USA > Texas > Navarro County > History of Navarro County > Part 5
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Corsicana, December 13, 1852.
MANAGERS
P. M. Monnell
D. B. Hartzell
P. H. Carethers
W. B. McCabe
P. D. Hicks
A. F. Bartlett
D. R. Mickie
E. H. Root
J. H. Martin
Mr. B. Barry, Present*
As was usual with the frontier town the greater por- tion of the business activities centered around court house square and on the Northwest corner of the old Corsicana business district Alex Michael built a two- story brick store building which was the first brick edi- fice in Corsicana. Michael's store was a forerunner of
*Indicating that Mr. Buck Barry was guest of honor.
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the present department store, judging from the sign which read "Dry Goods, Groceries, Hardware and Drugs." The second story of Mr. Michael's building was a newspaper office and both the store and the newspaper changed hands from time to time, through the years.
Dr. Martin had his office just across the street North from Micheal's store and there were also other offices on the East side of the square; S. L. Tatum operated a tin shop and hardware store on the South side of the square and his descendants still are engaged in the hardware business in Navarro County. A. Fox & Broth- ers had a store on the square until the coming of the railroad after which this was moved to Beaton Street. Mr. Fox was widely respected for his business ethics and he was given not only the patronage but also the friendship of the inhabitants of Navarro County. He lived on Fifth Avenue in Corsicana until a few years ago, dying at an advanced age after a lifetime of serv- ing the community.
Thomas Haynes had a carpenter shop on the South side of the square and in addition to being a carpenter also served as County Judge of Navarro County. One term of District Court was held in his carpenter shop due to the court house having burned down. Records indicate that Mr. Haynes was allowed 50c a day recom- pense as rental on his carpenter shop for use as court house.
William Hamilton operated a store on the West side of the square and slightly back of his store erected a
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HISTORY OF NAVARRO COUNTY
log house of one story and an attic. This log house was replaced by a plank or framed house, lumber for which was hauled from East Texas in ox wagons. This house stood for many years, was torn down and later rebuilt in East Corsicana where it now stands.
S. H. Kerr had a wagon, buggy and furniture shop on the spot where the Mulkey home now stands. Mr. Kerr's activities were varied and in addition to operat- ing his business he also taught school for a time and later in life was County Clerk.
Wybrant and Ransom operated a drug store on the square. Jernigan's saddle shop was on the Southeast corner of the square. He later sold out to C. W. Jester.
Jacob Hartzell operated a business on the square but he left Corsicana and moved to Dresden. Capt. Wm. Peck was also in business on the square for awhile.
It is usual that a business man is remembered for his business attainments but one of those, who occupied a prominent part in the early business life of Corsicana when it clustered around the square, was famous for an entirely different thing. There was a Mr. Kuch- offer whose two beautiful daughters were known far and wide for their comeliness.
In a frontier town two important things were the jail and the saloon. In the case of Corsicana, the sa- loon was in the middle of the South side of the square and was operated by Bob Morrell. As was usual with the saloon of olden days, a rough crowd congregated around the barroom and Saturday nights were enliven-
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ed with either fighting or frolicking, according to the effects of the spirits imbibed by those under the influ- ence of liquor.
The jail at that time was a log cabin located near the present Aaron Ferguson home on the corner of Thirteenth Street and Fourth Avenue. The log cabin was not considered sufficiently secure to assure the proper detention of prisoners and when a culprit was in the city lock-up the additional precaution of a guard was taken, this guard being paid $1.00 per night for acting as warden of the jail to assure the prisoner's safe keeping and to prevent the culprit from kicking the walls out of the jail and escaping. There was a regular jailer who stood guard during the day and it can be readily seen that the cost of guarding a prisoner would soon amount to enough to build a jail. Doubtless the city fathers also realized this fact and in 1855 a contract was given to Harvey Beeman to build for the embryo city a place of safe keeping for prisoners. This jail was built at a cost of $1800 and was located near the site of the present jail.
