Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 9, Number 1, January 1999 Page: 43

Documents, Letters, Reminiscences, Etc.

Bridge's home, where we were for three or
four weeks. The next day being Sunday, the
negroes remained in camp until Monday, fol-
lowing my mother and father they went to the
place they would call home. My father was dis-
appointed that his brother had had no houses
built for him. They went into camp until houses
could be built for the negroes and a two room
house for our family. When the house was fin-
ished we were sent for. We lived in two thin
plank rooms for about a year when my father
added two more rooms, and we felt very fortu-
nate to have so much room. But how we missed
our old home.
It was here we met Miss Bettie Tooke,
afterwards Mrs. Kindred. We were near neigh-
bors and formed a close friendship which lasted
until her death. My father was not satisfied,
bought another place very near where we first
lived here. We had a nice, plain house with six
rooms. It was now my parents felt the neces-
sity of sending their children to school again.
He advertised for a private teacher, had no sat-
isfactory answers, and the neighbors prevailed
on Mrs. Paine to take a country school. This
she did to the satisfaction of her patrons. My
sister and I loved her very much. (She had been
our governess before her marriage to Mr.
Paine). She had a fine education and was fitted
in many ways for a teacher. After the first year
she gave up the school, and Mrs. Gid McLeary
afterward. Mrs. John Carson had the school
for one year when she married. The next we
had Prof. Riley, Mrs. R. H. Walther's father,
who opened a school in Oakland. My sister
boarded with Mr. and Mrs. James H. Simpson
while I boarded a little further out with Mr.
and Mrs. E. B. Fowlkes. My heath not being
good they wanted me to have the short walk to
school. Prof. Riley taught us until the school
was closed.
My father raised a company of soldiers
but was never able to take them out of the state,
and they joined the Shropshire Regiment. Soon
43

after we came to Texas my father had a hard
spell of fever and was partially paralyzed. Af-
ter he found he could not go in the army, he
asked for some local work. He was then made
chief of 1 th Commissary District. His entire
time was taken up in buying provisions, horses,
and all things necessary for the Texas Army
where they could be supplied.
We saw nothing of war here. Occasion-
ally we would get a letter from relatives telling
us of the horrors of war and what they were
suffering. My father being from home nearly
all the time he was able, we were left at home
with the negroes who always seemed careful of
our wants. We never saw any soldiers, only
some three regiments were camped on a creek
about two miles from where we lived. They
were in command of Gen. Bankhead, who was
a nephew of Gen. Magruder. I don't think the
officers had much discipline with the men as
they roved over the country wherever they
wanted to go. Our negroes had planted May
water melons and sometimes fed them to the
hogs. Soldiers asked permission to get some
water melons. From that day they came until
every melon was gone. They would fill up pants
they would bring with them, fill them with water
melons, and set them on the horses behind their
saddles, and often they were not top pants, but
white drawers, anything to hold melons. So the
hogs had no melons that year. My mother, Mrs.
Paine, sister and I called at the camp to see
Mrs. Bankhead. As we arrived at her tent, two
young boys (Friench Simpson being one of
them) were standing guard at her tent. I asked
him what he was doing. He said, Oh, I am here
to shoot the flies if they trouble the Missus.
(Three of my school boy friends had joined one
of these regiments, Friench Simpson, Henry
Carson and Nat Howard, the last named boy
being my best friend among our boy friends in
our class.) Mrs. Bankhead returned my mother's
call, and afterwards had tea at our home.
One afternoon a negro belonging to my