From the Diary of Charles G. Yates - Traveling to Stephenville, Comanche, and Gordon in 1880

In 1880 a prominent businessman from North Carolina named Charles G. Yates was traveling through Texas and documented noteworthy findings along the way in his journal. This documentation was later published in his local newspaper. Born in Virginia, the 53-year-old traveler had settled in Greensboro, North Carolina in his younger years, becoming the town’s first mayor in 1857. 

The documentation of the journey starts after a stop in Iredell, Texas where Yates looked to catch a stage to Comanche to spend a week there with his son and family. The wait for a direct stagecoach to Comanche was too long so Yates secured a stage to Stephenville. Yates recalled of his journey between Iredell and Stephenville, “The country along this stage line is rather even and unbroken. We crossed but one creek after we left the Bosque River till near Stephenville, but several little branches, and our road was very obscure and might have been called a “by-way” as appropriately as a road. Much of our route was remarkable for the few buildings and farms.” Yates continued, “Nine tenths or more of the land seemed unenclosed, some of it very good with some portions knolly and rocky. The stage driver told me the soil in this region is very good and productive. The whole country here seems rather level other than a little range (called mountains here) of hills lying all along our right and they look almost entirely barren.” Yates asked his driver what land was selling for in this region and the driver responded “$5 to $10 an acre here but I own some land east of here I would sell you at 50 cents an acre!” Knowing the abundance of free use public land in Texas of the time, Yates pondered “But what is the use of a man buying and owning land here and paying taxes on it when he can graze all his stock upon public land free of charge?”

Yates’ stage arrived at Stephenville by 5 o’clock and he had supper at the Texas Hotel. After supper he waited 5 hours on his next stage connection to Comanche and commented, “It is now 11 o’clock and still I wait, this is more loving than riding on the rail.” Finally at 2:30 in the morning his stage arrived. Upon entering the stage he met fellow traveler a Mr. William Greene who was also on his way to Comanche to see about his sick daughter being treated there by Dr Payne. The two struck up an instant friendship, especially when Yates learned that Mr. Green was also from North Carolina. The two men enjoyed much of the route through sandy soil before stopping at Dublin for breakfast.

Yates and Green arrived in Comanche by noon from Dublin and went to see about their respective families. Yates spent the next week with his son and family there and remarked about how well established the town there was. However while there he was involved in a wagon wreck with a tree that detached the horses and sent him to the ground causing back and ankle injuries which as he put it, “I came very near getting killed!”

While waiting on his stage out of town, Yates met a man there who had journeyed the exact route Yates would be traveling as he returned home which consisted of stagecoach travel through Dublin, Stephenville, and up to Gordon to catch the Texas Pacific train east.  The man, referred to as “Mr. G”, swore he would not be traveling back home via the same route through Gordon. “I would rather hire a private conveyance and take two or more days to get to the railroad, rather than back by that place Gordon!” Mr. G exclaimed. When Yates asked why, Mr. G responded, “Because they don’t mind killing a man at all there, for as I took a stage Gordon the other day there laid a dead man just out near the stage stand!” Mr. G. continued “While in town I heard that one man got mad with another and just knocked him down and the blow killed him. I supposed it was some foreign railroad laborer, but I never got a clear answer on that.” Mr. G.’s account got the attention of Mr. Yates, but it wasn’t enough to discourage his travel plans.

At Comanche, Yates loaded up on a stage bound for Gordon accompanied by a fellow traveler, Mr. White, who was a lawyer from Coleman. The plan was to make it to Gordon to catch the 1AM eastbound train, however they were two hours late in starting their journey. Yates enjoyed the uncrowded stage but soon realized that the stage driver was new to the area and the road toward Stephenville was on the obscure side, with few signboards, and before they knew it their driver took the wrong road, and they traveled some 8 to 10 miles out of the way. Not only did they get off course, but they also traveled some of the roughest roads with a washed out by-way to get back on the intended stage road. They had lost a lot of time but were still determined.

The stage stopped at Mr. Parkers stage stand. There he met a fellow North Carolinian who was banged up from a recent wagon accident and was stranded until he healed up a bit. The man urged Yates to stay there a few days and catch up on travel and North Carolina tales. Yates declined but did stay long enough to have lunch and drink some nice local buttermilk. Finished with lunch, Yates and White boarded a new stage bound for Dublin.

Yates arrived in Dublin by evening and remarked that “Dublin is a small town, but they are grading a railroad along through its borders and it may yet be quite a place.” At Dublin Yates and White got on a stage with a pony team of four, Yates remarked “With this team we made much the fastest time we had made with any other team.” However, during this leg of the journey the stage driver suddenly stopped the stage to announce he had just seen a centipede cross the road between his horses. The men got out and hunted the quick moving “hated poisonous serpent”. After a short look around they found him on the edge of the grass and studied him. Yates had never seen one in person. He described it as “A remarkable worm something on the order of our thousand legs (as it’s called) but grows to the length of 6 or 8 inches and has a forked tail.” They counted 50 legs down each side and noted that each leg had a “nail, claw, or little hand looking horn.” The driver explained “the centipede will pierce with its claws, injecting poison as efficiently as a rattlesnake sometimes causing flesh to slough off and sometimes causes death!” This of course led to Yates and the men to kill the innocent centipede traveler before they got back on the stagecoach. Later on in the trip Yates would purchase a centipede in a jar to take back home.

The stage pulled into Stephenville after dark and he and White had supper at the Texas Hotel before setting out with another new team and driver named Jake bound for Gordon. They knew they wouldn’t make it there before 1AM that night but were determined not to miss the next train out of there at 1AM the next day. The stage road to Gordon was very rough and he attributed this to it being the “up country” of the state, just recently inhabited. Yates noted that it was about a 35-mile trip through the dark of night and this new driver Jake was older and seemed to be very experienced, so experienced that he preferred not to light his lamps to see the road. Jake exclaimed “the lamps blind me, and I just prefer to drive without them.” Yates and White determined that the driver left out the fact that no lights also limited their exposure to robbers along the stage route, as talks of stage robbing were frequent in this area and this line in particular. The stage route between Stephenville and Gordon had become very heavily traveled since the depot went in at Gordon a few months back.

