%images;]> mesn-161 Slave narratives, a folk history of slavery in the United States from interviews with former slaves. Texas Narratives, Volume XVI, Part 1: a machine-readable transcription. Born In Slavery: Ex-Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Projectmesn Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.

Washington, DC, 2000.

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 2000/05/26
Untitled Section 001

A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED J3Y THE FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT g 1936 1938 ASSEMBLED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE PISTR~CT OF COLUMBIA SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated with Photographs WASHINGTON 1941 SLAVE NARRATIVES

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~ ~ \ ~ ~- VOLUME XVI TEXAS NARRATIVES PART I Prepared by t~ie Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress A~dministrat ion for the State of Texas

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INFORMAN~ B Adams, Will Adams, William Adams, William M. Allen, Sarah Anderson, Andy Anderson, George (Wash) Anderson, Willis Armstrong, Mary rnwine, Stearlin Ashley, Sarah Babino, Agatha Barclay, Mrs. John Barker, John Barnes, Joe Barrett, Annstead Barrett, Harriet Bates, John Beokett, Harrison Bell, Frank Bell, Virginia Bendy, Edgar Bendy, Minerva Benjamin1 Sarah Bess, Jack Betts, Ellen Beverly Charlotte Black, Francis Blanchard 01 ivi er Blanks, Julia Boles, Elvira Bonner ( Bonner) Betty Boyd, Harrison Boyd, Issabella Boyd, James Boykins, Jerry Brackins, Monroe Bradshaw, Gus Brady, Wes Branch, Jacob Branch, William Brini, Clara Brooks, Sylvester Broussard Donaville Brown, Fannie Brown, Fred Brown, James Brown, Josie Brown, Zak Drum, Madison Bunton, Martha ~3pence Butler, Ellen Buttler, Henry H. Byrd, William Cain, Louis Calhoun, Jeff Campbell, Simp Cape, 3~ames Carruthers, Richard Carter, Cato Cauthern, Jack Chambers, Sally Banks Choice, Jeptha Clark, Amos Clark, Anne Cole, Thomas Coleman, Eli Coleman, Freely Collins, Harriet Columbus Andrew (Smoky) Connally, Steve Connier, Valmar Cornish, Laura Crawford, John Cumby, Green Cuxnmins, Tempie Cunningham Adeline Daily, Will Daniels, Julia Fi ancis Darling, Katie Davenport, Carey Davis, Campbell Davis, William Davison, Eli Davison, Elige Day, John Denson, Nelsen Duhon, Victor 156 160 163 166 169 174 176 179 182 185 188 191 193 Qr~ J.., r 202 212 214 217 220 223 225 236 240 242 246 249 252 254 257 260 263 266 J L~ 973 278 281 285 289 295 298 302 305 307 1 4 9 12 14 Washington 17 21 25 31 34 37 39 42 45 47 49 51 54 59 62 66 68 70 72 75 84 87 90 93 106 109 112 114 117 121 124 130 133 137 A 147 149 151 154

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ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page 1 4 25 31 34 66 72 72 84 87 109 114 il ? J.24 133 143 147 149 151 ~ ~. 154 156, 160 163 Will Adans William Adams Mary Armstrong Sterlin Arnwine Sarah Ashley Edgar and Minerva Bendy Jack Bess s House Jack Bess Charlotte Beverly Francis Black Betty Bonner (Bonner) Issabella Boyd James Boyd Monroe Brackins Wes Brady William Branch Clara Brim S;~lvester Brooks Donaville Broussard Fannie Brown Fred Brown 3~ames Brown ~rosie Brown

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Facing page Zek Bx own 166 Martha Spence Bunton 174 Ellen Butler 176 Sirap Campbell . 191 ~Tames Cape 193 Cato Carter 202 Amos Clark s Sorghum Mill 220 A1fl08 Clark ~ 220 Anne Clark ~ 223~ Preely Coleman 240 Steve Connally 249 Steve Connally s House ~ 249 Vairnar Connier 252 3~o1in Crawford 257 Green Cumby 260 Tempie Cuminins 263 Adoline Cunningham 266 Will Daily s House 269 Will Daily 269 Tulia Francis Daniels 273 Katie Darling 278 Carey Davenport 281 Campbell Davis ~ 285 Nelsen Denson . 305

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 006 001

Ll )C~ ) ~L~SLAVE STORI~3 Page One .~ ~ :1 (Texas) ~ ~ WILL ADAMS waB borr~ in 1857, a slave o ~ Dave Cavin, in Harrison Co., Texas. He re-P malnecl with the Cavins until ~ . 1885, then farmed for himself. will lives alone in Marshall, Texas, supported by a $13a00 m~ntbly pension. My folks allus belongs to the Cavins and wore their name till after ~rn3ncipat~on, Pa and ma was named Freeman and~ Amelia Cavin and. Massa Dave fotches them to Texas from A1ab~ma, along with ma s mother, what we called Maria. The Cavins allus thunk lots of their niggere and Grandma Maria say, Why shouldn t they ~- it was their money~.1 She say there was plenty Indiens here when they settled this cotnitry and they bought ana traded with them without kuhn tb~n~ if they could, The Indians was poor folks, jus ~ p ufer and loaf r ound all the t ime. The n iggers was a heap s ight . better off than they was, cease we had plenty to eat and a place to stay. !otLng Massa Torn was my special massa and he still lives here. Old Man Dave seemed. to think more of his niggers than anybod~y and we tthmk lots of ~r white folks, My pa was leader on the farm, and. there wae~ t no over~ seer or driver. When pa whip a nigger he needn t go to Massa Dave, but pa say, Go ou way. you nigger. Freem~ui didn t whip you for nothin . Massa D~3:~~e ~11ue believe pa1 cause he tells the tr~ith. . : . ~ ~ ~ UQne time a peddler come to our.house and after supper he goes to ~ see bout hi~ pony. . Pa d.o~e feed that pony fifteen ears of corn. The peddler tell massa bis pony ain t been fed nothiu and. masse git m~4 ~nd ~ Be on you w~ iffen you gwin. cuae my niggers of lyin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~j ~

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Ex~a1ave Stories Pace Two ~. ~ p 0 (Texas) ~ ~ We had good quarters and. plenty to eat. I members when I s just walki.nt rc~nd good. pa come in from the field at night and. taken me otit of bed. and dress me and feed me and then p1a~r with me for hours. Him bein. leader, he s gone from kfore day till after night. The old heads got out early but us young.~crap~ slep till eight or nine otclock, ~x~d don t you think Massa Dave ain t comm1 r~md to see we is fed. I~ members him like it was yeet dazy, comin to the quarters with his stick and aski i us, Had your breakfas ? ~ say, Yes, suh. Then ~ ask if we had nough or wanted an~ more, It look like he taken a pleastire in seem us eat, 4~t dinner, when the field hands corne in, it am the same way. He was sho that potlicker was fill as long as the niggers want t o eat. NThe hands worked from sun to sun. Massa give them 11,1 crops and. let them work them on Saturday. Then he bought the stuff and the nig~ers go to Jefferson and buy clothes and sech like. Lots saved money and bought freedom ~ fore the war was over. ~ We went to churc)z and first the white preacher pre~ched and then he lama our cullud preachers . I seed him ordain a cullud preacher and he told him to allus be honest. When the white preacher laid his hand on him, all the niggers git to hollerin and shoutin and pr~v~in and that nigger git scart mos to death. . t, On . Chri stm s we had all we could ea.t and. drink and aft er that a big ~ ~ ~ party, and. you ought to see them gals swingin they partners round. T:hen massa have two niggers wrestle, and. our sports and dances was big ~iport f o.~ S ~ White folka~ They dsit onthe ge1ler~ and watch the niggers put it On ~brown. a.2~ ~ ~ ~ ~. : : ~ ~ ~ . ~

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3 ~x.~s1ave Stories Page Thr e (Texas) Massa didn t like his niggers to marry ou tue place, bu~t sometime. they d. c~o it, and massa tell his ne ighbor ~My nigger ~in comm t o you pi ace. Make h im~ behave ~ 4~1 the ni~e rs ~ ha~e& then and. they wann ~ no Hu~nt avilie and. gallows and burnin s then. ~ . Old massa went to war with his boy, Billie, Theyts lots of cry1n~ and weepin when they sot us free. Lots of them did& t want t o be free cause they knowed nothin1 and hrid. nowhere to go. Then what had good massas staye& right on. ~ - t, I tmmember s when that Ku Klux -bus ines. s tart s up. Smart nigger. causes that. The carpet-badgers ruint the nigger. and thewhite iiien couidn, ~ c1~ a thing with thera, so they got up the Ku. Xiux and stirs up the world. Thera carpet~ baggers come round larnth niggers to sass the white folks what d.one fed. them. They come to pa with that talk end. he told them, Listen, white folks, you is gwine start a graveyard if yoti come~ round here teachin nig~ers to sass white folks.~ Them carpet-.baggers etarts all the trouble at lections in Reccnstruction. Ni~g rs didn t know ~nythin tmbout politics. NMOs$ theyoung nigger. ain t usi& the education they got now, I~s been here eighty years and .tili has to be showed end told. b! white folks. These young niggers wontt git told by whites or blacks either. They thinks they done knowed it ail and. that gits them in trouble. ~ II stays wtth the Cavins moe twenty years after the war. Mter I :..ieav~~s, I ailus farms said does odd jobs round town here. I s father of ten ~.:*i .1en by one ~Eman. I lives by myself now arid they gives me $13.00 a month. Itd be proud. to git it i~ it wasntt more n a dollar, cause they ain t nothin ~a o~ man c~an do no more. ~ ~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 009 004

il )r~t~:; ~ EL.&~AU ~!OR1L~ Page t:~k. ~ 4 (Texas) WILLIAM ADIMS, 93, was born i~i slav.r~y, with no opportumit~ for en education, xcspt three aor~ths in a public school. He has t~ight hi~eelf to read and ~ ~ to writ.. Hio lifelong a~biu tion has been t o become easter of the a~pernatural powers which he bilieves to exist. He is n~ wsll.known among 8 .i~thweetsrn Negro.. for hi. faith in th, occult. To~ia want to know end telk abont de power de people tslli y ~ I bas1 WeU~ sit doua here, right there in dat chair, befo we~uns starts. i: gits oe ice wat r and. den we~uns ce~ discuss de subject. I wants to splain it clee~rl7, so youe can undereten4. I s born a slays, 93 years ago, so of c~irs I ~sabs d~ war period. Like all de other alavei I has to chance for edumacation. Three months am de total time t a sp nt going to school. t teached. sy~elf to read and write. X,s anxious to lars to read so I could s~w,7 and find out about amy th~ngs. D~ I has done, WThsr. am lots of folks, and edumacated. ones, too, what s~s we ~vns believes in .upsr.tit ion. Wel 1, it i cause dey don t under. stand. kember de Lawd, in som ~ Eis we~s can b. ~yst ritoua~ D Bible says so. There s~e thisgi de Laid wants & 1 folks to know, so~ things jus de chosen few t o know, end soue things no one should know. low, just cause y~ts don t know bout a~ie of de Lawd s laws, I taint s~peretitton if some other person uMeritands and believes is sich. ~There ii some bors to sing, some born to preach, and. so~ ~.- born to know de signa. Th~rs ii soue born under de powsr of &. d~ vil l~

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Jx~.slaYS Stories . Page Two 5 ~ ~ (Texas) an I hare de power to put i~ury and misery on people, and some born under d power of b Lawd for to do good and overcome dc . vil po~r. Now, dat produc.e two forces, liks fire and wate~re ~Ytl forces starts de fir. and I bas de water force to put de fire out. SHow I larnt sich? Well, I . done lam it. It come to me. When de Lewd gives sich power to a persons it just comes to em. It am 40 years ago now when s tust fully reslige dat I has de power. However, t s allw~ int risted. in do workin s of 4.. signs. When I s c~ little piecaninn.y, ~ ma~ and mther folks used to talk about de signs. I hears dem talk about what hqpens to folks cause a spell was put on oem. ~3. old folks in den d~a knows mors about de signs ~at de Lawd uses to reveal Eis laws den de folks of todey. It em ehe true of de Cu11U4 folks in Africa4 dey iuitivs land. Sons of de fol~ le~hs at their beliefs end says it an ~perstit ion. but it i knowin how &. Lawd re~s&Ls Eis l~s. Wow, let me tell joue of something I~s seen. That en seei~, cen t be doubted. It h~pens when t s a young mari and befo I s real IZS dat l s one dat am chosen for to show de power. A mule had eait his leg so bad dat him am bleedia to death and dey couldn t step it. An old cullud men liTs near there dat dey turns to. He c~es over and passes his hand over de cut. isfo long tie ble dint stop and dat s de power of do Lawd workin throu h dat nigger, dat s all it . WI knows about a woman dat had lost her mind. De doctor say it wae c~5ed f:~iom a tum i~ de head. Dey toot an ex..ray picture, but dore s no t~aor. Dsy gi~ss up and~ sels its a pecul mr cas.. ~t w~ was took to one with de power of ds good spirit and he s~q its a peculiar case for dem dat don t understand. Dim ~n a case of di lvii spell. Two d~s after, de

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~x-elave Stories Page Three (j (Texas) wOaan ha~ her rind back. Dey s lots of dose kind of cases de ord nery person never hear about. Tous hear of de case de doctors can t understaM, nor will dey spend to treataant. Dat a~ eanae of & evil spell dat aa on de p rsons. 513o~it special persons bein chosen for to show de power, read you.s Bibi,. It says in de bo k of Mark, third chuter, tand H. ordained twelve, dat dey Should be with Ria, dat Re wight send them forth to preach and to have d. power to heel de sick and t~ cast ~tt devils. If it was t no evil in people, wh~ does de Lawd sq. cast ~it sich? A~td in de fifth eb~ter of Jaaes~ it further sei, 1f any an sick, let hi. call de elders. Let dem pre~ o v er hie. De prayers of faith shall save hi. There tie again. Jaith, dat aa ihat coiants. Witten t tells dat I seen ~RD7 person. given up to die, aM d~n a aan with tie power coises aM saves sich person, den its not for people to say it an superstition to b.li.ve in de power. ~Do&t forgit ~ t. agents ct de devil have de power of evil. Dey can put ziser~ of every kind on people. Dey can aa cB trouble with de work and with de business, with de f~ ly and with ds health. So folks isis be on de watch all di time. Polki has business trouble canoe de evil power have control of es. Dey has de evtl power east out and Bave di b~zsin s.. There ~ a ~an in Waco dat coae to see ee boat dat. Ko say to me o~er~thing he try~ to do in de las stx aonths turned ~t ~ It starts with h~a lesta his pocketbook with $50.00 in it. K. ~ 7. a carload of h~q aM it catch firs aM he los .11 of it. Be spends

