Carol C Taylor Blog

Sandy (as he was called) Cameron was born in Scotland on June 17, 1833, the same year of the Falling Stars over Alabama. He first went to Travis County in 1851 when he came to America, but within six months he moved to Hunt County where he stayed until his death in 1899. In those forty-eight years he accomplished a massive amount of good works.

In 1858 Cameron was elected County Surveyor. Two years later he was elected County Clerk, the beginning of several offices in the County Court House. In February 1862, Sandy married Miss Parmela A. Spradling before enlisting in the Confederate Army where he was made First Lieutenant in Company H, 31st Texas Dismounted Cavalry. Just before General Lee’s surrender, Cameron was made captain of his unit. Returning home when the war was over, he taught school for some months.

In 1866 Cameron was elected County Clerk, but due to regulations of the Union Government, he was deposed in 1867. He became a bookkeeper until 1870 when he began successful mercantile businesses.

By 1878 Cameron was back in office as County Clerk for three re-elections. In 1883 Asa Hold and Alexander Cameron went into the banking business at the southeast corner of the square. He became the president of the Greenville National Bank where he held the position for the rest of his life.

Alexander Cameron was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a lifelong member of all the Masonic bodies and of the Fred Ende Lodge 67, I.O.O.F., all of which various bodies he enriched, beautified, and adorned. From 1850 to 1900 he entered the fiber of every industrial, economic, financial, fraternal, social, and religious life of Greenville and Hunt County.

Cameron gave generously of his time, money, and was one of the first to respond to every call of every worthy enterprise and was one of the largest contributors to securing the first railroad for Greenville, giving $5,000 to the MK&T in 1880. He and two others contributed the building site and a generous bonus to the building of the Beckham Hotel on West Lee Street in 1885.

This article was the beginning of a collection of biographical sketches created in the early 20th century. It was printed on page 401 of the Veterans Record of Joseph E. Johnson, Camp 267, U.C.V.

The first Anglo settlers in Hunt County realized that the best product of their new land was not cotton, but cattle, sheep, and horses. All three had multiple tributes that included hides and food. To add to the choice was the abundance of wild horses found around the area where Cow Leach Creek merged with Caddo Creek. Some early settlers bred those wild horses with their donkeys to produce mules, a huge animal through out the South.

Cotton became profitable once transportation was available, but without buyers, cotton was useless in 1840 when the early settlers arrived. The rich prairie lands and wooded creek bottoms provided an almost ideal setting for cattle, sheep and horses.

One old-timer wrote “great natural meadows covered with green grass thrown into undulations by gentle breezes, relieved and beautified by flowers from the modest iris and blue daisy to the brilliant plume.”

Livestock grazed on inexpensive native grasses almost all year long. Stock raising was surprisingly the principal employment for most settlers. In fact, one old-timer observed that “a person’s wealth was measured by the number of horses, cattle, and sheep he owned. Lands were almost worthless; no one had money to buy any. Stock kept in good condition the year around. I have never seen fine fat beef killed in the midst of winter never having been fed. No one thought of putting up food except for work stock. In cold, rainy, bad weather, which seldom came, stock sought shelter in the thickets and creek bottoms.”

Usually in the spring, stockmen would round up several steers and drive them east to Shreveport or as far as New Orleans. Sometimes they headed them north at the end of the railroad in Kansas to sell them. One tale says that a group of young men took steers to Leavenworth, Kansas to sell. They drove the cattle through rainstorms, flooded rivers and Indians wanting fees to cross their land. The young men made it safely to Parsons, Kansas, where like many young men they bought new clothes after the long drive.

Not many people realize that sheep also thrived in Hunt County. In the 1860 Census sheep actually outnumbered horses and cattle. That year tax rolls reported 11,057 sheep in the county, which averaged 27 per farm, though only 4,458 horses and 299 mules were reported.

One woman who lived in the northeast part of the county recalled “we had lots of sheep and would shear them twice a year, in May and October. Then we would card and spin the wool and knit out socks and stockings. Some would even weave the wool into cloth.”

The importance of stock raising was the result of lack of improved land and lack of inexpensive transportation. Lack of railroads, navigable rivers and good roads further inhibited the development of commercial farmers, particularly cultivation of cotton, since farmers simply had no practical, inexpensive way of getting bales of cotton to the market.

In the 1880s, the coming of the railroads and the wide use of barbed wire made cotton production more profitable and stock raising took a back seat.

Just after the Great Blizzard demolished power plants all over Texas, we had a lovely spring-like spell. It was a little dry although. We needed a bit of moisture. Instead of a little bit, we received a deluge of rain to cause high water in several places. Along with such rain, we also had thunder and lightning. Now, as I write the sun is shining, the puny trees that may not survive the blizzard are considering returning and are trying to comeback. But guess what else we have? Cold north winds are howling around the corner of the house since last night.

Behind our house is a heavily wooded small forest of about ten acres, full of mostly native trees with some that the neighbors have planted over the years. Snakes come visiting frequently in the summer. And it is a harbor for all sorts of birds. They are delightful to watch and listen to each morning.

When I had knee surgery about twelve years ago, I would go out to the back porch, lie down on the couch and watch an energetic hawk for a long time each day. This year I am facing shoulder replacement and have found a few birds to make friends with. I doubt if my hawk is still around, several other large birds fly over regularly. I suspect they are scouting for small animals like mice. I hope another hawk decides to enter into the picture to entertain me.

For several weeks now, I have been interested in a tree about twenty feet from the porch. My husband calls it a Cedar Elm. At first, I noticed it had no bark around the bottom of the trunk. But I didn’t go down there since I was barefooted. Finally, I put on my Wellies (rubber boots) and went exploring.

After all the rain, it was like a swamp in that portion of the yard. But I found my tree. Enough of the bark was on the ground at the base of the tree. On the tree itself was a fine, black line from the top to the base. No bark was noted. Lightning had hit the tree, but it was still living. Will it continue to live? Probably not, but it may join those trees do determined to stay with us.

Several years ago, I wrote that daily article for my Facebook page called “A Hundred Years Ago.” I was amazed at the number of people in this area killed by lightning. And not all were outside at the time.

It is possible to stand by a chimney and be hit by lightning. Today our houses are much safer, starting with better materials and skills. Farmers plowing fields were often struck by lightning with no place to shelter.

Weather, as we know, can be our friend or worst enemy. Be careful and may your struggling trees recuperate.

Spring is definitely on its way. My pink tulips have finished blooming, and the red ones are gorgeous. What shrubs that survived look well, but not splendid. Trees are another question. My oleander is as dead as a door nail, but it’s a Louisiana native, so what can I expect. I sat through a class at the Dallas Arboretum recently. We were encouraged to Be Patient.

However, during the last week, I noticed an increase in insects here in Hunt County. We can expect the deluge of tropical profusion of insect life in North Texas. It is an onslaught of flies, mosquitoes, lice, ticks, fleas, roaches and the deafening noise of katydid, crickets and locusts.

Other than mosquitoes which spread the massively endemic malaria and yellow fever, flies were and still are, the most bothersome and disease-ridden of the insects in the county. In both rural and urban areas (it was common practice for city dwellers to keep horses, cows, chickens and even hogs in their back yards) breeding grounds for the pesky flies abounded – such as privies (outhouses), pigsties, stables and kitchens. Garbage and trash were tossed haphazardly into the back yard in spite of sporadic efforts at discipline by enlightened health officials and physicians. Further, the lack of screening on windows and doors of many houses left families at the mercy of swarms of flies.

Various methods were used to combat the flies, some more effective than others, of course. Knowledgeable farmers and homeowners made sure that the barn, chicken coop, cattle pens and dairies were kept a considerable distance from the house. Smart farmers also kept the barns clean, and housewives knew to keep all food covered, their kitchens clean, and to store food in pie safes (wooden cabinets with metal doors that had small holes to allow the air to circulate but kept the flies out.)

Prior to air conditioning, restaurants and ice cream parlors and grocery stores had their share of troubles with flies. Although many of these stores had screen doors, they also relied on ceiling fans located just above the entrance door to create a wind barrier that prevented the flies from getting into the store (the downdraft breeze created by the fan made it difficult for the flies to maneuver.) As one old timer said, “The fans not only cooled the store but gave the flies a fit.”

Putting cotton balls on the screen doors discouraged flies from even approaching the house. Supposedly the flies thought the cotton balls were spider webs.

A 1921 Hunt County newspaper ran an article, titled “Swat the Fly.” “Ninety percent of house flies are hatched in stable manure. The manure should be thrown into boxes which should be kept screened or disinfected. Nine-tenths of the fly trouble could be disposed of by fly traps and swatters. Banish flies and you get rid of typhoid fever and the intestinal diseases that cause the death of so many children every summer. It’s a pretty bad citizen who won’t buy screens and disinfectants to save the lives of babies.”

Flies still plague Hunt County today, but screens, sanitation and fly spray keep them under control. What also helps also lures people indoors are television, computers, video games and other activities outside.