Home Photo Gallery Classroom Documents
Collected by the Federal Writers Project, Works Progress Administration JAMES Martin, 31l Dawson St., San Antonio, Texas, is 90 years old. His parents were Preston and Lizzie Martin and he was born in Alexandria, Va. Uses little dialect. "I was born in Virginia in 1847. My mother was a slave and my grand father was one of the early settlers in Virginia. He was born in Jamaica and his master took him to England. When the English came to Virginia, they brought us along as servants, but when they got here, everybody had slaves, so we was slaves, too. My mother was born in the West Indies. "A man named Martin brought my grandfather here and we took his name. And when master was ready to die, he made a will and it said the youngest child in the slaves must be made free, so that was my father and he was made free when he was 18. That left me and my brothers and sisters all free, but all the rest of the family was slaves. "My mother was born a slave near Alexandria. The marster's daughter, Miss Lisa, read to my mother, so she got some learning. When my mother's owner died he left her to Miss Lisa, and then my father met my mother and told her they should get married. My mother said to Miss Lisa: "I'd like fine to marry Preston Martin." Miss Lisa says, 'You can't do that, 'cause he's a free nigger and your children would be free. You gotta marry one of the slaves.' Then Miss Lisa lines up 10 or 15 of the slave men for my mother to pick from, but mother says she don' like any of 'em, she wants to marry Preston Martin. Miss Lisa argues but my mother is just stubborn, so Miss Lisa says 'I'll talk to the marster.' He says, 'I can't lose property like that, and if you can raise $1,200 you can buy yourse'f free.' So my mother and my father saves money and it takes a long time, but one day they goes to the marster and lays down the money, and they gits married. Marster don' like it, but he's promised and he can't back out. "So me and my brothers and sisters is free. And we sees others sol' on the auction block. They're put in stalls like pens for cattle and there's a curtain, sometimes just a sheet in front of them, so the bidders can't see the stock too soon. The overseer's standin' just outside with a big black snake whip and a pepper box pistol in his hand. Then they pulls the curtain up and the bidders crowds 'round. The overseer tells the age of the slaves and what they can do. One bidder takes a pair of white gloves they have and rubs his fingers over a man's teeth, and he says, 'You say this buck's 20 years old, but there's cups worn to his teeth. He's 40 years if he's a day. So they knock that buck down for $1,000, 'cause they calls the men 'bucks' and the women 'wenches.' Then the overseer makes 'em walk across the platform, he makes em hop, he makes 'em trot, he makes em jump. "When I'm old enough, I'm taught to be a saddler and when I'm 17 or 18 I enlist in the Confed'rate Army. "Did they whip the slaves? Well, they jus' about half killed em. When it was too rough, they slipped into Canada. "A marriage was a event. The bride and groom had to jump over a broom handle. The boss man had a white preacher, sometimes. and there was plenty good beef cornbread. But if the boss didn't care much, he jus' lined 'em up and said, 'Mandy, that's your husband and, Rufus, that's your wife.' "After the war we were sent to Texas, the 9th U.S. Cavalry, under Capt. Francis F. Dodge. I was at Fort Sill, Fort Davis, Fort Stockton and Fort Clark. I was in two battles with Indians in the Guadalupe Mountains. I served under Col. Shafter in 1871 and I got my discharge under Gen. Merritt in 1872. Then I come to San Antonio "I helped bring the first railroad here. The S.P. in them days only ran near Seguin and I was a spiker and worked the whole distance. Then I helped build the old railroad from Indianola to Cuero and then from Cuero to Corpus, and Schleister, I think, and Cunningham were the contractors. That was in 1873 and 1874. "I drove cattle for big outfits, and drove 2,000 or 3,000 head from South Texas sometimes clean up to Dakota. I drove for John Lytle, Brockhaus, Kieran and Bill Sutton. There wasn't no trails and no fences. The Indians would come ask for meat and we knew if we didn't give it 'em they'd stampede the cattle. "If I wasn't so old, I'd travel 'round again. I don't believe any man can be educated who ain't traveled some.
|