Slave Narratives, Oklahoma
V >>
Various >> Slave Narratives, Oklahoma
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24
We started out on foot, and would go a little ways each day, and mammy
would try to get a little something to do to get us some food. Two or
three times she got paid in money, so she had some money when we got
back. After three or four days of walking we came across some more
Negroes who had a horse, and mammy paid them to let us children ride
and tie with their children for a day or two. They had their children
on the horse, so two or three little ones would get on with a larger
one to guide the horse and we would ride a while and get off and tie
the horse and start walking on down the road. Then when the others
caught up with the horse they would ride until they caught up with us.
Pretty soon the old people got afraid to have us do that, so we just
led the horse and some of the little ones rode it.
We had our hardest times when we would get to a river or big creek. If
the water was swift the horse didn't do any good, for it would shy at
the water and the little ones couldn't stay on, so we would have to
just wait until someone came along in a wagon and maybe have to pay
them with some of our money or some of our goods we were bringing back
to haul us across. Sometimes we had to wait all day before anyone
would come along in a wagon.
We were coming north all this time, up through the Seminole Nation,
but when we got to Weeleetka we met a Creek family of freedmen who
were going to the Agency too, and mammy paid them to take us along in
their wagon. When we got to the Agency mammy met a Negro who had seen
pappy and knew where he was, so we sent word to him and he came and
found us. He had been through most of the War in the Union army.
When we got away into the Cherokee country some of them called the
"Pins" helped to smuggle him on up into Missouri and over into Kansas,
but he soon found that he couldn't get along and stay safe unless he
went with the Army. He went with them until the War was over, and was
around Gibson quite a lot. When he was there he tried to find out
where we had gone but said he never could find out. He was in the
battle of Honey Springs, he said, but never was hurt or sick. When we
got back together we cleared a selection of land a little east of the
Choska bottoms, near where Clarksville now is, and farmed until I was
a great big girl.
I went to school at a little school called Blackjack school. I think
it was a kind of mission school and not one of the Creek nation
schools, because my first teacher was Miss Betty Weaver and she was
not a Creek but a Cherokee. Then we had two white teachers, Miss King
and John Kernan, and another Cherokee was in charge. His name was
Ross, and he was killed one day when his horse fell off a bridge
across the Verdigris, on the way from Tullahassee to Gibson Station.
When I got to be a young woman I went to Okmulgee and worked for some
people near there for several years, then I married Tate Grayson. We
got our freedmen's allotments on Mingo Creek, east of Tulsa, and lived
there until our children were grown and Tate died, then I came to live
with my daughter in Tulsa.
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
ROBERT R. GRINSTEAD
Age 80 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
I was born in Lawrence County, Mississippi, February 17, 1857. My
father's name is Elias Grinstead, a German, and my mother's name is
Ann Greenstead after that of her master. I am a son by my mother and
her Master. I have four other half brothers William (Bill) oldest,
Albert, Silas, and John.
I was only eight years of age at freedom and for that reason I was too
young to work and on account of being the son of my Master's I
received no hard treatment and did little or no work. Yet, I wore the
same clothing as did the rest of the slaves: a shirt of lowell for
summer and shirt and trousers for winter and no shoes. I could walk
through a briar patch in my bare feet without sticking one in the
bottom of my feet as they were so hard and resistant.
I was the only child of my Master as he had no wife. When the War
broke out he went to the War and left the plantation in charge of his
overseer and his two sisters. As the overseers were hard for them to
get along with they were oftener without an overseer as with one, and
therefore they used one of the Negroes as overseer for the most of the
time.
Across the river was another large plantation and slave owner by the
name of Master Wilson. We called him Master too, for he was a close
friend and neighbor to our Mistresses. There was one Negro man slave
who decided to not work after Master went to the War and the white
overseer was fired and the Negro overseer was acting as overseer, so
my Mistress gave him a note to take across the river to Master Wilson.
The note was an order to whip this Negro and as he couldn't read he
didn't know what the note contained until after Master Wilson read it
and gave orders to his men to tie him for his whipping. After this,
the whipping was so severe that they never had any more trouble in
making this Negro slave work and they never had to send him back again
to Master Wilson to be whipped. The fun part of this above incidence
was the Negro carried his own note and went alone to be whipped and
didn't know it 'til the lashes was being put on him.
