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SLAVE A Folk History of Slavery in the From. Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY THE FEDERAL WRITERS PROJECT I 1936 1938 ASSEMBLEI) BY TIlE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated with Photographs United States wAsHIN(;TON 194! NARRATIVES

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VOLUME XVI TEXAS NARRATIVES PART 3 Prepared by the Federal Writers Project of~ the Works Progress Administration for the State of Texas

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INFORMAN~ Lewis, Cinto Lewis, Hagar Lewis, Henry Lewis, Lucy Lincoln, Amos Little, Annie Livingston, Abe Love, John Love, Louis McCoy, John McQ,ueen, Nap McRay, Bill McRay, C. B. Malone, Julia Marshall Adeline Martth, Isaac Martin, James Mathews, Louise Mathews, William Mayes, Hiram Merritt, Susan Miles, Josh Miller, Anna Miller, Mintie Maria Mills, Torn Mire, La San Mitchell Charley Mitchell, Peter Moody, Andrew Moore, A. M. Moore, Jerry Moore, John Mooi~e, Van Moore, William Mo rrow Mandy Moses, Patsy Nelson, Andy Newman, Virginia Nillin, Margrett Ogee, John Osbonie, Annie Overstreet Horace Overton, Mary Owens, George Patterson, I~Jary Anna Patton, Martha Payne, Ellen Perkins Henderson Phillips, Daniel Pierce, Lee Polk, Ellen Powers, Betty Powers, Tulle ~. Price, Allen Price, John Price, :T~ev, Lafayette Probasco, Henry Proctor, Jenny Pruitt, A. C. Q,uarls, Harre Rains, Eda Randall, Millie Hednioun Laura Peece, Elsie Reynolds, Mary Rium, Halter Robinson, ::ariah Ross, 3usan Row, Annie Huffin, Gill Ruffin, Martin Ruffins, Florence Hussel, aaron Ryas, Peter Ryle~, Josephine 154 157 160 162 165 l 71 173 177 180 183 185 188 190 193 195 197 o 205 208 ~18 222 225 227 229 233 236 247 252 256 258 262 265 268 270 274 278 3. 4 8 14 17 20 24 26 29 32 35 38 40 43 45 48 62 65 67 72 75 79 82 85 88 107 110 114 116 118 121 125 128 132 138 142 145 148 152

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ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page 4 20 24 35 38 40 62 65 175 79 10 ? 110 116 118 121 128 132 142 148 152 154 160 Hagar Lewis Annie Little Abe Livingston Nap ~cQ,ueen Bill I~cRay C. B. Mc~ay Jarnes Martin Louise Mathews Susan ~~erritt ~Tosh i ~iles La San I:ire Charley Mitchell Andrew Moody and Vife Tildy A. M. Moore Jerry Moore Van Moore William Moore Patsy Moses Virginia Newman Margrett Nillin John Ogee Horace Overstreet nary Anna Patterson 171

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Facing page Ellen Payne 17? Henderson Perkins 180 Daniel Phillips 183 Ellen Polk 188 Betty Powers 190 Tillie R. Powere 193 ~Tohn Price and wife Liranda 197 Jennie Proctor 208 Eda Rains 225 J~ii11ie Randall 22? Laura Rednioun 229 Elsie Reece 233 Mary Reynolds 236 Walter Rimai 24? Gill Ruffin 262 Martin Ruffin 265 Aaron Russel 270

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/1 b)~ ~ I ~ :tP~w~J~L.( ) ~ ~XSL4~V$~ SPORI~S Paie One j ~ (T,xae) ~ Uncle Cinto Lewis, ex slave, claims to be 111 years old.. He lived in a brick cabin with his wife, Aunt Lucy, on the Hwitin~ton Plantation, in Bra z~ria Co., Texas. Miss Kat Ru~ntin~ton sa~s the cabin oc- cupleci by the old. couple is part of the old slave qu~arters built by J. Greenville MeNeel, who owned the plantation before . Marion Hantin~ton, Miss Kate s father, bou~ht I t . Alth~a~h Uncle Ointe clairiis to be 111, he says he was n~med San Jacinto because he was born during the San Jacinto WarU ~ woild i~ake his a~e 101. su.h, I ~ s Cint .~ Phnt s lucy over there she my wife and I calls her Red Heifer, cau~se her papa s n~me was J~aan ~n& he was a Mexican, She and me raarry right after m~ucipation. We come 1on~ W8~ and we &; in te die to~ther. . ~They named me San Jacinto cause I s born dunn ae San Jacinte war, b~it they calls me Cinto. l s born in Fort Bond County, up near Richmond and. ny old marster was Marse Dave Randn and. his wife, Miss Nancy, was my aissue. She was sister to Marse John McN.e1, what with his brothers owned. all de land hereabouts. WI asiabers once I slips awa~r came dark from de plantation, with s iie there. We is slippin long quiet like and. a pad&le roller L j~zi*p o~Lt fron behin ~ b~eh and say, ,$et s see tour Pass. We didn t have nine but I h~s a piece of paper and I 4ves it t. him and he walks t. wh.r. it am ~ re lieht and then w. run, right tbreu~h old burdock bushes with briars stickin us and. everything. Iffen he cotched ua w. eh. gits a hidin . ~1i..

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~.. Q ~. Ex slave St ri e ~ ~ Tw (Texas) tu tust went t di field when I bout 15 year .14, but they lamed us t e work when we was chaps ~ we would t p ~ j~pm~~ in d~e rews. My asama s name Maria Slaiaons end. my papa, Lewie~ They rared. me ~ip right. Marss Dave wasn t ineen like some. Sometin~es de slaves run away to de weeds and iffen they d~tt cotch t~ fust they finally gits hongry ~ind comes home, and. then they gite a hidin ~. Seme niggers just COLL1C from Africa and old Marse has te watch tern close, cause they is de ones what mostly runs away to de woods. We had. bettsr h uses then, good plank houses, ~nd d.c big house was ~ big and. nice. Course they didn t lam us read ~nd write, ~nd didntt tiow no church, but us steal off and have it sonietinies, and iffen old Marie cotch us he give us a whalint. We didntt have no funersis like flOW, they ~ di~ a hole and rn~ke you a bo~ arid throw ~rou in ~nd cover you up. But de wtdte feiks fed u.s good and give us good clothes. ~ve won red russet shoes and good hetaespun clothes, and we done better n now. Corns Christmas time eid. ruarse sometimes give as two-bits and. lote of extra eats. Iffen it corns Monday, we has de week off. But we bas ~to watch the eats, tcauee niggers what they marsters don t give Sm no Christmas sneak over and eat it all up. S~,metimes we bave dances, and I d play de fiddle for white folks and cullud folks both. ~ play, Youn~ Girl, Old. Girl , ~ High Heel Shoes ~ ~i~d ~ Calico Stsckin~s . Il ~i~en we was freed we was all glad but I stays d t round ~nd werked for ~tarse Dave and he pays me a little. Finally Lucy ~nd me gits married sat of de Book and comes down here to Marse MeNeels. They puts us

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$~L.SLAV~1 STOREES Pate Three .~ 3 (Texas) in debt and makes us work so man years to p~y ~or lt. They gives us our own ground ~nd soraetlaos we makes two bales of cotton on it. Course, we works for them, too, and they p~iys us a little and when Christmas comes we can buy our own thln~s. U used to haul sugar ~nd lasses for Papa John up to Brazorta i~nd sometimes to Csl~mbia. l!Yes, euh, I been hers a 1on~ time, lone tii~ie. All my own stuff is dead now, I ~~xess. I ~ot grandehillen in al~eston, I think, but all my Own stuff is dead.

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420071: :~x~g. ~&v:~ STORIZS (Texas) HAG AR LEWIS, tall and erect at 82 years of ace, lives at 4313 Roea St . El P2.50, Texas. She was born a slave of the Martin family w4 . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ was given with her mother w~d ~Pami1v ~ to M~xy Martin, whe~i she married ~ f John M. Mc?ar .and. They lived near I ~ ~ ~P 1 Tyler, Smith Co., Texas. When freed : : J ~ she rexaained with the Mc~Par1ande .~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ~ fyi ~ : until sher~arr1edA. Lewis ~ndrno~ed ~.~1l1~:.~4;v ~ to San Antonio, Texas. Widowed~ early, I she re~ieed two sons. One, chief ~ ~ ~ . ~ ; ~ ~ ~ electrical engineer with. the U. S . ~ ~ ~.. ~ ~ ~ government, lives in New York City. ~ He protides for his 2ged. r~other. UI was born Jan. 12th, 1855. My ~Pirst owners was the }1tartine, eM when their da~ighter, Mary, married, I was give to her. My a~raa lived to 112 ye~rs old. She had. sixteen children. I was the baby. ~ . Mi ssu~s Mary Mc:~ ar1and, my mothe s iatesus and raine taught us children with her own; Learned u.s how to read and write. She treated us just like we were her children. We had very strict leaders, iiy mother and. Missus Mary. She d say, M~va~r ~1z~ay r~3ther) tyoutll have to come and whop Oscar and Ha~ar, they s fightixL~ MwE y Lize would say, No, I ~ whop 1eis, I~1I just punish ~eii.~ ~nd wetd hare to stand with our backs to each other, ~ My ralasus neyer did .auch Who~ppint. ~~1~3~dincabinsaadeof1Oge andchinkelwithmud mortes. We ha~ beds t~iat ha~1 only one leg; they fit in each corner of the walls. ~hey was strong, ou, We could jump on ~ eta and h~~e lot s of fuit. !e . did~~t sta~.iu qu~rt~rs auch. The cabins was near a creek where willows ~2 ew and wet d aa~:e stick horses out of ~ ein. We called it c~ir horse lot. 0* t~e fera was a epiing That threw water h&~h~ and wetd go fishing in ~ ~I u, Paie One

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~x-~1a~e Stories . Pace Two ~ 5 ( ~exas) ~ r a bi~ 1~Jce on one corner of the farii. Marster owned half ~ leagae, maybe more. I W2~S 12 years old. when freed. I can remeaber the w~y my x~i2rster come hoae from the war. The oIde~t son, Os~c~r, an~ I was out in the yard, arn~ I saw ~arster first, coi~in down the roadS, ax~d I hollered and. screa~ned, I~, Osc~r, Marse John s a.-cominl Marse John~s a-~COmin home! We stayed. on with them till they ai . died. off but Oscar. H We neyer ch~nged. our name tlfl aft er the Civil W~ar. Then Marse John said, M~rimy Li ~e ~ you ~ott~ choose a natte. ~ He carried us into Tyler to a bure~ or something. Ma~iay Lize say, I~ii goln; to . keep the name UcPar ~nd. I al&t ~ot no other n~rae.t . . My father w~s a slave fro~u another fana. My mother was the cook. She cooked it all In the s~e place for white folks and us. ~Ve ate the serie, when the vrhite folks was finished. They s a bi~ light bread oven in the yard of the big house and. in front of the quarters, under a big tree. That one baked the pies. The cabins had a big f ire~ place . wi der than that piano there. They d. hang rc~eat and sa~.isp~e and- ~r~T thee in the fireplace. Cut holes in ham and hang thera there. Had big hogeheads filled up with flour, corn and wheat. ~ USoxae pore njggers were h~,f starred. They belonged to other \\ ~ people . Mlesue Mary would call them in to feed. ~ ea see e~i outside the 2 fence p ickt up scraps. Theytd call oat at night, Marse John, Marse ~\ Jo!rn.*: ~ afraid to coiie inda~jtirne. Marse John d. say, tWhatts the ~ ~Theytd say, I se hongry. Hetd say, Come in and git it.~ ~ Ee d~ ct~re lots o meat, tor wetd hear ~em hollerin at nicht when they d ~

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E .sla~e. Stories Page o t . . G, (Texas) . be at the pore ni~ers for beggin or st ah or some crime. Marss John would saddle up Old Charlie and. go~ see. He he.d. a I bi~ shot gun across his lap . We d hear that oie bull whip just a poppin . \ Theyt d turn em b o~ when Marse John ~ot aft er 1 em, He pro sectit ed. some ~ rnarsters for beattnt the sia~es. He kiew they was half feed.in em, One time he let us go see where they d drue two ni~ers todeath with \ oxen. For stealth or somethin I can t s~y we were treated bad., ~ cause \Itd tell a story. Itve always been treated good by whites, but ru~ny of ithe niggers was killed, They d say bad. words to the bosses and they d t shoot tem We d ask Miss M~rsr w~r CUd. they kill old Uncle so and so, and ;Miss Mary ~ say, ti don t know, It s not right to say when you don t ~Jknow. I m glad to see slavery over. . when I was turned, loose Miss Marywas training me and mister 7 to do h~ndwork, knittin and such. Mama wouldn t let us dance, didn t ;w~t any rough children, Miss )Lary d. say, when I d get sleepy, Owl 1 ~ eyes, ain t you ep I d. say, No, ma~&~m, ~riything you want us to /de? I cried to sleep in the big house with Miss Mary and the children, ( t cw~,se ay sister Belle did. Said she s gomn t o turn white cause she _~\~~red with the white folks, ~ Mi s s Ma17 d~ make our Sunday cires se s . My mother put colored~ . \ ~ thread in woven ~iateriai and. they was pretty. We bad. plenty of clothes. ~/ $iSs Mary Saw to that . They paid lay mother for every child she bad. that ~ ~ ~-~ . ( Ii was b, jg: euoi~gb to work, and Marse Tohn saw that others did the s.a~e. ~ \ k\\ 1~ Some Whit es had a daz k hole in the ground., a dungeon ~ they \ to put the ir ala~es in. They t~ eei ry sa bread and water \ ~ V se traid~ of the hole they d~ tell me the devil waa in I ~ ~ ~ - ~-~ ~ ~ -~ - -Y ~_~-~--~ ~

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I ~x..eiave Stories Page T~y ee f7 (Texas) . that hole. We set traps for tpOss~, coons and squirrels. We used. to have big sport rid.in goats. One nepi bttsted. me wide open. Mise Mary s brother put rae on It, ~nd they, trniitshed him good. for it. He didn t get t o PlE~~7 for a long ~ ~ 1~ue ~nd we had. an old. buck sheep ~ He ~ d keep Ose ~r 9nd I up on the Oak patch fence aU the t1in~. ~ ~ / ~ We ~ cl watch the doodle bugs bu lid the ii hous es ~ffe d sine Doodle, Doodle, your house bm ned down.1 Those things would. come up out o ~ their holes just a shakin . ~ One game I reaember was, ~ ~Skip frog, Skip frog, Answer your Mother, ~ she s cellin you3 you, you.z ~Ve d stand in a circle arid. one would be skip frog. !e d slap OiiX~ hands ~nd skip frog would be hoppin just like frocs do . Oh, I wish I could call thera t iae s back again. ~ go back .\ tomorrow. Bu.t I ~xt tryin to live so I can meet ~ once again. ~ ~ ~ I

