TX BIOS:  Mrs. William Price
   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
   
   FOLKLORE:
   
   Miss Effie Cowan, P.W.
   
   McLennan County, Texas,
   
   District No, 8. See attached interview
   
   No. words 2000
   
   File no. 240.
   
   Page no. 1. REFERENCE
   
   Interview with Mrs. William Price, Marlin, Texas, (White Pioneer)
   
   "I was born in the year 1847 at Bowling Green Kentucky, my father was
   named David Busby, he owned a plantation in the vicinity of Bowling
   Green. In the year 1849, he brought his family and slaves to Texas and
   settled in Freestone County at a little community called Cotton Gin,
   where he lived untill his death.
   
   "First, I will tell you about the stories that were told to us in our
   childhood of the life and things that were of interest to my people in
   Kentucky. I can remember as a child the first song that we were
   taught. It was "My old Kentucky Home". This song was written, as you
   probably know by Stephen Foster who was visiting in Kentucky at the
   home of a kinsman at Federal Hill in Bardstown, Kentucky. This
   relative's name was John Brown, a [Judge?]. This was in the fall of
   1852, but in these days when we came to Texas everything that happened
   in our home state was as interesting to us as the news in Texas.
   
   "This song, having the beautiful words of love of the old home, was
   always our favorite. The story of how it was written in the old spring
   house on the Hill and how Stephen Foster having the inspriation of it,
   then went to the old mahogany desk in the hall to write the words
   down, little dreaming that some day it would be the cause of the place
   becoming a memorial shrine to be kept as a tribute to the writer of
   this song. I understand that this house was opened to the public in
   1924 as a state and national shrine.
   
   "Another thing which found echo in the hearts of the people from this
   state, in Texas was the horse races. The poet, James Mulligan wrote
   "The song birds are the sweetestIn Kentucky;
   
     NOTE: C.-12. Tex.
     
   00022The thoroughbreds are fleetestIn Kentucky;
   
   "And this is no idle boast, the/ blue grass region has long held the
   supremacy in the production of thoroughbred stock. Today it is claimed
   that the country centering around Lexington raises about sixty percent
   of all the thoroughbred horses in America.
   
   "The story of how the races first started in Kentucky is that when the
   first settlers came from Virginia, they brought with them the old
   tradition of their English ancestors, the chief of which was their
   love for horses and horse racing. There are records of racing at
   Lexington from its first settlement. Main Street was the best place to
   try their speed, and it is told that down this street the men raced
   their horses, not for a money stake, but to prove their claims to the
   speed of the horses.
   
   "The sport was then confined by city ordinance to the "Commons", where
   a course over the hills and the river bottoms tested the speed and
   endurance of their horses. The story goes on to tell us how that in
   August of 1769 the races would be conducted along professional rules,
   and that purses would be offered. The main obstacle to be expected was
   from the Indians, however we heard no reports that they interfered.
   
   "The first real race track with its purses offered and the first
   jockey club was built near Lexington in 1798; and still they had to be
   on the lookout for the Indians. The one now in use is the oldest in
   America in point of service, it having been constructed in 1826. There
   is a long story in itself of the race courses of Kentucky, but I only
   want to show you how, as far back as I can remember, the love of
   00033horses and the races was of interest to a Kentuckian, although
   they be in far - away Texas.
   
   "Then I consider worthy of mention the returns from the tobacco crop
   of this state, the main variety grown in Kentucky is the Dark and the
   White Burley; the dark tobacco grown in the western part and the white
   in the central part of the state. There is a long process by which the
   ground is prepared, and then the next step is "burning the bed", brush
   and heavy wood are piled high on the beds and burned so that the soil
   is heated to a depth far enough to kill all seeds of weeds or disease.
   
   "In the early days the setting out of the tobacco plants were of such
   importance that the rural schools had to give vacations in order that
   the children could help in setting these plants out. But in later
   years machinery was invented which saved this loss of time from the
   school's, and was much saving of labor. After the stalk has matured
   and the leaves begin to turn brown then they are stripped from the
   stalk and tied in bunches convenient for handling. It is then dried
   and finished.
   
   "Included in our stories was the towns of Paducah and Hopkinsville,
   Paducah is now known as the birthplace of Irvin S. Cobb. In the early
   days these towns were villages to the traveller.
   
