. In my boyhood days, my father never spoke much of my roaster, only in the term I have expressed before, or the children, church, the poor white people in the nei~hborhood~or the farm, their inode~of living, social condition. I will say this in conclusion, the white people of Frederick County as a whole were kind towards the colored people and are today, very little race friction one way ~r the other.

Alice Lewis. 049 046

. ~ ~ ~-. ~ ~ Ellen B. Warfield.. :~ 9005j Ma.y 18, 1937. ~ ~r 46 (EZ SLAVE STOEtY) LLI~ LE;~!ip (Alioe Lewis, ex-alav.e, 84~ years Old, 1fl charge of sewing.. room at Provident Hospital. (Negro), Baltimore. Ta . ., Blender, erect, her head crowned by abundant Snow white wool, with a fine carriage and . an air of poise sand self reapeot good. to behold, Alicebelies her 84 years.) Yes m, I was born In slavery, I don t look it,.~but I was2 Way d~own in Wilkes County, G orgia, nigh to a little town naae4 Washington which ain t so far from Augusta. My pappy, he belong to the Alexanders, and my mammy., she belong to the Wakeriel plantation and. we all live with ~ ~he ak 3 No ~ none of the Wakef . niggers ever run away . They was too well off L They kx~w who they friends was! ~ ~ white folkees was ~ood. to their niggersi Them was the days when we had good~ food. and it di4n t cost nothing .~ ohioken$ and ho s and garden truck. Saturdays was the day we got .~ our lowance for the week, and lefle tell you, they didn t stint us none. The beetinthe iandwaa . what:we ha4, ~ ~ what the white folkses had~. ~ ~ I Clothes ? ye in . ~ We had. two suits ~ of ob the s a winter suit and. a summer suit ami. two paire of shoes, a winter pair and. a summer pair. Yes in, my mammy, ehe ~4n the eotton, ye8 m picked right~ on the plantation, yee m, cotton picking was fun, believe met As: 1 wae~: aaying, Mammy she epi* and ehe weave the cloth, ~ a~d she .out ~t~ out and she. make our~. olothee ~ ~~~Th~t s where. X ~it . my t~te to eew,~ ..I reckon.. When I fi~t come to Baltimore, I ~ ~ . de.4 ~i 41d~. I 80!e4 f9r *e beat :i l~ e ~ ~i4 t~ ~ ~ ~ I 8~4c:~OX~~ ~ HOW~I!d~8 afl& ~e . 5~3~. ~:u~ arid

050 047

;. 47 the Jenkinees. Jest the other day, I met Mise C ini .la down town arid Bhe say. Alice, am this you? and. I say, Law me, Mies C milla and. she say, Alice why don you come to see Mother? She am been so well she love to see you. .. I~ell, as I was a saying, we d.idII t work sohard., them &aye. We got up early, cause the fires had. to be lighted to make the house warm for the white folks, but in them days, di.nner was in the middle of the day - the quality had. theirs at twelve o clock and. they had. a light supper at five and. when we was through, we was throug~i, and. free to g~%he quarters and. set around and. smoke a pipe and rest. Yes m they taught us to read. and. write. ~Sunday afternoons, my young mistresses used. to teach the pickaninnies to read the Bible. Yes ni we was free to ~o to see the niggers on other plantations but we had. to have a pass an we was checked in an~ out. No m, I ain t never seen no slaves sold, nor none in chains, and I ain t never seen no Ku fluxera. RI live with the Wakefiel s till I was leven and. then Marse Wakefiel give me to my young mistress when she married and. went to North Carolina to live. And twas in North Carolina that I seed. Sherman, deed I diA! I seed. Sherman and. his sojers, gather ing up all the bogs and. all the hoe sea and. all the cows and. all the little eullud. ehillen. Them was drefful daysZ These is dref-~ fui days too Old mau ~ Satan he sure am on earth now. Yea m, I believes in glioa see. I ain t never seed em but I is feel em. I live once in a house where a man was killed. I lie in my bed and they close in on me~ ~ No m, I ain t afraid. The landlord say when I move out you is a tay there longer than anybody .1 ever had. Nother house I live in (this was in North

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48 . Carolina too), it had been a ~.mblin house and lt had hanta. On rainy nights, I d lie awake and hear drip, drip...drip, drip... What was that? Why, that was the blood a dripping... Why on rainy night? Why, on rainy nights, the blood gets a little fresh...! (

Perry Lewis, ex-slave. 052 049

~1and 1937 :19()G48 (Stories from ex-.slaves) ~ 49 )gers PERRY LEWIS, Ex~-s lave Reference: Personal in berview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave, at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore. ~ c1~~) I was born on Kent Island,~about 86 years ago. My fatherts name was Henry and mother s Louise. I had one brother Joh~i, who was killed in the Civil War at the Deep Bottc~n, one sister as I can remember. My father was a freeman and n~r mother a slave, o~ned by Thomas ToIson, who owned a small farm on which I was born in a log cabin, with two roams, one up and one do~wn. ~ As you know the mother was the cxwner of the children that she brought into the world, Mother being a slave made me a slave. She cooked and worked on the farm, ate whatever was in the farmhou se and di d her simre of work to keep and maintain the Toisons. They being poor, not havix~g a large place or a number of slaves to increase their wealth, tnade them little above the free colored people and with no knowledge, they ccruld not teach me or any One else to read. . You know the EastemShore of Marylax~d was in the most productive slave territory and where farniing was done on a large scales and in that part of Maryland ~vhere there were many poor people and maz~y of whom were employed as overseers, you naturally heard of patrollers and we had them and ~ ~f them. I have hsa.~ d that patrol le rs were on Kezxt Island and the colored people would go out in the country on the roads~ create a dis~ ~ turban e. . 0 ~atti sot the tl . attention. They. won 4 :tie ropes~ a~id grape vines acres s the zoads so ~vrhen the patroll ers would o iie to the ~Gn -

053 050

50 2 throw:i.np~~ those who would come in contact with. the rope or vine off the horse, sometime s badly inj u~ing the r~.ders Thi s would oreate hatred between the slaves, the free people, the patro .lers and other white people who were concerned. In my childhood days I played marbles, this was t1~.e only game I remember playing. As I was on a smallfarin, we did not come in con-. tact much with other children, &nd heard no children s songs. I there-. fore do not recall the songs we sang. . i do not remember being sick but I have heard mother say, when she or her children were sick, the white doot r who attended the Toisons treated us and the only herbs I can recall were life-everlasting boneset and woodditney, from each of whip~ a tea could be made. This is about all I oan reoall.

Richard Macks, ex-slave. 054 051

(Stories from ex slaves) RICHARD MACKS Ex- 8 lave Reference:- Personal Interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave, at his home, 541 W. Bid.dle St., Baltimore, III was born In Charle8 County in Southern Maryland in the ~year of 1844. My father s name was William (Bill) and Mother s ~ Mack, both of whom were born and reared in Charles County ~ , ~ Booth took refuge in after the assassi/ ~nation of President Lincoln in 1865. 1 had one sister named Jenny and no brothers: let me say right here it was God s blessing I did not Near Bryantown, a county ce~er prior to the C ivil War as a market l or tobacco, grain and market for slaves. In Bryantown there were several stores, two or three taverns or inns which were well known in their days for their hospitality to the ir gue sts and arrangements to house slave s There were two iflfls both of which had long sheds, strongly built with cells downstairs for men and a large room above for women. At night the slave traders ~ would bring their charges to the inns, pay for their meals, which were served on a long table in the shed, then afterWards, they were locked up for the night, . ~I live d wi th my mo ther father and s i s ter in a 1 og cabin ~ built of log and mud, having two rooms one with a dirt floor and the other above, each room having two windows, but no glass. On a large farm or plantation wned by an old. maid by~ the name of Sall7 McPherson on McPherson Farm. ~ ~ . As a small bo~y and later on, until I was emancip~t d, I ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. r~ ~1and. j q ~r~ ~~o ~. 7, 19~ 7 ~.. 51.

055 052

-2- ~52 worked on the farm doing farm work, principally in the tobacco k ~ ~ fields and in the woods cutting timber and firewood. I slept on a home -made bed or bunk while my mother and s I s ter slept in a bed . made by father on which they had a mattress made by themselves and filled with straw, while dad slept on a bench beside the bed and that he used in the day as a work bench, mending shoe ~ for ~ the slaves and others. I have seen mother going to the fields each day 1 ike other slave s to do her part of the rmng. ~I be ing considered as one of the household employees, my work was both in the field and around the stable, giving me an opportunity to meet people 3 orne of whom gave me a few pennie s . By thi s me thod I e arned some money which I gave to my mother ~I once found a gold. dollar, that was t1~ first dollar I ever had in my life. We had nothing to eat but corn bread baked in ashes, fat back and vegetables raised on the farm; no ham or any other choice meats ; and f ish we caught out of the cre eks and ~streams. My ~tather had some very fine dogs; we hunted coons, rabbits and possum. Our best dog was named Ruler, he would take your hat off If my father said: Ruler, take his hat off L be would jump up nd grab your ~ h~at. ~ ~ We had a se et ion of the farm that the ~s lave s were allowed to farm for themselves, mynaistress *ould let them raise extra food for their own use at nights . ~ My father was the colored. overseer, he had charge of the entire plantation and ~ continued until he was to old to work, then mother s brother took it over, his ~ame was Caleb. . . ~ ~ ~ .. j ~?Then I was a boy, I saw slaves going through and to Bryan-

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-3- ~. 53 town. Some would be chained, some handeuffed, and others not. These 8Iaves were bought up from time to time to be auctioned off or sold at Bryantown, to go to other farms, in Maryland, or shipped south. The slave traders would buy young and able fai~xn men and welideveloped young girls with fine physiqueSto barter and sell. They would bring them to the taverns where there would be the buyers and traders, display them and offer them for sale. At one of these gatherings a colored girl, a mulatto of fine stature and good looks, was put on sale. ~he was of high spirits and determined disposition. At night she was taken by the trader to his room to satisfy his bestial nature. She could not be(coerced or orced)~L1~T4!!re~:he was attacked by hirn~ In the struggle she grabbed a knife and with it, ~ ~ she sterilized him and froxn the result of injury he died the next day. She was charged with murder. Gen. Butler, hearing of it, sent troops to Charles County to protect her, they brought her to Baltimore, later she was taken to Washington where ahe was set free. She married a Government exnploye, reared a family of 3 children, one is a doctor practicing medicine in Baltimore and the other a retired school teacher you ~iow him well if I were to . tell you who the ~ doctor is. This attack was the result of being goodlooking,for~ which many a poor girl in Charles County paid the price. There are several cases I could mention, but they are distasteful to me. ~ A certain slave would not permit this owner to whip him, who with overseer and several others overpolered the slave,, tied him,.. . put him across a hogshead and whippe4 him severely fox~ three rnornfligs~~ : in Sue ession. Some one no t~ied the magistrate at Bryan-

057 054

-4-. . . 54 town of the brutality. He interfered In the treatment of this slave, threatening punishment. He was untied, he ran away, was caught by theconstable, returned to his owner, melted sealing wax was poured over his back on the wounds inflicted by him, when whipping, the slave ran away again and never was caught. There was a doctor in the neighborhood who bought a gIrl and Installed her on the place for his own use, his wife hearing of it severely beat her. One day her little child was playing in the yard. It fell head down in a post hole filled with water and. drown ed. His wife left him; afterward she said it was an affliction put on her husband for his eins. During hot weather we wire thin woolen clotheB, the material being made on the farm from the wool of our sheep, in the winter we wore thicker clothe s made on the farm by slave s and for shoe s our measures were taken of each slave with a stick, they were brought to Baltimore by the old mistress at the beginning of each season, if she or the one who did the measuring got the shoe too short or too small you had to wear it or go barefooted. ~Wewere never taught to read or write by white people. We had to go to the white church, sit in the rear, many times on the floor or stand up. We had a colored preacher, he would walk 10 miles, then walk back. I was not a member of church. ~e had no baptising, we were christened by the white preacher.. We had a graveyard on the place. Whites were buried inside of railing and the slaves on the outside. The members of the white family had tombstone s the colored had headstone s and cedar post to .show where they were buried. ~ .

058 055

5- ~35 In Charles County and In fact all of Southern Maryland tobacco wa~ raised on a large scale. Men, Women and children had to work hard to produce the required crops. The slaves did the work and they were driven at full speed sometimes by the owners and others by both owner and overseers. . The slaves would run away from the farms whenever they had a chance, some were returned and others getting away. This made it very profitable to white men and constables to capture the runaways. This caused trouble betweer~ the colored people and whites, especially the free people, as some of them would be taken for slaves. I had heard of several killings resulting from fights at night. One time a slave ran aw~ ay and was seen by a colored man, who was bunting, sitting on a log eating some food late in the night, He had a corn knife with him. When his master attempted to hit him with a whip, he retaliated with the knife, splitting the man s breast open, from which he died. The slave escaped and was never captured. The white cappers or patrollers in all of the counties ofSouthern Mary land seoured the swamps rivers and fie Ids wi thout success. Le-t me explain to you very plain without prejudice one way or the other, I have had many opportunities, a chance to watch white men and women in my long career, colored women have many hard battles to fight to protect themselves from assault by employers, white male servants or by white men, many times not being able to protect, in fear of losing their positions. Then on the other hand they were subjected to many impositions by the women of the household thvcugh woman s jealousy. . UI remember well when President Buchanan was elected, I was

