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Texas Slave Narrative
George Austin
"Ise bo'n a slave an' almost lived it all my life 'cause Ise never gits 'way f'om what my pappy does as a slave 'til Ise too old to look old Beck in de face any mo'. De place Ise bo'n am on Marster Ab Morris
' plantation 'bout 10 mi. f'om Atlanta in Cass County in Texas. 'Cordin' to what my pappy says Ise bo'n Nov. de 10th., 1862. "It's sho been a long time since me an' de rest of de piccaninnies was fightin' at de pig trough. Youse see de mammies have to leave dey's littluns 'hind
in de nursery an' de nurse tooks keer of weuns. She have to keep weuns out of fights and dat was a man size job an' see dat weuns gits 'nough to eat. De eatin' am done at what weuns calls de 'pig trough'. 'Twas a long wood trough jus' lak de pigs have an' 'twas filled at meal times wid co'n bread an' sweet
milk or clabber wid de co'n bread. Any meal weuns had weuns had co'n meal. De co'n am growed right on de place an' 'twas groun' dere wid a hand grindah dat youse turns wid youse hand. Tudder feed weuns kids have am fruit in season, berries de same, an' what ever dey figures 'twill make weuns grow fast and
make big wo'k niggers lak youse does de mules w'en youse grows dem. De growing fast comes f'om de Marster buyin' and sellin' niggers all de time. "Aftah Ise old 'nough to 'members what de folks am saying 'bout de slavery days Ise 'collects heahin' my pappy tellin' 'bout bein' sold eight times aftah Marster
Morris
bought him w'en hims a piccaninny hisself. Him says his Marster Austin
who owns de plantation in Cato, AL whar him am bo'n brings him to Texas an' puts him up fo' sale. Ise 'members how him says Marster Austin
'structs him how to caper 'round on de auction block so him will bring a bigger price. Marster Austin
tells him dat de better de price de better de treatment f'om de new Marster. Pappy took de 'structions to hims head an' w'en de auction man am tellin' de bids de diffe'nt fo'ks am biddin' he capers 'roun lak a frisky goat an' Marster Morris
buys him fo' $1,000. 'Twas a powe'ful big price but him was a powe'ful fine lookin' nigger wid de big muscles an' all. Marster Morris
buys him fo' de stud nigger w'en him gits old 'nough to wo'k. "W'en him am old 'nough to wo'k some way or tudder him finds out what de wo'k am gwine to be so him makes up hims mind not to be no good at tudder kind of wo'k. Pappy am used wid de diffe'nt womens on de place, den am hired out to de diffe'nt
plantations 'roundabout 'cause him am such a fine big nigger an' bound to build up a Marster's slave stock of niggers. Co'se weuns never heahs 'bout de price dat him am hired at but weuns knows 'bout how much him am sold at, 'cause tudder mens dat buys him tells 'bout de price. How dey tells 'bout de price am
w'en pappy 'fuses to wo'k hard. De Marster Morris
have de 'greement befo' de sale dat pappy aint to be whupped an' w'en de new Marster finds he won't wo'k him am always mad an' says, 'No wondah old Ab
sold youse fo' only $450. Ise thought de price am kind of low an' now Ise knows why. 'T's 'cause youse a no 'count nigger'. Den dey tells Marster Morris
dat if'n him don't want dat nigger whupped him better come git him 'cause de new Marster aint far off'n him wid de whup."Twas only once dat a new Marster whups pappy. 'Twas old Uncle Tom Wilson
. T J Wilson
Ise comes to know aftah freedom but befo' if'n a nigger says, "Marster Wilson
", him cracks de nigger over de head wid de crooked cane him always totin' an' says, "Don't you know better? Ise youse Uncle." Him have a big plantation wid so many niggers dat he have 'bout 75 cabins fo' dem to live in. 'Twarn't no special big cabins but 'twas 'bout lak all de rest. Jus' a 10
by 10 fo' one fam'ly an' two rooms dat size fo' a big family. De cabins am built wid logs leavin' a hole fo' de windah an' a bigger hole fo' de door. All de niggers on Uncle Tom's
place have to eat in one place called de 'Cook Shack'. Him's niggers stays wid him aftah freedom lak de Marster Morris
