Footprints of Fayette

These histories were written by members of the Fayette County Historical Commission. They first appeared in the weekly column, "Footprints of Fayette," which is published in local newspapers.

(La) Fayette

By Gary E. McKee

The Marquis de Lafayette

Most Texians know the local roots of the place names of Houston and Austin and even the assumed meaning of the name Texas. Fayette County, the towns of La Grange, Fayetteville and several streets in our county trace their origins to the American Revolution and then across the Atlantic to France, to a man known as the “emblem of liberty” and a “hero of two worlds.”

Fayette County, established in 1837, was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette, born in 1757, was orphaned at the age of 13, joined the French army as a cadet, and three years later married into nobility.

When the American Revolution began, Lafayette was a captain in the French Army. Against his aristocratic background, he supported the principals behind the Revolution, as noted in his memoirs that “my heart was enrolled in it.” King Louis XVI of France, seeking neutrality, forbade any assistance to the infant republic. However, Lafayette contacted an American agent in Paris and secured a commission as a major general in the Continental Army. The King issued an arrest warrant for Lafayette, but he left for America with eleven other European officers in May of 1777. By July, Lafayette had begun a life long friendship with George Washington, so much that Lafayette would name a son after him in later years. Lafayette commanded Revolutionary troops in numerous battles, wintered at Valley Forge, was wounded once, and was instrumental in the final battle of the American Revolution at Yorktown in which Lord Cornwallis surrendered the British Army. While many generals would have commanded from a safe place, Lafayette was always in the thick of battle with his soldiers. His respect of the ordinary working and fighting man would last for decades.

Returning to France after the American Revolution, politics had changed. He began his career as a politician during the French Revolution against the King. In the new government, with assistance from Thomas Jefferson, he presented the draft of a Declaration of the Rights of Man, which borrowed heavily from the American Declaration of Independence. Elected vice president of the Assembly, he spoke in favor of abolishing titles of nobility and renounced his own, though he was forever addressed as the Marquis. Lafayette was chosen as commander of the Paris militia, which he named the Garde Nationale. America’s National Guard derives its name from this militia. With the French Revolution spinning out of control, Lafayette spoke out on the excesses being committed, causing the new government to brand him a traitor. With the assistance of the American ambassador, Lafayette attempted to escape to America, but was arrested and spent five years in prison. The French revolutionaries demanded that his wife be sent to the guillotine, but the American ambassador threatened economic sanctions against France, so she was sent to prison with Lafayette instead, where future U.S. president James Monroe secured her freedom after a year. The French political tides changed and he was released through the efforts of American authorities in 1799. The new emperor, Napoleon, offered him a post, which he refused, choosing to become a gentleman farmer on his wife’s estate, which was named La Grange. In 1818, after the fall of Napoleon, he reentered public life advocating measures to advance the power of the people and representative government. This did not bode well with the latest French government, and in 1824, Lafayette accepted a timely offer to visit the United States as “the guest of the nation.”

Embarking on a 15 month tour through the 24 states comprising the U.S., he was honored at every stop. To celebrate his visit to his adopted country, Congress voted him the sum of $200,000 and gave him 36 square miles of land. (nice veteran’s benefits!!!!). The states of New York and Maryland made him an honorary citizen. (In 2003, Congress granted him honorary U.S. citizenship, one of only six ever awarded). Counties, towns, lakes, rivers, a mountain, schools, parks and streets were named after Lafayette or his French residence, La Grange. Wherever he went, large crowds of citizens cheered him and celebrations were held. The American citizens manufactured a variety of objects, including furniture, pipes, purses, flasks and money with his likeness imprinted on them. Presently there are over 600 entities in the U.S. honoring his name, including the first nuclear ballistic-missile submarine.

In 1834, Lafayette passed away in France at the age of 77. The U.S. went into mourning, and President John Quincy Adams delivered a two and a half hour eulogy to Congress. Anticipating his death, dirt from the Bunker Hill was sent to France and covered his casket; more towns and counties responded by adopting his name.

It was during this time (late 1820s) that William and Mary Rabb settled on the Colorado River just north of Moore’s Fort (presently La Grange). The Rabb family was from Pennsylvania. Rabb’s family had participated in the American Revolution, and Lafayette had under his command Anthony Wayne and his Pennsylvania Rangers. It is quite possible that the Rabb family had personal contact with Lafayette. At the same time that America was being consumed by Lafayette fever, immigrants from this America were settling the future Fayette County. His death in 1834 occurred during the forming of the La Grange area. Their admiration of this personification of freedom and the common man inspired the naming of Fayette County, Fayetteville, La Grange, and the local Masonic Lodge. When the town of La Grange was being planned, the streets were named after American and Texian heroes, i.e. Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Lafayette, Fannin, Crockett, and Milam.

The naming of this county and its towns over 170 years ago manifests itself in the independent spirit which is Fayette County today.

FYI:

• There were two photos of Fayette County, Texas published in the July-August issue of American Heritage magazine, a national publication now in its 60th year. The issue was dedicated to the connections between the French and American Revolutions. The photos were in an article highlighting tributes to Lafayette in America.
• There was another Fayetteville, Texas, also established in 1836, near Richmond, Fort Bend County, but it disappeared after several decades.
• LaFayette is in northeast Texas, established in the 1850s, but it had declined to a scattered collection of houses by 1990.

La Grange, R.F.D.

(or, The First Texas Rural Mail Route)

by Annette Ruckert

"Tis nine o'clock, and Duty calls to the Friendly Road; And you ride over the hills of beauty, bearing your precious load—News from the world's far places—." So wrote one southern mail carrier many years ago, in a poetic a tribute to the Rural Free Delivery Service called "On the Route."

Fayette County's rural carriers have traveled "on the route" for nearly 104 years. In fact, postal service officially came to Texas communities on August 1, 1899, when the first Texas Rural Mail Route station opened in La Grange.

In the early days, before Texas was annexed to the United States, post-riders carried mail between San Antonio and the viceroy of Spain in Mexico City. Mail carriers were mostly Indian runners, weather-hardened men of great physical endurance. Mail bound for points other than Mexico was carried horseback from Texas to Louisiana or Mississippi, then forwarded to its destination in the States.

The first regular postal system for Texas was inaugurated in December 1836, during the Presidency of General Sam Houston. But the Republic had no finances to adequately establish the system. The first Congress of Texas authorized the postmaster general to solicit funds from the public, and mail carriers were often paid in land.

Financial worries were not the only drawback to the early postal system. Bad roads, few bridges, and highwaymen lurking in out-of-the-way places posed enormous problems to the carrier.

After entering the Union in 1845, Texas was partly relieved of the responsibility of mail delivery when the state postal system became part of the national system. Longer routes were established, and much of the mail was carried in stagecoaches. One of the longest routes in the nation was from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego, California.

Around the turn of the century, the federal post office began experimenting with a mail delivery system with shorter routes, a system that could greatly benefit people living in the country.

"No one knows better than those living miles away from mail accommodations how unpleasant it is when work is plenty and urgent upon the farm to take the time to ride or drive to the post office," wrote a La Grange Journal reporter in August 1899.

To alleviate the problem, and to make mail accommodations as complete as possible, the federal government established several test routes to determine the feasibility of a rural delivery system. As the Journal shared with readers, "the authorities have thought favorable enough of this community to make it one of the experimental stations."

The route entailed twenty-three miles of travel in Fayette County and served about 685 people. Laid out by the national post office department in Washington, the route went as follows: "Beginning at the bridge west of La Grange, go west one mile on the La Grange and Cedar Road; thence north on the La Grange and Plum Road to Manton Sand Ridge; thence west over MKT track over road by W.J. Kirk's place about three miles; thence south between Jos. Brown and Max Wildner's farms to La Grange and Cedar Road; thence to the Cedar post office; thence southeast to Parma's Store to Schulenburg and La Grange Road via Bluff post office and back to La Grange."

Henry Cremer was the contractor, and Ernst Prilop served as the postmaster at the Cedar Post Office when the rural route was established.

According to a January 1945 report in The Texas Carrier, the "first rural route" question was raised in 1933, when Hillsboro also claimed the honor. The question was aired in several daily newspapers, including the Dallas News. After much debate, and with the assistance of State officials, a marker was granted to commemorate and permanently mark this location, thus settling the issue.

Since it was a state incident and not a national one, the marker could not be erected on Post Office grounds. So the City of La Grange granted permission for its location on a site adjacent to the post office, on land that was not officially U.S. government property. Etched in a brass plate mounted on red granite, the marker proclaiming "The First U.S. Postal Rural Mail Route in Texas" graces the lawn at the corner of Colorado and Jefferson streets.

The Rural Letter Carriers Association of Fayette County had charge of the dedication ceremonies when the marker was erected by the State of Texas in 1936, the state's Centennial Year. A large number of citizens from La Grange and across Texas attended, as well as the 57 post offices in District No. 9. John L. Giese, the Rural Letter Carriers president, and mail carrier Chas. C. Albrecht organized the event.

A similar celebration was held on August 2, 1999 to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Texas Rural Route System. A unique cancellation device, designed by local artist Sally Maxwell, was used on that date for outgoing mail. Linda Kossa, a La Grange post office employee, worked from an antique window in a special model post office brought in from Gonzalez for the occasion. Formal ceremonies held on the Fayette County Courthouse square attracted many local citizens and dignitaries, as well as guests from across the state and nation.

During the anniversary celebration, Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka remarked on the importance of the rural mail system, noting that its establishment was instrumental in developing Texas. Certainly, throughout its century-long history, it has proven to be a tremendous benefit to people living in the country. And though the routes are different and the mode of transportation has changed, today's rural mail carriers continue to "make mail accommodations as complete as possible."

A New York post office opened in 1914 with the declaration that "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Although this is not an official post office motto, it is nevertheless embraced by many in the U.S. Postal Service.

Indeed, that rural carrier and poet from the South, writing many years ago, echoed the sentiment, and no doubt Fayette County's mail carriers throughout the century understood. "Folks for their mail are calling—It's more than determination—it's something one can feel—a sort of exultation to the [One] behind the Wheel, That drives him into action, and a sense of duty done, Brings a thrill of satisfaction when the battle has been won."

The Latins and the Prairie Blume Society

by Donna Green 

The Latins were a group of young people who lived in and around the Bluff area of Fayette County during the 1840-1860 time period. They were so named because of their education and cultural background. They had emigrated from the small principalities of Central Europe in order to give their children better opportunities. These people hoped to find in Texas the democracy and freedom that had been denied them in Europe. Many of the Latins were political refugees who had taken part in the republican revolution of 1848.

The Latins were proud of their culture and education and often found it difficult to adjust to their new rural surroundings. One young woman wrote to a friend in Europe complaining that there was little mental stimulation in the daily life on a farm. She wrote that each day suffered from "eternal sameness" and was "painfully monotonous." In her desire to learn she often spent countless hours studying alone.

About 1857 things changed for the young Latins of the area when a local German poet, Johannes Romberg, formed the Prairie Blume Literary Society at Black Jack Springs. It was one of the first literary societies in Texas. The society published a journal featuring literary contributions from its members. The journal was named the "Prairie Blume" because the prairie flower symbolized prose and poetry.

The young Latins anxiously awaited every meeting of the society. It was nothing for them to ride fourteen miles on horseback just to attend one of the meetings. They were much more formal than is customary today. Julius Willrich would often ride to a member's garden gate and invite them to the next meeting with these words: "I have the honor to invite you to the next meeting of the Prairie Blume at our house." Various families took turns in entertaining the group of young scholars.

At meetings intellectual games were often played followed by a flute solo or a violin concerto. The young Latins discussed many subjects including the political and social conditions in the world. They would often spend hours philosophizing over books they had read or writing down these thoughts to contribute to the next issue of the journal. Today some copies of the "Prairie Blume" still exist.

At the outbreak of the Civil War the activities of the organization declined as many members joined the military. After a few more years the society was discontinued entirely.

 

Lawlessness in Fayette County, 1867 

By Stacy N. Sneed

This article is taken from Flake’s Bulletin of 03 Mar 1867

“A company of infantry is stationed at Round Top, Fayette County, Texas.  On the 8th instant a rowdy of the neighborhood passes through the camp of the company and deliberately shot off his revolver among the soldiers, fortunately doing no damage, he put spurs to his horse and succeeded in making his escape, although the men fired their guns after him.

The citizens of the place furnished the soldiers with horses and revolvers, and the commander of the camp took a party in pursuit, following the would-be murderer five miles, overtaking him at Cumming’s Creek. Refusing to surrender the troops fired a volley at him, and think him killed, although he and his horse disappeared in the brush, and night prevented further pursuit. There have been seven murders committed in Round Top within the past twelve months, all owing to the fact that the civil authorities are impotent against a few lawless vagabonds.—San Antonio Express March, 15.

We believe the above to be true, because it accords with explanations given at headquarters of the frequent escape of these outlaws. Red tape so binds our military that with thousands of revelers rusting in the arsenals and cords of carbines, our soldiers cannot get hold of them, but must borrow from citizens when going into a fight. Imagine a scene like the above and then think how inexpressibly funny it must be to see soldiers running to all the corner for groceries for weapons, because a fight is on hand. Horses innumerable scour the plains of Texas and yet soldiers ride borrowed nags--this red tap, this is system, this is downright nonsense. We have no patience with this way of doing business. In these days of emancipation, we ought to emancipate our offers from the bondage of red tape.”

 

First Lawman on the Colorado

by Allen G. Hatley

During the second year of the Republic of Texas, Fayette County was created out of Bastrop and Colorado Counties on December 14, 1837 and officially organized in January of 1838. But beginning in 1821, some seventeen years prior to that, the land that would make up Fayette County was a part of Stephen F. Austin's first colony, granted in early 1821 by the Spanish Governor of Texas.

 Austin had been given the right to settle three-hundred Anglo-American families in Texas, and almost immediately the first of those settlers began arriving to lay claim to land, mostly along the Colorado and Brazos Rivers.

 Then in 1822, after only about one hundred of those families had arrived in Texas, the Mexican Revolution successfully overthrew the rule of Spain. Suddenly Austin's colony was in jeopardy and he was forced to leave Texas and travel to Mexico City to convince the new Mexican government to approve his grant of land.

 While Austin was in Mexico City for over 16 months in 1822 and 1823, his first settlers were not finding Texas a very hospitable land. A crop failure and increased problems with various tribes of Indians seriously threatened the success of the venture. There were also no Mexican Army troops in Texas to help guard against increasing instances of theft, intimidation and the attack on the few settlers by hostile Indians. New immigration into Austin's colony stopped.

 Luckily for all concerned, the Mexican Governor of Texas, Jose Felix Trespalacios, recognized the delicate balance between success and failure of the colony. As a result, Governor Trespalacios sent Baron De Bastrop to the settlements on the Colorado River in December of 1822, authorizing the settlers to organize a militia command to defend against hostile Indians and also elect two alcaldes, or Justices of the Peace. One of those magistrates was elected in the "Colorado District" and the other in the "Brazos District" to rule on civil and criminal matters. The Colorado District was the first governing body organized in what would eventually include Fayette and Colorado counties.

 Then just two months later on March 5, 1823 the alcalde, in the Colorado District, John Tumlinson, Sr., wrote Baron De Bastrop in San Antonio, that "I have appointed but one officer who acts in the capacity of constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to Justice, yet a few complain of the expense which I thought as reasonable as could be allowed for the time and trouble of so disagreeable an office, to wit at the rate of five cents per mile--."

 When taken with other records, it is confirmed that a constable, not a ranger, a marshal or a sheriff was the first lawman in Anglo-American Texas, and that the attitude of "a few" toward this office has not changed in almost 180-years.

 

Faith Healer: Henry Charles Loehr

by Gary E. McKee

Henry Charles Loehr was born Jan 30 1862, in the Bluff community. As a 16 yr old, he rode a freight train to the state of Illinois. There, Henry attending the Weltner School of Healing and supported himself by working on a farm growing corn. After graduation, he returned home.

He worked on the family farm for a while and courted Anna Hausmann. Henry then traveled to West Texas, settled near San Angelo and engaged in sheep farming. One year later, he returned home to claim his bride, Anna, whom he married in 1889. He took his new bride and returned to West Texas. The couple was blessed with one son, Robert, born in1891 in Irion County. After several more years of ranching, Henry decided to return to La Grange.

His success in the sheep industry allowed Henry to rent a complete train to relocate his homestead. In one railroad car, he put all his sheep, and another he loaded with his horses, buggy and wagon. A third car was filled with his household items and supplies. Henry, Anna and Robert enjoyed the ride in a Pullman car all to themselves.

They arrived at the La Grange stock pens, and were met by Anna's brother, Louis. From the stock pens, they drove Henry's sheep across Buckner's Creek bridge and up the old Bluff Road (now Country Club Drive) to the land, which is now the Loehr Ranch. He quickly resumed his ranching business, where Henry, an expert with a rope, was known by all as "Being Born in the Saddle."

Henry's reputation as a faith healer took root. From ledgers handed down through the family, the clientele list was very large. His healing was much like acupuncture and chiropractic medicine. Patients would come from miles around and wait their turn sitting on his front porch, to receive healing. He was strong in his convictions and stressed daily to all his patients that "all healing came directly from God." (thus he was known as a faith healer.) He also gave "absent" treatments, whereby he would sit and meditate on a patient who might not be able to come to him for treatment. The ledgers show the names of many influential people from Fayette County who paid 25c to $1 for a treatment. He healed people for over 40 years until his death.

Mr. Loehr had a very gentle nature, but was stern in idealistic values. He was in love with nature and went to all means to protect it and taught his son, Robert, to do the same. Henry died in 1948 and Anna died on June 3, 1955. Both are buried with the Loehr family members at Williams Creek Cemetery.

The home in which he practice is still located on the bluff and is owned by the Lloyd G. Loehr family and is being restored to its original state as much as possible.

 

A Machine Gun For Fayette County

from the La Grange Journal files at the Fayette Heritage Museum and Archives

On April 16, 1934, "Commissioners' court met in special session Monday morning, having several important matters to be acted upon and without much delay set to work. Unanimous was the decision of the members to buy a modern machine gun for the sheriff's department. This will enable the sheriff and his deputies to cope with the situation, should it materialize, when bandits invade a section and drive all opposition before them because of their machine gun fire."

Apparently the procurement processes in 1934 were a lot more streamlined than today because three weeks later in the May 3 edition of the journal this article appeared:

"The machine gun, ordered and purchased by the Commissioners' court for the sheriff's department recently, was received last Monday, and the news spread among the boys on the street rapidly. All had to take a look at the fast repeater, and see how it "worked." What to the bank robbers is "an old thing" to the peaceful citizen is new, and had to be seen."

"Deputy Jim Flournoy was showing it to several late in the afternoon, and was pointing it out of the window while explaining its operation. The Journal desires not to be funny, in mentioning this, but Jim did not notice what several others noticed. Out in the street, and standing near to an automobile, was a salesman, he had probably placed some groceries in the vehicle. When he saw the machine gun pointed directly at his body, and Jim Flourney wafting it from sided to side, this salesman became nervous."

"Small thing this machine gun, almost a toy, but $250 for it makes the blamed think look larger. Maybe it will not have to be put to use, can't say; but, the reader will remember the remark of the old woodsman who had neglect a part of his raiment: "Well, the Good Book says, ye must always go prepawed."

This equalizer is believed to still be in the arsenal of the Fayette County Sheriffs Department.

An Early Fayette County Marriage

By Gary E. McKee

A provision of Stephen F. Austin’s colonization contract with Mexico was that the Roman Catholic religion would be the only one practiced in colonial Texas. This “minor detail” was pretty much ignored by the majority of the Protestant settlers, until it became a legal issue when the subject of marriage came up. There being only one known priest that visited the colony, Father Miguel Muldoon, who spent a lot of time in Mexico. So to keep the colony growing spiritually, morally, and population wise, Austin authorized Marriage Bond ceremonies to be performed between a couple who could not wait the sometimes year or more for the priest to show up to perform a proper Catholic wedding, which was not high on their list of rituals. The following is a Marriage Bond issued in 1824 concerning the offspring of two families of Fayette County colonists. All original punctuation and spelling has been retained.

Marriage Bond

Be it known by these presents that we John Crownover and Nancy Castleman of lawfull age inhabitants of Austin’s Colony in the Province of Texas wishing to unite ourselves in the bonds of matrimony, each of our Parents having given their Consent to our Union, and there being no Catholic Priest in the Colony to perform the Ceremony—therefore I the said John Crownover do agree to take the said Nancy Castleman for my legal and lawfull wife and as such to cherish support and protect her, forsaking all others and keeping myself true and faithfull to her alone, and I the said Nancy Castleman do agree to take the said John Crownover for my legal and lawfull husband and as such to love honor [and] obey him forsaking all others and keeping my [self] true and faithfull to him alone. And we do each of us bind and obligate ourselves to the other under the penalty of ______ Dollars to have our Marriage solemnised by the Priest of this Colony or Some other Priest authorized to do so, as soon as an opportunity offers—All which we do promise in the name of God, and in presence of Stephen F. Austin judge and Political Chief of this Colony and the other witnesses hereto signed

Witness our hands the 29th of April 1824

Witnesses present

Be it known that we Sylvanus Castleman and Elizabeth Castleman the parents of the within named Nancy Castleman do hereby give our consent to the marriage of our said daughter with the within named John Crownover—April 29, 1824. Attest.

Stephen F. Austin then issued a proclamation that he had witnessed the ceremony and it was legal, at least in the eyes of the colonists. It has been noted that more than one Catholic wedding was attended by the children of the bride and groom.

From The Austin Papers, edited by Eugene C. Barker, 1924. 

 

Fayette County Medical Society

by Sherie Knape

The Fayette County Medical Society was formed in 1874. Although the meetings were held in La Grange all doctors of Fayette County were invited to join including general doctors as well as surgeons, dentists and other specialty doctors.

The society met annually to compare notes, give an account of their experiences during the year and discuss matters beneficial to both themselves and their patients.

Though the membership of the society was not large it was composed of gentleman who stood high in their professions and who took great interest and pride in promoting its usefulness. Many well-known doctors of Fayette County were members of this society. Some of the more prominent members included W. W. Lunn, J. C. B. Renfro, R. A. McKinney, F. E. Young, J. K. Gault, J. T. Carter, J. W. Smith and C. E. Kellar.

Just as many patients question the fees of medical doctors and hospitals today, many in the community thought that the society was formed for the purpose of fixing the fees of the physicians in the county. But the society members firmly stated that the group was formed merely to enhance communication and cooperation among the different physicians, which in the end would help patient care in the county.

At the annual meeting, usually held every January, the physicians would discuss many topics including some that are still controversial today. For example, at the meeting in 1885, Dr. Renfro read a paper that discussed abortion that created considerable discussion between himself and Drs. Lunn, Smith and McKinney. They would also discuss new treatments as well as different illnesses that were affecting Fayette County. They would talk at length about the necessity of maintaining sanitary conditions in Fayette County towns so there would not be another yellow fever outbreak like the terrible tragedy of 1867. The doctors also discussed what medical issues were affecting surrounding counties and how these could impact Fayette County. Each doctor would speak of medical cases that he had and what treatment he gave so that they could try to improve patient care.

After the discussions the members would vote on officers and decide who would be the delegate to the Texas State Medical Association. After the meeting was adjourned the members would meet at a local La Grange eatery where a banquet was prepared for them and a lively discussion with members, as well as invited guests, was had over bottles of fine wines and liquors.

 

Medicine Men of Fayette County

by Sandra K. Briones

The practice of medicine in the 1800’s was quite a bit different than it is today. Doctors traveled from house to house on horseback or in a horse drawn buggy. There were few hospitals, no fancy equipment or insurance companies. They hoped to get paid in cash for their services but many times they had to accept bartered payments or none at all.

In 1835, Dr. Abner P. Manly was a physician and an ordained minister. He was most likely the first practicing doctor in this area. He set up an office in La Grange in 1845 where he performed surgery and midwife duties. He was upfront about his fees and expected payment in cash. He charged $1 for each visit, $10 for consultations, 25 cents per dose of medicine, $5 for attention to simple labor cases and $10 to $20 for difficult cases. One dollar for extracting a tooth, $1 for using a syringe, 25 to 50 cents for drawing a blister, $1 for opening simple abscess and $5 to $25 for surgical operations with an extra charge for any other services rendered in the case. He charged 50 cents per mile, day or night and an extra $5 for each day he was detained by a bad case. He presumed no one would be dissatisfied with these fees, as he would give his entire attention to the business of his profession by serving the people promptly by day or night, without regard to distance or weather conditions.

Dr. Kenzie Routh settled in Fayette County around 1851. He visited his patients astride either his horse or mule carrying his medicines in saddlebags. Dr. Routh was widely consulted for eye trouble; and he more or less converted his home into a hospital for patients who came a great distance with such ailments. When a patient arrived he never asked, "What about the money?" He took them into his home and gave them the best treatment he could. If he wasn't paid, he had the satisfaction of knowing he had rendered a worthwhile service. On one occasion he was called to an obstetrical case twelve miles from home. After caring for the patient all night and well into the next morning, he was asked the amount of his fee. It was only ten dollars. The farmer replied, "Well doctor, that is nice; it just balances my charge for your board and horse feed while you were here." Dr. Routh seeing the humor agreed that it was quite nice.

Dr. William Wallace Walker, a Civil War and Spanish American War veteran began his career around 1871. His practice in Schulenburg provided him with several challenging cases. A local businessman was shot in the abdomen. As Dr. Walker was treating the wounded man, his assisting physician fainted so Dr. Walker called upon his three-year-old daughter, Mary Ann, to wipe away the blood as he removed the man's watch and fragments of his chain that had been blown into his abdomen. He sewed up the man's intestines; he recovered and lived for many years. There were no hospitals outside of the cities and Dr. Walker was probably the only surgeon between Houston and San Antonio who used his home to accommodate his patients. Accidents always occurred during the ginning season and many a man was brought to the doctor with his arm in shreds. The patient was placed in an elegantly upholstered operating chair where Dr. Walker would do what he could. Few arms could be saved and many had to be amputated. Surgery was often crude but usually effective. Dr. Walker was most careful, having the reputation of rarely losing a case to blood poisoning. He did everything from removing cataracts to major abdominal operations, with a record of success that favorably compared to any of the city doctors.

 

Medicine Shows, Drive-Ins and Movie Theaters

By Lillie Mae Brightwell

Part I – Medicine Shows and Movies 

It began with medicine shows. Harry Graeters’ Round Top history tells of medicine shows on the square (approximately 1912). “The show started at 7:30 at night. In those days, there was hackberry trees all around Round Top, all around the square. There was a saloon on the corner where that cannon is sittin’ there now, Gus Bender’s saloon.  A show put up a tent right there. At that time, it was customary anybody that uses the Square pays a dollar and the town Marshall has to collect it. This outlaw just happened to be the town Marshall. In prohibition times, he made whiskey. So he come up there to this Austrian (who ran the medicine show) who had rattlesnakes tattooed all over his chest and arms and everything. Alright, he was sellin’ this medicine and the Marshall walked up to him . . .he didn’t have his gun on or anything . . .and this man says ‘What the hell do you want shorty?’ He (the Marshall) was not a very big man. He says ‘It is customary in the town of Round Top to pay one dollar for use of the square.’ The medicine show man said ‘I ain’t gonna give you no dammed dollar.’ The Marshall walked up to him and said ‘What did you say?’  He had to look up at him. They got to scufflin’ and (the Marshall) got on bottom but he was a cattle man and he had on spurs. The man was choking him and all (the Marshall) did was...(Spurring motions). That was it. That blood come spurtin’ out. I never learned what happened to him.”

