Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 2002 Page: 3 of 22
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From The Archives
By Wanda Bobinger, curator, Polk
County Memorial Museum
POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14. 2002. PACE 3 \
Property rights rally set
Moscow once booming town
David Griggs Green, founder of
Moscow and a member of the first
Commissioners Court of Polk
County, came to Texas from Mos-
cow, Fayette County, Tewi., about
1833 at the age of 21 years. He
lived for a time in San Augustine,
where he married Miss Matilda
Burch, a descendant of colonists in
Maryland in the 1630s. David
Griggs and Matilda were in Nacog-
doches at the Old Stone Fort when
their daughter Mary Anne was
bom.
Mindful of the importance of the
struggle for Texas Independence,
tyeen made an attempt to join Sam
Houston's recruits, but was delayed
by flooding streams and rivers. He
did not reach the Texas Army until
the day after the Battle of San Ja-
cinto.
On his return home, he saw the
beautiful land and lush green forest
between the Neches and Trinity
rivers that would one day be his
home.
In 1846, a post office was estab-
lished in Green's blacksmith shop.
He became the postmaster and
named his little town Greenville,
only to learn there already existed a
Greenville, Texas. The community
was renamed Moscow for Green’s
native town.
Green’s settlement was prosper-
ous, as it was on the main traveled
road from Barr’s Ferry on the Sa-
bine River to Patrick's Ferry on the
TYinity. Both rivers, open for boat
traffic, served most of the towns in
East Texas for many years before
the first railroad. Goods and mer-
chandise were shipped from Gal-
veston and hauled in wagons from
Drew’s Landing on the Trinity.
Fifteen buildings for stores lined
Main, Broadway and Tremont
streets. There were two hotels, the
Bright and the Goodwin, a drug
store, a livery stable, a steam-run
cotton gin and a sawmill just east
of town. Moscow had two facto-
ries: a canning factory for fruits and
vegetables which were shipped to
other towns and the Bible Column
Factory, which manufactured pil-
lars and other architectural imple-
ments widely used in that day.
• The Houston East and West
Texas Railroad reached Moscow in
1881 and, soon after, track was laid
from the depot to the center of
town to accommodate a mule-
drawn “street car.” A canvas could
8e rolled across the top during in-
clement weather and slat benches
would seat 10 passengers.
Moscow was not only a thriving
commercial center, but was an out-
standing educational center, with
several institutions of learning in
close proximity, such as the Coiita
Academy and the Gillette Acad-
emy. The most important, though
was the Moscow Male and Female
Academy, under the auspices of the
Masonic Unity Lodge No. 102,
later called the Moscow Masonic
High School, under the tutelage of
Professor Marcellus Winston
Many of Professor Winston’s stu-
dents became well-known for their
achievements. Perhaps one of the
most distinguished alumnus was
William Pettus Hobby, govefnor of
Texas from 1917 to 1921.
The social development of the
town has a rich history. Moscow
had one of the most renowned brass
bands in East Texas. It was the site
of a race track which weekly at-
tracted as many as 400 to see or bet
on the horses. Fancy dress balls
were the highlights of entertain-
ment. (The museum archives has an
invitation to a Grand Ball dated
1888.)
There was no shortage of color-
ful characters in Moscow. John
Wesley Hardin killed his first man
at Moscow. He claimed it was self-
defense, but went on to become a
notorious gun fighter. Pleasant
Reid Rowe, a popular town figure
known for his keen wit and talent
for writing poetry, was sometimes
referred to as the “poet laureate” of
Polk County.
In 1938, much of the business
section of Moscow was burned.
Stores, a bank building, the funeral
home, post office, service stations
and a warehouse were destroyed.
There is still a certain charm
which prevails in Moscow and
many of the old homes built more
than a century ago remain today. It
is not difficult to gather a sense of
“the way things were” in the glory
days of Moscow’s past.
Note: The original post office
boxes from Greenville, then Mos-
cow, can be seen at the Polk
County Memorial Museum.
LUFKIN - Several groups rep-
resenting private landowners across
East Texas will come together on
March 14, to rally in support of
private property rights.
"Through this rally we hope to
renew support for private property
rights,” said Nolan Alders, a pri-
vate landowner from Nacogdoches
County "There are many folks
involved in putting this rally to-
gether. We anticipate that several
hundred concerned property own-
ers, industry representatives and
others will come out and support
this effort.”
Scheduled speakers will address
future state and federal laws that
will impact private property rights
in Texas, including wood certifica-
tion and a new program imple-
mented on Jan. 1 by TNRCC,
which will allow private citizens to
submit evidence of environmental
violations. “If we lose the right to
manage our property - whether it
be growing timber, raising chick-
ens, crops or whatever Texas de-
mands - because of extreme envi-
ronmental movements or absurd
regulatory programs, the state ol
economy in Texas will be threat-
ened,” Alders said.
