The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Page: 4 of 32
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4-A
The Clifton Record
Wednesday, Jan. 21,2009
Marc's
Remarks
By Marc Johnson
Whatcha think of this strange
weather? Sorta lak a roller
coaster; ain’t it?
Up and down, up
and down. Crazy.
Wouldn’t it be nice
to see some “high
water warnings”
on the TV? Ain’t
been none lately,
and don’t seem to be none in the
near future. Day by day, it’s gittin’
drier.-Stock tanks really gittin’ low
again. Fire danger high! Burn
ban is on fer Bosque & Hamilton
Counties. Hope folks pay atten-
tion to this. Dry, matted grass’ll
burn lak gasoline.
Betty still ticced off ‘bout how
her Cowboys done. Now, sounds
lak the “Pac-Man” thinks he
gonna git to come back. What the
cat-hair is this about? Shorely
them Cowboys got more sense
than that. He ain’t nothing but
trouble with a capital T. Leave
him be gone.
Aw well, there’s always next
year, we hope. They simply got to
do better; no question.
The Gap makin’ the news all
over the place; all the major net-
works showin’ it. First thing we
heard of was that there was sup-
posed to be something on the
Golden Globe Awards on Sunday
night, the 11th. So, me and Bet
started watchin’ this truly boring
show at 6 p.m., when they just
mainly meetin’ folks on the red
carpet We watched, and we
watched. Finally ‘bout 9:35, they
showed about a 10 second clip of
video and mentioning more to
come on the 19th. No mention of
where or what it was gonna be.
I’m writin’ this on the 15th and I
still ain't heard nothing. Hope to
soon though. But, it’s been on The
Early Show, Today show, Travel
Channel, and I ain’t shore just
how many more.
If some of y’all ain't seen it, I’ll
tell ya how to git-r-done. Awright?
My e-mail is
<marcatthegapfoembarqmaiLcorn>
and phone is 597-2588. Several
videos on “you tube” and one on
Waco paper blogs. They all purty
neat. Peter Denker even got one
posted about Septemberfest 2004
and the cookoff. It’s really neat,
especially with the music he’s got
on it. Let me know.
March 21 is the date of the an-
nual Gap clean-up day. Larry
Simmons up to Gap Tractor Parts
will let us use his lot fer collec-
tion of Junk to be put in
dumpsters. Thank ya, Larry.
Want to volunteer to help, or
got questions? Then, call Ray
Sorrels at 597-7176. He’s head
man.
I’ll gitya more info just as soon
as I learn it. Gonna need a bunch
of volunteers; so give him a calf
and he’ll line ya up.
I done told y’all about Shawn
Garriott buying out 5K Tire and
that Jeff Ogle is his main man fer
tire work; grease jobs; oil
changes; etc. Phone at 597-0225
and the name of the bidness is
“The Station".
Now, got another new bidness
to tellya about. Charlie Johnson,
agent fer Farmers Insurance,
putting in a branch office in
Marvin Payne’s building just off
the end of main street. His main
office is still in Waco. Local phone
is 254-597-1149 and toll-free is 888-
454-3993. He plans to be open
here in the Gap on Wednesday’s
from 2 to 6 p.m. Fridays from 9
a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from
8 a.m. ‘til noon. Hope bidness is
good fer all bidnesses herein the
Gap including these new-comers.
At least, go by and say howdy and
welcome.
Any y’all seen any Robin Red-
Breast yet? When they supposed
to show up? Still got a bunch of
Cardinals, little black headed chi-
chi’s, even a road-runner now and
again. Got all three species of
dove, blue-jays, mockingbirds,
but no Purple Martins. I’m gonna
move their house ‘cause I hear
they send out scouts in February
and the rest of 'em show up in
March. Reckon???
Got a family of coons what steal
my bird-seed at night and a
couple of foxes still come around.
It’s really fun to watch them
birds on the feeders early in the
morning. They a hoot.
By the time y’all read this; we’ll
have a brand-new President of
the United States. Time will tell
if the voters done the right thing.