Yates and White stayed a little restless during this leg of the trip in fears of robbers and would check in with Jake from time to time. Yates noticed the stage started to slow a little and yelled out “Hal-loo” to Jake and with no answer coming he and White thought for sure he had fallen asleep. They finally woke him but before long Jake dozed off again with the stage coming to a halt. It was in the middle of the night after all. Finally, while the stage was still in motion but at another slowdown, Mr. White climbed out and up on the seat next to Jake and after his initial surprise the two visited the rest of the way into Gordon and Jake stayed awake.

As the team rolled into Gordon, they found a town mostly asleep and consisting of many “cloth houses”, a town still very much in its infancy. The men got cots at the Gordon hotel, which was just a large tent with about 40 cots arranged along each side of a long room, reminding Yates of an old hospital.

The next morning Yates described Gordon “Our eyes opened this morning upon the first real mountains I had seen in the State, this being right in and surrounded by small mountains, but we noticed that the growth upon them was still of that “squatty statue which characterizes most of the wood” and growth I have seen since leaving the Palestine section.” Yates continues remembering the man in Comanche “I am here reminded of a rather timid fellow traveler I left in Comanche and his story of Gordon folks that don’t mind killing a man.”

Yates marvels at the landscape surrounding town “This is a right pretty section to look at, but too rough and uninviting to venture a home in.”

Back in the tent hotel the men were each given a pail of water to wash their hands and face and Yates was quickly appalled as he noticed how muddy the water appeared. Yates commented “That water was straight from a muddy river or pond. Now I do not want to make the impression that there is no water to be reached by digging wells here for I do not know whether it is because this is rather a new section and not developed yet or what, but one thing it does show, is a great scarcity of springs.”

Upon checking at the depot, Yates determines he can catch a “fast freight train” at 8 o’clock that morning for Dallas via Fort Worth, with a seat in the conductor’s caboose car. This fit his plans better than waiting for the 1AM train.

Yates boarded the train at the Gordon depot bound for Dallas. He noted that he shared the caboose car with about six or eight other passengers. As the train left town and traveled east he remarked “We passed along, and our way was frequently along at the foot of the mountains, some of which were quite large and very rocky, and the peculiarity of them all along the Texas Pacific R.R. line, is that they look like nature in time had spewed them up from the bowels of the earth, they look crumbly, and the rock unsolid and separate lying loosely upon the brinks and sides of the mountains and big cuts of the R.R.”

Before long, the train made its first stop at a section house where a couple of women approached the train were allowed to take several gallons from the train’s tender to cook and wash with. When asked by a passenger, one woman said “There’s no water here! The only water we can get is when these kind train men let us have some.” Yates noticed that the water taken from the train looked just like the muddy water he had at Gordon and wondered if the train was supplying that town with it’s water as well.

As the train continued east, Yates noted that they had passed over four iron bridges and several wooden ones since leaving Gordon and he mentioned crossing the Brazos River some 17 miles east of Gordon. “The bottoms of the Brazos strike me as some very fine land and look to be broad and good.”

The train reached Weatherford and stopped there for a bit. Yates walked around the depot area looking for a little more of Texas and approached a boy selling items at stand and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have a big spider, a Tarantula, for sale would you?” The boy laughed and said no but overhearing the conversation the train conductor Bates said, “Let me ask the depot agent!” The agent, a young man named Jim, agreed to help Yates find one and the three men set out and before long found several Tarantula burrows. Jim noted “When a Tarantula goes in their burrow, they always weave a net over the top of the hole. So one can always be certain when the spider is at home when he finds the door shut!” Jim ran and brought over a pan of water and poured the water in the hole and out one came. Since they had some time on their hands, they went about trying to find the largest one from the nearby burrows. Finally, they found the largest one and it measured some 3 inches wide from foot to foot. After the big find Conductor Bates called the agent “Tarantula Jim” and they all had a big laugh.

The time came to reboard the train and continue the journey east. Yates left the area with much to tell and journaled his stories of note. When he returned home, he shared these stories with his hometown paper “The Greensboro Patriot” and they appeared in print in the spring of 1881. This article was derived from Charles G. Yates diary letters numbered 10, 12, 13 and 14.

The Tuder Letters - Part Five

This is a conclusion to a series called "Tuder Letters", which features five letters the Tuder family sent to family in Kentucky from their homes in eastern Eastland County, Texas.

To set the stage, the Tuder family migrated to Texas from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in the mid  1850s. The patriarch of the family was William Tuder, the father of Permelia Jane, Nicholas Francis Marion (NFM), William Henry (WH) , James Edward Daniel (JED), and Rosannah. Along with them was William's second wife Sarah (who was the mother to Rosannah), Sarah's son Etson Campbell from her late husband, and Permelia's new husband Asa Lomax Gailey (whom she met along the way). William's first wife was Jemima Brown, who died around the time the family left Kentucky.  

When the family left Kentucky, William's parents (William and Permelia) were still very much alive along with roughly 8 siblings. William was the oldest, and his closest in age brother was Hezekiah, who was four years younger. Hezekiah who stayed in Muhlenberg County was the recipient of these "Tuder Letters".  

A lady by the name of Willa Dean Noffsinger, a descendant of Hezekiah, discovered the letters from Texas when going through an old cabinet years ago. Sometime in the 1970s or 1980s one of the early Gailey historians (either Edna Smith Fry or Zina Gailey Betsill) made contact with Mrs. Noffsinger and she was gracious enough to share copies of the letters.  

On to the fifth installment of "The Tuder Letters"...

To put this fifth and final letter into context, like the previous letter, it was written by William Tuder's son J.E.D. It is the last letter we have coming out of the Eastland County area from the Tuder family. It was dated February 28, 1900. J.E.D Tuder would pass away six years after this letter was written, which leaves us assuming other correspondence occurred, we just dont have a record of it. 

