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Texas : Features : Columns : All Things Historical


Bob Bowman		Archie P. McDonald, PhD

Texas History
"ALL THINGS HISTORICAL"

A weekly Texas History column syndicated
in 70 East Texas newspapers

by Bob Bowman & Archie P. McDonald, PhD

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Texas Subjects	Archie P. McDonald	Bob Bowman
Business Crime Disasters Environment Folklore Historic Buildings History Industries Music Outlaws People Places Politics Railroads Things Towns Traditions Search Site> Published with permission since August 6, 2000 Bob Bowman, a former president of the East Texas Historical Association, is the author of 24 books on East Texas history and folklore. He lives in Lufkin. See Biography. Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical Association and author or editor of more than 20 books on Texas. See Biography.	The East Texas Historical Association 8-11-08 The tag at the end of each "All Things Historical" article, whether written by my colleague Bob Bowman or this correspondent, says that is it a service of "the East Texas Historical Association." Likely many readers do not know much about this organization, so for your information.... Howard Hughes 7-28-08 Howard Robard Hughes Sr. Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition 7-14-08 Nationalist activities abounded in Spain's Northern Provinces (Texas) during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. The Gutiérrez-Magee Expedition was one of the most spectacular of these adventures. History All Over 6-30-08 Residency has led me to write much about Nacogdoches, Texas, where I have taught history at SFA since Steve himself was a student. But I like other East Texas towns, too, both because of their history and some of the historians who live there. Here are a few of them... Juneteenth 6-20-08 On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger brought the full force of the United States military establishment to Galveston and proclaimed the Civil War at an end and all wartime proclamations by President Abraham Lincoln in effect in the Lone Star State. Part of that dealt with the end of slavery in Texas... D-DAY 6-9-08 Sixty-four years ago in June the forces of Allied Supreme Commander Dwight David Eisenhower hit the beaches of Normandy in northwestern France. Memorial Day 5-12-08 When Americans pause at the ceremonial beginning of summer to honor those who gave their lives in military service they are participating in our national version of ancient rites... Peter Ellis Bean 4-28-08 The American frontier produced many colorful characters, including Peter Ellis Bean... San Jacinto Day 4-14-08 News of the fall of the Alamo on March 6, 1836, and the execution of Texians captured at Goliad three weeks later, produced the terrible Runaway Scrape, a mad flight of refugees who scrambled eastward to escape a similar fate at the hand of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s armies. In the midst of these troubles, one man, Sam Houston, rode west... "Take Care of My Little Boy" 3-31-08 Travis wrote this last letter from the Alamo early in March 1836 to David Ayers... Coxey’s Army 3-17-08 "...Jacob Sechler Coxey of Massillon, Ohio, wanted the government to issue $500 million in paper currency and spend it on public works—roads, municipal buildings, etc..." Texas Independence Day 3-3-08 The Printer Fires Both Barrels 2-18-08 Archer Fullingim "Always Late" 2-3-08 "Just on the southside of the crossings sat a beer joint named "Neva's," and there, my father said, was where Lefty Frizzell sang about a girl who was "always late" with her kisses." Kirby Lumber Company 1-21-08 Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday 1-7-08 New Year’ Day 12-24-07 Walter Paye Lane 12-10-07 Margie Neal 11-26-07 Pamelia Mann, Tough Texan 11-12-07 A lady of my acquaintance, active in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, once complained to me on the argumentative nature of her sisters in this hereditary Lone Star sorority. My explanation: it's in the blood... James Long, Filibuster 10-29-07 And Jane Long, Mother of Texas. Long Hot Summers 10-15-07 Veterans of the "long hot summers" of the summers of the 1960s, a time of racial tension, would have thought it "de ja vu all over again" if they had remembered 1919... Good Night Irene 10-1-07 Since Shreveport and Caddo Parish were once members of the old East Texas Chamber of Commerce, it is appropriate for the East Texas Historical Association to consider Huddie Leadbetter, better known as Leadbelly, as part of our past—especially since at least one of his prison sentences