The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-07-02
HELENE MAURY
Lapses Into IA Discussion of the Negro
Problem.

Sister MiRe.-HOurs received
thanks! Yes, | do remember clear
ly our old black nanny" She
nursed our father and lived to see
us both married. 1t seems strange
now while negroes are free to think
of the old slave times. How happy
they were! Even at work in the
fields, or about the house, their Won
derfully sweet voices were heard
singing such tunes as best suited
them. And at night the fiddle and
the bow" was brought out, and the
pat of their feet and the drumming
of the banjo made such music as no
other people claim to make.
There are, comparatively speak
ing, few of the old kind left-that is,
the true, faithful servant, that would
have died "fOr old missus or old
massa."
Some days since, sister dear, l
met an old darkey, tall and why,
who said to me, "mistis, you don't
know me-" told him no" Said
he, "you ought to know me, for |
lived and worked for your pa and
ma nearly all my life" And would
you believe it, sister, the tears came
into his eyes when l said, lis that
Joe?" He laughed hearty when l
sad | remembered him as a fat, jolly
negro, full of life and fun. Yes,
mistis, that was me-" he said, and
he paid "a glowing tribute to our
mother and father, concerning their
kindness to him, and seemed to APP
preciate my recollection Of him,
though | had thought him dead
many years.
1t carried me back to the good old
days before the war, when Joe used
to carry us to school; our littlepony,
and the old-fashioned buggy that
carried US to school rainy days. Joe
did not know it, but it saddened me
for hours after had heard him call
me "mistis," and it set me to think
ing of others who were connected
with our childhood.
Yes, | do remember our old black
nanny. Ignorant and simple
hearted as she was, loved her
dearly. How we did enjoy the
"cush" she made for us, and how We
did love to steal into the kitchen and
help her "shell the peas" or "scrape
the potatoes when she was in a
hurry for the meal. How often has
she rocked us to sleep in her good,
kind embrace, while mother was at
church! And have you forgotten
the tales she used TO pour into our
wondering ears? l shall never for
get how she described oysters. She
had been an old "NirgInny niger"
and lived on the coast. When we
were young, only "cOve" oysters
were drought on" Never having
seen them fresh in the shell, it was
astonishing to us to hear her tell
how every Saturday night in "old
Virginny" in oyster season, great
cart loads of oysters, fresh from the
water, would be hauled and thrown
out at each cabin door, and how the
darkles would put them down on
the "hairth" before big fire and
let them lie until they "busted," and
how she would just open her "mOuf"
and "let um slip down alive"
We thought that horrible, and
nothing pleased her more than to
see our establishment. She had a
perfect contempt for "them canned
things She always chung to the
head handkerchief, the brighte" the
prettier to her taste, and her highest
ambition, was "baccO" and new
"head-rag."
In comparing these old family
servants to this new issue" we are
mblessed with, they seem not the
same race. Why, during the war,
where on the earth could a more
faithful people be found? Were we
not at their mercy for four years?
They protected and worked for us,
ministered unto us while sick, only
too glad to be allowed to mod" in
the corner of the chimney. Many
times / know we were harsh and eX-
acting, and now since | see slavery
in new light, | wish 1 had been
kinder and more patient. Never a
thought had entered my head that
slaves was a sin. Do you not recall
how CONTEMPORARY we would re-
fer to an "old Abolitionist," as the
men were called who sneaked
around the cabin in the Southland
trying to convince the poor African
that he would carry him to wealth,
freedom and happiness?
One circumstance | remember as
if it were yesterday. 1t was when
one of our servants-by name Es-
ther-was sold. She had only one
son. Never shall | forget her tears
and screams as she told us goodbye.
She was sent away in white COW
cred wagon, as man in the country
had bought her. | can SEQ her this
day with her black arms hanging
from the. wagon crying, "Oh, my
child! will never see my child
again" 1t had never occurred to
me before that there could be any
thing sinful in the traffic of human
beings. My father had bought and
sold so many, and here in Chatter
town nearly every first Monday
there were negroes "on the block. :"
either for sale or to hire. We never
knew anything else in the South.
Such is custom! But, that day,
small as | was, it hurt me to see
Aunt Easter" as she was called
suffering so, and l said to myself
poor thing, why do they separate
her from her child! Is it right? l
believe it sin.
However, this case turned out
more happily than most others, for |
lived to see the mother and son uni
ted after the war. He came to see
us, though looking in his six foot
of freeman little like the lazy
boy of twelve that we used to play
with NV sister the race iS a npcu-