Josephine Bacchus
From:
South Carolina
Code No.
Project, 1885-(1)
Prepared by Annie Ruth Davis
Place, Marion, S. C.
Date, January 4, 1938
No. of Words ----
Reduced from ---- words
Rewritten by ----
JOSEPHINE BACCHUS
Ex-Slave, 75-80 Years
"No, my mercy God, I don' know not one thought to speak to you bout.
Seems like, I does know your face, but I been so sick all de year dat I
can' hardly remember nothin. Yes, sweetheart, I sho caught on to what
you want. Oh, I wishes I did know somethin bout dat old time war cause I
tell you, if I been know anything, I would sho pour it out to you. I got
burn out here de other day en I ain' got near a thing left me, but a
pair of stockings en dat old coat dere on de bed. Dat how-come I stayin
here wid Miss Celia. My husband, he dead en she took me in over here for
de present. No'um, I haven't never had a nine months child. Reckon dat
what ailin me now. Bein dat I never had no mother to care for me en give
me a good attention like, I caught so much of cold dat I ain' never been
safe in de family way. Yes, mam, I had my leg broke plenty times, but I
ain' never been able to jump de time. Lord, I got a misery in my back
dere. I hope it ain' de pneumonias."
"Well, you see, I couldn' tell you nothin bout my mother cause I never
didn' know nothin bout my mother. My Jesus, my brother tell bout when
dey had my mother layin out on de coolin board, I went in de room whe'
she was en axed her for somethin to eat en pushed her head dat way. You
know, I wouldn' touch my hand to do nothin like dat, but I never know.
Dat it, de coolin board, dat what dey used to have to lay all de dead
people on, but dis day en time, de undertaker takes dem en fixes dem up
right nice, I say. I tellin you, I ain' had no sense since I lost my
people. Sometimes, I axes de Lord what he keepin me here for anyhow.
Yes, mam, dat does come to me often times in de night. Oh, it don' look
like I gwine ever get no better in dis life en if I don', I just prays
to God to be saved. Yes, Lord, I prays to be lifted to a restful home."
"Just like as I been hear talk, some of de people fare good in slavery
time en some of dem fare rough. Dat been accordin to de kind of task
boss dey come up under. Now de poor colored people in slavery time, dey
give dem very little rest en would whip some of dem most to death.
Wouldn' none of dem daresen to go from one plantation to another widout
dey had a furlough from dey boss. Yes, mam, if dey been catch you comin
back widout dat walkin paper de boss had give you, great Jeruseleum, you
would sho catch de devil next mornin. My blessed a mercy, hear talk dey
spill de poor nigger's blood awful much in slavery time. Hear heap of
dem was free long time fore dey been know it cause de white folks, dey
wanted to keep dem in bondage. Oh, my Lord, dey would cut dem so hard
till dey just slash de flesh right off dem. Yes, mam, dey call dat thing
dey been whip dem wid de cat o' nine tail. No, darlin, I hear talk it
been made out of pretty leather plaited most all de way en den all dat
part down to de bottom, dey just left it loose to do de cuttin wid. Yes,
honey, dem kind of whips was made out of pretty leather like one of dese
horse whips. Yes, mam, dat been how it was in slavery time."
"Yankees! Oh, I hear folks speak bout de Yankees plunderin through de
country plenty times. Hear bout de Yankees gwine all bout stealin white
people silver. Say, everywhe' dey went en found white folks wid silver,
dey would just clean de place up. Dat de blessed truth, too, cause dat
exactly what I hear bout dem."
"Lord, pray Jesus, de white people sho been mighty proud to see dey
niggers spreadin out in dem days, so dey tell me. Yes, mam, dey was glad
to have a heap of colored people bout dem cause white folks couldn' work
den no more den dey can work dese days like de colored people can.
Reckon dey love to have dey niggers back yonder just like dey loves to
have dem dese days to do what dey ain' been cut out to do. You see, dey
would have two or three women on de plantation dat was good breeders en
dey would have chillun pretty regular fore freedom come here. You know,
some people does be right fast in catchin chillun. Yes'um, dey must been
bless wid a pile of dem, I say, en every colored person used to follow
up de same name as dey white folks been hear to."
