From the WPA Slave
Narratives:
Julia Stubbs
Foreword: Julia Stubbs, ex-slave, lives at Magee Mississippi. She was born
about the year 1852 and was owned during slavery time by John Magee. She is
about five feet and ten inches in heighth and stands extremely straight for
her age. Her weight is around two hundred pounds and her general coloring is a
dark brown with white hair from age. She is enjoying good health and lives
alone on her own place about one mile south of Magee. This is her life story.
"I loves white folks and alwas' has fer I've fount 'em to be my friends. I
likes to be whar I can be in touch wid 'em all de time. All my life I'se been
big, strong, and considered robus'. I'se done a heap o' work fer white folks.
Dey says I'se a plumb good cook. I recon I ought to be fo' I sho' has done a
plenty o' cooking fer many a year. Back in de good ole days when de cooking
was done on big open fire-places in deep beds o' red coals. No new fangled
stoves can turn out de good cakes, egg-bread, baked taters and meats lak de
ole fire-places dey had a tas' an' flavor all deir own.
"Marse John owned my pa an' ma for years afo' I was born. De fust thing I can
recollect is a playing 'round de slave cabins wid other little slave chillun
while our ma's was in de fiel's a wuking. We wore little straight cut home
spun dresses an' went barefooted all de summer time when it got real cole
weather us wore shoes.
"I can't say how big Marse John's plantation was fer I don't keep sich things
in my head. We couldn't read or write an' didnt have no way o' keeping numbers
and dates in our heads. I jes' knows dat we alwas' spoke of it as a big
plantation wid a bunch o' slaves. Marse John didn't live in one o' dem big two
story houses lak a heap ob 'em did, but his house was roomy an' nice. We was
alwas' tooken care ob well an' dey fed an' clos'ed us good.
"I was a slave fer thirteen years. When I growed big enough to wuk I was put
at mos' anything dat come handy, jis' a doing fust one thing den another. Mos'
o' my wuk was 'round de house. I learnt to spin, knit an' weave. I helped wid
de washing an' dey was some washing to do, wid loads o' water to be drawed an'
toted to de long wash troughs made by hueing out big logs, dey was put on
racks. We had to rub de clo'se by hand, so we beat 'em on blocks wid hickory
battling sticks. It took 'bout all day to do dem washings. Deir was a heap o'
ironing to be done. De white folks wore lots of white ruffled up, full things
dat had to be starched an' ironed.
"I dont recollect much 'bout de making up o' de war. Us couldnt read nothing
dat was writ 'bout it. We jes' heard rumors 'round, bout us was gwine to be
freed, some said we would git land an' things but us didnt know jes' what to
make ob it all. But when it did come on, it was tough fer everybody. Food
begin to git scarce as de Cavalerymen would come an' take an' tear down
everything, an' de fust thing we knowed won't much fer no-body. We had to dig
up de smoke houses an' git de salty dirt, den boil and strain it to git salt.
We didn't have no way a gitting soda, so's we made it by burning corn cobs. Us
had to make coffee by parching corn meal.
"During de war deir was a heap o' deserters hid out. De Calvarymen would ride
through a hunting 'em. We could might nigh alwas' hear 'em a coming long fo'
dey got in sight, de womens would blow a horn sos dey could hide from 'em.
I'se carried food to de woods to de deserters. Sometimes we would have to take
it a long ways an' agin dey would be near by.
"After de war was over we wont give no land nor nothing dat dey promised fo'
de war. Mos' all de slaves didn't know what to do. We stayed on wide Marse
John fer a spell till we learn how to git out an' look out fer ourselves. We
finally homestead a small farm an' done purty well.
"I married when I was 'bout nineteen years ole. I has four chillun. Dey growed
up wid a little mo' learnin den we had back in de slave days.
"I belives de times an de folks is all too fas'. would be better off to slow
down a bit. I enjies life a purty good health. I loves everybody an' wants to
treat everybody good.
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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