Sarah Allen

Sarah Allen was born a slave of the John and Sally Goodren plantation, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Before Civil War broke, the master and mistress brought their slaves to Texas, locating near a small town called Freedom. Sarah was a child of twelve years when she was freed.  "I was birthed in the time of bondage. You know some people are ashamed to tell it, but I thank God I was allowed to see them times as well as now. Oh Lord, yes siree! Yes'um. I'm proud I got to meet you. It's a pretty hard story, how cruel some of the marsters was, but I had the luck to be with good white people. But some that I know were put on the block and sold. I member when dey would come to John Goodren's place to buy, but he not sell any. Dey would have certain days when dey would sell off the block, and dey take de children away from the mothers, screaming fo' dere children. I was birthed in old Virginia in de Blue Ridge Mountains. When de white folks moved to Texas de colored people cum with dem. Dat's been a long time. We cum to a little place, the name was Freedom town, before de time de big war was going on, you know, dat big war just before de people was free. "My maw was named Charlott , my paw Parks Adams . He's a white man. I guess I'm about 80 some years old. We cum frum Virginia when dey was gettin up dis big war. When dey was telling about dis freedom, but we was in Texas a long time before den. "You know in slavery times when people had bad marsters dey would run away but we didn't want to. My mistress would see on eve'y Sunday morning dat her people had something good to eat. And she told me like her own people, not to take things. She'd say, if she put a pin down: "Now don't you bother that unless I gib it to you", and dat's de way she told her chillun. My mother nursed her children like her own. Yo had to mind you mistress and marster and you be treated well. Yo know de hardest floggin I ever got was from John Goodren . I thot I had to mind de mistress and he told me to do something and I didn't. My mother was a waiter in de house, my aunt was seamstress, my grand-maw done de cookin. I grew up to help in the house. I was about ten or twelve when dey freed us. We stayed about a year with our marster then went over to John Ecols place and rented some land. We made two bales of cotton and it was the first money we ever saw. "When we lived with John Goodren and Sally , his wife, we had big candy pullin's. Invite everybody, and play. The children would have play church and have preachin. We had good times. Dey worst thing, we didn't have no schoolin, till after I married. Den I went to school two weeks. My husband was de teacher. He nevah was a slave. His father nevah was a slave. He was able to buy his freedom through a blacksmith shop some way. My husband was of a mixture, like you call bright ginger-cake color. I don know where he got his learning. He'd wanted me to learn and so I went, but one day he whopped a motherless child and I didn't think he should so I quit. No, we didn't fuss. I felt dat if I kept his house clean, cook good meals and keep a good bed fo him dat was my glory, cose now I can't read er write much. He taught school one year den went to Bremmon, Texas four years, den dey wants fo him to cum back and he taught twenty years. Sometimes about 100 children, den sometimes less. Just colored children. He was a magistrate, and a commission. We lived together fifty-three years. He always called me Miss Sarah . When death cum and take him I just don want nothin. "I had a nice weddin, daughter. My dress was white and trimmed with blue ribbon. My second day dress was white with red dots. I had a beautiful veil and a wreath, and about two or three waiters for the table dat day."My mother was nearly white. Brighter than me. We left my father in Virginia. I was just as white as de chillen I played with. They'd say, "Sarah, don you let dem chillen call yo niggah. Dey's just a little colored blood in you." I used to be plum bright but here lately I'm gettin awful dark. "I feel so bad since my husband gone to glory. I was raised up right. De Lord has blessed me. Now that I'm old, de Lord has taken care of me. He wouldn't be a teasin me. He put that spirit in people to look after old folks and now my chillen look after me. Ive two sons, one name James Allen , one R.M. Both live in El Paso. I'm so proud to know you, daughter. After we go to sleep, de people will know these things, cause if freedom hadn't cum, it would have been so miserable."