On the last day of the battle of Chickamauga, a Confederate soldier named Jordan, a member of an Alabama regiment, fell upon the field of battle in one of the terrific charges made upon the Union forces. A son, J. C. Jordan, a printer, was badly wounded a short distance from the spot where the live-blood of his gallant sire was slowly ebbing way. The son lived to go to his home, where a brother resided. Twenty years ago, they separated, the printer going north and his brother coming to Texas. From that day until yesterday, they never met, not a line ever passed between them and each mourned the other as dead. E. W. Jordan has resided in Dallas for a number of years, and J. C. Jordan, the printer, has visited the city on numerous occasions. Yesterday, they met face to face on a crowded thoroughfare, recognized each other instantly, and were soon locked in a brotherly embrace. The reunion was a joyful one and the brothers, who are now on the shady side of life, will not lose sight of each other in the future until the final journey is made down the road that leads to the dark valley, which all weary mortals must tread, sooner or later.

     This was ex-Confederate day at the fair.
     The ex-Confederates formed in line at their headquarters on the grounds, and at 11 o'clock, the artillery announced the first movement of the procession. Col. D. A. Williams and Gen. W. L. Cabell directed the movements of the head of the column which marched to the strains of Dixie. The main entrance to the music hall, on the south side, soon became one surging mass of humanity. Ladies filled the windows in the exposition building and music hall and waved their handkerchiefs, as the old battle-scarred veterans, many of them with only one leg or one arm, marched behind a tattered battle flag, which, in war times, belonged to the Second Mississippi brigade and floated over Confederate soldiers at Manassas. The old veterans answered with cheers and threw their hats up in the air.
     The stage was decorated with United States flags, and just in front of the great pipe organ, hung a fine painting of Gen. R. E. Lee, which was donated for the occasion out of the fine collection of Mr. L. M. De Giullaume of Washington, D. C.
     When order was secured, after the great hall was crowded with people, Col. D. A. Williams introduced Gen. Loranzo of North Carolina, who opened the exercises with prayer. Gen. M. B. Gano followed in an address of welcome. He said he had never met a Confederate soldier who bore his gun in the cause of the Confederacy who as ashamed of it. While the south lost in the great struggle, the great principles for which her soldiers contended, still live and ever will live. He spoke of state rights.
     Rev. A. P. Smith, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church and chaplain of Camp Sterling Price, was next introduced and he delivered a lengthy and beautiful eulogy upon the life and character of Gen. R. L. Lee. The poet, nor historian, he said, could never do justice to the subject. He was the son of a noble sire; born great and he manifested that innate greatness. He was as pure at 50, [as] he was at 5. Religiously, he was a character that the world admired. He was no Pharisee, but the quiet, humble, devoted, self-sacrificing Christian that he professed to be. The conviction of right and duty was the great polar star guiding his life. His convictions of duty elevated his character and gave him that conspicuousness which he held. He possessed a strange devotion to inward conviction. Another prominent feature of his character was the warmest and purest sympathy for everything true. He had the physique of a man, the bearing of a soldier and the heart of a woman. His heart never grew callous and never hardened with the carnage of war. On the field of battle, his heart beat in generous emotion and compassion. He was a man of the inspiration of hope. He counseled: "Have hope in your country's destiny -- in your country's glory."
     Hon. W. D. Gibbs, of Yazoo county, Mississippi, was next introduced. He spoke of the valor and patriotism of Mississippians, of the social and political problems which the people of that state are wrestling with, of the progress and development of the state and of its close relations with Texas.
     At the close of Mr. Gibbs' speech, there were loud calls for Hon. J. W. Bailey, but carrying out the programme, Hon. Seth Shepherd stepped to the front, and in a neat, brief speech on behalf of the confederate soldiers in the Austin Confederate home, presented Capt. H. S. Brewer, an ex-Federal soldier of this city, with a beautiful gold badge, in recognition of the interest which he took in raising funds for the home through the T. P. A. Through his efforts and the co-operation of the T. P. A., about $8000 were raised and the idea of a Confederate home was permanently established.
     Mr. Brewer was overjoyed.
     Hon. J. W. Bailey, candidate for congress in the fifth district, was then called out. He made a taking speech, in which he said without disparaging his northern brother, the Confederate soldier was greater than a king, and that while we love the traditions of the Confederacy, we are back in the house of our fathers and we propose to stay there.
     The band then played Dixie and someone opened out the folds of the old Confederate battle flag, showing its rents and bullet holes, causing the old soldiers to give vent to their pent-up feelings in the most demonstrative manner.
     Gen. Stanley, present commander of this department of Federal troops, was net called out. He made a neat, short speech, in which he said that he always met cordial friends among the ex-Confederates.
     Then came Gen. W. L. Cabell's turn. The old war Tiger got up to address a hungry crowd, but he held the audience. He addressed the old Confederates in regard to their welfare, as directed by Gen. John B. Gordon, supreme commander of all Confederate veterans now in the United. States.

Special to the Times-Herald.
     HUTCHINS, Tex., July 9.--In my report of yesterday's proceedings, the omission of a name made quite an error. The sentence which should have read "Judge Z. E. Coombes called the assembly to order and Rev. Mr. Heyter, in an opening prayer, etc.," the words "Rev. Mr. Heyter" were omitted by the printer, and Judge Coombes was given credit or Bro. Heyter's beautiful prayer and tribute to the pioneers of Dallas county. Judge C's contribution to the entertainment was more of a humorous kind and added much to the enjoyment and pleasure of the assembly and was designed more to recall pleasant memories of the past than to remind them of seriousness of the Great Beyond.
     After dinner yesterday, and such a dinner (the T.-H. man knows several Dallas men who promised to eat with two or three of the generous Hutchinsons and then tried it, but couldn't move a notch after the first round) it may have had a few equals, but certainly no superior in the half century of Dallas' progress, which we celebrate to-day. Judge Coombes, acting president, called the association to order and announced with pleasure the arrival of the president, Major John Henry Brown.
     President Brown, on his appearance on the stand, was greeted with applause. He forwarded his regrets at failure to get to the depot in time for the morning train, and with some appropriate remarks, called upon Judge Coombes to make a speech. The Judge is ever ready, and started out by telling about the first courting he observed in Dallas county.
     He said in this days, when they "foxed" pants, and he asked how many present had "foxed" their pants, and a dozen hands went up, "The Judge explained that when a pioneer's pants, which he brought with him, wore out, he would take a fox skin, and putting good patches over each knee and a large one behind, higher than the knees, he would have a lasting pair of pants; when a hat would wear out, a coonskin cap would be substituted, and for shoes, moccasins with rawhide bottoms. That was the garb I wore when I went over to Capt. Thos. Miller's to get some of his genuine coffee, I didn't know the way, and a young man, the first letter of whose name is Perry Overton, offered to show me the way. When we reached Mr. Miller's, Perry forgot me in the smiles of his fair charmer. They seemed to like each other, in fact, they are both here and seem to think a deal of each other yet. People in those days were liberal with their neighbors and divided with each other. Farmers at Lancaster would go to Dallas to help the settlers there harvest their crops or build a fence and visa versa; they would kill a beef and it would be divided among the neighbors, and that was the way we all got some of Miller's coffee. He is here now, a poor man; he kept dividing till his neighbors got to thick, it wouldn't go round. These remembrances are as boyhood's dream, a very pleasant dream, to think that all the people of your community have a common interest in each other. Every man needed every other man. At that time, 1842, all west of the Trinity river to the Brazos was Robertson county and then a young man desiring a marriage license had a great journey to make to get it. Judge Coombes continued his reminiscences for some time to the amusement and entertainment of his attentive listeners.
     Dr. Cochran was called upon and responded in an interesting review of the turbulent, but delightful, past, and a view of the progress of our people and our county.
     Rev. Mr. Heyter, of Ferris, was introduced and spoke of his early experiences. He knew Gen. Rusk personally, and Gen. Sam Houston, and knew Senator Reagan in his younger days. He recited some stories on Senator Reagan, and closed by saying in those good old days, they were all one people, one religion--an earnest desire to do right, be honest and serve God. There were not enough of them to have two parties. It was necessary for them to stand together and it was their good pleasure to do it. He regretted the selfishness, the intense selfishness, which characterized too much of our intercourse now. Why should it be? Why should we think less of our fellowmen because there are more men?
     Hon. T. F. Nash was introduced as a Dallas county raised boy of Duck Creek , and he stared off with a good speech, but it was all lost to the writer, who just about that time was deep into the merits of the alien land law, silver coinage and Cleveland's unpopularity and unavailability as a presidential nominee, with Capt. Lavender of Lancaster. The captain is a staunch democrat, who believes in America for Americans, and believes the alien land law is all right and should be maintained and enforced. If foreigners want to come to this country to share the benefits of its superior institutions, let them become Americans, and of us and for us. He thinks free silver coinage and tariff reform should be the slogan in 1892, and a democratic nominee who can honestly and squarely stand upon such a platform will easily elected. He agreed, too, with the writer, that the agricultural people of New York, who have heretofore been voting the Republican ticket, will vote the Democratic ticket with such a platform, which, with the Democratic-under-all-circumstances, Tamanay would put beyond the power of Wall street to carry New York against such a Democratic ticket and platform.
     Col. F. G. Bledsoe, chairman of the committee on arrangements, is one of the conspicuous figures in and about this grand re-union--both as the indefatigable chairman of the entertainment committee, and as one of the very oldest of the pioneers. He came to Dallas with his father in 1842, when he was only two years old. His father's old headright is near Hutchins, and they lived in Lancaster for many years till Hutchins came into existence with the advent of the H. & T. C. railroad, when he became a citizen of that pleasant town. Col. Bledsoe's father was a Democrat tired and true, and his career as comptroller, when Davis was governor with a Republican legislature, is one of the bright spots in the history of Texas and Democracy. The legislature voted to give the International railroad many millions of bonds, the bill was duly signed by the Governor, who, with all other influences of the state government, sought to have the bonds issued. Comptroller Bledsoe refused to issue the bonds, and defied the Republican administration, and only by this firmness and devotion to his people and the constitution, was the sate saved that enormous steal. Col. Flent[?] Bledsoe is a true chip off the old block.
     An attractive figure among the pioneers is Mr. Dowdy, who established and conducted Dowdy's Ferry on the Trinity, about two miles southwest of the picnic grounds nearly a half century ago, and is now near 65 years old. He came to the county in 1844; and remarked to the T.-H. man that "my first shot at a bear was in this grove, just a few y yards east of where we stand, and now, to-day, I saw two bears on the same spot, but they are tame and belong to the side show over there."
     Mr. Wm. Beeman, the youngest looking of the old men, is 64 years old and came to the town of Dallas in 1842. His father, in 1841, hoped to build Fort Bird, twenty miles up the Trinity from Dallas. The first house was built in Dallas town in 1842 by a man named Gilbert, who brought his family and effects down the river in a boat from Fort Bird. The ___rter will have to claim to be a descendant of this pioneer navigator of the Trinity and founder of Dallas, if [he] would be eligible to membership in the Pioneers' Association.
     The welcoming address of Mr. John P. Gillespie, a brief epitome of which was given in my report of yesterday, is here given in full, because it is well worth printing. It was appropriate and well received:
     Ladies, gentlemen, pioneers of Dallas county:
     My genius has never grazed along flowery paths, nipping the sweets of poetry and eloquence, as it were, but has usually contented itself with traveling the plain dirt road, and gathering unvarnished facts. And not being an ornamental figure anyway, I have not been called upon to present graduating medals, diplomas and walking sticks. On such occasions, metaphors and imagination play an important part, "giving to airy nothing a local habitation and name." But, when called upon to address you, my pioneer friends, I long for the gift of eloquence, for in welcoming you here to-day, thought, sentiment and eloquence have their legitimate inspiration.
     Though my tongue lacks the Promethean fire, my heart, accords most generously its tribune of reverence to the courage and heroism of the early settlers of Dallas county. I say heroism, for the pages of history can offer no finer instances of true heroism, than was often displayed in isolated lives of these sturdy pioneers; a heroism nonetheless admirable that there were no reporter to herald the facts to an applauding public, no newspaper to print the eulogy or to flash over the electric wires the deserved panegyric.
     It has invariably happened in the economy of the universe, that when any event of momentous import was to transpire, that there has always been forthcoming the instrument adequate to its accomplishment, men peculiarly endowed, morally, physically and intellectually.
     So, in the fullness of time, when circumstances and conditions pointed to the boundless acres of Texas as promising the most generous returns for the exercise of enterprise and endeavor, the brave pioneers proved themselves equal to the magnitude of the undertaking, and as they hewed their way through the mazes of the forest, they carved their names on the annals of history in characters so shining as to be the Mecca of the chivalry and enthusiasm of an admiring posterity.
     Phrenology itself will attest their worthiness. Call to mind the physiognomies of these pioneer men and women, with but few exceptions, the firm chin, the resolute lips, the piercing eye, the breadth of brow, all indicate the possession of those qualities that pre-eminently fitted them to be the advance couriers of a country's development.
     'Twas their's to conquer and appropriate the conditions of wealth and happiness which nature had so lavishly bestowed upon this favored land. Time has more than fulfilled their wildest dreams.
     The Genii's lamp could scarce have wrought such wondrous changes.
     What a contrast between the years 1841 and 1891.
     Just a half century ago, they came to this trackless wilderness, whose solitudes were broken only by the whisp of the winds, the hoot of the owl and howl of the wolf. Behold her now! Well matured, developed, a sumptuous young queen, holding her throne by virtue of inherent charms and strong bulwarks of immense resources. The banner county of the banner state of the greatest government on earth.
     The wild herds that fattened on the prairies' broad bosom have long since given place to the blooded racer and the thoroughbred Jersey.
     The wolf trail has broadened into the macadamized road.
     The old log cabin, with its mud chimney, has given way to the comfortable cottage or stately mansion.
     The grass covered prairies are lovely with orchards and waving grain.
     The ever varying pictures of wild mature that he viewed from his cabin door at early morn, at sunny noon, or quiet eve are reproduced on canvas and in gilt frames by the skillful hand of his accomplished granddaughter.
     The sweet forest echoes that resounded around his humble home is rivaled by the melody of the piano and about the only remembrances of the old days are the qualities of refinement springing from generous natures. A hospitality that has never wavered and with most of them, all-abiding faith in a providence that never forsook them.
     Their posterity perpetuating these attributes have become ornaments of society and sureties for the continual advancement and prosperity of the country.
     And the grandmothers, the noble women who were, in every respect, helpmeets for those resolute men. What language can avail to tell of their devotion; what reverence pure enough; what eulogy warm enough to bestow upon them.
     It often happens that under the inspiration of sudden danger, sustained by excitement of action, men will rise to heights of sublime bravery and heroism--but to woman, peculiarly belongs the finer heroism of endurance.
     The pioneer women endured with unparalleled fortitude the slow torture of suspense. Often alone and unprotected with vigilant eye, they guarded their home against the treacherous approach of the Indian, listening with bated breath to every sound that broke the stillness, starting at the crackling of a twig, or the rustling of a leaf; and often as the shades of night approached, the doors were barred, the fires extinguished, the guns and ammunition examined, the inmates waiting with trembling apprehension the belated loved one, while the hush of aching hearts and dreadful forebodings fell upon them, forebodings which the light of day too often fulfilled in an agonizing certainty.
     Time softens the aspirations of memory and doubtless as you old veterans mutually recall the scenes and incidents of bygone years, your thoughts will ignore the hardships and dwell with tender regretfulness upon the pleasures. You will feel that notwithstanding the vicissitudes incident to your life they were more than counterbalanced by its rare social enjoyments. The old home ain't what it used to be. You will assert that the times are not as good; that life untrammeled by conventionalities was purer, more natural; and certainly the bacon, wild game and corn pone were sweeter than the present sumptuous repast with its service of china and fine linen that many of you possess. I believe it was Josh Billings who said that he would give a thousand dollars if a ginger cake tasted as good to him now as it did when he was a boy. Life held a zest and an interest that somehow now seems to be wanting.
     To perpetuate the ties of friendship hallowed by years of mutual interests, hopes and anticipations; to have an aftermath of old time sociability, to recount the soul stirring events of your young days, to forget the lapse of years; to speak of a reunion in another country--the goal of your Christian hopes, all this I apprehend is the purpose of these meetings; and as each succeeding year, the roll call finds fewer responses, may the interest never decrease, but may we lend our best endeavors to their success and cultivate a chivalry and patriotism in our children, by recounting the achievements of these architects of their fortunes and prosperity.
     And now, in the name of the people of Hutchins, we bid you welcome; in the name of the children who have listened around grandpa's knee to the tales of hairbreadth escapes; in the name of the young men and maidens who honor their forefathers for dangers undergone; in the name of the aged linked to you by a common sympathy, we bid you all, friends and pioneers of Dallas county, an enthusiastic welcome."
     Among the Dallasites here yesterday and to-day, were: Judge Chas. Fred Tucker, Col. Rawlins of Rawlins & Moore, Ed Gray, Barry Miller, Jno. T. Witt, whose boyhood home, by the way, is in the southern edge of Hutchins, Col. Jack Cole, J. A. Crawford, Hon. John Henry Brown, the president, and Will McKamy, the secretary of the Pioneers' Association, and a beautiful young lady of Eastern Dallas county, who, from McK's. attentions, we may be able to write "of Dallas" next year.
     Judge Tucker greeted a pretty babe with a toss and a kiss, and found that is nurse had disappeared and he played "responsibility" quite awhile, trying to find the rightful owner of the cherub. Another Dallas man, and a newspaper man, had along seven children. At the station, he helped his wife and six into a hack and they all went merrily off toward the picnic ground. When half a mile away, the mother asked, "Why, where is my boy?" and on a count, it was found that the 3-year-old was left behind. A hasty return brought them up alongside the depot, and there was the young hopeful with hands in pockets unconcernedly looking about and enjoying the music by the Van Alstyne Cornet Band.

