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Collected by the Federal Writers Project, Works Progress Administration Fleming, George (83) 349 Highland St. Spartanburg, S.C. Oct. 28, 1937
Project 1885-1 George Fleming and his wife, Elizabeth, live in a small two-room cottage at 349 Highland Street in Spartanburg, S. C. Their humble abode is typical of the average negro dwelling in this city. It is furnished with only the bare necessities compatible with comfortable living; but to George and Elizabeth it holds the same warmth and feeling of security which their ides of a home depicts. George has a keen memory and he talked freely of slavery. "I was born in 1854 in de month of August. I disremembers what dat pension lady said was de dey. She de one dat found out all about it. I 'clar dat was de biggest plantation whar I was born dat I is ever seed or heard tell of. Lawd a-mercy! Ain't no telling how many acres in dat place, but dar was jes' miles and miles of it. It was in Laurens County, not fur (far) frum de town of Laurens. I 'longed to Marse Sam Fleming. Lawd chile, dat's de best white man what ever breathed de good air. I still goes to see whar he buried every time I gits a chance to venture t'wards Laurens. As old as I is, I still drops a tear when I sees his grave, fer he sho was good to me and all his other niggers. "Marse Sam's boys, Lyntt and Frank, sho was tigers, but cose dey wasn't mean tigers. Dey had real long beards. Marse Lyntt was my young marster, and he de bestest man I ever know'd, 'cepting his daddy. He allus doing something to have fun outen us lil' niggers; but us didn't mind, 'cause we got fun outen it, too. I 'member how he used to sot us in de hog pens, but we wasn't scared as we 'lowed we was. My pa named Bill. He was stole frum Virginia. I don't know how Marse got him. Sometimes dey would buy 'em and agin dey would steal 'em, sort of like stealing a dog. Ma, her name Hannah. Dey got married on de plantation. After pa got kil't, Ma married a man called Charles. I only has one whole sister living, and she name Jennie. Viney and Millie be dead. My brother, Richard, he dead too. My half-sister, Sallie Ann, she stay in Jacksonville, or some fureign state. "Mercy on us, dem was de happy days; dey was heavenly days 'sides what we 'speriences now. Us lil' kids played lots of games den, some of dem like what dey plays now, but we had a better time. Befo' we was big enough to work, 'capt tote water and de like of dat, we played sech things as marbles. We had purty red and blue marbles dat Marse Lyntt brung frum de store. Sometimes we wrestle, too, and old Marse laugh till his fat belly shake all over when he see de lil' nigger's head buried in de white sand. Sometimes we play 'warm jacket'. Dat was worked by each one gitting a brush frum a tree or bush and frailing de other 'un till it got too hot fer him. "De older boys and gals had big frolics, 'specially in de fall of de year. Sometimes dey be on our plantation, and agin dey be on neighboring ones. When dey have 'em close home, some of us lil'n would slip off and git in de corner or up in he loft of de house and spy on 'em. Dey cotch us sometimes and thrash us out. One game dey played was 'please and displease'. When de gal say, 'What it take to please you?' de boy say, 'A kiss from dat purty gal over dar'. Yes, dey played 'hack-back', too. Dat's when dey faced each other and trotted back and forth. Lawd, dey sho had some awful times dancing and cutting jigs. Twan't much drinking, 'cepting on de side. "White ladies didn't go to de frolics, but some of de white men did. De patrollers was allus around to see dat everybody had passes, and if dey didn't have 'em dey was run back home. Sometimes de overseer was dar, too. Lawd, dey sho did kick up de dust at dem frolics. De music was mostly made by fiddles, and sometimes dey had quill blowers. De quills was made frum cane, same as de spindles was but dey was cut longer and was different sizes. All de quills was put in a rack and you could blow any note you wanted to off of dem. Boy, I sho could blow you out of dar wid a rack of quills. I was de best quill blower dat ever put one in man's mouth. I could make a man put his fiddle up; hit you so hard wid Dixieland dat I knock you off de seat. Gals wouldn't look at nobody else when I start blowing de quills. "Dar was also heaps and lots of other big affairs 'sides de frolics. De cornshuckings -- Lawd a-mercy, you ain't seen nothing. Niggers frum all over de place shucking