Morris Chronicle Transcript

- [Narrator] This South Carolina story is deeply rooted in the lives of the people of the soil. It is of a distinctly Southern origin. In the background are the years following slavery, when white landowners and Black freedmen found themselves in the ashes of an impoverished and defeated land, with an agrarian slave-based economy broken by war. In the aftermath, there developed a codependency between landowner and sharecropper, in a political economy that would seal the white farmer and Black farmer in a relationship of hard toil. And the historical interwovenness of Blacks dependent on whites and whites dependent on Blacks played itself out, as the sharecropper system continued well into the middle of the 20th century in this part of Barnwell County. And as the 20th century turns into the 21st, its remnants can be found today. Down this road, there are human relationships that are distinctly Southern. They remain largely unseen and are not easily explainable to 21st century people looking in from the outside. Folk life documentary filmmaker, Stan Woodward, traveled down this road. While working on a documentary about small, out of the way barbecue and home cooking eateries in this region, Stan learned about Morris Peeples, renowned in Barnwell County as an old master in the art of barbecuing a hog in the Springfield Williston tradition. Morris, at the age of 92, agreed to Stan's documenting his traditional way of barbecuing in the "good old timey way", as Morris puts it. Thus began a storytelling journey that peers deep into South Carolina's rural folk life and farm culture.

- [Stan] A friend has told me that Morris still cooks a hog the same way it was cooked when he was a child, a pit dug in the sand, poles cut down from hickory, a hog wrapped in chicken wire and slow cooked over those coals. If true, that's exactly how my grandfather cooked a hog.

- Young man, how you feeling?

- [Stan] How you doing?

- Well, I'm doing so so so.

- [Stan] My grandfather's cotton and sugarcane farm would've been about eight miles from here, as the crow flies.

- I'm fixing to get my fire going.

- [Stan] What began as my search for the roots of my grandfather's traditional method of cooking a barbecue on his farm, back in the 1940s, ended up being a film with roots that went a lot deeper than barbecue.

- This here is my boy.

- [Stan] Your son?

- Yes.

- [Stan] What do you use these black pots for?

- You just boil, boil the water and get it hot to get the hair off the hog.

- [Stan] Get the hair off the hog?

- Yeah.

- [Stan] Good morning, how are you?

- I'm fine.

- [Stan] What's your name, sir?

- Byars.

- [Stan] Mr. Byars.

- Yes, sir.

- [Stan] I understand you're gonna help him this morning.

- That's right, yes, sir.

- [Stan] What will I be looking at this morning, as you take care of this hog?

- Well, I got to clean him and got to take the guts out him. What are y'all barbecuing?

- [Stan] Yeah.

- You wanna clean him and take the guts out of him and you be good to go.

- [Stan] Yes, sir.

- I'm looking for a chair for you.

- [Stan] Oh, I'm gonna be on my feet.

- Sir?

- [Stan] I'm gonna probably be on my feet.

- Oh yeah?

- [Stan] I got a lot to cover this morning-

- Yeah?

- But I appreciate it.

- [Morris] Yeah.

- [Byars] I'll use these here.

- [Morris] See it's no fire around this meat.

- Dig out a little bit more for me right there.

- [Morris] Take the shovel and put some, put it around there. And that there is where we make up fire.

- Fire getting right now.

- [Stan] And what you gonna do here?

- Keep the water hot so we can take the hair off it. We got to scald him.

- I'll be back.

- [Stan] These old wash pots been used a lot of ways, hadn't it?

- They sure is. They been used a lot of ways. About 90 degrees, it should be ready to go.

- [Morris] A few bullets. And here are the bullets, okay?

- That's enough. More than I need. He ain't come out, is he?

- Um-um.

- You don't got no home now.

- Sharpening the knife, sharpening the knife. Fixin to get ready to stick him.

- Sit down, boy, keep you over there. Lay down and take your rest.

- Ready to roll.

- Yeah, you ready to roll now.

- It's about time the put him to death now, ain't it?

- Hmm?

- Ain't it time, the water boiling?

- Yes sir.

- Well, put him to death.

- It don't take but one good as I is.

- [Morris] That's all.

- [Byars] Okay. Whew!

- [Morris] He ready to go. Ready to go to the pot now.

- [Byars] Yes, sir.

- [Stan] What you doing now, Mr. Peeples?

- [Byars] He cooling it down.

- It's too hot, water too hot.

- You wanna get it just right so when it swim in it, the hair'll jump right off him. You ready?

- Keep going.

- Ready, Freddy.

- Let him go around. Turn him around. Unintelligible. Let's see where that is.

- [Byars] All right, Junior, let's get up on him. Get it off of him

- I see Faye got to help. My wife, she can't help it. She got that gift, she can't help from cleaning a hog.

- Of course, it's gonna be fixed just right . That was a pretty quick clean. Take the hair off of him in about 12 minutes. There's one thing I could say-

- [Stan] Yes sir.

- The man what that killed these hogs for me, he really know what he doing. From 12 to 20 minutes, the hair off him.

- Is that pretty good?

- That's good. That single tree you got all right?

- Yes sir, she's good to go.

- Good to go, all right.

- That's all she wrote.

- [Byars] That's all she wrote.

- [Stan] What happens next?

- Fixing to hang him where we could wash him and clean the meat good.

- They put a hat on him anyway. You wanna be able to show 'em how good man you is.

- I wanna be there anyhow. Push it back some. All right then, take it all the way over then.

- [Byars] Come on up, come on up. All right, tie it now.

- [Morris] Aw man. Um-hmm, yeah, that's good. He need some water and scraping.

- [Stan] You told me that you always put a hog aside and put him in a separate pen before you slaughter him.

- Yeah, see, he was in that pen over there.

- [Stan] Why you do that?

- To clean him out-

- And get all the filth out him and clean him out.

- Clean all the filth out of him.

- [Stan] Yeah, and how long you keep him separate?

- Oh, about three weeks.

- Three weeks?

- Keep him over about three weeks. He don't eat no nothing nasty. Nothing but corn and water. Corn and water.

- Ew.

- What do you say?

- Ew, ew!

- That's nasty!

- I put the head, the heart, and the kidneys here in the-

- [Child] Where the heart at? I ain't never seen no heart.

- This here is called the off the heart. They say if you eat that, you'll tell everything you know. So we need to get this here and try to get this here to some of them people overseas, where they'll tell where bin-

- bin Laden.

- Bin Laden and Saddam. Send 'em that there to tell everything he knows.

- [Stan] You think these young people will learn from you?

- Well, some of 'em. I got two boys knows just about like I do.

- You ready for the freezer now and that thing ready for the fryer.

- Oh yeah?

- Yes sir. He finished with him.

- I'm ready.

- [Stan] Now when will they put the rods through him?