     When we reflect that the Indians, who held possession of this country, who prided themselves in original ownership of this grand and fertile region, of the bears in the forest, the deer upon the broad prairies and the fish in the steams; and when we reflect that it was natural that these savages should not relinquish their rights without a broad struggle, then can we realize something of the heroic fight which was made by our pioneers against savage warfare, trials, privations and dangers which met them, but which they successfully encountered and planted the star of civilization, progress and prosperity for their children and those who came after them.
     The attendance was not quite so large to-day as yesterday the first hours of the morning, but toward noon, the large accessions promised to swell the attendance to one much larger than yesterday.
     President John Henry Brown called association to order at ten o'clock, and Rev. Mr. Pangburn invoked divine blessing upon the assemblage and there was a song by the choir.
     Hon. John H. Cochran was then introduced, that gentleman having been selected to pay proper respect to the dead of the past year.
     Mr. Cochran has the history of the county and the pioneers at his finger tips, and no man is more familiar with the subject. He gave a brief biography of each one of the pioneers who have passed away since the meeting of 1890, paid an eloquent tribute to their many virtues, narrated many incidents and reminiscence of early days in Texas and unfolded a stock of information of rare value from an historical point of view. The undivided attention of the audience was given to the speaker and he was frequently applauded. [The speech of Mr. Cochran, complete, will appear in the TIMES-HERALD to-morrow, as the lateness of the hour made it impossible to get it in type to-day.]
     A the close of Mr. Cochran's speech, the choir sang "One by One." The music and singing was so perfect and the voices so clear and sweet and well-controlled, that this song was pronounced by all as one of the sweetest pleasures of the reunion. The choir is conducted by Mr. A. S. Clark, a worthy citizen of Hutchins, and is composed of several good male voices and Mesdames F. G. Bledsoe, Effie Searcy and Mary Mhoon, and Misses Nettie Pangburn, Cassie and Fannie Sears and Addie Rawlins, the latter of Lancaster. Mr. Clark is very fond of music and has fine musical talent, and voluntarily gives much of his time to instruction among the ladies and gentlemen of Hutchins. He may well be proud of the compliments paid to the choir music to-day.
     Among the Dallas people here today, are: Louis Jacoby, H. H. Smith, A. M. Horn, Dr. Daniel King, Constable Morton, Justice Braswell, Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Berry, the latter a daughter of Mr. John W. Smith, a pioneer, who died last year, and by the way, the first dry goods merchant in Dallas, and afterwards county clerk.
     Judge Nat Burford is also here. The judge came to the city of Dallas in 1848, and for a long time, lived where the St. George hotel now stands. He was elected district attorney in 1850 and again in 1852, when Houston and Anderson, with Dallas, were all part of Robertson county; and he declares to-day, in speaking of the peacefulness and good conduct of the people of that day, that the grand jury of Dallas finds more indictments at one term of court now than were found then by all the nine counties in his district for four years. Judge Burford was elected district judge in 1856, and in 1876, he held the first courts in Parker, Johnson and other western counties. Gov. O. M. Roberts held the first court in Tarrant and Ellis and Judge Ochiltree, in Dallas.
     Richard Brewton came to Dallas in 1845, then 35 years old, located near Scyene and has lived there since, making a good living on his farm. He is one of the oldest men among the pioneers.
     The association will adjourn its session this evening, and the TIMES-HERALD will complete its report to-morrow.

     Our report of the Pioneer Reunion closed yesterday with a brief reference to Hon. John H. Cochran's speech. As an interesting feature of the proceedings of the pioneers in this, their annual gathering, we reproduce it in full. Mr. Cochran said:
     Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen--Fellow Pioneers of Dallas County: It has long been an honored custom among civilized people to celebrate important events which take place in their onward march to a higher civilization--events which required the exercise of extraordinary courage, fortitude, patriotism and wisdom, and which resulted in great good to the actors and to future generations. The greater the strain upon the courage, the fortitude and patriotism of the actors, who conquered and overcame great obstacles to accomplish these grand results, the greater the admiration and adoration of future generations. And believing, as we do, that the courage, the fortitude, the patriotism and wisdom exercised by the pioneers of Dallas county was as grand and as pure as was ever exercised by any pioneer people, and that the results are equal to the greatest and grandest of them all, we feel that it is not only our duty, but is and should be, the duty and pleasure of every one who enjoys the fruits and the blessings of this grand and glorious country, the result of the courage, fortitude, patriotism and wisdom of the grand and noble old pioneers of Dallas county, to honor and perpetuate their memory. For this purpose, we are here to-day.
     I but speak the truth when I tell you that but fifty years ago, this grand, beautiful, rich and populous county, now inhabited by more than 70,000 civilized, prosperous and happy people, the most populous and wealthy county in the grand state of Texas, boasting of the greatest city west of the Mississippi river and south of St. Louis, until you shall have reached the slope of the Rocky mountains. Blessed with its railroads, telephones, telegraphs, manufactories, magnificent schools, and beautiful churches, in fact, blessed with everything which contributes to the prosperity and happiness of a people, was less than fifty years ago occupied only by the savage Indian and wild beasts. And instead of the domestic animals now contributing to our comfort and happiness, the buffalo, the wolf and numerous other wild animals roamed at will over these beautiful and rich prairies, which were then unknown to civilized man. Yes, I but speak the truth when I tell you that these savages did not surrender this grand and glorious country without a struggle. And, that it required the exercise of more than ordinary courage, fortitude, patriotism and wisdom to wrest this fair land from the savage Indian and from the wild and ferocious beast of the prairies, which vigorously contested the march of civilization, which to them, meant extermination. Yea, when I tell you, these old pioneers came from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and other states less than 50 years ago in ox wagons, armed with the ax and the hoe, the plow and the old flint lock gun, hauled all the way with them in their ox wagons with their wives and little ones and a scant supply of provisions, upon which to subsist until they could make a crop in a country where they had to use coon-skins for hats, and deer and buffalo hides for beds, coats, pants and shoes. In a country without houses, without fences, without provisions nearer than Red River county, without roads, without mills, save the improvised mortar and pestle--without everything, save a rich wild country, and such crude implements of those days, as they had been able to haul with them in their ox wagons. Exposed to the wet, to the cold, to the heat and to the miasmatic diseases of a new and warmer climate, without medicine or physician. Exposed to the scalping knife of the Indian. Yea, when I tell you all this, I have then but given you but a faint idea of the hardships, privations and sufferings of these grand old pioneers, which required the exercise of extraordinary courage, fortitude and patriotism. And when I again tell you, I helped drop the first corn in the first farm opened and cultivated in Dallas county, and that I have lived here and witnessed the advancement, improvement, progress and prosperity of my county from a wilderness to its present grandeur, with its proud cosmopolitan city, magnificent, beautiful and happy homes and productive farms, blessed with all the improvements of an advanced civilization, don't think me a Methuselah; but let it impress you with a proper appreciation of the courage, fortitude, patriotism and wisdom of the pioneers of your country, which accomplished such grand results in so short a time. Let it inspire you with a proper appreciation of their efforts.
     What grand and swelling emotions of pride and happiness must spring up in the bosom of the old pioneer who has been spared to live to see and realize the accomplishment of such achievements as the result of their labors and intelligence, and as a reward for all their dangers, privations and hardships undergone by them in laying the foundation for such grand results, can be better imagined than expressed. But, since there is no rose without a thorn, no sweet without a little bitter, there is also a sad and solemn thought, which, amid all of our prosperity, amid all of our happiness in contemplating the pleasing reminiscences of the past and the glories of the present, involuntarily springs up in our minds, which without the hope of the future, would cast such a gloom over our pleasures as would detract from our joys the grandeur and halo which hope along casts around us.
     This sad and solemn thought is, that of all those noble old pioneers to whom we are indebted for all these blessings now enjoyed us; but few remain. They have nearly all passed over the river and become pioneers of an unexplored and unknown land to us. Year by year, the already diminished number of the noble little band is lessened. A few more years, a few more reunions and all of them will have passed away; and only their children and grandchildren will be left to honor and perpetuate their memory. For, since our last meeting one year ago, there have died of the then little band of the early pioneers of Dallas county, J. W. Smith, A. W. Webb, Pleasant Taylor, Miss Lucy McDermett, Elder John H. Cox, Samuel Phelps, Mrs. Mattie Bales, nee Dixon, and W. T. Nance, H. McDowell and William T. Gill.
     In honor of these, our departed friends, your executive committee selected me to deliver upon this occasion the memorial address. Conscious of my own inability to do justice to so grave a subject, I am prompted ONLY by a love and admiration of the memory of MY departed friends and our deceased comrades to make the effort, relying on your patience and forbearance for any shortcomings on my part.
     John W. Smith (Uncle Jack Smith, as we familiarly called him), came from Kentucky to Dallas in 1846 and died in 1890, and, therefore, lived in Dallas county 44 years, and was about 84 years old when he died. Uncle Jack Smith witnessed this country grow from almost a wilderness to its present grandeur. John W. Smith and James M. Patterson, under the firm name of Smith & Patterson, were the first merchants of Dallas. John W. Smith was the second county clerk of Dallas county. Mr. Smith, however, did not give up his mercantile business for the office; but ran both until the expiration of his term of office. Uncle Jack Smith continued to be one of the most popular and accommodating and successful merchants of Dallas until the beginning of the war in 1861. Judge Patterson withdrew from the firm in 1854, when he was elected chief justice of Dallas county.
     Uncle Jack Smith lost heavily by the fire in 1860. And, like most of our antebellum merchants, Uncle Jack Smith was bankrupted by the fire of 1860 and by the war. But, Uncle Jack had a princely fortune left him at the close of the war, in Dallas real estate; but this he gave up at a great sacrifice to satisfy his antebellum debts, which, if he had only deferred settling for one or two years longer, he could have paid 100 cents on the dollar, and still have had a handsome fortune left him; but, he was honest and gave up everything, and although he afterwards lived and died an honest, honorable and upright men, loved and respected by all how knew him.
     Alex W. Webb came from Illinois to Bowie county in 1840, and from there to Bird's Fort, in Tarrant county, in 1841, and died in 1890, and therefore had lived in Texas about 50 years. Webb, in the winter of 1842, was assisting in cutting down a tree, just below the mouth of Grapevine branch on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, opposite and near Trinity Mills, in the northern part of this county, when his party was fired on by Indians and a man by the name of Batton was killed. Webb and the others escaped unhurt. He was with Col. Denton when he was killed. Webb, on the breaking up of Bird's Fort, settled in Dallas county with his family, near where Mesquite now is, and followed farming and stockraising until his death. Alex W. Webb, lived an honest, honorable and quiet life and was respected and loved by his neighbors.
     Pleasant Taylor came from Illinois to Dallas county in 1844, and settled in or near where Lancaster is, where he lived until after the war. Some years ago, he moved to Dallas and lived with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Aunspaugh. Pleas Taylor was a stock raiser and trader. Pleas Taylor was a man of more than ordinary ability. He was a noble and true man; a warmhearted Christian gentleman, and although he had been afflicted for several years, he was spared like Smith and Webb to witness and enjoy the fruits of the transition of this grand country from a wilderness to its present grandeur.
     Such men as Pleas Taylor would be a model in any country. I knew him intimately from my boyhood, and I loved and respected him while he lived and revere his memory to-day.
     Miss Lucy McDermett, Aunt Lucy, as we called her, came to Dallas with her brother, Col. J. B. McDermett, in 1847. Aunt Lucy was born and raised in Pennsylvania. Aunt Lucy never married, but lived with and kept house for her widowed brother, as long as he lived, and took care of his motherless children for him, and at his death, assumed and exercised complete control of his orphan children, and raised and educated her nephews and nieces with credit and honor, both to them and to herself. Three of whom still live, honored and respected citizens of the city of Dallas, to-wit: Mrs. Henrietta Tennison, nee McDermett, Mrs. Parker, and Dr. Port McDermett. Aunt Lucy was indeed a kind and tender mother to her nephews and nieces, who lived and honored Aunt Lucy as if she had been their own mother. Truly then, we may say, Aunt Lucy, you are gone, but not forgotten.
     John H. Cox came to Dallas county from the state of Illinois in 1842, and served as a ranger in defense of the women and children of this country, and was with Denton when he was killed. John H. Cox settle din the eastern part of Dallas county, and for a number of years, lived on a farm at a place now called Riley, a station on the Trunk railroad. He had been postmaster at Rylie for a number of years and was postmaster at the time of his death. Brother Cox was what we called a hardside Baptist preacher. And, I believe they are generally noted for their honesty, for an honester, purer or better man than John H. Cox will be hard to find. He was loved and respected by all who knew him, for his honesty and Christian virtues.
     Sam'l Phelps came from the state of Indiana to Dallas county in 1849, and settled on Bear creek in the southern part of Dallas county, near Lancaster, where he lived and pursued the occupation of a farmer till his death, and was, at one time, county commissioner. Sam'l Phelps was a genial, honest, upright, good man and citizen of whom any people might well feel proud.
     Mrs. Mattie Bales, nee Dixon, was a daughter of Solomon Dixon, who was an early pioneer of Dallas county, and who died several years ago east of Whiterock creek, near Bales' school house, which was named in honor of her husband, Capt. Bales. Mrs. Mattie Bales was a kind, motherly lady; a true pioneer Texas mother, such as so largely contributed to the grandeur and glory of our Lone Star state.
     Wm. T. Gill came to Dallas county from Tennessee in 1840, while a boy; his father died soon after his arrival in Texas, hence Billy Gill, as we called him, was raised an orphan boy. He died in 1890. A more dutiful son never lived than Billy Gill, for until he entered the confederate army, he never slept from under his mother's roof, who raised him. Four old friends who had known him for over forty years, laid him to rest, and they say they never heard him speak evil of any one. No better man than Billy Gill lived in any country. Those who knew him best, loved him best.
     H. McDowell came from the state of Missouri in 1844 and settled on a farm near Lisbon and pursued the occupation of a farmer and lived where he settled until a few years ago, and then moved into Tarrant county, Bedford postoffice, where he died. Hamilton McDowell was a good, quiet, honest Christian gentleman, beloved by every one who knew him. His children are prosperous and good citizens, among them Mrs. David L. Harris, who is one of Tarrant county's best citizens to-day.
     W. T. Nance came to Dallas county from the state of Illinois in 1851 and settled in the southern part of Dallas county, west of Lancaster. W. T. Nance was one of the firm of Nance & Moffett, which once was owners of the Lancaster mills. W. T. Nance and Uncle Billy Moffett ran a wool carding machine at Lancaster during the war, which carded the rolls that made the clothing for many a poor Confederate soldier. W. T. Nance was an honest, upright, good man and best of all, a Christian.
     Brothers John W. Smith, Alex. W. Webb, Pleasant Taylor, John H. Cox, Samuel Phelps, W. T. Nance, H. McDowell and William T. Gill and Sisters Lucy McDermett and Mattie Bales, farewell! But, while we to-day lovingly and tenderly bid each of you farewell, and fully realize and mourn the fact that you will no more be seen among us, that you will not again meet with us in our annual reunions, we well not soon forget your many virtues and noble deeds, but will keep your memories fresh in our minds.
     History attests the fact that the pioneers and founders of all great cities and countries were a brave, chivalrous, honest, patriotic and intelligent people. So much is this true, that in after years, when the country had become densely populated and the vices and temptations resulting from, and incident to, an increased and dense population were on the increase, the statesmen and orators of that country, in order to check these vices and to instill and infuse into the people honest and patriotic sentiments referred in eloquent and pathetic strains to the honesty, courage, heroism, patriotism and intelligence of the fathers, or founders of their country.
     Great as may have been the wisdom, courage, heroism, patriotism and statesmanship of the pioneers of other countries, none have excelled in these, the pioneers of Dallas county, or of Texas. These grand and noble qualities in our pioneers will compare most favorably with those of the most favored people.
     The results of the courage, wisdom and patriotism and statesmanship of the pioneers of Dallas county and of Texas, will compare most favorably with those of the most enlightened civilized countries of the world.
     No country can truthfully boast of braver man, of fairer, truer, purer or nobler women than can the pioneers of Dallas county and of Texas. God bless our pioneer mothers and sisters! For, to them, belongs [honor] and credit of the mo[torn] which has guided the star of our state to its proud and exalted position in the galaxy of states. Why, then, should we not to-day rejoice in promulgating and perpetuating the memory of the heroic and noble deeds of our dead pioneers? And, thus infuse and instill into our children and neighbors, a pride and patriotism worthy of their ancestry; that they may honor and emulate their noble deeds, and not soon forget their names.
     In conclusion, you will pardon me for expressing the firm belief, and for rejoicing in the fact, that we have sufficient evidence that a large majority, if not all of our departed pioneer friends, not only of the past year, but those of previous years, died in the triumph of the Christian faith. Yes, you will pardon me for expressing the belief: "If a man die, he shall live again," and that the deathless spirits of our departed friends have passed the gate and entered into the city of everlasting peace, where there is one eternal, never ending reunion. Verily, I do believe
          "Their day has come, not gone;
               Their sun has risen, not set,
            Their life is now beyond
               The reach of death or change;
            Not ended, but begun."
     Yes, I do believe that they are only pioneers to another grander and more glorious land than this fair land of ours, where imitation and death are written upon everything. And, while they cannot return to us, we may go to them. Peace to their ashes and honor to their names.
     Dinner was then announced, and tables were spread with viands rich and bounteous. There was more than enough for a multitude three times as large, and it was served with genuine hospitality.
     After this, the song "Sweet By and By," by the choir, called the assemblage again around the stand, and short and interesting speeches were made by Judge Burford, Judge Bower, E. P. Marshall and H. H. Smith.
     Garland was selected as the place for the next annual reunion, and the old officers were all re-elected with the addition of Mesdames L. A. Rawlins of Hutchins and Margaret Lavender of Lancaster.
     The choir then sang "God be with you till we meet again," and the association adjourned.
     Of the pioneers who came to Dallas county from 1842 to 1846, it seems that Illinois furnished a majority, the others coming about equally from Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama. But, those who came from Illinois and Ohio were nearly all of southern origin. They emigrated from the south, but not being pleased with the northern climate, came to Texas and have been in Dallas county ever since. A peculiar feature in connection with the settlements of these pioneers is that they picked out locations which suited them, and have lived there continuously ever since. Half a century on one homestead, is the rule among the pioneers of Dallas.
     Possibly the largest pioneer family is that of the Rawlinses at Hutchins and Lancaster. After meeting three or four fine-looking portly men, the writer was asked if he had met all the Rawlins, and answered affirmatively. "I doubt it," was the reply, and a few minutes later, was introduced to another. R. A. Rawlins and his brother, P. K. Rawlins, came from Illinois to Dallas county in 1845. Of the sons and daughters these two pioneers, there are a good number now living. The two families settled near Lancaster and laid off that town, and later some of them moved to Hutchins. R. D. Rawlins has lived in this city the past sixteen years, and is now a member of the firm of Moore & Rawlins. He was once tax assessor and later clerk for four years under County Clerk Harwood. A. B. Rawlins, the marshal of the day, says he is not as old a pioneer as some of the others, but he got here as soon as he could--on his natal day 36 years ago. He has had much to do with the complete arrangements for the two days' entertainment of the pioneers and their friends, and has contributed largely to the enjoyment and pleasure of the two thousand people present.
     The committee of arrangements was made up of five of the most prominent citizens of Hutchins, and they well demonstrated their competency and the wisdom of their selection, in the successful arrangement and conduct of every detail necessary to the most gratifying success in the reunion picnic. The committee was Col. E. G. Bledsoe, Col. John S. Rawlins, Samuel Ayers, Dr. A. W. Karnes and A. S. Clark.
     Mr. C. H. Patrick is one of the best known, as well as one of the oldest pioneers in the county. He is 69 years of age and first settled in Leon county in 1841, when it and Dallas were part of Robertson, and in 1846, came to Dallas county, located eight miles southeast of Hutchins, and his home has been there ever since. He fought the Indians, and Abram P. Smith, the father of his wife, was killed by the Caddos near Fort Belknap. Mr. Patrick was candidate for county treasurer last election, and received a very large vote in the country precincts where he is well and most favorably known.
     Mr. W. B. Miller, father-in-law of Barry Miller, is 84 years old and quite feeble, but he was present the last half day, and enjoyed the reunion with the friends and associates of his early manhood. He came to Dallas county in '47. He was one of the committee of arbitration, to whom, in those days, it was the custom to refer all differences. There was a very positive aversion to going-to-law in those good days. Mr. Miller tells of the first picnic in Dallas county. It was in July, 1848, near Mid Perry's and word was sent around for all the settlers to come and get acquainted with each other.
     H. B. Cox, of Rylie, came to the county in 1844, and first camped in a grove on the upper end of what was afterward the old fair ground, where the convent now stands. His brothers Jno. and Geo. W. came the year before. John Cox was postmaster at Rylie, and died during the past year. Geo. W.'s daughter was the first child born in the county.
     Mr. M. Myers is another of the early pioneers who came to the county in 1846, and has, ever since, been farming a few miles southwest of the city.
     A. M. Horn of Dallas is not a pioneer, that is, he has not been in Dallas county long enough to be eligible to membership in the Association; but, he says he is the old man in Dallas from Missouri, ranking even John Henry Brown one year and two months.
     M. C. Alcorn, an old settler in the Scyene neighborhood, said: "Well, you have ruined your town at last. That cable railroad on Elm street spoils the only street left to the retail trade and the country people who were wont to drive in with their wagons. Elm street was narrow and there was no room to spare the railroad. Then, our country horses don't take kindly to those cars, which run so fast without mules. Most of our horses would become frightened and make it dangerous for us to drive our families in on those streets." Mr. Alcorn is from East Tennessee and has been in Dallas county fifteen or twenty years.

