Easter Brown
From:
Georgia
EX-SLAVE INTERVIEW
EASTER BROWN
1020 S. Lumpkin Street
Athens, Georgia
Written By:
Mrs. Sadie B. Hornsby
Edited By:
John N. Booth
Federal Writers' Project
WPA Residency No. 7
"Aunt" Easter Brown, 78 years old, was sweeping chips into a basket out
in front of her cabin. "Go right in honey, I'se comin' soon as I git
some chips for my fire. Does I lak to talk 'bout when I wuz a chile? I
sho does. I warn't but 4 years old when de war wuz over, but I knows all
'bout it."
"I wuz born in Floyd County sometime in October. My pa wuz Erwin and my
ma wuz Liza Lorie. I don't know whar dey come from, but I knows dey wuz
from way down de country somewhars. Dere wuz six of us chilluns. All of
us wuz sold. Yessum, I wuz sold too. My oldest brother wuz named Jim. I
don't riccolec' de others, dey wuz all sold off to diffunt parts of de
country, and us never heared from 'em no more. My brother, my pa and me
wuz sold on de block in Rome, Georgia. Marster Frank Glenn buyed me. I
wuz so little dat when dey bid me off, dey had to hold me up so folkses
could see me. I don't 'member my real ma and pa, and I called Marster
'pa' an' Mist'ess 'ma', 'til I wuz 'bout 'leven years old.
"I don't know much 'bout slave quarters, or what dey had in 'em, 'cause
I wuz raised in de house wid de white folkses. I does know beds in de
quarters wuz lak shelves. Holes wuz bored in de side of de house, two in
de wall and de floor, and poles runnin' from de wall and de floor,
fastened together wid pegs; on 'em dey put planks, and cross de foot of
de bed dey put a plank to hold de straw and keep de little 'uns from
fallin' out.
"What did us have to eat? Lordy mussy! Mist'ess! us had everything.
Summertime dere wuz beans, cabbage, squashes, irish 'tatoes, roas'en
ears, 'matoes, cucumbers, cornbread, and fat meat, but de Nigger boys,
dey wuz plum fools 'bout hog head. In winter dey et sweet 'tatoes,
collards, turnips and sich, but I et lak de white folkses. I sho does
lak 'possums and rabbits. Yessum, some of de slaves had gyardens, some
of 'em sholy did.
"No'm, us Niggers never wore no clothes in summer, I means us little
'uns. In de winter us wore cotton clothes, but us went barefoots. My
uncle Sam and some of de other Niggers went 'bout wid dey foots popped
open from de cold. Marster had 110 slaves on his plantation.
"Mist'ess wuz good to me. Pa begged her to buy me, 'cause she wuz his
young Mist'ess and he knowed she would be good to me, but Marster wuz
real cruel. He'd beat his hoss down on his knees and he kilt one of 'em.
He whupped de Niggers when dey didn't do right. Niggers is lak dis; dey
wuz brought to dis here land wild as bucks, and dey is lak chicken
roosters in a pen. You just have to make 'em 'have deyselves. Its lak
dat now; if dey'd 'have deyselves, white folkses would let 'em be.
"Dere warn't no jails in dem days. Dey had a gyuard house what dey
whupped 'em in, and Mondays and Tuesdays wuz set aside for de whuppin's,
when de Niggers what had done wrong got so many lashes, 'cordin' to what
devilment dey had been doin'. De overseer didn't do de whuppin',
Marster done dat. Dem patterrollers wuz sompin else. Mankind! If dey
ketched a Nigger out atter dark widout no pass dey'd most nigh tear de
hide offen his back.
"I'll tell you what dat overseer done one night. Some enemy of Marster's
sot fire to de big frame house whar him and Mist'ess and de chillun
lived. De overseer seed it burnin', and run and clam up de tree what wuz
close to de house, went in de window and got Marster's two little gals
out dat burnin' house 'fore you could say scat. Dat sho fixed de
overseer wid old Marster. Atter dat Marster give him a nice house to
live in but Marster's fine old house sho wuz burnt to de ground.
"De cyarriage driver wuz uncle Sam. He drove de chillun to school, tuk
Marster and Mist'ess to church, and done de wuk 'round de house; such
as, totin' in wood, keepin' de yards and waitin' on de cook. No'm us
slaves didn't go to church; de Niggers wuz so wore out on Sundays, dey
wuz glad to stay home and rest up, 'cause de overseer had 'em up way
'fore day and wuked 'em 'til long atter dark. On Saddays dey had to wash
deir clothes and git ready for de next week. Some slaves might a had
special things give to 'em on Christmas and New Years Day, but not on
Marster's plantation; dey rested up a day and dat wuz all. I heared tell
dey had Christmas fixin's and doin's on other plantations, but not on
Marse Frank's place. All corn shuckin's, cotton pickin's, log rollin's,
and de lak was when de boss made 'em do it, an' den dere sho warn't no
extra sompin t'eat.
"De onliest game I ever played wuz to take my doll made out of a stick
wid a rag on it and play under a tree. When I wuz big 'nough to wuk, all
I done wuz to help de cook in de kitchen and play wid old Mist'ess'
baby.
"Some of de Niggers runned away. Webster, Hagar, Atney, an' Jane runned
away a little while 'fore freedom. Old Marster didn't try to git 'em
back, 'cause 'bout dat time de war wuz over. Marster and Mist'ess sho
looked atter de Niggers when dey got sick for dey knowed dat if a Nigger
died dat much property wuz lost. Yessum, dey had a doctor sometime, but
de most dey done wuz give 'em hoarhound, yellow root and tansy. When a
baby wuz cuttin' teeth, dey biled ground ivy and give 'em.
"Louisa, de cook wuz married in de front yard. All I 'members 'bout it
wuz dat all de Niggers gathered in de yard, Louisa had on a white dress;
de white folkses sho fixed Louisa up, 'cause she wuz deir cook.
"Jus' lemme tell you 'bout my weddin' I buyed myself a dress and had it
laid out on de bed, den some triflin', no 'count Nigger wench tuk and
stole it 'fore I had a chance to git married in it. I had done buyed dat
dress for two pupposes; fust to git married in it, and second to be
buried in. I stayed on wid Old Miss 'til I got 'bout grown and den I
drifted to Athens. When I married my fust husband, Charlie Montgomery, I
wuz wukkin' for Mrs. W.R. Booth, and us married in her dinin' room.
Charlie died out and I married James Hoshier. Us had one baby. Hit wuz a
boy. James an' our boy is both daid now and I'se all by myself.
"What de slaves done when dey wuz told dat dey wuz free? I wuz too
little to know what dey meant by freedom, but Old Marster called de
overseer and told him to ring de bell for de Niggers to come to de big
house. He told 'em dey wuz free devils and dey could go whar dey pleased
and do what dey pleased--dey could stay wid him if dey wanted to. Some
stayed wid Old Marster and some went away. I never seed no yankee
sojers. I heared tell of 'em comin' but I never seed none of 'em.
"No'm I don't know nothin' 'bout Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington
or Jefferson Davis. I didn't try to ketch on to any of 'em. As for
slavery days; some of de Niggers ought to be free and some oughtn't to
be. I don't know nuttin much 'bout it. I had a good time den, and I gits
on pretty good now.
"How come I jined de church? Well I felt lak it wuz time for me to live
better and git ready for a home in de next world. Chile you sho has axed
me a pile of questions, and I has sho 'joyed tellin' you what I knowed."
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