Transitions by Mike Hormek - HTML preview

Chapter 2

Baby Sally was more white than black, but her childhood was anything but happy. She was bullied and shunned by other black kids because she was different. The Black Code did not allow blacks to become literate for fear they would cause problems. She was a fast learner. Although most blacks were illiterate, some secretly taught others to read and write. She quickly learned to read and write English.

She also spoke Acadian, which she learned from the elder enslaved people. She noticed scars on her mother's back and often asked who whipped her, “ton pere ma battue.” Translated as “Your father beat me!” she answered.

“Pourquoi?” Sally asked.

Lydia's English could have been better, but Sally preferred to speak in English rather than French Canadian, so she asked her mother to talk in English.

“Because I tried to run away and protect you from that bad man.”

“Will we ever be able to leave?”

"I hope so when Mr. Lincoln frees us," her mother replied.

“When will that be?” Sally asked.

"I don't know, child, maybe when the war ends."

Sally was fifteen when Thomas brought her into the big house. She was beautiful, with light skin, black hair, and blue eyes. Like her mother, she was tall and thin, and her body was well-propor -

tioned, one that would make a bulldog break his chain.

Although most black girls her age had experienced intimacy, and some were already with children, she remained a virgin under the watchful eye of her mother. In the big house, her duties in the kitchen were to prepare meals for the master and his overseers, as well as those of the servants, under the guidance of a middle-aged servant named Kittie, who had worked there since her teenage years.

"Well, child, you will be sleeping with me in the back room and eating with us on the back table on the back porch,” Kittie said. And we need to get you out of those rags you are wearing. I will make you a new dress."

"Thank you, Miss Kittie," Sally replied. "Will you teach me to sew?"

"Yes, child," she answered.

"In return, I will teach you to read and write. Then you can read some of the master's books."

"Yes, but we must be careful, as we are not allowed,” Kittie reminded.

Several months went by as Sally kept her promise to Kittie to teach her to read and write. Although she needed more tutoring, she could read some of Thomas's books.

It was 1863, and the war raged. Gunfire was abundant, and soldiers visited the plantation for supplies as per the agreement between Thomas and the Confederacy. Some sacrifices were necessary for the big house, as supplies were not as plentiful as before. Problematic was the fact crops were burned by Union soldiers if they suspected plantation owners were aiding Confederate soldiers.

Sally's possessions were meager, so she was in awe of the amount of things accumulated in the Big House. Kittie told her she must not plunder and get caught, as a female servant got whipped for touching valuable articles.

“Who whipped her?” Sally asked.

“The master,” Kittie replied.

“You know he is my father,” Sally said.

“I knows miss Sally.”

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After minutes of silence, Sally asked, "Is my father a bad man?"

“My mother says he is.”

“But the master is fair,” Kittie answered.

They did their business, and there was no more conversation about the master.

The time spent in the kitchen preparing meals was fun for Sally as it was a welcome change from working in the fields. She saw the graceful degradation of her mother each time they visited. Time took its toll on the field workers: They endured long hours and hard work, notwithstanding the mental anguish of knowing that free-slaves were becoming more prevalent, especially in New Orleans.

It had been six months in the big house when Sally noticed her father was paying more attention to her than usual. One day, in the slave quarters at the back of the house, she was bathing in the round tub specific to the servants. When Thomas entered the room, Kittie and the others were already in bed.

"Hello, child, I'm going to wash your back," he said.

"No, please, you can get out," She replied. Thomas picked up a soap bar and began washing her back. She covered her breasts with both hands when he reached around, grabbed her hand with his left, and caressed her breast with his other hand.

“Stop, no, stop!” she pleaded.

"What's the matter, child?"

"Your mother likes it; so should you," He said. Sally began crying.

As he left the room, he said, "You will learn to like it someday."

Sally dressed herself and went to bed. Her crying woke Kittie.

"What's wrong, sister?"

“My father touched me,” she exclaimed.

“My poor child!” Kittie replied.

“What should I do?”Asked Sally.

“Don’t know.”

Thomas struggled with what to do with Sally. He wondered if he should put her in a school, but his interpretation of The Black Code instructed never to separate the mother from her child. There was also the contention it would cause if Thomas would send her to school and not another. The decision to let it be was his final one and let fate take its course. On the one hand, he knew she was his blood; on the other, she was the result of an encounter with an available enslaved person. There was no time or reason to fret over a bleeding conscience.

