My father was a slave holder and owned a few slaves. His slaves were warmly clothed and securely sheltered and bountifully fed. His negroes worked in the same fields in which his sons worked. They worked at the same kind of tasks and labored the same number of hours. Sometimes the clothing was coarser and the food not so delicate, but often the clothing was from the same loom and the food from the same pot.
Ont he old farm in the South Fork country of Catawba county the negroes had a holiday on the Fourth of July and went with the white people to the general muster. When the writer was a boy this muster was held in an old field near the home of Henry Robinson who owned about 80 slaves.
When Christmas came around the negroes on the old farm were allowed a few holidays. They did but little work until the new year day was over. On the old farm the servants never suffered hunger and cold. The food was meat, meal, flour, molasses, potatoes, peas, turnips and greens. They wore home made cotton clothes in summer and all wool jeans in winter with wool hats and thick sole leather shoes. Not all free negroes today dress as comfortably as my father’s negroes did on the old farm.
From the Hickory Daily Record, Feb. 23, 1921
No comments:
Post a Comment