Part 3 of a three part letter written by Virginia "Ginny" (Durant) Nettles
Submitted by
Carolyn Buckley, March 5, 2008
Written by Melton E. Durant
| There was a creek
running through the field. It was not straight and sometimes
caused the best land to overflow. Father had a huge ditch
made where he wanted the creek to run and then it was
necessary to have some levies made. He went to Centerville
and hired three Irishmen to make those levies. Two of them
were raised in New Orleans and one, the youngest, was just
from the ocean, had been born and partly raised in Ireland,
but had been a sailor seven years. Their names were Sam
Kegan, Jim Dailey and William Johnston. They finished their
work but still lingered on. Kegan did little jobs of
carpentry work around the place. Mr. Johnston was learning
to work. He said he had never done anything but follow the
Sea. He found that father hired at least 2 farm hands every
year. He hired to my father for the next year. He did not
know how to work on a farm, but was sure he could learn. We
discovered Mr. Johnston had fallen in love with my sister -
she returned his affection. Sister was good looking and
Kegan wanted her too. Kegan tried to get Mr. Johnston to try
the other one (me). There was only fifteen months difference
in our ages but sister was much larger. Mr. Johnston said he
always liked a ship with a breadth of beam. He preferred
sister. He had been there a few months when he asked my
father's consent to their marriage. My father was opposed to it, and told them he would not consent until they had known each other a year. Then father got after me to break off the match. But I told him no. He said he could not influence sister, but he thought I could. I told him I never intended to make or break a match. He was very indignant. Said he had hoped sister would marry well. But she was going to marry a wild Irishman, and he would leave her in a short time and go back to the Ocean. On the 10th of December 1869, they were married. In all that time Mr. Johnston had not been drunk. He pre-empted a piece of land. Father helped him build his dwelling, barn, smoke- house, cow pen and horse lot. After living in the house with my father a year, they moved to their own house about a mile from father. Mary Jane, our cook, milkmaid and washer woman, and her sister Louisa stayed with us until sister married. She was very indignant about Miss Hannah marrying an Irishman. She began to be very impudent and my father made her and Louisa leave. Charles still remained. The cooking, washing and milking and care of the children all fell on me. Dan (Pet), Henry and Sallie were all small. Charles was no account in the fields, so father told him to help me around the house, and he was a great help, got wood and drew most of the water. Sometimes before the War, I have forgotten the year, my father saw an Italian in Centerville without employment, hunting a home. Father took him in and he (the Italian) lived with us for many years. I was a child when he came there. He helped draw some of the water and build the fires on wash day and when I made soap. He said his name was Valentine Solker. We called him Soker. He did not know how to do anything but ditch. He made the big ditch that straightened the channel of the creek through the field. When my father was in the Army my mother told him he must go to the field and help chop cotton. He went, but in a short time Frank came running from the field on the plow horse, and told my mother Soker was hoeing up the cotton. He (Soker) said, "the Madam told me to chop the cotton, she said nothing about the grass.." While Frank was gone for my mother, one of the Negro women tried to stop him (Soker) from hoeing up the cotton. He ran after her with his hoe. She ran where it was boggy, thinking he would not follow, but she said he would have killed her, if she had not thrown mud in his face with both hands as fast as she could. My mother came to the field, told him he must not hoe up the cotton. He said, " You tell me to chop cotton. You no say grass." She tried to show him, but he said, "I no can work wid Nagger. I think me kill um." The negroes were afraid of him. My mother told him to go to the house. Not long after that, he volunteered and went into the army. My mother made him a new outfit, blankets and everything he could carry. Soker joined the infantry, he said he had no use for the horse. My father thought a great deal of Soker. He was so honest and truthful and Soker would cry for hours, "I no see the boss any more, the best friend I have in America. I no have home any more." My father broke up house keeping. My mother had been dead thirteen years. The older children were all married. He put Soker on the County. He lived with my father's children, called us his kin folk, and seemed to be a happy old man. He said he lay in prison seven years before he would consent to being banished to America. He liked the government here. He said,"Damn Pope, damn King." But he did not want to leave his wife and baby. He never saw his child, only through iron bars. Poor old man. He had no other way of expressing contempt for the Pope and the King. The children all loved Soker and would run to meet him when they saw him coming. When he joined the army, he was gone 3 years before we saw him. He returned and seemed perfectly at home. He died when he was 79 years old. He made a good soldier. He was in active service from the start. He was at the siege of Vicksburg. He was in several battles, but never was wounded. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Thus ends the writings of my Grandfather's sister, Virginia Caroline (Durant) Nettles - Aunt 'Ginny' - in the small book in which she thought would hold all she knew about her ancestry. Would that she had a much larger book! ------------------------------------------------------ ----------- Three descreptances in Aunt Ginny's writings should be noted:- 1. The 500-acre Tract bought from Stegall was 320 acres; 2. The 640-acre Tract bought from George Butler was 660 acres; (from Leon County Texas Deed Records) 3. The Will of Bethel Durant Sr does not agree with Aunt Ginny's statement " . . . grandfather willed him all of his personal property. . ." (substantial, yes but not ALL. I have copies of the Will and the Deeds. --m.e.d.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Forever grateful I am to cousin Varina Durant* (LeGalley) Hatcher for sharing her type-written transcription of her Grandmother's (Aunt 'Ginny's) writing. (*yes, Varina's middle name is Durant.) --8 December 1998 Melton E. Durant Route 4 Box 580 Jacksonville, Tx 75766-9436 e-mail:- mdurant@sat.net |