USA > Texas > Johnson County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 23
USA > Texas > Hill County > A memorial and biographical history of Johnson and Hill counties, Texas : containing the early history of this important section of the great state of Texas together with glimpses of its future prospects; also biographical mention of many of the pioneers and prominent citizens of the present time, and full-page portraits of some of the most eminent men of this section > Part 23
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CASUALTIES.
The first fatal fire in Alvarado occurred July 29, 1881, when the store of W. A. To- land & Co. was consumed, with its entire stock of merchandise. Origin of the fire unknown. The building belonged to Dr. Ross; total loss about $5,000.
Six business houses were destroyed by fire December 21, 1852; loss $26,500.
A fire company was organized in the city in January, 1885.
October 31, 1885, about midnight, the residences of R. S. Dowdy, L. D. Mercer and another family, in the southern portion of the city, were burned, during a high wind. The fire was supposed to be set by tramps.
November 5, same year, the round-house of the Missouri Paeitie Railroad at this place was burned, with a loss of $100,000. There
were about twenty barrels of oil in the build- Ling, which soon caught tire, adding force to the already large blaze. Four engines in the establishment were destroyed. The fire origi- nated in the oil room, but how is not known.
Joseph B. Prestridge, a highly respected citizen, was killed by a runaway mule teamn in the fall of 1535.
About the middle of May, 1575, a wind, accompanied with some rain, was savage enough to tear down fences, unroof houses, etc., in this vicinity.
May 25, 1885, while the justices' court was in session in the city hall, the building was struck by lightning and several were thrown to the floor, considerably stunned. Some of the timbers were splintered. A telephone wire and connection seemed to have saved the building. Only twelve or fifteen persons were present. The next day about seven o'clock in the evening considerable damage was done by the wind. The Method. ist church was so torn up that it could not be repaired, and business houses, etc., were damaged to a considerable extent, the total loss being estimated at $4,575.
In 1886 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lightfoot, near Alvarado, had a little boy who at one time wandered away; and the mother, after looking about the house for some time with- out finding him, became alarmed and imme- diately began to search out of doors. In looking about she discovered the little one some distance from the house near the field fence. She at once hastened toward him, and as she made near approach she discovered her boy playing with a chicken snake's tail.
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Atter recovering herself from the first shock she with great presence of mind calmly told the child to " throw the old stiek away and go with her to the house." Ile did as re- quested. She then called her husband from the field, who shot the snake.
In 1886 there was a strike on the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, from Kansas down through Texas. No violenee was com- mitted here. Captain A. J. Brown, at the head of the Alvarado Guards, was promptly on hand at the sheriff's bidding and pre- vented all trouble. After about three weeks the strikers were ordered back on the old terms by their respective societies.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The people of Alvarado and vicinity have not been behind the rest of the patriots of the land of Brother Jonathan in the matter of Fourth-of-July celebrations, as they have had several magnificent ones. At the cele- bration of July 4, 1885, on College ITill, the principal addresses were delivered by Prof. I. A. Patton and Judge J. G. Woodson, the Declaration of Independence was read by Colonel G. C. Falun, then a great dinner was enjoyed, after which various amusements oc- cupied the attention of the multitude. There was a procession, a shaved and greased pig turned loose to be caught, a fat men's foot- race, other foot-raees, heavy-weight slug match with hard gloves, bran dance, tourna- inent gander-pulling, croquet, swings, etc., and at night a nautical and temperance drama at the opera-house, by the Alvarado Amateur Troup, with eleven actors, the manager being
Colonel Fahm. Large attendance. In the amusements M. Sansom and W. F. Bachman won the prizes. It is estimated that about 1,500 people were present. Glory enough for one day.
July 4, 1890, there was a grand celebration at the park; W. R. Bounds, master of cere- monies. The Stubblefield Cornet Band fur- nished the music, and Prof. I. A. Patton delivered the address of welcome, making a number of important and interesting stato- ments. M. M. Crane, candidate for State Senator, and William Poindexter, delivered the addresses of the day. The number in attendance at this celebration was estimated at over 3,000, and no serious aceident occur- red to mar the pleasures of the day.
