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Texas Slave Narrative
James Calvin Alexander
J. C. Alexander,
87, was born a slave on January 18, 1850, in Kentucky. He does not remember much about his life in Kentucky. In Texas, his master was J. C. Wills
of Freestone County, who had a large cotton plantation and sheep ranch. He remained with Mr. Wills until emancipation, and states that no one had a better master. After slavery, he and his parents farmed. He was 43 years old when he married Ellen Kinnard
in 1893. They had seven children, only one of which, a girl, is living now. Alexander and his wife live with their daughter at 2008 Concho Street, Austin. They receive old age pension checks from the State of Texas. His autobiography: "I'se named James Calvin Alexander
and I was bawned in Louisville, Kentucky, on January 18, 1850. "Mothaw's name was Chaney Tapley
and she was bawned in Tennessee. She was a big, heavy-set woman. Fathaw's name was Simon Alexander
. He was a medium-sized man. "My ole mawster was J. C. Wills
of Freestone County, Texas. He had a big cotton plantation and sheep ranch. I reckon I was about six or seven years old when we lef' Kentucky fo' Texas, an' the fus' job I kin remembah havin' was herdin' sheep. My uncle Sius Smith
, was also a sheep herder. I had two dogs Ring and Scott and day was mo'e Shephard dan day was (curry). Day was good dogs, and had almos' as much sense as a man. Day would keep de wolfs f'om my herd. Dah was shore plenty ob lobo wolfs! I rode a little mule, his name was Sam. I never had a saddle, but sat on a
blanket. Ole Sam
was so smaht, dat I could git off him and he would watch dem sheep jes' as much lak I was dah. Tony
was my bell or lead sheep. When it was time to go home, I'd sing out, 'Whoa-a-a come along trot along Toni-i-trot along Toni!' When Tony heard dat, he come a-runnin' and bleatin', Baa-a-a,' wid de others a following. A herdin' sheep was about de onliest work I had to do on Mawster Wills' place, and I liked
it. Shucks, I had de bes' mawster in de world. If he was livin' today, I wouldn't have to worry about nothin'. "All de learnin' I had durin' dis time was when de Mistress' little girl, Emily
, learned me how to count. Emily
made me go to the cawn-crib and git a ear ob cawn. Den she said, 'Let Tony
come through the gate. Now, drop one grain ob cawn lak dis. Now, each time you' let a sheep in, drop another grain ob cawn.'"I done dat and dat's the way I counted my sheep. I had as many grains ob cawn as I had sheep. One day, Mawster Wills
come to me and said, 'Little nigger, has you' got all you' sheep?' "'Naw, suh,' I tol' him. 'Three of dem is gone. I still got three grains ob cawn here and three sheep is missin.'But later Mistress beckoned her hand to me and whispered, 'Mawster Jim
has hid you' three sheep.' Den, after I stahted back to de bawn, I heard one ob de sheep bleat up in de hay-loft. Mawster Wills
comes up and asked, 'Well, how come dem sheep up dah?''I don' know, boss,' I tol' him. He laughed and said, 'Well, I reckon day went up de ladder!' But later Mistress beckoned her hand to me and whispered, 'Mawster Jim
has hid you' three sheep.' Den, after I stahted back to de bawn, I heard one ob de sheep bleat up in de hay-loft. Mawster Wills
comes up and asked, 'Well, how come dem sheep up dah?''I don' know, boss,' I tol' him. He laughed and said, 'Well, I reckon day went up de ladder!' Mawster Wills
done dis jes' to test me, and to see if I knowed how many sheep I had. "De clothes I wo'e was wove out ob cotton. Up to about the time I was thirteen, I wo'e a long shirt lak a night shirt ,dat was all I wo' and no pants! I kin remembah how de fus' pants I was wearing was when Mistress cut up a pair ob Mawster
Wills
' pants and made 'em to fit me. Day was short-legged pants, but I felt almos' as big as Mawster Wills
. "Fathaw did a lot ob fahmin' on de plantation. Mothaw done mos' ob de cookin' and mighty little fahm work. She was a good cook, too; and at times, she'd be in de loom-room, where day made de cloth. De loom-room, which had a loom, spinnin' wheel and cardin' rack, was up in de big house. "Uncle
