%images;]> mesn-164 Slave narratives, a folk history of slavery in the United States from interviews with former slaves. Texas Narratives, Volume XVI, Part 4: a machine-readable transcription. Born In Slavery: Ex-Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Projectmesn Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.

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Untitled Section 001

SLAVE NARRATIVES A Folk History of Slavery in the From Interviews with Former Slaves FYPEWR ITT EN BECORI)S PREPARED BY TIlE FEI)ERAL WRITERS PROJ E(:T I 193& 1938 ASSEMBLED BY I IIE LIBRABY ~I)F CONGRESS PROJEC l WOR K PRoJECTS AI)M ENISTRATION FOR THE DiSTRICT OF COLU~ lBEA SPI)NSOREI) RY TIlE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated u ith Photographs United States WASHINGTON 1941

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VOLU~ XVI ~XAS NARRATIVES PART 4 Prepared by the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Texas

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INFORMANTS Salico, Lazicjue Scales, Ciarissa 3cott, Hannah ~ei1s, 2~bram 3oL~ian, George hepberd, Caliie ~irriinons, Betty 3 i ~n ons George ~:uiiapson, Ben 3i~~ith, Glies Sill tu Ja~ie s VI. Si~~ith, Jordon Sini-th, ilillie Ann 3:nith, ~$usan ~need, John Snyder, iLariah ~outhwe11, Patsy 3pinks Leithean Stewart, Guy Sto~ie William Stringfellow, Yach Strong, Bert Taylor, Emma Taylor, l Ioule Terriell, Jake Terrill, 3~. ;~. Thomas, Allen Tho.uias, Bill and. Eilen Thomas, Lucy Thomas, Philles Thor:~as, Iiillari L. Thompson, I:ary ThOmpSOn, Penny Todd, Albert Trimble, Aleck Tucker, Reeves Turner, Lou Walker, Irella Battle Walton, John Walton, ~E3ol Washington, Ella Washington, Rosa Washington, Sam Jones Watkins, Vlilliam watso~~, Dianah Watson, Emma West, James White Adeline Wickliffe, Sylvester Sostan Williams, Daphne Williai:ts, horatio ~. Williaris, Lou Williams, illilie ~iil1iains, Rose ~ illia is, Steve Willia~s, Wayman VJillia is, Willie Wilson, Lulu Wilson, Wash Winri, Willis Witt, Rube ~Joods, Ruben Woodson, ;Jillis Woorlin~:. Ja:es G. ~7right Caroline Wroe, Sallie Yarbrough Fannie Young, Litt Young Louis Young, Teshan 118 122 125 128 131 134 138 141 144 14? 150 153 155 160 164 166 170 174 179 182 18 ? 190 195 201 208 211 214 216 219 223 o 227 232 235 1 3 6 9 15 17 19 ~.1 27 30 33 36 41 44 47 52 55 5,? 61 64 o 70 73 76 78 80 83 85 89 92 95 100 103 106 108 116

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ILLTJSThATI ONS Facing_page Mazique Sanco i Clarissa Scales 3 Abram Sells George Selman 15 Callie Shepherd 17 Betty Simmons 19 George Simmons 24 Giles Smith 30 James ~1. Smith ~ 33 ~Tordon Smith 35 Lillie Ann Smith 41 ~Tohn Sneed 47 Llariah Snyder 52 Leithean Spinks 57 ~~i11iain Stone 64 Yach Stringfellow 67 Bert Strong 70 Emma Taylor 73 i~.11en Thomas 83 Bill and Ellen Thomas 85 Lucy Thomas 89 Philles Thomas 92 ~1i1liam M. Thomas

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Facing page 100 103 106 116 118 128 134 138 141 147 150 153 .1-o ~ 166 166 170 179 182 187 190 195 201 208 211 Mary Thompson Penny Thompson Albert Todd Reeves Tucker Lou Turner Sol Walton Rosa Washington Sam Jones Washington Williarii Watkins Emna Watson lames West Adeline White Daphne Williams Lou Williams Lou Williams House Millie Williams Steve Williams Wayman Williams and Henry Freeman Willie Williams Lulu Wilson Wash Wilson Willis Winn Rube Witt Ruben Woods Willis Woodson 214

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Facing page Salue Wroe 223 Litt Young 227 Louis Young 232 Teslian Young 235

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 007 001

I ~ ) ( ~ ~ ) ( ~ Q -.~g ~ ~X-~SL~&VE STOE lES Pa~e One ~ j (Texas) LiAZ1QU.~ ~3ANCQ was born a slave of Mrs. Louisa Green, in C o .uinbia, South Car:lina, on Febru.ary 10, 1349. Short1y~ after Mazique was freed, he e ru j S t e d in the army ~nc1 was sent v~ith the Tenth Cavalry to San A~nge1o, thenFort Concho, Texas, After Mazique 1~,ft the arrn r he became well-known as a chef, and worked for several large hotels. Maziqu~ us~ little dialect. Then asked where M~ zique is his young wife says, In his office, arid upon inqu.lry as to the location of this o~ fice, she replies mirth~ fully, !On de river, for since he is t ~o old to work, M~zi~ue spends most of h~s tinie fishing. i~~:y mistress owned ~ beautiful hoin~ and three hundred twenty acres of land in the edge of GolurrIbia, in South Carolina, just back of the ~tate house. Her nani~ was Mrs. Louisa Green ~nd she was a widow lady. That s where I was born, out when her neph~~w, Dr. Edward Pleinming, married Miss Dean, I wa~ given to hirn for a wedding present, and so was my mother and her other chfldren. I was a very small boy then, and when ~ was ten Dr. Fie!Pmin~ gave me to his cri~p1~cl mother.-~in aw for a foot boy. She got crippled in a ninaway accident, when her husband was killed. He had two fine horses, fiery and spirited as could ~e hai. He called them Ash and Dash, and one day he and his wife were out driving and. the horses ran the carriage into ~ bi~ pine tree and M~. Deain was killed inst~~tly, and ~trs. Dean couI~n t ever help herself again. I waited on her. I had a good bed and food ~nd was let to earn ten cent shin plasters. When the war was over she called up her five families of slaves and told us we could go or stay. Some went and SOTQ~ stayed. I Was z~lways an ad- venturer, want thg to see and learn things so I left and went back to m~ mother with Mrs0 Flemming. 1-

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~x-$laYe Stories ~ Two ( Texas) t, I only st eyed there a few months and hi red~ out t o Maj or Legg and worked for hirn several years. I felt I wasn t learning enough, so I joined the Unit cd States i~rmy and with a hundred. and eighty..five boys ment to St . L~iis, Missouri, From there we were transferred with the Tenth Cavalry to Fort Concho. ~ I helped haul the lumber fr~ni San Antonio to finish the buildings at the fort. : I was there five years. ~ ASter I went to work at private employmet I did some carpenter work, but n~ost of the houses were. adobe or pecan pole buildings, so I got a job from . ~ Mr. Jimi~:r Xeating as niechanic for awhile, and then drifted to Mexico. Odd jobs ~ were ail I could get for awhile, so I landed in El Paso and got a job in a hotel ..~ ~ That was the start of my success, for I learned to be a skilled chef ~ and superintended the kitchens in some of the largest hotels in Texas. I mRde as high as $80.00, in Houston. M~ last work was done at the St. Angelus Hotel r here in San Angelo and if you don t believe I m a good cook, just look at my wife ~ Over there. ~:;hen I married her she was fourt.~en years old and weighed a hundred and. fifteen pounds. Now it s been a long time since I COuld get her on the s~1~ not s mcc she passed the two hundred pound mark. * ***

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 009 003

4~2O256 EX-SLAVE STORLE~S (Texas) CLA~ISSA SCALES, 79 was born a slave o ~ William Vaughan, on his plantation at Plum Creek, T,~x~Lsv Clarissa in~rried when she w~s fifteen. She owns e small ~ arm near Aus t in but lives with her son, Art2rnr, ai~ 1812 Cedar Ave., Austin. ~rnx y s flCflle was Mary Va~hon and she was brung from Baton Rouge, what am o~~er in Louisiana, by our master. H~ went arid located on Plum Creek, clown in Haars County. ttM8lT &V was a tall, heavy.set wom2n, rnore n six foot tall, She was ~ rnaid-doctor after freedom. Dat z~ieari she r~i~sed women at childbirth. s ie allus t old me d.c l~ st thing she s~ w when she left Baton R ouge was her mammy ~ On a big, wood block to be sold for a slave. Dat de last tir~e she ever saw her ma~ay. i~ram~r died ~bout fifty years ado. Sne was I ivin~ on a farm on Big W~. nut Creek, in Trpvis County. Daddy done die a year ce o and she jes grieves herself to death. Daddy was SLO1 funny lookint, cause he wore long whiskers and what ~r~i calls a goatee. lie was field worker on (~C Vaugh~n plantation. 1Master Vaughsn Was GOOd. and treated. us all rigi~t. He was a great whit e in~xi and i t have no over seer, Missy s narn~ ~as Margaret, 2fld she was good, toot My j ob Was tendin fi ree ~nd d. ~g~ I ke~ fi re goint when d.c washin be in done. Dey~ had. plenty wood, but used. corn cobs for de fire, Dere a big hill corn cobs near de ~wash ket tie. In d.c eveni n1 I had t o brine in de hawgs, I had. a li ~l Ihoop I d~v dein wit~, a eight ~plaited ~whide whoqp on de long etick It a purty sight to se~ dem hawgs go under 11.10.

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~X~SLAV~ STORIES Page Two ~ (Texas) 0 de s1ip~ gap, what was a rail took down from de bottom de fence, so de hawgs could run under~, . Injuns used to pass our cabin in big bunches. One, time dey give mammy s orne earrings but when th,yt s through ~ t in they went s dem earrings back, Dat c1~e way de Injuns done, After feedinT dem, thaxnmy allus say, Be good and kind to rydy~ One th?y M~st er Vaugh~m come ~ say we s ail free and. could go and do whet we wants. Daddy and m~mmy rents a place ~nd I stays until 11s fifteen, I wanted to be a teacher, b~.it daddy kep me hoein cotton most d~ time. Dat s all he knowed. He allus told me it was nough lamm could I j et read and write. He never even had dat much, But he was de good fariner and. good to me and mai~y. Dere was a school after freedom, Old Ltaxi Tilcien was de teacher. One time a bunch of men dey calls de flu Klux com~ in de room ~nd say, You git out of here and git way from dem niggers. Don let us cotch rc u here when we cames back.t Old M2n Tilden shot was scart, but he say, 1~~i all come badc tomorrow.1 He finishes dat year and we never hears of him gain. Dat a log schoolhouse on Williamson Creek, five mile south of Austin. De n a cullud teacher named Hamlet Campbell come down from de north. He rents a room in a big house and mares a school. De tr~tstees hires and pays him ~nd us chilien didn1 t have t O p~ I ~ot t o go S orne and I allus tells m~ grand-. daughter ho~c I s head of de class when I does go. She ~m good in hr~r studies, too. tl Then s fifteen I marries Benj aznin Calhoun Scales and he was a farmer. We had five chilien and three boys is livin One am a preacher and Arthur wn a cement laborer and Chester works in a printint shop. 2-

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Ex~slaVe Stories Page Three (Texas). ~ . Benjie dies on February 15th, dis year.(1937). 1 lives with jrthur ~ and de gov rnent gives me $io~oo de months I has de lj~1 farmof nineteen acree out near Oak Hill and Floyd, de preacher, lives on dat. ~&ll my boys is good to ~ rile. Dey done ~ood,.~nd better n we could, tcause we couldn t git mu~ch lamnin~ ~ dem da~ys. Ils had de good life. But we tpreciated our chance inore n de young ~ folks does nowadays . Dey h~s so much de~tr don t h~ ve to try so hard. I f. we d had what dey got ~ie ~ d thunk we was done di ed and gone t o Glory Land. Maybe dey Il be ail right when deys growed.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 012 006

420267 FJX~SLAVE STORIES Page One ~ (Texa3) HANNAH SCOTT was born in slavery, in Alabama. ~ She does riot know her age but s~,s she was grown when her last master, Bat Peterson, set her free, Hannah lives,with her grandson in a two-.rOoi~ house near the railroad tracks, in Houst on, Texas . Unable to ~. walk: because of a paralytic stroke, Hannah asked her grandson to lift her from the bed. to a chair, from which she told. her story. si ra Ove de chair a mite clos er t o de at ove . Dere s better, cause de heat kind. of soople me up. Ain t nothin left of me but some skin arid bones hohow0 Lemme see n~, I s born in . Alabama and. I think dey calls it Fayet te County. M~Jfle S flt3JflC Was Ardissa and she long to I~tarse Clark fl~cclea, bat us chilien allus call him \1hite~ Pa. Miss Hetty, his wife, we calls her White ~a. $11 nevei~cnowec1 my own pa, ~ cause he long to ~nother man and was sold away I fore ~ old nough to know hirn. Mama has five tis chilien, but dey all dead. ceptin me, Dey didn t have no raarriage back d i like now. Dey just ~U~v5 black folks t o ether in de s ight of m~n and not in d.c s ight f a, and dey put s dem asu.nde r, too, Marse ~ccles didn1t have no big pince an~ only nine slaves. I guess he what ~a calls poor folks ~ but he ~ mi~ht~r GOOd to he black folks I member when he sold ue tQ~et~e~8~,, ~ and White Ma bz~eak down and ~ cry when old Bat puts us in de waV n Rfld t&CC$ US. 0ff to Arlcansas. .1 beared. ~. ~ ~

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Pace Two ~x~~iaVe Stories (Ti~xas) mai~ta say sornethin~ bout ~iite Pa sellin us fcr debt ~nd he gits a hunerd dollars for me. ~thoosh, it sho W~ $ a heap dif ent from Alabaaa, Ma~se Bat had nig~ers. I reckon he must of had. a hu~nerd of dem ~nd two nigger th~ivers, Uncle Green ~nd Uncle Joke, and a overseer. Marse Bat was niean, too, and work he slaves from daylight till nine o clock at night. I carries water for de hrnds, I carries de bucket on ray head and fore long I ain t got no iQore hair on my head d~n y~i has on de p~1m of you hand. No, suhl tt~en I gits bigger, de overseer puts me in de field with de rest. Mirse Bat grow mostly cc~ton and it don1t make no ~ is you big or ii l, ;~rou better keep up or de drivers bu~rn you up with de whip, sho Vnough. Old Marse Bat never put ~ lick on me all de years I ~ longs to him, but de drivers sho burnt me plenty times. Sometime I gits so tired corne night, I draps right in de row and gone to sleep. Den de driver come long and, wham, dey cuts you cross de back with de whip ind you vakes up when it lights on you, yes, suhZ Bout nine otciock dcv hollers 1cotton up and dat de quittin signai. We goes to de quarters and jes drap on de bunk and. go to ~1eep. without riothin to eat, HQ~ old Bat s place dat all us know, is work arid more work, De onlies time we h~s c~f am Sunday and den we has to wash and. mend clothes. De first Sunday of de ~nonth a white p~~her corne, but ail he sa~ is tbedience to de white fOlks, and we hears nough of dat without him tellint us. I tznewber when White Pa come to try git mains and us chilien back. We been in Arkansas five, six year, and, whoosh, I sho wants to go back to my White

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~.. 8 ~x s1ave Stories Pace Three (Texas) Pa, iDlit old Bat woulthi t 1~t us go. ~e caine to our quarters dat night and tell m~ina if she or us chilien try to run off h~ 11 kill us. Dey sho watch us for awhile. Sometimes one of de niggers rans off btit he a1n1t~gone long. He gits hon~ry nnd cornes back. Den he gits a bur nin with de bullwhip. Does he run way ag~1n Marse Bat s~y h. got too mu ch rabbit in him and chains him up till h~ goe s to Little Rock and sells h1m~ I he~ared soxnewhite:f lks tx~at d.eys1a~es gOod And give dem time off, but Marse Bat don t. Weh~s ple ty to eat and clothes, but dat all. Dat de way it was till we s freed, o.~y it WFtS2it~t in rkansas. It was down to Richmond., here in Texas, tcause Marse Bat rents a farm at Richmond. He thurik if h~ brwig us to Texas he wouldn t haire to set us free. But he got fooled, cause a gov ment man come tell us we s free, We had de crop planted and old Bat say if we ~ 11 stay through Ikit he il p~y us. M~na and us stayed awhile. 1 gits married legal with Richard Scott and we comes to Harrisburg ~nd he gits a job on de section of de railroad. Its lived here ever since. My husban and me raises five chilien, but onl~r de one gal am alive n~v, My grandson takes care of me. He tells me iffen m~r husband lived so loris, he be 107 years old~ I know he was older dan me but not xactly how much. h bometime I feel I~s been here too long, cause l s paralyzed and caii t move round none, But maybe de Lawd ~j& t ready foe me yet, and de Debbil won t have me~ ~ .

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 015 009

320126 ~LNsL v:B~ sToi .i~s p~ On~ (Texas) * 3RAM SELLS wa~ born a slave on the Rimes P1~ntatton, which was located. about 18 r~aile~ south-~ ~a~t 0 Newton, TexF4~s. H~ does not know his &~ge, but must b~ well alone in the 8O~, ~s his recollections o~! slatery deys are keen. He lives at J~ae~-~ town, Texas. II ~as birthed on the Rimes Plantation, now called Earrisbur~. My ~eat.~r~and-daddy s naiv was Bowser Rimes and. he w~s brung to Texas from Lo~isi~a Rnd CUe ~t 138 year old. }te s buried ~n tne old Ben Powell plate close to Jasper, My ~ran&-.daddy, that s John he lives to b~ 103 y~ ~.r old ~nd he buried ~n th~ Eddy plantation at Jasper. My d~dy, Mose Pirn~s, he die young ~t 86 and ~ buried in Jasper County, too, My mnmrny~s n~r~e was Phoebe ~.nd ~he was 1~irthed a Rirn~z nigger ~d bru.ng to Texas fror~i beck In Loiuis1~na, The ye~r slaves was fr~d, I was inherit by a maTi fl&~fl~d Sells, what marry into the Rimes f~x~i1ly and that s why my nar~e s S~~l1s, ~c~use it cbpnge tl~n~ with the ra~rri~e. Us was j~s ready to be ship back to Louisiana to the n~w ~as~~s p1ant~tion Wh~U the In d of tht~ war bre ait up the trip. You see ~e all had purty ~good tirue on Massp. Rimes1 s p1axit~tion~ None o ~ them c~rin bout being ~ot free. They has to work h~~rd ~ii t1r~e, but that don mean so much, tcaus~ they bave to work iff~n th~y w~s on they own, too . Th~e old folks was ~ 1 owed Satuird;:~y evenin1 ort or when they s sick, and us little ones~ us not do iiuch but bring in the wood and ki~d1e the fires arid tote water ~nd he p wash clothes and feed th~ little pigs and chickeni,

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Ex..slp.Ve Stories Page Two (Tex~ ) Us chilien hang round close to the bi~ house and us have ~. old r~an tnat went round with u~ and. lock after us, white chilien ~nd black chillen, ana. that old. rn~ was n~y ereat grand th~ ddy. Us shot have to mind him, tca~1se iffen we didn t, u~ shot have bad. luck. He aflus h~ve tne pocket U1 o things to conjur~ with. That rabbit root, n~ took it oi~t and h~ v~ork that on you till ~ rou take the creeps ~nd. ~it srtakin all over, Then therets ~ pocket full (yr fish scales nnd he kind of equec~Ic and. rattle the~i in trie hpnd and right, then :rou wish y~i was dead and promi se t o d ~) anythi ng. Anot h~r t hi ng he allus have in t tie p o cke t was n. 1111 old drv..up turtl~, ~ a mud turtle bout trie size of a ~~ e thur~b, t:.e whole thing j~s dry up and dead. ~Vith that thing he say he could do rnost anything, but he never use it iffen he ai.iitt have tc. A f~v tirn~s I seed him git all t~ngle up and bodclered ~nd he go otf by his~lf and sot do .vr~ in a quiet place, take out this very turt~ and. put it in the paTh of the hand and turn ~t round ~a~d round and sa~ soruethin all the time. After while h~ git ~veI7thin~ ontwisted cnd he corne b~~k with a smile on ~e face R~d maybe whistlin . ~They fed ~ll us nigger chilien in a ~ trough make out n wood, maybe more a wood tray, dug out n soft timber like nia~no1i4r c r~ress. They put it urnier a tree in the shade in swmner time ~ give each chile a wood spoon, then mix aH the food up in the trough end us goes to catin . NOS the food was potlicker, jest common old potlicker: turnip green and the juice, Irish ttaters and the Juice, cabbages and. peas end be~iis, jest anything wti~t make potlicker. All UM ~it round like ~o manY lit 1 Pies and then us dish in with our wood spoon till. it all gone.

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Ex~.~slave Stories ~ree r (Texas) ~ has lots of meat at times0 Old gr~nd~dad.d~r allus ketchin rabbit in some kind of trap, ~noetly make outtn a holler log, He sot ~~m roun~1- In the garden pncl sho kotch the rabbits, And possums, us have a good. possum dog, sometimes two or three, ~nd every night you h~er~ them dogs b~,rk1nt j~ the field down b~r the br~ch. Sho ~ they ~1t prssur~ treed and u.s go git him and. parbile him ~nd put him in tue ove~i ~nd bake him plu ~, tender. Then we stacks sweet taters round hira ~nd po the juice over the whole thing. Now, there is soinethint good. nuf for a king. Th~r~ was lots of deer and turkey and squirrel in the wil wood. ~nd so~iebody out ~ nearly eve ry dey. flourse Massa Riae s folks couldn t eat up ~ll this meat b~fo it spile end. the niggers allas t~:it ~ :~r~e.t big part of lt. Then we kilt lots of hawgs and then talk tbout ~~tti~ ! O, them chitlir~s, souserneat and the haslets, thats the liver ~nd the Ii~hts all biled. up together. Us Ii I nigg~rs fill up on sich as th~.t and. go to bed and. r~to~ dream us is Ii l pigs. 1Us allus have plenty to eat bu~ di~I~I t parr r iuch ~ tention to CIOth~~. Boys and gi~J~s all dress jes alike, one long shirt or dress, They call it a shirt itfen a boy wear it nnd call it a dress iffen the g~ :~l we~ it. There wasn t no d.iffer~nce, tc;~use they s all made outtn ~O7nethjn like duck and all white. That is~ they s whi~te when ~rou ~Lis put them on, but Rfter you w~9rS them a W I11e they git kind of pig..cullud, kind of grey, but st ill they 5 all tne ~ color. Us all go barefoot in summer, liii ones and big ones, but In WiYIt~r U.S have homemake shoes.

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~x~si2Ne Stories Page Four ( Texas) They t an the le ather at home ~nd rn~ke the shoe at home a .lus s on ie old n i~ger th~.t kin. make shoe ~ They was more like na s in with I ~ce made o:~ deerskin, The soles was peg on witti wood pegs outtn mple and. sharpen ciGwfl with a shoe knife. Us hpve hats iaak~ outtn pine straw, long leaf pine straw, tied together in I1~1 bunches and platted round. arid round till it i~ke ~ kinder h~t. That oine ~tr~w great stuff in them days and us use it in lots of w~?9. Us idvered swe,t ttaters with it to keep them trom git freeze and hOt~~ made beds outtn it and folks too, Yes, sir, us slept on it. The beds h;~1. ~es~ one lee, They bored two hole in the wall up in the corner and stuck two pole in the~i holes and lay plank on th~t lik~ slats cnd pile lots of pine straw on that. Then they spread a homemake blanket or c uiit On th~.t (and soxaetiine four or five li l nigge ~ slep in there to k~ep us w~rm~ . Tne li l folks slep mos as long as they want to in th~yIight, but the big niggers have to come outt n that bed bout o~ O~ clock when trie bi~ ~iorn blows The overseer h~e one nigger, ~1C wake up ear.ly for to blow the horn and. when h~ blow this nom lIC !~RkC sich r~ holler then all tue res oi~ tXtC ni~ers better git outtn that bed an~ tpear at the barn I bout dayl ight . }~e might not whip him for be Ing late trie fus time, but that nigger better not forgit the secont time ~ be late~ Massa Rimee icInt t whip them rauch, but itfen they was bad niggers he j es cola them ot~fen the placo and. let somebody ei s e do the ii s Never have no church house or school but Massa BilleS, he call them in and read the Bible to them. Then he turn the service over to SOM~ good,

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Ex~~.slayeStorI~ Page ~ive 13 (Texas) old, ilgious niggers ~nd let them finish with the singin ~nd pr2yin ~nd t7ort1n~ After p~acri c1~,area, a scnool was stablisli ~xui a wrxite !nan cO1~e t~r a trie north to teacz~i ~zie c~d.A~.a CLL~llCfl~ out ~ that ~LLey did~n~ taic~no :paiMs to teach tac niggere flOttLint cep;1n1 to work, ~nd t iC Wfl.i~,e crililen alun ~ nave mucrn schooL neti~ner, tlThp,t wa~ on~ plantatori wh~~t w~B mn tt~clu~i~e1y 1~r Itself, ~assa Ri~aes have a commissary or sto house, whar he kep whatnot things them what make on the plantation and things the slaves COU1dII make for themseifs. That wasn t much, ~c~use we make us own clothes and. shoes and plow and. all farm tools and US even make our own plow line out n cotton and iffen us zun short of cotton soraetiine make them out n bear gr~Bs and we make butt ons f or us cl othes o n 1 1 1 round pieces of gourds and kiver them with cloth. That wasn~ t sich a ~bI1~ plantat ion, bout a t ouzand acre and. only tbout forty nIgg~rs. TherP waSin. no jail ~id they didn t ne~ed none. Us have no re~J. doctor, but of cc~.irse there was a doctor rrian at Jasper md one ~t Newton, but ~.. nigger have to be purty sick ~for~e they call. a doctor, There s allus some old time nigger what knowed lots of remedies and ~owed ~l dlf rent kinds of yarbe and roots, My grand-daddy, he co~iId stop blood, end. he could c~n~ure off the fever and rub his fingers Over warts -~zid they d gi~t away. He make 11e outtn rattlesr.2ke for the urna For the cramp he git a kind of bark offen a tree and it done the j ob oo Some niggeris brass rings to keep off the rhe-cmiat is ~nd punch hole in a penny or dixn~ ~nd wear tnat on the aflkle to keeP off

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~X~S j:iVC Stories Page Six (Texa$) ~jcknes~. I; Meia b~r the war? Course I does, I m,~ber how some of ~iem ji~:T~h 3ff in their uniforms, ~ so grand, nd how sorge of ther~t hide out in triewood to keep fron lookin so grand. They was lots of talkin1 tbout fighting, and rubbing ~nd scrub~bin~ the old. shotgun. The oldes flhggers was settin round the fire late in the night, stirrin the ashes with the poker p~d r~Jcin out the r as~ taters, They s si~okin the old corn COlD pipe and hoi~emake tobacco ~nd whisperin right low and quiet li~ce what they s gwineter do and wb.ar they s ~wineter to when Mieter Lincoln, ~e turn them free, The~ more they talk, the more I git scared that the niggers is doing to git sot free and wondering what l s gwine to do if they is, No, I ~ ixess I don t want to live back in there times r~ moe, b~it I shoe seed lots of niggers not dom so well as .t~y didwhen th~r was zlaves and not ~ nigh as much to eat.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 021 015

!: 420()99 ~ ~ ~ ~: EL.sLAVi~ ~ ~ One 4 ~ (Texa5) ~ G~OPOE~ SEL~AN was born in 1852, ~ ~ five miles east of Alto, Texas. c:~ His father was born in V~rginia ~/ and his mother ~ ri South Cax lind, ~ and were brought to Texas by Mr. Dan Lc ~1s Green ht~3 been a ~ Baptist minister since his youth. ~ .. He lives In Jacksonyille, Texas. W~Ve was a bi~ farn ly, ~iine children. I w~is born a slave of the Se1:uaXL~, Mar~ter Torn and Missus Pb .ly, ~nd they lived In ~iseiesippi. Mother B name was Martha and r~y father1s naine was John Green Seirnan. ~ Marster s folks come fron Mississippi a long ways back and. they had. a bi~ house m~1e from hewed lo~s with a big ha11wz~y down the middle. The kitchen was oi~t in the yard, bout forty steps from the house, The yaH had. five acres in it and a big garden was in it. Marster irnd five slave families awl our cabine was built in a h~f circle in the back yarfl. I seemed to be the ~et and a1way~ went with M?r5ter Tom to town or wherever h~ was goin . Then I 1ea~ ned to plow ~y my mother 1ettin~ me hold the hancileb and. walk along with her. Finally she let nie go round by my~e1f. Marster Torn wae always good to us and he taught me re1i~ion. He wae the best man I ever knew. ~Vhen Saturday noon cone, they blew the horn and we qi~itt workin . We went to church one Sunday a ~ionth and we sat on one side and the white folks on the other. ~ I never learnt to read. a~id write, b~t I learned to work in the house and the fields. Late in the day Aunt Dicey, who -la,

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STOFI~S Pace Two (Texas) ~vas the cook, called all us children o~t under the big trees and give u~ supper. This was In summer, lut nobody ever fed us but Aunt Dicey. We ~1 at~ from one bowl, or z~aybe I d eaU it a tr~~y, tcause it was made of woods like a bread tr~iy but bi~er, ~1g enough to hold three, four ga~.lons. Sh~ put the focd in the tray md cive each chu a spoDri. Mostly w~ had pot likker and. cor~ bread. In winter w ~ ate frcm the 3ame tr~r, bat in th~ kitchen. II never seen runaway slaves, but Marster Torn h~d a ~ighbor :iLean to ~1aves and sometimes when they was whipped we could hear em holler, The neighbor had. one slave called Salue, and she was a ~ weaver and was to rr~ean she had to wear a chain. After she died, I heer~d ber ghost one night. I was st~yin with a white man who had the zna1aria.-typhoid~-pneuiaon a fever, and one ~iight I h~ere~ 3a3.iie scre~u~ and seen 1i~ chain dr~ hack and forth. I toi the ma~ I knowed it was S~Jlie, cause I d h~ered. that scream for years. But the ma~~ said s~o was dead, s~ it ius have been her ghost. I heered her nicht after nicht, screamin and drag~in her chain up ~x~d down. t1When Marster Torn says we s free, I goes to his sister, Miss Catline arid works ~?or her, After sev ral years I lamed to preach nnd l s the ~thor of most the Baptist churches in this ounty.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 023 017

I ~ ~ ~ ~ )b ~ () EL.SLAV~ STORIES p age O i~ (Texas) . c~Ala,IE SE~E~RD, ag~ 84, lives at 4701 Springive., Dallas, Texas. She w2s born nea~ Gilmer, Texas, in 1852, a slave of the Stevens family. At prese~it she j_s cared for by her 68 year old son and his Wif4~. tlC~T~se I kin tell you. I ~ot memberance like dey don t h~,ve now~days. Dat ~use thin,~s is goin round and round too fast with,ut no settin1 rind talkin thin&s ov~,r~ I s native born ri~ght down here at Gilmer on de old pl~ce ~nd Miss F~gnni~ c~ld tell roa de s~m~ if she co ild be in ~ our presence, but she went on t Glory many a year ago. She de on~ whc~t raised me, ri~ght in de house with her own chilien. I slep right in de house, il, de chiliens room, in a little trunrile bed what jus pushed back under de big bed when de niornin~ come. If her chilien et one side de table I et t other side, right by Miss Fannie s elbow, Miss !annie, she Dr. Steven s wife ~nd dey from ~eor~ia rund 1i~~d near Giln~r till de doctor go~s off to de war and takes a sick~ iiCSS what he ain t never get peart from ~nd died.. Died right there on de old place. He was a right livin m~n and dey allus good to me and my m~rnmy, what dey clone brought from Georgia and she de niain cook. My m~uir~y don t think they ain t nobody like Miss Fannie. My marnOEty, she a little red...Indlan nig~r wom~i riot so big as me, and. Miss P~iiiny tell her, Don t you cry ~cause dey tryin make freedom, tcause de doctor done say we is gwine help you raise your babies.1

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Page Two ~x.~slave Stories ICi (Texas) Some de nig~ers dontt like d.c treatment what dey white folks &ives 1em and dey ru.n away to de woods. I d he~x de nigger dog~. a~rinmin 9nd when d~y cotch de niggers dey bites ~em all over ~nd tears dey clothes and. ~its de skin, too. ~.nd de n1g~rs, ~r d holler. I s~d ~m whip ~e ni~gers, t cause aey toit de chilien to look. Dey buckled ~m down on d.c cr(yunt ~nd laid it on dey b~ck~. Sometimes dey 1~ic3. on with a ri~ ~~hty h~vy h~nd~ But I ~ never git no whippiri tcau~e I never went with de cullud gen~ration. I set right In ~e bu~~r with de white chilien ~nd. went to hear Gospel pre~chin . I thrnced ~t de balls in de sixteen figure round sets and every~ body in dem parts say I de pr1ncip~i3. danc~r, but I gits .igion and left de old. w~y to live in de ~ termiriati~n to 1ive~ beyon dis v~1e of te~.rs. 1 have my trib Iatioris ~i ter my old. daddy d.i~, cauSse he good to us little chilien. But my n~~xt d.addy e. man ini~hty rough on u~ Dat after Miss Fannie done goneb~ck to ~org1~ and my back clone hurt me all c~e time froxn pu .lin fodder arid choppi& cotton. It make a big lndiftrence after Miss Fgnnie gone, an~ d~ w~r ~e cause of it p.11. I heered. de big C&flflOfl~ ~OiI1~ Ofl Over there just Iik~ de bigges clap of thunder. Me and de little chilIen pl~yint j~ de road. makin frog houses out of send when we heer de hoss~,s comin W~ looks an3~ see de buth~11ions shinin in de sun ~nd de sojers have tin cups tied on side dere saddles and throwed dem cups to us chilien ~s dey passed. DeY say WET iS over arid we is free. Mjs~ Fai~~nie say sh~ a Seay from G~eorgi~ and she ~O bECk dere, but I jus ~t~y on where 1s native born.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 025 019

~: ~ ZL~ST~AVZ STORIIS Page One ~ ~ ~ . (Texas) jr BETTY SIMW~S, 100 or aore, was born a slave to ~Sftwi&gS Carter, in Macedonia, Alabaaa. She was stolen when a child~, .ol~t te ala~e traders and later te a aan in Texas, She now 1 ive s in Beaiaont Texas. I think I s Vb.ut a ~amnerd ath ne or two year old. My papa was a free aan, 1~auae hi. eid zassa sot hia free fore I~s born, and give him a hose and saddle and a little hcmse to 11v. in. My ld aasea when I~ a chile~ he n~e Mr. Lsftwidge Carter and when he daughter aarry Mr. V~sh )angf.rd, aassa give ae ti ber. She was call Cleaentine. Massa ~angferd has a little store and a man eaU Mebley go in business with hia. Dis aan bnuig down be brothers and dey fair clean Massa Langfor& sit. He was n~int. 0:&~t while alI~ di s g in oet L dUn t knsw it and I was happy. Dey was good t G me and I don t work t b hard jus gite in de ais chief, One tt~ne I she get drunk and di. de way uf it. Massa have de puneh..n ~ f whiskey and he sell de whiskey, t... I.e, in dem Lays, dey have frills ? und de bMs, dsy wasnt naked beds like n.wa4ays. Dey puts ~tis punche.n under de beds and Le frills hides it, but l s nussin a ltttle b y in dat rs * and I crawls under dat bed and trinke ~it of de puncheen, Den I p~ke de head ut and say BOO at de littl. boy, and he laugh and~ langh. Den I ticks back and drinks a little more and I 8t~~ ~3 O~ &t hin gain, and he lau~t and lauch. Dey was lots .f whiskey in dat panche.n and I keep. drinkin and saying 3o . My heal, it git. fUiu~~ ant I o.~i. out with de puncheen and start s te de kiteheiu whore ay a~.nt A~delin. was de cook, I je. a.stowpiri ~fl& sayin de big words.

026 020

~x..~ .aVe St~ri.e ~ ~ (Texas) ~ .b Dey ~~er let e me rsitn& where tat puncheen li no mere. When Massa }~gfert was riint anti tey gela take te stars wal ~ a him tey waa trsuble plenty cf tat. One day massa sent me d~own t he brudter s pla . I w~s tari twe days ant ~n &. mi~ tell me te g. t te fsncs. Dire was tie white mea in a buggy and. eue et .m ,~y, I thought ehe bigger tan tat Den he aske me, Betty, kin yen ceok? I telli him t been csk 1~lper tws, tk~r.. menth, ant he wa~j, Te~t git tresiet ant cime en t wn three aile t. te ether itt. te p et ffi~e. S. I giti ~ little bunt .. and. when Z gits der. he say, 0e1, ~a w~xit ti go bent 26 mile ant help ceok at 4e bar~ia hiuae? K. tries to make me believe I wen t be g ne a hag time, but when I gits in de ~ tey tell. me Masea Langf.rt Lene Is, .v.rytAing and he haie t. hide sut he nigger. fir ti keep he createker, fr~ gitt 1n~ dam. Sime of d~e niggere he hid~es in te m&s~ but he stile me frim my sweet ~tasy ant sell me s~ Lem aredtckeri can t git me. 1~n we gite te de creesreat. tore d.e msi~a ami a nigger man, Dat another sla ~e he gwine t~ sell, and he hate t. Bill tu S~ b~t he can t luk us in te eye. Dey put. Ui niggeri tailLe ~e b 1W. iffen te ont tekene cosee al.ng &S7 C8fl~ t S~ ~ ttPizkally tue slate .p.C lat.I I pute te nigger an anA me in te train anL takes us te Memphis, afl& When we gits Lire Iey takes u. t. te nigger tr~4ez e yart. We git~ tens at breakfaat time ant W~1ti f r t. blat &e~ call. t. Obi. t~ git tene~ De biat ju.. aheat .f tie Ohie, Oit Capt. abri boat was atreyst ant tat delq~ enr bat twi enr. ~hia it cime,

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~x,aslaye Stories Page Three (~eiaa) ti.ey waa 258 nigger. out of dira nigger yards in Meaphis what git. on dat boat. Dey puts de niggere upstairs and goes down de river far as Ticks~ b~rg, dat was d. place, and den us gita offen de boat end gits on de train gain and d&t time we goes to New Orleans. EI s satisfy den I los sty people and ain t never goin~ to see d6~i no sore in~ dis world, end I aever did. Dey has three big trader yard in New Orleans and. X hear de traders sey dat town 25 aile squars. I ain t like it O well, 1~3aU 5 I ain t like it ~bo~it dat big river, We hears some of e~ ee~ der. s gwineter throw a long war and us all think what dey buy us for if we s gwine to be sot free. S ie was still buyin niggers very fall and us think it too fanny dey kep on f ihm up when dey gwineter be .~ptyin out soon. ~ Dey k~4Ye big sandbars and plaits fix roend de nigger yaHs end dey have watebmane to keep dem fros rumiin way in de w~p. SO~5 o! de niggers &sy haYe jus picked up on de road, di~ steals des. Dey calls de~ S wagon toy and wagon gal . D y has one b~ nulatto boy dey stole t long de road dat way and he massa find out bout hi~ end come and git him and tak~e hia war. And a w an what was a aea~et er a ~an what biowed her seed her in d.e pen and. he done told her aasea and he come right down at~d git her. She sho was proud to git out, She was stole frOId lOfl~ de road, too. You sees, if dey could steal de nigger. and seU ~ for di good noney, dea traders co~u1d siaks plenty money dat way. At 18$ ~ Col. ?ortesc~i., h. bt~ ~e and icep ~e, Ha a fighter in de Mexican War and he come to ~iew Orleans to buy he slaves. He takes ~e ttp de Bed Rivsr to Shreveport and den b7 di ~ to Liberty, ~ TSX&8. 3I~

028 022

Ex.slave zStOri,s ~ ~ur ( Pexas) De 0olo~.el~ he a good. sassa to u.. He glows us to wort te pateh of ground for mreelys., and ~b have a pig or a uple chio~xis for oarselvee, and. he allue sake out to givs us plenty to eat. De ~aasa, when a plac. fill up, he atlus pick aM ao e to a plate where dere ain t so auch people. Dat how ooze de Colonel fuse left Alaba~ and come to Texas, and to te place dey calls Beef Heat ten, bu~t calls Gren Cane now, Then us come to Grau Cane a nigger boy git stuck on one us house girls and he ru~n away fron he massa and foller us. It were a woodly country and de boy outrun h. chasers. I heeret de dogs after h1~ and he torn amt bleedin with t. brs.h and he run upetair in te gin hous . D. togs sot down by de toor and. de dog-aan, what hiret to chas, hia, he drug hi~ down and throw hi~ in de Horse Hole and tells d two dogs to ewig in and git him, D. boy so scairt he yell ant holler but de doge nip ant pinch h~a good with de claw. ant teeth. When deY lets de boy oet de water hole he aU bit up and when he ~asea laZzi how mean de &o~man been to do boy he fuses to p~q de fee. I gits ~arriet in slavery time. to George Porteecue. D. ~asea he m~r~y U sort of like de justice of de peacs~ B~t my ~sben , he git kilt in Liberty, hen he cuttin down a tree and it fall on his. I ain t neyer marry no sore, ni sho was glaAL when freedom come, ca~i~e dey Jus ready to put m~y little three year oU bo~y in de field. DS7 tOOk ~6IR 70Lh1~( I has another baby call Mittie, and she too young to work. I toa t btow how maRY Chill.~ i~s hase, ant soi~etimes I sits Silt tries to COIlflt ~. Dey . SSVen

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:g:c~~1i~~ Stories 23 ( !!.xas) livin but I h~d bout fourtesa. D.y was pretty hart o,~ d.c niggsrs. Iffen us have te baby us only lowet to stay in de house for one month and card and apin, and dan us has to get out in de ftslL ~y allus blow &. horn for us mies to come up eM nues te babies. NI seed. plenty soldiers for. fr.sdo. Dsy~s de Democrat., I~ ~ ~ I never seed no Ta~eea. U. niggere used to wash eM iron for 4e~. At ni~t us seed dose soldiers pespin around d. ho~t~e and us mn. way in Le bresh. NWhefl freedoM coae us was l~rtn by de crop and &e aassa he gin. jus a ~en~rous part of dat a~ and ua move to Olamks ilace. We gUs on all Ir igk~t after freedom, but it hart at first caise us didn t 1a~ow how to to for ~ ree1i~s, But we haa to lam. e.e***.*ss*se

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 030 024

420105 . ~ ~L.SA4V~ STO :t13s PageOne ~S p4 (Texas) G~~ORG~ S IMMO}i S oorn In Alabama in 1854 was owned by Mr. S t eve Jaynes, w~io lived near Beaumont, Texas. George x~aa a good. many memories of slavery years, ~lthoughi he was still a child when tie wae freed. He now liveB In Beaumont,Tex. ~ ! s 1~o n dunnt slavery, somewhar in Alab9ma, but I don member wliar my ~u~mmy said. Dey br~~mg me here ~ de War and I belonged to ~i1assa Steve Jaynes, ~d he ~iad bout 75 other niggers. It was a big p1~ce e~d lote ot~ wok, but I~s too lii~tie to do ~iu.ch cept errands round de house. Massa Jayne~s, ~ie raised cotton ~rtd co n and he have bout 400 acres. He epected de niggere to wo k hard from mornin till sundown, but he was alr in treatin ein. He give u.s plenty to eat and lots of cornbread and black~eye peas and plenty hawg neat and. sich. We had possum sometimes, too. Jus took a nice, fat possum we done cotcned. in de woods end skinned ~i~ ~rd put im in a oven and roas im with sweet tatoes all round and. nia~ce plenty ravy. Dat was good. ~Etassa Jaynes, he tlowed. de slaves who wanted to have a little place to ra~ce garden, veg tables and dose kin of things. He gtve em seed and de nigger could have all ~ie raised in the 1 Ittle garden. ~Te was all well kept ~ I. don see whar ftc ed ~ was much ~ v bett~r In a way. Course some massas was bad. to d~ere slaves and. whIpped em so tta d cley s ne~r1y dead. I know dat c puse I heered lt fi o~ de neighbors pi aces.

031 025

Ex..!lave Stories Pa ~ ~ (Texas) Some of dere 8 lave s would r~xn away and hict~ in de wo ode aM mo s of was kotc ied with dogs. F ln iy de~ took to puttin bells on d~ slave. so ifr en dey run away, dey could hear 1em in de woods. Dey put em ou with a chains so ctey coulctnt get ~em otf. t1We could have thurch on Sunday and. our own cullud ch~rch. Sa in watson, ne was de n1g~er preacher and k s a slave, to o~ tu didn know much bout de war, caase we couldn read and de white ~oiks didn talk war much tfore us. But we heez ed things and I member de soj ers ort dere way back after it s eli over~ Dey wasu dressed iii a unifox~ and dey clot nes was ni ~y ~ ~ dey was dat t ore up. We seed tem wa:uciri on de road and sometmnies dey had oie wagons, but rnos~ t lines dey walk. I ~ member s orne Yankee soj ers t oo . Dey h~we cant ~ens ov ~r de shoulder, and mos o ~ ~em has blue uniforms on. Massa, he tell us when freedom corne, and. some of us ~t~ys traund awhile, cause wh~ is we~ns soin ? ~ ~ know wkiat to do c~nd we did,n biow hrw to keei~ ourselves, t~~d what was we to do to get food and a place to live? i-~O~~ was ha d times, cause de country tore up and de business bad, And de fluxes dey range round some . Dey soon plays out but dey took rnos de time to scare de niggers. One time dey comes to my daddy s house and. d.c leader, him in de 1on~ robe, he say, Nigger, quick you and. ~it me a drink o! water. My d~addy, he brung de wtiite folks drinkin gourd and dat Klux, he say, Nigger, I s~y git me a bl.g drink ~ bring me dat buc~cet. Ps thirsty. 11e drinkS three 2..~

032 026

Pace Three ~*26 ~x s1ave Storlee (T exas) buckets oi: water, we trunks he does, but what you think we learne? He has a rithber bag under nis robe and is puttin dat water in dereL ****.* **

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 033 027

~1 :a 4~w~) * F I1LSLAV~~ 8T~DRIES Page One ~ (Texas) dl ~E~N SIMPSON, 90, was born in Norcroae~ Georgia, a slave cf~ the Stielazen family. He had a cruel lna8ter, and. was afraid to tell the truth about his life as a slave, unt il assured that no harm ~0uld come to hin. Ben now lives in ILadisonville, Texas, and receives a small old age pension. ttBoss, 11c3 born in G~eorgia, iii Noreross, and I~s ninety years old. My father s name was Roger St ielszen and toy mother s name was Betty. Massa F~arl Stielszen captures them in Africa and brung them to Georgia. He got kilt and my sister and me went to his son. His son was a killer. Re ~ot in trouble there in Georgia ~nd~ got him two good~stepping hosses and. the covered wagon. Then he chains all he slaves rouiid the necks and fastens the chains to the hosses and makes them walk all the way to Texas. My mother and my sister had. to walk. Emma was my sister. S~inewhere on the road it went to snowin and. massa wouldn t let us wrap saything round our feet. ~1e had to sleep on the around, too, In all that snow. Mas sa have a great long whip plat t ed out of rawhide and when one the niggers fall behind or give out, he hit him with that whip. It take the hide every time he hit a nigger. Mother, she give out on the way, bait the line of Texas. Her feet got raw and bleedin and her legs swol . plumb out of shape. Then massa, he jus take out he gun and shot her, and whilst she lay dyin he kicks her two, three times and. say, Damn a nigger what can t stand nothin . Boss, you know that man, he wouldn t bury mother, jus leave her layin where he shot her at. Tau know, then there ~ no law against kiUifl~ nig~~er slaves. 1-.

