Betty Farrow
From:
Texas
BETTY FARROW, 90, now living with a son on a farm in Moser Valley,
a Negro settlement ten miles northeast of Fort Worth on Texas
Highway No. 15, was born a slave to Mr. Alex Clark, plantation
owner in Patrick Co., Virginia.
"I's glad to tell what I knows, but yous have to 'scuse me, 'cause my
'collection am bad. I jus' don' 'member much, but I's bo'n on Masta Alex
Clark's plantation in Patrick County, Virginny, on June 28th, 1847.
Dat's what my mammy tol' me. You see, we cullud folks have no schoolin'
dem days and I can't read or write. I has to depen' on what folks tells
me.
"Masta Clark has right smart plantation in ole Virginny and he owns
'bout twenty other slaves dat wo'ked de big place. He had three girls
and four boys and when I's a chile we'uns played togedder and we'uns
'tached to each other all our lives.
"In mammy's family dere was five boys and four girls. I don' 'member my
pappy. When I's 'bout ten, I's set to work, peddalin' 'round de house.
"'bout three years 'fore de war marster sol' his plantation for to go to
Texas. I 'members de day we'uns started in three covered wagons, all
loaded. 'Twas celebration day for us chillun. We travels from daylight
to dark, 'cept to feed and res' de mules at noon. I don' rec'lec' how
long we was on de way, but 'twas long time and 'twarn't no celebration
towards de las'. After while we comes to Sherman, in Texas, to our new
farm.
"When we was dere 'bout a year, dere am heaps of trouble. Dere was a
neighbor, Shields, he's drivin' wood to town and goes n'cross masta's
yard and dey have arg'ments. One day we chillen playin' and masta
settin' on de front porch and Shields come up de road. Masta stops him
when he starts to cross de yard and de fust thing we knows, we hears
'bang' and dat Shields shoot de masta and we sees him fall. Dey sen's
young Alex for de doctor and he makes dat mule run like he never run
'fore. De doctor comes in de house and looks at de masta, and listens to
his heart and says, 'He am dead.' Dere was powerful sorrow in dat home.
"After dat, Masta Alex takes charge, and in 'bout one year, he says,
'We'uns goin' to Fort Worth.' So we goes, and if I rec'lec's right, dat
year de war started. After dat, dere was times dere wasn' enough to make
de clothes, but we'uns allus had plenty to eat, and we gives lots of
feed to de army mans.
"I don' 'member bein' tol' I's free. We'uns stayed right dere on de farm
'cause it was de only home we knew and no reason to go. I stays dere
till I's twenty-seven years ole, den I marries and my husban' rents
land. We'uns has ten chillun and sometimes we has to skimp, but we gets
on. When my husban' dies fifteen years ago, I comes here. I's allus been
too busy tendin' to my 'sponsibilities for to git in de debilmen' and
now I's happy, tendin' to my great gran'chile.
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John Finnely
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Lorenza Ezell
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