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_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</SPAN></span></p> <div class='left'> <table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="tineyshaw"> <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'>607</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Subject:</td><td align='left'>TINEY SHAW, EX-SLAVE OF WAKE COUNTY, 76.</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Story Teller:</td><td align='left'>Tiney Shaw</td></tr> <tr><td align='left'>Editor:</td><td align='left'>Daisy Bailey Waitt</td></tr> </table></div> <p class="figcenter" style="width: 405px;"> <SPAN href="images/image265a.jpg"> <ANTIMG src="images/image265.jpg" width-obs="405" height-obs="600" alt="Tiney Shaw" title="Tiney Shaw" /></SPAN><span class="caption">Tiney Shaw</span></p> <hr style="width: 25%;" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</SPAN></span></p> <h2> TINEY SHAW<br/> </h2> <h4>Ex-Slave of Wake County, 76.<br/> </h4> <p>"My papa wuz a free nigger, case he wuz de son of de master who wuz named Medlin. When a chile wuz borned ter a slave woman an' its pappy wuz de boss dat nigger wuz free from birth. I know dat de family wuz livin' on Mis' Susy Page's place durin' de war an' we wus jist lak slaves alldo' we wuz said to be free den.</p> <p>"My pappy wuz named Madison Medlin, maybe for de president, an' my mammy wuz a pretty, slim brown-skinned gal when I could remember. Dey said dat she wuz named fer Betsy Ross. I had four brothers, Allison, William, Jeems and John an' five sisters named Cynthy Ann, Nancy, Sally, Caroline an' Molly.</p> <p>"We hyard a heap 'bout de war, but de white folkses didn't want us to know 'bout it. Most of de white wimmens had ter live by dere selves durin' de time dat de men folkses wuz away at de war, but de niggers in our neighborhood stuck ter de missus an' dar ain't no niggers from other plantations come dar ter insult 'em nother.</p> <p>"I 'members dat it wuz in April when de Yankees come an' I hyard Mis' Susy cryin', case she wuz a widder 'oman; an' her crops wuz jist started ter be planted.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</SPAN></span> She knowed dat she wuz ruint, I reckon.</p> <p>"Me an' my mammy wuz sittin' by de fireplace when de Yankees come. I crawled under de wash bench but de Yankee officer drug me out an' he sez, 'Go fetch me a dozen aigs, an' I wants a dozen now, mind yo'.'</p> <p>"I looked till I found twelve aigs an' I started ter de house wid 'em, but bein' so excited I drapped one uv dem an' cracked it. I wuz sceered stiff now sho' nuff, an' I runned inter de back do' an' crawled under de bed. De officer seed me do' an' he cracks his whup an' makes me come out den he sez, 'Nigger what's dat out dar in dat barrel in de hallway?'</p> <p>"I sez, 'Lasses sir', an' he sez 'draw me some in dis cup.'</p> <p>"I draws 'bout a half a cupful an' he sez, 'Nigger dat ain't no 'lasses,' an' he cracks his whup ag'in.</p> <p>"I den draws de cup full as it could be an' he tells me ter drunk it.</p> <p>"I drinks dat whole cupful uf 'lasses 'fore he'll lemmie 'lone. Den I runs back ter my mammy.</p> <p>"Atter awhile de Yankee comes back an' sticks his haid in de do' an' he 'lows, 'ole doman, yo' 'lasses am leakin'.'</p> <p>"Sho' nuff it wuz leakin' an' had run all down de hall an' out in de yard, but he done pull de stopper out<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</SPAN></span> fer meanness so he could laff at mammy when she waded through dat 'lasses. Dey laffs an' laffs while she go steppin' down through de 'lasses lak a turkey walkin' on cockleburs.</p> <p>"Dem Yankees done a lot of mischief, I knows case I wuz dar. Dey robbed de folkses an' a whole lot of darkies what ain't never been whupped by de master got a whuppin' from de Yankee soldiers.</p> <p>"De Ku Klux Klan warn't half as bad as dem Yankee robbers what stayed in Raleigh atter de war, robbin', plunderin', an' burnin' up ever'thing. De south had ter have de Ku Klux Klan but dey ain't had no need fer de Yankees.</p> <p>"De first winter atter de war wuz de worse winter I ever knowed, an' I'se tellin' yo' dat wuz bad. Maybe yo' doan think so but nigh 'bout ever' nigger in de world cussed ole Abraham Lincoln dat winter."</p> <p>B.N.</p> <hr style="width: 95%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />