Scott Hooper
From:
Texas
SCOTT HOOPER, 81, was born a slave of the Rev. Robert Turner, a
Baptist minister who owned seven slave families. They lived on a
small farm near Tenaha, then called Bucksnort, in Shelby County,
Texas. Scott's father was owned by Jack Hooper, a neighboring
farmer. Scott married Steve Hooper when she was thirteen and they
had eight children, whose whereabouts are now unknown to her. She
receives an $8.00 monthly pension.
"Well, I'll do de best I can to tell yous 'bout my life. I used to have
de good 'collection, but worryment 'bout ups and downs has 'fected my
'membance. I knows how old I is, 'cause mammy have it in de Bible, and
I's born in de year 1856, right in Shelby County, and near by Bucksnort,
what am call Tenaha now.
"Massa Turner am de bestest man he could be and taken good care of us,
for sho'. He treat us like humans. There am no whuppin's like some other
places has. Gosh. What some dem old slaves tell 'bout de whup and de
short rations and lots of hard work am awful, so us am lucky.
"Massa don't have de big place, but jus' seven families what was five to
ten in de family. My mammy had nine chillen, but my pappy didn't live on
us place, but on Jack Hooper's farm, what am four mile off. He comes
Wednesday and Saturday night to see us. His massa am good, too, and lets
him work a acre of land and all what he raises he can sell. Pappy plants
cotton and mostest de time he raises better'n half de bale to
he acre. Dat-a-way, he have money and he own pony
and saddle, and he brung us chillen candy and toys and coffee and tea
for mammy. He done save 'bout $500 when surrender come, but it am all
'Federate money and it ain't worth nothin'. He give it to us chillen to
play with.
"Massa Turner am de Baptist preacherman and he have de church at
Bucksnort. He run de store, too, and folks laughs 'cause 'sides being a
preacherman he sells whiskey in dat store. He makes it medicine for us,
with de cherry bark and de rust from iron nails in it. He call it,
'Bitters,' and it a good name. It sho' taste bitter as gall. When us
feels de misery it am bitters us gits. Castor oil am candy 'side dem
bitters!
"My grandmammy am de cook and all us eats in de shed. It am plenty food
and meat and 'lasses and brown sugar and milk and butter, and even some
white flour. Course, peas and beans am allus on dat table.
"When surrender come massa calls all us in de yard and makes de talk. He
tells us we's free and am awful sorry and show great worryment. He say
he hate to part with us and us been good to him, but it am de law. He
say us can stay and work de land on shares, but mostest left. Course,
mammy go to Massa Hooper's place to pappy and he rents land from Massa
Hooper, and us live there seven years and might yet, but dem Klu Klux
causes so much troublement. All us niggers 'fraid to sleep in de house
and goes to de woods at night. Pappy gits 'fraid something happen to us
and come to Fort Worth. Dat in 1872 and he farms over in de bottom.
"I's married to Steve Hooper den, 'cause us marry when I's thirteen
years old. He goes in teamin' in Fort Worth and hauls sand and gravel
twenty-nine years. He doin' sich when he dies in 1900. Den I does
laundry work till I's too old. I tries to buy dis house and does fair
till age catches me and now I can't pay for it. All I has is $8.00 de
month and I's glad to git dat, but it won't even buy food. On sich
'mount, there am no way to stinch myself and pinch off de payments on de
house. Dat am de worryment.
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Alice Houston
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Bill Homer
