Francis (Carlton) Black
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Francis (Carlton) Black (abt. 1853 - 1938)

Francis Black formerly Carlton aka Tumlin
Born about in Mississippi, United Statesmap
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at about age 85 in Texarkana, Bowie, Texas, United Statesmap
Problems/Questions
Profile last modified | Created 15 Jul 2020
This page has been accessed 330 times.

Biography

US Black Heritage Project
Francis (Carlton) Black is a part of US Black heritage.

Francis Black was a Freedman living in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas when interviewed in 1937 by the Federal Writers' Project for their Slave Narrative Project. All quotes are from that interview as transcribed by the interviewer, and are in the Public Domain.[1][2] She gave the following information in her interview.

According to Francis, she was born about 1850 in Grand Bluff, Mississippi, on the plantation of Jim Carlton. She does not mention the names of her parents, so Carlton was used in this profile as her LNAB.

At age five, Francis was snatched by slave traders, along with another young girl, and taken to New Orleans to be sold. She never saw her family again. When she didn't sell in New Orleans, she was taken to Jefferson, Marion County, Texas, where she was sold to Bill Tumlin, who had a house and livery stable in town and a farm about five miles out of town. She remained on the Tumlin property until five years after she was freed.

"I never knowed what they done with the other gal, but they sold me to Marse Bill Tumlin, what run a big livery stable in Jefferson, and I 'longed to him till surrender. I lived in the house with them, 'cause they had a boy and gal and I did for them. They bought me clothes and took good care of me - but I never seed no money till surrender. I et what they et, after they got through. Missy say she didn't 'lieve in feedin' the darkies scraps, like some folks...I played with them two chillen all day, then sot the table, I was so small I'd git in a chair to reach the dishes out of the safe. I had to pull a long flybrush over the table whilst the white folks et."

Francis stated Jefferson was a good town, until it almost burned down. Bill Tumlin lost his livery stable in the fire. The Yankees took it over after the war. Francis stayed with the Tumlin's until she married Dave Black. They moved to Cass County, where they raised six children.

"...my old man done git so triflin' and mean I quit him and worked for myself. I come to Texarkana to work, and allus could earn my own livin' till 'bout a year ago I lost my seein', and Albert Ragland done took me in his home for the old folks. They gives me a $10 a month pension now. They is good to me here and feeds us good."

Francis passed away in 1938 at the Ragland Old Folks Home in Texarkana. She was listed as an 85 year old, "Colored" female who was widowed and had worked as a "Domestic." Her parents and place of birth was unknown. Cause of death was "General Paresis" and Senility. The informant was A. Ragland.[3]

Slave Owners

  • Jim Carlton, Grand Bluff, Mississippi
  • Bill Tumlin, Jefferson, Marion County, Texas

Sources

  1. The Federal Writers' Project. Slave Narratives; A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves, Washington, District of Columbia : The Library of Congress, 1941 (https://www.loc.gov/collections/slave-narratives-from-the-federal-writers-project-1936-to-1938/?fa=original-format:manuscript/mixed+material)
  2. Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 16, Texas, Part 1, Adams-Duhon(https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.161/?sp=93)
  3. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3MH-17R : 13 March 2018), Francis Black, 03 Aug 1938; citing certificate number 35776, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,117,821.

See also:

  • A site that claims the Slave Narratives were sometimes altered by the interviewer, and/or government reviewers, and did not represent the true words of the enslaved person. [1]




Is Francis your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Francis's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.