Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations
African American family history
Experiences of former slaves
<p>Mathematical calculations related to the <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Coates Interview Notes</a> and <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>.</p>
<p>Because these calculations do not occur within the flow of either set of notes, and because they relate to both, we have present them here as a separate item. We have preserved the images in the transcription view of the Charles Coates interview notes (as pages 19b and 20b), in order to document the material as it exists in the archive, and we include copies of the images here, renamed to correspond to this item.</p>
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection Folder 12, Item 9
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-12-03
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Clayton McCarl (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/93">Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/94">Irene Coates Narrative (2 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/86">Irene Coates Narrative (3 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/97">Irene Coates Narrative (4 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/95">Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/96">Charles Coates Narrative (2 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/2">Charles Coates Interview Notes</a>
Handwritten, two pages
EN
Biographical notes
jhs-195918-12-09
19th Century Florida
19th Century Georgia
19th Century Virginia
20th Century Florida
Incomplete Page 4 of Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)
Experiences of former slaves
An incomplete version of page 4 of the <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2).</a><br /><br />The text that begins this page ("<span>somewhat like a collar") </span>follows directly the text that ends page 3 of that document ("<span>It fitted around the neck tightly"), while the text that begins on the version of page 4 that was actually completed does not. Instead, that text ("The device was made so that the head of the slave could be fas<lb break="no" id="idp140441901458696"></lb>tened in a hole<choice id="idp140441901459208"><span class="none" type="inlineWrapperForIntermediateTooltip"><orig xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"></orig></span><span class="none" type="inlineWrapperForIntermediateTooltip"></span></choice> and two blocks cut to fit tightly around the neck") appears to be a second attempt at starting this description.</span>
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection, Folder 16, Item 2
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-1940
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Amelia Dixon (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Clayton McCarl (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/95">Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>
Typed, one page
EN
Biographical notes
jhs-195918-16-02
20th Century Florida
Charles Coates Narrative (2 of 2)
<span>Experiences of former slaves</span>
The version of the Charles Coates narrative published in <a href="https://unfdhi.org/violamuse-editions/content/works-cited.xml#wpa-sn-vol3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Works Progress Administration Federal Writers’ Project, <em>Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves</em>, vol. 3, Library of Congress, 1941,</a> pp. 65-73
Viola Muse
Works Progress Administration Federal Writers’ Project
<em>Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves</em>, vol. 3, Library of Congress, 1941, pp. 65-73
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1941
Katherine Mezich (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Melinda Peacock (encoding)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Clayton McCarl (edition)
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/95">Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/119">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/2">Charles Coates Interview Notes</a>
Print, nine pages
EN
Biographical narrative
loc-sn-v3-cc
19th Century Florida
20th Century Florida
Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)
Experiences of former slaves
<p>A narrative based on the <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/2">Charles Coates Interview Notes</a>.</p>
<p>The word <em>Copy</em> is handwritten diagonally across the entire first page. See also the related <span><a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Incomplete Page 4 of Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>.</span></p>
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection, Folder 16, Item 1
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-1940
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Amelia Dixon (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Clayton McCarl (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/96">Charles Coates Narrative (2 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/119">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/113">Incomplete Page 4 of Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/2">Charles Coates Interview Notes</a>
Typewritten, seven pages
EN
Biographical notes
jhs-195918-16-01
20th Century Florida
Irene Coates Narrative (2 of 4)
Experiences of former slaves
African American women in Jacksonville
Development of Jacksonville
Narrative based on the <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>.<br /><br />The pages of this document are numbered in the original, and page two is missing (the back of the paper containing page one 1 blank, and we have not located page 2 elsewhere). We have numbered the pages and images correspondingly, and there is, therefore, no page 2 in the edition, and no image named <em>jhs-195918-03-02-02.jpg</em>.
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection, Folder 3, Item 2
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-1940
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Zariah Grant (transcription)
Kimberly Council (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Amelia Dixon (encoding and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Clayton McCarl (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/93">Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/86">Irene Coates Narrative (3 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/97">Irene Coates Narrative (4 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/119">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>
Handwritten, five pages
EN
Biographical narrative
jhs-195918-03-02
19th Century Florida
20th Century Florida
Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)
Experiences of former slaves
Narrative based on the <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>.<br /><br /><span>See also the following: <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/111" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alternate page 4 (1 of 2) of Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</a> and <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/75" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alternate page 4 (2 of 2) of Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</a>.</span>
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection, Folder 3, Item 1
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-1940
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Zariah Grant (transcription)
Thomas Brandenburger (encoding and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Clayton McCarl (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/111" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Alternate page 4 (1 of 2) of Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</span></a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/75" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Alternate page 4 (2 of 2) of Irene Coates Narrative (1 of 4)</span></a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/94">Irene Coates Narrative (2 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/86">Irene Coates Narrative (3 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/97">Irene Coates Narrative (4 of 4)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>
