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N. C. District No. 2 Subject PLANTATION LIFE Worker Mary A. Hicks Story teller Lila Nichols No. Words 679 Editor Daisy Bailey Waitt"
An Interview with Lila Michols 89 of Cary, Wake County, N. C. 18 May 1937.
"We belonged ter Mr. Nat Whitaker atter his marriage. His daddy, Mr. Willis, give us to him. We lived near Rhamkatte wid Mr. Willis, an' we was happy. My pappy was named Yancey an' my mammy was named Sabra. Dar was two brothers named Yancey an' Add, an' five sisters: Alice, Sally, Martha, Betty an' Helia.
"Ole massa was good ter his slaves, but young massa Nat wuzn't. We ain't had half nuff ter eat most o" de time, an' we ain't had no shoes till we was twenty-one. We had jist a few pieces of clothes an' dey was of de wust kind. Our cabins was shacks, an' we got seberal whuppin's near 'bout ever' day. Fer example I had de job of gittin' up de aigs in de ebenin', an' if de ain't de right number of dem Missus Mae whupped me. I also looked atter de bitties, an' iffen one of 'em died I got a whuppin' too.
"Once missus was sick, an' a slave gal named Alice brung her some water an' some thin' ter eat. Missus got sick on her stomick, an' she sez dat Alice done try ter pizen her. Ter show yo' how sick she was, she gits out of de bed, strips dat gal ter de waist an' whups her wid a cowhide till de blood runs down her back. Dat gal's back was cut in gashes an' de blood run down ter 'er heels. Atter dat she was chained down by de arms an' laigs till she got well; den she was carried off ter Richmond in chains an' sold.
"We wucked all de week, my mammy plowin' wid a two-horse plow all de year when she warn't cleanin' new ground or diggin' ditches; an' she got two days off when her chilluns was borned. We ain't had no passes ter go nowhar, an' we ain't allowed offe'n de groun's.
"I know one time do' missus 'cides ter whup a 'oman fer somethin' an' de 'oman sez ter her, 'No sir, Missus,' ain't 'lowin' nobody what wa'r de same kind of shirt I does ter whup me.'
"We was glad when de Yankees comed, aldo' dey acted lak a pack o' robbers. Dey burned de cotton, dey stold eber' thing dey could lay han's on, an' dey tored up ever' thing scand'lous. Dey'd go ter de house an' knock at de do', den missus would lock it an' yell at 'em dat she warn't gwinter open it. Dey doan keer, dey jist kicks it down an' walks right in.
"Dey snatch pictures frum de side o' de house an' throw 'em down an' break 'em. Dey drunk up all of massa's brandy, an' dey insults de white wimmen an' de blacks alike.
"De Yankees comed on a Thursday an' we lef' on Sunday. When we left de yard was full of dem Yankees, cussin', an' laughin', an' drinkin'. We went to Raleigh, an' de fust winter wuzen't so bad atter all. We doan keer nothin' 'bout Mr. Lincoln, case he ain't keerin' 'bout us. He was lak de rest of de Yankees, he jist doan want de south ter git rich. Dey tol' us dat de warn't no slaves in de no'th but we done found out dat de only reason was 'cause dey can't stan' de cold weather dar, an' dat de No'th am greedy of us.
"I 'members de Ku Klux Klan, an' I ain't got nothin' 'ginst 'em, case dey had ter do somethin' wid dem mean niggers an' de robber Yankees, who had done ruint us all. I knowed some niggers what ain't got 'long so well an' dey done mean case dey blame de white folks; but atter awhile dey sees dat it am Massa Lincoln's fault, so dey gits quiet. I said dat we was glad dat de Yankees comed. We was, jist cause our massa warn't good lak some massas, an' at dat, we ain't want ter be free."
