Texas Slave Narratives

Texas Slave Narrative

  Henry Johnson

Henry Johnson , a patient of the aged and infirm ward of the St. Mary's Infirmary, was born a slave of the Cowling family in Mississippi in 1842. He remained on the plantation during the Civil War and witnessed Sherman's famous march to the sea. After the war he went to work on a boat. Although he has been bed-ridden for several years his mind is still clear and active. De war? Shore I 'member de war. I 'member when de Yankees burn down Jedge Cowling's house an' all de quarters an' de fences an' kill all de hogs an' things. I ain't tell you nothin' I hear somebody else say neither. I seen it wit' my own two eyes. I belong to some very rich white folks. Dey was 'bout de riches' in Mississippi I guess. Ain' you ever hear of Jedge Cowling ? Dere was him an' de Mistress an' de two boys, Alfred an' Charlie . Dey live in a fine brick house. Den he had a lot of field hands an' house niggers, an' dey live in de quarters. I don' know where 'bouts in Mississippi dis place was at. I shore don' 'member no town 'round dere. I was born dere in 1842. My mother work in de house an' my father was a field hand. She was name Esther an' he was name Jim . I always work in de house. I was raise wit' de two boys. We use to play together, an' I was s'posed to take care of 'em. Sometime dey do somethin' dey ought'n an' de Mistress ask who done it an' dey say 'Henry '. I say I didn' an' de Mistress punish me for lyin'. But I was bad sometime. Me an' de boys use to fight an' I'd bite 'em jus' like a dog. Mis' Cowling use to put me in de dungeon to punish me. It was a great big cellar under de house where dey kep' all kinds of 'serves an' vegetables an' things like dat. Dey put de niggers dere when dey was bad. I don't think dey ever whup any. Dey put 'em in de dungeon. It was col' an' dark dere. I use to think dey had rats dere to, but de house was made out of bricks an' de cellar was bricks an' now I know dere wasn' no place for a rat to stay. It sure was col' an' dark dere. De Mistress use to lock us up in dere an' keep us dere 'til she got ready to let us out. I never got any further'n de steps. I use to sit on 'em an' wait 'til de Mistress let me out.