' niggers done an' Ise seen a 100 plows in a row all gwine 'crost de field at one time. 'Twas some sight to see all dat.'Bout de time w'en him have my pappy him aint skeered by Marster Morris
an' whips pappy w'en him wont wo'k. Marster Morris
heah 'bout de whuppin' gits hims gang togedder an' comes fo' pappy one evenin'. Him tells pappy, 'C'mon Wash
, Rachel
needs youse at home." Den him hands Uncle Tom
a $100. bill an' says, "Youse gittin' overpaid fo' a wo'thless nigger an' youse knows it'.; den dey beats it 'way f'om dere. "My mammy's name am Rachel
. Aftah freedom Pappy tooks de name of hims first Marster Austin
an' am known as Wash Austin
. Mammy am known as Rachel Austin
. 'Twas de custom to took de last name of youse first Marster aftah freedom come. Mammy have 9 chilluns as a slave womens and five aftah. She am known as a p'olific nigger and was de house womens an' de cook fo' de Marster's folks. She am so handy wid de things an' all dat sev'al of de white folks offers a
big price for her. Trouble 'bout de pricin' am dat mammy was give to Mistez Morris
as de weddin' gift by her pappy an' mammy am so handy dat money wont touch her. Marster Josh Morris
, Marster Ab'
s brudder offered $6,000 oncet aftah a special good meal dat mammy cooks. Mistez Morris
tells him dat money won't touch dat nigger. "Many's de time Ise played in Marster Josh's
f'ont yard w'en Ise s'posed to be sick. Marster Josh
am de doctah fo' de whole Cass County right neah. Ise heahs latah dat 'twas sev'al tudder doctahs dere but Marster Josh
am so good wid de practice an' all dat him jus' plumb starves de tudders out. On Marster Ab'
s place youse just could have de headache an' dere was a hoss waitin' fo' to tote somebody to Marster Josh's
place sos to tell him and him get on hims hoss an' comes tearin' to fix de ailin'. 'Twas nigger heaven durin' slavery time 'cause de niggers don't owe nothin', don't own anything to botah dem an' don't have to go to school to larn somethin' to make a livin'. All de slavery nigger have to do am to wo'k, eat
and sleep. "Why de nigger am a natu'al bo'n slave. You took a nigger an' set him boss over some tudder niggers an' him will sho make dem hump but you took a white man an' set him over de same niggers dey will die fo' him an' him won't overwo'k dem either. 'Taint nothin' uncommon fer a nigger boss to git
killed nowadays an' dat sort of proves my point. De nigger am a nat'al bo'n slave an' 'tis in his blood. Dat gal over dere don't lak to heah me talkin' an' goin' on lak dat 'cause she am goin' to de new school so she says that she larns niggers dat deys better dan some white folks an' as good as de rest
p'ovided dey acts right. Ise tells her to act right let de white folks know dat she knows her place an' dey will see to it dat she have good jobs all her life. Dat's de nigger ph'losophy an' 'tis right. 'Bout de eatin' on de old plantations 'twas powe'ful better dan folks can buy in de store today. Weuns
cures de meat which am all kinds like deer, beef an' so on. 'Twas de finest eatin' you can 'magine. 'Sides de meat all de rest dat weuns uses am put up right dere on de place. Marster have a 40 acre orchard and have de womens cann all de fruit. In sweet p'tater time de Marster have a whole hill put in f'ont
of each family's cabin an' if de niggers dere aint too triflin an' low down dey could took keer of dem p'tater by spreading dem out wid straw and have sweet p'tater all de year. 'Twas about a wagon load to de hill. W'en hawg killin' time comes of all de eatin' dat comes off youse never heard tell de likes.
"Ever'body does deys own cookin' on Marster Morris
' place. Ever' Sunday mo'nin de bell ring 'bout 9 clock an' dat means fo' de mens to gather 'round de com'sary an' git deys rations. 'Twas a peck of meal, three pound of meat to de head, ever'ting am weighed out, an' two an' half bushels of p'taters, 10 pounds of flouah, a gallon of 'lasses, an' tudder stuff.
Some stuff comes ever'day sich as two pounds of butter, five gallons of milk to de big family an' so on. 'Twas no shortage of victuals on de plantations an' ever'body am livin' off'n de fat of de lan' so to speak.
