Prince Smith
From:
South Carolina
=S-260-264-N=
=Project: #1885=
=Augustus Ladson=
=Charleston, S.C.=
=EXPERIENCES OF AN EX-SLAVE ON WARDMALAW ISLAND=
=Massa Wus Kind to Slaves=
Prince Smith, a man who is said to be over a hundred years of age, has
lived on Wardmalaw Island practically all of his life. His experiences
during slavery are very interesting and true to life. An interview with
him revealed the following:
"I was bo'n an' raise' on dis island and was only frum here when de
Civil War had begun. W'en Fort Sumter wus fired on mossa carried seventy
of us to Greenville, South Ca'lina on account of its montanous sections,
which was believed would have prevented the Yankees invasion in regard
to their hide-out." We stayed een Greenville nearly four years. Durin'
dat time mossa planted his fa'm an' we wurk as if we wus right here.
"The Yankees had gunboats," he continued, "but dey didn' help dem atoll
fur dey couldn' make any a'tack dat dis place is so unsuited fur water
battles. But forest' battles wus fight on Beaufort Island and Port
Royale. We een Greenville didn' know enyt'ing 'bout whut wus goin' on
except what wus brought to us collud people by dose who wus sent to da
town. Mossa didn' tell us eny ting. Fur almos' four 'ears we stayed een
Greenville w'en suddenly one Chuesday mornin' bright an' early, Sheridan
came into Greenville on horse backs en' order ebery body to sarrendar.
Colonels an' Gen'rals came een de city widout de firin' of a gun. We
stayed dere 'til harvestin' time by de orders of Master Osland Bailey
who saw to it dat we wus given money as a share fur our wurk.
"Mossa's custom at de end of de week wus to give a dry peck o' corn
which you had to grin' on Sat'day ebenin' w'en his wurk wus done. Only
on Chris'mus he killed en give a piece o' meat. De driber did de
distribution o' de ration. All young men wus given four quarts o' corn
a week, while de grown men wus given six quarts. All of us could plant
as much lan' as we wuld fur our own use. We could raise fowls. My master
wus a gentleman, he treat all his slaves good. My fadder an' me wus his
favorite.
"Some o' de slaves had to wurk on Sunday to finish dere week's wurk. If
dey didn' de dribber who wus a Negro would give a lashin' varyin' frum
fifteen to twenty five chops. Only high-class massas had Negro
dribbters, de crackers had white overseers.
"Like odder slaves had to hide frum dere mastas to hab meetin', us could
hab ours any night we want to even widout his consent. When masta went
to town any o' his slaves could ax him to buy t'ings for dem een
Cha'leston. When Jews en peddlers came with clothes an' gunger to sell,
we as chillun would go to him an' ax fur money to buy whut we want.
"He had about four hund'ed acres of land which he divided in two half by
a fence. One 'ear he would plant one an' let de cattles pasture on de
oder. We could also raise hogs 'long wood his but had to change pasture
w'en he did. De people on his plantation didn' hab any need to steal
from him fur he didn' 'low us to want fur any thing.
"Dere wus three kinds of days wurk on de plantation: One is de whole
tas', meanin' a whole han' or a person een his prime. He wus given two
tas' fur dis day's wurk. A tas' carried frum twenty four to twenty five
rows which wus thirty-five feet long en twenty five feet wide. De shree
fourth han' wus given one whole tas' which consists of twelve rows. All
de young chillun wus included in dis group. De half han' was de old
slaves who did a half tas' for dere day's work. When it was time to pick
cotton, de shree fourth han' had to pick thirty pound' an' de half han'
twenty fur dere day's wurk. Dose who attended to the gin only include de
three fourth han'.
"Massa had shree kinds o' punishment fur dose who disobeyed him. One wus
de sweatbox. It wus made de height of de person an' no larger. Jus'
large 'nough so de person woodn' hab to be squeezed in. De box is
nailed an' een summer is put een de hot sun; een de winter it is put in
de coldest, dampest place. De next is de Stock. Wood is nailed on floor
with de person lyin' on his back wid hans an' feet tied wood a heavy
weight on de chest. De shird is de Bilboa. You are place on a high
scaffold fur so many hours an' if you don' try to keep a level head,
you'll fall an you will surely hurt yourself if your neck isn't broken.
Most o' de time dey were put dere so dey could break dere necks."
SOURCE
Information from an interview with Mr. Prince Smith, who is supposed to
be over a hundred years of age, Wardmalaw Island, S.C.
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