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"I was born in Alabama, but I don't know what place, and what year. But my mother said I was about 14 when de
slaves was freed. My master's name was Page. I don't remember what his first name was. He didn' own many slaves,
jus' my father and mother and another man and woman. My father and mother had three children, and the other man
and his wife had two. My master moved to Texas before de war. He got a pritty big farm near Carthage, Texas, in
Panola county. Him and his folks was always good to us. There was other slave owners 'roun' us, though, which
wuzn' so very good to their niggers. Co's there was all kinds of people owned slaves. My master's son-in-law, he
didn' live far from us, he had a few slaves. He was pritty good to de slaves most of de time, he was a sort of a
peculiar man. He had certain times we was to answer him 'Sir' or 'What?', and if we couldn' always tell what to
answer him, jus' had to guess at it, and if I missed it he would gimme a whippin'.
"De slaves always had to have a pass if de left de place where dey lived. It was just a little piece of paper wid de
owner's name writ on it. If de didn't have a pass, de pattyrollers would ketch and give 'em a beatin'. Dey'd make 'em
strip off down to de waist and take 'em out in de woods and tie 'em to a tree and whip 'em hard. We seen some of
'em bein' took to de woods and whipped near our place. None of us ever got whipped by de pattyrollers 'cause we
always had our passes. De pattyrollers would be out ever' Sunday lookin' for slaves who was out widout passes.
"Our master didn' whip us none, and give us good clothes to wear and good food to eat. We had plen'y all kinds of
vegetables, hog meat and beef. De beef would be dried, and we would take it 'roun' with us and eat it. We called it
our tobaccer. Master raised sheep of different colors, dere was white, black and yellow, and so we didn' dye de
wool. We raised indigo, and made bluing and blue dye from it. When de indigo was de right ripeness we take and
put it in a barrel and pour water over it and let turn, den we would mash it up and den pur de water off, and dat
would be our dye.
"We made fine wool jeans, and we made what de called coverlids wid wool. De coverlids was heavy and dey had
raised designs worked in 'em like flowers. We made big, thick counterpins of cotton, and dey had de raised designs,
too. I could card wool and cotton, and spin, but I couldn' weave. I helped a lot wid de cookin'. I never had to work
in de field.
"De master and his folks lived in a big double-log house. It had two rooms with a open passageway between, and
dere was a room for a kitchen which was built on to one of de other rooms. De master had some fine horses, and
cattle. He raised corn and things like dat, but not much cotton.
"I didn't get no edgycation. De white childrun, dey tried to teach us niggers, but we wouldn' even try to learn. We
thought it was a disgrace for us to study and learn things. So I don't know how to read and write.
"De slaves didn' have no church of their own. Dey went to de white folks' church and set in de back. Dey would let
us go visitin' on Sunday, and we didn' have any more work to do on dat day dan was needed. De slaves didn' have
no singings as I remembers of.
"I don't remember nothin' 'bout de war. I reckon none of it happened 'roun' where we was. De master's son was shot
in de war. Dat's all I remembers 'bout it.
"We stayed wid de master and his family a good while after de slaves was freed. Den my mother decided she
wanted to go and stay wid another colored woman she knowed. My mother had a great big gourd. It was might near
big as a washtub, and she packed all our things in that and started out wid us childrun, and de ol' mistis tol' my
mother she wuzn' goin' to let her take us childrun. My mother said, "All right', and she went on widout us, and she
was off some ways goin' up a hill when de ol' mistis tol' us to go and go wid our mother. De ol' mistis cried when
we lef'."
Miss Effie Cowan, P.W. McLennan County, Texas Dist. #8 (September 26, 1937 (No))
