Phillip Rice
From:
South Carolina
=Project 1885-1=
=FOLKLORE=
=Spartanburg Dist. 4=
=June 15, 1937=
=Edited by:=
=Elmer Turnage=
=STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES=
"I'm living on Mr. Russel Emmitt's place. I never did nothing but drive
cows when I was a little boy growing up. Miss Cum and Miss Lizzie Rice
was Marse Alex's sisters. Marse Alex done died, and dey was my mistress.
Dey tuck and sold de plantation afo dey died, here 'bout twenty years
ago. Dat whar my ma found me and den she died.
"My grandparents, Jane and Peter Stevens, brung me up. I was a little
farm boy and driv cows fer de overseer, Jim Blalock. Miss Cum was really
Miss Ann. Miss Ann had a hundred niggers, herself, and Miss Lizzie had
might nigh dat many, asides dem what Marse Alex done left 'em. De
overseer try to act rough out o' Miss Ann's sight, and she find it out
and set him down a peg.
"Miss Jane have our shirts made on de looms. She let us wear long shirts
and go in our shirt tails, and us had to keep 'em clean, too, 'cause
Miss Jane never like no dirt around her. Miss Jane have charge of de
whole house and everything along wid it.
"Us had three hundred hogs to tend to, two hundred yellings and heifers,
and Lawdy knows how many sheep and goats. Us fed dem things and kept 'em
fat. When butchering time come, us stewed out the mostest lard and we
had enough side-meat to supply the plantation the year round. Our wheat
land was fertilized wid load after load of cotton seed. De wheat us
raised was de talk of de country side. 'Sides dat, dare was rye, oats
and barley, and I ain't said nothing 'bout de bottom corn dat laid in de
cribs from year to year.
"Our smokehouse was allus full o' things to eat, not only fer de white
folks but fer de darkies as well. And our barns carried feed fer de
cattle from harvest to harvest.
"De fattest of all de hosses, was Miss Ann's black saddle hoss called,
'Beauty'. Miss Ann wo' de longest side-saddle dress dat hung way down
below her feets. Somebody allus had to help her on and off Beauty, but
n'ary one of her brothers could out-ride Miss Ann."
Source: Phillip Rice (75), Kelton, S.C. RFD
Interviewed by: Caldwell Sims, Union, S.C. (5/7/37)
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Martha Richardson
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Jesse Rice
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