Special to the Times-Herald.
     GARLAND, Tex., July 13. -- The Dallas County Pioneer Association is holding its fifteenth annual reunion at Garland to-day.
     This association was organized July 13, 1877, exactly fifteen years ago.
     The attendance is larger than for years. Garland's fame for hospitality and well-doing, whatever she undertakes, proves a drawing card.
     The officers of the association are as follows:
     John Henry Brown, president.
     Wm. H. Hord, Elisha McCommas and Mrs. C. B. Durgin, vice presidents.
     Elder John M. Myers, chaplain,
     Gabriel A. Knight, treasurer.
     Wm. C. Kamy, secretary.
     Executive committee -- Mr. P. L. Gracey, John H. Cole, Wm. H. Beeman, Dr. Jas. H. Swindells, Mrs. Rhoda Ann McCommas, Mrs. Martha Beeman, Mrs. Martha E. Gracey.
     Committee on badges and printing -- W. H. Beeman and Mrs. Martha Beeman.
     Garland committee of arrangements -- T. F. Nash, John H. Cochran, John H. Whitfield, John T. Jones, B. J. Prigmore, Jas. H. Pickett and J. S. Strawther [Strother].
     The association was called to order at 10 o'clock by our distinguished and much honored veteran citizen, Major John Henry Brown of Dallas. Prayer by Rev. Mr. Hayter, the chaplain being absent.
     Hon. Thos. F. Nash of Garland, then delivered the address of welcome. He said:
     Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the Pioneer's Association of Dallas county: The pleasing duty of extending to you the hospitalities of our town and community has been assigned to me; many of us having been your associates as pioneers, and all of us being Texans no less true to her traditions and her history, because more recent in citizenship we can but be delighted with your presence among us, and contribute all in our power to make this one of the happiest reunions in the history of your organization and pray that an All-wise Creator may continue to prosper you and vouchsafe to you many happy reunions in the time to come. We may not have every convenience you could enjoy, our environments may not offer you the best facilities to forget the present and mentally dwell in the days of the past, when you call up the hallowed associations you have had with each other and with those who have outstripped you in the race of life, but whatever we have, and whatever we do, is for our pleasure, and we desire to entertain you with that hearty good will that always characterized the first settlers of Dallas county, and that always greeted any person who was the guest of a pioneer of Dallas county.
     When Romelus and Remus, two brothers, founded the city of Rome, some trifling matter excited a quarrel which resulted in fratricide, leaving to future generations a foul stain upon the founders of the eternal city; but the pioneers of Dallas county never quarreled about trifles; they met upon a common level, they cherished a common love for each other, they labored for the common good and the history of your noble achievements is not blurred by one jot or tittle of malice or dishonesty.
     When the Pilgrim fathers embarked upon the Mayflower and buffeted the storms and tempests of the ocean in search of homes upon the American continent, they fled from the fires of persecution. They bade adieu to a country that was uninviting and left a people whom they could not love. But, the pioneers of Dallas county, hailing from Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states of the American Union, where law and order reigned; where the brightest lights of civilization were burning; where all the conveniences of modern times were numerous; where friends and loved ones were their associates. They came to this goodly heritage when it was a wilderness; when the howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther were as common as the bark of a dog, and the scalping knife and tomahawk of the Indian were almost daily brandished among them -- and by your indomitable will, your inflexible purpose, you blazed the path to civilization, law and religion -- and laid broad and deep the foundations of the grandest country that God ever gave to the children of men.
     You who came here nearly a half century ago, trusting to your own efforts and the blessings to kind providence, then looked forward to the time when this country would be reclaimed from savage ferocity, and under your hands, blossom like the rose of Sharon.
     You now no longer live in dreary expectation, for hope has ended in rich fruition and you now enjoy, in your evening of life, all the comforts of civilized and religious associations in the midst of a country, the half of whose greatness has never yet been told.
     In the early pioneer days, you had your trials, you had your burdens, you had your conflicts, but now, thank God, you have your rewards. Fifty years ago, there were but three families in Dallas county, and I see before me, some of those families. But now, we have 75,000 people. Then, you had to go to Bonham to mill, and Jefferson and Houston were towns where general supplies could be had. But now, you have Dallas, the queen city of the state, and almost of the south. How changed the scene! how great the contrast! how great the conquest!
     It is said "Westward the Star of Empire wends its way," but when we look to the golden shore of the Pacific and think of the regions of the earth explored and unexplored, we do not believe, that in all the [cycles] of the future, any other set of people will discover and build up such a country as this. The pioneers of Dallas county need no eulogium from me. No better men, no truer characters live in the memories of men, and what shall I say of our pioneer women? True to their country, true to themselves, true to their God, they were not surpassed, if equaled, by the immortal matrons of ancient and historic Sparta. Would that we could welcome among us to-day all those who were connected with the early history of this county; but alas! your ranks are being rapidly thinned by the hand of time. I look around me and miss many we knew so well. There is Harwood, McCoy, Crockett, Bryan, Pleas Taylor, Isaac Webb, Alex Webb, John H. Cox, Mid Perry and the host of good women and many others who have passed over the river and are resting, we trust, under the shade of the trees. Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Garland and vicinity greet you gladly. We welcome you because we honor you for your privations and for what you have done to build up this county. We welcome you because we believe your presence will inspire us to nobler deeds and to a higher plane of living. What we have at our homes and in our baskets, we tender you with an old time Texas hospitality. We welcome you because we believe no other set of men and women will endure what you have endured, and then behold what you now behold. We welcome you because, as your days run out and your shadows grow less, we are anxious to contribute what we can to your happiness and your enjoyment. We welcome you because we feel that we are honored in having you in our midst to-day. Now, in conclusion, we sincerely trust your visit here will be pleasant and when you return to your respective homes, you will go with our benedictions resting upon you and with our prayers that you may be spared to meet in many more annual reunions, and that your lives may be lengthened out; that all may go well with you until, by and by, you may be permitted to pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees with the host of comrades who have outstripped you in the race of life.
     Mr. John H. Cochran responded for the pioneers. He explained that Judge Coombes, who was to respond on behalf of the pioneers, was absent, and he had just been requested to make the response for the association. He said:
     Away back in the 40's, he was well acquainted with the settlers of the old Duck Creek neighborhood. Fifteen years ago to-day, this association was organized. He referred to the privations of the settlers, through which they passed to develop this county into good and fruitful homes for the thousands of people who enjoy the fruits of their hardships. Neighbors were 15 to 20 miles apart -- but theirs were brawny hearts and strong arms -- courageous men and noble women. In accepting the hospitalities of the people of Garland, we do so as pioneers and admirers of the pioneers, reflecting that they have contributed so much to the greatness of Dallas county and the state of Texas as the brightest star in the galaxy of our great Union. We will be indebted to them and to Garland for the happiness which we anticipate upon this occasion.

