|
|
Alice Harwell
"I was born in Bosque County near de town of Meridian; My daddy an mamy's name was Nathaniel an' Catherine
Frierson, I was born de first year of freedom an' lived in Bosque County a few years, an' den we moved down on de
Harrison an' de Dunklin Farms whar we lived untill I was a good big girl, den we moved to Waco, Texas.
"De first thing dat stands out in my memory of de days when I was a child was going to Waco an' watching de
people cross de Brazos river on de ferry boat; Our folks would let us chillun go down ter de river an' stay an' watch
de ferry boats whilst de ole folks bought dey supplies, so dis was de bigges' thin' on our trip ter Waco besides de
ride down dar. Yer see hit was about sixty miles an' we goes in de wagon drivin' de oxen, an' hit takes us mos' all
day to go an' mos' of de day to cum home, an' so we stay all night at de wagon yard, if we has de covered wagon we
sleeps in de wagon.
"Waco wuznot any bigger dan Meridian is now, if as big. As well as I kin remember, de place whar de folks buy
dey supplies was on what is now Bridge Street, near de river, so hit was not far for dem go an' leaves us chillun
down at de river wid one of de oldest ones ter stay an' watch an' see dat we dont fall in. De day's ter go ter Waco
was on a Saturday jes like dey do now.
"After awhile dey build de old suspension bridge, an' den we goes watches de people as dey cum into Waco, an'
drives across hit, dey stop an' de toll-keeper dat stay in de little rooms at de end of each side of de bridge, cum's out
an' dey has ter pay him twenty-five cents to go across hit, I believes dat was de price. Den when dey goes back
home dey has ter pay to go back across hit. I has a dim memory of how some times dey does not have de change an'
den maybe gives him a chicken or something in trade.
"'Nuther thing dat I remember de mos' was how de Indians would cum an' prowl aroun' our house at night an' how
our mammy would not light de lamps for fear dey might not be de friendly Indians like de Tonkawa's. I 'members
how dey steal two fine horses from de man my daddy was working for, however hit might not have always been de
Indians but mos' of de time we could hear dem an' knew which one of de tribes dey was.
"De Tonkawa's was not such a big tribe, an' dey was not on good terms wid de tribes like de Comanches dat was
always fighting de white man, for de other tribes would not have anything much to do wid dem because dey was
friendly to de whites. An' I remember hearin' de whites folks talk about how dey use de Tonkawa's ter trail de other
Indians after dey would go on dey robbin' an' maybe dey massacre's. De Tonkawa' made de best scouts of any of de
Indians, so dey claim whar I lived.
"De country was full of robbers an' desperadoes. Dey was two men by de name of Sam an' Will Petty, we did not
know what dey did, but dey would cum ter our house an' stay a day or two maybe jes long enough for our mammy
ter cook dey supper. Dey would eat all she cook, an' den dey would pay her five dollars maybe six or seven an' go
on dey way. My folks was afraid not to take dem in, an' dey was afraid to tell de officers if dey was robbers for fear
dey would cum back an' kill us all. Dey thought dat dey was horse thieves.
"I kin remember de old mailcarrier as he rode horseback from Waco up to Valley Mills an' Meridian an' den on to
some other place west of Meridian. He made de trips regular an' den after awhile dey commence to send de mail on
de stage dat run thro' Meridian.
"W'en we lived up in dis country, we lived in a log house an' we had plenty of wood to burn from de Bosque river
banks. An' den we had plenty to eat, de man dat my daddy was livin wid furnished us our supplies. He had corn an'
other grain, an' mostly cattle an' hogs, but dey was plenty of wild hogs an' turkey, an' deer den. De folks in dis
country was mostly ranchers, but dey raised enough grain to do dem, an' I does not remember any cotton until we
moved down on de Harrison an' Dunklin farm on de Brazos bottom, east of Waco.
"After we is livin on dese farms, den I am gittin to be a bigger girl an' started ter school. Dey has de log cabins like
we did at Meridian, an' Mr. Harrison builds us a little school an' we used dis for a church too. I remember one of de
teachers name was Austin Willis an' he lived in Waco. Our church was de Methodist denomination, but Mr.
Harrison afterward helped ter build de Baptist church on his place too. Yes 'mam I kin remember how dey has de
brush arbor meetin' de Methodist did not baptize in de river so much like de Baptist, but dey git happy, an' dey has
big meetin's a-shoutin' an' de Holy Ghost cumin to dem, seems like more dan de other's would. We enjoy de big
brush arbor meetins an' de folks cum's from Waco an' all aroun' to dem.
"De most of de sickness dat we had in de place whar we lived at Meridian was winter colds, an' de old-timey grippe
an' pneumonia. Hit might have been from sleepin' wid de wind blowin' thro' de cracks of de cabins if de plaster of
clay was broken, but hit seems to me dat dis was de mos' sickness dat we had. Dey had a doctor at Meridian but I
does not 'member his name. We did not need doctors dar much for hit was high an' no musquoties like dey had
down on de Brazos.