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P LAC E H O L D E R

Tom Randall, ex-slave. 060 057

~ y1and ~ 21 1937. ~ (Ex-slave stories) ~o. ~geZ 5 _;~ ;y%~j~~4, TOM RANDALL. Ex-slave Reference: Personal interview with Tcm Randall at his hcine, Oella, Md. I was born in Ellioott City, Hoi~ard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a shack on a small street now known as New Cut Roads the naine then, I do not know. My nith s name was Jul ia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do not know, but poss ibly a m ~n by the nazn of Randall was my father . I have never known nor seen n~r father. Mother was the cook at the Boward ffouse ; she was pemiitbed to keep me with her. !VVhen I could remember things, I reia~mber eating out of the skillets, pots and pans after she had fried chicken, gerne or baked in theza, ai~YS leaving something for me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how i: used to carry wood int~~ kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and the leaves and tops of other plants . There was a colored n~n by the r~ii~ of Joe Nick, called Old Nick b~ a great many white people of the city. Joe was owned by Rneben Rogers, a lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2~ miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the 1 oeding street f Eli icott City. They never called me any-thing but Tomy or Randy, other people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of El licott City~,was m~r father . ~ Mother was owned by a man by the naxz~ of O Brien, a saloon or tavern keeper of the town. He conducted a saloon in Ellicott City for a long timne until he became. manager, or operator, of the Howard House of Ellioott City, a larger hotel and tavern in the city. Mother was. a fine cook, especially of fowl and game . ~ . The floward House was the gathering place of the farmers lawyers ax~d bust. ness men ~ of Howard ~ and Frederick Counties and people of Baltimore ith. had business in the eOUX!tS Of H~WS rd Couxvty and ..peopie of western Marylau4 on their way to Baltinore. ~ ~ ~ O .~ ~ ~ . . ~ )

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58 2. Joe oould read axid write and was a good meohanie and wheelright. These acooz~lp1i8h1nent8 made him very valuable to Rogers fana, as wagons, buggies, carriages, plows and other vehicles and tools had to be made and repaired. ~Vhon I was about eight or nine years old Joe ran away, everybody say Ing to join the Union arniy Joe Nick drove a pair of hitched to a covered wagon, to Ellicott City. The horses were found, but no Nick. Rogers offered a reward of 4100.00 for the return of iUok. This offer drew to Ellicott City a munber of people who had blooChounds that were trained to hunt Negroes some coming from Aime a.rundel, Baltimore, Howard and counties of southern Mary land, each owner priding hie pack as being the beat pack in the town. They all stopped at the Howard House, naturally drinking, treating their friends and each other they aU discussed among the~1iee1ves the reward and their pao ~ of hounds, each one saying that his pack was the best. This boasting was backed by cash. Soins cash, plus the reward on their hounds. In the meantime Old Joe was thinkbig, not boasting, but was riding the rail. Old Joe left Ellicott City on a freight train, going west, which he hopped when it was stalled on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad a short distance from the railroad station at Ellioott City. Old Joe could not leave on the passenger .traina, as no Negro would be allowed on the trains unless he had a pass signed by his masterj or a free Negr~, and had his papers. At d wn the hunters left the Howard House with the packs, aocoxapanied by n~.ny friends and people who joined up for the sport of the chase. They went to Rogers farm where the dogs were taken in paoks to Nick ~ quarters so they could get the odor and scent of 1~Iick. They had a twofold purpose, one to get the natural scent the other was if Old Nick had run away, he might come baok at night to get some personal belongings, in that way the direction he had taken would be indioated by the scent and the hounds would soon track him dowa. The hounds were unleashed, each bunter going in a different direction without result.

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-3.. 59 Then they oiroled the farm, some going - 5 miles beyond the farm wi1~hout res4t. After they had hunted all day they returned to the Howard House where they regaled themselves in pleaz~urea of the hotel for t}~ evening. Izi June of 1865 Old i~ick returned to Ellioott City droseed in a uniform of blue, showing that he had joined the Federal Army. Mr. Rueben Rogers upon seeing hint had him arrested, charging him with being a fugitive slave 11e was confined in the ~Jail there ~ and held until the U. S. Marshal of Baltimore released him, arresting Rogers and bringing him to Baltixr~re City where he was reprimanded by the Federal Judge. This st5ry is well known b~r the older people of Roward County and traditionally known b~r the yotuiger ; generation of Ellicott City, and is called Old Niok t ~oger ~ lemon. ~ : ( *

Dennis Simms, ex-slave. 063 060

( Stories from ex-slave8) DENNIS SIMMS, Ex-slave 60 Reference: Personal interview v~th Dennis Sitmns, ex-slave, September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore. Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland, June 17, 1841, Dennis Simris, Negro ex- slave, 628 Mosher Street, Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a hundred years old. He has one brother living, Georg Sixoms, of South River, Lr~aryland, who was born July 18, 1849. Both of them were born on the Contee tobacco plantation, ov~ned by Richard and Charless Contee, whose forbears were early settlers in the State. Sizrtms aiwayscarries ~ rabbit s foot, to which he attributes his good health and long life. He has been married four times since he gained his freedom, His fourth wife; Eliza Siimiis, 67 years old, is now in the Providence Hispital, suffering from a broken hip she received in a fall, The aged Negro recalls many interesting and exciting incid3nts of slavery days Mo re than a hundred slaves worked on the pi antation, s orne continuing to work for the Contee brothers when they were set free. It was a pretty hard and cruel life for the darkeys, declares the Negro. Describing the general conditions of Maryland slaves., he said~ We would work from sunrise to s~mset every day except Sundays and on New Year s Day. Christmas made little difference a.t Contes, except that we were given extra rations of food then. We had to toe the mark or be flogged with a rawhide whip, and almost every day there was froen two to ton thrashings given oit the plantations to disobedient Negro slaves. when we behaved we were not ~whipped, but the overseer kept a ~t, 28, 1937 :~ t)()~~49 ~sbury

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61 Dretty clos e eye on us . We al 1 hated what they calle d the nine ninety-nine , usually a f1og~in~ untilfell over unconscious or begged for mercy. We stuck pretty close to the cabins after dark, for if we were caught roainin~ about we would be u~nmercifu11y whipped. If a slave was caught beyond the limits of the plantation where he was employed, without the company of a white person or without written permit of his master, any person who apprehended him was permitted to give him 20 lashes across the bare back. If a slave went on another plantation without a written permit from his master, on lawful business, the ovrner of the plantation v~ould usually give the offender 10 lashes, We were never allowed to congregate after work, never went to church, and could riot read or write for we were kept in ii~orance. We were very unhappy. Sometimes Negro slave runaways who were ap~reIiended by the patroliers, who kept a constant watch for escaped slaves, besides being flogged, would be branded with a hot iron on the cheek with th~ letter R . ! Simms claimed he knew two slaves so branded. ~ Siinms asserted that even as late as 1856 the Constitution of Maryland enacted that a Negro convicted of murder should have his right hand cut off, should be hanged in the usual manner, the head severed from the body, divided into four quarters and set up in the most public places of the county where the act was committed. He said that t~e slaves pretty well knew about this barbarous Maryland law, and that he even heard of dismemberments for atrocious crimes of Negroes in Maryland. . We lived in rudely constructed log houses, one story in heighth, with huge stone clthnneys, and slept on beds of straw. Slaves were pretty tired after their long day s work In the field,~ Sometimes we would, unbeknown to ur master, assemble in a cabin and sing songs and spirituals. Our favorite spiritual s were ~ 2ringiii indesheaires, De Stars am shinint for us all, ~! ~ ~ and ~ hasno place ~ The singii~g was

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62 usually tothe accompaniment of a Jew s harp and fiddle, or bar~jo. In summer the slaves went without shoes and wore three-quarter che~kered baggy pants, some wearing only a long shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes, much too large. In winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep out the cold. We called them Pro~rarn shoes. We had no money to spend, in fact did not know the value of money. Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap i~olasses and a red herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from ourmaster or overseer, we would j~o hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie would be a real treat. We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared the patroilers. As a rule most slaves were la~,r. Si.mins work~ at Contee waz to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires and sometimes work in the field. He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inaugura- tion of Lincoln,after he was set free.

