Part 3

After Texas had gained her independence, Mexico had hopes of recapturing Texas, but they did not attempt, openly, to reconquer the infant republic at that time. The Mexicans endeavored to keep the Indians in a turmoil all the time, as they would give the Texans trouble. The story goes that the Mexican agents with plenty of gold and silver came to Texas to try to get the Indians to revolt against Texas.

The Cherokee Indians were a powerful tribe and highly civilized. Many of them lived right here in Upshur County and other parts of East Texas. These agents succeeded in stirring up the Indians to hostility by promising them plenty of money and land when the whites were driven out of the country. President Lamar sent General Rusk and Albert Sydney Johnson against them and defeated them on the Neches River. Chief Bowls was killed in the battle. The Indians began to retreat toward Oklahoma and had to pass through Upshur County. When they got to Little Cypress bottom, they scattered into the swamps and underbrush of the creek. The Mexican agents with most of their money still with them, feared they would be captured, therefore when they came to a deep hole of water in Cypress Creek, they threw all the money they had into this hole of water. This gold and silver was heavy and impeded their progress, and also they did not want the Texans to get this money, should they be captured. It is supposed that today, lying peacefully in the bottom of Little Cypress, somewhere, is a large amount of gold and silver. Word got around, finally, that the Mexicans had thrown the money into the Cypress, so several years after, two Irishmen, who had fought the Indians, came in and during one dry summer set up two boilers at different holes along the Cypress and pumped all the water out, but, as the story goes, never found any money.

Gilmer

No story of Upshur County is complete unless there is woven into it, the establishment and building of Gilmer, nor is the story of Gilmer complete unless it presents, likewise, a picture of Upshur County, for upon the development of the county has the growth of Gilmer depended—a growth that in the early days was slow and uncertain, but in the last few years has been rather phenominal.

At 4:50 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, May 7, 1931, the Mudge Oil Company brought in the J. D. Richardson well at East Mountain for an estimated production of 30,000 barrels of oil per day. It shocked this county from an easy going corn and cotton farming area to the prospects of great wealth. It meant that over night, people flocked to the county, and eventually to the county seat by the thousands. They came to buy, and they came to sell oil leases and royalty.

Town site lots for business houses were scarce. The county’s assessed valuation jumped from about $8,000,000 to over $25,000,000, and as a result, the county, long burdened with debts, accumulated during many long past lean years, again could issue script that was accepted at fact value anywhere. The old obligations were wiped off, and a beautiful concrete, steel and brick courthouse was built and furnished at a cost of $200,000 and every penny of it was paid in cash!

But despite the wealth that oil has brought, Upshur County people have still maintained the same old spirit of neighborliness toward each other, the same old friendships, and informalities remain, and so we are sure they always will.

Location of Gilmer

The town of Gilmer of today is about two miles south of the spot where the city was first located. A century ago it was two miles north, on the Cherokee Trace, and the occasional district court was held in the home of Captain William Hart. We find that the first court trial was in 1837. There was no public building, so court was held either in the Hart home, or if the weather permitted, under a large oak tree, that until a few years ago, was still standing.

Then Gilmer was, for the most part, a swampy waste, with a few houses dotting both sides of Cypress Creek. The location was most unfavorable as the creek often rose so high that the town was threatened with disaster. So the settlers decided they would move some distance either to the north or to the south of this location. There seemed to be a considerable sectional feeling among the settlers, however, and every one on the north side of the creek wanted the town to go north, while those on the south side wanted it to go south. The location was finally left to a vote. The night before the day for the election, so it is told, a heavy rain storm came up, and the creek rose to such a height that a number of those on the north side could not cross the creek to vote, and the voting place was located on the south side. So it was decided to move Gilmer to the south.

The legislature of 1849 appointed three of the board of the county commissioners of Upshur County to select the site for Gilmer, the county seat. They were Benjamin Fuller, M. M. Robertson, and Benjamin Gage. The committee selected the present site and bought the land from Mathew Cartwright, who made the deed to the commissioners as is recorded in Volume A, Book 1, of the Upshur County records. T. D. Brooks was the first county judge of Upshur County, and the first deed recorded in the sale of town lots of Gilmer, was to Augustus Walker for lots 1 and 2 from James H. Hunt. It was dated March 1, 1851. The home of Benjamin Gage, one of the first commissioners, was on White Oak Creek, north of the Gilmer and Big Sandy road, and is still standing, although built near a hundred years ago. The house is now occupied by Alton Gage, a grandson of Benjamin Gage, and bids fair to last another hundred years. It is reported that Mr. Gage paid a man one hundred dollars to build this house for him. It is said that the nearest neighbor when he settled here was nine miles away.

