Elias Dawkins
From:
South Carolina
Project 1885-1
FOLKLORE
Spartanburg, Dist. 4
Aug. 24, 1937
Edited by:
Elmer Turnage
STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES
"Sunday, Aug. 1, was my 82nd ~HW: 84th?~] birthday; so I was born in
1853. De very day I come into de world I do not know, but soon my
marster, Starke Sims, begun to train me. Dr. Bill Sims, Marse Stark's
son, was a doctor when I was born. A younger son was called Hal. When
Hal was a boy he said he was gwine off, and when he got to be a man, dat
is what he done; yes sirree, he got scattered off.
"Dr. Bill had done started to doctoring folks befo' I got into dis
world. And first thing dat I recollects is how my marster teached me to
address him. He addressed me as 'Elias, Johnny Elias'. I had to answer,
'Sirs', and dat 'S' always had to be dar to please de marster. All of
his slaves had to address him de same way. Sometimes we would answer,
'Sirs Marster'.
"All de things my marster teached me are still a great help to me. Dis
younger generation does not have de quality dat we old niggers has,
because dey refuse to take de teachings of dere parents and de good
white folks. De main thing dat Marse teached his slaves was
mannerableness. Dat I holds to dis day; 'specially to de white people. I
allus tries to be mannerable to dem. Often I looks back on dat, but both
white and colored is trying to do away wid dem things. Old training is
de best, and I cannot fergit my manners. Never does raal folks fergit
dere raising. Dats what shows up de quality in people. I likes quality
in everything, and as soon as I sees strangers and hears dem talk and
looks at dere action, I can tell how much quality dey got. Dat I sho
can. I never is gwine to drap my raising, don't care what de style
comes to. Dat's jest one thing dat my race and de white race, too, wants
to do away wid. Dey don't hold up no manners and no ra'al raising.
"De school teachers tells de chilluns to say yes and no to me. Dey tells
dem to say de same thing to white folks. Den dey teaches de chilluns to
Mr. and Miss de own race and to call white folks by dere names widout
any handle to it. Dat ain't gwine to work, and any niggers dat has
self-respect jest ain't gwine to call no white folks by dere name. If
you doesn't respect other folks, why den other folks ain't gwine to show
no respect fer you. Why some of my grand chilluns sets up and says 'yes'
and 'no' to me 'stead of 'yes sir' and 'no sir'. But I is right here to
tell you dat my own chilluns don't say 'no' and 'yes' to me. I is
strived wid dem and dey knows how to answer proper to dere elders and to
white folks. I ain't got no time fer dese school teachers dat tells de
pupils to answer in no sech insulting ways as dat. I likes manners and
widout manners folks ain't quality; don't make no diffuns 'bout what
color dey is or how far dey is gone in de reading books. Young'uns
saying 'yes' and 'no' is jest plain ugly. It suits me to meet nice
folks, and when I finds dat dey ain't got mannerableness about dem, den
I concludes dat dey jest ain't nice.
"I gwine to dress up tonight and go to preaching at Mt. Zion. Dey done
already started running meeting dar. I used to preach amongst dem at de
big meetings, but I is retracting now.
"My old marse low to us, 'You is free now, yes sir, you is sho free
niggers now. You is gwine out into de world on your own. Let me tell you
dis: If you be's mannerable you will allus come out more dan conqueror.'
I was young den, and I did not know what 'more dan conqueror' meant
den. I is larn't now what it means. Thank God, I does, fer his telling
me dat. I lays to de fact dat de reason I is never been in jail is dat I
allus had manners. Young'uns acts biggety and den dey lands right
straight in de first jail dar is.
"I sho never went to no war, but I worked at de house in de corn field
a-raising corn fer de war hosses. I been in only two states, North and
South Carolina. I travels jest according to common sense: lets other
folks be my guide. I met up wid Indians; dey wanted to claim kin wid me,
but I wouldn't claim kin wid dem. He tell me bout my high cheeks or
something; den he low something 'bout my nose being long. Dey close
thinking people, dem Indians is. Dey don't fergit nothing. He say he see
I is mixed-up, but I never is knowed jest what he was driving at. I told
him I was teached from de old generation, but dat dar wasn't narry drop
of Indian blood in me. Cherokee Creek whar dat old Indian place is. Dey
has all kinds of things to sell dat dey makes. I ain't no Indian and I
does not feel dat way, no sir, not narry bit does I feel like I is a
Indian.
"My mother died when I was a wee baby. Never is had no brothers or
sisters. She left me wid her marster dat owned her mother, Kissy Sims.
Marse Starke helped my granny to raise me. Kissy come from Virginia. Her
Pa let a man buy her and three other chilluns. Marse Starke raised dem
all up and dats how dey got his name.
"Dis here man standing here by me is Zack Herndon. We is de oldest
niggers in Cherokee County dat I knows of. De other old ones is all dead
now. Oh, you knows him, does you Zack?