Typed, five pages (four physical pages, with two pages of content layered on top of each other on the last)
EN
Biographical narrative
Historical narrative
jhs-195918-03-01
19th Century Florida
20th Century Florida
19th Century Georgia
Charles Coates Interview Notes
Experiences of former slaves
<p>Notes that Viola Muse made during her interview with Charles Coates, aged 108, a long-time resident of Jacksonville, Florida.<br /><br />The interview was conducted on December 3, 1936, at the home of Coates and his wife Irene, also interviewed by Muse on that same occasion (see <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Irene Coates Interview Notes</a> and <span><a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/id/119" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>)</span>.</p>
<p>The notes in this document were used in the creation of the published narrative about Charles Coates, found on pages 65-73 of <a href="https://unfdhi.org/violamuse-editions/content/works-cited.xml#wpa-sn-vol3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Works Progress Administration Federal Writers’ Project, <em>Slave Narratives</em>, vol. 3</a>, and included in this edition as <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Coates Narrative (2 of 2)</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the information in these notes does not appear in the published Charles Coates narrative, however, but rather in that which corresponds to Irene Coates, found in that same volume, pages 74-79, and included in this edition as <a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/97" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span>Irene Coates Narrative (4 of 4)</span></a>.</p>
<p>Most notably, the anecdotes about a slave woman's killing of an overseer and Mrs. Lincoln's reaction to a slave being beaten, found on pages 15-18 of this document, appear on pages 75-76 of the published Irene Coates narrative. Although Charles appears to be the source, the two stories are presented in <em>Slave Narratives</em> as having been related to Muse by Irene:</p>
<div style="font-size: smaller; padding-left: 3em;">
<p>Although Irene was just about six years old when the Civil War ended, she has vivid recollection of happenings during slavery. Some of the incidents which happened were told her by her slave associates after slavery ended and some of them she remembers herself.</p>
<p>Two incidents which she considers caused respect for slaves by their masters and finally the Emancipation by Abraham Lincoln she tells in this order.</p>
<p>The first event tells of a young, strong healthy Negro woman who knew her work and did it well. 'She would grab up two bags of guana (fertiliser) and tote 'em at one time,' said Irene, and was never found shirking her work. The overseer on the plantation, was very hard on the slaves and practiced striking them across the back with a whip when he wanted to spur them on to do more work.</p>
<p>Irene says, one day a crowd of women were hoeing in the field and the overseer rode along and struck one of the women across the back with the whip, and the one nearest her spoke and said that if he ever struck her like that, it would be the day he or she should die. The overseer heard the remark and the first opportunity he got, he rode by the woman and struck her with the whip and started to ride on. The woman was hoeing at the time, she whirled around, struck the overseer on his head with the hoe, knocking him from his horse, she then pounced upon him and chopped his head off. She went mad for a few seconds and proceeded to chop and mutilate his body; that done to her satisfaction, she then killed his horse. She then calmly went to tell the master of the murder, saying "I've done killed de overseer." the master replied-"Do you mean to say you've killed the overseer?" she answered yes, and that she had killed the horse also. Without hesitating, the master pointing to one of his small cabins on the plantation said- "You see that house over there?" she answered yes- at the same time looking- "Well said he, take all your belongings and move into that house and you are free from this day and if the mistress wants you to do anything for her, do it if you want to." Irene related with much warmth the effect that incident had upon the future treatment of the slaves.</p>
<p>The other incident occurred in Virginia. It was upon an occasion when Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was visiting in Richmond. A woman slaveowner had one of her slaves whipped in the presence of Mrs. Lincoln. It was easily noticed that the woman was an expectant mother. Mrs. Lincoln was horrified at the situation and expressed herself as being so, saying that she was going to tell the President as soon as she returned to the White House. Whether this incident had any bearing upon Mr. Lincoln's actions or not, those slaves who were present and Irene says that they all believed it to be the beginning of the President's activities to end slavery. (Works Progress Administration Federal Writers’ Project, vol. III, 75-77)</p>
</div>
<p>In addition, the published Irene Coates narrative appears to include information that Charles gives on page 13 about Sunday clothes being made of ausenbur cloth and the role of elderly women in making that cloth:</p>
<p style="font-size: smaller; padding-left: 3em;">Besides these incidents, Irene remembers that women who were not strong and robust were given such work as sewing, weaving and minding babies. The cloth from which the Sunday clothes of the slaves was made was called ausenburg and the slave women were very proud of this. The older women were required to do most of the weaving of cloth and making shirts for the male slaves. (77)</p>
<p>The published Irene Coates narrative also echoes a detail that Charles Coates recounts on page 8 of these notes:</p>
<p style="font-size: smaller; padding-left: 3em;">Irene recalls the practice of blowing a horn whenever a sudden rain came. The overseer had a certain Negro to blow three times and if shelter could be found, the slaves were expected to seek it until the rain ceased. (77)</p>
<p>The published Irene Coates narrative adds information not found in the Charles Coates interview notes, however:</p>
<p style="font-size: smaller; padding-left: 3em;">The master had sheds built at intervals on the plantation. These accomodated a goodly number; if no shed was available the slaves stood under trees. If neither was handy and the slaves got wet, they could not go to the cabins to change clothes for fear of losing time from work. This was often the case; she says that slaves were more neglected than the cattle. (78)</p>
<p>Lastly, the published Irene Coates narrative also appears to repeat details from page 12 of the Charles Coates interview notes:</p>
<p style="font-size: smaller; padding-left: 3em;">Another custom which impressed the child-mind of Irene was the tieing [sic] of slaves by their thumbs to a tree limb and whipping them. Women and young girls were treated the same as were men. (78)<br /><br /></p>
Viola Muse
Jacksonville Historical Society, Viola Muse Collection, Folder 12, Item 6
The Viola Muse Digital Edition, University of North Florida
1936-12-03
Melinda Peacock (document scanning)
Clayton McCarl (transcription, encoding, and edition)
Laura Heffernan (edition)
Tru Leverette (edition)
Made public online with the permission of the Jacksonville Historical Society
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Coates Narrative (1 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/96" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Coates Narrative (2 of 2)</a>
<a href="https://violamuse.unfdhi.org/items/show/119">Charles and Irene Coates Age and Date Calculations</a>
Handwritten, twenty pages
EN
Biographical notes
jhs-195918-12-06
19th Century Florida
19th Century Georgia
19th Century Virginia
20th Century Florida