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ED AND IDA GRAY- FARMERS
(Florida)
Six miles south of Plant City, located
on the Knee-Smith Road, now under construction by the W P A, is the small
farm of Ed and Ida Gray. In this neighborhood there is located about forty
small Negro farmers, with tracts of land ranging from five to one hundred
acres. In front of this farm is located the N Y A and 4 H Club camp. This
camp was constructed by the N Y A boy's out from Tampa. This tract
consists of twenty acres, with one large building and one small building
used for cooking. A foundation is laid for a second building. This camp is
supervised by Miss Floy Britt of Tampa, Florida. A large portion is
cleared for camping purposes. The majority of the farm land in this area
is cleared for for farming; the rest is in timber comprising cypress and
pine. The houses are built out of weather-board, pine and cypress. Most of
the farm houses are built out of roughly cut lumber from the land that was
cleared.
The tract where Ed is farming is rolling and sandy loam soil, with a few
orange trees at the western end of the farm. Workers can be seen in the
fields in all directions, picking strawberries and planting new crops. In
most cases whole families go into the fields.
To enter Ed's farm, you enter the yard from the highway, and sitting in
front of the entrance is a tin top log cabin, that is setting high off of
the ground, and surrounded by high oaks. In front of the house in large
pots are flowers. On the west is an inclosed chicken yard, with plenty of
chickens in them. The hen house that was once burned, still stands. In the
rear of the house is a pump, near the kitchen door. To the east near the
house is a large pile of logs used for fire wood. Under the large oak tree
in the rear of the cabin is a stand built for a wash stand. Three large
tubs and a water bucket sit on it. Thirty feet from the cabin is a shed
built out of old lumber used to assort and pack strawberries in.
In this shed, Bessie, Rosa Lee and Ed's wife Ida were working. As fast as
Ida could wash the strawberries, Bessie and Rosa Lee would pack them in
pint boxes. Over a rack was a granny sack stretched to allow the water to
drip to the ground. When the berries were dumped on them, Bessie said, "we
pack thirty six pint to the crate."
Ed came up from the field and remained around the shed awhile. During this
interlude, the dog, "Spot," was busy barking. They called to him, and he
quickly walked away wagging his tail. In his retreat he made for the cat "Topsy"
who out-distance Spot in their race and ran up one of the tall oak trees.
Ed said, " I have a large family." They all do not live with me. The ones
that are in my house, Bessie over there, age 19; Rosa lee, age 28; Fennie
Young, who lives about a mile from her fathers home; (Her children was
playing around the shed) Earnestine, age 9; Junior, age 8; and Jane, age
7; The other children away fro home are Neta, age 29; and George, age 24.
George lives in Lakeland, Florida, and is employed by Dr. John G. Lester,
1823 S. Florida Avenue. George is married.
My children work hard on our place. This is their only source of income."
Ed is very intelligent, and a well looking man, very dark in complexion,
dressed in overalls, and a wide brim hat was sitting back on his head.
Ida is very stout, mulatto in color, and wore a gingham dress with white
flowers. An apron covered part of it, and an old straw hat was perched on
her head.
Rosa Lee is very large, with dark complexion. She was very quiet and did
not have very much to say.
Bessie said, "we are fortunate to have strawberries on hand yesterday we
received 15¢ a box for the berries. We are busy now trying to get some of
them ready for the market. We have a large market in Plant City, supposed
to be the largest market in the world. When we take the strawberries to
the market, all we have to do is drive right up and they give you your
price right now."
During this conversation Ed had gone back to the field and soon returned
with his mule "Jack" hitched too sled. On the sled were several boxes of
strawberries. "It is easy to get the berries in from the field this way.
The sled does not ruin the grounds." Jack is well trained, and after Ed
had unloaded the strawberries, walked over to the water pump and stopped.
Ed immediately began to pump a tub full of water. Jack drank until he he
had satisfied himself. Then he stood perfectly quiet while Bob barked and
jumped up after him.
Fennie who had gone in the field and appeared again in the shed. Fannie
said, "I come over to help father pick his strawberries, we have a small
plot planted over to our place."
Fennie is much smaller than her other two sisters, and brown in
complexion. She had on a brown gingham dress, and a straw hat. She said,
"I like to work on the farm. We have a small log cabin over on the
hillside about one mile from here. You can see our cabin if you step
around this side of the shed. We reach it by the path across the field. On
three acres we try try to raise food for ourselves and to sell, most of
the time, my husband works for other people when he is not helping dad."
Ed stated, "I was born in Madison, Florida, January 15, 1878. I lived
around Live Oak, Florida, nearly eighteen years. I came to Hillsborough
County during 1922. I spent a few years in Plant City before coming out
here in 1931. I have two brothers living in Tampa, Florida- James and
Henry Gray."
