|
|
Kilpatrick, Emmaline
Age 74
White Plains, Greene Co., Ga.
BY: SARAH H. HALL ATHENS, GA.
One morning in October, as I finished planting hyacinth bulbs on my cemetery lot, I saw an old negro woman approaching. She was Emmaline Kilpetrick, born in 1863, on my grandfather's plantation.
"Mawnin' Miss Sarah," she began, "Ah seed yer out hyar in de graveyard, en I cum right erlong far tex git yer ter read yo' Aunt Willie's birthday, offen her toomstone, an put it in writin' fer me."
"I don't mind doing that for you, Emmaline," I replied, "but why do you want to know my aunt's birthday?"
"Well," answered the old ex-slave, "I can't rightly tell mah age no udder way. My mammy, she tole me, I was bawned de same night ez Miss Willie was, en mammy allus tole me effen I ever want ter know how ole I is, jes' ask my white folks how ole Miss Willie is."
When I had pencilled the birth date on a scrap of paper torn from my note book and she had tucked it carefully away in a pocket in her clean blue checked gingham apron, Emmaline began to talk of the old days on my grandfather's farm.
"Miss Sarah, Ah sho did love yo' aunt Willie. We was chilluns growin' up tergedder on Marse Billie's place. You mought not know it, but black chilluns gits grown heap faster den white chilluns, en whilst us played 'round de yard, en orchards, en pastures out dar, I was sposed ter take care er Miss Willie an not let her git hurt, er nuthin' happen ter her.
"My mammy say dat when Marss Billie cum hom' frum de War, he call all his niggers tergedder en tell 'em dey is free, en doan b'long ter nobody no mo'. He say dat any uf 'um dat want to, kin go 'way and live whar dey laks, en do lak dey wanter. How some ebber, he do say effen enybody wants ter stay wid him, en live right on in de same cabins, dey kin do it, effen dey promise him ter be good niggers en mine him lak dey allus done."
"Most all de niggers stayed wid Marse Billie, 'ceppen two er thee brask, gool for authin's."
Standing there in the cemetery, as I listened to old Emaline tell of the old days, I could see cotton being loaded on freight cars at the depot. I asked Emmeline to tell what she could remember of the days when we had no railroad to haul the cotton to market.
"Well," she said, "Fore dis hyar railroad was made, day hauled de cotton ter de Pint (She meant Union Point) en sold it dar. De Pint's jes' 'bout twelve miles fum hysr. Fo' day had er railroad thu de Pint, Marse Billie used ter haul his cotton clear down ter Joole ter sell it. My mammy say dat long fo' de War he used ter wait twel all de cotton was picked in de fall, an den he would have it all looded on his waggins. Not long fo' sundown he wud start de waggins off, wid yo' unker Anderson bossin' am, on de all night long ride towards Jools. 'Bout fo' in de manzmin' Marse Billie en yo' grammaw, Miss Margie, 'ud start off in de surrey, driving de bays, en fo' dem waggins git tar Jools Marse Billie done cotch up wid am. He drive er head en lead em on ter de cotton mill in Jools, whar he sell all his cotton. Den him en Miss Margie, dey go ter de mill sto' en buy whi'e sugar en udder things dey dosn raise on de plantation, en lood 'em on de waggins en start back home."
"But Emmaline," I interrupted, "Sherman's army passed through Jewels and burned the houses and destroyed the proparty there. How did the people market their cotton then?"
Emmaline scratched her head. "Ah 'members somepin 'bout dat." she isclared. "Yassum, I sho' does 'member my mammy sayin' dat folks sed when de Fed'rals was bunnin' up evvy thing 'bout Jools, dey was settin' fire ter de mill, when de boss uv dem sejers look up an see er sign up over er ups'airs window. Hit was de Mason's sign up day, kaze dat was de Moson's lodge hell up over de mill. De sojer boss, he weks de udder sojers put out da fire. He say him er Mason hisself an he ain' gwins see nobuidy burn up er Masonic Hall. Dey kinder teors up some uv de fixin's er de Mill wuks, but dey iassant burn down de mill house kaze he ain't lat "em do nuthin' ter de Massonie Hall." Yer knows, Miss Sarah, Ah zuz jes" 'bout two years ole when dat happen, but I ain't heared nuffin' 'bout no time when dey didden' take cotton ter Jools ever year twel de railroad come hyar."
"Did yer ax me who mah'ed my maw an paw? Why, Marse Billie did, cose he did! He was Jedge Moore, Marse Billie was, en he wone gwine hav no foolis'ment 'mongst 'is niggers. Fo' de War en durin' de War. de niggers went ter de same church whar dare white folks went. Only de niggers, dey set en de gallery."
"Marse Billie made all his niggers wuk moughty hard, but he sho' tuk good keer uv 'em. Miss Margie allus made 'em send fer her when de chilluns was bawned in de slave cabins. My mammy, she say, Ise 'bout de onliest slave baby Miss Margie diden' look after de bawnin, on dat plantation. When say nigger on dat farm was sick, Marss Billie seed dat he had medicine en lookin' atter, en ef he was bad sick Marse Billie had de white folks doctor come see 'bout 'im."
"Did us hev shoes? Yas Ma'am us had shoes. Dat was all ole Pegleg was good fer, jes ter mek shoes, en fix shoes attar dey was 'bout ter give out. Pegleg made de evvy day shoes for Marse Billie's own chilluns, 'cept now en den Marse Billie fetched 'em home some sto' bought shoes fun Jools."
"Yassum, us sho' was skeered er ghosts. Dem days when de War won't long gone, niggers sho' was skert er graveyards. Mos' evvy nigger kep' er rabbit foot, kaze ghosties wons gwine bodder nobuddy lat hed er lef' hind foot frum er graveyard rabbit. Dem days dar was mos' sllus woods 'round de graveyards, en it uz easy ter katch er rabbit ez he loped outer er graveyard. Lawsy, Miss Sarah, dose days Ah sho' wouldn't er been standin' hyar in no graveyard talkin' ter annybody, eben in wide open daytime."
"En you ex was dey enny thing else uz was skert uv? Yassum, us allus did git moughty oneasy ef er saritck owl hollered st night. Pappy ud hop right out er his bed en stick de fire shovel en de cosls. Effen he did dat rat quick, en look over 'is lef' shoulder whilst de shoyel gittin' hot, den maybe no nigger gwins die dat week on dat plantation. En us nebber did lak ter fine er hawss tail hair en de hawse trough, kaze us was sho' ter meet er snake fo' long."
"Yassum, us had chawms fer heap er things. Us got 'em fum er ols Injun 'oman dat lived crost de crick. Her sold us chawms ter mek de mens lak us, en chawms dat would git er boy baby, er anudder kind er chawm effen yer want er gal baby. Miss Margie allus scold 'bout de chawms, en mek us shamed ter wear 'em, 'cept she doan mine ef us wear paserfitidy chawms ter keep off fevers, en she doan say nuffin when my mammy wear er nutmeg on a wool string 'round her neck ter keep off de rheumotiz.
"En is you got ter git on home now, Miss Sarah? Lemme tote dat hoe en trowel ter yer car fer yer. Yer gwine ter take me home in yer car wid yer, so ez I kin weed yer flower gyarden fo' night? Yassum, I sho' will be proud tar do it fer de black dress you wo' las' year. Ah gwine ter git evvy speck er grass outer yo' flowers, kaze ain' you jes' lak yo' grammaw - my Miss Margie."
(DIST. 6, Ex-Slave #65, J. B. James)
