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Bastrop County, TX |
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Julia Grimes Jones Ocklbary, 82, was born a slave on March 2, 1855, at
Bastrop, and belonged to Henry Grimes of Bastrop County.
Grimes was a brother of Deputy Sheriff, A. W. Grimes, who was
killed by the bandit, Sam Bass, at Round Rock.
Julia's mother was Melissa Grimes, her
father Arthur Grimes, who was a full-blooded Choctaw Indian, and died at the age of 125. He was captured by
the white people and was reared from childhood to manhood
by them, and made an overseer on the Henry Grimes' cotton plantation. Grimes' daughter, Abigail, married
Nat Morris, who was at one time sheriff of Bastrop County.
Julia lived with the Morris' and says "dey jes' spoiled me." When her mother married the
second time Julia was given to Liza Ann Hornsby, who was a member of the Hornsbys
of Hornsby's Bend, Travis County. Melissa married Ap
Moore, who was a slave on another plantation. When, in
1869, Julia married Henry Jones, Liza gave her a gift of $140. Julia was the mother of nine
children, of whom only two still are living. Five children were born
during her first marriage, and four during her second. Her first husband died in
1901, and in 1903 she was married to William Ocklbary, who finally drifted away from her
and never was seen again. Julia has done everything from field work to cooking, and says
"de white folks always treated me right." Julia owns a large
farm near Bastrop, but can't live on the place because the house burned down. She now lives alone in a shanty at
Manor, Travis County, and receives a monthly pension of ten dollars from the State. "My name is
Julia Ocklbary, and I was born on March 2, 1855, at
Bastrop, down in Bastrop County.
Henry Grimes was my mawster's name. Mawster Grimes had a daughter by de name ob
Abigail, and she married Nat Morris. He was de High sheriff ob Bastrop County, and I went to live wid 'em. Mistress Abigail sure
was good to me and she was de one dat spoiled
me. I was a hard-headed child anyhow. I was de only child dat
my ma had. "Ma's name was
Melissa Grimes. She was married twice, the second time to Ap
Moore. I called my step-fathaw Pappy; but I called my own fathaw
Pa, and his name was Arthur Grimes. Pappy Moore
was good to me though. He never hit me. One reason was dat
de white folks made him treat me good. "Pa was a
full-blooded Choctaw Injun. Mistress Abbie's grandfathaw
captured him f'om de Injun nation, when
he was jes' a little boy. He couldn't talk plain,
and de white folks had to learn him how to talk dere
way. Pa always knowed dat
he was a Injun. Mawster
Henry Grimes made him a overseer over de niggers on his laghe cotton plantation. Pa was de head boss, but he had
a cabin among de niggers in dere
quarters, near de big house. De niggers treated him lak
a boss and dey loved him. "On Sunday mawnin's de slaves was given dere
rations fo' de week. When dey
got dere flour dey would
make 'em some biscuits. Dere
was one slave named Jim. Jim was a young man. While de other slaves was bakin' buscuits in big black
skillets, Jim had a habit ob goin' through de quarters and gittin' a batch of
biscuits out ob de other slaves skillets. Pa hated Jim fo' doin dat. "Now Jim"
he'd say, "don't you bother my biscuits." When Pa's biscuits
was done Jim come up and scooped out a biscuit. "Don't yo' git my biscuit," said
Pa. "I'se goin' to eat dat bread," Jim talked back "No yo' won't." "Pa grabbed de
skillet, wid all ob de
biscuits in it, and hit Jim over de head. Dat
skillet was ob iron and it knocked Jim's brains out. It killed him on de spot. "Pa always
said, "Dat's de only nigger dat ever give me any trubble." "Mawster Grimes threatened to whoop pa but he got out of
it. De reason was dat de other niggers liked him
and dey knowed how Jim
would come around and meddle wid do other folks' biscuits. "We'd always
laugh at him and say, "Why Pa, ain't yo' ashamed dat yo' killed a man fo' one biscuit?" "No, I ain't ashamed, he made me kill him. He was in de
wrong." "Pa told us
about dat a hunnert times
and we'd always git a big laugh out ob it, when he told it in his own way. "Mawster Grimes trusted Pa. Dere
was times when Pa took a fouryoked oxen wagon and went all ob de
way down to Port Lavaca, down on de Gulf ob Mexico.
