Transcriber's Notes
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THE GILMER MIRROR
AUGUST, 1946
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF
UPSHUR COUNTY
Decorative glyph
BY G. H. BAIRD
God formed a little verdant spot
And filled it with His bounty;
Men come to dwell within its bounds,
And named it “Upshur County.”
About one hundred years ago, the history of Upshur County began.
As one drives over our modern highways, through our towns and villages, and passes the beautiful country homes by the wayside, he can hardly realize the condition of the country one hundred years ago. No towns, no homes, no roads, with this vast expanse of territory occupied by wild animals and a few Indians. The hoot of the owl and the yell of the savage were the only sounds that broke the lonely solitude.
During the period of the Texas republic, a number of emigrants from the older states were induced to settle in Texas, but most of them settled in the southern part of the state near San Antonio or Goliad, while a few settled in East Texas near Nacogdoches.
The Civil War checked the emigration for a while, but after the war closed, Texas was making liberal offers to settlers, and all roads leading to Texas were crowded with emigrants to the Lone Star State. Upshur County, in the eastern part of the state, lay in their path, and was settled at an early date and by a high class of citizens. This part of the state was well watered and timbered, and was well stocked with wild game, so the early settler had little trouble in building his home and procuring food for his family.
Log houses were first built near some bubbling spring where an abundance of pure water could be had. As there were many fine timbers here, the early log cabins soon gave way to larger and better homes. Crude sawmills were soon built which converted this timber into lumber for building purposes.
A few of these old pioneer log houses have been preserved until the present time, monuments of the pioneer days.
The living conditions in Upshur County were very simple in the early days. They had few luxuries and knew nothing of modern conveniences. But they made the best of what they had and were contented and happy. Every home was a miniature manufacturing plant. They made their own clothes and shoes, and, in fact, almost everything else used by the family. The spinning wheel and loom were kept busy in every home. In those days, large families of children were common, and these youngsters were taught to work. Many little girls, five or six years old, prided themselves on their skill in sewing and knitting. The men and boys wore home spun jeans. Little money was possessed by the settlers and little was needed. Home made wagons, with wheels cut from large black gum trees, with wooden spindles, were common in those early days. The wagons were usually drawn by a yoke of oxen and the creaking noise made by the wagon informed the neighbors when someone was going along the road.
Location of Upshur County
Upshur County is situated in the upper East Texas area. It is in almost a perfect square and contains six hundred square miles of territory. Most of Upshur County was formerly occupied by the Caddo Indians but about the year 1800, one tribe of Cherokee Indians migrated to this section and drove all other Indians out. The Cherokees continued to occupy this country until 1839, when General Thomas J. Rusk drove them out of Texas. Upshur County was originally a part of Nacogdoches County, but later, when Harrison County was organized, it was included in that county. By an act of the State Legislature, Upshur County was organized into a separate county on July 13, 1846.
How Upshur County Got Its Nome
Upshur County was named for Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, who was Secretary of War and later Secretary of State, under President John Tyler. Upshur worked faithfully for the annexation of Texas to the United States.
Gilmer, the county seat of Upshur County, was named for Thomas W. Gilmer, who was Secretary of the Navy during the same time. Both of these men were killed by an accidental explosion of a large wrought iron gun on board the steamer Princeton, on the Potomac River, in 1844, shortly before the first bill was introduced in the Legislature to create this county.
Upshur County has an altitude of about 370 feet above sea level. This is an ideal elevation above malaria and other contaminations.
Upshur County is bounded on the north by Camp County, on the northeast by Morris County, on the east by Harrison County, on the southeast by Gregg County, on the south by Smith County, and on the west by Wood County. The Sabine River forms the boundary line on the south between Upshur and Smith Counties.
The surface of Upshur County is considerably rolling with many creeks and spring branches that afford an abundance of stock water the year round. In addition to the many smaller streams, the county has two larger waterways, the Cypress creek in the northern part of the county, and Big Sandy creek in the southwestern part. Many wooded hills, some of which culminate in picturesque little mountains add to the beauty of the county. East Mountain, West Mountain, Pridgeon Mountain, and others are examples.
The Mississippi Divide passes through Upshur County in a northwestern and southeastern direction. All drainage east of this divide flows into the Mississippi River, while that on the west flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Upshur County is located at 32 degrees north latitude, and 94 degrees and 22 minutes west longitude. The average rainfall is 45.1 inches, and the annual temperature is 65 degrees. Upshur County has an average of 44 people to the square mile, while the state’s average is 24.
Upshur has always been an agricultural area. The undulating soils and rich, alluvial bottom lands have been favorable for this industry.
Upshur County has two main railroads crossing the county. The Cotton Belt, running north and south, passing through Gilmer, the county seat, and the Texas & Pacific, running east and west, crossing the Cotton Belt at Big Sandy. The county also has three paved state highways, Highway No. 271, running north and south, passing through Gilmer, and Highway No. 80, running east and west, through the southern part of the county. Highway No. 154 extends to Marshall, starting at an intersection with U. S. No. 271 in Gilmer. Also, the county has other paved roads, and a number of graveled and graded lateral roads over the county. Other state highways are in prospect and will be built as soon as conditions become more settled. The state highways have regular bus service, which give direct connection with all points in the state and other states. Upshur County has a system of rural electrification with a modern plant located at Gilmer.
Upshur County lies partly in the East Texas oil field. The southeastern part of the county has a number of wells, which have caused a wonderful development of the county, and a corresponding increase in its wealth. Lignite, brick clay, and iron ore, are other resources. These are waiting to be developed.
Natural Resources of Upshur County
The soil of Upshur County is of a rich sandy loam. There are many rich creek bottoms on which are grown sugar cane and other crops. The soil is also suited for the growing of many kinds of fruits and vegetables. Many farmers are beginning to go into the livestock business and the county is being changed to a land of dairies and truck farms, and other wide farm diversifications.
The lumber industry is still important in Upshur County. Many small mills are located over the county. During the first few years of the twentieth century, there were nearly one hundred sawmills in Upshur County at one time.
In the early part of 1931, oil was discovered in southeastern Upshur County, and there are over one thousand producing wells in the county now. This industry brought great wealth into the county as well as increased the population by several thousand. The communities of East Mountain and Union Grove have changed from peaceful farming communities to busy oil field villages. Where their schools had from fifty to seventy-five students, and two or three teachers, they now have four or five hundred students and eighteen to twenty teachers.
Iron ore has been found near the surface in different parts of the county. One deposit, near Ore City, contains between 80 and 120 millions of tons of ore. In addition to this one big deposit, there are several smaller ones. When this ore is developed, in the opinion of many, the county’s profit will be greater than the profit from the thousand oil wells now producing, because of the many more men employed and the time necessary to complete the excavation and mining of the ore.
