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	~	EL~SLAVE STORIES	Pace Que	*~‚ ~	r
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(Texas)
JOHN BATES, 84, was bora in Little Rock, Arkansas, a sieve 0q Moei~ Bateiriai. When still very young, John rno1re~. with his mother, a s1~ve of Harry Hogan, to Limestone C~.,Tex~s. John now lives in Corsic~uia, supported by his children and cil old age pension.




	“My p ~ w was Ike Bat crn~ ‚ ‚ caus e his mt~s ~ s n arne am Mockbatemr~, and maminy~ s n‘ui~e wn.s Fr~ncis. They come from Tennessee end I had four brothers and six sisters, de jes1 left de last part of de name off and call it Bates and ~ how I got ny name. Maniny ‘longed to Massa‘Harry Ho~pn and while I‘s sm~ll us move to Texas, to Limestone County, ~M. I don‘T ‘i~nber iiiuch ‘bout p~p~y, ‘ct~ise I ain‘t never seed him since,

	“~assa Eo~a~ was a pu~ty good sort of fellow, but us went hon~ry de fust winter in Tex~s. He lived in de bie log house with de hallway clean throu?~h and a gallery clean tcross de front. De chimney was big ‘nough to burn lods in and it sho‘ throwed out de heat. It was a good, big place and young massa come out early ~nd holler for us to git up and be in de fieN,

	ttMissy Hogai was de good wonmi and try her dead level best to teach me to read and writes but my head jest too thick, I jes‘ couldn‘t lam. My Uncle Ben he could read rie Bible and. he allus tell us some day us be free and Massa Harry lauch, -haw, baw, haw, and he sey, ‘Hell, no, yous never be free, yous aia‘t got sense ‘iough to make d.e livin‘ if ‘rous was free, ‚ Dei he takes de Bible ~ way fr ciii Uncle Ben and say it put de bad ideas in he head, but Uncle gits tt~other Bible and hides it and

.	massa never finds it out.