Freestone County, Texas Biographies Lemon 'Blind' Jefferson Blues Musician African American performer Birth: Sept 24, 1893 in Couchman, Freestone County, Texas Death: Dec 1929 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois His parents were cotton farmer Alec and his wife Classie Jefferson. The family appears in the 1900 census with Lemon listed as "Lemmon B. Jefferson". One of six children. It was assumed he was blind from childhood, possibly even from birth. However, some historians refer to the older musicians who knew Lemon in the 1920s mention that he was not totally blind. In later life, Lemon wore large wire glasses, not dark glasses. Lemon began singing religious songs in local churches. His parents were members of Shiloh Primitive Baptist church. Lemon was once hired to sing at a picnic sponsored by the General Association of Baptist Churches in Buffalo, Texas. As a young man, Jefferson took up the guitar and became a street musician, playing in Wortham and nearby East Texas towns like Groesbeck (mentioned in his Penitentiary Blues) Buffalo and Marlin, the birthplace of Blind Willie Johnson, who Lemon may well have encountered in his travels. Many of these were stops on the local H & TC Railroad that ran through Wortham. After performing at house parties, pinics and dances around Wortham in central Texas, Jefferson moved to the Deep Ellum section of Dallas in 1917, where he played on street corners for spare change. Jefferson's reputation as singer-guitarist grew to the point where he attracted regular patrons and he earned enough money through tin- cup offerings to support a wife and child. Between 1925 and 1929, Lemon made at least 100 recording including alternate versions of some songs. Had 43 records issued, all but one on the Paramount Label. (At the time, Paramount was a subsidiary of a chair company that produced many records of country blues artists from across the country.) The records were done on 78s and not recorded very well. He was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s. Unlike many artists who were "discovered" and recorded in their normal venues, in December 1925 or January 1926, he was taken to Chicago, Illinois, to record his first tracks. He recorded about 100 tracks between 1926 and 1929; 43 records were issued, all but one for Paramount Records. Jefferson was reputedly unhappy with his royalties (although Williams said that Jefferson had a bank account containing as much as $1500). Blind Lemon Jefferson died just as the first great blue era was coming to close. Jefferson died penniless in Chicago in December 1929. The fact that no official death certificate has ever been found has given rise to numerous accounts of his passing in December 1929. Paramount Records paid for the return of his body to Texas by train, accompanied by pianist Will Ezell. Jefferson was buried at Wortham Negro Cemetery (now Wortham Black Cemetery), Freestone County, Texas. Far from his grave being kept clean, it was unmarked until 1967, when a Texas Historical Marker was erected in the general area of his plot, the precise location being unknown. By 1996 the cemetery and marker were in poor condition, but a new granite headstone was erected in 1997. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLD WAR I DRAFT REGISTRATION: (Thanks to Wanda Smith for her help!) Draft Board 2, Roll #1952850 Registration Card #2963, No. 270, June 5, 1917 1. Name: Lemon Jefferson. Age: 22 2. Address: 1803 Preston [?Rd.], Dallas, Texas 3. Date of birth: October 26, 1894 4. Natural born citizen 5. Where born: Wortham, Texas, USA 6. Citizen 7. Present trade or occupation: No 8. By whom employed: Nobody Where employed: Nowhere 9. Have you a [dependent] father, mother, wife, child, or other dependents? No. 10. Marital status: Single. Race: Negro. 11. What military service? No 12. Do you claim exemption from the draft? Blind /signed with an "X"/ Lemon "X" Jefferson [p.2] Registrar's Report 1. Tall, Medium, or short? Medium. Slender, Medium or Stout? Medium. 2. Color of eyes? [only checked]; color of hair? Black. Bald? No. 3. Has person lost arm, leg, foot, eye, etc.? Blind both eyes. Born blind. /s/ Edward F. Seaman[?] Precinct 11 City: Dallas June 5, 1917 State: TX #2843-4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CENSUS INFORMATION: (Thanks to Wanda Smith for her help!) 1900 Freestone Co., TX census: His parents were cotton farmer Alec and his wife Classie Jefferson. The family appears in the 1900 census with Lemon listed as "Lemmon B. Jefferson". One of six children. In 1910 he is listed in the Navarro County census, Precinct 6: #333 Jefferson, Aleck, 40 M Black, farmer, md 20 years, b. in TX, both parents born in Alabama , Clarisa, 42 F Black, laundress, md 20 years , Lemmon, 16 M Black, son, no occupation, blind , Martha, 14 F Black, daughter , Mary, 9 F Black, daughter , Sibe, 8 F Black, daughter Queston, Francis, 25 Black, daughter , Annie, 10/12 Black, granddaughter In the 1920 census, Freestone Conty, Precinct 5, taken Jan 9 and 10, 1920 (Streetman and Wortham Road): #41 Banks, Kit C., 29 Mulatto, b. in TX, parents b. in Ga. , Lula B., 19, Black, wife, born in TX, ditto both parents , Smith, Mary, 28, Black, Boarder, b. in Ky, washer woman for general public Jefferson, Lemon, 25, Black, half-brother (to Kit Banks), single, he and both parents born in TX, musician [They were counted next door to the (white) Fred Miller family.] Blind Lemon's parents are in a separate household in Freestone County, Precinct 5, 19-20 January, 1920, on the Wortham and Kirvin Road: #130 Jefferson, Alex, 51 M Black, married head of household, rents, cannot read or write, born in Texas; father b. in Ala., mother b. in LA. Jefferson, Classie, 54 F Black, wife, cannot read or write, born Texas, father b. in US, mother b. LA. Jefferson, Mary, 20 F Black, daughter, born in TX, both parents born in TX Jefferson, Sefe, 17 F Black, daughter, born in TX, both parents born in TX Jefferson, Gussie M., 15 F Black, daughter, born in TX, both parents born in TX After Blind Lemon's death (this might be his father): In the 1930 Census, Dallas City, Dallas County [Block No.: "Annexation, Negro Section"], April 21, 1930. Mrs Fred B. Loe, Enumerator: On Beal Street: #808 Jefferson, Alex, head, 60, owns home valued at $1500; married at 22, born in Texas; both parents born in Ala. Yard man for private family. He's listed as married [not widower], but he's the only person in the household. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dallas Morning News newspaper - Friday, February 3, 2006 edition by John Pronk, columnist for the Travel section and produces the "Texas Tales" segment for WFAA-TV. " Lemon's legacy lives on in hometown of Wortham "Lord it's one kind favor I'll ask of you/See that my grave is kept clean." Blind Lemon Jefferson WORTHAM – The words of the legendary Texas bluesman intrigue me, mystify me, haunt me. Why would he pen such a phrase? This is a man who surely knew all about mortality, and wondered about his immortality. I was driving south of Corsicana heading somewhere else, not to Wortham, Texas. After all it's just a small farming town. A red light or two, and that's about it. A sign on the outskirts caught my eye: "Wortham Blues Festival – September." The words came back to me. Wortham's the hometown of Blind Lemon Jefferson. The man whose "rolling" picking style made even accompaniment nearly impossible. As an old five-string bluegrass banjo picker, I always marveled at Jefferson's technique. So much discipline. So tough to do cleanly. "Lemon," it is believed, was a nickname but he was never known by his first name, believed to be Clarence. He was born blind and said his song-writing ability came from God. Lemon came to Dallas in the 1920s with just his guitar and a ton of talent. He played on street corners with a cup hanging from his neck for tips. In time, he made nearly 80 records with sales of 100,000 each. He influenced many jazz and blues greats, including Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. He befriended Sam "Lightnin' " Hopkins and Huddie Ledbetter ("Leadbelly"). Now, I was in Blind Lemon Jefferson's hometown. The Blues Festival had come and gone, but I wanted to find Blind Lemon's grave. Is it as he asked it would be? Kept clean? I drove to a cemetery south of town, walked through the old and faded headstones. Not here. I drove to the bigger, better-kept cemetery on the north side. Many graves, but no B.L. Jefferson. Then I glanced across a brushy fence line. Another cemetery was nearby. I walked over. A small can hung from the gate with a coin slot for donations. This, I learned later, was the old Negro cemetery. And there, in the back, a gravestone read "Lemon Jefferson September 1893-December 1929." It was inscribed with that famous plea: "Lord it's one kind favor I'll ask of you / See that my grave is kept clean." I looked upon the large granite stone. It was clean. Coins had been left atop it; a harmonica, too. I snapped a photo, thought about the man and his music for a moment, then got back into my car. Later, I called Wortham and was introduced to Brent Jones. He's a local banker who along with other blues fans helped organize the Wortham Blues festival in 1997. He told me that since 1967, Blind Lemon's gravesite had been marked by a Texas Historical Commission plaque. But there had been no gravestone, and the cemetery had become overgrown with weeds. In 1997, the organization Blues Legends raised money to buy and install a headstone. It was dedicated the first year of the Blues Festival here. Now, the Wortham Black Cemetery Association sees that the graveyard is kept clean. Blind Lemon's reputation has come full circle. Not only is this blues festival an annual event in Wortham every September, but the musical Blind Lemon Blues has garnered critical acclaim and renewed interest in his songs. Brent says the town now is proud to point out his marker and talk about his legacy. Jefferson descendants live in the area. But it's also Lemon's music that lives on, and that song. The day I visited the cemetery, I considered, as I walked away from his grave, that the inscription simply reads "Lemon Jefferson." "Blind" was not chiseled onto the stone. And then an inner voice said: "Son, now Mr. Jefferson can see perfectly." BLIND LEMON'S GRAVE Blind Lemon Jefferson's grave is in Wortham Black Cemetery, about a quarter-mile north of town on the west side of State Highway 14. The Wortham Blues Festival is held the second Saturday of September. Wortham is 30 minutes south of Corsicana, west of Interstate 45. " =========================================================== Sammy Price talent scout takes him from Dallas to Chicago in 1925. His songs: 1925 - recorded at Chicago: 1. I Want to be Like Jesus In My Heart (December) 1926 - recorded at Chicago: 1. Long Lonesome Blues (March) 2. Dry Southern Blues (March) 3. Booster Blues (March) 4. Black Horse Blues (April) 5. Jack O' Diamond Blues (May) 6. Corinna Blues (May) 7. Got the Blues (May) 8. Beggin Back (August) 9. Wartime Blues (November) 10.Rabbit Foot Blues (December) 1927 - recorded at Chicago: 1. Match Box Blues (April) 2. Easy Rider Blues (April) 3. Hot Dogs (June) 4. He Arose From the Dead (June) 5. Rambler Blues (September) 6. One Dime Blues (October) 7. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean (October) 1928 - recorded at Chicago: 1. Prison Cell Blues (February) 2. 'Lectric Chair Blues (February) 3. How Long How Long (July) 1929 - recorded at Richmond Indiana: 1. Bed Spring Blues (September) 2. That Crawlin' Baby Blues (September)