rush forward and each get his gun again
without allowing one to fall and again reline up.

When I was large enough to pay attention to my color and to that of
the other slaves I wondered to myself why I was not black like the
rest of the slaves and concluded to myself that I would when I got
grown like they were as I knew not then that I was the son of my
Master.

During the War and as the men and our Master all went to the War the
Negroes or a Negro would have to go to the Mistress' homes each
morning and start fires and never, did I ever hear of a rape case
under such close conditions as Negroes going into the bed rooms each
morning of the white mistress to start fires.

My first wife was name Tracy Smith. As I had been free for over 12
years. We had ordinary marriage ceremony. I have 11 grown children, 15
or 20 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

I think Abraham Lincoln was a fine old gentlemen and as to Jeff Davis
I don't think he was what he should have been, and as to Booker T.
Washington I think his idea of educating or training Negroes as
servants to serve the white race appealed more to the white race than
the Negroes.

My viewpoint as to slavery is that it was as much detrimental to the
white race as it was to the Negroes, as one elevated ones minds too
highly, and the other degraded ones mind too lowly.

Oklahoma Writers' Project
Ex-Slaves
[Date stamp: NOV 5 1937]

MATTIE HARDMAN
Age 78 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Okla.

I was born January 2, 1859, at Gunalis, Texas. My father's name was
William Tensley and my mother's name Mildred Howard. They was brought
from Virginia. I did have 8 brothers and sisters but all of them are
dead.

My Master was name William Henry Howard. Since I was too young to work
I nursed my sisters' children while they worked. The cooking was done
all up to the general kitchen at Masters house and when slaves come
from work they would send their children up to the kitchen to bring
their meals to their homes in the quarters. Our Mistress would have
one of the cooks to dish up vegetables and she herself would slice or
serve the meat to see that it wasn't wasted, as seemingly it was
thought so precious.

As my mother worked 'round the Big House quite a deal I would go up to
the Big House with her and play with the white children who seemed to
like for me to come to play with them. One day in anger while playing
I called one of the white girls, "old black dog" and they