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The following information was submitted by:
Dale Baum
Professor of History
Department of History
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas 77843-4236
e-mail: d-baum@tamu.edu
o: (979) 845-7151 or 845-7184
h: (979) 695-1132
fax: (979) 862-4314
http://www.tamu.edu/baum/index.html
Hattie Cole
Hattie Cole , 83, 1203 E. Leuda St., Ft. Worth, Tex., was born a slave to Mr. Ed Hearne,
for whom the city of Hearne, Tex., was named. Mr. Hearne owned Hattie's mother with about
100 slaves and a large plantation in Robertson Co., Tex. Mr. Hearne traded one of his slaves
to Mr. Jack Johnson , adjacent plantation owner, for Hattie's father, and allowed Hattie's parents
to marry. Her family remained on the Hearne plantation several years after Emancipation.
Hattie married Jack Johnson on the Hearne plantation in 1870, and gave birth to two children
before his death in 1880. She married Lewis Cole in 1885. There were two children born to this
union. The Cole family moved to Ft. Worth in 1882. Hattie has made her home with her daughter
since Lewis ' death in 1906.
Her story:
My name now am Hattie Cole . 'Twas Hattie Johnson , an' befo' dat,
'twas Hearne . Hearne am my old Marster's name. Now, my age. Ise know
dat 'cause my fo'ks gits de statement f'om Marster Hearne w'en surrendah
comes. 'Tis marked on de statement dat Ise bo'n in 1854. My daughter
figure it fo' me, an' 'tis 83 yeahs old Ise am. Sho, she has to figure
it fo' me. Ise a non-knowledge nigger, 'cause Ise bo'n in slavetime an'
gits no edumacation. "Whar Ise bo'n am in Robertson County, Texas, neah
de Brazos River. Marster Ed Hearne am my marster. He owned both my
parents. My father am bo'n on Marster Jack Johnson's plantation dat am
next to weuns. "Marster Hearne, Johnson , an' tudder marsters have de
'greement 'bout de mai'iage business. 'Twas lak dis, if a cullud man on
Marster's place wants a women on tudder place, de Marsters make a trade
so de couple can be together. W'en my father wants to mai'y my mammy,
Marster Hearne traded tudder slave fo' my pappy, an' dat away, father am
brought to live wid mammy on de Hearne place. "De way de marsters do
'bout de mai'iage am awful good w'en 'pared wid what am on lots ob
plantations. 'Twas lak cattle, some ob dem am used. Deys fo'ced to live
wid de person de Marster says. "Do weuns have de weddin' in slave-time?
Man, yous know bettah dan dat. De cullud fo'ks jus' 'gree 'twix
demse'ves dat dey be man an' wife. Oh, deys have ceremony dat deys
'ranged. 'Twas steppin' over de broom together dat am put on de flooah,
wid thar hands clasped. "Ise guess yous wants to know 'bout de
plantation, 'twas a big place. De town ob Hearne am named aftah de
Marster. He owned all de land far back to de Brazos River. Yas Sar, far
as yous could see, am de Marster's place. Thar am over 200 cullud fo'ks
dat lived in de qua'tahs. 'Twas one fam'ly to de cabin, an' de cabins am
one room log huts wid no flooahin' in dem. Weuns could stand, or sat on
de ground. Weuns sleep in de bunks wid straw ticks. Weuns don't have any
chairs, 'twas benches weuns sat on. 'Twarnt any stove, jus' fireplace
whar de cookin' am done. "Each fam'ly does thar own cookin'. De rations
am given out ever' Sunday mo'nin' at 9 o;clock. No, dey don't measure de
rations, dey gives 'cordin' to de size ob de fam'ly, an' what de fam'ly
asks fo'. On Sunday mo'nin', all de cullud couples line up w'en de bell
rings. De couples goes together wid a bushel basket. First deys pass by
de smokehouse, an' git de beans, an' co'n meal, an' taters an' sich. Den
dey goes to tudder shed whar de 'lasses, brown sugar, an' honey am
stored. De milk an' buttah am given each day. 'Twas an' old man, Jerry
am his name, dat come ever' night wid de milk an' buttah, same wid de
eggs w'en thar am any. "Yas Sar, Marster 'lows weuns all weuns wants. If
weuns runs short, weuns calls fo' mo' ob dis, or dat ration. Thar am no
reason fo' fussin' 'bout de rations. Far as de rations am, 'twas bettah
dan sich as Ise gits now, or since surrendah. Ise sho wish Ise have so
good rations now.
