Z.T. Blanton
Birthday and Autobiography Articles
from Ruth Walsh
Newspaper clipping (undated and unidentified newspaper)
REV Z T BLANTON CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY
The Rev Z T Blanton, pioneer citizen and minister of the blanket
community, celebrated his 91st birthday last Friday, in the home of his son
AY Blanton and wife surrounded by all of his children, who are JA and AY
Blanton and families; Mms. CP McMurray, TF Stewart and Earl Falls,
daughters, and families; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren,
and Mr. and Mrs. JH Trigg.
A sumptuous dinner was prepared and the venerable Rev Blanton sat at the
head of the table and enjoyed the meal as much as any of them.
The bugle force join his host of friends in extending felicities and
wishing him many more happy birthdays.
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF Z.T. BLANTON (Dictated in 1936) - transcribed by Betty Crabtree
I was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina on Mountain Creek March
22,1849. My grandparents were Jeremiah Blanton and Howell Westbrook. My
grandmother Blanton's maiden name was Sarah Womack and my grandmother
Westbrook's maiden name was Rebecca Stroud. Both grandmothers were Irish
ladies. Grandfather Blanton was Saxon and grandfather Westbrook was Highland Scotsman. So you see I am of mixed blood.
There was born to the union of Josiah Blanton and Lucy Westbrook, my
father and mother, eleven children, seven boys and four girls. I am the
seventh and last son. Two of the seven boys became ministers. In my
grandfather Blanton's house stood a pulpit in which preaching was held
regularly for some time. My grandfather and his sons built a church house
near his own home. This church house was named Blanton's Chapel, which name was retained so far as known to the present time. His grandson, the
Methodist minister, has the honor of a Blanton's Chapel on land in Fannin
County, Texas and his great-grandson has the same honor of a Blanton's
Chapel in Uvalde County, Texas.
My father immigrated to Tennessee in 1851 where he remained four years.
Then on to Missouri, stopping in Polk County in 1855; thence to Texas in the
autumn of 1855 and on the 9th day of December 1856 he arrived in Fannin
County, Texas where I was raised until I was 28 years old. Miss Margaret
Hill and I were married on the third day of September, 1874. We lived
happily together fifty three years, five months and six days, she passing
away February the ninth day 1928, being seventy-four years and one month
old. Of this union nine children were born. Four of these passed away in
infancy, and five are still living and have homes of their own. They are
taking care of me while I await the summons home. I am eighty-five years
old.
MY EDUCATION: The advantages of an education worth while were few. My first schooling in Texas was in a blacksmith shop which had the forge moved out. The seats were made of split logs with pegs driven into the logs upon which they stood. The teacher had limited knowledge himself. The books used were Webster's blue back speller, McGuffey's reader and Ray's Practical Arithmetic. The teacher, himself, perhaps knew nothing beyond common fractions. Indeed one teacher met his Waterloo when he undertook to work an example for one of my brothers in complex fractions. He broke a cog in the machine of his brain and the school stopped. He could not make his brain
function so that he might know what the extreme terms and the terms of a
complex fraction were, so he threw up his hands and the pupils were without
a teacher. This happened near the close of the Civil War.
In the year of 1866 there came into our neighborhood a Confederate
soldier. He was dressed in Confederate Grey as worn by the soldiers. His
pants were adorned with a conspicuous patch of brown jeans on the posterior
part. He walked upright among the people for he was a gentleman and a
scholar. His name was Henry Luck, and it was luck for us that he came.
Mathematics were no terror for him. His school was taken for 15 months, and
how well he handled it. There I began to drink at the fountain of knowledge,
and my soul thirsted for more. There I learned that if opportunities did not
fall around me, that I could make them myself. My father was a poor, hard
working man. His word was law. Sometimes he sent me out of the field to my
books. Days when it was chilly weather and I could not work, I went into the
woods, took my books and built a fire to keep me warm, and there I studied.
During these troubles I gained sufficient knowledge to teach. I would teach
a while, then I would attend school until my means ran out. I continued this
for several years. Then I placed myself under one of the finest scholars of
the south and studied and taught under him. I studied Latin, Greek and
higher mathematics, thus preparing for the ministry.
There were many Mexicans in the country. In the year of 1898 I became
interested in the Spanish language, and took it up as a study. My purpose
for studying it was for the retention of my memory, because it became
necessary that I should register every word, phrase, or idiom of that
language in my mind. I took every opportunity to converse with Mexicans so
far as I was able. This was done to secure that peculiar softness of flow of
speech. I have so mastered that language that I can read any Spanish book
that comes in to my hands with ease, and can converse with a Mexican or
Spaniard on any subject.
In my Bible studies while my sight was good, I studied the scriptures in
four languages, Latin, Greek, Spanish and English. I am a mediocre, and yet
I am convinced that any one can, by studious work, master any language or
science with the aid of good books, with or without a teacher. I take no
honor to myself, but I thank the Lord that I am possessed with a good common
mind, and that I have not accomplished anything any more than it was my duty
to accomplish. The fact is that what I have done is due to my wife and my
mother; two of the greatest women I ever met.
MY CHURCH RELATIONS: I was regenerated in July 1865 and joined the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. I placed myself under the care of the White
Rock Presbytery in 1870. Then my studies were directed to the accomplishment
of as high a standard as possible. My first effort in the pulpit was in
February 22, 1874 in the same house where I first studied and taught for
several terms. My old pastor gave me one of his appointments named Little
Jordan. I held that appointment for a period of five years until I moved
from that county. I was licensed to preach in October, 1874 at Canaan Church
where I studied and taught under this scholar above mentioned. I was
ordained in October 1876.
In 1878 I moved to Brown County, Texas, arriving the fourteenth of
September. I obtained a school within eight days where I taught and preached
when opportunity offered, for fifty-six years. I am a charter member of the
Brownwood Presbyteria of the Presbyterian church U.S.A. When the question of union came up, I held myself ready to obey the best of my church, and
without any equivocation, reservation or of mind, I became a
Presbyterian minister on May 24, 1906. This change, if it can be called
such, is one that I have never regretted. I am the only living man that was
at the Constitution of the Brownwood Presbyteria. I was appointed the
Moderator by the Colorado Synod. It was constituted in Brownwood, Texas in a box school building. At that time, there was no church house as far as known
west of Fort Worth, Texas.
Perhaps no one can fully understand the trials through which a minister
had to pass except one has experienced them. The support of a minister was
very meager, and he could not depend upon a fixed salary. The meetings were
conducted under brush arbors rudely built or in school houses when the
weather was cold, but the people were usually eager to hear. The old time
cowboys ranged the country, and in the spring, general roundups were
frequent, but to their honor it can be said that when they attended those
meetings, they deported themselves like gentlemen. If a minister visited a
ranch and visited with them naturally, he was treated with all the respect
that was due to his office, but he was expected to eat what they ate, had to
sleep out on the ground as they did, indeed, to be one of them while he
remained with them.
(Research note by Ruth Hasten Walsh - the church found by Rev. Z.T.
Blanton's grandfather, Jeremiah Blanton, is located in Ellensboro,
Rutherford Co., North Carolina It is known as the Oak Grove Methodist
Cemetery. In October 2003 I visited the church where much to my surprise I
learned that the modern day church building was built in the 1940's. It is
red brick and much larger than I expected. The church has membership of
about 200 with an active participation of about 80-100. That's a sizeable
membership, considering the fact that the church is several miles out of
Ellensboro. Ellensboro is a small town of only a few thousand people. I
doubt it is as large as Bonham. Around Memorial Day each year Oak Grove
Methodist Church hosts a reunion to celebrate the 1792 founding of the
church by Rev. Jeremiah Blanton and his wife Sarah Rebecca Womack Blanton.
I'm told that the reunion attracts large numbers of Jeremiah and Sarah
Rebecca's descendants. Rev. Jeremiah Blanton and his wife Sarah Rebecca
Womack Blanton are buried in the Oak Grove Methodist Church cemetery. They were cousins.)