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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Bruin, Madison "When I 'bout 17 I left Kentucky and goes to Indiana and white folks sends me to school to larn readin' and writin', but I got tired of dat and run off and jine de army. Dat in 1876 and dey sends me to Arizona. After dat I's at Fort Sill in what used to be Indian Territory and den at Fort Clark and Fort Davis, dat in Garfield's 'ministration, den in Fort Quitman on de Rio Grande. I's in skirmishes with de Indians on Devil's River and in de Brazos Canyon, and in de Rattlesnake Range and in de Guadalupe Mountains. De troops was de Eighth Cavalry and de Tenth Infantry. De white and de cullud folks was altogether and I have three hosses in de cavalry. De fust one plays out. de next one shot down on campaign and one was condemn. On dat campaign us have de White Mountain 'paches with us for scouts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Driver, Fannie Mccullough Fannie McCullough Driver, 80, was born a slave on January 19, 1857, on the Ben McCullough cotton plantation, which was located on the bank of the Guadalupe River, near Seguin, Guadalupe County. Fannie's mother, Harriet McCullough, who was brought from Tennessee to Texas by Ben McCullough. Harriet's husband, Jim McCullough, and her six children were also brought to Texas. Fannie is the only surviving member. She says that Ben McCullough was a reasonable master; her last master, a Mr. Foley, had a nephew, Stewart Foley, who made life miserable for the slaves. Fannie remained with her parents until 1877, when she married Sol Driver, who was at that time an experienced "broncobuster". Sol and Fannie had eight children, all boys, of whom only two still are living. Sol died more than thirty years ago. Fannie married Jim Harvard. They had no children. Jim Harvard died years ago and Fannie still refers to herself as Fannie Driver. Fannie did not have a chance to go to school during slavery, but was fortunate to have gone for several years after emancipation. She lives with her son, Jim Driver, at 1304 Coleto St., Austin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Driver, Fannie Mccullough "De folks in de early days always called me Fan, but my real name was Fannie McCullough. I'm eighty years old, and I was bawn on January 19, 1857, on Mawster Ben McCullough's cotton plantation. Dis place was on de bank ob de Guadalupe River, somewhere near Seguin, I think. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Driver, Fannie Mccullough "I kain't remembah many dates, but when it comes to somethin' dat happened to me in my life, I kin remembah back to de time when I was jes' beginnin' to walk. I sure kin'. I remembah how I crawled to a laghe ant-hill, and was stung by a big red ant. My uncle, Abe Wright, grabbed me and walked mighty fast to where mammy was washin' clothes on de bank ob de Guadalupe River. Tubs had been hauled to de bank ob de river, fires was made and de washin' was done right dere. De washed clothes was den brought back to de big house and hung up to dry. The Guadalupe was a very dangerous-lookin' river, and de water was very blue. While de wimmen was washin' de clothes dey would sing songs. Some ob 'em made up songs while dey washed, but I don't remembah none ob de words. Pappy and mammy was good singers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Haywood, Felix "Everybody went wild. We all felt like heroes and nobody had made us that way but ourselves. We was free. Just like that, we was free. It didn't seen to make the whites mad, either. They went right on giving us read just the same. Nobody took our homes away, but right off colored folks started on the move. They seemed to want to get closer to freedom, so they'd know what it was --- like it was a place or a city. Me and my father stuck, stuck close as a lean tick to a sick kitten. The Gudlews started us out on a ranch. My father, he'd round up cattle, unbranded cattle, for the whites. They was cattle that they belonged to, all right; they had gone to find water 'long the San Antonio River and the Guadalupe. Then the whites gave me and my father some cattle for our own. My father had his own brand, 7 B), and we had a herd to start out with of seventy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Haywood, Felix "Everybody went wild. We didn't feel like anybody had don anythin' for us (the slaves). We all felt like heroes and nobody had made us that way but ourselves. We was free! Just like that we was free. It didn't seem to make the whites mad either. They went right on giving us food just the same. Nobody took our homes away. But right off colored folks started on the move. They seemed to want to get closer to freedom so they'd know what it was---like it was a place or a city. Me and my father stuck---stuck close as a lean tick to a sick kitten. The Gudlows started us out on a ranch. My father he would round up cattle---unbranded cattle---for the whites.....No, they was cattle that they belonged to all right. They had gone to find water 'long the San Antonio River and the Guadalupe. Then the whites gave me