'Bout de clothes, dere am a Aunt Sally
dat don't do nothin' de yeah 'round but look aftah de clothes supply. W'en de breetches am runnin' short her makes some mo an' so on. De piccaninnies don't git no clothes atall in de summer time an' scantlin' little in de winter. Deys supposed to stay in what dey won't git chilled. W'en a nigger gets sellin'
size or 'round 'bout 12 yeahs old dey makes him sorta long shirt dat goes down to de knees. If de nigger happens to be sorta big to hims size or age him gits de clothes befo' de ave'age time. W'en him git so much oldah him gits reg'lation men's clothes. De womens gits dresses f'om 'bout fouah on up. Aunt
Sally
runs de clothes makin' loom. Her makes a sorta canvas cloth fo' to sew de clothes f'om. De family dat gits de clothes an' wants dem cullud dey have to do de colorin' dem selves. 'Twas different way to do de dyein' in dem days. Dey uses de bark f'om some trees to make certain colors, berries f'om some bushes,
an' clay to make tudder colors. De bark an' de berries am b'illed down to make a ooze, den de clothes am dipped in it. De clay am used by wroppin' de clothes up in it. "De thread dat am used in de clothes makin' loom am made in de winter months by de women folks. De Marster have de spinnin' room built fo'
de spinnin' wheels to wo'k in. W'en de weather am too bad fo' to wo'k in de fields in de winter de Marster have de womens do de spinnin'. Dey am two kinds of thread made an' 'twas cotton and wool. De wool comes f'om de sheep de Marster keep on de place."De shoes an' things made f'om leather am all made
right on de place. De leather am took f'om de cattle an' a nigger dat am bought fo' de special pu'pose 'cause him am trained in tannin' hides tans an' make de leather things. De shoes aint no great shakes fo' looks but wore lak iron. De only wearin' out am w'en a fellow gits hims shoes too close to de fire in
de winter."My brudder had de job dat Ise always wants fo' myself. De Marster run 'bout 500 head of cattle on de place an' have bought some shephard dawgs special fo' de pu'pose of hunting strays. Sev'al dawgs am kep' wid de sheep all de time but my brudder hunts calves all de time. Youse see de calf's
mammy sometimes dies or am too poor to feed de calf so de calf have to hump fo' hisself. De humpin' am sorta skinny so de calf have to be brought in to de feed lot. De way brudder Jim
locates de calves am lak dis, first Jim
holds de dawg up an' says, 'Listen Scott. Does youse heah dat calf? Listen good now, go git 'em!' To see dat dawg light out lak a house afire aftah dat calf always makes me want dat job fo' myself but 'mancipation cheated me out of it. "Tudder thing I well 'members am de six
hoss powah cotton gin. De six hoss team walks 'round an' 'round an' a beam am 'tached to dem. Dis beam goes into de middle an' am fixed to a big wheel dat have a 20 foot gin pole dat goes straight up. At de top am a 'rangement wid cogs and so on dat compresses de cotton an' makes bales out of it. De reason I
'members it so powe'ful am dat Ise catches three finger in de cogs on de second story of de buildin'. W'en de fingers am stuck Ise lets out a yell dat stops de team dead still. Den de mens have to back de 'chine up so's dey can git me out an' let me go. Dat's one time I don't git no beatin' an' don't need
one. Ise gits lost of beatin's f'om mammy but none f'om de Marster. Reason fo' dat am dat de Marster am powe'ful hard to rile. Him jus' sells off de trubblesome niggers. Fo' to git some 'venge on a nigger him sells de nigger to de mens dat him knows wont spare de leather."Ise 'round 'bout two yeahs old
w'en de 'mancipation thing come off. Ise never knows de diffe'nce 'til all de folks begins to cel'brate wid a big feed on June de 19th. Dey 'splains to dis igno'mus nigger dat 'twas fo' de day de nigger gits his freedom. Ise don' know 'bout what freedom means fo' sho 'til Ise most grown an' pappy 'splains it
all to me. Him tells me 'bout on de certain day w'en de first June 19th comes off how de Marster calls all de niggers up 'round de f'ont po'ch of de Marster's house an' splains how 'twas ag'in de law fo' to keep de niggers 'gainst dey's will but have to pay dem fo' dey's wok' w'en dey wo'k. He 'splains how
him aint 'sponsible fo' de doctah no mo' 'less de niggers stays wid him, den him will ease de bumps fo' dem 'till diffe'nt 'rangements am made. 'Twarnt no nigger lef' so Ise never knowed de diffe'nce w'en freedom come off "Three days befo' de 19th come off de Marster have de womens bake pies an'
cakes right up 'til de 19th so dey coult take off on dat day an' joy deyselves. De day befo' all de men spends de whole day killin' beeves. Den on de big day all de folks make joy de whole day long. Dere am singin', dancin' an' a little jug killin'. De jug killin' makes some sick folks dat Marster
Josh
wont practice on 'cause him sho hates de drunkard."My first job of wo'k am helpin' tote de milk to de house f'om de milkin' shed. My uncle Gyp
an' cousin John
done all de milkin' an' tudder kid wid me done de totin'. Weuns totes all day an' de two mens milks nigh onto all day. Weuns laks de job durin' fruit season 'cause weuns have to pass right through de orchard wid de buckets but 'twarnt so hot durin' de winter. 'Twas while on dis job dat Ise gits my first
men's pants an' gits 'way f'om de long shirt. Ise sho thinks dat Ise de grown man right den.
