USA > Texas > Tarrant County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 27
USA > Texas > Parker County > History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Tarrant and Parker counties; containing a concise history of the state, with portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the above named counties, and personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 27
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acres, and valuing the product at $100 per acre, a fair idea of the possibilities of de- velopment in this industry may be gained. It would yield a crop annually worth $50,- 000,000 -a sum greater by $1,500,000 than the present value of the cotton crop of the State. It is as staple an article, and less liable to fluctuation in prices. The supply in the United States is far below the demand, and there is, therefore, an unlimited market for the product.
"The only difficulty in the way of the rapid development of the industry is the cost of machinery necessary, which practically limits the advantages presented to men of large means, the cost of a plant ranging from $60,000 to $100,000. Co-operation has been suggested by some as a remedy for this, while others have thought that the purchase by the large mill owners of the cane grown by small planters would solve the problem."
Messrs. Cunningham & Miller, of Sugar- land, Fort Bend county, have recently refined a quantity of grannlated sugar, as good as any in the market, but their efforts have been cramped by opposing trusts.
FLAX.
Flax has been raised in Texas as fine as any in Ireland. It will produce here about two tons to the acre, worth about $45, while it costs less to market it than cotton.
BEE OULTURE.
The production of honey has received but little attention in the State, although it pays more to the capital invested than any other business. Unlike the interest on money, which silently piles up the indebtedness of individuals, bees, with but little attention, day after day, store away hundreds of pounds
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
of honey, which not only add many dollars to the purse, but they furnish the table with a luxury which cannot well be dispensed with.
In 1890, 145,542 stands produced 2,316,- 889 pounds, valued at $236,466, which was more than 10 cents per pound.
HORTICULTURE.
As stated in previous reports under this head, it is intended mainly to record the number of acres in orchards and note the progress made from year to year in extend- ing the area devoted to the fruit-growing in- dustry. The total acreage in orchards in the State is 62,835, and the value of the fruit erop in 1890, estimated at current market prices, was $1,227,791.
We take this occasion to repeat the language of the report of 1888 commendatory of the work of the State Horticultural Society in promoting the interests of horticulture throughout the State, which was as follows:
" Within the past few years the State Ilorti- cultural Society has done a great work in de- veloping and eultivating an interest among the people of the State on the subject of horti- culture. Local societies have been formed in various parts of the State, and local fairs held at which the horticultural products of the immediate section in particular and the State in general were exhibited, thus practi- cally educating the people upon this most importaut branch of agriculture, and stimu- lating an interest in the adoption of the best methods of work and the attainment of a more scientific knowledge of the subject. As a result of the impetus given to fruit- growing by these various associations, can- neries for the preservation of the surplus crops of fruits and vegetables have been
started in different sections of the State. The fruit crop of the State is therefore getting to be quite an item in summing up the State's sources of revenue. The climate and soil are admirably adapted to the growth of peaches, pears and all the smaller fruits. Large qnan- tities of peaches, grapes and strawberries are shipped North in the early part of the season."
MISCELLANEOUS.
In addition to the foregoing data, we have the following items from the last census:
Av. value
Number.
Value. per h'd.
Horses and mules. .
.1,439,716
$40;842,176 $28.36
Cattle.
.7,584,667
45,732,699
6.03
Jacks and jennets.
26,255
748,757
28.52
Sheep.
4,070,225
5,639,705
1.38
Goats.
384,324
275,849
.72
Hogs
1,060,226
1,350,755
1.27
Total
14,505,413
$94,589,941
1888.
1889.
1890.
Number gins
4,110
4,506
4,500
No. sheep sheared .. 3,860 034
3,754,069
2,813,172
No. lbs. wool clipp'd 18,721.693
18,345,638
13,531,196
Total val, wool clip'd $2,907,314 $3,319,155
$2,466,625
Miles of telegraph
lines in the State ..
9,475
10,120
10,322
Miles of street rail-
road in the State ..
202
*84
244
Number physicians .
3,024
3,513
3,750
Number lawyers . .. .
2,662
3,106
3,150
Number marriages ...
22,856
23,596
24,593
No. divorces granted.
1,520
1,466
1,852
No. persons incarcer-
ated in county jails.
12,867
13,274
13,274
No. of convicts rec'd
in State penitentiary
1,113
1,045
+695
"GRASSHOPPER " RAIDS.