De wo'k am all 'ranged 'cordin' to rule. Ise use to lak to watch dem in
de mo'nin' w'en deys gits ready fo' wo'k. Ise gwine tell yous 'bout it.
De bell rings, den yous see de cullud fo'ks pilin' out ob de cabins, an'
gwine to de field, de shops, an' tudder places whar deys wo'k. De
overseer an' de Marster am talkin' to dis one an' dat one, givin' de
ordahs. Some goes to de shoeshop, some to de carpentershop, some to de
weavin' room, an' so on. Den thar am big herd ob cows, an' de milkers
goes to de milkin'. Yous heah dis one an' dat one shoutin' to somebody
'bout dis an' dat, an' ever 'thing am in a hustle. Heah an' thar, yous
heah some ob dem singin'. It makes me lonesome w'en Ise think 'bout it.
"Most ob de cullud fo'ks am happy 'cause deys am fed good, an' de
Marster am reasonable 'bout de wo'k. He ask de cullud fo'ks to wo'k
steady, but don't over rush. If someone feels bad, all deys have to do
am tell de Marster, or de overseer, an' dey goes to de cabin an' lays
down. W'en someone suffer too much wid some misery, de Marster calls de
doctah. If it am small misery, de Marster 'tend to it himse'f. He use
herb medicine. If Ise gits sich care now, Ise be glad. Now, m'ybe Ise
gits medicine, an' m'ybe no. "Whuppin's am not so often, an' w'en 'tis
given, dey don't tie de cullud fo'ks down to a post, or put dem over de
barrel. Dey jus' puts dey face down on de ground, den dey am lashed wid
a rawhide. De Marster don't 'lows fo' to draw blood. Co'se thar am wales
on thar body. De whuppin's am given mos'ly 'cause young fo'ks goes off
de place an' gits catched at it. "De Marster am pa'ticular 'bout de
young fo'ks gwine off de place. He don't ever 'lows de cullud fo'ks to
go to parties on tudder place. Weuns not even 'lowed to go off de place
to chu'ch. De Marster have de chu'chhouse on de place, an' thar weuns
worship on Sunday. Weuns have one ob de cullud fo'ks lead in service.
Weuns pray an' sing. "'Cause de Marster am so tight 'bout lettin' de
cullud fo'ks go off to 'joy dem se'ves once on awhile, de young fo'ks
breaks de rule. De way dey gits catched am 'cause dey stays overtime. If
dey gits back befo' daylight, dey can sneak in, but aftah daylight,
someone can see dem. "No Sar, No Sar! Thar am no parties on Marster's
plantation. Him says 'taint fo' parties he have de plantation, but 'tis
fo' wo'k."De only time weuns have any fun am on Christmas Day. Ise don't
know what parties an' dancin' am 'till aftah surrendah. Weuns have a big
feed on Christmas Day dat am de celeb'ation. Weuns have cake, pie,
sauce, an' sich an' chicken. Dat am de only time weuns have cake an'
pie. "W'en surrendah comes, den life changed some. Weuns den stahted to
have parties an' sich. No sar, 'twarnt any time dat de Marster called
allus together an' told weuns dat weuns am free. De Bluecoats come an'
does it. One ob de sojers reads a papah to weuns. Gosh, Ise don't know
what it am in de papah, but w'en de sojer am through readin', him says,
"Yous am free, an' citizens ob de United States. Dat means yous can go
whar yous lak." But de sojers am mistaken, 'cause 'twarnt so. Weuns am
not 'lowed to do as weuns please. Weuns am in'fered wid by de Ku Klux
Klan, white caps weuns calls dem. Dat am o'gnation dat come aftah de
wah. "My fo'ks stays on de Marster's plantation after weuns am freed,
an' wo'ks de land on shares. Dey gits ha'f what am raised. Thar whar
lots ob tudders dat do de same, an' 'twas de same on de tudder
plantations. So de cullud fo'ks stahts to have de parties an' dances.
Well, it goes alright fo' a while, den de Klux shows up, an' de fust
thing weuns know, de Klux am gwine fust to one place an' de tudder, an'
whups de cullud fo'ks. Yas Sar, dey rides right up to de house, breaks
right in de dooah, pulls Marster nigger outside, an' den whups him wid
de rawhide whup
W'en weuns have a dance, or party, deys liable to come any moment, an'
give yous hell. At fust, most ob de niggers resent de in'derence. Yas
Sar, dey sho am 'dignant 'bout it, so deys try to put up a fight. Well,
w'en dey does dat, it makes it worster. "A party ob cullud men 'cides to
throw red pepper in de Klux face w'en dey bust in de dooah. So, deys
have de party, an' de Klux comes. W'en dey bust in de dooah, de cullud
mens lets dem have it. Co'se, de Klux have hoods on, an' dat saves dem
f'om much ob de red pepper. 'Twarnt 'nough ob dem dat am 'fected to save
de cullud mens. Two ob dem gits a good whuppin'. De rest ob weuns am
saved 'cause weuns runs off to de woods. De place whar deys come belong
to Bud Brown , an' de next week his cabin am set on fire, an' de cabin
dat belongs to a tudder cullud man am burned. "De parties stops 'round
dere after dat, an' allus am 'fraid to go out after dark, an' de men
fo'ks sleep away f'om dat house. Dat condition keeps fo' long time, but
after while, it dies down, an' de cullud fo'ks goes on havin' parties
an' dances 'gain. "Ise stayed wid my fo'ks 'til Ise mai'ied, an' den
stayed on de plantation. My husband rented land f'om de Marster Hearne,
an' farmed on shares. My two chilluns am bo'n on de place. My fo'ks
wo'ked land, an' my mammy wo'ked fo' de Marster as de cook an' de nurse
fo' de Marster's chilluns. De chilluns always call my mammy, "Black
Mammy". Dey sho think de world ob her. Deys go to her fo' ever'thing,
an' wid all dere troubles. She raised all fouah ob de chilluns. "My
husband moved weuns to a tudder place neah by w'en weuns left de
Marster's place, an' farmed. He died in 1880. After five yeahs, Ise
mai'ied de second time, an' stayed right on de farm 'til 1892, den weuns
moved to Fort Worth. He wo'ked heah at common labor 'til he died in
1906. "After my husband dies, Ise wo'ked fo' white fo'ks, doin'
housewo'k 'til 10 yeahs ago. Ise den, Ise lived wid my daughter. De last
few months, Ise been gittin' a pension f'om de State. Dey pays me $15.00
a month. Ise gits by on dat. "Votin', does Ise ever do dat? Oh, yous
knows bettah den ask dis old nigger sich. Why, Ise never bother dis old
head wid sich, dat am fo' de men. Now, Ise never bother dis old head wid
sich. Dat am fo' de men. Now, 'tis dis away wid me. Ise no edumacation,
can't read or write. If Ise goes to vote, dey hands me a ticket dat Ise
s'posed to mark fo' de one Ise wants to vote fo'. How Ise gwine to does
it? Ise can't dat's all thar am to it. Well, fo'ks says, yous can git
some tudder person to mark de ticket fo' yous. Sho, Ise can git some
tudder person to mark de ticket fo' me, but w'en Ise do dat, does Ise
vote? No Sar, Ise don't vote. 'Tis de tudder person dat does. How Ise
know tudder person vote de ballot lak Ise wants? Ise can't read, so 'tis
Ise pays it no mind. "My fust husband goes to vote once, but dat am all.
Jus' once. Some cullud fo'ks coax him to vote, an' 'twas at Hearne
Texas, he goes. He gits hit over de head wid a blackjack, an' dat am all
he wants wid sich truck. After some fellows wants him to vote 'gain. Dey
says 'tis de duty ob a good citizen to vote. Jack tells dem if dat am de
case, he am one nigger dat don't have good 'nough head to be a good
citizen. "Ise lived dis long widout votin', an' Ise guess Ise can make
it de rest ob de way, an' 'taint a long way, now
Zelma Watson George
(1903-94), African American opera singer, musicologist, sociologist,
diplomat, and lecturer, born on Dec. 8, 1903, in Hearne, Tex. Throughout
her life and diverse careers she maintained an interest in studying and
fostering intercultural relations.
Andrew "Rube" Foster, also known as "Father of the Negro Leagues" born
in Calvert, Texas in 1879
ANDREW "RUBE" FOSTER Andrew Foster was one of the most prominent
individuals in the history of black baseball. Born in 1879 in Calvert
Texas, Foster pitched for the Chicago's Union Giants in 1902. In 1903 he
pitched for the Cuban X Giants. He pitched for several other teams
throughout his career and was considered one of the best of his era. He
acquired the nickname of "Rube" by out pitching Rube Waddell who was
known as one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Following his spectacular playing career, Foster became a
manager, at which he greatly excelled; utilizing the bunt, stealing, and
the hit-and-run. In 1920, he created the National Association of
Professional Baseball Clubs, also known as the Negro League which was
comprised of teams from Chicago (Giants and American Giants), Detroit
(Stars), St. Louis (Giants), Dayton (Marcos), Indianapolis (ABCs) and
the Cuban Giants. There was one exception however, the Kansas City
Monarchs - founded in 1920 and controlled by white businessman J.L.
Wilkinson. The league was disbanded in 1931 after the death of Rube
Foster.
Lee Haywood Simpson
(1884-1967). Lee Haywood (L. H.) Simpson, black
minister and political leader, was born in Calvert, Texas, in 1884,
moved to Houston in the early 1900s, and worked for a short time in a
sawmill before entering the ministry. He married a woman named Julie. As
pastor of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Simpson oversaw the rapid
growth of the congregation from six members to 3,000. In 1939, he became
president of the Houston Colored Baptist Ministers Association, a
position he held for almost thirty years. His organization represented
approximately 80 percent of Houston's African-American population. He
was elected president of the Houston branch of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People in 1944 and served until the
mid-1950s. During this period the NAACP became the target of increased
hostility because of its active desegregation policies. Internally the
Houston branch split on how best to pursue the aims of the national
office. With the goal of reestablishing African Americans as viable
candidates for public office, in October 1946 Simpson announced his
candidacy for the Houston City Council, thus becoming the first black
candidate for public office in Houston since Reconstruction. Supported
by the NAACP and endorsed by Thurgood Marshall and Roy Wilkins, Simpson
gained widespread black support. Running as an independent for a
"council at large seat," he sought to represent whites as well as
blacks. Even though he received support from numerous ministers, civic
groups, and labor organizations, a split developed when the black-owned
Houston Informer refused to endorse his candidacy. Arguing that an NAACP
candidate "did not uphold the best interest of the black community," the
newspaper urged blacks to withhold their support. Simpson also faced
challenges from white candidates, some of whom refused to appear in
public with a "Negro politician." He responded, "If they are worried
about eating luncheons with me, I can eat at home. If they are worried
about riding in an auto I can ride in a private car." Simpson lost the
election, but his nonpartisan campaign received widespread attention and
respect. Later, as a friend and supporter of Mayor Roy Hofheinz, he
was appointed to the Houston Housing Commission. Simpson died under
suspicious circumstances of carbon-monoxide poisoning on November 8,
1967, in Houston.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alwyn Barr, Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas,
1528-1971 (Austin: Jenkins, 1973). Michael L. Gillette, The NAACP in
Texas, 1937-1957 (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin,
1984). Houston Post, November 10, 1967, June 16, 1985. Julie Simpson,
The Clever Leader: Dr. L. H. Simpson, D.D. (Houston, 1963).
Douglas Hales
Hubbard Pryor And The National Archives
The name of the man at the right is Hubbard Pryor (Record Group
94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Letters Received,
CTD, 1864-M-750). In March 1864 he enlisted in the Union army at
Chattanooga, Tennessee as a private. The two photographs, taken
by a photographer accompanying Union troops, show Pryor in his
clothes just before enlistment and in his military uniform immediately
afterward. The two 3 1/2 inch by 2 1/4 inch sepia-colored
photographs are in a file of documents sent by a Colonel in the Union Infantry to
his superiors in the Department of War in Washington. The colonel was
reporting on the recruitment of blacks into the Union army. The
photographs were discovered by a researcher working for a
National Historical Publications and Records Commission-supported
project at the University of Maryland which is producing the acclaimed
editorial work, Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation
Who was this man in the photographs, captured for posterity at
a defining moment in his life? At the National Archives, research
trails are plentiful. In the search for Hubbard Pryor, check the
records of the Adjutant General letters and affidavits, reports
from the field, and compiled military service records; search
pension applications for depositions and other materials which
might have been submitted in behalf of his descendants; and
investigate other records in files of the Department of War. The
materials there will answer some questions, will raise new
questions, and will lead to other research paths.
After leaving Chattanooga with Union troops in March 1864,
Pryor was captured by Confederate soldiers during a skirmish at
Dalton, Georgia on October 13, 1864. As a prisoner he was taken through
Alabama, Mississippi, and further west. At the end of the war,
in May 1865, he was set free near Griffin, Georgia. With no personal
possessions he attempted to walk back home. Fearful of reprisal
from ex-Confederate soldiers, he traveled at night, eventually
reaching a U.S. military post near Rome, Georgia. A soldier
reported that Pryor walked into camp in "a sick, broken down,
naked, and starved condition."
Pryor survived the war. In September 1880 he married a former
slave named Ann Deaves of Polk Country, Georgia. A church elder
named McGee performed the services. Hubbard and Ann Pryor settled
down as farmers and raised four children, three boys and a girl.
The family later left Georgia for Texas. Pryor died on August 16,
1890 in Calvert, Texas.
This is historical discovery at its most basic. In record files
throughout the National Archives and its regional satellites are
stories of the lives of men and women in myriad historical
settings and conditions. In the National Archives, historians,
genealogists, and other researchers are continually uncovering
new information which draws us closer to the past, which gives us a
fuller understanding of our life and culture. In the records of
the Archives in claims papers and petitions, in applications for
office and reports, in diplomatic dispatches and census records, in
court case files is the evidence of individual struggle and hope,
evidence from first-hand historical testimony, evidence rooted in
the words of time and place. In the records are histories never
before explored. In the records are individuals such as Hubbard
Pryor.
Roger A. Bruns
Hearne Academy
Hearne Academy, at Hearne, Texas, is one of the best
institutions of the kind in the State. The colored people contribute
$2,405 toward the support of this school yearly, and while the enrolment
of students only numbers 76 for 1896, the influence of the school is
felt throughout the entire State. Rev. J. F. Anderson is principal. Five
colored teachers are employed. Rev. Anderson will push the work at
Hearne in a faithful and vigorous manner which will bring to the
institution both friends and success.
Evidences of Progress Among Colored People: Electronic Edition.
