Sapelo Island

Plantation life flourished on Sapelo in the early nineteeth century. Here Thomas Spalding conducted one of the most extensive agricultural enterprises in the coastal section. The "big house" on the south end of the island was a spacious tabby mansion, so strongly constructed that the original walls are still standing and form the nucleus of the present dwelling. The island, with the exception of a number of Negro homesteads, is now the property of Richard Reynolds of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but, although many improvements and changes have been made, much of the atmosphere of the early days has been preserved.

Industrial activity is concentrated in the central portion of Sapelo, where there is a sawmill that gives employment to many of the islanders. Nearby are the company houses, a Post office, and a store. Several Negro churches and a dance hall are located elsewhere on the island.

Small Negro settlements are scattered at the north end of Sapelo and are reached by winding roads that cut through tropical woodlands and brush. The Negroes are descendents of the slave of the plantation era. Many lead an easy, carefree life which consists chiefly of fishing, crabbing, and cultivating a small patch of garden, while others engage in regular employment at the sawmill or the company offices.

Living an isolated island existence, these Negroes have preserved many customs and beliefs of their ancestors, as well as the dialect of the older coastal Negro. An old oxcart jogging along a tree shaded road is a familiar sight, and under the guidance of a Negro boy named Julius we discovered instances of crude wooden implements in common usage. The many Negroes interviewed gave a graphic picture of survival elements that have persisted since the days when slave ships brought their ancestors to the new country.

One of the oldest inhabitants is ¹Katie Brown, whose grandmother, Margaret, was a daughter of Belali Mohomet, the Mohammedan slave driver of Thomas Spalding. Katie, sunning herself on the back steps of her small house, was disposed to be gracious to us. Shaking her head at the size of the shoes brought to her as an incentive to conversation, she relented at the sight of some pipe tobacco and began to talk:

^1aI dunno bout drums at chuches. Use tuh hab um long time ago, but not now on duh ilun,--leas I ain heah um. Hahves time wuz time fuh drums. Den dey hab big times. Wen Hahves in, dey hab big gadderin. Dey beat drum, rattle dry goad wid seed in um, an beat big flat tin plates. Dey shout an moob roun in succle an look lak mahch goin tuh heabm. Hahves festival, dey call it.

In response to our query about "set-ups" Katie replied, ^1bYes'm, we hab set-ups wid duh dead, but I ain know bout killing chicken. At duh fewnul, dey kills hawg an hab plenty tuh eat. Duh reason fuh dis is so dat sperrit hab plenty at duh las. Wen fewnul pruhcession gits tuh grabeyahd, dey stops. I ain know wy dey do it but dey stops at duh gate, and dey ax leab tuh come in. Deah ain nobody at duh gate, but dey alluz ax jis duh same. Dey say, 'Fambly, we come tuh put our brudduh away in mudduh dus. Please leh us go tru gate.

About conjure, however, the old woman was not very communicative. ^1cI ain know bout cunjuh, she said. I heahs bout spells on people, but I ain seen um. Now shadduhs, I see um. One night comin down duh road, I git tuh place weah road tun, an I heah sumpin behine me runnin long close tuh groun. He got big long tus, dis long, an he tongue hangin out. He pas close tuh me, an he look a me. I see um good. He got long tick haiah lak Noofounlan. Deah ain nebuh bin dog lak um on ilun. He mus be shadduh.

^1dDen one night, I come from clinch wid huzbun. We gits tuh tun, I heahs sumpm agen. I looks, an deah is sumpm look lak man. Huzbun he ain see um. Den I heahs a stompin, and sumpm come by so close tuh me. I kin mos tech um, an he tun tuh spotted ox. "Budge", I calls um when dey changes lak dat. Dat spotted ox go gallopin off, an I say tuh huzbun, 'Yuh ain see um?' He say, 'Wut?' I say, 'Da spotted ox wut go pas down duh road an out in da fiel?' He say, 'I ain see nuttn.' Das wen I luns dat wen yuh see um, yuh musn talk bout um.

