Denton County, Texas - Chapter 15, 1918 (part 3 of 3)

Donaldson was arrested and brou'^ht before Judge Daugherty and after an investio-ation in which F. E. Finer was prosecutor and J. A. Carroll defen^^ant he was bound over to the District court in the sum of $4,000.

Such is the eff"ect of the grocers' poison. It fills our prisons with wretches, slavs our citizens and leaves hundreds of crying orphans to mourn its awful work.

Our new county court is composed of the following gentlemen: Matt Daup-herty, presiding judge; F. E. Finer, county attorney ; J: M. McNiel, county clerk ; C. A. Williams, sheriff.

Justices of the Peace. Precinct No. 1: S. A. Venters, on the first Monday, T. W. Daugherty on the second Monday; Precinct No. 2 : B. V. Snuffer on the first Tuesday after the first Monday, William M. Quick on the first Tuesday after the third Monday; Precinct No. 3: James Johnson on the first Wednesdav after the first Monday ; Precinct No. 4 : J. L; Sparks on the first Thursday after the first Monday, William Furneaux on the first Thursday after the third Mondav ; Precinct No. 5 : J. M. McCombs on the first Friday after the first Monday, I. P. Sublett on the first Friday after the third Monday : Precinct No. 6 : A. Robinson on the first Saturday after the first Monday. R. W. Allen on the first Sat'^rday after the third Monday; Precinct No. 7: no officer's; P^-ec^'nct No. 8: G. A. Grissom on the second Tuesday after the first Monday.

To show ^ron that we '"om"' to the fror>t as a city. I find that Mr. R. M. Collins is advert^'sin"- that he is back from market and now has drv n^oods, rrocer^'es. hats boots, shoes, clothm"-. m^'sses' and ladies' hats, m^'sses' and children's shoes, balmorals, lace anklets con'^ress gaiters.

Zkrkil Jackson Harmonson

ZKRKIL JACKSON HARMONSON Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 3, 1822. Moved with his parents to Piatt County, Missouri, and then to Texas, and settled near Lewisville in 1845. He assisted in the organization of Denton County in 1846. He and his family with others were organized into a Methodist Church in 1845 by Rev. J. E. Ferguson. He moved later from Holford Prairie and settled near Roanoke on Denton Creek. A much venerated pioneer citizen - one who helped to rub out the moccasin tracks and to substitute religion for the Indian war dance. He died December 2, 1891-

Born in Piatt County, Missouri, May 23, 1836. Moved with his pai'ents to Texas in 1845 and in that year joined the Methodist Church. He maiTied and settled on Denton Creek near Justin and entered the stock business. He was one of our foremost stock raisers. He chased the Indian and buffalo out and substituted cattle and made a useful citizen for sixty-two years. He died August 10, 1907.

In fact he was almost dead. His story was that the Indians were at Mr. Erwin's, on Elm, a few miles east of town, and were scalping- women and children by dozens. Several citizens were brought to town by the report only to find that the messenger nor anybody else had seen any Indians at all.

It was reported a few days ago that a large body of Indians were seen near the mouth of Oliver's Creek last week. I also heard that the same bunch was seen going north near Decatur with a large bunch of horses.

You remember Billy Egan, the one the boys call "Old Dad" ; well he got married last Sunday to Miss Mollie Taylor. Brother J. C. Smith married them.

One of Doctor Bailey's children, a small one about two years old, ran off from home the other day and was found by some people coming- to town. The kid was marching along toward Red River and said that he was hunting his pa.

A loyal nigger who was serving on a jury down below was asked if he knew what an oath was. He replied : "Yas, sah ; yas sah. It am a Dimmycrat a cussin' God A'mity."

Since school has started goosequills are at a premium and I was lucky enough to shoot a wild one the other day and the feathers were all pulled out of his wings before I could get him home - wanted them for pens.

Eads, Baines & Co. are doing a nice business but say that Indians are hard on trade. I guess they are right. Indians are hard on lots of things besides trade. They are hard on the nerves of a fellow from Arkansas.

You must be interested in this country, judging by the way you insist that I tell you all that happens. Tf you will give me her name, T will keep track of all that concei-ns her and thus save writing so much that you are not interested in. I am sure that it is some fair damsel that causes you to be so insistent and not any interest in what is going on generally.

Rev. William Bates, circuit rider, preached an able sermon at the Masonic Hall today. Rev. J. C. Smith announced that he would occupy every fifth Sunday during the year.

Professor Bell has completed his new residence about a mile from town. It has a neat sandstone chimney built from stone quarried near the building.

S. B. Bowden was in town the other dav and told me that Justice I. P. Sublett was thrown from his horse while coming home from Fort Worth c»nd badlv bruised up. Some dogs fighting caused the horse to throw him.

Thomas Fry heard that cougar again one night last week and he savs that the uproar among his stock was something awful. He got up and took his shotp"un. which he had loaded for couf^ar and went out to see if he could find the cat. He found him prowling near his barn and proceeded to let him have both barrels in the shoulder. The cougar roared like a veritable lion and made a snrin"- toward Fry, but was too badlv hit to make it. and sank on his side on the ground. Mr. Frv took his sixshooter and slipped up to take a look at the animal and found that he was not dead, but was just pos.suming. so he would not shoot a^-ain, but saved his shots in case he should need them. The congar got up and crawled away into the woods. Fiy said that it looked so big and so dan^^-erous that he was willing to let it alone. This coup-ar has nrobablv devoured a hundred calves and colts in this vicinity. He killed eight dogs for Alexander Brown in a single night. ^

Thomas M. Carroll, was elected to the state senate in Missouri, defeating his brother, E. B. Carroll. Thomas is a Democrat and E. B. is a Radical, while W. H., another brother, is a Radical. As you know, the Major is a first-class old Democrat.

