*Adeline White, 90 odd years old, was born at Opelousas, Louisiana, a
slave of Dr. Bridget. She lives with her daughter, Lorena, in Beaumont,
Texas.*
"I's born at Opelousas and my massa and missis was Dr. Bridget and his
wife. They was mean and they beat us and put the hounds after us. They
beat the little ones and the big ones and when massa ain't beatin' his
wife is. It am continual. My pappy call Thomas Naville and my mammy
'Melia Naville. They was born in Virginia. I had four brothers and two
sisters, all dead now.
"Like I says, old massa sho' whip us and when he whip he put us 'cross a
barrel or chain us and stake us out with a rope. We didn't have much to
eat and not much clothes. They weave us clothes on the loom and make the
dress like a sack slip over the head.
"Our cabin wasn't so bad, made of logs with dirt 'tween the logs. The
chimney make out of sticks and dirt and some windows with a wooden
shutter and no glass in 'em. Massa give 'em lumber and paint to make
things for the house and they have homemake bed and table and benches to
sit on.
"Massa have the hoss power cotton gin and a hoss power sugar cane mill,
too. Us work hard all day in the gin and the sugar cane mill and doesn't
have no parties nor fun. Sometimes in the evenin' us git together and
talk or sing low, so the white folks won't hear.
[Illustration: _Adeline White_]
"I 'member going through the woods one time and seein' somethin' black
come up 'fore me. It must a been a ghost. I got a boy call' Henry what
live in Welch and he kin see ghosties all the time. He jus' look back
over he lef' shoulder and see plenty of 'em. He say they has a warm heat
what make him sweat.
"Old massa didn't go to the war and his boys was too little. We jus'
heared about the war and that it was goin' to free us. In the night us
would creep out way in the woods and have the prayer meetin', prayin'
for freedom to come quick. We has to be careful for if massa find out he
whip all of us, sho'. We stays nearly all night and sleeps and prays and
sleeps and prays. At las' we hears freedom is on us and massa say we are
all free to go, but if we stay he pay us some. Most of us goes, for that
massa am sho' mean and if we doesn't have to stay we wouldn't, not with
that massa.
"We scatters and I been marry twice. The first man was Eli Evans in
Jennings, in Louisiana and us have six chillen. The second man he James
White but I has no more chillen. Now I lives with my gal what called
Lorena and she make me happy. She sho' good to her old mammy, what ain't
much good no more."