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~i t ~ 4~2O1.55 EL.SLAV~ STORIES Page One ~ 8 (Texas) HENRY LEWIS was born in 1835, \;)J at Pine Island, in Jefferson. E~ ~ C o. T exas He was owned by Bob Cade. Henry s voice is low and somewhat indistinct and it was evidently a strain on his vocal chords and. also on his memory, to tell the story 0 his life, He lives with one 0 ~ his daughters, In Beaumont, who supports him, with the aid 0 1 his pension, tIuold Bob Cade, he my massa, and Annie Cade, she my missus, Dey had a big plantation over in Louisiana and nother in Jefferson Q0unty, out at Pine Island. Its born a hunnerd. and one year a~go, on Christmas Dey, out at Pine Island, If I lives to see next Christmas day gain, I ll be a hun rd two year old. t1My mammy she come from Mis sippi and she name JMy Lewis. Washington Lewis, one de slaves on Massa Bob s Louisiana pD~ntation, he my daddy. I can t aiember nobody else cept my greatgrainina, Patsy. She s 130 when she die. She look awful, buSt den she my folks. M~r own dear mammy was 112 yeai ~ old when she die. She have ten chilien and de big~es portion dem born in slavery time. ~ ~y ~ ~ ~ L~I$.an .~ dy and Louise. t name after my daddy brudder, Henry Lewis, My white folks have a plantation in Lcnils lena, at Caginiv, and stay over dere in de time. I ~inember when old Mass4Bob used t o come t o Pine Island ~ to stay a month or two, all us li l chilien gather round him and. he used to throw out two bitses and. big one cent pieces ~fl1Ofl~St US~ jisi to see U~S scrammel for dem, ~ Christmas time come round dey give us Christm~s gift and a whole week for holiday. I, ~ never been no nearer east dan Lake Charles ai~1 dat been. lately, so

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? Ixwslave Stories Page Two ~ ~ 9 ( ~fexas) I I ain t never see de old plantation. At Pine Island us have de big woods t~ place with a hunerd workin hands, without de underlin s ( children) . All he I niggers say Cade de good mat. He hire he overseers and say, You can correct dem ~: for dey own ~ and make dem work right, but you. ain t better cut dey hide or ~ draw no blood. He git a-holt some mean overseers but dey don t tarry long. He ~ find out dey beatin he niggers and den he beat dem and say, How dat suit you? ~ MOld massa he a big, stoc1~r Irishman with sandy hair and he ain t had ~ no beard or iau~st ache When he crow old. he have de gout and he put de 1 ong mat~ tress out on de gallery and lay down on it. He say, Come here, my li l niggers, and den he m:~ke us ~ixb he foots so he kin git to sleep. ~ Dey used to have old slavery-day jedge and jury of white folks and ~ dey hear de case and cide how many lashes to give de darky. Deyput de lash ~ Ofl dem, but dey never put no jail on dem. I seed some slaves in chains and. I ~ heared of one massa what had. de place in de fence with de hole cut out for de ~ nigger s neck. Dey hist up de board and de nigger put he head through de hole I and den dey beat him with a lash with holes bored in it and every hole raise ~. de blister. Den he bus dem bu sters Wi th d.c handsaw and dey put salt and I pepper in de bucket water and. noint dem blisters with de mop dip in de water. F Dey do dat when dey in ticular bad humor, ifferi de nigger ain t chop nough ~ cot ton or corn. S0inet me a overseer kilt a nigger and dey don t do nothin ~ to him cept make him pay for de nigger. Bat our massa good. ~ Old massa low us praise Gawd b~it lots of massas didn t low L~em to ~it ~ ~ de knees. Us have church-house and de white folks go in de mornin and us ~ go after dinner. Us used to sing: ~ . H t My~ knee bones achin , ~ My body s o~ci with pain, ~ I calls ~ myself de chile of awd, ~ ; Heaven am my aim. -2-

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Ex~slave Stories Page ~ hree (Texas) ~ ~ lf ~ro~ don t lieve I s a chile of G awd, ~ 31e meet rae on dat other shore, ~ Heaven is my home. ~ I calls myself a chile of G~iwd, ~ I s a I ong t line on my way, ~ But Heai~en ~rn my home.~ ~t Old massa have c~e house make out hand-sawed planks in slavery time. ~: It put together with homemade nails, dem spike, square nails~dey make cleyseifs. ~ It have de long gallery on it. De slaves have li l lo~ cabin house with ~ad~cat ~ chimney on de side and de furn ture mostly ~orgia hosses for beds and mattress make out t ow sacks . Dey no floor in dem house cept what Gawd put in dem. 1! When I six or seven year old dey cides I s bi~ nou~h to start ridin hosses. Dey have de big cattle ranch and I ride all over dis territoxy. l s too ll l to git on de hoss and. dey lift me up, and dey have de real saddle for me, too. I couldn t ~it up, b~it I silo could sta~y up when I git dere. l s ji~t like a hoss-.fly. ~ Beaumont was ji~1 a briarpatch in dem time. Jist one 1I I store and ~ one blacksmith shop, and M~ssa John Herring he own dat. Dat de way I first see ~ my wife, ridin de razige. Dc CRde brand was a lazy BC ( ) dat done register ~ fore I~s born. Us brand from dc first of March to de 15th of December. Old massa have de big fi ld vided in trac s and each slave could ~ have a part and raise what he want and old massa buy de crop from de slave. ~ He s purty good to he slaves, and us have good clothes, too, wool for winter ~ .~ and. Cotton for summer. Us have six suit de year, unnerwear and. all, Dey a ~ trhk like in de cabin for Sunday clothes and. de res hang on a peg, ~ titi5 have plenty good food. to eat, too. Beef and hawgs and bacon and. ~ syz,1~p ~nd sugar and flcnxr was plenty. All de possums and. rabbits ~nd fish and. ~ si ah was j s dat imich more . He give us de barrel whiskey every year too. L ~

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Ex~s1aVe Stories Page ~1ii~ee (Texas) Dey low de 11,1 chilien lots of playtime and no hard task. Us p1ay~ stick hoss and seven-up marble grime with marbles usrnake and de well gaine De gal o r boy s ot In de chair and l~rm way back and t end like dey in de well. Dey say dey so nuuiy feet clown and say, Who you want pull you out? Arid de one you want pull you out, dey sposed to kiss you. Dey used to be nigger traders what cc~ through de country with de herd of niggers j it like cattlemen with de herd of cat tie . Dey fix camp and. dM pen on de ridge of town and people what want to buy more slaves go dere. Dey have a block and make de slaves git up on dat. Maybe one man say, I cive you $2oo . oo and ~ when s through de slave sold to de highes bidder, Old massa warn us look out and not let de trader cotch us, cause a trader jis soon steal a nigger and sell him. De patterrollers corne round beTh de war to see ifeen de massas treat dere slaves good. My wife s gr~inma say dey come round to her massa s place, but befo dey git dere he take a meat skin and make dem nib it round day mouth and git dey face all greasy 8 it look like dey have plenty to eat and he tel). d.em day better tell de patterrolle~ s dey gittin plenty to eat. But dere one big nigger and he say, Hell, no, he ain t give US tflOL~&~1 to eat, Den dat nigger say, Please take inc with ~ou~ ~caUSe 1 ~OU don t ifiassa gwineter kill me when you git gone. Old. massa he die befo de war ~nd den he son, John Cade, take over de place and he brudders help . Dey name Overton ~nd Ta~l or and Bob ~ Junior. Us all want to git free and talk 1bout it in de ~iartere mon~st ourselfs, but we ain t S~T nothin where de white folks heared u~.

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Ex.~s1ave Stories Pace Five ~ 12 (Texas) When war come on I seed. sojers every day. Dey have de camp in Liberty and I watches dem. I heared de gu~ns, too, maybe at Sabine Pass, but I d.idn t see rio actual fightin . i~t a 1on~ year to wait, de las year de war. Dey sont de papers dowr~ on March 5th, I done heared, but dey dithi t turn us loose den. Dis de last state to turn de slaves free. Then dey did~tt let dem ~o in March, de Yankee soj ers come In Jujie and make dem let us ~o. Next mornin after de soje.s come, de overseer reads de papers out and say we s free as he is and we can go. Some stay on de old place a long time and some ~o off. You 1~ow dey ils slaves and wasn t civilize . Some ain1t never git civilize jet . Old massa never give us nothin but he t old us we would stay on iffen we want but I I eft. I goes down close to Anahuac and builds a li~l log cabin at Monroe City, and dat s where dey puttin in oil wells now. Washington Lewis, dat my daddy, he have 129 acres dere. De white folkssay to sign de paper to let dem put de well on it and dey give us ~5O.OO end us sigi d~t paper and dey have de land. H ~ marries in slavery t ime when I s bout 22 year old. My first wife naine Rachel 5.fl: she live on Double Bayou.. She belong to de Mayes plac e. I see her when I ridin de range for Massa Bob. I tells massa I wants to ~it max~r~3r and he ma3~e me ask Massa Mayes and us have de big ~.~e~idin . She dress ~ 1l in white. I have de nice hat anc~ suit of black clothes and daddy a shoemaker and make me de good pai of shoes to git marry in. Us stand front Massa Mayes and he read out de Bible. Us had a real big supper and some de white folks give us money. De first money I wakes am workin for de gov ment in Gk~iiveston. After de war de gov xnent hire fo~~ to clean up c~e trash what de fi~it iii make and.

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13 Ex~1aVe Stories Six (Texas) ~. I am hired. Dey lots of wood and stones 9nd brick and. trees and sich dein bi~ gans knock down. ~ I ~goes back to ridin de prairie and rides till l s 94 year old. ~ I stops de same year Mr. Joe H~bert dies. wi~en I quits I s out workin~, tendin I Mr. Langham s chickens ~nd I forgits it Ch~istm~.s ~nd my birthday till Mr. ~ Lan~ham comes ridin ou~t with my money. Dat s de last work I done and dat in ~ 1931 and I s 94 year old, like I say. I bet dese nineteen Imnerd ni~ers ain t ~ gwine live dat ions. ~ I didntt h~.d no chiUen..~ynay first wife ~nd she been dead bQut ~ 7Q year now. My last wife flRJQC1 Ch~rio~te and she been dead 22 year and ~is i~ have 16 chilien. Dey six gals and ten boys and ten ain livin now. Moss of I~. dem ~ too old to work now. I stays with Ada, here, ~nd she got a gif . She i~ know what kind of herb ;:~rn good for rnedic~ne for diff rent ailments. She born ~ with a veil over de face and am wise to dem things. Dey S de fever weed ~tnd It de debil s shoestrin~~ and fleaweed cures neural~y ~nd toothache. Spanish ~ mulberry root, dat good for kidneys. When anybo~r g~t swolled feets give dein I wild. grapevine. Prickly ash bark ~:ood for dat, too. Red. oak bark good for ~I~: women s trouble s and puiipkin head for de heart . Camphor and. asafoet ida in de F~ b~ round de neck good for de heart. Vlhen de chile git convulsion m~ike dein ~ drink I j VI bluiri . Dat good for ~owed~.up folks too. It good for burns

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fi O.)( EX~SL VE STORU~S Page 0n~ ~ j4 ~ (Texas) :~.ucy LEWIS, wife of Cinto Lewis, does not know her aie, but Is very aged in appearance, about four feet tall and weighs around 65 or 70 pounds. She was born on the MeNeel plentation at Pleasant Grove, land now occupied by No. 2 Camp of th Clemens Prison Farm. Her master was Johnny McNeel, brotherof j. Greenville MeNeel. Eis sister married Dave Randon, Cinto s utaster. Cinto and Lw~y s cabin is furnished with an enomous fourposter bed. axid. some chairs. Pots, pans, kettles and ju~s bang on the walls. The fireplace has a skillet ant beanpot in the as~ss. The old people are almost blind. Yo~~ aU white folks ilLs set a bit while I eats me a little bseakfast I got me a little flap j ack and. some clabber here . Den old flies gobble it ~ for me, don t I ~it to it fust. Me and Cjnto botit starve, old hard time bout ~it us. I surs wishes I could find some of Marse John Dickinson s folks, I she go to them. Me and Cinto ~ot nine he~ grandehullen down in Gal veston, b tit dey ~ write or nothin . All o~r own children ~re dead. DeY ~ Lottie and. Loi~tisa an& Alice, Dey was John, too, but he was SO little and scrawny he die when he a month old. We call him after l4arse John, which we all lev. so ~i~ich. My is~ma s name was lottie E~ilton arid she was born at de Cranby Camp for Johnny MoNeel . My papa was ~ Mezican and went by name of J*an. I don t hardly recoflec when we ~it married. I hardly t~trn fift eon and dey was fat on dese he re old. bones den and I ha~ ins & PU.~tY white calico dress to git married. in. It was low in d.e neck with ~f .4...

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j~L.SLAV~ STORXXS Paie Two (Texas) fies and de sleeves come to my elbow ptu ty like. We she1 hai. d.e finest kind~ of a time when Cinto and me gits aarri~ed, we all fi shea down ~n de b2yOu ~1l day long. Marse John marry us right out of de Bible. tu were bre~and bern in 1~o. 2 Ca~np over thar, but it called ~cNeel Plantation at Pleasant Grove in them days. It was Greenville Li~cNeel s brother an~ his sister, Nancy, marry Dave Ran~1on. When my marster and wife separate, de wife took part de slaves and d.c marster took some others and us tnd we corne down here, UI had. five brothers and one sister and I jus member, Cinto s step-pappy try cross ~e ribber on ~ iot~ in hir~h water and. a ld alU~ator swaller him right up. My marster ~nd his missy were mi~hty good to us, mighty good. We used. to wear good clothes real purty clothes most as go~. as dat Houston cloth you all wearin . And~, she nough, I h~ d some purty red. russet shoes. When we all rei~tl good, Marse John used to cive us small money to buy with. I spent moe of mine to buy clothes. ~ie used. to go barefoot and. only when I go to church ~nd dances I wore my shoes. We sho h~ some good dances in my youn~ days, when I was spry. e ttse& to cut all kind. of steps, de cotillion and de w~.ltz and de shotty (schottische) and. all de rest de c3.ances of dat time. 1~y preacher ~tsed to wimp me d Id. he hear I go t O dance s but I was a r i~ht smart dane in gal. ~ I Was little and. sprite ~n& at . dem yo ~ rig bucks want to d~ancs ~ with me. Cinto di&n t know how to 10 no step, but he could fiddle. Der. was a l~. SOflC which come bask to me, Rich heels and Calico Stockin s. Pare ~ ~L well, Miss Nancy Hawkins, Ei~ h heel shoes and. calico stockin s. -2-

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16 j~x~slave Stories Paie Three (Paie Three) Te~xas .~.. HI can t sine now froni ~.e time I lost my teeth with de B1~.ck John fever. Wnen I ~it dat fever, my Tfli~Sy told. me not to drink a mite of water cept1n~ she told rr~e to. I ~1t so hot I jus c~n t stand it ~nd done drinic a two-pint bucket of water, ~nd my t eth drop right out, Missy sho good to me. Dey bout 20 slaves but I stur in de house all ~e time. Our house have two bi~ rooms ~nd a kitchen and. de boys and~ men h we rooms ~p~rt like little bitty houses on de outside. Then we don t have to green up, I ~its up bout sun-Sup to mt~ke coff e, but when we has to ~x een up de house ~r company I E~,ltS up earlier. Missy Nancy used to wimp me if I done told a 11e, but I didn t ~it whu~pped often. She used to whup me with a cattle wimp made ~ut of C owhid~e. S~)rne Of de slaves wore charms round d.e~r necks, little bacs of asf~dc1ity. Me I ~ot me three vaccirtat ions ~ ~at ai . I need. ~1e used. to ~it lots to eat, greens and suet, fish from de ribber, cornmeal and plenty of su~~ar, even in de war time. Soldiers was around. here ~ thick as weeth~. V~e h~td to cive em a tithe of corn and we makes clothes for es, and. ban1a~es an~ light j~.ckets. We m~e de heavy leaded jackets, with lead. in de skirts of de coat to hold. it down. De lead looked like a marbi e and. *~ ~cut it in 1 on~ s t r Ip s and h~nmer it d. own. t One of dem Yank gunboats come up de river and shell around here~ Bj~ht here. Dem shells come whistlin through de trees and. lop de limbs rij~t of~f. Dem were sho scare times. HI &id~n t want to be free, I was too happy with missy. But I h~ to be free, jus like de others.

