Ancestry.com. Slave Narratives. [database online] Orem, 
UT: Ancestry, Inc., 2000. Original source: Works Project 
Administration. Federal Writers Project. Slave Narratives: 
A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews 
with Former Slaves. Washington, D.C.: n.p

State: North Carolina    Interviewee: Bectom, John C.
"My name is John C. Bectom. I was born Oct. 7, 1862, near Fayetteville, 
Cumberland County, North Carolina. My father's name was Simon Bectom. 
He was 86 years of age when he died. He died in 1910 at Fayetteville, 
N. C. My mother's name was Harriet Bectom. She died in 1907, May 23, 
when she was seventy years old. My brother's were named Ed, Kato and 
Willie. I was third of the boys. My sisters were Lucy, Anne and Alice. 
My father first belonged to Robert Wooten of Craven County, N. C. Then 
he was sold by the Wootens to the Bectoms of Wayne County, near Goldsboro, 
the county seat. My mother first belonged to the McNeills of Cumberland 
County. Miss Mary McNeill married a McFadden, and her parents gave my 
mother to Mis' Mary. Mis' Mary's daughter in time married Ezekial King 
and my mother was then given to her by Mis' Mary McFadden, her mother. 
Mis' Lizzie McFadden became a King. My grandmother was named Lucy MURPHY. 
She belonged to the MURPHEYs. All the slaves were given off to the children 
of the family as they married.

"My father and mother told me stories of how they were treated at different 
places. When my grandmother was with the MURPHEYs they would make her get up, 
and begin burning logs in new grounds before daybreak. They also made her 
plow, the same as any of the men on the plantation. They plowed till dusk-
dark before they left the fields to come to the house. They were not allowed 
to attend any dances or parties unless they slipped off unknowin's. They 
had candy pullings sometimes too. While they would be there the patterollers 
would visit them. Sometimes the patterollers whipped all they caught at this 
place, all they set their hands on, unless they had a pass.

"They fed us mighty good. The food was well cooked. They gave the slaves an 
acre of ground to plant and they could sell the crop and have the money. The 
work on this acre was done on moonshiny nights and holidays. Sometimes slaves 
would steal the marster's chickens or a hog and slip off to another plantation 
and have it cooked. We had plenty of clothes, and one pair o' shoes a year. 
You had to take care of them because you only got one pair a year. They were 
given at Christmas every year. The clothes were made on the plantation.

"There were corn mills on the plantation, and rice mills, and threshing 
machines. The plantation had about 300 acres in farm land. The enclosure 
was three miles.

My marster lived in a fine house. It took a year to build it. There were 
about 16 rooms in it. We slaves called it the great house. Some of the 
slaves ran away and finally reached Ohio. There was no jail on the plantation. 
Sometimes the overseer would whip us.

"The Kings had no overseers. King beat his slaves with a stick. I remember 
seeing him do this as well as I can see that house over there. He became 
blind. An owl scratched him in the face when he was trying to catch him, 
and his face got into sich a fix he went to Philadelphia for treatment, 
but they could not cure him. He finally went blind. I have seen him beat 
his slaves after he was blind. I remember it well. He beat 'em with a stick. 
He was the most sensitive man you ever seed. He ran a store. After he was 
blind you could han' him a piece of money and he could tell you what it was.

"There were no churches on the plantation but prayer meeting' were held in 
the quarters. Slaves were not allowed to go to the white folk's church unless 
they were coach drivers, etc. No sir, not in that community. They taught 
the slaves the Bible. The children of the marster would go to private school. 
We small Negro children looked after the babies in the cradles and other 
young children. When the white children studied their lessons I studied with 
them. When they wrote in the sand I wrote in the sand too. The white children, 
and not the marster or mistress, is where I got started in learnin' to read 
and write.

"We had corn shuckings, candy pullings, dances, prayer meetings. We went 
to camp meetin' on Camp Meeting days in August when the crops were laid by. 
We played games of high jump, jumping over the pole held by two people, 
wrestling, leap frog, and jumping. We sang the songs, 'Go tell Aunt Patsy'. 
'Some folks says a nigger wont steal, I caught six in my corn field' 
'Run nigger run, the patteroller ketch you, Run nigger run like you did 
the other day'.

"When slaves got sick marster looked after them. He gave them blue mass 
and casteroil. Dr. McDuffy also treated us. Dr. McSwain vaccinated us for 
small por. My sister died with it. When the slaves died marster buried 
them. They dug a grave with a tomb in it. I do not see any of them now. 
The slaves were buried in a plain box.

