Dorcas Griffith Recalls Life When His Family Were Slaves, 1937

T. Pat Matthews interviewed Dorcas Griffith June 26, 1937, as part of the WPA Slave Narrative Project. The interviews for the project are at The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Dorcas Griffith, 602 E. South Street

“You know me every time you sees me don’t you? Who tole you I wus Dorcas Griffith? I seed you up town de other day. Yes, yes, I is old. I is 80 years old. I remember all about dem Yankees. The first biscuit I ever et dey give it to me. I wus big enough to nus de babies when de Yankees came through. Dey carried biscuits on dere horses, I wus jist thinkin’ of my young missus de other day. I belonged to Doctor Carter in Chatham County near Pittsboro. My father wus named Billy Dismith, and my mother wus named Peggy Council. She belonged to the Councils. Father belonged to the Dismiths and I belonged to the Clarks. Missus wus named Winnie. Dey had tolerable fine food for de white folks, but I did not get any of it. De food dey hive us wus mighty nigh nothin’. Our clothes wus bad and our sleepin’ places wus not nuthin’ at all. We had a hard time. We had a hard time then and we are havin’ a hard time now. We have a house to live in now, and de chinches eat us up almos, and we have nuthin’ to liv eon now, jist a little from charity. I fares mighy bad. Dey gives me a half peck of meal and a pound o’ meat, a little oat meal, and canned grape juice, a half pound o’ coffee andno sugar or lard and no flour. Dey gives us dat for a week’s eatin’.

“De Yankees called de niggers who wus plkowin’ de mules when dey came through an’ made ‘em bring ‘em to ‘em an’ dey carried de mules on wid ‘em. De niggers called de Yankees Blue Jackets.

“I had two brothers, both older dan me. George de oldest and Jack. Let me see, I had four sisters, 1, 2, 3, 4; one wus named Annie, one named Rosa and Francis and myself Dorcas. All de games I played wus de work in de field wid a hoe. Dere wus no playgrounds like we has now. No, no, if you got your work done you done enough. If I could see how to write like you I could do a lot o’ work but I can’t see. I kin write. I got a good education according to readin’, spellin, and writin’. I kin say de 2^nd chapter of Mattey by heard, the 27 chapter Exelial by heart of most of Ezekial by heart.

“I learned it since I got free. I went to school in Raleigh to de Washington School. Dey wouldn’t let us have books when I wus a slave. I wus afraid ter be caught wid a book. De patterollers scared us so bad in salvery time and beat so many uv de slaves that we lef’ de plantation jus’ as soon as we wus free. Dad’t de reason father lef’ de plantation so quick. I also remember de Ku Klux. I wus afraid o’ dem, and I did not think much of ‘em. I saw slaves whupped till de blood ran down dere backs. One day whupped some on de plantation and den put salt on de places and pepper on ‘em. I didn’t think nothing in the world o’ slavery. I think it wus wrong. I didn’t think a thing o’ slavery.

“All my people are dead, and I am unable to work. I haven’t been able to work in six years. I thought Abraham Lincoln wus a good man. He had a good name.

“I don’t know much about Mr. Roosevelt but I hopes he will help me, cause I need it mighty bad.