Harry Graeter continues, “Old Schiege was a comical fellow (The Schiege Cigar factory was the first of its kind in Texas and is on the grounds of the Round Top Inn). He had a long beard and he had about nine kids. He didn’t work much. He’d sit on the corner of the porch and raise cain. He had a son Snoogie and he was the same way . . .he didn’t work, but he got rich one time in the oil business and moved to Fayetteville.”

Back in the 20s through 40s there was great excitement, usually once or twice a year when the news was announced that the show on wheels, The Medicine Show, was coming to town. Some of the owners of these shows rented the Ellinger auditorium or the Pastime Theater building to sell their wares, including medicines that were a sure cure for all ills, as well as candy, popcorn, snow cones, etc. Others set up their tents, bleachers and stages on the outside. People who came from miles around to see Ma Goodwin and others and their troupes perform also bought their medicines, after which the vendors’ yelled out the very familiar, “Sold out, Doctor, Gimme some more!” To keep people coming back for more, contests such as nail driving, popularity and baby contests, and amateur performances were incorporated into the acts. The young lady winning the popularity contest was usually awarded a “diamond” ring or a wrist watch.

Kermit Heinsohn remembers medicine shows across from the Lutheran church in Fayetteville, upstairs in the Germania Insurance building and at the SPJST hall. Kermit also remembers when in the 1930s Mr. Melcher showed silent movies behind the Roznov store in Roznov (area of the Ben Halamicek home). They were in black and white, and music would accompany the movie. Mr. Schiege traveled around and showed movies in Park, Roznov, Ellinger and Fayetteville. In Fayetteville, the movies were shown in a tent on a vacant lot across from the fire station on the corner of Franklin and Washington Streets near the railroad track. Mr. Schiege and his wife lived in a two-story house that was located where the Fayetteville Bank has its parking lot today.

Eugene Michalsky remembers in the fifties that Snoogie Schiege was a short fellow, white-faced (probably from a lack of sunshine for he did most of his work in the evenings into the night), smoking a cigar and bringing movies to the Dawn Theater in Fayetteville and the Pastime Theater in Ellinger. Theater tickets were from 15 to 25 cents. Mr. Michalsky owned the Pastime Theater building when it burned in 1971.

Part II – Drive-Ins and Movies 

The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, NJ in 1933.  Essentially an open field with a large screen, the audience would drive into the “theater” and park.  Originally, audio was provided by speakers on the screen.  Later patrons parked next to a post which had a speaker attached to it, and viewed the movie from the car.

Drive-ins were especially popular with parents who didn’t want to have to pay extra money for a babysitter; it was common to see whole families in their cars, with the kids all in pajamas, watching the movie together.  The original drive-in advertised, “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.”

Before the war, there had been approximately 100 major drive-ins nationwide.  One of the originals was Galveston’s Drive-In Short Reel Theater (July 5, 1934).  The drive-in craze began to build very strongly following the end of the Second World War.  At their peak, which most experts agree was in 1958, there were almost 5000 drive-ins.  Teenagers with limited incomes developed an ingenious method to see drive-in movies for free: two teenagers (usually a couple) would take their car to the drive-in, and pay for two tickets.  After the couple entered the theater and found a parking space, the driver would open the trunk and the other teenagers hidden inside jumped out to enjoy the “free” movies.  To ensure one person was not continually stuck with paying, the ticket cost was often rotated or split among the friends.

Modern drive-ins were built after the war.  In La Grange, there was the SkyHigh Drive-In.  The SkyHigh was very popular, neat, and exceptionally clean.  Destroyed by Hurricane Carla in 1961, it was located where Dr. Tiemann’s Fayette County Veterinary Clinic is located today.

The concession stand, also called a snack bar, is where the drive-in made most of its money.  As a result, much of a drive-in’s promotion was oriented toward the concession stand.  The typical snack bar offered any food that could be served quickly, such as hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, popcorn, soft drinks, candy and French fries.  They also sold mosquito repellant coils that could be burned.  The smoke would keep mosquitoes out of the car.

Today, there are fewer than 500 drive-ins in the United States.  Video tapes, DVDs, Direct TV, DishNet, satellite services, cable and microwave popcorn have taken over.  Investment costs in land have made it harder to invest in drive-ins.

One of the “firsts” to which Ellinger can lay claim is that it was the first in Fayette County to have “talkie” movies.   Mr. C.A.J. Meyer, owner of the Pastime Theater, was the projection man, and his able assistant, Robert Roesler, ran the theater back in the 20s and 30s with Mrs. C.A.J. (Norma) Meyer being cashier.  According to Norbert Vrazel, Mr. Meyer’s son ran the “bicycle” for the movies, and everything was okay until he fell off the bicycle.  After Mr. Meyer went out of the theater business, its operation was taken over for few years, first by C.W. Schiege and later by Bernard Stojanik.

Many indoor theaters have not survived for one reason or another.  Jo Ann Mynar wrote in December of 2003, “THE RED & WHITE STORE and THE DAWN THEATER were owned and operated by my uncles Rudy Mynar and Joe Mynar.  I went to many movies there throughout the Fifties and into the Sixties.  My cousin, Tom Rohde, operated the popcorn machine for years.”  The Fayetteville Area Museum has the projector and some items from the Dawn Theater on display.  The famous Red & White building in Fayetteville is now a private residence.

Years ago in the late 1940s, and in the summer, before cars had air conditioning, my friends went to see a movie at the Cozy Theater in La Grange.  Traveling to town, the car ran over a skunk.  When they got seated in the theater, they noticed that people got up and moved away from them and sat in a different part of the theater.

Audrey A. Herbrich writes after a fire destroys the Cozy Theater in La Grange: “It was also where I first held hands with a boy, and where my cousin got in his first fistfight (over a girl).  I knew those walls well.  The Plexiglas ticket window was scratched and foggy.  Two double glass doors connected outdoors to indoors.  The theater lobby was a delicious den of assorted Red Hots, Junior Mints, Mike and Ikes, Snowcaps and Teriyaki Beef Jerky.  The popcorn machine in the corner glowed beneath the homemade price signs.  Movie preview posters always lined the walls.  The entrance was split, allowing for access by going either right or left, and introduced viewers to three sections of seating.  There was even a balcony, rarely used, but there nonetheless.  The bathrooms were tiled a banana yellow and always smelled of pine.  The theater itself was tall – a two storied ceiling – but the lobby area was not as grand because it had an upstairs.  Above part of the lobby lay a quiet apartment flat, occupied, normally.

The theater had always been a town staple, not unlike cotton of the 40s, Chicken Ranch hookers of the 60s, or oil of the 80s.  It was a prime hot spot.  First dates, first kisses, first tastes of Cokes not from cans – all in the Cozy.  It was the Friday night hangout, the Sunday afternoon retreat, the weekend default.”

The Cozy Theater in Schulenburg is still showing movies.  The four-story Von Minden Hotel/Cozy Theater was built in 1929 and is located at 607 Lyons Ave.  They featured a famous Czech movie a few years ago, which a friend and I thoroughly enjoyed.

Sources: The Internet; personal interviews and memories; Fayette County Deed Records, Vol. 795, p. 287; additional research revealed that C.A.W. Schiege’s name was spelled with one “g” and that his wife’s name was Willie May; their name was spelled with two “g’s” in the book Ellinger – Yesterday and Today.  I remember him as Snoogie Schiege.

 

J.C. Melcher

by Connie F. Sneed

J. C. Melcher and his wife had come to Texas by way of Galveston. En route to the German settlement of New Braunfels, they found the Colorado River flooded. While they waited for the water to go down, Melcher had ample time to visit with ferry owner and Fayette County pioneer John Moore, also a noted Indian fighter. When Moore found out that Melcher was a cabinet maker, he said that a man proficient at that trade could make a good living right there. Moore soon convinced Melcher to forget about New Braunfels and stay in Fayette County.

In 1855, Melcher opened a general store at Black Jack Springs, a community between La Grange and Flatonia. While meeting the retail needs of his customers, he heard plenty of sad stories about crop-eating critters.

A creative sort who despite his success as a merchant still liked to make things with his hands, Melcher invented a solution. He called it “The Victory Ant, Mole, Gopher and Ground Squirrel Exterminator.”

The Exterminator consisted of two major components, a cast iron “fire chamber” and a wooden pump. The operator heated sulfur with coal in the 12- by 24-inch furnace, causing a build up of sulfurous gas in the chamber. It had a sharpened flange that went into the ground over a gopher or ant hole.

The 11- by 11-inch pump, nearly three feet high, at 30 strokes a minute pushed two cubic feet of gas into a pest’s underground domicile. That much gas, Melcher asserted, could fill a two-inch gopher hole 2,000 feet long with deadly fumes.

The Fayette County man’s device must have been quite effective. His invention won first place at the 1879 State Fair of Texas, an event then held in Austin. Melcher received an ornate “Diploma,” complete with an engraving of the limestone Capitol that would burn down a few years later.

Less than a month after winning his prize, on Nov. 18, 1879, Melcher received from the U.S. Patent Office a patent for his pest-control device.

Word of the invention’s effectiveness soon spread. The Jan. 3, 1880 edition of the Scientific American had a story on the Exterminator that gave it and its creator national recognition.

Melcher soon went to a job printer and had a handbill run off.

“I have manufactured over 400 pumps during the last few years,” the inventor-entrepreneur said in the advertising piece, “and have taken great pains to bring them as near perfection as possible and will continue to improve them if I possibly can.”

The piece also announced that “territorial rights” to tell the device could be purchased “very cheap for cash, land, notes, or other good property.”

Just how many salesmen Melcher recruited and how well his business went is not known by his descendants.

Unfortunately, the handbill is the only known evidence of Melcher’s product. A fire at the old family homestead at Black Jack Springs destroyed Melcher’s house and any unsold Exterminators he might have had around.

Menefee County

by Edward F. Janecka

In the 1870's, when the GH&SA Railroad was pushing its way west from Houston, there were many new towns that popped up. 1873 saw the establishment of Schulenburg and Flatonia. As more and more people moved to these new towns they brought with them a feeling of trying to create something new and the spirit of independence. Therefore, it would not be unusual that the citizens of Schulenburg and Flatonia were at odds with the courthouse in La Grange.

In 1876, the citizens of Flatonia and Schulenburg petitioned the 15th State Legislature to form a new county. The new county would consist of portions of Fayette, Colorado, Caldwell, Gonzalez, DeWitt and Lavaca counties. The name of the new county would be Menefee, presumably after William Menefee, a signer of the Texas Constitution and member of the legislature and the first county judge of Colorado County appointed by San Houston. Menefee had died on October 28, 1875 and was buried in Pine Springs Cemetery near Flatonia.

The process to create a new county was stalled over the determination on what city would be designated as the county seat. Weimar, whose populations had grown to just over 500 in three short years, was expected to be a vital part of this new county. But on May 29, 1876, the citizens of Weimar sent this petition to the state legislature:

"To the Hon. House of Representatives of the fifteenth Legislature of the State of Texas.

Whereas your Honorable bodies have, or will be petitioned to create a new county, to be known as the county of "Menefee", to be composed of a part of Fayette, Caldwell, Gonzalez, DeWitt, Lavaca and Colorado Counties.

And, Whereas, we the citizens of that portion of Colorado County proposed to be included in said new county of Menefee, are fully apprised of the increased expenditures, and many inconveniences that will necessarily accrue to us on becoming a part of said new county. Would therefore, respectfully ask and pray your Honorable bodies in setting forth and designating the bounds of said new county that they be so shaped as to make up its requisite area without including any portion of the County of Colorado.

Seventy citizens from Weimar petitioned the State Legislature to exclude them from the new county; therefore, hopes of creating Menefee County had died.

 

Fayette County Meteorites and Tektites

by Carolyn Heinsohn

Two unusual kinds of mineral specimens with cosmic connections have been found in Fayette County – meteorites and tektites. Many people are familiar with meteorites, but knowledge about tektites seems limited. Tektites are natural glass objects of earth material melted by meteorite impact, splashed up into the atmosphere and frozen into distinctly different shapes as they solidify during their fall back to earth. The shapes, which include spheres, rods, tear-drops, flat discs and boomerangs, are determined by the presence or lack of rotation and the speed of the initial molten blob upon re-entry. The colors of tektites range from yellowish to olive green to black.

There are only four major tektite strewn fields in the world – the Ivory Coast in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Czech Republic, and Georgia and Texas in the U.S.  Most sources indicate that the point of impact responsible for the tektites in the U.S. has been found beneath Chesapeake Bay.  However, another theory is that the impact crater for Texas tektites is in the Yucatan region of Mexico.  Tektites found in Texas are classified as black Bediasites, which seem to have a certain pattern of distribution, which includes Fayette, DeWitt, Gonzales, Lavaca, Lee, Burleson, Brazos and Grimes counties.

Perhaps more interesting, however, are the Fayette County meteorites, which are known worldwide. Ten stone meteorites recovered from our county are grouped according to where they were found: Bluff, Cedar and Round Top. They represent four or five different falls. The first Bluff meteorite, a single stone weighing approximately 320 pounds, was found in 1878 by Frank Rainosek on his farm in the Bluff area about three miles south of La Grange. A local school teacher, H. Hensoldt, acquired the stone in 1888 and disposed of it to Ward’s Natural Science Establishment of Rochester, New York, who cut it up and sold it to as many as 41 different institutions and collectors.  Rainosek’s meteorite was named Bluff, because La Grange had already been used to name a Kentucky meteorite. 

