The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957 Page: 100

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Southwestern Historical Quarterly

My ife i rarrant Coatty ad Other
Parts of rexas
SALLIE HALTOM*
THE first seven years of my life were spent in Tarrant
County, on Village Creek where I was born, without
my consent December 31st 1861.
During that period I rode many times in ox drawn wagons.
I didn't like them. I suppose I was then like I am at this date,
I pushed aside my fears, and jumped into any vehicle which was
ready to go somewhere. So when the ox wagon started I was
ready to get in near the rear end so I could jump out in case the
oxen did not behave to suit me. Oxen were driven without reins
or lines the driver just talked to them. They were foot loose,
so to speak, and I was afraid they would run away (1)
My parents, William Eldridge Haltom and Sarah A. Hawkins
were married in Rusk County, Texas, 1849. In 1855 they moved
to Tarrant County. I, Sarah Z, was their fourth girl.
My father, with help of neighbors, built a two room log cabin.
Two large rooms neatly built with passage (hall) between.
Floors were puncheon-split logs with split side up. They were
hewn down with foot adz, then planed. The house was covered
with hand riven boards held in place with heavy poles-there
were no nails in that part of the country then. I can remember
it was a comfortable house. It had a chimney at each room.
There were very few cooking stoves. House wife cooked on
open fire-and how pots and kettles turned over spilling contents
and causing pussy cat to spit and scamper from her warm place
by the fire.
My mother wanted a stove. A neighbor five miles away had a
new stove she could not make function. The neighbor offered
*This account of frontier experiences in Texas was written in 1955 by Miss Sallie
Haltom, 741 Vine Street, Colorado City, Texas. It was addressed to and written at
the request of Mr. Sam R. Chamberlain, of Refugio, who has generously furnished
the account for publication. Some minor and inconsequential alterations have been
made in this presentation; the original copy may be checked in the Association's
office.

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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 60, July 1956 - April, 1957, periodical, 1957; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101163/m1/113/ocr/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

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