Feudin’ and Fightin’ Friday: El Paso Salt War
San Elizario in El Paso County, Texas was the location of this conflict over mineral rights. San Elizario was founded in 1789 south of the Rio Grande River. In 1831 a flood changed the course of the river and San Elizario became an “island” between the two channels of the river. In 1836 the Republic of Texas set its southern boundary at the Rio Grande, so for a time the nationality of San Elizario residents was in question. With the Treaty of Hidalgo, the border was officially set at the southern channel, so San Elizario, already a thriving town (the largest between San Antonio and Santa Fe) was now officially Texan.
Reconstruction brought changes to that part of Texas with Republicans settling in the area after the Civil War. But, as we saw in last weeks article Democrats soon began to assert their political muscle to regain power. The Southern Democrats did not mix well with the Hispanics and their culture so rivalries arose.
This article was entirely re-written and enhanced (8-page article), complete with footnotes and sources and has been published in the March 2018 issue of Digging History Magazine. This issue featured quite a few stories about Texas, including “Galveston: The Ellis Island of Texas”, “Isaac Cline’s Fish Story”, “Searching for That EUREKA Moment: Who Were You Roy Simpleman?”, and more. Should you prefer to purchase the article only, contact me for more information.
I invite you to check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Ghost Town Wednesday – Rodney, Mississippi
Once upon a time this ghost town came within three votes of becoming the capital of Mississippi. Native Americans found it a good place to cross the Mississippi River long before the area was settled by the French in 1763, who named it “Petit Gulf”. In 1781 the Spanish took control of West Florida until in 1791 they ceded the property to an influential Mississippi Territory landholder, Thomas Calvit.
As settlements were established in the area, Petit Gulf became an increasingly important port on the River. In 1814 the town name was changed to “Rodney” in honor of Judge Thomas Rodney who had presided at the Aaron Burr hearing. Dr. Rushworth “Rush” Nutt (see yesterday’s Tombstone Tuesday article about his son, Haller Nutt) was one of the early settlers in the area who wielded great influence through his agricultural innovations.Mississippi was admitted to the Union in 1817 and Rodney came close to becoming the capital of the newly formed state. In 1828 the town of Rodney was officially incorporated and population was on the rise in the area. Rodney boasted twenty stores, a church, newspaper and the state’s first opera house, and in 1830 Oakland College was founded nearby.
In 1834 the first town newspaper, The Southern Telegraph, a four-page weekly was printed on Tuesdays. The area had become so prosperous with cotton growing and commerce that General Zachary Taylor decided to purchase property south of Rodney, paying $60,000 for over nineteen hundred acres of land.
An epidemic of yellow fever struck in 1843, so severe that it felled local doctors and was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer and National Gazette, as well as local newspapers (Mississippi Free Trader and Natchez Gazette on October 7, 1843):
“Rodney, Miss – This village, about 40 miles above Natchez, has been visited by the yellow fever. A number of deaths, and a still greater number of well marked cases have occurred – in consequence of which, we are informed by a Natchez physician and another Natchez gentleman who visited Rodney two days ago, the village is almost depopulated. Even the only Apothecary’s shop in the place is closed, as are all the stores. Of course, there will be no need of quarantining against a village having no business and no inhabitants.”
Four years later yellow fever struck again, but wasn’t as devastating as in 1843. By the 1850’s, Rodney was the busiest port on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis. The population had increased to around a thousand residents and there were even more businesses, including two banks, a hotel with a ballroom, churches and schools. In the 1860’s Rodney grew to four thousand residents with ever increasing commerce.
Rodney saw some Civil War action in June of 1863 when about forty Union troops arrived in town to launch a surprise raid on Confederate troops in the area. When Vicksburg fell on July 4, the Confederacy was severed, and for the next two years Union troops patrolled the River, shutting down river traffic.
The USS Rattler gunboat was stationed at Rodney, but the crew was under strict orders of Navy Admiral David Porter to remain on the boat. The Rodney Presbyterian Church was pastored by a Northern sympathizer, Reverend Baker. The Reverend invited the ship’s captain, Walter Fentress, to attend a Sunday service – on September 13, 1863 the Captain, accompanied by a lieutenant and eighteen other soldiers accepted the invitation. Fentress and his men wore their dress uniforms and sat quietly with the congregation. Only one of the men was armed with a hidden revolver.
As the second hymn was beginning, Confederate Cavalry Lieutenant Allen walked up to the pulpit, apologizing for the interruption and announced the church was surrounded by Rebels and demanding the Union sailors surrender immediately. Second Assistant Engineer Smith drew out his hidden pistol and fired, hitting Allen’s hat. Congregants dove for cover and the Rebels outside began to fire through the windows. Seventeen Union troops, including the Captain and Lieutenant were captured.
As soon as those left behind on the Rattler heard of the commotion in town, they commenced to fire upon the town and church. Lieutenant Allen demanded that all shelling be stopped or else the Union troops in his custody would be hanged. The shelling stopped and afterwards the crew was derided for being the first ever ironclad gunboat to be captured by a small contingent of cavalrymen. The citizens of Rodney then formed their own military company and the Presbyterian pastor soon left town.
In 1864 Union troops were dispatched to destroy a rumored Confederate contingency in Rodney. Many houses and businesses in town were plundered. Even so, Rodney did not suffer as much as other areas of the South, but enough damage had been done to bring about the inevitable decline of the town. In 1869 the town was almost entirely consumed by fire, but even that devastating event wasn’t as decisive as the next “disaster” to hit the town.
In 1870, the Mississippi River underwent a transformation – a large sand bar altered the course of the Mississippi, and the river was now two miles west of Rodney so the town was no longer a port. The railroad bypassed the town, and with the fire damage of 1869 and the loss of river commerce, many residents began to leave. In 1930 the Governor of Mississippi issued an executive proclamation ending the designation of Rodney as a town.
Few residents remain in the area today, but the town was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Many original buildings are still standing, but are overgrown with vegetation, rotting and falling apart. The Presbyterian Church still stands and you can see the cannon ball hole in the front of the church.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Tombstone Tuesday: Dr. Haller Nutt – Natchez, Mississippi
I normally write Tombstone Tuesday articles about ordinary, everyday people who lived economically and physically challenging lives out on the American frontier somewhere. Today’s article is related to tomorrow’s Ghost Town Wednesday article, and since I ran across his name in my research for that article and found his history fascinating, I decided to write today’s article about Dr. Haller Nutt, a hugely successful businessman in southwest Mississippi and across the river in Louisiana.Haller Nutt was born to Dr. Rushworth “Rush” Nutt and Elizabeth (Kerr) Nutt on February 17, 1816 at the family’s Laurel Hill Plantation in Jefferson County, Mississippi. Haller’s father, Rush, had been educated at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1805, Rush decided to set out on horseback to check out the “Southwest” part of the country. Upon settling in Petit Gulf, Mississippi he set up a medical practice, married and bought a plantation.
Dr. Nutt began experimenting with developing a better strain of cotton that wouldn’t rot in the field. He traveled to Egypt to observe cotton growing methods and brought back Egyptian seed, crossing it with a Mexican variety. He also tinkered with Eli Whitney’s cotton gin invention by employing the use of steam to drive the machinery. Dr. Nutt, a medical doctor by training, seemed to have a knack for agriculture innovation – encouraging his neighbors to use contour plowing to decrease soil erosion, use field peas as fertilizer and to plow under cotton and corn stalks instead of burning them.
His son, Haller, the subject of today’s article was quite successful himself and shared his father’s talent for agricultural innovation. At the University of Virginia, Haller studied math, chemistry and anatomy-surgery during his first term of 1833-34. During the second term of 1834-35 he studied natural philosophy, chemistry and anatomy-surgery.
When Haller returned home from the University in Virginia, he began to assist his father in plantation operations. In 1840 he married Julia Augusta Williams and they had eleven children. As an ambitious entrepreneur, Haller prospered and over his lifetime owned over twenty separate estates in Louisiana and Mississippi. Before the Civil War his net worth was said to be as much as three million dollars, owning thousands of acres of land and hundreds of slaves.
Some authors have credited the agricultural innovation of Rush Nutt to Haller, but I’ve found sufficient evidence that indicates that those described above are indeed Rush’s accomplishments. Nonetheless, his son was an innovator as well and became fabulously wealthy as a result. KnowLA (Encyclopedia of Louisiana) states that Haller was responsible for improvements in cotton bailing and cotton presses. Haller also compiled a collection of advice tidbits called Book of Receipts, Prescriptions, Useful Rules, etc. for Plantation and Other Purposes. He offered such advice as:
Cockroaches: Mix up fly stone (cobalt) with molasses and place it where they are found.
To kill lice on cattle, hogs, & horses – Wash them with the water in which Irish Potatoes have been boiled.
To measure the contents of a cistern: Square the diameter and multiply by decimals 7854, then by the altitude, then by 1728 & divide by 268-8/10 as in Article No. 4 – and your result is in gallons – or multiply half the diameter by half the circumference and then the altitude as before – or – multiply the whole diameter by the whole circumference, and divide by 1/4 others by altitude & 1728 & divide by 268-8/10.
Two of Haller Nutt’s most notable properties were Winter Quarters and Longwood. The original Winter Quarters property had been purchased by his wife’s grandfather, Job Routh, in 1805. In 1850 Haller purchased the property and made several improvements. In the spring of 1860 construction began on Longwood, an opulent six-story, thirty thousand square feet mansion. He engaged the services of a Philadelphia architect and by the beginning of the Civil War the exterior had been largely completed. According to this web site, Haller’s slaves were tasked with the job of making over 750,000 bricks to be used in the construction of Longwood. But when the war broke out the northern builders and carpenters abandoned the construction site and headed back home. By 1862, nine rooms had been completed by using slave labor.
Rush’s and Haller’s various innovations through the years had helped boost the cotton industry in the deep South, which quite likely encouraged the use of increasingly more slave labor. Here, however, is where I found a curious fact about Haller Nutt. He was a Union sympathizer… in the deep, deep South, himself owning hundreds of slaves.
In this personal handwritten letter, he encourages Alonzo Snyder to run for election as a delegate to the secession convention:
Haller believed that secession would occur but hoped that it would be forestalled as long as possible, praying for reunion with the rest of the country except the New England states.
Even with construction halted on his Longwood estate, Haller was determined to press on despite the war and volatile political climate, but eventually he was forced to abandon the project until hostilities ceased. When Sherman began his march through the South, Haller and his family relocated to Natchez, Mississippi, leaving Winter Quarters in the hands of a caretaker. General Grant had ordered the destruction of everything not needed by the Union troops. Before Sherman’s March there were fifteen plantations lining the banks of St. Joseph Lake and when the smoke cleared, Winter Quarters was the only one still standing. The caretaker had been able to secure letters of protection from two of Sherman’s advance officers, General McPherson and General Smith.
Winter Quarters’ salvation notwithstanding, Haller Nutt suffered devastating financial losses during the War which led to foreclosure proceedings on his Louisiana plantations. On June 15, 1864, at the age of 48, Haller Nutt died of pneumonia. Some have suggested he died of a broken heart. His family was later successful in petitioning the federal government to compensate them for at least some of the damages incurred.
Winter Quarters was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Longwood is owned and operated by Pilgrimage Garden Club as an historic museum.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Civil War Before THE Civil War – Manifest Destiny and Compromise (Part I)
President James K. Polk was on a mission to expand the country westward. The term “divine destiny” had been used by journalist John O’Sullivan in 1839, later evolving into what came to be known as “Manifest Destiny”. Part of Polk’s plans for westward expansion involved taking possession of a vast amount of land under Mexican control and it would require a two-prong attack.
Mexican-American War
John Fremont, accompanied by Kit Carson, was sent to the far west to stake a claim to California and Stephen Kearny was dispatched to New Mexico. In New Mexico, the governor fled Santa Fe (with lots of gold and silver) and Kearny’s troops easily secured Santa Fe without a single death. From there, Kearny continued westward to California to join up with Fremont.
This article is no longer available for free at this site. It was re-written and enhanced, complete with footnotes and sources and has been published in the April 2018 issue of Digging History Magazine. Should you prefer to purchase the article only, contact me for more information.
I invite you to check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Home Remedies and Quack Cures: Hall’s Catarrh Cure
I’ve recently been performing a lot of historical and ancestral research by combing through digitized newspapers. Inevitably, in the newspapers of the mid-1800’s until the early 1930’s, I am reading advertisements extolling the benefits of so-called miracle cures, also known as patent medicines. These “medicines” claimed to cure everything from A to Z. So, I thought it would be fun and interesting to do a series on the history of patent medicine, or “nostrums” as they were called, and some of the quack cures that literally flooded the market in that era. Here and there I’ll do some articles on home remedies as well.
Today’s subject, “Hall’s Catarrh Cure,” caught my eye in an ad above a story I was researching this week, so I decided to do a little extra research on the history of this patent medicine – was it really a miracle cure?
Background
First of all, what the heck is “catarrh”? According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, “catarrh” is an “inflammation of the mucus membrane, chronically affecting the human nose and air passages.” Hey, I’ve had catarrh for years and didn’t know it!
In or around 1870, Frank J. Cheney purchased the rights to Dr. Henry S. Hall’s “cure” – a drug that Dr. Hall had formulated and prescribed to his patients. I was unable to locate any specific information on Dr. Hall himself but Cheney appears to be one shrewd and powerful (as in “connected”) businessman. Cheney Medicine Company did a booming business for several years …. until the patent medicine industry began to be investigated and exposed by scientists and the American Medical Association.
In 1871 Cheney began employing a very effective advertising campaign. His ads weren’t flashy but they were everywhere – by the late 19th century he was advertising in over sixteen thousand newspapers world-wide. This type of advertising was likely what kept newspapers of that day afloat. Cheney, at one point, estimated that the proprietary medicine industry paid out more than $20 million dollars to newspapers per year! (Click to enlarge images)
halls cattarh adsCheney employed hundreds of people and he had representatives throughout the country doing door-to-door sales. By the mid-1890’s the company was sending out 200,000 circulars daily at a cost of around $300 in postage per day.
Frank Cheney was a shrewd businessman. One of his “gimmicks”, shall we say, was to put a wrapper on every bottle of Hall’s Catarrh Cure which contained the following “guarantee”:
One hundred dollar reward for any case of catarrh that can’t be cured with Hall’s Catarrh Cure.
Do you think anyone ever received this so-called “one hundred dollar reward”? According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 46, Issues 14-26, one patient, Mr. Robert Parks, wrote to the Cheney Medicine Company requesting his reward. You see he had used 26 bottles of Hall’s Catarrh Cure without benefit – in fact, his condition had worsened. Mr. Parks received the following reply:
So apparently there was plenty of “wiggle room” in making these claims of cures. However, by the late 1890s and early 1900s, the patent medicine industry began to come under more scrutiny.
Proprietary Proprietors Strike Back
In response to the scrutiny and action threatened by state legislatures, Frank Cheney was instrumental in the formation of The Proprietary Association of America, its primary purpose being to protect the interests of the patent or proprietary medicine industry against state legislation and regulation.
For a period of time, Cheney served as the president of the Association and was largely responsible for the so-called “Red Clause” which was inserted in all advertising contracts with newspapers (printed in red ink). The Red Clause stated:
It is mutually agreed that this contract is void if any law is enacted by your State restricting or prohibiting the manufacture or sale of proprietary medicines.
Frank Cheney shared his advertising secrets and ploys with fellow members of the Association and for awhile those conversations and strategy sessions were kept from the public. An investigative journalist, Samuel Hopkins Adams, wrote a series of articles for Collier’s Weekly in 1905 exposing many of the false claims of these so-called miracle cures. Adams also exposed the Association’s secrets. As a result the general public was made aware of the fraud being perpetrated upon them, and the federal government began to take action.
The Pure Food and Drugs Act was enacted in 1906 and eventually the Food and Drug Act would be passed years later. Frank Cheney died in 1919 and his 1886 affidavit ad (see above) was still running in newspapers.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Feudin’ and Fightin’ Friday: The Jaybird-Woodpecker War
This little war fought in Fort Bend County, Texas had nothing to do with birds, but could very well be described as a race war.
Background
In the early 1820s, the area which comprised Fort Bend County was settled as a so-called “plantation district”. By 1861 when it was time to decide whether to secede from the Union this Texas county was one of the largest slave-holding counties in Texas. Not surprisingly, the slave holders voted 100 percent in favor of secession.
This article is no longer available for free at this site. It was published in the January-February 2019 issue of Digging History Magazine. Other articles featured in this issue include: “The Great Molasses Flood of 1919”, “Hell for Rent: A Nation Goes Dry”, “Edith, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”, “Manumission: Free at Last (or perhaps not)”, “Free to Enslave”, and more. Should you prefer to purchase the article only, contact me for more information.
I invite you to check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Ghost Town Wednesday: Moonville, Ohio
Not only is Moonville, Ohio a ghost town in the classic sense of the term (a once thriving town completely abandoned), stories abound about the haunting of various locales in and around the town.
No one seems to know where the town name originated, although some have theorized folks with the last name of “Moon” lived in the area, or that the railroad named the town in honor of a local grocery store owner. The land upon which the town was built belonged to Samuel Coe. Samuel was born on July 20, 1813 in Pompey, New York to parents Chester and Roxanna Coe. The family eventually migrated to Ohio, where Samuel met and married Emaline Newcomb on August 27, 1836 in the Rome township of Ashtabula County. Soon thereafter the Coes moved to Rue in Athens County.
Samuel’s uncle Josiah Coe had purchased land in that area of southeastern Ohio in 1803 so it’s possible that Samuel already knew of the abundant natural resources. At some point, Samuel purchased 350 acres in the Brown Township near where Moonville would eventually be situated. In the 1850’s, the railroads were beginning to boom and expand westward. One of those railroads, the Marletta and Cincinnati Railroad (M&C) had been experiencing financial difficulties and decided to offer stock subscriptions to encourage property owners to allow M&C track to be routed through their land.
Samuel Coe, in entrepreneurial spirit, offered to allow M&C to lay track through his property for free – the caveat being that he would have a railroad at his disposal to haul away the coal on his property to sell to the burgeoning coal markets.
The rail company was not in a great financial position at that time and had already made plans to lay track in another area, but the deal was so enticing that they agreed to Coe’s offer. In approximately 1856 the town of Moonville sprung up as a railroad town, surrounded by coal and clay mining operations. The town was never more than about one hundred residents, but it did have a school, cemetery, post office, store, train depot and a saloon. Homes were built up in the hills and hollows surrounding the town and for awhile the area boomed with mining production – even providing iron ore to build weaponry for the Civil War.
By the late 1880’s the M&C was bought out by the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad. The town of Moonville gradually declined as natural mining resources were depleted. In 1947 the last family left the town and today all that remains are building foundations and the nearby Moonville Tunnel, which is the subject of ghost stories and legends.
<Ghost stories here>
The job of brakeman was one of the most dangerous in the railroad business. As the job title implies, they were responsible for helping the train brake, sometimes in precarious situations such as turns and downhill runs. In those railroad boom years, brakeman accidents and deaths were all too common. Some claim that they have seen a “ghost” walking along the tracks and under the tunnel, supposedly a brakeman:
The story of the engineer who died in the head-on collision of his train with another spawned a legend about a ghostly figure walking along the tracks carrying a lantern:
“A ghost (after an absence of one year) returned and appeared in front of a freight at the point where Engineer Lawhead lost his life. The ghost is seen in a white robe and carrying a lantern. “The eyes glistened like balls of fire and surrounding it was a halo of twinkling stars” – Chillicothe Gazette, 17 Feb 1895″
One of the more “colorful” ghost stories is the one about a man named David “Baldie” Keeton . He is said to walk above the Moonville Tunnel and toss rocks and pebbles below. Baldie was 65 years old and his death was of a suspicious nature. He was known as a brawler of sorts and one night he had stopped in at the local saloon on his way home. Trouble ensued and on his way home some have theorized that Baldie was attacked and murdered and perhaps thrown on the tracks where he was run over possibly by several trains … his body horribly mangled. If it was murder, no one ever confessed.
According to a web site devoted to Moonville and its history, there isn’t much left to see at the cemetery. Many head stones are missing (web site says that a custom was to take grave stones and use them for walkways and steps).
Directions to the ghost town of Moonville are here http://www.moonvilletunnel.net/Directions_To_Moonville.htm
should you ever find yourself in southeastern Ohio and up for a ghost hunt.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Tombstone Tuesday: Sylvester (Syl) and Emma Gambllin – Alma, New Mexico
These two gravestones caught my eye. I suspected they were husband and wife, being the only Gamblins in this cemetery. Both Syl (Sylvester) and Emma also lived into their 90s so I’m thinking they must have led full and interesting lives.
Emma was born on May 12, 1869 in Ohio (according to various U.S. Census records) and passed away on August 3, 1966. According to Syl’s gravestone he was born in 1856 and died in 1947. In the 1860 Census, Sylvester Gamblin was three years old and living in Gap, Montgomery County, Arkansas. His parents were James and Emenella Gamblin.
In the 1870 Census, Syl lived in Texas, and in 1880 he lived in Center, Polk County, Arkansas, listed as a boarder with the Davis family. The missing data which could be gleaned from the 1890 U.S. Census records (burned in a fire in 1921) leaves some gaps in Syl’s history and his migration from Arkansas to New Mexico Territory. However, according to various snippets in the Socorro Chieftain and the Silver City Southwest-Sentinel, Syl was in the area in the early 1890s:
I also found a source citation from the 1900 US Census taken in Nome, Alaska, listing Syl Gamblin as a partner in relation to the head of the household and working in the mining industry, along with several other men. That census was taken from May 1 to June 1, 1900. The date of birth, age and place of birth match Syl’s vital data. So, perhaps Syl had decided at some point to try his hand at mining in Alaska.
If true, he apparently didn’t find riches in Alaska and sometime after June 1, 1900 he returned to Mogollon, as evidenced by an IRS Tax Assessment List for taxes due from October 1, 1900 (the date his business commenced) to June 30, 1901 (click to enlarge all graphics).
In 1910, according to that year’s census, Syl was still living in Mogollon and single. A mention of Syl in a book about a local law enforcement officer, Cipriano Baca, made a short reference to Syl but did not include dates. In this short blurb (“Cipriana” in the quote below was Cipriano Baca’s daughter) the author mentions Syl:
So the information and graphic above about tax assessments would likely be for the saloon.
Syl was apparently civic-minded. He was appointed as Precinct Election Judge several times, served as a delegate to the County Democratic Convention and he paid his taxes.
Syl Gamblin knew plenty of hardship as well. Like today, the area around Mogollon is prone to both fires and floods:
Thus, Syl Gamblin was a prominent citizen of the area as shown by the news articles posted above. NOTE: I searched extensively to locate a picture of Syl without success.
A little more research turned up some interesting information about Emma. Emma (maiden name Williams) married Charles Alfred Shellhorn on January 12 ,1898. I noticed that there were several Shellhorns buried in this cemetery as well. On January 3, 1899 their son Herman was born and died on July 12, 1899. Another child, Harriet, was born one year to the day after Herman’s death, on July 12, 1900. Charles, whose occupation on the 1900 Census was listed as “teamster” died on February 9, 1908. He probably worked in the mines and perhaps died on the job, although I could find no news article about such a disaster around that time.
While searching for a news item about Charles Shellhorn’s death, I came across this news item about little Cipriana Baca, Hattie Shellhorn’s best friend (see book excerpt above):
This accident happened on the same day as Charles Shellhorn, Hattie’s father, died.
In 1910, Emma is listed as a widow on that year’s U.S. Census, living in Mogollon and working as a housekeeper, with one child, Harriet aged 9. Harriet (“Hattie”) died on October 14, 1918 and is buried in the same cemetery. I suspected Hattie was a victim of the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, although according to her death certificate she died of pneumonia. (Hattie Shellhorn Death Certificate) Many people in Mogollon fell ill and died that year, and it is known that in the fall of 1918 the flu strain was much more virulent and deadly (see Albert Samsill Tombstone Article).
So, by 1918, Emma had suffered one loss after another. Her entire family, including her first husband Charles had died. From the book excerpt cited above, it sounds like perhaps Syl had known Emma awhile before they married because he knew Hattie when she was younger. By the 1920 Census, Syl and Emma had married, he being 63 and she 51 and were living in Hansonburg, Socorro County, New Mexico where Syl worked as a stockman or stock raiser. (One record I found suggested Syl and Emma married in 1912, but it was a subscription site, so I couldn’t view the documentation. A search of a New Mexico Marriage database yielded no results either. However, that certainly fits the theory that they married sometime between the 1910 and 1920 Census.) Hansonburg was a mining district.
