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References
1(A) Mrs. America Morgan -Ex-slave- 816 Camp Street.
2(B) Anna Pritchett -Federal Writer- 1200 Kentucky Avenue.
America Morgan was born in a log house, daubed with dirt, in Ballard County, Kentucky, in 1852, the daughter of Manda and Jordon Rudd. She remembers very clearly the happenings of her early life. (A)
Her mother, Manda Rudd, was owned by Clark Rudd, and the "devil has sure got him." (A)
Her father was owned by Mr. Millingham, who was very kind to his slaves. Jordon became a Rudd, because he was married to Manda on the Rudd plantation. (A)
There were six children in the family, and all went well until the death of the mother, Clark Rudd whipped her to death when America was five years old. (A)
Six little children were left motherless to face a "fromning world." (A)
America was given to her master's daughter, Miss Made, to wait an bar, as her personal property. She lived with her for one year, then was sold for $600.00 to Mr. and Mrs. Uttorback; stayed with them until the end of the Civil war.
0(A)
1The new mistress was not so kind, Miss Meda, who knew her reputation, told her if she abused America, she would come for her, and she would loose the $600.00 she had paid for her. Therefore, America was treated very kindly.
2(A)
Aunt Catharine, who looked after all tho children on the plantation, was vary unruly, no one could whip her. Once America was sent for two man to come and tho Aunt Catherine. She fought so hard, it was as much as the man could do to tie her. They tied her hands, than hung her to the joist and lashed her with a cow hide. It "was lawful to hear her sereams." (A)
In 1865 her father came and took her into Paduca, Kentucky, "a land of freedom." (A)
Whom thirteen years old, America did not know A from B, then "glory to God," A Mr. Greeleaf, a white man, from the north, came down to Komtucky and opened a school for negro children. That was America's first change to learn. He was very kind and very sympathy. She went to school for a very short while. (A)
Her father was very peer, had nothing at all to give his children. (A)
America's mistress would not give her any of her clothes. "All she had in this world, was what she had on her back."Then she was "hired out" for $1.00 a week. (A)The white people for when she worked were very kind to her and would try to teach her when her work was done.
She was given an old fashioned spelling book and a first reader. She was then "taught mush and began to know life." (A)
She was sent regularly to church and Sunday school. That was when she began to "make up" to her duty as a free
girl. (A)
The Rev. D.W. Dupes was her Sunday school teacher, from him she learned much she had never known before. (A)
At seventeen years of age, she married and "faced a frowning world right." She had a good husband and tenchildren, three of when are living today, one son and two daughters. (A)She remembers one slave, who had been given five hundred lashes on his back, thrown in his cabin to die. He laid on the floor all night, at down he came to himself, and there were blood hounds licking his back. (A)
When the overseers lashed a slave to death, they would turn the bloodhounds out to small the blood, so they wouldknow "nigger bleed," that would help trace runaway slaves. (A)Aunt Jane Stringer was given five hundred lashes and thrown in her cabin. The next morning when the overseer came, he kicked her and told her to get up, and wanted to know if she was going to sleep there all day. When she did not answer him, he rolled her over and the poor woman was dead, leaving several motherless children. (A)When the slaves were preparing to run stay, they would put lot pepper on their feet, this would cause the hounds tobe thrown off their trail. (A)
Aunt Margaret ran off, but the bounds traced her to a trees she stayed up in the tree for two days and would notcome down until they promised not to whip her any more, and they kept their promise. (A)Old mistress' mother was sick a long time, and little America had to keep the flies off of her by waving a paper flybrush over her bed. She was so mean, America was afraid to go too near the bed for fear she might try to grab herand shake her. After she died, she haunted America. Anytime she would go into the room, she could hear herknocking on the wall with her cane. Some nights they would hear her walking up and down the stairs for longperiods at a time. (A)
Aunt Catherine ran off, because "ole missie" hainted her bad. (A)The old master came back after his death and would ride his favorite horse, old pemp, all night long, once every
week. When the boy would go in to feed the horses, old Pemp would have his ears hanging down, and he would be"just worn out," after his night ride. (A)America believes firmly in haunts, and said she had lived in several haunted houses since coming up north. (B)Mrs. Morgan lives with her baby boy and his wife. She is rather intelligent, reads and writes, and tries to do all she
can to help those who are less fortunate than she. (B)Submitted December 27, 1937Indianapolis, IndianBy: ANNA PRITCHOTT
Field Writer
(Iris Cook, District 4, Floyd County, Slave Story, 850 words)
