Tag: First-Person

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George Conrad, Jr.

George Conrad was an enslaved person on a 900 acre farm in Kentucky.  In this excerpt he begins by describing “patrollers” whose job was to be monitor the movement of enslaved peoples, to be sure if they were off their  property they had the proper paperwork.   He goes on to describe tales he’d heard of John Brown and the Underground Railroad.
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Excerpt:

I heard a lot of talk ’bout the patrollers. In those days if you went away from home and didn’t have a pass they’d whip you. Sometimes they’d whip you with a long black cow whip, and then sometimes they’d roast elm switches in the fire. This was called “cat-o-nine-tails”, and they’d whip you with that. We never had any jails; only punishment was just to whip you.

Now, the way the slaves travel. If a slave had been good sometimes old Master would let him ride his horse ; then, sometime they’d steal a horse out and ride them and slip him back before old Master ever found it out. 

There was a man in those days by the name of John Brown. We called him an underground railroad man, ’cause he’d steal the slaves and carry them across the river in a boat. When you got on the other side you were free, ’cause you were in a free State, Ohio.  We used to sing, and I guess young folks today do too: “John Brown’s Body Lies a’Molding In the Clay.” and  “They Hung John Brown On a Sour Apple Tree.”

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
George Conrad, Jr.1860 (77)UnknownJoe Conrad
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Oklahoma City, OKOklahomaHarrison County, Kentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Underground Railroad, EmancipationFirst person, slave patrols, John Brown, Underground Railroad

Conrad_G_1

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Alex and Elizabeth Smith

Alex and Elizabeth Smith were enslaved on separate farms, owned by relatives in close proximity to each other.  This excerpt describes their different experiences during enslavement, and their early life after gaining freedom.
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Excerpt:

On the Peter Stubblefield plantation, the slaves were treated very well and had plenty to eat, while on the Robert Stubblefield plantation Mr. Smith went hungry many times, and said, “Often, I would see a dog with a bit of bread, and I would have been willing to take it from him if I had not been afraid the dog would bite me.”

Mrs. Smith was named after Elizabeth Stubblefield, a relative of Peter Stubblefield. As a child of five years or less, Elizabeth had to spin “long reels five cuts a day,” pick seed from cotton, and cockle burrs from wool, and perform the duties of a house girl.

Unlike the chores of Elizabeth, Mr. Smith had to chop wood, carry water, chop weeds, care for cows, pick bugs from tobacco plants. This little boy had to go barefoot both summer and winter and remembers the cracking of ice under his bare feet.

The day the mistress and master came and told the slaves they were free to go anyplace they desired, Mrs. Smith’s mother told her later that she was glad to be free but she had no place to go or any money to go with. Many of the slaves would not leave and she never witnessed such crying as went on. Later Mrs. Smith was paid for working. She worked in the fields for “vittles” and clothes. A few years later she nursed children for twenty-five cents a week and “vittles,” but after a time she received fifty cents a week, board, and two dresses. She married Mr. Smith at the age of twenty.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
Alex and Elizabeth SmithUnknown (83)Henrietta KarwowskiRobert and Peter Stubblefield
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
South Bend, INIndianaKentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Family, Emancipation, Economics,First Person,

Smith_A_1

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Frank Cooper

Frank Cooper was a child when he first spoke to his mother about her experiences being enslaved.  This excerpt starts with her reaction to he and his siblings asking her about scars on their backs.  After she has given them a taste of her experiences, she goes on to tell them of a time when she was whipped and severely beaten by her enslavers.  The excerpt ends with her enslaver attempting to auction her off, only to stop the sale to an enslaver who only wanted to punish her.
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Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
Frank CooperUnknownWilliam R. MaysGood,  Burton, Cooper
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Franklin, INIndianaKentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Family, Gender/Gender roles, ViolenceFirst person, whipped, witnessed extreme cruelty, slave traders, sold (family)

Excerpt:

One day while my mammy was washing her back my sistah noticed ugly disfiguring scars on it. Inquiring about them, we found, much to our amazement, that they were mammy’s relics of the now gone, if not forgotten, slave days.

