Lila Nichols
From:
North Carolina
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: Mary A. Hicks
No. Words: 679
Subject: PLANTATION LIFE
Teller: Lila Nichols
Editor: Daisy Bailey Waitt
[TR: Date stamp: JUN 1 1937]
PLANTATION LIFE
An Interview with Lila Nichols 89 of Cary, Wake County,
N.C. May 18, 1937.
"We belonged ter Mr. Nat Whitaker atter his marriage. His daddy, Mr.
Willis, give us to him. We lived near Rhamkatte wid Mr. Willis, an' we
wuz happy. My pappy wuz named Yancey an' my mammy wuz named Sabra. Dar
wuz two brothers named Yancey an' Add, an' five sisters: Alice, Sally,
Martha, Betty an' Helia.
"Ole massa wuz good ter his slaves, but young massa Nat wuzn't. We
ain't had half nuff ter eat most o' de time, an' we ain't had no shoes
till we wuz twenty-one. We had jist a few pieces of clothes an' dey wuz
of de wust kind. Our cabins wuz shacks, an' we got seberal whuppin's
near 'bout ever' day. Fer example I had de job of gittin' up de aigs in
de ebenin', an' if de ain't de right number of dem Missus Mae whupped
me. I also looked atter de bitties, an' iffen one of' em died I got a
whuppin' too.
"Once missus wuz sick, an' a slave gal named Alice brung her some water
an' somethin' ter eat. Missus got sick on her stomick, an' she sez dat
Alice done try ter pizen her. Ter show yo' how sick she wuz, she gits
out of de bed, strips dat gal ter de waist an' whups her wid a cowhide
till de blood runs down her back. Dat gal's back wuz cut in gashes an'
de blood run down ter 'er heels. Atter dat she wuz chained down by de
arms an' laigs till she got well; den she wuz carried off ter Richmond
in chains an' sold.
"We wucked all de week, my mammy plowin' wid a two-horse plow, all de
year when she warn't cleanin' new ground or diggin' ditches; an' she
got two days off when her chilluns wuz borned. We ain't had no passes
ter go nowhar, an' we ain't allowed offe'n de groun's.
"I know one time do' missus 'cides ter whup a 'oman fer somethin' an'
de 'oman sez ter her, 'No sir, Missus, 'ain't 'lowin' nobody what wa'r
de same kind of shirt I does ter whup me.'
"We wuz glad when de Yankees comed, aldo' dey acted lak a pack o'
robbers. Dey burned de cotton, dey stold eber' thing dey could lay
han's on, an' dey tored up ever' thing scand'lous. Dey'd go ter de
house an' knock at de do', den missus would lock it an' yell at 'em dat
she warn't gwinter open it. Dey doan keer, dey jist kicks it down an'
walks right in.
"Dey snatch pictures frum de side o' de house an' throw 'em down an'
break 'em. Dey drunk up all of massa's brandy, an' dey insults de white
wimmen an' de blacks alike.
"De Yankees comed on a Thursday an' we lef' on Sunday. When we left de
yard wuz full of dem Yankees, cussin', an' laughin', an' drinkin'. We
went to Raleigh, an' de fust winter wuzen't so bad atter all. We doan
keer nothin' 'bout Mr. Lincoln, case he ain't keerin' 'bout us. He wuz
lak de rest of de Yankees, he jist doan want de south ter git rich. Dey
tol' us dat de warn't no slaves in de no'th but we done found out dat
de only reason wuz 'cause dey can't stan' de cold weather dar, an' dat
de No'th am greedy of us.
"I 'members de Ku Klux Klan, an' I ain't got nothin' 'ginst 'em, case
dey had ter do somethin' wid dem mean niggers an' de robber Yankees,
who had done ruint us all. I knowed some niggers what ain't got 'long
so well an' dey done mean, case dey blame de white folks; but atter
awhile dey sees dat it am Massa Lincoln's fault, so dey gits quiet. I
said dat we wuz glad dat de Yankees comed. We wuz, jist cause our massa
warn't good lak some massas, an' at dat, we ain't want ter be free."
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Martha Organ
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Julius Nelson
