SLAVE NARRATIVES - Library of Congress

made of the same material as an old-fashioned door knob; and while I have no
other authority than this on the subject, it is possible that in that day
caskets were made of some vitrified substance, perhaps clay, and resembling
the present day tile*
The planters and slaveowners of this period obtained the greater share of
their recreation in attendance at political rallies, horse races, and cock
fights* Jobs Dean and Gus Abington who came to Trenton from their home near
La Grange, Tennessee were responsible for the popularity of these sports in
Phillips County and it was they who promoted the most spectacular of these
sporting events and in which large sums of money were wagered on the horses and
the game cocks* It is said that liarve Carruth once owned an Irish Grey Cock on
which he bet and won more than five thousand dollars one afternoon at Trenton*
No Negro slave was allowed to go beyond the confines of his owner* s
plantation without written permission* This was described by •Uncle* Henry
Turner as a "pass*; and on this "pass* was written the name of the Negro, the
place he was permitted to visit, and the time beyond which he must not fail to
return* It seems that numbers of men were employed by the County or perhaps
by the slaveowners themselves whose duty it was to patrol the coontraity and be
on constant watch for such Negroes who attempted to escape their bondage or
overstayed the time limit noted on their *pass** Such men were known then as
*Paddy Rolls* by the Negroes and in the Southern states are still referred to
by this name* Banishment was often administered by them, and the very mention
of the name was sufficient to cause stark terror and fear in the hearts of
fugitive slaves*
It some time during that period when slavery was a legal institution in
this country, the following verse was composed by some unknown author and set
to a tune that some of the older darkies can yet sing:
4*
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