If we went off without a pass we allus went two at a time. We slipped off when we got a chance to see young folks on some other place. The patterrollers cotched me one night and, Lawd have mercy me, they stretches me over a log and hits thirty-nine licks with a rawhide loaded with rock, and every time they hit me the blood and hide done fly. They drove me home to massa and told him and he called a old mammy to doctor my back, and I couldn't work for four days. That never kep' me from slippin' off 'gain, but I's more careful the next time. We'd go and fall right in at the door of the quarters at night, so massa and the patterrollers thinks we's real tired and let us alone and not watch us. That very night we'd be plannin' to slip off somewheres to see a Negro gal or our wife, of to have a big time, 'specially when the moon shine-all night so we could see. It wouldn't do to have torch lights. They was 'bout all the kind of lights we had them days and if we made light, massa come to see what we're doin', and it be jus' too bad then for the stray Negro! That there war brung sufferin' to lots of people and made a widow out of my missis. Massa William , he go and let one them Yankees git him in one of them battles and they never brung him home. Missis, she gits the letter from his captain, braggin' on his bravery, but that never helped him after he was kilt in the war. She gits 'nother letter that us Negroes is free and she tells us. We had no place to go, so we starts to cry and asks her what we gwine do. She said we could stay and farm with her and work her teams and use her tools and land and pay her half of what we made, 'sides our supplies. That's a happy bunch of Negroes when she told us this. Late in that evenin' the Negroes in Huntsville starts hollerin' and shoutin' and one gal was hollerin' loud and a white man come ridin' on a hose and leans over and cut that gal nearly half in two and a covered wagon come along and picks her up and we never heared nothin' more.

I married Imogene , a homely weddin' 'fore the war. We didn't have much to-do at our weddin'. I asks missis if I could have Imogene and she says yes and that's all they was to our weddin'. We had three boys and three gals, and Imogene died 'bout twenty years ago and I been livin' with one child and 'nother. I gits a little pension from the gov'ment and does small jobs round for the white people I 'lieve they ought to have gived us somethin' when we was freed, but they turned us out to graze or starve. Most of the white people turned the Negroes slam loose. We stayed a year with missis and then she married and her husband had his own workers and told us to git out. We worked for twenty and thirty cents a day then. and I fin'ly got a place with Dr. L.J.Conroe . But after the war the Negro had a hard struggle, 'cause he was turned loose jus' like he came into the world and no education or 'sperience. If the Negro wanted to vote the Klu Kluxes was right there to keep him from votin'. Negroes was 'fraid to git out and try to 'xert they freedom. They'd ride up by a Negro and shoot him jus' like a wild hawg and never a word said or done 'bout it. I's farmed and makin' a livin' is 'bout all. I come over here in Madison County and rents from B. F. Young , clost to Midway and gits me a few cows. I been right round here ever since. I lives round with my chillen now, 'cause I's gittin' too old to work. This young bunch of Negroes is all right some ways, but they won't tell the truth. They isn't raised like the white folks raised us. If we didn't tell the truth our massa'd tear us all to pieces. Of course, they is educated now and can get 'most any kind of work, some of them, what we couldn't.

I was born in Walker County, Texas, and owned by Frank Holland . According to Bill of Sale 97 years old. Maser traded me to William Green just before the war for 100 acres of land at $1.00 per acre. He thought I never would be any account because I had only one glass eye, but Son, I am still living and a pretty fair negro to my age. I had one sister Gena Holland , and 3 brothers, George , Will and Joe Holland . They are all dead now. We had pretty fair quarters built out of pine logs, chucked with mud to keep out the cold. Never had but one room with one door and no window. Our bed was built with a pole up then some poles lay in that part stuck in on the other end of the wall of our quarters with hides of cows stretched over them then stuck moss and cotton seed on that we could sleep real warm. No sir, I never heard of my grand parents. Mother's name was Gena , and Father's name was Abraham Holland . They were brought from North Carolina to Texas, and I'se born just after they got to Texas, but I'se thinks that they were raised in Carolina, 'cause they were real young when I was born. They died long time after freedom. I chopped cotton, plowed and split rails, then I was a horse rider. In those days I could ride the wildest horse there was ever made tracks in Texas. Althought I never was valued very high on the account of my eye. Yes sir, I have made $1.00 or 50 cents to ride wild horses for people during slavery time. Maser he would always let me keep that, but I spent it fast as I got it. I bought candy and tobacco. If Maser caught me with tobacco he would give me a whipping, but yet I slipped and bought chewing tobacco. We always had plenty to eat, such as we had in those days. We had plenty of wild meat, cornbread, cooked in the ashes. We always toasted our meat on open fire. Yes, we had plenty of 'possum and rabbits, and I don't know which one I liked the best, but fish-I could eat every day. We use to get plenty fish, but these days they are hard to catch because there is not lots of them like use to be. We had royal clothes made in one long shirt opened all the way down the front, but I never did see shoes until long after freedom. In cold weather Maser would tan lots of hides in the ashes and we made our warm clothes for the cold weather, and they were so warm. My wedding clothes was just royal. Shirt opened all the way down the front, yes, it was white. Never had on shoes I married bare-footed Maser Frank he was one real good white man. He was awful good to his negroes. Mistress Sally , she was a plum angel. Bless her soul! Son,

