Carol C Taylor Blog

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, political cartoons were the rage. This particular cartoon perfectly illustrates the opinions of the vast majority of Americans until March 1917. North Texas newspapers basically ignored the war in Europe until that time. (From a presentation Mrs. Taylor does regarding Texas during World War I.)

Before my dad died in late June 2012, he gave me several boxes full of papers, photographs, letters, etc. I was so busy caring for him I neglected to look through them until after his death. They were full of his life and his parents’ lives. I spent the remainder of the year learning about those people I thought I knew.

I found myself very interested in World War I. My grandfather who seemed so wise and quiet to me served in the Corp of Engineers for one year, one month, and one day. Why, I questioned? Why did the United States feel compelled to intervene with a war caused by two cousins and their uncle; Czar Nicholas of Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and King George of Great Britain, respectively.

The first book I read was Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. I highly recommend it. The book explained the complexity of the war and its leaders. But I still wondered about America. I always heard that President Woodrow Wilson ran for second term on the slogan “He kept us out of the War.” And yet in 1917 and 1918 thousands of young men volunteered, were sent to the Western Front, battled not only the German Army but the Influenza Epidemic, and so many lost their lives.

I also became interested in what Americans thought about the Great War, as it was first called. As a historian, I have always believed that newspapers can give the researcher a good idea of local opinions and biases. Often what is published is not exactly true, or in this instance it was what people in Northeast Texas thought.

I decided to focus on the entire region of Northeast Texas as opposed to what Greenville readers saw. And I decided that I would share this information with whoever wanted to know. I created a Facebook page called A Century Ago . . . that I have posted everyday since January 1, 1914. It contains no personal information and absolutely nothing about my own family. It’s strictly what I read in newspapers from Greenville, Dallas, Fort Worth, Paris, Bonham, and others throughout the region.

For 1914 through 1916, most news was very local with a few editorial comments about the war in Europe. The bottom fell out of the cotton market but horses, mules, wheat, canned milk, and beef became top sellers. Farmers were encouraged to diversify their crops. Life continued with little change until March of 1917.

Great Britain intercepted a telegram from Arthur Zimmerman, German Foreign Minister, to the German Ambassador in Mexico, offering Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to Mexico if she would instigate war with the US. Once the telegram became public, attitudes and opinions changed drastically. Here in Northeast Texas war was considered inevitable. But other regions of the country strongly opposed the war. It was never a popular war.

Originally I intended to close the Facebook page right after the Armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, or 11:00 AM November 11, 1918. After reading Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan, I have decided to carry on through the Paris Peace Conference. Much of the unrest throughout the world today can be attributed to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Let’s see what our forefathers thought about it all here in Northeast Texas.

A later version of the hack that Alfred T. Howell rode from Shreveport to Clarksville, Texas in 1852. Undated image of a Wellington Transfer Co. horse-drawn coach, also known as a “hack.” Photo 970300 of “Wellington Family Album” Collection, Herrick Memorial Library. Permission to display generously granted by the library.

Alfred Thomas Howell is a historian’s dreams come true. A Virginia native who studied law in Kentucky before a daring move to the new State of Texas in 1852. Trained as an attorney, Howell conscientiously wrote letters home to family in Richmond for more than ten years. Each one gives a unique insight to the early days in Northeast Texas.

On February 29, 1852, Howell arrived in Shreveport after a pleasant trip from New Orleans aboard a steamboat on the Mississippi and the Red Rivers. Arriving at Shreveport, Howell noted that few stores in the town closed on Sunday morning. That concerned the son of a Baptist preacher, especially when he realized most men were either trading horses or mules. Others were loading or unloading steamboats. Howell was in for a surprise on the Texas frontier.

To get from Shreveport to Clarksville, Howell’s final destination, he had to choose between three options. Wait for the next steamboat to Kiamatia and who knew when the water would be high enough to make the voyage. Buy a horse or a mule and try to find the county seat of Red River County. Or he could hire a hack for twenty-five dollars. He chose the latter. The hack was a long, round-topped carryall pulled by three horses. The first day one of the horses died, leaving two rather poor horses to pull the hack over what Howell referred to as the “desperate nature of roads.”

So the adventure began. Howell claimed they traveled through the poorest portion of Texas; probably the reason early Texas historians ignored the Red River settlements. The pine country reminded him of the pine forests in the eastern sections of North Carolina and South Carolina. Along the way the thinly settled region sported newly built log cabins along the road. Howell stated they were occupied by squatters but gave no reason for such assumption. Horses mired in the muddy swamps about 400-500 yards long. Travel was at a snail’s pace, especially when having to pull one or the other horse out of the mire. Howell and other passengers worked along side the teamsters. Howell wrote he was tired of the difficult travel conditions he experienced.

At first only a few prairies appeared. As the road continued into more open prairies game became plentiful. Wild geese constantly flew overhead. Thousands of wild ducks, deer, bears, and other wild life were plentiful. Venison was served every meal, never quite to Howell’s taste.

Several of the families in Red River County were from Virginia and were acquainted with the Reverend Howell and his wife. Invitations were offered to their son who visited and enjoyed their hospitality. One of the men he met was Charles H. Peabody, a jeweler who planned to open a shop in every town within a 150-mile radius. Peabody was probably successful as he was the only jeweler in all of Northeast Texas.

Alfred T. Howell continued to write his weekly letters, with outlandish excuses of not setting up a law practice and his subsequent large expenses and debts. Often he seemed to focus more on the negative side of frontier life. However, without his letters this chapter of Texas history would be lost.

Graves of my relatives buried at Cottonwood Cemetery east of Bryson, Jack County, Texas. Not only did the family keep the graves swept, they place shells over them to be certain no weeds grew there. Photograph taken ca. 1995. (Author’s collection)

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, but do you know the story behind the event? There’s more to it than celebrating the beginning of summer, the end of school, and spending time at the lake. It was first observed in May 1865, immediately after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee to General U. S. Grant. There were even some skirmishes still going on in the Trans-Mississippi District where news was slow to arrive.

Women in the South wanted to bury their dead and preserve their memory in the cemetery. They cleaned the grounds, gathered flowers, and solemnly prayed for their loved ones. It wasn’t long before the women in the North followed the example. It became a day to honor and remember those who died for their country. The custom continues today. We honor those who served in the military and are still living on Veterans’ Day, November 11.

Here in Northeast Texas we have burial traditions unlike other parts of the nation. Subsistence farmers settled our section of the country very early. Most came through Missouri and Arkansas before spreading out along the Red River and into the interior of Texas.

In sparsely populated areas, the deceased were buried near the home. As the population grew, someone donated land for the cemetery. The idea of creating a cemetery before needed met with superstition. Would it bring an early death to the donor?

Fences enclosed the cemetery and often some family plots were also fenced. Graves were on an east-west axis so the deceased could rise to the morning sun and face Jerusalem. Graves located outside the fence were those of outlaws. The best place to locate a cemetery was on a higher ground, a slight rise. But if that was superior farmland, the family or community might choose a smaller, less valuable site. Some graves were located near a creek to make certain the cotton or other crops were not destroyed by a heavy rainstorm or flood.

Churchyards are seldom gravesites in Northeast Texas. I know of one family whose child died in the summer when the blackland clay was as hard as a rock. They buried the child at the edge of the family garden, the only place to dig deep.

Many cemeteries were entered through a litch-gate, the gate in which a wagon carrying the casket moved to the burial site. Mourners followed on foot. Sometimes the cemetery had a brush arbor for funerals or revivals.

On a selected date everyone in the community arrived with hoes and rakes and other garden tools. Buckets hauled water. Women brought covered dishes of delicious food. After a severe cleaning of the graveyard, everyone gather for a meal and lots of visiting. Some cemeteries held grave cleaning days in the spring and again in the fall.

In Northeast Texas until the use of motorized lawn mowers, it was common to find swept graves. The family of a cotton farmer remembered how he wanted the fields cleared meticulously of weeds felt he would not want any weeds over his grave. They honored his wish by keeping his grave swept clean with a broom.

Unfortunately, such patent medicines were not readily available on the Texas frontier of the 1850s. (digitalcommonwealth.org)

The summer of 1853 in North Texas was warm but not sultry. Strong breezes blew across the prairies almost constantly. For the most part, health was quite good. However, those who walked or rode horseback in the sun suffered from congestion attacks. These were more than likely due to the thick vegetation that caused allergies every spring and summer.

Homoeopathic medicine was a new branch of medicine first practiced in Germany and other Eastern European countries. There the use of mineral waters was believed to be an amazing curative. It was now the fad throughout Texas.

The most severe illnesses were fevers including Bilious Fever. Symptoms included fever with nausea or vomiting in addition to an increase of the internal body temperature as well as strong diarrhea according to the Homoeopathic Domestic Practices, a medical guide prepared for and by homoeopathic doctors.

Bilious Fever developed more quickly in the Southern or Western parts of the United States, especially in areas with marshy soil and newly settled areas with rich vegetation. That described North Texas perfectly from the 1830s to the Civil War. Persons with dissipation to eating or drinking alcohol, exposure to temperature changes, anger, fear, grief, headache, stomach problems, or uneasiness were more susceptible to the fever.

That fever attacked children, very old men, and very dissipated individuals more that healthier, younger men and women. By mid-August the heat registered 100 degrees in the shade as summer progressed. Farmers found it less stressful to do their work at night. By this time all crops had been planted but were not ready to be picked. The heat and dry conditions caused communities to initiate a form of water rationing they called an allowance of water. By the end of August welcomed rain quenched the land and water holes. The health of everyone improved drastically. Cooler weather and rains always brought better health.