*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 very young to Dr. Massie, of Lynchburg, Texas. The
journey to Texas took three months by ox-cart. 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 ox-cart 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
de Trinity River and it was winter and her feets freezes. He cotches dis
gal and puts her feets in the fire to thaw 'em, and burnt 'em. The law
say you could take slaves 'way from sich a man, so Dr. Frost takes her
away from that man and gives her to Miss Nancy what 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 Nancy done say and I sassed him and
slapped the 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 same day. They was
two sellin's that day.
"My new master, Tom Johnson, lives in Lynchburg 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 them and builded 'em up high with the
cotton, to cotch the cannonballs. Two of 'em was the Island City, and
the Neptune.
"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."