Dialect – Page 3 – Reckoning, Inc.

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Kate Billingsby

The same family enslaved Kate Billingsby from her birth in 1828 until Emancipation. Ms. Billingsby still keeps in touch with the family. This excerpt describes what she learned from that family, and how they (and their children) still looked after her even after her emancipation.

*Historically-used terms that are offensive, marginalizing and/or disparaging have been removed from the transcripts and replaced with [redacted]. See more information.

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Excerpt:

Her culture and training go back to the old Buckner family, at one time one of the most cultured families in Christian County. She is not a superstitious negro. Being born a Buckner slave, she was never sold and her manners and ways proclaim that she surely must have been raised in “The white folks house” as she claims, being a maid when old enough, to one of Frank Buckner’s daughters.

She stated, “The Buckners were sure good to me, even now their children come to see me and always bring me something. They don’t let my taxes lapse and I’m never without something to eat.”

No, I don’t believe in ghosts, haints or anything of that kind – my White folks being “quality”. I’ve been raised by “quality”! Why I’m a “quality [redacted]”. When any of my folks get sick or any of my white folks, the doctor would always be sent for.”

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Kate Billingsby	Unknown	Unknown	Frank and Sarah Buckner

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Hopkinsville, KY	Kentucky	Christian County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Class, education	Third person, dialect

Billingsby_K_1

September 27, 2020October 2, 2020

Kate Dudley Baumont

Kate Baumont was very young when slavery ended, but she has specific memories from her childhood, which she shares. This excerpt describes how the enslaved on the plantation she worked were all given their own land to work while they were enslaved. They were also given similar plots of land when they were freed, which many continued to live on and work for years after emancipation.

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Excerpt:

When we lived on the Preston farm something happened that raised a lot of talk. One of the Preston girls fell in love with the Negro coachman and ran off and married him in Canada. Said she never wanted to marry a white man. She never did have white beaux as a girl. Her father was so hurt, and he said he was going to disown her. But he did give them $10,000, then he said he never wanted them to come back to visit him or his folks, but his folks could go up to Canada and visit with her and her family. Before, the Prestons threatened to kill the man, but the girl said if they killed him, she would kill some of them and herself, too. She told them

that she persuaded him to take her, and that she had been in love with him for years, and had tried ever so long to get him to run off with her and marry her. Ole Miss like to died, but she got over it, and took trips up to Canada when she wanted to see her daughter. But the girl and her husband, they never came back to her old home. They had a family, so we heard, and he was doing well and had some kind of business, and later, it was said he made a lot of money. He was a nice-looking man; dark, but fine featured.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Kate Dudley Baumont	Unknown	Unknown	Preston

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Clark County, OH	Ohio	Bath County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Family	First person, dialect

Baumont_K_2

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Kisey McKimm

Kisey McKimm spent her entire enslavement (and some time after) on the same plantation. In this excerpt, McKimm describes how her enslaver treated her and her family better than most enslavers, but how his son was cruel. It describes an instance of the son whipping one of the enslaved. The excerpt goes on to describe how McKimm’s family was given land after Emancipation, but when the enslaver father died, the son took over the land and kicked them out.

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Excerpt:

Master Jacob was good to his slaves, but his son, Clay was mean. I remember once when he took my Mammy out and whipped her cause she forgot to put cake in his basket, when he went hunting’. But that was the last time, because the master heard of it and cussed him like God had come down from Heaven.

. . . The great day on the plantation was Christmas when we all got a little present from the Master. The men slaves would cut a whole pile of wood for the fireplace and pile it on the porch. As long as the whole pile of wood lasted we didn’t have to work but when it was gone, our Christmas was over. Sometimes on Sunday afternoons, we would go to the Master’s honey room and he would give us sticks of candied honey, and Lord child, was it good! I ate so much once, I got sick enough to die.

One time, dey sent me down the road to fetch something’ and I heard a bunch of horses coming, I jumped over the fence and hid behind the elderberry bushes until they passed, and I ran home and told them what I had seen. Pretty soon they came to the house, 125 Union soldiers and asked for something to eat. We all jumped around and fixed them a dinner, when they finished, they looked for Master, but he was hidden. They were gentlemen and didn’t bother or take anything. When the war was over the Master gave Mammy a house and 160 acre farm, but when he died, his son Clay told us to get out of the place or he’d burn the house and us up in it, so we left and moved to Paris. After I was married and had two children, me and my man moved north and I’ve been here ever since.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Kisey McKimm	1853 (84)	Betty Lugabill (or Lugabell)	Jacob Sandusky

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Paulding County, OH	Ohio	Bourbon County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Family, Emancipation	First person, dialect, Union soldiers

McKimm_K_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Lucy Ann Warfield

Lucy Warfield spent her childhood and young adult life enslaved. She doesn’t know her age, but she was an adult and married when the Civil War broke out. In this excerpt, she describes why she doesn’t know when she was born, as well as the difficulty of the work she was given as an enslaved person. She finishes by describing how one of her mother’s sisters was able to escape to Canada.

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Excerpt:

Lordy child, I’ve been old so long that the affliction of years makes me forget lots and lots I might tell you. I was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky, but I can’t say what year, because White folks didn’t keep count of their slaves’ ages. They were just like chickens- like so many chickens.

I know I was a married woman when the war came, and they say I am more than a hundred, Nannie says I’m about 117. But I just don’t know. Anyhow, I know that God’s been awful good to me.

. . . They never did give me a whipping, but they sure worked me hard. I did a man’s work on the place; putting’ up stone fences and rail fences, splitting’ rails, breaking hemp, plowing fields, doing corn planting’, and anything the men were supposed to do, and I was supposed to say nothing. The good Lord only knows just what I’ve been through.

I remember when one of my mother’s sisters ran off and got safe into Canada. She was a fine woman and she didn’t care for anything except to be free. She did what more of them ought to have done – me, too, because I was grown in size long time before we were free- but they were just afraid.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Lucy Ann Warfield	1820 (117 years old – speculated)	Unknown	Scott and Perry Families

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Clark County, OH	Ohio	Jessamine County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Family, Gender/gender roles	First person, dialect

Warfield_L_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Lucy Davis

In this excerpt, Ms. Davis describes her experiences during the Civil War and her Emancipation. Of note is the fear that her enslavers had of the Union soldiers, and how she was put on lookout outside the property when they would come, allowing her enslavers to hide while the soldiers took what they wanted from the property. She finished by retelling the reaction of her and her family when they were told they were free.

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Excerpt:

When the war came Ole Master didn’t go, but he was a regular old secesh! (Secessionist/Southern sympathizer) Young James Andrew went off to war and ole Missus used to grieve for him. We never saw fighting around our place but we could hear the big guns over at Columbus. When the soldiers were around the neighborhood, they’d always have me playing around the front gate so I could tell them when they were coming up the road. Then they’d go and hide before the soldiers got there. They were all scared of the soldiers. I was scared too, but they said soldiers wouldn’t bother a little black gal. The soldiers just came in and ransacked the house—they’d find something to eat and they’d look for money. They want money! But they don’t find any. Then they wanted to know where my folks were, but I told them I didn’t know, “They just left and didn’t say where they were going’.

When the war was over, Ole Master Joe came in and he said, ’Rose, you all ain’t slaves any more. You are all as free as I am.’ Then you should’ve heard my mammy shout! You never heard such shouting in all your born days. And Ole Missus, she joined in the shouting too. She was glad because now James Andrew would be coming home.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Lucy Davis	Unknown	Unknown	Joe Mott

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Cape Girardeau, MO	Missouri	Hickman, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Family, Civil War, Emancipation,	First person, dialect, Union Soldiers,

Davis_L_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Rachel Gaines

Rachel Gaines lived enslaved until her early 20’s. After Emancipation her enslaver hired her to continue to work on his plantation. This excerpt describes her Emancipation and experiences still living and working in the plantation in the years after.

