born 1850, 322 Utah St., San Antonio, Texas.
Eyesight is so poor someone must lead him to the store or to
church. William kneels at his bedside each evening at five and says
his prayers. In this ceremony he spends a half hour or more
chanting one Negro spiritual after another.

"Yahsur, I was a slave. I was bo'n May 13, 1850, on the place of Lawyer
Woodson in Lunenburg County, Virginia. It was 'bout 75 miles southwest
of Richmond. They was two big plantations, one on one side the road,
yother the yother. My marster owned 75 slaves. He raised tobacco and
cotton. I wukked tobacco sometime, sometime cotton. Dere wasn't no
whippin' or switchin'. We had to wuk hard. Marster Woodson was a rich
man. He live in a great big house, a lumber house painted white. And it
had a great big garden.

"De slaves lives in a long string of log houses. Dey had dirt floors and
shingle roofs. Marster Woodson's house was shingle roof too. We had home
cured bacon and veg'tables, dried co'n, string beans and dey give us hoe
cakes baked in hot ashes. Dere always was lots of fresh milk.

"How'd us slaves git de clothes? We carded de cotton, den de women spin
it on a spinnin' wheel. After dat day sew de gahment togeddah
on a sewin' machine. Yahsur, we's got sewin' machine, wid a big wheel
and a handle. One woman tu'n de handle and de yuther woman do de
sewin'.

"Dat's how we git de clothes for de 75 slaves. Marster's clothes? We
makes dem for de whole fam'ly. De missis send de pattren and de slaves
makes de clothes. Over nigh Richmond a fren' of Marster Woodson has 300
slaves. Dey makes all de clothes for dem.

"I was with Marster twel de Yankees come down to Virginia in 1861. De
sergeant of de Yankees takes me up on his hoss and I goes to Washington
wid de Yankees. I got to stay dere 'cause I'd run away from my marster.

"I stay at de house of Marse Frank Cayler. He's an ole time hack driver.
I was his houseboy. I stay dere twel de year 1870, den I goes to
Baltimore and jines de United States Army. We's sent to Texas 'count of
de Indians bein' so bad. Dey put us on a boat at Baltimore and we landed
at Galveston.

"Den we marches from Galveston to Fort Duncan. It was up, up, de whole
time. We ties our bedclothes and rolls dem in a bundle wid a strap. We
walks wid our guns and bedclothes on our backs, and de wagons wid de
rations follows us. Dey is pulled by mules. We goes 15 miles ev'ry day.
We got no tents, night come