A M MOORE                    1724-TEX/#242
     MY NAME IS ALMONT M MOORE AND I WAS BORN RIGHT HERE IN HARRISON COUNTY, IN
1846, AND BELONGED TO MASTER W R SHERRAD.  MY MASTER WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLE
RS IN THESE PARTS AND OWNED A BIG PLANTATION, EIGHT MILES NORTHEAST OF MARSHALL.
  MY FATHER WAS JILES D MOORE AND HE WAS BORN IN ALABAMA, AND MY MOTHER, ANNA, W
AS BORN IN MISSISSIPPI.  THEY COME TO TEXAS AS SLAVES.  MY GRANDMOTHER ON MY MOT
HER'S SIDE WAS CHERRY AND SHE BELONGED TO THE SHERRADS, TOO.  SHE SAID THE INDIA
NS GAVE THEM A HOT TIME WHEN THEY FIRST CAME TO TEXAS.  FINALLY THEY BECAME FRIE
NDLY TO THE WHITE PEOPLE.
     MY MISTRESS WAS LUCINDA SHERRAD AND SHE HAD A WORLD OF CHILDREN.  THEY LIVE
D IN A BIG, LOG HOUSE, BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT WAS A LOG HOUSE UNLESS YOU WENT
UP IN THE ATTIC WHERE IT WASN'T CEILED.  THE SLAVES HELPED MASTER BUILD THE HOUS
E.  THE QUARTERS LOOKED LIKE A LITTLE TOWN, WITH THE HOUSES ALL IN LINES.
     THEY8HAD RULES FOR THE SLAVES TO BE GOVERNED BY AND THEY WERE WHIPPED WHEN
THEY DISOBEYED.  MASTER DIDN' HAVE TO WHIP HIS SLAVES MUCH, BECAUSE HE WAS FAIR
TO THEM, MORE THAN MOST OF THE SLAVEOWNERS.  LOTS OF MASTERS WOULDN'T LET THE SL
AVES HAVE ANYTHING AND WOULDN'T LET THEM READ OR EVEN LOOK AT A BOOK.  I'VE KNOW
N COURTS IN THIS COUNTY TO FINE SLAVEOWNERS FOR NOT CLOTHING AND FEEDING THEIR S
LAVES RIGHT.  I THOUGHT THAT WAS RIGHT, BECAUSE LOTS OF THEM WERE TOO STINGY TO
TREAT THE SLAVES RIGHT UNLESS THEY MADE THEM DO IT.
     CORN SHUCKING WAS A BIG SPORT FOR THE NEGROES AND WHITES, TOO, IN SLAVERY T
IME.  SOMETIMES THEY GAVE A BIG DANCE WHEN THEY FINISHED SHUCKING, BUT MY MASTER
'S FOLKS ALWAYS HAD A RELIGIOUS SERVICE.  I WENT TO A METHODIST CHURCH AND IT HA
D TWO FLOORS, ONE FOR THE SLAVES AND ONE FOR THE WHITES.  JUST BEFORE THE WAR TH
EY BEGUN TO LET THE NEGROES PREACH AND HAVE SOME BOOKS, A HYMN BOOK AND A BIBLE.
     AFTER THE WAR THEY TREATED THE SLAVES FINE IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY.  TH
E INDUSTRIOUS ONES COULD WORK AND SAVE MONEY.  DOWN IN LOUISANA LOTS OF OWNERS D
IVIDED SYRUOP, MEAT AND OTHER THINGS WITH THE SLAVES.  MY BROTHER AND I SAVED EN
-UGH TO BUY FIVE HUNDRED ACRES OF LAND. LOTS OF WHITE MEN TOOK ONE OR MORE SLAVE
OUGH TO BUY FIVE HUNDRED ACRES OF LAND.  LOTS OF WHITE MEN TOOK ONE OR MORE SLAV
ES TO WAIT ON THEM WHEN THEY JOINED THE ARMY, BUT MY MASTER LEFT ME AT HOME TO H
ELP THERE.
     SOME OWNERS DIDN'T FREE THEIR SLAVES AND THEY SOON PUT SOLDIERS AT MARSHALL
 AND SHREVEPORT AND ARRESTED THE ONES WHO REFUSED TO LET THE SLAVES GO.  MY FATH
ER DIED DURING THE WAR AND MY MOTHER STAYED WITH MASTER SHERRAD THREE YEARS AFTE
R SURRENDER.  I STAYED WITH HER TILL I WAS BIG ENOUGH AND THEN HIRED OUT ON A FA
RM.  THEY PAID FARMHANDS $10.00 TO $15.00 A MONTH THEN.
     THEN I WENT TO SCHOOL AT WILEY AND BISHOP COLLEGES HERE FOR FOUR YEARS AND
I HOLD A COUNTY TEACHER'S CERTIFICATE.  I HAVE TAUGHT SCHOOL IN HARRISON AND GRE
GG COUNTIES AND IN CADDO PARISH, IN LOUISIANA.  I STARTED PREACHING IN 1880 AND
FOR SEVERAL YEARS WAS DISTRICT MISSIONARY FOR THE TEXAS-LOUISIANA MISSIONARY BAP
TIST ASSOCIATION.  I HAVE PREACHED IN AND ORGANIZED CHURCHES ALL OVER EAST
TEXAS.
     WE RAISED SIX CHILDREN AND TWO BOYS AND TWO GIRLS ARE STILL LIVING.  THE GI
RLS LIVE IN LONGVIEW AND ONE BOY FARMS.  THE OTHER BOY IS A PREACHER HERE IN HAR
RISON COUNTY.
     I HAVE VOTED IN COUNTY AND OTHER ELECTIONS.  I THINK THEY SHOULD INSTRUCT T
HE NEGROES SO THEY CAN VOTE LIKE WHITE FOLKS.  THE YOUNG NEGROES NOW HAVE A BETT
ER CHANCE THAN MOST OF US HAD.  THEY HAVE THEIR SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES, BUT I DON'
T THINK THEY TRY AS HARD AS WE DID.  WE LEARNED LOTS FROM THE WHITE FOLKS AND TH
EIR TEACHING WAS GENUINE AND HAD A GREAT EFFECT ON US.  I ATTRIBUTE THE CHRISTIA
N BELIEFS OF OUR PEOPLE TO THE EARNEST, FAITHFUL TEACHING OF WHITE PEOPLE, AND T
ODAY WE HAVE MANY EDUCATED NEGRO TEACHERS AND PREACHERS AND LEADERS THAT WE ARE
NOT ASHAMED OF.
 X  XXX