From the WPA Slave
Narratives:
Lizzie Polk
Foreword: Born in 1860; 4 feet 11 inches tall; weight 95 pounds; ginger bread
color. Owns her home and has a small income.
I was born in 1860 at the old Polk Place here in Holly Springs. I never lived
in the country and have never done any farm work, though I don't pretend that
I never saw cotton growing, as some of the foolish ones do. I was owned by
General Thomas Polk, a cousin of President Polk. General and Mrs Polk had a
daughter, Miss Emily, and several other children. My mother was Louisa Polk.
She was Miss Emily's maid and the family seamstress. She sewed with her
fingers. My father was Rayfield Johnson, a free man and a barber. All barbers
were colored in those days. I was raised by Miss Emily, who made a great pet
of me and called me 'her Lizzie'. As long as she lived, she was always ready
to protect me.
When I was a child I played Roses Red, How Green the Grass Grows, Round the
Mulberry Tree, and Post Office, with the next-door children, using the
dividing fence as the Post Office. I went to Gill's School. This was a school
carried on by northern white people. For twenty-two years, I was a teacher in
the Marshall County colored schools. I am a member of the Baptist Church. I
own my own home and rent out part of it. I also own a little farm in Oklahoma
left me by my brother.
I can't remember anything about the war, but I remember seeing U.S. soldiers
who were in barracks here. And I remember hearing terrible tales about the Ku
Klux.
I remember when coal-oil for light was just coming in. I heard tales of
something with great big eyes that would run over you. I guess that was a
prediction of the automobile.
During the Yellow Fever in 1878, we refugeed and camped about four miles south
of town in a blacksmith shop. We carried our cows and chickens and expected to
be gone maybe two weeks. We had to stay there three months before the fever
was over.
I never married because I was working too hard to have time to flirt. Anyway,
if I had to work, I would rather work for myself than for a man.
Interviewer: 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
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"If you teach them where they come from, they won't need as much help finding where they are going!" Cordelia Carothers " Aunt Dee" Geoghegan (1894-1987)
Project Manager: Ann
Allen Geoghegan State Coordinator Assistant State Coordinators and
Transcriptionists: Ann Allen Geoghegan, Debbie Leftwich, and Rose Diamond and Linda Durr Rudd Banner designed by: Melissa McCoy-Bell Unknown worker photograph provided by L. Stephen Bell Photography, and family photo albums of Karen Schweikle, Lucy Gray and Jens Burkhart. Copyright © 2005-2008 by MSGenWeb Project. All rights reserved. |
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