When an old woman who had been sick, regained her strength, she was sent to the fields the same as the younger ones.  The ones who could cook and tickle the palates of her mistress and master were highly prized and were seldon if ever offered for sale at the auction block.

The slaves were given fat meat and bread made of husk of corn and wheat.  This caused them to steal food and when caught they were severely whipped.

Irene recalls the practice of blowing a horn whenever a sudden rain came.  The overseer had a certain Negro to blow three times and if shelter could be found, the slaves were expected to seek it until the rain ceased.

The master had sheds built at intervals on the plantation.  These accomodated a goodly number; if no shed was available the slaves stood under trees.  If neither was handy and the slaves got wet, they could not go to the cabins to change clothes for fear of losing time from work.  This was often the case; she says that slaves were more neglected than the cattle.

Another custom which impressed the child-mind of Irene was the tieing of slaves by their thumbs to a tree limb and whipping them.  Women and young girls were treated the same as were men.

After the Bedells took Irene to live in their home they traveled a deal.  After bringing her to Jacksonville, when Jacksonville was only a small port, they then went to Camden County, Georgia.

Irene married while in Georgia and came back to Jacksonville with her husband Charles, the year of the earthquake at Charleston, South Carolina, about 1888.

Irene and Charles Coates have lived in Jacksonville since that time.  She relates many tales of happenings during the time that this city grew from a town of about four acres to its present status.

Irene is the mother of five children.  She has nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.  Her health is fair, but her eyesight is poor.  It is her delight to entertain visitors and is conversant upon matters pertaining to slavery and reconstruction days.

REFERENCE

1.  Irene Coates, 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida

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

Martin D. Richardson, Field Worker
Grandin, Florida

NEIL COKER

Interesting tales of the changes that came to the section of Florida that is situated along the Putnam-Clay County lines are told by Neil Coker, old former slave who lives two miles south of McRae on the road Grandin.

Coker is the son of a slave mother and a half-Negro.  His father, he states, was Senator John Wall, who held a seat in the senate for sixteen years.  He was born in Virginia, and received his family name from an old family bearing the same in that state.  He was born, as nearly as he can remember, about 1857.