- Sunday night, when they take him out. See they put him in the freezer now and the rod don't get into the freezer. After they take him outta that freezer and let him sit a little bit, then they take him out, then they put the rod through.

- [Stan] That's the old-fashioned way?

- That's the old-fashioned way. That's the best way.

- [Stan] I followed the hog into Morris' house, where they would place him into a freezer until time for barbecuing him the following night. This brought back memories of my own childhood. My cousins and I would hang out on July the 3rd with the children of the family that prepared the hog for our family's Fourth of July barbecue on a farm nearby here, over 50 years ago. Only a few barbecue artisans are left in South Carolina who set aside and prepare the hog they're going to barbecue. I wondered whether Morris' grands would take up this tradition.

- Gotta keep mud on him.

- Really?

- Um-hmm.

- How come?

- 'Cause he'll die if sun all on him.

- [Grandchild 2] But he wobbling. He gotta wobble in there a lot. That's the end of that. Everything done now. Everything done but the fire.

- That's all she wrote.

- All she wrote.

- Oh man, I'm fixing it now.

- [Stan] And what is this for?

- To go through the shoulders and the hams to hold it out to keep it from going together, which whenever you get ready to turn it, keep his legs stiff. I'm a put that on about 2:00 Sunday night.

- [Stan] You're gonna start cooking 2:00 Sunday night?

- 2:00. And the time for you to be where it is is to take it up.

- [Stan] I wanna shoot you all the way through it. I'm gonna be here at 1:00.

- Great, that night, Sunday night?

- [Stan] Yeah. We gonna get the whole thing.

- All right, all right. Go on and hit it a bit with the hammer, baby. Everything all right 'til tonight, when we go to put him on the hole.

- [Faye] Go to the pit.

- [Stan] Now Faye, what is this?

- This is a furnace.

- A furnace?

- Yeah, it's a furnace. You puts the wood in. You have to fill it up and make sure we keep a fire going. And that's where the coals, they drops down in the bottom. And that's where we get the coals from to put in the pit to cook the hog. We cooks the hog in that.

- [Stan] And where do you get the wood from?

- We get the wood out of the woods. Out of the woods. We go and cut the wood and put it in the truck and bring it here and unload it and pile it up there and that's the wood we use to put in here. While it's cooking, we use vinegar, sprinkle it over the hole.

- [Stan] So that's kind of like basting it.

- Yeah, basting.

- You know, I got the hog here and a fella give me a German shepherd dog, long years ago, a puppy, and we raised him and the boy named him Snapper. And Snapper was, if you would tell him to stay here now, Snapper, and don't let nothing bother this hog, he stayed right there. And no dog and nobody could come near. Snapper would do that, wouldn't he?

- Yeah, he was a big German.

- [Stan] What are those children doing over there, Morris?

- Them there?

- Yeah.

- They was unloading wood.

- You gonna take our picture.

- And that there was driving the tractor, she three. She driving the lawnmower for me.

- [Stan] And what you got 'em doing?

- They was hauling the wood to put in the furnace there to build the coals.

- Morris was telling me about his barbecuing and want me to see how he barbecue and I just got into it.

- You did.

- Yeah, I just got all into it. I just really, really, really enjoyed it.

- [Stan] Well, I heard you say, I just enjoy this.

- Yes, I really enjoy it. I enjoy it every time I barbecue, I enjoy it, I really do.

- [Stan] What kind of man is Morris Peeples? How would you describe him?

- A real nice gentleman, he really is. He's happy. I likes to see him happy. And I likes to be happy too along with him. But when he gets sad then it make me sad.

- Yeah.

- Um-hmm.

- So we gets along good, real good.

- [Stan] You help him a lot, don't you?

- I sure do.

- [Stan] After the prep work on the hog was done, I got invited to join Morris and Faye in their home. I was most interested in knowing the story about the half century age difference between Morris and Faye and how they met.

- When I was courting, the third time, Junior would carry me mind ya everywhere I went.

- [Stan] The third time?

- That's right.

- [Stan] Now which is the third time?

- He talking about with me.

- And I met 35 women and talked with 'em about marrying. It took me two years. I been in Cocoa, Florida, Haines City, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Charleston, Aiken and twice in Philadelphia.

- [Stan] You may be historically the only man that's ever chauffeured his daddy around looking at 35 potential wives.

- That's right.

- I met this woman picture.

- [Stan] You did what?

- I met her picture.

- You met her picture.

- A picture in a lady's house.

- [Faye] Um-hmm, on top of the TV, sure did, me and my four children.

- [Stan] You remember that?

- Me and my four children.

- Yeah?

- Sure did.

- Yeah.

- And I told this woman she was a nice-looking woman. She said, she was available, had four children, and looking for a good boyfriend. You tell her that I said, I got something to put on my mind she really can't understand. That was the word I left.

- [Faye] Yeah, that's what he said.

- So she called her and tell her to come over.

- When he came down at the house and he seen my picture and the lady, well, she was telling me, her husband, go over there and see him. You can go ahead to the house. I said no, I ain't going over there. You call him. You call him. So he called and I come on over there. And I happened to walk in and I looked. I was kind of surprised though.

- [Stan] Why?

- [Junior] 'Cause he was a old man.

- No, well really, it really was a surprise. But all I say, well, if you love a person, I don't care how old he is, if he's 100-years-old if you love him. Even if I'm young, I love him. So from there on, we got together and went to talking and stuff and I said well, seem like this here the man for me, so I just went for it.

- And she have been so good to me. You know, she sitting up there with the fan and I was sick here these last weeks and fanning me to keep me with my breath until I can get better. Cold as it was, she had that fan up there right in front of me, fanning me, trying to get me to live a little while longer. Lord have mercy.

- All right.

- How you feeling?

- I'm feeling all right.

- [Morris] Give me a little there son.

- [Stan] Morris, you still like to go fishing, I hear.

- Oh yes, I like to go fishing.

- [Stan] How good a fisherman are you?

- Well, I do pretty good. Me and Faye was running a race. Why she beat me, she be sitting in the front of the boat with a pole on that side and take it and put it under her leg, then and a pole on that side and put it under her leg. And then I had to get what she left. But I give her a fit though.

- Oh yeah, I know that.

- [Morris] We got ahold of a four and a half pound bass.

- That's true.

- And he was a big one.

- [Faye] I told Morris he was gonna catch him too. He better not let him go.

- And he had pulled the boat, he was spinning in the water, you know.

- He whipped that bass. The reel was about to get away. I tell him, you better pull that reel in. If you don't get that fish, somebody'll have to get in the water and get him 'cause I wanted that fish. That was a big one.

- And got him up to the boat and you see my fingers there is off. I got him in there and he slip out my, he opened his mouth and so slippery and slipped out my hand. And she said, "You better not let him get away."

- [Faye] Right, you better not.

- So I reached and got him down there.

- [Faye] That was my luck.

