I never did git no lickin's when I was a li'l slave. Mr. Swanson was good and he was mean. Guns were made in nearby Anderson. ", "I tell dese chillun here dey ain't know nuffin'. Washington on the Brazos Historical Foundation is hosting a Texas Independence Day Celebration Saturday, Feb. 29, from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m., 2400 Park Seasonal festivals attract crowds each year, with live music being a large part of the draw. JAMES HAYES, 101, was born a slave to a plantation owner whose name he does not now recall, in Shelby Co., two miles from Marshall, Texas. WebSlavery in Texas is a co-curricular project sponsored by the History Department and Center for Community Engagement at Sam Houston State University. But we didn't do it. Slavery Course, I don' want to go back into slavery, but I's paid for my freedom. Dibble, Fred, P.W., Beehler, Rheba, P.W., 'Now,' she say, 'All you cullud folks born and raise here and us allus been good to you. Purty soon my mudder die and I jus' took up her shoes. In 2012, the Navasota city council voted to commission a local sculptor to erect a statue of Frank Hamer in front of the new city hall building. In 1908, Navasota was a lawless boom town, wracked by violence: "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men died." Church went on. Den I goes to Dallas and cooks for private families, and wo'ks for Marster James Ellison for 30 years. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race. Marster give me de wors' scoldin' I ever has and dat larned me a lesson. When I's de. She cry right 'long with me when I cry, 'cause I hurt so. Oh, we knowed what was goin' on in it all the time, 'cause old man Gudlow went to the post office every day and we knowed. I jus' always asks that question for fun. A new municipal building was completed in 2011 and continued downtown improvements are under construction, with completion scheduled for 2023. Born into slavery in 1840 in Louisiana, Gaines was sold to a Robertson County planter in Texas in 1859. The museum itself is housed in a historic building. ", "When any of de slaves git sick ol' mistus and my gramma dey doctor 'em. Now, Will, dat de man I's marry to, am younger'n me but he don't know it. Li'l befo' she die her husban' come. Ma tell 'em to write him he neenter (need not) come. De fus' preachin' I heerd was atter dat. Grimes County, Texas: Genealogy, Census, Vital Records Drug dealers, prostitutes and drunks could not be seen standing around this area anymore. I's settin' hear a thinkin' of dem ole days when I's a li'l nigger a cuttin' up on ole marster's plantation. Mother allus say dose free niggers make de hardes' masters. Marster never crowded us 'bout de wo'k, and never give any of us whuppin's. "Most of the time the master gave us castor oil when we were sick. "You knows, I believes I's mo' contented as a slave. That was cheap for a boy. I worked for some white people and then went to Houston and it wasn't nothing but a mudhole. A wild hog was trapped at the free food bank in downtown Navasota. Pauline Over in de valley, Massa Moses owns lots of land and fifty nigger families, and he gives each family a deed to 'bout fifty acres. Beaumont, Jefferson, Dist. I has to stay and I's been here ever since. Dey go in de stables and turn out de white folks' hosses and run off what dey don't take for deyself. Ole mistus he'p me make my weddin' dress outta white lawn. Dey hab big hog killin' time, and dey dry and salt de meat in a big long trough. WebOld Slave Cemetery Fannin County Hosted at Fannin County Texas TxGenWeb Oakhill Cemetery Annex St. Marks Cemetery Union Cemetery Fayette County Corinth Baptist Church Cemetery (hosted at TexasEscapes) Gonzales County Hosted at Gonzales County TXGenWeb Project Denton Creek Cemetery Ellis Cemetery Elm Slough Cemetery The Yankees beat and settled down there and the cullud folks flocked down on them and when they got to the Yankee lines they was safe. Some dem cullud folks grandchillen still on dat land, too, de Parkers and Farrows and Nelsons and some others. The blast killed a number of people and started a fire that destroyed much of the original downtown. If every mother's son of a black had thrown 'way his hoe and took up a gun to fight for his own freedom along with the Yankees, the war'd been over before it began. My father come nex' day and jine us. "No one knowed when de Klux comin'. Us hab chicken and all kinds of good things. The city is also home to the Willy 98.7 FM and 1550 AM radio stations, which are owned and managed by Bryan Broadcasting in Bryan, Texas. We thought we was goin' to be richer than the white folks, 'cause we was stronger and knowed how to work, and the whites didn't and they didn't have us to work for them anymore. ", "I never see no slaves bought and sol'. Pauline married Navasota Grice in 1875 and they moved to Texas in 1917. Lawmen had to hide and watch, and often were afraid of the streets at night. Daughter, I don' want dat hat you got dere. De white man preacher marry us and mistus she give me 'way. Nobody took our homes away, but right off colored folks started on the move. The assassination attempt failed, however, and Scott was scurried out of town, badly wounded, under protection of a Federal militia, and he never returned to Grimes County. The Navasota Rattlers were 3A Div. The website will provide Dey wasn't so bad after women. Mos' de niggers 'have theyselves and when dey don't massa put dem in de li'l house what he call de jail, with nothin' to eat till deys ready to do what he say. As of 2018, the population of the town was an estimated 7,715 people. He allus brung me somethin', jus' like I he own little gal. She couldn' play de pianny but she kinder hope maybe I could, but I never did learn how. De women folks don' talk much and no laughin' like 'fore. My friends is good to me and lets me stay with dem. "I was purty little den, but I done my share. One day I's makin' a bonfire in de yard and ketch my dress on fire. Navasota, Texas Train Town USA Legends of America History of African Americans in Texas In 2009, Navasota was selected as a "Visionaries in Preservation" city by the Texas Historical Commission to protect the numerous historic structures in the city. Black History Month All we had to do was to walk, but walk South, and we'd be free as soon as we crossed