*Quite black, with close-cut hair and stubby gray whiskers, Isaac Martin
is contentedly spending the evening of his life. But two or three
darkened teeth show between his thick lips as he talks. He was enjoying
the friendly shade of the old tree in his backyard from his comfortable
seat in an old rocker. His feet were bare and his once striped trousers
were rolled up above his knees to keep him cool in the hot midsummer
weather. Beside the chair was a pair of brogan shoes with gaping splits
across the toes to avoid cramping his feet. He told the story of by-gone
days with evident enjoyment.*
"Dis ol' man jes' layin' 'roun'. Ain't nuttin' to him no mo'. I done wo'
out. I jes' waitin' for de Good Marster to call po' ol' Isaac home to
Glory.
"When dey read de proclamation to my mammy and daddy dey mek 'em give
eb'rybody' age in de fam'ly. I was twelve year' ol' den.
"I was bo'n up here in Montgomery county 'bout t'ree mile from Willis
upon de I&GN Railroad. I holp to buil' dat I&GN Railroad.
"Ol' Major Wood he my daddy' marster, and 'course he mine too. He was
well fixed. He had 'bout seb'nty or eighty wukkin' slaves and I dunno
how many li'l niggers. I didn' know nuttin' 'bout ol' Missus, Mrs. Wood.
I jis' 'member she a big fat woman. Dey didn' 'low no li'l nigger
chillun up in de yard 'roun' de big house 'cep'n' to clean up de yard,
and dem what done dat, dey hatter be jis' like dat yard, clean as
peckerwoods.
"Ol' marster he warn't mean. He nebber whip' 'em jis' so iffen anybody
say de slave orter be whip. Dey hafter see him and tell him what dey
done befo' he give de order to de overseer to whip. Iffen he don' t'ink
dey orter be whip, he say don' whip 'em and dey don' git whip.
"I had to mind de cows and de sheep. I had a mule to ride 'roun' on. It
was dis way, I hafter mind de cows. Ol' marster he plant dif'rent fiel's
in co'n, fifty or sixty or a hundred acres. When dey harvestin' de co'n,
when dey git one fiel' done dey tu'n de cows in so dey kin eat on de
stalks and nubbins what lef' in dat fiel'. I got to ride 'roun' and see
de cows don' bus' over from one fiel' what dey done harves' into de
other fiel' where dey wukkin', or what ain't been harves' yet. I jis'
like dat, ridin' dat mule 'roun' de fiel' and keepin' de cows in.
"Den dere was five or six of us boys to keep de dogs out de sheep. You
know iffen de dogs git in de sheep dey ap' to kill 'em.
"Us go huntin' wid de dogs lots of time, and lots of time us ketch
rabbits. Dey was six dogs, and de rabbits we kotch was so much vittles
for us. I 'member one night us went out huntin' and ketch fo' or five
rabbits. Us tek 'em home and clean and dress 'em, and put 'em in de pot
to have big rabbit supper. I was puttin' some red pepper in de pot to
season 'em, and den I rub my eyes wid my han' and git dat pepper in my
eyes and it sho' burn. You know how red pepper burn when it git in your
eyes, I nebber will forgit 'bout dat red pepper. De ol' folks uster show
us how to fix de t'ings we ketch huntin', and cook 'em.
"Ol' marster sho' t'ought mo' of his li'l nigger chillen. He uster ride
in de quarters 'cause he like to see 'em come runnin'. De cook, she was
a ol' woman name' Forney, and she had to see atter feedin' de chillen.
She had a way of callin' 'em up. She holler, 'Tee, tee, t-e-e;' and all
us li'l niggers jis' come runnin'. Ol' marster he ride up and say,
'Forney, call up dem li'l pickaninnies,' and ol' Forney she lif' up her
voice and holler, 'Tee, t-e-e, t-e-e,' and ol' marster jis' set up on de
hoss and laugh and laugh a lot to see us come runnin' up. He like to
count how many li'l niggers he did have. Dat was fun for us too. I
'member dat jes' like yestiddy.