"The marsters married the slaves without any papars. All they did was 
to say perhaps to Jane and Frank 'Frank, I pronounce you and Jane man 
and wife.' But the woman did not take the name of her husband, she kept 
the name of the family who owned her.

"I remember seeing the Yankees near Fayetteville. They shot a bomb shell 
at Wheeler's Calvary, and it hit near me and buried in the ground. Wheeler's 
Calvary came first and ramsacked the place. They got all the valuables they 
could, and burned the bridge, the covered bridge over Cape Fear river, but 
when the Yankees got there they had a pontoon bridge to cross on,--all those 
provision wagons and such. When they passed our place it was in the morning. 
They nearly scared me to death. They passed right by our door, Sherman's army. 
They began passing, so the white folks said, at 9 o'clock in the mornin'. At 
9 o'clock at night they were passin' our door on foot. They said there were 
two hundred and fifty thousan' o' them passed. Some camped in my marster's 
old fiel'. A Yankee caught one of my marster's shoats and cut off one of 
the hind quarters, gave it to me, and told me to carry and give it to my 
mother. I was so small I could not tote it, so I drug it to her. I called 
her when I got in hollering distance of the house and she came and got it. 
The Yankees called us Johnnie, Dinah, Bill and other funny names. They
beat their drums and sang songs. One of the Yankees sang 'Rock a Bye Baby'. 
At that time Jeff Davis money was plentiful. My mother had about $1000. It 
was so plentiful it was called Jeff Davis shucks. My mother had bought a 
pair of shoes, and had put them in a chest. A Yankee came and took the shoes 
and wore them off, leaving his in their place. They tol' us we were free. 
Sometimes the marster would get cruel to the slaves if they acted like they 
were free.

"Mat Holmes, a slave, was wearing a ball and chain as a punishment for running 
away. Marster Ezekial King put it on him. He has slept in the bed with me, 
wearing that ball and chain. The cuff had imbedded in his leg, it was swollen 
so. This was right after the Yankees came through. It was March, the 9th of 
March, when the Yankees come through. Mat Holmes had run away with the ball 
and chain on him and was in the woods then. He hid out staying with us at 
night until August. Then my mother took him to the Yankee garrison at 
Fayetteville. A Yankee officer then took him to a black smith shop and had 
the ball and chain cut off his leg. The marsters would tell the slaves to 
go to work that they were not free, that they still belonged to them, but 
one would drop out and leave, then another. There was little work done on 
the farm, and finally most of the slaves learned they were free.

"Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest men that ever lived. He was the 
cause of us slaves being free. No doubt about that. I didn't think anything 
of Jeff Davis. He tried to keep us in slavery. I think slavery was an 
injustice, not right. Our privilege is to live right, and live according 
to the teachings of the Sible, to treat our fellowman right. To do this 
I feel we should belong to some religious organization and live as near 
right as we know how.

"The overseers and patterollers in the time of slavery were called poor 
white trash by the slaves.

"On the plantations not every one, but some of the slave holders would 
have some certain slave women reserved for their own use. Sometimes children 
almost white would be born to them. I have seen many of these children. 
Sometimes the child would be said to belong to the overseer, and sometimes 
it would be said to belong to the marster.
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State: South Carolina    Interviewee: Gladdeny, Pick
"Ah sees all through 'im now. Naw, sir, Ah doesn't know whar Ah was bawn, 
maybe in Fairfield, maybe in the Dutch Fork, Ah doesn't know, Ah won't dar. 
It was on May 15. 1856. Ah 'spec Ah coulc've been born on Mr. Joe hellar's 
place, you knows dat down on Hellar Creek.

"Ah'se old enough to go to de speechin' dat Dan White made on "Maybinton 
Day" (emancipation speech at Maybinton, S. C.). You axes me more than I 
can answer, site of folks dar all day, settin' aroun. Us clam trees, so 
us could see and hear. I sho did listen but I don't 'member nothin' what 
de man say. I knows dis dat I still hears dat band music ringing in my 
ears. At dat time I was so young dat all I cared about on dat day, was 
the brass band what let out so much music. Niggers being free never meant 
nothing to us chaps, cause we never had no mind fer all such as that nohow. 
Dat de first band ded I ever seed, and to tell you de truf I never seed no 
more till the World War fetch de soldiers all through here. Bands charms 
me so much dat dey just plumb tickles the tips of my toes on both feets.

"Squire William Hardy was de man dat I worked for when I had cone turned 
five. Dey teach me to bring in chips, kindling wood, fire wood and water. 
I learnt to make Marse's fire ever morning. Dat won't no trouble, cause 
all I had to do was rake back de ashes from the coals and throw on some 
chips and lightwood and de fire come right up. Won't long 'bore I was big 
en ugh to draw water and bring in big wood. You knows what big fire places 
they got down dar cause Squire Hardy---Mr. Dick's Pa, and Ma and Heyward 
and Frank's grandpa.

