*Caroline Wright, about 90 years old, was born near Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. Dr. Warren Wortham owned her parents and their 14 children.
Caroline was 12 when they were freed. Her father, Robert Vaughn, moved
to Texas, [HW: with master, p.2, para. 4 & 5] where he prospered and
bought more than 300 acres of Tehuacana bottom land in McLennan County.
Caroline and her husband now live at 59 Grant St., Waco, in a little
house they bought after their family was grown.*
"I was bo'ned in Louisiana on Jones Creek, by Baton Rouge, 'bout 90
years ago. I disremember the year. My pappy was Bob Vaughn and my mammy
was Rose Ann. Dey was bo'ned by Baton Rouge. I had six sisters, Betsy
Ann, Lydia, Nancy, Paga and Louisan; and three brothers, Horace, Robert
and Tom. We was all owned by Dr. Warren Wortham and his wife, Annie. Mr.
Bob, de doctor's brother, had us in charge, and he hired us out to Hays
White, who owned a sugar plantation on de Mississippi River by Baton
Rouge. Us all stayed at his place two year. Dere was sugar cane, co'n,
peas and tomatoes raised on de farm. We lived in a log cabin made of
pine logs and our beds was made outta pine timber with co'n shucks
tacked on de bed, and our kivers was feather beds.
"In Clinton, in Louisiana, we was all put on de block and valued. I was
six year old and I was valued at $1,500. But our family wasn' sold to
anyone. I was given to Miss Muriel, Dr. Wortham's daughter. Me and my
sisters was made house slaves and my mammy and pappy and brothers was
made fiel' slaves.
"Our marster, Dr. Wortham, sho' was a fine doctor. He never whip us. De
young missus learned us our A B C's 'cause dere was no school for de
slaves. Dere wasn' no church on de plantation, but us all went
'casionally to a big log cabin and camp shed. Sometime a white would
preach and sometime a cullud preacher.
"I only 'member one slave who ran away. He was so worthless, he came
back when he got ready. He wasn' punished, 'cause he wasn' mean, just
lazy. I never saw no jail for slaves and never saw any whipped. We allus
had from Friday noon to Monday mornin' off.
"On Christmas, the white folks allus give us presents and plenty to eat,
and us allus had a big dance five or six time a year. Dr. Wortham lived
in a great big log house made from cedar logs.
"One day, I seen a lot of men and I asked de missus what dey was doin'.
She tol' me dey come to fit in de war. De war got so bad dat Mr. Bob
tol' us we was all gwine to Texas. Us all started out on Christmas Day
of de firs' year of Lincoln's war. We went in ox wagons and us had mules
to ride.
"On de trip to Texas, one evenin' a big storm come up and Mr. Bob, he
asked a man to let us use a big, empty house. Dey put me by de door to
sleep 'cause I was de lightes' sleeper. Some time in de night, I woked
up and dere stood de bigges' haint I ever saw. He was ten feet high and
had on a big beaver coat. I hollers to my pappy, 'Pappy, wake up, dere's
a haint.' Nex' mornin' we got up and dey was nothin' outta place. No,
ma'am, we didn' cotch de haint, a haint jus' can't be cotched.
"Nex' mornin' we started agin on our journey, and some time in March we
reach Texas. They took us all 'cross de Brazos on a ferryboat, jus'
'bout where de 'spension bridge is now.
"De doctor took us all on de farm on de other side of where Bosque is
now. On de farm us raised all kinds vegetables and grain and sugar cane
to make sorghum, but no cotton. We all lived in one and two room log
cabins, made out of cedar posts. Us didn' make any money for ourselves,
but us had plenty of hog meat, beef, butter, milk, cornbread and
vegetables to eat, lots mo' dan us have dese days. Us did all de cookin'
in de fireplaces. Us sho' did have plenty of possum, and rabbit, and us
cotched lots of fish outta de Bosque River.
"De women slaves, eleven of us, had our own gardens and us spun all our
own clothes. In de summer us all wore cotton stripe and in de winter,
linsey dresses. On Sunday us had lawn dresses and us sho' did come out
looking choicesome.
"Dr. Wortham had Si for an overseer. It was a big farm and had forty or
fifty slaves to work it. Us got up 'bout four in de mornin' and ate
breakfas' 'bout nine o'clock. All de slaves had to work from sun to sun,
and when us was sick, de marster treated us.
"When I was 'bout 16, I married William Wright. He was bo'n a slave near
Rapid Pass, Kentucky. When he was eight year old, his family's owner
died, and he went to the daughter, Mrs. Richard Mason, on Black River,
in Louisiana, as "heir property." He was raised dere, but when he's
freed he comes to Texas and works for Ganey Mason, seven mile east of
Waco. He's 105 year old now and you cain't ha'dly unnerstan' what he's
talkin' 'bout. We was married on the 23d day of December, in 1869. Will
and me sho' did have a fine weddin'. De women cooked for three days and
we danced and ate. My weddin' dress was elegant. It was white lawn with
blue ribbons. Will and me had 12 chillen and raised 9, and us has 14
grandchildren.
"Will and me has been married 'bout 75 year and is still married. It's
disrespectful how de young folks treats marriage nowadays.
"Ten year after our chillen's growed, we swaps what land we has for dis
little house, but we had to pay some money, too. Will was more'n 90
years old and I was eighty some years old, but we got this house and we
is happy. We can sit under that big china-berry tree in de fron' yard
and look at de big trees over dere on Waco Creek, and one of our sons
lives with us."