I found no record of the Gamblins in the 1930 Census, but in the 1940 Census Syl is 82 years old and his occupation is listed as “miner” and living in Mogollon, Catron County, New Mexico. Hmmm…perhaps Syl had been part of the Nome gold strike of 1900 after all and now he was trying his hand again at mining? Come to think of it, there was gold fever in Polk County, Arkansas in the 1880s and Syl lived in Polk County according to the 1880 Census.
Digitized newspapers at the Library of Congress are only available through 1922, and the 1940 Census is the last one available at this time. So the only remaining information I could find about the Gamblins is on their tombstones — Syl died in 1947 and Emma in 1966.
Perhaps Syl Gamblin was a restless soul, wandering near and far, in search of riches and success – or dare I say a “gamblin’ man”. Maybe when he found Emma he found real happiness and contentment at last. Doesn’t that sound like material for a historical fiction/romance book?
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Military History Monday – The Utah War a.k.a. Buchanan’s Blunder
Early Mormon History
During the early 19th century, a revival movement called The Second Great Awakening was sweeping the nation. One particular area in western New York became known as the “Burned Over District”. The area had been so heavily evangelized and saturated with revival that no fuel (unconverted souls) was left to burn (in other words, convert). Many religious and socialist experiments (utopian) sprung from that area – the Shakers, Oneida Society, Millerites (later Seventh Day Adventist) and Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, lived in the Burned Over District and was influenced as were many others by the revival.
In 1831, Mormons began to move west into Ohio and Missouri, and in 1840 a new colony was established in Nauvoo, Illinois. For many years the Mormons had faced opposition to their religion, even engaging in armed conflicts. When Joseph Smith moved to Nauvoo he again experienced anti-Mormon sentiment. In 1844 he was arrested, and while in jail a vigilante mob killed him on June 27, 1844.
Mormon Westward Migration
Eventually, leadership of the church passed to Brigham Young, and he led a group west to territory that was at the time still part of Mexico. On July 24, 1847 Young and his group arrived in the Salt Lake Valley with the desire to live out their faith in isolation. Meanwhile, ownership of territory in the West was shifting following the Mexican-American War. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought an end to the war in 1848. Now the territory where the Mormons had settled changed hands to the United States.
In 1849, the Mormons proposed entrance into the Union by joining as the State of Deseret. However, they did not want any outside governing influences (“carpetbaggers”), but rather to be led by those of like faith. Only by governance through their church did they feel they could truly have religious freedom. Congress created the Utah Territory as part of the Compromise of 1850, and President Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young as its first territorial governor.
Polygamy was still a major tenet of the Mormon faith and even in their isolation in Utah Territory, the group still remained controversial. The practice of multiple marriages in the rest of the country was considered immoral. Included in the planks of the Republican platform in 1856 was a promise “to prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery.”
When President James Buchanan came into office in 1857, one of his first initiatives was to address the Mormon issue. By that summer, Buchanan had appointed Alfred Cumming as the new territorial governor to replace Brigham Young and sent out an expedition led by Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston. Once Young became aware that the army was approaching he ordered territory residents to prepare to evacuate. The plans included the burning of homes and stockpiling of food, and LDS missionaries were recalled to return to the territory.
In August of 1857 Utah’s militia, Nauvoo Legion, was reassembled by Young and part of their assignment was to harass the U.S. Army. Before the main U.S. Army contingent was sent out, Captain Stewart Van Vliet had been dispatched with a small group of men to pave the way for the new appointees to be introduced as leaders in the territory.
Van Vliet moved cautiously into the territory expecting little or no resistance (he had previous dealings with Mormons in Iowa). However, Young made it clear that he would not allow the new governor and federal officers to enter the territory. In response to the turmoil and confusion, Young had declared martial law in early August, but the proclamation hadn’t been widely circulated. Upon Van Vliet’s exit from Salt Lake City in mid-September, Young again issued the proclamation – now residents were more aware of the situation and the impending “invasion” by the U.S. Army.
In late September, the Utah militia began to have contact with the U.S. troops and employed delaying tactics and harassment such as burning grass along the Army’s trail or causing the Army’s cattle to stampede. In early October, Fort Bridger was burned down to prevent the Army from encamping there, and soon after that the militia and Army troops were involved in a skirmish in which no one was killed. By late October and into November, weather became a factor with the onset of heavy snowstorms. The Nauvoo Legion had also fortified Echo Canyon which led down to the Salt Lake Valley.
On November 21 the new territorial governor, Alfred Cumming, while on his way to Utah issued a proclamation declaring the residents of the territory to be in rebellion. Soon after a grand jury convened at Camp Scott where Brigham Young and sixty other men were indicted for treason. Meanwhile, there was little that could be accomplished now that winter weather had set in.
Back in August Young had contacted a perceived ally, Thomas Kane, who had previously been sympathetic to the Mormon’s plight in dealing with their ongoing controversies before they had headed west. Kane contacted President Buchanan and volunteered to serve as a mediator to resolve the conflict, but the President was concerned that if somehow the Mormons prevailed and destroyed his army, he would pay a heavy political price. Buchanan eventually agreed to allow Kane to attempt mediation so Kane made his way to Utah traveling first to Panama and then up to San Francisco (eventually landing in San Pedro, California because of heavy snow blocking Sierra passes). He was taken across through San Bernardino and Las Vegas and on to Salt Lake City.
