From the WPA Slave
Narratives:
Rose Holman age 84
Click on photo for larger image
"I was born near Greensboro in what was then Choctaw county. My mama was
Millie Drain an' I had a outside papa. (He was Bob Jones.) My mama had several
chillen born to her but me an' my brother Anderson Drain is the only ones
livin now. Anderson, he jus' ten years younger 'n me. I 'member he born de
year befo' de war ceasted. I was nursin' him when we was freed. They tells me
I was ten years old then an' that's all I knows 'bout my age."
"We lived in little log houses dobbed wid mud an' didn't have no beds---slept
on de ground on pallets. We eat out o' troughs down at Marsa's back doo' an et
wid muscle shells fo' spoons."
"My Mama an' her sister Cenie was sold. Mama used to slip back at night an'
bring us things an' de white folks never knowed it. It sho' would-a went hard
wid her if dey'd ever caught her."
"My job durin' slavery days was toatin' water an' pickin' up chips. I wasn't
like de other little niggers---my head wasn't flat on top an' old Missus saw I
couldn't tote nothin' on my head. Other niggers could bring a bucket o' water
on their head an' one in each hand. I was allus a sickly baby. My guts come
down in my navel an' I never was well 'till I got grown. When I was a little
baby Mama used to leave me in de cabin by my self fo' hours at a time. Old
Miss tell Mama: "Go down to dat house an' see if dat little nigger aint dead."
They said I was allus a good baby."
"Old Miss sho' had a time wid me an' her little chickens. I jus' loved little
chickens to death. I 'member she wouldn't let me round 'em cause she'd 'fraid
I'd hurt em an' one day I slipped off in de woods where de old hen an her
bunch was. I caught every one of em an' bit their heads off. Dat old hen
fought me 'till my face was covered in blood when I got to de house."
"Mama never did 'low us to dance. I never did low my chillen to dance either.
I 'member gettin' off one time an' tryin' to dance when they wasn't nobody
'round an' stumped my toe. It broke me tho'. I never did try it no mo. I sho
like to broke my toe tho'."
"I 'member hearin' my nigger women say: "So glad I's free! So glad I's free!"
De war was over an' they didn't have no boss. I 'member Mama tellin' 'bout de
Yankees cuttin' de cloth out de loom an' gettin' up on it with their horses.
They took de feather beds an' throwed 'em way but after they was gone we found
em."
"Mama said she had a better time in slavery days then after they was freed.
She was a house girl. I's heard some hollowin': "Oh pray Mistus." Law me, dey
would be gettin' some whippin'. These women dat didn't work in de field sho'
had their four rolls to spin a day. Mama said she'd allus get hers---sometime
she'd finish at night but heep o' de women had to have a whippin' 'fore theirs
was done an' then they'd sho' get busy."
"I was 18 years old when I married Charlie Holman an' he was even 21. My
weddin' dress was made out o' dis swiss cloth an' trimmed in blue ribbon. I
wore a bow on my head an' had a big bow 'round my waist. My, I thought I was
steppin' out! We lived in de Tom Holman place in Choctaw county. I don't know
'xactley how long we lived there but we stayed in Louisiana eight years. I
tells em dat was de hottest place I ever seen. De buds start swellin' in' de
spring an de women start swellin' too. More babies there 'n I ever seen. Dis
summer I'd be settin' in de corner great big an next summer I'd be settin in
de corner great big again. I's de mother o' eighteen an' ain't got but three
now. De Lord sho' saw fit to take 'em. I was jus' a good breeder. I liked
livin' in Louisiana 'cept I jus' didn't like havin' so many chillen. We moved
out there in a ox wagon an' it took three weeks to move there. Had a good old
dog stayed wid us an' kept de boogers off on de trip. When we moved back we
come on de train. When we got back from Louisiana we moved over in Webster
county, near Eupora wid Mr. Estel Bridges an' we's been 'round here ever
since."
"I belong to de Baptist church. Didn't join 'till I's plum grown. I knowed
what I was doin'. We's all got to be regenerated an' born again befo' we
leaves dis old world. I tell you de old Time Religion is de best kind o'
ligion."
"I tells you they's somethin' behind all dese geese dats gone over dis fall.
Dat sho' means bad weather ahead.
I can tell de young folks when its gon-a rain. My Rheumatism start hurtin' me
den it's sho' to rain."
Interviewer's note: Age about 84, height 5 feet, weight 115 lbs.,
color black, physical condition bad. Supported by 83 year old
husband's monthly W. P. A. earnings.
Interviewer: Unknown
Transcribed by Ann Allen Geoghegan
Mississippi Narratives
Prepared by The Federal Writer’s Project of
TheWorks Progress Administration
For the State of Mississippi