   "Hopkinsville is now one of the leading tobacco markets of the south.
   In that day these towns were known only as being on the road (after
   the Civil War was over) leading to the birthplace of Jefferson Davis,
   President of the Confederacy. This was at the little village of
   Fairview, In memorial park is the Davis monument, second only in
   height to the Washington monument. Further east the little village of
   Elkton became another highway in later years to these visiting the
   00044Blue and Gray State Park.
   
   "In our stories of the war between the states, we were told about the
   birthplace of Lincoln. While speaking of memorials, there is a
   monument to him at Hodgenville. Inside of granite walls is enclosed
   the log cabin in which Lincoln was born in 1809. While Lincoln lived
   on the Knob Creek farm it was at one time the "Main Street of the
   Kentucky Wilderness," the road from Louisville to Nashville. And from
   the top of "Bigg Hill" Lincoln could look out towards the Blue Grass
   land. It was while here that he had his first schooling, and during
   his childhood in Kentucky, that he formed his opinion on the slavery
   question.
   
   "As you have no doubt read in history about how his father, Thomas
   Lincoln and family were on the Abolitionist side and how the Little
   Mountain Church had split from the Nolin Church against slavery. But
   did you know that there were prosperous members of the Lincoln family
   who owned slaves and were masters of large plantations in the states
   of Tennessee and Kentucky?
   
   "Other homes where my father had visited was the home of Henry Clay,
   which they called Ashland. This home was noted for its Southern
   hospitality. No Kentuckian who had ever known and seen the home of
   this man could pass over his story to his children, while I will not
   attempt to give you his history, it is too well known to historians,
   but I must tell you something of the great estate of Ashland.
   
   "It was in 1805 that Henry Clay purchased the first part of this
   estate, at the price of ten dollars an acre. In a few more years it
   had grown to a great estate. It was here that he rested from his
   duties at Washington. After the custom of the times, he was known as
   "Henry Clay of Ashland." He was a great lover of improving farm
   products of all kinds. 00055It was said that he imported stock from
   Spain, and Portugal. His Merino and Saxon sheep and English horses and
   cattle were famous. Many of the most noted race horses of the day were
   raised at Ashland.
   
   "It was from the Ashland District that he was sent to Congress in
   1811. An interesting relic in this home was the old high hat that he
   wore in Washington. Politicians too, were among his cherished friends.
   Here important people came to seek advice and discuss affairs of the
   nation. Distinguished men of all professions sought the wisdom of the
   owner of Ashland. One can imagine the diplomats of other countries
   visiting here or perhaps the Marquis de Lafayette among them. In all
   probality President Monroe ro Daniel Webster.
   
   "Today the visitor may view the household furnishing from the
   wine-glasses and silver, to the parlor and bed room furniture. The
   old-fashioned washstand and pitcher in the bed room of Henry Clay to
   the old fashioned minature of himself presented by the ex-Emperor
   Iturbide. There were also the forest trees and the beautiful blue
   grass meadows where his race horses and fine stock grazed.
   
   "It was in the year that my father came to Texas that Henry Clay made
   his last great speech when the Missouri Compromise again was the
   subject of debate, in this speech he won the name of "The
   Pacificator." It was thought to be the cause of his death, the effort
   he put forth in his failing health. It is enough to tell you that the
   followers of this man honored and admired him fro his attempt in the
   troublesome days before theCivil War to help to hold his state in the
   Union. He also earned the name of Great Commoner.
   
   "If I were not to tell you of the stories handed down to us by our
   00066father of Daniel Boone, the most adventurous of our states
   heroes, you would justly feel that we had not been taught the true
   folklore of the Kentucky forest and the stories of the huntsman. It
   was John Finley, a fur trader of Pennsylvania that led Daniel Boone
   and his brother-in-law, John Stuart, into Kentucky by way of
   Cumberland Gap, that famous trail which was afterward known as the
   Wilderness Road, which was travelled by the pioneers, and made famous
   in the battle of the Wilderness, during the Civil War.
   
   "When the Transylvania Company was organized North Carolina for the
   purpose of establishing a colony in Kentucky, it was on the report of
   which Daniel Boone had carried back with him to his old home on the
   Yadkin River that Colonel Henderson decided to send a colony to
   Kentucky under the delegation of Daniel Boone to treat with the
   Cherokees Indians for a tract of land lying between the Cumberland and
   the Kentucky river's.
   
