Married; Rufus King Blackshear 13 Nov 1863, Anderson County, Texas.
"Bettie", his wife was born in Tenn. and moved to Palestine, Texas, when a child with her father Col. John Shute Witherspoon, who was born in Williamson Co., Tenn. Sept. 1, 1806.
She died in Cleburne, Texas, (actually Aug. 30th).
1901, and was buried by the side of her husband in
"The Old Cemetery" Palestine, Texas, Nat. (Nathaniel Witherspoon B. father of WSB) also buried in the old Howard burying plot there.
She was decided brunette, black eyes,
five feet five inches tall, weight 132 lbs." (added by her grandson, (WSB) the only grandchild that saw her.)
She was small and slim, very erect and a bit prim, I take it. I recall her as ever wearing black taffeta with high collar and small white ruff. She wore,what appeared to me as a child, a very funny black bonnet tied under her chin with white lawn strings.
Her hands were very beautiful and she was inordinately proud of them.
She was very proud, and to many seemed haughty, though very kind to her inferiors.
She had a dry sense of humor, very seldom smiled.
She read the bible a great deal and prayed upon her knees frequently. She was a very strict Methodist and never spoke ill of anyone behind their back,though frequently had a sharp tongue to their face.
She stood or sat with her hands folded upon her stomach in a rather prim fashion.
She loved violets and tried to teach me to appreciate poetry.
She loved me very much, would rock me to sleep
and never allowed me to be punished when she was about.
She herself being very brave taught me that cowardice was the worst of sins.
It was said that as a very young Miss she
had defied a mob and prevented one of her slaves from being lynched. She hated War, Whiskey, and cards, but would go any distance to see a horse race.
These I recall most about her. WSB (written when I was 19 yrs of age).
Now that I am older (1952) I can recall many more important things about her,
though perhaps I could not express them any better. I see her qualities in the light of
other terms than a 19 yr. old boy could have estimated her characteristics. She was small
yet seemed tall due to her stately carriage and when not close to those taller than she.
It seems that we, as a family, were very poor for a long time, but somehow after my grandfather died and my grandmother took hold of things our finances were much better. He was, so I have heard, a dreamy aesthetic type after the war, given to reading and
writing poetry (rhymes perhaps), was too generous, especially to the freed "folks" (no
one was ever allowed to call the slaves "slaves", but they were referred to by both my grandparents as "our people". There were always a score or more of these freed folk
about the place (even when we lived in a small house) and had to be fed (all this from my Uncles).
After Rufus King's death my grandmother purchased a very large white house in town on Magnolia St. Palestine, and there my grandmother "held court". It had two living rooms or parlors connected by wide folding doors and each with white marble fireplace mantels of a Victorian carving.
Once one of our distant Cousins (old maid)
came to visit from Ala., and finding no tombstone over Rufus King's grave sarcastically said to my grandmother that she had done better to buy a marble stone for his grave than to be spending the money on fireplaces. I recall distinctly my grandmother's reply:
"Lizie, you need not worry. When you die I'll give you the center of both of them".
My grandmother was of the "grand manner". She never treated me as a child, but talked to me as if I were a grown-up. She instructed me in "the family honor" and I recall
that there were but two things a Blackshear never was; a coward or a liar. I fear I have
failed the clan many times.
She had many friends, but they were of "her own class", and it was always obvious that "her class" were only aristocrats. Her intimates were 4 fine looking old ladies: Mrs. Shambling, Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Word, and a Mrs. Quarles. These four were deep died Methodists.
I recall once when I must not have been more than six or seven years of age that the evangelist Sam Jones came to town with his big tent to hold a revival meeting.
These four old ladies attended religiously until one night (my Mother was in the big choir and I by her side) when the Rev. Sam began his address in a splendid manner. He began by praising the old fashion girls who were born in the country as against the girls of the town. Every one seemed to sense that he was laying the predicate to crack a joke -- that is, all save these four high-hat grand Dames, who of course were seated together. Then the preacher called for all ladies in the congregation who were country bred to please stand up. These four proudly rose. Sam looked them over as they so proudly stood; then he said: "Sit down. You look like Country Jane's". The other three ladies resumed their seats. But not my Grandmother. If anything, she straightened up a bit more, betook herself right out into the center aisle and deliberately walked in a very dignified manner down to the pulpit stand, made a
right angle turn and marched right out of the tent. Even the usually undaunted Sam Jones
froze into silence.