corn and somebody setting on one of de big piles calling de cornshucking song, jes' like dey do in de square dance. Dat kept 'em happy -- everybody jine in de chorus. A jug of liquor set at de bottom of de pile; everybody try to be first to get to de liquor. Lawd, dey holler and take on something awful when dey get to de bottom. White folks have big supper ready; liquor brandy and everything. Dem was de times; pick up somebody and kivver 'em up wid de shucks. Had cotton pickings, too. Dat work not so fast but we had good times. Sometimes dey be on our plantation; den we sometimes go to other places. "Didn't need no passes when a bunch of slaves went to other plantations to dem big gatherings. 'Rangements was already made so de patrollers wouldn't bother nobody. Dat policy didn't hold fer de frolics, though. Sho had to have a pass frum de marse if you went. "On de plantation we lived jes' like a great big family wid Marsa de daddy of 'em all. Cose he had overseers to watch after de work and keep things straight. He allus kept more dan 200 head of slaves. De quarters was made up of lots of cabins, some wid one room, some wid two or three. Dat' 'cording to how big de family was. Dey wasn't built in rows, but scattered about over de plantation. Some of de cabins was made of logs and some wid planks, but all was warm and comfortable. Dey had all kinds of chimneys, too. Some brick, some rock and some de old stick and mud kind. Dey all had big fireplaces. Dat was whar us done de cooking. Hitches (hooks) was on de sides of de fireplace whar big iron pots hung to bile and cook in. We had pans and leads (lids) and things to bake in, too, yes Lawd, dem was de days, fer we sho had plenty to eat --- everything we wanted. "All de things we had in de house was home-made, but we sho had good beds. Dey made wid boards, and 'stead of slats, ropes was stretched twixt de sides real tight by slipping dem through holes and making knots in de ends. Over dese we laid bags; den feather or straw ticks. We had plenty kivvers to keep us warm. We had shelves and hooks to put our clothes on. We had benches and tables made wid smooth boards. Missus Harriet, dat Marse Sam's wife, she give us a looking-glass so we could see how to fix up. Lawd a-mercy, Missus Harriet was one fine woman. She allus looked after us to see dat we didn't suffer fer nothing. "Some of de women dat didn't have a passel of lil' brats was signed to de job of cooking fer de field hands. Some of 'em come home to eat, but mostly dey stayed in de fields. De dinner horn blow'd 'zactly at 12 o'clock and dey know'd it was time fer grub. Everybody dropped what dey was doing and compiled demselves in groups. Dey could see de buckets coming over de hill. Der was more den one group, fer de fields was so big dat dey couldn't all come to one place. Cose all dat was planned out by de overseers. Had lots of overseers and dey had certain groups to look out fer. "Most of de food was brung to de fields in buckets, but sometimes de beans and de like of dat come in de same pots dey was cooked in. It took two big niggers to tote de big pots. Dar was no want of food fer de hands. Marse know'd if dey worked dey had to eat. Dey had collards, turnips and other good vegetables wid cornbread Chunks of meat was wid de greens, too, and us had lots of buttermilk. "Women worked in de field same as de man. Some of dem plowed jes' like de men and boys. Couldn't tell 'em apart in de field, as dey wore pantelets or breeches. Dey tied strings 'round de bottom of de legs so de loose dirt wouldn't git in deir shoes. De horn blow'd to start work and to quit. In de morning when de signal blow'd dey all tried to see who could git to de field first. Dey had a good time and dey liked to do deir work. Us didn't pay much mind to de clock. We worked frum sun to sun. All de slaves had to keep on de job, but dey didn't have to work so hard. Marse allus said dey could do better and last longer by keeping 'em steady and not overworking 'em. "Dar was all kinds of work 'sides de field work dat want on all de time. Everybody had de work dat de could do de best. My daddy worked wid leather. He was de best harness maker on de place, and he could make shoes. Dey had a place whar dey tanned cow-hides. Dat was called de tannos. Dey didn't do much spinning and weaving in de home quarters; most of it was done in one special place Marse had made fer dat purpose. Some of de slaves didn't do nothing but spin and weave, and dey sho was good at it, too. Dey