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Texas Slave Narrative
Lizzie Atkins
Lizzie Atkins
was born in Washington County, Texas in 1850. She was owned by Captain Atkins
. Her mother's name, Kate Atkins
and Father Jim Atkins
, 2 brother, James
and George
, and one sister, Lillian
.Lizzie's
Mother and Father were brought from Carolina and think they were captured in Africa. I have heard my mother say my sister and brothers were sold when I was 6 or 7 years old and we never did see them anymore.Maser was the best man that ever lived as he was so good to his black people. Mistress was a good
woman too, but sick nearly all the time. They had 6 children. Maser had about 25 acres in his plantation and only one other slave besides mother, father and I. This other slave was old and Maser inherited him from his wife's father. I learned how to read and write my name while they
were teaching the white children their lessons at night in the home by the candle light as we had no schools. They used slates and chalk I lived with mother and father as long as they lived and helped with the farm work. After they died I moved in the house with my sister and took
care of her children 30 or 40 years while she worked. I receive a small pension now from the Government and the way I live I get by pretty well on it - if they don't stop giving it to me.I was born in Washington County, Texas in 1850. Owned by Captain Atkins
. My Father's name, Jim Atkins
, Mother's name, Kate Atkins
, had 2 brother's name James
and George
, and one sister, Lillian
. Father and Mother were brought from Carolina, and I believe they were captured in Africa as they were old when I was born. All my brothers and my sister was sold when I was 6 or 7 years old. I'se heard Mother say we never did see them no more. We played with the white children down there in Washington
County when we were kids. Our quarters was a 2 room log house with dirt dobbed in the cracks so it would keep out the cold, and cowhides hung over the door to keep out the rain. Our beds were built by driving a forked pole down in the center of the room and we would lay poles in
that fork and stuck the other end in the wall, then we stretched cowhide over them and used a leather string to fasten the hides to the poles. Then we gathered moss, shucks and cotton seed and layed over that. We turned the fur of the cowhides next to us when it was cold so we would sleep warm. We
had terrible times here in Texas in them days for the Indians would kill our stock and steal everything we had. Maser made a trap one time and he caught an Indian stealing his corn. After that the Indians were more careful. After that they would come in the daytime when they thought Maser was gone. You asked
me what kind of work I done in them days and here I is telling you about them Indians. Why, son, I'se cleared land, cut wood, chopped corn, not much cotton, cause the seed were too hard to pick out. I'se done that picking out of the cotton seed so we could spin that cotton. Then I'se cooked and washed dishes.
Maser use to hire us out to work for other people and collect our wages, as he was an officer and did not have very good farm. I remember our clothes were homespun, we had all our clothes to make on our fingers in them days. There was not any sewing machines, we just made our
clothes in one long dress - both men and women. No shoes did we see. Maser and Mistress went barefooted about half of the time. In cold weather we had leather clothes made out of deer and cowhides. On Sundays we had a white clean dress to wear and we gathered poke-berries to trim it with. Yes
Maser always had plenty to eat, he had meat all the time cause then the woods was full of wild hogs, deer, and turkeys, a few wild cows. To have plenty of meat to eat all we had to do was just step out his door and kill it. Our bread was all cornbread - no flour. We grated enough by hand in a little while for
a meal. Sometimes we would use a hammer and beat it to fine dust, all the seasoning it had was salt and water cooked in a big old iron skillet over the blaze in the old rock fireplace. We never had these cook stoves then to cook on. And yes, we had plenty possum, rabbits and lots of fish, boy, that is what I
likes and we never get any fish these days as they have all been caught out of these creeks and rivers. No sir, our Maser had large garden and the slaves got their vegetables out of Maser's garden. We use to get this here poke-salad leaves and cook them for greens. In fact son, we got nearly all our living
out of the woods but you can't do that now cause people have destroyed all that, then too there is more people here now than there was then. Maser he was the best man that ever lived, cause he never got mad about anything and he was awfully good to his black people. Mistress was
also good to us, she was sick though nearly all the time. They have 6 children, and they children they plum sweet, never no trouble. Maser he was gone lots nearly month at a time and left everything to his young son, Maser John
. That son he would carry on everything just like his father wanted.Maser's home was log house with two rooms with hall run through. My old father riveted out all them boards that covered that house and that was put on the sides to cover them cracks between them logs. It had plenty of shade trees all around
it and squirrels would come there and play in them trees by the droves. All the floor had was sand, as they did not have any lumber to put floor in it. All they had then in the way of furniture was beds, sorter like ours and cut or sawed blocks for chairs, sometimes they would get hold of box and they would
make chairs out of that. They just hung what few clothes they had around on the wall, all the white folks homes had two or three irons hanging around in them. Of course they had open fireplace built out of rock and dirt and grease. Maser did'nt have but about 25 acres in his farm.
