Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Volume XI, North Carolina Narratives, Part 2

<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='left'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="marthaorgan"> <tr><td align='left'>N.C. District:</td><td align='left'>No. 2</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Worker:</td><td align='left'>Mary A. Hicks</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>No Words:</td><td align='left'>273</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Subject:</td><td align='left'>A SLAVERY STORY</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Person Interviewed:</td><td align='left'>Martha Organ</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Date of Interview:</td><td align='left'>May 18, 1937</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Editor:</td><td align='left'>Daisy Bailey Waitt</td></tr> </table></div> <p>[TR: Date stamp: JUN 1 1937]<br/> <br/> [HW: Story about the girl being burnt in front of fire.<br/> Good. But not remarkable.<br/> <span class="u">used</span>]<br/></p> <hr style="width: 25%;" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</SPAN></span></p> <h2>A STORY OF SLAVERY</h2> <h4>As told by Martha Organ of Cary as she heard her mother tell it many years ago. </h4> <p>"I doan know nothin' 'bout slavery 'cept what I hyard my mother tell, an' dat ain't so much.</p> <p>"I know dat my pappa's name wuz Handy Jones an' my mammy's name wuz Melisa. She belonged to a Mr. Whitaker but atter she married my pappa she belonged ter Mr. Rufus Jones, Mr. Rufus wuz Mr. Wesley Jones' brother at de ole Fanning Jones place; an' he owned a sizable plantation. Mr. Jones wuz good ter 'em. Dey ain't nebber give him no trouble an' he ain't nebber whip none of 'em.</p> <p>"I've hyarn her tell a whole heap 'bout de patterollers an' de Ku Klux Klan but of course I wuz borned atter de surrender, I now bein' jist sixty one.</p> <p>"I 'members 'specially what mammy said 'bout when de Yankees come. She said dat it wuz on a Thursday an' dat de ole master wuz sick in de bed an' had sent some slaves ter de mill wid grain. When dese men started back frum de mill de Yankees overtook 'em an' dey killed de oxes in de harness, cut off de quarters an' rid [HW: ter] de house wid dat beef hangin' all over de horses. Dey throwed what dey ain't wanted away, but of course dey took de meal an' de grain.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</SPAN></span></p> <p>"De ole master had hyard dat dem Yankees wuz comin' an' he had buried de silverware in a san' bar, but Lawd dem Yankees foun' hit jist lak it were on top o' de groun'. Dey stold eber'thing dat day git dere han's on, 'specially de meat frum de smoke house. Dey went down inter de cellar an' dey drunk up master's brandy an' dey got so drunk dat dey ain't got no sense atall. When dey left dey carried my bruther off wid 'em, an' nobody ever hyard frum him ag'in. Dey said dat de president was'nt thought much of dem days.</p> <p>"Mr. Jones died a few days atter de surrender an' hit 'pears lak he made a will what give all of his niggers a little piece o' land. Somehow dis Mr. Whitaker, what my mammy uster belong to had somepin' ter do wid it, so he went ter de co't house in Raleigh ter have de will broke up; an' he draps daid. Mr. Jones an' Mr. Whitaker wuz buried de same day.</p> <p>"Speakin' 'bout ghosts, my mammy tol' me 'bout a ghost what she'd seed an' when I wuz a chile, I seed it too.</p> <p>"It wuz closter Ephues Church on de Durham highway, an' de ghosts wuz three wimmen, dressed, in white an' widout heads. De rize an' flewed ober de wagin an' went ter de churchyard, an' dat wuz de las' time I seed 'em. I doan believe in ghosts much, but fo' de Lawd I seed dat<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</SPAN></span> one an' my mammy an' pappy seed it 'fore I wuz borned.</p> <p>"My mammy said dat she'd seed some slave sales but dat dey warn't so bad. She nor my pappy ain't neber had no whippin's an' she said dat de wust thing she eber seed wuz a gal burnt. Hit wuz dis way: Missus Jones had sold a gal dat she raised named Alice ter a neighborhood 'oman. Alice had been ust ter goin' to de Missus house an' warmin', so when she went inter dis 'omans house ter warm de 'oman made her stand fore de fire till her legs burned so bad dat de skin cracked up an' some of it drapped off. Missus Jones found it out an' she give de 'oman back her money an' took Alice home wid her."</p> <p>MH/EH</p> <hr style="width: 95%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />