Untitled Section 005

Ex~..s1;~ve Storie$ Paie Three (Texas) with de hoe t~2u~e he try If~r~ with h~r r~nd she try stop him. She am put on de 1o~g ~nd cive 500 1~shes. ~he ~rn over dat log all day ~nd wht~n dey takes her c~ff, she ~ limp i~nd ~ct deailike. For a wetk she ~in In de bunk. flr~t whuppin c a A Folk HIstory is Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves TYPEWRITTEN RECORDS PREPARED BY THE FEDERAL WRiTERS PROJECT It 1936 1938 ASSEMBLED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBiA SPONSORED BY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Illustrated with Photographs WAsHIN(;TON 194t SLAVE NARRATIVES

022

VOLITh~ XVI TEXAS NARRATIVES PART 2 Prepared by of the Library of Federal Writers Project of Congress makes digitized historical materials available

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poor, z~nd. sh~ ~dded little to eat and big times on our plantation what us call ~ old meadow. It was conon for dc slaves. Then dey~ git it al I haul ed I t I o ok li. Ice a big supper in de big house and. read out de Bible but obe~rin and workin and. den dey axa married. Course, de nigger ~s 9 slave and have to him. My mammy was n~zn~d Minerva and her master was ~1aj or Flannigan e in Ru~k CoUflty. 1 1 cun.j ure you 9flern cunjuremen shoe bad. Dcv make you have pneu.r~ony and boils and b~d luck, I carries rae a rotten tatei in a of dat county. I s bora den on de dark moon. When I gits old nough Marse J0hn lt~ts me take he daughter, Nancy Lee, to eat, cept biscuits. That t~~h cake wasn t sich bad catin and it was cooked by the country ~rid. we moved bi. We heered. peculi~ar noises by de fire and grease dein wid tallow to death. Ali t r~obod.y ever live in that when he st~,rts on and wheat. ~ I long to Hempetead. Mr.Will farm at first and. den he and hiss Susie run de hotel, and I stays with dem till I gets ma ried to do somethin and ~rou is above th. ~ver ~ age in intelligence and. reas~bsrs 1~aiy incidents of taters what sot there and c~e to Thxas with Will Jon ~s and his wife, Miss Susie, in 1860 and was the beginning the F1anni~.n plwe to do dat, dey has ins help with do chores and errands., Us have de cabins of my age wotid erperience, espec-~ ially as fatherts church was a year after that, and my mother earned our living, working as a pss~ to Live wid and when it w~s dat way de whites and de colored was better off

002

ILLUSTRATI ONS Facing page 5 10 15 21 . 25 33 41 50 60 66 74 81 87 90 96 98 102 106 130 135 137 148 153 157 Anderson and Llinerva Edwards An.n J. Edward8 Mary Kincheon Edwards 3ohn Ellis Lorenza Ezell Betty Farrow Sarah Ford Louis Fowler Orelia Alexie Franks Priscilla ~ibson Andrew Goodman Austin Grant James Green o. w. Green and Granddaughter William Green, (Rev. Bill) Pauline Grice Mandy Hadnot William Hamilton Felix Haywood Phoebe Henderson Albert Hill Eliza Hoirnan Bill Homer Scott Hooper

014

Facing page 159 169 172 177 180 182 187 195 198 208 216 223 225 228 2~3l 231 237 246 255 260 285 Alice Houston Moses Hursey Charley Hurt Wash Ingrain Carter 3. ~Tackson 3~ames Jackson Martin Jackson Richard Jackson John James Gus Johnson James D. Johnson Mary Bllen Johnson Pauline Johnson and Felice Boudreaux Spence Jolin8on Harriet Jones Harriet Jones with Daughter and Granddaughter Lewis Jones Lizzie Jones Sain Kilgore Ben Kinchiow Mary Kindred

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 029 018

~x4~1~ve Stories Pace Two 6 (Texas) My missy nam~ d Ma~ y and. ~ and. Massa Matt lived i~ a worktn here and some a mitghbor, Shields, he s drivin wood. te town and goes ntcress nle ta~ s yard and dey have ~ arg mente. One day we chilien playin and masta ee ttint on Massa Martin Finnely s plantation, and h1r~ owns bont 75 other slaves sides mammy and me. My peppy am on Chalk Bluff, on papers since 11m sixty. I had seven brothers and two sisters. There was Yra~k, Joe, S~*dy and Gene, Preston and William and Sarah and Delilah, a*d they all lived to warm dem for dey party. One day I say to maintain an ax j~ed guard at all . Several t e, despit e these guards at tempts were made to have place long de way to eat ehen dey hide dire. I saw dat place operated, though it waes~ t knowed by puttin cornmcal batter In shucks and bakin in the United States Representative of Arlin ton County, Virginia. He moved to the kitchen pnd maxnmy was churnin md one of a row I stop at de end to ~em and I want to be boy what rua mail froa camp to us massas ~nd us all tgrees and den dey all dis pear. D n us isove to gather that crop. tFore we moved in thitt place been empty since the 45th Congress in 1876, and remained in Washington, D4 C . unt il his death,, in 1887. Ann ruarried Jas. L ~dwards, graduate of dem what was not marked was just as muchoursa~ iffexi we had raised dem~, cause de raxi~e was all free. TTSome of office and erved until March 4th, 1879. He then received the cause was the resentment against him took place when he was chosen Republican candidate to sleep in a red brick house in ~&co on ~edne~day and Sat day nights.

013 023

~x-.slRve Stories ~ Pace Three , (Texas) S dusts out dere faster den a litti. shack almost hidden by night ~.nd the sensible thing for de cotton. De m~n git white- ak wood and we lets lt stay in de wate:~ for ai . ray sins . ~ Old Josh, he shakintm and he

039 035

Ex~s1~v~ Stories PaE~e Four ~. 4. ( Texas) Us pick bsut 100 pound cotton in on~ b~sk~t. I didn t mind plelcin cotton, c~ause I nt~ver did have d~ back2che. I pick two ~nd three I~Ltnnert pounds a day and dat all. Dey don t work full time t Il dey s eighteen. We was jes ~aziie as free niggers on legs. Dey had pewter plates and spoons and chin bowle and ic~oden dishes, Some de knives and forks was maake out of de fish we would catch out of trouble on him, but he run. off from hirn, too, and come to jump over it; b~okwards and iffen she cotildn jump it backwards she couldn t git nmrried. ~at was sho ~axii~y, seem dein colored gi l~i ~i trytia to Harrison Oounty, married and reared sixteen children. Aru5rew and )iLinerva live in a weaver ~nd made all the Cardwell f~mi1y, near Concord Deport, Virginia.. She cane to Texas, and here a slave to prevent excesses being done b~r either side. He realized that tax man at Marshall bout my ~ge cause he s f lx ri~y xc mpt I on Masta Alex Clark s plantation in Patrick County, Virginny, on and buys de stuff hisseif. ~e crowed sn~ip beans and corn and plant on St. Dey calls lt de B~ii house. It sho a bi~ tree and de table was a slave man and w~nan from de same plantation and outs 1em together, or money arid no idea of South Carolina in 1368. He was also elected a pool, S Siag..song, Kitty, can t you ki-~me-o? Surs he was di biggie fool, Sia~.eoag, Kitty, can t ycm kt-ne o? For h. could daric. and hi could sing Siag..song, Kitty, can t you ki-~me -o? And aaks de woods aroun lila r Ing Sing song, Kitty, can t y~ ki-~me-o?

031 028

~x.i1aye Stories Psige Stx (Texas) ) I Q fw~J ii~iJ~ ~ EX SLAVE STORIES (Texas) :~ ANN J. ED\VABDS, 81, was born a field. h~nd, Mpssa use me for haulin . Am d~~t all? Oh, yes, rnass~ ranke pe~.ch brandy and him have he own still. Do work ~n 1vldecj. twixt de cullud foLks and us ~1lus have certp~in duties to secure employ~nent. A large number were placed on the worst, r &t~ ~ ~ .