I'se praise them white folks if they are covered with Mother Earth. They had 3 children, 1 boy and 2 girls. Them was real sweet children too. Yes sir, only trouble Maser was he would want to go with this here negro and ride them horses. Them 3 children I raised they stayed at my camp nearly all time when I was there, asking this here negro lots questions. Yes, they lived in log house with two rooms in it with a hall through it. It never had any windows. They had deer skins tacked up over the door to keep out the rain and cold. It was covered with boards Mister, that I helped cut after I got big enough to walk. Maser he had large plantation growed cotton, corn, everything that he could grows to live on. He must have had 300 acres in the farm, and maser he overseed it himself. He had 7 grown slaves and 5 little slaves. He always waked us up every morning real early about 4:30 soe's we could be in the field when day light come, and he worked us until slap dark, but he always let us have hour and half at noon to eat and rest before we went back to work. Sometime when slave got stubborn, Maser would whip them then he whipped them if they did not do their work right. I seen him whip one negro one day until that negro could not walk because he sassed Maser. Then sometimes he would send negro to his quarters without any supper, if he was contrary. He would make good negroes out of them because he was real good to them. Yes, I have seen few slaves sold and auctioned off because I was put up to the highest bidder myself. All the hollering and bawling it would take place. When he traded me for that 100 acres of land it took me most a year to get over that because I would get homesick and want to go home, but there I was belonging to another man. He would let me go home, but said I must get weined off from my former Maser and people. You have heard cattle bawl when you take their calves away from them? That was the way with the slaves. We didn't travel without pass, if we did the Patter Rollers they would get Mister Negro. Law! what they did to negroes was a plenty. We always went two at a time, never hardly ever one by himself. Of course, we slipped off when we got a chance too, and went to see other young people on some other plantation. The Patter Roller they caught me one night. Lord have mercy me! they stretched me over a log and hit 39 licks with a rawhide loaded with rock and every time they hit me the blood and hide would fly. Then they put me ahead of them and drove me to my Maser and told him, here is your negro slave. We don't think he will prowl around anymore at night. Maser, he just laughed at me and say-Tom, what you been into now? I told my Maser the truth that time and he called old negro Mammy that he owned to doctor my back, but Maser was not able to work for 3 or 4 days. No sir, that never keep me from slipping off again, but I was more careful the next time not to let them Patter Rollers catch me. Maser he never cared for me slipping off soe's I gets enough sleep and rest and would not give out on him when I was at work. No sir, the white people they say, the negro he is not worth learning to read and write.

Yes, they was church close to us and Maser he made us go once a month regular. Every Sunday Maser called us to his back door and read us some of the Bible, and he always taught us to always tell the truth. Old Brother Cox. he preached to us and he use to come home with Maser and would devil the negro slaves all the time. But, Lord, Mister the Preacher he was a good man, and that there song that goes like this-"It was good enough for our Father and its good enough for me". Then I tried in "The Fiery Furnace" and we use to have them old camp meetings once a year, and they would last 3 or 4 weeks. When it was over they would all come down here on this here old creek and baptize the white people, then the negro. Then all would go home happy because they would be lots of souls saved. We got passes from Maser and he would let us go from plantation to plantation. We would go and fall right in at the door cause lots times we would put on so Maser and the Patter Rollers would think we were real tired and they would let us alone and not watch us, and that very night we would be planning to slip off somewhere to see negro gal or our wife, or to have a big time-especially when the moon shine all night so we could see. It would not do to have torch lights. They were about all the kind of lights we had in them days. If he made light, Maser he come to see what we were doing, and it would be just too bad then for the stray negro because he would have no pass. No sir, Maser he always give us Saturday at noon for holiday so we could clean up and rest, for on Saturday night the negro he most always had tin-pan beating and bango picking, then a negro dance that would last all night long. Maser would always come out early that morning and say-you negroes go to your quarters and get ready for church or come to his back door so we could hear what he had to tell us about the Bible. Maser, he looked after us real good when we got sick, and old black mammy she doctored us for lots things, just old time remedies, such as camphor strings around our neck for cold and coughs, then she would give us Cami Weed tea for fever, chills and malaria. If she could not get us well, Maser he would have the white Doctor. We put on lots soe's we wouldn't have to work, but we did not dare let Maser know they was not anything the matter with us, if he did, Lord, we would sure have a thrashing. That there war it brought suffering to lots of people. It made a widow out of my Mistress. Maser he goes and let one of them yankees get him on the Battle Field somewhere. Mistress, she gets letter from his Captain bragging on his bravery during the war, but of course, that never helped him at all after he was killed in the war. Then we got another letter telling Mistress that all the negroes was free, then their cause lost cause the southern General could give up and stating for her to turn loose all her slaves. She called us to her back door and told us that we was free. What we could do as we liked that she could not work us anymore as slaves, then we had no place to go, so we all began to cry and ask her what we was going to do. She said she did not know. I will let you'all know tomorrow what I can do, the next day she called us back to her door and told us she still had the quarters and teams and told us we want to we could stay and farm with her. She told us we could work her teams, use her tools and land, and pay her half of what we made, besides our supplies in the house, groceries, etc,. That was a happy bunch of negroes when she told us this. Late in the evening the negroes in Huntsville started hollering, laughing, shouting and walking to and from. One negro girl was hollering very loud and a white man came down through there on a horse and when he got to that girl he just slowed down and leaned over his saddle and cut that gal nearly half in two. No one bother her, but it was not long until a covered wagon came along and stopped and picked her up and drove on. None of us ever knew who it was, not even the girl. We never did hear anymore from it.