Jim Taylor (Uncle Jim), ex-slave. 066 063

j/6/37 ~ ~gers ~ ~ (Ex slave stories) 63 JIM TA~flJOR (uiicL~ mi, Ex~1ave. Reference: Per5onal interviw with Jim Taylor at hia home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore. I ~was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels about 1847 Mr Mason Shehan e father knew me well as I worked for him for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Miohaels who had several~-tuge and small boats. In the stm~ier, the sinai J. boats were used to haul produce ~hile the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and the small river8 Ofl the Eastern Shore. Mr. Da~via bought able-bodied colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the,6aptain, there were from 6 to 10 ~an used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess boy, than on the sail boats. nI think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at Havre de ~raoe engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to St Mi chaels It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace . Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 6th, before we could start towards St. Michaela. Mz~. Tuttle the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that night, ~but went to a cook fight. The colored men decided to escape and go to Pennsylvania . ( I was a small boy) . They ran the tug across the bay to Elk Creek, and upon. arriving there they beached the tug on the north side, followed e. stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated bn a ) arge fann which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the oounty. The sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping men seized the sheriff from the rear, after he was throvvn they tied him, then they ~ntinued on a road towards ~ Pennsylvania. They

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64 2 reached Peimaylvania about dam. After they had gone same distanoe iii Pezmeylvenia three men with guns overtook them; but five nien and one woman of Pennsylvania with guns and clubs stopped them. In the meantima the sheriff and two of hie deputies come up. The sheriff said he had to hold them for the authorities of the county. They were taken by the sheriff froen the three zaen, carried about 15 miles further in Pennsylvania and then were told to go to Chester whore they would be safe. Mr. Davis came to Chester vrith Mr. Tuttle to claim the escaping slaves. They were badly beaten, Mr. Tuttle receiving a fractured skull. There were several white nien in Chester who were very much interested in colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia. After arriving in Philadelphia, we went to Allen s mission, a colored church that helped escaping slaves. I stayed in. Philadelphia until I was about 19 years old, then all the colored people were free. I returned to Talbot, there remained until 1904, carne to Balthnore where I secured a job with James Ilitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two horses each and soxr~etimes by three atd ~four horses Mr i office and warehouse were on North Street near Pleasant. I stayed there;with Mr. Ltitchens until he sold his business to Mr. O. Farror after he had taken sick. In March I Will be 90 years old. I have been sick three times in my life. I am, and have been a member of North Street Nptist Church for thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married twice and a grandfather of twenty-three granddaughters and grandsons and forty-five great gr~nd-ohildren. While in Philadelphia I attended free school for colored children conducted at Allen e Mission; when I returned to Talbot county I was in the sixth grade or the sixth reader. Since then I have always been fond of reading. N~! ~favored books are the ~ Bun~ nn s P~~III S Progre~a Uncle o&e ~14n, the lives of Napoleon, Frederick Douglas a and Booker T Washington, and church

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-3-. . 65 magaz Ines and the Afro .Amerl oaxi

James Wiggins, ex-slave. 069 066

(Ex slave stories) i90038 ~ 66 JA}~Eb V~IGGIN~, Ex-slave Reference : Personal ihterview with James Wiggins ex-slave ~at his home, 625 Barre St. I was born in ~&tme Arundel County, on a farm near West River about 1850 or 1851, I do not know whic1~ I do not know my father or mother. Peter Brooks, one of the oldest colored men in the county, told me that my father s name was lNiggins. lie said that he was one of the Revell )sJ slaves. He acquired my father at an auction sale held in Baltimore at a.~high price from a trader who had an office on Pratt Street about 1845. He w s given a wife by Mi . Reveil and as a result of this union I was born. L Iy father was a car~ penter by trade, he was hired out to different farmers by Mr. Reveil to repair and build harns, fences and houses. I have been told that my father could read and write~ Onee he was charged With v~riting passes for some slaves in the L: COUfl~T~ as a result of this he was given 15 lashes b7 the sheriff of the.county, irmnediately afterwards ho ran away, went to Philadelphia, where he died while ~ working to save money to purchase iao the t s freedom, through a white I3apti st . minister in Baltimore. ----~ I was caLled Gingerbread by the Reveils. They reared me until .1 reached the age of about nine or ten years old. My duty was to put logs on the fireplaces in the RevelJ/~ house and work around the house. I remember-well when I was taken to ~napolis, how I us d to dance in the stores for men and women, they would give me permies and three cexat piece~ all of which was given to me by the Reveil s They bought me sho es and cl othes with the money c ol le oted . Mr. Reveil died in 1861 or 62, The sheriff and men carae from~Annapolis, sold the 1, stock and other chattels I was purchased by a Mr ~ ayland, who kept a store in Annapolis. I was sold by hini to a slave trader to be shipped to Georgia, I was brought to Baltimore, and was jailed in a small house on Paca near Lombard, The trader was buying other slaves to n~ake a load. I escaped through ~.: -the aid of ~ Ger.ui.n s1~ioe~aker, who sold shoes to o wners for 6laves. ~ . . ~ L ~ ~ ? -s-J

070 067

67 The German shoernan h~d a covered wagon, I was put in the wagon covered by boxes, taken tohou3e on south sharp Street and there kept until a Er. Geor:e Stone took rae to i1rederick City v;here I stayed until 18c3, when ~r. Stone, a me~aber of the Lutheran church, had me christened giving mc the name of James )~igr~ins. This is how I ~ot the na~ne of Wi~:ins, after my father, instead or Gingerbread, throu~~h the investigation and the information given by LIr. Brooks. ~ You know the Reveils are well known in Anne .A,rundel County, consisting of a )arL)e farriily, each f~unily a lar~e property owner. I can t say how many acres were owned by Jim Reveil, he was a general fariner having a few slaves, you see I was a small boy. I can t ans~er all the questions you want. There were a great many people in Anne Arundel who did not believe in slavery and many free colored people. These conditions caused conflicts be~ tween the free colored who many times were charged with aiding the slaves and the whites who were not favorably impressed with slavery and the others who be~ lieved in slavery. As a result, the patrollers were numerou~I remember of seeing Jim Reveil coming home ve~ry much battered and beaten up as a result of an encou;:~ter with a number of free people and white people and those ~th o were msL~bers of the patrollers. As a child I was very fond of dancing, especially the jig and buck. I niade money as I stated befdre, I played children s plays of that t~ie, top, marbi s and another garne we~alled skinny&~kinny w~s a game played on trees and grape vines. As a boy I wa~very healthy, I never had a doctor dntil I was over 50 years old. I don t k*ow anything about the medical tx~eat~e~ ~ that day, you never need medicine: unless you are ailing and I never ailed. ~