The Pineywoods Agricultural
Producers Rally will be held at the
Lufkin Civic Center, 601 N. Sec-
ond Street, at 6:30 p.m. on March
14 It is being sponsored by Texas
Farm Bureau, Texas Logging
Council, Texas Forestry Associa-
tion, poultry and cattle raisers and
private landowners in East Texas
who support private property
rights. The public is invited to at-
tend.
For further information, contact
Texas Forestry Association at (936)
632-TREE or Nolan Alders at
(936)564-1096
Texas Forestry Association is a
non-profit trade association repre-
senting over 3,400 members who
grow, manage, harvest and process
forest resources.
My name is Paige Parker and I have been showing cattle for 10 years &
showing pigs for 3 years. Ronnie Vincent is my step-dad and he has helped
me get to where I am today. In the past ten years we have shown heiters and
steers all over the state of Texas. In 1995 we had the pleasure of placing 3rd
in the state. We showed every weekend He hauled Brett Smith and I all
around. He did what ever it took to get not only me to the top but a friend ol
ours that just wanted to show. My first show was the Houston Livestock
and Rodeo which 1 won 3rd place out of 47 heifers Inl99K I showed the
Grand Champion Steer at our county fair. It all took time, money and ef-
fort. Which he put everything that he could into it. It has been a family
thing but in the past ten years we have grown to be kinda like "partners " I
guess after being his daughter for 15 years, I have grown to love and be
thankful for what he has done not only for me but for the whole commu-
nity. Which no one has to do, he does it because he loves working with
animals and helping kids. So I would just like to thank dad for everything
that he has done for me. Next week we will be going back to the same show
where it all started. I hope that he has had the best time, because I have had
some of the best times showing and spending time w ith him and my family.
Yeah, just like everyone we had our problems but we got past all that In
closing, I would like to Thank you DAD from the bottom of my heart \ I
LOVE YOU!! You have been a great influence in my life I will miss all the
good times and the long talks about cows and pigs. Of course I will miss
you.
Love always
Paige Parker
Identity theft under attack
AUSTIN - The Independent
Bankers Association of Texas
(IBAT) and its members across the
state are leading the assault on one
of the nation's fastest growing
crimes with the launching of a
statewide consumer information
campaign attacking identity theft.
Identity theft affects as many as
750,000 new victims each year and
costs consumers, merchants and the
financial industry billions of dol-
lars. It occurs when someone steals
personal information such as Social
Security or driver’s license num-
bers and uses'it to establish credit
by ejfptying for loans or credit
cards <o ■ buy merchandise and
services.
“Fueled by the growth of the
Internet, the number of consumers
falling victim to identity theft has
risen dramatically over the past few
years,” Christopher Williston,
president and chief executive offi-
cer of IBAT, said in announcing the
movement. “We are going to use
every means possible to get the
message out to Texans in all parts
of the state. And, that message is
’Your Privacy is our Priority’.”
The campaign—“Don’t Let
Someone Steal Your Good Name”-
-will be the principal project of the
more than 40,000 bankers who
make up the membership of IBAT.
It includes print and electronic me-
dia materials in both English and
Spanish geared to providing tips to
consumers on how to avoid be-
coming victims of identity fraud.
“We believe our organization
and its membership offer the best
vehicle to get the word out to all of
Texas, since our institutions are
located in virtually every commu-
nity throughout the state,” Williston
said. “This information campaign
is just the beginning. We will also
be meeting with our state officials
to determine possible legislation to
stamp qutjthis optical problenj”
The Feaefal trade Commission
reports that its fraud hotline re-
ceives about 1,700 calls each week.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s
Financial Crimes Network reports
that identity theft documented by
financial institutions nearly tripled
between 1999 and 2000. The So-
cial Security Administration says
reports of misuse of Social Security
numbers on its fraud hotline in-
creased by more than 500 percent
between 1997 and 2000.
Here are just a few tips to pro-
tect “your good name”:
• Carry only a few credit cards
with you.
• Beware of “Dumpster Di-
vers.” Shred all credit card receipts
and solicitations, cancelled checks
and financial documents before
throwing them away.
• Watch out for “Shoulder Surf-
ers”—people who lurk behind you
when you are at an ATM and get
your PIN number to gain access to
your account.
• Check your credit card state-
ments carefully and immediately
report unauthorized purchases.
• Never write down PINS and
passwords—memorize them and do
not use any part of your Social Se-
curity number, mother’s maiden
name, your birth date or address.
• Don’t leave paid bills in'your
mailbox.
• Check your credit report at
feast twice a year.
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 14, 2002, newspaper, February 14, 2002; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth789235/m1/3/?rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.