The famous western "grasshoppers," or migratory locusts, made their first appearance in Travis and adjoining counties in the fall
.
*Difference in mileage caused by its rendition as personal property.
t August 1, 1891.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
of 1848, in swarms from the north, lighting and depositing their eggs everywhere, and preferring sandy land for the deposit of eggs. After cating all the garden products, which they would do in a short time, they disap- peared, no one knowing whither they went. The warm sun of the following March again brought the little hoppers out, which sud- denly consumed every green thing and fled northward. The crops were again planted and the season proved favorable.
In October, 1856, they came again, as be- fore, with the early north winds. After eating the blades off the wheat and deposit- ing their eggs, they disappeared. During the next spring myriads of young hoppers, as before, about the size of large fleas, issued from the ground, and did bnt little mischief until abont three weeks old, when they were half grown. They then moulted and started northward on foot, preserving as much regn- larity and order in their march as an army of well drilled soldiers. Exercise had of course a marked effect upon their appetites, which impelled them to be ravenous, preferring the yonng cotton to everything else, next the young corn, etc. When one was killed or wounded, he would be immediately devoured by his fellows! In their march they had no respect for the dwellings of human beings or animals, but would march right along through them withont fear. At the age of six weeks they moulted again and were full-grown grasshoppers. In a few days their wings were ready for a prolonged flight, which they took, northward.
The ensuing autumn they were here again, acting as before. The next spring the young came forth again, but this time there were added to their already immense numbers another horde which had been driven back in their march by a heavy norther. These latter
had been brod between the Colorado and the gulf. After remaining long enough to con- sume nearly all that the native locusts had left, they resumed their migration. In the fall of 1858 the pests were again seen, high up in the air, passing southward.
In their flight their wings glitter in the sun, so that the sky seems to be overcast by a shining snow flwhry. They come with the north wind in the fall, and return with the south wind in the spring.
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.
The Patrons of Husbandry, or Grange, is the oldest farmers' organization of State-wide influence in the State, and according to the estimate of IIon. A. J. Rose, Master of the State Grange, numbers between 10,000 and 15,000 active members, and has a non-affili- ating membership approximating 100,000 in the State. The order has been the means of accomplishing great good in behalf of the farming population of the State, mainly by constantly keeping before the agricultural classes the necessity of a strict observance of the principles of economy in the management of the farm, avoiding extravagant, useless ex- penditures, and prodneing as far as possible all necessary supplies at home: Farmers who practico tho principles of the Pations of Ilus. bandry do not contribute to the annual out- flow of money from the State for the pur- chase of bacon, lard, molasses and other farm supplies that can be produced on Texas soil, and are not in debt to the money-lending classes. The Grange numbers among its ad- herents in this State some of the most intel- ligent, thrifty and conservative farmers of the State-men who would be an honor to any organization, and whose names are a guaran- tee of snecess inf any enterprise with which they may connect themselves.
198
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
The Texas State Farmer, located at Dallas, is the organ of the State Grange.
TEXAS CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION OF THE PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY.
This organization is the outgrowth of the Grange movement in the State, and has for its object the purchase of supplies and gen- eral merchandise for farmers, and the sale of products of the farms of the membership, thongh its business transactions are not con- fined to members of the order. The associa- tion consists of central and branch organiza- tions. The central organization conducts a wholesale and the local organizations a retail business. The central or wholesale branch is located in Galveston, and is supported by about 130 associations located in various parts of the State; and in addition to the 130 associations above mentioned, there are about €50 individual shareholders. Membership, about 9.000.
The institution is chartered with an author- ized capital stock of $100,000.
FARMERS' ALLIANCE.
This State enjoys the distinction of having given birth to the above named institution, which is now the strongest and most active farmers' organization in the State. No farm- ers' move has ever taken such deep root in the hearts of the agricultural classes, and spread throughout the State and nation with suchì rapidity, as has the Farmers' Alliance movement, and its phenomenal growth still continues, its progress being marked by con- tinual acquisitions to old Alliances and the formation of new ones in various parts of the State. State Alliances have sprung up in several States, and a national organization has been perfected.
The following facts relating to the origin of the organization were gleaned from a " History of the National Farmers' Alliance and Co-operative Union of America," by W. L. Garvin and S. O. Daws, of Jacksboro, Texas.