My Master's plantation was about 2 miles long and 1-1/2 mile wide and
he owned between 30 or 40 slaves. The Negro overseer would wake up the
slaves and have them in the field before they could see how to work
each morning and as they would go to work so soon their breakfast was
carried to the field to them. One morning the breakfast was taken to
the field and the slaves were hoeing cotton and among them was a lad
about 15 years of age who could not hoe as fast as the older slaves
and the breakfast was sat at the end of the rows and as they would hoe
out to the end they would eat, and if you would be late hoeing to the
end the first to go to the end would began eating and eat everything.
So, this 15 year old lad in order to get out to eat before everything
was gone did not hoe his row good and the overseer, who was white at
this time, whipped him so severely that he could not eat nor work,
that day.
The Negroes went to church with the white people and joined their
church. The church was Baptist in denomination, and they built a pen
in the church in which the Negroes sat, and when they would take
sacrament the Negroes would be served after the whites were through
and one of the Negro group would pass it around to the others within
the pen.
As there were no dances held on the plantation the Negroes would
oftimes slip off and go at nights to a nearby dance or peanut parching
or rice suppers at nights after work. Some of the slaves would be
allowed to make for themselves rice patches which they would gather
and save for the dances. To prepare this rice for cooking after
harvested they would burn a trough into a log, they called mortar and
with a large wooden mallet they called pessel, and which they would
pound upon the rice until hulled and ready for cooking. This rice
would be boiled with just salt and water and eaten as a great feast
with delight.
During slavery some of the Negro slaves would kill snakes and skin
them and wear these snake skins to prevent being voodooed they said.
When some of the slaves would take sick and the home remedies would
fail to cure them our Mistress would allow one of the Negro men slaves
to go to the white doctor and get some medicine for the patient. The
doctor would ask questions as to the actions of the patient and from
said description would send medicine without ever going to see the
patient and his medicine would always cure the patient of his disease
if consulted in time.
After the news came that brought our freedom a white union officer
with 20 trained Negro soldiers visited the plantations and saw that
the Negroes received their freedom. He would put on a demonstration
with his Negro soldiers by having them line up and then at a command
they would all rush forward and stand their guns up together on the
stock end without a one falling and get back into line and upon
another command they would rush forward and each get his gun again
without allowing one to fall and again reline up.
When I was large enough to pay attention to my color and to that of
the other slaves I wondered to myself why I was not black like the
rest of the slaves and concluded to myself that I would when I got
grown like they were as I knew not then that I was the son of my
Master.
During the War and as the men and our Master all went to the War the
Negroes or a Negro would have to go to the Mistress' homes each
morning and start fires and never, did I ever hear of a rape case
under such close conditions as Negroes going into the bed rooms each
morning of the white mistress to start fires.
My first wife was name Tracy Smith. As I had been free for over 12
years. We had ordinary marriage ceremony. I have 11 grown children, 15
or 20 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
I think Abraham Lincoln was a fine old gentlemen and as to Jeff Davis
I don't think he was what he should have been, and as to Booker T.
Washington I think his idea of educating or training Negroes as
servants to serve the white race appealed more to the white race than
the Negroes.
My viewpoint as to slavery is that it was as much detrimental to the
white race as it was to the Negroes, as one elevated ones minds too
highly, and the other degraded ones mind too lowly.
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
[Date stamp: NOV 5 1937]
MATTIE HARDMAN
Age 78 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
I was born January 2, 1859, at Gunalis, Texas. My father's name was
William Tensley and my mother's name Mildred Howard. They was brought
from Virginia. I did have 8 brothers and sisters but all of them are
dead.
My Master was name William Henry Howard. Since I was too young to work
I nursed my sisters' children while they worked. The cooking was done
all up to the general kitchen at Masters house and when slaves come
from work they would send their children up to the kitchen to bring
their meals to their homes in the quarters. Our Mistress would have
one of the cooks to dish up vegetables and she herself would slice or
serve the meat to see that it wasn't wasted, as seemingly it was
thought so precious.
