TX BIOS: Mrs. W. T. Boone Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress. Washington, 1994. Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only. This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate. For more information about this text and this American Memory collection, refer to accompanying matter. U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.Copyright status not determined. 00011 [works Folkstuff [?] Sketch - Pioneer Lores?] [work?] Warren, Ivey G. November 30, 1936. Lubbock [County?] District 17. Reminiscences Of Early Days In Lubbock County. Pg. 1 Bibliography. Mrs. W. T. Boone. [1807?] - 13th St. Lubbock, Texas. "He came to Lubbock from Fannin County 41 years ago," [Said?] Mrs. [?]. T. Boone, [82?] year old Lubbock pioneer. "My health was failing, so we decided to move to the plains in the [hope?] that the change would help me. We hitched our mules to two big farm wagons, loaded heavily with furniture and all of the other things that we felt that we could not part with and could pile on the wagons and started out. We brought a small herd of cattle along with us part of the way and they hindered us a great deal, so we made slow progress on the roads at first. The weather was sultry, it was in August, and after a few days the cattle began to show the strain of the long drive and lost considerable weight. But we managed to find a good place to camp [ever?] Sundays and there was usually a grassy spot where the cows could spend the day grazing. We had three little children then and of / course after the novelty of the trip wore off they grow tried of riding so much and welcomed the opportunity to [DEL: [?] :DEL] have a day to got out and stretch their cramped legs and play". "People were very nice to us all along the way, except that they were sort of afraid of our cattle .? They had ticks". Mother Boone laughed. " It was a serious thing then .? We soon found out that the western people had a horror of the eastern cow ticks. They feared the outbreak of some stock disease, as there had been an [epidemic?] of fever sometime before this which had been attributed to the transportation of tick infested cattle into the country. We felt the opposition toward our little herd growing stronger as we journeyed westward and finally we [DEL: came to the :DEL] decided [DEL: decision :DEL] to [DEL: get :DEL] have something done about the ticks. NOTE: [C12- 2/11/41- Texas-?] 00022When we reached [Archer?] City we were fortunate enough to find a man who would take care of the cows and exterminate the [insects?], so we left our cattle [there?] and traveled faster over the country roads that led us to our new home in the west." "The effects of the hot, dry weather on the crops and the pastures became more [noticeable and the discouragement of the farmers was apparent all?] through the country. The farther west we [came?] the dryer we found it - until at last we began to [?] come to farms that had been [abandoned?]. [We?] would drive up to a place, some of us would get out and go up to the house [DEL: [?] :DEL] and it would be vacant . ] The windmill would be turned off. There would be no sight / of life around, only the birds on wing in the air or perhaps a wild rabbit would scuttle by. We camped at these deserted farms sometimes. It always gave me a scared and lonely feelings. Mother Boone [????] [DEL: [?] :DEL] [THOSE EARLY DAYS?] "In front of the [house?] would be the winding road, not much more than [a?] lane, but over it people had [come?] with high hopes [DEL: [?] :DEL] [Behind?] the house lay the fields where those [hopes?] had died. [Acres?] and [acres?] of parched land, with nothing for the eye to see [but?] withered twigs, that had once been grass or crop plants, [DEL: [?] :DEL] then green and promising now burned and gone. it was alarming we think that the country into which we were going with our all, was a drouth stricken area." [??] School at [Estacado?] [DEL: [?] :DEL] [AT ONE TIME?] had an enrollment of 500 students, Mother [Boon explained, But when we go to Estacado?] we were told by a Mr. /CHARLES Holmes [DEL: [?] :DEL] , one of the merchants there, who was of Quaker / Faith, that the school had just been discontinued, as so many of the people had left there on account of the drouth. [Some?] of the most prominent people of Estscado had moved to Lubbock, Mr. Holmes said, among those where [??] were, [DEL: [??] :DEL] [GEO. C. WOLFFARTH Wal Geo M., [???] and Judge Geo. R. [Bean?]. [??] these fine people [when we got?] to Lubbock [DEL: [???] :DEL] [?] everyone [knows?] that they have done much to make this little city what it is today." Before we reached our destination, we stopped at a small sheep-ranch. Mother Boone went on with her story. It was nearly night, the people [graciously?] invited us in and [asked?] us to stay for supper. But when I went into the kitchen, I was shocked to see that the box by the cook stove was filled with old dried waste from the cow pens, and [DEL: [??] :DEL] [???] of the girls went over to the box and replenished the fire with 00033this refuse, I/ was sick and felt I could not possibly eat or see my family partake of food that had been cooked in this matter, and I went out and persuaded my husband to make an excuse for us. He did and we left before the meal was ready to serve. But there was no wood in the west and coal was not only expensive, it had to be hauled a long distance and when a supply gave out it was sometimes