*John Sneed, born near Austin, Texas, does not know his age, but was
almost grown when he was freed. He belonged to Dr. Sneed and stayed with
him several years after Emancipation.*
"I's borned on de old Sneed place, eight miles south of Austin, and my
mammy was Sarah Sneed and pappy was Ike. Dey come from Tennessee and
dere five boys and two gals. De boys am Dixie and Joe and Jim and Bob
and me, and de gals name Katy and Lou. Us live in quarters what was log
huts. Dere's one long, log house where dey spinned and weaved de cloth.
Dere sixteen spinnin' wheels and eight looms in dat house and my job was
turnin' one dem wheels when they'd thresh me out and git me to do it.
Mos' all de clothes what de slaves and de white folks have was made in
dat house.
"Mos' and usual de chillen sleept on de floor, unless with de old folks.
De bedsteads make of pieces of split logs fasten with wooden pegs and
rope criss-cross. De mattress make of shucks tear into strips with maybe
a li'l cotton or prairie hay. You could go out on de prairie mos' any
time and get 'nough grass to make de bed, and dry it 'fore it put in de
tick. De white folks have bought beds haul by ox teams from Austin and
feather beds.
"Dr. Sneed raise cotton and corn and wheat. Sometime five or six oxen
hitch to de wagon and 25 or 30 wagons make what am call de wagon train.
Dey haul cotton and corn and wheat to Port Lavaca what am de nearest
shipping point. On de return trip, dey brung sugar and coffee and cloth
and other things what am needed on de plantation. First time massa 'low
me go with dat ox-train, I thunk I's growed.
"Dere a big gang of white and cullud chillen on de plantation but Dr.
Sneed didn't have no chillen of he own. De neighbor white chillen come
over dere and played. Us rip and play and fight and kick up us heels,
and go on. Massa never 'low no whippin' of de chillen. He make dem pick
rocks up and make fences out dem, but he didn't 'low no chillen work in
de field till dey 'bout fourteen. De real old folks didn't work in de
fields neither. Dey sot 'round and knit socks and mend de shoes and
harness and stuff.
"Massa John mighty good to us chillen. He allus give us a li'l piece
money every Sunday. When he'd git in he buggy to go to Austin to sell
butter, de chillen pile in dat buggy and all over him so you couldn't
see him and he'd hardly see to drive.
"Us had possum and rabbit and fish and trap birds for eatin'. Dere all
kind wild green dem days. Us jus' go in de woods and git wild lettuce
and mustard and leather-britches and polk salad and watercress, all us
want to eat. Us kilt hawgs and put up de lard by de barrel. Us thresh
wheat and take it to de li'l watermill at Barton Creek to grind. Dey'd
only grind two bushel to de family, no matter how big dat family, 'cause
dere so many folks and it such a small mill.
"Each family have de li'l garden and raise turnips and cabbage and sweet
'taters and put dem in de kiln make from corn stalks and cure dem for
winter eatin'. Us have homemake clothes and brogan shoes, come from
Austin or some place. Us chillen wear shirt-tail till us 'bout thirteen.
"Massa live in de big two-story rock house and have he office and
drug-store in one end de house. Missy Ann have no chillen so she 'dopt
one from Tennessee, name Sally.
"Dere 'bout four or five hunerd acres and 'bout sixty slaves. Dey git up
'bout daylight and come from de field in time to feed and do de chores
'fore dark. After work de old folks sot 'round, fiddle and play de
'cordian and tell stories. Dat mostly after de crops laid by or on rainy
days. On workin' time, dey usually tired and go to bed early. Dey not
work on Saturday afternoon or Sunday, 'cept dey gatherin' de crop 'gin a
rain. Old man Jim Piper am fiddler and play for black and white dances.
On Sunday massa make us go to church. Us sing and pray in a li'l log
house on de plantation and sometimes de preacher stop and hold meetin'.
"Massa John Sneed doctored from Austin to Lockhart and Gonzales and my
own mammy he train to be midwife. She good pneumonia doctor and massa
'low her care for dem.
"On Christmas all us go to de big house and crowd 'round massa. He a
li'l man and some black boys'd carry him 'round on dere shoulders. All
knowed dey gwine git de present. Dere a big tree with present for
everyone, white and black. Lots of eggnog and turkey and baked hawgs and
all kind good things. Dere allus lots of white folks company at massa's
house and big banquets and holidays and birthdays. Us like dem times,
'cause work slack and food heavy. Every las' chile have he birthday
celebrate with de big cake and present and maybe de quarter in silver
from old massa, bless he soul. Us play kissin' games and ring plays and
one song am like dis:
"'I'm in de well,
How many feet?
Five. Who'd git you out?'
"Iffen it a man, he choose de gal and she have to kiss him to git him
out de well. Iffen a gal in de well, she choose a man.
"I well 'member de day freedom 'clared. Us have de tearin'-down dinner
dat day. De niggers beller and cry and didn't want leave massa. He talk
to us and say long as he live us be cared for, and us was. Dere lots of
springs on he place and de married niggers pick out a spring and Massa
Doctor give dem stuff to put up de cabin by dat spring, and dey take
what dey have in de quarters. Dey want to move from dem slave quarters,
but not too far from massa. Dey come to de big house for flour and meal
and meat and sich till massa die. He willed every last one he slaves
somethin'. Mos' of 'em git a cow and a horse and a pig and some
chickens. My mammy git two cows and a pair horses and a wagon and 70
acres land. She marries 'gain when my daddy die and dat shif'less nigger
she marry git her to sign some kind paper and she lose de land.
"My wife was Nanny Madeira and us have six chillen and five is livin'. I
followed cattle till I's 'bout 26. I's went up de Chisholm Trail eight
or nine times and druv for Massa Blocker and Jedge Brackenridge and
others. On one stampede I rode 24 hours straight and after we rounds up
all de cattle, I goes to sleep under a tree. Dat day I has on a buckskin
coat I in gen'ral wore and I feels somethin' grab dat coat and bite my
side. I rouses up and sees de big panther draggin' me off to de thicket.
I has de six-gun but I couldn't git to it. Every once in a while dat
panther lay me down and sniff at my nose. I jes' hold de breath, 'cause
if dat panther cotch me breathin' dat been de end of me. He drug me to
some bushes and den goes off a li'l way and give de yell. Dat yell make
me turn cold, 'cause it sound jes' like a man screamin'. Den dat cat dug
a shallow hole. I eases out my old gun, takes careful aim and den says,
'Thank you, old man,' and he turns to look at me and I shoots him right
'tween he eyes. After 'while, dat cat's mate and cub come runnin',
'cause he yell for dem, and I kilt dem, too.
[Illustration: _John Sneed_]
"'Nother time, I seed de panther a-draggin' a white man off and I slips
up jes' as de cat seizes him and shoots dat cat. Us have to run dat man
down and cotch him, 'cause he scared stiff when dat dead cat fall on
him.
"Some time after dat I works for a man what freights supplies 'round
Austin and I's one de drivers. Us start in September with sev'ral
six-wheel wagons, 'nough to las' a town de year, and not git back to
Austin till January. Sometimes de mud so bad it take six oxen to pull de
wagon out.
"One time us movin' and stampedin' de bunch cattle and me and my brother
gits los' from de rest and was los' three days and nights. All us eat am
parched corn. De grass nearly waist high to a man and us scoop out de
hole in de ground and cut off tops de grass and weeds and make de fire.
Den us drap de corn on de fire and parch it. De woods full wild animals
and panthers and wolves. De wolves de worst. Dey slip up on us to git de
chicken us has with us. At last us come to a house and finds us folks."