Katie Darling was born a slave in Texas. When she was a child she was a nurse for the six children of the house and when she grew a little bigger she was also tasked with milking the cows. She slept on a pallet on the floor in the house and she would have to in the cow pen milking the cows by five every morning. She ate peas and greens but she was not allowed to eat any of the meat. She had two outfits for each season but no shoes. She explains how if anyone did anything wrong they were whipped and if the work was done right the master of the house would find some other reason to whip them. They worked every day but Sunday, though if there was still work to be done on Sunday they had to go out and finish it. When a slave died Mr. McCarty made the coffin himself for them but did not allow any kind of ceremony, just a burial. Once, during the fight at Mansfield the lady of the house said to her that the slaves would never be free because they were made to work for white people. At that moment a Yankee soldier was standing in the door. The lady tried to deny that she said anything and asked Katie to confirm the lie, however, Katie did the opposite and told the …show more content…
When he moved they stopped in New Orleans and for the first time he saw people being sold. He lived in the slave quarters. His first job was picking cotton. They were in the fields all day with two drivers and one overseer making sure they were working. But, once it was night the slaves all played music, sang, chatted, and drank. On Christmas David Cavin treated the slaves to eggnog and whiskey and they celebrated. After the war Mr. Perry came and told Gus’ grandmother that they were all free. She promptly responded that she did not care and that she would stay. He also stayed on the plantation for another 10 years before he left. In 1877 he bought 50 acres of land in Harrison County. He lived there, got married, and had two