     The following beautiful poem, a tribute to the pioneers of Dallas county, was written by Mrs. May Guillot Potter, a native of Dallas, and read by Miss Mary Cochran of Rawlins in a sweet and clear voice:

     Hon. J. H. Cochran was elected secretary. Major Brown distributed printed copies of the poem with a graceful compliment to its beauty.
     The president then announced the deaths of the year, as follows: Capt. Middleton Perry and his wife, Mrs. Ellen Perry, one of the vice presidents; Mrs. Nancy P., widow of Pleasant Taylor; Mrs. Sarah H. Cockrell, Mrs. Emily Beeman (the oldest female resident of the county, having settled in it in April, 1842); Ethel S. Miller, Hamilton McDowell, Col. Charilaus (Crill) Killer, Thomas M. Williams, Mrs. Adaline Newton, J. H. Holloway, I. C. Atteburry, Mrs. Mary A. Martin, J. H. Moss, Mrs. Virgie Rawlins, Mrs. Rosa Anderson and Mrs. W. P. Armstrong.
     It is a great pleasure to meet these old pioneers and see them greet each other. There is no social occasion during the whole year which affords to this worthy and fast fading, and yet, growing portion of our citizenship, more genuine pleasure, pleasure which springs from the heart and wells up through moistened eyes. The number of original pioneers is rapidly decreasing, but the members of the association embracing also their sons and daughters, is growing. I sat next to two of the oldest and first of the settlers of the wild prairies of Dallas county, as they spoke of the trials and pleasures of long ago. One said: "I look back forty years, and it seems but yesterday when I see you all here." Said the other: "Our time will soon be passed away;" and a kerchief was passed across his eyes.
     Some of the older pioneers present are:
     Mrs. Lydia Rawlins, mother of R. D. and John Rawlins, two now prominent citizens of Dallas and Lancaster. Mrs. Rawlins came to Dallas in 1848 and is now 80 years old.
     Mrs. M. H. Lavender of Lancaster, mother of W. P. Lavender, came to Dallas in 1845, and is now 77 years [old]. Her husband, William Lavender, died in 1848, and Mrs.. Lavender has remained at Lancaster, and is hale and hearty for one of her age. William P., himself, is 49 years old. Capt. William Beeman, bearing his 70 years with the pristine vigor of a man of 50, is here to-day; he is a pioneer. Mr. D. L. Gracey is moving about among the great throng. He settled in the Lisbon neighborhood in 1843, nearly fifty years ago. Mr. W. P. Overton, the third man to locate in the Lisbon neighborhood, is on the grounds. William Beeman is 65 years old and came to Dallas in 1842. His father, in 1841, helped to build Fort Bird, twenty miles up the Trinity from Dallas. C. H. Patrick is one of the best known, as well as the oldest, pioneers in the county. He is 70 years old, and first settled in Leon county in 1841, when Leon and Dallas were parts and parcel of Robertson, and in 1846, he came to Dallas county, locating eight miles southeast of Hutchins, and his home has been there ever since. He fought the Indians often and Abram P. Smith, his father-in-law, was killed by the Caddos near Belknap. Mr. Patrick polled a large vote for treasurer two years ago and is a strong man. Major John Henry Brown, the historian of Texas for upwards of sixty years, a resident of the Lone Star State and whose name is a household word; and "Uncle Jack" Cole of Dallas, a pioneer widely known and respected, are conspicuous figures present to-day.
     The band which furnished music for the occasion is a pioneer band, its members being nearly all descendants of pioneers. The Strain Cornet Band of Lancaster is composed of fine young men of the good old town of Lancaster. Ten of the thirteen are sons of the original pioneers of 1840-50. There's Hal, Carl and Bird White, sons of Mrs. Lou F. White, who is the daughter of Thos. Ellis, deceased, one of the earliest settlers of the country. Finis Holloway, son of Jas. H. Holloway, who came to Dallas county over forty years ago, and who died last January.
     Earl Ellis, son of J. T. Ellis, and grandson of Thomas Ellis, who came out in the 40's.
     Cole Moffit, son of W. R., and Bob Moffit, son of H. J. Moffit, brothers, who came in the 50's.
     Burt Lavender, cousin of W. P., and son of Cecil Lavender, John Hatter, son of George and John Lott, son of John, W., all of whom came out with the "conquerors."
     H. S. Strain and Chas. Strain, from Tennessee, and E. M. Curry from Virginia, are the only members not native. While they have not the honor of being natives, they did their part by coming to Dallas county as soon as they could get here. The band is one of the best in Texas and contributes much to the pleasure of the reunion.

     The exercises were started this afternoon by two weddings.
     The first was young Jackson to Miss Amelia Rainey, sister of Rainey, who was killed by Nash. The second was on the stage -- Mr. Mike C. Roupe to Mrs. F. P. Williams. The bridal party moved down the aisle and stepped upon the stage to the tune of a march by the band. Then quiet reigned, the groom blushed profusely, the bride smiled sweetly, the band played; Mark Elliston gave a whoop and all was extremely lovely. 'Mid surroundings picturesque, Esquire Swain said: "After having enjoyed many other pleasures, we will now celebrate a union of hearts," and as he pronounced the twain one, the crowd cheered.
     "One heart made happy," said one admirer. "What's the matter with two?" asked another. The TIMES-HERALD extends congratulations and best wishes.

Special to the Times-Herald.
     GARLAND, Tex., July 14. -- By some means or mishap, I yesterday misplaced and failed to enclose the last page of my letter, which pertained to a most interesting and important feature of the day -- the dinner. Garland people had vied with each other in efforts to excel in contributions to the sumptuous dinner, and every one was successful. Messrs. Allen, Cherry, Halsell, Cullum, Coomer, Mewshaw, Floyd and Nash, or rather their good wives and scores of others were freely complimented by the visitors on the elaborate and most excellent spreads. No one was allowed to be overlooked.
     The afternoon programme was then continued after the hymeneal exercises, which I wired yesterday.
     Rev. J. M. Myers, of Carrollton, gave some interesting reminiscences of his early pilgrimage to Texas from Illinois with a small colony; how he traded coffee and sugar for corn and beef in the Indian Territory; his trials and privations the first year or two.
     The old gentleman was one of fourteen brothers and sisters. Mr. Myers says Amos Fortner, now at Plano, was the first white child born in this county. John Hewitt plowed one of the first farms in the county near Carrollton, and Indians came in the moonlight and gathered his first crop.
     The writer missed the greater part of Mr. Myers' talk. Mr. Myers is now 69 years old, is a native of Kentucky, and with his wife and one child, moved to Texas in 1845. He has four sons and five daughters, all married but one, and in his happy old age, after an eventful and useful life, is surrounded by fifty grandchildren. Mr. Myers has preached in this county for thirty years, organized some of the now most prosperous churches in the county, and though managing his own farm near Carrollton, still finds time for occasional good sermons.
     Mr. E. T. Myers, of Housley, followed with a recital of recollections, which was listened to with keen pleasure by both young and old. He said when he came to Dallas in 1845, there was much report over the country about the future greatness of the city, and there were but two stores, Mr. Derden (whose widow is here) and Smith & Patterson, one on each side of the street, or road. He bought goods then in this town about as cheap as he can get them now -- boots $2.50, trace chains 75 cents, and so on. Many of the new comers were disgusted on arrival at Dallas, the much-talked-of town, and they left for return home without unloading their wagons. But, those who remained bought lands and became, in a short while, prosperous. He referred to Bros. Myers' Baptist record, and said he was one of the first Methodists in the county, and was with the first circuit rider on his first trip. He preached the first sermon at Dallas in a little log cabin with puncheon floor, which was also used for court. Jocky Thomas, being then chief justice. While the preacher preached, a ten pin alley was in full blast a few feet away, and as the "rap," "rap" of the balls kept up their noise, the preacher was much disturbed, and declaiming Dallas a mighty bad place, shook the dust of the county off his feet and left. He said he had seen his Baptist brothers shout at a White Rock camp meeting just as loud and earnestly as any Methodist, and we have some good meetings yet. The speaker hoped Dallas was a better town now than then. He said they had a Trinity river boom on then, just as they have now; that Capt. Gilbert, Amos McCommas and others prepared to raise funds by contributions of cotton to clear out the drifts and navigate the river. He put in $15 or $20 worth of cotton, and some progress was made; but every time they would bring a boat up, dry weather would catch them and the boat couldn't get back.
     Hon. John H. Cochran next spoke and said if the association would meet next year at Farmers' branch, he would there, at this first home, celebrate his semi-centennial in Dallas county. He spoke of Farmers' Branch as the mother of the county, nearly all the first settlers going first to Farmers' Branch and from there locating over the county. The Myers, the Coombses, the Perrys, the Overtons, Cochrans and others located first at Farmers' Branch, which town was first known, not even excepting Dallas. Old man Marsh had even claimed he could show the exact spot where Adam and Eve stood at the time of the apple incident. Mr. Cochran then gave some of his experiences with the Indians in Young county.
     Mr. T. G. Cherry, a resident of the Garland neighborhood, is one of the pioneer Texans. He came to Texas Jan. 1, 1856, having camped just over in the Indian Territory the last day of 1855. He is now 57 years of age. He lived in Red River county until about '72, when he moved to Dallas county. Mrs. Cherry came to Texas in 1848. Mr. Cherry is a strict and genuine Democrat, and always active and deliberate in its councils.
     W. C. Parker is 57 years old, and with his wife, came to Texas thirty years ago, settling at Saxie in the northeastern part of this county. He is proud of his county and the part he had in its development and civilization.
     John Bryan, of Carrollton, is forty-seven years of age, son of John Neely Bryan, who came from Tennessee in 1849 and built the first cabin where Dallas now spreads over the ground then occupied by the farms of Mr. Bryan and several of his neighbors. John Bryan was the first child born in the town of Dallas. John Neely Bryan married a sister of Mr. Beeman in Dallas county in 1843, his wife being from Illinois. The elder Bryan was representative for this county in the legislature when this county was a large district covering much of North Texas. Later, he practiced law and justice of the peace. Mrs. Bryan, now sixty-seven years old, is living with her son, John, on his farm at Carrollton, and while in good health, was not strong enough to make the trip here this year. She is present, however, in the hearts of her warm friends of the early days. Her one desire now is to spend her remaining days and be buried in Dallas county. Mr. Bryan left Dallas in 1872, and went to his ranch in Southwest Texas, but after a few years at the request of his mother, returned to live in Dallas county.
     George White, of Lancaster, is one of the youngest looking for his age. He is sixty-six and has few gray hairs in his black beard. He came to Dallas county in 1849, and married Miss Mary Finch in 1847, and is still living at Lancaster.
     Capt. Dave Marsh is an old pioneer, and yet one of the most vigorous and active citizens in the county. He came to this county when 8 years of age, with his father, H. C. Marsh, in July 1844, with Peters' colony. Capt. Marsh tells some interesting stories of early pioneer life. The first dance he attended some 40 years ago was with Prigmore, and a yearling was killed and eaten. Capt. Marsh lives on the same old homestead settled by his father, and says the fertility of the far-famed[?] Mississippi valley does not surpass the productiveness of our Dallas black lands.

     The morning session was opened promptly at 10 o'clock. After prayer by Rev. J. M. Myer, Dr. A. M. Cochran delivered the memorial address, commemorating the memory of the dead of the past year, which, by the way, is the largest list of departed pioneers for several years. Dr. Cochran's address was eloquent and fervent in speaking of the experiences and admirable characteristics of the noble men and lovable women who contributed so much to the development of the civilization we here now enjoy.
     The following is a list of the pioneers, who, during the past twelve months, have taken their departure to that new and bright land where trials and privations are unknown.
     Capt. Middleton Perry and his wife, Mrs. Ellen Perry, one of the vice presidents; Mrs. Nancy P., widow of Pleasant Taylor; Mrs. Sarah H. Cochran, Mrs. Emily Beeman (the oldest female resident of the county, having settled in it in April, 1842), Ethel S. Miller, Hamilton McDowell, Col. Charilaus (Crill) Miller, Thomas M. Williams, Mrs. Adaline Newton, J. H. Holloway, L. C. Atteburry, Mrs. Mary A. Martin, J. H. Moss, Mrs. Virgie Rawlins, Mrs. Rosa Anderson and Mrs. W. P. Armstrong.
     Mr. Cochran said away along in the early '40's, the men who came to Dallas county were honest men. the merchants in their second orders didn't buy more locks. Locks were not needed. Merchants even left their stores unlocked and everything was safe. Men whoever once lived in Texas were never satisfied elsewhere. The old settlers would sometimes go back, but always return. And, should they die on the way, their children would return. There had been a common and erroneous opinion that the early pioneers were ignorant because it was thought only ignorant men and women would come to a country where savages were the destroyers of civilized life. Our men of those days were universally intelligent, and our women smart and noble. There were among them, lawyers, ministers, doctors and teachers -- their brain was equal to their brawn -- they were gentlemen and ladies and capable of discharging every duty to government and society from governor down.
     On motion, the time of annual meetings was changed to the first Wednesday in August.
     On motion, Farmers Branch was selected as the place for the next annual meeting.
     Mr. Rawlins nominated Lancaster and extended a cordial invitation, but was induced to withdraw, as Lancaster had the meeting two years ago. So, Farmers Branch was unanimously chosen.
     Then followed speeches by Judge Burford and others, and announcement for dinner.
     The officers of the association elected to-day are as follows:
     John Henry Brown, president.
     Wm. H. Hord, Elisha McComas, Mrs. C. Durgin, vice presidents.
     Elder John M. Meyers, chaplain.
     Gabriel A. Knight, treasurer.
     Wm. C. McKamy, secretary.
     M. D. L. Gracey, John H. Cole, Wm. H. Beeman, Tolbert Lavender, Mrs. Rhoda Ann McComas, Mrs. Martha Beeman, Mrs. Martha E. Gracey, Mrs. Emily Gray, John Bryan and Elisha Halsell, executive committee.
     The dinner again to-day was equal to that of yesterday, and the appreciation of it and the genuine hospitality of Garland people was clearly manifest in the zest with which the bountiful supply of good things was partaken. There was dinner enough for another thousand people.
     The candidate is here and the announcement cards innumerable. They are tacked on the trees, on the stands, and worn on the hats and in the belts and other delightful places about the lovely forms of the fair daughters of Dallas county.

     Twenty-eight years ago, in Magnolia, La., W. H. and G. A. Stewart, then sturdy lads, became separated from their sister, Mrs. Josephine Spinks. One day last week, they were reunited in this city. The Stewart boys have made this city their home for fifteen or twenty years past and Mrs. Spinks for eight years or more. S. A. Stewart is a painter and his brother has an express wagon. The painter recently painted the residence of his sister and was in total ignorance of the relationship. The express driver hauled a trunk to the house one day last week, and when Mrs. Spinks appeared, he recognized her at once as his sister, owing to her close resemblance to his mother. An old-fashioned family reunion took place at once.

