Sarah And Tom Douglas
From:
More Arkansas
[HW: Regrets End of Slavery]
OLD SLAVE STORIES
[TR: Sarah and Tom Douglas]
[TR: Aunt Sarah Douglas]--Ah wuz baptized de second year of surrender. Wuz
twelve years ole at de time an my mistress spoke fuh me when ah j'ined
de church. In them days when chillun j'ined de church some grown person
had ter speak fuh em an tell if they thought they wuz converted or not.
Now when chillun j'in de church if they is big enough ter talk they take
em in widout grown fokes speaking fuh em a tall.
Slavery times wuz sho good times. We wuz fed an clothed an had nothin to
worry about. Now poar ole niggers go hungry. Sho we wuz whipped in
slavery times. Mah ole man has stripes on his back now wha he wuz
whipped an ah wuz whipped too but hit hoped me up till now. Coase hit
did. Hit keeps me fum goin aroun here tellin lies an stealin yo
chickens.
Me an mah ole man is been married sixty-six years an have nevah had no
chillun. Yo know little chillun is de sweetest thing in the worl'. Now
if we had chillun we would have someone tuh take care of us in our ole
days. Mah ole man, Tom, is 89 an I'se 82. Poar ole man. Ah does all ah
kin fuh him but I'se ole too. These young niggers is gettin so uppity.
They think they is better than we is. A Darkey jes don' love one another
an stick t'gether like white fokes does. But ah is goin ter stick ter my
ole man. He needs me. He is jes like a little helpless chile widout me
ter look after him. Ah used to be mighty frisky an mighty proud when ah
wuz young but ah wazn' as good then as ah is now. Ah likes ter go ter
church. See that little white church over de hill? That is Douglas
Chapel, a Baptist church. Me an mah ole man give de lan' fuh that
church. We had plenty them days when Douglas was laid out (meaning
Douglas Addition). But now poar ole niggers don' have enough ter eat all
de time. None of them church members is missionary enough ter bring us
somethin' ter eat. White fokes have good hearts but niggers is
grudgeful. De bigges thing among white fokes is they do lie sometime an
when they do they kin best a nigger all to pieces.
Niggers don' have as much 'ligion as they use ter. Ah went to a
missionary meeting at one sister's house an she said ter me: "Sister
Douglas, start us off wid a song" an ah started off with "Amazing
Grace." Sang bout half of de first verse an noticed none of them j'ined
in but ah kep' right on singin' an wuz gettin full of de sperit when
that sister spoke up an said: "Sister Douglas, don' yo know that is done
gone out of style?" an selected "Fly Away" an den all of them sisters
j'ined in an sung "Fly away, fly away" an hit sounded jes like a dance
chune.
Yas'm, that is our ole buggy standin aroun de corner of de house. We use
ter ride in hit till hit got so rickety. An that ole horse is our fambly
horse. Dolly Jane ah calls her. We've had her forty years an she gits
sick sometime jes like ah does an ah thinks sho she is gone this time
but she gits ovah hit jes like ah does when ah has a spell. We has lived
in this house since 1900 but we is goin ovah on de utha side of de
tracks soon wid the res of de niggers. Nobody lef on this side but white
fokes now ceptin us. When de railroad come through down there ah had a
cotton patch growin there an ah cried cause hit went through mah cotton
patch an ruint part of hit. All we got out'n hit wuz damages.
No'm, mah ole man caint talk ter yo all terday; he is sick. Mebby ifn yo
all come back he kin talk ter yo then.
(In the meantime we investigated Tom and Sarah Douglas and found that he
has a bank account and at one time owned all the land that is now
Douglas Addition. In a few days we went back and found Tom sitting on
the porch.)
Uncle Tom Douglas--Yas'm, ah members de wah. Ah wuz fo'teen when de wah
began an eighteen when hit closed. Mah marster wuz B.B. Thomas, Union
Parish, Louisiana, near Marion, Louisiana. Ah saw de fust soldiers go an
saw young marster go. When young marster come back at de close of de wah
he brought back a big piece of mule meat ter show us niggers what he
done have ter eat while he wuz in de army.
Ah nevah wuz sold but lots of marster's slaves wuz sold. They wuz sold
jes like stock. Ah members one fambly. De man wuz a blacksmith, de woman
a cook, an one of their chillun wuz waitin boy. They wuz put on de block
an sold an a diffunt man bought each one an they went ter diffunt part
of de country ter live on nevah did see one nother no moah. They wuz
sole jes like cows an horses. No'm, ah didn't like slavery days. Ah'd
rather be free an hungry.
(Tom is the only ex-slave who has told us that he had rather be free and
we believe that is because he has a bank account and is independent.)
Yo say tell yo about hants. There is such a thing. Yes mam. Some fokes
calls it fogyness but hit sho is true fuh me an Sarah has seed em haint
we Sarah. Here young missy, what is yo doin wid that pencil?
(After we had put up our notebooks and pencils and assured them that we
would not repeat it, they told us the following):
When me an Sarah lived out at de Moore place about three miles east on
the main street road we seed plenty of haints. De graveyard wuz in sight
of our house an we could see them sperits come up out de groun an they
would go past de house down in a grove an we could see them there
campin. We could see they campfires. We could hear their dishes rattling
an their tincups an knives an forks. An hear em talkin. Den again they
would be diggin with shovels. Sometimes in de graveyard we could see de
sperits doin de things they did befo they died. Some would be plowing,
some blacksmithing an each one doin what he had done while he wuz livin.
When day wuz breakin they would go runnin crost our yard an git back in
de graves. Yes'm, we seed em as long as we lived there. After we moved
from ther somebody dug up some gold that wuz buried at de corner of de
chimney. An hit is said that from that day hants have not been seen
there.
Yes'm, there is no doubt erbout hit. They is such thin's as hants. Me an
Sarah has both seed em but we aint seed any in a long time.
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