Millie Bates
From:
South Carolina
Project 1885-1
From Field Notes
Spartanburg, Dist. 4
April 28. 1937
Edited by:
Elmer Turnage
FOLK LORE: FOLK TALES (negro)
"I sho members when de soldiers come home from de war. All de women
folks, both black as well as white wuz so glad to see 'em back dat we
jus jumped up and hollered 'Oh, Lawdy, God bless you.' When you would
look around a little, you would see some widout an arm or maybe dey
would be a walkin' wid a cruch or a stick. Den you would cry some widout
lettin your white folks see you. But Jane, de worsest time of all fer us
darkies wuz when de Ku Klux killed Dan Black. We wuz little chilluns a
playin' in Dans house. We didn't know he had done nothin' ginst de white
folks. Us wuz a playin by de fire jus as nice when something hit on de
wall. Dan, he jump up and try to git outten de winder. A white spooky
thing had done come in de doo' right by me. I was so scairt dat I could
not git up. I had done fell straight out on de flo'. When Dan stick his
head outten dat winder something say bang and he fell right down in de
flo'. I crawles under de bed. When I got dar, all de other chilluns wuz
dar to, lookin' as white as ashed dough from hickory wood. Us peeped out
and den us duck under de bed agin. Ain't no bed ebber done as much good
as dat one. Den a whole lot of dem come in de house. De wuz all white
and scairy lookin'. It still makes de shivvers run down my spine and
here I is ole and you all a settin' around wid me and two mo' wars done
gone since dat awful time. Dan Black, he wo'nt no mo' kaise dey took dat
nigger and hung him to a simmon tree. Dey would not let his folks take
him down either. He jus stayed dar till he fell to pieces.
"After dat when us chilluns seed de Ku Klux a comin', us would take an'
run breakneck speed to de nearest wood. Dar we would stay till dey wuz
plum out o' sight and you could not even hear de horses feet. Dem days
wuz worse'n de war. Yes Lawd, dey wuz worse'n any war I is ebber heard
of.
"Was not long after dat fore de spooks wuz a gwine round ebber whar.
When you would go out atter dark, somethin' would start to a haintin'
ye. You would git so scairt dat you would mighty ni run every time you
went out atter dark; even iffin you didn't see nothin'. Chile, don't axe
me what I seed. Atter all dat killin' and a burnin' you know you wuz
bliged to see things wid all dem spirits in distress a gwine all over de
land. You see, it is like dis, when a man gits killed befo he is done
what de good Lawd intended fer him to do, he comes back here and tries
to find who done him wrong. I mean he don' come back hisself, but de
spirit, it is what comes and wanders around. Course, it can't do
nothin', so it jus scares folks and haints dem."
Source: "Aunt" Millie Bates, 25 Hamlet street, Union, S. C.
Interviewer: Caldwell Sims, Union, S. C.
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