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LONG FAMILY
*II. James 'Jim' Black Long m. Jan 1, 1861 Mary Elizabeth Foreman
b. July 25, 1825 b. Aug 21, 1839
in Tennessee in Alabama
d. Feb 28, 1887 d. Apr 6, 1882
Mary Elizabeth Foreman was born in Alabama and came to Texas in 1847,
when only 8 years old, coming by boat to Mobile and then on to Texas
(Caldwell Co.) in an ox-cart. They had no trouble with Indians on the way.
She came with her father & mother and her younger brother and two younger sisters.
She was considered a very pretty girl with blue eyes and black hair with
very fair skin. Lizzie Rowe Jeffrey says she was a remarkable woman.
She and her sisters and brothers were Baptists. She loved the Bible
very much and her children have the memory of her daily reading it.
James Black Long had married on New Year's Day, 1861, this Mary Foreman.
He bought the homestead, consisting of 177 acres with a one room log cabin
for their home in Caldwell county. He raised the house two logs higher,
put a pine flooring in it and built a shed room on the back. The roof
was made of boards overlapping. Their children were all born here.
At the time of his marriage Jim Long had a herd of 1000 longhorn cattle,
wild cattle, and seven or eight had to be milked to get enough milk and
butter for the family. He left for the Civil War in May after his marriage
on Jan 1, 1861, and had to be gone 5 years. During this time the herd of
cattle became much smaller because there was no one to look after them.
On his return from the War he built up the herd again to a thousand, but
they were stolen and killed off until the herd dwindled to 200 head.
The horses they owned were wild ponies that had to be rounded up.
Grocery buying was done once a year, when they had to go in a wagon to
Austin (their son Edgar Long remembers this as a 100 mile journey).
The groceries bought were 1 barrel of flour
½ barrel of brown sugar
1 barrel of molasses
and coffee.
If something went wrong with the corn crop they had to buy corn
and then have it ground at a nearby mill.
Indians lived in the hills between Austin and San Antonio then.
Meals consisted of corn bread cooked 3 times daily. Biscuits were special
for Sunday breakfast. Fresh vegetables were available only in the spring
garden and also wild greens. Potatoes and meat were stored for use through
the year. Never were they without meat. 6 or 8 wild razor-back hogs were
killed at a time and the meat stored in the smoke-house. Sausages were
wrapped in corn-shucks, later wrapped in wet cloth and cokked in embers and
hot ashes in the fireplace. Dreid beans were not heard of unbtil about 1890.
A big pot of mush wa the usual supper. Cakes and pies were cokked occasion-
ally - a treat. They had many chickens and eggs. Hens sold for 25¢ each
and eggs for 3¢ or 5¢ per dozen. When beef was killed half was kept for the
family and half was given to the neighbors.
Jim Long was busy working on the roof of the log cabin, putting on a
shingle roof, when he had a paralytic stroke. He was an invalid for many
years until his death. Mary Long took charge of things in a remarkable way.
Lizzie Rowe Jeffrey says Mary Long worked unceasingly with no complaint and
asked for no help. She died from a heart attack when 46 years old.
Jim Long and Mary Long are both buried in the Wells Cemetery near McMahan,
Texas. A couble tombstone marks their graves with
Mary E. Long J. B. Long
Aug 21, 1839 July 25, 1825
Apr 6, 1882 Feb 28, 1887
GOD DEFENDS THE RIGHT
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The old log homestead is still standing (in the 1930s). It is known as
'the Lewis Alexander place'. The house is very much as it was, the old
fireplace being exactly as it was long ago.
Who to Contact for More Information
Send E-mail to tbcrook13@yahoo.com
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