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County Coordinator is Jane Keppler.County Co-Coordinator is Jean Huot Smoorenburg
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By Ivory Freeman Carson
1954 North Texas
State College Master's Thesis
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These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format by other organizations or individuals. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the written consent of Mrs. Carson's descendants or contact Jane Keppler Robertson County TXGenWeb coordinator. Volunteer Jo Ella Snider-Parker (SPJPVine@aol.com) purchased a copy of this thesis from Texas A&M's Cushing Library & beautifully re-typed this work. Mrs. Carson's niece, Janis Hunt, has been contacted to obtain the needed copyright permission. CHAPTER VI: EARLY TOWNS
Franklin Franklin, the present county seat of Robertson County, was established in 1871, when the International and Great Northern Railroad surveyed its route across the county. At that time the struggling little settlement was known as Morgan. For several years Morgan continued to grow, and in 1879, following an election, the county seat was moved from Calvert to this new village. The settlers then felt that their county seat must have a post office and an application was made. Before the application form was filled out it was learned that Texas already had a post office by that name and another name must be chosen. The settlers then considered and re-named the little town Franklin.[146] In 1882, a stone courthouse replaced the wooden structure and by 1885 the town had two steam gristmills, a church, a school, and a harness and saddle shop.[147] A small wooden building, located on what is now the back street, served as the office and saddle shop. Elias Reynolds, the first postmaster, operated the saddle shop in conjunction with his duties in the post office. Issac R. Overall�s mineral springs, which had its beginning in 1890, attracted visitors from many sections of the state who enjoyed, along with the medicinal value of the water, the gay, social life of the growing village. The resort hotel was a long wooden structure built, not too much for comfort, but to accommodate the people who came �to be made well.� The large garden that joined the hotel was a favorite walk for the early evening strollers and the fragrance of the many tuberoses filled the air as the young people walked and talked of things to come. Croquet was the favorite recreation on the lawn of the hotel and was enjoyed by visitors and villagers alike. The Mitchell Hotel, not as large, and certainly not as popular as the Overall House, was the principal meeting place for the men who had time on their hands. Death often stalked the streets of this early village, and at one time a white man was shot and killed by another white man who concealed himself behind a door of this hotel.[148] The social life of this early county seat seemed to be woven around the courthouse. The lawn around this new stone building was the center for the almost regular entertainment and ice cream suppers. This form of entertainment provided funds for civic improvement and also gave the community an added social hour. The pretty village girls would spend as much as an entire afternoon working on a fancy apron to wear while serving ice cream at the supper. A very large community Christmas tree, decorated with home-made ornaments and candles, stood in the largest room of the courthouse. The tree was the highlight of the season of Christmas for there the old were able to forget the frontier troubles for a time and the young thought only of the present. In this same large room was the setting for the masked balls. Each lady spent many hours in making her dress to wear at the ball. Often it was decorated with tiny ornaments. The dancing, to the soft music, lasted well into the morning. The first school house was a small one-room house located in the eastern part of the present town. This small building served the village a few years, then a two-story structure was built on a hill in the northwestern part of the town. The schoolhouse had two stories, but there were no partitions to form the room divisions. There were only two rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. At one time school turned out so all the pupils could witness a hanging on the courthouse square. The memory of the hood being slipped over the white man�s head, the noose fastened on the neck and the fall from the scaffold have been stamped on my mind all these years. It was terrible, and certainly not a program for school children.[149] Franklin could not supply the settlers with enough good water to meet the town�s needs. It was quite a common sight to see the water wagons hauling water from Race Track Prairie to the people and selling it for five cents per bucketful. The earliest newspaper, The Franklin Weekly, was published by J. A. Keigewin. Among the first business houses was the Decker and Mitchell General Store which served the little community for many years. The songs of the Civil War had gradually died away to plaintive whispers; literature, full of adventure and lightheartedness helped to mend the scarred tissues of men�s hearts and minds; the danger of Indian attacks had passed into the annals of history; and in the young struggling county seat many pioneers cast their lots with the destiny of Franklin, some to fail and some to succeed. Benchley In the years between 1829 and 1834, immigrants, mostly of Irish descent, settled west of the present town of Benchley.[150] They selected the poor wooded land rather than the rich acres of the black prairie lands for several reasons. In the dense wooded sections they had easy access to the timber which enabled them to construct homes and make rails for fencing their small farms. There were many roving tribes of unfriendly Indians in this section of the state, so the woods afforded the settlers more safety. These same woods were well stocked with bear, deer, wild turkey and other game that furnished meat. Neighbors were many miles apart and little visiting or social affairs were had among the immigrants. Wives and mothers looked after the home and reared large families of children (unusually large numbers of children are reported to have been reared in this immediate section by these immigrants; most all the families had in excess of twelve children). The men folk of the colony were engaged in looking after their patches of corn and peas and scouting for Indians. The women folks were also trained to take care of themselves and were expert shots with the rifle which proved a great advantage in later years as bands of horse thieves would make raids on the farms and steal the stock of the colonists. Many interesting and tragic stories are told of these raids. Especially is noted the perseverance of the women colonists during the War for Independence with Mexico when most of the men and boys were called to join the troops. They stayed in their homes and carried on the farm work and one old settler remarked that they kept on raising children. Benchley lies in the extreme southern part of Robertson County, only a few hundred yards north of the Brazos and Robertson County line and one of the �ear marks� of the town is the Old San Antonio Road, which natives now humorously call �our prized possession.� At the beginning of the colony, the town was originally called Staggers Point, and was located about two miles northeast of the present town site. The first store was a general merchandise store, owned and operated by a man named Wallace who sold groceries, dry goods and all kinds of whiskeys and wines. One of the outstanding things of the old town was the race track and gun club. This was something unusual in Texas at this time and was probably a custom of the colonists in their former homes. It is said that many fine horses ran on this track and the betting became the talk of the state. This naturally drew much of the rough element, and caused much horse stealing in this section. A story is told that the leader of a band of horse thieves came in the guise of a minister of the Gospel. He preached to the people while his band of men would raid the homes. The band was hidden at Mumford in a dense thicket. A battle between the natives and the thieves broke the band up after several members of the band of thieves were killed and the remainder of them fled to the eastern states.[151] In 1850, Robert Henry built the first horse-power type cotton gin. It was run by steam and was built near the old homestead. A saddle tree shop, owned by P. O. Jones used the trademark �P.P.� A man by the name of Tallie ran a packing house, pickling beeves for which he paid $3.00 per head for four-year-old steers. These beeves were supplied to the packers by Columbus Seale, who had a contract to deliver the cattle dead, but not dressed. At that time the railroad was being pushed along in this direction so the pickled meat was carried south and sold to the railroad crew.[152] The Ireland Church, a log structure, was the first church to be built and stood near the Haggard home. This name seemed to fit the members as well as the settlers because they were all Irish, and were Presbyterians. A Presbyterian minister named Fullenwider was the first minister in the colony. He was followed by James Wilson, who served the colonists for the next forty years. �Red Top,� as the second church was called, was built for a school house. Many different religious organizations were born in this school house as it served as a meeting place for many years.[153] Fannie Reese Pugh, Geanie Chatam, Kitty Barnes and Bertha Cook were listed as some of the first teachers in Benchley. So long as a child cared to attend the school these teachers worked. At that time grades were not known or recognized by the teachers. In 1869, the Houston and Texas Central, later nicknamed by the old settlers as �Hellon Texas,� reached Benchley. In a small wooden structure ten feet by twelve feet, the telegraph station, and the telegraph equipment was installed. The first operator was a man named Squires who was also the station master. After the station was built it had no name, so as the first freight train pulled in the conductor, Benchley a very likeable man, was to be honored by having the town carry his name.[154] A pump station which was supplied by water from a �dug well,� with a large wooden tank was installed and operated for several years. Many years ago the railroad company gave up as useless the station and water service. Now, only a telephone booth marks the station at this place.[155] On October 16, 1835, William Henry, the first white child born in Robertson County, was born in Benchley. The spot is now being made into a park which will bear his name.[156] Calvert Back in the ante-bellum days when the Brazos bottom was a free range and the wild cattle roamed the prairies; when school-houses were considered a novelty in Texas, and the settlers were scattered sparingly over the hunter�s paradise; when the chief business in Central Texas was that of driving beef cattle from the interior of Texas to New Orleans and other markets only a few years after Robertson County had been sliced off Milam Land District, Judge Robert Calvert and his wife, Mary Keesee, settled in Robertson County.