Margaret Hughes
From:
South Carolina
Project #1655
Everett R. Pierce
Columbia, S.C.
INTERVIEW WITH EX-SLAVE
MARGARET HUGHES, 82 YEARS.
"Missy, I likes to talk to de white folks, I gits awful lonesome for my
massa and missus, and de white folks I used to be wid. Yes'm, I was born
out here 'bout ten miles from Columbia, at a little place called Nipper
Hill. My massa was named Daniel Finley, and my missus was named
Elizabeth, but we called her Missy Betsy. My massa had a big plantation
and a heap of slaves; he had so many he couldn't keep us faces in his
mind. One day he see some of us over on another plantation, and he ask
us who we b'long to, and we tell him, and he just smile and say he
couldn't 'member all of us. De massa and de missus was so good to us
'til de slaves on other plantations was jealous; they call us free
niggers befo' we was freed.
The grown-up slaves had to work in de field all day and then at night
they spin cloth and make their clothes. We had one shoemaker what didn't
do nothing else much 'cept make shoes for all of us. I was too young to
do much work, so the missus mostly keep me in de house to nurse de
chillun. When de chillun go to school, she make me go 'long wid them for
to look after them and tote their books. I stayed wid them all day and
brought their books home in de evening.
I got in trouble one day while I was at de school house; I was a right
bad little gal, anyway. I got mad wid one of de little white chillun
'cause she talk mean to Sissy, dat's one of my missus little girls, and
I took her books and put them in a bucket of water. The teacher punish
me, and told my missus I couldn't come back to de school house, 'less
she teach me how to behave more better. I was right good after that,
'cause I was scared of whippings. My missus had three chillun: Mary, we
call her Sissy 'cause she de oldest, then Sally and Willie. I slept in
de big house and play wid de white chillun. When de white folks went off
in de carriage they always let me go too; I set up in de seat wid de
driver. They had awful pretty horses to drive.
Massa Daniel had a overseer, named Jake Graddick. He kept de slaves at
work and looked after de crops. He woke de slaves every morning by
blowing a big cow horn, and called them to dinner the same way. We went
to work at sunrise, had two hours for dinner, and stopped work at
sundown.
The slaves had plenty to eat, and had their own gardens. I helped work
de gardens. My old daddy worked in de garden and made chairs for de
slaves, besides working in de fields.
My massa never whip de slaves very much, but he do sometime. Once I saw
my poor old daddy in chains. They chained his feet together, and his
hands too, and carry him off to whip him, 'cause he wouldn't tell who
stole a trunk that was missing. He couldn't tell though, 'cause he
didn't know, but they thought he did.
No ma'am missy, us slaves never had no church to go to. We was allowed
to go to de white folks' church though. There was a low partition in de
church wid a little gate in it; we set on one side of it, and de white
folks on de other. We listen to de preaching and sung de songs right
'long wid de white folks. Us never had no baptizings though. I learned a
heap of things in Sunday School.
Talking 'bout patrollers, I was awful scared of them. We had to have a
pass from our massa to go from one plantation to another, and if we went
without a pad the patrollers would ketch us and whip us. I never did
get ketched though. De only time de massa ever let us ride de horses was
when he want us to carry a message from one plantation to another.
Yes ma'am, 'bout these weddings you asked me 'bout; well, we had a big
time when any of de slaves got married. De massa and de missus let them
get married in de big house, and then we had a big dance at one of de
slave house. De white folks furnish all kinds of good things to eat, and
de colored peoples furnish de music for de dance. My mammy's brother
been one of de best fiddlers there was; he teach de other niggers how to
play.
The best times we had was 'long in summer time, 'tending them Camp
Meetings. We had good men to preach de service, and then all of us women
got together and spread a big picnic dinner, that we'd brought from home
in baskets, and we sure had a good time. Sometime some of them eat so
much they get sick. We ain't had so much sickness 'long them times
though, not like we do now. Us used to wear garlic and asafetida 'round
our neck to keep off diseases; never had many neither. We was vaccinated
to keep from ketching smallpox.
Well little missy, I done told you just 'bout all I 'members 'cept 'bout
de Yankees. When I used to hear de older niggers talking 'bout de
Yankees coming, I was scared, 'cause I thought it was some kind of
animal they was talking 'bout. My old aunty was glad to hear 'bout de
Yankees coming. She just set and talk 'bout what a good time we was
going to have after de Yankees come. She'd say; 'Child we going to have
such a good time a settin' at de white folks table, a eating off de
white folks table, and a rocking in de big rocking chair.'
Something awful happen to one of de slaves though, when de Yankees did
come. One of de young gals tell de Yankees where de missus had her
silver, money and jewelry hid, and they got it all. What you think
happened to de poor gal? She'd done wrong I know, but I hated to see her
suffer so awful for it. After de Yankees had gone, de missus and massa
had de poor gal hung 'til she die. It was something awful to see. De
Yankees took everything we had 'cept a little food, hardly 'nough to
keep us alive.
When de slaves were freed de most of them didn't had nowhere to go, so
we just stayed on wid de massa and missus and they was good to us as
long as we stayed wid them. I wishes sometime I was a slave again,
'cause I likes being a slave, didn't have nothing to worry 'bout then."
Home address
3105 Asylum Road.
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