USA > Texas > Dallas County > Memorial and biographical history of Dallas County, Texas > Part 10
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The firm was strong and popular, and soon commanded a large and lucrative practice. Ill health forced the retirement of Mr. Bass in 1879, and the firm became Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881 Mr. George J. Sicard was added to the firm.
In the autumn election of 1881 he was elected mayor of Buffalo by a majority of over 3,500-the largest majority ever given a candidate for mayor-and the Democratic city ticket was successful, although the Republicans carried Buffalo by over 1,000 majority for their State ticket. Grover Cleveland's administration as mayor fully justified the confidence reposed in him by the people of Buffalo, evidenced by the great vote he received.
The Democratic State Convention met at Syracuse, September 22, 1882, and nomi- nated Grover Cleveland for Governor on the third ballot and Cleveland was elected by 192,000 majority. In the fall of 1884 he was elected President of the United States by about 1,000 popular majority, in New York State, and he was accordingly inaugurated the 4th of March following.
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PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
BENJAMIN
HARRISON.
ENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty-third Presi- dent of the United States, 1889, was born at North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio, in the house of his grandfather, William Hen- ry Harrison (who was the ninth President of this country), August 20th, 1833. He is a descendant of one of the historical families of this country, as also of England. The head of the family was a Major-General Harrison who was devoted to the cause of Oliver Cromwell. It became the duty of this Har- rison to participate in the trial of Charles I. and afterward to sign the death warrant of the king, which subsequently cost him his life. His enemies succeeding to power, he was condemned and executed October 13th, 1660. His descendants came to America, and the first mention made in history of the Harrison family as representative in public affairs, is that of Benjamin Harrison, great- grandfather of our present President, who was a member of the Continental Congress, 1774-5-6, and one of the original signers of
the Declaration of Independence, and three times Governor of Virginia. His son, Will- iam Henry Harrison, made a brilliant mili- tary record, was Governor of the Northwest Territory, and the ninth President of the United States.
The subject of this sketch at an early age became a student at Farmers College, where he remained two years, at the end of which time he entered Miami University, at Ox- ford, Ohio. Upon gradnation from said seat of learning he entered, as a student, the of- fice of Stover & Gwyne, a notable law firm at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he applied himself closely to the study of his chosen profession, and here laid the foundation for the honora- ble and famous career before him. He spent two years with the firm in Cincinnati, at the expiration of which time he received the only inheritance of his life, which was a lot left him by an aunt, which he sold for $800. This sum he deemed sufficient to justify him in marrying the lady of his choice, and to whom he was then engaged, a danghter of Dr. Scott, then Principal of a female school at Oxford, Ohio.
After marriage he located at Indianapolis, Indiana, where he began the practice of law. Meeting with slight encouragement he made but little the first year, but applied himself
Bery. Hannisou
123
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
closely to his business, and by perseverance, honorable dealing and an upright life, suc- eeeded in building up an extensive practice and took a leading position in the legal profession.
In 1860 he was nominated for the position of Supreme Court Reporter for the State of Indiana, and then began his experience as a stump speaker. Ile canvassed the State thoroughly and was elected.
In 1862 his patriotism caused him to abandon a civil office and to offer his country his services in a military capacity. He or- ganized the Seventieth Indiana Infantry and was chosen its Colonel. Although his regi- ment was composed of raw material, and he practically void of military schooling, he at onee mastered military tacties and drilled his men, so that when he with his regiment was assigned to Gen. Sherman's command it was known as one of the best drilled organ- izations of the army. He was especially distinguished for bravery at the battles of Resacea and Peach Tree Creek. For his bravery and efficiency at the last named bat- tle he was made a Brigadier-General, Gen- eral Hooker speaking of him in the most complimentary terms.
While General IIarrison was actively en- gaged in the field the Supreme Court declared the office of Supreme Court Reporter vacant, and another person was elected to fill the position. From the time of leaving Indiana with his regiment for the front, until the fall of 1864, General Harrison had taken no leave of absence. But having been nominated that year for the same oflice that he vacated in order to serve his country where he could do the greatest good, he got a thirty-day leave of absence, and during that time canvassed the State and was elected for another term as Supreme Court Reporter. He then started to rejoin his command, then with General Sherman in the South, but was stricken down
with fever and after a very trying siege, made his way to the front, and participated in the closing scenes and incidents of the war.
