Stitched Together: Freedom Colony Families Along the Cibolo – an open commonplace notebook

  Theresa McCloud Moore (1837-1887)   Josephine Golson in Bailey’s Light records that Theresa McCloud was one of the slaves that g ained their freedom from J. H. Polley. I have not been able to determine when or how J. H. Polley acquired Theresa McCloud. We do know, according to Census Records that she was born in Texas.   Possibly she is one of the persons referred to in this excerpt from J. H. Polley’s estate:“Whereas my daughters Mary A. Baylor and Susan R. Henderson having each one negro girl slave in their possession belonging to my Estate, it is my will and desire that each of my said daughters retain the possession of the negro girl now in her custody…Should either of my daughters who are now single marry before the first distribution of my estate…it is my will and I direct that she or they…shall receive three hundred head of stock cattle and ten head   of horses…and further direct..she shall be entitled to receive into her possession...

    Cato Morgan (1812?-1887?)   Cato Morgan, born in North or South Carolina around 1812, was purchased by J. H. Polley on 22 September 1836 from James Reed. Morgan and Reed were slave traders that bought slaves in New Orleans at the St. Louis Hotel. Morgan and Reed brought the enslaved people by ship to Velasco, and then shipped them up the Brazos to Brazoria to be sold to Austin’s Colony (1) .       Cato was a trusted servant of the Polleys. J. B. Polley in his “Historical Reminiscences” writes that Cato “was recognized among his fellow darkeys as ‘Ole Marster’s favorright.’” Cato was an authority around the plantation. He was privileged to carry a shotgun and was considered a fairly good marksman. Cato accompanied Polley on many of his cattle drives. J. B. Polley recorded an episode of Cato picking mustang grapes for Mrs. Polley to make preserves and being attacked by Indians. He also mentioned that Cato was a grown slave in 1858 in on...

On Saturday, 3 February 2024, a new exhibit opened at the Sutherland Springs Historical Museum. The exhibit is my attempt to honor the people who were enslaved by J. H. Polley. In some cases I have managed to gather quite a bit of information. Sometimes my story is stitched together from a variety of sources and may or may not be completely correct. In some cases I have been able to find very little about the people at all. I welcome corrections and additions. I have managed, I think, to discover all of their names. My research included J. B. Polley's "Historical Reminiscences" articles in the San Antonio Daily Express , Josephine Golson's book, Bailey's Light, Slave Schedules, Census Records, Deeds, Probate Wills, newspaper articles, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, Death Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Public School Tax Records, Tiner Diaries, Mark Gretchen's Slave Transactions of Guadalupe Co., Texas , La Vernia Historical Association's La Vernia Family L...

In 1847 Joseph and Mary Polley loaded up all their worldly possessions into carts, and leaving the rather established community in Brazoria, headed some 200 miles to the Texas frontier on the banks of the Cibolo Creek in Wilson County. They would spend the next twenty years establishing their plantation, creating a flourishing cattle business, raising and educating their children, creating a community for their family, servants, visitors, and slaves, and building and furnishing a beautiful stone house that has endured for over 175 years.  Polley Mansion, Whitehall. Courtesy of Robin Muschalek   We know their story, because the family, being literate and privileged by education and wealth, kept records, and preserved those records for future generations [1] . For example, the Polleys bought a Seven Octave Rosewood Pianoforte from N. P. B. Curtiss, with pearl keys and carved legs in 1857, manufactured by Smith Atherton and Co., [2] and purchased in New York b...