Kane was successful in convincing Brigham Young to agree to the installment of Alfred Cumming as the new territorial governor. Kane traveled to Colonel Johnston’s winter encampment to escort Cumming into Salt Lake City in early March of 1858, and by mid-April Cumming had been installed as the new governor. However, tensions continued as there was still the possibility that the U.S. Army would enter Utah. Northern Utah settlers had already begun migrating south in March, boarding up their homes and, if necessary, burn their homes. Yet, even with Cumming’s successful installation, the migration continued.
In their book, The Story of the Latter-Day Saints, LDS historians James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard noted the following:
It was an extraordinary operation. As the Saints moved south they cached all the stone cut for the Salt Lake Temple and covered the foundations to make it resemble a plowed field. They boxed and carried with them twenty thousand bushels of tithing grain, as well as machinery, equipment, and all the Church records and books. The sight of thirty thousand people moving south was awesome, and the amazed Governor Cumming did all he could to persuade them to return to their homes. Brigham Young replied that if the troops were withdrawn from the territory, the people would stop moving…. (p. 308)
Meanwhile, President Buchanan had come under increasing pressure from some members of Congress who did not want to start a war with the Mormons. Conversely, there were others who supported the efforts and even wanted to increase the size of the Army to deal with the situation. In April, the President sent a Peace Commission to negotiate a settlement, offering a pardon to all Mormons who had any involvement in the conflict with the U.S. government (or preventing the U.S. Army from entering the territory). The commissioners emphasized that the U.S. government did not want to interfere with the Mormons’ right to practice their religion.
Brigham Young eventually agreed to the terms of the proclamation but did not admit that Utah had ever been in direct rebellion of the U.S. government. Near the end of June, the U.S. Army troops made their way into Utah without any resistance. Soon after that, northern Utah settlers began to return to their homes and the army settled into a valley southwest of Salt Lake City. Eventually the troops moved out in 1861 as the Civil War began.
Buchanan’s Blunder
The conflict has been referred to as “Buchanan’s Blunder” in part because (1) Governor Young was not properly notified of his replacement, (2) troops were perhaps dispatched before knowing just how serious (or not) the Utah situation was, (3) supplies were inadequate and (4) the expedition was sent out too late and thus forced to encamp and wait out the winter of 1857-1858.
Aftermath and Consequences
The Mormons themselves lost out because of those who had their lives and livelihoods disrupted, and with the troop occupation the situation still remained tense – many of those troops reportedly reviled the Mormons. Another consequence of the Utah War was the creation of the Pony Express. The Utah militia, in their attempts to harass and keep out unwanted outsider intervention, had burned over fifty mail wagons. That business (Russell, Majors and Waddell) was never reimbursed by the federal government and in 1860 the Pony Express was created so they could obtain a government mail contract and avoid financial ruin.
The Utah War ultimately resulted in the decline of Mormon isolation. By 1869 the Transcontinental Railroad had been completed and with that came an influx of “Gentiles”. Polygamy still remained an issue with the federal government, but finally in 1896 Utah was granted statehood.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!
Feudin’ and Fightin’ Friday: The Lawless Horrell Brothers (From Lampasas, TX to Lincoln, NM and Back)
Horrells and Higgins – Early Lampasas County Settlers
John Holcomb Higgins and his wife Hester migrated to Lampasas County, Texas from Georgia with their young family. Their son, John Pinkney Calhoun Higgins was their first male child, born on March 28, 1851. The Higgins family was among the first settlers in the county. One source indicated that the Higgins family had moved to Texas in 1848, but I believe that is incorrect as John Pinkney was born in Georgia as noted in subsequent censuses – so not sure the exact date they arrived in Lampasas County.
In 1857 a family named Horrell migrated to the county from Arkansas. According to the 1850 Census, the Horrell family lived in Caddo, Montgomery County, Arkansas and father James (Samuel) was listed as being 30 years of age. Their children (all males) ranged in age from 11 to infant. By the 1860 Census the Horrells had moved to Lampasas County. Since 1850 two more sons and a daughter had been born.
According to at least one source, for several years the families lived peacefully as neighbors. Sometime in the 1870s, however, something changed. One event that surely devastated the Horrell family was the death of Samuel Horrell. I found the following story on Ancestry.com:
Traveling east from Las Cruces, New Mexico, the Horrell party was waylaid by Mescalero Apache Indians at the San Augustine Pass, where Samuel Horrell was killed (14 Jan 1869). It was reported that John’s wife Sarah and Thomas Horrell fought the Indians off with a six-shooter and a rifle. After fighting off the Indians the Horrell party continued on East to take refuge at the Shedd Ranch. By March of 1869, Samuel Horrell’s widow, Elizabeth, had returned to Lampasas, Texas. Elizabeth moved into a house in town near what is now known as the Cloud Warehouse.
