"Slaveholders depended on slaves to reproduce their labor force. While most masters were content to let nature take its course and allow slaves to choose their own partners, a few intervened to promote relationships they believed would be most remunerative to them, pairing men and women as they might pair breeding stock. Such meddling created powerful dilemmas for slaves, particularly for young women. Rose Williams was little more than a child at age sixteen when her owner forced her into a relationship with an unwanted partner. ("Remembering Slavery," 1998)
excerpt from book "The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925"
Herbert G. Gutman, 1976
Chapter 2: Because She Was My Cousin
Blind and over ninety when interviewed, Rose Williams still hated her former owner and the slave "husband" imposed upon her. She and her parents had been sold from one Texan to another. Her new owner, Hall Hawkins, had kept her family together and did not "force 'em to work too hard," but she never forgave him for forcing upon her a "husband":
- Early separation from family: Williams was born in Chatfield, Texas, around 1847. In her interview, she recalls being stripped naked and sold on an auction block while she was still nursing. The sale separated her from her mother, whom she never saw again. Her mother's new owner reportedly sold her "way south," while her father was whipped to death.
- Enslavement in Bell County, Texas: At about 12 years old, Williams and her parents were purchased by Hall Hawkins of Bell County in 1860. The narrative includes her account of being forced to have children with a man named Rufus when she was 16.
- Emancipation: In her interview, Williams recalled the moment of emancipation. "Some stays, and some goes," she noted, referencing how some formerly enslaved people remained with their old owners while others scattered. She married Ike Williams after the war, though their initial marriage was not legally recognized. After their legal marriage, Ike died, and their only child passed away in infancy.
- A difficult freedom: Williams's freedom was difficult, and she faced poverty and hardship. After the war, she and her husband spent a winter hungry because they didn't know how to save money. She concluded her narrative by saying she had no living relatives that she knew of.
- This New Deal program employed writers to interview over 2,300 formerly enslaved people in 17 states.
- The narratives provide a crucial first-person perspective on the lives of those who experienced slavery, describing the brutality of the system and the challenges of freedom.
- The collection, now digitized by the Library of Congress, includes the transcripts of these interviews and was groundbreaking for providing an invaluable "history from the bottom up".
 

 
 










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