Minnie B Ross
From:
Georgia Narratives, Part 2
FIRST COPY
OF
ARTICLE ENTITLED:
"AN INTERVIEW WITH HEARD GRIFFIN," EX-SLAVE.
by
Minnie B. Ross
Typed by
A. M. Whitley
1-29-37
HEARD GRIFFIN--EX-SLAVE
In order to catch Mr. Heard Griffin, the writer prepared herself for an
early morning interview. His daughter previously informed her that it
would be the only possible chance of seeing him. Why? because even at
the age of 86 years he is still restless; and is forever in the streets.
He can walk much faster than a young person; but memory and hearing are
a little dimmed by age. By careful and tactful questioning, [HW: and by
giving him] ample time for thinking the writer was able to learn a few
facts of slavery which are as follows:
Mr. Griffin was born May 19, 1850 in Waldon County, Monroe, Georgia. His
mother Sarah Griffin birthed 11 children; but he did not clearly
remember his father as their master sold him when he was a very small
boy. Here he remarked. "They would take small babies from their mothers'
arms and sell them."
Their master and mistress Mike and Lucinda Griffin owned about 200 acres
of land and a large number of slaves. On this plantation was grown corn,
cotton, wheat, etc. Long before day light, the master would come to the
slave quarters and call each person one by one, "Get up. Get up." Very
soon every one was up and fully dressed ready to begin the day's work.
First, however, they drank one or two glasses of milk and a piece of
corn bread, which was considered breakfast. Whether this amount of food
was sufficient for a morning's meal didn't matter to their master. They
simply had to make it last them until dinner. Smiling Mr. Griffin
remarked, "It wouldn't be long before you would hear the "geeing and
hawing" coming from the fields, the squealing of pigs and the barking of
dogs--all sounds mingling together."
Every one had a certain amount of work to complete before the day ended;
and each person worked in feverish haste to get it done and avoid the
whipping which they knew was in store for them, should they fail. During
the day Mr. Griffin's mother worked in the field, hoeing and plowing. At
night she, as well as other women, had to spin thread into cloth until
bed time. Each woman had to complete four cuts or be punished the next
morning. "If it began raining while we worked in the fields, the
overseer would tell everyone to put up their horses and to shelling corn
in the cribs," remarked Mr. Griffin.
"Mike Griffin was the meanest man I've ever known," he continued. "He
would sit down with nothing else to do, think of some man, send for him
and for no reason at all, give him a good beating. He kept a long
cowhide, which was almost an inch thick and with this he would almost
beat folks to death. First you had to remove your clothing so that
whipping would not wear them out. One day he beat a woman named Hannah
so badly that she died the same night. Before daybreak he had carried
the baby off and buried it. We never knew the burial place." Overseers
too, were very mean, particularly those on the Griffin plantation. They
followed the example of the man who hired them and as a result this
plantation was known far and wide for its cruelty, fear and terror. [HW
original text "cruelty, fear and terror" is stricken out.] Many slaves
would have attempted to run away but for fear of the pack of blood
hounds kept for the purpose of tracking run away slaves.
"Patter-rollers" were busy, too, looking up slaves and whipping them for
the flimsiest of excuses. Slaves often outran them to the woods and
managed to return to their plantations unobserved. If a pass had a
certain hour marked in it, for the slave's return, and he failed to
return at the designated houses, this was an offense for which they were
punished by the "patter-rollers." "Yes," remarked Mr. Griffin, "We were
not even allowed to quarrel among ourselves. Our master would quickly
tell us, 'I am the one to fight, not you.'" When a slave visited his
relatives on another plantation the master would send along one or two
of his children to make sure they did not attempt to run away.
Discarded bed clothing was given to slave families on the Griffin
Plantation and often it was necessary to keep a big log fire in the
winter, in order to sleep comfortably. Clothing for individual needs
consisted of one pair of brogan shoes a year and homemade cotton
garments, shirts, pants, dresses, etc. Every person went bare footed in
the summer and saved their one pair of shoes for the winter.
Food consisting of meal, bacon meat, and syrup was given the slave
families once a week. Occasionally "short" a second quality of flour was
given them for their Sunday meals. The Griffins were not liberal in
feeding their slaves, but would not object to their raising a little
corn, and a few vegetables. They had to work their gardens at night,
however, by the light of burning fat wood. Real coffee was on unheard-of
luxury among slaves: so scorched or corn meal served the purpose just as
well. On Christmas the master called each slave and gave him a dram of
whiskey. No other food or fruit was given. [HW: strikes this sentence
out]
Tin pans served as plates for the families. Spoons, knives, and forks
were unheard of: "Many a day I have eaten mashed bread and milk from a
trough and thought it was good," remarked Mr. Griffin.
Occasionally on other plantations slaves were allowed to earn money by
selling vegetables, chickens, etc. On the Griffin Plantation they could
only sell home made "gingercakes" for which a five-cent piece of paper
money was received in return. There were three pieces of paper money
used in those days: the five-cent, ten-cent, and fifteen-cent pieces.
Although the slaves did not have separate churches, they were expected
to attend the white churches and occupy the benches placed in the back,
purposely for them. After the coachman drove the white family to church
he unhitched the horses from the carriage and carried them to the
pasture where they remained until the services were over.
Marriages were very easily performed on the Griffin Plantation: After
securing the consent of both owners the rest of the ceremony consisted
only in having the couple jump the broom. In the event, the bride and
groom lived on separate plantations the groom was given a pass to visit
her on week ends, beginning Saturday afternoon and ending Sunday
evening.
"Our master was too mean to let us have frolics," remarked Mr. Griffin;
"we never knew anything, but work. Of course when we got sick we were
given the best medical care possible. People didn't die, they always got
well." Home remedies made from various roots were used for minor
illnesses.
"When the Civil War broke out our master loaded his horses with his most
valuable possessions and refugeed forty miles from his home," remarked
Mr. Griffin. "On one occasion the Yanks came to our plantation and stole
three of our best horses. I never saw a battle fought but often watched
the Confederate soldiers drilling. We continued to work long after
freedom was declared, not knowing that we were free. One day our
master's son-in-law called us together and told us we were free. Most of
us didn't know what to do but we were glad to get off of that
plantation and away from old man Griffin." With a broad smile he
continued: "Well that is all I can tell you Miss, but come back to see
me again."
With the above remark Mr. Heard Griffin and I closed our interview. He
reminded me, however, that he had been married five times and was the
father of fifteen children, four of whom are still living. His daughter
cares for him and tries to make his old age as happy and comfortable as
she can without the aid of relief.
Next:
David Goodman Gullins
Previous:
Wheeler Gresham
Informational