"Never did so awful much work when I was coming up. Dey was priming me
and training me. When dey call my name, I allus come. Often I hid myself
to see de bad niggers whipped. Never had no 'buse in my life. Marse
didn't 'low nobody to look at his niggers when dey was being whipped,
kaise he hated to have to let any of dem be 'bused. Marse Starke sho
never whipped no one dat was good. He never let his overseers 'buse
nobody neither. I does not 'member much 'bout his overseers. One named a
Briggs, one a Bishop, one a Coleman and Alley Cook was de last one; I
'members his name best.
"Marse Starke was a rich man. He had in de Quarter what was know'd as a
chilluns' house. A nurse stayed in it all de time to care fer all de
plantation chilluns. My granny 'Kissy' acted as nurse dar some. Aunt
Peggy and aunt Ciller was two mo'. Ciller was de daughter of a King in
Africa, but dat story been traveling ever since she got to dese shores,
and it still a-gwine. All dese helped to nurse me. Dey fed us on milk,
plenty of it. We had honey, lasses and lots of good things. When I was a
little bit-a boy I had a big bowl to eat out of. And us chilluns et like
hogs and got fat. We allus had fine food. My marster give me a biscuit
sometime from his plate and I wouldn't have tuck 25c fer it. He allus
put butter in it or ham and gravy. He would say, 'Dat's de doctrine, Be
kind!' Nobody never got no 'borious beating from our master's hands.
"I been toiling here on dis earth fer a long time. De Lawd spared me to
bring up a big race of chilluns myself. We is awful po' and ain't none
of my chilluns got things as well as I had when my marster give it to
me. My daughter and grand-daughter lives wid Mr. Nathan Littlejohn. He
is rich. I stay in de house wid dem. Dey 'vides wid me dat what dey has.
But dat ain't much. I has great-great-grand chilluns dat I ain't never
seed. I have five chilluns living to my knowings. Last time I counted, I
had 137 grand and great-grand chilluns. So you see I looks into de
fourth generation of my own family.
"Me and Old man Zack went to a hanging one time. Both of us clamed up
into a tree so dat we could look down on de transaction from a better
angle. De man, I means de sheriff, let us go up dar. He let some mo'
niggers clamb up in de same tree wid us. De man dat was being hung was
called Alf Walker. He was a mulatto and he had done kil't a preacher, so
you see dey was hanging him fer his wickedness, sho as you born dey was.
"While me and Zack up in dat tree a-witnessing dat transaction, peers
like we become mo' acquainted wid one another dan we had ever been since
us know'd one another.
"Sheriff 'low'd, 'You is got only fifteen minutes to live in. What has
you got to say?' Alf got up and talked by giving a lecture to folks
about being lawful citizens. He give a lecture also to young folks who
he 'low'd dat was not in sech condition as he was. He talking to dem
'bout obeying de parents and staying at home. Me and Zack exchange
glances and Zack 'low, 'Alf ain't never stayed at home none since he
been big enough to tramp over de country and he up dar fixing to git his
neck broke fer his waryness, and trying to tell us good folks young and
old how us should act. Now ain't he something to be a-telling us what to
do.'
"Finally, Alf had done talked his time out and de sheriff 'low, 'Now you
is only got two minutes, what does you want?'
Alf hollered, 'Mr. Sheriff, lemme shake hands wid somebody.' Sheriff say
everybody dat wishes to may shake his hand. Me and Zack stayed up in dat
tree, but some of de niggers went up and shaked hands wid Alf.
"Time out! You could-a heard a pin drap. I could hear my breath
a-coming. I got scared. Zack looked ra'al ashy. Nobody on de ground
moved, jest stayed ra'al quiet and still. Noose drapped over de man's
neck and tightened. Some one moved de block from under his foots. Dat
jerked him down. Whoop! All dem in de tree fell out 'cept me and Zack,
dey was so scared. Alf Walker wasn't no mo'. Me and Zack sot up in dat
tree like two cranks. Us sot dar as if it hadn't tuck no 'fect on us
a-tall. All de other folks got 'fected. Zack tickled me when he saw me
studying. He 'low 'you act awful hard-hearted.' I 'low, 'dat man telling
us how to do jest now, and dar he is hanged. Us still a-setting in dis
tree, ain't we? We ain't never wanted to see no mo' hangings, is we
Zack?' Zack 'low dat we ain't.
"Onc't de guide low'd to de President, 'You raises your hat to a
nigger?' President 'low, 'I ain't gwine to let nobody be mo' polite dan
I is.' He never let nobody have mo' sense dan he did either. Dat was
Washington.
"Me and Zack is gwine to tell you how it is. We is old and ain't no need
fer old folks to try and fool. I is too shame to beg. I wants de
pension. Is you gwine to tell me 'bout it? Dis de truth, I is took a
chip fer food. If I could got to school and write fast as I can shake my
fist, I'd be a-giving out dat pension right fast. I likes character and
principle. I got a boy turned into 64 years. He got character and
principle, and he still do what I say. I never put my mouth amongst old
folks when I was young. Me and Zack often talks over old times."
Source: Elias Dawkins (84), Rt. 1, Gaffney, S. C.
Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C. 8/20/37.
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Will Dil
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William Henry Davis
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