-Slaves
[Date stamp: AUG 19 1937]

FRANCIS BRIDGES
Age 73 yrs.
Oklahoma City, Okla.

I was born in Red River County, Texas in 1864, and that makes me 73
years old. I had myself 75, and I went to my white folks and they
counted it up and told me I was 73, but I always felt like I was older
than that.

My husband's name is Henry Bridges. We was raised up children together
and married. I had five sisters. My brother died here in Oklahoma
about two years ago. He was a Fisher. Mary Russell, my sister, she
lives in Parish, Texas; Willie Ann Poke, she lives in Greenville,
Texas; Winnie Jackson, lives in Adonia, Texas, and Mattie White, my
other sister, lives in Long Oak, Texas, White Hunt County.

Our Master was named Master Travis Wright, and we all ate nearly the
same thing. Such things as barbecued rabbits, coon, possums baked with
sweet potatoes and all such as that. I used to hang round the kitchen.
The cook, Mama Winnie Long, used to feed all us little niggers on the
flo', jest like little pigs, in tin cups and wooden spoons. We ate
fish too, and I like to go fishing right this very day.

We lived right in old Master Wright's yard. His house sat way up on a
high hill. It was jest a little old log hut we lived in a little old
shack around the yard. They was a lot of little shacks in the yard, I
can't tell jest how many, but it was quite a number of 'em. We slept
in old-fashion beds that we called "corded beds", 'cause they had
ropes crossed to hold the mattresses for slats. Some of 'em had beds
nailed to the wall.

Master Travis Wright had one son named Sam Wright, and after old
Master Travis Wright died, young Master Sam Wright come to be my
mother's master. He jest died a few years ago.

My mother say dey had a nigger driver and he'd whip 'em all but his
daughter. I never seen no slaves whipped, but my mother say dey had to
whip her Uncle Charley Mills once for telling a story. She say he
bored a hole in de wall of de store 'til he bored de hole in old
Master's whiskey barrel, and he caught two jugs of whiskey and buried
it in de banks of de river. When old Master found out de whiskey was
gone, he tried to make Uncle Charley 'fess up, and Uncle Charley
wouldn't so he brung him in and hung him and barely let his toes
touch. After Uncle Charley thought he was going to kill him, he told
where de whiskey was.

We didn't go to church before freedom, land no! 'cause the closest
church was so far--it was 30 mile