Good Masters

“I have heard them say that their white folks didn’t whip them.  My master was a good man.  My young master, when it come to the surrender, slipped back home and told them they was going to be free as ever he was.  His name was Joe Mitchell.  I never seed my white folks whip anybody in my life.  They just never whipped anybody.  They never whipped me.  I have seen the white folks next to us whip their Negroes and I asked grandma about it.  She said that those were their Negroes and she would explain what they was being whipped for.  They was on another farm.  I don’t remember what they was being whipped for.

“My young master told the slaves when he notified them they was free that if they didn’t want to stay with him, he would give them enough to go on till they could make it, you know, to keep them from starving.  He was a good man.

“The old man, Joe’s father, was named Thomas Mitchell.  He died before I was born.  I never seed him, just knowed his name.  Joe’s mother was named Isabel Mitchell.  I came to be named Briggs because her husband’s name was Briggs.  He belonged to a Briggs.  I don’t know what his name was else.  They didn’t belong to the same master.  They used to let them marry.  They would fix great big tables.  Sometimes they would marry in the house; that was in the winter.  Then sometimes they would marry outdoors.  Then they would set a long table for all their associates to eat just like you would fix a table for your friends.  Looked like they would be so glad to see their boys and girls marry.  They would have regular preacher and marry just like they do now.

“There wasn’t no breeders on our place.  But I have heard of people who did keep a woman just for that purpose.  They never whipped her nor nothing.  They just let her have children.  As soon as she had one, they would take it away from her so that she could have another one right away.

Jayhawkers

“When my young master was gone to the War and the jayhawkers would come around, my young master’s mother would take all the colored women and children and lock them up and she would take a big heavy gun and go out to meet them.  The Jayhawkers were white people who would steal corn and horses and even slaves if they could get them.  But colored folks was sharp.  They would do things to break their horses’ legs and they would run and hide.  My uncle was a young boy.  He saw the Jayhawkers coming once.  And he ran and pressed himself under the crib.  The space was so small he nearly broke his ribs.  His mistress had to get him out and take him to the house.

“My grandmother used to take me with her after dark when she’d go out to pray.  She wouldn’t go anywhere without me.  One time when she was out praying, I touched her and said to her that I heard something in the corn crib.  She cut her prayer off right now and went and told it to her old mistress, and to the young master, who was in the house just then telling the Negroes they were all going to be free.  The Jayhawkers spied us and they got out and went on their way.  My young master crawled out and went back to the Confederate army.  He had to crawl out because he wanted to keep anybody from seeing him and capturing him.