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T~x~.slaTe Stories Peg. P~.r (Texas) $200.00 advertisin de thr.i..d~ sale and it begin to rain, so he )~Oa M0fle7. It aho am tie s~ll power. ~ell, h. say, Dat a~ de w~ lt go, so I c~ee to yott. I .e7s to hini, Its de evil power dat ha~e you control . we1~ins shall eauas it to be cast out. It e done aitd he has no aor trouble. You wants to know if persons with de powe:i for good can be successful in castin out devils in all cases? !ell~~ I anewsre dat, yes and no, Dsy can in every cas if de affected person 1i~air~ de faith. If de party not ha,, enough faith, den it ~ a failure. qearin de coin for prot~ction gainet de evil power? D~t a~ .laple. Lot. of folks wears sich and dey uses ~ixtvris di~t am t prink. le~ in de house, and elch. Dat am a question ~ fait~. If dey has de true faith in sich, it works, Otherwise, lt wo&t. Some folks won t think fo a minute of goi\I without lode stone or de salt and pepper mixture in de litti. eack~ tied round diy n ck.~ Sosse wears de silver coin tied round dey neck. All sich a~ t~r todkt!~ awa~ de ~ff~at o~ de evil p~ower, Ihen on, h~re d~ faith iz~ sich an ~ &C~ d nt&y LOIS as h&i ~, iwy atto alsorable. eej~ old. darky dat has faith iz~ lodsstone foi da chs~x~ toi& ~e de spsrierLc. he has in Mianta onc.. He carryiu de hod and de f%~st tbiiAg he dois drap soas brick on he foot 1~ next thing, ~.s foot slip as hin starts ~p de lAUer and hi~ sud d bricks &r~ to de gr~M. It am lucky for hi~ it wasn~t fez . Jus a sp?raifl ankle ~L as boss senda hi~ ht*e for de day. !e ais CIted and gite on de atTest oar aM ehen de coa&~ct r oeil for de fars Rufua rsa&~sa for he ~~asy

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Jzislavs St~ri s peg. liv. 8 iTexas) but he los lt or forgits it at ha~ie, D. oondnctor sej he let him pe~ flex tiai an~ asks wh.r . bs ~iv.. B*tus tells hin end h. say, Why, ~agg.r, yo~i :~s ~ de ~o~i ci~T ~)a~ c~iiss ~ufus to walk further ~tth de lanze foot dan if b.. start~i& wa1~rla~ in de tust place. He thinks ther Mu. b. soaething wrong with he cb~ar~, aM he look for it nd lt gone! Sho nough, it en los,. le think~ ~Ier. I sits all d.~, and I won t aake another ~0,, till I ~it,, d l~ic~e~iton. When cL. chilien school I sends de~ to de ru~storf~ fo~ s~ of d. eton.. and g~1 flied.. 10w, now, 1 i~ bv~en wu~t* for dat one bont~~ black cat ~ crossi* de r~ad, eMsho~ ~&aigh~ :1~t come. Let ~e ~ on. Kow aaiy p.opie c~n yons find da~ ltki~a t~ have .. bi#t;~ oat cross in front f~, of ea? Dat ii right, no uns lik.~ da4L !~et ~ old culiud person in~ fori yons dat it sho ~Le ad 3~c1c 4i~.,~ It is sign of bad. luck ahe~d, so tu211 back, Stop what 7O~i dotii~ ~ s;! . tellin ~ia of t~ .f aaz~y cases of failure to took warum fron die black cat. ~ ~ e. im~ cell Miller. Ris wife and hut f em takin en a~uto ride end d~!ftl~,.c~ ~at cross de road. end he cuued a little ~d got. on. ~n ~ ~ot l~ till he ~rns de corner and his i~tte fLUO ont of de car dw 4~~ ~ tur ~n,, i~en he goes back end picks her ~ ehe 5M d a&r f&Ut~1 eaU ~ was a..rt&in hossba k and a do j~e.th, bul he ~lYti On. Well, iti not long till hisi e;~ throw h~i ff. 1 e 1f~4)~ breaks his leg, so t&ce a 6i3n~ t ovsz iooI: di blaok~ c&~. Dat sa a warnin black cat b oss

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 014 009

~ : ~ 4~~()192 ZX~~SLATZ STCRIZS Page ~je 9 ~ ~ (Pew) WILLIAM M. ADAMS, ipirit~~list preaeher and healer, who Lives at 1404 Illinois Ave., Pt. Worth, Texu, was born a slave en the J_e. Davis plantation, in San Jacinto Co. Texas. After the wer he works& in a groe rp, punched cattle fsrasd ast preach- et. Re movrnt to Pt. WorI~h in 1902. WI was bo n 93 ysars ago, dat :is whut ~ at:~ther sq.. W. didn keep no record lika folks &orI tOda7. All I knOW is I been 7ers a long time. M~r sother, i~e was Juli. A&~s and m7 father be was James Adas.. She s bo n in Ko11~cs Springs, Mississippi aM ~ father, now .d..n, ht~ was bo r ix~ florida. le was a ~~ack~ Orsek Intlan. Dez s was 12 of u. chilien. When I was Sbout seven d.. aiaas, a~e acme and gits s. for her srva.nt. I lived in de bi~ hc*iso till she di.. Ear t~M Marster Davis was poisrful good to a.. Marster Davis he was s big 1~iy.r and de o~er of a plantation. Tha~t all I do was wait on oie nissu.. I d light her pipe for her and I helped her wit her knittin She give as aone~ all de tiae. She had a little trunk ~he keep.d w~oney in and lots of t1~s I d have to pack it down Wit ay~ feet.. $1 dis~a.~b.r J~u how aai~ ilaves der. was, but dors was aors~nl00. 1sawutchssl00.4tatat~as~ Whinde7tuka bunch of slaves to trade, dey put ohgiLns ca sa. D. other slaves livsd in log cabins back of de big house. ~ . Ds~ had dirt floors and bids dat was i~s litt of a n shucks or straw. At nit. de~ burn.d de lps ~or bout as. hour, darn d over id.

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~x-slavs Stories Paie Two ~(Toxas) seers, dey come kno& on de door and tell em put de light out. Lote of o1~iresers w~s me~. Sometiza.s dey d whip a nigger wid a leather strap ~bcw.t a foot wide and long aa y~ir arm and wid a wooden hand .. at de end. On Sat day and Sunday nites dey d dance and sing all nit, long. Dey didn dance like today, dey danced de rount dance end j 1g and do de pigeon wing, and scme of de~ would jump up and see how many time he could kick his feet. for. dey hit de groun . Dey had an oie fiddle and some of e~ would take two bones in each hand and rattle em. Dey sang songi 1 ike 1D~~na had a Wo oden Leg, and A Hand full of Sugar, and Cotton eyed Joe I di. ~aeaber how dey went. De slates didn have no church den, but dey d. take a big m~ga~ kettle and turn it top doimi on de grmin and put logs roan it to kill de sein . Dey d. pray to be free and e ing and dance. Then war come dey c e and got de slaves fros all de pla~tta. tions and tuk em to build de breastworks. I ~ lots of soldiers. Des ~t sing a song dat go something 1 ike dis: ~I~J~ff Davis rode a big white hoes, Lincoln rode a mu .s; Je55 Davis i. our President, ~ ~ Lincoln is a fool. ~ ~ n ~ ~ when de slaves would lu awq . 01e Jahn Bilhinger, he had a bunch of dogs and. h 1ti take after runaw~r niggere. Somet~ees de dogs dida ketch de nigger. Den oie Billinger, he d cuss and kick dogs. ev, didn have to have a pass but on other plantations dey did, or de paiidlsroll rs would git you aM whip yoi~. Dey was de poor ithite 2..

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Exe,slave *tories Pa1ge Three (?exas) folks dat didn? have no elayes. We didn call ea ithite folks dem days No suh, we called dea Bt~.kry. Jus fore de war, a white preacher he cone to us slates and st s: Do y~i wan~ to keep you homes what yaa git all to eat, and raise your chilien, or do yi~i wan to b free to roan roun without a hoae, :~ i~. de wil aniaal s~ If you wan t o keep you honie s you be tter pray for de South to win, All day wan s to pray for de South to win, raise the hand. We all raised our hands cause we was skeered not to, but w. eho didn wane de South to win. Dat night all de slaves k~ad a meetin down in de hollow. Oie UncleMack, he gits up and says: One tute over in Tirginny der. was two oie gge, Uncle Bob and. Uncle Tc~. 1 y was aa& at one ~xiuther and one day dey decided to have a dinner and bury de hatchet. So th~r sat down and when Uncle Bob wasn~ t looking Uncle Torn put soae potsen in Uncle Bob s food, but he saw it and when Uncle Torn wain t looki& Uncle Bob he turned. de trq roun on Uncle Toa, and he git. de poison food. Uncle Mack, he says: Dat s what we elates is gwtne do, jus turn de tray rain and pray for de North to win. ~ After de wax dr~r was a lot of .xciteinent t~ong de niggers. Dsy was rejoicin and singin . Sowje of ein looked pu~sled, sorter skeered I Ike. ~it dey danced and had a big j eaboree. ILote of sis stayed and iorked on de halves. Others hired mit. I went to work in a grocery store and he paid ae $1.50 a week. I give a:y mother de dollar and ke.ped de half. Den I got married and farmed for aiihiie. Den I corne to Port Worth and I been yere since.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 017 012

. 420198 5 ~ ~ .~. e EX~~:SLAVE STOBTh~5 .Pa~e One . (Texa5) SARAH ALLEN was born a $laT of John ~nd Sally ~oodren, in the - ~ Blue Ridge Mountai~ns of Virginia. Before the Civil War, her owners H ~ ~k~ c~e to TexaB, locating near a ~b . small town then called. Preedor~i. 4~V She ltv s at 3322 Imtas St., ts - . :~i Paso, Texas. ~ I i: was birthed ir~ time of bond~e You know, some people . aT e ashamed t o tell 1. t but I thank G~od I was li owed. to s ee theN times as well a.~ now. It~s a pretty hard story, how cruel sorne of the niarsters was, but 1 had the luck to be with good white people. But some I knew were put on the block ~nd sold. I tm~mber when they d corne to John ~oodren15 place to buy, but he not sell any. They d have cer~in days when theytd sell off the block and. they took chilien way from mothers, screamin for d.ere chilien. ft I w:~s b irthed. in oie Vi rgin la in de Blue Ridge M~ntains. . When de white people come toTex~s, de cullud. people come with then~. Dat e be en a I ong time . ~ . H~ ~ was n~rned Ch~lotte, my paw Pa~ks Ad~z. He s a white n~an . I gue s~ ~ I ni about e ightv s orne ye ars oie. You ~ow, in sla~ezy times when dey had bad mareter dey d run away, but we did.n want to. ~4y ml~sus would see her people had. soaeth ng good. t eat every Su.n&ay mornin . You had to mind. your rnis~.is \ ~ ~ nnd inarster ~nd yo~i be treated well. I think I was about twelve when ~ dey freed us and we stayed. with marater 1b~ut a year, then went to John~ Ecole place and rented soue len . ~ We made two bale5 of cotton and. it ~. :~ ~ was the first money we ever saw. ~ ~ . Back when we lived with Marster Good.ren we had. big candy ~ 0*1~

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13 Ei-slave Storie5 Pace Two .~ puIlln 5. Invite e7erybozi.y ~nd p1~r. We had good times. De worst thing, we dI1n never have no schoo1in~ till after I married. Den I went to school two weeks. My husban was teacher. He never was a $1~ve . Hi s father bou~bt freed.om through a bi ~.cksxni th shop some way. I had ~ nice weddlnt . ~ My dress w~s hite an3. trimmed with blue .-. ribbon. My second. day dress was white with red dots. I had. a beauti-~ fui veil and a wreath and bout two, three waiters for table dat d2.y. ~ mother was nearly white. Brighter than me. We left my father in Virginia. I was jus as white as de chilien I played with. I used t o be pluie br ight but here 3. at ely I ~ ~e t tin ~ awful dark. My 1msban~ was of a mixture like rou call bri~ht ~in~e r cake color, i~ d know where he ~ot his le~rnin ~ I fee . so bad. since he s gone to Glory. Now I~m oie, de LoH bas t~en care of me. He put th~.t spt~it in people to look after oie folks and now i~y ch ien look after me. i~ve two sons, one name James Alien, one R.M. Both live in E1 Paso. After we ~o to sleep, de people will know these things, cause if freedom h;~ .n come, it wx~ .d have been so miser~bie.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 019 014

420149 . . EL~&~LTJ I2CBI:~$ Page On (!.xas) AIDT ANI1~BSOJ, 94, was born a ~ slats of Jack Eale~, who oimed a plantation in Williamson Co., Texas. Thiring the Civil War, nd~ was sold to V. T. Boue., of Bl&nco County~, iho in loss than a year sold Andy~ to his brother, John !mLse. Andy now lives with hi. third $f and eight of his children at 301 Arsoitr St. Port W~rth, Tizas. NM7 nase aa Andy J. Anderson, and X s born on Massa Jack Haley s plantation in *illiaason County, Texas, and lisses leley owned ay folks and bout twelve other fanili.. of niggers. Vs born in 1843 and that ask.. 94 year old. and 18 ysar when de war starts. X s had sperisnoes thirin dat tise. AMassa !a2~ey ~ kind t his cullu~t folks and his as kind to ovary- bo4, and all de folks likes his. De other white folk. called we uns de pet- ted i~iggers. There as bi~*it 30 old. and young niggers and bont 20 piccanix~niea too littl too work0 and de ~ea cares for dem while dey saisies works. l s girine splain how it ~ sanagid on Massa Riley s plantation. It m sort of liks de mall tova, cans. verything we uses sadi right th.re. Thor. am de shoemaker and hi is de tannir end make do leather from de hi&s. ~ 1~S~ sassa has bout a thousand sI~ep and he gits de wool, and de nigger. cards ~ and spin. and weaves it, and at sakes all de cloths.. D~t sassa have cattle and sich pttrvidi di silk and de ~tter and bif: sest for satin Doit sassa ~ ~ have do Wrkiys andahickens aM Is hawge and de bees. With all that, us never Tu hoagx~. S S ~ S ~i plantation as planted is cotton, sostly, With de corn and di wheat a little, cases sassa don t need a~ch of das. He never sill nothia ~ ~t de cotton. k

020 015

~x.elave Stori.s p~ ~ ~ (esias) Ds livia for de oullud folks good.. De quartars em built frou loge like d T . all in dem days. D. floor ds dirt but we has de b~h.s and what is matte on de place. And is bas de big firsplac~ for to cook and ~s tias plenty to cook in dat fireplace, cause maBsa allue lows plenty good rations, but he watch elose for de wastia of d food. De wait breaks and dat make de big change on .. massa s place. He jines de er~ and hire. a men cell Delbri~ge for overseer. After dat, de bell start to pop, cause da first thing ~l~ridge do is cut di rations. He weighs out de asat three pm.nd for de week, and hi asasurs a peck of meal. And twarn t enough. He half starv. us nigger. end be want me wo* end he start de whippin s. I guesses he starts to edaaacate ea. I guess dat Deibridge go to heil when he diM, but I don t ~.e how de debbil could stand him, 51 u.ns em not uss to sich and s~e rune off. ihm dey ~ cotched then ~ a whippin at de staks. ~iut dat Dlbridge, he sold me to Massa Bous., in 3lanco Count3r. X s )~ glad when X s sold, but it short glad.. flees, c~s hers ~ another man what hell z too good for. He giv.s a. de whippin arid de scars es still on a~ arms and ay~ back, too. I ll. cari~ ~ dem to my grav. He send* *e for firewood and when I gits it loadd, , iiheel ~ hit. a stu~ and de te~i j.rks and dat breaks de ippletres. So he tie. me to de stake Md every half hour for four hours, de7 la~s ta lasheS on my back. Por de first couple heurs de pain awful. l s never forgot it. Dsn 1 . ~ itood so ach p4* X not feel so *ueh end wh.u de~ takes as loose, I . Jus bout half dad. I la~s in de bumk two dais, gittiii over dat whippin , gittin ~ ~ 0,11 it in dl body bmt not Le heart. Io~ eUh, I has dat in de b.ez t till die ~ ~ .4.,

021 016

:~xN~B1ay. Storie6 Page Three ~ (~.xaa) 16 After dat whippin I doesn t have de heart to work for de ~asea. If I seed. &. cattle In de eornfie1d~ I turns de back, etead of chasmS em out. I guess dat de reason de ~aesa sold me to his brother, Kasea John. And he ~ good. like my first i~assa, he never whipped me. !~ j~ surrender ~m n~nced and massa t ella us we s free. When dat takes place, lt am about one hour by sun. I says to myself,. I won t be here 1on~~~ But I s not re~1tze what I . in for till after I s started, but I couldn t turn back. For dat means de whippin or daflger from de patter rollers. Dere I was and I kep on gwine. No nigger am spoBed to be off de massa s place withimt de pass, 80 I traYele at night and hides dunn de ~1i~t. I stays in de bresh and. gits water from de creeks, but not much to eat . Twice s sho dem pat ter rollers am pass in while I s hidin . I S 21 year old. den, but it ~ de fi~ .t time I : gone any place, cept to de ne1ghb~rs,so I , worried bout de right way to Massa Haley s place. BUbt de mm of dc third dey I comes to he place and I s so hofl 17 and tired end ecairt for fear Massa H,ley not h~e from de ar~ ylt. So I finde my p~py and he hides me in he cebin t ill a week and dsn l~ick c~es to me when Massa ~Ialey c0e home He come at night and de next worum dat D~lbridge ~ shunt off da place ci ia. Massa Haley seed h, nig~ers was all gaunt and lots ~ run off and de field. m not plowed right, and only half de sheep end everything left. So massa say to dat Dslbridge, Den am no words can s plain wbat y~s done ~ Git off ~y place fore I smashes y D n I kin c~e out from my peppy s cabin and de old. massa was glatt to ass as, and he let me stay till freedom am ordered. Dat s dc h~pie. time in my life, when ~t gits back to Massa Haley. .4..

[Interview with Anderson, George Washington (Wash)] 022 017

421)317 .. ~ ~: 17 Dibble, Fred, 2.11. Beehier Rheba P.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. ~3. A frail sick man, neatly clad in white pajamas lying patiently in a clean bed awaiting the end which does not seem far away. Although . we protested against his talking, because of his weakness, he told a brief story of his life in a whisper, his breath very short and every word. was spoken with great~. effort. His light skin and his features denote ne characteristic . of his race, has a. bald head with a bit of gray hair around the crown and a slight growth of gray whiskers about his face, is medium in height and build. WASH A1~DER~ON, although born in Charle8ton, S. C., ~ . S has spent practically all of his life in Texas ( ~ ~ ~j~ ~ M s folks call me Wash Anderson, but dey uster cal). me George. My whole name George Washington Anderson. I was b. n in Charleston, S.u f lina in 1855. Bill Andenen was my l~ marster. Dey was two boy and two gal in his fanilly. W~ all lef Charleston and conic to Orange, Texas, bof. freed~o~n come. I was f, year .1 when dey mek dat trip. N1 dan member nuttirt bout Charleston. You see where I was b. n was bout two rnile~ fron~.de city. I went back ne time in 1917 but I n stay dere l n~. My pa was Irv in Anders en and my memmer was name Bliza. 01 m&rster was pretty. rough on his niggers. Dey

023 018

~: 18 Dibble, Fred, P.W Beehler ~ Rheba P.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Diat. #3. tell me he had my gran daddy beat t. death. Dey never did beat nie. Dey made de trip from Charle5t n toross de country and eettle in Dunean a Wood d.wn here in Orange county. Dey had a big plantation dore. I dunn. i1~ .1 rns.rster had m.ney back in Charleston, but I t ink h must have. He had b ut 25 r 30 slaves n de place. 01 man Ander~ n he had a big tw ~et ry house. It was bull out ~f 1.gs but it waa a big Line h uie. De ilaves ji. had little hg huts. Dare warn t no fl B to tern, nuthin but de run . Dem little huts j had ne x ~orn in em. Dey wai ne tamily t. de h uae, oep n aome~ time dey put two r t ree tarnily t a hsuee. Dey jis herd d. elavos in dore like a bunch f pigs. Dey uster raise o tt~n, and co n, and sugar cane, and ~ioh like, but dey IIdLn uster ratee n rice. Dey uster sen ituff t~ Terry in a railriad to sen it t. niarket. Smetine dey hitch up dey teamS and. sen it t~ Orange and Beau~ nt ja wagons. De l~ ~arster he had. a bsat, t.., and 3 metinie he sen a b atl ad ~ 14. i tuff to Beaumont My wirk was t. drive de surrey t.r de family and l..k atter L~ hos~~~s and de harneaa and lish. I jis have de bei h.sees ~t de place t. see atter.

024 019

19 Dibble, Fred, P.W Beehler Rheba P.W., Beauin nt, Jeffers n, Dist. ~3. I saw lits f s.jers dunn de war. I see t~~j D.*flT by, bi t~ Sabine Pae a ~ b ut de tinte if dat battle. Back tri slavery tise dey uster have a white prea~ cher t o rne r,un and preach t. de eullud f.lks. But I dri t member much b ut de s, rigs what dey uster sing. I play retin right smart when I was little. Dey uster have . ts if fun yl hide and s e ek, ~ and hide de switeh. We. uster rid.. stick h.sses and play r un at ai : dein t ings what ohillun play at. Dey had plenty 1 hiss es and mulos and e w~ on de .1 plantation. I had. t. l ok atter sme if de hosses, but dem what I hatter l.ok atter was s pise ti be de bes besses in de bunch. Like I say, I drive de surrey and. dey allus have de bes hosses t. pull dat surrey. Dey had a 11g stable. Dey kep d.c harness in clerc, too. Eb ry~ t ing whatde st~ok eat dey raise on de plantation, all de c n and. fsdder and sich like. Atter freed.m cerne I went reun dom &iVrent kind f w rk. I uster werk in stewnbeats, and on de railr ad and at sawmilhin . I was a sawyer fer a hug, ..ng time. I w.rk ~ Un in ~ sana and Arkansas and Okiahema as

025 020

Dibble Fred, Geeh .er Rheba, P.L, Beaum nt, Jeffersen, Dist. #3. well as in Texas . When I waan ~j dein dem kinds if werk, I uster work reun at anyt Ing what cerne to han I ~nember me t ime I was in for de Burr Lurnb er C.mpany at Fert T wnsend up dere in Arkansas. t~fl~en I was beut 36 year 1~ I git marry. 1 been married. twice . My us wife was naine Hannah and. Rever end Ge.rge Childreas was d~e preacher dat marry us. He was a ~ii11ud preacher. Atter Hannah beefl dead seine time I marry my seeor~ wife. Her naine was Tempte Perkins. Later on, u~ iep. rate. Us sept ~ en count 1~ m ney matters. II btl.ngs t. de Baptis Chutoh. 8 metime de preaeher cerne roun and see me. He was here a few Lays age dis week. ~

"Uncle Willis Anderson." 026 021

TEXAS UNCLE WILLIS ..~DERSON Rfl?ERENCES .A. Cor~rt~do ~ Chu1d~ren-.-.J. Prank Dobie, Fu.b. l9::~:?, Austin, Tex. :3. Leon County News-.-.Centerville, Texas-.-. Thurs~3y May 21, 1936. C. Con~u1tant-.-.Unc1e Willis A~ter~on, resid3llt o: : Centerviile, mex, born ~~ri1 15, 1844. An interesting ch~ar~.c~er at Centerville, Texas, is Uncle Willis Andersofl, an ex-.sle~ve, born April 15, 1844, 6 miles west of Ceriterville on the old. McDaniels plantation near what is now known t~s Hopewell Settlement. It is generally said that Uncle Willis ~.s one of the oldest living citizens in the County, boack or white. He is referrea to generally for information con-. cerning d.a:irs gnne by and. for the history of th ~t County, ~zpecia1ly in the irr~ mediate vicinit;i of Centerville. Uncle Willis is an interestii~g fi~nre. He may be found sitting on the porches of the stores facIng Federal Highway Yo. 75, noddin~ or con versing with small groups of white or colored people that gather around him telling of the days gone by. He also likes to watch the Irnases and. ~tomobilee that pass through the small town musir~ and. comnientirg on the swiftness of thins today. Uncle Wil1i~ still cultivates a smailpatch five miles out fr#~i the town. Uncle Willis is a tall dark, brown skinned. man having a large heed covered with mixed gray w~. y hair. ~e ha~ lost very few teeth considering his age. ehen sitting on the porches of the stores the soles of his farm-.ehoes

027 022

22 may be seen tied. together with piec.s of wire. He supports himself with a cane made from the Elm tree. At present he wears a tall white Texas Ce~. tennial h at which makes hinr appear more unique th~ui ever. Uncle Willis memory Is vivid.. He Is familiar with the older ~1g... uree in the history of the ~otmty. He tells tales of havii~g travelled by oxen to West Texas for flour and beliig go~s for six months at a time. He r.. members the ~eech1 and. the Kicka~oo Ithtans ann. also claimB that he can point out a tree where the Americans hung an Indian Chief. He says that he has plowed ~ arx Ows, pots and. flints on the Reubens Bains place and~ on the Mc Daniel armi. He can tell of the early lawlessness i~ the Coutity. His facs lights up when he recalls how the Yankee soldiers came throu~h Centervifle tellin.~ the slave owners to free their slaves. He also talks very low vrhe~ he mentions the name of Jeff Davi e ~ because h. says ~h& man save sdrop* the nig~ers houses in slavery time and if yer sed. that Jeff Davis was a good ipan, they barbecued a hog for you, but if yer sed1 that Abe Lincoln was a good. man, tka~: yer had to fight o r go to the woods. ~ Among the most interesting tales told. by Uncle Willis is the tale of the Lead mine. Uncle Wflhi s says that sane where along Bog~ Creek near a large hickory tree and a red. oak tree, near Patrickrs ~ he and his master, Auss MeDaniels, woifid dig lead. out of the ground whic~a they used to make pistol and rifle balls for the old. Mississippi rifles during slavery tims. Uncle. Willis claims that they woul43.ig slags of lead oat of the ground some 12 and 15 inches long, and others as large as a inan~s fist. They would carry this ore back to the big house and melt it down to get the trash out of it, them they would pour it into molds and make rifle balls and pistol

028 023

) r) balls from It, In thj9 ~ they kept plenty of amu~1tion ~n hand. In recent years the land. has changed ownership, and. the present owners live In Dallas. Learning of the tale of the lead mine on thur property they went to Centervill. in an attempt to loce.te it and were ~eferred. to Uncle Willis. Uncle Willis says they offered him two hundred dollars if he could locat the mine. Being so sure that he knew its exact location, said that the $200 was his meat. However, TJncls Willis was unable to locate the spot where they dug the lead and. the mine remains a mystery. (o) Recently a gro~up of citizens 0 Leon County incluci~n~ W. D. Lacey, Joe McDaniel, Debbs Brown, W. II Hill and. Judge Lacey cross questioned Uncle Willis about the lead. mine. Judge Lacey did. the questioning while them thers formed an audience. The conversation went as follows: Which ~way would. you go when you went to the mine? Judge Lacey asked. ROut tows hd. Normar~ee . How long would it take you to get there ? Two or three hours. Was it on a creek? Yessub, ~ But you cant go t o it sow? Nosiih I just can t recollect exactly where ~tis. (P) j. Prank Doble mentions ina~ty tales of lost lead mines throughout Texas lit Coronado s Ohildren, a publication o~the Texas Polk-Lore Society.

029 024

Lead in the early days of the Repu~bl~c and the State was very valtiable, as lt was the source of protection from the Indians ~nd also the means of sup~ plying food. (A)

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 030 025

il *)~Y~( ~~w\ft~ . ) ILe,SLAfl STORIE3 . pegs One 25 (T.x.~i) MART ARMSTRONG, 91, livis at 3326 Pisrei Av.. ~ Houston, T xas . She was born on a farm near St. Loais, Missouri, a slays of Tt1~ urn c:!.~.1and. Kir athsr, Sa~ Mama, bslongsd to a nigger trad r, ~ iho baa a farm adjoining th Cisys-. land plac.. ~I~s Aunt Mary, aU right, bat you all has to ~ cuss me if I don t talk so good, Cause I~s been f.elin poorly for a spell and I am t so y ng no more Law as when I think back what I used t o d~o, and. now it s all I can do t o hobbl round a 1 ittle . Why Mise O . ivi a, WY i~istrns, used. to put a glass plumb fUI of water on my~ head~ and then have me waltz r~and the room, and I d. dance so imoothiike, I don t spill nary drap. w That was in St Louis where I s born. You ses my aana belong to old. Wj~j~ Cleveland and old. Polly Cleveland, an they was the mean~ est two white folks what e~er liv.&, ~cause they was aUu~e beatin on their slaves. I know, canes a~zaa told ~ and I sears about it other plaose arid besides old. P~lly, eh. was a P~lly devil if there ever was one and she whipped ay 1. i ttli si ster etat was only nine months old and jes a baby to death. She come end took the diaper offen ay little sis ter and whipp,d till the blood .1e. ran ils C&USI ehe cry like all babies d.o~ and it kilt 1*7 sistsr. I neyer forgot the)t~ but I ~ot some even with that old Polly d.itl and s this~am way.

031 026

~Ex-e1ave Stori.. p~ Two 26 ( Texas) You see, Vs bout 10 year old. and. I be1oz~gs to Miss Olivia, what was that old. Polly e d~ighter, end one day old. Polly devil comes to where Miss Olivia lives after she marries, and trys to give me a lick out in th. yard, and. I pick. up a rock bout as big as half yc~ir fist and hits her rigbt in the eye and. busted the eyeball, and till. her that s for ~aippin my baby sister to death. !o~i could hear her holler for five miles, bu~t Miss Olivia, when I tells her, says, Esl , I guess gamma has larnt her lesson at last.~ But that old flhly was mean like her hueban , old b1evelar~d, till she die, end I hopes they is burnin~1 in torment now, I dcii t tmember 1bout the start of things so much, cspt what Mise Olivia and my a~ma, her name was Siby, tells me. ~ Course, it s powerful cold in winter times end the farms was lots different from down here. ~ calls ~sm plantations down here but up at St. Lou~is they was jes called farms and that a what they as, cause w. raises wheat and barley and rye and Oats and. corn and fruit. The houses was builded with brick and heavy wood, too, ~ca~se ~ cold ~i~p there, and we has to wear the warm clothes and they s wows on the place, and we works at it in the evsnin s. P 4 Cleveland takes a lot of his slaves what was in custom1 and~ brings em toTexas to seU. You kitow, he w~n t epoaed to do that, cause when yott s la eustc~ , that s caus. he borrowed money on yoi~i, and you s not sposed to leaw. the place till he paid up. Coarse, old. Clewsland jes tells the one he owed the money to, you had run off, or squirmed out some wey, h. was that mean. .2.