     One day in April, an elderly gentleman, a stranger, sank to the sidewalk on Elm street, as if shot through the brain. He had been stricken down by a stroke of apoplexy. The good Samaritan appeared on the scene and the unfortunate stranger was taken to the hospital, where it was discovered that he was paralyzed. He had lost the power of speech, and for six weeks, could not say a word. Some three weeks ago, he began to improve rapidly. His speech returned, and, at times, he would chat with Dr. V. P. Armstrong, who had done all in his power to restore to health, the unknown. He had no money when admitted to the hospital, and when he recovered his lost powers, was very reticent and had but little to say of the past. Finally, one day, Dr. Armstrong said to him:
     "Mr. Blank, have you no relatives?"
     "Yes," was the reply, "a brother, and a sister at St. Louis. I do not care to write to my brother. We parted in anger thirty-two years ago."
     Dr. Armstrong expressed surprise and plunged into the conversation with zest.
     "Thirty-two years ago, in a Tennessee village," said the patient, "there were four brothers, all young men. I was one of the four. Two sided with the south, and two with the north. One night, we quarreled, and only the tears of mother and sisters averted a bloody battle between the male members of the divided household. The next morning, two of the boys rode away to the Confederate army, and the other two hastened, at once, to the Federal camp. One became a lieutenant on the staff of Gen. John Morgan, the Confederate cavalry raider; another, a lieutenant on the staff of Gen. Phil. Sheridan. They fought through the war on opposite sides, and the man who was found in an unconscious condition on the Elm street sidewalk was the eldest of the four boys. He wore the blue and was one of "little Phil's" staff officers."
     Acting under the advice of Dr. Armstrong, the veteran of the war forwarded a letter to his sister, who is a resident of St. Louis. Ten days passed by and no answer came. Saturday, a well-to-do citizen of Waco came to the city hospital. He was agitated, and his voice was tremulous with suppressed excitement. He called for Dr. Armstrong and that gentleman responded. In his hand, the Waco gentleman held the letter written by the old boy in blue to his sister in St. Louis. With tears glistening in his eyes, the gentleman said:
     "Doctor, you have in your charge, my brother." We separated in anger, at our boyhood home in Tennessee, thirty-two years ago. I fought for the south; he against it. I wish to see him."
     The request was granted, and a moment later, these two old gray-beards were locked in each others arms, weeping like two children. Over the re-union, the curtain rings down. Morgan's old comrade-in-arms was overjoyed. He came up town, purchased a magnificent suit of clothing, Stetson hat, under-clothing, collars, cuffs and all other needed accessories of a gentleman's wardrobe, and returned to the hospital. Yesterday, the two brothers, so strangely united, departed for Waco, where the man who wore the blue will spend his declining years with the one who wore the gray, and upon whom, fortune has smiled since the dark days of internecine strife. He is an old bachelor, which is the only black spot on his record.
     During the time the gentleman was at the hospital under treatment, his brother from Waco visited Dallas once or twice a week, never dreaming that a brother was in deep distress a few blocks from the hotel at which he made his headquarters. What is stranger yet, a son of the patient, who travels for a large eastern house, spent a week in Dallas the latter part of April, and had not the slightest intimation that his father was in the same city.
     The "mysterious stranger" talked of his ventures and adventures in Nevada, Idaho and Montana, at intervals, but he was never communicative, and preferred to keep his own counsel and retain his own secrets.
     Before departing for Waco, the citizen of that city expressed his desire to do something handsome for the hospital, in return for the kindness extended to his unfortunate relative. Dr. Armstrong told him that he had done his duty only, and the employes had simply attended to their duties, and nothing could be accepted from him. The gentleman said he knew Mayor Connor well, and on his next visit to Dallas, he promised a call upon the chief executive, and to the city hospital, through the mayor, extend a testimonial of his appreciation.

     In response to the felicitous words of welcome from the Rev. John M. Myers, with which he greeted the old pioneers of Dallas county at Farmers' Branch on yesterday, the Hon. John H. Cochran spoke as follows:
     HONORED SIR: To me falls the honor and the pleasant duty of responding, in behalf of the grand old pioneers of Dallas county, to the cordial greeting and hearty welcome of the good people of historic Farmers' Branch, which has been so eloquently expressed and generously extended to us, by one of her gifted and honored sons, with whom I have been acquainted for forty-eight years, and whose remarks are suggestive of the leading and predominant character of the people of Farmers' Branch for the last fifty years.
     In accepting the hospitalities of this people upon this happy occasion, it is but meet, that we should briefly refer to the history of the community whose welcome guests we are to-day. And, when we shall use the term "Farmers' Branch," we use it as did the early pioneers of this community, to include all that territory between the county line on the north, to Jo's branch on the south -- from its head on the east, to the Elm Fork on the west.
     The people of Farmers' Branch have, for the last fifty years, been an intelligent, good and honest people. Friends, as little as you may think of it, Farmers' Branch is, indeed, a sacred and an historic place in the hearts and history of the pioneers of Dallas county.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in December, 1842, that Thomas Keenan and the Pulliam boys built the first two dwelling houses ever built in Dallas county. And, the third one was built by William M. Cochran in the spring of 1843. True, Col. John Neely Bryan, the founder of the city of Dallas, built, in the same year, a block house on the north bank of the Trinity river, near where the court house now stands, and the Beemans came down from Bird's old fort the same year and made what was known as the Beeman settlement, east of where the city of Dallas now stands in all her present beauty and grandeur.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch , near where we now stand, that Wm. M. Cochran, my father, fenced in and broke the first farm of fifty-three acres, in 1843, that was ever put in cultivation in Dallas county, on which, in 1844, was sown the first wheat, and planted the first cotton ever sown and planted in Dallas county. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where the weary, worn traveler and emigrant of 1843, 1844, 1845 and 1846, first found a warm and hearty welcome by those who had preceded them. It was the Farmers' Branch settlement that was first known abroad, and to which the pioneers of 1843, '44, '45 and '46 directed their march and finally pitched their tents, obtained their supplies, and from which, they prospected and made their several selections and formed the different settlements, or neighborhoods of the county, familiar only to those of us who survive.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in 1845, that the first Methodist church ever organized in Dallas county was organized with my mother, Nancy J. Cochran, Uncle Isaac B. Webb and Aunt Mary Webb and Franklin Fortner as its only organic members. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in the spring of 1846, that Elder David Myers, father of brothers, John M. and Cleve Myers, in connection with Elder Wm. Boales, organized the first Baptist church ever organized in Dallas county, and baptized Thos. Keenan and wife in Farmers' branch, that the first church houses ever erected in Dallas county were built by the Methodist and Baptist denominations. The first was called Webb's chapel. The second, Union church. It was here, in the spring of 1846, in Webb's chapel, which stood near where A. J. Dennis now lives, that Thos. C. Williams taught the first school ever taught in Dallas county, and at which school, your humble servant learned his ABC's.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in 1846, that the first Sunday school ever organized in Dallas county, was organized. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that Wm. Boales erected the first blacksmith shop ever erected in Dallas county, with an old colored man by the name of Jordan, as blacksmith. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that Wm. Boales erected the first corn mill, on stilts, run with a rawhide band, that was ever built in Dallas county. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that R. J. West built the first tanyard and tanned the first leather ever tanned in Dallas county, and on account of the demand for the leather, it was taken from the vats and used before properly tanned, and in consequence, when this half-tanned leather was wet, and then became dry, it was as hard as a board, and from this fact, the north prong of Farmers' Branch, on which this tannery was built, took the name of "Rawhide Branch," which it bears to this day. The first shoe shop ever in Dallas county was run by an Englishman by the name of Sims, on Farmers' Branch. The first county clerk and the first representative in the legislature Dallas county ever had was a pioneer citizen of Farmers' Branch. The first land office ever established in North Texas was established on Farmers' Branch, in 1845, near where Whit Webb's house stands, by Hedgecock, agent for Peters' colony. Last, but not least, it was here on Farmers' Branch that Tom and Dave Marsh, William and Whit Webb, James M. Kennedy, Cleve Myers, John R. West, G. W. Good, A. M. and Wm. P. Cochran and your humble servant were school boys and rabbit and coon hunters together on Farmers' Branch, all of whom are alive and well to-day.
     With this array of facts before you, who can doubt but that Farmer's Branch is a sacred historic spot in the hearts and history of the early pioneers of Dallas county? The home of our fathers, the play ground of our childhood. Sacred spot where first were planted in the wilderness, the seeds of civilization which have grown and borne fruit in such abundance, that, to-day, it is the grandest and most populous county in Texas.
     Yes, 'twas here on Farmers' Branch that many, many pioneers, weary and tired, received their first welcome and warm greetings to a home on the then extreme frontier of Texas, by those who had preceded them, and to whom they were entire strangers.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where many old pioneers first met as strangers, and, at once, formed attachments for each other that lasted during their natural lives, and is now extended to their children and their children's children, and, if true to the memory of their noble sires, will be perpetuated for generations yet to come.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where the smokehouse and corn crib were first and ever open to supply the wants of the "new-comer." And, to-day, when we come here, to Farmers' Branch, to celebrate this, the fiftieth anniversary, of the settlement of Dallas county, and the forty-seventh since the organization of the county, we find the same cordial greeting, the same generous hospitality and liberal spirit, we found here forty-five and fifty years ago.
     Then, in the name, and in behalf of the visiting pioneers of Dallas county, I return your greeting and accept your hospitality in the same spirit they were extended and received by the pioneers of fifty years ago. And, I assure you, that we have come as brothers and friends, leaving behind us the busy cares of life for the purpose of partaking of your hospitality and enjoying ourselves with you, in the reminiscences of the past, and to perpetuate the memory of the brave and grand old pioneers of our county.

Special Correspondence.
     FARMERS' BRANCH, Aug. 4. -- The nineteenth annual reunion of the Dallas County Pioneer association began at Farmers' Branch Wednesday morning and closed last evening.
     The beautiful grove, about a fourth of a mile south of the town, where the reunion was held, was admirably adapted to such an occasion. The enterprising and generous people of Farmers' Branch and vicinity left nothing undone to make this event an enjoyable and long-to-be-remembered one to those who participated in it. Probably 3000 persons were in attendance. They came from all parts of the county, some of them who have been citizens of Dallas county for over forty years. Many were here from adjoining counties, also. To Marshal W. R. Turnipseed, Owen Terrell, Jack Ogden and other citizens of the town is due the good order that prevailed throughout the reunion, no drunkenness or difficulties of any kind having marred the pleasure of the occasion.
     The following are the present officers of the association: John Henry Brown, the Texas historian of Dallas, president; William H. Hord, Elisha McCommas and C. B. Durgin, vice presidents; Elder Jno. M. Myers, chaplain; Gabriel A. Knight, treasurer; William C. McKamy, secretary.
     Executive committee -- M. D. L. Gracey, Mrs. Emily Gray, Mrs. Rhoda Ann McCommas, Mrs. Martha Beeman, Mrs. Martha E. Gracey, William H. Beeman, John H. Cole, Tolbert Lavender, John Bryan and Elisha Halsell.
     Committee on badges and printing -- William H. Beeman and Mrs. Martha Beeman.
     Farmers' Branch committee of arrangements -- John Bryan, John B. May, Rev. John N. Myers, Rev. G. W. Goode, William Turnipseed, B. C. Myers, John Johnson, Mark Ellison, I. S. Bailey and T. C. Marsh.
     The following was the programme carried out:
     First day -- Called to order at 10 o'clock a. m.
     Prayer by Chaplain Rev. John M. Meyers.
     Welcome address, by Rev. G. M. Goode.
     Response, by Hon. John H. Cochran.
     Announcement of the deaths during the year, by the president.
     The deaths during the year, so far as reported, have been Calaway Patrick, J. I. Statton, Mrs. Caroline Fisher (nee Beeman), George W. Glover; William Flemming, Mrs. Henrietta Tennison (nee McDermitt), and Thomas C. Williams.
     Adjournment for dinner.
     Afternoon reassemble -- Semi-centennial address, by Hon. John H. Cochran.
     Miscellaneous remarks by the brethren.
     Second day - Assembled at 10 o'clock a. m.
     Prayer by Rev. Myers.
     Reports of officers and committees.
     Memorial of the dead, by Rev. Myers.
     Social and miscellaneous remarks.
     Dinner.
     Afternoon reassemble -- Election of officers and committees for the ensuing year, to be followed by social intercourse, music, and whatever the association may call for.
     Music both days by the people of Farmers' Branch.
     In the semi-centennial address of Hon. J. H. Cochran, interesting reference was made to the varied experiences and hardships of the early settlers of Dallas county. He spoke of the wonderful progress made in this fertile and wealthy county under the magic influence of an advanced civilization, of the many shifting scenes and changes that have taken place here since the first settlers of the county cast their lots, with their families, in this, then the frontier county, inhabited only by savages and wild beasts, over fifty years ago.
     He also referred to Dallas as a marvel of nineteenth century city-building, the proud and wealthy metropolis that has risen to its present size and importance from a modest and straggling village, in a comparatively few years. The speech was running over with county history, taking in both the sad and humorous side of the lives of the pioneers of the county, and was listened to with a keen interest by his hearers, especially the surviving members of the association.
     Special trains were run from Dallas to the reunion, and a number of Dallas people took advantage of the excursion rates to go to the country and get a breath of pure air. A large number of Dallas people were out yesterday. The dinner spread by the pioneers and their families was a feast for the gods. Major John Henry Brown, re-elected president of the association, made a most eloquent speech during the afternoon, and Rev. Myers delivered an address that will long be remembered by those who heard the aged servant of God.
     Lancaster was selected as the place of meeting next year.

     Several hundred people from the city went to the annual reunion of the old settlers of Dallas county at Lancaster to-day. The most of them went by the trains, but many went overland in buggies and on horseback.
     The reunion will continue to-morrow.

     The surviving members of Ector's, Ross' and Granbury's Brigades and of the Good-Douglass Battery, met at the Fair grounds at 10 a. m. in their regular annual re-union.
     The programme for to-day consisted of the usual addresses, dinner at 1 p. m., served in camp-meeting style, and the afternoon was spent by social intercourse among the old soldiers, most of whom built up a constitution by the hardships they endured during the war that still enables them to enjoy robust health.
     Up to noon, the following ex-Confederates had registered at headquarters:
     Col. Richard Wynne spoke this afternoon. There is no programme for to-night.
     The old soldiers are making the St. George hotel their down-town headquarters.
     A telegram was received from Capt. J. P. Douglas that he will be here to-night.

     Marble Holbert, G. J. Gooch, R. M. Collins, James H. Matthews, W. T. Lavender, J. A. Bradfield, O. P. Bowser.
     George Robertson, W. H. Drake, H. P. Rodgers, O. P. Scott, H. D. Loving, P. J. Coalter, J. H. Johnson, A. Robertson.

     T. J. Gee, E. Murphy, G. L. Griscom, E. J. Brown, W. S. Cummins, W. M. Wilson, T. Bridges, B. C. Farkington, T. J. Woodhouse, J. H. Brock, J. B. Armstrong, H. C. Dial, Martin Williams, J. K. Stewart, Alonzo Womack, Mark Ellison, R. D. Rawlins, L. F. Smith, R. A. Rawlins, J. S. Rawlins, H. Lasee, William Ryan, Thomas Uhl.
     W. J. Brown, A. H. Rawlins, T. S. Coleman, J. R. Gun, P. P. Allen, A. P. Allen, A. P. Sommers, John A. Payne, J. H. Ellis, D. S. Alvey, J. P. Dent.

     M. M. Robinett, R. M. Henderson, W. J. Ingram, J. G. McCown.
John J. Miller, R. M. Wynne, B. P. Jett, T. J. Rowland, S. J. Darcy, H. C. Hoskins.