In 1868 General Harrison declined a re- election as Reporter, and applied himself to the practice of his profession. Ile was a candidate for Governor of fudiana on the Republican tieket in 1876. Although de- feated, the brilliant campaign brought him to public notice and gave him a National. reputation as an able and formidable debater and he was much sought in the Eastern States as a publie speaker. He took an act- ive part in the Presidential campaign of 1880, and was elected to the United States Senate, where he served six years, and was known as one of the strongest debaters, as well as one of the ablest men and best law- yers. When his term expired in the Senate he resumed his law practice at Indianapolis, becoming the head of one of the strongest law firms in the State of Indiana.
Sometime prior to the opening of the Presidential campaign of 18SS, the two great political parties (Republican and Democratic) drew the line of political battle on the ques- tion of tariff, which became the leading issue and the rallying watchword during the mem- orable campaign. The Republicans appealed to the people for their voice as to a tariff to proteet home industries, while the Democrats wanted a tariff for revenne only. The Re- publican convention assembled in Chicago in June and selected Mr. Harrison as their standard bearer on a platform of į rineiples, among other important elauses being that of protection, which he cordially indorsed in accepting the nomination. November 6, 1888, after a heated canvass, General IIarri- son was elected, defeating Grover Cleveland, who was again the nominee of the Demo- eratie party. He was inaugurated and as- sumed the duties of his office March 4, 1589.
HISTORY
-OF-
DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS.
IN GENERAL.
F the large number of counties in this great State of Texas, it is universally con- ceded, not only by the citizens of the State, but also by all passing immigrants, that for richness of soil, congeniality of elimate, charming and delightful scenery, a cultivated and hospital people, Dallas county ean not be surpassed. Truly has it been said that she is the "banner county of the State."
Situated in the center of the northern por. tion of the State, on what might be called a high rolling plateau, it is bounded on the north by the county of Denton, east by Collin and Kaufman, south by Ellis and west by Tar- rant.
GEOLOGY.
The geological formation of the soil of Dallas county and of the strata beneath be- longs in geology to that period classed as Meso- zoic time and in the Cretaceous period, the lower division of this being uncrystaline or of aqueous origin. There is a stratum of white limestone rock beneath the deep, rich, loamy black soil, which appears universal through the entire county. Sometimes it
erops out and extends for miles, scattering here and there, giving a mixed soil of black with small white and greyish lime rocks. Especially is this frequently seen in the west ern portion of the county. This soil is very superiorly adapted to the growing of small grains of almost every kind.
Beneath this limestone is sometimes found beds of gravel, which is most conveniently utilized in improving roads and streets. These beds are found to be of remarkable var- iation of depth and dimensions, and must have been formed here when the waters cov- ered the surface, having been drifted hither and thither by the surging waters. This gravel is lasting, as it consists chiefly of quartz, and of course is never ground into powder when used, while the white and gray- ish limestone found immediately beneath the soil crumbles on being exposed to the ele- ments, and of course is not only worthless for paving roads and avonues but also for all building purposes of any kind.
The very best of lime has been manufac- tured out of this stratum of limestone, and, owing to this formation, nearly all the springs and streams are of hard water. There are
10
126
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
exceptions, of course, as in the case of deep wells sunk beneath the strata and where water is found in gravel or in a stratum beneath that of the limestone.
SOIL AND OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES.
There is what is commonly, and most ap- propriately, termed the "blaek strip" of soil, about sixty miles in width, beginning at Red river, the dividing line between Texas and the Indian Territory, sweeping through Texas and extending almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and embraces the richest and most productive soil in the State. Dallas county is largely in this strip. While the surface consists in the greater measure of rolling prairie most de- lightful to the eye, especially when elothed in spring time with fresh green verdure, it is traversed by eross timbers that cluster on the banks of the Trinity river, which flows diag- onally almost through its center, also on smaller streams and ravines. The soil is of that black, rich, loany texture characteristic of the most productive known to geologists, and in some portions of the county it consists of that black, waxy character most charm- ingly adapted to almost every product known to the Southern climate.