- I asked her after that, if I had let him got away, what would she have done? She said, I'd have to get in the water and get him.

- [Faye] That's right. Just get right in there.

- But that was a nice rascal. Great God, that was a nice one. Beef steak when I'm hungry and whiskey when I'm thirsty. A beautiful woman for my wife and heaven when I die.

- [Junior] That's all right, isn't it?

- Get it in good, now.

- That's all right, ain't it.

- He can put some toasters up now.

- Morris?

- Sir?

- What's that Jim Beam do for you?

- Well, it keeps me uplifted. Now when I use this, about 6:00 I might have a little bit more. About 6:00.

- [Stan] So that fuels you a little bit?

- Sir?

- [Stan] That adds a little bit of fuel to you.

- Yeah, there you go, man .

- [Junior] Lord have mercy.

- [Stan] It's a little bit like putting that kerosene on that fire, isn't it?

- Yeah, I just like to put a little kerosene on the fire for it to get to burning good. That's the way it is.

- [Junior] Okay, turn it over.

♪ Well, I gotta get on back to the country ♪

♪ Before my woman finds me gone ♪

♪ Gotta get on back to the country ♪

♪ Before my woman finds me gone ♪

- Well that cardboard gonna hold that heat to him. See how hot it is. See could you hold your hand under it.

♪ Yeah, I gotta get on back to the country ♪

♪ Before my woman finds me gone ♪

♪ Gotta get on back to the country ♪

♪ Before my woman finds me gone ♪

10 after two. I been at this thing a long time. I done learnt it to Faye. Could you hold your hand under there?

- [Faye] Um-hmm.

- Huh?

- Yeah.

- Not long. Come on under there with some of that coal there. Come back, back up.

- Uh-huh. How it feel under there, mama?

- [Faye] Good, good.

- Huh, plenty of heat?

- Yeah.

- You know she working pretty good, you see that steam over there? Oh, she working. I reckon she thawing it up pretty good now.

- Stick fire to the red oak. Stick fire to the red oak.

- [Stan] What is that?

- That what that whippoorwill be saying. Stick fire to the red oak. Stick fire to the red oak.

- That's fire under there but it's a little better. Kind of cool. It's cool and pleasant. Man, if it was a hot day and you butchering, wouldn't you catch the devil?

- [Stan] Yeah, it'd be tough, wouldn't it?

- Yeah, man. It would be rough. I might, tomorrow evening, go down to the fish farm and get us a few brims and shell crackers. Ah, Jun.

- Yes, sir?

- Where Rita stay, down there, they don't have no beets, do they?

- Yes, sir.

- Come here, boy. I don't like this.

- That's for you talking about the South.

- In a little bit, they'll be putting on that vinegar. He'll be putting that vinegar on it.

- And let's look at that meat. Aw man, it look good. Here, do it, to it. Over, up here to the front. Good to go.

- Wait a minute-

- Let me tell you, Jun. Oh yeah, I see that's something great. Go 'head and get the coals.

- [Stan] It looks like the sun's coming up.

- [Faye] Um-hmm.

- [Morris] Oh Lord, our heavenly father, you know we is weak and we can't do nothing 'til you come. Please Jesus, come into our home. Give us more faith and more grace and more understanding that we won't make no mistake. Oh Lord, oh heavenly father, when we done gone on our last mile, I want you to go into the hospital, go from room to room and bed to bed. Who is in need, ache and pains on the whole poor, sick, I pray thee, our heavenly father. Go in the battlefield and have mercy on each soul. Oh Lord, don't forget those behind iron bars and have mercy on the prisoners, I pray thee, our heavenly father. Father, I want you to be a pleased and merciful lord and fix us up. We'll be able to go over yonder, where Job declared, that it's peace and happiness where Jesus is, flowing with sweet milk and honey. Amen, amen, amen. Yes sir.

- Yes sir.

- We give thanks to the Lord. That's whats he want us to do when we come of service. Lord, and we can't do nothing 'til Jesus come and give us some more faith and more grace and more understanding that we won't make no mistakes. Lord have mercy. That's our man to call. It's going on five hours now. We're going up there to get the pot to cook the pig head.

- [Stan] Where you getting it from?

- From up to the big house.

- The clubhouse.

- [Stan] And what's the big house?

- The big house is-

- That's what they call the clubhouse.

- The clubhouse up there. They name it the clubhouse. It used to be the old man right after slavery house.

- [Stan] I see.

- And so they call it the big house.

- [Stan] I see. It's a clubhouse now in what way? What do they do there?

- Well, they do their hunting, hunting club.

- [Stan] I see.

- They hunt deer-

- I see.

- Turkey.

- [Stan] Are you a member?

- The oldest one.

- Oldest member.

- That's right.

- [Stan] So that used to be a plantation house?

- That's right.

- [Stan] Can I ride with you?

- Yeah, sure could. Crank it up and make it right like the rest.

- [Faye] I can go straight up there.

- [Morris] What's wrong with it, Faye? Wait a minute.

- [Stan] On the ride with Morris and Faye up to the big house, I found myself in a kind of Southern culture time warp.

- Straight on up.

- [Faye] That's where I'm going.

- [Stan] Shooting Southern folklife documentaries, I've had this happen before but never quite like this. I learned that Morris' father's father had been a slave on a place with a big house like the one we were going to. And that Morris was a second generation sharecropper and overseer on this place until he retired, working for the woman who inherited this land and owned the big house. She had passed it on to the family and the current owner was an attorney from Columbia, South Carolina, Robert Turnbull. Morris says that Robert Turnbull started the hunt club as a way to maintain the big house and provide a means of fellowship for the men in his church and their friends. Today, Morris is the oldest member of the hunt club and holds the keys to the big house. Morris says he helped raise Robert Turnbull, who spent many summers on Morris' farm as a child, so much so that Morris says Robert is like one of his children. So here we are, driving up to the big house with the grandson of a slave whose grandfather had worked the cotton fields for the owner of the big house and now the grandson had the keys to the big house on the land he used to work as a sharecropper and was the oldest member of the hunt club. I found myself right in the middle of the very thing that makes the South and Southern culture so ironic and complex, that it's hard for people who are on the outside of all this looking in to understand. All I knew to do was keep on shooting. Y'all used to use the old black iron wash pot, didn't you?

- Uh-huh. And that's they pit right there. That's what they barbecue on.

- [Stan] This trip to the big house to fetch the hash pot opened up my documentary into an entirely new dimension. Over the next two years, I would come to spend a lot of time getting to know Morris and Faye and their special relationship to the Hatiola Hunt Club, its leader, and its members. I soon got to know Robert Turnbull, the owner of Hatiola. He invited me to what is called a work weekend. This began my journey documenting the relationship between Morris Peeples, Hatiola, and the hunt club members.

- [Ted] I ain't seen none of him much.

- [Friend] By God, we got a picture of Ted Hayne working.

- [Ted] Hey, send it to my mother, please.

- [Friend] I'm gonna send it to Jake.

- [Ted] Well, he's never seen work so he won't know what it is.

- I'm watching these men do some fine work. My back has told me to stop.

- Do you do beeps in this thing to cut out the profanity? Or do you let the hare go with the hide?

- [Stan] What's going on here, son?

- That's a real good question. What we have here is some people who are not used to doing it who are committing work.

- This weekend, the Hatiola Hunt is having a work day going on right now. And then this afternoon, weather permitting, we'll have a skeet shoot and then cook probably about eight or nine bushels of oysters and have some jambalaya. Just a men's gathering of members of the hunt club and friends. That's excellent, isn't it? It's a heck of a saw but it ain't doing a whole thing.

- The last thing they said before they crawled up there was, "Hey y'all, watch this." Okay, okay. I got a story to tell you about-

- That's how we harvest pecans at Hatiola.

- Some years ago, we were sitting on the back porch with Morris. And for reasons best known to him, he was talking to all of us and he said, "You know, he said, this place is a holiness place." And we said, Morris, what do you mean by that? And he said, you gentlemen come down here and you spend all weekend having a good time, there ain't a cross word between you. You laugh, you drink, you have a wonderful time together, and there's never any fighting or fussing or anything. He said, I regard that as a holiness. And so that's what I think about this place.

- Let me give you a little history of Hatiola, as I understand it. The derivation of the name is not known by anybody living or anybody living in my lifetime, although we have the notes here written by my great grandfather when he was courting my great grandmother. The first note reads, Dear Nelia Walker, May I have the pleasure of a drive with you this afternoon? If so, let me know by the barrow. Respectfully, W.S. Mims from Hatiola, March 12, 1876. And the second note says, and you can see they'd progressed a little bit in their courting, My Dear Nelia, I will be over Sunday morning if nothing happens to prevent. I hear you are to have company in the evening and you know how that don't suit courting folks. So to avoid, I will come in the morning. Yours truly, Willie from Hatiola, July 26, 1876. So we went from Miss Nelia Walker to My Dear Nelia. From respectfully, W.S. Mims to yours truly, Willie in three months. And, of course, they ended up getting married and these are my great grandparents. We know that this house was built some time after 1865, before 1870, because Morris' uncle, Snap Peeples, remembered the house being built when he was about five or six-years-old. By his memory, we know he lived to be at least 108, if not older. But in having conversations with him, that's how we can date the house as being built some time between 1865 and 1870. People have become more urban. This is a rural tradition. South Carolina has traditionally been an agricultural state, but we're becoming more urban. Entertainment has changed to urban fun. When we get together as a group of men of roughly the same generation and we begin to talk about our families here in South Carolina, historically, we find that some of our ancestors knew each other. There is a history amongst us that we didn't even know existed. There were times when members of our families met, went to church together, were doctors or lawyers to each other, farmed with each other, were connected in some way. And we get to renew that friendship generations later.

- This was my first response on my first trip here, after spending an evening of fun and barbecue. And the next day, we're all asked to write down in a book something about this weekend and this was my first reaction to it. The Hatiola Doctrine. These are the times in our lives when we enliven great traditions of our common heritage. Through our zealous participation in activities, such as we have experienced this weekend, we breath life into the apparitions and dreams of our ancestors. Because of the altruistic friendship of Robert Turnbull and others, we carry on the joys unknown to so many who refuse to participate. They are blind. We can see the past, experience the present, and provide the foundations for our succeeding generations.

- [Stan] What do you mean, they're blind?

- People who don't want to participate in these events, these parties, these get-togethers don't see the history. They don't see what we see. They don't see that we're having more than just a good time of a bunch of good ole boys, we're doing what our ancestors did. And we know that through the telling of our stories because we hear the same information over and over. Our ancestors did similar things. They fought in wars, they survived calamities, they survived economic problems, they survived family problems, and we hear the stories. Those who don't participate or don't want to participate, they're blind to all of that. The only thing that matters to them is what's happening now in their life. They're current people, not historical people.

- I already asked why the groove is on the top.

- [Robert] Well, did you get an answer?

- No.

- Tell you what? We can use that hammer for the typical Hatiola project.

- [Stan] Why'd you throw the hammer down?

- [Ted] What do you mean, it's a typical Hatiola Project? Describe that.

- How many people do you see working and how many people do you see standing around?

- We gotta make a decision.

- [Stan] Talk about Robert's relationship to Morris. Morris calls him, what does he call him when he-

- Baby.

- Baby?

- Baby.

- Yeah, he calls him Baby.

- Uh-huh.

- What does Robert call him?

- Morris. But he refers to him as his Black daddy.

- His Black daddy.

- Yeah.

- Where is that relationship coming from? Do you know? Have you ever heard Robert talk about this?

- It's just something that's evolved. I mean, this place been in Robert's family since 1740 and Robert's been coming down here all of his life and Morris has been here all of Robert's life.

- [Stan] So from a little boy he knew-

- Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. That's just, and it's like so many relationships like that. They just, if it hadn't have been something there, it wouldn't have grown.

- [Stan] Um-hmm.

- Hello, pappy.

- Not much. How you doing?

- I'm doing good. How are you feeling?

- Well, I'm doing better than I been, boy. I had the pneumonia but I'm doing very well. Well, you're looking good.

- I come on this place before Robert born. And the grand auntie, his grand auntie, his grandmother now, I was under the influence with 'em. And I did all kind of things with them people. And they was nice to me, they treat me good. I never did fall out in the 70 years with them people. I never did fall out. Everything wasn't that smooth all the time, now. But they took care of me and places where I got in the shape that I needed help. Robert daddy was real great with me. But he was in the Army, he give me coats, suits. And when he come out the Army to come here hunting, me and him would go hunting together. And I got a word from this child that he had passed. And there were from me.

- I remember that.

- He told me, the door come, he had passed.

- [Stan] Who had passed?

- His father. And I went to crying. I got where I couldn't see. And let's don't talk about it no more.

- My dad had died early in the morning, like two or 3:00 in the morning. And I was over at his house and knew that Morris was supposed to be coming up there. So I called down here, I guess, Morris, fairly early, probably around 7:00. Seven or 7:30. And I just remember Morris being very upset. Morris, I want you to come up to the house this evening and do the blessing, okay?

- Name the time.

- Probably around 6:00 or so. I'll call you. I'll just call you. I'll call you.

- All right.

- 'Cause it depends on whether I want you to get here when we get some of that other work and stuff doing.

- Okay.

- Morris has just been an integral part of my life for all my life. My family could not have survived without people like Morris. And Morris couldn't survive with people like my family. Some of Morris' people were probably slaves of some of my ancestors but my characterization of it now is Morris is family. And maybe you noticed when we drove up, I called him pappy, you know, how you getting along. And I refer to him as my Black daddy.

- [Stan] Why do you call him your Black daddy?

- Because I love him. And the color is not an issue. I mean, we're not, obviously, blood related. But we're familially related because of family connections and the interwovenness and the adhesiveness of him to my family for over 70 years.

- Well, I been coming down here for, I think, since about '85. It could be a little later than that. And I just kind of always knew that Morris was Robert's Black daddy. And Robert just about thought as much of Morris Peeples as he did anybody. And I think over the years as it passed, that's been demonstrated quite well and the rest of us have a wonderful feeling about Morris. Morris is what my father would call, a gentleman of color. And he always knew that whatever you heard from Morris was gonna be straight and it was gonna be his true feelings. That he wasn't going to gild the lily, as it were, just for a bunch of white boys.

- I mean, thank God, Morris is still here. That's what's amazing to me. He's 93-years-old, his mind's still sharp. I mean, he's not only in the present but with a wonderful memory of members of my family and me and my children. And then when he will participate with us tonight, everybody there knows him and loves him. Now, he's not gonna remember everybody's name that's up there, but he knows they love him.

- Why don't we go over there?

- Sir.

- Jambalaya, a little shrimp, sausage, a little rice, bell pepper, onions, the Hatiola Jambalaya.

- [Attendee 2] Long as you don't burn the pot.

- [Stan] Some members of the hunt club say that Morris is an institution at Hatiola. I wonder what his absence one day would do to this deeply-rooted folklife tradition.

- [Attendee 3] Hey, Mr. Morris, how you doing?

- I'm doing. What you doing there, boy?

- I'm working, sir.

- [Attendee 4] Hot stuff coming through.

- [Morris] What that you got?

- I got some oysters in here.

- You got oysters?

- Yes, sir.

- Well, what did you do with them?

- [Attendee 3] Steam 'em up and you try to taste 'em

- You steam 'em up, then after you get 'em steamed up, what does you do with 'em?

- [Attendee 3] You gotta cut 'em open and suck 'em down.

- And suck 'em?

- That's right.

- Come on, everybody, gather up.

- [Stan] For the past 20 years or so, I learned that whenever there's a big gathering at the Hatiola Hunt, one of the rituals is the prayer to bless the food, prayed by Morris. The prayer seemed to cover a whole lot more than just food.

- Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come on earth. Give us this day our daily bread.

- I think that any person that Morris gets close to, he really touches their hearts. He's got so much wisdom and so much strength in his faith and in who he is. He's not worried about what other people think about him. He is who he is and people love him for that and he loves everyone else that he comes in contact with.

- We come to you in the humblest manner or way that we know how. Coming with a dropped down head and an aching heart, begging and asking you, Jesus, to please throw your loving arms around us and suffer those days to come before us, I pray thee, our heavenly Father. Oh Father, we ain't out here for no fun nor fashion. We out here first to try to keep your hand in our hand, that we will make it into the kingdom one day.

- It's neat to hear about Robert Turnbull and Morris. About how Robert grew up with Morris being this man in his life that wasn't his father but treated him so good. And Robert was telling me earlier about how he went to town with Morris one time and he was sitting in his lap. His first time driving a truck or something of that nature. But just his interaction with other people. With not just Black people or his family but of Robert Turnbull's family and how he got teary-eyed when he was talking about Robert's father's death and he couldn't continue to talk about it. It's very powerful to see a man that cares so much about just another person. Not a white person or a Black person but just another person.

- Amen.

- Amen!

- We had just started the hunt club and Morris didn't know quite what to think about that. And I figured he'd been living here since 1931 or '32 and he would know where the deer were. And it was the night before the opening day of Deer Season, I went down to his house and I asked him, Morris, you know where the deer moving down here? "Oh, yes, sir." He said, "They coming out here in my garden and eating up my garden." I said, "Well, is there a good place we can shoot from?" He said, "Yeah, there's an old truck down there and the deer are used to the truck. Just put somebody in the front seat and roll the window down, you can shoot 'em." I said, well, I'll back up and say that I'm a lawyer for the South Carolina Wildlife Department and have a badge and I'm commissioned. So I said, "Morris, I'll put somebody in there first thing in the morning." And Morris said, "No, sir, you can't do that. You got to put 'em out at night." He said, these deer coming at night. Put somebody in there tonight and let 'em shoot that deer with a big flashlight. I said, no, I don't believe we can do that. That's against the law. And he said, "Man, the man ain't been here since I been on this place." He said, "Don't worry about the man, he ain't coming up here." I said, "Morris, the man is here now." He looked around and said, "Where?" I said, "Right here, I am the man." And Morris said, "Oh Lord, listen to Morris talking to the man." Morris is talking to the man. You remember that, Faye?

- Yeah, I do. Yes, I do. It ain't fish, eggs, and rice but it ain't bad.

- You know what? I'm a carry mine home.

- [Stan] If I say Morris Peeples to you, what pops into your mind?

- A gentleman.

- He calls everybody baby, pretty much, around here. I guess that's because we're all so much younger than he is. And he has a lot of wisdom about him and he enjoys the simple things of life.

- Being able to soak up all that Morris has is, I mean, for a man that didn't get much schooling, he has got so much to teach and so much for other people to learn from him. It's a amazing thing. He's lived so long and had so many experiences that it's just stepping back in time when you hear the stories that he has to say.

- He's a guy, he looks on his fellow man, color is not involved with Morris. He just looks on his fellow man as a fellow man. And I think all of us here at the Hatiola and this hunt club, we feel Morris is like a father figure to us all and we enjoy his spirit and his spirit about life.

- [Stan] Do you think he's taught some of you the same lesson?

- I think he's taught me and everyone in this club, in this area around here valuable, valuable things about life and the way to live life and to be who you are, live simple.

- He's the best friend that I've had for literally all my life. A lot of these guys that are down here now, I've known since I was in single digits, eight or nine-years-old or so. But Morris I've known since the beginning of my cognitive memory, he's been a part of my life.

- [Stan] What do you call Morris?

- Well, you know, depending who I'm talking to, I refer to him as Morris when I see him. When I first greet him, I kind of call him pappy, just as a term of endearment. I refer to him at other times to the children and himself to my children as my Black daddy.

- If it come where I can't be here, will you make catfish stew?

- I'll still make catfish stew.

- I said if it be where I can't be here to get my catfish stew and you make it and I happen it over here-

- I'll bring it to you.

- Thank you, Jesus.

- I'll tell you what, every now and then when you dead and gone, I'll go there and put some on your grave. How 'bout that?

- Oh, that's all right.

- I hope that's a long time.

- Yeah. All right, take care now.

- Pappy?

- Yeah.

- Thank you.

- Oh, you welcome.

- Love you.

- Well, those fellas told me about that.

- They did the wobble thing and then we- I heard y'all had a good time.

