Document text
Federal leriters Project
Paul Diggs
Lakeland, Florida
Scot Robert
Combee Florida
Robert and Rosa Lee Scott
Robert lives in a Negro community melee Combee, located three
and ne-half miles on State -roae e 17 between L.,keland ane Six
-eiie Creek. Delapidated houses, built of pine end cypress, are
scattered through these quarttirs. They are unpainted and black
from exposure to the. sun and weather. There are no electric lights
no radio, and no running water. The site is considered low land
and arter a heavy rain it is covered with eater At this season
of the year all of the available plentinees,ace is set cut 'in
streAlorries. Around some of the homes, there is a little s ace
set aside for vegetables fe. The soil...in this section is very rich,
and is known es "muck land."
Robert's- little farm is located on the left bevel side of
the State roaa #17 sitting beck about one querter mile from the
main highway. The oddity of .this home, and the crudeness of its
construction male_s it unique in its aepearence.
Be,e in this humble existence he tries to earn a livlihood
for himself and his wife Rosa Lee. Be was sitting on a bench in
front of the house bepiae.a tub basking in the sunshine. Dewn the
lene he pointed out his eife coming. At lay entrance though the
gate Robert arose end seid, n come inn and went into the house
retuening with a reeking chair* With the dignity of a Prince he
askea me to be seated;
Robert is five feet end ten inches in height, .very, dark in.
comelexice, bail' bee eu with a little ketch of gray hair en each
26079
Sith, of his head. His long black mustache hangs over the side of
his mouth. When ee laughs his missing tooth in the front of his
mouth stele's out. Be keeps hiiepipe in his mouth all of the
time, stating that it ws his best fiend. His .pants were patched
and resembled a quilt, His hit was slutchod on the side of his
bead, pulled in the direction of theAft. Rosa Lee, his wife,
reAlbed the house..She bad on glasses, and she to had a pipe in
her mouth. Rosa saidUthatshe was fifty two years old, z,andwas.
neatly dress in a wixed colored gingham dress. Her shoes were
full of holes to give comfort to 11,.r sore feet. They rested
themselves on a board on ,two boxes with logs under each end.
A tub was on the other end. This bench was used for the familyts
wL_shing,
Robert said, n I was born in Richmond County, South Caro.
Una, the second year after freedom, I remained in South Caro-
lina, until 19(.1. There 1:engageu in farming and doing other odd
sJobs, 4y. parents were Steven and Susan ,_cott, who were sl,ves.
Their slave wa ters were KelluM and Scribner. There were five
in my family,
Robert st,ted that he came t Florida in 1 Ll, and w s a
grown ,,_1,11 Awn he reached Florida, He worked in the tur„entine
stills from klace to place. He lived in Homassa, Dekota coun-
ty, seven wiles from .ircadia until he moved to his present 1o.
catioL in 1926.
Robert statA that be married twice. His first wife w -s
iLosa S,anish. They were married in AgOadia0 Florida, in 1914,
There was one child born'during-their wedlock. This child died
with the influenz,a. his second marriage was to Rosa Lee Jupiter,
They were married in their ,resent home by 1v ithell, of
Lake Walesagarch 11th, 166, He had lived the life of a Ilachelor.
u, until that time, Before he married,. his neice ,-Annie Graham,
made her home with Robert.
He has no recollection of any other me,Aber of his f 4ly1 st,ting
that he had not seen them in ye_rs, Rosa s,oke up and said that
she had three Asters, Hattie Jones, Valdosta, Georgia; Amice
'Waikur, tioultrie,'Georb4; and Rachel p who livus in gavannah*
Ge,rgia.w Rosa was bon in Richmond, Virginia.
n Robert said p w we hallo farmed all of our lives, all I
know has been following a mule behind a plow**,
w You see I only had a little schooling, I can only write
my n._me and that is all, They had no grades when I went to school
I was raised .by my grandmother Caroline Bryant, and when her
eyesight fai_ed, I had to stoi, schol; she was and old sltive hoe
band, I stop schol to try to make her some bread. The book that
I studied w -.s the Blue Hack Webster, I went s far as the syll-b1A,
.called Baker. The other part I took -up in my head; learning from
time to time. An education is something that every man should
Au:ye, it keeps him from getting cheated, In the olden times a
man would get a leti:er ana stick it in the band of his hat, or' in
the pocket of his shirt, and totelit until he could find s
-body to read it. When he did, the sweat from his body had mii-Ae
the writing so bd you could hardly make it out. Abut this
time I began to study abou',,omens and that settled it,"
n I always wanted a home of my own, and tried hard to have
.11 good frm„ I am happy with something growing around me, lood
some animals to cre for, At present I have a few around me, see
those fine cows out there in the field. There is three cows and
one f.ne bull, we have •a fe. chicken .Ln the back, and four hogs,
tbats eby I ;think a fellow should have something of his own. I
am always gwine to hve something. The good Lord said th t be
would take care of me, Aad I am golin to see that be does."
