From the WPA Slave
Narratives:
James Cornelius age 90+
James Cornelius lives in Magnolia in the northwestern part of the town, in the
Negro settlement. He draws a Confederate pension of four dollars per month. He
relates events of his life readily.
"I does not know de year I was borned but dey said I was 15 years old when de
War broke out an' dey tell me I'se past 90 now. Dey call me James Cornelius
an' all de white folks says I'se a good 'spectable darkey.
"I was borned in Franklin, Loos'anns. My mammy was named Chlo an' dey said my
pappy was named Henry. Dey b'longed to Mr. Aler Johnson an' whil'st I was a
baby my mammy, my brudder Henry, an' me was sol' to Marse Sam Murry Sandell
an' we was brung to Magnolia to live an' I niver remember seein' my pappy
ag'in.
"Marse Murry didn' have many slaves. His place was right what young Mister
Lampton Reid is buildin' his fine house jes east of de town. My mammy had to
work in de house an' in de fiel' wid all de other niggers an' I played in de
yard wid de little chulluns, bofe white an' black. Sometimes we played 'tossin'
de ball' an' sometimes we played 'rap-jackest' an' sometimes 'ketcher.' An'
when it rained we had to go in de house an' Old Mistess made us behave.
"I was taught how to work 'round de house, how to sweep an' draw water frum de
well an' how to kim'le fires an' keep de wood box filled wid wood, but I was
crazy to larn how to plow an' when I could I would slip off an' get a old
black man to let me walk by his side an' hold de lines an' I thought I was big
'nouf to plow.
"Marse Murry didn' have no overseer. He made de slaves work, an' he was good
an' kind to 'em, but when dey didn' do right he would whip 'em, but he didn'
beat 'em. He niver stripped 'em to whip 'em. Yes ma'm, he whipped me but I
needed it. One day I tol' him I was not goin' to do whut he tol' me to do -
feed de mule - but when he got through wid me I wanted to feed dat mule.
"I come to live wid Marse Murry 'fo dar was a town here. Dar was only fo'
houses in dis place when I was a boy. I seed de fust train dat some to dis
here town an' it made so much noise dat I run frum it. Dat smoke puffed out'n
de top an' de bell was ringin' an' all de racket it did make made me skeered.
"I heared dem talkin' 'bout de war but I didn' know whut dey meant an' one day
Marse Murry said he had jined de Qnitman Guards an' was goin'to de war an' I
had to go wid him. Old Missus cried an' my mammy cried but I thought it would
be fun. Is tuk me 'long an' I waited on him. I kept his boots shinin' to yer
could see yer face in 'an. I brung him water an' fed an' cur'ied his hoss an'
put his saddle on de hoss for him. Old Missus tol' me to be good to him an' I
was.
"One day I was standin' by de hoss an' a ball kilt (killed) de hoss an' be fell
over dead an' den I cried like it mout (might) be my bradder. I want way up in
Tennessee an' den I was at Port Hudson. I seed man fall down an' die; dey was
kilt like pigs. Marse Murry was shot an' I stayed wid him 'til day could git
him home. Day lef' me behin' an' Col. Stockdale an' Mr. Sam Matthews brung me
home.
"Marse Murry died an' Old Missus run de place. She was good an' kind to us all
an' den she mar'ied afte' while to Mr. Getlia. Dat was afte' de war was over.
"Whil'st I was in de war I seed Mr. Jeff Davis. He was ridin' a big hoss an'
he looked mighty fine. I niver seed him'septin he was on de hoss.
"Dey said old man Abe Lincoln was de nigger's friend, but frum de way old
Marse an' de sojers talk 'bout him I thought he was a might mean man.
"I doesn't recollec' when dey tol' us we was freed but I do know Mr. Getlin
would promise to pay us fer our work an' when de time would come for to pay he
said he didn' have it an' kep' puttin us off, an' we would work some more an'
git nothin' for it. Old Missus would cry an' she was good to us but day had no
money.
"'To de war Marse Murry would wake all de niggers by blowin' a big 'konk' an'
den when dinner time would come Old Missus would blow de 'konk' an' call dem
to dinner. I got so I could blow dat 'konk' for Old Missus but oh! it tuk my
wind.
"Marse Murry would 'low me to drive his team when he would go to market. I
could haul de cotton to Covin'ton an' bring back whut was to eat, an' all de
oxen could pull was put on dat wagon. We allus had good satin afte' we had
been to market.
"Every Chris'mus would come I got a apple an' some cendy an' mammy would cook
cake an' ples for Old Missus an' stack dem on de shelf in de big kitchen an'
we had every thing good to eat. Dem people sho' was good an' kind to all
niggers.
"Afte de war de times was hard an' de white an' black people was fightin' over
who was to git de big office, an' den dere was might leetle to eat. Dar was
plen'y whiskey, but I'se kep' 'way frun all dat. I was raised right. Old
Missus taught me ter 'spect white folks an' some of den promised me land but I
niver got it. All de land I'se ever got I work might hard fer it an' I'se got
it yit.
