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HISTORY OF
HEROKER
COUNTY
HATTE JOPLIN ROACH
1800
Class
E392
Book
C4486
Copyright N.º.
Copy 2
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
A HISTORY of CHEROKEE COUNTY (TEXAS)
By HATTIE JOPLIN (Mrs. V. R. ) ROACH . 11
SOUTHWEST PRESS
DALLAS, TEXAS
F392 C44 RG Cafey 2
COPYRIGHT 1934
SOUTHWEST PRESS, INC.
35-914
CCA
79034
JAN - 7 1935
Dedicated to MRS. MELVINA CHESSHER Cherokee County's Oldest Citizen who Celebrated Her 101st Birthday
November 21, 1934
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, It has been the will of Almighty God to bestow upon Mrs. Melvina Chessher the abundance of a life far beyond the span of three score years and ten, and because of the fullness of her spirit has endowed her with one hundred years of life, love and service ; and
WHEREAS, Her life has been devoted to every noble cause and aim that would bring gladness and sunshine into the lives of those about her, contributing much throughout all the years, as she has watched generation after generation come and go, in the establishment and maintenance of those ideals and principles, by example and by precept, which have led us onward toward a greater spiritual and intellectual attainment; and
WHEREAS, Her influence, her counsel, and her loving kindness have made an indelible imprint upon the minds and hearts of all, as she has lived her simple, wholesome life, amid the many storms and conflicts along the way as she has viewed the progress of a century :
I, therefore, out of the esteem and affection in which she is held by every citizen of this community, proclaim Tuesday, November 21st, her one hundredth birthday, as "Mother Chessher Day" in Jacksonville, and beseech each and every citizen to reverence it in appropriate observance.
T. E. ACKER, Mayor
City of Jacksonville, Texas.
November, 1933.
MRS. MELVINA CHESSHER
CONTENTS
1
PREFACE
CHAPTER PAGE
I
Indian Trails -
-
1
II
Early Colonization
-
15
-
III
Organization and Early Development
-
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32
IV
Early Development (Continued)
-
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42
V Snapshots - f
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54
VI
The Civil War
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61
VII Improved Transportation Facilities -
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69
VIII Development of Natural Resources-Iron
IX
Development of Natural Resources-
-
103
XII Banks -
-
113
-
XIII
The World War and After -
-
-
-
120
XIV
Cherokee Towns
124
-
-
-
XV
Cherokee Towns (Continued) -
-
140
XVI
Two Governor Sons
-
-
-
151
Appendix A-Representative Pioneers
-
-
-
154
Appendix B-Cherokee County Officials (1934) -
168
Bibliography -
169
Index
-
-
171
-
78
Timber and Oil
-
87
X
Agricultural Development
-
-
94
XI
Educational Progress and Social Changes
-
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Mrs. Melvina Chessher iv
Captain and Mrs. Henry Berryman ; Forest Hill 19
Monument, Cook's Fort 28
Original Rusk Town Site
33
Larissa College ; J. P. Gibson Home, Rusk 44
Andrew Jackson .
48
Southern Hotel; Tassie Belle Furnace .
82
John B. Long ; Richard B. Reagan 100
Samuel A. Willson; Frank B. Guinn 110
Jacksonville Pioneers 133
Governor Hogg Banquet Menu and Program
153
William A. Brown; George A. Newton
156
PREFACE
THIS volume has been written with the hope of better acquaint- ing the present, as well as future, generations with the splendid heritage which is theirs. It was begun as a history of Rusk. At the request of J. A. Templeton and F. B. Guinn (both now deceased) it was expanded into a history of the county. The author is indebted to them for invaluable aid and encouragement. Although the number makes individual mention impossible, she also wishes to express appreciation of the assistance rendered by all those who have so graciously taken time for reminiscence and tendered the use of treasured documents and newspapers of pioneer days. Without their cooperation this volume could never have been written. To her sister-in-law, Mrs. John F. Joplin, she is also indebted for valuable criticism.
Believing many readers find footnotes a detraction, the author has reduced them to a minimum. Much care, however, has been taken to exclude erroneous statements, Sources of information are cited in the bibliography.
In some chapters the author has incorporated parts of her own feature stories previously furnished newspapers, the publishers having kindly granted permission to do so.
CHAPTER I
INDIAN TRAILS
"Go shee peevie as she prom o long, Go shee peevie as she prom o long, She neerinee, she neeshe gayshee, Palagoshe peevie as she prom o long."1
THROUGH the night the sound of this melancholy Indian chant filled the air. "General" Bowles, the most loved chief, was dead.