I met William Claytor of Lewisville the other day and he had three of his fingers torn ofi; in a cotton gin. He told me of quite a bunch of accidents in that community lately. Joe Saunders hit George Craft in the head with a grubbing hoe, cutting a beautiful gash over his left eye - it was about two inches long.

Five men dressed in Yankee clothes, with bows and arrows, charged on a little son of a family named Johns, shooting at him with their arrows. The arrows went over him, but the boy, thinking they were Indians, ran until he was exhausted, and lay out in the weeds all night. The next morning his parents found him completely deranged. He is still in that deplorable condition. I heard that there was some hope that the child's reason would be restored. I understand that it was a joke, but I would not write what I think of any set of men that would play such a joke. They ought to be made to pay the most severe penalty for such actions. ;~^"

Mr. Allen of Elizabethtown was up a few days ago and reported that Chas. Sutton was thought to be mortally wounded by being struck on the head with a fence stake in the hands of M, Black. It was "white mule" and not politics.

You remember Doctor Kearby and family? Of course, you do. Well, I met the Doctor's son, Jerome Kearby, a few days ago. He was visiting his father after having been engaged in teaching school at Pekin, Kentucky. He told me that he was going to locate at Kaufman and practice law. He is a bright young fellow and will do well in his profession.

Thomas Poindexter pulled a rattlesnake six feet long out from under a log the other day and killed it. It had fifteen rattles and was, I believe, the biggest rattlesnake I ever saw.

L. Carter were married. Of course Rev. J. C. Smith married them. That old man does more marrying than all the rest of the preachers and justices in Denton County put together.

You remember Elder Terrell Jasper, the Christian preacher, who lives down south of town. Well, he was in town the other day and told me a pretty good story. A couple met him and wanted him to marry them and they having the necessary papers he started with them to a neighbor's house, but as they were going along they concluded that it was too far to that house, so they had him stop and mairy them right out on the prairie.

I went to church at the IMasonic Hall last Sunday night and heard one of the most eloquent and effective sermons I ever listened to. Rev. W. E. Bates preached and his subject was, "Death and the Future State." He is a wonderfully effective preacher and had tears rolling from the eyes of most of his congregation most of the time while he was preaching.

It has been as cold as blue blazes part of the time, but is rather pleasant today and the boys are fixing to go out on the prairie hunting tomorrow if it is still pleasant. You cannot tell what the weather will be.

this place. Elder Terrell Jasper has concluded to labor in other fields and his date is now awaiting another occupant. Rev. Smith preaches for the Methodists.

Professor Starke of Pilot Point was in town the other day and told me that he had been all over North Texas and that Denton County was in the best shape and had the best prospects of any county he had been in.

R. E. Claytor is the official agent for the sale of Hon. Alexander Stevens' "Official History of the War." I am going to buy a copy when I see him and then I can read it as well as you.

J. M. McNeil, our county clerk, has been over across Elm visiting and reports that the people are building a town over there so that they will stand a chance at the county seat. They have built a Masonic Hall and a church close to where the old church on Cottonwood stood. He says they have built several residences and that the best land is worth not less than ten dollars per acre. Land is getting too high in this country - it will have to get cheaper.

I saw from a copy of the Vidette, a paper published in Pilot Point, that some toughs smashed the windows of the postoffice, a law office and a shoe shop.

Lots of new comers, as the boys call them, have 'arrived in Denton County and they all seem well pleased with their new home. I talked to a man named J. M. Clark, from Mississippi, who says he is going to write to his neighbors and tell them that this is a much better country than the one he left.

A bunch of Ku-Klux have been working on Grapevine Prairie and the better class of citizens seem much pleased with the results, but the negroes and some white folks are not so well satisfied with what has happened.

Well, spring is beginning to show signs of its approach and the farmers are getting ready to plant corn and the fishermen are hunting up their tackle.

Well, we are here and the world is moving and we must perforce move with it. The soldiers at Jacksboro have a newspaper and 1 had the good luck to see a copy the other day. It is a very small sheet, but very loud in its tone. It is called The Flea.

Captain K. H. Hopkins told me that Bud Cannon, who has just returned from Custer s camp, saw aDout fifty head of horses that ne knew had been stolen by the Indians from citizeiis in this county.

We have had no mail this weeK on account of high water. We are getting used to niissmg our weekly mail, but this time at least it is not the fault of the mail carrier, for 1 heard Mr. Liewis try say that Elm is two miles wide, but is falling fast now, so we expect to be able to get out soon.

1 saw a man from Gainesville who told that the Reserve Indians had recently captured a train of wagons from Grayson County and murdered all the drivers and then drove the outfit right into the post. The Indians are supposed to have said that they did not fear the negro guard.

The sheriff of Grayson County, with a posse, came here a few days ago and arrested a man named Munn on a charge of horse theft. It seems that he is charged with stealing a horse from a Mr. Savage of Grayson County. He is the tenth man arrested here on the charge of stealing horses since the first of March.

We had a temperance speaking at the Masonic Hall week before last and Rev. J. C. Smith, Professor Bell, Professor Dixon, Colonel Harry Mounts, and Major Hiram McMurray delivered addresses advocating abstaining from alcoholic drinks.

Doctor Gotcher has decided to locate here. He prospected around over the county and finally located here. You do not know him, as he came in here since you left.

Mr. Lewis Fry, our new sheriff, who was appointed in the place of Mr. Gray, came in from McKinney last Thursday with three prisoners - a negro named Crawford, who is charged with rape, and two white men named Pitts and Goodwin, who are charged with stealing horses. They will be tried before Judge Hart at this term of the court. Pitts and Goodwin were ironed together. The sheriff says that shortly after he left McKinney he was told that ten or twelve men were waiting for him on Little Elm, so he "cut through" and came in through the country. He had twelve men along as guards.