Conditions In Early Upshur County
The early settlers who came to Upshur County, paid very little for the land they acquired. When a person wanted to build, he found a place near a good spring of water. The houses were built of logs, of which there were plenty. There were millions of feet of pine as well as an abundance of hardwood in the county. The logs were squared up with the broad ax and foot adz and notched together. The cracks were covered with boards or chinked with mud and straw.
There were no cook stoves, so everything was cooked over the open fireplace, or outdoors in pots or skillets. Wild game, such as deer, turkey, squirrels, and wild razor-back hogs were plentiful.
Cornbread was universally used, unless the farmer grew his own wheat. This was done quite often, and there was a flour mill known as the Hoover Mill located on Big Sandy creek on the Gilmer-Big Sandy road at the Seago crossing, and operated by water power.
There were few mules and horses in the country and the settlers used oxen almost exclusively. There was no hurry in those days, such as is seen up and down the highways today. Everyone took his time, not expecting to get rich. The roads were only blazed trails or narrow roads used for horseback or ox carts in making trips to town. There was no such thing as a road building machine. The roads were so narrow that when two wagons met, one had to drive out into the weeds while the other passed. There were no bridges across the streams. They were forded or crossed by ferries.
For entertainment, the settlers had house-raisings, log-rollings, square dances, speech-making, patriotic meetings celebrating some holiday, or gathering in some home and listening to some versatile fiddler. No picture shows, no automobile rides, no ball games. But they knew what the word “hospitality” meant. Every home was open to strangers, as they brought news from the outside world. There were no charges for spending the night. Once a year, the head of the house loaded his ox cart with produce and headed for Jefferson to market his goods. Jefferson was at that time one of the largest towns in the state.
First Roads and Trails
The old Cherokee Trace trail made by the Indians from Arkansas to Nacogdoches County was one of the first roads made through Upshur County. It came into the county near Simpsonville and crossed the southern border near East Mountain and forded the Sabine near where Longview’s city water plant stands now. Other early roads were the Red Rock Road which crossed the Sabine at a ferry near Big Sandy, and went east through what is now Gladewater, Longview, and on into Jefferson. Another old road went from Newsom, Camp County, through Coffeeville and on to Jefferson. It was over these roads that the people from North and West Texas went to Jefferson to trade.
When the United States bought Louisiana from France in 1803, a dispute arose between the United States and Spain over the boundary line of new territory north and east of the Sabine River. They made it a “Neutral Ground,” not to be occupied by either country until satisfactory settlement could be made. This “Neutral Ground,” having no laws, was soon overrun by free-booters, desperados, and outlaws. Upshur County was probably occupied by these characters at that time.
In 1824, the Republic of Mexico made a land grant to Hayden Edwards, and Upshur County was included in this grant. Edwards never settled very many people here and the grant was eventually taken from him, but there is a Hayden Edwards Survey in the county now. About the year 1835, the first land grants were made to settlers in this county. After the removal of the Cherokee Indians, in 1839, the country was settled almost over night, and in a few years all the free land was patented.
According to Thrall’s history of Texas, John Cotton was the first white man to settle within the boundary of what is now Upshur, Camp, and Gregg Counties. These three counties were originally united and known as Upshur County. Isaac Moody was the second settler, and about 1838, O. T. Boulware opened a store and trading post on John Cotton’s farm. This was the first business enterprise in the county.
Captain William Hart
Captain William H. Hart moved to this county in 1843. As a land surveyor, the Indians made a deal with him to locate a public highway from Gilmer to Marshall. With his brother-in-law, David Lee, he set out in a one-horse carry-all, blazing the way through the almost trackless woods. They had a tent in which they lived until they could clear ground and build a log house. This was located on the Cherokee Trace about a mile north of the present city limits of Gilmer, on what is now known at the Walter Barnwell farm.
Captain Hart had left the mountains of his native eastern Tennessee to follow his sweetheart, Miss Evaline Kelsey, to Marshall, Texas, where her father, Dr. W. H. Kelsey, was a physician, merchant, and Methodist preacher. So much like his native hills did he find the country, it was easy for him to quickly feel at home and to love his new surroundings.
It was from the Kelsey family that the creek and community west of Gilmer received its name. As more people moved in, the Hart home became headquarters and the meeting place for the new settlers, and it is claimed that for a time, it was used as the county’s courthouse. Here Judge O. M. Roberts, who later became governor of Texas, and District Attorney Dave Arden held court. Among the legal attendants were General Sam Houston and John Reagan. Occasionally, court would be suspended so all could go on a hunt. Leading the chase would be a Mr. Lee, a noted bear hunter.
In 1856, Hart represented his district in the State Legislature. He traveled to Austin on horseback. The legislator’s pay was so small that Mrs. Hart always had to send him money from the farm to pay his expenses at the capital. Hart also served as magistrate, or justice of the peace. Walter Boyd, patriarch of the entire Boyd clan in Gilmer, bought his marriage license from Hart, when he married here. In later years, one of Boyd’s grandsons, J. Walter Marshall, married one of Hart’s granddaughters, Mae Hart.
In November, 1865, the late Rev. W. H. McClelland, and his family, arrived in Upshur County to make his home in the pioneer community. They made the trip from St. Louis to New Orleans by steamboat, and thence to Marshall by train. The family secured a wagon and drove to Upshur County, where the Rev. McClelland settled on a farm seven miles southeast of Gilmer.
The early settlers of Upshur County brought their slaves with them, without whom it would have been almost impossible to do the work of clearing the land, splitting rails for fencing the farms, felling the trees, and building the log houses. All this required a lot of hard, physical labor. The negro slave did his part of this work for which he deserves credit.
Early History
The first deed recorded in Book 1 of Upshur County records is: Britton Smith to Bond J. Bowman, October 2, 1846. Smith sold Bowman 320 acres of land lying on Little Cypress. William Hart was county clerk. The second recorded instrument is Mary Ivey, administratrix, to a bill of sale to Susan Decker:
“Republic of Texas, County of Harrison, know all men by these presents: that I, Mary Ivey, administratrix of the estate of Isah Ivey, deceased, doth by these presents, convey all the rights, title claims and interest that I have to a certain Negro girl, named Nancy, slave for life, unto Susan Decker during her natural life, and then to her bodily heirs forever, and I do bind myself to warrant and defend the right, title and claim of the said Negro unto the said Susan Decker and her heirs from all persons whomsoever.”
