The history of Demetrious Seldon Billington starts in Texas. The following oral stories were recorded via tape recorder by Estelle Fontana, Dee's youngest daughter, then transcribed here as the Billington Story Collection, from the voice recording.
"Dad was born in Limestone Co,
Texas near what is now Tyler, Texas. His father raised thoroughbred horses and
that's where Dad got his love for horses and a keen knowledge of them and of
riding. I don't know how extensive their land holdings were, but they wouldn't
be the storybook plantation owners. I believe they were comfortably fixed but
not rich. They were not plantation owners with lots of slaves but most people
except the "poor whites" had some. Dad remembered his father and
uncle talking about slavery. They were quite religious (Baptists) and they felt
strongly that slavery was wrong. They had a few slaves though, and when Dad's
father and uncle talked about slavery they concluded that the right of some
human beings to own others, was wrong and would have to end. But they felt the
negroes would have to be educated so they could take care of themselves.
Therefore, they required the black children to go to school with the others. It
wasn't against the law there to teach black children.
There was a young black boy about
Dad's age named Jim. Dad and Jim were great friends. Families lived far apart,
so the children made up their own games and things to entertain themselves. Jim
and Dad liked to tell stories of witchcraft and superstition, etc. until they
would scare themselves and run to the house. One of the superstitions was about
the Will-O-the Wisp - a light that seemed to dance over a swampy area. Dad and
Jim had been sent to a neighbor to bring back an iron pot the neighbor had
borrowed. The neighbor lived about 3 miles away. Suddenly they saw it-- “The
Will-O-the Wisp.”
"Massa Dee, ifen we doin' t
run faster than 0 " will-O-the wisp
we's daed, sure nuff," said Jim. And they ran as fast as they
could. Dee thought he was a fast runner, but Jim was ahead of him with the iron
pot on his head looking like a headless ghost.
When they reached home, Jim fell
in the door and the iron pot rolled across the floor. Dad sank down in the doorway.
"What's the matter with you boys?" asked his father. All they could
answer was
" wh---wh---wh==wh.
(
****
"Another time Dee and Jim had been to the
neighbors and had to go through a wood.
Coming back at dark through the woods Dee said,
“Look at those
branches. Don’t they look like
Longhorns?”
“Dey is Longhorns!” shouted Jim
and ran back hollerin, “Run, Dee, you’re gonna get runned over!”
They both ran as fast as they
could back to the neighbors, sure that they heard the pounding hooves of
stampeding Longhorns. The neighbors had
to take them home; they were too afraid to go by themselves."
****
"One day the thought came to Dad
that Jim could be his slave. That made him feel pretty important. That evening
he asked his father if Jim could be his slave.
"Would YOU like to be a
slave?" asked his father.
"No, but I'm not
black," said Dad.
"You don't have to be black
to be a slave. Being a slave means you belong to someone else. They can do
anything they want with you and you can't do the things you want to do. You
can't plan what you want to be or want to do."
"I would be good to
HIM," said Dad.
"Dee, Jim can either be your
slave or your friend. Which would you want?"
Dad thought awhile and said, “I guess I’d rather
have him as a friend.”
And they were friends until the slaves were all
freed and Dad and his family left Texas for Missouri. He often wondered how Jim
fared. Things got pretty tough during the Reconstruction and people lost
contact one with another."
"Dad's father,James A. Billington and his brother (Uncle Toss), joined the confederate army as every able-bodied man in the South had to. They brought their own guns. When the officer inspected their guns, he asked where they got them. They said they made them. The officer then said they could do more for the army making guns than serving on the front line, so they set them up with more equipment to produce guns. The location where the guns were made was kept a secret. Dad was often sent to bring them their meals and he had to watch to see that no one saw him."
****
"After the war, Dee's folks, like so many suffered great loss and with many others took their remaining stock and went north to Missouri. Dee often declared that the South wasn't beaten, they were starved out. The period that followed, called the Reconstruction, was a bitter time for the South.
