Newspaper article brings to light memories of slavery

By Murray Montgomery - Staff Writer 

Years ago, I came across a story about an ex-slave in a Gonzales Inquirer newspaper from 1959. The article was about a woman named Ada Stone.

According to the Inquirer article, Stone was over 100 years old when interviewed. Her daughter, Sarah Bateman, was 83 at the time and claimed that her mother was 109. She also stated that Ada’s mother lived to be 113.

When asked about her health and what she could eat Stone replied, "I can eat anything and I like good things to eat. "I don't just 'like' sweet potatoes, I love them!" Ada's daughter Sarah, with whom she makes her home, says fresh pork and sweet potatoes are Ada's favorite diet.

The Inquirer continued its report: Although the 109-year-old woman spends most of her days in a wheelchair now, she still has ideas of what it means to be active. "She wanted to make soap this morning," the daughter said. "It took a while to convince her she couldn't do it."

Ada never knew her father who was also a slave; he died before she was born.

As the interview continued, she said, "I was John Mooney's slave, down on Peach Creek. He had lots of slaves, and we all worked hard but he was good to us."

Ada could still remember seeing slaves chained together as they were put on an auction block to be sold. She also remembered carrying dinner out to them in the fields. She told of how they would sit down right out in the field in the sun and eat.

It seemed that Ada thought highly of her “mistress” from slavery days. The newspaper article quoted her as she recalled: "My mistress used to come down from San Antonio to see me after the war was over. She was good to me."

Ada Stone was proud of the fact that she owned her own home which she and her husband bought many years ago. "My white people didn't give it to me, I worked hard and earned it," she said. "And I think I enjoy it better because I did work hard for it."

Her daughter Sarah recalls how when she was a small child her mother would take her out into the fields to work. She also worked in private homes. Eventually Ada and her husband accumulated the money to buy the house.

A devoutly religious woman, Ada had some of the walls of her home covered with religious pictures and quotations.

"You have to run from the devil all the time," she will tell you.