The streets present a monotonous aspect because of the absence of grass and trees. Yet the pedestrian is frequently surprised to come upon a dead-end alley blocked by an old brick tenement house with lovely arched windows or to find gay flowers in boxes and tin cans on some of the low stoops. On several corners the houses abruptly give way to small grocery stores or beer parlors.
There are two Baptist churches and one Sanctified church in the Negro part of the Old Fort. Although the people are devout believers in all the tenets of the Christian faith, many of them, particularly the old ones, are bound by older beliefs and superstitions. There exists among them a deep rooted fear of the unknown. Spirits, ghosts, and "cunjuh" all powerfully influence their daily existence.
Young and middle-aged persons, reticent before strangers, appear dubious and suspicious. They profess great knowledge of conjure and superstitions, but they hasten to say that they "sho ain't gonuh tell nobody" what they know about these things. The old inhabitants, more loquacious, enjoy relating their beliefs and customs to a willing listener.
Among the older inhabitants is Aunt Mary,1 the daughter of a slave, who remembers the days when rice fields lay east of the town and it was no unusual sight to find a big "gatuh" caught in the rice canal. Early morning finds Aunt Mary hobbling to her work of scrubbing the entrances to stores. In going to and from work she always drags a broom behind her. When we asked the reason for this, she answered, "Cuz uh dohn wants none uh deze fixuhs tuh git muh foot track, cuz den dey kin hanl yuh jis lak dey wants tuh."1a
"Do you really believe that, Aunt Mary? Do you believe in dreams and ghosts too?"
"I sho does belieb in dreams an ghoses. Ef uh hab suttn dreams, dey sho comes true. Tuh dream uh fresh poke some uh yuh kin folks gwine die; fresh beef mean duh det uh some wite pusson yuh knows well. Tub dream uh a dead pusson is a sho sign uh rain, an anudduh sign uh rain is wen a suttn place on muh head itches."1b
The old woman switched her broom around under the other arm and continued, "As fuh ghoses, ain't uh got tuh belieb in um? Wy, I kin see um muhsef. Yuh see, I wuz bawn wid a double caul obuh muh face an anybody knows dat a pusson bawn wid a caul obuh dey face kin sho see ghoses. Deah's mo dan one kine uh ghos. Some come befo yuh natchul an pleasant; den some kin sho make yuh sked. I kin tell long fo anyting happen wen it gwine happen. Nuttn ebuh happen tuh me widout me knowin it long fo it come."1c
Another old woman2 can recall when her slave mother used to carry her on her back to the spring on their plantation. This woman wears large earrings of gold which she has worn since her mother pierced her ears in childhood. Each wrist is encircled by a band of copper wire. She smiled and inadvertently touched the wire as she explained its presence.
"Ef yuh wuks hahd aw does much washin, it heps duh nerbes." 2a
At the mention of "cunjuh" the old woman lit her pipe, smiled pathetically, and shook her head. As the blue smoke curled upward, she told of having been conjured and of how it had changed her whole life in a few short weeks.
"Yeahs ago," she sighed, "I hab a huzbun wut treat me well an uh wuz libin good. Dis wuz jis fo muh twins wuz bawn. Ise a twin too, an it sho is bad luck. Deah wuz somebody wut want muh huzbun tuh leab me an go oft wid um, so dey hab me fix. Wen uh come home one day, I step in a hole by duh doe an deah wuz a bottle fix wid some tings in it. Right den an deah I took sech a misery in muh lef side an den uh swell up all obuh; muh hands wuz twice deah size. I stay dataway till I fine out wut tuh do. Den I sprinkle black peppuh an potash in duh hole weah duh bottle wuz an it bile up. Den some friens wash me off in wiskey ebry day an soon uh wuz all right. But wen duh twins wuz bawn duh boy twin hab a lill hole right in is lef side weah I hab duh misery frum duh fixin. He lib nine days fo he die."2b
"But the person did not succeed in getting your husband after all, did she?" we asked.