The name Farmers' Alliance was assumed by an association of farmers in Lampasas county in 1875, who had organized for self- protection against persons who drove off their stock and otherwise harassed them with a view of preventing the further settlement of the country. In 1878 it had spread over Lampasas and adjoining counties, but, be- coming entangled with politics through de- signing men, was broken up.
In 1879 W. T. Baggett, of Coryell county, a member of one of the old organizations. moved to Parker county and settled near Poolville. He had in his possession one of the constitutions of the order as it existed in -Coryell county, and organized the first Alli- ance at Poolville, July 29, 1879.
In this organization the political features which had destroyed the Alliance of Lampasas and adjoining counties in 1878 were stricken out of the declaration of principles, and the order placed on a non-political basis.
The following is the original declaration of principles, with the exception of the second and seventh articles:
1. To labor for the education of the agri- cultural classes in the science of economical goverment, in a strictly non-partisan spirit.
2. To endorse the motto, "In things essential unity, and in all things charity."
3. To develop a better state, mentally, morally, socially and financially.
4. To create a better understanding for sustaining civil officers in maintaining law and order.
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199
HISTORY OF TEXAS.
5. To constantly strive to secure entire harmony and good will among all mankind and brotherly love among ourselves.
6. To suppress personal, local, sectional and national prejudices, all unhealthful rivalry and all selfish ambition.
7. The brightest jewels which it garners are the tears of widows and orphans, and its imperative commands are to visit the homes where lacerated hearts are bleeding, to as- snage the sufferings of a brother or a sister, bury the dead, care for the widows, and edu- cate the orphans; to exercise charity toward offenders; to construe words and deeds in their most favorable light, granting honesty of purpose and good intentions to others, and to protect the principles of the Alliance unto death.
Its laws are reason and equity, its cardinal doctrines inspire purity of thought and life, and its intentions are "peace on earth and good will to men."
The first meeting of the State Alliance was held at Central, Parker county, Texas. Twelve sub-alliances were represented.
The membership of the order in Texas is now estimated at 250,000.
FARMERS' INSTITUTES.
The legislature appropriated $500 for the encouragement of the movement, to be used by the board of directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College as they might direet. By direction of the board the college authori- ties have arranged for holding an institute in each congressional district in this State, at which lectures on subjects relating to agri- culture, stock-raising and other subjects of practical utility to the farmers will be de- livered by the professors of the college and such other persons as they and the local com-
mittee at the place of holding the institute may determine. The products of the farm are also exhibited, and results of the best methods of work in all departments of farm labor are shown. 1
Farmers' institutes have been held at sev- eral points in the State, and in every instance they were attended with great interest and enthusiasm among the people. With more liberal encouragement on the part of the legis- lature they would become powerful agencies in awakening a deeper interest among the people in improved methods of farming, and directing public attention to the importance and value of the work now being done at the Agricultural and Mechanical College in iu- structing the youth of the State in the science of agriculture and the mechanic arts.
Farmers' institutes are open and free to all who choose to attend them, and thus afford a means of interchanging ideas and opinions among the agricultural classes, unencum- bered by any conditions whatever.
CLIMATE.
To convey a correct idea of the climate of any section by giving a statement of "mean temperatures " by the year or month, or even by the day, is misleading, from the fact that the mean temperature of great extremes may be the same as that of slight variations. For example, the mean between zero and 100 (fifty) is the same as that between forty and sixty, which also is fifty. To give a correct im- pression of climate one needs to state the number of times the temperature reaches certain extremes in each year for a number of years, with accompanying statements of the wind and moisture prevailing at the same times. A table giving all these items is too tedious for the ordinary reader to scan, and
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
scientists always go to the original reports of trained observers for their information.
Texas has variety in her climate as well as other things. A very large portion of the State is swept by the gulf breezes, which dispense life to vegetation and health to the inhabitants wherever they reach. The long sminmers characteristic of this latitude are by them rendered not only endurable but enjoy- able. So marked is the influence of the gulf winds on the climate of the State that the average temperature along the gulf coast and for many miles inland is much lower during the summer months than it is in the higher latitudes of the north. The same influence neutralizes the cold of winter and makes the winters of the southern and southwestern part of the State the mildest and most delightful of all States in the Union.
