Black Genealogy

Slave Narrative of George Scruggs

Interviewer: L. Cherry Person Interviewed: George Scruggs Location: Calloway County, Kentucky Place of Birth: Murray, Kentucky Story of Uncle George Scruggs, a colored slave: I wuz a slave befo de wa. My boss, de man dat I b’long to, wuz Ole Man Vol Scruggs. He wuz a race hoss man. He had a colod boy faw evy hoss dem days and a white man faw evy hoss, too. I wuz bawn rite here in Murry. My boss carrid me away frum here. I thought a heap uv him and he though a heap uv me. I’d rub de legs uv … Read more

Slave Narrative of Martha J. Jones

Interviewer: Byers York Person Interviewed: Martha J. Jones Location: Louisville, Kentucky Place of Birth: Buckingham County, Virginia Date of Birth: 1847 Age: 90 In an interview with Mrs. Martha J. Jones, she reminisced of the old Civil War days as follows: “I was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, and later during the Civil War, I lived in Gilmer County, W. Va. My fathers name was Robert R. Turner; he was born in 1818 and my mother’s name was Susan; she was born in 1821. My parents had six children and we lived on a big farm. My father was in … Read more

Slave Narrative of Clayton Holbert

Interviewer: Leta Gray Person Interviewed: Clayton Holbert Location: Ottawa, Kansas Place of Birth: Linn County, Tennessee Age: 86 THE AMERICAN GUIDE TOPEKA, KANSAS EX SLAVE STORY OTTAWA, KANSAS BY: Leta Gray (interviewer) “My name is Clayton Holbert, and I am an ex slave. I am eighty-six years old. I was born and raised in Linn County, Tennessee. My master’s name was Pleasant “Ples” Holbert. My master had a fairly large plantation; he had, I imagine, around one hundred slaves.” “I was working the fields during the wind-up of the Civil War. They always had a man in the field to … Read more

Slave Narrative of Jim Taylor

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Jim Taylor Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Talbot County, Maryland Date of Birth: 1847 Place of Residence: 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore, Maryland Age: 89 Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor, at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore. “I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan’s father knew me well as I worked for him for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small boats. In … Read more

Slave Narrative of Alice Lewis

Interviewer: Ellen B. Warfield Person Interviewed: Alice Lewis Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Wilkes County, Georgia Age: 84 (Alice Lewis, ex-slave, 84, years old, in charge of sewing-room at Provident Hospital (Negro), Baltimore. Tall, slender, erect, her head crowned by abundant snow white wool, with a fine carriage and an air of poise mud self respect good to behold, Alice belies her 84 years.) “Yes’m, I was born in slavery, I don’t look it, but I was! Way down in Wilkes County, Georgia, nigh to a little town named Washington which ain’t so far from Augusta. My pappy, he … Read more

Slave Narrative of Dennis Simms

Interviewer: Stansbury Person Interviewed: Dennis Simms Date of Interview: September 19, 1937 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland Date of Birth: June 17, 1841 Place of Residence: 629 Mosher St., Baltimore, Maryland Reference: Personal interview with Dennis Simms, ex-slave, September 19, 1937, at his home, 629 Mosher St., Baltimore. Born on a tobacco plantation at Contee, Prince Georges County, Maryland, June 17, 1841, Dennis Simms, Negro ex-slave, 628 Mosher Street, Baltimore, Maryland, is still working and expects to live to be a hundred years old. He has one brother living, George Simms, of South River, … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mary Moriah Anne Susanna James

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Mary James Date of Interview: Sept. 23, 1937 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Residence: 618 Haw St., Baltimore, MD Reference: Personal interview with Mary James, ex-slave, Sept. 23, 1937, at her home, 618 Haw St., Baltimore, Md. “My father’s name was Caleb Harris James, and my mother’s name was Mary Moriah. Both of them were owned by Silas Thornton Randolph, a distant relative of Patrick Henry. I have seen the picture of Patrick Henry many a time in the home place on the library wall. I had three sisters and two brothers. Two of my sisters … Read more

Slave Narrative of Rev. Silas Jackson

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Rev. Silas Jackson Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Virginia Date of Birth: 1846 or 47 Place of Residence: 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore, Maryland Age: (about) 90 Reference: Personal interview with Rev. Silas Jackson, ex-slave, at his home, 1630 N. Gilmor St., Baltimore. “I was born at or near Ashbie’s Gap in Virginia, either in the year of 1846 or 47. I do not know which, but I will say I am 90 years of age. My father’s name was Sling and mother’s Sarah Louis. They were purchased by my master from a slave trader … Read more

Slave Narrative of Annie Young Henson

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Annie Young Henson Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Northumberland County, Virginia Age: 86 Place of Residence: African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore, Maryland Reference: Personal interview with Annie Young Henson, ex-slave, at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore. “I was born in Northumberland County, Virginia, 86 years ago. Daughter of Mina and Tom Miller. I had one brother Feelingchin and two sisters, Mary and Matilda. Owned by Doctor Pressley Nellum. “The farm was called Traveler’s Rest. The farm so named because a man once on a dark, cold and dreary night stopped there … Read more

Slave Narrative of Page Harris

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Page Harris Location: Camp Parole, Maryland Place of Birth: Charles County MD Date of Birth: 1858 Place of Residence: Campe Parole, A. A. C. Co., MD Reference: Personal interview with Page Harris at his home, Camp Parole, A.A.C. Co., Md. “I was born in 1858 about 3 miles west of Chicamuxen near the Potomac River in Charles County on the farm of Burton Stafford, better known as Blood Hound Manor. This name was applied because Mr. Stafford raised and trained blood hounds to track runaway slaves and to sell to slaveholders of Maryland, Virginia and other … Read more

