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The following story was given by a colored woman, Esther Hudespeth, who was once sold as a slave. It was told to her by her slave mother in 1840:
" A long time ago there lived a rabbit and a coon. They lived so close together. One morning Mr. Coon came by after Mr. Rabbit, and wanted him to go over to see some girls with him. So Mr. Rabbit agreed and went with Mr. Coon. Mr. Coon and the girls had some fun making fun of Mr. Rabbit's short tail. Mr. Rabbit was very glad when the time came for him to go home, because he was tired of being talked about. Mr. Coon had to go get a drink of water, and Mr. Rabbit told the girls that Mr. Coon was his riding horse and he would ride him when he came back. By the time he got thru telling the girls, Mr. Coon called to Mr. Rabbit that he was ready to go. Mr. Coon had enjoyed himself so much, while Mr. Rabbit had not.
The next day Mr. Coon came by for Mr. Rabbit to go with him to see the girls, Mr. Rabbit played sick. I am too sick to walk over there, he said. Mr. Coon said, I will carry you on my back if you want to ride. No, said Mr. Rabbit, I cant ride on your back. I will fall off.
Mr. Rabbit said, If you will let me put this saddle and bridle on you, I will go. So Mr. Coon agreed to let Mr. Rabbit put the saddle and bridle on Mr. Coon. So they went along thru the woods. When they got in sight of the House, Mr. Coon told Mr. Rabbit to get off--that he did not want the girls to see him on his back. Mr. Rabbit pulled out a whip and began to whip Mr. Coon, hollowing so the girls would see him, and made Mr. Coon go up to the hitching rack. There Mr. Rabbit hitched Mr. Coon and went in the house and enjoyed hims self with the girls, while Mr. Coon pawed the ground. Mr. Rabbit bade the girls goodbye, and never did Mr. Coon come after Mr. Rabbit to go to see the girls with him.
Anderson Co. (Mildred Roberts) Many of the following stories were related by Mr. W.B. Morgan who at one time owned and operated a livery barn. He hired several negroes to look after the horses and hacks, and remembers many funny tales about them and others:
"Kie Coleman, one of my employees, was standing without the livery stable smoking a two-fer cigar that some one had given him. Another negro walked up to chat with him, and he reared back and said"Get away nigger, nothing but the rich can endure life."
"I was hauling grain for the distillery. One morning I came down to the barn, and Kis was too drunk to take his team out. I gave him a good going over about wasting his money that way instead of saving it for a decent funeral. This is one of the best ways to appeal to a darkey because if there is any thing they like it is a big funeral.
"He just kinda staggered up to me and said "Boss, I don't worry a bit about dat. White folks don't like to smell a live nigger and I'se knows good and well da hain't gwine to lebe no dead nigger laying on top of de groun'."
"I furnished the horses for the hearse, and one night I tole the boys to leave it in the stable because we were going to have another funeral the next day.
"Each night one of the boys had to sleep in the office, and this particular night it was Bill's turn. Bill was an old, One -legged negro and very superstitious. He said.:
"Boss, this is my night to stay here, and you know, boss, I sho likes to work for you, but I jest tells you now there jest hain't room in this here house fer me and that black wagon at night." I moved the hearse."
KNOX CO. (Stewart Carey)
Some slaves were owned in Knox Co., most of them being in Barbourville where they served as house-servants. The negro men worked around the house and garden, while the women were cooks and maids. The slaves usually lived in small one-room houses at the rear of their masters home, and were generally well fed and clothed.
There was some trading of slaves among the Barbourville and Knox. County owners, and few were sold at Public Auction. These public sales were held on Courthouse Square, and some few slaves were bought and sold by "Negro Traders" who made a business of the traffic in blacks. Occasionally a negro man would be sold away from his family and sent away, never to see his people again.
CIARK CO. (Mayme Nunnelley)
Most Kentucky superstitions are common to all classes of people because the negroes originally obtained most of their superstitions from the white and because the superstitions of most part of Kentucky are in almost all cases not recent invention but old survivals from a time when they were generally accepted by all Germanic peoples and by all Indo-Europeans.
The only class of original contributions made by the negroes to our stock of superstitions is that of the hoodoo or voodoo signs which are brought from Africa by the ancestors of the present colored people of America. On the arrival of the negro in America, his child like mind was readily receptive to the white man's superstitions.
The Black slave and servants in Kentucky and elsewhere in the South have frequently been the agents through which the minds of white children have been sown with these supernatural beliefs, some of which have remained permanently with them. Nearly all classes of superstitions find acceptance among the negroes. The most widely prevalent are beliefs concerning haunted houses, weather signs, bad luck and good luck signs, charm curse and cures and hoodoo signs. Their beliefs that the date of the planting of vegetables should be determined by the phases of the moon is unshaken.