was trained up jes' fer dat particular work. "I don't know how many spinning wheels and looms and dem things Marsa had, but he sho had lots of 'em. Dat business making cloth had lots to it and I don't know much 'bout it, but it was sort of his way. Dey picked de seeds out of de cotton; den put de cotton in piles and carded it. Dey kept brushing it over and over on de cards till it was in lil' rolls. It was den ready fer de spinning wheels whar it was spun in thread. Dis was called de filling. I don't know much 'bout de warp, dat is de part dat run long ways. "Dem spinning wheels sho did go on de fly. Dey connected up wid de spindle and it go lots faster dan de wheel. Dey hold one end of de cotton roll wid de hand and 'tach de other to de spindle. It keep drawing and twisting de roll till it make a small thread. Sometimes dey would run de thread frum de spindle to a cornshuck or anything dat would serve de purpose. Dat was called de broach. Some of dem didn't go any further dan dat, dey had to make sech and sech breeches a day. Dis was dair task. Dat's de reason some of dem had to work after dark, dat is, if dey didn't git de task done befo' dat. "Dey run de thread off de broach on to reels, and some of it was dyed on de reels. Dey made deir own dyes, too. Some of it was made frum copparas, and some frum barks and berries. After while, de thread was put back on de spinning wheel and wound on lil' old cane quills. It was den ready fer de looms. Don't know nothing, de looms - boom! boom! sho could travel. Dey put de quills, after de thread was wound on dem, in de shettle and knocked it back and forth twixt de long threads what was on de beams. Can't see de thread fly out of dat shettle it come so fast. Dey sho could sheckle it through dar. Dey peddled dem looms, zip! zap! making de thread rise and drop while de shettle zoom twixt it. Hear dem looms booming all day long 'round de weaving shop. De weaving and spinning was done in de same place. "Overseers lived on de plantation. No, dey wasn't poor whites. All Marse Sam's overseers was good men. Dey lived wid dair families, and Marse's folks 'sociatad wid dem, too. Dey had good houses to live in. Dey built better den ours was. Marse didn't 'low dem to whip de slaves, but dey made us keep straight. If any whipping had to be done, Marse done it, but he didn't have to do much. He didn't hurt 'em bad, den, jes' git a big hickry and lay on a few. He would say if dat nigger didn't walk de chalk, he would put him on de block and settle him. Dat was usually enough, 'cause Marse meant dat thing and all de niggers know'd it. "Jes' one or two of Marse Sam's slaves ever run away, but lots of other niggers hid. Some of dem try to go to de North, but mostly dey come polling back by demselves when dey git hungry. If dey didn't come back purty soon, deir marse sent out to look fer 'em. Lawd, I heard de nigger hounds yelping befo' day many times. Dat was de bloodhounds dey sicked on de runaway niggers, and dey sho run 'em back home. When dey hear de hounds dey was glad to git home. "De patrollers would go out and look fer de niggers. Dey almost skin 'em alive if dey catch 'em befo' dey git home. Patrollers was made up of jes' anybody dat wanted to jine 'em, poor white trash and all. One thing dey sho couldn't do, and dat was tech a nigger aftar he done got on his marse's grounds. Dey almost got pa one time, but he saved his hide by falling over a rail fence jes' befo' dey cotched him. All de plantation owners, dey pay so much to de patrollers to be on de look-out fer de slaves, and dat's de way dey kept so many frum running away. "Some men, like old Joe Crews, was reglar nigger traders. Dey bought niggers, stole 'em frum Virginia and places, and drove 'em through de country like a bunch of hogs. Dey come in great gangs. In town dey have big nigger sellings, and all de marsters frum all over de countryside be dere to bid on 'em. Dey put 'em up on de block and holler 'bout dis and dat dey could do and how strong dey was. 