By the way, I almost forgot to tell you one of the most important items of news that has happened - James Blount and Miss Jessamine Kearby are married. They got married April 1st. Rev. W. W. Mitchell performed the ceremony at the residence of Dr. E. P. Kearby.

Smith, Blount & Hughes are preparing to build an awning in front of their place of business. Some place for the boys to shade while they whittle and chew and swap yarns.

Our sheriff, Mr. Lewis Fry, left about ten o'clock last Tuesday night for McKinney with five prisoners. He had in irons Pitts, Goodwin and Keek, who are enroute to the penitentiary. I suppose he thought it required a heavy guard, for he had a

A young man was the raiser of quite a disturbance in our city the first Saturday in the month. He wanted to get license to marry and could not get his daddy's consent nor the consent of his girl's mammy, hence the disturbance. He lives out in the country somewhere.

Professor Cralton of Bonham is to preach at Pilot Point but would not come to Denton. Well, we will be big enough some day to attract able preachers.

The following named have been recommended for appointment to office in this county : J. B. Sawyer, Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1; Curtis B. Houston, Constable; J. R. Masters, J. P. Precinct No. 2; Terrel Jasper and Morgan Caudle, Justices of the Peace for Precinct No. 5; Mr. Baird, Constable; Andrew Koozer, Constable Precinct No. 3 ; J. B. Sawyer, Notary Public, County Commissioner and Mayor of Denton ; J. R. Masters, Mayor of Pilot Point and A. W. Cooke, Marshal. This will give Mr. Sawyer four different official titles and he was induced to accept by his friends signing a petition.

Thomas Jenkins, the mail carrier, tells me than on August 20, a week ago Friday, thirty Indians rode up close to Jacksboro and began to gather horses. They rode through the streets of the town at full speed whooping, shooting and killing yearlings. The people were aroused from their slumbers and hastily formed a company and rode out to meet the savages. They met them at the edge of the town, riding like devils incarnate. The whites poured a volley into their midst and several fell off of their horses, but one could not be found after the skirmish was over. The Indians fired eighteen or twenty shots, but no one was injured. They only secured two horses, but had it not been for the prompt action of the citizens, every horse in the community would have either been killed or captured.

Dr. D. S. Jontz is going to hold a meeting at the Masonic Hall on Holford Prairie. The people are expecting a big time. There will be a dinner on the ground.

John F. Hicks, who lives about seven miles from town on Hickory Creek, got Colonel Lacy to bud some peaches for him a year ago and he brought to town some fine fruit from those trees a few days ago.

A young man named John Wesley Baxter, whose father is said to be Thomas Baxter of Wellington Square, Ontario, Canada, died at Elizabethtown of congestion of the brain. He died a week ago yesterday.

On Monday night, the twenty-third, Mrs. Celia Carroll, wife of J. A. Carroll, Esq., died of pulmonary consumption. She was born in Ozark, Missouri in 1842 and came to Texas when very young and was married to Major Carroll in December, 1858.

The world moves but it moves slowly with us just at present and we are all peaceable and blessed with fair crops and plenty to eat and wear.

Ku Klux or Vigilants have been working down in Dallas County, if the reports that I hear are correct and I suppose they are. On the third of this month five men and a boy were found hung on Hackberry Creek on Grapevine Prairie. Men named James, Akers, and Reco-rd, and his young brother, a boy about fifteen years old, were all found hanging on a pole stuck in the fork of a tree and then propped up with two forks like you were going to hang a hog. About three miles away a man named Russell and one named Greer were found hanging to a limb.

On the twenty-fifth of August Jim Daugherty brought in a young man named Richard Davis who was badly wounded by being shot through the body near the base of the spine. He jumped from a wagon and his pistol caught in the cover of the wagon causing its discharge.

Say, do you know it requires firmness as well as moral courage to be a Democrat in these times? It will be better for us in the long run to stick to it, however.

in time for break last in the morning, so he has opened up a stall and lets them come after it. We have fresh beef every morning except Sunday.

Mr, Allen of Collin County carried a bale of cotton to Mc- Kinney and it weighed 480 pounds. It was sold at auction to Z. E. Ranney and brought 171 o cents a pound.

Judge Matt Daugherty, who started to Greenville the other day to attend court brought the news that Judge Hart had been shot, losing his right arm. The shooting occurred about seven and one-half miles from Bonham on the Greenville road. It is thought that a brother of the soldier whom Hart shot in Greenville a year or so ago did the shooting. It is reported that he was at Bonham the evening before Hart started for Greenville.

Material is arriving for the erection of a college in Denton. We are destined to have as good an institution of learning as any town in North Texas. Our people have the right spirit.

I want to ask you, how do loafers get their grub? This town has some that "toil not, neither do they spin," and while they are not exactly arrayed like the lily yet they live and look fat and sleek.

Prof. A. Knight has qualified as Tax Assessor and Collector and Rev. John Haynes as Treasurer. Both have entered into the discharge of the duties of their offices.

Well, Denton will soon have a daddy and that hole in the public square that was there when you were here will either be filled up or converted into a well. It is a dangerous thing the way it is.

A man up at Pilot Point the other day got his fill of "bust head" and proceeded to beat several citizens over the head with his sixshooter and took a shot at the marshal of the town. He then got a shot in the neck that quieted him down but did not kill him. At times he claims he was a lieutenant in the Federal army and at other times to have belonged to Lee. Says he has run away from several places, Sulphur Springs being the last place. He has kept the town of Pilot Point in a state of excitement ever since he arrived.

