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	.	]~L~SLAVE S~LORIES	Page One
			            (Texas)	(2
		\~\
	~?	~	HI.1W~t MÀYi~S thinks ~ie w~s ‘born
	~~:“	in 1862, ~ sl~v~ of Tom &Igar,
		who o~ned a plantation In Double
		Bpyou, Texas. Hiram lives with
		two daughters in a r~iirih1ing f a.r~n~
		house n~r Beaumont, less than
		three miles rrom his ‘birthplace
		on the old Edgar homestead n~r
		the IronBridge. For thirty
		years Hlr~xn ha~ served as WoreiiJp-~
		fui Mast er o ~ the M~ s on I o Lodge
		(Negro) in the vicinity. Nativ~
		intelligence glet~ms in hiz deep-
		set eyes, but his speech snows
		tnat t~e received little schooling.




“Dc fust tning I ‘rnetib~rs back in siave~ry time wts gittin‘ in

cte mister‘s str~.wberry p~it~h. He‘s rignt proud or d~t patch and git after us plenty~ Dey was li‘l Tim Edg~r, dat ~e white bocr, ~nd me. Tim, he

still llvin1 down in Wallisvlll~. Old r~psteT he c~it us both r~ cOElpie times for thiefin‘ he ~tra*berries, jes‘ giv~ us a bresh or two to sk~er us.

Dat de oiilies ‚ time i~e ever dId. wni~ me ~nci you couictn‘ hardi~r o~ll that P whippin‘.

“Old men ‘~‘O!fl Ti~dgr~r was u~r m~ster ~nd de oiu ~o~gar place was

clown below where Jacksones store lt ~nd ‘bout two mile from where I lives now. Soins de brick from dat house st ill standin‘ dere in as wooc~s•

	~‘My maiflr~ name Mary and DOII Mayes my pape, and I‘s borned 1 Dout l8b~, I gues5, ‘cause I wazn~t very big when freedom conic. I did most my playin‘ with young master, Tim, hirn and me ‘bout de saine age.

	~O1d master was sho‘ good to he slaves and dey ain‘t never have no cruel overseer nor no lot of whippin‘ like some iuasters did. Mania work in de white folks house ath done de cookin‘ in de big Icitchen.

:i» big house was a big, low place with galleries ‘round lt. Mama tie

ma to a chair leg on de gallery to keep me from ru.nnln‘ off to de bayou.