Document text
SOUTH CAROLINA WRITERS' PROJECT
Life HI story
TITLE "SinginI Praises Date My Life, Lewd".
Date of first writing February 17, 1939
Name of person interviewed Emma Sanders, (Negro)
Street Address #1 E. Henrietta Street
Place Union, S. C.
Occupation Cook
Name of Writer Caldwell Sims,
Union, S. C.
Name of Reviser J. J. Murray,
Spartanburg, S. C.
Emma is about sixty-five years old and lives in a
four -roan house with her husband, Mango (or "Luck") Sanders. He is
a self-supporting Negro. Their house is unusually comfortable for
a darkey's house. The floors are carpeted with faded carpets given
Emma by the Jennings and Bolton families. It is put down in pieces
and the pieces do not match in color or pattern. Each room has an
old laundry heater in it, and the kitchen has an open fireplace
with a pot crane. A wood range is also used. Emma says that "Luck"
fetched that in. "Luck" trucks and butchers, and he has plenty to eat.
Two nieces from the country live with "Luck" and Emma
and attend the Sims High School.
These girls wash, iron, cook, and
clean for their room and board. Emma had a light stroke last year
2
and now she just does light jobs. She visits and laughs and goes to
Ziima M. E. Churoh and to St. Paul's, now known as the "Busted Chapel".
"Lawd, Honey, I wuz born down on Mt. William Tucker's
place, I thought arlybody knowed dat. Him and Mr. Epps Tucker wus
two cousins. Mr. Epps never had no fine house like Mt. William :did.
Mr. William built hisself a mansion, dat he sho did. Honey, aint you
never seed Mt. William's house liter' kiss Ada lived wren atter she
married Mr. Garrett? God bless her sweet soul, eh. sho' is one fine
white lady dat diet nigger will lore to her dyin' day, yes, lewd,
dat I will. I went by Tucker from de very fust day I wuz born till
'Luck' come along and married me. Jesus, how I would like to see
my old home. Ada' on de Seaboard Airline Railroad, Ina named fer
Miss Ada Tucker, Mr. William's sister.
"Mt. William never married. He had two places; his
upper plaoe and his lower place, but dey jined one another. His
house is on de upper place. The lower place he called the'Holues
Place' because old Dr. Holmes once owned it. The road from Bantu°
is called the 'Old Otterson Fort Roads,
"All de time Ilived on dat plaoe I never done nothin'
but played wid my rag dolls. I has allus been fat and jolly. Ma used
to chafe me for laughin' out loud when I seed grown folks. Pt worked
for standinl wages year in and year out. But when I got about eight
years old Pa moved from the Tucker place to the Tom Jeter place.
We knows dat now by the 'Dr. Bates' place. Pa kept on workint dar
for standin, wages, 18. a month and our rations. We never suffered
for a thing in den days. White folks wuz rich, and dey kept dey
hands fat and slick, jes as much as dey did dey hogs and horses.
"We lived here for thirty years. My patents died here
and me and Mango Sanders married here. When lie moved here Mk sent me
to school. never had been to school a day in my life. 'Members
dat Nat day in school as well as if hit was yestidy. Mk fixed me
in a red and white striped candy dress. One of my sisters carried
me 'long wid her to school. Honey, I was the skeer'des little gal
you ever seed. When we got in de school de teacher sed 'Good
Morning'. I giggled. She hit a stick on a table and said, 'Set
down and stop dat grinning at me, you is in school now,. She was
old lady Phyllis Jeter's grown gal, and she was mean. I was allus
skeered of her, and I never did take in no ltarnin'. 14 set down
kaise we had dons walked three miles. Ma had done give me a
lunch and I thought she tole me to eat it as soon as I got to
school. So when I set down I started satin' dat lunch. De
teacher seed me tryin' to git my sister to eat and she hollered,
'Emma git up and go out in dat yard'. As I went by her she lashed
me void a hickory, and I run outen dat door hollerinl. I went on
down in de woods and set down on a log, and when I got through
hollerinl, I et my lunch and went home.
