Texas Slave Narratives

Texas Slave Narrative

  Sarah Winston

Sarah Winston , 2728 Ave. M, was born a slave of the Ford family near Arkansas (probably Arkansas City), Arkansas, about 1854. In 1864 when slavery was abolished in Arkansas, she and her family were brought to Montgomery, Texas, to the Yvoch Plantation. After the war she helped her father farm a small section of land on the former Yvoch Plantation until her marriage at the age of 19. She then helped her husband farm his section of land near Montgomery, Texas, until his death at the age of 104 years in 1932. Since that time she has been living in Galveston, Texas, with her daughter.

I 'clare I hate to ask anybody to come in de house in de fix it's in, but dese chillun jes' tear it up faster'n I can keep it clean. Look at 'em now in de middle of de room I jes' got finish sweeping jes' 'fore you come! Pick up dat paper, you Sammy ! Ain' I tol' you to go out on de front porch when you tear up any paper? Ain' I? Ain' you 'shamed of yourself? What de white lady going to think 'bout your house all tore up like dis? Chillun is shore dif'runt den dey use to be. When I was little I had to work, I ain' had no time to mess up de house. Git out of here now an' chase up a chair for de lady. An', Sammy , if I catch you on dat fence again on de new pants you Ma jes' got you, I'm going to beat you. I done warn you now an' you needn' say I ain'. Go 'way now an' let me talk to de lady. I don' know how much I 'member 'bout slavery now. My daughter use to git me to talk 'bout it all de time to her. She like to hear me tell 'bout how we use to live 'way back yonder.

I don' know for sure when I was born. De white lady for de pension figgered up I was born 'bout 1854 'cause I was 'bout ten years old when we was freed. I know I was born in Arkansas, Arkansas, though 'cause Mr. Ford own us an' he live dere. 'Course he own a lot more slaves 'sides us, 'bout a couple hundred counting de young'uns. Dere was lots of chillun an' dey all mind. You tell 'em to do something an' dey go right 'long an' does it. Dey don' give you no back talk like dey do now. Dey ain' spoil by dere Ma giving in to 'em all de time. Now I forgit what I was talking 'bout. I 'clare dese young'uns make me so mad some times I ain' got good sense. All time studying up what dey can do next. Now I 'member what I was talking 'bout. De marster an' de ol' Mistress an' dere chillun live in de big white house right smack-a-dab on de road dat goes to Arkansas. Me an' my grandma an' my father an' my brothers an' sisters live down in de quarters, 'cross de field from de big house. De cabins was all set.....Stops here


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