"W'en we lived down on de Brazos bottom, we had de malaria an' some chills an' fevers. Dey was Dr. Dunklin
whose place we lived on part of de time, an' den Richard Harrison, General Harrison's son, helps ter look after us.
But after awhile, dey ditches de land when dey commence ter raisin big cotton crops an' hit not so bad for de chills
an' de fevers. I kin 'member how, when we was goin' ter school in dis place, how we had do coon an' de possum
hunt for de school boys an' girls, on de purty moonlight nights. Dey would all meet at one of de houses an' den dey
would take all de dogs an' as most of de boys did not have dey own guns dey depend on de dogs ter tree de possum
or de coons an' den dey shake him down, an' de dog ketch hit, den de boys kill hit, an' some times we cook dem out
in de woods, but mos' of de time we takes dem home effn we tree enough an' had dem for de dinner de next day.
"What did we do in de winter at home in de bottom? Well de ones dat was not goin' to school helped wid de spinnin
in de big house, dey had de sewin' room whar dey spin de thread for de weavin on de looms, an' one would pick up
de shuttles as dey fell to de floor, an' nother hold de thread w'en dey weavin on de loom's, dey still made dey clothes
out of de cotton an' wore what dey called de homespun dresses, but by dis time dey had a few stores in Waco, an' de
white folks goes to buyin' dey clothes, but de nigger still makes most of his own clothes.
"We cooked on de fireplace, an' mostly wid a skillet, but w'en de weather would do, we worked in de fields wid de
men. We helped to pile de brush in de Fall to be burned, an' w'en de wind not blowin' den de moonlight nights we
would go out an' burn de brush. Den in de spring w'en de corn an' de cotton ready to chop, de wimmen would work
wid de men in de fiel's an' help until de crops is laid by. In de Fall, dey would help to gather de cotton an' de ones
dat kin pick de mos' cotton is de ones dat git de biggest pay.
"Our Massa, Mr. Harrison would pay us, an' den effn we is sick he would have de Doctor cum an' see about us. He
was a good ter work for, but we was begginin' ter git big enough ter work out an' so as dey was work openin' up in
Waco, we moved to Waco whar I went to school at de Moore High School between first an' second street. Dis
school was not far from whar dey hold de Court an' I kin 'member hearin' dem tell how dey has de Jedge an' de Jury.
Dey used to call de Court, de Bureau, an' dey had de Jedge a white man but I used to hear dem tell about de nigger's
bein on de jury. Dey say dat de nigger did not want to be on de jury for effn dey helped to sentence nigger's to de
pen, den all de nigger's had a grouch at de Jury, an' some of dem believe in de Hoodoo Doctor an' dey don't want
any hoodoo worked over dem.
"My daddy was a teamster in de Confederate army, an' I kin 'member hearin him tell about how dey had to drive in
de mud an' de rain an' de snow, an' how de big heavy loads would git bogged up in hit, an' how sometimes dey had
ter stay all night w'en dey bog up befo' dey kin pull out. I has heard dem tell 'bout how dey had ter use de corn for
de coffee, an' what a time dey had in de time de Texas ports at de Gulf was blockaded. My daddy hauled de supplies
from dese ports to de army, an' de worst time dat dey had, was w'en dey blockaded Galveston, an' w'en de rebels run
de Yankees out of Galveston den dey kin haul de supplies to de soljers, an' de soljers as well as de folks in de towns
was happy over de blockade bein' lifted.
"I likes to look back on de days w'en I was livin in de Bosque County de best. I kin remember how, after a drouth in
de spring, de wild flowers looked, an' w'en dey had de rainy spring den de whole county was like a carpet of
flowers. Dey was de primrose, an' daisies, de wild holly-hock, de lardspur, an' de wild daisy an' verbena, an' den at
night yer could hear de crickets chirp, an' de owls a-hootin' an' de mockin' bird; den way off in de timber, yer could
hear de howl of de timber wolf an' sometimes de scream of de panther, but we stayed in at night w'en I was little, an'
w'en de mornin' cum, den we kin enjoy bein out an' seein de wild animals dat would cum ter our door for somthin'
ter eat. Sometimes de wild turkeys would cum close in de winter, an' sometimes de deer would cum for somethin'
ter eat, an' eff'n my daddy was workin whar he had de corn ter give dem, he would put hit out for dem to git hit.
"Dey used ter have de drouths worse dan dey has dem now, hit seemed dat after a country is settled up dat de
drouths is not so bad. I has heard dem tell 'bout how de land bein' plowed brings de rain. Dey used ter tell dat w'en
de birds, an' de bats had left de country, dat a drouth was cumin'. De birds knew w'en ter leave, but de settlers would
stay on until day can't git anything more ter eat, den eff'n yer was ter go on de main roads in de summer, an' de rain
has not cum, yer kin see de roads full of de covered wagons on dey way back to East Texas or de Gulf or maybe de
old states, dat dey cum' from. Den w'en hit commences ter rain, den yer kin see some of dem movin' back ter Texas.