The extremes of temperature in Texas range from about zero in the northern part of the State to 100° and 112° in August. The air being pure, the extreme heat is far more endurable than a temperature of only eighty- five, with such impure air as generally pre- vails in the cities. Most of the year the temperature is comfortable, and averages letter than any other State in the Union.
The amount of rainfall at Austin varies from twenty-three to forty-four inches per annum, generally ranging from twenty-eight to thirty-six inches. The exact average from 1857 to 1874 inclusive was found to be 33.93 inches, with signs of increase; that is, the first five years the fall was 148.08, the second five 166 55, and the third five 178.88.
During the same period the highest ther. mometer was 96° to 107° in the shade, and the lowest 6° to 28° above zero.
The following table of rainfall, for the years named, is interesting and is of easy reference:
Year.
Jan
Feb
Mch
April
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
1868
1869
2.55
.: 0 2 41 1.10 3.31 3.76 .43'1.941 .50
.96 1.59 1.60
1570
.16
.16,4.76
62 .26,4.30 3.32 6.90 9.92 5.44 1.24
2.04
.902.78
.44
,20
1573
1.28|
1 .: 0
1.12 1.$6 1.50 3.79 2.60
.85
.66 1.60
.53
1873 ..
. 16
.331
1.60
14.56 6.40
.92 1.46
.41 1.08
...
1:71.
.61 2.93 5.800
1873
.05 1.45
.122
.50.1.20 .64 5.67 .22 1.22
36 2.47
1876
1.00
.32
.36
.50
1.52
.78 3.14 2.84
52 .68
1577
.93
.80
.79 2.12 1.47
.50 2.32 3.60 1.50 1.00 2.00
1575
10
2.32 .62 1.50 4.55
6.70
1.10
1879
.50
40 1.70 1.10 3.80 .50 4.00 1.00
.20.
1880
3.90
...
.84 3.38
.35
.09 1.23 2.09 4 . 14 8. 46 3.59 .58 2.65
.50
1584
.40
.801
.50 4.60 9.08 1.8. 2.20; . 96 2.00 1.76 1.86 6.21
.70
1886
.15
.80
.75
.48 .76 1.60
36 3.74
. 6 1.35
1857
.10
1.70 2.86
.66
.93 1.83 2.81 1.74 1.36
.99
1888
1.10 1.98
9. 3.65 1.55 2.50 3.10 2.50
.48 1.72 2.20
:40
18 9
1.94 2.57
1.15 2. 03 2.25
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The most notable floods of the Colorado since the settlement of Austin have occurred as follows: February, 1843, river rose about thirty-six feet; March. 1852, thirty-six feet; July, 1869, forty-three feet; and October, 1870, thirty six feet.
The following circumstance is illustrative: Colonel Merriam, of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry, with his family and an escort, encamped on the Concho river Sunday, April 24, 1870. This river is formed by the junc- tion of a number of small streamns from springs, but at its head it is so small that a man can step across it. The tops of the banks are usually about twenty-five feet above the water.
Fatigued with their journey, the party were pleasantly resting, when early in the evening Colonel Merriam saw signs of a coming storm. The tent was fastened and made as secure as possible, and about nine o'clock a hailstorm burst upon them and lasted until about eleven o'clock, the stones- being of the size of hens' eggs and striking the tent with a noise like incessant musketry. The colonel, who was not ignorant of the sudden and extreme overflows to which the mountain streams of Texas are liable, went out into the darkness as soon as the storm
...
1881
.20 1.46 6.10 .10 .40 .20 .70 2.30
.50,1.80
1882
1883.
3.16
.76 3.39 2.20 3.36 6.04
.6)
1885
1.32 2. 15 1.35 8.91 2. 33 4.22 1.08 1.35 1.901 .75
.60 1.14 1.70 1.15 3. 20 7.60 3.90 7.20 2.50 .30
.60
.25 1 11
.39 3.29:3.05
.88 .61.5.58
.12
1871 ..
.51 2.75 1.90 4.40] .42: ...
