When Titus was five or six years of age he was given to Flowden’s wife who groomed him for the job of houseboy.  Although he never received any education, Bynes was quick to learn.  He could tell the time of day and could distinguish one newspaper from another.  He recalled an incident which happened when he was about eight years of age which led him to conceal his precociousness.  One day while writing on the ground, he heard his mistress’ little daughter tell her mother that he was writing about water.  Mistress Flowden called him and told him that if he were caught writing again his right arm would be cut off.  From then on his precociousness vanished.  In regards to religion, Bynes can recall the Sunday services very vividly; and he tells how the Negroes who were seated in the gallery first heard a sermon by the white minister and then after these services they would gather on the main floor and hear a sermon by a Negro preacher.

Bynes served in the Civil War with his boss, and he can remember the regiment camp between Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina.  His mistress would not permit Bynes to accompany his master to Virginia to join the Hampton Legion on the grounds that it was too cold for him.  And thus ended his war days!  When he was 20 years of age, his father turned him loose.  Young Bynes rented 14 acres of land from Arthur Harven and began farming.

In 1868 he left South Carolina and came to Florida.  He settled in Enterprise (now Benson Springs), Velusia County where he worked for J.C.  Hayes, a farmer, for one year, after which he homesteaded.  He next became a carpenter and, as he says himself, “a jack of all trades and master of none.”  He married shortly after coming to Florida and is the father of three sons—­“as my wife told me,” he adds with a twinkle in his eyes.  His wife is now dead.  He was prevailed upon while very ill to enter the Titusville Poor Farm where he has been for almost two years. (2)

Della Bess Hilyard ("Aunt Bess”)

Della Bess Hilyard, or “Aunt Bess” as she is better known, was born in Darlington, South Carolina in 1858, the daughter of Resier and Zilphy Hart, slaves of Gus Hiwards.  Both her parents were cotton pickers and as a little girl Della often went with her parents into the fields.  One day she stated that the Yankees came through South Carolina with Knapsacks on their shoulders.  It wasn’t until later that she learned the reason.

When asked if she received any educational training, “Aunt Bess” replied in the negative, but stated that the slaves on the Hiwards plantation were permitted to pick up what education they could without fear of being molested.  No one bothered, however, to teach them anything.

In regards to religion, “Aunt Bess” said that the slaves were not told about heaven; they were told to honor their masters and mistresses and of the damnation which awaited them for disobedience.