   After a hard trip the party of thirty enlisted men reached their
   jurneys end and on the Kentucky River and set about building the town
   of Boonesboro, the second settlement in Kentucky. "There were four
   settlements soon in the Transylvania grant and when Colonel Henderson
   came he set about arranging for a convention of delegates from these
   four settlements. This was the first legislative convention ever held
   in Kentucky, was at Boonesborough in May of 1775. It was held out of
   doors under an elm tree and there were eighteen delegates from the
   four settlements and Daniel Boone and Squire Boone were among these
   delegates, history tells that at this convention Daniel Boone
   introduced a bill for the preservation of game and the improvement of
   the breed of horses. 00077"Another interesting bit of history is that
   during the Revolunionary War that all these settlements in Kentucky
   were abandoned excepting those at Harrodsburg and Boonesboro, these
   places stood the siege of Indians time and again and it is a matter of
   history that the women fought by the side of their husbands, or took
   their turns at melting the pewter plates into bullets and caring for
   the wounded.
   
   "There is the story of how the last attack by the Indians was made
   with a band of four hundred Indians and forty frenchmen under the
   command of Captain Duquesne who was in the British employ. He demanded
   the surrender of the fort and for ten days under Daniel Boone held out
   against them, even tho' they made an attempt to mine the fort and
   tunnel beneath it, they held out untill the French and Indians
   withdrew.
   
   "There is a story of an ancient ferry that still carries freight and
   passengers across the river to the rocky road on the other side. The
   old town has long since disappeared and nothing remains of this
   pioneer settlement but the camps of the summer vacationist. It is said
   to be a popular bathing beach for the present generation.
   
   "There is a settlement near Paris, Kentucky called the Cane Ridge
   meeting place, this was the organizing of the Christian Church by a
   Presbyterian preacher who had left his own denomination and formed
   this church. This was the first one of any church of this
   organization, five years after in Washington, Pa. Thomas Campbell and
   his son Alexander organized a Christian Assembly of like faith. This
   section known as Cane Ridge was also a favorite ground of Daniel
   Boones[.?] 00088"It also has a historical legend about the Log Cabin
   Seminary, which was the first wilderness school in the state and many
   of the prominent men in kentucky received their education here. This
   school was finally destroyed by lighting, but the spirit of its
   founder still lives in the hearts of the pioneers who can remember the
   good this dauntless spirit did. It was here too that one of the
   revivals that swept the country in 1801 were held. It is a fact that
   in the history of America there has never been such a religious
   revival that swept through Kentucky and Tennessee.
   
   "I have given you the folklore of the most interesting historical
   facts that were handed down to the children as we grew up in far-away
   Texas but I have not told you of the wonderful Cumberland and Kentucky
   Rivers and the huntsman and fishermans paradise of those early days,
   this, to our father was the greatest cause of homesick longing for his
   loved state, The Cumberland River as it flows through Whitely and
   McCreary Counties is one of the most beautiful rivers in America or
   was at that time. There are the Cumberland Falls which leap over a
   precipice seventy-five feet high, and with rush and rear of wildy
   churning water it dashes high and makes whirling rapids and
   whirlpools, and the roar of it can be heard for miles away.
   
   "Through the central part of the state is the Kentucky, another one of
   those most beautiful rivers, it flows through the rich blue-grass
   country, then among the hills where it has its beginning, is the
   Kentucky Natural Bridge State Park; the state has set aside where the
   Natural Bridge is situated. It is said to be one of the most wonderful
   of natures farmations, besides the Mamoth Cave. To tell you about it
   would take up too much time and everybody is supposed 00099to know of
   the wonders of this cave.
   
   "In the years of my childhood many a winters evening was spent
   listening to the wonders of our "Old Kentucky Home", one would wonder
   why our people left it. Why does the spirit of adventure lead men to
   fields afar? Texas was a new country, a land of promise, and so many
   ,many of our people from all the states felt its beckening hand,
   promise of free land and greater wealth and the old spirit of
   adventure that called our forefathers from across the ocean was
   stirring in the hearts of our fathers of the early days of that time.
   My father felt the call and altho' he brought us to what was then a
   wilderness he loved his adopted state of Texas, while as a child I
   have often heard him sing the song of his old Kentucky home.
   
   "The way we lived when we came to Texas and the conditions that
   existed in the country at the time we came in 1849 I will tell you in
   our next interview. It is a story in itself and so I will save it for
   another time, so different from the story of Kentucky as handed down
   to us. I have lived the Texas part and I will tell you some of the
   things that I remember as a child from the time I heard Gemeral Sam
   Houston make a campaign speech when he was running for governor just
   before the Civil War broke out.
   
