William Coleman

I was born in Jackson, Tenn., about the year of 1853. My father's name James Coleman and mother was called Jessie , but later her name was changed to Josie . I had one half sister Jim and two half brothers, Buck and Tom . I do not remember ever hearing anything said about my grandparents. I married several years after the war when us negroes had started wearing shoes and clothes like our white people. My wedding clothes were a pair of trousers just what you would call work trousers now and a plain work shirt with a great big bandana handkerchief around my neck. My Maser, Willie Coleman had about 100 acres of land and about 37 slaves. He was a very good man, never believed in no foolishness of no kind and was pretty rough on his negro slaves. Mistress was a different person altogether, cause she was real good to the slaves. They did not have any children. We had one of the best homes in all the country around. It was a two-story house with 4 rooms downstairs and 2 upstairs with one door to every room. The yard had plenty of shade trees and a high plank fence all around. The house was painted inside as well as outside and everyone thought it was a very pretty home.

I was born in Jackson, Tenn., long 7 or 8 years before the war started between the states and I do not know exactly how old I am. I is listed on the pension as born in 1853. My father's name James Coleman , mother was called Jessie , but later her name was changed to Josie . Son you asked me one thing I do not know and that is where father and mother came from. We were not allowed to talk about things like that. I had one half sister Jim and one brother named Tom and one Buck , that was all my life with my family and it was not much fun cause soon as I got big enough Maser he moved me to other parts of the quarters and would not let me play or go to see my father or mother. That was the way he broke us off from our people. See, Maser he had two quarters, one for the men slaves and one for the women slaves and he would not let them stay together. Our quarters was fairly good. It was built out of planks in a long shed and one negro to the stall, it looked kind of like one of these chicken houses they build now son, covered over with boxing plank, it was real dry and warm. Yes sir, our beds they were built right on the ground in the far end of our stalls out of dry grass, moss and shucks. It it got too cold for us to stay in our stalls Maser would let us come in his house and warm and then go right back to our stalls.

No sir, I do not know as I ever heard of my grandparents, if I did I'se done forgot all about it. I'se don't think our Maser did us right cause he would not let us talk about these things as he locked us in our stalls just soon as we got our supper, would not let us have anything to do with no one, no sir. Well son, I'se done all kinds of work as a kid during slavery such as, cut wood, chop cotton, corn, hoe in the garden. Maser he put us to work just as soon as we could follow or sling a hoe, pick cotton, pulled corn and carry in wood, water and so on for our Mistress or feed, milk the cows and just anything like that for there was some things we could not do, and he would make the older negroes do. Well son, I might have earned money as a slave but I did not ever get it, in fact son, I did not know what money was. I often heard the older slaves talk about money and I wondered what they were talking about as I did not know what it was. Well son, we always had plenty to eat such as it was during them trying times, cornbread grated by hand and cooked on a big flat skillet, and all they mixed it with was salt and water. Of course we had plenty of garden stuff to eat, but they did not know how to cook it like we do now. But son I believe it was lots better the way they use to cook things. Yes sir, we had possum, rabbits and fish, that fish was always my favorite dish and we always had plenty of it to eat, caught the fish out of the creeks and rivers. Well no sir, the slaves did not have their own garden. Maser he would let the slave have what he wanted them to have to eat out of his garden, as we eat from Maser's own table and just what he put there for us to eat, as Mistress she kept one of the slave women there to help her all the time with the cooking. Son in hot weather we wore what they called shirts made out of cotton sewed by hand, but in cold weather we had woolen clothes to keep us warm cause less it was too cold we worked right on and no stop or lay off for us slaves on account of bad weather. On Sunday we had just plain white cotton clothes but they must be clean, and no shoes as we did not know what shoes were. Well son, it was several years after the war before I'se married and us negroes we had begin to wear shoes and clothes like our white people. My wedding clothes were a pair of trousers just what we would call work trousers now and just a plain work shirt with a great big bandana handkerchief. Well son, my Maser Willie Coleman , he was very good man, never believed in no foolishness of no kind and was pretty rough on his negro slaves, but I'se can say one thing for Maser, he never promised us slaves a thing he did not do, cause that was one thing he would almost kill a slave for and that was