The rich, black soil sometimes extends to the depth of four and five feet, and is said to never diminish its strength in giving forth produce like that of the sandy or elay-like soil. On this the finest vegetation grows. When this connty was nnsettled the wild grass would grow to the height of an ordi- nary man. It was proverbial that the hunter would sometimes become lost in the grass,
and, straying off from his companions, entail npon himself the greatest difficulty to find his bearings. This grass was not entirely over the county, but only in some sections. A heavy mat of turf, however, was extended over the entire surface of the soil, especially on the prairies, and it was so strongly inatted, and the black, stieky soil so compact that it was of the greatest difficulty to break it up so as to make it arable for farming purposes. It was, therefore, common to see the farmer in primeval days of the county with from six to eight yoke of oxen, or with from four to six inules, hitched to a large plow, breaking up his prairie lands, doing what was commonly called "sodding;" but as the county became inore thickly populated and rains fell more frequently, thereby moistening the surface, this task of "sodding" became less irksome -so much so that at the present period of development it is common to see the farmer seated on his sulky plow, with only two horses, plowing this wild land; in other words, sodding his new lands. This soil, once thought to produce nothing with any cer- tainty bnt corn and cotton, has been found to contain those elements and ingredients productive of all kinds of small grains, and in fact almost every kind of vegetation known to the Southern climate.
TIMBER.
There is but a small quantity of timber, comparatively speaking, in the county, and that is found as stated, clustering on the streams, and, while not adapted for building purposes, it affords great comfort and con-
127
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
venience to the citizen for fuel in winter as well as protection to stock from the cold blasts of the northern winds, commonly called the "Texas Norther." This timber consists of oak, sycamore, pecan, hackberry, walnut, cottonwood, red and white elm, black- jack, box·elder, red haw, locust, hickory, wild china, cedar, gum-clastic, ash and "bois d'arc" (osage orange); and a peculiarity about it is, it does not grow to a great height. It is mostly stumpy, except immediately on the banks of the Trinity river. Here you find occasionally a large cottonwood, elm or hackberry. This timber has also an under- growth called "underbrush," which makes it sometimes very difficult to pass through.
At an early date, the farmers enclosed their farms with rails and brush, hauled for miles from these cross timbers, but as the popula- tion increased, and the timber became more scaree, and dear in price, bois-d'arc hedges were substituted, and afterward the barbed wirc.
AGRICULTURAL.
At the present period of development, almost every farmer in the county has his inelosure fenced with barbed wire. The introduction of this wire was a great blessing to the people. In fact, it would have been almost impossible for the people in the county to have gotten along without it.
Cotton, corn, wheat, and oats, raised per acre, in Dallas county, cannot be surpassed in any county in the State. Truly might it be said that the quantity per aere on some of the choice lands of this county, approxi-
mates that of the richest soil in the Missis- sippi valley. The cotton stalk is known to grow so high in places that a man can searcely reach to the top, and the limbs so heavy with bolls that they sometimes break from the main stem. Corn and wheat are raised in great quantities. All vegetables are grown with ease. Sweet and Irish pota- toes, sorghum,-in fact almost all produce raised in a southern climate are produced on this soil. The largest, sweetest, finest quality of fruit, of almost every kind, such as peaches, apricots, apples, grapes, cherries pears, plums, etc., are produced. Water- melons are a marvel in size, in their season. The average yield of wheat per acre is from fifteen to thirty bushels; cotton from one-half bale to a bale, corn, from thirty to seventy bushels; oats, from thirty-five to eighty bushels; and hay, both native and cultivated. cannot be surpassed. The Johnson and Ber- muda grasses, and millet, are raised in abundance. All of the above produce always brings the very highest prices in the markets of the country.
WATER COURSES, WELLS, ETC.
Dallas county is one of the best-watered counties in the State. Besides the Trinity river, there is the Five-Mile creck, and the Ten - Mile creek,-so denominated because of the distance from Dallas, the largest and central city in its borders.
Almost all these smaller streams merge into the Trinity river. Beside thesc, there are many overflowing springs.
The people are supplied with water by
128
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
wells, in which any quantity can be secured by digging to only a shallow depth. Very frequently, at the depth of from fifteen to twenty feet, an abundance is secured. The wealthier citizens have flowing artesian wells, which are at present becoming quite common in this county. After boring down a few hundred feet, the artesian water, as clear as a crystal, will burst forth, sometimes as high as twenty feet above the surface. The water from the ordinary wells, springs and creeks is principally from magnesian limestone, and of course very healthful. That of the artesian wells is pure, a little warm, but delightful, after remaining exposed to the air a short while. Rain-water in cisterns is used by many, and more especially in pools, called " tanks," which are denominated in the East as ponds. These tanks are commonly used by farmers for stock. They dam up a ravine or dig a place in some low spot on the prairie, so the water sometimes can bank up for the distance of a half mile. This is a very common means of securing water for cattle, and it was, indeed, more common with earlier settlers than now, when long droughts visited the county and lasted for several months. During the periods of droughts, the people would drive their cattle for miles, to a neighbor's tank. No such droughts now visit the connty.
