The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County, Texas Page: 22
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enjoyed that group's hayrides and parties.
Singing schools were other occasions for
friends to gather. In the same issue of The
Brand, Beulah McCrate Deaton told of pie
suppers, tacky parties, picnics, debates and
"joining the neighbors to make a big freezer
of ice cream."
James R. Robinson, who came from Cedar
Hill in 1901, grew up to marry Eunice Sawyer
in 1922 and farm near Hereford, told in
another interview of joy riding on Sunday
afternoons, playing baseball, playing pranks
on teachers, swiping watermelons, chasing
coyotes, hunting ducks and geese, in various
stages of his boyhood. He said a new buggy
and a driving filly helped him have a good
time, as he went to parties, picnics and church
events.
Louella Howard Ferguson, who came in
1901 with her parents, Col. and Mrs. S.T.
Howard, and married in 1905, recalled the
"protracted meetings" held by churches
where a large tent was erected and straw
scattered on the dirt floor down the aisles for
carpet. She liked to ice skate in winter, ride
horseback, play croquet and baseball, and
dance. Music for ballroom and square dancing
was by home talent orchestras, impromptu
string groups or just a piano.
Musical entertainment for the oldtimers
was not all in homes or the fiddle-and-guitar
tunes which moderns associate with the old
west. A town band was organized in 1902, and
the Panhandle Christian College, established
the same year brought an appreciation of
good music which has characterized the city
to the present.
C.E. Strain, described as "an expert cornetist
and band teacher," came from Lancaster
to teach music and organized the band, the
Patterson history recounts. Band music got a
big impetus in 1905 when the Clarence Smith
family moved to Hereford with three sons
who were called "As musical a trio as has ever
walked Hereford streets." Leslie, Bill and
Ralph Smith joined the Hereford Concert
Band and added considerably to its stock of
talent. They were members in 1909 when the
band posed for a picture in new uniforms
which the Hereford Brand said "are swell
affairs and add a commendable military aire
to the company of young men." In addition to
the Smiths, band members then included the
Brunk brothers, Orville, Charles and Sam,
who later operated a traveling tent show;
Glenn Dyer, Pressley Dyer, Eagle Henderson,
Edgar Inmon and Lewis Hubbard. The
Smiths all became professional bandsmen,
and Ralph is credited with bringing Hereford
High School's musical program to the high
levels it has maintained since he was the band
and orchestra director.
The band was called on frequently to help
in public ceremony, formal or informal, Mrs.
Patterson wrote. They gave concerts in the
bandstand gracing the courthouse grounds.
They led the parade of triumph when bonds
for the new courthouse were voted in 1909.
A girls' string orchestra in Hereford High
School dates from early years of the century.
A picture of the group includes Willie Dyer,
Rachel Marshall, Maud Higgins, Maud Coffee,
Zula Avis, Edith Earnest, Beulah Head,
Marrinice Coffee, Jesse Head, Sina Hodges,
Ima Gass, Frieda Brittain, Clara Thomas andRena Whitney.
An outstanding feature of the college was
its glee club. Tastes in those days ran strongly
to classical music. Operas and operettas
produced by the glee club and by visitinggroups were popular. Hereford, like most
towns, had its "opera house" with a stage to
accommodate these programs. Highlight for
the college choral group in 1910 was a tour by
train of Panhandle towns, presenting concerts
at each stop.
Mary Louis Wilson came from Belton to
teach music at Panhandle Christian College,
married banker G.A.F. Parker in 1903 and
was a leader in forming the city's taste for
good music. She taught piano, played the
First Methodist Church organ and instigated
the public school music program in Hereford
school system which was the first in Texas
northwest of Fort Worth. Among early music
teachers who did their part in developing local
talent were Miss Hale, who taught violin
about 1908-9; Willa Rhone; Miss Kilgore,
one of the first music teachers in the schools;
then Roberta Wilson, Nell Stanford and
Wave Snyder.
Dramatic entertainment had its start early,
too. A very active Dramatic Club was doing
its bit to add cultural activity to the little town
in 1901. The first issue of The Hereford
Reporter noted that the club had chartered a
special train in February to take its play,
Arabian Knights, for staging in Canyon City.
The talent shown by Miss Womble and Miss
Moore was highly praised in a review in the
Canyon paper.