"Yes'm but she sho did. Whoebuh fix me fix muh huzbun too, cuz he go off an leab me an I know he ain nebuh done dat lessn he bin fix. Muh son die wen he wuz twenty-tree an wuz a fine lookin boy. Deah wuz so many women attuh him, lots uh people tink one uh dem fix im, but duh doctuh say he die frum pneumonia.2c
"I knowd he wuz gwine die cuz I heahd a owl jis a hootin duh day befo. 44 Deah's udduh signs uh det too, sech as ef yuh sees a buzzud sailin roun duh elements, das a sho sign. Ef a rat eat yuh dress, yuh musn patch it yuhsef lessn yuh bun duh place fo yuh sew on it, cuz das a sign uh det. Dat happen right heah in dis house fo muh faduh die."2d
She folded her hands in her lap and slowly rocked her chair as she continued. "Wen a pusson die in duh house, ef yuh take em out fo duh ministuh say a few wuds, den deah spirit will hant duh house, cuz dey jis caahn be happy till dey hab ebryting done propuh an right. I hab heahd spirits roun dis house. Sometime dey call yuh. Wen dey call yuh, dey done come tuh hant yuh an git yuh tuh go weah dey is. Wen dey call, yuh mus say, 'I ain ready tuh go yit.'"2e
The old woman stopped rocking, sat upright, and removed the pipe from between her stained teeth. "An spirits ain all. Deah's witches. Wy, deah's a ole uhmun neah yuh wut people say is a witch wut rides folks. We all leab uh lone. We shuts duh doe ef we sees uh comin. She come lak a nightmeah tuh duh folks wile dey sleepin. But ef yuh puts duh bruhm cross duh doe, yuh kin keep any witch out duh ruhm at night. Witches jis caahn cross obuh a bruhmstick."2f
Another woman3 was scornful about conjure. She tossed her head indignantly as she made known that most of her neighbors for blocks around, her friends, the members of her church, believed in the infallibility of the root worker.
"Wy," she said, "they all believe that everything that happen tuh anybody is cause by some root wukuh. They don't leave anything fuh God tuh do. Ef anybody takes sick, yuh'll fine somebody theah sayin sumpm is wrong with yuh sickness, that somebody 'put down' sumpm fuh yuh. Ef anybody dies roun heah, some root wukuh is responsible fuh the death. Now, me, I don't believe people kin put sumpm unduh steps aw unduh yuh house that will hahm yuh. Some time ago my son, my only chile, wuz drownded. Well every time I tun roun some of my neighbuhs wuz tellin me my son's death wuzn't fair. They say 'somebody hoodood yuh chile an cause him tuh git drownded.'"3a
She hastened to add, however, that she did believe "fuh sho" in some signs and omens, concerning which she has been "plenty sperienced."3b
"Take fuh instance," she explained, "ef I staht out an have tuh tun back, I know it's bad luck less I makes a cross mahk an spits in it. I try tuh keep a woman frum bein the fust pusson tuh come tuh my house on Monday mawnin even ef I have tuh call in a man passin by. Fuh a woman tuh be yuh fust visituh on Monday mawnin means bad luck the balance of that week. I won't borruh aw len salt, fuh my mothuh alluz said it wuz bad luck. I believe in all the ole signs I ebuh heahd my parents talk bout. I wouldn't sweep trash out of the house aftuh dahk fuh anything cuz it'll sweep yuh luck away. Nevuh shake a tablecloth out duh doe aftuh dahk cause it means the death of yuh kin. Nevuh sew aw make a piece fuh a sick pusson aw that pusson will die. 49 An dreams, I sho do believe in em. Jis fo my son wuz drownded I suttnly have a dream that mean a death in the fambly."3c
The next person 4we interviewed several blocks away expressed an absolute faith in the return of the dead in various shapes. This was a man, who spoke with great earnestness of two experiences he had undergone, one with spirits, the other with a witch. He, too, had been born with a caul.
"Muh fus time tuh see a ghos wuz in a rainstawm. Me an muh brudduh wuz caught, so we run tuh a ole vacant house an soons we git inside, duh doe slam shut. We tought it wuz duh win, but wen uh look roun deah wuz standin in duh cawnuh two men wid no head. I tought muh brudduh see em too. Wen duh rain stop, we lef. Muh brudduh didn say nuttn, so I say, 'Did you see dem mens in dat house'? He say, 'No, wut mens?' Wen I tole im, he tought I bin crazy. But lots uh time attuh dat I seen ghos."4a He folded his lips and nodded sagely.