TEMPERATURE.
Almost the entire time, during the sum- mer season, a cool and delightful breeze is blowing: so the temperature in mid-summer ranges from about 75 to 90 degrees. The
nights are generally very pleasant, as a cool and delightful gulf breeze prevails almost constantly. A sunstroke here is very un- common.
This county is superior in splendid facili- ties for traveling by private conveyance, in addition to the numerous railroads. The county roads, bridges, and all avennes, are in first-class order.
CENSUS.
The population of Dallas county in 1890 was 67,003, showing the largest of all coun- ties in the State. It contains an area of 900 square miles, and an assessed valuation of its property, in 1890, of $35,849,000. The lands are valued at from $10 to $50 per acre,-the lands most valuable, near the city of Dallas, at from $100 to $200 per acre.
The following table, taken from the State Report of the Agricultural Bureau for 1890, shows the value of field crops:
Сгорв.
Acres.
Product. Value.
Cotton, bales
.64,350
20,175 $807,530
Corn, bushels.
.89,423 2,421,527
985,695
Wheat, bushels.
46,924
375,392
262,774
Oats, bushels.
47,763 1,432,890
499,867
Barley, busbels.
175
8,230
5,840
Rye, bushels.
376
15,175
12,020
Potatoes, sweet, busbels.
732
79,164
39,245
Potatoes, Irish, bushels.
535
62,113
43,489
Peas, bushels.
25
237
468
Beans, bushels.
27
478
873
Hay, cultivated, tons.
2,816
9,417
113,069
Hay, prairie, tons
6,470
6,533
51,192
Millet, tons ..
3,127
8,116
99,417
Sorghum cane, bbls. molasses .. 1,022
4,111
76,160
Sorghum cane, tons ..
327
1,635
9,324
Tons cotton seed produced. .
10,087
80,696
Fruits and Garden .- Acres in peaches 812, value $24,690; in apples 37, value $523; in plums 57, value $725; in pears 14, value $386; in melons 632, value $24,884; in garden 337, value $33,119; number of grape vines 22,131, value $2,915.
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HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
Bees .- Stands of bees 120; pounds of honey 9,168, value $1,100.
Wool .- Number of sheep sheared 4,135; pounds of wool clipped 16,540, value $2,481.
Live Stock .- Number of horses and mules 19,210, value $764,400; cattle 33,779, value $257,175; jacks and jennets 85, value $12,070; sheep 4,138, value $4,420; goats 960, value $390; hogs 12,364, value $32,555.
GEOLOGY.
As the preceding sketeh is a mere prelimi- nary bird's-eye view of the section of which we are writing, we now present a fuller view of the geological character of the district in which Dallas county is situated.
A thorough geological survey of northern Texas has never yet been made, but we give the substance of the surveys that have been made and published in the First Annual Re- port of the Geological Survey of the State.
Dallas county lies in the Cretaceous system, characterized by chalk formations. The two series of rocks comprising this system occupy the area known as the Black Prairie, the Grand Prairie and the two Cross Timbers, besides unstudied areas in the eastern and trans-Pecos regions of the State.
To these strata the State owes a large part of her agricultural and general prosperity, for they are the foundation of the rich, black waxy and other calcareous soils of this region, and in addition to their agricultural features they are the most productive source of build- ing material, while adjacent to the parting between them, extending the entire length of the State and depending upon their strati- graphy, is a remarkable area of natural and artesian wells. That these formations are of
great economie valne is also shown by the fact that they are the site of our principal eities and the rich agricultural soils which surround them.
This is in general a chalky country, and uniquely Texan, so far as the United States are concerned, constituting a distinet geo- graphie region in every topographie, eco- nomic and enltural aspect, and one which should not be confused with other portions of the country. It covers an area of over 73,512 square miles, or over one-fourth (28.27 per cent.) the total area of Texas, forming a broad belt of fertile territory across the heart of the State, from the Onachita mountains of the Indian Territory and Arkansas to the mountains of northern Mexico,-an area larger than the average American State, and equal to the combined area of all the New England States. One-third of this region lies north of the Colorado river, and the remainder to the southwest.
