Jane Cotton

I am 90 years old, was born and raised in Walker County, Texas, and owned by Steve Barrett . I was a brother to Armstead Barrett , another slave, although we were separated by the white master before we were very old. My fathers name was Tom Barrett . My mother's name was Sarrah . They was brought to Texas from Richmond, Va. They were captured in Africa and brought over here and sold in to slavery. My father, he was a wild man. They had to keep him chained to keep him from running away cause the jungles was his home. He never lived very long after he was captured from wild. Our quarters were log houses with two rooms just one door to the room. No windows, and beds made out of poles drive through the crack in the wall with forked pole drove in the ground, as we never had floor in our quarters, with deer or cow hide stretched over the poles. Then we gather grass about ever two weeks to make our bed soft as we could. Sir, bless your soul son, we never knew anything much about home life then like we do now.

Our brothers and sister they sold before we get old enough to know one another, then we hardly ever had the father. We mostly were like cattle and hogs are today. Son, you ask me what kind of work I did, why I chopped cotton, picked cotton, plowed, and sawed wood son. They used me just about like they did the bunch, cause I was always a big stout healthy woman. No son, I never did earn any money until long time after we was freed. Master he brag on me and give ne nickel and dime which I keeps. So's when the war was over I had nearly five dollars in money. Yes sah, we had plenty to eat. Syrup, cornbread, no biscuit, plenty meat, beef, pork, cause the woods then was full of wild hogs, cattle, deer, turkeys. It was no trouble to have plenty to eat, master he was great hunter. No sir, son, the slaves worked great big garden belonging to marster. There's where he used the woman slave lots in working the garden. We wore loyal clothes made into long shirt or dress, opened all the way down the front on hot days. In cold weather we wore wool cloth on Sunday we wore white loyal dress. And we have brogan shoes. I have white loyal dress when I'se married, trimmed in red. Master and Mistress Alice , they real good to their black folks, bless their soul. Oh, yes, I remembers when the first white child was born. The small girl named Ann. I'se carried that child in my arm nearly all the time while I do the house work, cause she would cry for her old black mammy. They have great big house built out logs, the over seer he mean man. He whipped negro when he didnt go in run cause he didnt like negro. Master he have about 100 acres in the plantation. They was about eight grown slave and seven little negro slaves. The overseer he gets us up about four o'clock every week day and Sunday he lets us sleep until the sun is real high. I'se seen a few slaves whipped just like you would a mule cause they would get stubbering and contrary. I'se seen them lay slave over log or barrel and take their clothes down sos they could whip on the naked hide, then they would hit them thirty-nine licks, with cat-o-nine tails. Son, what you mean by travel, they didnt let us go away from the farm unless we have pass and that about once a month. I'se seen slaves sold. All they do is make negro clean up and grease his face and hand good, sos he would shine like real money, then he look real good then son. All the squalling and hollering then took place, cause the most time it would be young slaves they sold. After negro got old he wasnt worth much. The white folks say negro too hard to learn sos they wouldnt try to learn them how to read, but they always made negro go to church. I'se always go with mistress as her maid. They always teach us to tell the truth. If they caught negro telling lie, he would get whipped. Old brother, Cullen , he was always telling us negroes joke and teaching us about the babe born in the manger, its the old time religion, it good for our fathers and it good enough for me. Boss, that is real old time song and I'se sure do like it. I'se helped them sing, I'se washed in the blood. We use to have them old time camp meeting, everybody had religion. They go there in them old ox-wagons and stay two weeks or month, some of the shouting singing, it took place, them was real good days. Everybody was happy. People them days had religion, cause they was neighborly. Now they get in one of these here cars and go to the church, the preacher he talks about thirty minutes then they goes home. Thats not religion, cause the devil has done got the whole bunch. I'se seen one or two slaves run off to the north, when the war started, and the soldiers they kill every one of them they could. We carry news with pass if we got off the plantation without pass the patter roller would get negro. Yessir, when he get negro, it was too bad. Why son, most of the time we so tired we just