Kate Drumgoold - A Slave Girl\'s Story
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Kate Drumgoold >> A Slave Girl\'s Story
A Slave Girl's Story
_Being an Autobiography of_
KATE DRUMGOOLD.
BROOKLYN--NEW YORK.
1898
CHAPTER I
Once a slave girl, I have endeavored to fill the pages with some of the
most interesting thoughts that my mind is so full of, and not with
something that is dry.
This sketch is written for the good of those that have written and
prayed that the slaves might be a freed people, and have schools and
books and learn to read and write for themselves; and the Lord, in His
love for us and to us as a race, has ever found favor in His sight, for
when we were in the land of bondage He heard the prayers of the faithful
ones, and came to deliver them out of the Land of Egypt.
For God loves those that are oppressed, and will save them when they cry
unto him, and when they put their trust in Him.
Some of the dear ones have gone to the better land, but this is one of
the answers to their prayers.
We, as the Negro Race, are a free people, and God be praised for it. We
as the Negro Race, need to feel proud of the race, and I for one do with
all my heart and soul and mind, knowing as I do, for I have labored for
the good of the race, that their children might be the bright and
shining lights. And we can see the progress that we are making in an
educational way in a short time, and I think that we should feel very
grateful to God and those who are trying to help us forward. God bless
such with their health, and heart full of that same love, that this
world can not give nor taketh away.
There are many doors that are shut to keep us back as a race, but some
are opened to us, and God be praised for those that are opened to the
race, and I hope that they will be true to their trust and be of the
greatest help to those that have given them a chance.
There are many that have lost their lives in the far South in trying to
get an education, but there are many that have done well, and we feel
like giving God all the praise.
I was born in Old Virginia, in or near the Valley, the other side of
Petersburg, of slave parents, and I can just call to mind the time when
the war began, for I was not troubled then about wars, as I was feeling
as free as any one could feel, for I was sought by all of the rich
whites of the neighborhood, as they all loved me, as noble whites will
love a child, like I was in those days, and they would send for me if I
should be at my play and have me to talk for them, and all of their
friends learned to love me and send me presents, and I would stand and
talk and preach for some time for them.
My dear mother was sold at the beginning of the war, from all of her
little ones, after the death of the lady that she belonged to, and who
was so kind to my dear mother and all of the rest of the negroes of the
place; and she never liked the idea of holding us as slaves, and she
always said that we were all that she had on the earth to love; and she
did love me to the last.
The money that my mother was sold for was to keep the rich man from
going to the field of battle, as he sent a poor white man in his stead,
and should the war end in his favor, the poor white man should have
given to him one negro, and that would fully pay for all of his service
in the army. But my God moves in a way unknown to men, and they can
never understand His ways, for He can plant His footsteps on the North,
the South, the East, the West, and outride any man's ideas; and how
wonderful are all of his ways. And if we, as a race, will only put our
trust in Him, we shall gain the glorious victory, and be a people whose
God is the God of all this broad earth, and may we humble ourselves
before Him and call Him, Blessed.
I told you that my white mother did not like the idea of calling us her
slaves, and she always prayed God that I should never know what slavery
was, for she said I was never born to serve as did the slaves of some of
the people that owned them.
And God, in His love for me and to me, never let me know of it, as did
some of my own dear sisters, for some of them were hired out after the
old home was broken up.
My mother was sold at Richmond, Virginia, and a gentleman bought her who
lived in Georgia, and we did not know that she was sold until she was
gone; and the saddest thought was to me to know which way she had gone,
and I used to go outside and look up to see if there was anything that
would direct me, and I saw a clear place in the sky, and it seemed to me
the way she had gone, and I watched it three and a half years, not
knowing what that meant, and it was there the whole time that mother was
gone from her little ones.
