Plantation Sketches | Page 7

while Mammy,
seated upon a box by the small fire, would indulge in long talks about
religion or plantation gossip. That shop was indeed a typical spot; its
sides were lined to the eaves with choice lumber, arranged
systematically so that the green was out of reach, while that which was
seasoned was close at hand. Uncle Jim would have felt disgraced had a
piece of work made of unseasoned wood left his shop. The smoke from
the small fire which burned in the middle of the big shop, upon the dirt
floor, escaped in faint blue wreaths through the roof, leaving behind it a
sweet, pungent odor. The sun streamed in at the wide-open door, while
Jim and Frank tinkered away leisurely upon plough handles and other
implements or household articles.
Uncle Jim was a preacher as well as a carpenter. He was quite superior
to most of his race, both in sense and principle and was highly thought
of by both white and black. Upon two Sundays in each month he
preached in the church and his sermons were quite remarkable,
teaching in his homely way the necessity of honesty and obedience. His

companion in the shop, Boat Frank, was of a more worldly nature, and
wore great golden hoops in his ears and a red woolen cap upon his head,
and resembled an elderly and crafty ape, as he sat chipping away at his
work.
Next came the blacksmith shop, where Bob wielded the great hammer
and grinned with childish delight at seeing the children's enjoyment
when the sparks flew.
After the blacksmith's shop came the loomhouse, where Scip, the little
fat weaver, threw the shuttles and beat up the homespun cloth from
morning till night; there, too, were the warping-bars, the
winding-blades, and the little quilling-wheel, at which a boy or girl
would fill the quills to be in readiness for the shuttles. Scip was an odd
figure, with his short legs, and his woolly hair combed out until his
head looked as big as a bushel.
The dwellings of the negroes were quite a distance from the "Great
House," as that of the master was called, and were built in two or more
long rows with a street between. This was the plan upon every
plantation. Each house had a front and back piazza, and a garden,
which was cultivated or allowed to run wild according to the thrift of
the residents. It generally was stocked with peach and apple trees, and
presented a pretty picture in spring, when the blue smoke from the
houses curled up to the sky amid the pink blossoms, while the drowsy
hum of a spinning-wheel seemed to enhance the quiet of the peaceful
surroundings.
The church at Runiroi was large and comfortably furnished with seats;
colored texts were upon the walls, and the bell, which summoned the
people on Sunday mornings, swung amid the branches of a giant oak.
Both your great-grandfather and grandfather employed a chaplain. At
Runiroi, he officiated only upon alternate Sundays, as the people liked
best to listen to Carpenter Jim. It used to be a pretty sight upon a
Sunday morning to see the people, all dressed in their clean homespun
clothes, trooping to church, laughing and chattering until they reached
the door, when they immediately would assume the deepest gravity and
proceed at once to groan and shake themselves more and more at every

prayer. The singing would often sound very sweet at a distance,
although I must confess that I never sympathized in the admiration of
the negro's voice.
Of course, like all other laboring classes, the negroes had to work, and
of course, as they had not the incentive of poverty, discipline was
necessary. They knew that they would be housed, clothed and well fed
whether they earned these comforts or not; so, in order to insure
diligence, reliable men were chosen from among them as assistants to
the white overseers; these were called "foremen," and were looked up
to with respect by their fellows. Upon every large plantation there was
also a Foreman Plower, his business being to take the lead and see that
the plowing was well done and that the plow horses were not
maltreated. With the settled men this was unnecessary, but it was very
needful with the younger hands. These colored foremen were, in their
turn, subject to the overseers, who, in turn, if not found to be temperate
and reliable, were dismissed. Upon well-ordered plantations
punishments were rare, I may say unknown, except to the half-grown
youths. Negroes, being somewhat lacking in moral sense or fixed
principles, are singularly open to the influence of example; and thus it
was that a few well-ordered elders would give a tone to the whole
plantation, while the evil influences of