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

Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery by Various 80One Yankee would come along an' give us sumptin' an another would come on behind him an' take it. Dats deway dey done. One give mother a mule an' when dey done gone she sold it. A Yankee give mother a ham ofmeat, another come right on behind him an' took it away from her. Dere shore wus a long line of demYankees. I can 'member seeing 'em march by same as it wus yisterday. I wus not old enough to work, but I'members 'em. I don't know 'zackly but I wus 'bout five years old when de surrender wus.My name before I wus married wus Fannie Sessoms an' mother wus named Della Sessoms. We belonged toDr. Isaac Sessoms an' our missus wus named Hanna. My father wus named Perry Vick, after his marster whowus named Perry Vick. My missus died durin' de war an' marster never married anymore.I don't 'member much 'bout missus but mother tole me she wus some good woman an' she loved her. Marsterwus mighty good to us an' didn't allow patterollers to whip us none. De slave houses wus warm and really deywus good houses, an' didn't leak neither.I don't 'member much 'bout my grandparents, just a little mother tole me 'bout 'em. Grandma 'longed to deSessoms an' Dr. Isaac Sessoms brother wus mother's father. Mother tole me dat. Look at dat picture, mister,you see you can't tell her from a white woman. Dats my mother's picture. She wus as white as you wid longhair an' a face like a white woman. She been dead 'bout twenty years. My mother said dat we all fared good,but course we wore homemade clothes an' wooden bottomed shoes.We went to the white folks church at Red Oak an' Rocky Mount Missionary Baptist Churches. We wereallowed to have prayer meetings at de slave houses, two an' three times a week. I 'members goin' to church'bout last year of de war wid mother. I had a apple wid me an' I got hungry an' wanted to eat it in meetin' butmother jest looked at me an' touched my arm, dat wus enough. I didn't eat de apple. I can 'member how bad Iwanted to eat it. Don't 'member much 'bout dat sermon, guess I put my mind on de apple too much.Marster had about twenty slaves an' mother said dey had always been allowed to go to church an' have prayermeetings 'fore I wus born. Marster had both white an' colored overseers but he would not allow any of hisoverseers to bulldoze over his slaves too much. He would call a overseer down for bein' rough at de wrongtime. Charles Sessoms wus one of marster's colored overseers. He 'longed to marster, an' mother said marsteralways listened to what Charles said. Dey said marster had always favored him even 'fore he made himoverseer. Charles Sessoms fell dead one day an' mother found him. She called Marster Sessoms an' he comean' jest cried. Mother said when Marster come he wus dead shore enough, dat marster jest boohooed an' wentto de house, an' wouldn't look at him no more till dey started to take him to de grave. Everybody on deplantation went to his buryin' an' funeral an' some from de udder plantation dat joined ourn.I 'members but little 'bout my missus, but 'members one time she run me when I wus goin' home from de greathouse, an' she said, 'I am goin' to catch you, now I catch you'. She pickin' at me made me love her. When shedied mother tole me 'bout her bein' dead an' took me to her buryin'. Next day I wanted to go an' get her up. Itole mother I wanted her to come home an' eat. Mother cried an' took me up in her arms, an' said, 'Honeymissus will never eat here again.' I wus so young I didn't understand.Dr. Sessoms an' also Dr. Drake, who married his daughter, doctored us when we wus sick. Dr. Joe Drakemarried marster's only daughter Harriet an' his only son David died in Mississippi. He had a plantation dere.I been married only once. I wus married forty years ago to Sidney Dunn. I had one chile, she's dead.From what I knows of slavery an' what my mother tole me I can't say it wus a bad thing. Mister, I wants to tellde truth an' I can't say its bad 'cause my mother said she had a big time as a slave an' I knows I had a goodtime an' wus treated right.LE