"
Maryland
Dec. 21, 1937
Rogers
TOM RANDALL, Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Tom Randall,
at his home, Oella, Md.
"I was born in Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland, in 1856, in a
shack on a small street now known as New Cut Road--the name then, I do
not know. My mother's name was Julia Bacon. Why my name was Randall I do
not know, but possibly a man by the name of Randall was my father. I
have never known nor seen my father. Mother was the cook at the Howard
House; she was permitted to keep me with her. When I could remember
things, I remember eating out of the skillets, pots and pans, after she
had fried chicken, game or baked in them, always leaving something for
me. When I grew larger and older I can recall how I used to carry wood
in the kitchen, empty the rinds of potatoes, the leaves of cabbages and
the leaves and tops of other plants.
"There was a colored man by the name of Joe Nick, called Old Nick by a
great many white people of me city. Joe was owned by Rueben Rogers, a
lawyer and farmer of Howard County. The farm was situated about 2-1/2
miles on a road that is the extension of Main Street, the leading street
of Ellicott City. They never called me anything but Tomy or Randy, other
people told me that Thomas Randall, a merchant of Ellicott City, was my
father.
"Mother was owned by a man by the name of O'Brien, a saloon or tavern
keeper of the town.
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