Sarah Benjamin

Sarah Benjakin , 82, was born a slave of the Gilbert family, in Clavin Parish, Louisiana., In 1867 she married Cal Benjamin and they settled in Corsicana, Texas, where Sarah now lives."I is Sarah Benjamin and is 82 year old, 'cause my mammy told me I's born in 1855 in Clavin Parish in Louisiana. Ear name was Fannie and my pappy's name was Jack Callahan . There was jus' three of us chillen and I's do oldest."Marse Gilbert was tol'able good to we'uns, and give us plenty to eat. He had a smokehouse big as a church and it was full, and in de big kitchen we all et, chillen and all. De grown folks et first and den de chillen. Did we have plenty of possum and fish by de barrels full! All dis was cooked in de racks over de fireplace and it were good. "Our clothes was all homespun and de shoes made by de shoemaker. Old marse wanted all us to go to church and if dey didn't have shoes dey have something like de moccasin. "I don't know how many slaves there was, but it was a lot, maybe 60 or 70. Dey worked hard every day 'cept Sunday. Iffen they was had they night git whuppin's, but not too hard, not to de block. Iffen dey was still bad, dey puts chains on dem and puts den in de stocks, 'cause there wasn't no jail there. "Once when I's little, marse stripped me stark modern naked and puts me on do block, but he wouldn't sell me, 'cause he was bid only $350.00 and he say no. 'cause I was good and fat. "Dey didn't larn us nothin' and iffen you did larn to write, you better keep it to yourse'f, 'cause some slaves Cot de thumb or finger cut off for larnin' to write. When de slaves come in from de fields dey didn't larn nothin', they jus' go to bed. 'lessen de moonshine nights come and dey could work in de tobacco patch. De marster give each one de little tobacco patch and iffen he raised more'n he could use he could sell it.  "On Christmas we all has de week vacation and maybe de dance. We allus have de gran' dinner on dat day, and no whuppin's. But dey couldn't leave de plantation without de pass, even on-Christmas. "De women had to run de gin in de daytime and de man at night. Dey fed de old gin from baskets and my mommy fed from doze baskets all day with de high fever and died dat night. She wouldn't tell de marster she sick. for fear she have to take do quinine "De day we was freed, de slaves jus' scattered. 'cepting me. Missy Gilbert says I wasn't no slave no more but I had to stay and he'p her for my board 'till I's grown. I stayed 'till I was 'bout 15, den I runs away and marries Cal Benjamin , and we comes to Texas. Cal and me has six chillen, but he died 'fore dey was grown.

 I is Sarah Benjamin . I is 82 years ole, I was bo'n in 1855 at Clavin Parish, La. My mothers name was Fannie , my fathers name was Jack Callahan . I dont know whar they was bo'n. Thar was jest three uv us chillens, Ise de oldest, we allus had cabins, two families ter de cabin, de beds was made of poles wid holes bored through dem, and runs rope through dese holes and den straw mattresses puts on dis. Dis is whar we sleeps. Us chillens picks peaches and apples fer de cider mills and piles brush ter be burnt and all light work. We had plenty to eat, meat and vegetables. My ole marster had a smoke house as big as a church and it was full, dey had a big kitchen whar we all et, chillens and all. De grown folks et first and den de chillens. Folks workin in de field did not hab time ter cook. We had plenty of possums and fish by de barrels full. All dis was cooked in racks over de fire place. Der was one big garden, bout ten acres I guess. I kin find no fault wid my marster, he was good ter us. He whips niggas same as other folks but not so bad dey needs it. He had women ter care fer us chillens. I never seed my mistress, she done died, dey done had no chillens, my marster lived in a big log house. We had all home made clothes, dey made good clothes and pretty clothes for Sunday wear. Our ole marster wanted all of his slaves ter go ter church. De chillens didn't hab no shoes, de oler ones had what we calls moccasins, one seam kims up de foot. My daddy was a niggah driver and den he had an over seer with him. My daddy done all de whippin. I dunno how many acres and how many slaves on dis plantation, dey was all waked up fore daylight and to breakfast, dey works from day light til dark, sometimes specially in cotton pickin dem shillens wouldnt se dem parents til sadty, dey go ter fields so early and gits in so late de chillens warnt awake ter see dem. Dey would whip dem cause dey wouldnt do right, little whippen was done on dis plantation. I seed my daddy put in stocks fer runnin off. De niggah dogs brought him back. Dey had dogs ter go git you when you run away. No sah, dey was no jail on dis plantation, dey jest chain em down er puts em in stocks. I was stripped start modern named and put on de auction block when I was a child and bid $350.00 but marster says no case I was good and fat. Dis block was round and bout three feet high.I has seed great longs groups of slaves, de niggar speculator had dem, dey was lots of wagons and de chillens was put in de wagons but de oldest ones and de grown folks was walkin, dey was chained togedder to keep them from running off. De speculators was pretty bad dem days. Dey would buy and sell er trade fer anything, from babies on up ter grown folks. No day wouldnt try ter teach us nuthin if yer did yer better keep it to your self. If yer learned ter write dey would cut yer thumb er finger off. No sah, no church on dis plantation, de church was bout three miles dey would carry us in wagons, dey had a big arbor fer de cullod people. Dey was all good preachers, dey would do lots of singin, we warnt lowed ter have prayah meetin er singin wid out havin guards roun ter notify us when de white folks were cummin. We warnt lowed to pray either cause dey Lord might hear us and free us.I has sed as many as two hundred babtides after a big meetin. I done member any funeral mong any of us ceptin my mamma and dey jest saunt her down ter de cemetery and buried her foah men done dat, de rest kept working. Yes a few did run away to de north, one ole man run away, he traveled all night den de next mornin