Benjamin Russell
From:
South Carolina
=Project #1655=
=W.W. Dixon=
=Winnsboro, S.C.=
=BENJAMIN RUSSELL=
=EX-SLAVE 88 YEARS.=
"I was born fourteen miles north of Chester, S.C. the property of Mrs.
Rebecca Nance. After eighty-eight years, I have a vivid recollection of
her sympathy and the ideal relations she maintained with her slaves.
"My father was just Baker, my mother just Mary. My father was bought out
of a drove of slaves from Virginia. I have been told my mother was born
on the Youngblood place. (Youngblood name of my mistress' people in York
County.) My father was a slave of a Mr. Russell and lived two or three
miles from the Nance place, where mother lived. He could only visit her
on a written pass. As he was religiously inclined, dutiful and faithful
as a slave, my mother encouraged the relation that included a slave
marriage between my father and mother. My mother in time, had a log
house for herself and children. We had beds made by the plantation's
carpenter. As a boy I remember plowing from sun to sun, with an hour's
intermission for dinner, and feeding the horses.
"Money? Yes, sometimes white folks and visitors would give me coppers,
3-cent pieces, and once or twice dimes. Used them to buy extra clothing
for Sundays and fire crackers and candy, at Christmas. We had good food.
In the busy seasons on the farm the mistress saw to it that the slaves
were properly fed, the food cooked right and served from the big
kitchen. We were given plenty of milk and sometimes butter. We were
permitted to have a fowl-house for chickens, separate from the white
folks. We wore warm clothes and stout brogan shoes in winter; went
barefooted from April until November and wore cotton clothes in summer.
The master and some of the women slaves spun the thread, wove the cloth
and made the clothes. My mother lived in a two-story farm house. Her
children were: William, Mattie and Thomas. We never had an overseer on
the place. Sometimes she'd whip the colored children, but only when it
was needed for correction.
"Yes, sir, I went with my young master, William, to Chester Court House,
and saw slaves put on a block and auctioned off to the highest bidder,
just like land or mules and cattle. Did we learn to read and write? We
were taught to read, but it was against the law to teach a slave to
write. The Legislature passed an act to that effect. A number of cases
in which slaves could write, the slave would forge a pass and thereby
get away to free territory. They had a time getting them back. On one
occasion I run in on my young master, William, teaching my Uncle Reuben
how to write. They showed their confusion.
"All slaves were compelled to attend church on Sunday. A gallery around
the interior of the church, contained the blacks. They were permitted to
join in the singing. Favorite preacher? Well, I guess my favorite
preacher was Robert Russell. He was allowed sometimes to use the white
folks school, which wasn't much in those days, just a little log house
to hold forth in winter. In summer he got permission to have a brush
arbor of pine tops, where large numbers came. Here they sang Negro
spirituals. I remember one was called: 'Steal away to Jesus.'
"Runaway slaves? Yes, we had one woman who was contrary enough to run
away: Addie, she run off in the woods. My mistress hired her out to the
McDonald family. She came back and we had to pelt and drive her away.
"How did we get news? Many plantations were strict about this, but the
greater the precaution the alerter became the slaves, the wider they
opened their ears and the more eager they became for outside
information. The sources were: Girls that waited on the tables, the
ladies' maids and the drivers; they would pick up everything they heard
and pass it on to the other slaves.
"Saturday afternoons? These were given to women to do the family
washing, ironing, etc., and the men cut fire wood, or worked in the
garden, and special truck crops. Christmas? Christmas was a holiday, but
the fourth of July meant very little to the slave people. Dances? There
was lots of dancing. It was the pastime of the slave race. The children
played shimmy and other games, imitating the white children, sometimes
with the white folks.
"The master and mistress were very particular about the slave girls. For
instance, they would be driving along and pass a girl walking with a
boy. When she came to the house she would be sent for and questioned
something like this: 'Who was that young man? How come you with him?
Don't you ever let me see you with that ape again. If you cannot pick a
mate better than that I'll do the picking for you.' The explanation: The
girl must breed good strong serviceable children.
"No, I never saw a ghost, but there was a general belief among the race
in ghosts, spirits, haunts and conjuration. Many believe in them yet. I
can never forget the fright of the time my young master, William was
going off to the war. The evening before he went, a whippoorwill lighted
on the window sill and uttered the plaintive 'whip-poor-will.' All the
slaves on the place were frightened and awed and predicted bad luck to
Master Will. He took sick in war and died, just wasted away. He was
brought back in rags toward the end of the struggle.
"Mistress always gave the slaves a big dinner on New Year's Day and
talked to us out of the catechism. She impressed on us after dinner that
time, that we were free. Some were sorry, some hurt, but a few were
silent and glad. I and many of the others had been well treated. When we
were sick she visited us and summoned a doctor the first thing, but the
remedies those days were castor oil, quinine, turpentine, mustard
plaster and bleeding."
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