DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Reuben Gaines' memoir, undated

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Page 31

PAGE 31. Buxton.
one of the horses neck and slid it out to safety and then the other in the same manner. After it was all over perhaps a good time was had by all ; but it did leave behind some strange memories. Jim Crow and three other accomplices cut the shiny top vegetable cans [[insertion]] out [[/insertion]] and made stars to represent deputies or police officer badges. They all were mostly illiterate and had very little knowledge of the law. believing that might is right and now all they had to do was get the money and that would be the end of it. It was ironic to use a barn for a Court House and it was in every fashion and detail and old style kangaroo Court with no holts barred. They went out in search of a prosperous victim which turned out to be a white man, so he was brought into court and charged with enough violations to strip him of all the money he had in his possession. They released him from most of those faulty charges and repremanded him for having so much money on his person because he would be subjected to being robbed at anytime. All four were arrested and placed in jail in Oskaloosa and charged with impersonating an officer. Jim Crow was an alcholic and he begged for whisky the first two days and the third day he screamed for whisky and they still refused so the next day the shock was too great so he died. My friends and I were at a loss in finding out what kind of sentence was handed down in the Oskaloosa Court but we never did so from what information we had we considered it a closed case. Mr. Johnson was a stranger that had moved into the neighbor hood two weeks ago. He was located across the street about 200 feet North of where we lived. He had not been living there long enough to have gotten aquainted so nobody knew his vocation or where he camme from; but on this particular day the neighbors had good reason to move in close because his house was on fire. The fire was extinguished about 11 AM but the next day the fire had rekindled and was burning again so they brought it under control again and watered it down thouroughly so there would be no more reoccurence again. On the third day the house was on fire again so everybody watched it burn to the ground. The house belonged to William Hayes; the furniture belong to the tenant. The year is 1919 and my father is leaving Buxton as usual to spend the winter in Hot Springs, Arkansas and this time he asked me if I wanted to go: Yes I wanted to go but I was not financially ready but then I wanted to know, how long ahead have you set the date and the answer was two weeks so I told him that I would try to be ready. He had several thousand dollars that I had given him to save for me and when I gave him money I would never withdraw it for any purpose whatever. When the two weeks were up I had $1600.00 hundred dollars. I never made it by gambling but by distilling whiskey. Frances heard that I was leaving town so she came to see me the nigh before I left. We were in a home that was immaculate and the Decor was perfec so I was never sure about what happened that night but it could have been

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PAGE 31. Buxton. one of the horses neck and slid it out to safety and then the other in the same manner. After it was all over perhaps a good time was had by all ; but it did leave behind some strange memories. Jim Crow and three other accomplices cut the shiny top vegetable cans [[insertion]] out [[/insertion]] and made stars to represent deputies or police officer badges. They all were mostly illiterate and had very little knowledge of the law. believing that might is right and now all they had to do was get the money and that would be the end of it. It was ironic to use a barn for a Court House and it was in every fashion and detail and old style kangaroo Court with no holts barred. They went out in search of a prosperous victim which turned out to be a white man, so he was brought into court and charged with enough violations to strip him of all the money he had in his possession. They released him from most of those faulty charges and repremanded him for having so much money on his person because he would be subjected to being robbed at anytime. All four were arrested and placed in jail in Oskaloosa and charged with impersonating an officer. Jim Crow was an alcholic and he begged for whisky the first two days and the third day he screamed for whisky and they still refused so the next day the shock was too great so he died. My friends and I were at a loss in finding out what kind of sentence was handed down in the Oskaloosa Court but we never did so from what information we had we considered it a closed case. Mr. Johnson was a stranger that had moved into the neighbor hood two weeks ago. He was located across the street about 200 feet North of where we lived. He had not been living there long enough to have gotten aquainted so nobody knew his vocation or where he camme from; but on this particular day the neighbors had good reason to move in close because his house was on fire. The fire was extinguished about 11 AM but the next day the fire had rekindled and was burning again so they brought it under control again and watered it down thouroughly so there would be no more reoccurence again. On the third day the house was on fire again so everybody watched it burn to the ground. The house belonged to William Hayes; the furniture belong to the tenant. The year is 1919 and my father is leaving Buxton as usual to spend the winter in Hot Springs, Arkansas and this time he asked me if I wanted to go: Yes I wanted to go but I was not financially ready but then I wanted to know, how long ahead have you set the date and the answer was two weeks so I told him that I would try to be ready. He had several thousand dollars that I had given him to save for me and when I gave him money I would never withdraw it for any purpose whatever. When the two weeks were up I had $1600.00 hundred dollars. I never made it by gambling but by distilling whiskey. Frances heard that I was leaving town so she came to see me the nigh before I left. We were in a home that was immaculate and the Decor was perfec so I was never sure about what happened that night but it could have been