Mr. Favors says that his old age is due to the fact that he has always taken good care of himself and because he has always refrained from those habits that are known to tear a person’s health down.

[HW:  Dist. 6 Ex-Slave #28]

THE STORY OF AUNT MARY FERGUSON, EX-SLAVE
1928 Oak Street
Columbus, Georgia
December 18, 1936

“Aunt” Mary Ferguson, nee Mary Little, nee Mary Shorter, was born somewhere in Maryland; the exact locality being designated by her simply as “the eastern shore” of that state.  She was born the chattel of a planter named Shorter, so her first name, of course, was Mary Shorter.

For many years she has resided with a daughter and a granddaughter, at 1928 Oak Avenue, Columbus, Georgia.

“Aunt” Mary was about thirteen years old when, in 1860, she was sold and brought South.  The story of which, as told in her own words is as follows: 

“In 1860 I wuz a happy chile.  I had a good ma an a good paw; one older bruther an one older suster, an a little bruther an a baby suster, too.  All my fambly wucked in de fields, ’ceptin me an de two little uns, which I stayed at home to mind. (mind—­care for).

“It wuz durin’ cotton chopping time dat year (1860), a day I’ll never fergit, when de speckulataws bought me.  We come home from the fiel’ ’bout haf atter ’leven dat day an cooked a good dinner, I hopin her.  O, I never has forgot dat last dinner wid my fokes!  But, some-ow, I had felt, all de mawnin, lak sumpin was gwineter hapin’.  I could jes feel it in my bones!  An’ sho nough, bout de middle of the even’, up rid my young Marster on his hoss, an’ up driv two strange white mens in a buggy.  Dey hitch dere hosses an’ cum in de house, which skeered me.  Den one o’ de strangers said, ’git yo clothers, Mary; we has bought you frum Mr. Shorter.”  I c’menced cryin’ an’ beggin’ Mr. Shorter to not let ’em take me away.  But he say, ‘yes, Mary, I has sole yer, an’ yer must go wid em.’

“Den dese strange mens, whose names I ain’t never knowed, tuk me an’ put me in de buggy an’ driv off wid me, me hollerin’ at de top o’ my voice an’ callin’ my Ma!  Den dem speckulataws begin to sing loud—­jes to drown out my hollerin.’

“Us passed de very fiel whar paw an’ all my fokes wuz wuckin, an’ I calt out as loud as I could an’, as long as I could see ’em, ‘good-bye, Ma!’ ‘good-bye, Ma!’ But she never heared me.  Naw, nah, daz white mens wuz singin’ so loud Ma could’n hear me!  An’ she could’n see me, caze dey had me pushed down out o’ sight on de floe o’ de buggy.

“I ain’t never seed nor heared tell o’ my Ma an’ Paw, an’ bruthers, an’ susters from dat day to dis.

“My new owners tuck me to Baltymore, whar dey had herded tergether two two-hoss wagon loads o’ Niggers.  All o’ us Niggers wuz den shipped on a boat to Savannah, an’ frum dar us wuz put on de cyars an’ sont to Macon.

“In Macon, us wuz sold out, and Doctor (W.R.) Little, of Talbotton, bought me at oxion (auction) an’ tuck me home wid ’im.  Den I wuz known as Mary Little, instid of Mary Shorter.”