y, or he kill dem. Dey say he gwine have a free sample of what he
git if he do wrong and one dem white caps starts up de ladder to git
George and George shoot him dead. 'Nother white cap starts shootin'
through de ceilin'. He can't see George but through de cracks George can
see and he shoots de second feller. So dey leaves and say dey come back.
George runs to he old massa and he takes George to de law men. Never
nothin' am done 'bout him killin' de white caps, 'cause dem white caps
goes 'round 'busing niggers.

"I comes to Texas 'bout 40 year since and gits by purty good till de
depression comes, den it hard for me. My age am 'gainst me, too, and
many de time I's wish for some dat old ham and bacon on de old
plantation.

"First I marries Ann Arrant, in 1898 dat was, and us have three chillen
but dey all dead. Us git sep'rate in 1917 and I marries Mary Durham in
1921, and us still livin' together. Us have no chillen. Mammy have ten
chillen but I'm de only one what am livin' now, 'cause I'm de youngest.

420088

[Illustration: Wash Ingram]

WASH INGRAM, A 93 year old Negro, was born a slave of Capt. Jim
Wall, of Richmond, Va. His father, Charley Wall Ingram, ran away
and secured work in a gold mine. Later, his mother died and Capt.
Wall sold Wash and his two brothers to Jim Ingram, of Carthage,
Texas. When Wash's father learned this, he overtook his sons before
they reached Texas and put himself back in bondage, so he could be
with his children. Wash served as water carrier for the Confederate
soldiers at the battle of Mansfield, La. He now lives with friends
on the Elysian Fields Road, seven miles southeast of Marshall,
Texas.

"I don' know just how ole I is. I was 'bout 18 when de War was over. I
was bo'n on Captain Wall's place in Richmond, Virgini'. Pappy's name was
Charlie and mammy's name was Ca'line. I had six sisters and two brothers
and all de sisters is dead. I haven't heard from my brothers since
Master turn us loose, a year after de war.

"Pappy say dat he and mammy was sold and traded lots of times in
Virgini'. We always went by de name of whoever we belonged to. I first
worked as a roustabout boy dere on Capt. Wall's place in Virgini'. He
was sho' a big man, weighed more'n 200 pounds. He owned lots of niggers
and worked lots of land. The white folks was good to us, but Pappy was a
fightin' man and he run off and got a job in a gold mine