Elija Glasgow
was the shoemaker on de place. Dat's all he had to do. He tanned de leather and made brass-toe broughans. A lot ob times we wo'e shoes wid tufts of hair still in de toe paht! Sometimes we blacked our shoes by goin' to de wash-pot and takin' a rag, we'd rub it against it and den put the blacknin' on our
shoes. We'd also smear tallow on de shoes to make 'em shine. "Durin' cotton-pickin' time de slaves worked hard all day, and sometimes at night, day'd have dances and big eats. Dis was durin' de week days. De folks would go f'om one place to another. De folks wasn't too tired at night to go and do a
little dancin'. Soon as yo' got done pickin' cotton fo' de day, yo' was free till de nex' mawnin'"One Wednesday mawnin', I think it was, I was layin' out in de sage brush, herdin' my sheep when I heard someone blowin' de bugle at de 'big house.' I knowed it wasn't time to go to dinnah. At fus' it was a
big blowin',den dah was a toot-toot two times and dat meant fo' us to hurry to de 'big house.' I called to my lead sheep and we hurried home. Mawster Wills
met me at de bawn, and said: "'Put dem sheep up, and den come up to de house.' "When I come to the house, I seen five white men sittin' dah wid lahge brass buttons on dah uniforms. One ob de white men said to me, 'Hello, little tap.' "I jes' pulled off my hat and scratched my head. I looked
over at Mawster Wills
, and he was grinnin'. "'Is yo' hongry, little tap?' the white man in de uniform asked me
"'Naw, suh,' I tol' him, 'I ain't hongry.'
"'Don't yo' wanta go wid me?'
"'Naw, suh. I wanta stay here wid my mawster.'
"'Aw, he'd jes' beat you' up and run yo' to death.'
"I had de bes' mawster in de world, so I said, 'Naw, suh, Mawster Wills don' do dat. I wanta stay here wid him.' "'But yo' don' have no mo' mawster, yo' is free!'
"I pointed to Mawster Wills
and said, 'Yonder is my mawster!'
"I jes' as well tell de truth and say dat I didn't know what he meant. When I went aroun' to de kitchen ob de 'big house' mothaw tol' me, 'Well, we jes' ain't no slaves no mo'.'
"I didn't understand her even den. She tol' me den dat we could pick up and leave and dat we widn't have no mo' mawsters. I finally understood. "Me and my mothaw and the chillun five ob us three gals and two boys stayed right on de plantation wid Mawster Wills
fo' a time. Fathaw went and worked out. I didn't herd no sheep dat afternoon, but later I kep' right on herdin' 'em, and took jes' as good care ob 'em as I ever done. Fathaw lef' fo' some place and he came backward and forward. We stayed a while on Mawster Wills
' plantation, and den fathaw moved us to a little ole log cabin in a branch about three miles f'om Mawster Wills
' place. Here is where we stahted fahmin' fo' oursefs. Later, we had to leave here 'cause de white folks was sayin' dat other niggers was puttin' ideas into us freemen's heads. We lef' fo' Austin and has been here ever since, off and on. "I always liked to fish, but what broke
me up f'om night fishin' was somethin' dat happened to me when we went night-fishin' on de Brazos River. Three days befo' dis, a white man had drowned in de rivah. Nobody had found him. I throwed my throw line into de Brazos and actually caught dis white man's bloated body. It sho' scared me. I didn't know
whut I was draggin' in f'om de rivah. I got away f'om his body a good distance, and somebody took him off my hook. I was through wid fishin' at night. Dat was about forty-seben years ago. "I was about forty-three years old befo' I married. I was married to Ellen
Kinnard
ob Chapel Hill, Washington County, Texas. We jes' had a quiet weddin'. We fahmed fo' eighteen years down in Washington County. Dis was on de T. A. Mercy
place. We had seben chillun four gals, and three boys. They is all dead but one. She is Mrs. May Ella Longford
, and we live here wid her."
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