WILLIS WINN, AGE-116,SLAVE IN LOUISIANA. TEX #237 THE ONLY STATEMENT I CAN MAKE ABOUT MY AGE IS THAT MY6OLD-M STn,2 B6WrNN, jLWAYS tOLD ME IF ANYONE ASKED-ME qOWOLD I WAS TO SAY I WAS BORN ON MARCH THE TnNTH, rN 1:22. &I8HAeEKNOWN MY BIRTHDAY SINCE I WAS A SHIRT TAIL BOY, BUT CAN 'T FIGURE IN MY HEAD. *Y7P PPY6WAS DANIEL6WINN AND8HE Cj EFROM ALABAMA, AND I REMEMBER HIM ALWAY S SAYING HE WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK THERE AND GET SOME CHESTNUTS. MAMMY WAS NAMED PATSY AND THERE WERE NINE6OF S .HILDRE). ,HE6FIVE2 ;\SWAS ME AND WILLIE AND HOSEA jND TWO GEORGES, AND THE GALS WAS COLrNA jND ORA jND jNNA jND ADZ, AND ALL OF US LIVED TO BE GROWN AND HAVE CHILDREN. MASSA BOB'S HOUSE FACED THE QUARTERS WHERE HE COULD HEAR US HOLLER WHEN8HE BLOWED THE BIG HORN FOR US TO GET UP. ALL THE HOUSES WAS MADE OF LOGS AND WE SLEPT ON SHUCK AND GRASS MATTRESSES WHAT WAS ALWAYS FULL OF CHINCHES. I STILL S LEEP ON A GRASS MATTRESS, CAUSE I CAN'T REST ON COTTON AND FEATHER BEDS. WE ATE YELLOW BREAD AND GREENS AND BLACK EYED PEAS AND POTLICKER AND SOPPED MOLASSES. WE AND THE WHITE FOLKS ALL COOKED IN FIREPLACES. A BIG IRON POT8HUN G OUT IN THE YARD FOR TO BOIL GREENS AND HOG JOWL AND SUCH LIKE. WE DIDN'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BAKING POWDER AND MADE OUR SODA FROM BURNT OB\. ,HAT S-J ST S GOOD SODA AS THIS ARM AND HAMMAR YOU GET IN THE STORE. WE ATE FLOUR BREAD SUND AYS, BUT YOU DARE NOT GET CAUGHT WITH FLOUR BREAD EXCEPT ON THAT DAY. MAMMY STO LE LOTS OF IT, THOUGH. SHE ROLLED IT UP AND PUT IT ROUND HER HEAD AND COVERED I T WITH HER HEAD RAG. WILD GAME WAS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, BUFFALO AND BEARS AND PANTHERS AND DEER AND POSSUM AND COON. THE SQUIRRELS jL ST-RjNOOVnR8 OU rN ,H E WOODS. WE ATE AT A LONG, WOODEN TROUGH AND IT WAS ALWAYS CLEAN AND FULL OF PL ENTY OF GRUB. WE USED BUFFALO AND FISH BONES FOR SPOONS, AND SOME ATE WITH THEI R HANDS. THE GRUB I LIKED BEST WAS WHATEVER I COULD GET. US SLAVES DIDN'T WEAR NOTHING BUT WHITE LOWELL CLOTH. THEY GAVE US PANTS6F OR SUNDAY WHAT HAD A BLACK STRIPE DOWN THE LEG. THE CHILDREN WORE WOOL CLOTHES IN WINTER, BUT THE BIG FOLKS WORE THE SAME OUTFIT THE YEAR ROUND. THEY DIDN'T CARE IF YOU FROZE. I CAN SHOW YOU RIGHT WHERE I WAS WHEN THE STARS6FEL$. OME SAY THEY OVERE D THE GROUND LIKE SNOW, BUT NARY ONE EVER HIT THE GROUND. THEY FELL IN ABOUT TW ELVE FEET OF THE GROUND. THE CHILDREN JUMPED UP AND TRIED TO CATCH THEM. I DON 'T REMEMBER HOW LONG THEY FELL, BUT THEY WAS SHOOTING THROUGH THE AIR LIKE SKY ROCKETS FOR QUITE A SPELL. MISSY CALLIE8HAD6ONE7GAL AND wO2 ;\S NDMASSA BOB HAD THREE OVERSEERS. H E DIDN'T HAVE NIGGER DRIVERS, BUT