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Ex-~s1ave Stories Page Two (Texas) He corae plumb to Austin throu~gh that snow. He taken up farm In and changes he naine to Alex Simpson, and changes our names, too. He cut logs and bulided he home on the side of them mountains. We never had no quarters. When night~time come he locks the chain round. our nicks and. then locks it round a tree. Boss, ou.r bed. were the grouxid. All he feed us was raw meat and green corn. Boss, I et many a green weed. I was hongry. He n~~ver let us eat at noon, he worked us all day without st op. ~!e went naked, that the way he ~rked us, Vie never had any clothes. He brands us. He brand ray mother befo us left Georgia. 3oss, that nearly kilt her. He brand her in the breast, then between the shoulders. He brand all us. My sister, ~ainrna, was the only woman he have till he marries. Emma was wife of all seven Negro slaves. He sold her when she s bout fifteen, jus befo her thby was boni. I never seen her since. Boss, massa was a outlaw. He come to Texas and deal in stolen ho~ses. tT~s befo he s hung for stealtn~ liasses, he marries a young Spanish gal. He sho mean to her. ~h1ps her cause she want him to leave he slaves alone and live right. Bless her heart, she s the best gal in the world. She was the beat thing God ever put life in the world. She cry and cry every tIme massa go off. She let u.s a .loos and she feed. us good one time while he s gone. Missy Selena, she turn us a-loose and we wash In the creek obst by. She jus fasten the chain on us and give us great big pot cooked meat and corn, and. up he rides. Never says a word but come to see what us eatin . He pick up he whip and whip her till she falls. If I could bave got a-loose I d kilt ~2..

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Ex slave Stories ~ Page Three (Texas) him. I swore if I ever got a-loose I ct kill him. Bitt befo long after that he fails to come home, and some people finds him hanging to a tree. Boss, tiiat 1on~ after w~r time he got hung. He didn t let us free. ~e wore chains all the time . ~Nhen we work, we dru.g them chains with us. At night he lock us to a tree to keep us from ru.nnin off. He didn t have to do that. ~Ye were fraid to i u.n. ~e knew he d kill us. Besides, h~ brarid.s us and they no way to get it off. It~s put there with a hot iron. You can t ~it it off. If a slave die, massa made the rest of us tie a rope round. he feet and. drug hirn o~f. Never buried one, it was too much trouble. Massa allus say he b i rich after the war. He stealin ai . the time. He have a whole mountain side where he keep he stock. Missy Selena tell i~ one day we sposed to be free, but he didn t turn us a loose. It was bout three years after the war they hurx,~ him. Missy turned us a-loose. t, I h~d a hard time then. All I had to ~ eat was what I could find and steal. I was fraid of everybody, I jus went wild and to the woods, but, thank God, a bunch of men taken they dogs and ran me down. They carry me to they place. Gen. Houston had some niggers and he made them feed. me. He made them keep rue till I git weil and able to work. Then he give me a job. I marr~r one the cals befo I leaves then. I m plumb out of place there at my own in, Yes, suh, boss it wasn t one year befo that I m the wild nigger. We had thirteen chilien. HI farms all my life after that, I didntt ~io w nothin else to do. I made plenty cotton, b~it now I m too old. Me and my wife is alone now. This old n igger git s the 1 1 1 pensi on from the goy ment . I not got much I onger t o stay here. I s ready to see God but I hope my old massa ain t there to torment me again.

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4(2()~) 18 EL~SLAVE STORIES Page One (Texae) ~ . J I G~ILES SMITh, 79, n3w re~1d1n~ at 310? Blanchard St ~ ~ Fart Wrth, Texas, was born a s12v~, ~f Lthj~r -~ Hardw~r ~ n a plantatisn ne~ Union Uni ~n Spr ings Al ~b ama, The Mai or gave G11e~ t~ h1~ daughter when h~ wa~ an Infant ~nd he never ~w his ~ parent$ ag~1n. In 1874 Fr~xik Talbot brmight Gi1t~~ t~ Texas and he work-.~ ed an the f~rrn tw~ years. He then went to BrGwnweod ~id worked lit a gin seventeen years. In 1908 he moved t~ F wt Worth and wirked f~r a packing compw~y. Old. ace led te hi ~ di schar~e in 193 . and he h~ ~ since worked ~t any odd jobs he could. find, My naine ~it~ OElles Smith, cause my pap~y was born eu the Smith plantation and I took hie n~me. I ~ bern at Unien Springs, in Iab~ma and M~j.r Ha ~dw~y ewned me and ~ a hundred other e .avee. But he gave me to Mary, his dughter, when Vs enly a few menthe eid and h7d t~ be fed en a bettle, cause she am jus married t. Mas5a Milee. She teld me hew ~he carried ~oe home in her arms. She ~ay I was so li 1 she haire a bard time t. ia~Jce r~ eat out the bottle, and I put up a g.od fight so she nearly took me back. II dsnTt tniember the start .1 the war, but de endin I dies. ~v~a55~ Miles called ~alI us tegether 2nd t~l~ us We e free and it ~ive us all de jitters. He treated all us fine and nsb.dy wanted t. g.. He and Missy ~:m de beet filke de L~wd csuld. ni~ke. I stayed till I was sixteen years old. ~it aii~ years after fr~ed m Missy Mary say t me what massa allus say, If t~nigger wera t fellow srders by kind treatin , sich nigger am wring in the head and n t worth keepi~~ . He didn t have to rush us We ~ d just dig.i* and cl. the w.rk,One time Massa clearin some land a~d it am gittia late f r bre~k1n1 the ~reu.~d. Us allus have Saturday af1~ern.on

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Ex ~1&ve Steries Page Tws (Texa5) . ~nd Sund2y eff~ Old. Jerry ~ve t~ us, Tell yus what us de, g. t. the clearin this aft~ rn~.n 2Ad Simda~r a~d finish fer th~ Mazsa. Th~b she zn~e him ~Lad. tIS.~t~d~y nG~n c~ n~~ and ~~bedy tells the massa but ~ t~ that ~1earin~ and s Ing wh ii e us werk cu.t t I n bre sh ~nd gnxbbin st emp ~ and burnin bre sh. U~ sing Hi, h3, U~, hi, ho, ug, De shRrp bit, de strong arm, ~ Hi, h., u~:, hi, h., ug, . Dis tree am denfl ~ us warm,1 De massa came sut and his msuth a~ : hiPPj1L ~I1 ever he face aid he 52y, tWhat this all mean? Why ysu wirkint Saturday afternein?7 ~ Jerry ar~ a funny cuss and he say, tM~.ssa, O, massa, please dsn t whsp us fir cutt in dewn y.us trees. I ~ I~ ~wine whGp r1u with the chicken s tew, ~ Mas ~a say. Lud fer Sunday dixuier clerc ~m chicken stew with needles and peach cebbler. lis, I stays with . massa ~nd after I ~ e fifteen he pays me $2.00 the aenth, ~t~d curse I gits i~y eats and my clithes, tee. When I cite t~he first twe I don t knew what t de, 1causC it the first ~ney I ever had~ Missymake the pr.puiat ici te keep the m ney and buy ~ r me and teach me ~ b ut it ~ There ain t much t. buy, tcau!se wemake nearly everything right there. Even .~ the t.baccy am made, They put heney twixt the ~ieaves and put a pile cf. it twixt tire b ~r55 with weights . It am left fer a mentli and that am a mane i t.baccy. wea~.i*~ bet ter et ay eff ~ th& s t *i~d t~bac~yo ~ ~ ~ .. . ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ . .; t1Fi~t j ~ the. ;fte141~&$, then an massa s ceachman. Btit when I~s ~but si*teen I gits a idea t geeff .si~etheree fer myse1f~ I heax~e

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~!x s1ave St on es ~ (Texas) Page Three ~b ut Mr. Frwtk Tz~lb,t, wh~in ~m tak~.n seine niggers to Texas and I goes with him ts the Brazis River bottom, and wirke there two years. Vs lonesome fir (nasse, and z~issy and if I d been diet enough, ltd ~j~t gone back to the old. plantation. Si after two years I quits and ~es to work for Mr. Winfield Scott down in Brewnwo~d, inthe gin, f r seventeen years. t Well shortly aft er I gi ts t s Br.wawe.d I inset s and. after dat I d.ntt care te go back t. Alabama es h2rd. Dee Smith on December the eighteenth, in 1880, and us live years. She died six years ag . Us have six iMlien, b~zt I .me of theta are now. They all f.rgit their father in his not s young, either. My woman could write a litti s. she write missy far me, and she write back and wish us luckr~nd ifwe~ ever wants to c me back to the .ld. h me we Is welcome, Us writeback~fl&f rth with her, Fiially, us git the letter what say she sick, and then awful low. That bout twenty4ive years after I marries. That ~xn toe much for me, aztd I cotches the next train back t o Alabama but I git s there te e late She ~m dead and I never has forgive myself, tcause I don t g; back bef. she die, like she ask us t~, lots if times, ~ III comes b re fifteen years a~. and here I be. The last six I caz t work ii the paclcia plants n. mire. ~ t.. ld.. A~ythiz~g I t o d. I d.e but it am t w,ueh * mire. ~ ~ ~ The worst grief I i had, ~. t. think I didn t go see ais~~y dies l s never f.rgawe myself fir that. a yaller gal l s married to together many don t know where old a~ge! They year ~ find. 1fere she s..

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42()22~1 J~L~3LAV1~ STORI3~S Page One I 33 (Terni) JA~U3~S W. SMITK, 7?, W~8 born a slave of the Hallman family, in Palestine, Texas. James became a Baptist minister in 1895, and preached until 1931, when poor health forced him to retire. He and his wife live at 1306 E. Fourth St., Fort Worth, Texas. Yes, euh, I in birthed a slave, but never worked as sich, cause I~s3 too young. But I niembers hearin my mother tell all about her slave days and our master. He was John Haliman and owned a place in Palestine, with niy mother and. father andfifty other slaves. My folks was hotise servants and lived a little better n the field hands. De cabins was built cheap, though, no nioney, only time for buildin am de cost. Dey didn t use nails and helt de logs in place by dovetailinS Dey closed de space between de lods with wedges covered with mud. and straw. De framework for de door was helt by wooden pe~e and so am de benches and tables. Master Hailman always had soins niggers trained for carpenter work, and one to be blacksmith and. one to make shoes and harness. We was lucky t o have de kind master, what give us plenty to eat. If al 1 de people now could have j~s s o good food what we had there wouldn t be no beggin by hungry folks or need. for milk funds for starved babies. We ddn t have purty cl othea sich as now, with all de dif rent colors mixed up, but dey was warm and lastin dyed brown and black. De black oak and cherry made de dyes. ir shoes wasn t purty, either. I bas to laugh when I think of de shoes. There ~ no careful work put on dein, but dey covered de feets and lasted near forever. Master always wanted to help his cullud folks live right and my folks always said de best time of they lives was on de old plantation.

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Ex slave Stories Page Two ( Texas) He always ranged for parties and sich. Yes, suh, he wanted dem to have a good time, b~t no foolishraent, ju.s good, clean fun. There am dancin and singin mostest every Saturd&y night. He had a little p1atfor~~ built for de jiggin contests. Cullud folks comes from all round, to see ~ho could jig ~1e best. Sometimes two nig~ers each put a cup of water on de head and see who could jig de hardest without spillin any. It w~s lots of fun. I must tell you bout de best contest we ever had. One nigger on our place was de jigginest fellow ever was. Everyone round tries t~ git some-. bod~y to best him. He could put de 4ass of water on his head and make his feet go like triphammers and sound like de snaredr~un. He could whirl rou.nd and sich, all de movement from his hips r~~ wn. ~ow it gits noised round a fellow been found t o beat Torn and a o ritest am ranged for Saturday evenin . There was a big crowd and mon ~ ara bete but master bets on Torn, of course. So dey starts jiggin . Torn starts easy and a little faster and faster. The other fellow dom de same. Dey gits faster and faster and dat crowd am a yell Gosh~ There ~m c iteraent . Dey j keep a-.gwine . It look like Torn done found his match, but there am one thing yet he ain t done - he ain t made de whirl. Now he does it. ~veryone holds he breath, ~nd de other fellow starts to make de whirl and he makes it, but jus a spponful of water slougha out his cup, so Torn am de winner. When freedom come, the niaster tells his slaves and says, What y~ gwine do? Well, euh, not one of dem knows dat. De fact am, dey s scared dey gwine be put off de place. But master says dey can stay and work for money o r share . He s aye they might be t rouble twixt de wh es and. ni~gers

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~x-~s1ave Stories Page Three (Pez~as) .. 5 and likely lt be best to stay and not git mixed in dis and dat org lzation. ~ostest stays, only one or two goes away. My folks stays for five years a ter de war Den my father moves t o Bertha C re ek where he done rande for a farm of his own. They hated to leave master s plantation, he s so good and kind. t, Some the cul lud folks thinks they s t o take charge and run the gov rnent. They asks ray father to jine their org lzation. He goes once and. some eggs am served. Dey am served by de crowd and dem ~ggs am t fresh yard eggs Father c Hes he wants his eggs served dif rent and. he likes dein fresh, so he takes master s advice and. don t j me nothing. I Then de Klux corne, de cullu~d org I zat ion made their scatterinent. Plenty gits whipped round our place and eorae what wasn t titled to lt. Den soldiers comes and puts order in de section. Dey has troul. e about votiri . De cullud folks in dem days was non-4cnowledge so how could dey vote telligent? Dat am foolishrnent to t5j~ on de right to vote. It de non4cnowledge what hurts. Myself, I never voted and am too far down de road now to start, I worked at farniin till 1895 when I starts preachin in de Baptist church. I kept that up till 1931, but my health got too bad and I had to quit. I has de pressure bad. When I preaches, I preaches hard, and. de doctor says dat am danger for me. The way I learns to preach am dis: after surrender, I tends de school two te~ms and. den I stud.ies de Bible and l s a nat ral talker and gifted for de Lawd s work, so I starts preachin . Jennie Goodman and me marries In 1885 and de Lawd never blessed us with any chilien. We gits de pension, me $16.00 and. her $14.00, and gits by on dat. It 8m for de rations and de eats, but de clothes am a question!

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 042 036

42oo::~7 EX-814& VE STORIBS Page O~e ~ (Texas) :. ~ ~ JOBDON SM ITH, 86 ~ was born in . Georgia, a slave o 1 the Widow Hicks. When she died, Jordon, his mother and thirty other eI~ves were willed to Ab Smith, his Ownert ~ ~ nephew, and were later reftigeed from Georgia to Anderson Co. Texas, ~hen freed, Jordon worked on a steamboat crew on the Red Biver until the ~ .dvent of railroads. For thirty~ yeare Jordon worked for the ~iIroad. He is now too feeble to work ~nd lives with his third wife ~d six children in Marshall, Texas, eup~ ported by the latter ~nd his pension of $10.00 a month. I1~ borned in Georgia, next to the line of North Car lina, on Widow Hick s place. My papa died fore le bomed but m~ mammy was called ~9L// ~ggie. My oie missiis died. and. us fell to her nephew, Ab Smith. My gra~ma and gr~npa was \ill-~blooded Africans and. I couldntt unnerstand their talk. My miseus was borned on the Chattahoosa. River and. she had 2,000 acres of land in cultvation, a thou.sand on ~ach side the river, and. owned 500 slaves and 250 head. of work mules. She was the richest woman in the whole county. Us slaves lived in a double row lo~ cabins facin her house and our beds was made of rough plank and mattresses of hay and. lynn bark and shu~cks, make on a machine. I~e spinned many a piece of cloth and wove many ~ ~ a brooch of thread. Missus didn t low her niggers to work till they s 21, and the chilien played marbles and ru.n round and kick their heels. The first work I . . done was hoeing and us worked I ong as we could ee a ~ stalk of cotton or hill of corn. Missue ueed to call us at Chr~i8tmae and give the old~ oiksa dollar and the rest a dinner, When ehe died me and my mother went ta Ab Smith

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Ex..slave Stories . Page Two 37 Page Two Texas ~ at th divideinent of the property. Master Ab put us to work on a big farm he bought and it was Hell inong the yearlin s if crou crost him or inissus either. It was double trouble and a cowhi.din whatever you do. She had a place in the kitchen where she tied their hands up to the wall and cowhided~ them and sometimes cut they back ~most to piecee. She made all E~o to chtirch and let the women wear some her old, fine dresses to hide the stripes w1~ere she d beat them. Mammy say th&t to keep the folks at church from i~nowin how mean she was to her nig~ ~ers, Master Ab had a th~iver and if you didn t do what th1~t driver s~r, master say to him, Boy, come here and take this nigger down, a huncH licks this time. Sometimes us ru~n off and go to a dance without a pass and ~bout time they s kickin they heels and getting sot for the big time, in come a patterroller and s ay, Bavin ~ a big t ins am t yi~u? Got a pass? I f you didn t . they d gi t four or five men to take you out and when ~they got through you d sho1 go home. ~ Master Ab had. hunerds acres wheat and made the women stack hay in the field. ~ Sometimes they got sick hand wanted to ~o to the house, but he made them lay down on aetraw pile in the field. Lots of chilien was borried on a strawpile in the field. After the chile was borned he sent them to the house. I seed that with my own eyes. .. They was a trader y~rd in Virginia and one in New Orleans and sometimes a thousand slaves was wait in t o be sold. When the traders kn wed men was commt to buy, they made the slaves all clean up and. greased they niouths with ~ meat skins t o I ook like they s feedin ~ them plenty meat They lined the women up on one side and the men on the other. L buyer would walk up and down tween ~

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ExQslave Stories Page Three (Texas). the two rows and grab a woman ~d try to throw her down and. feel of her to see how she s put up. If she s purty strong, ~ d. say, Is she a good, breeder? ~ If a gal was 18 or 19 and put up good she was worth bout $1,500. Then the b~iyer d Pi ck out a strong, young nigger boy baut the same age and buy him. ~~hen he got them home he d say to them, I want ~routwo to stay together. I want youn~~ niggers. Ulf a nigger ever run off the place and come back, master d saar, If you ll be a good nigg~r, I ll not whip you this time. B~t you couldn t lieve that. A nigger run off. and stayed in the woods six month. When he corne back ~ s hairy as a cow, ~ cause he lived In a cave and come out at n i~2at and ~lfer rou.nd. They put the doge on him but couldn t c otch hirn. i in ly he come home and m2ster say he ~ whip him and Tom was crazy ncugh to lieve lt. Master say to the cook, Fix Tom a big dinner, and while Tom s ~ master stand in the door with a whip and say, Tom, I~s change my mind; you have no bu.siness runnin off and I s gwine take you out jus like you come into the world, Master gits a bottle whiskey ~md a box cigars and have Tom tied up out in the yard. He takes a chair and. say to the driver, Boy, take him down, 250 licks this time. Then he d. count the 1 icks When they s ~ 150 licks it didn t look like they is any place left t o hit but master say, YIniSh him up. Then he and. the drive r e ot down smoke o igar~s ~ azid drink whiskey and mas t er tell Torn bow he must mind he mast er. Then he lock Tom up in a log house and master tell aU the niggers if they give him anything to eat he ll e~in em alive. The old folks slips Tom bread and meat. When he gits oat he s gone to the woods gain. They s plenty niggem what etayect~i~ the woods till surrender. \ ~ ~ *. ~ . ~ . ~ S ~

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Ex~elave Storiee ~ p~e ~ our ~: (Texas) . I hevred some slaves say they white fo3ke was g..d t. 1eui, but lt was a t ight fight where us was . z thought ever the case a theusand. times and flg~ir~d lt was cause all men aim t made alike. Seme are bad and sonic are gced. Itts like that new. Saine felice ~u werks fer get ne heart and. seine treat yea white. I guess it allus will be that way. They was m rt3 ghests and. hante them days than niw. ~ It le.k like when Iis ceiain ~up ~hey was ceamen as pig tracks. They cs~e in different f~rms and shapes, semetirnes like a dog or cat er goat er like a man. I didn t lieve in 1em till I seed ene. A fellow I kn wed osuld ee em every time he went eut. One time us walkin l.ng a ceuntry lane ~nd he say, 3.rd.n, l. k v r my right sh.ulder I l eked and see a ma~ w~lkln witheut a head. I breke and. run plumb sff frein the man ~ with. He wasn~t scart oem, HIts reftigeed frem e.rgla te Andersen Ceunty fers the war. I see Abe Lincein nct when he cerne threugh, but didn t nene f kniw wh~ he was. I he~red the president wanted em te w rk the ysung nigger. till they was twenty- ene but t e free the gr .wed si ave s . They say he give em thirty days t . si derate it The white felice said they d wade bleed saddle deep tferethey d. let a~ liese. I den ~ t blame e~n in a way, cai~se they paid fer us In tnether way it was right t I free . us We was br.ught he re and n, pers ~u Is sp osed t. be made a br~it e. HAfter surrender, Massa Ab call us and say we ceuld g.. Mammy stayed bat I left with my uncles and aunts and went te Shrevepert where the Yanks was. I didn t hear f~i~ my mammy fir the nex twenty years. t, In Ku Klux timee they cerne t. ~itr lieuse and I et s.d re but tbe~ didn1t b.ther us. ~ I heared em say l.te cf niggers was teck dewn in Sabine bettem and Kiuxed, just cause the~y w.~ted t. git ~ rid. ef sea. I .~ think it was desperad e . . . . - ~ ~.. ~ i ~ ~ ~ .-~ ~ ~ .~ .~ ~ ~ .: .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .: : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ... ~: .: ~ ~ ~ ~ .r~. ~ ~ f :~1 :.::.~:~

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Ex.elave Stsries . Page ~ive ~ ~ ~ (Texas) J what done that, stead if the Ku Klux, That was did in Pan la Osunty, in the Bad. Lands. Bill Bate~uan and Rt .n Greeh~ua and Sidney Parne~r was de~pezad~a and weuld till a nigger jus t. git rid f hia. C4y~irse, 1 te f f lks was riled. up at the Kiuxers and blamed em fsr evex~rthing. s ~ ~ veted here in Marehall. Every nathn Irne a flag but the .cuIlud race. The flag is what protects em. We waen t Invited here, but wa~ br.ught here, ai4 din~t have ne place else to go. We w~ brSLt~ht under this government and. it~s right we be led and t.Id what t. dG. The cullud f.lke has been here m retn a hunerd years and haB h~ make the United States what it te. The nly thing that 11 help the cause le separati.n of the races. I ll n.t be here when it cernes, but it s b tuid t., t~j~ the Bible say that ene ~ay all the racee f pe.ple will be separated. Since 1865 t ill n.w the~ culiud race have d ne n.thing but g. t~ de~ structi n. There wae a time a man could contril hie wife and. family, but ysu can t de that now ~ ttfr~fter eurrender I went t Shrevep.rt anct eteamb.ated Ir.m there t~ New Orleane, then te Tickeburg, Old hande was paid $15.00 a. trip. I come here in 1872 and railr aded 30 years en the sect t.n gang ami in the shspe . Sincethen .1 farmed and. I ~ ~ had three wives and ainet een chilien and. they are scattered all ver the etate, Since Vs tie ld. te fa~ I w rk at dd j bs and git a $1OI~ ~ & xunth pez.eisn. ~ ..* ** ~ ~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 047 041

420C()9 ELUSLAVE ST Ri~S P~sge One . (Texas) Zv~ILLI~ A~N SMITH w~s born in 1850, in Rusk Co., Texas, ~. s1~tve of George ~ashin~ton Trainmell, ~ pione~er p12~iter of the county, Treinmell bought Millie s mother ~nd three older children in Mis-S ~ sissippi before Millie s birth, and brought them to Texas~ leaving Millie s father behind. Later he rt~n away to Texas end persuaded Tr~rnell to buy him, so he could be with his f~iriiily. u ~ t ~ born ~fore w~r started and members when it ceased, I guess rn~inmy E folks allus belonged to the Tr~mmelis, tc~iise I tmember my grandpa, Josh 0h11 es and my ~r~ndma, call Jeanet te. I s a st r~pp j b 1g girl when they dies. Gr&~ndpa used to s~r he cone to Texas with Massa George Traminell s father when 1b.~sk County was jus a big woods, and the first two years he w~,s }rnnter for the masse. He et~y in the woods all the time, killing deer ~n1 wild hawgs and turkeys ~d c oons and the like fcr the whit e folks to e~t and. the lend s ft l of Indians. He kinda taken up with them and h~d holes iv. the nose and ears. They was put there by the Indiens for rings wh2t they wore. Grandpa could talk znos~ any Indian talk and he say he used to run off from his massa and st2y with the Indians for weeks . The mas s a d. go t o the Indian camp 1 coking for grandpa and. the Indians hided. him out and say, No ~5e hirn. How mammy and we1uns corne to Tex~is, Massa George brang his wife an~ three chilien from Mississippi and. he br~ng we suns. P~py belonged to Massa Moore over in Mississippi and. L~assa George didn t buy him, but after mammy got here, that fore l s born, pappy ru~ns off and makes hie ~ to Texas and gits Massa George to buy him.

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EX slave Stories Page Two ( Texae) .4. Mas~ George and Missy Axtericp. 1ivf~d. izi a fine, big house and they owned uiore s1~ves and 1~rid than ari~yb~dy in th~ county and they s the richest folks round there. Us s1av~s lived. down the hill from the big hcmse in a d.oubi~ row of 1o~ cabins anil us h~c! good ~ 1i~ce our white folks. My granc1~pa zn~d.e all the beth~ for the white folks and us niggers, too. 1~assa didn t want anything shoddy round hifl, he say, not even his nigger qu~xters. I ~ ~ ~ ot al I diy hand in thr~ ad to my ma~iin~r t O put in the loom, tc~Luse they give us homespun clothes, ~.nd you d better keep sein if you didn t want to ~o naked. Massa had ~. overseer and nigger driv~r call Jacob G~reen. If a nigger washard to make do thc right thing, they ties h&m to a tree, but M~s ~a George never whip ~m t oo hard, jus riough to make em have. The slaves what worked in the f1eId~ was woke up fore light with a horn and worked. till dark, and. then there was the stock to tend. to znd cloth to weave. The overseer corne round at nine o clock to see if all Is in the bed a~nd then go back to hits own house. When us knowed he s sound asleep d. slip out and. run ~ round, sometimes. They locked the young rn*~n up in a house at night 2nd on Sund~ to keep ~eii, from runnint round. It was a log house and had cracks mit ~nd once a little nigger boy pokes his hand. in tryi.n to texise them men and. one of em chops his fingers off with the ax. Massa didn low no nigger to read. and write if he knowed it George Wood was the only one could read and. write and how he 1~rn, a little

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Ex~-.s1ave Stories Page Three (Texas) : 43 boy Q~1 the j1nin~ place took up with him and they goes off In the woods ~nd he shows G eorge how to r~.d and write. Massz~, never did fi~d out bout that tifl. after freedon~. s ~ie si Ips off and have p rayer but daren t 1 ow th~ whi t e folks know it ~nd somettni~ we hitr~s liglous songs low like when ~ s workin . It was our way of pr~yin to be free, but the white folks didn t know it; I ~e~ber mRIQmy us~td to sing like this: Am I born to die, to l~y this body down, Must r~r tremblln spirit ?iy into worlds unknown, The i~and of deepes shade, Only pierce by human thought. Massa George io~d them what wanted to work a little ground for theyselves and grandpa m~.de money s~iiin wild turkey and hawgs to the poor white folks. H~ used to go huntin at nIght or just ~ heo~uld. Then c1Rys we made our own med~ eine out of hor~emint end butterfly weed and Jerusa1~rn oak and bottled them teat up for the winter. B~itterfiy ~eed tea was for the pleurisy and the others ~or the chUls and fever. As reg lar as I ~ot up I ailus ~ra& my asafoetida ~nd tar water. II member Massa George f~irnishee three of his nig~ers, Ed Chile and Jacob ~r~d~nd Job Jester, f~r irnile skinners. I seed the government come and take off a big b~mcb of mules off our plitce. Mos onto four year after the war, three men comes to Massa George and makes him call us up and turn us loose. I beered em say its close onto four year we s been free, but that s the first we knowed bout it. ttPappy goes to work at odd jobs and uai~miy ~nd I goes to keep house for a widow woman and I stays there till I marries, and. that to Tom Smith. We had five chill en and now Torn s dead and I ~ lives on that pend on from the government, what is $16.00 a month, and I s giad~ to git it, cause I e too old. to work. S

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I ~ !~J ~ C ~ d.~ ~~ ; * ~ ~ J~ i~L.SLAV~ STORIES Page One (Texas) SUSAN ~LITH Is not eure of her ege, but appears to be in the lat e eight i e . She~ was a slave of Charles Weeks, in Iberia, Louisiana, Susan was dressed in a black and white print, a light blue aprOn and a black velvet hat when inter~. viewed, and seemed to be en~ joying the gener us quid. of tobacco she took as she start~ ed to tell her story. ~ p, ~ lieve I was nine or ten when freedom cor~ie ~ cause I was t he whit e folks O? d m~isa a was Charl le Weeks and he 1 Iv cd. J His eons, willie and Ned, dey run business In de court house. t~x collector and de other l okln after de land, and. am de Old missus named Mag Weeks. My pa named Dennis ~ and ma named Sabry and. raised on Weeks Island, in Louisiana, After dey was vided. up and falls t. Massa CharlI e Weeks, and in Iberia in Bayou Tech.. Massa Charlie, he live in de big brick house with white columns and everybody what pass dire know dat place. Dey have de great big tomb In corner de yard, where dey buries all dey folks, but buries di cuilud folks b~ek f de ouart ers. Dey s well fix in Louisiana, but not so good after dey coi~ue to Texas. Dey used to have big Christmas in Louisiana and lote of things for us, and a big table and kill hi~wgs and hs~ve lots to eat.But old. Missus Mag, ehe allus treat cii like her own chilien and mRke me set at de table with dem and eat. nursing for In Iberia. One of d~ ~ surveyor. Joe, and dey borned old massa die, dey dat where I borned., -1-.

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x..slave Stiries Page Tw. (Texas) fil was with }4issus Mag on a visit to Mansfield when de war starts at s ix s cl clc Sunday and go till s ix e click ~4.nday. I went over dat bat tle~~ field and 1 ook at dem soi ers dey kill. David UcGI1I a young massa, he git kill. He uncle, William Weeks, what done hired him to j me the army in he place, he gees to the battlefield to look for Ma3sa David. De nly w~r he knowed it was him, he have two geld eyeteeth with diamonds in dem. Some dem hurt soj ers was pre.yin and some cussin . Yeti could hear some dem hollerin , Oh1 Gawd, help nie. Dey was layln ~ think ~r,u have to step ever dein. I seed de e.jers in Iberia. Dey take anythin dey wants. Dey cotch de cow and kill it and eat it. Dey ha+e de camp dore and dey jus carry on. I used t, go to de camp, cause dey give me crackers and sardines. B%it after dat Mansfield battle dey have up white flags and dey ain t no more war dore. Bttt while It gwine n, I go te de c~p and sometimes dem sojers give me meat and barbecue. Dey one place dore i~ lump salt big as dis hiuse, and dey s 3t fi re t o de house and left dat b 1g lump salt . Anywhere dey caznp dey burns up de heise. $1 didn t know I m free till a man say to me, Sissy, ain t you know you aIfl~t got no more ~a88a or missus? I say, No, euh. Bat I stays with dem till I git marry ~nd op right in dey hot~se aM nuss fer lent. Dey give a de bi~ tee. De noter pubi Ic In Iberia, he marry us. My husband name Eenr~ Smith and dat when l a fifteen year eid. I so big-~limb and fat den I bigger dan what I is now. t,! ain t had n, husband for a time. I can t cast de years, he been dead. s long. tie have fifteen chillen, and seven livlnt ~

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E~s1ave St ries p~ ~~ (Texas) HSperrjtst I used ti et~e dem, I ecart of dem. Semetiine dey ls*s nat ral and sometime like de sh~d~w. Iffen day liok like de shad w, jus k~p on leokin at dein till d.7 1 okB nat r:~1. Iffen y,u walks l.ng, dey coiie right up side ~ ou. Iffen you isoks ver y.u left shoulder, yiu see dem. ~ Dey makes de air fee . warm ~nd yu hair rise up, and s.i~etime dy giv s you~ de cold chills. Yllib C~U feel it when dey with ylu. I sit here and seed dem standin in dat gate. Dey goes rii~rnd like dey ione when dey ~ Sime say dey can t cress water, II heared talk of de bad insuth. L ld aman put bad msuth on ysu and shake her hand at y.u, ~nd ~ de day dine you gwine be in de acciden . t, I seed de Kl~L Klux. P. Cajans and redbon.s I calls des. Dey might t, be sleepin . One time I seed a man hartgin in de wood when I~n pickin black- berries. Eis t ng~xe hangin sut and de tuzzards fly down on he sh~ilder. De bree :1 sot him t swingin and. de buzzards fly ff. X tells de psopis and dey takes him down t~ bur~r, He a fine,young cullud man. I don t know why dey done it~ Dat after peace and de Yenke~s dGne gone back home. I been here in Texas a g..d while, and it such a r ugh read it got my membrance all stir up. I never been t. scheel, cause I bound sut t. work. I lives with my daughter and die child here my grandchild. . I can t aember no mirs, cause my head ain t giod as lt used. to be.

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420()19 EL~SLLY$1 ~OB.tES Page One ~ 4? (Texas) . ~7o~ S~D, born near AuBtin, Texas, d.oeB not kr~ow hi~ ag, but was almo t gi~own when he wa4s freed~ Re beion~ed~ to Dr. Sneed. and stayed with hie~ sev. era). years aft er ~anci~ation. ni 5 borned ou de old Sneed place, e1~ht miles s~iuth of uztin, and my n~a~ny was Sarah Sneed. and pappy ~as Ike Dey c ne fr~ ~enne~see ath dere five boys and two gals. De boys am Dixie en~ Joe and Jim and Bob and me, and de c~a1:b ~ Katy ~ Lou. U~ live ~n qu~rter3 what was log huts. Dere s one long, log ho ~ where dey spinned and weaved de cloth. Dere sixteen apjnnjnV wheels and eight Io~me In dat house and. my j ob was ur oi~e d~ 8heele when they d thresh me out ~nd git ~ne to do it. ~Los all de clothes wh~tt de slavee and de white folks have was cade in dat house, Moe and u~w~1 de chilien sleept on de floor, unless With de old folks. I~ bed~teada ~ e o pieces of epilt 1o~s f~sten With wooden pa~s and rope cris8 cross. ~ ~attre5$Th~$f shuckz tear into st~tp~ with maybe a 11~1 cotton or prairie hay. You could go out on de prairie moe any time and ~et nough grass to make de bed., and dry lt fore lt put in de tick. L~ whIte folks Mve bought beds haul by ox tean3 frorz Au5tln and feather beds1 t Dr. Sneed raise cotton and. corn and wheat. Soinetthe five or e ix oxen hitch t o de wagon and. 25 or 30 i~ns make what am call de wagon traifl. ~ ~ Dey haul cotton ~nd corn and wheat to Port La~aca what a~ de nearest shipping point On de return tr Ip dey brang sugar and coffee and cloth and other things what as needed . on de plantati on, 1 ~ret ttii~e massa low m~ go with dat ox-train, I th~mk Vs growed. ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ L

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r !X-SLATE STORIES ~ Paie Two ~ : ~ ~(Texas) ~ ~1 48 Dre a big ~artg of white and. cullud chilien on de plantation but Dr. Sneed d.idn t have no chilien of he own. De neighbor white chilien caine over dere arid pLayed. U~ rip and. play arid fight and. kick up ii~ heeiB, and go on~ Massa never ~low~no whippi& of de chilien, He make dein pick rocks up and m~ce fences ouSt dem but he d.1&n t low ~ no chilien work in de field till dey tbout fourteen . De real old folks dIdn t work in de fields ne I ther Dey s ot ~ r ound and kn.i t so cks and mend de ~ shoes and harne ~ s and stuff. ~ tiMassa John mighty good to us chilien. He allus give us a 11, . Pl ece money every Sunday. When he d gi t In he baggy t o go to Austin to sell butter, de chilien pile in dat buggy and. all over him so you couldn t see him and he d hardly see to drive. Us had. possum and rabbit and. fish and trap birds for catin . Dere all kind. wild green dein days . Us jus ~o . irr de woods and git Wild. lettuce and irnistard and leather~britches and polk sz~1ad and watercress, all us want to eat. Us kilt hawgs and put up de lard by de barrel. tie thresh wheat and take lt to de li~l watermill at Barton Creek to gri d.. Dey d. only grind two bushel to de family, no matter how big dat family, tcause dare so many foIk~ and it euch a small mill. ~ ~ Each family have de li 1 garden and ~rai se turnips and cabbage and sweet 1tatere and. put dem in de kiln meke from corn stalks aud cure dem for winter eat in Us have home~ake clot hes and brogan shoes ~ caine fr oiu Austin or some place. Us chilien wear fr-~ t ill us bout thirteen. ~ ~ . ~ Massa ltYe IA de b1~ two..story rock hou5e and have he office and drug~ . ~ ~ st ore in one e~ d. de bou,e. Missy ~m have no ehiUen~ so,ft~k. dOPt one from ~ ~

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LI.SLLVE STOBtES Page Three (Texas) ; 4. Tennessee, naine Sally. 9Dere ~ four or five lmnerd. acres arid bout sixty slaves. Dey ~it up bout daylight and. come froi~i de ~i ld in time to feed arid do de chores fore dark. After work de old folks sot round, fiddle and play de tCO~ie~fl and tell stories. Dat mostly after de crops laid by or on rainy days. On workin time, dey iisuall7 tired and go to bed. Dey not work on Saturday afternoon or Sunday, Teept d~y gatherin de crop Tgin a rain. Old nrm Jim Piper am fiddler and play for black and white dances. On Sunday massa ~nake us go t o church. Us Bing and pray in a li l log house on de plantation and sometit~es de preacher stop and ~ hold. meetin . Massa John Sneed doctored from Austin to Lockhart and G onzales and my own mammy he trainto be midwife. She good pneumonia doctor and massa ~ her care for dem. S S S ~ l on Christ~uias all us go to de big house and crowd round massa. He S a li 3. man and. some black ~ d carry him ~ rc~und on dere shoulders. All knowed dey gwine git de present. Dere a big tree with present for everyone, white e~d black. Lote of eggnog arid ttu key and ba~Ced hawgs and all kind good things. Dere sllu~s lots of white folks company at massa s houSse and b~ ban-t quets and holidays and birthdays. Us like dem times, tca~ise work slack and food heavy. ~ve~y las chile have he birthday celebrate with de big c lc and present and ma~ be de quarter in silver from old massa, bless he soul. Us play kissin games and ring plays and. one song ~ like &ts: . S . ~ Itm tu de well, S ~ S How many feet? Five. who d ~it you. out? 4-

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EL.SLAVE STORIES Page Pour . ~ (TexaB) .~ ~ u Iffen it a man, he choose de gal anI 5he have to kiss him to git him out de well, I fen a ge . in de well, she choose a man. n ~ wel . ~niember c~e d~y freedom clarec1.. Us have de tearin S-down dinner dat dey, De nig~er$ belier and. cry and didntt wRzlt leave massa. He talk to us an. say long as he live us be cared for, a~d us wa5, Dere lots of springs on he place and d~e married nig~~ers pick out a spring and Massa Doctor ~~ive dem stuff to put up de cabin by dat spring, and dey take what dey have in de quarters. Dey want to move from dein slave quarters, but not too far from mas~. Pey come to de big house for flour and meal and meat i~~d sich till massa die. He wiii~d. every last one he slaves somethin . Mos of em git a cow and a horse a~id a pig arid some chickens. My mainiay git two COWS ~d a p~1r horses and awe~gon and 70 aCres land. She marries gain when my daddy cUe anddat ehif less nigger she ~narry ~it her to sign some kind paper and she io~e de 1~nd. My wife was Nanny Madeira a ~d us have six chilien and. five is livin . I followed cattle till I~s bout 26. Ps went up de Chishoim Tr~.l eight or tine times and druv for Massa Blocker a~ .. cl Jedge Br~ckenridge and others, on one stampede I rode 24 hours straight and after we rounds up ~1l de cattle, I goes to sleep undo r a t ree Dat d~y I has on a buckskin ~ o oat I in gen rai wore and I feels soinethin grab dat cost ~nd bite my side. I rouses up and sees d~e big panther draggi& me off to de thicket. I has de six-gu~n but I couldntt git to it. Every once in a while dat panther lay me do~ ~xid sniff at my nose. I jes hold de breath, cause if dat panther cotch me breathint d~.t been de e~d of me. He d u.g me to some bushes arid. den goes off a 11 I way ~ . ~ ~ . . . . . ~: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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XL.SLAV~ STOBI:gS Page PIve (Texas) and give de yell. Dat yell make me turn cold, cause it sound jes like a man screamin . Den dat ~ cat dug a shallow hole. I eases out my old su-n, takes careful aim eiid ~en says, Thank you., old man,~ and. he turns to look at me and I shoots him right tween he eyes. After while, dat cat s T~ate and. cub come runnin cause he yell for dem, ~r~d I kilt dem, too. 1~other time, I seed. de panther a draggin a white nanoff and I slips up jes as de cat seizes him and shoots dat cat. Us have to ran dat man down and .cotch him, tcause he scared stiff when dat dead cat fall on him. Some time after dat I works for a nian what freights supplies round J~ustin end I~s one de drivers. Ue~ start i~ September with sev ra . six-~wheel wagons, nough to l~z a toi~n de year,and not git back to~ tustintill January. S~xnetimes de i~ud so b~d it take six oxen to pull ~e wagon out. One t i!tle US movin and st~mped1n de bunch cat tle an me arid my brother sits los fr de reat and was los S ~three days and nights. All us eat am ~ arched corn. De grass nearly waist high to a man arid us scoop out de hole in de gro~ind 8nd cut off tots de grass and. weeds .ax~d make de fire, Den us drap de corn on de fire and parch it. De wooc~s full wild animals axid panthers and wolves De wolves de worst . Dey si ip u~p on us t o git de chicken us has with us. it ls~.st us come to a ho~ase and. finds us folks. ~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 058 052

~ I ~ 420228 f PageOne ZL.SLAVI STOiRIES ( Texas) ARIAR SNTJ~ER, 89 was born in ~iseis.ippi, a slaie of Sam Miller, who brought. lier t o Texas when she was five. Since )Lariah e second 1rns~. band ~Ued, twent~.two years ago, she has earned her living by washing and cooking. Now too old to do much, she is cared for by her only living daughter, ~ with the aid of a $10.00 monthly pension. ~ I s borned in Mississippi. Yes, sar. I longed to Atassa ailler and he name ~m S~i and my name am Mariah My pappy was Weldon and my mammy, inn . ILassa Sai fotches all US to Texas when V s j ~ five year oN and we c~*e in wagons and liosaback, Re done 1~iy my mama~y anti pappy in the slave market, so I don t kn~w nothin bout none my other I at ions. ~ Massa Sam live in a great b.g, celled house, and had plenty land and niggers . The quart ers was logs and any kith beds we could git. We wore lowell clothes and I never seed no.~ other kith of dress till after surrender. !e et meat and collards and cornbread and rou~i grub, . axicl they biled. all the victuals in a big, black pot what hung on a rack in the kitchen fireplace. ~te had red russet, flat shoes and no it ockin s but in ~winter we made wool pant tee to wear on our legs. NM1BS7 Was name Patsy and she was pUX ty goo~i, and Massa S~u was purty goot to ~, Es d whip us if we needed it ~ Re d pull of our clothes end~ ~ whip in the field. ~it he wouldn t low the driver to ~1ip us if we didn t need 1 t . No, . isar. And he wouldn t have n~ pat~ terrollers i the plac,. . . . . i.,l..

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Ex-sleve Stories Page Two (Texas) J The lver corne round ana. woke everybody ~p and had ein in the field by ~ bre~c. I~s seed a whole field of nigg~rs abr~tst, hocin . The rows of cotton was so lone you couldn t make but one fore dinnertime. I ~riv the ~1A, what wes n~n b~r two naules. The cotton was wro~p~d in baggin ~.nd tied with ropes. It ~r~s a long ti~n~ r~ t1er fore I seed. cotton tied with steel like they bales it now. UI 8eed plenty nig~ers whipped while I driv the.t gin, They tied the feets afl~ h& tnds ~rnd rawhided ~ good. They tied a bell ~n Orte w~n m what run ~way ~1l the t irae. They I ~cks lt r cund her h~~id. II seed lots o ~ niggers put on the block and b & off and carry away in chains. One woman name Venus raises her hands and hollers, t~e igh dem cattle, ~ whilst she s bein bid off. tThe big folks dances all night Zat doy. Thrt s all tb~ fun we had. ~ie used to sing ~ I m in p. ~dyTs garden, I~rn in g. l~y,s garden, So 1~t rue out, I m sufferin for water and wines The slaves niost aUus sin~ whilst they~ workin in the field, and one sons was tI~en I~s here :~rou c~l1s me honey, Then I~s gone ~rou honies evei~vbody. or The TaCCOOn am de funny thins, Ramblin round in de dark. i~assa Sa~~ have a cullud man what give u.s our ABC s. I still got mine, but didn t never git no further. Massa Sain git kilt fore the war. A mule throwed him. He had plenty

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Ex slave Stories Pace Three ~ (Texas) good hosses but allus ri~ a mule. He come in from a neighbor s one day F~Y1d the taule throwed him on a stob ~fore he ~ot to the house. We he~red a hollerin down the ro~3, but didn t pny no tention, 1cause they s allus all kind rP.cket twine on. ?in iy soraebodv ~av, !~hat sound like ~i and we ~oes clown there ~ it was ri~.se~. Fore he 11e h~ calls all the cullud chilien to him and shakes hands ~nd tells ~ to be good. ~ 7e lOnf:s to he son, Ruben, then, and stays with him three years after surrender. Lordy me! Ho~ I hates to think of ~e~a ~ ~ that wars Young missy cry a whole week, tmause she fear her men folks ~wine ~it kilt, They did, too. Fer t~o bo~rs, George and Frank, ~its kilt, ~nd heep of the neighbors boys gits kilt, too. !in Iy us leaves Mp,ss~ . ?ub~n ~ goes to Shreveport nnd I ~narries Snyder. The Progo Mars1u~l marr~s us. W~ r~is~s two aals and I lives with ~ Snyder died twenty~~two years a~o ~and all them years I ~nade a livin? washln and. ironin an~ co~ kin~ up t o six years ago. I gits a pension from the gov raent now and ~t ~xa $1O~OO a month. It s mighty good of the white folks to tRke care o~ this old nigger, but I d rather work, only I ain t ~b - no more.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 061 055

420144 ~x.~sLAV~ STORtES Page One ~ 35 (Texas) PATSY S JTHwELL, 83, was born in Jaeper Co., Texai. Sh~ hae live& Ort or near the old plan. tation all hei ltfe~ Her mas-e ter was Bill Trailor. My name Patsy Ssuthwell and I lives at Rock Hill. I been lt~in~ 0* dat plantation all my life, but not allus in the very same place. I think* U~ house was move arid nether builded. My pappy was John Redd. and. he longed to Bill Trailor and he brwi~ here fr~a Virginny. Mammy s name Rose Redd. and she a yafler nigger, come from South Carolina and maybe she white and. Indians too. My brothers ca . Dennis George Willi am,~ and Charle s and dey all dead. We all live i* the quarters mrid massa a tol able good one t~jderjng others what out and slashes bad. Pappv and maimiy wox~ in the field and dey send pappy and he sons off six months at the time, over to Alexandria, to maLce salt. My brothers hunt all the time and brung in deer and wild turkey ~ we has lit s t o eat ~e has butt er and milk and honey and pappy allush~~e he li l garden patch. ~We wears slip homespun dress make iutten cloth from us ls~. I ~e~er have shoes and us has mi Sunday clothes. Massa was t l ably gi.d. to the old f lks and not se mean to the chilien. He wa.* t n barbarian like sime what whip the slaves every Monday mornin beTh dey starts to work, 0Massa plai~tatien have fifteen hunnerd acre in it and he

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~Xi~1ftyS Sterlea Page Pis ( Texas) dida t haie ziingh slaves so they werks awful hard. I seed ~ hit a~7 aan~ay fire hu~nerd licks and my pappy six Iminerd, Pappy ha~e run sway and been gene long t ta. arid they cet cli him ii de water la the Neches River. He have aeat and stuff and they say mamy feedin him1 but I thiik it the ether way. I think he gittin and seridin her stuffs t The whit e f,lks has the big church with the bar criss it and t he c~I1u.d felice s it behin ~ the bar. I f an~ want e to j lite us tell massa and he tell the preacher, and he d man S.uthwell. They baptise at the mill pond. WI IRaITISS Jerry Ssuthweil and us git marry at home. Jerry wears the black suit and. I wears the dotted white Swiss dress with the verskirt. U~en freedom breaks and nassa say we free we goes to the Hayne s place and ny pappy fani~e for hisseif. We gits on better dan in slavery days and after while p~~ y buys him some land and. den we all right. Me and niy ~a~sban , we stays on with pap~ awhilee bUt we gite our own farm and f~usm all us life.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 063 057

)O ~ ) ~ ~ ~ ~L.sLAvE: STORL~8 PageOne 5r~) . (Texas) p LEITffi~AN SPINKS, 82, was born a slave to Pay Thompson, In Bankin County, Mississippi. Soon after Le1tb~ana birth, Mr. Thompeon moved to L Teliciaxia Parish, L~iieiana. Leithean was happy in slave days, and atayed with her master two years after she was freed. She lives at 2600 Merrick St., 7ort Worth, Texas. Does I look old nough to be birthed in slavery? l s eighty..twi years old and mammy had it right there in de Bible, marked when I~s birthed, in 1855. Ps birthed in Mississippi but a little while after, massa goes to Louisiana, over in ~aet J eliciana Parish, and when I~a old ~nou~ to t~eniber, wetuns am there, twixt New Roads and Jackson, right user the Missiuippi River. Massa Thompson had a awful big plantation and more n 300 cullud folks, and three rows of cabins bout two blicks long, and bout one family to a cabin. ~o floors in dem cz~ ins, you stands on dirt and de fu~rnit~xre am eOu%ething you knows ain t there, Why, man, there am jus benches to sit on and a homemake table and bunk.. Dere am de fireplace but all de main COOki~1 am done in de big cookin died, and old Mammy Dice done it, with fc~ir to hoip her. De bell ~ rung when meal time oom~s and all de slaves lines up, with their ptuis and eups and passes de service table, and de food am put on dere pans and milk in de cup. Dat de one time massa could allus pend on de niggers. when de bell say, Come and git it, ail u. am there. Us takes de food te de cabins and eats it. Dis old nigger come near gwine to Glor~y once when mamy am gene to de cook shed. Row twas amdis a w~. She latches de door on de itside -.1

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~X~ 1aY Stories Page Two ~ (Texas) tc keep ~LS three chilleA in de cabin, my sis and brudder and me. Well, In dein days, us uses tallow candles for light ~nd pine knot8 when candles ~ short. Me.mmy lights de pine knot be~ot she leaves and~ after she aa gone, it fa~11s off de hoik ~nd hits de gr~.ind and rolls a couple feet under de bunk. There am straw in de tick and right off de whole shebang am on fire. There am three of us with de do~,r latch and ail de grown-.ups in de ceok shed. Us hollers and yells but lt a~ no use, and de hol .erin~ don t last long, cause de smoke gittint thick. De fire am spreadin fast and de bunks starts burnin . Us am huddle togedder, skeert plumb c~it our wits and chokin and coughin . Den my brudder ~it~ de idea and he grabs de big spoon and de iron poker and starts diggin de dirt from under de log next de door, De smoke aintt so bad next de ground, and did yous ever see de dog diggin in de rabbit hole? Dat howus digs, and seems it never gi~ne come a hole. Finally, e hole bust ed through ~nd lets in fresh ait ~ ~nd den us dig some more, and it am big nough for ay little sis to craw . through. Den us dig some more and I crawls out and my brudder starte bat he gits he head outside and his shoulders wedges and there he am, stucked. Us pull and pull, but na~ a inch cxild us budge hirn. He try to back up b~it he shirt caught on a knc~ and he can t do, dat. So us rujns for de cook shed and yells, Mammy, de cabin on fire. ~ Everybody start s t o holler 7~re, and mammy bust s in de door and yrniks br~tdder out dat hole, and he am sweatin like a latherin mare. After dey puts de fire out with de water buckets, mammy s~r ~/~en sie gits out, why dldn t she unlatch de door? Cause de ~ citement, us never think of dat ~ s Us have plenty hawg meat and veg tables and butter and lasses and

065 059

Page Thre J~Z. 4lave Stories (Te~~a) honey. De food ain1t short no time round massa, ~cause he s~ niggers works better when dey feeds good. De mammies leavos de babies in de nursery dunn de day and d~n chilien am take good care of and has lots of mIlk and am all fat like hawgs. s WIn de aorikin when de bell ring, everybody goesto work, but I is little and does de chore. and ~ gap tender. De cattle am lowed to run where dey wants, here, there and all over. Fences ni round de fields and yards ana th re am gates to go through, but us calls dem gaps. It a~ ay job to epen and. cl ose em, ce~se somebody al us want in to drive or walk thr ~igh dem gap s. M~ sie am de fly chaser. She has de big fan melce from de tail feathers of de peacock. Twas awf~il purty thing. She stands round de ~iits folks and hoo off c~e flies. Massa Pay ain t hard on he cullud folks, He works dem steady but don t drive dem, Lots de slaves goes fiehin in de river On Saturday afternoon ~nd Sunday, arid dey cotches plenty fish. nus has parties and singin and dancin and fiddle music. Oh, Lawd~ How lonesome I gits when I thinks botit dem days and de music and singin . times bout a hunerd sings to ence and dat sound purty and jus go all through me~ br r~in off am de only hard whupp in ~ s massa give . De ru.n..off am t ie t o de 1 og and5 mae sa lay de w nuppin on he back. De ~tant at ion am near de river and dore am lots of caves and cliffs to hide in. Massa cotch de run-offs with de nigger hounds and if he don t, de~r git hongry and sneaks back. Only one gits clear aw~.