telling him a lie. Mistress she was a different person altogether, cause she was real good to her slaves, bless her soul. They never had no children. Mistress she was patient with us negroes, never out of humor, but My! son, Maser he was rough on us poor slaves, we never had no pleasure when Maser was around, no sir. Well son, Maser he had one of the best homes they were in that country all around. It was built out of boxing planks and was two stories high, had 4 rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs and he had one door to ever room, but he had what they called then, open shutter windows. They did not have any glass in them, no sir. It was built on kind of hill with plenty of shade trees all around it and also he had a high plank fence built all around his home, and he also had his home painted on the inside as well as the outside and was real nice, cause everyone that came there or passed by would talk about what a pretty home and nice place to live. No Maser did not have an overseer, he said they were too wasteful and that he could not afford one. Well, son, Maser had near about one hundred acres in his plantation, and I believes about 37 slaves, both old and young. Maser woke us up every morning about 4:30 o'clock with a great large bell that hung just outside of his bed. Son I'se dressed several times out behind my quarters cause if we did not get right up when Maser rung that bell, here he come with a rawhide whip and gun buckled on him, and he would whip us all the time we were trying to dress. Maser he would work us from sun to sun or we would be in the field in the morning waiting for daylight to come, then we stayed in the field and worked just as long as we could see how. When we went to the house we had all our night work to do after dark before we got our supper, and went to bed. Well son, I'se seen the slaves whipped for nothing, but then if they did do something to be whipped for they were almost killed before Maser would quit working on them. Yes sir, if one was the least bit stubborn or even acted like he would sass Maser, he was whipped. I'se seen Maser ride up close to a slave when he was working and whip him good, cause he would be 3 or 4 feet behind the rest of the slaves One time one of the slaves was helping Mistress there in the yard and he passed too close to her as he was hurrying fast as he could, and sort of bumped into her. She never paid him no attention, but Maser saw him and he let him go on ahead and finish what he was doing then he called that poor negro to him and took him out in the pasture, tied his hands together, throwed the other end of the rope over a limb on a tree and pulled that negro's hands up in the air to where that negro had to stand on his tiptoes, and Maser he took all that negro's clothes off and whipped him with that rawhide whip until that negro was plum bloody all over. Then he left that poor negro tied there all the rest of the day and night.

When Maser did let that negro down he could not stand up or get his hands down from over his head, but that did not keep Maser from giving him another whipping as he thought the negro was putting on, but he found out he was not. Then Maser called old negro mama that he had there on the plantation to rub and work with that poor negro until she finally got him limbered up so he could move around some. Son, that was one of the sickest negroes you ever saw after that. Maser thought for more than a week he was going to die, but the old negro mama just kept working with him until she pulled him through. Maser did have to kill him after that as it made an outlaw out of him. He got to where he would not work and Maser whipping him all the time, and he would sass Maser right out. Then Maser sold him to another man and his new Maser carried him to the field and thought he would work, but no sir, he just lay his hoe down and walked right off from his new Maser and right back to his old Maser; said if he ever got a chance he was going to kill his Maser. Maser had to give that man money back, then he sold him to another man that lived in another state and just as soon as he turned him loose and thought he would be satisfied, why he just walked off from that new Maser and come right back home. Maser had to give that mans money back as he could not keep him cause he come and got him 3 or 4 times. His old Maser done got scared of him and put him in chains, but of course, he would have to unfasten his hands in the daytime so he could work, but he never took the chains off his legs. At night he was locked in his quarters. We was all locked in at night for that matter. Then one day Maser had this negro working and he was not watching him and went to show some of the other slaves something about what he was doing and turned his back on this negro and that negro thought that was his chance, so he jumped right on Maser's back and pinned him to the ground and was trying to choke Maser and keep him from getting his gun all at the same time, but with his feet chained he could not do it. Some of us run in and started to pull him off Maser and he made us get away cause he did not want to shoot some of us when he did get his gun, which he finally did, and shot that negro off of him. He sure hated to kill one of his