Jonnie Miller's Newton County: A Glimpse From the Past
Aunt Shug-a butterfly now?
Aunt Shug, Palomia Adams, born in 1890 near the Sabine River, is remembered by many residents in Newton County, especially in the African-American population. She used to tell her young nieces and nephews that when old people die, they come back as butterflies. It made them very wary of harming any “relatives.” This sweet lady felt a strong connection to the forest of East Texas.
“Aunt Shug” never had it easy. She married and buried two husbands and raised eight children. She did everything herself and all without electricity until the 1960s. Even then there was no running water until 1980.
When she had to be hospitalized in Houston she found it very strange. Her nephew, Bob Lee said there was a severe language barrier between her and the hospital staff. They spoke a language called English and Medical Jargon and she spoke East Texas Rural mixed with Slave Dialect. Her grandmother was born into slavery in 1836. When she was staying at LBJ Hospital she referred to it as that Voodoo House, not a negative comment. She meant the House of Miracles.
When she was released from the hospital her nephew was forced to tell her the doctors wanted her to go to a nursing home because she needed to have someone with her to prevent falling and breaking a hip or leg. She was devastated and lamented that he was putting her in an “ol’ folks” home. She was 101 years old and was adamant that she didn’t want to be in Houston. He took her to a nursing home in Jasper, an integrated home with people of all colors but all with white hair.
Aunt Shug died there and was buried at Hull Creek in Newton County, west of Jamestown.
This was written by her nephew whom she called “Junior”:
“Today I am a man and I am also a traveler on a journey.
When loved ones die, they do not cease to be, they only pass from our sights.
Some return to walk beside us all the way.
We are travelers on a journey.
We are the children of the Ancestors.
We have a destiny, we are advancing towards that destiny.
We are well accompanied on this journey.”
Jonnie Miller is a retired teacher and principal. She lives in Bleakwood, TX which is south of Newton in Newton County. She enjoys volunteering at the history center, the county library, and her church. She is also the secretary of the Newton County Garden Club and has been for 3 years. Her husband is retired from Dupont in Beaumont, TX. She has a son who is a partner in Grant Thornton Consulting in Philadelphia, and has two grandchildren, a boy and girl.