"I r-4- of the time„ and belei.ve that he
4y ex%4ors. I -m a member of the Bapt 6t 6hurch, 1 joine bec use
the seirit i4 there, Th...,t littie church you see :,,tanding
over -nder, I ,-Au thek,stor of it. I h_ve Aolt t n mewbe-i-s
when they J.l re kres,:nt. God c..LLed ae to _re„.oh ly• lack in
1 b live that -very maL sbouLd be g-vern by us on -int.
'4her,, I *As young I ',ioieked on the frm -no s .etimc hired my .elf
out doltg ouu jobs. I remembered once working f r a man i1 the
week, digging .itches, we knicked off N.- turuLy -t twelve oclock.
Be bLei hir,d us at One dolt r Arid z,evety five cents a Lay. He
took ,Jur xLmes nd s id th the bha to go to tbe-b nK in town
to get our .11 ney, we sit alyng sie of the road rid w:Ated„
w-ited; but, po back,- finally -bite sun came al,-ng ‘nd
_sked us wilt tit boys we w-it,.:4* for. We o.;,,k1,ine to him whY
woke w iting„ he said, ,1 th.. the tivi th_t WAM in Pint City,
iinhis cr t filling statatm. There we .ws, we h:_d erem.Lsed
at the store that .we would 4.;ay hia fur h.Ls rAlohs„ ‘1,114 we
were left in he ditch. This has bL,een to at, more than once,
foikb ..ru,A.e to eay you leLve you ..th out apy grits.'
waeh the boo, was on I .k de frut Thr-e to F-ur dollar
day. kova I a ke Lotbial but whet litti. fokr. I c.:1 raise _nu sell
off of my el ce„ we c,n h -r iy sell our vog,tab_Les-'in
there 1.-5 so akiny aoiLitr, the sJoe thing, 1 reel v- some _ssistaince
1;r4a the .L1 ge .Assist rie,.., iittees dollars a month, which I
strtch ad far ,s i can. Through the beli, of the good i.oii I man-
go to iive a me how. I si,ft ge to it,- 0, LAIrlittle f.rm h,_re, if the
c uie I 11 be rUined p I m ex,ecting to hive a good
str_.wbes-ry or
While talking, all of a sudden Robert ,said to his wif,, n say
sister lets make a bargian- ain't we uine to cook: today
With a smile beaming all over her face, she answered, sure I is
boneyen Rosa arose fruLi the bench and went into the house.
After filling his pipe with some Hi -Plane Tobacco Robert
said, n I vottL. in South Carolina, and I never voted in Florida.
Once I started to vote, yas told that a nigger could not
vote in a .cracker election, So I stayed fr m tie poles eirk,ry
since. I think the goveraent is ,icking up in places like soda
when mixed with cornmeal,”
If I am not able to do bard work* except what do bele on
my little farm* I was riaptured some years ago, and I can't lift
anything heavy. I feel good otherwise. When I feel bad I take
my sassafrastea, LI:al that brings me around, Over dart in that
Arad I keep plenty on hand.
Robert arose am0 went in the direction of the shed to show
me his sassafras herbs. Here be started to explain how he cam, in
posession of his present site, n This land was given t me by
Mrs, Graham, Before I lived on the other side of the creek at
Castle, I could not raise very ,..iuch Waft. The land beint low
and when a heavy rain would come it would drown out all of my
crops, After homesteading and paying four doll rs a year taxes*
she gave Jie the deeds, I have tan two of htem are cle red*
ana the rest are woods and swampland. This old eice of house
th t you see here was built from an old house given to me in Car‘,
ter, I hauled the lumber one half mile in a wbeillaarrow and
built it wyself.,"
The bAise was iteatber..bourded, with XID winows *oral board
shutters. Laughing heartily Robert said, If that b._use had
gl,613,-is it would f 11 don, It wouldint stand Iny glasses.'
The weather boarding on the out side ,.as rough ,nd the ends
as not everLy nailed on, some krotrud_ng beyond the end of the
house. The to was covered with some old second hand galvanized
tin: It was badly bent and 1 oked io be leak proof. The 'chimney
an the east side was very cruaely.bUiit. It looked like it was
ready to fail down, There IT .15 a little shed about twenty feet from
the house, where he kept. his farm_tools. It was shackly built
with klenty of.skce between the boarding. The front W -s -ide
open, and hanging on the rafters were dried seeu and keas used for
coohing. In fm.)nt of the house a well cultivated strawberry
ketch was in bloom, A crudely built cypress fence seerated the
straAperry field from the house.