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~jJf5~1. ~-~! EX-~SLAVE srpoi~x~s Page One (Texas) ~~MOS LINCOLN 85 was born a slave of Elshay Guidry, whose plantation was in the lower delta cowitry of Louisiana, abc~it fifty miles south of New Orleans. His memories of slave days are somewhat vagu.e. He has lived in Beaumont fifty-two . years. I My t~onbue s ri~t smart thin~. I s ten year old when they blew up that fort. I mean ~ ort Jackson. Grandpa was cookin . They wouldn t let him fight. The fort was in New Orleans. The r kilt lots of people. Th1~y oore holes in the ground and blow it up. A square hole, you know, !~ machine went in there, A man co~lc9 crawl in the hole, yes, yes, sho . The fort was long side tne river. The~r bore holes from the river bank. They had a white paper, a order for ~rn not to corne to New Orleans. They drag cannon in the bole and shoot up trie fort. HS~ n!s freedo~n co~ my pa and ma was squatters on gov ~ent land. It was good land and high lend. k~y pa had bout 100 acres. One night soi~ebody come shoot nim. Shoot him in the back. Ma took the chillen t o Shady Bayou t o grandpa. My grandpa corne from Africy. I never see my other people cause day longe to other masters. My graxidpa die when he 115 year old. Elisha Guidry he my master in slavery. He ha~ lots of slaves. He whip my pa lots of times. He was unwillin to work. He whip my ma, ~ too. One time he cut her with the whip and cut one her big toes right off. Ma come up on the gallery and wrap it up in a piece of rag. . Us have a diZ t house The chimney made with ma~ . It s a good. ~ house. it hot in summer, The beds made with moss and. shucks and the

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Ex~slaVe Stories Page Two (Texas) 18 big old ticks made at the big house. Us didn t have rio chairs. Jes benches. In the room s a ~ig tro~h. Us sit round trie trou~h and eat clabber and bread with. bi& , wood spoon. I eat many a raeal that way myself. UDe& s moral times. A a s 21 fore she ma -ry. The~r didn t ~o wende ~ t round all hours . They mammie s knowed. where they wM~ Folks nowadays is wild and weak. The gals dre ss up co:ie Sunday. All week they wear they hair all roll up with cotton they unfold froi~i the cotton oll. Sunth~ y corne they come the hair out fine, 1~o grease on it. They want it natural curly. ~~Us have good food most time. Steeland log traps fo~ big game. Pit traps in c~e woods bout so long and. so deep, and kivered with bresh ath leaves. That cotch possum and coon and. other thim~gs what coi~e long in the night. Us lace willow twigs and strings and put a cross piece on top and bott~, a~d little piece of wood on top edge. The trap bout two feet off the ground to cotch t,L~C birds . D0ves ~d, ~ny kind birds you can eat, Us clean them li ? birds good and rub ~em down in lard. Lfter they set awhile us broil ein with plent~r~ black pepper and salt. U~ shoot plenty ducks with mas~et, too. ttGreens was good, too. Us eat parsley greens and. shuglar weed. That aig, two foot plant what have red flower on i~. Us ~it lots of em in Wade s Bayou.. Us put li l bit flour in ashea and make asheake. Us cook puiapkin in ashes, too, After slavery I hoe cotton. No money at first, jest work on halves, The trouble that there no equal halves. The white folks par jes I lice they want B . A W8h1 C uldn t work th~t way no t . I h8~. t O come over -2-

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~x~..gla1Te Stories Page Three ( Texas) to Texas cause R man whet want ray lend say I stoled a barrel from ne hc ~se. He try arrest ~ny old. woman cause she say skie find the barrel. Now, I never have the ct~se in lawsuit aiid I spect tO die that we~y. But I has to stay way from Mauriceville for three year ~ ause that m~n say I thiefed he barrel. Things was bad after us corne to Texas for a time. That Li.z~J. Scizche, he sho rough man. Us cropped on the share and ~e take the crop and the money an1. lef fest. Us didn t have a mess of nothin left. III manages :~O live by croppin . I been here 52 year now. My first wife name Massanne Plorshann, that th~ Prench. My wife what I got now n~~ne Annie. Mnss~nne she give r~e six chilien and Annie f o~ir. * ********

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4 O2~9 ~_ ~ . EX~SLAT1~ STORIES Page One (Texas) ANNIE LITTL:~, 81, was born a slave o-~ BUh &OO~?I~, in SpringSfield, Missouri. Her master . owned a plantation in Mississippi, and sent innies family there while she w~s a baby. ~inie now lives in Mart, Texas. t; 1s first a baby ix~ Springfield. Dat in Missouri ~nd dert ~jn where ITs birthed in January, 1856. My da~d.y and me~nmy was Howard and ~nnie end dey longed to MassaBill Gooden~ He have de plantation in Mi~sipp ~nd send us dere while I*s still de Ii I baby. Dat am what d~y cal . de Delta now, ;~xid de cotton so high I c .umb up in de trees to reach de top of de st al and ~ ~ o orn so hi~gh a man on he mule only have ~ e t op he hat showing. If us mind massa and missus, d~y good to us, but if d~ h~ids lazy axxd not work den de overseer whop den. When dey x tn way he sot de blood~ ha~inds on de~ and dey cltunb de tree I s heaThd dem hounds bayin de nigger up a tree jes1 lots of times. Massa never sold none ~ family and we stays with him till h~ wife die and he clic, too. In de cold days de women spin and. we~e de cloth on looms. I stands by ~id pick u~ de shuttle when dey fall. Us nt~gers all wore de clothes uiake on de spinnin1 wheel, but de white folks wore dresses from de store. Dey have to pay fifty and seventy- fiTe cents de yard for calico den. .~ ;.: ~ ~ ~1Den de w come. I 1member how massa come borne on de f~irlough and w1~eri word. come he on de wer, us aU git ready for de big cel bration, Dey d~e y.a~rlin or hawg and mal us niggers cook foi de big feast, Some ~ ~ be stay a week, we Jes do nothin buSt eat and. cook. 0,lbm

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b Bx slaVe Stories Pa~~e Two Dem de good. old dp~rs, 1:~it dey didn t last, for de war ~m over to sot de slaves free and. old m~sa ask if we ll stay or go. lAy folks jes stays till I s a growed gal t~nd gite m~r1ed and has a home of m~r own, Den my obd man ~ tell me how de Y&ikees sto1~ct him from de fields. Dey some cavalfy sojers ~ atid dey ma;kehim take care of de hossee. He s bout tw;ict as old as me, and he say he was in de B~I1I Ran Batti e s cz ture in one bat t le and. run ~ and sc~pe by de holp of a Southern regiment and fin ly come back to ~~issisa1p . He like de war songs like Marchin Through Georgia, but bes f all he like dis song: till ain t gwint~ study war no more, I gwine lay down my burden, Down by de river side, Down by de river side. t t Gwine l~y down m~r sword and shield Down by de riverside, Down by de riverside. t, t ~ ath tt gwine study war no rn ore, ~ OEwine try on my starry crown, ~ Down by de river side, Down by de river sides~ M~e11, he doni lay be lmrden down and quit dis world in 1916. Do I tm~ber arty hant stories? Well, wetd sit round de fire in de wintertime and. tell ghost stories till us chilien fraid to go to bed at night, Iffen I can lect, I~11 tell you one. Dis story am about a old, h~inted. house, a big, old house with two front rooms down arid two front rooms U~:ifld,a~j1 runnin fr~ bacit to front. In back ~ de 11,1 house where Alex, I bo7 what kept he hOSe, t~. ~ Dis big house facs de river. Old Massa go to war and never come

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~x~slavC Stories P~ge Three 22 (Texas) back no r~iore. Old missy jest wait and wait, tfl~1 fjntly dey all say sh~ am weak in de head. Every day she tel . ~e ni~e~s to kill de pig, d~t massa be home today. avery dgy she fix up in de Surid~r best aj~d wait for him. It ~o ~ on 11ko dat for ~rears &id sears, till old miss am gone to be with ora zaassa, ~ ~iid de nigge:~s ~l1 left and dere ~ jest de old house left. One d~y long time after freedom Alex come back, and he hair turned whIte. E~ go up de river to ~e old plantation ~o tell Old Miss dat Old Massa gone to he Heavenly Home, and ~yontt b~ b: ok to de ~ place. He co~n~ up to de old. house and de front g~t~ am offen d.c hinges and de grass high as he herd, ~ d. de blinds all haxigin sideways ~M rattle with de wind. Dey aintt no lightnin bug and no crickets on de fireplace, jt~s de old. house and de wind a-~blowint through ~e window blinds and mo~nin through de trees. Old Alex so broke up he jes sot down ~n ~e steps and TOTe he know~d it he s asleep~~ He saw 01-d ~assa ~ri~ hisseif gwine to war nnd Oi~ Massa am on he white hoss axid he new gray uniform w1~t de wo~n make fcr him, tu~d de band ~ pla~ iri~ Dixie. Old Alex seed hisseif ridin he li~l roan pony by Old Massa s side. Den he drei~ a ~fter de battle when he look for Old Masse and finds him and he hose lyin side by side, & ne gone to where dere air t no more war. ae buries him, and ~den ~e thund ~r andliglitnin m~ke Alex w~ke up and he look in OldUiss room and d~ re she am, ~es1 sittin in her chair, waitin for O1~ Massa. Old Alex go t~ talk with her and. she fade way. Alex stay in he 1i~1 ~1d Cabin waitin to te ~l Old Miss, and. every time it corne rain and ?ightnint she eflus sot in her chair and. go ~ way ~ fore he git ut her ro ~m. So Oit Al ex f1fl~ l~T ~oea to si ~ep forever, but he neve~r left he place of watchin for Old Miss. ~

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~x_slt~veStOr1eS Page Four (Texas) ttD~ white folks and nigg~rs what live in dem th~ys wo~ldn t live in dat big, :~ld house, so it ~m call de hanted haase by de river. It stands all ~ .ofle fcr years and years, till de ne~ folks from up North corne ~nd tore it down.~ (See picture cf house at end of s~orv.) ~ I well lect ~y old man sayin how de steamboat c~zne ~thistlin up 1e I: river cnd all de dax~ies go to singin , Step~mboa.t Comin Roun~. de Bend. Dis am in de cotton patch jes yorid de hanted house and de steamboat whistle ~eazi time to go to dinner. De-t am de Little Red River up in Arkansas, where ~ my old riian, D~Dlphus Little a~a birthed, right near c~e hanted house. ~ 1tDolphus end me marries in ~1ssipp tut cone to Texas arid lives at Hilisboro on Uassa J0hn willoughby s farm. We has ten chilien and Itm livin with my ~ baby boy i~ght now. I~ll tell you de song I gits all c~em chilIen to sleep with: ~ ~}~5i~i~y went way she tell ~ae to stay, ~ And take good care ~ de baby. I She tell me to stay a~id sing dis away, ~ o, ~o to sleepy, li l br~by. ! ~ shut you ~ye arid don t ~ou cry, ~ G~o to sleepy, li l br~by, ~ C u,se ma~niny s boun~ to come bi~ne~by, o go to sleep7, li . baby. ~ stop up d ~ cr2cksimnd sew up de seams, De booger nian nev~r shall cotch ~rou. : Q, go to sleep and. dream sweet dre~is, Dc booger rien never shall cotch you. De river ran wide, de river nui deep, o, bye o, sweet li . babi,r, ~ Dat boat rock slow, she ll rock ~rou to sleep, o, b e o, sweet li l baby. Chorus ~ ~ o, go to sleepy, sleepy, li l baby, . Ca~ise when you. wake, y~.i l1 git saine cake, And ride a 11 I white hossy. o, de li . butterfly, he stole some pie, : Go to sleepy, li . baby. ~ ~ . .~ ~ And flew so high till he put out his eye, ~ .~ :~ O, go to sleepy, li ti baby, ~

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420095 EL.SLATE S~ORI~S Page One ~ 24 (Texas) ABE LIVfl4G~STON, 83 years old, was born a slave t o Mr L~ike Hadnot Jasper Co. Texas, the owner of about 70 slaves. He now lives in Beaumont, Texas. c~ ~\ ~ I done well tn slavery, ~~&use I belonged to Iv~as5a Luke Hadnot ~nd h~ had some bov~ pnd they and me grew up togethe~r. When ~ny daddy beat me I~d go up to the big house and stey there with txie boys end we d git something to e~t from the kitchen. When de whi. te folks has we gits what lei ~assa Luke done well by his nig~ers, he done batter n rims of em. Ils boys, white boys and. me, h~d lots of ~in when us growth up. I memb ~r the gaines us pley and we d. sing this: t Many Bright Many Bright, Three score and ten; Kin you git up by candleligiat? Yes, Iffen your legs Are long and limber arid light. Sometimes us boys, not tne white ones cause they couldnt, would go in the woods and stay aU night. We builds camp~ fires and. watches for witches and. hante. I seen some but what they was I (Ion1 know. By the waterhole, one tall white hant used to con~e nearly every night. I couldn sc~y much hov~ it looked, CaUSS I was too scart to git close. I was jus about big enough to handle the mule when the war bust o~it . My daddy was t~ servant in the army and he help cd. dig the breastwork rou.nd Mansfield fox ttie battle.

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Ex.-slaVe Stories Page Two Page Two News o1~ the freedom come byut 9 or 10 o clock on a Tues- d~y morning. ~05~ us goes home and st8ys there till next Mond9y, Then yankees come and~ told us we 5 free. About 80 of tein come and they slio laughed a lot, like they s glad. war is through. Seen like they s niore for eatin than anything else and dey steal the good. hossee, They ta~ce everything to eat and 40 bIg gobblers and they e~,t the hawgs and beeves, too. How therii Yankees could. e~t~ I never seen nothin like it. 1 come to Jefferson County nfter freedom and got me a job. It was snipin on the railroad, Freedom did.n mean int~ch to me, cause I dIdn know the difference. I done well anyhow.