was served in this region... Newton, Texas 9-24-07 It is strange how my life has intertwined with Newton County, the long, slender eastern twin of Jasper County located in southeast Texas just north of Orange and Beaumont, Texas... The Kelly Plow 9-10-07 Early in the nineteenth century, American farmers broke the soil pretty much the same way as old English grangers or even Biblical tillers did—with wooden plows... Jarvis Christian College 8-20-07 Obtaining a collegiate education presented a problem for African Americans in Texas prior to court-ordered racial integration which began in the 1950s... In Texas, especially East Texas, Wiley College in Marshall and Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins were about the only options for undergraduate instruction... Gaceta de Teja 8-6-07 Readers of the Dallas Morning News, Tyler Telegraph, Gilmer Mirror, Jefferson Jimplecute and every other newspaper in Texas may not know about the journalistic ancestor they share. That was a single issue of the Gaceta de Tejas, or Texas Gazette, and here is its story. John Henry Faulk 7-31-07 Johnny Faulk had once been atop the show business ladder in New York City, only to tumble when falsely accused during the era of McCarthyism of being a communist... Haden Edwards 7-9-07 Haden Edwards helped influence the Anglo settlement of East Texas almost as much as Stephen F. Austin, but the state capitol and a couple of universities are not named for him. Here's why... East Texas Bapist University 6-18-07 East Texas Baptist College, now University, began and remains in Marshall, Texas... The Republic's First President 6-4-07 Usually, the argument about who first served as president of the Republic of Texas involves David G. Burnet and Sam Houston. Maybe Richard Ellis has a claim, too... Price Daniel 5-21-07 Price Daniel served in more political offices than anyone I know and he did so with distinction and honor... The Cotton Bowl 5-7-07 East Texans claim Dallas-Big "D," as we once said-so a story of the Cotton Bowl falls into our area; well, at least the stadium is located in Dallas' east side, in Fair Park... Speak for yourself, Robert 4-23-07 Sam Houston was a man of many loves... 491 Days 4-9-07 William Williston Heartsill's Fourteen Hundred And Ninety-One Days In The Confederate Army... The Chicken War 3-27-07 Since raising and processing and marketing chickens has become a major economic enterprise in East Texas since World War II, it is appropriate to remember the "Chicken War" of 1719... Jane McManus Storm Cazneau 3-07 Texans are worldwide famous for toughness and resilience... Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell 2-07 Bring 'Em Back Alive: Frank Buck 2-12-07 Before the late Steve Ervin wrestled his first crocodile, ... before swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller personified Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan and Jungle Jim in movies and serials, ... Frank Buck captured American and international audiences with tales of his adventures doing just those kinds of things everywhere on the planet. The Big Thicket Light 1-29-07 "The Big Thicket Light, a.ka. the Saratoga Light, shows up at night on a seven-mile stretch of road connecting Farm Road 1293 and Saratoga, a former health spa/oil town/Big Thicket gathering area in Hardin County." Built it and they will ride it 1-22-07 Most motorists traveling down Bremond Street in Houston, Lufkin, and Nacogdoches, or likely any street along US Highway 59 from Houston to north of Nacogdoches, haven't a clue of the debt East Texas owes to Paul Bremond... He Done Her Wrong: The Sad Case of Mrs. Harriet Moore Page Potter Ames 1-2-07 Alto 12-18-06 "This story is about Alto, a town originally known as Branchtown located on El Camino Real, or the Old San Antonio Road, where US Highway 69 and State Highway 21 intersect south of Rusk, north of Lufkin, west of Nacogdoches, and east of Crockett. Once upon a time, those places might have been described as near Alto, for it was nearly as large as any of them." "My Blue Heaven: Gene Austin" 12-4-06 Gainesville, in Cooke County, gained a native son named Eugene Lucas on June 24,1900. Lucas became one of the nation's most popular entertainers during the 1930s, but by then he used his stepfather's name-Austin... The Babe 11-20-06 Mildred Ella Didrikson, the greatest woman athlete of the twentieth century, was the sixth child born to Norwegian immigrants Ole Nickolene and Hannah Marie Olson Didriksen, in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1911... Woman's Christian Temperance Union 11-6-06 The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was