So far, seems lak he talkin’ a good
game; now, can he make it work
like he wants it to. We got to re-
member he got to git all his plans
ok’d by the House and Senate
‘fore he can do anything. It ain’t
gonna happen on his own wishes.
Right???
We best better keep him and
the leaders of all nations in our
thoughts and prayers. Also our
military all over the world pro-
tecting the USA as best they can.
The far East battles are, to me, a
picture of futility. How much bet-
ter off would they all be if they
simply chose to git along?
See ya next week,
1 Marc at the Gap
Disabled American Veterans
and Auxiliary
UNIT OUTLET STORE
Lake Whitney Chapter #215
Men'*, Women’s and Children’s
Clothing • Miscellaneous Hems
Hwy. 22, Laguna Park
Hours: Friday-Saturday, 8 a.m. -1 p.m.
Exiled Earl Drinks Himself Into Early Grave
The inhabitants of Big Spring
awoke on Jan. 14,1885, to the so-
bering fact that the party was
over now that their boozy bene-
factor had finally drunk himself
to death;
Thirty-six years earlier, Jo-
seph Heneage Finch was bom
into the good life of the English
aristocracy. His father was the
sixth Earl of Aylesford, which
made Heneage the seventh in
the series if he succeeded in out-
living his sire.
In late 1874, Heneage began
hanging around with none other
than the Prince of Wales. The fu-
ture King Edward VII would not
inherit the throne for 37 years, so
he passed the time drinking,
womanizing, and hunting. Since
those happened to be Heneage’s
three fovorite amusements, the
two became best friends and in-
separable companions.
Promising the hunting trip of
a lifetime, the prince talked his
bosom buddy into accompanying
him on a four-month tour of In-
dia. But halfway through the
dream vacation, Heneage hur-
ried home to confront an unfaith-
ful wife.
He caught the countess-to-be
fooling around with another blue-
blood. Rather than reach some
sort of quiet understanding,
This Week
In Texas
History j
i
he broke an unwritten rule of
Victorian society by filing for
divorce.
Much to the delight of the pub-
f lie, the scandalous case dragged
on for two years. Then it was
thrown out of court, when the
two-faced husband’s own adul-
terous affairs came to light.
A century or two earlier, Queen
Victoria would had Heneage’s
head for his disgraceful behavior.
But the stem monarch in the fifth
decade of her 63-year reign did
the next best thing by letting him
know that he was no longer wel-
come in England.
So Heneage Finch left his na-
tive land in 1881 never to return.
But with an annual income or
“remittance” of $50,000, he
could look forward to a very
comfortable exile.
Finch’s first stop was New
York, where he was intfoduced to
the tycoon Jay Gould. When he
expressed the usual
Englishman’s interest in the wild
frontier, the robber baron re-
ferred him to the Lone Star State
and suggested that he take one
of his railroads, the Texas & Pa-
cific, to the end of line
Finch followed Gould’s advice
and rolled into Colorado City in
the summer of 1881. The first per-
son he met was a Texas Ranger
turned saloonkeeper named
John Birdwell. They had nothing
in common except a love of hunt-
ing and alcoholic beverages, but
that provided a firm foundation
for an odd-couple friendship.
Vowing to return after seeing
the sights in America, the exiled
earl, whom the ex-lawman called
“Judge,” boarded an eastbound
train. When he saw neither hide
nor hair of the odd English fellow
for almost two years, Birdwell fig-
ured he must have found a locale
more to his liking.
But he figured wrong because
who should show up in his new
saloon in Big Spring, the current
end of the line, in August 1883 but
Heneage Finch and his valet?
The earl had arrived the previ-
ous evening andgone to the Cos-
mopolitan Hotel to bed down for
the night. Informed by the female
proprietor that she was full up,
Finch asked what she would take
the place. The woman named a
price; he paid her in cash and in-
structed his valet to evict the
guests from the two best rooms.
When he came down the next
morning, Finch made her a
present of the inn he had bought
only hours before. It was hers free
and clear on one condition: that
the two rooms in which he had
spent the night always be re-
served for him.