I understand that R. H. Hoffman of Fannin County and Miss Mollie Clark were married about two weeks ago. I do not know him, but do know her and he is lucky.

Rev. J. C. Smith officiated at the wedding of Dr. R. S. Ross and Miss Jane Carter on the tenth. There was a fine dinner served. The boys all regretted to lose the Doctor from the bachelor ranks, but these deserters are common and we have never punished one yet except by filling his seat with another candidate.

Well, our mail is coming in better shape now and I hope that it will continue to come that way. The reason is that the postmaster at Dallas has been fired and a young man by the name of Jones has his job. Your letter came through in less than a week.

The sheriff captured a man named Dodge near Pilot Point the other day and placed him in jail. He w^as charged with horse theft, and was carried to Fort Worth.

We had a protracted meeting by the Presbyterians that closed a couple of weeks ago. The following preachers, some of whom you know, were engaged in the work. Some of them however, were not members of that church : Rev. Messrs. Gregory, Carter, Donald, Haynes, J. C. Smith, Holford, and Lovejoy. There was considerable interest, but no conversions.

I am writing you this in a hui-ry and want you to see our friend Holmes and ask him if he can pay me that money he owes me. It is not due for several months, but I have a chance to use it and if he will send it right on you may use this as your authority to deduct the last six months interest. Please attend to this at once and write me as soon as you learn whether or not he will be able to pay it now.

Jesse Chinn >v'as married on the twenty-eighth of last month to Miss Angle Baird. They were married at the home of the father of the bride in Breckenridge, Dallas County, by Rev. G. L. Blewett.

Anderson Lewis told me the other day that Indians attacked the stage Wednesday before Christmas and the driver shot away all the loads in his sixshooter and then escaped without any one being hurt.

George McCormick and Miss Annie Reed were married at R. M. Collin's residence on December 23. Judge John E. Martin officiated. There was a fine supper set for the guests and yours truly made a hand.

A seventeen-year-old negro named Charley Reed was discovered in J. M. McNeil & Co.'s store about six o'clock on Thursday night of Christmas week. Jim Smith happened to go to the store and opened the door and found the negro with his arms full of Christmas goods and filling his paunch full of candy and sugar. Jim said he was really afraid that the negro was going

A new-comer named Goldston who lived on Clear Creek was called to his door one night last week and killed with a doublebarrelled shotgun in the hands of a man named Sawyer. It is said that Goldston offended Sawyer by saying that "There was a number of cow and hog thieves in his neighborhood." Sawyer is still at large.

Doctor Hughes had the misfortune to lose the kitchen to his dwelling last week by fire. It was a total loss with all its contents. The Doctor thinks it was set fire.

On December 19, Miss Sue Owen of Denton was married to J. C. Williams of Grayson County. On December 27 Zachary Taylor of Wise County and Miss Mary S. Lawler of Denton were married.

Do you know that Uncle Johnny Love joy is doing a great work in this country? The old man is traveling and preaching and doing lots of good.

The Dallas Herald, on which we depend for lots of our news, has changed its publication day from Saturday to Thursday and the mail leaves there Wednesday and we now miss the Herald until the next week.

The police court has ordered that lots numbers 1 and 6 in the town of Denton be set aside for church purposes and the first church that builds a house worth $2,000 gets choice of the lots.

John Harris, your old acquaintance, has bought the interest of his partner, T. C. Douglas, and will hereafter conduct the drug business at Lewisville by himself.

The mail carrier infoi'med me that on Thursday of last week Indians appeared in the vicinty of Decatur and drove off fifty horses in broad daylight. Nobody interfered with them. I hear that every Indian has left the reservation and the commander on Cache Creek does not know where any of them ai'e. Nice lot of soldiei's we have to look after our lives and property.

Robert Newman, who lives up on Oliver Creek, in Wise County, was here the other day and says that the Indians were near Decatur ac'ain last Saturday, a week ago. They stole twelve horses from Ed Blythe. They got these at night, however.

We all hated to see Dr. Jim Blount leave us. He went to Canton, in Van Zandt County, where he will practice medicine and enter the drug business.

There is no excuse for any one being idle in Denton now. The Cranston pottery is hunting laborers and is ottering $20.00 a month and board. The money is to be specie, so you see that any man who wants to can work at good wages. The pottery is running full time and needing more men. I went over to Dallas the other day and the Crutchfield House is now called the City Hotel. The meals are just the same, though.

Jim Sipes and a fellow from California had a set-to in Pilot Point last Sunday and Sipes was badly cut up while the Californian was beaten over the head with a bust-head bottle.

1 met J. C. Parr this morning and he tells me that Guthrie Presbytery meets with the New Hope congregation about nine miles southeast of Pilot Point. The meeting will be in April.

Col. Chas. Geers, our newspaper man, got into an argument v;ith a man the other day and said, "Ugh, a democrat on the fence looks like a woman astiide a horse."

All the children are enjoying the measles and some of the older heads are suffering from the same malady. I am looking to be one, as I never recollect having had them.

Rev. Billy Bates brought in a lot of sour kraut and left it at Daugherty's store for sale and we are all eating kraut now. It brings back old times at home.

I will start for home next week and will bring some horses - about thirty head - with me. If nothing happens I will leave here next Wednesday or Thursday and will get my horses together at Pilot Point and drive from there. I suppose I ought to make it in about two weeks or maybe less time. Have some pasture ready and buy me some feed.

Well, as this is the last letter that I will write you from here, I will try and tell you all I know so that we will have that much more to talk about when we meet.

Uncle Johnny Love joy invited me to go with him over to Dabney's, on Denton Creek, where he will preach next Sunday. Instead, I told my old friend good-bye.