%uick as I seed Ma I let out a great bawl. She
come atter me and axed me if my sister been fightin' me. I tole
her 'Nol, but de teacher had, and I was not gwine to school no mo8.
MA went up to de big house and tole old lady Phyllis haw her gal
had done me. She had me hold up my arm so old lady Phyllis could
see de red mark on it. Old lady Phyllis made a great 'miration over
it and low'd dat she gwine to give dat gal a round when she got home.
"I never did much at school but played in the pine
woods. But the school Idler I went to was in the yard of St. Luke's
Church. When I went to school I stayed from nine o'clock until four,
but most of the day I spent playing ball or sumtin', kaise I allus
made my teacher mad so she would send me out. Jes de same I has
allus been in luck. All de lucks in de lewd; and all de conducts
in us.
"Ole man Alf Wright come to visit my white folks. He
lived up in Union. He van sum kin to my white folks. When he
come down in the country he would stay all summer. He drunk a lot
ol ooffee. My fust job wuz parchin' and grindin' coffee. I never
will fergit it, dat fust money I made. Mr. Wright called me 'Little
Fat Gall. He give me a quarter evly Saturday while he mut down there.
I parched dat coffee and turned it wid a crank. When it was done
parched I let it cool. 4hile it wuz a coolin, I be out a playin'.
Den I come in a grind it up. The coffee mill had a drawer. When
dat drawer wuz full I emptied the ground coffee in a wood tub with
a top to shut it up lith. 'Members it RS good as if 'twas die mornin'.
Lewd have Mercy, Jesus, it shol puts me in de mind of shoutin' when
I thinks about den good olden days, Yes Lewd', it sho' do. Mr. Wright
wuz a good ole bachelor. He made me dance for him while he fiddled.
He fiddled mu' nit all his spare timc, and dat wuz all de time.
For dat, he give me a little change, not much. It meant a lot to me den.
"As I grawed up, Mr. Wright never cum no mo', and he
married and had two chilluns in his ole days. I seed his wife once,
she wuz -k1 fine looking white lady rid quality about her.
“Cose growint up aint nothin' icept what all de
chilluns does. And I would'n have de 4-ime dose here gals has
now. Dose here gals does'n know nothin' 'bout a good time.
When a boy walks wid em twice, why he's ready to marry. Dat all
de sense dey got. Lawdy, I is *Ilium otter 'em 'bout it, dey
don't know no good time. Dey thinks dat dey known what a good
time is made for, but dey shot don't. Dey don't dance like us
did when us Ions yourg. You never heerd no racket behind us.
Dat's all follows dey good time, is a racket. I hates rackets.
But
I likes good times. Dese gals fools 'round too much and
(ley gits burnt! Best not to fool 'round too rotten much no time,
yea dot it is Dose boys ruin dese gals by dol.& things dat
the gals thinks dey won't.
"Lawdy, honey, I went to frolics and stayed and
danced 'til six in the mornini. Doys fetched me home in the
saddle and dey set behind. Still I kept ahead of 'sm. All de
gals I run mid done de same way. Now gals can't keep ahead of
boys and dey don't have to ride no mules either. Date only time
a boy got his arm around me, '3en he kept it in de right place.
Mango fetched me home from frolics for three years and he never
found out nothin' 'bout -me. Other boys tried to do the same
and dey never made no progress. I aint never found out what
Mango's ole mule mut named. Bat le onliest thing he kept me a
guessin' on. You is got tc keep dam a guessin', kaise all moms
is got a streak of cussedness in 'em.
"Finally, when Mango married me, dey started to
callin' him 'Luck'. Dey still calls hifildat. His Pa got to
callin' him 'Luck' &tore he died. I rid all Sanders' (dat what
I oalls him de moss) old mules vcep'n dat un in de yard new. I
aint never found out what dat mule's name is neither, and I don't
believe he knows hisself. Sanders calls him anything come to his
mind and dat mule keeps a-g*ine on."