In 1890, C. L. Melcher of Swiss Alp found three more meteorites, which weighed approximately two, twelve and sixteen pounds.  They were first identified as Bluff meteorites due to their proximity to the location of the original Bluff specimen. However, chips of these meteorites were later analyzed and found to be from a different fall, so they were re-identified as Cedar specimens.  The 16-pound meteorite ultimately went to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, and the two-pound specimen was acquired by Baylor University in Waco, but its current location is unknown.  An extensive search at Baylor failed to locate the stone, so it is possible that it was traded in the past, but not documented. The 12-pound specimen was the most extensively divided and distributed of all the Cedar meteorites. A 2.8 kilogram cut of this specimen is now on display in the Hall of Gems and Minerals in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Other pieces can be found at Baylor University, Arizona State University, the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin and the British Museum of Natural History. It is possible that pieces of the 12-pound Cedar meteorite may be mislabeled “Bluff” in some collections.

In 1896, Louis Hausmann found a 17-pound meteorite on the family farm near Creamer Creek Road. Identical in composition to Rainosek’s find, it has also been named a Bluff meteorite. It is now exhibited at the Texas Memorial Museum. George Bruns found the third Bluff meteorite circa 1917; it weighed 30 pounds and is now at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. All three Bluff meteorites were found within two miles of each other. A fourth Cedar meteorite, weighing approximately 25 pounds, found by Henry Rainosek circa 1896, is also in the collection of the Texas Memorial Museum.

There were also three stony meteorites from multiple falls found in the Round Top vicinity. One of the specimens, however, is similar to the Cedar meteorites, so since its provenance is unknown, it is speculated that it may have been a Cedar specimen that was transported to Round Top. All three meteorites were acquired by O.E. Monnig in the late 1930s and are now at Texas Christian University. 

It would be interesting to know if there actually were more meteorite finds in Fayette County that were never identified. There may also be specimens still buried in unknown sites, waiting for chance discoveries by persons who someday will accidentally uncover their hiding places. 

Father Michael Muldoon

by Ann Lamer

Father Michael Muldoon, a controversial and lovable character was the son of prosperous farmers in Ireland, who came to San Felipe de Austin in 1831. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to serve Stephan F. Austin's Colony, although there had been Catholic priests in San Antonio, Goliad and Nacogdoches for many years.

Early on in his youth, Michael wanted to become a priest, so his parents sent him to Europe to study. He was probably educated at the then popular Irish College in Seville, Spain. Father Muldoon was a diocesan priest, one who did not belong to a specific religious order.

Father Muldoon had come to Mexico as early as 1821. His first duty was to serve as chaplain to Don Juan O'Donoju, the last viceroy of Mexico. He late served as chaplain to Santa Anna, becoming that president's "almost inseparable companion."

Stephen F. Austin met Father Muldoon, by then in his mid 50's, in the early part of 1831, while attending legislative sessions in Saltillo, Mexico. Austin was immediately attracted to the genial priest and was pleased that Father Muldoon had been appointed the new curate vicar general for Austin's colonies. The padre spoke Spanish fluently, so he would be a valuable interpreter in San Felipe de Austin, where all government negotiations were done in Spanish. By speaking English as well, the priest could mix and mingle with the American colonists. To be accepted into the colony, the family had to be Catholic, the only recognized religion in Mexico. One of Father Muldoon's duties was to officially convert the newly arrived settlers to the official faith. This was done quickly, without any training in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. These converts became known as "Muldoon Catholics". Father Muldoon, being the only priest in the colonies, would travel around Central Texas performing multiple marriage ceremonies at a single site. Wood's Settlement, presently West Point, hosted such an event, and Rabb's Prairie was the sight of a wedding with Stephen Austin in attendance. It took many months to arrange a wedding; in the meantime, couples entered into contracts and began living together. At some of the ceremonies there was already offspring of the couple in attendance. Thomas Barnett, in 1831, requested that Austin and Rev. Muldoon stop by his house and "the marriage contact betwixt myself and wife may be consummated and my children christened".

Austin and Father Muldoon had become such good friends, that when Austin ran short of funds, Father Muldoon loaned him some money. He also helped Austin with the Spanish language. In gratitude, Austin was instrumental in aiding Father Muldoon to eventually receive eleven leagues of land, some 48,600 acres in Galveston, Wharton, Fayette and Lavaca counties. Two of the leagues, a combined tract of 8856 acres, were in Fayette County. Father Muldoon was said to have built a small stone hut or cabin on that location. This would have been in keeping with the Spanish laws regarding taking possession of the property. In 1834, when Austin was imprisoned in Mexico, Muldoon visited him several times and used his "Priestcraft" to carry messages out of the prison and ensure that they made it to Texas.

It is thought that Father Muldoon believed that his newly acquired land would make it unnecessary to depend upon his flock's generosity for a living. His admiration and respect for Austin had played a major role in bringing him to Texas. However, he soon realized that life in the colony was certainly different from the luxurious one he had enjoyed with the rulers of Mexico. Yet, he had voluntarily left that cultured environment and traveled to Texas where hardships were every day occurrences. Why did he make such a change? It is believed that the good natured and polished Irishman was a true missionary. Father Miguel Muldoon, like the padres of old, came to Texas to minister and to build up what he believed was the true Christian church.

But what became of Father Muldoon? Various rumors have been circulated about his death. Family tradition among his Irish descendants says he was murdered. Other rumors say he returned to Spain, or he was drowned at sea. It seems that Father Muldoon walked off the very edge of history.

The small, quiet town of Muldoon lies about fourteen miles from La Grange, Texas, located on one of the original tracts owned by Father Muldoon. He was remembered by many settlers as a man of generous spirit and warm heart.

South of La Grange, on U.S. 77, is a granite marker recognizing the memory of Father Michael Muldoon.

 

Fayette's First Newspaper and It's Offspring

by Annette Ruckert

"The intelligence of a community may be judged by its newspaper press; the press is the mirror of the intellect, the morals, and the manners of the people," wrote F. Lotto in Fayette County: Her History and Her People, published in Schulenburg in 1902.

In the early days, Fayette County's intellectual life made itself felt throughout the county, with its center in La Grange. The county's first newspaper was the La Grange Intelligencer, which began publication in February 1844 and continued through September 1845.

James P. Langley was the publisher of this mirror of the county's character. The editor was William P. Bradburn, a nephew of John David Bradburn, known in Texas history for the role he played in the clash between the colonists and the Mexican authorities at Anahuac in the early 1830s.

In An Early History of Fayette County, published in La Grange in 1936, authors Leonie Rummel Weyand and Houston Wade quote the flowery eulogy of the publisher in the first issue. Langley wrote that he had traveled much, having "sailed over various seas, visited many cities and beautiful islands, having trodden the shores of foreign nations—and looked down upon green valleys and white valleys, but with the exception of a few towns washed by the waters of the sea, we assert that no little village has ever enchanted us more than this in which we now reside."

Bradburn, too, complimented the town's citizens. "Nowhere is there a village the size of this, which can bring before the eyes of a stranger more of that refined beauty and graceful demeanor so prominently admired and distinguished here," he wrote. "If there ever was a spot destined to be a place, say of love and poetry, not forgetting the pursuits of life, it is our delightful and growing city of La Grange."

The La Grange Intelligencer was a four-page newspaper, fifteen inches by twenty-four inches in size, with four columns to a page. At the top of the front page, beneath its name, the newspaper displayed its motto: "Westward! The Star of Empire Takes its Way!"

According to Weyand and Wade, a subscription cost six dollars and fifty cents per year. A local business could place an advertisement at the rate of one dollar for the first insertion and fifty cents for the second. The insertion of a political card cost four dollars, and the announcement of a political candidate was priced at ten dollars.

Typically, the first page was devoted to articles reprinted from other newspapers. Many of the articles were of national interest. The second page was the editorial page; it discussed the strong and weak points of political candidates and the government's administration, often with caustic comments on the political views of other Texas newspapers. Death notices and advertisements were located on the third page, and the fourth page contained more advertisements and various court notices.

During his brief editorship, Bradburn exchanged journalistic blows with an editor of the Texas Democrat, who supported Anson Jones for the presidency of the Republic of Texas. Bradburn supported his employer's candidate, Edward Burleson, who had served as the republic's vice-president in 1841. Burleson, a supporter of Mirabeau B. Lamar's policy of extermination and expulsion of Indian tribes, lost the election.

Established in the mid-1840s, the La Grange Intelligencer reflected the intellect, morals, and manners of early Fayette Countians. Chronicles of Fayette author Julia Lee Sinks wrote that this newspaper, the county's first, was established to advocate Edward Burleson's bid for the presidency of the Republic of Texas. Certainly, the paper strived to advance the interests of the county's residents.

Unfortunately, the newspaper's circulation did not meet the expectations of its publisher, James P. Langley, and editor, William P. Bradburn. After a few months, Bradburn left La Grange to pursue more lucrative opportunities. The editorship then went to S.S.B. Fields.

In his first issue, Fields presented the events of the week: "Two weddings, two fairs, one dancing party, four old bachelors deceased, a fine rain, a great swelling of the Colorado River, one lady fell in love, and strange to tell - we fell off our horse - sprained an ankle - bruised a side - mashed our hat and don't know where to get another."

Although his journalistic capacity lacked development, Fields' flamboyant style was typical of the man. He announced that a fair portion of the newspaper would be devoted to "politics, the sciences, agriculture, religion, foreign affairs, miscellaneous items, domestic matters," which he carefully culled from other newspapers. He was given to editorial outbursts on occasion; often vigorously denying various accusations by the editor of a newspaper called the Vindicator.

Financial difficulties prompted a plea for support of the county paper in the September 12, 1845 issue. A week later, the La Grange Intelligencer suspended publication.

Eventually, the newspaper passed into other hands. The name was changed to The Far West, and William G. Webb served as editor. In her reminiscences, Sinks writes of a late 1840s fire in La Grange that consumed a large portion of the south side of the square, including Webb's office. The newspaper files were destroyed, and Sinks could never determine how long The Far West was published.

Other county newspapers followed, including the Texas Monument, The La Grange Paper, The True Issue, and The State Rights Democrat, which were published successively during the 1850s, each existing for a relatively a short time.

The 1870s and 1880s saw the establishment of the Flatonia Argus, the Flatonia Record, The La Grange Democrat, The La Grange News, and The La Grange Journal. Introduced in the 1890s and early 1900s were the Schulenburg Sticker, the Schulenburg Sun, Carmine's New Century, and The Fayette County Record.

The county also boasted two foreign language newspapers that existed for a short time. The Svoboda, a Czech newspaper, was established in 1887; the La Grange Deutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, began publication in 1896.

Today, three of the above newspapers remain in publication: the Flatonia Argus, established in 1875; the Schulenburg Sticker, started in 1899; and The Fayette County Record, born in 1922. The Banner Press Newspaper, established in 1985 also covers the county's news and events. This publication serves a tri-county area that includes Colorado and Austin counties.

As author F. Lotto remarked in his book Fayette County: Her History and Her People, one can see that "a healthy intellectual life pulsates in all parts of the county."

Jeanette Gouldsberry adds that the Schulenburg Argus was established before the Schulenburg Sticker and Sun, and that the Flatonia Argus came later.

See ca. 1900 photograph of the Svoboda newspaper office at the Institute of Texan Cultures website.

The Murder of Constable Charles Hendrickson Null

by Allen G. Hatley

Cattle raising in the rough sand hills and sparsely settled area where Fayette, Bastrop, Gonzales and Caldwell Counties came together, was an important part of the local economy in the 1890's, but it was also sometimes a dangerous place. Back in those days there was very little of the land in that part of central Texas that was fenced or had good grass for grazing a large herd of cattle.

As a result, much of the cattle raised in the western part of Fayette County roamed across county and private property lines, and it was mostly open range up into the twentieth century. What was often difficult was proving ownership of the unbranded cows and calves when they were cut-out for branding or sale. As a result, the theft of livestock went on pretty much all the time. A number of family feuds were born out of those accusations of cattle theft.

After Reconstruction, the Stagner family was among the largest cattle raisers in the area, but during the 1890's, they had fallen on hard times. Bunk Stagner was no ordinary cowboy. He was an important local man, who had once owned 600 head of cattle, over 1,200 acres of land in several tracks, a one-third interest in the rock quarry and several buildings located in Muldoon, along with the liquor stock in two local saloons. He and his family were also mixed up in the ongoing theft of livestock. The Stagner family was far from the only suspected cattle thieves in the area, as a mixed group of both black and white men were suspected, occasionally accused and sometimes arrested for trading in stolen cattle.

By 1891, a number of cattle owners hired a detective agency out of Waco, to help identify the thieves. In July of 1892, Bunk Stagner's oldest son, Charles, was charged with 8 counts of theft in which 52 head of livestock were taken in Fayette County. Charles pled not guilty and his case was never brought to trial. In the spring of 1895, Charles Stagner was charged with, tried and found guilty of the theft and butchering of two oxen in Bastrop County. He was sentenced to 4-years in the Texas State Penitentiary. Only a year before in May of 1894, another of Bunk's sons, William J., had been shot at while hunting stray cattle, and when that developed into a gunfight, he was finally shot and killed by a neighbor, Tom Birge. That fight was allegedly due to suspected cattle theft. Tom Birge was tried, but acquitted of murder and their feud was joined.

Charles Hendrickson Null, had been born in Missouri, and his family moved to Fayette County in 1853. By the early 1890's, Null owned a fairly large herd of cattle grazing north of Muldoon. In December 1892, he was elected constable of Precinct #5, Fayette County. The twin towns of Muldoon made up the largest community in that sparsely settled Precinct. On August 8, 1896, Constable Null left his home and was riding toward the Precinct Court House in Muldoon, when he was murdered from ambush by a party of several men.

Charles Null was shot three times and while he was down on the ground, he was shot again in the back of the head to make sure he was dead. A few days before his murder he had said that he had found new evidence that could put somebody in the penitentiary, and told several people that, "my life is in danger and I expect to be killed."

Null was on his way to Court probably to obtain a warrant for the arrest of Bunk Stagner, who was immediately suspected by Sheriff Loessin of participating in the constable's murder. The tracks of Stagner's mule were found nearby, mixed in with the hoof prints of two horses and close to several .32-20 empty shell casings.