"Now bout witches. Yuh know ghos an witches is diffunt. Witches is libin people an ghos is spirits uh duh dead. I know a ole uhmun ebrybody say wuz a witch. Well, bery soon she wuz ridin me. I could eben see uh come. Duh winduh--it would go up, an den uh would begin tuh choke an smudduh till somebody wake me up. I git reel tin an po. Den cross duh street wuz a man wich wuz complainin bout his wife bein rid by a witch. It seem lak duh witch would ride me, den go obuh tuh his house. So he say he would trap uh. He stay up. When he heah his wife strugglin, he git a axe hanl an begin frailin roun in duh dahk till he hit sumpm. It let out a screech an a cat run out duh winduh an down duh paat. So duh nex mawnin duh man git his dog an put im on duh cat's trail. Well, suh, bout half a mile down duh road in duh fence cawnuh wuz ole Malinda Edmonde wid tree rib broke. She beg im not tuh kill uh, but dat broke up duh witch ridin."4b
Further verification of the belief in the existence of spirits and witches was given us by Jack Wilson5 who operates a small junk shop in the vicinity. We visited the elderly Negro in his residence and place of business, a small, queerly shaped shack that entirely blocks the narrow lane on which it stands. The lodging is hardly more than a shelter made by driving several long poles into the ground, suspending on these a frame-work of rope and wire, and piling on this foundation pieces of tin, iron, cardboard, and other junk. A small opening left at each end reveals on the inside no furniture, only some old pipes and pieces of scrap iron, heaps of burlap sacks, and ragged clothes. Outside is a small vegetable garden, and clustered around the house in confusion are the odd automobile parts, lengths of pipe, parts of stoves, rags, and other miscellaneous items that make up the old man's stock in trade.
Wilson acknowledged a firm belief in the supernatural. He told us, "I wuz bawn wid spiritual knowledge which gib me duh powuh tuh read duh mines uh people. I kin see people wut bin dead many yeahs. Duh dead know wut duh libin is doin an come roun deah close kin an friens wen dey is in trouble. I kin speak tuh duh dead folk in song an dey kin unduhstan me.5a
"I kin see ghos mos any time. Dey seem lak natchul people. Duh way I know it's a ghos is cuz I kin nebuh ketch up wid um. Dey keep jis a suttn distance ahead uh me.5b
"Witches an cunjuh is jis groun wuk. Ef yuh keep way frum um dey sho caahn hut yuh. Some hab magic powuh wut come tuh um frum way back in Africa. Muh mothuh use tuh tell me bout slabes jis brung obuh frum Africa wut hab duh supreme magic powuh. Deah wuz a magic pass wud dat dey would pass tuh udduhs. Ef dey belieb in dis magic, dey could scape an fly back tuh Africa. I hab a uncle wut could wuk dis magic. He could disappeah lak duh win, jis walk off duh plantation an stay way fuh weeks at a time. One time he git cawnuhed by duh putrolmun an he jis walk up to a tree an he say, 'I tink I go intuh dis tree.' Den he disappeah right in duh tree."5c
These interviews, chosen at random from among the Old Fort Negroes, afford some small glimpse behind the scenes of this section's placid daily routine. They give significance to the penny often seen nailed to the bone-white doorstep and help the outsider to understand the mojo ring or luck piece worn by almost every man, the silver dime tied around many a woman's ankle.
Near this section lives a Negro basketmaker6 who claims that he is carrying on the tradition of his ancestors. He stated that for generations the men of his family had engaged in wood carving, basket making, and various phases of weaving, and that the craft had been passed on from father to son. 70 He himself only makes baskets. White oak and bulrushes are selected as the material from which to make the baskets and they are stitched with scrub palmetto. Those made of bulrushes are of the coil type. A kind of thin rope is made from this grass which is then twisted around and around and sewn tightly together. The baskets made from white oak are plaited. 70 The types of baskets include hampers, flat clothes baskets, farm and shopping baskets, and the popular "fanner" which the Negro venders balance gracefully on their heads as they walk about the city, displaying a colorful array of merchandise.
