![]() Recently, our area had the opportunity to experience the site of Big Boy. The Union Pacific Railroad Company Locomotive, also known as Union Pacific 4014, is the type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company to haul heavy freight trains. Seeing Big Boy as it approached the city of Springs’ train stop was impressive even for me and many others, judging by the crowds it has generated everywhere it has traveled. Given the fact, I’ve had opportunities to travel the world, this Big Boy was something. One can only imagine what a young African-American boy, born of ex-enslaved people in a time of great prejudices and blaring signs of everything not accessible to him, would have thought the first time he saw a massive black steam engine approaching his hometown of Willis, Texas, in 1876. Such was the case of Ned Eastman Barnes born in 1866 in Danville, Montgomery County, Texas with parents probably sharecropping during this post Civil War environment. Willis was a tiny rural area at the time with mud streets, candle lights, kerosene and oil lamps, log cabins, or rough wood structures for housing, horses, and buggies, or walking as the only modes of transportation; railways must have seemed almost mythical. Due to segregation, African-American children like Ned Eastman Barnes were allowed a fifth-grade education in their local area. If a child wanted to have the opportunity for advanced learning, they would have to leave the area because those opportunities did not exist for these young, poor black children like Ned Eastman Barnes. As a child, working as a houseboy for the T. W. Smith-Owen family, listening as this sometimes lumbering, sometimes roaring, but always moving train coming to and through his hometown and dreaming of seeing the conductors, addressing various challenges on this equipment, and imagining ways to improve those challenges. He would one day file and receive eight patterns for improvements in this system. He would also receive two additional patents in other areas for other mechanical and structural improvements. Having had no mechanical engineering education and yet developing a mechanical engineering aptitude, for many of us today seems impossible, but for those in the Barnes community of the time knew it was a fact. He was well-known and appreciated in his community among his family, church, family, and friends. It must not have been easy because, at the time he received his first patents, there were probably many other applications denied. Looking at the life Ned Eastman Barnes, one gets the impression nothing came easy, even trying to list his occupation on the 1900 census. The enumerator left this area blank, yet the community at the time knew he identified himself as an inventor. His occupation was not listed until the 1910 census when he had received approval for four of his patents. He would go on to get a total of 10 patents, and one of those was shared with Berger Edmond. Ned Eastman Barnes died in 1952 and is buried in Willis, Montgomery County, Texas, his hometown. C. Stubblefield Walker
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Today, as a member of the Montgomery County Historical Commission, I had the honor of attending the dedication of a Historical marker for Tamina Sweet Rest Cemetery in the community of Tamina. Tamina is located south of Conroe, near the Woodlands and Shenandoah, Texas. Tamina was founded in 1871 by a group of freedman. The community thrived with churches, community, markets, post office, barber shop and many comforts of a close community. Tamina Sweet Rest Cemetery was also founded at that time. The people took great pride in the final resting place of their loved ones, maintaining each plot and visiting often. Time and it's many changes have put the cemetery under water, up to three feet. The markers are damaged if not missing. Tamina is still a community, most of whom still have kin in the cemetery but unable to visit them. Time has also worn down roads and other infrastructure. Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray was on hand for the dedication and also for a special announcement. Three million dollars has been allocated to Tamina under the project management of Commissioner Gray to address the condition of the cemetery and fix it, in addition to updating infrastructure. It was a very good day and I'm pleased to see the community of Tamina get the recognition they deserve.
As part of the team scheduled to digitize this treasure trove of documents, photos, letters, original newspapers from beginning in 1837 and so much more, I left every day in joy for having the privilege of seeing and handling all of this immense amount of valuable historical information. The family members we met at the location were wonderful people and their memories added to our delight as a new find came to light. We worked from early morning to evening, 5 operating scanning and photography set ups with 20 volunteers to either man the equipment or sift through the rooms full of files, boxes, books, and original letters and maps. All of the images saved - and I can't even guess the number - will now be cropped, categorized, titled and eventually placed on FamilySearch.org. I'm honored to be a part of this group and see our Texas and Montgomery County/Town come to life.
Kirsten Beard
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AuthorKirsten Beard - BFA Graphic Design; Archivist with History Taskforce Archives
October 2024
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