difficult to send to the other towns after more .? Feul was really [scares?], and though at first I rebelled against it, the time came when I had to use [DEL: [???] :DEL] these cow chips in the fire box of my own cook stove". "We got to Lubbock County in September .? ] It took us about a month to make the trip .? We located about 9 miles east of town, Mother Boone [DEL: [?] :DEL] talked quietly. We bought a section of land out there and as soon as we could we sent after our cattle[ .? ] They had been left with the man in Archer County for six weeks then. [We?] did not try to farm much at that time[ .? ] There was not much farming in the west then as [cotton?] was not raised here that early, so we had a little [DEL: [cattle?] :DEL] ranch, [DEL: [?] :DEL] [and kept?] about 100 head [DEL: was what we usually kept :DEL] of cattle. We called this place of ours the Boone Ranch, and our brand was a double B, so all of our cattle were branded with BB." "There was not any railroads through Lubbock in these days, the nearest lines [DEL: [were?] :DEL] being at Amarillo and Colorado City. People used to go in wagons to one or the other of these towns to buy provisions and fuel .? It generally took them three days to go and five days to return with their loads. If the weather turned off real bad, it would take them a day or two longer." Mother Boone recalled, "And the folk at home would get worried about them sometimes before they got back." "There was [?] two stores in Lubbock when we moved here[ .? ] One of them was owned by Irvin [Hunt?] and the other one belonged to J. D. Caldwell. The old lady smiled, "Oh, yes, all those /DISTINGUISHED LOOKING men you see around town, were here then .? There [DEL: was :DEL] were, as I just said, Mr. Caldwell and [DEL: [?] :DEL] [Rollie?] Burns [DEL: then there was Judge :DEL] and P.F. Brown[ .? He was second County Judge of Lubbock County. My cousin G. W. [Shannon?] was first County judge[ .? ] Judge Brown begin his first term in 1895 when Cousin George went out of that office. Cousin George was a fine 00044man, but he had lots of trouble, poor fellow. He was getting along in years even at this time[ .? ] He [?] a Colonel in the Army [DEL: [?] :DEL] during the Civil war. His wife died and left him one child, a girl[ .? ] She married and died when her baby was small .? [DEL: [?] :DEL] The baby was a girl. I do not know what became of the grandchild, but Cousin George finally took a little boy to raise .? [DEL: [?] :DEL] The [DEL: [?] :DEL] child's? mother was still living and when they met, Cousin George had come to love the boy so much that he married [DEL: the child's mother :DEL] [?]. He left here and went to [Waco?] .? [DEL: [??] :DEL] We heard later that he had died at Corpus Christa". "[But?] I was telling about the people who were here [DEL: [?????] :DEL] in the early days & [DEL: [???????????????] :DEL] [DEL: [?????] :DEL] [DEL: [?] :DEL] [?] [? R.?] [McGee?], [?] came here [DEL: [??????] :DEL] in about 1901. [DEL: [?????] :DEL] Mrs. J.B. [?] was here in those early days too. Mother Boone [DEL: studdied :DEL] studied a minute," Yes, and [Leo?] George M. Boles[ .? ] His wife is a sister of Rollie C. Burns." [When?] we first got [DEL: out :DEL] here there was not a church house .? [DEL: here. They had :DEL] Services [DEL: sometimes :DEL] were [heed?] sometimes? at the Courthouse when a visiting preacher would come [DEL: [????] :DEL] but after a time Mrs. Mobley [?] in getting [donations?] which amounted to [$100.00?] to go in on a building for a Baptist Church. The [?] over the country gave a large part of this money. The church was built two blocks north of where Judge / Ino.R. McGee now lives on Avenue [C?] .? This would be [about?] where the Hodges Store is now located across from the [DEL: [?] :DEL] [Federal?] Building. We had a [?] Sunday school then and Judge McGee was our Superintendent .? and He was just as faithful as he could be, and was always there to ring that bell. [DEL: [???????????????] :DEL] [DEL: [?????????????] :DEL] Our family was Baptist then and we went all the time. Even though this [DEL: [???] :DEL] building belonged to the Baptist people, it was sort of a community house where any of the other churches could have their services when a visting pastor came here .? [DEL: [?] :DEL] [DEL: [?] :DEL] Everybody was welcome to attend the services there." "The [DEL: [?] :DEL] Nazerenes had a meeting here though in a tent one time. My family had joined the [DEL: [?] :DEL] Nazerenes then and we were at services one night when a [storm?], Mother Boone [DEL: [?????] :DEL] RELATED There [DEL: [was?] :DEL] [?] several in the tent when it [DEL: [?] :DEL] blew down but [DEL: [there?] :DEL] 00055[DEL: [???] :DEL] no one was hurt / I remember mighty well that it was [?] George M. Boles, who came to us and invited us to come on up to the Baptist Church and finish our meeting [DEL: [??] :DEL] [DEL: [?????] :DEL] and we did ["?] "There was one school house in Lubbock at this time .? It was located about where the Central Ward School is now, but ofcourse they did not call it that then, and it was just a small building! Mother Boone said, " I taught the two months summer school the next summer after we came here .? I had been teaching school for several years and I felt that I could not give it up[?] so I taught that summer .? ] [DEL: [?] :DEL] It was hard with the children and conditions here were different to what I had been used to, so I did not