Dad was about 12 when his mother and father and all the children joined many other ranchers who had suffered losses from the Civil War and drove their horses north. A book was written about that drive named, "North of 36". Dad said he guessed he rode farther than the rest of them because he had to ride over and investigate every thing he saw in the distance."
***
"As the problems and the bitterness of the
Reconstruction mounted, the ranchers decided to take their remaining stock and
go north where land in the mid-west was opening up for settlement. They decided
if they all went together they would be safer from Indians and could help each
other with the stock. So Dad's family decided to join the others and head for
Missouri. They took the remaining thoroughbred horses and with their belongings
in a couple of wagons, and left Texas.
The book,"North of 36"
was written about that drive. From Texas to Missouri was a pretty long
horseback ride but Dad, like the other boys, rode much farther; they had to
ride to investigate everything they saw then ride back to join the others. When
his father caught the boys racing, Dad was reprimanded sharply. He had to tie
his horse to the wagon and ride in the wagon until he could think about caring
for his horse properly. After all, the horse had a long way to go and racing
him wasn't very kind to him. Dad, like all growing boys had lot to learn. He
was adventuresome and mischievous."
+ + + +
"One
day Dad found a dead Indian. He galloped back to tell the others.Several men rode back with him
to see what he was yelling about. When they saw that the Indian had died of small
pox, Dad was severely reprimanded for "endangering" the others. He
was told to stay with the group from then on."
+ + + +
"There was an old man and his wife
who had been their servants for years. When the slaves were freed, they didn't
know where to go or what to do. They begged to go with the family. They cried
like babies, Dad said. Finally, Dad's mother told them they could come but to
remember they were free. They arrived in Missouri at a time when there was
great conflict as to whether Missouri was to be slave state or a free state.
Feelings were still strong against those who had slaves. Dad said he thought
they were going to fight the war over again because people thought they had
brought slaves with them. It was hard to convince some that these "slaves"
were free and begged to come because they didn't know where they could go or
who would take care of them."
+ + + +
"They settled in a little town
named Carollton, Missouri. Dad and his brothers and sister went to school there
and attended the Baptist Sunday School regularly. Dad really learned his Bible
there. He always remembered his Sunday School teacher, Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly
must have had a good influence on those young boys."
***
"I guess Dad was pretty good in
school and was a consistent winner in the spelling bees. But before a final
match he was afraid he couldn't spell the word diarrhea, so he studied it until
he was sure he wouldn't miss it. When the time for the match came it looked
like Dad would win. Only two others were still standing. Dad was given the word
"diary". He spelled it "diarrhea." Once more he was given
the word "diary" because they thought he misunderstood the word, but
Dad insisted on spelling "diarrhea" and was counted out."
****
"By age thirteen Dad was already
"The Man of the House."
His father, James, died in Carrollton in 1868. Since
Dee was the oldest and knowledgeable about horses, his mother depended on him
being there when anyone came to buy a horse. That was good excuse to be out of
school and Dad used it to the limit. He finally dropped out of school. That
ended his education as far as school was concerned. But as he grew he became an
avid reader and had a great curiosity about people and things and was considered
a well-educated man."
***
"At one time Dad was an actor and singer on a show boat. We have
pictures (a tin-type) of him in costume taken at this time. He worked on a
river boat on the Missouri River from St.Louis to Bismarck N.D. Although much
is written about Deadwood and the wild west, Dad said Bismarck was the worst
town of them all. He said whenever the boat docked, he always put a piece of
iron pipe up his sleeve before he left. It's a good thing he did, because one
night three men attacked him. He hit one and he fell down like he was dead. Dee
thought he had killed him ... and the others ran away."
+
+ +
"It was
during this time that he got the idea to go to the Black Hills and hunt buffalo.
He left Carrollton, Missouri and rode horseback all the way to Deadwood, South
Dakota. While there he earned the reputation as such a good rider and good
"shot" that the Indians invited him to hunt with them. As they didn't
admire the white man's riding or hunting ability, he was one of the few white
men they let hunt with them." (See "The Buffalo Hunt" by James
Fontana- next blog)
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| D.S. Billington, the actor |
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| The Steamboat, "The St. Louis" |
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