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

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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 70marry. Father said he did not want any other woman. My father was good to me. He would give me anything Iasked him for. Mother would make me ask him for things for her. She said it was no harm for me to ask himfor things for her which she could not get unless I asked him for them. When the surrender came my mothertold my father she was tired of living that kind of a life, that if she could not be his legal wife she wouldn't beanything to him, so she left and went to Levenworth, Kansas. She died there in 1935. I do not know where myfather is, living or dead, or what became of him.I can read and write well. They did not teach us to read and write in slavery days. I went to a school opened bythe Yankees after the surrender.I went with my mother to Levenworth, Kansas. She sent me to school in Flat, Nebraska. I met my husbandthere. My first husband was Elisha Williams; I ran away from school in Flat, and married him. He brought meto Raleigh. He was born and raised in Wake County. We lived together about a year when he died July 1st,1872. There was one child born to us which died in infancy.I married the second time Rufus H. Daves in 1875. He was practically a white man. He wouldn't even pass fora mulatto. He used to belong to the Haywoods. He died in 1931 in Raleigh.I think Abraham Lincoln was a fine, conscientious man; my mother worshipped him, but he turned us outwithout anything to eat or live on. I don't think Mr. Roosevelt is either hot or cold--just a normal man.ACN. C. District: No. 2 [320257] Worker: Mary A. Hicks No. Words: 429 Subject: JERRY DAVIS Story Teller:Jerry Davis Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 26 1937"]JERRY DAVIS Ex-Slave Story and Folk TaleAn interview with Jerry Davis 74 of 228 E. South Street, Raleigh, North Carolina.I wus borned in Warren County ter Mataldia an' Jordan Davis. Dere wus twenty-two o' us chilluns, an'natu'ally Marster Sam Davis laked my mammy an' daddy. He owned two hundert an' sebenty slaves, an' three,four, or five scopes o' lan'.Marster wus good ter us, he gibe us plenty ter eat, an' w'ar, an' he wus good an' kind in his talkin'. I warn't big'nuff ter do much 'sides min' de chickens, an' sich lak.I doan 'member so much 'bout de Yankees comin' 'cept sein' dem, an' dat dey gibe my pappy a new blueovercoat an' dat I slep' on it onct er twict. I knows dat de Yankees wus good ter de niggers but dey warn't sogood ter de ole Issues. Dey did 'stroy most eber'thing do'.I can't 'member, but I'se hyard my mammy tell o' dances, co'n shuckin's, wrestlin' matches, candy pullin's an'sich things dat wus had by de slaves dem days.My pappy tol' me 'bout de cock fights in de big pits at Warrenton an' how dat when de roosters got killed deowner often gibe de dead bird ter him. I'se also hyard him tell 'bout de hoss races an' 'bout Marster Sam's finehosses.I knows dat de marster an' missus wus good case my mammy an' daddy 'sisted on stayin' right on atter de war,an' so dey died an' was buried dar on Marster Sam's place.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 71I wucked in de Dupont Powder plant durin' de World War but I wus discharged case I had acid injury.Yessum, I'll tell you de only rale ole tale dat I knows an' dat am de story' bout----Jack.JACKOnct dar wus a white man down in Beaufort County what owned a nigger named Jack. Dis man owned a boatan' he was fer ever more goin' boat ridin', fer days an' nights. He larned Jack how ter steer an' often he'd go tersleep leavin' Jack at de wheel, wid 'structions ter steer always by de seben stars.One night as Jack steered for his master to sleep, Jack suddenly fell asleep too. When he awake it wuz jist atde crack of dawn so no stars wus dar.Jack went flyin' ter de marster hollerin', 'please sur marster, hang up some mo' stars, I done run by dem seben'.JACK AND THE DEVILOnct Jack an' de debil got inter a 'spute 'bout who can throw a rock de ferderest. De debil sez dat he can throwa rock so fur dat hit won't come down in three days.Iffen you can throw a rock furder dan dat, sez de debil, I'll give you yer freedom.De debil chunks a rock an' hit goes up an' stays fer three days. When hit comes down Jack picks hit up an' he'lows, 'Good Lawd, move de stars an' de moon case dar's a rock comin' ter heaben'.De debil sez, 'Iffen you can do dat den you can beat me case I can't throw a rock in a mile o' heaben'.AC.N. C. District: No. 2 [320240] Worker: T. Pat Matthews No. Words: 1025 Subject: A Slave Story StoryTeller: W. S. Debnam Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 30 1937"]W. SOLOMON DEBNAM. 701 Smith Street.Yes, I remember the Yankees coming to Raleigh. I don't know very much about those times, I was so young,but I remember the Yankees all right in their blue clothes; their horses, and so on. I'll be 78 years old the 8thof this comin' September an' I've heard mother an' father talk about slavery time a whole lot. We belonged toT. R. Debnam at Eagle Rock, Wake County. His wife was named Priscilla Debnam. My father was namedDaniel Debnam an' my mother was named Liza Debnam. My master had several plantations an' a lot ofslaves. I don't know how many, but I know he had 'em. He fed us well; we had a good place to sleep. We hadwove clothes, enough to keep us warm. He treated me just like he had been my father. I didn't know thedifference. Marster an' missus never hit me a lick in their lives. My mother was the house girl. Father tendedbusiness around the house an' worked in the field sometimes. Our houses were in marster's yard. The slavequarters were in the yard of the great house. I don't remember going to church until after the surrender.I remember the corn shuckin's, but not the Christmas and the fourth of July holidays. They had a lot ofwhiskey at corn shuckin's and good things to eat.I heard pappy talk of patterollers, but I do not know what they were. Pappy said he had to have a pass to visiton, or they would whip him if they could ketch him. Sometimes they could not ketch a nigger they were after.
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Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States

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