Public programs by school, college and
adult performers were well attended, even
before there was an opera house in Hereford.
A typical occasion reported in the 1901 newspaper
was a program given by high school
pupils under direction of Prof. J.R. Overstreet,
in the courthouse, celebrating Washington's
Birthday. There were patriotic
speeches, recitations, compositions about
Washington, songs, instrumental and vocal
solos and duets. Recitations of both prose and
poetry were parts of such programs, and
famous patriotic orations were memorized
for variety. Several teachers of "elocution"
helped coach the speakers in proper use of
emphasis and gestures.
The courtroom was the only auditorium
large enough for public meetings, and was
used also for school graduation programs and
church services. One early resident remarked
that he sometimes danced until midnight
Saturday in the courthouse, then attended
church there Sunday morning.
ORGANIZATIONS
Much of the growth of Hereford and development
of the area can be attributed to a
succession of forward-looking businessmen
and women
including not only the usual
Main Street businessmen, but also farmers
and ranchers who actually form the backbone
of the county's economy.
Starting with the "Hereford Sanitary and
Improvement Society" civic leaders have
seen fit through the years to band themselves
together to promote the general welfare.
In January of 1903 the "Hereford Board of
Trade" was organized with 32 active members.
Officers chosen were John E. Ferguson,
president; J.C. Newman, manager of the
Hereford Lumber Company, first vice-president;
D.R. Gass, second vice-president; S.
Loveless, J.A. Williams, T.J. Davis, Ira Aten,R.F. Holloway, G.A. Sachse, and L. Gough,
directors. C.G. Witherspoon, R.W. Davis,
and J.C. Newman were appointed on the
constitution committee.
In 1907 the club was reorganized and wentunder the name of "Hereford Commercial
Club" for many years. Following a contest
banquet in 1909, 150 members were added.
A "platform" adopted by the Commercial
Club in 1910 is indicative of the little city's
strong civic spirit. It called for trains in
operation on a north-south railroad; free mail
delivery; an effort to make Hereford a health
resort attracting 1,000 summer visitors; a
first class hotel; paving, public parks; causeway
across Tierra Blanca creek; completion
of the high school and court house; 100,000
trees planted in and around the city; 500
houses built in the city and occupied by 2,000
progressive people; 500 new farms opened
and operated by industrious, scientific farmers;
flouring mill in full operation; fire company
organized and equipped.
In 1907 the Commercial Club and the
newspaper plugged for a population of 5,000
by the beginning of 1908. Local boosters
probably were shocked when the official census
of 1910 listed only 3,942 citizens in the
whole of Deaf Smith County. However, the
newspaper hastened to point out that that was
an increase of 370 percent over the 843
residents in 1900.
PATTERSON HISTORY
CHURCHES
The first church in Deaf Smith County was
organized at old LaPlata. By 1910 there were
six churches organized in Hereford and at
least two rural congregations in the county.
A Cumberland Presbyterian Church was
organized at LaPlata in June 1891 with 16
charter members. When the county seat was
moved to Hereford, the Presbyterian church
building was moved and at first served as a
worship place for all faiths.
F.T. Denson preached in the homes of the
county, including that of G.R. Jowell east of
town, back in the early days of the community.
As a result of his work and that of other
traveling preachers, the First Christian
Church was organized at Hereford in February
1899. In 1963 they built the present
sanctuary on West Park Avenue.
The First Baptist Church was organized in
Hereford in October 1899. Services were held
for several months in a store building that had
been moved from LaPlata until late 1901
when the first church building was constructed.
Meeting in a small building near the intersection
of Eighth and Main, which at one time
was used as a school building, the First
Methodist Church was organized in Hereford
in March of 1899. A frame building was
erected in 1902.
The Central Church of Christ was organized
here in 1902 and for the first few years
met in homes of members. A frame building
was constructed on East Sixth Street during
the latter part of 1909 and was occupied in
1910.
Although meetings were held here much
earlier, a movement for building St. Anthony
church in Hereford started with construction
of the new court house. Father Campbell
obtained the old court house building and it
was moved across the street to the corner of
Fourth and Sampson to become their church
home.The Palo Duro Baptist Church was organized
in 1901 with eight charter members, of
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Deaf Smith County Historical Society. The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County, Texas, book, 1982; Deaf Smith County, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16010/m1/26/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Deaf Smith County Library.