Name: Larken, Julia

Address: 693 Meigs Street Athens, Georgia

Age: 76

Written by: Miss Grace McCune (Athens)

Edited by: Mrs. Sarah H. Hall (Athens) and John N. Booth (District Supervisor Federal Writers' Project Residencies 6 & 7 Augusta, Georgia)

Citation: Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 4, Part 3, Kendricks-Styles (1936), Library of Congress, Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mesn043/

Interview

Julia's small three-room cottage is a servant house at the rear of a white family's
residence. A gate through an old-fashioned picket fence led into a spacious yard where
dense shade from tall pecan trees was particularly inviting after a long walk in the
sweltering heat.

An aged mulatto woman was seated on the narrow porch. Her straight white hair
was arranged in braids, and her faded print dress and enormous checked apron were clean
and carefully patched. A pair of dark colored tennis shoes completed her costume. She
arose, tall and erect, to greet her visitor. "Yessum, dis here's Julia Larken," she said with
a friendly smile. "Come right in, Chile, and set here and rest on my nice cool porch. I
knows you's tired plumb out. You shouldn't be out walkin' 'round in dis not sun - It ain't
good for you. It'll make you have brain fever 'fore you knows it."

When asked for the story of her life, Julia replied: "Lordy, Chile, did you do all
dis walkin', hot as it is today, jus' to hear dis old Nigger talk? Well, jus' let me tell you,
dem days back yonder 'fore de war was de happiest time of my whole life.

"I don't know much 'bout slavery, 'cause I was jus' a little gal when de war ended.
I was borned in war times on Marse Payton Sails' plantation, way off down in Lincoln
County.

My Ma was borned and bred right dar on dat same place. Marster bought my
Daddy and his Mammy from Captain LeMars, and dey tuk de name of Sails atter dey
come to live on his place. Mammy's name was Betsy Sails and Daddy was named Sam'l.
Dey was married soon atter Marster fetched Daddy dar.

"Dere ain't no tellin' how big Marster's old plantation was. His house set right on
top of a high hill. His plantation road circled 'round dat hill two or three times gittin' from
de big road to de top of de hill. Dere was a great deep well in de yard whar dey got de
water for de big house. Marster's room was upstairs and had steps on de outside dat come
down into de yard. On one side of his house was a fine apple orchard, so big dat it went
all de way down de hill to de big road.

"On de other side of de house was a large gyarden whar us raised evvything in de
way of good veg'tables; dere was beans, corn, peas, turnips, collards, 'taters, and onions.
Why dey had a big patch of nothin' but onions. Us did love onions. Dere was allus plenty
of good meat in Marster's big old smokehouse dat stood close by de well. Marster, he
believed in raisin' heaps of meat. He had cows, hogs, goats, and sheep, not to mention his
chickens and turkeys.

"All de cloth for slaves' clothes was made at home. Mammy was one of de cooks
up at de big house, and she made cloth too. Daddy was de shoe man. He made de shoes
for all de folks on de plantation.

"De log cabins what de slaves lived in was off a piece from de big house. Dem
cabins had rock chimblies, put together wid red mud. Dere warn't no glass in de windows
and doors of dem cabins - jus' plain old home-made wooden shutters and doors." Julia
laughed as she told of their beds. "Us called 'em four posters, and dat's what dey was, but
dey was jus' plain old pine posties what one of de men on de plantation made up. Two
posties at de head and two at de foot wid pine rails betwixt 'em was de way dey made
dem beds. Dere warn't no sto'-bought steel springs dem days, not even for de white folks,
but dem old cord springs went a long ways towards makin' de beds comfortable and dey
helped to hold de bed together. De four poster beds de white folks slept on was corded
too, but deir posties warn't made out of pine. Dey used oak and walnut and sometimes
real mahogany, and dey carved 'em up pretty. Some of dem big old posties to de white
folkses beds was six inches thick.

