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1B.N.
2N. C. District No. 2 Subject Tiney Shaw, Ex-Slave Worker Mary A. Hicks Story Teller Tiney Shaw No. Words 607 Editor Daisy Bailey Waitt"
"My papa was a free nigger, case he was de son of de master who was named Medlin. When a chile was borned ter a slave woman an' its pappy was de boss dat nigger was free from birth. I know dat de family was livin' on His' Susy Page's place durin' de war an' we was jist lak slaves alldo' we was said to be free den.
"My pappy was named Madison Medlin, maybe for de president, an' my mammy was a pretty, slim brown-skinned gal when I could remember. Dey said dat she was named fer Betsy Ross. I had four brothers, Allison, William, Jeems and John an' five sisters named Cynthy Ann, Nancy, Sally, Caroline an' Molly.
"We hyard a heap 'bout de war, but de white folkses didn't want us to know 'bout it. Most of de white wimmens had ter live by dere selves durin' de time dat de men folkses was away at de war, but de niggers in our neighborhood stuck ter de missus an' dar ain't no niggers from other plantations come dar ter insult 'em nother.
"I 'members dat it was in April when de Yankees come ??' I hyard Mis' Susy cryin', case she was a widder 'oman; an' her crops was jist started ter be planted.
She knowed dat she was ruint, I reckon.
"Me an' my mammy was sittin' by de fireplace when de Yankees come. I crawled under de wash bench but de Yankee officer drug me out an' he sez, 'Go fetch me a dozen aigs, an' I wants a dozen now, mind yo'.'
"I looked till I found twelve aigs an' I started ter de house wid 'em, but bein' so excited I drapped one uv dem an' cracked it. I was sceered stiff now sho' nuff, an' I runned inter de back do' an' crawled under de bed. De officer seed me do' an' he cracks his whup an' makes me come out den he sez, 'Nigger what's dat out dar in dat barrel in de hallway?"
"I sez, 'Lasses sir', an' he sez 'draw me some in dis cup.'
"I draws 'bout a half a cupful an' he sez, 'Nigger dat ain't no 'lasses,' an' he cracks his whup ag'in.
"I den draws de cup full as it could be an' he tells me ter drunk it.
"I drinks dat whole cupful uf 'lasses 'fore he'll lemmie 'lone. Den I runs back ter my mammy.
"Atter awhile de Yankee comes back an' sticks his haid in de do' an' he 'lows, 'ole doman, yo' 'lasses am leakin'.
"Sho' nuff it was leakin' an' had run all down de hall an' out in de yard, but he done pull de stopper out fer meanness so he could laff at mammy when she waded through dat 'lasses. Dey laffs an' laffs while she go steppin' down through de 'lasses lak a turkey walkin' on cockleburs.
"Dem Yankees done a lot of mischief, I knows case I was dar. Dey robbed de folkses an' a whole lot of darkies what ain't never been whupped by de master got a whuppin' from de Yankee soldiers.
"De Ku Klux Klan warn't half as bad as dem Yankee robbers what stayed in Raleigh atter de war, robbin', plunderin', an' burnin' up ever'thing. De south had ter have de Ku Klux Klan but dey ain't had no need fer de Yankees.
"De first winter atter de war was de worse winter I ever knowed, an' I'se tellin' yo' dat was bad. Maybe yo' doan think so but nigh 'bout ever' nigger in de world cussed ole Abraham Lincoln dat winter."
1B.N.