Only had one more slave sides mother, father and me. Old negro that he inherited from his wife's father he woke us up every morning about 5 o'clock except when he would get in a real tight, then he would wake us up early so'es we could tend the stock. And yes he worked us until slam dark, he would whip us if
we got smart, sassy or did'nt work, cause he would hardly ever be there himself. We would have to do what his son Maser John
told us, if we played off on him we sure got a good whipping when he came home. Yes he has whipped me several times and sent me to bed without anything to eat. No sir, we did not have jail for slaves, but I'se seem few slaves sold. They had then to put on clean clothes, then take a
meat skin and grease there face, hands and feet, and they would trot them out before there buyer so they could look them over real good. Then they would offer a price for them, someone else would raise their price and so on until Maser could get no more offered, then he would trade with the highest bidder,
all the bawling and hollering would take place, just like a bunch of cows would do when their calves were takened away. Maybe you would never see or hear of them no more. Some Masers was mean to their slaves. No sir, they did not learn us negroes how to read and write as there was
not any schools here then. I'se learn enough to read and write my name while they was teaching their white children how to read and write, as they used slates and chalk. I would come and watch while they was telling their children their lessons in their home by the light from the fire-place. No we did not
have any church on our farm, and we had to go 15 or 20 miles sometime to preaching. It would take us two days to go and come from church. No we did not get to go to church very often as we lived so far, and if we left home to stay very long the Indians would steal and burn everything that Maser had, as they
roamed this country over during those days.Old Bro. Goree
used to preach there for us, but about the only time we went to church was when they had them summer camp meetings and stayed a month at a time. We all had good time, everybody shouted, we all had religion. Then after the preaching was over we went to the nearest creek where all those converted could be
baptized, then we went home happy both black and white until the next year, tried to raise more crop of something to eat and babies too.I'se forgot all them old songs we used to sing, as we quit having them good old meetings any more. Now they will jump in one of these here cars, go to church and the preacher
he will take 10 or 15 minutes and get in them cars and he's gone. Son that is not religion, no sir, that is just the reason the country is going to the dogs. In them days everybody did just what they told you they was going to do, now they will do what they tell you they won't do. You cannot believe anybody
these days. There was no banks in them days, and if a man wanted some money he went and got it on his word - but no if you try to borrow they will tie everything you got and tell you that ain't enough, so there you are, no money to do anything with, that is cause you work out. These children games we never
did have very many games, cause Maser he put us to work soon as we got big enough to work. About all I'se remember is we used to have se-saw to ride once and awhile when we had time. Sometimes we played hide and seek, after supper when it got dark and we couldn't play anything else and we got all the night
work done and those supper dishes washed and dried it was too late to play any games then. When the slaves went to their quarters they just fell in at the door and on the bed if they could get there cause most of the time their Maser would work them so hard until they would hardly be able to move. No we had
Saturday afternoon off, every Saturday morning the women slaves would wash Maser's folks clothes and ours too, the men would shave and clean up because we would always have negro dance somewhere Saturday night. We never had picture shows to go to like we do now. Dancing was all the enjoyment we had and
believe me we sure did take advantage of our Masers freedom on that night and all tried to have a real good time. We could dance and court our boys or girl friend on these special nights as Maser he never bothered us. On Sunday we would lie around and sleep as we would be up so late on Saturday night
dancing.On Christmas we would all get up early to see what Santa brought us slaves, as he always brought us a big sack of candy, nuts and fruit. We nearly always had a bunch of fireworks of some kind too, and we would all have a good time. That night both young and old would have
