Polly Colbert
From:
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Writer's Project
Ex-Slaves
POLLY COLBERT
Age 83 yrs.
Colbert, Oklahoma
I am now living on de forty-acre farm dat de Government give me and it
is just about three miles from my old home on Master Holmes Colbert's
plantation where I lived when I was a slave.
Lawsy me, times sure has changed since slavery times! Maybe I notice
it more since I been living here all de time, but dere's farms 'round
here dat I've seen grown timber cleared off of twice during my
lifetime. Dis land was first cleared up and worked by niggers when dey
was slaves. After de War nobody worked it and it just naturally growed
up again wid all sorts of trees. Later, white folks cleared it up
again and took grown trees off'n it and now dey are still cultivating
it but it is most wore out now. Some of it won't even sprout peas. Dis
same land used to grow corn without hardly any work but it sure won't
do it now.
I reckon it was on account of de rich land dat us niggers dat was
owned by Indians didn't have to work so hard as dey did in de old
states, but I think dat Indian masters was just naturally kinder any
way, leastways mine was.
My mother, Liza, was owned by de Colbert family and my father, Tony,
was owned by de Love family. When Master Holmes and Miss Betty Love
was married dey fathers give my father and mother to dem for a wedding
gift. I was born at Tishomingo and we moved to de farm on Red River
soon after dat and I been here ever since. I had a sister and a
brother, but I ain't seen dem since den.
My mother died when I was real small, and about a year after dat my
father died. Master Holmes told us children not to cry, dat he and
Miss Betsy would take good care of us. Dey did, too. Dey took us in de
house wid dem and look after us jest as good as dey could colored
children. We slept in a little room close to them and she allus seen
dat we was covered up good before she went to bed. I guess she got a
sight of satisfaction from taking care of us 'cause she didn't have no
babies to care for.
Master Holmes and Miss Betsy was real young folks but dey was purty
well fixed. He owned about 100 acres of land dat was cleared and ready
for de plow and a lot dat was not in cultivation. He had de woods full
of hogs and cows and he owned seven or eight grown slaves and several
children. I remember Uncle Shed, Uncle Lige, Aunt Chaney, Aunt Lizzie,
and Aunt Susy just as well as if it was yesterday. Master Holmes and
Miss Betsy was both half-breed Choctaw Indians. Dey had both been away
to school somewhere in de states and was well educated. Dey had two
children but dey died when dey was little. Another little girl was
born to dem after de War and she lived to be a grown woman.
Dey sure was fine young folks and provided well for us. He allus had a
smokehouse full of meat, lard, sausage, dried beans, peas, corn,
potatoes, turnips and collards banked up for winter. He had plenty of
milk and butter for all of us, too.
Master Holmes allus say, "A hungry man caint work." And he allus saw
to it that we had lots to eat.
We cooked all sorts of Indian dishes: Tom-fuller, pashofa, hickory-nut
grot, Tom-budha, ash-cakes, and pound cakes besides vegetables and
meat dishes. Corn or corn meal was used in all de Indian dishes. We
made hominy out'n de whole grains. Tom-fuller was made from beaten
corn and tasted sort of like hominy.
We would take corn and beat it like in a wooden mortar wid a wooden
pestle. We would husk it by fanning it and we would den put it on to
cook in a big pot. While it was cooking we'd pick out a lot of
hickory-nuts, tie 'em up in a cloth and beat 'em a little and drop 'em
in and cook for a long time. We called dis dish hickory-nut grot. When
we made pashofa we beat de corn and cook for a little while and den we
add fresh pork and cook until de meat was done. Tom-budha was green
corn and fresh meat cooked together and seasoned wid tongue or
pepper-grass.
We cooked on de fire place wid de pots hanging over de fire on racks
and den we baked bread and cakes in a oven-skillet. We didn't use soda
and baking powder. We'd put salt in de meal and scald it wid boiling
water and make it into pones and bake it. We'd roll de ash cakes in
wet cabbage leaves and put 'em in de hot ashes and bake 'em. We cooked
potatoes, and roasting ears dat way also. We sweetened our cakes wid
molasses, and dey was plenty sweet too.
Dey was lots of possums and coons and squirrels and we nearly always
had some one of these to eat. We'd parboil de possum or coon and put
it in a pan and bake him wid potatoes 'round him. We used de broth to
baste him and for gravy. Hit sure was fine eating dem days.