"Parson" Rezin Williams, ex-slave. 071 068

L. 68 :~e;1t. SC?, IUJI btar~$btfl (;~Loflea ~ oxeeiavec) s ~ft ~j; r ~ fuis e~ ~ ~xsa1sv V, Le~ r nce baltimore ~on1in~ atm, ~...eeoraimr 10, 1u243. Loutatration ilC~k oS ~.au d at 1ieetion t~uLseniuorn . L~a1t1nore court .Jo~ee. P~t atia1 thtunieve w1t1:~ ?arsorC ~eztn ;a iavs, ciii ~wa~y attonno~n, .~eptethes 1G ~ux 24, 193?, at ide hoes, 2(aO ?1erp~t 2trevt, ~~ wit ~i4UU~S~ Ititictore, ~ TU. . ;~&arflanU .~tatortcai a~asune, Voi 1. (1906), .. p. btL Ltuctkthoi* z ~:invsry~va of k~fl~2 lazxt .~ tj~ ~ ~7~3 IS it??. (P.L.mC~ ~ s s s S S t~arson ;4~11nLuxn. s OUest itvir~~j Learo Civil I~ar veteran; now fl8 ye ~ ~ cra old, Oldest tG4j~18tCr d voter in ~ ;S171tfld .. ~ and said to t~ the oluest fre*n~mn0 In the United ~3tatea, Said to be b1~et noflbov et fls~yo t~uniiy in Ax rtz ica with steter w4 brother still livin6, ~~on than a century old. Father vorkt2 tor Geor~e ~ashun~ton. . s as s s s . in 1864 wherz the t~tate Constitution abolished slavery and freeti about 8~, 000 t4ot~. Bittes in ~sry lard, there na r, ~ ~osun ~ filtern, alnady s tn~man Il. is now living at the a~j of a Inn, ira. bsitt~r~ Gity, M.ary iatid, er.dlt*d with beunij tha oldest of kits na in the United &tat e who sen,d in the Civil War, S -

072 069

2e ~. 69 i~e Was 1;ioirn Mnrc:~ li, I 2~ , st ~ia1rvin& gp~gfl ~cwio, itince teo:~ee county, ~avy1sr4 e s plantation of iG~O seras, thon i*1on~js bk~ to Govorr~r OUSU ~Qtj ~ O Lather, PnrvorC Z~ huera ~:~eztn ~flELijj14fl$ a retcru, Wt%C born at ~attcponi9, notw i.~ottttiuhan. Prthce ~~eox%es County, the ta~ of trL bw t bowls of t~ovo1uticnin y ~ar j#:.;6~ tz tcnd of ~8L3kA1Zt~Ofl ~ twice ~ ovo.vnor ot ~ 7~:j~ elder ~tn~~ttt ~ii1ttwe ~oened L.~u taUar oS our c~untry as n !.~~sUor at otwt ~o.vhOfl~ cabre nO WOrked 0*4 ~Jtt&Jrk,ton s psabtation &1UV1~ ; tie etonay days of the ~evo1ution, There Sc ~orhape nowhere to be S cazxt a ~oro picturesque and I : tenstintj c tcsracter ot tne colored race that W ~ ~ Ill ana, t2;01 bOSIdSU SSfltTh ~ 88 11 oCiOPOCI bishop of tia tnioz~ ~nsrtcan .e~ethode lot ~j~ffl~4~% (colorin*) tot ~.i3Ofl tian a half enttury, ta the couiponr of ;o.ro a~1fltuaia wt~ith toto popular dw tx~ t~etr y, s attot4ac ;; re6ident bt Ltd~L Lintoln zi irsau~utatlon tu4 subsequently every !ioe publtcan as ~ 4 teratic preoiderittni, tnaw:,uz~ation, althowjt ~e Ldx ceoU ta a Republican. i4ncok~, accoztin~~ to ~:;t1lisi ,a, shook hands with litt in ~SShthI flUn. tine of 4jjjjj~ t OiiD~ Of a faziiiy of fourteen eht1~Azrs, a hat!w~d after c3eor~$ ~tatdng on, wx~ anotin after .Abrshs~ Lincoln, lbs soit, Osovg *flhtflflon AilZta2~e, cUed tu lwI~ at the s~e of eovone tyet2ac yssr~, . 0Mrson. flsliana, ~jfl~: tL Union Aircoa as s tes ; noter, hsuie od n~tttans and eup~lt o S DV GCIt enS Grant s sm~, at C3*ttysbtw~, Ott tri to ~: ~ ~ ~ con .. Vfl*d nrnded soldiers (rua tb. line cit

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~. 70 fire. ~ ~e also coned under ~e:sr si ~ et Iei1.ur~ tu~c Canerai i~x4c, AW~ou4i h~j1W confined to hie 1Ac~~e witR 1nSirtt~ttIes of Q~) , Ito pc~ oases Sit ~de Lucultieti and Sas s ~oo nettr~ oS events since his uc~1iwod dn~ja. L ue tc~ tk~u Lact that ~ils ~yan&~thor wae an Ar4ian b)~ uau~. ;htsr~ ot un indiun chioftaa , aIie~ed to be burtod in a vanit ~ t~titinoro County, t~iflieris tao s tree;~ian like it1~ t~er ~ci ~:~Ir~ L~i.J2J3e1 out, : r u ~ i itt~ C191130 thbt lILO Lather, wbn a boy, acoapanlad liebeS ~.to, Lot ttGfl 1M was WoVk1r*~, to ~ow t ~ernun, where ho tiret et ~ ~ ~toir ,e .H LtG ~ ..jfl~~3t fl arid tas f;iVOfl work as a servant and hoatA~r ~q t~rnai ;Ma tn&ten, 71e ZSSCL t flt ~:enerai r~~aahi%t fl Ort~o boowie very ~ at his Lather bee;*auee ho struck an ur uly horse, sniatms ifli~ : ~T ~o ta uto zia~ more ae~~ao than aoz:io &svov L~O* strikin~ the Robert outo, t~a third ter; cf L~&~)t. i i1h~rr~ end &~r.~srot (~ipr~~.j I (iWiO~ WitS bOit at ~ :~oar ~ott~ir~Ja~, : arch, V/by. AS o ctiptsth et a conpan~r ok ~uUiti ~ a or~yi i1aou at r;otUn~hcc~, ho acconpcnio~1 t~o 4~afl1w4 terces when tkiey joined ~aohin~jthn in hin early carnpaljn stoat het York. tie cind ~caahington bocars tfler4a, in 1791, when Capt ein %iLiiflifl bOt ~ IS died, ~LS SOU tob rt tnhoritsd ~ ~ aUapox~C . . .z~o was t~~a first ~ ~pvernov to ~ electad, one os t~- presidential ciectore for 4.iadison, and e dtreetor ci tts tiret bank eetabiis~ad at ~flj%~ jj 0 Wt ltanMI recalls tmoria~ hts fltb~v say that iwtan ~a43hirn~~. ton died, Lav~bsr 14, 1?9~, msu~ paid nnrenc.e b7 flSVifl .fltMtUXI~~~

