Texas Slave Narratives

Texas Slave Narrative

  Darcus Barnett

"My name is Darcus Barnett , bo'n January 1, 1855 at Dresden, Texas on de farm of Judge Younger . My father's name was Mitchell Younger ; my mother's name was Millie Younger . My father came from Tennessee and my mother was bo'n and raised in Missouri. I had eight sisters and one brother. My brother's name was Sam . My sisters' names was Rachael , Victoria , Nancy , Lou , Anaca , Emalyn and Miranda . De first four was oldern me. Our home was a log house with two rooms. It was in front of Marster Younger's house along side a big lane. Our beds was made from ropes run through holes made in boads which was s'posed ter be rails; our mattresses was made of shucks and wheat straw; dey tweren't very good."I don't know anything 'bout my grandparents on my father's side, but my grandparents on my mother's side lived on de same place wid us. My grandma's name was Amy and my grandpa's name was Adam Younger . "My job was ter take care of de chilluns while de others was workin' in de fiels. No sah, I never was paid any money at any time durin' slave days. We had such foods as could be raised on de farm, such as peas, beans, pork, beef corn, corn meal and flour bread 'bout twice a week made from whole wheat and it was purty brown. Once in a while we would have deer and wild turkey. Der was plenty of dem possums; yes sah, we had plenty of rabbits but not much fish. All of dis food was cooked on a big open fireplace.I liked meat best in dem days and now too, any kind of meat 'captin' turtle-I sho don't like dem things-beef, hogs, goats, sheep, deer, turkey, possum and chicken, jest any kind of meat but leave out de turtle. Everybody was fed from one big garden out in de fiels. It was worked just like de fiel crops was. -"We wore clothes winter and summer dat was made on de plantation; de ole folks wore shoes in de wintah, but de chilluns didn't and in de summer all of us went barefooted. My mother, she was a weavah on dis plantation; she shore made lots of clothes. De older people would dress up a little on Sundays, but de chilluns jest wore de same. I made de clothes I was married in; my dress was jest plain-jest one color. My ole marster was as good a man as I ever saw. De overseer was my granddaddy. marster Younger just turn everything over ter him. He never whip any of his colored help. Mah mistress was as good as de ole marster; dey had three girls: Elizabeth , Victoria and Ellen ; and had two boys: John and Tom . One of dese girls died and left two chilluns: Dick and Robert . Judge Younger raised dem. My marster lived in a big four-room log house. I don't 'member 'zackly how many acres in dis plantation but it was a big place. He had about twenty-seven slaves big 'nuff ter work and had more chilluns den dat. My grandpappy calls dem all out fore sunrise every morning and quit 'bout half-hour by sun every evenin'. Der never was a slaved whipped on dis plantation 'ceptin' one mischievious boy which was hit two or three licks but didn't hurt much. There was no jail on dis plantation; dey didn't need one. I never did see any slaves sold as der never was any sold from dis man. He jes' bought my grandpa and grandma and chilluns and when one of dem marries he buys der husband and wife afore de weddin'. I never did see any group of dem in dis country, but dey tells me de youngens rides and de ole ones walks behind tied together ter keep dem from runnin' off. You see, this is too fer west fer dem speckalaters, I s'pose. I never did see any of dem in chains. "Der wasn't no church on dis plantation and dey didn't read de Bible. De white folks would let de women folks ride ter church and de men folks walked er hunted and, as it was my job ter take care of de chilluns, I stayed on de job. I never did go ter church in slave time and I never did see a baptism 'til after we moved out. Dey didn't have but one burying while we was der, and dat was marster Younger's daughter. All de work stops, he tells us we can go or stay home; some goes ter de burying and some stays home. "I never did hear of any of de slaves runnin' off ter de north 'round dare. I don't 'member of any cullard people carryin' any bad news. Most de owners in dese days close to us was purty good ter der help. "All of us peoples workin' for Jedge Younger just does up de work after we come in from de fields. He had lots of stock ter feed, but it didn't take long-der was seberal ter do it. Everybody knows it had ter be done and he done it. Dey never did work on Satidy evening and Satidy night, dey just sets 'round and talks. We allus had a big time on Christmas, New Year's and de Foath of July, but we didn't have any other holidays. "All de co'n shuckin' was done in wet weather. Durin' cotton pickin, chilluns and all got ter work and de gins had ter run, but we all had a good time. Dey never did have any dances on Marster Younger's place. No sah, he didn't like dat. I don't 'member anything about any weddins and dis one buryin' I done tole you 'bout is de only I 'members. And de weddins 'mong de slaves-der wasn't no sech things. Dey thought dey was-dey was jest ast a few questions and den jump over a broom handle, den dey was married. "We never did have no games only those we made up and things like dat-just little silly things. Don't remember any riddles or songs. Only charms I knows was asphydity dat de chilluns wears 'roun' de neck every spring or most all de time ter keep off measles, mumps, whooping cough and things like dat. "De only stories dey ever tole us was stories 'bout de Indians scalping people and toll us dat dey would git us if we didn't be good chilluns. But, 'bout raw head and bloody bones, I never heared 'bout dat till I was a great big chile. "Nawsah, I ain't never seed no ghos: dey ain't no sech things. Nawsah, I don't 'member no songs. Dey had work songs and hollers too, but I don't 'member how dey run. I don't 'member anything funny dat happen to me; most things was either s'posed to happen er dey wasn't funny ter me. "De white folks allus seed after us if we got very sick. They would have a doctor, but if it was just common ailments like spring malaria, we would take blue mase fer liver action, er honey and sulphur er quinine every spring. Dat asphydity I done tole you 'bout fer common disease is 'bout de only charm I knows of. "Well now, if in de spring when de men folks was huntin' er de women folks was pickin' berries, dey did wear rattlers 'roun' der legs ter keep de snakes from bitin' em. You know, if you got dem on, de other snakes won't bother you. Naw sah, dey shore won't. Dey's skeared of em."Wellsah, I knows dey was quite a lot of talk 'roun' de house 'bout us cullard folks gettin' our freedom, and pretty soon de boss is got some diff'rent kind of money and folks begin ter leave out with hosses, men leavin', co'n and meat bein' sent out. "De day when we got our freedom, cose it was after marster John was killt, marse Jedge Younger calls us all up ter de house and tole us we was free ter go where we please and do what we please."'Cose, we all scattered out 'ceptin' grandpa; he stayed with Marster Younger . My daddy he rented a place de next year close ter Blooming Grove on de Halvers. Dat same year, marster Younger fell in de fire and was burnt so bad he died. He grieved so much over de death of marse John and de loss of his slaves till be loss his health and was so old dat he could hardly get 'round. Dat year, we made a good crop and pay back all dis man let us have. We farmed dat way fer three years, den my daddy bought a little place, teams and all and dat is where he died. "When I was 'roun' twenty, I marries Lewis Barnett . We was married by de Justice of de Peace one Sunday evenin' in Hillsboro, Texas in Hill County. I was over der visitin' my cousin and Lewis comes down from Irene and we married. Lewis owned thirty acres of land up close ter Irene and we went there ter live. "We lived der till Lewis died den I trades it fer dis property. He been dead fer 'bout fifty years. I only has one chile and she ain't ever married. She just stays here wid me. She cooks fer some white people in de west end of town. With our home and what she makes cookin' and what little pension I gits, we manage ter live very well I guess."


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