Prophetic, indeed, had been the "General's" reply to President Mirabeau B. Lamar's decree of Cherokee banishment-"I am an old man. I shall not live much longer. If I fight, the white man will kill me. If I refuse to fight, my people will kill me. But for a long time I have led my people and I must still stand by them."2
Very swiftly war had come. The victorious Texans were now encamped on one side of a blood-stained field where a bullet had pierced the brain of the rugged old chief. Beyond the scene of their defeat arose the wailing voices of his people.
But let us go back to the beginning of the Indian story which forms a prologue to the history of the white man's achievement in Cherokee County.
One finds Cherokee County a part of the Hasinai Confederacy, a group of intelligent Indian tribes who lived in large, communal, grass lodges and raised beans, maize, gourds and sunflowers.
To the Hasinai village in what is now Mound Prairie,3 two and one-half miles east of the Neches River, came the French explorer, Robert de La Salle, in 1686. Retracing his course on his last expedition from his newly established fort, St. Louis on Matagorda Bay, he again reached the Hasinai country in 1687.
1Stanley, Mildred : Cherokee Indians in Smith County. Texas History Teach- ers' Bulletin, p. 125, October 22, 1924. These words represent merely the sound of the chant as recalled by Mrs. Fannie Moore of Tyler.
2This speech was preserved by John H. Reagan, who heard Bowles make it. 3The first reference to these mysterious mounds which have given the prairie its name seems to have been made by Father Massanet in 1778. They are sup- posed to have been Indian temple sites.
1
2
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
Indeed, according to the notes of his historian, Henri Joutel, and of Father Anastacio Douay, the ambush shot which killed the valiant Frenchman on March 19, 1687, may have been fired on Cherokee County soil. If so, the place was on Bowles Creek between the present town of Alto and Mound Prairie.
Although the first effort of the French to gain a foothold on Texas soil ended with La Salle's tragic death, continued French claims aroused the Spaniards to send an expedition from Mexico in search of the French fort. Thus the Spaniards also met the Hasinai and called them Tejas (friends),4 the name afterward applied to the Spanish province and finally to our own state. Seeing in the Tejas valuable allies, the Spaniards began building missions which served as centers of their efforts to christianize the Indians and enlist them in their far-flung contest for commerce and empire. Some writers locate the San Francisco mission west of Alto.
With the decrease of danger from the French, however, Spanish interest declined and her garrisons and missions were finally withdrawn from East Texas. The Tejas, reduced in num- bers by the ravages of diseases contracted from the white men, readily gave place to the next settlers on their soil-the Cherokee Indians.
The westward trek of the Cherokees had begun at the close of the American Revolution. Through the years, as the area of American civilization was extended, one dissatisfied band after another followed the westward trail. In the winter of 1819-20, about the time Moses Austin was journeying to San Antonio to obtain a grant of land for his proposed colony, the Cherokees first found refuge in Texas. By 1822, when Chief Bowles led his band into the Nacogdoches country, the Mexican governor reported one hundred warriors and two hundred women and children within Texas borders. New bands continued to join their kinsmen until the tribe occupied the land north of the old San Antonio road (now the King's Highway), between the Neches River on the west and the Angelina River on the east, territory now comprising Cherokee and Smith counties, together with parts of Gregg, Rusk and Van Zandt counties. Until the Texas Revolution they peacefully engaged in a primitive agri- culture to which the rich, red soil was well adapted.
In 1821, Mexico, long in revolution, secured her freedom from
4The name Tejas had been variously applied to a large group of allied tribes before the coming of the Spaniards. They narrowed the use of the term to the Hasinai.
3
INDIAN TRAILS
Spain. Because of this change in government and because of past experience in the land business, the Indians determined to secure legal title to the domain hitherto claimed by right of occupancy, supplemented in part by permits from Spanish officials. From 1822 to 1835 Cherokee chiefs made frequent attempts, including two trips to the capital, to obtain a clear title from the Mexican government.
While the central government postponed action, the local situa- tion was rapidly reaching a crisis. Within a month after the passage of the Coahuila and Texas colonization law of March 24, 1825, contracts had been approved authorizing the introduction of three thousand families, some from Mexico and some from the United States. Eight hundred of these were to settle within a district including the land occupied by the Cherokees. Once more the dreaded American pioneer was about to gain a foot- hold at the Indians' very doors. Having failed to obtain land titles peaceably, Chief Field became leader of a faction ready to use force.