misnamed: “temperance” means “moderation... avoiding extremes.” What the WCTU really wanted was total abstinence from all alcohol beverages... Why did they name it that? 10-23-06 Everyone wonders why some cities and towns in East Texas are named as they are but never really make a effort to learn the secrets-except Fred Tarpley... William Marsh Rice 10-9-06 Everyone loves a murder mystery, especially if the murder happened a long time ago and did not involve someone they know. The story of William Marsh Rice's demise is such a case, especially since I am a beneficiary of his will. Let me explain. New London School Explosion 9-25-06 Dr. Bobby H. Johnson... has written a play based on the New London School Explosion which occurred on March 18, 1937... America's Team 9-11-06 The Dallas Cowboys, dubbed America's Team in 1978 by Bob Ryan, editor of NFL Films, really are East Texas' team... Guinn Big Boy Williams 8-28-06 We talk mostly about the "stars" of movies, but we know that character actors can help a film succeed or cause it to fail. One of the best was Guinn Williams, known to generations of filmgoers-especially devotees of Westerns-as Guinn "Big Boy" Williams... High Sheriff of Henderson County 8-14-06 Old time East Texans refer to some of their revered and feared lawmen as the "high sheriff,"... in Henderson County, the legend was Jess Sweeten. El Camino Real 7-30-06 In 2004, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison succeeded in persuading Congress to designate El Camino Real, at least the Texas and Louisiana portions, a national historic corridor. We Texans, especially we East Texans, knew it all along... Party Primaries 7-17-06 Cynics like to speak of "dirty politics" and "the smoke-filled room" atmosphere of party big shots making decisions on candidates clandestinely. That pretty well sums up the way political candidates were determined in East Texas and elsewhere in the state prior to 1905, when... Air Conditioning 7-3-06 When someone asks my wife how people lived in Texas before air-conditioning, she says that no one did. That is partly true and partly false, but we can all agree that the a/c makes surviving Texas’ summers a happier experience. The old timers coped, however, and here is how. Another College Among the Pines 6-19-06 We who give "All Hail to SFA" think of our University by one of its earlier nicknames, "The College Among The Pines." That also described another excellent institution headquartered in Carthage, Texas, named Panola College after its host county... East Texas Savior of the French Wine Industry 6-5-06 Those who favor a glass of wine, especially French wine, may not be aware of the debt they and the French owe to Dr. Thomas Volney Munson of Denison, Texas Father Margil 5-22-06 Father Antonio Margil de Jesus helped introduce Christianity to the wilderness of East Texas, but his story began in Valencia, Spain, where he was born in 1657. Pink Palace of Healing 5-8-06 University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Kinkaid School 4-24-06 When I attended French High School in Beaumont, Texas, early in the 1950s, we "country hicks" from the north side of town looked across town at students in the tonier Beaumont High School, many of whose students lived in the affluent westside along Calder Avenue. It would have been above our station to know that Beaumont Highers felt the same way about the scholars at Kinkaid School in Houston. Jaybird-Woodpecker War 4-10-06 "Back a ways, when many voters were a little light on their literacy skills, symbols appearing beside the names of candidates identified their political party..." Honky Tonk Man 3-27-06 Johnny Horton Gilmer, Texas 3-11-06 "It is presumptuous for a native of Beaumont and long-time resident of Nacogdoches to be writing about Gilmer, Texas. Only admiration for ..." In Due And Ancient Form 2-27-06 Masonry in Texas Man with a Method - Littleton Fowler 2-13-06 Long before winning fame and martyrdom at the Alamo, William Barret Travis wrote to tell Methodist leaders in the United States how badly Texas needed their attention. Samuel Doak McMahon held the first meeting of Methodists in Texas in his home, located ten or so miles east of San Augustine, in 1832, but the arrival of Littleton Fowler in 1837 was the first authorized Methodist activity there. Old Time Judge 1-29-06 Thomas Whitfield Davidson Brotherhood of Timber Workers 1-16-06 Those engaged in a common activity often refer to themselves as “brothers” or “sisters,” but the Brotherhood of Timber Workers refers to something rare in East Texas—a labor union. Lady Godiva: Adah Isaccs Menken 1-9-06 The Boll Weevil 1-1-06 "Tex Ritter sang this lament decades ago: 'Oh, the boll weevil is a little black bug, come from Mexico they say, come all the way to Texas, just looking for a place to stay, just looking for a home, just looking for a home.' And the weevil, actually a beetle, found it, much to the chagrin of East Texas cotton growers."	Chautauqua 8-18-08 Dominating Getzendaner Park in Waxahachie, a large wooden, octagonal-roofed pavilion stands as a symbol of entertainment and enlightment in the days before movies and television... The Mystery of Caddo Mounds 8-5-08 Caddoan Mounds, a settlement of dwellings and temples, was the home of a prehistoric group of Caddo Indians, who settled in the Neches Valley sometime in the late eighth century, A.D. What is left of the mound-building Caddos is found in stone artifacts and small tools at the Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site... Buena Vista 7-21-08 Buena Vista is one of my favorite places because it has such a colorful history, and a few weeks ago we helped dedicate a marker to its cemetery. The forgotten forests 6-23-08 A new book published by Jane G. Baxter of Nashville, Tennessee, and Dan T. Barnes of Trinity, Texas, has captured the appearance of the old forests that existed in the early 1900s. Indian tribe linked with Texas history 6-16-08 Thousands of people drive through East Texas each year without the knowledge that an Indian reservation--one that played a role in the independence of Texas--exists within the pine forests... A gifted writer 6-1-08 Landon Bradshaw wrote only one book, “These People Actually Lived in East Texas.” People who have copies cherish it with an affection reserved only for their wives and rich uncles. Humor in graveyards 5-26-08 "Traveling across East Texas, graveyard visitors are often rewarded with... humorous and poignant tombstone inscriptions." Weeping Mary 5-5-08 Few town names in East Texas attract as much curiosity as Weeping Mary, a 140-year-old black community hidden away in the deep woods of western Cherokee County,... first settled after the Civil War by freed slaves from neighboring plantations... Quilting a family history 4-21-08 If Teddy Ivy wakes up in the middle of the night, curious about a part of his family's history, all he has to do is consult the quilt on his bed... Mayhaws: A spring delicacy 4-7-08 "...Mayhaws are to East Texans what blueberries are to Maine. The trouble is they don't grow in convenient places like fields and roadside bar ditches. Most mayhaws are found in swamps, river bottoms and other places where large snakes, giant mosquitoes and other varmits make their home..." Dog trot houses 3-24-08 Dog trot houses were built and occupied by East Texas’ earliest settlers. Many of them migrated here in the early l800s from the Old South... The first Elvis impersonator 3-10-08 Former radio personality Norman Johnson of Nacogdoches holds a unique place in East Texas history: He was the first known Elvis impersonator. Did Davy survive? 2-25-08 Did Davy Crockett survive the battle of the Alamo, only to be sent to Mexico as a prisoner and forced to work in a mine?... A good ol’ store 2-11-08 Losing a community institution is like losing a good friend... The “Indian” bootlegger 1-28-08 Tony Sanches... not only made some of the best bootleg whiskey in East Texas; he had the best customers--people like singer Jimmy Rodgers, Clyde Barrow of the Bonnie and Clyde gang--even the local sheriff... History and sawmill tokens 1-14-08 "...Buster, 80, who retired from the Lufkin post office in 1990, has been scouring East Texas for the tokens since 1995..." Gospel music 1-2-08 Few things have left as much impact on East Texas history as gospel music... Rudolph the red-nosed pumping unit 12-17-07 If you drive through Lufkin during the holidays, be sure to take notice of one of East Texas’ most unusual Christmas decorations... A unique town story 12-3-07 ... Just how these and other strangely-named communities got their names is a whole slice of East Texas history. For example, take Redwater... Remembering school days 11-19-07 Few things stir the nostalgia of our lives as the days we spent in our schools decades ago... The Mystery of Lady Bountiful 11-5-07 November 22 will mark the 85th anniversary of an East Texas murder that created a still-lingering mystery and put a timber baroness in a pauper’s grave. Out-of-the-way places 10-22-07 A friend once told me his greatest pleasure was driving around East Texas and looking for oddball places seldom found in tourism brochures... Restoring Davy’s Spring 10-8-07 An East Texas landmark remembered by motorists from the last century has been given a long-deserved