use
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.

420021

[Illustration: Alice Houston (A)]

[Illustration: Alice Houston (B)]

ALICE HOUSTON, pioneer nurse and midwife on whom many San Angeloans
have relied for years, was born October 22, 1859. She was a slave
of Judge Jim Watkins on his small plantation in Hays County, near
San Marcos, Texas and served as house girl to her mistress, Mrs.
Lillie Watkins for many years after the Civil War. At Mrs. Watkins'
death she came with her husband, Jim Houston, to San Angelo, Texas
where she has continued her services as nurse to white families to
the present time.

Alice relates her slave day experiences as follows:

"I was jes' a little chile when dat Civil War broke out and I's had de
bes' white folks in de world. My ole mistress she train me for her
house girl and nurse maid. Dat's whar I's gits so many good ideas fer
nursin'.

"My mother's name was Mariah Watkins an' my father was named Henry
Watkins. He would go out in de woods on Sat'day nights and ketch
'possums and bring dem home and bake 'em wid taters. Dat was de best
eatin' we had. Course we had good food all de time but we jes' like dat
'possum best.

"My marster, he only have four families and he had a big garden fer all
of us. We had our huts at de back of de farm. Dey was made out of logs
and de cracks daubbed up wid mud. Dey was clean and comfortable though,
and we had good beds.

"When we was jes' little kids ole marster he ketch us a stealin'
watermelons and he say, 'Git! Git! Git! And when we runs and stoops over
to crawl through de crack of de fence he sho' give us a big spank. Den
we runs off cryin' and lookin' back like.

"Ole marster, he had lots of hogs and cows and chickens and I can jes'
taste dat clabber milk now. Ole miss, she have a big d