This was her first reference to her misery days that she had ever made in my presence. Of course we all thought she was telling us a big story and we made fun of her. With eyes flashing, she stopped bathing, dried her back and reached for the smelly ole black whip that hung behind the kitchen door. Bidding us to strip down to our waists, my little mammy with the boney bent-over back, struck each of us as hard as ever she could with that black-snake whip, each stroke of the whip drew blood from our backs. Now, she said to us, you have a taste of slavery days. With three of her children now having tasted of some of her misery days she was in the mood to tell us more of her sufferings; still indelibly impressed in my mind.

‘My ole back is bent over from the quick-tempered blows feld by the red-headed Miss Burton.  At dinner time one day when the churning wasn’t finished for the noonday meal, she said with an angry look that must have been reborn in my mammy’s eyes—eyes that were dimmed by years and hard living, three white women beat me from anger because they had no butter for their biscuits and cornbread. Miss Burton used a heavy board while the missus used a whip. While I was on my knees begging’ them to quit, Miss Burton hit the small of my back with the heavy board.I knew no more until kind Mr. Hamilton, who was staying with the white folks, brought me inside the cabin and brought me around with the camphor bottle. I’ll always thank him—God bless him—he picked me up where they had left me like a dog to die in the blazing noonday sun.

‘After my back was broken it was doubted whether I would ever be able to work again or not. I was placed on the auction block to be bidded for so my owner could see if I was worth anything or not. One man bid $1700 after putting’ two dirty fingers in my mouth to see my teeth. I bit him and his face showed anger. He then wanted to own me so he could punish me. Thinking his bid of $1700 was official, he unstrapped his buggy whip to beat me, but my master saved me. My master declared the bid unofficial.  At this auction my sister was sold for $1900 and was never seen by us again.’

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Frank Cooper

Frank Cooper was a child when he spoke to his mother about her time in enslavement.  Here, he recounts a tale she told him of the Ku Klux Klan coming into her town and the measures the men in town took to protect themselves and their families from the potential cruelty the KKK would bring.

*“Historically-used terms that are offensive, marginalizing and/or disparaging have been removed from the transcripts and replaced with [victims].
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Excerpt:

My mother related some experiences she had with the Paddy-Rollers, later called the Ku Klux, these Paddy-Rollers were a constant dread to the N***oes. They would whip the poor victims unmercifully without any cause. One night while the N***oes were gathering for a big party and dance they got wind of the approaching Paddy-Rollers in large numbers on horseback. The N***o men did not know what to do for protection, they became desperate and decided to gather a quantity of grapevines and tied them fast at a dark place in the road. When the Paddy-Rollers came thundering down the road bent on deviltry and unaware of the trap set for them, plunged head-on into these strong grapevines and three of their number were killed and a score was badly injured. Several horses had to be shot following injuries.

When the news of this happening spread it was many months before the Paddy-Rollers were again heard of.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
Frank CooperUnknownWilliam R. MaysGood,  Burton, Cooper
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Franklin, INIndianaKentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
ViolenceFirst person, whipped, Klan/mob violence

Cooper_F_2

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George Conrad, Jr.

George Conrad was an enslaved person on a 900 acre farm in Kentucky. His father enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War.  In this excerpt, Mr. Conrad describes his father enlisting with the other males who were enslaved on the plantation.  He also tells a tale of the enslaved hiding and protecting their enslaver when Union troops raided the plantation.
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Excerpt:

There were 14 colored men working for old Master Joe and 7 women. I think it was on the 13th of May, all 14 of these colored men, and my father, went to the Army. When old Master Joe come to wake them up the next morning–I remember he called real loud, Miles, Esau, George, Frank, Arch, on down the line, and my mother told him they’d all gone to the army. Old Master went to Cynthiana, Kentucky, where they had gone to enlist and begged the officer in charge to let him see all of his boys, but the officer said “No.” Some way or another he got a chance to see Arch, and Arch came back with him to help raise the crops.