032 027

i ~aS 1 . 1~x~1aYe Stories Page Thre. (Texas) Mazuma say dhe WaB in one bunch and me in r~other, Mamma had 1~en put fore this with ~iy papa, Sa~ Ad~s, but tht~t mckee no diff renc to Old. Cleveland. He s ~o mean he never wov~d sell the man and w~an and chilien to the semt~ one. He d sell the man he e and. the woman there and if they s chilien, he d. seil them iome place else. 0h, old Satan in torment could&t be no mean.er th9n what he and Old Polly was to they slaves. He d chaii~ a nigger up to whip t and rub salt and pepper on him, like he said, to season him up. And when he d. Beil a slave, he d. grease their mouth aU up to make it look like.they d been fed. good and was itrong and healthy. Wefl, mamma say they hadn~ t no more n got to shreveport fore iome l~.w man ~~otch old. Cleveland and takes ~n all back to St. Louie. Then ray little sister s born, the one old P~ily devil kilt, and 11 bout four year old then. AMiss Olivia takes a i to me and, though her papa and mama 80 IS&fl, ehe a kind to e~ex yone ~ and. they j es love her. She marriee to Mr. !iil Adame what was a fine mari, and. has bout five farms and 500 slaves, and. he buys m~ for her from old Cleveland and pey~hiii $2~5oo.OO, and givse him George lienry, a nigger, to boot. Law~y; I s shoe ~ to be with Mies Olivia and. away from old. Cleveland and Old Polly, cause they kilt my little ister~ 0W, lives in St. Louis, on Chinquapin Bill, amt X s houeeg rl and when the babies starte to come I nueees em and spins thread for clothe. on the lo~~ :i $piflB Iii cute of thread a week, but I has plenty of time for ~.self and that s where I larni to dance eo good. Law, I sho jie crazy b t d.ancin . If I s setting satin ~y victu.al~ and hear. a fiddle play, I gStI up and dances. ~

033 028

o 1h-4,) ~x e1aYe Stories ~ Pour ( Texas) Mr. Will and Miss O~1~ia sho is good to me, and I never calls Mr. Will Jiassa neither, but when they s ccmpany I calls hii~ Mr. Will and. round the house byourselves I calls them pappy and i~ammy , cause they raises me up from the little girl. I hears old Cleveland done took my mamrn* to Texas gain but I could.n t do nothin ! cause Miss Olivia wouldn t have much truck with her folks. Once In a while old Polly come. ov r, but Miss Olivia telle her not to touch me or the otber~s. Old. Polly trys to buy me back from Miss Olivia, and if they had they d. kilt me sho But Misa Olivia ~ 8~, I d. wade in blood as deep as Hell fore I d l t you have Mary. That s jes th very words eh. told. sea. Then I hears my papa I didn t know him so well, je. me like mamma being took so far One day Mr. Will say, Law me, I never wcm t forget that. t o the Mi s s sippi River and pret ty soon here they o aies the Nat chez *nd the ~clipsi, with smoke aud fir. J.. pmirin out of they s~ok.stacks. Thkt old captain on the Clips. starts puttin in bacon meat iz~ the boiler and th, crease je. ec~ies out a blazin and it beat the Natchiz to piece.. UI stay. with Mise Olivia till 63 ~hen Mr. Will set us all free. I was bout 17 year old then or mors. I way I goin find. my m~u~a. MX. Jill !iXSI ~ . me up two papsrs, on. bout a yard long and the other sane aa.llir, ~it both has big~ gold seals what he says is the seal of the State of Missouri. K. gives me aoniy~ and thys my fa~i tiCkSt to Texas and t.ll~ me th 7 is still is sGld some place I don t know where.. Course, what mairnn~ done told. me, so that didn t worry L~Wa7. Mary, you want to go to the river and ~e Where we live it ain t far the boat race?t .4-

034 029

Ex..slaYs Stories Page Pire 29 (fixas) ~: BIaV8 times down here and t o put the papers lit my bosom but t o do what ever the ~ whitS folks tells me, eyen jf they wants to sell ~ But he ~y, i ors you gets I off the block, jee pull out the papers, but jes hold. im up to let folks see and ~ don t let Sm out o ~ your hands, and when they sees them they h~s to let you alone. j Miss Olivia oily and carry on and say be careful of myself c~zse lt sho I rough in Texas. She give me a big basket what had so much to sat in lt I couldn t I hardly heft it and ~other with clothes in it . They pits me lr~ the back end a ~ the boat where the big, old wheel what run the boat was and I goes to New Orleans, ~ and the captain puts me on nother boat and I comes to Gal~eston, and that captain ~ puts me on ftother boat and I comes up this here a~ffalo Bayou to Houston. ~ . aj looks round Houston, but not long. It sho was a dumpy little place : then and I gets the stagecoach to Austin. It takes us two days to get there and I thinks my back bust ed. 1 1 nough, lt was sich rough ridin ~ Then I has troubi e aho A man asks me whers I goin and says to come long and he takes me to a Mi . Charisy Crosby. They takes nil to the block what thsy sells slaves on. t gets right. up like they tells me, 1ca~ise I lecte what Mr. Will done told me to do, and they starts bid.din on me. And. when they cried off and this Mr. Crosby cane up to get me, I je. pulled out my papers and helt em up high and when he sles ~sm, he say, Let me see them. ~it I says, IOU jes look at it up here, and he squints up and say, This gal am free and has papers, ~nd tsll~ me he a legislaturs man and takes me and lets me stay. with his slates. He is a good Ian, I Es telle me there s a slave refugee camp in Wharton County but I cUdn t hare no money left b~t he pays me SOffle fO1~ workin and when the war s OYer ~ starts to hunt mamua gain, and finds her in Wharton County near where Ik~arto~ ii.. Law me, talk ~ ~~rjfl~ and singin and cry~.n soins mors, we mirs d~on, lt. I stays with mamma till I gets married in 1871 o John Armstrong,

035 030

~ 3() ~x..a1ave Stories . Pa e Six (Texas) S and then we all c~es to &uston. I getinie a job nusein for Dr. the yellow fever ~p1d.znic. I ~Iects in with tI~e rots, I s seen folks with the death on 1em and grab other folks, The white and black, cause he sweat it out and Yin6gar end mustard and s oiu ei se in it. :~it0 law me, so much is gone out of my mind, cause Pi 91 year old. now and my mind jee like my legs, jes kind~a hobbl rouM abit. R,llaford and. was all through $75 people die jes like sheep fever jump from their bed with doctor saved lots of folks, of em ~ He mixed p hot ~ water

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 036 031

420085 . EL~jTE STORI~8 Page One 31 (!~exa.) S~ARLIN ABNWINE, 94, wae born a slave t o Albertus Arnwine near Jaciceonville, Texas, who died. when Steaz lin was se yen or e i~ht. He was bo~tght by John Moseley, of Ib~sk, T xas, who made Stearlin a howeboy, and was very k1X4 to him. He now lives about six ~i1es west of Jacksonville. I ~vas bo n f rs de war in 1853 r ight ~iear the hers ~ town, on Gii.m Creek. My ma~way be1cn~ed to Massa Libertue Arnwine, and he waan ~ ever aarrie&. Re owned. four woi~t~ i~ i~ajng~v~, bit, my grandmother, Gracie, and my Aunt Winnie and Ai~nt Mary. He didII1 own ~ay niWr mes, ~ cept the chifle ~ of these women. Grendiaa lived In de ho~iee with Massa Lrnwine ~ ~nd the rest of ~is lived in cabine in de ya &. My n~imny come fxxa Men~hte but I done 1a~ow whar my p~py come from. He was Ike Lane, I has three half brothers, ~ . ~nd their naines le Joe and Will and John Sohot, and. two sisters called Polly and Rosie, Massa rnwine died fore de war ami he ma~1e a will eM it gave ai . he owned. to the~, women he owned, and Jedge Jowell promised massa on his deathbed. he wa~iid talcs us to de free country, but he dUn He took us to hie place to work for hii for boet two years and the women never did get that 900 acres of 1~tnd Massa Arn~ine willed t otem, I don. know who got it but they dIdn . I ~.owi I et ill has a share in that i~nd, but it t~3~es mosey to ~it it in cou t. When war broke I feU into the hen s of Meesa John ~oseley ~ ~ : ~ ~ at Th~sk. They broi~ht the dogs to r un us up from the fiel s whar we was Woitin~, I was the only one of my fam ly to go to assa John ~L

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32 Ex slave Stories Page Two ~ ~ ~ (Texas) I never did wotk in the fiel s at Massa John~s place. He said. I unis be his ho~ieeboy and houseboy I was. Massa was sho good to me 911d I d~id love to be with him and follow him rouit . The kitchen was out In de ya d and I had. to carry the victuals t o the big .~room. When d inner was over Massa John tuk a nap and I had to fan him, and. Lawey me, ltd git so sleepy. I kin hear hin~ now, for d. wa~ce up and saar ~ Go ge t me a dr ink outta the northeast corner of de well, We had straw end grass beds, we put it in sacks on de groun and t on ~ s cke. I don isember how im~ch lend Massa John had. but it was a big place a~d he had lots of slaves. We chillun had supper early In de ~en in and mostly cornbread and hawg neat and milk. We all ate from a big pot. I lamed to spin a~d weave and. knit and made lote of socks. tMa~sa John had. two etep-~daughters, Mies Mollie and Miss Lem a, and~ they wen to school atBask. It was my job to take em thur ev ry Monday morni& on horses and go back after tea Priday afternoon. n ~ never eaz nt no money fore freedom come but once i~iy brother-. in-law give me five dollars. I was so proud of it I showed lt to de l~1ies and. ou of eis said, Yoi~t ~ need dat, and ehe give me two sticks of candy and tuk de money. But I didn , know any better then. UI seed. slaves for sale on de auction block. They sol em 1cordl~ to etrengt and muscles. They was stripped to de wale . I seed the warnen and little chillun cryin and beggin not to be sep-. . .~ ~ arated, but it didn do no good.. They had. to go. L I

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. ~z~elave Stories ~ ~ree 33 ~(Texas) . ~The only chu cli I knowed. bout was when t d. git tog ther in de night and have prayer meeti~ ~ ~ We ~ise to go way out in de woods so (~C ~white folks wou.ldn hear nothin . Sometimes weed stay nearly all night on Saturday, ~ ca~iee we di&n have to work Sund~. Bout the only thing we could play rae stick hosees.~ I made miles ~nd ailes on the stick hoesee. After the War Massa John have his chillun a big roll of Confederate money and they give us some of it to trade and. buy stick hosses dth~ t; When Mas sa John t t us we was free he dnt seem t o mint but Mise :Em, she bawled and. equalled., say her prop ty taken wa~r fron her. After dat, my mammy gathers us togedder and tuk ue to the Dr. Middleton place, out from Jacksonville. Prom thai to de Ragsdaie plane whar i s been ever since. wore my first pants when I was fou~teenyeare oie, and they stung till I was ais ble. The cloth was store bought ~t m~rny made the pants at borne. it was what we called dog-hair cloth. Manmiy ~4ade my first shoes, we called em ~ red r pe . I

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 039 034

~2OO75. EL.SLLY~ ST tIXS Peg. On~ (?.xas) 8~RAE ASHI3Y, 93, was born in Kiesiesippi. She recall. her eq,eri.nc.s when sold. on ta. bbock in lew Orleans, and on a cotton plantation in ?sxas. She now lives at Goodrich, Texas. II ain t able to do nothi no more. I,e jus pli~b give ou.t and I stays her. by myself. My daughter, O.o~gia Grime, ehe u~sed to live with me but ehe s been dead. fair year. ~I was born in Miss ippt and Massa Henry Thomas buy us and bring ua here. E. a spec lator and. buys up lots of nigger. ~nd sells em. Us family was sep rat.d. My two sisters and my papa was sold to a Man in Georgia. ~n dey pi~t me on a block and bid ai off. Dat in New Orleans and I scairb and cry, ~it dy put me up dare anyway. tiret dey takes me to Georgia and dey didn t sell me for a long spell. Massa Thomas he travel round and buy and sell ai~srs. U. stay in de spectlators 4rovs d. lang time. RAfter while Uaese Mose Davis come fron Cold Spring, in Texai, end buys us. ~e was buyin up litti. chillsn for hi chilien. Dat bout fmir year befo1 de first war. I was 19 year old when de burst of fredoa comi in Jitne and I git turn leo... s ~ ~ workin in d.. fi.ld den. Jus befo dat di old Massa he go off and ~iy more nigger.. Es go iast. Re on a boat ihat git stove up and he dii and n ver corns back: no mor . Us never see him no mors.

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!:x~...1ay, Stori s ~ Pa ~ . P1FO t~ ~ : (pm) . 3,) n! used to hat, to ptt~ cotton aM s~time X pick 300 piand and tote it a ails to de cott~ house. Soue pick ~O to 800 powid cotton and havi to tot. de bag di whole titi to da gin. Iff n day di&t do dey work dey git whip till dey haie bltst,r on ~ iffen day didn t do t t di man on a hose goes down di r ws and whip with a paddle sake with holes in it and bue de . I never git whip, cau~ I ellue git ~y 300 pound. Us haTs to go early to do dat, when de horn goes early, befo daylight. tie have to t&~s de victuals in de b~.k.t to da field. Massa have de log h~iss and us liv. in little h~issa, trowe4i in long rows, Din wasn t no Mesttn1s lowed in de quarters anti iffert day have prayer aestin cia boss man whip d~i. Soaetiti ua 1 ~n off at night and go to ca~ a ttn . I takes de white chilien to church e ~eti~s, but dey co~d~ t lam ae to sing no song. tcatiis I dida have no spirit. $*U. never got ao~igh t~ eat, so ua ~seps stealing stuff. Us has to. Dl7 give u1s de pecic ot aeai to last i. week and two, thr. pound bac~ in chwik. Us never have flottr or sugar, jus e cornmeal end dl meat and tatars. I~ nigg rs has de bi~ box under de fireplace, where day kept eli do pig and chickens what day steals down in salt. 1$! seed a aen run away and de white sen got di dogs and day kotch hia and~ put Ma in de front rooa end he jump throuih d.c big window endbr~kdsglu.allup, Deysho whipehiMwhendq~otchssh&~. D. way day whip di uig~ers was to ettip ~as off ni~kett i~n& whip es till day aaka bli.t,ri and bus do blisters. J n day taki di salt II,,..

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~x.a1av. Stories Page Three ) (Texas) and rd pepper aM put in de w mds. After d~ wash .M greame d~ .ntt put s~ethi~ on dem, to kesp d~ froa blee& to daath. ~Whei d boss man to1d~ ue freedom was e~e he didn t ltk it, but he givS all u~ 1 ba .e of cotton aM so~ne corn, He aa~c us to stey eM he p with de crop butwe ~ne so gla& to git ~way dat nobody ~teys. ~ I got ~b~mt fifty &ollars for di cotton &M den I linde it to a nigger what never pqs I. back yit. D.n I got no plac to go, so I cooks for a whit. aa~. name Dick C~j . K. spesen give me $5.00 de month but h. never paid me no money. fle,& givi me eats and. clothes, cans. h. ha. di little itore. Niow, X e all alone and thinks of dem old times what was so bad, and l s rea~1y for d.s Lard to cell mes

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 042 037

~ +~e~)~ . . 4 ~ ~j ~* L~ 1~X~SLAVE STORL~S Page One (Texas) AGATHA BABINO, born a slave of Ogis Gu.idry, near Carenco, Louis..~ iana, now liveB in ~ cottage on the property of the Blessed Sac-. r~jaent Church, in B~ausaont, Texas. ~he s~ s she is at least eightyseven and probably rauch older. I Old Marse was Ogis ~ uidry. Old Mis s was Laurentine . t~y had. four chilien, Placid, Aiphonse ~rnd. Mary and Alexandrine, and. live in a big, one-~story house with ~ gallery ~nd brick pillrrs. Dey h~1 a big place. I spect a mile cross It, ~nd fifty slaves. My mama n~xirwas Glance Richard. She come from South Carolina. Papa was Dick Richard. He corne from North Carolina. He was slave of old Placid Guilbeau. He live near Old. Marse. Uy brothers was Joe and Nlchol~s and Oui ~nd Albert ~nd Maurice, and sisters was Maud and C~lestine and Pauline. Us slaves lived in shabby houses, De~r builded of logs and have dirt ~e have a four foot bench. ~e pull it to p. table nnd set on it. a platform with planks and moss, W. had Sunday off. Christmas was off, too. De~v give us chicken and flour den. But most holidays de white folks hr~s company. Dat mean more work for us. Old Marse bad. He beat us till we bleed. He rub salt and. pepper in. One time I sweep de yard. Young miss come home from college. She slap my face. She want to beat me. Mpjn~ ~ to beat her, so dey did.0 She took de beatin fca me. My aunt ru.n off cause dey beat her so much. Dey bx~ig her back and beat her some more.