'Six hundred --Yip Yip, make it six-fifty' I heard 'em call many times when I be dere wid Marse. Some of dem throw a thousand dollars quick as dey would ten at a purty gal. Some traders stop a drove of niggers at de plantation and swap or sell some. Dey didn't call dat putting 'em on de block like when day had de big selling. "Slaves started to work by de time dey was old enough to tote water and pick up chips to start fires wid. Some of dem started to work in de fields when dey about ten, but most of 'em was older. Lawd, Marse Sam must have had more dan a dozen house niggers. It took a lot of work to keep things in and 'round de house in good shape. Cose most of de slaves was jes' field hands, but some of dem was picked out fer special duties. Slaves didn't get any pay in money fer work, but Marsa give 'em a lil' change sometimes. "Everybody have plenty to eat. Lots of times we had fish, rabbits, possums and stuff like dat; lots of fishing and hunting in dem days. Some slaves have lil' gardens of deir own, but most de vegetables come frum de big garden. Missus was in charge de big garden, but cose she didn't have to do no work. She sho seed after us too. Even de poor white trash had plenty to eat back in dem times. Marse have a hundred head of hogs in de smokehouse at one time. Never seen so much pork in my life. We sho lived in fine fashion in hog killing time, cose de meats was cured and us had some all de year. Yes sir, Marse ration out everybody some every week. Watermelons grow awful big, some of 'em weigh a hundred pounds. Dey big striped ones, called 'rattlesnakes' so big you can't tote it no piece. All de baking and biling was done over de big fireplaces. "Didn't wear much clothes in summer 'cause we didn't need much, but all de grown niggers had shoes. Lawh, I wore many pair of Narse Lyntt's boots, I means sho 'nuff good boots. Marse had his own shoemakers, so twan't no use us gwine widout. Had better clothes fer Sunday. Most de washing was done on Saturday afternoons, and we be all setting purty fer Sunday. Cold weather we was dressed warm, and we had plenty bed kivvers, too. Cose all slaves didn't have it as good as Marse Sam's did. Lawd, I is seed lil' naked niggers setting on de rail fences like pacel of buzzards; but Marse Sam's niggers never had to go dat way. Slaves didn't have no church or schools. Lots of dem went to de white folks' church, but Marsa Sam didn't make his slaves go if dey didn't want to. Dair benches was on de sides and in de back of de church. All preachers was white men. Old preacher Moore sho was a humdinger, and a good one. He pizen dair minds wid Salvation, soak 'em in de oil of Holy Ghost and set 'em on fire. Lawd-a-me! When he got lit up all over till his eyes shine and sparkle, he sho could bring down de house. Twant no seats in school fer de slaves, though. Some of de slick ones slipped around and larn't de letters. "When de slaves come from de field, dair day's work was done. Fact is, everybody's work was done 'cept maybe some of de spinners or weavers dat didn't quite finish dair task. Dey was de onliest ones dat had to ever work after dark, and dat not often. Sometimes on Saturdays we didn't have to work a-tall, dat is in de fields, and sometimes we had to work till 12 o'clock. Lots of de men went fishing and hunting, and mostly de women washed. Saturday nights some groups would git together and sing. I can still hear dem old songs in my mind, but I doesn't recalls de words. Christmas sho was handsome time. Christmas and New Years we had a good time. Marse jes' sort of turned 'em loose. We got a lil' extra liquor and brandy on de holidays, but cose we had some all along enduring de whole entire year. Marse had three stills on de place and dar was plenty liquor, but he didn't let anybody git drunk. He call de lil' niggers, too, sometimes and give 'em a drink, and he give 'em jelly biscuits. He call everybody up to de big house on Christmas and make a speech; den he give everybody some good brandy. "I doesn't recalls nothing 'bout no ghosts. Ain't nothing in dem things. Cose if you goes 'round de graveyards after dark, you might see sech things, but I ain't gwine dar. Nigger come in once a-telling something 'bout a witch making a knot in his horse's tail, but I don't think der was nothing to it. "When any of de slaves got sick, Marse took good care of 'em till dey got well. If dey bad sick de sent fer de doctor. Some of de woman know'd how to bile up herbs and roots and make tea fer colds and fevers, but I don't know what kind dey used. When de chilluns was born, Marse seed to it dat de mammy was rightly took care of. He kept a old granny woman wid dem till dey got up and well. "De slaves mostly got married in Marse Sam's back yard, and he sho fixed up fine fer 'em. Dat's de way ma and pa got married. I got married twice on Dr. Wright's place. He fixed up fer de 'casion like Marse did. Had twelve waiters both times. We had supper in de kitchen and den had dancing and music. Dem dat got