| Notes |
- Submitted via GEDCOM by Daniel Frederick Montgomery, CMS 2419, on 14 Jul 2004.
My parents were James Nash and Mary Perkins Nash, both born in Georgia.There were seven children. Father was a farmer and mechanic. I was bornin Louisiana December 24, 1839.
When I was twenty-one the Civil War began. I enlisted in the ConfederateArmy and continued to serve until the end of 1865. My company wasstationed on the west side of the Mississippi River from New Orleans tothe Arkansas line. It was very swampy and many died with malaria feverand smallpox. Our meals consisted of corn meal mush, hard tack bread,made of corn meal and water, and 'blue' beef. The cattle were verypoor. They were driven to our camps from Texas and used as we neededthem. The beef was so poor that it stuck like glue to anything ittouched. This was put in kettles and boiled and issued to us in smallamounts. There was only one helping of feed at each meal. We had noplates except what we made of pieces of tin, picked up as we traveledabout. Most of us held our food in our hands.
One morning a beef was shot and two standing near were so poor that theyfell also. They killed them and skinned all three. Our coffee was madeof wheat bran which was burned then put into water and boiled. Our mealswere very irregular and we became very hungry and weak from one meal tothe next. The coffee was served in tin cups without cream or sugar.
At last in 1865 the War came to an end and we were free to go to ourhomes. I walked as did the others. It took me three days to reach myhome in Louisiana. I had no food except corn bread which had been issuedto us as we were discharged. This gave out and the last twenty-fourhours of my journey I had nothing to eat. That was a grand reunion withthe folks who had remained at home.
I married Susanna Hester in 1867 and we moved to Texas, living there forabout five years. We moved to the Indian Territory about 1873 or 1874.We located at Tahlequah in the Cherokee Nation after traveling for manydays driving two yoke of oxen to a tar pole wagon. The axles of thiswagon were of wood and it was greased with pine tar.
Our mail came to Tahlequah from Fort Gibson. It came to Fort Gibson fromFort Smith on the stage. Then to Tahlequah in a horse cart every otherday.
While we were here an epidemic of smallpox occurred which killed many ofthe Indians. I had gone through the War without taking smallpox but Igot it this time. Doctors were few and hard to get so I moved to a tentand remained there until I was well. The fresh air did more towardcuring me than anything else we did.
The wild pigeons were numerous at this time. I have seen them light onlimbs of large trees and break them with their weight, there was so manyof them.
We cooked on the fireplace with a skillet and lid. Our fires were madewith spunk and flint rock. I used my old army musket for killing thewild game which furnished our meat the entire year. I made my ownbullets. I had a bulled mould which made bullets about the size of amarble. I bought bars of lead about three or four inches in length, oneinch in width and half inch thick. I melted this in an iron vessel overa very hot fire, poured the melted lead into these moulds and turned itaround until the lead formed round balls. Then I turned it out on apiece of tin until it cooled and it was ready to put into the old musket.
My wife made lye soap which was an all purpose soap and she washed with abattling board. It was my task to pound the dirt from the wet clothswith this board. I made our shoes. The leather was tanned with oakbark. The bark was put into boiling water and boiled until it made athick ooze. This was poured over the hide causing the hair to slip.Then the hair was carefully scraped off and the hide was pulled back andforth across a wooden pole until it was dry. Then it was ready to be cutinto shoes. I had a last which I made of a piece of wood. If I wantedshoes black I dyed the leather with copperas and sweet milk. The upperswere sewed by hand with a large needle and strips of buckskin. Holeswere punched with an awl to put the needle through. Eyelets were madewith an awl and the shoes were laced with buckskin. The soles weretacked on with wooden pegs which were also homemade.
My horse collars were made of corn shucks plaited together and coveredwith rawhide. I also used wooden collars. These were cut in twosections and rounded to fit the neck of the horse. They were lacedtogether at the top and bottom with rawhide strings. When the horse wasnot wearing the collar the strings had to be buried in the ground to keepthem soft and pliable otherwise they became so stiff they could not besued. When shuck collars were used I had wooden harness and rawhide tugsbut when the wooden collars were used I did not need harness. The tugswere of rawhide, also, for the wooden collars.
There was no such a thing as a barber shop. My wife trimmed my hair whenit was cut. I usually wore it long, almost to my shoulders.
I moved to Garvin County thirty years ago and have lived here continuallysince that time.
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1839 - 1947 (107 years)