Some weeks ago thieves stole a hundred and fifty government mules from the reservation at Fort Sill. They were captured on Pecan Creek, in Wise County, and still had about seventy-five of the mules, besides several horses that they had stolen from the citizens. It was a good thing for them that they were captured by soldiers instead of citizens.

I see a letter in the Dallas Herald from Tom L. Stanfield of Decatur in which he says that the Indians have not troubled the people of Wise County for several months.

The pottery is running all the time and a brick kiln .would pay better than anything we could have put up here. Some day there will be one, but there is no one here now that knows how to run one that is interested.

The farmers are planting more cotton this year than ever before. The railroads are so close now that they can haul it to market and get good prices for it.

Our Representative, A. G. Warren, did not go back to Austin. He went by McKinney and there saw the Secretary of State's ruling on the oath of office and as he had held a small office about twenty-five years ago, he could not serve until his disabilities are removed. He returned to Pilot Point and has petitioned Congress by telepraph to have his disabilities removed. It is a shame that a good man like that should have to sit back and wait while lots of no-account loafers serve as officers just because his neighbors elected him to a small office twenty-five years before the war.

W. W. Mitchell preached at the Masonic Hall week before last and Rev. J. C. Smith preached the best sermon I ever heard him preach. It will also be the last one, I am afraid.

A negro school has been established near McKinney and is presided over by a big, black negro man who ten years ago would have brought $1,500.

Well, I will close this and will talk to you of all the thinnfs that have happened since you left here when I see you. Tell Miss Mary that I am coming back and that I am still sin"-le. - Denton Record-Chronicle, 1915-1916.

Horse Stealing

Perhaps at no other period in the history of Denton County has there been so much horse stealing as during the past few ^veeks and at the present time.

The officers of the law were notified of these thefts, but too late to capture the thieves. They got on the trail of Carruth's stallion, however, and followed it until one horse thief, F. P. Roberts, was captured by Thos. Fletcher, Bob Carruth and Vass Willis. He was the man who stole the stallion. At least he acknowledged that he knew where the stallion was, and told the owner where he could find him. Mr. Carruth went as directed and found the stallion.

Roberts was taken in custody by these parties. They came to Hickory Creek; but a very heavy rain had fallen, and the creek was so swollen that they could not cross. All parties then returned to the residence of the Widow Payne, near Pilot Knob. Roberts, the thief, was placed in the southwest room, near the southeast window. On Tuesday morning, about twenty minutes after five o'clock, a man living at Mrs. Payne's, by the name of Tam, entered this room and said he had lost his knife; whereupon, Roberts said he had found it. He then got up from his chair, drew the knife from his pocket, and threw it upon the sofa. There were in the room John Evans and Mr. Anderson, guards. As Tam stooped to get the knife, the thief, Roberts, placed a pillow over his own head, and plunged through the window, carrying the lower part of the window with him. He fell fiat of his back upon the porch, having turned a complete somersault. The guards fired upon him as he lay upon the porch, but without effect. He then got up and ran off. At daylight he was trailed around the Knob to a ravine, but about four hundred yards from the house, though he had traveled a distance of about three miles. He then went in a southerly direction and was headed off that evening on Denton Creek, near Jim Lawler's and Charley Rivers' places. Some parties surrounded him and asked him why he was so near naked. He said he had got into a shooting scrape in Denton and had to run out of it. They then released him and he went on his way rejoicing. - Denton Monitor, February 16, 1877.

Great Flood Of 1866

Among the old-time happenings which are recalled by many citizens who have been in Denton over a quarter of a century is the biggest rain ever known in North Texas. This rain fell twenty-eight years ago last Tluirsday. The weather had been beautiful and clear, but late in the morning of that eventful day the sky became overcast with great, black clouds, and in a short time the i-ain came down in such torrents as to produce in a few hours the greatest flood known in the history of Texas. The creeks and streams were all out of their banks, and part of Denton was put under water. From ten o'clock in the morning it rained an incessant downpour for about six hours. The various forks of the Trinity River crowded water into that famous stream until its banks were lost to sight. From Long's Lake on into Dallas the country was from five to twelve feet deep in water, and the damage done was enormous.

The saddest featui'e of this the gi'eatest flood of Texas was the drowning of Billy Bain. He was attempting to cross at the Decatur crossing, on Dry Hickory Creek. He left his horse in midstream and attempted, supposedly, to swim ashore, but was swept undei' the angry cui-rent and drowned. His body was recovered a few miles down the creek. The horse reached dry ground in safety, but riderless.

This great flood is still referred to in Denton as one of the most interesting of old-time reminiscences, but there are many citizens who remember many of minutest particulars.

Sanguinary Engagements With The Indians

During the four years of the Civil War my father, R. L, Lane, was captain of Company C in Joe Shelby's command in the Confederate aim v. and shared the fortunes and misfortunes of Shelby's Brigade."

At the close of the war father mounted a government mule and returned to his home in Lawrence County, Arkansas. What did he find there? He found, of course, the negroes all freed, and he also found that his stock was all gone and his farm destroyed.

Selling the remnants of his effects, in the spring of 1867 father and his family, in company with E. Hudson, B. W. Hudson, and Hugh Garside and their families, headed for Denton County, Texas. We crossed Red River at Colbert's Ferry, and our teams gave out. We wrote ahead to friends and relatives in Pai'ker County, who met us with fresh teams at Pilot Point.

In July, 1867, we passed through Denton town, en route to Springtown, Parker County, by way of Rhome. The river was up, and we had much trouble in crossing West Fork on a raft. After considerable difficulty we succeeded in crossing. Camp was pitched after we had gone three miles farther.