It was again necessary to travel to New Orleans for supplies. It was a dreary day, balmy like it was before the last major storm. The humidity was high and sweat-drenched her skirt. Kittie and John, the overseer, hitched a team of horses and were on their way. Sally requested to go, but her father refused. She thought it was odd, as she regularly accompanied the pair on shopping trips.

That morning, Sally prepared a breakfast of biscuits, honey, eggs, grits, and crawfish tails. She washed dishes when Thomas entered the kitchen, picked her up, and carried her into his bedroom.

“Why are you doing this?” she implored.“You are my father.”

Thomas replied, “Because you are my daughter in name only. You will enjoy this. Take off your clothes and get on the bed.”

He picked her up and carried her to her room when he was through. She sobbed. After he left, she felt dirty and scrubbed herself raw with soap and water. The abuse continued for several months.

She cried and cried about her father's actions. In all her years on the plantation, she never heard of a father harming their daughter.

"Why is he doing this?" she cried out loud. "I don't know what to do; he doesn't love me."

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She asked her mother what to do while crying on her shoulder. Her mother consoled her but had no further advice. Kittie and John, the overseer, made their way back from shopping in New Orleans.

The sky darkened, and the wind howled. It was so bad they sought shelter, wondering if it was a cy-clone. They unhitched the horses to prevent injury. Just as they did, a gust blew the wagon onto its side.

They huddled under an oak tree and clung for dear life. It was indeed a hurricane. Trees blew sideways, and boughs and limbs snapped. The supplies were scattered. They tried to save what they could, but the rain and wind overwhelmed them. The storm lasted into the night, and they stayed close to the wagon for safety.

The following day, Thomas, a driver, and enslaved people formed a search party and set out to find them. Kittie sat with her back against the wagon. The overseer was lying on the ground, pinned by a tree trunk across his torso. When the rescuers removed the tree, he passed.

The tree pinned Kittie's leg, and the femur broke before she escaped from underneath it.

"Don't move!" Thomas instructed Kittie to secure her leg with a splint.

“We’ll take her back to New Orleans and get her leg set,” he told John the overseer.

They turned the wagon over. The horse team was nearby. They re-hitched the wagon. Thomas told the driver, “I will take her to New Orleans. You take the wagon back to the house.”

Several days passed, and things returned to normal on the plantation. Thomas had to replace the overseer, who died in the storm. He contacted for burial arrangements. The new overseer, John and Sally, were sent to New Orleans to replace the supplies lost in the storm. While shopping in town, Sally recognized enslaved people from adjoining plantations she met when she visited the Maroons, a band of fugitive enslaved people living in their communities.

Sally gained more freedom to move freely since living in the big house. She made meals for the Maroons, who would slip into the big house under cover of night. Maroons made money selling crafts to settlers and logs to sawmills. While on this shopping trip, Sally was shocked to see so many blacks living free. New Orleans was now a haven for free blacks, runaways, and other outcasts with nowhere to go. She heard about General Phelps, who established an outpost called Camp Parapet, known for sheltering blacks seeking freedom.

Sally approached a formerly enslaved person she knew and asked, "Do you know about Camp Parapet?"

"Yas'm it up river by boat a mile or so," he said. She had to be careful who she talked to as the overseer watched her. Nevertheless, she was able to speak to them when he was shopping. The trip proved successful, and they returned to the plantation.

The overseer killed by the fallen tree was a black whom Thomas's parents had granted his freedom. A Minister performed the funeral at a local black church in the community. The religion of the enslaved people depended on their master's wishes. Like his parents before him, Thomas allowed the enslaved people to attend church and hold prayer meetings in their cabins. Thomas was agnostic and did not attend church.

Masters hired preachers, but if their master forbade worship, the enslaved people were subject to flogging if they rebelled. A secret verbe overseer was greeting, "Steal away to Jesus," signaled a se -

cret prayer meeting at a clandestine, remote swamp setting. Song and prayer sometimes lasted all night.

Sally attended regular church services but sometimes slipped away to the secret services when she could, allowing her to spend more time with her mother. Although not religious, Kittie did not blow the whistle when Sally slipped away.

Some churches were sponsored by the masters, along with their preachers. Enslaved people grew tired of hearing them say, "Obey your master. Don't steal from your master. It's a sin to run away."

The enslaved people found their preachers and held underground services.

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The sexual assaults on Sally were frequent and severe. Not knowing what the repercussions would be against her and her mother, she tolerated the pain as best she could. However, the fear of pregnancy was foremost on her mind.

