By LARRY BALLWAHN | Wilton
It was 1865. The Civil War was winding down. It was clear that the South was going to lose. But they hadn’t lost yet, and there were still conscription men about. Simon Boudlin wanted no part of being shot in the last days of the conflict and avoided the conscription people above all else. But he earned his way playing his fiddle wherever he could and usually that was in a tavern. A barroom fight in Victoria, Texas, led to his conscription in the Confederate Army.
Because he was a fiddler, Simon got to serve in the regimental band. Sometime later, Simon and bandmates played at a dinner for officers. Simon noticed a woman in the audience who, it turned out, was the governess for an officer’s daughter. Simon learned that Doris Dillon was indentured to work off the cost of her travel from Ireland. The governess soon left to accompany the Colonel’s family. But Simon believes/believed that Doris was the woman who could fulfill his dreams of a wife and land of his own.
Like many others, Simon simply walked away from the defeated army. Consequently, he had no discharge papers and preferred to avoid the question of serving in the Southern army altogether. He ended up in Galveston. Life was not easy for anyone in Texas, but especially not for someone who earned their way with a fiddle. He had joined up with a guitar player, a whistle player, and a young drummer. After some practice, they were good enough to get some tavern work. With some clean white shirts, they even got an occasional house party. Struggling though they were, Simon put what money he could in his fiddle case, saving for the land he intended to buy.
Galveston was on the coast, and yellow fever seemed to thrive there. Yellow fever took their drummer, and their guitar player abandoned them to return home. Doris Dillon was in San Antonio with the colonel that employed her. It was away from the coast. Using devious means, Simon and Doris had managed to share a few letters. Simon and Damon, the whistle player, decided to go to San Antonio. They managed to catch on with some freight haulers. Once there they found an abandoned barge for a home. And they proceeded to find work in the bars. Simon continued to save money when he could; he had a plan.
The two musicians needed a third and maybe fourth to be considered a band. One of the tavern keepers talked them into adding his troubled relative. That tended to cause more problems for them than it was worth. It would prove to cause really serious trouble in the future. And when it did, there was some question as to whether the sheriff or the Yankee soldiers had jurisdiction.