^1eNo'm, I dunno no animal stories. I heah um, but I fuhgits. I know bout lizzud an rabbit, dough. Yuh ain know bout lizzud an rabbit? Well, lizzud, he wuk hahd. He hab sode wut he cut crop wid, an it wuk by itsef an it cut so fine, nuttn lef. Lizzud he speak wuds tuh it--it do all duh wuk. Now, rabbit, he smaht. He ain got no sode lak lizzud got an he wahn one. He hide behine bush, and he watch da sode wuk fuh lizzud, an he wahn it bad. One day wen lizzud not at home, rabbit, he sneak up, an he steal lizzud sode. He laf tuh hesef cuz he got da sode. He take da sode tuh he fiel an he staht it tuh wuk. He tink he know duh wuds dat lizzud say tuh sode, an he call, 'Go-ee-tell'. Sode staht wukin. Pretty soon, sode finish duh crop, and rabbit wahn um tuh stop. Sode comin too close tuh noo wintuh crop wut rabbit got tuh hab fuh lib on. So rabbit he yell 'Go-ee-tell' in loud voice, and sode he wuk all duh fastuh. He cut down ebryting rabbit hab an ain leab nuttn. Lizzud who bin hidin in budh, he laf an he laf tuh he sef at rabbit, cuz rabbit tink hesef so smaht wen he steal sode an now he ain got nuttn tuh eat all wintuh. Rabbit he see lizzud, and he call, 'Stop dis sode.' Lizzud he say, 'it my sode.' Rabbit he say, 'Dasso. It yuh sode, 'but stop it. It cut down ebryting uh got.' Lizzud say, 'Sode wuk fastuh ebry time he heah 'Go-ee-tell'" Den lizzud he staht laffin an he calls out loud, 'Go-ee-pom', an sode stop. Lizzud den go out an pick up sode an tak um home.

Knowing that Katie was a descendant of Belali, we asked her if she knew anything of him. She nodded and answered, ^1fBelali Mohomet? Yes'm, I knows bout Belali. He wife Phoebe. He hab plenty daughtuhs, Magret, Bentoo, Chaalut, Medina, Yaruba, Fatima, an Hestuh.

^1gMagret an uh daughtuh Cotto use tuh say dat Belali an he wife Phoebe pray on duh bead. Dey wuz bery puhticluh bout duh time dey pray an dey bery regluh bout duh hour. Wen duh sun come up, wen it straight obuh head an wen it set, das duh time dey pray. Dey bow tuh duh sun an hab lill mat tuh kneel on. Duh beads is on a long string. Belali he pull bead an he say, 'Belambi Hakabara, Mahamadu' Phoebe she say, 'Ameen, Ameen'.

^1hMagret she say Phoebe he wife, but maybe he hab mone one wife. I spects das bery possible. He come obuh wid all he daughters grown. He whole fambly wuz mos grown up. Hestuh she Shad's gran. Yuh knows Shad? Bentoo she duh younges. Magret she my gran.

We asked if Belali Mohomet had been related to Belali Sullivan on St. Simons.

¹ⁱI ain know bout St. Simon but Cotto use tuh talk bout cousin Belali Sullivan.

^1jYes'm, I membuh muh gran too. Belali he frum Africa but muh gran she come by Bahamas. She speak funny wuds we didn know. She say 'mosojo' and sometime 'sojo' wen she mean pot. Fuh watuh she say 'deloe' an fuh fyuh she say 'diffy'. She tell us, 'Tak sojo off diffy'.

^1kWen sumpm done she say, 'Bim-boga-rum.' Yuh tell um sumpm wut is a subprise lak somebody die, den she say, 'Ma-foo-bey, ma-foo-bey'

^1lShe am tie uh head up lak I does, but she weah a loose wite clawt da she trow obuh uh head lak veil an it hang loose on uh shoulduh. I ain know wy she weah it dataway, but I tink she ain lak a tight ting roun uh head.

^1mShe make funny flat cake she call 'saraka'. She make um same ebry day yeah, an it big day. Wen dey finish, she call us in, all duh chillun, an put in hans in flat cake an we eats it. Yes'm, I membuh how she make it. She wash rice, an po off all duh watuh. She let wet rice sit all night, an in mawnin rice is all swell. She tak dat rice an put it in wooden mawtuh, and beat it tuh paste wid wooden pestle. She add honey, sometime shuguh, an make it in flat cake wid uh hans. 'Saraka' she call un.