This letter involves a mention of J.E.D.'s remaining sibling W.H. and an effort to have tomb stones places at the family (Tudor) Cemetery. He asks his uncle for information about birthdates for the headstone. He also talks about the family's local religious standing and how church was conducted in the area. While there was a Tuder Schoolhouse, church didnt often meet there. 

Strawn Tex

Feb the 28 1900

H. Tuder

Dear Uncle,

I take the opportunity of writing you a few lines.

We are all well except cold. I received a letter from W.H. Tuder a few days ago he was well. His PO is Jimesmal, New Mexico.

We are getting along very well. Got our land broke and oats sawed Mar the 1st.

Well I want to put toom stones to Pap’s grave and we got the record burned. If you can get them and send them to me I would be glad. He married Sally Campbell (or Sack) they called her. If you can send work when she was borned too.

Tonight is our prair meeting night but it is so far away tonight and the weather is cool I did not go.

We have prair meeting once a week at the neighbors houses. My son W.H. Tuder professed last summer and also married last summer. His wife professed at the same meeting.

There is lots of sickness. Pneumonia in the country. I hope this letter will find you in joying religion and good health. I hope you will write soon and you can and give the wanted information.

Good by uncle,

J.E.D. Tuder to H. Tuder

(PS) Willie and his wife is gone to sit up with a sick child tonight. We had to exclude 3 members from the church this winter for dancing. We had a good meeting last summer 45 or 50 conversions. I dont remember the exact amount. Some nights the preacher could not get to preach. They would get happy at the grove meeting and shout until 10 o’clock. Well it is 9 o’clock I want to go to bed so goodnight.

J.E.D. Tuder

Tuder Letter Posts:

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

The Tuder Letters - Part Four

In previous articles I shared three of the five "Tuder Letters" and after a span of a few years I am concluding the series with the fourth and fifth letters. 

To set the stage, the Tuder family migrated to Texas from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in the mid  1850s. The patriarch of the family was William Tuder, the father of Permelia Jane, Nicholas Francis Marion (NFM), William Henry (WH) , James Edward Daniel (JED), and Rosannah. Along with them was William's second wife Sarah (who was the mother to Rosannah), Sarah's son Etson Campbell from her late husband, and Permelia's new husband Asa Lomax Gailey (whom she met along the way). William's first wife was Jemima Brown, who died around the time the family left Kentucky.  

When the family left Kentucky, William's parents (William and Permelia) were still very much alive along with roughly 8 siblings. William was the oldest, and his closest in age brother was Hezekiah, who was four years younger. Hezekiah who stayed in Muhlenberg County was the recipient of these "Tuder Letters".  

A lady by the name of Willa Dean Noffsinger, a descendant of Hezekiah, discovered the letters from Texas when going through an old cabinet years ago. Sometime in the 1970s or 1980s one of the early Gailey historians (either Edna Smith Fry or Zina Gailey Betsill) made contact with Mrs. Noffsinger and she was gracious enough to share copies of the letters.  

The letters are all from a time after the Tuder family had settled on their land in eastern Eastland County, Texas.

On to the fourth installment of "The Tuder Letters"...

This letter follows a similar format to previous letters. The writer, in this case J.E.D. Tuder describes the family's current hardships, details recent deaths and family events. In the family information it is one of the only family records that indicate they knew that Asa Gailey was alive, mentioning he had gone to war (the Civil War) and didnt get back. In other articles Asa Gailey's journey is detailed. It then goes in to some discussion concerning his father William Tuder's Kentucky inheritance from his father Daniel Tuder. The letter also mentioned J.W. Gailey being the administrator of the Nick Tuder (JED's brother) estate. In later posts I will go into some interesting detail on that subject.  

The following is my transcription of the letter with efforts made to preserve all misspellings and punctuation.

Strawn Palo Pinto Co Tex

June the 15 1898

Mr. Hezekiar Tuder,

Dear uncle I seat myself to answer your letter was glad to hear from you and to hear you was well. This leaves us all well except the Whoopingcough. N.F.M. Tuder died August the 3 1895, W.H. Tuder is lives at at Pine Springs, New Mexico he is not married. Please write to him.

Sister Rosey has been dead about 14 years. My wife died 10 days later. I have one child dead, a gurl and one boy living William Henry Tuder 17 years old. 

Rosey married W.H. Wylie they have 6 children: Laura, Ben, Lizzy, Willie, Nevada and Jim.

Sister Jane married Asa Gailey. They raised 3 children. He went to the war and never got back. John William, Asey Nelson and Janey is there names. Then she married Starret Smith and had one child, a gurl. They are all married.

You said you did not want to go to law. If it could be fixt with thought it, it would be the best and I am sure the heirs here will do what is right to settle everything. Write to me and let me no how many equal heirs with Pa. How many children did Grand Pa Tuder have. Write and let me no how many acres is in cultivation and how far is it from town and what it is worth per acre. Is it bottom land or table land. 

J.W. Gailey is the administrator of the estate of brother Nick Tuder. He is one of sister Jane’s boys. I think it would be the best to sell as soon as we could as he wants to make his final report this fall. 

I have seen part of the heirs and they wanted me to answer your letter and find out wall about the land. Find out if you can by the next letter how much the land can be sold for. Write and tell me all about the connection. Tell them to write to me. I will close. Direct your letter to the above address. 

Your affectionate nephew.

J.E.D. Tuder

Tuder Letter Posts:

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five

What’s in a Name? A Series on the Origins of Gordon Area Locations – Mingus, Texas

Captain William Mingus, an early day settler and Texas Ranger settled with his wife and children in the area of present-day Mingus in 1857. This was a very dangerous time to live in Palo Pinto County with the heavy threat of Native American raids in the area. It took a great deal of bravery and resources to survive as isolated as they were. The nearest community of any mention was Stephenville, which was established the same year the Mingus family settled in Palo Pinto County. Conditions with the natives were so extreme in the few years after 1857 that the county’s population dropped to single digits. It would take years of battling with natives and the railroad coming through in 1880 to really boost the county population. Capt. Mingus was no exception to the early exodus as he uprooted after just 11 years in the area and resettled in the more populated Bosque County. 

