“We choose to live together for a common purpose, and together we fight for our existence and our goals.”

Huey P. Newton, Revolutionary Suicide

Friday, April 23, 1920 “Will Drill at Blackdom”

The Herron Family Dynasty migrated from South Carolina during Blackdom’s revival (1909 -1919) and gained prominence with the advent of the Blackdom Oil Company. In 1917, Ester became the first in the family to homestead followed by Ura (1919), Ulysses (1920), Wedie (1920), Velma (1921),  Durand (1921 and 1924), Erastus (1921 and 1924). 

Erastus was 58 and wife Charlene was 52 when they completed their first homestead patent process. By the time of revival, uniformity of the Blackdomite movement allowed laborers to become landowning sovereigns later in life. In 1913, Erastus began his homestead process living as an apprentice of Pastor Crutcher Eubank. On the Eubank homestead, Erastus was able to learn best practices in the new culture of dry-farming. Collective action undergirds Blackdom’s sovereign society during ascendency. In 1927, Frank Boyer quick-deeded Blackdom’s 40 acres to Crutcher Eubank.

The Eubank Family Dynasty knew all too well the worst that New Mexican desert prairies had to offer. The harsh life deterred Crutcher’s son James, who instead, chose to serve Blackdom as a teacher. Crutcher endured Blackdom’s lost years (1903-1911) when Southern Black farmers had to manage a steep dry-farming learning curve during various times of drought. 

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 Crutcher Eubank began his homestead in a dry winter planting kaffir corn—a warm-weather plant that has slow early growth and should not be planted in the cold ground. If planted too early, the stand of the kaffir-corn was poor and late replanting was needed. However, if a good stand was secured, the growth of the young plants would grow slowly, weeds aggressively grew, and more cultivation was necessary. Without a wealth of knowledge or access to specific knowledge, Crutcher’s future was uncertain. His land consisted of sandy loam (a mixture of silt, sand, and clay). He built a small home, with a porch, worth about $250 which was meager at the time.

In 1907, he broke ground on 2 acres of his land, which yielded very little that year. In the 1908 growing season, he planted kaffir corn on another two acres, bringing the total farming acreage up to 4. By 1909, he broke ground on another 2 acres, planting corn, beans, potatoes, and other garden products over the six acres. In 1910, Crutcher did not break new ground to farm; he replanted on the acreage of previous years. After a grueling 6-year period (3 years was a normal process), he finally filed for the completion of his homestead patent on Tuesday, November 28, 1911 

Crutcher had a well cased up with a mechanical pump worth $350. He fenced his 160 acres with 3x4-barbwire worth about $125. In November of 1911, at the age of 50, Crutcher completed a homestead patent a few months prior to New Mexico’s official statehood. Early Blackdomite society faced an uncertain future as the borders of jurisdiction crossed them. The Eubank’s family endurance was foundational for Erastus’s apprenticeship on the homestead.  

Imagine enduring the hardship of the lost years and Crutcher opening the Roswell Daily Record on Friday, April 23, 1920, to read “Will Drill at Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©

“This may be democratic for the majority but for the minority it has the same effect as fascism.” 

Huey P. Newton, {May 1, 1971] To Die For the People

Thursday, April 22, 1920 “Will Drill at Blackdom”

Lives of the first 5 families of Blackdom represent a unique frontier space I refer to as the Blackdom Thesis or #TheAfrōFrontier®️. Blackdomites maintained a variety of philosophical and theoretical models that dictated their actions, reactions, and the development of the Blackdom idea. In 1907, Blackdom inspired Monroe and Mary Collins who migrated from Mississippi to be Blackdomites. Blackdom was a new beginning with freedoms and no Jim Crow laws in the territory. In Dexter, the Boyers hosted the Collins family for their first 6 months.

During the roaring 20s in Chaves County, New Mexico, Black people were in a renaissance of their own. Boyer, Collins, Eubank, Herron, Ragsdale, and Proffit were among the first 5 family dynasties who established culture around homesteading. People under the conditions of Blackness employed freedom to reach a state of sovereignty in spirit, mind, body, and space. Written in Blackdom’s articles of incorporation, Blackdomites envisioned schooling through college. In the early 1910s, Blackdom had a university/college that produced seminary students. Blackdom developed into a sovereign, dry-farming agronomy culture that also prioritized education.  

