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Editor's Note.---Following
is the eleventh of a series
of articles by Mrs. Foster, a resident of Dallas for
many years, concerning interesting people and
events here a quarter of a century ago.
___________
Prominent
in Activities of Dallas in Former Years
When
Mrs. Octavia Brown, a bride, came to Dallas with her young husband,
Stephen Decatur Brown, they lived for a short time on Commerce
street, near the old opera house and the old Windsor hotel. This
was in 1873. Mrs. Brown was a native of Texas, born in Gonzales.
Mr. Brown was from Petersburgh, Va.
Their second home was on Jackson
street, at the edge of a cedar brake so dense that frequently
people were lost in it. Next, they moved across the river into
a house built of logs, warm in winter and cool in summer, and
known as "the haunted house."
Picturesque Figure.
It had been the home of Anthony
Danning Norton, a picturesque figure in early Texas days. An
Ohio boy, a graduate of Kenyon college, among his collegemates
were Rutherford B. Hayes, Edwin M. Stanton, Guy M. Bryan of Texas,
and Royal T. Wheeler, who, when he died, was chief justice of
Texas.
Banning Norton came to Texas in
1848. He was a friend of Sam Houston, and, like him, he espoused
the cause of the union. He was adjutant general of Texas in 1860,
and went back to Ohio when Texas seceded, returning later. When
we came to Dallas in 1890, he was frequently seen on the streets,
and his long, white beard, and his long, white hair bore witness
to his youthful vow never to shave or have his hair cut if Henry
Clay was not elected president.
Banning Norton had bought one acre
across the river form a farmer, and in this log house, he lived
and published Norton's Union Intelligencer, at Honey Springs,
head of navigation, later moving to Ross avenue, beyond Leonard.
Threats Stop "Ghosts."
When Stephen Decatur Brown moved
into the haunted house and was told that lights appeared on the
gate posts (how convenient that would have been before the days
of electricity), and that balls of fire rolled around the yard,
and that ghostly faces appeared at the windows, and a woman had
been left to die there alone, he promptly said that if any more
ghosts came, he would shoot them. As he had a great reputation
as a shot, and it was known that he could shoot the head off
a turkey while it was running across the yard, the ghosts never
did come again.
Later, it was ascertained that
the farmer had wanted to reclaim his acre of ground and took
this method of making the owners sell back to him, but he did
not know the temper of Anthony Banning Norton, nor of Stephen
Decatur Brown.
Bought "Brushwood Farm."
The Browns then bought a farm,
a "brushwood farm" Mrs. Brown calls it, in South Dallas,
and raised stock. This farm was where Colonial Hill now is. When
we came to Dallas, it was called Chestnut Hill. I never could
find that chestnut tree, and I wonder if it really was there
as a material fact, or if some lonely exile saw in imagination
the clustering white blossoms and the roasted chestnuts in "the
garden of memory."
The only near neighbor of the Browns
was a Mr. Fetzer, who had a vineyard and who made wine.
Mrs. Brown finally sold the farm
to Mr. Bolanz, who opened up Brown's addition, and Mrs. Brown
gave the land in front of her place for Pennsylvania avenue.
Ervay street was, at an early day, almost impassable in dry weather
because of the deep sand. One had to go over to the Central railway
to get a good road to town.
After awhile, many pleasant neighbors
settled near the Browns--the Bolanz family, Mainor Shumards,
who live now at Hayoke ranch at Boerne, the Henry Lewises, Mrs.
Virginia Q. McNealus, the W. A. Callaways, the E. C. Lanes, the
A. J. Daniels and others.
When I learned that Mrs. Daniels
had been Retta Stickney, I said to her, "Were you related
to One Strikney and Two Strikney of Ohio?" and she answered,
"Yes, I was. Their names are a tradition in our family.
What can you tell me about them?"
Said I: "They were friends
of my father's and naturally their names appealed to me and I
asked my father about them. He said that their father numbered
his boys and named his girls for states. I think the girls were
Carolina, Maryland and Indiana."
