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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 371
my plantation, five miles above Triana, on the Tennessee river, shall receive the above reward. CHARITY COOPER It is reasonable to assume that runaway slaves who were returned to a plantation would be shackled. The researcher asked Juanita about foods that were grown on the farm and what a typical meal had been. Juanita said they had a lot of farm grown vegetables, fish, and chicken. They grew lots of food: cantaloupes, watermelons, green string beans, corn, okra, tomatoes, sugar cane, and cotton. She said, “We had pear trees in the yard. Cotton was the big cash crop.” They didn't suffer too much during the Great Depression because they could grow everything they needed. A typical lunch during those times was a pot of field peas and cornbread. Juanita said “Uncle Dave” Barley (his wife's name was “Aunt Rhodie”) was a Black man who lived “across from where “Auntie May” lived: He made molasses from the sugar cane for the whole community. He lived to the east near a big pond. The farmers in the community would cut their cane and take it to Uncle Dave. He would have mule teams drag a large millstone over the cane, getting the juice into large vats. Uncle Dave would stir the juice in the vats [over a fire] until molasses was made. The Barleys, of course, were not Juanita's relatives. The terms Aunt and Uncle were terms of address for Black people. David Barley's name was mentioned by a number of people who were interviewed, always in positive terms. He owned Parcel D-173, on the north side of the Farley-Triana Road (Buxton); it was right above the Arthur C. Turner's store. Juanita also described “California Beer,” non-alcoholic brew made from sugar cane seeds that were obtained during the molasses-making process. She said: You put the seed mush into a five-gallon churn with water and syrup. Work the churn, and then ferment the concoction for a couple of days. Empty the churn and bottle it up. It was made by everyone, especially in the days before soft drinks. You could only make what you could drink, because it would cause the bottles to explode if you left it too long. Juanita said her husband had a dog. He was an English bulldog, and her husband named him Lindy after Charles A. Lindberg. In the summer Millburn went out in a boat on one of the ponds. It was a socializing place for young people. She said that the dog jumped out of the boat and forced Millburn out into the middle of the pond, “in front of everyone.” Everyone laughed and had good sport with that. 371 - (4404)