Before the cabin stood a crudely constructed wooden mortar made many years before by Katie's husband and used originally for the pounding of rice. A deep basin-like aperture had been hewn out of the center of a log which was about three feet long and from eighteen to twenty inches wide.

Across the dusty road from Katie Brown's another narrow wooden gate opened into a field where a winding path led to the small cabin of ^{2Julia Grovernor called Juno by the island Negroes. Julia, very black, tall and gaunt, was slightly hostile and suspicious and disinclined to talk. Even the pipe tobacco, potent in most cases, she indifferently dropped.}

^2aNo'm, I ain know nuttn. Ise feeble-minded. I bin weak in head sence I small chile. No'm, I ain know nuttn bout witches. I ain know nuttn bout root doctuhs. No'm, I ain nebuh heah uh cunjuh. No'm, I ain know nuttn bout spells. No'm, I ain kin tuh Katie Brown.

This refusal to answer except in the negative seemed to continue indefinitely. Finally, however, after innumerable Slow, quiet, good-humored questions that showed no resentment at her hostility, she became friendly in a reserved and superior way. It was soon evident that his sullen, reticent woman, though hostile to outside invasion, was not feeble-minded, but on the contrary sharp-witted, with a dry sense of humor.

^2bMuh gran, she Hannah. Uncle Calina muh gran too; dey bote Ibos. Yes'm, I membuh muh gran Hannah. She marry Calina an hab twenny-one chillun. Yes'm, she tell us how she brung yuh.

^2cHannah, she wid huh ahnt who wuz diggin peanuts in duh fiel, wid uh baby strop on uh back. Out uh duh brush two wite mens come an spit in huh abut eye. She blinded an wen she wipe uh eye, duh wite mens done loose duh baby frum huh back, and took Hannah too. Dey led um intuh duh woods, weah deah wuz udduh chillun dey done ketched and tie up in sacks. Duh baby an Hannah wuz tie up in sacks lak duh udduhs and Hannah nebuh saw huh ahnt agen an nebuh saw duh baby agen. Wen she wuz let out uh duh sack, she wuz on boat an nebuh saw Africa agen.

A back path from Julia's house led to the house of her sister ³Katie, who had a regal and impressive bearing. She, too, had a hostile and taciturn manner.

^3aNo'm, Ise younguh dan Juno. I dohn membuh nuttn uh doze times. No'm I ain hear tell uh cunjuh. I dohn know bout witch doctuhs. I dohn know spells. No'm, I dohn know none uh dis yuh askin. Yes'm, I nuss Hannah an Calina wen deys ole, but I young chile, an I dohn membuh nuttn bout um. No'm, I cahn unnuhstan um; dey talks funny talk. I cahn unnuhstan um.

In the afternoon we went to see ⁴Phoebe Gilbert, another descendent of the Ibos, Calina and Hannah. Phoebe, black, buxom, and comely, lived in a comfortable cottage in Shell Hammock. Obviously embarrassed at being the center of a rapidly increasing crowd of Negro listeners, she evaded most questions. Our visit did not prove entire unsatisfactory, however, for after considerable humorous chatting Phoebe rewarded our efforts by giving a vivid description of how her grandfather, Calina, was captured and brought here from Africa.

^4aBelali Smith muh gran. I ain know bout Belali Mohomet. Yes'm, I membuh muh gran. She Hannah. Yes'm, muh gran Calina, too. Dey's Ibos. Muh gran Calina tell me how he got heah. He say he playin on beach in Africa, an big boat neah duh beach. He say, duh mens on boat take down flag, an put up big piece of red flannel, an all chillun dey git close tuh watuh edge tuh see flannel and see wut doin. Den duh mens comes off boat an ketch um, an wen duh ole folks come in frum duh fiels dey ain no chillun in village. Dey's all on boat. Den dey brings um yuh.

⁵Cuffy Wilson, sitting in the clean-swept yard which surrounded his whitewashed house, told us about the much discussed experience of a neighbor of his. This dealt with the current belief concerning the necessity of asking leave to enter the graveyard.

^5aGrant Johnson, he wannuh cut some wood an he git obuh duh fence uh duh cimiterry, he explained to us. He didn ax leab uh nobody. He wuz a cuttin duh wood down as fas as he could wen all ub a sudden he see a big black dog wut come attuh im. Dat wuz a shadduh an he ain lose no time in jumpin obuh duh fence.

