Benjamin Johnson
From:
Georgia Narratives, Part 2
BENJAMIN JOHNSON EX-SLAVE
Following is Benjamin Johnson's own account of some of his experiences
as a slave and of conditions on his plantation.
"On our plantation de white folks been feedin' de slaves off fat meat,
jowls, an' heads an' jaws. Dey kept all de meat out in de smoke house in
de back yard. In dis house dey kept de hams all hangin' up high an'
above dem dey kept de sausages and den above dem dey kept de finest hams
all trimmed an' everything. De slaves eat dat fat meat an' thought dat
dey wus eatin' pound cake. Come down to chicken--if you got it you stole
it when de white folks wus sleep at night an' den you had to be careful
an' bury all de feathers in de groun' 'cause if you burned 'em de white
folks would smell 'em. We boys in de fiel' used to be so hungry 'till we
didn't know what to do. De overseer would be settin' down under a tree
an' he would holler 'keep goin.' De sweat would be jes' running' off you
and sometimes you could smell one another.
"Dere wus a spring nearby an' when we would git to it we would fall down
an' drink fum de branch. De women would be plowin' an' hoein' grain an'
de spanish needles an' cockle burrs would be stickin' to dere dresses
fum dere knees to dere feet. Further down dere would be a man diggin' a
ditch. Every now an' den white folks would walk over to de ditch an' see
if it wus de same width all de way."
"You go off to see somebody at night--jes' like you an' me want to laff
an' talk--an' if dey ketch an' you ain't got no pass den dey gwine to
whup you. You be glad to git away too 'cause when dey hit you, you wus
hit. I wus down to ol' John Brady's place one night talkin' to a lady
an' ol' man Brady slipped up behin' me an' caught me in de collar an' he
say: "Whut you doin' over here?--I'm goin' to give you twenty-five
lashes" an' den he say to me: "come here". He wus jes' bout as tall as
I am an' when I got to 'im he say turn 'roun' and' I say to 'im dat I
ain't doin' nuthin' an' den he say: "dats whut I'm goin to whup you fer
'cause you ought to be home doin' sumpin'. 'Bout dat time when I stooped
over to take off my coat I caught 'im in his pants an' throwed 'im in a
puddle o' water an' den I lit out fer home. If you git home den dey
couldn't do nuthin' to you. He tried to chase me but he did'nt know de
way through de woods like I did an he fell in a gulley an' hurt his arm.
De next mornin' when I wus hitchin' up de boss man's horse I seed 'im
comin' an' I tol de boss dat he tried to whup me de night befo' an' den
de boss man say "did he have you?" I tol' 'im dat he did but dat I got
away. An' den de boss say: "He had you an' he did'nt have you--is dat
right?" Den he say "don't worry 'bout dat I can git you out of dat. If
he had you he shoulda whupped you an' dat woulda been his game but he
let you git away an' so dat wus yo' game." 'Bout dat time ol' man Brady
had done got dere an' he tol' de marster dat I wus on his place de night
befo' an' dat I got away an' when he tried to whup me an' de marster say
to him: "dat wus his game--if you had him you shoulda whupped 'im. Dats
de law. If you had whupped 'im dat woulda been yo' game, but you let 'im
git away an' so dat wus his game." Ol' man Brady's face turned so red
dat it looked like he wus gonna bus'.
"We worked in de fiel' every day an' way in de night we shucked an'
shelled corn. De cook done all de cookin'. When all of de marster's 75
slaves wus in de fiel' dey had two cooks to feed 'em. At twelve o'clock
de cooks would blow a horn at de stump in de yard back o' de cook house.
Even de hosses an' de mules knowed dat horn an' dey would'nt go a step
further. You had to take de mule out of de harness an' take 'im to de
spring an' water 'im an' den take 'im to de house where a colored man up
dere named Sam Johnson had all de feed ready fer de hosses. When you git
dere all de hosses go to dere own stalls where dere wus ten ears o' corn
an' one bundle o' fodder fer each hoss. While dem hosses is eatin' you
better be out dere eatin' yo' own. Sarah an' Annie, de cooks had a big
wooden tray wid de greens an' de meat all cut up on it an' you pass by
wid yo' tin pan an' dey put yo' meat all cut up on it along wid de
greens an' den you could eat anywhere you wanted to--on de stump or in
de big road if you wanted to. Sometimes some of 'ems meat would give out
or dere bread would give out an' den dey would say: "I'll give you a
piece of my bread for some or yo' meat or I'll give you some of my meat
for some of yo' bread". Some of 'em would have a big ol' ash cake an'
some of 'em would have jes' plain corn bread. Dere wus usually a big
skillet o' potatoes at de cook house an' when you eat an' drink yo'
water den you is ready to go back to work. Dey wus goin' to let you lay
down in de shade fer 'bout a hour but you would make de time up by
workin' till dark. Some of 'em worked so 'till dey back wus gone. Dey
could'nt even stand up straight.