A Chicago newspaper sent a
reporter to West Texas the next
spring to track down an English
earl rumored to be living in a
“castle” north of a place called
Big Spring. Finch’s “castle”
turned out to be a nine-room un-
painted plank house. While the
residence was hardly newswor-
thy, the interior rated a full-page
story.
“It is a formidable arsenal and
contains one of the most valuable
private collections of guns and
hunting paraphernalia in the
United States,” wrote the re-
porter. "The walls are covered
with rifles, shotguns, revolvers,
derringers, cartridge belts, spurs
(and) game bags" used by Finch
and his brothers Clement and
Daniel in their daily hunts.
Even more impressive was the
evidence of heavy drinking. “The
most conspicuous thing about
the premises was a pile of
empty bottles as big as a hay-
stack.”
The Finch boys did not drink all
that booze by themselves, which
explained the earl’s popularity in
those parts. Generous to a fault,
he picked up the tab for every-
thing.
The “castle” burned to the
ground in the fall of 1884, a minor
setback that did not keep Finch
from throwing a big Christmas
Eve party in town. But he could
not shake off the effects of the fes-
tivities and spent the next three
weeks in bed.
Heneage Finch took his last
breath on Jan. 13,1885. Accord-
ing to local folklore, death came
less than 15 minutes after his doc-
tor told him that he had that long
to five.
The same physician pre-
pared the bloated body of the
exiled earl for shipment back
to England. The frontier
sawbones swore that the life-
of-the-party’s liver was as
hard as a rock and weighed 14
pounds!
“Revolution & Republic: Texas
1832-1846” — the latest “Best of
This Week in Texas History” col-
lection available for $10.95 plus
$3.2 5 postage and handling from
Bartee Haile, RO. Box 152,
Friendswood, TX 77549 or order
online at www.twith.com.
Nov. 19,1839
A Date To Remember
Part 3
The following map of Bosque
County shows the location of the
first land grants surveyed in the
Bosque River Valley in 1839 by
Captain George B. Erath for five
of the Texas Rangers who had
accompanied him on a surveying
- Indian hunting trip.
Documented by records in
the General Land Office of
Texas, the field notes for these
surveys located in the Bosque
River Valley between present
Clifton and Valley Mills reveal
the following names and dates:
From the north southward along
the Bosque River - James
ONCE UPON
n
A TIME...
IN BOSQUE COUNTY
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Map of Bosque County (Note Shaded Areas)
The Clifton Record
Serving Bosque County Since 1895
Th« Clifton Record (USPS-11S-100 • ISSN-1086-9352) is published weekly, on Wednesdays,
by Progressive Media Communications, Inc., 310 West Fifth Street Clifton, Texas 76634-1011.
Periodicals postage is paid at Clifton, TX 76634.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: BosqueCounty, one year $38; Elsewhere, one year {45. Give old address
when requesting change of address. Per copy price: 50 cents.
POSTMASTER: Please send address change to: The Clifton Record, P.0. Box 353, Clifton, TX 76634.
OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Friday, 9-5; Closed Weekends • DEADLINES: Fridays, 10 a.m.
W. Leon Smith, Publisher
STAFF: EDITORIAL - W. Leon Smith, Editor-In-Chief; Carol Spicer. ADVERTISING - Melanie Harvey (Marketing
Director), Tammy Shelton, Timmy Weine. BUSINESS - Kay Ortiz (Office Manager): CaWn Smith (Bookkeeping),
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Telephone: 254/675-3336 • FAX: 254/675-4090 • E-mail: news@cllftonrecofd.com
Clifton Record Online: <www.cllftonrecord.com>
THE CLIFTON RECORD welcomes letters of up lo 150 nods on any put*: issue Any letter that exceeds the word (mil
may not be corakfered hr publication. We publish only original Stlere addressed to The CHIon Record. An address and
daytime phone number must tie included so the author's identity can be verified. No letters wi be published imffi
authorship e txmlirmed. Those who write letters are asked lo km* their emriei lo one per morth. Al Mien are subyeci lo
editing. The Record reserves the right to decline pubfcaton ot any tubmiaiion. Letters must be signed. Lenars written in
the promotion ot political candidales or issues lo be decided hy an election w» not be considered lor puhicatkn unless
they m sdieduted lor pUbfecalion three weeks or more prior to the election. Individuals may pudiate advertising apace
during the period prior to #ie elector in support ot candidales or issues to he voted won. Letters nritlen as cards of
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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: Any error or erroneoue reflection upon the character,
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THE ENTIRE CONTENTS of each leaue of The CIHton Record an protected under the Fedyml Copyright Act
Reproduction ot any portion ot any Issue wiH not be permitted without the express permission of Progreeelve
Media Communications, Inc.
