Abner JordanWe know that Abner Jordan was the interviewee and therefore one of the creators of the source. In the first part of the source, we learn more about who he is., interviewed by Daisy WhaleyAlthough this interview tells Mr. Jordan's story, he is not the only creator of the source. We know that Daily Whaley was the interviewer and, as such, she asked questions that might have guided or shaped the way Mr. Jordan told his story. A different interviewer might have asked very different questions, leading to a very different recounting of Mr. Jordan's memories of slavery. For example, this narrative does not discuss religious traditions in the slave community, even though many other slave narratives do. That difference may be the result of Mr. Jordan's experiences and memories (he may not have participated in those kinds of events or may not remember them), or the omissions could stem from Ms. Whaley's choice not to ask questions about those practices. In an interview, the interviewer and interviewee share in the creation of the source. at his home in Durham County, North Carolina, WPA Slave Narrative Project, North Carolina Narratives, Volume 11 Part 2, Federal Writers' Project, United States Work Projects Administration (USWPA)You may also wish to consider the Federal Writers' Project and Works Projects Administration's roles in creating this source. After all, they funded the program, hired the interviewers, and created a series of guidelines for interviewers.; Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. Accessed via Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938, American Memory, Library of Congress.
Abner Jordan, Ex-slave, 95 years This is obvious, but based on the name, his status as an ex-slave, and his age, we can conclude that Mr. Jordan is an African American male who was ninety-five years old when the interview was conducted in the mid-1930s. If we assume that the interview was conducted in 1937, he would have been a young man when the Civil War ended in 1865 — about twenty-three.
"I wus bawn about 1832 an' I wus bawn at Staggsville, Marse paul Cameron's place. I belonged to Marse Paul.We learn here that Mr. Jordan was a slave on the Stagville Plantation in Durham County, North Carolina, and that he was owned by Paul Cameron. If his assessment of his age ("I was bawn about 1832?) is accurate, he would have been thirty-three years old when the Civil War ended and 105 if he was interviewed in 1937, not the ninety-five listed at the beginning of the interview.My pappy's name wus Obed an' my mammy wus Ella Jordan an' dey wus thirteen chillun on our family.
I wus de same age of Young Marse Benehan, I played wid him an' wus his body guard. Yes, suh, Where ever young Marse Benehan went I went too. I waited on him. Young Mrse Benny run away an' 'listed in de war, but Marse Paul done went an' brung him back kaze he wus too young to go and fight de Yankees.
Marse Paul had heap if niggahs; he had five thousan'. When he meet dem in de road he wouldn' know dem an' when he ased dem who dey wus an' who dey belonged to, dey' tell him dey belonged to Marse Paul Cameron an' den he would say dat wus all right for dem to go right on.
My pappy wus de blacksmith an' foreman for Marse Paul, an' he blew de horn for de other niggahs to come in from de fiel' at night. Dey couldn' leave de plantation without Marse say dey could.
When de war come de Yankees come to de house an' axed my mammy whare de folks done hid de silver an' gol', an' dey say dey gwine to kill mammy if she didn' tell dem. But mammy say she didn' know whare dey put it, an' dey would jus' have to kill her for she didn' know an' wouldn' lie to keep dem from hurting her.
De sojers stole seven or eight of de ho'ses an' foun' de meat an' stole dat, but dey didn' burn none off de buildin's nor hurt any of us slaves.
My pappy an' his family stayed wid Marse Paul five years after de surrender den we moved to Hillsboro an' I's always lived 'roun' dese parts. I ain' never been out of North Carolina eighteen months in my life. North Carolina is good enough for me."