Will Adams

Will Adams, a native of Harrison County, was born in 1857, as a slave of Dave Cavin . He remained with the Cavins until he was about 28 years of age, working on the halves with his parents after Emancipation. Will has been married twice, and reared ten children, of whom four are still living. He has always earned a livelihood from farming. For the part three years he has been supported by Government relief. At present he lives alone in northeast Marshall, receiving a $13.00 per month pension. "My fo'ks allus belonged to the Cavins and wore their name till after Emancipation. My Pa and Ma was named Freeman and Amelia Cavin . Old Master Dave Cavin fotched (brought) them to Texas from Alabama, along with my Ma's mother. We called her old lady Mariah . I didn't have no brothers and sisters, but had a half brother, Gus , and a half sister, Lizzie . I'se heard old lady Mariah say that it was allus in the Cavins to think lots of their darkies. She said, 'Why shouldn't they, that was their money'. She said that plenty of Indians was here when they settled this country. They bought and traded land from them without killing them if they could. The Indians was po' (poor) fo'ks, just pilfer and loaf around all the time. The Niggers was heap site better off than they was. We had plenty to eat and a place to stay, but the white fo'ks ordered them away from this country. My Mistress, June , had three boys and three girls. They was named Aggie , Mandy , Mary , Tom , George and Billie . Tom was my young Master. He still lives in Marshall and is in the law business. Old man Dave seemed to think more of his darkies than anybody, and we thought lots of our white fo'ks. My Pa was 'leader' on the farm, there warn't no overseer or Driver. When Pa whipped you, you needn't go to the old man. He would say, 'Go on your way, Nigger, Freeman didn't whip you for nothing'. Master Dave believed what Pa said, he knowed it was that way. During slavery a Jew peddler come to our house. He was a treacherous man. After supper he went to the lot to see about his pony. Pa had fed him fifteen ears of co'n, but the Jew wanted him to have a half bushel. He come to the house and said to Master, 'That Nigger ain't fed my pony'. Master got mad and say to him, 'Be on your way if you is going to 'cuse my darkies of lying. Freeman told me he give your horse fifteen ears of co'n and no Jew ain't going to say he didn't'. Then the Jew wanted to pay Master a dime for the feed. We had good quarters and plenty to eat. I 'members when I was just a walking good that Pa would come in from the fiel' at night and take me out of bed, dress me, feed me, then play with me for hours. Him being "leader", he was gone from 'fore day till after night. The old heads got out early, but us young scraps slep till eight or nine o'clock, and don't you think old Master Dave ain't coming round to see that we is fed. I 'members him like it was yesterday coming to the 'quarters' with his stick and asking us, 'Had your breakfast?' We say 'Yes Sah' (Sir). Then he'd ask us if we had enough or wanted anymore. It look like he took a pleasure in seeing us eat. At dinner, when the fiel' hands come in, it was the same way. He was sho (sure) that pot-licker pot was filled as long as the darkies wanted to eat. One day a white man and his wife was with him when he come to the 'quarters' at dinner. The lady say, 'It looks like Mr. Dave thinks lots of his Niggers'. The man say, 'I reckon he do, that's his money'. The hands worked from sun to sun. They didn't do like they do now, they worked. If they needed a whipping, Pa put it on them. There was one man who done all the feeding. Pa come along behind him and if he didn't do it up brown, you would hear him hollering down to the lot. Master give his hands little crops and let them work them on Saturday. Then he bought the crops and the darkies went to Jefferson and bought clothes and such like. Big boats would drive up there. They fired wood. Lots of them saved their money and bought their freedom 'fore the war was over. They couldn't go 'bout as they pleased though, but had to have a dictator. We went to church on Sunday. First a white preacher preached to the white fo'ks, then he preached to the darkies and teach us to sing. I think that was a blessing. We was ignorant and had to be taught by some one. He taught our colored men to preach. That was a blessing to our fo'ks, too. The first man I saw ordained was a white preacher ordain a colored preacher. The white preacher told him the first thing for him to do was to always be honest. He say, 'If you are honest with man, you'll be honest with the Lord'. Then he laid his hands on him and said: "Go preach my gospel, saith the Lord,  Bid the whole world my grace receive Teach all Nations my commands And I'm with you till the world shall end." When the white preacher laid his hand on him, all the Niggers got to hollering and shouting and praying and that Nigger got scared nearly to death. At Christmas we had all we could eat and drink. After we et, we had a big party and you ought to see them gals swinging their partners around. Then old Master would make two of the Niggers wrestle. Our sports and dances was big sport for the white fol'ks. They sat around on the porch and watched the darkies put it on brown. Master didn't want his darkies to marry off the place. Sometime they would marry off to a good neighbors place. Master would go over and tell his neighbor, 'My Nigger is coming to your place, make him behave'. His neighbor would say, 'He'll behave'. All the darkies behaved then, there warn't no Huntsville, gallows, electric chairs and burnings then. When we got sick don't think they didn't take care of us. Old Master Dave was around every day to see how we was getting along. I know when the war started and when it ceased. My old Master went to the war with his boy, Sillie. They come home on furlough and told us 'bout the war. There was lots of crying and weeping when they set us free. Lots of them didn't want to be free. They knowed nothing and had nowhere to go, after the war was over. Them that their Masters was good to them stayed right on their owners place, them that their Masters wasn't good to them, left. I 'members when the Ku Klux business started up. Smart Nigger's mouth started that. A class of people called the carpet-baggers ruined the darkies and the white men couldn't do anything with them, so they got up the Ku Klux, and they stirred up the world. That was wrong. Those carpet-baggers come round trying to teach the darkies to sass the fo'ks that had fed them. They come to my Pa with that talk and he told them, 'Listen here, white fo'ks, you is going to start a graveyard if you come round here teaching Niggers to sass white fo'ks'. Them carpet-baggers caused all the trouble at elections in reconstruction. Darkies don't know anything about politics. A man that don't know anything about it better not fool with it. I think some of the young Niggers is qualified to vote and some won't do. Most of them ain't using what education they got right. I'se been here gwying (going) on eighty years and still has to be showed and told by the white fo'ks. These young Niggers won't be told by white or blacks either. They think they done knows it all. That's what gets them in trouble. I stayed with the Cavins most on to twenty years after the war. I allus worked on the farm and odd jobbing here in town. I'se the father of ten chil'ren by one woman. Three of my boys live here in Marshall, odd jobbing and working on relief. One of my girls is in Dallas. I'se been married twice but both of my wimmen (women) is dead. I lives by myself and they give me $13.00 a month pension. I'd be proud to get it if it warn't but a dollar, cause they ain't nothing an old man can do no more.