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Ex-Slave Biography
Pet Franks
Aberdeen, Mississippi
Interviewer: Mrs. Richard Kolb
Uncle Pet, 92 years old ex-slave, is the favorite of Ackers' Fishing Lodge which is situated 14 miles north of
Aberdeen, Monroe County. He is low and stockily built. His ancestry is pure African. Scarcely topping five
feet one inch, he weighs about 150 pounds. Though he walks with the slightest limp, he is still very active and
thinks nothing of cooking for the large groups who frequent the lodge. He has his own little garden and chickens
he tends with great care.
"I know all 'bout slav'ry an' de war. I was right dere on de spot when it all happened. I wish to goodness
I was back dere now, not in de war, but in de slav'ry times. Niggers where I lived didn' have nothin' to worry
'bout in dem days. Day aint got no sense now-a-days. All dey b'lieves in now is drinkin' an' carousin'. Dey aint
got no use for nothin' but a little corn likker an' a fight. I don't b'lieve in no such gwine-on, no sir-ree. Dat's
de reason I stays out here by myse'f all de time. I don't want to have nothin' to do wid'em. I goes to town 'bout
once a mont' to git a'pplies, but I don' never fool 'roun' wid dem Niggers den. I gits 'long wid my white folks,
too. All de mens an' wimmens what comes out to de club is pow'ful good to me.
"I was born up near Bartley's Ferry right on de river. De way I cal'clates my age makes me 'bout 92 years
old. My firs' Marster was name Mr. Harry Allen. He died when I was a boy an' I don't 'member much 'bout him. De
Mistis, dat was his wife, married ag'in an' dat husband's name was Marse Jimmy Tatum. Dey was sho' good white folks.
My mammy an' pappy was name Martha an' Martin Franks. Marse Harry brung 'em down from Virginny, I think. Or else
he bought 'em from Marse Tom Franks in West Point. Anyways dey come from Virginny an' I don't know which one of
'em brought 'em down here. Day did b'long to Marse Tom. I knows dat.
"Bartley's used to be some place. My folks had a big hotel down on de river bank. Dey was a heap o' stores
right on de bank, too. De river done wash 'em all 'way now. Dey aint nothin' lef'. But Lawdy! When I was a kid
de boats used to come a-sailin' up de river 'bout once a week an' I used to know de names o' all de big ones. Dey
would stop an' pick up a load o' cotton to carry to Mobile. When dey come back dey would be loaded wid all kin'
o' gran' things.
"Us chillun had a big time playin' 'roun' de dock. Us played 'Hide de Switch' an' 'Goose and Gander' in de
day time. Den at nighttime when de moon was shinin' big an' yaller, us'd play 'Ole Molly Bright.' Dat was what
us call de moon. Us'd make up stories 'bout her. Dat was de bes' times o' all. Sometimes de old folks would join
in an' tell tales too. Been so long I forgits de tales, but I know dey was good'ns.
"When I got big 'nough to work I he'ped 'roun' de lot mostly. Fac' is I'se worked right 'roun' white folks
mos' all my days. I did work in de fiel' some, but us had a good overseer. His name was Marse Frank Beeks an' he
was good as any white man dat ever lived. I don't never 'member his whippin' one o' de slaves, leastways not real
whippin's. I do 'member hearin' 'bout slaves on other places gittin' whipped sometimes. I guess Niggers lad dat
wished dey was free, but I didn' want to leave my white folks, ever.
"Us had preachin' an' singin'. Dey was some mighty good meetin's on de place. Old Daddy Young was 'bout de
bes' preacher us ever had. Dey was plenty o' Niggers dere, 'cause it was a powerful big place. Old Daddy could
sho' make 'em shout an' roll. Us have to hol' some of 'em dey'd git so happy. I knowed I had 'ligion when I got
baptized. Dey took me out in de river an' it took two of 'em to put me under. When I come up I tol' 'em, 'turn
me loose, I b'lieve I can walk right on top o' de water.' Dey don' have no 'ligion lak dat now-a-days.
"All de Niggers on de Tatum place had dey own patches where dey could plant what ever dey wanted to. Dey'd
work 'em on Satu'd'ys. When dey sol' anything from dey patch Mistis 'ud let 'em keep de money. When de boats went
down to Mobile us could sen' down for anything us want to buy. One time I had $10.00 saved up 'an I bought lots
o' pretties wid it. Us always had plenty t'eat, too. All de greens, eggs, wheat, corn, meat, an' chitlins day anybody'd
want. When hog killin' time come us always have some meat lef' over from de year befo'. Us made soup out o' dat.
"When de war broke out I went right wid de Marster up to Corinth. I stayed up dere in de camp for de longes'
time a-waiting, on de sojers an' nussing de sick ones. I never seen much o' de real fightin'. But I heard de cannons
roar an' I waited on de sojers what got wounded.
"After dey moved camp de Marster sent me back home to he'p look after de Mistis an' chillun. De 'Federates
had some cattle hid 'way in us pasture an' I looked after 'em. One night when I was comin' home I met 'bout a hund'ed
Yankees comin' over a hill. Dey saw de cattle an' took 'bout ha'f of 'em. I skidooed. Day aint kotched me yet.
"After de war de Yankees called deyse'ves 'Publicans. Dey come down here an' wanted all de Niggers to
vote de 'Publican ticket. Den, lemme tell you, I went to work for my white folks. Dey was a-holdin' big meetin's
an' speakin's, but I was workin', too. On 'lection day I brung in 1500 Niggers to vote de Democrat' ticket. De
folks what saw us comin' over de hill say us look lik a big black cloud. I reckon us sounded lak one wid all dat
hollerin' an' shoutin'.
"All my white folks was dead soon, an' I went 'bout lak I was in a trance for awhile. I went firs' one place
an' den 'nother.
"When I was on de Cox place I met Dora an' us married. Dat was a big weddin' an' a big feas'. Den us moved
over to de Troup place an' stayed dere for a long spell. While us was dere I 'member de Klu Kluxers an' all de
carryin' on. Dey would dress up in white sheets an' come 'roun' 'an scare all de Niggers. Dey'd whip de bad ones.
Some of 'em would git cow horns an' put on dey heads. One time dey chased a Nigger plumb under de house jus' a-playin'
wid 'im. Dey was a-bellowin' jus' lak bulls.
"I can't read an' write. I aint got much use for a Nigger wid a little education. I went to school twict.
De firs' teacher I had, dey come an' carried to de pen for signin' his old Marster's name. De nex' teacher, dey
put in jail for stealin'. So I jus' 'cided twas jus' better for me not to know how to read'n write, less'n I might
git in some kins trouble, too.
"Dora an' me is got three out o' eight chilluns livin'. Dora an' me don' live together no more. She likes
to stay in town an' I aint got no patience wid city slickers an' dey ways. She stays wid us gal, Nanny. I stays
out here. I goes to see her 'bout once a mont'.
"I don't git lonesome. Lawdee, no'm! I's got my two dogs. Den de white folks is always a-comin' out here.
Dey is good to me. Dey is one right pert Nigger woman what lives down de road a-piece. Her name is Katie, an' I
goes down dere when I gits tire o' eatin' my own cookin'. She sets a plumb good table, too."
[Source: WPA Slave Narrative, Federal Writer's Project, United States
Work Projects Administration (USWPA); Manuscript Division, Library of Congress - Transcribed by C. Anthony]