As an example of the editorial rhetorie of an Alvarado local correspondent of the Cle- barne Chronicle, we quote the following from the issne of June 26, 1875:
" The whirligig of time brings its revenges. Not long since Uncle Sam found it necessary to chastise some of his naughty boys. Now they have had the exquisite revenge of a big laugh at Uncle Sam's expense. The old gen- tleman owns a mail route and employs a very dignified sulky in which to transport the mails. On Friday morning the vehicle drove up, exulting in all the pride, pomp and eir- cumstance of official position, and yet Unele Sam was not happy. lle sighed for a steed whose strength was great, and that would paw the valley and swallow the ground. Alvarado had the man who could not see unmoved the laughing desire of the old Unele. lle had a horse whose neek was.
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clothed with thunder and his feet with light- ning. This . noble' animal was offered in exchange for the lean and hungry Govern- ment pony. Uncle Sam was happy again. The new steed was inducted into harness and bound to the sacred ear. Crack goes the whip and round go the wheels. With a hop, skip and jump the horse proceeds. Unele Sam, in the person of a post boy, eries . Wo, wo.' Horse gives a plunge and Uncle Sam's mail bag rolls down and out. Horse shies to the left and post boy to the right, taking a recumbent position on the ground. Ilorse tries his speed for fifty yards, then looks back to see what is the matter. One wheel of the ear becomes too proud to walk the ground and whirls in the air, on an axle elevated to an angle of forty-five degrees; then a tumble, and the noble steed leaves but a wreck behind. Alvarado has a glorious life."
SOUTII ALVARADO.
This is the " new town " created by the ad- vent of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas rail- road in 1881, joining south of old Alvarado, and is a part of the same corporation. It is beautifully situated upon an undulating in- eline leading westerly down to the depot. The principal places of business are, com- meneing at a certain corner and going round : C. B. Bomar, saloon; Duke & Simonds, drugs and books; in the second story, Hotel Mere- dith; Linch, Seaman & Co., groceries; Pope, Costolo & Co., dry goods; B. V. Bain, gro- cer; on the opposite side of the street: Gold- ing Bros., grocers; J. J. Gokling, hardware
and agricultural implements; E. Hearn, boots and shoes; A. J. Flatt, hotel, sometimes called the " Barnes House." There is also a cotton gin in the place, owned by Rogers & Leeson.
The South Alvarado school building is a one-story frame, divided into three rooms, the primary department being in an addition recently built. About 250 scholars are in attendance; last year there were enrolled 217. There are three teachers, of whom W. A. Culberson is the principal,
GRAND VIEW.
We print this name as two words simply for the reason that the Post Office Depart- ment does so, not pretending to say which form is correct.
Grand View was so named from the mag- nificent view of the beautiful landscape in all directions that one could take from an emi- nenee centrally located in the old town. The beginning of the town of Grand View may be placed in the year 1860. Previous to that date there was a general country store out in the prairie something over half a mile from the Chambers creek timber. This was kept by Mr. J. F. Seurlock, who was also postmaster for the settlement. About one mile west of this, also on the prairie, was another store kept by Mr. S. II. Richards. A few seattered farm houses on the prairie and edge of the timber at intervals of a mile or more comprised all that there was of the settlement of Grand View at that time.
The first mill erected in Johnson county
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was the one owned by John W. Westbrook, in 1860, near Grand View, sinee known as Stubblefield's mills. F. L. Kirtley was the original proprietor of the land on which Grand View now stands. Ile sold to Mr. Scurlock, to whom belongs most of the honor of founding the new town, although Jot J. Smith actually built the first house here. The writer remembers him as being of the true material from which pioneers are made. lle was a man of sterling honesty and in- tegrity, of indomitable energy, and a warm and generous friend. He had long conceived the project, and accordingly in the fall of the year above mentioned he took the initial step by donating land for a new Methodist church and Masonic hall, and actively engaging in the raising of funds necessary for the erec- tion of the building. In this he was liberally supported by his neighbors, and by the win ter of 1860 the house was completed and ready for use. Around this new building as a nueleus soon gathered the component parts of a neat and thriving village. About this time the infant settlement met with a loss in the death of its earliest friend.
Mr. Scurlock never lived to see the full realization of his hopes. About the com- mencement of hostilities between the North and the South, he with two of his neighbors, Mr. Lewis Goen and Captain Morrow, while taking a drove of beeves to Southern Louisiana, were captured by the Federals. They were soon liberated, but not until they had all contracted a disease conanon in that locality. Mr. Goen and Captain Morrow re- covered and returned home, but Mr. Scurlock
and a young son whom he had taken with him sucembed to its influence and found graves on the Mississippi, far from home and friends.