     G. A. Knight, Mitch Gray.

     Yesterday morning, at 10 o'clock, the Stonewall Grays' organization held their annual reunion in the grand jury room at the courthouse.
     The Stonewall Grays, twenty-one years ago, organized as a military company in this city and continued its organization actively until some time in 1879, when it discontinued its military feature, but retained its organization, and on each New Year's, the members who are still in Dallas, hold a reunion in remembrance of old times.
     Yesterday, Sterling Price camp of United Confederate Veterans were the guests of the Stonewalls, together with the old members of the Lamar rifles, a contemporaneous military company in the old days, twenty years ago, and the honorary members of the company, Gen. W. L. Cabell, Capt. W. H. Gaston and Messrs. Philip and Alex Sanger.
     At 9:30, Sterling Price camp assembled at the headquarters, and forming under command of Second Lieut. C. T. Parks, marched to the courthouse, and filing into the grand jury room, were seated.
     Shortly after this, Hon. E. G. Bower, president of the Stonewall Grays organization, called the assembly to order, gave briefly, the history of the Stonewalls, and stated that one of the special objects of the occasion, in addition to its social features, was the presentation by the Stonewalls, of the old regimental flag of the first Texas infantry of Hood's brigade, to Sterling Price camp, to be held by the camp in trust, until the annual reunion of the Texas division of the United Confederate Veterans, to be held this year, and then to be presented by the camp to Hood's Brigade association, that it might, again, go into the hands of the remnant left of the brave men who had borne it during the war. The flag had been entrusted to the Stonewall Grays for safe keeping during its active military days by Major Oldham, of the first Texas infantry, who had brought it to Texas when the war closed. Capt. Bower then called upon Mr. Charles L. Martin, a member of the Stonewall Grays, who had been delegated to present it to Sterling Price camp.
     Taking the battle-torn and tattered remnants of the flag from its repository and spreading it out, that all might see it, Mr. Martin said:
     "Gentlemen, of Sterling Price camp: I have been commissioned to present to you for safe keeping, in trust, this flag, a precious relic that come down from the days that tried men's souls; the days when you and thousands of others of the brave sons of our beloved southland went forth to meet the enemies of our country, to confront the perils and endure the privations of war. It is a sacred memento of the direful past. The deft and dainty fingers of fair women fashioned it, and with the stitches of its folds were blended their hopes, their prayers and their tears for the cause they loved so well, for the noble men who were to uplift and bear it aloft.
     "It was the flag of the first Texas infantry, one of the regiments of the immortal Hood's brigade. It was a bright day when fist it floated out upon the breeze on the color line at Camp Texas, Dumfries, Va., in the winter of 1861, and as they gazed upon it, the hearts of gallant men beat with pride, and their eyes flashed the determination to uphold it in honor, or to die beneath it.
     "Its every shred is sacred, grimed as it is, with the smoke of nearly every battlefield of Virginia. Baptized with the blood of heroes, and of martyrs, in the cause of the right, coronered with the glory of brilliant victories, emblazoned with deeds of prowess and of courage that o'ershadow the valor and achievements of all ages, there cluster about it thrilling, and tender memories, as well, of the dauntless men who loved it, who fought under it, who gave their lives for it, who endured all for it -- the dead and the few yet living.
     "While time lasts, it will be refulgent with glory's halo. Centuries may come and centuries may go, with their nations and their peoples, with their fields of renown and their historic epochs, and in the cycles of time of the dim and misty ages yet to come -- even beyond the borderland of the imagination, poets may sing of the paladins of their day and still the glory of this flag, and of the men who, for four ghastly years of carnage, never once let it trail in defeat, will shine to the very Ultima Thule of time.
     The summit of the grandeur of the deeds that hallow it reaches above and beyond any hyperbole of words, any expression of language, even the sublimity of thought.
     Of the hosts, "the immortal few who were not born to die," who marched with martial tread so intrepidly, beneath its bright folds when the sunlight first kissed them in far away Virginia, who bore it in honor at Eltham's Landing, at Seven Pines, at Gaines' Mill, at second Manassas, at Sharpsburg, on the blood-crimsoned crest of Little Round Top, on Gettysburg's awful heights, at the crater, at the Wilderness when Gen. Lee tried to lead the Texans in their charge, but with one voice, they cried, "Gen. Lee to the rear -- Texans know how to die!" at Chickamauga -- wherever and whenever the fight was fiercest and thickets -- of these gallant souls, but a few old men, hardly a corporal's guard, were left to furl it forever on that saddest day the sun ere shone on, at Appomattox. The others were sleeping in "the silent bivouac of the dead." They had done all that men could do -- they had died for it, and with their lives, they had glorified it.
     The chrism of woman's tears -- the tears of the mothers, the sisters, the wives and the sweethearts of those who came home, never again, forever, makes it holy now.
     Take it, take it in trust to be delivered to the few still remaining, the white-haired few whose hearts, though as steel in battle, are tender as the hearts of women, with love for it. Take it, and to them, release it, the consecrated legacy of their perils and their sufferings and of their dead comrades.
     On the part of Sterling Price camp, Geo. W. Cabell received the flag, saying:
     "In behalf of Sterling Price camp, I receive this precious memento, in trust to be delivered by the camp, to Hood's Texas Brigade association at the reunion this year of the Texas division of United Confederate Veterans.
     It is, indeed, a precious memento. No braver men ever graced God's earth than the men who bore it through nearly every battle field in Virginia. The most of them are sleeping now in the bosom of old Virginia, where they died upholding this flag and defending their country from the invader. History may tell of the heroes and of the chivalry of other countries, and of other ages, but not one of its pages is brighter than are those which record the valor of the men who fought with Hood.
     They knew not fear, they laughed at danger, and in the midst of the greatest perils, they sang songs to the rhythm of shrieking round shot, bursting shells and whistling minie balls. When they gave "that rebel yell" and charged, they swept the field and planted their standards in victory on the enemy's strongest holds. Above the fire-created wave of every battle field where they fought, this flag, in triumph, waved.
     Call the roll of those old heroes. From Cold Harbor to Gettysburg and Chickamauga, from every ensanguined field, comes the answer "present" from spirit voices -- the spirits of the immortal dead, who fell in the battle's forefront.
     I have not the words to express my thoughts or my feelings as I gaze upon the shot and shell-torn fragments that are left of that old flag. It shall go to those left of the intrepid men who bore it in honor for four years, and as a sacred trust, Sterling Price camp receives it.
     Refreshments had been provided by the Stonewalls for the guests, and the flag ceremonies being ended, the festivities bean. The occasion was much enjoyed, and short addressed were made by Capt. E. G. Bower, Dr. S. H. Stout, Judge Burke, George Waller, H. C. Latham, Dr. S. D. Thruston and Dr. J. C. Storey.
     The material for this flag was furnished by Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall, it being one of her silk dresses, and the flag was made by her and her daughter, and perhaps some other ladies.
     Louis T. Wigfall, United States senator from Texas when the state seceded, was the first colonel of the first Texas Infantry, and when the Texas brigade, of which his regiment was a part, was formed, he was made the first brigadier general in command, being succeeded by John B. Hood, colonel of the fourth Texas, when he, Col. Wigfall, was elected to the Confederate States senate by the legislature of Texas.
     The flag, when completed by the ladies, was presented to the regiment on their behalf by President Jefferson Davis and was received on the part of the regiment by Capt. Frank Beaumont, the company's last captain, and who had previously been second lieutenant and first sergeant:
     J. C. Arnold, C. W. Austin, E. M. Barkley, Beaumont B. Buck, F. Beaumont, J. B. Bosley, E. G. Bower, F. Cain, C. H. Calhoun, C. H. Calhoun, G. Carlton, Alex Cockrell, J. J. Cox, F. S. Clemons, Tom Cornwell, J. B. Cummins, J. H. Davis, E. L. Davis, E. P. Ellis, J. Flint, Tom Floyd, J. Gayle, J. J. Good, Walter Green, K. Hall, D. Hinckley, F. Hinckley, A. S. Jett, Ben Kaufman, S. Levey, C. L. Martin, J. B. Mitchell, J. C. McNealus, J. N. Ogden, June Peak, Maj. Peak, Victor Peak, Worth Peak, J. S. Poland, G. N. Quillman, S. D. Rice, J. B. Roberts, W. Robinson, J. Royer, Joe Record, Cliff Scott, S. B. Scott, T. P. Scott, Wm. Shea, H. B. Strange, S. D. Thruston, J. T. Tooley, Geo. Waller, Henry Waller, A. K. Work, C. A. Work, J. Work, J. E. Wolf, C. Wheat.
     Of these fifty-eight members of the old company, all are in the city except twenty-five. Of these, twenty-five who are absent, four are known to be dead. Of the officers, J. J. Cox went to South America and became colonel of cavalry in the Chilean army. E. M. Barkley lives in McKinney; Beaumont Buck is a first-lieutenant in the United States army; J. N. Ogden and Mat Peak are somewhere in Mexico; June Peak is ranching out west; Walter Green, the last first sergeant of the company, lives in Waco; J. B. Roberts is editor of the Fort Worth Evening Mail; F. Hinckley [is] somewhere in western Texas; E. C. Ellis went on the stage, and was living in Chicago, at last accounts; and the whereabouts of the others are unknown. Alpha K. Work and Tom Cornwell both died at their homes in this city; Charlie W. Austin was killed in Leadville, Col., and J. H. Davis died at some point distant from Dallas.
     Of the list given above, E. G. Bower, J. J. Cox, S. D. Thruston and Frank Beaumont, in the order named, were captains of the company; George N. Quitman, June Peak, Frank Beaumont and Dan Hinckley were first lieutenants; Worth Peak, Frank Beaumont and Dan Hinckley were second lieutenants.
     A. S. Jett, an old member of the company, whose name appears in the roll above, now living in Arkansas, was present yesterday, coming all the way to meet his old friends again, and to take part in the joys of the reunion.
     Just before separating, Capt. Bower, on behalf of the Stonewalls, invited cordially, every one present to join them at 10 o'clock on the morning of Jan. 1, 1897, and desired all who accepted the invitation, to holdup their hands. Every hand went up, so "the boys will all be there."
     It is seldom as pleasant an occasion is enjoyed anywhere, as was the Stonewall's reunion yesterday -- a pleasanter one could not be.

     Gen. George Moorman, adjutant general and chief of staff for Gen. John B. Gordon, writing from his headquarters at New Orleans to the Texas Reunion association, penned the following:
     Your telegram and letter of 31st ultimo, duly received and I am just as proud of the fact, and as happy as you are that "the clouds have rolled by" and that the gallant Texans can now read "their titles clear" to a glorious and successful reunion, which will leave its impress upon the great state of Texas and upon our country, and will go hand in hand with Confederate thought and sentiment and become a part of he history of the U. C. V.'s.
     I will be still more happy if anything I have said or done has been of assistance to you or the reunion committee, or, if I have contributed in any way to the fruition of your wishes and desires in the matter of the coming reunion, and am pleased to add that I am at the service of yourself and the splendid reunion committee for anything which I can do to further your glorious work.
     I am also delighted that I have received commendation from yourself, the president and other members of the reunion committee, for praise from this source is extremely grateful to me, as I cherish the good opinion of Texans, having served a great deal with Texas troops at different periods in the war; and, in addition, I thank you for your kindly expressions in regard to myself, and for your proffers of hospitality during the reunion. I will certainly aid you every way in my power.
     I will not issue the reunion order until the 4th inst. I will send out copies to all the great dailies from Virginia to California, so that the order in full will reach each paper; so, that if it is cut by the Associated Press, it will reach all the papers in the South in its entirety.
     Our custom is that the order announcing the dates is very short and is confined simply to the announcement. In a few weeks, however, or possibly in February, I will issue for Gen. Gordon, the general order, which will be elaborate and will enter into all the details. It will be premature to issue that order, yet awhile.
     Wishing that everything good may continue to gravitate towards Dallas to assist you and the reunion committee in the noble work undertaken for the glory of Dallas and of Texas, an for the comfort and happiness of the old veterans, I am
                                                               GEORGE MOORMAN.

     Yesterday's trains brought additional thousands of people to Dallas, the majority of them from Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma and Louisiana points, for the majority of the reunion visitors from more distant points had already arrived. Although many of the visitors left the city, principally to take side trips to places in Texas, on the whole, there was a very considerable increase in the total number of visitors present in the city. This increase was apparent in the crowded condition of the streets in all parts of the city. Still, there was no congestion and no blockade. The crowds are scattered all over the city, and are not centered anywhere, consequently, conditions are easy and comfortable. Furthermore, the crowds are made up of people who like to move, and as the weather since Monday has been very pleasant, they keep going. Last night, there was an almost unanimous desire on the part of nearly 200,000 people to witness one event at the same time, and as a consequence, the street cars coming down town were crowded to the utmost limit from 6 o'clock until 8:30, and crowds of people on foot streamed down every street leading to the central portion of the city. The grand parade of the Kaliph was the attraction. The mighty concourse of spectators was distributed along the line of march on Main and Elm street, from Jefferson street to the Houston and Texas Central depot, a distance of about a mile. Every window framed the faces of a number of beautiful girls and gallant men; venturesome men and boys dangled their legs over the cornices of tall buildings, or hung on the cross arms of electric poles; every seat in the numerous grand stand was filled, while on the ground, the streets were filled from building line, one-third of the way across the street, by crowds of good-natured people who threw confetti and played pranks on the solider boys who were charged with keeping the streets open for the Kaliph.
     The utmost good humor prevailed at all times, and everywhere there has been a marked consideration, one for the other, on the part of all the multitude; the crowds have gotten about without serious jostling or accident, and the streets have been singularly free from drunken men, although the dispensaries of spirituous, vinous and malt drinks have done business.
     After the parade had passed, the crowds swept out into the streets and occupied the whole of them. Vehicular traffic was almost wholly suspended for a time, and nothing smaller than a street car received much attention. Until a late hour, these jolly good-natured crowds pushed hither and thither, going here, there and everywhere, making the air ring with laughter and coating the pavement with the small circles of paper which answer for, but are not really, confetti.
     The bureau of information had a rather lively time of it during the forenoon in assigning visitors to rooms, but by far, the greater demand upon it was to furnish information to visitors who desired to take side trips in Texas. Six clerks were assigned to this duty alone. The office of the joint agent of the several railroads was besieged yesterday forenoon by a great throng of people who desired to have their tickets extended, or to have them executed for return. For a time, Main street was almost blockaded. It became apparent that the crowd in Dallas was too large to be handled by a single joint agency, so a meeting of the passenger representatives of the various lines was quickly called, and it was arranged that every ticket office in the city should be a joint agency, making extensions and executing the tickets of any of the lines.
     A very large part of the crowd is leaving, or arranging to leave, for other points in Texas, and almost every town in the State will feel the influence of the gathering at Dallas during the next week or two.

     Out on the tented field, inside the race track at the Fair Grounds, is where the actual reunion of the Confederate veterans is going on. There are the men of 1861-65 encamped once more. This time, beneath the stars and stripes and flowing to the breeze beside it, the stars and bars.
     The camp is laid off in regular army style, with each State of the South represented and furnished with headquarters and a register for the veterans who went out from that State.
     These various headquarters are the scenes hourly of meeting, which are pathetic in their warmth and emotional demonstration.
     Almost every veteran in the camp has his regiment and company written on a card and pinned to the lapel of his coat, or stuck in his hat band. The passing of years has changed men, so that they can not recognize each other, and this plan is resorted to for the purpose of making it easy to find messmates and comrades of forty years ago. Some of them ware wearing coats that they had worn when mustered out, and some have brought the weapons they carried during their service. These dumb reminders of other days and stirring times are handled carefully, almost reverently. Old-tattered battle flags, again unfold to the breeze and the ruffle of drums that beat in the march to battle, can be heard.
     The task of finding messmates is the hardest the veterans have to contend with. The crowd is so great, and they have become so scattered, and so few of each of the original commands are left, that to get them together, seems almost impossible.
     Some are very fortunate and meet the men they wish to see within a short time, and others struggle along, hour after hour, asking constantly if anybody has seen men of such and such a command. Perhaps they hear the man they wish to see is on the grounds and then begins an earnest and despairing search for that man. It is hard for the present work-day world to understand the feeling of these men and what it means to them to meet comrades who faced death daily for four years with them. But, it is intensely earnest with them.
     A meeting took place on the camp ground yesterday that is an example of hundreds that are taking place hourly.
     Two men, bearded and gray, were standing near each other, engaged in conversation with several others, when one said:
     "I am looking for Bill -----. He was my messmate, and I have not seen him since the surrender. He moved to Texas, and I think he is here."
     "Is that you, John?" cried the other, and they fell into each other's arms, and it seemed as if they would never stop shaking hands.
     At each headquarters, the names of men that are being looked for by friends are called in loud voices, and those who can give any account of them, are asked to speak up.
     Many names are called with no answer, but occasionally, a hand goes up and there is a yell of sympathy as some one replies, "Here I am!"
     Yesterday, a company of the State Guard went marching by with perfect alignment and step, rifles at right shoulder and all with an equal slant. Their tread was elastic and their eyes were bright with youth.
     "It is hard to believe it now, when you look at us, but that is the way we looked in '61. We went to the war with that same brisk step. Nothing on earth could whip those boys there. You might kill them, but they can't be whipped. They are the same people of a later generation."
     All the veterans are free in their praise of the entertainment they are having in Dallas.
     Something is added to the sentiment of the occasion by meeting in a regular army camp and much pleasure is added by having nothing in the world to do but to talk of battles of the past.
     There is no foraging to do, no standing guard, no discipline. The mess is provided for them and a bountiful supply is given by the Reunion Association. The long "smoky row," so well known to the people of Texas who have visited the fair, is inclosed by a netted wire fence, and on the inside, are the tables with a bountiful supply of good food and plenty of "niggers" to do the waiting.
     The tables are all set and the food placed upon them before the doors are opened. Then, every veteran is allowed to enter, while the darkies serve the coffee hot in tincups.
     The attendance of veterans far exceeds the estimates based on the number which have attended other reunions. It was stated yesterday that 16,000 or more had eaten dinner in the great mess hall.
     The guards at the gates allow no one to enter unless they have the appearance of bonafide veterans, and there is practically no trouble from others trying to make their way in.

