USA > Texas > Harrison County > Marshall > History Of Marshall Texas > Part 6
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In 1903 John Harter, Sr., founded the City Laundry Company, now located on the corner of East Burleson and . North Lafayette Streets. The original frame building was twenty-six feet by sixty feet. The company was moved into the present building in 1929, when it was sixty feet by ninety feet, and, in 1931, additional construction gave much needed space. The building today, which is brick, is
12Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
13Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present.
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ninety-five feet by one hundred and ten feet. The cleaning process of clothes has been much improved in forty-four years of the company's history. Today the laundry has its own water supply and softening plant, which has a capacity of fifty gallons per minute.
In 1904 the W. D. Allen Agency, which later became the Brownrigg Insurance Company, was founded. In 1922 J. B. Stephens and John Brownrigg purchased the agency and were associated until 1924. John Brownrigg remained the sole owner until his death in 1946. John Brownrigg was connected with the Texas and Pacific Railroad from 1890 to 1922, his offices were moved from Marshall. He went into the insurance business.
George M. McDaniel established the Marshall Marble and Granite Works in 1905. It was first established on South Washington along the M. E. and' T. Railway tracks. He moved the shop to its present location at 106 West Houston in August 1908. It was remodeled in 1923, after a gasoline fire next door. At first all. of the work was done by hand but in 1923 modern machinery was installed. There is an air-compressor, operating pneumatic tools, and a sand- blast for carving work.
The Matthewson-Pelz Jewelry Company was organized at Marshall in 1907. H. E. Pelz was associated with N. C. and J. J. Matthewson. After J. J. Matthewson died, N. C. Matthewson and H. E. Pelz became associated. H. E. Pelz purchased the interest of N. C. Matthewson. The business is located at 101 West Austin Street.
The Marshall Mill and Elevator Company was founded in 1909 by Frank Davis. It burned on the night of June 11, 1918. It is one of the most modern mills and elevator in East Texas, costing approximately one hundred thousand dollars to reconstruct. It is erected with re-enforced steel and concrete and fireproof. The building, including the basement, is eight stories. The storage capacity is one hun- dred thousand bushels of bulk grain. There are five large tanks, each holding twenty thousand bushels. There are twelve bins and each one will hold two thousand bushels. There are three warehouses with floor space of fifty thou- sand square feet. The trackage will accommodate twenty- five cars of grain and hay, each car holding sixty thousand pounds. Feed is purchased on terminal markets in far distant places. Quite often there are as many as twenty- five cars of hay and grain on the track in one day. On the
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL
average there are at least twenty-two cars on the track per day.14
In 1911, the Marshall Brick and Manufacturing Com- pany was organized with a capital investment of $40,000: On the average in 1918 eight million bricks were manu- factured each year;15 in 1947 fifteen million bricks are manufactured annually. The raw materials used, sand and clay, are taken from Harrison County. There are four clay pits, near the city. At the plant, there are twelve kilns, each holding four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand bricks. The bricks are delivered within a one hundred and twenty-five mile radius of Marshall.
The company is planning to modernize its buildings and equipment as soon as possible, perhaps in 1947 or 1948.16
In 1911, under the laws of Texas, citizens of Marshall, Texas and Plymouth, Indiana organized the Marshall Manu- facturing Company at Marshall. It is a basket factory situated in the southeastern part of the city. It was organized for the purpose of manufacturing and selling all kinds of baskets, fruit and produce packages, and other wooden articles. In 1918, when there was a shortage of bushel baskets in Georgia, and the peach crop was ruining, the War Industry Board called for thirty-eight carloads of baskets from the Marshall Manufacturing Company. The workers had to work day and night in order to make and ship the baskets. The bushel shipping basket is the princi- pal package manufactured. The raw materials used are timber and hardware. On the average three hundred car- loads of timber are used annually. The hardware consists of wire and nails from the northern mills. Most of the work is done by machinery. In the busy part of the season one hundred and twenty-five workers are employed but the average through the year is seventy-five. W. L. Pitts is president of the Marshall Manufacturing Company at present.17
The Windt Jewelry Company located at 105 East Austin Street was established on August 1, 1912 by H. T. Windt and Mrs. Kate Dwyer, who formed the Windt-Dwyer Jewel- ry Company. Mr. Windt bought the rest of the interest in the company in 1921. It is still in operation under Mrs: H. T. Windt.
14Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
15 Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present. 16Mr. Charles Lake.
17 Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present.
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The Darco Corporation will begin its twenty-fifth year of progress in Marshall in 1947. It was constructed at Marshall at a cost of $900,000 under the supervision of R. M. Williams, superintendent, who came to Marshall in September'1921. By 1922 it had begun operations. Today it is, one of Marshall's major industries, and is one of the largest plants of its kind in the world. The mines are located at least twelve miles south of Marshall, where lignite can be obtained. It is used in various refining processes. In 1936, it employed one hundred and twenty workers with a monthly payroll of $8,200, the company spending $8,000 more with local merchants for supplies at the plant. It is located on the Longview Highway one mile west of Mar- shall. The headquarters, however, are located in New York City.
The J. C. Penney Company came to Marshall in 1922. It has been enlarged several times since its organization. It is located at 305 North Washington.
The Palace Cleaners was established at Marshall in 1922 by A. L. Elliott and B. F. Badgett. The cleaners busi- ness began using a hand operated machine, and open tubs of gasoline. Two years later a washer, wringer, and clarifi- cation system was added. It eliminated the huge wastage of gasoline. In 1927 Badgett and Elliott constructed their own building and installed the very latest equipment. In 1935 a storage department was added, where out-of-season clothing can be kept. The cleaners also added the soap cleaning system which is a dry cleaning process, known as Sanoclean.18
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Hendry and son, Percy T., started a grocery business on East Avenue in 1924. It soon de- veloped to such an extent that more space was a necessity, so, in 1932 the present building was erected on the corner of East Avenue and North Grove Street. During these years they have served the students of the College of Mar- shall, and now East Texas Baptist College. In August 1946, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Hendry sold half the interest in the grocery to another son, R. H. "Pete" Hendry. Mr. P. T. and R. H. Hendry own the store today. It is a well estab- lished business and gets much trade from the neighborhood and a great deal from the college students.19
In 1925, Dr. N. C. Matthewson established the Made Rite Company. At that time, the force consisted of one
18Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
19Mr. W. T. Hendry.
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bottler, one bottle washer, and two route men. In 1925, the Made Rite Company became the fifth bottling company in the United States to begin bottling the drink of Dr. Pepper, that had begun selling in 1886. In 1936, the Dr. Pepper drink was the second largest selling beverage in the United States. The building, where the company is located today, was erected in 1926, adjoining the central fire sta- tion. It is located at 108.West Houston Street. In 1934, all of the original equipment was destroyed and a whole new plant was installed, along with a huge building, erected behind the original Made Rite' building. In 1936, Miss Natalie Williams and Jack Mann were the operators of the business. There were two large plants, one in Marshall and one in Henderson, with the headquarters in Marshall. In 1947, the same arrangement is in operation. . Today the company distributes drinks over a wide area of East Texas and western Louisiana.
The A. W. Dunn Transfer Company was established in October 1926, having only one Model T Ford truck at the time. Dunn had offices in Shreveport, Longview, Kilgore, Henderson, Gladewater, and Marshall. He had permits to operate in the ten following states which were Texas, Ala- bama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Okla- homa, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. At one time it was known as Marshall Transfer Company running from Tyler to Shreveport. In July 1935 the firm consolidated with the East Texas Motor Freight Lines. He sold his interest in the East Texas Motor Freight Lines to head the A. W. Dunn Transfer Company. He was a veterinarian in the City of Marshall for fourteen years. He is a graduate of Kansas City Veterinary College, now Kansas Agri- cultural and Mechanical College. He was City Health Officer before he went into the transportation business. He has sold part of his interest in the business in the last two years.
The Texas Milk Products Company was organized in .1928. One of its first large milk plants was established. at Marshall. The trade name was Babblin' Brook Dairies. It was sold to the Borden's Dairies several years ago.
W. W. Harkrider has been owner of the Harkrider Furniture Company since it was first opened on February 4, 1930. It is one of the leading furniture stores of Mar- shall.
These stores, business firms, and industrial plants named above are, of course, only a few of those found in Marshall today. They were, with a few exceptions, organ- ized in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, and
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most still remain, serving the city today. Thus from the few scattering stores and industries in 1880 has developed a large industrial area.
The growing industrial strength of Marshall in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was firmly supported by the city's banks,
The first bank in the City of Marshall was the private bank of Garrett and Key in 1877. In December 1883, the Garrett and Key Bank was organized into the First National Bank of Marshall. The charter was obtained on January 21, 1884. R. C. Garrett was the first president and E. Key the first cashier. They owned the entire stock, each one-half interest. The five directors of it were Garrett, Key, W. P. Poland, A. R. Starr, and N. Gregg. It opened business on February 1, 1884, the capital stock being $75,000 .. E. J. Fry bought part of Poland's interest in 1887 and was elected vice-president, When Garrett died in 1890, E. Key became president and held the office until he died in 1936. B. W. Long had succeeded E. Key as cashier in 1890. In 1893 there was a severe panic all over the United States; banks were failing everywhere. On September 13, 1893, Long took his own life. But it was found that the First National Bank was sound; it remained so throughout the panic. W. C. Feild took the place of Long in 1893 as cashier and held it until he resigned in 1903. In 1893 W. L. Barry came into the personnel of the bank and was made a director in 1895, assistant cashier in 1900, and vice-president and cashier in 1904. In 1907, E. S. Fry came into the bank and was made active vice- president. In 1907 there was another panic: many banks failed, but the banks in Marshall remained sound. During this time the First National Bank paid every check and every depositor, and in one day alone paid the Texas and Pacific Railway employees $67,000. In 1907 the capital stock of the bank was increased to $100,000; in 1913, it was again increased to $200,000, and was the same in 1936. In 1916 the First National Bank took over the deposits and assets of the State Bank of Marshall. When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917 a meeting was called by the Board of Directors of the bank and it was decided that a full month's salary should be given enlisted employees, and that their positions should be reserved for them until the end of the war. Those who enlisted were E. Key, Jr., Wood A. Lake, W. T. Womack, and Hobart Key, attorney for the bank.
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In 1888 the bank had bought and moved into the old Garrett and Key building, corner of Bolivar and Austin Streets, which the bank used until the old building was razed and a new building was constructed in 1903., The bank used this building until February 1, 1924. On its fortieth anniversary the bank moved to its present location on both East Houston and East Austin Streets. It is at 111 East Houston Street. W. L. Barry became president of the First National Bank in 1936 when E. S. Fry died. After the death of W. L. Barry the Board of Directors met and elected Edmund Key, Jr. the president of the bank. He is still president of the bank in 1947.
The Marshall National Bank was, organized by Mar- shall business men on July 25, 1889. Will C. Pierce was its first president. A charter was granted on August 27, 1889, the capital stock being $100,000. M. M. Rains who was one of the first organizers made the first deposit. Mr. Pierce died in 1915, and was succeeded by W. L. Martin, who served as president of the bank until August 1928. Martin was succeeded by W. C. Pierce, Jr., son of the first president. Pierce was succeeded as president of the bank by W. F. Young in the early part of 1947. The capital of the bank in 1947 is $125,000.
On"November 5, 1913, the Guaranty State Bank was organized, with a capital investment of $75,000. It operated as a State Bank until April 29, 1925, when the capital stock was converted to $100,000, and the name of the bank was changed to the State National Bank. The first president of the Guaranty State Bank was Frank Davis. D. C. Dris- kell was the first president of the State National Bank. It closed in 1941 when the Marshall National Bank took it over. 20
No other single industry has ever benefited Marshall more, through the years, than the railroad.
The first meeting ever held in Harrison County on the subject of railroads was held in the court-house at Marshall in the fall of 1850. In 1850, the State Legislature passed an act incorporating the Vicksburg, Louisiana, and Texas Railroad. To the railroad was granted sixteen sections of land for each mile of track laid. On February 7, 1850, the Marshall Railway and Plank Company was chartered. This railroad was to go from Marshall to any place in Louis-" iana, going by way of Caddo Lake. A share of stock cost one dollar and entitled the shareholder to a vote. To be a director one had to have at least five shares. The Board
20 Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
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of Directors was to consist of not less than five or more than eleven persons, and these members were to elect the presi- dent.
On February 14, 1852, the State Legislature chartered a Texas-Louisiana Railroad. It would start at the border of Harrison County and go by Marshall to Austin on to El Paso. Eight sections of land were. to be granted if the construction began within five years. On February 16, 1852, the Southern Pacific Railroad, beginning of the Texas and Pacific system, was chartered. It was originally chartered under the name of the Vicksburg and El Paso Railroad or the Texas Western. The name was changed to the Southern Pacific by an act of the State Legislature, approved August 16, 1856.
In 1853, the Marshall Railroad Company was chartered; its line was to run from Marshall to New Orleans. It was the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Eight sections of land were granted, under the provision that construction was to begin within four years. Promoters mentioned in the act were William Evans, William T. Scott, H. L. Berry, P. Murrah, M. J. Hall, T. A. Patillo, and Joseph Taylor, all of Marshall. Three hundred feet of land on each side of the tracks was to be given to the lines. Freight rates were not to exceed fifty cents 'per hundred pounds per hundred miles.
In 1854, the Sabine and Sulphur Springs Railroad was chartered. It was to begin between the Sabine River and Marshall and to run through Marshall, on to Gilmer, and then to Sulphur Springs.
Of all the railroads chartered only the Southern Pacific laid tracks. The construction was started in 1855. Harri- son County and Marshall pledged a subsidy of $300,000.21
Late in January 1858, twenty-three miles of track was laid from Swanson's Landing, which was located on Caddo Lake, connecting it with Marshall. The charter stated that the track must be in service by February 1, 1858, but did not say what kind of conveyance should be used. The loco- motive that they bought to use on the track did not arrive by the deadline date, but they started the business anyway. At Swanson's Landing a trainman took three oxen, hitched them to the flat car, which was put in front of the three box cars they used, and started down the line. The oxen pulled the cars down a level grade, up the first hill, and were then unhitched and placed on the flat car. Then
21 Armstrong, J. C., History of Harrison County, Texas, (1839-1880).
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down the hill the flat car and the three box cars went with only gravity and simple hand brakes to control the speeding train.
The Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Texas Railway Com- pany between Waskom and Shreveport was leased on September 11, 1862. There were two well-known loco- motives on this short line named "Bull of the Woods" and "Ben Johnson." The locomotive known as the "Bull of the Woods" won its name because it had the habit of running off the tracks and into the woods, knocking down trees, left and right. The 'engine "Ben Johnson" was named after a banker of Shreveport, Louisiana.
General Magruder during the Civil War had the tracks taken up from Marshall to Swanson's Landing and had it relaid from Marshall to Waskom so that the troops could be shipped out quickly. ,It was taken up under foreclosure to the Hall Syndicate of Louisville, Kentucky in 1869. The first general offices and shops were located in Hallsville in 1870.22
In 1861 the Southern Pacific needed funds and sold to H. S. Faulkerson of New Orleans. The Directorship con- sisted mostly of Marshall men. 28
During this time Marshall played a part in the western emigration, since any person who wished to move westward had to apply to the General Emigration Agent located in Marshall, Texas or to the Offices of the Texas and Pacific Railway Company in New York or Philadelphia. 24
In 1871 construction was pushing in both directions. By 1872 the railroad had, laid track from Shreveport to Longview, sixty miles. This was brought about in two ways: (1) plantations had been ruined in Harrison County during the Civil War; their owners had been driven into bankruptcy, and (2) when the slaves were freed, Thus these plantation owners were glad to sell their land to the railway companies. 25
The Texas and Pacific Shops came to Marshall by an act of the Texas State Legislature which authorized a bond issue in Harrison County for $300,000 and a donation of sixty-six and one-half acres of land by the city upon the condition that the company would maintain its shops and general office and establish its eastern terminal in Mar-
22Texas and Pacific Railway, from Ox-Teams to Eagles.
23 Armstrong, J. C., History of Harrison County, Texas, (1839-1880). 24Texas and Pacific Railway, from Ox-Teams to Eagles.
25 Armstrong, J. C., History of Harrison County, Texas, (1839-1880).
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shall on April 12, 1871. Thomas A. Scott was president of the Texas and Pacific Railroad at the time. The agree- ment was signed in Mrs. King's Hotel, located where Joe Weisman and Company stands today, at 211 North Wash- ington Avenue. East Texas needed the Texas and Pacific Railroad and Marshall was the logical place, 26 according to some delegates sent by the company to locate a site. They gave four main reasons, which were: (1) Longview could not and did not raise the sufficient quota needed and Mar- shall could and did; (2) Marshall had a fine water system and much more room for improvement; (3) Marshall is very near the oil and gas fields of Louisiana; and (4) a straight line could be run from Texarkana, the western terminal, to Marshall.27 General Dodge urged that the Marshall to Texarkana line be laid while Thomas A. Scott was raising money, and, consequently, on June 12, 1873, the Texas and Pacific Railroad acquired the authority to lay the tracks of the railroad from Marshall to Texar- kana. The work was pushed between Marshall and Texar- kana on the basis of notes that were held by banks and financial houses.
There were some crewmen at Marshall who called the run between Hallsville and Marshall "The Alps," because the track was laid over low hills, and before a locomotive reached the top of a hill, the link and pin couplings usually broke, letting the main portion of the train roll backward down the incline. Marshall was the general office, and when trains arrived, the conductors would all set their watches by the Marshall agent, and report the time on down the line. 28
The Texas and Pacific Shops are situated in the north- eastern part of Marshall and today cover twenty-two acres of ground. To begin with there were only four men em- ployed, who worked in wooden frame buildings.29 The first machine shop, erection shop, and boiler shops and a roundhouse were built at Marshall in 1873,30 and brick buildings were constructed to replace the frame buildings. In 1900 there was a car shop constructed and soon after that a new roundhouse and a new pump house was con- structed.31 The erection, pattern, and machine shops were
26 Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
27 Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present. 28Texas and Pacific Railway, from Ox-Teams to Eagles.
29 Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present. 80Marshall News Messenger, August 23, 1936.
31Sketches Drawn From Marshall and Vicinity, Past and Present.
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practically destroyed by a fire in 1903. The present build- ings were constructed in 1904.32 In 1905 the first Diesel Engine was installed in the shop power plant. It is a three cylinder, generating 225 horsepower. It was installed at a cost of $15,000. The old passenger station was razed a little later, and a red brick station was erected to replace it. In 1913 the store room burned at a loss of over one- half million dollars. It was replaced by a modern fire-proof department. A fence was constructed around the shops for safety purposes in 1917. On June 9, 1918, a large fire completely destroyed the machine shop, copper shop, and pattern shop at a loss of over two hundred thousand dollars in machinery alone. A steel fire-proof building was con- structed to replace it several years later. In 1918 the company employed one thousand and six hundred men.33 In 1936 it employed one thousand and two hundred men; in 1947 this estimate remains about the same. 34
The men who work in the blacksmith shop manufacture tools, repair tools, and work on different parts of ma- chinery. The men who work in the boiler shop make boilers, clean boilers, and repair them. The machinists in the machine shop make designs, patterns, and mold or forge all of the new machinery. In the coach shop the employees make coaches, repair them, and make furniture. The store room contains all of the offices where the stenog- raphers work and where all. of the things are stored away. It is in a completely separate building.35 The shops are divided into three main departments, the locomotive depart- ment, car department, and the store department. The reclamation plant could almost be called a department, as it furnishes, runs, and keeps the railroad going.36
The first newspaper in the county published at Mar- shall was a weekly newspaper, known as the Texas Republi- can. The first issue left the press'in 1849. In 1850, the paper had a circulation over the state of 1,050. The pub- lication was suspended in the latter part of 1869. The Star State Patriot was a weekly political agricultural newspaper, having a circulation of 600. In 1858 another newspaper called the Harrison County Flag was organized. It ran for three years and was suspended in 1861, but resumed publication again in 1865, and then was permanently sus- pended in 1869. But in 1860 the Harrison County Flag had
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