"Ma mathuh wuz Louisiana Anthony an she married an liv'd in Libertyville, Missouri, in St. Francois County. She are dead now, but ud be 'bout 78 if she war livin'. She wuz born into slavery. Ma grandmuther wuz Harriet Smith, an she wuz born in 'bout 1820 an she war 'bout 40 years ole wen de War begun. She wuz a slabe near New Madrid, Missouri, an died wen she wuz 'bout 90 yars ole. Ma grandmuthuh had 14 childr'n an wen de war ended, her master, Shap Phillips, tak one ob her girls named Phebe an put her on a hoss an took her away with him an we neber heard from her agin. We think she wuz taken south ta work fur som'body. When ma grandmuthuh got free she an my grandfather, who worked fur another master, bought a small farm near Knob Lick, in St. Francois County, Missouri. Dey bilt dem a house an bought only 20 acres at a time an finally had 120 acres.
"I used to lay wake nights a-lis'nen ta stories dat muthuh an grandmuthuh ud tell about slabery days. I know a lot ob stories but hab furgot many ob dem. My, how she cud tell 'bout dose times, an dey ware true too. Wen ma grandmuthuh got married dey jus jumped ober a broomstick an dey ware consider'd man an wife. Dis ware de custom den. De master ud hole de broomstick. I ask grandmuthuh wat she ud a-done had she fall'n ober de broomstick. She say, 'Well I didn't fall, but jump'd clear ober hit.' I member dis 'cause hit seemed so funny. Brogan shoes war wore then. Dey war ob rough leather and de shoes had brass toes. All de clos wuz wove an de only fancy clos ma grandmuthuh had ware giv'n ta her by de Missus.
"Shap Phillips had a good many slabes an grandmuthuh wuz de cook. She wuz very strong an cook'd in kettles bigg'r dan dey habe now. Whenever a negro slabe had a baby she had ta work rite on. If she work'd in de fiel she ud take de baby long and lay hit down in de rail fence corn'r in de sun. De baby had on only a slip. De master ud ride his hoss in de fiel an had a horse whip dat wuz platted, an he ud cut de slabes with dis whip wen de slabes slack'd hup. If de babies cried de muthuh had ta get de master's permishun fore she cud pick up their baby.
"De scraps from de white folk's table war all thrown into a kettle. Ma muthuh ud stan clos by an she ud grab in de kettle with both han's an eat whateber she got. Den, after all de grown slabes did dis, dey wud call 'Pot liquor time' an de childr'n ud run to de kettle an drink wat wuz in de bott'm ob de kettle. Dis wus generally de juice or water frum greens. Sometime de childr'n got a piece ob cornbread. Dis wuz all de childr'n got ta eat an of course dey war always hungry.
"De master had a polly-parrot an dese parrots ud be plac'd ta hear an watch wat de slabes did. Dey war not always seen by de slabes an wen de master wuz away de parrots wud member wat had happ'n'd an report it. One of de slabes wuz bakin' bread an she tok a pan full ob biscuits an hid it under de cushion of de chair. De ole Missus come in an wuz sick an she started ta sit down in de chair. De parrot wuz sittin' up dar an say, 'Missi bissi burn you.' The Missus lifted up de cushion an foun de pan o bread. She wuz sick and couldn't whip de slabe so she wuz goin' to habe de master do it wen he came in. De slabe wuz mad so she tok de parrot an wrung its neck and threw it out hind de house thinkin' she had kil'd de parrot.
"De Missus had to go out dare fur somethin' an de parrot say, 'Poor polly, layin' in de sun.' De master den really beat de slabe wen he came in. Ma grandmuthuh knew de lady dat dis happ'n'd to in New Madrid. Ma grandmuthuh got whipp'd only onc't an de master wuz sorry 'cause she fought back. She wuz strong an a good work'r. Ma grandmuthuh wuz up fur sale on de block once an dey offer'd several thousand dollars fur her but she wuz a good worker an she wuz not sold. Wen de rebel soldiers come de slabes ud hide but wen de Union soldiers com de slabes ud run to dem.
"Wen de master had company he ud tak meat skins an grease de mouths ob all de slabe childr'n. Den wen de company cam de master ud call' all de slabe children in an say, 'You little rascals have been eating!' He wanted to create de impression dat he wuz feedin his slabes better dan de other masters round dare.
"Grandmuthuh said dey had lots ob hoodoo business. I ask her why dey didn't hoodoo de white folks ta get dem out ob de way. She said de negroes couldn't hoodoo de white peoples 'cause dey had strait hair. It wuz somethin' 'bout de oil in de hair. White folks habe ta wash dere hair ta get de oil out, but negroes habe ta put oil in deir hair. But de slabes sure could hoodoo each other. Somebody who wanted ta hoodoo somebody else wud tak snakes an frogs an pulverize um an put de stuff in a bottle. Dey den dug a hole in de groun under de step an buried de bottle in de hole. When de person (for whom the hoodoo was intended) took a step ober dis spot dey wud habe pains in deir legs. Ma grandmuthuh cud see de snakes come up inside deir legs an dey had to cut a hole in deir legs ta let de snakes out. Sometimes dey ud get a person ta take de snakes an frogs from a person, and den de person who put de hoodoo under de step or porch ud lose deir charm and die. Ma grandmuther say she saw many a frog an snake come out ob a person's mouth. De slabes were turrible ta each other. All such as dis went on in de dose days. This here hoodoo business still goes on down in Mississippi. I'm shure glad I don't live down thar. Ma cousin got into an argument with a negro girl down thar an they couldn't settle hit. So she (my cousin) wrote to somebody who wrote back an tole ma cousin all 'bout this here other girl such as her amount of insurance, etc."
[Letha Taylor Meeks]
Interview with Letha Taylor Meeks,
Smelterville, Missouri.