Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States - From Interviews with Former Slaves - Ohio Narratives by Work Projects Administration
page 75 of 141 (53%)
page 75 of 141 (53%)
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"Father was a cook.
"Mother's mistress was always good and kind to her. "When I was born, mother's master said he was worth three hundred dollars more. I don't know if he ever would have sold me. "I think our home was on the plantation. We lived in a cabin and there must have been at least six or eight cabins. "Uncle Simon, who boarded with me in later years, was a kind of overseer. Whenever he told his master the slaves did something wrong, the slaves were whipped, and Uncle Simon was whipped, too. I asked him why he should be whipped, he hadn't done anything wrong. But Uncle Simon said he guessed he needed it anyway. "I think there was a jail on the plantation, because Mamma said if the slaves weren't in at a certain hour at night, the watchman would lock them up if he found them out after hours without a pass. "Uncle Simon used to tell me slaves were not allowed to read and write. If you ever got caught reading or writing, the white folks would punish you. Uncle Simon said they were beaten with a leather strap cut into strips at the end. "I think the colored folks had a church, because Mamma was always a Baptist. Only colored people went to the church. "Mamma used to sing a song: |
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