Wood County, 1850-1900 Page: 183
201 p. : ill., ports. ; 29 cm.View a full description of this book.
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EXCERPTS FROM OLD NEWSPAPERS
QUITMAN NEWS 13 July 1872, James S. Hogg,
Editor.
The Winnsboro people gave a big barbecue and there
were about 4000 people present. In the afternoon some
delightful Sacred Harp singing was led by Uncle Jesse
Mosely and others. A baby show was held and there
was an array of as beautiful babies as the world can
produce. C. H. Morris gave $5 for the finest girl baby,
and R. L. Taylor gave $5 for the finest boy baby. We
have not learned the sad fate of the judges but one said
he was leaving for Arkansas.
Let it be remembered that the person who brings us the
largest watermelon or a basket of the finest peaches
will receive our paper for one year gratis. J. S. Hogg,
Editor.
C. LANKFORD, one of our farmer friends 6 miles west
of town, informs us that his son, Dallas Lankford,
gathered 200 bushels of corn from two acres this year.
The corn received only two plowings. J. S. Hogg,
Editor.
THE WOOD COUNTY NEWS, August 2 and 3, 1900,
R. M. Smith, Editor.
By J. L. RAY, in memory of pioneer settlers who were
present at the organization of the WOOD COUNTY
OLD SETTLERS REUNION but had died the year
preceding the first program held in August 1900:
JAMES M. BOYD came to Wood County about the
time it was organized. No truer, better man ever lived.
He was a man of unquestioned honor and undoubted
veracity. He believed in and lived up to the theory of a
hundred cents in the dollar, thirty-six inches to the yard
and sixteen ounces to the pound, and as a farmer, fifty-
six pounds of corn to the bushel. His word was his
bond. He was sheriff of this county in an early time
when we had some tough characters. One incident that
occurred which marks the man is related here. There
had congregated in a house a lot of dangerous, blood-
thirsty offenders who bade defiance to the officers.
When Mr. Boyd located them, he demanded entrance
and on being denied, he broke in a window, crawled in
and arrested the whole outfit notwithstanding they
were armed with six-shooters. Nothing could turn him
when duty called.GRANDMA GILBREATH, wife of JOEL
GILBREATH, has passed away since our last meeting.
She came to the county about 1850 and was the mother
of a very large family of children. She was a great and
good woman, great because she was good. When she
came to the county she cooked on a fireplace, she
carded, spun, and wove with her own hand the cloth
that clothed her family. She cut the garments and
made them up with her own fingers using needle and
thread without the aid of a sewing machine.
SUSAN SIMPKINS of Alba was the oldest female in-
habitant of Wood County at the time of her demise. It
was said of her that the night was never too dark or the
weather too stormy to deter her from going to the help
of her neighbors and friends. She had been known to
saddle her horse and ride to Quitman all alone, a dis-
tance of twelve miles, for a doctor on a dark stormy
night in case of sickness among her neighbors. She
knew nothing about dressing in full evening costume
and making a little fashionable pop call to inquire as to
the state of the patient and to gossip a little. Oh no,
when her friends and neighbors were sick or in distress
she would go, take off her bonnet, roll up her sleeves
and go to work. She would not take a seat and wait for
someone to ask her to do something. She would go to
the kitchen, cook the supper or other meal then with
pail in hand go to the cow-pen and milk the cows. She
would gather up the week's washing and go to the wash
place and with might and main and a free good will do
the family washing or anything that needed to be done.
With plenty of good neighbors such as Susan Simpkins,
there would be no need of secret fraternal organizations
to care for the sick and distressed.
GREAT OAKS FROM SMALL ACORNS GROW was
the caption for a full page advertisement printed by
THE WOOD COUNTY NEWS in 1900 for R. G. AN-
DREWS, prominent merchant in Winnsboro. It read as
follows: "There may be a few of the Old Settlers now
attending the Reunion who were in Wood County in
1854 when BILL McMILLAN and old JOHNNIE
WINN set up a small store in the northeast corner of
the county where the Quitman and Mt. Pleasant road
crossed the Jefferson and Sulphur Springs road, then
as important a place as a railroad junction at this time.183
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Wood County, 1850-1900 (Book)
This text gives an overview of Wood County, Texas from roughly 1850 to 1900. It includes historical sketches of various aspects of life in the county as well as anecdotes. Genealogical information and documentation are also included for pioneer families in the area.
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Wood County Historical Society. Wood County, 1850-1900, book, 1976; Quitman, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91051/m1/191/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .