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District of Columbia
Mrs. Lancy Harris. 84 years old 407 55th St., N.E.
Born in Edgecombe County, N.C. about July 1852.
I dunno my father nor my mudda. Jessup Powell always went o' Richmond to buy good breeders. Perry Powell (an ex-slave), who died here last month was one o dem da Jessup Powell bought o Richmond. Jessup Powell drawd my father and mudda, den Lewis drawd my father and he took the name o Lewis. Dey neber hab no mo chillen. I didn't no my father. One day my mudda showd me a man driving his missus to town and said dat wus my father.
I remember when he throwd me ma first dress from the hoot of the marriage. I remember whut it look like. Yeah, jes a red dress wid black flowers in it.
Ma bed had fo' posts and a cord running from pos' to pos' to make spring. We sleep in a room wid pot racks near the fire place, a barrel of soap up in a corner, but the floors wus white like a bread tray. Everything wus in one room. We used to call granpa William Joiner cause he wus a blacksmith and carpenter. He joined so many things togeder. Ha, ha! my mem'ry goes and comes. Billie was my grandpa's name. My sight is better now than den, wood you blive it?
I didn't work. I used to stay wid Aunt Kate. I done all the cooking for Aunt Kate --- ash cake, ho-cake. William Joiner used to fetch possums, coon and sometimes raccoon and rabbit and I used to do the cooking. My husban' and I used to pick cotton every day. When fodder time come I work Sunday. Some Sunday I worked my own garden.
So many chillen didn't wear clothes. But the missus owned the loom and de servants weave. When de chillen are big enough to work dey gib 'em some cloth from the loom. When I got my issue and my clothes wus good I wud make my cloth into dresses and gib to da chillen.
Old man Jessup Powell married the Doctor's wife after the doctor was dead. The doctor had lots o land. All went to his wife so Jessup didn't know how much land he had fo his new missus had plenty o' land and slaves. I reckon dey had well ni 500 or 600 slaves.
Dick Harrison was another slave owner. He was never married, never had no chillen wid the slave girls. He was good to his niggers. He never allowed anybody to whip his slaves. "I neber would for anyone to whip niggers," he wud say. But when Dick need money tho he wud send the nicest looking one to Richmond jail fo sale. (They evidently had no jail on the plantation. The only jail existed was the one in Richmond.)
Old man Henry Downing (nigger-driver) he wud eat you alive---L-o-r-d he wus so mean. Yo' ud better not let him see you wid a book let alone learning to read.
We used to go over to the plantation of ole man Stanley White.
Sometimes we used to call him "Stamper." He wud come and preach to us. We wud go up stairs and dey (white folks) downstairs. We had another preacher we used to call Preacher Gold.
I remember Fred Douglass, Perry Coston from Virginia, and a man by the name of Mason. I shook hands with Booker T. Washington.
I joined the church the year Garfield was shot in the 6th depot near the old Center Market.
I have two grandsons living somewhere. Their names are George Barnes and Joseph Dellworth.
Lee"
