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John Proctor
(Florida)
John Proctor is an outstanding
representative of the negro race in its history and progress in the south.
In his ninety-four years of life he has traveled a long road, from freedom
to slavery, from slavery to a seat in the Legislature of the state of
Florida, and back to the obscurity of an old age pension.
Perhaps in no other era could John's transition have taken place. He has
seen a Confederacy fall and a United Nation come into being. And, he has,
in true negroid fashion, watched these momentous changes with little
interest and with only a sketchy idea of the part he played in a nation's
drama.
Born in 1844,to George Proctor, a free man who came to the States from
Santo Domingo, John was born free and was first sold into slavery in 1850
at the age of six.
In 1849, George Proctor heard, as did many others, the call of easy money.
He sailed from St. Marks bound for California and the great gold rush. He
left his wife and six children behind promising to send for them. This
promise was never fulfilled and no money ever arrived for their upkeep. It
has been said that he abandoned his family. John, however, is most
emphatic in his denial of this statement.
"He left us," John says. "With a white man he trusted. Pa never ment for
us to be sold. We were born free!"
Whatever the truth of the story it is an indubitable fact that in 1850,
John, his mother, his sisters and his brother were sold at public auction.
Mr. H.Y. Rutgles bought John and trained him as a houseservant. Some years
later John came into the possession of Mr. Mathew Lively. In Mr. Lively's
drug store he worked as handy man for eight years. He washed bottles, ran
errands, and as John says learned to roll two pills between the index
finger and thumb of each hand simultaneously and as, "quick as any cat
could wink it's eye."
When asked about his memories of slavery, John was vague.
"It didn't seem much different than any other time. I've always worked
hard to live."
"When were you set free," we asked?
John's chuckle was slow and deep. "Not 'til the end. When Mr. Lincoln set
all negers free."
"What did you think of the Civil War?"
"Why I didn't think about it. I don't have much truck with wars. No, I
didn't hear the guns of the Battle of Natural Bridge. Mr. Lively sent all
his folks to Georgia so the yankees would not get us."
And so it seems that the heart-rending
war fought between the North and the South ran it's tragic gauntlet with
little interest paid it by John. When asked about his reactions to the
World War the same indifference was encounted. This attitude is typical of
the negro race The world can shake on its foundations but as long as they
personally are not touched it is of no moment to them. Negroes have solved
the problem of worry by complete indifference.
It was not until after the war between the states that John had any
schooling. Then at the instigation of a Mr. Lewis, a white man who took an
interest in him, John attended night school. He went about as far as the
seventh grade. In later years this schooling stood him in good stead. As a
result he taught school in country schools around Tallahassee for several
years.
John has been married twice. Both wives are now dead. By his first wife he
had seven children. It is with one of his daughters that he now lives.
Except for the school teaching and for the years he served in the
Legislature John has worked as a brick mason. Many of the most prominent
homes in Tallahassee were built by John.
Prehaps the most out-standing thing that has happened to John in his long
life, is that after the war during 1871 to 1885 he served in the House and
in the Senate of the Legislature. John the only negro to ever serve from
Leon County was put in as a Republican vote when the Republicans were
fighting hard to keep control of the state of Florida. During the time
John served he made no unusual speaches and no great action can be
attributed to him. But he was a Senator and he was a Represenative, and he
is very proud of the memory. The fact that he was a pawn used by other men
has never crossed his mind.
John lives now with his daughter and his son-in-law in a four room house
which is in better condition than most negro houses in this section. He
pays no rent and for his personal needs he has a ten dollar a month
pension. He lives about two miles from town and almost every day he walks
the distance into the city to visit with his friends. He attends the
Episcopal church and never misses a Sunday service. He has never been to a
show, but he reads a great many books. At the present time he is reading
Pilgrims Progress for the second time. He read it first thirty years ago,
he says.
John has a senerity that is not entirely due to his age or to his race. In
talking to him the thing that is most noticed is the complete absence of
fear in his make -up. In a time when the whole world seems to be ruled by
fear, John fears nothing. He never has.
Mary C. Bosworth
Tallahassee, Fla.
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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