fall in at the door, then the patter roller they would come and walk all over us. We never did move cause they come. We sure were afraid of the patter rollers. We have Saturday evenings to wash and clean up for Sunday. Sometime we have to do our washing on Saturday evening. Most of the time, on Saturday night, master let us have dance with banjo picking. When some of masters family friends married, he had negro slave to make music sos they could dance. Then we always had to prepare the wedding feast, sos when I'se small I played with the white children such as "Wolf over The River". You know how thats played. Then we drop handkerchief or rag. We ring up circles one go round to drop it behind some one then that one try to catch one that drop it. When slave become sick, master he have doctor, they were too valuable to let die or stay sick. He wanted them to work. Sometimes, he would have old black mammy, and she would get some weeds, make tea to give for fever and chills and malaria, or tie camphor on string and put that around neck to keep off sickness. I'se remember when the war started the people they wanted to handle General Sam Houston , cause he didn't want to go to war. He say what they was fighting for was wrong and locked his self in his home and stayed there when the war started they give big barbecue and big dance there at Huntsville, so the boys would fight good. They carried about fifteen hundred boys, white and black to the war. Master he was wounded in the war and he didnt come home until long time after the war, but he writes to Mistress Alice , and tells her to let us go cause we was just free as he was, and mistress she reads the letter to me, and wanted me to stay until master comes home. She payed me $2.00 per month. When marster come home he let me go. I jump, dance, and holler cause I could go where I please. Then I married Tom Cotton . When we married we moved down on the Trinity River in Madison County and farmed. We gets some poles and stand them up for house, we didnt know who the land belong to and all we had to eat was corn cracked with hammer. Then we get hickory nuts, cracked them to season. Sometimes the corn we boil, sometimes parch it. Sometimes we had wild meat and fish. All the grease we had was once in a while when Tom killed wild hog. And our clothes then was wild hides. When we have fire we hit two pieces iron together, the spark would set the grass on fire. Tom and me raised seven children, three girls and four boys. They all farming except two, one works for hotel, and the other work for this here government work. I have about forty grandchildren, and three great grand children. I'se shore been blessed, cause they has never been death in my family excepting Tom . The Lord carried him home ten or twelve years ago. I expected a better treatment from the Yankees and the south than we got in place of giving us a home they turned us a loose like a bunch of stray cats, only cat have better way of making living then we had; they ought to have give us a home as we didnt know anything at all. Didnt know how to make a crop or anything. All we knew was to hop when master said hop. Master he never give us anything but a hard deal, some few old cast off clothes that wasnt any good. We liked to have starved to death after the war. If that was to be gone over son, they wouldnt be any negro cause the woods was full of wild game and we could plant acre of two corn and it would make 50 or 60 bushel of corn to acre. Son, like I told you all the negro could do was to farm and work for wages. We generally got about $2.50 per month for work that we did until just before the World War, then wages got hole lot better. Times sure was hard after the war.

Then the Ku Klux Klan come along to pester the negro. They look just like ghost, and they have got after and whipped, tarred and feathered lots of negroes, just after the war. The KKK they made the negro jump and hop after the war and the negro was a free negro, they wouldnt let him alone. They wouldnt let the negro vote long time, they would all be around the voting place with them their robes on and if negro look like he wanted to vote they would tell him, negro if you know what good for you, you will go home, and let voting alone. But now, I don't think they do the negro population right about voting, as the negro he has the same responsibility and has become more and more educated, and has to pay taxes like white man do.I think we have the best bunch of young folks they can read, write and talk just like the white folks. They can hold most any kind of job, cause we have some bad one, just like they did in slavery time, and when we were young. Thanks to our president, times is lots better with the negro. I'se getting pension from the government. He said he wasnt goint to let any body starve here in this country. I hope when I'se gone you folks will still take care of the negro race.