[157] Sterling was one of the most interesting and aristocratic of the pre-Civil War settlements in Texas. Glowing accounts of this new land of promise, its healthful climate, fertile soil and abundance of game were given by the settlers as they wrote to their friends in the States. The lure of the land spread rapidly and planters in Mississippi, Louisiana, and other states were anxious to dispose of their property and seek their fortunes in the new country.[158] One of these eager planters writes: I am winding up my affairs with reference to coming out to your wonderful land of sunshine and flowers.... I have sold my farm, and I sold Bill Carter for $1,200 as he could not find a woman to suit him for a wife so I concluded to let him go. I feel that you planters in Texas would do well to invest less in Negroes and more in cattle, for I foresee trouble ahead for our country if a Black Republican is elected, as he is sure to be. I am planning to take the new railroad cars to New Orleans, and thence set sail for Galveston, Viesca, or Indianola.[159] Many years before and during the Civil War a prosperous, refined and independent community life was established. In 1869, the eagerly awaited Texas Central pushed up from its terminus in Millican and the village threw aside its dignity and moved in a group to meet the railroad. The village was renamed for Robert Calvert, a judge, who was one its promoters.[160] Robert Calvert was a direct descendant of Cecil Calvert (Lord Baltimore), and with the same view into the future that prompted him to settle in the Brazos bottom he worked for the extension of the Houston and Texas Central Railway through his county. He served as contractor in connection with William Davis and William Hanna. In this capacity he graded several miles of that road.[161] The wife of J. W. Doremus, of Dallas and Calvert, still owns and operates the old Calvert plantation at the original site of the village; her title is in the form of a land grant from the Spanish Government in 1825. She is the great-granddaughter of Robert Calvert. Included in the list of prominent Texans who lived in Calvert, or in the nearby Brazos bottom on the plantations were the Hearne and Aldrich families, now living in Dallas, C. P. Salter, J. M. Herndon, and the late Jesse McLendon of Waco, who with Foster, a doctor, established the first bank in Calvert in 1869.[162] Ox-drawn wagon trains plied regularly from Sterling to San Antonio by way of Wheelock and El Camino Real and to Houston and Galveston with consignments of cotton, returned with a year�s supply of sugar, flour, coffee, and bagging and rope for cotton.[163] The one and only street of Calvert boasted several thriving merchandising stores, a Masonic Lodge--one of the first in Texas--and Old Man Reed�s saloon was a popular gathering place for the citizenry.[164] On July 5, 1869, an election for the incorporation of Calvert was defeated, but in the ordered election of July 24, 1869 the returns showed a majority for incorporation. After considering the matter Ellison, the County Judge, ordered the town incorporated August 13, 1869. The sanitary conditions were very bad in the early days of Calvert. The hogs bedded under the stores and cattle roamed at will over the town. Scott Fields, in recalling the early days, remembers that Calvert had the distinction of having the largest cotton gin in the world. John H. Gibson built the gin in 1876. Later his sons took the business in charge and enlarged it. It had twenty-one stands and an oil mill in connection with the gin. Farmers from all parts of the Brazos bottom brought their cotton to be ginned and sold. In 1882 there were 32,000 bales received.[165] The people of Robertson County found it no easy matter to locate a county seat. Franklin was chosen in 1838, after the county was organized. By the time the courthouse and jail had been completed an election was held and Wheelock was designated to be the seat of the county government. In 1854, Robert Calvert was one of the commissioners appointed to obtain, from the District Surveyor, a certificate giving the exact center of the county. The same commissioners selected two or more places within five miles of the center of Robertson County for another seat. Owensville was chosen and a courthouse and jail were built. In 1870, the county seat was moved to Calvert where it remained for about ten years, or until an election was held and the people of the county voted to move the county seat to Morgan. In 1871, a man by the name of Conitz left his home in Germany and settled in Calvert. He established the first shop and sold the fancy boots of French calf with quilted Morocco tops to the cowboys who paid fifteen and twenty dollars per pair for them. This peaceful little village was the greatest trading point in this section of the state and was given a great setback when yellow fever almost wiped out the entire settlement. The cattle industry passed, the Indians left the vicinity of Calvert, and the pioneers have left their ranks to be filled by their children and grandchildren. In the space of a few years the strange and wonderful stories of pioneer days will be heard no more from those true builders of civilization. Robert Calvert�s town lived on while Owensville and Wheelock perished. When Calvert died in 1867, he left his name for a guiding light of courage, vision, and progress.