INTERVIEW WITH MANDY TOMBERLIN COVERSON, FORMER SLAVE
(Note: Believe her married name
was originally CUTHBERTSON)
Name:
Mandy Coverson
Age:
78
Birth
place: Union County
Residence:
North Carolina
Places
lived: Raleigh
Interview
location: Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina
Father’s
name: Henderson Tomberlin
Mother’s
name: Sarah Tomberlin
Mother,
places lived: Union County
Spouses
name: Daniel Coverson
Other
owners mentioned: Jackie Tom Tomberlin, Moses Coverson
Dated:
June 7, 1937
An interview with Mandy Coverson,
78, of 103 South Wilmington Street, Raleigh (NC).
“I wuz borned in Union County to Sarah an’ Henderson Tomberlin. My mother belonged to Mr. Moses Coverson,
an’ my pappy belonged to Mr. Jackie Tom Tomberlin. I
stayed wid my mammy, of course, an’ Marster Moses wuz good ter me. Dey warn’t so good ter my mammy, case
dey makes her wuck from
sunup till sundown in de hot summertime, an’ she ain’t
had no fun at all. She plowed two oxes, an’
if’en yo’ has eber been around a steer yo’
knows that agravatin’ things dey
is.
“De oberseer,
whose name I’se plumb forget,
wuz pore white trash an’ he wuz
meaner dan de meanest nigger. Anyhow I wuz too
little ter do much wuck so
I played a heap an’ I had a big time.
“My mammy,
died ‘fore I wuz very old an’ missus kept me in de
house. I wuz
petted by her, an’ I reckon spoiled. Yo’ knows dat den de niggers ain’t neber eat no biscuits but
missus always gimmie one eber
meal an’ in dat way she got me interested in waitin’ on de table.
“I wuzn’t
old enough ter know much, but I does ‘member how de fambly hid all de valuables ‘fere
de Yankees come, an’ dat Marster Moses in pickin’
up de big brass andirons hurt his back an’ dey said dat dat wuz
de cause of his death a little while atterwards. Anyhow de andirons wuz
saved an’ dar warn’t no
trouble wid de Yankees who comed
our way, an’ dey ain’t hurt
nobody dar.
“Dey did
kill all de things dat dey
could eat an’ dey stold de
rest of do food stuff. Dey make one nigger boy draw water fer
dere hosses fer a day ‘an night.
De Yankees wuz mean ‘bout cussin’,
but de southern soldiers wuz jist
as bad. Wheeler’s Cavalry wuz de meanest in de whole bunch, I thinks.
“De Ku Kluxes
wuz pretty mean, but dey
picked dere spite on de Free Issues. I doan know why dey done dis ‘cept
dat dey ain’t
wantin’ no niggers a-favorin’
dem nigh by, now dat slavery
am ober. Dey done a heap
of beatin’ an’ chasin’ folkses out’n de country but I ‘specks
dat de Carpet Bagger’s rule wuz
mostly de cause of it.
“I married Daniel Coverson, a slave on de same
plantation I wuz on, an’ forty years ago we moved ter Raleigh. We had
a hard time but I’se gladdat
he an’ me am free an’ doan belong ter
two diff’ent families.”
Source
- Ancestry.com database: U.S. Interviews with Former Slaves.
Original data: A
Folk History of Slavery in the United States From
Interviews with Former Slaves, 1936–1938.
Vol. 1-17. Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration
microfilm publication SCM 000 320, SCM 000 321, SCM 000 322, SCM 000 323, SCM 000 325, 5
rolls. Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Additional
Information:
Union
County, NC Marriages
Amanda Tomberlin,
age 18 (black), dau. of Henderson
& Sarah
Daniel
W. Cuthbertson, age 24 (black), son of Saml. & Harriett
Married
on July 1, 1883
Apparently,
somewhere along the line they changed their name from CUTHBERTSON to COVINGTON:
1930
Census, Raleigh Township, Wake County, North Carolina
Wake
County Home of Aged and Infirm
Enumeration
District: 55; Page 22A
Covington, Daniel, inmate, male, negro, age 75, married, born NC, parents born NC
North
Carolina Death Certificate
Daniel Covington
Gender:
Male
Race: Black
Age: 78
Birth Date: abt 1853
Birth Place: Monroe, North Carolina, United States
Death Date: 20 May 1931
Death
Location: County Home, Raleigh, Wake County
Spouse's name: Amanda Covington
Marital
status: married
Father's name: Sam Covington
Mother's name: Harriett Covington
Informant:
Willie Covington, 1105 S. Blount St., City
Burial
location: Lincolnville
North
Carolina Death Certificate
Name: Willie Covington
Gender: Male
Race: Black
Age: 68
Occupation:
Barber
Birth Date: 14 Nov 1882
Birth Place: Union County, North
Carolina, United States
Death Date: 21 Oct 1951
Death Location: 1201 Smithfield Rd, Raleigh, Wake County
Father's name: Daniel Covington
Mother's name: Amanda Thomlin
Residence: Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina
Informant:
Mrs. Blanche Covington, 1201 Smithfield Rd.
Burial:
Hillcrest Cemetery
North
Carolina Death Certificate
Name: Mr. Dan Covington
Gender: Male
Race: Black
Age: 49
Birth Date: abt 1892
Birth Place: Union County
Death Date: 16 Sep 1941
Death Location: McCauley Hospital, Raleigh, Wake County
Spouse's name: Mrs. Trueletta(?) Covington
Father's name: Dan Covington, born
Union Co.
Mother's name: Mandy Tomlick,
born Union Co.
Residence: Cary, Wake County, North Carolina
Informant:
Mrs. Trueletta Covington, Cary, R-1, Box 18
Burial:
Lincolnville Church, Wake Co.
This page created February 2, 2011 by Julie
Hampton Ganis