My grandmother never again attended a revival meeting. She never said a word against the preacher, for the Methodist discipline forbade it, but whenever his name was
mentioned she sat up stiffly in her chair and her thin lips set themselves very tightly. (Incidentally, Mr. Lacy was Mayor of the town, and his wife (the one above referred to)
had a Bridge party during his revival, which was the occasion of Sam Jones turning his ire full blast against the Mayor's wife. The next morning after this pulpit assault upon his wife, Mayor Lacy was letting his horse drink from the town square marble horse fountain, he saw Sam Jones coming across the square, he took the buggy whip and met the Rev. Jones mid street and gave his Reverend the horsewhipping of his life, which of course played right into Sam Jones' hand. This was in Palestine, Tex. I understand that my grandmother did not express approval, but I feel that she must have silently thought he got what was coming to him.)
"Signed by Wm. St. John B. No. 2."
BLACKSHEAR FAMILY HISTORY
Cit. Ala. Family Records.
Will of Wm. Blackshear
Raines Vol. S. p. 30.
Lr. Wm. St. J. Blackshear, Santa
Barbara, Cal., 1952.
1870 Census of Anderson Co., Texas.
RUFUS KING No. 2. b. Dawson, Ga., 9 Jan., 1899 in rural Terrell County on a farm.
"Bettie", his wife was born in Tenn. and moved to Palestine, Texas, when a child with her father Col. John Shute Witherspoon, who was born in Williamson Co., Tenn. Sept. 1, 1806.
She died in Cleburne, Texas, (actually Aug. 30th).
1901, and was buried by the side of her husband in
"The Old Cemetery" Palestine, Texas, Nat. (Nathaniel Witherspoon B. father of WSB) also buried in the old Howard burying plot there.
She was decided brunette, black eyes,
five feet five inches tall, weight 132 lbs." (added by her grandson, (WSB) the only grandchild that saw her.)
She was small and slim, very erect and a bit prim, I take it. I recall her as ever wearing black taffeta with high collar and small white ruff. She wore,what appeared to me as a child, a very funny black bonnet tied under her chin with white lawn strings.
Her hands were very beautiful and she was inordinately proud of them.
She was very proud, and to many seemed haughty, though very kind to her inferiors.
She had a dry sense of humor, very seldom smiled.
She read the bible a great deal and prayed upon her knees frequently. She was a very strict Methodist and never spoke ill of anyone behind their back,though frequently had a sharp tongue to their face.
She stood or sat with her hands folded upon her stomach in a rather prim fashion.
She loved violets and tried to teach me to appreciate poetry.
She loved me very much, would rock me to sleep
and never allowed me to be punished when she was about.
She herself being very brave taught me that cowardice was the worst of sins.
It was said that as a very young Miss she
had defied a mob and prevented one of her slaves from being lynched. She hated War, Whiskey, and cards, but would go any distance to see a horse race.
These I recall most about her. WSB (written when I was 19 yrs of age).
Now that I am older (1952) I can recall many more important things about her,
though perhaps I could not express them any better. I see her qualities in the light of
other terms than a 19 yr. old boy could have estimated her characteristics. She was small
yet seemed tall due to her stately carriage and when not close to those taller than she.
It seems that we, as a family, were very poor for a long time, but somehow after my grandfather died and my grandmother took hold of things our finances were much better. He was, so I have heard, a dreamy aesthetic type after the war, given to reading and
writing poetry (rhymes perhaps), was too generous, especially to the freed "folks" (no
one was ever allowed to call the slaves "slaves", but they were referred to by both my grandparents as "our people". There were always a score or more of these freed folk
about the place (even when we lived in a small house) and had to be fed (all this from my Uncles).
After Rufus King's death my grandmother purchased a very large white house in town on Magnolia St. Palestine, and there my grandmother "held court". It had two living rooms or parlors connected by wide folding doors and each with white marble fireplace mantels of a Victorian carving.
Once one of our distant Cousins (old maid)
came to visit from Ala., and finding no tombstone over Rufus King's grave sarcastically said to my grandmother that she had done better to buy a marble stone for his grave than to be spending the money on fireplaces. I recall distinctly my grandmother's reply:
"Lizie, you need not worry. When you die I'll give you the center of both of them".
My grandmother was of the "grand manner". She never treated me as a child, but talked to me as if I were a grown-up. She instructed me in "the family honor" and I recall
that there were but two things a Blackshear never was; a coward or a liar. I fear I have
failed the clan many times.
She had many friends, but they were of "her own class", and it was always obvious that "her class" were only aristocrats. Her intimates were 4 fine looking old ladies: Mrs. Shambling, Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Word, and a Mrs. Quarles. These four were deep died Methodists.
I recall once when I must not have been more than six or seven years of age that the evangelist Sam Jones came to town with his big tent to hold a revival meeting.
