Charley Hurt
From:
Texas
CHARLEY HURT, 85, was born a slave of John Hurt, who owned a large
plantation and over a hundred slaves, in Oglethorpe County,
Georgia. Charley stayed with his master for five years after the
Civil War. In 1899 Charley moved to Fort Worth, and now lives at
308 S. Harding St.
"Yes, suh, I'm borned in slavery and not 'shamed of it, 'cause I can't
help how I'm borned. Dere am folks what wont say dey borned in slavery.
"Us plantation am near Maxie, over in Oglethorpe County, in Georgia, and
massa am John Hurt and he have near a hunerd slaves. Us live in de li'l
cabin make from logs chink with mud and straw and twigs am mix with dat
mud to make it hold. De big chimley am outside de cabin mostly, and am
logs and mud, too. De cabin am 'bout ten by twenty feet and jus' one
room.
"Would I like some dem rations we used to git, now? 'Deed I would. Dem
was good, dat meat and cornmeal and 'lasses and plenty milk and
sometimes butter. De meat am mostest pork, with some beef, 'cause massa
raise plenty hawgs and tendin' meat curin' am my first work. I puts dat
meat in de brine and den smokes de hams and shoulders. When hawg-killin'
time come I'm busy watchin' de smokehouse, what am big, and hams and
sich hung on racks 'bout six feet high from de fireplace. Den it my duty
to keep dat fire smoulderin' and jus' smokin'. De more smoke, de better.
Den I packs dat meat in hawgs heads and puts salt over each layer. Dat
am some meat!
"I mus' tell you 'bout dat whiskey and brandy. Massa have he own still
and allus have three barrels or more whiskey and brandy on hand. Den on
Christmas Day, him puts a tub of whiskey or brandy in de yard and hangs
tin cups 'round de tub. Us helps ourselves. At first us start jokin'
with each other, den starts to sing and everybody am happy. Massa
watches us and if one us gittin' too much, massa sends him to he cabin
and he sleep it off. Anyway, dat one day on massa's place all am happy
and forgits dey am slaves.
"De last Christmas 'fore surrender I gits too much and am sick. Gosh
a-mighty! Dat de sickest I ever be and dat de last time I gits drunk.
Yes, suh, dat spoil dis nigger's taste for whiskey.
"Now, 'bout whuppin's, dere am only one whuppin' what am give. Jerry
gits dat, 'cause he wont do what massa say. He tie Jerry on de log and
have de rawhide whip.
"Dere am system on dat plantation. Everybody do he own work, sich as
field hands, stock hands, de blacksmith and de shoemaker and de weavers
and clothes makers. I'm all 'round worker and goes after de mail, jus'
runnin' 'round de place.
"When de war start, all massa's sons jines de army. He have three. John
am de captain and James carry de flag and I guesses August am jus' de
plain sojer. Dey all comes home 'fore de war am finish. August git run
over by de wheel of de cannon truck and it cripple he legs so he can't
walk good. James gits sick with some kind fever misery and he am sent
home. Den John am shot in de shoulder and it stay sore and won't heal.
One day Jerry say to massa he want to look at dat sore. Him see
somethin' stickin' out and he pull it. It a piece of young massa's coat
and de bullet have carry it into de flesh and it am dere a whole year.
De sore gits all right after dat out.
"'Fore de boys goes to fightin' dey trains near de place where am de big
field for to train hunerds of sojer boys. I likes dat, 'cause de drums
goes, 'ter-ump, ter-ump, ter-ump, tump, tump,' and de fifes goes, 'te,
te, ta, te, tat' and plays Dixie. One day Young massa trainin' dem
sojers and he am walkin' backwards and facin' dem sojers, and jus' as
him say, 'Halt,' down he go, flat on he back. Right away quick, him say,
''Bout face,' 'cause him don't want dem sojers to laugh in he face, so
he turn dem 'round.
