Texas Slave Narratives

Texas Slave Narrative

  Wesley Burrell

I was born in Washington County, June 15, 1851. My father was name Leban Burrell an' my mothers, was Martha Dust Sayle . My father come from Virginia, an' my mother from Nachodoches, Texas. My home was in Washington County at Grey Hill, belonging to John Sayle . My marster and missis was John and Mary Sayle . One of my brothers was name Alford Blake , one Dan Burrell , one William Sayle , one Tommie Stonham an' one sister, she was name Matilda Washington . The bed I slep' on was a piece of wood an' mos'ly de floor. "No'm I don't know nothin 'bout dem, jus know my Grand-mother's name, dat was Mariah . I don' know my Grand-father's name. My Grand-father run 'way an' went down to Mexico; his marster sold him while he was gone. He come back home an' was in de bed with his wife, an de man, what he sold him to, come an' call him an' Grandma was 'fraid to tell him he was dere. He told her to tell him, yes he was dere, he open' de door. An' when he open de door, he struck de man in de face with some fire. He run out run over to de river threw a chunk of fire in de water an' beat dem 'way. He come back and dey finally caught him and carried him away an' I nebber did git to see him 'gin, mother told me dis. I herded sheep. No'm I didn' know what money was. I et gumbo an' clabber, Yes, when I was moved to de bottom I et possum, rabbit, an' fish. I liked fish de best. I allus wore a loyaise shirt, hot an' cold weather. I got one pair Red Russes in de slavery time. I married in a white linen suit, I got de vest now. I don' know how many acres in de plantation. We had an overseer so mean de nigger a runned off in de woods; at four o'clock we was waked up. All day we wuked. We was slaves 'cause dey white men stole our parints an' 'cause dey was ignorent. We was punished since we was bringed to America. We have been mixed breeded an' we dosen't seem as African. "No'm I nebber seed any slaves sold. No'm we wasn't 'lowed to read nor write. No'm us didn' hab no churches, not in dis country, all the church was in dere own house an' dis was secretly. When dey woulf preach to us dey would say, 'obey your missis and marster, an' don' steal der chickens. I didn' hab no favorite song. I played marbles. One Riddle:

One Friday night, I sot high Wind blowed hard, Leaves did shake, See what a hold Dat fox did make. If you can un-riddle dat riddle you can hang my son. They gibbed us blue mass for medicine. De day Freedom come I was standin' in de yard. I said I nebber would hurry for 'nother man so long as I live'. I married Emma Seaberry . We served cake, pie, barbecued hog at de weddin'. I have three chillun, an thirteen grand- chillun; ten great-grand-chilluns and five great-great-grand-chillun. Dey are doin' common labor. Now a-days if you et and hab a place to sleep you hab to hurry ef de boss say so and ef you want a job  My father an' mother was sold in slavery time. Dey were bought from Leon County, they were bought by a man name Dusk for Colonel Berry Glasby , Our mother was name Sayle . Bruno Dusk was to get my mother back when he come of age. My father and mother carried one child with them an' left one dere. When he come of age, he went after her and marse Sayle run off up to John Akels '. I don' know how long Sayle had owned dem but when I was a baby de over-seer shot my father. One morning we was down in de bottom while my mother picked a thorn out of daddy's foot an' de over seer shot him in de heart. Marse John Sayle fired him cause he killed my father. When I got large enough, de first thing I had to do was to mind sheep, bare foot, bare head an almost bare back. Dey fed me jus' like I was a pig or something. Every thing we had was crumbled up in a big tray such as milk, beans, an' greens was all in one tray. De people was mighty cruel on us in slavery time. Some would take us an' stake us to four stakes an' whip us until de blood run down; some times dey hit five-hundred or more licks. Some of de women, when pregnant would be beaten with dere stomach down in a hole an' dey was tied to a stake. Dey was not allowed to sing or pray; if caught doing so we would git a whippen. We was not allowed to go from one place to another without consent of de boss. De pat-roller would whip dem if dey should be caught without a pass from de boss. Many days when snow was knee deep an' my old marster had his boots an' over coat on, I would have to go with him an be bare foot an' with nothing on my head. "I was here in McLennan county some time before de Civil war began.I heard one of de first bomb shells of de war. Some people was so mean dat dey would sick dogs on dem to catch us. I hope I never to see slavery no more like we was beat an' drove 'round. One boy was traded off from his mother when he was young an' after he was grown he was sold back to de same master an' married to his own mother. How she found out dis was her son, she had struck him in de head axcidental like when he was young with a hot poker iron, an' after dey was married, she looked in his head an' saw de scar an' asket him why it was dere. He began to tell her, an' she fainted 'cause it was her own son. Mothers did not have time to clean up dere chillun only on a Sunday. Sometimes lice would get in our heads an' almost eat us up. After freedom was declared, de master come an' took my sister away from my mother an' kept her for a while but she run off. Den I went to Leon County where she was an' brought her home."Dere was a whole lot of colored folks turned a loose in de woods. I don't know anything but what was very bad. Some white folks would not even let us have prayer meeting nor look at any sort of book with reading in it. All de readin' an' writin' I could do, I learned it from de Bible by myself. A white lady was here de other night wanted to know 'bout slavery time an' when I started to tell her she said she didn't want to hear dat stuff. I told her de half hadn't been told if she didn't want in hear dat, it wasn't nothing to tell.

John Sayles won my parents in a law suit. I was born near Gay Hill in Washington County, near the town of Brenham in 1851. When a boy I moved to Burleson county. My father was shot by de plantation over seer for which de overseer was dismissed. De over seer was mean but John Sayle was a good man to his slaves an' when de war ended an' de slaves was free some stayed with him while others left, wandered 'round over the State. Some time dey had work an' other times dey were penniless an' hungry. Dose who stayed with dere owner was provided for an' well cared for with de necessities of life.Later when I moved with mother to Burleson county I herded oxen, de plantation owner used to plow with. Just a-fore de slaves was freed a lot of settlers come both black an' white, also many refugees who had to leave dere home state for some breaking of de law as well as many who were law abiding an' who later made some of our best an' most prominent Statesmen settled in dis part of Texas. De bottom lands was thought de best for farming so all de old plantations was mosly along de river bottom de early day."I was married an' lived with my wife fifty-three years until her death. I haven't told you but a little but I guess I'll quit, I am eighty-six years old.


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