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( ~.~sli~Ve Stories Page Two (Texas) We have dance outdoors sometime, S~~meb~dy pl~Ey fiddl~ and banjo. ~ dance de reel and quadrille ~~id buck dance, Dc men dance dat. If we ~o to dance on ~flOthCI plantation we hpve to have pass. De patterrolle~s come arid make us sh ow de slip. If dey ain t no slip, we git beat, III see plenty sojers. Dey fight ~t Pines ~nd we hear hail g zin~--.zing. Younr rn~rse have blue coat, He put it on ~.nd climb a tree to see. De sojers cOme and think he a Yankee. Dey take his gi~in. Dey turn him loose when dey find out he ain t no Yankee, When dere~l Yankees come dey take corn and gooses ~nd hosses. Dey don t ask for nothln Dey take what dey wants. ~ masters hava chilien by slaves. Some sold dere own chilien. Some sot dem free. ?$~rfl~en freedom come we have to sign up to work for money for ~ ~Tear. \~e couldn t go work for nobody else. After d~ year some st~ys, but not long. De Ku Klux kill niggers, Dey come to take my uncle. He open de door. Dey don t take him but tell him to vote Democrat next day or dey ~yill. Dey kilt some niggers what wouldn t vote ~mo rat. Dey kill m~r old uncle Davis. He won t vote Democrat. Dey shoot him, ~ Den dey stand him up and let him fR11 down. De~ tie him by de feet. Dey drag him through de br ,sh . Dey d~.re hi s wi fe to cry . When I thirty I marry Tesisfor Babino. Pere Abadie marry us at Grand ~ Coteaij, We have dinner with wine, Den come big d~rnce. We have t~celve chilien. ~e works in de field in Opelousas. We come here twenty-five year a~go. He die in l9l7~ .Dey let s meuve here. It nice to be near de church. I cari go to .j~ers when I wants to, ~ : ~

Ex-slave autobiography. 044 039

42~()iGi ~T ~sIave Voltime page one 39 EX-.SLAVE STORIES (Texas) ~ ~ ~ ~ ..~. ~ ~ :::y~ ~ EX~ SLAVE AUTOBI OGRAPHY MRS. JOHN B IWL Y (nee Sarah Sanders) BrOWflWoQd, Texaswas born in Komo, Missi~ipI~i3 September 1., 1853, ~he wa$ born a slave at the l orth S1~&des plaoe. Mr. ~uid ~trs. Uorth Slade were the only owners she ever had, ~he served as x~irse ~taid 1 ~or her r&~rster s children and did gexieral hoasework. ~ 3he~ with her mother axid ~ther and ~imiu~ ly stayed with the ~1ades u~nti1 the end 0 the year a ~ter the Civil vm~r. They then rxioved to theinse1ves~ hiring ouSt to White Folks. ~My inaratex and mistress w~s &OOd to all de s1~tves dat worked for dem.. 3u~t ou~r over~eer, Jimmy ~he~rex~, was ~ho ine~n, one d~y he doxae git triad at me for some litt,le ~ome~ thin an~ w~ien I take de ashee. to de gardexi he catches me &~id ch~1rAa ute u~p ~ad down on de groU~.t1T. One day he ~~ot mad

045 040

Pa~e two. at my brother and kicked him end over end, jes like a stick ci: wood. Hewould whip us tU we was raw and then p~it pe.p~ per and salt in de sores. Uhe thought we was too slow in doiri anything he would kick us oU ~ :~roun and churn u~ uI~ and down. Our punishment depended on de inooc o ~ de ove~ ~ seer. I never did see no slaves sold. ~ihen we was sick dey ~ give us medicine out of drug stores. De over~seer would git ~: ~ coarse cotton cloth to make our work clotheout o ~ and !~ den he would make dem so narrow we couldn hardl.y walk. ~ There was 1800 acres in itarster ~lade s plantation, we got up at 5:00 o clock in de rnornin and de riel~ workers would qtiit after sun~down, Vie didn have no jails ~or slaves. ~7e went to church with de white Loiks and there was a place in de back of de chu~rch ~or tis to sit. I was 3est ~ child den and us ehiflans would gather in de back yard and sins sonos and play games and dance jigs. Song I member most is The Day is Past and Gone.t One time rnarster sound out the over seer w~ so rneaxi to rae, so he discharged him and released me from duty ~or awhile. ~e never did wear shoes through de week but on Sunday we would dress a~ in our white cotton dresses and put on shoes. we wasn t taught to reed or wr it; ~ ~.ir owner cl idn t think anythix~ about it. We had to work i~ there was work to be done, ~hen we got caught u~ den we could have time off. I~ any of us got sick our inistre88 would ~ tend to us herse1~. U she thought we was sick enough she would call de white doctor, When de ~n~rster done told ~s we was free we jumped up and

046 041

Page three 4J. cloWn and sJ.~~ped our hands and shou~ted Glory to Godp ~ child dat was one happy bunch oi~ ni~ers. ~whUe ~texi dat some o:i: de slaves told iratrster dey wante~ to stay on with him jike dey had been but he told erri no dey oou.ldn t, ~ dey was free, ire said he could tise some of e~ but dey would haTe to buy what dey got ~nc1 he v~ou1d have to pay em like men. When I was bout 16 years old I nit~rried John B~rcIay. ITS had ten chil.luxi and :Cour gran ~-chi11un and nov~ I iive~ by myae1 ~.

047

#420128 Ex-431~ve S~ories (L~LA~) JOHN BA~ER, a~e 84, iiOUStOfl. ~ photographs rriakbked ~ have been assi~~ned to this ra~inuscript ~ the Green Curuby photos ~re 3ttached to the proper manu~ script and the five referred to above ~re prob~ ably pictures of John Barker.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 048 042

.~ w ~ k. ~ ~ ~ Pa~e one ? :j~ ib (i.xas) 4 ? ~ ~ JOEN BAREEa, age 84, was born near Cjncinnati, Ohio, the property of the Barker family, who moved to Misso~tri and. later to Texaa. He ~ ant his wife live in a neat eotta~e in Houston, Texas. t I was bo,m a ~ slave . I ~ in a Malaas ser(Madaas car) nigger. I member all boat dem times, even up in Ohio, thott~h dQBarkers .. brought me to Texas later on. My mother and father was call Goodman, b~tt dey diet when I was little and. Missy Barker raised me . on de plantation do~ near Ho~iston. Dey was plenty of work ant plenty of room. HI member my ~rantma ant grandpa. In dem days d.c hornet toads runs over de world. and my ~rwidpa would gather tem ant lay tem in de fireplace till dey driet and roll em with bottles till dey like ashes and. den rub it on de shoe bottoms. You see, when dey . want s t o ran aw&y, tat stu~ff t t s tick all on de shoes it et lok t O de track. Den dey carries some of tat powder ant throws it as far as dey cou juap ant ten jump ever it, ant to dat again till dey use all t, powder. Dat throwed. de common hou.nds off de trail altogether. But dey have de bloodhounds, hell h~tnts, we calls em, and dey could pick up tat trail. Dey rtin my ~ran&pa over 100 mile ~nd three or fou~r days ant nichts and found him under a bridget, What dey put on him was . ~. enoug;hl I seen ~ em whip r~nawiay niggers t ill de blood ran down tere :i~. .: ~ ~ ba&s ant den put salt in de places. ~i~ . .t I epect dore was boat 40 or 50 acres in de plantation. Dey worket ant worked and. titn t have no dances er church. Dances nothin!

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~1~$l~ve Stories Page Two 443 (Texas) ~ . . t My massa and. missus house was nice, but it was a log house. They had. big fireplaces what took great b g chunks of wood and kep fire ~ a~1l night, We lives in de back i~ a little bitty house like a chicken ~ house. We makes beds out of posts and slats across teni and. fills tow sacks with shucks in em for mattress ~nd pillows . I seed slaves sold. ~i& they was yoked like steers ax~d sold. by pairs sometimes. Dey wasn1t lowe!. to marry, . cause they co~ld be sold ana it wasn t no use, but you could live wi.th em, ~e used. to eat possums and. d~ese old fashioned coons ani~1 ducks, Smetimes we d. eat goats, too. We has plenty cornmeal and lasses and we gets milk sometimes, but we has no fine foot, cept on Christn~as, we gits some cake, maybe. ~ My grandma says one . day dat we all is free but we staye&.~ with Massa Barker quite a while. Dey pays us for workin but it am t m~ch~ pay, cause de war done took dere money and all. Bat they was good. to ~s, so we stayed. . . ~nI was boat 20 when I marries de fust time. lt was a big blow~ ou~t and. I was scared de whole time First time I ~ ever t ackled inarryin . ~ ~ y hat a big paper sack of rice and. throwed. it all ove.r her and I enough ~tce to last three or foUr days, throwed away jtts for nothin . I had on a black, alpaca suit with frock tail coat ~itd if I am t mist aken, a right .~!~ts shirt, My wife have a great train on her dress and one dem things ylu call a wreath. I wore de ludest shoes we could. find, what you call leather. . Die here my thirt wife. We marr;es in ~a4e Pass and comes up ~ :~ain ie Reservation and w~rk8 foi de arrny till we goes to work for ~ : : ~ ~ . ~ .

050 044

~1~s1ave Stories . Page Three 44 (Texas) de Pattersons, and we been here 23 years now. OEhosties? I was takin care of a white msn when he died. and. I seed. something tbout three feet high ~~nd black. I reckon I must have fainted cause they has de doctor for me, And. on dark nichts I seed. ghesties what has no head.. ~ Dey looks like dey wild ~nd dey is all in dif~ ferent performance. When I coin down de road. and fee . a~ hot steam and look over my shoulder I can see em plain as y~ st~n&in dere. I seed. em when ~y wife was with me, but she can t see em, cause some people ain t ~1fte& to see es,

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 051 045

4201 33 ~ ~L~SLAVE STOBIES Page One (Texas) 4 JOJJ BAB~1E8, 89, was born In Tiler Co. Texas ~ on Jim Sapp s plant at loi. He is very feeble, but keeps his great grand.children in line while their mother works. They live in Beaumont. Joe Is tall, slight, and has gray hair and. a stu~bby gray mustache. In his kind, geitle voice he relates ~ his experiences in slavery days. Dey calls me Paul Barnes, but my name ain t Paul, it am Joe. My massa was Jim sapp up here in Tyler County, and in I s sus ~ iaxne was LnJ~. J~ Sapp place was b~t and dey raise a sight of cotton and corn. Old. massa Jim he h9ve bout 25 or 30 slaves. ~ nz~me was irtimiel, but ~ey call her Emily, and pa s name Jerry, Woote~ tcause he live on de Wooten place. My steppa named Barnes and I t aken dat name ~y parent s dey have de broomstick weddli . !hen I~s a chile us play marbles and run rabbits and ride de stick hoss and de like. When I gits more bigger, us play ball sort of like baseball. One time my brudder go git de hosses and dey lots . of rain aid de creek swol . up high. De water so fast it wash him off he hosa and. I am t t seed him sInce. Dey never find de body. He s bout ten year old. den, t Massa live in de big box hmse and de qp,arters am in a row : : 1 de back. Same of dem box and some of dem log,. Dey have two rooms. : ~ d.ay de big, old oowhorn blow for dinner and. us have de 1 ittle t in ::;. u.p what us git potlicker 1* and neat and. cornbread and. salt bacon. Us gits green2) to o. De chimneys bout four feet widea n d dey cooks evezy _ ~i~g in de fireplace. Dey have pots end. ovens and put fire below and ~ em, t ~ 1 ~

052 046

.E .slaVe Stories PageT~~o (~exas) 4G t I us ed. to wear what I cal 1~ a one ~.butt oi cutaway. It was j j a shirt make out of homespun with pleats down front. Dey make dey o~n cloth dem time1 Massa marry de Thlks In de broomstick style. Us don have de party but sometime us s Ing and play games like de round dance Dey give de little ones bacon to suck and tie de string to de bacon and d other round. dey wrists, so dey won t swallow or lose do bacon. For de little bits of ones de~ rings de bel . for dey mor~ners to come from de field and nues sein, After freedom come us stay a year and den move to Be~imont and us work in de sawmill for Mr. Jim Long. De fust money I git I give t o my mammy. Me aznd mammy and at epdaddy s t ~ys in Beairnont two years den noves to Tyler i~d plants de crop. But de aext~ year us ~nove back to Beaumont on de La*gb.am place and mammy work for de Longs till she die. ~fl~en I git marry I many Dicey Allen and. she die and I never ~ rn&ry no o. I worked in wa and on 4. og p ond. and. al lus gi t s by pretty good. I ain t done no work much de last ten yee~r, I s too old. i: sort a looks after my graadchillen and I sho loves dem. I sits round and hUX~tB all de time. It am rheumatism In de feets, I reckon. : ~ ~ got six graadohiflen and. three greg ..grandchillea aad dat one ~rou hears ~ I dat de baby I ~ rais ~ in dere. ~ l s feared I didn t tell you so mch bout thhtgs wi~ back, but ~te truth am, I can t member like I used to ~ ~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 053 047

420166 ~X~.SLAVE STORIES Page One (Texas) AP~MST:EAD BARRETT, born in 1847, was a slave of Stafford Barrett, who lived in Hu.ntsville, Texas, He is the husband 0 ~ Harriett Barrett. Ax inztead has a very poor memory ~nd r~an tell little about early days. He and. Harriet re~ cei~re old Pf~e pensions. 111 8 really owned by ~r~ssa Stafford Barrett but m~r rn~~r t lon~d to ~L~ss~a Ben ~alker and was lowed. to keep me with her. So after we uns sot free, I lives with xay dad..d~r ~d ma~y and goes by da name of Barrett. Daddy s name waS Henry Barrett and he s brun~ toTexas fro~nRicbmon~., in Virgir~ny,and mammy corne from KentucI~r. Us all lived in Hantsville. I waited on Miss Ann~and mamiriy was cook. Old massa have*doctor for us when us sick. We s too val ble, Jus like to de Tht beef, massa am good to u. Massa g&to other states arid g t men and women and chile slaves and bring de~ ht~ck to sell, cause he spec lator. He ni~ke dem wash up good and den sell dem. Mos time we~un~ went nalced, Jus have on one shirt or no shirt a- tall. ... ~ ~ I know when peace dared dey all s}icutin . One woin~ui hollerin z~d ~ S a white man with de high- .steppin hoss ride obst to her and I see h n g t ~ . ~it snd O~ fl he knife and. cut he r wide ~ cross de st omech. Den he put he hat ~ ~n5ide he shirt and rid off like liglitnin . De wox~ian put in wagon and I never ~ :~. heered. no more bcr~it her. ~ NI didn t ~it nothin when us freed. Only some caet.off clothes. Zong ti~ie aft er I rent s de place on halves and f~rrns most ~y 1 ife Now s too old to work and g te a pension to lii~eon. ~