^5bWen yuh hab a fewnul eben today, yuh hab tuh ax leab tuh entuh cimiterry gate. Duh spirit ain gonuh let yuh in lessn yuh ask leab of it.

We visited ⁶Nero Jones, an elderly Negro who lived on his sixty-five acre tract of land with a daughter, Henrietta. Sitting beneath the protecting shade of an arbor which overlooked a peanut field, the old man was busily engaged in shucking a large basket of the nuts.

He, too, remembered having seen harvest dances. ^6aWe use tuh hab big time at hahves, he began. We pray an sing duh night tru. Wen duh sun riz we go out an dance. We hab big beatin uh duh drums an sometimes we dry duh goads an leab duh seed in um. Dey make good rattle.

^6bI membuh Uncle Calina an An Hannah well. Dey mighty ole an dey bun up in duh house. Dey talk lot uh funny talk tuh each udduh an dey is mighty puhticuluh bout prayin. Dey pray on duh bead. Duh ole man he say 'Ameela' and An Hannah she say 'Hakabara'.

Later we drove slowly over the flat grasslands to Hog Hammock, another Negro community at the south end of Sapelo. The red-legged herons winging their way against the vivid blue of the sky, the dense foliage rimming the edges of the inland marshes, clumps of feathery bush, all contributed to the tropical beauty of the Island.

At Hog Hammock we visited ⁷Shad Hall, another Belali Mohomet descendant, who came to the door of his neat cottage clad in blue denim. Delighted to have visitors, Shad was eager for conversation. With a few polite words of thanks for the pipe tobacco, he began to talk of the old days.

^7aMuh gran was Hestuh, Belali's daughtuh. She tell me Belali wuz coal black, wid duh small feechuhs we hab, an he wuz bery tall. She say Belali an all he fambly come on same boat frum Africa. Belali hab plenty daughtuhs, Medina, Yaruba, Fatima, Bentoo, Hestuh, Magret, and Chaalut.

^7bOle Belali Smith wuz muh uncle. His son wuz George Smith's gran. He wuz muh gran Hestuh's son and muh mudduh Sally's brudduh. Hestuh an all ub um sho pray on duh bead. Dey weah duh string uh beads on duh wais. Sometime duh string on duh neck. Dey pray at sun-up and face duh sun on duh knees an bow tuh it tree times, kneelin on a lill mat.

We asked Shad if he had ever heard his grandmother say anything about Africa. Had she ever mentioned what sort of house they lived in or what food was generally eaten? Shad nodded eagerly, and from the steady flow of talk that followed it was evident that he had heard much of the land of his ancestors.

^7cMuh gran Hestuh say she kin membuh duh house she lib in Africa. She say it wuz cubbuh wid palmettuh and grass fuh roof, and duh walls wuz made uh mud. Dey make duh walls by takin up hanfuls uh mud an puttin it on sumpm firm, sticks put crossways so. I membuh some pots and cups dat she hab made uh clay. She brung deze frum Africa. She membuh wut dey eat in Africa too. Dey eat yam an shuguh cane an peanut an bananas. Dey eat okra too. Yes'm, das right, dey calls it gumbo. Dey dohn hab tuh wuk hahd wid plantin deah. Jis go in woods an dig, an git big yam. Dey eat udduh roots too. Dey ain no flo tuh house. Dey sleep on hahd groun inside house. House wuz neah lill ilun weah dey ketch parrot and sell um.

Do you remember any special kinds of food that your grandmother used to prepare? we asked.

Shad, after pondering briefly, said, ^7dShe make strange cake, fus ub ebry munt. She call it 'sakara'. She make it out uh meal an honey. She put meal in bilin watuh an take it right out. Den she mix it wid honey, and make it in flat cakes. Sometime she make it out uh rice. Duh cake made, she call us all in ah deah she hab great big fannuh full an she gib us each cake. Den we all stands roun table, and she says 'Ameen, Ameen, Ameen', an we all eats cake.

We asked Shad what sort of animals his grandmother remembered seeing in Africa and he said, ^7eShe say lion is duh mos powful uh beas. She say lion git up tree jis lak cat. Yuh come long unduh tree, an lion he reach down wid great paws and grab yuh--so. Snakes, dey big too. Dey wrap deah tail roun tree and lean obuh and reach yuh, too.

