Document text
August 14, 1960.
Mrs. Isabel Barnwell,
2116 Pearl Pleats,
Jacksonville, Florida.
Rose Shepherd, writer.
SLAM OF NUIVIA 3SP2ANZA (SP. NA HOPE
PLANTATION, NASSAU 00UNTY,
FLORIDA.
We were waiting for the operator, Mr. Cook, with
the voice -recording machine to gems mud cake records
of the old plunta ion songs which Mrs. Barnwell was to
ping frog memory of her early ohildhood days en Nuevo
AsperanAu (New Hope) Plantation where she was borucon.,
,4ril 17, 1864.
As she rehearsed the tongs to be sure of the key,
her mind wont evor the circumstances under which, or
referring to whioh, the songs originated..
"My father was geed businesssan, a :udge for that
district whiah included much larger section than just
Nassau County, but ha was very kind.
"I never remember any instance of the whipping of
slaves, except on gni 000asion. There were ninety-one,
illogother. We had family prayers each morning, but there
were no churohes espeoially for the negrees, although they
had their own celebrations and gatherings of different
kimis when not at work, and one relaxation was dancing.
There wore many buildings on the nlant&tion, the barns,
and sto.3tge cribs, and the big lefts for hoar, with puncheon
floors that is, split legs laid close together with the
smooth side up.
25387
;)14ve of Sew 1ote luntatien (!rs. )urnwelli
"My oldest brother, Jamie i. O'Neill, born „u.gust
1834, wue the overseer.
"One Thanksgiving ni.,:ht there h4 been u big eelebru-
tion mon the negroee and 44 darlue &t nie,.ht. Two young girls,
11y411(1. Thiaiie, uoh about sixteen, fell out shout whieh
was the most popular umon' the belles of t.h b11. Sully
two dresses and Funnie hud three, and in between dunees
they would rush to their eabins and uhange quiokly, hoping
I•ftlr euoh switeh of eostume, the ohange would udd to their
uomelinees earl pepulurit;i with the young negro bucks present.
The quarrel lasted into the foil wing day, utxt while thou.
wore busy iLt their uesigned tusk th ot to fighting, pull-
ing each other's huir, and es:watching fuues, and biting each
ot. r's flesh whenever opportunity offered.
"Word IV b.S t.. ro RYA to hlr of the melee, und he took
mw brother, James, and went to the seine. He spoke to the
but they kept ri,eht on, ovi kntly intending to light
to a finish, w`nel f-..ther told Jr a 13 to whip them .A11 lato.Lo
th OIL bah 44V 0 t hema el vet se ti Jo aid liot permit fi;thting
amen-,-; the alasee. This was the only instance of whipping.
"I was only out six ;,;oii.rti of age at he LjI, nci did
not witness the whipping, of °cures, as such matters were
not for the ,c)yes of the ‘tcxoenfolk et the 'big house' but
overheard the convers,ition l'ther told mother about it.
nother f-ther never sold his slaves. The were
kept and trained tc their various duties and eocisidorod
Arta ai4b11 iznd roc &:it neuessary part of the r 1 itiAti on in
naves of How Rope nuitation (Mrs. B4raroll) B.
faot, such vast treat of land eould Lte t have been handled
without their labor.
"iaeh one was given a task to to, in the field, the
vineyard, in he orchards, around the barns„ the ohioksk-
houses, or ill10126 the livestook
pig*.
01101
horses, (towel, sheep, and
"Some of the more intelligent negro men brotner John
broke in =and trained a his helpers. liaoh slave in the
.ear:_y morning was assigned a task, generally enough to
keep him busy until the end of the day; but if they were
smart Und learned to work fast, they often ompleted their
task earlies, sometimes by two o'olook in the afternoon.
Then the rest of the day they had for themselves. There
were about tv a/Ay of the Legro cabins it L. ound the cove just
beyond the house on Lanoeford Giglio*, each with its own
04..rden, where the families raised garden truck, land if they
had more than thy wanted, they 0- cult( sell the surplus.
6oma had a. law chickens of their civil. The women often baked
home-made bread salt -rising or yeast bread and ginger
0 ill 0 nd 000kies, and on Eaturtays they could take these to
Fernandina and sell them.
"Saturday was ellerataly regarded that is, from noon
on eu holiday when the slaves, except those needed
around the house, or for the milking or otJ, a' chores, but
they could not leave the plantation, or visit other planta-
tions in the section without passes from brother James.
Slaves of gal Mope Plantation (Mrs. Barnwell) 4.
"1 remember only one instanoe where a slave was
sold and that was not for prof.t. Father owned one
man. a valuable field hand, whose wife belonged to Mrs.
Bacon, and when the Bacons movod to Georgia, father sold
Dr. Baaon the negro, 'look, so that ho could be on the
same plantation with his wife.
"Father never separated families, wives and husbands,
or ohildron from their parents. ^s 4 remember, they won,
sr very happy lot. .nd so wore we.
"Another time father threatened to sell a negro.