[166] Hearne Few Hearne citizens who reside in the fertile, highly improved section of the great state of Texas today, realize that a stirring saga of pioneer times may be recounted in the early days of Hearne. The first seed for the present town was sown sometime in the 1830�s when a stage coach line, operating from the site of the present city of Houston, ran through this section of North Texas. For the convenience of the passengers of this stage line an inn was opened by an early settler by name of Code Brown. This inn was built at Brown Springs in the present city limits of Hearne and was known as Brown�s Tavern. Hearne had its beginning in a queer way. The original Hearnes acquired probably 10,000 acres of bottom land and as they brought more and more of it under cultivation the moving of the crops and the getting of supplies became a great handicap, and kept teams on the road from Houston continuously. So, when the rumor of an intended railroad from South Texas to North Texas seemed substantial, C. C. Hearne went to Houston to the Houston and Texas Central promoters. He informed them that if they would give him a shipping station, anywhere between Wheelock and Port Sullivan, he would donate all the land that was needed. His offer was accepted and he was given the promise of not only the shipping point, but that a townsite would be located and would bear the name of Hearne. So, Hearne as a theory came into existence, but as a reality, nothing resulted for many years. The Houston and Texas Central did really, begin to build but after reaching Millican, in Brazos County, was stopped at the outbreak of the Civil War and for a few years thereafter. During this time C. C. Hearne had died but his wife, Mary Ellen Hearne, made good her husband�s agreement with the railroad and deeded to the company about seven hundred acres for the town site. With definite plans for the construction of the railroad toward the proposed town, settlers began to locate near the site and several businesses got in on the ground floor. Frances Hearne, who had married her cousin, Wash Hearne, lived in the early days in Hearne, where they owned the first hotel to be erected in the town. Wash Hearne was a great hunter and the following story was told by an old citizen: In the first of the railroad days this man�s family moved into the new town, shipping their household goods by rail. On arrival the family found a housing shortage and the railroad agent permitted them to occupy the car which contained their effects. The narrator, a young man at that time, was awakened very early next morning by a pack of hounds in full cry. From the top of his car he saw a big buck come bounding out of the timber, with the dogs close at his heels, and a rider following. The chase headed for one of the stores which was just opening for the day, and with no time to spare to make a turn, the buck bolted into the front door of the store and out at the back door. In a very few minutes the buck was the hunter�s meat, and the hunter was Wash Hearne, procuring the main staple for his hotel menu.[167] Wash Hearne, his wife and her sister, Adeline Lewis, are the only members of the Hearne families to be buried in the city�s Norwood cemetery. Charles Lewis and his son opened up a general store and Adams and Leonard, sons-in-law of Rasche and Ebenezer Hearne, opened a private bank. Later they followed the railroad up the line to Dallas. Gideon Wilkerson, with Greenwood Brown, a local landowner, established the general supply firm of Brown and Wilkerson. This firm was very active in business as well as in civic life in the infancy of this community. Gideon Wilkerson brought his young wife to Hearne on the first train that passed through Calvert. To this couple, later was born the first child to claim Hearne nativity. This son was given the name of Lorenzo Wilkerson. Just before, and during the Civil War a meat packery of considerable size operated a few miles south of the present town of Hearne. In this packery as many as three hundred beeves were handled daily. The finished product was pickled beef, packed in brine. Evidently, there was a miscarriage in the formula, for one large cargo bound for Europe, and which had been smuggled out of Galveston, went bad on the high seas and had to be jettisoned. This loss proved too much for the packery and it had to cease operation. With the coming of the railroad more farm land was opened up and industries, in a small way, began to come into the frontier town. The construction of the railroad brought many working men into town and a bit of a boom appeared to be on. Practically all the railroad workmen were �Irish Paddies,� and were of the Catholic faith. The Catholic settlers, in the interest of their fellow churchmen established a hospital on what is now the east side of town, and arranged for church services for those of that faith. The other scattered denominations raised a fund and erected a union church in the southern part of town. If that building were standing today it would occupy the site of the Boguskie home on the corner of Brenken and Post Oak streets. The building was used for a number of years by the churches, with the second story affording a meeting place for the Masonic Lodge. As the town moved north to afford the conveniences of the railroads the union church building was moved to the present location, on the corner of Magnolia and Davis streets. This same building was also used as the school house as the