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Ex..slave Stories Page ~ o~r J (Texas) R ~J One Sunday mornin bout ten o clock, massa have de bell ring and calls ail ua to do front gallery and makes de talk. He say, Irs happy to tell ~OU8 is free and, cording to de law, yous am all citizeni. Dan what wants to stay with me I~11 pay de wages or dey can work on shares. Re gives us all de paper, with de name and a~e and where us ~ birthed. Me and ~~my stays two years after freedom. I narries So . Pleasant in 1872 and us has tvo chilien, Us sep rate in 1876. De trouble ein, he wants to be de boes of de job and let me do de work. I cldes I dontt need no boss, so I tran8pCT~t8 him, and says, Nigger, git out of here and don t never come back. If you comes back, I ll smack you d wn.t t, In l8?~3 I marries Frank Spiriks and u~s kiRs eight di illen and he dies in 1930. All deni eight chilien lives here and I s livin with one ~ dan, Mrs. Covy Kelly. Tain t many years befo old. Gabriel blow he horn, and I s waitin for him.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 067 061

42() 196 :~L.8LAn STQRI~S Page One (Texas) %JlI~h. ~\ GUT STIWART, 87, 209 Austin Ave., It. Woz $ , was born Nov. 26, 1850, a slave ~) of Jack Taylor, who also o~me& GuyS ~ ~~l parents, 3 brothers anti 3 sister.. They lived in Mansfield Parish, La. Stewart started work in the field.. at seven year. and remained with ils owner three years after h~ was freed. He then moved onto bis own farm wher he lived until 1898, when he moved to Port Worth. ras. mua, ~ an ol slave end I .. bout 11 years ol when de War starts. My marstir am Jack T~lor end ay f11y be.. long. to h1a~, t, I ~3fl ~~ ~$ de war well, cause we1uns hear. shootlit1 and see soldier.. Dey comes to marster s place end takes houes and vittals. Ou. tim, dey wants some of d.c niggers for to help fix for de battle. Dore ~m heap of oltement and de narster s fraid de battle come too close. Re say~ ~It e too close for saftaent. And he say, Put die and dat awa~y so de soldier oaln t find it. WI starts voit long~for dat, shen ~ seven, in de cotton and co n field. I just peddles 1rouiid first. Marster sho an good to u~ and so good dat cii oth.r whits folk. calls us de free niggers. ~Je~uns have cabins for to live in and sleep in bunics with straw ticks on sea. Wstuns has lotsto sat, all we want.. And we~une have all di clot ~s we needs. SIio, we went to cthirch with de marster. I~y toi us bait Heaven and de devil and sich. But d.y never lows us to have books in de hands. Dey says it wasn good for us to lam readin ~ writin. *.~id.

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lx.Sleve Stories Pa~ Two . i~c~ (Texas) V N~Ie~Ufle hae lots of ausic on dat place c~iss de maz ster, he de good fiddler and he learns s~e of us nigger. to play de fiddle and de banjo. Is gits together and. has de ~tuic, stng aM ~Ie~cs. If I thinks tbaat darn d~s now I can see w&uns daiciu and heer de .tngin or da 01 songs, sieh like 01 Black Joe aM Swanee Ri~.r. Iffen I t~iinks too much bout &e~ deys, tear. comes in di. ol nigger . eye.. i~m wer, de he~py days of my~ life. In dem days, we1uns not know what em aoney, never have any. What for we u.ns need it? I se mors happy den, dan I been since, With aoney. De aareter am scart for to loss all de hosses end everything, cens. diy takes it for de arey man, so he gits to thinicin 1b01;Lt novin to Texas. D. war warnt over ehen h goes to T.xas end takes all us nigger. with hin. De roads ~1em da~ys am not so good. ~o oridges over de rivers~ ~cept de biggee ones. IiO~i OX tises we Uns has to push for help de hosses pull de wagons outta de ~udho1e, sud W, uns Is over a montt~ getting to Williams Co~nty. I~ ranter rents de land dere and. we st~s for one crop, and. den we all goes to Travis County, viiar mareter settle for to raise de wheat. ~When fr.edon c~i s, de ~arater says we uns has to work for wage. aM buy all de food and de elothss and everything dat we~uns gits. Dat s not so easy. At first he p~. me $5.00 a month and den paya me $10.00 de Month. After three years X a~ite and rents a fern

069 063

Biu .Slave Stories Page Thres (Texas) . 63 and works for myself. I gits married in 187? and. my wife dies in 191e. ~e uns has one chile. In 1898 I comes to Port Worth and gits me a job in . woodyard anti sich. Thite man, I sho likes for to see dat 01~ plantation dom in Louisiana and it would d.o dis 01 dar~ good. I sits ~eri and thinks of d.. ~arster and d good ti~es. And de fisnin clown d.sr.~ Is d.ere good. fishin ? De folks here don know what am fisziin . TOUh has dis nigger thinkin heaps bout d. oI~ plantation and d.s good. tiiies. If I don stop talkin bout dat, I gits to cryin . *se*****e* e

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 070 064

420254 . ~X~~SLAV! STOB1~S . ~ . Pags One ~ ~ ~ ~: ~ (Texas) . ~ ~ WILLI ~f STONE WAS born ~ . ~d~n a covered wagon, on the way from Alabama to Tsxas abmt ~ 1863 ~ Though h. was t oo sm~L1 t Q remember slays days he does rec211 many things told. him b~r lits parentsand other ex~..s1aves. William llv s In Mart, Texas, ~ My parents done told me where Is borned, It am In a covered wagon on de way from Alabama t o Te~xas two years I fore freedom . Old. }lar se Lern Stone, he left Alabama for Texas, where de war n~t so bad, ~nd brung some he slaves with him. He done lost so much In Alabama, Yankees b~irn1n~ he house and. cotton and kuhn he stock, he want to git way from dire, First he corne to Rtisk Cow~ty, den goes back to Shreveport and st~ys till freedom, Pappy and m~umy was Louis and Car line Stone. I lived in Louisiana till I s growed. 8Mainmy ~ pappy done told. rn~ ~ll tbout de old plantation. It ~m hundreds of acres of land, part worked and part jus timber and pasture. It was near Montgomery, and de~r rai s.d mors cott on clin anything else but had ~some corn and peas and cz~ne, Dsy made sorghum and ribbon cane lasses and had boum vats fo~ sugar, too. . ~ D. soldiers corne through. Dey named, Yankees, Dey nu~ke inwnmy cook soinethin to s~iy and den kil~t all de hawgs and took de meat with dim,, ~nd burn de barn and house, Old Mars. had. pens to put cotton In, hid. way out in de bresh, D y picked I t in gunny sacks and hi des and slips I t out to de gin b~~night and. tries to sel . It for. deni Yankees finde it and burns it. . M~mmy say de7 ail w.rzt~ to church and had to d.riv. four hors~~~ when di roads mixdcty in winter and sand d..p ln summer. ~ey allus carry. dinner. S ~ ,j._. . N~

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ix slave Stories ~ . . . ?ags Two . . ~ ~ (Texas) . ~ ~ ~ ~ . % and. stay all day. Den in de evsnlnt aft er de n igg~rs had dey preachln1 dey all go home. Sometimes a preach.r come out to de plsntation and hold church for de white folks in de inornint and In de evenint for de niggers, out under a big oak tree, t De Lawd say iffen us t rast s him and help M o be good he gwine make our path straight. Dis was true in de days of den,~- tcause ouX~ white folks tooken cars of us, befo dey was freedom and sech. Now, us gittin old, and gits de old. age pension when us too old to work. I, ~ works all up and down de old river when I ~ s growed. De plantat Ions has long staple cotton, Dey raise sugar cane and dere be twenty wagons haulin cane to de boum mills. We was happy to do dat work, tcauss we knowed it mean us have plenty lasses in winter. Lawdy, I wish I I~iowed I could have all de lasses and bread I wanted dis winter3 Dem was good times, Lawd~ Us sing dis song: ~ t, t ~T Il st ~ck t o. de hoe t ill de sun go down, ~etli rise when de roostsr crow, And go to de field where de sunshine hot, To de field where de sugar cane grow. Yes, chilluns, wetll all go, III can jes see dem long rows of cotton ~nd niggers drivint de oxen and mules. I know nother song: f t Nigger mighty happy when he layin by de corn, Nigger mighty happy when h. hear dat dinner horn; But h. mor. happy when de night come on, Dat sun s a slantlnt, as sho s you. born! Dat old cowts a shakirr ~dat great big bell, And d.c frogs tunint up t cause de dew1 s dons fell. ~ Dat jest after freedom. Dey have plantations and overseers like slavery, but mo t de overs srs nigg.rs, and d.y didn t whip you den, On Saturday night de overseer pay us, moetly In rations. Re give us fi~r , maybs ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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EX_siai!. Stories . Page Three . . :. . (Texas) .. I 6.6. ten pounds rations of meat, and a peck or two or meal, and some coffee and tlasses, II ~Dat ration day corne once a week, Old. massa rich as Gund7. . But he give lasses all de w.ek, Lndbutterrgilk for Sunday. . ti I Old massa give a pound oi~ . meat I et it all on Monday; . . . . . Den I et lasses all de week, And. buttermilk for S~tnday.1 ~ . Aal dis was down on de Missis~ipp1 bottom, Old Man River w~s sho pi~rty in de fall, when dein wild gesses come in droves and de blossoms red and yaller. De fogs come hang over and chills and. fever gits started. De women sot by de fi re pi ec j~t quilt s and. ~ ~ ~ thread. and de old m,n weav. cot t on baskets and chair bottons, and dc ~roung men work on de levees, so dey hold. Old ManBiver back when be start prowlin round gain. . Floods COuIC down, no matter what time of year. One day Old. ManRiver be runn in 1 ong, j e s as p eaceful and qu.i~t ~id ev erybody happy. Everybody meet de boats at de. landin . . Den way in de night iou. wake up and hear a roarint like thunder and dat river be on a tear, Folks kiiow he am in de ugly mood, and starts movin to higher ground. everybody what bave ~ wagon and mule gits o~it. Some jes gits to di lsvee. It look like my folks told me when dey run from di Yankees, only dis time it s de river, Old. Man River sho treachtous. After he go on one h. rann and tearint spells; ~den he gwtne be so peac.ful and qu.i.t 11k.. . Look 11k. be try to make up for he meanness. I gits marri d and moves obst to de Tz inity river, and, stays till ~y, family done raised. ~ has free s hools in ~ d n. I works . th . di sawmill and dira so~ch~..wild garn e us can at e~8y . Drn day s on de Mississippi bottom is like a drea4m but when I hears talk ~o~t Old M~n Rv,~1~c~aa dem big waters rpairjn~~ d~m~ ~ ~Q ~ ~ ~ \ ~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 073 067

4 4L)np ~3 ~(*~~J ~.v~..ipit ~ ~ - :a~sLAvE 8TO3I~S ~ Page Oie ~ ~ :~ (Texi~s) . ~ F . TACH STR1NGJ~LLOW, 90, was birR a slave if Pra*k Thibert ii Bren.haii, Texas. Ris aer&.ry te pisr aitd, thsugh he resalled. a g.sd. rta*y insidente if si&~very days, he had little t. say ab.ut hi s life fr ra 1865 t. the preei.. cit, He iiw lives ii Vas ., Thxas. I ll be iiiety.~..,ae years 4 next May, and I was bsrne& 1* Brethiwi. My ma~sea and miscue was Frank Habert and Sarah Ani Habert. My daddy e eue freri de ld Afri a a~d was t~. J. ~d et raight as a arr *w. Ec w~s s ld t, a iian wh~.t te~ked lita ti Calift rnia irt d.c g.ld rash ii 1849 and iae az~d aai~ay sti~ys with Massa Hubert. Dat hew e.me m~r aaae ai i~ t de eat&e as rias s a have . ~ ~ I g t s. iaash misery in de head I a* ~ aember like I sb ~uld~ But I ki~ w us licro j~ littlelig h.usee all kiad of ~r.up t~ether, ~ us eat in a l.ug ~ builded .n te de big heuse. Us i~hille* had a l.ng, Si pOdi.. Ut dish in a split l.g tables What we had ti eat was duaped. in dat trau~h aiad us 8te it like sl.p. Bu.t it ehs taste g..d when y u be~ huatia1 fir eggs r calves r gittin iia ships ir breaki~ bresh.. ~Whe~a Is big 1Ie~4ugh I e arrice water, s metiaes fr.a de spriig and eeaetiaes fr ic~ de deep well . Dere dwiger a i}t~tie ~ 1~~iid f aII in dr iw~ &zd mas sa, he e ~y~i ere ~ t is valu bic ts risk dcii dat wir. It was hard wut ti titi water fir aiggers werk~i, , tsgaee allue saiieb.dy ~ ~ h.lleri*t fir de water.. I had. ti tr t d.w* de slippery baik tbr.ugh de thiras t.. de epri*~ ir pull d~e heavy sweep t. git lt . ut de weil., a*d~ arz y twi bus~ete acib d~e tiae ~ . ~ ~ . . ~ . . ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ : ~ \~ ~ ~ ~ ~ % ~ ~ s

074 068

EX slave Stirles Page Tw. (Texas) Us sut t wi saplin s de right size ta fasten ti~ether at dc end. and stiek dein i~a hiles in de wall, te naake de bed. Us use Iaee euwhide stri3a~5 er anykind ripe aunes ~e poles t. h.ld. dc bed up~ Den.put hay ii tim shucks and a Iittl, sottiit in dc ticks, T HUe eat bauen and e,rnbread and greens, but de white filke had. r*sre n better, Dey dldntt have t. eat string victuals like us; us have t, ept surnethin~ t~ stick t. de ribs, Right ~beut de tirne dis state cime t, be dc United Stat ~, ~nd de Med.sa.ns rai5int d.c .ld billy, us cisk mist usual in de fireplace ~nd have vex~s by dc sIde to i~ake bread, and cranes fir dc pits. Us slaves used pii~e torches and esactiracs a little bit if candle, De wiraen n~ke ~l I dc candles demeelves fir dc white fslke, Us didn t need much ll~ht at nicht, sauce us tired ~!ter de 1en~ day, w,rkint frea can see ti ca~ t eee, and us ~it i~ dc bed earl:r, III w,re shirt tail till 11s f.urt~en, den dc hemespun britches and shirt. Lly weddin suit was de dark jeans and I was fix up fine as any nigger in dc plantattin. She wire white and riassa fix supper and. g t de fiddler and ~ll sieh, 11Massa have Jihn to versee, and he shoe de stepper~ He be every place yiu didn t think he gwine cerne. H~ have de big, bisra viles aid allus sligin and wail, Luk aling, black iian, luk alin~, dci s triuble e imli shi I Iffen d.c black biy ix wiman lying in dc sin nw, dey e~tt up quick aid be mighty bust right sun, cause dat black sn~e whip reach fir dcii, Dey scramble deyseif tigether and be d.c buslest in de bu**th by tiae J.b* git . . ~ 0 2.~,

075 069

~ Ex slaveSt,ries Paie Three : 69 (Texae) Um de 1en~ wiRter dn,~rs de rien s~t rsund de fire ~nd whittle w ~d ~id niake butter D~,dd1es ~nd trGughs f~r de pies and siQh, and ~x haid1t~s ~nd h~e handles ~nd b x traps arid fi~ure~$sur traps. Dey make e~rib~ ti git de w~ 1 c ~e~n fsr de spiniain . Us take de l g strip Sf Ie~4her a~d put wire in it ~nd bend der~ s~ dey stoy, den sut d~ emb~iike teef and dere yeu 2r~. Cei~e Christmas us s1av~s have de big dinner and eat ~I1 day and danse till next msrnint~ S,m~ de iiggere fr z* near planta..ti.ns git dey passes and e~rne une us~ C~urse dey a dr2p e~g i g r u.nd ~!ad andy f.r de hi11en~ De white feiks h~ve dey b ~ sarria~e full f visitars and big goints n dey arne t~ fr~r~ railee r.und. Us didn t have n~ meiaey, but didn t h~ve n, pla.e to g~ te spend it, neither. At night, us sot r.und de fire ~raetimes ~nd de ~srnen sew ~nd knit a~id. de men whittle and tild things, Deytalk bout harms and sich. Y~u ~ine have I.ts ~f luek iffen ~r,u eetc~h de rabbit in de graveyard in de dark .f de r* ~n and sut ~ff he hind leg ~Dd wear it. Iffen veu ehews de piece ~f shoe string r..t, jus ~r~u ask a~ybsdy a favmr ~nd you she gwine g t it.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 076 070

42()~i3 ELmSLAVE STORIES Pace One ij ?O (Texas) BERT STRONG was born In 1864, a 5lave of Dave Cavix, H~ and his mother remained in the serv-~ Ice of the Cavin f~iai1y for ten ;v ears after the~r were freed. B,rt ht~9 farmed in Harrison County all his life ~nd now lives a1or~ on Lon~ s Can~ Road, twelve miles . northeast of Marshall, ~ j! 5Up-.. ported by a ~15~OO p~r month pension, UI been livin here all my 1if~. I was birthed a year and more I fore the war st oppea. ~nct ~ 1 on~ ea to old Dave Cavin . All my folks lo~iged to him over in Montgomery, in Alabaiaa. Massa Dave buyed. my manray s papa off a bac~cy farm in Richmond, in Virginny. I heared Ma5Ba Dave say he done come to Texas cause he heared i~ .A.1~bama this was a rich country 0*~ h~,w s walkin round with a ~ife in th~r beck and ~ rou could sh~~emoney off the tree~s. His folks and bout thirt~r s1~ves come to Texp~ in waj~ons. The: was on the road three months. HI hear~d ray grand. pe~ple tell bout holptn run the Indians aut of Texas. Big Lnke, on Caddo Lake, was jus a si~al1 Icind ~ stre~ them, deys. ~y ~i andp~. was name Gl~ster and he d.i~d at n. hunerd five years. ~1assa Gavin had 1bout four hunerd acres arid ~i1ded us all good quarters with chixrini~a and fireplaces, and good beds and plenty food. I s too little to know all this fore the war, but my folks stayed with massa ten years after freedom n~d things was jus the same as in slave times, only they ~ot a little mon~r, so I c~n member, My gxean~j~fla was cook ~nd~ there was plenty wild g~xne turkey z~nd deer ~nd iigeon and rabbits arid squirrels. I member once the~r s grwnblin bout what they have to eat and old massa corne to the quarters t~~d say, What you fuss i bout? They e a gallon good potlicker in the pot. 1-.

077 071

Ex*~*slave Stories Pace Two 71 (Texas) ~) I s raise on greens and pork and potlic~er and tate:rs ~nd ~sh~.c~ke. Oat am good food, too. I ain t nev ~r hope to s~e no bett.~r food clan dat. !~4a~sa cive he slaves two sets clothes a year and one pair b~che1or brogan shoes with brass toes. The white ~ rlks IarntUS Negroes to read and write, at night and on Sunday, and. we c ould ~o to church. We had our own preacher, and z~assa let us have furi rals when ~ si~we died. Tiiey wasn t no undertaker5 then. They jus made the coffin end planed the boards and 11n.~d. it with black cloth. The white folks and t~e culiud folks, toe, was put way nice on our place. They was a overseer a while, but massa fires him for ~ ~nd slashin1 he ni~gers. He made my uncle Freeman overlooker. V~e is hear~d slaves on ferns close by hollerin when they ~it beat, Sorn~ thi~ neighbors works they hands till ten at night ~nd. we~~hed the last weighin by candles. If the day s pickin wasn t good nou~h, they beat them till it a pity. Christi:aas was the bi~~ time. Massa kilt the hawg or bee ~ and sometimes a mutton, ~id give the ~~ves the big dinner. Us all hang the stockin up on massa S ~al lery and it was a run to see what we d git . He give the chilien tO~rS ~nd ~ppi~s and. the big folks ~ to wear. He d low the chilien to have c~mdy puflin 2atur~ey nights and the growed folks parties. L&y coasin, Tofl, W~?S scngster and call the plays at all th~ dancee, and they turned cordin tc whet he d sing. Then young massa went to war they calls all the slavee to tell him good-.bye. They blowed. the horn. He come home two times on a furlough ~rid. 5875, l s smellin and seem the Devil,1 Then the nex time he cane home

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~x.-~slave Stories p~ Three 2 ~ - (Texas) he say, Las tinie I tells you bout smellIn the Devil. It5 smellin and seem Hell now.1 When the war aii over, he co~ne home and say to old massa, VAiflIt you read the lamation to you niggers yet? Massa S3~)T he hasn t, and young massa blowed the horn and calls us all up and tells us we s free as he is and could work for who we please, bat he like Us to stay till the crop ani out He say be d hire us and. make a c ont . Me and my mat~y s tays t en years, ~ they so GOOd lt ain t no use to leave. One of the young massas am livin here now, Mr. Torn, and I goes to see him, I stays with mainr~y till I marries and then farms for myself. That all I ever done and I d be (loin it now 1f I was able. I raises two boys but they am both dead now. III votes once in the cou.nty leetion and once In the president lection. I think any InP.n should vote, but lt aintt tended for women to vote. Mos the young niggers en swine to Hell. They don t Dreciate things. They has lots inore n we ever did. They.cRn go to school and all, but they don t preciate lt.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 079 073

~ ~ 42()253 ~ \ EX-SLAVE STORIES . ~ Page One ~ 7 : (Texas) . . ~ 0. EMML TAYLOR, 89, was born a slave of the reer family, In Mississippi. She ~nd her mother were sold. to a Texas man, whose name Emma has forgotten. Emma lives with one of her chl .d.ren, In Tyler, Texas. My maw and paw I Ived In Mj 88 Is sippi and be . on~ed to Marse Greer. Dat dere nar~ie, too. ~11 the slaves tooken dere master s name, t cause dey d~ t no use for a naine nohow, De first thIns I tmembers Is followlnt my m~w in the cotton patch. She allus went ahead, picidn cotton, and made a clean place with her sack drag~in1 on the ground. But de first work I ever done ~ wo.s feed. de chickens and geese and shell, corn to feed dem, Us nigger chilien coulc1n~~t play with de white chilien. De worstest whippin I ever ~ot was ftr playin with a doll what beion~ed to one marse s chilien. I tmembers it yet ~td I ~intt never seed. a doll purty as dat doll was to tue. It was make out a corncob with arms and legs what moved and a real head, ~t th eyes and hair and mouth painted on. It had a dress out of silk cloth, jist like one ray mi~us weared when she went to meetin . Dat lI l gal done leave de doll under de tree, but missus found me pi~vin with it and ~hIpped me hard. We livecL in a cabin in de back field thind de big house, one room and a shed. room, where maw clone ail de cookin for de whole family,- I ~. had. threebrothers and three sisters, ail dead, I supposes. Dey ~Il older ~n what I was We cooked on a fireplace, ~nd a big pot hanged on poles ove r de ~ire and de bread c ook on dat ftre in a skillet what was made of twoplecesof ron, turn. up.aU ro~ind. Wep~ts d~ e dough moue and turns de other one over it, den buries it i~ de coals a ~ew Imnutes ~

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~x S1ave Stories Page ~wo . 7~:~.; (Texas) s till lt brown on de top and bottom1 It was good, jist as good as nowada~ys, baked in a ovens Our beds was made oiit of straw ~nd 015 rags, but we kept waru1 sleepin a whole lot In one bed in winter, but we slept outside in summer. t, I was sold one t ~ Marse he gittin old. and ~ he didn t need so . m~iy slaves, so he haire d~ saie and a m~n come and. put us ai~. up on a big platfoim. ~pulls Off i~arly all our clothes, ~ ~s to show how big we was, . and he tgins hollerin1 tbout who gwineter btiy, who gwineter buy~ I was scart and thunk I has to leave maw, so I tgins hollerint jist as loud as he does. He turn ~ round and. say Shut up you I 1. 1 ~ c oon yo~i I can ~ t hear nothin I hides my fRee in mawts apron and. didn1t know no more till wets aU loaded in a wagon and starts to de new home, We gits dere and is give new clothes ~ and shoes, de first ones I ever had on and it taken me a long time to lam to wear dein things on my feet. Us niggers has to git up at four in de momnin1 and work, work till us cantt see no more. )~n dey work at night. De men chops wood and hauls poles to baud fences and ra~ke wood, and de women folks h~s to spin four cuts of thread every night and make all de clothes. ~ Some has to card cotton to make quilts and corne weave and I~iits stockints. Marss give each one.a chore to do at night and. iffen it warntt did when we went to bed, wets whipped. One t tine I f~lls plumb asleep befo I flnish s shellin sorne corn, but I didnt t ~ git a bad whippin dat time. ~ Sometimes de niggers danced and pla~red de fiddle and US chilien pl~red ~ in de yard. We could sta~r up all night ~iem t ime.s but had to work next day; T . and. hardly ever ~taye up aU night. Dat ~iui.n harvest or at Christmas time, . ItAU de victuals . waa ~ issued: ott~ ~r: .G oe ~&~ he gtve ~x~ough for one ~ ~ ~ 2~

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~x sIave Stories Page Three ~ 75 (Texas) . . . week, den iffen us eat it ~11 up too soon, lt am Jist go withoat. Lots of times, I went down to de tato patch a long time after everybody ~m in bed., and stole tatoes, so we wouldn1t be httngry next day. I allus covered de hole up good. and never did g t cotched. De dogs got ~fter me one time, bu.t I put pepper in dey eves and dey stopped. I allus carried pepper with me. HI rn~rries when 11s fifteen, not so long befo1 Vm free, Nigger men didn t git no license to marry dey gals den. Dey jist picked her out ~nd asked m2rse3 and iffen he grees dey s married. But iffen he ~ t want it dat man has to find heseif nother gal, De men what lived on nother plantation couldntt see dere wives but onet every two weeks . Marse bu~ed my husban Ru.be T~y1 or arid be come to live with me. One day marse say we1s all free and. we has a big ce1&r~tion, eatint and dane mt. B~.t ~ nF~r ~i1 stayed on hi~ place for a long time after day. He paid. us thirty five cents de day and let us live in de same old houses. After we done left him, we Jist drifts Tround, workint for white folks, till we manages to git a fana. Bube dor~.e died. a long time back, and. I lives with niy baby child. . s **

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 082 076

420134 EX~SLLfl~ STORIJS )~e One 76 (Texas) MCLLfl TAYLOR, 84, was born a slave to John Wilson0 at C~pbe11, Texas. After shs was freed,, Mollie moved with her family to an a&joini~ig farm ihich the~ w ke~t on shar.s. Mollie now livss at 522 Seaton St., Port Worth, Texas. SNow den I L3 nO record. of when I e born and ju.st what de white folk. tells ~e is all t btows. I 11 be 84 this co~aing October, but just what d~y I don t know. t s born on Massa John Wilson s fare at Caapbell, Texas and him owned my father and mGther and bo~it 20 more slave s Dere was bou~t four or five chilien in weL:tr~s family. My father died aM I ~ 1ae~ber euch bo~it him, but his name was Anson Wilson and ~ nother . name was Hattie Wilson1 We uns gits de nase from de massa. ~Us s1a~es lived ~n log houses back of m~esa s ho~tse, and they was two ~nd threeroom hou~ses with dirt fLoors and. de roc~k fireplace and just holes for windows. De fites come in de door and go out de window, b~t ~ftoBt of ~ stayed in de house, Dere was no furniture like e~i today. Wo, euh, it was hom.aake stuff. De I~.i~ks was built gainet de wall and full of straw or hay end de table. was mad.. of split logs, Dre was de cook ro ~ an~ de eat root where all d~e slaves meals oool & end they ate tween de slaves quarters and de massa s house, Massa Wilson, him feed. us purty good, with de cornmeal and ~ lasses and plenty coffee an~ milk. We has white flour once a week and massa git de sugar by de barrel. De slaves coule have dere own gardens and dey raised most dere vegetables. All de chilIen ate out of de wooden trough with wooden spoons. It was a sight to watch them, day just like de bunch of pig..

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Page Two t Exu .slave Stories 7;;) (Texas) De overseer, him ring de bell bout half past four in de mornin and everybody what work go to cl fields. De massa purty reason bie with de work and didn t whip much. On Sunlays de old slaves goes to de church and de chilien plays. tlihen war come der lots of soldiers allus ridin by de place, all deck aut in de uniform with big, shiny butto7is on de coat. When us chilien seed. dein we took to de woods. After freedom we ~Ths moves to de next farm and. works and I stays dere with my family till I s bout 25 year old, and den I marries ~om Gould anti move to McLei~n~ Coenty. But he so mean I didn t stay with him very long, and bout six months of his foolishness and~ I ups and. leaves him. After two years I marries George Taylor and. I lt?eS with dat mart for 12 years and~ took nough of his foolishness, so I leaves him. I s had faul chilien but Tom Gould nor George Taylor wasn t de father of any cf em. No, sith, I just found dem chilien.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 084 078

~ ~~j/ ~ ~ L~ 4 ~f)I3~ EX~SLAVE STORIES Pa~eOne ~ .7~3 (Texas) ~ JAKE TEPRIELL bo rit a s . ave of ~ e1ix Terriell In R~~1e1~h, ~~2~ik1 (~aro1in~, does not know his age. ~ ~ ({~~ He was grown and married at the %\J~-~ close of the Civil War, so is ~ probably i~ the 90 s. He lives ~ In Maclisonville, Texas. Pa~y end. iaarnmy was called Torn and Jane an~1 the7 s cotched In Africy ~d bruyig to Asnerica and sold, My brother was callec~ James and my sisters L~~1~dy and Sally. Massa Felix Terriell owned me ~nd pe:ppy and mammy but wh ~i I s still a chile h~ dr~e give me to he son, Massa Dalton Terriell~ ~ My papy was de wild man aiad he so wild Z4~ssa Felix h9ve to keep him 1ock~d. up at night and in de chains by day to keep him from nl.nnin off. He had to wear de chains In rIe ~ ield and. den h couldn t run fast. Massa Dalton crowed de tobaccy. He was a good massa arid give me de nickel and de dirne s~rnetime and. I d buy candy. He have lots of slaves and de cook fix our grub in big old skillet . We allus have de cornbread and d.c synip and some meat. I likes possum cooked with sweet t t at ers, Missy Ma17 try la.rn me read ~rnd write but I never &id care for de book pru~ . Massa wa)ce us ~ bout four o clock with de great iron and hammer and us work long p.s us could sees Massa didi t haire to ~~iip us but I seed pi~ py whip, with de rawhide with nine tails. He got thirty-.nine licks and every lii, it brt~ng de blood.

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~x.s1aveStor1es . . Page Two ( Texas) ~ 1% II seed slaves sold and you has hearec5. cattle bawl whei . de calves took from de in~mzny e~ad dat de wa~T de slaves bawls. ~VheR massa sell de slave he rn~ke em wash up and grease de face good aiad st9nd up straight and he fatten em jus like you do h~iwg~ to sell. I h~d de good massa, He w~.s good to black debbils, what he call us niggers. Us could rest when us git to de quarters or go by de big tank and take de bath, a?ld every Satuxc1~y night ils git ~e holiday and have banjo ~d tin p~n beatin and dance. On Christm~s massa kilt de big h~wg and us fix it just like us wants and have big dinner, Massa have doctor when us sick. He s~y us too val ble, If us sold u.s bning bout $1,000. Old mammy could fix de chars and git us well. She gather bark ~nd m~ce de tea. Most us sic~ess chill and fever. Sometime a slave git leg broke and massa say he no more count and finish him ~p with de club. Massa nearly kilt in de f~ightin end he h~d he doctor write missy to set us free. I h~d two wives and missy said. I couldn t keep but one, so I takes Mary and us starts out for Texas, a-foot . Us most starved to death fore us ~ot here ~nd then us have hard time. But dere plenty wild meat and dat what us lived on three, four year. Us had two chilIen end den she dies and I m,xry a half Indian gal a~d she died. Us jus greed to live together in dem days, no weddin . Then I marries Lucie Grat and us have li chilien and de preacher calls us m~ end wife. I s peppy to 17 chillen and I ~ know how m~y gr~dchillei. Lucie say moretn a hun erd.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 086 080

j ~ )j#\ ~ 4~,-uj.. ( Ex~sLAv:~ STORIES Page One ~. 8() (Texas) J. w. TBRRILL was born in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, and is about 100 years old. Hi s mante r was hi e father. He now lives In Madisonville, Texas, My father took me away froa my mother when at a~e of six weeks old and gave me to my grandmother, who was real old at Ui. time, Jus bifo she dted she gave me back to my father, who was my aammy s master. He was a old. batchelor and run saloon and he was white but ~y mary was a Negro . H. was mean t o me. Pi~t~J.1y my father let his sister take me and raise me with her chlll~. She was good to me, but befo h. let her haye me he willed I m~.tst wear a b. ). till I was 21 year old, strapped r~tnd ~y shoulders with. the bel . bout three feet froa *y head in steil frame. That was for punishment for hein born into the world a son of a white san aid my i&awmy, a N.gro slave. I wears this frame With the bell where I couldatt reach the clapper, day and iight. I iever knowed. what lt was to lay down in bed and get a good nightte sleep till I was bout 1? year old, when isy father died and my missy took the bell offen me. Befog my father gave me to his sister, I was tied s~ strapped to a tree and whipped 11k. a beast by my fath.r, till I was unconscious, end then lift strapped to a tree all might in told and raimy weather. My father was very mean. He and he sister hn~ag me to Texas, to North Zuich, when I bou.t 12 year old. He bra~g *y n~my, too, and sad. her come and be bis ~istresa one night every week. H. would bave kilt svery on, c~ his slaves rather than see us go free specially me and ay aa~ay.

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i~X~1ai e Stories Page Two (Texa.) ~ 81 )~ty ai~sy was purty good. to iae, when my father wasn t right rowid. B~t he wou1dn~t let her give rie anything to ea but coribread and water and little sweet taters, and jus i~ough of that to keep me alive, I v~as aflus hongry. My mamy had a boy called Trank Adds and a girl called Marie Adds what she give birth to by her cullud husban , but I never got to play with them. Missy worked ~e on the fari~ and there was bout 1.00 acres and fifteen slaves to work tea. The overseer waked us bout three In the morn~a~ and then he worked us jus 10kg as we could. see. if we didn t git troi.~d fast r~ough, be chain us to a tree at night with nothl* to eat, and nex day, if we didn t go on the ru.n he hit us 39 lIcks with a be%what wt~s bout three foot long and four inches wide. HI wore the bell ~iight end day, and ~y father would chais me to a tr.~e till I *sarly died fromth. cold and bei*1 so hon~ry. }t~y father didn t ~ lie,. in church and my mi s sy 11ev. d. there a Lord, but I wouldii t have lieved her if she try lam me bout ligi ~ t cause my father t.1l me I wasi t any more the* a dai~n aule. I slep on a chair and tried to res till ay father died, and then I sug all dey, Tcause I knowed I wouldn t be treated so mean. When ~t~y took that bell offen me I thinks I in Heaven cause I could ii~$~e down and go to sleep, ~Yhen I did I coulthi ~ ~ake up for a long time and when I did. wake up Vd be scairt to death I d. see *y father With his whip and. that old bell. I~d juiep o~it of bed and run till I give out, for fear he d corns back and git ma.

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:4 Ex..elav. Stories Page Three (Texas) I was about 17 year old then and I so happy not t~ ~we Ml s sy make us work hard. but Bhe have plenty to eat and on Chr1stia~,s she cook us a real dinner of beef meat. Plenty time I listens to the canno* popping till I mOst deaf, and I was messenger boy arid spy On the blue belilee. When I d. git back to the Southorn soi ers I he ped. su bury they dead a~d some what was jus wounded I he ped carry horns. uWhen we heered was Was over arid we~ s free, we aU. jus jui~ped up and hollers and. dances. Missy, she cries and cr1e~, and Zelle us we is free and. she hopes we starve to death and ehe d be glad., tcwise it ruin her to loss us. They was a big bunch of us *lggere ii town and we stlrrii ~ round like bees workin in and out a hive ~e was jus that way. I went wild and the first year I went north, but I come back gain to Texas. Mter ~ I i~arries a I$i~n maid. It was nothii mu ch but lidians ~ round. and. there wasn t mach law. I 1 ived. with her bout two yeaxb and then the lidians come and captured her jus b she was to give birth. They kilt her or carried her sway and 1sf me for dead, ~rnd I never seed or heered. of her since, While I was sick a outlaw, what was Tomas Je ~feries, he sped ~ git well and then I turns outlaw and follows all signs of Indians, all over the earth. But I iever could git word of my wife, It aus~ be bou.t 15 year after that, I marries Feline P0H, by a preacher. My fir8t weddin wee common weddi* with the Indian maid. I jus give her deerskin in front of Tomas J.fferiss and she my wife. ~ ~ 5*5* .3. *~* that bell I could on me. sleep,

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 089 083

l )fl( ~ F~L.SLAVE STORt~S Page One . CD ~ ~? (Texas) otj ALLEN THOMAS 97 was owned by ~evera1 ranchers of Jefferson and Orange Counties, Texaz~ but re~a11s Moise Broussard of Ham~ shire the best. Ill health has affected hi8 memory and his story is not coherent. He is a f~ia1i~,r fi.gu~re on the streets of B~aurn ~nt Texas a small man clad in none too clean ~nd somewhat ra~ed clothes, with a tow sack across his sho~ilders, Into which he puts such things as he finds in his wan~ derin~s about the city. Rumor has it that r ~ ~ Allen is fairly well to do and that his be~ I~ ~: Nk~7 gins attitude is assumed, for reasons of JLIS own. It ~ figgers I s ~wine be 97 y ~r~r old on de fourth of i~w~gust . I s borned over in i~c~n oods, over in Oran~e County. My daddy s nnine was Lockin Thomas. I never see my daddy. He git drown in de river here at Beaumont. My mamuy s Hetty Anderson. HI lon~d to three ~asters. One John Adam and he was i~iean. One Stowers, ~nd he was rn~an but not so mean to me. Den dere Moise Broussard, he was ~urty rae~n, ut he never beat me. De las m~n what finish raise me was Amos Harr ison and he purty go od man He wife n~.me Mag ~nd dey :~ ives on ~rtle Bayou over in Chambers County. He buy me from Lewis Pinder. He was good. i~y brudder wz s Kelly Idonia ~nd I had a sister Lessie Jilli~ ias. Dey beat her with clubs. I~s w~Ik over many a dead person. Dey beat ~em to death. Us h9~. tins dishes dem times, master and slaves, too. Dey have wooden paciles what ~is t~ce de food out de dishes with. De white folks sot at one table and de cullud folks have table to cleyseif, bu~ bout what de white folks has. Us have watermilion ~nd sugar cane and milk and butter. Den us have de possum. Us clean him and put him top de house and tlow de ~rost -.1~-~

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Ex-slave Stories Page Two (Texas) f~11 on him. Den u~s fill him full salt and pe~er and. put him in de oven. ~0met line put sweet ~ tat ers ~11 ~ round him . Us have de 1 ong, square oven with de lid. on it Us wore knitted shirt m:~k~ o~i dem looms and dey gives us boots with brass toes on ~cr~i, L~e avid m~iiny work on c~e spinnin whee1~many a night up to one or two o clock. I used. to card de bats. Dere plenty hawgs ~ni houses ~nd d~n cattle what ~in longhorn. Us have p19nt~T me~.t and raise veg t~b1es, too. ~ never seed no sojers b~t I heared de cannons. I disremember when peace am t ~ I cone up here to Beaumont when I th~nk I s a roan and I~s been i~ere every Gawd s since. I see some sperrits, b~t I see em on1;~r special times. You see I em twict a year, tween spring and summer and den Lgain ~ twixt fall and winter. Sox~etirne dey conies rigiit long and den sometIme dey us stanclin still. \Then you looks at ~em dey lookskinder va~ieish. I can allus tell when sperrits round. Dey got a queer scent. Then ~ ou walk bout 20 feet, steam gwineter hit you in de face. I can tell de~r d.ere iffen I can t see em. Dey looic like naeii. Dey ain t white b~t dey got a pale look.

Uncle Bill's story. 091 085

42006 P~L.SLAVE STORIES p~ One ~35 (Texas) BILL 2nd ~LL1~N TE~LAS live In th~ Old. Slave Settlement, 3 ralles north of Rondo. Pill Is 88 end flien 1~ 81. They seem to b~ happy; their fields arP tilled, a horse ~?J1d~ a cow graze near the house; a kitchen gar~ den is under way and several broods of baby chicks are in the yo;rd. They were dressed in simple, ~1ean cLothes, and. fllen wetars a string of nutrae~s aroirnd her neck, to make yor eyes strong.1 ~c1~- ~iiW~~J~tory. Do~s you want me to start right at the heginnin ? ~e11, III? tell z;ou jes how I went to this country. I left F~11~ County where I belonged to th~ i~n tht~re that kept th~ post office, He was named Chwnlin. He h~.d lrts of land, I reckin atout 5G acres. They kep us in a little house right in their :Tard.. R~ckin how old I was when he bought ~~ie? Jus five years old! He ~ ive $500 ~or me, but he bou~ht my mother and my sisters, too. He had to buy rie, cause ~ny mother, she wouldn t ~o without inc. No, suh, she em she wo~ldn t g,) if the~r didn buy me, too. An the m&n he bought us ft~, ~ wanted to keep raC, SO he wo~ lcIn t take less than $500 for rae. Massa Chamblin bought the whole fwniiy, ~ cept ri~y father. The~r sold him and we never laid eyes on him again. My mother cooked. Massa Ch~mlin, he a1WVS fed us plenty, an whatever they h~d, we hM. If he cooked s~usage, yo~ had it too; if he cooked h~, :~o11 got it too; if he cooked lye hominy, you got it; an~ if he had puddin~~ you got soi~e0 ~Vhen I was 6 or 7 years old I chopped cotton and I plowed too, and I could lay as straight rows with oxen as axiy ~rou ever saw. The Iflassa whipped. inc with a dogwood wwitch, but he never did

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Ex slave Stories Page Two ~ 86 (Texas, brine no blood. But it tnken 7 men to whip ray father. ItIlil t~11 ~rOu how I ~ot away f or~i there. I ~assa bought cctton ~tnd carried it to Mexico. }i~ t2ken his 2 bo~rs with hirn and we h~.d 3 w~ons and i: drove one~, I hr-id 4 o~cen ~nd. I h~d 3 baIes of cotton on my wagOn he had 6 oxen r~nc~ 6 bales of cotton, ~x~d th~ 1~st wagon, it h~d 10 kIes on it and 6 oxen. He h~d to shi.p it acrost the Rio Gran~~. If a M iicari bought it, he corne across arid t ~ok it over hiss~If~ Reckin how zouch he ~ot for that cotton? He got 6O~ a pound. Yes m, he sho cUd~. Cotton was brirt~in th&t then. HI w~ freed over there in Mexico. I was about 14 y~xs old. Massa Ch~11n, he stayed over there till the country was ~ He Ucin t believe In that fightin . III cooked tri a hot~1. over there in ~x1co. I cooked two yea~ s at $1.00 ad~y. Whefl Massa owned m~, h~ always give us good c1~thes, Our pants was ii~ac1e out of duckiri like w~on sheets, but my ~oth~r took some kind of b~rk arid dyed ~ I think it was b1~ckj~ck ~hgrk, H~ give us shoes, too. They WaS h~1 ~ tafl 1~&ther brogans.It I u~ed to p ?y the fi~1~ for ~nc~s when I was young, ~ut not after I joined the cb~rch~ I p1~yed for the whit4eopie. Oh, yes m, the cu11w~i folks h&1 d.axices, they sho die. dance. UYes ~m, I ~nw a ghost onct . One n ight ~ft~r I was livin d.own here, I was goin to Sabinal, r~ ~nd another in~n, and. &~ great long thins p~~ss~d. right in front of us. It w~ the b1~ckest thing ~rOu ~v~r saw. It w~s about six feet long. Yes~i, it shot wa$ a ghost or sumpin; it disappeared, and me lookth at it. Th~ other fellow that was with me, he seen it, too.

