Willis Cofer
From:
Georgia
EX-SLAVE INTERVIEW
WILLIS COFER, Age 78
548 Findley Street
Athens, Georgia
Written by:
Grace McCune
Federal Writers' Project
Athens, Georgia
Edited by:
Sarah H. Hall
Athens, Ga.
and
Leila Harris
John N. Booth
Augusta, Georgia
[MAY 6 1938]
Willis was enjoying the warm sunshine of an April morning as he sat on
his small porch. Apparently, he was pleased because someone actually
wanted to hear him talk about himself. His rheumatism had been painful
ever since that last bad cold had weakened him, but he felt sure the
sunshine would "draw out all the kinks." Having observed the amenities
in regard to health and weather, the old man proceeded with his story:
"Eden and Calline Cofer was my pa and ma and us all lived on de big old
Cofer plantation 'bout five miles from Washin'ton, Wilkes. Pa b'longed
to Marse Henry Cofer and ma and us chillun wuz de property of Marse
Henry's father, Marse Joe Cofer.
"I wuz borned in 1860, and at one time I had three brudders, but Cato
and John died. My oldest brudder, Ben Cofer, is still livin' and
a-preachin' de Gospel somewhar up Nawth.
"Chilluns did have de bestes' good times on our plantation, 'cause Old
Marster didn't 'low 'em to do no wuk 'til dey wuz 12 years old. Us jus'
frolicked and played 'round de yard wid de white chilluns, but us sho'
did evermore have to stay in dat yard. It wuz de cook's place to boss us
when de other Niggers wuz off in de fields, and evvy time us tried to
slip off, she cotch us and de way dat 'oman could burn us up wid a
switch wuz a caution.
"Dere warn't no schools for us to go to, so us jes' played 'round. Our
cook wuz all time feedin' us. Us had bread and milk for breakfas', and
dinner wuz mos'ly peas and cornbread, den supper wuz milk and bread.
Dere wuz so many chilluns dey fed us in a trough. Dey jes' poured de
peas on de chunks of cornbread what dey had crumbled in de trough, and
us had to mussel 'em out. Yessum, I said mussel. De only spoons us had
wuz mussel shells what us got out of de branches. A little Nigger could
put peas and cornbread away mighty fast wid a mussel shell.
"Boys jes' wore shirts what looked lak dresses 'til dey wuz 12 years old
and big enough to wuk in de field. Den dey put 'em on pants made open in
de back. Dem britches would look awful funny now, but dey wuz all us had
den, and all de boys wuz mighty proud when dey got big enough to wear
pants and go to wuk in de fields wid grown folkses. When a boy got to be
a man enough to wear pants, he drawed rations and quit eatin' out of de
trough.
"All de slave quarters wuz log cabins and little famblies had cabins wid
jes' one room. Old Marster sho' did want to see lots of chilluns 'round
de cabins and all de big famblies wuz 'lowed to live in two-room cabins.
Beds for slaves wuz made by nailing frames, built out of oak or walnut
planks to de sides of de cabins. Dey had two or three laigs to make 'em
set right, and de mattresses wuz filled wid wheat straw. Dere warn't no
sto'-bought stoves den, and all our cookin' wuz done in de fireplace.
Pots wuz hung on iron cranes to bile and big pones of light bread wuz
cooked in ovens on de hearth. Dat light bread and de biscuits made out
of shorts wuz our Sunday bread and dey sho' wuz good, wid our home-made
butter. Us had good old corn bread for our evvyday bread, and dere ain't
nothin' lak corn bread and buttermilk to make healthy Niggers. Dere
wouldn't be so many old sick Niggers now if dey et corn bread evvyday
and let all dis wheat bread and sto'-bought, ready-made bread alone
'cept on Sunday.
