The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-02-06
Old Southern Servants.

The neXt arg family or our slaves
was that of old George Douglas and
mis- wife Mary Anne, called by all of
us uncle George" and Aunt Mary
Anne" George was lame. He was an
inheritance from my fathers great
grandfather, Colonel George Douglas,
Kings counsel and member of the
House of Congress for a longer period
than any other burgess. Uncle George
came to us through my Great-Grand-
mother Wise, whose maiden name
was Margaret peggy Douglas. He
was tall, dignified man, with high
cheekbones, and said his ancestors
were Congo negroes. His wife was a
fat. ,notherly woman. with an adniix-
ture of white blood-what was call
ed a gingerbread mulatto." She came
from the Custises. She nursed an
elder sister of mine, after the death
of my fathers first wife. Uncle George
was the gardener and Aun Mary the
washerWoman. They were a devoted
couple and occupied IN clubhouse nearly
adjoining the mansion. My earliest rec
objection is of seeing my mother in
our garden, directing George in his
work. He and his wife loved the
ground she walked upon.
Their children were Charlotte, Sarah,
Betsy, Louisa, John, Anne Eliza, Viz
gil and Sergeant to say nothing OF
several who died in infancy. Charlotte
was given as maid to my eldest sister,
Mrs. Garnett; Betsy to another sis
ter, Anne Eliza to another, John to
my brother Richard, and Virgil for a
time was mine. These arrangements
we're natural and did not separate the
family for we were all together
from time to time. John was about
my age and we were devoted friends.
| loved him dearly and he loved me.
He is still alive, and several years ago
came over to my little country place
and waited on me all summer.
By the time George and Mary Anne
reached Virgil. they had exhausted
the ~venire'' of names and appealed to
my mother to assist them. 1t would
seem from her suggestions that she
was, at the time, brushing up on her
Latin, for the first name h sugges-
ted was Caesar"
mo, ma'am!" said Uncle George en-
phatically. Il don't want no dogs
name for my child"
Vainly she strove to assure him that
Caesar was the name Of a very great
man. He would have none of it.
How would Pompey do, George?"
she ventured again timidly.
Dat amt no better! OATS a hoss's
name,' blurted out old George.
Then she suggested Virgil" telling
him it was the lame of an illustrlous
Latin poet. 1t pleased both him and
Mary Anne, and the young n was
christened Virgil. He was, as he grew,
up, the dirtiest, ~greasiest, latest,
most grotesque young slave in all tue
land and even to this day | smile to
think of what a travesty he was upon
P. Virgilius Marc, the Roman. | sub
sequently traded Virgil off with my
father for another boy named "Yel-
low John" and got the worst OF it.
Ny dear mother was gone before the
next child came to George and Mary
Anne, and as he was a boy they hon
ored her memory by naming him Ser
gaant, that being her family name.
George and Mary Anne were as much
a part of our family as if they had
been blood kin. l know Of no SER
wants nowadays between whom and
their employers any such relations Of
love and sympathy exist as those be-
tween Uncle George and Aunt Mary
Anne and our own. Many is the day
| have passed in play with John, fish
ing or sailing or breaking calves, or
doing the thousand things for boys to
do on a farm. When I was hungry
Aunt Mary Anne fed me, and when [
was sleepy she has put me many a day
| upon her Clean quilted bedspread and
covered me with her shawl. On Sun
| dow cno rodo RI church with uS in The
same carriage with the baby in her
arms-and how often have | gone to
sleep on those long rides, with my head
! pillowed on ner Eat Jap, Yet I Rave
| practiced social separation re-
| ligiously and believe in it just as firm
" as many an upstart youngster of the
| present who prates about the dangers
I, of negro equality and hates negroes =
John S. Wise in the Saturday Evening
| Post.