Catherine Scales
From:
North Carolina
By Miss Nancy Watkins
Madison, North Carolina
Rockingham County
BIOGRAPHY OF EX-SLAVE CATHERINE SCALES
About ten years old at the "Srenduh", now quite feeble, but
aristocratic in her black dress, white apron and small sailor hat made
of black taffeta silk with a milliner's fold around the edge, Aunt
Catherine is small, intensely black with finely cut features and thin
lip. Her hand is finely molded, fingers long and slender. Her voice is
soft and poise marks her personality. Sallie Martin, a ginger cake
colored woman, sixty-five, has lived as a kind of caretaker with Aunt
Catherine since 1934 and thereby gets her own roof and refreshment. For
Aunt Catherine has gotten "relief" from the county welfare chief, Mrs.
John Lee Wilson, and Jeff Scales, seventy, brings Sallie to the
"relief" dispensary in his two horse wagon for the apples or onions or
grape fruits or prunes with dried bena, milk, canned beef or potatoes
as the stores yield. A white horse and a brown mule comprise the team,
and several dogs trot along side. Sally also small and frail looking
sits in a chair planted in the flat wagon bed behind the drivers' seat,
a plank resting on the sides. Jeff drives close to the door, alights
and helps Sallie step on to the back of the bed, thence to a chair he
has placed, then to the ground, just as polite whites did to their
women folks after the war when they would ride to town or to church or
to picnics in wagons in order to carry the family, the servants, the
dinner, horse feed, water bucket, chairs, cushions. Sallie gets in
line, presents Aunt Katherine's card which she has gotten by mail,
hears the dispensing lady call to the helping men what Aunt Catherine
is to have, and struggles to the door with it where Jeff meets her,
transfers the load to his wagon bed. Then with his hands he steadies
Sallie as she mounts the chair, then the back of the wagon bed, over
the side with voluminous long skirts, and old fashioned ruffled sun
bonnet. Off to the hilly north part of Madison called Freetown, Jeff's
[TR: Jeff] expertly guides his team through automobile traffi. [TR:
traffic] During the worst of the depression Aunt Sallie said she kept
her coal reserve in a tub upstairs so nobody could steal it.
Aunt Katherine strengthened by her relief food can talk comfortably.
"I shure did love my white fokes--Ole Marse, Timberlikk (Timberlake)
an' Ole Miss Mary Timberlikk. My mother, Lucy Ann Timberlikk bough
their portraits at the sale of the old Timberlake things, and kepp them
an' brought them with her to Madison, when we moved up here, an kepp
them until mummy was in her last sickness, an' two of Ole Misses
daughters came over from Greensboro, an' begged,--an mammy sold the
pictures to them for a quarter a piece. I still have Ole Misses
mother's dish, though. I've got in [TR: it] packed away in a safe
place. I'll get it and show it to you." It is a large flat platter of
the ware called iron ware and was generally used to serve fried ham and
eggs while the gravy came in a small deep dish. In summer, a heap of
snaps greasy with middling meat slashed and boiled down dry with Irish
potatoes around the edge came to table in the platter.
The keeper of the Timberlake oil portraits was Lucy, slave of Nat
Scales, and Lucy's husband was Nathan Scales. Slave Nat Scales (named
for Marse Nat) had married a black woman who came "across the water",
Sallis [TR: Sallie?] Green who become by purchase Sallie Scales. Thus
Aunt Katherine recalls her grandmother as one who "cum over the water
with a white lady". The purchaser Mrs. Scales was from the LeSeur
family. Her father was clerk of the Rockingham county court as early as
[TR: missing date?] and kept the session records of his Presbyterian
church in a fine neat script.
"The LeSeurs had as big a house as the Scales house at Deep Springs.
I've stayed many a nite in it. It was next to Ole Marse Jimmie
Scaleses. John Durham Scales, Marse Jimmy's grandson lived and died in
it--his grandmother's house, the old Le Seur place, ten miles down the
Dan river towards Leaksville. Miss Mary Le Seur married Marse Gus
Timberlikk, an was the grandmother of William Timberlake Lipscomb who
used to come up to Madison and go to Dr. Schuck's Beulah Academy just
after the Srenduh. When Marse Billy'd get lonesome, he'd go down to
Spring Garden and dance with the Scales girls. Ole Marse Le Seur's wife
was Miss Lizzie Scales Marse Jimmie's.
"Nome, us slaves didn't have no chuch. Marse Nat Scales ud let his
slaves go to the babtizings.
"I could hoe but I didn't do much clean up work. I spun on a great big
wheel that went m-m-m-m-m. I wish I had a big wheel to spin on right
now. My mammy, Lucy Ann, could weave. She sho loved her white fokes.
Cullud fokes didn't have much sence den. She would take cow hair and
kyard and spin it with a little cottin in to rolls, and then she'd
weave cloth out of it.