"Dere wuz four or five acres in Marster's big old gyarden, but den it
tuk a big place to raise enough for all de slaves and white folkses too
in de same gyarden. Dere wuz jus' de one gyarden wid plenty of cabbage,
collards, turnip greens, beans, corn, peas, onions, 'taters, and jus'
evvything folkses laked in de way of gyarden sass. Marster never 'lowed
but one smokehouse on his place. It wuz plumb full of meat, and evvy
slave had his meat rations weighed out reg'lar. Dere wuz jes' one dairy
house too whar de slaves got all de milk and butter dey needed. Marster
sho' did b'lieve in seeing dat his Niggers had a plenty to eat.
"Marster raised lots of chickens and de slaves raised chickens too if
dey wanted to. Marster let 'em have land to wuk for deyselves, but dey
had to wuk it atter dey come out of his fields. All dey made on dis land
wuz deir own to sell and do what dey wanted to wid. Lots of 'em plowed
and hoed by moonlight to make deir own crops.
"Us used to hear tell of big sales of slaves, when sometimes mammies
would be sold away off from deir chilluns. It wuz awful, and dey would
jes' cry and pray and beg to be 'lowed to stay together. Old Marster
wouldn't do nothin' lak dat to us. He said it warn't right for de
chilluns to be tuk away from deir mammies. At dem sales dey would put a
Nigger on de scales and weigh him, and den de biddin' would start. If
he wuz young and strong, de biddin' would start 'round $150 and de
highest bidder got de Nigger. A good young breedin' 'oman brung $2,000
easy, 'cause all de Marsters wanted to see plenty of strong healthy
chillun comin' on all de time. Cyarpenters and bricklayers and
blacksmiths brung fancy prices from $3,000 to $5,000 sometimes. A Nigger
what warn't no more'n jes' a good field hand brung 'bout $200.
"Dem bricklayers made all de bricks out of de red clay what dey had
right dar on most all de plantations, and de blacksmith he had to make
all de iron bars and cranes for de chimblies and fireplaces. He had to
make de plow points too and keep de farm tools all fixed up. Sometimes
at night dey slipped off de place to go out and wuk for money, a-fixin'
chimblies and buildin' things, but dey better not let demselves git
cotched.
"Mammy wove de cloth for our clothes and de white folkses had 'em made
up. Quilts and all de bed-clothes wuz made out of homespun cloth.
"De fus' Sadday atter Easter wuz allus a holiday for de slaves. Us wuz
proud of dat day 'cause dat wuz de onlies' day in de year a Nigger could
do 'zactly what he pleased. Dey could go huntin', fishin' or visitin',
but most of 'em used it to put in a good days wuk on de land what
Marster 'lowed 'em to use for deyselves. Some of 'em come to Athens and
help lay bricks on a new buildin' goin' up on Jackson Street. No Ma'am,
I done forgot what buildin' it wuz.
"Us Niggers went to de white folkses churches. Mr. Louis Williams
preached at de Baptist Church on de fust Sundays, and Meferdiss
(Methodist) meetin's wuz on de second Sundays. Mr. Andy Bowden and Mr.
Scott Cowan wuz two of de Meferdiss preachers. Me and pa jined de
Baptis' Church. Ma wuz jes' a Meferdiss, but us all went to church
together. Dey had de baptizin's at de pool and dere wuz sho' a lot of
prayin' and shoutin' and singin' goin' on while de preacher done de
dippin' of 'em. De onliest one of dem baptizin' songs I can ricollect
now is, Whar de Healin' Water Flows. Dey waited 'til dey had a crowd
ready to be baptized and den dey tuk a whole Sunday for it and had a big
dinner on de ground at de church.
"De sho' 'nough big days wuz dem camp meetin' days. White folkses and
Niggers all went to de same camp meetin's, and dey brung plenty 'long to
eat--big old loafs of light bread what had been baked in de skillets. De
night before dey sot it in de ovens to rise and by mawnin' it had done
riz most to de top of de deep old pans. Dey piled red coals all 'round
de ovens and when dat bread got done it wuz good 'nough for anybody. De
tables wuz loaded wid barbecued pigs and lambs and all de fried chicken
folkses could eat, and all sorts of pies and cakes wuz spread out wid de
other goodies.
"Evvy plantation gen'ally had a barbecue and big dinner for Fourth of
July, and when sev'ral white famblies went in together, dey did have
high old times tryin' to see which one of 'em could git deir barbecue
done and ready to eat fust. Dey jus' et and drunk all day. No Ma'am, us
didn't know nuffin' 'bout what dey wuz celebratin' on Fourth of July,
'cept a big dinner and a good time.
"When slaves got married, de man had to ax de gal's ma and pa for her
and den he had to ax de white folkses to 'low 'em to git married. De
white preacher married 'em. Dey hold right hands and de preacher ax de
man: 'Do you take dis gal to do de bes' you kin for her?' and if he say
yes, den dey had to change hands and jump over de broomstick and dey wuz
married. Our white folkses wuz all church folkses and didn't 'low no
dancin' at weddin's but dey give 'em big suppers when deir slaves got
married. If you married some gal on another place, you jus' got to see
her on Wednesday and Sadday nights and all de chilluns b'longed to de
gal's white folkses. You had to have a pass to go den, or de
patterollers wuz sho' to git you. Dem patterollers evermore did beat up
slaves if dey cotched 'em off dey own Marster's place 'thout no pass. If
Niggers could out run 'em and git on deir home lines dey wuz safe.
"On our place when a slave died dey washed de corpse good wid plenty of
hot water and soap and wropt it in a windin' sheet, den laid it out on
de coolin' board and spread a snow white sheet over de whole business,
'til de coffin wuz made up. De windin' sheet wuz sorter lak a bed sheet
made extra long. De coolin' board wuz made lak a ironin' board 'cept it
had laigs. White folkses wuz laid out dat way same as Niggers. De
coffins wuz made in a day. Dey tuk de measurin' stick and measured de
head, de body, and de footses and made de coffin to fit dese
measurements. If it wuz a man what died, dey put a suit of clothes on
him before dey put him in de coffin. Dey buried de 'omans in da windin'
sheets. When de Niggers got from de fields some of 'em went and dug a
grave. Den dey put de coffin on de oxcart and carried it to de
graveyard whar dey jus' had a burial dat day. Dey waited 'bout two
months sometimes before dey preached de fun'ral sermon. For the fun'ral
dey built a brush arbor in front of de white folkses church, and de
white preacher preached de fun'ral sermon, and white folkses would come
lissen to slave fun'rals. De song most sung at fun'rals wuz Hark from
de Tomb. De reason dey had slave fun'rals so long atter de burial wuz
to have 'em on Sunday or some other time when de crops had been laid by
so de other slaves could be on hand.
"When white folkses died deir fun'rals wuz preached before dey wuz
buried. Dat wuz de onliest diff'unce in de way dey buried de whites and
de Niggers. Warn't nobody embalmed dem days and de white folkses wuz
buried in a graveyard on de farm same as de Niggers wuz, and de same
oxcart took 'em all to de graveyard.
"Our Marster done de overseein' at his place hisself, and he never had
no hired overseer. Nobody never got a lickin' on our plantation lessen
dey needed it bad, but when Marster did whup 'em dey knowed dey had been
whupped. Dere warn't no fussin' and fightin' on our place and us all
knowed better'n to take what didn't b'long to us, 'cause Old Marster
sho' did git atter Niggers what stole. If one Nigger did kill another
Nigger, dey tuk him and locked him in da jailhouse for 30 days to make
his peace wid God. Evvy day de preacher would come read de Bible to him,
and when de 30 days wuz up, den dey would hang him by de neck 'til he
died. De man what done de hangin' read de Bible to de folkses what wuz
gathered 'round dar while de murderer wuz a-dyin'.