Wallaoe, who had Loon the nroperty of my mot hei before she
awd father wore married. Wallace was a thief. It seemed
impossible to oorreot him of this bad habit. Ono night
Wallace had broken into the sugar -house the door was
looked, as it eontainod the fall harvest of sugar and barrels
of syrup but Wallace dug a hole under tho baok side of
the sugar house, lifting one of the large log puncheons it was a hsavY Piece two feet wido with his strong back,
moving it enough to permit him to crawl through this upshot
in the floor. He was caught, rith movaral buckets of syrup
and a quantity of the brown sugar, and father Wiat; so provokod.
"Wallace came to the house and asked for my mother, I
ramembor my mothlr uaae out o the porch and Wallace kntelod
before hr, bogging hr aa 'Miss 'boxy, 'fore God,I won't to
it a4ain I wont steal any me'
SO 11
please, miasue, don't
let Marse Henry sell me ern' 3vidently, mother's pleas
in Wallace's behalf influoncedthe 'court' and Wallace stayed
right on.
Oaten of liew Hope Plantation Dirs. Barnwell)
b.
ulKhen the hair betweon tho states came on, tha elates
of ()ours, knew about it, hoard.talke by tho Abolitionists,
that would bo oonoidored vile propaganda now, and the wore
mush distrooned.
"By father's alavon, however, eaomod to have faith
they would ba t4iJiLisni care of, Lind thew 'wed to sing the follow-
ing song to oulmtii eare of thoom who ware weak-ho-rtod
in oontemplation of havinT to shift gor themselves;
HaB A JUT GAWD
We hab a jest 3awd tea pleadeour cameo,
Plead our cause.
Ws hab u. jest Gawd to Plead our clams*,
Fur re ,kro de uhillun of lawd.
Come aim& 1 tell yuh, dontcha bo afeared,
Dontoha be.afeared.
Como along, my pooplo, dontoha be shamed,
Fur we 4e.re de ohilluu of Gold.
0 -o -h we hal a jest gawd tor plead, our (mums,
Plead our JUU80,
Ws h4b s jeet Gawd to plead our oi.use,
Fur we .era do ohillun ob 1awd.
oeuld not Jaw the iien ws orif.anal, lut i hoard
them eingim; it iu 1860 and 1861, ..nd never heard it
whore else, 80 they probaLly mde it up.
laves on Dew Hope Plantation (Mrs. harnw•11) 6.
"Whom my brother John, who was born July 1, 1844,
brought word from his visit to the Harrison Plialtation up the
Lanooford Creek north of us that the Ioodoral gunboats were
in Pernandina Harbor in 1861, we hod about liftoen women
guests and relative, visiting us. ?miller took uharo and
ordered a hurried departure.
"naves wore ordered to the 'big house' and told of
the peril we rare) in from 14deral invasion and possiblo loss
of life from shelling of the vioinity by guns of the fleet.
Only six of the ninety -ono deserted to join the PedJral
forces.
"Farm maohin)g, and aunplies wore hastily gotten to-
gether, and in four hours ew Hope Plantatioil way deserted
by his human inhabitante both white and blaok, and al live-
stock on the road to the west. The family, with what few
belon*Angs rl a 10 Tater tovAther in su,A1 a short space of
time, were driven In buT:riee wid wagons to the railroad
yards, d -elaued on flats
S
tat is open flut;q1ars used
to transport mlotliflIr d veT,othles, or oth r ,yroducso.
"I ha4 a precious 1u red box and one lone doll the
box hell its clothing and i romemb,2r my mothor telling the
ladies my xowj sisters and guests to form a ring tal the
flat -oar, plauing re in the middle, so I would lict roll off
-hen the enTine started.
"We welt to Numilton iounty. A friend, Mr. liaon,took uld
all in, 47121' us Aialtor or _Ave months. In the meantime,
my futMr )1urchaead a thoul3a:A auras ai land near Olito
3%.)rinqlv, 4n4 Aro we lived or the duration oi the v-iar in
Slaves on liew rope 21antotion (urs. Birnwoll) 7.
the ,rreotest plenty ond without molestition.
•*Hy four brothers joined the Cenfederite trope:
Jimes N., John 't-olton lunby, Ambor, who was born December 1,
,1846, and my youngest brother, Isodor E. O'Neill, who woe
born on the 19th of Jimary in 1048. They were with Lee
in the Army of Virminia.
"I hod throe sieters: Anui Yaria, born November 12,
1837; 'try A.berti, October 8, 1839; Floronoe Laizabeth,
Mow 28, 1844, ill of whom were leorried, and their husbonds
were oleo with the k;onfed)rate troops.
"When we come bank to Hew Fops in the summer of 186io,
it woe almost completely wrecked. The houme had been oueua
pied os u heodquorters bj the Federal troops. It we in bod
repair and ill of the furniture hod been removed, even the
grind piano, whi41 was :'rot lose, os we were ill fond
of music, 4 guyed and sang a ,24leat deal.
/sabel (named for me)
"The handsome row -boat; which h. d only been in use
about six months, w e olso Alono. We wore never ibis to Keit
any trice of our beloni7ings.
"The negroes had ull been freed on the Tlantition in
Hamilton County. Some remained and worked for wes, supper
iw themselves, but others left and we never headdof them
again."
're. Bornwell he in ha' possession the ad family
bible, published by George Cushin;, in Gunderlune, Maesochueette
in 1828, in Which ore written in her father's honewriting the
nimee one lates of birth of the eleven O'Neill children.,