Jane Lassiter
From:
North Carolina
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1044
Subject: JANE LASSITER
Story teller: Jane Lassiter
Editor: Geo. L. Andrews
[TR: Date stamp: AUG 6 1937]
JANE LASSITER
About 80 years old.
324 Battle Street
Raleigh, N.C.
"I am 'bout 80 years old. I am somewhere in my seventies, don't zackly
know my age. I wus here when de Yankees come an' I 'member seein' dem
dressed in blue. I wus a nurse at dat time not big enough to hold a
baby but dey let me set by de cradle an' rock it.
"All my white folks dead an' all my people am dead an' I haint got no
one to ax 'bout my age. Dey had my age an' my mother's age in de Bible
but dey am all dead out now an' I don't know whur it is.
"My mother an' me belonged to the Councils. Dr. Kit Council who lived
on a plantation in de lower edge of Chatham County, 'bout three miles
from New Hill.[3] My father belonged to de Lamberts. Their plantation
wus near Pittsboro in Chatham County. My father wus named Macon Lambert
an' his marster wus named At Lambert. Our missus wus named Caroline an'
father's missus wus named Beckie. My grandfather wus Phil Bell. He
belonged to the Bells. They lived in Chatham County. My grandmother wus
named Peggy an' she belonged to de same family.
"We lived in little ole log houses. We called 'em cabins. They had
stick an' dirt chimleys wid one door to de house an' one window. It
shet to lak a door.
"We did not have any gardens an' we never had any money of our own. We
jest wurked fer de white folks.
"We had plenty sumptin to eat an' it wus cooked good. My mother wus de
cook an' she done it right. Our clothes wus homemade but we had plenty
shiftin' clothes. Course our shoes wus given out at Christmas. We got
one pair a year an' when dey wore out we got no more an' had to go
barefooted de rest of de time. You had to take care of dat pair uv
shoes bekase dey wus all you got a year. The slaves caught game
sometime an' et it in de cabins, but dere wus not much time fer huntin'
dere wus so much wurk to do.
"Dere wus 'bout fifty slaves on de plantation, an' dey wurked from
light till dark. I 'member dey wurkin' till dark. Course I wus too
small to 'member all 'bout it an' I don't 'member 'bout de overseers. I
never seen a slave whupped, but I 'members seein' dem carryin' slaves
in droves like cows. De white men who wus guardin' 'em walked in front
an' some behind. I did not see any chains. I never seen a slave sold
an' I don't 'member ever seein' a jail fer slaves.
"Dere wus no books, or larnin' uv any kind allowed. You better not be
ketched wid a book in yore han's. Dat wus sumptin dey would git you
fer. I ken read an' write a little but I learned since de surrender. My
mother tole me 'bout dat bein' 'ginst de rules of de white folks. I
'members it while I wus only a little gal. When de Yankees come thro'.
"Dere wus no churches on de plantation an' we wus not 'lowed to have
prayer meetings in de cabins, but we went to preachin' at de white
folks church. I 'member dat. We set on de back seat. I 'member dat.
"No slaves ever run away from our plantation cause marster wus good to
us. I never heard of him bein' 'bout to whup any of his niggers. Mother
loved her white folks as long as she lived an' I loved 'em too. No
mister, we wus not mistreated. Mother tole me a lot 'bout Raw Head an'
Bloody Bones an' when I done mean, she say, 'Better not do dat any more
Raw Head an' Bloody Bones gwine ter git yo'.' Ha! ha! dey jest talked
'bout ghosts till I could hardly sleep at nite, but de biggest thing in
ghosts is somebody 'guised up tryin' to skeer you. Ain't no sich thing
as ghosts. Lot of niggers believe dere is do'.
"We stayed on at marsters when de surrender come cause when we wus
freed we had nothin' an' nowhere to go. Dats de truth. Mister, dats de
truth. We stayed with marster a long time an' den jest moved from one
plantation to another. It wus like dis, a crowd of tenants would get
dissatisfied on a certain plantation, dey would move, an' another gang
of niggers move in. Dat wus all any of us could do. We wus free but we
had nothin' 'cept what de marsters give us.
"When we got sick, you sees we stayed wid a doctor, he looked after us,
but we had our herbs too. We took sassafras tea, catnip an' horehound
tea an' flag. Flag wus good to ease pain. Jest make a tea of de
flagroots an' drink it hot.
"I married Kit Lassiter in Chatham County an' I had seven chilluns.
Three boys an' four girls. All am dead but two. Two girls are livin'.
One named Louie Finch, her husband dead. She stays wid me an' supports
me. She cooks an' supports me. My other livin' daughter is Venira
McLean. She lives across de street wid her husband. Her husband had a
stroke an' ain't able to wurk no more. Dey live on five dollars a week.
Dey ain't able to help me now. I moved ter Raleigh 20 years ago. My
husband died here.
"I heard 'bout de Ku Klux but dey never give our family no trouble
cause we didn't give 'em no cause to bother us. I don't know all 'bout
slavery but I 'members dere wus a lot of big fat greasy niggers goin'
around, an' I reckin dey fared good or dey wouldn't a been so fat. Dey
got plenty to eat even if dey did wurk 'em.
"I believe slavery wus all rite whur slaves wus treated right. I haint
got nuff edication to tell you nothin' 'bout Lincoln an' dem udder men.
Heard 'em say he come thro', reckon he did too. I belong to the 'United
Holiness Church'."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: HW: New Hill (Newhill P.O.), Wake County.]
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