During the slave days a resident of early Corsi- cana took advantage of the qualifications of two of his slaves to further his business. This was Tom Van Hook who had two slaves that were expert black- smiths and their reputation was gained not only for the quality of their work but for the speed at which it was turned out. This blacksmith shop was just across the street from the L. H. Lee home on Second Avenue.
Solomon Van Hook was an early resident and lived
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on a farm a short distance from town, and a Col. Pillar owned a home during the early days which was located on what is now Jester Place.
Early residents recall that a Sam Brooks, who liv- ed in the Eastern part of the county, was one of the first to develop the fruit growing industry in Navarro County and his success in this line caused him to be given the nickname of "Peach" Brooks, by his Corsi- cana friends.
There were two Baird brothers who were early resi- dents of Corsicana whose appearances were at great variance-one had bright red hair and beard, whereas the other was equally noticeable for his raven black hirsute adornments; naturally they were immediately known by the cognomen of "Red" and "Black."
It is interesting to notice that the idiosyncrasies of certain individuals have left their mark on various com- munities and this is true of Navarro County as well as any other section of the country. One case in point might be recalled : an old man lived on a creek South of Corsicana and he conceived the idea of domesticating the buffalo by a very novel plan. His idea was to go among a herd of buffalo until they became accustom- ed to him and then impound a certain number in a large pen which he had built on the above mentioned creek. This old man was a great believer in mesmerism and he felt sure that his powers were such he could, by this mesmerism, tame the buffalo to where he could milk them or work them to a plow or wagon. The pen was duly erected and the early settlers say that he
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managed to get some buffalos within this stockade; but either the log pen was not sufficiently strong or his power of mesmerization weak, for the herd of buffalo proceeded to tear down the logs and go about their way despite all his effort to the contrary. The scattered logs remained for many years until hauled away for fire wood, the old man died and went to his reward but land deeds in the Court House still refer to this creek as "Mesmeriser's Creek."
During the early days many ideas were formulated which today may seem novel but at that time ap- peared perfectly logical. The great number of bones and horns scattered throughout the country caused one man to dream of an immense factory in Corsicana for the manufacture of buttons and his first move was to gather wagonload after wagonload of horns and bones and pile them into one huge mound with the hope that he could interest capital and thus erect his dream fac- tory, which would revolutionize the manufacture of buttons and upset the entire button industry. This pile of bones was near Elm Creek South of town. Un- fortunately for him capital did not take so kindly to his idea and the pile of horns and bones was scattered by cattle and disintegrated by the elements.
Not far from this pile of horns and bones was a tree which had a certain grim attraction due to having been the gallows upon which a notorious horse thief was hung by the Vigilantes. Horse thieves were dealt swift justice in the early days due to the fact that a man's horse was one of his most prized pos-
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HISTORY OF NAVARRO COUNTY
sessions and horses were carefully guarded against both white and Indian horse thieves by their owners. The horse thief who was hung on the particular tree dangled from the limb until his body, swing- ing in the wind, wore the rope thin and caused it to break where it was passed over the limb of the tree and the body then fell to the ground. His old felt hat lay underneath the tree for a long time as a mute re- minder of the tragedy which befell the evil doer.
The hanging of a horse thief or the catching of a band of Indians, which would try to steal horses on a moonlight night, offered some excitement to the com- munity. The early settlers did not have so many variations since there were very few holidays and until the coming of a more organized social and community life, Christmas and election day were the only generally accepted holidays, although circus day was a day of recreation and excitement after the year 1857 at which time the John Robinson Circus first came to Navarro County. The circus of early times was tortuously transported over land by wagon or ox team and it carried no such accompaniments as red lemonade, balloons, whips or all-day suckers to bring excitement and intense joy to the young folks. The circus was sufficient excitement to afford a mat- ter of conversation and pleasurable thrill for days prior to its arrival and weeks after its departure.