As my mother worked 'round the Big House quite a deal I would go up to
the Big House with her and play with the white children who seemed to
like for me to come to play with them. One day in anger while playing
I called one of the white girls, "old black dog" and they pretended
they would tell their mother (my Mistress) about it. I was scared, as
they saw, and they promised me they would not tell if I'd promise to
not do it again, and which I was so glad to do and be let off so
lightly.
For summer I wore a cotton slip and for winter my mother knitted at
nights after her days work was done so I wore red flannels for
underwear and thick linsey for an over-dress, and had knitted
stockings and bought shoes. As my Master was a doctor he made his
slaves wear suitable clothes in accordance to the weather. We also
wore gloves my mother knitted in winter.
My Mistress was good to all of the slaves. On Sunday morning she would
make all the Negro children come to the Big House and she would stand
on the front steps and read the Catechism to us who sat or stood in
front on the ground.
My Master was also good. On Wednesdays and Friday nights he would make
the slaves come up to the Big House and he would read the Bible to
them and he would pray. He was a doctor and very fractious and exact.
He didn't allow the slaves to claim they forgot to do thus and so nor
did he allow them to make the expression, "I thought so and so." He
would say to them if they did: "Who told you, you could think!"
They had 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls. Their house was a large
2-story log house painted white. My father was overseer on the
plantation.
The plantation consisted of 400 acres and about 40 slaves including
children. The slaves were so seldom punished until they never'd worry
about being punished. They treated their slaves as though they loved
them. The poor white neighbors were also good and treated the slaves
good, for my Master would warn them to not bother his Negroes. My
Mistress always told the slaves she wanted all of them to visit her
and come to her funeral and burial when she died and named the men
slaves she wanted to be her pallbearers, all of which was carried out
as she planned even though it was after freedom.
The slaves even who lived adjoining our plantation would have church
at our Big House. They would hold church on Sundays and Sunday nights.
As my mother worked a deal for her Mistress she had an inkling or
overheard that they was going to be set free long before the day they
were. She called all the slaves on the plantation together and broke
to them this news after they had promised her they would not spread
the news so that it would get back to our Master. So, everybody kept
the news until Saturday night June 19th, when Master called all the
slaves to the big gate and told them they were all free, but could
stay right on in their homes if they had no places to go and which all
of them did. They went right out and gathered the crop just like
they'd always done, and some of them remained there several years.
My first husband was name, S. W. Warnley. We had 4 children, 1 girl
and three boys and 3 grandchildren. I now have two grandchildren.
Now that slavery is over I sometime wish 'twas still existing for some
of our lazy folks, so that so many of them wouldn't or couldn't loaf
around so much lowering our race, walking the streets day by day and
running from house to house living corruptible lives which is keeping
the race down as though there be no good ones among us.
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
[Date stamp: AUG 16 1937]
ANNIE HAWKINS
Age 90
Colbert, Okla
I calls myself 90, but I don't know jest how old I really am but I was
a good sized gal when we moved from Georgia to Texas. We come on a big
boat and one night the stars fell. Talk about being scared! We all run
and hid and hollered and prayed. We thought the end of the world had
come.
I never had no whitefolks that was good to me. We all worked jest like
dogs and had about half enough to eat and got whupped for everything.
Our days was a constant misery to us. I know lots of niggers that was
slaves had a good time but we never did. Seems hard that I can't say
anything good for any of 'em but I sho' can't. When I was small my job
was to tote cool water to the field to the hands. It kept me busy
going back and forth and I had to be sho' my old Mistress had a cool
drink when she wanted it, too. Mother and my sister and me worked in
the field all day and come in time to clear away the things and cook
supper. When we was through in the kitchen we would spin fer a long
time. Mother would spin and we would card.
My old Master was Dave Giles, the meanest man that ever lived. He
didn't have many slaves, my mammy, and me, and my sister, Uncle Bill,
and Truman. He had owned my grandma but he give her a bad whupping and
she never did git over it and died. We all done as much work as a
dozen niggers--we knowed we had to.