On one bright Sunday I asked my older sister to go with me for a nice
walk and she did so, for she was the one that was so kind to the rest of
us--and we saw some sweet flowers on the wayside and we began to have
delight in picking them, when all at once I was led to leave her alone
with the flowers and to go where I could look up at that nice, clear
spot, and as I wanted to get as near to it as I could, I got on the
fence, and as I looked that way I saw a form coming to me that looked
like my dear mother's, and calling to my sister Frances to come at once
and see if that did not look like my dear mother and she came to us, so
glad to see us, and to ask after her baby that she was sold from that
was only six weeks old when she was taken from it; and I would that the
whole world could have seen the joy of a mother and her two girls on
that heaven-made day--a mother returning back to her own once more, a
mother that we did not know that we should ever see her face on this
earth more. And mother, not feeling good over the past events, had made
up her mind that she would take her children to a part of this land
where she thought that they would never be in bondage any more on this
earth.
So she sought out the head man that was placed there by the North to
look after the welfare of lately emancipated negroes of the South, to
see that they should have their rights as a freed people.
This gentleman's name was Major Bailley, who was a gentleman of the
highest type, and it was this loving man that sent my dear mother and
her ten little girls on to this lovely city, and the same time he
informed the people of Brooklyn that we were on the way and what time we
should reach there; and it seemed as though the whole city were out to
meet us. And as God would have it, six of us had homes on that same day,
and the people had their carriages there to take us to our new homes.
This God-sent blessing was of a great help to mother, as she could get
the money to pay her rent, which was ten dollars per month, and God
bless those of my sisters who could help mother to care for her little
ones, for they had not been called home then, and God be praised for all
that we have ever did for her love and comfort while she kept house.
The subject was only a few years old, when she saw her heart so fixed
that she could not leave me at my mother's any longer, so she took me to
be her own dear, loving child, to eat, drink, sleep and to go wherever
she went, if it was for months, or even years; I had to be there as her
own and not as a servant, for she did not like that, but I was there as
her loving child for her to care for me, and everything that I wanted I
had; truly do I feel grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of those
blessings that came to me in the time that I needed so much of love and
care.
This dear lady, Mrs. Bettie House, my white mother, died at the
beginning of the war and then the time came for poor me to go to my own
dear mother again for awhile, and soon the time came for us to be parted
asunder, where we did not see one another any more until after the war
of 1865. And we all thought that mother was dead, for we did not hear
any tidings of her after she had reached the far South.
I shall never forget that lovely Sunday morning when I saw my dear
mother returning again to her own native home and her own dear ones once
more, but mother would not go to the house with us, as she did not want
to take the law in her own hands. So she told sister and I where she was
stopping and told us to come to her after we had told the gentleman
where we lived, and I went to him and told him that mother had come back
and wanted to have us to come where she was staying. He, Mr. House, did
not want us to go, and I took my oldest sister and marched out to go
where mother was and he did not like that freedom, and he tried to find
which way that we had gone to the place, but he did not find us, and we
had been to the place where the people were that had homes, and that
they would kill us at first sight, and that was all that I wanted to
see, and I did not find one thing true of their sayings.
Mother now has to tell the gentleman where to find all of her own dear
ones whom God in His love for had kept for her, and she should have
been very grateful to Him that her life had been prolonged and all that
she had left alive were still alive, awaiting for her to return, and
finding that her children were all over in different places, and now she
has to tell where to find them, through the help of the Lord. And when
she had gone for them and was told that some of her own were dead, she
said that she would go and dig up their bones; but they were not dead,
as was said, and she sent the soldiers after them and sometimes they
were told the same as mother was, and some of the little ones had to be
sent for two or three times before they were brought. My oldest sister
knew where they all were, so she could help to get the rest.