De white folks had a school an' Alfred an' Charlie went dere. De mistress heared us our catechism every mo'nin'. We better knowed it, too. I 'member jes' as well when she told me I was a bad boy an' would burn in de fire if I don' watch out. Den she tried to learn me how to read and write, but I didn' do so good dere. I can 'member my old Mistress tellin' me, 'Henry , you'd regret de day dat you didn't learn how to read and write good. Dey had a little church, too. One of de field hands was de preacher. He use to preach every Sunday. I don' know how de white folks went to church. De marster use to read prayers to 'em every night. Yes'm, I been to some of de marriages. You marry in your own Mistress' parlor an' de Marster marry you. Dat's all stuff 'bout jumpin' over de broom. I hear it too, but it ain' true. Christmas was a good time. Den de white folks give me clothes an' candy an' things, an' dere wasn' no work to do. I work in de white folks' house when I got bigger. I was jes' a house boy. Dey didn't pay me no money. I had everything I want anyway. Den sometime dey make quilts. Who want to make de quilt would tell de others an' dey'd go to de bigges' house in de quarters where dey had de most room. Den some of 'em thread de needle. Dey pass de needle from one to 'nother 'til it got to de threader. Den when dey finish dey had de 'Take me Out'. Dat was a long table with pie an' diffrunt things. Sometime dey had half a shoat. Dere was a terrible lot of stuff. Den dey eat an' had a good time. I never was sol'. I know dey sol' 'em though. But dey never sol' me. Den de War come. Jedge Cowling's two boys went in de Army, Alfred an' Charlie . Dey was grown den. Alfred was a first lieutenant an' Charlie was a color man. Dat's de man who carry de colors. Dey had a big picnic an' barbecue when de boys lef'. Dey kill de hogs an' build a fire in de groun' an' roast 'em like dat. An dey had chickens an' turkeys, an' a big crowd of white folks come. Dey had lemonade in big tubs for de ladies. De tables was 'bout a quarter of a mile long. Dey was building 'em for a long time 'fore de picnic. Dat was de bigges' picnic I ever seed. De boys both live over de War. I hear one of 'em got shot, but he didn't get kill. Den de Yankees come. We know dey was comin', but dey was comin' in so many ways dat you dodge 'em dis way an' dodge right in dere way. Dey come to our place in de evening jes' 'fore it get dark. Dey struck dere camp an' tore down de fences to make de fire with. Dey had some six-mule wagons with 'em with big covers on 'em to take de stuff in. Dey kill all de cattle an' hogs an' put 'em in those wagons. Den dey burn down de quarters an' all de fences  everythin' dat could burn dey burn. Dey burn down Jedge Cowling's house but it was made out of bricks an' didn' burn so good an' de white folks live in what was lef'. Some of de niggers run 'way soon as dey seen de Yankees. De white folks had scared 'em 'bout de Yankees goin' to kill 'em, so dey run 'way an' hide in de woods. But it didn' do 'em no good, 'cause dey had to build a fire dat night an' de Yankees seen de fire an' wen' an' got 'em. Dey was de cavalry. Dey had on very stylish jackets with tassels on dem, an' dere brass plates an' buttons shine like gol'. Dey shore was pretty. But dey was a tough-looking cavalry. Dey had sabres an' cutlass, an' dey'd holler, 'Right! Left! Cut!'. Dey shore had a pretty band. You'd think dey was harps from heaven dey play so pretty. Dey must've been train up North some place. Dey lef' in de mo'nin' an' took all de field hands with 'em. Put 'em in de big wagons dat didn' have no meat in 'em. Some of 'em was use to shootin' squirrels an' dey know if you can shoot squirrels you must be a pretty good shot, so dey take 'em with 'em. I guess dey put 'em on a suit an' make soldiers out of 'em. But I don' know 'bout dat. Dey didn' take me.