He'd haul goods f'om dere to de plantation. Mawster
Grimes give Pa de money to pay off de goods. He trusted him dat
much. "Pa told us
many a time dat he remembahed
de big fallin' ob de
stars. He said dat when dem stars stahted to fallin'
he run lak everything and crawled under de white
folks' house. Yo' know dat
Pa was married seben times. He'd always talk about
it. He had chillun by every wife 'cept
two. Pa has been dead now about eighteen years, and he was about a hunnert and twenty-five when he died. Dr. Gray said dat
Pa got so old and feeble dat dere was no medicine in de country dat could help him. "Mawster Grimes had a brothaw,
A. W. Grimes. De folks called him "Hodge" Grimes. Hodge was a brothaw ob Mistress Abigail,
and he become a Deputy Sheriff over at Round Rock, in Williamson
County, where in 1878 he was killed by de bandit, Sam Bass. Hodge was a very civilized man but dat bandit killed him. "Mistress
Abigail kept me fo' hersef
over at de Morris home. I jes' pittled
aroun' in de house, and took care ob
her two little babies, a boy and a girl. I kain't remembah dere names but I loved dem babies so much dat when I
was about six years old I thought dey was mine. I mean dat. I thought dat dey was mine. Dey was little twin babies. Many was de time dat I
got into de cradle and begin rockin' and dey'd be quiet. When I was six dey wasn't quite a year old. "Aw, I know dat I was a spoiled child. De white
folks has spoiled me to dis day. I remembah dat de
biggest cry dat I ever had was when Ma, who was mad
at me 'cause I was so spoiled, told me dat I wasn't nuthin' but a
nigger child. Mistress Abigail would act lak she was goin'
to tear her to death fo' sayin'
dat. Den ma would say to me, "Come here, nigger and bring me dat
chair." "Later when we
left de Morris' do yo' know dat
I asked Mistress Abigail fo' dem
twins. "'Mistress
Abigail, kin I have de twins?" I asked. "She laughed
and said, "Why Julia, which one do yo'
want?" "'Mistress
Abbie, I want de bofe ob
'em." "When we was movin' I went over to Mistress Abbie and said,
"Mistress Abbie, we don't have everything, I don't have my chillun wid me." "Yo' know dat I grieved so much
over dem babies, dat ma
took me down to see 'em
one day. Mistress Abbie and Ma would look at each other and laugh. "'Poor Julia,
she thinks dat dem kids
is her own," said Mistress Abbie. "I cried and
said, "Now Mistress Abbie give me dem
kids." "I was about
eight when Ma married Ap Moore. Den I was brought
to Travis County, and I was given to Aunt
Liza Ann Hornsby ob Hornsby's Bend. Aunt Liza was
de woman dat raised me fom now
on. All ob de folks roundabout called her "old
lady Hornsby." She kept me till I was married off. All dat I had to do was to pittle
around de house. "Dere was a nigger on her place by de name ob Henry Jones and he was Aunt Liza's cook in de big house. When I got older aunt
Liza would say, "Now Henry --" "'Ma 'am?" "'Yo' come here to dis door. Yo'
come and take Julia to a ball but don't yo' keep
her out after ten tonight, or I'll whoop yo' when yo' come home." "Him and her
both would laugh. He knowed dat
Aunt Liza didn't mean dat. "I sure did lak to go to dances, too. I was a good dancer and
everybody bragged about my dancin'. De dances was called de old-fashioned balls. Dere
was also de masquerade balls. Dere was always a prize ob five dollars in money, and I would always win de money wherever I went. Jes'
lak a young girl I'd fritter de money away. I'd treat de other
girls and boys and buy 'em candy, apples, and nuts.