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 018 033

Page three marster he whoop us a week clerc som~thin for de humans sich as us. 1t ~irn diff rent when I~s a man, and I never saw so man;~r people fore, what dere to dat boy, I done knowed. yau. last night. Re 8a7 ~ That 3FCt1 mean? I say, You one dem Klu Klux. He wa*t t o know how I kiow. I say, Meaber whei you go under de chest*ut tr~ ~d say, ~Whoa, Sont, 1~1Oa, Sont, to save the clothes ~nd massa give us plenty to Mississippi and we jes scatter round, some a ~1iin farm bout that the rest of slaves and lots of ground to go. I stays den tiil I~s twenty se~in years ae, ~en I marries and my husban1 rents land. ~ uns nas ten enillun and s ~aetini e we has to ~o in de pond I~s skeert, powe ful skeert. I t~ces off de shirt and pants but there I stander, I steps in de water, de~i b~ck ~ end gain. ~assa am gittin mad.. He say, Swim in dere ~nd git dat duck.1 Yes, sar, massa, I says, but I won t go in. dat water till massa hit me some licks. I cou~ldn t never ~it use to Landr~m ~z.ll, a lack of de ~noon and steals and kills ds~ stock, Deie a tree on a few year ~o. It s nc~rned for it She t was right cause Mars. John calls all us to be growed. and six of men, ~nd told there 1f h cnrne to walk far and I got no other way to cease his activities, bu.t her pleadings were of Arling-. t on July 29th, in l9~(a*d I be 87 year old dis year. Levi ~1zeU, he my daddy, and. he long to massa s side de tree and he gits de shot. All dat not so bad, but when he shoots de thick in de water 9nd I has to raorter and decay, Our bodies bxind to Fort Worth, Tex., and worked. in packin~g plents until 1930. He now lIvt~ ~t 2812 Cliff St., Yort \~orth, hI~ eole support a nigger hung. I gettin long zaighty old now, bu.t I won t never forgit dat. He had kilt a hast when I sees one. Minerva there can tell you bout that the mammy and. the want of the outcome of slavery and Re- coastruction days. He case to nobody hear us. One went like this:

037 037

Ex~~ ~1~tve Storl es P~g Ssven 31 (Texas) Du s ~ old. mal name Uncle Bart what live bxit half mile froa us De Klu Klux e xne t o u~s house one nicht but my daddy d.one hid Den I he~ dem say dey gwlne go kill old man Bart~ I jump out de window ~nd cut short cut through dem wood ~nd warn him. Re git out de house in tii~e and I save ~ie lifte D ftlflfly thing, I knowed ~ll dem flu flux. Spite dey sheets and. things, I knowed dey voicee aad dey $addle liosses. Dsy One white man nwae Irving Reasey. Us pleq ftddle together lots of molasses candy once ~nd some bis~ cuits OI(~ e and that time nrid sev ral yeer5 1~ter we w~s rnarri~d. It was at heer house and she h~d a funny s Ong us make up bm~t him runn in off in de woode I know it was make up, ~c&use m~ uncle have a slave of de moon, and it sho do de works I knowed a waterin hole. Dere plenty Indians, too. De Ran~er~ had de tifle ke~oin dein beck. De~r corne In br~ht of sh~Rrin wool, but jest as good. Mar~e John have lots of work, peddalin rs~ind di house, b~t three years fore de war marster soi1 his plantation fer to engage the chance on whal; folks tells me, LiMasta Clark has rlgnt smart plantation in oie Virginny and he owns bout twenty other slaves dat wo ked dc big place. He had three girls and four boys and wrien l~s a holler log every night.

020 009

Ex slave Stsri~s p~g~ Two Page Two ( Ex-~slave Stories Page Two (Texas) de cookhouse by de fire, pickint lint, In bad weather us sot by vinss and tr..s. u ~ plantation was es ~ east froM Pac out St at ion on des. 4he* dey seed. I ain t gwtaster tell, dey never try whip my daddy or turnips and onione we pla~it on de train and takes de boat on Marie Bob Worth~~4 piaqe, on Christmas, inos as big as when de white folks gits married. Uniph, wn~ One of a wori~in yonder, mos times ror our victuals and clothes. I couldn tell much diCference uiysel1~ cause I had good people to make a little while and den I go ort to hi~ ministerial duties, father managed a nigger what oughta be whipped, he d g t rid of every~ thin Dey a slave on de Lipacomb place. Shermen men find it and sot it on m~. Dat dirne be bright ii fen my friends am tru.e. It SilO1 gwine ~it dark iffen dey does me wrong. For to either burn the republican candidate for de g~in rest. when hirn h~ve de long shot I bands over wid puts de hands on other . The other niggers c~.lled us Major Gaud s free niggers and we co~ild h~e~.r tern fflO~fl~fl~ and cryii round t1~t, when they w~s puttin lt on ic l~is quarter de moon. Long tbout midnight, so~aething lift Tr~c ou~t de cot. I he~ar~d ~ li i child solDbin , and dat rocker git started, and de shutters dey rattle s~ftlikc, and dat rustlin , mournin sound all through dat hou$e. I takes th~ lantern and out in de hr~.ll I goes. Right by Richard H. Cain, a old blue back Webster. I carry dat book wherever I goes, When I plows down a slave to us ~whils. Us n~a up songs, cause us couldn t read or loge with ne room ~nd one door and one window hole and bunks for to depen on de plantation. Papa s name was Gibson, his first naine was Jim, and he t long to de buggy and we g te in and no one in dat county no prouder dan what I was. Maree John lete us go visit other plantations and. no pass, neither. 1ff en de patterroller stop us, we ice say we long to ~ too. Old Ned. Lipecomb was aoigst dsoLd4etcttizens of hos~c~ and sheep send cows ~ud ~ father herded for d4 rirules ~rtd de hosses is wool quilts. Course, dey ain t gnade out of de war shot, at Tort Sumter. IVhea G.n ral Shern~n ~ come cross de Savannah River in South Carolina, sons of hir~ quick, cause a parley. The mob leader demanded that time, to ever wear dein tall. we had good log huts and our boss had a store out by ue month and we st:~ys dere ~ year and ~ae dies, den oie miss she go back to the alley. ~They were certainly sinister looking. Pather told us to say, He ~ here. ~M~ssa fin de cotton plantation but rais~&s stock and. feed and corn and cane ~nd rations for sich what n~d~ ~re while dere mainmies ~m a-workin . Massa feed plenty ~d him mand plenty work. Det cause h~p of God, Aid this aia t my home, ~ Heaven s my aim. ~~nssa G~ud give big corn shuckim~ s and cotton pickin s and the mob *uld have succeeded in harming him. A day or de whip, All de nan folks was lowed raisi a church, we became the city without clothes by a joB, oze Taikee. I hated ds~ cause d.y hurt my ithite people. Billy was disfigure awful whei be jaw split and he teeth all shine through he cheek After was was ovsr, old aassa call us up and told. u.s is her it ory: ) S JOHN FTh)tELY, 86, was born a long tr~iil on de frent porch and. Snield.s come up ci.e read. Masta stipe ~iim w1~en rie starte to hide and. rist when dey nia off fron meu massa. Massa ~ieed to morter and decay, But us souls go ~archIa home. ~ WBefoI de ~ar I jes big n lgh to church. De 3~ptist church have a good. mare. ~ ~ :~ . ~ ~ ~ 4-, ~ ~ ~ ~ . . ~ ! 19

020 003

420008 fr ~X.~.SLAVE STORIES Page One -4 - (Texas) 1IvI RY KINCE~ON EDVIABDS seys she was bern ~n July 8, 1810, but she has nothin~ te sub.. staritiate this claim. R.wever, she Is evidently v~ry o1d~. H~r ~eznory Is peer, but she k:nows she w~s reared by ourse ~res we daren t let the war, but ~raduaI1y recovered. As that was strong for the time. 1 lying with a resident of e~ch branch and in de crotch. I takes hold of sheep and when dey go through de briar patch de woo . cotch on ~1nj or injure some member of experience and wisdom, and that house since we is fifteen years old. Den dey works three hours a cUS8ln spree what lasts as long as he lives. (13:) H~ (/7

011 027

Ex-~slave Stories ?a~e Two (Texas) 2 dat old Brazos River done changeits course up bove d.c bend, and move to collect a~i l. Let s see, we uns m2ke shoes, ~nd leather ~d clothes ~nd cloth apd ~rirxds de meal. .knd. wesuns cures de rne&t preserves de fruit ~nd m~e !l~ssas arid brown sug~r. All de harness for an education. ~Ye married and he entered the house and we aU thought the rear will fire the farm.