and my father some cattle for our own. My father had his own brand, 7 B O, and we had a herd to start out with of seventy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Landrum, Janey "I was borned down in the Guadualupe River bottom close to the town of Gonzales in 1851, in the spring of the year. My mother was Ella McBride, who lived 'till 1919. My father was William McBride, an' he died two years after the close of the Freedom war. My father lived on another plantation close to ours an' w'en the slaves was freed he come after mother and my little brother and me. There was lots of soljers who come through the big trees in the bottom and passed by where we lived and they told us that the slaves was free. I was scared and so was my brother but after awhile my father come for us and told us that us was free and not to be scared of noboddy. My mother and the chillun belonged to Miss Effie Zuma and her plantation was in the forks of, and along the Guadalupe River in the bottom. Marster McBride put my father on a little farm and he was a sharecropper, but he died before he made the second crop. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Martin, James "After the war we were sent to Texas, the 9th U.S. Cavalry, under Capt. Francis F. Dodge. I was at Fort Sill. Fort Davis, Fort Stockton and Fort Clark. I was in two battles with Indians in the Guadalupe Mountains. I served under Col. Shafter in 1871 and I got my discharge under Gen. Merritt in 1872. Then I come to San Antonio. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Martin, James "When I'm old enough, I'm taught the trade of saddler. They gave me an education. When I'm seventeen or eighteen I enlist in the United States* army. I was in the Ninth Cavalry under command of Captain Francis F. Dodge. We were sent to Texas where they had trouble with the Indians. I served for a time at Fort Sill, Fort Davis in West Texas, Fort Stockton and Fort Clark. I was in two battles with the Indians in the Guadalupe Mountains. I also served under Colonel Shafter in March, 1871. I got my discharge under General Merritt in 1872. Then I came to San Antonio. First I went back to Alexandria but everything had changed. So I came back here. I worked for a while at saddlery for Ramsey and Ford. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Millett, Harriett Harriett Millett, 83, was born a slave in May, 1854, on the cotton plantation of William Clack, of Mississippi. Her mother was Kizzie Franklin, who was a cook on the plantation. She was the mother of twelve children, Harriett and Mathilda. Kizzie died in 1909 at the advanced age of 109 years. Her father was Anthony Franklin, who probably took the name of Franklin from a former master. Anthony was a sort of overseer on the Clack plantation. Clack then brought his slaves to Texas before emancipation and settled at Seguin, Guadalupe County. There he purchased land from his sister, Mrs. Caroline Phinell. He then moved to a place near New Braunfels, which was then known as border country and was dangerous, because of Indians. Harriett during her childhood was known as a house-girl, and helped nurse the Clack children. In 1872, at the age of 18, Harriett was married to Bill Malone, at Prairie Lea, Caldwell County. Malone was a farmer and freighter. They had seven children: Hallie, Billie, Katy, Lucinda, Mary, Ivory, and Ella. Ivory and Mary are dead. After nine years of married life, Bill and -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Millett, Harriett "Mawster Clack brought us to Seguin, down in Guadalupe County. He had a sistah, Mrs. Ca'oline Phinell, dat he bought land f'om. He raised cotton and cawn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Mills, Tom "I married when I was with them and I worked for him after that. That was when we would work away down on the Rio Grande, when Demp Fenley and Lee Langford and Tom Roland and the two Lease boys and one or two more was deliverin' cattle to the Gold Franks' ranch. He wanted 8,000 two-year-old heifers. He had 150,000 acres of land and wanted cattle to stock it. Some taken a contract to deliver so many and some taken a contract to deliver so many, so these men I was with went down below Laredo and down in there. We wound that up in '85. In '86, I went to Kerr County and taken a ranch out there on the head of the Guadalupe River. I stayed there two years and a half, till they sold out. This man I was workin' for was from Boston, and he leased the ranch and turned it over to me and I done all the hirin' and payin' off and buyin' and ever'thing. When he sold out, I left and went on the Horton ranch about thirteen months. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- State: Texas Interviewee: Polk, Ellen "De plantation was on de Guadalupe River and when dere was no meat de slaves went to de river and killed wild hogs end turkeys and ketched fish. We groun' de co'n for cornbread and made hominy. And, O Lawd, de sugar cane, and what good 'lasses we used to make. De slaves had purty good times and de ole boss was awful good to 'em. We drank well water. In dry times we toted de water frum de river for washin'. |