"When I first came to this place it was a wilderness. The road you came
over was just a trail, and now it is not much better. They are preparing
it for hard surface. You could'nt see this distance when I first came out
here. In fact you could not see as far as my house which is about fifty
feet to the road. It was all thicket. I cleared every spot in this place.
I still have plenty to do from the looks of all them stumps standing up in
the field. I expect to blow them out this summer. I remember when the F C
& P. Thats the Florida Central Peninsular Railroad than ran through here.
It is now the Plant System. They call it the A C L. We old timers only
know it as the Plant System. There were very few Negro families settled
out here when I came. Only in the last few years have they settled
settled."
" My wife was born in Madison, Florida. She does not know her birth-date."
Bessie can tell you. Bessie said, "mother was born in 1887. We have to
keep up with mother's age because she soon forgets. All of her people were
born around Madison, Florida. She dosen't know any too much about her
people. Pa and Ma were old slaves and married in that section."
Ed said, "I was educated in Live Oak, Florida. I went as far as the
[11th?] grade. All of my children went as far as the 7th and 10th grade.
Bessie went as far as the 10th grade." Bessie said, "I had to go to school
in a car with others children who went to Plant City. They don't have a
school bus running out here, because there is not enough children to have
one. We have a small school down the road, which only goes as high as the
eighth grade."
"I spent some time in Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. I was
one of the girls of the thirteen chosen to go to the College selected by
the N Y A to take a four month course in Home Economics. All of our
expenses were paid by the N Y A. I like that kind of work and I am
planning to go back in the fall and try to complete the course."
"Some day I hope to teach the subject. We have a little course in our
school in Plant City. Our little school out here begin their term in April
and closes in December. They so that to allow the parents to us their
children in the field to pick strawberries. Some work out for others and
make money for themselves."
Ed said, "while we are talking about education, I do read a little at
times. My instruction is that education and religion are the two greatest
powers on earth."
"Religion should be first, and the rest will come. I belong to the
Missionary Baptist Church at Antioch. We have service twice a month. Our
pastor comes out from Tampa, Florida. We look for his Sunday to come,
because we have such good services. We hardly miss our church service,
because we feel that God will bless you if you worship him. I don't like
the way some things are handled in this world, and especially the people
whom I considered to be so religious. Sometimes they play with religion,
and that is somethin that you should'nt play with. I don't believe in
playing with the Lord's works."
"When I first settled here, there was no church out here. More families
kept coming and soon we had a small church going. When I first came out
here folks said I was crazy, but who is crazy now. One thing I hav'nt been
on relief since I have been out here, and hope never to go on. I manage to
make enough to take care of myself and family. Somehow the Lord has helped
me to to make a living out of it."
"My biggest crop is strawberries and beans, I grow baby lima's peas, irish
potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peppers, cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, and
other vegetables for the table. I hated to plow up two acres of
strawberries to make room for my spring crop, and just at the time
strawberries are bringing good prices."
"I sometime have enough meat to carry me through from one butchering to
another. You saw my hogs with those fine pigs coming on." Up at the end of
the field at the edge of the orange groves there is a crude hog pen built.
A large hog with five pigs are busy rutting away. We have chickens who are
good layers. Some times we take the eggs to town and swap them for flour
and meal. The most we have to look for is clothes, and we only need them
on Sunday. I can make out with overalls. Thats all a fellow needs when he
is farming. We are not so far from town, and you can hit the hard road one
mile either way. It only takes ten minutes to go to town. That's why I
keep that old T-Model Ford. Its a 1925 model. I use it to haul my berries
to town. I am sorry to leave you, I must take this load of berries to
town, I will soon be back."
"Oh yes, he said while cranking up his
car, I have a large tract of sugar cane growing down there near the ditch.
I also raise peanut, I use them mostly to fatten my hogs." He was off down
the dirt road, all you could hear was the jug, jug, of the ford hitting
and missing.
Bessie said, "we manage to keep pretty healthy around here. Our nearest
doctor is located in Plant City, and we have a few midwives here." Ida
said, "that's all I had when my children were born. A pretty healthy
looking bunch ain't they? If we get a cut, just get some old axle grease
and rub it in good. If the cut is too deep, get some cob -web and that
will stop the blood from running. In olden time people did'nt know what a
doctor was. Every time you turn a round now, it has to be a doctor for
this and a doctor for that. They cut you open for the least little pain. I
don't see no sense in it, no I don't."
Bessie said, " I would'nt live in the City, it is too crowded. If I did'nt
own a home I would'nt live there. I like to farm, it is not crowded. You
can have all the freedom you want. No one to look into your back door."
Ida had sent the children to the little store down the road for kerosene,
so she could cook their dinner. She walked to the fence to see if they
were coming, having put a large towel over her shoulders, and still had
very little to say.
Ed, had returned from Plant City, and seemed pleased over the price he
received for his berries, stating that they had given him 15¢ for his
strawberries. And thank goodness I still have more in the field."
