John Daniels
From:
North Carolina
N. C. District: No. 2 [320281]
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 386
Subject: JOHN DANIELS
Story Teller: John Daniels
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[TR: No Date Stamp]
JOHN DANIELS
Ex-Slave Story [HW: (?)]
I'se named fer my pappy's ole massa down in Spartanburg, South
Carolina, course I doan know nothin' 'bout no war, case I warn't borned.
I does 'member seein' de ole 'big house' do', maybe you want me ter tell
you how hit looked?
It wuz a big white two-story house at de end uv a magnolia lane an'
a-settin' in a big level fiel'. Back o' de big house wuz de ole slave
cabins whar my folks uster live.
Dey said dat de massa wuz good ter 'em, but dat sometimes in de mo'nin'
dey jist has lasses an' co'nbread fer breakfas'.
I started ter tell you 'bout de Joe Moe do'.
You mebbe doan know hit, but de prisoners hyar doan git de blues so bad
if de company comes on visitin' days, an' de mail comes reg'lar. We's
always gittin' up somepin' ter have a little fun, so somebody gits up de
Joe Moe.
Yo' sees dat when a new nigger comes in he am skeerd an' has got de
blues. Somebody goes ter cheer him up an' dey axes him hadn't he ruther
be hyar dan daid. Yo' see he am moughty blue den, so mebbe he says dat
he'd ruther be daid; den dis feller what am tryin' ter cheer him tells
him dat all right he sho' will die dat [HW correction: 'cause] he's got
de Joe Moe put on him.
Seberal days atter dis de new nigger fin's a little rag full of somepin
twix de bed an' mattress an' he axes what hit am. Somebody tells him dat
hit am de Joe Moe, an' dey tells him dat de only way he can git de spell
off am ter git de bag off on somebody else. Ever'body but him knows'
bout hit so de Joe Moe keeps comin' back till a new one comes in an' he
l'arns de joke.
Talkin' 'bout ghostes I wants ter tell you dat de air am full of 'em.
Dar's a strip from de groun' 'bout four feet high which am light on de
darkes' night, case hit can't git dark down dar. Git down an' crawl an'
yo'll see a million laigs of eber' kin' an' if'en you lis'ens you'll
hyar a little groanin' an' den you has gone through a warm spot.
B. N.
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Harriet Ann Daves
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Charles Lee Dalton
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