When the Mingus family left in 1868 the area was largely unpopulated and dwindling. A settlement at the current location of Mingus would not exist for another 20 plus years. 

1891 Map of Southern Palo Pinto County

The Texas and Pacific Railway came through the southern portion of Palo Pinto County in the fall of 1880. The town of Gordon was specifically plotted by T&P as a shipping center and was initially populated by the recently nearby settlement of Hampton and people that flocked to there to work in the Gordon Coal Mines east of town. Eight miles down the line to the west, North Fork (later Strawn) was developed as nearby settlements merged. The only mention of Mingus in the area was a small lake north of the present-day town named Mingus Lake. This lake is mentioned as far back as 1887 and appears to have been located north of town. It was known later as Mingus Little Lake and had a popular early day picnic area used by the locals. There is a large “Lake Mingus” north of town today, however it was constructed in 1922 by Texas and Pacific Railway (at a reported cost of $100,000). 

When the Johnson Coal Mines became successful enough to attract Texas and Pacific Railway’s interest, they agreed to run a spur down to the mines at a point just west of the present-day Highway 108 crossing in Mingus. The Johnson Mines were sold to the Texas and Pacific Coal Company (not related to the railroad) in late 1888 and as operations grew there a company owned town was established and given the name Thurber in 1889 after company stockholder Horace K. Thurber. Thurber’s coal was the cash crop; however, Thurber also became almost more famous for its brick plant. As Thurber’s travel and shipping via T&P Railway increased, the area south of the main T&P line at the spur was developed. This area was first known as Coal Mine Junction and later named Hunter before the name Thurber Junction was selected as the town name. 

Thurber Junction quickly grew and became infiltrated with some of Thurber’s immigrant families seeking more commercial business, taking advantage of the high traffic at the spur. Hotels, banks, stores, and other popular businesses filled the commercial section of town near the tracks. 

In 1895 Reverend J.T. Harris established a real estate business and laid out blocks for a town on the north side of the T&P main line, literally across the tracks from Thurber Junction. Rev. Harris heavily promoted this development and gave it the name Mingus after learning about the early settler Capt. Mingus. Mingus became inhabited by more of the local area farmer types, and not of those inhabiting Thurber Junction. It was like an almost separate community was formed within spitting distance. One account referred to Mingus as the “English Speaking Town” while Thurber Junction was referred to as “entirely owned by immigrants and more lawless and wilder than Mingus.” Whether that was the case or not, it is well established that alcohol did flow much more freely on the south side of the tracks, which likely promoted more lawlessness. 

As the Mingus settlement grew, a post office was established on September, 16, 1897. Local resident Joel Brock served as the first postmaster. 

While Mingus and Thurber Junction were so heavily tied to Thurber in their existence, they were very different places. For instance, the company owned town of Thurber famously became the first city in the United States to provide 24 hour electricity to all residents and businesses in the 1890s, along with a host of other amenities. The Mingus/Thurber Junction community was not as fortunate. Electricity didn’t find its way to Mingus until 1914 when a line was run from Gordon’s power generator. Gordon’s generator was a dynamo connected to a 10 horsepower gasoline engine and provided power from six o’clock in the evening until midnight as well as Wednesday mornings from eight until noon to allow for ironing during the day. Most homeowners quickly wired in rudimentary lighting in their homes as, while it wasn’t what we are accustomed to today, it was far better than kerosene lamps.

Another community with ties to Mingus and Thurber was Grant Town. It was located between Thurber Junction and Thurber, just inside Palo Pinto County. A man by the name of Jimmy Grant opened a saloon at this location, which was just outside the city limits of Thurber. His saloon was frequented by miners who could talk freely about unionization without fear of company intimidation. Some immigrant Thurber miners moved out of Thurber to Grant Town to own homes and small businesses. The area became known as 'Grant's Town' shortened to 'Grant Town.' This community had many of the same features previously noted about Thurber Junction, with possibly a little more prohibition-era bootlegging going on due to its closer proximity to Thurber.

While Thurber had its own school for those living inside the confines of the company town, those outside of town had to generally fend for themselves. A small school was built in Grant Town and this school also served Mingus and Thurber Junction. Eventually a larger wooden school building was constructed in the Mingus community, north of the railroad. Brick school buildings were later built a few blocks south of the tracks.

Downtown Mingus

Mingus/Thurber Junction enjoyed several years of success while Thurber was going strong. Some reports indicate that the population grew to as many as 2000 inhabitants by the 1920s. With the population increase came more violence and tragedy. It was reported that in 1917 alone there were 12 murders, 12 deadly car wrecks, 6 suicides, 4 deaths as a result of the railroad, 4 fire fatalities, and 3 drownings in the Mingus/Thurber Junction community.

As coal faded from popularity for oil, the town of Thurber suffered greatly. T&P Coal’s 1917 discovery of oil in Ranger, helped to set off a series of events that would spell the end of Thurber as it was. The demand for coal rapidly diminished over the next few years. The last of the coal mined in Thurber occurred in 1926 and the company set in motion a plan to dismantle the once thriving community. 

The stock market crash of 1929 helped to drive a final nail in the coffin of Thurber as just a few months later the Thurber Brick plant was closed. The plant would reopen briefly in 1931 but eventually closed permanently and by 1937 Thurber, once a town of over ten thousand inhabitants, was abandoned. 

As Thurber faded from existence, the Mingus area lost its primary lifeline. The Mingus/Thurber Junction population dwindled down to around 300 inhabitants and eventually Thurber Junction and Grant Town became part of Mingus when it incorporated in 1934. 

The town of Mingus survived the loss of Thurber largely due to it's first mayor, Lawrence Santi. Mr. Santi was a civic minded mayor, holding office for over three decades and he also served as a town druggist for almost 60 years.

The Gordon Coal Mines: Part 1 - Jones, Cowen & Knowlton

 

The Gordon Coal Mines, later known as Coalville, was a very significant site during the early years of the Texas & Pacific Railway’s western development from Fort Worth. The firm responsible for the initial discovery and development of the Gordon Mines was a group T&P had contracted to build the bridges and buildings for the line for all points 100 miles west of Fort Worth. Over the years there has been confusion as to the name of this firm. Weldon Hardman’s book on Thurber “Fire in a Hole”, which was one of the earliest historical accounts of coal mining in the area, noted that the firm that opened the Gordon Mines was James, Cowan and Nolton. This was almost correct, and while Mr. Hardman admittedly wrote that his book was not “scholarly” and depended more on memory and word of mouth, this incorrect bit of information was propagated into multiple subsequent books on Thurber and area mining history, further blurring the rich history of the almost completely forgotten mining site.

The true name of the firm responsible for opening the Gordon Coal Mines was the Jones, Cowen and Knowlton Company. While the name variations are slight it is important to correct the record when attempting to unravel the history of the mines.

On January 16, 1880, the partnership of Jones, Cowen and Knowlton won the lucrative T&P building and bridge 100 mile construction contract. Each of the three partners were independently successful lumber men. John Roberts Jones was born in Gwernymynydd, Wales in 1841 and emigrated to the US as a child. He settled in Shreveport, LA where he worked his way into a very prominent career as a lumber man and civic leader. He owned multiple sawmills and started the Victoria Sash and Door Company in Shreveport. Col Edward Palmer Cowen was born in New Bedford, MA in 1842 and had multiple lumber locations (including Fort Worth) under the name E.P. Cowen Lumber Co. Samuel G. Knowlton, possibly the least prominent of the three, was born in 1840 in Gloucester, MA and migrated to Plaquemine, LA during the mid to late 1800s where he owned the Plaquemine Lumber and Shingle Co among other lumber related interests.

Newspapers at the time reported that it was Samuel Knowlton that discovered the coal outcroppings on Clayton Mountain, northeast of the future townsite of Gordon, while scoping out the area where the railroad would be passing through. This was the first significant discovery of coal in north Texas and Knowlton, along with his partners recognized this could be a very lucrative opportunity. Coal, of course, was the fuel of choice for the railroad at the time.

The three men began laying claim to the land surrounding the coal discovery. Some of the land was originally given to the railroad by the government for potential use, but as the actual route was established, much of the extra land was sold. While they worked as a partnership, they individually purchased land. Looking at the original landowner’s map of this area, you will see the area littered with the names of these three men. They eventually collectively owned appx 7000 acres in the area.

Who better than to start a mining operation and town in the 1880s than a group of lumber giants?

By September of 1880, in good timing with the progress of railroad construction though the area, Jones, Cowen and Knowlton had sunk their first mine. Initially the loads of coal were taken by wagon to the Gordon T&P depot for pick up. Due to the immediate demand for coal, the town of Gordon was reported to have literally sprung up over the course of a weekend.

Within a few weeks of operation, the Gordon Coal Mines were turning out 25 tons per day and were supplying all of the coal used by Texas & Pacific engines, eliminating the high cost of shipping coal from other states. This would soon gain the interest of railroad magnate (head of Texas & Pacific among other lines), Jay Gould.

More on the Gordon Coal Mines to come!

The Gordon Weekly Courier: A Historical Look at an Early Day Rural Texas Newspaper

When the Texas & Pacific Railway made its way to the southern Palo Pinto County town of Gordon in mid 1880, the community swiftly sprang into prominence. In the early days, Gordon served as the western terminus of the rail, with daily stage coach services to all parts north, south, and west. The town quickly grew into a shipping center for area cotton, cattle and coal.  With that growth came the immediate need for a news outlet.

One of the first publications to stick in town was called the Gordon Cross-Eye. This newspaper, with its off-the-wall name may have possibly been "in honor" then popular democratic presidential candidate Ben Butler. The paper and candidate were linked in national stories due to Mr. Butler having a "lazy eye". There is not much that remains as far as what kind of paper this was other than a couple of references tying them to a list of pioneers of the Texas Press Association.

The Cross-Eye was a short lived endeavor, and made way for one of Gordon's most prominent publications, the Gordon Weekly Courier. An August 14, 1884 piece in the Galveston Daily News states: 

"The Gordon Courier, a new paper started at Gordon, Palo Pinto County, reached The News yesterday. It says: The citizens of Gordon have made up their minds to have published in their town a newspaper worthy of patronage and one that will study the interests of Palo Pinto County, and Gordon in particular, have purchased the press and material formerly known as the Gordon Cross-Eye, and have secured the services of a gentleman competent and steady in his habits to run it." 

The Galveston newspaper went on to comment: 

"This looks like an intimation that the paper with the Ben Butler eye was not run by a man of such habits and the publisher of the Courier. Even men of steady habits may edit lively papers: Mirth makes them not mad, Nor sobriety sad. Watch and be sober, says St. Paul." 

The publisher of the Courier felt the need to give advice in getting out the first number in saying: "We are old in the business as a printer, and as an editor, and have gotten out a weekly paper many times under difficulties, but never, never have we in the course of human events, labored under as many difficulties as we have during the past week, trying to get out the Courier, of which we are manager, editor and devil, all in one."

The Gordon Weekly Courier began its life under the ownership of a group known as the Courier Publishing Company. Using volume backdating, its first published paper would have been printed on Friday August 8, 1884. The Courier would continue to be published every Friday as a weekly paper for the next thirty years and would gain notoriety as a prominent Texas newspaper, as referenced in various papers across the state.

In May of 1885, the Courier was purchased by 39 year old Rev. Christopher Columbus "C.C." Parrack and wife Mary. Missouri born Rev. Parrack was a Baptist preacher, and had lived in various communities in the area including Coleman County prior to landing in Gordon. The couple would share the duties of editor with C.C. noted as publisher.

One of the earliest references to the paper under Parrack was a snippet from the July 4, 1885 Wise County Messenger that read: 

"The Farmers' Alliance has purchased a lot and will begin at once to build. The lot is located on the east side of Lamar street, opposite the Pierson building. It has 75 feet front and 100 feet back, and there will be three buildings of 25 feet front each. - Gordon Courier."