074 071

t 71. cc~x Sa and iiatbar4a, - ..~o notule u~ttny intcrcatiz~ incider~ta durin~:; slaver: dsye. it) tutd t~4~t slaves c~~uld not b~ or sell any ~ hlaj except with t. . perrtitaoion o.i Lt~etr :~twt.er, if n slave was ctnz~ht te~ ~niiee ~ his ~ ~ater e :~or~e, and had no btJted permit, ~a WOG arrested Rt~ S rurswa~ &xsd hanhly puni~$hod. 4sre was o standing rand Sur tue cspturc of a rnawa3 The ~.flt:4L9fl t .. ;O 5M4:bt a runaway slate roceivou a ~n~&tch coat.u ~ m~~ter ~aVe tUe slave usually ten to nTh .. etyenint: inn bes tar ruai ~ . ci ~ . ~ hAt alavea feared ~cet wss vhat tue; called the ~ i~e ninety ~ :~(r or t~i 1fl~eCb Vdth a rttwhizie whip, ari ao~~iotiri~es t~:ay were un~ vL~. ~e ifuily flo~jed until unconc . ~$otxio cruel ~aetez e believed t;~ ~tAt I.et~roea t~a& (*0 souls ALe IFVOB at botte, .r~owever, declared *! &~ra~n ~illi~~s ware ~r Lty weAl treated and usually nape ~ steed t~ ovoresen. ~ ~e a~id that the slaves at basis ~mitly lived in cabine made of alabs tUflflifl~ up and do~i and cruieiy furnished. ~orktn~ titis ne (rota eunrias until sw~et. ~.Uic elates had z~ nancy to ~ and. fa nasteru e.Ilcn&cd t3a to ir4ul~ e in a nli~ios~.e rtotirk~., 0? even learn about tus 14ble. slaves neeiv*i nodloal attention teen a ptqsicb :jf t~fl fln nrtonaiy. ill. When a Seth occur ~ ad, a rou~. box wo~d be made of ben) slabs arid the dead . ~ ~ buried the an day on the plante tian b~trytn 3 lot W ... ibis a brUt tS~, it alun Tt* gflflis~ daflfla, . p~fla%jv .t, site ~ r t: fl$ ~ in t?* 1~~ ~ ti~ ~ ~ sould ett*~ si few apivit

075 072

;. ~ 72 . tmls *ind return to their C&A4t ~ ~ ci~i opiritwais were cc~nposoct ty Peraon~ 4ilteme, ftL~ 1uciir~ Itoh ye Stones Ant, You ll $&o in ~e ~k1ec, and ~ kiel, ~ ~ t.,e se ~ ~frk11ft ~OCFJ~ ~ oflOtT.tnej~ is one or ~4Ifliur& plvituni 3 ~ten dat are ob ct~ .r..tot c~:;~n~, ~ ~&wtne tc; ICkbO ~C)Ut r r ri bound for de pru~.itsed Land itrn ~:;wine to 1~)1* ~jou, .I t~ sorry I,rn ~wine to 1et~ you, kax owoll, oh ft~ren11 i~t .1111 meet ~ou in de vaotnin ~aren1i, h t~reniS, still another lavette of P&rsost~ 4~iI1in~ whIch he cocapc ted on cal. ~OMi* pinntation JUtt beten the tivU ~ o sort a raflyth~:; fl~ expnaein~ *rst * anaiiG i~n~nt ta the slaves at that tins, DUflS tiuS: I m now enbuked tar yonder a2~r tune. a ~Ukt8 a :*fl b~ lev; The Lt013 tt~S viii beat z~o Oter ~ To Wake de~ lion s pa. .. Oh, tW400ua Father, win thou not pity ins Ar4 Std i~ OS) to t~niida~ ~ b fl tUII ~ S2*VO an fne~. Oh1 Z ~ Q** a victoria say . tI t t wi $ :. f~flfl Q~ n*ti.v* taud ot slavery, L ~

076 073

73 Aix! coa.a tc110n de lake That she was stand ~u cv de shore I Id ILflIS extOLded tiGe, To Jve ua aU s peacolul lane !:eyorict ~e rouit tide. intoree t i~~c rotin tecences are rotai lad by e ~ ~ ii I I was or 1313 otsrly lite ~ ~e said ti4~ ~ Ike still ~t.erX*i~s vhen t, Cdon !~ .ewie ( 1c~tor kj~overnor ) loft wit3~ tue arrrj. ci irwusic.n ot r~oz1co ( jL;4taiE?4(3, und oi ~at beirk.~ brou~ht haie I si snQ?. sttor several years was nuroed hati: to iaaLth at ~ airviewr bovernor ~aie daed &;n lita plantation in LL.~94 anti is buried in tho I w$Iy bt~aryin~ ~ot~r$ i.!Q Wc6 ts4) L trot ja estder~t of ti.~o :~tirflar4 Jockey Club, Ckovt3v~ nor ~owte raIsed c~ lofl~ ttizt~, ci famous race ~orsee bast becaca ~ knotvn tt~rc~iJout e. C~?W1tflJ ~ itoIt the ~4:strvjew stablea wont aucb . celebrated horses as L4flcna, LtO~1 crioknoro, Cou~ ;e.nfltion9 (:rehnob, ~mo tarried the hOt Xe colon to the front on many n1l~tentocted rso~ . courses . After Uovernor uit s death, tbs ontste becax:t tl* ~:toe r erti of hie yowi~je8t SOU, ~ l3o~th ~owio. Ya1rview ~ Is. lixated in ~ upper part ~oi~ Wirt was called tt~ ~orsst1 ot ~ rince ~~~eor~oa County, a few tILes aout~weat oC Coll%rEt . ;:~.tstj~g~. It~ le a tint ty~rn of Old Colonial ~~Zffl:.eiofl built at brick, the piece kzavt~j. been in 12a po estor ei the l att for sono tits pnticue. Fflrview0 is onc~ Ot t~ : .t eldest ~ ~ finest t~ornn in ~~nys ~ian&. The ~ijfl$jQfl 4 fl$~$3 t wiAs baU aa~J. is a tpioai. ~ou ~ e~er $ ~~* ~ I

