USA > Texas > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Texas 1839 to 1880 > Part 3
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Not always were the corn husking bees limited to the masculine sex. Sometimes, the young ladies of the neighborhood were invited. It is said that on one such an occasion the old saying "sweet sixteen and never been kissed" originated. Most of the corn shucked 3 was white or yellow, but once in a great while a red one would be found. If the person shucking the red one happened to be a young lady, her sweetheart, if present, had the right to kiss her. When a girl had arrived at the age of sixteen and had never shucked a red ear of corn, , she was said to be "sweet sixteen and never been kissed." After a day of husking, supper was served to the huskers and other members of different families, who had by this time collected at the house. After supper, the close of the day was celebrated by a dance.
3. Students of Marshall High School. Sketches Drawn from Marshall and Vicinity, p. 15.
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Log rollings, another labor in which work and play were combined, was perhaps more frequently resorted to than the husking bee. This was a yearly affair for each farm. Not everyone understands how land was cleared up in those days. For that reason an explanation is necessary. Not all of the trees were cut down, usually only the brush and smaller ones together with a few of the larger ones were cleared out. The others were "deadened". That is, a ring was cut around the tree with an ax about two feet from the ground, so that when the sap came up from the roots, which took place in the spring, it could not get by the cut and con- sequently the tree died for lack of food. Some of these trees would stand for as many as ten or fifteen years, but each year a few would be blown over, with the result that the logs had to be removed before the land could be prepared for a crop. This was quite a task, and not easily done by one man and his family of boys. Hence, the origin of log rollings. The operation consisted of placing a stout stake made from an oak or hickory limb under a log, and rolling it to the desired place, where it was burned, together with a number of others. At other times the logs were cut up into sections several feet long and carried on stakes by four or more men to these piles. Frequently, these logs were so heavy that a great deal of skill as well as strength were required to perform the necessary operation. As in corn husking,
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log rolling champions for each neighborhood were developed. Quite often the champion log roller, noted for his strength and dexterity, if unmarried, was the most popular boy in the neighborhood among the fairer sex. There was the same spirit of rivalry, the same chances for good sportmanship in these amusements as in modern sports. But the main reason why the pioneer and his family enjoyed the log rollings, husking bees, and quilting bees was because of the sociability attached, and there can be no doubt that it helped to remove a great deal of the sordidness of their life, when there was little else to do, and when the opportunities for getting together were comparatively small.
Both boys and men got a great deal of sport out of squirrel shooting, opossum hunting, raccoon hunting, deer hunting, fishing, and other forms of outdoor sports. Such amusements as these usually occurred on days when there was little else to do, or on days when it was impossible to work. One favorite sport was fire hunting, in which lighted pine faggots were used to "shine the eyes"; of the animals sought. In this way the animals could be located in the thickest brush or trees. The deer was the usual objective, but often the opossum, raccoon, and other animals were hunted in this way.
Harrison County with its many streams and lakes, must have been a fisherman's paradise. Only a few minutes were needed to catch enough fish for the whole
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family. Aside from being great sports, hunting and fishing were a means of replenishing the pioneer's larder .
Of those social gatherings which were planned to satisfy the desire to get together, the holding of all day singings was perhaps the most popular. Such an occasion usually took place on some special day, as Fourth of July. Early on the morning of the celebration, one could see people on all of the roads leading to the picnic grounds. Poor roads and slow means of communication made an early start imperative, yet the eagerness of both old and young acted as a spur. After a fair-sized crowd had gathered, a call was issued for the singers to begin the day's program. Those who did not take part in the singing might be seen either in one large group standing around the singers, or in smaller groups nearby, renewing contact with friends. The young unmarried people could not be found in the crowd, but couples might be seen here and there, some on logs, some in wagons, and some behind the friendly trunks of trees. This was a great occasion for the boy and girl sweetheart. It was where they had their best opportunity "to court".
