From the WPA Slave
Narratives:
Porter Bond
Foreword: The following is an interview with Mrs. Laura Dickerson and an old
Bolivar County negro. Mrs. Dickerson, who has made her home in this county
many, many years and is prominently identified with the upbuilding of the
Bolivar-Benoit community, gives us this interview in the exact words of this
old colored man.
"Uncle Porter, how old are you?" You must have lived in the county a long
time."
"Lordy Miss, I just can't recollect just how long I is been here, and den I'se
just got so old till what I'se seen and what my old daddy told me all runs
together and I can't tell where one starts and de tother finishes, but I does
know I'se an old man and I'se seed lots of changes in my days. Why dis was a
young country when I first comed down here with Mr. Jim Bond from Franklin
Tennessee, way back yonder when he was a real young man, and I was too, but
not as young as him. He had already been down here and had a big store in
Cleveland, and then he come on over to Beulah and had a store and started
farming and thats when he brung me down here with him. He had the biggest
store at Beulah and de biggest furnishing in de county I guess. Why on Sadays
de niggers and wagons come from every which o way to git grub and den in de
fall, here dey come hauling in de cotton and everybody had money and was
happy. Why Mr. Jim done so much business he had to send and git Mr. Tom, his
younger brother, to help him, and Mr. John Bloodworth kept books and Mr. Henry
Martin and Mr. Harris boy all hope out on Sadays. I tells you, Beulah was a
hot town in dem days. The worst water, why you could pump it fresh and pour it
in de glasses on de table fur dinner and before the folks could get there to
drink it, it had a scum on it and had done turned yellow. And de mud was
awful. Does you know a cow bogged down in de street one winter and natcherly
died. Dey want no bottom to de roads, pore buckshot, and de more you traveled
dem de deeper dey git. And whiskey! Well, you see Mr. George Christmas had a
whiskey boat in de middle of de lake. Dey say it was anchored on de Arkansas
side. I don't see how dey could tell, but it was dere and de supply never run
out. Folks (men) would come between trains and walk over to de levee. Dere was
always a row boat to meet you, and den here dey'd come reeling back to cetch
de down train or up train and sometimes dey didn't cetch up. And Sadays,
specially nights, was terrible. Mr. Jim never let any of his women folks go to
town on Saday dere would be so many drunks and so much shooting. No, dey
didn't kill anybody much, dey just shot for the fun of hit, up through the
roof of the porch to the Chinamans store and some of um would just set down on
the side walk and shoot up in de air, jes shooting. Judge Cooper was there and
had a buggy and pair of horses that he hired to the drummers to drive to
Rosedale. All de roads followed de levees and wound and twisted about till you
couldn't scarcely git no where. Mrs. Cooper, who was de war Governors daughter
and de fines woman in de land, why she looked after everybody and was a mammy
to all de white folks, seemed lack she could do more things and do um better
den any body. But she was Ristocrat and had been raised on de cream of de
land, but dat just seemed to let her know how to do de nicest kindest things
for everybody.
Mound City was a fine place in dem days, and Mr. Frank Bond and de Waltons and
de Aycocks all lived out dere and had big places and nice families. But that
Hematuria was so bad den, what fum the bad water and swamp and skeeters, till
most of de chillun died. It was a bad place fur chillen and de women and
chilluns all tried to get away to the hills every summer till de frost. Dat
hoped, but dey didn't know it was de skeeters. Why Miss, you'd set in de
chairs and rock and dere would be a drove of dem fly in round your head and
den folks got mosquito bars and den dey screened dey houses and dey done
better. No skeeters seemed to hurt de niggers so bad. Us just sleeps under
bars and den we sprays with coal oil and moth balls and it smells so bad dey
stays away.
Yes, dem was steam boat days and de river cut lots of ice with de folks. Den
de railroads come. Den good roads, till now de country is just like de town,
you can go anywhere. But the white folks is getting more plentiful and de
niggers scarcer, but de niggers and mules will always be de best bet for
cotton. We'se seen de swamp go and de land drained. The woods cleared away
till now folks has to haul fire wood seven and eight miles. We'se got de
telephones and de radios and de cars. Black and white rides everywhere. Why
when I come here, de only way to git around was to ride a mule or walk. Times
shorely changed and soon I'll go on with Gabriel and wear my wings and see
Jesus. Thanky Miss for de coffee and de sweet bread. Good day."
Interviewer: Laura Dickerson
Transcribed by Ann Allen Geoghegan
Mississippi Narratives
Prepared by
The Federal Writer’s Project of
The Works Progress Administration
For the State of Mississippi