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Ex slave Stori ~s ?a~e Three (Texas) ~ ! 87 Yes they was lots of p~th~rs aM b~.rs here. If this ghost w~s ~ bear, he sho was ~ bj~ sun. :T~ h~d ~ ghost down here on the creek we c dled the Th~ll ~i~t~r :~i~I~ Ghost. He w~s seen lots of times. He used to stey down there, hut he aintt been seen lately. }~y wife, she seen him. ~ ~ Yes rn, I seen hirn wa .kin long the trail ahead f u~. H h.qd on a blz~~k hat, like a tall stovepipe ~ 2fld. ~ long bL~ck coat, and when we ~ot up close he jes dis~ppe~tred. He was ~ big m~n, and tall, too. ~e didn know which way he ~ent; he jes seemed to disappear. My oldest aau~h~ ter sr~.w him too. Lots of folks dId. H~ was alwa~rs seen down ~t th~.t water hole somewhere. Another time, I vi~ stayin with ~rs. Reedes Mr. Re~c1es was killed ~nd ~lI night long he d conic hack and grind coffee and sprinkle it ~ll over us. I was so bad scared I nearly died. Next r~iornin there d be coffee all over the floor. ~e supposed it was Mr. Heede s ghost. Thev say if a person was wicked the~r come back Ilk. that. Onot he pulled Mrs. Reecles outta bed and pitched her on the floor, and he would ta~ce the dishes out of the shelves and. throw ~er~ down. I couldn t stand it ~-iut a nicht or two ~nd I s~Id I w~s goin home. Yes, mae~ii, it shot was a ghost. He sho did tear up that house every night. ~Th~r, they d be a light shine in that room just as plein as daylight, nearly. They say ghosttes will run you, hut I never had any to r~n inc. t I was born in ~i ssissippi . We come t o Texas &~nd my mother died, so gr~ndms raised nie. I was jes a bab~r when we corne to Texas. Lir. H~ per owned us. I remember the war, ~ut it~s so long ~o I don t renteinber much. I remember when John Harper re ad the free pape r to us. He had a b ~ lot of slaves but

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Ex-~S1ave Stories Page Four ( Texas) when :~ie read. the free papers they jes flew out likebirds. But I didn t. I was st i~c to ray grandiuother. She was on crutches and she st ~red on at the Harper place. After ~-~ was f~ ee I worked for ther i a long time. I cooked, washed, ivoned, milked thc~ cows. He was pretty good to us, Judge H~u per was. I went ~ion~ with hiix when h~ went to war, his wife and chill~n~c1.td too, pnd I nursed tht~m, I d give a young ~~1y~rshu~k t~a to break him out with the hives. For chills and fever I cive quinine weed. It don t grow here. ~Vhen Judge Earper went ~p to Hondo ~y grandma grabbed inc and kept me. So I st2~yed and worked. I Was still a young girl, }ut I plowed~ hruled. and grubbed. I ~is~d to wear cotton 3trip~s.1 I re!aember ~ well. It was a hor~espun cloth. I kn~w how to spin a id weave ~1 I could knit a pair of socks in two nichts. I never did hear ni~ch about hard times. I was treated good but I c~t switched rr~r ~. ti~~e. Oh, ves~m, l y b4~en whipped, but not like some of ~e~g was. They used to tie some of emdo~m. I ve beer~d tell, they shore whopped ~ They used to be a runaway that ~ot away ~nd went to ~4exico now and then, zxid i.f they cwi~ht him th~r shore whopped him awful. t That ol~ p 1 ~~no in t he re my dau~ht er b ought a 1 ong t line ago . The yarn i sh is off, but a r~n toi us it co~~id be s~ndpap~red and refthished und it would be a beautiful thing, It s about 75 years olc~.

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/1 ~ ~RP4a~~~I i~~jL :EL~sLAv:~ STORIES ~ Page One (Texas) ~ ~ LUCY THOMAS 86 was born in Harr j,s on Co . Texas a slave of Dr. William Baldwin. She stayed. with her master until ~ 1868. In 1869 she married Anthony Thomas . She now lives with her son at Baldwin Switch, sixteen miles northeast of Marshall, Te~:as, on i~art of the land originally owned by the Baidwins. My name am Luc~r Baldwin Thomas and I~s birthed right here in Harrison County, on the old Baldwin place at Fern Lake. The log cabin where I~s birthed sot in a grove of trees right by the lake. The Baldwin place jined the Haggerty and }~~ajor .4ndrews places. The best statement I can make of my ~ge am I~s bo~xt fourteen the last year of &be ~L Inc oint ~ war It was tr~te t cause I start s hoe in~ in the field when I~s nine years old and I d been hoeint a long time. . They called my papa, Ike. The Baidwins bought him out of Alabama, and. mama s name was Nancy and she s birthed in Virginny, and the Bal wins bought her out the New Orleans slave market for $1,100.00. I s heared my gran ma, Barbara, tell how some Alabama owners drug they niggers with a mule and laid dem face down in a hole and beatdem till they s raw as beefsteak. But ber folks wasn t like that and the Baidwins wasn~t neither. They was good. white folks, and Missy was named May Amelia and then there was Old Marse Doctr !illiam. He was a doctor but he worked a hundred acres land and owned bout eighty-five niggers, what lived in log quarters. They had son-of..a.~gun beds peg to the walls, and wore bachelor brogan shoes and blue and stripe lowel clothes made on the place, and had lots to eat. My marna say she had a lots better time in slavery than after.

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E~.S1ave Stories Page Two ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ (Texas) All hands was up and In the field by daylight and. Mar~e Baldwin aflus kep a fifty gallon barrel whiskey on the place and a d&iijohn on the front porch all the time for the niggers to git they drink on way to the field. But nobod~y ever ~ot drunk. Marse s brother.~in~4aw, M&rse Lewis Brantly, wau overseer, but never kicked and beat the niggers. He give us a light breshin when we needed it. V~e woul6 go mos anywk~ere but hsd t o git a pass fi rst and. had. p1~y part I es on S turday night. s ~ went to school three on. A Yankee named. Oj.d Man Mills mn a. school and I quit workin in the field to go. Them days, the flu Kiuxers was runt round and I seed big inches of niggers with they heads t ied up t to report the Kiuxers to the Progee Marshal. Three years after it was all over, in~r folks moved to th~ Hsggerty place. I know lots bout old Col. Haggerty s ~ridow, Sh was an Indian and her first husband was a big chief of the Caddo Indians on Caddo Lake, He betrayed the Indians to the white folks and he and her 1I1& on a cave on the lake, and she slipped out to git food~, and the Indians took him away. They say they scalped him like they done white folks. Then she married Cal. Haggerty and he got kilt on a gamblin spree and left her a lot of land ~nd tbout three hundred slaves. She kept a nigger w nafl chained to a loom for a year and when she knew the slaves was gittin free, she poisoned a lot of dem and buried dem at night. We d hear the other slaves inoanin and cryin at night for the dead ones. That widow Raggerty was eomthin ~ t I seed ~ the Matt te pxt boat the day aft er it burned and kilt sixty ~ .. ~ ~

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Page Three ~x-.s1ave Stories . 91 (Texas) ~ people. Me and. Anthony Thomas went to Marshall and iaarri~d the day fore it burnt. That was on Febniary 12th, iii 1869. I 11v~d with him fifty-five years and raised seven chi11~n, and after he died I kep on fannin until bout three y:ears ~o . Then I c orne to I iv~ with one mv ~ s here and this land we re on right now was part the~ land. old Marse B&ildwin owned, I gits $10.00 a month from the ~ov ment. They shoe is good to me, and my son is ~ too, so l s h~ppy ~n my old age.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 098 092

i.)(~1~ )f ~ ~ Page Ox~e ~L.SLAVE STORIES (Texas) PHILL~ES THOi~taS, 77, w~s born a slave of Dave Miles, who owned a plantation in Brazoria Co., Texas. Philles does not remember her father, but was told by her mother that he was sent to the Confederate ~~ rzny and. w~ fatally injured at Galveston, Texas. Philles stayed with her family until she was seventeen. then married ~illiani Thomas. They n~ live at 514 Hayes St., F0rt %Yorth,Tex. t,1 don t member much bout de war, cause I s jus a young un when it start and too small to have much niern~ randum when it stop. I s still on de place where I~s born when surrender come, de Lowoods Place, own by Massa Dave i les, twixt Brazoria and. Columbia. M~ssa Dave sho have de big plan tation but I don know how many slaves. t1~hen I s a young un, us kids didn t nm round late. ?ie uns am put to bed. When sundown come, my mari~rny see dat my feets am wash and de gown put on, ~nd In de bunk I goes. I, ~ an1 t ~ inemb er my daddy but mazimiy t al d inc him axa s ent t o de Pederat e AiTny and a~n kilt in Galveston. She s~ dey puttin up breastworks and de Yanks airi shootin fron de ships. Well, daddy am watchin de balls comm1 from dem guns, fallin round dere, and a car corne down de track loaded with rocks and hit him. Dat car kilt hiui. UMaJnmy marries ~il1 Bailey aft er freedom and moves to de Barnum Pl~ce, what Massa John Miles own. I stays with mammy till I s seventeen and. hoip dem share crop. Den I leaves. D~t de way with chilien, dey gives you lots of trouble raisins dem and ~en off dey goes. when my chilien am young uns dey s on my lap, and when dey s growe~. up, dey s on my heart. Us have de hard time share pi . Times was hard den and de niggers didn t know much bout takin care deinselves. Course, dey bettor - 1-.

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Page Two 4~ 93 off free but dey have t o lam. Us work hard and make nou~h to live on de first year us free Us raise cott on and ~ tables and when I s not holpin mwfAmy I does out and gits a l1 i work here and yonder. I marries in Galveston, to dat old cuss, settin right dere, William Thomas an he name and I s stood for hini ever since. Hlra am clock wallopin when l s marry to him. Siio , him am a dock walloper. If you wants to talk big, you calls it stev dore on de wharf. II Dat cullud. gen man of mine alms brung in de bacon, Wetuns am never rich, but allus eats till de last few years. Us goes on de fai~ and it hand and mouth livin but us eats soineway. After while, us come to Fort ~ orth and be works as mortar niafl and cement mixer. We uns live good till de few years back, when him break down in de back ~nd can t work no more. ~ It am ten chillun us raise but only five livin now. One live at Stop Six, ri~it here in Fort Worth, and. de others am ~1l over de world. Us don t know where dey am. Since Bill can t work no more, us git de pension from de State and dat $26, 00 de month for. de two of us. Does I ever vote? Christ for mighty! No. Wby you.s talk dat foolishment. Why for dis igno rnous old woman want to vote? No, sar, and no totber womens ought to vote. Dat am for de mens to do. Ivty Bill votes couple times, when us in Galveston, and I tells ~rou bout dat. Dey gives de ed.dicatlon with a couple cups whiskey and de cheroot. #hen de whiskey and de cheroot works on Bill s brain, delle amden de smart nigger, and he votes telligent. I asks him what he votes for and him say, Irs vote for what am on de tjcket, What am on de ticket, I says. How does I know, I can t read, Den I says, Better y~is not vote, cause maybe yous vote to put youself in de ~jailhouse. So I guess him think bout

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~x-~lave Stories ~ Page Three 9 ~ ~ . (Texas) dat and him see what fooUshment and. troublement him maybe git into, az~~d him quit votin~. We uns am luckywith de trouble. Guess it cause we u.ns knows how to have. When I~ s young my mammy lam me how to have and where I long, so de patterrollers and de Ku Klux never bother we ~ . Now, we uns ~ so old us can t git round, so us double safe now. Gosh for mighty! What yous want next? Now it for me to sing. Well, yous can t put de bluff on dis old nigger, so here it am: P~.it on my long white robe, Put on de golden crown, Put on de golden slipper, . . ~ And forever be Jes~us lamb. tBut I likes nother song better, like dis: n s He rodias go down t o de river one day, Want to know what John 3aptist hr~.ve to say, John spoke de words at risk of he life, Not lawful to marry yous rud s wife. Not dat am nmgh. If l s her much longer, youe have dis old woman dancin ..

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4~~()O42 EX~-SLAV~ STORIES . p~e One ~ ~ 95. ~ (~eX&S) WILLIAM bi. THOMAS, 87, n~w residing at 514 Hayes 5t1, Pert /Ierth, Texas, was bsrn a elave ~t Dr. Fr~k Thsrna~, in Lauderdale C3Uflty, M1~s~ ~fifliwn~s father wa~ sud. when William was a baby and his msther mated with ~.ther slave. It waz ~evei~ years after they were freed that the family left their macter and msved ente a tract f 1~xid. William etayed With them until he was ~ twenty.~feur, then wsrked twelve yeare in Galveston, as a eteved re He arm.d until 1910, then wrked a~ a m.rtar man at the Ptirlna Mills In P rt W.rth until 1931. He ~nd hie wife receive a $l3~OO m~mthiy penei.n. I lcn we zactly h w sid I is. Massa d ne give my mwnmy d.c state~ ~nent, Re d. dat f.r all he niggere when dey freed~ ITs bsrned May 17th, in 1850, and dat make me eighty...ei~ht next May. Dat s sn Musa D.c~t~r Frank Thsinae s plant2tien, ver near Meridian, in Miseiseippi. Dere ferty~4mr slave f~niiliee on he place and he wn about seven hunerd acres lend, .5, him hav~p1enty p~eture, w ~d and field land. De m ney crip was cett.n, .f ciurse. M~y mammy and sIs was on de place and my step pa. My peppy wa ss1~. ts~1c t. Texas when I s s~ li l I cLsn~t meiaber him, After dat, mammy t ek ansther ma, ~A11 de slaves live in quarters cept de h.uee servant s, and dey live ias rvazte quarterB, and dere s where Its delucky nigger. My mammy am c k f.r massa and Is riw~d d.c kitc~hem what ~twae plenty if g..d. eats. And I plays with massa s tw b.ye, twos Framik a~d Lawrence. ~ Vs ss Ii l f.re eurrender I never real1y~ w.rks~ ~cept t. be de rr~n5 ~ I f.t~he~ egg~ a*d sich. Mas a haV~e ~ iste .f chickens and ~ us f tch in high as a th.usnd eggs ii ite day s ~etime s. Us have eggs and. dene

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EX~slave St.rles - Page ~ (Texas) . . 96: ~ t s eat t s. Massa Thsmas am awful g.,d. an.d dere am never de hill er ~ b ut feedin . I bet neue dem nig~ers dens live s. g..d after dey freed Us have ~LL de mea; us wa~it, xnsstest p.rk and beef and. tmatt~n. Dey kills five hunderd h~wgs whsn kl1lin~ time cime, a~d m~ak~ hams ~uid bacon and sausages. If yous eve~r ate sich ba~n and bacen what ~m made bsr massa1e butcher right dere an de place, ~r~i say dere never ai sich. Dat saus~ce, lt make de msuf water t. think but it. Sides de meat, us have c rnbread and ~ prd de ratlsns alntt measure .ut, cept de white flour n Sunday mornint. All week de mealswn csek in dat kitchen ~nd serve in de big shed, but each family ceak f.r deyseif su Sunday. ~Us ~e t~3 church if us want, beut f.ur miles ff. Massa give anybsdy de pass te gi dere. Dere am no parties and sich, but ld Jack saw n de fiddle and us sine. ~~Laesa didn t whIp, enly .n e~ Dat cause a nigger steal he fav rite pumpkin. He am savin dat f r t. git de seed and lt ai big aS de t~ gall.n jug. De cern field am full .f pumpkins, but dut nigger d.ne t.~k massa s chsice ne. Dat pumpkin am s~ big, he have t. tussle with it afire he git it t. he cabin. It like stealin a elephant, 1 u can t hide it in de watch p.cket. C.uree, l.te .f nlg~ers seed dat cullud gen1me~ wi th dat pumpkin, and tfsre l.ng massa knsw it~ Well, ear, lt am de fumny sight t. see him punish dat nigger. llrst, massa e t him d wu ~ in de gz .und fr nt de quarters, where ~a all see him Den~ he make dat nigger ~ set d~~n and give him de big b wl pumpkin sause and make :~ him eat it. Riu~ eat and e&t an I ~it e~ f all him can t ~ hardly swallew and L

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E~51ay.e St.riee Page T~e ~ ~ .. . ~ (Te;x:&B) ~ mas sa S3y, ~E&t s ir~iem re it Wa awfu~1 g,ed. Dat nigger try, but him eat ii~ more, Ma55a ~1ve him de light breshin ~ it an funny t. see, dat culiud gentmpn with pumpkii srne .r u he face and te2re runnln dawn he face. After day, ue chilien call him Massa ?~mpk1~ and ma5sa never have ~. in re tr.ub .e with etealint he seed pumpkl*e., . When War etart~ It5 b ut fifteen ye~r ld, Bsut half mile frsn de plantati.n ~n de crszsrsade ~d ~ne ~.. t. New Orleans and ~ie g t. Vick5burg. D~re ~n a Federate camp dere at de start, but ~ft~r vth 11e dey gses ~d de Yanks ceme5. Dere a battle near, and us heer de sh tin but us have t stay in de place. UI dane slip ff and see de camp, th.ugh. De Yanks pute up tw~ big tente and use dein f.r de hsepital and de w.unded am fstch dere. What I eees and he2re dere, I never f.rgits, and it d9ne turn dis nigger gainst war. Why can t dey 5ettle dey ~put e~ without kuhn t Dey s m anin ~nd cry~1n and ecreaznln ~ in dem tente, One day de Twike carne c1~an de crib f all de corn and &e meat hsuee Sf all de meat, M~aeea ai~ em~rt wad fix it se dey d.i t find all de rat i.ne, Hirn dig a big ditch in de w. ds and hide Iste . .f rat 1.ne. Ue didi t knsw when freedirn e ~ne . It a l ng t line aft er dat de Yank ~ s came tell us, 2~d it de same *~r n all de plwatatis*s r.u*d. dere~ De Tamke e rne md iua1ce rnaeea pq~ us all fifty ce*t e de d~r . Aft er d~ Waee pttte dem wh~.t Wa~ate t . g. n pieces if land aid dey ai*.tt e~arge for it t~i ~ e~i year after. Den ~ dey lias t. p~y rent an4 part de crOp, ~ ~ ~ ~ .~& t li ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - ~

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Ex slave St.r1e~ Paie P.ur ~ ~ . (Texa5) I stay5 with my filics till It5 twenty Th r year sid and. den Its it my w~r te Ga1v~~et.n and git5 wQ~k a~ cI~ stevedire~ D~t am .n de wharf and I wsrks dere twelve year. I vstes dere tw time~s. Serne white folks dene c.rne t~ u~, and de b.se, t.,, and cives us de ticket. It am all xa~rk up. Bess say u~ d~nTt have t. wirk de next day, and us t. repert. at a place. Whei us ~mes dere, twas a table with meat ~nd bre~.d and stuff fir te eat, and whiskey and ei~are~ Dey give ue s~methin~ t~ e~ 2nd a cup Sr tw~ of dat whiekecr and pute de cigar in de meuth. Us am pirtarit niggers, readv t. v te, ~1ith dat cup 11 whiskey in de et.mack and. d.t cigar in de xnouth and de hat c.ck in side de head, us march ta de v tin p1~ce ~nd dees ~ur duty. Fix up de way us was, us w~u1d vote ta put us back in slavery, And de nigger what didn t v te, aftey all dat, him ein in fGr de ixin . I means he. cite fixed, Dey psunds he head till him w n1t f.r~it t. d~ lt right n ~xt time. Bit I ~its t. thlnkin~ hsw massa 5a~v when u~s leave him, D n t let n. white f~lk5 use y~u f.r to make tr.uble :i figgere dat what am happe~in with d&t v tin bu~ines~, and I quite vitlu and goec to ~ I Ileve de cullud fslk5 sh.uld vite, but u.t de ign m.us niggere like us was de:~ I farms till 1910 and den c mes ta Fsrt Werth, and dey am buildii1 de Panna Mills Elevatirs su East 4th Street and I w.rks dere at m.rtar w rk. Den I wirks at cement n lets &e big buildin s i~ dis city, till 1b ut ten year agi, when lt ~it t. hard f r me. I has de b~tek misery. ~ .~ ~. .~. :~. ; ~ ~ . ~ . . ~.. . . . ~

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Ex~elave St sr ies (Texas) 99 Page Ylve UI gits married t Philils Wils.n~when I~s twei~ty.-ni~e, in Galveeten, ~nd us d.n t ~liushave lots, but us gits by ~ad raises de family. N w us have tt live ~ de penei.n frim de State, what am $13.00, a~d s.rne t lines us am awful short t rvin t s pay de rent and buy de r~b1 ~s ~nd what cisthes us needs, but u.s &~rn clad t git it. Ten chilien am what us raises ~md five ~ dead and fiur ~m scattered and us d n. t kI * where, and ne live here1 O ~ ~ Ain t it diff rent h w pe.ples lives? Us used t. travel with de x 2nd ~sw dey flies in de ev . ~ F.Bcs sings ii New Tirk and us sets right here axid hears dem. Shuc~Z ~ De way things.. g~ gw.ine, I~e ~1l fussed up and can t u~ider~tand whether l s gwine. r c. in~~ ..

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 106 100

420061 :~L~sLAv~ STCERI3S Pag. On. (Texas) ILART TH~~PSON was born a slave 87 year. ago, in Denton, Miringo County, Alabama. Her mother, Viney Aikew, and father, Wesley Jon s, belonged to Green Askew, a Gorgtan. She was 15 when she was freed.. Mary now lives at 1104 East Avenu., Austin,Tex. s ~ was 00 ~ n in Alabama and my mother was Viney Askew. Sne belonged to Mareter Green Askew. My father was Wesley Jones, cause he took his marster s name, My mother was a good. cook and she cooked for de marst.r. She had. a great big stove and she made salt~risin bread, too. We and all de slaves lived in cabins near d ~ big house and some of de slaves would have chilien by de marut.r. I When we come home from de fields at night de women cooked de food and. den dey was so tired dey jus went to bed. We didn have fun in de evenin s, b~it on Ci~ristmas ~ de marster give us eggnog and sich. Den we d. sing bu~t I don ~iember de songs now. De crops in Alabama would be cleared by July 4 and d,n we d have ~ days off, all de slave., Dey d givi US pits of barbecue and pies and c&ces to eat. t, ~Vhen we was s ick de mare ter would sen for de doct or and. we made teas outta herbs and sich. ilaba~na was full ot chills and fevers in dem days and we drunk catnip tea for fevers and blue and white sais. Calanus root, looks like an onion, was good for di chiliens colic. 1-

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Ex~..,1ave Stories Page Two (T.xas) 1(li tl My mistress nieo ha& a big plantation and she hext a place whar she hadd.e slaves whopped. Sh. had a reg lar whoppin po3t. My mareter jes h&d a large cowhide whoop. Yea, I got a whopptn more n onces S , ra . tiaes ~arstsr took hold my sarl and1 buaped my head gainat d~e wall. But g.n*rally dey was goo& to rae, ~e waan t 1lowed. no whiskey, lees we was sick. D. poor white folks wa$ good to us, better n rich folka. 1~y d give ua a quarter now n den, I can rasraber how de slaves was fattened like hawgs ~xtd den marched to town and round and auctioned off like cattis, Some of em had. done somethin mean arid was sold off. Some of ~em brought mors n a thousand dollar. down in New Orleans. nI knows of one slave who liked to run round at night. She was nass to marster s girl and. she give lt morphine to put it to sleep. She give de baby girl so much morphine dat her body was fall of it and she died. De culiwi folks got to talkin too much and de ~by was dug up and ~ xamined. De al ave miss was put in j all and ep there a long time and den she was sold. Heap of de slaves would run away and go up north. Dey woild t 17 to f md ~ em by sendin nigger houri s aft er em . Once d. houri s caught a slave and. he Icep ~ say in O Lawd . ~ ~ O, Lawd~ After de war, when we was free, de slaves would go here and there and a lot of ~sm died. Dey d git de black meule., go out in

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~x B1aYe Storiss Page Thr.e ( Texas) de woOds and dis. Dey dldn know how to take car. of deassivee. sI stayed. at marster s house eight months, den hir~d out at ten dollars a month. Dat was de ~s money I ever made and I dldn want t o go to school cause I wanted to make dat money. Dat looked like big money to me. I was proud to havi it ca~iss I could git what I wanted. I cain t read. or write to this day. t I was married to General Thor~son,J and. he . been a slave too, in Alabama. Yes General was his given name. I was 1 years old. when I married and a white preacxier married us dunn a 4t~i of Ju:Iy~ celeoratlon. Tes, we had a big time and a good time. We come to Texas later and my husban farmed on ths Brazos. We had eignt chillen~ ~nd two of 1em is livin. My }msban died and I buried him, den I took up witn a Horace Foster, and b.. was notkiin but a geabler. I lived with him bo~xt 8 years, bu.t he never would marry me, so I 1sf him.

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420127 ~X-&&~AV~ STOBI~$ Pe~e One (Texas) PENWY THO~SON, 86, now living at 1100 L 12th St., Port Worth, Texas, was born a slave to Calvin Ingram, In Coosa Co., Alabama. In 1867 Penny was bro~i~ht to Tyler, Texas, and. se~era1 years later she marned. lice Thompson axi& nived. to Fort Worth. Do I member slavery d~~ys? Yes, suh! How could I forgit dem? For an old person I h~.s good collection. I s 10 year old. when d~ war start and. ray massa tain Calirin Ingram. M~y mammy and pappy. wz~.s a wed&ln present to MasS~a Ingram from his pap~y. Maiiimy cive birth to 15 ohillu.ns but I never saw any of my brothers and. sisters, cause they all born on Massa In~raa s pappy s plantation fore he rive my mammy to M~ssa Ingrt~. ~ De plan~tion dat Massa Ingrain have was 200 acres or mo . Hirn own bou.t 20 ~rown-~tp slaves, and on d.at place dey raisis bout every~ Ui in~ we eat s and wears inclu~ in de vinegar and de p each brandy. Evex~ybody am signet to dey duties and ray mammy ani chie cook for de big ho~ise. I he ps her and. f~ed.s chickens, dits eg~s and. totes water. De treatmen couldn t be better. Massa am de bestes and. d.c kindes ~ fellow dat ever live. ~ He am in Heaven, for sho but de missy Igu~sI be in Hell, for she sho was a debbil. Massa have de fight with her lots of times bout de treatment of ~s, bitt he wouldn t let her bu.se \~s. We u~ns was neyer hon~ry for food., cause we h~ve.1ots of meat, chiekens andY e~s and cornmeal and lasses and honey. De Ia IiiS is smoked on de pi ~ce and. dey atii de hams whit e man dey am d.c Shams ! -1-

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ExQs1a~e Stori es Page Pw ~ ~ ~ (Texas) Den massa have a b1~ ce11~ir j~ts full of everyth1ri~ ~nd I never for~1t de bic, bras key what lock dat ce11~r. Dere was de jams arid de jellies and. d.e preserves, and. de massa ~1ve us somethin of ai . of eat. Hirn makes d.e gr~an peach brandy and eve~r mornin we cet c~ have two fin~ere in d.c class. Twas d.c s~e at night. Dere was soxaethin else was reg lar every rnornin and night and dat am de prayer. He calls all us to1~ether arid. says de prayers. I often thinks of dat bx artdy ~xid de prayers, two times every clay. ~ks for de wlmppin, clere wasn t ~iny on massa s place. Hirn have only one ni~er wh~.t am unruly and dat ~m Bill McClure, and a bi~er thief never lived. On de nex plantation ~1ey rives de whuppin ~nd we hears dent nig~ers belier. On dat plantation dey trades ~nd seils de nic~ers all de time ~nd de speculation wagon comes by often. Sometime it am aw \il t o see de babies s old frora de mothers and de wife from de husban Sich bernoanin at some of dein sales, yous jus can t rna~ine. B~~t on mass~ s place we has no tr~din of slaves and we~uns have pass for go to church ~nd parties and de dance. When de nicht for de party corne on our place, de yard ein cleaned off and we makes sandwiches. One time massa corne to me and say, ~ wait a minute, I nearly f orgits de mes ~portant part, ~ and he cive me a new pink dress. I s so happy I cries for joy, and everybody says I looks like de ~een of Sheba. f ~ other bi~ time am de qorn biskin bee. Once a year all de ) neighbors comes fu~st to one place den to de other. At de ~skin s, dey ~ivss t. prize when yo~ finds a red ear. De prize am two fingers of dat -2

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Ex slave Stories Paie Three 105 (Texas) peach br~nd.y. Then dey dits ~.e fus one dey works a little harder, ~e second. still faster, an;1 de third, w~-~-znassy, now dein ~rnsks do fly! Dey don t 4t drank, cause you ~m Ii~cky to fin& as much ~s three red ears ~t one haskin . Vie has de wecldin s too, but no preacher or cer mony. ~1hen a man sees a ~ir1 him likes i~nd de ~1r1 am whim dey says dey wants a wedti&. De womens cooks extra and dey dits ~ cedar. boughs and wets dem and sprinkles f1o~ir on dem and puts dem on de table. ~7e sits at de table ~nd eats and sings li~ious son~s and after supper dey p~its &e broom on de floor an~ de couple takes de hands nnd steps over de broom, and den dey ~m put to bed. We was never bother with de patter rollers, but I members a song t bout dein 1 ike cl is: Up de hill and down de h,llow Patter rollers cotched nigger by de collar; Dat ni~er nm, dat n1~er flew, Dat ni~er tear his shirt in two. c In de war soldiers comes to massa s place and eveiy time he feeds dem. You hears de clippity cl.p of de hosses ~nd dey is off de saddle fore you ~ita to de door. Dey says, ~ wants de meals or maybe dey wants to sleep. Massa s wife say, l s not coin do nothin for dem blue bellies but massa make her fix d.c chicken. Dere was everything dere but manners, tcause dey h~ve de pistols drawed. jfter freedom, moe1 of us stays with massa, Cause WC don t know where t O ~O and we d, t want t o ~o but fore lone massa die s and. tat was mou niu time. After de death, we all leaves. ~ I marries Bill Thompson but he wontt work so after 15 year I gits de divorcement.

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4201:19 : EX-~SLA~VE STORIES pace One (Texas) ~ ALJ~RT TODD, 86 years o1d~, was born a slave to Capt. Hudson, in Ru.ssellville, Kentuck~r. His rn~ster was killed in the Civil War and. he then came to Texas in a covered wagon. His ~Missus kept him a slave for three years after the V~r. He now liVE-s ~\ ith his wife daughter and two sons at 708 Cent er St . San ~t on I o Texas. I most suppose ray memor~r is too jumpy, but I ll try to brine it long from de time I was born. I don t know de ~rear, but it was in Pu~sellvi11e, Kentucky and my rn~ssn, Captain Hudson, had a fndt orchard. My re~ l r work was protectin rn~r yowi~ missus, N~nnie I~udson, She h~d to walk five miles to ~nd forth from school every day and. I w~.s her protector. I v~.s only S and she was il. I saton the steps until she ~ot through lamm ~ then brun~ her home. She corae to be crown arid m~rried ~M died, but I allus iov*ed her. Then war comes, rrzy massa goes ~ L: ets kilt ~nd my missus g ot gusted with the orchard ~nd packs up in two covered wagons rend heads cross1~id to Texas. le finally ~ts to Lavernia ~md gets a farm ~nd us worked. plenty h~rd. Oar missus was good to us, but one white man neighbor got a new set of ni~cers every year. He say if they didn t die, they wasn t any good work left in thera after they works for him a ye~r. He allus cut off one they ears, so if they ru.n awa~r he d. 1~iow tern. My clothes was a lone shirt, made out o ~ a me8 . sack. That s all I wore them days. I was a slave three year after the others was freed, cau.se I didn t know nothin bout bein free. Mrs. Gibbs got holt of me ~nd make s me her si ave She was a C ritel ol d. woman and s1~ dn t -~1-~

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Ex slave Stories Page Two (Texas) have no mercy on me. She give me one s~s~ge and. one biscait in the rQorfliflt pnd nothin ehse ~I1 d~y. One d~y she gone ~nd I stole some biscuits, ~nd she comes b~,ck and. says, Did you t~ke them biscuits? ~he tells me if I tells de tru.th she won t punish me, bat she 1~iocke me do~~ ~nd be~.ts rae till I not know -ethin . But after ~while her house burns a~d she burns up in it. tIB~~t fore that I ~ ~Qjfl~ to run aw~r and. I goes to the road ~nd sits down and then my sisters caraes lone ~nd finns me ~d takes me to ~ place where they was livin on the r~nch of a man name Widia: ~n. ie works for him a lon~ time ~nd then I is free from that G~ibbs wom ~n.

[Interview with Trimble, Aleck] 114 108

. ~ ~. - 108 Dibble, Fred, P.L, Beehier Rheb~, P.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, 1)1st. ~ 3. il ~ /~ ~ ~ /1 : ~ ~ ~ q . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ His skin wa~ ~f an extreraely dark chocolate color, his hair thin and gray. A blue shirt was about his body while blue trousers enclosed his nether limbs. His bare feet protruded as he sat on ~n old di1api~ dated chair. Under his flat nose was a gray mustache, and one eye had completely lost its vision. This small negro man was ALECK TRIMBLE who thou~htfui1y told the story of his life(V~tk,Tex.), 1,1 was bo n in 1861. 1 warn t much of a chile when freedom come, but yet dey s right smart of t in~s I kin member in s1~very times. ?~~y pa naine was Aleck Trirnble and dat s nay name, too. My ma wa~ Ellen Triinble and I was de onlies son. I didn hab no brudders. 01 marster s las nanie was .Alexander, but I dis rneniber his fus name. I uster hafter do a 1i l wuk roun de place like pullin up weeds and drivin de caifs. I member one time I was drivin I calf up to de lot and I saw a crazy man. He didn try to do nuffin to me. I jis walk up on him and he sittin dere mumblin and I know right den dere was 5~flj~1fl wrong wid him. He didn try to hu t me nor run atter me, but he sho scare me and I run away from hirn Las as I kin.

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~.. 109 Dibble Fred, PJ . Beehier, Rheba P.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. I warn t so ~1ad w1i~n freedom come. I was. a~far1n pretty well in de kitchen. I didn t ink eber see bet-~ ter times dan what dem was, and I r~1ntt. I t ought I was jis as near hebben as I want to be. It didnt look to me like dey coulder been no betterer din what dey wa~.tt I uster had jis ~11 I want to eat. U~ hab biscuit and syrup, and plenty milk and butter. And dey give us ~l1 de collard greens and hog jowls us could hoi . Dey unter had lots of cows and ail de milk and butter anybody want. Dey had a big bucket hangin in de weil. Dey put de butter in dat in de summer time to keep it from nieltin . How dey kep it from sp ilin ? Thy, dey et it up, dat s how dey keep it froni sptiie I I neber see em do de slaves bad. Iffen dey did dey tek te~ off in de woodssoiners where nobody see em Sometime nigger traders come long de road wid a big drove of niggers. I neber pay dat no mm though. It was jis a drove of nig~era to me.~ Dey gimme bout as good do s as I got now. When I was dom roun de yard at i~i1arster house I wo a shu t wid pleats cross de bosom in front. Dey ~imme some britches befot freedom come, and den I t ought I s bout as big as anybody. Dey ginmie dem when

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? Dibble, Fred, P.L, Beehler Rheba, P.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Diet. ~3. I was bi~ nu f to dribe de caift up from de 1~t. But I rieber go In de fiel to wuk. Atter freedom come I ;o to $chool to a white lady name Mrs. Puristen she had a s on name W~ddy. She teach de school at Shiloh and all de white chiliun and nigger chillun go to school In de sanie room. She teach her own chillun in dat school on de Huntsville road. I ~nembe~ de stages and t ings gwine by. I t ought she was a good teacher, but she whip me half a day one time cause I didn spell t gRngrene. She whip me ~til1 I learn how to ... spell it and I ain t neber forgit. I kin spell dat word yit. I~8 sati8fy she from de Nor f. Dere was a cl stage stan dere by de school house. III went to dat teacher and dat school t ree or fa year . .~tter she quit teachin dey waz other teachers what caine d.rappin in and teachin t ree or fo months. My pa he uster wuk In de fiel till freedom come. My ma she wuk in de kitchen. Dat how come I git so much outer de kitchen to eat. Sometime she hafter wi~k in de ti.:i. too. ujist like I say, I stay roun de big. house. I raise up wid de white chillun till I was 25 or 30 rear ol .

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Dibble, Fred, PJ., Beehier, Rheba, P.L, 111 Beaumont, Jeffer~ n, Dist. #3. ~- I t ink dey stay at de ol place a year or mo at ter freedom. Den dey gin to drif roun to diff rent place w ere dey find wuk to do. I stay wid de cl folks and he p s po t (support) Tern wid what money I ~it for de wuk what I dom . My nia lef my pa at de 1 plantation, and her and me and a gal what was ol er dan me, what was fly sister, us move.t De fus wuk I done and de fus money I nick was pick In cotton for a white man. De fus money I git I buy me a ol Webster Blue back speller. Lawd, I uster look at dat book sometime till dem A 13 C s all run togedder seem like. Dat plantation was de Johnnie Murchison plantation. Us stgy dere bout five or sIx year . Atter day I lef dere and went to wuk for~ cullud man what was name Sam Scott. I wuk roun in de fIelT and go to mill when I was on dat place. ~ i Tmemb~r seem de sojers. Dey was a bi~ troop of em corne in~rchin down de road. Dey was all of em dress up in blue coats and some of em had blue capes over dey shoulders. Dey had wagons and lots of sich t ings commt long behin .

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Dibble, Fred, P.L, Beehier, Rheba, P.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. III can t tell you niuch bout de ol mar~ter cause I didn aee him eb ry day. Lots arid lots of time I didn hab rio notion where he was.tt Dey was a large troop of cullud folks on de place. When dey want em dey blow a bugle or ho rr or sunip n . r,1 git marry in ~ county. I don member what year lt was but lt was back in Cleveland s ministration. Den atter while she die and dat lef me a widower. Den bout 28 year ago I marry 0111e Washington. I was wukkin for Scott befo I marry Washington. Dat s my li l dopted gran chile dere. You s~e dat t in~ roun her neck~ Dat s hoss hair roll up in a clo f. Dat to he p when she teethin?. Dat good for 8tomach and bowel trouble, too. Lone as she wear dat she ain t swine to hab no fever in de head needer. I gwine to lether wear it till she finish cut- t her teef . I j is put dat ra~ o it to ko~p lt from sticklrL her. You kin see how healthy she ~ Anudder t ing what good for chillun when dey s teeth~in is for to t~k a rabbit head and noint (anoint) dey sums good wid rabbit brains. Sortie of de cl folks wear a dime tie roun dey leg wid a hole in it for de rheumatism. May~apple fer a good purgative too, but y.u get t 1~iow how to us e it . Iffen you us e it right though, lt

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Dibble Fred ?.L Beeh .er Rheba, PJ. 113 Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. ~ gwine to stir up your stomach and nick you sick. And you better not drInk no milk when you tek dat N~y~app1e root and you don want to eat nuffin~ needer. Dat s bitter n quinine. ~ HC0! e, sometime some of de slaves d~ on de plantation. I know dey have horne-mek coffin, but I ain~t neber see em mekin one. Sometime when de corpse a-layln dere dead dey have awake. Dem what wanted em had a 11,1 patch of ~roun wher~e dey plant garden truck and veg tablez for deyseif. Dey have half a day off on Sunday, ~nd den co se, dey have Sunday. All de slaves have big holiday on Cri~mus. Dey lib in log houses. Moss and du t (dIrt) wa~ pack all In tween de l0Ez and board8 wa~3 nail On over dat. 01 marster he havea awful large house buil outer plank. It had a gallery to de front and back. ~ Dey had a li l house down de way dey had preachin in. De white preacher he do de preach n . Seem to me dat soon play ~ Dey had. aol lady what ten to de chillun when dey In de fiel pickth cotton. Sometime she uster sing: My Lord say dey s room enough, Room enough in hebben for us all.

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Dibble, Fred, P.W., Beehier Rheba, P.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, Diet. ~3. And eb ry now and den she stop and retch (reach) over and fotch (fetch) em a wh9ck on de head ~nd say: Come long wid dat row. Atter freedom come de darkies uster have a song what go like dis: Come along Come along Make no de .ayin Soon be so Uncle Sam give us all a farm. Come from de way Come from de nation A~zon t be long till Uncle Sam . . give us all a farm. . Atter while d~ K.lu Kluxers git atter de cullud folks. Den dey mek a song: Run nigger run de Klu Klux git you. Lots of time d~r come on Sunday. One place dere was a big plum thicket?long de road and dey dodge~in dere and ketch people. Lots of cullud folks hafter pass by dere to git where dey gwine, In de day time dem Klu Kiuxes was jis in dey common do s hut when dey come in de nights dey did.figger doyself wid dem high p int hats and white t ings wrap roun em. I b .ongs to de Baptis Chu ~h. I reckon dat was de. Baptis t chut eh back in dem days but I don member 114

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Dibble, Fred, P.W., Beehier, Rheb&, P.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, 1)1st. -/~3. no baptisms back in slavery. I tmembers though that dey w&~s a bun cullud. man what uster preach. U1 members dey was lots of smallpox one time. D~t was atter freedom come, bout 50 yeart ~o. De people was sho scare of it, wusser n if lt was ~. ~~bchester. When I fus member bout dat smallpox dey was a man had it and dey run him bout a mont and bu n him. If dey find out you ~ot de smallpox you jis long gone, you better not go out nor in. Dey put de food on de gate~pos . If you don g t better in so many days dey bu n you and de house and eb ryt ing up. III uster farm till de boll weevil start In dis part of de country. ~tter dat sawmillin and public works. J1~ go from one sawmill to anudder. But I spen my bes days on de f~rm. When I was cut off dem sawmill and public work5 ~ob~ I was done wo out. Dey orter stop me fifteen years be~ fo dey did, cause den I mightenter (might not have) been wo out. Now I can t do nuf fin . 1 los one of my eye bout seben year ago. I have de fever and it settle In my eye and ils cook. Dat was when I had meningitis. UI can t pi~w no ma . I jis live on my 11,1 bit of pension and dat am t nutt in i1~3

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 122 116

i~)I ~%OD:~~ ~ EL.SL VE STORIES ~ . Page O~e (Tex&5) ~ BEE~~S TVCKER, 98 year old Negro farmer of HarrlBol Co. Texas, was born In Blbb Co. llabaxna, a slave of George Washington ~ucker, Sr. When Reeves w~ six his rn~ster died and. Re~eves was s~p~r ~t~d from his f~in1ly and brought to Texas by George Tu~cker, Jr. Reeves now lives with his sen, who owns ~ farm nine miles northwest of M~sh~11, Tex&~, My father Was rmist~ad Tw~k~r and my i~iother Winnie Tucker and they s both born s1~ves of Massa George ~ashin~ton Tucice~r. He livt~d over In old Alabp,q~ between Sllnwn and Maploville. My brothers wae Andy and John and Peter ~nd there wx~s two ~g1rls, nn~ and Dorcus, aid we was ~ill born on 2~assa ke s plentat1o~. My ~nissy died fore I w~s born and r~y old m~ss~ died when I w~s jest a shirt-~tail boy and his cbil-~ leu h?d a dividement of his l~rnds and m~nir~iy ~nd all the chilien but me fell to the daughter and pappy was give to the son. P~ippy begs to hArd for me to ~o with him that fln ly they lets rae. I ~ver seed my m~vi~y after thtt, b~1n as how Missy Emog~ne st~ys in ~ab~m~ ~nd us corne to Texas M~Lssa George settles ne~r Gilmer ~nd he sho hive a big place with lots of acres and ~ good house. Fe didn t low no be~tiu on that place but I ve saw si?ves on other p1~.ces whopped till the blood r~in off them onto the groun . When they w~.s cut loose from the tree or whippii post they falls over like dead. BuSt our massa w~e good to us and give us lots to eat and wear. We ~t pork meat and white flour jest like the white folks ~nd every women h&ive to spin so many yards cloth fore she go to bed, so we allus had the clothes. I ve saw lote of slaves bid off like stock and babies ~oid from their mt~mmy s breast. Some bru.ng bout ~l 5OO, owing to how strong they

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~x s1ave Stories ( Texas) Page Two je. Spec lators used to ride eli over the country neal our p .~.ce artd buy up ni~ers -~nc~~ I~ve s~w as many es fifty in a gang, like convicts. But ~ssa George wouldn t sel . and buy slaves ~.nd none of ~ ever run of~ cept my pappy and on~ night h~ started. to ~o cross a shirt of woods to the neighbors and you.ng massa was a pattyroller and. tells p~tppy to wait and go with him, but peppy hard. headed as a mule and goes hisseif and the p~ttyrollers cotches him ~nd nigh beets htm to death. Young massa was tho mad as fire, ~cause he didn t w~it his niggers beat up. Tb~~ circuit ridin preachers co~iie to the white to make the white folks bring their slaves to preaching. Nigger have a so~l to save same as us ~.ll. Massa allus but I o;i~L t 1i~ve it done him any good, ~cause while he church and tries Preacher SRY, went to church there at racetin the nigg~rs in the field. stacking th~t fodder. He did. give us Christmas ~ept for workin the lights outten us, gen rally had heap es~.sier tiras th~an ~ay other slaves round. wRr and Jeff Davis and Abe Lincoln was w~.rfaring bout four year fore they fought. Massa Tucker freed, tc~use he Itnowed the thing was up, and he help the crop out he d give us a horse ~nd saddle, . So I 1 cf him soon as t he C TO~ 1 aid by the year with pappy to a farm ne~ Hallsville aid stays Day and ~t big dinner and treated us decent and. we I member the bout ~ the niggers jest grunted when we was tells u.s if weed stay and but we didn t git nothin of freedom and then moved . with him till I marries. I hc.d sev .n chillen to be growed and. married and I farmed acar Kallsville nios my life, till I too old.. My lue, OW~ this farm and we s all right. ~Tever did. have hard. dom, like some niggers, cause we jest sot down oi the l~nd. sol, ~eeves after times after free

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 124 118

;i2ocfl)J~ . ~L~SLAVE STORIES Page One (Tsxae) LO TUBN~R, 89, was born at Rosedale, near Beaumont, Texas, on the Richar& ffe~t p1antatio~. She hae spent her entire life within three ailes of Beawront, and now lives In her own little homes with her da~ghter~ Sarah. II hears you~ been ~round to see me ~ but yot~ ain t never gwine find me to home. I sho love to go round visitin . You know dey say iffen you treats the cat too good, you ain t never know where the cat is. I s gwine on seventeen year old. when freedon cogne. l s born right here near Be~ui~ont, on the big road. whatthey cells tkie Concord Road, in the place what they calls Rosedale, I s a growed up young lady befo I ever sees Beaumont. I~. gwine on 89 year old now. Richard West, he s my massa and Mary Guidry ehe my misey. Dey used to call her the Cattle King. I~y have a big plantation end jes a few slaves, Dey raises my mammy since she eleven year old. Her name Maria and she marry Sain Marble. He come from Miese i~~pi. UI stay up at the big ho~iee and missy fix i~y plate when she fix hers. God bless her heart, she kind to me. I know now X s sassy to her but ehe didn t p~y me no tention cause I s li l. I slep on e~ trundle bed by mi sey s s ide and I git so enaft I al lus sIn#ll ~y bed t~ see iffeu dey pute nice, clean sheets on mine like dey did on hers. Sometime I play sick, but old nisey a good doctor arid she glane beefoot oil and. it so nasty I quit playin ~ off. She Trench and ehe so good doctor they~ send for her to other folks houses.

