Last of the pioneers, or, Old times in East Tenn
Subtitle: being the life and reminiscences of Pharaoh Jackson Chesney (aged 120 years)
By: by J.C. Webster
Contributors: Webster, J. C. (John Coram), 1861-; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: African Americans; Biography; Slaves; Freed persons; Plantation life; History; Underground Railroad; Frontier and pioneer life
Other titles: Last of the pioneers; Old times in East Tenn.; North American slave narratives.
Description: When Pharaoh Jackson Chesney dictated his narrative to John Coram Webster in 1902, he claimed to be approximately 120 years old. Born a slave in Clarksville, Va, Chesney married and had four children. Separated from his wife and children, at age 60, when sold to John Chesney in Tennessee, Pharaoh Jackson Chesney was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation after eighty years of slavery. Narrative contains information about slave and rural life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Much focuses on the economic, societal, and cultural changes that occurred during Chesney's long life, including development of cities and expansion of the west, farming and manufacturing techniques, and the Civil War's impact on the United States. Also includes various rural traditions and customs, such as harvest traditions, quilting bees, religious life, and superstitions. He discusses slavery, primarily to point out that in his experience, slaves were generally well-treated. He also describes the Underground Railroad and what it was like to be a slave working on plantations during the Civil War. Also includes a copy of the bill of sale for Ferry (as Chesney was called) and a memorium to J.C. Webster.
Notes: Title from electronic title page (viewed December 5, 2003)

Linda Brown and Sydney Wesfall provided their personal copy of the text for the electronic publication of this title.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digitization project's database, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection North American slave narratives.

Text transcribed by Apex Data Services, Inc.  Text encoded by Apex Data Services, Inc., Matthew Kern and Elizabeth S. Wright.

Text (HTML and SGML) and images (JPEG)

Transcribed from: Last of the pioneers, or, Old times in East Tenn. : being the life and reminiscences of Pharaoh Jackson Chesney (aged 120 years) / by J.C. Webster. Knoxville, Tenn. : S.B. Newman & Co. Printers & Book Binders, 1902. 129, [1] p. : ill., port.

Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities supported the electronic publication of this title.

Mode of access: Internet World Wide Web.

System requirements: PC with modem or direct Internet connection; SGML viewer required for SGML files.