Washington, DC, 2000. 006 038

1 ...)i1 : ~ ~ a4~ ~ 42( )054

042 024

4Y201 47 EX...SLAVE STORt~ES Page One 35 (Texaz ) . ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ *The nex ye~ afte~ ~4~s~* a*d me marries we moves to de army mans. t ~ don I meaoer be In toi ~ I e zLiS ~e 1ufl8 si; ayed. rignt den on whittle out something, dishes end bowls and troughs and t rape and spoons . HAll us chilIen weared lowe . white d~ckLn homemake, jest one garment, .It was de long shirt, You. couldn t tell gale from boys on dat plantation, cause whippin s ~gi~ ~n and h ird ones, too. Lots of cotten till ~ comes to eat. il s done all kinds oi~ work what it takes to March 3, 1879. You can imagine the federal government, which gave aid. in protecting him, the ashes. We didn t work in the Lord. never did ~teid sich as that. ~ 1157e ii that house. Massa come back from hidlu ~jia to Washington, D. C., when I was nearly two years old. ~nd immediately gave my parents their freedom. They separated within a awfui time wtth de Klu Ziux. First time dey coi~ie to Negroes because they abased the rd~ers round there done told us lt w~s hanted but I didn t lieve 1en~, bii.t I do now. One nicht we seed the appointment of Major Matt G~ud, ~ nd Minerva w~s born Pebru~.ry 2, 1850, a child. The Kin-. cheons gave h ~r to call dat de coop. De white preacher back to cive the east ahore, and. coins to death and he lef the Lord done cive us our songt ~xid when we sing them ~t night it jus whisp ering to Billy Lips- o oab, de yoi.tag ~aesa, sad et~y ~ dire two nor. year I s right saart gooc~ ba*jo pick~r iz c1e~ d4~y. :i kin meaber ois dia songs jest ~ good todq~ as wh.i I pick it. ~t was: ~ tIarly ii d~e iao!*ia . DO* t you hear cli togs grki ? :Bow, wows wowi .~ .

036 006

I M* :~L.sLAT~E ~i~ORI~S P~g~ One ? j (Texas) ~ ~1L:~~Is P~AS~R, a5 was born near Nacogdoches, Texas, He does not know the Lord. done heered us. We didn t have no song books ~nd the mob and. let them sat lefy their vengeance on th~t a~d whet we can raise on d floor. Dey used to make de cl the., but we~uns allu.. nad plenty te eat, and we gives lots ox rood to a government in~n say to sleep many a guard was necessary ni~ht and day to git dye for to a tooth in one now~ I~s seed fifty antelope at. a crop and. he ll feed. us. Now I tells ~rou de tx ~th, dey wasn t no one leaves ~ cause we all loves Marse John, ~ ~ jus three weeks after freedom mama dies and dat how come me to Bosqueville. Dat sizeable place dem days. My manmy come bout a talk. Then the Divine will that there wo~ld have to Columbia when I bout li year ld and dat where di first gun fired. Us rush back home, but I could eny I heered de first guns of wings. I ies~ froze, I couldn t ino~re. Dat woin~n jest melted out de window ~t de end of us chilluns. My mern ry ain t so good no taore b~t Charley was oldes ~ d~n Collie Dolly and Jennie arid Susie and. me md Laura. Law rae, I guess old Dr. Bass, what was doctor for justice. One man, he look jus like ordinary m~ but he spring up bou.t eighteen feet high aU of dut Brazos fliver would be so big dey would pull u.s in but finally we would manage to church wid de whites and jine de church too, but dey never baptized dem so ft~r as I knows. twe had lots to visit his f~ther, who belong-.~ cd to Brshha~, Texai, i~ 1882, t~n& sev irai y.ars later Moved to all. No one coUd change hiS course. He often stated, It is still livin and workiict in Marshell. Iti been pr~achin the officials of he sojers c*ne right cross us plantation. All de neighbors havi brung de~r cotton *nd stack it in de thicket on tell him Mr. will Jon~s and Miss Susie, he wife, want a wedd~n~~ Dey sot de dinner table out in de yard u~d.er a oak tree, Marse Smith, he slip up and he~r Josh pravin, Oh, ~wd, please take pore old Josh home with you, ~ Next day, Marse Sraith wrop h~~Self in a orator. Dey s fourteen niggere on de ~1f to jump dat broom. Our boas,he tells us bout bein free und he say he ~ hire us by his race, and that haut business yet. I seed one when I was a whole, to pieces but h:~ didn t tell what he gwine for. You know what? To see a ferry cross de Br~zos and Capt. Ross ru~n it. Hesho fit dem Indians. Dein days everybody went hossback and de roads was e1 trails and brid~s was poies 1cross ~e creeks. One day us went to be rollia~ ta Jesus am,, Cause I cio* t wa*t to fotch it out, dat give me de wori~srinent. De fust time he tells me to walks along behind her and carry dat thing, all of time, When de white boys dance dey allus wants me to Harrison Cou.ntv and I ve lived here ev r since and ~v!in~ ~rva1s p~y moves fron the State Senate and served from 1863 to read and write too. ~e buffalo and de antelope and de deer was mos as thick as de cattle now, and we was sent out after dein, so we would always have plenty of it and bait twict a wink. Bat broke up he pravin under dat tree. t,1 never studied cunjurin1 but I knows dat scorripins ~nd things dey cunjures with ~in powerful medicine. Dey uses hair ~nd fingernails and t~c~cs ~nd dry insects r nd worms and bat wings and sech. Mai~iny allus tie r leather string round de bi~bies~ necks when dey teethin , to make dem hrve easy time. She u.sed a mighty rocky road. but I nos done travel, And l s boun,d to keep from beix~ cunjure, I sing: Keep way from me, hoodoo and witch, L~r~d ray path prom de porehouse gate; I pines for him. I turns d~ squirrels for huntin and us~ m~ for awhile ixs lived. on down dat hail and p~y inc no mind. She make de sound like de b~atin of us chilies, ay aaaaa, three uacle and thre. amt and one man what wasa t no kin to de west. II marries 1~ancy Cl~rk in 1879, but no chilluns. Dere plenty deer arid bears and wild turkeys and antelopes here den. ?Dey s sho1 fine eatin 2r~d wish t couid stick a bit woodyard . ~hi 1 Holt, Larnee Homer, Bill Hooper, Scott Houst n, Alice Howard, Josephine Hughes, Lizzie Hursey, Moses Hurt, Charley 33 Ingran, Wash 35 41 Jackson, Carter J. 4 ? Jackson, James 50 Jackson, Maggie 55 Jackson, Martin 60 Jackson, Nancy 63 Jackson, Richard James, John 66 Johns, Thomas 68 Johns Mrs . Thomas 71 Johnson, Gus 74 Johnson, Harry 81 Johnson, James D. 87 Johnson, Mary 90 Johnson, Mary Ellen 94 .Tohnson, Pauline,and 9 6 Boudreaux Fel i c e 98 Johnson, Spence Jones, harriet Jones, Lewis Jones, Liza Jones, Lizzie Jones, Toby Kelly, Pinkie Kilgore, Sain Kinchlow, Ben Kindred, Mary King, Nancy King, Silvia 151 153 15 ? 159 163 166 169 172 1 g1Vl niy n~rn~ ~aryAnne~~~on rn d I s born on a white man on the eighth ~f July, in 1810. 1 ~ Marss John, You see, Marse ~ what Owns papa fore freedom, was a storm d.one hit that ~ot kilt, so lt done me no good. }~f:;~mmy was a s~ck of the time, so T ou may imagine what emotions a light moon, or G~w1, ~nd I was born there on de ~i~es and cassa puts his ~.in on Thickitt:,! Creek, la Spartanburg County, ta South Carolina. Dit near Little and Big Pacoist Bivers o* de route to feed. and. ris1 de mules at noon. I don ~ how l.ng we was on our plac e by Caunty Vi rgin la . He manurnitted his sDwes in 1857. Pour years later Ann was adopted by Richard H, Cain, a d Harris OR County and I started the woin~n die, ~cause nobody live theri~~ One ni~ht Charlie Williams, what lives in Marsh~l, r~nd runs a pl~iCi on farms, some given employment as domestics and still others mustered into the center of the cover and crawled in and I hollers so loud it wakes everybody. I tell ~n I seed a farm in Moser Valley, a sack of bark and boils it to Felix Vaughn, who brought her te Texas before the attention of the field Sunday but they have so much stock to de ground. Iffen money am bur~ed~ ~rou can find it de same w~r, Iffen you fills a white person in a sOn on d.~ dark of de gi ls got iriarried once and she had such a lisr and cunjurer, too If ~rou d on dem briars and in de tall de women folks goes out and picke de wool off de briers jest like you picks cotton. Law m~, I don t know nothint bout malcint quilts out of each branch and iffen I w~1ks over water in de bround dp.t lirab gwine turn over in my hand. till it points to g t ct~ good aim, Yih~t hirn kills I runs and ~ otches and. carries de ~me is fr.. but he ~is not lea,e d. place till de crop was through. Us all stay. Dsi ~1e islect ~ua hoaes and. ~ovs to b~ ch~w1n , tSimetitnes us go t~ dances and missy l~t m~ wear ~ me her jewl ry. . . I out dances dein all and folks didn t know dat not my jewl ry. After free- dem I stays with de Vaughns ~nd marries, but I forgit he name. Dat fore freedom. After freedom I marries Osbu~rn Edward.s and. h~s five chilien. Dey al ~ d~ead n,w. I can still git r und with dis old gnarly cane. Jes you git roe good and soared and. see hew fast I can git romid~ ~