Some years ago an unusual discovery was made near this district when a boy noticed a carved spoon7 lying on top of a rubbish heap. This spoon, which has been carefully preserved, is made of teak, and, judging from the dark polished surface of the wood and its general appearance, it might well be more than a century old. The bowl is shallow and about two by three inches and the whole length about seven inches. The most unusual feature of the spoon is the carved figure of the disproportionate little man forming the handle. Of particular interest are the flat cranium, the exaggerated ears, the gash-like mouth, the queerly shaped nose, the long dangling arms, and the short tapering legs which appear to be far too small for the rest of the body.
Near the Old Fort is the Peace Mission of Father Divine.8 This comparatively new religious sect has an estimated membership of two million and a local membership of about fifty. There is nothing prepossessing about the small white building. The wooden floor is sprinkled with sawdust and except for the piano the only furniture is several roughly built wooden benches. The walls of the mission are hung with placards bearing inscriptions, of which the following are a few: "Peace-the Kingdom of Heaven is not meat and drink, but joy, peace and good will," "Peace and Good Will to the World," "Peace, Father Divine is God, Salutation is Peace."
At about eight o'clock in the evening members begin straggling in, two or three at a time. They are dressed soberly, with a noticeable lack of bright colors and ornamentation of any description, as one of the precepts of the cult is the sacrifice of all worldly possessions. Upon joining the church they must surrender everything of material value to Father Divine. The old life is a thing of the past. The convert must accept new habits, new names, and an entirely new scheme of existence.
The ardor of followers is not dampened by the fact that their leader has never been known to visit the Savannah branch. They claim that he is always present spiritually and can in this manner accomplish his miracles. At the meeting a major part of the service is given over to a number of testimonials, presented by many of those present. One by one the converts9 intone their devotion to Father Divine and vividly recount what he has done for them.
A stout Negro woman bearing the name of Sister Patience Peace10gives the following testimonial: "Once it wuz muh highes ambition tuh know duh tings uh duh worl. I loved cahds an drink an udduh vices. No day passed wen I wuz not so drunk dat I would gib out an hab tuh go tuh bed. Now it is not so. I hab nebuh seen duh Fathuh in duh body, but I know dat he is God, fuh I hab made spiritual contac wid him. Because uh rightous libin I am now weighin two hundud pouns. Praise Fathuh."10a
A thin, wiry little Negro man,11 whose eyes gleam with a fanatical light, speaks next. He gives his name as Noah's Ark and states that Father Divine has given him the power to raise his wife from the dead and has caused him to enter upon a new and sanctified life. Faithful Patience, the wife, is also present and in turn testifies as to the truth of his statement and as to her own faith in Father Divine.
Triumphant Virgin12 happy in the knowledge that she is now leading a blameless existence, steps forward and gives the following statement: "I know Fathuh Divine tuh be God cuz he lifted me out uh duh guttuh and changed me frum a drunkud an all udduh low tings dat I use tuh be. Muh ole name is dead an now tings reign tru Fathuh Divine. Peace Thanks, Fathuh."12a
As the evening wears on, more of the devotees join in the chanting and in the spirited singing of the hymns. Demonstrations become more and more violent. Several of the congregation, caught in the throes of a powerful religious intoxication, begin to dance and sway with abandonment. Others in the group encourage the dancers with a rhythmic clapping of hands and stamping of feet.
On and on the dancers whirl while the piano pounds out its accompaniment; above the din rises the wailed repetitious version of an improvised hymn. The participants in the dance seem oblivious to everything except the series of contortions in which they are indulging. Eyes half closed, fixed smiles on their faces, every muscle in their bodies aquiver, they stumble blindly on. Some bump into the wooden benches, others fall exhausted to the floor. Still the dance goes on.
Over and over can be heard the hoarse chanting of the worshipers as they continue to give praise to Father Divine, the man who, according to their own account, was not born in the ordinary manner but was "combusted" one day in New York City and who was sent to earth to save his followers from destruction.
2Dye Williams, Old Fort
3Katie McCarts, 744 Hull Street
4S.B. Holmes, 716 East Perry Street
5Jack Wilson, 272 McAlister Street.
6John Haynes, 933 Wheaton Street
7Property of Edward A. Sieg, 128 West Jones Street.
