The Age, Volume 4, Number 10, September 1, 1983 Page: 1 of 1

                                
VOL. IV
WALLISVILLE, TEXAS
SEPTEMBER 1, 1983
No. 10
THE AGE
Established at Houston, May 15,
1871 by D. L. McGary. Moved to
Wallisville March 15, 1897. Discon-
tinued in 1908. Reestablished by the
Wallisville Heritage Park, December
1, 1979. $1.25 per paper, $15.00 for
one-year subscription.
Wallisville Heritage Park
P.O. Box 16
Wallisville, Texas 77597
NOTE: Back in 1927, County Clerk
Walter A. Scherer, County Judge
L. R. Miller, and Sheriff W. R.
Sherman all came to work one day
and faced a most unusual situation
before the day was out. It was not
the first time that the course of
young love caused lots of people
a great deal of inconvenience.
THE PROGRESS
Friday, January 14, 1927
FALSE SWEARING
County Clerk Scherer was con-
fronted with a peculiar situation one
day last week. A young man and
young lady drove up to his office
at the court house and in a giggling
manner applied for a marriage
license. As to their ages Mr. Scherer
put the necessary question to both
parties—are you 21 and 18 respec-
tively and both took an oath that
they were. The license was issued
and delivered. The pair attracted so
much attention with their loving
manners that all the officials and
assistants around the courthouse
were primping to attend the wedding
in Judge Miller's office. In a few
minutes the black veil began to un-
fold when a telephone message ar-
rived from Deputy Hamilton at
Winnie announcing that the father
of the girl denounced the marriage
and said his daughter was only 16
years old. Then it was up to Clerk
Scherer to get the return of the
license—after a little parleying the
license was returned. The pair after
cooing with each other, made haste
and started their "tin lizzie" headed
back to Winnie. Sheriff Sherman was
notified by Winnie authorities to
arrest the pair. He started in pursuit
and reached the Chambers-Jefferson
county line just 10 minutes late,
they were out of his jurisdiction
about one-half mile.
The young man lives near Winnie
and the young lady's home is at Big
Hill, Jefferson county.
LATER — The pair went to
Liberty, Beaumont and finally lo-
cated a license at Jasper and were
married.
NOTE: David Carlton Hardee was a
North Carolinian who came to
Liberty County, Texas in 1839,
stayed several years and then re-
turned to his native state. It was not
until 1897 that he wrote a series
of ten articles that appeared in the
Liberty Vindicator and described his
experiences in frontier Liberty. The
following article, number nine in the
series, was so lengthy that editor
T. J. Chambers was compelled to cut
it in half for the sake of saving space.
The remainder of this article will ap-
pear in the October 1983 AGE. A
previous article by Hardee dealt with
James Taylor White (THE AGE, Vol.
II, No. 5).
THE LIBERTY VINDICATOR
Friday, November 5, 1897
REMINISCENCES OF TEXAS
For more than a year when I
was keeping batchelor's hall in
Liberty, William H. Palmer lived
with me and we were daily asso-
ciates. I was settling up an estate of
my uncle who had died in Mississippi
a short time after sending his Negroes
to Texas. William H. Palmer was my
lawyer. I selected him as my counsel
for several reasons. First, because,
like myself, he was a North Carolin-
ian. Secondly, because he was a good
lawyer. And thirdly, because he did
not know what fear was. This last
quality was a very essential one for
my attorney to possess. The over-
seers who had taken the negroes
from Mississippi to Texas had sold
several of them and had absconded
with the proceeds before I reached
Texas in November, 1839. Although
it was well known to every one that
the overseer had no power or author-
ity to sell the negroes, yet reckless
outlaws were willing to purchase
at very low prices and to take their
chances for retaining possession of
the property in person. In most
cases I obtained possession of the
property without much delay or
trouble. Palmer was known as a
regular game chicken and had never
been backed down by any man.
Although of a rather timid nature
myself, Palmer's presence always
made me feel brave. I accomplished
as much by his daring and bravery
in these transactions as I did by his
skill as a lawyer.
On one occasion in Smithfield
(a little settlement on the Trinity
River) a negro girl unlawfully held by
a citizen there caused me to risk my
life by trying to rescue her to my
possession. The girl was sent to Capt.
[Samuel C.] Hirams' spring after
a bucket of water. A negro man that
I had with me (Jim, a blacksmith)
met her at the spring and brought
her up to the house of Capt. Hirams'
where I was stopping. The party
from whom I had taken her, Sam
Rowe, with his brother-in-law, a
young man living with him, came in
to retake her. Each one of them had
a bowie knife buttoned on the out-
side of his clothes and one of them
had a double-barrel shot gun and the
other a rifle. Rowe announced him-
self as the Napoleon of the west and
said he had come to take the girl,
dead or alive. I was unarmed except
a pair of pistols belted around me.
On this occasion my friend Palmer
was not with me, the time I had
needed him most. The parties threat-
ened my life unless I gave up the girl
at once. I had associated with Palmer
enough to acquire a little of his
Texas courage. I therefore met their
demand with a flat denial. A little
strait post and rail fence not quite
waist high stood between myself
and my assailants. Our quarrels and
demands and refusals reached the
point when my assailants reached
their guns to fire on me. At this
moment Capt. Hirams and Mr. Ellis,
who were standing on one side of the
fence threw themselves between my-
self and my assailants. I have no
doubt that their prompt action
saved my life. At this moment a
friend in the settlement came run-
ning with a double barrel shot gun
and placed it in my hands to defend
myself with. All hostilities were
brought to an end by the interfer-
ence of mutual friends. I then felt as
if I had a new lease on life. I never
had any taste for quarreling and
fighting. Peace and non-violence was
my desire. In a few minutes Rowe
had me arrested charged with ob-
taining possession of the negro girl
by unlawful means. The magistrate
before whom I was charged was from
Georgia. He had no other law book
except a magistrate's guide published
in Georgia. It was not until late in
the evening that all parties learned
that Jim, the Negro man that I had
with me, had crossed the ferry at
Smithfield in the morning with the
girl on horse back, and was by that
time recrossing the river at Liberty
some thirty miles or more below.
The magistrate had become con-
fused in trying to reconcile Texas
and Georgia law. The determination
was to hold me over as a prisoner
until next morning to finish up the
case. A special constable was ap-
pointed to suit my case and in whose
hands I was left for the night. As
there was no jail to lock me up in
the constable was expected to keep
a watch on me. I prevailed upon him
to allow me to take a little ride on
my horse for exercise both for my-
self and for my horse before supper.
In the mean time Captain Hirams
had made arrangements with the
ferryman to hold his boat in readi-
ness to cross me over at any moment.
The ferry was about three hundred
yards from the house. The constable
seeing Capt. Hirams hand me my
overcoat rushed out and caught my
horse by the bit to stop me. In those
times everybody wore spurs. I
plunged both spurs in to my horse's
sides and the constable was thrown
upon the ground. In a few minutes
afterwards, I was in the flat crossing
the Trinity river. I gave the ferryman
an extra half dollar in silver to delay
as long as possible in his return to
the back shore.
Carlton's letter this time we
find most to lengthy for our col-
umns, so we have to hold part of
it over for next week—
VINDICATOR
NOTE: The history of Wallisville
is dotted with the sad stories of
majestic old homes that burned to
the ground because the towns-
people lacked the resources to fight
them. The following article describes
a fire that developed at the home of
William P. T. McManus, now the
home of Norrisand Beanie Rowland.
This home was one of the oldest in
Wallisville having been built by Hugh
Jackson about 1879. In this instance
an organized bucket brigade helped
to save the day, but the three heroes
were Norman Wallis, his wife Olga
(Wooten) Wallis, and Miss Myrtle
Willcox, who later married Kyle E.
White.
THE PROGRESS
Friday, April 26, 1912
FIRE AT WALLISVILLE
Extinguished By The Heroic And
Quick Action Of Ladies And
Gentlemen.
About noon Sunday a fire was
discovered in the kitchen roof of
Wm. McManus.
The alarm was given and Norman
Wallis was the first to arrive; he
grabbed the ladder and called for
water and ran up the ladder with two
buckets of water. Miss Myrtle Will-
cox, who was a guest at the McManus
home, handed Mr. Wallis some big
buckets of water and when he called
for someone to stand on the ladder,
Miss Myrtle mounted the rickety old
ladder as nimbly as a squirrel and
handed Mr. Wallis the buckets of
water as well as a man could have
done, so Mr. Wallis says.
In less time than it takes to tell
Mrs. Norman Wallis arrived on the
scene with two buckets of water and
worked like a Trojan, handing her
husband water, who seemed to know
just what to do and did it and was
already making headway when help
arrived.
In a very few minutes the whole
town responded and worked faith-
fully until every bit of fire was out.
Every one came with a bucket and
meant business. One would have
thought them a well drilled fire
department.
Only for the quick action of those
who came, the main building would
have soon been on fire.
Miss Myrtle had on a red collar
and people running to the fire
thought it was the flames.
While the family became excited
Miss Myrtle was cool and self-pos-
sessed and able to render Mr. Wallis
just the assistance needed at the
moment.
The Wallisville Volunteer Fire
Brigade deserves special compliment
on their prompt action in preventing
more serious trouble and in respond-
ing so kindly and cheerfully. Most of
the men were in Sunday attire, but
forgot self completely.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. McManus and
Miss Bertie McManus wish to express
their lasting gratitude to their many
kind friends, who responded so
quickly and worked so faithfully in
saving their home from the flames
last Sunday morning.
NOTE: The tragic deaths of William
Barber (1867-1901) and Albert
Barber (1852-1901) are described in
two varying accounts below. Both
men were sons of Amos Barber, one
of the most important of the early
settlers to what is now Chambers
County. A third verson of their
deaths holds that the two brothers
were the victims of some bad or
poisoned whiskey.
THE LIBERTY VINDICATOR
Published by Jeff Chambers
Liberty, August 9, 1901
BROTHERS DIE TOGETHER
Their Dead Bodies Found On
Prairie Near Dayton, Texas
Liberty, Aug. 3 — Albert and
William Barber, brothers, who
reside at Barber's Hill, Chambers
county, were found dead on the
prairie at 12 o'clock today two
miles south of Dayton. The
parties are stockmen and farmers,
in good circumstance. It appears that
the brothers had visited Liberty
yesterday to consult an attorney in
regard to a land title, and went from
there to Beaumont. They returned
to Dayton this morning from Beau-
mont and started back to Barber's
Hill on horseback. William Barber
is supposed to have fallen from
his horse and Albert, in his effort
to save his brother, was overcome
by the heat. Albert was about 50
years of age and leaves a wife and
children. William was unmarried
and aged about 30 years.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
Whisky Worked Its Deadly Purpose.
Dayton, Texas, Aug. 4 — The
dead bodies of Will and Albert
Barber, two brothers, were found
lying on the ground in the edge of
town yesterday evening. The two
men, who lived at a settlement
known as Barber's Hill, near Mont-
belvieu post office, in Chambers
county, had been here, at Liberty
and at Beaumont for several days
past and had sold some land. They
began drinking heavily and shortly
after leaving here for home they
laid down on the ground, supposedly
to rest. The combination of the broil-
ing sun and the liquor they had
drunk caused the death of both.
Money to the amount of $500 was
found in the pockets of one of them.
The bodies were sent to the Barber's
Hill settlement for burial.
MEMORIALS
Sheriff Louis Otter
Mrs. & Mrs. Howard Crain
Mrs. Tavia LaFour
Mr. & Mrs. Ben Willcox
Mr. & Mrs. G. V. Mayes, Jr.
Mr. Billy Jenkins
Mrs. Joseph Hennessy
Mr. & Mrs. John Middleton
Mrs. Lorraine Silva
Madie Merle Abshire
Mr. Billy Jenkins
Mrs. Lorraine Silva
Joseph Horman Vavrusa
Miss Terri Ladd
Mr. Kevin Ladd
Bernice Brooks Cline
Mr. Kevin Ladd