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Ridanbaagh, Mildred P.W.-1,060
Houston, Tex. Dist. 6
Folklore
at.
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REICNISCENCES OP A. PIOiEER
40,240
Page 1
Her no longer brawny fingers fondled the aged shawl.
She slowly, rather wearily, pleated the weave and then pressed
it back into place. Her gray head nodded slightly as she
remembered, and in ,her tired eyes gleamed something from the
past.
She is Mrs. John Coleman, 74 years old, and a
resident of Houston for the past 42 years. She is a Daughter
of the Confederacy, a Daughter of the Republic, and is a writer
and member of the National Geographic Society.
Her father was the famous John T. Cox, Texan Ranger,
of second regiment, Co. D, who was fatally wounded in battle
for the capture of the bell from the Harriet Lane.
FRONTIER LIFE.
She first remembered when, as a small child, she
sat listening to the tales of Cherokee Co. from the lips of
Sadie Gibbons, first white child born in the country. She
remembered vaguely of Chief Bean's return to the plantation
with his friendly Cherokee tribe for the annual ritual of
drowning their evil spirits in old Bean Creek. She remembered
Ridenbaugh, Mildred 7E0-240
Houston, Tex. Page 3
Folklore
PLANTATIOU LIFE
From Grayson Co. the Cox family moved to Harris Co.
to a lari.e -olantation. Mrs. Coleman explained that the sliding
partitions of the old plantation house were remarkable in
their simplicity.
nhey were constructed in such a way as to fold
the entire wall into the ceiling grooves. An eight room house.
could easily be transformed into one large room", she eiPlained.
OUST0143.
"Sittinr: Mammy"
"In one corner of the room stood from three to five
three-leg,eed skillets, a cock -pit and a fire -place. In an easy
chair at the end of the oit-turner sat black mammy, 'neer hands
mechanically operatin:: the pit -turner. Once in a while her
hand would go up to the chimney oven above her head. The chimney
oven was a box -like crevice in the chimney where the food would
stay hot and moist. Dowm in the edge of the fireplace on the
grates teere were evidences of an 'ash cake' bidden somewhere
in the coals. 'Asa cake was moist, salted cornmeal rolled in
cabbage leaves and baked in ashes. The )reparation proved the
favorite with the plantation family".
The "Shawl Pin"
As Mrs. Coleme,n gathered the shawl about her shoulders
she told of the "shawl pin."
Ridenbaugh, Mildred
Houston, Tex.
Folklore
PEC*240
Page 4
"In the days of early Texas, overcoats were not
known to simple folk. I never saw a coat until I was a grown
woman. Men, women and children wore large home —spun shawls
about their shoulders. They pinned these shawls with pins
tart were two —feet in length. When situations created the
necessity, they used these pins as weapons ageinst wild animals.
Many a time can I remember guarding meat that we were
bringinf home with the 'shawl pin' in my hand. Sometimes
we used them as shovels in digging herbs. These pins wee
shaped very much like a safety pin."
ANIMAL PECULIARITIES.
Wild ho‘es were always plentiful in the wooded country
of Harris Co. They caele in great hordes from the north country
towards the sea. Wild turkey were also plentiful. Mrs. Coleman
says:
"we took a turkey cifl, made of a ,,00se quill,
and hid in tae underbrush. Three minutes after we gave the
call, we could near a rumbling for miles; and over fields, stumps,
bushes, and trees the turkeys would come. Pigeons flew in great
hordes, blackening the sun for hours. The flnooing of huge wings
and the gutterpl cries of the pigeons sounded like a hurricane
or a storm at see".
The eij;eons, however were dread to the country
because they stole the acorns from the trees. "At night we
could hear the acorns grinding together in the craws of the birds
for forty miles in any direction", she declared..
Ridenbaugh, Mildred FEC-.240
Houston, Tex. Page 5
Folklore
ear
"I have seen as many as six wild squirrels to one
of corn. I -can also remember when I was about six year's
old, when I came in from the fields and told mother I had killed
sixteen rattlers that day. She said it was fine but'she hoped
I'd do better next day".
SUPERSTITIONS.
One of the most prevalent superstitions was
regarding the burial of partially decayed materials under steps
of the house of the person to whom one wished harm. Some
prescriptions meant death, some insanity, and others only ill
health. The certain "death prescription" was the combination
of rotten tomatoes, rusty nails and horse hair. :Chicken
bones and a rusty hoe buried together under the door still
brought ill health to the one who walked over it day after
.day. The combination of an old dress and thirteen fingernails
would also oroduce a "decline". The "crazy dose" or
concoction to orocure insanity, was administered by iou ting
herbs in the victims's coffee.
ft
Consultant: Mrs. John C(sleman, age 74, 106 S. Wayside Drive,
Holston, ex -writer for National Geographic.- (interview, 9-5-36).