Wayman Williams

Wayman Williams was one of four children of Calvin and Julia Williams, who were married in Mississippi before coming to Texas. His earliest memories were of the Sanama plantation in the Trinity River bottoms, where his family stayed after freedom, sharecropping on halves until he was nearly grown. His father helped unload supplies from the riverboats at the landing near their house.

He told vivid stories of frontier life: bear hunts with big brindle dogs that held the bear at bay, his father killing deer without going out of sight of the house, and panthers that chased riders through the river bottom. One boy outran a panther on a racehorse and locked himself in the house; another panther leaped from a tree and snatched a turkey from a man coming home from town. Confederate soldiers stopped at the storekeeper's house for food and shelter, and once a group of young men coming home from the war rode off with ribbons streaming from their horses' manes.

He recalled people who had escaped north before freedom returning home, saying they had been called "contrabands" there. When northern teachers came to teach the children, the children played tricks on them, giving themselves names like General Lee and Stonewall Jackson, changing names day to day, and telling the bewildered teacher about conjure and charms. As a young man he worked for families named Mergersen and Porter. In old age he lived in Mart, Texas.