The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 31
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Two Texas Patriots
ulous tales of riches to be made from cattle-raising or mining
in Mexico. It was bad form to ask anyone where he came
from, or why, because many had been run out of their home
states. The Civil War had liberated great numbers of soldiers
who would not live under the carpetbaggers in the South. Many
still refused to swear allegiance to the United States, and en-
tered the army of Maximilian.
In the backyard of our home were Negro quarters occupied
by those who had been slaves before the war. There was
Mammy, now an old woman, who had nursed my father's
mother, Father, and me. She was a privileged character and
freely expressed her opinion of all of us. Once, when Cousin
John Young, a distinguished divine from the East, was at our
house, after dinner Mammy was brought in to meet him.
"Mammy," said Cousin John, "what kind of a looking baby
was the General?" Whereupon Mammy replied, "Law, Marse
John, you ought to have seed him. He was so tiny we could
have put him in a quart cup and he was as hairy as a 'possum."
Mammy's daughter, Mandy, was the cook, and what a won-
derful cuisine she provided! One eye was gone and the other
very defective, but that didn't prevent her putting together
the most delicious things in her marvelous menus. She had a
brood of children, Henry, Della, Molly, and Lou. They were my
boon companions, and the envy of my young days on account
of their greater agility and facility for games. Mandy was a
sister of Lee, Father's orderly during the war.
When I was five, I was sent to a kindergarten conducted
by a Miss Larner, a delightful woman, who amused us with
games, handiwork, and drawing. I feel sure that my fondness
for mechanics and love of art had its inception in these early
days with Miss Larner. One of my proud possessions is a small
desk my grandfather gave me for having stood at the head of
the spelling class for a month, but my prowess as a speller
did not last.
Being of an adventurous type, Father never seriously stuck
to law, but soon was engaged in great schemes of irrigation
and land development. He had the profoundest admiration for
Texas as a state, and western Texas in particular he thought
a country of rich promise. The Nueces River Irrigation Company
and the Young Valley Ditch were his creations. Into his office
were brought minerals from distant localities, and I remem-31
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/39/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.