Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States

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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 110de bottom rail will be on top, and it is comin' to pass. Sometime de colored race will git up. De Bible say so.I think Mr. Roosevelt is one of the greatest mans in de world. He wants to help everybody.I doan think much of Mr. Jeff Davis. Dey used to sing songs uv hanging him to a apple tree. Dey say he libeda long time atter de war dressed like a 'oman, he wuz so skeered.TPM:EHN. C. District: No. 3 [320122] Worker: Daisy Whaley Subject: Cy Hart Ex-slave, 78 years. Durham, N. C.[HW: 48][TR: Date Stamp: "AUG 6 1937"]CY HART, 78 Yrs. Ex-Slave.Ephram Hart was my pappy and my mammy's name was Nellie. He belonged to Marse Ephram Hart. One dayMarse Hart took some of his niggers to de slave market an' my pappy was took along too. When he was put onde block an' sold Marse Paul Cameron bought him. Den Marse Hart felt so sorry to think he done let mypappy be sold dat he tried to buy him back from Marse Paul, an' offered him more den Marse Paul paid forhim. But Marse Paul said, "No, Suh. I done bought him an' I want det nigger myself an' I am goin' take himhome wid me to Snow Hill farm."Pappy married my mammy an' raised a family on Marse Paul's plantation. We had to be eight years ole beforewe 'gun to work. I tended de chickens an' turkeys an' sech. I helped tend de other stock too as I growed older,an' do anythin' else dat I was tole to do. When I got bigger I helped den wid de thrashin' de wheat an' I helpeddem push de straw to de stack.We had what wuz den called a 'groun' hog. It wuz a cylinder shaped contraption. We put de wheat straw an allin it an' knock de grain loose from de straw. Den we took de pitchforks an' tossed de straw up an' about, an'dat let de wheat go to de bottom on a big cloth. Den we fan de wheat, to get de dust an' dirt out, an' we had bigcurtains hung 'roun' de cloth whar de wheat lay, so de wheat wouldn' get all scattered, on de groun'. Dis wheatwas sacked an' when wanted 'twus took to de mill an' groun' into flour. De flour wuz made into white breadan' de corn wuz groun' into meal an' grits.When de war started der wuz some bad times. One day some of Wheeler's men come an' dey tried to takewhat dey wanted, but Marge Paul had de silver money another things hid. Dey wanted us niggers to tell demwhar everythin' wuz, but we said we didn' know nuthin'. Marse Paul wuz hid in de woods wid de horses an'some of de other stock.Den Wheeler's men saw de Yankees comin' an' dey run away. De Yankees chased dem to de bridge an' deydone some fightin' an' one or two of Wheeler's men wuz killed an' de rest got away.Den de captain of de Yankees come to Mammy's cabin an' axed her whar de meat house an' flour an' sech at.She tole him dat Pappy had de keys to go an' ax him. "Ax him nothin'", de captain said. He called some of hismens an' dey broke down de door to de meat house. Den dey trowed out plenty of dose hams an' dey toleMammy to cook dem somethin' to eat and plenty of it. Mammy fried plenty of dat ham an' made lots of breadan' fixed dem coffee. How dey did eat! Dey wuz jus' as nice as dey could be to Mammy an' when dey wuzthrough, dey tole Mammy dat she could have de rest, an' de captain gave her some money an' he tole her datshe wuz free, dat we didn' belong to Marse Paul no longer. Dey didn' do any harm to de place. Dey wuz jus'looking for somethin' to eat. Den dey left.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 111We didn' leave Marse Paul but stayed on an' lived wid him for many years. I lived wid Marse Paul 'til he diedan' he done selected eight of us niggers to tote his coffin to de chapel, an' de buryin' groun'. He said, "I wantdese niggers to carry my body to de chapel an' de grave when I die." We did. It wuz a lood [HW correction:load] I would have been glad had der been two or four more to help tote Marse Paul for he sho wuz heavy.After everythin' wuz ready we lifted him up an' toted him to de chapel an' we sat down on de floor, on eachside of de coffin, while de preacher preached de funeral sermon. We didn' make any fuss while sittin' dere onde floor, but we sho wuz full of grief to see our dear ole Marse Paul lying dere dead.N. C. District: No. 2 [320130] Worker: Mary A. Hicks No. Words: 381 Subject: THE BLACKSMITH PersonInterviewed: Alonzo Haywood Editor: G. L. Andrews[TR: Date Stamp "AUG--1937"]THE BLACKSMITHAn interview with Alonzo Haywood, 67 years old of 1217 Oberlin Road.On East Cabarrus Street is a blacksmith shop which is a survival of horse and buggy days, and the smilingblacksmith, a Negro, although he has hazel eyes, recounts the story of his father's life and his own.My father was Willis Haywood and in slavery days he belonged to Mr. William R. Pool. Mr. Pool liked fatherbecause he was quick and obedient so he determined to give him a trade.Wilson Morgan run the blacksmith shop at Falls of Neuse and it was him that taught my father the trade atMr. Pool's insistence.While father, a young blade, worked and lived at Falls of Neuse, he fell in love with my mother, MiranaDenson, who lived in Raleigh. He come to see her ever' chance he got and then they were married.When the Yankees were crossing the Neuse Bridge at the falls, near the old paper mill, the bridge broke in.They were carrying the heavy artillery over and a great many men followed, in fact the line extended toRaleigh, because when the bridge fell word passed by word of mouth from man to man back to Raleigh.Father said that the Yankees stopped in the shop to make some hoss shoes and nails and that the Yankeescould do it faster than anybody he ever saw.Father told me a story once 'bout de devil traveling and he got sore feet and was awful lame but he went in ablacksmith shop and the blacksmith shoed him.The devil traveled longer and the shoes hurt his feet and made him lamer than ever so he went back and askedthe blacksmith to take off de shoes.The blacksmith took them off under the condition that wherever the devil saw a horse shoe over a door hewould not enter. That's the reason that people hang up horseshoes over their door.Mother died near twenty years ago and father died four years later. He had not cared to live since mother lefthim.I've heard some of the young people laugh about slave love, but they should envy the love which kept motherand father so close together in life and even held them in death.LE
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