"Nuttin' went hard wid me. Fur's I know 'bout slav'ry dem was good
times.
"Dey had 'bout t'ree or fo' hundred of sheep. My father hafter kill a
mutton eb'ry Friday for de house. Dey bring up de sheep and somebody
hol' de head 'cross a block and my father cut de head off wid a hatchet.
Sheeps is de pitifullest t'ings to kill. Day jis' give up. And dey
cries, too. But a goat, he don' give up, naw suh, he talk' back to you
to de las'.
"I 'member one time dey gwine to give a school feas', and dey gwine kill
a goat. Dey hang dat goat up to a tree by he hind legs so de blood dreen
good. Dey cut he t'roat, dat's de way dey gwine kill 'im. Dat goat seem
like he kep' on talkin' and sayin' 'Please, God, don' kill me' to de
las', but dat ain't done no good. Dat goat jis' beg to de las'.
"My ol' marster he live in a big house. Oh, it was a palace. It had
eight or nine rooms. It was buil' outer logs, and moss and clay was
stuff' twixt de logs. Dere was boards on de outside and it was all coil'
nice on de inside. He lived in a mansion.
"Dey was plenty rich. Ol' marster he had a ol' waitin' man all dress up
nice and clean. Now if you wanter talk to ol' marster you hafter call
for dat ol' waitin' man. He come and you tell him what you want and den
he go and tell ol' marster and den he say, 'Bring him in,' and den you
go in and see de ol' marster and talk your business, but you had to be
nice and hol' your hat under your arm.
"Dey's big rich people. Sometime' dey have parties what las' a week. Dey
was havin' dere fun in dere way. Dey come in kerridges and hacks.
"My father was de hostler and he hafter keep de hosses and see 'bout
feedin' 'em. Dey had a sep'rate li'l house for de saddles. Ol' marster
he kep' good hosses. He warn't mean.
"He had a great big pasture and lots of times people go camp in it. You
see it was dis-away, de Yankees dey got rushin' de American people, dat
de Confed'rates, dey kep' comin' furder and furder wes', 'till dey come
to Texas and den dey can't go much furder. De Yankees kep' crowdin' 'em
and dey kep' on comin'. When dey camp in ol' marster' pasture, he give
'em co'n. I see 'em dribe a whole wagon load of co'n and dump it on de
groun' for dey hosses. De Yankees nebber come 'till de war close. Den
dey come all through dat country. Dat was destruction, it seem to me
like. Dey take what dey want.
"When freedom come and de proclamation was read and de ol' marster tol'
'em dey was free and didn' have no ol' marster no mo' some of de slaves
cried. He tell 'em, 'I don't want none of you to leave. I'll give you
$8.00 a mont'.' All de ol' folks stay and help gadder dat crop. It sho'
griebe ol' marster and he didn' live long atter dey tek his slaves 'way
from him. Well, it jis' kill' him, dat's all. I 'members de Yankees on
dat day dey sot to read de proclamation. Dey was gwine 'roun' in dey
blue uniform' and a big long sword hangin' at dey side. Dat was
cur'osity to dem niggers.
"When ol' marster want to go out, he call he li'l nigger serbent to go
tell my father what was de hostler, to saddle up de hoss and bring him
'roun'. Den ol marster git on him. He had t'ree steps, so he could jis'
go up dem steps and den his foot be right at de stirrup. My daddy hol'
de stirrup for him to put he other foot in it.
"I was big 'nuff to run after him and ax him to gimme a dime. He laugh
and sometime he gimme de dime. Sometime he pitch it to me and I run and
grab it up and say, 'T'ankee, marster,' and he laugh and laugh.
"Ol' mistus she had a reg'lar cook. Dat was my mudder's mudder.
Eb'ryt'ing had to be jis' so, and eb'ryt'ing nice and clean.
"Dey didn' do no reg'lar wuk on Sunday. Eb'ry Sunday one of de other
wimmins hafter tek de place of de cook so she could git off. All of 'em
what could would git off and go to de chu'ch for de preachin'. Dem what
turn didn' come one Sunday, would go anudder 'till dey all got 'roun' to
go.
