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The Life of a Former Slave:
Confessions of Mary Pittman

          Well, I suppose you want to know just exactly how my life was when I was a piece of property. My mother was Jane Brown and my father was Tom Vaughn. They belonged to Master Jordan and Miss Sally Moss. They worked in the cotton fields on the plantation. I believe that I had a great Master and he didn’t really give any whippings. The women on the plantation had it just as hard as the men. Master didn’t show any sorrow for women, they had to work just as hard as a man. Most people tell me that I’m quite educated to be a former slave, but I don’t really consider myself as well educated, I would say it’s just common sense. I don’t remember much about the soldiers in the war cause they didn’t come to our plantation much. When they did, Miss Sally would make us slaves go fetch water and get food.

          One of the most horrid things that happened to me during slavery days was the death of my brother. His name was Billy John. He was separated from me when I was seven and he was two. My daddy somehow must have pleaded with the Master to let my brother work on the plantation with us. Most Masters wouldn’t have been too sympathetic in a situation such as that. My daddy started talking all this talk about how my brother would bring Master lots of profit because he was such a good worker.

          Thank the Lord it worked and I will never forget the day it happened and that’s why I still to this day think we had one of the most greatest Masters out of all plantations.

          While on the plantation of a different Master my brother really didn’t know his name because his masters called him ‘boy.’ When my brother got old enough to name himself that’s what he did. His real name was Joe Pittman but because he didn’t appreciate the name ‘boy’ and he didn’t really know his birth name he just made up a name. I don’t really know why he called himself Billy John I guess that’s the name he heard the most.

          My brother was kind of dumb sensed. I use this phrase because I don’t want to call him stupid or retarded although that’s really what he was. Most people would call it handicapped but I defend this word because my brother was not disabled, he just didn’t have the sense of a normal person. To be honest I think that’s why his Master called him ‘boy.’ When Billy came and stayed on Master John’s plantation my daddy tried to tell him what his real name was and Billy wasn’t even trying to hear that. After trying to get my brother to believe his real name wasn’t Billy John my daddy just gave up. My brother had too much pride in himself to believe that his name wasn’t real and I respect his side because that’s the reason why my brother is most proud of himself and if that is what makes my brother proud of himself then I respect that.

          Master didn’t never take no stuff from anyone. He was really a ‘for himself’ kind of guy because if something was done and it benefited him in any kind of way then he was all for it. One day a boy about my brother’s age didn’t really like my brother because he wasn’t a normal person. Mark was his name and in his opinion he didn’t think my brother should even be working on a plantation and my brother was a great slave, which is one thing I do remember about him. My brother got a lot of work done in a certain amount of time and the work that he did was more than what an average slave could do. Mama always called it ‘God’s gift.’ She said that if my brother had a disability then that was going to make him come up in the world. Due to the problem of jealousy that didn’t get my brother nowhere but to an early trip to his grave.

          One day Miss Sally told my brother and Mark to go out into the woods and pick berries for supper. Master had a certain distance he wanted them to go because of the patrollers that would stroll through. Master didn’t tell Billy just how far they could go cause he figured he wouldn’t understand. Why in God’s name would he think such a thing is what I still wonder. Mama told me to never question God’s works but I still wonder at times why he had to take my brother.

          While they were out in the woods Mark told my brother to go find some better berries deeper in the woods if he wanted Master to like him more. My brother told me this story while he was sick and before he got any further I knew Mark was just tricking my brother. Well, while my brother was in that part of the woods, Mark was running back telling Master where Billy was. Master come back dragging Billy across the ground by the back of his shirt. My brother was screaming cause he knew he was gon’ get it. I knew that Mark done tricked my brother cause he was just standing over there snickering and laughing. My brother didn’t tell Master he had been tricked cause Mama always told us don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.

          Master didn’t ask my brother no questions he just asked Mark did he tell Billy he couldn’t go that far. Mark say he did and Master just took his word for it and I guess this was cause my brother had a problem. Well, what the other Master didn’t tell Master John when he bought him was that the doctors said he couldn’t be treated like other slaves. The doctors told the other Master that my brother was born with a bone disease and all the bones in his body were fractured when he was born. Now my brother’s bones were very fragile and Master didn’t know this cause he whipped my brother anyway. It put my brother to bed rest and Master didn’t feel no sorrow.

          One day my brother wanted to show Master he was strong by going back to work. My brother was trying and no one was in the room and he got up and broke every bone in his body like he done fell off a tall building or something. Daddy came into the room and said my brother wasn’t breathing and Mama already knew the cause of his death; she just laid down and cried. I loved my brother dearly and I will never forget him.