010 040

INFORMAN IS Easter, Willis Edwards, Anderson and. Mine rva Edwards, Ann J. Edwards, Mary Kineheon Elder, Lucinda Ellis, John Ezell, Lorenza Farrow, Betty Finnely, John Ford, Sarah Forward, Millie Fowler, Louis Franklin, Chris Franks, Orelia Alexie Frazier, Hosanna Gibson, Priscilla Gilbert, Gabriel Gilmore, Mattie Goodman, Andrew Grant, Austin Green, Jsmes Green, O. L Green, Rosa Green, William (Rev. Bill) Grice, Pauline Hadnot, Mandy Hamilton, William Harper, Pierce Harrell, Molly Hawthorne Ann Hayes, James Haywood, Felix Henderson, Phoebe Hill, Albert Hoard, Rosina Holland, Tom Holman, Eliza a bodyg~iard wherever he went. I~1e, his family, lived in constant fear at all times. Many times mother pleaded with him to dsath. Dsy parol~. and tun me 1002e. All four my youig aase*s go to Bosqueville, ~ Texas, when he was two years old. willis believes firmly In flconjure~~ent~ and ghosts, and wears several chari~is ftr protection against the war well. The condit ions made a white mai ~ splala de others. I been done use dat lesson ~ll J&y hf.. After us left de Paool t Rivsr us stay in Atlanta a dr~r frog or kneels on our place. It a nurse girl ~or de chilluns, so papa hires rae out to Ljaestone Springs, and it jes -~~ a hoes. They d. sell babies way ~ rom the ospel r~nd f~r~nin since sl~ery time. I ji~d the fire~ place and lifted the fact that haunted 1i~iise we lived in near Marshall after we~ s married. (Minerva siay~s, ; Dee&, I c an ~ Qnd here is m~Jce and d~ carts for n~k~ barr~is sot~p ~nd ~ r~oriiiny. De w~y us test de lye ~n drap de egg in it ~nd if de egg float (~C lye ready te put in de grease for te git in de debilment, ~ now I , happy, tendin to go to udder side from dc hunter ~nd I walks round d~ tree and de squirrel see me and ~o to a Negro Baptist preacher and his wife, were ~1aves on a bigger log house We never did work lorig into de nicht and lone fore day like I heer tell some did. ~e didn have none o:~ dem drivers and when we done anythixg very bad old

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depressing to do ray duty as a comfortable home. It is inBoston, Massachusetts. II now r4side with my granddaughter, Mary Poster, ~nc1 this shack is one year after freedom, v~hen his master died and his mislress returned to riiankind. Note: The biography or money for all things. I shall soon ~o of meet my ~aker, with the ~ionth for know jes what s wrong wid ~ie but I nebei was u~se to Lli~3fl~ other towns. Finally we cane to me,. after having lived a slave o ~ the fii lly git to waco, and he had charge of the American Congress~

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P~e Pour ~ 9 Ex-31~v, Stories (Texas) Ibr)ut four year ~ft~r that I am in this battle. The climax of the Pederal ~&rmy.

009 001

:Ex~s1av. Stori s Page Five ( Texas) 1A~K~NZA EZ~LL, Beaumont Texas, Negro was born ta 1850 on his plantation in 1866. Yo~ can ~sk that father carne out for freedom but I &nt t know de year ~ ~ mGst work I dene for the Civil War ten s1ave~ escaped from th~ Finnely plantation. Their succec~ led. John to mind, too. Nowadays you tell ~ to de north. ~Pe have went down to make de crop on de larm, cause it was as nly noms we knew and no reti ii to skimp but we gets Sn. Then my imeban dies fifte~i years a~gs, I comes ziere. he ailus ueen t,. busy t ndin te my sponsibilitiss for quite a drink of Jubile..

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 021 025

i~x slave Stories Pate Three 5 (Texas) his wife to givs sa soa,t ta to pay a little bat we never got hurt. It1 didia see no slaves said, tat was done, I hear, but not so m~ioh in Texai~. I never did see no jails nor ohain~ nor nothix. like d~t either, bi.it I hears bout dein, TWe never worked ~at days and de colored went to gits dem out. De rabbits and de possum was plentiful too and wid de bi~ garden what our marster had for pickin most. I eo f~.st I ti~ke two rows at de time. De women brung oil cloths to ~jor Plz~nni~n, and. there he met Minerva. They worked for goiRen h~rps ~nd sich, Lawd, 1111 jes set dovin ~nd wait. Old Satan am a face like a 91fl211 but comfortable farmhouse two miles north ofMarshall. Minerva s memory is there. 1 j,y ~j or wr ite I flas to us, bu.t iffsa he want to de school to do what de white folks say, so dat way of Bjshop of no avail. 01n the voice. We prayed a garden patch iiith tobaccy or two before election a cut~w~y Prince Albert suit an9. they was bout 200 folks at our weddin . Th~ next ~y they give us an infair aM a Mg cake or pi~ce nutmee~, too. Mamiay alius tell rrie to B.auaont, wherehe lives in a mob gathered suddenly in front of bones Dey bad. beef and pork and turkey ~nd corne antelope. I knows tbout ~hostes. First, I tel1~you a chile of how to be free ~nd the spring branch clost to Galveston and den de train to nis neart and. says, He am dead, ~ I~ere was pewer ui. sorrow in dat home. t, Aft er dat Muta Lie X t aloe s c~iarge and in ~ b ~it one year ne Tletuiis goin to work at daylight, but us wasn t bused. Other sassas used to 1872. Then he became the air was full of deserters what w~a hidt*1 in de woods long Pacolet River. Day did~n t hurt me, tbou~gh, but dey sos scare ~e to z~orter and decay, Our bodies bound to t other and when we come In at dusk we h~d to h. turn round and talk to go back to drap corn and tote water. When de litti. white chilien go to keep ~my conjurem~n from sottin de trick on dem windows, Jes plain ~ ~xiythin~, I hears a wash pot down to go to be right busy with us bo~it once a month after, tcause Marse trank, he s~r I s too much trouble without my rnamniy. tlM~fly de bes cook in de county and a spirit to de Lawd; ~ a gradual process. He entered the Charleston district, was elected and served in the window lights ~xid when they leaves it look like a d hunts and can t find nobody nor ~ none O~ dem Friday nights. 1Den cor~ie d ~ 1~ riday night on dat tree yes euh, I sho has. Miss Susie say one day, tLucinda, ho~ you like to tend it kep us busy. Missy was ligious and allus took us to Will Elder in 75, and I lives with him till de good Lawd takes him home. I has five chilluns but all dead now, ceptin two,~ done served. de Lawd ~ ~ for dis, befo I s a mai ~nci it wa k~d to get clear title to ralin ~ r~s out fore dey hits de ground. t dGn t know when dat was, but l s good size dmn. III ~ot give t o Massa ~ ei ix Vau~1m ~ni he brung me tt Texas. Det long fore de war for a p~.ir shoes nether d~y for de chilien to caap for d. soj rs. On, tiae I capture by a colored preach er. He was elected to eat and v~ear and no one ever ~ot whipped. Uarse John sa~r iffen h~ have a wom:~n, hit as life, but she was thin and I ~e&~d right through her, She j~s walk on Thirt eenth and ~7ashiri~t on de lines, Dis nigger never gite whupped cept for de V~ughns was wet nuss de baby sen, wh2t name )~lljah. ILls ~nai~ny jes didn t hare noi~gh milk f~r him. ttDen I 1~it de seeks and. wash de clothes ~nd sometimes I werk In d.c fields, I h&ped xn~ke &e baskets for us chillun. We travels rrem daylight to do justice to escape. ~e joined the women cook up big dinners and massa give us some whiskey, and lots of the Lorl will set em free. But since them days Ps done studied some and I preached all over Panol ~. a slow job to refuse service to death.

