PART ONE: A FOLK HISTORY OF SLAVERY
Background of the WPA Interviews
Living and Working on the Plantation
Recollections of the Civil War
Living and Working after the Civil War
PART TWO: THE WPA INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER SLAVES
1. JOSEPH ALLEN
I’ll Eat You Up Like a Dog
2. GEORGE W. ARNOLD
The Life of a Roustabout Is the Life of a Dog
3. THOMAS ASH
I Have No Way of Knowing Exactly How Old I Am
4. ROSA BARBER
Slaves Were Not Taught the Three Rs
5. LEWIS BARNETT
That Was the Way He Went When He Was Trying to Get Away
6. ROBERT BARTON
That’s How Some Escaped to Canada
7. ANTHONY BATTLE
Runaway Slaves Would Kill the Dogs Chasing Them and Never Be Caught
8. GEORGE BEATTY
Many Blacks with Only Their Clothing Crossed the River
9. SAMUEL BELL
Religion Is Worth the Greatest Fortune
10. MITTIE BLAKELEY
They Were Whipped Often and Hard
11. PATSY JANE BLAND
Free? Is Anybody Ever Free?
12. LIZZIE BOLDEN
A Much Easier Time Before She Was Free
13. CARL BOONE
Our Lives, Though Happy, Have Been Continuously Ones of Hard Work
14. WALTER BORLAND
If Anyone Said Anything against the Negroes, There Was a Fuss
15. JULIA BOWMAN
Living in the Big House
16. ANGIE MOORE BOYCE
Arrested in Indiana, Jailed in Louisville
17. EDNA BOYSAW
When Lincoln Freed Us, We Rejoiced
18. CALLIE BRACEY
Women Had to Split Rails All Day Long Just Like the Men
19. TOLBERT BRAGG
He Had a Great Desire to Go Up North and See the Country
20. GEORGE WASHINGTON BUCKNER
Yes, the Road Has Been Long
21. GEORGE TAYLOR BURNS
Yes, I Know a Lot about Boats
22. BELLE BUTLER
A Mean Old Devil
23. JOSEPH WILLIAM CARTER
I Wish the Whole World Would Be Decent
24. ELLEN CAVE
Her Owner Was a Mean Man
25. HARRIET CHEATAM
And Did We Eat!
26. ROBERT J. CHEATHAM
Educated Slaves Forged Passes and Escaped to Northern States
27. JAMES CHILDRESS
Slaves Always Prayed to God for Freedom
28. SARAH COLBERT
The Village Witch
31. MARY CRANE
Almost Sold down the River
32. CORNELIUS CROSS
Auctioned Off More Times Than He Had Fingers and Toes
33. ETHEL DAUGHERTY
A Slaveholder Kept Many Black Women in His House
34. JOHN DAUGHERTY
Ignorance of the Bible Caused All the Trouble
35. LIZZIE DAUGHERTY
One of the Saddest Events That Could Happen to a Mother
36. RACHAEL DUNCAN
Some of the Folks Was Mean to Me
37. H. H. EDMUNDS
They Poured Out Their Religious Feelings in Their Spirituals
38. JOHN EUBANKS
Most the Time We’s Hungry, but We Win The War
39. JOHN W. FIELDS
Twelve Children Were Taken from My Mother in One Day
40. GEORGE FORTMAN
Indian Slaves
41. ALEX FOWLER
The First Black in Lake County
42. MATTIE FULLER
I Have Sang Myself to Death
43. FRANCIS GAMMONS
Slaves Were Treated as Well as Could Be Expected
44. JOHN HENRY GIBSON
He Liked Indianapolis So Well That He Decided to Stay
45. PETER GOHAGEN
We Used to Have Some Fine Times
46. SIDNEY GRAHAM
Escaping from Ku Kluxers
47. Ms. L. GREEN
If Anyone Got Paid for Her Family’s History, She Wanted the Money
48. BETTY GUWN
Discipline Was Quite Stern
49. JOSIE HARRELL
