Slocum, Texas

Slocum
Unincorporated community
Slocum Location within the state of Texas Slocum Slocum (the United States)
Coordinates: 31°37′53″N 95°27′44″W
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Anderson
Government
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)

Slocum is an unincorporated community in southeast Anderson County, Texas, in the United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 198 in 2018. It is located within the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area.

It is notable as the site of what is known as the Slocum Massacre, an unprovoked attack by a large mob of whites on what was then a majority-black community on July 29–30, 1910. Some twenty-two Blacks were documented as killed; other estimates are that up to ten times that number may have been murdered.

History

The community's name is thought to have originated with E.T. McDaniel, the first shopkeeper and postmaster, who had long sought to get a post office for the community. When the town was authorized a US post office in 1898, the residents called it a "slow come." Other reported reasons for the name Slocum include slow-coming fortunes being made, or town growth being slow. It developed as a place of majority black settlement, by freedmen and their descendants. They established families, businesses, and farms. After the 1910 massacre described below, many surviving blacks left the area for good in order to save their lives.

In 1914, the community had two general stores and 45 people; by 1927 the population increased to 200. By 1939 the community had rebuilt and had eight new businesses and 160 inhabitants. The discovery of oil in nearby fields caused the community's economy to receive a boost in the late 1950s, and by 1964, the community's population grew to 200 residents. Afterward, the community declined to 110 people in 1970. It grew to 125 in 1974, holding there until 1990. The community had four businesses, two churches, and a few homes in the mid-1980s. It doubled to 250 in 2000 but declined to 175 in 2014.

Slocum massacre of 1910

Main article: Slocum massacre

Several events may have sparked the attacks in July 1910 in Slocum, which were fed by rumors. After a black person was lynched by whites nearby, rumors spread in the white community that black people were planning revenge. Reportedly a scuffle broke out over a business disagreement between a white and a black resident, and again, there were reports that blacks were arming. But newspaper accounts called on area white residents to arm and come to Slocum to defend local whites. Many accounts said that white resident James Spurger instigated events by claiming that he was threatened by black people.

Another reported cause of the Slocum Massacre was the victory of Jack Johnson, who was African American, over white boxer James J. Jeffries, in what was billed as the 1910 "Fight of the Century". Race riots broke out in more than one location afterward as resentful whites attacked blacks.

On July 29–30, 1910, a mob of 200 to 300 armed white men, most on horseback, started attacking Slocum, where they killed an unknown number of African Americans.

Newspapers, including the New York Times, originally reported 8 to 22 deaths among blacks. But evidence indicates more, and survivors' stories say that the actual death toll may have reached upward of 200 victims. Bodies were found across a wide area, including in fields and canebrakes.

Sheriff William H. Black of Anderson County described the attacks as "Men were going about killing Negroes as fast as they could find them, and, so far as I was able to ascertain, without any real cause". He said, “There was just a hot-headed gang hunting them down and killing them.…They were just hunting the negroes down like sheep."

Days after the rioting was finished, when Judge Gardner convened a grand jury, he ordered saloons, gun shops, and ammunition stores in nearby Palestine to be closed. By the end of July, several days later, the state ordered militia to the community to ensure quiet was maintained. The riot was initially blamed on the Blacks, who were rumored to be planning a "race war" in retaliation for the nearby recent lynching of a black man. The commanding officer requested a company of militia as well.

Before the massacre, the majority of Slocum's several hundred residents were black. During and after the riot, many black residents fled the town to save their lives. They were forced to abandon real estate, homes, and other assets. Their property was seized, and the victims never received compensation from the county or state.

All known victims in Slocum were unarmed, and most were documented as having been shot in the back - as they fled. No white people were even injured. Spurger, Reagon McKenzie, S. F. Jennings, and at least 13 other white men were arrested for the attacks. Spurger and six others were indicted on 22 counts of murder, but none was tried.

