A Freed Family’s Dream of Landownership
BETTY POWERS, Federal Writers’ Project Interview (c. 1936)
Betty Powers was eight or nine years old when the Civil War ended. She was born a slave on a Texas plantation and shared in her family’s jubilation when slavery ended. Seventy years later, she was interviewed by the New Deal’s Federal Writers’ Project, which conducted oral histories with former slaves. Despite her “head mis’ry,” which she claimed impaired her memory, she recalled poignant details of her family’s life in slavery and their transition to freedom with a farm of their own.
What for you wants dis old nigger’s story ’bout de old slavery days? ’Tain’t worth anythin’. I’s jus’ a hard workin’ person all my life and raised de family and done right by ’em as best I knowed. To tell the truf ’bout my age, I don’t know ’zactly. I ’members de war time and de surrender time. O’s old ’nough to fan flies off de white folks and de tables when surrender come. If you come ‘bout five year ago, I could telt you lots more, but I’s had de head mis’ry.
I’s born in Harrison County, ’bout twenty-five miles from Marshall. Mass’s name am Dr. Howard Perry and next he house am a li’l buildin’ for he office. De plantation an awful big one, and miles long, and more’n two hundred slaves was dere. Each cabin have one family and dere am three rows of cabins ’bout half a mile long.
Mammy and pappy and us twelve chillen live in one cabin, so mammy has to cook for fourteen people, ’sides her field work. She am up way befo’ daylight fixin’ breakfast and supper after dark, with de pine knot torch to make de light. She cook on de fireplace in winter and in de yard in summer. All de rations measure out Sunday mornin’ and it have to do for de week. It am not ’nough for heavy eaters and we has to be real careful or we goes hungry. We has meat and cornmeal and ’lasses and ’taters and peas and beans and milk. Dem short rations causes plenty trouble, ’cause de niggers has to steal food and it am de whippin’ if dey gets cotched. Dey am in a fix if dey can’t work for bein’ hungry, ’cause it am de whippin’ den, sho’, so dey has to steal, and most of ’em did and takes de whippin’. Dey has de full stomach, anyway.
De babies has plenty food, so dey grow up into strong, portly men and women. Dey stays in de nursery whilst dey mammies works in de fields, and has plenty milk with cornbread crumble up in it, and potlicker, too, and honey and ’lasses on bread.
De massa and he wife am fine, but de overseer am tough, and he wife, too. Dat woman have no mercy. You see dem long ears I has? Dat’s from de pullin’ dey gits from her. De field hands works early and late and often all night. Pappy makes de shoes and mammy weaves, and you could hear de bump, bump of dat loom at night, when she done work in de field all day.
Missy know everything what go on, ’cause she have de spies ’mongst de slaves. She purty good, though. Sometimes de overseer tie de nigger to a log and lash him with de whip. If de lash cut de skin, dey puts salt on it. We ain’t ’low to go to church and has ’bout two parties a year, so dere ain’t much fun. Lawd, Lawd, most dem slaves too tired to have fun noway. When all dat work am finish, dey’s glad to git in de bed and sleep.
Did we’uns have weddin’s? White man, you knows better’n dat. Dem times, cullud folks am jus’ put together. De massa say, “Jim and Nancy, you go live together,” and when dat order give, it better be done. Dey thinks nothin’ on de plantation ’bout de feelin’s of de women and dere ain’t no ’spect for dem. De overseer and white mens took ’vantage of de women like dey wants to. De woman better not make no fuss ’bout sich. If she do, it am de whippin’ for her. I sho’ thanks the Lawd surrender done come befo’ I’s old ’nough to have to stand for sich. Yes, sar, surrender saves dis nigger from sich.
When de war am over, thousands of sojers passes our place. Some camps nearby, and massa doctors dem. When massa call us to say we’s free, dere am a yardful of niggers. He give every nigger de age statement and say dey could work on halves or for wages. He ’vises dem to stay till dey git de foothold and larn how to do. Lots stays and lots goes. My folks stays ‘bout four years and works on shares. Den pappy buys de piece of land ’bout five miles from dere.
De land ain’t clear, so we’uns al pitches in and clears it and builds de cabin. Was we’uns proud? There ’twas, our place to do as we pleases, after bein’ slaves. Dat sho’ am de good feelin’. We works live beavers puttin’ de crop in, and my folks stays dere till dey dies. I leaves to git married de next year and I’s only thirteen years old, and marries Boss Powers.
We’uns lives on rent land nearby for six years and has three chillen and den he dies. After two years I marries Henry Ruffins and has three more chillen, and he dies in 1911. I’s livin’ with two of dem now. I never took de name of Ruffins, ’cause I’s dearly love Powers and can’t stand to give up he name. Powers done make de will and wrote on de paper, “To my beloved wife, I gives all I has.” Wasn’t dat sweet of him?
I comes to Fort Worth after Ruffin dies and does housework till I’s too old. Now I gits de $12.00 pension every month and dat help me git by.
Library of Congress, Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936–1938, Texas Narratives, vol. XVI, Part 3, 190–192.
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