     Maimed by war's unfeeling thrusts, scarred by the flight of time, with triumphant tread and head erect, marched the remnant of the immortal hosts--the heroes of Dixie Land.
     "Old Glory," fanned by Southern breezes, proudly floating from a hundred housetops, dipped her colors in salute to the stars and bars, emblem with her of patriotism, now signifying devotion to a country at peace, instead of a nation at war.
     Bearing aloft the shell-torn and battle-scarred flags, which once they carried at the head of their dauntless columns, the old veterans of the Confederate army, gray-clad and grizzled, were cheered alike by the scions of the victors and vanquished of the greatest fratricidal strife known to history.
     Their patriotism and valor, acknowledged and honored by an admiring world, in the consciousness of the rectitude of the purposes which animated them forty years ago, they passed through the streets of Dallas to hear the welcome sounds of many thousands gathered from all parts of a reunited country, greeted with the familiar "rebel yell" and cheered by words of encouragement and terms of endearment.
     Inspired by the plaudits of the multitude, stirred by the bugle's blast, the rattle of the drum and the glitterings of martial array, the old veterans forgot their years and the infirmities brought by age, and with brightened eyes and quickened pulses, stepped forward briskly and proudly, the "boys" of the '60s again.
     For a time, clouds gathering now and then, threatened to mar the plans for the splendid pageant. There was a time when threatening rain, nor rain itself, nor cold or sleet, nor shot or shell, had terrors for those valiant men.
               "They faltered not to question why;
               They only knew to do or die."
     Into the jaws of death itself, into the black vortex of hell they went, if Lee only bade them go. But, time has brought changes; no longer have the veterans of the '60s physical prowess to endure hardships; nor, is there necessity for it. Hence, the clouds were viewed with anxiety, lest they prevent the execution of the program. Happily, no rain fell. The clouds scurried across the heavens, letting the sun filter through ever and anon, serving to shelter the survivors of the splendid army of the South from unpleasant warmth.
     Composed of men picked indiscriminately from any part of the country, the parade would have been grand; made up of men, who rendered most illustrious military service, who laid their all upon the altar of the South, men with empty sleeves, or scarred foreheads, men who had suffered from duty's sake, it was inspiring beyond description, stirring to the depths those who witnessed it.
     In contrast with the old veterans whose presence awakened memories of the past, bringing to mind pictures of the battlefields of the Southland, were the young men of another generation, who are banded together as the United Sons of Confederate Veterans, and some of whom, have served with honor in recent years under the folds of the stars and stripes; and the other young men, who as members of the State militia, wear coats of blue, and still others, the Grand Army band of Ohio, who came from that Northern State to play the music of the Southland. In still greater contrast, were the young women of "Dixie," the sponsors and maids of honor, whose presence lent a charm to the occasion, beautiful descendants of that splendid Southern womanhood, who were an inspiration to the soldiers of the Confederacy.
     Moving out Main street, this magnificent procession and the great throng gathered to witness it, made that thoroughfare, for a distance of a mile, one solid mass of humanity, over which floated flags of fresh beauty and flags that were battle-stained, and from which, proceeded the strains of the songs of the South, the roll of the drum, the fanfare of trumpets, the "rebel yell," the cheers and plaudits of the admiring spectators. Elm street was a duplication of the scene. All along the line of march, it was a continuous ovation. There were cheers for Gordon, who wears his honorable scars, and is the idol of the old veterans, cheers for Van Zandt, the grand marshal of the parade, cheers for Stephen D. Lee, Cabell and Walker, the department commanders, cheers for Reagan and Lubbock and other distinguished men of the South who were in the parade, cheers for Gov. Sayers of Texas and Gov. Heard of Louisiana, and cheers, also, for the pretty sponsors and their maids.
     But, there were no demonstrations which eclipsed those occasioned by the sight of the grim and grizzled old veterans, who, wearing their old gray jeans, uniforms and caps and carrying their old muskets, marched along quickly and with an air of determination, making a picture which gave to the generation of this day, some idea of what the war was, and what it was for. Cheers there were, too, for the old "tar heels," the veterans of North Carolina, who proudly carried a number of hornets' nests, a reminder of the name which Cornwallis gave to the Mecklenburg neighborhood, and which Carolinians have since delighted to wear. There were ovations, also, for the South Carolinians, who bore a flag of the Confederacy, embellished with the picture of their beloved chieftain, who has recently passed away--Wade Hampton, and the cheering swelled as they stopped ever and anon to salute the likenesses of the great cavalry leader.
     It took this grand procession an hour and fifteen minutes to pass a given point, and for that length of time, there was an ever increasing enthusiasm. The old soldiers said it was the finest and the largest parade since the war; the spectators said it was the greatest and most imposing spectacle they had ever witnessed. It was a glorious culmination of fond hopes, long to be remembered by participants and spectators alike.

     Mrs. Louisa Gilmore was born at Lexington, Ky., 81 years ago. Her parents were Kentucky pioneers. Ohio was almost a wilderness 81 years ago and Lexington was a frontier town. Her daughter, Mrs. W. D. Knowles, was born at Roseyville, Ind., 62 years ago. Her husband, who is still living, is a member of the Avery-Knowles family of Gloton, Conn., who won distinguished mention in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. Mrs. A. N. Mann, grand-daughter of Mrs. Gilmore, is 41 years old and a native of Mt. Vernon, Ind. Mr. and Mrs.. Mann have been residents of Dallas for more than a quarter of a century. Mrs. R. S. Hawes (nee Mann), great grand-daughter of Mrs. Gilmore, is a native of Dallas, and 21 years of age. Eloise Hawes, aged four months, is the daughter of Mrs. Hawes and the great-grand-grand-daughter of Mrs. Gilmore, the Kentucky pioneer. Five generations in one family group make a most interesting picture and the photographer who executed the picture is convinced that it is an honor that doesn't fall to the lot of an artist more than once in a life time. Baby Eloise has a grandmother, great-grandmother and a great-great-grandmother and a grandfather and a great-grandfather to amuse her when her parents are away. Mrs. Gilmore is an intelligent, cheery and active woman; Mrs. Knowles has been known as an ardent white-ribbon advocate for years and Mrs. Mann, the grandmother of Eloise, is a young woman of forty. A reunion of the five generations is always a very interesting event at the Mann household.

     Last Monday evening, a family reunion was held at the residence of George S. Penn and wife, 232 Hickory street, in honor of their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It was in the nature of a surprise, as Mr. and Mrs. Penn, knowing their children were located in several different states, had thought of nothing out of the ordinary.
     The children present were: L. E. Penn of Purcell, I. T.; Charles Penn of Weatherford, Okla; G. O. Penn of Fort Worth; R. C. Penn of Memphis, Tenn., and Mrs. W. H. Quigg of Shreveport, La.
     Mr. Penn is now in his seventy-fourth year and was born in Murfreesboro, Tenn., while Mrs. Penn was born in Trenton, Gibson county, Tennessee, seventy years ago.
     They were married in Nashville and moved to Kentucky, where they resided until they moved to Texas, twenty-two years ago, locating in Weatherford, where Mr. Penn was successfully engaged in the jewelry business until his retirement, when he moved to Dallas to live with his late son, John T. Penn, a well known business man of Dallas.
     Mr. Penn is of good old Quaker stock and traces his descent direct from William Penn, the famous Pennsylvania Quaker.
     Mrs. Penn, whose maiden name was Ellen Conner, was the daughter of Francis L. and Mary Withers Connor. Her father was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, and was of the aristocratic F. F. V. Her great-grandfather, whose name was Louis O'Conner, but upon settling in Virginia, dropped the O, was exiled from Ireland on account of his religious principles. Her mother, Mary T. Withers, was a cousin of the famous Southern general, Turnery Ashby, who was on General Stonewall Jackson's staff.
     Mr. and Mrs. Penn are now hale and hearty and enjoy life to its utmost, and say they look forward to a great many more anniversaries.

     The thirty-fourth annual reunion of Dallas county pioneers, held at Oak Lawn Park last Wednesday, as one of the most interesting gatherings of its kind ever held in Texas, or in any other state. All who attended were fairly charmed by the hospitality of those who had the affair in charge. The annual sessions have always been marked by a big attendance, lots of enthusiasm and an over-supply of good things to eat. But, none of them, old timers say, ever excelled the one just ended. The association had about 150 members before the 1907 reunion; fifteen new members were added Wednesday, and the organization will, perhaps, grow larger, numerically, for years to come. All those who are direct descendants of the men and women who settled Dallas county, are entitled to membership here. As there never was any symptoms of race suicide among these hardy folk, there is little likelihood of the association dwindling away.

First Organization.
     The organization was started with thirteen charter members. Of these, only two are living. They are the Gracey brothers, and there are no better known or more popular old residents of this county than they. E. A. Gracey was at Oak Lawn Wednesday. He has never missed a reunion and, though 75 years of age, is as spry and active as many men much younger. He hopes to be able to attend many more of these gatherings. M. D. L. Gracey, the other living charter member, never missed a reunion before this. He is in feeble health and is recuperating at Mineral Wells. The Graceys, like many other early Dallas county settlers, come from Illinois. They located in the Five Mile neighborhood and have lived there ever since. Both own fine farms and have long been among the most active and useful citizens among their neighbors. They were brave Confederate soldiers. E. A. Gracey has been energetic in politics, and for many years, represented his precinct as a member of the county Democratic executive committee.

Major Gracey's Reminiscences.
     Mr. Gracey gave The Times Herald representative an interesting account of the organization of the association, the fame of whose annual gatherings has spread all over the Southwest. Mr. Gracey said: "The idea of the association came from Col. John C. McCoy, Gov. John M. Crockett, John Henry Brown, Dod Rawlins, and a few others. It has now been over thirty-four years since the initial meeting called by Col. McCoy. We met one afternoon at Crockett Springs, then called Beatty Spring, and still a splendid fountain of fine water on the farm now owned by Ben E. Cabell, near Oak Cliff. That meeting was in July, 1873. It was a hot day, but we enjoyed ourselves, drinking water and resting in the shade. Then and there, we decided to make the organization permanent and to hold at least one reunion every year.
     "Col. John C. McCoy was chosen our first president and Gov. John M. Crockett was the first secretary. Gov. Crockett was the second president, with John Henry Brown as secretary. Brown succeeded Crockett and remained president till his death about ten years ago. He was succeeded by Captain R. A. Rawlins, who is still at the head of the association. Dod Rawlins was secretary after Brown's election as president, and remained in that place of honor till succeeded by Senator William C. McKamy. I have never missed a meeting. As a rule, we have had fine weather for these reunions, and I have enjoyed every one of them. I am glad to say that we have tried to make every visitor enjoy them. There is as much difference between Dallas county, when I came in 1849, and the county of today, as there is between black and white or day and night. I was proud of my home, then, and I am prouder of it now."

President of Association.
     Captain R. A. Rawlins, president of the association, came with his parents to the Lancaster neighborhood in 1844. He was then a lad of eight years. His parents removed from Green county, Illinois, and six other families came with them. In the seven families, were thirty-five people, and Captain Rawlins is the only one of the entire party, who made the long wagon trip, now alive. At Oak Lawn, last Wednesday, four generations of the Rawlins family were represented. Captain Rawlins is the great grand father of Roderick Rawlins, a promising lad of six or seven years, who was on the stage. This boy is the son of Harry E. Rawlins. His grand father is A. B. Rawlins, now resident of Abilene. Captain Rawlins' father and the great-great grand father of the boy, was named Roderick Rawlins, too. He has long been asleep in the family burying ground, near where he first located in this county.

Secretary McKamy's Father.
     Secretary McKamy's father was a native of Illinois, also. Unlike many of them, he was entirely pleased with the northern portion of the county and settled where Senator McKamy now lives, near the little postoffice of Renner. There, Senator McKamey was born, and there he has lived all the days of this life. Every one of these old pioneers has a rich fund of interesting stories, and all their direct descendants have acquired like funds through observation. They were of a rare race. There will never be another quite like their's.

City Officials.
     Mayor Hay and Commissioner Sullivan, both epicures of distinction and artists in their tastes for pie, are willing to decide there were never finer pies than those they found at the Oak Lawn Park reunion. This opinion is shared by the opinions of every man, woman and child who was there. It was an occasion extraordinary, for those whose appetites were good and the viands spread beneath the pavilion on long tables, served as appetite whetters. The gathering of 1907 can hardly be improved upon, but the officers and members will try to make the gathering, one year hence, just as pleasant. The location of the next celebration will not be determined on till next spring or early summer. It is expected that Oak Lawn will be selected again. Every member of the association has fallen in love with that place, and with those who live about there.

The above picture was taken at the celebration of the seventieth birthday of Mrs. Jennie Tackett at the home of her son, W. M. Tackett, corner of Yeargan and Bookhout streets. Those in the picture represent four generations of the family and are: Mr. and Mrs. D. R. Moberly and son, Marion; Mr. and Mrs. Leigh M. Moore[?], son, Earl, and daughter, Genevieve; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Tackett and son, Frank, and daughters, Lillian and Jennie D.; Mr. and Mrs. O. G. Adams and son, Murrell; Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Smith and daughters, Madge and Maurine and Miss Lettie Tackett.

     A peculiar incident happened at the Southland hotel during the recent State Fair. The hotel was taxed beyond its capacity and the management was forced to request the guests to accept roommates, and so, when W. T. Rankin registered from San Francisco, he was told that they would have to put some one in with him later in the day. He said that would be all right.
     Late in the evening, another gentleman, by the name of Rankin, registered from Detroit, and he was told to take room 520, which was the same that the California man was occupying.
     Upon being shown into the room, he perceived that the gentleman who was occupying the room had already retired, and as he was awakened when the light was turned on, the Detroit man begged his pardon, and upon doing so, he saw that the man was his brother, whom he had not seen nor heard of for twelve years. Of course, they were both surprised and glad to see each other. They had both left their home in Toronto, Canada, in their early manhood days, and the older had gone West and gradually dropped the weekly letters to his home folks, and for the last twelve years, they had not heard of him. When they left, they were together and were both bound for Detroit.

     After a separation of fifty-four years, Pat McNamara of Dallas has been reunited with his two sisters, Mrs. John Fargin of Wisconsin and Mrs. Andrew C. Lynch of Dunkirk, N. Y., neither of whom he had seen since they left County Clare, Ireland, when he was a small child. They are now visiting his family at 1509 South Harwood street.
     The two sisters, Margaret and Bridget, left Bradford, County Clare, Ireland, in 1859 and came to the United States, leaving Pat McNamara as a very small child. The sisters stayed with an uncle in Dunkirk and then Bridge went to Wisconsin to visit an aunt and was married there to John Fargin, a farmer. She is accompanied on her visit to Dallas by her daughter, Miss Julia Fargin. The other sister, Margaret, married Andrew C. Lynch, a business man of Dunkirk.
     Pat McNamara left Ireland years later and came to New York and remained a few years, then came to Texas forty years ago. He married a Miss O'Shaughnessy from County Limerick, Ireland, and has lived in Dallas for many years, having been a constant reader of The Dallas News from its very first edition, in 1885.

