John Belcher a black slave
born on the James Plantation in Georgia
Some of our earlier Ancestors were slaves even though they were white.
Many were bonded slaves and many came to America as slaves to families
then gained their freedom here. Some bonded themselves out for so many years
for passage to America.
Some carried the Belcher surname and were black.
Many took the last names of their owners when they became free, having
to have a surname it was easier just to take their owners name.
Some were children of their owners, mixed race.
John Belcher was a black slave born on the James Plantation in
Georgia.
How Johns surname became Belcher is not given in the interview, The
interviewer seemed to be more interested in what he had to say about his life
rather than his ancestry. To us who research genealogy this is a shame, because
who his father was and his grandfather was, is of great interest to us.
Nevertheless this interview is of great interest and very informative
about that time in American heritage.
This interview was given in
Mississippi.
Two interviews were given
September 6, 1938
John Belcher, (Colored) Age 90 (lives with
grand-son, Coot Cooper)
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
John Belcher was born in Valdosta, Lowndes
County, Georgia September 28, 1849, on the James Walker plantation. John says
he remembers hearing the last gun fired before the surrender.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
"We used to haul cotton pickers from Kentucky. I members one time when
they brought in over a hundred pickers and one of dem fellers could pick 500
pounds of cotton a day. He'd take two rows at a time, using a cotton sack on
each shoulder. As each sack would be filled he'd empty it in his 'set sack'. We
had a four horse power gin on de place and could gin 'bout four bales a day.
Dis younger race doan no nothin and ain't seen nothin'. We used to pack cotton
to the gin, now its all done wid steam.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
When I was a small boy we had home ground grits fer breakfas'; pot liquor and
bread fer dinner and us little fellers hardly ever had any supper. Sometimes a
little bread.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
Once durin' the war two Yankees, you called 'em, brought a skint hog and sheep
to our house, an' made my mother cook it fer 'em. My mother was in de field but
one of us kids went after her. She cooked dat meat and I members yet how good
it was. I thought den I had never tasted any thing like it, an' I still do.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
After de surrender I members a soldier come to us house and told Mr. Walker,
"You gotta gib all dese niggers half dey made so dey can have somethin' to
live on. I know he gived us a old mule that was crippled and no count. When we
moved, I doan remember how long after de surrender dis was, we piled all us
things in a two wheeled cart an smaller kids in dere, too wid de odders walkin'
along beside us.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
First pos'office I remember was at Cat Creek Ga., called dis on account of a
water mill and a little old store located on a creek of the same name. We used
to have to git a pass from de Land Lord on de place before we could leave our
houses at night. Had to have one to go to church, even. Effen you was caught
off yo place at night without dat pass you was whipped. Dat was cause dey
'specked the niggars to be runnin away. My Boss had a cast iron cook stove he
paid a hundred dollars fer and it was a show to all us case we cooked on our
fireplaces and dat stove was something fine, too. I 'members hearin my Boss
whippin and cussin dem womens that worked 'roun de house, case dey didn' keep
dat stove clean.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
No'm I never did go to school none. A white man named Mr. Bill Roberts teached
me how to write my name. I been married three times. I doan know whether any of
dem womens livin or not but not hardly. Chillun? I doan know 'xactly how many,
'bout eighteen, I guess. No'm none of em ain't here.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
When I was a young man livin' in Waynesboro Mississippi, I worked for a company
called: Hunter Bane & Co., Mr. Hunter's home was in Scotland. Cross de
waters you know, but he lived at dis time in Monroe Co., Alabama. Mr. Hunter
went crazy now and den and had to be sont to he home. Dere was 'bout 2000 acres
of timber, pine mostly, land here. I used to cut 50 cross ties a day wid a
chipping ax and a broad ax. We didn' work from no seven to six, den. We worked
frum sun up to sun down. I hoped dig a ditch on dat place, 3-1/2 feet wide and
50 miles long. It was walled up on both sides wid planks, down a old creek bed,
to run logs down. It took us six or seven months to finish this. De lumber frum
dis place was shipped to Mobile and some of it to Mr. Hunter's home in
Scotland. We had 'bout 300 oxen at dis camp. De drivers was called 'bull
punchers'. Us all lived in tents near de mill but our Boss mans rode back and
forward on a horse. I fergits de name of de town whar dey stayed.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
After dis I worked for a man named, Mr. Ike Vick. He runned a mill and
turpentine works. I was a good Walker and Chipper. I could walk and chip 14,000
Boxes in the run of a week. This turpentine works was fourteen miles from
Waynesboro where we hauled the crude. My Boss' name was Mr. Bob Fagan. I lost a
boy whilst I was workin at de turpentine works. He drowned. He couldn' swim and
fell in a creek after a big rain. He was 13 years old. I has a boy dat trained
his milk cow to pull a cart. He hauls wood in dis cart an after he drives dat
cow all day den he milks her. She is a smart cow!"