Emma sees a large black weman going by and while she
is going into her tobacco sack of Golden Crain she hollers,"Big Babe
how you comins along wid dat supper for de 'Busted Chapel'?" Big Baby
shakes her head are. looks belligerently at Emma and exclaims, *Who
dat talkin' 'bout our church de* way? Outif church is St. Paul's
Baptist, and dat is all we gwine to let any nigger call it". The
ducks and geese in Emma's yard quack and cackle as "Big Baby" departs.
She looked around and said, "All you niggers dat wants a good supper
come over around dar tonite." Emma knocks her old cob pilpe clean
and refills it with fresh Golden Grain that she uses because other
kinds of tobacco give her short wind. She studies while she puts
her sack away and lights her pipe. Then she drops in to a low tone
and says, "I never bothers with no cigarettes. 'Luck' =ekes cheap
cigars, kaise he thinks he is always 'lucky'."
A gander comes out and begins fighting the drake duck.
"Look at dat old gander. He is se mean, and I Cite right made at
him". She throws a stick of stove wood at the gander that causes
him to run to his puille of water. T7e ducks go on end all of the
geese get in the wrter. "Look at my geese, they is the prettiest
scenery I got. I likes they eyes, so blue. Sanders likes dat big
drake kaise he got such a green neck. Sanders 'low dat all dat
green make him look like a parr't."
"If I'd let dat nigger he would fetch one of dem
parr'ts here, but I don't need narry a bird to talk. When its
talkin' to do 'round here I'll do it myself." She claps her hands
and laughs, "my pipe is gwine good now. Had to beat it like I wuz
beatin' a pap the afot it got to gwine good. See my washie.
Rain drivl me to be late wid my washin' die week".
"Jesus, have Mercy, if there aint 'Big Baby'
hangin' her clothes out. Dat supper for de Busted Chapel mus' not
be gwine so hot. Rev. Smith wuz preachin' gwine into five years
at Sain Paul's on Wallace Street, over dar by de ice factory. See
dat steeple? Well, dat's it. Rev. Smith wuz a fine lookie black
man vld a long twisted moustache. He also had a fine wife and no
chilluns. He could allus git the mourners bench so full dat it
would creak. His conflarration(congregation) never paid him
So when he got a call to Spartanburg he 'aided to go at once
told his people. Dey never wanted him to leave Union, so he
dat de Lord meant for him to stay here."
'Bout a year had done went by when fer some
it got to gwine dat Rev. Smith wuz too 'Sporty'. His wife
believed it and she inn fixin' to have her fust baby. But
Rev. Smith's deacons lout dat jealous of him, dat he called
deacon's meetin' and dey 'aided dat dey won't mine to pay
Rev. Smith no MD' money. As Rev. Smith won't dar he never
wind. So he preached on in de na-A, of de Lewd for another
much.
and
'aided
reason
never
one of
a
got no
year
wiisout pay. Well you knows how things leak! out. So Spartanburg
heerd about it and dey calls Rev. Smith agin. By did time his baby
boy is orawlin' and hollerin' for his cooter bones, and his pa has
done found out dat de Devil is settin' on his pews at Saint Paul's,
so he 'oepts de Spartanburg call.
"He preaches his farewell sermon and tells de righteous
dat dar is mansions in 40 sky fir demo and to den other nigger* has
'bused his name, he points out to den dat dey shall be burnt in de
brimstone and fire thirteen times. Tot dat don't git him no money.
So when he goes to Spartanburg he sues Saint Nulls Chapel. Den
lawyers gits a judgement against Saint Paul. LOA been eight years
past. Den niggers alt evert no money on Saint Paul's since. Dey
still 'ten's church, but dey is lettinl it fall mi. ni. down. DV
tells den lawyers dey is busted and brings den to see dey church
in need of repairs. So evlfr since then the Methodists oals Saint
Paul de 'Busted Chapel'. pat make em mad thomi, and dat why 'Big
Baby' twist herself 'round so and say what she did.
