George Pretty is a dark complexioned man; about five feet three inches in heighth; weighs about 135 pounds and looks to be much younger than he is.  When asked how he had maintained his youth, he said that living close to nature had done it together with his manner of living.  He does not dissipate, neither does he drink strong drink.  He is a ready informant.  Having heard that only information of slavery was wanted, he volunteered information without any formality or urging on the part of the writer. (1) (2)

REFERENCES

1.  George Pretty, Vero Beach and Gifford, Florida

2.  Observation of Field Worker

FEDERAL WRITERS’ PROJECT American Guide, (Negro Writers Unit)

Viola B. Muse, Field Worker
Jacksonville, Fla. 
January 11, 1937

ANNA SCOTT

AN EX-SLAVE WHO WENT TO AFRICA

Anna Scott, an ex-slave who now lives in Jacksonville near the intersection of Moncrief and Edgewood Avenues, was a member of one of the first colonization groups that went to the West coast of Africa following the emancipation of the slaves in this country.

The former slave was born at Dove City, South Carolina, on Jan. 28, 1846, of a half-breed Cherokee-and-Negro mother and Anglo-Saxon father.  Her father owned the plantation adjoining that of her master.

When she reached the adolescent age Anna was placed under the direct care of her mistress, by whom she was given direct charge of the dining-room and entrusted with the keys to the provisions and supplies of the household.

A kindred love grew between the slave girl and her mistress; she recalls that everywhere her mistress went she was taken also.  She was kept in ‘the big house’.  She was not given any education, though, as some of the slaves on nearby plantations were.

Religion was not denied to the former slave and her fellows.  Mrs. Abigail Dever[TR:?], her owner, permitted the slaves to attend revival and other services.  The slaves were allowed to occupy the balcony of the church in Dove City, while the whites occupied the main floor.  The slaves were forbidden to sing, talk, or make any other sound, however, under penalty of severe beatings.

Those of the slaves who ‘felt the sperrit’ during a service must keep silence until after the service, when they could ’tell it to the deacon’, a colored man who would listen to the confessions or professions of religion of the slaves until late into the night.  The Negro deacon would relay his converts to the white minister of the church, who would meet them in the vestry room at some specified time.

Some of the questions that would be asked at these meetings in the vestry room would be: 

“What did you come up here for?”

“Because I got religion”.