Sarah Gray
From:
Georgia Narratives, Part 2
A SHORT TALK
WITH SARAH GRAY--
EX-SLAVE
A paper submitted
by Minnie B. Ross
Revision of original copy
and typing by
J. C. Russell
1/25/37
Talk with ex-slave
SARAH GRAY
M. B. Ross
Sarah Gray is an aged ex-slave, whose years have not only bent her body
but seem to have clouded her memory. Only a few facts relating to
slavery could, therefore, be learned from her. The events she related,
however, seemed to give her as much pleasure as a child playing with a
favorite toy.
The only recollection Sarah has of her mother is seeing her as she lay
in her coffin, as she was very young when her mother died. She remembers
asking her sisters why they didn't give her mother any breakfast.
Sarah's master was Mr. Jim Nesbit, who was the owner of a small
plantation in Gwinnett County. The exact number of slaves on the
plantation were not known, but there were enough to carry on the work of
plowing, hoeing and chopping the cotton and other crops. Women as well
as men were expected to turn out the required amount of work, whether it
was picking cotton, cutting logs, splitting rails for fences or working
in the house.
Sarah was a house slave, performing the duties of a maid. She was often
taken on trips with the mistress, and treated more as one of the Nesbit
family than as a slave. She remarked, "I even ate the same kind of food
as the master's family."
The Nesbits, according to Sarah, followed the customary practice of the
other slave owners in the matter of the punishment of slaves. She says,
however, that while there were stories of some very cruel masters, in
her opinion the slave owners of those days were not as cruel as some
people today. She said occasionally slave owners appointed some of the
slaves as overseers, and very often these slave-overseers were very
cruel.
When the war began, the Nesbits and other plantation owners grouped
together, packed their wagons full of supplies, took all of their
slaves, and started on a journey as refugees. They had not gone very far
when a band of Yankee soldiers overtook them, destroyed the wagons, took
seventy of the men prisoners and marched off taking all of the horses,
saying they were on their way to Richmond and when they returned there
would be no more masters and slaves, as the slaves would be freed. Some
of the slaves followed the Yankees, but most of them remained with their
masters' families.
They were not told of their freedom immediately on the termination of
the war, but learned it a little later. As compensation, Mr. Nesbit
promised them money for education. She declares, however, that this
promise was never fulfilled.
Sarah Gray's recollections of slavery, for the most part, seem to be
pleasant. She sums it up in the statement, "In spite of the hardships we
had to go through at times, we had a lot to be thankful for. There were
frolics, and we were given plenty of good food to eat, especially after
a wedding."
The aged ex-slave now lives with a few distant relatives. She is well
cared for by a family for whom she worked as a nurse for 35 years, and
she declares that she is happy in her old age, feeling that her life has
been usefully spent.
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Alice Green
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Mary Gladdy
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