Sarah Byrd
From:
Georgia
[HW: Dist. 5
Ex. Slave #13]
AN INTERVIEW ON SLAVERY OBTAINED FROM
MRS. SARAH BYRD--EX-SLAVE
Mrs. Sarah Byrd claims to be 95 years of age but the first impression
one receives when looking at her is that of an old lady who is very
active and possessing a sweet clear voice. When she speaks you can
easily understand every word and besides this, each thought is well
expressed. Often during the interview she would suddenly break out in a
merry laugh as if her own thoughts amused her.
Mrs. Sarah Byrd was born in Orange County Virginia the youngest of three
children. During the early part of her childhood her family lived in
Virginia her mother Judy Newman and father Sam Goodan each belonging to
a different master. Later on the family became separated the father was
sold to a family in East Tennessee and the mother and children were
bought by Doctor Byrd in Augusta, Georgia. Here Mrs. Byrd remarked
"Chile in them days so many families were broke up and some went one way
and der others went t'other way; and you nebber seed them no more.
Virginia wuz a reg'lar slave market."
Dr. Byrd owned a large plantation and raised such products as peas
potatoes, cotton corn (etc). There were a large number of slaves. Mrs.
Byrd was unable to give the exact number but remarked. "Oh Lordy Chile I
nebber could tell just how many slaves that man had t'wuz too many uv
em."
The size of the plantation required that the slaves be classified
according to the kind of work each was supposed to do. There were the
"cotton pickers", the "plow hands," the "hoe hands," the "rail
splitters," etc. "My very fust job," remarked Mrs. Byrd, "wuz that uv
cotton picking." Mrs Byrd's mother was a full [TR: field?] hand.
Houses on the Byrd Plantation were made of logs and the cracks were
daubed with mud. The chimnies were made of mud and supported by sticks.
Each fireplace varied in length from 3 to 4 feet because they serve the
purpose of stoves; and the family meals were prepared in those large
fireplaces often two and three pots were suspended from a rod running
across the fireplace. Most of the log houses consisted of one room;
however if the family was very large two rooms were built. The
furnishings consisted only of a home-made table, benches, and a
home-made bed, the mattress of which was formed by running ropes from
side to side forming a framework. Mattresses were made by filling a tick
with wheatstraw. The straw was changed each season. Laughing Mrs. Byrd
remarked, "Yessirree, them houses wuz warmer than some are ter day."
Doctor Byrd was rather kind and tried to help his slaves as much as
possible, but according to Mrs. Byrd his wife was very mean and often
punished her slaves without any cause. She never gave them anything but
the coarsest foods. Although there of plenty of milk and butter, she
only gave it to the families after it had soured. "Many a day I have
seed butter just sittin around in pans day after day till it got good
and spoiled then she would call some uv us and give it ter us. Oh she
wuz a mean un," remarked Mrs. Byrd. Continuing Mrs. Byrd remarked "she
would give us bread that had been cooked a week." Mr. Byrd gave his
slave families good clothes. Twice a year clothing was distributed among
his families. Every June summer clothes were given and every October
winter clothes were given. Here Mrs. Byrd remarked "I nebber knowed what
it wuz not ter have a good pair uv shoes." Cloth for the dresses and
shirts was spun on the plantation by the slaves.
The treatment of the slaves is told in Mrs. Byrd's own words:
"We wuz always treated nice by Master Byrd and he always tried ter save
us punishment at the hands uv his wife but that 'oman wuz somethin'
nother. I nebber will ferget once she sent me after some brush broom and
told me ter hurry back. Well plums wuz jest gitting ripe so I just took
my time and et all the plums I wanted after that I come on back ter the
house. When I got there she called me upstairs, 'Sarah come here.' Up
the steps I went and thar she stood with that old cow hide. She struck
me three licks and I lost my balance and tumbled backward down the
stairs. I don't know how come I didn't hurt myself but the Lord wuz wid
me and I got up and flew. I could hear her just hollering 'Come back
here! come back here!' but I ant stop fer nothing. That night at supper
while I wuz fanning the flies from the table she sed ter the doctor.
'Doctor what you think? I had ter whip that little devil ter day. I sent
her after brush broom and she went off and eat plums instead of hurrying
back.' The doctor just looked at her and rolled his eyes but never sed a
word. There wuz very little whipping on Byrd's plantation, but I have
gone ter bed many a night and heard 'em gittin whipped on the plantation
next ter us. If dey runned away they would put the hounds on 'em."
Concluding her story on treatmeant Mrs. Byrd remarked "Yessirree I could
tell that 'oman wuz mean the first time I seed her after we came from
Virginia cause she had red eyes." "Pader rollers" stayed busy all the
time trying to find slaves off their plantations without passes.
Marriages were performed by having the couple jump the broom. If the
[TR: 'couple' deleted, handwritten words above illegible] belonged to
different masters oftentimes one master would purchase the other; but
should neither wish to sell the man would then have to get passes to
visit his wife on her plantation. "Dey would leave the plantation on
Saturday afternoons and on Sunday afternoon you could see 'em coming in
just lak they wuz coming from church," remarked Mrs. Byrd.
There were frolics on the Byrd plantation any time that the slaves chose
to have them. "Yes sir we could frolic all we want ter. I use ter be so
glad when Saturday night came cause I knowed us wuz go have a frolic and
I wouldn't have a bit 'uv appetite I would tell my ma we gwine dance ter
night I dont want nothin teet. Yes sir us would frolic all night long
sometimes when the sun rise on Sunday morning us would all be layin
round or settin on the floor. They made music on the banjo, by knocking
bones, and blowing quills."
The Byrds did not provide a church on their plantation for their slaves
neither were they allowed to attend the white church; instead they had
prayer meetings in their own cabins where they could sing pray and shout
as much as they wished. "I nebber will fergit the last prayer meeting us
had," remarked Mrs. Byrd. "Two woman named Ant Patsy and Ant Prudence
came over from the next plantation. I believed they slipped over there
wid out gittin a pass. Anyway, they old master came there and whipped
'em and made 'em go home. I reckin he thought us wuz praying ter git
free." Continuing--
I nebber will fergit the fust time I set eyes on them thar Yankees. I
done already heard 'bout how they wuz going round ter the different
plantations taking the horses and carrying away the money and other
valuable things, but they had nebber come ter our place. So this day I
saw 'em coming cross the railroad track and they look jest lack thunder
there wuz so meny 'uv em. When they got ter our house every body wuz
sleep and they knocked and knocked. We had a bad dog that didn't take no
foolishness off nobody, so when he kept barking them Yankees cursed him
and do you know he heshed up? I sid, 'Dear Lord what sort of man is that
all he got ter do is curse that dog and he don't even growl.' Well, when
they finally got in all they wanted wuz ter know if Mr. Byrd could help
feed the soldiers until Monday. Mr. Byrd told 'em he would. Soon after
that the war ended and we wuz called ter gether and told us wuz free.
Some uv'em stayed there and some uv'em left. Us left and moved ter
another plantation."
Mrs. Byrd who had previously given the writer an interview on folk-lore
asked the writer to return at a later date and she would try to think up
more information concerning superstitions, conjure, etc. The writer
thanked her for the interview and promised to make another visit soon.
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Mariah Callaway
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Marshal Butler
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