John is quite a fisherman. He fishes the year round on the Yazoo River and
there are few days that he has not caught one or two fish. You can find him
sitting patiently waiting for a bite, and always ready to talk and tell of his
past experiences. Following are some of his rules for fishing, and one of his
treasured fishing secrets.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
"I fishes wid a pole and line all together. I got no license but I sells
all I cotch. I jes walks up an down de river bank an fishes. Once I cotch a 59
pound cat fish. I was livin on a farm, on Mr. Duncan McCloud's place, bout ten
years ago. I had set my pole and gone back to de house fer supper. 'fore goin
to bed I sont one of de boys down to see effen dere was any thing on de line
and after a while hearin' so much fuss down dar I lit de lamp and went down to
see bout it. I shore was 'sprised; we did'n know, for sho, what was on dat
line. I got a boat and 'tween us we bringed dat fish in. It took us two hours
to land him an he weighed 59 pounds. We et fish fer three or four days and give
all de folks roun fish, too.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
Fer catchin' Buffalo now I uses flour dough an a little corn meal, mixed wid a
little cotton worked in it, fer bait. Durin de time I'm not fishin I puts two
or three "Draws" out in different places on de river. To make dese
"Draws" I puts chops, corn meal, or bread, in a crocker sack makin a
roll bout 12 inches long by 10 inches wide. I attach a wire to dis and anchor
de wire to a stob long de river bank.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
I leaves dis here fer bout 8 days to toll de fish to dis spot. When I gits
ready to fish dere I partly draws dis wire in den drap in my line and I really
catches dem buffaloes.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
In de spring an summer I uses earth worms and chicken entrails fer bait. But
the best trick of all, I doan want no one to know dis trick, Mis is dis. Git
ten cents worth of olive oil, mix wid a pint of waste oil from a filling
station, mix wid about 1/2 pint of coal oil. Put all dis in a big fruit jar and
shake rale good. Drap yo fish line and hooks in dis den put a little bait on yo
hook and when de fish smells dis dey sho come.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
Yas'm I used to hunt lots. De way I cotch wild turkeys. I'd roost him at night,
you know when you hears em settlin on a limb, sorta rustlin dere wings, I'd
spot him and git dere fore he left nex mornin and shoot him, fore day light.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
I use to set traps fer deer. You take a stick 'bout 3 feet long sharpen it at
one end and put it in de ground leanin toward a rail fence. One stick on the
inside and one on the outside. When de deer jumped over dat fence the stob
snagged him. I'se cot several dat way. A old Indian taught me dat trick when I
lived in Florida. I fergits de name of dat swamp but dere was lots of Indians
dere and Deer, too.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
We use to cotch seven or eight possums a night. We used dogs, to tree em den
we'd shake em out on de ground and de dogs would catch em. Effen one uf us had
to clamb a tree we'd allus leave one man on de ground to catch em. Sometimes
we'd git mixed up wid a coon and a coon can whip two or three good dogs.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
One wild cat could run a set (4) of dogs down any time. We used to take after a
cat and as fast as one would run one set of dogs down we'd set another set on
him. It took bout twelve hours to run a cat down. After the dogs would bay him
den we'd shoot him or kill him some way. Once a wild cat runned a white lady,
school teacher, and most scared her to death. He was a big one and we had a
time catchin him. Dis was in Monroe County, Alabama.
Second Interview:
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
"Mr. Bob did'n wan to fight in de Civil war 'cause he knowed ef he lef de
plantation to go to war, it would'n be long 'fore evrything he had would be
gon, so he hid. Not fer from de big house was a long ole smoke house where meat
was smoked an cured for de whole place. Mr. Bob built a pertition 'cross one
end, an fixed him up a room to live in. At one side of de smoke house he had a
cow bell and if any of us niggers seed any spicious lookin folks comin down de
road or any where near, we'd ring dat bell and Mr. Bob would be warned. He
never left this hidin place and de niggers on the place wud come to him for
their instructions. Course us on de place was de onliest ones dat knowed bout
Mr. Bob hidin there, and we sho knowed bettern to squeak bout it cause Mr. Bob
could be purty rough wid us at times.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
One day a white man, tendin to be crippled, come on de place. He had sevral
niggers wid him and we all thot he was lookin fer slaves, to trade or buy, but
dat white man was lookin fer slackers and one of de niggers on Mr. Bob's place
accidentely let de cat outen de bag an next day some odder mens from the
recrutin office come after Mr. Bob, tied his hans and tuk him away.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
I members when Northern soldiers would come on us place and take our good mules
or horses and leave their old worn out stock in stead. It would take four of
these mules hitched to a wagon to make any kind of a trip attall. My pappy used
to go in a wagon to the Georgia coast and sometimes all the way to the Florida
coast, to the fisheries to get salt that had been taken from the ocean water.
'bout dat time salt was real scarce and we payed three or four cents a pound
for a barrel for dis salt. Dey bought herring and other fine fishes for two
cents apiece at de same places. Yas'm I 'members when my parents and older
peoples, chillun didn do as much as dey please in dem days Miss, on de place
used dried okra, sweet potatoes and sometimes burnt lasses for coffee. Dey said
it was right good. I members slippin' roun and tastin dat stuff and it was
purty bad I thot.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
The Northern soldiers celebrated their victry near Mr. Bob's place, by diggin a
long trench in a nearby field and puttin several barrels of loose powder in dat
trench and settin it off. It blowed a big hole there, so big it was used fer a
fishin hole for years.
State: Mississippi Interviewee: Belcher,
John
Yas'm Mr. Bob come back after de war was over and be looked alright.
I stayed on dat place wid him for years after slaves was freed den I come to Mississippi. His place was about 70 miles from Atlanta, Miss and Mr. Bob's last name was Martin.
He had two sons and one daughter. No'm I don know what become of them.
You see I's been roun here for nigh on 60 years and I forget names. I has three sons Miss and one of em, Willie, has trained his milk cow to pull his cart roun town. Dat sho is a smart boy. I makes my livin on dis river Miss and I ant never been on relief or had to ast the Red Cross fer nothin. My boys aint neither.
I trained em to work when dey was
growin up and dey has not forgot how. No'm I don even get dat ole age pension
either. Some says I entitled to it but I don need it yet."
John Belcher
Information is from the website:
Ancestry.com