"When surrender come, all dem what not kilt comes home and dey have a
big 'ception in Maxie. Dey have lots of long tables and de food am put
on 'fore de train come in. Dere was two coaches full of de boys and dey
doesn't wait for dat train to stop. No, suh, dey crawls out de windows.
Well, dere am huggin' and kissin' of de homefolks, and dey all laughin'
and cryin' at de same time, 'cause of de joy dey's feelin'. Den dey all
sets down to de feast. Massa make de welcome talk. I done hide in de
wagon full of hams and cakes and pies and dere a canvas over dat stuff,
and dat how I gits to dat welcome home.
"I crawls out 'fore dey unloads de wagon and 'fore long massa see me and
him say, 'Gosh for hemlock! Boy, how comes you here?' I lets my face
slip a li'l, 'bout half a laugh. I says, 'I rides under dat canvas.' Dat
start him laughin' and he tells de people dat I'm a pat'otic nigger.
After dey all eats us niggers gits to eat. For once, I gits plenty pie
and cake.
"Us never have much joyments in slave time. Only when de corn ready for
huskin' all de neighbors comes dere and a whole big crowd am a-huskin'
and singin'. I can't 'member dem songs, 'cause I'm not much for singin'.
One go like dis:
"'Pull de husk, break de ear;
Whoa, I's got de red ear here.'
"When you finds de red ear, dat 'titles you to de prize, like kissin' de
gal or de drink of brandy or somethin'. Dey not 'nough red ears to suit
us.
"I'm thirteen year when surrender come. Massa don't call us to him like
other massas done. Him jus' go 'mongst de folks and say, 'Well, folks,
yous am free now and no longer my prop'ty, and yous 'titled to pay for
work. I 'member old Jerry sings, 'Free, free as de jaybird, free to flew
like de jaybird. Whew!'
"Some de cullud folks stays and some goes. Mostest dem stays and works
de land on shares. I stays till I'm eighteen year and den I works for a
farmer den for a blacksmith den some carpenter work and some
railroadin'. De fact am, I works at anything I could find to does. I
does dat most my life.
"It good for me to stay with Massa Hurt after freedom, 'cause den day
plenty trouble in every place. Dere am fightin' 'twixt white and cullud
folks over votin' and sich. Dey try 'lect my brudder to Congress one
time, but he not 'lect, 'cause de white man what am runnin' 'gainst him
gits a cullud preacher to run 'gainst dem both. Dat split de cullud
votes and de white man am 'lect. I votes like de white man say, couple
times, but after dat I stops votin'. It ain't right for me to vote 'less
I knows how and why. I larns to read and den starts votin' 'gain.
"After de war de Ku Klux am org'nize and dey makes de niggers plenty
trouble. Sometimes de niggers has it comin' to 'em and lots of times dey
am 'posed on. Dere a old, cullud man name George and he don't trouble
nobody, but one night de white caps--dat what dey called--comes to
George's place. Now, George know of some folks what am whupped for
no-cause, so he prepare for dem white caps. When dey gits to he house
George am in de loft. He tell dem he done nothin' wrong and for dem to
go 'way, or he kill dem. Dey say he gwine have a free sample of what he
git if he do wrong and one dem white caps starts up de ladder to git
George and George shoot him dead. 'Nother white cap starts shootin'
through de ceilin'. He can't see George but through de cracks George can
see and he shoots de second feller. So dey leaves and say dey come back.
George runs to he old massa and he takes George to de law men. Never
nothin' am done 'bout him killin' de white caps, 'cause dem white caps
goes 'round 'busing niggers.
"I comes to Texas 'bout 40 year since and gits by purty good till de
depression comes, den it hard for me. My age am 'gainst me, too, and
many de time I's wish for some dat old ham and bacon on de old
plantation.
"First I marries Ann Arrant, in 1898 dat was, and us have three chillen
but dey all dead. Us git sep'rate in 1917 and I marries Mary Durham in
1921, and us still livin' together. Us have no chillen. Mammy have ten
chillen but I'm de only one what am livin' now, 'cause I'm de youngest.
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