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Bastrop County, TX |
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JAMES JACKSON, 87,
was born a slave to the Alexander family, in Caddo Pariah, La. When he was about
two, his master moved to Travis County, Texas. A short time later he and his two brothers were stolen and sold
to Dr. Davall, in Bastrop Co., Texas. He worked around Austin till he married, when
he moved to Taylor and than to Kaufman. In 1929 he went to Fort
Worth where he has lived ever since. "I was bo'n at Caddo Parish, date in Louisiana, on de Doc
Alexander plantation. My mother says I was bo'n
on de 18th day of December, in de year of 1850. I guess dat's right, 'cause I's
87 years ole dis comin' December. "Jus' 'bout dat time dey started shippin' de darkies to Texas. My marster
moved to Travis County. Texas, and tuk all his slaves wid him. I
was too young to 'member, but my mother, she told me 'bout it. "It wasn' long after we was on Marster
Alexander's new place in Travis County, till one night a man rode up on a hoss and stole me and my two brothers and rode away wid us. He tuk us to Bastrop County and sold us to Doc Duvall. Marster Duvall sold my brother right after he bought us, but me and John,
we stayed wid him till de slaves was freed. "On Marster Davall's plantation de
slaves all lived in log cabins back of de big house. Dey was one room, two rooms and three room cabins,
dependin' on de size of de family. Most had dirt floors, but some of 'em had log slabs. We had dese ole wooden beds wid a rope stretch 'cross de bottom and a mattress of
straw or cotton dat de niggers got in de fiel'.
We had lots to eat, like biscuit, cornbread, meat and sich
stuff. Most times dey made coffee outta parch cornmeal. We had
gardens and raised most of de stuff to eat. "I herds sheep
and is houseboy most of de time. When I was ole
enough, I picks cotton. I was jus' learnin' when de slaves was freed. Marster
Duvall had over 500 acres in cotton and he kep' us
in de fiel' all de time, 'cept
Saturday afternoon and Sunday. "Dey had meetin' and dances
Saturday nights. I was too young to 'member jus' what de songs was, but dey
had a fiddle and played all night long. On ever' Sunday de niggers went to Church in de evenin'.
Dey had a white preacher in de mornin'
and a cullud preacher in de evenin'. "Marster Duvall would whip de niggers who was disobedience
and he jus' call dem up
and ask dem what
was de trouble, den he would whip dem wid a cowhide or a rope whip. We could go anywhere iffen
we had a pass, but if we didn' de paddlerollers would ketch us. They was kinda like policemen we got
today. "In slavery, dey traded and sold niggers like dey
do hosses and mules. Dey
carry dem to de court house and put dem on de block and auction 'em
off. Some sold for roun' $3,000. It was hard to sell
one wid scars on him, 'cause
nobody wanted him, I seen 'em come by in droves, all chained together. "When de slaves
was free day was sho' happy. Dey
all got together and had a kin' of cel'bration. Marster
told dem if dey wanted to
stay and help make de drop, he'd give 'em 50 cents a day and a
place to stay. Some tuk him up on dat and stayed, but a lot of dam left dere. Me
and my brother, we started walkin' to Austin. In
Austin we finds our mother, she was working for Judge Paschal. She
hires us out to one place and den another. "Since freedom
I done most everything anybody could do. I been porter and waiter in hotels and rest'rants.
I been factory hand, and worked for carpenters and in de roun'
house. I picked cotton and
worked on de farm. "I been married 61 years. I gits
married at home, like civilize folks do. I raised a big family, 12 chillen,
but only five is alive today. I moved here in 1929 and looks like I's here till I die. |
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