Shad furnished us with additional information regarding "setups". ^7fYes'm, Gran Hestuh tell me uh set-ups. Dey kill a wite chicken wen dey hab set-ups tuh keep duh spirits way. She say a wite chicken is duh only ting dat will keep duh spirits way an she alluz keep wite chicken fuh dat in yahd. Lak dis. Hestuh, she hab frien an frien die. Ebry ebenin friens spirit come back an call tuh Hestuh. Hestuh knowd ef she keep it up, she die too. Hestuh den kills wite chicken, tro it out doze, an shut doe quick. Wen she tro it out, she say, 'Heah, spirit moob away--dohn come back no mo.' I dunno wut she do wid duh blood an fedduhs.

^7gYes'm, I heah tell uh witches, but I ain see um. I know eel skin tie roun neck bring good luck an cuo yuh ef yuh sick. Yes'm I see um bury sack unduh doe step tuh pruhtec house; I see um tie rag tuh gate tuh pruhtec too. I ain know snake-skin bring good luck, but eel-skin, yes'm.

^7hYuh ain heah much bout cunjuh on dis ilun, but deahs a few wut does a mightly lot uh talkin. Nellie Dixon, she lib right obuh deah in dem trees, she alluz talkin bout roots. She say somebody go tru duh yahd an drap a root fuhrum. She tote a sack roun uh neck tuh gahd um.

We asked to whom he had belonged during slavery he answered, ⁷ⁱMuh fus massuh Montally. He ole massuh. Young massuh wuz Massuh Tom Spalding. Den I belongs tuh Mike Spalding; dat befo freedom. Sometime duh ole folks call duh missus 'maduba' an duh massuh 'mahaba'. Yes'm I bin big man wen freedom come.

Shad remembered that during his childhood he had often witnessed harvest festivals and dances.

^7jHahves time dey hab big time. It come once a yeah an dey pray an dey sing all night long till duh fus cock crow. Den dey staht tuh dance an tuh bow tuh duh sun as it riz in duh sky. Dey dance roun in a succle an sing an shout. Sho is a big time.

^7kWen yuh hab a buryin, yuh alluz hab tuh ask leab tuh duh grabeyahd. Dey do dat tuh dis day. Yuh say, 'Fambly, please let us lay yuh brudduh in mudduh dus.'

The story which Cuffy Wilson had already told us about Grant Johnson's having been chase from the grave-yard by a shadow was also verified from this source. Shad told us, ^7lGrant Johnson he go deah one time tuh cut wood widout askin leab. He busy cuttin wood wen all ub a suddel he see big black dog comin tuh um wid one paw raise an red eye an big grinnin teet. Grant he ain lose no time in gittin way. Dat dog wuz shadduh wut come attuh um.

^7mDuh ole folks use tuh tell dat story bout duh hoe wut could wuk by itsef. It stan right up in duh fiel widout nobody holdin tuh it. Das ef yuh knowd how tuh wuk it. Doze Africans knowd how tuh make dat hoe wuk an dey knowd how tuh wuk roots.

⁷ⁿDoze folk could fly too. Dey tell me deah's a lot ub un, wut wuz bring heah an dey ain much good. Duh massuh wuz fixin tuh tie um up tuh whip um. Dey say, 'Massuh, yuh ain gwine lick me,' and wid dat dey runs down tuh duh ribbuh. Duh obuhseeuh he sho tought he ketch um wen dey git tuh duh ribbuh. But for he could git tuh um, dey riz up in duh eah an fly way. Dey fly right back tuh Africa. I tink dat happen on Butler Ilun.

^7oI use tuh heah lots ub animal stories, but it bin so long I mos fuhgit bout um. I ain heah much bout duh spiduh cep he is bery wicked an he shahp. He kin spin he tread an riz right up in duh eah widout nuttn tuh hep um. He see a fly an begin tuh spin roun an roun um till he ketch um in he web. Den he caahn git way an An Nancy got um. Das wut duh chillun say tuh dis day wen dey see a spiduh ketch a fly--An Nancy got um.

On Sunday evening Julius drove us through black swamp and bush to the church at Silver Bluff. The little white frame building with yellow light from oil lamps shining through the windows made the night suddenly come alive. Negro men and boys were moving about outside in the darkness and few were gathered on the steps. All the women and children were inside.