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$~x-i1a~e Stories Page Two (Tex&.) 901d. mis~! WR real rich. l a talcen her money out of d~ wardrobe ane SLake tall playhou5e out of gold. arid sliver aoney. Iffen sh. have to buy soaethin she have t o e orne and borr~ I t from rae. Us ~1us has to figger how to take dat money oat of de cornere 80 de house wontt fall down. I cried and cried iffen she tored. it up. She d take me with her when she go to see her grandehillen in de Prench settlerient. Us come In bug~ or hank and bring jelly and money and things. I thought I~s gwiae to Heaven, cause I gits to play with 11 l chilien. Us play ring place dat s draw a ring and hop round in it. Us jump rope nnd swing. Dey have a hair rope awing with a e~ooth board in it so it ain~t scratch us behia , Old missy so kind but what got way with me~ I couldn t go to school. I beg and. beg, but she kep sayin Some day some day and I am t never sit in a school in ~y lIfe. Old. massa didn t work em hard. He malte tem c ie in when the san got bad, cause he feared dey git sunstroke. He ~igbty go~ in early days, but when he figger dey gwine loose he siavei he start bein aean. He split t em and sold em, ry to i~o1ce he money out of em. Do haase what the ihite folks live in was make out of logs and moss and so was the quartera houses. 3etter~n New Orleans, dem quartera was. Us alav e have de garden patch. The white folks raises hogs and kilt ~ by the twenties. Dey smoke haine and shoulders and chittlin s and sich and hang s em up ii the smokehouse, Us allus have plenty to eat and us have good, strong clothes. Missy buy my dresses sepRrate, though. She buy me pretty stripe cotton dress.

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iix...lave Stories Page Three (Texas) ~ 1#~ ~) I Bous~ the only work I ever done was help watch the giese and turkeys and fill the quilts. I laz n to card, too. Old missy r~ever whip me much, she jes like to scam me. She whip me with big, tall straw she git ~t the field or wet a towel and whip my lege. My old massa done a trick I never forgit while I s waim. I,s big gal bout sixteen year old and us all lone on the place. He tells me to crawl under the cornorib and git the eggs. I knowed. dey ain t nothin dere but the nest egg, but I have to go. Then I can t find. nothia he pul). nie ~it backwards by the feet and whip me. ~flien old missy come home I ain t know no ~ to tell her and. she say she ought to kill him, bit she eho fix him, anyway. He say she spile me anddat whyhewhipme. t Old. missy take n t o preachin She was real good preacher. Dey have de big hail dom the center of the house where they hare services. A circuit rider come once a month and. everybody stop workin even if it wasn t Sunday. When war was on us there wasn t no sojer. round where I was, but dat battle on Atchafalia shook all the disbee off the dresser and broke em u~p. 3es broke up ail the fine Sunday and e ~pany dishes. de t Aft er/ trouble my mamn~ hare get me way from there when freedom come, she gits me after ail. Old mie~y have seven 11 l nig~r chilien what belong to her slaves but dey mammie. and. daddys come git em. I dtdn t own my own mammy. I own my old missy and call her ma~a~. Us cry and cry when us have to go with us memmy. I members how old missy rock me in her arms and. sing to me. She sing dat O, Susanna and telt me a story: . 3ui,

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~x-.slaYe Stories Page Pour (Texas) n s Dere a big, old brown bear what live in de woods and. she have lots of li l cub bears and. dey still nussin at de breast. Old. mama bear she out huntin one day and she come by de field where lots of darkies workin and dere on a pallet she see fat, 11 l pickaninny baby. Mama bear she up and stole dat li . pickaninny baby and takes it home. It hongry ~t after she git all de cttb bears fed, dere am t no milk left for de niggerbaby. Mena bear git so zasperated. she s~y to her babies, Go long, y~ go way and play. Den she feed de 11,1 pickaninny baby end dat how she raise dat nigger baby. Now, every time old missy come to dat place in de story, ske start lw.tghin , cause I allus used to ask her, I I Row co me dey didxi t no hair grow on dat baby.

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t. ~ ~ ~ . ~ .420304 . :~X~SLAv~ STORIES P2ge One (Texas) ~ ~ . i~LLL B ~ TL~ WALKPAR, 86, wae b.rn Z~ a slave at Craftts Prairie, Texas. C~) ~ Her parents Mesheck atad Becky Bat-. ~ t1E~, bel nged t. Mr. Battle, but ~ were s.lcI while Irella was a baby -V t. T m Washi~gt~n, f Travis C.unty. Irella learned her ~& B G~s frm an sid slave, Jack James, aithiugh it ~ was aj~a~. ist the rulse. This was the ~n1y sch .ling ehe ever had. Irel a receives a mo~ith1y cid age pensi n cf eight d.llare, Sh ~ lives at 2902 Oele St., Austin, Texas. My nam~~ was Irella Battle and I was b rued. Sn August 15th, in 1851, dawn at Craft s Pr~1rie, in B~strop Ceunty. I wa~ 86 ye~re ~1d last August, ~i~d I m blind in ~ne eye, Mam~~~ s name was Becky Battle and she was a field w rker and. d~th ab~ut de rn~t wirk she~have t~ d., cept si rainy days. She had five girls and cue b.y and I ~ de ysungest and de~ nly livin1 ne nsw. Daddy was Mesheck Battle and when Itm a baby in m~rnmy s arms, us esid te Massa Washlngt.n, V ~Deddy had. t. d. fie1d~ werk, I never knswed hi~ cl. nethin but farm. He shs make u.s behave and whcp u5 1f we didn t, Massa was purty g..d. Dc massas dem times e me was g.~d and urne was bad, and ah eut de rncet f dem was bad, I h~ te he p r.and de big heuse and dey purty ge.d t, me. But wheu I ~ti11 little I went ti defielde. Dey cive i~e a sack what de slaves n~ke t. pick cott.n in. Dey spin de thread and make el.th .n de 1. m and stitch lt and ma~ce e.tt.n sacks. Dey shert fir us eh~1len 2*d d.e 3derf.lks had aeh~rt One t. pick la and a big ~a.k t. empty in. I e.uldpick ab.ut a. hundred fit~j p.ii*da a d.~i Whe* I s tw~i+e. Xerael . . . ~.i_ ~ ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~ S\\ . . . ~

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I~x eiave St riee ~ . Page Two . ~ ~ (Texas) ~ . ~ Reberte e~u1d pick five hundred. a day. Us never got no money for pickin , ~1:~ good aztd clothes ~nd a place to st2y at nicht. Old. maxi Jonas watched us chilien and kept uc divin f r dat cotton all de day long. Ue wieli him dead many a time. . ~ J HDe plantation had a hoes power grin and. cerne d~vs our rows of cotton t oked us right to de gin h u.ee ~nd we d look up and watch de slave b075 settin on de lever and driirin dem ho~sez round wad round. -J ~ c~bin~ was l,g~ a~d mud and. stick chimney. ~ Then one dena chimneys catch fire us git on top ~nd threw water on it. In summer us go barefoot, but dere sheem~cers what ma)ce shoes for winter. When a beef killed, de hide kept and cleaned and put in dc tannin trough. When de leather ready, de shoes m~ike la dc little ~h.e shop, and when dem shoes git dry dey hard as a rock. D~ddy make us rub . tallow or fried crease meat ~r ~ay ether kind grease into dat hard shoe leather, and. it make dem s oft but when de dew and ~uu git eu d em agal n s hard a~a in. Times de ecyit es eteal. dem greased shoes- and make off with dem. Dat act ly happen a let of time5. Old man J~L James work at d2y and have night sch~il at night. Re have l ng boards for benches and let dem dawn by ropes from de rafters, and have blue back spellers. He p int t. de letters with de long broom straw and d s hew we lam our A . B C~ s I can read purty g.~d when my eyee let iae9 but I can t write.* thimt. If it rained we had t~ shuck and shell corn or pull weeds in d.c yard, and it wai a big one, t o. De wemea sp~in thread for de looms two of de~ &ud a epi*nii w~ee1 ~ in every cab ii. ~ . ~ . . : 4-

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E ~512Ve Steries. Page Three (Texas) . :~ Us have beds dc . men w~ke and take were ut ~ elethes and breeches and. pisee dem and stuff with cetten fer quilts. When it c.1d us keep fire ~a1i night leng. De p1~tes ~xa tin and a big ~eurd dipper t~ drink water with. De men ~i;~ dere ~wn cedar water pails, De~ week s ratterte fer a ~rewed pereen ran like three psunds baein &~nd a peek o~rnmea1 and e~rae homemade lasses, N fl ur and n ceffee, but us parch bran ~r wheat and. make e~ffee, Eaeh iight dey give a pint ~t sweet milk. But de chilien all ~t in a speeial p .~ce 1* ~e kitchen. t One ~ ~Lassa ~ashi~gton call us all and he read frsia de big paper. He say, Yeti is free telive and free te die and free t. g t. de devil if y.u w~ t s t ~ He t .U. us if we gather he ea pe he d pay us fer ~ it Deit he turned and. walked away and started cryiia~. 11 de families stays but ens man0 De highest prise massa pay anybedy was absut $15.00, but dat seem like a let f m.~ey t. felice what wasn t- used. t~ gittin any m.*ey at ~11a .. Finally my felice msved en a farm ~n Onie~ Creek, in Travis Cunt~r, en rented land fr.m Wat Watters and Dr. Shears and farm en de third and f.urth. We et ~ys about s ix years and rai see cet t en and e ~r*. Btit wh~ I ii twenty ye~s eid I marries Jee Walker a~ us meiwe t, Bastri~ O uitty, ~1d I st~ye d.ere till he dies ii f932. Us have levei .hulle* and kine f d eta still 1ivi~ I gita, a peisi 1*, ~ d~C11 a re de mC~th,:afld it eh. am .a help ~ w X s Id ezd n~ar1y ~bIiat~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~ ..~ ~ ~ ~: . ~ *** ~ . ~ kk~

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~J ; ~- ~ EX.~SLAVE STORL~S Page One 125 C Tex~.s) J. J OH~ WALT O~, 87 was born Au~gust :15, 1849, a s1a~r~a of 3111 Walton, who lived in Austin, Te~xas, until ~ the Civil War. He then purchased c:~ a farm in Pobertson County,T~xas, ~ Jobn and his wife, Missouri, own t a little home at 1008 Juniper St., Austin. Each receives ~?fl old a~e pension of $10.00 a month. My npnie pm John Walton, yes, suh, and I s born right here In Austin. Dat on de 15th dasr of August, in 1849. I done h~d de pepers on dat but where dey i s now I don t know. P~ppy s na~e ordon Walt on 2fl(~ I member he die while de war gaIn on, or jes beTh . I disremember, ~y rriainmy ~v~as a small w oman named Mary. tIMe~ a 3111 walton owns all us, and he e brother of Btxck Walton, and us live in Aastin till it said de Yankees commt. Soin~ southern folks here in Austin ~as di~gin ~ro~md for a fort, old port MacGruder, jes south of Austin~ So Massa 3111 takes us all w~v ~ rOi~ ~Austin and up to Robertson County, cause he done figured de Yankees can t ~it up dere. J I done field work up clerc and even us kids had. to p lok 150 pounds cotton a day, or git de whoppin . Us puts de cotton in de white~o~1c baskets ~nd son~e dean hold more n 100 po~inds. It cordin to ~e way you stampsyou cotton in. Dc wagon with d! joke of oxen st~ndin1 in de field for to pour de cotton in arid when it full, de oxen pulls dat wagon to de hoss-~power gin. Us gin rally use bou.t 1,600 pounds cotton to make de bale. Purty soon ~fter Massa Walton op ns he farm he die ~nd Missus Walton den marries a Dr. Richardson and he git de overseer what purty rough on us. He want all us t O stay right in 1 ~ and- chop long andke ep up with de le ad man. If us didn t lt am de bullwhip. He ride up and down ~nd hit u~ over

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~~s1ave Stories (Texas) Page Two de back if us don~t do ~e job right. Sometimes he d. git off he hoss and. haire two slaves hold one clown and give him de bullwhip. Ke~d give it to him, too. I helDed. bre~1c up do land and. plant and chop cotton and. a little of everything. Jes what had. to be &one at de time, I goes out and does it. I run cross plenty snakes and one d~r One bit me right top de foot. Dere plenty varmints, too. In de fall of de year us kill plenty hawgs and put up de gamblint racks ~xid hang dat meat up fT de night. Dere sane big dogs what watched de meat atid one old. dog, old Jefferson, was bigger n any dog I ever seed. He kilt many nother dog. One ntght a big panther try steal de hawg meat and old Jeff cotch him e~d helt him till de men comes. De panther tore Jeff up purty bad.. Us heered. dein panthers scream at night and if you didri t know, you~ d think it a WO!ZIafl. I could tell d.c d.1 f rence cause de panther scream have de little growl at de end. If he half mil e ~ way, d. hear dat I ittle whang. One night I goes out in de bott~ with my dcg. I was huntin but I don t like wh~tt I finds. A big panther follows me arid old Nig, dat my big, black bulldog, scart him way from me I t ~. run dat night ~nd I neyer slip 1Wa7 nO more at night. ~ Massa s big house sot way from our cabins. Us have de big room whe re de slaves meals an. cook arid de fireplace bout four foot ~ cross and plenty ashes in de mornin to make de ashoakes. Por breakfast us have inset and ashcakee arid bran coffee or sassafras tea. You could keep dem dried. sassa~fraLroots de year round and. der jes as~str~tg. Us plowed em up in de field, teause ~ey growed, wild. ~ . . . .. .. ~i . .~ H ~. ~ . . . . .~ ~

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~s1ave Stories ~ ~& Th3?OC .: j~ (Texas) ~ . Us didn t have time for de p .ayin of gaines dunn d~ week, t cause t dark when us goes out an. it dark when us comes back. ~ Us sho was tired. At night dat overseer walk by ~ur cabins and call but to us, to see ~ if us aU inside. If us don t answer he come up and. find out ~thy, and he d find us, too. HI lamed to read and write a little jes since freedom. Us used Webster s old blueback spellers aud I has one In de house to dis day and I wouldn t take nothing for. it. . . The first year ~ter freedom I farms with niannny and my stepdaddy. Pappy done die Us done purty good de first year and I keeps ou farmin most my life, I marries Georgia Anne Harper In 1875 . or L8?6 in Limestone County. Us have four chilien and three Is ivin . I marries gain in 1882 to Xissourl Fisher and us have eight chilien and six is livin ~ TJs git s . long on what de stat e give us now and lt alu t so bad. T imes I s d. rent I never done mach but fai m so ~ o t know so mtt&~ bout everything what goes on. ~ . *************** ~ . ~ . . . ~. . .~ ~

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I ~.)Pi )O c ~ 7 ~~P EX~SLAV~ STORIES Page One 128 (Texas) SOL WALTON, E~3, was born in Mobile A1~ba~na, a s ~ve of . Sam L~mpkin. Sol and his father stayed on the L(~npkin P1~ntati On, then in ~ooringsport, Loatsiana, until 1873, and farmed on shares. Fran 1876 to 1922 Sol worked In the T. & P. shops, in Marshall, Texas~ Sol ~nd his wife are supported by o~Id jobs Sol secures about town and they receive money from a son who is in a CCC camp. . II was .knockin round, a good-.sized chap, way back yonder In Buchanan 8 and Henry Clay s time. I was born in 1849, in Mobile, Aabama, end belonged to Sam.L~npk1n. My father w~ bought by the Lampkins ~nd he allus kept the name of his first master, ~Tr~lton. My mei~u~y was a Alabama Negro and her name was Martha, and I had f our brothers and four sisters, Robert, Jim, Richard, Ale~x, Anna, Dore, Isabella, Bettie, My inast~r was ~3ar~ Lampkin and. his wife was ~LIssi~ Mary, and~ their first plantation was in Alabpxna, but they zaoved to Mississippi when I wris bout six, ~nd we lived on Salt Water Creek. They had a big, frame house ~nd w~ lived in log quarters, slept on rough rail beds and h~d plenty to eat, peas, pumpkins, rice and other truck we raised on the piece, and plenty of fish out of the creek. ~The first work I done In sl~ery w~s totin water and dinner to the field hands, in gourd buckets. We didn t have tin buckets then. The hands worked from sun t o sun and if the overseer seed ~ ~ slackin up he ~mssed 1ern and sometimes whacked ~ with a b~illwhip. I seed ~em whipped till their shirt stuck to their back. I seed my mairoy whipped for shoutin at.white folks meetin . Old. massa stripped her to the waist and whipped her with a bullwhip. Heaps of em v~as whipped jus 1 cause

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:~x s19v~ Stories ~ T~o ( Texas) they could be whipped. Sorae owners half fe~d their hrnds and. then whipped. them for beggin for grub. After our folks carne in r ~r~ th~ ~je1d they et supper and some went t.o Salt Water Creek to cotch f~ish ~nd crabs. They ~ised to spin at night, too. On Christmr~s Th~y rn~ssa ~1ius give the slaves a little present, mostly sornethin to ~vear, cause he ~oin~ to ~it that an~rhow. Massa never had but on~ white overseer, He ~ot kilt fightin . The hands was burnin logs and trash ~nd the overseer I~iocked a old ~an down and macle sonic of the ni~g~rs hold him while he bullwhipped hirn. The old ~n got up ~d. ~ocked the ov~rse~r ir the head with a big stick and then took a ax and cut off his hands and feet. L(~ssa said he didn t ever waiit another white overseer end he r~de my cousin ~verlook r after that. 0The sl~ves had their own pr~iyer meetings and that s bout the biggest pl nsure they ~ ~Ve d sli~ off eornetim~ to tances and parties, but the patterrollers come ~id run us home ~vith hounds. The black and white children all played together ~nd there was bout si*ty of us, The old folks told us ghost stories lxtt I never seed a ghost but once, after I was zmiarried. Me and some men was walkin down the Shreveport road and s~w a big house all li.t up ~nd ficIdlin and. dancin goin on inside. But when we gOt close the music stops ~nd the lights went out. When we got on paet a piece it lit up ~nd the fiddlln starts gain. I wasn t scared, but we d. idn1 t hang round t o se e what made it do that wa~v. Some of the eullud folks on oar place could read. and write . They lamed it the~rselves, The white folks didn t lam em, ~11 they lamed. ~em ~.2lN

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Ex~siave Stories Page Three (Texas) was to work hard1 But they took care o~ us whe~n we was stck and old woz~ien ~n~: .de lots of medecin~. There was boneset te~ ~nd willow tea arid shuck tea ~?nd cottonseed t~a for ~hi11s and fever ~nd Jeriisalum Oak for worms~ Maeter left Mississippi for Texas bout time the w~r ~ot goin good, with his fau~ iy ~nc~ siity ~1~ves. W~ been on the road three weeks when a g~n~ of Yankees eome on us one th~y at 5inner, The nigg~rs sc~ttters like birds. Bout h~df of ~ never corne beck, but the rest of us come on and settled seven mile,s southwest of MoDrlngsport, in Louisiana. Yoang master weint to the war after we ~ot there and come home sev ral times. But they didn t talk the war !inongst us cullud folks. Nothiri spec la . happened the d~y the~r said we was free cept some of Tem didn t st~y ten minutes. Master told tern if they d st~v he d cive them the t:hiro ~d fou:-~th, The ones i~cho left w~sn t promised nothin and didn t git nothint. My folks stayed for ~n~ost twenty years after tmancipation, workin on. tue halTes, f I left my folks in 73 and corne to Jimmie D, Scott e place, in Te~a~, bout eight miles ~:ast of Marshall, t~nd worked. for $10,00 the month. That s where I niet Lia Uontecue, who is my wife, She was born on the Scott s place the s~rne year I w.s born. We moTed to Marshall in 76 and I got a job in the railroad shops and worked till the big strike in 1922. I didntt belong to the strike but the strikers wouldn t let me work, After they run me o~f m T job, I never could get back on and had t O mRke a I ivin at an~rthin I could find. till ray boy got in the CCC camp. . I been married sixty. four ~peers and raised eight children, and three of ein lives here and works at anythin they can find to make a doll~z ~ s

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II ~r_~J~uv ~ :~x-sLATE STORI~8 P~e One (Texas) ELLA WASHINGTON, 82, was born a slave of Dave ~4ann in St . Mary s Parish, Loulsi9na. i~ hen the slaves were freed In Louis-. i9na Ella was taken to Calvert, Texas, and put on the Barton plantation. Soon after the civil wax she came to Galveston, and lives with her daighter, who support8 herself and her mother by t ~ktng In washin~0 You got to scu~e how I looks, 1c au.~e I been out in de back yard helpin myr daughter with de wpshln . She allus fuss at me cause I work like dat, but I tells her jes tcaU e I is a old woman aifltt no reason why I got to act like one, HI dontt know for sho jes when I~m birthed, but my sister alius ~a,3r 1t~ one year and six months ol3er n her and she say she s birthed bout 1857. Dey didn t make no record den like now. I thiftks old massa, Dave M~iin, keep some kInd record on us, but he been dead de lone time. 1ILy mamy and pappy was name Me ins Car I me and Charles ~e ins. De slaves used to take de massa s naine and sometimes when dey sold dey drap de old name and take c~e new m~s9a1s name. Dat how c~e it so hard to keep up with dem. . Massa ~4ann sho nice but him and he missy die and Massa Jim Ross step into dere shoes on de plantation. Us ~its swamp den. ~Yhen : ou ~it swamp dat mean you got to live with a mean man. He sho was iaean, too. De plantati on was bi~ and bout a hundred slaves on it . Dey work dem hard, too, sometimes till nine o clock at night. A lot of dein run away but dey si~ de nigger does on dere trail ~nd cotch dem. When dey 1-.

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Ex~s1ave Stories ~ . Page Two (Texas) cotch dem dey whup dem. Dey put sticks In de ground and tie dere h~inds ~nd feet to dem. S0me p1~ces c~ey strip dem naked and whip dem. liSornetimes Massa Jim low ~ go to de Catholic Church at Marion. Dey wouldn t :Iow us to- pray by our~e1f. But we sneaks off and have pot prayin . Two men carry de great bi~ hog pot dey uses tt~ sc~.1d ho~e and t~~ke it out in de woods ~nd us stick de hend in it and pray. All de noise go in de pot and you couldn t hear it otitside. Old massa fed us good, meal and s~rnip and meat nou~h to last. He give us watermelons every Sundiy. ~t Massa Jim didn t lieve in parriperint nig~ers, he ~ey. He didn t dive us much to eat ~nd de houses leak cause de walI3 rotton. One time he take de notion to sell us. He put my r~otber and me and sister on de block up In Marion. Us all cryifl hard, cause us thunk us gwine ~:it sep rate. Den I looks up sudden and right at my ~~oung miss, Miss Mary. She so mpd she pa~le like de ghost. She say, ~lIa, you ~it w~iy frofl dat block and come over t o me, arid iou too, Della, Me and my sister ru~ns over dere to her ~nd wrop ourseif x~und her dress and hold on with all our might. De massa come after us nnd Miss Mary say, That ~rou mean sellin my sL!~ves? He say us sl~ves his and she say, do he want to have to prove what he say. Den she start in and raibe so much sand he have to call mammy down off de block and. take us back homes t I heared everybody spy a war ~ on and my uncle ~nd cous in run way to de he~id bureau, where de Yankees at. My mammy se~ it at Milligan, Texas. Time dey ready for freedom in Louisiana, dey refugees us to Texas, in de

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~x-s1ave Stories (Texas) Pace Three wagons. Us travel all day and ha1 ~ de night sind sleep on de ground. It ain t take us so lorL~ t o git to Calvert out d~ere in de bottom of Texas and dey put s us on de bart on plant at I cm. We a d.g pot at ce s dere ~when de Yankee s come up with two big wai~ons and make u.s cane out of de fields and free us. Dere wasn t no cel bration bout it, )~i1assa say us can stay couple days till us cide what to do. ~ie1l, den somethin1 funny happen dere. De slaves all drinks out ~n oi~ well. Dey drink water in de mornin and de~r d h~tve de cr~xr~ps awf\il bad bout dinner time and in de evenin dey e dea%. Dey dies like flies, so fast dey couldn t make de coffins for dora, Dey jes sew dem up in sacks ~nd bury dem dat w~y~ Some de slaves s~y massa put de poison in de well. I ~ know what kill dem but it sho look funny. ~hammy ~nd me goes to Ca .vert and 2nd pappy go back to Louisiana. If he Parish. I never seen him no more. I marries bout 1886, and. stays ri~ght here in Galveston. I seen ~r1p~ht Cuney lots of times but I am t never knowed him t o talk t o I ~rnember when dey say he he govern or s onie day, but dey tUn t gwine have no cullud m~n gov~ ernor~ C0urse he did git to congress. hires out, but ~ i~ng us come to Galveston ain t dead he still live d.ere in St. Mary s

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4~O()63 :~ ~L.sLAv~ $TORI~S P~Ce One ~ 134 ~ (Texas) ROSA. 1a~ASHING ToN is 90 years old and lives in her own little adobe house at 3911 Manzana St., El Paso, Texas. She was born a slave of the ?1~tson f~ily, on ~ large plantation SCTe~i miles frc~ St. Joe, ~.ouisiana. Her parents cane from Ge Orgia. After the Civil W~r she left her former o~vners, hut later returned and was with then~ until they cUed. She caine to Texas in 1921, ~v tr1. her three chiith en provide for her. Her son, Le Roy, hr~s been in the U. S. ~mi~ra.tion service in El Paso for 2? y&~ars. My nan~e ~ s Rosa Washington ard ray hun was Joe ~ashing~ ton. He s 11~3Cfl dead a long tir~e. I w~s bo n on ~ bit; pl~uitation, white r~aan1s flrffl~~ Bill Watson, wife A~n atson, ~ev~n miles froiu St. Joe. i~~a had four chilien and I h~d seven. Marster hr~d a fine house ~nd plenty of slaves. I dunno how ~ica~~r. ~ Fore we was free we was in the fielt ~~jy~t ~nd they come out arid got us, Ev ~rvbody threw up their hz~nds and. starts~d to ru.n. The Yanks busted opcn a. ~u~ar ho~shead and cive everybody all they waited. Dey threw all de milk away and ~ey cairied our ri~rster ~w~y by force ~nd tLik hi~ to jail in Vicksburg. Our missus wept. When the Yankees got u~, dey tuk us about three xniL~s from whar we live, put us in a fine house, ;ive us plenty to eat until war s end.e~.. Me and m~r chilien ~n1 my father arid. ir~other were together there. fl~g~ had a good cabin on the plantation,, m~1e out~a planks, oie ri -.rap plunder. Dey treated ui ~oo . I worked th water garden, worked in fiei~s when 10 years old. Hoe d. ~a~r row every da~r. De~r di~iJ~~ whop me, though. My niistress wouldn let sein. iv~arsa and. missus ~ociito nie.

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Ex slave Stori s ?age Two ~ . . . (Texas) . I not tell lie on gem. Tell e~ri~tf. Truf ahines~ tu seed niggers put in stocks, put em in stocks head in fust. Tear their clothes off backs, whop till sores come, den dey pour coal ol . and turpentine in sores, I see that with my own eyes. My dad. dn~v the carriage, carried em round all timae. My mother worked in the fiel like I do. Work every day. Dey give us everything to eat. Marster and zaissus, too, give plenty, but if ale cow died with cholera, they give ~ . _ to us niggers.I .. ~ot-gaodshoes once a year. When mareter went to New Orleans, manig had to tie my feet up in rais. I had. to work with the rest of 1ea. Got up at 4 o clock. We he ped on. other plantations when dey d. git behind. Go he p em out. UI waited on overseers table, Joe Crusa. ~e was mean. He stuck a fork in my head. 01e Aunt Clarisele cooked for us. She cook in cabin ...~ for us had big fi replace . She co ok for .11 niggere on the place . She / was mean to ii., never married. She had two rooms, all she do was cook, ~ tell lies on InC to white overseer. That wom~ told a lie on me ~cause ~ said I lef a fork dirty, He look at it ssys Who rubbed di s fork? ~ ~omaii says, ~osa, and he stuck the fork in my head. Miseus turn h1~i off next day. ~~-~Te had co nbread, no sugar, plenty okra and coffee; plenty milk, cause they had 17 cows. They give us clabber and peaches. Every da~ over~. seez blow horn in ~ax d t o wake us up a bugle at four o~ o . ock Sundays. ~ !e ~ ~ take cotton oetta fte1 ~ and put it up on scaftold to dry iffen it rain. Overseer sit in dry, btg overcoat on; we work in xaud ar~d~ rain. Orxemornint they carried us to stockhou.se to whip iii. ~ty~ alesus and mareter never let k J

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3 ~ stories ~ . 13G (Texas) era whip me, ~ut no v~thite folks he p me to read and write. He p me to do nothin but works ~1h1te folks h~d church. I couithi ~o. I hadda r~ind the white chilien every Sunday. Cullud people had to ~o way back in woods ~ have church, Never let white folks see ~ezn. Had to slip and. hide to have our church1 i~ui lib~ deer if fount out. Marster never know a bit rnore~n this chair whar we was gwine. He cou .dn ~sk us On Sunday, it be against the 1gw. Iffen niggers rim away, dogs tud catch rem. Dey had doctor right dere, iCe~p us well. K~pt us well so s we could work. Brother~in~law to marster. When the ni~g~rs was niarried, dey put a broom down and dey jump over tl:e broom, sw~e time rraissus and rnaret,r d marry tea. He d. marry ern and~ she as witness, Soiietirnes celebrate. She d cook 1e~t ~onae c!~ke, give tern a fine dress. We d. take meat arid skillets down to the h~r on Sundays. Had fish rys. ~ffouidn1 take no fussy chilien to the bar. We chilien would have fish fr:r wh~r dey u)ii t watch us. Had to ~o to ~in at four o clock in evenint. Couldr ..~ t play week-P ~ys, h~d to ~o In cabin 2fld be still. Never got to play much till Yankees corne and ~ot us, but we h~.d a. bi~ b~1l ~nd dance in yard Christmas. H~d CaII(IYI dey give us dresses and socks ~nd a good feast for Christmas. G ive us things for 4th of Ju~ly. Dey give us dat dey. No, dey wouidn whip us dat d&ay. We had a bi~ quiltin Cbristm~.s day. We d piece de quilts outta scr~ps* Some couldn c~~uilt. Doy d dance in de yard all day. We niggers got wool clothes in winter, good c~lothes woven on de place. ~ Marster had. black sheep and white sheep. He bought our summer clothes In New Orl~rns linsey, c~iicy, pl2i.d, some white ones. Deys d give us color what w~ like. -2~

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&x slave Stories Pa~e1~e~ 137 (Texas) tt5ur~, I seed ghosts. D~y corne with no head, come outta de ~ one night so late, bout eight, nine~ o1clock. I was Scared) yes, suli, I sure w~s scared, but my r~ainr~ys~j, Dey alfl1 ~oin~ to hurt you, baby. D~y sc2r ~ ~ My m~ xnrnv ~i~e me beads for ray neck, chin~berry beads to keep i~ie well. Th~y d pretty. I never h~.d. no other kind. We nev ~r ~it no raon~y befog freedoz~. I stay aw&~y from M~rst~r r-rid missus de first year, den go back. Dey dive us 50 ~ da~ after ~ Had to pp~y for rations, Better since war, th~ui~h. No whippin s coin on I ke their c3iC1 fore. fuse a full Baptist been ever since f67. I se h~ppy. Sc~ ne -1irnes I gite too hsppy. I don move till de spirit move me. I ~o~s to church when Itse able, But I se gittin too old to ~o no~v Pse just wait in1 t o go horse,

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il i)1~~Ut I r~ ~ j- ~j EX-SLAVE STORIES . . Pace One ~ (Texas) SA~ JONES WASHINGTON, 88 was born a slave of Sam Yotmg, who owned a ranch al ong the Col orado River in i~hart on C o . . Sam was t rained to be a cowhand, and worked for his master u~nti1 1868, receiving wages after he was freed. He farmed until 1905, then moved to Fort Worth and. worked in the packing plant s tint il 1931. Re lives at 3520 Columbus Ave., Port Worth, and is supported by an $11.00 per 3nonth old age pen~sion, supplemented by what Sam raises in his garden and. m~kee out 9 ~9 7 of a few ho~gs. ~ ~ UHOW old I is? I s 16 year when surrender come. I blows dat, tcause 0 ~ statement. Ail u~s niggers ~its de statement when surrender come. I~s seed plenty slave days. Massa Young run de small farr~i long de Colorado River and. him don t own fllany sT1~ves. Dere my m~uruny and her six chilien, and Majoria arid~ her four chiliens. My pappy ~in not on de place. I dontt know my pappy. Hirn ~in what dey calls de travelin ni~er. Dey have him come for service ~nd when de~r git~ whet dey wants, he ~o back to he massa. De womens on Massa Young place not married. Massa raise jes a little cotton, dat two womens and de chu len could tend to, and some ve~ tab1es and sich. Us have lots of good food. Us sleep in de sleepin room, nex to massa s house, but I sleeps in maS8~ S room. One night massa say, Don t t ie my boss to de stake tonight. But I s sleepy and gits de nodfies and. draps off to sleep. Memmy shake me and say, ~ you stake de hoss? Massa sees dat hoss in de mornint and say, You done stake dat hoss and I told you not to. I H~ gives me couple licks and I lame to do what I s told. He never whip nobody, -1-.

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Ex-slave Stories Page Two . j39 (Texas) not de hard whippin like other nigg~rs ~1ts. He ~m ~e good massa. Il ~ Lust runs errands and den massa 1~.rn me t o ride s oon~ s I e o:1d $it de hoes. Den I stays out with de cattle mos de time and 11s tickled. I sho likes to ride ~md rope dem cattle ~nd m~ssa allus fix me up with good clothes and good hoss md g:~od saddle. I stays dere till long after surrender. uTJs have stampedes !rom de cattle. Dat am cust rnary with dem critters, Dat mean ride de hoss to turn de cattle, Us ride to side de leader and crowd him and force him t o turn ~nd keep forcin him, and. ID:! and by dem critters am runnin in de circle. Dat keep dem from scat~ terrnent, Dat sho dan~ erou~ ~idifl , If de floss throw you off dein cattle stamp ~OU to death, Gabriel sho blow he horn for ~-ou den! UI sho joys dat business, cause we~uns haire de good time~. Us go to to~n and have fun. One time I.co~nes near ~jttjfl in &rouble, but it ain t ray fa~ilt. I s in town ~nd massa, too, and a white man come to me ~nd hirn show de drink. Who ~rou tlon~ to, nigger? he say. l s Massa Young s nigger, I says polite like. You looks like de smart nigger nnd I s de notion smr~ck you one he say. t~f~ better not s~aack me any, I says. You unnderstand, dat de way massa raise me. I don t tmnerstand some cnael white mens gits de arg ment, jus for de chance to shoot de nigger. }.iassa am standin near by ~nd him corne up and. say, If you touches dat nigger, I 11 put de bullet through you. ~ Dat man see massa have no fooliehment in he words and gits ~wthe. Bu.t if massa am not dere, ~brie1 blow he horn for dis nigger s Jubilee, right den, yes, sar. ~ -.2-.

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J~x siave Stories Page Three ~ (Texas) ~ 4. t) ~ III come~1ear g1~tin cotched by de patterro11e~s once. ~1s ju& 12 den and nother ni~rr and nie, us want some cane stnlic. It good. to eat raw, rou knows. Jus peel de bark off arid chew dat inside. Well, wetuns in de ra~n s cane patch, breakin der~ stalks ~nd dey make&~ de poppinT noise. A pat terroller c orne by and hear d ~t poppin1 and holler, Who s dere In de cane patch? Us didn t ans ~ er him, no, ear. I cides right quick dat I don t like cane and. I comes ~w~y from dat patch. I o~itsmarts and outruns dat patte:roller. I keeps to de cane fiel~.s and de woods and I runs dis way and dat W~T. I twists round so he coldn t follow rn~r tracks. Like de ~nake s track, you can t tell if it ~xn gwine north or comm1 back. Lawd a-~nighty1 How fast I runs. I stays head of my shadow. I tells 3rou, I s a~gwine! De war? ~7hIte mr~n, ?etu.ns didn t know ~ere ein de war. ~e. seed some sojers at de stare, but dat all. One day massa say to me. After cils, ~rOU ~its $15.00 de month wages. I works for him three more ~rears and den LIC sold out. Den I goes farrain till 1905. 1 works in de packin plants here In Fart Worth den, till I s wore ut, ~b ut six year ago. Now I raises de hawg~, not very many, and does w1~iat work I can git. Dat pension from de State sho hol-os me. With dat and de hrwgsand de little ~arcien I ~its by, and so I lives. H Was I ever marry? Men, man, three t irne. Fust t irne bout 1869 and wetuns gits de seperment in 1871. Dat woman sho deal ~ne mis ryZ She ~In de troublin woman. Den tbout 1873 I marries gain and she die fore 1on~. Den in 1905 I marries gain and she s dead, too. I never has de chilien. I~s jus lone and old now, and stay here till my time comes, I spect it quite a spell ylt cause I s got lots of substance left yes, sar.

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J 420072 ~ S~ )- 0~ ~ ~ Page One ~ :141 % BX-SLAVE STORIES (Texas) ~x~1 ~4 ~937 WILLIAM ~TA~KINS, born 1850, to Julia and Hudson Watkins. All were slaves on the Watkins p1~ntation where Wil~ 11am was born, on the edge of Oh3~r-~~ lotte County, Virginia, William is tall, heavy set, arid does not look his age. fle lives with Willia~n Branch, who came from an a&joinin~ couiity in Tir~1nia. Both men served in the scine campaigns in the United States Army. UMY name is William Watkins~ De n~rne comes frum de ri~arne of Terbaccer Watkits, who owned de ~Vatkins Terbaccer Plantation. He got a factory In Richmond and de plantation in Charlotte County in Virginia, bout 50 in ile east of Richmond. Marse Watkins got a big frame house and. 400 acres and- 100 acres is terbaccer. Yassuh, dey s other crops barley, wheat, oats, and. den dey~s stock ~ bogs, cows, hosses and. mules. IVe lives in lo~ cabins wid. plank flo ws aM we made de beds ourseif. Dey feeds us good Rnd w gits milk and bread ~nd lotsa pork. Marse Vlatkins got lotsa hawgs. Yasstth, we s got a church. Deslaves built it in de woods. We never got no weges but sometimes he give us four bits or six bits. What we do wid. it? We buys candy. Sometimes we rtin de rabbits or goes fishing. De Marster gives u.s lii patches of,,~ ctin . He s good but de overseer s rough. He whips all de slaves. t, D5y s a patrol what watches for slave s dat rwis away, buSt we don t have no patrol on our plantation. We has dances Sat day nights. Sundays we didn t wu.k much, Dey s ghosts d.ere we seed em. Dey 3 w ite people wid. a sheet on ~ ~ to scare de slaves offen de plantation. We wears charme

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Ei-slave Stc rles ~Wm.~Vatkins Page Two Te~x~s to keep us well. Dere s asafoetida In a 1~g and. we wear s it ro~n de neck. It cure most ev rytin~, When we gits real sick, dey sends medicine fruin de hi~ house4 p ry year de s1~ve traders comes and de Marster sells some slaves clown river to New Orleans. ithO dey sell? Jest no co~int slaves. Dey walks all d.e way. De traders dey rides in ox-carts. ~ie never wik much Sundays, only to milk de cows . Jes dat Tessuh, I was married on de plantation. De preacher say de word.s and we s max~ried. Den de war caine and de Yankess Corne down thick as leaves. Dey btu ns de bi~ house and. de slave houses and ev rytin~. Dey turns us loose. ~e ain t got no home nor nuthin to eat, ca~ise dey tells us wets free4 We s cotta leave de plantation. De Marster s gone, de crops is gone, de stOckts gone. ~e goes to anudder place and works on shares. De first time we sees de Ku Klux Is right after de war. Dey whips de slaves what leave s de plant at ions dey t wan ~ dem t o be free. Bout 1870 I goes to Ohio end enlists in de army at Jefferson Bar..~ racks and right off day sends u~s to Texas to fight Indians. I goes to San Antonio and dey puts me on gu.ard at de Alamo to fight off de Indians. Den I goes to Fort Davis. Irin in de cuflud Indian Scouts, Co. K, and ~1ey s a banker nar ie of Miller in de Chihuahua jail. One night de kuhnel ta?~es us from Fort Davis, and we marches all night wid. guns and 150 rounds of aminu.~ nition in belts, ax~.d rations for 30 days. We marches all night long twel we gits to Del Norte, Texas(Presidio) and. we crosses de river and takes Mr. Miller out of jail. t, Thile we ~ s at Port Davis a wagon t raii~. comes through de canyon and de Apaches rolls big rocks down on de *~.ite people and kills 26 of dem.

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Ex slave stories ~ Page Three 143 Win. Watkins Texas Dey scalps all de~r kills and we go out and. fit de Apaches. De lieutenant is killed in de fight. Thssuh, we fit ~~ches all de time and ~rhen we goes to Fort Concho dey gives us a fit all lone de road. Den we fitten de Cheyennes and. dey is wust of all. Dey s great big Indians bout seven feet tall and at de battle of de Wichita in de Indi~ri Territory a Cheyenne shoots an arrer throu~rh my wrist. (He exhibited the scar. Saine battle de scribed in interview with Win. Branch.) Den after my wound heals wets sent to Fort Clark and de sergeant, Jeff Walker, got it in for i~e. Kuhnei Andrews is at Port ~vis and Jeff Walker truzzrps up some charges dat I se mistrusted., so dey gives me a dis honnuble discharge cause of dat Jeff Walkers I ain1t had no court martial nor no triai and I cain t git no pension ~ of de dishonnuble discharge. And nowl se strong and weil but I cain t git no wuk ~c~use I se so oie. An:~. cause Jeff 1ffalker didn~t like me, I gits a dishonnuble discharge.

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il 4~)(U). ~T ~ ~X.~SLAVI~ $TORI~S Pace One~ 144 (Texas) DIANAH WATSON, 102, Wa~ born a ~Iave of Toto ~Yil1i~ms, at 1~T~w Orleans, In 1870, Di~nah went to Jefferson, Texas. She ~ now 1ive~s with a married da~ighter in the Macedonia Coi~wunity, five railes northwest of Marshall, Tex. Mv naxne ~rn Dianah Watson and I1is(~?c1 to k~,p my age, but I done got sick and can~t ~me~mber lt now. I can t s~y zactly how old I is but I~s a past-~grow~1 woman when tuS wt r broke out, ~id ~r old missy $ daughi~r donc told me once out the book I~s borned in 1835. UI,6 born~c1 and br.~l bout a half mile from ~Tew Orleans. ~y mammy was sarah Hall and she s borned in Galveston, ~mnd. ray papa was Bill :vililams. L&y old raissy d ne take me from niy mamiy when I~s a s!nall baby and raised me to a fu11~rowed woman, I slep in the seIut room with my ioung riis~y and had a good time in slaverr, didn t suffer for nothin and never wascut md ~iash~d lik~ sonie~ Me and ~lss La.ira come right up together w~d I s h~r own nigger ~1ave. L~assa ~7~llinms treated his blnck folks with ~s~ect, They was in th~ field from fore day till c~ark, but they was took good care of anc3 f~d a~d p1~nty clothes. Old Mt~st r Torn d~n~ th~ bossin hisseif arid when he s dyjnt he calls all hi~ flv~ boys to his bed and say, Boys, when I s gone, I dont want no cutting and slishin my niggers. They s ~ot feelin saine as ~ But the ol3es boy, William, got the debbil in hin and hires a overse r, and he rid in the fields with a quirt and rope and chair on his saddles When he done take ~. notion to whip a nigger, he d

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Ex slave Stori.s Pace Two (T.xas) m2ke some the r~n tie th~t nigger to the chair and~ b at hire somethin1 Ectmd lous. He ~ot mad at in:~ mother s sister, Aunt Susie Ann, and beat ncr till the blood run off h~r on the ground. She fall at his feets lik she passed out and he put up the whip ~ici she trips h1~~nd gits the whip ~nd whips him till h~ couJ.cln t stand up. Then some the niggers throwed him off a cliff and broke his neck. His folks gits the sheriff but rnastcr s b3y~3 orders kiizn ff the place with a gans Th~e warn t no ~re overseers on the place j~fter that. If ni~ers )f these days d~n~ s~e vhat I seed in slavery tin~e t ri y d prey anc~ th~ ~nk they G~wd ev~rv d~r My i~iaster s place ~ot right 1cross th. big road from a pInce they cut and sl ~shed they niggers. You d hear that white men s black fo1~cs bellerint like cows. I s stood many a time on our front g~ 1ery and seed the~ cut and slash the blood off thera niggers. I seed old wom~h&~f-~bent from beatin s goin to th~ ~ ie1d. They overseer hod. a woo~~n paddle with nails in it. I used to sa~ to miss~r, ~fhy they cuttin ~nd slasbin them black folks that-.a ~y? Mi~sv say, tDianah, that there whi te raan got the debb il in bir~i ~ III s~d thera sell my i~ma. I ~sk r~ir old ~iss~ why 2nd. she say, To ~o to ht~r husbRnd. si When the war broke eut I, s a fulL- . row~t woman . New Orleans wa~ full of ~ojurs and the~r wouldn t let us go to to~wi. Me ana. y~ng Mr. Tori used to git on the roOf and watch them. The cannons was roarin like thunder and. smoke thick and b1ad~ as clouds. I got scart when they sot the niggere free, at the niggers shoutin1. I didn~t know what etwas for,

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Ex slave Stories Page Three ~ ~ ~ ~ (Texas) ~ . ~ Old Mise say to me, They been in slavery but you don t know what slavery is, Dianah. Two pars after that my old mise ~ca~r1 e inc t~ Galveston to my mammy. She t ll her to take good. ~a~ of inc nd.. we lived there three years Rnd moved to Jefferson, Our things cctne by boat bat we come in wa,~ons. I married John Smith purty soon after that but he died fore lone. Then I married Noah Watson and now he s dead. I done rais. aix chilien but only one am livinT now and that s inyyounges gal and I lives with her here1 NI tells the young race iffen they com up like nie they wouldn t act so smart. Th.y needs somebody to take the smth tn.es ~tten them. But my gal em good to me. I gits a pension and pays lt to h.r to take care of me. I been here a hundred years andrnore and I won t stay much longer, and I c~.on t want t o b. no ~ ~p ens s to ~ ii body, e se se e *

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420026 EL.SLAVE STORI~8 Page One (Texas) .. ~ EMMA WATSON, born i~n 1852 or 1853, inEllis Co., Texas, was bne of the s1av~ of the Carl Forrester family. Emma worked in the fields most of her life, but is now too old to work, and. Is cared for by her daughter. Thecr live at 318 AlIen St., Dallas, Texas. t, I oxed my old missus when I s borned and she rec ~ lect I in eight or nine year old when de freedom war starts. She say she don t make recall de xact time, but I takes May for a birthin time. They s e~ time when some sich ~as writ in de Bible bat it ~ot burnt up fore Ps ageable. I knows where I m borned, thou~i, and it ara on Capt. Forresterle far~n in Ellis Ccu~nty. His mother, Miss Susan, raises me like she am my rn~z~niy. I calls h~r Sis Sue. She was oi~ miss an~t Miss Lee was young miss, My paw, I don t know nothin bout. My sister Anna and. mt,, us have de same pew, but my nianmiy s so . ~ out of bu s s ~ SipPi W2y from my paw fore ray birthin . My zn~w kept de name c~f i~icindy Lane, but Martha and. Jenriic, my othe:~ sisters, had diff rent paws. liut.s cone through so much of hard times ~J.1 ray life, but when l s de li l gal I didn t have mach to do cept tend my Aunt Mat11c3i~ s babies and wash they clothes. The rc~t the tl:. ie I jes plays round. Miss Lee have a china doll with a wreath of roses round it head. We t~a~es turns p1~yin with it, I had a rag doll, ~nd it jes a bundle of rags with strings tied round it to give it a shape. Us make playhouses. Capt. Forrester goes away and I heared he gone to some war, but, law me, I dic3.n t know bout war den, 1..

