USA > Texas > Navarro County > History of Navarro County > Part 13
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Capt. Abel S. Gill of this community was a mem- ber of the Twentieth Legislature, was president of the Farmers Alliance but he did not approve of a Third Party.
Purdon has about four hundred inhabitants, a good brick school house, several stores and blacksmith shop, a lumber yard and two fine gins. There is a bank and post office.
Dr. Bates lived there many years and, being a lover of music and of humanity, he trained classes of chil- dren to sing, and was popular among his people.
Some of the present citizens of Purdon, are: C. O. Williams, banker; S. H. French, post master; C. C. Is- bell, superintendent of schools; W. R. Russel, physi- cian ; H. C. Russel, lumber. Some other citizens of long standing are: the families of J. D. Dowdle, Geo. W. Tickle, R. C. Alexander, Lewis Alderman (whose wife was a daughter of Owen Wallace), the Skinners and Davises, and Frank Johnston. Many other citizens here are descendants of those early settlers.
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RICE*
Before the present location of Rice was settled by white people it was inhabited by the Tehuacana and Keechi Indians. This part of the country was on the border line between the woodland and the prairie In- dians and was not a safe place for the headquarters of either tribe. The Kickapoos who lived East of the Trinity River occasionally made an excursion into this part of the country. The Woodland Indians were usually friendly, but the prairie Indians were a con- stant source of annoyance. No settlements were made here until long after the Indians were driven into Ok- lahoma although there were settlements in other parts of Navarro County.
The first settler came here in the Sixties. At this time Chatfield and Porter's Bluff were important plac- es. Porter's Bluff was an important shipping point. The Trinity River was navigable with flatboats for a part of the year. By 1872 there were about a dozen settlements within four miles of Rice. Messrs. Burl Edmunson, Lucian Lockhart, I. B. Sessions, E. G. Ses- sions, W. D. Haynie, J. M. Bartlett, Ben Langham and Major Rose each owned large farms.
Cotton was the staple crop then as it has always been. A good many cattle and horses were raised. Fences were not used. All live stock grazed on the open prairie. Prairie grass grew so luxuriantly that when a grass fire started it would sometimes sweep for miles before it could be checked. These fires were
*Written by Grafton Goodwin, a pupil in the Rice schools.
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stopped by flat-breaking long stretches of land in ad- vance of the fire.
The few settlers that lived here did their trading in Corsicana. Trips to Corsicana were made in wagons or on horse back. The most interesting and spectacu- lar thing to be seen there was the "Brick" court house.
In 1872 the H. & T. C. railroad was built through here. One of the owners of the railroad, William Marsh Rice, for whom this town was named, gave some land for a church and cemetery.
The same year the first business firm of Rice was established. L. B. Haynie and B. M. Clopton who were in business at Chatfield dissolved partnership as soon as the railroad was built and Mr. Haynie came to Rice. He went into business with Rev. Jerry Ward. They put up a two story wooden structure on the site of the Loop and Walker store. A general store was kept in the lower story and a hotel in the upper story. Ed Taber and wife ran the hotel. Soon afterwards B. M. Clopton came to Rice and went into the drug busi- ness. He built his store just across the street from Haynie & Ward. The Rice post office was established October 2, 1872, with L. B. Haynie as postmaster. For a while Rice was a fairly important trading center but in 1875 the Haynie & Ward firm quit business. At about the same time their gin burned. Prospects for a town here then looked very dark. The post office was taken over on November 23, 1875, by William Holmes, who owned a small store just across the street West of Haynie & Ward.
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In the summer of 1875 ten of the citizens of Rice gave money for the erection of a building which was to serve as a church and school house. I. B. Sessions, W. D. Haynie, J. A. Ward, L. B. Haynie, J. A. Clopton, B. M. Clopton, J. M. Bartlett, W. M. Holmes, E. G. Ses- sions and Jim Mitchem contributed to the fund. The building was constructed on the lot where the First Methodist Church now stands. School was taught in it on week days and church was held in it on Sunday, when there was anyone to preach. Traveling preach- ers of any denomination were welcomed there.