"An how they made their shoes den: My father would cut shoes out of the
raw cowhide and put them on bottoms (soles) he cut out uv wood. An he
couldn't run in them a-tall, just had to stomp along! An day didn't put
on shoe till nearly Christmas."
Schooling
Aunt Katherine said she "learned her letters" in a school fuh cullud
fokes only taught by Mr. Sam Allen just after the Srenduh close to the
old Timberlake place. Mr. Sam was the son of Mr. Val(entine) Allen an
Miss Betsy Martin (she was the granddaughter of Governor Martin).
"Sometimes Miss Betsy'd git worried with little nigguh rolling roun on
de floor thub hader under her feet, an' she'd say: 'Gway! Gway!! Gway
fum hyuh! Gway tuh Pamlico!' An the little nigguhs'd say: 'Miss Betsy,
whah's Pamplico?'
"'Nine miles tother sede o' hell!'
"Yesin Mr. Sam Allen learn't me my letters. He was crippled. He married
a Grogan, an' two Allen girls married Grogans--one, Mary! Mr. Val's
father was William Allen. I went to Mr. Vaul Allen's funeral an he was
buried on his father's ole place, an Miss Betsy too.
"How de cullud fokes did hate to be sold down south in de cotton
country! One time ole Marse Jimmy Scales wuz go sell uh hunduhd down
south, and he died, an' all de cullud fokes wuz glad he died cause he
wuz go sell um, an oftuh he died, day didn't halftuh be sold way fum
home.
"One slave woman wuz sold way fum home--had three chillun, and daze six
an eight an ten yuhs ole. She sang a song juss fo day tuh hub off. She
put her three children between her knees. She sung, 'Lord, Be With
Us.'"
do--me--sol--re--do--sol--te--sol--me--do--do--sol--fa--me--sol--do
"Remembuh me Remembuh me Oh Lord remembuh me"
This was sung full of quavers and pathos, and entreaty.
"Den she cried! An dey took huh off, and de chillun never saw her no
more.
"Aftuh I learned my lettuhs at Marse Sam Allens school, I learned a
Bible verse ebry day an if I want bixxy I'd learn ah half uh chaptuh. I
read some newspapers, and some story books de Miss Mary Timberlikk give
us chillun to read an look ovuh. I learned to write in a copy book, an
I'd write stories about Christ, and several different stories. I filled
a great big copy book with practice. I learned the most, tho', from
Webstuh's Weekly in Reidsville. We took that papuh goin on five yuhs. I
read evrything in it.
"Nome, I didn't know Miss Irene McGehiet. Uncle John R. Webster made
that paper. It sure wuz a good paper!
"My daddy wuz Marse Nat's slave, an Porter Scales wuz his slave too.
Ole Marse Jimmie Scale's sons was Nat Pitcher and John Durham, and John
Durham went to wah. He took Richmond Scales long wiff him to wait on
him! Cook fuh him! Make his pallet! Clean his clothes! Rub down his
horse! Marse John Durum'd sleep with Richmond in de wintuh to keep him
warm. Richmond'd carry him watuh in his canteen during a battle. Marse
John Durum had on a ring that wuz carved and he tole Richmond take a
good look at this ring sose he'd know him by it, if he didn't kum up
aftuh a battle. Richmond ud hole onto his hawse's tail, an go wif him
fuhs he could fo a battle.
"Yes'm I ma'd, Richmond Scales when he wuz a widower an had a boy named
Jeff. I never had no chillun. Jeff's (70) seventy now, an lives right
ovuh cross de street dere in the other hous the Vadens built sixty
years ago. I live in one, too."
Aunt Katherine's house has a front room with stairway in the corner
leading to one above. A back door leads to a side porch flanked by a
two roomed ell, and ended by a pantry. Chimneys with fireplaces once
gave heat, but economy had put in Aunt Katherine's tiny stove which she
a lump at a time in the winters of depression and relief 1932-1937.
A big fat clean double bed, bureau, wash stand, "centuh" table, chairs
and the stairway consumed the living room floor space.
"Nome! I joined de chuch after a big meetin' held by preacher Richard
Walker about 1907. I joined the Methodist Chuch an I have always loved
to go tuh chuch. This street goes on and goes into the Mayodan road at
our new brick (1925) Methodist Chuch. Richmond Scales, my husband died
long ago; my mother, about four years ago. She was very old! I wanted
to move to Reidsville when we leff de ole plantation whab we could get
more wok (waiting) waten on wimmen (obstetries) but the men fokes had
kin fokes up hyuh, an we keem hyuh.
"I know whah de ole Sharp graveyard 'bout two miles fum (east) Madison
close to Mist Tunnuh (Turner) Peay's; cause lots uh cullud fokes buried
there an I went to the funerals. I could go straight tuh it."
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Nancy Watkins
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Anderson Scales
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