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N. C. District No. 2 Worker Mary A. Hicks No. Words 568 |
Subject JOSEPHINE SMITH Story teller Josephine Smith Editor Daisy Bailey Waitt" |
Smith, Josephine |
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An interview with Josephine Smith, 94 years old of 1010 Mark, Street, Raleigh, N. C.
"I was borned in Norfolk, Virginia an' I doan know who we belonged to, but I 'members de day we was put on de block at Richmond. I was jist todlin' roun' den, but me an' my mammy brought a thousan' dollars. My daddy, I reckon, belonged ter somebody else, an' we was jist sold away from him jist lak de cow is sold away from de bull.
"A preacher by de name of Maynard bought me an' mammy an' carried us ter Franklinton, whar we lived till his daughter married Doctor John Leach of Johnston County; den I was give ter her.
"All my white folkses was good ter me, an' I reckon dat I ain't got no cause fer complaint. I ain't had much clothes, an' I ain't had so much ter eat, an' a many a whuppin', but nobody ain't nebber been real bad ter me.
"I 'members seein' a heap o' slave sales, wid de niggers in chains, an' de spec 'ulators sellin' an' buyin' dem off. I also 'members seein' a drove of slaves wid nothin' on but a rag 'twixt dere legs bein' galloped roun' 'fore de buyers. 'Bout de wust thing dat eber I seed do' was a slave 'oman at Louisburg who had been sold off from her three weeks old baby, an' was bein' marched ter New Orleans.
"She had walked till she was give out, an' she was weak enough ter fall in de middle o' de road. She was chained wid twenty or thirty other slaves an' dey stopped ter rest in de shade o' a big oak while de speculators et dere dinner. De slaves ain't havin' no dinner. As I pass by dis 'oman begs me in God's name fer a drink o' water, an' I gives it ter her. I ain't neber be so sorry fer nobody.
"Hit was in de mont' of August an' de sun was bearin' down hot when de slaves an' dere drivers leave de shade. Dey walk fer a little piece an' dis 'oman fall out. She dies dar side o' de road, an' right dar dey buries her, cussin', dey tells me, 'bout losin' money on her.
"Atter de war I comes ter Raleigh an' wucks fer Major Russ den I cooks a year on Hillsboro Street fer somebody who I can' 'member right now, den I goes ter Louisburg ter cook in Mr. Dedman's hotel, an' hearin' 'bout Melissa I fin's dat she am my sister, so I goes ter Mis' Mitchel's an' I gits her.
"A few years atter de war I marries Alex. Dunsen who was a body slave fer Major Fernie Green an' went through all de war. Me an' him lived tergether sixty years, I reckon, an' he died de night 'fore Thankagivin' in 1923.
"Slavery wuzn't so good, case it divided famblies an' done a heap o' other things dat was bad, but de wuck was good fer everlbody. It's a pity dat dese youngins nowadays doan know de value o' wuck lak we did. Why when I was ten years old I could do any kind o' house wuck an' spin an' weave ter boot. I hope dat dese chilluns will larn somethin' in school an' church. Dats de only way dey can larn it."
