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

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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 18Webbs farm. I don't remember how long they stayed there but round two years. They moved about an' aboutamong the white folks till they died. They never owned any property. They been dead 'bout thirty years.I married Sidney Arrington. He has been dead six years las' September.I am unable to do any kind of work. My arm is mighty weak.I know slavery wus a bad thing. I don't have to think anything about it. Abraham Lincoln wus the first of usbein' free, I think he wus a man of God. I think Roosevelt is all right man. I belongs to the PentecostalHoliness Church.ACN. C. District: No. 2 [320031] Worker: T. Pat Matthews No. Words: 1,426 Subject: SARAH LOUISEAUGUSTUS Source: Sarah Louise Augustus Editor: George L. Andrews[TR: No Date Stamp]SARAH LOUISE AUGUSTUS Age 80 years 1424 Lane Street Raleigh, North CarolinaI wus born on a plantation near Fayetteville, N. C., and I belonged to J. B. Smith. His wife wus namedHenrietta. He owned about thirty slaves. When a slave was no good he wus put on the auction block inFayetteville and sold.My father wus named Romeo Harden and my mother wus named Alice Smith. The little cabin where I wusborn is still standing.There wus seven children in marster's family, four girls and two boys. The girls wus named Ellen, Ida, Maryand Elizabeth. The boys wus named Harry, Norman and Marse George. Marse George went to the war.Mother had a family of four girls. Their names wus: Mary, Kate, Hannah and myself, Sarah Louise. I am theonly one living and I would not be living but I have spent most of my life in white folk's houses and they havelooked after me. I respected myself and they respected me.My first days of slavery wus hard. I slept on a pallet on the floor of the cabin and just as soon as I wus able towork any at all I wus put to milking cows.I have seen the paterollers hunting men and have seen men they had whipped. The slave block stood in thecenter of the street, Fayetteville Street, where Ramsey and Gillespie Street came in near Cool Springs Street.The silk mill stood just below the slave market. I saw the silkworms that made the silk and saw them gatherthe cocoons and spin the silk.They hung people in the middle of Ramsey Street. They put up a gallows and hung the men exactly at 12o'clock.I ran away from the plantation once to go with some white children to see a man hung.The only boats I remember on the Cape Fear wus the Governor Worth, The Hurt, The Iser and The NorthState. Oh! Lord yes, I remember the stage coach. As many times as I run to carry the mail to them when theycome by! They blew a horn before they got there and you had to be on time 'cause they could not wait. Therewus a stage each way each day, one up and one down.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 19Mr. George Lander had the first Tombstone Marble yard in Fayetteville on Hay Street on the point of Flat Ironplace. Lander wus from Scotland. They gave me a pot, a scarf, and his sister gave me some shells. I have allthe things they gave me. My missus, Henrietta Smith, wus Mr. Lander's sister. I waited on the Landers part ofthe time. They were hard working white folks, honest, God fearing people. The things they gave me werebrought from over the sea.I can remember when there wus no hospital in Fayetteville. There wus a little place near the depot where therewus a board shanty where they operated on people. I stood outside once and saw the doctors take a man's legoff. Dr. McDuffy wus the man who took the leg off. He lived on Hay Street near the Silk Mill.When one of the white folks died they sent slaves around to the homes of their friends and neighbors with alarge sheet of paper with a piece of black crepe pinned to the top of it. The friends would sign or make a crossmark on it. The funerals were held at the homes and friends and neighbors stood on the porch and in the housewhile the services were going on. The bodies were carried to the grave after the services in a black hearsedrawn by black horses. If they did not have black horses to draw the hearse they went off and borrowed them.The colored people washed and shrouded the dead bodies. My grandmother wus one who did this. Her namewus Sarah McDonald. She belonged to Capt. George McDonald. She had fifteen children and lived to be onehundred and ten years old. She died in Fayetteville of pneumonia. She wus in Raleigh nursing the Briggsfamily, Mrs. F. H. Briggs' family. She wus going home to Fayetteville when she wus caught in a rain storm atSanford, while changing trains. The train for Fayetteville had left as the train for Sanford wus late so shestayed wet all night. Next day she went home, took pneumonia and died. She wus great on curing rheumatism;she did it with herbs. She grew hops and other herbs and cured many people of this disease.She wus called black mammy because she wet nursed so many white children. In slavery time she nursed allbabies hatched on her marster's plantation and kept it up after the war as long as she had children.Grandfather wus named Isaac Fuller. Mrs. Mary Ann Fuller, Kate Fuller, Mr. Will Fuller, who wus a lawyerin Wall Street, New York, is some of their white folks. The Fullers were born in Fayetteville. One of theslaves, Dick McAlister, worked, saved a small fortune and left it to Mr. Will Fuller. People thought the slaveought to have left it to his sister but he left it to Mr. Will. Mr. Fuller gives part of it to the ex-slaves sister eachyear. Mr. Will always helped the Negroes out when he could. He was good to Dick and Dick McAlister gavehim all his belongings when he died.The Yankees came through Fayetteville wearing large blue coats with capes on them. Lots of them weremounted, and there were thousands of foot soldiers. It took them several days to get through town. TheSouthern soldiers retreated and then in a few hours the Yankees covered the town. They busted into thesmokehouse at marstar's, took the meat, meal and other provisions. Grandmother pled with the Yankees but itdid no good. They took all they wanted. They said if they had to come again they would take the babies fromthe cradles. They told us we were all free. The Negroes begun visiting each other in the cabins and became soexcited they began to shout and pray. I thought they were all crazy.We stayed right on with marster. He had a town house and a big house on the plantation. I went to the townhouse to work, but mother and grandmother stayed on the plantation. My mother died there and the whitefolks buried her. Father stayed right on and helped run the farm until he died. My uncle, Elic Smith, and hisfamily stayed too. Grandfather and grandmother after a few years left the plantation and went to live on a littleplace which Mrs. Mary Ann Fuller gave them. Grandmother and grandfather died there.I wus thirty years old when I married. I wus married in my missus' graduating dress. I wus married in thewhite folks' church, to James Henry Harris. The white folks carried me there and gave me away. Miss MarySmith gave me away. The wedding wus attended mostly by white folks.My husband wus a fireman on the Cape Fear river boats and a white man's Negro too. We had two children,
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