"Sometimes ol' missus would come 'long an' she would be mad wid some of
de women an' she would want to go to whuppin' on 'em."
"Sometimes de women would'nt take it an' would run away an' hide in de
woods. Sometimes dey would come back after a short stay an' den again
dey would have to put de hounds on dere trail to bring dem back home. As
a general rule dere wus'nt much whuppin' on our plantation. 'Course if
you did'nt do what dey tol' you to do dey would take you out an' put yo'
hands round a pole an' tie you so yo' feet would jes' touch de groun'
an' den dey would go to work on you wid a cowhide. Everytime dey hit you
de blood would fly wid de whip."
"De clothes den wus'nt but ol' plain white cloth. Most of 'em wus
patched fum de legs to de waist. Some wus patched so till dey looked
like a quilt. Some of de women wore dese long striped cotton dresses an'
when dey would go in de fiel' de Spanish needles an' de burrs would
stick all over 'em. De only shoes dat you got wus red brogans. If you
got anything better it wus some dat de marster give you fer brushing off
his shoes at de house. You wus so proud whenever dey give you a pair o'
shoes or a ol' straw hat dat dey wus through wid at de house you went
back an' showed it to everybody an' you wus mighty proud too. I used to
drive my marster's hoss an' buggy fer 'im an' so I used to git a lotsa
stuff like dat."
"Ol' marster wus a judge an' his name wus Luke Johnson. His wife wus
named Betsy an' his sons wus named Jim, Tom, Will, an' Dorn. His
daughters wus Janie, Mary, Catherine, an' Lissie. He had 300 acres of
land an' 75 slaves."
"All de houses on de plantation 'cept ol' marster's wus built out o'
logs. Ol' marster lived in a fine house. Sometimes when one o' de slaves
had a chance to go inside his house all de rest of de slaves would be
waitin' outside fer you to come out. When you did come out dey would
say: "You been in de marster's house--how did it look in dere--whut did
you see?" Dey would tell 'em: "you ought to go in dere--it's so pretty".
Whenever you got a chance to go in dere you had done pulled off yo' hat
long' fore you got to de door.
"On Sunday we would take soot out of de chimney an' wet it an' den go
an' borrow de marster's shoe brush an' go an' brush our shoes. We wus
gittin' ready to go to church."
"At church all de white folks would sit in de front an' all de slaves
would sit in de back. De preacher would preach an' say: "Obey yo' master
an' yo' missus an' you will always do right. If you see eggs in de yard
take 'em to yo' marster or yo' missus an' put 'em at her feet. If you
don't do dis she will needle you well or break bark over yo' head an' de
bad man will git you."
"Sometimes dey would give us a dollar at Christmas time an' if somebody
did'nt take it fum us we would have it de nex' Christmas 'cause we
didn't have nuthin' to spend it fer."
"When de war broke out ol' marster enlisted an' he took me 'long to wait
on him an' to keep his clothes clean. I had plenty o' fun 'cause dere
wus'nt so very much work to do. I 'members seein' 'im fightin' in
Richmond an' Danville, Virginia. I had a good time jes' watchin' de
soldiers fightin'. I did'nt have to fight any at all. I used to stand in
de door of de tent an' watch 'em fight. It wus terrible--you could hear
de guns firin' an' see de soldiers fallin' right an' left. All you could
see wus men gittin' all shot up. One day I seed one soldier git his head
shot off fum his body. Others got arms an' legs shot off. An' all de
time all you could hear wus de guns goin'--bam, bam, bam--it wus
terrible to see an' hear. One mornin' as I wus standin' in de door of de
tent I had a dose of it. I wus leanin' against de side of de tent wid my
hand stretched out a load o' grape shot fum de guns hit me in de hand
an' de blood flew everywhere. I jes' hollered. It come pretty near
scareing me to death. After de doctor got it patched up (and he held the
hand up to exibit the scar) it wus as good as it every wus."
"After de war wus over ol' marster wus all shot up an' I had to take him
on back home. When we got dere all de slaves crowded 'roun me an' wanted
to know if dey wus gonna be freed or not an' when I tol' 'em dat de war
wus over an' dat dey wus free dey wus all very glad. After de war a
whole lots of 'em stayed on de plantation an' a whole lots of 'em left
as soon as dey could git away."
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Georgia Johnson
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Mahala Jewel
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