*Walter Rimm, 80, was born a slave of Captain Hatch, in San Patricio
County, Texas. After Walter was freed, he helped his father farm for
several years, then worked as a cook for fifteen years on the King
Ranch. He moved to Fort Worth and cooked for Mrs. Arthur Goetz for
twenty-five years. He lives at 913 E. Second St., Fort Worth.*
"You wants to know 'bout slavery? Well, I's had a deal happen 'sides
dat, but I's born on Captain Hatch's plantation, 'cross de bay from
Corpus Christi. He had somewheres near fifty slaves, and mammy told me
he buyed her in Tennessee and pappy in South Carolina. Massa Hatch buys
and sells niggers some dem days, but he ain't a nigger trader.
"Dem sales am one thing what make de 'pression on me. I hears de old
folks whisper 'bout gwine have de sale and 'bout noon dere am a crowd of
white folks in de front yard and a nigger trader with he slaves. Dey
sets up a platform in middle de yard and one white man gits on dat and
'nother white man comes up and has a white woman with him. She 'pears to
be 'bout fifteen years old and has long, black hair down her back. Dey
puts her on de platform and den I hears a scream, and a woman what look
like de gal, cries out, 'I'll cut my throat if my daughter am sold.' De
white man goes and talks to her, and fin'ly 'lows her to take de young
gal away with her. Dat sho' stirs up some 'motion 'mongst de white
folks, but dey say dat gal have jus' a li'l nigger blood and can be sold
for a slave, but she look white as anybody I ever seed.
"I pulls weeds and runs errands while I's a child. We has some good eats
but has to steal de best things from de white folks. Dey never give us
none of them. We has roastin' ears better'n dey cooks dem now. We puts
dem, shucks and all, in de hot ashes. Mammy makes good ashcake, with
salt and corn meal and bacon grease and flats it out with de hands.
"Massa and missus took dey goodness by spells like. Sometimes dey was
hard to git 'long with and sometimes dey was easy to git 'long with. I
don't know de cause, but it am so. De mostest trouble am 'bout de work.
Dey wants you to work if you can or can't. My pappy have de back mis'ry
and many de time I seed him crawl to de grist mill. Him am buyed 'cause
him am de good millhand. He tells us his pappy am white, and dat one
reason he am de run-awayer. I's scairt all de time, 'cause he run away.
I seed him git one whippin' and nothin' I can do 'cept stand dere and
cry. Dey gits whippin's every time massa feels cross. One slave name Bob
Love, when massa start to whip him he cuts his throat and dives into de
river. He am dat scairt of a whippin' dat he kilt himself.
"My pappy wasn't 'fraid of nothin'. He am light cullud from de white
blood, and he runs away sev'ral times. Dere am big woods all round and
we sees lots of run-awayers. One old fellow name John been a run-awayer
for four years and de patterrollers tries all dey tricks, but dey can't
cotch him. Dey wants him bad, 'cause it 'spire other slaves to run away
if he stays a-loose. Dey sots de trap for him. Dey knows he like good
eats, so dey 'ranges for a quiltin' and gives chitlin's and lye hominey.
John comes and am inside when de patterrollers rides up to de door.
Everybody gits quiet and John stands near de door, and when dey starts
to come in he grabs de shovel full of hot ashes and throws dem into de
patterrollers' faces. He gits through and runs off, hollerin', 'Bird in
de air!'
"One woman name Rhodie runs off for long spell. De hounds won't hunt
her. She steals hot light bread when dey puts it in de window to cool,
and lives on dat. She told my mammy how to keep de hounds from followin'
you is to take black pepper and put it in you socks and run without you
shoes. It make de hounds sneeze.
"One day I's in de woods and meets de nigger run-awayer. He comes to de
cabin and mammy makes him a bacon and egg sandwich and we never seed him
again. Maybe he done got clear to Mexico, where a lot of de slaves runs
to.
"De first we knows 'bout war am when some Union ships comes into de Bay
and shoots at Corpus Christi. When dat shootin' start, all de folks
round us takes to de woods and sev'ral am still gone. Dey am shakin' all
over.
"'Bout de third year of de war massa moves up to Clinton, but he moves
back, 'cause he can't make no money dere. Den he have all de quarters
move up close to de big house, so if we tries to make de run for it in
de night he can cotch us. Dat no use, 'cause de ones what am still with
him won't run anyway.
"One day I seed massa settin' on de gal'ry and him face all screw up. He
says, 'Go git you mammy and everybody.' I goes a-flyin'. My shirt tail
don't hit my back till I tells everybody. Massa am cryin' and he reads
de paper and says, 'You is free as I is. What you gwine do?' Mammy says,
'We am stayin' right here.' But next mornin' pappy borrows a ox-team to
tote our stuff away. We goes 'bout sixty miles and stays 'bout six
months, den takes a place where we can make a crop. Den massa tells us
we can live on de old place without de rent and have what we can make.
So we moves back and stays two years.
"Den we moves sev'ral places and sometimes old missus comes to see us
and say, 'Ain't you shame? De Yankees is feedin' you.' But dey wasn't,
'cause we was makin' a crop.
"When I gits up big 'nough to hire out, I works for old man King on some
drives, 'fore pappy and mammy dies of de fever. Den I marries Minnie
Bennett, a light cullud gal, what am knowed as High Yaller. Her mammy am
a white woman. She was kidnapped in Kentucky by some white men and dey
dyed her hair and skin and brung her to Texas with some slaves for sale.
Massa Means, in Corpus, buyed her. She was so small all she 'membered
was her real name was Mary Schlous and her parents am white and she
lived in Kentucky. Massa Means comes in de next mornin' and busts out
cussin', for dere am black dye all over de pillow and his slave am
gettin' blonde, but dem slave traders am gone, so he can't do nothin'.
"He 'cides to keep her and she grows up with de slaves jus' like she am
a nigger. She gits used to bein' with dem and marries one. She has one
child 'fore freedom, what am Minnie. She has to run away to git freedom,
'cause Massa Means won't let her have freedom. Lots of slaves has to do
dat.
"Well, after I marries Minnie, we goes to de famous King Ranch. It was
only in two sections den and I hires as cook on de San Gertrudis
section, but am sent to de other section, de Fuerta Agua Dulce, and
works dere fifteen years.
"Old man King has plenty trouble in dem days. One time some Mexicans
comes to Brownsville and takes everything as dey goes. Old man King had
two cannons and when dey has battle dey finishes with one cowboy dead
and one Mexican dead. No cannons was fired, though. He has more troubles
with rustlers and fellows who don't like de way he's gittin' all de
land. Dey tries to kill him lots of times, but he fools dem and dies in
bed.
[Illustration: _Walter Rimm_]
"I comes to Fort Worth and cooks. Minnie dies 'fore long of de stomach
mis'ry. I works for a Missus Goetz and marries Agnes Skelton, what works
dere, too. We has five chillen and I works dere for twenty-five years,
till I goes blind. I's allus de big, stout fellow, helpin' somebody, and
after I's blind I has to 'pend on other people to help me. De white
folks sho' been good to me since I been in dis shape, and de state sends
me $13.00 a month to pay de bills with. Dat a big help, but I's 'bout
three, four weeks 'hind now.
"One old man King's daughters am here and looks me up, and leaves me a
couple dollars. I gits 'long some way.
"I sets here and thinks 'bout old times. One song we use to sing was
'Throw de Smokehouse Keys Down de Well.' Dat 'cause dere so many thieves
in de country everybody have big locks on de smokehouse if dey 'spects
to keep dey meat."