New Ulm weekly review., 1884-11-26
Negro Life In Florida.

After dinner it was arranged by q
few among the crowd to go to camp
meeting, which was held about a mile
from the house. Accordingly vehicles
were made ready and away we started.
Long before we arrived upon the
grounds we were made aware of the
vicinity by stentorian shouts, and pres
emily we came in sight of the sheds. log
huts and cottages built for the accom-
mediation of the campers. The Florida
darky knows his value and does not
look up or bow down to the white pop
ulation as a rule, like his black brothers
of Southern States. Not he; he rather
patronizes them, except in the cases of
old family slaves who had not Outlived
their good manners. 1t must have
been one OF these, an aged man and
STOPPING shoulders and patriarchal
face, who invited us to o.switness de ex-
ercises. y We had already witnessed J
some of the exercises ola few outsiders
who were very full Of whisky, but they
were probably not of the brothers.
There were no seats. The people were
standing, reclining on the ground and
in some instances kneeling. An African
preacher with peculiar countenance
and immense ears was holding forth on
'.De Day oh Jedgment.' s'Yo'll be
dar, Broder John; n you, Sister Sally
Nudge, n yo'll hef to par befo' de
great jedge oh all de ycth, n what'll
yo' say TO- yo'sef when he axes yo' TO-
yo' record? What'll yo, say? I'll tole
yo' what; yo'll call on the SAN OBJ Flor,
idy to jes' scoop n swallow yo' all up.
Oar amt no hills, nor rocks, nor noun
tains her, but de san is mighty shifty
n de sun mighty hot; but dar's place
hotter'n Floridy." Terrible groans
burst forth at this, and as the daring
preacher pictured the torments of that
opposite condition to paradise the yells
and shouts and even shrieks became
deafening. One big black woman,
whose vOciferatiOns were louder than
the rest, managed to keep one eye on
us and one on the preacher during the
entire sermon.
The preachers description of heaven
was amusing, the principle delights of
that region seeming to consist in hav-
ing no work to do, no corn to shuck,
no 'taters to hoe, no cotton to pick,
and the hallelujahs were correspondingly
intensified. Then the singing! The
most graphic pen could not do justice
to that. One song, in which even the
children participated, swinging and
rolling their small black bodies, was
something like this:
Ho, wo! Come into dis mcetin,
Come pore souls:
Come, git yO' sins all pardOned,
Come, pore souls;
COmen carry de big cross onward
Oh, pore souls! ~
Git on board de gospel train, oh!
Come pore souls
And so on, to wailing dirge-like tune.
1 did not hear any very cheerful music,
but all smote the ear with sadness, no
matter what the words were. Present.
ly the sexes separated, the men stand
ing off in circle, the women massing
together, led by tall crone of most
unearthly countenance, her hair ear
ried up from her temples to point,
to long tusks falling over her lower lip
and growing longer every time she
opened her mouth. This strange wo-
man began the exercises, lifting one
hand after the other, wagging her head,
stamping right and left, with curious
monotony, and soon every woman and
child in the meeting engaged in
the holy dance, the men looking on
and appearing to be- affected by the
rhapsodies of their wives, sisters,
sweethearts and children.