Document text
k)t;
Miss ffie
McLennan County, Texas,
Dostroct 8.
e2 Lce_A,0
NO of Words
Pile IO. 240
Page NO. 1.
113FM3N037
Interview with Jr John H.Robertson, White Pioneer, ar1in, Texas.
1 I was born near Quincy/IPlorida)on jarch 31st, 1845. I woa
a soldier in the Confederate Army and served under ilaury's division
of the Army of Tennessee. I was ca, -tared at the battle of Gettysburg
A
in liongstreds charge and was taken to Fort De4ware an island of
90 acres of 1Lnd where the Union priaorners were kept. We were detailed
to work in the fields and our rations was cor- bread and pickled beef.
Ho' ever I fared better than some of the Priaospners for I was given the
privilege of making jewelry for the use of the union soldiers. I made
rings from the buttons from their overcoats and when they were nolished
the brass made very nice lnokinR rings. These I sold to the soldiers
of the Union Army who were our guards and with the money thus obtained
I could buy food and clothing. The Union 1?_-urirds kept a Com:aioary and
they bad a big supply of chocolate I ate chocolatelcandy and drank
hot chocolate in _lace of coffee until I h ve never wanted any choco-
late since.
I was in this prison when Lincoln was killed and great was the
gorrow among the troops who guarded us when the news came. I made an
attempt one time to escape and was captured,so did not make another
attempt. This was during a storm and in the confusion I tried to roll
out of the camp, it came up while we were asleen and I was sleePing
in my blanket, but the guard heard me nd caught me before i could
make my escape. After the end of the conflict I returned home, found
7olklore,
giss ffie (Iowan,
4cLennan Oodnty, Texas,
-District 8.
File NO. 240.
Page NO. 2.
that I h.,d been rerorted missing for two years and had changed so much
that my own people did not know me. When I left home I was sixteen
and during the period of my absence I had grown and completely changed.
Pinally my sister ideatified me by my teeth. During this time I had
grown a beard and this alone changed my appearance.
At the end of htstilities I returned to my home and lived there for five
years and as so many were seeking their fortune in the 'st,te of Texas
I left my home in 21orida and came to Texas in 1870 I landed at the
little town then of (lalveston and from there came over the new railroad,
the aoust-11 and Texas L;entral,which had just been completed,on to the
little city nf 4aco, Texas. I met Col. (hurley who owned a plantation in
the Brazos bottom and hired to him as manager of this plantation. He
also owned a saw mill and I operated it.
also managed auoth r plantation owned by a r 2tryant who had brought
his slaves with him to Texas before they were freed, they remained with
him and there were around a hundred. I did not have any trouble with
them as they were peaceful nd easily managed. After I Brent some
tIme on these olantations I married -kiss Pitts and we had one daughter.,
}ter youngest child married Howard ,lunnicutt of arlin, Texas,with whom
make my home, since the death of my vife in 1931. ?or twenty years
I was a member of the city °commission of Aarlin, Texas, and during
this time there w s a number of changes.
The cattle thieves were plen-
tiful and after some time the laa was allowed to take its course, but
for a time after the reconstruction days there were Vigilant societies
citizenslprotection.
who took the law into their hands for the
Folklore,
14iss 3fffie Cowan,
cLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
File NO. 240.
Page NO. 3.
I remember there was a man by the name of Grundy accused of steal-
ing cattle, the vigilante or oerbaps some others( I cant be sccuratej
decided to take the law into their bands and he was hung to a large
elm tree which is still standing in.the 4ibty of Marlin today. He used
to drive a gentle old horse to a one seated buggy and after he was done
away with)his widow drove this same horse to this buggy to town. Some
mischeivious boys decided to play a prank on her and so they would tie a
rore)the distance from the church to the tree)to be surd when the horse
re ched the tree he would stop., Which he did,mach to the surprise and
ft.A.
anger when the widow found out the cause that it was prank, Instead of
the ghost of her departed husband.
ti
At was whileIwsamember of the cit commission of Marlin that .the
hot wells were discovered. We were drilling for city water and when
the water came in it was hot. 'or a time it was piped to the residence
section, and great were the complaints and abuses which we received
from these residents who wonted water for domestic aUrposes.
we had the hot water analized and when it was found to have medicinal
rualities it was then changed from the residences and used for this
purpose. The boring of this hot well cost the c/ty 30;000 dollars, but
was bought up by orivate car itol. The present health resort was the
outcome of our drilling for water. The city now use's lake water.
a.
mNben I first came to the Brazos bottom the section/1 is now known as
aatte.-
the Golinda, Chilton and .satin communities. They were west of Marlin
some ten to fourteen miles. The country ,was a vast area Of timber and
grass land with the plaitations near the river.
