Laura Thornton
From:
Arkansas
Interviewer: Samuel S. Taylor
Person Interviewed: Laura Thornton
1215 W. Twenty-Fourth Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Age: 105?
"My native home is Alabama. I was born not far from Midway, Alabama,
about twelve miles from Clayton. Midway, Clayton, and Barber are all
nearby towns. We used to go to all of them.
"My master was Tom Eford. When he died, I fell to Polly Eford. Polly
Eford was the old lady. I don't know where they is and they don't know
nothing about where I is. It's been so long. Because I done lef' Alabama
fifty years. I don't know whether any of them is living or not. It's
been so long.
"Their baby boy was named Giles Eford. His mother was Miami Eford and my
father's name was Perry Eford. That is the name he went in. My mother
went in that name too. My father died the second year of the surrender.
My mother was a widow a long time. I was a grown-up woman and had
children when my father died.
"I married during slavery time. I don't remember just how old I was
then. My old man knows my age, but I can't remember it. But he's
been dead this year makes thirteen years. I had one child before the
surrender. I was just married to the one man. I was married after the
surrender. I don't want to be married again. I never seed a man I would
give a thought to since he died. Lord knows how long we'd been married
before he died.
"We came here and stayed four years and we bought a home down on Arch
Street Pike about ten miles from here. I lived there sixty years. I've
got the tax receipts for sixty years back. I ain't never counted the
ones I paid since he's been dead.
"I was the mother of three children and none of them are living. All of
them dead but me.
"They made like they was goin' to give old slave folks a pension. They
ain't gimme none yit. I'm just livin' on the mercy of the people. I
can't keep up the taxes now. I wish I could git a pension. It would help
keep me up till I died. They won't even as much as give me nothin' on
the relief. They say these grandchildren ought to keep me up. I have to
depend on them and they can't hardly keep up theirselves.
"When the Civil War broke out, my baby was about seven years old. My
mother was here when the stars fell. She had one child then.
"I remember a war before the Civil War. I heard the white folks talking
about it. They wouldn't tell colored folks nothing. They'd work them to
death and beat them to death. They'd sell them just like you sell hogs.
My mother was sold from me when I was little. Old lady Eford, she was
my mistress and mammy too. If she ever slapped me, I don't know nothin'
'bout it.
"My daddy made his farm jus' like colored people do now. White man would
give him so much ground if he'd a mind to work it. He had a horse he
used.
"We lived a heap better than the people live now. They fed you then.
You ate three times a day. When twelve o'clock come, there dinner was,
cooked and ready. Nothin' to do but eat it, and then set down and res'
with the other people. There was them that was good.
"But them what was mean done the colored folks bad.
Early Days
"I was little when my mother was sold from me. I was runnin' about
though in the yard. I couldn't do nothing. But I was a smart girl. The
first work I can remember doin' was goin' to the field ploughing. That
is the first thing I remember. I was little. I just could come up to the
plough. I cut logs when I was a little child like them children there
(children about ten years old playing in the street). I used to clean up
new ground--do anything.
"My mother and father both worked in the field. My father was sold away
from me jus' like my mother was. Old lady Eford was my mother and father
too. That was in Clayton, Alabama. Old Tom Eford had three boys--one
named Tom, one named William, and there was the one named Giles what I
told you about. William was the oldest, Tom was the second, and Giles
was the youngest.
"I never learnt to read and write. In slave time, they didn't let you
have no books. My brother though was a good reader. He could write as
well as any of them because he would be with the white children and they
would show him. That is the way my brother learnt. He would lay down all
day Sunday and study. The good blessed Lord helped him.
Marriage
"The man I married was on the plantation. They married in slave time
just like they do these days. When I married, the justice of peace
married me. That was after freedom, our folks would give big weddings
just like they do now (just after the war). I ain't got my license now.
Movin' 'round, it got lost. I was married right at home where me and my
old man stayed. Wasn't nobody there but me and him and another man named
Dr. Bryant. That wasn't far from Midway.
"I can't talk much since I had those strokes. Can't talk plain, just
have to push it out, but I thank God I can do that much. The Lord let me
stay here for some reason--I don't know what. I would rather go, but he
ain't called me.