little settlement grew and prospered. When the railroad trustees accepted the town site grant their titles were on the same basis as were those of the early Hearnes and other purchasers; therefore, years passed before a long series of suits involving the trustees, along with others, were definitely settled. The planning of the town of Hearne was in charge of the New York and Texas Land Company and shortly after the town site was laid out two lots were donated to each church denomination. The members of each church were granted the privilege of choosing the location upon which they would erect their house of worship. The company also donated a cemetery site of approximately ten acres and which at the present time is known as Norwood Cemetery. The Episcopalians were the first to erect their building, with the other churches building shortly thereafter. One of the early Methodist pastors, Seth Ward, was later named bishop of his church. After the completion of the railroad and the workmen had moved elsewhere, there was little need for the railroad hospital. To fulfill a greater need it was converted into a church for the Negroes. At about this time there was a mass migration of Negroes into Kansas. Thousands made the trek, and many died because they could not live through the bitter cold weather. The need for this church arose when a group of Negroes from Grimes County reached this little village before learning of the cold weather on the other end of their journey. They decided against continuing the trip and found work in the vicinity of Hearne. It seems quite natural that they should all remain together; so their church became known as �The Little Flock Church.� What remains of the original building now is a small church located on the opposite side of town from the first site. It was moved twice before its present location and is still known as �The Little Flock Church.� About 1870, another railroad began negotiations for land grants to come into this territory and Charles Lewis, acting for himself and other land holders, deeded a tract of seven hundred acres to the International and Great Northern Railroad Company, under the conditions that the company would have trains operating over the deeded land by January 1, 1872. The acceptance of the grant involved the new company in as many title complications as that of the Houston and Texas Central; therefore, the two railroads combined the forces of their attorneys, who did an enormous amount of work to make their jobs a success by bringing about a compromise, and practically fixed all the titles. The two railroad companies then formed the New York and Texas Land Company, exchanging deeds for their grants. In making a survey for the addition to the Houston and Texas town site, the surveyors �got off a bit� with their instruments and from this error resulted irregular streets. On Davis Street where the town sites meet, the north and south fail to coincide by about 50 feet. This makes a very dangerous jog in this automobile age.[168] With the advent of the new railroad, Hearne appeared to take on new life. This new road crossed the Houston and Texas Central about one mile north of the original depot and business location. It now seemed wise to move the business section near the crossing. It was well for that is the location of the business part of the town today. Time was short for the agreed construction of the International roadway. And again, they used the friendly services of the Houston and Texas Central trains which brought in needed supplies and aided in the pushing of the building both ways from Hearne. The heavy pay rolls brought in a horde of camp followers, who brought with them their own ideas of ethics. Hearne was a roaring wide open town. One of the early settlers tells the following incident: My father was away from home about this time and a letter from his office tells him that yesterday was pay-day for both roads, and the boys whooped it up. When the sun rose this morning there were four dead men on the streets.[169] As the town grew there was a demand for telephones, and again Charles Lewis was instrumental in helping the people of his town advance another step forward. J. B. Covington began making plans for the installation of a telephone system and was advised that he was about to make a bad move and that he would be able to count his customers on the fingers of his two hands. He did not take the advice but continued his project and within a few years he received an offer which amounted to $10,000.00 in exchange for the telephone system. He refused the offer at that time. Education was at a very low ebb at the time Hearne was struggling with �growing pains,� and little can be said along this line. The first permanent school building was a small two-room brick structure located immediately back of the present Methodist Church. Later a large frame two-story building was erected on the plot that is now occupied by the Elementary School Building. John J. Jennings was the first teacher in Hearne, and the first schools were all private schools. The Negro Academy, with H. M. Williams as principal, was one of the early schools in the county. This institution was built in Hearne very early, but as the need arose the academy grew and was finally moved to a location northeast of town where it grew in importance and was attended by the Negro students from almost all sections of the state. It burned to the ground in the 1930�s and has never been rebuilt. Hearne maintained a steady growth through the latter part of the nineteenth century, and was a typical �rip-snorting-frontier town.