Mary Donatto

Not one word was spoken by Mary Donatto , of Ames, Texas, aged Louisiana negress, when questioned conerning her life during slavery time. From answers made by her daughter Mary , with whom she makes her home, a brief summary of her youth was secured. Mary's health has completely failed, and with it her mental faculties, and speech. She sat, apart, in an uncomfortable looking rocker while her daughter spoke; a tan-skinned old woman, with a vacant stare and a full face, triple chins descending upon an ample bosom. Mary was free-born and, it is said that her people once owned slaves of their own. She was living in Opelousas, Louisiana when freedom came, a youngster of about ten years at the time. This story will, of necessity, be in the third person, but still dialectic because of the uneducated speech of the old woman's daughter.

Mary Donatto was bo'n 'bout 1855, in St. Landry parish, Louisiana. She was bo'n near Opelousas. De situation at dis time was diff'rent wid her dan wid mos' cullud people befo' de war. She was free-bo'n and her people all been free-bo'n befo' her. Den she marry a free-bo'n man and dat mek all de chillen wid dat same strain. Dey was a li'l woods settlement where Mary's folks live. Dey was one big fiel' what you have to cross and all de houses 'roun' in de fiel'. Dey was li'l trails w'at lead up and down and all through de settelement. Mos' de cullud folks what live dere in dis place was all kinfolks. A book was wrote 'bout de settlement but dis' fam'bly ain' never had none 'cause dey never did do much readin'. Mary she tell dat de book tell where all dese folks come from and how come dey's free, and 'bout ev'ryt'ing concernin' dem. Some of de generations was Spanish, dey say, and dat's how dey happen to own dey lan' and not belong to nobody. Mary's daddy he owned a small farm in de settlement. He raise cotton and co'n and sol' it in Opelousas. He was name Sostan Ozan . My mother was Celeste Ozan befo' she marry. De folks have li'l plank houses, mos' all alike, wid home-mek furn'chure. Dey wasn' much diff'rent to de settlement houses dey have now. Dey wasn' like de quarters houses runnin' side by side like dey do in dem day on de big plantations for de slaves. Clo's was mek by all de folks. Dey have dey own loom and t'ings. De li'l'est chillen was taught to help wid de loom. By de time dey good size dey could weave t'ings like blanket' and de like. When de wool come in from dey sheep dey mek wool pants. De li'l boys have strap and buckle pants atter dey git a size. Dey wo' long knit stockin' too. Dey kinder look funny though, when dey go to dances wid dem pants. All dem wo' shoes mek wid a piece of brass on de en' of de toe. Dem shoe' was heavy like lead. De li'l chillen ain' never had no hats but de growed up wimmen all have dem a lov'ly white bonnet for Sunday. Dem was sho' fine bonnets. Dey save all de money what dey could git and buy de bes' white clo'f dey could git for de money. Dem bonnets was huge, dey was mek wid slats runnin' all 'roun' de front, and wide ruffles. De Sunday dress was white, but not de gran'folks nor de chillen ever had no silk dress to dey back. (The daughter paused to explain that she had never owned a silk dress, and only one pair of rayon stockings in her life.) li'l settlement was mos'ly in itse'f. Dey didn' buy nuthin', no food or nuthin' much outside. Dey go to de bayou for all kinds of fish and de like, and to de woods for de fresh meat. Dat crawfish was good. Skin de tail and use de white meat in a good brown gravy wid onion. Den dey mek what dey call jumbalai. Dey brown de meat in right smart lard, good rice, and water, wid onion, red pepper and salt. Dat better iffen it cook in a i'on pot and cook down dry. Don' eat no bread wid it. Dey use po'k, or bird, or chicken in de jumbalai. For t'ree generations dey have no school for de chillen in de settlement. Atter de war dey have a school in Opelousas and Mary go and learn to read and write, but she done forgit dat wid all her troubles long ago. All dem belong to de Cath'lic chu'ch and still does. Dere wasn' no contack wid de sojers, and de white folks didn' bodder none much. De war didn' mean nuthin' to de settlement 'cep'n' dat some de run-aways pass through dere abouts, on de way sou'f or crost to Texas. Mary marry a free-bo'n man name' Francois Aleced Donatto . He was from New Orleans. He been raise by a gran'ma in Opelousas 'cause his mama and daddy done die and he a orphan chillen. Bofe he mama and daddy die in de yeller fever. When Mary's ol'es' daughter was fo' year ol' she move' to Ville Platte. Dey was 12 chillen and fo' boys and five gals is still livin'. Dey's Mary , de ol'es' gal, she lives wid. Den Edolie , Cecile , Anna , Celeste , Joe , Welfred , Alice , and Sostan , mos' all farmers and house-keepers. De fam'bly move' to Ames 23 year ago. Dat is, what was togedder. Mary live wid a son back in de woods for one year and den move up closeter to de road where she is now.  She uster be talky and tol' lots 'bout dem time but she been too sick, and she failin' now