During this period, Negro
skilled help was very much in demand.
The first time he saw ice was in 1857 when a ship brought some into this
port. Mr. Moody, a white man, opened an icehouse at the foot of Julia
Street. This was the only icehouse in the city at that time.
On Sundays he would attend church. One day he thought he heard the call
of God beseeching him to preach. He began to preach in 1868, and was
ordained an elder in 1874.
Some of the interesting facts obtained from this slave of the fourth
generation were: (1) Salt was obtained by evaporating sea water, (2)
there were no regular stoves, (3) cooking was done by hanging iron pots
on rails in the fireplaces, (4) an open well was used to obtain water,
(5) flour was sold at $12.00 a barrell, (6) "shin-plasters" was used for
money, (7) the first buggy was called "rockaways" due to the elasticity
of the leather-springs, (8) Rev. Jackson saw his first buggy as
described, in 1851.
During the Civil War, cloth as well as all other commodities were very
high. Slaves were required to weave the cloth. The women would delight
in dancing as they marched to and fro in weaving the cloth by hand. This
was one kind of work the slaves enjoyed doing. Even Cotton seeds was
picked by hand, hulling the seeds out with the fingers, there was no way
of ginning it by machine at that time.
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