How the Day Went
"We got up after daylight. Tom Eford didn't make his folks git up early.
But after he was dead and gone, things changed up. The res' made 'em git
up before daylight. He was a good man. The Lord knows. Yes Lord, way
before day. You'd be in the field to work way before day and then work
way into the night. The white folks called Eford's colored people poor
white folks because he was so good to them. Old Tom Eford was the
sheriff of Clayton.
"His folks came back to the house at noon and et their dinner at the
house. He had a cook and dinner was prepared for them just like it was
for the white folks. The colored woman that cooked for them had it ready
when they came there for it. They had a great big kitchen and the hands
ate there. They came back to the same place for supper. And they didn't
have to work late either. Old Tom Eford never worked his hands extra.
That is the reason they called his niggers poor-white folks. Folks lived
at home them days and et in the same place. When my old man was living,
I had plenty. Smokehouse was full of good meat. Now everything you git,
you have to buy.
"Next morning, they all et their breakfast in the same kitchen. They et
three meals a day every day. My mother never cooked except on Sunday.
She didn't need to.
Patrollers
"Me and old lady Eford would be out in the yard and I would hear her
cuss the pateroles because they didn't want folks to 'buse their
niggers. They had to git a pass from their masters when they would be
out. If they didn't have a pass, the pateroles would whip them.
Jayhawkers
"The jayhawkers would catch folks and carry them out in the woods and
hang them up. They'd catch you and beat you to death.
Runaways
"Colored folks what would run away, old lady Eford would call them
'rottenheads' and 'bloody bones.' We would hear the hounds baying after
them and old lady Eford would stand out in the yard and cuss them--cuss
the hounds I mean. Like that would do any good. Some slaves would kill
theirselves before they would be caught. They would hear them dogs. I
have seen old Tom Eford. He would have them dogs. He was sheriff and he
had to do it. He carried them dogs. He would be gone two weeks before
he would be back sometimes. Alden or Alton was the place they said they
carried the runaways.
Slave Breeding
"They never kept no slaves for breeding on any plantation I heard of.
They would work them to death and breed them too. There was places where
old massa kept one for hisself.
Amusements
"Folks had heap more pleasure than they do now in slave time. They had
parties and dances and they would bow 'round. They had fiddles and
danced by them. Folks danced them days. They don't dance now, just mess
around. My brother could scrape the fiddle and dance on, all at the same
time. Folks would give big suppers and ask people out. They would feed
nice times with one another. Folks ain't got no love in their hearts
like they used to have.
"Folks would give quiltings. They don't think about quilting now. They
would quilt out a quilt and dance the rest of the night. They would have
a big supper at the quilting. Nice time too. They would kill a hog and
barbecue it. They would cook chicken. Have plenty of whiskey too. Some
folks would get drunk. That was whiskey them days. They ain't got no
whiskey now--old poison stuff that will kill people.
My daddy was jus' drunk all the time. He had plenty of whiskey. That was
what killed old Tom Eford. He kept it settin' on the dresser all the
time. You couldn't walk in his house but what you would see it time you
got in. Folks hide it now. I have drunk a many a glass of it. I would go
and take a glass whenever I wanted to.
How Freedom Came
"The old white folks told me I was free. They had me hired out. I wasn't
staying with my owner. There wasn't nobody there with me but the white
folks where I was staying. That morning I got up to get breakfast
and there wasn't no fire and there wasn't so matches. I went to some
neighbors to get a chunk of fire and they told me to go back to my folks
because I was free. When I got back to the house they was mad and wanted
to whip me. So I just put the fire down and never cooked no breakfast
but jus' went on to my brother's. The reason they wanted to whip me was
because I had gone outside of the house without their knowing it.
"When I went to my brother's, I had to walk twelve miles. My brother
carried me to my mother and father. And then he took me back to old lady
Eford, and she told me to go on to my mother, that I was free now. So he
took me on back to my ma and pa. He said he'd do that so that I could
stay with them.
