Autobiography of Julia Ann Barr Hamilton

“Good morning. When I was about eight years old, a man by the name of John Houchin came from Texas to visit his people. One of his sisters had married one of Father’s brothers, Uncle James Barr. So, they went after him to go see Mother. So, he did, and they got married in September ... I think it was. Grandfather Knowles had moved to Texas and brother Elijah and John wanted to come to Texas. Mother thought by marrying she would be better off as she would have a home to come to, so she did.

Now Mother couldn’t sell our home there in Illinois on account of the children, so they rented it and sold all the stock but a mule and a mare, Bell, and the wagon. After the sale, we left our dear home. They packed three bedsteads in a long box, two tables, a little round stand table, and the fallen leaf table, and six new chairs are all the furniture we kept.

They took it to the train at Waynesville and shipped it to Houston. We all got on the wagon and traveled to Saint Louis where we crossed the big Mississippi River and I think it took us three weeks to get to New Orleans. The boat used wood to make steam. The boat stopped a few times on the road to get wood. One time the boys went on land and got some cotton blossoms, the first we ever seen. Finally, we arrived at New Orleans. Father Houchens taken us up in the city. We saw a lot of monuments. One was Andrew Jackson. He was on a horse. Looked grand with his cap in his hand and sword by his side. One evening we got on a ship, went out to the mouth of the Mississippi River, anchored until the next morning. When we first saw the city, we just saw the spires of churches, then other tall things until finally we came to the landing. Got off the ship, taken a boat to go to Houston. It was so crowded until we had to set up at night. We small children laid our heads in Mother’s and sister Margaret’s laps and slept.

The moon was shining brightly. We could see fish flying, or jumping, and sailing, then light in the water. Well, we got to the channel near Houston and the water was so shallow the boat couldn’t hardly go, and as it was a mail boat, they had to put a skiff out, put mail in it, and send it on to Houston, as the mail had to get there on time.

Well, we arrived there sometime in the morning. The wagons hadn’t got there to take us home. Father H. had wrote for his wagons to meet us in Houston. They rented a house for a few days, and I think we stayed there three days before the wagons got there. When they came, everything was loaded in, and we started. The wagons had several yokes of oxen on each wagon. I guess they hauled some freight as there were two wagons, and I am sure one would have hauled all we had. I remember the first night we camped out. There were large trees, and the moss was hanging to the ground. We played hide and seek under them. I don’t remem¬ber how long it took us to get there, but three or four weeks, I think. I think we must have left our home the last of September as it was just after my eighth birthday, and sister Elizabeth’s twelfth birthday was a few days after we arrived at our new home. I well remember the night we got there. Father had a daughter living about a quarter mile off. They blew the horn for her to come. As I remember, Father’s two sons, William and Wash, also his daughter that was a widow, was there, then a Negro woman, Jane. The Negro men had drove the wag¬ons to Houston. I saw many new things as the Negro woman done the cooking.

Well, let’s go to the smokehouse a while. There were many curious things to see. A great trough in the back part was full of soap. Great big gourds that hold a half-bushel full of lard. And a great big gourd they called the Spanish Gourd. It had a big part at each end and was small in the middle. It was cleaned out and was used to carry water to the field.

Then great, long-handled gourds, one at each water bucket and one at the spring, as I don’t remember seeing many wells in that country. That was Austin County near the line of Washington, Brenham was 18 miles. Well, another strange thing I found in the smokehouse was glasses made out of horns of cows. A cow’s horn was sawed off at each end, a wooden bottom was set in one end, and they had been used for milk but were now laid away.

This was the year 1856, we came to Texas. We were used to fruit, but there were none there, but the boys would bring in big buckets of pomegranates of vines, not trees. We would eat them like they were good. Then there were black and red haws and persimmons. They didn’t many go to waste around there.

We only had biscuits on Sunday mornings as flour was $14 a barrel. But those biscuits were the best we ever ate, or at least it seemed so to us, because we had always been having all we wanted to eat.

The Negro woman would make the biscuits up in a big wooden tray and cook them in a big skillet which held about two dozen biscuits, and it taken several skillets full to satisfy that crowd. We always had lots of good beef as father had lots of cattle, plenty of milk, and good butter.”

(To be continued)