Oral History with Delaware, Vonell, and Toliver

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Mississippi Digital Library Identification: mcd. oh. deleware_ 349 Page 1 of 8
Interviewees: Mr. Delaware, Mr. Vonell, and Mr. John Toliver
Interviewer: Ora Sanders
Date:
OS: This is Ora Sanders and I am sitting here with three gentlemen: Mr. Delaware, Mr. Vonell,
and Mr. John... John Toliver. And, um, these three men have different views about slavery.
Neither one of these men have been in slavery, but, they have information handed down to them
from their ancestors. So, we will start with Mr. Delaware about, you know about the wages and
the way they dressed and how they were treated in those days.
MD: In those days, in those days when I was coming up, my grandfather, I remember him
having some oxen plowing cotton cold.... and he would get on us boys and push for us like we
weren't nobody's business. Make us get out there and pick up chunks, wood, old fields and have
them oxen just, just gruntin'. He'd flex them whips, ya know he'd make them whips... ( unclear)
OS: Umm- hmm
MD: He'd go throw that whip up and down until that oxen fall over there, that old ox fall over
there. He'd plow just like you plow a mule. That's right.
OS: Okay, okay, Mr. Delaware, how old are you?
MD: How old I am? Eighty one.
OS: Okay, what year were you born in?
MD: 1901.
OS: Okay.
MD: That's right, I was speaking ` bout my grandfather, you know them days he was way back
yonder in eighteen and so, uh, he cleared wood up there at Shaw. 1918, 240 acres of land. And
the town of Shaw was built right over from part of his land now. My uncles and them, log
wagons, had log wagons. My grand daddy had two log wagons. He one row wagon and two log
wagons. He had twenty six head of mules. He brought more children to Shaw Mississippi than
any man ever, any one family ever been in Shaw, he brought 31 head of people there. Children.
OS: Okay, your father had had this land in Shaw. Did the city of Shaw buy this land from your
father or did they just build the houses on his land without his consent?