Below is given a sketch written by Mrs. J. A. Lack- ey about the new school :
"The first Monday in October, 1875, the first school ever taught in Rice was opened in a new wooden frame building, the first ever built in the little new village for that purpose. There were few children living in Rice at that time, and the school drew its patronage from several miles in the country, also some board- ing pupils from other towns. Our instructor, Dr. J. A. Ward, a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a scholarly gentleman with an A.M. degree from a noted university, taught forty-five or fifty pupils, little tots of seven or eight years to young men twenty- two or twenty-three years old until the first public school opened in November of the same year. Then Mrs. Ward, Dr. Ward's wife, was his able assistant.
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"Some families from the Northern states had found homes in this county. Also sever- al families from Galveston.
"Town, school house, pupils and teacher were all new. That first day was a day in which we were somewhat busy getting ac- quainted and adjusting ourselves to new con- ditions.
"Those were days when girls wore calico dresses and gingham sunbonnets. They were by no means a dull, ignorant class of young people. A number of them with their keen perception and bright intellects were a joy and pride to their teacher. Some of them af- terwards attended colleges and universities. Several of the boys made professional men. Dr. Ward inspired his pupils to greater and nobler things. He has long since gone to his reward, but I am sure his good influence still 1 lives."
Mrs. Lackey is the only person now living in Rice who attended school on the first day.
Rice has the distinction of being one of the few towns that had never had a saloon. A small amount of whiskey was sold in grocery stores until 1876, but there was no regular saloon. In 1876 it was made un- lawful to sell intoxicating liquors within three miles of Rice by a petition drawn up by Fletcher Mitch- em. A large number of people signed this petition. '
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Except for one occasion the increase of population in Rice has been very slow and even. In this particu- lar instance the population of Rice was almost doubled in one day. One morning in December, 1877, a train stopped here which carried about a hundred new set- tlers. They came from New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They had heard much of the lovely sun- shine of Texas and were looking for a good place to settle. Evidently this was the most inviting spot they had seen since they left New York for they stopped here. A number of them stayed for the first few days at the hotel, which was then being run by Haynie and Ward.
On the morning after their arrival the ground was covered with snow. This was a great disappointment to them, especially to one young man of a poetic tem- perament who was among those staying at the hotel. Early that morning he walked out on the veranda of the hotel to view the landscape. As he pondered weak and shivering on that bleak December morn, probably thinking of his old home up North, suddenly he burst into poetry. He spoke in a desperate and dramatic tone that would have put any tragedian to shame:
"Tell me not in mournful numbers; Of this glor-i-i-ious sunny South, Verily it doth seem, That this is but a dream."
Most of the settlers left in a few months. Poets do not make good settlers.
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At this time Rice had two doctors, Dr. McGee and Dr. Melton. Dr. McGee came in 1877 and a Dr. Sloan also moved to Rice in 1884.
In 1890 a new school building was constructed at a cost of $3,000. Patrons of the school donated enough to pay for it in a short while.
The population of Rice in 1900 was 268. The rural districts were much more thickly populated then than they are now. One Rice merchant, J. A. Lackey, sold ice. There were no refrigerators then and ice was bought in very small quantities. It was sold in three pound chunks for five cents a chunk. The ice had to be shipped from Corsicana by rail.
In May, 1901, about one-third of the business part of Rice was destroyed by fire. Four business houses and the ice house were burned. This represented a loss of about $12,000.
In 1898 the first Rice newspaper, the "Rice Enter- prise" came into existence. This paper was given up after a few months. In August, 1901, the first "Rice Rustler" was edited by Clarence Urbin.
The year 1912 is important for three things in the history of Rice. The Dallas-Corsicana division of the Texas Electric Railway system was completed that year. In the summer the new school building was com- pleted at a cost of $16,000. On the second day of De- cember, 1912, an election was held in Rice in which a majority of the electors voted to incorporate. Another
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election was held a short time afterward to elect city officials.
When the United States declared war on Germany in April, 1917, a number of young men of Rice immediate- ly volunteered. They were trained in various camps over the state. Two men enlisted in the Navy. Rob- ert Wasson, who joined the Marine Corps, was the only one who failed to come back. During the four Liberty Loan drives and the Victory Loan drive $60,000 worth of Liberty Bonds and $10,000 worth of War Savings Stamps were sold in the banking district including Rice, Chatfield and Tupelo. In the third Liberty Loan drive this district was the first in Navarro County to go "over the top".
The Rice post office was advanced from fourth class to third class on April 1, 1918. Since Williams Holmes became postmaster in 1875, nine persons have held that position to date. James W. Norris, J. B. Slade, W. H. Todd, R. M. Langham, J. W. Holland, Mrs. Verna K. Harper, T. Y. Allen and A. H. Coulter have each served as postmaster for from one to twelve years.
On the night of October 1, 1924, occurred the most destructive fire in the history of Rice. The fire ori- ginated in a cafe belonging to Jeff Spencer. The fire spread to the barber shop of R. T. Irwin and to the grocery store of A. R. Jackson. The cafe was between the barber shop and grocery store. The fire caused a loss of more than $15,000.
At present, the population of Rice is 611. The alder-
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manic form of government is used. The churches and school here are very good for a town of this size. There are thirty-three business establishments in Rice. From the center of town gravel roads extend for two miles in each of four directions.
CURRIE
The present settlement of Currie is a blending of two communities formerly called Center Point and Rab- bit Hill. Currie is one town that has the record of having undergone a revival in its business life after having suffered a temporary set-back. The post office at Currie was discontinued once but in 1921 oil caused a revival of activity and Currie again took its place as a full-fledged town and post office although the oil boom, which caused this revival, was not of long dura- tion.
Mr. Billington was one of the early settlers of the Currie community and his son relates that in 1883 there were only two or three farms under fence in the entire community. It is an interesting fact that while the Billington farm was bought for $12 per acre, at one time $150 per acre was offered and refused, but now it could not be sold for more than $30 per acre.
One of the first stores at Currie was operated by Bill Lee who sold out to Mr. Williams in 1902, the latter gentleman disposing of his establishment to Mr. Phipps who, with his son, still operate the business. Currie is about half way between Richland and Wortham on the railroad and Highway 14.
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HISTORY OF NAVARRO COUNTY
POWELL
Before the coming of the Cotton Belt railroad the country where Powell now stands was principally cat- tle range. Mr. Powell owned several hundred acres, as did the DeArmans, Baltzegars, Burks and Jack- sons. Capt. W. J. Towns owned several hundred acres West of where the railroad station now stands. In the days when the Indian roamed the "hog-wallow" black land a Buffalo trail ran through Capt. Town's land, and led on to a crossing of Chambers Creek, where hundreds of buffalo regularly forded the creek. Sam and Trav. Brooks and Judge Miles owned several hundreds of acres in this vicinity.
Powell was named for the pioneer landowner on whose land the station was originally located ; however, the depot was moved half mile further East to the farm of a Mr. Ward when the railroad company changed the location of the right-of-way to lessen the grade of the tracks. Within a short time after the station was lo- cated on Mr. Ward's land he stepped in front of a train and was killed.
Upon the coming of the railroad ranches were cut up and sold as farms, the land was drained, schools, churches, stores and business houses established and soon the town of Powell became a thriving center. The great Powell oil field was discovered by the bringing in of an oil well drilled by H. W. Warren, who was reared in this community. For a time this was one of the outstanding petroleum fields in America.
For months the drilling of that first well went on.
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The public lost interest, but Henry Warren and his associate, R. K. Blackshear, kept on, often delayed by lack of funds and with other hindrances. Finally the well "came in". Men and money poured in. Powell became the center of as great oil excitement as any place has known.
One well, near the discovery well, came in and for some time ran wild. In the effort to divert the oil in- to the desired channel, a great disaster was precipitat- ed.
A crowd had collected to see the wonderful sight of a great cloud of black oil flowing high above the sur- rounding trees in Chambers' Creek bottom. There were at the time twelve or more men on the platform, some working, some watching. Suddenly there was a flash, and those men were hidden in a cloud of smoke and raging fire which enveloped the pool of oil and the gas which surrounded the well. For several days, the fire raged, visible at night for twenty miles. When finally it was quenched, nothing remained of those men except a few charred bones.
Powell shared in the excitement of the first shallow wells, so the "deep" fields helped to give that town a name which will remain in the history of oil in Texas.
T. G. Towns has been station master at Powell for more than thirty years and among the other fami- lies of prominence who now live at Powell are those of the Jacksons, Miles, Christians, Lonons, Adams, Kill- ingsworths, Ellets, Johnstons, Austins, Banks, Fergu-
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sons, Ritchies, Newmans, Hanks, Kenners, Prices and Wares.
MILDRED ON T. & B. V. R. R.
During the oil boom in recent years Mildred became a very prominent town. With the finding of oil, ware- houses and shops of all kinds went up overnight and for a few years the inhabitants of Mildred experienced some of the excitement of a metropolis but the oil boom was destined to play out and Mildred resumed its normal existence once more but with a difference- some of its inhabitants had become enriched and mov- ed away while others stayed. A splendid new high school and other improvements remain as evidence of the oil boom.
Some of the early settlers of Mildred were the Gar- vins, Harrisons, Wrights and the John Ellis family.
WINKLER
One of the early towns in Navarro County was Wink- ler, so named in honor of Judge C. M. Winkler, which is situated in the Southeastern part of the county near the Trinity River. For many years Winkler was a thriving place with a post office, stores, black- smith shops, churches, schools and many families of good standing, among them John and Tom Rouse, the Bonhams, McConnicos, Newmans, Shumates, Lees, Pil- lans, Andersons and Sweatmons.
Joseph P. Anderson, who was a school teacher, and farmed also near Winkler, was the son-in-law of Shade
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Sweatmon. W. P. Anderson was one of the first mer- chants in Winkler.
When the railroad came Winkler was left to one side and is now only a village with a historic and ro- mantic past. Some of Winkler's present citizens are: D. W. Clark, W. D. Anderson, C. C. Jeffries, Kit Greg- ory, J. R. Ferguson, F. L. Lee, J. C. Hagler, E. V. Bing- ham, Bud Olson.
COOK'S SCHOOL HOUSE AND CORBET
Cook's School House takes the name from Col. Cook who came to Navarro County at an early date. In 1866 he moved to a farm about six miles West of Corsi- cana and gave the land for a school and assisted in get- ting a building erected. In his honor it was named Cook's School House. The community still goes by the same name although the building has been torn down due to a consolidation of school districts and nothing remains of the early school house except a memory. The Corbet school is the descendant of that school.
P. K. Montgomery came to Navarro County shortly after the Civil War, after having graduated from school in Oakland, Mississippi, and in 1868 he married the daughter of Col. Cook. In the Cook home on the hill northeast of the school site Navarro County's outstanding poet, Whitney Montgomery, was born. He is famous for several volumes of poetry possessing much literary merit and for the tremendous interest he has shown in cultural advancement of the Southwest.
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This old home was torn away some few years ago and in its place a tenant house was built. Of all the homes in the old Cook's School House communi- ty of fifty years ago only two remain, the old Weaver home and the Wallace home. The Love family, which consisted of J. R. Love and wife and eleven children, were among the early settlers. It is interesting to note that all eleven children are still living, the youngest being past fifty years of age. Jeremiah Crabbe was one of Navarro County's early settlers, having located near the Cook's School House community. Some of the other early settlers around Cook's School House com- munity were Richard Weaver, the Stanley, Marshall, Ballew, Willis, Woodward, Wallace and Waters fami- lies. There was a log school house located on the Wea- ver farm and Mr. Ballew taught a subscription school here for some time. Miss Mary Love also taught school in this old log house after her brother, J. R. Love, mov- ed to the community in 1872. Miss Nora Goodjohn also taught at the Cook's School House for a while. Among the other families whose children attended school at Cook's School House were those of T. W. Car penter, the Smiths, Lees, Rosses, Bryants, Middletons, and the Rev. Grantham, Gid Taylors, Melvin Weavers, and Billie Weeks.
Col. Henry Jones operated a saw mill, and lumber from this mill was used in several early homes in Cor- sicana, among them the Halbert's home. Many years later a Mr. Mead operated a saw mill near Cook's School House and in addition to operating a saw mill was a skilled cabinet maker.
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With the coming of the railroad, a station was built in this community. It was called Corbet. Corbet is just North of the confluence of Richland and Rush creeks. It is surrounded by good land and formerly by many beautiful trees. Just South of Corbet was the plantation home of Col. Henry Jones. His home stood on a hill surrounded by trees and under these trees was the scene of a beautiful wedding of long ago when R. Q. Mills took as his bride Caroline Jones. A reminder of the plantation days is the little spot in the woods which is pointed out as the slaves' graveyard.