I stay dere with Mis' Cowling an' de Jedge for a long time. Dere was me an' a couple of women an' dat was all dey had lef'. All our garden was ruin' an' we 'most starve to death, but de Yankees don' care. Sometime I shoot a squirrel or somethin' like dat an' we et dat. We 'most starved to death den. After de War I lef' 'em an' wen' to work on de 'Sea Castle'. Dat was a boat dat haul gov'ment stuff from New Orleans to Mobile. Dey haul food. You know, flour an' meal an' beans an' stuff to eat. I don' know who it go to, but I know it was gov'ment stuff dat de gov'ment want haul. We pick it up in New Orleans an' haul it to Mobile. I was de cabin boy. I help in de galley an' wait on de officers when dey et. Dey captain was a Eye-talian. He give me fifteen dollars a month an' 'nough to eat. I done quit de ship after a few years an' go to New Orleans an' work for some white folks in dere store, cleaning it up an' sometimes I'd carry de bundles to de people's house. I stayed dere for a long time. I forget all de places I work. I work for some white people cleaning up dere yard an' taking care of dere garden, I know. Den one day I got on a train an' come here 'cause I hear 'em talk in New Orleans 'bout all de money you could make here. I got here jes' in time to be in de big storm. Dat was bad. I guess I was here 'bout two weeks when dat storm hit. Man, it shore did hit, too. First I hear 'bout dere was going to be a storm, a man at de place where I stay, on 28th an' Ave. I, say to me dat do I know dat dey is 'specting a storm. I say, 'Shore 'nough?', an' he say, 'Shore 'nough,' but don' worry 'cause it ain going to be nothing much'. It was raining den, but I ain' pay much 'tention 'cause it rain a lot where I come from wit'out no storm. De sky look kind of funny, too, but I ain' pay dat no 'tention neither. Den first thing I know it got to blowing. Dat win' push an' shove dat house 'til it rock like a barrel, an' I say to myself dat I ain' going to stay dere 'cause if dat ain' a bad storm I shore don' wan' to see no worser one. No, sir. 'Bout time I say dat I hear a 'Bam!' an' I say, 'What's dat?' De landlady run out in de hall an' she say we got to git out of dere 'cause de house is falling down an' de back porch jes' den fall down. I grab up my things wit' one hand an' de landlady say to take a long pole 'cause we going to need it. I can't find no pole so I took de broom. We run out an' de rain was falling so bad dat we got soaking sopping wet 'fore we git down de steps. Dere was a lot of de men what live in de neighborhood helping de people to leave. Dey had long poles an' dey walk in front of you an' push de things out of your way so you can walk. Some of de streets was covered wit' water an' dey had to feel 'roun an' find de sidewalk. Dere was one thing 'bout those men, white or colored it didn' make no diffrunce wit' 'em. Dey treat 'em all 'like. Dis man took us to de depot station, on 25th an' Wharf, an' lef' us dere. We wen' inside an' it was crowded. White people an' colored people was all bundled up dere together. Some of dem had brought dere dog an' cat an' polly an' one lady had brought some chickens an' dey was all mix up. After we git dere I feel a whole lot better. De water come up so fast dat you couldn' hardly tell it was coming. Course we was in de inside an' can't see nothing, but dey kep' pulling in people who was out in de storm an' dey was naked, even de ladies, an' all cut up. Some of 'em had dere arms broke an' dey was talking wild-like out of dere heads. De people cry an' holler an' take on somethin' awful. But de depot station stood de storm good, some of de windows got broke out but dat was 'bout all. You could hear de wind an' sometime you could hear de houses when dey fall down. It shore was awful, awful. Den after de storm was over an' gone we wen' out dere an' wen' on home. Dead people an' horses an' dogs was everywhere you step. Put your foot down an' you put it on a dead man. I never seen nothing like it. De house where I live was gone an' dere wasn't nothing lef' dere. Den de soldiers come in an' say dey wan' men to help 'em clean up. Dey say dey pay 'em two dollars a day if dey help 'em an' shoot 'em if dey don'. I 'listed an' dey put me to work gatherin' up de dead people an' puttin' 'em in a big pile. Dey say dey shoot those dat don' help 'em, an' once in a while dey give us a little whiskey. De gov'ment furnish de gloves for us to put on to pick up de dead people wit'. Dey take 'em an' pile 'em up an' a wagon come by an' git 'em. I seen one man who was so big he took up a whole wagon by hisself. Den dey put 'em on barges an' took 'em out in de Gulf an' dumped 'em overboard. Some of 'em come back in an' dey made us git 'em 'gain an' burn 'em dis time. Dey ought to do like de Yankees done. Dig a big long hole an' bury 'em in dat. But de ground was kind of bad an' I guess dey couldn' do dat. De next time dey had a storm I lit out an' wen' to Houston an' stay dere 'til de storm was over an' gone. Den I come back an' see de house where I live at an' dere wasn' nothin' de matter wit' it. But I say if I stay dere in it, de whole house fall down jes' 'cause I was dere.

Den after de storm (1900) I got a job in de country helping de man who own de farm wit' de stock. Den I come back here an' work 'round here for some of de white folks in dere yards cuttin' de grass for 'em an' pullin' de weeds out of dere garden. I done dat 'til I got sick an' dey put me out here. I knowed 'bout Wright Cuney , but I never knowed him. He help de men on de wharf one time when de white folks was trying to put 'em off. I 'member hearing tell 'bout dat. You know if de Yankees didn' burn down places like dat de North never would've whup de South. No, Sir. De South didn' do 'em dat way, but dey was dirty. One time de captain tell me dat de boat is goin' to de North. I say if she does I quit, 'cause I done seen all de Yankees I wan' to see. Yes, sir.


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