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Brinkley, Arkansas
Age 64
"I was born third year after the surrender. There was thirteen children in my family when I was a child. We was
different sizes and the grown children helped look after the little ones. My parents was field hands. My parents
belong to Dr. Hatch. He lived in Aberdeen, Mississippi. We lived in the country on his place. He had five or six
children. Ben and Needham come out to the farm. He was an old man and we stayed on the son's place -- same
place -- till I come to Arkansas. We come in 1885. We heard it was a better country and open stock range. Dr.
Hatch was very good to my folks.
"I don't think the Ku Klux bothered my folks but we was afraid of them.
"My father voted a Republican ticket. I never voted.
"My grandmother was real light akin. Mother was mixed with white. She told us she was sold away from her
mother when she was a little bitter of a girl and never seen her no more till she was the mother of six children. They
didn't know one another when they met. Her mother knowed who bought her and after freedom she kept asking
about her and finally heard where she was and come to her. There was no selling place at Aberdeen so I don't know
where she was bought. Dr. Hatch lived to be an old man. He owned a lot of slaves and lots of land.
"Father's old master was Whitfield. He sold him to Dr. Hatch when he was a young man. Father was a driver in the
Civil War. He hauled soldiers and dumped them in the river. The Union soldiers wouldn't give them time to bury
the other side. He took rations all but the times he hauled dead soldiers. He got shot in his arm above the wrist. He
died before they give him a pension. He was a Union soldier. He talked a lot but that is all I can tell straight. I don't
know if he mustered out or not.
"I worked in the field, wash, iron, end cooked. We get $12 from the Welfare. My husband had two strokes. He has
been sick three years.
"My parents' name Simpson Match and Jacob Hatch. They had thirteen children."
Interviewer Mary D. Hudgins
Home Plessant at John Street.
"Miss Huggins ?" (pronounced hew--gins) "Yes, ma'am she lives here. Ch Miss Huggins, Miss Huggins. They's
somebody to see you."
The interviewer had approached an open door of an "L" kitchen attached to a "shot gun house". Thru the
diningroom and a bed room she was conducted to the "front bedroom. This was furnished simply but with a good
deal of elaborating. The bed was gay with brightly colored pillows. Most of them had petal pillow tops wade from
brilliant crepe paper touched with silver and guilt. The room was evidently not occupied by Mrs. Huggins herself
for lave in the interview a colored girl entered the room. "Do you want your room now?" Mrs. Huggins inquired.
"No indeed, there's lots of time,"the girl replied politely. But the interviewer managed to terminate the interview
quickly.
"So you knew Fanny McCarty. Well, well, so you knew Fanny. I don't know when I've heard anybody speak about
her. She's not so much on looks, but Fanny is a good little woman, a mighty good little woman. She's up in
Michigan, You know she worked at one of the big hotels here--the Eastman it was. When they closed in the summer
they sent her up to the big hotel on Mackinac. For a while she was here in the winter and up there for the summer
season. Then she stayed on up there.
You say she worked for yo when you were a little girl? before the fire of 1913? Now, I remember, you were just a
little girl and ou used to come over to my house sometimes with her. I remember." ( A delighted smile) "now I
remember.
No, I don't remember very much about the war. It is mostly what I heard the older ones say. My grandmother used
to tell me a lot about it. I was just a little thing in my mother's arms when the war was over. Guess I was about four
years old. We lived in St. Francis County and as soon as we were free pappa sent for us. He sent for us to come by
boat to where he was. We went to Helena. I remember they wer all lined up-- the colored soldiers were. But I knew
pappa. They all wondered bow, hadn't seen him in a long time. But I picked him out of all the line of men and I said,
"There's my pappa." Yes, my pappa was a soldier in the war. He was gone from home most of the time. I only saw
him once in a while.
My grandmother told me lots of things about slavery. She was born a free girl. But when she was just a little girl
somebody stole her and brought her to Arkansas and sold her. No, from the things they teld me-----especially
grandmother--they weren't very good to them. Lots of times I've gone down on my knees to my grandmother to hear
her tell about how mean they were to them.
I'd say to her, 'Grandmother, why didn't you fight back?' 'You couldn't fight back,' she said, ' you just had to take it.'
'I wouldn't,' I said, 'I wouldn't take it.' Guess there's too much Indian blood in me. A white person never struck me
but once. I was a girl--not so very big and I was taking care of a white lady's little girl. She and a friend of hers were
talking and I sneaked up to the door and tried to listen to what they were saying. She caught me and she scolded
me--she struck at me with her fan-----it was just a light tap, but it made me mad. I fought her and I ran off home.
She came to get me too. I never would have gone back otherways. She said she never did see a girl better with
children.
I remember my grandmother telling about once when she was cooking in the kitchen, her back was turned and an
old hound dog got in and started to take the chicken which was on the table. He had even got part of it in his mouth.
But she turned and saw him----she choked the dog--and choked him until she choked the chicken out of him. You
can see she must have been pretty scared to be afraid to let them know the chicken had been tampered with. Then
we always thought my mother's death was caused by her being beat by an overseer----she caused that overseer's
death, she got him while he was beating her. They had to hide her out to save her life-- but a long time afterwards
she died----we always laid it to that hard beating.
We lived in Helena after the war. My father was the marrying kind. He was a wild marrying man. He hed lots of
wives. But Mother and grandmother wouldn't let us call them Mother-----she made us call them Aunt. It really was
my grandmother who reared me. She was a good cook, had good jobs all the time.
When I grew up I married. Mr. Huggins was a bar tender in a saloon. He made good money. We had a good home
and I took care of the home. I had it mighty easy. Then one day he fell in the floor paralyzed. I brought him to Hot
Springs. That was back in 1905. We stayed on and he lived for 18 years.
I got a house there and I kept roomers. That was where Fanny stayed with me. It was at 311 Pleasant. You
remember the place, tho. When I was young, I had it easy. But now I'm old and I don't have it so well. A few years
ago I was out in California on a visit. There was a man shining up to me and I wrote my nieee 'What would you
think if your aunty married' 'Law,' she wrote back to me, 'you've lived by yourself so long now, you couldn't stand a
man.' Maybe she was right."
( At this point the girl passed into the room. ) "Look Maggie, had three pretty handker chiefs. Miss Hudgins brought
them. And I was just writing to my sister-----my half sister today, I didn't even expect to much as a handkerchief for
Christmas. And my initials embroidered on them too. One with A on it and two with H. I'm really proud of them.
I'm going to write to Fanny to tell her about your coming to see me. She'll be so glad to know about you. I'll tell her
about the handkerchiefs. You know, for a while Fanny had it pretty hard while she was here. She stayed at my
house and I kept her for a long time without pay. I knew Fanny was a good girl and that when she got work she
would pay me back. Do you know what Fanny has done?
When she heard I was hard up she wrote me and told me to come up to Michigan to her and she would take care of
me just as I had taken care of her. But I didn't want to go. Wasn't it nice of her, though?
Yes, when I was young I had it easy. I had my home and took care of it. If I needed more money, I mortgaged my
home and paid it back. Then I'd mortgage it and pay it back. But I mortgaged it once too often. That time I couldn't
pay it back. I lost it.
Well, I'm so glad you came to see me. I remember the pretty little girl who used to come to my house with Fanny.
Be sure to write to her, she'll ap preciate it, and thank you for the handkerchiefs."
Interviewer Mrs. Annie L. LaCotts"