HAD HIS PETS. WE CALLED THEM PIMPS, CAUSE THEY WAS ALWAYS TATTLING WHEN WE DONE ANYTHING. HIS PLACE WAS JUST AS FAR AS YO U COULD LET YOUR EYES SEE, ABOUT EIGHTEEN HUNDRED OR NINETEEN HUNDRED ACRES, AND HE OWNED MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED NIGGERS. I2STrLL pOT THE BUGLE HE wOKE US WITH AT&oOuR&rN cHEMORNING. WHEN THE BUGLE BLOWED YOU HAD BETTER GO TO HOLLERING, SO THE OVERSEER COULD HEAR YOU. IF HE HAD TO CALL YOU, IT WAS TOO BAD. THE FIRST THING IN THE MORNING WE wOuLD pO TO THE LOT AND FEED, THEN TO THE WOODPILE TILL BREAKFAST. THEY GOT-OuR pR B&rN THE TROUGH AND GAVE US SO LONG TO EAT. MASSA HOLLERED IF WE WERE SLOW EATING. "SWALLOW THAT GRUB NOW AND CHEW IT TONIGHT. BETTER BE IN THAT FIELD BY DA krEA K." WE WORKED FROM SEE TO CAN'T. I HAVE SEEN MANY A NIGGER WHIPPED ON A BUCK AND GAG BENCH. THEY BU KlED cH EM DOWN HARD AND FAST ON A LONG BENCH, GAGGED THEIR MOUTH WITH COTTON AND WHEN M ASSA GOT THROUGH LAYING ON THAT COWHIDE, THE BLOOD WAS RUNNING OFF ON THAT GROUN D. NEXT MORNING AFTER HE WHIPPED YOU, HE WOULD COME TO THE QUARTERS WHEN YOU GO T UP AND SAY, "BOY, HOW IS YOU FEELING?" NO MATTER HOW SORE YOU IS, YOU HAD BET TER JUMP AND KICK YOUR HEELS AND SHOW HOW LIVELY YOU IS. MASSA HATED ME TO HIS DYING DAY, CAUSE I TOLD MISSY ABOUT HIM WHIPPING A GAL SCANDALOUSLY IN THE FInL D, CAUSE SHE WANTED TO GO TO THE HOUSE TO HER SICK BABY. MISSY CALLIE DIDN'T WHIP US, BUT SHE WOULD TWIST OUR NOSE AND EARS NEARLY OFF. THEM FINGERS FELT LI KE A PAIR OF PINCERS. SHE STROPPED ON HER GUNS AND RODE A BIG BAY HORSE OUT TO THE FIELD. MASSA HAD A GIN AND I HAULED COTTON tO-PORT CADmO,-ON CADmO-L KE. &I&OeE EIGHT-MuL S jND HAuLED EIGHT2BjL SOF COTTON. MASSA FOLLOWED ME WITH TWO MULES AND TWO BALES OF COTTON. I USUALLY HAD A GOOD START OF HIM. THE-PAtROLLnS&HA D CAUGHT ME AND UNHITCHED MY MULES AND DRIVEN THEM OFF, LEAVING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF TEH ROAD. THEY WOULD START BACK HOME, BUT WHEN THEY-OVnRtOOK-M SSA THEY StO PPED, CAUSE HE DROVE THE LEAD MULES. HE FETCHED THEM BACK AND SAID, "WILLIS, WH AT HAPPENED?" HE SURE CUSSED THEM PATROLLERS AND SAID HE WILL GET EVEN YET. THEY WAS SELLING SLAVES ALL THE TIME, PUTTING THEM ON THE kLO K jND2SnLLrNG THEM, ACCORDING TO HOW MUCH WORK THEY lOuLD mO rN A DAY jND qOW StRONG cHEY f S . I HAVE SEEN LOTS OF THEM IN CHAINS LIKE COWS AND MULES. IF AN OWNER HAD MORE THAN HE NEEDED, HE HIT THE ROAD WITH THEM AND SOLD THEM OFF TO ADJOINING FARMS. NONE-OF THnM EVnR-RjN-OFF. THEY lOuLm)'TGGET& f . &IHH eESEEN TOO MANY TRY IT. IF THE PATROLLERS DIDN'T CATCH YOU, SOME WHITE FOLKS WOULD PUT YOU UP AND C ALL YOUR MASSA. THEY HAD AN AGREEMENT TO