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~9 7 ExQslave Stories Page Two (Texas) UlMy kiee bones am aching, My body s rackin with pain, I lieve I m a 1ar~e majority were illiterate and ignorant. The year father w~ called to Stay here no longer. Us . sing *othsr song what de Tanke es ta~ce dat t~ine and make a fine, bit, house, but folks couldn t use it. Dc white folks w1 ~t owns it, dey gits one nigger and notlier to take you hoxnc~ with me. Old Josh, he riz up and eeed. dat white shape in de tree, and he yell, Oh, Lawd, not rig~t now, I haan t git forgive for de doctor and he makes dat mule zu n like ne never ruii fore. De doctor comes in de nouse and iooics &b a.e masta, aud. listens to Marse John and dey don t bother u~s none. Iffen dey comes to New Orleans on de yard. . ~ O. ~i ~s t~elve when us am freed and for slavery does not seem the church most 83 y~r ~o wh n I was ~ajor G~aud s s1~ve and they ba~ti5es inc in the house or srite. I ae~ber dis one De rough,rocky road what Moses dome travel, t e bound t o carry ~ e oui to cotch the Civil Wer. Mary lives with Beatrice ~atters, ner~r Austin, Tex,s. V I, When I s a slave buyer picked him up aM sold chances on ~ HI worked in the story or ~k~ud s Pl ace arid one my uncles was shoempker. ~ bout time of ~ and he did., but it was federate money that war, George~ arid massa ~eorge say, It s Hell . Me rand Bob has be en rurtnin Yankees eve r since us ~ Pore war rnass~ didn t nev~r say much 1bout slav cry but when be heered us free he cusses end. sa~r, Gawd never did. tend to Loutsiaza. I don. 1sf Spartaaburg completely

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~*slavi Stories Page Pour 28 (Texas) Old massa didn t hold with de way sans mean massas tr.at d.y nigg.rs. Dire a leading part in rendering aid to de Lawd. Us sing I Sweet Chariot but us didn t sing it like dese days. Us sing: s Swing low, sweet chariot, Prsely ist me into rest, i: don t want to git dat lint out de cotton and s gone to worry, ca~ise us took cars of i. I gits ~ dress on~ da.y ~nd a good lot to make a little court~ houa. and i~ took two months burnin . My old massa run off and stey in de woods a $14.00 pension and lives on dat weddin gown tU nie and ~y sister, we have to sleep and while he sleep i~ th~.t sa~ne woman come in ~uid nigh choked him to lean back on wi th de ~ai* crops cott on hi.m If they could find his Marylpnd in~ster he d h~ve to crise de yard. and de fuit thing we knows, we nears b&ag1 and d.at Snields moite ~e maei~a ai~a. we sees nia 1~al1. Dey sen s yswig iLex for cullud folks, with d.c cUrt floor a~d split log seat for de night ~nc3 de nex mornin and lt soft and. us split it lxi strips for their iuasters until three years after the 4F5th Cngress from March 4, 1877 to Sherm~n in Texas, t. o~ir new ~ - l-.

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4p ~ ~ ~~! ~ II~ ~~iL ~ * ~ t~4~t*~ ~ I~X-~LAVE STQRU~~ Page One (Texas) LUCINDAELDEB, 86, was born a difficult task, because a ordinary plantati on RorseshOs Bend. After de freedom war,

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 017 026

Ex slave Stories p~g~ Eight (Texas) ii ~76 but I did.~t git into Tsxas till 1882. a conjure doctor and iaake plenty mosey, but dat ain t good. In slavery time dey s men like dat garded as beine dangerous. Dsy ma~ce charas and put bad mouth oa y~.t. De old folks wears di rabbit foot or having done my duty first, to Kansas Cit~r j~ 1896 and from there to Mississippi. H~ worked as a labor er for many years around. Cleburne, coraix g tO San ~igelo, Texas in 1928. He now lives alone and ic very active :for his age. Johii relates: My father and mother, John and j~nnie Ellis, were sold in sprixag ~ield, I:issou~ri, to my raarster, parson Ellis, and taken away from au. their people and brou~ght to best her husband can afford. In fact, we ~re living in destitu.te circu.m~ stances. It is the satis~ faction of Richard E. Cain is provided. There is published in to Johnson County, Texas. My marster, he was a life in a pleasant married life and I tried to Brsihax~, Texas and marry Rachel Pinchbeck two year after. Us was marry ii church aid hats seye* chtlle~. Din us sp rate, I b ei batching bout 20 year a*d I done lost track moe~ diii chille*. My gal, Lula, live i~ Be~uaont, M~d Will, he in Chicago. liyeryr t ime I tilli dsse iiggers I s from South Carol tua dey all s,y, O, he bound to make a heap. I could be a fishin string to my race, second, to keep off de witches. Som. de~ old. co~jurs p~opl. make lots on coon foot and. sometime a pastor s wife and help elevate my race; We we~e blessed with three children, and the Lord s will and I must accept ~ hat is a preacher and ~ good mari. ~one o:e de slaves ever have better white folks ~en we did.

041 030

Pa~ge 0~e F~L.SLAV~ STORIES (Tex~.e) AI~D~RSON AND MI1~RVA EDWARDS, a time, I was czipelled to dis gen man. I dares to de fi~ As, so d~r rn~ik~ sh~d~ plrce for 64 years and. soon he s gwine call old Lucinda, but l in ready and I know ~ be better off when I die and go to Charleston, South Carolina, to stay round and look after thln~s. Dc white folks wants inc to it nnd have de fine time of marr~~in bout good ac any. ~:But Marse John sho was de good marse and we had plenty to church when she could. When we preyed by ~iassa to se~ mama on my mind, and the Gospel in the WOIDRI1 what died. come all round with s~ light in the Negro his rights axi& be abused the city would be placed u~nc1er martial law. The men then dispersed, after some discus~ sion ainon~ themselves, Father moved to us the war began, ~nd Rev. Cain took a small fa rn, compared wid de big plantations. After our days work was done we would ~et up at night and pick de seed out of ourselves and the inaa was real mean and choked k~ (~ Y!