Expecting trouble with the Indians, we guarded our horses that night. It is hardly necessary to say that we slept but little on that particular night.

At the break of day on July 15, 1867, about one hundred Comanche Indians swooped down upon us. They were shooting and yelling like demons - which they were. Our camp had been pitched at the Matthews home in Wise County, four miles west of Springtown, and there were quite a number of men, women, and children present. For a short while the camp was a scene of veritable war and intense excitement. Being greatly outnumbered by our red foes, our people had no show so far as fighting was concerned. Sonney Thomas and Andy and James Elkins had encountered the Indians, and had fled to the Blackwell house and then to the Matthews house. In this raid my kinsmen, J. H. Matthews and Polk Matthews, were wounded. All of our horses and mules were driven off, and we were left without teams and money.

After the Indians had passed the house, a large number of them turned back. We thought that our time had surely come, but the raiders halted and went into a sorghum cane patch to get cane to eat, after which they continued their journey northward.

At an earlier date - some time in 1866 - the Indians killed Mrs. Babb at her home, and carried away all of her children. Mr. Babb was bsent at the time. The captives were recovered by friends four years later. One of the children, Dot Babb, married J. D. Bell after she had grown to womanhood, and now resides in Denton. Jim Saunders was also shot and killed by the Indians in 1866.

After the Indian storm was over and the wounded had recovered, we secured some ox teams. Ten wagon-loads of Lanes, Matthews, and Hudsons then moved back to Argyle, in Denton County. After our experience with the Indians, we were sure that place was as far west as we cared to go.

Reconstruction was in full blast. Behind us were registration and the despised amnesty oath; in front of us were the murderous Indians. So we had our choice, neither of which was especially attractive. Although not reconciled to being in close proximity to the Indian tribes and their inhospitable manners,

In the spring: of 1871 Beiryman PaiT. Lee Dyke, Dolf Prichard, and I made a freij^htinj^ trip with ox teams to Jefferson. We carried cotton, and loaded back with Government supplies foi' Fort Richardson, situated near Jacksboro. As we neared Jacksboro we passed Mr. Warren, in charge of a large mule train laden with Hour for Fort Griffin. He was going in the direction of Graham, in Young County. But when Warren's train reached Salt Creek Prairie or Young Cour.ty Prairie, nine miles east of Graham, it was ambushed by about one hundred and sixty Kiowa Indians led by their chiefs, Santana, Santauk. and Big Tree. All the teamsters except two were murdeied, the wagons were burned, and the mules were driven to Fort Sill. We were at Jacksboro, about twenty-five miles away, where we delivered our commissaries to the negro garrison. Returning to Denton County, we felt that v.-e had our fill of the Indian and his murderous mode of warfare.

After the lapse of many years I can review without a thrill the experiences through which I passed in the rough days of Denton County a.id in other parts of the State ; but during those experiences I and my friends regarded them with anything but placidity.

The Roll Rhyme

[Written for his pupils of the Denton High School about 1880, and of local interest to Denton and, in part, to the county, as the students named contributed largely to the subsequent development of the county.]

In the early free-grass days of Denton County it was common to see herds of sheep from three to five hundred in number, as pasturage cost nothing, and sheep multiplied very rapidly. Shepherds did not stay with such-sized flocks, only giving at- tention night and morning. We had shepherd dogs which could be, and often were, trained to herd sheep; and some of them, when properly trained, became very valuable, their value depending largely on their blood and training. Without training they were comparatively valueless, and a cross between the shepherd dog and the cur dog was worthless. A good shepherd dog well trained, would bring from seventy-five to one hundred dollars.

Mr. Louis Fry of Denton had a dog that was well trained and had -made several trips to New Orleans with droves of "mutton sheep" and would follow diflerent masters. ]\Ir. Fry lost his shepherd dog and was considerably worried about it, and Mr. Edleman, who was ranching on Clear Ci'eek about Bolivar, found the dog and put him to herding his sheep, and would go out of evenings and pilot the dog and sheep in for the night. One evening it rained and he failed to go out to pilot them in and the dog during the night brought the herd (about five hundred head) fourteen miles to Denton and rounded them up before the Fry house on the public square, and offered them to his old master by barking at the door. Mr. Fry ran a meat market and this was the largest herd ever offered on the square at Denton. Neither the dog nor sheep were stolen, but both found their masters. This incident demonstrated the value of a pure-blooded, well-trained shepherd dog.

Two Englishmen arrived in Denton County with a large herd of sheep and stopped over night at Uncle John Carter's on Clear Creek. They were fresh from England and had bought their sheep, and had heard much talk of shepherd dogs and were hunting for one. Mr. Carter had one, which he sold them for $75.00. The next morning they moved on up the valley of Clear Creek with the sheep and dog, and after they had gone some distance from Mr. Carter's home they turned the dog loose and "hissed" him after the sheep and he killed four or five sheep before they could kill the dog. The dog was three-fourths cur and one-fourth shepherd and only had an instinct and training for dead sheep. The Englishmen learned that there were two kinds of shepherd dogs, one that would bite and one that would not and that men were sometimes "bitten."

Cyclonic Disturbances Of Denton And Adjoining Counties

The first cyclone of moment occurred at Cedar Hill, in Dallas County, on May 4, 1856. Cedar Hill was destroyed. It was a small village situated in the southwestern part of Dallas County. Eight persons were killed and nearly all the inhabitants were injured, all the houses destroyed, and wearing apparel, bed clothes, and dry goods v/ere strewn from there to Cedar Springs. The storm came from the southwest and went to the northeast.