There was but one important lawsnit that ever went up from the vicinity of Grand View until after the war. Mr. Senrloek established a system of arbitration among neighbors, and it was frequently mentioned that he and others were "starving out the lawyers in the county;" and the lawsnit re- ferred to, after it was prosecuted a number of years, was finally settled by arbitration in a few minutes, on the spot where Grand View is now situated.
The town was platted by representatives of the Seurlock estate.
Other early settlers in the neighborhood of Grand View were --- Criner, Walker Meadows, William Kennard, Drew Kennard, Samuel Davis, John S. Morrow, Samuel J. Chapman, A. E. Jones, Joseph Watts, Dr. L. Il. Gebhard and S. P. Hollingsworth.
The first church in the settlement was on the edge of the timber, not far from where the new one was erected. It was a log build- ing, belonging to the Baptists, but used in common by all denominations. It had the old-time puncheon floor and batten door, and seats of the most primitive description. It was also a school. Here the young ideas of that early time were taught the rudiments of an English education, assisted at times by the gentle stimulus of black jack and broom weed. Here also the first Masonic lodge of Johnson county held its first meeting under dispensation. This was in December, 1860. 8 This historic building with all its time-
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honored associations elinging to it, is no more, and none remain " to do it reverence."
A great change in comfort and convenience had taken place when the church members and Masons took possession of their new quarters. It was a two-story building, the lower being used for church purposes, the upper by the Masons. The school was also held in the lower room. For a number of years this was the only church building in the village, but at last, in 1875, the Baptists erected a handsome building for themselves. The school was taught in the Methodist church until the year 1881, when a new and commodious academy was built. One stormy Saturday night this house was blown down, but it was speedily rebuilt in a more compact and durable form, and remained the school of the town until some time after the town was removed to the railroad.
THE FIRST GROCERIES AND DRY GOODS
sold in the new town were by John C. Gib- son, now of Ellis county. These were kept in the same storehouse that had been used by J. F. Scurlock and afterward moved to the village. Mr. Gibson was followed by the firms of Moore & Wade, F. M. Pool and Davis & Scurlock. These were about the earliest in that line of business. Some time after, when the earlier merchants had gone out of business they were succeeded by others, among whom may be mentioned En- gilman & Adair, afterward B. L. Engilinan, F. J. Penn, T. D. Farris, J. E. Hollingsworth, who was succeeded by Wellborn & William- son, and G. W. Hayden.
The first drugs sold in the place were by Dr. Gebhard and two of the Files Brothers, under the style of J. O. Files & Co. Among others that followed them were W. MeFarlin, Pittman & Sansom, afterward J. Russey, L. II. Gebhard & Co., Harwood & G. Kann.
In groceries alone were the names of Bail- lio & Boyd, Noah & Allen, Boyd & Davis, T. E. Penn, A. T. Brewer and R. N. ITill.
Mr. MeAdams kept an undertaker and wood shop, and J. M. Aker and L. P. Clack were the blacksmiths of the village.
DESOLATE TIMES.
Such is a crude statement of the condition of affairs in Grand View just before its trans- lation to a new site, but of this more anon. In the meantime the surrounding country had not failed to keep pace with the town in growth and improvement. The first settlers were a mere handful in number. The writer recalls the names of Philip Walker, William Howard, Granville Criner, S. K. Davis, W. S. Quinn, B. C. Quinn, J. C. Barnes, Dr. Taliaferro, Lewis Goen, John Whitmire, be- sides J. F. Seurlock and S. II. Richards, be- fore mentioned. These were about all or nearly all to be found within an area of several miles. At that time these men, though generally well to do, were of necessity compelled to put up with the privations and inconveniences of a new country. They lived mostly in log cabins, very often one room sheltering a good-sized family. But we must mention one peculiarity about these cabins. Small and crowded as they often were, none were ever too full to admit a benighted stran-
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per. lle was sure wherever he went to meet with a warm reception, a good, homelike meal, and a bed as comfortable as circumstances would allow. The capacity of those cabins was wonderful. In illustration of this it is said that a certain doctor, being overtaken in his travel by night coming on, was impelled to ask shelter of a prominent citizen, and as a matter of course was taken in and furnished with lodging. The room he slept in was oc- eupied by two families, comprising some ten or twelve individuals, five or six young girls Ixing among the number. Unperceived by the doctor the girls had made down their palettes and slipped under one or other of the beds that night. The next morning the doc- tor was sitting by the fire when he noticed one of the girls coming out from under a bed, then another, and another, and still an- other. Strnek with wonder, the doctor ex- claimed, "Good God! are the gals never going to quit coming out from under the beds?"