One of my sisters who lived at the same place where we were living was
detained and the soldiers had go three times before they could get her,
for they said that she had died since we had left, for I would not stay
at the place as he, Mr. House, did not want us to go on Monday to see my
mother, on whom I should look to, as she had come to claim her own. I
told my oldest sister that we would leave, and my sister Annie was at
one of Mr. House's sons, who found that we were going to see mother and
she came with us, so that left three there yet; that was sister Lavinia
and the baby, sister Rosa, and they let mother have the baby, as it was
a sickly child; and she had to send there three times before she could
get sister Lavinia, and the last time the soldiers, with horses, went,
and the House's took off all of her clothing and put them into water to
keep them from taking her, and they had to take blankets and wrap her in
them, and bring her to mother, and she took sick from that time from the
long ride, and getting cold she nearly died.
One they hid in the garden; one they put in the cellar, and so these
were hard times for mother and us, who were in the road one night
walking to find some place to get out of the rain and let those wet
garments get dried, for it was so dark that we could not see a hand
before us.
But after all the hard trials we reached this lovely city, where there
are those that love and fear God, and who love the souls of the negro as
well as those of the white, the red, the yellow or brown races of the
earth, for we have ever found some of the people who do not forget us
day or night in their prayers, that God will send a blessing to us as a
race.
To my story of a life of slavery:
My dear mother had a dear husband that she was sold from also, and he,
not knowing that he should ever see my mother any more, as the times
were then, he waited for a while and then he found him another wife, and
when mother came and found that he was married to another she tried to
get him, but she could do nothing about it; so having to leave him
behind to look after the last one and her family, although it seemed
hard for her to do so.
My mother had a large family to take care of, but the Lord was good to
her and helped her, for she had laid some of them away, and then there
were ten little girls to care for. My brother was lost to us and to
mother also, as he was sent to the war to do service for his owner, and
we did not know if he was alive or not, and he was my mother's only boy,
as this is a girl family that you do not see or hear of every day, for
that made seventeen girls to have battle through life had they all have
lived to this time.
CHAPTER II
My mother did not know where my brother was before she was sold, for we
heard that he had tried to get over to the Northern side and had been
taken to Richmond, Va., and put into Castle Thunder, and that was the
last that we heard of him during the war. When, to our surprise, we were
on our way North we learned that he was going to school; that the
Northern people had teachers there in the South to teach them to read
and to write; and he learning that we had gone North made himself ready
and came on, but he did not know where to find us, so getting a place to
work, and the same time telling those that he worked for that his people
were here somewhere, they found mother and got her to go to the place
where he was, and sure enough there was her dead and lost boy, and the
joy and love that came to that dear, loving mother and her only son on
that day will never be known on this side of the grave, as they have
both gone to the land of the blest, for my brother never used any bad
language in his life, and when he took the Lord for his own, it was his
meat and his drink to live for Him and to follow where He led, and he
died a true child of the King.
A few years later and mother's name was enrolled in the Lambs' Book of
Life, for she gladly answered to the roll call and fell asleep in the
arms of Jesus.
Well, my first place was in Adelphi street, with a family by the name of
Hammond, and I was there to help do the work, and when they found that I
liked to work so well they wanted me to do so much that I left that
place and got me another, for I did not get out to church or to
Sunday-school, and that was not the way that I had been trained, for
when I was three years old my white mother had taken me to church with
her on horseback.
Well, I said that I saw these children going to school on every week day
but Saturdays and on Sundays to Sunday-school, and I there at work as if
it were not the Lord's day, and I never shall like to work on that day
as I was born on Sunday morning.
Well, I left there not knowing what to do, and a white lady took me in
and told me to stay there until I could get another place, and I helped
her girl on the next day to finish all of the work and I made ready to
look for a place, and God did help me to find one and I shall never
forget Him as long as I live, for that was with a fine family and they
showed me love at once and I showed them love in return.
They were members of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, and a more
beloved family never lived. This was the Bailley family--Mr. and Mrs.
Bailley, Miss Abbey Bailley, Mr. Bailley's sister, a young lady in her
teens, Miss Ella Bailley, and a nice boy by the name of Johnny Bailley,
and they were a nice family and they took me to church on Sunday morning
and sent me to Sunday-school in the afternoon with their children, and
what a heaven it seemed to me from the place where I was living at
first.
