Ex~..s1ave Stories „ (Texas)
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Page Two
place and. in wasbpot out ir~ de open, Sir, de great day am when massa bru.ng jR de great ‚ fat Co oi a~ad p o ssiim.

	UCaptath, us has no ~ dem days 1~g de slaves. I‘d. ask

massa could I have a gal ‚ if she ‘lomg to ‘iother massa, and she ask her massa could I come see here If dey says yes, I goes see her once de week with pt~ss. Boss, say, I had. three wives. When l‘s sot free dey wouldn‘t let inc livewith but one. Captain, that ain‘t right, ‘cause I w9nts all three,

	“My missus larnCd me readin‘ aid writia1, ~Lfter freedom I taught de first nigger school. Dat in M~dic~on and Leon Counties. I‘s de oa].y nigger what c~x~ read and write in two settleneits. They was thousaids couldn‘t read and write.

	‚I ~ ‘lieve it ‚ s 1861 when us come to Texas. Us camps at Neasho in Arkansas and then come through the Indian Nation. Massa was purty good. He treated. us jus‘ tbout like you. would a good mule.

	~	wore horseshoes ai~d rabbit feet for good. luck. Then us have de hoodoism to keep.massa from bein1 mean. Us git d.c stick z~ad notch so many notches on it and sup up to massa‘s front steps, with~it him seem‘ us, and put this stick wader his doorsteps. Every night us go back to de stick and drive it down one notch. By time de last notch down in de ground, lt make massa good to us. Dat called hoodoism.

	“Massa tells us W&S free on June ‘teenth. I leaves. I made a fiddle out of a gourd ‚ fore freedom and lame t O Pl87 it • I pla.~ed for dances after I~s free.