On her feet she wore
"old ladies' comforts." She was toothless and her hands were gnarled and
twisted from rheumatism and hard work.
Emeline's father, John Smith, had come from Virginia and belonged to
"Cap'n Tom Wilson." Her mother, Sally, "wuz a Georgia borned nigger" who
belonged to "Mars Shelton Terry." The two plantations near Greensboro,
in Greene County, were five miles apart and the father came to see his
family only on Wednesday and Saturday nights. The arrangement evidently
had no effect in the direction of birth control for Emeline was the
second of thirteen children.
Life on the Terry place was a fairly pleasant existence. The master was
an old bachelor and he had two old maid sisters, Miss Sarah and Miss
Rebecca. The plantation was in charge of two overseers who were
reasonably kind to the Negroes.
No crops of any kind were sold and consequently the plantation had to be
self-sustaining. Cotton was spun into clothing in the master's own
spinning room and the garments were worn by the master and slaves alike.
A small amount of flax was raised each year and from this the master's
two sisters made household linens. Food crops consisted of corn, wheat
(there was a mill on the plantation to grind these into flour and meal),
sweet potatoes, and peas.
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