I shall always remember my dear white mother, of whom I spoke of in the
first part, and whom I shall call your attention to in many more pages
of this little Life Book, and shall always remember her with love and
the kindest feeling. She was a member of the true Methodist Church and
was never seen by her darling child from the House of God since I could
remember, for I was with her at all times on the family horse, Kimble,
and when I got large enough to ride alone she bought me a fine black
that had all the metal that a horse could have, and his name was Charlie
Engrum, and she paid a large price for him, and he was the grandest
horse I ever saw, and it was my delight to be near a horse or horses
when I was a child, for I did not have any fear of any kind of horse,
and I would take a ride the first thing in the morning, even before I
would have my breakfast, and my dear white mother would save it for me
as she knew that I would have that ride first; for it always made her
feel proud to see how well I had learned to ride, and she was the one
that had taught me how to ride, for she had me on the horse when I was
three years old and from that time until she went home to come out no
more forever.
I was two and a half years, as near as I can remember, when my own slave
mother's house was burned to the ground, and I shall never forget that
Saturday night. My mother's husband had gone to a dance and mother was
there alone with her little ones, and we all came near getting burned
up. We were all asleep when I awoke and found the house in a blaze. I
did not know enough or I was so much scared that I did not call to my
mother, but I think that she heard me when I rolled out of the bed, and
she was out of the bed quick as could be and getting the feather beds
she threw them out of the door and got the children and threw them out,
and she, finding that she did not have them all, said, "My God! I have
not all of my little ones;" and she ran in the house to look and she
found me under the bed, for I saw so much fire that I was getting out of
it, and God be praised that I was saved from that fire, and I have not
had the time to run after any fires since, for that fire was all the
fire I want.
I had not to stay there then, for the time is near at hand when I shall
go to my white mother's to live, for she is in Tennessee and will come
home soon to be with her darling child; and when she shall start again I
shall go, and now the times are all well for me as then, but the time
has come that the Lord has called her away from her child to be with
Him, and how could I live without her? And she was to leave her sick
child there for her own mother to care for, and God will raise up
friends in this lonely world to look after those that cry unto heaven,
believing that He is a hearer of the true prayer. I shall always
remember that Saturday afternoon when I was lying so sick when my
dearly beloved white mother took so sick, and they had the doctor there
for me, and he had to see after her the same time, and she was getting
so much worse all the time and the doctor had not any hopes of her, and
they took me from the room where she was, to a room upstairs and she had
them to take me down to look at her once more. That was on Sunday and on
Monday she heard the call to her to come up to that blessed land where
she should be forever with the Lord and her dear husband.
What a glory it must be for those that have washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.
I can call to mind when she the blessed one, that I call my white
mother, went to get me some shoes and a fine hat, and the one that sold
them told her, as she looked at a hat I wanted, that its price was
twenty dollars, but I was not thinking of the prices then as I do now,
and I cried to have that hat and did not want any of the others, and he
told my white mother that was too much for to spend on a hat for me, but
she told him nothing would cost too much for her to get for me, and she
got that fine hat for me and he had his money; so you can see how much
she loved me. And now that dear one is gone from me, and it seemed the
dearest one on this earth, and I did not think then that I could have
lived without her whom God had given to me for this world, but God, in
His wonderful love for me and to me, raised up friends for me and helped
me to find favor in the sight of all the people, for they seemed to love
me for her sake, and I did not get well for a long time.
This subject came to this dear lady, Mrs. Bettie House, when but three
years old, and from the day she came to that house she walked in her
footsteps, for she, Mrs. House, could not move, but she was right in the
way; and when she used to set me down for my play at certain times in
the day, when she was going in her room for prayer, she would find me
near before she was through; and if ever there was a loving woman she
was one, and I own my love to God for such a one as she was to care for
me all of those nights of watching by my bed, while the angels watched
from above to see that I should rise from that bed and live to be a
woman that would live for God and bless His name in all the earth,
knowing that I am tempted and tried on every hand. But trusting in His
omnipotent power I shall reach the land of the blest where that dear one
has gone to come out no more forever.
