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 28
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 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
In May, 1856, the court recomiendod Jesse R. Grover for license to practice law, thus: "Ordered by the court to be certified that Jesse R. Grover, who intends to apply for license to practice law, is a resident of this county, and that he has been a resident of this Stateat least six months, that he is twenty- one years of age, and that he has a good repu- tation for morals, character and honorable deportinent."
In November, 1858, the court ordered that the county records be transcribed by the clerk or his deputy.
ACTS OF THE COUNTY COURT OCCASIONED BY THE WAR.
February 19, 1861, 810 was paid to Will- I levied.
iam Nunn, chief justice of the county, for ordering an election for ratifying or rejecting the secession ordinance.
July 1, 1861: " Application having been made by the citizens of Ilill county for an appropriation of 83,000 to equip the cavalry of Captain J. R. Goodwin for the service of the State of Texas or of the Confederates at the South, ordered by the Court that E. M. Wilder, John S. Schofield, David Womack, C. N. Brooks and J. M. Griffin (any three of whom ean act) be and they are hereby ap- pointed a military board for the county of Ilill, for the purpose of equipping said com- pany; and said board is to be governed by the following conditions: Whenever the inus- ter roll of said company shall show that it numbers sixty-four men or a greater number, and evidence also be afforded said board that said company has been accepted by the Gov- ernor of the State of Texas, then said board shall convene at their earliest convenience and proceed to equip said company with the means hereinafter provided for.
" It is further ordered by the court that the bonds of the county of Hill shall be is- sued to the amount of 83,000, bearing inter- est at the rate of ten per cent. per annum and payable after date, and that said bonds shall be placed in the hands of the board above appointed for the purpose above set forth," etc. The rest of the order pertains to the levy and collection of a special tax for carry- ing out the above measures, subject to an election which should determine whether the tax for that purpose should or should not be
16
934
HISTORY OF JOHNSON
On the same day Thomas Bell was ap- pointed captain of a patrol for precinct No. 1, --. the patrol company consisting of N. W. Tanner, W. C. Mosely, J. L. Garrett, T. B. Smith and II. W. Carter.
Angust 19, 1861, ordered that the appro- priation made at the July term for equipping Goodwin's cavalry be diverted to the equip- ment of Captain J. P. Wier's company; that the military board be notified to examine all accounts made by the members of the mili- tary company to be equipped by said board; and that the board is hereby ordered not to pay for any article that is not essentially necessary for the equipment; and further, that the board be required to report at the next regular term of the court.
The next day the court ordered the assessor and tax collector to collect the tax levied for the equipment of the voluntary company.
April 12, 1862, the court ordered that bonds be issued of the denominations of $1 to 83 to satisfy the appropriation inade at the July term preceding, of 83,000, for the pur- pose of equipping the above mentioned com- panics. Also " patrols " were appointed in certain districts.
August 18, 1862, $1,600 was ordered to be paid out of the county serip on hand for the purchase of clothing for the soldiers then in the Confederate service from Hill county. A committee of eight was appointed to superintend this appropriation.
August 31, the court petitioned that P. M. Smith be furloughed to remain at home and work at his trade, as he was the only wagon- maker in his neighborhood, and the farmers
would be greatly inconvenienced by his ab- sence in the army.
November 17, 1862, ordered that John S. Schofield be authorized to make arrangements to procure the powder, lead and percussion caps proposed to the county by the State, transporting said ammunition to said county, and pay for the same; also that J. T. Rat- cliff pay to the justice of each precinct (ex- cepting one) the amount of money that may be necessary for the yearly support of soldiers in the Confederate service that may actually be in need.
At the May (1863) term a tax of twenty- five cents on each $100 in the county was ordered for the assistance of soldiers' families.
Measures were adopted from time to time during the remaining period of the war for those families of soldiers who were depend- ent upon the public for support. Cards were issued to the dependent women by the court, for the convenience of distributing supplies; and cotton, corn and beef were purchased by the county for the relief of soldiers' families, and every measure was taken to maintain them during the war.
In April, 1865, the court ordered one-half the accounts of soldiers' families, when credited, to be paid in county scrip of tive for one, and the other half to be paid out of any other moneys as soon as they should come into the hands of the treasurer, under orders from the court. It was further ordered that two-thirds of J. D. Doak's account be paid because he had been keeping a soldiers' home much longer than other keepers of such homes.
AND HILL COUNTIES.
There are no minutes of proceedings be- tween April and September, 1865; these were the first five months after the termina- tion of the war, disastrousty to the cause which had been so heartily espoused by Hill county.
PROBATE COURT.
The first volume of the probate record opens thus;
" HIill County Court. At a regular term of the Honorable County Court of Ilill County for the transaction of probate busi- ness, which was held at the house of James 11. Dyer on the 27th day of June, A. D. 1553, present, the HIon. James Il. Dyer, Chief Justice, and C. N. Brooks, Clerk of said Court.
"Ordered by the Court, that letters of ad- ministration of the estate of E. S. Wyman be granted to Martha Wyman.
" Ordered by the Court that James Chap- man, J. R. Davis and Esquire Richardson be und they are hereby appointed by the Court appraisers of the property which were of E. S. Wyman, deceased.
" Ordered that Court is adjourned until the next regular term of said Court.
JAMES HI. DYER, Chief Justice.
"The estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased. Filing of application on the tenth of June, 1853. There was filed in the County Clerk's office of Ilill County, the application of Martha Wyman, praying for letters of ad- ministration of the estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased.
" The estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased. Granting of letters of administration. The application of Martha Wyman, filed the tenth of June, 1853, praying for letters of administration on the estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased, in the words and figures following, to wit:
" State of Texas, - Ilill County. To the Honorable Judge of the Probate Court: The undersigned, widow and reliet of E. S. Wyman, deceased, would respectfully represent that the said E. S. Wyman departed this life on the 26th day of January, 1853; that he died without any will or testament known to the petitioner; that there has not been any administration upon said estate. She therefore prays your Ilonor to grant her letters of administration upon the estate of said E. S. Wyman, do- ceased, at your next term of your County Court for probate business, and as in dnty bound will ever pray.
MARTHA WYMAN.
" It appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the notice required by law had been given by the Clerk of this Court, where- upon, on due consideration of the premises, it is ordered that letters of administration of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights, moneys, eredits and effects which were of E. S. Wyman, late of said county, deceased, be granted to Martha Wyman, upon her entering into bond, taking the oath prescribed by law. " Whereupon said Martha Wyman entered into bond, with James Chapman and Harry Skiles securities, conditioned that the said Martha Wyman shall well and truly perform
236
HISTORY OF JOHNSON
all the duties required of her as such adminis- tratrix; and the said Martha Wyman also took the oath prescribed by law: Said bond is approved by the Court and ordered to be filed, -which was done accordingly. Where- upon letters of administration were issued to the |said ] Martha Wyman in pursuance of the statute in such case made and provided; and it is further ordered that Esquire Rich- ardson, William J. Cummins and James Chapman be and they are hereby appointed appraisers of the said estate of E. S. Wyman.
" It being made known that William J. Cummins was not willing to act as one of the appraisers, whereupon J. R. Davis was ap- pointed in his stead.
" At the July term of the Honorable Conrt of Hill County. The Court met at the house of James II. Dyer. There being no business in Court, the same was adjourned until the 29th day of August, 1853.
" August term of the Honorable Probate Court. The Honorable Probate Court of Ilill County met at the house of James II. Dyer, on Monday the 29th day of August, 1853. Present, the Honorable James Il. Dyer, Chief Justice, and C. N. Brooks, Clerk, for said Court.
" Now, on the 29th day of August, 1853, is filed in Court the inventory and appraise- ment of the property of the estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased, which inventory and list is ordered by the Conrt to be spread upon the reeord, which is in the words and figures fol- lowing, to wit:
" A list of the property belonging to the estate of E. S. Wyman, deceased."
Here follows a short list of farming and household chattels, amounting to about $1,500, and then the minutes concerning that estate, covering several pages. Failing to execute a new bond within the time prescribed, Mrs. Wyman was supplanted by the appointment of William C. Megce pro tem., under whose administration a portion of the property was sold and accounted for. At the January (1854) term the court or- dered that the chief justice and Mrs. Wyman partition among the minor heirs the residue of property exempt from foreed sale, which amounted to $170.
The next case recorded in the probate min- ntes is that of Dorothy Newby, at the October (1853) term, praying for letters of adminis- tration upon the estate of her deceased hus- band, Jonathan Newby. This was a large estate, valued at many thousand dollars, four slaves being a part of the property. William C. Megce was appointed guardian ad litem to to represent the heirs in the partition of said estate.
At the same term letters of guardianship were granted to William E. Anderson for the persons and the property of the minors Nancy Anderson, James Anderson, Margaret Lee An- derson and Matilda A. Anderson. It does not clearly appear from the record what kinship these minors had to their guardian, but they were probably his brother's children, as their parents were James and Lovina Anderson, The amount divided between these children was $1,424.
Also, at this term, letters of administration were granted to Martha A. Tilley, upon the
237
AND HILL COUNTIES.
estate of her deceased husband, Dennis II. Tilley.
And thus the record proceeds, the court sitting almost monthly, with greatly inereas- ing business, in pace with the growth of population. During the first year and a half the following estates, besides those already mentioned, were administered upon: Wesley Carroll, Preston Hartgraves, Benjamin W. Pryor, James E. Foller, J. D. Allen, Samuel Craft, James C. Overstreet, John Hart, Mary Rock, M. J. L. Allen, a minor, etc.
DISTRICT COURT.
The first term of district court held in the county was presided over by the Hon. John Il. Reagan, at present United States Senator, who had exchanged with Judge Jewett, the regular judge of the distriet. An amusing incident is related of the judge in connection with his arrival in the town, which was com- posed of two or three board and log cabins. The judges and lawyers in those days traveled on horseback, and carried their libraries and wardrobes in a " pair of saddle-bags." When the judge had got within about five miles of town he was overtaken by a stranger, who was riding a splendid horse, and was fully equipped according to the custom of the times. lle engaged the judge in conversa- tion, soon becoming quite confidential, and among other things related that he had the day before killed a man in Navarro county, and that he thought it best to take a " little trip" out west until " things blew over." Imagine the surprise and consternation when, as they alighted from their horses at the little
hotel, he heard the judge direct the sheriff to arrest him and hold him subject to orders from the Navarro county authorities.
The first judge of this district was - Frazier, appointed from Marshall. Jewett was the first regularly elected judge, and he presided a number of years. lle was a resi- dent of Freestone county. The next man elected was John Gregg, who afterward went to the war and was killed before Richmond. Judge Nat. M. Burford, of Dallas, was upon this bench for a time;" subsequently John G. Goode, since the war, and conspicuously Hon. Jo Abbott, the present congressman.
AGRICULTURAL.
RESOURCES.
The resources of this county are mainly agricultural and pastoral. It is, however, so especially adapted to agriculture that the pastoral interest is being rapidly succeeded by the agricultural, and the time not remote when live-stock of all kinds will be confined to farms.
Three-fourths of the area of the county is superior farming land, while the remainder, with very little exception, is not unprodne- tive. The staple agricultural productions are, corn, cotton, wheat, oats and millet. Rye, barley and many of the best hay and pasture grasses ean be successfully grown. Of corn, there is produced from twenty-five to fitty bushels per aere; of cotton, from one-third to one bale; wheat, from ten to twenty-five bushels; oats, from fifty to seventy-five bush- els. The production of rye and barley is about equal to that of oats, and the yield of
-
238
HISTORY OF JOHNSON
millet and some of the grasses is enormous. Nearly all the vegetables common to this latitude are produced in abundance. Peaches, pears, grapes, plums and some other fruits are successfully grown. The soil appears not to be adapted to the growth of apples, an in- ferior quality only being produced, at con- siderable expense and labor.
The facility with which the lands are cul- tivated is unexcelled, it only being necessary to properly prepare and seed them, and after- ward to combat the weeds by surface plow- ing, there being no pestiferous grasses to contend with. It is a well established fact that by the use of improved agricultural implements -- sulky or " riding plows" and cultivators, which are now being extensively used, that a farm hand can produce, with comparative ease, of the leading products, from one-third to one-half more than he can successfully harvest and market.
In the sparsely settled portions of the county, the stock range is but little impaired, and horses, cattle and sheep are well sustained during the whole year by the native grasses on the open range, except during excessively cold winters, when much stock die from ex- posure and want of proper nourishment.
PRODUCTIONS.
It may justly be claimed for Hill county that there are few others in which such a di- versity of production is practicable. Already our people have in a considerable measure availed themselves of this advantage and the tendency is very properly in the direction of a much greater diversity. There are sections
of the State adapted only to the cereals; others only to cotton and sugar cane; others only to stock-raising. Here the soil and climate are adapted to all the great agricult- ural staples and nearly every variety of prod- ucts, including those suited to higher northern latitudes as well as to semi-tropical climes. While cotton is still to some extent king, wheat, oats, corn, sorghum, broom-corn, mil- let and various kinds of grasses also grow to great perfection in the same fields alongside of the great fleecy staple. Almost every neighborhood has its mill for the manufact- ure of sorghum syrup. Vegetables of every description grow to great perfection and nearly all kinds of fruit are produced. These all find a ready market in Hillsboro and the smaller towns, and the larger cities which are in easy reach. The average yield per acre of the various products is as follows: Cotton between a third of a baleand a bale; corn, thirty bushels; wheat, ten bushels; oats, fifty bush- els; rye, twenty bushels; sweet potatatoes, 100 bushels; Irish potatoes, 100 bushels. The average yield of millet is two tons per acre; prairie hay, one ton. Sorghum hay, which is destined to become an important product in this section, will with little work yield an average of eight tons. A careful estimate shows the average value of the products named to be as follows: Cotton, $42 per bale; corn, fifty cents per bushel; wheat, sixty cents per bushel; oats, thirty cents per bushel; rye, $1 per bushel; millet, $8 per ton; hay, $5 per ton. Of sorghum, which yields an average of two barrels per acre, the value per barrel is $20. During a portion of this year
-
. : 9
AND HILL COUNTIES.
corn sold for as much as seventy-five cents per bushel, and other productions also sold at higher prices than are given above; but as a general average, taking year after year, these figures are correct. Both the Irish and sweet potatoes grow to great perfection; also cab. bage, peas, beans, turnips, egg-plants, col- lards, lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, parsnips, salsify or vegetable oyster, sweet corn, eu- cumbers, okra, pumpkins, radish, squash, tomatoes, mustard, water-melons, cantaloupes, ete. Asparagus, cauliflowers and kale also do well, though they are not generally eulti- vated. Strawberries of an excellent quality can be grown where the soil is sandy, and raspberries do well, but as yet little attention has been given to the cultivation of these. Peaches, plums and other varieties of fruits are grown in great abundance and of the finest qualities. Grape culture is also becoming an important industry, and this is undoubtedly destined to be a great wine-producing seetion, the climate being as favorable for some of the best varieties of grapes as that of California. Apples of good quality, being of the earlier varieties, are produced in considerable quan- tities, while apricots and pears also thrive with proper care. The tropical fruits, such as oranges, lemons and bananas cannot be produced here. In most cases farms are rented for parts of the crops produced. Own- ers usually require ono-fourth of the cotton and one-third of all grain as a rental share, or if a money rent is charged it amounts or- dinarily to $3 and from that to 85 per nere. In either case the renters furnish teams and all implements for the cultivation of crops.
The average wages paid farm hands is $10 per month. Wages for cotton picking range from fifty cents to 81 per hundred pounds, though seventy-five cents per hundred is the average.
DOES FARMINO PAY IN HILL COUNTY?
From the Hillsboro papers of different dates we extract the following instances:
Harvey Chenault, two miles north of Ilills- boro, has 371 aeres in his farm, of which last year 250 acres were cultivated as follows: Cotton, 140 acres; corn, 85 aeres; oats, 25 aeres. The yield was: Cotton, 70 bales, at $47, 83,200,-an average of $23.50 per acre; corn, 3,400 bushels, at 25 cents, or $10 per acre; oats, 40 bushels per acre, at 22 cents, total 8220. The total value of the crop on the 250 neres cultivated was $4,460, or an average of $17.85 per acre. Any one will see that the above figures are very moderate.
As to the amount of labor required, it may be stated that one of Mr. Chenault's tenants enltivated 15 acres of cotton, 27 of corn, 15 of oats and about 2 in millet, and did all the work himself with the exception of some little cotton he hired picked. The tenant made on his cotton $31.40 per acre, dividing this equally with the landlord, who furnished a pair of mules and feed for them, besides the implements for working. Other land Mr. Chenault had rented brought him $7.60 per aere as rent when he received one-fourth of the erop. He says a man can easily culti- vate at least twice as much land in Hill county as he can in Tennessee, from which State he came; and as he has been a planter .
-
240
HISTORY OF JOHNSON
in both States he is a competent judge. Ile says all that a farmer has to do here is to plant, sow and reap; he does not "fool" away time and money in fertilizing. A Hill county farmer does not know what fertilizers are except from what he reads or hears of them in the older States. With this match- Jess, inexhaustible soil, six feet deep, all that is necessary is to put the proper amount of elbow grease on the plow and hoe handles.
On the above described farm no stock is raised, except a few hogs for home use, and a few good Jersey cows for milk and butter, for home consumption. A nice young orehard supplies the family with all the fruit, such as peaches, plums, apples and a few pears. Most of the orchard consists of peach trees.
A deep well, with windmill, supplies the place, both residence and stock, with an abundance of good water.
The figures given in the above sketch are not guess work, but are taken carefully from the owners' books, and the same results can be secured alnost anywhere in the county.
4. T. Ilubbard states that he got off the train at Itasca in 1882, "with a family of five and just $80 less than nothing,"_ that is, $30 in debt above all assets. The family had their clothing and housekeeping outfit, and Mr. Ilubbard had $20 in cash, but was $50 in debt. Ile farmed on the shares until he conld purchase land; now he owns 160 acres of as good land as there is in the county, and has it all improved and well stocked, and he is entirely ont of debt. Ile has dng it all out of the ground in eight years, with three bad erop years against him. That is what
one llill county man has done in farming. Why not others do the same? They can if they will, barring sickness and accident that would render one a cripple.
C. E. Lee has 200 acres three miles east of Hillsboro, where he located in November, 1888. The next spring he broke his land and put in abont forty-five acres in cotton and twenty-two in corn. Ile gathered twenty- three and a half bales of cotton, which aver- aged him $50 a bale. The total yield in eot- ton was $1,125,-an average of $25 per acre for sod land. Ilis corn made fully fifty bushels to the acre, and brought him 50 cents a bushel. He did not sell it on the market at that priec, but sold it " on foot," __ in other words, he bought cattle and fed them the corn. Ile purchased fifty-seven two-year-old cattle, paying $10 a head for them, and after feeding sold them for $22.50 a head. One Here of cotton, of which a careful account was kept, yielded 609 pounds of cotton net, -that is, that much cotton was lett after the toll had been paid at the gin. It sold for 10 cents per pound, or the acre yiekled $60.90. This was sod land, as all the land was that he cultivated that year.
Another aere was carefully pieked and a striet account kept, and it made 575 pounds net, which sold for 9} cents a pound, and tlins the acre brought its owner the nice little sum of 854.624.
The above are the exact figures, as kept by Mr. Lee himself. Ile bought his farm for $20 per acre, and the cotton land brought him $5 per acre that one year more than it cost him. The corn land, at the regular
-
241 1
AND HILL COUNTIES.
price of 25 cents per bushel, brought him an average of $12.50, or each acre came within $7.50 of paying for itself the first year it was cultivated. At the same time ho has working for him a young man recently from North Carolina, named James Henson, who receives here $15 to $18 a month the year round as a farm hand, while in his native State he could get but $8 a month! Also, on account of the absence of erab-grass and other obstacles here, he says that one can till sixty to seventy-five acres in Hill county as easy as twenty acres in North Carolina.
In the above account there was no reekon- ing of the expenses, but every farmer knows what they are. Mr. Lee and a " chunk of a boy " did all the work except in cotton- picking time.
After reading the above accounts, a wealthy merehant in Illinois remarked that such re- sults were not possible in his State, even ou more expensive land.
A Hill county farmer recently informned the Mirror that twelve years previously a young couple were in his employ, and started ont in married life together with only a piano and a cow and calf. The young man rented land for six years of him, when he purchased of him 167 acres at $6 an aere, in three an- nual payments. The money was all paid on or before it was due. In the course of twelve years he had, besides this good farm, eight or ten head of good horses, forty or fifty head of cattle and twenty to twenty-five hogs, a comfortable, good house, and was out of debt, -except that twenty months afterward the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.