� Unfortunately the pace set at this time prevailed for too many years and fitted Hearne into the classification of �Hearne, Hempstead, and Hell.� Some of the scars may remain, but is gratifying to know the town has lived over, and outlived, such a record. The town was incorporated in 1871, and in the following years has had many ups and downs, but has always been able to �up the downs.� Some of the downs came when the Brazos River flooded the bottoms bringing about great destruction; and others when the cotton pests, at times, inched the faithful Hearnites nearer the poorhouse. Yet, the people lived and prospered. Much of credit of the steady development of Hearne in the early days is due to the splendid pioneer leaders of that time. Many descendants of the early day Hearne citizens are prominent townsmen of the little city today. Wheelock In 1833, E. L. R. Wheelock and his family crossed the wilds of unclaimed territory to settle in the central part of Texas. Wheelock received a land grant from the Nashville Company of Sterling C. Robertson�s colony and settled his claim on Wheelock Prairie, which was named for those hardy pioneers. He laid out the town and built a blockhouse for protection against the Indians, who continued to raid the settlements until 1843. Other families followed the example of the Wheelocks and within a few years there were several families living in the little community. The children of the settlement grew up under many hardships, including the constant fear of the Indians and the tyranny of the Mexican government which was in control of Texas at that time. After Texas began to fight for her independence and after Santa Anna seemed to have all the advantages, the people packed their few possessions and fled the path of the oncoming Mexican invaders. Annette Wheelock was one of the four children of the Wheelock founder, and was eighteen years of age when she and her family joined those who were fleeing toward Louisiana. This famous incident has since been known as the �Runaway Scrape.� Before the Wheelocks left on this journey a Negro servant buried a large trunk containing all the family�s valuables. The mother and daughter carefully packed away all the gold, silver, and china, and even the rich linens which would some day belong to Annette. There was no room in the covered wagon for the trunk where space was so valuable. In their hast to leave Wheelock, the family had neglected to mark the location where they had hidden their valuables. After Santa Anna�s defeat they returned to their home and searched and searched for the buried treasure, but their efforts were futile. In spite of their great misfortune they were able to rejoice with all Texas. Annette Wheelock experienced more in a few short years than most people do in a life time. When she was eighteen she married an elderly Virginian who lived only a few weeks. In a few years she married again for she was still young and lovely. This marriage lasted about one year as her husband, named Powell, was mortally wounded when he and a small band of settlers were ambushed by the Indians between Calvert and Marlin. He was buried on the banks of the Brazos River near the present town of Marlin. Annette later married Samuel B. Killough, a wealthy young man, who in a few years became a member of the Texas Legislature. In 1876, Annette became a widow for the third time when Sam Killough died. She lived a long and useful life and died at the age of eight-nine.[170] Under the leadership of Wheelock and other sturdy men of Robertson County, Wheelock grew and served as the county seat from 1850 through 1854. The courthouse was not built until 1851, therefore, the court had to meet under an oak tree until its completion. In 1847, a post office was established and by 1850, the Wheelock Academy was in operation. By 1885, the little settlement had a population of seventy-nine, a store, a gristmill, and a cotton gin. By the time the next five years had passed the population had grown to eight-five and there were three churches. The mail was received by stage from Hearne and a bank had been established by 1915.[171] Into this rural settlement in Robertson County came the Hearnes, under the leadership of Christopher Columbus Hearne. They came bringing with them their household goods, farming equipment, livestock and a goodly number of Negro slaves. The leader of the Alabama Hearnes, C. C. Hearne, purchased land in the vicinity of Wheelock and with his Negro slaves made and burned the bricks that went into the construction of a commodious home. This home became the headquarters for the entire Hearne family while the members were searching for suitable locations. The Hearnes were real farmers and knew that this section of the state held the land that they wished to own. Through C. C. Hearne they acquired a large acreage of the Ruiz bottom land from the Rhody Kenneday heirs. They were aware of the conflict that had existed among the other purchasers and protected themselves as well as possible by contracts instead of deeds. C. C. Hearne lived and died at his home in Wheelock, but Rasche and Ebenezer, while owning large holdings in the bottom, built their homes in the uplands east of the Brazos River. New Baden The colony of New Baden was organized in 1881, as a station when the International and Great Northern Railroad moved slowly through Robertson County. This community was settled by German immigrants who were brought in by the Texas Land Company. There is no record of how or why the town was called New Baden, but it is generally supposed to have been named for a town or province in Germany where some of the colonists had lived. The first business house in this community was owned and operated by Paul Schultz and his mother. When the colonists were first settled in New Baden they all lived in the �Immigrant House.