Slave Earnings
"Slaves had money in slave time. My daddy bought a horse. He made a crop
every year. He made his bale of cotton. He made corn to feed his horse
with. He belonged to his white folks but he had his house and lot right
next to theirs. They would give him time you know. He didn't have to
work in the heat of the day. He made his crop and bought his whiskey.
The white folks fed 'im. He had no expenses 'cept tending to his crop.
He didn't have to give Tom Eford anything he made. He just worked his
crop in his extra time. Many folks too lazy to git theirselves somethin'
when they have the chance to do it. But my daddy wasn't that kind. His
old master gave him the ground and he made it give him the money.
"My daddy left me plenty but I ain't got it now. I didn't care what
happened when he died. People made out like they was goin' to put my
money in the bank for me and took it and destroyed it. Used it for
theirselves I reckon. Now I need it and ain't got it--ain't got a
penny. For five or six years at my home, I made good crops. We raised
everything we needed at home. Didn't know what it was to come to town to
buy anything. If anybody had told me twenty years ago I would be in this
shape, I wouldn't have believed it because I had plenty.
What Slaves Got When Freed
"They said they was gwine a give the slaves something, but they never
did do it. Then the master made out like he was gwine a give the slaves
so much if they stayed 'round and made his crops for him, but he didn't
do it.
Come Again
"If the Lord lets you git back tomorrow, try and come a little sooner in
the day than you did today. I gits up about six in the morning. I don't
believe in layin' in bed late. I go to bed directly after dark and I
wake up early. The Lord never did mean for nobody to sleep all day."
Interviewer's Comment
A number of people testify to Laura Thornton's age. I am trying to check
up on it. Results later. If she isn't a hundred [HW: and] five years
old, she is "mighty nigh" it. She has feeble health, but a surprisingly
alert mind, and a keen sharp memory. She has a tendency to confuse
Reconstruction times with slavery times, but a little questioning always
brings out the facts.
She doesn't like to talk much about marriage in slavery. Evidently she
dislikes the fact that one of her children ms born before emancipation.
She was evidently married only once, as questioning brought out; but she
will refer to the marriage before emancipation and the one afterward as
though they were to different persons.
[HW: Curtis, Ark.
Emma (Bama?) Tidwell]
OLD SLAVE STORIES
I
Ah'm one uv dem ole timers. Ah been here since way back yonder. Fust
thing ah kin member is a bad storm an mah ma put us undah de baid. She
wuz skeered hit would blow us away. Ah use tuh play till ah got bigger
nuff tuh work. Ah member we use tuh play runnin. We'd play walkin tuh
see which one uv us could walk de fastest tuh de field tuh carry dinner.
We use tuh jump an we use tuh ride stick hosses an limbs offn trees.
Ole boss learnt mah pa how tuh make shoes an de way he done: Dey kilt a
cow an a deer an take dey hides an tanned dem. De way he tanned hit wuz
tuh take red oak bark an white oak bark an put in vats. Dese vats wuz
somethin like troughs dat helt water an he put a layer uv oak ashes
an or layer uv ashes an a layer uv leather till he got hit all in an
covered wid water. Aftuh dat dey let hit soak till de hair come offn de
hide den dey would take de hide oft an hit wuz ready fuh tannin. Den de
hide wuz put tuh soak in wid de redoak bark. Hit stayed in de water till
de hide turnt tan den pa took de hide out uv de redoak dye an hit would
be a purty tan. Hit didn' have tuh soak so long. Den he would git his
pattern an cut an make tan shoes outn dat tanned hide. We called dem
brogans. We all wore shoes cause mah pa made em.
We planted indigo an hit growed jes like wheat. When hit got ripe we
gathered hit an we would put hit in a barrel an let hit soak bout er
week den we would take de indigo stems out an squeeze all de juice outn
dem, put de juice back in de barrel an let hit stay dere bout nother
week, den we jes stirred an stirred one whole day. We let hit set three
or four days den drained de water offn hit an dat left de settlings an
de settlings wuz blueing jes like we have dese days. We cut ours in
little blocks. Den we dyed clothes wid hit. We had purty blue cloth. De
way we set de color we put alumn in hit. Dat make de color stay right
dere.