8Though the meetings of Father Divine are common to many parts of the United States, especially in the North, where white worshippers form a sizable proportion of the followers of Father Divine, this description accurately portrays the House as it was found in this community. For this reason it was thought well to include it.
9Father Divine is said to have been born George Baker on a Hutchinson Island rice plantation near Savannah about sixty years ago. Sometime in the late 1890's it appears that he opened a meeting house in the Negro section of the Old Fort, calling himself "The Son of Righteousness." His activities in the community abruptly ceased when, after some trouble with the authorities, he fled from Savannah to escape a gang of whites who aimed to make him prove himself the reincarnation of Christ by walking on the Savannah River.
10Sister Patience Peace, Old Fort.
11Noah's Ark, Old Fort.
12Triumphant Virgin, Old Fort
Footnotes
1aBecause I don't want none of these fixers to get my footprints, because they can handle you just like they want to. [Note: Fixers most likely refers to either police officers, witches, demons, ghosts, or slaveholders.]
1bI sure do believe in dreams and ghosts. If you have certain dreams they sure do come true. To dream of fresh pork some of your kin folk are going to die; fresh beef means the death of some white person you know well. To dream of a dead person is a sure sign of rain, and another sign of rain is when a certain place on my head itches.
1cAs for ghosts, Ain't I got to believe in them? Why, I can see them myself. You see, I was born with a double caul over my face and anyone knows that a person born with a caul over their face can sure see ghosts. There's more than one kind of ghost. Some come before you natural and pleasant, then some can sure make you scared. I can tell long before anything happens when it's going to happen. Nothing ever happens to me without me knowing it long before it comes.
2aIf you work hard and do much washing, it helps the nerves.
2bYears ago - I had a husband who treated me well and I was living good. This was just before my twins were born. I'm a twin too, and it sure is bad luck. There was somebody who wanted my husband to leave me and go off with them, so they had me fixed. When I came home one day, I stepped in a hole by the door and there was a bottle fixed with some things in it. Right then and there I took such a misery in my left side and then I swelled up all about, my hands were twice their size. I stayed that way until I found out what to do. Then I sprinkled black pepper and potash in the hole where the bottle was and it boiled up. Then some friends washed me off in whiskey every day an soon I was all right. But when the twins were born the boy twin had a little hole right in his left side where I had the misery from the fixing. He lived nine days before he died.
2cYes Mam but she sure did. Whoever fixed me fixed my husband too, because he went off and left me, and I know he would have never done that unless he was fixed. My son died when he was 23 and was a fine looking boy. There were so many women after him, lots of people think one of them fixed him, but the doctor said he died from pneumonia.
2dI knew he was going die because I heard and owl just a hooting the day before. There are other signs of death too, such as if you see a buzzard sailing around the elements, that's a sure enough sign. If a rat eats your dress, you mustn't patch it yourself unless you're born in the place for you to sew on it, because that's a sign of death. That happened right here in this house before my father died.
2eWhen a person dies in the house, if you take them out for the minister to say a few words, then the spirit will haunt the house because they just can't be happy until they have everything done proper and right. I have heard spirits around this house. Sometimes they call you. When they call you, they done come to haunt you and get you to go where they are. When they call you, you must say "I ain't ready to go yet."
2fAnd spirits aint all. There's witches. Why, there's a old woman near me which people say is a witch that rides folk. We all leave her alone. We shut the door if we see her coming. She comes like a nightmare to the folks while they are sleeping. But if you put the broom across the door, you can keep any witch out of the room at night. Witches just can't cross over a broomstick.
3aWhy, They all believe that everything that happens to anybody is caused by some root worker. They don't leave anything for God to do. If anybody takes sick, you'll find somebody there saying something is wrong with your sickness, that somebody "put down" something for you. If anybody dies around here, some root worker is responsible for the death. Now, me, I don't believe people can put something under steps or under your house that will harm you. Some time ago my son, my only child, was drowned. Well everytime I turn around some of my neighbors was telling me my son's death wasn't fair. They say somebody hoodood your child and caused him to get drowned.
3bFor sure, plenty experienced.
