Ida Adkins
From:
North Carolina
District No: 3 [320278]
Worker: Travis Jordan
No. Words: 1500
Title: Ida Adkins Ex-slave
Interviewed: Ida Adkins
County Home, Durham, N. C.
[TR: Date Stamp "JUN 1 1937"]
IDA ADKINS
Ex-slave 79 years.
[TR note: Numerous hand written notations and additions in the following
interview (i.e. wuz to was; er to a; adding t to the contractions.)
Made changes where obvious without comment. Additions and comments were
left as notation, in order to preserve the flow of the dialect.]
I wuz bawn befo' de war. I wuz about eight years ole when de Yankee mens
come through.
My mammy an' pappy, Hattie an' Jim Jeffries belonged to Marse Frank
Jeffries. Marse Frank come from Mississippi, but when I wuz bawn he an'
Mis' Mary Jane wuz livin' down herr near Louisburg in North Carolina
whare dey had er big plantation an' [HW addition: I] don' know how many
niggers. Marse Frank wuz good to his niggers, 'cept [HW addition: that]
he never give dem ernough to eat. He worked dem hard on half rations,
but he didn' believe in all de time beatin' an' sellin' dem.
My pappy worked at de stables, he wuz er good horseman, but my mammy
worked at de big house helpin' Mis' Mary Jane. Mammy worked in de
weavin' room. I can see her now settin' at de weavin' machine an' hear
de pedals goin' plop, plop, as she treaded dem wid her feets. She wuz a
good weaver. I stayed 'roun' de big house too, pickin' up chips,
sweepin' de yard an' such as dat. Mis' Mary Jane wuz quick as er
whippo'-will. She had black eyes dat snapped, an' dey seed everythin'.
She could turn her head so quick dat she'd ketch you every time you
tried to steal a lump of sugar. I liked Marse Frank better den I did
Mis' Mary Jane. All us little chillun called him Big Pappy. Every time
he went [HW correction: come back] to Raleigh he brung us niggers back
some candy. He went to Raleigh erbout twice er year. Raleigh wuz er far
ways from de plantations--near 'bout sixty miles. [HW notation:
check--appears to be about 40 miles only.] It always took Marse Frank
three days to make de trip. A day to go, er' day to stay in town, an' a
day to come back. Den he always got home in de night. Ceptn' [HW
addition: when] he rode ho'se back 'stead of de carriage, [HW addition:
an'] den sometimes he got home by sun down.
Marse Frank didn' go to de war. He wuz too ole. So when de Yankees come
through dey foun' him at home. When Marse Frank seed de blue coats
comin' down de road he run an' got his gun. De Yankees was on horses. I
ain't never seed so many men. Dey was thick as hornets comin' down de
road in a cloud of dus' [HW: correction "dust"]. Dey come up to de house
an' tied de horses to de palin's; [HW correction: dey was so many dey
was stan] 'roun' de yard [HW addition: fence]. When dey seed Marse Frank
standin' on de po'ch [HW correction: porch] wid de gun leveled on dem,
dey got mad. Time Marse Frank done shot one time [HW correction: "once
a"] a bully Yankee snatched de gun away an' tole Marse Frank to hold up
his hand. Den dey tied his hands an' pushed him down on de floor 'side
de house an' tole him dat if he moved [HW addition: a inch] dey would
shoot him. Den dey went in de house.
I wuz skeered near 'bout to death, but I run in de kitchen an' got a
butcher knife, an' when de Yankees wasn' lookin', I tried to cut de rope
an' set Marse Frank free. But one of dem blue debils seed me an' come
runnin'. He say:
'Whut you doin', you black brat! you stinkin' little alligator bait!' He
snatched de knife from my hand an' told me to stick out my tongue, dat
he wuz gwine to cut it off. I let out a yell an' run behin' de house.
Some of de Yankees was in de smoke house gettin' de meat, some of dem
wuz at de stables gettin' de ho'ses, an' some of dem wuz in de house
gettin' de silver an' things. I seed dem put de big silver pitcher an'
tea pot in a bag. Den dey took de knives an' fo'ks an' all de candle
sticks an' platters off de side board. Dey went in de parlor an' got de
gol' clock dat wuz Mis' Mary Jane's gran'mammy's. Den dey got all de
jewelry out of Mis' Mary Jane's box.
Dey went up to Mis' Mary Jane, an' while she looked at dem wid her black
eyes snappin', dey took de rings off her fingers; den dey took her gol'
bracelet; dey even took de ruby ear rings out of her ears an' de gol'
comb out of her hair.
I done quit peepin' in de window an' wuz standin' 'side de house when de
Yankees come out in de yard wid all de stuff dey wuz totin' off. Marse
Frank wuz still settin' on de po'ch [HW correction: porch] floor wid his
han's tied an' couldn' do nothin'. 'Bout dat time I seed de bee gums in
de side yard. Dey wuz a whole line of gums. Little as I wuz I had a
notion. I run an' got me a long stick an' tu'ned over every one of dem
gums. Den I stirred dem bees up wid dat stick 'twell [HW correction:
'till] dey wuz so mad I could smell de pizen. An' bees! you ain't never
seed de like of bees. Dey wuz swarmin' all over de place. Dey sailed
into dem Yankees like bullets, each one madder den de other. Dey lit on
dem ho'ses 'twell [HW correction: till] dey looked like dey wuz live [HW
correction: alive] wid varmints. De ho'ses broke dey bridles an' tore
down de palin's an' lit out down de road. But dey [HW correction: dar]
runnin' wuzn' nothin' to what dem Yankees done. Dey bust out cussin',
but what did a bee keer about cuss words! Dey lit on dem blue coats an'
every time dey lit dey stuck in a pizen sting. De Yankee's forgot all
about de meat an' things dey done stole; dey took off down de road on er
[HW correction: a] run, passin' de horses. De bees was right after dem
in a long line. Dey'd zoom an' zip, an' zoom an' zip, an' every time
dey'd zip a Yankee would yell.
When dey'd gone Mis' Mary Jane untied Marse Frank. Den dey took all de
silver, meat an' things de Yankees lef' behin' an' buried it so if dey
come back dey couldn' fin' it.
Den day called ma an' said:
'Ida Lee, if you hadn't tu'ned [HW correction: turned] over dem bee gums
dem Yankees would have toted off near 'bout everythin' fine we got. We
want to give you somethin' you can keep so' you'll always remember dis
day, an' how you run de Yankees away.'
Den Mis' Mary Jane took a plain gold ring off her finger an' put it on
mine. An' I been wearin' it ever since.
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Martha Allen
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Louisa Adams
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