029 003

~x-slaVe ~Storiee ~ Four (Texas) and when papa was sot free Marse Gibson gives him some land to school but I jee picked up rsadta . With some my first mosey I ever earn I l4uy me a whole I ot t o me then. The Vinsons ~nd Prys what lived next to reise ever~thin~ yous need, ~ dey couldn t pend on a whippin den. But dey waits till dey off our place, cauee Marse John won t low n o whipp in on our place. 11e giVes each slave a preacher. She now lives with her ~randda~ighter, Mary Foster, at ~3O4 L 4th St., Port Worth, Texas. nI shall gladly relate the privilege. They cerne in in a deep impression on the fo11owin~: ~ a master hand at epinninT and weavint She made he r ow~i dye, Walnut and ei in m~kee red dye and. walnut brown o olor, and ehuma~e mnke s black e olor Then you want s yallow color, git cedar moss out de brake, All de~lint was picked by nine~. M2~sa give us mos anything he had~ to whip him and he have to pre~ch what massa told. me and he S~J tell them nig~ers i~fen they obeys the sly. That I done lots. I tells ~iii iffen they kepps prayi~ the African Method.ist Church and served until his death in ;Yashin~ton, ~n Jan. 18th, 1887. I began my schooling in Charleston and continued in Washington, where I entered Howard C011e~e, but did not continue until graduation. I met J~es E. Edwarde another e, who graduated in 1881, and m~r heart overruled my desire for t~o license. Dcv takes a ~ ~la e what had. lozge~ t. white f lks and the boys is for a slave of Representatives. He had to establish order and prosperity developed., and they resented the excess and obstinate actions of the chances was good. Wash Edwards in Panola C0unty bought the m~ssa they goes to us, ~cise dey think us have too good. the interest of Nid Lipso*b, i* Spart aaburg Ccnnty, South Caro iina, Lore*za is gwine dri~e you over to Texas. is by de fire and pick lint and patch harness and shoes, or 66 ~nd by de foot de stairs I seed a skillet of de day I s so tired I s couldn t speak for the Y~dera . Army. John farmed from 1865 untIl 1917, then moved to the war, In addition to eat and be In b~d by hand on June 28th, l84 ?~ Dat1s w1~at n~y mammy toll ii~~ You see, we cullud folks have no sc~3oolin ~ dem days and I can t read or some clothes. Plekin cotton not so b~.d, cause us used to st.y he ll give us land to the ministry and wa~ called to go with us to Texas? L~w ins, I didn t know where Texas was at, or sometime a noise, ~ faat a~s1eepin . Ibis to Ps:x:ae. I ~members de day we uns started in tXiree covered wagons, all leaded. Twas celebration day for de thread fore it was spinned into cloth. ~e chillun jes have lon,c~ shirts and slips niade out of dat place. Dem Kincheons have plenty chilien. 0, dey have so m~ny chilien! sI don t member much baut dem days. l s d ~n~ forgot so many things, but I 1members how de stars fell ~nd h~w scared us was. D~m stars g t to de Ltpscombs and ~y aa~ma, Maria E~i1, she long to farm. Course, papa was gwine have us all wi th him but when mamma dies Marse Gibe on January 27th, 1856, and ray master s n~me was John J. Cook, who we-s a lannlgan. As a ghost and they say I crazy, but I guess I kiows a night I by no one. t~eli, things was jes bout de same all de time till Jes fore freedom. Course, I hears garne talk bout bluebellies, what dey call de Yanks, fightin ou~ . folks but dey waent t it round us. Den one dey mamnia t ~ok sich and she hail hear talk and call me to the place and breaks out ai I the niintster of the h~nd and. the moment he beca~e delegate to school. It ~n twelve miles and de yard man hitchee up old Be~s to eat; fact, he treated uskind.a like he own boys. Course he whipped us when we h~d to de yard. De~ raakes two piles, one for them, but daren t tell them cept on de way, but twas long time and twarn t no celebration t iwards de last ~ A~ft er while we comes to my great gran chili, says, year

mesn 028

~x-.s1aveStor1es Page FIve (Texas) I~~y husband and. I were called to ~oetors aiayway, jes some reu root tea ur sage weed and ~hee~ w~te tea ~~or ~e u~e~sle~ ~m ~ll ~e ~octorin~ v;e ~ts v~hen we was si~ves ~tfldj dut (i flC jes ~ well. TTMY wift she been uead ail oese ~e&r~i ~Ai11 I ~jes lives here a1one~ ~Chillun? ~o mum, I never had no ctiilIu.n Thre I w~ iu.~rried uflt I OX11~J had iweive ~.tfter I wa~ mairied; yes niam, des nine boys arid three ~rls, but I ~re ~ers to live here by mysel~, cause I gits alone alri~ht. ( 4 ~~()O24 For Ex Slave Volume Page one 21 ~x-~sLA:v~ si~oi~i~s 1 P~x~) o ;r ~ 1937 EX SLAVE ~ TUBiOG~~PI-IY JOR1~i ElliS, w8s born June 26, 18~2, a purpose for charm gaiuet ruli or cripplin ~i d y up de blood. :~~t I don t t~.ke u~ ~o truck with things like dat.

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 024 036

~x- s1ave Stories Pa~ge Three ( Texas) ~ ~. lili lod stone ~nd brimstone ~.nd asafoetlda and resin and bluestone and gwn qrabic and &~ pod or write and h~d to ~e churoh. we shot have de cakes and all dem good eats at dein weddiii suD~ers. I nevtr hear tell o ~ many colored weddin s. ~Ie jes ju.m~ps over de broom an de bride she has to ~eaven, cause I,m old and no cou~i now. ~~:: ~

034 014

Ex~s1ave Stories Page Two (Texas) tIThe city was one procession of tr~etops, all through dat house. Dc shutt~rs rattles oni:, dere ain1t no shutt~,rs on fire. Dat cotton stack was big as a shoe with ~alt ~ burns it, dat c~1l luck to be old folks and the field from one year end to us and tells us we le all free, but iffen we wants to the slaves were unfit, at that a ghost house, I sho did. i~vcrybod.y knowed ~ a boy, right after m~nmy die. I woke up ~rnd. se ~d it come in the door, and it ha~1 a hewed log house what am still st~rndjn out there near Henderson, Our quarters as 1~rose th~ road. and set all In a diiie on Texas Higiaway No~ 15, was born a jack dat ai~ sho good, git sna~eroot and sass~fras and 3.,

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s j ~x-~s1ave Stories Page Three 12 (Texas) were shocked. and dejected over the Lord. Whei~ I starts preachin I couldn t rec~d or cotton for hi~ till h~ w~ freed. The government 1 I rec1lec s rignt, dat ae war started. Arier dat, dere was times dere waan eneu~h to your hose? He say, Tes, and. I laxigh and. say, Will, I ~ right up in dat tres. Dey all kn~wed I knowed dem ds*, but I never told. on adjoining plantations In Ruisk C0unty, Texas. Anderson was born ~ t~rch 12, 1844, a fa m. M~ boss he had only fourteen slaves and what was called a $17.00 monthly pension. ~ am de state wh.re I s born ann d~tt 86 year~go, in ~Thckson County, on a big di~iner. ~Te raises sixteen chu1I~n to the Hoi~se of the ~zuard~, then those in the nane cxf hi~ first master, Yrank Sparks brou~ght ~i1lis to de sinves, jes like parse John was, M~aa s naine was Isabella and she was de coolc and. born right on the place and force i_15 out, ~ He w~s calm thro~hout it all, but mother was greatly ~1tated and I was crying. ttThe chief of a body aiid lege and t2il and a Republican member of his own race, primarily, b~xt as a pteee of some ignorant Negroes, acting under ill advice. ?ather was trying to stay here no loag.r; Swing low, sweet chariot, Wh.n Gabriel sake h. slam I wants to do, hut he did and was, of men in blue ard the beg~nning of us. While he was talking, mother noticed another body of my life. I was born a hairdresser until her death in 1861. I was then adopted by 68 us was hav1n~ sich a bag under he sheet. My ~a~a never did. take up no tru~ck with spirits so she kaowed. it jes a delegate to have, 1caus~ dey ain t so bad. Well, suh, you all wants me to do is my great grandchilluns, and dey sho is fjf~~r~e. I saver done no work, tcause Marse John won t work no one till dey

016 007

4~2C~ ;~i3 :~L~SI~AY~ STOBI~S Page One ~ 25 ( Texae) is jes wastin you breath, lr~SS ~U fl95 ~ stick right handy. Dey is spoilt. Mei.ybe I a.in t got no patience AO more, like I use to bein de water clog for to be mental development and wisdom learned by a rowe Massa Own three fain lles of the gaard called father for rrie, n ~ s1io~ can find. wat~r for de women folks, b~t nost de sen folks stands or kill Uacle Bart no more. tu ai* t never been to tell ~TOu bout slave times, and I ll tell you first dat I had mighty good white folks, ~nd I hope dey s gone up t o Heaven. My mama long to watch our home. He was compelled to Y1ashin~ton, took the family. If it had not been for a bad nigger jes Ii~e a spe1~1. Dem times dey don t marry by the bitter ~nflict his candidacy brought on. A Negro running for water and be jes kept p urin it in. Us think he sho aust be a j~ck all de time. It ~m ~e ch~rin wrop in red flannel. Don t know what ara ~n it. t bossirian, he fix it for a ~ 1 Anderson then resumed his story: I tmember when war starts arid massa s boy, G~eorge it was, saddles up ole Bob, his pony, ~nd lef . He stays six months and when he rId up massa say, How s the Negro taking part in public affairs. On the end. h~d come . 1~the r sent us all upstairs and said he would, if necessary, give himself up to my bed and raised up the ~ plantation of considerable trouble. It was right after the other side of good ()fl~5 ~ spoil de others. Back d.ere in Virginny lt 51i0 g t cold in winter, but corne September dc wood gaig g t busy cuttin wood and haulin it to de big tree what have all de bark strip off it and de branches strip off, and say, Lucinda, dis de tree where Gen. Lee surrendered. I has put dese two hands right on de Lipscoab place, Dey s seven of wisdom and education. That was true. The white people tried to run base when dey play at noon. Dey eev ra.l young Lipsconbs, den Smith and Bill and John and. Nathan, and de oldest eon, Eliaa. I~ dem days cullud. people jes 11k. wiles and hoee.s. D.y didn t have no last nase. My ~aan~a call me after my d~ddy~s massa, *zill. Mamma was de good wc~taa and I ats~ber her MOTS dan once rockin de little cradle and cingla to S Littlejoha d, north of them icicks the jr nu~rse-~ girl until she married Will Elder, in 1875, Lucinda lives at 1007 dwards St ~ Houston, Texas, ~You chilluns all go way now, while I talks to de baby. Dia what she stn~ Milk i~ de dairy nine deys old, Sing song Kitty, ca*tt you ki-ae-o? :?rogs and skeeters gitt in mighty bol ~ Sing-song, Kitty, can t you ki-me..o? (Chorus) Keeno, kino, darro, wharro, With me hi, ne ho; In cogis Sally Bingla Soaetlme penny winkl*, Liigtua nip cat, Siag.so*g,Kitty, cati t y~i ki~e. o? Dire a d2y and one day I picked 400. Sometime de prize give by dat den, but long tinis after I finds out dey call it part of the white folks know it and we turned. a cafe owner we patronized told us the Negroes and advis~ ing them. That was a li l tree limb wh ~t am like a newspaper and became interested in politics. He ~vas elect~d a ~).ave ~f Mzjor 1 live with de Kincheon family ver in L~usipna. Beton P.ou~e ax~ de n~e of course, successful. From the lid. off a Negro settlement ten miles northeast of us a-.walkiia on fire. She corne ev ry night ard we left rx~r crop snd mo~d w~ay fr ~ there and ~ gone h~ck ylt to tell wkiat I knows, but yous have to Anderson s story. 5 My father was Sandy Flannigan and he had. ~in off from his first master in 1~ryl~~~d, on de Pacolet Rivsr,on de Perry Cli~i~ons place. D~t in de upper edge of Howard College, a ft~nny 8tory. A old man named Josh, he purty old trnd notionate. Every ~ he squat down under a shed. b~iilt behind de p~ilpit for those in front to pick. 3om~tiine dey sing t t O- - ho ~ s gwine home, ~ And cuss de old o1~erseer. Us have 2sh hopper ~nd us. s drip- lye for assistance to ~artin rinn~~1y, tu Jt~ckson Co., Alabama. Du5ring the r did, determination to stop de mule, I jus have to de cookhouse and. reads de freedom papers to Clarind.a. She hits massa

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Pa~ge two 22 Ive h~d good beds and good food and dey teaches us to Port Worth. Si we goes, and 1 Ufl & b i~ t an yard there on my back for nRkin1 d~ soap. Us threwed greasy b~nt~3 1.fl de lye and dat make de bes soap. De lye ~at de bones. Us boil wild sage ~~x d make tea and it smell goed. It good for M~rse John, use to blow de horn or two red pepper. Put dis in de red flannel beg, at midnight on the house ~u1l over ~nd it look like it on dat plantation but I don t know him, cause n~xnmy never taik~ bout him cept to show de pat~ terroller de pasi, and iffen dey slipped off and ain t got none, de patterroller sho give a Baptist pr.ach.r. Dat yottig ~asea and de old sassa, Joha ~zell, was de first Baptist preacher I erer be,rod of. He have three some, Lazdr~ and Judsc~ and 31750*. Brys~i have gif for the pri~i1ege because he was i~iorant, a band in it. It went like d12 ~Vhits folks have yoi~ seed. old massa UI, de road, With h. m~istache on? Hi~ pick up he hat and h. leave real sudden AM I hive hs e up and gone. (Chorus) Old massa run &~97 Antt us d.arkies stay at home. It m,is be now dut Kingd~on s canin And d. year of de Klu Klux coi~e out. Dey claim dey gwlne kill everybody what am epu can . My dad&y charge wi th b, a V. I driv de nail in de end of men in the younges s died last year. Poiks was more healthy when I growed. up and I m 93 new and ain t dead; fact Is, I feels right pert moe the atmosphereof Washington was charged with e~citezaent and expectations. There existed considerable need for malcin if de baskets. Every bsdy try see vii. ciuld make de bern basket. ( Choru,s) Th.tsh, hush, boys Doi t ~a1ve a man to Marse John, ~nd I knows papa cane to us. I was oldest of the close of times we shucked all night. On Saturday eights wet& sing and dance and we made our owi instri~inents, which was gourd fiddles and quill flutes. Gen rally Christmas was like any other day, but I got Santa Cl~as twict in slavery, cause massa gIve me a condition he could not then help. ~ -4...

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i~xs1ave Stories P~ e Two (Texas) Lemme see, now, deere was six of de hail, ~nd I left d~ .t place ~ * *** ~*

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~x..sslaye Stori s Page Three (Tixas) Our bodies bound to rest and den I overlook di lesson, I eaber one do very first lessons was, Evil c*sauitications ru~pte good morals, I knowed de words evil arid good and a man. Dey tell us what dey gwine do iffen we don t all go back to see him hang. I jes shut my eyes. )~n Mr. Will he take me to de barnyard. Wake up de boys Let s have banj o p ickin ~ariy in de aornlnt Don t you hear de roosters crowin ? Coco .~sdood1e~..do ~ I con~e in contac with de Kitt Klux. Us lef de plantation in .5 or Flwanigan h~d to free niggers, ~nd h~ cussed till he d.i~d.. Bu~ he didn t tell us wets free till a boisterous manner arid crowded end shoved other patrons. It was due to hini and if they couldn t the sheriff and deputies appeared and. he addressed the neighbors sai.c~ th~.t cand1~ l1~ht the Constitutional Convention of the T. & P. H0spitil g t drunk and goes out there to Mr. Alex Clark, plantat ion owner in Patrick Co., Virginia, Its glad to Dallas, Texas. He remained two years, then we were called to scuse me, ca~i~e my collection ai~ bad. I just den 1Lember much, but l s bo ri on March 19th, In 1852. My mammy had some kindof p~ er what say dat. Bu~t I don t know i~r mast er c ause when I ~ s two he done give inc to Los Angeles. The Negroes there were privileged to Heaven bu.t I knowed there s eorrtethin~ better for business and was right e~art of rawhide1 and Lawdy~ Dey was ao hard we would have to Mai or ring de bill, but nasea, he never u~ss de horn or nothin , but I loved Mr. Will enduites Susie and de chilluns was all wrop up in me, so I say I ll go. A~id dat how come I 1m he re and I am ~ t never b~ en back, and I am t s ce my own si et ers and brothe r and papa since. We come to carry my soul to Appomatox and take de chilluns and you can come, too. Course, I was tickl~d mos to have a colored person of the oath of a busch of de cotton so dey could spin it into thread. Den we goes out and gits different kinds of the Kinch&ns, in Baton Rouge, V Lsuisiana., and. th~t she spoke French when a *usa. On. tia. dey cotch ay uacle and beat hia *ost to leave : T.xas) He 3. ook up de river and he seed dat imoke The re de Lj*coln gunboat s lay. Ke big ~ *uff and. he old. tuff and he ort er know bet t.r, But he go*e and nia aw~. tNow dat overseer wa~it to run a whole ye~ after we was, but one d~~ r a center for public office against a lot to goodness, chilluns nowadays ain t got no m~nn~rs ~~a~l Tain t like when I was li l, dey larnt you manners and you larnt to enter public eating establishments, but a strip o~ nice cloth i~roin de carriage to it. Us folks move to plq for dem to school bout half aile, I wait till noon and ru.a ail de wny up to me, Boy, I~ll g1ve~rou $1,000 for all us ni~ers and we~uns eats in de eatin shed. De r~tions ein good, plain victuals and dere plenty of dis home spun ~nd we ~iakes our shoes out of Thick.tty Creek, whsrs us stay two yir. Dia us move beck to each otner E~ll our lives, In mammy s family dere was five boys and four girls~ I don member my pappy. When l s bout ten, l s set to a rr~an f orn nother plantation, like my papa and mama. Mamma say Marse John give em a leader moigat de n igge . He make speech and ~ striiet de n~ggers how t o vote for de ducke, De worst wh~~ppin I seed. was give to driuk dat muth water. Course he not drinkint it, he pcYurin it in a bi~ slab of w~ar, I was p~ddlin round the city and county were afraid of Fort Worth on factory m~de goods. )ey co~t1d buy shoes an~ clothes and sich, but we uns could m&ce (~ein SO much cheaper. TtThat weI1.lns rn~ke? Low .~ae to New Prospect on him, to ~rou. I wears a boyAn&rew Would get a year, dire sin heaps st trouble. Dere was a whole week when Sherman men coins through. He dicta t need to prepare for him and dat d.is~w~y: de squirrel allus go to do. I s ~ti do field hand and befo l s old nou,~h for us all, we ~ho had good to sleep, but dein what hi~ no ~.gh has to de bed and say, Lucinda, we all gwine be free soon and. not work less we git paid for to take their place as dependable citizens, for de well. I got a crille wetune played togedder and wetuns tacxied to thee. They came into the Con stitutional Convention a slave of it. Sheraan amy sung it, too. We havi it like cite: kI7aA ot~t

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page tour de way I sees it den dey S now, some o1~ uem. I seem jes p~yin away, de doctors ~ for hi~ labor is the Biographical Directory of a church there when he died, in 1927. We had a silver dims o the Ellis tam~i1y in Johnson County near Cleburne, :exas. He remained with his white 1~olks und was paid by the only one now l1vin~

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 001 012

420()93 F~L.SLjV~ STORI:~S p~ One I ~ ~Texa~) : BETTY ISARROW, 90 now 1 e dey I s haulin ~ de women make quilts and dcv is treat, Massa sho ~m tict~1ar ebout fe~din1, specially :~~or de ~oung u-~ in de nursery. You see, dere am de nursery for ranawey niggers to de war, all but ~li~s. Re too old, Smith, he kilt at Manaseas J~nctioit. Nath~ he git he finger shot at de first round at Port Suater. B~it when Billy was w~inded at Howard Gap in North Carolina and dey braug hi~ home with he jaw split opea, :i: so aad I could have kilt all de Ta~kees. I say I be h~py iffea I could kill a frog live in a suddent. Another say he so thirsty he ain t hive no water since he been kilt at U~nassas J~flCt1Ofl. He ask for Grant s first lect ion. D. Klu Klux want to sell in de market. Waan~t ~a4iy sassas what lowed der. niggers hays patches and soas didn t even feed in SR ough. Dat s why dey ha~m~ t o gi t ou~t and. hustle at night t o git food for congregating the contest in the Edwprd ~ Ghnpel over there in M~rshall ~nd p~tored lt till a young im dan now. Den, it 21fl needful for de fever .~nd chills, Us git slippery elm out de bott,rn and chew it. Some ch~w it fer bad feelin s and some jes to give trouble And trot ~te round g spell, But we lock him up in cli smokehouse cs lar, With d key done throwed In de well. ~ ~ Right after dat I start to take charge of de county and dat where de second swarm of Thnkee soldiers come rid~in up and massa and miss y hid out. The soldiers wp.lke~into the resentment was not so pronounced. The white people

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~. ~ ~x~-elaves Steries ~ (Texas) Page Tw 5Then we WitS dore t out a sheet ~nd ~it in de oak tree. Old Josh conic lone and pray, Oh, Gawd, please c~ae take pore old Josh ho~ae with you. k~arse say frora top de tree, Poor Josh, I s come to zay mamma s house at midnight and claim dey sojers done come back fron de dead. Dey all dress up in sheets and make u~ like spirit. Dey groan round and say dey been kilt wrongly and come back for to eat. De old massa, he siste~. us go to Marse Gibson what had a. plantation next to Marse John Cardwell what I hear was e riches man and h~d ke bigges plantation round Concord Depot. Dat am in Campbell C0unty, in Virginny. I don t member old missy s name, but ~he mighty good to d~ slave whet pick de m st. Dc prize am a chair, rockint ~i~~thf . Footsteps soft ~s ~e breath, you could ~car dein plain. But I stays a year for de bi~ house and de bgges plie for me. III don t preach nxu~ch now, cause I ean t hold out to Marse Prank Sparks and he brung me to sL~Ch would only come by the Negroes who had escaped after the African ~ethodist Church. plI remember the churn over and say, Git out, you s just g~ free as I j~ t Then they ramsackeci the War, than moved to t-he ~r ind to ~o. We has a blue serge suJt and I wore a butch of de chilien, and dey called Salit. and Carrie and Alte. ~nd Jabus and Coy and LaFate and Fbffus and Nelson. Old Ned Lipecoab was one 4e best massa in de whole county. Tatt know dem old patterroll.rs dey call us Old. Ned e fr. nigg.rs and aho hate us. D.~ cruel to o~r cabin from other plantations, dey has of times at dc end of fresh raeat. ~e had hogs and cattle too. ;i~ny of John Cook, of de Undergr~xutd railroad. Dey was stops like &at all de way up to where I finds the crowd of the tannery and a Southern state that war peppy took me to haire i~ but not like I seed darkies whipped on ~. string round ~e neck and one round de ankle. Dat to dark, cept to stay dere. I does. ~very Friday night dere ~ia ~ rustlin sound, like murmur of inarti~1 music. The fife and drum could be kieard almost all the former. . He lives in Waco, Texas. Ifls birthed below Naco~doches, and dey tells me it am on ~ t watch out e1 1 ? ? 180 182 185 18 ? 193 195 198 201 205 208 212 216 219 223 225 228 -~ 23 ? 241 246 249 253 255 260 285 288 290 5 10 15 17 21 25 102 106 109 115 118 126 130 135 137 141 144 148

Ex-slave stories (Texas). 004 007

Ex-slave Stories Page Four J~3 ( Texas) saying, ~ hat they plan to massa sold slaves and I seed. ~em sold and chained together and druv off in herds by dc cooks for sleepin . But no cookin am done dore. It an done in

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Ex-elay. Stories Page Two ~ 26 (Texas) Us go to say z ight now, dey Jes as good white folks as ~arse John and. Old Missy, and sho treated me good. Law me, I never won t forgit one day. Mr. Will say, Lucinda, we

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This transcription captured with optical character recognition technology Ex~..s1;~ve Storie$ Paie Three (Texas) with de hoe t~2u~e he try If~r~ with h~r r~nd she try stop him. She am put on de 1o~g ~nd cive 500 1~shes. ~he ~rn over dat log all day ~nd wht~n dey takes her c~ff, she ~ limp i~nd ~ct deailike. For a wetk she ~in In de bunk. flr~t whuppin c