Negroes
of Shake Rag Appoximately
two and a half miles east of
the town of Holliday is a territory
which has been named
Shake Rag. It used to be well
inhabited by negroes. They had
a negro school where all the children
attended. The old
negroes church was torn down recently.
Bishop Mac was the minister and his
best liked sermon was "The Speckled Bird". The negroes
thought be was the grandest
man the Lord ever produced. The
negro-women have played a very important part in the rearing of some of
the middle aged people of this town. They would come from
Shake Rag two or three times a week and wash, iron or do anything
that was desired for them to
do. Sometimes they would be seen coming up the track with a very heavy
load on their heads. They
could. carry very
heavy loads in this manner. If they saw anyone they
would remove
the load and carry it in their arms. Once in a while they would
bring their children with them, and during the day the white and black children would
have a
good time playing
together. Some
of the prominent negroes of the older
day were Sally, who made
her home with Greg Glascock, Crawford, Judy and Taylor Galbert. Others
are: John Williams, Aunt Ellen, Jim Calloway, Cora Heathman. There are
only five negroes left in the settlement. They are Judy Hawker, Sherman
Galbert and Myrtle Galbert. Northwest of Art Hemmings’s garden they would have big meetings every summer. Some of the negroes were the Bassetts, and the Pettis. |