"Its de devil makes folkses do bad, and dey all better change and serve
God-a-Mighty, so as he kin save 'em before its too late. I b'lieve
folkses 'haved better dem days dan dey does now. Marstar made 'em be
good 'round his place.
"When us turned Marster's watch dogs loose at night, dey warn't nothin'
could come 'round dat place. Dey had to be kept chained up in de
daytime. Sometimes Marster let us take his dogs and go huntin' and dey
wuz de best 'possum trailers 'round dem parts. When dey barked up a
'simmon tree, us allus found a 'possum or two in dat tree. Sometimes
atter us cotched up lots of 'em, Marster let us have a 'possum supper.
Baked wid plenty of butter and 'tatoes and sprinkled over wid red
pepper, dey is mighty good eatments. My mouf's jus' a-waterin' 'cause
I'm thinkin' 'bout 'possums.
"Yes Ma'am, us had corn shuckin's, and dey wuz big old times. Evvybody
from plantations miles 'round would take time out to come. Sometimes de
big piles of corn would make a line most a half a mile long, but when
all de Niggers got at dat corn de shucks sho' would fly and it wouldn't
be so long before all de wuk wuz done and dey would call us to supper.
Dere wuz barbecue and chickens, jus' a plenty for all de Niggers, and
corn bread made lak reg'lar light bread and sho' enough light bread too,
and lots of 'tato pies and all sorts of good things.
"Atter da War wuz over, dey jus' turned de slaves loose widout nothin'.
Some stayed on wid Old Marster and wukked for a little money and dey
rations.
"Pa went down on the Hubbard place and wukked for 40 dollars a year and
his rations. Ma made cloth for all de folkses 'round 'bout. Dey fotched
deir thread and she wove de cloth for 50 cents a day. If us made a good
crop, us wuz all right wid plenty of corn, peas, 'tatoes, cabbage,
collards, turnip greens, all de hog meat us needed, and chickens too. Us
started out widout nothin' and had to go in debt to de white folkses at
fust but dat wuz soon paid off. I never had no chance to go to school
and git book larnin'. All de time, us had to wuk in de fields.
"Ku Kluxers went 'round wid dem doughfaces on heaps atter de War. De
Niggers got more beatin's from 'em dan dey had ever got from deir Old
Marsters. If a Nigger sassed white folkses or kilt a hoss, dem Kluxers
sho' did evermore beat him up. Dey never touched me for I stayed out of
deir way, but dey whupped my pa one time for bein' off his place atter
dark. When dey turned him loose, he couldn't hardly stand up. De Yankees
jus' about broke up de Ku Kluxers, but day sho' wuz bad on Niggers while
dey lasted.
"I wuz 'bout 21 years old when us married. Us never had no chillun and
my wife done been daid for all dese long years, I don't know how many. I
can't wuk and I jus' has to stay hyar wid my daid brother's chillun. Dey
is mighty good to me, but I gits awful lonesome sometimes.
"No Ma'am, I ain't never seed but one ghost. Late one night, I wuz
comin' by de graveyard and seed somethin' dat looked lak a dog 'ceppin'
it warn't no dog. It wuz white and went in a grave. It skeered me so I
made tracks gittin' 'way from dar in a hurry and I ain't never bean
'round no more graveyards at night.
"When I passes by de old graveyard on Jackson Street, I 'members lots
of folkses whats buried dar, bofe white folkses and slaves too, for den
white folkses put dey slaves whar dey aimed to be buried deyselves. Dat
sho' used to be a fine graveyard.
"Us all gwine to git together someday when us all leaves dis old world.
I'm ready to go; jus' a-waitin' for de Lord to call me home, and I ain't
skeered to face de Lord who will judge us all de same, 'cause I done
tried to do right, and I ain't 'fraid to die."
Uncle Willis was tired and sent a little boy to the store for milk. As
the interviewer took her departure he said: "Good-bye Missy. God bless
you. Jus' put yourself in de hands of de Lord, for dey ain't no better
place to be."
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