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/4~ 4 :~ ~ j ~ EL.~SLAV~ ~TORLES Page On~ (Te!xaz) ~: 26 JOHN LOVE, 76, wa~ born near Crockett, Texas, ~ slave o1! J0hn Sin~,1iey. John te ll! of the days of Reconstruction, ~nd life in the river bottorus. He now lives in Marlin, T~x~s. RI s born on de N~che~ River and $p~fld5 all lily earlies life right down~ in de river bottoms, c~ust~ I done live in de Brazo$ bottom, too. Mammy and pappy longed to John Smelley and w~s 2cse and Johns It was wild down in de Neches bottom den, plenty be~rs and panthers ~.nd ~eers snd wolves a~d catainounts, and all kind. birds and wild turkeys. Jes a 11,1 huntin most allus fill de pot de:~ thys. Dc Indians traps de wild animals ~nd trade de hides for suDplies, ~e was ri~ht near to ~e Cherokee and Creek res vation. I knowe lots of Indians, and so~e what was Alabama Indians and. done corfle over here. Dey said. de white people was wrong when dey thinks labar~Aa r~an here we rest.t It ~ ~aean dat a-~-t~ll. It rae~n people whz~t ~ithers ~iulb~rri~a.~ You see, dein A1ab~rna. Indians right crr~zy ~ znulberrie! and hs a da for a fenst when de mulberries gits ripe. Dqt where de tribe ~3t its fla~Tie ~nd de town nara~d efter de tribe. ~ Smelley fit in ~e Mexico dar ~ in de Freedom Wer, out I don t know nothin tbout de battles. De bigges thint~ I ~z~einbers a~n when de so1di~rs coi~ie back, cause dey finds all dey cattle stoled or ~9ead. De soldiers, both kinds, de Federates and Yankees, r~one took what ~.ey want. Dc plantations all growed up in weeds and all de youn~ slaves gorte, ~nd de ones w~iat stayed was~ de oldes and faitbfulles ~. UTimes waS haI~~ and no rnon~y, ~nd if dere ~vasn t plenty wild animals everv body done starve. But after ~44le, new folks come in, and has sorac money and things picks up a 11,1 more1n more. 1-S

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EX~Sla~ Stories Page Two (Texes) We has de sugar cane ~nd makes sorghu~i, and h~is o~ir own raill. Us all, manuny Efld pappy and us chillun, done stay with Massa S~ielley long tine after freedom, 1cau.se we ain t got nowhere to go or nothin . ITd hoip in de Ilass(ts mill, ~nd when we ~~rinds fiat cane to cook into syrup, dis ~ia de song: kin t no more cane on de Neches, Ain t no more cane on de land; Oh ooooo~.ooooo...-.~-~---oC~ D0ne grind it all in ~ .asses, Oh ooooo-~-.-~ ooooo-.-.--~eQ! After I ~ s bout ~rowed, I iaoves to de Br~zos bottom and works for a stockin~n, ddn I works for de i~ian wh~t ciriv de first post on (~C liouston ?~ T~x~e Central right-.of~way. I helped b~ild. dat railro~d from Houston t~) ~Y~co, and build de fences and lay de cross tires. Den I broke wild ho~ses for Mr. C~irry. He give me h ~ groceries e~d twent.ir~five cents a dey. 1 was sho ~ oud of de job. After dis, I carries de m~ll from ~xiin to Eddy, on ~iossb ~ck. De roads went throu~h de Brazos bottoz~i. Dey was jes cowtraiis, stead of roads. Dere was a road. through dat bottom so b2.d de white raen wouldn t carry dat mail, so dey gives it to ;ae and. I ain t got no better sense dan to tr:~ it. Dat six miles thro~igh d~e bottom was all raudholes ~nd when d~ river git out de banks dat was bad, But I helt out for eight years, till de uiR.il sent by tr~~in. I kno~:~rs why dat boll-weevil done come. Dey S~T he come from Mexico, but I think he allus been here. Away back yonder a spider live in de country, tepecially in de bottoizis. He live on de cotton l ,aves and stalks, but he don t hurt it. Dese spiders kep de insects eat UP. ~Y don t plow deep den, ~nd plsnts Cotton in February, so lt made fore d.c insects git bad. Den dey sits to piowin deep, and it am colder c~uBe de trees ail cut,

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E~slave Stories ( Texaa) Fege Three 28 and de~T plows up all de spiders ~nd de cold. kill c~m. De~r planta later, and d~re ain~~ no spiders left to e~ t up de boll~..weevi1. III ic ows an Old boil wcevi.l song, what us sing in de f i~lds: Dc boliweevil is a ii l bug, from Mexico, dey sa~r, Pe come tr~r dis Texae soil, an~1 think he better stay, k-4ookin for a horns ~ ~jes loo~dn ~or a Dt~ farmer took ~e bollw~vil ~nd tut ~uirn in (le ~and, Boll weevil ~pid to far~n~r, I ll st~.nd it like ~ r~n, For its jes rn~r horn.~ ~ its jes :~r home. Upiret ti:rie I seed de NE~X time I seed c~t A~ lookin for a home WPCVII, weevil, he on de e~ stern ti~ain, he on de i~erapiiis train, I o oki n for ahome. ~If anybodv axes you who writ dis 11 l song, Its jest ~ darkr-.skin nigger, with old blue duckin s on.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 034 029

4~.2()i52 ~L.SLA~TE STORI~ES Page One (Texas) LOUIS LOVI~, 91, was born in Franklin, Louisiana, ~ slave of Donaltron Oaf rey, Wl~LO1fl LOtUS describes as a leadin lawyer and once Unit cd States Senat or. At the - start of the Civil War, Louis was sent to Texas with about ~OO other slaves to escape the Uy~~j~e invaders. Louis now I ives in Orange Te xas and says he spends most of h~S time sitting on the gallery. One hand shz~e s c onst nntly and his re ed.y voice is tremulous. Well, I gu.ess I s Sbout 9 . year old. I member when freedom come. I goes ap to reg stration de year I gits free. I walks up to o .d Doc Young and say, ~ I coiiie reg st ~r for de vote. He say, You t 00 ~OUfl~ tO vote. You ask vour missus. ~issus git de big book bout six inch thick where 5h8 got all de births and deaths on dat place since she been raissus and she cive me a letter evin I nineteen year old. t kep dat letter till not so lone A~O and. our~s it by mistake, t caus e I can ~ r~ ad. )~ve Love he was my daddy and Tildy Love was my mama~ My grandsnsma raise me, tho~igh. Mv massa s n~zne Donaltron Cafrey and he statue st ~3nd in de court hous e square now . He was a leadin lawyer and a United States senator. When Senator Gibs~n die massa he serve out he term. Young massa n~rne Donaltron Cafrey, junior, and ~e ktep de oig bank in New Orleans now. ~ II never was sold. to nobody. I heared folks say my folks come from Kentu.cky, but lay mama born on Massa Cafrey s place . He h~we de oig house, fine old house with galleries all round and big lawns. S It s far back from de road, pushin clost to a mile, I guess. He have seven sugar plantation and after freedom come dey rents it out at

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30 ~x~.Slave Stories Page Two ( Texas) $~3.OO a acre to raise tatars in. Us live in shacks bout like dese rou.n here. Dese times am better n slavery times, tcause aen ~ou co~n ~ go nowheres thout de pass or e patterroller 3 ~it you. D~t mean 25 lashes and more when :Tou sits iiom~. ~My inissus took ~s chilien to de Baptis church snd de white preacher he pre~ ch. De cullud folks cold nave church demselves iffen dey have de manager of li~ion to kinder preach. Course he coL~l&n t read, he jus talk what sie done heareci de white preachers say. I git Shin one time. ~)~t time de overseer cive me de breahin , Dey have sioc~s ~ey put a i~an in. Dey put de in~n leg throi~h de holes and shut it aown. De man jus lay dere and bawl. ~l)t clothes us wore was shirts and us didn t git no britc~aes till us hj~. ~ wearin britches a good many year fore fredcioln, thou~~ Dey ~ive us two suit de year and us have ueefkiide shoes what ~s call moc sins. Dey wasn t no oette ~ people dan my wnite folks. Dey didn t low us to be brutalize bu.t dey didn t low us to be sassy neither. I hoip my grandma milk de cows. ~ien de Yankees come to New Orleans dey go on ~o Port Hudson and have de big fight dere. Massa orier everybody be ready to travel nex mornin . Dey bout 300 peoples in dat travel wagon and dey camps dat night at Camp Fusilier, where de federates have de camp. Deyinake only five mile dat day. Dey stops on~ niait at Pin Hook, in Vez~ilionville. My brtxdder die d.ere. Dey kep on at wa~r till ~Ie~rci~e to Trinity River. I stay aare five year. De overseer on de new plantation naine Smoot. I wait on de table sud grandma she co ok for Smoot . Dey rai Se Sugar cane and corn and peas and sich like. Dey have lots of pork meat. Dey have stock and. one time

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Ex...slaVe Stories Three (Texas) a calf git eat by a panther. Massa hunt ci~,t p~tnther and shoot hirn in a tree. One dF~y Smoot tell me tc~ bring all de hands to de house when dey blows de nom at noon. ~ther~ dey gits dere old massa say dey s free as ~e was. If dey stays he say he give em ~lf de crop, but didiivt one stay. Six ~ seven what want s ~ back t o de old home massa done cive teems t o and~.it tr~ke dem bout six week ~ ~xorne, I~s glad to g t dere. I couldn t see free ~ meant no better, Missus plantation seem mighty pleasant. II been marry twict. Fust time a gal name Celeste, but sh~ fuse to corue to Texas with me ~md dat solve de marriage. I marry dis wife, Sarah, bout a few year ago, Us been marry bou.t 22 year. ** ** ******

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420273 FSL.SLAV~ STORIES Page One (Texas) JOHN MCCOY, ex-.slave, who l1.ves in a small shack in the rear of 2310 State St., H~~uston, Texp~3, claims to have been born J,qn. 1,1838. ~k1t~ ou~h his memory is hazy, John is certain that folks hr~d a heap more s~mse in slave tiiiit~s den dey has now. t,~1eli, s~ih, my white folks done lam ne to start de cotton row right ard point for de stake at de fu end of de field, and dat way a nigger don t git off ~e 1in~ a~d ~o dis a way and dat~~w~.r. He start right aM end right, yes, suhl Dat 1e wny to live you start right n~d ~~ d~ straight way to de end and -~ou c~nnes out pill right. l s been here a mighty long time, I sho hns, and done forgit a heap, 1c~use my head ain t so good no ~~ore, but when I first knowed. my~1f I 1on~s to old Marse John McCoy. Old Miss Mnry w~.s he wife and dey de only white folks whet I ever longs to. Dat how cOiie I~s a McCoy, cause i~1l ~e niggers what old mar~e have goes by his name. My paDpvTs naine was Hector ~nd m~rnniy ~ n~ne Ann, ~nd dey dies when I~s j~s~ a young ~ick and dat been a long tirue fore freedom. kin t got no bradders and sisters what I knows tbout. All a slave have to go by rim what de white folks tells him bout his kinfoiks, Old Marss John have a big place round Houston p~nd r~1ses cotton and corn and bawgs ~nd cows, Dere was lots cf wi1dernes~ den, full of varmints F~fld wildcats ~nd bears, Old Marse done lam me b~dience arid not to lie or steal, and he lam me with de whip. Dat all de li .

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~x~!1aVe Storlee Two (Texas) . 33 1arnifl~ we gits. Does he cotch you with de book or paper, he whip you hand down. He don t whip de old fo k~ none, jeu de young bucks, ~cause dey wild and. mean and dat de onhies way dey larns right from wrong. I tells you like I tells everyone .. folks had heap more sense in slave times dayi dey has now. Lone as a nigger do right, old inarse pertect him, Old Marse feed he niggers good, too, and we hae plenty clothes. Course, dey homemade on de spinnin wheel but dey good. De ehoes j es like t enti ary shoes, only not fix up so goode Old }vthi~ kill ~. cOw for meat and take de hide to de tanner and Uncle Jim make dat hide into shoes. Dey hard and heavy and. hurt de feets, but dey wear like ~rou has iron shoes. Old Marse dontt wo heniggers Sunday like some white folks do. Dat de d~j we has church meet in~ under trees . De spirit e or:~e down out de sky and you forgits all you troubles, ~ I, Slave times was de best ~ cause cull~.d folks am 1g rant and alu t got no Sense and in Slave times white folks show dem de right way. Now dey is free, dey gits uppi~ty and sassy. Some dese young bucks o~xght to git dere heads whipped do~m . Dat I am dem manners. Freedom wasn t no dlff rence I knows of. I works forMarse John jes de same for a long time. He s~y one mornin, John, you c~i go out in defield iff en you wants to, or you can git out iffen you wants to, cause de gov mentteay you Is free0 if you wants to work I~ll feedyou and give you clothes but can t pay you no money. I am t got ~ Thimph, I didn t know nothin what money was, nO1i~w, but I knows i il git plenty victu~als to eat so I stays till Old. marse die ex4 old mies git ehet o~ de place. Den I gits me a job farniln and when I gits ~ for dat I does die and dat for white folks, likes fixin yards. : ~ .

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.. . 34 E~ s1~V~ Stories Pace Three (Texas) ~ black ~nd jes a poor. old nigger, but I rev~renc~ my white folks ~ (~y rared me up in d~ right wn~r. If eullud fo1k~ p~y tentlon and 1ist~T1 to whet (i~ white folks tell dein, dt~ world be a h~p better off s U~ ~~1c1 niggers knows dat s d~ trath, too, 1~ause we larns r~spec and inarin~rs from our white folks and on de great d~y of jedgrnent my white folks is gwineter iu~t rnc~ afl(1 shnke hands with me r~.nd be glad to see m~, Y~, suh, dat ~ truth!

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4 2()i1 :~ u.8LAv:B~ SPOBZJ~ P.m. On. . (~.x&s) NAP MC ~ 80, was born in Te~nesss, a slat. of the MeQ~ioen featly, who later br ght lap t o Texai. Re now liy.I in 3e~ont, ~ t t ~ born in Tenne sees bu.t day bringe way froii dere when 11e a little chile, what ~ na~my say ii eight y.ex gwtne on nine, My daddy nane Bill Ko~te.n and ~y ~a~sy ne leslie. Nie conte from ?enne3e e in de fall in de wagons end it take. ~e a long t tas ca~ies we ea~ps on di wq~ ~ &~t we git e dere and starte to work on de new p1~s. ~Masea bave three cook w~sn and two wae ny grandam aM m~y. D. ~ rota wag right by de kitchen aM we has plenty to eat. Ke was a good sassa and I wt~xldat t knowed it been alavery iffen dey hadnt t told ~ o. I was treat %o good. ~Dey have a big hattie to take cax s de chilien when dey nannies wOrkiftt in de field., and old miseu.. ehe good. to dose chillsn. She cones in her,s f every &~y to ces dein and e~etine pley with dens ~MaSaa son John was de over.eer but de old. ~asaa wouldn t ~ hin to whip de slaves. Iffen it got to be done, old nassa do it, ~t he neyer draw blood like on de plantation. y~d ~t . S~O Of de~ on does plantation. .a7 &ey ain t w~t MasBa Mc~ueen1i nigger. r~md de plan,, . S caise dey . fr.e, dey Lid too good and all, and dey frat& it aeke ders slav.. uneattafy, Dey albia stop ~orktnt Sat~d~~ afternoons and S~tnday and git. pas, to go fishin or b~ntin . S .ett~e day hai prsaehin under de arbor. Den at tinner time dey blow d horn and de eullud folke .1

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~x. s1aYS Stories ~ Two (Texas) ests at de saie tiRe a de whit folk., right where sassa kin watch em, and if dey not snc~~tgh to eat, he say, How ~o.e? What de natter with de i~ooks?1 E. live in a two story h*ime builded. out of l~aber and ai 1 round in de yard was de quarter.. Dey nake oat of logs and nest has a little patch de anisa ~1ows t.*, and. what dey raise dey own. My daddy raise cotton each year aM he rai.. sweet taten and bank ~ im. ~Dey hai Georgia hossee in de ~p~art.rs. Dey was den bed places ~hat de niggers slip on, Dey bores holes ii~ .. wall of d. house and makes di frime of de bed. aM put. cotton mattress and quilt on den. De white folks hawe ho~xse make bedsteads, too. i first bought bed I ae, was a plumb stoniahment to me. It have big poattee to hang skeeter bar ~ De chairs was h~simake too, with de White oak splits for de bottoma~ Massa he didn t go to de wg, but h. sent he oldest boy, call John. Ei~ talces my daddy long to feed. de stock and like dat. I g~a to de ceap ones to es. my daddy and stays a good. while. Dey fun to fight de Ta~ee and dey rest and eat and talk. Dey shoot at de r fie rii~g and d~ey make den practise all dey got to know to b~e good soldier, aWh.n freedon come long, massa lin. us all up by de gallery end say, You is you own wonen and men. Ton is free. Iffen yoi~ wt s to stay, I gives y i land and a te and grocsriss. Iiy daddy stays. NI marry long tine after freedom and raise two batith of chilien. My first wife ha~s sight and my second. wife have nine. dm~2I.