"Slaves all et up at de big house in dat long old kitchen. I kin jus' see dat kitchen
now. It warn't built on to de big house, 'cept it was at de end of a big porch dat went from
it to de big house. A great big fireplace was 'most all de way 'cross one end of dat
kitchen, and it had racks and cranes for de pots and pans and ovens but, jus' let me tell
you, our Marster had a cookstove too. Yessum, it was a real sho' 'nough iron cookstove.
No'm, it warn't 'zactly lak de stoves us uses now. It was jus' a long, low stove, widout
much laigs, jus' flat on top wid eyes to cook on. De oven was at de bottom. Mammy and
Grandma Mary was mighty proud of dat stove, 'cause dere warn't nobody else 'round dar
what had a cookstove, so us was jus' plumb rich folks.

"Slaves didn't come to de house for dinner when dey was wukin' a fur piece off in
de fields. It was sont to 'em, and dat was what kilt one of my brothers. Whilst it was hot,
de cooks would set de bucket of dinner on his haid and tell him to run to de field wid it
fore it got cold. He died wid brain fever, and de doctor said it was from totin' all dem hot
victuals on his haid. Pore Brudder John, he sho' died out, and ever since den I been
skeered of gittin' too hot on top of de haid.

"Dere was twelve of Mammy's chillun in all, countin' Little Peter who died out
when he was a baby. De other boys was John, Tramer, Sam'l, George, and Scott. De only
one of my brothers left now is George, leastwise I reckon he's livin' yet. De last 'count I
had of him he was in Chicago, and he must be 'bout a hundred years old now. De gals
was me and Mary, 'Merica, Hannah, Betsy, and Emma.

"'Fore Grandma Mary got too old to do all de cookin', Mammy wuked in de field.
Mammy said she allus woke up early, and she could hear Marster when he started gittin'
up. She would hurry and git out 'fore he had time to call 'em. Sometimes she cotch her
hoss and rid to the field ahead of de others, 'cause Marster never laked for nobody to be
late in de mornin'. One time he got atter one of his young slaves out in de field and told
him he was a good mind to have him whupped. Dat night de young Nigger was tellin' a
old slave 'bout it, and de old men jus' laughed and said: 'When Marster pesters me dat
way I jus' rise up and cuss him out.' Dat young fellow 'cided he would try it out and de
next time Marster got atter him dey had a rukus what I ain't never gwine to forgit. Us was
all out in de yard at de big house, skeered to git a good breath when us heared Marster tell
him to do somepin, 'cause us knowed what he was meanin' to do. He didn't go right ahead
and mind Marster lak he had allus been used to doin'. Marster called to him again, and
den dat fool Nigger cut loose and he evermore did cuss Marster out. Lordy, Chile,
Marster jus' fairly tuk de hide off dat Nigger's back. When he tried to talk to dat old slave
'bout it de old man laughed and said: 'Shucks, I allus waits 'til I gits to de field to cuss
Marster so he won't hear me.'

"Marster didn't have but two boys and one of 'em got kilt in de war. Dat sho'ly did
hurt our good old Marster, but dat was de onliest diffunce de war made on our place.
When it was over and dey said us was free, all de slaves stayed right on wid de Marster;
dat was all dey knowed to do. Marster told 'em dey could stay on jus' as long as dey
wanted to, and dey was right dar on dat hill 'til Marster had done died out and gone to
Glory.

"Us chillun thought hog killin' time was de best time of all de year. Us would
hang 'round de pots whar dey was rendin' up de lard and all day us et dem good old
browned skin cracklin's and ash roasted 'taters. Marster allus kilt from 50 to 60 hogs at a
time. It tuk dat much meat to feed all de folks dat had to eat from his kitchen. Little
chillun never had nothin' much to do 'cept eat and sleep and play, but now, jus' let me tell
you for sho', dere warn't no runnin' 'round nights lak dey does now. Not long 'fore
sundown dey give evvy slave chile a wooden bowl of buttermilk and cornpone and a
wooden spoon to eat it wid. Us knowed us had to finish eatin' in time to be in bed by de
time it got dark.

