The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1888-10-18
BILL ARP.
On the Good Qualities. of the Old Fash.
ioned Negro.
., ? - = =.
Atlanta Constitution.

On the Good Qualities of the Old Fash.
-: ioned Negro.
Atlanta Constitution.
IF there is any better invention than q
good old fashioned homemade darky
i don't know it. It is great treat ut our
house when Tip comes over to see us,
j I.Hetis looked upon as one of the family
who, has strayed off like some of our
4 other grown up children. He was born
my wife's property and grew up 10 her
family aud played and frolicked with her
brothers and was always faithful aud
kind and good,
Tip brought his bride with him this
time-his second wife--a good looking
old fashioned middle aged woman, for
j Tip has got sense and judgment and
woulden't tie himself onto a spring
| chicken in his old age. He was dressed
| in black frock coat and white vest, and
struted around like he was going to Sar-
atoga on bridal tour. One of my wife's
brothers was here, and Tip was unex-
pectedly happy, for. he haden't seen him
ii tNr V6QF9
'sHowdy Mars Charley; howdy Miss
Tavy; howdy Mars Randolph l is so
lglad to see you. How does you all do 2"
and he then took all the children by
turns and they were as glad to see him as
lSif,he vas q brother.
That night the children wanted to
know how Tip got his little short name,
and their mother told them as how old
General Harrison fought great battle
with the Indians away back in 1911, and
l{how it was fought near a little town
called Tippecanoe on the Wabash river
and the Indian chief was brother of
Tecumseh and was called the prophet
and General Harrison whipped them and
scattered them so bad they never rallied,
and SO this victory gave him great repu.
tation and made him President in 1910,
when he ran against Van Buren. The
political war cry was "Tippecanoe and
Tyler, too" and as our Tip was born
about that time and wanted,a name, his
mother named him Henry, but the boys
named him Tippecanoe just for fun, and
so Tip is his every day name and he
keeps Henry for Sunday.
a nick name is very hard to get rid of.
7 know some boys who are very close kin
to us who are still called Fits and Tuney
and .Isham and Pat and Snooks and
Dock and Jake, but these are not their
real names. Some of the old time
negroes had very classic, stylish names,
such as Cazar and Pompey and Virgil
and Jupiter and Juno or such Scripture
names as Moses and Aaron and n Noah:
and Solomon and Dinah. The masters
generally named the young negroes.
Papa, did you ever whip Tip when he
was a boy 7" asked Jessie.
No, my child, no. Tip never needed
any whipping. Tip was just as good as
he could be considering that he was
always trotting around after our oldest
boys and had to do what they told him.
I;had to whip them sometimes, but Tip
was the best in the lot and never cid
anything worse than get up dog fight.
No, I never whipped Tip, bat l had to
whip some of the other servants occa.
.sionally, for the old boy gets into negroes
sometimes just like he does into white
folks. He is no respecter of persons or
:colors, and had just as leave burn black
man as: "a white one. But 1 will say this.
for Our negroes they were all mighty!
good to. our children. They nursed seven
out of the ten and watched them by day
and by night. Frances aud Mary loved
them and would have fought for them
Like tigress for her$whelps, and the
children loved their black nanny better
than they did their mother. Many q
time have I seen your mother try to coax
her child to come to her from the nurses
arms. -,
.".When the yankee raiders rode into
CoYingt0n and took everybody, by sur.
prise your mother and six children we're
there aud Frances WAS out in the street
with the youngest in her arms and they
stopped her as she ran and said to her,
You black fool you, what are you car.
rying that white child for-don't you
know you are free p Don't keer if 1 is
said Frances, 4 is gwine to carry de
chile-chile can't walk. Whose chile
is 5it7' said the yankee. My chile, whose
chile do you recon it is,' and she drew
the little thing still closer to her bosom.
And during the war while was in Vir..
ginia Tip wss With me and waited on me
like abrother and took care of me when
was sick, and the negroes at home
helped your mother to manage and to
get something to eat,and to wear. and
wood to burn, for Confederate money
woulden't buy much Of anything, and it
took close management to get along.
The old clothes had to be patched before
and behind or ripped up and made over,
and by and by when the coffee was all
gone Mary parched some rye or dried
sweet potatoes and parched them and
made out like it was coffee, and when the
sugar gave out she hunted up some sor-
ghum for sweetening, and when the salt
gave out and there was no more to be had
she boiled down the dirt in the smoke.
house that the meat had been dripping
on for years and made salt out of it and
clarified it and dried it in the sun, and it
was as fine and as. white as any table salt
you ever saw. Itwas nip and tuck then
with everybody, but they never com.
planned. Just before the war closed We
run ont of most everything. Your mother
gaveia ten dollar bill for a tablespoonful
of castor oil, and twenty dollars for 8
pound Of sugar, and q hundred dollars
for half an ounce of quinine. | paid 8
hundred dollars for FIVE bushels of corn
and had to send twenty miles to get it,
and / kept it hid ont five miles from
town for fear some of the tramps and
deserters would rob me and get it. ], had
it ground into meal half bushel at a
time, and it was more precious than gold.
In December, 1864, gave three thou.
sand dollars for little chunk of COW,
Just to provide milk for sick child.
! 'Thrrs was not more than half dozen in
the County then.
"Some of you children never saw any
candy or nuts or raisiDs until you were
several years old. I remember that after
the war was over Mr.. Snooks came to
Rome with nice little stock of fancy
i goods, and he gave your mother some
i . f.. ~ u La X