"Uncle Gyp
was the strongest man in that country den. Him am so strong dat a law am passed dat says, 'Don't you hit no man. Youse can slap him wid youse open han', but don't youse hit him." Reason fo dat am 'cause him have kilt two mens wid one hit. Jus' double up hims fist an' de man am gone fo' good. To show
youse jus' how strong him was Ise will tell youse 'bout de time w'en him am doin' a little sneakin aftah freedom. 'Twarnt no niggers s'pposed to be off de place deys wo'k aftah dark. If'n dey wants to go deys have to sneak off so de Klux jumps Uncle Gyp
w'en him am on de way back to Marster Morris
' place early one mornin'. 'Twas 'way befo' day but him am in a hurry 'cause him wants to git back befo' him am missed. W'en de Klux jumps him him tore out in a run. De Klux follers him on hoss back so Gyp
took to de bottoms an' den the Kluxer had to leave deys hosses and foller on foot. Gyp
have de even break den so am goin' on an' 'twix him an' home a big hairy man raises up in de path. Uncle Gyp
don't even slow up but straight arms de man who falls down in a ditch an' Gyp
makes it to hims cabin an' jumps in bed an' tried to go to sleep. De Klux stops w'en dey comes to de pla whar de man in de ditch am an' w'en dey makes a light to see who 'twas, 'twas a big bear. Dey knows now who dey was chasin' so dey goes back, gits on deys hosses, an' goes to git Marster
Ab
up. Marster Ab
an' de Kluxers goes to Uncle Gyp's
cabin an' walks right in whar him a p'tendin' dat him am 'sleep. Marster Ab
says, 'Gyp
youse been out tonight?' 'Marster, yes suh, Ise been out fo' jus'
a little while.' 'What did youse do dat aint right?' Gyp
says, 'Marster Ise trying to git 'way f'om de Kluxers an' a man tries to stop me. I jus' hit him to git him out'n de way.' Marster says, 'Gyp
'twarn't no man dat youse hit but a big black bear. Youse done broke hit's neck. We aint gwine whup youse dis time but don't youse ever hit at nobody 'gain 'less youse sho 'tis a bear 'cause youse might kill somebody dat don't mean youse no harm.' Gyp
says, 'Yes suh, Marster, Ise sho won't'. De Kluxers whups all de niggers dey catches out to 'force de rule 'gainst de niggers runnin' 'round all hours of de night. "De most sorrowful time ob my life am w'en de folks 'cides to move off'n Marster Morris
' place. Ise 'bout 14 yeahs old an' dey moves over on Uncle Tom Wilson's
place. Reason Ise hates to move am 'cause Ise leavin' my boyhood chum A D Morris
, him am Ab's
son an' weuns spent many happy houahs togedder. Ise sho hates to leave him but 'way weuns goes an' 'twas de same story wid de rest ob my life. Movin' f'om one farm to tudder, tryin' to better things but 'twas de same all de way through. De best place weuns ever have was on old Marster's place. "Weuns
am on Uncle Tom'
s place a spell befo' Ise met an' mai'ied Sally Goldston
; 'twarnt much diffe'nce in de livin' 'cause weuns stays right on wid my mammy an' pappy. Weuns am share-croppin' wid Uncle Tom
an' Sally
makes tudder hand fo' de wo'k.