These four old ladies attended religiously until one night (my Mother was in the big choir and I by her side) when the Rev. Sam began his address in a splendid manner. He began by praising the old fashion girls who were born in the country as against the girls of the town. Every one seemed to sense that he was laying the predicate to crack a joke -- that is, all save these four high-hat grand Dames, who of course were seated together. Then the preacher called for all ladies in the congregation who were country bred to please stand up. These four proudly rose. Sam looked them over as they so proudly stood; then he said: "Sit down. You look like Country Jane's". The other three ladies resumed their seats. But not my Grandmother. If anything, she straightened up a bit more, betook herself right out into the center aisle and deliberately walked in a very dignified manner down to the pulpit stand, made a
right angle turn and marched right out of the tent. Even the usually undaunted Sam Jones
froze into silence.
My grandmother never again attended a revival meeting. She never said a word against the preacher, for the Methodist discipline forbade it, but whenever his name was
mentioned she sat up stiffly in her chair and her thin lips set themselves very tightly. (Incidentally, Mr. Lacy was Mayor of the town, and his wife (the one above referred to)
had a Bridge party during his revival, which was the occasion of Sam Jones turning his ire full blast against the Mayor's wife. The next morning after this pulpit assault upon his wife, Mayor Lacy was letting his horse drink from the town square marble horse fountain, he saw Sam Jones coming across the square, he took the buggy whip and met the Rev. Jones mid street and gave his Reverend the horsewhipping of his life, which of course played right into Sam Jones' hand. This was in Palestine, Tex. I understand that my grandmother did not express approval, but I feel that she must have silently thought he got what was coming to him.)
"Signed by Wm. St. John B. No. 2."
BLACKSHEAR FAMILY HISTORY
Cit. Ala. Family Records.
Will of Wm. Blackshear
Raines Vol. S. p. 30.
Lr. Wm. St. J. Blackshear, Santa
Barbara, Cal., 1952.
1870 Census of Anderson Co., Texas.
RUFUS KING No. 2. b. Dawson, Ga., 9 Jan., 1899 in rural Terrell County on a farm.
Married; Rufus King Blackshear 13 Nov 1863, Anderson County, Texas.
"Bettie", his wife was born in Tenn. and moved to Palestine, Texas, when a child with her father Col. John Shute Witherspoon, who was born in Williamson Co., Tenn. Sept. 1, 1806.
She died in Cleburne, Texas, (actually Aug. 30th).
1901, and was buried by the side of her husband in
"The Old Cemetery" Palestine, Texas, Nat. (Nathaniel Witherspoon B. father of WSB) also buried in the old Howard burying plot there.
She was decided brunette, black eyes,
five feet five inches tall, weight 132 lbs." (added by her grandson, (WSB) the only grandchild that saw her.)
She was small and slim, very erect and a bit prim, I take it. I recall her as ever wearing black taffeta with high collar and small white ruff. She wore,what appeared to me as a child, a very funny black bonnet tied under her chin with white lawn strings.
Her hands were very beautiful and she was inordinately proud of them.
She was very proud, and to many seemed haughty, though very kind to her inferiors.
She had a dry sense of humor, very seldom smiled.
She read the bible a great deal and prayed upon her knees frequently. She was a very strict Methodist and never spoke ill of anyone behind their back,though frequently had a sharp tongue to their face.
She stood or sat with her hands folded upon her stomach in a rather prim fashion.
She loved violets and tried to teach me to appreciate poetry.
She loved me very much, would rock me to sleep
and never allowed me to be punished when she was about.
She herself being very brave taught me that cowardice was the worst of sins.
It was said that as a very young Miss she
had defied a mob and prevented one of her slaves from being lynched. She hated War, Whiskey, and cards, but would go any distance to see a horse race.
These I recall most about her. WSB (written when I was 19 yrs of age).
Now that I am older (1952) I can recall many more important things about her,
though perhaps I could not express them any better. I see her qualities in the light of
other terms than a 19 yr. old boy could have estimated her characteristics. She was small
yet seemed tall due to her stately carriage and when not close to those taller than she.
It seems that we, as a family, were very poor for a long time, but somehow after my grandfather died and my grandmother took hold of things our finances were much better. He was, so I have heard, a dreamy aesthetic type after the war, given to reading and
writing poetry (rhymes perhaps), was too generous, especially to the freed "folks" (no
one was ever allowed to call the slaves "slaves", but they were referred to by both my grandparents as "our people". There were always a score or more of these freed folk
about the place (even when we lived in a small house) and had to be fed (all this from my Uncles).