   "As I tell you of Kentucky, the song that every Kentuckian loves
   lingers in my mind as it was sung at all our reunions of Kentuckians,
   and the song that the slaves loved the best, for to them it also meant
   home,. "The sun shines bright in my old Kentucky home,Tis summer, the
   darkies are gay;The corn-tops ripe and the meadow's in the bloom,
   
   001010While the birds make music all the day; etc,Chorus, "Weep no
   more my lady, O weep no more today,We will sing one song for the old
   Kentucky home,For the old Kentucky home, far a--way.
   
   00111
   
   Folklore,
   
   Miss Effie Cowan, P.W.
   
   McLennan COunty, Texas,
   
   District 8.
   
   No. Words 1875
   
   File NO. 240.
   
   Page No. 1.
   
   NO. of Words
   
   REFERENCE.
   
   Interview Continued with Mrs William Price, Marlin Texas.
   
   "Altho' I was only [DEL: t year :DEL] two year's old when my family
   came to Texas from Kentucky, the folklore handed down [DEL: t :DEL] to
   us children in the days of our childhood makes the history and the
   legends of what happened and how they lived as real as if I had lived
   there just as I remember the things that happened in Texas.
   
   "I failed before [DEL: t :DEL] to tell you of [?] [DEL: tw :DEL] two
   places more that were made familiar in our fireside stories of other
   days in Kentucky. [DEL: ne :DEL] One of these was about the way the
   people from all over the states of [DEL: [?] :DEL] Kentucky and
   Tennessee would [???] Lake up in the vecinity of the Missippi River in
   their annual fishing and hunting trips.
   
   "This has always been one of the [DEL: [??] :DEL] most famous
   fresh-water fishing places anywhere, the birds and waterfowls [?]
   would make this a relay point on their migrations [DEL: orth :DEL]
   north and [DEL: [?] :DEL] south during the migrating season. It was
   formed by an earthquake in 1812 so the story goes, before this it was
   a forest on the bank of the [DEL: [?] :DEL] Missippi river. For years
   the poor squatters families made their living by their sale of fish
   and from their hunting. They [?] the furs from the wild animals they
   trapped. These furs were very profitable [?] the markets [DEL: [??]
   :DEL] from Memphis to St [DEL: [?] :DEL] Louis.
   
   "In after years this land was sold to a syndicate and they had [quite
   a lot of trouble in removing these squatters and their families.?]
   
     NOTE: [????] -Texas
     
   00122"Another [DEL: ace :DEL] place that should not be left out was
   the town of Columbus, on the Missippi river. It was the most
   historically interesting place that was described to us in our legends
   or [DEL: stries :DEL] stories. The bluffs on which the town was
   situated were called the "Iron Banks" by the early French explorers.
   The Confederates called it the " Gibralter of the West ".
   
   "It was the point of conflict between the warring tribes of Indians
   and the Revolutionary forces and the Americans, and finally between
   the Union and the Confederate forces. Here the old fortifications and
   [?] with the huge chain and twenty foot anchor which the Confederates
   swung across the river to stop the Yankee gun-boats may still be seen.
   
   "Another one of the stories that interested us was the one about how
   "Uncle Toms Cabin" was written. As you know the figure and name of
   Simon Legree became to the Northern people the typical [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   [Southern?] slave owner, just as Uncle Tom became the symbol to them
   of all slaves. So the question in that day was " what plantation did
   Harriet Beecher Stowe represent "? The plantation was described as
   being in Louisiana, the distance [DEL: fr :DEL] from the town of [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] Alexandria fitted with her descriptions, and a man by the
   name of Mc Alpin, a bachelor [?] a reputation of being cruel to the
   slaves, his busy servant was called Uncle Tom, so the public mind
   centered on this plantation as being the one which fitted with her
   story.
   
   "Then came the War and Reconstruction days, and the story was partly
   forgotten. But let me tell you this other story that bobbeb up in
   1892. 00133After Mc Alpin had died , ( not knowing that the [DEL:
   entiment :DEL] sentiment was to be centered on him as being Simon
   Legree ), forty years after his passing out of this world , a Judge
   Corley of Abiline Texas visited the [DEL: [?] :DEL] Mc-Alpin
   plantation, secured the cabin which had been the one the old slave
   they called Uncle Tom lived in and carried it [to?] the World's [DEL:
   air :DEL] Fair at Chicago.
   