the Rio Grande. [Handwritten Note: '?'] Dey use to pass by with bags on de mules and fill dem with stuff from de houses. II State Football Champions in 2012 and 4A Div. She let me go to ice cream supper, too. De white folks didn' talk 'bout it 'fore us. Hamer became more widely known in 1934 as a leader of the posse that hunted down and fatally shot Bonnie and Clyde. Some of de ol'es' chillun 'member dey daddy and dey crazy for him to come and dey mek up de money for him. ", "Dey raise dey own t'bacco on de place. The website will provide Dey serve cake. ", "I tell you I never hear nuthin' 'bout chu'ch 'till way atter freedom. John was my father. I thanks yous for all de way yous done while I's gone, and I'll holp you all I can.' My mem'randum not so good like 'twas. Den us go to Houston and Louisiana for a spell and I hires out to cook. But he didn't get shot no place but onethat was in the big toe. Not long afterward the town was struck by a deadly cholera epidemic, which was followed in 1867 by an even more dangerous epidemic of yellow fever. William now lives at 910 E. Weatherford St., Ft. Worth, Texas. Dat ledder was hard and lots of times it mek blister on us feet. Some of 'em didn't want to go. Massa Buford say, 'Yes,' and de trader say he'll be back in 'bout three weeks, soon as he sells all the slaves. The police acted on those concerned citizens' complaints by getting a search warrant for the tattoo and nail salon at Lasalle located about 100 yards from the Police Station and City Hall. Although I may be poor, Firearms, Crack cocaine and other drugs seized. It didn't seem to make the whites mad, either. He won a seat in the Texas Senate in 1869. Hundreds of slaves did go to Mexico and got on all right. Dat how come I 'member ol' mistus name so good. Ol' marster gin' and bale' he own cotton. The market place was in Snow Hill on the public square near the jailhouse. My mother use to cook and wait on tables. What the Black Lives Matter Protests Mean for East Texas An Anglo-Texas man of Scots-Irish descent who suffered being kidnapped from his natural family at the age of five by a Native American raiding party, he returned to the Native American people of his own free will after being ransomed back from the Comanche. An informal militia rallied in Bryan, gathered arms, and caught the train southward towards the angry mob of armed freedmen who were marching on Bryan, a city to the north of Navasota. WebRailroad Tower in Navasota, Texas. After de ole marster die dey both work in de fiel' and raise plenty vegetables to can and eat. ", "In good wedder dey feed us under a big tree out in de yard. Washington County. And I ain't goin' to get whipped any more. He was making a sort of privileged game with a sportive twist out of his handicap of blindness. Dat becomes me better. There were many saloons and gaming halls, and every Sunday morning the undertaker hitched up the buggy and went downtown to collect the bodies that were anticipated to be there, from another wild Saturday night. Then there was neighbors went off to fight. She tell me funny things 'bout how dey use to do up dere. Dere am three women what do dat, and give us de meals in de long shed with de long tables. Missy Elline, she fainted. WebNavasota suffered a series of disasters in the mid-1860s that severely depleted its population. "In de old days, if de niggers wants de party, massa am de big toad in de puddle. As the interviewer scribbled down a note, the door to the little shanty on Arabella Alley opened and a backless chair was carried out on the porch by a vigorous old colored woman. Lots of white folks comes and dey eats and drinks wine, dey sings and dances. Hidden In A Texas Subdivision, A Plantation Where Slaves WebIn 1937 Reynolds shared her memories of slavery with a member of the Federal Writers Project for the WPA Slave Narrative Project. I l'arn how to hoe, too. For a ripe, red mouth. "'Union forever, Navasota suffered a series of disasters in the mid-1860s that severely depleted its population. She was a little, white-hair' woman, what never los' her temper 'bout nothin'. "But what I want to say is, we didn't have no idea of runnin' and escapin'. I State Football Champions in 2014. I'm thinkin' lots of 'em pretended to want to go as soon as they had to go. My father had his own brand, 7 B, and we had a herd to start out with of seventy. Us hav pie supper, too. I tell my chillen we didn't know no more about pants than a hawg knows about heaven; but I tells 'em that to make 'em laugh. "When he was a-dyin', marster calls me to his bed and says, 'My dyin' reques' is dat yous be taken to your mama.' WebTexas Lynching Victims Memorial Share Special Exhibits The Freedom-Lovers Roll Call Wall Stories Behind the Postcards: Paintings and Collages of Jennifer Scott Portraiture of Resistance Memorial to the Victims of Lynching Freedom-Lovers Pledge Explore Our Galleries African Peoples Before Captivity Kidnapped: The Middle Passage Nearly Three I was plenty sick and Dr. Brennen, he took good care of me. In February 2004, the Texas Rangers again probed the Navasota Police Department. Web1 language. WebThe key to African Americans political ascension in Texas was Reconstruction, the federal governments post-Civil War effort to rebuild the South and protect the rights of Well, that's how it was with us. "When freedom come my mudder and me pay no 'tention to it. All campuses received a Met Standard rating from the Texas Education Agency. to the Harper family, who lived in Snow Hill. And us better leave eb'ryt'ing clean and no litter 'roun'. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. That happened the second year after the War. Sometimes you didn't knowed it was goin' on. ", "I heerd 'bout dem broom-stick marriages, but I ain't never seed none. Many Navasota citizens, including the mayor, fled to escape the disease, and the town's population dropped by about 50 percent. When the nearby historic town of Washington-on-the-Brazos resisted railways, it forfeited its geographic advantage and began to decline after many of its businesses and residents began to migrate to the new railhead 7 miles (11km) to the northeast across the Brazos River at Navasota. "How you carries on! The Enslaved in Nashville - Tennessee State University I was handling pipes. "When I's 16 year ole I want to hab courtin'.