After Rufus King's death my grandmother purchased a very large white house in town on Magnolia St. Palestine, and there my grandmother "held court". It had two living rooms or parlors connected by wide folding doors and each with white marble fireplace mantels of a Victorian carving.
Once one of our distant Cousins (old maid)
came to visit from Ala., and finding no tombstone over Rufus King's grave sarcastically said to my grandmother that she had done better to buy a marble stone for his grave than to be spending the money on fireplaces. I recall distinctly my grandmother's reply:
"Lizie, you need not worry. When you die I'll give you the center of both of them".
My grandmother was of the "grand manner". She never treated me as a child, but talked to me as if I were a grown-up. She instructed me in "the family honor" and I recall
that there were but two things a Blackshear never was; a coward or a liar. I fear I have
failed the clan many times.
She had many friends, but they were of "her own class", and it was always obvious that "her class" were only aristocrats. Her intimates were 4 fine looking old ladies: Mrs. Shambling, Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Word, and a Mrs. Quarles. These four were deep died Methodists.
I recall once when I must not have been more than six or seven years of age that the evangelist Sam Jones came to town with his big tent to hold a revival meeting.
These four old ladies attended religiously until one night (my Mother was in the big choir and I by her side) when the Rev. Sam began his address in a splendid manner. He began by praising the old fashion girls who were born in the country as against the girls of the town. Every one seemed to sense that he was laying the predicate to crack a joke -- that is, all save these four high-hat grand Dames, who of course were seated together. Then the preacher called for all ladies in the congregation who were country bred to please stand up. These four proudly rose. Sam looked them over as they so proudly stood; then he said: "Sit down. You look like Country Jane's". The other three ladies resumed their seats. But not my Grandmother. If anything, she straightened up a bit more, betook herself right out into the center aisle and deliberately walked in a very dignified manner down to the pulpit stand, made a
right angle turn and marched right out of the tent. Even the usually undaunted Sam Jones
froze into silence.
My grandmother never again attended a revival meeting. She never said a word against the preacher, for the Methodist discipline forbade it, but whenever his name was
mentioned she sat up stiffly in her chair and her thin lips set themselves very tightly. (Incidentally, Mr. Lacy was Mayor of the town, and his wife (the one above referred to)
had a Bridge party during his revival, which was the occasion of Sam Jones turning his ire full blast against the Mayor's wife. The next morning after this pulpit assault upon his wife, Mayor Lacy was letting his horse drink from the town square marble horse fountain, he saw Sam Jones coming across the square, he took the buggy whip and met the Rev. Jones mid street and gave his Reverend the horsewhipping of his life, which of course played right into Sam Jones' hand. This was in Palestine, Tex. I understand that my grandmother did not express approval, but I feel that she must have silently thought he got what was coming to him.)
"Signed by Wm. St. John B. No. 2."
BLACKSHEAR FAMILY HISTORY
Cit. Ala. Family Records.
Will of Wm. Blackshear
Raines Vol. S. p. 30.
Lr. Wm. St. J. Blackshear, Santa
Barbara, Cal., 1952.
1870 Census of Anderson Co., Texas.
RUFUS KING No. 2. b. Dawson, Ga., 9 Jan., 1899 in rural Terrell County on a farm.
"Bettie", his wife was born in Tenn. and moved to Palestine, Texas, when a child with her father Col. John Shute Witherspoon, who was born in Williamson Co., Tenn. Sept. 1, 1806.
She died in Cleburne, Texas, (actually Aug. 30th).
1901, and was buried by the side of her husband in
"The Old Cemetery" Palestine, Texas, Nat. (Nathaniel Witherspoon B. father of WSB) also buried in the old Howard burying plot there.
She was decided brunette, black eyes,
five feet five inches tall, weight 132 lbs." (added by her grandson, (WSB) the only grandchild that saw her.)
She was small and slim, very erect and a bit prim, I take it. I recall her as ever wearing black taffeta with high collar and small white ruff. She wore,what appeared to me as a child, a very funny black bonnet tied under her chin with white lawn strings.
Her hands were very beautiful and she was inordinately proud of them.
She was very proud, and to many seemed haughty, though very kind to her inferiors.
She had a dry sense of humor, very seldom smiled.
She read the bible a great deal and prayed upon her knees frequently. She was a very strict Methodist and never spoke ill of anyone behind their back,though frequently had a sharp tongue to their face.
She stood or sat with her hands folded upon her stomach in a rather prim fashion.
She loved violets and tried to teach me to appreciate poetry.
She loved me very much, would rock me to sleep
and never allowed me to be punished when she was about.
She herself being very brave taught me that cowardice was the worst of sins.
