Jake Compton

I was born in Waco, Texas on the second of March eighteen-hundred and fifty-nine, on the old Compton place where Crow Brothers Laundry was on Second and Franklin Avenue. My mother was Matilda Compton , a slave belonging to Colonel Compton . We moved to a farm belonging to Colonel Compton in Hill County an' lived on it until I was about six or seven years old, den we went back to Waco where my mother married Louis Tolbert after Freedom.

Among my early memories in crossing the Brazos River on a ferry boat, we did this for years before de suspension bridge was built. De only fambly dat I 'member when I was livin in Waco first, was de Puckett family, Layton Puckett was jes about my age, an he is de Pucket who had de Undertakin business in Waco so long. We lived over on de West side of de ribber an my ole Marster kept a little store in his yard befo' we moved to Hill County. "When we kum to Waco dar was a good many more families, Major Downs lived on South Third Street, Dr. Dick Mullins an' Dr. Parks I 'members also. De first Bank was run by Mister Fort an Jackson an' was on Third an' Austin Avenue, later a second bank was out up by Mr. Flint an' Chamberline , across de street from Mr. Fort' s an' Jackson's bank. De nex thing of special interest to me dat I 'members was de Yankee soldiers campin' near our home when we lived in "I especially 'members de blue uniforms an' de brass buttons, an' how we chillun went to de camp after dey left an' found some flap jacks, apples an nuts an' how we ate dem up an' how good dey was. After dat we watched for de Yankee soldiers when dey camped near where we lived an' we'd always go an' hunt fur sumpin dey lef'. "We raised corn, oats, hogs, cattle, sheep, an' goats, an' all de vegetables dat we wanted. With cows an' plenty of milk an' butter we had plenty to eat. We did not raise cotton at first, not until after Freedom, an' when de wimmen bought de calico hit was fifty an sixty cents a yard. Dey made de cloth on de spinnin' wheel an de loom. "When I was jes a boy I used to help to cut de oats with a cradle an' tie dem with my hands. After Freedom an' we went back to Waco I went to school where Central Texas College for Negroes was, on North Sixth Street. We had three teachers, Professor Wright , who was a white man, an' de other two negroes, a professor Jones an' his wife. After I was grown an' thro' school I worked on de farms of Mr. Overton Davis an' Mr. Harrison at Abbott. When Waco first commenced to have new settlers the Old suspension bridge was one of de first things dat was built. Bridge Street was jes commencing to be built up. De farmers come to town drivin' oxen to dere wagons a few had buggies an' a few had horses, but dey mostly had oxen an' mules. "De first gin dat I 'members was over in East Waco, an' hit was built by a man named Bannister , the farmers fur miles kim to dis gin. De first church dat was built fer de niggers was down on First Street, where de oil mill now stands. It was called St. James. "De fust court dat I 'members was called a Bureau, dey had a Judge an he was hit all, Jedge an' jury too, he passed sentence on all de law-breakers. Dey held it first one place an' den anudder, finally dey built a Courthouse what de City Hall now stan's, hit was a two-story brick building. Dey later moved hit to where Crow Brothers Laundry was later. Dey used to have day an' night watchman fur de Courthouse an' de jail. De mos' of de cases was for cattle an' horse stealin. "De first hangin' dat I 'members was in East Waco, hit were a nigger named Perry Davis . He beat his wife an de Sheriff went to 'rest him and den dis nigger shot de sherrif an' killed him. Waco was not as big as Mart is now. When he killed de sherriff he let de officers take him to keep de people from hangin' him by a mob. Dey tried him an' sentenced him to hang an' put him in jail over on Third Street.

Jes befo' dey hung him de preacher name Steve Cobb baptised him in de Brazos ribber. De preacher had a prayer service an' prayed an' den de prisoner sang "Oh Jordans Stormy Banks I Stan'". Den dey jes hung him befo' de crowd. Hit was de biggest crowd dat had ever been in Waco befo'. Hit was over in East Waco, but we could see de gallows an' de crowd from de river in West Waco. Hit seem dat ebery man in de county was dere. De county buried him. Dis was Waco's fust hangin' so fur as I know's. "I 'members going on a hunt, as cook for eight men dat lived in Waco, but I does not 'member any of dere names but Mr. Fort an' John Flint . We went to de Colorado riber near Sulphur Spring, an' found a cave dat was later knows as Bat Cave. This cave was eleven-hundred feet long, inside was a little stream of water, the air was des as cool as a day in de early fall, but it was de summertime. We had our camping outift but we did not camp in it kase de water sometimes got up in de cave. We went out on de prairie an' camped, hunted prairie chickens, wild turkeys, an'wild hog, so had enough from dis hunt to las mos all de winter. "De kind of game laws dat we had in dem days was to turn a hog loose in de woods, den we had de right to hunt wild hogs, an' when we went on de coon an possum hunts we went on de moonlight nights mostly in de fall ob de year. We would take a pack of hounds an' trace de coon an' possums, if hit was a coon he'd jump outa de tree, but if hit was a possum den him would have to be shook out'a de tree. "De first hos' race I ever went to in Waco was over in East Waco. When day had de pony races, later on de commenced to having fairs an' dey would bring fine race horses from the Old States, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee. De rich folks from de big cities would come to de races an' bet money on dem. "When de day for de races kum, here de folks would start to kum to town, some in buggies, some in carriages wid big horses, some in little carts an some in de wagons driving de mules, dey done gone past de oxen now. Dey would have a band an' we all would go jes as fast as we could to de races. Hit made de nigger feel big to bet on dem effen he did loose him money. "I kin remember when de white man an de nigger bof' went to de big conventions, when dey had de political meetim's, some of de niggers would be constables an work under de sheriff. Dey did not have any trouble over dar politics in Waco dat I remember. "Dey did have a Klu-Klux-Klan, but we did'nt have any trouble with dem dat I 'member. 'Bout all dey did was to make de niggers pick cotton an work when dey take notion dat dey didn't have to work. "Den about de time dey commenced to use de reaper an de threshing machines on de farm. De thresher was little an run by horses pullin' de lever, but hit did de work. De grain was cleaned an measured an de straw at de same threshin'. "After few years de horse rakes, grain drills, two horse cultivators , mowers an' steel plows gradually kum into use "Den dey commenced to have Fa'm Bureaus, Granges, one was called Farmers Alliance, and nuther Partons of Husbandry. "Somebody was allers trying to fix hit so prices would be better, but his has always been good times an' bad times. Since we has so much cotton now hit is good times when de cotton price is high an makes plenty. Used to be dat when de cattle prices was high an' de grain dat de times would be good. "I is gittin' old an' nearly blind, so hit does not make so much difference. De Government is helpin' me little, an' I shore do appreciate hit.