"De men dat raise stock would keep dem along de rivers an' de creeks an' den eff'n de drouth git so dat dis is 'bout
gone, an' de grass all gone den he moves dem up to whar de grass in de country is better an' de rivers not dried up. I
kin 'member how w'en dey used ter have dese drouths, dat sometimes de settlers have dey meetin's whar dey pray
for de rain ter cum. Sometimes hit does cum an' den sometimes hit waits until dey faith is tried some more. Dis is
little like de Indians in dey way w'en dey has de big feasts ter de rain God's an', in dey way, dey dance an' pray for
de rain, an' w'en hit rain too much dey has de sun dance. An' dis is dey way of prayin fer de rain ter quit an' de sun
ter shine again. W'en de drouths cum in February an' March, dey would bring de sand storms from de north. De
cattle dat was already nearly starved from de little grass an' water would sometimes die an' de ones dat lived would
jes barely cum thro' dese storms alive. De men would be glad dat all de land was not plowed up ter mak de sand
storms any worse. De cattle not smart like de buffalo. De buffalo will face de storm, an' hit does not blow up under
his coat of hair but de cattle will jes stan' wid dey head bowed ter de groun' an' let de wind blow up dey hide, an'
freeze dem sometimes ter death.
"De first Governor dat I kin remember was Governor Coke. He lived in Waco. I was about ten years old w'en he
was de Governor in 1874 or w'en he was runnin' for Governor against a man by de name of Davis. Dis man claimed
dat he would not quit, if de Waco man was elected, for he was de reconstruction Governor. An' so de Mr. Coke
from Waco was elected an' dis Davis tried to git de United States Government to sen de soljers so he could stay in
de office, but de Government did'nt do hit an' so he had to give hit up, an' de Waco man was de Governor, an' dat is
why I 'members about hit account of de trouble an' de Waco man bein elected.
"De next thing dat I kin 'member was hearin dem talk about de Grange. Some called hit de "Patrons of Husbandry".
I kin clearly remember how dat de wimmen belonged too. Dey claim dey was as many as forty-five thousand people
in Texas belongin' ter hit, an' out of dis dey was six or seven thousand wimmen. Dese meetins was held in secret, an'
dey was tryin ter help de price of de farmers an' de stock men to sell dey stock an' produce for better prices. Dey
would meet sometimes in a picnic an' dey would talk about how dey kin best help de people recover from de war,
an' work dey way back to what dey call prosperity agin. De "Grangers" joined what dey called de "Greenback"
party, an' I kin 'member w'en dey had dey convention in Waco. Dis was in August
1879. I was jes a girl, but I kin 'member how de folks everywhar was talkin 'bout de "Grange" an de "Greenback"
party. Den in 1884, dey has another convention in Waco, an' Ize livin' in Waco. I was seventeen years old, an' kin
'member de people cumin' to hit, for I was house girl to some of de folks dat took de delegates.
"I does not know what dey did, but hit was jes meetins we thought, ter decide who dey wanted to run for de
Governor, likes de democrats do now. We gals at dat time was not studyin' 'bout dese things except w'en we has
some new folks at de house whar we is workin. By dis time Waco had commence ter be a meetin' place for de
conventions of de central part of de state, an' some cum's from other parts, like w'en dey has de church conventions.
"Hit seems like dat Waco has always been de place whar dey had de different state conventions ever since dem
days, hit would be first one kind an den another, but de way hit would interest us was dat we had ter work a little
harder as we would have more to cook for.
"After awhile dey cums' in ter de schools, an' den dey has de big ball games, long time after de "Grange", an' de
times I has been tellin yer about dey has another school besides Baylor University an' dat is what dey call Add-Ran
College. Dis is up in de north part of town, an' dey call demselves de "Christian Church School." So dis school an'
Baylor git to be big rivals, dey say in de school an' de ball games. Dey has big times, for I kin 'member how dey had
de big crowds dat cum's to de ball games jes like dey do now. An' I kin 'member how, w'en de ball games be over,
dey side dat wins de game has dey parades down town up an' down Austin Street, an' dey sing an' we all goes to
town to see de parade dat night.
"Yes mam, ever since I was a gal, an' moved from de Brazos bottom to Waco, an' spent de most of my life in de
city, I kin see in my mind de big times dat dey has an' how on de ninteenth of June w'en our day for de big times
cum's, de business men does not forgit to help us in our celebrations, an' dey lets us off from our work to take de
day for our celebration of de day de slaves was proclaimed free by General Granger on de nineteenth day of June in
de year 1865, in de state of Texas.
"I is too old now to work an' de Government is givin me a little pension, an' I is grateful for hit, but I looks back on
de days of my youth w'en I lived in de "City wid a Soul" as dey used ter call hit, an' wish dat I could live dem over.
Reference: Interviews with Alice Harwell, Mart, Texas.
Stanley H. Holm Kinney County District #10 (September 12, 1937 (no))