Among other things which added to the joy of liv- ing in the early days of Navarro County was the oc- casional dance, or ball, which was usually held in the court house. Inhabitants far and near gathered at
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these functions and they were the beginning of many romances and many of the early love affairs had their inception at these county-wide social functions.
The first Masonic Lodge was organized by J. D. Martin and the Lodge room was the upper story of the old academy building which was made of cedar logs. The Masonic Brotherhood was strong in the new coun- ty. All of the towns and communities had a Masonic Lodge, and the members were urgent and regular in attendance. Besides other influences for protection, it was said that the Indians would not steal from or mis- treat a Mason.
Corsicana was given legal status February 8, 1854, and recognized as a town with the right to sue and be sued, to buy, hold and dispose of real estate and the first form of government was by Mayor, six Aldermen, City Treasurer, City Recorder and Constable. A town was created and the Mayor was Judge with criminal and civil jurisdiction.
The Texas Almanac of 1857 has an interesting de scription of Navarro County and among other things mentions the fact that there were large numbers of cows, sheep, hogs and other livestock raised in the county and also mentions that there were a number of saw and grist mills, as well as churches and schools. It is also interesting to note that at that date the mar- kets were Galveston and Houston and transportation was by way of the Trinity River, when navigable, oth- erwise by ox wagons, and casually mentions that the distance to Galveston was about two hundred and fif-
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ty miles. There were contractors who did regular hauling of lumber and supplies. The Texas Almanac for the year 1857 also speaks of the fact that most of the buildings in Corsicana were "neat and tasty" structures of wood. This same authority also men- tions an interesting fact in that Taos, or Porter's Bluff, was a shipping point for Corsicana and was a place of considerable trade during navigation. The Texas Almanac referred to also mentions that the H. & T. C. Railroad "will probably pass through Navarro County."
During this era, the pioneer was not content with fighting the hostile Indian but some of the rough ele- ment incited feuds and for a time Corsicana had a rather-bad reputation for the hectic conditions which existed. A Vigilance Committee was main- tained for a number of years and this committee was kept busy keeping down feuds, controlling various un- ruly factions and dealing swift justice to horse thieves and bad characters. The rapid shifting of population and the necessary adjustments which are to be found in any new country were responsible for this condition and records indicate that culprits were shown that Na- varro County tolerated only law abiding citizens.
The pioneer also found himself confronted with oth- er trials besides those brought about by the savage In- dian and the unruly white. In 1853 grasshoppers des- cended upon Navarro County in such numbers that they resembled a black cloud coming from the North and every living green sprig, grass, leaf or crop,
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was destroyed by the hungry insects. The reddish- green cloud of insects rolled over the country like a flood until there was a heavy coating of the insects up- on the ground and after the third day Navarro County looked as though a fire had swept over it and singed every living plant. The grasshoppers entered houses, cutting holes in clothing hanging in the closets and devouring wheat, corn or any food left within their reach. This scourge passed in about two weeks. Vast quantities of grasshoppers were devoured by hogs and fowls which fattened on this diet. Unfortunately the chickens which ate the grasshoppers were unfit for food because of the taste and odor which the grasshop- pers imparted to the meat of the chicken; they did not affect the hog meat, however, since hogs were not kill- ed until cold weather. Another visitation was made by the grasshoppers in 1857 and 1858 but it was not so serious. In the winter of 1848 an extremely cold spell caused a great deal of hardship and suffering and the following year brought a summer so hot and dry that eggs were cooked in the sun and prairie fires, which were always dreaded, added to the suffering. Many mysterious fires broke out in residences and stores and negroes were blamed for them until by an odd coincidence the truth was apparent. At a store be- longing to Uncle Billy Oldham, in what is now Waxa- hachie, some matches ignited while clerks and proprie- tor were near them. To further test the heat, and in order that all might be convinced of the source of the mysterious fires, matches were placed in various places and in a few minutes burst into flames. The short buf-
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falo grass when dry was a constant danger and the following account of a prairie fire will indicate to an extent at least, something of the terror inspired by one of these conflagrations ;
"The most exciting of the early days on the frontier were those when the prairies were on fire. It being very dry during the summer the grass dried up as though it had been mown and was excellent forage for the stock. They kept fat on it when they could get plenty of water, which was obtained by digging holes in the ground in the bed of the creeks after they dried up. Sometimes the water had to be drawn for them, which was done in turns by the settlers or someone was hired by the com- munity to attend to the matter.