In 1846, three-fourths of the records pertained to slaves. Negroes were worth from $300 to $1,000 each. On December 28, 1846, B. M. Hampton mortgaged to A. B. Denton one Negro boy named Grant for $348. The deed made by Mary Ivey was made while Texas was still a republic, and Upshur County was a part of Harrison County, but was not recorded until Upshur became a separate county.
Upshur County had officers from 1846 to 1848, but no record has been found of them. From the register of county officers, pages 223-24, in the archives of the state library, is found the following information:
The first regular election held in Upshur County was on August 7, 1848, and the following men were elected: Thomas D. Brooks, county judge; P. R. Wilson, district clerk; Robert G. Warren, county clerk (Warren held this office until in the sixties); C. G. Patille, sheriff; J. W. Richardson, assessor, and many lesser officers. John McNairy, of Upshur County, was elected state representative.
Judge Mills, candidate for governor, spoke at Gilmer, Saturday, August 4, 1849. Election returns from Gilmer precinct in the governor’s race, 1849, gave Weed 98 votes, Mills 27, and Bell 2. Bell was elected. Upshur County had 306 poll tax receipts in 1849 compared to 4,200 in 1946. Cotton was worth 9-cents to 9½-cents per pound. Mail to Gilmer via Marshall arrived every Sunday at 6 p.m., and departed every Friday at 6 a.m.
Upshur County’s Courthouse
As people come and go to and from the courthouse daily, how often officers hear compliments on the beautiful, well constructed building, the Upshur County courthouse, and how much we should appreciate the spacious offices with their modern equipment! How much more those facts become realistic to us when we talk to some pioneer or read some historical record of the first courthouse; and others that were built later!
According to information gathered from the oldest citizens, and from earlier records, Upshur County did not have a courthouse when the county was first organized in 1845. Court was held under an oak tree a mile north of Gilmer on the Cherokee Trace. The first case tried in the “open air” court was that of John Craig for “assault and battery.” This was during the spring term of 1846. When court met again the following fall, 1846, an order was granted by O. M. Roberts, first assistant judge, appointing the residence of William H. Hart, first county clerk, as the place where court was to be held in Upshur County until the seat of the county could be “carefully located.”
There was no district clerk at that time, so the governor of Texas appointed Elias L. Bishop as temporary district clerk. A few years later a small, one-room log cabin was built out on the Cherokee Trace which served as a meeting place for the officials. Just how long this cabin was used for this purpose there is no record. When the court met April 4, 1871, it granted an order allowing J. P. Ford $500 to pay for a courthouse. By October 30, 1872, a wooden building was erected on a selected spot where the present courthouse now stands. This building boasted a waterproof roof and a cupola supported by four large columns. The several offices were heated by fire places. Many of the prominent lawyers and citizens sat around these fire places spinning fabulous yarns and discussing plans for a better future.
Five years later, in 1877, improvements were made about the grounds around the courthouse. A wooden fence was built by W. A. Roberts to enclose the courtyard. A well was dug, which supplied water, not only for the public in general but for water troughs placed near the hitching posts. No cattle or hogs were allowed in the courtyard. This building stood for eleven years, and on the night of October 25, 1888, it was destroyed by fire, together with all records and papers, with the exception of a few that were placed in the fire-proof vault by the county clerk, S. P. McNair. This vault had been installed a few months before the fire. T. C. Mitchell was tax assessor-collector then.
While plans were being made for the erection of a new building, the county rented the opera building from Walter Boyd. This place was located near the site of the J. M. Still residence. The Tilman House, then one of the modern hotels, was also rented for extra space. On January 25, 1899, plans and specifications were accepted, and according to contract with Wilson Brothers, a new building was constructed of choice brick. The officials had the best material to go into the construction of the new building. They stuck to the old system of heating by means of fire places. The floors were covered with sawdust to protect them from rough boots, spurs, and tobacco juice, as well as to cut down on cleaning expenses. It had a tin roof, with lightning rods on all sides. A decorative iron fence was placed around the courtyard.
Schools of Upshur County
In the early days of Upshur County, there were no public free schools. Schools were private, and were supported by private tuition or by private donations. Back in the days of the Texas Republic, when Lamar was president, in 1839, a law was passed setting aside three leagues of land for each county for the establishment of primary schools and academies. The next year, 1840, another league was added. If there was not enough good vacant land in the county for this purpose, the survey was to be made from public lands elsewhere. Upshur County’s school land lies in Baylor and Throckmorton counties. It has never been sold and now yields a considerable income to the schools from rents and leases.
Upshur County has had from its earliest days some good schools located in different parts of the county. There was the Murry Institute, located somewhere about where Ore City now stands. It was a school of considerable note and was doing excellent work when the Civil War broke out. The Rev. J. J. Clark was founder and manager of the school.
Murry League got its name from William Murry who was the original grantee in a very early day. The Rev. Joshua Clark and his family and William L. Coppedge and his family moved to Texas from Haywood County, Tennessee, in wagons, in the fall of 1853, and settled at Murry League and together with others, began the erection of a large frame school building which received the name of Murry Institute. This school soon became the largest and most prominent school in the county, sending out many young men and women of various callings to make their mark in the world. The Rev. Clark was the head of the school, and some of the first teachers were Virgil M. DuBose, William L. Coppedge, W. B. Baley, and a number of other teachers of wide reputation. Later, some of the teachers were H. M. Mathis, R. G. Hersley, D. LeLand, Mrs. Eva Mash, J. A. Coppedge, James S. Palmer and others.
The Civil War broke into the progress of this school. Many of the young men quit school to join the army and the school never gained back all that was lost by the war.
School was held in the old building until it grew too large for the building, then the Methodist Church was used. Clark, the founder and first principal, was perhaps one of the greatest teachers that ever lived in Texas. He was said to be a man of strong character, and had the ability to raise money, even in the backwoods, to carry on a great school.
There were other noted schools organized in Upshur County that were maintained for a while, but went down on account of the Civil War and other causes. It was almost impossible to finance a school back in those days. There were founded, in Gilmer, the Gilmer Masonic Female Institute, Gilmer Female Academy, which was supported by the Methodist Church, and Gilmer Male Academy, also supported by the church. Then there was the Looney School at Gilmer.
Located near Simpsonville was the Leroy Institute, founded and taught by Professor Leroy. This was a noted school for a few years, and did some valuable work.
Some Facts About Murry League
A letter from the late Virgil DuBose, who lived at Palestine, to D. T. Loyd, details more on the Murry League story:
“As a whole, the men of Murry League (near Ore City) were active and quite above the ordinary, and their wives were energetic, thrifty, good-looking, and all had a superior education. About all these families had was a house full of children whom they reared to work and at the same time gave them a good education.