Buried Treasure on the Old Stephen Lee Place
50. MASTON HARRIS
Valued at $1,200, He Was Permitted to Buy His Freedom
51. NEALY HARVEY
Many Times She Had Nothing to Eat
52. JOSEPHINE HICKS
Her Master Was Also Her Father, so She Was Always Well Treated
53. DR. SOLOMON HICKS
All He Was Given Was a Three-Legged Horse to Start Life Anew
54. MRS. HOCKADAY
Northerners Would Not Trust Them
55. SAMANTHA HOUGH
I Believe a Little in Dreams
56. ROBERT HOWARD
A Very Kind Old Man
57. MATTHEW HUME
They Came to Indiana Homeless, Friendless, and Penniless
58. LILLIAN HUNTER
Punishment Sent Direct from God
59. HENRIETTA JACKSON
Ironing White Folks’ Collars and Cuffs
60. MATTIE JENKINS
Pins Were Stuck through Their Tongues
61. LIZZIE JOHNSON
They Wanted Most for Their Children to Learn to Read and Write
62. PETE JOHNSON
That’s a Whipping House for the Likes of You
63. ELIZABETH (BETTIE) JONES
Yes, Honey, I Was a Slave
64. IRA JONES
Ira’s Family Was Mistreated by White People
65. NATHAN JONES
A Very Cruel Way to Treat Human Beings
66. RALPH KATES
I Came to the World a Year Too Late to Be Born a Slave
67. ALEXANDER KELLEY
A Mature Man-Slave of Good Physique Was Worth as High as $3,000
68. BELL DEAM KELLEY
Bell’s Parents Lived Together but Worked on Different Plantations
69. ELVIRA LEE
God Washed Out Her Insides with Milk, Which Killed All Her Sins
70. ADELINE ROSE LENNOX
I’ve Seen and Done a Lot of Things That Most Folks Have Missed
71. THOMAS LEWIS
There Was No Such Thing as Being Good to Slaves
72. LEVI LINZY
Salt and Pepper Put in Raw Wounds
73. SARAH H. LOCKE
An Intelligent Old Lady
74. MARIA LOVE
Her Mother Had to Work Very Hard, Just Like a Man
75. THOMAS MAGRUDER
A Possible Prototype for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom
76. HETTIE MCCLAIN
Slaves Were Held in Kentucky after the Civil War
77. ROBERT MCKINLEY
Considered Rich, for They Could Eat Meat without Stealing It
78. RICHARD MILLER
His Early Life Was a Nightmare
80. JOHN MOORE
At the Wedding Both Bride and Groom Jumped over a Broom Handle
81. HENRY CLAY MOORMAN
Slaves Seldom Married among Themselves on the Same Plantation
82. AMERICA MORGAN
She Believed Firmly in Haunts
83. GEORGE MORRISON
I Don’t Really Believe in Ghosts, but You Know How It Is
84. JOSEPH MOSLEY
Sometimes They Had Nothing but Garbage to Eat
85. HENRY NEAL
You Are Just as Free as I or Anyone Else in This United States
86. REVEREND OLIVER NELSON
Speak Those Greasy Words Again, Brother
87. SARAH O’DONNELL
It Is Tiresome, but I Am Patiently Waiting the Call
88. RUDOLPH D. O’HARA
Just Like the Ground Had Swallowed Him Up
89. W. F. PARROTT
Slaveholders Showed a Different Face to Union Troops
90. AMY ELIZABETH PATTERSON
She Became a Firm Believer in Communication with Departed Ones
91. SPEAR PITMAN
Some Overseers Liked to See Blood and Whipped for Nothin’ at All
92. NELSON POLK
Dogs Couldn’t Trail Runaway Slaves on a Stream Bed
93. NETTIE POMPEY
The Slave Children Were Treated as Well as the White Children
94. MRS. PRESTON
Her Father’s Farm Was Burned Out by the Ku Klux Klan
95. WILLIAM M. QUINN
Gift Slaves
96. CANDIES RICHARDSON
Jim Scott Beat Her Husband for Praying
97. JOE ROBINSON
Rube Black Beat His Slaves Severely for the Least Offense
98. ROSALINE ROGERS
Slaves Couldn’t Even Mix with Poor Whites
99. PARTHENIA ROLLINS
Treated So Cruelly That It Would Make Your Hair Stand on Ends
100. KATIE ROSE
The Hant Began Coming to Our Cabin
101. JOHN RUDD
The Cries and Prayers of the Whipped Slaves Were Ignored
102. ELIZABETH RUSSELL
I Hadn’t Only Seen President Lincoln but Had Sat on His Knee
104. MARY ELIZABETH SCARBER
Blacks Who Worked on the Donnell Farm Were Treated Kindly
105. LULU SCOTT
’Course I Can See Spirits
106. ARTHUR SHAFFER
They Moved at Least Two Hundred Slaves over the Mason-Dixon Line
107. JACK SIMMS
He Regretted Very Much That He Had Been Denied an Education
108. BILLY SLAUGHTER
There Must Be Someone Left to Tell about Old Times
109. MOSES SLAUGHTER
A Cause That Had Both God and President Lincoln on Its Side
110. ALEX AND ELIZABETH (BETTY) SMITH
I Like to Talk and Meet People
111. MATTIE BROWN SMITH
There Was Lots of Colored Folks Crossed the River at This Point
112. MRS. ROBERT SMITH
They Were Sorry to Leave Their Owners and Shift for Themselves
113. SUSAN SMITH
The Presence of White People Still Seemed to Annoy Her
114. SYLVESTER SMITH
They Said the Civil War Would Be Only a “Breakfast Spell”
116. BARNEY STONE
Sixteen Years of Hell as a Slave on a Plantation
117. MARY STONESTREET
They Had to Have Freedom Papers Before They Could Settle in Indiana
118. ADAH ISABELLE SUGGS
One Night in a Dream Her Mother Received Directions for Escaping
119. KATIE SUTTON
Yes, Ma’am, I Believe in Evil Spirits
120. MARY EMILY (MOLLIE) EATON TATE
These Are Scenes of My Childhood That I Can Never Forget
121. PRESTON TATE
It Was Not Unusual for Boys and Girls to Dress Alike
122. GEORGE THOMAS
Pioneer Industries and Amusements in Clark County
123. GEORGE THOMPSON
I Have No Education; I Can Neither Read nor Write
124. JOE WADE
His Mother’s Master Was Very Cruel to Her
125. REVEREND WAMBLE
His Mother Died from a Miscarriage Caused by a Whipping
126. Louis WATKINS
They Were Taught to Read, Write, and Figure
127. SAMUEL WATSON
Samuel Was Sent to the Poor House
128. HENRY WEBB
Plans for the Escapes Were Hatched in a Black Masonic Lodge
129. NANCY WHALLEN
Preaching and Shouting Sometimes Lasted All Day Sunday
130. ANDERSON WHITTED
They Often Took Babies from Their Mothers and Sold Them
131. ALFRED (PETE) WILSON
Oľ Boss Was Ordinarily Good to Us
132. GEORGE WINLOCK
The Entire War Was a Mistake
133. ALEX WOODSON
I Don’t Believe in Ghosts, but I Do in Spirits
134. ANTHONY YOUNG
He Doesn’t Dare Touch You; You’re a Free Man
Appendix II. Slave States of Informants
Appendix III. Indiana Towns of Residence of Informants
Appendix IV. Indiana Counties of Residence of Informants
Appendix V. Unaltered Versions of Previously Unpublished Indiana Interviews with Former Slaves
Living and Working on the Plantation
Recollections of the Civil War