Henry Broadus

"I was born in Alabama near Mobile on a fa'am, March, 1860. I come with Marse Churchill Jones ' niggers to near Marlin, in Texas. White mammy made me herd ducks an' geeses. I did love to see dem swim, an' I'd stick dey heads down under water man, I was death on dem things. Up 'til I was 'bout ten years ole, I wore a long shirt like a girl's dressan' no pants 'tall. Used to watch de geese; dey would cotch me by de shirt. My first pair of shoes had brass on the toe. I thought I was rich with dem on. When I got dem muddy, I'd wipe dem off real carefully. W'ite mammy made me behave; she used to cut me 'roun' de legs wid a switch. I was shore a bad young'un. But jes' let enyboddy else try to whip me, an' I yelled so loud w'ite mammy come runnin' an' say 'Don't tetch dat chile.'"Ole Man Jones was good to de pickaninnies on his place. Dere was a lot of dem. Ole man wear a long w'ite beard, reach 'bout to he waist. He used to let us climb 'roun him an' I kin recall 'bout a dozen of us, a-settin' on his knee and a-plaitin' an' a-twistin' on his beard. He shore was a fine ole man. "I had three chillun, all dead now; nine grandchillun but dey live in odder towns. An' ole cullud woman, Hannah Bartless , did all de whippin' of de chillun; every Monday was de whippin' day. Effen yo' did yo meanness on a Thursday, yo got yore whippin' promised on Monday an' it was shore to come. When it come my time to git a whippin' I take me a chill-no good-whippin' come jes' de same. I'd yell real loud an' white mammy come an' say 'Don't tatch dat chile.' But I nebber did sass, 'cause I thought too much of my w'ite folks to sass 'em. Dere was 'bout thirty of de young niggers all togedder. W'ite mammy allus tole me not to lie, steal of gamble an' I nebber has."One time, w'ite man steal cattle, I reported it to Marse Jones . W'ite man found out I had tole on him an' he say he gwine to kill me shore an' he toted he gun right smart; one time, he got purtty close to me but I put spurs to my hoss an' all dat w'ite man cotch is my dust. "I nussed Jedge Bartless of Waco. Marse Zena Bartless used to take me to town with him; he tell me "Henry you stan' dar" an' I stan' behime him all day; shore git tired but dassn't do nuffin' else. By-me-by Marse Zenas 'member dem cows to be milkt an' dem chores to be did an' he'd put an ole fashioned long, white duster-coat on me an' put me on a single-footin' hoss. He'd hit dat hoss wid he hat an' sen' me skootin' down de main street of Marlin an' out home we'd go. I'd lay down on de hoss' neck an' de hoss' tail an' de tail ob dat ole duster dey stretch out behime us in de wind an' ebery body in town would yell an' run out to see de show. I'ze skairt ob de hoss, skairt ob de hoss, skairt ob Marse Zenas an' hadda to hol' on. De w'ite folks 'ud yell, "Look-a yonder! Watch dat nigger an' hoss run." An' dey'd laff till dere sides hurt. "Marse Henery love he toddy. He sen' me to git de blocks of sugar to sweeten de toddy wid. I lobed sugar blocks an' I'd steal me a piece to eat. Aunt Hannah mos' always cotch me an' she'd sho wa'am me up 'bout dat. I mos'n allus got a-peppering' 'stid ob sugar. "I plowed wid a wooden log plow. It didn't hab no iron fork to it . I larned how to plow wid dat kin. We git hoop iron from bales of cotton to make de handles from. We'd cut logs fer houses an' notch de logs at de corners so dey would fit togedder; didn't hab meny nails. Used mostly cedar logs. We used sco' axe to make thinner boards fer floors an' doors an' sech. "We went to church wid de w'ite folks an' heard mos'ly w'ite preachers though some black folks had de call to preach. I heard dey was people dat would do niggers some one way, some anodder, but I don' know 'bout dat, 'cause I was with quality folks an' dey see dat us was not 'bused. When I was little, I was too busy gittin' into mischief an' playin' on de creek, huntin' an' wukkin' to set still in de house an' study. No'm I didn't larn much. "I loves possum an' sweet taters, an' watermilliun. Yass'um, my feet jes kinda git a-swing on 'em when dat fiddle begins to sing. We'd dance an' hab big suppers an' sich an' our close was good an' strong an' warm. We had to wurk hard, but us had plenty to eat, good shoes an' close an' a place to kivver us an' we shore do hab a hard time now. "Marse Jones had a big place. We was good nuff an' didn't need no jail. Marse Jones didn't 'low noboddy to whip his niggers too hard. Mus'nt leave no scars on his black folks, else he gwine shore rar. We'd all wurk an' no sass, an' us got 'long allright. Atter de war was ober, we jes stayed on wid our w'ite folks an' hope 'em wurk de fa'am. "Oh, my weddin' was like de odders. I had good 'nuff close, an' my wife had a purty w'ite dress like all de brides. De women cooked two or three days 'fore han' an' we'all dance mos' all night. Marse Jones doctored us an' got de w'ite doctor dat dey had when we was sick.