Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-08-16
NAMES OF NEGROES.
nomenclature That Originated
riou oIa plantation Life.

nomenclature That Originated
Cur, n the Old Plantation Life.
ofo onrse. on every plantation there
" several negroes of the same name,
the negroes, who are apt at such
s aus used various and peculias so
w. to distinguish them. On my
satbers place there was an Taller
I T;.a an Black Liza and an Pop Eyed
l;sa an Tinker Big Jake, Tinker Lit
= lake and Tinker Knock Kneed
= Isks There were in one family three
s.nerations of Bens, all possessed of a
sssntal or physical infrmity. The old
l- .n who had been kicked in the head
~ a mule, was crazy He spent his
laws and pretty nearly all his nights
landing under a broad China tree
reaching of the judgment day. He
ros Tinker Fool Ben. His son, mid
dle aged man, afflicted with an ulcer
that made him lame, was Tinker Hop
Mn Ben. The grandson who trem-
lied with the palsy and besides was
simple minded, was Tinker Chilly
Rem Though able bodied, he was
never required to do any work and
wandered about the place without let
or hindrance.
AT the close of the war a large ma
;orityof the southern negroes assumed
tbe name of the family to which they
belonged, getting it fearfully twisted
sometimes, as, for instance, Grim for
Graham, Buskey for Arowbuski, etc.
Some went back in search of names to
their former owners in Virginia or
Carolina, who had lost them either
through debt or raised them to be sold
TO the negro speculator, who brought
them further south to be sold again to
work the cotton and rice plantations.
In this way you will now find the
grandfather of a family bearing the
name of his old master in Virginia,
his son that of his owner at the close
of the war, while the grandson as
sunes some fanciful name suggested
bv circumstances. So / know an old
man calling himself Jim Sanders. His
son is Jim James, Jr. There is not nor
ever has been a Jim James, ST.. His
son, again, is Jim Grandson. Upon
the plantations you still occasionally
come across the once familiar names
of Sambo, Cuffee, Dlnun, Sukey, etc,
but very rarely even there, Grandi-
sons, Mortimers, Leilas, Nathalies,
etc, have taken their places.
Bible names, with explanatory pre-
fixes and sufiixes, are great favorites
among the devout portion of the ne
gro community. The man who works
my garden is King David JOnsing.
Ny woodcutter is Rev. Solermon
Wiseman, who, like st. Paul, does not
.disdain with his own hands to min
iSter to his necessities. Besides these,
| number among my acquaintance
Rev. Simon Surrender and Holy Tab
emacle, Brother John the Baptist
Tubbs. Among the more secular are
Mr.. Jack Hyena and Prince Albert
Hardtimes happy equality between
the aristocrat and the plebeian. The
asty young negro man who, with
Webster's spelling book and a hickory,
teaches the colored idea how to shoot.
has chosen the name of Professor Sam
Cane IS Good Hope A black vulcan,
hammering sparks from his anvil
duS himself Sampson Lightning. The
butchers boy, who comes whistling
into the yard with his basket upon his
arm and has a face as black as ebony,
answers to the name of Ivory Temple.
little colored female tramp from the
country, who comes to me once a
week. totin' bundle of ligther'd on
her head, which she offers to ex-
change, announces herself as Miss
Annerlizer Purse. An empty purse,
evidently, for she never fails to wind
upthe trade by asking: Amt yer got
nuthln teat yer kin give METEOR.
Philadelphia Times.