great big dance and the negros picking banjos and beating tin pans to make merry music. Then we all went home happy but that was only once a year, and we had big eggnog too.When we got sick we had the best of care, Maser would see that we were taken care of because we was too valuable, if we died he [lost]
lots of money. Maser had an old negro mama with us if we were not too sick, but if we were real sick he had the Doctor. Old negro mama would go to the woods and gather herbs such as cami weed, sassafras, poke-salad roots, red oak bark and peach tree leaves. All the different herbs she would make into a tea
and give us to keep off malaria, chills and fever, and some of it was good for the colic. Son I still go to the woods and get all my medicine. The herbs are better than all the drugs these Doctor's give you. I can take the worst case you ever saw and cure it if they will take my medicine, and get all my
medicine out of the woods. Yes, I remember plenty about that war. Maser was in the war, course he never done any fighting but he was an officer. The first thing he done was to give them boys all day dinner and all night dancing that night to tell them good-bye. Some of the boys
married that night just so they could be with their wives, some came home and some never did come back. There was about 600 white boys and men went to the war from that county, and some we never did see anymore. Maser had all of us using the spinning wheel and making clothes
for the soldier boys to help them all we could as Maser said the south never would win that war. When news came that the south had lost he gave us freedom, but we did not want that here in this wild country and we told him so. He said, well, you dam black devils can just stay on like you are, but he told us
we could make a crop on the halves and that was the way we farmed then trying to feed ourselves. If the woods had not been full of wild game I would not be here telling you all this now because we would have starved to death long before this time. There was no place in them days that we could get credit
without Maser standing good for it, no sir, that was out of the question he would only let us have what he wanted us to and no more. I'se never did marry cause my man was killed during the war, at least he never did return and never did hear from him anymore. I'se never did see
another man that I ever wanted so I just stayed at home and took care of my old mother and father as they were crippled up during slavery time and was not able to do hard work. I'se believes I would have been better off it I had married because times sure have been hard on the poor old negro since he was
freed. I just don't know exactly what I did expect from freedom. Of course I'se expected them to be a lot different from what they were. I'se believes that the government could have let us have some land because them days there was plenty of land here that did not belong to anyone except the government. Why
they did not give us a small home I never did know. Of course we did not think they would give us Maser's land cause there was plenty more land here, but instead of giving us anything just turned us a lose like a bunch of wild hogs. That was about the only way they could class us in those days, as we did not
have any book learning, nor could we hold jobs of any kind, only knew how to farm. Therefore, there was not any farms divided or any land given us. No our Maser did not give us any money and he did not force us to stay on as servants, but the only way we could tell freedom from slavery was that we could come
and go as we pleased while we were living with our Masers and farm owners. Of course we was almost forced to stay on there with Maser because no other white man would hire us or give us a place to stay unless Maser said so.This is where the Patter-rollers and the KKK come in again; if we got out looking for
some other place to go them KKK they would tend to Mister negro good and plenty. Of course we could steal chickens from some other white man or get us a mess of potatoes as our Maser never watched us like he did before. He didn't care if we got killed either, for he would not lose anything, we were not his
property any more. You asked me what we done just after the war. Why son, we done just what the white man told us to do, if we wanted to get jobs cotton chopping from someone else we always asked our boss, as that was what we called our Masers then. We received from 15 to 30 cents per day for our work,
sometimes they would pay us but most of the time they didn't. All we would get for our work would be some old clothes.
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