My master’s name was Bill Messersmith and he called himself a Pennsylvania Dutchman… My masters father, before he died, told his children that at his death he wanted each child to put their slaves to work until they earned $800 a piece, to earn their own freedom, and in that way each slave paid themselves. He did not believe it was right to keep them in slavery all their lives. But the war came and they were free without having to work it out.
We all worn home-spun clothes, made of wool mostly. Mother carded. Spun and wove all our clothes. My master let us come and go pretty much as we pleased. In fact we had much more freedom than the most of the slaves had in those days. He let us go to other places to work when we had nothing to do at home and we kept what money we earned, and spent it to suit ourselves. We had it so much better than other slaves that our neighbors would not let their slaves associate with us, for fear we would put “devilment” in their heads…
My father and mother had their own cabin to live in, with their family, but the rest of the slaves stayed with our mistress. We used to sing all the old plantation songs, but my father and mother were not such good singers. We all had good times along with the work. During Christmas times, and the whole month of January, it was the ruling to give the slaves a holiday in our part of the country. A whole month, to go and come as we much as we pleased and go for miles as far as we wanted to, but we had better be back by the first of February. If we wanted to go through a territory where it was hard to travel, or get by, we got a pass from our master.
We had quiltings, dancing, making rails, for days at a time. My goodness! We don’t have nothing to eat now like we did then. All kinds of game, wild ducks, geese, squirrels, rabbits, possum, pigeons and fried chicken - my, women in those days could cook! Great big pound cakes a foot and a half high. You don’t see such things now-a-days. I remember my father shooting so many pigeons at once that my mother just fed them to the hogs… I have seen the wild pigeons so thick they looked like storm clouds coming. I’ve seen them so thick they broke tree limbs down. Ducks and geese the same way… White folks and coloured folks came to these gatherings from miles around, sat up all night, dancing, eating, and drinking. People kept whiskey by the barrel in those days. You see, in those days they just loaded up ten or twelve bushel of corn, took it to the still-house and traded it for a barrel of whisky. Not much selling in those days, everything was traded, even our labor. Our folks would tell us to go and help so-and-so and we did it
Mother was the cook in those days at our place. The log house we lived in was very big, about five or six rooms. In times of our holidays, we always had out-of-town musicians. Sometimes we sent ten or twelve miles for a fiddler. He’d stay a week or so in one place and then he would go on to the next farm, maybe four or five miles away, and they had a good time for a week.
There was plenty of work for everyone then, even to the little darkies, if only to pull weeds. We raised wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, cabbage, potatoes, sheep, hogs, and cattle. Had plenty of everything to eat.
Our closest neighbors were the Thortons. Old man Thorton didn’t allow his slaves to go anyplace. He was a rough man, a low heavy set fellow, weighed about one hundred and sixty pounds. He was mean to his slaves. He whupped them all the time. I’ve seen their clothes sticking to their backs, from blood and scabs, being cut up with the cowhide. He just whupped them because he could. He used to say he “Always give his n----- a ‘breakfast spell’ every morning!” Whupped them every morning. I remember he had a n----- woman about seventy years old on his place. The Thorntons did not feed their slaves good, they were nearly starved. One night that old woman was so hungry she stole a chicken from her master and was cooking it in her cabin. He found it out some way and started to her cabin, and caught her, while she had it on boiling. He was so mad he told her to get a spoon and eat every bite before she stopped. It was scalding hot and he made her do it. She died right away, her insides burned
1. What did Bill Messersmith’s father tell his children to do with the slaves he gave them? Why?
2. Why did August say he and his fellow slaves had it so much better than other slaves?
3. What element of his life as a slave does August seem to focus on most?
4. What do you find surprising about August’s life as a slave?
5. How is “old man Thorton” different from August’s owner?
1. Bill Messersmith’s father told his children to put their slaves to work until they earned $800 each, in order to earn their own freedom. He believed it was not right to keep them in slavery all their lives.
2. August said he and his fellow slaves had it much better than other slaves because they had more freedom to come and go as they pleased, kept the money they earned, and were allowed to work at other places when they had nothing to do at home.
3. August seems to focus most on the social aspects of his life as a slave, such as holidays, gatherings, and the relationships between slaves and their owners.
4. One surprising aspect of August’s life as a slave is the level of freedom and autonomy he and his family had, compared to other slaves. They were allowed to come and go, work for themselves, and keep the money they earned.
5. "Old man Thorton" is different from August's owner in that he was described as mean, rough, and abusive towards his slaves. He would whip them regularly for no reason, starve them, and exhibit cruel behavior like forcing an elderly slave to eat a scalding hot chicken. In contrast, August’s owner was kinder, allowed his slaves more freedom, and treated them better overall.