Carol C Taylor Blog

V. W. Grubbs, the eventual winner in the 1898 Democratic Primary.

As if you didn’t know, this is an election year. Many say it is one of the most repugnant they ever experienced. With television, newspapers, the various social media outlets, we have little reprieve from the issues and behavior of the candidates.

A look at the Greenville Messenger for July 8, 1898 proves that politics at that time were equally full of mud slinging and name-calling. The primary elections were even more important than they are today. Texas and other Southern states voted with the Democrat party. That is, white men who paid poll tax voted in the Democratic primary held in July and August. Other voters could only vote in November in the General election. Of course, women could not vote.

The United States was still recovering from the economic depression of 1893-1895. Many farmers had lost their land; most became tenant farmers with fewer opportunities to fulfill their goals or even care properly for families. Some turned to the Populist Party, in hopes of better conditions for farm families, but despised by businessmen.

On page 8 of the Greenville Messenger that day in July, the headline screamed A LIAR CRUCIFIED. “My opponent, B. Q. Evans, has been persistently asserting that I am a populist and have run for office on the populist ticket. The charge is an infamous falsehood. To substantiate his assertions Evans has a letter from one Ras Young, a two-by-four pettifogging lawyer of Longview, who wrote the letter to vent his personal spite against me. To refute the charge I submit the following letter from HON. R. C. DeGRAFFENRIED, United States representative from this District. Which will you pin your faith to – a well-known true blue democrat like DeGRAFFENRIED or B. Q. Evans and his unworthy accomplice? T. D. CAMPBELL”

We have no idea what Evans said about Campbell other than he was a Populist, but it is evident it raised the hairs on the back of Campbell’s neck. Campbell rebutted with a letter from the Congressman under the title READ THIS LETTER. Basically it said that Campbell, the incumbent, was “a Democrat and that I never heard of you voting any other ticket of affiliating with any other party . . .”

Ironically neither candidate won. They began their nit-picking, name-calling contest in February and continued until Election Day in July. However, men who were not impressed with the mudslinging convinced V. W. Grubbs to enter the race in May. Grubbs was well known and well liked. He was a staunch supporter of vocational education, a conviction much needed at that time period. He also firmly believed in prohibition. More importantly, businessmen, farmers, and tenants respected him. Not surprisingly, Grubbs won the election.

During the 1890s and into the 1900s, railroads were seen as the richest institution in America. The best way to get a little extra money was to claim or actually be involved in a railroad accident. One Greenville lawyer had a name for suing the Katy in particular. Over the years I have come to believe that B. Q. Evans was that lawyer. In light of that I suspect if any of the candidates were a Populist it was Evans.

DeGraffenried did give Campbell a few words of comfort. “You can always expect to hear reports when you enter the political ring and it is best not to worry over them.”

Now we know who Lee was but what about Wesley? While no definite proof is available, it is entirely possible that the street was named for Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, built on the street shortly after the Civil War. The building in the background was originally named the Medical Arts Building, but after the Henson-Kickernick Company moved their headquarters into the building, it became known as the Henson Building. It’s one of the most elegant structures in Greenville.

Although I have written about Greenville street names in the past, I had a request recently to rehash the subject. First of all, it is important to know that the town of Greenville was located and lots sold in January 1847. No names were given to the streets until about 1880. There was no need for street names; the town was so small everyone knew where others lived and there was no mail delivery service. But in the fall of 1880 the first railroads rolled in and the citizens believed they needed to name their streets to appear more citified.

The four streets surrounding the courthouse were the most important. But there was no one category of names used. On early maps, Lee Street was labeled R. E. Lee. Johnson Street was named for Lyndley Johnson, a noted Indian fighter. Washington, of course, honored President George Washington, revered even in post-Civil War Texas. Stonewall probably was named for Stonewall Jackson. Other Confederate generals honored on Greenville streets were Pickett as in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, and Stuart, probably for J. E. B. Stuart.

Early Greenville men, but no women, were honored with street names. John Gillespie traded his land certificate to James Bourland. Bourland, in turn, traded the land certificate to M. H. Wright who donated land for the townsite, even though he did not have a clear title to the land. Bourland and Wright were early surveyors, while Gillespie probably never set foot in Hunt Count. A Texas land certificate was valid for claim anywhere in the Republic of Texas, and later in the new state of Texas.

