Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas) Page: 93
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Old Rock Church, built in 1866.
field, Mollie Mayfield, F.B. Gouldy, B.F.
Cutty, W.A. Babb, Ben Cutbirth, W.B. Odle,
John S. Odle, Charles D. Sears, John A. Sears,
Willie Cutbirth, Alice Odle, Sallie Gouldy,
Sammie Odle, William Herring, Fannie Odle,
Mary Poston, Julia Hatchett, Eddie Dennis,
Susie Sears, and J.D. Helton.
In 1871, Phillip Nowlin bought the land
adjacent to the Old Rock Church from A.Y.
Reeder and moved his family to the Hog
Creek community. Twelve years later, in
1883, Phillip and Martha Nowlin deeded to
J.H. Standefer, J.A. McMurry, P.W. Sims,
J.T. Webb, J.W. Adams, and W.C. Barnett,
elders of the Rock Church Congregation of
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a tract
of land west of the church building and
extending to Hog Creek. Part of this land was
to be used as a cemetery, while a tabernacle
was to be erected on the remaining land.
The lives of the early settlers revolved
around the church and school. They were a
closely knit group and worked together as
neighbors. Although the Indians were not the
threat in the southern part of the county that
they were in northern sections; there were
several instances when word of the danger of
Indian attacks was spread throughout the
neighborhood. At such times, the families
drove in their wagons to one specified
homestead. There the wagons were formed in
a circle to serve as a fort against the Indian
warriors, and the families remained together
until the danger of an attack had passed.
In the spring of 1878 Hog Creek and
neighboring communities in Bosque and
Coryell were aroused by the brutal Vaughan
murder. J.T. Vaughan, a thrifty bachelor,
kept a small country store on Hog Creek, not
far above the Rock Church. Over the years
Vaughan accumulated a considerable
amount of money, and since banks were few
and far between, he kept his savings in an iron
safe at the rear of the store. On a night in
May, 1878, Vaughan was murdered and his
money stolen by persons unknown. After first
arresting the Babb gang for this murder, John
Stull, a deputy United States marshall of
Turnersville, was forced to release them for
lack of evidence. Later Tom, Mart, and Sam
Horrell and Bill Crabtree were arrested forthis crime and were lodged in jail at Meridian.
In July, 1878, as evidence of their guilt
mounted, an angry mob stormed the Merid-
ian jail and killed the Horrell brothers and,
Crabtree.
Mrs. Zula Odle Ficklin, who attended Rock
School in the early 1900s, recalls that some
of her teachers were: Mr. Crews, Miss Lizzie
Tankersley, Miss Ruby Morrison, Miss Jessie
Chiles, and Miss Sarah Cole. In 1911 when
county schools were classified, Rock Church,
District Number 19, was listed as an Interme-
diate School, offering instruction through the
sixth grade. Sometime later, prior to 1914, the
United School of Searsville was established
to become the school for District 19. The
children who had attended Rock Church
School were transferred to the United Sear-
sville School at that time.
During this same time period, early 1900s,
Mrs. Ficklin remembers that her grandfath-
er, A.C. Odle, served as the superintendent
of the Sunday School at the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church (Old Rock Church). At
that time, the pastor, Reverend A.J. Mann,
of McGregor was the preacher. Reverend
Mann rode the train to Valley Mills and
continued his trip to Hog Creek in a buggy.
Sunday School was held at ten o'clock with
preaching at eleven. In the summertime
everyone brought lunch which was spread on
a long table under the oak trees. Then there
was an afternoon church service. It was
impossible to have a night service, for there
were no lights in Rock Church. On Sunday
nights, the young people gathered for
"singings" in homes where there was a piano.
For some fifty years the Old Rock Church
was used as a community center, serving as
the meeting place for all special occasions and
especially holiday celebrations. On Christ-
mas Eve there was a neighborhood Christmas
tree and program at the church. In the spring
there was a special program for the closing of
school in which all of the pupils participated,
usually reciting verses from memory. Memo-
rial Day services were held the first Sunday
in May at which time all the cemeteries in the
vicinity were visited. A big picnic was held on
July Fourth.Lemonade, made in big tubs, was
cooled by chunks of ice. There was also home-, '
93
V 4b
made ice cream which was a real treat.
In August people from all around would
congregate at the Rock Church for a two-
week's camp meeting. Families who lived at
a distance would camp on the grounds of the
church; while those who lived nearby would
spend the daytime hours at the church and
return home at night. Mrs. Ficklin remem-
bers that grove services were held out under
the trees late in the evening. The ladies and
girls met in one place, and the men and boys
met in another. Families who attended the
camp meetings in the early 1900s included
the Odles, Johnsons, Dodgions, Hintons,
Postons, Callans, Cutbirths, Bartons, Fick-
lins, Bagleys, Barnetts, Elrods, Sisks, Tibbs,
Youngs, Collins, Jones Tankerseleys, String-
fellows, Riddles, Standefers, Meadows,
McDonalds, and Bartleys.
For many years there was an annual
reunion held around Memorial Day for those
who had attended Rock Church School. The
last such reunion is thought to have been
around 1927. The old rock building, in bad
repair, was torn down sometime after World
War II.
The cemetery, now overgrown with trees
and bushes, is the only visible trace of the
Rock Church community remaining today.
Several of the families, who lived first in
the Hog Creek community and later moved
on to other parts of Bosque County, played
very important roles in the county's history.
A.Y. Reeder and his wife Flora, who settled
in the Hog Creek area in 1856, moved to the
northwestern part of the county were Mr.
Reeder built a mill and established a trading
center known as Norway Mills in 1865. He
served as the first postmaster there.
Captain J.J. Cureton and his family lived
near Hog Creek in 1868, and his two sons,
William and John, attended Rock Church
School. Later the family moved to the
Walnut Springs area. Captain Jack Cureton
served as sheriff from 1876 until 1880 during
which time he, along with Ed McKissick and
J.B. Barry deserve a great deal of credit for
cleaning up the Bosque frontier of cattle and
horse thieves, and outlaws.
Eldridge Blount Robertson, Jr., settled
near Hog Creek in 1856. He was the nephew
of Sterling C. Robertson. A surveyor, he was
a large landowner in Bosque, Erath, and
McLennan Counties.
The William S. Gouldy, Phillip Nowlin and
A.M. Barnett families or their descendants
moved to the Valley Mills area. Mr. Gouldy
had a store in early times. Mr. Nowlin
established an insurance agency which was
owned by the Nowlin family until the year
1973.
Margaret Melvina Cutbirth married Tom
M. Pool, who had attended Rock Church
School, and they lived in the Bosque River
valley between Valley Mills and Clifton
where Mr. Pool was a well known farmer-
stockman.
Dan Cutbirth moved to the Valley Mills
area. He ran a store in Cayote and later served
as county clerk of Bosque County.
Members of the Odle family spread to
different parts of the county, some to Valley
Mills and others to Meridian. Hugh Odle
served on the first Texas Road Commission.
by Elizabeth Torrence
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Bosque County History Book Committee. Bosque County: Land and People (A History of Bosque County, Texas), book, 1985; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91038/m1/109/: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Denton Public Library.