I'd buy all ob dat in de ball-room. De dances was held in a
house down in de nigger quarters. "When I was
fourteen years old in 1869, I was married to Henry Jones. Aunt Liza give me $140 and a cabin to
live in on her place. Jim and me had five chillun. Aunt Liza give us a big weddin'
supper. De next day, Oscar Hornsby, a nigger, give us a big party. Aunt Liza also give us a young mule team and a
wagon, and we finally come up to Austin. Dere we bought a fahm ob 112 acres at Red Rock, Bastrop County. Henry sickened
and died wid de dropsy. De doctah
said dat he drank hissef
to death. Dis was in 1901. "In 1903 I was
married to William Ocklbary. We had four chullun. William done any kind ob work on de fahm but he turned out to be a
"chaser". I was still on my fahm when I married Ocklbary.
He jes' took up wid other
women and left me. He wanted to come back more'n once but I wouldn't let him. I knowed dat he wouldn't do right in de first place. "I den went to
Austin and stahted workin'
fo' de Slaughter fambly. "Den I stahted workin' fo' de George Matthews fambly.
He was den de High Sheriff of Travis County. Dey was jes' as good to me as
could be. While being wid 'em
dere a girl was bawn to 'em. I helped deliver dat child.
Dere was another nigger nuss
dere but she didn't have a pin of sense. So Mrs. Mathews
called on me. Dat's why dey called de child Julia, after me. I stayed wid 'em about three years. "I got a job doin' cookin'
fo' de section hands at Austin. Dis was fo' de Stalnaker fambly. I lived in a shanty on de place. I cooked,
washed, and done de cleanin' up and I got seben dollars a week, board and room. "William come
to see Mrs. Stalnaker more'n
once and asked her if I wouldn't take him back. She'd tell him, "Now Will, whut made yo' leave Julia?
She's a sweet woman." "Lady I was jes' a fool. I was fooled away f'om
her." "And I never
did take him back. "I cleaned up
in de mawnin's den I cooked de dinners and suppers.
Dere was four tables and I'd ring de bell and all ob de hands would come in. I had a white bunch, a Mexican bunch, and a negger
bunch. One ob de white bunch was Irish, I think,
and dey talked in a way dat I
couldn't unnerstand 'em.
When dat bunch would want something dey'd hold up a spoon fo' soup, a
cup fo' coffee, a pitcher fo'
milk, a fork fo' meat. Den I'd carry it to 'em. Dey was all hearty eaters and we got along
jes' fine. "Mrs. St Inaker's name was Julia too, and dere
was times when we'd send a Mexican to de butcher fo' some
meat. We give him a dollar bill one time too much and he never did come back. "I was a
hard-head when I was a girl and I didn't lissen to de
folks. I kin jes' read and write a little and I kin sign my name. I did
learn my A B C's but yo' know how de old sayin' goes about sendin' a pusson to college, but yo' kain't make him think. Dey
never could learn me anything f'om a book. After slavery I went to school fo'
about three months. One teacher was Perry Glasscock, and de other was John Evans. Sheriff
Morris' son, I don't know his name, killed dis very same John Evans. Evans was
awful overbearin' fo' a
nigger. Even de niggers didn't lak him.
One day he come on de Morris place while de older folks was gone and got into a argument wid de Morris boy. He was jes'
a boy, but he went into de house and got his fathaw's
gun and shot Evans' brains out. De other niggers liked young Morris so much and dey knowed dat
he was in de right dat dey
dressed him up lak a girl and hid him out fo' about three years. Dere was a old slave, Luke Jones, dat
was on de place and he seen how it all happened. When young Morris
did show up, his own fathaw had to put him in jail, but he got free when old Luke Jones
told how it all happened. All ob de niggers den told how Evans had been a overbearin' and mean nigger. "No Ku Klux
Klan ever bothered us down dere. I heard plenty ob talk about 'em but I never heard talk about 'em
till I come on up to Austin. "Has dey ever hurt anybody?" I've heard them say.
"Why do dey want to
hurt folks?" "Well some
folks won't do whuts right and dey's
de one dat dey git." "Oh, I reckon dats de reason, den." "I do know dat in dem days when chillun wouldn't mind all dat I
had to say was, "All right de Ku Klux will git
yo!" "Dat would be it. It would work. Dey'd
come right into de yard and mind." |
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