Ed was asked if he ever voted, He stated, "I have never voted any place. I
have always been a man to attend to my own business and leave other
peoples alone. In some places it is hard for a colored man to vote. I have
never troubled myself about it. I suppose all of this voting business is
what hurts some prices on what you raise. I sometime get a hold of
newspapers and read them. And sometime around the Market I hear the folks
talking about politics, and the war. Do you think we will ever fight
again? I hope not. The next war won't be like the last one.
Bessie, who showed interest in the interview said, "what I learned in
school has helped me a lot around here. We have a canning center out here
in this settlement. We take our provisions up to the center and can them.
See the boxes stacked next to the kitchen cabinet. They are full of canned
goods. We can them and pack them back into the boxes, and keep in a cool
place. We make our own syrup too. Sometimes we have to have flour, but we
exchange eggs for what we want."
"I also learned how to make sweet things while in school. Some Sundays I
try out making something sweet for dinner."
Rosa Lee was busy in the house, walking around and singing some old time
song. Later she donned her straw hat, picked up a hoe sitting next to the
kitchen door, and walked to the field and began hoeing the corn while she
sang on.
The interior of the home was rustic and was partially ceiled. Long logs
ran across the ceiling, and the tin roof could be seen. The rooms were
petitioned off with rough cut lumber, with cretonne curtains hanging at
the doors. The front room was used for a sitting and bed room. The
furnishings consisted of a double bed, an old trunk, a dresser, and one
chair and rocker. The other bed room was very spacious, consisting of
three beds, and a dresser. There were curtains at the windows. The kitchen
furniture consisted of a three hole burner, a large kitchen cabinet, a
large round dining room table, and several chairs. A little room was
adjoining the house, next to the kitchen door which was once used as a
kitchen, Bessie stated.
The floors were bare and nearly white from scrubbing. The interior of the
house was as clean and neatly arranged in spite of the crude furnishings.
During all this time Ed was kept busy moving back and forth from the
field. He said, "now I rest awhile and talk to you some more. " He sat on
the door sill. I am trying to put in my spring crop. If we could only get
some rain we would get oof to a good start. You noticed how dry everything
is. We need rain badly. If I had electricity I could tell what the
weather-man is saying over the radio. Then I could own a radio. The best
we can depend upon now is to lookk at the sky and watch the moon."
Farming is nice when you have every thing to farm with. One thing, we can
borrow from one another here in the settlement. A poor colored man sees a
hard time on the farm. Oh well I guess a poor everybody has it hard. Rich
folks buy up acres of land and put folks out to farm, that makes it hard
to get hold of land. I need twenty acres more, but I have no way to
stretch out. I was lucky when I got hold of this piece of land."
"Now you want to know what I do when I am not working. Well I work all the
time that whould be hard to say. You see when a fellow works from sun up
to sun down theres is nothing for him to do but go to bed. His bones will
make him do that, he will not feel like frolicking. I do go to church when
we have service." Bessie said, I like to go to the movies, we have moving
pictures out here every Friday night. A white man brings his talking
machine out. They show mostly Western Pictures, and say the kids are crazy
about them. They let the kids in for a nickle under twelve years old. The
grown up we have to pay 15¢. Sometime I go into Plant City to the pictures
and to dances. Yes I like to dance, when they have good music."
Ed continued, "I take my children to church with me. There is nothing
better than religious training. I sometime think that is the trouble with
the world today we have left God out of our program. We need to get closer
to him. He made this world and still will have a hand in running it. It
looks like man is trying to take it away from him, but he has his day set
to het him straight. God will let you go so far and then he knows how to
stop you. It pays to keep on the Lord's side, I pray hard for my family
and to have good crops, so far I believe he has answered my prayer.
Some afternoons after some of the boys finish work they come over and chat
awhile. Rosa Lee and mother they are home bodies. They never go very much
only to church. Some time walk to the next farm to see some of the
neighbors, that's about all we can do besides work out here. We are happy
when Miss Britt, open up the camp over yonder, we have something to go to
every night when they are out. I expect they will have longer camps this
summer. Last summer was the first time it opened.
An interruption in the interview was caused by the calling of two
insurance men. They apologize, and proceeded in their task. One agent
through his sale talk encouraged Bessie to take out a new policy. This she
did and signed the application blank. After they had gone Bessie said, I
can take care of it throught the winter, but it is hard to keep up in the
summer. " Ida stated, "yes you need insurance, but I don't see no need of
taking any more than you can carry. We have insurance on all members of
the family. That is the only protection we can get out here. There are no
more Negro Fraternities to join. You have to look out for the dying days.
We can take care of them sick days."
Night was coming on, and Ed said well I must feed the stock, I have to
carry slop to the hogs and look after old Jack. He extended and invitation
to come out to his farm any time. The whole family gathered near the door
to say good bye.
Federal Writers' Project
Paul Diggs
Lakeland, Florida
March 17, 1939
Gray ,Ed and Ida
Beasville, Florida
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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