Every once in de while, dere am an extry roar. "De nex' day after de battle am over, mos' us cullud folks goes to de field. Dey so many like hair on your head. "Now, I tells you 'bout de plantation what I's born on. She does not remember her masters given name, nor does she know her age, although from her memories of various events during the Civil War, she believes she is close to ninety, at least. "Law me, you wants me to talk 'bout slave times, and you is cotched me 'fore I's had my coffee dis mornin', but when you gits old as I is, talk is 'bout all you can do, so 'scuse me whilst I puts de coffee pot on de fire and tell you what I can. "'bout three years 'fore de war marster sol' his plantation for to go to Texas. Dey tie one end de wick on de stick 'cross de mold and put in de melted wax and tallow. For a week she am in de bunk. His chillen call Sis and Texana and Robert and John. I ain't sayin' iffen she a real wife or not, but all de slaves has to call her 'Miss Rachel.' Dey hunts foxes and wolves and plenty dem kinds varmints. De whole outfit profess to be Baptis'. I steps off de road in de night, at sight of anything, and in de day I takes to de woods. I's jes' de bench member. Missy Mary married den to one man named Pool and she have two boys call Josh and Bill. Johnnie, can't you ride no more? She does not know her age, but thinks she is near ninety. "Dey make lots of sugar. Dem and de niggers go down in de bottoms to drive deers up. "De meat am cured with de hick'ry wood smoke and if you could git jus' one taste dat ham and bacon you'd never eat none of this nowadays meat. Dat dirt am soaked with water till it stick together and den hay or straw am mixed with it. © Genealogy Trails
Massa and missus has no chillen and dey give us feast and have biscuits and cake. "Dat fight am held at night by de pine torch light. "My mammy am married to a man named Fowler and he am owned by Massa Jack Fowler, on de place next to ours. "I see lots of sojers. Dere Tom lay, makin' no 'sistance. "Surrender come and massa tells us we can stay or go and if we stay he pay us wages or we works on shares. She has spent her entire life in that vicinity, and now lives in Jasper with her son, Joe McRay. You know what us drink for coffee in slave times? De white folks never put on 'strictions on de chillen till dey twelve, fourteen years old. We'uns stayed right dere on de farm 'cause it was de only home we knew and no reason to go. When peace 'clared missy's two boys come back from de war. "Den missus git sick, but she dat good, dat when one cullud man git drown in de 'river she sit up in bed and make he shroud and massa feed de whole crowd de two days dey findin' de body. One Sunday I stay all night with a man and he wife and I was workin' as woodchopper on de Santa Fe route up Beaumont to Tyler County. Dem two niggers gits in de ring and Tom he starts quick, and dat new nigger he starts jus' as quick. Dat sho' look like de end, but dat man stop and den look and look. Till we meets again. "Us quarters out behind de big house and old massa come round through de quarters every mornin' and see how us niggers is. After dat, dere was times dere wasn' enough to make de clothes, but we'uns allus had plenty to eat, and we gives lots of feed to de army mans. If your IP address is shown by Maxmind to be outside of Germany and you were momentarily blocked, another issue is that some Web browsers erroneously cache the block. Sho's you born, iffen one of us git round dem plantations, dey jus' cut us to pieces with de whip. He jes' preach from nat'ral wit and what he larn from white folks. Dey [Transcriber's Note: unfinished sentence at end of page] "Lots of time we eat coosh-coosh. Massa Finnely have one nigger what weighs 'bout 150 pounds and him powerful good fighter and he like to fight. Durin' dat time, de two boys comes home for a spell every day. "Masta Clark has right smart plantation in ole Virginny and he owns 'bout twenty other slaves dat wo'ked de big place. De window glass in Nashville am all shoke out from de shakement of de cannons. Us never was knowed to be without meat, 'cause massa raise plenty pigs. He lives at 2706 Holland St., Fort Worth. Dat make 61 year dat we'uns am togedder. Old massa move over dere when I 'bout a year old. It am a bottle and dey all takes de drink and rides on. Dat battle am a 'sperience for me. My sister