It was said that as a very young Miss she
had defied a mob and prevented one of her slaves from being lynched. She hated War, Whiskey, and cards, but would go any distance to see a horse race.
These I recall most about her. WSB (written when I was 19 yrs of age).
Now that I am older (1952) I can recall many more important things about her,
though perhaps I could not express them any better. I see her qualities in the light of
other terms than a 19 yr. old boy could have estimated her characteristics. She was small
yet seemed tall due to her stately carriage and when not close to those taller than she.
It seems that we, as a family, were very poor for a long time, but somehow after my grandfather died and my grandmother took hold of things our finances were much better. He was, so I have heard, a dreamy aesthetic type after the war, given to reading and
writing poetry (rhymes perhaps), was too generous, especially to the freed "folks" (no
one was ever allowed to call the slaves "slaves", but they were referred to by both my grandparents as "our people". There were always a score or more of these freed folk
about the place (even when we lived in a small house) and had to be fed (all this from my Uncles).
After Rufus King's death my grandmother purchased a very large white house in town on Magnolia St. Palestine, and there my grandmother "held court". It had two living rooms or parlors connected by wide folding doors and each with white marble fireplace mantels of a Victorian carving.
Once one of our distant Cousins (old maid)
came to visit from Ala., and finding no tombstone over Rufus King's grave sarcastically said to my grandmother that she had done better to buy a marble stone for his grave than to be spending the money on fireplaces. I recall distinctly my grandmother's reply:
"Lizie, you need not worry. When you die I'll give you the center of both of them".
My grandmother was of the "grand manner". She never treated me as a child, but talked to me as if I were a grown-up. She instructed me in "the family honor" and I recall
that there were but two things a Blackshear never was; a coward or a liar. I fear I have
failed the clan many times.
She had many friends, but they were of "her own class", and it was always obvious that "her class" were only aristocrats. Her intimates were 4 fine looking old ladies: Mrs. Shambling, Mrs. Lacy, Mrs. Word, and a Mrs. Quarles. These four were deep died Methodists.
I recall once when I must not have been more than six or seven years of age that the evangelist Sam Jones came to town with his big tent to hold a revival meeting.
These four old ladies attended religiously until one night (my Mother was in the big choir and I by her side) when the Rev. Sam began his address in a splendid manner. He began by praising the old fashion girls who were born in the country as against the girls of the town. Every one seemed to sense that he was laying the predicate to crack a joke -- that is, all save these four high-hat grand Dames, who of course were seated together. Then the preacher called for all ladies in the congregation who were country bred to please stand up. These four proudly rose. Sam looked them over as they so proudly stood; then he said: "Sit down. You look like Country Jane's". The other three ladies resumed their seats. But not my Grandmother. If anything, she straightened up a bit more, betook herself right out into the center aisle and deliberately walked in a very dignified manner down to the pulpit stand, made a
right angle turn and marched right out of the tent. Even the usually undaunted Sam Jones
froze into silence.
My grandmother never again attended a revival meeting. She never said a word against the preacher, for the Methodist discipline forbade it, but whenever his name was
mentioned she sat up stiffly in her chair and her thin lips set themselves very tightly. (Incidentally, Mr. Lacy was Mayor of the town, and his wife (the one above referred to)
had a Bridge party during his revival, which was the occasion of Sam Jones turning his ire full blast against the Mayor's wife. The next morning after this pulpit assault upon his wife, Mayor Lacy was letting his horse drink from the town square marble horse fountain, he saw Sam Jones coming across the square, he took the buggy whip and met the Rev. Jones mid street and gave his Reverend the horsewhipping of his life, which of course played right into Sam Jones' hand. This was in Palestine, Tex. I understand that my grandmother did not express approval, but I feel that she must have silently thought he got what was coming to him.)
"Signed by Wm. St. John B. No. 2."
BLACKSHEAR FAMILY HISTORY
Cit. Ala. Family Records.
Will of Wm. Blackshear
Raines Vol. S. p. 30.
Lr. Wm. St. J. Blackshear, Santa
Barbara, Cal., 1952.
1870 Census of Anderson Co., Texas.
RUFUS KING No. 2. b. Dawson, Ga., 9 Jan., 1899 in rural Terrell County on a farm.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
See more Blackshear or Witherspoon memorials in:
- Palestine City Cemetery Blackshear or Witherspoon
- Palestine Blackshear or Witherspoon
- Anderson County Blackshear or Witherspoon
- Texas Blackshear or Witherspoon
- USA Blackshear or Witherspoon
- Find a Grave Blackshear or Witherspoon
Advertisement