“Among the citizens that lived at the League about the year 1857, and years later, as I remember, were: Rev. Joshua Clark; his brother, Uncle Billy Clark; my father, Prof. Virgil M. DuBose; Capt. Coppedge, Rev. J. T. P. Irvine, who fought in the battle of San Jacinto; Harvey Armstrong, the Grans, Mr. Willeford, father of W. L., Billy and C. W. Willeford, of Mings Chapel; and the Nashes, the Crossleys, the Weatherds, the Emmetts, the Coveys, the Hambrights, the Bullocks, and others I fail to remember.
“Rev. Palmer and Rev. Irvine were traveling preachers of the M. E. Church South, called in their parlance, (circuit riders). Rev. J. Clark ran the league school for many years prior to 1857, and that year he offered my father, Prof. Virgil M. DuBose, a job as co-principal and it was accepted. My father was a graduate of Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, having attended that school four years—1832-1836.
“When we moved to the League in 1857, I was a very small boy learning my abs, ebs, ibs, obs, but I soon got to the back of Webster’s old Blue Back Speller and could rattle off the four pages of synonyms in the back of the book without any trouble. I have since those days observed many schools and institutions of learning but I have never seen such emulation and desire for learning evinced among pupils as I saw in those days at the old Murry League School. They were all bright talented young men and women, and the school grew and kept growing.
“All the advanced students not only became proficient Greek and Latin scholars, but went on up into higher mathematics as applied to mechanics, astronomy, and civil engineering. These are my memories of those days;—though I was but a kid, I saw how it was. They were great days for a boy.
“But for months prior to 1861, the muttering storm in the distance was heard! I saw it all. The people of the New England states went mad. The people of the South went mad! The war between the states was on, and by May, 1861, all the young men attending the school went to the war. This broke up the school and Murry Institute became a memory—a thing that was, but is not! My father carried on the local school during the four years of the war. Along 1862-3, many planters came in from Arkansas as refugees, fleeing from the Yankee soldiers when they invaded that state, bringing their slaves with them. This made quite an addition to the League, for they were educated, refined people, and their children attended my father’s school.
“Capt. Coppedge, a most noble and brave man, went at once into the war with Lee and Jackson’s armies. He came back on a furlough in 1863, went back, but never returned. Died or was killed in battle!”
The Masonic Female Institute
The first session of the Gilmer Masonic Female Institute, under the supervision of Mrs. L. W. Montgomery, closed on Friday, May 4, 1852, after a thorough and rigid examination of the pupils on the various branches, to-wit: orthography, reading, arithmetic, geography, ancient and modern history, botany, philosophy, astronomy, and rhetoric, in all of which they acquitted themselves with a great deal of honor, to the satisfaction of parents and the spectators present.
The articulation and pronunciation could not be better. The deportment of the young ladies was sufficient evidence of the excellent discipline in the school room. There were forty pupils at the close. The second session of the Institute was to open on the first Monday in July, 1852, as announced by the trustees, P. C. Halenquist, J. M. Glasco, B. N. Hampton, Thomas D. Brooks, and William Ward, but we have no further record of the school after this.
The Gilmer Female College was given a charter by the Texas Legislature, and the first session opened in September, 1854, and closed on the last Thursday in January, 1855. Tuition for spelling, reading, and writing was ten dollars for the term; and for geography, grammar, history, arithmetic, and botany was $12.50 per term. Tuition for arithmetic, botany, history, composition, natural philosophy, physiology, English analysis, chemistry, mythology, astronomy, and Butler’s analogy, was $15.00 per term. Music on the piano was $20.00. The faculty was Rev. W. S. Stovall, Mrs. Martha W. Weatherd, and Miss Margaret Weatherd. A boarding house was built near the school for the convenience of the pupils and teachers. E. C. Williams was secretary of the Board of Trustees. The Rev. Mr. Stovall soon left Gilmer and Mrs. Weatherd taught several years, assisted by her daughter and Miss M. E. Beavers. Miss Harriett M. Patilla taught music. This school closed after its fourth session. Mrs. Weatherd was very popular in Gilmer, but her husband was very unpopular, so she resigned and went to her home in Daingerfield. In 1857, Mr. Burkes began teaching in the Gilmer Female College and continued for several sessions. He was an Irishman, said to have graduated from Dublin University in Ireland. He came from Louisiana to Gilmer. His assistants from 1857 to 1861, were his son-in-law, Mr. Wiley, and his wife. J. B. Norman taught music. He organized in the school one of the best bands in Texas at that time. He led a band through the Civil War.
The Looney School
The old building formerly used by the above mentioned school was rented in 1861 by Morgan H. Looney, and the school from that time till 1871 was know as Looney’s School.
In 1863, the old building burned and Mr. Looney took up temporary quarters in a building located near where the ward school building now stands. This building continued to be used until 1866 when a new building was erected where the old building stood. The new building was an imposing structure, for its day, it being a two-story frame building with two stairways on the outside, six large rooms down stairs, a large auditorium up stairs and four large fireplaces. Blackboards were painted on the walls. There were two doors on the west side, and a partition wall extending from a point between the doors to the platform, which was rather elevated and was located against the outside wall. The girls filed in at one door and occupied the room on one side of the partition, while the boys came in at the other door and occupied the other side of the room. Mr. Looney sat on the platform at a point which enabled him to see what was going on on both sides of the platform. This arrangement was in keeping with the idea of that day, that the success of a school is measured in terms of sex segregation. Measured by this rule, the Looney School was a most successful institution. In the four corners of the large room were smaller rooms for recitation. The building was 60-feet by 90-feet.
One factor which entered largely into the success of the school was the ability of the president to secure and hold competent teachers. Among these were J. L. Covin, who resigned soon after coming to Gilmer and left for the Army as first lieutenant of Company B, Seventy Texas; Miss Achsa Culberson, a cousin to Charles Culberson; W. A. Hart, afterwards county attorney of Wood County, and for years a resident of Gilmer; M. L. Looney, a brother of the principal, who married Miss Culberson, and died some years later in Atlanta, Texas; O. M. Roberts, afterwards governor of Texas, who taught law and bookkeeping for a long time in the institute; J. C. Reagan, who taught French and Spanish for several sessions, and who was a gentleman of high scholarship and attractive personality; and J. B. Norman, teacher of music, the one previously referred to as leading a band through the war.
After the war, he came back to Gilmer and spent many more years directing the musical talent of the school and community.