At this juncture, however, the arrival of Chief John Dunn Hunter gave a new turn to Cherokee affairs. E. W. Winkler says of this remarkable man-"Of white parentage, he was reared by the Indians, educated along the Mississippi River, wrote a book in New York City, was lionized in London, came to Texas to civilize the Indians and lost his life in an uprising against the Mexican authorities." Believing that war, with their one hundred and sixty warriors and the uncertain alliance of the wild tribes, would prove futile, Hunter counseled friendship with local author- ities and renewal of effort to obtain titles, in the interest of which he himself went to Mexico City. He, too, failed. The choice now lay between return to the United States and armed resistance to Mexico.
The following speech, also recorded by E. W. Winkler, is said to have been delivered by Chief Field :
"In my old days I traveled two thousand miles to the City of Mexico to beg some lands to settle a poor orphan tribe of red people that looked up to me for protection. I was promised lands for them after staying one year in Mexico and spending all I had. I then came to my people and waited two years and then sent Mr. Hunter again after selling my stock to provide money for his expenses. When he got there, he stated his mission to the government. They said they knew nothing of this Richard Field and treated him with contempt. I am a red man and a man of honor and can't be imposed on this way. We will lift up our
4
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
tomahawks and fight for land with all those friendly tribes who wish land also. If I am beaten I will resign to fate and if not I will hold lands by the force of my red warriors."
The council voted for immediate attack on the neighboring colonists.
Before hostilities began, however, John Dunn Hunter arranged an alliance with the Edwards brothers who, angry over alleged infringements of their colonization contract in the Nacogdoches country, were soon to be leaders of the Fredonian rebellion. Despite Stephen F. Austin's warning against the futility of such a course, the Cherokees made a treaty with the Fredonians, December, 1826, whereby, in return for aid in the rebellion against the Mexican government, Cherokee claims would be recognized and a boundary line established between the whites and the Indians, giving the latter all the northern part of Texas.
In this crisis Peter Ellis Bean, Indian agent for the Mexican government, persuaded Chief Bowles to abandon the insurgents and propitiate the government by sacrificing Hunter and Field. Hunter was murdered within twenty-five miles of Nacogdoches. Field fled but was overtaken and suffered a similar fate.
Bowles' loyalty, however, availed nothing. During the next nine years settlement was again and again deferred. When the act of the Consultation, a provisional government which preceded the Republic, forbade the further issuance of valid land grants by Mexican authorities, the Cherokee title was still without a legal stamp.
Before following Cherokee fortunes through the period of the Texas Republic, chronology demands an account of an event in which the Indians had no part except as onlookers, the "Battle of Nacogdoches," which ended on Cherokee soil, August 4, 1832.
Colonel José de las Piedras, commander of the garrison at Nacogdoches, had alarmed the American settlers by his opposition to the colonization law of 1825 and his pro-Indian policy. When he refused to take an oath of loyalty to Santa Anna5 and the Constitution of 1824, some two hundred colonists, under the command of Colonel John W. Bullock, attacked and defeated Piedras' forces, August 2, 1832.
Under cover of darkness Colonel Piedras abandoned his dead and wounded, his public stores and clothing, threw his ammuni- tion reserves into wells and slipped away. Upon discovery of the
5Strange as it now seems, to Texans of 1832 Santa Anna was the perfect patriot.
5
INDIAN TRAILS
Mexican retreat a volunteer detachment started in pursuit. After a slight skirmish at Moral Creek, a hasty detour placed the Tex- ans in front of the fugitives, a little west of the Angelina River. Crossing the river under the command of Sergeant Marcos, the Mexican advance guard stopped to allow their horses to drink. A raking fire from ambush greeted them. Marcos fell but Colonel Piedras forced the passage of the river and the Texans withdrew. The Mexicans spent the night at the Durst home on the hill just west of the Angelina, while the Texans prepared another ambush still farther west.
