In the city in which I live, many old, antebellum historic homes, and I live in the historic district. Perhaps the most famous, The Bellamy Mansion, built by a pre-Civil War doctor with a slave quarters in the rear. The mansion, underground, a tunnel which extends several blocks to the river. During the Civil War the wounded brought into the house for treatment and then cared for, across the street, at the large historic St. James Church.
In my large collection of Civil War memorabilia, most of which has been sold, a rare photograph of two house slaves at the mansion showing these two women, Flossie and Bossie, in long gowns...probably the only photograph made of them since photographs were so rare at that time in history.
This writer was always a listener. I had rather hear old people talk about their knowledge than play any type game. My grandmother, from her mother, told the direction of Sherman's troops coming down the road, their beautiful horses, etc. In other articles I have described how the children would take the milk cow, mules deep into the woods knowing that the army would take them and this was the only method of transportation and nourishment. They would camouflage the water wells because Sherman's troops were famous for throwing manure, dead animals into the water well...stealing all the meat in the smokehouse, chickens from the chicken houses and everything else they could use and plunder as they burned and killed their way south. The only thing that saved the house in which my mother, her father and grandfather were reared (still standing) three dead family members in the front room awaiting burial. Just imagine the children of our ancestors deep in the woods, protecting farm animals seeing the black smoke of burning buildings not knowing if they had a home in which to return.
Such was the love of the apostle Paul toward the church at Philippi. He was there just a short time presenting to them the gospel. They were the poorest people in Greece because Macedonia was the area which the Greek army crossed regularly, as with all armies of that time, living off the land. Yet, for eleven years, the poorest of the poor people in Paul's mission journey sent him gifts and his love letter to the church at Philippi reveals his appreciation and encouragement from them. When God hands out rewards, particularly to Paul, those Philippians will be so honored.
It is a different time. Perhaps it started with the house Negros on the plantations. It was much easier to work in Master's plantation house than to pick Master's cotton in the hot field. I have been told by today's blacks, who's ancestors have remembered, that the black women were available to the Master for anything and that is why, in so many communities, you have what we call brown, paper bag color, blue eyes. In fact, there is an entire minority society, a separated group which you do not join, if your skin is darker than a brown paper bag (in some groups, fraternities, etc., the brown paper bag is used at the door for admission).
Who runs the government? An army of bureaucrats. It is no secret to anyone, except the most uninformed about everything, that you become a plantation house worker because you meet certain political requirements. As one Democrat bureaucrat said to me, “In North Carolina, where Democrats have ruled for 140 years, you Republican's can elect a Republican if you wish but it will take a long time for you to infiltrate government bureaucracy with Republicans. We Democrats still run things.”.
This writer well remembers that his family were the only Republicans in the community. The winner of the Democrat primary was the winner, not even a Republican primary, not even a Republican contesting for most elected positions. Since just two dominant parties my mother and her cousin took turns ($2.00 per day) as Republican poll - watchers during precinct voting. My mother would come home and cry about the decadence – cowardice of Democrat politics. White men, who would never even spoken to a negro in public, hauling them to the precinct in the their “Model A Fords”, marking their ballots for them, giving them a candy bar in reward. Of course these old white men knew who was registered, were well paid for determining elections (walking money, and it goes on today). The whole matter of our democracy...for which women gave birth, educated their children, sent them to war, just a joke. The tragedy, such still goes on today.
I will never forgive the Baptist and other evangelicals of eastern North Carolina, particularly, the Freewill Baptist, small, rural, poor denomination, of which my family were members, mostly tenant farmers, cotton mill workers, whose pastors saw this type treason and were too spineless, too afraid of their pastoral packet, too afraid they were going to make the power brokers mad, evidently having no fear of the justice of God, to say or do anything against this practice.
Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy under FDR, editor of the Democrat Bible, The News and Observer – Raleigh, and whose home Wakestone I visited when Eleanor Roosevelt was there, “calls the shots”. Raleigh, Washington DC, every county seat, at least in NC, all filled with plantation house Negros...those who met the price, whatever it was, and still is, even school bus drivers, hospital workers, highway workers, liquor store workers, to have the security – entitlements of government largess. Along with trillions in debt, Obama has added 600,000 federal jobs. Are Republicans, the tea party crowd, independents or just plain hardworking, God fearing, tax paying Americans going to awaken to the fact that slavery is on the rise voted in and we know who the Master's, the guards around the fence will be, the plantation elite?
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