“From the region of the Upper Trinity and the headwaters of the Sabine,
each traveler tells us, as he passes, some new tale of how the
wilderness is falling under the axe of the builders of habitations and
opening up of the earth.”
“The town of Jefferson, in the Southern division of our country, was but
yesterday a mere name upon paper and now we are told, quite a number of
buildings are going up—several persons will have goods there directly.
It is a town destined to concentrate a large inland commercial
business.”
“Immigration from Europe is filling up the beautiful country in the far
west.”—Northern Standard, January 16th, 1854.
The above article was given through the courtesy of Lola M. Bell,
assistant to Advisory Board of Texas Historians.
While Texas, this year of 1936 celebrates the Centennial of its
independence from Mexican rule, two cities of Texas will attain the
anniversary of their birth.
In 1836 the townsites of Houston, Texas, and Jefferson, Texas, were
established, similarly on the banks of bayous. Houston, the largest of
Southern ports today, was founded on Buffalo Bayou and Jefferson, Texas
equally important as a center of trade and commerce during its brief
reign in the days before and following the Civil War, was located on
Cypress Bayou.
Jefferson is known as the “Old Time Metropolis of East Texas,” and there
is something pathetic about Jefferson’s history.
In the days following the Civil War Jefferson had a population of
25,000. It was the trading point of East Texas, and all roads led to
Jefferson.
A natural barrier in Red River backed water into Cypress Bayou to an
extent that navigation was possible as far as Jefferson. Steamboats
landed in Jefferson from New Orleans, La. and points on the Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers. River traffic in Jefferson goes back as early as
1845. The city of Shreveport, La., was long considered the head of
navigation on Red River and was for many years the depot of trade for
the large scope of country tributary to Jefferson.
About the year 1850 it became known that steamboats could ascend farther
into the interior and finally the extreme terminus of navigation was
fixed at Jefferson and a large portion of the shipping was diverted from
Shreveport. No other inland town of the State ever attained the
importance in river shipping that came to Jefferson in the late 60’s and
early 70’s. As the extreme terminus of navigation on the waters of
Cypress Bayou, Jefferson ranked among the established cities of the
State, being second only to Galveston.
Some of the most palatial steamboats on the western rivers, and there
were palatial steamers in those days, plied between Jefferson and New
Orleans. Among them were: The Danube, Bessie Warren, Red Cloud, Iron
Cities, Koontz, John T. Moore and Lizzie Hopkins. The cabins were
elegantly furnished and the furnishings surpassed those of the best
hotels of the country. Each steamer carried an Italian band which played
at the landings, during meals, for balls in the evening, or whenever
wanted for the waltz or schottische. People dressed most elaborately in
those days, both men and women. They carried immense trunks, with two or
three compartments for hats alone. Suit cases were unknown. In the early
days, large oil lamps with reflectors were used as headlights on the
boats and pine knots supplied the illumination for the negro deckhands
to see how to work. All boats carried signal lights in the smoke stacks,
which could be seen from all directions. A red light on the left, a
green light on the right, they were known as “Larboard” and “Starboard.”
The deckhands could not read and in order to distribute freight a
playing card was placed over the name of the towns, for instance,
Marshall, Texas, was known as “King of Diamonds,” Longview, Texas, as
“Ace of Hearts” and Jefferson as “King of Spades.” The deckhands were
told the freight went to “King of Spades,” etc., and a piece of freight
was never known to get into the wrong place. The most troublesome of all
freight to handle was mules.
The deckhands often worked 18 to 20 hours without rest. Their songs were
known as “Coonjines.” They had a haunting and somewhat barbaric quality
and the harder the negroes worked the more they sang, keeping perfect
time with their feet.
The captain’s responsibility was great. He was responsible for the
protection of life and property and the captains were often most heroic.
Many captains on Red River never refused passage to anyone unable to
pay, and their deeds have been recorded in history.
The largest steamers had a capacity of 6,000 bales of cotton.
While Jefferson was crowded with traffic, there were landings at
practically all the big plantations on the Bayou and Lake. Some of the
wharves at Jefferson were built by Thomas Hinkle, grandfather of Tom
Hinkle of Paris, Texas, for whom is named Hinkle’s Camp on Cypress
Bayou, founded by Mr. Hinkle during the days of the Texas and Pacific
railroad construction.
A few months before the Civil War the Legislature, under Governor Pease,
passed a bill for an appropriation of some $200,000 to be used for the
widening and deepening of the waterways of Texas. To Jefferson was
allotted about $21,000 for a new turning basin and the general
betterment of Big Cypress. The work was only partially completed when
the war broke out and operations ceased.
As the war passed into its second year Red River became vitally
important to the Federal Government because the Northern armies had not
yet gained a foothold in that part of the country. After the capture of
the forts below New Orleans, many of the Confederate ships fled to the
safety and security of Red River and its tributaries.
During the Civil War the Confederate Government established a slaughter
house, or packing plant, at Jefferson, through which to draw on Texas
for a meat supply for the army. Cattle and sheep were slaughtered by the
thousand and the dressed meat carried down to New Orleans, where it was
reshipped to various branches of the army. The Federals sought to
capture the meat supply of Texas but were defeated and the packing house
continued to be operated until the end of the war.
In those days, before the railroads became a great factor in the
country’s development, the growth of a town with water transportation
was deemed certain, and many of these supposedly fortunate towns scorned
the railroads when they began to span the continent. Such was the
attitude of Jefferson when the Texas and Pacific put through its main
line from Texarkana westward.
At this time, about 1873, appeared Jay Gould upon the scene—the building
genius of the Texas and Pacific railroad, seeking a right-of-way for his
road. Meeting with a cool reception and failing in his attempt to get
the right-of-way through Jefferson, he left the town in disgust and
chagrin, making the somewhat prophetic statement that “Jefferson would
see the day when bats would roost in its church belfries and grass grow
in its streets.” The Texas and Pacific, instead of going through the
town, made a half circle to avoid it and today the station is small,
unkempt, and a considerable distance from the town. Freight rates went
high and some time after this the United States Government removed the
natural dam that backed water up and made Big Cypress Bayou and the
lakes navigable.
Jefferson in its early days had no money and did not need any. The women
spun the wool, wove the cloth and made the clothes for the family. Shoes
were paid for in hides.
As Jefferson grew, towns sprang up to the west, and there was a
continual stream of wagons going and coming. Mrs. Spearman owned the
toll bridge and Mr. G. E. Dalby then a mere lad, was employed by her at
fifty cents a day to keep the bridge. He is said to have often taken in
$60 and $70 a day in toll.
All the cotton raised in Louisiana, Southwestern Arkansas and North
Texas was “wagoned” to Jefferson, and was often stacked up for six or
seven miles out waiting to be weighed. The annual receipts exceeded
100,000 bales. Farmers would take nothing but silver and gold for their
cotton. They had no faith in bank notes and greenbacks, except when they
went to pay their taxes. Then they exchanged silver and gold for paper
money which was worth only seventy-five cents on the dollar but was
accepted at face value by the government.
The late Capt. W. R. White of Nevada is said to have been Jefferson’s
first merchant, while Bateman Bros. (King, Andy and Quincy) were the
leading merchants and cotton buyers. When a farmer got his money for his
cotton he received a gallon of whiskey free.
Jefferson in her palmiest days, is said to have had a population of
30,000. There was plenty of money and people seemed quite as anxious to
pass it around as they were to get more, which spirit kept things
moving.