Virginia Archives – Page 16 of 38

Slave Narrative of Tom W. Woods

Person Interviewed: Tom W. Woods Location: Alderson, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Florence, Alabama Age: 83 Lady, if de nigger hadn’t been set free dis country wouldn’t ever been what it is now! Poor white folks wouldn’t never had a chance. De slave holders had most of de money and de land and dey wouldn’t let de poor white folks have a chance to own any land or anything else to speak of. Dese white folks wasn’t much better off dan we was. Dey had to work hard and dey had to worry ’bout food, clothes and shelter and we didn’t. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mary Anngady

Interviewer: T. Pat Matthews Person Interviewed: Mary Anngady Location: 1110 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina Age: 80 (Princess Quango Hennadonah Perceriah) 1110 Oakwood Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina. I was eighteen years old in 1875 but I wanted to get married so I gave my age as nineteen. I wish I could recall some of the ole days when I was with my missus in Orange County, playing with my brothers and other slave children. I was owned by Mr. Franklin Davis and my madam was Mrs. Bettie Davis. I and my brother used to scratch her feet and rub them … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mary Anderson

Interviewer: T. Pat Matthews Person Interviewed: Mary Anderson Location: 17 Poole Road, R.F.D. #2, Raleigh, North Carolina Place of Birth: Wake County NC Date of Birth: May 10, 1851 Age: 86 My name is Mary Anderson. I was born on a plantation near Franklinton, Wake County, N. C. May 10, 1851. I was a slave belonging to Sam Brodie, who owned the plantation at this place. My missus’ name was Evaline. My father was Alfred Brodie and my mother was Bertha Brodie. We had good food, plenty of warm homemade clothes and comfortable houses. The slave houses were called the … Read more

Slave Narrative of Hecter Hamilton

Interviewer: Travis Jordan Person Interviewed: Hector Hamilton Location: North Carolina Age: 90 Ex-Slave 90 Years Dey wuz two General Lee’s, in de ‘Federate War. One los’ his fight, but de other won his. One of dese Generals wuz a white man dat rode a white hoss, an’ de other wuz a mean fightin’ gander dat I named General Lee, though I didn’ know den dat he wuz goin’ to live up to his name. But when de time come dat long neck gander out fit de whole ‘Federate army. My white fo’ks lived in Virginia. Dey wuz Marse Peter an’ … Read more

Slave Narrative of Sarah Harris

Interviewer: Mary A. Hicks Person Interviewed: Sarah Harris Date of Interview: May 19, 1937 Location: North Carolina Date of Birth: April 1861 Interviewed May 19, 1937. Sarah Harris is my name. I wuz borned April 1861, on the plantation of Master John William Walton. My father wuz name Frank Walton and my mother wuz name Flora Walton. My brothers wuz name Lang and Johnny. My sisters: Hannah, Mary, Ellen, Violet and Annie. My grandmother wuz name Ellen Walton. She wuz 104 years old when she died. My mother wuz 103 years old when she died; she has been dead 3 … Read more

Slave Narrative of Viney Baker

Interviewer: Mary A. Hicks Person Interviewed: Viney Baker Location: S. Harrington Street, Raleigh, North Carolina Age: 78 An interview with Viney Baker 78 of S. Harrington Street, Raleigh. My mammy wuz Hannah Murry an’ so fur as I know I ain’t got no father, do’ I reckon dat he wuz de plantation stock nigger. I wuz borned in Virginia as yo’ mought say ter my marster Mr. S. L. Allen. We moved when I wuz little ter Durham County whar we fared bad. We ain’t had nothin’ much ter eat an’ ter w’ar. He had a hundert slaves an’ I … Read more

Slave Narrative of Harriet Ann Daves

Interviewer: T. Pat Matthews Person Interviewed: Harriet Ann Daves Location: 601 E. Cabarrus Street, Raleigh, North Carolina Date of Birth: June 6, 1856 My full name is Harriet Ann Daves, I like to be called Harriet Ann. If my mother called me when she was living, I didn’t want to answer her unless she called me Harriet Ann. I was born June 6, 1856. Milton Waddell, my mother’s marster was my father, and he never denied me to anybody. My mother was a slave but she was white. I do not know who my mother’s father was. My mother was … Read more

Historical Maps of Southeast United States

1. 1550 – Dutch map of the Western Hemisphere This map shows the accurate description of the shape of the Florida Peninsula before the late 1600s. Later maps described its shape as being triangular. Even though the survivors of the de Soto Expedition returned to Mexico City in 1543, this map does not show any information about the interior. Note that Japan (Zimpango) is shown off the coast of North America. 2. 1562 – French map of the Western Hemisphere This map contains many of the rivers along the coast of North America and the Gulf Coast, but … Read more

Slave Narrative of Aunt Betty Cofer

Interviewer: Esther S. Pinnix Person Interviewed: Betty Cofer Location: North Carolina Date of Birth: 1856 Age: 81 Negro Folk Lore Of The Piedmont. Sources of Information: Aunt Betty Cofer–ex-slave of Dr. Beverly Jones The ranks of negro ex-slaves are rapidly thinning out, but, scattered here and there among the ante-bellum families of the South, may be found a few of these picturesque old characters. Three miles north of Bethania, the second oldest settlement of the “Unitas Fratrum” in Wachovia, lies the 1500 acre Jones plantation. It has been owned for several generations by the one family, descendants of Abraham Conrad. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Kitty Hill

