The Junior Historian, Volume 12, Number 6, May 1952 Page: 3
32 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE JUNIOR HISTORIAN
served its purpose.
When General Robert E. Lee sur-
rendered at Appomattox, Franklin Rob-
ertson said that Forrest was enraged
and openly called Lee a coward, but
after being reminded of his troops'
safety by his junior officers, Forrest
surrendered on May 9, 1865, at Gaines-
ville, Alabama. He surrendered the
last organized group of Confederate
soldiers east of the Mississippi River.
Franklin claimed that General Forrest
rode with him to a point as close as
possible to Franklin's home in Mt.
Pleasant, Tennessee, which is not far
from Columbia. As they parted, General
Forrest said, "My boy, never look back
on what has happened." This was char-
acteristic of Forrest. He never wanted
war, but when the conflict was inevita-
ble, he had enlisted in the volunteers
to defend his state of Tennessee.
Forrest's parting words deeply af-
fected Franklin. He continued his
journey home, usually traveling under
cover of night. During the hours of the
journey, he thought often, and some-
times with anguish in his heart, of Bed-
ford Forrest's words--"Never Look
Back." He vowed unto himself that he
must start life anew and that Old Bed-
ford's philosophy was the only founda-
tion on which he could build a success-
ful and happy future.
As Franklin approached the old plan-
tation home, his dog, which he had not
seen since the beginning of the war,
came out to meet him on the road, yelp-
ing and barking like dogs do when they
see an old friend and thus announcing
Franklin's arrival to his family. He
stayed with his parents until his mar-
riage to Okie in I875.
Franklin and Okie Robertson settled
down in Mt. Pleasant to rear their
children. Here they suffered the after-
math of the Reconstruction period. Al-
though food was plentiful, money was
not. Franklin would sell his crop in
town once each year and then pay the
annual grocery and doctor bills out of
this money. Sometimes the crop itselfbecame the payment for food and other
necessities. On other occasions, Frank-
lin would work on neighboring farms
for as little as fifty cents a day. On
Christmas, since money to buy toys was
not available, the children's stockings
would be filled with candy, nuts, and
rag dolls made by Okie.
In the evening, when Okie was out
of hearing distance, the older children
would hear stories of the Old South,
and of the war itself, as told to them
by Franklin. But the moment that Okie
entered the room, the discussion would
cease, for she believed that what had
happened was done and talk could do
nothing about it. Okie, too, believed in
Old Bedford's philosophy and thought
it better never to look back. In her later
years, however, Okie, also started re-
membering. For instance, when she read
Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone With
the Wind, she considered it almost as
highly as the Bible. Her daughters re-
late that she read it so closely that
she would accuse them of not reading
the book carefully enough if they could
not remember a section that she was
discussing.
In 1908 Franklin and Okie moved to
Galveston. Texas, where Robertson took
an active part in civic affairs. He helped
in the building of the Galvez Hotel and
the Broadway Baptist Church. He died
in 1914 and is buried in Lakeview
Cemetery in Galveston.
Shortly after Franklin's death, Okie
moved to Houston to live with one of
her daughters. The Robertsons had had
nine children. Today every member of
the existing family except one lives in
Houston; one daughter remains in
Galveston.
In Houston Okie lived a peaceful life,
watching her grandchildren grow up
and piecing patchwork quilts. She par-
ticipated in church activities and on her
eighty-ninth birthday was interviewed
by a reporter from a Houston news-
paper, in which an interesting article
telling of Okie's many experiences was
[continued on page 61
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Texas State Historical Association. The Junior Historian, Volume 12, Number 6, May 1952, periodical, May 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391342/m1/5/: accessed June 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.