#AlbertHubert | #Blackdomites c.1920

Albert’s side-hustle in the city became his main-hustle and Blackdom Township lost him to a consistent paycheck as well as the responsibility to his blossoming family. He was a literate Texan, who according to the 12th U.S. Census of 1900, was “about 30” married to 20-year-old Pearl. The Hubert family included their two-year-old daughter Sadee, and possibly a nine-year-old daughter Bernice from a previous relationship. From 1900 through 1930 the Hubert family steadily grew every 3 to 5 years.

By 1920, the Hubert family consisted of Pearl and six kids-Bernice (24), Juanita (18), Linwood (son 14), Valerie (daughter 12), Burt (son 10), and Mattie (daughter 7). Albert worked for the Travis Ellis family whose patriarch was a railroad auditor who migrated from Kentucky. In 1900, Travis was 29 and his Indiana-born wife Maude was 27. With the help of Albert, Maude worked from home taking care of two daughters.

Southeastern New Mexico had developed into a Southern-styled Confederate society and some Roswellians embraced visiting lecturers who promoted the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1924, the Pioneer Klan of Roswell inaugurated its existence with a cross-burning in the city. Albert’s Kentucky-born employer may or may not have been a Klan sympathizer, but Albert was risk-averse and not likely to test those limits. For him, Blackdom may have appeared both dangerous financially and physically.

Albert was both a “servant” and co-founder of Blackdom. One can only wonder what he felt on April 9, 1920, when he read in the Roswell Daily Record, “ Will Drill At Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©

Originally published at https://blackdomthesis.com on April 12, 2020.