   "In order [?] prove this cabin [DEL: [?] :DEL] was the real cabin, he
   took affidavits from some of the people who lived in this community,
   and published the affidavits and results of his investigations in a
   [DEL: [?] :DEL] book called "A Visit to Uncle [DEL: Toms :DEL] Tom's
   Cabin", it was supposed that he sold this with the exhibit of the
   cabin at the [DEL: [??] :DEL] Worlds Fair in Chicago. The New [DEL:
   rleans :DEL] Orleans Democrat [??] article in the December 4, 1892
   issue in which they state that there were some slave owners who
   allowed their overseers [DEL: [?] :DEL] to be cruel [DEL: t :DEL] to
   the slaves, [DEL: [?] :DEL] and this abusive treatment was [one of?]
   the greatest evils of slavery.
   
   "When the Louisiana [DEL: istorical :DEL] Historical society appealed
   to a [DEL: r :DEL] Mr Breazeale of [DEL: [?] :DEL] Natchitaches to
   settle the matter of this story of the Mc Alpin [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   plantation being the original scene, he removes the scene of the story
   to a Parish of [DEL: [?] :DEL] Point Coupee'. As this was one of the
   stories that was the greatest weapon which the North held in their
   fight on the slavery question, it is but natural that the question of
   where this [DEL: [?] :DEL] story was written was at that [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] time of importance and the [?] story which every child [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] old enough to understand the questions of the day [was?]
   familiar.
   
   "I [??] guilty it was said that the man whose name this story was used
   never knew that his name and Simon Legree's had been linked together.
   He died as he lived alone [DEL: [??] :DEL] and was buried among his
   slaves. 00144"I have told you of Kentucky, and adjoining southern
   states, in order that you may contrast it with the country of Texas
   which my father came to in 1849. At that time he was not refugeeing
   from the coming of the War between the States as so many did in the
   days of fifty-nine and sixty. No! he came because it was a new country
   and the spirit of adventure perhaps that the Pilgrim fathers had, no
   doubt still lingered in his heart from some of his ancestors.
   
   "Texas was just an unsettled country, most of the settlements still
   had the forts as a place for the settlers to go to for protection in
   the event there should be any [DEL: [??] :DEL] hostile Indians or
   Mexicans. However, I do not remember any attacks on my people by
   either one. The little [DEL: [?] :DEL] community where my father
   settled, Cotton Gin, was not far from the old Springfield, the county
   seat of Limestone County. As we had the slaves that were brought from
   Kentucky they had to be clothed the same as / our [DEL: wn :DEL] own
   family, so my brother went to Houston in a wagon [DEL: [?] :DEL]
   driving oxen, to buy material for the clothes.
   
   "He bought bolts of kersey, a coarse wollen cloth, for the man's
   suit's, hickory stipes for the mens shirts, checked cotton goods,
   called linsey, linen and cotton mixed, and flannel for the womens
   dresses. White cotton flannel was used for the womens underclothes.
   The white women had to do the sewing and were assisted by the slave
   women that could sew. There had to make up this material into garments
   for the slaves. The average slave was give two suits of clothing a
   year. We [DEL: [?? :DEL] had no sewing machines in those days and to
   make the clothes for fifty slave's was a big item. 00155At this time
   the cotton gin was run by horse power, and with good steady work they
   ginned about four bales a day. The gin house was built square and had
   two stories, the top was cut up into stalls. The gin stand set in the
   top story and the bottom part of the house was where the machinery was
   placed, there was a big wheel to which the horses were hitched to the
   levers, there were usually four of these levers, there were [?]
   condensors, the cotton thrown into the lint room. They carried the
   cotton upstairs and put it into the press box. They started the oxen
   or mules around and when they were going around in a circle, the
   [follow-block?] came down and pressed the bale, then they tied it with
   ropes.
   
   "During the war they had no bagging or ropes so they used boards for
   bagging and hickory switches for ropes, after the war the cotton had
   to be rebaled for shipping. It sold for fifty and sixty cents a pound
   right after the war. The first cook stove I ever saw was at Fairfield
   Female College where I attended school during the war between the
   States.
   
