Sallie Carder
Age 83 yrs.
Burwin, Okla
Page 22 - 29
I was born in Jackson, Tennessee, and I’m going on 83 years. My mother
was Harriett Neal and father Jeff Bills, both of them named after their masters. I has one brother,
J. B. Bills, but all de rest of my brothers and sisters is dead.
No sir, we never had no money while I was a slave. We jest didn’t have
nothing a tall! We ate greens, corn bread, and ash cake. De only time I ever got a biscuit would be
when a misdemeanor was did, and my Mistress would give a buttered biscuit to de one who could tell
her who done it.
In hot weather and cold weather dere was no difference as to what we
wore. We wore deresses my mother wove for us and no shoes a tall. I never wore any shoes till I was
grown and den dey was old Brogans wid only two holes to lace, one on each side. During my wedding I
wore a blue calico dress, a man’s shirt tall as a headpag, and a pair of brogan shoes.
My Master lived in a three-story frame house pained white. My Mistress
was very mean. Sometimes she would make de overseer whip negroes for looking to hard at her when she
was taking to dem. Dey had four children, three girls and one boy.
I was a servant to my Master, and as he had de palsy I had to care for
him, feed him and push him around. I don’t know how many slaves but he had a good deal of ‘em.
Bout four o’clock mornings de overseer or negro carriage driver who
stayed at the Big House would ring de bell to git up and git to work.
De slaves would pick a heap of cotton and work till late on moonshining
nights.
Dere was a white post in front of my door with ropes to tie the slaves to
whip dem. Dey used a plain strap, another one with holes in it, and one dey call de cat wid nine
tails which was a number of straps plated and de ends unplated. Dey would whip de slaves wid a wide
strap wid holes in it and de holes would make blisters. Den dey would take de cat wid nine tails and
burst de blisters and den rub de sores with turpentine and red pepper.
I never say any slaves auctionsed of but I seen dem pass our house
chained together on de way to be sold, including both men and women wid babies all chained to each
other. Dere was no churches for slaves, but at nights dey would slip off and git in ditches and sing
and pray, and when dey would sometimes be caught at it dey would be whipped. Some of de slaves would
turn down big pots and put dere heads in dem and pray. My Mistress would tell me to be a good
abedient slave and I would go to heaven, When slaves would attempt to tun off dey would catch dem
and chain dem and fetch ‘em back and whip dem before dey was turned loose again.
De patrollers would go about in de quarters at nights to see if any of de
slaves was out or slipped off. As we sleep on de dirt floors on pallets, de patrollers would walk
all over and on us and if we even grunt dey would whip us. De only trouble between de whites and
blacks on our plantation was when de overseer tied my mother to whip her and my father untied her
and de overseer shot and killed him.
Negroes never was allowed to git sick, and when dey would look somewhat
sick, de overseer would give dem some blue – mass pills and oil of some sort and make dem continue
to work.
During de War de Yankees would pass through and kill up de chickens, and
hogs, and cattle, and eat up all dey could fine. De day of freedom de overseer went into de field
and told de slaves dat dey was free, and de slaves replied, “free how” and he told dem! “free
to work and live for demselves.” And dey said dey didn’t know what to do, and so some of dem
stayed on. I married Josh Forch. I am mother of four children and 35 grand children.
I like Abraham Lincoln. I think he was a good man and president. I
didn’t know much who Jeff Davis was. What I heard ‘bout Booker T. Washington, he was a good man.
Now dat slavery is over, I don’t want to be in nary ‘nother slavery,
and if ever nary ‘nothern come up I wouldn’t stay here.
Contributed by M. Dawson, May 2002