BE ON THE WATCH FOR RUNAWAY NIGGERS. WHEN THE MASSA GOT YOU BACK HOME AND GET THROUGH WITH YOU, YOU WOULD SURE STAY H OME. IN SLAVERY TIME THE NIGGERS WEREN'T ALLOWED TO LOOK AT A BOOK. I-LEjRnED3T O READ AND WRITE AFTER SURRENDER IN THE JAIL AT HOT SPRINGS, IN ARKANSAS. THEY GAVE US CAKE AT CHRISTMAS AND EGGNOG AND SILLYBUG. EGGNOG IS MADE6O M THE WHITES OF EGGS AND SILLYBUG FROM (EGG) YELLOWS. YOU HAVE TO CHURN THE WHISKEY AND (EGG) YELLOWS TO MAKE SILLYBUG. CORN SHUCKINGS WERE THE THINGS IN TqOSE DAYS. I-LrKED tO SEE THnM lOME. T HEY COOKED UP GUINESS AND DUCKS AND CHICKENS AND SOMETIMES ROATED A PIG. MASSA KEPPT TWENTY, THIRTY BARRELS OF WHISKEY ROUND OVER THE PLACE ALL THE TIME, WITH TIN CUPS HANGING ON THE BARRELS. YOU COULD DRrNK WHnN yOU WjNT tO, BUT SuRE BE TTER NOT GET DRUNK. MASSA HAVE TO WATCH HIS CORNERS WHEN CORN SHUCKING IS OVER, OR US NIGGERS GRAB HIM AND WALK HIM ROUND IN THE AIR ON THEIR HANDS. WHnM2sOMEOOF ,HE6 HIcE6oO KS&DIED&EenYNIGGER ON THE PLACE HAD TO GO TO TH E GRAVE AND WALK ROUND AND DROP SOME DIRT ON HIM. THEY BURIED THE NIGGERS ANY W AY. DIG A DITCH AND COVER THEM UP. I CAN SHOW YOU RIGHT NOW DOWN IN LOUISIANA WHERE I WAS RAISED, FORTY ACRES WITH NOTHING BUT NIGGERS BURIED ON THEM. I REMEMBER LOTS ABOUT THE WAR BUT CAN'T TELL YOU ALL, CAUSE EVERY6WjR8H S ITS SECRETS. THAT WAR HAD FOUR SALUTES, AND YOU HAD BETTER GIVE THE RIGHT ONE W HEN YOU MEET THE CAPTAIN. I HAVE HEARD THE NIGGERS SING "GONNA HANG JEFF DAVIS TO A SOUR APPLE TREE." MY PAPPY FOUGHT IN THE LAST BATTLE, AT MANSFIELD, AND SO DID MASSA BOB. WHEN THE CONFEDERATES CAME IN SIGHT OF MANSFIELD THEY WAS CARRYING A RED FL AG, AND KEPT IT RAISED TILL SURRENDER. WHEN THE YANKS CAME IN SIGHT THEY RAISED A WHITE FLAG AND WANTED THE CONFEDERATES TO SURRENDER, BUT THEY wOuLDNOT ANSWE R. IT WAS NOT LONG TILL THE WHOLE WORLD ROUND THERE SMELT LIKE POWDER. GUNS NO WADAYS JUST GO POP-POP, BUT THEM GUNS SOUNDED LIKE THUNDER. AFTER SURRENDER, MASSA FREED THE MEN AND MISSY FREED THE WOMEN, BUT HE DIDN 'T LET US LOOSE WHEN HE OUGHT. THEY WAS NOT NO PLACE PROVIDED WITH NIGGERS AS I HEjrD kOUT. -NIGGnS rN-LOUISIjNA SAY-QUEnN nLIi BEcHSENT A BOATLOAD OF GOLD tO AMERICA TO GIVE THE FREE MEN, BUT WE-NEVnR SAW jNY-OF IT. MASSA GAVE US EAC H A BARREL OF MEAL, A BARREL OF FLOUR, A SIDE OF MEAT AND TEN GALLONS OF MOLASSE S AND TOLD US WE COULD WORK FOR WHO WE PLEASE. DADDY BOUGHT TWO COWS AND A HORS E AND EIGHT HOGS AND A GOAT FROM MASSA ON CREDIT AND WE MOVED AND MADE THREE CRO PS. THE YANKS STAYED ROUND LOUISIANA A LONG TIME AFTER SUREENDER. THEY CAME TO WHITE FOLKS HOUSES WHAT HADN'T FREED TEHIR SLAVES jND BUSTED THErRMEAL AND FLO UR BARRELS AND BURNED THEIR