"Fires would break out from camp fires of travelers or were started by smokers empty- ing their pipes and occasionally some reckless fellow would set fire to the grass to see it burn. The wind was generally strong at that season of the year, so strong that there were but few days when one could carry an um- brella. When the fire got headway so fearful was its march that it was difficult to keep out of its way. It leaped branches and creeks and to save homes and range for the stock about the only remedy was to 'fire against it', as it was termed, which had to be done in time. The feat was accomplished by using
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plows, wet blankets, etc., and then after it was headed in this way the next thing was to drive the stock out of the ring of fire which was fearful and hazardous, for the flames would be eight and ten feet high if the wind was not strong enough to keep them closer to the ground. The fire roared like low rumb- ling thunder. Weeds and grass stems whirled in the air, rabbits and rats passed and birds screamed in the air. Birds of prey, thick as buzzards over a carcass, took advan- tage of the terrible situation to catch their prey and seemed to add consternation to the scene. Cows lowed and horses neighed and ran helter-skelter. Amid this excitement men well mounted would enter the arena equipped with spurs and whip and by halloing would get the stock on a run at full speed and crowd the rear ones on to the front ones so that when they struck the fire front ones could not stop but would be pushed through the fire and the rear ones and men following all to- gether at a fast speed the flames would be pressed to the ground by the herd.
"But while it could be and was done yet amid such a scene the men would tremble for it seemed that not only the fire but all nature joined in a carnival of destruction."
During the hardships, however, there were inter- spersed days and nights of joy. The old time square
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dance, the box supper at the church, and gatherings at neighboring houses broke the monotony of daily strife and life went on. Those who enjoyed hunting found themselves in a hunter's paradise; wild game was on every hand and so plentiful that much of it was was- ted and wantonly destroyed. Buffaloes were killed for their hides and the carcasses left to decay and the bones to bleach.
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CHAPTER V
THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR
T HE early settlers in Navarro County found it es- sential, that their homes be built near two prime requisites, these two essentials being wood and water. Wood was necessary because of the need for it in build- ing homes and making fences, for heating and for cook- ing. Water was, then as now, the one thing which the human race must have at very short intervals in order that it may live. With today's conveniences and in this age of efficient mechanical contrivances water, among other things, is at hand with only a turn of the faucet, and if we sometimes become annoyed over trivial in- conveniences it might be well for us to think of the days when our forefathers found it necessary to walk, oftentimes, miles or travel great distances in ox carts to procure a sufficient supply of water to assure their very existence. During the early days in Navarro County the prairies were looked upon only as grazing land and homes were always establish- ed in wooded sections. It was also essential that the early settler fence portions of his land both as a protec- tion against encroachment on the part of the buffalo or bad stock and also to keep his own livestock in bounds. Various things were used as fence, the most
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common of which in Navarro County was the rail fence and hedge rows of Bois d'Arc. The Bois de Arc was very hardy and until this day there may be seen many remains of the early Bois d'Arc hedges which served as fences. As soon as barbed wire came into use it immediately superseded all other material for fencing and the old time rail fence is another relic of the past.
The family life of early Navarro County was of the most simple form. The pioneer was concerned prin- cipally in establishing a home and sustaining life for himself and family. Houses were built of logs and oth- er materials at hand. The fire place at one end of the log house served as both the heating unit and the means of preparing meals. Cooking was done on the hearth and in pots swung by cranes built into the fire place and prior to the Civil War there were few cook stoves in use in Navarro County.
Clothing was home spun of cotton or wool and shoes were, in most cases, made by hand from the hides of cows or buffalos. The bed upon which the pioneer found surcease from his daily toil was made of feathers of various kinds or from straw or corn shucks. Bed springs were among the luxuries which were un- known and the silken coverlet of today is the descend- ant of the early homespun blanket or handmade quilt of our forefathers.
The early settler worked all the week and found ev- ery moment of his six days filled with activity but the Sabbath was universally respected except in the case of some irreverent individual and any person who dis-
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regarded the Sabbath was looked upon as outside the general pale of civilization. It is interesting to note that a sincere reverence of the Supreme Deity accompanies those who live under extremely rigorous conditions and in such cases an individual feels more strongly the need of a protection beyond his own inherent strength. The family Bible occupied a place of honor on the most prominent table or shelf and this Bible was not only a source of inspiration and a guide to worship but also served as the genealogical record wherein were enter- ed carefully the births and deaths of those comprising the family. Family prayers were held by many. The religious influence was further promulgated by occa- sional camp meetings and at such meetings the fami- lies were collected in wagons and carryalls, together with food and arrangements for sleeping, to spend days or weeks. After the camp meeting was over many families had no other social activities for weeks or months.
Young folks had picnics, parties, horse-back rides and very simple gatherings but life was as thrilling and meant as much as at the present. There was always a feeling of hope and promise for the future and primi- tive conditions and hardships were to them only exist- ing conditions and accepted as such. Gradually the methods of travel improved and more intercourse be- tween various communities increased interest in so- cial affairs and soon better homes were built and at the time of the Civil War a few brick houses had been erected in Navarro County.
By 1860 three court houses had been built in Corsi-
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cana and settlements established at Springhill, Dres- den, Chatfield, Taos, Wadeville, Rural Shade and Pis- gah. Roads were being surveyed, political meetings were being held occasionally, the court house and Masonic Hall saw temperance meetings and fraternal gatherings, and social life in the community was hav- ing its inception.
The first style of building in this new country was dependent solely upon the materials at hand but as the settlements increased and the country became more thickly populated various styles of architecture evolv- ed and from the first log house with its loft above and a lean-to in the back, the more pretentious log house of two rooms - sometimes an open hall between, a gallery in front or an "L" for kitchen and dining room, being erected by the more prosperous citizens. In Navarro County this evolution brought plank houses, made of lumber hauled from Houston or Jefferson, but following the same general style of architecture. Be- tween the Seventies and Nineties more elaborate homes began to be built and towers and cupolas added and scroll work placed on windows and porches. Following these came the ornate windows, many with elaborate designs of leaded colored glass, as well as the open archway, bay window and the entire building topped off by lightning rods. This era also brought into use the heater and the cook stove, both of them burning wood, and in addition to the conveniences just mention- ed the household furniture evolved from hand-hewn necessities to the more elaborate horse hair sofa and chair, and prosperous families covered their floors with
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carpets which were securely nailed down completely around the four sides of the room. Carpet cleaning time each year became an event of serious propor- tions. Many of these first homes were early Ameri- can, and other styles of architecture and today these old houses may be seen in Navarro County after hav- ing stood for three-quarters of a century and they will, with care, endure for many more years. The Dawson home near the town of Dawson, the Robinson home at Dresden, the Lisman and Hodge homes at Chatfield and several old Corsicana residences bear mute evidence of architecture of the period. Much patience and a great deal of ingenuity were required to erect these old homes and they should be viewed with the respect and admiration due them, not only for the intrinsic value, but also for the effort required to erect such a house in the early days of Navarro County.
The first churches and lodge rooms were built as one long room and the church usually had a steeple on top and pulpit on the platform which was large enough to accommodate a small reed organ and choir. The steeple of the church invariably had its bell and the sweet tones called the pioneer to worship each Sunday morning and made him realize that the Sabbath was a day of rest and meditation.
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