Ria Sorrell
From:
North Carolina
N.C. District: No. 2
Worker: T. Pat Matthews
No. Words: 1414
Subject: RIA SORRELL
Person Interviewed: Ria Sorrell
Editor: G.L. Andrews
[TR: Date stamp: AUG 23 1937]
RIA SORRELL
97 years old. 536 E. Edenton Street, Raleigh, N.C.
"I jist lak three years of bein' one hundred years old. I belonged to
Jacob Sorrell. His wife wus named Elizabeth. My age wus give to me by
Mr. Bob Sorrell, the only one of ole marster's chilluns dat is livin'
now.
"Dey had four boys, Marcillers, Bob, Adolphus and Dr. Patrick Sorrell.
Dey had three girls, Averada an' two udder ones dat died 'fore dey wus
named. I wus born on marster's plantation near Leesville, in Wake
County. Dats been a long time ago. I can't git around now lak I could
when I wus on de plantation.
"Dere wus 'bout twenty-five slaves on de place an' marster jist
wouldn't sell a slave. When he whupped one he didn't whup much, he wus
a good man. He seemed to be sorry everytime he had to whup any of de
slaves. His wife wus de pure debil, she jist joyed whuppin' Negroes.
She wus tall an' spare-made wid black hair an' eyes. Over both her eyes
wus a bulge place in her forehead. Her eyes set way back in her head.
Her jaws were large lak a man's an' her chin stuck up. Her mouth wus
large an' her lips thin an' seemed to be closed lak she had sumptin' in
her mouth most all de time.
"When marster come ter town she raised ole scratch wid de slaves. She
whupped all she could while marster wus gone. She tried to boss
marster but he wouldn't allow dat. He kept her from whuppin' many a
slave. She jist wouldn't feed a slave an' when she had her way our food
wus bad. She said underleaves of collards wus good enough for slaves.
Marster took feedin' in his hands an' fed us plenty at times. He said
people couldn't work widout eatin'.
"Our houses wus good houses, 'case marster seed to it dey wus fixed
right. We had good beds an' plenty of kiver. De houses wus called de
nigger houses. Dey wus 'bout two hundred yards from de big house. Our
houses had two rooms an' marster's had seven rooms.
"We didn't have any overseers, marster said he didn't believe in 'em
an' he didn't want any. De oldest slaves on the place woke us up in the
morning, an' acted as foreman. Marster hardly ever went to de field. He
tole Squire Holman an' Sam Sorrell, two ole slaves, what he wanted done
an' dey tole us an' we done it. I worked at de house as nurse an' house
girl most of de time.
"Mother an' father worked in de field. Mother wus named Judy an' father
wus named Sam. You sees father wus a slave foreman. Marster bought
Squire Holman from de Holmans an' let him keep his name. Dats why he
wus called dat.
"We worked from sunup till sunset wid a rest spell at 12 o'clock of two
hours. He give us holidays to rest in. Dat was Christmas, a week off
den, den a day every month, an' all Sundays. He said he wus a Christian
an' he believed in givin' us a chance. Marster died of consumption. He
give us patches an' all dey made on it. He give slaves days off to work
dere patches.
"I shore believes marster went to Heaven, but missus, well I don't
know. Don' know 'bout her, she wus so bad. She would hide her baby's
cap an' tell me to find it. If I couldn't fin' it, she whupped me. She
would call marster, an' I doin' de best I could to please her, an' say
come here Jacob an' whup dis nigger, but marster paid no attention to
her. He took our part. Many wus de meals he give us unbeknown to his
wife. Dere wus no mixin' white an' black on marster's place, no sir,
nothin' lak dat. He wus lak a father to us. Sometimes he brought hog
haslets an' good things to de nigger house an' tole us to cook it. When
it wus done he come an' et all he wanted, got up an' said, 'I'm goin'
now,' an' you didn't see him no more till next day.
"We had prayer meetin' anytime an' we went to the white folks church.
Dere wus no whiskey on de place, no, no, honey, no whiskey. Now at corn
shuckin's dey had a big supper an' all et all dey wanted. I'll tell you
Jake Sorrell wus all right. We didn't have any dances no time. Some
nights marster would come to our cabins, call us all into one of 'em an
pray wid us. He stood up in de floor an' tole us all to be good an
pray. I saw him die. I saw him when de breath went out of him. De last
word he said wus, 'Lord do your will, not mine.' Den he breathed twice
an' wus no mo'.
"Missus died since de surrender, when she got sick she sent for me to
go an' wait on her. I went an' cleaned her lak a baby, waited on her
till de evenin' she died dat night. I went off dat evenin' late to
spend de night an' next mornin' when I got dere she wus dead. I jist
couldn't refuse missus when she sent for me even if she had treated me
bad.
"My grandmother wus as white as you is. She wus Lottie Sorrell. Marster
bought my grandmother. I do not know my grandfather's name. Grandmother
wus a cook an' she tole me the reason she was so white wus 'cause she
stood over de fire so much. Ha, ha, dats what she tole me. She had long
straight hair. I 'members her well.
"Yes I 'members de Yankees. De Southern, our folks, wus in front. Dey
come along a road right by our house. Our folks wus goin' on an' de
Yankees right behind. You could hear 'em shootin'. Dey called it
skirmishin'. It wus rainin' an our folks wus goin' through de mud an'
slush. Dey had wagins an' some would say, 'Drive up, drive up, Goddamn
it, drive up, de damn Yankees right behind us.' Dey had turkeys an'
chickens' on de wagins an' on dere hosses. Dey got things out of de
houses an' took de stock. Dey searched de houses an' took de quilts an'
sheets an' things.
"De Yankees wus soon dere an' dey done de same thing. Dat wus a time.
Dey took all dey could find an' dere want much left when all got
through. De Yankees poured out lasses an' stomped down things dey could
not carry off. I wus afraid of de Yankees. Dey come up an' said, 'Haint
you got some money round here?' I tole 'em I knowed nothin' about
money. Dey called me auntie an' said 'Auntie tell us whar de money is,
you knows.' I says, 'Dey don't let me see everything around here, no
dat dey don't.'
"When dey tole us we wus free we stayed right on wid marster. We got
crackers an' meat from de Yankees an' when de crop wus housed in de
fall marster give us part of all we made. We come to Raleigh on a ole
steer cart to git our crackers an' meat dat wus our 'Lowance. We stayed
at marster's till father died. I married there. We finally moved to the
Page place 'bout eleven miles north of Raleigh. We been farmin' wid de
white folks eber since, till we got so we couldn't work.
"I married Buck Sorrell since de surrender. We had four boys an' two
girls, six children in all. Dey are all dead, 'cept one, her name is
Bettie. She works at Dr. Rogers'.
"Dr Young looked after us when we wus sick.
"Dere wus one thing dey wouldn't allow, dat wus books an' papers. I
can't read an' write. I heard talk of Abraham Lincoln comin' through
when talk of de war come 'bout. Dey met, him an' Jeff Davis, in South
Carolina. Lincoln said, 'Jeff Davis, let dem niggers go free.' Jeff
Davis tole him you can't make us give up our property.' Den de war
started.
"A lot of de niggers in slavery time wurked so hard dey said dey hated
to see de sun rise in de mornin'. Slavery wus a bad thing, 'cause some
white folks didn't treat dere niggers right."
LE
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Chaney Spell
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Laura Sorrell
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