Celeste Cruz / Vaquero Radio
Ramiro Ramirez is the descendant of an interracial marriage between Nathaniel Jackson and Matilda Hicks that took place in the 1850s during the American Civil War.
This couple was able to flee from Alabama with some slaves who were also seeking freedom.
Ramirez is the great, great grandson of the interracial marriage and explained what early life was like for his ancestors.
“[Hicks] was a slave and she grew up in Alabama as a slave,” he said. “My great, great grandfather was a plantation owner, and he had a son by the name of Eli Nathaniel Jackson. Nathaniel Jackson grew up as a little boy playing around with Matilda Hicks, who was at the end a slave. They grew to care for each other and eventually fell in love, and decided to be together and get married.”
Ramirez gave details about the plan Hicks and Jackson had to flee and the reasons behind their escape.
“They decided to get away from there for obvious reasons–for discrimination, racism, and just being chained up and locked up, and so they ran away,” he said. “There was a plan that they had where they brought another 11 families with them … and they brought another group of people with them. And they came in wagon trains, carpet wagons and they came over. … They decided to come south.”
The original plan was to go to Mexico since it was a slave-free country. However, when they arrived at their destination, they decided to not stay in Mexico for two reasons.
The first was because they didn’t know Spanish and the second was because Mexico had a strong Catholic denomination. According to Ramirez, since Hicks and Jackson were protestants, they built the first protestant church in South Texas.
Jackson purchased a 5,500-acres ranch and was able to lend people who needed property some of the land. He gave the slaves the choice to go to Mexico and helped them cross the border. But if they stayed, he would donate them some land.
The Jackson Ranch and cemetery is located in San Juan, a historical site that many people may not know about.
This is Celeste Cruz for Vaquero Radio.
