Hannah Battle
Hannah Battle was enslaved throughout her life, but she was freed later on. She was born in 1892 in Georgia. She was enslaved and was a house slave. She was not allowed to learn how to read or write and she later explained that if she was caught writing she would get her pointer finger cut off so that she could not hold a pencil. Due to this she was uneducated and illiterate for a large chunk of her life. She was very open about her experiences while she was enslaved and discusses difficult topics like her owner being hard on his slaves and expresses that she was whipped and forced to go to bed after the slave trade was banned. This happened a lot, but no one ever talked about it because of the stigma so her speaking up about her experiences was very brave. Her family lived in Georgia and later moved into Alabama or lived in Macon County prior to the county line changing. She then met Alfred and they unofficially got “married” while they were both enslaved in 1850, which was illegal for enslaved people to do at the time. When they were freed Alfred was a farmer and Hannah was a laundress. They lived on a farm in Auburn Village that they owned. Due to this, we can assume they were well off than others of their circumstance. They ended up having 16 kids though only 13 survived. They owned property and ended up selling it in 1910. It is likely that they ended up getting an education between the 1880s and 1900s because they learned how to read. They bought 80 acres of land in 1893 for $250. This property would be past where the railroad tracks are now near the mall. They ended up selling their land for $350. They died at ages 60 and 65. They were members of an insurance group, Buena Vista, that helps with their burial and their funeral.
Contributed by Anna and Joshua from Auburn High School