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Ex-.slave Stories . p~ Two (Texas) I s jus glad t o play and eat ar~yt it I can git . When I git a t in can of clabber and some bren.d, that s what I wanted. Tht~y didn t buy no dishes for nigger you~~~~Uns to break up. Us et bacon and. i~eef and salt pork and co~~ bread with us fingers. Muscle shells is what we dipped stead of spoons. I did love de souse, too. Wiien I had de chills, Sis Sue, dat Old Miss, corr~ out to de quarters ~nd give me sweet rL~i1k boiled with pepper. I got shut of dem chills cause I didn t like dat pepper tea, but I hic it better n q~iinine or sage tea, I didn t like to be sick noways, cause dey jus two bedsteads, one for my mammy and ray steppaw, and one for us gals. t~They allus promise ne they Il lam me t o read and writ e but never did git to dat. Aunt Matilda did most de spinnin and weavin and sewint. I used to wear a shin~ray and a dress in de week and a clean on~ for Sunday. In winter sometimes us have a l1 l s~cque and homem~ke calf~k1n shoes but mostly us have to stay inside iffen de weather aIn t mod rate. De only frolics I member was candy pullin s on Christmas. D~t all us niggers knc~wed bout christmas. ~ One day Miss Tilda ~it de bugg~ whip to whip my mammy. It s noontime, and dey had blowed. de horn for de field niggers to come eat. Maw grabs de whip arid says, Miss Tilda, you ain t ~wine do dat. Miss T~.da didn t say nothin for a day or two, den she say, Lucindy, you git your young uns and leave di s plac e So us goe s al clown de road. t ill us c orne t o s orne folk house and dey takes us in. Us dere bout a month wheli mammy git sick. Dem folks sends word to de Forresters dere niggers am sick and Sis Sue hitch up. de hoes and come over. She brung food for u.s every day, and say,

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~x~s1ave Stories Pace Three (Texas) Now, Lucincly, whaiyou git able you br1n~ yOur young uns on home and have yourself. My r~afli~y dies when Ps bout ten year old. n Aft er Cap t . Fo rre st er c orne b~ ck home dey t e 11 us t o wat cli aLit for de Feds. Sis Sue say dey kill nigger ~roung uns. One d~,.y 1s comin through de fields and see three men in blue coats on big bay hosse . ~ I ran, ~it dey passes me by big ~s you please. I seed plenty ~ter day, cauce dey come and asks for corn and Sis Sue allus say us don t h~.ve nou~h for de hosses, Bu.t ~at ni~ght de coen allus leave de cribs. Dem Feds was sho thievin folks. I stays with de Forresters till I~s 22 year old, and dey give inc food a:~d clothes, bat never no money. Sis Sue used to say, Come here, you I1 l old free nigger. It make rae so rn~1. But den I marries and have de swiss white dress and us walk crocs de fields to de preachers. Dat every bit of fixin us have, Den us raise crops on de half~ shares and sot up housekeepin with a bedst~ead, some oulits and a li I old st ove I has four young uns and eve~r one of dem had schoolin an schoolint and lamm .

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420112 . . . . ~1~M.SLAVI~ sTakI~s Page One t (TexaB) ~ JAMi~S WEST, ~ ~ oorn a slave t G M.i . irilli ~a Y~eet near Ripley, In Ttpp&ki Co., Mississippi. This was close to trie battJ.~ f.ugnt near Oorinth and James wt;nessed some e.~ citing events. In 1~ b James came to Texas aiLd now lives wliIi a ~iend at li.14 Hardy S~ . 7u~~ Worth, ~L~e~ae. Yes, ui~, I ~caOers de slavery d~ye aiia d.e WaX , 4~i.tse I~s oox* i:~ 18t~, o~i cte p1~it~a~o~ or Massa Wil11ai~ ~eet, in Missis sip . it weren t ~ u~, piani~ation, jus 1bGu~ 100 acres, and. Massa West owned my mw~rny and. four otner ~1avee, Buclc, S~, Rufus wia. Mary. I c~OIA~~ lclLow ILcn;LI:& bout aypappy, cause I ain t never seed. him, and. my mammy never tcld m~ nothin of him. 1A11 us cullud folks lived in cabins and they has two rooms. De bin~ks is bu~It to e wail and. has straw ticks and ~ has floors and real windows. Sain and ~ck and. Rufas urn field workers and plants cotton and sich ~nd looks after de stock. e.ometimee de work is heavy ~nd sometimes not. When lt am finish, de massa lets em go ~ or vial t or rest ~e goes to c~xrch when we want s and we has part I es with S3~a and Rufus to ~l2y de iauslc, de fiddle. and de banjo. How I wishes I C ould be b~.ck de re for one year and have lt 1 ike be t. Jus one year befo I dle~ We has a good massa in every way. Hirn gives all we can eat. 7olks don t eat like we used to, cause we had home-.cured hams, and when you pui it in your mouth, it was a treat for your taster. As fer de cletbes, massa say, ~ De terial here and if y~s don t

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Ex~a1aYe Stories Page Two (Texae) supply murselves, its yous fault. Dere never anyone what gits whippin s on iaassa ~ place, cept di s ni~er but dey only spanicin e . Y0u se e de re was 211us a b it of devilment in me. But de massa so good, we all tries to please lita extd we has no whippin s. De massa gives rae he coat ~nd d.c shoemaker makes me de harness A and cart for dat coat and when I gits him trained~ good, I has a job git tin de chips for kindlin and de wood and. I totes de water. One day I takes Billy, de goat, tcross de road. for wood ~nd it downhill from de woodpile SQ I jus rides de load. Billy was ~wine jus as nice as brous kin like, but him s~.ys B k R, nnd starts to run like a skeert b~tll . I thinks what kin be wrong with dat fool goat, when somethin 1~its me back of de ~ieck like a coal of fire, and de cart hits a rock and off I goes. To says :t s skeert am not tellin de t~tf, ~nd I starts hollerin . It was de bee stu~ng me and when I dits to de house I looks Billy ever and, sho nough, on his hip was de bee sting. Dat bee sting sho put de life in Billy. bout de War time, de plantation was near whar dey fights a battle two days and I seed lots of soldiers. Before dat, de soldiers begins to Collie to massa s house and water de hossee and eat de l~ch. Dey never did raid bis place like other places reund dore, but I hides when dey cG~eB, cause I skeert f dem. I auavers and gits skeert when I sees em. W~e is ju~s~ settin down to breakfast one a rnin and. ~. hears a big boomin . When dat start di* nigger don t eat hi s breakfast . I -2-

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~x~.e1aye Stories Page Three 152 (Texas) starts for some p1~ce to hide. I runs to on~ place, den I hears de boom, den I raus to another place . I finally cr ~w1s under de shed ~ii d. dere I st2~srs. Dey couldn t ~1t ne out and dere I stays for dat day and ni~ht and tu noon de nex day. I has no water or food. Lots of folks from Ripley ~ ~ what in2ssa knows was kilt in dat battle. ~ HEUCk and I goes to be battle~r~und a!te~r de fi~ht1n quits arid dere was heaps of dead hosses ~it day had du~ de trench and bu~ried de dead soldiers. I don ktiow about de Klux, but we use to sine a song bout de patter rollers, like dis, tTh~Ln nigger run, patter roller kotch ~rou, Run ni~er run, 1C9USC it almos day, Bat nigger r~in, dat nigger flew, Dat ni~er los his Sunday shoe. III stays with de massa after freedom ~ I s 21 year old and den I leaves and works for t runt folks . I marries in Tennessee when I ~ s 22 and we has one chile, but my wife takes him when he s five ~d leaves, and I never seen or heard of em since. I comes to Texas b~t 52 year ago. 1 has joyed talkin bout dem old days, cause talk am all I kin do since my legs have de misery so bad. **** ********

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4 ~OO1O ZX~SLAV$~ STC tIES Page One ( Texas) AD~:~INE WEITI, 90 odd yars old was born at Opeloaeaa, La%lisiana, a slave of Dr. . Bridget . She liv.. with her danghter, Lorena, in Beaumont, Texas. I, ~t5 born at Opelousas and my massa and miseis was Dr. Bridget and his wife: They ~as mean and t leT beat a and put the hounds after us. They beat the little ones and the big ones and when sassa ain t beatin hi. wife is. It am continual. My pap~y call Thomas Naville and my mamiiy delia Naville. They was born in Virginia. I had. four brothers and two sisters, all dead now, Like I 8878, old massa eho whip us and when he ihip he put us cross a barrel or chain us and. eta~c~us out with a rope. We didn t have nach to eat and not mu ch clothes, They weaTe U* clothes on the loom and asks the dress like a sack slip over the head. tr cabin wasn t so bed., i~ade of logs with cUrt tween the logs. The chiuutey sake out of ut icks and dirt and soae windows with a wooden ahnt ter and no glass in em. Mas sa give ~ e~ luaber and paint to aeke things for the house arid they have homenalce bed and table and benches to sit on. Musa ha,e the hose power cotton gin and a hose power sagar cane mill, too. Us work hard all day in the gin and the sugar cane mill and doesn t hare no parties nor tun. S~~aetiaes in the evenin1 tts git together and talk or sing low, so the white folks wc&t hear. 11 ~aeiuber going through the woods one tirne and seem somethin black cofle up fore me. It must a been a ghost. E got a boy call Henry

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Ex~*lave Storiee Pete Two (Texas) what live in Welch and be kin see ghosties all the time. Re just look back over he leV shoulder end see plenty of ~. Re Bey they has a warm heat ~ what make him sweat. Old massa didn~t go ~o the war and. his boys was too little, We jtts heered ab xtt the ~r end that it was goin to free us. In the night us would creep mit wey in the woods and haie the pra~yer meetin , pyayiL for freed~i to come~quick, We has to be cax eful for if massa find o~it he whip all of us, sho We stays nearly all night and sleeps and prays end sleeps anti preys. At las we hears freedom te on us ~ an~ massa say we are all free to go, but if we stay he pay us some. Most of us goes, for that massa em sho mean and if we doesn t bave to atey we wouldn t, not with that massa. Il We scat t ers an& t been marry twice The first ma~ was Eli :~vans in Jennings, in Louis tana and us have e ix chullen, The see orid man he Ji~mes White b~it I has no more chilien, Now I lives with my gal what called Lorena aM she make me happy. She eho good to her old mammy, what alu t auch good no more.

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i~1 )t ~ -; ~k I~i~)t~ ~ S~QRIE5 . Page One ~ ~ (Texas) ~SYLVESTER SOST~N ~~IC~1I~FE, of r~? ~Jfl~5~ Texas, ~2 born in St. I~ary s Parish, Loui~!ana, in 1354. A fre~horn Negro, ~iick1iffe tells r~n interesting story ~oout ~is life and that of his uncle, Rouiai~ie Vidrine, who was a slave...holder. ~Y1ck~ liffe has a nicely furn sh~ ~z. Lhor:~e In Beaumont, ~nd two of his children h~ve~ been to co1~- ege. I s w}vt dey call ~ fr~e b )rn nigger. Its ~ I~ne~ story how dat C O~ ~ about but I cmi t~11 you. Three Frenchmen corm to Lo~iisiana fror i ~ ranc~. In three (~enera~ tions dey mix with Indians and Negroes. Dey h1gh.~-horn Frc~nchrnen and 1cumu1at~ plenty property, Before dey die dey make greement ~rnofl~st cer~lse1ves, ~Thcn one die d~ property ~o to de other two; de last one iivin~ ~pt a~U three plantrttions aM all dat s on denD It so h~ppen ~at old rann Vidrine s ~ddy live 1on~es , so he ~it it all. But he 30 good he divide up and my daddy gits forty acres good l;~nd, ~ daddy s greatgr~dpapa was one dem first three Frenchmen. I~j~y daddy rias Mich~el and. maria was Lucy nnd dey a whole p ~.ssel chilien, Franees, ~ary, Clotilde, Astasia an~ Torn, S~miie1, G~1lbert and 1~dward. ~iy daddy was part Indian and I h~d some h~ilf broth~rs and sisters what wore blanket and talk Indinn talk. Dey ~ised to corne see daddy and set round and talk half de ni~ht nnd I nev r urL~erstan a word dey 1. Mpjn~ didn t h~v~ no Indian blood in her, but she born in Louis.~ iRna and a right purty, hrown-~skin woin~n, probably some French or Spanish in her0 .

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~x slRve Stories Pnge ~wo ~. (Texas) IL)() t~My uncle~, Romaine Vidrine, ~ son of old rimn iidrine, he have de ~i~y:est prooe~ty. H~ was a s1avehoIds~r. De~r was a nuinb~r nigge~rs in Loui~ir~n~ what owned slaves. Romaine,, he ha~re bout thi~ty~.~ei~ht. )ey was a bi~ diftence mF~ke twe~m S13VC ni~ers and owner niggers, Dey so much di~!ence as tW ~en white folks ~md culiud folks. My uncle wouldn t I ~ slave niggers to eat at de s~me tabl~-.wi4h him or with ~xiy of us free born nig~ers~ ~ olks corne down from de nath sonetirnes and mistook de slave for c~e owner or de owner for d~ slave. My unci~ r~as sich a purty, bright r~n, h~ nust of be~n a quadroon. He had long bumsides ~nd a long tail coat ~li de time. He was ver~r dignified. He was good to rJ~ he sl~ves, but when he say work, he mean work. He ain t never low none de~ ~1aves b~ f~iniliar with hirn. Hp~ old R0maine house was a oldfashion~d houses make out of cypress. Cat ever1~istin . It corne to a p ~ak on top ~nd dere was one big room what ! tln (i~ whole lengt~r In de back rnd dat d~ sleepin room for nil de li. l chi1len~ De ~rowed.up folks have si ~epin rooms, too. Dey have a cook shack outside, It r~. s~p rat~ house. tie 1ive in a purty good house not very far from ~ hig house. Dey have ~~/hat (5My calls a private school. It was kep by my uncle. Only de free born riiggers went to it. Dc older onec educated in French and de young ones in French arid nierican, too0 After de war d~y hire a white man n~~d W~illi~m Devoe to be teacher. He educate de chilien to ~e third gen1ration~ He corne to Texas with me and die bout flvefrears ago.

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~xa-slave Stories ~ Tiiree . ~ (Texas) I, When a C o~pl e want t o gi t marry on de old Romaine pi ace uncle sent for de priest from St. Martin. Dey wasn t no priest rxind Franklin or what dey call New Iberia lat,r. When I~s most a crowed boy~4e priest come baptise bout forty of us. He use de waterou~t uncle s cistern for de ceremony.. When us gojfl~ down d.c road to de baptism deyts a sqiiirrel ru~n tcr oss de road ~nd us chilien all broke and run to cotch it. Law, dat jus bout s.ca~ my ~ld godmother to death. She took so mu.ch pain dat us ail nice and. clean and fraid. us git dirty. Her name was Nana Rpjnon Boutet and she live here in Ames settlcment for many year. Us laugh man.y time 1bout dat squirrel., Dey used to call us de free Mulattoes from cross de bayou. De neares~ town was Pattersonville and it five mile away. Now dey calls de settlement Vidrinville for olcd. man Romaine Vidrine De plentation suppor a grist mill and a raw sugar mill. Dey make de sugar dark, big grain, tcause dey aintt no finery in dein dRys. Dey put de s~ug~r in big five hunerd. pound hogahead arid take it by boat down de ~eche to New Orleans and sell it. Dey use de money to buy coffee and. cotton, Us didn t raise cotton. I never see no cotton till t8 a bi~. boy and C orne t o sort LaF~yet te. De grist mill was built wa~ fi ~ de house, Dey have a long lever what stand out ..de side and hitch hosses with. a rawhide belt to make de mill turn., Us folks,aIl.~ aise .rice~ Not likenow, Lawdy, no. Dey jes .plAnt,z ice in rows like corn ~zd .. cultivate it like an~r other crop, Dey wasn t no irrigatioli &it~h. ~&fter~dez jce,harves dey,pttt it :~ a mortar make ~ t .a. ~v~~sI9g O~ ~O~ IC, ELZ4 pP~d~ ~ ~ ~ wtth,,~4ep~stle, ~ . . ... .. ~ . .. . ~ ~ ~ ~. ~. :.

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~x.~~slave Stories Page Four ( Tgxas) . ~Evey~7 fall u.s go huntin1 deer round Chicimachi L&~ce. Dey cells lt Grand Lake now, but de reg lar Indian name am Chicimachi, Dere was a tribe 0 ~ Indians by dat name. Dey wasn t copper skin, but more yaller like. when war commence lt purt~r hard. on folks. Us se~ soldiers comint cross de bayou in blue suits. Dey raid de sugar mill a~id take de livestock 4~uid foods tuff on de Punrphrey place . Dey have a ~ awful bat tie five mile away. Dat at Cai ~ BeesiRnd, on de Teche. Dat a aw al battles My brother go dem next dc~y ~fld see soldiers standlnt up dead gai~st trees with dey bay nets still sot. De Confed rates come and took all de slaves to build de fort at Alexandria. when dey come to de R*naine place dey see niggers, arid ain t know which free and which slaves. Dey line my tiaddy up with deothers, but a white man from town say, Dat a good, old man. He part Indian and he free. He a good citizen. He ain t stpose do.w6rk 111cc dat.1 So dey didn t ta~ce him. De Yankees damage de Romaine property siderable. Dey take a whole year crap o ~ sugar and corn and hosses. Afterwards dey pass a law and de govtment low money for dat. It ~as b~t tw iit~ year before dey git de ~noney, but dey 1~lt it. Romatne and he heirs git $30,000 for dem damages. After war over, old. man Romaine tell he slaves dey free now. But he say, You is most born right here and iffen you is bright you stay right here. Dey all did. sta~y. Bu~t dey ain t never git to jine with de free-born. Dey still make a diftence, 1*.fter freedom I old. to lam a trade. I prentice myself to de black~ smith tre4e for cl othes and board. I lam all I ~U lfl three year an~ uit and

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Ex-slave Stories Pate Five ~ 19 (Pace Five) t open a shop on Bayou Torti tween St Mart in and Lafayet te. I charge $2.00 for to shoe a hoss ~l1 de way round. Den I beat plows, build two wheel bu~y and haek~ I make sweepstocks ~ nci G~arrett and. Cottman plow. Dat after de time of de wood mould boards. I make mine with metals Is I C OIflC t O Texas ~n 1890, to Lib rty, and been ri~ht round dere and Aines for forty~.seven year. I start me a gin and blacksmith shop when I first come. I marry in Houston to ~pheme Pradia, tnother fre~.horn nigger, and. I still marry to her after Thrty.~even year. Dat a good ~ long hitch. We have s even chi 11 en, all livin One gal went to de Catholic church school in Gal-P veston. One boy go to PradeaixUnivemity in New.OrIeans. Dey two blacksmith, one farmer, one good auto m chanic and de three gats keeps house, 091 member lots of son~ us sire in French. but I can t give tmerican for dem. I know de song, L~u~ii~r~. I try t O translate One song f(r yO~L M~.ster of de house OElve me meat without salt; When de strai~ger come, He cive ~e roast chicken. ~ s,..

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420084 EL~sLAv:~1 sTo~zi~s Page O~e (Texas) DAPH~~ WI~LIA~S was born in Ta1ie1tasse~, Florida, ~ slave to Mrs. Nancy Herring, Daphne does not know her exact age, but must be close to or over 100. Sue claims to have wit-. nessed the fall o the stars in 1833. She lives in Beau-. mont, Texas. Hhi~ ~wnl t be long fore I s sleeping the long sleep. I ~~xpect I~s about the moB agreeahles ~erson in the county, cause Its so old. I s born in Tallahassee, in Florida, bu.t I ci~n know when. Th~ Herrings used. to own roe and. I took their naine. Mi~sus n~ne was 1~ancy Herring ~nd the marster was still Rilve when I~s born, but he die when l s a baby. I gtiess l s about 10 or 12 year old when us c me to Texas, Dat place where I s born w~s sno a plsce~ They have a three-.story house with a porch at the front and axiother at the back. They was posties whvt stand. ~rom one porch floor to the nex and brace it up. I used. to live in the big house, cause l s nuss for the white chilien. I ~1idn sti~y rund with cullu~d folks a tall, ~Tlio missus was a widow woman ever since I 1member her, She have two boy and three gal, and that sho was a lovely house. They have they ownself painted in pictures on the walls jus as big as they is~ They have them in big france like gol~L And they have big mirrors froi ~i the floor to the ceilin . You could see you ownself walk in them, .1.,

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Ex~.s1ave Stories P~sge Two . 161 (Texas) My ruotner was naa~d Millie an~ my dathly named Daniel. I don know how r~xiy ni~gers missus have on the p1~ntation. I was never lowed to p1~y with the cullud chilien, but I have two brothers n~m~d Abr~jn and H~xidy ~nd I seed tli~rn sometimes. I took care of the white chi11~n and took tem to church. If en baby ~1t to cryin I walked rounct with hie, but you better be careful not to let th~ briar scratch him or he git a scar on tii.in and then they gwinter put a scar on you. ltTney glve me pretty clothes to wear and make rn~ k~p c1~.n and expectable. T wore homespun and gingham dresses, just cut straight down. They didn bave no sewin ~chine. They have a woman to cut out and sew and she do that ~11 day long. ~My white folks have nighty nice company. M~r missus up on the top. They have nice, fine, intelligen dishes and t9ble cloth. They give us holiday on Christmas and somet unes a whrle week. They treat the white chilien and black chilien all good and give ~em whippin iffen the~r needs it. When there s disturbance, missus holler, You. all chilien, come in here to me, end whtp us all, then sh~ know shc whip the right ones I seed thestars fall. G~od give me e~ good. eyesight. The sun wa~ shinin and it was plain dayi Ight and. tn~ star s fall jus 1 i1c~ hail, oi1ly they never fell all the w~y t O the groun . Th4~y fall so far arid then they stop a~d go out. They stay up in the element all the time. l4issus sent for the niggers to come up to the house and. pray. All that time the stars was a~comin through thi element. All the darkies, little ~nd big was a...preyin Ofl their kn, cause they thing the j edgment COme then, ~

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Pace Three E~s1ave Stories (Texas) JL~L) Before us move fran Florld.a us git rims us goocts for clothes from North arid South Carolina. The w~y commence in North Caroline to the good of my recollection. That was six month or ~ year after us lef Florida, They was a-~tryin to smuggle lt down then, Then the rnissus cided come to Texas s~ae sent the niggers on ahead and they (~.one iae~ke two crops fore us git there. The place was five mile from ~Yoodville . ?1e corne o Te xas in ~ boat what s big as a house When the boat ~it there I was ~O ~cited when I seed. all the pretty trees. I neverinever used. to trees, cause from where us come was jus pr~lrIe laM far s you kin see. No tree round Tallahassee and no hill. My inotxier was cook ~nd when s ie like to clic one time they starts breakin inc in to do the cookin . Then when she die I was cook arid been doing that two, three year when freedom come. tl~Cfl they toit us fr~dom come us thought they was . Ii~y uncle say w~ s free and t o go ~nd look o~it for number one ~ They let us stay awhile, but they lowanceci us. Iffen us sp~n the lowence us jus had. to go ru.stie up something to eat or do without. My dad~dy was a wic~ow man by then and he stay, c~)~tSe he s~y he went to see further into the subjec . One time I gwineter see my father ~uid had my baby in my arms, cause I done m8rried. I was gwine through the wilderness and. I heared something syuall like a woman c ~i. I gin walk faster. The squAll coins again. Something say t o in~ ~ You bett er run. ~ The hair commence stand on ray head and I walk pretty peart. That squall cane again and I rtrn fastes I knows how. I have that poor little b~y carried any way. -3-

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Ex slave Stories Page ~Four~ (Texas) ~ 3 Then I get to the fence I jump over and sot down, Th~ chilien come running and say, ~ Daphne. I They help me mt o trie house but ~ s so scart I e~ulcmn tell em till near bedtirn~ and~ then I say I flt~ar squall like woman cryi-n . Mister G~olsb~e say, D~phn~, mt~ce soun~ like you. hear, ~nd I makes a squall, ~nd he stay, Tnrt a panther and itfen he kotclied. you that would have been the ~nd of you arid that baby oi yourn what you was tot in So bout four o clock 1~ that mornin he ~its bout fourteen neighbors and th~ ~awgS and they hunts that rascal ~nd runs him in tbotit 8 or 10 o clock. span ox mules couldn pull that rascal, I don lieve. He have tne big.~ ~:est tusries I ever seed with these two eyes. They pu~t him in a pot and bile ki~m and make soap out of th~ grease That pantrier iidn git r~ or my bab~r but the~y got hi~ii ne m ~de soap ou.t of him.

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I )~ ~ ifl( M ~ ~ .~L Zx~.SLAvE 8TOR1~S pas, On ~ g~ r (Texas) . ~H3BA~IO L WILLIAM known eji ~ Rash0 to his friends, ts~83 years ofl. He was a slav. it Woodruff Norseworthy, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Horatio has lived in Ja~iper, Texas, for asny years. Ist was born tri slavery in Pine B1Uft in de state of Arkansas, on July 2, l~54, and dey t~lli me dat aa~cs me ~bout 84 years old, Wooth uff Norseworthy was a~ owner and. boss all ds ttae I a slave. lt aar~y in 18Th and I lost ~v wife two year ago, and when a ami looses a gOod woa~i he loses s~.thi&. Us had 1Z chtl ~, but only two of ~1ea alive now. My boss aan was aean to he nigger. and I aeziber crawlin1 down tbrou~h de woods and listenin one time when he beat a nigger. :gy.ry time he hit him he pray. Boss have 15 slaves ~nd I r.~ll.ct on. tine he gwine beat ~v mother. She run to de kitchen ~nd juap behin de door and. cover herself up in de big pile of dirty clothes. Dey never think to look ftr her there end she stay ther all day. Thit d1. next &t~y dey cotch her and whip her. L~ wh4; ruins aw~,, dey git. bloodhounds after tea. Dey cluab de tree when dey heered dem hoande ooain~ b~zt de aassa aake den git down and dey shoot &~ iffen dey didn t. ehen d.y gits down de doge .luape all over deja and would tear dea to pieces, bttt d. aassa b~&t. deja off, DOnc. de boss has coapany and one o~:Lr nigg re sleeps on d porch outside de coapaay s rood, and in de nigbt he slip in dat roua ~nd thiefed de fine, whits shirt at~t de suitcase and wears it ?~d d.s next aorni~ . 1~1~

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~zwilaVS St i iis Page Two iI 5 (Texas) -; s Cours. he couldn t r.ad and he am t know di wgttt~ at haYe he name on dat shirt. When de boss find it ~tt he takes dat nigger down in de bottosi and I crawle tbXO~Igh di bresh and watches. Dey tu h, foote togsth~:r over di limb and let he head hang down and beat him till de blood run down on di roots of dat tree. ehen dey t&ces him down h. back look like raw meat aM he nearly die. Sonistime whest de nigger w~~t mind dey puts d chain to one foot and a ball on it bimt big as a nigger s head0 and he havi to drag it down ~th him whe eter he go. My whits folks aov.d to ~str~ in Louisiana and den t Tisas and brung me with them. When us work in do field us hays de cook what put us food on big trays end carry it to d. fi.ld, den we etop and ist it under Shads o~f a tree, if dey ax~ . Dey givs us bread and meat and syr~~p for dinner and us has bacon long as it las~ nTh~ I s frei I rents land and crops round, after I gits marry. Bsfo dat, I was hers, den and y tder, for my board and clothes and fa~u~ bite de day. I give all my chilien de sddtcation1 l astwiss dey all kin read and write and dat s what I cain t do. III longs to de M.th dist cimreh end t don t wtndestan some d.gi other churches very well. Seems strange to me dat at dis late time &e~hs tryin find new w~ye of gittin to Ee&~n.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 172 166

4~2()()()(~ . :Ex~sLAv:~ s~raai~s ~ One -~ ~ (Texas) LOU WILLIAMS, said. to be the oldest citizen of San Angel , Texas, was born In suthern Maryland in 1829. She and her family were slaves f Abrai* and Kitty Williams, of that sectien, and Leu served ae nursemaid t~ her aaster e children from the age of eight until after the Civil War. She then went t o Lu1 s lana where she worked as a coik for sever-S al years before coming te San Angel., She is very active for her lO8 years and is a familiar figure abs~it town, with her crutch. l s have de bee white folks in Maryland. I s bora in a three..rsom frame hause and I had me of them statements(birth certif~~ icates). When I five years old zriy old missy ehe say, Dat gal, she sho am gwine be dependable and I make s nursemaid out of her. When I eight years old she trust8 me with dem white chillei. I loves to fish so well I d take de li 1 chilien t o de creek and take off my underskirt and spread it sut on de bi~k and put de chilien on it while I sho cotch de fish, Massa, he start le~kint f& tr me and when he gits to de creek, he say, Dar s de li~ I devil. t He know dem chilien safe, so he jus laugh. 11 de fall massa puts us nigger chilien on de bale of cotton and takes us to town ~nd gives us money to buy candy and dells with. We allus had good food and lots of fish and rabbits and possums, but when iiy missy see dem possums carryin de bab~r posouins round she fall out with poseuni and she say, No more possum bein cooked round here. When I jes a 11~1 gal I seed de stars fall and when every th1n~ got dark like and dem bright stare begin to fall we ~ll start rwi~tin and. hollerin te sur missy and she say, Chilien, do~ t git

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Sx slave Stories Page Tws (Texas) undc~r ay coat g t .~ your knees axtd st art ayi and when we begins to prayde Lawd he sends a shower of rain and puts out dem stars r de whole wofid would a been burned up, ~ When $assa take us t o town he ss~ he wa~it us to see h~w de mean slave owners raffles off de fathers and de busban s and de mothers and de N wives arid de chilien, He t~ces us round to de big platform and a white man git up dere with de slave and start hollerin for bids, and de Liave stands dere jes piti~u1 like, and when somebody b~.ty de slave all de folks starts ysilin and a cryin . Dem sho was bad times. Our massa wouldn t do his niggers dat way and we loved him for it, toot We had big gardens and lots of vegetables to eat, 1~ause massa had bcnit eight lmndred slaves and bout a thousand acres in he plantation. ~ summer time we wore jes straight cotton slips and no ahoes till Su.ndsy, den we puts on shoes end white dresses and ties a ribbon around our waists, ~nd we didn t look like de same chilien. Dere a big arbor for de whites to go to church and we goes, too. Then we starts down d~ road to church~ our mia~a, she start sayin things to make us be quiet. We pass de graveyard and she say, tSee dat spirit runnin long here with us?~ When we gits dere we hardly movea, NI could jin., if we wants to. My aema, she Black Cr~ek Indian and none of dem white folks wants her When massa buys ~y daddy e~d us chilien we had done been sold w~y from her and we cry and she cry, and. den she follow us to our plantation and cry and beg ~r massa let her ste . Ha 857, She ain~t no good but put her in de ho~ise and lit her do sotie patchin and mendia . Mama,

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J:~-~1aY Stories Page Thi .. 168 (Tsxa~) she cry and say, Thank God, Thank God.L Ils git to be with ay husb& and li l chilien. Skie ~a~e de good epizmer and weaver and old aisay, she say she couldn t do without her, ~cause she spin cotton cloth for s~rner ~ai~d woo1~i cloth for wizater. Niggers ~ t have i*w~h n s but when massa find dem talcin ttp he tells everybody to dress in white and de two what was taki~ up together has to march up and dowit till de big supper comes off. Dey was maxi and wife den, but me, I s d.iff rent. X s had a spectable weddin , I cause missy, she say I~, s her nursemaid. De preacher he reads and I s all dressed in white clothes and sech a supper we n~r~er had. befo . All de slaves wasfl~t SO lucky as we was, though. We lives close to de meanest owner in de c~intry. Our massa wouldn t keep no overseer, tcaus. he say his niggers wasn t dogs, but dis other man he keeps overseers to be~ de niggers and he has de big leather bullwhip with lead In de end, and he beats some slaves to death. We heared dem holler and holler t ill dey c ~ldn t holler no ino Den dey jes aorta grunt every lick till dey die. We finds big stret~ms of blood where he has whopped doe and wh n it rained de whol e t op of de ground j es looks 1 ike a ri ver of blood dere, Sometime he bury be niggers and sometime de law come out and make him bury dem. He put dem in chains and stockades and sometimes he would buck and g~g dem. We seed he niggers goin by our plantation with de oven on de heads r~ind three o clock In de mornln on de w~y to de fields. Dese ovens made of wood and tin over de tin cup dat fit de slaves heads. ~5 h nigger

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~x 81aYe Stories Thg. Pour (Texas) have he bread and some old hairy bone me~~t a-~cook1nt With fire coala In dese o~eus. Dey made nc~t to burn de head snd when dey gits to de fields dey sets dez~ down tc~ finish cookin while dey works till break.. fast t iIQe. De mamas what e~xpectin babies was whopped to ms~ke d~ work faster and when babies was si ck dey hR.s to put dem In de basket on top dere heath~ and take dem t o de cotton patch, and put dein under de cot-P t on at aiks and try t o tend t o dem. Lawd Lawd dem was awful times, end I sho is glad I has good white folks. Some dat man 8 aiggere allus ninnin ti~~y and dey sets de nigger dogs on dem and ctch dem moe ti~ s. Den dey treat ~a so bad dey wouldn t never want to r~m aw~ no more. I ~e allus git s Saturday even in off t o wash our do thea and. sometime we has dances Saturd~ night. I has two brothers, Jia end. ftlliaii and Wi1liai~ git kilt In de wsar. My two sisters named Relia and Laura. We ha~ corn shucki~ s and big suppers and on Christmas our massa ~A1~S us de present, most tiiiea shoes, cause we did.n t have any shoes. When de white fo ks dies or gits married everybody shoe carries on big. When we sicic dey gives us anakeroot tea a*d c~,ile ~ end saie tea and if we s bad si ck, dey git s de doct or Mis sy, she n~ks hog hoof tea, jes bile de ho~ofe in good whiskey fcr de cold. Den sh put camphor ball and aaafoet~da round our necks to keep off diseases. Then de war ends we sees a white man ~O.jfl~ down de road on a hose and de road full of niggers followin lita, singin and shoutia and. prayin I stays with aessa t ill he di. then I marries and has one Chile and one grartdchil., and I ltYSS With her.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 176 170

1 )fll ) ) ~I-f~, ~J L~ ~t ~ EL.SLAVE STORIES Page One 1~() (Texas) MILLIE WILLIAMS, 86, lives at 1612 E. B ourth St., Port Worth, X. She was born a slave to Joe Benford, In Tennessee, was sold. to Bill Thmn, who brought her to Texas and traded her to Toini~y :aalis for some 1~rnd. She has lived In F n t worth since the 1870 s. IiI don t ~ow when I was born, ~ I was taken from my folks when I was a baby, but massa teld rae I was born in de spring of d.e year, in 1851. I know I been in dis world a 1on~ tir~e, but I has have good white folks. I was born on Massa Benford s place in Tenn~ essee and my ru~rna s n~Le was Martha Birdon. She say i~y pappyt s name ~~i1ton ~1ade, but I never seed him. And I didn t know my i~ama a long time, cause ehe s sold awRy from Massa Benford s place, and I was sold. with her, den he took me back, and I never seed my mama no mOt. After I was sold back to Massa Benford, he puts me in de nigger yard. Dat whar de mas sa kep slaves what he t raded. It was jus a bu~nch of shacks throwed together and dirty was no name for it, it was worse than a pig pen. De man what watci~ over us in dat nigger yard was de meanest man what ever lived. He d take a club and beat d.c day1i~ht out of us, c~use de club wouldn t leave scars like de bullwhip, arid didn t bring de price down when we is sold. One day Massa Benford takes us to town and puts uj on dat auction b1oc~c and a m~~n name Bill Duzin bought me. I !as bout seven years old . Tal ~Lin bout someth in awful ~ ~rOu should have be en dere Dc s1~Ne owners was shoutin ~nd scum chilien to one m~ and. de mama and pap~rto noth~r. De slaves cries and takes en somethin aw u1. If a woman had lots of chill en she was sold for mo cause it a sign she a good. breeder.

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~.x~s1aVe Stories ~ (Texas) Right after I was sold to Massa ~nn, dere was a b1~ up-risln in Tennessee ~md lt was bout de Union, but I don t know what lt was all about but dey wanted Massa Dann to take some kind of a oath, and he wouldn t do it and he had to leave Tennessee. He said dey would take de slaves way from him, so he brought me and Saille &rmstrong to Pex~.s. Dere he trades us to Tommy Ellis for same land and dat Massa ~llis, he de best white man what ever lived, He was so good to us we was better off d~n when we s free. 1~n~ssa ~ plant~ tion was one of de b1~es , and he owned 1r~.nd as f~r ~s we could see. Dere was bout 50 slaves and. we lived in a row 3f lOk~ cabins long side de bi~ house. In winter we sleeps inside but in summer we sleeps in de yard and de same ~ bout eat in . Somet tines masse fed good and den gain he didn t, but dat cause of de War. We has cornbread and milk and ~Il de coffee yc a would drink. On Sundays we fills de pot half full of meat and shell peas on top de meat. It ~ 1rn,ember de tinie we steals one of massat s bi~ chickens and its in de pot in de fireplace when we seedmissy coinin . I ~rab~ dat chicken and pot and puts it under de bed and puts de bedclothes top dat pot. Missy, she co:ie in and say, I sho do smell sornethin good. I say, Whar, Missy Ellis? She don t find nothin so she leaves, When t8 cone I t akes dat chicken and we eat s I t in a ~rry. De overseer woke em up ~ four in de mornin but I works in de house. De field workers gits off Thursdays and Saturday evex~in s and Sunday. De reason dey gite a~f Thursday is dat de massa has some kind of thought we shouldn t work dat day. Maybe it was ligion, I -2-

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Ex-~s1ave Stories Paie Three (Texas) don t know, We h~.s parties and sings Massa sleeps in de feather bed, Nigger sleeps on de floor; ffhen we uns ~its to Heaven, Dev ll be no slaves no mo . Den we nas de song bout dis: R~bbit in de briar patch, Squirrel in de tree, Wish I could go huntin , But I am t free. Rooster s in de henhouEe, Hen s in de patch, Love to ~o shootin , J3iit I ain t free. when de ni~er leaves de plantation without no pass, and de padoer rollers kotched him, dey cives him 39 licks with de bullwhip. ~.hen we 8 ifl de fields and sees de padder roller ride by, we starts inurinerin out loud, Patter de pat, patter de pet. One after nother took it up and purty soon everybody murmerin . e allus do dat to let every body know de padder roll er round . Den we sing songs bout em, t )O. s ~ien ~7ar start de re a army c~ui p jus bel ow de plantati on, ~nd bout ~ thousand soldiers. ~e he~irs em shout, Ha1t~ march, halt, xv~rch, Edl day long;. Dey sung Lincoln s not satisfied, He wants to ficht ~ain, Ail he ~ot to do, Is hustle up his men. I stays with Massa :~llis after we s freed. Dere sho was a In ighty party s ight when de slaves knows s e. Dey hag one no the r

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Ex~slave Stories Page Pour j7 ~ (Texas).. - and aimas tear dere clGthes off. Some cryin for de msb~n , and some cryin for de chilien. t ~ hen I was bou.t 20 I leV ~ home ~nd moves to Dallas, whar I marries my first ni~n. His n~e was Bjil Jackson. He lef me and goes back to Dallas md I hear he die, so I marry Will Tllliams arid he dies. i;ovi I been here since de Lawd know when.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 180 174

4 ~()i 40 EX~SLAY~ STORIES Page One 1~4 (Texas ) ROSE IILLId&MS te ovsr 90. She was oined~ by WiUlam Black, a trader whoee plantation lay 1* Bell County, Texas. Rose and her parents were sold in 1860 t. Hall Hawkins, o~ Bel . County. Rose was forced to mate with a slave named Rithie when she was about sixteen, and had two chi1-~ d~ren by hia, one born after Rose was freed. She forced Rufus to leave her and never married. l or the That ten years Rose has been blind. She lives at 1126 Hai~ tf3n St., Port Worth, Texas. what :i: s~, am de facts. If X s one dey old., I . way sver 90, and I . born in Boll Cowity, right here in Texas, arid a~ owned by Massa Iilliaa Black, Ke owns aaaay and. peppy, t.. Massa Bla* has a big plaatatt.a but he has more niggers dan he need for work 0* dat place, cause he aa a. nig-~ ger trader. He trade and. buy and sell all de tine. Wassa Black awfal cruel and he ~h1p d~e eullud felke and wozics ~en h~i and feed d~ pearly. We~um~ hare fer rations de corameal and ailk and lasses and some beans and peas and meat once a week. We~uns have te work in de field every day from daylight till dar~c and. on ~Lnd.ay wetuns do us washin ~ . Church? Shucks wet uns t knew w~iat dat mean. I has de correct mom randua 3f whea de war start~~ Massa Black sold. we1uns right den. Mammy and pappy powert~l glad t git asid, aM dey and. 3~ is put on de blick with beut tea ether niggers. When wetuna gits t, de tradi& blick, den lots of white f lks dcre what cime t. look us over. One man shows de lat ~ in pappy. Kim named Hawkins He talk to p~py and pappy talk ti him and say, Dem my weaan and chiles. Please buy all of us and hare mercy on we 1une. Massa Haikins say, ~ Dat gal -.1-.

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E~...lave Stories Two (Texas) a likely lookin nigger, she am portly and. strong, but three am more dan I wants, I guesses. De sale start and fore long pappy am put cii de block. Massa Hawkins wine de bid. for pappy and when mammy am put on de block, he wins de bid for her. I~n dez e ~m three or four other niggers sold befo my time ~ comes. Den massa Black calls me to de blick and. de a~icti on man say, What am I offer for die portly~ strong young wench. She s never been bus cd. and will majce de good breeder. I wants to hear Massa Haikins bid, but him say nothin . ~wo ther men aj~i b din gainst each other and I has de worx~ment . Dore am tears cc*uin down my cheeks ~ I~a bein sold to some man dat would make sep ration from my mammy. One man bids $500aid de auction man ask, D. I hear more? She am gwine at $500.00. Den someone say~, $525.00 and de auction wan say, She am sold for $525.00 to Massa Hawkins. Am I glad. and citedL ~ihy, l s quiverin all over. Massa Hawkins takes wetuns to his place and it am a nice planta- tio~. Lots better dat place dan Massa Black s. Dere is about 50 niggers what is growed and lots of chillen. De first thing massa do when we~uns gits home am give we uns rations and a cabin. You muse believe dis nigger when I says dem rations a feast for us. Dere plenty meat and tea and coffee and white flour, I s never tasted white flour and coffee and mammy fix some bis.. Cuits and. coffee. Well, de biscuits was yum, yua. jun tc me, but de coffee I doe~~ t like. De quart ers am purty good. ~re am twelve cab ins all made fr ~ lOgs and a table and some benches and bunks for sleepin and a fireplace

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17G E1x-slaV~ Stories (Page Three) (Texas) for cookin and de heat, Dore ~m no l or, jus de gr und. MassaRa*ins am good to he nigger. and ntt force em work toi hard. Dere ~m as m~ich diff ence tween hirn and old Massa Black in de wi~ of treat;ent as twixt de Lawd and de devil. Massa Hawkins ~ lows he nigger s have reaeon ble parties and go fishin , but we uns am neyer tsoken t~ church and has no books for lamm . Dore am no edumcation for de nigger s. U ~r C 8~ ~ne thing Massa Havu1cins does to me what I can t shunt from my aind. I knows he don t do it for meanness, but I aflus holds it gainet him. ~Vhat he done am force me to live with dat nigger, Rufus, gainat ny wants. tI~4fter I been at he place bout a year, de massa come to me and ~ ~ TOLL gwine live with B~tfus In dat cabin over yonder. Go fix it for i I s bout sixteen year old and has no lamm and I~ s igno mus chile. I~s thought dat him mean for me to tend de cabin for Rufus and some other niggers. Well, dat am start de pe~i~ation for me. 11 ~ ~ ~ ~ ok charge of de cabin after work am done and fixes ~ippor. Now, I don t like dat Thifi-ts, 1CaUSS he a bully. He am big and cause he so, he think everybody do what hiss say. We wie has supper, den I goes here and dere talkin , till I s ready for sleep and den I gits in de bunk. After I . in, dat nigger come and. crawl in de bunk with me a fore I knows it. I says, a That you means you fool ~ He say for me t O hush de mouth. Dis an ~y bunk, t o,~ he say. Yau~ s teched in de head. Git out, I s told him, and I puts de feet gainit him and give him a shove and out he go on de floor fers he ~ow .03..

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~x-81&V Stories Page Four 177 (Texas) wh9.t I e d . Dat nigger jump up and he mad. He isok 1 ike d. wild boar. Ee Btarte for de bu~ik and I jumps quick ter de poker. It am boi.tt three foot len1!; p~d when h. comee at me I lets him have it over d.c head. Did dat nigger stop in he tracks? I e eay he did.. He 1~oks p.t ma. steady for a jni~ute and vo~t a could tell he thinking hard. Den he gs and. set on de boich and say, Jus wait. Thu thinks it ~m saart, but you s aa foolish in de head. Dey e gwine lam you s orne thu . ft Rush yOUB b ig mouth and st ~ way from dis nigger dat all I wants, I say, and j~s~ sets and hold dat poker in de hand. He jus sets lookin like de bull. Dere wet~uns s ts and sets for bout an ho~ir and den he go out and I bare de door. De next da~r I goes to de missy and tells her what Riiftte wante and missy say dat am de massa s wishes. She Bey, I~~3 ~ ~ portly gal ~nd Rufus em de portly man. De mas sa waflt S yOW~UflS for t. briig f0 rth portly chilien. I s thinkin bout what de missy say, but say to ayse f, I s not gwine live with dat Bufus. Dat ni ~it when him come in de cabin, I grabs de piker and sits on de bench and says Git way froid me, nigger, fore I busts yous brains out and etotnp n dem. He say nothin and git fine ~ day de massa call me arid tell me, Wom~gi, l s pay big fl1O~ey for y~ and. I s done dat for de Canse I wants yU5 to raise me ohil~ lens. I , s put y~ous t o live with Rufus for dat purpose. Now, if you doesn t want whippini at de stake y,us d.. what I wants. -.4..

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~_~1aye Stii iee Page Five 1 thinks baut massa r ayin me iffen de block and savin me frein bein sep ratec from my folks and bout bein whipped at de Btake. Den it ani. What ~m !tm to do? So I cidee to do as de massa~w1sh and so I y~e1~s. When wetuns am given freedom, Massa Hawkins tells us we c~n stay arid work for wages or share crap de land. Some stays and some goes. My folks e;rtcl me stays . We works de land on shares for three y,ars den moved t~ other laid near by. I stays with my fe .ks till they dies. 11f my mem randum am correct, it am bout thirty year 8ince I come to :~1ort Worth~, Here I cooks for white folks till I goes blind bout ten year ago. I, ~ never marries cause one eperience an nough for dis figgez . After what I does for de massa, I s never wants no truck with any man. De Lawd forgive dis cullud w~nan, but he have to scuse ~e and look for so~ne others for to plenish de earth.

Ex-slave autobiography. 185 179

4 2()( )23 For II~Slave Volume Pag(~ one EX.-SL~V~ STORIES ( T~x~.s) ~ ~ ~ Ir: ~ T~1(VD T t (~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~3TEVE VTIUI~~. W~s born ~i ~1~ve o ~ the Bennett ~amiLy i~n 185b. Th~y were re~ide~ts o~ QoIi~d County, vexas and owners ui~ only a szn~Ll bunch of si~tves. ne and the other slaves were cirivexi away hurriedLy after the soldiers had threatened the sl&ve owners ~or not having turned the slaves loose as soon after era~ncipatiofl as they should have. Steve worked around his old home ~or his vict als and clothes ~ ~ew years, then dr1i~ted about the ooutitry as a 1~arra hand, finally land~ i~g iii. San n~jelo, vexas where he worked for ~twhile as cook at a barbecue stand. He now lives alone in the b~ok yard ~o ~ iais nieae and ~s hardly able to get in ~nd ouSt oC hi~ small cabin on his crutches. Steve relates the story of his li ~e ~ts f~o.Uows: I w5~sntt very big when I was a slave. ~ct is, we was ~9

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Page two e aet free sore I was bi~ enoti~h to ~emembei~ much about how dey does but l s hear my mother tells bout dem Louisiana slave holders, dem what had dem drivera. ~ow dey was aho rough an dem. i~y mother ~s xianie waa . Char~Lotte Will Lani~ and my father. he was name BU1 a~id dey be1o~ to de T(tlliama de~e~ you see, and was sold to M~r. Bennett and brou~ght to Goliad Dats how come I s n~tned Tv Ulianis and rey marater named Bennett. our Little log huts was i~~it up round in de back yard and our beds was houie- niade~ jea kind o~ ~1ank. scaffolds like. Our beddth wasn t too good, jea Lair oat-. toil beds. 01e marstez~ s folks dey have bi~ eather beds and a nice log house. ni neyer seen anymoney when I was a boy to mount to anything and for a ions time after dat war I ~iever aeen too much. ~ We had pretty good to eat such as vegetables from de boa&s garden and plenty o~ ~11 kinds of meats. 5ome o ~ de colored folks likes poaau~ de best. but I always likes coon. 3es bile him~ den b~e hirn good and brown and amt no pos sum can come ti~ wid dat. We had good home- apwa olothes and some ~im~es we have shoes. I~I never aid see a~o e of de slaves sold but I hear my mother teils tbout how horrible iat was. I didn learn much readin and writin oauae no body never teach me none. we goes to camp a~ieetth after de war but not. muoh~ ~ den dat was de white ol.ka meettii .