On May 3, 1867, a cyc'one struck near where Arlington now is and traveled in a northeasterly direction. It hit a freight wagon laden with dry goods and destroyed it and scattered the goods. The wagon was driven by Hunt Kelley, but he was not hurt. The cyclone continued its course in a northeasterly direction. Breckenridge, a village in the northeast corner of Dallas County, was next struck. A good number of people were hurt here but no one killed. Over on Duck Creek it hit the home of Valney Caldwell and completely destroyed the home. Every member of the family at home was killed. It next hit the home of Ben Prigmore, killed a child and wounded several others. One man was blown about a mile, carried along in the current some distance above the ground, and finally he lodged against and caught the topmost boughs of Mr. Pickett's Bois d'Arc hedge, and the wind blew him around in the hedge at a fearful rate. He was unhurt except by Bois d'Arc thorns. The Caldwell family were all killed except one, who was visiting from home that night.

On March 12, 1886, a cyclone started south of Argyle. Dipping down to the ground at places and rising up at others, it traveled northeast, passing just north of Garza, just south of Lloyd and covering Navo, and on to the Collin County ridge. The first damage done was at Logan Kemp's place where West Chester and family of nine children were in a log house, which was taken about half down and a good part of it went inside, but fortunately none were hurt. C. L. Floyd's house was torn to pieces with thirteen persons in it but no one seriously hurt. The two fore wheels were torn from Bob Beal's wagon and carried off. One wheel was found in A. M. Bush's tank two years later, but the other was never found. F. O. McReynolds had two tenant houses One was torn to pieces and one thrown on the storm-house door, shutting Mr. McFall and family in. One house was occupied by W. C. Cumberland's family at the time. This house was all blown away except the floor and beds with the sick folks on them. Mr. Bush's store house was blown down and some hats blown away.

Mr. Block's house was blown away, all but the floor and he and his lamily were left sitting at the supper table. Mr. Zumwalt's g-'n was wrecked. Salt Branch school house was blown about a hundred yards over into the ravine, but was uninjured. Mr. Witts' chimney was blown down. Mr. Hodges' house was wrecked and his grandchild killed by a nail piercing its side. Several other houses were wrecked faithei- on.

Ckiuble Springs And Sherman Blown Away

On May 15, 1896, about Tour p. m., a cyclone hit the gi'ound betv.een Pilot Knob and Justin, passed about three miles west of Denton, blew down some houses, and over on Clear Creek it destroyed the little village of Gribble Spi'ings. On J. P. Bowles' place Mrs. Will Shannon and one child were killed. One of her children had a stick driven into its head and one severely cut on the face. These two recovered. Mr. Lewis and his wife were eating early supper and all the house blew away except the floor and they were left at the table. Gee Evans, living on Mr. Hill's place, lost a child. Mrs. J. P. Bowles and Mrs. Will Ready and her two small children were in a room keeping watch with the corpse of a child. The house was torn to pieces, and when they came to rest the floor was bottom side up, and they were clinging to the children and lying on the floor unhurt. The corpse was about a hundred yards away. Josh Crouce lived on Mr. Sparks' farm on Milam Creek. The house was a four-room structure and "Mrs. Crouce placed herself and four children in bed and covered up. The house was wrecked and blown away except the floor and bed, which were left unmoved. This storm rose and passed on northeast, but came to giound again and tore a swath about two hundred yards wide through the city of Sherman, doing great damage to the people and property. Many remarkable things occurred which tested one's credulity. The large steel bridge over Bois d'Arc was twisted up into a mass and moved a considerable distance from the piers. A sliver of pine plank was driven through the body of a tree about ten inches in diameter.

Slidell Blown Away

On March 23, 1909, the village of Slidell was blown away by a cyclone just after nightfall. The cyclone came from the southwest and traveled northeast. But it rose again and did not continue its devastation very far. The village and the nearby farm houses were demolished. On the twenty-fourth a relief committee was appointed, composed of J. B. Doyle, chairman,

"Whereas, the town of Slidell and surrounding community have been visited by a cyclone which has wrought death and destruction, and, whereas, there is much need and suffering among a great number of our citizens, we humbly appeal to the public for aid for the suffering,"

The people liberally responded and that section was soon restored to its normal condition. We have not the details to give relative to this cyclone.

A Cyclone Described

P ' Perhaps it will be appropriate here to describe a cyclone for the benefit of many people who never saw one. All cyclones have two movements, one circular, like the spinning of a top, the other horizonal, generally passing from the southwest to the northeast. Cyclones are round and look very much like a balloon, sharp at the bottom and wide at the top. They extend from the clouds to the ground and look like they are composed in part of clouds. They bob up and down like a fish jerking the cork under, and sometimes are not touching the ground. When they do hit the ground, the sharp point is small and the path it makes is narrow, but as it comes down lower the path widens sometimes from four to eight hundred yards wide. It is in rim formation and the destructive element is in the rim (it may be electricity), and when it is down low and making a wide swath there are two distinct shocks - one when the front rim passes and one when the back rim passes. Men, horses, and all manner of things seem to float in the vortex within, as light as feathers, the centripetal force apparently destroyed. Strip the cyclone of its terrors, and it is one of the grandest displays of natural phenomena one may behold - grand almost beyond our conception.

C. A. Williams and C. C. Daugherty, two of the earliest settlers of Denton County, were talking of the early days. Mr. Daugherty has resided in the county continuously for fifty-six years and Mr. Williams for fifty-five years. Finally they decided to jot down some data of the early times for the local newspapermen, matters that would be of interest now, and from their "jottings" the following excerpts have been made:

It was on the twenty-second day of April, 1857. that the county records of Denton County and the records of the Denton land district were moved from the office of the clerk at what was then called New Alton, to the two-story frame courthouse on the north side of the public square of Denton. The office of the clerk at New Alton was a one-story structure built of hewn logs felled from the nearby timber, and the move into a frame building was an upward move indeed. That date was practically the beginning of the town of Denton, then mostly timber where the square and courthouse now are. The officers of the county of Denton, which was created in April, 1846, were as follows:

S. A. Venters, county judge; A. P. Lloyd, county clerk; F. L. Moore, district clerk; C. A. Williams, sheriff; Dan Strickland, assessor and collector; J. W. Simmons, county treasurer; C. C. Lacy, district surveyor. John Shipley, Jehue D. Hawkins, Joseph A. Knight, and J. W. Chowning were county commissioners.

