James Timothy Hart was the second born son of Timothy James and Sarah Ann (Welborn) Hart. His son, Nolan, provides us this glimpse into the life of his family, from which we can learn a little more about life in general for the pioneering efforts of the Hart family in West Texas:
Artesia, New Mexico
August 6, 1984
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the James Timothy Hart family
James Timothy and and Fannie Pearl Waller Hart were married on May 10, 1893. To our
Father and Mother were born four (4) sons and four (4) daughters over the period of 41
years, that being an average of five (5) years between the children’s ages.
My purpose in writing this history of the family is that I was the 4th and oldest child of
the family left at home, my brother, Rube, and my sisters, Maude and Leafie, being the
oldest, were gone from home with a family life of their own. I realized that the
four children younger than I really never did know our Father’s accomplishments and
the success he made and how he lived for his family and the Country in which we live.
James Timothy Hart died at the age of 65 in the year 1936.
My Father, James Timothy Hart, moved this family in to Lubbock, Texas, in the year 1906 or
1907.
My Father, James Hart, having quite a few horses and mules and some cows, moved into
Lubbock, Texas and bought a home at 19th and Ave. G.
The Santa Fe Railroad were or had negotiated for a right-of-way into Lubbock, but the
right-of-way was along the West bank of the dry Brazos Creek Canyon of Lubbock, Texas,
where many of the houses were located. Our Father negotiated with the Railroad and
took the job of moving the houses off the right-of-way to the West of the Courthouse.
He had no equipment, but horse and mules, so he went over to Dickens, Texas, where
they had previously lived. He then, with the help, cut down large dry Cottonwood
trees and hauled them to Lubbock. He cut the trees into 16" or 20"
sections and made wheels or dollies to go under the skid beams up to 24 ft. long, by
laminating 2' by 12' slabs, and with house jacks and blocks and tackles and lots of other
equipment, he moved one house after another, big, little and single, and some two story
houses until he had moved all the houses off the anticipated railroad location. By
the time the tracks were laid out of Amarillo and to Lubbock, he had moved the houses out
of the way and the Railroad entered Lubbock in the year of 1909.
Rube and the two older girls, Maude & Leafie, were in school but I, at the age of six
or seven, became a horse and mule skinner, as they were called. I drove teams
stringing blocks and tackles, jacking up houses and helping get the skids and trucks under
the houses and drawing them on their way to new locations.
In doing this moving ad handling this heavy work, our Father inured his back and had to
sell the house moving business in the year of 1910, and went to farming for one year.
In the teen years, Lubbock had been surveyed and lined with fences around the sections,
and all the roads in and out of Lubbock had to be moved into the road-ways all over the
County.
Our Father took on the County Road work filling lakes and filling low places in road-ways
in and out of Lubbock, Texas. I, being in school, took on some team driving again
driving four, six, or either head of horses and mules building roads all over the County.
The roads had lakes and canyons to fill the base for the highways. That
taking place when I was in school, but I put in all the time I could until the year of
1918. I then went to work with the automobile business for several years, and
finished High School.
Now to the life my Father had built for his family and the County he had lived in. I
being the only child that had worked and shared my life with James Timothy Hart, was the
only one that understood and knew what he was capable of doing. I am sure my Father
did not have any college or maybe not even any schooling of medicine for men and animals,
but I saw and watched all the skills he had to take care of horse colts, male hogs, calves
and others, spaying heifers and others. I have seen my father, a large man weighing
220 lbs., mount a horse and catch a heifer, rope and tie her down, then pull out his
pocket knife and feel the back bone for the location and make a two inch incision and put
in two fingers and come out with the heifer’s ovaries and remove it and turn her
loose a spayed heifer and dehorned. The male calves were castrated with the flawless
art to produce the most valued of a beef steer for steaks.
And when it was necessary to help a cow bring a calf that was trying to come feet first,
which would kill the cow, he deliberately entered one hand into the cow’s vent and
turned the calf, if at all possible. He also know how and when to bleed a horse that
was ailing with food digestion to relieve him.
On another occasion he and I went out to below the Caprock from Lubbock on the Brazos
River east of Post, Texas, to gather cattle in the Spring. He would drive the chuck
wagon and I would wrangle the cow horses for the cowboys. We arrived about 4:00 p.m.
below the Caprock. He found his location where we were to meet the cowboys, who had
gone on ahead to gather the cattle and meat for supper. He saddled a horse and
selected, caught, killed and dressed a yearling and in two hours had supper ready with
beef, potatoes, gravy and dutch over biscuits. A meal for ranch hands and or any man
or woman.
He fairly loved the opportunity to Barbecue beef with all the trimmings, at some event
such as July 4th, which he did many times which pleased many gatherings. I also
enjoyed them as he did.
If the occasion was for mid-day barbecue, the day before he would prepare the Pit and
stretch wire fincing to hold the meat above the pit for cooking. He would gather
mesquite grubs for fire wood and all the necessities and late in the afternoon we would
start the fire. By 11:00 p.m. we would be turning large pieces of hot, dripping meat
with pitch forks. We would continue turning and seasoning through out the night and
early morning. That meant that by 11:00 a.m. he was ready for the feast. In
the meantime, he could always find plenty of stew meat that he cooked in pots and called
it "Sun-of-a-Gun". He used for seasoning salt, vinegar, black pepper, hot
sauces, etc., lots of seasoning that he could drive that seasoning through and through the
meat and the flavor was superb Barbecue for a King.
My brothers and sister, our father was an all around husband, father, and friend to man
and beast.
Dear ones, I pray that you also find and praise our father and find some affection, peace
and joy in the wonderful life that he gave for one and all, so long ago.
Sincerely.
Nolan Erlon Hart
This personal history has been preserved by and comes to us courtesy of James Timothy Hart's great-granddaughter, Doris Fletcher. As extended family, we are certainly grateful to have it!
Author: Roger L. Roberson, Jr. • Last updated: 11 January 2003