Furnishings of each cabin consisted of one or two benches, a bed, and a few cooking utensils. These were very crude, especially the beds. Some of them had four posts while the ends of others were nailed to the walls. All lumber used in their construction was very heavy and rough. Bed springs were unheard of—wooden slats being used for this purpose. The mattresses were large ausenberg bags stuffed to capacity with hay, straw, or leaves. Uncle Mose told about one of the slaves, named Ike, whose entire family slept on bare pine straw. His children were among the fattest on the plantation and when Colonel Davis tried to make him put this straw in a bag he refused claiming that the pine needles kept his children healthy.
The floors and chimneys on the Davis Plantation were made of wood and brick instead of dirt and mud as was the case on many of the other surrounding plantations. One window (with shutters instead of window panes) served the purpose of ventilation and light. At night pine knots or candles gave light. The little cooking that the slaves did at home was all done at the open fireplace.
Near the living quarters was a house known as the "chillun house." All children too young for field work stayed at this house in the care of the older slave women. There was no hospital building on the premises. The sick had to remain in their individual cabins where they too were cared for by slaves too old for field work.
Only one family lived in a cabin. Mose's mother and father each had a separate cabin. He did not explain the reason for this but said that he was made to live in his father's cabin. Whenever he could, (usually when his father was away with the Colonel for a day or two) he stayed in his mothers cabin. "The only difference between the houses we lived in during slavery and those that some of us live in now who said is that we had more room there than we have now." He says that even the community cook house was larger than some of the living quarters of today. All cabins were white washed the same as the other buildings on the plantation, and the occupants were required to keep the interiors and the surrounding clean at all times. The overseer's cabin was located a short distance away from the slave cabins, so that it would be easier for him to keep check on his charges.
There was little if any sickness but Colonel Davis employed a doctor who visited the plantation each week. On other occasions the overseer administered such remedies as castor oil, turpentine, etc., and the slaves had remedies of their own. For stomach ache they used a tea made of Jimson weeds. Another medicine was heart leaf tea. Manual and religious training were the only types allowed on the plantation. Trades like carpentry, blacksmithing, etc. were learned from the white mechanics sometimes employed by Colonel Davis. All slaves were required to attend church and a special building was known as "Davis' Chapel." A Negro preacher officiated and no white people were present. Uncle Mose doesn't know what was preached as he and Manning always slipped into town on Sundays to see the girls. Uncle Mose says he and Manning were together so much that occasionally they even slept in the same bed,—sometimes in Manning's house and sometimes at his own house.
A pool for baptism was filled with well water. The colored pastor performed all baptisms and marriages.
Book learning was prohibited in any form. Sometimes Mose tried to persuade Manning to teach him to read and write but Manning always refused. Mose's cousin who was taught to read and write forged Colonel Davis' name to a check and drew the money from the bank before the hand writing was discovered. For this act he was given a sound whipping and assigned to hard labor by the master, "And", said Uncle Mose, "he didn't even have the pleasure of spending one penny". When asked if his cousin was arrested and placed in jail he replied that the jails were not for the slaves, as their punishment was usually left to their individual masters. When his cousin was whipped this was an exception to "The Colonel's rule"; he was entirely against any form of whipping. His usual method of punishment was to cut off individual privileges for a limited amount of time (in proportion to the nature of the offense), along with an assignment of extra heavy work.
The fame of the "Paddle-Rollers" was widespread among the slaves, but none of Colonel Davis' servants attempted to run away or leave the plantation often without the required pass (if they did they were never caught).
There was very little talk on the plantation about the actual beginning of the Civil War. Slaves was very guarded in their talk as they feared the master's wrath. Uncle Mose thought little or nothing about the War and had even less to say.
When the Yankee soldiers came to the plantation they drove wagons to the smoke house and took all the meat away. "The funny part about it was that "The Colonel" had taken shelter in this particular house when he saw the Yankees coming," said Uncle Mose. "He didn't have time to hide any of his other belongings." When the soldiers had left, The Colonel looked around and said to Manning and Mose: "Just like I get that, I guess I can get some more."