Irene Coates Narrative (4 of 4)

Irene Coates

Immediately after slavery in the United States, the southernSouthern white people found themselves without servants. Women who were accustomed to having a nurse, maid, cook, and laundress found themselves without sufficient money to pay wages to all these. There was a great amount of work to debe done, and the great problem confronting married women who had not been taught to work and who thought it beneath their standing to soil their hands, found it very difficult.

There were, on the other hand, many Negro women who needed work and young girls who needed guidance and training.

The home and guidance of the aristocratic white people offered the best opportunity for the dependent un̵schooledunschooled freed women;, and it was in this kind of home that the ex-slave child of this story was reared.

Irene Coates of 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida, was born in Georgia about 1859. She was close to six years of age when freedom was declared.

She was one among the many Negro children who had the advantage of living under the direct supervision of kind whites Slave Interview Viola B. Muse Jacksonville, Florida Page 2 FEC 75 and receiving the care which could only be excelled by an ed–ucated mother.

Jimmie and Lou Bedell were the names of the man and wife who saw the need of having a Negro girl come into their home as one in the family and at the same time be assured of a good and efficient servant in years to come.

When Irene was old enough, she became the nurse of the Bedell baby, and when the family left Savannah, Georgia to come to Jacksonville, they brought Irene with them.

Although Irene was just about six years old when the Civil War ended, she has vivid recollection of happenings during slavery. Some of the incidents which happened were told her by her slave associates after slavery ended, and some of them she remembers herself.

Two incidents which she considers caused respect for slaves by their masters and finally the Emancipation by Abraham Lincoln she tells in this order.

The first event tells of a young, strong healthy Negro woman who knew her work and did it well." "She would grab up two bags of guana (fertilizer) See guana. and tote 'em at one time," said Irene, and was never found shirking her work. The overseer on the plantation, was very hard on the slaves and practiced striking them across the back with a whip when he wanted to spur them on to do more work.

Slave Interview Viola B. Muse Jacksonville, Florida Page 3 FEC 76

Irene says, one day a crowd of women were hoeing in the field, and the overseer rode along and struck one of the women across the back with the whip, and the one nearest her spoke and said that if he ever struck her like that, it would be the day he or she would die. The overseer heard the remark, and the first op–portunity he got, he rode by the woman and struck her with the whip and started to ride on. The woman was hoeing at the time,. sheShe whirled around, struck the overseer on his head with the hoe, knock–ing him from his horse,. sheShe then pounced upon hiss and chopped his head off. She went mad for a few seconds and proceeded to chop and mutilate his body;. thatThat done to her satisfaction,·she then killed his horse. She then calmly went to tell the master of the murder, saying "Is've done killed de overseer." theThe master replied–, "Do you mean to say you've killed the overseer?" sheShe answered yes,, and that she had killed the horse also. Without hesitating, the master, point–ing to one of his small cabins on the plantation said–, "You see that house over there?" sheShe answered yes–, at the same time looking–. "Well, said he, take all your belongings and move into that house, and you are free from this day, and if the mistress wants you to do anything for her, do it if you want to." Irene related with much warmth the effect that incident had upon the future treatment of the slaves.

The other incident occured in Virginia. It was upon an occasion when Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was visiting in Richmond. A woman slaveowner had one of her slaves whipped in the presence of Mrs. Lin–Lincoln. Slave Interview Viola B. Muse Jacksonville, Florida Page 4 FEC 77 coln. It was easily noticed that the woman was an expectant mother. Mrs. Lincoln was ghorrified at the situation and expressed herself as being so, saying that she was going to tell the Pres–ident as soon as she returned to the White House. Whether this eincident had any bearing upon Mr. Lincoln's actions or not, those slaves who were present and Irene says that they all believed it to be the beginning of the President's activities to end slavery.

Besides these incidents, Irene remembers that women who were not strong and robust were given such work as sewing, weaving, and minding babies. The cloth from which the Sunday clothes of the slaves was made was called ausenburg,See ausenber. and the slave women were very proud of this. The older women were required to do most of the weaving of cloth and making shirts for the male slaves.

When an old woman who had been sick, regained her strength, she was sent to the fields the same as the younger ones. The ones who could cook and tickle the palates of her mistress and master were highly prized and were seldom, if ever, offered for sale at the auction block.

The slaves were given fat meat and bread made of husk of corn and wheat. This caused them to steal food and when caught they were severely whipped.

Irene recalls the practice of blowing a horn whenever a sudden rain came. The overseer had a certain Negro to blow three times, and if shelter could be found, the slaves were expected to seek it until the rain ceased.

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The master had sheds built at intervals on the plantation. These accomodated a goodly number;. ifIf no shed was available, the slaves stood under trees. If neither was handy, and the slaves got wet, they could not go to the cabins to change clothes for fear of losing time from work. This was often the case; she says that slaves were more neglected thatn the cattle.

Another custom which impressed the child–mind of Irene was the tieing of slaves by their thumbs to a tree limb and whipping them. Women and young girls were treated the same as were men.

After the Bedells took Irene to live in their home they traveled a deal. After bringing her to Jacksonville, when Jackson–ville was only a small port, they then went to Camden County, Georgia.

Irene married while in Georgia and came back to Jacksonville with her husband Charles, the year of the earthquake at Charleston, South Carolina, about 1888.See Earthquake, c. 1888.

Irene and Charles Coates have lived in Jacksonville since that time. She relates many tales of happenings during the time that this city grew from a town of about four acres to its present status.

Irene is the mother of five children. She has nine grand–children and eight great–grandchildren. Her health is fair, but her eyesight is poor. It is her delight to entertain visitors and is conversant upon matters pertaining to slavery and reconstructionReconstruction days.

Federal Writers' Project, American Guide, (Negro Writers' Unit), Jacksonville, Florida

Viola B. Muse, Field Worker. Complete,

Slave Interview, December 16, 1936The Irene Coates Interview Notes do not bear a specific date, but they appear to be a continuation of the Charles Coates Interview Notes, taken on December 3, 1936. We might assume that a subsequent interview with Irene Coates took place on December 16, but the collection at the Jacksonville Historical Society does not contain such material, nor does it seem likely, as the material contained in this narrative is found in the combined notes from December 3 (see the descriptions of the Charles Coates Interview Notes and Irene Coates Interview Notes).

Reference

I1. Irene Coates, 2015 Windle Street, Jacksonville, Florida