try to teach anymore. There was a two room house over here at the head of the canyon, near where the Sanders School is located now .? This house had a basement and was a pretty good little house .? It was vacant and I tried and tried to find out who it belonged to, I wanted to move there during the school term, so I would not have so far to go .? Every one said that the owner had left during the drouth, and told us to just go ahead and move into it, so we did [?] and never [DEL: [??] :DEL] found out whose house it was. Later during Judge Bety's [et?] ] term it was sold for taxes. I had 25 children in school that summer. Mrs. Mobley taught the school after I [DEL: [?] :DEL] quit." [During?] the Civil war, the schools were all broken up, and after that people had their children taught by private tutors". Mother Boone gave this bit of historical information." I had a private teacher, so that I got a very good education .? My husband and I [DEL: was :DEL] were both born and reared in the state of Mississippi. [DEL: [??????] :DEL] After the public schools were started again, I got a place to teach .? That was before Mr. Boone and I were married. We were married by a Baptist preacher [DEL: [?????] :DEL] January 11th 1881, in Mississippi. [DEL: After :DEL] When we [DEL: went to :DEL] came to Texas, we settled in [?] County and I taught school there[ .? ] My husband built a room on to our house for me to teach in [DEL: and the children came to school :DEL] [DEL: there, so that :DEL] and [althe?] we had little children of our own, I was able to go on with my teaching". " My husband, William [Thomas?] Boone was a great, great grandson of Daniel Boone," said 00066Mother Boone proudly. "I have a dollar now that was handed down to him from his great-great grandfather .? It is dated 1810." "My [husband?] died in June 1934", Mother Boone sighed and leaned back in her chair .? "We always had to take care of my health, but now he is gone, and I am left here with out him. I have been crippled up in two car accidents. The first time was about 20 years ago when we were going to Plainview one day .? We were in a [hack?] and here come a fellow in an old car that had had the wind shield broken out and he had put [DEL: [?] :DEL] card board in it and could not see where he was going .? He [ran?] right into us, broke my arm but did not hurt any of the rest of the family. Then about 10 years age we were coming home from [Wichita?] [Falls?] [DEL: that is :DEL] where [one?] of my sons live, and we [ran?] off of an embankment, broke my hip and the other arm, so I am kind of stiff in my limbs, but I guess I do pretty well to be as old as I am." " No I do not mind the sand storm here now [DEL: [??] :DEL] like I use to [.?] I just sit here and let them blow. I think that to take it all the way around, this is one of the finest countries in the world. I will never forget when they first tried to raise cotton out here on the plains [.?] [DEL: that :DEL] [It?] was in 1905 [.?] A Mr. [S.W.?] Peeler had planted some and Mr. Boone was skeptical[ [.?] He said he was going over and take a look [a t?] that patch of cotton[ [.?] ] well he came back just thrilled to death[ [.?] ] He said it simply looked [DEL: [?] :DEL] [good,] Mr. Peeler took the cotton to Post and had towels and things like that made at the mills there and showed them all around the country, just to demonstrate what the west plains cotton could do. [DEL: No, :DEL] Yes, this is a wonderful country. I went to Port Lavacs and stayed a while when I got back the Railroads had come though/ and several buildings had gone up while I was [DEL: [?] :DEL] away but I have been here the most of 41 years watching Lubbock grow, and I think this is a mighty fine place to live". "I sometimes fear that our country is likely to be confronted with a very serious negro situation in the next few years". Mother Boone unexpectedly burst forth, showing that she does not always dwell on the past, but that her keen perceptive mind is [?] with the problems of the day, which she feels are already casting their gigantic [?] 00077shadows across our future paths. The social equalization of the negro with the white will never be [submitted?] to by those whose hearts beat with the proud blood of Southern [ancestors?]. I think that the negro had his rights, but they should be exercised in his own environment and that the effort to [encroach?] themselves upon the whites is a grave mistake which is certain to receive a rebuff sooner or later and cause a vast degree of unrest through-out the United States". "I view this thing with [alarm?]", Mother Boone confessed. "And it seems to me that the only satisfactory way to dispose of it is to provide a reservation for the [DEL: negros :DEL] negroes, such as was set aside for the Indians. Here they would be allowed to live their own lives and the opportunity would be afforded them to become political leaders among THEiR own caste. The attempt to break down the barriers and place the negro population on an equal standard with the white people is not only preposterous, but is is also [detrimental?] [DEL: ? :DEL] to -both white and negro alike. I do not [believe?] it will ever be accomplished, but I do think that it may cause a conflict among our people and perhaps [may?] lead to another national war, unless it is thwarted while there is yet time." ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. 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