In summer the slaves went without shoes
and wore three-quarter checkered baggy pants, some wearing only a long
shirt to cover their body. We wore ox-hide shoes, much too large. In
winter time the shoes were stuffed with paper to keep out the cold. We
called them 'Program' shoes. We had no money to spend, in fact did not
know the value of money.
"Our food consisted of bread, hominy, black strap molasses and a red
herring a day. Sometimes, by special permission from our master or
overseer, we would go hunting and catch a coon or possum and a pot pie
would be a real treat.
"We all thought of running off to Canada or to Washington, but feared
the patrollers. As a rule most slaves were lazy."
Simms' work at Contee was to saddle the horses, cut wood, and make fires
and sometimes work in the field.
He voted for President Lincoln and witnessed the second inauguration of
Lincoln after he was set free.
Maryland
12/6/37
Rogers
JIM TAYLOR (UNCLE JIM), Ex-slave.
Reference: Personal interview with Jim Taylor,
at his home, 424 E. 23rd St., Baltimore.
"I was born in Talbot County, Eastern Shore, Maryland, near St. Michaels
about 1847. Mr. Mason Shehan's father knew me well as I worked for him
for more than 30 years after the emancipation. My mother and father both
were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small
boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while
the tugs were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and
the small rivers on the Eastern Shore.
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