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Eva Martin, dark spry little person for her 82 years, barefooted, was seated on the porch in a swing patching a pair
of trousers which already looked like Jacob's coat. Eva speaks very little American, as she calls it, and was hard to
understand. Dressed in a black and white lawn dress with sleeves of a different material, she told her story willingly
of none too pleasant slavery days on the plantation in Opolousas, Louisiana.
"I 'fraid I can't tell you much 'bout me and dem times. I wish I could 'splain dat in American, but I can't. I talk
French better'n' American."
"I was ten year' ol' when freedom come. I 'member dey mek my ma sign when us free and she sign' for me ten year
ol'."
"My pappy was dead when I was bo'n. I neber did know nuthin' 'bout him. My mother was name' Mary Thibedoux.
I was bo'n close to Opelousas, Lou'sana."
"Ol' marster was Clairville Prejean. He raise me up in de big house wid de white folks. Dey tuk me from my mother
'cause she hafter wuk in de fiel'. I didn' know much 'bout de cullud folks on de place 'cause I raise up in de big
house. Dey raise me up hard 'cause I didn' had nobody to proteck me."
"Ol' marster and missus not good to dey slaves. Dey blin' my ol' mother. She hafter min' de white chillen. Dey don'
want her to go to sleep at night when she tendin' to dem chillen and dey rub salt and pepper in her eye' so she can't
go to sleep. Another time dey tuk a stick and beat her so hard dey broke her shoulder. But she live' a long time. She
101 year' ol' when she die'."
"I goin' to let you have a lot of story so your kid can read."
"Dey mek me work 'cordin' to what dey want did. I hafter go wuk in de fiel', pick cotton, go git de cow or de hoss,
eb'ryt'ing, eben when it col'."
"Ol' marster had 'bout sebenty slave' on de place. He give 'em plenty wuk to do and plenty to eat. But when ol'
marster gone away ol' mistus she ain't give us much to eat. She cut de rations. She mean, she sho' was."
"Sometime ol' marster go off on a hunt for two or t'ree week. Dey bring back lots of bird and t'ing dey kill and put
'em in a barrel wid salt to keep 'em. When he gone off dat when we git de rations cut. She talk a lot, but when she
talk, my ma call dat what she say, fuss, 'cause to usself it warn't plain American."
"When de marster was dere us git plenty to eat, meat and co'nbread, and vegetable and sich. Oh, yes, dey give us
lots of coosh-coosh. Dey mek dat wid water and grease and co'n meal. Dey eat coosh-coosh wid milk or syrup. It so
good wid dem. You don' eat it wid meat or soup. It not much polite and not de fancy t'ing to do, to eat coosh-coosh
wid soup."
"When ol' marster gone off and us ain't git much to eat, us didn' like it but us couldn' tell de marster when he come
back 'cause iffen ol' mistus find out anybody tol' him 'bout de way she cut rations somebody sho' gwine to git beat.
Us so scared us hafter hide dat."
"Dat was a big, big place. Dey was a big yard and plenty of shade trees for us to play under. We had to keep dat
yard nice and clean, too. De white chillen and de cullud chillen all play togedder. We play jump rope and wagon,
and play like we plowin'. Dey had a li'l plow, and a big one would git at de front and pull and de littler ones git at de
handles and guide it and mek like we's plowin'. Sometime we play wid dolls, and play show. Dey was seben li'l
white chillen and seben li'l nigger chillen, and us all play togedder. De littles' ones all hab de same nurse. Ol' missus
nurse 'em all from her own breas'. When my mammy hab a kid, missus hab one, too. My mammy she go to wuk de
nex' day atter she hab de kid and ol' missus she nurse 'em bofe so mammy ain't lose no time outer de fiel'. Dem
slavery days."
"In slave time dey was jis' one doctor for all dat country 'roun'. Iffen anybody git real sick dey sen' for him but
'lessen (unless) dey real sick dey tek care of 'em deyself on de plantation. Ol' missus she do herself for a slave
mudder when a li'l baby bo'n. Dey didn' care. Dat's slavery."
"De marster neber let us suffer for anyt'ing to eat but when he away us suffer."
"For my age, I hab de doctor only t'ree time' and dat was las' year and I's had 'leben chillen."
"De ol' marster he hab a cemetery for dey ownself. Dey bury de slaves in de same cemetery as what dey bury de
white folks in."
"I 'member de time I mek my fus' communion. On one side of de house was a long hall. When de pries' come 'roun'
dey worship in dat hall. De white folks and de cullud, dey all dere togedder. When dey all dere togedder dem times
dey all like kinfolks. You ain't know no diffrence 'tween dem what is your kinfolks and dem what ain't."
"De white and de cullud chillens was raise' like sisters and brudders. Dey hab a li'l table off on one side for de white
chillen and another jis' like it for de cullud chillen. Sometime your nex' pardner bad and you ain't like him, you git
up and go 'cross to de other table. Sometime de white chillen come over to us table and sometime us go over to dey
table."
"You all ortent (ought not) to be settin' on de edge of de po'ch like dat. Lemme git you chairs to sit on. It ain't polite
for me to be lettin' you set down dere. My raisin' didn' call for dat. I ain't sassy. I talk wid de white folks. Dey raise
me up wid de white folks. When you raise up by nigger you raise nigger. When you raise up by white folks you
raise up white. Some folks tell me, 'Eva, you ain't mek motion like niggers.' I tell 'em, 'No, I don't do dataway 'cause
I raise up by de white folks.' I mek a mistake when I let you all come in and sit down on de flo' like dat."