I'se married Imogene Holland , a homely wedding before the war, or about that time it was going on. We did not have much to do at our wedding. I asked Mistress if I could have Imogene and she said yes, and that was all there was to our wedding. We had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. All farming except one boy and he works on that WPA work. One girl she works at Hotel in Houston. Imogene died about 20 years ago, and I have been living with first one child and then another. Of course, I get a small pension from the Government and I does small jobs around for the white people. They give me little something for what I do to get by one. Yes, I believe the Government ought to give us some of our Masers land, cause we made what they had when we was freed. Instead of giving us anything though they turned us out to graze or starve. Most of the white people of the South turned us slam loose. Of course, Maser he was killed in the war, but Mistress gave us a home until she married again the next year. Her young husband had his own workers and he told us to get out and find us some work as he would work Mistress' land himself I'se come over here in what now is Madison County and rented from B. F. Young , close to Midway. After then I'se gets me a few cows, but Lord I could not keep them. I'se been right 'round here ever since until my children get big enough to work. In those days we worked for 20, 25 and 30 cents a day to live on. Then I got a place from Dr. L. J. Conroe , and some of my people have been with the Conroe's ever since that. After the war the negro had a hard struggle because he was turned loose just like he came to the world. No education or experience as the white man shouldered all the load. No sir, we did not get anything from freedom but a curse and kick from the white man.No sire, I'se never heard of any places being divided. We never got any money from our Maser's, they never had much money in those days. After the war we most anything we could get to do to feed and clothe our race, but what we did was not much as we did not get enough money for what we did do only to barely get by on, and then we would take old clothes that the white man had thrown away and would not wear.

No, we were not forced to stay with our Maser as servants, but it was that or else starve to death as was nothing else to do or anywhere to go to get work.Yes, them there KKK's they would not let the negro leave his former Maser if he wanted to. Then if the negro went to vote the KKK were there to keep him from voting if he wanted to so you see they had lots to do with the Southern negro. Negroes were afraid to get out and try to exert his freedom, if he did, the KKK were there to take care of Mister Negro. No there was very few negro slaves of the South that ever voted, some few right after the war tried it, but when the KKK got through with them they never did try to vote again. I heard the KKK nearly beat some negroes to death here in the South and if the KKK didn't some with white man would ride by the negro in town or field and shoot him just like wild hogs and never would be a word said or done about it. So the KKK had lots to do with the Southern Negro, but I believes the South ought to be more liberal in allowing the negro to vote now as they have become more educated, but still the negro he has the same responsibility as the white man of the County. He has to pay taxes to support the schools, roads and public interest of all kinds. But the negro he has very little to do in choosing his public official here in Texas cause he is carried out of the Democrat Primaries and that is the way our officials in Texas are choosen. Besides serving in the war, up to the present time, I has farmed, working for wages and making about a living is all. I am honest when I tell you that sometimes I only had one meal a day, but now I gets a small pension from the Government. It hardly feeds me, but of course, it helps as I am getting too old to work. This young bunch of negroes are all right in some ways, but Lord, white folks, negroes won't tell the truth. They is not raised them like the white folks raised us. If we didn't tell the truth our Maser he would tear us all to pieces. Of course, they are educated and can hold most any kind of job, some of them, that we couldn't when we was young. Lord, Mister, when old Noah got drunk and God told his two sons to take a blanket and turn there back and cover him over so his shame would not be so plain, but Nero laughed at his Father and God sent a curse on Nero's offspring, they were black, he said God did to Nero, your people will be servants of the white people, and that has been until this day.