"Zion Methodist asked Rev. Smith to come down here
three weeks beck and preach dey night sermon to den. He come and
fetched his wife and bey. All three of den sus dressed up and he
had a new oar. Zion never hilt de niggers that turned out to hear
Rev. Smith. He 'lowed in his sermon dat ae Lewd prin to help
den lawyers push dat judgment through, and he mug gwine to git his
money. Ev'ybody grunted a law 'Amon' when he said dat. He is a
fine preacher and his church up in Spartanburg is proud pf him.
"The 'Busted Chapel' members has give two hot suppers
since Rev. Smith preached at Zion. Thia'n tonight is the second.
They has good things to eat, tnd of cause, they makes money, as
evlything for the supper is give free.
"Robert Moment is do youngest deacon. He sous workin'
at Mr. Lewis Perrin's drug store and he got one the chain gang for
stealin' outen d*t white man's drug store. Last week he come home
from de gang and now he's gwine 'round veld a'scription list tryin'
to git meow fir Rev. Smith's salary dat las year he preached.
"Janie is beatin"em all. She got a list, and she
000k for Miss Gaffney. So 4ss Gaffney give her a dollar and a lot
of rations for dat fust supper. Janie went 'round to all den rich
white folks houses around Miss Gaffney's and Mi. Bolton's, rittin'
money and dey give her a big Isoription. So maybe rev. Smith won't
git to put dem deacons in de 'Busted Chapel' in jail atter all.
As for me, I is gwine to de supper tonight, but ev'y day I singe
praises, fer data my life,Lawd:
"I aint never made no money 'oept when I cooked for
Misl Bobo three years. She give me $2.50 a week. I got little
things I needed 'rid it, and paid my 'suiance(insuranee). I nursed
Miss Anne Bolton when she mut a year old and her Pa give me a house
and paid ms 43. a week. Mis' Bolton give me all my clothes. Then
I went to Miss Josephine Jennings' and lived in her back yard for
fifteen years. Mango worked de garden and dey give us out victuals
and $10 a month. All us got is 'suranoe. He got some and I got same.
"Once Miss Josephine took me to Toledo, Ohio, wid her.
We stayed wid her friends dar a month. One day her friend got me
to mash and iron for her and she give me three dollars. I bought
me a Sunday dress mid it. Dat night it mut so hot Miss Josephine's
ehilluns could not sleep, so de lady took us on de trolley to a
park fo' miles away. We stayed der 'til atter midnight. Miss Josephine
cone hems in two days. When Miss Josephine and her husband, Mi. Harry
Jennings went to Georgia, Mr. Harry took the money me and 'Luck' had
and bought us di. house. It cost $700 and Mi. Harry told us not
to let nobody sign our names to no papers, Wise if we did dey
would git our house, 'tuck' goes up to de courthouse and Mr. Bedenbaugh
axes him a few questions and 'Luck' gives him money for taxes. It is
in my name, Emma Sanders, but 'tuck' got hisself our furniture and
dat ole mule. He got our furniture and mule down for $20.
10
'Luck' give his real name. Mango Sanders. Doy giros Mango receipts.
°I don't never git no money no moo. Sanders works
whit* folks' gardens and plows day land wid dat ole mm1ee HO
fetohes me a little money when he has any.
I ems same in do box
for de 'swami man and den taxes. Den us giros same to our church
and it aint narry cent left.
dar cameo my little bantam hen wid seven
baby bantams. Let me git her, I mover meant for her to git out'n
dat dry plate*. I had her under do house. Laird, have moray Jesus,
but I has a time. 'ban den bantams gits bigger give you a
pair." SW. sings, "Carry me to de Promis Land, Laid, Carry me
to de clouds lobar de angels will grab me up". Then she claps
her hands and szolaims, nate my lit., Laid, iiingin° Praises",