de chillun. Him picks de portly, and de
healthy women dat am to rear de portly chillen. De overlooker, he am
portly man. Dem dat him picks he overlooks, and not 'low dem to marry or
to go round with other nigger men. If dey do, its whippin' sho.' De
massa raises some fine, portly chillen, and dey sel' some, after dey's
half-grown, for $500 and sometimes more.

"De war didn' make no diff'runce, dat I notices, 'cept massa and one
overseer jines de army. Massa come back, but de overseer am captured by
de Yankees, so massa says, and we never hears 'bout him after dat. De
soldiers passes by lots of times, both de 'federates and de 'blue
bellies', but we's never bothered with dem. De fightin' was not close
enough to make trouble. Jus' 'fore freedom come, de new overseer am
'structed to take us to Texas and takes us to Kaufman County and we is
refugees dere. De Yankee mans tells us we am free and can do sich as we
pleases. Dat lef' us in charge of no one and we'uns, jus' like cattle,
wen' wanderin'.

"Pappy, him goes back to Lousiana to massa's place. Dat am de las' we
hears from him. Mammy and I goes to Henderson and I works at dis and dat
and cares for my mammy ten years, till she dies. Den I gits jobs as cook
in Dallas and Houston and lots of other places.

"I gits married in 1901 to Ellen Tilles and I cooks till 'bout four
years ago, till I gits de rhumatis'. Dat's all I can tell you 'bout de
ole days.

420096

[Illustration: James Brown]

JAMES BROWN, 84, blind for the last 12 years and now living alone
in a shack at 408 W. Belknap, Fort Worth, Texas, was born a slave
of Mr. Berney in Bell Co., Texas, in 1853. While still an infant,
he and his mother were sold to Mr. John Blair, who farmed four
miles south of Waco, Texas. JAMES has no known living relatives and
a pension of $14.00 a month is his sole support.

"My fust Marster was named Marster Berney. I'se don' 'member hims fust
name nor nothin' 'bout him. I'se don' know nothin' 'bout my pappy, but
Marster Blair told me hims name was John Brown.

"Marster Blair have hims farm four miles south of Waco. We'uns lived in
de cabins and have de fiddle and de banjoes. We'uns sing and have music
on Sundays. Marster never whups we'uns and him was allus good to us. Him
gives us plenty to eat, and meat, too. Hims keeps 'bout 20 hawgs dere
all de time. De women makes de clothes and we'uns have all we need.

"De fust work I does is