Madison-Hillsborough County FlArchives Biographies.....Gray, Ed 1878 - 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 12, 2007, 10:07 pm

Author: Paul Diggs

[Ed and Ida Gray--Farmers]


Federal Writers' Project
Paul Diggs
Lakeland, Florida
March 17, 1939

Gray, Ed and Ida
Beasville, Florida 
ED AND IDA GRAY- FARMERS

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 swell 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 buildings
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 be 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; Fannie 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
from 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, mullato 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 15c 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.
Fannie 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." 

Fannie 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."

"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 you 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 15c 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 he straw hat, picked up a hoe sitting next to the kitchen doo,
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 doos. 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 off 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 froilicking. 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 15c. 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.

Additional Comments:
WPA Interview 1939

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/madison/bios/gray3gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/

File size: 18.1 Kb