"No'um, I never didn' go to none of dem cornshuckin en fodder pullin en
all dem kind of thing. Reckon while dey was at de cornshuckin, I must
been somewhe' huntin somethin to eat. Den dem kind of task was left to
de men folks de most of de time cause it been so hot, dey was force to
strip to do dat sort of a job."
"Lord, I sho remembers dat earth shake good as anything. When it come on
me, I was settin down wid my foots in a tub of water. Yes, my Lord, I
been had a age on me in de shake. I remember, dere been such a shakin
dat evenin, it made all de people feel mighty queer like. It just come
in a tremble en first thing I know, I felt de difference in de crack of
de house. I run to my sister Jessie cause she had been live in New York
en she was well acquainted wid dat kind of gwine on. She say, 'Josie,
dis ain' nothin but dem shake I been tellin you bout, but dis de first
time it come here en you better be a prayin.' En, honey, everything
white en colored was emptied out of doors dat night. Lord, dey was
scared. Great Jeruseleum! De people was scared everywhe'. Didn' nobody
know what to make of it. I tellin you, I betcha I was 30 years old in de
shake."
"Now, I guess time you get done gettin up all dem memorandums, you gwine
have a pile. I tell you, if you keep on, you sho gwine have a bale cause
dere a lot of slavery people is spring up till now. I ought to could
fetch back more to speak to you bout, but just like I been tell you, I
wasn' never cared for by a mother en I is caught on to a heap of
roughness just on account dat I ain' never had a mother to have a care
for me."
"Oh, de people never didn' put much faith to de doctors in dem days.
Mostly, dey would use de herbs in de fields for dey medicine. Dere two
herbs, I hear talk of. Dey was black snake root en Sampson snake root.
Say, if a person never had a good appetite, dey would boil some of dat
stuff en mix it wid a little whiskey en rock candy en dat would sho give
dem a sharp appetite. See, it natural cause if you take a tablespoon of
dat bitter medicine three times a day like a person tell you, it bound
to swell your appetite. Yes, mam, I know dat a mighty good mixture."
"Oh, my Lord, child, de people was sho wiser in olden times den what dey
be now. Dey been have all kind of signs to forecast de times wid en dey
been mighty true to de word, too. Say, when you hear a cow low en cry so
mournful like, it ain' gwine be long fore you hear tell of a death."
"Den dere one bout de rain. Say, sometimes de old rain crow stays in de
air en hollers en if you don' look right sharp, it gwine rain soon. Call
him de rain crow. He hollers mostly like dis, 'Goo-oop, goo-oop.' Like
dat."
"De people used to have a bird for cold weather, too. Folks say, 'Don'
you hear dat cold bird? Look out, it gwine be cold tomorrow.' De cold
bird, he a brown bird. If you can see him, he a fine lookin bird, too.
Yes'um, right large en strong lookin, but don' nobody hardly ever see
him dese days."
"En I reckon you hear talk bout dis one. Say, not to wash on de first
day of de New Year cause if you do, you will wash some of your family
out de pot. Say, somebody will sho die. Dat right, too. Den if possible,
must boil some old peas on de first day of de New Year en must cook some
hog jowl in de pot wid dem. Must eat some of it, but don' be obliged to
eat it all. En ought to have everything clean up nicely so as to keep
clean all de year. Say, must always put de wash out on de line to be
sure de day fore New Years en have all your garments clean."
"What my ideas bout de young folks dese days? Well, dey young folks en
dey ain' young folks, I say. Cose I don' bother up wid dem none, but I
think wid my own weak judgment, dey quite different from when I come
along. Folks is awful funny dis day en time to my notion. Don' care what
people see dem do no time. I sho think dey worser den what dey used to
be. De way I say dey worser, I used to have to be back at such en such a
time, if I went off, but now dey go anytime dey want to en dey comes
back anytime dey want to. I sho think dey worser. De fact of it, I know
dey worser."
Source: Josephine Bacchus, colored, age 75-80, Marion, S. C.
Personal interview by Annie Ruth Davis, Dec., 1937.
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William Ballard
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Dorothy Lambright