   "This college was located in Fairifeld, the county seat of [?] County.
   The girls building was about five miles east of town. We had fifty
   boarders. The boys building was in town. The president of the college
   [DEL: [? :DEL] (where I attended three years ), was named Henry
   Graves. At the close of the school, the parents were invited and the
   examinations were given orally before them. The young ladies dipped
   snuff instead of smoking as they [DEL: d :DEL] do now and the [DEL:
   [?] :DEL] old ladies [DEL: [?] :DEL] smoked clay pipes. The college
   had a large dining room and as there were no screens then, the negro
   waiters stood at the tables and waved large palm leaf fans or long
   bough from the trees to keep the flies away. 00166"I was twelve years
   old when General Sam Houston ran for Governer of Texas in 1859. I can
   remember my uncle, Colonel Busby going with the whole family to old
   Springfield to a big picnic, they took me along with them, and we
   heard Sam Houston make a speech in his camapign for governor. They all
   went up and spoke to him and took me along with them. I wore my hair
   braided from the middle of my head, the plaits clinging to the side of
   my head and caught together in the back with a large ribbon bow. My
   shirt waist was tightly fitted and belted, the sleeves long and the
   collar high. The skirt was full, and my pantlets showing several
   inches below the skirt. I wore high top, low heel shoes, my hat was
   broad brimmed. I was very proud and happy at seeing and having the
   governor speak to me.
   
   "He was elected as you know and then came the war soon after, I well
   remember how the men were dissapointed in him that he did not vote for
   secession but resigned the governor's chair [DEL: [?] :DEL] rather
   than vote to secede from the Union, but in later years when one
   remembers how he worked for [DEL: [?] :DEL] Texas to be admitted to
   the Union he should think of those things in a calmer way, but at that
   time the country was all for secession down here. I am sure it must
   have been a sad day for Sam Houston when he had to be set aside from
   his loved state.
   
   "When the [DEL: [?] :DEL] war between the States was declared I was in
   Fairfield College. The ladies of the community made canteen covers,
   knitted socks and did everything they could [to?] get the men ready
   for the first call. The citizens of Fairfield [and?] the surrounding
   community gave a big barbecue to the company of soldiers formed there.
   00177"Miss [?] Graves of our school presented the company with a
   Confederate flag. My brothers John and Milton Busby left with this
   company, I can remember even now how thrilled we were and so proud of
   them. But alas for the fond hopes of mothers, sisters and wives of
   these boys who [DEL: [?] :DEL] went away in this company, so many
   never returned, their glory is in making the supreme sacrifice for
   their country. [DEL: [?] ilton :DEL] Brother Milton was killed in
   action in Georgia and brother John died in prison at Fort Donaldson.
   
   "During the war the women had the burden of providing the necessities
   of life, with the assistance of the slaves they produced food and
   clothing. They spun and wove the clothing for their husbands and sons
   off at the front. Calico was a dollar a yard then, and it took ten
   yards to make a womens dress. Everbody who could possibly do so sent
   their cotton in wagon trains to Brownsville to be shipped to Europe at
   this time. It sold for a dollar a pound in gold, was called " hard
   money ", and was more valuable than paper money. We shipped to
   Brownsville , on account of the blockade in Galveston on the second
   day of July 1861, and as you no doubt know, that all Texas ports was
   also blockaded soon after.
   
   "I married Captain William Price, a member of Greens regiment, Walters
   battalion. Mr Price was on the flat-boat that captured the Harriet
   Lane at Galveston / in 1863. After the war he rode home on horseback
   clad in a suit that he made by hand out of bed-ticking. In 1871 [?]
   settled in a log house on the [DEL: arah :DEL] Sarah [??], which was a
   gift to me from my father. 00188"The first train that I ever saw was
   the Houston and Texas Central passing thro' Gresbeck to Houston Texas.
   The railroad missed the town of Springfield and Fairfield by [DEL: [?]
   :DEL] a few miles and the [?] towns of Grosbeck and Mexia took their
   place. It was said because the land owners were too high and so the
   railroad took the land offered them and located the new towns. All
   that remains of the old towns is the negro families.
   
   "The year the railroad came was the same year that Congress passed the
   bill to approve the Constitution of Texas and [DEL: Tex :DEL] Texas
   Senators and Representatives took their seats in 1870. Then in 1871
   the Bureau of Immigration was created and the free public school
   system. The western branch of the Houston and Texas Central R.R.
   reached Austin, and the Waco Tap road was completed, the Houston and
   Great Northern commenced, and the Tex, Pacific opened to [?], and the
   International and Great [DEL: [?] :DEL] Northern built from Hearne to
   Jewitt. We felt that civilization [DEL: [?] :DEL] had finally come our
   way.
   
   "I lived on the land that was given me as a bridal gift until the
   death of my husband and my children were grown and have [home's of?]
   their own whom I now make my home with. They are Mrs C. O. Robertson,
   Kosse, Mrs Dave McKinney, Marlin; Will Price, Stranger; and Miss
   Margeret Price, Marlin Texas.

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