Well, to my story:
Dear public, hoping that this little life will be read with the greatest
love for humanity, and I am sure that if you have any love for the God
of heaven you can not fail to find a love for this book, and I hope you
will find a fullness of joy in reading this life, for if your heart was
like a stone you would like to read this little life.
I had many a hard spell of sickness since the death of this lady and the
doctors said that I could not live beyond a certain time, but every time
they said so Doctor Jesus said she shall live, for because I live she
shall live also; and He came to me and laid His strong arm around me and
raised me up by the power of His might, and to see the salvation of our
God in the land of the living. And to-day I can praise His name for His
wonderful love to the children of man.
I told you that my brother was the oldest child of eighteen and he was
in his teens when he was sent to the war; and it was a great thing to
him when he found himself in the hands of a people that were so kind and
good to him and showing such love for him, after being knocked around by
those he had been staying with, and it seemed like a heaven to him; and
he did learn fast, and he felt so glad to learn to read and to write,
and he would sit at nights when he was through with his daily toil and
write, so that he could let some one look at it and see how well he was
getting along, and I saw how anxious he was to get an education. I asked
my lady to let him come there and wait on the table, and have time to go
every day to school, and she did so, and he would go to No. 1 School to
Mr. C. Dosey, and he did nicely in his studies, and God be praised that
he had that much to take home with him, and I shall always feel glad
that I gave him that much.
I was thinking of my dear brother when the news reached me that he was
in this city, and I can never tell any one how glad that I was to see
the only boy that my mother ever had, for we all loved him dearly, as he
cared for all the rest of the children and it was no more than natural
that we should; and my mother thought so much of him that she often
would say if we were all boys she would not have to worry, for boys
could do so much better than girls. But I think that she found that the
girls were the best in her old age, for if one could not be near her the
other would, and if there is a time in the life of a parent it is when
they are helpless, and a boy is not any good to care for a sick parent
and they have to go without care.
But God be praised for all of the love and honor that was bestowed on
mother before she went home, for God has told us to honor our fathers
and our mothers that their days may be long upon the land which the
Lord, thy God, giveth thee; and we can not do them enough honor for the
love and the all night watching that we have when we are babies, and if
we have all of the love and care that I had, I am sure that a mother
has her hands full; and when now I think of the care and the worry that
it was to take care of my sick body, I can not help telling some one of
it, that they may feel as grateful as I feel, for God did give them love
for me, and if there is one that should feel grateful it is this
feeble-bodied slave girl, for I was such a slave to sickness, and God
was so good to raise me, even me, and I will say, praise His name.
I was telling you of my white mother being so true to the attendance in
the services of God, and I only wish that you would have known her as I
did, for she was more like one of the heavenly host than she was like
us, who are such sinful creatures. Now, it seems like sometimes that we
have not much love for the One who had so much love for us that He gave
all the dear One that He had to bring us to Himself, that we should
taste of those joys which He has for those who have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.
The Lord helped me to find love and favor with all after my white mother
was gone from this earth, when I felt that I would soon follow the
darling one to the blessed mansion; and I would look to see her come to
me, and I went as soon as I was well to the house and lay on the steps,
and it was not until we had left the dear old place before I could be
kept from there; and I wish that the whole world could have seen how
much she was like an angel, and I would to God she could see me to-day;
it would do you good. Lord, lead me on day by day, and help my feeble
life to be formed like her's, for when I think how she used to watch by
my bed at nights, while the angels watched by my bed from on high to see
that I should rise; and is not God the One that I should serve? And I
love to serve Him and honor Him, for He is my all in all; for she has
shown me how great her love was for me and all of humanity, and I love
to think of her love and to know how wonderful it would be to see her
sweet face on this green earth, and it does seem to me as if I could
almost see her by thinking of her so much.