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3X~SLAV~ STORIES Page Dwo . (Texa5) . .. .48 III seexn~ to think us have more freedom when us slaves, c~se we have no SpOnSIbIlIty for sickness den. ~1~e have to take care all dat now and de white mari, he beats de nigger i~ut what he mace!. Back In de old. days, de white men am honeet, Ail the niggerknowed was hard. work. I think de oullud folke o~ight to be lowed more privileges in votin now, ~ cau$e dey have de saune ~ 8ponsibi ity as white men and dey more arid more educated and. brighter and. br1gh~er. ~ . .. . HI thiflk our young folks pretty sorry. They wont do right, but I tlievei fen dey could git fair w~ee dey d. do better. Dey git beat out of . . what dey does, anyway. ~ ~ ~ . . UI tmember a owner had some 8 .aVeS and de overseer had lt In for two of dem. ~ Ret cl whip dem near every day and dey does all could be did to . pleaee him. So one d~r he come to ~ field and cafls one dem slc.ve$ and. daqt slave draps be hoe and goes over and grabe dat verseer. Den de other . . ~Iave &tt dat overseer e head right s1~ off ~ and throwed. it down . one of de .:.=~~bw$. De owner he foole rciind. ~ eeI1~ dem two slaves for $800.00 each~ :.~~4at .~fl de p~intehrnent dem two slaves ever got. ~. . : ~ ~ ** * *

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420167 ~L~SLAVI~ STORIES Page One ; 49 (Texas) . HABRI$~T BABB~TT 86 was horn in ~ r \ Walker O~. Texas, in 1851, a slave 1 ~ of Steve Glass . She now lives in ~) Palestine, Texas. Massa Steve G1r~ss, be own my~appy e~nd mammy and rue, until the ~ war freed us. Pappy s borned. in Africy and. mammy in Vir~iny, ~r~ brung ~ to Texas t fore de war, end I s borned. in Texas in 1851. I ~S heere~ my ~ grandpa wa~ wild and dey dn t know ~ bout xnayi in Africy. M~r ~ brother name Steve Glass and I dunno iffen I had sisters or note ~ Dey put me to cookin when Vs a Ii . kid .~nd people says now d~i.t ~ 1Lunt Harriet aiu de bes cook in Madisonville. ?~assa have great big gardai ~ ~ and plenty to eat. I~ cook big skillet plumb \iII corn at de time and us ~ all bave plenty meat. Massa, he etej out end. kill big deer and. put In de great big pot and cook it. Then us have cornbread ~rnd syrup. . t Us have log quarters with stick posts for bed and deerskin stretch ~ ~ ~ over it. Den us gull moss and throw aver dat. I have de good massa, bless ~ ~ ~ he soul. M1~ey, she plumb good. She sick all de time and dey never have ~: ~ ~ white chilien. Dey live in big, log house, four rooms in it and de great ~ ~: ~ ~ ~ hail both way s through it . . S . ~ :~ ~ : Massa, he have big bunch slaves and work dem long as dey could see ~ :~ . ~ and den I ock em up in &e q~art ers at night t o koep em from runn 1 off. De patterrollers come ~~id go through de quarters to see if all de niggers d~ete, Dey ~walk right over us when us sleeps. KZome slave run off, gwine to de north, and. massa he cotch him and. give ~ thiX ty-~nine ltdke with rewhtde aX4~I lock d~n up at night, too, and. keep L OU hi.m ir~ d~t tute. ~ ~ ~.: ~ ~ ~: : ~ ~ ~ : ~ . ~ :: ~ . ~ . .~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ . ~ . ~

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zx~~sLiv:E STORIES Page Two (~exas) I have de good massa, bless he so~il, arid missy she plumb go:d. Itli never forait dem. M~ssa low us have holiday Saturday night and ~ go to nigger dance i~ it on nother pl~ntatiou. Boy, oh bo~r, de tin pan heatin and. de banjo pickin and de dance all nicht long. ~Wheii d.e war start, white missy die, and ma~a have de preacher. ~ She w~ .s white angel, Den m~.s~a mari~y Missy nice Long ~nd she ~e bad woman with us nig~ers. She hard on us, not lIke old. missy. HI lamed lots o! remed~ee for sickpeople. Charcoal axid onions and honey for de Ii~1 ~i~h~ a~i good, and car~hor for de chills and fever and teeth cuttin . l s bol . red o&c bark ~nd mo~e tea for fever and make cactus weed root tea for fever and chills and. colic, De best reme&y fOE chills and. fever am to git rabbit foot tieon strIng round de neck. Massa, he carry iiie to war with him, cause l s de good cook. In dat New Orleans batt le he wounded and guns roarin everywhere. ~ Dey ~rang massa in and I ~ s ~ as white as he am den. ~m Yar~kees done shoot de roof off de house, I fluss de s ick and wounded clean through de woe aJad seed dem .dfln on every side of me. ~ ~ Its most scared to death when de war end. Us still in 1~ew Orleans and all de shoutint dat took place tcau.se us free! Dey crowds on de streets ~ was in a $tir jus as thick as flies on de dog. Massa say I~s free as U~n, but iffen I wants to cook for him and missy I gite $2. 50 de month, so I cooks for him t ~l I I marries ~rmst ead. Barre t t, and t hen u~ farm for de ii?in Us have big church wedd.in and. I haa white loyal dress and. black ~i~oga~ shoes. 11$ been married 51 years noW0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~

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4 ~2O I ~ ) ~ EL~SLAVE STORIES Pace Que *~ ~ r h, ) (Texas) JOHN BATES, 84, was bora in Little Rock, Arkansas, a sieve 0q Moei~ Bateiriai. When still very young, John rno1re~. with his mother, a s1~ve of Harry Hogan, to Limestone C~.,Tex~s. John now lives in Corsic~uia, supported by his children and cil old age pension. My p ~ w was Ike Bat crn~ caus e his mt~s ~ s n arne am Mockbatemr~, and maminy~ s n ui~e wn.s Fr~ncis. They come from Tennessee end I had four brothers and six sisters, de jes1 left de last part of de name off and call it Bates and ~ how I got ny name. Maniny longed to Massa Harry Ho~pn and while I s sm~ll us move to Texas, to Limestone County, ~M. I don T i~nber iiiuch bout p~p~y, ct~ise I ain t never seed him since, ~assa Eo~a~ was a pu~ty good sort of fellow, but us went hon~ry de fust winter in Tex~s. He lived in de bie log house with de hallway clean throu?~h and a gallery clean tcross de front. De chimney was big nough to burn lods in and it sho throwed out de heat. It was a good, big place and young massa come out early ~nd holler for us to git up and be in de fieN, ttMissy Hogai was de good wonmi and try her dead level best to teach me to read and writes but my head jest too thick, I jes couldn t lam. My Uncle Ben he could read rie Bible and. he allus tell us some day us be free and Massa Harry lauch, -haw, baw, haw, and he sey, Hell, no, yous never be free, yous aia t got sense iough to make d.e livin if rous was free, Dei he takes de Bible ~ way fr ciii Uncle Ben and say it put de bad ideas in he head, but Uncle gits tt~other Bible and hides it and . massa never finds it out.

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Ex ~.s1~e Stories Page Two 52 (Texas) Wetuns goes to de big baptism one time and lt s at de big sawmill tank and 50 Is baptise and I s in dat bu~nch myself. But dey dld* t have no u~era1s for d slaves, but jes bury dem like a cow or a hosa, jes dig de hole and roll tem in i~t and cover em up. War come and durli1 dem times jes lii~e t~de~r iearly everybody kiows what gwine oi, news travels purty fast, and. iffen de slaves couldn t git it with de pass dey slips out after dark and go in an~other p .axitation by de back w~r. Course, iffen d~n patterrollers cotch dem it iBs too bad. and dey gits whip. When de news comes In dat Us free, Uassa Harry never c~ J~l us up like everybody else d1~ the slaves, us h~.s to go up and ask him bout it. He corne out on de front gallery aiad says we is free and turns around and goes In de house without nother word. We ~J.l sho feels sorry for him the way he acts and hates to leave him, hut we wants to go. $cnowed he wasn t able to give us itothin 80 begins to scatter and bout ten or fifteen day8 Massa Harry dies. I think he jes grieve himself to death, all he trouble commt on him to once. ~ Us worked on dIPf* rent famis t Il . I m~rrlee and my fust wife am Emma Williams and a cullud preecher marr1~s us at her house. Us picked cotton after dat and den I reRts a place on de halvers for five year and after t rai years I buys eighty acres of land. Fin ly us done paid dat out aid: done some repairs and dei~ us se~p rate after livin twenty.three year together. So I gives dat place to her and de six chilien ~id I walks oL2~t ready to start all over gain.

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53 ~x~ ~ve Stories Page Thr~ ( Te: as) - Then I meets Sarah JoAes and ~s marries, but she gives me de d.ivOrcement, All dis time I works on a far~n ~~ or de day wages, d~ I rente nother farm o~ de halvers o~. de black land and stays d.ere sev ral year. Fi* ly I gits de job workl*1 at de cotton oil ~i11 in Corsicana and stays at dat job till dey says X s too old.. I done b~y dis 11 l home here and now has a place to live. Sarah done corne back to rae a~d us has seven chilien. Oie of de boys works at de cotton oil mill and two works at de conipress right here in Cors1c~na and one works at de beer place in Dallas. IIUS raises a 11,1 on riese t~o lots and. de chilien brings so~ from de farm, I mean my ft~st wife s chilIen, and with de pension check us m~*age to live a 11,1 longer, Us boys pays ~4taxes and ~e insurance for us, .ss**.

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4~2()3O6 EX-SLAVE STORLES Page On~ . 54, (Texas) ~ H4.RRISON BECKETT, born a ~ slave of I. D. Thomas of /~ San ~igustine, Texas, now ~ . ~ lives in Beaumont. A ~great A ~ ~ grandson climbed Into Hax -~ ~ .~ ~ ~ rison s lap during the inter.. :.~ :.:~~ view, and his genial face lit up with a smile, He c112~ckled as he told f his own boyhood days and. appeared to enjoy rerninis cing. At times he uses bi~ words, some of his own coining. ~I~s ~rnon~ ~e culls now, like a hoss what ~ too old. l s purt7 small ylt when rnanctpation comes ~nd didn t have no hard. work. Old Massa have inc and de other I I J. ~i~gers keep de stock out de fields . Us li I boogers have to run and keep de cows~u.t de corn and de cotton patch. Dat ought t o been nough t o keep us out of 1. u ~ corne to pass my mammy work in de field. Her n~ne Cynthia Thomas and daddy s name Isaac Tho~nas. Bu.t after freedom he goes back to Florida end. find, osit he people end git he real name, and. dat am Beckett. Dat bout ten years after maxicipation he go back to he old. home in Florida. Mamny s people was de Polkses, in Georgt~ M~ mmy come in fr i de field at nine or ten o1clock at night and. she be all wore out and too tired to cook lots of times. But she have to git some food for us. We all had a tin pan and git round de table and dat like a feast. But lots of times she s so tired she go to bed without eatin nothin herself, My a ist ers was ~l Ion and Sani and eorgy Ann and C indy and SIdI -Ann. Dey s all big .nough to work in de field. My br~idders name Matthew and Ed and Eenr~ and Harry, what am me, and de ~ one am General Thomas. . tDey aore n a hundred head. of black folks ot. Massa Thonias two farms, ~ and. ~ bout a hundred fifty acres in each farm ~ One de farmS in iron ore what

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Ex~..slave Stories P~ge Two 55 (Texas) am red land, and de other in tray land, half sand an1 half black dirt. Us slaves live in pole houses and soime in split Io houses, with two rooms, one for to sleep in and one for to cook in. Day ~ iV) glass windows, jus holes in de walls. Dere w~s j~ck beds to sleep On, made out of poles. Dey has four legs and ain t nail to de wp,lls. Old Massa he care for he hands purty well considerin everything. in ginnin tune he low de women to pick up cotton froit de ground and m~Ice ix~attresses and quilts. He nake some cloth and ~buy some, A. woman weave all de time and when e shickle jump out on de floor I picks it up. I used to could ~it socks and I Was Jes a li l. boy then, but I keep ~v~rything in twembr~ce. Dey have some school and de chilIen l~rnt re~din and wrjtin and nenners and behavicur, too. Sometime dey g t de brok&.down white rtmn to be teacher. But us dtdntt know much and lt taken ten years or more after freedom to ~it de black men de qualification way he could handle th1rt~s. 0On~ time us boys ~it some watermillions out in de bresh and hit ~em or drap ~ to break 1em open. Dere come massa and cotch as riot workint, but catin he watermillions, He tell my daddy to whip me. But lots of times when us sposed to mind de calves, us a~n out catin watermillions in de bresh, Den de calves git out and rna~sa se~ dein ruz~ and cotch us. tiold mas s ~. was kind and~ ~o od though. He have part lai ity bout him, and wouldn t whip nobody without de c~use. He whip with de long, keen switch and it did.n t brulsede back, but sho1 did sting. ~Yhen he git real mad, he pull up you shirt a~d whip on de bare hide . One time he whipp in me and I

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Zx Biave Stories Page Three ~ ~ 5G Texas) .~ . busts de button off my shirt what he holdin on to, ~nd rtms aw~r. I tries t o outran him, and. dat tic1~i~ him. I sho give c~e ground fit s with ray feet s. But dem whippin s done inc ~ooc1. Dey break me up fron thievin and. make de rn~n Qfme~ . HDe w~r dey dress us 1i~ nigger bo-rs den, ~ey give us a shirt what coiiie way d~own tween de knees and ankles. When de weather am too cold, dey sometimes give us pants. ~ white preachers come round and preach. i~y have de tabernacle like a arbor a~d cullu.d folks co~ne from all round to hear de Gospel spounded. Most every farm have de cullud man lamm to preach. I used. to long to de Methodists bu.t now I longs to de Church of Christ. Me,ssa Thomas, he de wholesale merchant and git kilt in New Orleans. A big box of freight goods fall on him, a box bout a yard square on de end and six yards long. t ~ carryint b~k some good foe to make exchangeuient and dey pullin up de box with pulley and rope and it fall on him. De New Orleans folks ~ y it am de accidentment, but de rest say de rope am cut. One of mass& a old friends was Lawyer Brooks. He us ~ri. to firmanize de word. ~Massa bave two bays, Mr. Jinizn le and Lt 1 Ide and dey both goes to de w~u . I Ide he go up in ~kansas and dey say when dat first cannon busts at Li l Rock, he starts ruiinin and never stops till he gits back homes I d~~ t see how he could. do dat, c ~se Li i Rock am way far off, but dat what de~ e~ . Den de men cznes to git sertere and dey gits Li I ~ and. takes him baa. Mr. Jimmie, he didn t ~ bre&c de ranks. He stood he ground. ~Maamy and. dem ten me when war ein over de boss and. he wife, dey calls ~~1ti<~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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i~x~ s1ave Stories Page Four L~ ~ (Texas) . de slaves up in de 1~ncb and tells sein, ~You s free as I is. Keep on or quit, if :~ou wants. You don t have t o stay no further you. s free tod~y~. Dat near June 19th, end all of 1ein stays. ILassa say, Go head and finish~de crop and. I feed you axid pay you.t Dey all lcnowed when he kilt de hawgs us glt plenty of meat, ~ Dat young massa say all dat, tcause old. massa done git kilt. It s at Pano .a. County where I first hears of de Klux. Dey call dexa White Caps den, Dey move over in Panola County and ranges at de pl~ce call Big Creek Merval, by McFaddin Creek. Dey s purty rough. De landowners tell dey niggers not to kill de White Caps ~t to scare dem wv. At nicht dey C orne knock ~nd if you don t open it dey p~ it open and. run you out in d.c fi eid. Dey ru~n de nig~ers from Merryville round Longview. Dey some good men in de Klux and. some bad men. ~it us work hard and go home and dey ai& t bother us none, Dey used. to be a nigger rc*.tnd dere, call Bandy Joe, ~Ee git kilt at Nacogdochee fintly. He could turn into ~iything. De jedge of he parish was Massa Lee and he say dey ought let Bandy Joe live, so dey could lam he art. Dey done try cotch him de long time, and. m~rbe be holdin him and first thing ~ they know he gone and dey left holdin he coqt. Dey shoot at him and not hurt him~ Ee. tell he wife dey am t no kind bullet can hurt him but de s ilver bul, . Dat Bandy Joe, he say he a spirit and. a human both. Iffen be didn t . wa~ ~ you to ~ see him you jus ~ oald t see him. Lots of folks liked him. De .. j~ge~ s~ ~he wish he could a been brung to town, so he could 1zaiaine him bout he sifts, De jedge knowed~ Bandy Joe could dis pear jus like nothin, and he like to bear he qjiotation how he git out he skin. I d like to know dat myself. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ & ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Ex- slave Stories Page Five (Texas) UI nAgin~s I seed ghostles two, three times. I used to range round at nighttime. I rides through a old slavery field end de folks tell me, Harry, you better be care~.tl ~win~ cross dat old. field, They s things dere what makes mulos ru.n twF3y. One night it am late and my ~iule i~in sway. I r~e my rnind I go back and see what he ru.n from and. somnethint ~m by dc fence like de bear stand up straight. It st~nd dere bout fifteen minutes while I draws my best pinion of it. I didn t git any nearer ~an to see it, A man down de road. tell me de plac e a~n hazit cd ~mnd he dunno how many wagons and maul ~s git pull by dat thi rig at dat place, One time I~s living nother place and it ein twixt s~rndown and dusk. I had. a 11)1 boy thind me ~nd I seed. a big sow with no head c~in over de fence. My ma, she allus say what I see ~aight be ma~ination and to turn my head and look gain and I does dat. But it still dere, Den I seed a hoss goin down de road and he drag e chain, and. cross de bridge and turn down de side road. But when I git to de side road. I ain t seed. no hosa or nothin . I did~n t sap nothin to de li l bo~r ~jnd me on de mule till I gits most home, den asks him did he see anythin . He say no. I wouldn t tell him fore dat, 1cause I fraid. he light out and outrun me and I di3n t want to be by myself with dem things. When I gits home and tell everybody, dey s~r dat a man name McCoy, what was kilt d ers and I seed he spirit. ~ 1bo~it twenty~.one when I marries Mandy Green. Us has twelve chilien, and. a world of grandcbillen. I travels all over Louisiana and Texas in my time, and come here three year ago. My son he work in de box fact ry here, and he ~ git a bodily inji,trement while he workin and. die, ~nd I come here to de burial aad .1 been here ever sInce, * ** * ** *

