[Sansevierias] Re: It's About Time

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>Ex-Slave Lou Williams' Christmas Memories
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>Lou Williams was born in southern Maryland in 1829. She and her 
>family were slaves of Abram and Kitty Williams, and Lou served as 
>nursemaid to her master's children from the age of eight until after 
>the Civil War. She then went to Louisiana where she worked as a cook 
>for several years before moving to San Angelo, Texas:
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>"We allus gits Saturday evenin' off to wash our clothes and sometime 
>we has dances Saturday night...We has corn shuckin's and big suppers 
>and on Christmas day massa buys us de present, most times shoes, 
>'cause we didn't have any shoes."
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>Photos & quotes from The Slave Narratives, a collection of over 
>20,000 pages of typewritten interviews with more than 3,500 former 
>slaves, collected between 1929-39. Those interviewed ranged in age 
>from 1 to 50 at the time of emancipation in 1865; more than 2/3 were 
>over 80 when they were interviewed. The obvious problem is the 
>language as reported by the interviewers. The Library of Congress 
>explains on their website, "The narratives usually involve some 
>attempt by the interviewers to reproduce in writing the spoken 
>language of those interviewed."
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>Diary of Mary Jeffreys Bethell, January 1st 1861 - Dec. 1865:
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>Mary Jeffreys Bethell, born in 1821, was the daughter of Phereba 
>Hinton Jeffreys and farmer and Methodist preacher George Washington 
>Jeffreys (1794-1849). She married William D. Bethell in 1840 and 
>spent most of her life in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Mary 
>Jeffreys Bethell's diary has infrequent entries beginning on 1 
>January 1853 and ending 6 January 1873. Diary entries discuss 
>Bethell's home and neighbors; her religious activities; the 
>activities of her children, several of whom died young, and children 
>in the Torrien family, whom Bethell referred to as nieces and 
>nephews and who lived in the Bethell household for many years. There 
>are frequent mention of Bethell's journeys with her husband to 
>Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas, and thoughts of moving the 
>family out of North Carolina. During the Civil War, the diary also 
>includes the activities of sons Willie and George in the Confederate 
>Army, including George's adventures with the 44th North Carolina 
>Regiment and his capture and imprisonment at Johnson Island. 
>Bethell's husband joined the Army in 1864, after which Bethell wrote 
>of the difficulties she endured in her husband's absence, including 
>the departure of their slaves. See Documenting the American South 
>(DocSouth.unc.edu), a digital publishing initiative of the 
>University Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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>December 25, 1861
>This is Christmas day, a beautiful day but very cold, how different 
>this Christmas from last, now our Country is filled with armies to 
>defend our country from the Northern army, many bloody battles have 
>been fought, hundreds have been killed on both sides, and a great 
>many soldiers have died in the camp from disease and want of 
>attention while sick, it is sad to contemplate, perhaps the Lord is 
>chastising his church, I believe he permits it for our good.I have 
>two sons in the army, they have enjoyed fine health, the Lord has 
>blessed them, I thank and praise him for it. I hope and pray that 
>they may get home safe to my arms.
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>December 25, 1862
>This is Christmas day, a most lovely day for the season, it is 
>almost like Spring. I hope 'tis a token of good, that the Lord is 
>going to bless us if it is his will. I hope the war will soon close 
>and that we may have peace.