State Judge B. H. Gardner had convened a grand jury; almost all local citizens were subpoenaed. Prominent people who resisted testifying were arrested. Gardner arranged for a change of venue and sent the defendants to be tried in Houston, but the special prosecutor did not proceed. Local elections resulted in Gardner and others involved in prosecuting the case being defeated for office. As the next administration did not resume the process, the defendants were released without trial.

In May 2014, journalist E. R. Bills published The 1910 Slocum Massacre: An Act of Genocide in East Texas with The History Press. The following August, Constance Hollie-Jawaid, a Dallas Independent School District administrator, whose great-grandfather, Jack Holley, was among the Slocum Massacre victims, enlisted Bills to help apply for a Texas state historical marker commemorating the Slocum Massacre. Jack Holley had survived the massacre and fled with his family, losing the granary, dairy, and general store that he had developed after being freed from slavery.

Other survivors included Wilustus "Lusk" Holley, who witnessed his brother, Alex, being murdered. Lusk escaped by playing dead until the mob had moved on. He left the county altogether, moving to Fort Worth. But Reagan and Marshall Holley were among blacks who stayed in Anderson County, living there for the rest of their years.

Hollie-Jawaid found members of the Anderson County Historical Commission (including Chairman Jimmy Ray Odem and Commissioner Greg Chapin) to be antagonistic to her marker application. She decided to go around them and applied directly to the Texas State Historical Commission. The state approved the marker on January 29, 2015.

On January 16, 2016, a Slocum Massacre historical marker was dedicated; it was placed one-half mile south of Slocum on FM 2022. In addition to the Holleys, seven other men known to have been killed in the massacre were identified on the marker: Cleveland Larkin, Sam Baker, Dick and Jeff Wilson, Ben Dancer, John Hays, and Will Burly.

Several years later, the Slocum Massacre has been classified as "forgotten", because it is not taught in Texas history classes. Members of the county historical commission, Odem and Chapin, are among those who say that the massacre never happened. Despite contemporary newspaper accounts and records, they say there is a lack of evidence or there was no race riot; rather than whites reacted to black provocation.

1929 tornado

A tornado demolished Slocum in 1929, causing eight deaths and 150 injuries. Only two houses were left standing in the settlement. A mule was swept up into a tree during the tornado, and rescuers had to cut the tree down to bring it back to safety. One of the saws from the sawmill was also stuck in a tree. A woman named Vic Lively said her cousin's house was picked up and set down to face another direction. Other accounts said that a local door was found across the river. A wagon with a team still attached by harnesses was found in a pasture after it was swept away by the tornado. One of the horses had a 2x4 sticking out of its back but survived. Another resident saw cars rushing to the scene to see the damage caused by the tornado. Clothes from a nearby store destroyed by the tornado were found stuck in trees as if they decorated the town. Survivors tore up available clothes to use as bandages for people wounded in the tornado. A little girl carried her little brother's dead body two miles from her home in search of help. Her birthday gifts from a party the day before blew away during the tornado; none was found again.

Geography

Farm to Market Road 2022 intersects at Texas State Highway 294 at Slocum, located 12 mi (19 km) southeast of Palestine. It is in the southeastern part of Anderson County in East Texas.

Education

Slocum had its own school in the mid-1980s. The Slocum Independent School District serves area students who attend Slocum High School and Slocum Elementary School. It is a very small school system: as of 2016-2017, there were around 300 students in grades K 12. It is registered as a 1A by UIL. Slocum ISD recently completed construction of the new Slocum High School, which opened for the 2016-2017 school year. The high school's track team has competed at the state level, although the school had no track. They trained by running through pastures.

F. Ernest Day was a teacher and coach at the school. He had been the star pitcher of the community's baseball team in the early 1900s.

During the 1929 tornado, school superintendent Thomas Gatlin ordered students to hide under their desks. Although the two-story frame school building was destroyed, none of the students was injured or killed.

Civic support

Slocum has one volunteer fire department. The VFD holds an annual BBQ and school reunion to raise money to provide for the needs of the fire department. There is also a community-wide reunion held at the school's cafeteria on the Sunday before Mother's Day. Women who live in the community bring homemade cakes and other goodies.