Ah'll tell yuh how tuh dye. Er little beech bark dyes slate color set
wid copper. Hickory bark an bay leaves dyes yellow set wid chamber lye;
bamboo dyes turkey red, set color wid copper. Pine straw an sweetgum
dyes purple, set color wid chamber lye. Ifn yuh dont bleave hit try em
all.
Mah ma made cloth while mah pa made shoes. Ah member jes as good when
dey handcuff mah ma's two brothers tuh keep um from runnin off when dey
got ready tuh sell em. Ah seed um handcuff as many as eight tugethuh
when dey marched dem tuh de pen. Yuh know dey had uh pen kinder like de
pond pen fer cows an hosses. Well dey would drive us niggers tuh de pond
pen an dey had er big block in de pen an dey put one uv us niggers on
hit at a time. Bid us off tuh de highest bidder. Mah ole boss wuz a
gambler. People talk bout dis gamblin an drinkin bein a late thing--dem
white fokes done hit way back yonder 90 years ergo, cause mah ole boss
gambled me off, ah clare he did. Gambled me off one Sunday mornin'. Ole
Boss made whiskey jes like dey do tuhday.
Black preachers couldn' preach tuh us. Ole boss would tie em tuh a tree
an whoop em if dey caught us eben praying. We had er big black washpot
an de way we prayed we'd go out an put our mouths to der groun an pray
low an de sound wud go up under de pot an ole boss couldn' bear us. De
white preacher would call us under a tree Sunday evenin tuh preach tuh
us. Dis is whut his text would be: "Mind yo mistress." Den he would ceed
tuh preach--"Don't steal der potatoes; don't lie bout nothin an don'
talk back tuh yo boss; ifn yo does yo'll be tied tuh a tree an stripped
neckid. When dey tell yuh tuh do somethin run an do it." Dat's de kind
uv gospel we got.
We cooked on fiuhplaces in er iron pot; cooked bread in a ubben. We had
ash cakes. We et purty good.
Ah didn go tuh school. Ah wuz awful sly. Ah wanted tuh learn tuh read so
ah hung eroun ole mistess when she wuz teachin huh chillun tuh read. Ah
listened an when she put de book down an went out ah got de book. Ah
kep' hit up till ah learnt tuh read. Ah been teachin one Bible class in
Curtis 42 years. Some uv em dare ask me how ah learnt tuh read so good
an ah tole dem dat a person dat couldn' learn tuh read in a hunnert
years ought tuh be daid.
Ah wuz twenty-two when de silver war broke. Ah know when hit started
but ah don' know whut hit wuz erbout. All I know Jeff Davis an Abraham
Lincoln wuz de two presidents. Lincoln wuz somethin like regular
president an Jeff Davis wuz somethin like er confedric president or
somethin. Ah didn' know jes how hit wuz. Jeff Davis ah think wuz er
rebel and Lincoln republic. When de fight come up dey wuzn fightin tuh
set de niggers free, ah don' think. At de time dey wuz fightin ovah de
Union but aftuh de slave owners wuz gwianter take de innocent slaves an
make dem fight on dey side. Den Lincoln said hit wouldn' be. So dat when
he sot em free. Whoopee! Yo ought ter seed dem Yankees fightin. Aftuh de
battle wuz ovah we would walk ovah de battle groun' an look at de daid
bones, skellums ah think dey called em. Aftuh de white fokes tole us we
wuz free dey didn' give us nothin. Turnt us out widout a place tuh stay,
no clo'es but whut we had on our back an nuthin tuh eat. We jes slept
undah trees an roun bout. Didn' have nuthin tuh eat cept parched corn.
We stole dat. Had tuh do somethin. De nex year de white fokes let us
make a crop wid den fuh somethin tuh eat an clo'es an de women could
work fuh a few clo'es an somethin tuh eat. So in er year er two niggers
went tuh tryin tuh duh somethin fuh demselves, an been tryin tuh help
dey selfs evah since. Ah know all bout hit. Ah wuz tall an ah is now
when dey cried "Free!" Ain't growed nairy nother inch.
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Joe Tillman
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Mike Thompson