3cTake for instance, if I start out and have to turn back, I know it's bad luck unless I make a cross mark and spit in it. I try to keep a woman from being the first person to come to my house on Monday morning even if I have to call in a man passing by. For a woman to be your first visitor on Monday morning means bad luck the balance of that week. I won't borrow or lend salt, for my mother always said it was bad luck. I believe in all the old signs I ever heard my parents talk about. I wouldn't sweet trash out of the house after dark for anything because it will sweep your luck away. Never shake a tablecloth out the door after dark because it means the death of your kin. Never sew or make a piece for a sick person or that person will die. And dreams, I sure do believe in them. Just before my son was drowned, I suddenly had a dream that meant a death in the family.
4aMy first time to see a ghost was in a rainstorm. Me and my brother were caught, so we ran to an old vacant house and as soon as we got inside the door slammed shut. We thought it was the wind, but when I looked around there was standing in the corner two men with no heads. I thought my brother saw them too. When the rain stopped, we left. My brother didn't say nothing, so I said, "Did you see them men in that house?" He said, "No, what men?" When I told him, he thought I was crazy. But lots of times after that I saw ghosts.
4bNow about witches. You know ghosts and witches are different. Witches are living people and ghosts are spirits of the dead. I know an old woman everybody said was a witch. Well, very soon she was riding me. I could even see her come. The window--it would go up, and then I would begin to choke and smother until somebody woke me up. I got real thin and poor. Then across the street was a man which was complaining about his wife being rid by a witch. It seemed like that witch would ride me, then go over to his house. So he said he would trap her. He stayed up. When he heard his wife struggling, he got an axe and began frailing around in the dark till he hit something. It let out a screech and a cat ran out of the window and down the path. So the next morning the man got his dog and put him on the cats trail. Well, sir, about half a mile down the road in the fence corner was Old Malinda Edmonde with three ribs broken. She begged him not to kill her, but that broke up the witch riding.
5aI was born with spiritual knowledge which gave me the power to read the minds of other people. I can see people who have been dead for many years. The dead know what the living is doing and come around their close kin and friends when they are in trouble. I can speak to the dead folk in song and they can understand me.
5bI can see ghosts most any time. They seem like natural people. The way i know it's a ghost is because I can never keep up with them. They keep just a certain distance ahead of me.
5cWitches and Conjur is just ground work. If you keep away from them they sure can't hurt you. Some have magic power which comes from way back in Africa. My mother use to tell me about slaves just brought out of Africa who's have the supreme magic power. There was a magic pass with that they would pass to the others. If they believe in this magic, they could escape and fly back to Africa. I had an uncle who could work this magic. He could disappear like the wind, just walk off the plantation and stay away for weeks at a time. One time he got cornered by the patrolman and he just walked up to a tree and he said "I think I go into this tree". Then he disappeared right in the tree.
Arriving in Baltimore, Maryland, he joined a religious sect headed by Father Jehovia. Later, in New York City the new disciple decided to open his own cult. It was then that he adopted his present name and that his converts created the maxim "Father Divine is God."
Converts both white and Negro were eager to join the new order. Today Father Divine computes his followers as being between 21,000,000 and 30,000,000, although outsiders give a more conservative estimate. The leader travels extensively and "heavens" have been established in various parts of the country. His weekly income is reputed to be 20,000 and is derived from the many business establishments operated under his supervision.
He has a fondness for flashy clothing, wears a five dollar gold piece for a stickpin, and rides about in a pale blue Rolls Royce and a scarlet monoplane.
The self-styled Messiah has now extended his activities to the field of Politics, both national and international. There is a variance of public sentiment concerning him. To followers he appears to be "reincarnated God," while enemies insist he is a fraud, a hypnotist, and a remarkably clever actor who is at present growing a little tired of the role he has chosen to enact.
Robert Allerton Parker, "The Incredible Messiah" (Boston, 1937), pp. 80, 93, 94, 106, 183, 188, 209-36.
10aOnce it was my highest ambition to know the things of the world. I loved cards and drinks and other vices. No day passed when I was not so drunk that I would give out and have to go to bed. Now it is not so. I have never seen the Father in the body, but I know that he is God, for I have made spiritual contact with him. Because of righteous living I am now weighing two hundred pounds. Praise Father.
12aI know Father Divine to be God because he lifted me out of the gutter and changed me from a drunkard and other low things that I used to be. My old name is dead and now things reign through Father Divine. Peace Thanks, Father.