Cooper Review (Cooper, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 2010 Page: 2 of 6
six pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Cooper Review - Page 2
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Voices
Bob Bowman's East Texas
By Bob Bowman
The Circuit Rider
Beneath the pulpit of an East Texas
country church, far from the saddle-sloped
mountains of his beloved Kentucky, Littleton
Fowler lies at rest.
He has been dead since 1846, the martyr
of an exacting era, but his spirit and works
still course through the bloodstream of Texas
Methodism.
Fowler was a circuit rider, missionary,
marksman, chaplain of the Texas Senate and
a brilliant pulpiteer who rode and walked
thousands of miles between the Sabine River
and San Antonio to found many of Texas’
Methodist churches.
Licensed to preach in 1826, he volunteered
for service in the Republic of Texas in 1836,
but illness delayed his departure.
He arrived in time to help build the
first church building at McMahan’s Chapel
near San Augustine. Founded in 1833, and
acknowledged as the birthplace of Texas
Methodism, the church became Fowler’s
headquarters as he carried the faith throughout
Texas, including what he called “pagan
Houston.”
In 1833 at San Augustine, he stood with
a Republic military hero, Thomas J. Rusk, to
dedicate the town’s First Methodist Church.
He wrote in his diary that the church was the
first Protestant church ever laid west of the
Sabine, where Texans were lately under a
government of religious and civil depotism.”
He said since the birth of time, no
cornerstone of a Protestant church had been
laid between this and the Isthmus of Panama,
the Pacific Ocean, and the southern extremities
of South America.
Fowler enthusiastically labeled the event
as “the beginning of Protestantism west of the
Sabine...and she will march on westward with
blessings for our race.”
The same year, however, Fowler’s
evangelistic zeal dimmed when, as the
chaplain for the Texas Senate, he accompanied
a band of politicians on a steamboat trip from
Houston to Galveston.
In his journal, he described the trip:
“I saw men in high life...if what I saw
and heard were a fair representation, my God,
keep me from such scenes in the future....”
On the ship’s return on Sunday afternoon,
he said “about half of the men on board got
wildly drunk and stripped themselves to their
linen and pantaloons...their bacchanalian
revels and bloodcurdling profanity made the
pleasure boat a living hell. I was relapsed
from the trip and brought nearly to the valley
of death.”
In 1846, Fowler became seriously ill while
preaching at Douglas in Nacogdoches County.
He was carried to his home at McMahan’s
Chapel and on January 29, he died from an
acute infection.
But he retained his fervency to the very
end.
As his wife leaned over to his deathbed,
he asked, “Who’s there?”
“Your unhappy wife,” she said.
“Ah,” he sighed just before he died, “I
thought it was an angel.”
In Years Gone By
_From the files of The Cooper Review_
Ten Years Ago
Northeast Texas
water planners adopted a
recommendation at their June
21st meeting to recommend
17 potential reservoir sites to
the Legislature for designation
as “unique reservoir sites”.
Among the sites are the
preferred projects of Region
C (including the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area) and of the Sabine
River Authority. The Marvin
Nichols I Reservoir on the
Sulphur River would yield
more than 550,000 acre-feet
of water, most of which would
be exported to the major
Region C water providers.
Prairie Creek is a much
smaller project in the upper
Sabine River basin, which
would supply future needs of
the Longview area and other
portions of the North East
Texas planning services.
On Thursday, June
29, the 13 year old Paris
Continental All-stars finished
up the district tournament in
Jefferson, Texas.
Twenty Years Ago
Mrs. Zelda Fisher, after
43 years of service to Cooper
ISD, and Mrs. Nelda Skinner,
after 29 years of dedication to
Cooper ISD, have retired.
Katie Weets, daughter
of Carl & Cathy Weets,
celebrated her 6th birthday
with a party where she and
her friends had cake and ice
cream.
Thirty Years Ago
Tuesday marked the sixth
straight day that Delta County
residents have endured a 100+
(105) degree heat.
Mr. and Mrs. Wesley
Stanley were honored with
a luncheon recently at the
Gordon Country club in
Paris celebrating their 50th
Wedding Anniversary. Host
for the event were Mr. and
Mrs. David Buster, Paris;
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Huie,
Richardson; Mr. and Mrs.
Vernon Stanley, Tyler; and
Dr. and Mrs. Anthony Stanley,
Kingwood.
Forty Years Ago
Frank Garza, director of
the Cooper High School Band
the past two years, submitted
a letter of resignation to
Superintendent Wade T.
Bledsoe Monday having
accepted a position with the
Liberty-Eylu School System
Last Sunday afternoon,
Kevin Walker, Leslie Johnson,
Jeffery Preas, Karry Norman,
David Bush, John Wigley,
and Kevin Alley left for Boys
Scout Camp accompanied by
Scoutmasters Bob Bush and
Sam Parker.