- Whoa, you the second shot best.

- Good shot.

- All right, single ready.

- Pull.

- Nice shot. Let's do a double. Double, ready?

- Pull. Pull. Whoa.

- I've been hunting since I was about four or five. I started going with my dad and I'd sleep in the stand with him. Hatiola means, to me, it's just a place I can go. I live in the city so it's a big change for me, I really like it. It's a lot different and we just do different things here and not get nagged by everyone. As a boy, I guess it kind of helped me mature and learn the facts of life and learn things I need.

- [Stan] Now let me ask you about Morris Peeples. Do you know Morris?

- I know Morris. Morris has been here before I was born so I met Morris when I first came here, so I've known Morris a long time.

- [Stan] What is Morris to you?

- To me, Morris is a great guy and he takes care of the place I love. He's nice and he's kind to me. He's always giving me words of wisdom.

- [Stan] I've heard words of wisdom from old men and middle-aged men and young men. What do you mean by that?

- Well, it's words of wisdom coming from a 90-year-old man who knows what he's talking about. He's been around a long time so I trust him more than I trust anyone else.

- [Stan] And what do you like about getting out like this, in the woods?

- It just gives me a chance to relax and be in a quiet place and just think about things. Just give me a chance to collect my thoughts and be in nature.

- [William's Dad] It's important to come out in the country and learn the simple things in life. Come down, visit, visit Morris, have fellowship. William he enjoys coming down here a great deal.

- We went hunting and I saw my first fawn yesterday. And actually, there were two of 'em and three does.

- William had an interesting experience yesterday evening.

- Whatcha you doing, Morris?

- Well, I'm trying to put clay on the root of the potato vine. Putting the clay around it so it'll keep moisture. My mama learned it to me. My daddy died when I was 16 and we was on the farm. And you had to try to fix something for yourself to live. Mash that thing and I lay it in the bucket 'til tomorrow some time 'cause I want it good and stiff, where it stick. Pour some water and let it suck water all night. Some time tomorrow evening, I'll dig a hole and drop all that clay and stay in the hole. And she'll liven up then, ready to go. Just take it and stick it in there. And you got a bucket, just lay it down in the bucket.

- Excuse me.

- I wanna fix up these plants. This here is that old time I'm sticking 'em in this clay so they won't ruin 'til I get a chance to set 'em out. They won't ruin in this clay. Hold the water and the moisture to 'em. Now boy, you working now. You done learned how to work. This man run, he run for sheriff. And he win and Lord, he said he wanted me for one of his deputies. All right, and he put me on and I was a deputy sheriff for 15 or 16 years, Lord Jesus. So they come three white boys that done some bullying and well, I said oh God. I said, the white fella come to me, he was working in the hardware, and asked me to please go to Judge Peeples and ask him not to, see, that was they second degree for doing that. Not to let 'em go, they was gonna put 'em away you know, somewheres up in Columbia up there. So I went to him and I talked with the judge. I said, I wouldn't doubt that them boys might make lawyers, some of 'em. And some of 'em might make a judge. It might be where they'll make a president. They could do all sort of good things and help the country, help the people. And I said, don't send 'em away. Left 'em in a rough way, with their mother and father. And put 'em in a scared chair. And you know, some of them boys growed up and make good mens?

- Is that right?

- Yes sir. But my brother-in-law told me no, I wouldn't say nothing to him. I wouldn't help 'em nothing. But I helped colored and white. I helped the man what was in trouble and his rights was took. Now you know they take some white people's rights too. You know that?

- Yes sir.

- The law?

- [Stan] What you teaching this boy here, Morris?

- Well, I'm trying to tell him to listen at his father and his mother. That's the biggest thing in life that he could do and listen at 'em 'cause they ain't gonna teach him nothing wrong. 'Cause most people is teach the children good things. Ain't but a few people don't teach the children. You know, he's a good worker and he don't mind messing up his hands to do a piece of work. When there's do like that, oh, he'll make a man. Say, how come you acting like it's nasty? Come on back here and eat. Ain't nobody bothering you. Come on back!

- I'm pouring some water in this hole so it can wallow. Have some water to wallow in, keep him cool. Bringing 'em home. Still working, watering. Then put the corn in here and put the water to 'em.

- I'm trying to see can by Christmas I wanna try to make 'em weigh 75 pounds.

- [Stan] Is that right?

- [Morris] 75 pounds is all I want 'em to weigh by Christmas.

- [Stan] What you gonna do with 'em?

- Sell 'em. I got a barrel over there with the water in it to drink when they get ready.

- [Stan] You think they'll make 75 pounds?

- By Christmas?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, man. They'll be 100-pound hogs in there. They going to eat now and so I took 'em and bought something to get the worms out of 'em but it ain't done no good. See that young one going to drink water.

- [Stan] Um-hmm.

- I went out there and dig me some Jerusalem weed.

- Some what?

- Jerusalem weed.

- [Stan] Yeah?

- You don't know what Jerusalem weed is.

- [Stan] I don't think I do, Morris.

- All right, I dig them and give it to 'em and they straighten up and got slick and started to growing.

- [Stan] Well now, where did you learn about the Jerusalem?

- Well, my daddy, he never did give hogs no worm medicine. And he had me cutting them weeds and giving the hogs. And shoot, he wasn't nothing but a hog man.

- Your daddy?

- Yeah.

- [Stan] Yeah.

- During them times, we didn't have no market to sell hogs in. And them people in them stores would get him to butcher a hog and he would grab that hog and starve him and throw him in the barrel. And that hog would be in there and when he come out he clean. But I never had that kind of nerve. I got the heebies. I don't have the nerve to do that.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you, 94 ♪

- How y'all doing?

- Fine.

- [Stan] Isn't somebody having a birthday here?

- [All] Yes!

- Who is it?

- Grandpa!

- Where is he?

- In the kitchen.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to grandpa ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ How old are you ♪

- How old are you?

- Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

- Hold old are you? Look in the camera. How old are you?

- [Grandchild 2] 94.

- 94-years-old.

♪ I got one more river ♪

- I'm 94-years-old.

♪ To cross ♪

- So we gonna let his 15-year-old grandson chauffeur him up to the big house.

- [Stan] Can you drive this thing?

- Yes sir.

- All right.

♪ Father, he'll be waiting ♪

- [Faye] I think it's gonna be a beautiful time

♪ He can't help me to cross ♪

♪ Father, he'll be waiting ♪

♪ He can't help me to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river to cross ♪

- [Stan] What you hear, Morris?

- I hear the bell ringing when I came into the world.

♪ Jesus, he'll be waiting ♪

- Good morning

♪ He gonna help me to cross ♪

♪ Whoa, Jesus, he'll be waiting ♪

- How you doing? It's the birthday boy

♪ He gonna help me to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river ♪

♪ To cross ♪

- They ringing this bell because it was 12:00 when I was born. Yeah.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

♪ Well, Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river ♪

♪ I got one more river to cross ♪

- Thank you.

