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

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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 56No mam, Mistress, I doan want ter ride in no automobile, thank you, I'se done walked these three miles frumZebulon an' walkin' is what has kept me goin' all dese years.Yes'm I'se a bachelor an' I wuz borned on June 11, 1845 in Person County. My papa wuz named Ed an' mymaw wuz named Sally. Dar wuz ten of us youngins, Morris, Dallas, Stephen, Jerry, Florence, Polly, Lena,Phillis, Caroline, an' me. Mr. Starling Oakley of Person County, near Roxboro wuz my master an' as long ashim an' ole mistress lived I went back ter see dem.He wuz right good to de good niggers an' kinder strick wid de bad ones. Pusonly he ain't never have mewhupped but two or three times. You's hyard 'bout dese set down strikes lately, well dey ain't de fust ones.Onct when I wuz four or five years old, too little to wuck in de fiel's, my master sot me an' some more littlechilluns ter wuck pullin' up weeds roun' de house. Well, I makes a speech and I tells dem le's doan wuck noneso out we sprawls on de grass under de apple tree. Atter awhile ole master found us dar, an' when he fin's dat Iwuz de ring-leader he gives me a little whuppin'.Hit wuz a big plantation, round 1,200 acres o' land, I reckon, an' he had 'bout seventy or eighty slaves to wuckde cotton, corn, tobacco an' de wheat an' vege'bles. De big house wuz sumpin to look at, but de slave cabinswuz jist log huts wid sand floors, and stick an' dirt chimneys. We wuz 'lowed ter have a little patch o' gardenstuff at de back but no chickens ner pigs. De only way we had er' makin' money wuz by pickin' berries an'sellin' 'em. We ain't had much time to do dat, case we wucked frum sunup till sundown six days a week.De master fed us as good as he knowed how, but it wuz mostly on bread, meat, an' vege'bles.I 'members seberal slave sales whar dey sold de pappy or de mammy 'way frum de chillums an' dat wuz a sadtime. Dey led dem up one at de time an' axed dem questions an' dey warn't many what wuz chained, only debad ones, an' sometime when dey wuz travelin' it wuz necessary to chain a new gang.I'se seed niggers beat till da blood run, an' I'se seed plenty more wid big scars, frum whuppin's but dey wuz debad ones. You wuz whupped 'cordin ter de deed yo' done in dem days. A moderate whuppin' wuz thirty-nineor forty lashes an' a real whuppin' wuz a even hundred; most folks can't stand a real whuppin'.Frum all dis you might think dat we ain't had no good times, but we had our co'n shuckin's, candy pullin's an'sich like. We ain't felt like huntin' much, but I did go on a few fox hunts wid de master. I uster go fishin' too,but I ain't been now since 1873, I reckon. We sometimes went ter de neighborhood affairs if'n we wuz good,but if we wuzn't an' didn't git a pass de patter-rollers would shore git us. When dey got through whuppin' anigger he knowed he wuz whupped too.De slave weddin's in dat country wuz sorta dis way: de man axed de master fer de 'oman an' he jist told demter step over de broom an' dat wuz de way dey got married dem days; de pore white folks done de same way.Atter de war started de white folks tried ter keep us niggers frum knowin' 'bout it, but de news got aroun'somehow, an' dar wuz some talk of gittin' shet of de master's family an' gittin' rich. De plans didn't 'mout tonothin' an' so de Yankees come down.I 'members moughty well when de Yankees come through our country. Dey stold ever'thing dey could find an'I 'members what ole master said. He says, 'Ever' one dat wants ter wuck fer me git in de patch ter pullin' datforty acres of fodder an' all dat don't git up de road wid dem d---- Yankees.' Well we all went away.Dat winter wuz tough, all de niggers near 'bout starved ter death, an' we ain't seed nothin' of de forty acres ofland an' de mule what de Yankees done promise us nother. Atter awhile we had ter go ter our ole masters an'ax 'em fer bread ter keep us alive.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 57De Klu Klux Klan sprung right up out of de earth, but de Yankees put a stop ter dat by puttin' so many of demin jail. Dey do say dat dat's what de State Prison wus built fer.I never believed in witches an' I ain't put much stock in hain'ts but I'se seed a few things durin' my life dat Ican't 'splain, like de thing wid de red eyes dat mocked me one night; but shucks I ain't believin' in dem thingsmuch. I'se plowed my lan', tended it year atter year, lived by myself an' all, an' I ain't got hurted yet, but I ain'tnever rid in a automobile yet, an' I got one tooth left.B. N.N. C. District: No. 2 [320159] Worker: T. Pat Matthews No. Words: 1453 Subject: HANNAH CRASSONStory Teller: Hannah Crasson Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt[TR: HW notes at bottom of page illegible]HANNAH CRASSONMy name is Hannah Crasson. I wuz born on John William Walton's plantation 4 miles from Garner and 13miles from Raleigh, N. C. in the County of Wake. I am 84 years ole the 2nd day uv dis las' gone March. Ibelonged to Mr. John William Walton in slavery time. My missus wuz named Miss Martha.My father wuz named Frank Walton. My mother wuz named Flora Walton. Grandma wuz 104 years when shedied. She died down at de old plantation. My brothers were named Johnnie and Lang. My sisters wereAdeline, Violet, Mary, Sarah, Ellen, and Annie. Four of us are livin', Ellen, Mary, Sarah and me.De old boss man wuz good to us. I wuz talkin' about him the udder night. He didn't whup us and he said, hedidn't want nobody else to whup us. It is jis like I tell you; he wuz never cruel to us. One uv his sons wuz cruelto us. We had a plenty to eat, we shore did, plenty to eat. We had nice houses to live in too. Grandma had alarge room to live in, and we had one to live in. Daddy stayed at home with mother. They worked theirpatches by moonlight; and worked for the white folks in the day time.They sold what they made. Marster bought it and paid for it. He made a barrel o' rice every year, my daddydid.Mr. Bell Allen owned slaves too. He had a plenty o' niggers. His plantation wuz 5 miles from ourn. We wentto church at the white folks church. When Mr. Bell Allen seed us cummin' he would say, 'Yonder comes JohnWalton's free niggers.'Our marster would not sell his slaves. He give dem to his children when they married off do'. I swept yards,churned, fed the chickens. In de ebening I would go with my missus a fishin'. We eat collards, peas, cornbread, milk, and rice. We got biskit and butter twice a week. I thought dat de best things I ever et wuz butterspread on biskit. We had a corn mill and a flour mill on the plantation. There wuz about 24 slaves on de place.Dey had brandy made on de plantation, and de marster gib all his slaves some for dere own uses.My grandmother and mother wove our clothes. Dey were called homespun. Dey made de shoes on deplantation too. I wuz not married til atter de surrender. I did not dress de finest in the world; but I had niceclothes. My wedding dress wuz made of cream silk, made princess with pink and cream bows. I wore a pair ofmorocco store bought shoes. My husband was dressed in a store bought suit of clothes, the coat wuz madepigen [HW correction: pigeon] tail. He had on a velvet vest and a white collar and tie. Somebody stole de ves'atter dat.
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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States

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