"De fus' time I put on shoes I like to break my neck. My sister die in N-Yawlins and dey sen' me her shoes. I put my
foot 'gainst de bench when I tryin' to put 'em on and when I push and pull, de bench and de box and eb'ryt'ing fall
down right on me. Dey was pretty black and lace' up, yes, yes, yes."
"Dey uster mek de clo'f and clo'se on de place. Dey spin and weave and mek de clo'se right dere. Dey showed me
how to mek de clo'f and if I had de t'ings, I could mek it right now. Dey uster mek work shoes on de place, too. Dem
shoes hab a piece of iron on de toe en' to keep 'em from wearin' out."
"My fus' communion was mek in de big house. I sho' be dress' up for dat day. Dey dress me up all in white.
Nan-nan, dat my godmother, she a white woman, she give me all I hab on dat time to mek my fus' communion. But
we pay for all dat favor. Our po' back hafter pay for it. Dey was mo' wuk to do 'till it git pay for and if we ain't git de
work done dey tek a rope and lay it on our back."
"De sojers? Sho', I see lots of sojers. Dey come ridin' up big on dey hosses. Dey was Yankees. I neber see no other
kind. I 'member dey had pretty caps on wid pretty yaller t'ing on 'em, a bird like a eagle. It was pretty shiny yaller
like dat shiny t'ing on de en' of your pencil."
"Well, dem sojers ride right up to de door and holler out, 'Whoa' and dey git down offen dey hosses and walk right
in de kitchen. We had jis' put some big pans of milk on de table and dey drink it up and fill up de li'l tin canteen
what dey had tie to dey side and go on out wid it. Dey run de chickens and ketch 'em and say, 'Put 'em in de wagon.'
Us chillen didn' know no better and help' 'em ketch de chicken'. Atter dey gone us pay for dat favor, our po' backs
sho' pay for dat favor, but us didn' know no better. Dey tek a rope to our back and we had to pay. Dey kill a beef
and strip he hide off and say, 'Put him on de wagon, too,' and when dey git de wagon pile' up wid what dey want
and git ready to go dey driv off. Ol' missus she was lock' up in de house. Dem sojers had big yaller buttons on dey
clo'se too. I 'member dat and I's a ol' nigger."
"Dey neber tol' us we free and we hafter work ten or twel' years and didn' know we free. Dey didn' tell us nuthin', us
slave all dat time. Dey treat' us like cat' and dog'. Dey board us and give us clo'se, but dey neber give us no money."
"When freedom come dey mek mother sign sump'n' (something) and dat how dey hab us to stay slave and work us
right 'long for ten or twel' year'. I uster plow and chop wood and eb'ryt'ing."
"Sometime' I t'ink 'bout dat and my heart breaks. I work hard and ain't git nuthin'. I can't see what I work for. Our
times is in de Lord's han's. My folks raise me wid good raisin'. Sometime I say to myself, 'I ain't got neither enemy,
black or white in de worl'.' 'I's t'ankful for my raisin' and my wit."
"De way I find out 'bout bein' free, one time a lady, a white lady, tell me to come and go abroad. So I go and spen'
de night wid her and she sit down and 'splain de whole t'ing to me. She say, 'You all work long 'nuff for nuthin'. I
give you de favor to stay wid me, and we plant co'n and cotton and 'taters. If you don't want to go back you kin stay
here wid me.' So I tell her I stay wid her and she tell me to go back and git my t'ings. When I go to git my clo'se I
ain't know which way to turn. I scare' dey gwineter beat me 'cause I ain't got nobody to proteck me. But I tell 'em I
come for my clo'se, and they say, 'What for?' and dey tell me go git de clo'se. I scare' all de time I gittin' my few po'
ol' rags. I scared 'till I git out de house and den I mek my long git-away quick."
"We uster sing some songs back in dem times, but I can't sing 'em now. All my singin' is done gone."
"I 'member de Klu Klux. Dey come to de house what I live in and ax me is I scared? I tell 'em, 'No.' Dey say, 'How
come you ain't scared?' I tell 'em I ain't done nobody nuffin'. One man ax me, 'Does you know me?' and I tell him,
'No.' So dey tell me, 'You needn't be scared. You do like you do now and ain't nuthin' gwineter hurt you.' Dey say
dey ain't lookin' for me, dey lookin' for somebody else."
"Dey uster wear a li'l bag wid garlic and dat other t'ing what smell strong, 'roun' dey neck so dey don't ketch no
disease."
"Dey uster tell us when somebody die in a house dat de debbil gwine come git you iffen you ain't good. Us jis' look
and look. Us git scared and go hide under de bed and cover up our head but I ain't neber see no ghos' nor nuthin'
like dat."
"My fus' husban' was Leo Martin and us had t'ree chillen. Nex' time I git marry I marry John Carmouche and us had
seben chillen. All ten of 'em livin' now and I's stayin' wid de younges' one."
"Back in slavery times when de gal big 'nuff to git marry de marster pick out a man what dey call a good man, and
dey tell 'em dey married. Dey want 'em to git togedder and raise kids. Dey mek 'em jump over a broomstick and tell
'em dey married den."
"When I git free I say I gwine to church and make my communion and quit all dat. I my own boss now, me and
God."
"When de Yankees come dey tek de stock and de hosses and de carriage and de tobacco. Dey uster mek dey own
tobacco. Dey hang it up on de rafters and den dey twis' it. De Yankees git all de tobacco dey want and put it on de
wagon. Dat what dey don't want, dey pull it apart and tear it and frow it on de groun'."
"I uster wuk in de fiel' and mek crop. I been here in Beaumont 'bout fo' year' now. I come here from Lafayette,
Lou'sana."
(Sears, 4 May 1937, (No))
