Mississippi
I was born to Ole Marster Valentine Merriweather
and lived with him til dey had de nigger division. He divided his slaves with
his son Charlie Merriweather and I was give to
him. I belonged to Mist' Charlie during de Ole Indian War. I was 24 years old
when de war started and I went to de court house up to Washington and I've
looked at Ole man Abe Lincoln and Jeff Davis a settin' thar and a spittin' an
talkin', that was fore de war broke out. When it did I belonged to Squire Smith
and I aint never changed my name from Smith.
I run de hosses frum de yankees and kept dem hid. I was house boy frum de time
I was a year and a half. I'd keep de hosses down in de woods til I hear a
little signal, toot toot, that mean nigger git futher.
Robert Tyler and me was boys together. He were a general in the war and was
killed in a battle in Savannah and we took him back and buried him. I coulda
gone with the yankees but I stayed with my white folks. Dey had nine or ten
fine hosses and about dat many mules and I carried dem to Beaverdam and hid dem
hosses.
After de war our white folks had plenty of cows and hogs and I went right on
working for dem. These folks don't have nothin', then when dey killed a cow or
hog we'd git a quarter or fifty buckets ob lasses, we all divided and had
plenty to eat but now we ant got nothing.
The folks fixed out de food and a body got three pounds of meat a weak fo his
breakfast and supper and de dinner was brought to de fields. Every baby was fed
lak a pig and he had his tray ob milk.
I liked being a slave, our white folks and ole friends are dead but we had
plenty and dey were good to us. We're democrats and we're still slaves. We're
slaves cause we can't raise nothing' and have to go to de other fellow for
everythin' we git. All de food so high all on account ob de Bankhead Bill dat
we can't git nothin'. De folks is good to give me stuff but I can't git to town
and me and my ole woman needs a few nickels to get vittals. I been living with
her eighty years, aint never had but one. She's got a trouble in her heart but
I don't want her to know it.
I was born down in Georgia on Marsta Valentine Merriweathers Plantation,
my ma and pa were raised with ole marsta. We all had quarters which de women
kept swept clean with sage brush brooms. All de families had separate quarters
and each nigger could choose him a gal but dey weren't tole to get one from
another plantation but some times dey did and den dey had to visit her or
sometimes de niggers master would buy her. We all had clean beds against de
wall with corn shuck mattresses and de women did de quiltin'.
De folks allus tole me stories and I had a good time when I was growing up. Old
Mistess took me when I was a year and a half old and when I got big enough I
was a house boy. I worked in de garden, helped clean de big house and take care
of de hosses. We never had no money, we didn't need any, cause we growed every
thing we needed. We all had plenty to eat, all de niggers hunted rabbits and
possums and we all had a garden to get greens out of and we cooked it with salt
pork. We had to fix our breakfast and supper and dinner was fixed and brought
to us in de fields in buckets.
We had plenty to wear and de women picked de cotton from de seeds and spun de
thread and wove de cloth for de clothes. We all wore jest plain cotton clothes
in summer and went barefooted and in winter we had heavy clothes and boots made
out of cowhide. I was married to my ole woman eighty years ago and I aint never
had but one wife, her name was Classie Blackmond, we was married down on de
place under de church arbor during protracted meeting, we was married in 1857
as nigh as I can remember. De parson sho did tie us tight, them was fine times.
We had nine gals and five boys and four of them live near in this community, they
all farm on shares and one of de gals cooks.
Works Project Administration.
Federal Writers Project. Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the
United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. Washington, D.C.
The
Meriwether Society, Inc.
Copyright
2008
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