On September 10, just over a month after Null was murdered, his son Will, his brother, George, and feudist Tom Birge rode up on Bunk Stagner, who was outside the cotton gin near Primm Switch (Kirtley). Will Null slid out of the saddle and Stagner told him to give him five minutes and he would explain everything. Will, however, told Bunk, "You didn't give my pa five minutes," and then emptied both barrels of his shotgun into Stagner. Will and the other two boys went into hiding for a few days, but no search was made as the sheriff knew he would turn himself in. When he did, Will Null was tried, but was never convicted of the murder of Bunk Stagner. That was because most believed that Stagner had been in the party that murdered Null. But after his death, it was still a mystery as to the identity of the other men who had been with Stagner when the Constable was ambushed. A few years later, Fayette County Sheriff August Loessin delivered a prisoner to the State Penitentiary at Huntsville. While there he visited with a well-known outlaw he knew from Bastrop, James Brennan (Jim) Nite, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a bank clerk in Longview, and concurrently a seven-year sentence for cattle theft in Kimble County. During their conversation, Jim admitted that he and his brother Jud Nite had been among those who shot Constable Charles Null and had been paid $500 for the murder, during a meeting with a man he would not identify in the back room of a salon in Smithville.

After the meeting, the Nite brothers rode into Fayette County from the west, passing through the small town of Cistern. They stopped there and bought some food, whiskey and a box of .32-20 cartridges. Somewhere near Muldoon, they met the man who would identify Constable Null for them and they shot Null as he rode along the road toward Muldoon. Despite his confession, Jim Nite was never indicted for the murder of Charles Null. Nite was already serving a life term and his brother was dead. There were also no witnesses except the killer, who was not expected to repeat his confession in court.

That is the story of Constable Charles Hendrickson Null, the only Fayette County lawman ever killed in the line of duty.

Photo of Tom Null, left, was contributed by Vicky Busby. The photo at right of Tom W. Burge in about the 1930s was contributed by Lucretia Morales.

 

Riding Into the Unknown: Orphan Trains Come to Fayette County 

By Katie Kulhanek

During a span of merely 20 years, from 1840 to 1860, the United States welcomed more than 4,000,000 immigrants. Just during those 20 years, the population of the United States jumped from about 17 million to 31.5 million – a 71% increase. Many of the immigrants who came settled in the areas where they landed. The 1850 census shows that 72% of immigrants were settled in the Northeast, and of that number, 50% of those immigrants could be found in only three states: New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Very few were found in the South. While good working wages and fellow countrymen in these areas at first attracted immigrants, problems soon began to develop.

In his presentation on Orphan Trains, Leo Kainer explains what this mass immigration caused in America. “Cities in the East quickly became overcrowded, and jobs were hard to find. Financial depression occurred throughout areas of dense population, and poverty became a huge issue amongst immigrants. They left poverty, political unrest and oppression in their homeland, and unfortunately, many of them discovered that conditions in the states were not much better. Without an extended family (like grandparents, aunts & uncles) to help out in times of need, young immigrant families soon fell apart and found it very difficult to provide for their children. Food became scarce, and lack of job safety caused many men to be killed in work place accidents. To make matters worse, disease from living in unsanitary conditions led to early deaths of overworked mothers, leaving many children orphaned, often at an early age. Because of difficult conditions in the large cities, and for various other reasons, many more children were given up by unwed mothers and local couples who could not provide for them. Orphaned children suffered terribly, and in desperation, some turned to the streets to sell newspapers, matches, and even rags. Others had to beg for food, or even steal to survive. Many depended on cardboard boxes, vacant warehouses, and the sidewalks of the city for shelter, and it was apparent that they were in dire need of help. Police, faced with this growing problem, were known to arrest vagrant children, often locking them up with adult criminals. In 1853, estimates put the number of homeless children, in New York City alone, at 34,000.” But what does all of this have to do with Fayette County? Well maybe we should ask the some of the older folks who might remember the Orphan Trains that came down to Texas during this time.

In 1853, a philanthropist named Charles Loring Brace, along with some other influential businessmen formed the Children’s Aid Society – an organization that helped care for neglected children in New York City. Brace himself believed that orphanages were useless because they only “deepened the dependence of the poor on charity”, instead of solving the problem altogether. Brace had a vision, one that was unusual for its time, but nonetheless successful. He wanted to move children out of the slums to live with Christian farming families in Western and Southern states. The idea was supported by many, especially the wealthy who contributed greatly to the cause. In fact, Mrs. John Astor gave the first $50 to the organization in 1853.

In 1873, the sisters at the New York Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity (which had been created in 1869 and is now called the New York Foundling Hospital) joined in the crusade when they created the Adoption Department for their organization. This department aided the Children’s Aid Society and helped with the adoption of the children they had been taking care of. Many of the children who were at the Foundling Asylum were babies that had been left on their doorstep of the Asylum building overnight.

Brace’s plan was to take children out of alleyways and orphanages (basically children who were orphans) and place them into loving families out West or down South who needed help on their farms or who just wanted children. At a time when railroads were growing into one of the greatest methods of transportation, it seemed logical and inexpensive to move the children this way. Adoption contracts would be signed, and these orphans would become members of the family.

In more detail, here is what happened: agents would plan ahead, sending letters, flyers, and general announcements to small towns along railroad lines that told of the Orphan Trains coming. The trains were also commonly called “Mercy Trains” or “Baby Trains” due to the amount of babies that would be adopted. Children were then grouped into sets of 10-40, all under the guidance and care of one agent. These agents would serve as caretakers of the children – handling the babies, feeding and clothing the children, and watching over the older children. Many times, the children would keep in contact with the agent long after they had already left their guidance, thus proving how close their relationships were. These groups of children, along with the agent, traveled on trains and stopped at the certain places that had been previously selected. But before the trains stopped, “screening committees” had been created for each town where the train was to stop. They consisted of reputable townspersons (teacher, store owner, doctor, clergyman, etc.). This committee helped select appropriate parents for the children, and they would be one of the ultimate factors in the final adoption decision. At the stopping places, families were waiting, sometimes on the platforms where the trains stopped. The children would often be (as Kainer notes) “paraded in front of the crowd of onlookers”.

While at first the idea of “Orphan Trains” seems caring and fitting, there were a few problems. Many times, siblings were orphans together; they had only each other and were often the only family they had. When the children were taken on the trains to these various towns, it wasn’t uncommon to see brothers and sisters become separated – often for the remainder of their lives – many times being too young to remember that they even had a brother or a sister. Rarely, there were times when families would adopt children, but not treat them right. If an instance like this occurred, many measures would be taken to remove the child from the unwelcoming environment. Fortunately, most of the children found loving homes. In 1910, the Children’s Aid Society issued a report assessing that 87% of the children adopted through the Orphan Train program had done well.

From 1854 to 1929 these Orphan Trains traveled across the United States bringing cars of children – some confused, some afraid, others excited, and many anxious with anticipation as to who they would belong to, what family they would become a part of, and who would give them the love they so desperately needed since it had been so harshly denied.

During those years, nearly 200,000 children were given new homes and new families through Brace’s Orphan Train program. Nearly 3,000 – 5,000 of those children found homes in Texas. A conclusive number is unknown. In our immediate area, Orphan Trains stopped in Schulenburg, Flatonia, and Weimar – all towns with dominant railroad lines. It is known that the trains made two stops in Schulenburg, first in 1906 and then again in 1910. Many farmers from the surrounding area came to adopt the orphans as the trains rolled through. The Sisters who brought children from the Foundling Hospital wanted the children to be placed in Catholic families – not just Christian families like Brace’s program. Because of this particularity, many children were taken into this area of Texas due to the large population of Czechs and Germans, many of whom were Catholic. Local priests and nuns aided in the adoptions.

An article from The Victoria Advocate dated May 16^th, 2004, follows the story of Mary Christ Jackson, an orphan train rider who grew up in High Hill:

“When she was only about a year old (1905), she arrived in Texas on one of the orphan trains from New York and was adopted by Heinrich and Carolina Dreitner Christ of High Hill near Schulenburg . . . According to Maggie Christ of Goliad (Mary’s great niece), the Rev. Henry Gerlach, a longtime priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at High Hill, went to New York to bring back a number of children on one of the baby trains, including little Mary . . . Heinrich and Carolina Christ had one child when they adopted Mary. “They had just lost a baby, Alfred, and wanted more children,” Mrs. Christ notes. “They had heard about the priest coming with the children. They met the train and got her from Father Gerlach.” . . . She knows nothing of her real parents . . . “But,” she [Mary] noted, “I pray for them. And for the ones that adopted me, I pray too. So they’re all happy in heaven.” At a meeting of orphan train riders some years before in El Campo, a woman thought Mary might be her sister, pointing to a face in a photograph that she was holding. There is also speculation that she might have had a brother...”

In another article from The Victoria Advocate dated May 28^th, 2004, several Orphan Train Riders from the local area are pointed out. One name in particular that looked very familiar to me was Sister Bernadette Volny, whose name I thought I had seen before in my mom’s book on the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Plum. Volny was only two years old when she rode the train and was adopted by a family in Taylor in 1909. She was born Catherine Lestly at the New York Infants Home in 1907. She later became a sister at the convent in Shiner. She proceeded to teach at many different Catholic schools in our local area, including the Catholic school in Plum. Furthermore, the same article goes into detail about the experience of a Schulenburg resident who witnessed one of the trains coming in:

“Walter Krenek never forgot what he had seen. He was only about six years old at the time . . . around 1910 or 1911, when he witnessed children being adopted off one of the “baby trains” at Schulenburg. [He] had walked several miles down the railroad tracks to get a bucket of beer from the Palace Saloon at Schulenburg for workers in the family’s gin at Engle. ‘This particular trip made a lasting impression on him because he witnessed the “baby train” at Schulenburg,’ his son says.”

Leo Kainer, who I mentioned at the beginning, gave some very interesting information about his father, who was an Orphan Train Rider, in a presentation he gave on Orphan Trains:

“He was born in Manhattan, New York on October 7^th, 1902 to an unwed mother who gave him the name of Jean Berrier. When he was only three weeks old, his mother brought him to the New York Foundling Hospital, where she signed a document giving all rights to the child to the Hospital. She was asked to return the next morning to complete the remaining documents; however, she never returned . . .He arrived in Schulenburg on the Orphan Train in 1906 when he was less than four years old. He was adopted by Ferdinand and Anna (Wick) Kainer, who were farmers in the Middle Creek area. He passed away in 1982 and is buried in the High Hill Catholic cemetery.  On his gravestone is a tiny placard indicating that he was an Orphan Train Rider.”

Only a handful of these “Orphan Train Riders” are still alive today. Some may have been babies and don’t remember at all the long ride from the Eastern states. Others may very well remember the trip and the fear and the excitement. Their journeys may have been difficult and trying, but despite the hardships, they persevered. Their stories must not be forgotten; it is a touching tale of love and hope, of fear and desperation, but most importantly, of life in a most peculiar and compelling circumstance.

Footprints Chairman, Bruce Collins, noted: When we received this article, I forwarded it, as usual, to the Footprints Committee members for review. I also asked if they knew of any orphans that arrived in the area via these trains. Most members have relatives or knew of someone who came to Fayette County on the Orphan Trains. The long range impact of these new citizens must have been, and continues to be, incredible.

Henry P. Overbay

First Doctor in Southern Fayette County

by Norman C. Krischke 

Henry P. Overbay, born 13 June 1822 near Rome, Georgia, was the first doctor of record in the southern part of Fayette County, specifically in the Town of Lyons. He made his rounds by buggy to manage the health of 200 to 300 people.

Lyons was founded in 1842, upon the establishment of DeWitt Clinton Lyons' stage station, trading post and post office.

Dr. Overbay first married Jane Ragsdale on November 26, 1848 and then P. Nina Henderson on November 25, 1856. P. Nina may have been a daughter of Alfred Henderson, first Mayor of Schulenburg. It is probable that his first two wives are buried in the Navidad Baptist Cemetery about 3 miles south-southeast of Schulenburg. He married Ruth (Garrett) James, as his third wife on November 17, 1870. He had six children: Eugene, Lamar, Vattell, Aroma, Henry P. Jr. and Rebel Lee.

Lyons Lodge #195, A. F. & A. M. was founded in 1858 and Dr. Overbay was elected first Worshipful Master.

When Schulenburg was founded in 1873, the doctor moved to the new town and established his office and residence in buildings on Upton Avenue on the north edge of the alley immediately north of the Ignac Russek Mercantile Building, space now occupied by City Hall. The Russek Building and the Overbay Buildings were destroyed in Schulenburg's great fire of 1893.

Dr. Overbay had an advertisement in the "Schulenburg Argus", the town's first newspaper published by P. E. Edmonson who also published the "Flatonia Argus". Dr. Overbay announced in the paper that he was a "Physician, Surgeon and Accoucheur"; "Accoucheur" meant that he delivered babies.

The doctor purchased a large piece of land on the western edge of Schulenburg between Babylon Land and the railroad tracks and offered it to the city as the Overbay Addition. The land was never developed and sold to private interests.

Dr. Overbay died January 23, 1880 and is buried in the Old High Hill Cemetery under a broken tombstone. After he died, his wife, Ruth, married William B. Robertson (1855-1901). Both William and Ruth are buried in the Schulenburg City Cemetery.

There is a picture of Dr. Henry P. Overbay on display in the Lyons Lodge Building on College Street in Schulenburg.

 

The Pliska Aeroplane

Built by a Former Fayette County Resident

by Carolyn Heinsohn 

The Pliska Aeroplane, one of the first aircraft built in Texas, was constructed in 1911-1912 in Midland, Texas only a few years after the Wright Brothers first successfully flew their aeroplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This feat was accomplished by Gray Coggin, a chauffeur and auto mechanic, and John Valentine Pliska, a master blacksmith, who had emigrated to Fayette County in 1897 at age 18 with his family from Tyn nad Becvou, Moravia, near Lipnik, which is now in the Czech Republic. He was the third oldest of eight children of a blacksmith, Frantisek and wife Marianna Lesana Pliska.