- All right.

- How you doing?

- I'm doing fine.

- Good, good. How you doing?

- All right, all right.

- My son-in-law.

- Eat that cake.

- Be careful, be careful, be careful.

- That is beautiful.

- We put the pond and everything and y'all's pigs. We had to put the pigs in there.

- [Faye] Yeah, that's beautiful.

- [Grandchild 2] Ma, look at the cow coming out the barn.

- Aw, and the pond. I wonder how long it took them to do that. Look, he eating some grass.

- I think that's beautiful.

- [Grandchild 1] Look at that horse.

- Happy birthday again.

- Yes, ma'am, thank you.

- God bless you.

- Happy birthday. See, there's grand daddy Morris.

- Hello there. How you feel, baby?

- She say you didn't kiss her yesterday. My grandfather is a person of keen knowledge and wisdom with many interesting stories to tell, actually true stories. And always speaks his mind and says what's on his mind, no matter to whom he's speaking or whatever the consequences, he will speak his mind.

- He's the King Solomon of this area. He's looked up to, he's been there for so long. He knows everybody who is here now and who's come and gone. And he's just sought after for his wisdom. And one example of that was at his church, Frost Branch Baptist Church, got into a terrible row and it was splitting the church. They fought for several weeks over some issue. The minister was on one side and some of the congregation was on the other and they didn't seem to be able to reach a conclusion. In one of these protracted meetings, Morris stood up and told everyone to clear the building. And he is the eldest deacon in the church. And there was a great hewing cry when he said this. And he held up the keys and he said, I have the keys. The minister doesn't have 'em, I have 'em. And so they all eventually left the building and he locked the building up. And he got on the phone and he called one of his favorite judge buddies of South Carolina, explained to him what was going on and the judge told him he had the right to do it. And after a couple of months, he re-opened the church and everybody came back in and it quieted the fight. And he preached to 'em about what it means to be in unity. And in Christ's world, unity is paramount.

- Are you ready for some cake and ice cream?

- Yes'm, after this little prayer.

- Oh, I know we gonna pray. I knew that. I didn't question that.

- If you get the other folks in here and let's have a prayer.

- Everybody needs to come in and pray.

- All right, children, come in here, kids. Come on. We gotta say the prayer. Then we can have cake and ice cream.

- I said, oh Lord, I'm so thankful that the people that's standing around trying to help me cross the Jordan River. I said oh Lord, our heavenly Father, I'm coming to you in the humblest manner or way that I know how.

- 1987, my son was born. And by the time he was about four-years-old, I started bringing him down here with me to go fishing and spend the night and do all the things that we do down here. So my son is the fifth, a lot of his life has grown up here. And you can't grow up here without having Morris as a part of your life. And so Morris would come to visit or we would go see Morris. And Morris, children gravitate to him. He's a kind man and he's a fatherly man and he tells stories. And my son would be wild as an Indian running around here just having, he just free. I mean, there's no encumbrances here. There's no traffic, there's not much you can do to get in trouble really here. And Morris and I would be having talks and all and my son, over the years, would grow up. And to this day, my son considers Morris to be very much a part of his maturing process.

- Oh Lord and bless us to rest with Jesus forever. Amen.

- Amen.

- We wanna judge a person for what they are, not what color they are. Everybody has got a chance. It's funny really coming, 'cause it hit me the other day, Martin Luther King's famous speech was about I want my daughter to be accepted for who she is and not judged by the color of her skin. I think most of us have come to that point now. It took awhile for us to get there but there's a lot of people, I think, and some of 'em are Southerners, that are not gonna give a man a chance to be what he wants to be or be what he can be but strictly gonna judge by the color of the skin. There are another group of people that's gonna, well, just because he's Black, he is downtrodden and we've got to do everything for him.

- Um-hmm.

- And that comes down to that BS line I gave a little while ago too.

- [Stan] This man impresses me as somebody that if nobody did anything for him, he'd be on top of things.

- He'd be handling it, ain't no question about it. And that's why people like to help him.

- [Stan] Um-hmm.

- I mean, you know, I got friends that help me to do things, I help them do things. That's what it means by getting along in this world.

- [Stan] That's what you are talking about in terms of building relationships with individuals.

- Exactly, exactly.

- And then coming to love 'em.

- That's right.

- Because I see a lot of love between you and Morris and all these men and Morris and Morris and you.

- Yeah.

- [Stan] Morris and his own family. He's kind of a one of a kind to me.

- Well, I don't know really whether he is or not, Stan. He's just the one we know. And I think there's probably, in a lot of these little settlements like this that you've got around and about down here in the South, that I think you'll probably find other relationships like this. And I think this one is unique in the fact that so many people are aware of it. I think that's got a lot to do with it because when you have a number of people like Robert has down here and the stories get told and we've been known to embellish a story, varnish the truth here and there. But I think everybody will just say that Morris Peeples is a fine old gentleman.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

The Hatiola Hunt Club has adopted Morris and Morris has adopted the Hatiola Hunt Club.

- [Stan] It's a mutual thing.

- It's a mutual thing, it really is. But it's like people should be. It's like people should be.

♪ Happy birthday dear Morris ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

- [Morris] Yeah, 94.

- Well, I grew up in Columbia so we would always come down to grandmother's house in Barnwell and she'd always bring us out to the farm to visit Morris when I was here. And he would always let us ride on the tractor with him and sit on his lap. And we thought we were driving when we were three-years-old. And one of my favorite memories is when they'd be picking cotton. And they'd put the cotton in this huge bin. And Morris would say he was gonna give us a quarter and pay us to pack the cotton, which really meant he'd just put us in that big old cotton bin and let us jump up and down and pretend like it was a trampoline. And whoever was working the farm would say, get those children out of that cotton. And Morris would say okay, but he never got us out of the cotton. He'd always leave us in there and let us play as long as we wanted to. And then he'd pay us that big quarter and we always thought that we were something else, working on the farm.

- Good night, y'all.

- All right.

- Bye-bye.

- Bye.

- Well, I'm thanking you for standing around.

- [Robert] We had a good time doing it.

- And I know you can't help me cross the river but I'm thanking y'all for being there.

- [Robert] Thank you.

- [Morris] You know that song saying about you standing there but you can't help me cross, it take Jesus to help you cross the river? I'm thanking you for standing and being there.

- Thank you, Morris.

- All right.

- Thank you, man.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

- All right, pappy.

- All right.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

- If you hang around, you ain't gonna believe what's gonna happen on your 100th birthday.

- You gonna have 100, you reckon?

- You are.

- You know, I'm a tell you the truth, you saying that and we laughing. But that might be true.

- Oh yeah.

- You know, mama lived 'til she was 100-years-old and two months.