Casey Co. (R.L. Nesbitt)
While slavery existed in Casey Co., as in other counties of the State, before the Civil War, there are no negroes living the county today who were born into slavery; and very few white people who can remember customs, incidents, or stories of the old slavery days. It is known that the first slaves in the county were those brought here from Virginia by the early white settlers of the county; and that until they were given their freedom, the slaves were well cared for and kindly treated. They lived in comfortable cabins on the lands of their owners, well fed and clothed, given the rudiments of spiritual and educational training, necessary medical attention in sickness; and it was not unusual for some slave owners to give a slave his or her freedom as a reward for faithful or unusual services. If there was any of the so-called "Underground Railway" method used to get slaves out of the state, as was the case in many c unties, there are no current stories or legends relative to such to be heard in the county today. It is thought that the slaves of Casey County wore so well cared for and so faithful and loyal to their masters that very few of them cared to leave and go to non-slavery states in the North. So there was little, if any, call for any secret methods to provide for their escape. Even after they were given their freedom, many slaves refused to leave their masters and spent the remainder of their lives in the service and as charges of their former owners. The present generation of course knows nothing of slavery, and even the older people know only what was told them by the forebears, and no especially interesting stories or legends are current in the county today relative to slaves, or the customs of the old slavery days before the War between the States.
CHRISTIAN CO. (Mamie Hanbery)HOO-DOOISHA snake head an' er lizard tail, Hoo-doo;Not close den a mile o' jail, Hoo-doo;De snake mus' be er rattlin' one,Mus' be killed at set uv sun,But never while he's on de run, Hoo-doo.Before you get de lizard cot, Hoo-doo;You mus' kill it on de spot, Hoo-doo;Take de tail an' hang it up,Ketch de blood in a copper cup,An' be sure it's uv a pup, Hoo-doo.Wait until sum stormy weather, Hoo-doo;Put do head an' feet together, Hoo-doo;In a dry ol' terrapin shell,Let 'em stay fer a good long spell,But don't you ever try to sell, Hoo-doo.De rattlers mus' be jus' seben, Hoo-doo;But mus' not be ober Leben, Hoo-doo;He mus' be curl'd up fix'd to fight,But see dat you don' let him bite,Den you hit w'en de time is right, Hoo-doo.
Ef you do, it's power is dead, Hoo-doo;'Cause it is all right in de head, Hoo-doo;Save de head and do buttons, too,Fer de work you'll have ter do,You will need 'em till you're thru, Hoo-doo.Ketch a live scorpen wid you han', Hoo-doo;Drown in mare's milk in a pan, Hoo-doo;Den dry it on a pure lime rook,Ninety-nine minutes by de clock, Hoo-doo.Den git a hand which is a bag, Hoo-doo;Made uv any sort uv rag, Hoo-doo;An' let de top be color'd blue,Den git de hair frum out de shoe, Hoo-doo.Now we'n you find de folks ain't well, Hoo-doo;An' dey wants yu to move de spell, Hoo-doo;Git your gredients together,Ster den up wid a goose feather,In sum dark an' cloudy weather, Hoo-doo.Den put 'em in de hoo-doo bag, Hoo-doo;In dat little blue top rag, Hoo-doo;Den slip 'em in between de ticks,Ef you what de conjure fixed,Is de way you do de tricks, Hoo-doo.Ef dey wants you to git 'em well, Hoo-doo;Dat is de han' dat moves de spell, Hoo-doo;Take it out before der eyes,An' you mus' be awful s'prised,And dey will think dat you is wise, Hoo-doo.Den lay right down on your back, Hoo-doo;Ef you hear de timbers crack, Hoo-doo;
Den yer kno's yer trick has won,
Den you'll ast er-bout de man,
For you kno's yer work is done, Hoo-doo.
Now ef you wants de conjure fixt, Hoo-doo;
All you do is to turn de tricks, Hoo-doo;
Jes git dat bottle what you had,
An' to make your patient glad,
Is but to make de conjurer mad, Hoo-doo.
HOPKINS CO.(M. Hanberry)
In this county practically no one owned more than one or two slaves as as this was never a county of large plantations and large homes. These slaws were well housed, in cabins, well clothed and well fed, not overworked and seldom sold, were in closer touch with the "white folks" and therefore more intelligent than farther south where slaves lived in quarters and seldom came in contest with their masters or the masters families. When a gentleman wished a slave he usually wont to Hopkinsville and bought slaves there. Occasionally one slave owner would buy one from another. "If there was over a slave market in Madisonville or Hopkins County I do not remember it or ever heard of it," says J. M. Adams, booze-keeper of Marlen Coal Company, age 34, Madisonville, Ky.
MARTIN CO. (Cullen Jude)
In the year 1864, during the conflict between the North and South, a new citizen was added to the town of Warfield. His name was Alfred Richardson, a colored man. Heretofore the people would not permit negroes to live in Warfield.
Richardson was in a skirmish at Warfield and was listed among the northern people as missing. His leg was injured and he was in a serious condition. The good people living at Warfield had their sympathies stirred up by his condition and took him in and gave him food and medical attention until he was able to work.
At first the people thought they had done a Samaritan Act, but as soon as Alf had a chance to prove himself, he was considered a blessing and not a curse. He became the paper hanger for the town. Then someone wanted to have his hair cut and Alf proved to be an excellent barber.
He rented a ship and went into the barber business and made a success. He owned considerable land, and other property when he died. He lived and died at Warfield, Ky., and was considered one of its most up to date citizens.
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