Alice Douglass
From:
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
[Date stamp AUG 19 1937]
ALICE DOUGLASS
Age 77 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
I was born December 22, 1860 in Sumner County, Tennessee. My mother--I
mean mammy, 'cause what did we know 'bout mother and mamma. Master and
Mistress made dey chillun call all nigger women, "Black Mammy." Jest
as I was saying my mammy was named Millie Elkins and my pappy was
named Isaac Garrett. My sisters and brothers was Frank, Susie and
Mollie. They is all in Nashville, Tennessee right now. They lived in
log houses. I 'member my grandpappy and when he died. I allus slept in
the Big House in a cradle wid white babies.
We all the time wore cotton dresses and we weaved our own cloth. The
boys jest wore shirts. Some wore shoes, and I sho' did. I kin see 'em
now as they measured my feets to git my shoes. We had doctors to wait
on us iffen we got sick and ailing. We wore asafedida to keep all
diseases offen us.
When a nigger man got ready to marry, he go and tell his master that
they was a woman on sech and sech a farm that he'd lak to have. Iffen
master give his resent, then he go and ask her master and iffen he say
yes, well, they jest jump the broomstick. Mens could jest see their
wives on Sadday nite.
They laid peoples 'cross barrels and whupped 'em wid bull whups till
the blood come. They'd half feed 'em and niggers'd steal food and cook
all night. The things we was forced to do then the whites is doing of
their own free will now. You gotta reap jest what you sow 'cause the
Good Book says it.
They used to bid niggers off and then load 'em on wagons and take 'em
to cotton farms to work. I never seen no cotton till I come heah.
Peoples make big miration 'bout girls having babies at 11 years old.
And you better have them whitefolks some babies iffen you didn't wanta
be sold. Though a funny thing to me is, iffen a nigger woman had a
baby on the boat on the way to the cotton farms, they throwed it in
the river. Taking 'em to them cotton farms is jest the reason niggers
is so plentiful in the South today.
I ain't got no education a'tall. In dem days you better not be caught
with a newspaper, else you got a beating and your back almost cut off.
When niggers got free, whitefolks killed 'em by the carload, 'cause
they said it was a nigger uprising. I used to lay on the flo' with the
whitefolks and hear 'em pass. Them patrollers roved trying to ketch
niggers without passes to whup 'em. They was sometimes called bush
whackers.
We went to white folks' church. I was a great big girl before we went
to cullud church. We'd stay out and play while they worshipped. We
jest played marbles--girls, white chillun and all.
The Yankees come thoo' and took all the meat and everything they could
find. They took horses, food and all. Mammy cooked their vittles. One
come in our cabin and took a sack of dried fruit with my mammy's shoes
on the top. I tried to make 'em leave mammy's shoes too but he didn't.
I stayed in the house with the whitefolks till I was 19. They lak to
kept me in there too long. That's why I'm selfish as I am. Within
three weeks after I was out of the house, I married William Douglass.
Whitefolks now don't want you to tech 'em, and I slept with white
chillun till I was 19. You kin cook for 'em and put your hands in they
vittles and they don't say nothing, but jest you tech one!
We stayed on, on the place, three or four years and it was right then
mammy give us our pappy's name. We moved from the place to one three
or four miles from our master's place, and mammy cooked there a long
time.
Abraham Lincoln gits too much praise. I say, shucks, give God the
praise. Lincoln come thoo' Gallitan, Tennessee and stopped at Hotel
Tavern with his wife. They was dressed jest lak tramps and nobody
knowed it was him and his wife till he got to the White House and
writ back and told 'em to look 'twixt the leaves in the table where he
had set and they sho' nuff found out it was him.
I never mentions Jeff Davis. He ain't wuff it.
Booker T. Washington was all right in his place. He come here and told
these whitefolks jest what he thought. Course he wouldn't have done
that way down South. I declare to God he sho' told 'em enough. They
toted him 'round on their hands. No Jim Crow here then.
I jined the church 'cause I had religion round 60 years ago. People
oughta be religious sho'; what for they wanta live in sin and die and
go to the Bad Man. To git to Heaven, you sho' ought to work some. I
want a resting place somewhar, 'cause I ain't got none here. I am a
member of Tabernacle Baptist Church, and I help build the first church
in Oklahoma City.
I got three boys and three girls. I don't know none's age. I give 'em
the best education I could.
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