The comforts and conveniences of life were scarce and high in those days. Goods were brought from Houston, a distance of over 200 miles, by means of ox teams, the time employed on the round trip being some five or six weeks. The prairies, with the ex- eeption of one or two roads from town to town, was almost a trackless wilderness. The traveler might take his course and keep it with but little impediment, guided by the sun in the day-time, at night by the wind and by the stars. All of this had been won- derfully altered at the time the new era of Grand View had set in, and our sketch now brings us to that point.
THE PRESENT ERA
was inaugurated by the passage of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway through the country. Unfortunately for the village the track missed it nearly a mile, and so in the opinion of most of the inhabitants the town must be moved. Accordingly, in 1883, the move began. This continued until nearly all the stores and dwelling-honses had been moved to the new site, and the days of old Grand View were over. Among the last buildings to be removed were the churches and academy, but finally they had to go the way of the rest. The Masonic fraternity pur- chased from the Methodist church their share in the building they occupied jointly, and moved their building to a location they now occupy. (We had forgotten to state that in the year 1867 the first Royal Arch Chapter of Masons in Johnson county was opened in this building.) The Methodists built for them- selves a new church in the new town. The Baptists moved their house, and still occupy it as a place of worship.
The academy remained in the old town some time, but was finally torn down and went toward the building of a fine institute of learning in new Grand View. This, pre- sided over by Prof. Garrison, a scholarly and competent gentleman, who is assisted by an accomplished corps of teachers, is now one of the best institutions of learning in the country.
As might have been expected from the sudden tearing up of a village and setting it down somewhere else, considerable time
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elapsed before it entirely recovered from the violence done to business and the rupture of old associations. Like a newly transplanted tree, which requires time to recover from the shock and send forth its new roots, so the new Grand View, lopped of some of its fair pro- portions by removal, remained for some time without any great visible improvement. The new second growth has, however, been well begun and promises to be more hardy and vigorous than the first. Of course in the in- terval between the inception of business in its new quarters and the present time, some change in business matters necessarily oe- eurred. Some dropped out and others took their places.
It is with the present we have now to do. The list of public buildings was increased in the year 1890 by the addition of a bank styled the First National Bank of Grand View, with a capital of $50,000. It has for its officers W. G. Davis as president, and T. E. Pittman as cashier. It has been doing a very fair business. In 1891 the members of the Christian church erected a building for church purposes, making the third church for Grand View, being a very fair showing for the people of a small town.
Shortly after the removal Mr. J. C. Den- man commenced the publication of a weekly newspaper, which he styled the Grand View Sentinel. About a year after this he sold out to Mr. G. W. Humphreys, who retained it about two years, and at the close of 1888 turned it over to Mr. O. F. Dornblaser, the present editor and proprietor. The paper met with good success from the first, and has
generally been in good hands and well con- dueted.
The principal merchants of the town are Messrs. Walton & Ramsey, dry goods, gro- ceries and hardware; Walker & Hayden, dry goods and groceries; Hill & llead, dry goods and groceries; Ross & Co., hardware; Savage & Gebhard and John W. Ross, drugs; J. A. Ilill, furniture and musical instruments; A. J. Sewell, groceries. There are also two blacksmith shops, conducted by Messrs. Aker and Miles; a tin shop, by Otho Miles; several saloons, livery stables, ete. Business during the past season seems to have been good, though not so thriving as it might have been, owing to the low price of cotton. Some idea of the amount done may be arrived at from the fact of nearly 7,000 bales of the fleecy staple having been handled here this season.