The second reason for the successful operation of the school was Mr. Looney’s ability as a disciplinarian. Flappers of those days went elsewhere than to Looney’s school to flap. He had a rule governing almost every conceivable human activity, and both students and teachers were required to memorize these rules and review them at frequent intervals. Scanning the rules we find:
That school began at 8 o’clock and closed at 6 o’clock, and that all students were to start to school at a certain time, and on entering the building, should pass immediately to their places in the large auditorium. All pupils were required to attend Sunday School and Church every Sunday, no one being excused except for sickness. Swearing, gambling, dancing, drinking, and horse-racing were forbidden.
When the rules were suspended and the young men were allowed to call on the young ladies, the ringing of a bell warned him when it was time to bid her good evening and return to his room. In fact, supervision of student life extended to the homes and boarding houses of students and included every detail. Students boarded in the homes of the town, and such a thing as shielding pupils when they broke the rules was never known. There was absolute co-operation on this point. Mr. Looney was a splendid orator, and his lectures on obedience and similar topics had a wonderful effect on the student body.
The Pritchett School
Forty-four years ago, Albert, R. W., and J. P. Maberry, with the help of W. W. Sanders and Ben F. Williams as backers, erected the first school house in the little community of Pritchett. Prior to this time the children of the community attended a school at old Pleasant Hill, which had been an important school center for perhaps half a century. This community had long been above an average in school activities and educational endeavor.
In the early fall of 1901, Mr. Sanders opened what was known as the Pritchett Preparatory Institute, a school which, in addition to the regular public school courses of that day, had also a thorough teachers’ training course that prepared students for regular county and state examinations for teacher’s certificates. These classes grew rapidly in interest and in number. Within the course of a few years, new homes were built around the campus and industrious families moved into this prosperous little town to educate their children.
Student boarding houses were built and a number of families made their living and educated their children by keeping boarders. The people took great interest in school affairs and cooperated with the school authorities in a wonderful way. Board and rooms were furnished at the same price to all students. A very reasonable rate was charged which was agreed upon by the school authorities and the operators of the boarding houses. The teachers made the rules for all boarding houses, and their rules were uniform and reasonable, and strictly followed. While there were few boarders for the first year or two the number soon grew to more than a hundred each year. Students were from Upshur and all the surrounding counties, some coming from as far away as the Panhandle of Texas. Mr. Sanders remained with the school as principal and owner for about four years. He sold his interest to F. M. Mathis, who continued the school on the same basis until 1906, when W. A. McIntosh became a partner with Mathis. The school continued under the ownership and joint supervision of Maberry and Mathis and McIntosh until 1915, when the property was sold to the Pritchett school district and became a regular public school. Mr. Sanders bought an interest in 1902.
A number of prominent school men and women, other than the owners were associated with the school during the fifteen years of its activity—first as the Pritchett Preparatory Institute and later as the Pritchett Normal Institute—among whom were
Ben F. Williams, J. V. Dean, A. J. Sanders, J. L. Boyd, B. B. Elder, J. R. Melvin, Mrs. W. P. Ducan, Mrs. Ola Mathis, Mrs. Maude Palmers, and others.
A new and larger building was erected in 1908, when the old building was remodeled for a students’ dormitory in charge of Mr. Mathis and his wife. After the erection of the new building, the name of the school was changed to the Pritchett Normal Institute, to better indicate the nature of the work pursued. Large classes were organized each year in state-required subjects leading up to second grade and first grade teachers’ certificates. The courses were thorough and few Pritchett students failed to receive certificates on state and county examinations.
Social activities formed an important phase of the student life. On certain occasions boys and girls were permitted to keep company with each other, and these occasions were looked forward to by most of the students with great pleasure. Many close friendships, formed in this school, have extended through the years. Now, over a quarter of a century since the Pritchett Normal Institute closed its doors and left to the public schools the education of the youth of this and surrounding communities, the influence of this school is still evident in the lives of those men and women who were inspired there to strive for greater accomplishments. In all walks of life there are men and women who began their careers in this now defunct institution.
Other Schools
In later years there was a number of excellent schools founded in Upshur County that did valuable work and had a great influence upon the character of the young men and young women of their day.
Sometime in the 1880’s, T. J. Allison established an important school at Pleasant Hill. He erected a two-story building and had boarding pupils from various parts of the county. This school was kept up for several years when T. J. Allison sold out to the local community and entered the medical profession. J. M. Perdue conducted a school at West Mountain of considerable note. He was a great teacher and exerted a wonderful influence over his pupils. In the fall of 1889, the citizens of Shady Grove erected a school building, organized a Board of Directors, and established a high school to run eight months in the year. This school also had a number of boarding pupils from this and other counties. This school had a great influence upon the community and was instrumental in bringing in a number of fine citizens.
The Rev. W. H. McClelland Sr. built and maintained a good school at Glenwood in the early 70’s. He kept a few boarding pupils. This school was destroyed by fire on the night of December 14, 1876. It was never rebuilt.
Progress In The Country Schools
Many of the older citizens can remember when Gilmer was not the beautiful little city that it now is. They can remember when the streets and public square were sand beds when it was dry, and mud puddles when it rained.
They can also remember when the public schools were not what they are today. No phase of the county institutions has felt the effect of the magic wand more than the county schools. The school children of today know nothing of the inconveniences of forty or fifty years ago. They now have comfortable school buildings, supplied with desks, maps, libraries, and free text books. They are carried to school in comfortable busses, and many are served with hot lunches at noon. How different was the conditions back in the 1880’s and 1890’s.
At that time, the country school houses, as a rule, were very unattractive and uncomfortable. The pupils were required to sit on long, hard benches and do their sums on a slate. They had no libraries and each child had to furnish his own books. There was no uniformity of the text books, which worked a considerable inconvenience to the teachers. Webster’s Blue Back Speller was almost universally used, however, and a pupil’s grade was estimated by the page he had reached in this book. The schools had no playground equipment, and the boys and girls were required to have separate playgrounds. It was not uncommon to find a bundle of switches lying on the teacher’s desk, and the teacher that did the most whipping was considered the best teacher.
One patron once remarked: “We shore got a good teacher this year. He whips them, comin’ and goin’!” The little one-room school buildings were heated by an old box heater, located in the center of the room, around which the shivering children crowded. The boys had to bring the wood for the heater from the near-by forest. We can understand why the boys were not crazy about school. Back then we had no County School Superintendent nor County Board of Education. The county school affairs were managed by the county judge, who was ex-officio school superintendent. The county was not divided into districts, but you could have a school anywhere you could get a bunch of children together and a shack to teach them in. Schools were not graded or classified and a teacher was allowed to teach anything in the curriculum, regardless of the grade certificate he had.
The school term was from three to six months in the year, and was usually divided into the winter and summer terms. About thirty-five years ago, Upshur County had its first county superintendent, Mr. A. F. Shepperd, and since that time, the schools have come into their own. Today, visitors are proudly permitted to inspect the schools. Upshur County compares very favorably with other counties of the state in its educational facilities. The stranger, driving across the county, is struck with the beauty and size of some of the school plants with modern brick buildings and attractive grounds.
The county has 18 white schools, all of which are accredited; nine high schools, affiliated with the state university; 143 white teachers, most of whom hold bachelor’s degrees, while some hold master’s degrees; 14 colored schools, with 71 teachers. The colored people have three high schools and eight accredited elementary schools.
County Board of Education
Upshur County at present has a fine school system, a live county superintendent, and an interested County Board of Education, which meets regularly in the county superintendent’s office. This board is composed of some of the leading school men of the county. They organize and adopt policies to be followed in the schools in the county under the guidance of the county superintendent; classify all the schools of the county, designate receiving schools for students whose grades are not taught in their home school; arrange a transportation set-up for all students in the county living more than two and one-half miles from the home school, and for students attending various high schools; appoint local trustees where vacancies exist; pass on all sales of school properties; hear all appeals on questions or controversies appealed from the county superintendent’s decision; advise and counsel with the county superintendent on all school problems; and pass on all transfers protested by local trustees.
Indians
One hundred years ago, there were only three white families living in Upshur County. John Cotton was the first settler and he settled somewhere on Lily Creek in 1835. In 1836, Isaac Moody settled somewhere near West Mountain, on the old Cherokee Trace and in 1838, O. T. Boulware settled near John Cotton where he established a trading post where he could trade with the Cherokee Indians.
The Caddo Indians were the original Indians of East Texas, but in 1820, the Cherokee Indians were expelled from Alabama and one tribe of them settled in East Texas. They were perhaps the most enlightened Indians living in the United States, having a highly developed tribal government, an alphabet, a rude literature, and some knowledge of property rights. These Indians never got permission from the Mexican government to settle in Texas, but did get a treaty from the Texas government, during the presidency of Sam Houston, giving them the right to their lands in East Texas. From 1820, to June and July, 1830, you may think of this vast section of East Texas extending from near Clarksville in Red River County to Nacogdoches as almost a complete wilderness, occupied, except for a squatter here and there, only by Indians and wild animals. As long as Houston was president of Texas, he kept the Indians quiet, as he had once been a member of their tribe. But in January, 1839, Lamar became president of Texas, and like most politicians, his policies were opposite to Houston’s. He started a movement to move the Indians out of East Texas. Lamar was partly justified in this, however, as the Indians were being agitated by hired Mexicans to make raids on the whites. Also, the people in the surrounding counties wanted the land occupied by the Cherokees. In June, 1839, a Mr. Lacy and John H. Reagan came to East Texas to notify the Cherokees that on account of their frequent raids upon the whites, and their continued intrigues with the Mexican agents, they must leave East Texas and go back to the United States. John H. Reagan wrote:
“When we reached the residence of Chief Bowls, he invited us to a fine spring near his house where we were seated, and Lamar’s message was read to him.”
Legend tells us that there was an Indian village where Gilmer now stands, and how do we know that they were not at the spring in Roosevelt Park? Chief Bowls told Lacy and Reagan that they would not move without war, so General Rusk, Albert Sydney Johnson, and others were sent against them. They met the Indians on the Neches River in a two-day battle. Chief Bowls, who was then 83 years old, remained on the field of battle, on horseback, wearing a handsome sword and sash which had been given to him by President Houston. He was killed, but the Indians continued fighting and retreating up the Cherokee Trace, until they got to the swamps of Little Cypress bottom where they scattered and made their ways individually or in small groups into Oklahoma.
Negroes of Upshur County
When the first settlers came to Upshur County, over a hundred years ago, they brought their Negro slaves with them, and they have been here ever since.
It would have been almost impossible to develop the country, clear the ground, build the log houses, and perform the other hard, physical labor incident to a new country. After they were set free, most of them remained with their former masters or somewhere nearby. They have made wonderful advancements in their educational and moral status and are generally recognized as law-abiding citizens. There are Negroes in all parts of the county, but the greatest colored population is in the eastern part of the county. They have a number of good schools in the county, with three fully accredited high schools with from ten to fifteen teachers. Ernest Ford, Thomas J. Downs, and F. R. Pierson, principals of these high schools, hold degrees from state institutions, and are recognized as leading educators. They have, in all, fourteen schools in the county with 71 teachers.
The Negroes and whites of Upshur County have always worked together in harmony, and we predict that they always will.
Hidden Treasures
After Texas had gained her independence, Mexico had hopes of recapturing Texas, but they did not attempt, openly, to reconquer the infant republic at that time. The Mexicans endeavored to keep the Indians in a turmoil all the time, as they would give the Texans trouble. The story goes that the Mexican agents with plenty of gold and silver came to Texas to try to get the Indians to revolt against Texas.
The Cherokee Indians were a powerful tribe and highly civilized. Many of them lived right here in Upshur County and other parts of East Texas. These agents succeeded in stirring up the Indians to hostility by promising them plenty of money and land when the whites were driven out of the country. President Lamar sent General Rusk and Albert Sydney Johnson against them and defeated them on the Neches River. Chief Bowls was killed in the battle. The Indians began to retreat toward Oklahoma and had to pass through Upshur County. When they got to Little Cypress bottom, they scattered into the swamps and underbrush of the creek. The Mexican agents with most of their money still with them, feared they would be captured, therefore when they came to a deep hole of water in Cypress Creek, they threw all the money they had into this hole of water. This gold and silver was heavy and impeded their progress, and also they did not want the Texans to get this money, should they be captured. It is supposed that today, lying peacefully in the bottom of Little Cypress, somewhere, is a large amount of gold and silver. Word got around, finally, that the Mexicans had thrown the money into the Cypress, so several years after, two Irishmen, who had fought the Indians, came in and during one dry summer set up two boilers at different holes along the Cypress and pumped all the water out, but, as the story goes, never found any money.
Gilmer
No story of Upshur County is complete unless there is woven into it, the establishment and building of Gilmer, nor is the story of Gilmer complete unless it presents, likewise, a picture of Upshur County, for upon the development of the county has the growth of Gilmer depended—a growth that in the early days was slow and uncertain, but in the last few years has been rather phenominal.
At 4:50 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, May 7, 1931, the Mudge Oil Company brought in the J. D. Richardson well at East Mountain for an estimated production of 30,000 barrels of oil per day. It shocked this county from an easy going corn and cotton farming area to the prospects of great wealth. It meant that over night, people flocked to the county, and eventually to the county seat by the thousands. They came to buy, and they came to sell oil leases and royalty.