District Court convened on the twenty-second day of May following. Nat M. Burford of Dallas County was district judge. John C. McCoy, also of Dallas County, was district clerk.

There was one murder case on the docket, the State of Texas vs. Joseph A. McCormick, who stood charged with the killing of a man named Galbrith at Pilot Point.

Denton County was organized off of Fannin County by an act of the legislature in 1846. Pinkneyville, situated about one and one-quarter miles east of Denton, and now marked by being in a farm, was the county seat. Then Alton a few hundred yards southwest of where the town of Corinth now stands, was the second county seat. Then New Alton on Hickory Creek became the third and Denton the fourth and last county seat.

Thei'e are but few today in the county who were here then and Mr. Williams is probably the only one living among the officers of the county, when the county seat was first located at Denton. There is extant no history of Denton County, if there was ever one written, and in the past few years a strong eflfort has been made to get some one of the pioneers to furnish the data, or better, to write the history from the days of 1846 to now. Denton Record-Chronicle, April 19, 1907.

building was erected about two hundred yards southeast of the Morgan Caudle home and about two miles northwest of the present to\^Ti of Lewisville. The erection of the church represented cooperative work on the part of the settlers, the labor and material being furnished by various individuals.

Before this church was built religious services had been held in private homes and under the shade of trees, and at such times as journeying preachers happened to come to the community. In those days we sometimes did not know, nor care to know, to what denomination a preacher belonged. The settlers were so few in number that there was no thought of division because of a difference of opinion regarding religious matters.

Winding paths cross-cut the county in many directions in the early days. They bore such names as "the old Indian Trail," "Buffalo Trail," "Ranger Trail." During these peaceful times it may seem strange to many to be told that roving bands of Indians traversed Denton County in the wild days, stealing horses and killing people. Their coming could not be foretold, of course, and the people were not properly protected.

Both Indians and settlers were guided across the Cpuntyby high and conspicuous groves and mounds, such as Pilot Point, Pilot Knob, Pilot Grove, Blue Mound, Dye Mound, and Jim Ned Mountain. At that tim.e these names were household words to all Denton County settlers. The high point and grove of timber just north and west of Denton, where the Decatur Road turns west, was known to the settlers as Medlin Point.

Mr. Press Witt, who had moved into the Elm Flats near Trinity Mills east of Elm, in the '40's, related to me the following experience : In 1847 a band of Indians made a raid on the settlement where he lived. They stole a bunch of horses and made a dash to the northwest. A small band of settlers followed in hot pursuit. Reaching the point on which Denton is now situated, the settlers hastened to Medlin Point, from which they scanned the prairies. The Indians were seen in the valley just north of town, and the race began. A running fight was pulled off at the grove where Jesse Chinn now lives. After Mr. Witt had emptied his pistol in the fight, he encountered an Indian who had a poor mount. The Indian dismounted and the two men had a hand-to-hand engagement. For some reason, the Indian's bow failed to work, and Mr. Witt killed his opponent with a bowieknife.

The pait'cipants in such experiences were our real heroes, and their fiffhtinf; and their privations were the price they paid for our County's freedom. In oui- seeming- indifference regarding the work of our p.oneers we forget that Denton County was not without * the bejjinning of years" and "the ending of days."

A Closing Word

In the perr.sal of these reminiscences the reader may have observed an occasional tendency to embellish narrative with a few gems of fiction, despite the fact that truth is supposed to be stiano.er than ficfon. But this tendency to allow free rein to one's fancy is paidonable. Do we not live in a world of romance, a world of make-believe? Do we not still build castles in Spain? We v.'isli to make things more attractive than they are, hence the suf:ar coating on the pill and use of the beautifiers for the face. Some of us would paint the lily - if we dared !

These embellishments that approach the realm of fiction give zest to facts that might otherwise be lost to future citizens of Denton County. (Some might prefer that the facts be lost f ore\ er ! )

A r reat family rroup is represented by the people of Denton County. These people love and revere their own, even to the last adopted son and daughter.

The author came to Denton County in 1851, and as a member of its big family has beheld the glories of the County's rising sun. This sun has borne the author beyond his meridian of life. He has been among the briers and brambles of the County's existence, has climbed the rough and rugged hills in a figurative sense, and he has marked the footprints of our pioneer fathers. This has been his only home, his only people, his chief earthly pleasure. And in the beauties of a summer sunset, with the hope and the unswerving belief of a Great Beyond, in fancy he hears "the soldiers' dream of 1866," a soldier song which went something like this :

Home. Sweet Home

I was sleeping in a cottage, Where large maps and flowers hung, And the faces long departed Sweetly hung upon the wall. As I watched I heard a rustling Like the rustling of a wind, When beside my lonely pillow Very soon I heard them sing.

Many counties have erected monuments to the memory of their heroes who gave their lives for the common good. May I be prophetic by making the statement that Denton County will some day, under the inspiration of some great leader, erect a marble shaft over the grave of Captain John B. Denton in honor of his memory. The honor, the glory, and the pride which we should all feel in the name of Denton, which we have adopted, should cause us to constantly strive to add to the lustre of that name and to make it more renowned.