ey
those older than she.

[HW: Dist. 6
Ex-Slave #87]

A FEW FACTS OF SLAVERY BY
CHARLIE PYE--Ex-Slave
[Date Stamp: MAY -- --]

The writer was much surprised to learn that the person whom she was
about to interview was nine years old when the Civil War ended. His
youthful appearance at first made her realize that probably he was not
an ex-slave after all. Very soon she learned differently. Another
surprise followed the first in that his memory of events during that
period was very hazy. The few facts learned are related as follows:

Mr. Charlie Pye was born in Columbus, Ga., 1856 and was the ninth child
of his parents, Tom Pye and Emmaline Highland. Tom Pye, the father,
belonged to Volantine Pye, owner of a plantation in Columbus, Ga. known
as the Lynch and Pye Plantation.

Mr. Pye's mistress was Miss Mary Ealey, who later married a Mr. Watts.
Miss Ealey owned a large number of slaves, although she did not own a
very large plantation. Quite a few of her slaves were hired out to other
owners. The workers on the plantation were divided into two or more
groups, each group having a different job to do. For instance, there
were the plow hands, hoe hands, log cutters, etc. Mr. Pye's mother was a
plow hand and besides this, she often had to cut logs. Mr. Pye was too
young to work and spent most of his time playing around the yards.

Houses on the Ealey plantation were built of pine poles after which the
cracks were filled with red mud. Most of these houses consisted of one
room; however, a few were built with two rooms to accommodate the larger
families. The beds, called "bunks" by Mr. Pye were nailed to the sides
of the room. Roped bottoms covered with a mattress of burlap and hay
served to complete this structure called a bed. Benches and a home made
table completed the furnishings. There were very few if any real chairs
found in the slave homes. The houses and furniture were built by skilled
Negro carpenters who were hired by the mistress from other slave owners.
A kind slave owner would allow a skilled person to hire his own time and
keep most of the pay which he earned.

Plenty of food was raised on the Ealey plantation, but the slave
families were restricted to the same diet of corn meal, syrup, and fat
bacon. Children were fed "pot likker", milk and bread from poplar
troughs, from which they ate with wooden spoons. Grown-ups ate with
wooden forks. Slaves were not allowed to raise gardens of their own,