The family followed the oldest son to America, landed in Galveston, and eventually settled near other Czech families at Flatonia, Texas. After working as a blacksmith and machinist in Flatonia, Moulton and Meeks, John Pliska left Central Texas in 1903, in search of a place where there was more opportunity. He had heard stories of fortunes that could be quickly made in Mexico, so he decided to try his luck.  Traveling by train on a circuitous trip to Mexico City to “make his fortune”, he stopped in Midland, Texas where he visited a blacksmith shop. Supposedly, something on the town water well had broken, and no one had been able to repair it. After Pliska successfully repaired it, he was offered a job at the blacksmith shop, which he accepted, and his dreams of Mexico were put aside. He also took a six month leave from the blacksmith shop to work at one of the largest ranches in West Texas, the C.C. Slaughter Ranch outside of Midland, where he made branding irons, repaired windmills and cared for Arabian stallions.

In early 1905, John Pliska returned to Flatonia at age 26 to marry Louise Hundle, age 22, the daughter of Albert and Annie Elick Hundle. Both of her parents were born in Netolice, Bohemia, and emigrated to Texas with their families - the Elicks came in 1867, settling in Frelsburg, Texas; the Hundles came in 1875, settling in Praha, Texas.  Louise was born in Praha, but her family moved to another farm closer to Flatonia when she was a young child.

After their wedding, the couple returned to Midland. Pliska was the first person in Midland County to become a naturalized U.S. citizen on October 12, 1905. He and his brother-in-law, John Hundle of Flatonia, decided to open their own blacksmith shop in Midland in 1908. The two of them began talking about building an aeroplane shortly after opening their shop, worked on drawings and began collecting materials for the plane in 1909. However John Hundle decided to move back to Flatonia less than a year after arriving in Midland. John’s oldest brother, Frank, then moved from North Dakota to work with John in his blacksmith shop.

Pliska had studied in a balloon and glider school in Bavaria while serving in the Austrian army and had considerable knowledge about the rudiments of lighter-than-air craft. When Robert Fowler landed his Wright Flyer II in Midland in 1911, Pliska’s dream was rekindled. He enlisted the help of Gray Coggin, who was an experienced automobile mechanic, and together they studied Fowler’s plane and made plans to create their own aeroplane. They thought that they could fly their plane at towns and cities around the country, charging enough money to view the event to help pay for their expenses, plus provide a sufficient profit. Few people at that time had ever seen an aeroplane fly.

The Pliska Aeroplane, which was 26.5 feet long with a 33-foot wing span, was built by the two men in the evenings after their normal workdays with the simplest materials Pliska had in his shop – wood, piano wire and canvas. They hired out as helpers on a cattle train in return for a free train ride to Sandusky, Ohio, where they purchased an aeroplane engine, which was a modification of a marine engine, for $1500. They had to order expensive high-test fuel, a combination of lubricating oil and benzene, from New York City. The biplane framework was made of wood. The ribs in the wings were made of thin pieces of straight-grained wood, glued together into a pre-formed, curved structure. Pliska made many of the metal couplings and fittings for the plane in his shop. The engine was mounted in back of the pilot’s seat, far enough back so that the attached propeller would not touch the rear edge of the wings. They developed a system of cabled aileron controls that was not common to most aircraft at that time. Their controls were far in advance of those used by other aircraft builders and have become universal in aircraft design. The pilot could control the movement of the ailerons by leaning his body to the right or left, as was necessary to bank the plane in turning. A wheeled control stick in front of the pilot was moved forward or backward to gain or decrease elevation of the plane. The propeller was made by gluing pieces of straight-grained wood together, and the curved surfaces were formed by hand with a draw knife and rasp. To remedy damage encountered by brush and mesquite while landing, Pliska attached a metal sheath to the tips of the blades, creating the first metal-tipped propeller ever made. Thereafter, the metal-tipped propeller became standard equipment on most planes until replaced by all-metal propellers in the 1920s. Since balloon silk, which was usually used on aircraft wings, was expensive, Pliska decided to use canvas. After experiencing problems with too much “drag” on the air passing under the wings, which caused difficulty in keeping the plane off the ground for any appreciable length of time, Pliska and Coggin shellacked the canvas, which helped considerably. However, the treated canvas made the plane heavier than it would have been had silk been used on the wings. They discovered that their engine, which was supposed to reach 1,400 r.p.m., was only guaranteed to do so at sea level.  Since Midland had an elevation of 2,800 feet, the engine was never able to reach the maximum speed. Therefore, the aeroplane, which operated perfectly with the exception of the motor, had problems reaching the elevation needed to travel any distance. They were only able to fly for a maximum of two miles on any test flight.

Pliska and Coggin wanted to return their engine to the factory and secure a larger one. However, in the meantime, there was no hangar in which to store the plane, and because of lack of funds and the protests of Pliska’s wife, who thought the project was a foolish folly, the plane was dismantled and stored in the rear of the blacksmith shop, where it remained for a period of over fifty years. When the blacksmith shop was torn down in 1962, the plane was given to the City of Midland by the seven children of John Valentine and Louise Hundle Pliska, to be restored and housed in a suitable building. Today it proudly hangs in the Midland airport terminal, permanently suspended in the air where it was meant to be, an example of the inventiveness of an ingenious Czech-Texan, who once lived in Fayette County.  

Prohibition

by Kathy Carter

The Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1919 and was more commonly known as the Prohibition Act. This act made it illegal to manufacture or sell any alcoholic beverage. As one might expect this well-intentioned piece of legislation was quite a blow to the German and Czech settlers of Fayette County. Most of them managed to find a way around the law. Stills and other spirit-making equipment were soon in evidence at many of the local farms. Some people went out of their way to hide the fact that they were making "moonshine" by hiding stills under haystacks or in barns. Others were brazen enough to have the stills right in their own house, assuming that no one would ever bother to check.

Federal prohibition enforcement offices were opened in cities around the country to deal with the problem of "bootleggers" and "moon shiners" on a local level. The nearest federal enforcement office to La Grange was located in Houston. The officer in charge of this district was Louis B. Manss. He became quite familiar with his territory as he and his officer made regular visits to Fayette County.

From the September 22, 1922 issue of the La Grange Journal " A force of five Federal prohibition enforcement officers arrived in town Wednesday morning and started rounding up men for whom they had warrants. They placed Frank Sassin, Louis Hermis and Louis Kusy of Engle in jail here first. These were arrested about seven thirty a.m. After these had been locked up they went to St. John and arrested Ed Mladenka. Then they went back to Houston. While here they stated that they knew a number of other people around here who had stills, and would come after them on the next trip. They are reported to have found a still in Frank Sassin's field and some tomato wine at his home. They also found a still and a pint of moonshine at one of the other places."

Many attempts were made to add provisions or changes to the Prohibition Amendment. One of the provisions that seemed to have a great deal of popular support was an idea first introduced by the American Party in 1920. This was the belief that "sick or weak men should be allowed to purchase wine or less intoxicating liquors for health reasons." La Grange had a branch of the American Party for several non-sequential years. However, this party never gained enough strength in Congress to pass any legislation to modify the amendment.

The federal officers continued to make raids in and around Fayette County until 1933 when much to the relief of local residents, the Prohibition Act was finally repealed.

 

Prolific Progenitors

By Carolyn Heinsohn 

It is a known fact that most families were larger in the earlier days when an agrarian lifestyle deemed it necessary to have as many helping hands as possible on the family farm. Utilizing family members to help maintain the farm was financially more practical than hiring farmhands, so large families were quite common. It was also a time when the needs of children were predominantly very simple – food, clothing and housing. Since most of the food consumed by rural families was grown on their farms, and the family’s clothing, which was minimal for each person, was handmade, there was very little expense involved in rearing children. Also, most leisure-type activities of that era utilized simple, handcrafted items that were not purchased. Few children advanced beyond the eighth grade, so monies were generally not needed for secondary educations. Therefore, large families were not considered to be a burden or especially unique.

However, there were two families with roots in Fayette County who must have set some kind of records. The parents could have won awards for being “Prolific Progenitors”, due to their sheer numbers of offspring. The first, which was described in the Weimar Mercury on July 8, 1893, was the family of Mose Williams, a black man who lived approximately five miles east of Fayetteville, Texas. Mr. Williams, who was 63 years old at that time, had been married twice. He and his first wife had three boys and 20 girls. After her death, most probably from absolute exhaustion, he fathered two additional boys and 20 more girls with his second wife, for a total of 45 children. His youngest child was five years old. That was quite an accomplishment for one man, but even more so for his wives, who must have been perpetually “with child”.

The second couple, Frank and Lizzie Shaw Carter, were both born and reared in La Grange, where they were married. They moved to Oklahoma in 1901 at the opening of the territory, where eventually Mr. Carter became a deputy sheriff in Lawton. The June 18, 1904 issue of the Weimar Mercury reported that the Carters, who had been married for 18 years, had 23 children: 15 boys and eight girls. Immediately, one begins to compute how 23 children were produced in 18 years. Then the article revealed that they had seven sets of twins, which was remarkable, considering the fact that most twins are born prematurely and have a lower birth weight, and that this was before the time of medical technology and expertise now utilized in caring for premature infants. Anyway, Mrs. Carter deserved accolades for 16 pregnancies during 18 years of marriage.

It was further related that 17 of their children had the measles at the same time. In order to supply them with water during their feverish stage, a hose was attached to a faucet and passed from one child to another, so that the parents would not have to be disturbed. It was also “a little trying on their nervous system when these 23 children all had the whooping cough at one time, and each was trying its best to whoop louder and longer than all the rest.”

The family resided in a five-room house, and because of the number of children, arrangements had to be made for sleeping and eating. In one room, all the boys piled crossways into a very large bed at night. The same arrangements were made in another room for the girls, although there was a little more room to turn over since there were only half as many occupying the bed. It was impossible to get a table that would fit in the house and at the same time seat all the children, but there was no “second table”. Instead the children drew lots each week to determine which ones would have seats at the table. The remainder would have to stand up to eat or sit out on the porch, depending upon the weather. Since the Carters did not live on a farm, it was probably more difficult for Mr. Carter to financially provide for his family. The newspaper article stated that some of the boys were old enough to work a little for themselves, which was a great assistance.

Looking at those numbers, it no longer seems quite so overwhelming to be rearing our much smaller families. Also, most of the children today would never consider sharing one bed, much less one room, with as many as 14 siblings, or drawing lots for table space. There would be anarchy on the home front!

    

Mary Crownover Rabb

by Donna Green

Mary Crownover was born in 1805 in Buncombe County, North Carolina. She met John Rabb while they were living just south of Jonesborough in the Arkansas Territory and were married in 1821. John and Mary departed the Jonesborough area for the new land of Texas on October 1, 1823. They had decided to move to Austin's Colony where John's father, William and two of John's brothers had established a homestead. John and Mary settled on the West Side of the Colorado River just north of the present site of La Grange at a place called Indian Hill. Initially, they stayed at Indian Hill with the rest of the members of the family, later deciding to move south to another colony on the Brazos River. When William Rabb received more land on the Colorado River to build a gristmill, John and Mary returned to the area to help with the mill. William died in 1831 and John assumed primary responsibility for the operation of the mill.

John, leaving Mary at home with four small children, joined the volunteer army of colonists who were fighting for the independence of Texas in 1835. During this time, Mary was forced to keep the homestead going and to deal with local Indians who often came to her home seeking food or medicine for illnesses. When Santa Anna's army marched east across Texas, Mary and the children were part of a group of colonists who were forced to flee in what is known as the Runaway Scrape. During this flight, Mary suffered the illness and death of her youngest child, Lorenzo.

After the war John and Mary returned to rebuild the mill which had been destroyed in a flood in 1833. They remained at Rabb's Prairie until 1860 when John decided to quit the milling business. In one of the county's largest business transactions up to that date, John sold all his property at Rabb's Prairie and moved to Austin. He and Mary purchased land in the current Barton Creek area. John died there in 1861. Mary survived him and died in 1882. Both are buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

The new Texas State History Museum in Austin features Mary telling of her experiences while an early Texas colonist. Mary wrote a compelling memoir that is considered the most juicy and vivid narrative of pioneer life ever written by a woman.

John T. Rankin

Sheriff, U.S. Marshal, Fayette County Clerk and Accused Murderer 

by Ed Janecka

John T. Rankin was born in 1853 to Dr. Calvin and Mary Rankin of Round Top. It seemed that even as a young lad, excitement and controversy followed him. The following is dated from an article taken from the Brenham Enquirer dated September 1^st, 1869:

The Germans gave a ball; Walter Holt, Patten H. Rankin and John Rankin, sons of the late Dr. C.P. Rankin, of Round Top, were in attendance. It seems that little Jonnie was teasing Holt, when Holt asked him to behave and on a repetition of the act, Holt slapped little Jonnie. Patten Rankin interfered. Holt left the room, and Rankin, anticipating the cause, placed himself, when Holt returned with a double-barreled shot gun, [he, Holt] received a wound in the abdomen as he entered the gate, from a six-shooter in the hands of Patten Rankin. Holt was still enabled to fire on Rankin, the charge taking off one side of his [Patten’s] head, when he fell dead. Holt, though dangerously wounded, there was still hope of his recovery when last heard from.

Such are the results of that too common practice of indiscriminately carrying six-shooters.

Several years later on February 26^th, 1875, John married Olivia Perkins. But married life was no different than before – for the same excitement and controversy would begin to follow Rankin once again. Because of the above incident or in spite of it, the young Rankin decided to enter law enforcement, and in 1882, he was elected Sheriff of Fayette County defeating N.T. Risen by 75 votes.  He was only 28 years of age when he took office and by all accounts did a great job - which would be indicated by this newspaper article from the La Grange Journal dated May 10^th, 1883:

Dick King Captured

Most everyone will recollect that about ten years ago, a quiet and peaceful old German, Dietrich Mueller, while riding along in the prairie in the neighborhood of Rock House was suddenly met and accosted by four intoxicated Negroes, and without any provocation whatever was cruelly and in cold blood murdered by them. Of the four perpetrators of this horrible and dastardly crime, one, Offer Alexander, suffered the death penalty, Henry Williams was sentenced to the penitentiary for life, and Ike Smith, to the penitentiary for 20 years, while the one, Dick King, who according to the indictment, really did the shooting, evaded justice until now, by fleeing into Mexico. To our young and efficient sheriff, Mr. John Rankin, it is due that at last this fugitive from law and justice has been caught and is now lodged in our jail awaiting his trial at the next court. Mr. Rankin left here some time ago for Mexico for the special purpose of catching the above mentioned, Dick King, and on last Saturday evening he returned with the prisoner, after an absence of eleven days. He caught his man in Santa Rosa, Mexico, about one hundred and fifty miles the other side of the Rio Grande, where the same was working in a mine. Mr. Rankin is full of praise for the Mexican government and its officials, stating that as soon as it was known to them that he was an officer, they did all in their power to assist him in his mission, by furnishing him wagons and teams, four soldiers to guard his wagons, letter of introduction to other officers and prominent citizens, and aiding him in every way possible; but then he also says there is considerable “red tape” to be unwound, and this makes it extremely difficult to get a criminal out of Mexico. Mr. Rankin also states having seen Jake Wise, who was sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary two years ago, and who made his escape, but not having the necessary papers he could not bring him back into the arms, or more properly speaking – the walls - of Huntsville.

In June of 1886, an unusual circumstance occurred; US President Grover Cleveland appointed John T. Rankin to the office of United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas. It was unusual because it wasn’t supposed to happen. There were clearly 25 other applicants. There were four congressmen bidding for the new Marshal to come from their own districts; Samuel W.T. Lanham, who represented the West Texas area; Congressman James Francis Miller from Gonzales; Congressman Roger A. Miller from Corsicana; and Congressman Joseph D. Sayers from Bastrop. The two senators, Richard Coke and Sam Bell Maxey, washed their hands of the matter and left it up to the Congress to decide. The president urged the Congress to come up with some agreement, or he would have to make the decision himself. The President finally agreed to send the name of Jones from Gonzales from the Department of Justice to be the New US Marshal for the Western District of Texas. Jones’ name was being prepared to be sent to the Senate for approval. But in the meantime, friends of Rankin started to send letters and wires to the President on Rankin’s behalf.

President Cleveland’s decision changed with the arrival of W.S. Robson, an attorney from La Grange, who was deeply involved in democratic politics. In 1885, he was elected messenger to carry the presidential note to Washington. It is interesting to note that President Grover Cleveland was also a Democrat. Robson was later elected County Judge of Fayette County. He was also very involved with the A.O.U.W., a workers union of sorts. Later in 1898, he was elected Supreme Master Workman of the A.O.U.W. of the US and Canada, which had over 340,000 members in 1895. I am sure that Mr. Robson was a very persuasive man, and after Cleveland visited with Robson, the President instructed his private secretary to call the Attorney General’s office and withdraw the appointment of Jones and instead appoint Rankin.

By all accounts, John Rankin made a fine US Marshal. In an act that would seem appropriate to his character, Rankin seemed particularly interested in apprehending train robbers. Taken from a July 23^rd, 1887 issue of the Flatonia Argus is the article that follows:

Flatonia Train Robbers

“Three Alleged Members of the Gang Arrested and Identified at San Antonio. San Antonio, Texas., June 22 – United States Marshal Rankin came in to-night from Flatonia with J. Otho, Ed Clark, and A. Smith, three of the parties charged with robbing the train last Friday night. It is claimed that their identity is fully established. Miss Sarah Tivis has been arrested and held as an attached witness in the case. This afternoon the sheriff and his deputies arrested one John Hall, charged with being one of the principals in the McNeil robbery. He was arrested in this city north of Government Hill.” 

From Marshall to County Clerk

The following is taken from the La Grange Journal dated October 4^th, 1888:

Marshal Rankin Kills Bill Whitley, One of the Train Robbers

The Journal last week simply announced that Marshal Rankin had killed Bill “Whitney,” one of the train robbers, but gave no particulars, as none had been received. Since then the details of the killing have been published in the daily papers. The following is about as correct a report of the affair as we have seen:

Since the attempted robbery of last Saturday night Marshal Rankin, with a corps of deputies, has been in pursuit of the desperadoes. He had reason to believe they would seek refuge at the home of Will Harrell (now under indictment for harboring robbers) in the eastern suburbs of Floresville. About dusk last evening United States Marshal John T. Rankin, with Deputies West, Van Riper and Yglesias went to the house of Harrell. There was nobody home but a colored boy, whom the officers held in custody, and secreted themselves in a rear shed opening into the front of the house. About 6:30 o’clock Harrell and Whitley rode up, hitched their horses and entered the front room and lighted a lamp. Harrell opened the door to the shed in which the officers were riding and called for someone. At that juncture Marshal Rankin appeared before the opening and Harrell stepped to one side without making any remarks. Whitley had seated himself on a chair in the middle of the room and was facing the officer who raised his gun to his shoulder and said: “Throw up your hands!”

Marshal Rankin says he did not have time to even tell the desperado that he was an officer, or anything else, for no sooner had Whitley seen him than he drew his revolver and both men fired almost at once. The shot aimed at the marshal passed over his head and embedded itself in the back wall, while Whitley received the shotgun charge in the head and breast, one buckshot going in his right jaw and plowing completely through his head . This brought him to his knees, or he squatted and the marshal fired again into Whitley’s head. Both shots were well aimed and both took effect in the vitals of the desperado. But so determined and vicious was the robber that he made the most desperate fight after his head was thus riddled. At best with the wound already inflicted he could have lived not more than ten minutes, but instead of surrendering he rolled under the bed and fired indiscriminately at the officers. After he had emptied his shotgun Marshal Rankin, according to a previous understanding with his deputies, stepped out of the door and the battle was continued by the deputies. Many shots fired were fired on both sides, but Whitley had already received mortal wounds and died in a few seconds with his pistol cocked, clinched in right hand and resting on his right shoulder. The man Wm. Harrell, in whose company and at whose house Whitley was found, must not be supposed to be a train robber. His only offense is the harboring of the outlaws, for which he is now under bond. He took no part in the fight and was not arrested.

Bill Whitley was one of the most desperate characters ever known in southwest Texas. He is known to have participated in the McNeill and Flatonia robberies, and about one year ago waylaid and murdered Deputy Sheriff Stanley, of Williamson County. The Cisco bank robbery is also charged to Whitley, as well as countless stage hold-ups. He is said to have remarked on several occasions that he would never be taken alive, and his desperate struggle last night, when there were but a dozen breaths left, shows that he was a man of daring and foolhardy courage. He had a Winchester rifle, a six-shooter, sixty-one dollars in money and a silver watch and chain on his person at death. He rode to Mr. Harrell’s a fine horse, and in his saddle bags was found a hatchet, probably for use in cutting barbed wire fences.

Bill Whitley was raised in DeWitt County, and at one time drove a stage from Cuero to Goliad. His brother-in-law, a Mr. Cox, lives at Lampasas, Tex; besides this little is known of his family connections. Whitley had outlived his day, and, like others who preceded and men who are to follow him, he went over the divide with his boots on, for which the community at large have to thank our courageous United States Marshal Rankin and his corps of brave deputies.

A Shooting on the Courthouse Lawn

John resigned from the Marshal service in 1889 for reasons unknown. The position was known to be unfruitful financially and extremely hazardous and arduous. In 1890, John Rankin defeated John P. Ehlinger and Frank Lidiak to become County Clerk of Fayette County. Unfortunately, it was difficult to shake his prior profession and perhaps old enemies that he had made. An attempt to assassinate Rankin was made in May of 1891. Taken from the La Grange Journal is an article dated May 7^th, 1891:

An Attempt to Assassinate

A diabolical attempt to assassinate County Clerk John T. Rankin was made Wednesday night of last week about 9 o’clock. He had just returned from the post office and as he was entering his door the shot was fired, but fortunately without effect. His escape from instant death was miraculous, as nearly the entire charge of buckshot crashed through the glass door which he opened as he went in. It seems that the door opened inward and that he opened it with his left hand, as he stepped inside closed it with the same hand without turning around, which made it necessary for him to step to one side, thus taking him out of the range of the deadly missiles. Had he turned around to close the door, he would have received the bulk of the shot in his breast and would have been killed. The would-be-assassin was not over fifty feet from his intended victim when he fired, and report says he did not seem to be in a hurry to get away, as he walked leisurely across the street and never increased his gait until Mrs. Rankin commenced calling for assistance. He was seen as he moved off in the dark by Mrs. Rankin from a window, and also by a Negro woman, but neither, on account of the darkness, could give a description of him.

It was but a short time after the alarm had been given, before a large number of citizens assembled at the scene but under the circumstances they could accomplish nothing. Dogs were brought with the hope that they might aid in discovering who the perpetrator of the dastardly deed was, but without avail. Some suggestions were made as to what ought to be done but were not carried out. So the whole thing remains wrapt in the mystery for the time being. There are of course, as there are in all such cases, many theories and surmises in regard to the affair, but so far as The Journal has been able to learn, nothing tangible in the shape of a clew as to who committed the deed, has been developed.

It didn’t take long for Mr. Rankin to determine who he felt was the culprit, and a week later, John Rankin shot Fritz Homuth on the Fayette County Courthouse lawn approximately in the location of the present Veterans’ Memorial. Taken from the La Grange Journal and dated May 14^th, 1891 is an account of how the murder occurred: 

On last Thursday morning at 6 o’clock, Mr. Fritz Homuth was shot and killed by County Clerk John T. Rankin. The weapon used was a double-barrel shot gun loaded with buck shot, some fifteen of which entered the right side of the deceased passing through the lungs and heart. Death must have been instantaneous, in fact it is doubtful if Homuth, after receiving the charge in such a vital part, was able to realize what had happened to him, or who had shot him.

He was buried the following day his remains being followed to their last resting place by a large concourse of our citizens. It is said that the funeral procession was the largest, with the exception of two, that has ever been seen in La Grange.

The deceased leaves two brothers, one sister and other relatives to mourn his death, who have the sympathy of this community.

Homuth had been acquitted for shooting a man in Weimar, Colorado County on November 18^th, 1878. In an act that Homuth declared was self-defense, he had killed a Lavaca County man named James C. Reynolds by shooting him in the head with a shotgun. It is unknown if Rankin knew Reynolds or not, but it is likely that he became aware of the event and Homuth’s reputation at some later date. Upon Rankin’s arrest, Rankin himself expressed concern that Sheriff B.L. Zapp would not do the utmost to protect him. Rankin was a good friend of Sheriff Zapp earlier in his life, because he had hired him to be a deputy along with his own brother, William A. Rankin. B.L. Zapp’s father, Robert, was a friend of John Rankin’s father in Round Top. The Rankins and the Zapps both attended the Florida Lodge Presbyterian Church. During the campaign for Fayette County Sheriff in 1888, John Rankin’s brother William ran against Zapp. The campaign turned nasty and because of this, John Rankin and B.L. Zapp became enemies.

At the request for a change of venue, Rankin’s lawyers said that he couldn’t get a fair trial, because Zapp and his deputies were spreading discord against him in the community. Zapp agreed that he was not a friend of Rankin’s, but that he would act professionally all the same and protect his rights. In the meantime, Fritz Homuth’s two brothers and others were walking the streets of La Grange armed with shotguns, and Zapp did not stop them after they claimed that they meant no harm and had only intended to defend themselves. Recorded below is an article taken from the La Grange Journal dated July 9^th, 1891:

An Appeal to The Governor

It was currently reported on the streets of Flatonia last week that more trouble was hourly expected in La Grange growing out of the Rankin-Homuth killing and that parties interested were arming themselves, and that the sheriff was not taking any steps towards disarming the hostile parties. Believing that such a state of affairs should not be allowed to exist, a request was forwarded from here to the Governor, signed by our most prominent and influential men asking that he send a man to La Grange to ascertain if possible the exact state of affairs and to report whether or not it is necessary to station a squad of rangers there for the purpose of maintaining the dignity of the law.

The Argus would regret very much the necessity of asking the aid of outside parties, but the dignity of the law must or at least should be preserved, and when local officers fail or refuse to perform their duties, it believes that the Governor should be asked to take a hand in time to prevent trouble and not wait until more blood is shed.

Now the Journal would ask, if it would not have been more becoming for the “most prominent and influential men” of Flatonia to have sent some one of their number here to ascertain whether the reports circulated in their town were true or not? Had they done so they would have discovered that there was no foundation in fact, to base such reports upon. Not a citizen of La Grange armed or paraded the streets with arms, nor did any one of them contemplate doing so. Mr. R. S. Homuth appeared on the streets at different times carrying a shot gun, claiming that his life was in peril, but he is not a citizen of La Grange. He and every other citizen of the land has the constitutional right to bear arms. And had every male citizen of La Grange strapped a gun on his back and carried it about with him, neither Sheriff Zapp, nor a squad of rangers would have had the legal right to disarm them.

No, the Journal thinks the prominent and influential men of our sister city acted with undue haste in making their appeal to the governor. They did not treat the citizens of La Grange, than whom there are no more law-abiding in the State, with that friendly courtesy they were entitled to.

 The case of John T. Rankin caused the county to become divided with almost everyone having an opinion on his guilt or innocence. John Rankin charged Sheriff Zapp to be his bitter and relentless enemy and accused him of using his influences as sheriff to defame him throughout the county. Rankin himself asked for bail, but it was denied. He then asked Fayette County Judge Teichmueller to be moved to another jail. This time the request was approved and Rankin was moved to the Colorado County jail. Rankin tried to appeal the request for bail and once again Teichmueller denied him. But this time, the court overturned Teichmueller’s decision and Rankin was released. Despite being released, Rankin claimed that he could never return to his home or place of business for fear of losing his life.

