Julius Nelson
From:
North Carolina
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 689
Subject: JULIUS NELSON
Story teller: Julius Nelson
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
JULIUS NELSON
Ex-Slave Story
An interview with Julius Nelson, 77 of State Prison,
Raleigh, N.C.
"I doan 'member no slavery, of course, so 'taint no use ter ax me no
questions. I does know dat my mammy wus named Ann an' my pappy wus
named Alex. Dey 'longed ter a Mr. Nelson in Anson County. Dere wus
'leben o' us youngins but dey am all daid now 'cept me.
"I doan reckon dat I is but roun' sebenty, case I wus jist five years
old at de close o' de war. What's dat, I'se sebenty seben? Lan' how de
time do fly!
"Anyhow I jist barely does 'member how de ho'n blowed 'fore de light o'
de day an' how we got up an' had our breakfast an' when de ho'n blowed
at sunrise we went ter de fiel's in a gallop. At dinner time de
plantation bell rung an' we'd fly fer home.
"One big fat nigger 'oman cooked de dinner fer us fifty er sixty slaves
an' in er hour or so we'd go back ter de fiel's fer mo' wuck. I sez us,
but I means dem what could wuck. I did pull weeds an' pick up apples,
an' dem things.
"Dese dinners hyar 'min's me o' de plantation dinners somehow. Maybe
case it am 'bout de same quantity. Great big pots o' turnip salet,
collards, peas, beans, cabbages, potatoes or other vege'ables, an' a
oben full o' sweet' taters in de winter. Dar wus a heap o' pies in de
summertime, an' honey, an' 'lasses, an' lasses cake in de winter time.
Dar wus big pones o' co'n bread all de year roun' an' whole sides o'
meat, an' on New Years' Day hogshead an' peas.
"Fur supper we gine'ly had pot licker, lef' from dinner, 'taters maybe
an' some sweetnin'. Dar wus ash cakes fur supper an' breakfas' most o'
de time an' hominy, which de marster had grown hisself. De smart nigger
et a heap o' possums an' coons, dar bein' plenty o' dem an' rabbits an'
squirrels in abundance.
"Did yo' eber eat any kush? Well dat wus made outin meal, onions, salt,
pepper, grease an' water. Hit made a good supper dish. Sometimes in de
heat o' de day marster let us pick blackberries on de hedgerow fer our
supper. We little' uns often picks de berries, an' den we have a big
pan pie fer supper.
"On holidays we sometimes had chicken pie an' ham an' a lot o' other
food. Dem wus de happy times, 'specially on Christmas mornin' when we
all goes ter de big house ter celebrate an' ter git our gif's. Dey give
us clothes, food, an' fruit. One Christmas we had a big tub of candy, I
reckolicts. 'Bout twict a year we had a sociable when de niggers from
de neighborin' plantations 'ud be invited an' dey'd come wid deir
banjoes an' fiddles an' we'd dance, all o' us, an' have a swell time.
"We little'uns 'ud play fox-on-de-wall, tag, mulberry bush, drap
handerchief, stealin' sticks an' a whole heap of others dat I
disremembers right now.
"We shucked our co'n on rainy days mostly, but de marster lets us have
one big co'n shuckin' eber' year an' de person what fin's a red year
can kiss who dey pleases. Hit wus gran' times dat we had den.
"We also had regular weddin's wid a preacher an' all de fixin's an' de
marster usually give us a big supper case he knowed dat he wuz gwine
ter soon habe more slaves from de union.
"Iffen de Yankees comed ter our part o' de country I don't 'member
seein' dem but I does know dat de Ku Kluxes done give us a heap of
trouble.
"I'se libed a long time, 'specially de fifteen years dat I'se spent
hyar, but I knows how ter treat white folkses, an' I knows dat de wuck
an' de healthy rations dat de niggers got 'fore de war am why dey am
stronger dan de young niggers o' dis day."
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Lila Nichols
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Richard C Moring
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