Along side of the shed was a stack of wood obtained fro w his
land. His whole cleareu site was fenced in with cypress koles,
cut from the timber land. the rear of the house there was
another acre cleared and kc.rt of it was s,t out in vegetables,
In the ea t corner there ws a crudely built enclosure out of
cypress koies used to quartcr his four hogs. Near this enclosure
wa the out house with no roof over it. On the north side of
the field w -s a chicken yard, and next to the uhichen yard wee
Robeftss rickety built barn, Rosa.Lee said, n her chicken s
given to them for p rt yment for washing, she did at some of
the .hite foiks homes, The barn was built out GINf cypress oles
ad cov(xed with old tin p and wide boards. The yard sp,ce .as
fenced in. There was wide gate with space enough for a cat or
wagon to ka .s through. In this unsanitary _rrangement the co -,.s
were milked once a day.
•In the interier of their house there .at found some home,
built furniture* In the front room a large fire klace was the
only m 42.4of obtng beat* In front of it was irons* Rosa said,
the fire place :,as used to beat the irons when she ironed.
The walls were covered with news aper and aagazines. The floors
were bare, with only a small rug on the front room floor. The
boaras as unevenly matched on the floor and left cracks in
between them, you could ,see the ground and feel the air coming
up through them. In this room was a long table without any
covering on it, am an old type singer sewing machine. Hanging
in the middae of the room from a rafter was a bunch of eranges.
The bed rooms wave very crowded, -with no way of letting
air or light in, except opening the sbuaders, although there
was plenty of air frea the 'cracks in the wails and floor. A
shed covered the oaen spacefttering the kitchen which set apart
from the rest of the house, It wee very small, and was crowded
with a small wood stove, a wo66 box, old trunk, an. tble
filled with dishes.
Everything ,as very clean and orderly arranged in this crude
home. They bad two barrels near the kitchen with a large galvanizei
Otpe running from the roof to catch the rain watery On top of the
barrel was a bag that was used as a filter for the water, and air
other iipe joined the second barrel*, ith a fine mesh screen and
rag over one end. Out of this barrel the water was used. It was
clear and clean, and arourid it was lots of trinkets used in and
ar und the house. Two oldatime iron iaots were close by. tith
pride he showed we his wagon, which was a wheelbarrow, stating
that the horse was not able to pull very much meaning himself.)
Suddenly the small bula same walking up to the fence that
surrounaed the house, and they immediAtely grabbed the long tope
dragging behind him, aid pulled him tiaayY He considered to
very dangerous. He was very fate hying the advantage of the good
grazing _land around the little farm.
In the delapidated shed was a kile of straw, and under it
was, sweet kotatoes. Robert said n that they were lskt there to be
prot cted fram the frost bite.* have always saved vegetables
when I w,s in, the Spanish American War it saved me from hunger.
a maw day by knowing what to do with dried vegetable seeds I
was able to eat. I enlisted as a -soldier in the SkanishAmer-
icanaten I w s thirty years old at Suaaaerville, N.C. I was
a member of Major Young's Company. 'We went up from Savannah,.
Georgia, an started tO. Cuba, after Lading about two oclack.
While out to sea about midnight the boat turned around and headed
back to Savannah. There we learned that the war was over, then
we were Mustered out. We left the dock .sineEnd shouting, and
every ane was on their y home. Lawdy .:ussyltbkire was ,lenty of
trouble_ during aem, times, only folks uid1t argue.overtaings as
long as they do now. n
Rosa Lee, came bacit to the yard with a smile, lett.ng her
busbana know that his meal as ready. He entered his small
kitchen and after saying the blessing w.Lthreverance, R bert
said," that old lady of nine can cook uk a mess. She can do more
with fat bacon than a monkey can with ,eanuts. I like fat meat,
kork, collard greens, keas„ cabbage, grits, and good old corn
bread. Now and then I kill a chicken when one of the bretherns
co.4e, around. We have kleLty of eggs during laying seas.:ina.
Our meat su,kaly comes from the bogs that we butcher ata salt
down. Jaen we run out of green vegetables we fall back on the
dried vegetab,es we ..-ve stored away,'
RObertOS appetite was very good, he asked for the second.
helping. The syrup that he was us_ng was his own make. .:-pparentiy.
he liked it, .from the .44 he s(aked his corn bread in it.
Rosa said, of we usually have two meals a day when they are
able. She also related tat she was a member of the prayer band,
they would _Int fr_m house to house each week. u I walk all over
this placevwe 'vire no other way to get around, some time my old-
mai) he wLlks to akeiand, he sends his time working on the
farm and keeping busy with his church program. When not working
you caL find him and that old stikkIng pipe sitting out'frkAat of
.tne house when the weather is gcod. 'amen it gets cold he comes in,-
siLe by. the ,fire place. You see by our wo... that we are r,,ady
for the, cold weather, Sue ttas my neighbors come over and talk!
4 old lady Robert said, of goes around more than I do.- Halida
she is a busy bo4y. Rosals eye flashed an she went on with her
In leaving he invited me back, stating that he like(1 good
Ckinkka4y*