Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 1, Number 3, February 1990 Page: 72
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Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal
When the war broke out between the states, my
father thought best to send his family to New Orleans,
thinking all the battles would be fought in and around
Virginia. This was sometime in 1861. I never saw my father
again until sometime in 1864 or 1865 as he shouldered his
old musket and followed [Robert E.] Lee to the end of the
war. Of course, I know nothing of his ups and downs and
shall only tell or attempt to tell of my life.
The family consisted of my mother, my brother
who was two years older than myself, but later a sister was
born.2 We lived right near Carlton Station just up the river
from the French Market. Of course, I was too young to
realize anything of the horrors of war, but often wondered
why my mother would cry at times, and when we would ask
her, she would tell us that we would never see father again.
We lived near a man by the name of Daniel
Young and I remember one day he came over and told mother
that he had heard that the Battle of Gettysburg had been
fought and two of his sons had been killed. Of course, my
mother knew that my father must have been killed in the
same battle so all hopes of ever seeing him again were given
up. So things rocked along for some time.
My brother was hired out to a man to herd a
small bunch of sheep over near Lake Ponchetrain [Pontchar-
train]. My mother did sewing for the wealthy French and I
was supposed to herd that baby sister. So we were getting
along kinder so so and of course once in awhile we would
cuss the Yankees for killing our father.
But one night a new picture appeared on the
screen. I shall never forget it if I should live a thousand years,
and I don't believe any other child would forget that ever re-
membered having a father. Mother was washing the supper
dishes when my brother came in to spend Sunday with us.
It was Saturday night. We was glad to see him and to hear
him tell us all about the sheep. He was relating one of these
2 His brother was also named Reuben Boston Thomas, but went
by the nickname "Buck". His sister was Ida V. Thomas, and was three
years younger than Henry.72
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 1, Number 3, February 1990, periodical, February 1990; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151376/m1/4/?q=%22~1~1%22~1&rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.