Just before noon, men might be seen coming from their wagons carrying trunks, boxes, and baskets. This meant that dinner was about to be served. Upon the arrival of the "dinner baskets", the mothers took charge and spread the food upon table cloths placed on the green grass. The
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singing stopped, a prayer of Thanksgiving was offered, and the people began to eat. Knives, forks, and plates were not used on such occasions; people ate in primitive style with their fingers. Here, again, the culinary art of the housewife passed in review. Every woman tried to excel every other one as to quantity, variety, and preparation of food. No one ever went away hungry .
Without a doubt, the favorite means of entertainment for the young set was the neighborhood dance. Nor was the enjoyment of dances limited to the younger set. Young married people, and sometimes, even old people, delighted in dancing. People gathered from miles around on such oc- casions. No invitation was considered necessary. The invitation was usually worded thus: "Every body invited". The dance lasted all night. One old gentlemen in relating his experiences said that he once left home in mid-after- noon to go to a dance fifteen miles distant, and got back the next morning as the sun rose.4 As one approached the house in which a dance was in full swing, the tones of the squeaky fiddle grew louder, and the rhythmic swing and beat of heavily shod feet upon the rough board floor, accompanied at intervals by the shrill cry of the "caller" and the half savage and half pathetic sing-song of the dancers might be heard. On coming nearer, all this be-
4. Ben Hope, reminiscences.
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came more distinct, and through the open doors and windows of the cabin could be seen the swaying couples. On going inside, the flushed and perspiring faces of the dancers could be seen. Occasionally, there was disorder. This usually occurred when some boy danced too many times with the girl brought by another, or else sat out the dance with her in some dark corner of the cabin. In
such instances fist fights were not unusual. Once in a while men of questionable character came to the dance with the object of breaking it up. This usually ended in a fight, resulting in a number of bruised and battered faces. Ordinarily, such people came from outside the community and were drunk.
The dances usually started about nine o'clock and lasted until the dancers were tired. About mid-night, or earlier, the older people, went home, leaving the floor to the young folks. Some of these almost always danced until dawn.
The wedding made the occasion for another type of social gathering. It is not meant here that the solemnity of the occasion was diminished in the least, but people in those days enjoyed solemnity. After a time, however, solemnity gave way to mirth, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the affair. People came from miles around, nor was it necessary to wait for an invitation. After the ceremony, a wedding feast was usually served. Danc- ing was then in order until midnight, or after. Strong
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drink often flowed freely, the women indulging as well as the men, but rarely ever to intemperance.
The spirit of hospitality toward all members of the community as in connection with the social gatherings was also extended to the stranger, In truth, the latch string did hang on the outside of the door, and no weary traveler was ever turned away. He was invited in and given the best the household afforded. The best chair, the best food, and the best bed were at his disposal, and he was constantly admonished to "make himself at home." However, the traveler repaid his host by telling him news of the outside world.
Although the above description might convey the impression that about all the pioneer did was to amuse himself, this was far from true. His lot was a hard one. There was a great deal more of toil than of amusement. Amusement was usually allowed only when all pressing work had been done. Often the pioneer boy was induced to work harder during the week in order that he might get some task finished so that he might take time off for a bit of amusement.
Sunday, in the busy part of the year, was the only day of rest, and generally it was used only for that purpose. There was no work by the pioneer family on this day. In fact, in a great many households, meals were prepared on the previous day, so that there was no cooking on the Sabbath. The day was usually spent at
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home, or at church, it there happened to be any services in the beighborhood. Occasionally, the whole family would go to a neighbor's house and spend the day. In the afternoon, the young people often congregated at the home of one of the members of their set, or else the boys "went calling" on their respective sweethearts. The members of a pioneer household had little time for social intercourse with each other. Both men and women worked hard all day and retired early at night. The pioneer was up before daylight and in the field before the sun rose; he worked all day with the exception of a few minutes at noon, until dark drove him to the house. Of course, during the winter months he was not so rushed and the family had time to discuss about the fireside such topics as interested them. The setting was an interesting one. At one corner of the fireplace, the warmest place in the room, the grandmother or grandfather set; the father and children arranged themselves in a semi- circle about the fire; the mother usually sat back of this circle at the inevitable spinning wheel, occasionally joining in the conversation. Neither the grandfather nor the grandmother took any active part in the conversation. These old people usually sat in their respective corners, puffing their pipes, or chewing tobacco and dipping snuff, only occasionally joining in the conversation going on around them.
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The mother was perhaps the most overworked member of the family. It was she who was responsible for the cooking of the meals for a large family; for washing the clothes; for keeping the house scrubbed and swept; for spinning, Weaving, and making the clothes, and for keeping them mended after they were made; and for milking the cows. If she had any spare time after doing all of this, she was permitted to take her place beside the men in the field. It is true that she had the help of the oldest daughters, and that alone made it possible for her to finish the necessary work. She also had to draw the water for use in the kitchen from a well perhaps fifty feet in depth, if the family had a well. Otherwise, she had to carry the water from a spring which might be a quarter of a mile or more from the house. It was the mother, who, after the supper dishes were cleared away, took her place at the spinning wheel or the loom and worked until the late hours of the night, while the other members of the family talked and later slept. It was she who bore the children. It is small wonder that the pioneer mother wore out and died when she was com- paratively young. A visit to the cemetery reveals the pathos of the pioneer mother. In almost every instance,
the father outlived the mother, in some instances by many years, and was remarried twice or even three or more times. Perhaps too little stress has been placed on the pioneer mother, and if possible, too much upon
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the pioneer father.
It was the duty of one of the boys to build the fire in the mornings. On cold winter mornings, it was not always an easy task to get one of the youngsters up. The father would usually call one of them and then go back to sleep confident that the fire would be built, only to be awakened a few minutes later by an argument between two of the boys as to whose turn it was to build the fire. A scuffle usually ensued, which brought the father to the bedside with a piece of rawhide reserved for such occasions. Little time was then lost and the fire was speedily built. After the room became warm, the mother would get up and began the preparation of the morning meal. Next the father and the oldest children arose. The former, with the oldest boys, would then go outside, where the early morning tasks were divided amongst them. The oldest daughters would help the mother in the kitchen.
In the pioneer home, the father's word was law. Few children ever dared to "sass" or disobey their parents. The ever-present rawhide was constant reminder of what they would get under such circumstances. These pioneer children were taught a lesson in obedience which they never forgot, and which they passed on to their own children.
This description of the pioneer home applies only to the home with few or no slaves. Life on the great
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plantations was so different from that on the smaller farma that ita special characteristics also require consideration. Whereas, on the latter all work had to be done by the farmer and his family, and there was little time for leisure, or for developing the finer sides of life, on the former, all work was done by the negro slave. This gave the plantation owner and his family a leisure that the small farmer could not have. Consequently, their home life was more ideal; their sons and daughters were better educated, and possibly more refined, and the owner himself was enabled to take a prominent part in local and national politics.
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On most of the plantations, the slave cabins were arranged in a hollow square, the overseer's house form- ing the front of the square. It was in the space between the cabins that all important occasions, such as weddings, Christmas, and other events in the life of the slave were celebrated. 6 On the whole the lot of a slave was a happy one. He simply knew nothing different; hence, he expected nothing else. In general, he was well treat- ed, well fed, and well cared for, and was attached to his master. It was a matter of economy, if for no other reason, for the slave owner to take care of so
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5. A study of the names of Harrison County men of this period prominent in local, state, and national politics, reveals few who were not large slave owners. 6. Burba, Alma, "A History of The Scott Plantation, " Marshall News-Messenger, July 21, 1929.
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valuable a piece of property. Of course, there were exceptions. However, such was rarely the case among the large slave owners, but was more likely to be true of the owner who possessed only a few slaves. The slaves were rarely overworked in Harrison County. It is hardly possible that they could have been. In 1850, there were over 6, 000 negro slaves in the county, 8 and yet they produced, together with the small farmer, only a little over 4,000 bales of cotton, and other commodities in proportion. There were at that time only 56, 000 acres of improved land in the county to be worked by these slaves and possibly not all of this was under cultivation. Of course, by 1860, a great deal more land was in cultivation, and a great deal more produced; but at the same time, there was a corresponding increase in both the slave and the white population. When the prices paid for slaves are taken into consideration, it seems unlikely that slavery ever paid any great profits in the county. From nineteen to thirty were usually the ages at which slaves could best be sold. Men sold at a slightly higher price than women. The price of slaves increased as the county developed. For instances, & male slave at the age of twenty-three brought, in 1843,
7. Correspondence with H. B. Pemberton.
8. Statistics of the United States, 1850, p. 503.
9. Idem.
10. In 1860 there were 8, 784 slaves in the county. Eighth Census of the United States Population, p. 481.
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around $650; while a negro woman at the same age brought about $600. By 1860, a negro man or woman at . the same age would bring from $1000to $1, 500. 11
Farly schools. __ It was not until about 1840 that schools began to come into existence in Harrison County. None of these early schools were public. One of the first rural schools in the western part of the county was established sometime in the later forties or the early fifties on the same spot as old Fort Crawford, a fort which had been used as long as Indians were in the region. The building which housed the school was a one room structure built of logs, and was used for both church and school purposes. 12 The walls were
ceiled with split boards; there was no ceiling overhead. The usual pioneer chimney occupied almost the whole of one end of the room. The only window was closed by a sliding panel of wood. There were no desks except one for the teacher, and one made of split logs to be used by the pupils when they wished to do some writing. The seats were made of split logs, somewhat smoothed down by an ax, and set on wooden pegs. There were no backs for the seats; no blackboards; no paper of any kind. All writing had to be done on slates. Reading,
11. Harrison County Probate Records, 1860.
12. In the sixties, a two story frame building replaced the old log house. The upper story was used as a meeting place for a Masonic lodge, while the lower was used for school and church purposes.
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writing, and arithmetic were the chief subjects taught, although some attention was given to spelling and grammar. Davie's Arithmetic, Mackie's Reader, and Noah Webster's Speller were used as texts. Corporal punishment was used when rules were violated, although there were milder forms of punishment such as standing in the corner, "staying in, " and keeping one's nose in the ring. 13 Each pupil brought his lunch to school in a bucket. The most common food was the baked sweet potato, corn bread, often "dodger bread, "14 and sorghum syrup. The sessions of this school lasted about six weeks and were held in the summer when the crops were "laid by, ,15 Sometimes
there was another session in the winter. Fort Crawford was a pay school, the usual tuition being five dollars for a term of six weeks. Sometimes, this was paid in produce, but more often, the teacher insisted on money. This was never a large school, twenty to thirty being the usual enrollment. Some time during the Civil war, it ceased to exist. The building was later torn down and moved to Hallsville where the material was used in 16 erecting the first Methodist church in that town.
Without a doubt, the most ambitious effort on the
13. This exercise consisted in making a pupil stand on tip-toes for several minutes with his nose in a ring marked upon the wall with a piece of charcoal. This proved both embarrassing and nerve-racking to the miscreant.
14. Corn bread made up with water instead of milk.
15. When the ploughing was finished.
16. Dr. J.N. Hill, a pioneer citizen of Hallsville and Harrison County.
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part of the pioneer of this county in the direction of education was the establishment of the Marshall University, the self-styled "Athens of Texas". 17
This institution was chartered by the congress of the Republic of Texas, January 18, 1842. According to its charter, it was to be established at Marshall and was to have fifteen trustees, all of whom were named in the charter. 18 This
board was to have the right to prescribe the course of study, draw up the rules and regulations by which the institution was to be governed, receive donations, confer degrees, elect its own officers, and elect the president and other members of the faculty. Congress appropriated four sections of land to be located on any vacant public lands of the state. These four sections were finally located in Cooke, Denton, Wise, Foard, Burnet, Runnels, Smith, and Van Zandt Counties. 19 The ten acres on which the university was built were deeded to the board of trustees by Peter Whetstone, an early pioneer of Harrison County, and the owner of the headright on which Marshall was built. 20 The first building, the dimensions of which were forty by sixty feet, was of hewn logs. 21 No further
17. The name was changed to Van Zandt College on January 26, 1853 by a special act of the state legislature. 18. Reduced to nine by an act of congress, February 1, 1845. 19. The famous Van oil field in Van Zandt County is located on land formerly granted this institution.
20. Whetstone, who could neither read nor write, was persuaded to do this by his friend, Isaac Van Zandt. American Sketch Book, II, 223.
21. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Marshall University, now in the possession of T. P. Young, who is at the present time president of the board.
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information concerning this building is available. On December 18, 1849, a contract was let by the building committee for the construction of an addition to the female department, twenty by sixty feet, and another to the male department, thirty by sixty feet. 22 Feet.2 Thto w probably the first addition made after the original building was erected. In the male department there were to be a partition, a stack chimney in the center, eleven windows, and seven doors. This building program seems to indicate that the university was growing rather rapidly. On June 2, 1851, a contract was let by the board of trustees for a new ten thousand dollar home for the university. 23 This new home was built of brick, was two stories high, and its dimensions were fifty by seventy five feet. As far as the available records show, this was the last building or addition erected.
There is no certainity as to when the university opened. In all probability, its opening did not take place until September, 1843, since the deed of Whetstone to the university for the land on which the building was located was not recorded until March 27, 1843. Although little is known concerning the type of work done in this school, the following comment throws light on the work
22. Harrison County Deed Records, Book H, p. 209f., Court House, Marshall, Texas.
23. Harrison County Deed Records, Book J., pp. 467 ff. 1
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of the female department.
Those who did not witness the exercises of Miss Dickey's school on the 4th, inst., missed an intellectual and fancy treat. The whole gave evidence of most unremitting care and attention on the part of Miss Dickey, and of intellect and study on the part of the pupils. This accomplished teacher may challenge the rivalry of the proudest in- stitution and her fair wards invite the emulation of the most ambitious female adventurers in the field of science and literature. 24
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That the pioneers of this county were not insensible to the education of their daughters is indicated by the following quotation:
While intellect sways the conduct, and grace and beauty charms the fancy of mankind- softening the hard points, in our other- wise, rough nature, the mental culture and accomplishments of the daughters of Eve will find enthusiastic advocates. Indeed, man has neither poetry hor music in his soul, who is insensible to the charm which education lends to the female character __ the grace and lustre, it adds to female virtue. The time, however, has gone by, when the duty of the parents to give their daughters a thorough and accomplished education, needs any other stimuli than the example of an age progressive in literature which has received new life from the pen of classic female writers; doubt has given place to certainty-prejudice charmed into conviction -- and a beautiful theory has proven itself more beautiful in practice.
The first president of the Marshall University was Virgil M. Dubose. He remained the head of the school until 1849. During most of this time he was assisted by Miss E. J. Dickey, the principal of the female .
24. Texas Republican, May 26, 1849.
25. Idem.
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department, and these two were probably the only members of the faculty. In 1849, E. Petit became president and professor of mathematics, and the next year Miss Dickey was succeded by Thomas Wilson, while W. A. Tarleton was added as professor of languages. At the beginning of the spring term of the university, the female department was taken over by the Marshall Masonic Lodge, and its name changed to the Marshall Masonic Female Institute. This institution continued as the principal educational agency for the young women of Bast Texas for over fifty years. The male department continued as the Marshall University. 26
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