Francis Edward Abernethy (1925–2015)

2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

The Folklore of Texan Cultures by Francis Edward Abernathy (1974) 366 pages.

FOLKLORE: The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally. [The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition]

This book is loaded with interesting photos, tales and customs, little short stories of life in little towns and villages around Texas back in the day, and even a little background history of how they immigrated here to Texas from their mother country and where they predominantly settled. There are 26 cultures represented in this book by various authors. But, I found that some of the historical information contradicted each other. Take horses, for instance. The Introduction said the Spanish brought the first horses here. (Intro, p. xx) One author stated the Indians had hunted them down for food for the past 25,000 years.(p. 7) Another stated Mexicans had brought the first 16 pure-bred horse in 1521, and they taught the Indians to ride and round up the cattle. (p. 65)

But, all-in-all, I enjoyed it, if even a little long winded when explaining their religious and marriage customs. I’m sure much of this is no longer being practiced. As it was, back in the ‘70s when this book was being put together by interviewing the elders or research (there’s quite an impressive list of references at the end of each chapter), many early customs and family traditions of marriage, religion, and celebrations had already disappeared.

It’s also interesting to read how the immigrants of the early days of the development of the United States faired compared to the ones now entering the United States by the millions.

END OF REVIEW

———————————————

MY NOTES

This book was published two years before, but honoring the memory of the 200th year of the American Bicentennial (1776-1976), the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic and the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Fathers.

Texas became a state in 1845. On December 29th, 2023, Texas will be 178 years old. In this 1974 publication, there are 26 different cultures represented, and the stories are presented by different authors. Here is list according to the index, and places where settled, if provided:

Indians Two tribes still in Texas whose customs can be seen and lores can be learned word of mouth: Tiguas of Ysleta del Sur, a suburb of El Paso, and the Alabama-Coushatts of East Texas, on a reservation near Livingston. There were others, but these were prominent.

Spanish 12.3% DNA 23andMeBrought the first guns, gun powder, armor and metal weapons, new diseases…and horses…they say here in the Intro, but on page 7, author Edwin W. Gason, Jr., states they had been hunting horses, along with Plerstocene camel and mammoth, for the past 25,000 years. They settled permanently, after several attempts, in Nacogdoches in 1779.

French 11.1% DNA 23andMe They say French culture has all but disappeared. What’s left is a mention of a few French in the Alsation village of Castroville, [descendants from immigrants originally from the French province of Alsace], and the Acadian colonies of the Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange triangle [descendants of immigrants from the Acadians-French settlers on the Canadian peninsula of Nova Scotia].

Mexicans Part Spanish/part Indian, accompanied the Spaniards in the first penetration of Texas as soldiers, priests and settlers, settling predominantly in South Texas.

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant

Negroes 3.3% Sub-Saharan African DNA 23andMe Most lore preserved comes from slaves before the Civil War. But, the first black man, Estevan, came to Texas with the Spaniard’s conquest north of the Rio Grande in 1528. In the 18th century, fifteen percent of settlers from Mexico were mixtures of Negro blood and were freedmen.

Germans Have been in Texas in greater numbers, and the longest, than any other ethnic group. They first started settling in Austin in 1831. What about the Spaniard settlers settling in Nacogdoches in 1779? Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill Country, is predominantly German’s from Hanover, Westphalia, Brunswick, and Thuringia, Germany. (p. 153).

Irish 53.6% DNA 23andMe Colonized concentrations on coastal prairie of San Patricio and Refugio Counties in 1833-34. (p. xxiii) Later, some families found their way to San Antonio settling north of the Post Office in an area known as the “Irish Flats”. (p. 159) Dublin, Texas, is another area with a large number of Irish who celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on a large scale, as big as Mardi Gras is celebrated in the Catholic Cajun and French culture in Southeast Texas and Louisiana.

Scots Were so intermingled with flood of Anglo-American immigrants that they were lost in the general population and difficult to trace. Although, there are quite a few notable Scots mentioned. Some show up in Waco and on Galveston Island, West Texas, and Central Texas Highlands. [Scottish Festivals and Highland Games are held in McKinney, Decatur, San Antonio, Paige, Houston, Arlington, and Austin. This may , at least give an idea where Scots have predominantly settled and are living today, in 2023.] At the festvals, you’ll see dancers dance the Fling, the Sword Dance, the Seann Triubhas, and the Strathspey Reel of Tulloch. You’ll see solo pipers and the marching pipe band, and cabor (telephone type poles) and sheaf tossing. (p. 172-73) And, I bet, although not mentioned, great food.

Dutch Descendants of an 1895 colony settled in Nederland

Danes Settled in Danevang in Wharton County, which has become a prosperous agricultural community.

Poles Mass immigration began in 1854, settling in Panna Maria in Karnes County. It is the oldest Polish settlement in North America. (p. xxv) They have expanded throughout South Texas, into the Hill Country, and into the far Western Panhandle (towns of Bandera, San Antonio, St. Jadwiga, Meyersville, Yorktown, New Waverly and Huntsville) (p. 204)

Czechs came in large numbers after mid-19th century, settling around Corpus Christi, Bryan, La Grange, West, Ennis, and Dallas. Czech farm communities where old language can still be heard…New Bremen, Fayetteville, Hostyn, Dubina and Praha.

Norse Organized migrations began in 1854, settling in Bosque County, specifically in the towns of Meridian, Norse and Cransfills Gap. Considered “little Norway of Texas” where language, food and customs are preserved. Swedes settled in the Austin-Round Rock area.

Greeks, Lebanese, & Syrians Each live in tight-knit communities around their churches, preserving their old traditions and resist marrying into other groups. Greeks and Syrians concentrated in large towns, while the Lebanese are mostly scattered throughout small towns. There’s a large Italian community of fishermen on Galveston Island, the older Italians originally from Catania, Sicily, then migrated from Florida to Texas in 1930s and 1940s. (p. 267)

Italians Prominent in Houston, Galveston and San Antonio

Slavs Settled at Galveston

Wends from Prussia and Saxony; not Germans, but were descendants of the Veneti and the Polab Slavs (p. 295); settled around Serbin in Lee County

Jews There is a large Jewish population of Jews in Houston where they can be educated at the South Texas Hebrew Academy or the day school, Congregation Beth Yeshurun. (p. 307-08).

Chinese In 1870, 300 Chinese men were brought to Texas to build a railroad from Calvert to Dallas. [Look into books about this history. They were brutally treated.] They were then incorporated into the black labor force. In the Calvert-Hearne area in the Brazos Valley are many dark-skinned Texans with Chinese names and oriental eyes. In 1916, a number of Chinese were rescued from vengeance of Pancho Villa by General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing and settled near Fort Sam Houston [Look more into this history]. The older Chinese communities are tight-knit and centered around their churches. (p. xxvii) Today, can find large communities in Houston.

Japanese Although more numerous than the Chinese, they are less noticeable…I’m sure due to the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. Afterwards, all the Japanese were rounded up and sent to concentration camps around the U.S. They had rice farms in Webster and Orange… (más)