t my papers and helt 'em up high and when he
sees 'em, he say, 'Let me see them.' But I says, 'You jes' look at it up
here,' and he squints up and say, 'This gal am free and has papers,' and
tells me he a legislature man and takes me and lets me stay with his
slaves. He is a good man.

"He tells me there's a slave refugee camp in Wharton County but I didn't
have no money left, but he pays me some for workin' and when the war's
over I starts to hunt mamma 'gain, and finds her in Wharton County near
where Wharton is. Law me, talk 'bout cryin' and singin' and cryin' some
more, we sure done it. I stays with mamma till I gets married in 1871 to
John Armstrong, and then we all comes to Houston.

"I gets me a job nussin' for Dr. Rellaford and was all through the
yellow fever epidemic. I 'lects in '75 people die jes' like sheep with
the rots. I's seen folks with the fever jump from their bed with death
on 'em and grab other folks. The doctor saved lots of folks, white and
black, 'cause he sweat it out of 'em. He mixed up hot water and vinegar
and mustard and some else in it.

"But, law me, so much is gone out of my mind, 'cause I's 91 year old now
and my mind jes' like my legs, jes' kinda hobble 'round a bit.

420085

[Illustration: Sterlin Arnwine]

STEARLIN ARNWINE, 94, was born a slave to Albertus Arnwine, near
Jacksonville, Texas, who died when Stearlin was seven or eight. He
was bought by John Moseley, of Rusk, Texas, who made Stearlin a
houseboy, and was very kind to him. He now lives about six miles
west of Jacksonville.

"I was bo'n 'fore de war, in 1853, right near this here town, on Gum
Creek. My mammy belonged to Massa Albertus Arnwine, and he wasn' ever
married. He owned four women, my mammy, Ann, my grandmother, Gracie, and
my Aunt Winnie and Aunt Mary. He didn' own any nigger men, 'cept the
chillen of these women. Grandma lived in de house with Massa Arnwine and
the rest of us lived in cabins in de ya'd. My mammy come from Memphis
but I don' know whar my pappy come from. He was Ike Lane. I has three
half brothers, and their names is Joe and Will and John Schot, and two
sisters called Polly and Rosie.

"Massa Arnwine died 'fore de war and he made a will and it gave all he
owned to the women he owned, and Jedge Jowell promised massa on his
deathbed he would take us to de free country, but he didn'. He took us
to his place to work for him for 'bout two years and the women