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"Don' know jus' w'en I'ze born. But 'twas in Alabama. We come to Texas the second year atter freedom on a boat to
Cherokee County, Texas. We come with Marse Dan Caldwell an' I was called Ophelia Caldwell 'till I married. We
fust come to 'bout nine or ten miles of a place called Bullard. We come in ox wagons. Dose oxen shore to carry you
into water effen dey come near it. Dey jus' won' stop, no matter how hard you try to stop 'em. Dey mos' scare me to
deaf on dat long trip to Texas. We built log house like every one else did in dose days. De chimbleys was made of
sticks and dirt. Mos' of de tops was of clap boards an' brush. I 'member how de centipedes would drop down out of
de top of de house an' scare us mos' to death. De chimbleys would smoke awful bad an' sometimes little snake poke
he nose out at you an' stick he tongue out at you like he make fun of folkes whilst you cook'n your brekfus'. We had
smoke houses to keep de meat an' sech in. One time I went to git de meal for hoecakes, lif' off de barrel lid, was in a
hurry, rech in, grab a hanful' ob meal. It shore feel slick, an' cold. I look see, dere was a big black chicken snake in
de meal. Ef I was in a hurry 'fore, I shor was flyin' an screechin' den. My ole man laff, an' come kill de black
scoundrel. Jus ruint my meal. Had to go five miles to borry some 'till come next millin' day.
"Snake stories? Lor bress you, Miss, I nebber know nothin 'bout dem snakes. Don' like dem no how. One evenin' I
was goin' down in de
lower pasture to git up de calves 'fore milkin' time. On a-head a-piece, thru some tall grass I seed something black
wavin' 'roun. I stopped an' looked hard. Dere was a coach whip snake a-wavin' he ole mean head 'roun. I stayed real
still, hopin' he don' see me. He was a-whistling an a-blowin' jus' like a man; he keep he head up, an' crawlin' a-long;
de higher de grass, de higher dat snake rar he haid twill he git up 'bout five or six feet high. Yass'um I seed dat
snake go fully dat high. I'ze so bad scairt seem like he sky-high, but he did rise up 'till he stood on he tail. I sneaked
myself quiet like an' keep watchin' to see ef he gwine look my way. But de wind was from 'nother direction an' I gits
a-way. Effen he could-a cotch me, he would-a whipped me to death with he tall.
"No'm didn't git no schcolin' to 'mount to nothin'. I worked in de cotton and corn and spun thread; knitted garments,
socks, gloves, stockings, an' caps. Wa'ant no trouble with runners in my stockings like dey have now. We made
bread outten ground meal or wheat shorts 'stead of flour. Dere were some sawmills. Den de town of Bullard had two
or three business firms. Dere was a gin, a cotton and corn meal mill' two grocery stores; one dry goods store an' a
post office. I lived in an' 'roun' Bullard 'till I married Cyrus Porter. I had fifteen children and raised ten to be grown
an' married. I married 'bout forty-five or fifty years ago. I wore white dress like all de brides did an' my husban' he
had a new homespun suit.
"I never went to but two dances in my life. Dey would have what
dey called "Chivarees" atter a couple got married. At night dey would git a crowd together, get cups made of tin
cans, cow horns an' anything to make a noise, an' atter bedtime, dey would congregate 'bout de house of de newly
weds an' make a racket, 'till dey was invited in an' fed, maybe dey would dance awhile. Dey made blow harps to use
on chivarees by punching a tin cup full of holes and take blow quills made out of joints of canes 'bout size of your
finger; dey would plait dese togedder with twine an' blow through dem like dey was a french harp. At dese
weddings an' chivarees dey would serve chocolate and cake an' make candy outen syrup; sometimes dey would feed
'em coffee and cookies. I danced at the last dance I went to, with my father.
"Our beds were made of crab grass when we first come to Texas. We'd pull a great big pile of grass an' spread it out
to dry then stuff a duck ticking with it. Later on, I got me some few geese an' saved up feathers to make me a feather
bed an' I got me a good cotton mattress. Our dresses were made of duckin' an we would git red oak bark if we
wanted to dye our dresses yellow. Sumake was good dye too. We would set the dye with salt. We did our cookin'
out-a doors on a fireplace built away from de house. Mos' en often, we had us a brush arbor built over the table an'
fireplace for shade an' to keep off de rain some. We baked our bread in an oven; it had a lid an' we'd put hot coals
under the skillet an' on top de lid and dat would bake as good bread as you could want. Yass'um, I made lemon pies
den.
I'd put de ple in a tin plate an' set de plate in de skillet an' cook right along. We rossted corn an' taters in de hot
embers. We would gather a big pile of small, light brush an' make fires in de fireplaces both in de house or out of
doors to see by. One of the prettiest dresses I ever had, my ole man brought me the goods from town; I built me a
brush light-fire and made de dress dat night with my fingers by de brush-fire light. Wore it to de meetin' house next
day. Looked purt peart too, so dey said.
"Yass'ua I can cook on de oil stove an' de gas stove an' run de sewing machine, but we don't have as good times
now nor as much to eat as we used to have. Dem was good ole days an' my marster and mistis was good to us.
'Course we had to work but we had good times too an' when we were sick Karster got his doctor an' we was looked
after. We knew dat we would have close an' somethin' to eat an' a house to shelter us but we don't have dat now.
When you get too ole to work you shore has a hard tine.
"Us noved to Waco in 1888, in de spring of dat year. We bought a lot on Taylor street and began payin' taxes in
1903. Before dat I cooked for de Day family at Day's lake, north of Waco.
"I'ze been a widow now goin' on nine year the 13th of this coming December. Mos' all my chillun got fair good
edication. I larned to write a very little and to read some. I kep dem chillun in school an' give 'ex all de chance in de
world 'till dey jes run out from under me. We bought de place from Mr. John Hardwick and I washed fer his
fambly at $2.50 a week and paid the place out by washing and ironing. Took me four years to do it but I got it now.
Cost me $550.00 an' lots of hard work. Mos' of de time, my young'uns only had one dress apiece. When dey come
home from school we'd wash an' iron dat dress ready fer next day. Come wet or cold weather, we'd dry dem by de
fire an' dey would wear dere ole ragged dresses roun home. Yass'um, I've shore seen it hard.
Interview with Ophelia Porter, ex-slave, Waco, Texas
(Osuthier, Sheldon F., Tarrant Co., Dist. 47, 9-17-37, (Yes))