Town site lots for business houses were scarce. The county’s assessed valuation jumped from about $8,000,000 to over $25,000,000, and as a result, the county, long burdened with debts, accumulated during many long past lean years, again could issue script that was accepted at fact value anywhere. The old obligations were wiped off, and a beautiful concrete, steel and brick courthouse was built and furnished at a cost of $200,000 and every penny of it was paid in cash!
But despite the wealth that oil has brought, Upshur County people have still maintained the same old spirit of neighborliness toward each other, the same old friendships, and informalities remain, and so we are sure they always will.
Location of Gilmer
The town of Gilmer of today is about two miles south of the spot where the city was first located. A century ago it was two miles north, on the Cherokee Trace, and the occasional district court was held in the home of Captain William Hart. We find that the first court trial was in 1837. There was no public building, so court was held either in the Hart home, or if the weather permitted, under a large oak tree, that until a few years ago, was still standing.
Then Gilmer was, for the most part, a swampy waste, with a few houses dotting both sides of Cypress Creek. The location was most unfavorable as the creek often rose so high that the town was threatened with disaster. So the settlers decided they would move some distance either to the north or to the south of this location. There seemed to be a considerable sectional feeling among the settlers, however, and every one on the north side of the creek wanted the town to go north, while those on the south side wanted it to go south. The location was finally left to a vote. The night before the day for the election, so it is told, a heavy rain storm came up, and the creek rose to such a height that a number of those on the north side could not cross the creek to vote, and the voting place was located on the south side. So it was decided to move Gilmer to the south.
The legislature of 1849 appointed three of the board of the county commissioners of Upshur County to select the site for Gilmer, the county seat. They were Benjamin Fuller, M. M. Robertson, and Benjamin Gage. The committee selected the present site and bought the land from Mathew Cartwright, who made the deed to the commissioners as is recorded in Volume A, Book 1, of the Upshur County records. T. D. Brooks was the first county judge of Upshur County, and the first deed recorded in the sale of town lots of Gilmer, was to Augustus Walker for lots 1 and 2 from James H. Hunt. It was dated March 1, 1851. The home of Benjamin Gage, one of the first commissioners, was on White Oak Creek, north of the Gilmer and Big Sandy road, and is still standing, although built near a hundred years ago. The house is now occupied by Alton Gage, a grandson of Benjamin Gage, and bids fair to last another hundred years. It is reported that Mr. Gage paid a man one hundred dollars to build this house for him. It is said that the nearest neighbor when he settled here was nine miles away.
Gilmer was moved to its present location in 1848, and began a rapid growth. Eighteen years later, it was incorporated into a town with Alias Oden as first mayor. He named the boundaries of the town as follows: As far north as the termination of Trinity street; west to its present limits, just beyond Oak Lawn Sanitarium: South to what is now Warren Avenue, and east, one block from the square. The area of the town was almost as large as it is at present with fewer inhabitants. The incorporation charter died after a few years, but in 1894 the town was re-incorporated with Jim Bussy as mayor, and new boundaries were set up which remain the same to this day.
When Gilmer was moved to its present site, it had to be built from the very beginning. The land had to be cleared and lumber prepared for the building of houses, usually from logs from trees cleared away from the new town. It was a wild country they had to open up and make safe for living, since in 1849 it is reported that bears came from the nearby woods and ate food from the back doors, and deer and turkey and other game could be killed in the clearing of the town square. Many residents, now not so old, can still remember a great ditch, carrying a stream from the old Indian camp (Roosevelt Park) almost to the square. And it was not until Judge T. H. Briggs’ first term of office as mayor that a great gully ran diagonally across the square from the southeast to the northwest corner.
So Gilmer and Upshur County have had to change with the changing times. First the pioneer and the sawmiller, then the cotton farmer, then oil, now yams and a greater diversification than was ever known.
Early Officers of Upshur County
Elected in 1850: Chief Justice, Judge G. C. Patille; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Sheriff, Oba Roberts; County Treasurer, Jesse Tinder; Assessor-Collector, C. D. Halbert; Surveyor, Jesse Glasco.
Elected in 1852: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton; District Clerk, A. H. Abney; County Treasurer, D. F. Brancroft; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco.
Elected in 1854: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.
Elected in 1856: Judge, J. M. Simpson; Sheriff, Alexander Earp; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.
Elected in 1858: (Same as in 1856).
Elected in 1860: Judge, J. M. Simpson; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Surveyor, W. W. Corrie; Assessor-Collector, James R. White; Sheriff, Leander J. Daniel.
Mr. R. G. (Gus) Warren, who was the father of the late Judge Jim Warren, served Upshur County as county clerk, longer than any other man ever served as county officer in this county. Many of the other men mentioned above have relatives here yet. In 1857 there were about 2,300 Negro slaves in Upshur County and they were valued at $1,130,960.00, that is, they were worth about $500 each. A Negro between the ages of 18 and 25 sometimes brought from $1,000 to $1,500. Negro girls were worth more than boys. They were bought and sold more often than boys. The girls were bought more as wives than the boys were for husbands. The country was new and was being settled rapidly and slaves were hard to get and were therefore very valuable.
At the same time, there were only 465 poll taxes paid in the county, which shows that the slaves probably outnumbered the whites. Money on deposit then was $22,275.00. How does that compare with three or four million at the present time? They did not have automobiles then, and did not need much money.
Postoffices in Upshur County in 1857 were at Coffeeville, Earpville, Gilmer, Calloway, Hopewell, Pinetree, Pittsburg and Red Rock.
Some Early Settlers of Gilmer
W. Boyd and A. B. Denton, brothers-in-law, came to Texas in 1840. They first settled down near the Sabine River, but later moved to a location on Hoover Spring Branch about ten miles south of Gilmer. Sometime during the Civil War they moved to the little town of Gilmer. Mr. Boyd put in a beer and pool hall somewhere about the southeast corner of the present square. This is where Mr. Boyd got his start in business. His business grew with the town, however, and he became one of the leading business men of Gilmer, and remained in business till his death. Mr. Denton also played an important part in the development of Gilmer and Upshur County. Mrs. Fannie E. Mitchell, a widow, Tom Mitchell’s mother, came to Upshur County from Alabama in 1866 and settled in Gilmer. Her father, J. B. Norman, was already here teaching music, and she came to assist him in this work.