. . . When my father went to the army old Master told us he was gone to fight for us n******’ freedom. My daddy was the only one that come back out of the 13 men that enlisted, and when my daddy came back old Master gave him a buggy and horse.  

When the Yanks come, I never will forget one of them was named John Morgan. We carried old Master down to the barn and hid him in the hay. I felt so sorry for old Master they took all his hams, some of his whiskey, and all they could find, hogs, chickens, and just treated him something terrible.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
George Conrad, Jr.1860 (77)UnknownJoe Conrad
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Oklahoma City, OKOklahomaHarrison County, Kentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Civil WarFirst person, Union troops, 

Conrad_G_2

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George Conrad, Jr.

George Conrad was an enslaved person on a 900 acre farm in Kentucky. Mr. Conrad enlisted in the army in 1883 and took part in the fighting with American Indians during that time.  In this excerpt, he describes an example attempts by the US Army to force assimilation on Indians in Oklahoma.
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Excerpt:

I laid there ’til August 8, then we changed regiments with the 5th Calvary to go to Nebraska. There was a breakout with the Indians at Ft. Reno the 1st of July 1885. The Indian Agency tried to make the Indians wear citizens’ clothes. They had to call General Sheridan from Washington, D. C., to quiet the Indians down. Now, we had to make a line in three divisions, fifteen miles a part, one non-commissioned officer to each squad, and these men was to go to Caldwell, Kansas and bring him to Ft. Reno that night. He came that night, so the next morning Colonel Brisbane and General Hatch reported to General Sheridan what the trouble was. General Sheridan called all the Indian Chiefs together and asked them why they rebelled against the agency, and they told them they weren’t going to wear citizen’s clothes. General Sheridan called his corporals and sergeants together and told them to go behind the guard house and dig a grave for this Indian agent in order to fool the Indian Chiefs. Then, he sent a detachment of soldiers to order the Indian Chiefs away from the guard house and to put this Indian agent in the ambulance that brought him to Ft. Reno and take him back to Washington, D. C., to remain there ’til he returned. The next morning he called all the Indian Chiefs to the guard house and pointed down to the grave and said that, “I have killed the agent and buried him there.” The Indians tore the feathers out of their hats rejoicing that they killed the agent.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
George Conrad, Jr.1860 (77)UnknownJoe Conrad
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Oklahoma City, OKOklahomaHarrison County, Kentucky
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Assimilation, Equality,First person, Indians, Assimilation, Veteran,

Conrad_G_3

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George Dorsey

George Dorsey was an enslaved child during the Civil War.  In this excerpt, he describes the fear he always had when he saw soldiers approaching the plantation where he was enslaved.  He tells of hiding from them, and also of witnessing them stealing food and supplies from the plantation.  He ends by describing a tale of a horse that belonged to the enslaver’s son being stolen by soldiers, but returned by the soldiers when the son confronted them about it.
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Excerpt:

About the time the war was over I saw my first soldier. The road that passed along in front of our house was a dirt road. I’d gone with Mother to watch her milk a young cow late one night, about dark I guess, when I heard somebody hollering and yelling and I looked down the road and saw them coming. I was about five years old then and it looked to me like all the army was coming up the road. The captain was on a horse and the men afoot and the dust from the dirt road flying. There was a moon shining and you could see the muskets shining in the moonlight. I was sitting on a fence and when I saw them it scared me so I started to run. When I jumped off I fell and cut a hole in my forehead right over this left eye. The scar’s there yet. I ran in the house and hid. Mr. Sammy Duvall had to get on a horse and go to New Liberty and fetch a doctor to plug up the hole in my head. I saw lots of soldiers after that and I always ran under the bed or hid in a closet or somewhere. They stayed around here for a long time. Finally provender got low and the soldiers took to stealing. We called it stealing, but I reckon it wasn’t for they came and got the stuff like meat out of the smoke house in broad open daylight. Mr. Duvall had a chestnut earl stallion he called Drennon and they came, or somebody did, and got him one night. One day, about two or three weeks later, Will Duvall, a son of Mr. Sammy Duvall, heard that the horse was over in Henry County where the soldiers had a camp. So he went over there and found the Captain and told him he’d come after old Drennon. The Captain said to describe him and Will said, Captain, he’s a chestnut earl named Drennon. If I whistle a certain way he’d nicker and answer me. Well, they went down to the stable where they had a lot of stalls like, under tents. and when they got there, Will, he whistled, and sure enough, old Drennon nickered. So the Captain, he said, That’s your horse all right. Go in and get him and take him on home.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
George Dorsey1860 (76)John ForseeSammy Duvall
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Owens County, KYKentuckyOwenton, KY
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Civil WarFirst person, Union troops

