Irene Coates Narrative (2 of 4) Viola Muse Transcription Zariah Grant and Kimberly Council Encoding and edition Kimberly Council and Amelia Dixon Edition Laura Heffernan Edition Tru Leverette Edition Clayton McCarl

This document was produced as part of the Viola Muse Digital Edition, based at the University of North Florida.

https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/94 USA Florida Jacksonville Jacksonville Historical Society Viola Muse Collection (1959-18) Folder 3, item 2 Narrative based on the Irene Coates Interview Notes

Handwritten, five pages

Document transcribed and encoded following the criteria of the Viola Muse Digital Edition (violamuse.unfdhi.org), based at the University of North Florida.

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Jacksonville, Florida

Slavery

Viola B. Muse

Introduction

Immediately after Slaveryslavery in the United States, the Southern Whitewhite people found themselves without servants to come at every bidding. Women who were accustomed to a nurse, a maid, a cook, &and laundress found themselves without sufficient money to pay wages to all these. There was much work to be done, and a great problem confronted the pomperedSee pomper. married woman, who had never been taught to work and who thought it a disgrace to soil her hands.

There were many Negro women who needed work, and even more than that, a home and someone to look after them and guide them.

The home and guidance of the aristocratic Whitewhite people offered the best opportunity for the dependent, unschooled freed woman., and it was in this kind of home that the ex-slave woman I am writing of, was reared.

Page 2 of this document has not been located and consequently is not included here.

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Masonic Temple stands. (Broad and Duval StsStreets) at this point was large stone bulkheads, and Irene remembers seeing men pull nets from the water full of mullet fish. The creek continued over to where Stanton High School stands, and on the banks of the creek at this point, Irene often carried the baby for a walk and platted wild grass and played in the creek.

Continuing over to Beaver between Broad and Clay Streets, where Lawton L. Pratt's Undertaking establishmentEstablishment is stands located, the creek bent in its course and joined Hogan creekCreek at Union Street between Broad &and Clay. A branch of the Hogan Creek ran from the section north of State Street at Jefferson Street and cut the block diagonally which is bound by Union, State, Jefferson, &and Broad Streets.

The two creeks joining at Union between Broad &and Clay continued and flowed through to State, over Clay, to cover spot where Grant's Memorial Church now stands at Clay and Orange Strs.Streets. The creek covered a great part of the section now knowknown as Black Bottom, 4Due to a technical limitation, we cannot currently center horizontally this page number, nor those on subsequent pages. continuing Northnorth on Clay to Caroline &and to Cedar (now Pearl). It turned again on Cedar and joined the Hogan creekCreek in the section close to Bloxham StStreet.This street name appears to read Blouham in the original.

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In the downtown section where Cohen's Store is located was Jackson–ville's only hotel, a three (or four) storythree– or four–story brick building painted white. The rest of the section was woods.

East of Cohen's block and north to Union Street where Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church is located at Market &and Union was an Oak Groveoak grove, and ^Irene remembers that the a few of Negroes who lived in Jacksonville at that time held church in a log cabin on that spot.

There was one depot for trains in Jacksonville when Irene Coates arrived here, and the tracks ran down Bridge StStreet turned at ForsytheForsyth, This street name is difficult to read in the original. Forsyth would appear to be the correct name, however, as the rail line described can be seen to follow Bridge and turn on Forsyth on J. Francis Le Baron's map City of Jacksonville, Duval County, 1887, available from Florida Memory. &and station was between Bridge &and JeffJefferson. Only one train came into JaxJacksonville, and it was from Fernandina.

Where Uncle Neal's Pawn ShopeShoppe We read Shope in the original, which have assumed to be a mispelling of the archaic form to which we have regularized it here. is now, at oadBroad &and Bay, boats landed, and it was at cethat place that Mr. Bedell bought a little 5 boat so he could row about up and down the creek and catch fish.

Now, Main St.Street was called Pine Street, and Negroes had houses on it. There were no stores there at that time and none in that section.

Out west on Bay Street where the Union Depot is located, a fish pond occupied that spot, and Irene saw many nets pulled in loaded with fish.

This was true also of the ground where Holmes Undertaking Estab.Establishment is, on State between Broad &and Jefferson. The water at this point flowed &and joined Hogan Creek. She saw men throw nets &and draw in mullet fish.This last sentence is faded in the original and may have been erased.

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Irene remembers when the first Atlantic Coast Line train came into JaxJacksonville. Part of the tracks ran down Bridge StStreet, turned Easteast on Bay, &and terminated at Bay &and Hogan where the Depotdepot stood. Prior to this time, the people were ^compelled to go by boat to St. AugAugustine, and when the boat landed there, a surrey was used to convey passengers from the tdepot to the city.

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About a year after railroad to &and from St. AugAugustine was installed, Irene left Jacksonville &and went to Camden County, Georgia, with the white people she worked for. She married there a man named Charles Coates and returned to Jacksonville the year after the great earth quakeearthquake here.See Earthquake, c. 1888.

The old City Cemetery, etc. (here) on Page 7The Old City Cemetery, etc., here. On page 7.

When Jacksonville officials decided to fill in that part of the town which the preceding paragraphs showed was covered by water, boat loadboatload after boat loadboatload of sand was hauled in from Georgia. The McCoy creekCreek was pushed back, and Bay Street was made. So were the other parts which had previously been water.

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The creek which ran through between Bridge &and Jefferson StsStreets divided JaxJacksonville from the township then called La VillaLaVilla. That section of JaxJacksonville is still referred to as La VillaLaVilla, but it was in reality a separate &and distinct from JaxJacksonville.