Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 2 | Page 4

The large moulds had doors and the small moulds had lids.
They had small pans and small spoons for little things, like nails,
knives and forks, When the mould had set until cold, the piece was
prized out.
"Pa had a turn for making covered skillets and fire dogs. He made them
so pretty that white ladies would come and give an order for a 'pair of
dogs', and tell him how they wanted them to look. He would take his
hammer and beat them to look just that way.
"Rollers pressed out the hot iron for machines and for special lengths
and things that had to be flat. Railroad ties were pressed out in these
rollers. Once the man that handled the hot iron to be pressed through
these rollers got fastened in them himself. He was a big man. The blood
flew out of him as his bones were crushed, and he was rolled into a
mass about the thickness and width of my hand. Each roller weighed
about 2,000 pounds.
"The man who got killed was named Alex Golightly. He taught the
boys my age how to swim, fish and hunt. His death was the worst thing

that had happened in the community. The man who worked at the
foundry, made Alex a coffin. It had to be made long and thin because
he was mashed up so bad. In those days coffins were nothing but boxes
anyway, but Alex's coffin was the most terrible thing that I have ever
seen. I reckon if they had had pretty coffins then like they do now,
folks would have bought them to sleep in.
"Hundreds went to Alex's funeral, white and black, to see that long
narrow coffin and the grave which was dug to fit it. On the way to the
graveyard, negroes sang songs, for Alex was a good man. They carried
him to the Cherokee graveyard on the old Smith Ford Road, and there
they buried him. My father helped to build the coffin and he helped
haul him to the graveyard. Pa worked at the Iron Foundry until he was
very old. He worked there before I was ever born.
"My father was sold four times during slavery. When he was brought to
Virginia he was put on the block and auctioned off for $4,000. He said
that the last time he was sold he only brought $1,500. He was born in
Alabama. When he was bought he was carried from Alabama to
Virginia. It was Col. Elmore who took him. He wanted to go to
Alabama again, so Col. Elmore let a speculator take him back and sell
him. He stayed there for several years and got homesick for South
Carolina. He couldn't get his marster to sell him back here, so he just
refugeed back to Col. Elmore's plantation. Col. Elmore took him back
and wouldn't let anybody have him.
"Pa married twice, about the same time. He married Dorcas Cooper,
who belonged to the Coopers at Staunton Military Academy. I was the
first child born in Camden. She had sixteen children. I was brought to
Spartanburg County when I was little. Both ma and pa were sold
together in Alabama. The first time pa came to South Carolina he
married a girl called Jenny. She never had any children. When he went
to Alabama, Dorcas went with him, but Jenny stayed with Col. Elmore.
Of course, pa just jumped the broom for both of them.
"When pa left Alabama to refugee back, he had to leave Dorcas. They
did not love their marster anyway. He put Dorcas up on the block with
a red handkerchief around her head and gave her a red apple to eat. She

was sold to a man whose name I have forgotten. When they herded
them she got away and was months making her way back to South
Carolina. Those Africans sure were strong. She said that she stayed in
the woods at night. Negroes along the way would give her bread and
she would kill rabbits and squirrels and cook and eat in the woods. She
would get drunk and beat any one that tried to stop her from coming
back. When she did get back to Col. Elmore's place, she was lanky,
ragged and poor, but Col. Elmore was glad to see her and told her he
was not going to let anybody take her off. Jenny had cared so well for
her children while she was off, that she liked her. They lived in the
same house with pa till my mother died.
"Col. Elmore said that negroes who were from Virginia and had
African blood could stand anything. He was kind to ma. He fed her
extra and she soon got fat again. She worked