3.27 4.10. .. 40.7.30 1.86 2.35 6.40 3.75
1.69
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
had ceased, to see what effect had been pro- duced on the rivnlet. To his amazement he found, in the previously almost dry bed of the creek, a resistless torrent, filled with floating hail, rolling nearly bank full, white like milk and as silent as a river of oil. He at once saw the danger and rushed back to the tent, shonting at the same time to the soldiers and servant to "turn ont." He placed Mrs. Merriam and their child and nurse in the ambalance, and with the aid of three men started to run with it to the higher ground, a distance of not more than sixty yards. Scarcely a minute had clapsed from the time the alarm had been given before the water began to surge over the banks in waves of such volume and force as to sweep the party from their feet before they had traversed thirty yards. The colonel called for assist- ance upon some cavalry soldiers who had just escaped from the United States mail station near by, but they were too terror-stricken to take heed.
Colonel Merriam then gave up the hope of saving his family in the carriage, and tried to spring into it, intending to swim out with them; but the icy torrent instantly swept him away. Being an expert swimmer, he succeeded in reaching the bank 200 yards below, and ran back to renew the attempt to save his dear ones, when he received the awful tidings that the moment he was borne away by the stream the carriage, with all its precious freight, turned over and went roll- ing down the flood, his wife saying as she disappeared, "My darling husband, good- by!" The little rill of a few hours before, which a child might step across, had become a raging river nearly a mile in width, from thirty to forty feet deep and covered with masses of driftwood. The bereaved husband procured a horse "for one of the cavalry and
rode far down the river, but could see noth- ing distinctly in the darkness, while nothing could be heard but the wild roar of the waters.
Thus passed the long, wretched night. Before day the momentary flood had passed by, and the stream had shrunk within its accustomed limits. The search began. The drowned soldiers and servant, four in num- ber, were soon found, and the body of the wife was taken from the water three- fourths of a mile below. The body of the child was not found until three days afterward, four miles down the stream and a long distance from the channel. The carriage was drifted by the current about a mile, and lodged in a thicket.
The storm had been frightful, beyond de- scription. The beaver ponds at the head of the Concho were so filled with hail that the fish were killed, and were washed out and de. posited on the surface of the surrounding country in loads. Three days after the storm, when the searching party left the Concho, the hail lay in drifts to the depth of six feet.
Heavy indeed was the heart of the husband and father when he commenced his melan- choly march to the post of the Concho, fifty- three miles distant!
PUBLIC LANDS.
Under this head are included all the lands owned by the State or held in trust for any of its public institutions.
There are about 5,000,000 acres of unap- propriated public domain belonging to the State. This may be acquired by the pro- visions of the law relating to homestead do. nations.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
HOW TO ACQUIRE HOMESTEAD DONATIONS, ETC.
Every head of a family without a home- stead shall be entitled to receive a donation from the State of 160 acres of vacant unap- propriated public land, and every single man of the age of eighteen years or upward shall be entitled to receive from the State eighty acres of vacant and unappropriated public land. The applicant must apply to the sur- veyor of the district or county in which the land is situated, in writing, designating the land he claims, stating that he claims the same for himself in good faith, etc .; that he is without any homestead of his own; that he has actually settled on the land, etc., and that he believes the same to be vacant and unappropriated public domain. The survey to be made within twelve months after date of application. When the terms of the law have been complied with, and proof of such fact, together with the proof of three years' continuous occupancy, is filed with the com- missioner of the general land office, patent will issue to the claimant or his assignee. (Title LXXIX, Ch. 9, Revised Statutes.)
By virtue of an act passed March 29, 1887, and amended April 5, 1889, "To provide for the sale of such appropriated public lands, sitnated in organized counties, as contain not more than 640 aeres," it is provided that any person desiring to purchase any of such ap- propriated lands situated in any of the or- ganized counties of the State as contain not more than 610 acres, appropriated by an act to provide for the sale of a portion of the un- appropriated public land, etc., approved July 14, 1879, may do so by causing the same to be surveyed by the surveyor of the county in which the land is situated. The person de- siring to purchase shall make application in
writing, describing the land by reference to surrounding surveys. The land must be snr- veyed within three months from date of ap. plication, and within sixty days after said survey the surveyor shall certify, record and map the same in his office, and within said sixty days return the same to the general land office, together with the application. Within ninety days after the return to and filing in the general land office the applicant must pay into the State treasury the purchase money at the rate of $2 per acre; patent to be issued by the commissioner of the general land office when the treasurer's receipt is filed in his office. Failure to make the payment within ninety days forfeits the right to pur- chase, and the applicant cannot afterward purchase under the act. (Chapter 80, Acts of Twentieth Legislature, pp. 61 and 62.)
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