and hires me out for de housegirl. But mama
dies and daddy takes sick and dies, too. Lawd have mercy, dat sho' de
hard time for me when I loses my mama and daddy, and I has to go to
Dayton and stay with my sister, Rachel. Both my husbands what I marries
done been dead a long time now, and de only child I ever had died when
he jes' a baby. Now I's jes' alone, sittin' and waitin' for de Lawd to
call me."

420260

[Illustration: John Crawford]

JOHN CRAWFORD, 81, was born a slave on Judge Thompson Rector's
plantation at Manor, Texas. After emancipation, John was a
share-cropper. He has always lived in Travis County and is now
cared for by a daughter at Austin.

"John Crawford am me. It am eighty-one years since I's borned and dat's
on de old Rector plantation where Manor am now. It wasn't dere den. I
knowed the man it was named after.

"Ma's name was Viney Rector and the old judge brung her from Alabama.
She milked all the cows two times a day and I had to turn out all de
calves. Sometimes dey'd git purty rough and go right to dere mammies.

"Pap's name was Tom Townes, 'cause he 'longed on de Townes place. He was
my step-pap and when I's growed I tooken my own pap's name, what was
Crawford. I never seed him, though, and didn't know nothin' much 'bout
him. He's sold away 'fore I's borned.

"Pap Townes could make most everythin'. He made turnin' plows and
hossshoe nails and a good lot of furniture. He was purty good to me,
'siderin' he wasn't my own pap. I didn't have no hard time, noway. I had
plenty bacon and side-meat and 'lasses. Every Sunday mornin' the jedge
give us our rations for de week. He wasn't short with dem, neither.

"Many was de time Injuns come to Jedge Rector's place. Dem Injuns beg
for somethin' and the jedge allus give dem somethin'. They wasn't mean
Injuns, jes' allus beggin'.

"I can't read and write to this day. Nobody ever larnt me my A B C's and
I didn't git no chance at school.

"On Christmas mornin' Massa Rector come out and give each man and woman
a big, red pocket handkerchief and a bottle of liquor. He buyed dat
liquor by de barrel and liked it hisself. Dat why he allus had it on de
place.

"One mornin' the jedge done send word down by de cook for nobody to go
to de fields dat day. We all want up to de big house and de jedge git up
to make de speech, but am too choke up to talk. He hated to lose he
slaves, I reckon. So his son-in-law has to say, 'Yo