slaves cause they were a valuable piece of property in them days, but he had to kill that one. He just drug that negro off and throwed him in a brush pile, never even buried him. No sir, said he was not worth burying. Well no sir, they was not exactly a jail there on the plantation for the slaves, but Maser he had our quarters fixed so he could lock us in there every night and if he wanted to punish us that way, all he had to do was lock us in our quarters and let us stay there just as long as he wanted to and we were afraid to try to get out if we could cause we knew just what Maser would do to us if we did. I have stayed in my quarters locked up 3 days at a time without a bit to eat or drink. Son I sure would get dry and hungry but all the good it would do me cause I knew Maser would'nt let me out until he got good and ready anyway. Yes sir, I have seen a few slaves sold and auctioned off. The first thing they had to do was wash and clean up real good and take a fat greasy meat skin and run over their hands, face and also their feet, or in other words, every place that showed about their body so that they would look real fat and shiny. Then they would trot them out before their would-be buyers and let them look us over real good, just like you would a bunch of fat cows that you were going to sell on the market and try to get all you could for them. They would always take the highest bid that would be offered for a certain negro and after they would buy and gather the ones they had bought and start to leave - all the bawling and hollering it would take place. Son you have sold calves away from cows and heard them bawl for their calves 3 or 4 days afterward, thats just exactly the way of us slaves, cause we never did expect to see that son, daughter, father or mother again and if we did, it was just an accident. Well son, the way we traveled was a foot the most of the time and if they were a pretty good bunch of us we herded in the road in front of our Maser and he would be on a horse coming on after us, of course if there were just one or two of us we rode on horse-back ahead of our Maser. Yes sir son, I have seen slaves in chains which I'se done told you about just while ago. Well no sir son, Maser did not learn us how to read and write, said all we was fit for was to work. No sir, the slaves did not have a church there on the plantation neither did the white folks, but the white people there joining our plantation had a church and if we got to go we went to their church, but that was very seldom as Maser said he did not believe in all that foolishness no way, and about the only times we got to go to church was when we would drive Mistress over there to church. I'se did not know any preachers, I'se don't remembers any songs or anything like that while I'se a slave. Them days we had what they called campmeetings but it was not often that us slaves ever got to go, as Maser he said they was not no good and all them preachers was doing was to try to make a living without working for it, but still son Maser he taught us to always tell the truth and to always live a clean life, why, I do not know. As I'se get old, I'se often wondered if Maser thought he was not right. Well son they was very little news that us slaves carried from one plantation to another cause we were too afraid of our Maser and the padderrollers, cause they would sure get a negro if he was caught off his plantation without a pass.

No sir, I'se never heard of a slave trying to run away to the north cause they were all afraid to there, and if a negro was caught off his plantation without a pass it was just 39 licks from a cat-o-nine tails given to us by them padderrollers. I am telling you son all the negroes were afraid of them padderrollers cause they were sure rough on the negroes. Well white folks, we never got to play very many games during slavery time and what we did play, why we played, wolf-over-the-river, see-saw and hide and seek, and we played these games with the white children that would come there visiting on our plantation. No sir, I'se cannot sing any of them old songs. You'se ask me what we done when we went to our quarters at night after our days work was done. Well son I just mostly went to bed cause I was locked in and I'se could not go no where or talk with the rest of the slaves. No sir, Maser did not work us on Saturday evening, he always gives us that day off as it was custom everybody turn their slaves loose from work that evening. Yes sir, that night we mostly always had a negro dance and we tried to have a good time cause that was the only pleasure that we did have at all. We would dance until we see it was getting daylight, then we would run to our quarters as we did not want Maser to wake up and find that we had never gone to our quarters, if he did, most likely he would give us a real good thrashing, that was why we did not want him to wake up and us still dancing. Well on Sunday when Maser would let us, after we would wake up, was to go on the creek to the best water hole that we could find and swim all the rest of the day or play in the water which Maser never did object very much, cause he wanted us to stay clean if we could. All he cared about us going to the creek was, to let his stock water alone.