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Page three ~ 181 On Christmas we u~suaiiy have a shoat and cakes and lots uf iddliri and daxicin . Slaves c~idn have no weddin s. De boss he ~es ptr~s deni in ~ cabin u~d ~ive~ uem a wire ~ dey ~11 calls dat married. Pact is,ciey jest wasn so rxnioh ~~rryin done rnong de colored. When we hear ~ve w~ rree we hear it roni some o ~ ue other slaves ~nd we wa~ iield ion~er den some in ue north, but one day ~~ar 1~oes comes from town ~nd he say to his wii~e, Lie say, Dem soldiers aa~r iffen we don t ~it dem ni~g~ers way from here ~ey goth corne ouSt here and sweeps us ou~ ci~ c~e or~&d1e, ~tHe sho got busy den. He comes out and lie say, Tyou ~I1 ~1t, I mean ~it front iere . so we ~jes se~tter~ round, here and yonder, not kno~vin zactly wimt to da. Some ~f us works on one i~ax m ~r~U sonie on another ~or ~ .Little oo n or some c1othe~ or rood.. ii thally I woi~ Tound ~ti1 I conies to San ~tnge1o, Texas ~ I cooke barbecue ~ror a long time tu I jes finally ore~k~ ciown~ ~Tow I dont try to uo nothin but jes hobble roand ~ jittle un my oie crutchesrr.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 188 182

A~ *)(\a~~) ~ ~ ZL.SLATB: s~roniis Page Gne (Texa.) VATMAN ELLIAMS doeg not kn~ his age, bi~tt he was a small boy when the la veg were freed. He was born in Missi.sippi, but the flrat place he remeibera is the S~nama planta-. tion in the Trtnlty river, in Texae. He now livei on North Falls St., In Mart, ~ex~s~ ~1 ~ ~ one of four chilien of Calvin and Julia Ililtams ~f de state of MissiBsippi, when they was first married, fore they come to Texas. But de ear .i,. ~1ectjon I baa, was livin on a plantation be-. lorigin to a Mr. Sanema. It was on de TrInity river, right down in de bottoms. My folks stayed on dore after freedom and I lived with dem till I was neaz ly growed. Dere maesa give dem supplies amt let dem work a piece of land. and they give him half de crop. I member times us go Imntin and. kill most i~iything we want, Wild turkeys and Wild hawgs and deer. My father used te go oat and kill deer and riot git sit of sight of de ho~ise. Livin was ea8ier dan now, for we had all dem things wi tho~t in t o 1x~y den I iiember de bear hunts. We had great big, brindle dog for de bearv and. dey surreun him and. atand him at bay till de men come and. kill him, A man by name of Th~rton 1 ived near us and one day he sent one he boys to town on a little race hoes. On de way home dat boy croaiin de river bottia and a panther git after him, and he race he hose and outrun d&t panther. He jump off de hose and run in de house and lock de doer. D. panther try~ to git In and de men in de field hear he cries and choit. him. In does days de men took guns to do fields. ~They cotched. wolves and bear. in traps but de panther was de mut d~ng rou. animal us have to fight. Us never ~ow when he gem to strike.

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gx..slave Stories Page Two (Texas) One our neighbors go to town after a turkey and on he way home a panther was sittin in a tree by de read, and he m~ice a lunge at ~Ie man and grab de turkey and tear de j~j~t5 ~ Once ii~r grandpa ridin long one night, croesin de river, and a panther git after him. He had a fast hose and. outran dat panther, and. got to de house, and two our bear dogs kep it off till he shot it. I knows dese things am true, for they happen jes like I tell it. Oar house was close to de boat landin on de river and my father halped unload supplies from de boats, when he not workin in de fields. Jedge Beavers o~n de storehouse what kep de si~pplies, and he ship he cotton by boat to de G~xlf, mostly to Galveston. De Federate sojers pass o~ir house and go to Jedge for him to give dem something to eat and he allus did. Sometimes dey was men on hosses and he give dem feed for de hosses. Once a crowd young fellows ~ home from de war on hosses and dey got supplies, and de Jedge give dein a little toddy for to make dem feel good. Dey feels so goad dey gits a~e ribbon from de store and tie it to de hos~es heads and rides off, with dat ribbon joe a streamin from de hossee mane. De Jedge enjey all day. Re felt like dey been fightin for him and dey welco~ne to what he have. It was de common thing for de sojers to stop at the house and ask for food er to sleep. 8O~etifl1 S niggers come, what mn away to de North fire freedom. Dey done got tired of dat cold weather up dere and when freedom come, dey ready to c ane back home. Nlien de slaves set free, dey have big times, and feel like dey not work at all. :&~t when old massa give dem a place te farm andtell dem iffen dey don t work dey won t eat, dey stays with him and works de croPs ~ halves, mostly. De nigger do de work and massa feed him and give him team and toil., den massa git half de crop. -2..

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Page Three ~x..slaYe Stories (Texas) De slaves what went up North and coma back, tell how dey call Contrabands up dere. Dey d.idn t know what lt mean, but dey ~me back anyway. 0Sozne white school teachers from up North come to teach de chilien, but dey didn t talk like folks here and didn t understan ~ir talk. Dey didn t know what us mean when us say titty for sister, and budder for brother, and nanny for ma~ny. Jes for fun us call ourselves big names to do teacher, ~~me be named General Lee and some Stonewall Jackson. We be one name one day and nother name next day. Until she git to ~ew us she couldn t tell de dlff rence, cause us all 1o~k alike te her. Us have good times tellin her bait black magic and de conjure. Us tell her night birds ft l of magic and dore feathers roast in ashes work spells what kill evil c i~ure. If a rabbit run cross de path, turn your hat round and wear it hind part befi to keep bad luck away. A buxxard s claw tu r~tnd de baby s neck make teethint easy. De teacher from de North don t know what to think of all dat. B~.tt air old missy, who live here all de time, know all bout lt. She lets us believe our magic and. conjure, cause she partly believe it, too. I lives on dat place till I s a big boy and den works for ~r. John Mergersen ~nd a Mr. Porter. Dey cone fr~ Mtuisstppi right after freedoa and was Joe like ho~nefolks. So I works for dein till I gits married ~nd ~tarts ~t for m~aelf. UI member some songs my m~iay and old missy larnt me. One go like die: De top boils alu open, De bott~ boils am rotten. I can t git my number here, I has to quit and go way. t, I lihen de sun go down and de aeon g. up, Iffen I can t git my number, I can t git my pay. ~ ~1hen X was tUe, ay father split de rails m.it of trees to make fences,

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~x.~.a1aYe Stories Page Tsir (Texas) ~nd I have an mint what waS d.e big ~mat, and she hoip. She have a song what go like die, and. when she sing, she come do~n on a rail, biff . Times are gittin hard, (biff) Meney s gittin scarce, (biff) Times don t git no better here, (biff) I bound to leave dis place. ABut when de big meetin gem on, dis one de songs dey likes to sing: 0 AB I went down in de valley to px ~y, I met de debbil in ~y way, What ~u recken he say to me? You re too young te die, And too y~ang te pray, I made him a lie and ~ep on my way. ~!e raised corn and cotton and petatoes and lits of vegetables and. fruit. ~e didn~t have no wheat, so we cmildn t have fli~ir and. it too high to ~y. All dem what could buy it, was de landimier. 0Then de cern ~thered u.s pile it in piles and. have corn shnckin at night, cook cur supper and. ai . eat together and listen to de stories tell by de old folks. When dey git ~e piles of corn ready for s)mckin dey lay a rail in de middle and vide de piles, and de std.e what git thr~igh first git sapper first, De sing go like dis: Kits a mighty dry year, when de crab grass fail, Oh, nw, nw, row, who laid dat rail? Hit em mighty dark night when de nigger turn pale, De big foot rigger what laid dat ratit Oh, row, row, row, who laid dat rail? Rinktum, ranktum, laid dat rail. Show me de nigger what laid dat rail, Oh, row, row, row, vhs laid. dat rail? 1 Whoz~ de niggers tuas, de white filke fail, Oh, r w, row, row, who laid dat rail? We re gittin dere now, don t tell no tale, Show me de nigger what laid dat rail. I ll stick he head in a big tin pail, Oh, turn me loose, let me tech dat rail, Oh, row, row, row, who laid. dat rail? ~up4..

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~x~slaVe St.ries Page Pive (texas) Pirat us have white preachers and d~n1 after freedom, de niggers starts to git up in meetin and. talk to sinners, and. dey c~l dem ~~ortere. De white 1 lks lernt le exhorters t, read de Bible and some songs, and de ntggers all lam de songs, too. ie exhorter git up and read de scripture and it bout King Neb kudneezer, when he have a golden image with silver horns, and all de kings and rulers come and bow down fore dat image, cepting three. Dem was Shadrack ~nd Maysack and A Bad-Negro. ~y would not bow doisi so de ld king throw dem in de furnac e and dey not burn up and dey say, De Gawd us woreb ip em able to deliver us from de fiery furnace. ft ~n de exhorter say: Now, you no mit niggers what you mean stealin de white folks chickens and watermillions? Dey ain t safe no longer dan de white man back am turned. D0 you think Gawd would save you? No, sits You be turned into de pillar of salt iffen y~i don t stop you unrightious ways, and den where you be? You on t see no dane ~ ~r hear no chickens Come on into de pearly gates and live right. Leave yonr stealin and cuss 1n and dancin to de debbil, and come to de mourners bench. t, Le t de sun of sa .vat ion shine square on you face, light de battles of de Lt~wd, fight soon and fight late, And 7 ~ ~ 11 allu.. fina de latch t. de golden gate. No use for to wait till t~norrow, De sun mustn t sot on you sorrow, in s sharp as a bamboo briar, Ask de Lawd for to fetch you up higher. Dem songs ~as de gateway to enter, de pearly gateway. All de niggers git ort de nouz ners bench and git saved. *5**

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A.~~I\1 ) ~ (~ ~4%~ -~ ~ :U~sLAVE STOBI~S Page One ~ ~ ~- ~ (Texas) WILLIE WIL~ILAMS 78 was born a slate to Mr. William Maddox, whe owned about 90 slaves, Including WillIets parents, fi~ e brethers a~id ~ a sister, The plantation WaS in Vermillion Parish, la., near Sparta. In 1857 Mr. Maddox took WillIe, who was st lU working for him, t o Texas. Willie now lives in P ort Worth. ~I~j5 nIgger ~ja 78 years old, ~nd l s born In slavery, down in old Louisiana~. Marster William wned me ~nd he z~m de father of Marster Ed Maddox what now ntns de Maddox Milk and Ice Compasy here in Fort Worth. I kziowed him when hini and die i~igger an tiny chiles. I goes ~d visits with him often and. we talks bout old. times and sidi. We laughs tb~t some things and. d.c tears come Ii de eyes bout some things. Kim allus give dis nigger de quarter or de half dollar for old times sake. Marster Williaii owns sich a big plantation dat it was alles ~nd ~niles round and had. bout 90 grown nIgger sla~ ee. I members it well and shot ~ glad. for to tell yous bout It a~d how dey does. De marster have a two-~story house fo~his family and de place look like a town with all de buildings. Dere wa~ d.e nigger quax ters with 30 cabine and de nursery for de young niggere, de sheds and de smokehouse for de meat. Den dey have de gin and de mill for t o grin de grist de spinning house and de shoe ehc~p. Mareter haTe a aigger what i*~ Ce de shoes o~tt of hides tanned dere off de cattle what am kiUed for meat, Bin makes good. shoes, they las ~ a long time, but they eux s le tough o, de feets.

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Ex~s1mve Stories Page Two (Texas) e M~rster William raises de corn and. rice and. wheat and. barle~r ~nd vegetables and honey, a~d lots t~f cotton0 Dey wsrks animals, de mules and de oxen, but I seed. de niggers hitched to a. plow eemetii~ee. But de in~rster allue took good care of his niggere and him feeds plenty ~:ood victuals. Bvery Suiiday de7 measures out 1e ratione, ~ cept de weg-. etablee. But if what dey give am not tn,ug~, weti.tns calls for more. De marster wants for we~was to have plenty. HAll us am given de pass for to ~e t d.c church or ta de party and de a plan e ne~ de quart ers for d~e d~nce and s Ich. Soie fool iig gera sneaks off without de pass sOmetii~es and gits catchec3. by de patter rollers and gite couple passes from de ~thup. S One time de niggers puts one en dem patter rollers. Dere ~ de ~ daflce and some niggers has no pass and de patter rollers am a.ecomln ~ De ni~gers tcide to best ~ea and. o~e gits de pan of hot ashes and when der~ patter rollers comes t. de d~s r de ash s ~ thrown in de face. S ~LJ0 niggers a .l rtisxi !u,t OXLd knocks de rollers down, and de niggers am gone~ Date once de niggers prise de rollers. On dat plantation dere am sort of hospital fix fer t. care for de sick. Dey uses herbs and. sicA and sometimes calls de doctor. De srna .l chiliens is kep d.ere and de marster sh& ~ ticulax tb ~tt dem. LotB of times h look dem ever and s~, Dat one be worth a t,ousand dollers, er Dat one be a whopper.t To~i see, ttwae iUS likS raisint young mules,

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~x~slaVe Stories P~e Three 189 (~exae) ~ On dat plantation, dere ~a n, weddin loweci for to git married. Dey jus gite married, but soue not lowed to git married, cause de rnarster anxious t. raise good, big nigger., de kind what am ahle to do lots of work and sell for a i~eap .~ money. Him have bout ten wenches lila not 1 OW t O git i~arr led. and dey am b 1g, strong women and de doct or ~ x~ine dem for de health. Den de marster picks out de big nigger and de doctor txamine i~:LIR, too. Dat nigger dO no work bu.t watch de~ w~ens and. he ~ra de hiisbai for dem all. De mareter eho~ was a-.r~1sin some fine nigger. d~t way. As for de wflippln dey gives dat p~ui1s~inient . Dey straps de nigger over de barrel buz de mareter don t low for te draw de blood, Du.i,ln de War, dere axi de shortage of food. and one time we is I bi iged eat all de oni ekeits and. t warnt hard t i do . We bu~nt s de wild hawg and wild ti~irkey and de deer and sich. When freedom come, dey tell all us nigger. we e free and we can stay or leave and work for wage s 1f we st~ . ThT~Oe 7~aZ after freedom de mareter sells de plantation and comes ~-to Port Worth and I a~d five other nigger s still with him. I werks for him tu he dies, bout 50 year age. s.....

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1 s)~ ~)47 ~ ~iX-.SLAVE STORIES Page One ( Texas) LULU ~YILSON, blind, bedridden Negro, does not know her age, but believes that she is ninetyseven. She was born near the }Lamrnoth Cave, in Kentucky. Lulu . owns a little home at 1108 G~ood Street, Dallas, Texas. tiCourse I1s born In slavery, ageable as I am. ~. 11n: a time, slevery woman and the way I been through the hackles, I got plenty to sey bout slavery. LUtA ~fllson says she knows they ain t no good in it and they better not bring it back. My paw warn1 t no slave He was a fre e man, cause hi~ manim~r was a full blood Creek Indian, But ray maw was born in slavery, down on ash Hodges paw s place and he give her to ~ Nash when he married, That was theonly woman slave what he had and one man slave, a y oimg buck, My niaw say she t ook wi th my paw and I s born but a long time passed and didn t no more young uiis come, so they say my paw am too old and wore out for breedin and. wants her to take with this here young buck. So the Hodges sot the nigger hounds on niy paw Rnd run him away from the plac e and mt~w al lus s ay he went t O the free et at e So she took with my step~paw and. they must of pleased the white folks what wanted niggers to breed like livestock, ~ she birthed nineteen chilien. \~en I s I t 1 I used t o play in that bi~ cave they calls Mammoth ~nd I s so used to that cave it didn t seem like nothint to me. But I was real li i then, for soon as they coi~ld they put me to spinnin cloth. I members plain, when I was li l there was talk of war in them parts, and. they put me to spinnint and I heared em say it was for sojers. They marched round in a li l, small drove and practices shootin .

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i~.~~1ave Stories Page Two :191 (Texas) Now, when I was Il ~. they was the hardes times. They d nearly beat us to ieatb. They taken me from my mammy, out the 1i ~ house built onto they house and I had to sleep in a bed. by M~ssus Hoth~es. I cried ~ rr my maw ut I had to work and wash and. iron and clean and milk cows when I was most too il 1 to do it. ttThe H0dges had three chilluns and the olderes one they was mean to, caase she so thickheaded. She couldn t 1ar~ nothin out a book ~t was kinder and more friendly like than the rest of the lot. lash Hodges was jes mean, pore trash and he was a bad actor and a bad rn~na~er. He never could ~eke any money and he starved it ~t n the niggers. For years all I could ~it was one 1111 slice of sowbelly and a puny, li l piece of bread and a tater. I never h~~d nou~h to stave the non~riness out n my belly. ~My m~w was cookin in tne house and she was a clink, that aza the bes of its kind. She could cuss and she w rn t fraid. Wash Hodges tried to whop her with a cowhide and. she d knock him down and bloody him up. Then he d go down to solle his neighbor kin and try t o git them t o corne hoip him whop her. But they d say, i don t want to ~o up there and. let Chloe Ann beat me up. I heared Wash tel . his wife they said that. ~flien m~w was in a tantrum, my step paw wouldn t partialize with her. But she w~s a ligious women and lieved time was comin when niggers wouldn1t be slaves. She told me to prey for it. She seed a old ~an what the ni~er dogs chased and et the legs near off him. She said she was chased by them bloody hou.nds and she jus picked up a club and. laid they sJ~ull open. She say they hired her out and sold her twict but allus brung her back to wash Hodges.

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Ex~~s1aVe Stories Page Three 92 (Texas) Now, Missus Hodges studied bout rneanness rnore n Wash done. She was mean t O a~Zyb ody she c o Id lay her hands to but spec lai mean t o me . She beat me afl(~ used to tie mv hands and make r~e lay fist on the floor and she put snu.ff In my e~res . I Mn t lin fore Gawd when I say I I~iows that s why I went blind. I did see white folks sometimes what spoke right friendly and ~cinc11y to me. u ~ ~it ~ ~ ~ thinkin now how V~ash Hodges sold 0Pf rnaw~ s chillun. d ~e1i 1em and have the folks come for ein when my maw was in the fields. Vlhen she d come heck, she d r~.ise a ruckus, Then many the time I seed her piop ri~ht down to a settin and cry bout it. But she lowed they w~rn t nothin could be done, tcause it s the s1aver~r law. She said, O, Lawd, letrae see the end of it fore I die, a~d I ll quit my cussint ~nd fightin and rann .t ~ IdflW S~.T h s part Indian and that c ~ntable fr her ways. One day they trt~ckled us all down in a covered w~on and started out with the fai&ly and my maw and step-paw and five of us chiliun. I 1Q~OW I s p~st twelve ire~r old. We cane a long way and passed through a free State. Some pl~.ces we d.ruv for miles in the woods stead of the big road, and when we come to folks they hid us down in the bed of the wagon. ;ie passed through a 1i ~ place and. my m~w say to look, and I s~ed ~. man gwine up saine steps, t ot i a bucket of wat e r . She say ~ Lu lu t hR t man s your paw . I am t never think she s as consid ble of my step paw as of my paw, ~nd she give me to thin~c as much. I~y step paw never did like me, but he was a fool for his Own youflgIuns, cause at the e:id of the wars when they sot the nig~ers free, he tramped over half the country, gatherifl UP them youngtuns they done ~oid way. -3

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Page Four Ex~S1aVe Stories ( pe~as) ~e ;ent to a place called ~adefie1d, in Texas, and sett1~ for some short passifl Of time. They waa a Baptist church next our house and they let me go twict. I WRS f~~~jfjeC1 with the singin and preachin . Then we goes ou to Chatfield Point ~nd sash Hodges built a log house and covered it with weather boarding and built my nlaw ~nd p~w quarters to live ~n. They turned in t& raisin corn and taters ~nd hawgs. I hr~d to work like a dog. I hoed and milked. ten cows a day. UMLSuS told. me I 1~ad ought to mar17. She said if I d marry she d togger nie ~1p in ~ white dress and give rae a weddin supper. She made the dress and iash Hodges married me out n the Bible to a nigger l~ngin to a nephew of hls n. t was bout thi. rteen or foUrteen . I know it r ~ long after that when Missus Hodges ~ot a doctor to rae . The doct~)r told me less n I had a b&by, old as I was Rnd :aarried, I d start in on spasms. So lt warn t long till I had. a baby. p, In twixt that t irne, Wash Hodges starts layLn out in the woods and swamps all the tirae. I heared he was hidin out from the war and was sposed. to go, t cause he done been a vclunteer in the first war and they dn t have no luck in Kentucky. One night when w~ was all asleep, sorae folks whooped and woke us up. Two sojers co~e in and tney left more ou~si~e. The~r found Wash Hodges and said it was midnight and to git em something to eat. They et and some more come in and et. They t led ,Th s hands and made me hold a lamp in the door for them to see by. hey had some more men in the wagon with they hands t led . They dr~v away and In .a minute I heared the reports of the guns three or four times. Nex day I heared they was sojers 8nd done shc~t some conscripts in the bottoms back of our place, I, Wash Hodges was gone away four years and Ml ~sus Hodges was ifleafle r ii the devil all the time. Seems like she just hated us worser than ever. She said _4~.

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j~x~s1ave Stories (Texas) ~ blobber-mouth niggers done cause a war. ~ t, ~e11 now, things jus i~ind of drift s along for a spell and then Wash ~ Hodges conie back and. he sei. d, Wel 1 now, we done whop the hell out t hem blue ~ bellies and that ll lam em a lesson to leave us alone.1 ~ Then my step paw seed some Fed. ral sojers. I seed them, too. They drifted by in droves of fift r and a hundred.. My et ep paw Lowe~ a ~how the Feds done t old him they ain t no more slavery, and he tried to pint it out to Wash Hodges. Wash says that s a new ruling, and it am that crowed up niggers is free, but chillun has to stay with they masters till they s of age. My iaaw was in her cabin with a week old baby and one night twelve Klu Kluxses a ~ie c orne t o the Pl ace . They c orne in by one s and she whopped em one at a time. II don t never recal . just like, the passin of time. I biow I had. my little boy youngtun and he growed. up, but right after he was born I left the Hodges and felt like it s a fine, good riddance. My boy died, but he left me a grandson. He growed up and went to nother wat, and they done soinethin to him and heain t got but one lung. He ain t peart no more. He s got four chiliun and. h makes fifty dollars a month. I m crazy bout that boy and he comes to see me, but he can t holp me none in a money way. So I1zn right ~ratefu.l to the presid~fit for gittin my li l pension. I done study it out in my mind for three years and tell. him, Lulu sa~rs if he will see they ain t ~ ~~0re Slavery, and if they ll pay folks liveable wages, they ll be less stealin1 and siwumerin ~ and goin s on. I worked so hard. For more n fifty years I waited as a nurse on sick folk~. I been through the hackles if aPY lflOTtal soul has ~ but it seems like the presI dent thinks right kindly of me and I want him t o know Lulu Wil s on thinks right kindly of him. Page Five

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420252 E~c.SLAv:E STORIES P~e One (Texas) 1~ASH WILSON; 94, was born a slave of Tom Wilson, in Louis iana, near the whita Road. Vlash and his family were purchased by Bill Anderson, who brought them t o Robertson Co., Texas. Wash lives in Eddy, Texas. t I was ~ tout eighteen years old when de Civil ~ar c orne . Us c*t,1 is it de Freedom ~ar, I was born in Louisiana, clost to de wchita Road, and Marse Toni Wilson owned mammy and us chilien. ~it Mars. Bill Anderson he come from Texas to bxy us from Marse~ Torn. Marse rom, he lowed de ~ov~rr~cnt gwine let dein daran Y2nkees cive de South a whuppin and dere wasn t gwine be no slaves nowhere, But Marss Bill say we s a likely bunch of chilIen and tnaniiny am a gr~rid cook, so guess he take de reek. Marss Torn starts to Texas where he had. a passet of l~nd~ Us was sold on ~ie block to him, cause ~arse Tom say he gwlne git all he done put in us out us,~ iffen he can fore de Yanks take dis counti~?, Mammy was nanied Julia Wilson Sis Sa117 was oldest of us chilien, den brucider Harry and ins. Marge Bill be had 27,000 acres of land i~ Robertson County what he git for fighti Indians and sech. He lived in seven mfle of Calvert, Texas, and dat where he brunged us nd de eu~pplies and s,ch, Us traveled in ox carts and hose back, and de ~ us niggers walked. . Us was sot free on :e road to Texas. Us camp one nicht and corne folks corne talk with }~arse Bill. De next mornin he told as, Boys, you s free as I Is. Us was only tbout sixteen mile fro~nwhere us gwlne and Marse Bill say t All what w~m t t o et ay wi th ins can ~ Us d t know n obody and didn t -.1..~

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~x~slave Stories Page Two (Texas) ~ bavenothin and us liked Marse Bill, so ai . us stayed with him. ~?h~n we got to his p1~ce u~ ~id round ~.nd. bout, clearin n~w ground and buildin cabins and houses. Dere ~:as three 1o~ houses bu~t us h~.d to build more. My i~appy name was Bill Wilson. All ray folks am dead now, but on de plantation in Louis1~.na w~ h~d a good time. M~zcrny could cook and spin ~nd weave. Dey raised cotton ~nd sugar can~ ~nd corn. It Dere ~ m9ny IncU~ns when ~ come, in our part de country. AU I ~ver s~.w jes steal ~nd beg. Dare was plenty wild. turkeys and wild hawgs and d~r ~nd prairie chickens. On Marse B~11 ~ place every quax t~rs h~1 its bern and. rm.ile, but Marse ~nd h~ wife, Miss Deborah, Iiv d in c~ quality ai~art~rs. Round. dem was de bI:~ck~1th shop and smokehouse ~nd spinnin house and Marse BU1 b-ave a Ii l hou.se ju~. for he off1c~. De cookhouse wa~ ~ two~room house si~e de bi~ house with ~ covered passage to de clinin room. De milk house w~s de back part de cook house. tun de s~oi~~ehou~e was hams and sides ~ h~wg m~t ~nd barrels of syrup pfl(:j sugar and lard, and bushels of onions, 2nd d~ tater room was allus fUll. Dey du~ a bi~ p1~ce ~nd put poles ~nd pieces Of cane ~nd 1uiiib~r cross, like a toD, ~ T1~:~put dirt and. 1e~ves and banked (ie dirt round d~ tater room. Dey d. 1 ave~ a p1~ce to cr~w1 in, but ~ey 1ce~p it tight ~nd dem taters iey kep most all wInter. Dey was hayricks and chicken roosties ~nd big lye hoppers where us put all de fireplace ashes. COrne de rain ~.nd de water ra-n through dat hopper into ~ de trough under it and dat make 1ye~ water. De women put old meat sk1n~ and bones an~ fat in de big, iron pot in de vard and put in some lye water and bile

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4~ Ex~~*8:~.ave Stories ~ ~ - Page Pwe~ (Texas) soap. Den dey cut it when it git cold and put it on de stnokehouse shelves to dry. Bat shot fine soap. Mammy worked in (le kitchen mostly and spin by candlelight. Dey used a bottle l~inp. Dat a rag or piece of big string, stuck in de snuff bottle full cf tallow or grease. Later on in de years,dey used coal oil in de bottles. Sometimes dey wrap a rag round and. rotind and put it in a pan of grease, andlight dat for de 1 ~Tflp. Dey used pine torches, too, Dc black folks qu.arters was io~ cabins, with stick and dirt chimneys. Dey had dere own garden round each cabin and sor~ chickens, but dere wasn1t no cows like in Loui~isna. Dere was lots of possums in de bottoms and us go coon and. possun~ huntin . I lik~.s cornbread and greens, cook with de hawg jowls or strip bacon. ~ wh~.t l s raised on. Us m~d lots of lye hominy dem days. Marss Bill, he gwine feed everybody good on his place. Den us h~1 ash c~ike, make of corn meal. Us didn t buy rau& till lon~~ tian after de ~ar. ttUs had poles stuck in de corner and tied de third pole cross, to make de bed. Dey called Georgia Rosses. TJs filled ticks with corn shucks or crab grass ~xid moss. Dey wasn t no cotton be~,ds for d.c niggers, cause dey wasn t no gins for de long time ana de cotton pick from de seed by hanc~ and dat slow work. Dc white folks had cotton beds and fe ther beds and wool beds. tarse Bill allus bad de doctor for us iffen de old wogen couldn t git us well. All d.c seven families Marss Bill done buy in Louisiana stayed round him and he fam~ ily ~ dey all dead, white and cullud.. I~s de onlies one left. ~Us piled bout a liwidred or two or maybe three hundred bi.tsheis corn outside de shed, Us have c~rn shuckin . at night and have de big time. De fellow what owned de ~ he give a big supper ~nd have all de whiskey us want. Nobody got drunk,

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j~~.~~s1ave Stories ~ (Texas) cause most everybody c~.rry dey liquor purty ~ After $huckint us have ring plays. ~ For music dey scratch on de skillet lids or beat bones or pick de banjo. Dere ~oe thirty to fifty folks, all eullud., and. sometimes dey stay all night, and build de big fire and dance outdoors or in cie barn. f(D:r~ wasn t no rausic instrurn~nts. Us take pieces a sheep s rib or cow s jaw ~ a piece iron, with a old kettl#~, or a hollow gourd and. some hors~hairs to ma~e de drum. S0metimes dey d ~it a piece of tree trunk and hollow it out and. stretch a goat s or sheep s skin over it for de drum, Dey d be one to four foot hiE~h and a foot up to six foot cross. In gen ral two niggers p1ay~with de fingers or sticks on dis drum. Nev&~r seed so iaany in a, but dey made some. Dey d take de b~ff~ o horn and scrape it out to make de flute. Dat sho be heared a 1on~ ways off. Den dey d take a mule s jawbone and rattle de stick cross its teeth. Dey d take a barrel and. stretch a ox s hide cross one end and a m~n sot stride de barrel and beat on dat hide with he har~ds, and he feet, and iffen he git to feelin de music in he bones, he d beat on dat barrel with he head. Nother lnsn beat one wooden side with sticks. Us longed to de church, all right, but dancin ~j~et sinful iffen de foots ain t crossed, U5 c~anced ~t de arbor m~~etjn s but .s ~ho d.i5n t have us foots crossedl ~1fhen de niggers go round singin St eal 4war to Jesus dat mean dere gwine be a ligious meetin dat ni.~ht, Dat de sig fication of a meetin . Dc masters fore and after fr~edom didn t like dein ligious meetin s, 50 us natcherly slips off at night, down in d.c bottoms or somewheres. 5ometi~ies us sine an~ pray all iui~ht. I ~ voted ti 11 I s bout forty five year old, den I jes kinder got o~.it de

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Ex.~lave Stories Five (texas) III got married in a suit of doeskin jeans, aintt none like dem nowadays. I rn~rried Gornelia Horde and she wore a purty blue ginght~.m de white folks buyed ~nd :~ade for her. Us had six chilien, Calvin and Early and Mar~r and Fred 2nd rank. Iffen ~ kno~s someone workin a conjure trick gainst ~rou, jes take some powder~d brick and scrub de steps real good. Dat ll kill any conjure sp~1i, sk:io , De bes watchdog ~rou can get ~or de hoodoo is a frizzly chicken. Iffett you got ou~~ dem on de pl:~ce, ~rou can rest in pence, cause it scratches up evei~ tri~lc l~r (9oWfl gainet its owne~r. Iffen you see dat ~ ri~zly chicken scratchiit round de plr~.ce, it a sho sign ~pou b~en conjured. A frizzly chicken coi~ out lie shell backwards, ~nd day why he ~ie devilts own. UDC old folks allus told me to make a cross inside :~ shoe every morni& fore i~avin de house, den ain t no conjurer gwine git he conjure gainst you. foots. iffen you wear you under clothes wrong side out, ~ ou can t be conjure&. nother way ~un to put saltpetre in de sol~s you shoes. Iffen ~rou wears a 1i I. piece de tpe~ce plant in you pocket or you shoe, dat po .verful strong gainet conjure. A piece of de Betsy bug s heart with some silver money am good. But iffen yo~ can t git none dese, jes take a piece newspaper and cut it de size of you shoe sole and sprinkle nine grains r~d pepoer on it . Dere amt t no hoodoo gwine ever harm you den, ~cause he d have tO stoP ~nd count ever r letter on dat newspaper and by c~t t line you gwi ne b e way from dere. Iffen you wi~nt to find. de conjure tricks what done been sot for you, jes kill ~ a fat chicken and sprinkle some its blood in de conjure doctor s left palm. ~ tai~ you forefinger ar~d hit dat blood till lt spatter, and it gwine spatter in - 5-.

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~x...slave Stories Page Six 20() ( TexaB) de direction where dat trick wn hid. Den when you find de trick, sprinkle a li i quicksilver over a piece of paper and put de paper on de fire, and dat trick gwine be laid forever. MOld folks done told me how to rn~ke a c onjurer leave t own. Make up a hick ry fire ~nd let it burn do~ii to coals. Den you take up two live coals. One dese ~wine be you, and de other gwine be de luck. Take up one dead cod. and dat :~o~ enei~y~ Den ~ j~~t keep Wake, till de rooster crow ~or midnight. Dat a~n de ~ of de day, Now you chunk de live con . what ~ you to de south, de warm coun~ try; den throw de other live coal to de east; den chunk de dead coal, you enemy, to de north, de cold country. Nothin of de conjurer can t git over fire, and fore de w~e1c out, dat conjurer be leavin . ~A old md ian who used to hang round. Marse Bill s place say t o git de be~~tof a conjurer, ~it soue clay from de mouth a crawfish hole, and. some dirt from a red ~uat e hole. Mix dera ~ nd wet dem with whiskey or camphor. it some angleworxns and boil dem and add de wcn m water to de clay and dirt. I~fen you rubs de conjured .PUSBOn with dis he trouble d one go way.

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420044 ~ ~ 1~X-.8LAVJ~ STQRI~S Pag~ One 2()1 (Texas) ~ ~ .~ ~ ~ WILLIS Wfl~1~ ci~irns ti be 116 years Gid. He was b rn in ~ Louis lana a slave ~f Bob Winn . wh~ Willi s says taught hin from . his y.uth that his birthday was March 10, 1322. When he wa~ freed Willis and h~ father in~ved t . p Askausas where they lived sixteen years. Willis then m ~ved t o Texarkana and ~r~m there tQ M~re1Lail, where he has lived . f.urteen yeare. Willis lives alone in a ene-~r sm log h.use in the rear~f the.H~ward. Vestal home ~)n the Powder }Liil R3a4, north . O of Marshall, and. i5 supported by an $11.00 p~r month old a~e pensitin. The nliest statement I can make bout my age is my ld master, Bob~iWinn, alius t.ia ~ if anyone ask me how ~id I is tG s~y I~s bsrned ?)fl M~rch the tenth, in 1822. l s kflOW6d. ~1Y birthday since I s a ehirt~ tail boy, bu~t can t f~ure inmy head. .. ~My p~ py was Daniel Winn and he came fr3rn Alabama, and I meuib-er him alius sayin he d like t~ go back there and get 5orne chestnut5. Mammy was named Patsy and they was ~ nine of us chilien. The five boyc was me and Willie and. H~sea. ~nd twe Ge.rges, and. the gaie was Car iina azid D.ra ~ ~ and anna and Ada, and ail u.s lived t. be gr wed. and. have chilien, )ias sa B.b s h use ~c ed the quart ers wher.e he c uid hear ~ h iier wh u he bi wed. th bigh.rn for us t. ~it up, All thC hiuses was ni~4e f.i~ge wAd we slept. on shu~ck and grass mattresses what~ was ailue fail I si chinches, I still sleep in a grass mattres5, cause I c~fltt~ re5tsn ~ ~: :.~~ ~ . cstteri ~and feather be&s~. ~ ~ . . . 0We et yell.w brea~t and greens an4 b1aok~eyed~ peas w~5 ~*t1icker azLd a~ped. lasses. Us and the white fslks eli cs~ked iii f1re~p1W~ee A big ir.* p*t hUfl~ S1~t ifl the 7ard~ f.r t. bile greens and h.g j.wl and. eic~ ~ ~

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:~x-~slave Stories Page Two 202 (Texas) like ~Ye didn t know nothing n~ bout b skin ~ p owder and made our s c~da from burnt ccbs. That s jes as good soda as this Aria and Hemmer y.u get in the store. ~ et flour bread Sundays, but you daren t git citch with flour dough cept on that th~y. M~umny st3ie lots of it, though. She rolled it up: ~nd put it round her heed and covered it with her head~-r~. Wild game was ~ il ever the country, b~iffal and bears and panthers and deer and possum. ~.nd COOn. The squirrels most run over you in the w~ods. We et at a long, tr;u~i and it was allus clea:i and full of plenty ~rtxb. We used buf falo and fish bones for spoons, and some et with they h~~zids. The grub I liked best was wh&tever I could git. Us slaves didn t wear nothing but white lowell cloth. They give U8 pants for Sunday what had a black stripe down the leg. The chilIen wore woo . clothes in winter, but the big folks wore the sine outfit the year round. .. They didn t care if you fr ze. t I can show you right where I was when the stars fell Some say they covered the grou~nd like snow, but nary ~ne ever hit the ~round They fell ~ in bout twelve feet of the ground. The chilien jumped up aiad tried t. cotch them. I don t memb r how long they fell, but they was shotin through the t air like sky rockets for quite a spell. MIssy C~Llie had one g~1 and two boys and Massa Bob had three over seer5. He didn t have nigge~drivere, but had nis pets. W, called them imps, s cause they was allue tattlin when we done anything His place was j es as far as you could let v.u~r e~res see bout 1, 800 or I 900 ac res and be owned msre1n 500 niggers. -3 t ~ ~ ~

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~x_e1ave St ort es Page Three ~ 203 (Texas) . * . UI still ~ot the bugle he wike us with at four in the mernin . Y~hen th~ bu~ie bI~wed. ~rsuI d. better go te hillerin ~o the verseer c.uid he~ar ~ O~ ~ If he had t e~ call ~u, it was t ~ bad. The fi r st thing in the mornin we d L?: tO the 1~t and feed, then t~ the wadpile till breakfast. They put our grub in the trQugh and give us s, I~ng t. eat . ~tassa hollered if we wa~ S1~)W eatir~, Swallow that grub now and chaw it tonight. Better be in thc~t field by daybreak. We worked frem see t. can t. t I s se ed. many a nigger whipped en a bu.ck and a~ bench. They buckled em down hard. and fast su a l.ng gagged they m.uth with e .t t a~ end when massa ~ot through layin on that cewhide the blood was runnin ff on the ground. Next ruornin after he whip ycu, he d cme to the quarters when you git up and say, Boy, how is you. feelix~ ? N. matter hiw sore you is, yeu~d bet te~ jump and kick you. heel s and show how lively au is. Massa bat ed me t~ he dying clay, V~a.i~8~ I tild. missy bout him whippin a gal scand~sly in the field, cause she want t..~. to the house t, her sicic baby. Mis5y Callie didn t whip us, but 1 d twist eux1 nose and ears nearly off. . Them fingers felt like a pair of ~ pinchers She etr.pped an her gans and rode a big bay horse t. the field. Mas sa had a gin~ and I ha~i . ed cot tQn t G Port Cadd on Caddo Lake . I dr~w ei~ht atlee and hauled eight bales of cotton. Massa fallawed me with two rmfles and tw~ bal~ Of CIttfl, I tt3U~llY~ ~ a goad start if bila. The p:at-~ terr,llere ha c t che~1 me and unhitched my mules and dr~iv em off, leavin me in the middle f the i ad . They d start back home., bu.t when they :~vert~ k ~ ma a they etipp ~ ed, oa~i5e h~ dr~iv the lead mulee. Re fatched.~ em .ba~k ai4 $ ~ Willt., whatha~peftt! Ne sh eit.sedthem patterr.l1~re a~dsaithe!~I ~ ~n~ta ~ ~ ~ ~34i.

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Ex~s1aVe Starise Page B~iir ( ~eXa5) They was sellin slaves ai . the tinie, puttin 1ern ~n the black and. scum tem, ce~in te h~w rauch waric they ceuld do in ~ and h~w strang they wa5. I s seed l3ts af e~ in chains like caws and mules. If a wner h~v~ m re n he needed, he bit the read with ~er~ and sold em affto jeinin f~rrns . N DflC ~f ~ er~ ever run ,ff They c oui du t git away . I ~ s seed t ei many tr~r it, If the patterrallers didn t catch ~ some white~ folks weuld put 1r~u Up ~nd call ~ur massa. They had a greement to be on the watch far runaway ~iiggers. ~then the massa git you b~~k haine and git through with you, y,u d. she ~ stay home. . In slavery time the niggers wasn t lowed te leek at a beok. I lamed. t, read and write after surrender in the jail at Hat Springs, in Arkansas. They give us cake at Christ~s and eggneg and siI1y-bu~g . ~g~ g is ~ in~de from whites of eggs and silly bu.g frein yallers. You bave te churn the Whiskey and yall ers t o make silly bug. ~ Corn shuckin s was the things them days. I 1ike~ te see em came. They cooked up gu~ineas and ducks and chickens and sainetimes reast a pig. Massa kept tv~enty, thirty barrels whiskey~ round aver the place all the time, with tin CU~ps h9ngin on the barrels Tau C auld drink When ~TOU want te ~ but eh. better net ~it dr~ink, Massa have te watch he earners when c rn shuckin ~m ~ aver er U niggers grab him. ~uAd walk him reund in the air en their hands. ~ NWhen~ s rne at~ ~the white falke died evex~r nigger an the place had te ~ ~. t, the grate ~ and walk. r.und and~ drap j~:~ e. i e dirt ~ him. They buried thea ~ ~. ~ 1~t~g~r~ anyway~ ~ D~t a tttcb. a &.ce!v~r em ~ ~ i~ can BkLaw ~ right new dawn ~ whe~ e 1 waz raised forty acr e with nathiut ~but ui~ere buried

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Ex-S slave St riee Page Five (Texa5) ~ ~ ~ on era. I ~member lots bout the war but can t tel . you ah, cause every war h2ve its secrets. Th~t war h~d feur salutes, and ysa d better give the right eue when :r~u meet the c~~,ptaiu. X s heared the niggers sing,~J~Germa hang Jeff Davis to &~ sour apple trees ~ My pappy fiught in the l*st battle, at Mansfield, and so d~id Massa Beb. ~heu the Federates cerne in sight if Mansfield they was carryin a red f1a~, ~nd kept it raised till surrender. When the Tanks come in sight they raised white flag ~md wanted the Federates te surrender, but they wouldn t aflswer. It waSx1~ t l~n~r till the whele werld. round there smelt like p.wd.er. Guns newad~ys jus ~iez p,p~..~pop but them g~ins s ~und.ed 1 ike thunder. After surrender, massa freed the i~en and missy freed the wemen, but he didn t let us leise when he ou~ht. They wasn t no places vided with niggers as . I heared b~ut. Niggere in Leuieia~na~ say ~een Elizabeth sent a beatload if geld. t~ America t~ ~ive the free men, but we never seed any if it. Massa give us each a b~arre1 meal, a barrel fleur, a side 3f meat ~nd ten gallens lasses and tell us we c~n work fer who we pleases. Daddy bought twi ciwe ~nd a herse and eight .~iawgs and. a ~oat frem massa ~ credit and we n~aved and made three cr.ps. ~ . h The Y~ks sta~red reund. ~ Liule ian~ a 1 eng t line aft er surrender ~ They ~ cime t~ white filk5 heuses what hadn t freed they slaves and busted they me~1. 2nd fleur barrel5 and buru they meat and say if we have t e face you~ gain, ~ il 5weep yeu fr im the e radie u~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I s beefl, c tched:by them ~ Kiuzers. T~. di4n t hurt rne,buth~!,l!t5 0f fan zn j~ me ~t CapeRS. Th y~pu J~s.my.clat~es ~ ff O ~flC! ~~1a0)C! ~ ~ ~~. beut fsu:r hunerd yards a~d etand on my head in the middle the read. . ~

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~x~slaVC Steries P~e Six ~ (Texas) They is plenty niggers in I~uiziana that is still slaves. A. spell b~3ck I made a trip te where I was raised, ts see my old. missy fers she died, and. th re was niggers in twelve er fsurteen miles f th~i~place i~hat they didn t know the7 is fre . They is plenty ni~gers reund here what is same se laves, ~nd has worked f~r whit e feiks twenty and twenty-~five years and a in t d. rawed a five cent piece, just cld clothes and semethin te eat. That s the w~y we W25 ~fl slavery. Biut four years after surrender ~appy s~y he heared. lks say g ld was covering the grind at Hspe, Arkansas, s~ we pulle~d up and m.ved there. We f~und IQts af money where they d been a big camp, but ne gold. We lived there sixteen years, then I cerne t~ Texarkana and w rked twelve years f.r G. W. Ge.rge Pawcett s s~wmill, I never married tiU I was aid, in Little Washington, Arkansas,, ~nd lived with my wife thirty six years f.m she died. We raised eighteen chilien ts be gr.wed and. nary sue if en *as ever arrested. t I was LI lus Wild and played fer daiacee b~it my wife was ~ ligi .ue and. after t married I quieted d wn. When I jined the church, I b%IDned. my fiddle up. I alLie made a livin fr.m public r ad w rk since I left ~exark*na, till I git ne csunt fsr wsrk. The nly time I Veted. was in ~.pe, and I veted the p~bli~~~ ticket and all my f lke g t mad. If it waen~t f.r the ~s.d white fil~e, I d starved t. death. 7~re I CSme here t, the Testali, I was livin in a shack si the T. & P. tracks and I CL~n t pay is rent. I was etek and. the wsaan made me git eut. Master Vestal : fSUX1~. med~wn b7 the tracks, eat~n red ola~r. I d~ lived f.r three da~s n SiX L

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~x~s1aVe St.rles Page Seven ~. ~ ( Texas) tornatses. :i: et two ~ day. Master Vesta . went hem and his wife c.,ked. a bi~ o~t f 5tew, with meet and p tatses,and fetched lt t. me. Theu they built a huse dswn behind their back yard and. I s 1ived~.4 tb e~ ever e thee. .1 alius say the cullud. race started off wr.ng when they was freed and is s t ill wr~n~ t ~day. They~ had. a sh.t t. be well ff but they can t keep ra~ney. Y.u ~1ve one a bank ef in.ney and. hetll be busted tsxn rr~w. I t cli s ~ ni ggers every day they .u.ght t e c .me d.wn where they li have s~rae sense. I serves the Lord at lisme attd ~ t meddle with ~

