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
"Ole Marster loved his dram, an' he gave it to all his slaves. It sold
for ten cents a quart. He made brandy by de barrels, an' at holidays
all drank together an' had a good time. I never saw any of 'em drunk.
People wan't mean when dey were drinking den. It wus so plentiful
nobody notices it much. Marster would tell de children 'bout Raw Head
and Bloody Bones an' other things to skeer us. He would call us to de
barn to git apples an' run an' hide, an' we would have a time findin'
him. He give de one who found him a apple. Sometimes he didn't give de
others no apple.
"I married Ellen Johnson May 22, 1865 de year de war went up, an' my
wife is livin' as you see, an' able to be about. I'm not able to work,
not able to go out anywhere by myself. I know I cain't las' much longer
but I'm thankful to de Lord for sparin' me dis long."
AC
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 346
Subject: TINA JOHNSON
Story teller: Tina Johnson
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[Illustration: Tina Johnson [TR: Man named Tina, or wrong photo.]]
TINA JOHNSON
Ex-Slave Story
An interview with Tina Johnson 85, S. Bloodworth Street, Raleigh.
"I wuz bawned in Richmon', Georgia 'round eighty-five years ago. My
mammy wuz named Cass an' my father, dat is my step-father wuz named
John Curtis. I got de name of Johnson frum Gen'l Johnson, I doan know
who my real daddy wuz.
"My mammy belonged ter a Mis' Berry who wuz pretty good ter her, but we
ain't had nothin' but de coarsest food an' clothes. I had one brother
name Dennis an' me an' him wucked wid de others in de cotton patch.
"We had done moved nigh Augusta when Sherman come, an' Sherman's sister
wuz a-livin' in Augusta. Dat's de reason dat Sherman missed us, case he
ain't wantin' ter 'sturb his sister none.
"I ain't seed nary a Yankee, but fer two days an' nights I hyard de
guns roarin' an' felt de earth shakin' lak a earthquake wuz hittin' it.
De air wuz dark an' de clouds hunged low, de whole earth seemed ter be
full of powder an' yo' nostrils seemed lak dey would bust wid de sting
of it.
"Atter de surrender we stayed on an' went through de Ku Klux scare. I
know dat de Ku Kluxes went ter a nigger dance one night an' whupped all
of de dancers. Ole Marster Berry wuz mad, case he ain't sont fer' em at
all an' he doan want dem.
"Seberal year's atter de war mammy married John Curtis in de Baptist
church at Augusta, an' me an' Dennis seed de ceremony. I pulled a good
one on a white feller 'bout dat onct. He axed me if I knowed dat my
pappy an' mammy wuz married 'fore I wuz borned. I sez ter him dat I
wonder if he knows whar his mammy an' pappy wuz married when he wuz
borned.
"We comed ter Raleigh 'fore things wuz settled atter de war, an' I
watches de niggers livin' on kush, co'nbread, 'lasses an' what dey can
beg an' steal frum de white folkses. Dem days shore wuz bad."
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