"Marster had two or t'ree hundred head of cattle. My gran'father,
Guilford, had a mule and hoss of he own. Uncle Hank was his brudder, and
he had de sheep department to look attar. Sometime de niggers git a hoss
or a sheep over, den de marster buy 'im. Some of de niggers had a li'l
patch 'roun' dey cabin' and dey raise veg'table. Ol' marster he buy de
veg'table sometime. I didn' know what freedom was. I didn' know wedder I
needed it or not. Seem to me like it was better den dan now, 'cause I
gotter look out for myself now.
"Us uster be on de watch-out for ol' marster. De fus' one see him comin'
lit out and open de gate for him to ride froo and ol' marster toss him a
nickle.
"When it was time to eat, de ol' cook she holler out, 'T-e-e, t-e-e,
t-e-e-e' and all us li'l niggers come runnin'. She have a big tray and
each of us have a wessel and a spoon. She fill' us wessel and us go eat
and den us go back for mo'. Us git all us want. Dey give us supper befo'
de han's come in from de fiel' and what wid playin' 'roun' all day and
eatin' all us could hol' in de afternoon, twarn't long befo' us li'l
niggers ready to go to sleep.
"One t'ing, ol' marster didn' want his niggers to run about. Sometime
dey want to go over to anudder plantation on Sunday. Den he give 'em a
pass iffen he willin' for 'em to go. Dey had patterrollers to ride from
plantation to see iffen dey was any strange niggers dere.
"When dey wanter marry, de man he repo't to ol' marster. He want his
niggers to marry on his own plantation. He give 'em a nice li'l supper
and a big dance. Dey had some sort of license but ol' marster tek care
of dat. He had two sons what had farms and slaves of dere own. Ol'
marster didn' care if his slaves marry on his sons' farms. If any of de
slaves do mean, he mak 'em work on Sunday. He didn' b'leeb in beatin'
'em.
"So many of 'em as could, usually go to de white folks chu'ch on Sunday
and hear de white preacher. Dey sit off to deyse'fs in de back of de
chu'ch. Dem what stay at home have a cullud preacher. Dey try to raise
'em up social.
"Dey had a ol' woman to look after de babies when dey mammies was out in
de fiel'. Dey have a time sot for de mammies te come in and nuss de
babies. De ol' woman she had helpers. Dey had a big house and cradle'
for dem babies where de nuss tek care of 'em.
"When anybody die dey have a fun'rel. All de han's knock off work to
'tend de fun'rel. Dey bury de dead in a ho'made coffin.
"I nebber pay no 'tenshun to talk 'bout ghos'es. I nebber b'leeb in 'em.
But one time comin' from chu'ch my uncle' wife say, 'Ike, you eber see a
ghos'? Want to see one?' and I tell her 'I don't give a cent, yes I want
to see one.' She say, 'I show you a man dress' all in white what ain't
got no head, and you gwine feel a warm breeze.' After a while down de
hill by de graveyard she say, 'Dere he go.' I look' but I neber see
nuttin', but I feel de warm breeze.
"I uster go to see a gal and I uster hafter pass right by a ol'
graveyard. It was all wall' up wid brick but one place dey had steps up
over de wall so when dey hafter bury a body two men kin walk up dem
steps side by side, and dat de way dey tek de corpse over. Well, when I
git to dem steps I hear sump'n'. Den I stop and I ain't hear nuttin'.
When I start walkin' ag'in I hear de noise ag'in. I look 'roun' and den
I see sump'n' white come up right dere where de steps go over de wall. I
had a stick in my han' and nex' time it come up I mek a rush at it and
hit it. It was jis' a great big ol' billy goat what got inside de wall
and was tryin' to git out. He get out jis' when I hit him and he lit out
froo de woods. Dat's de only ghos' I eber see and I's glad dat warn't no
ghos'.
"Ol' marster he had twenty head of cows. Dey give plenty milk. Dey uster
git a cedar tub big as dat dere one full of milk. De milkers dey pack it
en dey head to de house. Us cow-pen boys had to go drive up de caffs.
