Name: Brown, Easter

Address: 1020 S. Lumpkin Street

Age: 78

Written by: Mrs. Sadie B. Hornsby (Athens, Georgia)

Edited by: John N. Booth (Federal Writers' Project WPA Residency No. 7)

Citation: Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 4, Georgia, Part 1, Adams-Furr (1936), Library of Congress, Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn041/.

Interview

"Aunt" Easter Brown, 78 years old, was sweeping chips into a basket out in front of her cabin. "Go right in honey, I'se comin' soon as I git some chips for my fire. Does I lak to talk 'bout when I was a chile? I sho does. I warn't but 4 years old when de war was over, but I knows all 'bout it."

"I was born in Floyd County sometime in October. My pa was Erwin and my ma was Liza Lorie. I don't know whar dey come from, but I knows dey was from way down de country somewhars. Dere was six of us chilluns. All of us was sold. Yessum, I was sold too. My oldest brother was named Jim. I don't riccolec' de others, dey was all sold off to diffunt parts of de country, and us never heared from 'em no more. My brother, my pa and me was sold on de block in Rome, Georgia. Marster Frank Glenn buyed me. I was so little dat when dey bid me off, dey had to hold me up so folkses could see me. I don't 'member my real ma and pa, and I called Marster 'pa' an' Mist'ess 'ma', 'til I'was 'bout 'leven years old.

I don't know much 'bout slave quarters, or what dey had in 'em, 'cause I was raised in de house wid de white folkses. I does know beds in de quarters was lak shelves. Holes was bored in de side of de house, two in de wall and de floor, and poles runnin' from de wall and de floor, fastened together wid pegs; on 'em dey put planks, and cross de foot or de bed dey put a plank to hold de straw and keep de little 'uns from fallin' out.

"What did us have to eat? Lordy mussy! Mist'ess! us had everything. Summertime dere was beans, cabbage, squashes, irish 'tatoes, roas'en ears, 'matoes, cucumbers, cornbread, and fat meat, but de Nigger boys, dey was plum fools 'bout hog head. In winter dey et sweet 'tatoes, collards, turnips and sich, out I et lak de white folkses. I sho does lak 'possums and rabbits. Yessum, some of de slaves had gyardens, some of 'em sholy did.

"No'm, us Niggers never wore no clothes in summer, I means us little 'uns. In de winter us wore cotton clothes, but us went barefoots. My uncle Sam and some of de other Niggers went 'bout wid dey foots popped open from de cold. Marster had 110 slaves on his plantation.

"Mist'ess was good to me. Pa begged her to buy me, 'cause she was his young Mist'ess and he knowed she would be good to me, but Marster was real cruel. He'd beat his hoss down on his knees and he kilt one of 'em. He whupped de Niggers when dey didn't do right. Niggers is lak dis; dey was brought to dis here land wild as bucks, and dey is lak chicken roosters in a pen. You just have to make 'em 'have deyselves. Its lak dat now; if dey'd 'have deyselves, white folkses would let 'em be.

"Dere warn't no jails in dem days. Dey had a gyuard house what dey whupped 'em in, and Mondays and Tuesdays was set aside for de whuppin's, when de Niggers what had done wrong got so many lashes, 'cordin' to what cevilment dey had been doin'. De overseer didn't do de whuppin', Marster done dat. Dem patterrollers was sompin else. mankind! If dey ketched a Nigger out atter dark widout no pass dey'd most nigh tear de hide offen his back.

"I'll tell you what dat overseer done one night. Some enemy of Marster's sot fire to de big frame house whar him and Mist'ess and de chillun lived. De overseer seed it burnin', and run and clam up de tree what was close to de house, went in de window and got Marster's two little gals out dat burnin' house 'fore you could say scat. Dat sho fixed de overseer wid old Marster. Atter dat Marster give him a nice house to live in but Marster's fine old house sho was burnt to de ground.

"De cyarriage driver was uncle Sam. He drove de chillun to school, tuk Marster and Mist'ess to church, and done de wuk 'round de house; such as, totin' in wood, keepin' de yards and waitin' on de cook. No'm us slaves didn't go to church; de Niggers was so wore out on Sundays, dey was glad to stay home and rest up, 'cause de overseer had 'em up way 'fore day and wuked 'em 'til long atter dark. On Saddays dey had to wash deir clothes and git ready for de next week. Some slaves might a had special things give to 'em on Christmas and New years Day, but not on Marster's plantation; dey rested up a day and dat was all. I heared tell dey had Christmas fixin's and doin's on other plantations, but not on Marse Frank's place. All corn shuckin's, cotton pickin's, log rollin's, and de lak was when de boss made 'em do it, an' den dere sho warn't no extra sompin t'eat.

"De onliest game I ever played was to take my doll made out of a stick wid a rag on it and play under a tree. When I was big 'nough to wuk, all I done was to help de cook in de kitchen and play wid old Mist'ess' baby.

"Some of de Niggers runned away. Webster, Hagar, Atney, an' Jane runned away a little while 'rore freedom. Old Marster didn't try to git 'em back, 'cause 'bout dat time de war was over. Marster and Mist'ess she looked atter de Niggers When dey got sick for dey knowed dat if a Nigger died dat much property was lost. Yessum, dey had a doctor sometime, but de most dey done was give 'em hoarhound, yellow root, and tansy. When a baby was cuttin' teeth, dey biled ground ivy and give 'em.

"Louisa, de cook was married in de front yard. All I 'members 'bout it was dat all de Niggers gathered in de yard, Louisa had on a white dress; de white folkses sho fixed Louisa up, 'cause she was deir cook.

"Jus' lemme tell you 'bout my weddin' I buyed myself a dress and had it laid out on de bed, den some triflin' no 'count Nigger wench tuk and stole it 'fore I had a chance to git married in it. I had done buyed dat dress for two purposes; fust to git married in it, and second to be buried in. I stayed on wid Old Miss 'til I got 'bout grown and den I drifted to Athens. When I married my fust husband, Charlie Montgomery, I was wukkin' for Mrs. W. R. Booth, and us married in her dinin' room. Charlie died out and I married James Hoshier. Us had one baby. Hit was a boy. James an' our boy is both daid now and I'se all by myself.

"What de slaves done when dey was told dat dey was free? I was too little to know what dey meant by freedom, but Old Marster called de overseer and told him to ring de bell for de Niggers to come to de big house. He told 'em dey was free devils and dey could go whar dey pleased and do what dey pleased- dey could stay wid him if dey wanted to. Some stayed wid Old Marster and some went away. I never seed no yankee sojers. I heared tell of 'em comin' but I never seed none of 'em.

"No'm I don't know nothin' 'bout Abraham Lincoln, Booker T. Washington or Jefferson Davis. I didn't try to ketch on to any of 'em. As for slavery days; some of de Niggers ought to be free and some oughtn't to be. I don't know nuttin much 'bout it. I had a good time den, and I gits on pretty good now.

"How come I jined de church? Well I felt lak it was time for me to live better and git ready for a home in de next world. Chile you sho has axed me a pile of questions, and I has sho 'joyed tellin' you what I knowed."

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