This region, with its many different prai- ries, each covered by its peculiar vegetation, its sweeping plains and diverse valleys, its undulating slopes clad with "mnotts" of live- oak, its narrow strips of cross timbers, its ragged buttes and mesas, presents a landscape varied, yet possessing as a whole an individ- mality peculiarly its own. All of these fea- tures, with their different tints and tones of soil and vegetation, with their varied condi- tions for himnan habitation, are but the sur- face aspects of the system of chalky rocks (chalky sands, chalky clays and elialky lime- stones) upon which it is founded, and to which is primarily due every physical quality
130
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
of the country. In fact it is the great chalky region of the United States.
The rocks originated as sediments of the Atlantic ocean, laid down with great uni- formity during two of the long epochs of subsidence and emergence when the waters covered this region many hundred fathoms deep. These ancient sediments are now more or less consolidated and elevated into a fertile land, which is decomposing under atmos- pheric conditions into soils and debris, and in turn being slowly transported to the ocean, where it will make other rock sheets. . They now occur in regular sheets or strata, dipping beneath each other toward the sea, while the projecting western edges, each of which weathers into and imparts its individuality to its own peculiar belt of country, ontcrops in long, narrow belts, sub-parallel to the present ocean outline. Thus it is that as one proceeds inland from the coast he constantly crosses successively lower and lower sheets of these formations. The oldest, or lowest, in a geological sense, of these outcrops, forms the Upper Cross Timbers, those above these make the Grand Prairie, the next sheet forms the Lower Cross Timbers, and the next the Black Prairie, etc. Each of these weathers into a characteristic soil, which in its turn is adapted to a peculiar agriculture. Each, too, has its own water conditions and other features of economic value. Some of these rock sheets, like the Up- per Cross Timber country, may be compara- tively unfertile in the region of outcrop, yet they may serve to carry the rain which falls npon the thirsty sands far beneath the adjacent country, where by artesian borings it becomes
an invaluable source of water supply for a dis- tant and more fertile region.
The Cretaccons country of Texas, as a whole, like the system of rocks of which the surface is composed, is separable into two great divisions, each of which in turn is sub- divided still further. These two regions are known as the Black Prairie and Grand (or Fort Worth) Prairie regions, each of which includes in its western border, north of the Brazos, an elongated strip of timber known as the Lower and Upper Cross Timbers, respectively.
THE BLACK PRAIRIE REGION
occupies an elongated area extending the length of the State from Red river to the Rio Grande. The eastern border of the Black Prairie is approximately the southwestern termination of the great Atlantic timber belt. The Missonri Pacific and the International railroads from Denison to San Antonio ap- proximately mark the western edge. A little south of the center, along the Colorado river, from Austin eastward to the Travis county line near Webberville, the Black Prairie is restricted to its narrowest limits. Westward this prairie is succeeded by a region of some superficial resemblance to it which on closer study is found to differ in all essential points. This is the Grand, or Fort Worth, Prairie, or "hard-lime-rock region."
The so-called mountains west of Austin are the remains of the Grand Prairie. In general, the Black Prairie region consists of a level plain, imperceptibly sloping to the southeast, varied only by gentle undulations
131
HISTORY OF DALLAS COUNTY.
and deep drainage valleys, uninarked by pre- cipitate cañons. It is transected at intervals by the larger streams, whose deep-ent valleys, together with their side streams, make indent- ations into the plain, but not sufficiently to destroy the characteristic flatness of its wide divides-remnants of the original plain, or topographic marine base level, which has not been completely scored by its still youthful drainage system. The altitude of the plain is between 600 and 800 feet. The surface of most of the Black Prairie region is a deep black clay soil, which when wet becomes ex- cessively tenaccous, from which fact it is lo- cally called "black waxy." In general it is the residuum of the underlying clays, and contains an excess of lime, which, acting upon the vegetation by complicated chemical changes, causes the black color. It is ex- cecdingly productive, and nearly every foot of its area is susceptible of a high state of cultivation, constituting one of the largest continuous agricultural regions in the United States. Large crops of cotton, corn, etc., are annually raised upon its fertile lands; and if there were facilities for proper transportation it would soon be one of the leading districts of our country.
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