Four Generations of One Family of Dallas

MRS. WIGLEY AND DESCENDANTS

The above cut shows four generations of one Dallas family. The elderly lady with the babe in her arms is Mrs. F. M. Wigley, of Terrell. The man in the light suit is J. T. Parkinson, 2521 Dawson street, her son; the younger looking man in his shirt sleeves is T. G. Parkinson, 1701 Bourbon, son of the elder gentleman and grandson of the old lady. The baby is James Edward Parkinson, son of the young man and great grandson of the aged woman. Despite the advanced age of Mrs. Wigley, she takes considerable interest in her children and their descendants and gets around remarkably well for one of her age. - June 1, 1913. Dallas Daily Times Herald, Sec. I, p. 5, col. 2-3. - o o o -

     A hundred gray-haired heroes of the days of '61--now faltering in step, but with heads high and hearts still beating true to the Stars and Bars---will leave Dallas late Friday night for Richmond, Va., to attend the annual reunion of Confederate veterans of the civil war.
     To many, it will be the last chance to visit the scenes of one of the greatest battles of the civil war, and to others, it will be the first trip by rail over the territory where once they marched to the tune of fife and drum.
     The Dallas complement to the reunion will number several hundred persons, including the Sons of Veterans, Daughters of the Confederacy, sponsors and other honored attendants, according to Gen. J. M. Cochran, commander of the Sterling Price camp. In addition, veterans from nearby cities will leave on the special train leaving here at 10:30 p. m. over the Cotton Belt.
     "There will be large delegations from south and southwest Texas," General Cochran said, "who may go over other routes. We have just about abandoned the plan to bring the next reunion here, and will pull for Memphis in 1923."
     Special cars will be picked up by the Dallas train at different junction points along the way, and it is expected, that by the time the veterans leave Texarkana, there will be one train of two sections. Each train will carry a kitchen car, and, according to railway officials accompanying the train, everything will be provided for the comfort of the veterans. A. M. Fitch, district passenger agent of the Cotton Belt, will be in charge of one section, and George Hoover of Waco, the other.
     Among the list of veterans from Dallas, going to the reunion, are the following:
     S. H. Robertson, J. B. Weaver, W. K. Sherer, D. S. Switzer, L. S. Perkins, T. S. Pendleton, C. H. Griggs, J. P. Moore, R. E. Turner, W. P. Douglas, T. J. Saxon, R. K. Willis, R. L. Lanrants[?]/Laurants[?], J. H. Clinkscales, W. K. Harrell, C. E. Plest, W. M. McCully, J. H. Aiken, T. M. Sallis, L. H. Baugh, W. M. Swan, T. C. Cobb, John Haney, Vic Woods, E. A. Smith, W. B. Breazeale, J. Raines, E. C. Cooke, A. J. Kynerd, C. C. Echols, G. M. Stephenson, A. B. Harbison, W. P. Richardson, W. P. Foster, T. H. Craddock, O. F. Ansley, M. E. Turner, Miss Mary Porter, Mrs. Artimas Roberts, Miss Pearla Doyle, Mrs. S. M. Fields, Mrs. M. L. Turner, Mrs. J. H. Hancock, Mrs. Mattie Andrews, Mrs. S. E. Sadler, Mrs. M. Hudson, Mrs. Philip Lindsley, Mrs. G. Ellison, Mrs. L. M. Green, Mrs. George Schaffer, Mrs. T. C. Walker, Mrs. Wade Williams, Miss Davis Williams, Mr. and Mrs. George Buchanan, of Rosebud, Miss Annie Turner, Miss Mamie Boone, Miss Bessie Norman, Miss Laura Norman, Miss S. Craig, Miss Mattie Pearson of Fort Worth, Miss Moxie Baulknight of Galveston, Mrs. H. H. Crouch of Dallas, and Robert H. Eagon, division commander of the Sons of Veterans.

1924
Pioneer Couple Holds Family Reunion
MR. AND MRS. FRANK JACKSON

     A family reunion was held recently at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Jackson, near Renner, 16 miles north of Dallas, in celebration of Mrs. Jackson's seventieth birthday. The party included their six children and twelve grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have been married nearly fifty years. Her maiden name was Mary Taylor. She was the daughter of Edwin Taylor, an Englishman, who was one of the first merchants in Dallas, and conducted a store here during the civil war.
     During her girlhood days, Miss Taylor visited the Morgan and Simpson families just north of the present town of Carrollton. On one of her visits, she met Frank Jackson, who had come to Texas from Kentucky and was engaged in the cattle business and farming with his brother, John A. Jackson. They were married later and began life in a little three-room house, not far from the site of their present twelve-room house.
     The oldest daughter, Annie, wife of Dr. O. T. Mitchell, lives in Renner; Martha, Mrs. Lionel McKamy, and Aileen, Mrs. George McLendon, live in Dallas; Frances, wife of Dr. Slater Wyatt, lives at Plano. The boys, Taylor and John A., live in Dallas and Fort Worth, respectively.

     The sage who said truth is stranger than fiction might well have based the statement on the fact that a grave brought two persons together after sixty years, during which each thought the other dead.
     One of them is Marcus Heaslip, for twenty-one years a proofreader on The Dallas News. The other is Mrs. Della Fero, his sister, of Niagara Falls, Ont. The grave is thousands of miles from Texas and but a few miles from Niagara. It is in a little country churchyard in the Canadian countryside near St. Catherines, Ont.
     Sixty years ago, there was no such grave. That was when Marcus Heaslip was a young man tiring of the small town in which he lived. That was when Mrs. Fero was a young girl. One day, Marcus left his home and went to St. Catharines, where he apprenticed himself to become a printer.

Connections Lost.
     Thereafter, in the manner of newspaper folk, he moved from town to town and from city to city, working in Toronto, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, and then he came to Dallas and definitely settled down.
     In the meantime, his sister married. Their mother died, and the connecting link between them was broken.
     Through the years, both made futile attempts to find the other.
     Mrs. Heaslip and daughter went to Ontario and looked for Mr. Heaslip's sister, but were unsuccessful. Sister and brother wrote all over the United States and Canada, but their inquiries were futile. Mr. Heaslip , last year, was in the city of Niagara Falls, possibly only a few blocks from his sister's home, but he had long since given her up for dead.

Sexton Tells Address.
     Then, he went to his mother's grave near St. Catharines. He spoke to the keepers of the little cemetery of his quest for his sister. Months later, an old woman was standing beside the same grave. She talked to one of the attendants and he told her of the man who had stood there before her. He said the man lived in Dallas.
     So Friday, Mr. Heaslip received a letter from the sister he thought was dead and had not heard from for sixty years.
     "Dear Brother Marcus," it read. "I was visiting our mother's grave on May 21 and found out you were living at Dallas, Texas. I had previously written the Mayor of Chicago to find if you were still living. He wrote me there was no such person in Chicago...."
     Thereafter, the letter is filled with personal detail, of how she married, of how her husband died and of her children. It ends: "Well, Marcus, if living, write your long-lost sister, Della."
     "What am I going to do?" said Mr. Heaslip. "Why, I expect to leave for Niagara Falls in the near future and induce her to return to Texas with me for an extended visit, at least.

     The Goods and the Haleys gathered in family reunion Sunday, and had a fine time.
     Each is a pioneer family, and they became closely linked on Christmas eve, sixty-two years ago, when young J. W. (Jake) Good, took the auburn-haired Josephine Haley as his bride.
     Mr. Good has just celebrated his ninety-second birthday. Mrs. Haley -- the auburn still apparent in her graying hair -- is 78. Both are as lively and as spry as the proverbial cricket, and they enjoyed the Sunday gathering more than anybody else.
     Present for the reunion were four generations of descendants. Son, Frank, with his family, was there from his New Mexico ranch, as were Tom and family from Big Spring; Joe and family of Los Angeles, and Grover, the baby, who lives in Dallas.
     To enumerate all the rest of the family connections and friends that called would take a column of type. More than 300 persons visited the Good home, just west of Sowers, and as late as 6 p. m., fully twenty-five automobiles were parked around the house, as late arrivals came to pay their respects.

Fought at Gettysburg.
     Despite his age, which isn't at all apparent, Mr. Good drives his own Model T around his farm, and makes a trip to Dallas every now and then. Just a few weeks ago, they say he climbed up on the roof to repair some loose shingles and did a good job of it.
     He is a native of Harrisonburg, Va., where he was born in 1842. It's the county seat of Rockingham county, he tells you proudly. He joined "Tartar" Ashby's regiment of the Confederate army just after the battle of Manassas, and was a prisoner on Hog Island, near Philadelphia, after having been captured at Gettysburg. After the war, he came down into Missouri and thence into Texas in 1870.
     William Haley was the original of the Dallas county Haley line. He, too, came here from Missouri, after making a strike during the days of '49 in California. Mrs. J. W. Good was two years of age at the time. Direct representatives of the Haley line present at the reunion included Mrs. Chas. Stovall and Mrs. Frank Arthur, sisters of Mrs. Good.
     A mile or so east of the Good place, and toward Dallas, is the original Haley home, where Mr. and Mrs. Good were married on that Christmas eve in 1872, they so well remember.

     Irving, Tex., July 3 (Special). -- This community buzzed with activity, Saturday, as folk from all parts of the region converged here for the annual Old Settlers' Reunion. Harry Hines, of the state highway department, delivered the principal address and was introduced by Ben Boston.
     Veteran settlers who died during the past year were announced as follows: Mrs. Kate Jenkins, Mrs. Lucy Beggs, Mrs. Josephine Good, Lum White, Rufe Kees, George Preston, Jim Culp, A. J. Clark, Horace Stewart and Mrs. Drucilla Taylor.
     Awards were presented to the following: Lum Clark, 87, oldest citizen present; Mrs. Lum Clark, 80, oldest native citizen who spent her entire life here; Mrs. Alice Moreland, 76, oldest citizen with greatest number of relatives registered at reunion, and Bud Williams, oldest native who has always voted here.
     Max Lindsay Sowers won first prize in the old fiddlers' contest. Other winners, in order ranked, were John Parks and T. C. Cooper. Best fiddlers on old-time tunes were C. O. Cramer, Dallas, first; Tony Hale, Carrollton, second, and J. C. Man, Dallas, third.
     Other old settlers who registered were: J. W. Williams, Mrs. J. F. Mills, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Farine, Ben Barton, Bud Williams, Mrs. Mary Siton, Miss Annie Lynch, D. P. Farrar, Bill Haley, Mrs. Mary Borah and Phillip Haley.

     Four generations of one family were represented at the home of Clarence V. Bailey, 201 North Marlborough Street, Tuesday when his grandfather, Frank R. Warburton, was a visitor from California. Shown above are Mr. Bailey, his mother, Mrs. D. W. Bailey of 317 South Marlborough, his grandfather, and young Clarence Vernon Bailey, Jr., aged 2 1/2 years. Mr. Warburton, 88, was an early Kansas settler who participated in buffalo hunting and Indian fighting. Mr. Bailey is an Oak Cliff chiropractor.

     Descendants of three pioneer Dallas County families, who settled in the southern part of the county in 1843, 1844 and 1848, respectively, will gather at their annual reunion Thursday, a half-mile east of De Soto, for an all-day celebration.
     From the crowd of from 300 to 500 expected to attend, will be the descendants of the families of John M. Rawlins, Thomas Cheshier and William and Curtis Parks. The Rawlins settled in the southern part of the county in 1843, the Cheshiers in 1844, and the Parks in 1848. Their early settlement was near what is now known as Ten-Mile Creek.
     Thursday's gathering will mark the thirty-seventh annual reunion of descendants of the three families, the first having been held in 1901. First president of the Parks-Rawlins-Cheshier Reunion Association was T. J. Parks. In 1909, John J. Parks died and willed a ten-acre tract of land, a half mile east of De Soto, as the site for the annual holding of the reunion of the three families.
     John A. Rawlins, judge of the 116th District Court, is a descendant of the Rawlins family, and will be on hand for the reunion. The celebration will start at 10 a. m. Thursday and last all day. A barbecue lunch will be served at noon. An entertainment program will be presented and the principal speakers will be Judge Walter Branan on "Spirit of the Pioneers" and Judge Paine L. Bush on "Things for Which We Should Be Thankful."

     Reading Robert L. Ripley's daily "Believe-It-or-Not" has long been a pleasant habit with J. R. Hardy, 3308 Reed Street, but not until recently did it begin to pay more than informative dividends.
     Several days ago, Mr. Hardy read about Bob Ryan, a cafe man in Hudson, N. Y., who has real diamonds in his teeth.
     Mr. Hardy ran away from his home in Hudson when a young boy and lost touch with his family years ago. He decided that the diamond-studded cafe man might be able to trace his relatives.
     And, believe-it-or-not, as Mr. Ripley says, Mr. Ryan did recall that Mrs. Clifford Rivenburg of Hudson was a niece of the Dallas man. It was a simple matter for her to send Mr. Hardy a letter, tell[ing] of his sisters, Mrs. Eliz[abeth] _______, resides in Eden, Md., and Mrs. Robert Thomas, _____ville, N. Y.
     Mr. Hardy has not [seen his sis]ters for forty-four yea[rs, and says] that he will visit them [this sum]mer.

     Four generations in Dallas of the descendants of J. W. McVey and Sallie Short McVey will gather at Kiest Park Sunday for a family reunion. A basket lunch will be spread at 1 o'clock.
     During the Civil War, J. W. McVey organized and was captain of a company of Confederate soldiers at Roanoke, Va. In 1883, with his family, he left Virginia and came to Texas, where he settled in Dallas County, near Wheatland, between Cedar Hill and De Soto. Of their seven children, three survive -- G. R. McVey, J. E. McVey and J. M. McVey, all of Dallas.

1940
Families of Pioneers Hold
Reunion on Old Homestead

     RICHARDSON, Texas, Oct. 19.--Mr. and Mrs. John Meade Campbell, who were hosts Saturday at the reunion of the Routh and Campbell families at their farm home, three miles north of here, are shown above, with the house which the Rev. Jacob Routh built, as it appeared in the early days.
     Erection of the house was begun in 1861, but the Civil War interfered, and it was not finished for several years. The photo was taken in 1901, six years before it was remodeled. It is on Spring Creek in Collin County, and the lumber was hauled by ox wagon from East Texas.
     Mr. Campbell, who is 74, has been operating his farm sixty years, having come into possession of it when 14, through death of his father. This year's crop is the eighty-eighth to be gathered from the farm, which experts say will remain productive indefinitely, if it is handled with the same care and judgment Mr. Campbell exercises. He is one of the first farmers in Texas to practice crop rotation and soil conservation. Livestock is the major item of his program. He has been raising registered Shorthorn cattle since 1900.
     The place was settled in 1852 by his father, the late Robert F. Campbell, who came to Texas with his family in 1851 from Dandridge, Tenn., in company with several other families, including Jacob Routh, who married Miss Lodemia Campbell during the trip. Another wedding occurring during the journey was that of Joe Routh and Miss Ellen Campbell.
     Jacob Routh established himself as a stock farmer and businessman, later ordained as a Baptist minister. In 1853, he founded the Spring Creek Baptist Church, now known as the mother church of the Church of Plano, Collin County.
     The Campbell and Routh families occupied log cabins when they first moved onto their adjacent farms.