“No, ma’am, I wasn’t married till after freedom.  I was married right here in ‘Gusta by Mr. Wharton, the First Baptist Church preacher, an’ I lived and worked here ever since.”

[HW:  Dist. 7
Ex-Slave #19]
Adella S. Dixon
District 7

Berry clay
old slave story
[may 8 1937]

Telfair County was the home of some colored people who never were slaves, but hired their services for wages just as the race does today.  Berry Clay, half Indian, half white, was the son of Fitema Bob Britt, a full blood Indian, who died shortly after his son’s birth.  His mother later married William Clay, whose name was taken by the children as well as the mother.  The family then moved to Macon.

Clay, next [TR:  ‘to the’ scratched out] oldest of five children was 89 years old on August 5, 1936, and while he was never a slave, remembers many incidents that took place then.  Not many years after his mother remarried, she became very ill and he recalls being lifted by his step-father to kiss her good bye as she lay dying.  After her death, the family continued to live in South Macon where the father was employed as overseer for a crew at the Railroad yard.

This position often called for the punishment of slaves but he was too loyal to his color to assist in making their lives more unhappy.  His method of carrying out orders and yet keeping a clear conscience was unique—­the slave was taken to the woods where he was supposedly laid upon a log and severely beaten.  Actually, he was made to stand to one side and to emit loud cries which were accompanied by hard blows on the log.  The continuation of the two sounds gave any listener the impression that some one was severely beaten.  It is said that Clay, the father, wore out several huge leather straps upon logs but that he was never known to strike a slave.

Mr. Wadley, by whom he was employed, was a well-known Macon citizen who served as President of the Central of Georgia Railroad for many years.  A monument on Mulberry Street nearly opposite the Post Office is a constant reminder of the esteem in which he was held.  His plantation was a huge one extending from the Railroad yard as far as the present site of Mercer University.  A day of rest was given the slaves about once every three months in addition to the regular holidays which are observed today.  On holidays, “frolics” at which square dances were the chief form of entertainment (by the music of a banjo or fiddle) were enjoyed.  Ring games were played by the children.  The refreshments usually consisted of ash cakes and barbecue.  The ash cake was made by wrapping corn pones in oak leaves and burying the whole in hot ashes.  When the leaves dried, the cake was usually done and was carefully moved to prevent its becoming soiled. [HW:  A] skillful cook could produce cakes that were a golden brown and not at all ashy.

The membership of the local church was composed of slaves from several plantations.  It was an old colored church with a white minister who preached the usual doctrine of the duty of a slave to his master.  The form of service was the same as that of the white church.  One unusual feature of the plantation was its Sunday School for the Negro children.