FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127  
128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>   >|  
Florida Legislature. There was much talk then of Booker T. Washington, and many thought him a fool for trying to start a school in Alabama for Negroes. She recalls the Negro post master who served two or three terms at Madison. She could not give his name. There have been three widespread "panics" (depressions) during her lifetime but Mrs. McCray thinks this is the worst one. During the Civil War, coffee was so dear that meal was parched and used as a substitute but now, she remarked, "you can't hardly git the meal for the bread." Her husband and children are all dead and she lives with a niece who is no longer young herself. Circumstances are poor here. The niece earns her living as laundress and domestic worker, receiving a very poor wage. Mrs. McCray is now quite infirm and almost blind. She seems happiest talking of the past that was a bit kinder to her. At present she lives on the northeast corner of First and Macon Streets. The postoffice address is #11, Madison, Florida. REFERENCE 1. Personal interview with Amanda McCray, First and Macon Streets, Madison, Florida FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit) Alfred Farrell, Field Worker John A. Simms, Editor Titusville, Florida September 25, 1936 HENRY MAXWELL "Up from Slavery" might well be called this short biographical sketch of Henry Maxwell, who first saw the light of day on October 17, 1859 in Lownes County, Georgia. His mother Ann, was born in Virginia, and his father, Robert, was born in South Carolina. Captain Peters, Ann's owner, bought Robert Maxwell from Charles Howell as a husband for Ann. To this union were born seven children, two girls--Elizabeth and Rosetta--and five boys--Richard, Henry, Simms, Solomon and Sonnie. After the death of Captain Peters in 1863, Elizabeth and Richard were sold to the Gaines family. Rosetta and Robert (the father) were purchased from the Peters' estate by Isham Peters, Captain Peters' son, and Henry and Simms were bought by James Bamburg, husband of Izzy Peters, daughter of Captain Peters. (Solomon and Sonnie were born after slavery.) Just a tot when the Civil War gave him and his people freedom, Maxwell's memories of bondage-days are vivid through the experiences related by older Negroes. He relates the story of the plantation owner who trained his dogs to hunt escaped slaves. He had a Negro youth hide in a tree some distance away, and then he turned the pack loose
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127  
128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Peters
 

Florida

 

Captain

 
McCray
 

Robert

 

Madison

 

husband

 

Maxwell

 

Sonnie

 

Richard


Solomon

 
children
 

Streets

 
father
 
Elizabeth
 

bought

 

Rosetta

 

Negroes

 

mother

 

Lownes


County

 

Georgia

 

plantation

 

relates

 

related

 
distance
 

Carolina

 

Virginia

 

called

 

Slavery


MAXWELL

 

biographical

 
October
 

experiences

 

sketch

 

turned

 

estate

 

purchased

 

Gaines

 

family


slaves
 
slavery
 

daughter

 

Bamburg

 

escaped

 
Howell
 

people

 
trained
 
freedom
 

bondage