Rankin then presented 22 prominent citizens, who explained their concern to the Judge on how Rankin could not get a fail trial in Fayette County. Interestingly, 15 of these citizens were from Flatonia, which is where Rankin was very popular and Zapp (equally) was not. Thus not surprisingly, the four times Zapp ran for Fayette County Sheriff (1886,1888,1890, and 1892) he was never able to carry Flatonia. Zapp finally retired in 1894 when August Loessin was elected. In December of 1892, Judge Teichmueller granted Rankin his request for a change of venue. Rankin was acquitted after a change of venue to San Antonio where he may have had connections.

After the trial, Rankin and his brother William left La Grange and opened a livery stable at 5^th and Trinity in Austin. In November of 1897, after some sort of alleged dispute with an Austin police officer by the name of Jim Grizzard, Rankin was shot by Grizzard as he crossed the foot bridge in front of the First National Bank at the corner of 6^th and Congress in downtown Austin. The newspapers reported at the time of the shooting that Rankin was involved in city politics in Austin. But it is not known if he was running for office or supporting someone else. This was the time when Austin had an Alderman form of government and the outcome of elections would certainly have an effect on city personnel, especially the police.

John T. Rankin is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin.

Happy New Year - Railroad

by Donna Green

On New Years' Eve, 1880 a very special event took place in La Grange. That event still influences life in La Grange on a daily basis. That event was the arrival of the first train of the La Grange branch of the Galveston, Houston and San Antonio Railroad. Crowds of people gathered all day at the old depot to view the first train. The intense excitement caused business to be suspended almost entirely for the day. In the evening more than one hundred guns were fired. One gentleman said that it was, in his eyes, the finest ever built. Everyone seemed to be in agreement with his assessment.

It was not long before La Grange felt the effects of the railroad. According to the January 6, 1881 issue of the La Grange Journal : "Already our town is taking on a new appearance, dozens of new and strange faces are to be seen on the street, and the hotels are full of guests from everywhere. Now is the time for business men to show what they are." It seemed that everyone was talking about the railroad. One of the more humorous stories that circulated at the time concerned an old lady who became quite irate when she witnessed the engineer back the train a short distance. According to the rumor, "she caught hold of the locomotive and told him she had paid her money to help bring that thing here and he shouldn't take it away." According to the Journal, a diligent inquiry was made of all the bystanders and no one witnessed such action. The editor felt quite sure that no one in our community would behave in such a manner but that the report was generated by some " jealous denizen" at the other end of our branch.

Nevertheless, the county thrived. The trains often shipped more than 500 bales of cotton in one day. Farmers who would never have considered coming to La Grange until this time were pouring into the city with products to be sold. Cotton prices went up and goods prices went down. Emigrants arrived from other states and other nations. Sometimes as many as fifty in one day. The editor noted that they all looked like "good, hard-working people who will make first class citizens of the area." Jobs became readily available. La Grange was on its way to becoming the thriving enterprise that it remains today.

 

Joel Walter Robison

By Connie Sneed

Joel Walter Robison, soldier and legislator, was born in Washington County, Georgia, on October 4 or 5, 1815, the son of John G. Robison.

He moved to Texas from Florida with his parents and one sister in 1831 and settled first near Columbia in Brazoria County. With his father, he served in Capt. Henry Stevenson Brown's company at the battle of Velasco on June 26, 1832. In 1833 the family moved to a farm on the west bank of Cummings Creek in Fayette County, and Robison became a volunteer Indian fighter in the company of Capt. John York.

He served at the siege of Bexar in 1835 and took part in the Grass Fight and the battle of Concepcion. According to William DeRyee, Robison was William B. Travis's last messenger from the Alamo; he bore a dispatch dated February 24, 1836. At the battle of San Jacinto, Robison was a private in Capt. William Jones Elliot Heard's Company F of Col. Edward Burleson's First Regiment, Texas Volunteers, and was of the party that captured Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Mexican general is said to have entered the Texan camp riding double on Robison's horse.

On December 14, 1836, Sam Houston commissioned Robison a first lieutenant in the Texas Rangers. In 1837 Robison married Emily Almeida Alexander, who was born in Kentucky in 1821. They became the parents of seven children. In 1840 Robison owned 6,652 acres in Fayette County, and on January 31, 1840, he was elected commissioner of the Fayette County land office. His brother-in-law, Jerome B. Alexander, was killed in the Dawson Massacre in 1842. Robison became a prosperous planter and was elected in 1860 as a Democrat to the Eighth Legislature, where he favored secession. He served until 1862. From 1870 until 1879 he owned a store in Warrenton in partnership with one of his sons. At the end of the Reconstruction period he was elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1875.

Emily Robison died in 1887, and Joel died at his home in Warrenton on August 4, 1889. Both were buried in the Florida Chapel Cemetery near Round Top, but in 1932 their remains were moved to the State Cemetery in Austin. Robison, an active Mason, was second vice president of the Texas Veterans Association at the time of his death.

My Name is Joel Robison

By Richard Tinsley

Note: Joel Robison, originally from Georgia was a Fayette County resident for many years. The letter is from “An Early History of Fayette County”.

Let me tell you about a letter I received asking about what happened between me and Santa Anna, as we rode together on my horse to gen. Sam Houston’s camp. I wrote the report on August 5, 1881, from Round Top. I continued to live in the neighborhood of Warrenton, in Fayette County, until I died in August of 1889.

“It was as follows; on the morning of the 22^nd, the day after the battle, a party was detailed and sent out under command of Gen. Burleson. This party proceeded in the direction of the bridge on Vince’s Bayou. One object was to pick up any Mexicans we could find who had fled from the battle the evening before, and particularly to search for Santa Anna and Cos. When we reached the Bayou we divided into squads of five or six persons in each, and went in different directions. The party I was with consisted of six, all privates, as far as I know. Their names were as follows; Miles, Sylvester, Thompson, Vermillion, another whose name I do not recollect, and myself. From the bridge we started down the bayou. After traveling about two miles we saw a man standing on the bank of a ravine, some five or six hundred yards from us. He, no doubt, saw us first, for when we started toward him, he sat down on a high place and waited till we came up. It proved to be Santa Anna. I was the only one of the party who spoke the Mexican language. I asked him if he knew where Santa Anna and Cos were. He said, he thought they had gone to the Brazos. I asked him if he knew of any other Mexicans that had made their escape from the battle. He said he thought there were some up the stream in a thicket. I told him we would take him to the American camp. He was very willing but complained of being very tired. I asked him if he was an officer. No, he said; that he belonged to the cavalry and was not accustomed to being on foot; that he was run very close by our cavalry the other day and was compelled to leave his horse. When we started with him one of our party dismounted and went up the ravine to look for the Mexicans spoken of by Santa Anna, and Santa Anna rode his horse some two miles up the road. The man that went up the road, finding no Mexicans, then came and told Santa Anna to dismount. He refused to do it, and the man then leveled his gun at him, when he dismounted and asked me how far it was to camp. I told him eight or nine miles. He said he could not walk so far. The young man then wanted to kill him, and I told him so. He then said he would try and walk but would have to go slow; so we started for camp , and the man got behind and the man would prick him in the back with his spear and make him trot for some two or three miles. Santa Anna then stopped, and, appealing to me, said if he wanted to kill him to do so, but could not walk any further. I then took him up behind me and carried him to camp, some five or six miles further. After he got up behind, we entered into a general conversation. He asked me if Gen. Houston commanded in person at the battle; how many we killed, and how many prisoners we had taken, and when they would be shot. I told him I did not think they would be shot; that I had never known Americans to kill prisoners of war. He said the Americans were a brave and generous people, and asked me what I thought would be done with the prisoners. I told him that I did not know, but the Americans would like the younger ones for servants. He said that would be very kind. He asked me how many were in our army at the battle. I said, some six or seven hundred. He thought I was mistaken; that there must be more. I said, No; and that two hundred Americans could whip the whole Mexican army. “Yes” he said, “the Americans are great soldiers.” I asked him if he was not sorry he came to fight the Americans. “Yes,” he said, but he belonged to the army and was compelled to obey his officers. I asked him, if he was back in Mexico if he would come to Texas any more. He said, No; he would desert first. This brought us to camp, when the Mexicans immediately announced his name. He asked to be taken to General Houston, and was taken to him. If you think these facts are sufficient interest, you can put them in such shape as you think best. I am yours

                                                                                     Very respectfully,

                                                                                                  JOEL W. ROBISON”

 

The Weikel Family and Roznov

by Lillie Mae Brightwell

As you drive North from Fayetteville on FM 1291, you will come to a sign that reads "ROZNOV". Watch on the right hand side of the road and you will see a stone building and a stone fireplace in the pasture on private property. This is what is left of what once was quite a large settlement active before, and during the civil war through the early 1900s.

George Weikel, born in 1820, married Helena Weinert in Austria. They had two sons: Joseph and Peter. In the early 1840s, the family, a niece, Theresa Weikel, their own team of oxen and a fully packed ox-cart, crossed the ocean in a schooner. Several days from port, Peter was ill and died. He was buried at sea. It took the group nine weeks to get to Galveston. They moved their ox-cart up the Brazos River bottom eating wild berries. The Indians introduced them to tomatoes.

Eventually, they settled in what is now Roznov. George built one of the first gristmills located in Fayette County. Later he built a sawmill and a cotton gin. The seeds were removed from the cotton by running it over iron and steel pegs by hand. The slaves of plantation owners brought logs to be sawed. There were large posts at the gate entering the mill yard. Often at noon the slaves were given their food by their owners as they entered the gate - a cup of water handed out from the top of the post and some "hoe cake" from the other.

George and Helena's son Joseph married Mary Brandtstatter who came to Texas from Vienna, Austria. Joseph and Mary built a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor in what was to become Roznov. Putting a post near one corner of the cabin made the bed. Ropes were stretched from the post to the wall and woven to form a kind of bedspring. The mattress was made of corn shucks with feather beds for under-bedding and covers. Furniture consisted of a home made table and a few chairs and in the corner there was the beautiful fireplace. George Weikel made a cradle out of native cedar for his first grandchild. Many a lucky little Weikel descendent was rocked in the cradle in the years to follow. The stone work on the still-standing fireplace had two very deep sides for cooking and two shallower sides for burning wood for warmth. The four sided fireplace and the stone building as well as Joseph's first log cabin was started before the Civil War and was recorded in place in 1863.

During the Civil War, the Confederacy kept horses in the Fayetteville and Roznov area. Prisoners were supposedly quartered in the stone building when they were taken from La Grange to other locations. It has steel bars in the windows behind the wooden shutters and a dirt floor. The Confederate camp near La Grange was used to pick up and move deserters.

Later Joseph and Mary built a house much larger than the first. This house was built around the original log cabin and fireplace. It was a rambling house with a large porch across the front. It had floors of cedar and an upstairs loft. The oak and cedar lumber used was sawed in their own mill. The stone building was used as a smokehouse.

Helena Weikel was bedridden with arthritis for two years before she died. Father Joseph Chromcik had many masses for her, for which she gave him very generous donations. The Fayetteville Catholic Church had a gold trimmed altar, which was built by her donations. In 1884, the gin caught on fire. Joseph tried to save his records, instead lost his life. He is buried in Florida Chapel. Mary remarried Peter Emil Faag in 1886.

John H. Halamicek named Roznov after his birthplace, Roznov, Czechoslovakia. Some of the earliest settlers were George Weikel, Joseph Weikel, John Halamicek, Fred Knutzen, Bernard Cordes, Joseph Orsak and Joseph Cervenka. In addition to the mills, Roznov had a molasses factory, black-smith shop (owned by John Rek and now relocated to La Grange), a general store, a beef club, post office, and a school. The school was named Jovornik after the SPJST Lodge #2. Dances were held in the schoolhouse. Families, including the children gathered and danced to music from a jukebox turned by hand. The general store was established by Halamicek in 1885 and served as the post office and drug store. Halamicek was a registered pharmacist. The passage of the railroad through Fayetteville contributed to the demise of Roznov.

 

The Runaway Scrape

Flight of Fear 1836

by Kathy Carter

After the massacre at Goliad and the fall of the Alamo word spread that Santa Anna's troops were on the move through Texas in pursuit of General Sam Houston's straggling band of Texian soldiers. Immediately there was a scramble of terrified women and children, old men and slaves heading toward safety across the Sabine River. They left most everything behind. Their sacrifice was great even though they lived a simple life

This tragic event is known as the Runaway Scrape. Texians had more to fear than just the Mexican army as Fayette County resident Lucinda Gorham remembers: "The fall of the Alamo was a great shock to all of us. We knew there was nothing for us to do but to run. We gathered and left from the Manton's house. We traveled along the Gotcher Trace and camped in a field. Before daylight twenty-five Comanches stampeded and stole our horses. Before we could get away, the Comanches came out and circled round us. They were as fine a looking set of fellows as ever I saw, each with a shining breastplate. We all went out, the men with their guns and the women with sticks to make a show, and took our stand. They circled around us and sometimes dashed toward us, but at last they went away. We rushed on and had made it as far as Washington County when we heard the news of the success of the Texian army at San Jacinto. When we returned to the Manton house we found the Indians had been there. Drawn or cut into the side of the house were twenty-five straight (perpendicular) marks, with a chief at each end. We supposed they wanted to show their strength."

Mary Crownover Rabb remembered: "We were all driven out of our homes with our little ones to suffer with cold and hunger." Mary's baby boy Lorenzo died during the flight and her sister-in-law died from the effects of the journey soon after they returned home.

While the settlers rejoiced at the news of the Texian victory, they returned home to find that the Mexican army had stolen or burned everything of value. Livestock had been driven off and wild game frightened from the prairies. Once again hard times came to the Texians, and once again they began home building on the frontier. Only now they were safe from Mexican armies; however, the Indian threat remained.

 

 

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