Historians disagree as to who led the Texans and which crossing was the site of the ambush. Yoakum, who states that his account is based on the report of A. Sterne who took part in the battle, says James Bowie, of Alamo fame, led the Texans in a detour by the lower Douglas road and the Mexicans spent the night following the ambush at the Durst home, west of the river. Since Colonel John Durst never lived in Cherokee County and his brother, Joseph Durst, did live west of the river on the old San Antonio road, this apparently locates the battle at the Joseph Durst crossing on what is now the King's Highway. Alex- ander Horton, another member of the volunteer force, says James Carter, an old Nacogdoches citizen, led the detachment, Bowie arriving after the battle. He agrees, however, that Colonel Piedras took refuge in the Joseph Durst house. A second group of writers state that Piedras left Nacogdoches by the lower road and the ambush occurred at the John Durst crossing some six miles south of the King's Highway, now known as the Hinckley bridge crossing. If this is the correct location, the Colonel evidently made a detour after forcing the passage of the river.
When the Mexicans failed to appear on the morning of the 4th, the Texans rode back to the river. Here they were met by a white flag and a formal proposal of surrender. After the defeat of Colonel Piedras the remaining Mexican garrisons, one after another, marched away to Mexico and for a time Texas was free from annoyance. Santa Anna could ill afford to punish the men who had helped him.
Nevertheless, the "Battle of Nacogdoches," together with the conflicts at Velasco and Anahuac earlier in 1832, really marks the beginning of the Texas Revolution. Mexican fears that the colonists would win Texas, first definitely aroused by the Fre- donian rebellion, were now crystallized into firm conviction that the Texans were bent on seizing the province. The colonists, con- fident of their ability to care for themselves, viewed the govern-
6
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
ment with growing contempt. Henceforth the spirit of revolution gained rapid momentum, which carried it to San Jacinto.
According to Colonel Bullock, Chief Bowles and some sixty well-armed Cherokee warriors were within gunshot at the time of the river attack on Colonel Piedras. In his opinion they would have joined the Mexicans had the tide appeared to be going in their favor.
At the outbreak of hostilities between Texas and Mexico both sides, conscious of the strategical position of the Cherokees, made an effort to gain their friendship. The Texans were successful, the Houston-Forbes treaty being signed February 23, 1836.6 This secured the neutrality of the Cherokees and made it possible for East Texas soldiers to join General Houston's army without fear of an Indian massacre of their families. When the Convention met in March, however, more pressing business prevented the submission of the treaty and it failed to secure ratification. On December 26, 1837, the Senate declared it null and void. After much debate it was decided to permit the Indians to continue to occupy the lands without titles.
Matters rested thus until the reopening of the Land Office early in 1838, which was the signal for locators and surveyors to renew operations beyond the white settlements. This staking of new claims further antagonized the Indian occupants of the coveted acres, making them more susceptible to the intrigues of Mexican agents constantly working among them and increasing their depredations.
Although Chief Bowles had contended that the thefts and murders charged against his people were committed by wild tribes passing through their territory, the Cherokees were undeniably guilty of the massacre of the Killough, Wood and Williams families, the most horrible of all East Texas Indian tragedies. Partially out of this massacre came a change in Indian policy, resulting in the expulsion of the Cherokees.
Emigrating from Talladega County, Alabama, the Isaac Kil- loughs, together with the families of four sons, Isaac Jr., Allen, Samuel and Nathaniel, and two daughters, Mrs. George Wood and Mrs. Owen Williams, pitched camp on Christmas Eve, 1837, about five miles west of the present site of Mt. Selman. While Santa Claus may have failed to get the address of the little Kil-
6Gammel : Laws of Texas, Vol. I, p. 546. This treaty fulfilled the pledges made by the provisional government which preceded the Republic, acknowledging the validity of Cherokee titles and declaring null and void all land grants made in the territory since their settlement.
7
INDIAN TRAILS
loughs, Woods and Williams, their Christmas Day was full of cheer. The long drive was over. There was plenty of room to- romp and play. The grown-ups, too, rejoiced over what they found at the end of the journey-rich, red soil, timber, game, fish, wild fruits, salt springs and iron ore. Well satisfied, they set to work hewing logs for houses, clearing land and planting crops.
Soon Cupid found them out. Winsome Elizabeth Killough, daughter of Isaac, Sr., promised to marry Barakias Williams, brother-in-law to her sister Polly. Wedding plans were gaily made. From their stores, sisters and sisters-in-law brought treas- ured cloth. Frontier or no frontier, Elizabeth must have a trous- seau. As soon as the crops were laid by another cabin would be built on a carefully chosen site, convenient to the spring. When the harvest was over all would join in the celebration of this first wedding.