Gilmer was moved to its present location in 1848, and began a rapid growth. Eighteen years later, it was incorporated into a town with Alias Oden as first mayor. He named the boundaries of the town as follows: As far north as the termination of Trinity street; west to its present limits, just beyond Oak Lawn Sanitarium: South to what is now Warren Avenue, and east, one block from the square. The area of the town was almost as large as it is at present with fewer inhabitants. The incorporation charter died after a few years, but in 1894 the town was re-incorporated with Jim Bussy as mayor, and new boundaries were set up which remain the same to this day.

When Gilmer was moved to its present site, it had to be built from the very beginning. The land had to be cleared and lumber prepared for the building of houses, usually from logs from trees cleared away from the new town. It was a wild country they had to open up and make safe for living, since in 1849 it is reported that bears came from the nearby woods and ate food from the back doors, and deer and turkey and other game could be killed in the clearing of the town square. Many residents, now not so old, can still remember a great ditch, carrying a stream from the old Indian camp (Roosevelt Park) almost to the square. And it was not until Judge T. H. Briggs’ first term of office as mayor that a great gully ran diagonally across the square from the southeast to the northwest corner.

So Gilmer and Upshur County have had to change with the changing times. First the pioneer and the sawmiller, then the cotton farmer, then oil, now yams and a greater diversification than was ever known.

Early Officers of Upshur County

Elected in 1850: Chief Justice, Judge G. C. Patille; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Sheriff, Oba Roberts; County Treasurer, Jesse Tinder; Assessor-Collector, C. D. Halbert; Surveyor, Jesse Glasco.

Elected in 1852: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton; District Clerk, A. H. Abney; County Treasurer, D. F. Brancroft; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco.

Elected in 1854: Judge, William S. Martin; Sheriff, Geo. B. Medlin; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Surveyor, Jesse M. Glasco; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.

Elected in 1856: Judge, J. M. Simpson; Sheriff, Alexander Earp; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; Assessor-Collector, A. B. Denton.

Elected in 1858: (Same as in 1856).

Elected in 1860: Judge, J. M. Simpson; District Clerk, J. W. Richardson; County Clerk, R. G. Warren; Treasurer, J. A. Derrick; Surveyor, W. W. Corrie; Assessor-Collector, James R. White; Sheriff, Leander J. Daniel.

Mr. R. G. (Gus) Warren, who was the father of the late Judge Jim Warren, served Upshur County as county clerk, longer than any other man ever served as county officer in this county. Many of the other men mentioned above have relatives here yet. In 1857 there were about 2,300 Negro slaves in Upshur County and they were valued at $1,130,960.00, that is, they were worth about $500 each. A Negro between the ages of 18 and 25 sometimes brought from $1,000 to $1,500. Negro girls were worth more than boys. They were bought and sold more often than boys. The girls were bought more as wives than the boys were for husbands. The country was new and was being settled rapidly and slaves were hard to get and were therefore very valuable.

At the same time, there were only 465 poll taxes paid in the county, which shows that the slaves probably outnumbered the whites. Money on deposit then was $22,275.00. How does that compare with three or four million at the present time? They did not have automobiles then, and did not need much money.

Postoffices in Upshur County in 1857 were at Coffeeville, Earpville, Gilmer, Calloway, Hopewell, Pinetree, Pittsburg and Red Rock.

Some Early Settlers of Gilmer

W. Boyd and A. B. Denton, brothers-in-law, came to Texas in 1840. They first settled down near the Sabine River, but later moved to a location on Hoover Spring Branch about ten miles south of Gilmer. Sometime during the Civil War they moved to the little town of Gilmer. Mr. Boyd put in a beer and pool hall somewhere about the southeast corner of the present square. This is where Mr. Boyd got his start in business. His business grew with the town, however, and he became one of the leading business men of Gilmer, and remained in business till his death. Mr. Denton also played an important part in the development of Gilmer and Upshur County. Mrs. Fannie E. Mitchell, a widow, Tom Mitchell’s mother, came to Upshur County from Alabama in 1866 and settled in Gilmer. Her father, J. B. Norman, was already here teaching music, and she came to assist him in this work.

John Peteet, John Buchanon, Will and Lafayette Camp, were all old settlers in Gilmer and had great influence in shaping the affairs of Gilmer at that time. O. M. Roberts, who afterwards became “Pay-as-you-go” Governor of Texas, conducted a law school at Gilmer after the close of the Civil War. Drs. George and Henry Ford were popular physicians in Gilmer and Upshur County back in the 1860’s and 70’s. Gus Warren, father of the late Judge Jim Warren, served Upshur County for a number of years as county clerk. A. B. Boren was an influential lawyer back in the early days of Gilmer and had a large legal practice. Jim Derrick was another oldtimer and served the county for a long time as district clerk. Judge Lyons was one of the early county judges. He was running a newspaper in Gilmer when he was killed by a man named Ashley. Elias Oden, father of Marsh Oden, settled in Gilmer at an early date. A man by the name of Montgomery settled on Montgomery street. The street was named for him.

Later we have the Chandlers, Marshalls, Buies, Douphrates, Hoggs, Croleys, Crosbys, Stephens’, and many other family names that are connected with the life of Gilmer.

Streets in Gilmer Named

The town of Gilmer had no set rule or pattern in naming its streets, but as the town grew and what had been an opening between a few rough-boarded houses, became a street, the name followed later on, and indicated the character or location of the street. For example: Titus street was the road northward to Mount Pleasant and Titus County. Marshall street merged into the road to Marshall. Tyler street was so named because it connected with Montgomery street and thence to the Big Sandy road. The first route to Tyler was through Big Sandy, and it is still possible to reach Tyler by that route.

The principal residence street of the town, Montgomery, was named for one of the village’s early citizens that lived on that street where Dr. Madison Ragland’s new residence is located. Cass and Kaufman streets were evidently inspired from the same source that gave two Texas counties the same names. Bledsoe street was named for the Bledsoe family, who still live on this thoroughfare. Harrison street undoubtedly got its name from the Harrison family. Mrs. J. R. Warren of Tyler, named Warren avenue. She was instrumental in getting the street opened, and built her large home at the intersection of Warren and Trinity. It was sold to T. H. Glesen and is now Frank L. Futrell’s home. Mrs. Warren also built several other houses on this street.

“Silver Alley” in the downtown section, leading from the square to the city hall, may have had another name, but no one can remember it. This cognomen came from a bunch of town wags. The Gilmer Mirror was at one time located on the corner of Silver Alley and Harrison street. Mr. Holmes was editor at that time and he would always come up this alleyway to the square. His opening remarks, when he was collecting, were invariably, “Can you let me have a little silver today?” He probably remembered the paper money of Civil War days and his preference for “hard money” inspired the wags to call the street “Silver Alley.”

Trinity street is one of the main thoroughfares of the town, but no one knows why it was so named. In the Pecan Grove residence section, most street names were given by Mr. T. C. Mitchell, who once farmed and later subdivided this addition. Pecan street is very evidently named for the many pecan trees on it. Walnut street was so named because of the large walnut trees along Mr. Mitchell’s home property. Mitchell street was for the family name, and Mary street for the late Mrs. Mitchell, his wife.

One of the most picturesque names, no longer belonging to a street, but to a country road, is that of the “Cherokee Trace.” This road was probably the first road ever made through Upshur County from the north. It was the trail followed by the Indians in getting to the old fort at Nacogdoches. Later it became a wagon road. Now the Trace loses its name and identity at Walnut street, but in olden days it wound on down to the spring in the present Roosevelt Park. This spring was the site of a camping ground and from there the Trace went southward. During the Texas Centennial year, 1936, a marker was placed at the old camping ground in the park. The first Upshur County court was held on the Cherokee Trace before the present courthouse location was made. The country road that still bears that name is still one of Upshur County’s most picturesque and level rural roads.

The latest street to be named is that leading from the First National Bank to the Bell Hotel. Until it was paved, about five or six years ago, it was a nameless alley. Then, in honor of Mayor Horace V. Davis, who had been instrumental in bringing about Gilmer’s biggest paving program, it was named Davis street.

Gilmer’s Water Supply

Up to 1903, Gilmer’s water supply was obtained from shallow wells. Each household maintained a shallow well on its premises from which water for all purposes was supplied. In the business district there were three shallow wells that supplied water for the streets and for the public. One was located on the courthouse square, one on Henderson street near the entrance of Croley Brothers, and one on the west side of the square just off the sidewalk. This well proved to be a popular resort, as it was shaded in the afternoon, and was near the sidewalk. The men would sit on the edge of the sidewalk and whittle in the afternoons, getting their material to whittle on from a nearby grocery store. When the supply gave out, they would stand up and whittle on the well curb. Some of these men became expert whittlers. In a few years the city put in waterworks and these shallow wells were filled up.

Livery Stables

In 1903, livery stables were doing a thriving business in Gilmer. They would rent horses and buggies, which was about the only means of travel, except by railway. Gilmer boasted four livery stables, all wooden structures. One located near where Safeway now is, one on Henderson street where Moody Chevrolet is, one on the east side of the square, and one on the corner of Marshall and Wood streets. Later, this enterprise was replaced by Mr. Ford’s Model T automobile. The horse and buggy creates about as much excitement on the roads now as the Model T did then. The Model T has passed on, however, and is replaced by speedier and more comfortable automobiles in Gilmer.

Gilmer’s First Automobile

As reported by Mr. J. M. Hays

Along about the spring of 1909, there were rumors that Judge Barney Briggs was losing his mind, as some said he had no more sense than to think that one of those horseless carriages could run on the streets of Gilmer. Some said he had already ordered one; others that he was just talking about it.

One Sunday, as we came out of church, we heard a noise like a young cyclone! The sky didn’t seem to be too overcast, but the noise persisted, and seemed to be coming nearer! We started for home with an uneasy feeling. The noise seemed to be coming from the west, so we looked back and, to our utter amazement, we saw a horseless vehicle careen around the corner in the deep sand at the Jim Mings place. It came toward town! Christine tried to hide behind us as there were no sidewalks to speak of, and the thing was wabbling from one side of the sandbed road to the other. To escape it, we ran upon the high board walk at Ray Brothers, and when it ran alongside, we saw it was Judge and Mrs. Briggs and the two Seagle girls, and they were holding on for dear life! There was a crowd of people running along on each side to see how the thing looked and how it navigated. When it would come down the street people would hunt cover, as they never knew which side it would be on when it reached them. Sometimes it would stall in the sand and spectators would have to push and pull it out. More often it took a span of mules to make it budge!

Of course there were no garages or filling stations in those days, and Mr. Will Bauman, who ran a blacksmith shop, repaired the best he could, but it was in the shop so much folks decided that the blacksmith had taken it over to pay the repair bills! But a milestone in Gilmer’s history was that first automobile, to brave the sandbeds of the city’s streets.

Recollections of Gilmer As It Was Sixty-Five Years Ago

By Mrs. Donie Rees

It is hardly necessary to mention the fact that sixty-five years ago, we had none of the modern conveniences, such as electricity, gas, city water, pavements, railroad, and so on. Nor did we have any daily newspaper in Gilmer.

At that time the printing office was a rickety affair, propped up by three large pine logs. “Old” Judge Lyons, once county judge, was editor, and the office stood about where the postoffice now stands. His death was a tragic one, and here are the details as I remember them: His partner was a man named Arthur Ashley, who resented Lyon’s use of profanity, especially toward him. Ashley’s wife was boarding with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Culpepper, nine miles east of Gilmer, and was teaching at Emory school house, about three miles away. One afternoon, soon after she and the children had returned from school, all tired out from her day’s work and the walk home, her husband walked in and she went to the door to greet him with a kiss. At once he began telling her, “Judge Lyons called me a —— after I had warned him not to curse me. I picked up a side stick and killed him! Then I locked the door and walked out.” Mrs. Ashley fell back across mother’s bed in a dead faint. They worked with her till they revived her, and my parents prevailed on Ashley not to leave at once, as he meant to do, but to remain overnight with his family. This he did, but in the morning he sought safety in flight. It was two or three days before Judge Lyons was missed, and officers broke down the door of the printing office and found him dead. Ashley had got away by this time. Later he was captured in Alabama and brought back here for trial, but he broke jail again and was never heard of any more. (Note). If you will go to the city cemetery you will find the grave of Judge Lyons surrounded by an iron fence, and lying in the shade of a big magnolia tree, just about thirty steps from the Coffeeville road. At the head of the grave is a weather-beaten, lichen-covered graying marble stone which reads: “My husband, J. J. Lyons, died April 5, 1882. The strife is over, the loved of years hath left me with the gathering fears to struggle darkly, and lone....” Mrs. Lyons struggled 17 years before she was laid beside the judge, and the grave stone reads: “Sarah S. Lyons, wife of Judge J. J. Lyons, died January 20, 1899.” None of the stones give the date of birth or age.

In these days the courthouse was a wooden structure, and when I was about ten years old, my parents allowed me to spend the weekend with my teacher, Mr. Joe Martin, in his father’s home about a mile north of town. There, with the Martin family, I saw the courthouse burn to the ground. Later a brick one was built, and this one was re-modeled and covered with concrete stucco, to be replaced a few years ago by our present handsome and modern building.

What few stores Gilmer had then were built of plank with board walks in front. The late Judge Sid Moughon had a water well and a large water trough in front of his store for the watering of the farmers’ teams, as also did Roberts and Oliver. A big bell was used to sound fire alarms and closing time for the stores was six o’clock in the evening.

It was a little over sixty years ago that the Cotton Belt Railroad was built through Gilmer. And early in this century, another railroad was built from Winnsboro to Elysian Fields and came through Gilmer. It was called the Marshall and East Texas Railroad, or the M. & E. T., and the service was so poor it was dubbed, from its initials, “Misery and Eternal Torment.” I have made trips on the M. & E. T. when the passengers had to go to the woods and help bring up pine knots to fire up so we could continue our journey. Or, if someone had a nice orchard, we would stop and gather peaches, and in the fall, the train would stop so that those aboard could get ribbon cane to chew.

Gilmer’s Banks