Ironically, Davy Crockett who wrote in his diary about a bear hunt near the site of Honey Grove on his way to the Alamo never came close to Greenville. James Polk was the U. S. President who annexed Texas by executive order. Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas and later governor and senator from the state.

Stevens Street is near Bourland Street. Bourland never lived here but gave his daughter and her husband land north of town. Stevens Street is named for the son-in-law. Oswin King and his family lived where the post office on Lee Street was built. It was Oswin the father and not his son Tom that King Street honored. N. O. Blade was a carpenter, early developer, and son-in-law of Oswin King. John R. Briscoe was a prominent rancher west of town. As a Baptist preacher, he organized First Baptist Church before dying of disease in Arkansas during the Civil War. P. W. Spenser was one of the early mayors, and S. J. Mason served as City Marshall. Langford was also an early settler.

Two major housing developments popped up west and south of downtown in the late 1800s. To the west was Dr. Sayle’s addition. To the south the Moulton Addition added family names of Cornelia and Walworth to our list. Division Street noted the difference between the Moulton Farm and the residential area.

College Street and College Boulevard entered the campus at Burleson College. Stanford Street honored the man who created wonderful gardens in Graham Park before World War II. Of course, Alley and Water Street were little lanes in the industrial area. We know how Katy Street came into being. Eutopia was the tongue-in-cheek joke for a very muddy street in Sayle Addition. But where the names Jordan and St. John came from, who knows?

The distillery of Cape May Whiskey must have spent too much money on the valuable barrel on exhibit at Rosenburg’s Grocery in Greenville, Texas in 1898. No photograph of the distillery, the bottles, or barrels could be found. Something tells me the one at Rosenburg’s was probably much more elegant, but these will give you a hint.

Since I spend an inordinate amount of time reading old newspapers, scanning the ads, and catching up on the local gossip of a century ago, I would like to share some of my favorites finds. Newspapers from 19th century Greenville are scarce but those available are treasures.

The year 1898 was the end of a financial recession that began in 1893. Many historians consider it as disastrous as the Great Depression of the 1930s. By the fall of 1898 the economy was more stable and citizens were losing their belts, so to speak. That year money began to flow again across the Blackland Prairie.

The Greenville Messenger was the newsiest of all local newspapers. In October of that month, the Messenger reported the most handsome and valuable barrel ever seen in Greenville on display at H. Rosenburg’s grocery store. Described as a monster, some six feet long, painted pure white with hoops of gold, it held 135 gallons of Rosenberg’s premier world-renown “Cape May” whisky made in Nelson County, Kentucky. The valuable barrel weighed 1250 pounds and was valued at $550.

Another item in the Messenger earlier the same month may have encouraged Mr. Rosenburg to purchase the expensive barrel of whisky. Coal was discovered near Campbell. For years supporters of both Greenville and Hunt County just knew there was valuable minerals beneath the black soil. Now expert miners located a vein on land owned by D. S. Finger. The owner was informed that he sat on a valuable piece of coal mining property. Very little additional news about the possible coal mine appeared in later editions of the Messenger, though.

Evidently Mr. Rosenburg and the editor of the newspaper were great friends. Or at least Mr. Rosenburg got as much free print and he paid for in advertisements. In the summer one of the biggest pumpkins ever raised in the area was on exhibition in Rosenburg’s grocery store. Bob Mansfield, who lived on a farm two miles west of Quinlan, brought the 63-pound squash into town. However, I have a few questions about this giant gourd. Pumpkins are usually planted in mid-summer and not harvested until frost. So why did it arrive in Greenville in mid-July? I did learn that a 63-pound vegetable was a mere weakling. In 2009 a 1,900-pound pumpkin grown in a temperature controlled glass pavilion north of Boston set off a race for much larger pumpkins. Maybe Mr. Mansfield harvested his crop too soon.

Meanwhile an incident in Wolfe City almost left a man without his precious gold watch. Fritz Fiege filed an affidavit against saloonkeeper Robert Wesley, charging him with robbery of the watch. Mr. Fiege visited the saloon, and after a bit began to nod in his chair. Wesley offered him a bed where Fiege lay down and slept. When he awoke he discovered his gold watch missing. Mr. Wesley produced the watch, saying he found it in the backyard where Fiege must have dropped it. No further information found its way into the Messenger.