� As farms were located and homes were built the colonists would leave the �House� for their new homes. The population numbered only forty in 1885, and by 1915 there were only one hundred seventy-five. The post office was discontinued in 1900, and was not re-established until more than twenty years later. Bremond Bremond, in the northeastern part of the county, was so named in honor of Paul Bremond, an official of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad which reached the little village in 1869. In 1870, the town became the junction point for the Waco Tap Railroad. In the late 1870�s Bremond became the headquarters for extensive Polish immigration which accounts for the fact that today the town is predominantly Polish. By 1885, the town had four churches, three schools, four mills and gins, and one bank. The first postmaster to serve the people in Bremond was O. C. Morehead. The population began to fall and 1890 numbered only three hundred eighty-seven, but had risen to six hundred fifty in the next ten years. In 1912, the Bremond Enterprise was published by S. P. Forrest. [172] Mumford In the heart of the Brazos Valley and in the southeast corner, Mumford is firmly settled. This village was established in 1867 and named for Jesse Mumford. In 1885 there were only fifty people in the community which consisted of a post office, with William Bailey as the first postmaster, a gin and a general store. [173] Petteway In the early 1880�s M. Petteway settled in northeastern Robertson County and opened a general store. Around this store a community grew up. S. Bartokowiak erected the first gin, and soon there were three churches, and a school, which was a small two-story building with only two rooms. The community cemetery is today one of the few in the rural communities that has continued to remain there in the church yard. Many descendants of the early Petteway settlers bury their loved ones in the well-kept cemetery. In 1900 Petteway was granted the right to have a post office. Until that time all the mail was received from Franklin. Easterly Easterly, located in the east central part of the county was named for Dan Easterly who owned the entire town site and who operated the only store in the settlement. In April, 1902 John Fulbright surveyed the town site on the International and Great Northern Railroad. In 1900, the population numbered twenty-five, but after a land boom in the early 1900�s there were around seven hundred people in the community. Today, there are four businesses, a school, a church, and a population of approximately two hundred fifty.[174] Ghost Towns Wootan Wells Over seventy years ago, this flowing mineral water resort town in the northwest corner of Robertson County attracted throngs of patients and celebrities from over the entire South. Today, this ghost town of Wootan Wells has vanished without a trace and has left no place, even for the ghosts. Where the two- and three-story hotels, the cottages, the general stores, the billiard hall, and the canopied mineral wells, which brought on the boom, once stood, is today another of the endless pieces of level farmland.[175] About 1879. a farmer drilled a water well. After he discovered the water had a peculiar taste he had it analyzed and was advised that it probably contained medicinal qualities. A modest advertising campaign followed and as no one seemed to get excited about the strange-tasting water, progress was slow. In 1881 only one house stood on the two hundred acre site, which later became the popular meeting place for the sick and well alike. By 1883, the resort had been named Wootan Wells after F. M. Wootan, one of the founders. Probably the state�s first big real estate boom began as the tale of the new spring spread. Almost over night it became a sprawling city with three large hotels, a narrow-gauge mule drawn railway, Western Union and Wells Fargo offices, bath houses, dry goods and drug stores, dance pavilions and dozens of cottages. The new Jackson Hotel was the largest of the three hotels in Robertson County�s vanished resort town. It had fashionable gables on all four roofs, and the daughters of James Hogg, Ima and Ura, always stayed in this big hotel when they were on one of their many visits to the wells. The Wootan Hotel was a two-story L-shaped, rambling building and the third was the Walker Hotel. At the boom�s peak, Wootan Wells was a gay social center, complete with elaborate dances and balls, and a Mexican string orchestra that played soft music as it paraded through the many wooded parks. Coal oil lamps, in heavy glass protectors, decorated the street corners.