Corbet is a live community with a store, gin, church and school.
The railroad station was first called Waters as it was built on the land of Watt Waters. Later the name was changed to Corbet. Members of the Waters fam- ily still live in the community, his daughter, Mrs. Meigh Owen, and her family among them.
Some of the present prominent families are the Jim Nokes, the Roman families, that of Jim Dubose, Mrs. Hanks, the Sloans, Rosses, Tuckers, Burnets, Lakes and Bayless.
RETREAT
The community known as Retreat was first called Beeman's School House. In the early days of Na- varro County this community was settled by the Bee- mans, Hamiltons, Picketts, Bishops, Highnotes, Pettys, Hammonds, Hodges, McElwees, Clarkes, White, Mar-
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tins, Comperes, Simmons and Asa Littles. The school house was located on the Beeman land and it was also used as a church by various denominations on Sunday. For a long time the old log school house was the only church or school near Corsicana to the Southwest. This building was moved, due to shifting of population, two or three miles Southwest of its original location and was later moved back across Harris Branch. Due to these frequent moves someone suggested that the name Retreat would be apropos and this designation has been used until this day.
As the population increased other churches were built by different denominations and the once intact community scattered.
The Cumberland Presbyterians held a meeting at the Beeman School House under the direction of the Rev. Cunningham, organized a Cumberland Presby- terian congregation, and on land donated by Sam Ham- ilton a church was erected and called Goshen.
This church for a time was used by the Pleasant Grove congregation also until its church was built.
Camp meetings, and protracted meetings, were for years, held at Goshen, and attended by members of all denominations, from Angus, from Cook's School House and from Retreat and Corsicana. But Goshen has passed into history, and only the memory of those days, lingers in the minds of those who were part of those congregations.
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PLEASANT GROVE
The Pleasant Grove Church was built about fifty years ago. Among the first to preach there was the father of James Ferguson, one of the Ex-Governors of Texas. M. K. Little was one of the early pastors. Among the members of that early church, were the Swearingens, F. M. Storys, Megaritys, J. D. Hamil- tons, Youngs, Joel Garners, M. M. Dicksons, Ramseys, Holloways, Allsbrooks, Stovers, Littles, and McBrides.
PETTY'S CHAPEL
The earliest recorded history of Petty's Chapel begins with a camp meeting held by the Cumberland Presby- terians in 1852 on the North bank of Chambers Creek. People from all over the county attended. This camp meeting lasted for ten to fourteen days and was at- tended by members of all denominations. People came in buggies, wagons, on horseback and on foot great dis- tances and this location attained its importance from having been centrally located to many of the early set- tlements.
Meador's School was located on the old O. J. Meador farm and was operated as a pay school beginning about the year 1870. After four or five years a second school was located slightly to the Southeast on land given by G. V. Petty and it was from this Mr. Petty that Petty's Chapel took its name.
Originally it was necessary to cross Chambers Creek on a ferry boat and both ferry boat and the store at the crossing were operated by Jim Petty. He
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sold this business to Mr. Hogan, who will be remember- ed from previous chapters as the man who built the first bridge over Chambers Creek.
The first church at Petty's Chapel was a Methodist church built on the R. Q. Mills place about 1885. The first pastor of this church was Andrew Davis who was the father of B. L. Davis, a prominent lawyer now liv- ing in Corsicana. Rev. Andrew Davis preached over the county at other places-was consecrated and loved by his congregations. After about seven years mem- bership was transferred from Petty's Chapel to Zion Rest. About 1890 land was donated to the Bap- tist denomination for a church by Mr. Duren and this church was built as it now stands. The first pastor was Rev. Beasley.
On the J. L. Walton land near Petty's Chapel, oil wells were drilled in the year 1894. Of the forty-nine wells drilled, forty-two are still pumping oil, including the discovery well.
One of the first fields of wheat in the entire Navarro County was planted at Petty's Chapel by J. C. Blanken- ship and P. McCammon in 1873 and was threshed with a machine operated by horsepower.
Petty's Chapel was the scene of many gatherings of old, such as fairs and horse races and one of the horses which competed was "Charlie M", a cow pony that was trained into being a fine track horse and named for Charlie Huskey from whom the horse was bought. When this horse died in 1899 its owner, Mr. Mitten,
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