The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 542

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

a research program on the avian parasites conveyed through the
intestines of fleas. [A secretary] on her first day at work, read on the
bulletin board, "Dear Mr. Smith, Sir, if you see a man trying to
climb up on the roof don't shoot him. It is , looking for pigeons."
The editors and their collaborators deserve much credit for
undertaking the gigantic task of writing a detailed history of the
M. D. Anderson Hospital and bringing it to a successful con-
clusion with meticulous care and scientific accuracy. It should
be in all medical libraries. ANNE A. BRINDLEY
Colfax. Edited by Jack Geddie. Fort Worth (Henry L. Geddie
Company), 1963. Pp. 149. Illustrations.
This attractive but slender volume was published for the
Colfax Home Coming Committee. It is a medley of historical
notes, early newspaper reports, and reminiscences, composed
in and spiced with the spirit of a pioneer Texas community. This
is an example of what many communities in the state could do
to preserve the achievements of their founders and early resi-
dents. Stories of family struggles and success abound. Some fail-
ures are also recorded but the heroes and heroines are those
God-fearing, hard-working men and women who fought valiantly
to make the frontier a better place for their children and their
children's children. They worked hard; they prayed and sang
loudly; and they enjoyed association with their neighbors who
possessed the same ideals and high hopes of ultimate success.
Colfax is a community in Van Zandt County about eight miles
east of Canton. It came into being in the late 184o's and early
185o's. A Mr. Weaver built a house on the road from Canton to
Tyler, and soon coaches of the Bradfield stage lines began to stop
to let travelers walk the kinks out of their cramped legs and
enjoy a drink of fresh spring water. The Weaver house became
a place for the distribution of mail, a post office known as Colfax.
When the Texas and Pacific Railroad was built through the area,
the stage line ceased operation and after a number of moves,
the post office was located in the home of John Thorn, a mile
west of the present village where it remained for twenty-five
years.
About the time the post office was moved to Thorn's, Elisha

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