The Gordon Coal Mines, later known as Coalville, located northeast of town, were not left out of the regional reporting picked up from the Courier. The Wise County Messenger of October 10, 1885 noted the Courier's boasting that the Gordon Coal Mines were producing 375 to 400 tons of coal per day. Gordon's Coalville, which was arguably the first boom town in Texas, rose to notoriety quickly in the early 1880s and would be the first Texas coal to be used by the railroad. Its demise came nearly as quickly as the high sulfur grade of coal was eventually determined unsuitable for long term use. 

It was just as much true then as it is now, political views were not without criticism. A February 4, 1886 edition of the Austin Weekly Statesman included the Courier's political opinions in a piece writing, "The Gordon Courier is hard to please. It will accept neither Swain, Ross, nor Gibbs for governor. It thinks there is a good-sized bug under all these chips and it talks harshly about boomers, rings, local cliques, and such expressive adjectives. The editor is a Christian minister, and of course has facts to sustain his attacks on the corrupt methods he has discovered."

The oldest copy of the Gordon Courier in the archives is a May 20, 1887 edition, which was well into the Parrack's reign over the paper. The front page of that paper was primarily covered with intricate and detailed advertising for local businesses including S.J Oden's Dry Goods and Grocery Store, G.W. Gentry & Co. General Merchandise, and J.P. Browder Furniture and Undertakers' Goods. Along with the ads was a rather lengthy article written on moral suasion. Page two of the edition was a good bit more informative as it had bits from across the state. Included was a report on a recent massive earthquake in Arizona that was felt in west Texas, and notes on the ongoing prohibition movement from both sides of the argument. A train departure schedule also appeared on page two, with the Number 4 train leaving Gordon to the east at 4:45 PM, and the Number 3 heading west at 11:55 AM.

Page three of the paper dealt mainly with local matters. The page included a long account of a recent community picnic, along with separate humorous accounts of the event that poked fun at several of Gordon's residents, "We heard a young lady say she loved barbecued dog, but we are not going to tell who she is because some young man might rise up and slay some of the favorite curs in Gordon (which are so necessary to our rest nights)." The page also included notes from area businesses including: Fresh butter and soda pop on ice at the T&P Express office, A car load of corn just received in sacks at M.W. Thompson's,  A nice stock of oranges, lemons, bananas, and sauerkraut at J.M. Bilton's, and a note to call the courier office and get a bargain on a clock. The last page of the paper almost entirely consisted of proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.

Sadly, just three years later Mr. Parrack would pass away at 44 years of age. He was buried at the Old Gordon Cemetery where a tall pillar-like headstone was placed. The Fort Worth Daily Gazette published the following obituary:

"Late Editor of the Gordon Courier and Highly Respected Citizen, Dies at GordonRev C.C. Parrack, late editor of the Gordon Courier, died at his residence in Gordon, Tex on the 17th. Mr. Parrack's death is a sad blow to the people of Gordon, for he was ever ready to lend a helping hand in time of need and was always found in the front ranks in the support of any public enterprise that tended to the advancement of the interests of the town and county. He conducted the Courier upon such a high plane of integrity and sincerity that its voice of warning was heard by old and young. He was a minister of the gospel of the Baptist faith, and a zealous Christian. The funeral services were conducted by Rev Mr. McGhee, of Cisco, at the Methodist church at Gordon at 4 o'clock pm, after which he was laid to rest in the Gordon cemetery, a burial place that he had done more than any one to improve and beautify. He leaves a wife."

It appears that Mrs. Parrack continued to run the paper through the end of 1890. The Fort Worth Daily Gazette of September 7, 1890 says "The Gordon Courier has just commenced its seventh volume, and in its first number appears a display advertisement for the sale of the entire plant. There lies a chance for some aspiring journalist to win fame and fortune."

In the fall of 1890 a man by the name of Lewis Albert "L.A." McCollister came to Gordon to work in the Courier's print shop. Mr. McCollister was born in Leavenworth, Indiana on June 18, 1870, with his family relocating to Ida County, Oklahoma just four years later. In 1886 he got his start in the newspaper business working as an apprentice for the Battle Creek Times. By the time he arrived in Gordon, he was well versed in the business and was looking to run a paper of his own.

With the Courier up for sale, McCollister seized on the opportunity and purchased the paper on March 1, 1891. He swiftly began to bring the paper into the modern era expanding its columns and filling it with his own brand of politics and self penned anecdotes. His political opinions and sharp wit on the problems of the day would bolster his articles onto the statewide stage.

The Galveston Daily News quoted McCollister as he took the reigns of the Courier, "More confidence in our state and less disposition to just "camp here until I get a stake" and then go somewhere else. Too many people who have made all they have here do not do anything to help the community in which they live, but put their money out of sight and do not have confidence enough to spend $1 to see $10 come back."

On April 30, 1891 Fort Worth Daily Gazette took notice of the changes at the Courier  stating, "The Gordon Courier has come out with an entire new dress, and made some marked improvements in its general make-up."

A quip from the Courier made the May 25, 1891 Fort Worth Daily Gazette, "While Mrs. Mack Spaulding was cutting up a chicken last Monday preparatory to cooking, she found a 16 penny nail in the chicken's stomach."

One of the common occurrences in Texas newspapers of the day was local weather and crop notes. A May 12, 1893 Galveston Daily News stated, "L.A. McCollister of the Gordon Courier reports fine rains in Palo Pinto county and says the prospects for corn, oats and cotton are first-rate. He was yesterday elected a member of the Texas Press Association."

