*Betty Simmons, 100 or more, was born a slave to Leftwidge Carter, in
Macedonia, Alabama. She was stolen when a child, sold to slave traders
and later to a man in Texas. She now lives in Beaumont, Texas.*
"I think I's 'bout a hunnerd and one or two year old. My papa was a free
man, 'cause his old massa sot him free 'fore I's born, and give him a
hoss and saddle and a little house to live in.
"My old massa when I's a chile, he name Mr. Leftwidge Carter and when he
daughter marry Mr. Wash Langford, massa give me to her. She was call
Clementine. Massa Langford has a little store and a man call Mobley go
in business with him. Dis man brung down he two brothers and dey fair
clean Massa Langford out. He was ruint.
"But while all dis goin' on I didn't know it and I was happy. Dey was
good to me and I don't work too hard, jus' gits in de mischief. One time
I sho' got drunk and dis de way of it. Massa have de puncheon of whiskey
and he sell de whiskey, too. Now, in dem days, dey have frills 'round de
beds, dey wasn't naked beds like nowdays. Dey puts dis puncheon under de
beds and de frills hides it, but I's nussin' a little boy in dat room
and I crawls under dat bed and drinks out of de puncheon. Den I poke de
head out and say 'Boo' at de little boy, and he laugh and laugh. Den I
ducks back and drinks a little more and I say 'Boo' at him 'gain, and he
laugh and laugh. Dey was lots of whiskey in dat puncheon and I keeps
drinkin' and sayin' 'Boo'. My head, it gits funny and I come out with de
puncheon and starts to de kitchen, where my aunt Adeline was de cook. I
jes' a-stompin' and sayin' de big words. Dey never lets me 'round where
dat puncheon is no more.
"When Massa Langford was ruint and dey goin' take de store 'way from
him, dey was trouble, plenty of dat. One day massa send me down to he
brudder's place. I was dere two days and den de missy tell me to go to
de fence. Dere was two white men in a buggy and one of 'em say, 'I
thought she bigger dan dat.' Den he asks me, 'Betty, kin you cook?' I
tells him I been cook helper two, three month, and he say, 'You git
dressed and came on down three mile to de other side de post office.' So
I gits my little bundle and whan I gits dere he say, 'Gal, you want to
go 'bout 26 mile and help cook at de boardin' house?' He tries to make
me believe I won't be gone a long time, but when I gits in de buggy dey
tells me Massa Langford done los' everything and he have to hide out he
niggers for to keep he credickers from gittin' dem. Some of de niggers
he hides in de woods, but he stole me from my sweet missy and sell me so
dem credickers can't git me.
"When we gits to de crossroads dere de massa and a nigger man. Dat
another slave he gwine to sell, and he hate to sell us so bad he can't
look us in de eye. Dey puts us niggers inside de buggy, so iffen de
credickers comes along dey can't see us.
"Finally dese slave spec'laters puts de nigger man and me on de train
and takes us to Memphis, and when we gits dere day takes us to de nigger
traders' yard. We gits dere at breakfast time and waits for de boat dey
calls de 'Ohio' to git dere. De boat jus' ahead of dis Ohio, Old Capt.
Fabra's boat, was 'stroyed and dat delay our boat two hours. When it
come, dey was 258 niggers out of dem nigger yards in Memphis what gits
on dat boat. Dey puts de niggers upstairs and goes down de river far as
Vicksburg, dat was de place, and den us gits offen de boat and gits on
de train 'gain and dat time we goes to New Orleans.
"I's satisfy den I los' my people and ain't never goin' to see dem no
more in dis world, and I never did. Dey has three big trader yard in New
Orleans and I hear de traders say dat town 25 mile square. I ain't like
it so well, 'cause I ain't like it 'bout dat big river. We hears some of
'em say dere's gwineter throw a long war and us all think what dey buy
us for if we's gwine to be sot free. Some was still buyin' niggers every
fall and us think it too funny dey kep' on fillin' up when dey gwineter
be emptyin' out soon.
"Dey have big sandbars and planks fix 'round de nigger yards and dey
have watchmans to keep dem from runnin 'way in de swamp. Some of de
niggers dey have jus' picked up on de road, dey steals dem. Dey calls
dem 'wagon boy' and 'wagon gal.' Dey has one bit mulatto boy dey stole
'long de road dat way and he massa find out 'bout him and come and git
him and take him 'way. And a woman what was a seamster, a man what
knowed her seed her in de pen and he done told her massa and he come
right down and git her. She sho' was proud to git out. She was stole
from 'long de road, too. You sees, if dey could steal de niggers and
sell 'em for de good money, dem traders could make plenty money dat way.
"At las' Col. Fortescue, he buy me and kep' me. He a fighter in de
Mexican war and he come to New Orleans to buy he slaves. He takes me up
de Red River to Shreveport and den by de buggy to Liberty, in Texas.
"De Colonel, he a good massa to us. He 'lows us to work de patch of
ground for ourselves, and maybe have a pig or a couple chickens for
ourselves, and he allus make out to give us plenty to eat.
"De massa, when a place fill up, he allus pick and move to a place where
dere ain't so much people. Dat how come de Colonel fus' left Alabama and
come to Texas, and to de place dey calls Beef Head den, but calls Gran'
Cane now.
"When us come to Gran' Cane a nigger boy git stuck on one us house girls
and he run away from he massa and foller us. It were a woodly country
and de boy outrun he chasers. I heered de dogs after him and he torn and
bleedin' with de bresh and he run upstair in de gin house. De dogs sot
down by de door and de dog-man, what hired to chase him, he drug him
down and throw him in de Horse Hole and tells de two dogs to swim in and
git him. De boy so scairt he yell and holler but de dogs nip and pinch
him good with de claws and teeth. When dey lets de boy out de water hole
he all bit up and when he massa larn how mean de dog-man been to de boy
he 'fuses to pay de fee.
"I gits married in slavery time, to George Fortescue. De massa he marry
us sort of like de justice of de peace. But my husban', he git kilt in
Liberty, when he cuttin' down a tree and it fall on him. I ain't never
marry no more.
"I sho' was glad when freedom come, 'cause dey jus' ready to put my
little three year old boy in de field. Dey took 'em young. I has another
baby call Mittie, and she too young to work. I don't know how many
chillen I's have, and sometimes I sits and tries to count 'em. Dey's
seven livin' but I had 'bout fourteen.
[Illustration: _Betty Simmons_]
"Dey was pretty hard on de niggers. Iffen us have de baby us only 'lowed
to stay in de house for one month and card and spin, and den us has to
get out in de field. Dey allus blow de horn for us mammies to come up
and nuss de babies.
"I seed plenty soldiers 'fore freedom. Dey's de Democrats, 'cause I
never seed no Yankees. Us niggers used to wash and iron for dem. At
night us seed dose soldiers peepin' 'round de house and us run 'way in
de bresh.
"When freedom come us was layin' by de crop and de massa he give us a
gen'rous part of dat crop and us move to Clarks place. We gits on all
right after freedom, but it hard at first 'cause us didn't know how to
do for ourselves. But we has to larn."