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~1 ~) )C(~ -~I~ $~. ~J ~ ) ~ ~ ~X~8LAV~ STOflI~S Page One ~ r ( (Texas) . ?~. FRA.NK BELL, 86, was a slave of Johnson Bell, who ran a saloon In New Orleans. Prank lives in )Ladisonville, Texas. t,1 was owned by Johnson Bell and. born in New Orleans, 4n Louislana. Cordin to the bill of sa .e, I~m eighty..six years old, and my master was a Frenchman and was real mean to me. He run saloon ~.nd kept bad women. I don t know nothing b~t my folks, if I even had any, cept in~ma. They done tell me she was a bad wonan and a !rench Creole. ft I worked trouncl mastert s saloon, kept everything cleaned up after they d have all night drinicin parties, men and w~en. I earned nickels to tip off where to go, so s they could. sow wild. oats. I buried the nickels under rocks. If master done cotch me with money, he d take it and beat me nearly to death. All I had. to eat was old stuff those people left all scraps what was left. One t irne s orne bad men come t o mast er s and git s in a shootin scrape and the~r was two men kilt. I sho did run. B~tt master cotch me and make me talce th~ men to the river and tie a weight on them, so they d sink and the law wouldn t git him. The clothes I wore was some master s old ones. They aflus had holes in them. Master he stay drunk nearly all time and was mean to his slave. I m the only one he had, and didn t cost him nothing0 He have bill of sale made, cause the law say he done stole me when I~m small child. Master kept me In chains sometimes. He shot se~veral men. ~..1..

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~x..s1ave Stories Page Two ~ Go (Texa2) . II d1dn~t have no quart ers but stays round the place and. throw old sack down and. lay there and sleep. Pm fraid to run, cause master say he d hunt me and kill nigger. When ~ ~ seventeen I marries a gal while maater~. on drunk spell. Master he run her off, and I slips off at night to see her, but he finds lt oi~t. He takes a big, long knife and cute her head plwnb off, and t les a great heavy weight to her and makes me throw her in the river. Then he puts me in chains ~nd every night he come give me a whippin for long time. When war come, master swear he not gwlne fight, but the Yankees they captu~res New Orleans and. throws master in a pen and. guards him. He get s a chance and scapes. When war mn over he wcn t free me, says It~ valuable to him in his trade, He say, Nigger, you s suppose to be free bu.t I ll pay ~rou a dollar a week and iffen you ru~ns off I 111 kIll you. ~ So he makes me do 1 ike beTh the war, but give me bout a dollar a month, stead week. He say I cost more n I~m worth, bu~t he won t let me go. Times I don t know why I didn t die beTh It~ growed, sleepin on the ground, winter and summer, rain and snow. Bit not xm~tch snow there. Master helt me long years after the war. If anybody git after him, he told them I stay cause I wants to stay, but told me if I left he d kill hIm nother nigger, I stayed till he gits in a drunk brawl one night with men and women and they gits to shootin and some kilt. Master ~ot kilt. Then I m left to live or die, so I wanders from place to place. 1 nearly starved to death beTh I ~d leave New Orleans cause I couldn t think master wn dead and Itm fraid. Finally I gits up nerve to leave town, and stays the first night

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Ex slave Stories Page Three G (Texas) in white man s barn. I never slep . every time I hears ao~ething, I jtwrps up and master be standin there, lookinV at me, but soon s I git up he d. leave. Next night I slep out in a hay field, and master he git right tc~p of a tree and start holleri& at me, I never stays in that place. I gits g&ne from that place. I gite back to town fast as my legs carx7 me. Then I sits looke up in jail. I don t know what for, never did. know. One the men says to me to come with him and takes me to the woods and gives me an ax. I. cuts rails till I nearly falls, all with chain locked r~nd feet, so I couldn t run off. ~ He turns me loose and I wanders gain. Never ha& a home. Works for men long nough to git fifty, sixty cents, then starts roamin gain, like a stray dog like. Aft er long t ime I marri es l aline Graham. Then I has a home and. we has a white preacher marry us. Je has one boy and he farms and I lives with him. I worked at sawmill and farms all my life, but never could make nnxch money. You know9 the nigger was wild till the white man made what he hai out of the nigger. He . done ed oat. them real smart.

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~)(\ I ~ ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ U-sLAYs S.i~ORL~S Pegs One ~lbTexas) Awtt Virginia Bell 1205 ~ithvsn St., liOust OU, was born a slave near Opilouses, Louisiana, on the plantation of Thomas Lewis. Although saie remet ber. being told she was born on Christmai Day~, ens does not know tne year, but Bays B~e guesses she is about 88 years oid~. 1~Iell, awl, thi fus question you. ask ~e, bout how old I is~ I don know zactly. You see it ain t like things is to day0 The young folks can tell. you the ii zact age and everytbing, but in tnose cia~T8 we didn pay xm~ich tention to such things. But I knows I was n in slavery ttiuea and sly pappy t ol me I was b o n on a Christmas Day, x~t dic1n member jus what year. 1~Ie was owned by Uassa Lewis. Thomas Lewis was his name, and he was a United States laver. I ain t gwineter talk gainat ~y w~iite folks like some cullud fol1~s do, cause Massa Lewis was a aighty fine man and so was Miss ~Lary, and they treated us ~iigkity good. ~MasB& had a big plantat ion ne ar Opelousas and I was bo n there. I 1me~oer ttie neignoor folks us d to bring their cotton to the gin on his farm for ginnin and bal in ~ . My ai B naae was D,lia, That was ail, jus Della. ~ papw B name was Jim Blair. Botia of them was from Virginny, but from diff1rent places and was brou~gzit t o Louis lana ~y nigger trade s and sold t O Mas sa Lewi. I know na~ p~py was lot s older than my mother and he had. a wife and fivs chilien back in Virginny and i~ad oem sold away irom tnea ~ hire. 1_

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Ex..slave Stories P8 5 TWO (3 T~ (Texas) Then tie and my mother started a family out here. I don know what become of hi~ ftily back in Virginny, ~au.s~ when we was freed ne stayed with us. When I got old enough I was ho~issgirl and used t~ cax ry notes for Miss Mary to the neighbors and. bring back anawsre. Miss Mary would say, Now, Virginny, you take this note to sech and each place and be surs and b. back in se eh and se eh t tine and. I ail i.tB was. Massa Lewis had four or five fa~i1ies cf us slaves, but ws us.d to hays some ta.n after work and ue young folks would skip rope and~ play ring games, Dunn week days the field hands would work till the sun was jus goin down and then tile o~erseer would holler t ail gh and that was the signa . to quit. AU hands knocked off Sat day noon. ~ ~We didn have no scrxoolin or pre~~hjn~ . Only the white folks had them, but sometimes on Suiidaye we d go up to the house and listen to the white folks singin . Iffen axiy~ o:r tne slave hands wanted to git married, Massa Lewis would git them up to the house after supper time, have tus man and woman j me hands and then read to them outen a book. I g~iess it was the Scriptures. Then he d t.ll em they was married but to be r.ady for work in txi. moritin Massa Lewis married us cordin to GospeL Musa used. to feod us good, too, and. we iiad plenty clothes. 4..

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Ex slave Stories P~ ~ (Texas) Iffsn w got iook sick, we ~ad doctor treatment, too. Iffen a hand took ~ic~c in t1~e field with a isisery, they was carried to their q~erters and. Massa or Miss Mary would give th i a dose of ~p.cac and make them vomit and would sen for the doctor,, They w~uldn fool nons iffen one of us took sick, but would clean us out and take care of~stillwswasv~sl1, There was mighty little whippin goin on at our place, cause Massa Lewis ~nd Miss Mary treated u.s good. They wasn t no overseer gem to whip, cause Massa wouIdn low him to. Le s ee, I don rsc lec sore t~ian two wnippin s I see anyone gtt from Massa, and that has been so long ego I don rsctlec what they was for. Then the ~~ar done coins ~ long it sho chang3d things and we heerd. this and that, but we d.Idn know imic~i what it was abcRLt. Then one clay Uassa Lewis had all the wagons loaded with food. and cnairs ~nd beds and. other t~tngs from the house and ~ir qu~rtsr., aM I hee~ d bi~ say we wa ~ovin to Polk County, way over in Tsxas I know lt took 1h a long time to git tulers, and when we did. I never see so ~ueb woods. It sho was tUft rent from the plantati on. I had to work in the fields, saas as tAris rss , and we stayed ther. three years and made three crops of cotton, buis not s O euch as on our old. place, cause there wasn t so mich clearing. Thin one day Massa LSWIB t l~ us we was free, jas as free as he was ~ jus like you take the bridle offen a hose and turn him loose. Je jue looked

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~Z-~sla~s Stories Page lcxir (~exaa) 65 ~rou~n as iffen we ~ good. sense. We didn have nothin nor no~ where to go, and. Massa Lswis say iifen we ftnien making cl. crop, he would take us back to Opelousa. and give u~ a place to stay~ and feed us So after pickin we gos s back and when we git there we sees where those rascal Tankee s stre~e& everything houses burned, ~a~ kettles broke up. It looked mighty bad. Massa Lewis hadn no money, but he fixed us ttp a place to stay end give us what he could to eat, but things was mtgt~ty ziard for a ~hile. I know peppy used. to catch rabbits and take them to town and sell thea or trade thee for sonethin to eat, and. you know that wasn t euch, cause you can t git ~ch for a little ol rabbit. Then tt~s Pr Mar, that was ~iis name give us a order for t~ain~s to put in a crop with and to live till we made the crop. tCourse, I g~tess we wasn as bad off as some, tcause white folks knew we was Massa Lewis folks and didn bother us none. Then I got married to John Bell, and it was a scripture weddin too. Re died. 28 years ego, but I has stayed married to hi~ ever since. We had thirteen chilien, bat they is all dead now 1cept four, b~it they was raised. up rignt and they is mighty good to they oil ~~ma7.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 072 066

~~1~~()i 1 4. L~SLA~E 8TOR1~S Page One (Texas) z~cau BENDT, 90 odd y.az s, was the slave of Henry Bendy, of Woodville, Texas, has to oak. en effort to rezesiber and ta forced. to seek aid frc~ his wife, MineTva, at certain points in hie at ory. Edgar has lived in Woodville ail his life. l s a good size boy ehen de war gwlne on aiid I seed. de aoldi.rs cone right hers in Woodville. A big bi~nch of dem cai through ~nd de7 have cannons with des. My ~arster he dtdn. t go to ware C8~1~ h too old, I guass. t I s born ~ right )~rs and done I ive ~ hereabauts every a inc. ~ *sn 151117 3.nd.y, h. ay zarat er and he mn de at ore hers in Woodvil 1. aM have de fais, too. I didn t do nothin espt muss babies, I jes juap d~ up and down and de old ~areter hire ~e o~it to nuss other ehtte folks chilien, bi~an& little. ~My daddy nase Jack Crews and M7 W~fl7 WaS Winnie. Both of dsa~ woxted on 4e fare and I noter seed deii auch. I didn t have no house of ~y own, c&u.e de marater, h give as de room in he hous . T~s Iota of slaves and bout 100 acres in c~xlt vation. He gaYs d~ plenty to eat and good h~espin clothes to wear. He wa~ eighty good. 5Marst r have d~ plank hOuse and all cis thtnijs in it was ho~e~ ~ke. D cook was a old cullud woman and I eat at de kitchen t&ble and have de ease what de shits folks eats. Us has lots of seat, deer aeat and poem~a and coon and sich, and us sets tr~,s for birds.