facelift at Crockett... The Devil’s Triangle 9-17-07 In Texas, as in the rest of the Confederacy, the Reconstruction Era between 1865 and 1877 saw little more than a continuation of the Civil War in a new guise. The Union won the first phase of the war that pitted professional armies against each other between 1861 and 1865, but the South won the second phase that developed into guerrilla warfare... Jim Swink comes home 9-3-07 Jim Swink, the lanky halfback who thrilled high school and Texas Christian University football fans in the 1950s, has returned home to his roots... Fairmount 8-27-07 The only visible reminders of Old Fairmount, an early East Texas community in southern Sabine County, are a well-kept graveyard and a church founded in 1887... Comeback of a cotton gin 8-13-07 At Point, a small town of some 700 souls in northern Rains county, a sturdy old gin has found a new life as an entertainment venue that draws crowds from all over East Texas... Many Places of LaSalle's Murder 7-31-07 The site of La Salle's murder has been a source of unbridled speculation. At least eight communities have made claims as "the place were La Salle was killed."... A Sturdy Pioneer 7-16-07 One of my favorite history addicts is ninety-four-year-old Pearl Weaver Havard... Replying to Readers 7-2-07 Korley’s Kolumns 6-25-07 Some seventy years ago, a self-educated farmer and justice of the peace in Henderson County starting writing letters to the Athens Daily Review. In a few months, Cicero Witt Corley ... Death Superstitions 6-11-07 In early East Texas, death was accompanied by a variety of superstitions, some of which are still respected in the homes of our grandparents. The Chief's Sons 5-28-07 Natchitoches and Nacogdoches Pistol-packing Preacher 5-14-07 On his first morning in Groveton Lee presided at the funeral of a young church member who had been murdered. He soon named criminals from his pulpit and where they gathered... Washington’s East Texas Cousin 4-30-07 Alexander Hamilton Washington, a cousin of George Washington, cut a wide swath through Polk and San Jacinto counties before and after the Civil War... Looking for Hangings 4-16-07 Before the electric chair gave Texas an alternative way of punishing murderers and the like, Texas counties had the local authority to hang criminals... "No Gallows" 4-2-07 The names of some East Texas towns can be downright confusing. And much of the confusion arises from mispronunciations which, during the passage of time, have become actual names. The Emporia Mystery 3-29-07 In the early 1900s, an explosion and fire spread throughout the old Emporia sawmill in south Angelina County. An estimated 30 sawmill workers, most of them black, are believed to have perished in the conflagration... All Those Pleasant Hills 3-07 Could Pleasant Hill be the most popular name for towns in East Texas? With nine communities named Pleasant Hill in the more than 40 counties that constitute East Texas... A Centenarian's Life 2-18-07 "At the age of 106, she has 218 of them--34 grandchildren, 91 great-grandchildren, and 93 great-great grandkids..." Palestine’s Texas Theater 2-4-07 "...Texas Theater, one of the grand old movie houses of East Texas, has been restored and is now a setting for community stage productions..." The Love Boys 1-22-07 For more than fifty years, brothers Olen and Seaby Love have lived on the same plot of land in rural Morris County, living in ways that haven't changed much from the days of their pioneer parents. The Smith Brothers 1-8-07 Four brothers from Delta County lived with an ordinary name in the mid-1800s, but they were far from ordinary... The Circus Fight 12-24-06 "What one historian has called "the most famous circus fight in history" unfolded in 1873 as Robinson's Circus was preparing to leave Jacksonville in East Texas..." The Piney Woods 12-11-06 In view of an economic development group's plan to change the image of the piney woods of East Texas with a new name, perhaps a look at the history of this part of Texas is appropriate... The First County Agent 11-27-06 In the early 1900s, during a time of low crop production and a depressed farm economy in East Texas, Tyler and Smith County pioneered a concept that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year--the county agricultural agent. The Possum Dinner 11-12-06 While most East Texans were planning Thanksgiving dinners in 1929, four old friends in Frankston were sitting down for a meal of possum and sweet potatoes... The first "over water" oil well 10-30-06 In the early l900s, 27-year-old Walter B. Pyron, of Blossom, Texas, a production foreman for Guffy Oil Company, noticed gas bubbles