Cow-pen boys? Cow-pen boys, dem de boys what keep away de caffs when dey
do de milkin'. Co'se, lots of times when dey froo milkin' us jump on 'em
and ride 'em. Wheneber dey ketch us doin' dat dey sho' wear us out. Dat
warn't yestiddy.
"Fur as I's concern we had a plum good time in slav'ry. Many a year my
grampa raise a bale of cotton and marster buy it. Dat was encouragin' us
to be smart.
"My daddy name' Edmond Wood and my ma name' Maria. I had a brudder and a
sister; dey name' Cass and Ann. I been a farmer all my life. I kep' on
farmin' 'till de boll weevil hit dese parts and den I quit de farm and
went to public work. I work in de woods and cut logs. I buy dis house. I
been here 'roun' Voth 'bout twenty-five year'.
"I been marry twict. De fus' time I marry--I git so stinkin' ol' I can't
'member when it were, but it been a long ways back. My fus' wife, Mary
Johnson. She die' and den I marry dis yere woman I got yere now. Her
name been Rhoda McGowan when I marry her but she been marry befo'. Befo'
of us ol', ain't fit fer nuttin'. Us git pension' and dat what us live
on now, 'cause I too ol' to do any work no mo'.
"Me and my fus' wife we had ten chillun. Dey's all dead but fo' and I
ain't sho' dey's all livin'. Las' I heerd of 'em one was in Houston, and
one in Chicago, and one in Kansas City, and one live here. I see him dis
mawnin'.
"I heerd tell of de Klu Klux but I ain't neber seed 'em. I neber did go
to school needer.
"I's a member of de C.M.E. Meth'dis' Chu'ch. When I uster could git
about I uster be a steward in de chu'ch. Den I was de treasurer of de
chu'ch here at Voth for some seben year'. I uster b'long to de U.B.F.
Lodge, too.
"Back in slav'ry dey allus had a ol' darky to train de young ones and
teach 'em right from wrong. And dey'd whip you for doin' wrong. Dey'd
repo't to de overseer. Some of 'em was mean and repo't somebody dey
ain't like jis' to git 'em in trouble. De overseer he had to 'vestigate
'bout it and if it was so, somebody git a whippin'. Sometimes some folks
repo't sump'n' when it warn't true.
"Ol' marster he was plum ind'pendant. His plantation was off from de
town. He uster had his mail brung to him. Fur's I kin 'member I didn'
had to look out for nuttin'. Dey had a time to call all de slaves up and
give 'em hats, and anudder time dey give 'em shoes, and anudder time dey
give 'em clo's. Dey see dat eb'rybody was fit. Ol' marster allus give
'em all some kinder present at Crismus. I dunno what all he give de ol'
folks but he give de chillun candy and de like.
"I was allus tickle' to see ol' marster come 'roun'--Oh, good gracious,
yes. And it allus tickle' him to come 'roun' and see all his li'l
niggers.
"One time Cap'n Fisher was 'sociated wid ol' marster, and him and
anudder man come 'long wid ol' marster up de road what run froo de
quarters. Dey wanter see de li'l niggers. Ol' marster call 'em up and
frow out a han'ful of dimes. It sho' tickle' 'em te see de li'l niggers
scramble for dem dimes, and us look' for dimes 'roun' dat place for a
week. Dat was enjoyment to de white folks dem days.
"Marster was good to his niggers and none of 'em eber run away. My
mudder she raise ol' mistus' baby chile. She uster suckle him jis' like
he her own baby and he allus t'ink lots of her. After he a growed up man
he uster bring her presents lots of times. He call her 'mammy' all de
time.
"He went off to de war. He los' he hearin' and got deef. Muster been de
noise from dem big cannons what done it. He got his big toe shot off in
de war, too. After de war was over he come home and git married.
"Dat 'bout all dat I kin 'member 'cep'n' dat I vote' in de state and
other 'lections when I's twenty-one year' ol'."