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. ~x.s1aYS Stories (~exae) I ~ebers de story boi~tt de ~an what owned de monkey. Dat ~o!~ke7, he watch and try do everything a man do. One tise a nigger w~ke up he sind ac~,re nother nigger and. when nIght time come he put a white beet over hl~ and sot out for de place dat nigger pass ~ t~ i~onk.y he seed dat nigger with di sheet and he gxeb de nice wI4te tablecloth ~nd throw lt over him ~nd he follow d. nigger. Dat nigger, he hear eoinethitg behint him and look round and see eoi~ethinG white followin hia and he think it a real ghoitie. Den he took out and run fitten to kill hiesel !. De monkey he t ook out aft er dat nigger and when he fell zauet ed in he ~oorw87 ho find tait dat a ~o~tkey chasm hie, and. h~i want to kill &at T oflkel, bi~it he can t do d , C cause de monkey de aasaa ~ pet. ISo one d.~ dat nigger shavin and de ieonkey watch.tn hii~. He know right den de monkey tri de same thing, eo when he gits thr~ shavln1 he turn de raior quick in he hand, so de monkey am t ~ hi~ and draw de back of de razor quick C~I0~~ he throat. Sho enough, when he gone, de mon~y git tIe bresh and ru~b de lather all over he face and de zUgger he watchia throngh a. crack. Ihen dat Monkey thrxigh Bh&~in he &r~w de razor qaick cross he throat b~t he ain t know for to turn It, and he eut he own throat and kill hiesel f. Dat what de nigger want hlii to d~o and he feel satiefy dat de monkey done dead and h~ h~~e he re~engsnoe~ ~ s...,,

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 043 038

~L.s:k&vE Si~C tIZ3 Page One (Texas) BILL Mc1t4,~Y was born in Milaa, Xlfteez~ miles nor~n of San Augt~stine, Texas, in 1851. Re Is a brother of C. B. MeBay. Col. McRay was his owner(the nane may have been spelled McCr~, Bu . says) . Bill now lives in Jasper, TeXae.He le said ~ De an expert cook, s~av ing cooked for hotels, boats and milit ary caiips 40 years . ft 11 was born in }4ilaa in 1851 and c1a~ makes me 86 year oie, My mother and fatr~er was sia~es and dey orung inc to Jasper in 1854. Colenel MoRay, he was ~xir marster and die our DOSS. Ee nave 40 head of z~tgg~re, but he never hit oue of em ~ lick in hie 11m. Re own a big tarm and have a foreman n~ne& Bill Ctusinins. I stay with de Colonel t ill after s free. Us ~a~e good rearster, but some of de neignbors treat dere slates rough. 01e Dr. Neyland of Jasper, kie nave 75 or ~iO slaves and ne was rich and nerd ou de sleires. One day two run away, Toa and Ike, aM Dr. Neyland t~ces de bloo&houn s ax~d ketch dose two nigger. and brung tem &n. One oi d.c nl~ers takes a club a~d knock one 0 de iioun e in de head and kilt him. Dey cook dat dog and make dem njggers eat part of hin. Den dey gi~e both of teis a beati&, .~ De ole log jail in Jasper, it useter stan1 what de Fish St ore is now. Dey have a place othe r side de j ail wtiar dey whip nigger.. De whippia po& was a big log. Dey make de nigger. lie ~ :.: down on it and etrt t ~ to it. I was a 111 boy den and ne and two white boys Coley ~Ray and Benry ~binn, we uset er slip round ~ -.1..

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Ex~s1ave Stories Page Two ~ ~39 (Texas) watch 1em~ Coley s~nd Henry ootrx grow up and go to w~r but neither come back. Sain Swan, he was sneriff and. ne k~tcn two ranaway niggere one day. Dey was brtidders and. dey was n~une Rufe and John Grant Well lie takes ~ e~ and puts dem in jail and. saine oi~ de men git s ~ era out ~nd takes tem down to cte wriippin pos& ~ ien strap em down ar~dgive ein one terrible lashin and den throw salT in dere wounds and ~rou could ~iear acm niggers holler for a mile. Den dey took em back to de farm to wo k. Dey hanged good many niggers tround Jasper ~ In slavery times dey hangs a nigger nanie Jim flenderson, at Mayziew Pond. Us boys went dere and. mark de t, Two cullud men Tom Jerferson ~uid S~n Powe 11 ~ey kill anudd.er nigger and dey hang dcii to de oie white o~k tree wnat is south of Jasper Court Rouses After I s free I cooks for Cap n Kelly in its mil tary camps for 21 year. Den I cook for boats what run up and down de 1 Tecnes and Angelina rivers~ I wants to say, too, dat I wotks for every&hertifin Jasper Cou*ty C5ptifl de las one. Guess l s too young to wo k for hi Z se.. esses

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 045 040

F.X-SLAV~ STORIES Page Or~ 4() (TexaB) C, B Mc(~RAT was born in Jasper, Thxas, in 1861, p~ (4~ 5lave to John H. MeRay, a - ~ J slave trader. C. B. i~ . . rather unepproachabi. and : has a 5ecretive ~ ~ though he believes th. liwaan race will bear a little watch ihg. He t old. of o nly one wife, but hi5 present wife explaired, eonfidenti~1ly, that he has had Bix. He lives in Jasper. My n~jne je c~. B. McP~~y, better know~ as Co natalk, I cause I e long and. thin, Also knowed. es Racer, cause I useter be fleet on ttie feet. When Ite ten year oie I oftem caught a rabbit ~ha~t jump t fore me jus ~ by rannin him down. Do see why zay boys au t do t b~e ease. UI~a botn in Jasper, on Main street, right where Lanier s Store stan s, on the 12th o~ April, in 1861. My father s nase was Calvin Beil McBLq~, de same as mine, and. mother s naxae was Harriet i4eBay. Path~ r was botn in Virginny and mother ta Sabine Cc~inty~ in Texas. M~y brudders names was Bill McBay and Robert and. Dackin Dacus. Father and mother was slayes right h,re in J~eper, ana so was ny grau p~nte who was n in Africy. tIJokm MoRay was us nareter. He was call a nigger trader , ak& was etch a aey mareter dat other peo~pie call he slaves MeRar s free niggere . He make trip% to New Orleans to bay slaves and brung tes back and sol tem to de farmers. Miseus was de bestes1 white wOrnal to cullud folks dat ever live.

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~x.~slave Stories Page Two (Texas) . I I s too lii to wo k much but I member lotes things. Us bave a big dinin roo~n with a big, long table for de cullud. folks and us git jus the same kin o.f food. dat the white folks have on dere table. S ~ ifen a nigger sass marste r and he couldn C ontrol him, he w~e de fuse one to be sol and git rid of. E. sol my uncle dat way. But mareter was good to us when we done right. The nigger women spinned and weaved cloth. I e1 dat s the place in Jasper whai you could go any t ime of day and. see a parlor full of nigger women, sittin up dere fat as dey could be and. with lii to d~O. Mareter have no plantation for de men to wotk but he rinted. lan for tnem to cult vate. M~9X~et er s niggers all got Sunci~r clothes and shoe s . Every one o1~ dem have to dress and come to the parlor so he coald look dein over a for. dey goes to church. Us i~ave a foreman, name C~arli e It wai iii e duty t o keep de place stock wltii wood. He talc. slaves and vo k de wood patckiee when it needed, but ouct marster cows borne trom New Orleans and toting dew all sur fer in ~ xor want or fire. He call oie Cxiarl te and ask him why he not git up plenty wood. Veil, ob. Cnaxlio say, ~od was sAort and. fors I could git *ore dis col spell come and. it too awful col t git wood. Marster s~q, You keep plenty wood or I gwinter sell you5 to a mean marster. Charlie git better for a while then he let wood git low again. So ~e was sol to Bellard. Ad.aws, who had the name of bein hard on hie slaves. Charlie couldn do enough wo k to suit Mareter Adams, eo he put hia in what s knowed as the Louisiana shirt.

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Ex slave Storisi ~ . Page Thre (Texas) Dat was a barrel with a hole cut in txie bottosi jus big enough for Cr~ar1ie to slip ~ie head. through. Dey pull dis on to zila every mornin and then he cou1c1n~ sit d.own or use ne ares, cou). jus walk troun~ all d~ay, de brunt of other elavee jokes. At night dey took it off and: chati him to he be&. after he have wo n dis Louisiana shirt a month cte inarster task he a~gain, He fail and run off to the woods. So Marster Adams, he conic to Marster )LcRay and want to sell Charlie back agaii, but he couldn , cause reedau jus come and they coulthi~ sell slaves no more but Marster MoRay st~y Charlie coul ~ come back and stay on he place if he wanted to. Dey didn try to teach us rea&in arid writii~ but ~iee Mary read &e Bible to us every Sunday. Iffen us g t sick dey git ol~ 1r. Haynes or Dr. Perkins. 7(hen us ohillun, we plays Town Ball and marbles. Motner~s ~av rite lullaby was Bye-o Baby ~xritin . I never seed. any sojers till after de War close, cien I seed. dem camp o~ Uourt House Square right here in Jasper. When freedoni was dared., Miss Mary call us niggers into the parlor and den Marster ~cItay come and. tol ~s wee free. He vise em to wo k trounci. Jasper, whaT they knows people, and says itfen any wange to stay witn fia to ~. please rise up. Every person riz up. So dey all stay with b1~ ror a time After w ile tie gin to rent and. cult vate d.ifferen plantat ion, and. dere treatment not so good, so dey gin to be diseat isy and pull lOose.

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.1 4)f~~ ~ B~X~-SLAT~ STOB11~S Page One ~ ~1 (Texas) . ~*t) ~4~\ JULIA MAI~OE, 79 was born a slave ;k~~ of Ju~e Illison, who owned. a thous ~ . and. acre plantation near Lockhart, ~ Texas, Jul la s mother was killed by ~ ~ another slave. Julia stayed with the ?~lli.on f~iily several years after she w i freed.. She lives at 305 Percy St., Port Worth, Texas. J edge Elli son owned bout a tousand acres I and near Lockhart, a few miles up de Clear Pork river. Bight dere I is borned, and it were a big place and so man~ goint arid c~in1 it look like de beehive. De buildin s and sheds look like de li l toe. I ae~b.r bein left in de mirsery whilst my maiisy work in de fields. One night she go to de river for to wash clothes. She has to wash after dark and so she am waahin and a nigger slave sne up on her and hit her on de neck, and it ais d.c de~h of her. So de w~an what ma~y allus live with takes cars of me den and when freedom ~ ~me ehe moves t o t owi b~tt mas sa w ~ t let her took me. I stay. on with him and runs errands, while I is not fannin de new ~by. Dey has six while I m dere. I fans dem till I draps asleep, and dat call for de whippin . My foster m~ay cc~es out and asks massa to let her have ne, but he wont t do dat But she puts one over on him fin ly ~nd git s me anywq. He am gone and mis~. am gone and I has to stay home alone with de last baby, and a man and woman what was slaves on de place fore surrender, c ~ s by in a wegon and tells me to jump in. Dey takes me to m~ foster mamy and she motes and w t t low me outside, so massa can1t ever find. me.

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~.X 1ave Stories Page Two 44 ( Texa.) She 8p1atn~ lots of things to nie. I done see de women stick dere heada in de waahpot and. talk out loud, while ue in slavery. She telle ne dey pra~tn~ for de Lawd to take dem ~it from bondage. Dey thiz~k it ~t~ht to pray out loud so de Lawd. can hear but dey mustn t let de massa hear dem. s ~ aBk her bout my father and ah. saye him on de place but die fore I~i borned.. Ke was m&ce de husbandS to lote of wogen on de place, cau8e he de big man. She am good to me and care for me till I meets de boy I like.. 158 live. together for fifteen years snd den hi~ dies. My chilien is all dead. He name am William &nereon and I watt. nine yeare fore I marries gain. Den I marrie. Albert )Lalone and I . lucky gsin. He s de good man. One day he am fixin de sills under de house and de whole heise mowea over and falls . on hie. I feels ~o gr evou.s over dat I never marrie. gain. Dat thirty-~four year ago, and I lives alone all de time. It aintt ~cause I doesn t have de chance, cause lots of bucks wants me, cause I . de hard worker. h ~ washes for de livin ~nd washes old massa ~ daugh s clothes. Massa am de powerfal man dunn slavery and have de money and fine clothee and drives de fine teams and acti like de cock of de walk. All dat changes after freedom. I seed him layin in de sun like de dog. I offers to wash k~ clothes and he jus grunt. He done turned stone deaf, and de white folks say it cause he done treat he slaves so bad, I done Live here in tort Worth 1bait fifteen years with my daughter, Bmilah Watkins. I . mighty hap~~y~ here, and has de $10.00 pension and thanks de Lawd for. dat.

