The overseer had a certain Negro to blow three times and if
shelter could be found, the slaves were expected to seek it until the
rain ceased.
The master had sheds built at intervals on the plantation. These
accomodated a goodly number; if no shed was available the slaves stood
under trees. If neither was handy and the slaves got wet, they could not
go to the cabins to change clothes for fear of losing time from work.
This was often the case; she says that slaves were more neglected than
the cattle.
Another custom which impressed the child-mind of Irene was the tieing of
slaves by their thumbs to a tree limb and whipping them. Women and young
girls were treated the same as were men.
After the Bedells took Irene to live in their home they traveled a deal.
After bringing her to Jacksonville, when Jacksonville was only a small
port, they then went to Camden County, Georgia.
Irene married while in Georgia and came back to Jacksonville with her
husband Charles, the year of the earthquake at Charleston, South
Carolina, about 1888.
Irene and Charles Coates have lived in Jacksonville since that time. She
relates many tales of happenings during the time that this city grew
from a town of about four acres to its present status.
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