slave, Sylvia, and she run away and was in de woods,
and he'd git on de hoss, take de dogs and set 'em on her, and let dem
bite her and tear her clothes.

420303

GABRIEL GILBERT was born in slavery on the plantation of Belizare
Brassard, in New Iberia Parish, Louisiana. He does not know his
age, but appears to be about eighty. He has lived in Beaumont,
Texas, for sixteen years.

"My old massa was Belizare Broussard. He was my mom's massa. He had a
big log house what he live in. De places 'tween de logs was fill with
dirt. De quarters de slaves live in was make out of dirt. Dey put up
posties in de ground and bore holes in de posts and put in pickets
'cross from one post to the other. Den dey build up de sides with mud.
De floor and everything was dirt. Dey had a schoolhouse built for de
white chillen de same way. De cullud chillen didn't have no school.

"Dem was warm healthy houses us grew up in. Dey used to raise better men
den in dem houses dan now. My pa name was Joseph Gilbert. He old massa
was Belleau Prince.

"I didn't know what a store was when I was growin' up. Us didn't have
store things like now. Us had wooden pan and spoon dem times. I never
see no iron plow dem days. Nothin' was iron on de plow 'cept de share. I
tell dese youngsters, 'You in hebben now from de time I come up.' When a
man die dem days, dey use de ox cart to carry de corpse.

"Massa have 'bout four hundred acres and lots of slaves. He raise sugar
cane. He have a mill and make brown sugar. He raise cotton and corn,
too. He have plenty stock on de place. He give us plenty to eat. He was
a nice man. He wasn't brutish. He treat he slaves like hisself. I never
'member see him whip nobody. He didn't 'low no ill treatment. All de
folks round he place say he niggers ruint and spoiled.

"De li'l white folks and nigger folks jus' play round like brudder and
sister and us all eat at de white table. I slep' in de white folks
house, too. My godfather and godmother was rich white folks. I still
Cath'lic.

"I seed sojers but I too li'l to know nothin' 'bout dem. Dey didn't
worry me a-tall. I didn't git close to de battle.

"My mammy weave cloth out cotton and wool. I 'member de loom. It go
'boom-boom-boom.' Dat de shuttle goin' cross. My daddy, he de smart man.
I'll never be like him long as I live in dis world. He make shoes. He
build house. He do anything. He and my mammy neither one ever been
brutalize'.

"De