Sallie Carder
From:
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
SALLIE CARDER
Age 83 yrs.
Burwin, Okla.
I was born in Jackson, Tennessee, and I'm going on 83 years. My mother
was Harriett Neel and father Jeff Bills, both of them named after
their masters. I has one brother, J. B. Bills, but all de rest of my
brothers and sisters is dead.
No sir, we never had no money while I was a slave. We jest didn't have
nothing a-tall! We ate greens, corn bread, and ash cake. De only time
I ever got a biscuit would be when a misdemeanor was did, and my
Mistress would give a buttered biscuit to de one who could tell her
who done it.
In hot weather and cold weather dere was no difference as to what we
wore. We wore dresses my mother wove for us and no shoes a-tall. I
never wore any shoes till I was grown and den dey was old brogans wid
only two holes to lace, one on each side. During my wedding I wore a
blue calico dress, a man's shirt tail as a head rag, and a pair of
brogan shoes.
My Master lived in a three-story frame house painted white. My
Mistress was very mean. Sometimes she would make de overseer whip
negroes for looking too hard at her when she was talking to dem. Dey
had four children, three girls and one boy.
I was a servant to my Master, and as he had de palsy I had to care for
him, feed him and push him around. I don't know how many slaves, but
he had a good deal of 'em.
About four o' clock mornings de overseer or negro carriage driver who
stayed at the Big House would ring de bell to git up and git to work.
De slaves would pick a heap of cotton and work till late on
moonshining nights.
Dere was a white post in front of my door with ropes to tie the slaves
to whip dem. Dey used a plain strap, another one with holes in it, and
one dey call de cat wid nine tails which was a number of straps plated
and de ends unplated. Dey would whip de slaves wid a wide strap wid
holes in it and de holes would make blisters. Den dey would take de
cat wid nine tails and burst de blisters and den rub de sores wid
turpentine and red pepper.
I never saw any slaves auctioned off but I seen dem pass our house
chained together on de way to be sold, including both men and women
wid babies all chained to each other. Dere was no churches for slaves,
but at nights dey would slip off and git in ditches and sing and pray,
and when dey would sometimes be caught at it dey would be whipped.
Some of de slaves would turn down big pots and put dere heads in dem
and pray. My Mistress would tell me to be a good obedient slave and I
would go to heaven. When slaves would attempt to run off dey would
catch dem and chain dem and fetch 'em back and whip dem before dey was
turned loose again.
De patrollers would go about in de quarters at nights to see if any of
de slaves was out or slipped off. As we sleep on de dirt floors on
pallets, de patrollers would walk all over and on us and if we even
grunt dey would whip us. De only trouble between de whites and blacks
on our plantation was when de overseer tied my mother to whip her and
my father untied her and de overseer shot and killed him.
Negroes never was allowed to git sick, and when dey would look
somewhat sick, de overseer would give dem some blue-mass pills and oil
of some sort and make dem continue to work.
During de War de Yankees would pass through and kill up de chickens,
and hogs, and cattle, and eat up all dey could find. De day of freedom
de overseer went into de field and told de slaves dat dey was free,
and de slaves replied, "free how?" and he told dem: "free to work and
live for demselves." And dey said dey didn't know what to do, and so
some of dem stayed on. I married Josh Forch. I am mother of four
children and 35 grand children.
I like Abraham Lincoln. I think he was a good man and president. I
didn't know much who Jeff Davis was. What I heard 'bout Booker T.
Washington, he was a good man.
Now dat slavery is over, I don't want to be in nary 'nother slavery,
and if ever nary 'nothern come up I wouldn't stay here.
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Betty Foreman Chessier
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John Brown
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