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42()284 EX-SLAYB~ STCR1:~ ~S Page One 45 (Texas) ADEL I~1E MARSHALL 3514 Bastrop St., Houston, Texas, was born a slave somewhere in South Carolina. She was bought b~ Capt. Bre~a~t and. brougI~t to Texas while st ill a baby, so she remembers nothing about her family and has no record. of her age. Adeline i~ evidently very old. s Yes suli Adeline Marshall am my nan~e all right ~it folks e round here j ea calle me Grandma. Lawd have mercy, I s been in dis here land too 1on~, too 1on~, and jes ain t no count no more for nothin . I got aistrie2 in my bones and jes look at what I s got on my feet! Dem s jes rags, dat s all, rags an t wear nothtn1 ela On eza dey lmrts s o. Dat s what de red russet shoei what we wears In slave timei done jes pizen ~%e feeti. Lawd, Law~3., dat shot bRd~ times black folke jes ~ raise up like ~at t le in de atable only Cap n Brevard ho what o~n me treat8 he hose es and~ cattle better n he do he nigger~. ft Don t know nothin bout myself cept on Cap n rd B place clown on Oyster Creek. He has de plantation dare what de only place t knows t 111 Its freedomed.. He a~y~ I s a South Car lina nigger what he bo~xght back dore and brung to Texas when I jes a baby. I reckon it de truth, cau~se I ain t never lalowed no aama or papa, neither one. Cap n h. a bait man, and he drivers hard, too, ail de time whippin and atroppln de nigger. to make dem work harder. Didn t make no dtff erence to Cap n how little ~roa ii, cr goes ~mt to de field moi soon s you can walk, De drivers don t use de bullwhip on de lit tie niggers but dey pi aye d.e switch on u~s what eting de hide plenty. Sometimes dey pute a n1gger~ in :: ~ ~ ~ d stocke and leaves dm two or three day., don t give dem nothtn5 to eat III,

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Ex..slave Stories Page Two (Texas) or a drink of water, jes leaves dem till dey moe dead, Does dey die, jes put dem in a box and. dig a hole out back of de hoes lot and. dump dem in and cover up. Ain t no preachin service or nothin , but de poornigger out he mis ry, dat s all. Old Cap n jes hard on he niggers and I member one time dey strops old Beans what s so old he can t work good no more, and in de mornin dey fi n ~s him hangin from a tree back of de quarters . He done hang himself to scape he mis ry! We works every day cept Sunday and has to do our washin den. Does anybody git s ick week days he has t o work Sunday t omaic ~ e t up When we comes in at night we baa to ~o ri~at to bed. Dey don t low no light in de quarters and yot~ better be in bed if you don t want a whippin . We gits a plain cotton sup with a string ro~nd de neck, de stuff dey makes pickin sacks of. St~mmer or winter, dat all we gita to wear. Old Cap n have a big house but I jes see it from de quarters, tcause we wasn t lowed t go up in de yard. I hear say he don t have no wife, ~xt a black woman what stays at de house, Dat de reason so many No Nation niggers round. Some calls dem Bright nig~ers, bi~t I calls dein No Nation O ~ ~ dat what dey s am t all black or al 1 whit e but mix. Dat o orne from slave times. NI knows X s good size when Old Oap n calls us in and say we s free, bu.t nobody tell me how old. I is and I never found out. I kiowa some of us stays and works for somethin to eat, cause we didn t know no one and didn t

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~x-.slave Stories Page T~xee 47 Texas) a~~nowheres to go. Den one day, Cap n come out in ci. field with nether man and pick me and four more ha s workin and say 1 ~ good. workers Dat was Mr. Jack Adams, what have a place obst to Stafford s Run. He say if we wants to work on his place he feed. us and give quarters and pay us for workin and dat how come I leaves old. Cap n, and I ain t never see him or dat place where I~s raise sence, but I reckon he so mean de debbil done got him in torment long time ago. Il ~ works in de field f o r Mr. Jack and dat where Wee Marshall what I marries, works, too. After we gits married we gite a piece of ground and stays on de same place till Mr. Jack die and we come to Houston. flat fore de 1900 et orm. I tells folks when dat storm comin . I ain t lieve in no witch dom s, some way I knows when dat storm comin Dey laughs at dis old. nigger, but it and dey loses hosses and cattle and chickens and houses. I tells de truth jes like it em, and I,a had a hard time in de li~nd.. in dia sinful town, dey don t do like de Good Book say. No, euh, dey don t. say, Love they neighbor, and folA~e don t love nobody but theyselves! ~Jes look at me~ I~s old with mts1ry and lone in de world. My husband and ~ chilien done die long e~o and leave me here, and I jes go from house to hotise, tryin to find a place to stey. Dat why I prays Gawd to take me to his bosom, cause He de onlies one I got to call on.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 053 048

4Y~3I3 ~ 48 Dibble, Fred, P. L, Grey, Bernice. VJ., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. ~ vfl(~ *~:~ ~ \jd~i T~x ~uite bl&ck, with close- cut hair and stubby gray whiskers, ISAAC MARTiN is contentedly 8pending the eveuir~g of his life. But two or three darkened teeth show between his thick lips as hb talks. He was enjoying the friendly shade of the old tree in his baeky~rd from his comfortable se9t in ~n old rocker. His feet were bare and his once striped trousers were rolled up above his knees to keep him cool in the hot ruidsuamner wea~ ther. Beside the chair was a paIr of brogan shoes with gaping splits across the toes to avoid craniping hisfeet. He told the story of bygone days with evide~it enjoyment. Dis ~1t ~ je& layiri roun . Ain t nuttin to him rio 1~ I done wo out. I es ~ ii for de Good i~Iarster to call p0 ~ t Isaac home to Glory. t~J~en dey read de proclamation to my inanimy and daddy dey mek em g~ive eb rybody age in de faxn ly. I was twelve year o1~ den. tI was bo n up here in Montgomery county bout t ree mile from Willis upon de I&GN Railroad. I hoip to bull dat I& N Railroad. t oit Major Wood he my daddy marster, arid course he mine too. He was well fixed. He had bout seb xity or eighty

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~ 49 Dibble, Fred, P.W., Grey, Bernice, V.W., ~ Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. -#3. wukkin slaves and I dunno how many li l niggers. I didn lmow nuttin bout o ) Missus, Mrs. Wood. I jis member she a bt~ fat woman. De~ dicin low no 1i 1 nigger chi1~ lun up In de yard roun de big house cep ri to clean up de yard, and dem what done dat, dey hatter be jis ~ like dat yard, clean as peckerwoods. 01 marster he warn t me~ri. He nebber whip em jis so. iffen anybody say de slave orter be whip. Dey halter see him and tell himwhat dey done beTh he give de order to de overseer to whip. Iffen he don t ink dey orter be whip, he say don whip em and dey don git whip. I had to mind ~e cows and de sheep. I had a mule to ride roun on. It wa~ dis way, I hafter mind de cows. 01 marster he plant dif rent fiel s in co n, fifty or sixty or a hundred acres. When dey harve&tin de co n, when dey git one fiel done dey tu n de COWS in so dey kin eat on de stalks and nubbins what lef in dat fiel . I got to ride roun and see de cows don bus over from one fiel what dey done harves into de other fiel where dey wuk or what am t been harves yet. I j is like dat, ridin dat mule roun de. fiel arid keepin de cows tri. .

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~ti t J.. Dibble, Fred, P.L, Grey, Bernice, V.L, Beatmiont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. $tDen dere was five or six of us boys to keep de dogs out de sheep. You know iffen de dogs git in de sheep dey apt to kil I ~ em. Us go huntint wid. de dogs lots of time, and lots of time us ketch rabbits. Dey was six dogs, ~nd de rabbits we kotch was so much vittles for us. I member one night us went out htuitin and ketch fo or Live rabbits. Us tek ~ em home and clean and dress e i, and put ~ em in de pot to have bi~ rabbit supper. I was puttin some red pepper in de pot to season em, and den I rub my eyes wid my han and git dat pepper in my eyes and it sho burn. You know how red pepper burn when it git in your eyes, I nebber will forgit bOut dat red pepper. De ol folks uster show us how to fix de t ings we ketch huntin , and cook lerntt 01 marster sho ttOUght mot of his litl nigger chil~ len. He uster ride in de quarters cause he like to see tern come runnint. De cook, she was a ol woman name Forney, and she had to see atter feedin de chilien. She had a way of callin tern up. ~he holler, Tee, tee, t-e e; aiid all us li~l niggers jis come runz~in . 01 marster he ride up and say, Forney, call up dem li~l pickaninnies, t and o . Forney she 11ft up her voice and holler, Tee, t-e-e,

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51 Dibble, Fred, P.L, Grey, Bernice, V.L, Beaunmnit, Jefferson, Dist. #3. t.~e~ e, and ol marster jis set up on de hass and laugh and laugh a lot to see us come runnin up. He like to count how m~nylitl niggers he did have. Dat was fun for us too. I member dat jes like yestiddy. N utt went hard wid nie . u s I know bout s ry dem was good times. Dey had tbout t ree or fo hundred of 8heep. My father hafter kill a mutton eb ry Friday for de house. Dey bring up de sheep and somebody holt de head cross a block and my father cut de head off wid a hatchet. Sheeps is de pitifullest t ings to kill. Dey jis give up. And dey cries, too. But a go~at, he don give up, flaw sth, he talk back to you to de las . ni member one time dey gwlne to give a school feas , and dey gwine kill a goat. Dey hang dat goat up to a tree by he hind legs so de blood dreen good. Dey cut he t roat, dat s de way dey gwtne kill im. Dat goat seem like hG t on talkint and sayin ~ Please, ~ God, kil . to de las , but dat ain t done rio good. Dat goat jis beg to de las . M~r ol marster he live in a big house. Oh, it was a palace. It had eight or nine rooms. It was buil outer

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52 Dibble, Fred, P.W., Grey, Bernice, V.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. logs, and moss and clay was stuff twixt de logs. Dere was boards on de outside and it was all cell nice on de inside. He lived in a mansion. t~e~ was plenty rich. 01 marster he had a ai wait in man all dress up nice and clean. Now if you wanter talk to cl marster you hafter eau for dat cl waitin man. He come and you tell him what you want and den he Co and tell ol marster and den he say, Brliig him in, and den you go in and see de ol . marster and talk your bus ness but you had to be nie e and hoi your ha t under your arm Dey s big rich people. Sometimet dey have parties what las a week. Dey was havin dore fi~n in dere way. Dey come in kerridges and hacks. My father was de hostler and he hafter keep de hosses and see bout feedin eni. Dey had a sep raj~e li l house for de saddles. 01 marster he kep good hosses. He warn t mean. He had a great big pasture and lots of times people go camp :1.n it. You see it was disaway, de Yankees dey got rushin de ~inerioan people, dat de Confed rates, dey kep COiIIin furder arid furder wes , till dey come to Texas and

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p .~33 Dibble, Fred, P.W., Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jeffex son, Dist. #3. den dey can t go much furder. De Yariees kept crowdin t em and dey on o . when dey o amp in . mar ster pasture, he give em co n. I see ein dribe a whole wagon load of co n and dump it on de groun for dey hos-. ses. De Yankees nebber come till de war close. 3Den dey come all through dat country. Dat was destruction, it seem to me like. Dey take what aey want. ~ When freedom corne and de proclamation was read and de ol marster toi eni dey was free and didn have no 01 marster no mo some of de slavea cried. He tell em, I don t want none of you to leave. I Il give you ~8.OO a mont . ~Al1 de ol folks stay and help gadder dat crop. It sho griebe ol marster and he didn live long atter dey tek his slaves way from him. ~t.l1, it jis kill him, dat s all. I members de Yankees on dat day dey sot to read de proclamation. Dey w~s gwine roun jn dey blue un:~forni and a big long sword hangin at dey side. Dat was cur osity to dem r~iggers. When ol niarster want to go out, he call he li i nig~ ger serbent to go tell my father what was de hostler, to saddle up de hoss and bring him roun . Den ol marster git on him. He had t roe steps so he could ji go up

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34 Dibble, Fred, PJ., Grey, Bernice, V.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. dem steps and den his foot be right at de stirrup. My daddy hoi de stirrup for him to put he other foot in it. I ~ ~ big miff to run after h~ni and ax him to gimrne a dim~ He laugh and sometime he giinine de dii ie. Sometime he pitch it to me and I run and grab it up and say, T ankee, n~arster, and he laugh and laugh. t~Q~t mistus she had a reg lar cook. Dat was my mud~ der s inudder. Eb ryt ing had to be jis so, and eb ry- t ing nice and clean. Dey didn do no reg lar wi~& on Sunday. Eb ry Sunday one of de ther wiinmins haftertek de place of de cook so she could git off. All of em what could would git off and go to de chu ch for de preachin . Dem what turn didn come one Sunday, would go anudder till dey all got roun to go. Marster had two or t ree hundred head of cattle. My gran father, Guilford, had a mule and hoss of he own. Uncle Hank was his brudder, and he had de sheep department to look atter. Sometime de niggers git a hoss or a sheep over, den de marst er buy tj~j. Some of de niggers had a li l patch rotin dey cabin and dey raise veg tabie. 01 niar~ eter he buy de veg table sometime. I didu know what f ree

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r Dibble, Fred, P.W., Grey, Bernice, V.L, Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. dom was. I didnt know. wedder I needed it or not. Seem to nie like it was better den dan now, cause I gotter look eut for myself now. Us uster be on de watch-out for ol~ marster. De fust one see him commt lit out and open de gate for him t ride froo and ol marster toss him a nickle. Wh n it was time to eat, de cl cook she holler out, T-e-e, t-e-e, t e-e-e and all us li l niggers come runfin . &he have a big tray and each of us have a wessel and a spoon. She fill us wessel and us go eat and den us go back for mo . U5 git all us want. Dey give us supper befo de han s eome in from de fiel and what wid pinyin roun all clay and eatin all us could hoi in de afternoon, twarn t long befo us li . niggers ready to go te sleep. Oue tting, o . marster didn want his niggers to run about. Sometime dey want to py over to anudder plantation on Sunday. Den he give etna pass iffen he willin for em to go. Dey had patterrollers to ride from plantation to see iffen dey was any strange niggers dore. When dey wanter marry, de man he repo t to ol marster. He want his niggers to marry on his own plantation. He give em a ~ioe li l supper and a big dance. De~ had

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? Dibble, Fred, P.L, Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jefferzori, Dist. #3. some sort of license but 01 marster tek care of dat. He had two sons what had farms and slaves of dere own. 01 marster didn care if his slaves marry on his eons farms. If any of d~ slaves do niean, he mek em work on Sunday. He dldn b Ieeb In beatin em. fl3~ many of em as could, usually go to de white folks chu ch on sunday and hear de white preacher. Dey sit off to deyse fs In de back of de chu ch. Dein what stay at home have a cullud preacher . ~ Dey try to rais e em up social. ~ ~ Dey had a ol woman to look after de babies when dey rnammies was out in de fiel . Dey have a time sot for de manirnies te come in and nuss de babies . I~e ol woman she had helpers. Dey had a big house and cradle for deni babies where de nuss tek care of em. When ariybcdy die dey have a fun rel. All de han s knock off work to tend de fun rel. Dey bury de dead in a ho made coffin. I nebber pay no tenshun to talk bout ghos es. I nebber b leeb in em. But one time commt from chu ch my uiiol wite say, Ike, you eber see a glios ? Want to see see me?, and I tell her I dt t give a cent, yes I want

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57 Dibble, Fred, P.W,, Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. to see one. She say, I show you a man dress . all In white what ain t got no head, and you gwlne feel a warm breeze. After a while down de hill by de graveyard she say, Dore he go. I look but I nebor see I but I feel de warm breeze. ~ UI uster go to see a ~al and I uster hafter pass right by a ol graveyard. It was all wall up wid brick but one place dey had steps up over de wall so when dey hafter bury a body two men kin walk up dem steps side by side, and dat deway dey tek de corpse over. Well, when I gil; to dem steps I hear suxnp n . Den I stop and I ain t hear nuttin . When I start walkin ag in I hear de noise ag in. I look roun and den I see sump n white corne up right dore where de steps go over de wall. I had a stick In my han and flex time it come up I nick a rush at it anti hit It. ~ It was jis a great big ol billy goat what got inside 4e wall and was tryin to glt out. He got out jis when I hit hirn and he lit out froc de woods. Dat s de only gliss I eber see and. I s glad. dat warn t no ghos . ~ . 01 marater he had twenty head of cows. Dey give . .~ plenty milk. Dey uster git a cedar tub big as dat dore one full of milk. D~ milkers dey pack it .~ dey head t~ /0

