Robert McKinley was born in Stanley County, North Carolina, in 1849, a slave of Arnold Parker. He and other members of his family living on Parker’s farm were named Parker until after the Civil War, when they took the name of their father, who was John McKinley’s slave. When interviewed, Robert lived in a small house at 1634 Columbia Avenue in Indianapolis. An herb doctor at the time, he was very glad to tell of his early life. He thought people in 1938 were living too fast “and don’t remember there is a stopping place.”
Parker, the slaveholder, was a very cruel man, but he always was kind to Robert because he had given him as a present to his favorite daughter, Jane Alice, and she would never permit anyone to mistreat Robert because she was fond of him. She even taught him to read and write. Though Parker owned a large farm, Jane Alice would not let Robert work on it. Instead, he helped Parker in the blacksmith shop.
Before whipping his slaves, Parker always drank a large glass of whiskey—to give him the strength to beat them, he said. Robert remembered seeing Parker beat Robert’s mother until she fell to the ground, but, helpless to protect her, he could only stand and watch. Robert saw slaves tied to trees and beaten until Parker could no longer whip them. Then Parker would salt and pepper their backs.
Once when Confederate soldiers came to the farm, Robert told them where the liquor was kept and where the stock had been hidden. For this the soldiers gave him a handful of money, but Parker took it away from him.
A neighboring farmer, Jesse Hayden, was kind to his slaves. He gave them anything they wanted to eat because he said they worked hard and made it possible for him to have all he had, so it was partly theirs. Parker’s slaves were not allowed to associate with Hayden’s slaves, who were considered rich, for they could eat meat without stealing it. When slave traders came to the Parker farm, old Mrs. Parker would take meat skins and grease the mouths of the slave children to make it appear that she had given them meat to eat.