Interviewer: T. Pat Matthews Person Interviewed: Kitty Hill Location: 329 West South Street, Raleigh, North Carolina Age: 76-77 I tole you yisterday dat my age wus 76 years old, but my daughter come home, an’ I axed her’ bout it an’ she say I is 77 years old. I don’t know exactly the date but I wus born in April. I wus a little girl ’bout five years ole when de surrender come, but I don’t’ member anything much’ bout de Yankees. I wus born in Virginia, near Petersburg, an’ mother said de Yankees had been hanging’ round dere so … Read more

Slave Narrative of John Coggin

Interviewer: Mary A. Hicks Person Interviewed: John Coggin Location: Method, North Carolina Date of Birth: March 1, 1852 Location of Birth: Orange County NC Ex-Slave Story. An interview with John Coggin 85, of Method, N. C. When the interviewer first visited Uncle John he was busy cutting hay for a white family nearby, swinging the scythe with the vigor of a young man. In late afternoon he was found sitting on the doorsteps of his granddaughter’s house after a supper which certainly had onions on the menu and was followed by something stronger than water. “I was borned on March … Read more

Slave Narrative of Sarah Harris

Interviewer: Mary A. Hicks Person Interviewed: Sarah Harris Date of Interview: May 19, 1937 Location: North Carolina Date of Birth: April 1861 Age: 76 Sarah Harris is my name. I wuz borned April 1861, on the plantation of Master John William Walton. My father wuz name Frank Walton and my mother wuz name Flora Walton. My brothers wuz name Lang and Johnny. My sisters: Hannah, Mary, Ellen, Violet and Annie. My grandmother wuz name Ellen Walton. She wuz 104 years old when she died. My mother wuz 103 years old when she died; she has been dead 3 years. She … Read more

Biography of William Horner Cocke

With various corporate interests William Horner Cocke has been closely associated, these various business enterprises benefiting by the stimulus of his industry, keen sagacity and capable management. He has made for himself a most creditable position in business circles and since 1908 has been president and general manager of the Commercial Acid Company which in 1918 became the Southern Acid & Sulphur Company of St. Louis, while with various other concerns he is also associated as stockholder or official. He was born in City Point, Virginia, September 12, 1874. His father, Henry Teller Cocke, was born in Prince George county, … Read more

Biography of Malvern Bryan Clopton, M. D.

Thoroughly trained for professional activity in the University of Virginia, with later experience In the Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Malvern Bryan Clopton is now engaged in active practice in St. Louis, of which city he is a native. He was born October 8, 1875, his parents being William and Belle (Bryan) Clopton. The father was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and was a descendant of one of the old families of that state of English lineage. The first ancestor in America was Robert Clopton, who came to the new world in 1643 and originally settled in Virginia. Ancestors … Read more

Biography of Robert M. Funkhouser, M. D.

Dr. Robert M. Funkhouser, a physician and surgeon of St. Louis who has also been connected with the educational activities of the profession and who is now largely concentrating his time and energies upon surgery, was born in St. Louis, December 10, 1850. His father, Robert M. Funkhouser, was a native of Illinois and of Swiss descent, the family being founded in America by John and Christopher Funkhouser, who came to the new world in 1698 and first settled in Fredericktown, Virginia. Among the ancestors of the family were five who participated in the Revolutionary war. The family is also … Read more

Fort Monroe

Morning bugle call, the evening gun, grey ships of war stealing in from a misty sea with long plumes of soft black smoke, military uniforms on the streets and trig bright houses are, probably, the average civilian’s impressions of a stay at Old Point Comfort where is located Fort Monroe. “Fort ” or “Fortress,” for the place changes its sex indifferently according to the state of mind of the speaker, it probably satisfies the popular conception of a mighty stronghold of defense more completely than any other such establishment in the United States. And, indeed, it is a great defensive … Read more

Field Fortifications

In the nature of the case field fortifications are temporary erections, earthworks thrown up for an immediate emergency; but, occasionally some bright deed or some momentous consequence gives these defenses a fame more enduring than walls of stone planned with deliberation and executed with leisured care. Who has not heard of Valley Forge and the heroic winter of 1777-1778 which Washington spent there with his meagerly clad men? Valley Forge is now a public reservation about twelve miles north of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. Excursion trains run out from that city to the park, so it is easy of … Read more

Biography of William A. Harris, Gen.

Gen. William A. Harris was a brave officer of the Confederacy, a pioneer railroad engineer, a successful and leading stock raiser of improved breeds and, both in state and national bodies (including the Congress of the United States), an untiring and effective promoter of agricultural interests. Born in Loudoun County, Virginia, October 29, 1841, as a boy he was educated in his native state and at Buenos Aires, Argentina, whither his father had been sent as United States minister. In June, 1859, he graduated from Columbia College, Washington, District of Columbia. Immediately afterward he went to Central America and spent … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Richard W. Blue

Richard W. Blue, a Union veteran of Virginia and a leading lawyer and judge of Kansas, finally advanced to the halis of Congress as a representative of his adopted state. He was born in Wood County, Virginia, September 8, 1841, and was raised on a mountain farm near the present city of Grafton. In 1859 he entered Monongalia Academy at Morgantown, Va., and remained at that institution several years, first as pupil and later as teacher, Subsequently he entered Washington College, Pennsylvania, and remained there until he enlisted in the Third West Virginia Infantry, at the opening of the Civil … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Aldrich, P. Emory

Aldrich, P. Emory, was born in New Salem, Franklin County. His ancestors came from England in 1635, residing at first in Dorchester and Braintree, and afterwards settling in Mendon, Worcester County. After obtaining his early education at the public schools, he fitted for college at the Shelburne Falls Academy, and in private study mastered a collegiate education. He studied law while engaged in teaching at the South, and later attended the Harvard law school. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar in Richmond, Va., but the following year returned to Massachusetts, and after studying for six months with Chapman, … Read more