I seen old Master git mad at Truman and he buckled him down across a
barrel and whupped him till he cut the blood out of him and then he
rubbed salt and pepper in the raw places. It looked like Truman would
die it hurt so bad. I know that don't sound reasonable that a white
man in a Christian community would do such a thing but you can't
realize how heartless he was. People didn't know about it and we
dassent tell for we knowed he'd kill us if we did. You must remember
he owned us body and soul and they wasn't anything we could do about
it. Old Mistress and her three girls was mean to us too.
One time me and my sister was spinning and old Mistress went to the
well-house and she found a chicken snake and killed it. She brought it
back and she throwed it around my sister's neck. She jest laughed and
laughed about it. She thought it was a big joke.
Old Master stayed drunk all the time. I reckon that is the reason he
was so fetched mean. My, how we hated him! He finally killed hisself
drinking and I remember Old Mistress called us in to look at him in
his coffin. We all marched by him slow like and I jest happened to
look up and caught my sister's eye and we both jest natchelly
laughed--Why shouldn't we? We was glad he was dead. It's a good thing
we had our laugh fer old Mistress took us out and whupped us with a
broomstick. She didn't make us sorry though.
Old Master and Mistress lived in a nice big house on top of a hill and
us darkies lived in log cabins with log floors. Our dresses was made
out of coarse cloth like cotton sacking and and [TR: sic] it sho'
lasted a long time. It ort to been called mule-hide for it was about
that tough.
We went to church sometimes. They had to let us do that or folks would
have found out how mean they was to us. Old Master'd give us a pass to
show the patroller. We was glad to git the chance to git away and we
always went to church.
During the War we seen lots of soldiers. Some of them was Yankees and
some were Sesesh soldiers. My job every day was to take a big tray of
food and set it on a stump about a quarter of a mile from our house. I
done this twice a day and ever time I went back the dishes would be
empty. I never did see nobody and didn't nobody tell me why I was to
take the food up there but of course it was either for soliders [TR:
sic] that was scouting 'round or it may been for some lowdown dirty
bushwhacker, and again it might a been for some of old Master's folks
scouting 'round to keep out of the army.
We was the happiest folks in the world when we knowed we was free. We
couldn't realize it at first but how we did shout and cry for joy when
we did realize it. We was afraid to leave the place at first for fear
old Mistress would bring us back or the pateroller would git us. Old
Mistress died soon after the War and we didn't care either. She didn't
never do nothing to make us love her. We was jest as glad as when old
Master died. I don't know what become of the three gals. They was
about grown.
We moved away jest as far away as we could and I married soon after.
My husband died and I married again. I been married four times and all
my husbands died. The last time I married it was to a man that
belonged to a Indian man, Sam Love. He was a good owner and was one of
the best men that ever lived. My husband never did move far away from
him and he loved him like a father. He always looked after him till he
died. My husband has been dead five years.
I have had fifteen children. Four pairs of twins, and only four of
them are living. The good Lawd wouldn't let me keep them. I'se lived
through three wars so you see I'se no baby.
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
[Date stamp: NOV 5 1937]
IDA HENRY
Age 83
Oklahoma City, Okla.
I was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1854. Me mother was named Millie
Henderson and me father Silas Hall. Me mother was sold in South
Carolina to Mister Hall, who brought her to Texas. Me father was born
and raised by Master John Hall. Me mother's and father's family
consisted of five girls and one boy. My sisters' names were:
Margrette, Chalette, Lottie, Gracy and Loyo, and me brother's name was
Dock Howard. I lived with me mother and father in a log house on
Master Hall's plantation. We would be sorry when dark, as de
patrollers would walk through de quarters and homes of de slaves all
times of night wid pine torch lights to whip de niggers found away
from deir home.
At nights when me mother would slip away for a visit to some of de
neighbors homes, she would raise up the old plank floor to de log
cabin and make pallets on de ground and put us to bed and put the
floor back down so dat we couldn't be seen or found by the patrollers
on their stroll around at nights.
My grandmother Lottie would always tell us to not let Master catch you
in a lie, and to always tell him de truth.
I was a house girl to me Mistress and nursed, cooked, and carried de
children to and from school. In summer we girls wore cotton slips and
yarn dresses for winter. When I got married I was dress in blue serge
and was de third person to marry in it. Wedding dresses was not worn
after de wedding in dem days by niggers as we was taught by our
Mistress dat it was bad luck to wear de wedding dress after marriage.