In August, however, life was rudely interrupted by the insolent threats of Dog Shoot and a band of Cherokee warriors bent on revenge against colonists within their borders. Isaac Killough, Sr., father, father-in-law or grandfather to all save three members of the colony, felt double responsibility for their safety. A council was called. Discretion was decided to be the better part of valor. Sorrowfully the little group gathered together their movable pos- sessions and took refuge in Nacogdoches territory.
Such sturdy spirits, however, could not be reconciled to the loss of the fruits of their clearing and planting. General Rusk had scattered the insurgents under Cordova. Perhaps the Cherokees had grown less violent. At least the crops were worth taking a chance to save. So in the fall, not only the men but the women and children, ventured back to gather what might be left in their fields. The Indians, somewhat pacified, agreed that they might stay "until the first white frost." All went well until the last day of the harvest. Then the blow fell.
It was afternoon, October 5, 1838. A party of his kinsmen had started across the creek to help Nathaniel Killough pull the remainder of his corn. Since there were only about two loads and their stay would be brief, they departed from their custom and left their guns at home. As a result they never reached the corn- field. Ambushed by a party of Mexicans and Indians while pass- ing through the swamp, all the harvesters were killed.
Nathaniel Killough, while waiting for the arrival of his help- ers, had gone to the spring to water his horse. The sound of firing told all too plainly what was happening at the creek. Back to the house he went, on a run, the Indians close at his heels. No time
8
A HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY
for his wife and baby to mount. The horse was abandoned. Through the shelter of a canefield they made their escape to the home of a friendly Indian, secured another horse and finally reached Lacy's Fort, two miles west of the present Alto.
Narcissa Killough, in her cabin north of the creek, was wash- ing the last of the dinner dishes and gaily humming a tune. And much cause she had for singing. The days of suspense were almost over. No more straining of ears to catch the first sound of Indian war whoops. No more tortuous waiting for Samuel's return. In an hour or two he would be home. Tomorrow or the next day, they would doubtless be on their way to Nacogdoches and safety.
A shot, another, and still another! The dreaded ambush! And Samuel's gun on the rack! For one brief second a numbing horror clogged Narcissa's feet. Then she snatched baby William from his crib. She was running toward the creek. Did Samuel live? She must know. Barakias Williams and Jane Killough (Mrs. Isaac Killough, Jr.) were running with her. Now the Indians were coming toward them. The next moment the victorious ambush- ers swept past and shot Barakias to death.
On the northern edge of the settlement was the home of Owen and Polly Williams. Rheumatism had kept Owen from helping with the harvest. Leaving him with his brother Elbert and the younger children, Mrs. Williams and the oldest daughter, Eliza- beth, had chosen this fatal afternoon to make a visit. When the men walked into the ambush, mother and daughter were on their way to the Isaac Killoughs, Sr. As the first shots shattered the stillness, they stopped. In a moment straining eyes discovered Elizabeth Killough and her brother Allen's family running toward the woods. Elizabeth Williams joined them in their flight. Not one of the group was ever seen or heard of again. The wedding dress was never needed.
Polly Williams fled homeward. Elbert, alarmed by the firing, had three horses at the gate. Minutes were precious. Already war whoops were close at hand. Polly helped throw saddles into place. Owen and the children were mounted. The Indians were in sight, yet once more Polly ran into the house. No use to leave their pocketbooks - Owen's, Elbert's and Barakias'. All had money. At last they were off, unharmed by the shots which thickly pursued them.7
7This account of the Williams family is based on a story told by Ferd L. Williams of Jacksonville to J. L. Brown and recorded in the latter's volume of Larissa reminiscences.
9
INDIAN TRAILS
The Wood family was not so fortunate. After reaching a place of temporary safety, the father went back to the house to get provisions. He was instantly killed and the family's hiding-place soon discovered. All were carried away and only one of the ill- fated group was ever heard of again. It is said that a small son was adopted by the tribe and later made a chief.
As the warriors swept northward, Narcissa and Jane had been left to go on across the creek, unmolested. Hurriedly, frantically they searched for the loved ones they hoped, yet feared, to see. Only two could they find. Samuel lay in the small branch where he had fallen. And there Narcissa had to leave him. In the yard of their home Mrs. Isaac Killough, Sr., kept watch over her dead husband. She had begged his murderers to kill her, too, but with broken English curses they had only ordered her into the house. Since the old man was too heavy for the women to carry, they could do no more than cover him with a quilt, weighted down with rails, and hasten back to Narcissa's house.
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