Dorsey_G_1

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John Graves

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.
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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 GravesUnknown (85 years old)Caldwell SimsDr. Jim Gibbs
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Spartanburg, SCSouth CarolinaUnknown
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
FamilyFirst Person, Dialect, Sold (self or family), Slave Traders

Graves_J_1

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John Patterson

John Patterson was an enslaved person who moved to Arkansas during the Civil War because his enslaver wanted to keep John and other enslaved people from being taken by Union soldiers.  In this excerpt he briefly shares this experience, as well as telling of some of the songs they used to sing while being enslaved.
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Excerpt:

I was born near Paducah, Kentucky. Mother was never sold. She belonged to Master Arthur Patterson. Mother was what folks called black folks. I’ve never seen a father to know. I never heard mother say a thing about my father, if I had one. He never was no use to me nor her neither. 

Mother brought me here in time of the Civil War. I was four years old. We came here to be kept from the Yankee soldiers. We were sent with some of the Pattersons.

. . . I forgot our plough songs:  ‘I Wonder Where my Darling is.’  ‘N***** Makes the Cotton and the White Man Gets the Money.’  Everybody used to sing. We worked from sun to sun; we courted and were happy. People are not happy now. They are craving now. About four o’clock we all start up singing. Sing till dark. 

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
John Patterson[Year (age at interview)]Irene RobertsonArthur Patterson
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Helena, ARArkansasPaducah, KY
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Civil War, FamilyFirst person, dialect, Union Soldiers

Patterson_J_1

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John W. Fields

John W. Fields lived in enslavement and gained freedom shortly before the Civil War ended.  In this excerpt, he describes the situation that arose when his first enslaver died, and the 12 children had to pick the name of their new enslaver out of a hat.  This led to every child being separated from their mother.

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Excerpt:

My name is John W. Fields and I’m eighty-nine (89) years old. I was born March 27, 1848 in Owensboro, Ky. That’s 115 miles below Louisville, Ky. There were 11 other children besides myself in my family. When I was six years old, all of us children were taken from my parents, because my master died and his estate had to be settled. We slaves were divided by this method. Three disinterested persons were chosen to come to the plantation and together they wrote the names of the different heirs on a few slips of paper. These slips were put in a hat and passed among us slaves. Each one took a slip and the name on the slip was the new owner. I happened to draw the name of a relative of my master who was a widow. I can’t describe the heartbreak and horror of that separation. I was only six years old and it was the last time I ever saw my mother for longer than one night. Twelve children taken from my mother in one day. Five sisters and two brothers went to Charleston, Virginia, one brother and one sister went to Lexington Ky., one sister went to Hartford, Ky., and one brother and myself stayed in Owensburg, Ky. My mother was later allowed to visit among us children for one week of each year, so she could only remain a short time at each place.

Interviewee 
Formerly enslaved person		Birth Year (Age)Interviewer
WPA Volunteer		Enslaver’s Name
John W. Fields1848 (89)Cecil C. MillerDavid Hill
Interview LocationResidence StateBirth Location
Lafayette, INIndianaOwensboro, KY
Themes & KeywordsAdditional Tags:
Family, slave tradersFirst person, sold

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