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117 pages

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What emerges is a compelling picture of life in East Texas during the Civil War and the strength of character of a woman who was able to preserve her family’s values of education and enlightened treatment of others—and her beloved piano—for future generations.

Shortly after Carlos Hamilton began his medical practice in Houston, he inherited an over-sized piano that had belonged to his great-grandmother. The difficulty in moving the instrument, even in the 20th century, made him wonder how—and why—a family in 1857 would move it from North Carolina to a rural east Texas plantation so that a ten-year-old child could study music. Although Berta Smith Wootters had died many decades before Hamilton was born, her children continued to express great affection and admiration for her. Her husband, John Wootters, had died young, likely from complications of a Civil War wound, yet she persevered, managing her affairs and guiding all her children to university educations and productive lives. Wanting to discover more about the life of this strong woman, Hamilton traveled to Crockett, Texas where he met Edgar Pouncey, a descendant of a family of slaves who had come toTexas with the Smith family. As Pouncey related stories of the Smith family over a hundred years later, he spoke with respect and warmth. According to Pouncey, the Smiths’ provisions for their former slaves allowed them to found a church and a school that still played vital roles in the community. The insight gained on this visit set the author on a decades long journey to understand his forbearers and their turbulent and tragic times. A Rose Blooms in Texas is the culmination of his meticulous research on the life of Berta Smith Wootters and the story begins with her as a student at Fairfield Female College. Hamilton presents the narrative as historical fiction and augments it with original letters and documents. What emerges is a compelling picture of life in East Texas during the Civil War and the strength of character of a woman who was able to preserve her family’s values of education and enlightened treatment of others—and her beloved piano—for future generations.

Sujets

Historical

Lettres et linguistique

Biography

Autobiography

Informations

Publié par	WestBow Press
Date de parution	06 avril 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781664292819
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Extrait

A Rose Blooms In Texas

Coming of Age in the Civil War Era

CARLOS R. HAMILTON, JR.

2015
Revised Edition
2023

Copyright © 2023 Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9282-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9281-9 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/05/2023

CONTENTS
Preface
Addendum to Preface for abridged version — 2023
Dedication

I
May 1863 – Fairfield, Texas
II
July 1861 - Crockett, Texas.
III
September 1847 - Bladen County, North Carolina
IV
Spring 1857 -- Bladen County, North Carolina
V
Christmastime 1857 – Houston County, Texas
VI
Autumn 1860 – Houston County, Texas
VII
Late March 1861 – Crockett, Texas
VIII
Late June 1861--Smith Landing Plantation, Houston County
IX
November 1861 - Crockett, Texas
X
February 1862 - Smith Landing Plantation, Houston County
XI
Summer 1862 – Smith Landing Plantation
XII
1862-63, Houston County, Texas
XIII
Late Summer, 1863 – Houston County, Texas
XIV
December 1863 – Fairfield, Texas
XV
1864 – Fairfield, Texas
XVI
Winter 1864 – Smith Landing Plantation
XVII
May 1865 – Fairfield, Texas
XVIII
Late Summer 1865 – On Texas Roadways
XIX
Spring 1866 – Houston County, Texas
XX
Autumn 1866 – Smith Landing Plantation