Well son, Maser was pretty good to us on this Christmas day. He would always give us some kind of present and a good dinner and plenty of eggnog to drink. I don't guess Maser was so mean to us after all. Well on New Years Day was just like all other days to us negroes cause Maser he worked us on that day just like any other day, it made no difference to him, and any other holiday us negroes did not know anything about them as Maser he did not give them to us Sunday and Christmas was all the holiday that we knew about. Well no sir, we never did have any corn-shucking day back when we were slaves or no cotton-picking contest. Yes sir, we had lots of dances there on the plantation among the slaves and the white people. When some of the white people there died everyone quit work to go and help bury the dead, even the slaves they dug the graves and were there to see their white people put away. We did not bury them then like we do now, as us slaves carried the corpse on their back to the graveyard, place it there in the ground and covered it over after the preacher got through with his sermon. Now son things are different from then, as we have regular trucks that do all we did then on our backs. When one of our white people married, us negroes we waited on them and when they went to have that big supper us slaves we done all the cooking and that night they would celebrate by having a large dance, and us slave men we got out our old banjos and music boxes to play the music for them to dance by. The young people they would always have a great time when some couple got married, but when a slave died they was not much to do about it except we just dug a hole and pinned it in and dropped the dead slave in it, covered it over and went on about our business. A wedding among the slaves it would always be just a home wedding some time after we asked and begged our Maser for a certain slave woman and he would finally tell us we could have her. We would gather ourselves together and join one another at her quarters. That night the r'st of the slaves there would be allowed to come and ride us round and round on a rail until along about midnight and that was about all they was to our marriage. Oh, sometimes we would beg our Maser to let us have a preacher to marry us when we could get one without much trouble. No sir, son I'se never seen a ghost in me life. I'se don't believes in ghost at all no sir. Son I'se remembers one time when they was one of them there panthers come to my house and you know that panther kept me in that house 3 or 4 days before it finally left. I'se never had no gun there to kill it with and I'se thought several times it was going to claw that door down and get to us anyway, but it never did, and so it finally left us alone. When we got sick we had good care taken of us. If we was just slightly sick Maser let old negro mama doctor us but if we got real sick then Maser would get the white doctor to come to see and wait on us. I am telling you son it was many a time that us negroes would play sick so'es we would get out of working and get some rest, but Oh child! if our Maser should have found out we were playing sick he would have nearly killed us before he got through with the poor slaves. Child, guess this old negro had better tell you what you ask what some of the home remedies were that old mama give us when we were sick. She would just get her gunny sack and go to the woods and gather her medicine from such as cami weeds, red oak bark and peach tree leaves for sickness such as fevers, chills, malaria, sick stomach and so on like that. Then she would take tree rosom, pure bee honey, onions and make what we called cough syrup. For sores sprains, bruises and so on she would take lard, poke root, turpentine and make us a good salve and it was sure enough good. Son all them old time remedies were better than any we have now. We wore such charms as rabbit-foot around our necks to keep off them diseases. That was the negro's lucky piece what I mean. Why son, all our negro slave women they really got wise and like to have depopulated the negro race here in this old south by chewing cotton-root, and it was a long time before our Masers found out what they were doing. When he did he would almost kill a negro woman if he caught her chewing cotton-root, but still that did not do much good, they would slip and chew it in spite of all he could do about it. Well son, I'se remembers plenty about that awful war between the states as my Maser carried me to the war with him to wait on his horses that he rode and to keep his gun oiled and cleaned up. When them there guns went to popping I'se could not hardly be still cause nearly ever times I would crawl under Maser's horse that he would leave with me. Son that was not the worst part of it, when they would stop popping he would make us slaves go and see how many boys that would be wounded and everyone we found we had to carry them back out of the firing line and wait on them the best we could, wash and feed them what we had to fix for them and while part of us seen after the wounded why the others they would have to go and dig out a long ditch, roll the dead ones in and cover them over. The way they buried them poor boys was a plum shame. I'se never do wants to see or hear tell of another war the longest day this here poor old negro lives, cause they are awful. Then after that war was over Maser he was hurt and he called me to where he was and said, "well you black you are just as free as I am so get," but I'se begged him to give me a pass and I starts for home. When I'se get there son I'se sure glad to see my old Mistress and she let me go right on to work just like I was not free, but when Maser