married back den sho did have it in high fashion. Man would have a good striped suit, and de woman have silk and satin clothes. Dey was married by a white preacher same as de white folks. A dinner was fixed in dair honor, too. Cose, as I say, Marse Sam's slaves was treated better dan most any ever know'd of, and all of dem loved him, too. "Dar was a burying ground jes' fer de slaves and de funeral was sort of like dat of de white folks. Niggers was baptized jes' like de white people, too, and by de same preacher. I saw thirty niggers baptized at one time in de river. Dat's whar everybody was baptized, den. Now dey has a basin in de church, wid glass all 'round de top, but I 'spects it do 'bout as much good. "During de war, food got kind of scarce but didn't nobody suffer none on our place. Lawd yes, we carried de farming right on while de war was gwine on. Marse Sam's boys went to de war, but dey come back all right. Dey sho had a home-coming time fer 'em when dey got back. I heard 'bout de Yankees coming through and 'stroying things, but I never seed none. Our place stood jes' like it was all enduring de war. I didn't see no Ku Klux, neither. When freedom come, Marse called all de slaves up to de big house and say, 'I wants to know what you all is gwine to do now, fer you is free to go if you wants to.' Everybody spoke alike, 'We wants to stay wid Marse.' Everyone of de slaves stayed right on wid Marse Sam till dey could git a place to go to. Lots of 'em stayed till dey died. He divided de land up in patches and give each one a third of what was made. "Soon after de war der was a lot of trouble 'bout voting fer de governor. Some folks (like old Joe Crews) tried to put in de niggers heads to vote fer de Republicans, but I know'd better. I voted fer Hampton like Marse did. Fact is, I voted twice fer him. (Joe Crews and other scalawags like him,) Some scalawags had done made all de money dey could off selling niggers, so dey thought dey could make some more by making 'greements wid de Republicans. My daddy, Bill, was bullheaded. He done got dem ideas in his head and he said he gwine to vote fer de Republicans in spite of hell. "De Democrats done got scared 'cause so many niggers gwine to vote fer de other side, so dey formed a society called de Red Shirts. Dat was jes' to scare de niggers frum coming to de po11s. I was young, but I jined right up wid dem and wore a red shirt, too. "Dey had a reg'lar battle in Laurens when de voting started. All de Republican niggers had deir guns stored in Tin Pot Alley, fer Joe Crews told 'em dey couldn't bring 'em to de polls. He thought de Yankees would protect de niggers, but fact is, de Yankees done been paid off by de Democrats and left town. Us Democrats broke in de storehouse in Tin Pot Allay and got every one of dem guns. De niggers names was on de stock of de guns. We sho had a hot time when dem niggers come up dar trying to vote. Dat's when my daddy got kilt. He had already been shot in de leg befo' dat, and dey called him 'cripple Bill'. Dem was de purtiest guns I ever seed. "Dey click three times when de trigger was pulled back. Old Jim Crews was kilt too, at dat time. Wash Hill was de one dat got him. He was shot at Crew's Branch. Twan't long after dat till things begin to settle down, fer de Democrats sho did lick up dem Republicans. "I been married three times, first time I married Sarah Peterson. I 'clar to goodness I sho can't 'member dat second one. Let me see, let me see -- Lonie, Lonie, oh yes, Lonie Gelding. Us married in Laurens County on Dr. Wright's place whar I married de first one. She didn't live long and we didn't have no chilluns. My last wife name Elizabeth McKantz, she frum Abbeville. She cooked fer Mr. Jones. Her daddy was a white man, and she look jes' like a Indian. I jes' had one chile by de first wife, but he dead. His name was Richard. I got two chilluns by de last wife dat be living. Dat's Mattie, de oldest, and Hugh, de third one. I doesn't know whar neither one lives now. My other two dat's dead was Anna and George Anna. Yes, dey both named Anna, but de first one dead befo' de other one was born. "Some folks didn't like slavery, but I sho did. Marcy Lawd, we had a good time, den; heap better dan now. I been a long time gitting dis pension, and it ain't much when you gits it. Back in slavery times we didn't have no worries 'bout rent or something to eat. We had a job long as we lived, dat is if freedom hadn't come.
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