Den de Oakes fambly cum here from Virginia in 1845 when Massa Robert Allen Oakes was about fourteen or fifteen years old, he cum wid his parents Charles an' Susan Oakes . In de year 1853 Massa Robert put's up a store in Marlin an' he runs dis untill he goes to de War in 1861. He was in de Confederate army, a member of de Co. B. Fifth Texas Regiment. W'en he cum's back from de war he goes back into business, an' w'en Davis was de governor in de days of reconstruction he was de sheriff of Falls County for two years. In de year 1845 he married Mistis Mary Ward a daughter of John Ward one of de pioneer's too, an' Mistis Susan Jane , dat married John Gill was one of dey chillun. I kin remember w'en I was a boy de folks callin' de fambly dat lived in dis cabin, (de brother of de one dat was killed by de Indians,)  Uncle Wash an' Aunt Polly Morgan. Dey lived in dis very cabin an' hit was jes a little ways from whar dey moved hit across de Morgans Sandy Creek. Right behind de house dat I lives in now is de burial ground of de Morgan Fambly. Dey is two stones dat was carved in Italy an' shipped by Galveston an' hauled by wagon train to Marlin whar dey was brought on to de cemetery. Jes' back of de barn to my place is whar dey was an' old Indian camp ground whar dey had dey wigwams an' dis was on de Indian trail from Waco, by de way of Tehuacana on down thro' Marlin an' den on to East an' South Texas. Dey always used dis for dey camp groun' on de Indian hunts an' w'en dey was going from one camp-ground to another. Yer can find old Indian arrows now in dis place. One of de neighbors of de Morgans was Johnson Poole an' old Indian fighter, he lived near dis place in 1853. Another settler was John Greer . Dey cum one fall wid three ox-wagons an' three wagons wid horses pullin' dem. Dey pitched dey camp on Pond Creek near whar de town of Travis is now. Marlin was jes a little village den, den was a grocery store or two an' Green an' Bartlett's hardware store whar de settlers bought dey plows, axes an' de like.

Yes, I remember dem tellin' about de first court-house dat was jes a log cabin dat was built in Marlin. Dey say dat a man by de name of Francis Fredo built hit, an' hit had jes one room made of split logs, an' log benches was used for seats. I 'members how dat Judge Robert Baylor held de first District Court here, his district was de counties of Leon, Limestone, Falls, an' Robertson. De ole log court-house was replaced by a two story cedar building in de early fifties, an' hit was burned in 1868. I 'members going to a hangin' at dis court-house w'en I was a boy, dey was two desperadoes dat killed a man on de Harrison plantation up near Waco on Tehuacana Creek. Dese desperadoes hid out in de Brazos bottom an' de soljers or de officers caught dem wid de blood-hounds. W'en dey hung dem at Marlin dey had a scaffold built out in de court-house yard, an' de military soljers stood in squads on each side of de scaffold, dey pointed dey guns, one of de squads, at de desperadoes an' de other squad stood an' had dey guns pointed at de crowd dat was watchin' de hangin', so if any of dese desperadoes frien's started to take dem dey was goin' to shoot into de crowd. But nobody tried to take dem. W'en dey was ready to spring de trap de soljers fired a shot an' de trap was sprung an' dey necks was broken an' hangin' was over, but de folks jes walked aroun' untill de bodies was taken down. Yes, Mam, I knows a ghost story, dis was about de ole slave dat was named Sumpter Reed dat lived on de banks of de Brazos down not far from de Falls, w'en de big flood cum in 1866 hit caved his house off into de river one night an' no one knew what becum of old Sumpter . From dis time de place has been called Sumpter's hole, an' hit is said to be de "hanted hole. 

I will tell yer de story, I does not know how to explain hit, some of de w'ite folks say hit de phospherous or somethin' like dat. But de niggers call hit a ghost dat hant de hole. After de house fell into de river an' hit cum's a big rain or flood, dey was somethin' w'ite dat would rise out of de river an' git lost in de woods on de other side. De niggers would not fish at de hole after de rains an' so one time some w'ite boys decided dat dey would go down an' see about dis ghost. So dey goes down one night to camp out all night at de hole an' fish after a big rain, least-ways dey camp part of de night. Long about mid-night dey was watchin' dey lines w'en all of a sudden somethin' gib a big grab on dey lines, den somethin' w'ite rose right up out of de water an' cum's a floatin' towards de boys for de other side of de river, de boys did'nt wait to see if hit got to de other side, dey was done gone befo' de ghost had time to git to de other side. Den dey was ernother story of de ole cat-fish dat haunted de hole, dey called him "Ole Tom ", an' w'en de line would be gone, an' w'en dey would be fishin' from de boats an' somethin' hit de side of de boat dey would say dat "Ole tom is after us". Many a w'ite man an' nigger he has tried to catch him no one has ever been able to catch dis spook, an he still hants de river, a bumpin' de boats, skeerin' de fisher-man an' w'en some body git drowned dey say dat "Ole Tom is doin' his dirty work". I must tell yer a little more about de cabin dat was de home of Massa Wash Morgan , an' I forgot to tell yer dat in de year 1850 he was de commissioner of de new county of Falls. He is buried in de little cemetery back of my house an' not far from de cabin whar he an' Aunt Polly lived. Dis cabin of Massa Wash an' Aunt Polly Morgans is now de property of de misses Jim an' Allie Gill an' dey brother Sam of de town of Mart, for dey inherited hit from dey mother Mrs. Susan Oakes Gill . De one dat married John Gill , so you see hit has jes been sold de one time an' dis was from de Morgan fambly to de Oakes fambly. De young Mistis Gill has restored hit back as much as dey possibly could to de way hit was w'en Massa Wash Morgan lived in hit. De room is jes like hit was de logs have never been taken down, dey is put together widout nails jes laid in grooves cut in de end of de logs. Hit has a new roof an' floor an' instid of de ole dirt an' straw chimbley on account of a fire dey has built a rock chimbley. Inside de cabin is de long handed skillet an' de big dutch oven, an' de big old copper kettle dat belonged to de Oakes fambley in de slavery days, an' de old kettle dat Mistis Robert Oakes used to measure the slaves portion w'en dey cum to de kitchen for dey milk.

Dey has de stake an' rider fence aroun' hit jes' as dey had in de days gone by, de rock gate way an' de old rock curb well wid de old big elm trees a sighin' in de wind an' maybe thinkin' of de days w'en Massa Wash latch key hung outside first, den de latch key Massa Robert Oakes left hangin' an' last as hit is still left by de young Mistis Gill as a silent reminder of de days w'en Texas was a Republic. As de same flag dat floated over dese pioneers dat de young Mistis has, de Lone Star of Texas as hit still salutes de breeze. Few of de younger generation know de stories of dese early settlers in de Brazos bottom, or of de old Fort whar de rangers kept dey watch for de Indians an' whar dey risked dey lives dat dese early pioneers might be safe to start dey crops or dat dey folks at home might be safe when dey cum home at night. All dis will soon be forgotten unless dis generation help to keep de memory alive as my young Mistis are doing w'en dey keep dis little old time home jes as hit was in de days of de Republic of Texas, wid de same flag a floating over hit. Somethime I git to thinkin', of de changes time has brought, In dem days de Indians, was roaming every-whar, An' hit made us feel uneasy, for de safety of our Hair, Now de very memory, has been crowded out.