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

Consider the Lily: The Ungilded History of Colorado County, Texas

To be sure, the disarray in the black community was even more pronounced.
Some families had been hopelessly separated by the exigencies of the slave market, leaving
suddenly freed children with no parents and only the dubious mercy of society to support
them. Adults were confused by rumors and uncertain how to proceed. Many believed they
would soon be granted land and refused all offers of employment on the existing planta-
tions. Few stayed on the plantations where they had theretofore lived, preferring to hire
themselves out elsewhere even if it meant accepting lower wages, or simply to wander the
countryside, searching for vacant houses in which to temporarily reside. Few had any edu-
cation. Most were ripe to be cheated by their employers."3
To solve, or at least mitigate, these problems the federal government created
the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands. Commonly called the Freedmen's
Bureau, it opened an office in Colorado County and staffed it with an agent before the end
of 1865. The first Freedman's Bureau agent in Colorado County, Eli W. Green, a captain in
the United States army, arrived in Columbus on a Saturday, October 22, 1865. He spent the
next few days setting up the office and talking to plantation owners and freedmen. Though
he thought conditions for the freedmen were generally good, he was troubled by a report
that one former slaveowner had pulled a pistol on a freedman and struck him with it. Green,
however, would have little time to deal with any problems. On October 30, he petitioned to
be relieved of his duties so that he could go home with the rest of his regiment, which had
been decommissioned. His request was granted, and within a month, he was back in his
home state of Illinois.'4
Suddenly left without an agent in Columbus, the bureau dispatched J. D. Whitall
to visit the county. On November 18, 1865, Whitall expressed the bureau's principal early
File, Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library. The Montgomery child born in Mexico, more specifically on the
Rio Verde in the state of San Luis Potosi was Ella Birdie Montgomery. Another of the settlers at Tuxpan, Gideon
Lincecum, restated his reasons for leaving Texas in an April 27, 1871 letter to John Henry Brown, who also had
lived at Tuxpan and encouraged others to move there: "As for myself, I do not, neither can I care one cent for the
'United States of America.' The victorious Yankee has trampled under foot every principle ofjustice and equal-
ity, and are now encouraging the triumphant negro to put the finishing stroke on the degraded condition of the
Southernor by conjugal union with with [sic] his daughters; While the Southernor, those who are most capable,
and best able to do something, for the fear of losing a few dollars have joined the loyal league. No no, John
Henry Brown, I cant care for such a demoralized nation. But I can remain here in this calm, peaceful, clean
washed country, where Bowie Knives and six shooters are not regarded as the indespensable equipments of a
gentleman, and where man shooting is not considered an honorable occupation. Where, as you know, doorlocks
are not necessary, and, where indeed there is nothing to fear" (see Gideon Lincecum to John Henry Brown, April
27, 1871, Gideon Lincecum Papers, The Center for American History, University of Texas, Austin).
13 Letter of John T. Raper, November 29, 1865, Letter of Fred Ed Miller, December 22, 1865, both in
Barry A. Crouch Collection (Ms. 41), Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus.
14 Letter of Eli W. Green, October 24, 1865, Service Record of Eli W. Green, both in Barry A. Crouch
Collection (Ms. 41), Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus. Freedmen's Bureau agents were
officially known as Sub-Assistant Commissioners.