Folklore,
441.88 Effie Cowan,
.ftcLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
-site NO. 240..
Page No. 4.
0' m
Ihe area extending from these communities to the river was dense woodi
with the exceptions of the clearing for the plantations. TheleWere huge
old trees, elm, •oaklash, willowi9cedar and other's. There were a few
winding roads in this area and there were deer wildcat and beart in
the thicketS. There was a famous place near oar community called Buck
bead Stand, named for the number of deer that ere killed A7..r.! and their
heads thrown away, hence the name of Back —head Stand", 4N46 the _time I
was manager of the saw -mill for Col. Gurley in the 70's I could almost
any day kill any.ftamber'of deer they came so near the clearings.
The section where Chilton and Golinda were situated was not so dense
with timber as it was mo on a prairie. All the section west of the
Brazos river from Marlin tho' was a vast wilderness compriNively speak-
ing,Some of the earliest families who helped to build 'up these commun-
ities lived not only at Golinda but over across the McLennan County line
at Lorena, these were the Westbrooks the Gurleys who lived at Golinda
also the Duty's at Golinda, the Gaines of Chilton and Vic and Will Walker,
later residents of the community of Satin when it was born on the spot
where they lived. There was the Gus Meisner family, the Meisner Wells
was a well known spot in the early ,days. Because as the name imnlies hn
inexhaustible well offered a good supply of w' ter for the womianity in
the clys when the drouths hit it..
This famous well was on the edge of the cedar brakes, This cedar was
famous because at one time the choicest and most abundant cedar in the
State of Texas was found here. As the years passed this cedar was cut
Folklore,
Miss Effie Cowan,
,goLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
tile NO. 240.
Page NO. 5.
and made into pencils, cedar piling and cedar lumber. The old 14eisner
log home stood for many years after this cedar was gone. They did not
know the art of conservation which the government is now seeking to
save such rich heritage of the land. A few years ago another house was
built in Mach the Wess Lewis family now. live,, on the old Meisner
n In early days a large amount of the land near the Brazos river was owned
by a man of English descent, named Captain 2.G.Banrick. 41e was a citizen
of this country and title of his land was clear. But be had no heirs in
this country. It seems that he became aware of the fact that his sons
or relations in Englad who were citizens of England might encounter
difficulties in establishing their right to the title of this land as an
Inheritance. The Alien Land LRIN8 standing in their way, so before his
death Col. Gurley acquired a partnership in part of the land. Later he
became the sole owner. tt came to be knwon as the Gurley ranch.
In the meantiae a kinsman of Captain Hanrick Ned Hanrick, came from
England,hoping to establish claim to the land/4 event of the Captains
deatb. Captain Hanrick died. Title to the lanu was clowied because of
the alien land lawse(which prevents aliens from inheriting property in
the nited 6tates. The finest legal talent in FfAls.and surrounding
Ir
counties fought to clear the title to thi land. It was called the "Nanrick
V
versus Hanrick Butt, in which the late L.W.Goodrich and 14B.Clarkson
and others at iiiarlin worked for many yeL,rs(from 1871 to 1919) to untangle.
Title /was finally established and the land was distributed tolinumbfr
of people.
Folklore,
Miss ffie Cowan,
cLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
Pile NO. 240
Page NO. 6.
All the land was not Hanrick land but part of it was finally absorbed
thro' transactions by the following men. Mose Westbrook of Golinda,
Col. Gurley, Sanger Brothers of Waco, the late J.T.davis of Waco and
Goodrich and Clarkson of marlin. Other land nearby became the property
of other men including the Guderians, Wittners, Wooleys, Duty's Jackson,
and Hatch, aBtate, and Gaines families.
The earliest information I have of the first family iWthis section
was the Duty family.This family came to Falls county from 3ast Texas
in 1849 and it is said there was not another family living between the
Brazos river between jarlit (Aarlin was created in 1850) and the west
side of the river in this community. Mr Duty often related how the
Indians were in and out of the vecinity(but were friendly Indians)on
their way to the Torrey bortbers (later Barnards)trsding post above
or east of Waco on the Tehuasana. Biffalo had not all left thits section,
there were herds of 'Jeer, wild horses cattle and antelope which made
thhir home near the Brazos rive4CLs late as the47:01e7when I cameo. Many
of these wild animals were still here.
"r Duty's home wits built of post oak logs and the floor was of split
puncheon. It was still standing in the early 90's. Still farther back
so -the local history goes,in 1851 Gilbert Jackson erected the first mill
in this area of walls county at what was called Shake Rag, now known
as Rock Dam, this was east from the Duty home.
Prom the Jackson family came what is known as the Jackson Lake, a large
section of land of three or four hundred acres at that time filled with
I!
Folklore,
miss ffie Cowan,
*cLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
rile #0. 240.
Page #0. 7.
water and became a favorite camping and fishing place for the communities
surrounding it. Young men built a dancinp pavillion where the young
people made merry and the candidates 01a...their part in making thingsjat
least interesting)if not merry. Finally a private club was formed in the
later days and it became a recreational spot for only those who hel0
membership. The passing of time and the erosion oand changes made by the
Brazos river erased this lake and it was filled with soil from the flood
of 1913 and today is a fertile farm owned by J.E.Thigpen and Robert Goal
laser of Chilton, Texas.
There were two other families who came soon after the Duty's they
were with the Duty's those of Joe oalmon and B.H.Hatch, for many years
these families formed the principal settlement on the Waco-Uarlin road
centering about aolinda. They were stock -men on an extensive scale and
helped to bring others to the settlement. Henry Duty died in 1876, but
his son carried on in -lace of his father and was a veteran of the Civil
War.
In 1866 the late dol. W.D.Gaines ,father of Spinks Gaines of Chilton
and his brother Captian D.Y.Gaines owned farms which were cleared from
the timber land near the BrAzos river in the vecinity of Golinda, where
I lived. The lowland hemmed in by dente woodsiandthe mosquitoes caused
sickness, sob moved higher up on the prairie near the town of Chilton.
It was lawn are
known as Carolina.The J.B.Evans family lived some
few miles nearer the river at the place known as Shake liag, at that time
the river flowed farther west having changed its course about 1900. Mr
Evans was an example of the hardy pioneer 's fighting spirit and it was
tolklose,
flies Effie Cowan,
74otennan oanty, Texas,
mistrict 8;
the community impression that be bad fought a few duels in and around
the settlement.
tile NO. 240.
Sage NO. 8.
"Col. Gurley maintained a home for awhile in. the late seventtes'or early
eightiee)near the present town of Satin where Will Walker lives today.
This was before the name of Satinvras thought of before the coming of
the San Antonio and
Aransas Pass railroad which wae built tbro' the.
communities I have mentioned. Col. Gurley was an eminent lawyer and had
lived at WROO speoializing in land titles and civil law practice. He
was a Confederate veteran, hence his.title of Colonel. Before his death
he was head of a cokpany organized to manafaoture a mechanical. cotton
ricking machintkhich he needed for his extensive farm in the Brazos valley
pot be wns not successful in this and so he had to keep the negro labor,
just as be bad when I was his manager.
"Col. Gurley bad much influence it was said in the building of the SPU
Antonio and Aransas Pas road thro' this community. It was claimed by
his friends that the many twists and turns in the vecinity of the present
town of of Satin was to accomedate him by the railroad weavingApdvantageously
to his farms Dave Gurley and Bob Apse were the main builders of the
road bed, cutting up the timber and throwing up the road bed they were
part of the firm of Gurley Ross and Gurley, which contracted with the
railroad to throw up the road bed. Their head -quarters were at Waco.
Before the tarn of the century Col. Gurley passe on and his son,
John Gurley continued the work began by his father so many years before.
J.T.Davis of Waco acquired an interest in the Gurley ranch and after be
passed on his son, J.Lee Davis of WA00 not only continued farming accord
Folklore,
Miss Effie Cowan,
4oLennan County, Texas,
District 8.
Rile RO. 240
laze NO. 9.
-ing to modern methods bat recently interested himself in the prodao-
-tion of oil on the land. Under his direction a number of producing wells'
were drilled and the foundation laid for more oil development. This in
the section where once was densely wooded land. Many facts were buried
with the early days of this section4with the pioneers who wrought well
and passed on.
"RAnid changes have taken place in this as in the other oommunities of
Central Texas as well as other section of the state. Nowhere down the
long corrider of time pas these changes been so miradaloas as in the
last fifty years here. So like magicrose from the wilderness of the
Ilrazos bottom, from the wild cat thicket and the wooded timber if the
low-lands,from the rich alluvial land of the river section,rivalled
only in the early days by the vailey of the Nae the -progressive towns
west of the Brazos as well as those to the east have become steady and
continues in their conttibution to the world of industry and civilization.
"In this brief sketch I have failed to mention some who also helped
in the upbuilding of this section. There was tohnny Vickers who came in
1887 to help clear the cedar brakes for a lumber firm, and owallace Hunter
came to 4olinda about the same time. Both families/have descendants still
here. There were the Ruble families R.E. and Mayor R.G. Ruble of Lott,
whose grand father was one of the first settlers also. All have left
a heritage rich in folklore of the early days of the Brazos vecinity,arra-
l'he river of entral Texas, known in the days of the Indians as "Brazo4
de tete". (Arms of God.
1)/05