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58 Dibb e, Fred, P.W., Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, P1st. #3. de house. U~ cow-pen boys had to go drive up de caff s. Cow-pen boys? Cow-pen boys, dem de boys what keep aw~ay de caffa when dey do de niilkin . Co se, lots of times when dey froo milkin us jump on em and ride em. Whenebei dey ketch us dom dat dey sho wear us out. Dat warn t yestiddy. Furai l s concern we had a plum good time in slav ry. Many a year my grampa raise a bale of cotton and marster buy it. Dat wa~ encou~~agin us to be smart. ?~My daddy name Ecimond good and my ma am Maria. I had a brudder and a sister; dey am Cass and Ann. I been a Larmer all my life . I kep on farmiri till de boll weevil hit dese parts andden I quit de farm and went to public work. I work in de woods and cut l gs. I buy dis house. I been here roun Voth bout twentyLive year . UI bee~i marry twict. Dc fus time I marry--I git so stinkin l~ I can t member when it were, but it been a l.ng ways back. My fus wife, Mary Johnson. She die arid den I marry dis yere woman I got yere now. Her naine been Rhoda McGowan when I rnarr~ her but she been marry . Bife if us l , ain t fit for nuttin . Us git pension \\

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:~ 59 Dibble, Fred, P.L, Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. and dat what us live on now, cause I to ol to do any work no ~ Me arid my fus wife we had ten chillun. Dey s all dead but f0 and I ain t she dey s all livin . Las I heerd of em one was in Houston, arid one in Chicago, and one in Kansas C1t7, and one live here. I see him dis mawnin . 1 heerd tell of de Klu Klux but I ain t neber seed em I rieber did go to ~ t5 p member of de C M E Meth d is eh . when I uster could git about I uster be a steward in de chu ch. Den I was de treasurer of d.c chu ch here at Voth for some seben year . I uster b lon~ to de U.B.F. Lodge, too.r~ Back in slav ry dey alius had a ol darky to train de y.un~ ones and teach ein right from wrong. ~nd dey d wh5~p you for dein wrong. Dey d repo t to de overseer. Some of em ~ was mean arid repo t somebody dey am t like jis to git em in trouble. De overseer he had to vestigate bout it and if it was so, somebody git a whippin . Sometimes ~ some folks repo t sump n when it warn t true. 01 mar~ter he was plum ind pendant. His plantati.in was off from de town. He uster had his mail bruug 121

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: 6O Dibble, Fred, P.W.~, Grey, Bernice, V.W., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. to him. Fur s I kin member I didxi had to look out for nuttiri . Dey had a time to call all de slaves up and give tern hats, and. anudder time dey give tem shoes, and. anudder time dey give em clo~ s . Dey s ee dat eb rybody was fit. 01 marster allus give em all some kinder present at Crismus. I dunno what all he give de ol folks but he give dc chillun candy and de like. I was allus tickle to see ol marster come roun ~ Oh, good gracious, yes. And it allus tickle him to come trOj~fl and see ail his 11)1 niggers. ~ Orie time Cap n Fisher was sedated wid ai marster, and him and anudder man corne long wid ol~ inarster up de road what run froo de quarters. Dey wanter see de li l niggers. 01 marster call em up and frow out a han ful f dimes. It sho tickle em to see de ll l niggers scramble for dem dimes, and us look for dimes roun dat place for awoek. Dat was enjoyment to de white folks dem days. Marster was g..d to his niggers and none of em eber run away. My mudder she raise ol mistus baby chile. She uster suckle him jis like he her own baby and he allus t inlc lots of her. After he a growed up man he uster. bring her presents lots of times. He call her mammy all de time.

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61 Dibble, Fred, P.L, Grey, Bernice, V.lfl., Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. #3. lie went off to de war. He los he hearin and ~ot deef. Muster been de noise from dem bi~ cannons what done lt. He got his big toe shot off in de war, too. After de war was over he come home and git married. Dat bout all dat I kin member eep n dat I vote in de state and other lections when I s twenty-one year ~-It It .,..I*

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 067 062

420065 ~L~.SLAV~ STOBI3$ Pate O~e (Texas) JAMES ~ARPIN, 31 . Dawson St., San Antonio~ Texai, i~ 90 yeari old.. Hi parents were Preston and L1z~ie kartth and h. wae born in Alexand.ria, Ta. Uses little dialect. UI waa born in Virginia in 1847. My mother wae a elaYs and my grandfather w~ One of the early settlers in Virginia. Re was born in J~aica and. his master took him to ~ngland., When the ~igl~sh caiie to Virginia3 they brought us along a. ser ient., but when they got her.~ everybody had slaYsi, so we wae slaves, too. My mother wa. born in the Weet ndies. IA men n~ined Martin brought my grandfather here and we took bis nase. And ehen marster was ready to die, he n~a&e a will axid it ~ai~I the youngest child in the slaves ~st be rnade free so that was my father end he was ~td.e free when he was 16. That left me and my brothers and sisters all free, but ai . the rest of the f~iily was slates, ~My mother was born a slate near Alexandr ta. The aars ter s dau~ghter, Miss Lisa, read. to ay mothers so ~he got sc*ue learning. When my mother ~ e owner died. he left her t o M iss Li gO and then i~y father met 517 mother and told. her they should get married. My mother said to Miss Lisa: I d. like fine to marry Preston Marttn.~ Miss Liza says, You canot do that, ~cause he s a. free nigger and your children would be fres. You gotta marry one of the slaves. ~ Then Miss Liza lines xp 10 or 15 of the slate men for my mother to pick from, but mother sa~ s she don like any of es, she wants to

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3 .Slave Stories Page Two 33 (Texas) t marry Presto~a Martin. Ui~s Liza argues but my mother is just stubborn, so Mie. Liza sa~s, VII talk to the marster. He says, I can t lose property like that, and. if you can ratai $1,200 y~ can buy yourse f free.1 So my mother and my father saves money and it takes a long time, ~t one da~y they goes to the aarster and lays down the money, and they git. married. ~arster don like it, but he s promised and he can t back out. ~ So me and iiy brothers and. sisters is free. And we sees others soi on the diction block. They re put in stalls like pens for cattle and there s a curtain, e &etisnes just a sheet in front of them, so the bidders can t see the stock too soon, The overseer s atandin just outside with a big black snaics whip ~ncI a pepper box pistol in nie hand.. Then they pulls the curtain up and the bidders crowds round. The o~erseer tells the age of the slaves and that they can do. One bidder t&ces a pair of white gloves they have and rubs his fi*gere over a man s teeth, and he s~i, Toit say this buck~s a~ yeare old, but there0. cups worn to his teeth. He s 40 years 1f he1s a day. So they knock that buck down for $1,000, cause ;fley calls the men bucks and the women wenches. Then the overseer make, tem walk across th. platform, he makes ~em hop, he makes em trot, he makes em jump. u When I m oli enough, I ~in tmzght t o be a saddler and when I ~m 1~/ or 18 I enlist in the Conf,d rate Az ~. Did they whip the slaves? Well, they jus about half killed ~. When it was too rough, they slipped into Canada. A marriags was a event. The bride and groom had to jump over

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xGSlave Stories Page Two (Texas) a broom handle . T~ie boa s m~n had a white preacher omet lass and. there was plenty good beef cornbread. But if the boas didn t cars much, he jus lined em up and said, Mandy, that e your husband and, RUf~1B, that B 7O~ wife ~ Kater the war ~ were Bent to Tixas, tue 9t~i U. S. Cavalry, under Capt. Francis F. Dodge. I was at Port $111, Port Davis, Fort Stockton and. Port Clark. I was in two battles with Indians in the Guadalupe Mountains. I erYe& under Col. Shafter in 1871 and I got my discharge under Oen. Merritt in 18?2. Then I come to Sa~i Antonio. I helped bring the first railroad here. Ph. S.P. in them days only ran near Ssgttin and I was a spiker and. worked the whole distance. Then :i helped build. the old railroad. from Indianola to Cuero and. then fron Cuero to Corpus,and Schleister~ I think, and Cunninghaa wers the contractors. That was in 1873 and 1874. lii drove cattle for big outfits, end drove 2,000 or 3,000 head. fron South Texas sometin~es clean up to Dakota. I drove for John Lytle. Brockha~ts, heran and Bill Sutton. There wasn t no trails and. no fencea. The Indians would co~ ask for seat and. we knew if we dicin t give it to tea they d stampede the cattle. If 1 wasn~t so old, I d. travel round again. I don t believe any man can be educat ed. who alu t traveled. soue. ses....

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o f\~~~r) u~.sLAv:~ STORIES Page One . ~35 (Texas) LOUIS~~ 1LATH~WS, 83, is a sister of Scott Rooper. Her owner was the Ret. Robert Tux ner, Louise married Henry Deggett when she was twenty J im Byers when she was thirty.i one and Bill Mathews ihen ehe was thirty4hree. She ~ lives alone at 2718 ~nnis Ave., lort Worth, about a blo~ f Scot t, Sho , I members dem slavery times, ~ause I~s eleven when de break~ lip cone. ~verybody call my massa Jed.ge Purner, but hirn i~m a Bapt ist preacher and have de small farm arid gen ra). store. My p y and mamr~v don ~ t 1. ive t ogether CaUB e pap py~ am own by Massa Jack Kooper. Massa T~urner done merz~ dem. Mostest de cullu.d folks jus lives together by greeaent den, but sassa have de cer aony. sus live in log cabins with de dirt floor and no windows, and. sleep on straw tick.. All de coolcin done in de satin1 shed but when p~py come over twict de week, mammy cooks him de meal den. 9Let me tell y~s how de young une cared for. Massa give dem special care, With de food. and lots of clabber and silk and pot-liquor, and. dey all fat and healthy. . Massa a~ a preacbar and a farmer and a saloonkeeper. He askes de medicine with whiskey and cherry bark and. ru~st offen nails. It ~xs be good, cause us all fat and sassy. Gosh for might~. ~ How I hates to take dat medicin.Z He say to me1 Take good care de young u.ne, canse de old ones gwine ple~ out soaet~ae, and I wants de young une to grow strong. Massa Turner wants de good deys work and. us all give it to him. Every S~rday night us git d pass if us wants to ge to de party. Us have parties -1..

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Ex..slave Stories Page Two (Texas) and danc in de quadrille and. fiddl es and barij 0es. ~ Sunday massa preach to us, 1~ause he de preacher heself. He preach to de white folks, too. s ~ member dat surrender day, He call u s round him. I c8zi see him now, like I watches him come to de yard, With he hands clasp hind him and he head bowed. I know what he says, I likes every one of y~i. Y*i been faithful but I has to give you up. I hates to do it, not cause I don t wait to free you, b~it cause I don t went to lose you all. Us see de tears in he eyes. Moe very~body leaves, and us go to peppy s place, den comes here in 18?2, right here where. us livs now. My sister, Scott, she lives up de street. It warn~t no houses here den. t gits married. in 1374 to Henry D~gett and he dies In 1884. Den t marries Jim Byers in 1885 end be ~i lazy and no count. He leaves on Christmas Da~ in de mornin and don t come back. Dat de only present he ever give me! Be ai what you e~l1. de Ixick passer. I does de washin aM ironin and he passes de bucks I makes. I ~arrles 3111 Mathews and ha my husband. He dies on Ma~r 15th, di~ year. I has seven chiflen and four of dem ~ right in dis town. PI never votes but once, bout four years ago. I jus don t care bout it. Too ieh fustin round foe me. My husband allue voted de Lincoln ticket. $1 gits round and lt won t be long fore I goesto de Lawd. s resting place. My sister a 81 ai~& t~s 83,, end she lives in de next block yonder ~ Us ~ de cons latien to each other. *500

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I )(I~)C~~ -:K. ~ ~~X~5LAV~ STOBI~S Page One (Texas) ifILLIAM )LATWEWS, 89, was born a slave on the Adams plantation, in Tr~nklia Parish, Louisiana. He was driver of the family cai riege . After William was freed he supported nigseif by hiring out as a field hand ~nd by making and selling baskets. Since 1931 he has lived with his daughter, Sarah Col burn, at 8l2~ 41st St., Galveston, Texas. Course I can lect bout slavery. I is old. and my eyesight am gone, but I can still lect, I ain t never forgit it. W1(y sassa, old Buck Adams, could out mean de debbil heself. Re sho hard. hard and sneaky as slippery ellum. Old Mary Mams, he wife was ~ as hard as he was, Sometimes I used t o wonder how dere chilien ever stood ~ Old Buck Adams brung my m~sy and daddy fron South Car lina to work in de fields and my daddyts name was Economy I~at hews and my mammy s name Phoebe, Simmons was her naae fore she marx~y. I is born on old Buck s place, on Dec-ember 25th, in 1848. Dat plantat ton was in ?rarikl In Parish, some where rou~nd Monroe in Loui s lana. Me and Bill Adams raised together. ~Nhen he shoot a deer I ru~n home like greased llghtnin and git de boss. Sometimes hed. shoot a big hawg and I d skin him~ When I gt big no~gh :i d. drive dere carriage. I was what dey calls de twait in~ boy. t I sot in dat buggy and wait till dey come out of where dey was, and den driv I~t off. I wasn t lowed to git out and visit round with de other slaves. No, euh, I bad to set dere and wait.

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EX~$1aVe$tories PR~ Two ( Texas) De slaves git out In c~e fields fore aun~up ~nd work till black dark, Den dey cOru~ ho~neand have to feel lere way In de house, with no light. My mammy ~nd daddy field hands . My grandma w~s co ok ~i~d have t o gi t in de cook pot bout four otclock to git breakfas by daylight. Dey et by candles or p irie t orches . One cl e black boys st and behin em ~nd bold. it whil e dey et. tf De e . othe s we wore was made out of dyed. ~ 1 o ~ Dat de stuff dey m~Ice s s~ckin out of~ Summer time us go bareThot but winter tinie come, dey give you shoes with heels on em big as biscuits. De qu~ ters is back of de big house arid didn t have no floors. Dey sot plumb on de ground and build like a ht~wg pen. Dey cut down t imber and et ~ke it up at de corners and fill it in with timber with de bark on it. Dere was split log houses and round log houses and ai . sech like dat. )ey have only fifty slaves on dat place, and it a big pl~ce, big no~h for a ~ndred. But what dey do? Dey take de good slaves arid sell em. Dat what dey do. Den dey make de ones what am left do all de work. Sell, sell, all de time, and never buy nobody. Dat Was dem. :~very di~,y venint us go t o de pitcher poke. Dat what dey calls I t when dey issues de rations. You go to de smokehouse and dey weigh out some big, thick rounds of white pork i~eat and give it to you. De syrup weighed out. De meal weighed out . Dey never give us no sugar or coffee . You want coffee, you put de skillet on de fire and put de meal in it and parch lt till lt most black, and put wat er on it Mi~mmy make salt water bread out of a li I f1 our and salt and wat er. Sometimes, dey make de slaves go to church. De white folks sot up fine in dere carriage and drive up to de door anc~ git de slaves out of one cabin, ~en

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~x ~1ave Stories Page Three ~ (~() (Texas) ~.. git de slaveB out O~ de nex cabin, and keep it ~ip till dey gits dein all. Den all de slaves walks front de ~arriage till dey sits to church. le sl~vee sot outside under de shade treei. If de preacher talk real loud, yoti can haar him out de window. u If ~ cullud man take de not ion t o preach, he couldn t preach b ~t de Gospel. Dey di&n t low him do dat. All he could. preach tout was obey de massa, obey de overseer, obey die, obey dat. Dey didn t make no passel of fu~ss bout prayin den, Sometimes dey have pra~yin meetin in a cabin at night. Each one bring de pot and put dere head in it to keep d.e echoes f rom gittin b~.ck. Den dey prey in de pot. Dat de G ~wd s tru~thL ~ I done said, massa sol de good slaves in ~tonroe. No~o~y marry In dein days. t gal go otit and t&ze de notion for some buck and dey m~~ke de 2greeu~ent to live together. Course, if a unhealthy buck tai4~p with a portly gal, de white folks sep r ate em If a man a big, stout n~an, good breed, dey gives him four, five w~nen. Sometimes dey ru.n way. It ain t done dem no good, for de dawgs a~ put on dey trail. If you dumb de tree, d~i dogs hold y~ dere till de white folks comes, and den dey let de dogs git you. Sometimes de d gs tore all dey clothe s off e~d dey am t got nary a rag on em when dey git hone If dey run in de stream cf water, de dogs gite after ein and drowns em. Den Nick, de overseer he whop em. He dr ive down four etalcea for de feets and hands and tie e~ up. Den he who~p ~ ~ from hea.d to feets. De whip make out a hide, cu~t in strips with holes punch in em. When dey bits de skin it make blisters.

