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MIETIE MARIA MILLER, 1404 39th St., Galveston, Texas, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1852. She has
forgotten her first master's name, but was sold while very young to Dr. Massie, of Lynchburg. Texas. The journey to
Texas took three months by oxcart. After the Civil War Mintie went to Houston and stayed with an old colored
woman whose former master had given her a house. Later she went to Galveston, where she has worked for one
family 24 years.
"I was born in Alabama in 1852, in Tuscaloosa and my mammy's name was Hannah, but I don't know my pappy's
name. When I was still pretty little my brother and uncle and aunt and mother was sold and me with 'em.
"Dr. Massie brung us to Texas in an oxcart but my sister had to stay with the old mistress and that the last I ever
seen my sister. She was four year old then.
"After we reaches Texas we lives on a great big place, somewhere 'round Lynchburg and Dr. Massie have two girls
and I sleeps on the foot of they bed. They nice to me, they spoil me, in fac'. I plays with the white gals and they
feeds me from they tables and in the evenin' my mammy takes me down to de bayou and wash my face and put me
on a clean dress.
"My mammy cook for the white folks and they treats us both fine. but one gal I knowed was 'bout 8 or 9 and she run
away from her master and swim do Trinity River and it was winter and her feets freezes. He catches dis gal and puts
her feets in the fire to thaw 'em, and burnt 'am. The law way you could take slaves 'way from sich a man, so
Dr. Frost takes her away from that man and gives her to Miss Nancy wha' was de mistress at Dr. Massie's place.
"Then they says they gwine sell me, 'cause Miss Nancy's father-in-law dies and they got rid of some of us. She
didn't want to sell me so she tell me to be sassy and no one would buy me. They takes me to Houston and to the
market and a man call George Fraser sells the slaves. The market was a open house, more like a shed. We all stands
to one side till our turn comes. They wasn't nothin' else you could do.
"They stands me up on a block of wood and a man bid me in. I felt mad. You see I was young then, too young to
know better. I don't know what they sold me for. but the man what bought me made me open my mouth while he
looks at my teeth. They done all us that-a-way. sells us like you sell a hoss. Then my old master bids me goodby and
tries to give me a dog, but I 'members what Miss Hancy done any and I sassed his and slapped she dog out of his
hand. So the man what bought me say. 'When one o'clock come you got to sell her 'gain, she's sassy. If she done me
that way I'd kill her.' So they sells me twice the name day. They was two sellin's that day.
"My new master, Tom Johnson, lives in Lynohburg and owns the river boat there, and has a little place. 'bout one
acre, on the bayou. Then the war comes and jes' 'fore war come to Galveston they took all the steamships in the
Buffalo Bayou and took the cabins off and made ships. They put cotton bales 'round then and builded 'em up high
with the cotton, to cotch the cannon balls, Two of 'em was the Island City, and the Hoptune.
"Then freedom cries and the master say we all free and I goes to Houston with my mammy. We stays with a old
colored woman what has a house her old master done give her and I finishes growin' there and works some. But
then I comes to Galveston and hired out here and I been workin' for these white folks 24 year now.
Miller, Mintie Maria -- Additional Interview
Mintie Maria Miller, 1404 39th St., Galveston, Texas, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1852. She has forgotten
her first master's name, but was sold while still very young to Dr. Massie of Lynchburg, Texas. The journey from
Alabama to Texas took three months to make in an ox cart. Mintie became a favorite with the mistress and her two
daughters. After the death of Dr. Massie's father, Mintie was sold in the Houston slave market. Her new master was
not pleased with her and she was sold to Tom Johnson of Lynchburg the same afternoon. Mintie stayed on Tom
Johnson's place on Buffalo Bayou during the Civil War. She watched the Confederates prepare the ships to
re-capture Galveston from the Federal Army, but according to her own statement "Didn' pay dem much 'tention."
After the war she went to Houston and stayed with an old colored woman whose master had given her a small
house. Later Mintie came to Galveston and "hired out". She has been working in one family for twenty-four years.
"I was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1852. I don' 'member who we belong to for I was too little. My mother told
me, but I forgot now. My mother's name was Hannah. I don' know my father's name.
"When I was still pretty little my brother, uncle, aunt an'
mother was sold an' I went with 'em. My father wasn' sold so he couldn' go. De marster told us we was going to
Texas, dat we belong to Dr. Massie now.
"Dey brought us to Texas on an ox cart. My sister got on de wagon to go, too, an' de marster said, 'Adeline, you can'
come. You got stay here with Mistress.' Dat's de last I ever seen my sister. She was four years old den.
"It took us three months to come to Texas on de ox cart. I don' know how far we come in one day, but it sure was
tiresome. Dere was two crowds of us. My mother, uncle, aunt an' me an' my brother was in one wagon. Another
man with some more slaves was in de other wagon. He was going to a dif'runt place from us. De marster didn'
come, he left Capt'in White to take care of us. At night we slept in de wagon.
"After we come to Texas we live on a big place. It was somewhere 'round Lynchburg. Dr. Massie own it. He had
two girls an' I use' to sleep on de foot of dere bed. Dey was nice to me, dey spoil me in fack. Dey use to have picnics
an' de girls would take me. I'd run 'round de tables, mixing with de white folks, barefoot an' wit' my hair not comb.
De girls use' feed me from all de tables, I had a little bit of everything dere. In de afternoon my mother would come
an' bring me a clean dress. She'd take me down to de bayou an' wash my face an' put me on a clean dress.
"I run away when I was a chile lots of times. I couldn' go to my mother, dey didn' 'low me to, so I jus' stay out in de
pasture. I never stay out all night. I always come in when it got dark. If dey caught me dey whip me, an' if dey didn'
dey didn' whip me. Sometime I run away 'cause somebody made me mad or somethin'. Sometimes I jus' run away
for no reason, you know how chillun are.
"I didn' do no work when I was little. My mother was de cook for de white folks. Dey treated us fine but some of de
white folks treated dere slaves awful bad. Dere was a girl in Lynchburg, I can't 'member her name jus' now, she was
little, 'bout eight or nine I guess, an' she run 'way from her marster. She had to swim de Trinity River an' it was
winter an' her feet got frozen. Someone got her an' sold her to a poor white man cheap. He had ten chillun of his
own an' he jus' work out for other white folks. He put dis girl's feet in de fire to kind of thaw 'em out, an' burn 'em.
"Well, dere was a law in Lynchburg dat iffen you treat a slave like dat dey can take 'em away from you an' sell 'em
again. So Dr. Frost took 'er away from dis man an' give 'er to Miss Nancy to take care of 'til she got well. Miss
Nancy was de mistress dere at Dr. Massie's place. Dis girl was light, like a Mexican. Miss Nancy wouldn't have any
light people. She said dey had white blood in 'em an' she wouldn' have dem. But she said she'd take care of dis girl
'til she got well, so she stay with us. But some of dem sure treated dere people bad. Some of dem whipped dere
people awful bad iffen dey did anything wrong or didn' work, 'specially de field hands. I always belong to nice
people. Once in a while de marster whipped some of de field hands dat didn' work, but dat was all.
"Come in de next room, I want to show you something. See dat picture dere on de wall? Dat's my mother. Dat
picture was taken in slavery. Some young man come down from de north 'fore freedom an' he give my mother
money 'nough to have dat picture taken. Miss Nancy loan my mother dat dress she got on to have her picture taken
in. De young man, I don' know his name, wanted to send it back north to show de people dere how a slave was
treated. He said you could look at my mother an' see she was treated good.