- [Robert] And how old was Snap?

- Seven.

- 107.

- [Robert] Yep, it could be.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

- [Faye] Bye-bye.

♪ Jordan River, I'm bound to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river to cross ♪

♪ Mother, she'll be waiting ♪

♪ She can't help me to cross ♪

♪ Mother, she'll be waiting ♪

♪ She can't help me to cross ♪

♪ Mother, she'll be waiting ♪

♪ She can't help me to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river to cross ♪

♪ Father, he'll be waiting ♪

♪ He can't help me to cross ♪

♪ Father, he'll be waiting ♪

♪ He can't help me to cross ♪

♪ Father, he'll be waiting ♪

♪ He can't help me to cross ♪

♪ I got one more river to cross ♪

- See this old tractor. You know, I don't, all the farming I've one, I haven't carried but one tire for somebody else to fix it.

- [Stan] You fix it yourself?

- Uh-huh.

- Um-hmm. It working but it ain't working good. When the tractor replace the news, right after that, the children, they went to putting people in jail, making 'em pay a pile of money for having children supposed to be in school in the fields. That's why they got the cotton picker. There he come with the horse. He coming with the horse.

- Huh?

- He coming with the horses.

- [Stan] What they doing up there?

- Oh, they having a cane squeeze.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- [Stan] You going up there today?

- Oh yeah, I'll be up there later.

- [Stan] What do you do?

- Give 'em the prayer for dinner. Every time they call me, I give 'em a prayer.

♪ Well, we leave tomorrow before sun up ♪

♪ Heading for the hunting club ♪

- Well, he's gonna drill a hole through there and put this eye bolt in there so we have a place to hook the single tree for the horse.

♪ We leave tomorrow then start back ♪

♪ Then watch the railroad turn to wide ♪

♪ And every year it's so much fun ♪

♪ At the Hatiola Hunting Club ♪

♪ Well, the place look same as it did back then ♪

♪ Skate throughout the sermons then ♪

♪ On the 'morrow and through the seed ♪

♪ You gotta set that Hatiola beat ♪

♪ Well, we leave 'em out then start 'em back ♪

♪ Then watch them rip and turn the lights ♪

♪ And every year it's so much fun ♪

♪ At the Hatiola Hunting Club ♪

♪ When we first get there, it's cold and gray ♪

♪ clouds a-way ♪

♪ There's dance, food, and a big old mill ♪

♪ That's because most were cotton fields ♪

♪ Well, we leave 'em out then start 'em back ♪

♪ Then watch them rip and turn the lights ♪

♪ And every year it's so much fun ♪

♪ At the Hatiola Hunting Club ♪

♪ Well, we leave them out then start 'em back ♪

♪ Then watch 'em rip and turn the lights ♪

♪ And every year it's so much fun the Hatiola Hunting Club ♪

- [Morris] Oh, there he is.

- All right, now you gonna hang around and preach to us in about 30 minutes or 45 minutes?

- Oh yes, that's what I come up here for.

- Morris and I have never sharecropped together and we never planted potatoes or watermelons together but I've been knowing Morris Peeples for now almost 60 years. My father was a life insurance salesman and he did that for 26 years, prior to his death, back in 1968. And he knew Morris. He and Morris were, let's say, in business together. And my dad, I remember he would go through the rural areas of Barnwell County and collecting a nickel a week, a dime a week, a dollar a week, you know, depending on the size of the policy and whatnot. And I would ride with him as a child. And one thing that makes me know Morris Peeples so much is that my father knew him and my father respected Morris Peeples.

- That's Ms. Vanderwahl.

- How are you?

- Hey, Morris.

- How y'all.

- How are you?

- How are y'all doing?

- He was a fair man, a just man, an honest man. He strived to make peace and to keep peace. He took care of his family.

- That's Mr. Fred.

- He's just been a super fella in the community. He's served on the jurors of the county and he comes into the county courthouse from time to time. Brings us some sweet potatoes on some of his visits and everything. Just a super person and a good friend.

- My father is a person that no creed, religions, or color, or forms or fashion comes up on him. He is a man that would give a hand and he would give love to anybody to help someone. Raising children, so many generation out of his home, he has done that. I have so many brothers and sisters throughout the land. And he has a real good relationship with not saying creed or color but I'm saying of white folks. He has plenty doctors, lawyers, people that love him and care for him.

- Oh Lord, it's great to see you.

- Yes, ma'am.

- You got another birthday coming up.

- Robert owns the place but Morris runs it. He loves us and we love him.

- I've been here about 74. 74 years.

- He's a member for all his life. As long as he lives, he'll be a member here.

- I just, all the generations.

- [Woman] Yeah, you've seen a lot.

- Way back to the just come to these children that are the third and the fourth generation on this place.

- Hatiola, I think is more of a state of mind than a place. It's just fellowship. We have people from all walks of life. Everybody just gets along. It's, like I say, a fellowship.

- Part of it for me is the history that's here, the heritage that's here. Our grandmother was born on this place. And then after it was petitioned and divided up in the early '60s and my mother inherited where we are now, there's just been so many memories.

- You know, I remember when all out here was pines that big.

- Really?

- All out there, pines was that big. You know that house you staying in?

- Yes.

- Some of them pines come from right out there.

- I'll bet so.

- Did they?

- I don't doubt it.

- From right out there, they was cut.

- Morris is a very, very special person to me because he and my dad were not only, he didn't only work for my dad but they were very good friends. And he worked on my dad's farm for years and years and years. And he was just his, I'd say right-hand man.

- [Robert] There he is. Hey, pappy.

- How you getting on?

- I'm doing good. Morris came over here in, I believe, around 1934. He was actually brought on the place by Miss Mabel, what we call auntie. And then when your daddy got old enough to help with auntie, then he and auntie were operating the farm when we were little and growing up, of course, until he died.

- Right.

- And he died when, 19-

- '57.

- Um-hmm.

- I feel so good 'til I feel like crying.

- He just loved my dad so and they were just really close. And he just goes back a long way.

- They call for me to come for a prayer.

- I think and some respects, it's kind of like this place, it's something that's been handed down. I mean, Morris had a very loving and close relationship with my mother and my father, with Cornelia's mother and father, our grandmother, the aunt that operated the place. And thanks be to God, Morris is still living at 94 and that's been a blessing that's been handed down to us. As I described, talking to one of the hunt club members last night, my life is just immeasurably, has been immeasurably enhanced and blessed by having Morris Peeples as a part of my life for all my life.

- [Stan] The two of you seem to have a tremendous love for this place, Hatiola. Would you say that's true?

- That is true.

- [Stan] Where is that coming from?

- It's a real blessing that it's been passed on to us, I mean, at least through seven or eight generations, that we're still allowed to be here and-

- Enjoy it.

- Enjoy it and spread the joy of it with other people.