Fifty Years Ago
Kenneth W. Bull, Texas
Highway Patrolman at
Clarksville for the past 21
months began service in
Cooper area Friday following
the announcement of the
transfer of patrolman Leonard
M. Rose to the Greenville
area.
Edwin Slough and Olivia
Alley were honored guests
at the Friends of the LAnd
Association meeting in
Houston for being two of the
eighteen winners over the
state essay contest.
Burglars netted only a
few pennies from a stolen
safe, which they took from
Harry Ward, Sr., Drugstore at
Klondike, Tuesday morning.
Claude Ribble of Paris,
co-owner of Automatic Gas
Co. was elected President
of the Texas Butane Dealers
Association Saturday at a
business session of officers
and directors in Ft. Worth.
Owners - Jim and Sally Butler
JimB@Cooperreview.com
Publisher/Editor - Roger Palmer
Roger@Cooperreview. com
Office Manager/Staff Writer - Kimberly Palmer
Kim@C ooperreview. com
THE COOPER REVIEW (UPS 131940) is printed weekly, except the
fourth week in December. Second Class Postage is paid at Cooper, Texas
75432.
Subscription rates: $25.00 per year in Texas
$30.00 per year out-of-state.
$51.00 express delivery (usually 7 to 14 days)
Send address changes to: The Cooper Review, PO. Box 430, Cooper,
Texas 75432-0430
News & Advertising Deadline Mondays at 4:00 PM
Submitted articles are placed on a first come first served basis
Telephone: 903-395-2175 Fax: 903-395-0424
News Stories: News@Cooperreview.com
Advertising: Ads@Cooperreview.com
MEMBER
2009
TU
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
r
tm
On The River
m
u-J
With ET
MOUTH OF THE KIAMICHI
Almost every year some of my friends and
I have afloat trip on Red River. Plans have been
made a time or two this year but something
comes up. The weather was so cool Tuesday,
June 29, that Jack Russell terrier, Zack, and I
just had to make a quick river trip. I wanted to
launch at the precarious ramp at Arthur City
north of Paris but recent rains had it too slick.
On to Hugo Lake Spillway and launched in
the barely running Kiamichi River.
Left the boat ramp at 7:00 pm. At 7:05
power lines ahead and shallow water. Had
to raise my Evinrude. Pileated woodpeckers
drumming in the distance. Green herons flew
away as I got near them. Had to raise motor
several times for the first few minutes. Passed
by big concrete block structure on the north
side at 7:41. There were some bad rocks
almost all the way across the river at 8:18. I
had been watching for them because men at
the 109 Bridge told me years ago that several
motors had been torn up on those rocks.
At 8:33 we reached Highway 109 Bridge
and rushed on toward Red River to find a
sandbar to set up a tent for the night. Reached
the Red at almost dark and saw Scott Shaw
who owns several hundred acres nearby. Only
heard two mosquitoes while setting up the
tent.
Wednesday, June 30. This makes several
times I’ve camped on the huge island at
the mouth of Kiamichi since the Seventies.
Coyotes howled nearby at first light. Coming
out of the tent we saw deer and hog tracks that
had been made a few days earlier. Floating
before sunup. Zack likes to ride at the very front
of the boat. Looks like a little hood ornament
of some kind. An unseasonal northeast wind
made for nice traveling.
Just below the big island I saw pileated
woodpeckers, kingfishers, least terns, and
yellow billed cuckoos (rain crows.) Large
beaver lodge against the Oklahoma bank
at 6:40. Lots of willow limbs piled over an
entrance to a hole in the bank. By 8:00 I had
not started the motor; just drifting in the quiet.
Tied up to a tree that had fallen off the bank.
For bait I had stopped at Paris Wal-Mart and
bought a pound of Tony Chachere’s frozen,
raw, wild caught, Gulf shrimp. Peeled and
cleaned. 150-250 per pound count. (Next trip I
will get a slightly larger size.) After fishing five
minutes my pole bent down and I reeled in the
largest of the day, a fifteen pound blue catfish.
Traveling light, I only had one ice chest and
didn’t want to put the fish in with my food and
drinks so I released it. In case anyone wants
to try their luck, the coordinates are 33 57.755
and 95 12.723. After catching and releasing
about fifteen I floated some more.
The northeast wind held me back as I tried
to float with the current. Slower than walking.
At 10:30 I saw a large pecan tree in the water
thirty yards from the bank. When a tree falls off
in the river the limbs usually point downstream.
Several of the limbs were slightly above the
water and looked like fingers as I motored up
between two of them. Tied the boat and Zack
stepped out on one of the twelve inch diameter
limbs. Catfish also bit very good at this spot at
33 57.131 and 95 11.616. Normally at Cooper
Lake I fish with three or four rods but here
the action was so fast I could only handle one.
Every time I would reel in a fish Zack would
just go wild. Wanted to hold it in his mouth.
In his excitement he slipped off the log and
was headed downriver. Luckily he got in some
swirling water and was able to swim back up to
me before I had to untie the boat and go rescue
him. I probably released about forty pounds of
blue and channel catfish that morning.
As we floated without using the motor
Zack raised his head and sniffed into the
northeast wind. I could tell he smelled a hog.
As I paddled to shore he jumped out and
went out into the edge of some willows. Kept
looking into several acres of brush and trees.
He seemed to wish for another dog to go with
him. Hog tracks were thick along the bank.
Seemed like a good place to sun tan and as I
lay there a Mississippi kite circled overhead.
I’ve seen them below Texarkana Lake on
Sulphur River but this was my first time to see
one of these hawks on Red River. About 5:00
p.m. I pulled up under the Highway 37 bridge
and looked forward to the next trip. Will bring
an ice chest for catfish also.
Black cherries around here are called
wild cherries. The English pea size berries are
ripening now. You can find one of these trees
on the south side of the Johns Creek boat ramp
parking lot. There are two large post oak trees.
Find the cherries just left of the east one. Poke
salad berries are now also ripe and look like
the black cherry berries. If you can’t tell the
difference in the two plants it would be best
to not eat them. One is a tree; the other just a
tall “weed.”
You may have noticed webs on the ends
of pecan, hickory, and persimmon trees. These
are made by caterpillars called fall web worms.
I’ve always thought they should be called
summer webworms.
Two cannibals were talking and one said
he sure had been getting some bad missionaries
lately. No matter how long he boiled them
they were tough. The second guy asked what
kind of missionaries he was boiling and he
said the ones on the second bend in the river.
The ones with brown robes, a rope tied around
their waists, and brown hoods. The second
said, “Why dummy, don’t you know those are
friars?”
A vampire bat came back to the cave and
was covered with blood. Tried to go to sleep
but the other bats were asking about the blood
wanting to know where he got it. Finally he
took off and two hundred bats followed. He
flew into the woods and asked, “Do yall see
that tree right there?” They said they did so
the bloody bat told them, “Well, that’s good
because I sure as heck didn’t.” etra327@live.
com
That Wonderful Year 1965
According to the Thursday,
July 8, 1965 issue of the
Cooper Review:
Eighty persons attended the ninth annual
Brushy Mound Reunion last Sunday at the
Cooper Roadside Park. A picnic lunch was
spread at the noon hour.
One hundred former residents of the
Kensing Community of Delta County attended
the fifth annual reunion on Sunday, July 4.
They assembled at the Union Church in the
community where a basket lunch was spread.
A countywide Methodist Youth Rally on
July 18 will feature the initial meeting of a
week of activities for Delta County youth at
the evening service at First Methodist Church
in Cooper.
The old cotton platform on the Santa
Fe Railroad tracks in Ben Franklin has been
converted into a modern agricultural center by
Mr. and Mrs. D.C. Moore. The Moores have
operated the Delta Liquid Fertilizer Company
for a number of years from their home in Ben
Franklin until the new building and facilities
were completed about three weeks ago.
Dr. Olen G. Janes II is one of four
Houston physicians who were awarded senior
traineeship grants totaling $43,000 by the U.S.
Public Health Service for a year’s training
and experience in the prevention, diagnosis,
treatment and control of cancer. The grants will
support the doctors while they are engaged in
the cancer research program.
Texas Board 69 of the Selective Service
System, which functions for Delta and
Hopkins Counties, has called three men from
Delta County. Bobby Joe Morrison has been
ordered to report for induction into the Armed
Forces on July 21. Daniel Ardell Allison and
Oscar Keith Thompson have been summoned
for Armed Forces physicals on the same date.
Letters to the Editor policy
The Cooper Review welcomes letters to the editor. The editor reserves the right to edit for
content, length and language. They should be concise, to the point and original - no form letters,
please. Length is subject to editorial judgment, and letters will be edited to comply with The
Cooper Review style and standards. The newspaper reserves the right to reject letters to the
editor that it deems graphic or obscene or that discriminate on the basis of race, culture, gender
or sexual orientation. Letters must be signed and have printed full name, address and phone
number.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Palmer, Roger. Cooper Review (Cooper, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 8, 2010, newspaper, July 8, 2010; Cooper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth805282/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Delta County Public Library.