rising from Caddo Lake... The Worst Feud 10-15-06 The deadliest feud happened in East Texas between 1840 and 1844. The Regulator and Moderators War was the first and largest American feud in numbers of participants and fatalities. Jot Em Down 10-2-06 "... From their Jot 'Em Down Store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas, Lum and Abner evolved into one of the nation's most popular radio series. But if you ask old timers in Delta County, Texas, they'll tell you with pride that they remember when the Jot 'Em Down Store was in East Texas..." Granny's Neck 9-18-06 Granny's Neck is one of the oddest names ever given to a piece of East Texas real estate. Also known as Old Granny's Neck and Harper's Crossing, the small community... The War Protest 9-4-06 At the peak of another war ninety years ago, a small East Texas sawmill town made a statement about American soldiers being killed in a distant land. The Burning House 8-21-06 Motorists traveling along U.S. Highway 59 in Polk County are often startled to see what appears to be flames pouring from the windows of old sawmill house... A Moving History 8-7-06 "...Bill Daniel is best remembered by some admirers for one of the strangest events in East Texas--the move of an entire town from Liberty to Waco, a distance of more than 200 miles, in October of 1986 during the Texas sesquicentennial celebration..." The Cutoff and Mistletoe 7-24-06 There is an old Texas saying that goes something like this, "Every time the Legislature meets, keep a close watch on your wallet and your wife." In the case of Trinity County--a lovely East Texas landscape dotted with pine trees and bordered by two rivers--the Legislature grabbed more than the county's wallets and wives... The Hardin Brothers 7-10-06 More than 110 years have passed since East Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin was shot down in an El Paso saloon, but he remains one of the most intriguing badmen in history. Almost lost in Hardin's history are his three brothers, Joe, Jeff and Gip, whose lives were also singed with violence... The 8-F Crowd 6-26-06 Lamar Hotel, Houston "... Often referred to as the "unofficial capital of Texas," Suite 8-F ... was the meeting place for Houston's business leaders from the late 1930s to the 1960s...." Nethery's Store 6-11-06 In hundreds of small towns in East Texas, the general store was the hub of the community--a place where neighbors visited, made purchases of everything they needed, and usually put it on credit. Few, if any, of the old general stores remain today... Tennessee Williams' Texas Director 5-29-06 Without the interest of an East Texas woman, American theater icon Tennessee Williams might still be writing high school plays in a small town. A Personal Hero 5-14-06 "Leon Herman Adickes, 88, ... died recently at Hemphill -- a place where he helped make history by simply doing things to make his community a better place." Fall of the Largest Tree 5-1-06 "The passing of Arthur Temple -- the man some newspapers called the last of the East Texas timber barons -- ended a link with a history reaching back more than a century." The Parker Family 4-17-06 "In the same decade that established Cynthia Ann Parker and her son, Indian Chief Quanah Parker, as living legends, another clan of Parkers wrote their own chapter of history in East Texas..." Three-legged Willie 4-3-06 Robert McAlpin Williamson "The Republic of Texas, which existed only a decade, had its share of interesting characters. But few of them were as colorful as Three Legged Willie, who passed away some 146 years ago..." Three Tragedies 3-20-06 "An intriguing family mystery spanning more than 135 years is told by three tombstones lying behind a rusting iron fence in a small East Texas cemetery..." Why did they call it that? 3-7-06 Don't let anyone tell you that the people who picked names for some of East Texas' earliest communities were not imaginative or lacked a sense of humor. The Runestone 2-19-06 "East Texans willing to take the time to drive about 100 miles into eastern Oklahoma will be rewarded with a centuries-old mystery." Legacy of an Oldtimer 2-5-06 "Alvin Burchfield of Rusk is the kind of oldtimer every historian dreams of interviewing. At 92, he remembers more facts and dates than you'll find in most county history books." Fairmount Cemetery 1-24-06 "Thankfully, more and more East Texas cemeteries are securing state historical markers as community landmarks..." FDR and Nine Acres 1-9-06 "With luck -- and an infusion of funds -- a historic Kilgore home built in the 1930s could be on its way to regaining its stature as one of East Texas’ most interesting homes."