MEAT AND SAID,"IF WE HAVE TO FACE YOU AGAIN WE WILL SWEEP YOU FROM THE CRADLE UP." I HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY THEM KU KLUXERS. THEY DIDN'T HURT ME, BUT HAVE LOTS OF FUN MAKING ME CUT CAPERS. THEY PULLED MY CLOTHES OFF ONCE AND MADE ME RUN AB OUT FOUR HUNDRED YARDS AND STAND ON MY HEAD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. THERE ARE PLENTY OF NIGGERS IN LOUISIANA THAT ARE STILL SLAVES. A SPELL BACK I MADE I TRIP TO WHERE I WAS RAISED, TO SEE MY OLD MISSY BEFORE SHE DIED, AND THERE WAS NIGGERS IN TWELVE OR FOURTEEN MILES OF THAT PLACE THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY WAS oREE. THnRE jRE-PLnNTY-NIGGnSROUND HERE THAT ARE THE SAME AS SLAVES, AND HAVE WORKED FOR WHITE FOLKS TWENTY AND TWENTY FIVE YEARS AND ArN'T mrAwN A FIVE CnNT-PIECE,-JUST-OLD l OcH S&jnD2 OmEcHrnG O&EA . 3 H TIS THE6WAY6WE6WnRE rN2sLAVnY. ABOUT FOUR YEARS AFTER SURRENDER PAPPY SAID HE HEARD FOLKS SAY pOLD f S COVERING THE GROUND AT HOPE, ARKANSAS, SO WE PULLED UP AND MOVED THERE. WE FOUN D LOTS OF MONEY WHERE THERE HAD BEEN A BIG CAMP, BUT NO GOLD. WE LIVED THERE S IXTEEN YEARS, THEN I CAME TO TEXARCANA AND WORKED TWELVE YEARS FOR MISTER G W GE ORGE FAWCETT'S SAWMILL. I NEVER MARRIED TILL I WAS OLD, IN LITTLE WASHINGTON, A RKANSAS, AND LIVED WITH MY WIFE THIRTY SIX YEARS BEFORE SHE DIED. WE RAISED EIGHTEEN CHILDREN TO BE GROWN AND NARY ONE OF THEM WAS EVER ARRESTED. I WAS ALWAYS WrLD jND-PLAYED oOR DjNCES, BUT-MY WIFE6f SRELIGIOUS AND AFTE R I MARRIED I QUIETED DOWN. WHEN I JOINED THE CHURCH, I BURNED MY FIDDLE UP. I ALWAYS MADE A LIVING FROM PUBLIC ROAD WORK SINCE I LEFT TEXARCANA, TILL I GOT NO COUNT FOR WORK. THE ONLY TIME I VOTED WAS IN HOPE, AND I VOTED THE REPUBLICA N TICKET AND ALL MY FOLKS GOT MAD. IF IT WASN'T FOR THE GOOD WHITE FOLKS, I WOULD HAVE STARVED tO DEATH. 2BEoO RE I CAME HERE TO THE VESTALS, I WAS LIVING IN A SHACK ON THE T AND P TRACKS AND I COULDN'T PAY NO RENT. I WAS SICK AND THE WOMAN MADE-ME GETOUT. MASTER VEST AL FOUND ME DOWN BY THE TRACKS, EATING RED CLAY. I HAD LIVED FOR THREE DAYS ON SIX TOMATOES. I ATE TWO A DAY. MASTER VESTAL WENT HOME AND HIS WIFE COOKED A BIG-POT OF STEW, WITH MEAT jND-POTAtO S, jND&FEcCHEDIT TO ME. THEN THEY BUI LT A HOUSE DOWN BEHIND THEIR BACK YARD AND I HAVE LIVED WITH THEM EVER SINCE. I ALWAYS SAY THE COLORED RACE STARTED OFF WRONG WHEN THEY WAS FREED AND IS STILL WRONG TODAY. THEY HAD A SHOT TO BE WELL OFF, BUT THEY CAN'T KEEP ON(Y. YOU GIVE ONE A BANK OF MONEY AND HE WILL BE BUSTED TOMORROW. I TELL YOUNG-NIGG ERS EVERY DAY THEY OUGHT TO COME DOWN WHERE THEY WILL HAVE SOME SENSE. I SERVE THE LORD AT HOME AND DON'T MEDDLE WITH THEM. X XXX