Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XI, North Carolina Narratives, Part 2United States. Work Projects Administration
History
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XI, North Carolina Narratives, Part 2
United States. Work Projects Administration
African Americans -- North Carolina -- Biography; Enslaved persons -- North Carolina -- Biography; Enslaved persons -- North Carolina -- Social conditions; North Carolina -- History -- 1775-1865 -- Biography; Slave narratives -- North Carolina; Slavery -- North Carolina
"I knows dat de marster wuz good ter us an' he fed an' clothed us good.
We had our own gyarden an' we wuz gittin' long all right.
"I seed a whole heap of Yankees when dey comed ter Hillsboro an' most
of 'em ain't got no respeck fer God, man, nor de debil. I can't 'member
so much 'bout 'em do' cause we lives in town an' we has a gyard.
"De most dat I can tell yo' 'bout am de Ku Klux. I neber will fergit
when dey hung Cy Guy. Dey hung him fer a scandelous insult ter a white
'oman an' dey comed atter him a hundert strong.
"Dey tries him dar in de woods, an' dey scratches Cy's arm ter git some
blood, an' wid dat blood dey writes dat he shall hang 'tween de heavens
an' de yearth till he am daid, daid, daid, an' dat any nigger what
takes down de body shall be hunged too.
"Well sar, de nex' mornin' dar he hung, right ober de road an' de
sentence hangin' ober his haid. Nobody'ud bother wid dat body fer four
days an' dar hit hung, swingin' in de wind, but de fou'th day de
sheriff comes an' takes hit down.
"Dar wuz Ed an' Cindy, who 'fore de war belonged ter Mr. Lynch an'
atter de war he told 'em ter move. He gives 'em a month an' dey ain't
gone, so de Ku Kluxes gits 'em.
"Hit wuz on a cold night when dey comed an' drugged de niggers out'n
bed. Dey carried 'em down in de woods an' whup dem, den dey throws 'em
in de pond, dere bodies breakin' de ice. Ed come out an' come ter our
house, but Cindy ain't been seed since.
"Sam Allen in Caswell County wuz tol' ter move an' atter a month de
hundret Ku Klux come a-totin' his casket an' dey tells him dat his time
has come an' if'en he want ter tell his wife good bye an' say his
prayers hurry up.
"Dey set de coffin on two cheers an' Sam kisses his ole oman who am
a-cryin', den he kneels down side of his bed wid his haid on de piller
an' his arms throwed out front of him.
"He sets dar fer a minute an' when he riz he had a long knife in his
hand. 'Fore he could be grabbed he done kill two of de Ku Kluxes wid de
knife, an' he done gone out'n de do'. Dey ain't ketch him nother, an'
de nex' night when dey comed back, 'termined ter git him dey shot
ano'her nigger by accident.
"I Imembers [TR: 'members] seein' Joe Turner, another nigger hung at
Hillsboro in '69 but I plumb fergot why it wuz.
"I know one time Miss Hendon inherits a thousand dollars from her
pappy's 'state an' dat night she goes wid her sweetheart ter de gate,
an' on her way back ter de house she gits knocked in de haid wid a axe.
She screams an' her two nigger sarvants, Jim an' Sam runs an' saves her
but she am robbed.
"Den she tells de folkses dat Jim an' Sam am de guilty parties, but her
little sister swears dat dey ain't so dey gits out of it.
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