John Peteet, John Buchanon, Will and Lafayette Camp, were all old settlers in Gilmer and had great influence in shaping the affairs of Gilmer at that time. O. M. Roberts, who afterwards became “Pay-as-you-go” Governor of Texas, conducted a law school at Gilmer after the close of the Civil War. Drs. George and Henry Ford were popular physicians in Gilmer and Upshur County back in the 1860’s and 70’s. Gus Warren, father of the late Judge Jim Warren, served Upshur County for a number of years as county clerk. A. B. Boren was an influential lawyer back in the early days of Gilmer and had a large legal practice. Jim Derrick was another oldtimer and served the county for a long time as district clerk. Judge Lyons was one of the early county judges. He was running a newspaper in Gilmer when he was killed by a man named Ashley. Elias Oden, father of Marsh Oden, settled in Gilmer at an early date. A man by the name of Montgomery settled on Montgomery street. The street was named for him.
Later we have the Chandlers, Marshalls, Buies, Douphrates, Hoggs, Croleys, Crosbys, Stephens’, and many other family names that are connected with the life of Gilmer.
Streets in Gilmer Named
The town of Gilmer had no set rule or pattern in naming its streets, but as the town grew and what had been an opening between a few rough-boarded houses, became a street, the name followed later on, and indicated the character or location of the street. For example: Titus street was the road northward to Mount Pleasant and Titus County. Marshall street merged into the road to Marshall. Tyler street was so named because it connected with Montgomery street and thence to the Big Sandy road. The first route to Tyler was through Big Sandy, and it is still possible to reach Tyler by that route.
The principal residence street of the town, Montgomery, was named for one of the village’s early citizens that lived on that street where Dr. Madison Ragland’s new residence is located. Cass and Kaufman streets were evidently inspired from the same source that gave two Texas counties the same names. Bledsoe street was named for the Bledsoe family, who still live on this thoroughfare. Harrison street undoubtedly got its name from the Harrison family. Mrs. J. R. Warren of Tyler, named Warren avenue. She was instrumental in getting the street opened, and built her large home at the intersection of Warren and Trinity. It was sold to T. H. Glesen and is now Frank L. Futrell’s home. Mrs. Warren also built several other houses on this street.
“Silver Alley” in the downtown section, leading from the square to the city hall, may have had another name, but no one can remember it. This cognomen came from a bunch of town wags. The Gilmer Mirror was at one time located on the corner of Silver Alley and Harrison street. Mr. Holmes was editor at that time and he would always come up this alleyway to the square. His opening remarks, when he was collecting, were invariably, “Can you let me have a little silver today?” He probably remembered the paper money of Civil War days and his preference for “hard money” inspired the wags to call the street “Silver Alley.”
Trinity street is one of the main thoroughfares of the town, but no one knows why it was so named. In the Pecan Grove residence section, most street names were given by Mr. T. C. Mitchell, who once farmed and later subdivided this addition. Pecan street is very evidently named for the many pecan trees on it. Walnut street was so named because of the large walnut trees along Mr. Mitchell’s home property. Mitchell street was for the family name, and Mary street for the late Mrs. Mitchell, his wife.
One of the most picturesque names, no longer belonging to a street, but to a country road, is that of the “Cherokee Trace.” This road was probably the first road ever made through Upshur County from the north. It was the trail followed by the Indians in getting to the old fort at Nacogdoches. Later it became a wagon road. Now the Trace loses its name and identity at Walnut street, but in olden days it wound on down to the spring in the present Roosevelt Park. This spring was the site of a camping ground and from there the Trace went southward. During the Texas Centennial year, 1936, a marker was placed at the old camping ground in the park. The first Upshur County court was held on the Cherokee Trace before the present courthouse location was made. The country road that still bears that name is still one of Upshur County’s most picturesque and level rural roads.
The latest street to be named is that leading from the First National Bank to the Bell Hotel. Until it was paved, about five or six years ago, it was a nameless alley. Then, in honor of Mayor Horace V. Davis, who had been instrumental in bringing about Gilmer’s biggest paving program, it was named Davis street.
Gilmer’s Water Supply
Up to 1903, Gilmer’s water supply was obtained from shallow wells. Each household maintained a shallow well on its premises from which water for all purposes was supplied. In the business district there were three shallow wells that supplied water for the streets and for the public. One was located on the courthouse square, one on Henderson street near the entrance of Croley Brothers, and one on the west side of the square just off the sidewalk. This well proved to be a popular resort, as it was shaded in the afternoon, and was near the sidewalk. The men would sit on the edge of the sidewalk and whittle in the afternoons, getting their material to whittle on from a nearby grocery store. When the supply gave out, they would stand up and whittle on the well curb. Some of these men became expert whittlers. In a few years the city put in waterworks and these shallow wells were filled up.
Livery Stables
In 1903, livery stables were doing a thriving business in Gilmer. They would rent horses and buggies, which was about the only means of travel, except by railway. Gilmer boasted four livery stables, all wooden structures. One located near where Safeway now is, one on Henderson street where Moody Chevrolet is, one on the east side of the square, and one on the corner of Marshall and Wood streets. Later, this enterprise was replaced by Mr. Ford’s Model T automobile. The horse and buggy creates about as much excitement on the roads now as the Model T did then. The Model T has passed on, however, and is replaced by speedier and more comfortable automobiles in Gilmer.
Gilmer’s First Automobile
As reported by Mr. J. M. Hays
Along about the spring of 1909, there were rumors that Judge Barney Briggs was losing his mind, as some said he had no more sense than to think that one of those horseless carriages could run on the streets of Gilmer. Some said he had already ordered one; others that he was just talking about it.
One Sunday, as we came out of church, we heard a noise like a young cyclone! The sky didn’t seem to be too overcast, but the noise persisted, and seemed to be coming nearer! We started for home with an uneasy feeling. The noise seemed to be coming from the west, so we looked back and, to our utter amazement, we saw a horseless vehicle careen around the corner in the deep sand at the Jim Mings place. It came toward town! Christine tried to hide behind us as there were no sidewalks to speak of, and the thing was wabbling from one side of the sandbed road to the other. To escape it, we ran upon the high board walk at Ray Brothers, and when it ran alongside, we saw it was Judge and Mrs. Briggs and the two Seagle girls, and they were holding on for dear life! There was a crowd of people running along on each side to see how the thing looked and how it navigated. When it would come down the street people would hunt cover, as they never knew which side it would be on when it reached them. Sometimes it would stall in the sand and spectators would have to push and pull it out. More often it took a span of mules to make it budge!
Of course there were no garages or filling stations in those days, and Mr. Will Bauman, who ran a blacksmith shop, repaired the best he could, but it was in the shop so much folks decided that the blacksmith had taken it over to pay the repair bills! But a milestone in Gilmer’s history was that first automobile, to brave the sandbeds of the city’s streets.
