Mary Wooldrige
From:
Kentucky
Tale of Mary Wooldridge: (Clarksville Pike--Age about 103.)
"Mary and her twin sister were slaves born in Washington County,
Kentucky, near Lexington, belonging to Bob Eaglin. When Mary was about
fourteen years old she and her sister was brought to the Lexington slave
market and sold and a Mr. Lewis Burns of the same County purchased her.
Mary doesn't know what became of her sister. Five or six years later she
was again put on the block and sold to a Negro Trader but Mary does not
remember this traders name. While here she was kept in a stockade and it
was several years before she again was bought by a white man. Mr. Thomas
McElroy near Lexington bought her and she remained his slave until the
slaves were freed. Mary looks her age. She is a tall gaunt black Negro
with white hair about one inch long and very kinky, and still she
dresses as the older slave woman dressed in the past days. She wears an
old bodice with a very full skirt that comes to her ankles and this
skirt has very long deep pockets and when I asked her why she had such
pockets in her skirt her answer was, "Wal you sees honey I jes am used
ter dis dress and thar is no way foh youse to had me git shud of hit,
dese pockets is powerful venient foh weh I goes inter some ones house
why I turns dose pockets wrong side out and dat always brings me good
luck.
Mary contends that she always wears three petticoats.
"Marse Thamos lived in a big log house wid a big plantation all around
hit. He had three hundred slaves on de two plantations. Marse Thamos sho
was good ter us niggers. No nigger mus whoop his stock wid a switch.
"I'se heared him say many time don't youse niggers whoop dese mules. How
would you like to have me whoop you det way?" And he sho would whoop dem
dem niggers if he cotched dem. Lawd have mercy who whould haw thot I'd
be here all dis time. I'd thot I'd be ded and gone. All dese ole niggers
try to be so uppity by jes bein raised in de house and cause dey was why
dey think is Quality. Some of dese nigger gals was raised in de house
but most of dem was made work ebery whar on de plantation. My Massa has
his nigger gals to lay fence worms, mak fences, shuck corn, hoe corn en
terbacco, wash, iron, and de missus try to teach de nigger gals to sew
and knit. But shucks niggers aint got no sense nuf ter do fancy things.
Sometimes I tended de chilluns.
"Yah, yah, I sho do member Abraham Lincoln. My Missus and Massa did not
like Mr. Lincoln, but pshaw, all de niggers did. I member him, I seed
him once, soon after I was freed.
"Pshaw, dey was hard times durin de war, my Missus and sum of de nigger
gals and de chilluns hae to stay in the woods several days ter keep way
from de soldiers. Dey eat all de chickens and kilt the cows and tuk de
horses and we sho scairt out dar wid dem varmints roving roun.
"Nigger aint got no business being sot free, niggers still oughter be
slaves. Us niggers did not hev to bother bout de victuals sor nuthin.
"Wen my Missis called us niggers gether and told us we was free I was as
happy as a skinned frog but you seed I didn't have any sense. All
niggers are fools. Now she says, she did, you can all stay here en work
en we will pay you foh your work, or you can work foh some body else,
but I hev raised you hones, and don't you steal, and work foh nuf money
so you wont hev to steal it if youse gits hongry and haint got no money
to buy vittals jus you ask de white folks foh hit and dey will giv hit
to youse. Oh how I miss my Missis and Massa so much. Wish I hed dem now.
"Shucks on dese niggers and dar ways now. I lef de plantation my old
Missus and Massa home and got on a steam boat on de Ohio Ribber and
nursed de chillun foh de Captain and he's wife on dat boat foh about two
year. An den He, He, He, a nigger don got much sense, Miss Fannie an Mr.
Harry Campbell whot paid me foh my work on de boat gives Five Dollars
foh de work en I'se didn't hev sense nuf ter know what ter do wid dis
money. So I goes ter de store en buys me a cedar tub and filled hit wid
candy. Miss Fannie gave me back de money foh de tub an den I ate nuf
candy ter git sick and den Miss Fannie took de candy back to de store
and she got my money back, she did.
"But shucks, I did not no whot ter do wid de money. Wen I lef Miss
Fannie I rode to Henderson on a log raft en wen I got dar dey was a big
circus and sum one was sayin, "de perade be here directly, He, He, He, I
didn't no whot dey meant, big ignorant fool dat I was and still is, en
wen I seed de elephants and de uther varmints I ran like a big pop-eyed
fool nigger cause I never seed such things. Dat day on de road in town I
met my ole Missus McElroy en she had me ter help her wid de chilluns and
tuk me ter de circus and wen I got in de tent and saw all de cages and
things I was sho scairt of ebery thing till I seed dem babboons dem I
felt all right and at home cause I jes knowed dey was my first cousins.
I stayed in Henderson foh sometime working foh furst one and tother en
den Mr. Henry Shackleford hired me en brung me to Christian County. Not
long fore I was married ter Albert Wooldridge we sho had a big wedding.
Zack Major a nigger preacher of de Baptist faith did de ceremony right
here in Hopkinsville.
"Yes, sho I has ben a mid-wife or granny. All dese high falutin things
dey is doin now in child birth is tommy-rot dey oughter hev jes grannies
now. I livered more babies den most doctors sometimes de white folks had
doctors but I don't take no stock in dese doctors. De furst thing you
does wen a new baby is born is ter let hit lay twenty minutes den cut de
cord and dan grease a scortched rag wid lard jes hog lard en den put de
belly band on den grease de baby all over. Neber wash de baby till tis
over a week ole. Wen de babies had colic I'd take dirt dobber nest and
make a tea, den giv did ter de baby. Sometimes If I couldn't fin no dirt
dobber nes I would git a spider web and make a tea den giv dis or else
jes shake de baby by de heels. If folks would tend ter babies like dey
uster why dese people now wouldn't hev heart trouble.
"Sho I seed a ghost once, I soed Miss Annie Wooldridge after she died up
here on Main St. I was jes settin on de back porch steps jes a lookin
while da white folks was er eatin supper. Miss Annie allways got de eggs
en I seed her dat day. She jes come thru de hen house door en hit was
locked en den thru de pantry door and hit was locked en I jes called her
daughter and I knowed I seed her, sho, I did, it who was Miss Annie.
"Of course dar is hanted houses. De ole Sharp house were dat er way and
all de Sharps were ded but dis house were empty. You neber did see
anything but I sho had heared de doors slam en de silver rattle en at
night in my cabin near to hit I'd sees lights bob up en down. Any body
in dis town can tell you dats so foh dey tore dis house down ter run de
hants eraway.
"People don bother bout de moon much now but if dey would lissen ter de
ole niters dey would always hev good crops. Now if you plant pertatoes
by de dark of de moon you will always hev good crops en if you plant dem
on de light of de moon den you hes all vine. Corn planted on de light de
moon den you has a good crop. I'se knows cause I ken member fore de
niggers wore freed you could jes plant by de moon and plant anything in
God's ground en by de moon en de crops would grow. Now dey jes buther up
God's ground en put ole stinky messy fertilizer on hit en de crops jes
burn up. Nobody oughter mess wid God's ground.
"I'se a Publican who ever heared of a Democrat nigger. Nigger neber did
own enything so dey cant be Democrats en if dey vote a Democrat ticket
dey is jes votin a lie. Cause no nigger neber did own slaves only the
old nigger slave traders and dey werent nuthin but varmints anyway. Ye
jes has to hev owned slaves to vote a Democrat ticket en den no nigger
eber did own slaves er hed nothing."
(Mary lives in Clarksville, Pike R.R. #1, Hopkinsville, Kentucky)
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