Since much of this land was a part of his will, shows the lo- partition of the real estate, here-
later owned by my grandfather, cation of the surveys more tofore referred to herein, is as
Tom M. Pool, the following map, clearly. “This map.showing the follows:
/
I A/*. T
5 M»J. Teste Nobets
j«rfw tt.it__
w
/V 0-0 ±
Ahrt- AAtry Wlf/ldrrrr ,J
AT- r f
M»l /*a r#r/«nc« J : «
Hughes Survey, Nov. 19, 1839;
Anson Darniel Survey, Nov.19,
1839; Claiborne Neil Survey,
NoV.20,1839; John C. Pool, Nov. 20,
1839; and John McLennan, Nov.
22, 1839.
The surveying was done by
George B. Erath assisted by Neil
McLennan, Daniel Robertson,
John McLennan, and perhaps
other rangers.
cr
A/1JO/V DAKHIU
, M.T’WWS? ™
AA/J r«.rnc Nabe rj .0.
5 is-'
/j.*t »>». ■
No *
H. M Pool
Pool
Stele'. £O0 Vdr»/»/ /mA
UJ
No /
6eo R. Pool
(Cib>Uro/lJ
' fi" gag
Daniel Hutch S vnvci
------
Map from Will of Tom M. Pool
He died March 2,1927.”
#■ Editorial / Opinions
The Clifton Record
By Our Staff And Our Readers
Letters To The Editor
Dear Leon:
On Jan. 9th, several members
of First Presbyterian Church,
Clifton, attended the Friday per-
formance of “Australia” at the
newly-renovated CLIFTEX The-
ater. What a wonderful evening
we had! We were amazed at the
courteous service and attention
to derail by owners Phyllis
Gamble and Michelle Slaughter,
as well as the love and detail put
into the recent remodeling of
“The CLIFTEX.”
The CLIFTEX is truly a tribute
to our community, l
of us should be thankful.
lyatnl
irhich<
Our old movie theater, now al-
most a hundred years old, has
been lovingly nurtured through
the past few decades by tne
Sanaahl and Smith families, and
remains today a work of art for all
of Clifton and Bosque County to
enjoy and be proud of. We arrived
30 minutes early, but had to park
blocks away. What a marvelous
problem to have in Clifton. In fact,
i think many were turned away
as the movie was a sell-out.
A sincere thanks to Phyllis and
Michelle for making Bosque
County “home” and for enriching
each of our lives through their
love and devotion to history, tra-
dition, and entertainment. “The
be proud of. I don’t 1
worry that “The CLIFTEX” will
ever become “The Last Picture
Show.” Fondly,
Bryan and Julie Davis
Clifton, Texas
Please note the location of the
Isaac Gary Survey. (Bosque
County Deed Records Vol. B, Pg.
547,4-1854,240 acres of headlight
survey for Neil Claiborne, who
transferred to Blanton
Streetman, who sold to Isaac
Gary, The survey was made by
Erath and McLennan on 12-6-
1852. The historic election oak
grew on this land that the Garys
owned on Aug. 7,1854, when the
county was organized. Tom Pool
and family owned the land when
Qosque County celebrated its
50th anniversary in 1904.<Site of
Pool Park and now site of the re-
dedicated Pool Park,
Disabled American Veterans
and Auxiliary
Lake Whitney Chapter #215
Holds their meeting the
Second Saturday of each month.
NEW LOCATION! Across from the
Whitney Library at 12 noon for lunch
and 1 p.m. for ihe business meeting.
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4
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Smith, W. Leon. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 3, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 21, 2009, newspaper, January 21, 2009; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789046/m1/4/: accessed June 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.