According to the Texas Muster Rolls, four of the Horrell brothers had enlisted in a local militia commanded by George E. Haynie. The brothers Benjamin, Mart and Merritt are listed as joining on September 11, 1872 and service was 17 days, but the final muster date wasn’t until March 10, 1874. Tom Horrell’s signup date was September 12, 1872 and he served 16 days with the same final muster date as his brothers.
According to one internet source (Legends of America), the brothers’ first run-in with the law occurred in January 1873, but the young men were already known to have been troublemakers. At this period of time, the county was a wild and woolly place to live. The Sheriff of the county, Shadick T. Denson, attempted an arrest of two friends of the brothers, but the Horrells intervened and the Sheriff was shot and later died.
The county judge appealed to Governor Edmund J. Davis to intervene, and on February 10, 1873 the Governor issued a proclamation which banned small arms in Lampasas. In March, seven members of the Texas State Police came to enforce the Governor’s proclamation. On the 19th of March, Bill Bowen, brother-in-law of the Horrell brothers, was arrested for possession of a gun. According to Legends of America, the law officers entered a saloon with Bowen and a gunfight ensued. Four officers lay dead.
Horrell War – Lincoln County, New Mexico
Now the Horrell brothers were wanted for murder. Law enforcement finally arrested Mart Horrell and three others and took them to the jail in Georgetown, Texas, but on May 2 the men escaped from jail after Mart’s brothers and several other cowboys descended on the town and freed them.
The brothers remained around the area for awhile and then headed to Lincoln County, New Mexico, camping on the Rio Ruidoso near present day Hondo. On December 1, 1873, Ben Horrell and two others rode into Lincoln and begin to carouse and cause trouble. When the local Constable Juan Martinez demanded their guns be turned over they complied, but soon found replacements and continued on through the town making trouble.
According to Legends of America, one of the men with Ben Horrell (Dave Warner) had a long-standing grudge against Martinez. When confronted again by the Constable, Warner shot and killed Martinez. The other lawmen with Martinez shot and killed Warner on the spot, but Ben and the other man, Jack Gylam (himself an ex-Lincoln County Sheriff), fled. The lawmen pursued the two and when they caught up with them, killed them (Ben 9 times and Gylam 14 times).
Retaliation by the remaining Horrell brothers came swiftly when they killed two Hispanics who were prominent citizens of the area. On December 20, the brothers returned to Lincoln to continue their vendetta by killing four men and wounding a woman. Efforts to arrest the Horrells were fruitless and eventually in early 1874 the brothers and their friends made their way back to Texas. Along the way, they still had some sort of revenge against Hispanics on their agenda. Deputy Sheriff Joseph Haskins of Pichaco, New Mexico was killed (sources suggest he was killed because he was married to an Hispanic woman). Approximately fifteen miles west of Roswell, New Mexico the gang killed five other Hispanics.
Horrells vs. Higgins
The Horrells finally arrived back in Texas and in 1876 were tried for the death of State Police Officer Captain Thomas Williams – they were acquitted. Tensions with the Higgins family, specifically John Pinkney “Pink” Higgins, came to a head. In May of 1876, Higgins filed a complaint accusing Merritt Horrell of stealing his cattle. Merritt was tried, but again a Horrell brother was acquitted. Higgins vowed to settle the matter with a gun.
On January 22, 1877, Pink carried out his threat and killed Merritt Horrell in a Lampasas saloon. Of course, the other Horrell brothers vowed revenge on Higgins and his brother-in-law, Bob Mitchell and friend Bill Wren. On March 26, Tom and Mart Horrell were ambushed by the Higgins group but were only wounded. A warrant was issued for Higgins and friends’ arrest. They each posted a $10,000 bond and were released. However, on June 4, the courthouse was burglarized and their records were stolen (coincidence? – I think not!).
Shortly after the break-in, Higgins and friends rode into Lampasas and a gunfight ensued with the Horrells and their friends. Bob Mitchell’s brother, Frank, lay dead along with two others who were friends of the Horrells. Subsequently, the Texas Rangers were dispatched to negotiate a cease fire. By early August, both parties had agreed to stop their feuding. The next year, however, Tom and Mart Horrell, were suspects in a robbery/murder case of a storekeeper in Bosque County. They were jailed and later a mob stormed the jail and shot both of them to death.
The one Horrell brother, Samuel, said to be the oldest and most peaceable, eventually moved to Oregon and died there in 1936. Pink Higgins moved his family to the Spur, Texas area and died there of a heart attack in 1914.
History Bonus: Here’s a PDF File of Pink Higgins’ story found at Find-A-Grave (Pink Higgins ). He certainly lived an interesting life if this is all true – definitely worth a read.
Did you enjoy this article? Yes? Check out Digging History Magazine. Since January 2018 new articles are published in a digital magazine (PDF) available by individual issue purchase or subscription (with three options). Most issues run between 70-85 pages, filled with articles of interest to history-lovers and genealogists — it’s all history, right? 🙂 No ads — just carefully-researched, well-written stories, complete with footnotes and sources.
Want to know more or try out a free issue? You can download either (or both) of the January-February 2019 and March-April 2019 issues here: https://digging-history.com/free-samples/
Thanks for stopping by!