Slave Narratives Vol. XIV | Page 8

"I fust courted Martha Harrison. Us marry and jine de church. Us had
nine chillun; seven of them livin'. A woman can't stand havin' chillun,

lak a man. Carryin', sucklin', and 'tending to them wore her down, dat,
wid de malaria of de Wateree brung her to her grave.
"I sorrow over her for weeks, maybe five months, then I got to thinking
how I'd pair up wid dis one and dat one and de other one. Took to
shavin' again and gwine to Winnsboro every Saturday, and different
churches every Sunday. I hear a voice from de choir, one Sunday, dat
makes me sit up and take notice of de gal on de off side in front. Well
sir! a spasm of fright fust hit me dat I might not git her, dat I was too
old for de likes of her, and dat some no 'count nigger might be in de
way. In a few minutes I come to myself. I rise right up, walked into dat
choir, stand by her side, and wid dis voice of mine, dat always 'tracts
'tention, jined in de hymn and out sung them all. It was easy from dat
time on.
"I marry Kate at de close of dat revival. De day after de weddin', what
you reckon? Don't know? Well, after gittin' breakfas' she went to de
field, poke 'round her neck, basket on her head and picked two hundred
pounds of cotton. Dats de kind of woman she is."

Project 1815-1 FOLKLORE Spartanburg Dist. 4 June 10, 1937 Edited
by: Elmer Turnage
STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES
"I was born in Newberry County, S. C., near Belfast, about 1854. I was
a slave of John Wallace. I was the only child, and when a small child,
my mother was sold to Joe Liggins by my old master, Bob Adams. It is
said that the old brick house where the Wallaces lived was built by a
Eichleberger, but Dr. John Simpson lived there and sold it to Mr.
Wallace. In the attic was an old skeleton which the children thought
bewitched the house. None of them would go upstairs by themselves. I
suppose old Dr. Simpson left it there. Sometimes later, it was taken out
and buried. Marse Wallace had many slaves and kept them working,
but he was not a strict master.

"I married Allen Andrews after the war. He went to the war with his
master. He was at Columbia with the Confederate troops when
Sherman burnt the place. Some of them, my husband included, was
captured and taken to Richmond Va. They escaped and walked back
home, but all but five or six fell out or died.
"My young master, Editor Bill Wallace, a son of Marse John, was a
soldier. When he was sick at home, I fanned the flies from him with a
home-made fan of peacock feathers, sewed to a long cane.
"After the war, the 'bush-whackers', called Ku Klux, rode there.
Preacher Pitts' brother was one. They went to negro houses and killed
the people. They wore caps over the head and eyes, but no long white
gowns. An old muster ground was above there about three miles, near
what is now Wadsworth school."
Source: Frances Andrews (col. 83), Newberry, S. C Interviewer: G.
Leland Summer, Newberry, S. C.

Project 1885-1 FOLKLORE Spartanburg Dist. 4 Sept. 22, 1937 Edited
by: Elmer Turnage
STORIES FROM EX-SLAVES
"I live in a comfortable two-room cottage which my son owns. I can't
do much work except a little washing and ironing. My grandchildren
live with me. My other children help me a little when I need it. I heard
about the 40 acres of land and a mule the ex-slaves would get after the
war, but I didn't pay any attention to it. They never got anything. I think
this was put out by the Yankees who didn't care about much 'cept
getting money for themselves.
"I come from the Indian Creek section of Newberry County. After
about 1880 when things got natural, some of the slaves from this
section rented small one-horse farms and made their own money and
living. Some would rent small tracts of land on shares, giving the
landlord one-half the crop for use of the land.

"Everything is changed so much. I never learned to read and write and
all I know is what I heard in old times. But I think the younger
generation of negroes is different from what they used to be. They go
where they want to and do what they want to and don't pay much
attention to old folks anymore.
"My mother's mother come from Virginia and my mother's father was
born and raised in this county. I don't remember anything about the Nat
Turner Rebellion, and never heard