"Den dey said dey was going to sell me. Miss Nancy's father-in-law died an' dey got rid of some of us. Young Miss
Nancy didn' want to give me up an' she tol' me to be sassy an' no one would buy me. De next day dey took me to
Houston. De marster didn' bring me dere. A man from de market come an' got us dat was to be sold in a wagon an'
brought us dere an' brought us home again in de evenin' iffen we wasn' sold dat day. I was too small to 'member
where de market was located. I know it was in Houston, but I don' know where 'bouts. I know a man name George
Fraser sold de slaves. De market was an open house, more like a shed. Dey had big blocks of wood in dere where de
men an' women stood so de white men could see 'em good. We all stood together to one side 'til our turn come.
Sometimes de white men come an' look at us so dey could know which one was de best an' bid on him. We jus'
stand still an' wait. Dere wasn' nothin' you could do.
"Dey stood me up on a block of wood an' a man bid me in. I felt mad. You see I was young den, too young to know
better. I don' know how much dey sold me for. I know dat de man dat bought me made me open my mouth while he
look at my teeth. Dey did all de slaves dat way. Sold dem jus' like you sell a horse.
"Den my old marster tol' me goodbye an' tried to give me a dog. But I 'membered what Miss Nancy had tol' me an' I
sassed him an' slapped de dog out of his hand. Den de new man who had bought me said, 'When one o'clock come
you got to sell 'er again for she's sassy. If she did me dat way I'd kill 'er.' So dey sold me twice in de same day.
"Dey usually sold in de morning I think. Dey had two sessions de day I was sold, but I don' know if dat was usual.
When de white folks in Louisiana an' Mississippi knew dey wasn' going' to win de War dey sold as many of dere
slaves as dey could. Dey brought some of de slaves from New Orleans an' sold dem in Houston. I heard dem say
one time dat dey sold a hundred in one day.
"My new marster, Tom Johnson, live in Lynchburg, too. He own a river boat. He had a little place, 'bout one acre I
guess, on de bayou an' a few slaves. While he was away on de boat Hiram Brown took care of us. He was related to
Mr. Johnson. I cook for 'em. Durin' de war Mr. Johnson bought a man an' woman an' three chillun 'cause he could
get 'em cheap. He said dat after de War was over he was going to buy some more land an' he would need more
people.
"I was in Lynchburg during de War, and de War wasn' dere but I knew it was in 'sistence for some Southern soldiers
stayed on our place dere. De white folks fed 'em an' fed dere horses. My young marster, Hiram Brown, was
Magruder's first lieutendent.
"Jus' 'fore dey had de War in Galveston dey took de steamships in Buffalo Bayou an' took de cabins off an' made
ships out of dem. Dey put cotton bales all 'round dem an' build 'em up high with de cotton. Dey say cotton bales is
good to cotch de cannon balls in. Dere was three ships. I 'member two of dem, de Island City (Bayou City?) an' de
Neptune. I forgot de third. I never paid dem much 'tention. I never seen 'em leave.
"When de War was fought in Galveston you could hear de guns an' cannons by goin' out in de back yard. Den one
day de marster told us we was free. I went to Houston with my mother. Dere was an' old colored woman who was a
slave. Her marster was name Johnson, too. When de War come her marster set her free an' give her a house an' some
land. Dere's where we went after freedom. We stayed with her 'til we could look out after ourselves. I don'
'member her name but she live in Houston. A lot of people stayed with her.
"I never saw a steam car 'til I got free an' went to Houston. I had heard de others talk 'bout dem so I knew what it
was when I saw it, but I didn' know how it run. I thought dey run like a buggy on de street, an' it was a long time 'til
I found out dey run on rails. Dey had a steam car dat went from Houston to New Orleans an' I use to like to watch it
when I got de chance. It went right through de town.
"I stayed in Houston with my mother 'til I was grown an' den hired out. My mother work for some white folks, too.
Den I come to Galveston an' hired out here. I been workin' for dis family for twenty-four years.
(Alfred E. Menn, Travis County, Texas, District No. 9, 12 September 1937, (No))