"Our homespun dresses had plain waisties wid long skirts gathered on to 'em. In
hot weather chillun wore jus' one piece; dat was a plain slip, but in cold weather us had
plenty of good warm clothes. Dey wove cotton and wool together to make warm cloth for
our winter clothes and made shoes for us to wear in winter too. Marster evermore did
believe in takin' good keer of his Niggers.

"I kin ricollect dat 'fore dere was any churches right in our neighborhood, slaves
would walk 8 and 10 miles to church. Dey would git up 'way 'fore dawn on meetin' day,
so as to git dar on time. Us wouldn't wear our shoes on dem long walks, but jus' went
barfoots 'til us got nearly to de meetin' house. I jus' kin 'member dat, for chillun warn't
'lowed to try to walk dat fur a piece, but us could git up early in de mornin' and see de
grown folks start off. Dey was dressed in deir best Sunday go-to-meetin' clothes and deir
shoes, all Sunday shined up, was tied together and hung over deir shoulders to Clothing
keep 'em from gittin' dust on 'em. Men folks had on plain homespun shirts and jeans
pants. De jeans what deir pants was made out of was homespun too. Some of de 'omans
wore homespun dresses, but most of 'em had a calico dress what was saved special for
Sunday meetin' wear. 'Omans wore two or three petticoats all ruffled and starched 'til one
of dem underskirts would stand by itself. Dey went barfoots wid deir shoes hung over
deir shoulders, jus' lak de mens, and evvy 'oman pinned up her dress and evvy one of her
petticoats but one to keep 'em from gittin' muddy. Dresses and underskirts was made long
enough to touch de ground dem days. Dey allus went off singin', and us chillun would be
wishin' for de time when us would be old enough to wear long dresses wid starched
petticoats and go to meetin'. Us chillun tried our best to stay 'wake 'til dey got home so us
could hear 'em talk 'bout de preachin' and singin' and testifyin' for de Lord, and us allus
axed how many had done jined de church dat day.

"Long 'fore I was old enough to make dat trip on foot, dey built a Baptist church
nearby. It was de white folkses church, but dey let deir own Niggers join dar too, and
how us chillun did love to play 'round it. No'm, us never broke out no windows or hurt
nothin' playin' dar. Us warn't never 'lowed to throw no rocks when us was on de church
grounds. De church was up on top of a high hill and at de bottom of dat hill was de creek
whar de white folks had a fine pool for baptizin'. Dey had wooden steps to go down into
it and a long wooden trough leadin' from de creek to fill up de pool whenever dere was
baptizin' to be done. Dey had real sermons in dat church and folks come from miles
around to see dem baptizin's. White folks was baptized fust an den de Niggers. When de
time come for to baptize dem Niggers you could hear 'em singin' and shoutin' a long ways
off.

"It jus' don't seem lak folks has de same sort of 'ligion now dey had dem days,
'specially when somebody dies. Den de neighbors all went to de house whar de corpse
was and sung and prayed wid de fambly. De coffins had to be made atter folks was done
dead. Dey measured de corpse and made de coffin 'cordin'ly. Most of 'em was made out
of plain pine wood, lined wid black calico, and sometimes dey painted 'em black on de
outside. Dey didn't have no 'balmers on de plantations so dey couldn't keep dead folks out
long; dey had to bury 'em de very next day atter dey died. Dey put de corpse in one
wagon and de fambly rode in another, but all de other folks walked to de graveyard.
When dey put de coffin in de grave dey didn't have no sep'rate box to place it in, but dey
did lay planks 'cross de top of it 'fore de dirt was put in. De preacher said a prayer and de
folks sung - Harps from de Tomb. Maybe several months later dey would have de funeral
preached some Sunday.