Epilogue
Bibliography

PREFACE
I n 1974, after the completion of my military service, our family returned home to Houston to establish our young children in a new school and to begin my medical practice. The following year my grandmother, Frances Wootters Denman, reached the end of her long life at the age of 94 years. Shortly thereafter, I discovered that she had left me a piano in her will, and arranged to have it moved to our new home. It was with surprise that I recognized the instrument from my childhood, an upright piano that had resided in a parlor in her home.
During World War II, when my father was serving as the medical officer for an artillery battalion in Europe, my mother and I moved to an apartment behind my grandparents’ home in Houston. Although I was very young at the time, my memories of those years are distinct; I clearly recall the piano, a towering, antique giant of nine and a half feet that, due to its age, could not be appropriately tuned. The floor beneath the keyboard was ideal for a fort from which a five-year-old would defend his troops against the Nazis! I must have commented to my grandmother that I was fond of the piano, even though it had no other apparent use, and she must have remembered my comment well enough to count on me to provide a home for the instrument, at least for another generation.
The difficulty in moving and accommodating its over-size, even in the 20 th century, was evident. It also made me wonder how – and why – a family would move it from North Carolina to a rural east Texas plantation in 1857 so that a ten-year-old child could continue her musical studies. That child, my great-grandmother as it turned out, eventually became the mother of seven children, including my grandmother. And although Berta Smith Wootters had died many decades before I was born, her children continued to express great affection and admiration for her. My great-grandmother became a single parent when her husband, John Wootters, died at the age of 52, likely from complications of a wound received during the Civil War. Even so, Berta Smith Wootters persevered, managing her affairs, nurturing her children, and guiding all of them to university educations and productive lives as adults.
Some years after the silent musical instrument had been situated in our home, it occurred to me that I had little information about the original owners and the circumstances of their lives. When I expressed an interest in learning about them to a cousin, Dr. John H. Wootters, a grandson of Berta Smith Wootters, I was invited to visit him in Crockett to learn what I could about that family. Dr. Wootters and his wife had moved to Crockett, Texas after his retirement from a distinguished practice of general surgery in Houston. He informed us that, although he wasn’t certain of the plantation’s exact location on the Trinity River, he knew someone who could help. As luck would have it, a man named Mr. Edgar Pouncey knew the way to the property and the site of the graves of Major John Smith and Anna Jane Pouncey Smith.
Mr. Pouncey not only directed us to the plantation site and the graves, but he shared new information about the Smiths which was unknown by their descendants. Edgar Pouncey was a descendant of a family of slaves that had come to Texas with the Smith family and whose own ancestors had served earlier generations of Smiths and Pounceys. As he related stories of the Smith family, he spoke with great respect and warmth for them.
All of us recognized the institution of slavery as a sad mark on American history, a tragic blight with no redeeming qualities, and whose effects will take generations to heal. Even so, according to Mr. Pouncey, the Smiths had assured at least some of their slave families, including his forebears that they and a child that was apparently mentally impaired would always have a secure home with their family. A site for a church had been dedicated for the use of the slaves and, at the time of emancipation, ownership of homesites was transferred to the freedmen. Educational opportunities had been encouraged and a Cedar Branch School was eventually created near the church. Edgar Pouncey had served as a Trustee of the Grapeland Independent School District with which the school is affiliated. He was rightly proud of the opportunities that had been offered for many children through the school.
This information, unexpected and thought-provoking as it was, motivated me to learn what I could about the Smith family as well as the turbulent and tragic times in which they lived. One can often understand more about a person’s character and personality from reading what they have written or said and two items may illuminate these aspects of John Wootters and Berta Smith. These are the comments of John on receiving the company flag for the Crockett Southrons at the onset of the war and the essay of Berta which she read at her graduation ceremony from Fairfield Female College in 1865.
Special appreciation must be given to my assistant, Jasmin Dimayuga Cambel for her help in the preparation of the manuscript; to my reviewer, Eileen Flynn DeLaO for her patient and thoughtful suggestions; to Dr. John Boles, professor of history at Rice University and the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies; and to the Texas State Historical Association and other sources of information mentioned in the bibliography. A special thanks to Cristina Adams, my very helpful editor and to Lucy Herring Chambers, Publisher, Bright Sky Press. This work could have never been completed without the support of my wife, Carolyn Burton Hamilton, who recognized that the story of these families, borne out during the most difficult era in American history, needed to be told and encouraged me to try to tell it in the best way I could.
Carlos R. Hamilton Jr. — 2012

ADDENDUM TO PREFACE FOR ABRIDGED VERSION — 2023
T he re-publication of A Rose Blooms in Texas was prompted by the desire to make it available for those preferring an audio presentation or an on-line access to the text. It was also an opportunity to correct typ