In a 1985 interview, Lillian Collins, recalled her education as a child in Blackdom’s school at the townsite. Lillian also remembered major challenges when she moved 20 miles north into Roswell, New Mexico at the beginning of school segregation. After New Mexico’s statehood in 1912, Blackdom’s ability to quarantine Black people from racism decreased. Lillian said the “Mexicans and Whites” were welcoming. “When we moved to town ( Blackdom to Roswell) we did not really have the problem because uh, they were such sweet people, uh, of any race.”

Roswell Daily Record: Thursday, April 22, 1920 [Pg3]

Lillian stuttered as she began to remember problems “in the later years when the kids would have rock fights.” Lillian described angry “Anglo kids” from a different school instigating the “Coloreds” from her school. The fight continued until someone called “the law.” Racialization materialized as a proxy fight with kids and rocks. After statehood, Roswell fell largely under the control of local New Mexicans influenced by Southern society, and the lives of people under the conditions of Blackness got progressively worse. A few years, Black high school graduates never received diplomas after graduation.  

Blackdomites had come from prestigious educational institutions now referred to as Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs). Frank Boyer, (Blackdom Townsite Company’s 1st President) was a Buffalo Soldier who attended Atlanta Baptist College (Morehouse College). Prior to statehood, Blackdomites embraced the freedom of being separate-but-equal and taught their kids within the society, culture, and community. They also made statements using mass media and communication. On October 13, 1910, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, “Blackdom Wants a School.” 

Imagine a literate Black child from a poor Black family in Roswell, on April 22, 1920, opening the Roswell Daily Record and reading, “Will Drill at Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©

Tuesday, April 20, 1920 “Will Drill at Blackdom”

The Ragsdale family was an early Blackdomite dynasty to help establish #TheAfrōFrontier; successful in all the ways that mattered. Moses, the patriarch, and Clinton, his son, was the visionary who migrated from Mississippi to Chaves County, New Mexico. In 1906, Clinton in his mid-30s lived with the Boyer family until 1907. In the freedom of the Borderlands, Clinton was eager to build and often pitched a tent to spend star-filled nights on his land.

The Ragsdale family epitomized Blackdomite society as #AfrōFrontierists®️ when Clinton signed in partnership with the infamous #MittieMoore. Her land added a whole square mile to Blackdom commons. In 1919, her story was the antithesis of Blackdomite society and she added to Blackdom’s greatest triumph. Mittie’s addition brought higher royalty when leasing to oil companies and wildcats. 

Blackdom Oil Company was on the horizon of Clinton’s vision and it included Mittie. The more land Blackdomites had in the pool, the greater the royalty. 

#NoteToTheReader: One can not overstate the inherent tension that came as a result of the interaction between the deeply intellectual, rural, religious Black people in opposition to Black people associated with sinful commercial vice.

Shortly after building a home, Clinton brought his wife, Molly, in her early 30s. The family came together on the homestead with son Ezell. Molly’s mother Jennie was in her 60s when she joined them along with all four Ragsdale children. The whole family was able to read and write. By the 1930s, the Ragsdale family homesteaded (3)Sq miles in Blackdom—Clinton (1913,1920, and 1926), Ezell (1917, 1920 and 1921).

Roswell Daily Record: Tuesday, April 20, 1920 [Pg2]

The Ragsdale family structure was the business of intergenerational wealth. Ezell completed a homestead before he was conscripted into military service during World War I. When he returned from military service, Ezell began a second homestead that he completed in partnership with the Blackdom Oil Company.

Early in Blackdom’s revival (1909-1919), the masonic vision manifested into grand meetings of substance. Clinton Ragsdale, along with all other family patriarchs of Blackdom were accountable to one another and responsible to research, consume and enlighten others of certain knowledge. At Blackdom’s annual Thanksgiving Galas, with Frank Boyer as Toastmaster; Monroe Collins was responsible for reporting on all processes related to homesteading. George Wilson was functionally a veterinarian, which required him to acquire knowledge about livestock. Clinton was responsible for pumping and windmills. 

In 1919, Clinton Ragsdale, Joe Blue, Henry Smith, and #ErastusHerron of Blackdom were signatories for the infamous #MittieMoore’s final homestead proof adding 320 acres and later another 320 acres. Clinton’s expertise in pumping was a rare commodity that made him one of the elites among Blackdomites. Blackdom was moving toward oil exploration and pumping could produce endless amounts of money. Clinton’s knowledge, skills, and abilities could solidify royalties for generations.

Imagine Clinton Ragsdale, Mittie Moore, and Erastus Herron on Tuesday, April 20, 1920, opening the Roswell Daily Record and reading, “Will Drill at Blackdom.”

by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson ©