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.
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 theywould 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 hadto 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.
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 morethan 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.
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 ofMontgomery 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Mrs. Donie Rees
It is hardly necessary to mention the fact that sixty-five years ago, we had none of the modern conveniences, such as electricity, gas, city water, pavements, railroad, and so on. Nor did we have any daily newspaper in Gilmer.
At that time the printing office was a rickety affair, propped up by three large pine logs. “Old” Judge Lyons, once county judge, was editor, and the office stood about where the postoffice now stands. His death was a tragic one, and here are the details as I remember them: His partner was a man named Arthur Ashley, who resented Lyon’s use of profanity, especially toward him. Ashley’s wife was boarding with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Culpepper, nine miles east of Gilmer, and was teaching at Emory school house, about three miles away. One afternoon, soon after she and the children had returned from school, all tired out from her day’s work and the walk home, her husband walked in and she went to the door to greet him with a kiss. At once he began telling her, “Judge Lyons called me a —— after I had warned him not to curse me. I picked up a side stick and killed him! Then I locked the door and walked out.” Mrs. Ashley fell back across mother’s bed in a dead faint. They worked with her till they revived her, and my parents prevailed on Ashley not to leave at once, as he meant to do, but to remain overnight with his family. This he did, but in the morning he sought safety in flight. It was two or three days before Judge Lyons was missed, and officers broke down the door of the printing office and found him dead. Ashley had got away by this time. Later he was captured in Alabama and brought back here for trial, but he broke jail again and was never heard of any more. (Note). If you will go to the city cemetery you will find the grave of Judge Lyons surrounded by an iron fence, and lying in the shade of a big magnolia tree, just about thirty steps from the Coffeeville road. At the head of the grave is a weather-beaten, lichen-covered graying marble stone which reads: “My husband, J. J. Lyons, died April 5, 1882. The strife is over, the loved of years hath left me with the gathering fears to struggle darkly, and lone....” Mrs. Lyons struggled 17 years before she was laid beside the judge, and the grave stone reads: “Sarah S. Lyons, wife of Judge J. J.Lyons, died January 20, 1899.” None of the stones give the date of birth or age.
In these days the courthouse was a wooden structure, and when I was about ten years old, my parents allowed me to spend the weekend with my teacher, Mr. Joe Martin, in his father’s home about a mile north of town. There, with the Martin family, I saw the courthouse burn to the ground. Later a brick one was built, and this one was re-modeled and covered with concrete stucco, to be replaced a few years ago by our present handsome and modern building.
What few stores Gilmer had then were built of plank with board walks in front. The late Judge Sid Moughon had a water well and a large water trough in front of his store for the watering of the farmers’ teams, as also did Roberts and Oliver. A big bell was used to sound fire alarms and closing time for the stores was six o’clock in the evening.
It was a little over sixty years ago that the Cotton Belt Railroad was built through Gilmer. And early in this century, another railroad was built from Winnsboro to Elysian Fields and came through Gilmer. It was called the Marshall and East Texas Railroad, or the M. & E. T., and the service was so poor it was dubbed, from its initials, “Misery and Eternal Torment.” I have made trips on the M. & E. T. when the passengers had to go to the woods and help bring up pine knots to fire up so we could continue our journey. Or, if someone had a nice orchard, we would stop and gather peaches, and in the fall, the train would stop so that those aboard could get ribbon cane to chew.
In the story of the growth and development of Gilmer’s banks, is a living history of the growth and development of Gilmer and Upshur County. Gilmer’s first bank was a small private bank, opened up in the early 1890’s, located on the west side of the square near the northern corner, and was known as the Sasser’s Bank. Mr. Walter Boyd was president of this bank and Mr. Sasser cashier. Prior to this time the citizens of Gilmer did their banking from a distance. Many of them at that time banked at Tyler. But a bank failure in that city, in which a number of Gilmer residents lost their savings, was a discouraging factor. These things, added to the increasing need and demands for the service of a substantial bank in Gilmer, led to the establishing on April 13, 1900, of the First National Bank. On organization the bank was capitalized at $25,000. Capital stock is now $100,000.Of much interest is the first statement of condition which was published April 26 of the same year, less than two months after the bank was founded. It shows that deposits were less than $40,000.00. (They are now two or three million), and since the slack summer season was approaching, the next two statements showed decreases in deposits. September showing the lowest deposits of $24,000.00. Then in August, 1901, three months after Mr. C. T. Crosby had organized the Farmers & Merchants National Bank, the combined deposits of both banks were less than $54,000.00. On December 31, 1940, they were $2,718,464.24. At the close of business, June 30, 1945, the combined deposits of the two banks were $5,240,864.01. Contrast that with the figures, $82,264.21 of April 26, 1900, and you have in a nutshell, the story of the banking growth in Gilmer. But to go back to some more of the history of the banks and the men in them. The next significant date in Gilmer’s banking history is May 1, 1901. On this date the Farmers & Merchants National Bank was organized by W. B. Womack of Whitewright, W. C. Barnwell, J. L. Croley, T. H. Briggs, W. O. Boyd and N. M. Harrison, in the office of T. H. Briggs, in the southeast corner of the courthouse yard.
The above named men were elected as directors and in turn the directors elected the following officers:
W. B. Womack, president; N. M. Harrison, vice-president; W. O. Boyd, cashier-bookkeeper; H. P. McGaughy, assistant cashier. W. O. Boyd served as cashier the first year and resigned because of other business interests at the first annual meeting in January, 1902, and W. C. Barnwell was elected in his place and served a number of years.
The bank opened for business in the tax collector’s office in the courthouse and in about two months was moved from there to the present location. Briggs & Warren served as the bank’s attorneys.
May 1, 1901, marks several significant events in Gilmer’s meeting which took place in the courthouse, and for several weeks the bank conducted its business in the courthouse in the office of Joe Martin, then tax collector, while the new quarters were being built. May 1, 1901 marks several significant events in Gilmer’s banking life. On that date C. T. Crosby, who is now cashier at the Farmers & Merchants National Bank, began his banking career, at the First National Bank, and paradoxically, H. P. McGaughy, who is now president of the First National Bank, started out that day as a banker in Gilmer, as assistant cashier and bookkeeper with the newly organized Farmers & Merchants.Mr. McGaughy’s connection with the First National Bank dates from 1906, and he gained the presidency following the death of the late Dr. T. S. Ragland. Vice-presidents of the First National are L. G. Martin, who has been with the institution over thirty years, and V. E. Todd, who became connected with the First National at the time that institution took over the defunct State Bank. Mr. C. T. Crosby, meanwhile severed his connection with the First National Bank about 1908 and moved to Glenwood, Arkansas, where he conducted a mercantile business for three years. Returning to Gilmer in the fall of 1911, he joined the staff of the F. & M. Bank in January, 1912. The late J. P. Ray, who was acting vice-president of the F. & M. Bank when he died, had been with the bank since 1923.
And that’s a brief history of banking in Gilmer. Now, just one more backward glance to the names on that first called financial statement in Gilmer’s history, of April 13, 1900. They were: L. R. Hall, cashier; W. Boyd Sr., S. D. Futrell and J. W. Saunders, directors, and the documents were duly notarized by J. B. Oliver, notary public.
It was said about the square that the sand was so flea-infested that if one picked up a handful of it, by the time the fleas had all hopped away, there was no sand left. The stock law probably killed the flea story, but under the paving the sand is still deep, believe it or not. And the editor of The Gilmer Mirror says that fleas still live in that sand, believe it or not. At least, he says they were very much alive when The Mirror installed a new press a dozen or more years ago. It was necessary to excavate about four feet to build a foundation and have a roomy pit under the press. In doing so, the fleas came out of their hibernation and for weeks kept everyone in the office scratching. Worse than that, the man sent here by the factory to install the press was apparently allergic to fleas. At any rate he was so flea-bitten and covered with whelps that he had to be examined by the county health officer to prove that he did not have the smallpox, as some accused him.
In the early fall of 1903, someone got the idea of aiding the farmers who might haul two bales of cotton to town, but could not make it through the sand and across the square. Often it would take two teams to pull one bale of cotton through the hub-deep sand. At that time there was a sawmill and planer in the northern part of town, and shavings were hauled and spreadover the sand. Citizens marveled when they saw two horses trotting, get—trotting—across the square, pulling a bale of cotton. But the sand swallowed the shavings so quickly that this “paving” did not prove practical.
About 1907 the night train arrived about four o’clock in the morning. A passenger alighted, but decided it was too late to go to bed, instead he wandered to the deserted sand square. That morning another paving idea was born. This “unknown man” thought that a good solution would be to scrape down the clay hills joining the square and spread this clay over the sand to form a hard surface. As the merchants arrived on the square that morning, this dreamer presented his plan. He sold the idea so well, that by mid-morning, teams and scrapers were assembled and moving clay in. The south, west, and part of the north side were covered. This experiment was more successful, and made it easy to think through to crushed iron ore rock, the immediate predecessor of the present brick paving, which was laid in 1926 when Dick Denman was mayor. The deep sand of Gilmer is now only a memory.
By Mrs. J. M. Hays
My first visit to Gilmer was about forty-five years ago, when I came here with my father and brother on a wagon loaded with cotton and meal. My father was a ginner, as his stock in trade. Coming up what was known as “Culberson Hill” our pair of fine mules almost let the wagon roll back down the hill. It was raining, muddy and boggy. But the mules got down on their knees and pulled, and finally made the grade. I felt sure the mud and slush would be left behind after reaching the city, but imagine my disappointment and disgust to find the streets and square shoe mouth deep in mud. We wore pretty high-topped shoes then, too—it took about two yards of strings to lace them up.
The square was really a friendly place for pigeons, ducks, geese, chickens, hogs, dogs, horses, mules, and people all mingled together with one common purpose—to profit from their labors. People were there to sell whatever they could find. The goats loved to go to court. In fact, they acted as door-bailiffs, resting in the shade of the courthouse porches, chewing their cuds, and unmindful of whether people could get into the building to testify.
Along about 1901, the city incorporated or re-incorporated and ordinances were passed to banish Mr. Goat from court. But Mr.Tom Chandler, or Mr. Perry would trade in goats, and back they would come. On such occasions the Hays Studio porch was their sleeping quarters. We have gone to the door many times armed with broomsticks, old shoes, buckets of water, and other weapons. Mr. Goat would be just beyond range by the time the door was opened. It is needless to say much sweeping and fumigating had to be done after the hasty departure of the unwelcome guests.
Twenty-eight years ago the public school system of Gilmer Independent School District was well established and the community felt that splendid progress had been made in free public schools. The High School building, which is still in use, was built in 1915, and used for the Gilmer high school classes for the first time in the term of 1915-16. The graduating class of 1916 was the first class to graduate in the new building.
Previous to that year, the entire school, from the first to the eleventh grade had been housed in the red brick school house on Scott Street, which has become known to the present generation as the “Old Ward School.” Mr. I. A. Costen was superintendent of the Gilmer public schools at that time.
In 1931, conditions again became crowded in the Gilmer High School and changes in methods and curriculum, and teaching made a gymnasium almost a necessity, so another building was erected on the high school campus. This building, now known as the high school gym, was built to house the home economics department, band room, a large gymnasium and dressing room and auditorium. A commodious stage is also in the building, and the gymnasium and auditorium serve for almost every large function in Gilmer.
The next building program was inaugurated in 1938 when Gilmer Parent-Teacher Association pointed out the crowded condition and anticipated facilities in the old ward school. In 1915 this building was crowded with eleven grades, but in 1938 it was too crowded for seven grades. There are two outstanding reasons for this growth. One was the discovery of oil in Upshur County, which increased Gilmer’s population, and another was the compulsory attendance law, which requires every child to attend school until they are sixteen years old. Twenty-five years ago, a child could stop school any time their parents gave their consent. After the movement had been thoroughly publicized by the P.-T. A. a bond election was held and the present handsome ward school building was erected in 1938. It was opened for school usewith the September term of that year. In 1941, the old red building was torn down and the material salvaged to be incorporated with new material to build a Negro school in the southern part of the city.
Twenty-eight years ago, Gilmer had just become an Affiliated School with 16 credits. Now the Gilmer High School offers 36½ units of accredited subjects to their pupils, and each student can choose the most of his subjects.
Gilmer has three friendly churches, working together for the spiritual and moral development of the town and surrounding country.
The first church organized in Gilmer was the First Baptist Church. It was first located in a log building on Montgomery Street. This was soon exchanged for a frame building a block north of the square on Titus, on the corner east of the Ragland Clinic. It was over sixty years ago that this building was used, and the church remained there many years. The records of the church from its beginning, were kept here, but when they disappeared, with them went the early history. After a long period of years a brick church was built diagonally across the corner from the site of the present church building. This was a very elaborate building with vari-colored window panes in ornate designs, as was the architectural style of that period. The pews, costing $1,700.00, were bought by the Women’s Missionary Union, and when the present building was erected in 1910, these same pews were moved to it where they are still in use. The continued growth made it necessary to erect an annex north of the main building. Just a few years ago the church installed a new $3,000 organ.
The next church organized in Gilmer was the Methodist Church, which dates back to about 1870. The work became a half-time station in 1894, and a full-time station in 1902. The records are not errorless, but the following have served as superintendents of the Sunday School: Gus E. Warren, M. P. Mell, W. C. Barnwell, Prof. Hibbits, John Mathis, Louis Martin, John Brogoitti; Romie Bishop, Warren W. Whittlesey, and at present, Mrs. Irvin T. Andrews.
The pastors in order were: Rev. Cruchfield, W. W. Horner, Rev. Fladger, Rev. Ball, Rev. Bloodsworth, J. C. Carr, G. A. Tower, Stuart Nelson, H. L. McGee, Dr. Ridley Moody, C. F. Smith, J. A. Stafford, H. M. Timmons, J. C. Carr, H. J. Hays, Alton Tooke, C. M. Myres, S. W. Thomas, G. W. Lekey, Jesse Lee, A. A. Tharp, Stewart Glendenning, G. W. McPhail, Ed H. Harris, Leo Hopkins and Irvin T. Andrews.
The present parsonage was built during the ministry of S. W. Thomas. The Sunday School has an enrollment of 400. The church membership is 765. Value of church property is listed at $51,000.
William Holloway from Longview came to Gilmer in 1893 and delivered a series of sermons in the courthouse. As the result of this preaching, eight souls were baptized into Christ. Among the number were Mr. and Mrs. S. T. Richardson, Sheriff J. W. Willeford and wife, a Mrs. Douphrate, and Mrs. J. L. Basset. At the close of this meeting the church was organized and met regularly on every first day of the week in the courthouse. The following year, Bro. Holloway held a second meeting in which Horace Douphrate and wife were baptized along with others. In the meantime, the following families, who were already members, moved to Gilmer: Mr. and Mrs. Will Parker Sr., the J. M. Meadows and Bob Sturdivant’s family. The congregation continued to meet in the courthouse until 1897 when a church building was erected. For several years there was no local minister, but meetings were held annually by leading evangelists, including T. W. Phillips and W. F. Ledlow. The following preachers have done work with the congregation: E. A. Finley, Farmer, Foster, Gayle Oler, Ernest Witt and Clifton Rogers.
The church has grown from eight members to over a hundred. The building has been remodeled three times. The church is planning on building a $15,000 house as soon as the price of building material becomes normal. The building fund is now $12,000.
In March, 1916, Judge W. R. Stephens was serving as Mayor of Gilmer. During Mr. Stephens’ administration, the city completed a sanitary sewerage system which had been started under Mayor Tom Briggs, and inaugurated several improvements for the town. Notable among these improvements was the reduction of fire insurance rates through improvements in the fire department and the purchase of the first motorized truck and equipmentwhich was the pride of the entire county. In the April election of 1916, Judge T. H. Briggs was elected mayor. He had previously served the town four years, from 1910 to 1914, and during that time his accomplishments included the graveling of the courthouse square, and beginning a sanitary sewerage system. A contract was made with the Public Service Company to furnish the city light and power. Montgomery and several other streets were graveled during Judge Briggs’ second term as mayor. Residential streets were graveled, and the square; Tyler and Buffalo streets from the square to the Cotton Belt railroad were paved with brick during R. M. Denman’s administration as mayor. Mr. Denman was followed in office by L. N. Coe. Probably Mr. Coe’s greatest accomplishment was in securing natural gas for the town.
Gilmer today is one of the outstanding towns of East Texas. It has conveniences that many towns larger than it doesn’t have, including city mail delivery. Gilmer has a number of merchandising establishments, including four wholesale concerns, that do an extensive business throughout the country. There are two national banks here with a combined deposit of over five million dollars. Gilmer has a magnificent high school, with buses bringing high school pupils in from the surrounding districts. It has a beautiful grade school and a first class school for negroes. Gilmer has a public library, a public park, an active chamber of commerce and two motion picture theaters. There are four friendly churches here, all cooperating together for the moral and spiritual growth of the town. There are two cotton gins located here, a lumber mill, two ice plants, a cottonseed oil mill, a fertilizer plant, a bakery, and many other industrial enterprises. Gilmer is a clean, moral town, and is noted for its absence of saloons, honky tonks and other places of questionable character. The citizens of Gilmer are a big hearted people, working together in a friendly cooperation, with the one goal in view—the happiness of its citizens and the development of Gilmer and Upshur County. With its beautiful paved streets, its modern residences, its beautiful schools and churches, and above all, its friendly citizenship, we can’t understand why everybody doesn’t want to live in Gilmer!
The town of Big Sandy had its beginning at old Chilton, near where the Chilton Cemetery is located, back in the early 1870’s. A man by the name of Smith, and probably others, ran a store at that place as early as 1873. About the year 1873 the Texas and Pacific railroad was completed through here and a period of development began. About the year 1880, a man by the nameof Ferguson built a hotel and saloon just west of the present site of Big Sandy, and the village of Ferguson came into existence. There was no Big Sandy till about the time of the completion of the Cotton Belt railroad in about the year 1880. This road at first only extended from Tyler, intersecting the Texas and Pacific at this place. It was a narrow gauge road and was known as the “Tyler Tap.” It was later extended on north and later changed into a standard gauge road. A switch was built here at the intersection of the two roads, known as “Big Sandy Switch.” Around this switch the town began to build up. The name, Big Sandy, was derived from Big Sandy Creek and the town was known for a long time as Big Sandy Switch.
Two Jews, Arenson and Yesner, put in a general merchandising business at the Switch, and did a prosperous business. Other businesses began to be established and Big Sandy began her career. It seems that no one knows just when the postoffice was established, but it must have been in 1880 or 1881. A man by the name of Gee was probably the first postmaster.
A Norwegian by the name of Yancy ran a blacksmith shop here in the early days. He later moved to Gilmer. Mr. Slagel also ran a blacksmith shop here for a number of years.
In those days, anyone was allowed to sell whiskey that could pay the license and revenue, and saloons were both common and proper. The whiskey business was the best paying business of that time. Mr. Joe Ingram ran a sawmill near by and put in a saloon at Big Sandy as a side line. Lee Trinkle and John Lowery both ran saloons at Big Sandy in those days. These saloons were popular gathering places for the men around, with their billiard and pool tables, offering means for recreation and amusement. A fiddler like Jerry Walton or Simon Shepperd usually furnished the crowd with music. These saloons were kept open day and night, and it was no uncommon thing to see drunken men lying out in the streets or by the road side.
Melvin Watkins put in a little drug store about the year 1884. Mr. Bob Ferrell also ran a drug business for a while. Mr. Ferrell later united with Billie Shepperd in a general merchandising business under the firm name of Shepperd and Ferrell. This firm was later dissolved and Mr. Shepperd and T. J. Kelly went into business together. They built the first brick building in Big Sandy in 1892. This building was later remodeled and converted into the Commercial Hotel.
Dr. Folks ran a little grocery business down near the Cotton Belt. P. L. Fox ran a restaurant and grocery business down eastof the depot. Mr. G. A. Tohill worked a while for Mr. Fox and took, as part pay, Mr. Fox’s beautiful daughter, Miss Essie. Mr. Tohill was made postmaster, in which capacity he served for a number of years.
Mr. Pop Gorman, grandfather of Vance Gorman, ran a large business located about where Clyde Mings is now. It faced the railroad. There was a considerable gully running east and west along where W. P. Mings sidewalk is now. There was a little bridge across it where the street turns south toward the railroad. J. M. Dorrough had a considerable business located where the bank building now stands. A little way north of this building was a rail fence, and most of the town north of that fence was in cultivation. In 1896 W. P. Mings put up the brick building on the corner where he did a big business. Later, in 1904, he had the other two buildings east of this erected. The next year, before either of these buildings were occupied, he sold the one on the east to G. C. Ferrell, who put in a first class drug store, which he ran as long as he lived, and since is being run by his son, Grady Ferrell.
In the early days the most popular part of the business section of Big Sandy was down next to the railroad. A number of brick buildings were put up down there, which now stand vacant.
Big Sandy has had a very romantic history. Dame Fortune has never smiled upon her in a miraculous way, yet she has had her periods of prosperity as well as adversity. She has suffered from fires, thieves and robbers. In spite of all this, however, Big Sandy continued to grow steadily, and until a few years ago she held a place of considerable importance in the commercial world. The business houses now standing and others that burned, were occupied and doing flourishing businesses. Crowds came to Big Sandy, especially on Saturdays and trades days, and took wagon loads of goods home with them. There were two banks, both of which had all the business they could handle. Big Sandy was recognized as the best cotton market in this part of the country. But the motor vehicle and the good highways have taken a considerable part of the business away from Big Sandy. The development of the larger towns near by, and the easy means of transportation have shifted a part of the trade to these towns. Lately, however, Big Sandy is gaining back what she has lost. A number of new businesses have been put in, and a large oil refinery is being built here, which will add considerably to Big Sandy. While Big Sandy has lost part of her business, she has gained in importance as a residence community. She has all modern conveniences which offer ideal service. With its magnificent high school, withpupils coming in from all the surrounding country, with its four friendly churches, all cooperating together in the religious and moral development of the town, and the social, friendly citizenship, all combine to make Big Sandy a pleasant place to live.
The town of Rosewood occupies the location of the old Double Springs community. Back in the beginning, Double Springs was a thickly settled community, filled with a lot of mighty fine people. There was a school and a Missionary Baptist Church located here since the early days of Texas history. Some of the early settlers were: the McKinneys, the Wades, the Stephensons, John King, Dr. Carson, Rev. William Arrington, the Bullocks, the Hurts, the Carters, Berry Wilson, Pack Williams, Henry Petty, Steve Williams, and many others, living like most other people lived at that time.
When the Marshall and East Texas railroad was built through here, it passed through Double Springs, and the town of Rosewood was built up. Town lots were sold and soon a considerable town was in operation. Several stores were opened and Rosewood became a considerable trading center. A bank was established and a postoffice secured. A nice school building was erected and a large school was maintained for several years.
After the railroad went out of business and was discontinued, Rosewood, like all other towns along the road, lost its importance as a commercial town. The bank was closed. The postoffice was discontinued and rural delivery established. The Rosewood school district is at present a part of the Harmony consolidated district, with the school building located just west of Rosewood on the Rhonesboro road. This is a fully accredited high school. They have a nice rock building, with all modern equipment, with a number of buses bringing high school pupils from the surrounding districts.
The early settlers of Shady Grove were of a high moral class of people. It seems that the rough, lawless characters that we hear so much about back in the early days, were absent in the Shady Grove settlement. Texas was, at this time, a country with its boundless resources undeveloped. She was offering unusual inducements to settlers, and all roads leading to Texas were crowded with emigrants to the Lone Star State.
It is not known at this time just who made the first settlementin the present Shady Grove area. We know that the community was well established before the war between the United States and Mexico in 1846. When Texas joined the United States in 1846, Mexico declared war on the United States. Tom Ellison, then a young man, came on horseback from Tennessee to join the forces against Mexico. He came through Shady Grove and stopped a while with some of the citizens. After the war was over, he came back and homesteaded a tract of land on Big Sandy creek, and built the log house in which his son, Jim Ellison, now lives.
The Snows came to Texas in 1849. Sam Snow built a little house and cleared a plot of ground. The first year he made one bale of cotton. He carried that cotton to Shreveport to market. He sold it for a little over a hundred dollars, and was paid the hundred dollars in gold. He still had that hundred dollars in gold, with other accumulated gold money, when he died in 1903.
The Mayfields, McWhorters, Calhouns, and Wilsons all came together in wagons from South Carolina in 1848. Charlie Calhoun had come to Texas sometime before and was living near Fort Worth. Fort Worth was at time only a pioneer Indian fort, with a few settlements nearby. These new comers went to Fort Worth in search of Charlie. Failing to locate him, and being in danger of hostile Indians, they returned to East Texas and settled near Shady Grove. The black lands were not very attractive to settlers at that time. Water was scarce, and there was no timber for fencing. Barbed wire had not come into use at that time, so the black lands seemed worthless to these South Carolinians.
The Mayfields settled north of Shady Grove, at what is now known as the Jot Walker place. Billie Calhoun settled up near old Calloway. Dave McWhorter settled on Blue Branch, but later moved to Shady Grove. The Whites came to Texas before the Civil War and settled at old Chilton, near where Big Sandy now stands. They later moved to Shady Grove. John Wilson settled near Sam Snow. He was a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade. He made guns for the Confederate soldiers during the war. Capt. Lucy Iris Wilson, an Army nurse of national fame, is a great granddaughter of John Wilson.
The Crows, Stephensons and Prices all came together from Tennessee in 1851. A Mr. Mann settled where Hubert Snow now lives, back in the beginning. He sold out to Mr. Humphreys, who in turn sold the place to Green Weldon, just after the close of the Civil War. The Coxes and Orrs settled where old Paint Rock stood. They sold out to Jeff Stringer, a Primitive Baptist preacher.William Baird also settled near old Paint Rock, and ran a large water mill down on Big Sandy creek. Owen Davis settled where John Mooney now lives in 1845. James Blackstone came in here in the early days. Elias Hail, an ex-Texas Ranger, settled north of Shady Grove. Ed Elder came from Comanche County in 1883, and exchanged his place there for the place where Guy Weldon now lives. Wiley P. Hays came, when a young man, from Tennessee and joined his fortunes with the people of Shady Grove. Amos Willingham settled where A. T. Hill now lives. F. M. Satterwhite, a Primitive Baptist preacher, settled at the Lowe place. These family names, together with many others, are woven inseparably into the history of Shady Grove.
The first church at Shady Grove was established back in the beginning of the settlement by a congregation of Missionary Baptists. They erected a building and continued to meet for some time. Later, some evangelists of the Church of Christ held revival meetings here and a congregation was established. The Baptists sold their building to them and disbanded.
A Primitive Baptist Church was established at Paint Rock with Jeff Stringer as minister. Later F. M. Satterwhite served this church. A Missionary Baptist Church was organized and a building put up at Myrtle Springs, just west of Shady Grove.
Before the World War, the fourth Sunday in each month was spent in singing and preaching. Lunch was spread at noon, and the afternoon was spent in singing. This custom had been kept up for years, but as flour and sugar and other foods were scarce, these meetings were discontinued. After the war, conditions had changed so much it was impossible to restore the old order. Now the fourth Sunday in June is Home Coming Day.
In the latter part of the 1880’s, some of the citizens of Shady Grove were sending their boys away to school. This was inconvenient and expensive, so they decided it would be better to build a school at home. Accordingly, in 1889, a number of the leading citizens organized a board of directors, erected a new building, hired a competent teacher, and opened up a high school to run eight months in the year. The first teacher was C. B. Reader from Add-Ran Christian University, then located at Thorp Springs.
When the school opened up in the fall of 1889, there was a number of local boys and girls in attendance. Prof. Reader onlytaught one year. He was followed by Prof. A. F. Shepperd, who also held a degree from the Christian University. The board of directors made all rules and regulations governing the school. The rules were strict and well enforced.
Miss Mittie Warren from Gilmer taught piano music in connection with the school, and while Mr, Shepperd was principal, they had a brass band. The school did a fine work, and sent out a number of young teachers. In a few years, however, the board of directors disorganized and turned the management of the school over to the local trustees. Soon after this the district voted bonds and erected a nice two-story school building and equipped it in the modern way. It soon proved to be too small to meet the requirements of the school, so it was torn down and a larger one put up in 1935. This building had fine class rooms, a large auditorium and stage, two halls, cloak rooms, and library and store rooms. The school had electric lights and running water. It was destroyed by fire in 1943. The present building was ready for use in 1943.
Immediately after the organization of the high school at Shady Grove, people began to move in from the surrounding country to take advantage of the school. Some of these families boarded pupils from a distance who were attending school. A post office was established, with a star route from Gilmer, that delivered mail twice a week. R. D. White and J. W. Wall, and S. B. Davis ran general supply stores, and Shady Grove became quite a business center. At one time Shady Grove had two general supply stores, two blacksmith shops, a drug store, post office, barber shop, a shoe shop, a cotton gin and grist mill. John P. Mooney operated a telephone system with a switchboard in his residence. Dr. Sorrells, Dr. Duke, and Dr. Walker all practiced medicine at Shady Grove.
About the year 1905, the M. & E. T. Railroad was built north of Shady Grove and the town of Rhonesboro was laid off. Most of the business at Shady Grove moved to Rhonesboro, and Shady Grove lost its importance as a trading center.
The citizenship of any community will make almost a complete change in fifty or sixty years. It is interesting to note that very few people, who were here fifty years ago, are here now. The old people have passed away and the young ones have become old. The cemetery has grown from a few scattered graves to a thickly populated “City of the Dead.”