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

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,