          If it aint nothing I don’t remember the most about slavery days it’s the good food Miss Sally and Mama used to cook around Christmas time. I remember them dinners like yesterday and mama made some of the best candy yams in the history of candy yam makin’. We would all gather around the fire (well the slaves that is) and tell stories about what we remembered about our past family members. We tried to tell the funny stories that we could remember cause there wasn’t many.

          One thing I didn’t know was that slaves created chitlins and I really don’t eat them now. The chitlins used to be made from the leftover food the Masters and Mistresses would throw out when they were finished eating their dinners. Now chitlins aint nothing but pig intestines and that’s why I don’t eat them now. Mama taught me to cook when she could find the time and when Miss Sally wasn’t around. Mama had this certain recipe that has been passed down through generations. Before she died she gave me a recipe for her pies and her pies were so good. Now I got to put up that recipe until I die and give it to my oldest child. Luckily my oldest child was a girl because men don’t care too much about cooking.

          Miss Sally Moss died when I was twenty-six and after that Master didn’t talk much. My family along with other slaves on the plantation used to get together more after Miss Sally’s death because with her gone Master didn’t really pay our behavior any attention just as long as we got the work done.

          I can remember getting whipped about nine times throughout the whole time I was in slavery. I do remember one good whipping I got when I was seventeen. The grown slaves on the plantation used to have a get together now and then. We was never allowed to go and one day I just got loose and went. I got drunk and everything and when I think about it that party wasn’t even worth the whipping I got. I met a guy name Jimmy Gaines and fell in love with him the first time I saw his face. I couldn’t pay any attention to what he was saying because I was too busy looking into his face.

          I loved the stories we used to tell around the fire because sometimes they would keep you wondering and that kept your mind off the hardships of slavery. One story Jimmy told me was when his aunt became free through the lady they called ‘Moses’. They called her Moses because she led many slaves to freedom and her real name was Harriet Tubman. Every journey she took this certain path and this path became known as the Underground Railroad. This was important to many slaves because it basically gave slaves their pride, freedom and overall their lives. Jimmy’s aunt was freed this way. Now that I think about it I remember my past family members talking about how others in our family was free by the Underground Railroad. Mama always told me I would be free someday but I never really listened because from where I was standing I didn’t think that was possible.

          Well look where I’m standing now, aint that something. I suppose you wanna know my story of how I got free and out of my Masters reach. Before I go into detail I wanna tell you that there were people on the plantation that didn’t want to leave when they heard they were set free. Can you believe that? Master died not too long after Mama passed and the rest of his slaves were passed on to another Master including me. I remember the day when Master read us this paper from the government or something of the sort. We were in the front cleaning and Master came out on the porch and told us to stop and listen to what he had to say. I stopped and listened because this had never happened so I knew it was something important. Master unfolded the paper and told us that the Emancipation Proclamation had set us free. I think that’s what it was called; I’m not too sure.

          We didn’t want to celebrate in front of Master cause he didn’t look too happy he told us that we could still work for him the only difference would be that we wouldn’t be forced to. I think he also said something about a small sum of money. When Master left to go inside we were singing and dancing like we never had before. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I stayed with my cousin in a further part of Kentucky and I had just found out about her before Mama passed away. I was lucky to even find a place to stay because I didn’t want to stay back on that plantation remindin me of those horrid slavery days.

         My cousin was very generous to me and it was funny because Mama told me she was the one who became free by the Underground Railroad. She had started her own family and was living with her husband and two children. I met up with Jimmy in a fabric store. I was there to make fabric for my cousin’s daughter because it was her birthday and I wanted to make her a dress. To make a long story short, we got married, I had a daughter and named her Marietta.

          My cousin’s daughter was interested in my freedom and kept asking me questions about other slaves. I didn’t know if other slaves got word they were free and that puzzled me. Well, when she got word that there were slaves that didn’t know they were actually free, she wanted to start an organization. I just told her, “Kara if you feel like you can make a difference in slaves’ lives go right ahead.” I guess she was inspired by my advice and went on with her journey.

Kara's Journey Celebration

          Kara’s organization was put together to inform slaves that they were free. This mainly occurred down in Texas because slaves down there were not informed of their freedom. The forces that issued this information did not make it down there. I totally agree with this organization and I encouraged her to continue. I believe this will make a difference in a lot of people’s lives. I told her that when I was a slave I used to wish that something like that would happen to me. I hated slavery and I would do anything to prevent from going back. If I had to take my life in order not to go back to that plantation I would. I know Kara’s organization will carry on to later years and I know that there will be other organizations opposing slavery. I have heard of organizations that celebrate the freedom from slavery. One celebration I do remember was the Juneteenth celebration that is celebrated on June fourteenth of every year. Well people, that is my story and I appreciate you taking time out to hear the journeys of my life.

THANKS….

[Honesty Kidd]