077 074

II . . . - - . . - - - .. . .~----- w.---- - -- - --~--.--- ---- - wTw-~- - r ~ ~ 74 t WUCiL ~kzekntt ;~sn~ cL ~i~t~j bean, a ~~rs1tddau~htor of John i:~ew1t, &r., tim Lint os 1kh~ nirrt to cote to trirAce caur~ee Couut4r. . J t-~i~ ~ trat one d~u~Jttar, f.~oos r~ar?4 wee sLitty ~o~in uucke~t, snd r~Le rcm fleu Its boo S1i1tat~ Lutte cd ~siter, baruch tckflt outs Uvou fliC wire tutd ~4Q Sri jJ~Uj. he d.vteed . aft view t to him 5on~ tr~~1*w art ~tt* 1 tter ts ehfldreu~, anti St u1tiii~at,iy hecin~ the pro p~:~ t~ ui ; ~iB cnndson, attenant known es Col. Ltiliarn r Lowie, who ~& * it hie Loue uttiZ ZU~C wiscn h ~ave it .tce hiu oldest aon, Cden, ~:O ht ~O~ b!ctL20 ~uVArn*r of .iSfliSlid. C~vornor ~ow1~ . *tt aiea!a i~o:* 1t1fled witt; tAlC Ltzr ~crat1c iart)~. 0Paraon~ ~ fletia t~ tit,fr~ tile A~c4son t~flflu~n, dIed Aw~ ct U, 1t~28, at the ~ of b4 years. The aged jts~ro la u~ inner c4 14 C. .iidiren, une attfl IXvtnt.j s ra. AtaSXa ~ec1ey, U? yeora old, 2010 r t ~rpont ~Arsfl s aunt Winane, k:altiniw* . LeflIwd. :jj~ brukmr, nircellus ~iI1i&$, and a eth~?:1e sister, Anuita ~i1itnna, both 1iflm~, raids on hLbi L4refl, ~hflace1phta, ~e, Accorciirk~, to ~Fgx aor? ~ ~~i11in1 they an both cior s thax~ a century . old and are in fairly ~ Good Zosith, i3sjdse hie ck4i4r*n sad s brother w4 a atater, fAss lama 1410 nflzbal srar4chfldnsn, ~nats~vancLchildron aug cre ~ ats~1~ . F7OMChil~tflfl livinG. President iJJzcGln~ $flhie~n~ says, tas looked upon b~v ~ax~ as s rneaaonaer trum zisatti, Ct coiwn, ~sny l*v raters nn 14M an6 conaiderats, but to 1?tat RI*!*S e~ nzt. Jtiat a driver maid . ilairse iPiPn nt borin for tbn~. only onos durimj his IU*tlas dna ~flhSas no*1l tfltth8 tL~ia wlwn bta cousin bo~jt a pint, it~ ~ ~

078 075

n 3 e 75 cost tiro conta in U:iooe daya. 11e said hie ~ot;~er usai to ua.~t beer oi4t ai: pors1a~on~ titi cwx a~2ka, but they Uont t cske it~ say ~.cre 30 iT~s ~ even drink ~oer now. ~ VL~UAd t2UCit ratxxir L~tvo B ~ ~ Ct Ci~S2 . e bn Dines a boy, eusc~ked a ulpo. Lis: special penaibaion of plantation owners i ~ tri,rice ~ e r~ee, bt. ;..i*ry , ii~altim ro &i~d other counties in ~arflaz$, be was often p nAU~eU to vielt the U arkeyc avs~i ecaiduet a reli~ioue ncotin~ in tLsir cabins. ~e usua11~r wore a 1on:~,stU1ed bta k. ~E~tntucky suit wLt~ ba~ :; ~y tZ OU GVS asd sported s cane, bsuaflw when cervoiSe or oIave~ in those dflS round the :~eo1vea i~ap~.:~ tind contented, it was bocsauss UIe~ WO~~e born under a lucky star. Mi Lev ostLu~..., they aoI~Aom ~pt chickon, ixatly they ate rod horrin,; ~ t4 ?k~ zcJlaset~i.a n thol ealied black strap .zaolaocea, flisy %W)PO aISOWSU a ~orviaj a day as part of their oo~~. ~laveo as a rule ~roterro poL3Mr1~G to rabbits. ~art lIked Lieu t)oct. ~ifliams fsvor.tee Sui.4 vos Curnpota and tried liver, . (~nce t*i ~fl de wait, S was rtdln Any, ny c ilcey, a Lou nibs jfrC~t~ do boas ~baee at 1* tntew, w~on a1*ns COE IO a c&ozen or ~ ao pats rollers. bey ~ .qtu~tio4~eC ta and. decidect i~ was a rt~way slave anti dey tua ~~*itie to stre ~ a coat of tar satt feat~ora when dO bony roae up &nd ordered u~ t 5l0 0t. ~e told den ~fleaded white pflro~ 1ers dat I was a trncan SUd S ~ pBDSOU . 4sn ta* slaves von ~e LEE., sous of the overseers tcoted bonis, caflia.~~ the blacks T CU their toil In tia fields. Thoy were told tt~~ need . z~ .. bon~jer work SOI t~LV useters uninn thy rio desired..

079 076

e9e t 7G }fQ8t c4T the d*rke~s quit ~ tua dar and ~atLs u quick dsparttur. to other parts, Litt 3Q~:t r&41n9U and. tu this dct~ their da~e~ts two still to be touziu workin~, on tue cri~~inal plantations, but 0! C~iUt85 for pa~j. Ieecrthlz~ the clothtn~: WOVfl in ~ua*r tfr~o b~ UM ~lavea, la t~std they ;:cst went barefooted. Aue r.sn and baye won t~i%h s USPtOr etflped pente and oow*tin~o ti large tun*tolstiaped straw ~ so s ~ onLk~j a shirt as scoverin~ .. L or their bckiy, in winter ozhld.e a:~oee toro vors, iaaeh tcn iar~e, and tim soles . e~ntslnsd several layc~rs oS~ j)efsr, ; e oafled t~Sti pt0~.Md a1~oes, tes ~ cause the paper useil for stuSti4~1 consisted ot uiacanMd p~ ~7*~~ . )a~6 ~ atbered larba from tich we meLde z~iotici m, snake root: said BSSe~ * aitas tarit boia~ a ~rnt recady for ~*trq atb~* .. zitat i4lSismt, thOu~.p) hinsel~ not a slave by virtue et tim tact that i.(1O ~tantth t flU Sfl Indian, WOG cOnSidOrOd a ~pod ju of talti~ . &lavea, ttacae wi:4~ would i~i ove prcfitablo to the .. ix owm~rs, no he otten &ecomip t~isd elan getters to tb. L~Atbcn z ave nmrkata, ~s told os hvin~ been ta en by :~ rtaln elate zsstsr to tim balt1j~mn tart., bon4 s boat sr~ after tia slav, dealer land tb captain negotiated a ~Snl, ~ ~itllta~ not nalisLn~j U:iat ~m was . beize used as a ~ lsd a ~rou~. o! soti* thirty or l orty black., blflfl, VOI~3.fl *14 chU4fl.n~ tITOUs .. ?1a a dark sud dirty turmet fez a 41a tanos of sow ~ blocks to a slav. market pen, w~mx~ *ifl wars plas~ cm tM susticn tiZock. . ~!ar ~i. ~44 to sofl~ m flhi ma bliNk *C~: tiC est up s *sfl L