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4~~~)O38 ~x_sLL~ STOBIES . page One (Texa5) : ~ ~ S:; ~JB~E WITT, 87, wae a slave of . ~ ~ 365! Witt of Harrison County, . .~ Texas. He enlisted in the Con-S . federate Army at lexa3adria, La., azid was sent to Mansfield, but hie regiment arrived after the victory of the 1~orth. He worked for his master for a year after the war, then moved to Marshall and worked for ~dnrnnd Key, Sr., pi oneer banker and. civi e leader. Rube~ cooked for eighteen yeare~~ at the old. Capitol Hotel in UarS~La .l, and. took up preaching as a side line0 IIe and his wife ~ live at 7O? L Crockett St., in Marshall. They receive & $15.00 pension. !? 1~ I ~ was born on the Jess Witt pi ace right here in Harrison County, on tne tenth day of August, in 1850, ~i~d allus lived in and round. Marshall. L~y father and mother Dan tel and Jane was bred ~nd born in Texas and be~ 1on~ed to the Witte. I had. five brothers, named Charlie a~d Joe and George ~ a~nd Bill and Jim, and six sistere~, named L~ary ~nd Si~san and Betsy and A~ina ~nd Effie and Lucinda. They ~1i lived to be growed but I~rn the onliest chile st ill livint. ~ Master Witt had a big place, I don t recall how many acres. He - didn t have so many slaves. Slavery wa~ a tight fight. We lived in 1i l cabins sand slept on rough plank beds and et bacon and peas and pa ched. corn. 1~E~ didn t h~rd1y lcnow what flour bread was. Master give us one outfit of clotbeato a time and sometimes sboe#, We worked ll day in. the fields, Conle in and fed the stock and did the choree and et what li~1 ~ru~b it took to do us arid went to bed. l ou1d better not go nowheree without a p~ . - t CaUse theni patterrollere was rolling roimd every ~ . .. : ~g~ ~ was named~ate ~n& had two chilien. TheEttShact a good set G~ niggers aM did~ i have to whip mu~ch~. Sometiazee he give us a ~ j ~ ~ ~ k?~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ J ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Stories Page Two 209 (~rexas) - ~ . ~ .~ ii~ht bru~hint for piddlin round at work. I seed plenty niggers whipped on oie man RUff Perry ~nd Pratt Hughes places, tho~gh. They was death on tern. Lawyer Marshall used. to whip his niggers goin anci commt every day t~iat come round. Il ~ tmembers white folks sayin war was ~ startin1 bout keep in ~ slaves and then I seed ein mendin the harness and wagons to go and fight. I was the houseboy for the Wit ts dunn the war ~nd bout time ~ it was over I eulisted at Alexandria as ~. soldier ~ nd they sent rae to M2nsfield. The Yanks ha~1 done won the vict ory when our rege ment got - there. They tun ied us loose to git home the best we could. I come back to the Witte and master calls up-all the slaves and says we was free, but if we stayed and worked for him we d have plenty to eat and wear, and if we left, it d be root, bawg or die. Most of ~em let~tbut . ~ I stayed a year. You d ou~t to seed em pullin off them croaker sack clothes when master says We s free. . tu corae to Marshall with my mother and the whole state was under United St~.tes law. The . 8th Regiment of Illinois was at Marshall for two years after the war, and no man, black, white or red_or what is you darsn t git cotched after dark without apass. ~Vhenthey d sto~p you, if you cou.ldnt give the 1J.S. sien, Grant s Friend, they d shoot the devil out of you. Y0u didn t pass less yqu knowed. the sign. ~ ~ 11The Confederates had a big gun powder mill on U111 s Creek, ~ two and a helf . miles north of Marshall aud it stayed operat lu two or three y-ears ~- But Gen. At idiom and cap t . Bishop ~nd . Rives and a bunch of Yanks tried ~ to Capture it and the Confederates b)~wed it up . . ~ ~ 2. -

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~x~~e3~ave Stories . Page Three (Texas) ~ UWhen i: wa~ bout sixteen my mother hires in~ out to a Mr. Acorn5, who ~&S re \tgeed. rcm Georgia to Mar5hafl. O1t~ man. Acorns was a mile of hell anywhere you t~iet him and he nearly beat me to death au&4 ran away. His ~on and hiui and nother ma~u starts after, nie ~xid I has to lieht a shuck. We sho1 had. s orne race iown that hill over where the new . wat er t ower i~ in Sunny South, but they ddn t cot eh me. The white folks round here dIdU t lieve u~s niggers was free then. AThen I goes to wor~ for Mr. Ednond Key, Sr., and stays with him till 11m growed. I used. to help chase rabbits where the court house is now. I re~~ calls the Bazzard Boost Hotel and some 5tores was on that square then~ t, I Co ok$ for the old. Capitol Hotel e ighteen years then I q uit aM trie5 railroadin~ but it d1d~n t take long to decide to go back to the cook apron. I allus made a livin from cookin and preachin and. l ire preached forty...five yeare. The only timee I voted wa~ for high sheriff once and far President Garfield ~and Preeident Grant. ~. ~ t,1 m&rriee ii~ 1915 and my wife is still with me, Itrn too stove up with rhurnatis now to WOI k and her and. me gite $15.00 a month from ~ the government ~ ~ ~ -~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~-t~ ~ / ~ ~u ~ ~ ~

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420()62 ~ ~ < ~ ~ ~ :~L.sLL~ STORIES Page One . ~ ~ ~ (TexaS) V RtJB~N WOODS, ha ~e and strong despite his 84 years, was born a slave of the John Wood~ family in Taladiga County, ~1ah~a~ He eer~red. as ithii~o7 In the ir home unt il he was 21 then caxne . o Tyler Texas with one of his mast- s children. He now lives in ~ . Paso, Texas. Itse de oI~st of seven chilien, My father was Jolm ?loods, mother aura Woods. She was a cook for de r~iarster s f~iiy ort de plantation. We lived. in a log house, logs was hewed in de woods, De marster s 1~cmse was plastered Inside. He had 1, 000 aeres plantation and 96 slaTes. He took good care of em, Omet a week dey would come and dey allowanced tem out pervisions. Not fine stuff; no, dey did.U ~ib 1em nothin like dat 1ia~ ~nd such. Dey would gib you enough flour for biscuit for Sunday mornin and. dey gib potatoes. I t eU ~ how dey done dat ; ev ry faniiy, he had. a basket . and. when dey blow de hotn in ~3.e evenin ev1 ry chile dat was big enough come and he know his basket and take It home. I, De q~iart ers was all Iii rows You had t o have a pass fr~.tm d.e massa to go from one place to ani~dder or the pat eroller would ketch you and. ~iop you, Overseers whopped ~exa, too. ~. ttTo~,. worked. frum time you could see till dark. Yo~t C ou. .dn~ git outta dat no SUh, t ~se you eou3L ~ ~ee de &~uf~ In de fiel yo~i was ~ ut WO?~fl~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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Ex~..siave Stories Page Two tiOle man Woods was a powerful good man, He wouldn raise cotton for sale, only jus enough for women to ~ clothes He raised hogs 2nd cattle. I 1member Ben Avent; he had. a big plantation oc~er on de i land. Took boatloads of slaves and work tern hard. We d hear de boats Co over, clop-clop. . L .~e d tke two yoice of oxen with cotn and. wheat to de xai11~ stay ~ii &:~y, den bring it back to give e~ rybody. I go to mill lots of times and ~1ius drive oxen. In hot weat1~r, dey r~in of to de creek. What you talkin erbo~itt, when it gits hot arid. dey smell dat water, dey tra~e11 1 member stagecoach.. Had erbout six or eight hosses to tee. Driver d blow bugle for stops 1 like trains . Dey didn have nich trains ~e~ days~ ~Vhen de war comes, we h~d soldiers. I se ed em drillin and marchin I ~ ed dem hep-.bej hep! ~ Yes ~at ~m when de Yanks come we was a runnin ~ 2nd & 8quat t t like p~tridges a hidin Dem guns was a firm and shootint dea cannon, spoilint fiel s and kuhn hawgs. Wasn t no f .n. Dr~iras a beatin . It was excitable, yes, i~a am. We h~.d to ran and. hides ~e all ran up to whut dey ca .1 a cave and d*n in dat cave we h~,d eats. All cO~31e what could git in clere. De soldiers try to rount ~em up~ but not dem fli~ers. Ail ~:i.i.n from one place to anudder, t, I learned to read and. write ~ after freedom. Dey not allow you no book larn.in . Obey yo~r marster and aissus dat s aU. t, I ~ ~j ist as well as dat I tse sitt j~I here when freedoa Come. Marster had. tem all tome near de gate and. he sat, YOU ail is free as I am now. He hollered. and cried. it tickled rae to see him cry. ~nd den L

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~av~e Stories Page. Three ~.. (Texas) he s~, ~t now iffen you wat~t toe, &11 ki~fl st~ a2ld. finish up de crc~p. I ll feed. you. : Sotie, dey go to d.e neighbors. Dey tUc3.n know whut to do. Dey hadri be en t~.tght t o ~to fo~ dex~se1~es . But dey co~1dn whop I em no ~!iore. I stayed till I was 21. . NNO, mat~2a, I neyer cou:1. sing, but I tmeaberone song. It went dis way: ~ ~ 18m Jesi,ia wOrkiS j~3~5* begufl; 1822 ~ Jesue ~ brotght de sinner through; 1823 Jea~s~ eot de prieoner free; ~ 1824 Je us pre&ched. tinong d.e poor; 1825 ~3esusbrought ~.e dead. to life; 1826 J*sue had all thtng~ fixed; 1827 .. Jesus rose end. went to Heben; 1828 ~ JeBUS made de plain way straight; 1829 Jes~.s turned de blood to wine. We played hide a..hoop. Lth hide a-.switch. We do dis; you se huntint switch and gittin hot, gittint col , dey take after yau~, dey have a bese t o go to Den if dey ketch dem dey whop ~ ea . I We played Ax thory O~rer, ~- wid thread baUe We throw dat ball over de hmse If d.ey don ketch it dt g oat a1 ~ de w~r dey h&d de sport.

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42()255 t : ~ . ~ ~L~SLAVE STORI~ES P~e One 214 (Texas) ~ . WILLIS WOODSQN does nt know his age, but looks very ~ed. He was born in Whiterock, but ~ he does not know Its location, except that it ~ somewhere ~ east of the Mississippi River. Willis now lives In Tyler, Texas. I I 1m borned. at a p1~ace called Whiterock,. but don1 t rightly ~~member no other name but it was a 1 ong, long way fr m here though. I was the proptty of Marse Richards, but he sold nie ~id my m~w and. a lot. of darkies to ~hazse Ike Iso1-A. Maw said Marse Ik#~ done pay ~5OO for me, cheap cause ITs purty little and couldn1t do mu ch work. . ~karse Is om moved t o Texas ~nd ever~rbody hoip ed. 1 o&d de wagons and we starts real early in a cold. worum1. De old womens and. lIttle chiliens rode In de wagons, but de men walked, ~e traveled real slow, though, and it wasntt no woree n plowin all day. One Marse Isom s eons rid behind on a big, white hose, and seed none of the darkies ruiined off. At night we fi,res a supper and goes to bed. and all de niggers is chained together and slept on straw beds. The white men tooked turns ~ardin1 dem with tuns. ~Ve gits t~o de new farm, long waysfrozn where we lives beTh ~ and~ starts clearin land. When we gits settLed, Old Miss picks me to be nues to her chilien. Maw didn~t work in de field. She say she done been hurt when she got. a whippin1 when she ain~t growed, and ber back &1~tt good. no more, Old Miss say, 11~va, you come in de kitchen and iaake some chittlin1s, and if.fen you cook~s good, you. can work in my kitchen,~ Ma*i, she make dem Chitlj~1~ aud~ d y~s ~1mii good, so ehe gits to cook den, . !.~ara and Old Mise lives in de big.~house, with b~srd oiit~td , ~stE~iixi~ -~~1 ~

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~_e1&Ve Stories Page Two 2j.~5 (Te7aS) ~ : logs. It have bi~ rooms, lots of dem., and. a big fireplace all tcross de side one roOL Me and nother boy has to bring In logs to build de fblre, hirn totin one end an~e me totin ~ One end~0 I stays in de houSse, so I gits good clothes ~nd shoes, toot Some dein niggers didn t have hardly no clothes, though. ~ De raostest ~n I ever got was when Marse Isom lo~s~ rne to be footm~, He sits me ;~. uniform, most like ~ sojerts, ceptinT mine am red with black stripes down de pants. I member it jist like yesterthiy, de first time r puts it on. ~rse give a cel~bratlon at he house and de doorman am sick, so I has to he lt. He ~ cive me dat suit and. say to hurry put it on. Den he make me come to de front door and let hirn in over and over, so as to git de hang of it. He told. me to take his hat and. cane ~nd put dem up and to say, tThank you, ~ arid t ~j~ way, please and. not t o s~ay no more to nobody, and I didntt. After dat night I opens de door lots of times, but inostest I wears dat suit when I takes de white folks to church, while dey listens to preachint and. I holds de hosses, II never did see no nig.gers whipped, but I done see dat whip hanginT in de barn. It a big, long thing, lots blgger~n a horsewhip, and I know it must hive been used, t cause lt all wore out at one ende ~ ~ All de lMn we has ~~n hunt in~ 2nd fishln ~ We can go any night 1 we gits . a permit from Marss Isom. Sornet irnes at night he lets all de b~ niggers git together hind de cabins and make a big bonfire. Den we sings all de s~ngs we knows till nine Otclock, den marse rings d.e bell, to cut out all de noise. Jus1 befo dat war am over, sorae soldiers marches through de faxit~ and. kilt ~ all de COWS and. stock and. ~iurns de bern, ~ ~t~trse beg dem not to bui n he ho~ise, ~ so dey didn t; Some dem niggerB quits when d. ey ~~ed witho~% no supper ~ but not 81s ni~ger~ I $t~ys se~r1 rai years den git s ~ j o b snakmn~ logs in a sawmill Den I nfarries and. I F ~e~en chilien and I stays with first one, den tnother. I hoips dem all I cas. ~atchin~ up some ishin~ tackle tod.ay, ~I ~ ~** ***~

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42O~O O EX~sI~i1ri~ STORI~8 ~ Page Orte 21G (Texas) James G~. Woor11n~~ of Port Worth, Texas, tells the story of Uncle Dave, sne of the slaves that be~ lon~ed to Mr. Woor1in~ s father, who owned a large plantat Ion near Point, in Raine County, Texas, The story relates how Uncle Day-s provLded for hi. family after they were freed, and. Is valuable ai an example of how many ex~.slaves managed to secure a foothold. In. a world for ihich slavery had~ aot prepared them. NDiirin~ pre-war days my father owned a plantatl0n near Point, in Rains County, as well as a large number of slaves, including one Uncle Dave. After the Negroes were emancipated, my father placed a large nui~ber of them on tracts of land within the plentation and ftirnisbed them with a nnile team, a few sheep, some chickens, and the implements needed to cultivate the land. me Negroes were privileged to occupy the land~ for seven years and to keep whatever they made during that time. After the expiration of the seven years they were to pay In money or percentage of crops for the use of the land. This plan was followed by a number of plantation owners. Uncle Dave ~vas an exceptional Negro. He was a natural mechanic, but could do carpenter work, blackamithing, shoemaking and many other things equally well, le was a good. maxiager, frugal and Industrious, and it l. doabtfui if he paid out $50.00 in a year s time for food, clothing and other neces~ sities during the seven years that he lived on the seventy-fIve acres on our plantation, Ee never bot~ght a horsoc llar, but made them himself, shaping them to prevent gRiling and packing them with corn husks. He made the hame~i from oak ti~ er axid made the ~ta1 accessories.

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~xs~1aTe Stsries Page Two (vexas) ~The shoes for Dave s f~rufly he made from hides of animals slaughtered for the meat supply. ~&bout the only far~i Implements he bc~ight were th se that required hlgk grade steel. 4kLlnt Julia, his wife did her part . She was adept at cooking and preserving, and knew how to cure meat. Salt and spices were p~urchased, but they raised barley and. rasted it, to us. in the place of tea or coffee. They raised sugar arid ribbon cane and made their own sugar and molasses. Lunt Julia told father that e~s were traded for any art ides of food that could not be obtained from the farm. Following the Civil ~Var the production of cloth by power driven machines enabled manufactureri~ to sell cloth at a price that did. not warrant contimiance of the hand jiiethod, B~it that did. not interest Dave and. Julia. They had. a spinning wheel arid a loom m~de by Uncle Dave himself, and they made all the cloth needed by t~e f~ily, dying it with the bark of blackoak, cherry or other trees. When the seven year period ended, my father thcnight that Uncle Dave w~i .d stay on the land. He had cleared it, built a house and barn and. other structures, which all belonged to my father under the agreement. Bklt Uncle Dave was not interested 121 renting the land. He hail saved enough money to biy a thousand acres between the towns of Point and Emory. He built a house and barn and. moved his family. Uncle )ave came home one d ~y from a trip to town with a load of cotton. He h~d a te~ gallon keg, which he painted. black. He cut a slit in the side of the keg mnd made a plug for the hol~.and told. Julia the keg was to hold his Surplus cash,

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~x~.Blave St ortes Page Three 21~ (Texas) - Uncle Dave bid the keg and during the next twenty years refused to tell his wife, children or anyone else where it was. It is obvio~is that all the money he received for hie crops, except a small sum, was surplus. Julia often asked Uncle Dave to tell her where the keg was, and. told. my father that Uncle Dave had not been well and she feared the possibility of his dying with-. out died os ing the secret . ~ot long aft er Uncle Dave was found dead. one morning. Money was needed for funeral expenees, but the keg could not be found and Julia had to borrow the required amount. The family searched first in the more likely locations, then made a aitnut e s earch of the whol e pi ace but the keg was never f~nd. On Uncle Dave ~ s fars a fortune is cached. The keg muet have lone ago disintegrated, but the gold and s liver money the savings of t wenty years remain in their hiding place.

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1 ,r~~,I ~ c~~) EL.SLAU B2ORX7~8 Page On. 219 (T.xas) CJBOLINE WRIGHT, about 90 ysax a old., was born near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Warren Worthaa wn.d her parents sud their 14 childr.n. Caroline was 12 when they isre freed. er fathei ~ ~ ~ k(( J~ L~ Robrt Vaughn, aovs&to T.xasj ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ wki rs h. pr spsrs and bought More than 300 acres of P&macana bottom land in XcLennan County. t~aro1tn. and her husband now liv. at 59 Grant St., Waco, in a little lieus. they bought eter their faa ily was grown. f I was ~ ned in Louis lana on Jones Ore ek, 1~y Baton Rouge, bout 90 years ago. I diereme~ber the yeaz . 1fr pappy was Bob Vaughn and my amy was Rose Ann. Day was bo nsl by Baton Rouge. I had six sisters, B.tsy Ann, Lydia, Iancy, Paga and Loelsan; and. thiss brothsrs, Horace, Robert and Torn. We was all owned by~ Dr. Warren !orthi~ and. his wi1~., Annie. )Lr. Bob, do &oct,r s brother ~ad us in charge and he hired u.. out to Hays Whit. who osned a m~gar plantation on &S Mississippi Riv.r by Baton Rouge. U. all stayed at his place two year, Ders was sugar cane, e tn, peas and tomatoes raised on d.c farm. W. lived in a log cabin nade of pine logs and our beds was made outta pins tiniber with coin shucks tacked on de bed, and our kivers was feat~asr beds. 51n Clinton, in Louisiana, we was all put on de block and va1u ~ I was six year old and. I was valued at $1,500. But mar f~ii7 wain sold to anyone. t waa given to Mies Muriel, ~. Vorthm s daa~t.r. Me and ~ sisters was mad. house slaves end. a7 ~a~il37 and p~py and brothrs was mad. fiel slaves. 4..

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~x,.slaYS Stories p~ p~ ( Psxai) 0Our narster, Dr. Wortham, sho was a fine doctor. Re never whip its. Ds young missus learned. us our A B C s cause der. was no Behool for de slaves. Der, wain no church on de plantation, ~xt ~s E~11 went casionally to a big log cabin and cemp she& Som.tins a white would preach and somet lins a cuil~id prsach.r. I only tae~b.r one slave who r~m away. He was so worthless, ne came back w~sn hs got ready. He wasn punished, cause h. wain mean, just lazy. I never saw no jail for slaves and never saw eny whipped. We Lilus had. from friday noon to Monday ~ornin off. Ort Christmas, the white folks allus give us presents and. plenty to eat, and us allus had a big daxics five or six tim. a year. Dr. Wortha~ lived in a great big log house ~t$. fron cedar logs. NOne day, I seen a lot of men and. I asked di mis.u.s what d~ay was ~j~jfl~ Skie toi ne dsy c~e to fit in d.. war. D. war got so bad dat Mr. Bob toi us we was all gym. to Texas. Us all started out on Chz istaas Dey of de rire year of Lincoln . war. We went in o ~: wagons and. us ~iad nul es to ride. On de trip to Texas, one evenin a big storm co~ne up and. Mr. Bob, he asked a man to ist us u~se a bIg, empty hoess. Dey put me oy d~. door to sle~ c~se I was de lightes slesper, Some time in de night, I woked up and dere et ood de bigges hant ~ I ever saw. He was ten feet higk~ and had On a big beaver coat. I hollers to ny pappy, t Pappy, wake up dere s a haint ~ Ne X mornin we got t~p and. dey was nothin outta place. No, maaR, we d.idn cotch de haint, a haint jus can t be cotched.

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;:~~ Steriss Pais Three ~ 221 Nex ~ ~s et arted agin on our j ourney, and sots time in )Larch we reach Texas. They took us ~j~l ~croee de Brazos on a ferryboat, jus ~bmit where de sp,nsion bridge Is now. De doctor took us.all on de farm on d. other eid. o( when BOBqU is now. On de farm us raised all kinds vegetable. and grain and sugar cane to make sorghum, but no cotton. We all lived in on and two ~ oom log cabins, made out of cedar posts. Us d.Idn make any money for ourselves but us had plenty of hog meat beef butter, E:~ilk, cornbread arid vegetables to eat, lots mo dan us have d.ese days.~ US did. all de cookin in de fireplaces. Us aho~ did have plenty of possil, and rabbit, ~nd us cotched loti of fiati outt~ de Bosque River. tiDe women slaves, eleven of us, had our own gardens and us spun all our own clothes. In de summer us aU. wore cotton stripe and in de winter, linsey dr.sses. On Sunday us had lasn dresses and us eho~ did. come out lookiflg cnoicesome. Dr. Worth had. Si for an ov rseer. It was a big farm and had forty or fifty slaves to work it. Us got up bout four in de inornint and ate br,akfas1 !b~it nine o clock. All de alaves had. to work from sun to sun, end when ui was sick, de aarstsr treated us. ~~hen I was about 16, I married William Wright. He was botL a slave near Rap id es, E.ntucky. ~hen he was e ight year old. /h. and. ) his family . ownsr died, and he went to the daughter, Mrs. Richard Ltason, on Black River in Louis iena, as he ir pr c~perty,! He was r~jsed der but when he s fre ed he comes to Texas and works for .~a.

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:~r Stiriss Pete Pour ~ 222 ~ney Mason, seven mile east of Waco. He s 105 year old now and you cain t ha dly unnerstan1 what he s talkin bout We was mar~ ned on the 23d day of Decsabe~, in 1869. Will and me eho did have a fine weddin . De wogen cooked for three days and we danced and ate. My weddint dress was elegant. It wae whit, lawn with blue ribbons. Itli and me had. 12 chilIen and raised 9, end us haa 14 grandchildren. Will and me has bsen married boitt 75 year and. is still married. It s disrespectful how de young folks treats ma2 ria~e flOwadays. fi Ten ~ar after our chilien s growed, we swaps what land we i~aS for di. little hc~ss, b~t we nad to pay some aoney, too. Will W98 aore n 90 years old and I was eigkity some years old~ b~it we got this house and we Is happy. We can sit under that big china berry tr s in de fron yard and look at de big trees over d.r on Waco Creek, and one of our ions lives with us.

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420264 ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ EL.sLAv:~ STORIES ~ . P ge On. ~ ~ ~ (~Psxa.s) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t ml I s married I ~ s e B~irdett s ~ De whit. folks t .11 me I s born eighty on. years ago. I reckon e dat old, I know It ~ born on M~ssa Mike Burd.tte~s cotton plantation at Burdette Prairie, right close to Austin, and. meJ rny e naine was H.t B~ird.etts. Sh. chopped and picked cotton and been dead long tim.. John Burdett. was my papp~r and he was jes a r.g lar fi.ldman, too. P~py been d.ad, m.rcy, so longs Massa B~irdett. ha~ a ov.rsssr and h. ~ rough, I think his naine inust b. Debbil, h. so rough. I~y si5tsr, Molli., was weaver at ds l om, and iffen she didn t git out nough f ~ de day she am tied. up in sittin~ form and. whipped hard. Sh. had stripes all over d.c shoulders. ~Ds re was a whole row C~t log cabine cl os. t o de b 1g house and di roofs was made of clapboards . I t didn t rain in none, ID. only openin was de door, no windows. D.r. was mud and stick chiinnise and a dirt floor. It wasn t no better dan a corncrib but purty warm in winter, 1ca~s. d.c holes chink.d with mud, ~ . Massa BU.rdetta 10! ~ nigger chilIen come to di big houa. at night~ and his chilien lam u. to read. Dey had. blue-back spellers but I didn t Cotch on mu ch and cantt r.a4 or write now, ~& ~ t*~ ~ ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~3k~ ~ ~ ~\ I ~ ~ VSALLI:~ wi~c~, 8)~, was born a. slave on Mike ~dett,t5 plan~ tation near Austin, Her par- nt1a were fi.ld work.rs, In 1874 Sallis married John Wros and th.y raised eleven chu dren Saille owne~ a small faim on the outskirts of Austin, One of h.r daughters lives with h.z~

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Ex.~s1ave Stories Two 224 (Texas) 3$ ?appy a purty good ~ ~sjcierjnt he a s1~ve ni~ji~ One d~y pappy ~nd Unc1.~ P~iu1 ~nd Uncle Andy and Uncle Jo. w~s t&cin baies of cotton on ox W3~OflS down to de Rio Gr~,nde. Each rn~n w~,s drivin a ox wagon down to Brownsvi11~, where dey was to wait to meet Massa Burdette, B~it pap~y and de others left de v~agons long de river bank and. rolled a. bale of cotton in de river rind. all four of dem gits on d~t bale and rows with sticks ~ cross over into Mexico. Dis was during de war. Pappy come back to us after freedom and SR~ h. done git long fin. with Mexico. He larnt to talk j.s 11k. dem. t$~ ~nd rnsmrny StRy! onat Massa Burdettets place di whole time pappy ?Tfl ~Or1~, It was on June 19 we was in~d. free and Massa Burditti say iff.n we stays on his p1~tcs ~nd gather de crops, he give each of us a frei eggnog, We j~tt nsvc~r ~ot no eggnog befo so it sound purt~ good and we stc~ys and gathers de crops. But dat eggnog i. iade m, sick, UUy cousin Mitchell come and got us and brung us to Chapel Hill. B. done rent him a farm dere and. looks rnt f~ us till pappy comes back. He brung some mone~r back from M.xico ~nd taken us~ all to Brsnh~m and b~r~d us SOfflI~ clothes. Den h. mo ~ .d us up to Austin and done any workhe c uld git. I stayed haine till 1874 and den married John Wro , arid he l en ~ ted land .nd farme~j and died. In 192?, S ~ ~ ~ 9We rais.. eleven chilien a~ic~ dey a . . good ~nd ~h~tved. A . . my grand Chill.rt calls me I3jg:M~33fla ~ bU~t Its ~O 1I ~i flOW d 7 ought to CP11 rnI LI . amt I O~fl$: ~j5~ ~j. ! .~ farm. ~ :~ JOhfl saved tnough ~ ~n*y t ~ bu~It b~fO ~hI ~ died, X ~ and~.m~ da~igb~tsr worke~an4 whsn~ ah. !. WOI~ifl ~ ~. my ~ CaX ~ ~ . . ~ ~ ~ ..~. ~ ~ ~ .:~ ~ ~ ~ ;~~ ****** ~ ~:

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4 2()I 94 :~L~sLAvE STORIZS Page One (Texas) 7A&~iNI:~ ~R~R io~, blind nd b.drid4eft, was born a slave of the MoKtnney family, near :~g:_ypt, Kaufman C~. Texas. She was abc~it six when the C1TI1 War started. At that time her job was to herd sheep. After reedom she, lier motnsr and. sister, stayed with the MeKirinsy s for a tiidt~. J anni. married Green Tar brough in Huit C0., Texas and the~r flow. livi in a little cabin at 843 Plum St . Abilene, Texas. SOie Marster iiad a world of cheeps. ~ve17 day we ta~s dem sheeps and watch ~ a. The wo.L~es was mean. ~e d git to playin , all ua littleniggers, and. forgit t iexn sheeps and ~iex thing you know an old wolf would have him f a sfle S . Souietimes we d. keep playin so late it ~as dark fors we knowed it and we d start runntn them sheep~ home. 01 )Larster would be at de big gate to lei; us in, Re says, tNow, ctillen, you did& git back wi th all the sheep . V & say, 0 ~ wolf got em. But he knowed 01 woit didn gi~ all de ones missin and.~e d say, Toii rs storyin . Then puxty soon some of the little stray Ones COWi home. Then he biowed we d run the sneep hOnie ~nd d s~ I spose t U have to whip you, ! ~it he never did~. Those were sweet t imeal 01~ Merster was so good, and he gus us mor to sat than y0.i ever saw. Hog meat every day and sweet ttatoes )~O big we d hare to ciLt Sm Wit~t anax. After we et our supper, we nsA to spin a broach of thread every night for we went to bed.. I lamed. aU bout spinnin and weayin when I was little and by t ime I e 10 I ~ d make pret ty striped cloth. -l..

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226 I~x-Slave Stori.. ~. ~ (Texas) How we p .a~yed and p1ayed~ On Sundays weed strike ~it for the big woods and we d gather our dXSISeS full of hickory nuti, w&lflute arul berrise and a, so~ir ~pp1e called. maypop. Wetd. kill anakes an~ d~jice and sing ttiat ol song bout, Huri h! Mister 31~ecoat, Toodle..O.1 O, Dat Lady s Beatin You. It meant hie pardner waa beatin him d~an1n It ~ ~ j.s~ lyin her dream1n~ ~b t how we usO to go to the woods every ipr Ing and dig the iia~rpop root. then bring none and wash em good and dry iii b~it,mith yc~, not in the .un then efl~ ~t5 chilien would ait round and poun ~ roots, tied up in little bagi of coari. cloth, till it was powder. Th.n we d teks a little flour an~L je5 enough ~ter to make it stick, and we d. make pills to take w~ien we got sick. Antt work you? LawtI ami~ty~ Itien we tock dat stuff we had. to keep tendin to de dr a. tail! ~We went over to list Rock to church and de Bingin was grau. All day lGflg we d. be at preachin and ilngin . Singin dat goad o . sp~ritua1 song 1bout, Tau shan t be Slave. no Mors, since Christ have made yoti free. I 1a~ hers ye. dey &w& heered. all thim fooli.h aong~ and~ jubilee aon~e t~iat comes over the radio and den soap of thee ol 1~bne spirituals come and it je mad flk~ feel like t iras in oil tinea, 1 went back every year to see ~y ol merst.r, 82 long M hS lived. Now lt won be 1or~ till. I B BI hiii 8 hh1~~ SO~~ d87~1

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a 22~ ~X-~SLAV~ STOBI~S (Texas) PACe One LITT YOTJ1~G was bern in 1850 in Vicksburg, Miss. a slave ~f }~artha Gibbs, on whose pr.perty the iLl batt1egr~itnd at Vicksburg w~s heated. Litt was freed in 1865, in Vicksburg, ~Lnd was reft~eed by his owner te Harris en Co. Texas . He was freed again on June 19, 1866, and found w rk as a sawmill hand, a tie cutter and a wo dcutter during the c~nstructien~ if the Texas & Pacific Rai1road~ fr.n~ Marshall t. Texarkana. The remainder if his life, with the exception if five years n a farm, has been spent as a sectiin hands Litt lives alone on the Piwder Mill Road, two and a half miles north if ~arshall, and is sup~ ported by a $12.00 monthly pensian from the gevernxnent. tilts birn in 1850 in Vicksburg, and 1e1.nged to Missy Martha Gibbs. Her place was on Yarner B~yeu and the old. battlefield was right there in ~ ~ her field. She h~d two husbands, one named Heckley and he died of yellow fever. Then she marries a Dr. .cUbbs, what was a Yankee, bLit she didn t kniw it till after the war. ~Massa H.ckley bGught my daddy frim a nigger trader wheres, but my m~imny ahlus belonged t. the gibbs family. and two brithers but the Gibbs s old them t o the Simmons em any mere. ~ Old Missy Gibbs had se many niggers she had to have lets of quarters. They was geod het~es, weatherbsarded with cypress and had brick chimneys. We d pull green grass and bury it awhile, then bile it to make mattresses. . That made it black like in aito seats. Missy ~ aa a big, rich Irishw.man and. ust scared if n, maa. ~he lived in a big, fine h.uee, and bucklet .n twi gans and C ime eut t . the pi ace m st every miming. Sbe mit-eus s.d~ a ~ ..1_~ - ~ up north soiue~ I had a sister and I never seed 4 20()43

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Ex-slave St ries Page Tw. cwt (Texas) man when thinge dldn t g. right.. A yell.w a~n driir her d wu In ~ a tw -hsrse avalanche. She h~ad a white man f.r verseer what live in a giod. hause cI.se t G the quarters. It was whitewashed and had glass wincl ws. She built a nice church with g1a~s windows and. a br~s cupsi. Thr the blacks and a yelliw man preached t. us. She had him preach h w we wac t s ebey sur master and missy j t we want t ~ ~o t o Heaven but when ehe w1 t t here he c~m e ~ut with straight preachin from the Bible. . UG~d graci us what we h~1 to eat . The y give U5 plenty, turnip greens and heg~jowI..and pea~ and. cernbread and. milk by the barrels. Old. w rAen what was t ~ eid t o wGrk in the field. dcne the ~ookin and. tended. the babies. They cooked the c.rnbre~4 in a ven ~nd br.wn d it like cake. When they pulled it ~ all the chilien was standin round, tsu~ckint tbe~r.iips. :~very Christmas us got a set white lowe1l~ clothes and a pair br3gan sh~ee ::~.nd they done us the whole year, or us go n9ked. When that ~ig bell rnn~ at four o cl.ck you d. better get up, tcause the overseer was standin there with a whippin strap if you was late. 1.ty daddy g~t a sleepin m.st every morning fer versleeping. Them mules was ~-~----- ~. stand.in in the field at daylight, waitin t. see how to plow a straight furrow. If a nigger was a 500 p.und. cGtton picker and dith~ t weich up that much at night, that was notgittirig his task and he got a whipping. The last weighin was d ne by light in a. candle t o s es the scales . IIUS have small dances Saturday n g~ts and ring plays and banj. and fiddle playint atid kn ckin bones. ~ Th~ was. fiddles make from giurde aiad b nj.ee froa sh ep hi 5 s. I member onesong, C.ffee grows ou white alc p River flows wit h brandy .. That s ong was s1~art ed in Tickebu~rg by 020. -~ . . ~ . . ..

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J3~x- s1ave Stories Page Three ~ 22~ (Texas) the Yankee s~1diers when they left te ~o h3rne, cause they s, glad. war was ove r, Missy have a big, ste z~i sawmill there n Vlarner Bayou, where the steambeats corne up for lumber. It w~.s right there where the baysu empties in the Mississippi. I mem ber seem one man. sold there at the sawmill. He hit his massa in the head with ~ singletree and kilt him and. they sfizin to hang hua, but n. man promised to buy lira if he d promise to be good. He give $500 f9r him. t Dr Gibbs was a p owe ful man in V1cksbur~ He was the cas i on of them Yanl s takmn vantage ~f Vicksbur~ like they done. Fare the war he d. say to missy, Darling, :r~u u~htn t whip them psor black folks, s~ hard. They is ~wine be free like us soi~ie day. Missy say, Shut up. S0metirnes I lieve you j.8 a Yaz~kee anyway. S me faiks say tir. Gibbs w~sw rkin for the N~rth all the time fers the war, and when be doctored for thera dunn the war, they say they 1ai~wed it, The ~ Fed.erat es have a bi~ ca~ip there ~ at Vicksburg and cut a big dit ch out at the edge ~f .town. Same say Gen. Grant was lcnswin all how lt was fixed, and that Dr. Gibbs l~t him know, The Yankees stole the march on the ~ ederates and waited till they came out the dit eh and m,we~i em down. The Federat es didn t have no chance ~ cause they didntt have n. cannon, just ~p and ball rifles. The n~ain fight started bout four in the morning and held a till b~t ten. Dead soldiers was layin! thick n theground by then, After the fLght, the Tanks c~t thebuttons off tize coats ~f the~that was kilt, ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ :~

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Ex..5iave StarieB Page Fur . ~ (Texas) . I 5~Cd the Yankee gunb~at5 when they cerne tc Vicksbw~g. ~11 us niggers went clown to the river to see em. They told us to git plumb away, ca~Lse they didn t know which w~r they was gwine to $hoot. Gen. Grant come t~o Vicksbur~ and. he olowed a horn ~ them c~arxn~ns began to shoot ~rnd Jus kept shcottn1, ~hen the Yankees come to Vicksburg, a big, red. flag was flyin over the town. rive or ~ix hours after them c~nnons started shooti& they pulled it dawn ~md busted a big, white one, ~e s~w it from the quarters. After surrender the Yanks arrested my old missy an~ brought her out to the farm and. 1ock~d her up in the bl2ck f~1ks church. She had a guard day and night. They fed her hard tack and. water for three days tfore they turned her a.~. oose. Then she freed all her nig~ers. Bout that tine Massa Gibbs run out of corn to feed he stock and he took i~ daddy and a bunch of ni~gers z~nd left to bu~ a boatload of corn. Missy seized a bunch us nigger~ ~nd starts to TE~xas, She h~d Iri8hxaen guards, with rifles, to keep us from runnin 1WR~. She left with ten six-mule teazs sand one ox cook wagon. Them what was able walked ~ll the way fr~rn Vicicsburg to Texas. We camped at. nicht 2nd they tied the~nen to trees. 1(e couldn t ~1t away with them Irishmen havint rifles. Blr.ck folks nat rally scart of guns, anyw~iy. Missy finally locates ~b ut three miles from Marshall and w~ m.de her first crop and on June 19th, th next year after m~ncipation, she sot us free. Dr. Gibbs followed her t, Texas. He said the Yanks captured his niggers ;~ud took his load of corn as they was c mint down the Tennessee River, where it jines the Missiesippi. Me and mamxay stayed in Texas, and never did see d&ddy~~ gain . When us freed the last t~rne us come to Marshal 1 and I w rks i~& griot mill and shin~1e mill. I cut ties for 15 apiece. I cut w od for the _4. .~ ~ ~ ~

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Ex..slave Stsries . Paie Five ( Texas) first engines and they paid me $1.25 a cord. I ~et whe~re I cut three c~rd~ a day. I helped clear ~ZLl the land where Texarkan2. is now. When the rail-. r ;~i s quit using wood, I w rked as section h~uid fr $1.25 a day. I farmed five years and never made a cent ~d went back ta the railroad. II marries in Marshall solong agi I dine forget. I raises six has three sets ~randchilIen. They s all livmn bept one. Since died and l s too ailing to work, l s been kept b~r the pensi n. They h~d provost law in Ma~sha1l when us cerne to Texas. I ~ lus voted when they~~Iet us. These young niggers ain t like what us was. Peniten-. tiaries was made for the white fol3cs, but the yiung niggers is k~epin tern Th.II. ~. \ ~ gals and my wife * *.* ** * * **

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 238 232

~1 * )(~) ~) :te ~~~P ~ ) - EL.SLAVE STORIZS p~ One 232 (Texas) I JIS YOUNG, 88, was born a slave of Hampton At1c1nsoi~, on a small farm in Phil ips C ounty Arkansas. ~hen Louis was twelve, his master sold him and his mother to Tom Young, who took them to R&binson Co., Texas. Louis i~ow lives at 5523 Bonnell St. ~rt Worth, Tex. Mamniy done put my age in de Bible and. I m et~htyeight years oU flow. Itm born 1n 1849. ~t I can git round. Course, I can t work ncw, but, shucks, I done my share of work already. I works from time I~m eight years old till Itn~ eighty past, and I d be workin yit 1f de rheumatis misexy didn t git me in de arms and legs. It make me stiff~ so I can t walk good. I, Tee suh I start s t o work when e ight on dat plantat i on where I ~ born. Dat in &rkansaw, and Massa Hampton own me ath my mammy and eight other niggers. My pappy am somewhere, but I don t lcnow wher~ or nothix~ bout him. Us all work from l1~ht to dark and. ~tinday, too. I don t know what Sanday am till us come to Texas, ~nd dances and. good things, I don t know nothin botit dem till us corne to Texas. Massa Hampton, he am long on de work and short on de rations, what he measure out for de week. Seven poands meat and one peck meal and one quart Lasses and no more for de week. If us run us am out, dat s all. tI~fle day us gits sold. to Massa Tom Young. He feels inammy e muscles and looks on her for marks of de whip. Massa Young say he give $700, but Massa Hampton say no, he want $1,000. He say, Tous takin dem to Texa.s, where dey sho to be slaves, spite de war.~

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Ex-~51ave Stories Page Two (Texas) Finally Massa Young gives $900 for us and off us go to Texas. Dat in 1861, de fall de yar, and it am three teams mules and three teams oxen hitch t o wagons fall of farm things and rati ons a~d sich. Us on de road more n three weeks maybe a month, ~ us git to Robinson County. When us git dere, de work am btiildin de cabins and. house and den clear de land, and by Spring, us ready to put in de crops, de corn ~nd cotton. Massa Young am good and give ~is p1ent~r to eat. He has bout twenty slave5 and us works reason ble and. has good t tine pared with f On Saturday night it am dancin and mu.s ic and. iflgifl and us never heared of sich befo . One day Massa Young call U8 t O de house and tell us he don t own u~s no more, and say us can stay and he pay us some money, if us wants. He ask mammy tostay and cook and she does, but I m stron~headed and rans fff to Calvert and ~oesto work for Massa Brown, and dere I stays till I m growed. He paid me $10.00 de month and den $15.00. When l s twenty-.five I marries Addle Easter and us have no chilien and she dies ten years after. Den I drifts round, workin here and yond~.r and In 1890 i: marries dat wom~.n settin right dere. Den I rents de farm and if de crops am good, de prices am bad, and if de prices am good, de crops am . bad. Zo it go and us lives and. not too good, at dat. I quits in 1925 and. comes t3 Fort Worth and piddles at odd jobs till my rheuinatis git so bad. give years ago. I done forgit to tell yoti bout de Klux. Deui debbils causes lots of trouble. Dey done de dirty work at night, come and took folks out and. whip dem.

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EX slave Stories Page Three (Texas) t, Some cul lud folks am whip so hard dey in bed sev rai weeks and I knowed some hanged by dey thumbs. U~ybe some dein c~aiiud folks gits out dere places, but mostest dem I knows gits whip i~er nothin . It jus de orneriness dein Klux. It so bad. de cullud folks fraid to sleep in dey house or h~we parties or ~ after dark. Dey starts for de woods or ditches and sleeps dere. It ~it so dey can t work for not sleepin , front fear of dem Klux. Den de white folks takes a hand. and sojers am brtin~ and. dey puts de stop to dent debbils. Bout de livin now, u~s jus ~ make it. Us lives on what de pension am and dat $30.00 de month, and it mighty close us has to live to ~it by on sich. I thinks of Massa Young,and us live better den dan now. I never votes, caus Ican t read and dat make troubleinent for me to vote. How I ~wine rn~ke de ticket for dis and dat? l or dem whet can read, dey can vote.

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420087 :~z_sLAv:~ STORIIS 2~5 (T.xas) ~ T~SRAN YOUNG, 86, was born a elaYs to B~tskn~r Scott, who owned s p1an~ ~ tation in Harrison County, Texas, c~ sud had over one ~nttr & slaves. ~ Teskan married Moses Toting in 1867 *n~t 1ive~i near her old home until 1915, when eke aoved to Port Jortk. She lives in a negro settlea.nt on the outskirts of Stop Six, a iiibui~b of 1~rt Worth. ~ 86 years oie. Bora in Harrison C~inty, Taxas. Marster Seott owr~ed me and. i~y parente, one br~~er and t}~res eiater~. Marater never sold wiy of~e~uns, so dere was no separation of de fajiily long s we lived on de Mar8terts ple.ee. He had awful big plantations 1bout seven ailes long. ou dat plantation de Mareter have everything. ~ Hirns hare de gin and. de aill for to p iid de rneal and feed, de big black~ aiiith shop and dore was a house wb.ar dey spins de yarn and rnskes de sloth, de shoes and sieh. He have bout 30 quarters for de suliud. folks bask of la s house and dare ai a house for de mi~sery~ wi d. a big yard d&t have swings and sich for de cullud ehillens. ~E~~h suliwi fwaily have de cabin for themseif. De sabine have bu.i~ks for sleepin , fireplace for to cook, beneh ~or to set on ~ imt dat s all de furniture. Marster Scott feeds all us niggers good. We1una have beans~ peas, ailk, vegetables, lasses and plenty of aeat. De marster have kawgs on top of hawgs on d&t place, for to aake de aeat. NieSuns have all de clothes dat we~una need~ for to keep warrn. De marster says, De nigger aus~ ave plenty of: food and keep

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E~-s1~ ye Storte~ Page Two (Texas) w&~ for to work good. How mary hotu i wo uiie work? Dat depenB On c3. tiae of d. year it au. When its tiae for d~e hoeln or de ptckin1 of de sotton, dey work late. Twarn t etch long hours udder tiaes. But de riareter ~a~e de ~z11ud folk. work and w~atpi ~~ea when dey &on~, ~ Saeaber one slave dat gits wkipped ao bad kies neyer gits up, huis died. We ~wii okillen8 would go r sin wkar kite wai and look at is. D. Marster let. we1~ins d~o dat. Tes, iu~, dey whupped pow ful liard sometimes. My ma~.y gits w~upped one tiae ~ ske co~ie from de fiel for to nu~e her baby, and once for de sause she keep up her row in de fiel My pappy ~it$ ekoot in de shoulder by de overseer, ~c~ee kiMs I~UflB froia de ~~xppin~. I Twae dia way, de o~ereeer says Z~oae here t se gwine whup you for not workin like I sayt ~ Dere was a fence de re and. ~iy pappy runs for dat and at erawlin over it ehen de overseer shoots. ~I1se bout 10 year oie when de war tax~te, It sakes no &tff rence, dat I se ~i~absrs, eept de Marster unes de ar~. I1se tend to all de suflud chilien while dey aaaates workin in de fie . De hanter sa sho1 p~rtio~l~z bout dea chilien. He feeds ~ea well, aush, ailk, bread, tlaeses, vegetables and sich. De food sa put in de lone bowl, like de trough. De chilien have wooden spoons aM we~uns line cie a long de bowl. 1~n de fun starts. I se hays de long switch and. keeps walking back and forth to make dea debils behay., De ~~reter c~ea in soa tiaes and hias igugh at dois, dey so funny. ~Aft.r I1se gite aarried, I se has 13 chilIen of ay own. t se

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:Ix~~.~s1&y. Stori e Page Thre. (Texas) neyer call. d.e &octor for my chilien. 1~se goes in de wood.s and giti de plants and de herb.. l or de stomach misery 11se uses de r d petals, boils dat and takes die juice. For de cold, I i. takes dsls3eaa. Root, boils dat and takes de juice. ~~ben da chores am done on Sun&~y orCh~istaas, Ie une can have de R~zsic dano and uingtn~ . We ~ have som good ois tiass. 1~ soags ~ de oie tina.rs, sich as Swarms. Biver, 01. BlaCk Joe and ders ~n de fiddles and banjos dat dey play. Wsw she cel1brat on Chrtst~as. De wowen all cooks cakes and cookie. and sich. ~ men sates all de bladders fr~ de hawgs dey kill, blows sa full of air and lit. 1em dry. De yoiing~uns puts dom on stiCks and holds ~ o~er a fix s in de yard. Dat makes ~em bust and dey goes Sb~flg~ jus like a gun. Dat was de fireworks. Mareter comes back fro~ de war widout gett in Imrt. Lt de tiute freedoa c~es, some cuilud folks stays on and works for money. ~ Pwu de tust ~ioney dey ever had~, and dey don know what to d~ wid it ~an& what its worth, S~e of dein are still on dat la~ Dey rents or have bought. 3~y bru.&der lives der., jus a few yards from de oie quarters. My :pappy worked for oie Mareter till he died. I se etq~s wid him till I marries. lilt.. married in a cullud church and I se have a pretty pink dress :~ hat. My busban have hirns own farm, paz t of di oie plantation. We finally btiys it from de Marster. In 1902 my huaban dies ~d I se stays dere till 1915. Den 3t .e comes to Port Worth. I se still uu.sin some but I s. gettin de pension of nine dollars a month. Dat she helps ont. s*.s*ss