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~x~ elave Stories Page POur (Texas) All kind of war talk floatin round fore de Yankees come. Some say de Yankees fight for freedom and some say~ doy ll IctIl all de slaves. Seems like it mast have been in de middle of de war dat de Yankees come. by. \Ye hears somebody holler for us to comeout one night and seed de place on fire. Time we git out dore, de Yankees gone. We fit de ~ire but we had to tote *tter in buckets, and de fire burn up de gin house full o~ cotton and de cotton house, too, and de corn crib. De Yankees allus come through at night and done what dey gwine to do, end den wait for more night ~ fore dey go bout dere irns Ines s . Only one t tine dey come in daylight, end sosie de slaves une dem and go to war. All de talk bout freedom git so bad on de plantation de massa make me upt de men in a big w~on and thive em to Winfield. He say in Thzaa dare never be no freedom. I driv em fast till night and it take bout two days. But dey come back hoa~e but mas sa say if he cotch any of em he gwi ne shoot em. Dey hang round. de woods end dodge round and round till de freedom man come by. we wsnt right on workin after freedom. Old 3.~ck Adams wouldn t let us go It was way after freedom dat de freedom man come and read de paper, and tell us not to work no more less us git pay for lt. When he gone, old Mary Adams, she come out. I ~ what ehe say as if I jee hear her ~w lt. She Sal, Ten years from today liii have ~rou all back gain. Dat ten years been over a mighty long time and she ain t ~it us back yit and she dead and gone. Dsy makes its git right off de place, je. like you take a old hose and turn it loose. Dat how us was. No money, no nothin . I git a job workin ~ for a white man on he fare, but he couldn t pay mucf~. He didn t have nothin .

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Ex-~slave Stories Page Pive (Texas) il He give me jes uou~gh to git a peck or two of meal and a 11,1 ~yrup. I allus works in de field. and melcea ba&cets, big old cotton baskets and bow baskets make ou~t of white oak. I work down de osic to mi~ke de splitL and ~ke de bow basket to tote de lunch. Den I mtilce trays and mix ~owls. I go out and cut down de big poplar aM bust off de big block and sit down straddle, and holler it out big as I wants it, and mnke de bread trw. I make collars for ho~ses and ox whops and quirts out of beef hide. But I looses my eyesight a couple years back and I can t do nothin no more. My gal takes care of me~ NI come here in 1931. Dat de first time Vm out of Franklin Parish. I allus git along some way till I ~ blind. My gal ~n good to me, but de days am :passin and aoon I,ll be gone, *

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1~ (~ I~ ~ u ,) (_\ ~- . ~ ~ . ~L~SLAVE S~LORIES Page One (Texas) (2 \~\ ~? ~ HI.1W~t M Yi~S thinks ~ie w~s born ~~: in 1862, ~ sl~v~ of Tom &Igar, who o~ned a plantation In Double Bpyou, Texas. Hiram lives with two daughters in a r~iirih1ing f a.r~n~ house n~r Beaumont, less than three miles rrom his birthplace on the old Edgar homestead n~r the IronBridge. For thirty years Hlr~xn ha~ served as WoreiiJp-~ fui Mast er o ~ the M~ s on I o Lodge (Negro) in the vicinity. Nativ~ intelligence glet~ms in hiz deep- set eyes, but his speech snows tnat t~e received little schooling. Dc fust tning I rnetib~rs back in siave~ry time wts gittin in cte mister s str~.wberry p~it~h. He s rignt proud or d~t patch and git after us plenty~ Dey was li l Tim Edg~r, dat ~e white bocr, ~nd me. Tim, he still llvin1 down in Wallisvlll~. Old r~psteT he c~it us both r~ cOElpie times for thiefin he ~tra*berries, jes giv~ us a bresh or two to sk~er us. Dat de oiilies time i~e ever dId. wni~ me ~nci you couictn hardi~r o~ll that P whippin . Old men ~ O!fl Ti~dgr~r was u~r m~ster ~nd de oiu ~o~gar place was clown below where Jacksones store lt ~nd bout two mile from where I lives now. Soins de brick from dat house st ill standin dere in as wooc~s ~ My maiflr~ name Mary and DOII Mayes my pape, and I s borned 1 Dout l8b~, I gues5, cause I wazn~t very big when freedom conic. I did most my playin with young master, Tim, hirn and me bout de saine age. ~O1d master was sho good to he slaves and dey ain t never have no cruel overseer nor no lot of whippin like some iuasters did. Mania work in de white folks house ath done de cookin in de big Icitchen. :i big house was a big, low place with galleries round lt. Mama tie ma to a chair leg on de gallery to keep me from ru.nnln off to de bayou.

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Ex~-s1ave Stone s ~ ~ Pace Two 73 (Texa ) Dey fraid. of alligators. Dem gators never did eat no cullud. chilien round us place, but dey allus frald dey would. D~y ei~h bi~ snRkes In de woods, too, dey skeered of dein. De cullud. folks i~l1 have li l brick cabin quarters and. dey have a briokyard right near cte place what a white m~n own and he make de bricks what dey calls Cedar Bayoti brick count of de niud. being diff rerit. I s born in one dem li l brick houses. I don t me ber none my gr2~ndfo1ics sept my papa s ~iame, call ~artha Godfry. She corae from Virginny, and long to de Mayes where !n~r papa born. ~ ~ III never did. bother with Sunday School iuu~ch, me, Dey one on de bayou white lady, Miss Joseph, am de teacher. Dey wasn~t no school but after free I go to schoolon de ed~e of de woods. Dey have teacher name ~inne1ls old blue~back speller to lam cut of. After us freed my papa move up de prairie a ways and hire out to ride d.c range. Dey done lam me to ride when I bout five, s1~ year old and I rid. with d.e old rnan~ Bat ridin business was ice ray job. My daddy never did like to settle down and. farm, but druti~er ride de range for four bits or s ix bite de day. De old maiter done give us nothin j es turn us r~drift but he didn t have much and. everybody jes have to shift for dexnselvp dein days. Us ~it long all right inakin money with de cattlemen. . De prairie lande a good place to ~it things to eat and Lis see plenty deere, sometime eight or ten in de bunch. Dey lots of wolves roamin round lookin for etray cows. Dat when de whip come in handy, to knock dem on de head. Never hear tell of but one bear, and us cotch him on Gum Island and kill him. You ~now dem fanny lookin horny things dey calle armadillos

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~x-slave Stories Page Three (Texas) f~1 q I ~ Dey been immigrate here bout ten year ago. Dey conic ain t knowedwhy. Dey never was none here in slavery frogs and gators. Is i marry 51 year ago t o ~N1lina Day and I e st 111 marry~ t o her. Us mar~ y in her brudder s house with jes homefoiks. Dey~s nine chilien and. eight still livin and most dem farmers, cept two boys in de reg lar army. Dey am Doif and Robert. C~ar x~ns de filin stRtion at Double Bayou. Oscar was in France in de World War. I has two rn~r gals with inc here and two grandchillen. III rode de rance till bout 20 year ago ~nd den I start gittin purty old., so I set ties doi ~n t o far~in . De~r charter a Masonic 1 odge here in 1906, I licite it were number naught 81X, and. dey put me up for ~orshipf ul i~aster of de bunch. After ~ey vouch for rue I git de chair and I been sitti& in de east for 30 year. from somewhere but us time but plenty horny

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4 2()():53 ~L~8LAVE STORIES Page. Ore (Texas) ~ J SUSAN ~RB1TT 87 wa~ b.r* li B ~sk C . Texas a slave - ofAndrewWatt.Ayear~fter she W25 freed, Susian movec3~ with her parente to Harrison Co., and stayed on their farm until she married Will Merritt. They reared fifteen children. Susai has little t, s~y of her l~ife from 1865 to the pres-~ ent, stating that they got along on the farm they werked on shires. Since her huzbath s death Susaa lives with a son, Willie, west of Marshall, Texas, on the Hynsoa Springe Road, I couldn t tell how old I le, but does you think I d ever forgit theza slave thys? I hey. I s bout 87 ormore, cause I s ~ good size gal spinnin all the thread foes the white folks when they lets us loose after siu render. ~I~e born right down ir~ Eb~isk Cotinty, not a long way fr~m Henderson, :;nd Massa Andrew Watt ~xn my owner. My p~ppy, Hob Pollins, he corne from . North Carolina ~.nd belonged to D~e Blr~kely and. m~my come from Mississippi. Mz2mmy h.c~ve eleven of us chilien but four dice when they babies, but Albert, hob, J0hn, ~ Anna, Lul~. and me lives to be growed ~~nd mprried. Massc~ ~tt lived in a big log house what sot on a hill so ~rOu could see it riund for mile., and us lived over in the field in little lo~ huts, ~ll middled along together. They have homemade beds nailed to the wall and baling sack mattresses, and us call them bunks. Us never had no money bu.t plenty clothes a*d gru.b and wear the same clothes all the year round. Massa Watt made our shoes for winter hisself and he made fur*iture and saddles and harness ajid run a grist mill and a whiskey et ill there on the place. That man had ev ythimg~ .

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Ex slave Stories Page Two .. ~ 7G ( Texas) &.. The hands was woke with the bit bell and when massa pulls thp,t bell rope the niggers falls out them bunks like raie fallin . They was in that field fore day and star till dusk dark. They work slap up till Sat urd~y night ~nd thei washe s th~ ii clothes ~ and s onetime s they git s through and h~s time for the party ~d pleys ring plnys. I tn~ber part the words to one play and that Rolllng river, roll on, the old cow ~le in cold wat er . . . now we ~ s got te drink bad wate r ~ cause old c ow d I e in c old wat er, but I cai t memb,r rnore n that. It s too long ago. 0When the hands conic in from the field R.t dusk dark, they h~s to tote water frein the spring and cook and eat and be in bed. when that old bell rings at nine o clock. Bout duck tb.e~y ~ca1ls the chilien ~d gives em a piece of corn pone bout size my hand 2nd a tin cup milk and. pute them to bed, but the growed folks et fat pork and greens and. beans ~nd sich like a*d have plenty milk. E ry Sunday massa give em s ~ne flour ~nd butter and a chicken. Lots of niggers cai~ht a good cowhiding for slippin roimd ~id stealin ~ chicken fore thinday. Massa ~?att did* t have no overseer, but he have a nigger driver what aal jus ~s bad. He carry a long whip 1round the neck and I~s seed him t~e niggers to a tree and. cowhide tem till. the blood nrn down onto the ground. Sometimes the women gits slothful ~.d not able to do their part but they mflkes em do lt anyway. They digs ~. hole bout body deep and. m~kee them womei lie face down lu lt and beats em ae~rly to death. That nigger driver beat the chillei for not keepi* their cotton row up with the lead. me*. Sometimes he made Riggers drag long chains while they

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Ex slave Stories Page Three (~exae) :~... 17 works ii the field and some of ~em run off, but they ought~i t to h~vc clone it, c~se they chase tern with houMs and n~Rrly kilt 1em. Lots 3~ times Massa L~.tt give us a p~ass to go over to George Petro s place or Dick Gregg s plRce. Massa Pethro nm a slave mai k,t and he have big, high scaffold with steps where he sells slaves. They was stripped off to the waist to show their stren~t . Our white folks have a church end ~. place for us in the back. Sometimes at night us gather round the firepl~c~ efld. pr~ and sing s~d cry, bit us ~arentt tlow our white folks kiow it. Thaik the Lewd. us can worship where us wants nowadays. I tmember on~ song we allus sing: I he~u d the veice of Jesus callia Come unto me ~nd live Lie, lie down, weepint OR~ t they he ad on my bre as t. ni corne to Jesus as I wa~ Weary axul line and tired amd. sad, I finds in hini a restiit place, And he has made me glad. Us have two white doctors call Dr. Dan and Dr. Gill Shaw, what wait on us when we real sick, Us wore ~afoedit~ bags round. the neck and it kep off sickness. II stay mos the tune in the big h~se and. massa good but missy am the devil. I couldn t tell you how I treated. Lots of times she tie me to a stab in the yard and. cowhid~e me till she give out, then she go and. rest and c~e back andbeat i~ some more, You see, Vs massa nigger and 5h~ have hei/.wa aiggers what coeie on her side and she never did like 1~e. She stomp axid beat me nearly t. death ath they have to grease my

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fr ~. ~x~s1ave Stories Page i eur (Texas) ~ /8 hack where she cowhide me ~i~d I s sick with fever for ~ week. 1f I have a dollar for ev ry cowhld.la I git, I d. iever have to work no more. YotLflg missy Betty like ~ie and try lam me read.ti a~d writ1~ and she slip to my room ~nd have me d in right good. I 1~rn the aIph~bet. But one d~y Missy J~ie cotch her ~ me and she say, 2~i~gers doa t need to know a*ythin~, ~nd the laine me over the head with the bi~tt of a C owhid.e whip. That white ~ so rough, one day us makii s oap and some little chickens gits in the fire around the pot a~d she s~y I let tem do it and make inc walk barefoot through that bed of co~l~ sev r~1 times. ~ 1 bears bout freed.om ii September wid they s pickin cotton and a white man rides up to massage house on a big, white hose ~nd the housebey tell massa a man waat see him and he hollers, ~Light~ stranger. It a gov men.t man arid he have the big book and a b~i*ch papers and say why ain t massa turn the niggers loose. ~asea say he tryin git the crop ciut and he tell massa have th~ slaves in. Uncle Steven blows the cow horn what they tise to call to eat and all the aiggers come runnin , cause that horn inea;i, Corne to the big house, quick. That m~ reads the paper tellin us wege free, but massa make us work sev ra . months after that. He say we git 20 acres land and. a mule but we didi t git it. . tLots of niggere was kilt after t cause the slaves in Harrison Coun