Richings, G. F.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anger at racist practices in the South also broke out here and there
among black students. In 1946, the youth council of the NAACP in
Lumberton, North Carolina, called a strike of students to protest
against the inferior facilities in their schools. Black students in
Hearne, Texas, staged a similar strike a year later. When these groups
demanded quick action from the Legal Defense Fund, Thurgood Marshall
grew testy, complaining about people who "want the lawyers to prepare
the case, file it, have it decided and have everything straightened out
in fifteen minutes." But he lent assistance nonetheless. The
controversies abated when Lumberton and Hearne officials, feeling the
pressure, improved their black schools.
EXCERPT
Brown v. Board of Education
A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy
By JAMES T. PATTERSON
Oxford University Press
Printed in the Taylor Daily Press - 17 Feb 2000
"Query about Robertson Co., TX Murder Mystery"
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1873, James Jefferson Claud Johnson and Benjamin
Franklin Johnson were murdered while standing on the front porch of
their home in Robertson Co., TX. The men had just sat down to dinner
with their families when some men on horseback (more commonly known as
"Night Riders") road-up and called out to the house. When the brothers
stepped out on the porch, they were shot and killed. James and Ben were
buried in a double grave in Robertson Co., TX. The grave has been lost.
James and Ben were living between Hearne and Calvert, Roberson Co., TX
while working on building a railroad.
James and Benjamin were the sons of William Johnson who was born about
1800 in Georgia and died on Apr. 23, 1860 at Lynchburg, Harris Co., TX.
William's burial place is unknown, however, it is believed it was on his
plantation located at the mouth of the San Jacinto River. It is thought
that Nancy was William's second wife and they married after 1841,
probably in Georgia. Nancy (unknown maiden name) was born about 1807 in
Georgia and died Nov. 17, 1869 in Savannah, Chatham Co., GA. She is
buried in the Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, Chatham Co., GA.
William's first wife and the mother of the two brothers is unknown.
James was born about 1837 in Georgia. On June 7, 1860 he married
Elizabeth Ann Clark at Lynchburg, Harris Co., TX. Elizabeth was born on
May 23, 1843 in Shelby Co., KY and was the daughter of John A. Clark and
Julianna H./Julia Ann H. Whitledge Clark. James was a member of Capt.
Crossons Co. F., Hardimans Regiment, Texas Cavalry, Confederate States
Army and received a medical discharge in 1863. According to Elizabeth
Johnson's Application of Indigent Widow of a Confederate Soldier dated
Aug. 14, 1899, James "was wounded in 1863 after which he was never able
for duty."
James and Elizabeth were the parents of: James Jefferson Johnson
(1861-1933), Benjamin Franklin Johnson (1864-1929), Julia Nancy Johnson
Aden (1866-1940), Herschell Vespasian Johnson (1866-1899), William
Johnson (1872-d/unknown), and Henrietta Susan Johnson Knight
(1874-1899).
Benjamin was born about 1839 in Georgia. He first married Fannie Darby
on March 6, 1860 in Polk Co., TX and they were divorced by 1865. On May
17, 1865, he married Harriett Susan Clark at Polk Co., TX. Elizabeth was
born Sept. 2, 1845 at Frankford, KY and was the sister of Elizabeth Ann
Clark Johnson. Benjamin served in the Confederate States Army and his
wife applied for a Confederate Widows Pension but it was denied because
she had remarried J. S. Willis on April 6, 1876 in San Jacinto Co., TX.
Ben and Harriett were the parents of: Maude Laurena Johnson Dunn (b/d
unknown), Betty Gruted Johnson Young (1869-d/unknown), Benjamin Franklin
Johnson, Jr., (b/d unknown), and Thomas Addison Johnson (1874-1961).
Betty Knight Shuffield (James' great-granddaughter) is looking for
information to help solve this murder mystery, including the names of
the men who participated in the raid, any newspaper stories,
investigation reports, old diaries which refer to the raid, and the
double grave of the brothers. You can contact her at: 7317 Roswell,
Houston, TX 77022, e-mail: gene@argohouston.com or telephone:
713/692-4148.
Edward Bennett
lynched Hearne, Texas May 12 1890
TEXAS - African Americans 1868 - 1955
Names of the Dead