he hollered and he was home. Dey put him in stocks, he had been travelin in a circle all night and kem back ter whar he started from.De slaves did carry news from one plantation ter another, dey would gets a pass, jest a slip of paper from de over seer er de ole marster an iffen he lost it, he better come back purty quick er he would gits a good whippin. When he gits ter de othur plantation he would start telling his head off. When de slaves would come in from de fields dey would eat and go to bed onless it was moon shine nights if it was dey would work in their tobacco patch, de marster would give each man a terbaccer patch if he made more den he could use he could sell de rest and de money was his'n. I specks my daddy had mo money and had mo ter eat during slavery dan since. De slaves on dis plantation nevah did work on sadty evenin, onless de works in der own terbaccer patch. Sometimes dey would have a dance on Satdy night, slaves from othur plantations would bring der passes and de ovah seer would take up de passes. We sho did have some good times ever body got along fine, dey knowed bettah den ter start sumpin. On Sunday mornin de marster usually loaded all of us up ceptin de cooks and dey took time bout sos dey could go and we all goes to church in de wagon. On Christmas we all got a weeks vacation and a big dinnah Christmas day. We usually got New Years day in our Christmas week. De Foath of July dat was de big day, we jest simply celebrated all day and have de biggest times. We all was glad to see the Foath and hated ter see it go. My ole marster sho did want ter see his niggahs have a good time dat day. De corn shuckin started when it started rainin and de harder it rained de harder and longer dem niggahs shucked co'n. Dey all picked cotton in big baskets, and dey could pick some cotton too, dem niggahs would begin singin and pickin cotton. And de women had ter run de gin in de day time, and men at night. Dey fed de gin from baskets, my mammy fed de gin from baskets all day wid a high fever and died dat night. She wouldnt tell de marster for she knew he would make her take medicin and she sho didnt like ter take dat quinine. Der wasnt no marryin or deaths either in marsters family. His wife died fore I can remember and he never married any more. And my mothers death is de only one mong de slaves. I dont recomeber any games we played er songs we sung either, it has been so long ago. But we did play some of us was slave owners and some of us was speculators and climb trees and go out into de timber and hunt fer baby pigs er baby calves or little babies, we didnt have no bettah since den ter believe all dat. Why dey was all de time tellin us bout bloody bones dat would scare de libber outn us and we would pay tenshun ter what dey told us too. Dey allus had dem work songs and hollers but I done forgot all dem, I had too much to think about since as my ole man died bout fourty years ago and I had ter finish raisin de kids and pay our home out. Well I never did seed but one ghose dat was when I was bout grown, der was a bunch of us chillens playin down at a ole house where a white man named Mr. Allen kilt another white man and dis dead mans ghost got ter walking round in de house, some of dem saw it dey jest couldnt move dey jest stand der and look, I looks up and ask dem what dey see. She wouldnt let no boys call you out to de fence and talks ter you, de courtin had ter be done on de back porch. I members one time when de war was on de soldiers comes through and camps down close ter de barn, wal cose us kids was a wantin ter see everything so nex mornin we all goes down and climbs up on de rail fence one dem ole fashion kind dat is so crooked. We was settin dar and jest watchin when directly der was a hawn blowed and soldiers began runnin every whar and us kids began runnin back ter de house bout as fast as de soldiers gits in line, den dey all goes off. We didnt know what dey was going ter do when dey begins runnin, we thought maybe dey was goin ter start shootin, so we's gitin way. De day we was freed, slaves jest scattered every whar, dey was all free ceptin me. Mrs. Gilbert tole me I wasnt no slave but I had ter stay there and help her fer my board until I was grown, my daddy didnt try to git me back. I worked fer Mrs. Gilbert til I was sixteen years old jes doin house work, helpin do chores roun de house. When I was sixteen, I runs away and jest works any whar fer bout two years, den I marrys Cal Benjamin and we comes ter Texas, right here ter Corsicana and we goes ter work. When we had three chillens, Cal comes home one night and says, "I saw Mrs. Gilbert in town ter day". Dat scares both of us case we thought she was a huntin me so I didnt go ter town fer two years and Cal jest go and come back, but one day she spied Cal up dare and she walks up on him afore he knows it and begins askin bout me she says she shore would like ter see me and de chilluns and tells Cal she is not going ter try and take me back so Cal comes home and tells me bout it and we fixes de chilluns up pretty and nice ter take dem in, but by dis time we has foah stidda three, and we took dem in she jest had a fit bout dem. She jest had a fit bout how clean and healthy dey looked she shore was tickled ter see me and I was her too. I likes her bettah now den I did when I was a girl, I thought den she was mean but I can see now she was jes simply strick. It done me good, it help me raise my chilluns. Our weddin was jes like mos all weddins, jes gits a preachah ter marrys us and goes on. Cal and me had six chilluns, Cal died before all de chilluns were grown and I had ter raise de rest of dem and finish paying out our home. Cal had jes bough it when he died. Cal was good ter me, he nevah tried ter whip me like lots de rest of de darkies do dar wives, yes sah Cal was a good man and he allus taught our chilluns ter be honest. Now I only got two chilluns I out lives foah of dem, and I has one grand child and foah great grand chilluns. My chilluns work on de relief, I draws a pension from Mr. Roosevelt . You know dat is de best man ter us poor people you done ever say. My grandson works in Lincoln, Nebraska in de Ford place.