080 077

~-~ ~ ~ ~.. . ~- ~ ..-~ . ajQe 77 ~ ten t!.xey were C ~. pareted .iro~ their ixuobanus ar~ct eixilc2ren. it ne ~! ~ ~ Itiful et.u~:t to ace t}ie~, hnlt u*i d, ao~:m wbtppod into etthmiesiou9 ~ cast ~ ).~bto sieve pen.s aurtiounted by Irait bars A ~ood ;seaiu v ne~ro ; an iron 18 to ~& would brine iron . 2u~ to C~ Bou~ ~osaxn would brtn~j c~~ut lait b~te ~rico oS~ Uic raan. Often when t~e worxm ~urteti with t... .eir c}slLwon and loved ones, the~t vtcul nover e~~ tama 5uc~n cou~.iitiono as eztstoi . tri tLu .iUtii:cre slave ~nz~ke to ~W: ;ich were con8iueroci the moat aLcoortt~t In t~~o cuunt~, und tic t..~bsequent j .t~ j trtwt,~cnt of tac uniovtuntste$ is&teneS the ~er between trie atatee~ The irtr~tiain~ nuntrnrt ~ z ~)e ~ ~ niso . ~ad Lw~cII to do with ctiusS~ tcM ~~ivi . csr. ~the ~c~uth wtui tndirij black s1eve~ e sort os white eiophanta i~Verywbers the question was wbat to do with the ipn&iani ~:1obody nnted thor ... :~ .. SO~ sta~ec declared Ua~ nrc a ; thiic nuisancee 0Urscie ~iezirC bp wi4ch name aui~~e called hin, since ciave~ dayc, Ltte, beetdes betrt~ en~jaj~ad In jfl~ BC11tfl~. the ~ joun~yi~ frai 0fb town tu &nottie r, where i.s rae porfcrne4 iamdrede of csrria~jes &tzcint; hic tac, bapti**4 thousain&~ performed ~ c?a ietsnin~ja tuAi probtttly preached Sn BOrIZI IW than arty Ns~jo now iivb~~ ~* pnached his last esnxn tvc~ ~eews a~p, ~e says his life s work t flow t~hrow3)i ar~ fl ~:~ ta croasin~. over the River Jordan mxl will soon be on the other sidee ~ Since the civil !kar tie bas usde ex tnt ~ ~ his suppcrt dur~ ~ ia 4~~pfl.suSen titas by aoir~ odd jobs cd whttewaustdng, ssrvtngj ** a pc.fl r or janitor, cuttlxkj ~ociJ~ ~t~flrit~ arid rw~t ny;. en ards, 4es . 0

081 078

. .. ~ ~ ~ ~ a fls ~ 78 ~rvtr ; St a tea~etcr, pIck1n~, tevricu~i ancL WO2!htt~ as LA IoUoror. ah M. hiAd several ~ ea~ttpoo trott tLsath duflnL; his 1on~ USe. Atice ciur1n~ ~. ~ tIM ~mt~t qusrtw of s century i4a laie at ~int ~1nans lASS bean deatvu~1ed L;j sire, *~.M r tz er~rnn rescued hin iz.~ the sick os t a~,t w4 flOT t ~ ourn abo, w i~.~xa ho was ~nMk%en34 ank .. ~ od ~uz irs~ a severe wtndatorr;z, ~ du douse wse unroofed. and blew down, ~ en werk~er~ we2: e cIeas irk. ~/ t. kO tI8UVI$ Sin s searchrtor ~e zir~, COflC h~uz~s iatnr, ta voice was ;~eerd comin<.~ fre~~ a ier .~e terreZ S.:~i t$a ceflvr.. it wt~n froL~). V;i111&SLtt, W~O OtS1i~AW flaflhjt,Od to er swl Ist ~ C ~~~t~fl Z during the atoirn, t~nd called outs De Lor%1 lab. sabod ne. I~u all. ~wul a* ~ut oi line, but I~ae cJs1 ri~~ht. ceabo, h.tzi pet dct, wao 1~1iiod by the talitn~ debz~1c ~~ufl1k~ tIM storas, klnuen at %~tport utste t~ut throc jenr s s~?o, Itou fire dzzca~,;ed N * noie hetin1s hOLte Ut t ~ftt1 ~e~ro ~rSsc1ier refused tn be rescued, &ud walked out os~ the bufldi~v tbroLk.h tif1in~ snake, as thou~i not:~a liN~ hAd bappened. tM~aen veterans ol? s ~rcat vnir have been noved down by the scythe or Fatisor T1~* until their r~:ibers a~e tew, tu~ WMSd publtc. interest attacha to tlwn. (-~ . ~ n riber L. honor paid to tha Isst SUVV%~Vtflb 014 SOSGM rSC who Laced the 4 ittsIl troops at ~orth PoInt in 1014, and nov the tes vet n sra bi tais ~tr or Mec~iciIo .. a, t*tl:ior they wore the blue or the ts~t, neeDs ~aIaI ~ itt attention. 4~, . ~ - - ~ - -~- ~ ~ s ~c-Trr5 dtttersnt class, one peculiarly sesottated wit. the atrite tmt~ en. tbs Korth *t*I bot~~, ~srs sppron2iii~ tim point of ftt4nij out tr~ the ILSe ot t~ e ~4J old slaves, mrd oriflasi *14 frec~*n. Paou~ wiuts tops tha flat oS them all,

059 056

--6-- 56 a large boy. I came to Baltimore when General Grant was elected, worked in a livery stable for three years, three years with Dr. Owens as a waiter and coachman, 3 years with Mr. Thomas Winanson Baltimore Street as a butler, 3 years with Mr. Oscar Stillman of Boston, then 11 years with Mr. Robert Garrett on Mt. Vernon Place as head butler, after which I entered the catering business and con- tinued until about twelve years ago. In my career I have had the opportunity to come in contact with the best white people and the most cultured class in Maryland and those visiting Baltimore. This class is about gone, now we have a new group, lacking the refinement, the culture and taste of those that have gone by. When I was a small boy I used to run races with other boys, play marbles and have jumping contests. At nights the slaves would go from one cabin to the other, talk, dance or play the fiddle or sing. Christmas everybody had holidays, our mistress never gave presents. Saturdays were half-day holidays unless planting and harvest times, then we worked all day. When the slaves took sick or some woman gave birth to a child, herbs, salves, home liniments were used or a midwife or old mama was the attendant, unless severe sickness Miss McPherson would send for the white doctor, that was very seldom.