"One day afte' Mr. Gatlin said he couldn' pay me I run 'way an' went to New
Orleans an' got a job haulin' cotton, an' made my 50 cents an' dinner every
day. I sho' had me plan'y money den. I stayed dere mighty close on to fo'
years an' den I went to Tylertown an' hauled cotton to de railroad for Mr. Ben
Lampton. Mr. Lampton said I was de bes' driver of his team he ever had caze I
kep' his team fat.
"Afte I come back to Miss'ssippi I mar'ied a woman named Maggie Ransom. We
stayed together 51 years. I niver hit her but one time. When we was gittin'
mar'ied I stopped de preacher right in de ceremony an' said to her, 'Maggie,
iffen you niver call me a liar I will niver call you one' an' she said, 'Jim,
I won't call you a liar.' I said, 'That's a bargain' an' den de preacher want
on wid de weddin'. Well, one day afte' we had been mar'ied 'bout fo' years,
she eat(asked) me how some I was so late comin' to supper, an' I said I found
some work to do fer a white lady, an' she said, that's a lie,' an' right den I
raised my han' an' let her have it right by de side of de head, an' she niver
called me a liar ag'in. No ma'm, dat is somethin' I won't stand for.
"My old lady had seven chilluns dat lived to git grown. Two of 'em lived here
in Magnolia an' de others gone North, Meggie is daid an' I live wid my boy
Walter an' his wife Lene. Day is mighty good to me. I owns dis here house an'
fo' acres but day live wid me an' I gits a Comfed'rate pension of fo' dollars
a month. Dat gives me my coffee an' 'beces. I'se proud I'se a old sojer. I
seed do man fall when dey was shot but I was not skeered. We et bread when we
could git it an' if we couldn' git it we done widout.
"Afte' I lef' Mr. Lampton I'se some here an' went to work for Mr. Enooch at
Fernwood when his mill was jes a old rattletrap of a mill. I work for him 46
years. At fust I hauled timber out's de woods an' afte' whil'at I hauled
lamber to town to build houses. I sometimes sollse' for de lumber but I niver
lest one nickle, an' den white folks says I sho' was a homest nigger.
"I lived here on die spot an' rode a wheel to Fernwood every day, an' fed de
teams an' hitched 'em to de wagons an' I was niver late an' niver stopped for
anything, an' my wheel niver was in de shop. I niver 'lowed anybody to prank
wid it, an' dat wheel was broke up by my gran'chulluns.
"Afte I quit work at de mill I'se some home an' plow gardens for de white
folks an' make some more money. I sho' could plew.
"I jined do New Zion Baptist Church here in Magnelia an' was baptized in de
Tanghipon River one Sunday evenin'. I was so happy dat I shouted, me an' my
wife bofe. I'se still a member of dat church but I'se do not preach an' I'm
not no deason; I'se jes a bench member an' a mighty po' one at dat. My wife
was burled frum dat church.
"Doan know why I was not called Jim Sandell, but mammy said my pappy was named
Henry-Cornelius an' I reckin I was give my pappy's name.
"When I was a young man de white folks' Baptist Church was called Salem an' it
was on de hill whar de graveyard now is. It burnt down an' den day brung it to
town, an' as I was goin' to tell yer I want possum huntin' in dat graveyard
one night. I tuk my ax an' dog 'long wid me an' de dog, he treed a possum
right in de graveyard. I out down dat tree an' started home, when all to once
somethin' run by me an' went down dat big road lak light'ning an' my dog was
afte' it. Den de dog come back an' lay down at my feet an' rolled on his back
an' howled an' howled, an' right dan I knowed it was a sperit an' I throwed
down my 'possum an' ex an' beat de dog home. I tell you dat was a sperit -
I'se seed plen'y of 'em. Dat ain't de only sperit I ever seed. I'se seen 'em a
heap of times. Well, dat taught me niver to hunt in a grave yard ag'in.
"No ma'm, I niver seed a ghost but I tell yer I know dere is sperits. Let me
tell yer, asudder time I was goin' by de graveyard an' I seed a man's head. He
had no feet, but he kep' lookin' afte' me an' every way I turned he wouldn'
take his eye offen me, an' I walked fast an' he got faster an' den I run an'
den he run, an' when I got home I jes fell on de bed an' hollered an' hollered
an' tol' my old lady, an' she said I was jas' skeered, but I'se sho' seed dat
sperit an' I sin't goin' by de grave yard at night by myse'f ag'in.
"An' let me tell yer dis. Right in front of dis house - yer see dat white
house? - Well, last Febr'ary a good old cullud lady died in dat house, an'
afte' she was buried de rest of de fambly moved away, an' every night I kin
look over to dat house an' see a light in de window. Dat light comes an' goes,
an' nobody lives dar. Doen I know dat is de sperit of dat woman comin' back
here to tell some of her fambly a message? Yes ma'm, dat is her sperit an' dat
house is hanted an' nobody will live dar ag'in.
"No ma'm, I can't read nor write."
Interviewed by: Unknown
Transcribed by Ann Allen Geoghegan
Mississippi Narratives
Prepared by
The Federal Writer’s Project of
The Works Progress Administration
For the State of Mississippi
