Celina Robinson
From:
North Carolina
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 712
Subject: CELIA ROBINSON
Story teller: Celia Robinson
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
CELIA ROBINSON
611 E. Cabarrus St.
"My name, full name, is Celia Robinson. I can't rest, I has nuritus so
bad; de doctor says it's nuritus. I do not know my age, I wus eight or
ten years old at de close o' de war. De ole family book got burned up,
house an' all. I wuz borned a slave. Dat's what my father and mother
tole me. My father, he 'longed to Dr. Wiley Perry of Louisburg, N.C.,
Franklin Co., an' my mother 'longed to McKnight on an adjoining
plantation. I do not know McKnight's given name. My father wus named
Henderson Perry. He wuz my marster's shop man (blacksmith). My mother
wus named Peggy Perry. McKnight's wife wus named Penny. I member her
name.
"I member when de Yankees came ter my mother's house on de McKnight
plantation near Louisburg an' dey went inter her things. When de
Yankees came down my brother Buck Perry drug me under de bed and tole
me to lie still or de Yankees would ketch me. I member de sweet music
dey played an' de way dey beat de drum. Dey came right inter de house.
Dey went inter her chist; they broke it open. Dey broke de safe open
also. Dey took mother's jewelry. But she got it back. Missus went ter
de captain an' dey give back de jewelry. My missus wus de cause of her
gittin' it back.
"I wuz old enough to go up ter where my brother kept de cows when de
war ended. I member where he kept de calves. My brother would carry me
up dere ter hold de calves off when dey wus milking de cows. My marster
would take me by de hand and say 'Now, Celia, you must be smart or I
will let de bull hook you.' He often carried me up to de great house
an' fed me. He give me good things ter eat. Yes, I am partly white. It
won't on my mother's side tho', but let's not say anything about dat,
jist let dat go. Don't say anything about dat. Marster thought a lot o'
me. Marster and missus thought there wus nothin' like me. Missus let me
tote her basket, and marster let me play wid his keys.
"I cannot read an' write. I have never been ter school but one month in
my life. When I wus a little girl I had plenty ter eat, wear, an' a
good time.
"I 'member when my father would come ter see mother. De patterollers
tole him if he didn't stop coming home so much dey wus goin' ter whip
him. He had a certain knock on de door, den mother would let him in.
"I 'member how mother tole me de overseer would come ter her when she
had a young child an' tell her ter go home and suckle dat thing, and
she better be back in de field at work in 15 minutes. Mother said she
knowed she could not go home and suckle dat child and git back in 15
minutes so she would go somewhere an' sit down an' pray de child would
die.
"We lived at Dr. Wiley Perry's one year atter de war, then we moved ter
de plantation of Seth Ward, a white man who was not married, but he had
a lot of mulatto children by a slave woman o' his. We stayed dere four
years, den we moved ter de Charles Perry plantation. Father stayed dere
and raised 15 children an' bought him a place near de town o'
Franklinton. I got along during my early childhood better dan I do now.
Yes, dat I did. I plowed, grubbed an' rolled logs right atter de war, I
worked right wid de men.
"I married Henry Robinson. We married on de Perry plantation. We had
two children born ter us, Ada an' Ella. Dey are both dead. I wish I had
had two dozen children. I have no children now. If I had had two dozen,
maybe some would be wid me now. I am lonesome and unable to work. I
have been trying to wash and iron fer a livin', but now I am sick,
unable to work. I live with my grandson an' I have nothing."
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George Rogers
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Adora Rienshaw
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