Escorted by Julius and a deacon we went into the church and took our places on the second from the middle bench. The pulpit stood on the raised platform on which most of the light was concentrated. The men and boys came in. THe church was filled with tense quietness.

The preacher came from behind the platform and stood quietly behind the pulpit desk, looking dramatically over his congregation. He was tall and spare, with brown skin, narrow face and thin pointed beard, a Mohammedan looking Negro. He wore a black skull cap, which we learned later was not ritualistic but was worn to protect his head from the draught. This was Preacher Little who, we were afterwords told, was an itinerant preacher, not a native to the island but a type of native to the district.

His text, read in a loud, commanding voice, was ⁸You ah the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its savory, wherewith shall it be salt; it is then no good and should be trompled intuh earth. The exposition of this pronouncement was awaited with breathless interest.

The sermon that followed, however, was in no way connected with the text. Preacher Little divided his sermon into three parts and lectured his congregation on ⁹strayin frum duh paat. What he said was not really coherent. Words stoopd out, phrases rang in our ears, quotations from the Bible resounded at random but that was the beginning and the end. The impelling element was the sound of Preacher Little's voice.

In each part he began slowly, quietly, persuading and reasoning with his congregation. His voice would carry a pleading question to them and they would answer, "Huh". As he progressed, the quiet reasoning diminished; he shouted to his listeners. The "Huh-Huh's" became loud, guttural, vibrating grunts that echoed through the little building. Regular stamping of the feet began; the vibration penetrated into every corner. It was impossible not to think of the beating of the drum. The regular rhythmic, swelling noise was deafening. It meant agreement with Preacher Little. It urged him on to greater heights until his shouting voice not only seemed to fill the church but to reverberate from wall to wall. This climax was reached three times, at the end of each of the three parts of the sermon. Each time it seemed to act as a great emotional purge to the listeners and leave them happily exhausted.

When the sermon ended, spirituals were sung under the direction of a young Negro named ¹⁰George Smith. The singing was enhanced by the fervor and the earnest simplicity with which it was presetnted. Shining countenances raised heavenward, voices lifted exultantly, and feet beating rhymically in accompaniment, the congregation entered wholeheartedly into the singing and seemed oblivious of everything else.

The next day on the boat returning to the mainland, Smith, young and well educated, tried to remember some of the tales told him when he was a boy. They were mostly the better known ones, except the Fox and the Rabbit, which concerned the Fox thriftily planting sweet potatoes and the Rabbit digging them up.

Prevalent beliefs covered wider ground. If an owl hoots on top of the house or near the house, it is supposed to be a sign of death. A counteractive is to throw salt on the fire, burn an old shoe, or turn pockets wrong side out. If a rooster comes upon the porch and starts crowing, it is a sign of death in the house. It is also considered bad luck to start on a journey and have to turn back. The method employed to ward off disaster is to draw a cross where you turned back and spit on it. We were told that most of the island Negroes believed in root doctors, but that they imnported them from the mainland. There were none on the island.

Smith admitted that he knew very little about the Negroes' belief in spirits. He did know that if a person had something that the spirit wanted very badly that person would be haunted by the spirit.

A frizzled chicken is known as a wise chicken and is used to find lost articles. If something has been buried and its place forgotten, a frizzled chicken can, according to the islanders, find the place and scratch up the lost article.

Smith remembered hearing the older Negroes tell of having watches on certain definite occasions when they sat up all night waiting for sunrise. When the sun at last appeared over the horizon, they would start a sun-dance and bow to the sun.

Death watches he knew nothing about, except present-day customs. However, he did say the snake known as the coach-whip was sometimes wrapped around the neck of a person supposedly dead and its tail put in the person's mouth to see if he were still breathing.

We questioned young Smith about the festivals that the other Negroes had described and he told us that during the harvesting season various celebrations are still held

The boat neared the mainland. Our trip was over. As we bade goodbye to our guide, we cast a look of farewell at the dim outline of the tropical island. On the journey homeward, impressions received during our stay on Sapelo crowded against one another in disturbing sequence. Innumerable memories assailed us. Faintly the echo of shouting rose and fell in the distance. The measured chanting of voices and pounding of feet seemed to follow us across the water.

Next: St. Simons Island