Sophia Word
From:
Kentucky
CLAY CO.
(Pearl House)
Sophia Word:
The following story of slave days is the exact words of one who had the
bitter experience of slavery. Sophia Word, who is now ninety-nine years
of age, born February 2, 1837. She tells me she was in bondage for
nineteen years and nine months. I shall repeat just as she told the
story:
"I wuz here in time of Mexican War and seed 'em get up volunteers to go.
They wuz dressed in brown and band played 'Our Hunting Shirts are
Fringed with Doe and away We march to Mexico'.
"My grandmother came straight from Africa and wuz auctioned off and
bought by William Reide Father. When he died William Reides inherited my
mother. Mother married a Bates and had ten of us children.
"Our Master didn't auction off his slaves as the other masters would for
he was a better master than most of them. When he started to sale one of
us he would go out and talk to the old slave trader like he wuz g'wine
to sale a cow or sometin and then he would come back to git the slave he
wanted. This wuz the way my mothers' brother and sister wuz sold. When
the other masters at other places sold a slave they put the slave on the
auction block and the slave trader had a long whop that he hit them with
to see if they could jump around and wuz strong. The largest and brought
the money.
"I wuz a slave nineteen yeahs and nine months but somehow or nuther I
didn't belong to a real mean pet of people. The white folks said I was
the meanest nigger that ever wuz. One day my Mistress Lyndia called fer
me to come in the house, but no, I wouldn't go. She walks out and says
she is Gwine make me go. So she takes and drags me in the house. Then I
grabs that white woman, when she turned her back, and shook her until
she begged for mercy. When the master comes in, I wuz given a terrible
beating with a whip but I did'nt care fer I give the mistress a good'un
too.
"We lived off to the back of the masters house in a little log cabin,
that had one winder in the side. We lived tobly well and didn't starve
fer we had enough to eat but we didn't have as good as the master and
mistress had. We would slip in the house after the master and mistress
wuz sleeping and cook to suit ourselves and cook what we wanted.
"The Mistress had an old parrot and one day I wuz in the kitchen making
cookies, and I decided I wanted some of them so I tooks me out some and
put them on a chair and when I did this the mistress entered the door, I
picks up a cushion and throws over the pile of cookies on the chair and
mistress cane near the chair and the old parrot cries out, Mistress
burn, Mistress burn, then the mistress looks under the cushion and she
had me whupped but the next day I killed the parrot, and she often
wondered who or what killed the bird.
"I've seen whole pigs roasted before open fire place and when it wuz
done we would put a nice red apple in its mouth and the big white folks
company that come would eat of this delicious dish. Sometimes we had to
bake pies for a week to supply the company that wuz invited to our
masters and mistresses house. They served elaborate dinners and hundreds
of guest were invited.
"My master wuzn't as mean as most masters. Hugh White was so mean to his
slaves that I know of two gals that killt themselfs. One nigger gal
sudie wuz found across the bed with a pen knife in her hand. He whipped
another nigger gal most to death fer fergiting to put onions in the
stew. The next day she went down to the river and fer nine days they
searched fer her and her body finally washed upon the shore. The master
could never live in that house again as when he would go to sleep he
would see the nigger standing over his bed. Then he moved to Richmond
and there he stayed until a little later when he hung himself.
"Our clothes wuz made from cotton and linsey. Cotton wuz used in the
summer and linsey fer the winter. Sometimes our clothes wuz yeller
checked and most time red. Our stockings wuz made of coarse yarn fer
winter to wear with coarse shoes. We had high topped shoes fer Sunday.
"I've seed ten thousand of the Union Soldiers and a great many of the
rebel soldiers. The Rebel soldiers would take everything they could get
their hands on but I never did know of the Union Soldier taking
anything. The rebels have stole my masters cows and horses and we would
have to hide the meat in a box and bury it in the ground."
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Mary Wright
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