With regard to the growth of the surround- ing country, this may be said: It continues to keep pace with that of the town. It is now almost a solid farm. No more can the weary traveler sight a place several miles off and go direct to it. Ile must follow a road or lane between adjoining farms. The old log cabins are things of the past. Neat and comfortable, and in some instances even costly residences have taken their place, and evi- dences of growing wealth and refinement greet us within their walls. No more do we see the long ox teams drawing wagons loaded with freight from the far-off South. The iron horse now brings onr supplies nearly to our very doors. The old residents of over thirty years ago are nearly all gone. They have joined the silent throng who lie in the
Philips Walker
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city of the dead, close to where that old log church onee stood. To enumerate the living would be beyond the limits of a short arti- ele like this. Their name is fast becoming " legion."
The town was incorporated in May of 1891. It has a mayor (Mr. T. E. Pittman) and a board of five aldermen. II. C. Gardner und S. J. Lancaster are lawyers here.
And in this connection it might be well to mune the practicing physicians. They are Dr. J. Il. O'Hara and Drs. C. M. & W. M. Yater. The early physicians of the old town were Drs. Hamilton and Gebhart, who were af- terward joined by Drs. Chambers and Ilayden.
There are two hotels in Grand View. The proprietors are Mrs. Vickers and Mrs. Marr. Their houses are well kept and are well patronized.
Perhaps this is as good a place as any to insert a biographical sketch of one of John- son county's most prominent pioneers, who located in the eastern part of the county.
PHILIP WALKER, one of the oldest settlers of the eastern part of Johnson county, Texas, was born in Chester district, South Carolina, in 1815, to James and Martha (Telford) Walker, the former of whom was of lrish deseent, and was also born in Chester dis- trict. Ile was a tiller of the soil, which oc- cupation his father, Philip Walker, also followed. About 1821 James Walker re- moved with his family to Madison county, Alabama, and two years later to Jackson county, two or three years were then spent in Pickens county, six years in Chickasaw county, Mississippi, and one year later, in
Shelby county, the parents were called from life, both dying in 1845.
In 1834, Philip Walker left home and for one year thereafter, traveled from place to place, then came to Texas in the spring of 1835, and the subsequent two or three years were spent in the Inmber business. One sum- mer was then spent at Belgrade on the Sabine river; but while at St. Augustine the war came on, and in 1836 he enlisted for the Mexican service under Captain William Ratcliffe, and started for Houston, but upon reaching the Neuces river they were sent back in double quick time to meet the Mexicans at Natchitoches, but no battle was fought and they soon moved onward. After three months, active service, he received his discharge, in July, but very shortly afterward was taken ill and returned to St. Augustine, where he remained for two years, during which time he did but little work, owing to impaired health. In 1839, he removed to Shelby county and purchased a headright of 1,400 acres, upon which he at once began to make improve- ments, with the aid of two hired men. The country was in its primitive state at that time and provisions were very expensive, meul costing 84 per bushel, and salt 37 cents a pound. All expedients were resorted to for economy's sake, but the first year of his resi- denee here he raised some corn, potatoes, pumpkins, peas, etc., and also ereeted him a pole cabin twelve feet square, and considered himself quite well off, considering the fact that wild game couldbe easily killed. In 1844 his parentscame to the locality in which he resided, and there made their homes for one year.
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In 1845, Philip Walker was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Job and Elizabeth (Landrum) Cooper of Tennessee, and their union resulted in the birth of the following children: Martha Ann, wife of John C. Lockett, but both are dead, three children surviving them; Solon S. is a farmer and stockman of Stephens county, and is married to Clemence IIill, by whom he has seven children; Sarah Jane is the wife of William A. Clack, a preacher, farmer and blacksmith of Stephens county, and is the mother of three children; James II., a farmer and school teacher of Fisher county, married J. Gathen and has four children; and J. Effie F. married Dr. James Dodson, a practicing physician of Newberry, and has one child.
In 1855, Mr. Walker came to Johnson county, purchased his present farm, and although he at first resided in a little log cabin he in 1859 erected his present substan- tial residence, hanling the lumber from Cherokee county. Ilis farm then consisted of 320 acres, but he now has between 600 and 700 acres and 350 under cultivation. Although he devoted the most of his atten- tion to raising stock until the opening of the war, he has also raised cotton, corn, oats, millet, etc. During the civil war he furnished many horses to the Confederate army, also a large amount of beef, blankets, shoes, guns, etc. During this time he remained at home to care for the families whose natural pro- tectors had gone to the front, but he was later called upon to shoulder arms in defending the homes of the settlers from the depreda- tions of the Indians, who had become hostile.
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