Rachel was with me so she wasn't kilt. Missy Mary, she buy her. But no cookin' am done dere. After him bury, missus git worse and say, 'Jason, pull down de blind, de light am so bright it hurt my eyes.' Us didn't have sense 'nough to know he tryin' do us good. Texas Narratives, Part 2, There are no reviews yet. The Slave Narratives of Texas were published in 1974. Dey 'fraid dere niggers git dissatisfy with dey own treatment. I wants to scream but I can't for de eggs in my mouth. Dey a fight up near massa's house. "We makes de cloth and de wool and I could card and spin and weave 'fore I's big 'nough to work in de field. He is thrifty and owns his own home. Den he pick up somethin' and goes back. "Dis cullud person am 84 years old and I's born on de plantation of Massa Robert Beaver, in old Georgia. "All us little chillen, black and white, play togedder and Marse Frazier, he raise us. Well, I's in Nashville den and it am near de end of de war and I am standin' on Broadway Street talkin' with de sergeant when up walk a man and him shakes hands with me and says, 'I's proud to meet a brave, young fellow like you.' "Sometimes de white folks has de big deer drive. He say, 'You can't stay here, 'cause you is a bad 'fluence.'. "De marryin' business go through by what massa say. Franklin, dat for Christopher Columbus Franklin. De war am started den for 'bout a year, or somethin' like dat, and de Fed'rals am north of us. De black folks all hated him so dey wouldn't have no truck with him and he ask my papa could he stay. "One night us jus' finish eatin supper and someone holler 'Hello.' No, Allen am not educated, but can he preach a pow'ful sermon. Rosanna is blind and bedridden, and is cared for by friends in a little house in Pear Orchard Negro Settlement, in Beaumont, Texas. A Court in Germany ordered that access to certain items in the Project Gutenberg collection are blocked from Germany. Will Hogg.). Now, who does you think my pappy was? "Papa left but come back with a wagon and mules what he borrows and loads mama and my sister and me in and us go to East Columbia on de Brazos river and settles down. Us have mud chimney. One time he brung us dresses, and Uncle Big Jake heered 'bout it and he sho' mad 'cause he can't cotch papa, and he say to mama he gwine to whip her 'less she tell him where papa is. "Massa builded a log church house for we'uns cullud folks for to go to God. Dat cause heap of trouble on dat plantation, 'cause whippin's am given and hard ones, too. Dey put us 'cross de knee and spank us where dey allus spank chillen. When 'mancipation come out massa come to de back door with de paper and say, 'Yous free.' I's allus been too busy tendin' to my 'sponsibilities for to git in de debilmen' and now I's happy, tendin' to my great gran'chile. "Marse Frazier, he didn't work us too hard and give Saturday and Sunday off. I's a member of de Live Lake Missionary Baptist Church. "De treatment am good and Massa Beaver have de choice name 'mong he neighbors for bein' good to he niggers. Dey have nice fur'ture and gas and lights and everything. "De books he brung us didn't do us no good, 'cause us wouldn't larn nothin'. "Dey lots of places where de young massas has heirs by nigger gals. He git de jug of whiskey and plenty eggs and make de big eggnog for everybody. CHRIS FRANKLIN, 82, was born a slave of Judge Robert J. Looney, in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. When freedom come, he done take de name Sol Franklin, what he say am he pappy's name. He didn't have over a half dozen growed up slaves. If us sick he call nuss. Dey four rooms and each fam'ly have one room. We apologize for this inconvenience. I turns de squirrels for him and dat disaway: de squirrel allus go to udder side from de hunter and I walks 'round de tree and de squirrel see me and go to massa's side de tree and he gits de shot. "Scuse me while I pours me some coffee. Be the first one to. I never heared of stealin' niggers, 'cept dis-a-way. After my wife die, I gits de man to come and live dere with me. He live on de Fairview Road. Project Gutenberg updates its listing of IP addresses approximately monthly. Born on the Kit Patton plantation near West Columbia, Texas, Aunt Sarah was probably about fifteen years old when emancipated. Dey powder up de rattle offen de snake and tie it up in de little old rag bag and dey do devilment with it.