| John Graves was originally enslaved in Charleston but his mother was purchased and moved to Kentucky when he was five. In this excerpt, he briefly recounts how it came to be that he and his mother moved from Charleston to Kentucky. “Historically-used terms that are offensive, marginalizing and/or disparaging have been removed from the transcripts and replaced with [man]. See more information. |
Excerpt:
I was born ten years when Freedom came out. Been seventy-odd years since Freedom, ain’t it, Cap? Dr. Jim Gibbs was mighty good to me. You see that I’m going about now. Dr. Gibbs came from Aiken to Union and set up a drug store where Cohen’s is now. Dr. Gibbs was a Charleston man, but I am a Kentucky man. Dr. Gibbs brought me from Kentucky to Charleston when I was five years old. My ma was the one that they bought. Dr. Gibbs’ wife was a Bohen up in Kentucky. When Dr. Gibbs fetched his wife to Charleston, he bought my ma from his wife’s pa, and she fetched me along too.
| Interviewee Formerly enslaved person | Birth Year (Age) | Interviewer WPA Volunteer | Enslaver’s Name |
| John Graves | Unknown (85 years old) | Caldwell Sims | Dr. Jim Gibbs |
| Interview Location | Residence State | Birth Location |
| Spartanburg, SC | South Carolina | Unknown |
| Themes & Keywords | Additional Tags: |
| Family | First Person, Dialect, Sold (self or family), Slave Traders |
Graves_J_1