Slaves, especially those living close to the house, were generally called servants and treated much like family. Slaves helped raise white children and black children played with white children. Several of my ancestors were slave owners, more than I can list off the top of my head. My ggg-grandfather was living in East Texas and had 26 slaves when he died in June 1863. I have the abstract of his will and he bequeathed two slaves each to his 10 children and the other six to his wife. Since they all lived in the same community, no families were broken up. They may have all remained on the same premises. After the War, some of my ancestors who survived it moved back to an adjacent county and some just disappeared, but the black "family" is still large in the small town of Chester that sprang up years later.

The community was called Billiums Creek and my family still owns land along the creek. Below is an excerpt from the Handbook of Texas about some trouble that took place shortly after the War. I do not believe it is true because I cannot verify any primary sources. If it is so, then it was probably my ancestors protecting their former servants.

After the Civil War a skirmish known locally as the battle of Billiams Creek occurred when federal authorities indicted six residents for not releasing their slaves and sent soldiers to arrest them. The Billiams Creek men shot all the federal soldiers from ambush and buried them, and their bodies are said never to have been found.