"'Twas on Uncle Tom'
s place dat Ise meets Alec Williams
. Him took a big fancy to me so weuns goes 'round togedder. One night him wakes me up an' tells me 'bout how him have de dream 'bout money bein' hid on de certain place. Ise great b'liver in dreams so Ise listens to it all. 'Bout two weeks latah him shows up wid a metal rod called de money locater. 'Twas on
Christmas Eve night an' weuns lights out fo' de place him dreampt 'bout. 'Twas on de McCall
Farm 'bout two and a half miles f'om de Douglassville store. Weuns digs at de right spot an' finds $1,500. in old silver dollars. "I was sho fat den wid $750 in my jeans. Ise goes to Marster F M Green
at Douglassville an' pays $250 for a buggy, a hoss fo' $100 an' 3 cows fo' $75. Marster Green
says w'en him sees all dat black money, 'Looky heah nigger, whar did youse git all dat black money?' Ise says, 'Ise had it a long time. Ise gits to whar Ise needs it so Ise jus' went and dug it up.' Him says, 'You dug it up alright 'cause 'tis all black lak money dat's been buried a long time.' "One
day Alec
an' me heahs some mens talkin' 'bout a gold chest bein' buried 'bout fouah miles f'om Douglassville towards de North. Weuns 'cides dat de gold must have been buried fo' weuns 'cause weuns could find it if it was dere. Weuns starts out one dark night to locate it an' sho 'nough 'twas 'bout 4 miles f'om town
w'en de metal rod indicated dat dere was gold 'round somewhar. Weuns follows de way de indicator points an' stops on de right spot. Dat spot am guarded by spirits an' ha'nts 'cuse w'en weuns gits dere a bear comes up to de edge of de hole an' dis'peahs, den a lion come does de same trick. W'en weuns am down
'bout five foot two mens wid rifles in deys hands walks right up de hole an' one of dem p'ints hims gun right at Alec
. It don't take no smart figurin' to guess our move. Ise jus' flyin' 'way f'om dere w'en Ise heahs somethin' right on my heels, Ise looks 'round an' 'twas Alec
wid de same idea to git away. Weuns never goes back dere but Alec
took up lots of money aftah dat fo' diffe'nt folks.
"Yeahs latah Ise hitches up wid a preachah at Spear, Oklahoma to git some gold him knows 'bout. Him was a cullud Baptist Minister an' him says de cache am neah a blind cullud women's home. De rod indicates dat 'twas 'bout three feet f'om de side of de women's house so weuns starts
diggin' one night aftah dark. Down 'bout three feet Ise strikes a iron pot wid a round top. A few minutes latah w'en Ise cleahin' de dirt f'om 'round de lid it started rainin' right in de hole an' 'twarnt rainin' nowhar else in town, jus rainin' right in de hole. Ise gits outter de hole to rest w'en a big
ball of lightnin' hits de spot an' weuns sees de pot move undah de house. Jus' as de pot am movin' Ise sees a white man wid a rifle come over de fence but Ise d'termined to git dat chest so Ise chases dat fellow off an' him dis'peahs. Rev. Martin
an' me goes into de house an' offers de women's $15. to let weuns dig undah de house. De house am built so close to de ground dat weuns found 'twas necessary to take up part of de floah to git to de pot. Her 'fused de $15. 'cause her don't believe weuns would put de floah back lak 'twas. Her am blind an'
can't see so her figure dat if de floah am tore up her wouldn't be able to git 'round. Weuns finally have to leave dat pot wid de ha'nts. "Ise calculates dats all Ise knows dat's wo'thwhile. All de troublement Ise ever had am over de votin' question. My pappy have consid'able
troublement dat him don't speak 'bout 'cause 'twas taboo to talk 'bout de mens youse wo'kin' fo'. De troublement Ise have w'en Ise wo'kin' on Webster's
place in Cass County. Ise gwine to vote fo' H A O'Neal
but Marster Webster
say, 'Youse must vote fo' Cyclone Davis
.' "Ise says, Marster Webster
Ise wants to vote fo' Marster O'Neal
'cause Ise b'lives he'll win an' Ise knows Marster Davis
won't. '"Marster Webster
say, 'Ise repeats myself. Youse must vote fo' Cyclone Davis
'. I did dat an' O'Neal
wins big over Davis
. W'en Gov'nor Hogg
run old Uncle Tom
says, 'Who youse gwine vote fo'?' Ise says, 'Ise gwine put de Hogg
in.' Uncle Tom
, Marster Webster
an' a gang of men at Douglassville was so mad at me dat dey run me clean outter town. My man won though. "Ise
guess dat 'bout catches it all 'cept my fam'ly. Sally
an' me have 13 chilluns befo' she dies in 1903. Ise mai'ies Ida Allen
, dat's her youse met at de doah, in 1904 an' weuns have 13 chilluns too. Dat makes me de pappy of 26 chilluns, a mark any man oughter be proud of. Ise sho raised de cannon food fo' dem Japs to shoot at, aint Ise?"
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