"Sunday the Negro slaves had round dances. Formed a circle--the boys and the girls--and changed partners. They sang and danced at the same time. Rarely on Saturday they had the dances. They sang and whistled in the fields.
"The marriages of the slaves were little affairs. Before the witnesses they'd 'sauter le balais'--the two--and they were married. No celebration, but always the little cakes.
"We had no doctor. We used 'vingaire' (an herb) for the fever; la 'chaspare' (sarsaparilla); la 'pedecha (an herb), sometimes called L'absinthe amer, in a drink of whiskey or gin, for the fever. Des regulateurs (patent medicines). On nearly all plantations there were 'traiteurs', (a charm-doctor, always a Negro).
"Noel we had the little cakes and special things to eat, but no presents.
Le San Mire
"I was married by the judge first, and after the marriage was blessed by the priest. I was 21 years old. I wore a new suit, because I had some money. I worked in the house during the day and at night I caught wild horses and sold them. I remember my wedding day. It was the Saturday before Mardi Gras. My wife came from Grand Chenier (Cameron) to Abbeville when she was small. We had 16 children, 11 boys and five girls. Three girls and two boys died when they were small.
"One year after my marriage I left the big house and made a home of my own. For an enclosure I made a levee of earth around. I planted cotton. I worked the place for a half or a third.
"I came to Beaumont 12 years ago, so my children could work, because I was sick. I could no longer work."