"Squire Hardy was a good man so was Mr. Dick. Mr. Dick was dat smart till 
he just naturally never forgot nothing that was told to him. If he was 
a-living, he could tell you way back before de Squire's time. I was right 
dar at Squire Hardy's dat day Freedom come and de band come to Maybinton.

"Going farther back than this, droves of niggers used to come down the road 
by Squire Hardy's front gate. Yes, sir, a overseer used to come through here 
driving niggers; just like us drives cows and hogs up around this big road 
these days and times. One day Squire Hardy went out and stopped a drove 
coming down de road in the dust. He pick him out a good natured looking 
darky and give the overseer one eye contrary niggers, what nobody didn't 
like for the good-natured ones. Ain't got no more to say. I does not remember 
but I has heared about the time when my ma moved from Hellar's Plantation 
in the Dutch Fork to the Tom Lyles quarter in Fairfield. My ma's name Sally 
MURPHY. Her master was Dave MURPHY. He stayed at Tom Lyles. Mistus Betsy 
(Dave MURPHY) cared for her. Mr. Dave MURPHY overseed for Capt. Tom Lyles 
who lived about two miles from Lyles' Ford on Broad River.

"I don't know what things has gone to. So much diffence in everthing now 
than it was back in dem days. Don't know nothing about no Booker T. Washington. 
I sees much but hears little 'bout dat what I doesn't see, Yes, siree boy, 
all such little 'muck' go in one ear and come out tother'n wid me. Dat's de 
talk fer dese young niggers dats eddicated, and I ain't dat bad off.

"Winnsboro fust town I ever seed, but it don't favor itself now.

"Maybinton the place I love best in all the world. Most my life is right 
here. I'll be buried in Hardy graveyard, whar my white folks dat was so 
good to me lie sleeping, and dat's whar my ma and pa and others that I loves lies too.

"Post office at Maybinton is whar Miss Bessie Oxner stay. Bill Oxner, her pa 
kept de post office from de time it started till they stopped it, fur as I 
knows. It look better then than it does now. Mr. Bill Oxner pretty good man.

He was a settled man. His wife was a good-looking lady who before her 
marriage was a bethune.

"Dar was a big store at the end of Mr. W. B. Whitney's plantation. Dis 
along to'd first of Freedom. Mr. Seattery lived twixt the Maybins and 
the Whitney's house. The store upon the end was kept by Mr. Pettus Chick 
and Mr. Bill Oxner. It was a good store. Didn't have to go to Newber' y 
to git no candy and 'Bacco. And Dr. Jim Ruff was de doctor what tended to 
folks in dem parts when dey got sick.

"De old Buck when I first knowed it was run fer a dwelling house by Mr. 
Jeff Stewart. I been knowed Maybintown all my life. But when I come along 
stages had done gone out but that's where dey stopped when they come from 
Spring Hill. I'se heared dat de Buck had large stables and a lots of folks 
stop there and rested overnight on their way to the Springs. (Glenn's, 
Chick's, and West Springs.)

"Used to rather dance than to eat. Started out at sundown and git back to 
the Whitney's at daybreak, den from dar run all de way to Squire Hardy's 
to git dar by sunup. Pats our feets and knockstin pans was the music dat 
us niggers danced to all night long. Put on my clean clothes dat was made 
right on the plantation and wear them to the dance. Gals wore their 
homespun stockings. Wore the dresses so long dat they kivered their shoes. 
My britches were copperus colored and I had on a home wove shirt with a 
pleated bosom. It was dyed red and had wristbands. I wore that shirt for 
five years.


"Didn't have no nigger churches down dar den. Dem went to Chapman's Stand. 
It had a brush top and log seats. The darkies from the Hardy Plantation 
walked five miles to hear a nigger from Union preach. He driv a one horse 
waggin and course he stayed around from place to place and the folks take 
care of him and his mule. Big Jim Henderson owned Chapman's stand which 
was in the Glymp quarter. The Glymp quarter still got the best land in our 
settlement yet. All my 'quaintances done left me, fac is, most of them done 
crossed over de river. Folks meets me and speaks familiar. I axes, "Who is 
that?" I used to deal with Mr. Bee Thompson in Union.

"I'se got some business to tend to in Union soon and I spec I be up there 
in short to see is it anything familiar dar."

State: South Carolina    Interviewee: Gladdeny, Pick
(Project #1655, W. W. Dixon, Winnsboro, S. C.)
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