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1~X ilaY Stoniss Page Two (Texas) t~ Dey ain t nothin better dat go in de wood dan cl. big, fat poam~m. D.y git fat on black haw. and acorns end chinquapin and uic~h. Chinqizapin is good. for p.qpl. to sat and to rout. I uaed to b. plumb giv. up to be d.e best 1~nt.r in Tyler and in d. whole o ntr~. I kilt mors dser dan a~y other man in di county and I b.,n guida for all ds big men what comes hen to ~mnt. My wife Xtn.rva, h ~..d. to go 1~intin with me. I kep on 1~uitin ~nd kintin till d.s Jack.&-.~lanterne git after ae. Dat a light yen uses all ~rmind y~i. D.y follow all long and d~7 StC~p y~ still. ! n one time it git all over mi. Come like de wind., blow, blow, and. c~e isa like firs all on ~ *~. end ~ clothss and. thing.. Vh.n dat git after me I quit ~ntin at nighttime and ain t been huntin unes. One time I fisbia on de creek and I ain t got no gun, and. i: look up and dens a big, wild cat. le never pay me no mind, no mon dan nothin , but dat ain t make no diff rencs to me. I Jeu flew in dat cr..kJ I used. to b.loi~ig to ds lodge but when I git uo old I couldn t pq my Jew,, : git Unfina~CIa1 and I ain t & memben no aons. ..es.*s.s

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 074 068

A ( ~ N u.m.si~ :i s ro~i~s p~e One ~ (Texas) MI~RYA BF4NDT, 83, was born a slave to LF~~5a1~2.s Gool.by, Henry Co. ~labama, who brought ber to ~exaa when ehe was five. They set tied. near Joodville ~ where linerva still lives, My sanies ~embra~ce was de big, white sandy road what lead we, froa de hottee I t was clean end white ~nd u~s chilien 1 ove to walk in de soft, hot sand. Dat in Henry County, Alabama, where I s bor* and ay old. narster was La~exus ~oolaby and he have de big plantation with lots of nigger folks. I a~srnber 3ua as good as yesterday wigglin ~ toes iii dat sandy road and rtuinin way to de grits aill where dey grind de a~e~l. Dat have de~g water wheel dat sint~ and squeak as it go round.. Aunt Mary, she ~a~s all us little chilien sleep i~ de heat of de day under de big, spreadin oak tree in de yard.. My sema have 17 Chiliifl. Her same Doilie and. ~ d.,ddy name Herd. EI s 11ue a little chile in diem days and I *tay in d.s house with de white folks. Dey raies ~. a pet in de f~ily. Missus Goolsby, she have two gals and dey give ~e to de oldest. Vben she dii dey pi~tt mi in d. bed with her ~t iNen I knowed she dyin dey wouldn t bulk able to cotch ~e. She rub ~y head. and tell her ~ and. m~a, I ~ gwine 1w~ ~tt I wants you prc~ise you ain t never whip i~y little nigger. Dey never did.. s ~ jus bout fj~~ year old. when us aake de trip to Tsxaa. UI co1~e right near Voodville and aake de plentation. It a big place and dey raise core and cott ca aM cane. We ~a1c i our own ~ er and. has ~Oi~74 ~( ~

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!x-slays Stories P$3~ Two ~ (Texas) . t) msa~ as siX k~ tt1. on de Au naci at ~e tims, Dey raise dey tobacco, too. Ils sick and a old man he sa~ he make mi tobacco medicine and day dry da Isafi and make d~ sweet like sugar and feed me like oandy ~ I ~~ber old ar.tr sq war broke out and Capt. Collier s mn was a. drillW right dsr south of Joodvtlls. All de wives and ~Chillsn watch dem drill. Dey was lots of d~, 1*t I couldn t count. D. whols shebang frcs de town go watch dem. 7o~tr of de Gooisby bo~ goes to dat war ei~d dey eau John aM Ziby and Za~td and ~dison, Zabud, he git woti~udsd9 no h. git kilt, aM Add.iso~ he git woended. I worry den, c~aes Z ain t ses no rea~Ofl foe dem to have to dis. ~ftsr tLS free dey turn ua boss in de woods and. dat de bad time, C~1B. most u~ Iidn t know wbsre to turn. I wain ~t raise to do ~othim and X didn t know how. D.y didn t even givs ue a hoecake or a suc; of bacoz. tIts a Ju1n brid.s 59 rear ago when I git married. De old. white 3~tict preachsr name Blackihear ~*tt as a~d dat nigger over dare, Zd&Br Bend;, tog d4sr end us bein togsddsr ever sine.. tie never have Chick or chile. I . such s good mues I guess ~e Lawd. dld&t want as to have non, of ~ owit, so s I could nues all de others and I spect I s nusssd most de white chtllsn and cullud, too, hers in Woodville.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 076 070

420V77 ? ~ EL~SL~4V~ STORIES Pace One ~ (Texas) ~ /0 t ~ARLH BENJAMIN, 82 was born a slave of the ~ilbert family, in Clavin Parish, iouisiana. Ix~ 1867 she married. Ca . Benj.~. airiln ana. they settle& in Cors-rnicana, Texae, where sarah now lives~ UI is Sarah Benjamin and~ is 82 year old, cause my maiii~y told~ me I~ born in l8~5 in Clavin Parish in ~aouisiana. Her name was Fannie arid. my pappy s n~xne was JaCk Cal1ah~a The re was ~~ts three Gf u~s chilien and l s de oldest~ Marse Gilbert was toltsble rood. to we i~ns, ari~. give us plenty to est. He ha~ a sm kchei~tse bi~ as a church ant it was full, an~ in ~o bi: kitchen we ai . et chilien afl~ all. De crown folks e t first ant &en ~1e chilien, Did~ we have plenty of p~s~iis ard fish by de barrels ~ All tis was coeke~ in ~e racks over ~e fireplace an~ it were goat. ~O~r clothes was all liainespwi ant ~e shoes mais by de shoe~n~ker. Old nia;rse wantet ail us to ~o te charch ant if d.ey didn t have shoes toy have som~thin~ like te moccasin, I ton t know how ma~r sleves there was but it was a l~t maybe 60 or 70. Dey worke~1. hard every dey tcept ~un y. Iff~n they was bad they nii~ht git whiappint s, b~it not too hart, riot to ~e blow. Iffen &ey w~,s still bai-, dey puts ~ chains on de~ a~id puts tern in de stocks, caus there wasntt no ~a . there. nc~ when I~e little~ marss st~ippe me stark ms~Iern na~et ant p*te n e oil ts black, biat he w ulth~ t sell~ie, cau~se he w~s bit oniy $350.00 ant h. say n., ~cw~tse I was good. aM fat4

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~ i~X $1aVe Stories Paie Two 71 (Texa.) Dey ~idn t lam ~s n~thin ar~ iffer~ yo~ ~1E lam to writo, ~ :~ou better keep it to you.rse ~ , 1ca~se some ~1~wes ~ot de thumb or ~ ir~er c~it ~ff ~ or lamm t~ writes Then de s1av~s come in frcm de fie3 s d.y ~~id~n t lam nothint, they jt~ ~ to bee, lessen moonthine nights come aiid~ iey eo~1c! work in ie tobacco patc h. D. ~ars~er cive each one ~.e 1i~t1s tobacco patch &nd iffen he raised mere~n he could. use h~ co~xI eell it. Cn Christmas we all heSs &e we .k vacati on ~ an~~ maybe te Ian. ~e alius have ~i~e cran dinner on dat day, and n~ w iu.ppin z. But dey couiintt 1~av~ t~e pIantatioi~ withc~u~t ~e pass, even ~n-Christmas De women ha& t~ nui d~e ~in in i.e ~a~ti~ aii~ d~ r~an at nicht. Dey fed~ ~e old. ~in from b~ekets an~ ~y ~mmy fet from io~e baskets ~11 diy witb ~ hi~h f ver ~ ~.ied. ~at night, She ~u1dn t t~ .1 ~.e marster she sick, f r fe~.r ~he have t. tp~k~ de q ainine. De i~y we w~,e free~, ~Ie s1av~ ju~s 8cattere~, Iceptj~~ me, Mis$y Gi1b~ t zays I wasn t no c1~vs ne ni re ~bu.t I h~iA to sta~r at~. h&p her for ~ board. t~jfl l s crown. I stay~ till I ~ae bout 16, ~en I ri~ns away and~ marri ~ s Cal Benj e~min an& we comes t o T exai C al ant ~ has ~ix chilien, but he died. fore ley was ~ro~m, * *** 5 s **

Ex-slave autobiography. 078 072

4 2()023 For Ex-.Slave Volume Page one EX-.~SLAV~ STORIES (Te~x~s) _7 / OCT 2 1937 BX- SI VE AUTOBIOGRAPHY ~icx: BESS was born near Goliad, Tsxaa In 18 4, a ilavs of Stevs Bees who was a rancher. He worked with atock as a very young boy and this waa his duty during and after the Civil War, as hi rsmaihed with his bou for thres years after emanolpatlono 11e then cams to old Bsn Ficklin four railea south of the prsaent San Angelo, Texas, when lt was th~ oounty seat of Tom Gresu County and before there vai q~ San Angelo. fis oontlnued hia work on ranoheB hers and has never done any other kind of work. For the p~,st several yeax~ he hae bsn very feeble and has mads hie home with a daughter In San Angelo, Zack who waa as.ist d out ot b & and dr.es.d by his gran4~aon, hobbled in ou hie cans and said, I was Joe a Enall boy vorkin on de r~n~h Wien I hsar talk bout con-.

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Page two ~ 73 scriptin de men for de war what was agoin to set de slaves free. Je didu know hardly what d.y was a talkin bout cause w. knowed dat would be too good. to be trus. I jes keeps ou workin wid my hoeses and my cattle (dare wasn t no sheep den) Joe like dare wasn t no war, cause dat was all I ever knows(~ how to do. . *Our oie niarster, he wasn t 8:0 very mean to us, course he ~whips us once and awhile but dat wasn t like de slave holders what had dem colored drivers. Dey abo was rough on de slaves. X s besn told lots bout de chains and de ditfe nt punis~bments but our treatment wasn t so bad. Our beds was pretty good when we uses dem. Lots of di time we jes slespa on de groun spec lally in summer. *Our log huts iaa comfortable and we had come kind of tloot e in all of dein. Some was plank and some was poles but but dat was better dsn de dirt floo s some cabins have. De ests we have wis jes good .~iita, lots of meats and vegetables and de like; pos~im and coon and beef and all cooked good. Our clothes was Jee home spun like all de others. ~We didn have euch a big ranch and not many slaves but we all gits along. We learns a little bout readin and writin . I don t member any camp meetin s tu after de war. w. had a tew dia s*d on Ch~ istmae times we jes tsars up de country. Lawdy3 LawdZ Dat fiddlin went on all nights ~ and we dance awhile den lay down and sleeps, den gits up and dances some mo e. We would have big cakes and everything

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Page three good to eat. Then we gits sick dey Jes gives us some kind of tea, Ino$tly made from weeds. Moe of de time we gits well. When de news comes dat we was free our boss, lie say, You tree now. Course we was glad but we didn know nothin to do but Jes stay on dere,and we did bout three years and de boss paya us a little by de month ror our work. I s lef den den and comes to old Ben Fickl4n to work on a ranch. Dat was before dere was any San ~&nge1o,Tex ~ ~ as. l s been here ever since, jea a workin from one ranch to another long as I was able. Now l s Je8 stayin round wid my ohillun and dey takes good care of me.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 081 075

420170 EX-SLAVE STORIES (Texas) P~4c~e One : 75 ELLEN BET ~S, 118 L Live O&c S1~., Houston, Texas, is 84. All of her people and their masters caine frori Virginia and settled in Louisiana about 1853. Her grandparents belonged to the Green family and her parente, Charity ~nd Willi~n Gree~i, belonged to T olas ~ Parsons Ellen 3. ives with friends ~io support her. Her sole belonging is an old trunk and sha carries the key on a string around her neck. \~ nI got born~d on de Bayou Teche, obst to Opelousac. Dat in St . Mary s Parish, in Lo~iisi~na, and I belonged to Tol~~s Parsons what had bout 500 slaves, c~intin de big ones and de little ones, ~ nd he had God know what else When my eye s j es barely frech open Mar se Tolas die and will de hU.11 lot of us to he brother, william Tolas. Arid I tells you dat Marss !illi~ am de greates man what ever walk clic e~rth. Dat s de truth. I can t 11e on him when de pore m~n s in he grave. When a whixppin got to be done, old 1~arse do it heseif. He ~ low no overseer to throw he gale down arid. pull up dere dress and whup on clerc bottom like I hear tel . some of sein do. Was he still ~vin I spect o te part of he hands be with him today. I knows I woi~ld. When us niggers go down de road fc~Ths say, Den~s Parson s niggers. D0n t hit one dein n1g~ers for God s s&~ce or Parsons ~ eatS your j acke t lip. fl ~A3.lnt Rachel what cook in de big house for Miss Corneli~ had four y ~flg~ uns arid dem chilien fat eM slick as I ever seen. All de niggers halve to stoop to Aunt Rachel jes like dey curtsy to Missy. I mind de L

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Ex ~slave Stories Page Two ~ 7G (Texas) t i~ae her husbsnd, Uncle Jim, g t ia~~d ~nd hit her over de ~ with de poker. ~& big knot r~,ise up on Aunt Rachel s heed md when M~rse t~j~ bout it, she s~,y. she done bump de he~d. She dnssn t tell rn Uncle Ji~ or M~se sho bcat hirn, Marse s:~o proad dem black, slick chilIen of R~chcls. You couldn t find. p y~ller chile on he pl~ce. He sho got no use for inixin blnck ~md white, M3rse William h~ve de pretti~s ~iace ixo ~nd down dat bayai, with ~e fine house an~ fine trees end. sech. ~ro~n where w~ live it s five mile to Centerville one wayand five mile to Patt~ rson t other. Dey h~u1s de 1ut~iber from one place or t other to in~ke wood hous~&s for ~e sl~v,s. Sometime M~rse buy de furniture and sometime d.c carpenter m~ke it. Miss Sidney w~.s Marse s first wif ~ and he had six boys by her. Den ~ he marry dc wldcw Cornelius ~nd she give him four ~o~rs. ~7ith ten chilien springin up quick like dat ~nd ~1l (~C cuilud chillen commt lon~: fast ~s pig litters, I d(~fltt do nothin r~1l my days, but nuss, fluss, nuss. I nuss . so many chilien it don~ went a~d stunted my growth ~nd dat s wh~r I ~in t nothin but bones to dis day. tt~J~en de cuilud woman b~s to cut cane ail d~y till midnight come ~nd r : after, I has to nuss de babies for dem ~nd tend de white chilien, too. Some ~ern babies so fat and bid; I h~.d to tote de feet while nother gal tote de head. I was sech ~ li~ 1 one bout s even or e ight year cl d Dc b i~. folks 1 cave : some toddy for colic ~nd crrin and sech ~nci I done drink de toddy ~nd let de chilien have de milk. I don t know no better, Lawsy me, it ~ wondeT I ain t de bigges dnrnker in dis here country, wii ~li de toddy I done put in my young belly!

083 077

Er slave Stories Page Tiwee ~ ( Texas) UWhen late 0fb night come, iffen dem babies wake up and bawl, I set up a screech and out screech ~em till dey shut dere mouth. De louder day bawl d~ louder I b~wl~ Sometime when Marss hear de babies cry, h&~cor~e down and say, W~r de chill~n cry like dat, Ell~i? I say, Marse., I git so hongry and tired I done drink de milk up. ~ftien I talk sassy like dat, Marse jes shake he finger at me, cause he ~c~owed l s a good. One and don t let no Uttle mite starve. Nobody ever hit ~e a lick. Marss allas say bein in~an to d.c iroung uns make dem mean when dey grows up and nobody gwlneter buy a mean nigger. Marss don t even let de chilien go to de big cane patch. Re pl~nt little bitty patches close to c1e house and each li ? nigger have a patch and he work it till lt got growed. Marss hawe de house girls make popcorn for em and candy. I nur~s (j5 sick folks too. Sometirri~ I dose with Blue Mass pills ~nd sometime Dr. Faweett leave rhubarb and ipicac and ca1ot~l ~nd castor oil and ~ sech. Two year after de war, I git marry ~rtc~. git chilien of m r own and den I turn into de wet fluss.. I wet nuss de white chilien an5 black chilien, like dey all de saine color. S0metime I have a wh te un pullin de one side anda black one de other. II wanted to git de papers for midwifin but, law, I don t never hav~e no time for lamm in slave time. If Marse cotch ~ p~~r in you. hand he sho1 whop yOU. He on t ~ low n o bright niggers r ound he sell em qui ok. He al lu~ say, Book .arnin don t raise no good sugar 09fl5. De only lamm he low was when dey lam de cullud chilien de Methodist catechism. De only writinS a ~ er ever git, am when lie git born or marry or die, den Marse put as naine in de b~ig book. -3..

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Ex..s1ayeSto~ jes Page ~ our z 78 (Texas) ~ 1Law, I leet de time Marse marry Miss Cornella. He went on de mail boat anci brung her trom ~ew Orleans, Sue ie prett les women in o.e world almost, ceptin sne nave ae b1~es~ mOui~ I nearly ever seect. He bru.ng her up