Texas Slave Narrative
Martha Jones
I was a little slave girl five years old when the war was over an' de slaves was given dar freedom. I was one of five children. My mammy was sold when I was about six months ole an' I was given by my Massa to my granmammy named Hannan West . I was born in Virginia but we moved to Mississippi an' den to Louisiana an' den later to Texas. De first work I 'members doing wen I was a gal was my ole granny making me sit under de loom an pickin' up de shuttles wen dey fell to de flo'. My mammy was livin' near us on anudder plantation in Mississippi, wen de Freedom comes an' my ole Uncle comes to take us back home wif him. Wen he fins out dat my mammy not dar he goes to look fur her an' meets her on de road comin' back to us. We all goes an' lives wif him for good many years an' den we comes wif Mistus to Texas. Freedom is come but we comes on to Texas wif her an wurks fur her for several years. When we lived wif de furst ole Miss we cum wif from Louisiana we lived near Austin, Texas, an' hit was mostly a cattle country. Dey had not started to plant cotton den in dat county an' we jes had corn, oats, an' a little wheat. Dey was mostly jes a little patches of lan' to be wurked an' so she did not have many niggers, mostly cowboys an' did not have a jail, ceptin at Austin an' dat was used fur de white folks who stole de cattle mostly. We all had plenty to eat for she had cows an' hogs an' den we could go an' kill wild turkeys an' wild hogs dem days. We had little gardens an' sometimes we would go out an' pick some wild stuff we had fur greens but I don' 'member what dey called it. Wen we was livin' near de Colorado river we would go to de ribber fur our fish frys. De country was all hilly an' pasture an' our little crop in de valley. Wen de fourth of July would come all de cowboys would come to somebodys ranch an' den dey would have horse races an' bet on dem an' mos' of de niggers would lose de money. If dey had any money. Den dey would have a big barbecue an' barbecue a cow or calf an' after de white folks would eat we niggers would go an' eat all dat we wanted. Kin I 'member any of de songs dat dey used to sing wen dey would have dar meetin's? I 'members one dat go like dis, it was called, "Rein Marse Jesus Rein. Effen religion was a ting dat money could buy, Oh, rein Marse Jesus rein, De rich would live an de pore would die, Oh, rein Marse Jesus rein, But de Lawd he 'lowed he would not hab it so, Oh, rein Marse Jesus rein, So de rich mus die jes same as de po', Oh, rein Marse Jesus rein. Den when my granny would sit at the ole spinnin' wheel, she would sing dis song, dey sang at de baptizin's too. How freely will I go, Down to de water Among Zions sons an' daughters, Ebery time I reach up to de house ob God, De Angels cried out Glory, bring good tidings to my soul.
While we was livin' on de place near Austin de men would go to town on de Saturday evenin's an' de women would stay an' help ole Miss cook fur de Sunday dinner. Sometime dey would be two or three families to cum eat Sunday dinner wif her, when de fourth of July comes we would help wif de dinners too, cepin dem times it would be a barbecue an' de beeves would be killed. After de white folks had dar dinner den dey would have horse races an' we niggers would eat what was lef' an' dat was allers plenty. Den at Chris'mus time de white folks would give us a Chris'mus tree an' effen day had grapes dat year an' made wine den dey would open de barrel an' maybe let us have a little fur our eggnog, an' den we'd all sing, "Chris'mus kums but once a year, everybody ought to git his sheer," den effen we didn't get to have Chris'mus tree, de chilluns would hang dere stockin's up an' in de mawnin' git up at three an' four o'clock to see what ole Santa brung dem. Den dey would wake everybody up an' sing, "Merry Chris'mus," to us all. Yes'm I 'members some stories my granny tells when we was jes little chilluns. Ole Massa went way, so we niggers celebrated by killin' de fattest pig an' having a barbecue an' dance. Roun' an' roun' we went to the tune of, "O'Hara Susie", which goes like dis, You ole rogue Susie, You stole my partner Susie, Gonna git me anudder, Jes as good as de udder, I know you lie, see it in your eye, I know you steal, see it in your heel, Way down yander in de debbils den, Ketch me if you ken. All of a sudden some one whispered, hist! Who dat man sittin' ober in de corner all ragged an dirty? Sister Mollie say, its ole Massa foolin' us, ole Massa all blacked up an' was dere all de time an' knew jes where de pig come from. Roun' an' roun' he marched us as he cracked his whip at us to fin' out who stole his pig but we'alls so skeered dat he cant tell which one 'twas, so he let us go when dey gives de barbecue an' dat broke up de party.
My aunt was a big girl an' lived wif us, she was lazy an' hated to wurk, so when ole Missus whips her one day she runs away, she went to her uncles an' he brung her back an' say, "ole Miss de war is ober an' de niggers free, so what for do you whip Amy ?" Ole Miss say dat she whip Amy jes like she do her own chilluns an' if Amy stay dar she got to wurk. So Amy wurks an' stays wif ole Miss till she go to her home. We likes dis story dat de ole granny tells us about de 'possum an' de bull frogs. Ole 'possum des a sittin' by de crick a watchin' de bull frogs an' de little froggies jump in de water an' go splash, it so hot in de summertime, ole 'possum say, "How deep is de water?" An' little froggies say, "knee-deep," an' de ole frogs say, "kum-on-in, kum-on-in" an' all de time Mr. 'possum has jumped in an' he des splutters an' splutters an' tryin' to keep from drownin', an' when he finally git out his hair is stanin' all over his body an' dat is why de 'possum hair is standin' on end. When we is little we wear asfidity bags to keep de measles an' mumps, an' whoopin' cough off an' hit shore did keep dem off. When our ole Mistis dat we lived wif near Austin, Texas, went back to her ole home in Louisiana we moved to the Brazos bottom an' stayed until my ole man Tom Jones died an' I moved to Marlin an' to Mart. We made good crops on de Brazos an' de men we wurked fur mos always let us have a little lan' of our own an' we wurked it for half what we made. We liked dat part of Texas de bes' because it was like ole Missipp. De cotton grew high jes like it did in Missipp. We liked the timber country better dan de hilly country on de Colorado an' den dere was de best of everything more vegetables an' coon an' 'possums an' wild things. We had our fust bad year when de boll-worm come, we never did see dem 'fore, some said dey come frum ole Mexico, but dey sure did eat de cotton up when we thought it was done made. Den my ole man died an' my chillun had all lef me, so I went to cookin' fer de white folks an' come up to de country aroun' Marlin an' Mart, am livin' wid one of my daughters now. I had nine chillun but only raised four. I is jes thankful fur de little I do have in dis world an' I am mos' blind now an' feels like I's standin on Jordans Stormy Banks." An' cast a wishful eye, To cannains fair an' happy lan', Where my possessions lie.
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