Therefore, 'twas handed down from one generation to the other one.
Me Mistress was sometimes good and sometimes mean. One day de cook was
waiting de table and when passing around de potatoes, old Mistress
felt of one and as hit wasn't soft done, she exclaimed to de cook,
"What you bring these raw potatoes out here for?" and grab a fork and
stuck it in her eye and put hit out. She, de cook, lived about 10
years and died.
Me Mistress was de mother of five children, Crock, Jim, Boss and two
girls name, Lea and Annie.
Dere home was a large two-story white house wid de large white posts.
As me Master went to de War de old overseer tried himself in meanness
over de slaves as seemingly he tried to be important. One day de
slaves caught him and one held him whilst another knocked him in de
head and killed him.
Master's plantation was about 300 acres and he had 'bout 160 slaves.
Before de slaves killed our overseer, he would work 'em night and day.
De slaves was punished when dey didn't do as much work as de overseer
wanted 'em to do.
He would lock 'em in jail some nights without food and kept 'em dere
all night, and after whipping 'em de next morning would only give 'em
bread and water to work on till noon.
When a slave was hard to catch for punishment dey would make 'em wear
ball and chains. De ball was 'bout de size of de head and made of
lead.
On Sunday mornings before breakfast our Mistress would call us
together, read de Bible and show us pictures of de Devil in de Bible
and tell us dat if we was not good and if we would steal and tell lies
dat old Satan would git us.
Close to our Master's plantation lived several families of old "poor
white trash" who would steal me Master's hogs and chickens and come
and tell me Mistress dat dey seen some of de slaves knock one of dere
hogs in de head. Dis continued up till Master returned from de War and
caught de old white trash stealing his hogs. De niggers did at times
steal Master's hogs and chickens, and I would put biscuits and pieces
of chicken in a sack under me dress dat hung from me waist, as I
waited de table for me Mistress, and later would slip off and eat it
as dey never gave de slaves none of dis sort of food.
We had church Sundays and our preacher Rev. Pat Williams would preach
and our Master and family and other nearby white neighbors would
ofttime attend our services. De patrollers wouldn't allow de slaves to
hold night services, and one night dey caught me mother out praying.
Dey stripped her naked and tied her hands together and wid a rope tied
to de hand cuffs and threw one end of de rope over a limb and tied de
other end to de pommel of a saddle on a horse. As me mother weighed
'bout 200, dey pulled her up so dat her toes could barely touch de
ground and whipped her. Dat same night she ran away and stayed over a
day and returned.
During de fall months dey would have corn shucking and cotton pickings
and would give a prize to de one who would pick de highest amount of
cotton or shuck de largest pile of corn. De prize would usually be a
suit of clothes or something to wear and which would be given at some
later date.
We could only have dances during holidays, but dances was held on
other plantations. One night a traveler visiting me Master and wanted
his boots shined. So Master gave de boots to one of de slaves to shine
and de slave put de boots on and went to a dance and danced so much
dat his feet swelled so dat when he returned he could not pull 'em
off.
De next morning as de slave did not show up with de boots dey went to
look for him and found him lying down trying to pull de boots off. He
told his Master dat he had put de boots on to shine 'em and could not
pull 'em off. So Master had to go to town and buy de traveler another
pair of boots. Before he could run away de slave was beaten wid 500
lashes.
De War dat brought our freedom lasted about two years. Me Master went
and carried one of de slaves for a servant. He was kind and good and
from dat day on he never whipped another slave nor did he allow any of
his slaves whipped. Dis time lasted from January to June de 19th when
we was set free in de State of Texas.
Lincoln and Davis both died short of promise. I means dat dey both
died before dey carried out dere plans and promises for freeing de
slaves.
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
MORRIS HILLYER
Age 84 yrs.
Alderson, Okla.
My father was Gabe Hillyer and my mother was Clarisay Hillyer, and our
home was in Rome, Georgia. Our owner was Judge Hillyer. He was de last
United States senator to Washington, D. C., before de War.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24