"Rockdale, my hometown, is Texas' heart and significant part of its soul," George Sessions Perry wrote in his book, Texas: A World Unto Itself. Perry wrote with lifelong affection about his hometown, first as a novelist and later as a magazine journalist. He describes the pioneers of Rockdale as typical of restless Southerners who hitched their wagons and moved to Texas after the Civil War. . . . Clay Coppedge . . .
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
1917 :: Death of Whistling Booker
Alfred Booker, (colored) known as "Whistling Booker," died Monday night at the home of a sister, Ellen Woods, as a result of a stroke of paralysis he received when at work in a cotton field adjacent to Rockdale. . . . according to his own statement, was born near Greenboro, Alabama . . . He was born Sept. 1, 1829 [sic], and came across country with his owners, Gray Booker, the Barkers and others who made Texas history. . . . He was never known to miss a barbecue or Confederate reunion, feeling as he did, that he was the living historian of both white and black, and was part and parcel of the place. . . . His was a life well spent. The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 45, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 12, 1917
Thursday, July 6, 2017
1916 :: Just following the flag
"Just following the flag," was suggested at the sight of one 87-year-old ex-slave, Alfred Booker, who in hickory shirt and overalls voluntarilly brought up the rear carrying an American flag. He sawed the postoak block that supported the first raw-hide house in Rockdale, and drilled by hand out of Granite Mountain the 24-foot columns that support the state capitol. The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger (Rockdale, Tex.), Vol. 44, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 6, 1916
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