THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD

THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD
Source: McIlvane, Myra Hargrave, Shadows on the Land: An Anthology of Texas* Historical Marker* Stories. Austin: Texas Historical Commission, 1984, p. 79. © Institute of Texan Cultures, 1997
Slaves along the Navidad River in Lavaca and Jackson Counties called it "The Thing that Comes," for, though no one saw it, there was always evidence that Something had come. On moonlit nights from as early as 1836, people would find food missing from their cabins, even though an intruder would have had to step over sleeping dogs to reach it. Families stopped fattening hogs, because a fat hog would inevitably be replaced by a scrawny one. Though valuables such as watches or money were never taken, sometimes tools would disappear only to reappear later, beautifully polished. Occasionally searchers would find a camp, but "The Thing" never returned while they waited. Finally, in 1851, residents of the county captured a solitary African who wore no clothes and spoke no English. Later that year, a sailor who spoke the man's African dialect came traveling through. Turned out, the man was a prince who'd been sold into slavery as a child. After reaching Texas, he and a companion had escaped, but the companion had died from exposure after a few years. The Wild Man of the Navidad was sold into slavery in Victoria and lived in Refugio and Victoria Counties until his death in 1884.
"Wild Man of the Navidad" Historical Marker in Lavaca County	Wild Man of the Navidad: truth or tall tale? Article by Randy Reese in Victoria Advocate Online, July 23, 2002	Wild Man of Navidad at Sublime Article from Handbook of Texas Online
According to some accounts, the "Wild Man of the Navidad" was sold first as a slave to Pelitiah Bickford of Refugio County and later to Bickford's father-in-law, Seaborn Lewis of Victoria County. He was known as "Jimbo".
Pelitiah Bickford 1860 Census - Crescent Village (Hynes Bay) - Refugio County	Pelitiah Bickford Marriage to Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of Seaborn Lewis Victoria County	Pelitiah Bickford 1870 Census - Refugio Post Office - Refugio County

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Return to Home of Refugio Co., TXGenWeb

© Copyright 2009 to present - The TXGenWeb Project
All rights reserved.
All information/material on this website is provided for and may be used by individuals who are researching Refugio County history or the genealogy of Refugio County residents. The information may be freely used by non-commercial entities, libraries or genealogical societies as long as this copyright notice appears on the copied material. Commercial use of this information is strictly prohibited without prior written permission. The electronic pages on this site may not be reproduced in any format for profit or commercial use.

Notice to Webmasters:
You may not copy and paste the material, data or information on any of the pages of this site to another web page or site without obtaining explicit written permission to do so and without including the copyright notice.