I never had much work to do. I helped 'round de house when I wanted to
and I run errands for Miss Betsy. I liked to do things for her. When I
got a little bigger my brother and I toted cool water to de field for
de hands.
Didn't none of Master Holmes' niggers work when dey was sick. He allus
saw dat dey had medicine and a doctor iffen dey needed one. 'Bout de
only sickness we had was chills and fever. In de old days we made lots
of our own medicine and I still does it yet. We used polecat grease
for croup and rheumatism. Dog-fennel, butterfly-root, and
life-everlasting boiled and mixed and made into a syrup will cure
pneumonia and pleurisy. Pursley-weed, called squirrel physic, boiled
into a syrup will cure chills and fever. Snake-root steeped for a long
time and mixed with whiskey will cure chills and fever also.
Our clothes was all made of homespun. De women done all de spinning
and de weaving but Miss Betsy cut out all de clothes and helped wid de
sewing. She learned to sew when she was away to school and she learnt
all her women to sew. She done all the sewing for de children. Master
Holmes bought our shoes and we all had 'em to wear in de winter. We
all went barefoot in de summer.
He kept mighty good teams and he had two fine saddle horses. He and
Miss Betsy rode 'em all de time. She would ride wid him all over de
farm and dey would go hunting a lot, too. She could shoot a gun as
good as any man.
Master Holmes sure did love his wife and children and he was so proud
of her. It nearly killed 'em both to give up de little boy and girl. I
never did hear of him taking a drink and he was kind to everybody,
both black and white, and everybody liked him. Dey had lots of company
and dey never turned anybody away. We lived about four miles from de
ferry on Red River on de Texas Road and lots of travelers stopped at
our house.
We was 'lowed to visit de colored folks on de Eastman and Carter
plantations dat joined our farm. Eastman and Carter was both white men
dat married Indian wives. Dey was good to dey slaves, too, and let 'em
visit us.
Old Uncle Kellup (Caleb) Colbert, Uncle Billy Hogan, Rev. John Carr,
Rev. Baker, Rev. Hogue, and old Father Murrow preached for de white
folks all de time and us colored folks went to church wid dem. Dey had
church under brush arbors and we set off to ourselves but we could
take part in de singing and sometimes a colored person would get happy
and pray and shout but nobody didn't think nothing 'bout dat.
De Patrollers was de law, kind of like de policeman now. Dey sure
never did whip one of Master Holmes' niggers for he didn't allow it.
He didn't whip 'em hisself and he sure didn't allow anybody else to
either. I was afraid of de Ku Kluxers too, and I 'spects dat Master
Holmes was one of de leaders iffen de truth was known. Dey sure was
scary looking.
I was scared of de Yankee soldiers. Dey come by and killed some of our
cattle for beef and took our meat and lard out'n de smokehouse and dey
took some corn, too. Us niggers was awful mad. We didn't know anything
'bout dem fighting to free us. We didn't specially want to be free dat
I knows of.
Right after de War I went over to Bloomfield Academy to take care of a
little girl, but I went back to Master Holmes and Miss Betsy at de end
of two years to take care of de little girl dat was born to dem and I
stayed with her until I was about fifteen. Master Holmes went to
Washington as a delegate, for something for de Indians, and he took
sick and died and dey buried him dere. Poor Miss Betsy nearly grieved
herself to death. She stayed on at de farm till her little girl was
grown and married. Her nigger men stayed on with her and rented land
from her and dey sure raised a sight of truck. Didn't none of her old
slaves ever move very far from her and most of them worked for her
till dey was too old to work.
I left Miss Betsy purty soon after Master Holmes died and went back
to de Academy and stayed three years. I married a man dat belonged to
Master Holmes' cousin. His name was Colbert, too. I had a big wedding.
Miss Betsy and a lot of white folks come and stayed for dinner. We
danced all evening and after supper we started again and danced all
night and de next day and de next night. We'd eat awhile and den we'd
dance awhile.
My husband and I had nine children and now I've got seven
grandchildren. My husband has been dead a long time.
My sister, Chaney, lives here close to me but her mind has got feeble
and she can't recollect as much as I can. I live with my son and he is
mighty good to me. I know I ain't long for dis world but I don't mind
for I has lived a long time and I'll have a lot of friends in de other
world and I won't be lonesome.
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