Feud with the Texas Miner

Thurber's Texas Miner newspaper, which was company owned and operated and was in the business of protecting the interests of the Texas and Pacific Coal company, had quite the feud with McCollister's Courier. T&P Coal preferred its workers and residents to never leave the confines of Thurber. They wanted all money earned to be spent in company stores and all trading to be done in house. Gordon, as well as other area non company owned towns, offered more opportunities in trading. There are many reports of Thurber folks trading in Gordon and smuggling their goods back into to town, as it was highly frowned upon by the company. Because of the company's belief, they were very quick to protect their image in every way. McCollister, opinionated and unafraid to fire shots when he deemed necessary, fueled several reactions from the Miner.

 One of the first examples of this feud can be found in a February 3, 1894 edition of the Texas Miner. In a response piece the paper states,  "The Gordon Courier of last week said 'We understand the Thurber mines are working on half time now.' Bless your soul, Mac, that shot from jealous Gordon flew wide of the mark - in fact, you never touched us. Why, say, there hasn't been but a slight let-up, and that was because of the fact the railroad companies could not furnish empty cars. Fire another one, Mac, but be sure to use facts for wadding." Fifteen days later the Miner stated, "Because we accused Gordon of being jealous of Thurber's prosperity, the Gordon Courier says we are off our base. All right, Mac - but we'll make a home-run, even though we are forced to do the 'Slide, Kelly, slide' act. By the way, come over some day and watch the game, it'll interest you." The "act" mentioned in their piece refers to old baseball song "Slide, Kelly, Slide" published in 1889 "Slide, Kelly, Slide!, Your running's a disgrace!, Slide, Kelly, Slide!, Stay there, hold your base!, If some one doesn't steal you, And your batting doesn't fail you, They'll take you to Australia!, Slide, Kelly, Slide!" 

A month passed and McCollister, flanked by W.K Bell of Gordon, did pay the Miner a visit. The March 17, 1894 edition of the Miner noted that the two had visited their office and that Mr. Bell had made some extensive purchases in town and was "tickled to death" over the cheapness of the goods he wanted and their excellent quality.

Barbs between the two papers seemed to die down over the next few months.

On June 5, 1895, Mr. McCollister married Munsey Carlock at the Methodist church in Gordon by Parson Hightower. Thurber's Miner reported the announcement: 

"Cards are out announcing the coming nuptials of Miss Munsey Carlock and Mr. L.A. McCollister, the interesting event to occur at the Methodist church, Gordon, Wednesday, June 5, at 2 p.m. These young people are among Gordon's most popular, and this announcement is greeted with many happy expressions by a large circle of friends at home and elsewhere. Mr. McCollister is quite well known throughout the State as a rising young journalist, being editor and proprietor of the sprightly paper, the Gordon Courier. 'Mac' The Miner sends a hearty 'God bless you,' and will take advantage of the first opportunity to personally congratulate you upon your success in winning the prize which is soon to be yours." 

Word of McCollister's wedding appeared in several papers across the state.

February 25, 1896 Fort Worth Gazette published a poem McCollister had penned and published in the Courier with the title of "He's All Right". "There is a man in our town who wears the best of shoes, If there's anything he delights in, its the reading of the news; It does not matter what the friends may say, He reads the newspapers every day; There are two papers at which he takes a dead set, and they are the Commercial-Appeal and the Fort Worth Gazette; Yet there is another that seems to be no drag. And it is the American Baptist Flag. From reading the news he will not refrain, although his wife may howl with pain; And sometimes he hears his children crying around, Yet he will not lay his papers down."

The Houston Daily Post of February 5, 1900 cited the Gordon Courier in their "Industrial Texas" section, "The building committee of the Methodist Episcopal church has closed a contract to build a brick church."

A March 9, 1900 edition of the Abilene Reporter noted that the Gordon Courier reported that the town of Gordon was "coming to the front in buildings, with brick edifices going up."

In June of 1900 McCollister was appointed U.S. Census Enumerator (census taker)  for Gordon's precinct. This was an excellent way to get up-to-date on all the latest news and gossip as he went door to door collecting government information. Years later he was quoted as saying he still had in his possession the check for 15 cents the government sent him in payment for his services.

The November 4, 1904 Canyon City News quoted the Gordon Courier, "Never growl because a newspaper man fails to give every scrap of news so long as you take no pains to give the editor information. We have seen readers who are awfully put out at times because we have made no note of the arrival or departure of a friend visiting them, or the heaven-sent babies that visit their homes over night. The average newspaper man isn't a medium or mind reader, but gets most of his news the same way the milkman gets his milk - by pumping." This piece appeared in several other papers across the state.

McCollister sold the Courier to Arthur Speer in 1906 and moved his family to Mangum, Oklahoma where he went on to be a successful businessman in the banking business. He and his wife had two children (Gladys and Landon) born during their years in Gordon. McCollister eventually became a stockholder in a local bank and lumber yard there.

Son of Daniel Witten "DeWitt" Speer, Arthur and his family had moved to the Gordon area prior to 1880 and after school he initially worked locally as a school teacher. He taught at nearby Coalville during a time when the school was recorded as the largest in the county. By 1900 he was a local attorney, an occupation he would maintain while running the Courier. He was serving as Gordon School Board President when he took control of the paper at 48 years of age with wife Lilla and daughter Eva at his side.

With Speer at the helm, snippets of the Courier that appeared in papers statewide were generally more political in nature, with fewer anecdotal pieces.

The Brownsville Daily Herald published a piece from the Courier on January 29, 1907 titled "The Truth of the Matter."

"Good resolutions and isolated actions, though good, do not make good character. Pure thoughts, refined language and good deeds must, by our continuous course through life, be so woven into habits as to become our very nature."

Speer never seemed to be too shy to state his opinions on state matters. A December 15, 1909 San Antonio Daily Express cited Gordon Courier's controversial commentary on the state of prison administration in Texas.

The Courier broke several statewide stories of the day over the next couple of years. Along with the political laced banter there were a couple of local murders, robberies, accidental deaths, and the occasional oddity that made state headlines.

Included in the September 28, 1911 edition of the Bryan Daily Eagle:

"Karl Teichman killed three rattlesnakes last week in his cotton patch. On Wednesday he killed two. One had ten rattles and the other eleven. On Thursday morning he killed the largest rattlesnake he ever saw, but some of the rattles had been broken off, leaving only six. The snakes have been coming into the cotton fields. - Gordon Courier"

A note on the Courier's editor came in a March 8, 1913 edition of the Weatherford Daily Herald, "A. Speer, editor of the Gordon Courier, was in the city Saturday morning on his way home from Palo Pinto county. Mr. Speer, while editing his paper, takes time to practice law."

While there was plenty of seriousness to Speer's paper, there was always a little bit of humor sprinkled in as seen in an August 6, 1913 Houston Post, "The Gordon Courier is reminded that while twenty-pound parcel post packages will greatly extend the scope of service, it will not enable anybody to send a Texas watermelon by mail."

  

A report on local matters appears in a September 9, 1913 Weatherford Daily Herald:

"Men Quit Work at Thurber - To make bricks, fire must be burning under the kilns, consequently the fire must be constantly attended. The men upon whom this duty devolved wanted to attend the labor celebration; but, as the company could not excuse them from work without incurring great damage, permission to take part in the festivities was refused. However, acting upon the advice, it is said, of one of the Socialistic speakers, the men abandoned their work and took part in the celebration. For thus quitting their work and damaging the company, the men were discharged, where upon the brick makers union declared a strike. The company then concluded to cease operations. After this conclusion had been reached, the men expressed a willingness to resume work, but that the company closed the plant. About 250 men are thus thrown out of work. - Gordon Courier"

The latest edition of the Courier found in the archives is from August 7, 1914, noted as number 42 of volume 30. The paper appears in a six column form. The left side of the front page included a couple of articles on the coming 1914 State Fair of Texas. The remainder of the page involves the coming and going of local residents and local news quips. Among the local tidbits included, "I am prepared to furnish ice and deliver it to you anywhere in town at the rate of 40 cents per hundred. - J.W. McCoy.", "The poles on which to hang the cable for the electric lights in Gordon have been loaded on the cars and are due to arrive here soon.", and "The Holiness meeting will begin today at the tabernacle one mile north of town."

The second page of the 1914 Courier edition included several lengthy articles including pieces on fire prevention tips, a take on a movement on better roads in the state, and industrial notes and developments from various cities across the state. Also appearing on the page is a Southwestern Tel & Tel Co (Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company, early name for Southwestern Bell) ad that promoted the idea that having telephones on the farm could make it easier to call for help when needed.  A Dr. Wilbar, a Gordon dentist, ad lists prices for specific dental work, standard filling $1, gold filling $2 to $3, gold crown $5 to $6, and a set of teeth for $20. Rounding out the second page is an ad for round trip tickets from Gordon to El Paso for $15 to attend the Democratic State Convention.

The last two pages of the edition were almost entirely taken up by a weekly serial the paper printed. This particular one was the first part in a series titled "The Impossible Boy" written by Nina Wilcox Putnam.

The August 7th edition is the last reference to the paper found in current newspaper archives. Based on the fact that up to this date the paper was heavily referenced in area and statewide papers, it can be derived that the Courier was discontinued around this time. Mr. Speer, a man in his late 50's wearing two hats in the community as a lawyer and newspaper editor, may have elected to hang up the news for his more profitable profession.

Arthur Speer died February 8, 1918 in Gordon and was buried in the New Gordon Cemetery. Sadly, the Gordon Weekly Courier died with him.

The Courier was a very important piece in the history of Gordon, Texas. In it's thirty year run the Courier reported on its fair share of community ups and downs. It was led by three different pillars of the community that put Gordon first and even used the paper to fight for their community at times. Like with so many small towns of the day, this small town paper helped to keep Gordon on the map while providing a service to its citizens and at times citizens across the state. 

Sources referenced for this article include: newspaperarchive.com, texashistory.unt.edu, ancestry.com

Wilbar Brick Company of Gordon, Texas

John T.O. Wilbar owned and operated the Wilbar Brick Plant in Gordon, Texas (located in Southern Palo Pinto County) from approximately 1888 to 1906. His operation predated all area brick making, occurring well before nearby Thurber started making their famous bricks.

John Thomas Octavius Wilbar was born on May 28, 1853 in Wilkes, NC to Isaac Russell and Rachel Colvard Wilbar. The family migrated to Texas in about 1879 and to Gordon by the mid 1880s. John initially settled in Duffau, TX (north of Hico) and served for a brief time as a school teacher there. Upon arriving in the Gordon area he initially took a job as postmaster for Coalville. During this time Mr. Wilbar either purchased or built a cotton gin and successfully took advantage of Gordon’s booming crop of the day.

Around 1888, as the need for solid (fire proof) building products increased, John built a brick making outfit next door to his gin. The brick plant and kilns (a total of seven) would have been located a couple of blocks south of the current Methodist Church to the east of the present day highway. The shale used for the bricks came from a hill due west of the plant (across the current road). A pulley rail car system was used to bring the shale down the mountain. When a full car went down the hill it pulled the empty car back up. At that time the only road leaving town to the south was what is now known as Mitchell Hill road, so crossing a road wasn't an issue for the shale cars.

The kilns used were roughly 10 to 20 feet high and about 70 feet long and were wood burning. The bricks made at the Wilbar plant were of the dry pressed variety and were most suitable for use in building construction. It has been documented that Wilbar Bricks have been found in various cities in north Texas over the years. Some of Gordon’s buildings downtown and underpinnings on various old homes are made of these bricks as well.

When gas became available in 1906, Mr. Wilbar made the decision to switch to the more modern fuel. The kilns were all fitted for the new fuel and an initial batch was fired. Unfortunately the bricks became too hot and fused together in massive blocks, rendering all of the kilns ruined. This disaster spelled the end of Wilbar Brick production. Mr. Wilbar continued to gin cotton until a fire destroyed his gin in January of 1907. He left Gordon in 1918 and relocated to San Antonio where he died on October 24, 1923.

NOTE: John Wilbar's brother Alexander P. Wilbar founded the First National Bank of Gordon in 1901, helping to make the Wilbar family one of the most influential families on early day Gordon.