*Historically-used terms that are offensive, marginalizing and/or disparaging have been removed from the transcripts and replaced with [redacted]. See more information.

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Excerpt:

After freedom was declared the master told all his slaves that they could go wherever they pleased, but if they couldn’t make their own living to come to him and he would help them. Missus Dickinson kept me there because I was the nurse to their son, Howard, who was sure a wild one. I remember how he would tote out fried chicken, pig meat and other good stuff to us …

They agreed to pay me $35.00 a year (and keep) and it was given me every Christmas morning. They treated me good, gave me all the clothes and other things I needed, as if I were one of the family.

Every two weeks the master would send for Jordan McGowan, who was the leader of a string music band. They would get there Friday night early and the slaves would dance in the grape house that night and all day Saturday up to midnite. You don’t have now as good dance music and as much fun as the ole time days had. We always had a big barbecue and watermelon feast every time we had a dance. Never again will there be as good times as we used to have.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Rachel Gaines	1840 (Believes she is 95-100)	Unknown	Dr. Bainbridge Dickerson

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Nashville, TN	Tennessee	Todd County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Emancipation,	First person, dialect,

Gaines_R_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Samuel Lyons

Samuel Lyons was an enslaved person during his childhood and teenage years. In the excerpt below, he gives a brief overview of life on the plantation.

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Excerpt:

Evall had about 200 slaves on a big plantation and fine race horses. He raised cane, wheat, and corn, and he had a big stillhouse to make his own whiskey, and he made it to sell, too.

We did our cooking in our cabin, and it wasn’t much except jowl bacon, cornbread, and syrup. I and part of our family were sold once, and ole Miss Evall’s mother brought us back the same day.

I saw slaves whipped at the whipping post in Paris, Kentucky, until their backs bled. And then they sprinkled the cuts with salty water.

Different slave owners would take their slaves to help other slave owners cut their winter’s wood, or husk corn, or shear their sheep. We got good food then and sometimes they used to let their slaves have dances together whilst they were working to get the work done.

Evall bought our shoes in Paris, (Kentucky) and if they were too big, we wore them, and if they were too little we wore them just the same, But sometimes we cut the toes out of the shoes to make them long enough.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Samuel Lyons	1847 (About 90)	Unknown	Evall

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Clark County, OH	Ohio	Sawhill Station, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Violence, Emancipation	First person, dialect, whipped

Lyons_S_1

September 27, 2020November 10, 2022

Samuel Watson

Samuel Watson was very young when the Civil War ended and Emancipation was granted to those enslaved. However, he clearly remembers the struggles his family had after Emancipation. In this excerpt, he describes the struggle his mother had supporting the family, how his siblings became indentured servants, and his life as an indentured servant to an unkind employer.

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Excerpt:

Uncle Samuel remembers when the war ended and the slaves were emancipated. “Some were happy and some were sad!” Many dreaded leaving their old homes and their masters’ families.

Uncle Samuel’s mother and three children were told that they were free people and the master asked the mother to take her little ones and go away.

She complied and took her family to the plantation of Jourdain James, hoping to work and keep her family together. Wages received for her work failed to support the mother and children so she left the employ of Mr. James and worked from place to place until her children became half starved and without clothing.

The older children, remembering better and happier days, ran away from their mother and went back to their old master.

Thomas Watson went to Dixon, Kentucky and had an article of indenture drawn up binding both Thomas and Laurah to his service for a long number of years. Little Samuel only remained with his mother who took him to the home of William Allen Price. Mr. Price’s plantation was situated in Webster County, Kentucky about half-way between Providence and Clay on Craborchard Creek. Mr. Price had the little boy indentured to his service for a period of eighteen years. There the boy lived and worked on the plantation.

He said he had a good home among good people. His master gave him five real whippings within a period of fourteen years but Uncle Samuel believes he deserved every lash administered.

It was the custom for a slave indentured to a master to be given a fair education, a good horse, bridle, saddle and a suit of clothes for his years of toil, but Mr. Price did not believe the boy deserved the pay and refused to pay him. A lawyer friend sued in behalf of the N***o and received a judgement of $115.00 (one hundred and fifteen dollars). Eighteen dollars repaid the lawyer for his service and Samuel started out with $95.00 and his freedom.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Samuel Watson	1862	Lauana Creel	Thomas Watson

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Evansville, IN	Indiana	Clay, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Emancipation, Economics, Equality	Third person, Dialect, Bound out after war, whipped, notable,

Watson_S_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Sarah Waggoner

Sarah Waggoner was a 93 year old formerly enslaved person. She remembers a great deal about her life of enslavement. In this excerpt she first describes how her enslaver worked her much harder late in the Civil War because she knew the enslaved were likely to be freed. She then goes on to describe the work and the life she lived inside her enslavers’ house.

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Excerpt:

During the war, Old Miss kept telling me I had to help her put new cloth in the loom and when little Jane, that’s her little girl, wanted me to play, her mother would say, ’Sarey has to work fast now, because she is going to be free’. Oh Lord, Miss, Sarey will never be free. But I was freed.

Now I am going to tell you about home life. I worked in the house for Old Miss, and we had plenty to do and plenty to eat. When the white folks were through eating, I got a pan and got the grub, and sat on the floor and ate it.

Oh Lordy, but I worked hard since I was twelve years old. But not in the fields. Old Miss said there was plenty for me to do in the house, and there was, sure enough. I washed and cooked for all of us. And ironed too. I’d heat the irons, great big old irons, in the fireplace. I ironed on a quilt spread out on the floor, and I ironed just as nice as anybody. I lived right in the house with the white folks. In summer we slept, my brother Henry and me, in a trundle bed in the kitchen; and in the winter made a pallet beside the fireplace. Old Pap was good to us. He kept up a fire all night when it was cold. I never saw a cooking stove or a lace shoe until I was freed. We just had to burn our faces cooking over the fireplace. I milked eight cows and then put the milk away. That took a long time. They didn’t have horses then, much. They had a yoke of oxen. Sometimes some of us were hired out to work but we didn’t get any money for that ourselves. They drawed the wages.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Sarah Waggoner	1844 (93)	G.K. Bartlett	Jim Howard

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Savannah, MO	Missouri	Grayson County, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Gender/gender roles	First person, dialect, hired out

Waggoner_S_1

September 27, 2020September 28, 2020

Sebert Douglas

Sebert Douglas lived in Kentucky before and during the Civil War. In this excerpt, he gives several brief recollections: of Morgan’s raid, enslaved persons who joined the Union Army, examples of KKK violence, and what he did after emancipation.

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Excerpt:

I remember [Confederate General John Hunt] Morgan’s Raid. I don’t remember what year it was but I remember a right smart about it. Cumberland Gap was where they met. The Rebs and Yankees both came and took things from old master. I remember three horses they took as well. Yankees had tents in the yard. They were in the yard right in front of the Methodist church.

My mother was Mrs. Hood’s slave, and when she married she took my mother along and I was born on her place. I was the carriage boy in slave times. My father did the driving and I was the waiting boy. I opened the gates.

I remember Billy Chandler and Lewis Rodman ran off and joined the Yankees but they came back after the war was over.

Pattyrollers were about the same as the Ku Klux. The Ku Klux would take the roof off the colored folks’ houses and take their bedding and make ’em go back where they came from.

We stayed right there with old master for two or three years, then we went to the country and farmed for ourselves.

I went to school just long enough to read and write. I never seen any use for figures until I married and went to farming.

Interviewee Formerly enslaved person	Birth Year (Age)	Interviewer WPA Volunteer	Enslaver’s Name
Sebert Douglas	82 years old	Bernice Bowden	Gover Hood

Interview Location	Residence State	Birth Location
Pine Bluff, AK	Arkansas	Lebanon, KY

Themes & Keywords	Additional Tags:
Civil War, Emancipation, Violence,	First person, dialect, Klan/mob violence, Union soldiers,

Douglas_S_1