Slave Narrative of Caroline Hammond

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Caroline Hammond Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Anne Arundel County MD Date of Birth: 1844 Place of Residence: 4710 Road, Baltimore, MD Interview at her home, 4710 Falls Road, Baltimore, Md. “I was born in Anne Arundel County near Davidsonville about 3 miles from South River in the year 1844. The daughter of a free man and a slave woman, who was owned by Thomas Davidson, a slave owner and farmer of Anne Arundel. He had a large farm and about 25 slaves on his farm all of whom lived in small huts with the … Read more

Slave Narrative of Menellis Gassaway

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Menellis Gassaway Date of Interview: Sept. 1937 Location: M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Carroll County MD Date of Birth: 1850 or 52 Reference: Personal interview with Menellis Gassaway, ex-slave, on Sept. 22, 1937, at M.E. Home, Carrollton Ave., Baltimore. “My name is Menellis Gassaway, son of Owing and Annabel Gassaway. I was born in Freedom District, Carroll County, about 1850 or 52, brother of Henrietta, Menila and Villa. Our father and mother lived in Carroll County near Eldersberg in a stone and log cabin, consisting of two rooms, one up and one … Read more

Slave Narrative of Thomas Foote

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Thomas Foote Location: Cockeysville, Maryland Place of Birth: Cockeysville, Maryland Date of Birth: 1865 Thomas Foote’s Story, A free Negro. Reference: Personal interview with Thomas Foote, at his home, Cockeysville, Md. “My mother’s name was Eliza Foote and my father’s name was Thomas Foote. Father and mother of a large family that was reared on a small farm about a mile east of Cockeysville, a village situated on the Northern Central Railroad 15 miles north of Baltimore City. “My mother’s maiden name was Myers, a daughter of a free man of Baltimore County. In her younger … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mrs. M. S. Fayman

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Mrs. M. S. Fayman Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: St. Nazaire Parish LA Date of Birth: 1850 Reference: Personal interview with Mrs. Fayman, at her home, Cherry Heights near Baltimore, Md. “I was born in St. Nazaire Parish in Louisiana, about 60 miles south of Baton Rouge, in 1850. My father and mother were Creoles, both of them were people of wealth and prestige in their day and considered very influential. My father’s name was Henri de Sales and mother’s maiden name, Marguerite Sanchez De Haryne. I had two brothers Henri and Jackson named after … Read more

Slave Narrative of Tom Randall

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Tom Randall Location: Oella, Maryland Place of Birth: Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland Date of Birth: 1856 Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall, at his home, Oella, Md. “I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road—the name then, I do not know. My mother’s name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the … Read more

Slave Narrative of James V. Deane

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: James V. Deane Date of Interview: Sept. 1937 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Residence: 1514 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Charles County MD Place of Birth: May 20, 1850 Reference: Personal interview with James V. Deane, ex-slave, on Sept. 20, 1937, at his home, 1514 Druid Hill Ave., Baltimore. “My name is James V. Deane, son of John and Jane Deane, born at Goose Bay in Charles County, May 20, 1850. My mother was the daughter of Vincent Harrison, I do not know about my father’s people. I have two sisters both of … Read more

Slave Narrative of Richard Macks

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Richard Macks Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Charles County MD Date of Birth: 1844 Place of Residence: 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore, Maryland Occupation: Waiter, Coachman, Butler Reference: Personal interview with Richard Macks, ex-slave, at his home, 541 W. Biddle St., Baltimore. “I was born in Charles County in Southern Maryland in the year of 1844. My father’s name was William (Bill) and Mother’s Harriet Mack, both of whom were born and reared in Charles County—the county that James Wilkes Booth took refuge in after the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. I had one … Read more

Slave Narrative of Perry Lewis

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Perry Lewis Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Kent Island, MD Age: 86 Place of Residence: 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore, Maryland Reference: Personal interview with Perry Lewis, ex-slave, at his home, 1124 E. Lexington St., Baltimore. “I was born on Kent Island, Md. about 86 years ago. My father’s name was Henry and mother’s Louise. I had one brother John, who was killed in the Civil War at the Deep Bottom, one sister as I can remember. My father was a freeman and my mother a slave, owned by Thomas Tolson, who owned a small … Read more

Slave Narrative of George Jones

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: George Jones Location: Baltimore, Maryland Place of Birth: Frederick County, Maryland Date of Birth: 1853 Age: 84 Place of Residence: 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore Md. Reference: Personal interview with George Jones, Ex-slave, at African M.E. Home, 207 Aisquith St., Baltimore. “I was born in Frederick County, Maryland, 84 years ago or 1853. My father’s name was Henry and mother’s Jane; brothers Dave, Joe, Henry, John and sisters Annie and Josephine. I know my father and mother were slaves, but I do not recall to whom they belonged. I remember my grandparents. “My father used to tell … Read more

Slave Narrative of Charles Coles

Interviewer: Rogers Person Interviewed: Charles Coles Location: Baltimore, Maryland Date of Birth: 1851 Place of Birth: Charles County MD Place of Residence: 1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Maryland Reference: Personal interview with Charles Coles at his home, 1106 Sterling St., Baltimore, Md. “I was born near Pisgah, a small village in the western part of Charles County, about 1851. I do not know who my parents were nor my relatives. I was reared on a large farm owned by a man by the name of Silas Dorsey, a fine Christian gentleman and a member of the Catholic Church. “Mr. Dorsey was a … Read more