"Us had all sorts of big doin's at harvest time. Dere was cornshuckin's, logrollin's,
syrup makin's, and cotton pickin's. Dey tuk time about from one big plantation to another.
Evvy place whar dey was a-goin' to celebrate tuk time off to cook up a lot of tasty
eatments, 'specially to barbecue plenty of good meat. De Marsters at dem diffunt places
allus seed dat dere was plenty of liquor passed 'round and when de wuk was done and de
Niggers et all dey wanted, dey danced and played 'most all night. What us chillun laked
most 'bout it was de eatin'. What I 'member best of all is de good old corn risin'
lightbread. Did you ever see any of it, Chile? Why, my Mammy and Grandma Mary
could bake dat bread so good it would jus' melt in your mouth.

"Mammy died whilst I was still little and Daddy married again. I guess his second
wife had a time wid all of us chillun. She tried to be good to us, but I was skeered of her
for a long time atter she come to our cabin. She larnt me how to make my dresses, and de
fust one I made all by myself was a long sight too big for me. I tried it on and was plumb
sick 'bout it bein' so big, den she said: 'Never mind, you'll grow to it.' Let me tell you, I
got dat dress off in a hurry 'cause I was 'most skeered to death for fear dat if I kept it on it
would grow to my skin lak I thought she meant. I never put dat dress on no more for a
long time and dat was atter I found out dat she jus' meant dat my dress would fit me atter
I had growed a little more.

"All us chillun used to pick cotton for Marster, and he bought all our clothes and
shoes. One day he told me and Mary dat us could go to de store and git us a pair of shoes
apiece. 'Course us knowed what kind of shoes he meant for us to git, but Mary wanted a
fine pair of Sunday shoes and dat's what she picked out and tuk home. Me, I got brasstoed
brogans lak Marster meant for us to git. 'Bout half way home Mary put on her shoes
and walked to de big house in 'em. When Marster seed 'em he was sho' mad as a hornet,
but it was too late to take 'em back to de store atter de shoes had done been wore and was
all scratched up. Marster fussed: 'Blast your hide, I'm a good mind to thrash you to death.'
Mary stood dar shakin' and tremblin', but dat's all Marster ever said to her 'bout it. Us
heared him tell Mist'ess dat gal Mary was a right smart Nigger.

"Marster had a great big old bull dat was mighty mean. He had real long horns,
and he could lift de fence railin's down one by one and turn all de cows out. Evvy time he
got out he would fight us chillun, so Marster had to keep him fastened up in de stable.
One day when us wanted to play in de stable, us turned Old Camel (dat was de bull) out
in de pasture. He tuk down rails enough wid his horns to let de cows in Marster's fine
gyarden and dey et it all up. Marster was wuss dan mad dat time, but us hid in de barn
under some hay 'til he went to bed. Next mornin' he called us all up to git our whuppin',
but us cried and said us wouldn't never do it no more so our good old Marster let us off
dat time.

"Lak I done said before, I stayed on dar 'til Marster died, den I married Matthew
Hartsfield. Lordy, Chile, us didn't have no weddin'. I had on a new calico dress and
Matthew wore some new blue jeans breeches. De Reverend Hargrove, de white folks
preacher, married us and nobody didn't know nothin' 'bout it 'til it was all over. Us went
to Oglethorpe County and lived dar 19 years 'fore Matthew died. I wuked wid white folks
dar 'til I married up wid Ben Larken and us come on here to Athens to live. I have done
some wuk for 'most all de white folks 'round here. Ben's grandpappy was a miller on
Potts Creek, nigh Stephens, and sometimes Ben used to have to go help him out wid de
wuk, atter he got old and feeble.

"Dey's all gone now and 'cept for some nieces, I'm left all alone. I kin still mind
de chillun and even do a little wuk. For dat I do give thanks to de Good Lord - dat he
keeps me able to do some wuk.

"Goodbye Chile," said Julia, when her visitor arose to leave. "You must be more
keerful 'bout walkin' 'round when de sun is too hot. It'll make you sick sho'. Folks jus'
don't know how to take de right sort of keer of deyselves dese days."

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