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No. Words 678 Editor Daisy Bailey Waitt
An interview with Mary Barbour 81 of 801 S. Bloodworth Street, Raleigh, N. C.
"I reckon dat I was borned in McDowell County, case dat's whar my mammy, Edith, lived. She 'longed ter Mr. Jefferson Mitchel dar, an' my pappy 'longed ter er Mr. Jordan in Avery County, so he said.
"'Fore de war, I doan know nothin' much 'cept dat we lived on a big plantation an' dat my mammy wucked hard, but was treated pretty good.
"We had our little log cabin off ter one side, an' my mammy had sixteen chilluns. Fas' as dey got three years old de marster sol' 'em till we las' four dat she had wid her durin' de war. I was de oldes' o' dese four; den dar was Henry an' den de twins, Liza an' Charlie.
"One of de fust things dat I 'members was my pappy wakin' me up in de middle o' de night, dressin' me in de dark, all de time tellin' me ter keep quiet. One o' de twins hollered some an' pappy put his hand ober its mouth ter keep it quiet.
"Atter we was dressed he went outside an' peeped roun' fer a minute den he comed back an' got us. We snook out o' de house an' long de woods path, pappy totin' one of de twins an' holdin' me by de han' an' mammy carryin' de udder two.
"I reckons dat I will always 'member dat walk, wid de bushes slappin' my laigs, de win' sighin' in de trees, an' de hoot owls an' whipporwhillo hollerin' at each other from de big trees. I was half asleep an' skeered stiff, but in a little while we pass de plum' thicket an' dar am de mules an' wagin.
"Dar am er quilt in de bottom o' de wagin, an' on dis dey lays we youngins. An' pappy an' mammy gits on de beard cross de front an' drives off down de road.
"I was sleepy but I was skeered too, so as we rides 'long I lis'ens ter pappy an' mammy talk. Pappy was tellin' mammy 'bout de Yankees comin' ter dere plantation, burnin' de co'n cribs, de smokehouses an' 'stroyin' eber'thing. He says right low dat dey done took marster Jordan ter de Rip Raps down nigh Norfolk, an' dat he stol' de mules an' wagin an' 'scaped.
"We was skeerd of de Yankees ter start wid, but de more we thinks 'bout us runnin' way frum our marsters de skearder we gits o' de Rebs. Anyhow pappy says dat we is goin ! ter jine de Yankees.
"We trabels all night an' hid in de woods all day fer a long time, but atter awhile we gits ter Doctor Dillard's place, in Chowan County. I reckons dat we stays dar seberal days.
"De Yankees has tooked dis place so we stops ober, an' has a heap o' fun dancin' an' sich while we am dar. De Yankees tells pappy ter head fer New Bern an' dat he will be took keer of dar, so ter New Bern we goes.
"When we gits ter New Bern de Yankees takes de mules an' wagin, dey tells pappy something, an' he puts us on a long white boat named Ocean Waves an' ter Roanoke we goes.
"Later I larns dat most o' de reffes1 is put in James City, nigh New Bern, but dar an a pretty good crowd on Roanoke. Dar was also a ole Indian Witch 'oman dat I 'members.
"Atter a few days dar de Ocean Waves comes back an' takes all ober ter New Bern. My pappy was a shoemaker, so he makes Yankee boots, an' we gits 'long pretty good.
"I was raised in New Bern an' I lived dar till forty years ago when me an' my husban' moved ter Raleigh an' do' he's been daid a long time I has lived hyar ober since an' aben if'en I is eighty-one years old I can still outwuck my daughter an' de rest of dese young niggers."
N. C. District No. 2 Subject Plantation Times Worker Mary ?? Hicks"