The herbal remedy Pennyroyal and other herbal mixtures aborted babies, sometimes known as

"negro remedies" by Southern whites, but she had no idea where to get them, if necessary. In their absence, she knew enslaved people sometimes used metal rods to kill the fetus. Abortion was forbidden by the Masters as newborn children were valuable commodities. Sally was terrified if she became pregnant.

“What would happen to the child?” she thought.

“I cannot let it happen.”

She knew what she must do, remembering when she was a child, someone in the black commu -

nity accidentally died of Oleander poisoning.

Oleander plants can be traced to Pompeii, Italy, in 79 A. D. First introduced to the U.S. in 1841, in Galveston, Texas, by Joseph Osterman from Jamaica, Oleander is a floral called "a deadly beauty,"

they found their way to Louisiana, where they thrived on the plantations and were everywhere amongst shrubs and trees. Enslaved people knew not to ingest the deadly leaves and flowers. Parents not to eat them. Napoleon ordered meat cooked and served on Oleander sticks, and one hundred men were poisoned and died, as per a historical account.

It was a pleasant July 4, 1863. Thomas invited other plantation owners and friends to a long-standing traditional celebratory cookout. Sally assisted Kittie in the kitchen. The menu included pork, beef, chicken, vegetables, and a pastry. Sally cooked the meat and served guests.

The previous day, she broke off an Oleander branch, ensuring ample leaves remained on the stick. She placed two pieces of meat on the stick and cooked them along with the other portions, careful not to contaminate anything but the beef with the Oleander. She prepared the meal, rubbed leaves on the meat, and fed Thomas the tainted portions he ate. Before the guests left, he complained of stomach pain and headache. Nauseated, he began vomiting.

"You must go to bed and lie down, Master Thomas!" Kittie said.

“Yes, yes,” he replied.

Kittie brought him a glass of water, and he retired to his room. The guests thanked the staff and left. The following day, Thomas was not at the breakfast table, which was the norm. Kittie entered his room.

"Miss Sally, Miss Sally, Master Thomas is dead!" she cried.

Later that day, Sally gathered her meager belongings and informed Kittie they were leaving for New Orleans. She told the overseers that Master Thomas was not feeling well and was not to be disturbed. She contacted her mother, who was working in the field.

"What are you doing out here, child?" she asked, noting Sally was visibly upset.

“Master Thomas is dead," Sally replied. "And we must leave for New Orleans."

“How did he die?” Lydia asked.

“I will tell you later.”

Sally never did fully admit to her mother what she had done. Kittie's leg did not heal thoroughly, so they knew the Journey would be slow and painful for her. But she decided freedom was more important than any pain she might endure. "Who will tend to the crops, Ms. Sally?"

“I reckon it will be the overseers,” Sally replied.

Sally worried about what would happen to the plantation. She was the only descendant who knew about the family and its business. Sally hoped a paper would appear, leaving the plantation to someone responsible. Although no one knew what would happen after the war ended, She knew it would be a mess. The enslaved people would flee for freedom. The remaining overseers would con-

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tinue to run the plantation as long as they had help, as the Confederacy relied on it for rations. Sally left without notice, hoping things would work out. She thought no one would suspect her of murder. Because guests heard Thomas say he was not feeling well.

Now that the ordeal was over, she had time to reflect, and grief and remorse overcame her. She constantly cried and tried to hide it from her mother and Kittie, who felt sorry for her.

"Did I have a choice to live a life of abuse for myself and my mother or become free of my fa -

ther's hold on me?" she thought, "What's to become of us now?"

They were on their way. It was Sally, Kittie, Lydia, and two drivers whom Lydia befriended.

The word was out regarding the death of Thomas. There was chaos and confusion, coupled with cheers and some sadness by older enslaved people who knew and respected their parents. The enslaved people were free, they assumed, But were they? What were they to do? They were like crippled young hawks, fed by hand until adulthood but eventually released into the wild. They soon starved because their mothers did not teach them to hunt; it was a reminder that freedom is not always accessible. Sometimes, there is a great cross to bear.

Sally remembered speaking with a free enslaved person regarding Camp Parapet, established by the Union upstream of New Orleans. Free enslaved people and runaways were protected there and sponsored by groups utilizing the Underground Railroad that brought free people of color to the North.

It now operated overtly and was part of the growing, successful Union effort against the Confederacy.

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