This is another of a series
of historical articles on
Anderson County and her people.

Clinton Courier News
Aug. 27, 1981.

BY KATHERINE B. HOSKINS

County Historian

Very few records available
Early Anderson County black history neglected

Part I I I

Almost everyone has heard the old expression, "Seems like I'm always a day late and a dollar short." Well, Anderson County fits that description pretty well when it comes to black history, and the county historian is to blame for part of it.

We are certainly many days and dollars short in documenting the early balck history of our county. Any research into history is time-consuming and expensive, especially where some travel is necessary. And very early unrecorded black history is now practically non-existent. So it is easy to console oneself with putting the more difficult research off until "tomorrow."

Last week and this week, we are presenting some of the information obtained from personal interviews, court records and other available sources. A portion of theis was printed in this column a few years ago, but is repeated in the hope that it will encourage people who have this type of information to make it available. For the most part, the following paragraphs are reminiscences of slaves, as told to their children or grandchildren.

More from Mrs. Louranie Weaver: Louranie's father was John (or Jack) McAdoo, slave of the John McAdoo family. Her mother was the former Clarissy Young. As a child Clarissy lived below Augusta, Ga. About all she remembered about life in Georgia was that one day she was playing alongside the road with a little boy named Toby. She did not know if he was her brother, cousin, neighbor or who. She said while they were playing some men came by on horses and stopped to talk with the children. One of the men apparently took a fancy to Clarissy, reached down, picked her up, put her on the horse behind him and took her to Tennessee.

Some time later she came into the possession of a Mr. Woodson in Fincastle, who gave her to his daughter, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth married Judge D. K. Young of Anderson County, she took Clarissy with her and she became a Young slave. Sometimes when Mrs. Young would become vexed with Clarissy she would say to her, "Clarissy, if you don't do better I am just going to put you in my pocket." As a child Clarissy always wondered how in the world her mistress could put her in her pocket. It was not until she became grown that she realized her mistress meant she would sell Clarissy and pocket the money.

When asked how the slaves held church services, Mrs. Weaver said they were held mostly in the slave cabins. Being by nature fearful and superstitious, they had the idea, whether or not there was any foundation, that the white folks didn't like for them to hold services. So, in order that their singing and chanting not be heard outside the cabin area, they would build up a fire inside the cabin where they were holding service and put a big kettle of water on. This they kept boiling so as to absorb or take up the sound. They did their own preaching.

The following information is from an Anderson County Chancery Court case during the days of slavery:

          When a Negro would become unruly or run away,
          sometimes they would be put in jail for two
          or three days, and their master would threaten
          to find them a home "in the South."  Apparently
          in some places farther south than East Tennessee,
          the masters were harder on their slaves than
          around here, because none of the slaves here
          wanted to be sent to Georgia or Mississippi
          or farther south.

          The threat by the slave owner in the court case
          was intended only to alarm the Negro in question,
          who was named Biddy, and make her behave herself.
          He had no idea of selling her to anyone, but for
          the mere purpose of controlling Biddy he took a man
          from Georgia to the jail to look at her and pretend
          he wanted to buy her.  The owner thought it had a
          good effect upon Biddy because she was a pretty good
          person after that.

An interview with the late Oscar Jarnigan included such information he had gotten from his father, Smith Jarnigan, who was born a slave in the Clinton family of Jarnigans who lived in the big brick house which was known as the Jarnigan Brick down through the years until it was torn down in 1970. It was located across Main St. from the courthouse, on the corner where the Clinton branch of the Bank of Oak Ridge is located.

Smith was only a lad when freedom came, and his wife (Oscar's mother) lived only one day a slave, having been born the day before freedom. She was from Union County. The following is part of the interview with Oscar Jarnigan.

          Oscar said that from some of the things told
          him by his father, local race relations were
          easy and friendly and there was always a 
          feeling of family affection between black and
          white people.  He said the Jarnigan place was
          indeed built by slave labor, the bricks being
          baked on the farm from clay which they dug.

          Smith Jarnigan was a cook in the Union Army,
          having been conscripted along with two brothers,
          Anderson and Henry, who also served in the Union
          Army.
         
          Oscar remembered carrying water up the hill
          to his home from the Town Spring for drinking
          and cooking purposes or from the McAdoo Spring
          at the foot of the other side of the hill.
          Water for washing clothes was carried from a
          branch a little closer.  He said nearly everyone
          in Clinton carried water from the Town Spring
          or from one of the two or three wells in town.
          There was l public well on Courthouse Square,
          and William Wade, who lived near the Baptist
          Church, had a well which he allowed everyone
          who wished to carry water from.

Oscar lived away from Clinton most of his adult life, having gone to the coal fields around Harlan, Ky. when a young man. He became a mine foreman and worked there until retirement at age 70. He said he probably would not have retired that young and they had begged him to stay, but his mother was ill and he came home to Clinton to see to her care.

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