Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 2 | Page 2

possums and doves.
"De master had two overseers, but we never worked at night. We made
our own clothes which we done sometimes late in evening.
"We had no school, and didn't learn to read and write, not 'till freedom
come when a school started there by a Yankee named Backinstore.
Later, our church and Sunday school was in de yard.

"We had cotton pickings, cornshuckings and big suppers. We didn't
have to work on Christmas.
"One of de old-time cures was boiling fever-grass and drinking de tea.
Pokeberry salad was cooked, too. A cure for rheumatism was to carry a
raw potato in the pocket until it dried up.
"I had 11 children and 8 grandchildren.
"I think Abe Lincoln was a great man. Don't know much about Jeff
Davis. Booker Washington is all right.
"I joined church in Flordia, the Methodist church. I was 50 years old. I
joined because they had meetings and my daughter had already joined.
I think all ought to join de church."
=Source:= Mary Edwards (79), Greenwood, S.C. Interviewed by: G.L.
Summer, Newberry, S.C. (6/10/37)

Project #1655 Stiles M. Scruggs Columbia, S.C.
A SON OF SLAVES CLIMBS UP.
The Rev. John B. Elliott, A.B.A. A.M., D.D., 1315 Liberty Hill Avenue,
Columbia, S.C., is the son of slaves. He was born at Mount Olive, N.C.,
in 1869, and missed being a slave by only four years. His college
degrees were won at Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C., and the degree of
Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Allen University of
Columbia, S.C.
Sitting on the parsonage piazza recently, the Rector of St. Anna's
Episcopal Church talked about his struggle for education, and his
labors up from slavery.
"I was born at Mount Olive, N.C., the son of Soloman Elliott and Alice
(Roberts) Elliott. They were slaves when they married, and I escaped
bondage by only four years, since slaves were not freed in the South,

until 1865.
"My father was owned by Robert W. Williams, of Mount Olive, and he
was the most highly prized Negro in the vicinity. He was a natural
carpenter and builder. Often he would go to the woods and pick out
trees for the job in hand. Some of the houses he built there are standing
today. Mother was equally trained and well equipped to make a home
and keep it neat and clean. When they were free in 1865, half the
community was eager to employ them and pay them well for their
services. And, when I came along, they were living in their own house
and prospering.
"I chose a religious career when quite a boy, and, when I was ready for
college, I was much pleased. I finished at Shaw University at Raleigh,
took a year's study at Columbia University in New York and then
finished a religious course at the Bishop Payne Divinity School at
Petersburg, Virginia, where most of the colored clergymen of the
Episcopal Church are finished. After I felt that I was fairly well fitted to
begin my clerical work, I chose South Carolina as my field.
"My first assignment was at Waccamaw Neck, a little below
Georgetown, S.C., and a big industrial center. There the Negro
population is keen for wine and whiskey. One of the men whom I was
interested in, was pretty tipsy when I called, and, as I sat and talked
with him, he said: 'You're drunk, too.' This surprised me, and I asked
him why he thought so. 'Well, you got your vest and collar on
backwards, so you must be drunk!'
"Since, I have had pastorates at Aiken, Peak, Rock Hill, and
Walterboro. From Walterboro I came to Columbia as pastor of St.
Anna's Episcopal Church and the missions of Ann's at New Brookland
and St. Thomas at Eastover. I presume I have done pretty well in this
field, since the Rt. Rev. Bishop Kirkman G. Finlay, D.D., appointed me
arch-deacon for Negro work in upper South Carolina.
"As I was coming away from the Bishop's office, I was accompanied
by another colored rector, who had very short legs. I am six feet, four
inches in height, and he looked up at me as we walked along and asked

quizzically: 'How long should a man's legs be?' I smiled and told him I
thought, perhaps, every man should have legs long enough to reach to
the ground. Yes, of course, we laughed at each other, but my argument
won, because Bishop Finlay is about six feet, three inches, and I told
my short friend: 'When Bishop Finlay and I talk, we are able to look
each other in the eye on the level.'
"I married Susan McMahan, a colored school teacher, and the Lord has
blessed us with a son, John B. Jr., a fine wood-worker, like