[176] Samuel L. Hornbeck, the school principal, was one of the boom town�s first leaders. Edward McGlaun started the first gristmill and gin; Charles E. Mays was the resort town�s doctor; R. S. Sloan and George W. Jackson operated the hotels. William Goodman was wagon maker for the noted spa and T. W. Wade was manager for the Wells Fargo Company. C. W. Higginbotham owned the billiard hall and Alonzo Walker operated a general store; another man whose name was Walker was keeper of one of the saloons. Willis Martin, at one time assistant postmaster at the resort post office, helped drive the railway mule in the spring and summer when the business was rushing. Many old settlers can remember when thousands of people came each season to bathe in the icy waters or to camp near the park. As a new well was being drilled to supplement the four main wells, traces of oil were found. At that time oil was cheap - ten cents per barrel - and when Wade, who was manager of the mineral water company, saw visions of the cheap oil flowing under the houses becoming a fire hazard and spoiling all the flowers, he had the well closed. There were two things that led to the doom of the resort. First, fire destroyed one of the main hotels and continued to plague the settlement, which had practically no fire fighting facilities. Second, mineral water of a different type, which was claimed to be better, was found at Marlin in 1890. Marlin�s water had a psychological advantage; it was hot while the water at Wootan Wells was so cold that it had to be set aside to warm after it had been drawn from the well which was eighty feet deep. Wootan Wells, the noted spa of Robertson County, slowly dwindled away until only a few ramshackle buildings remained. These slowly disappeared too, and as late as 1923 a bottling firm tried to revive the springs for use in soft drinks but the venture was not successful. The building, which had been erected for this project, burned later. Not a single board of the million-dollar resort, which once sealed up a possible oil well to save the mineral water business, is left, except in the memories of some of the old-timers around Bremond.[177] Bald Prairie This early settlement, located on a prairie between Duck and Steele Creeks, and twelve miles east of the present town of Bremond, was established in 1865. The location of the settlement readily gave it the name and by 1885, there was a population of one hundred. It listed a steam cotton gin and gristmill, two churches, a school, a store, and a post office with J. C. Jennings as the first postmaster. With the growth of the towns along the railroads, this little village grew less in value. In the early 1940�s there was a post office, a store, and a population of about twenty-five.[178] Hammond This ghost community and discontinued post office in northwestern Robertson County was named for F. B. Hammond. The town was small and had only a few stores and business houses, and the small jail, which seemed to be an important part of the town, is still standing today. As the Houston and Texas Central Railroad gradually pushed farther north the little town became an important shipping point. F. A. Rice, W. J. Hudson, and A. Groesbeck were the first trustees to function in the small farming district school.[179] Headsville In the late 1870�s Headsville was established and by 1880 had received a post office. In 1885, J. S. Adams opened his general store and served as postmaster at the same time. At that time the population was only thirty.[180] In 1910, the post office was discontinued and the mail was sent first to Kosse, and later to Bald Prairie. The first school in the settlement was taught by a young man by the name of Smith. Sarahville de Viesca (in Falls County) Viesca was the capital of Robertson�s colony in 1834. By 1836, the Brazos River had changed its course and this settlement at the falls of the river had three hundred inhabitants. During the Texas Revolution Viesca was almost deserted because the fear of the Mexicans was so great, and too, there was the constant danger from the Indians. Later efforts were made to restore or to resettle the town, but the effort was in vain and abandoned shortly.[181] Owensville A legislative act, in 1854, established this settlement as the county seat of Robertson County. The little town on Walnut Creek, and not far from Franklin remained the center of the county�s government until 1870, when the railroad came through the county and the people decided that the county seat should be moved to Calvert, on the railroad. The county�s first county seat was named for Harrison Owen, the first county clerk. A town site was surveyed and a two-story courthouse was built and remained in use until the records were moved to Calvert in 1870, to the new county seat. The courthouse was sold and moved from the spot on which it was located and in 1860, the post office was discontinued. Today, some of the lots that were staked off when the town was laid out can be found, but nothing else. Nashville (in Milam County) In 1835, a group of settlers bound for Robertson�s colony settled about three miles below the mouth of the Little River, on the Brazos River, in Milam County. In 1837 Nashville was the county seat and principal town. When the county seat was established at Cameron, by an act of the legislature in 1846, Nashville declined.[182] Many of the settlers who came into Robertson County were among those who settled at Old Nashville and was at that time of the settlement called Robertson County. Hayes In northern Robertson County and sixteen miles northeast of Calvert, Hayes was established in 1872. The village was named for the first postmaster, A. A. Hayes. By 1880 the population was only thirty, but in 1885 it had grown in population and had built three churches, a school, a gristmill and a cotton gin. After the railroad missed the settlement the village seemed to die out, for by 1900, the population had decreased to twenty. After the post office was discontinued, the mail was sent to Franklin.[183]
[146] The Handbook of Texas,
Vol. II, p. 641. |
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