Roselie Mable Interview

Upon searching for someone native to the Appalachian culture, I finally met a young woman by the name of Roselie Mable. Roselie was born March 9, 1935, in Pocahontas county, West Virginia. During my interview I asked her a numerous of questions which ranged from your typical "Where are you from?" "When were you born?" "What was your profession?" Etc. But there was one Question and answer that really sparked my interest. During the interview I asked Mrs. Mable "What brought you away from your home town?" And to my surprise opened up an interesting tale.
It all started when Roselie was thirteen, her father had a farm on the out skirts of Pocahontas, where they harvested crops for a living. Leroy "Papa" Mable ran a large farm powered by slaves, although they thought of them more as family rather than slaves. Roselie was the only daughter of eight children so her chores consisted of cooking and making sure the workers had plenty of water to drink. Roselie said that she would watch from a far and pick out the strongest of men and watch then work. She said that it wasn't until her 15th birthday that she noticed herself watching the same man day in and day out, as well as sneaking a spoon full more

of pourage into his clay bowl. One night she made her way out to the barnyard where Thomas was resting. And asked him if he thought she was crazy for taking a liking to him, she said that he let out a chuckle and said "Now ma'am you might wanna go back before Mister comes out here and kills all us." Roselie said "As I started my way out, I turned to look one last time, when i seen him smile and wink at me, it was then I knew he too had feelings as I did.
Roselie went on to tell us that it wasn't very long after that night that the two of them would sneak off and meet up in the middle of the night, knowing if they were caught Papa would scold her as well as sell Mr. Thomas for little to nothing for he wasn't going to let her only daughter get mixed up with a Negro boy. She went on to say that even though they were never caught Papa began to have his suspicions and began putting Thomas on travels with the elder to the big town over the hill. She said Thomas would be gone for only days at a time but felt like an eternity. With a sparkle in her eye Roselie said she remembered it like it was only yesterday, May 13, 1951, only two months after her 16th birthday that her father sold Thomas while she was away with her mother in the city. When she returned she became very anxious to see him and began to spark an interest in his whereabouts, when her brother heard her wheeping and told her that Papa had sold him among two others for enough money to buy more crop land for expansion. She said "I had no clue who bought him or where he was even going, but I was in love and that was enough drive to find him."
Roselie spent two years searching for Thomas asking around as if she was trying to find her slave as she didn't want to spark interest in the wrong people and get her Thomas in deep scolding. She said it wasn't until the end of November when she finally heard word of his whereabouts from a cattle farmer out of Pikeville, Ky said he seemed familiar and the name seemed short ( meaning he remembered him from not long ago) that there was a big plantation outside of Prestonsburg, Ky, that had just picked up a shipment of Negroes to prepare his land for the upcoming harvest. As she made her way another 15 miles down the dirt roads her interest in the Negro slave had already beaten her to the farm. Upon her arrival Roselie said she was greeted by many black women and men all smiling and nodding in excitement. Roselie said she didn't know what to expect that she was willing to pay every penny she had in order to buy him back.
As she entered the porch area the farmer came out and said "You must be Roselie. I hear that you have an interest in a recent purchase I have made." Roselie said all she could do was nod in agreement because she was so nervous that she thought she would throw up on the gentleman. "Well no use standing outside, come on in and have supper, your travels had to have made you hungry." The man stated. Roselie accepted the offer as she wanted to discuss options to retrieve her Thomas. As she entered the house and made her way down the hall they entered into a huge mess area where all his men was sitting, eating supper. I remember the farmer looking at me and saying "I hope you don't mind my family they are all I have." as he turned and yelled for Thomas who was sitting in the far corner. Roselie said that she could feel the sweat dripping from her palms in hopes that it was him. When she seen his face she could barely refrain from excitement. She then went on to say that the farmer looked her in the eyes and said he knew where she had traveled from and no man, rather on woman would travel that far to retain a slave that they wanted to buy back for no reason. She said the man looked at her smiled and nodded, then said "Love will cause you to do the darnest of things Miss. Mable, go embrace and never let go again!" Roselie said in that moment she didn't know what to think except that she took off running to Thomas where they reunited for the first time in years.
Roselie said that the Farmer Ernest allowed them to live on their farm in exchange that Thomas helped harvest the farm as the lead man for the sun rise crew. And even acted as her lover when the wealthy would come to buy the crops, so that they wouldn't harm her and Thomas nor would they bring no harm to Ernest for allowing them to live their unacceptable life on his plantation.
It wasn't long after Thomas went to the Army in hopes of enduring his freedom so him and Roselie could be together freely.

She remained at the plantation waiting for Thomas to return from Vietnam until Ernest became very ill and passed during the cold months forcing her to move farther west and planting ground in Pulaski county where she has remained since 1967. When asked why she never went back she said that she waited and waited for her Thomas to return her letters and come back from war to be with her, but later found that he was shot and killed during an ambush and never made it home to her. She told me that although she spent many of years looking for him and waiting for his return, their time spent together was well worth any troubles she had endured on the

way.
Roselie's interview was very inspring for myself as I got to actually sit down and learn the history of a woman that had lived across the street from me for many of years although I had seen very few people coming and going during the holidays. So this year I got to enjoy Thanksgiving with a very strong woman in my perspective.