come home he changed everything. He told us that he could no longer work us as slaves, then we begin to wonder what us negroes was going to do, and we finally went to Maser and begged him to let us stay there and work for him and sure enough he did, so that is exactly what we done. He fed us and give us a few clothes but never no money and we had to get out the next year and hunt us a different place to stay. We hears about a railroad that they was building here in Texas and we started out foot for Texas. Boss that was the furtherest this here negro ever walked in his life, they was not cars then or any too many trains that we could ride if we had the money, and sometimes we would get 3 or 4 miles ride at a time with some farmer in his wagon. I'se sure did get a job son when I did get to Texas, but son I would travel 3 or 4 days at time that I would never see a house or nobody, and all I would have to eat when I would get that way was grass and what wild berries that I could find. Well son, I'se married to Ida Shaw the first time, in just what we called home wedding and she run off and left me with another man. Next time I'se married to Sally Pinn by the preacher, he married us after we rode near 30 miles horseback. Son that woman just turned to children, we'se had 19, 10 boys and 9 girls, and I'se here to tell you theys all living yet and are all farming, but you know son we'se not doing any good farming at all. Now, I don't know how many grandchildren I'se have, somewhere 'round 50, I'se done lost count of them long time ago. My wife has long time been dead . Well son, I knows I expected a lot different from what I did get from freedom. Yes I thought sure that they would give us poor slaves some land and stock to work it with being as they was going to free us from slavery. Yes sir, they should have give us part of Maser's land as us poor old slaves we made what our Masers had. Well son, we got hell if we did not do just like the white people told us to do as we had been turned out like a bunch of cattle to live and that was sure hard on our race of people. We was not trained to do anything at all, we depended on our Masers all together when we was slaves. No sir, child, they was not any land that I'se ever heard of that was divided among the slaves, the white people would not let us have any land hardly at all. No sir, our white people did not give us any money, would not pay us hardly for our work as they did not have to, it was not any trouble for them to make us take other things beside money for our work. No sir, we was not forced to stay as servants after the war, cause we could have went where we pleased or that is, Maser tryed to make us leave him and go somewhere else and work but you know son, that was all we knew and we had rather stayed there and worked for our own white people as we did not know any other ones that we could have worked for, and so we stayed there the first year after freedom among the negroes with our own white folks. Well son, I done the best I could after the war, mostly farm work, well I'se did work about 6 months for a railroad company, but I'se rather farm and so I get me a job on the farm soon. Our wages they was real low, we never did get more than 15 to 30 cents a day for our work. Well son, I thinks that the old slave did get bad deal after he was turned loose, as it was really hard for us poor negroes to live an it didn't get any better until this here last war. We had to beg, steal and do little of everything to feed our family, but we'se come through it all with flying colors. We have built schools, churches and now are beginning to educate our younger race of people. They have become brighter and brighter as the years come along until we can most hold our own among our white people. Well yes sir, I'se believes that the KKK and patterrollers had a lot to do with us getting along as well as we did, cause we were afraid to do lots of things if it had not been for them that we would have done, because they really camped on our heels all the time but they never did get after this old negro. I'se remembers some that they did whip and tare, and boss when they did get a negro he knew that he was really whipped, cause they hit him 100 licks with what we called - red heifer. Well no sir son, I'se never did try to vote cause I'se did not care to vote no way, theys never did try to get me to vote at all. Yes sir, I'se believes that us poor negroes should be allowed more privileges in voting than we have, cause we have become brighter and brighter and further educated in the way of the world and we should be allowed to help elect our people to office now, as they really do us negroes just like they want to in the way of making us pay taxes. Son, you asked me once what I'se done since the war, nothing but farm, that is all I knew to do as I'se could not hold these here fancy jobs. I'se wore out nearly all these here farms around here. Well, I'se gets a small pension now from the government but still I'se have to do some other things to live as the government don't give me much pension and I'se cannot live on it. Well son, these here young people they are really good cause they can read and write and can hold real good jobs. These a few that don't do right I'se knows that just as well as you do son, but that does not please this here negro no sir. Of course I knows these here times are real hard, I don't knows how they would have lived if it had not been for this here relief to have fed them on during all this hard time, but I'se hoping that these here hard times will soon get lots better and I'se believes they will, then our younger negroes will do still better than they are doing now, I hope so anyway.