Mrs. Daniels had come from the
East to visit her uncle, J. C. Stickney, for many years with
Scarff & O'Connor. He lives now in St. Louis.
The Chandler Family.
Another Colonial Hill family was
the Chandlers. the little yellow-haired daughter of the Chandlers
who sat in the back yard and moulded tiny figures in clay, is
now Clyde Chandler, sculptor, of Santa Monica, Cal.
Mrs. Brown recalls the building
of the first street car line. Associated with W. J. Keller in
this enterprise was Chas. Dent, a cousin of Julia Dent, wife
of President U. S. Grant. Because of their Southern sympathies,
the Dents of Dallas never claimed this relationship, though it
was known to their intimate friends.
Recalls Primitive Post Office.
Mrs. Brown remembers the primitive
post office, a small building having but one or two clerks. The
letter boxes were marked N--S---E---W---and you were expected
to know the points of the compass and to separate your mail before
depositing it.
The first post office had been
opened away back in 1845, and the first postmaster was Charles
H. Durgin, who was from New Haven, Conn., and whose wife, formerly
Elizabeth Thomas, made the cloth pouches, twelve in number, which
hung on the white wall, and received the incoming mail. The second
postmaster was Thomas F. Crutchfield, who came from Louisville,
Ky., in 1847. The Crutchfield family were pioneers in Dallas.
For many years, the Crutchfield house, near the river, was the
leading hotel. It was kept by Thomas F. Crutchfield, whose wife
made hospitable and efficient hostess. Betty, the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Crutchfield, married John W. Lane, January
5, 1860. The parents of John W. Lane had come from Kentucky to
Freestone county, Texas, at an early day.
John W. Lane settled in Dallas
and took an active part in the civic problems of the time. He
had the greatest pride in the growth of the city and in its improvement.
He was a newspaper man and owned
and published, with his brother-in-law, John W. Swindells, the
Dallas Herald.
Fought for Southland.
He enlisted as a private in the
Confederate army, Eighteenth Texas cavalry, under Captain E.
C. Browder, for whom Browder street and Browder Springs were
named.
An old Dallas Herald of 1864 reports
him as returning to his regiment, Lane's brigade, under Col.
Chisem, after a furlough, and offering to carry letters.
His wife died in January, 1866,
leaving one son, Clarence C. Lane.
In an old scrap book owned by Mrs. C. C. Lane, I found this funeral
notice. It recalls the time when there were no daily papers and
cards were printed and sent by hand to friends. It reads: "The
friends of the family of Thomas F. Crutchfield are respectfully
invited to attend the funeral of Mrs. Betty Lane, wife of Captain
John W. Lane, from the Crutchfield house, tomorrow, Sunday, at
10 o'clock a. m., Dallas, Texas, January 13, 1866."
Captain John W. Lane was one of
the early members and officers of Tannehill lodge, the first
Masonic lodge of Dallas.
Captain Lane served in the Texas legislature and was the valued
friend of Governor Throckmorton. He also served in the senate
when E. J. Davis was governor. He was not a Republican, but a
staunch Democrat, and was named first assistant secretary of
the senate.
He married a second time, Mrs. Emma Thompson Hughes of San Marcos.
Son Follows in Footsteps.
The son of John W. and Betty Crutchfield
Lane, Clarence C. Lane, followed in the footsteps of his father.
He was public-spirited and gave
much of his time to the betterment of Dallas. He served as president
of the school board and as alderman of the seventh ward. He was
active in the Chamber of Commerce, in the Credit Men's association,
and in the Manufacturers association. He was a member of the
Dallas Turnverein, and was, at one time, secretary of the State
Fair of Texas. He was past exalted ruler of the Dallas lodge
of Elks, and held office in the grand lodge as inner guard and
as district deputy.
When Clarence Lane was a young boy, he served as a page for the
legislature at Austin. The pages kept, with pride, old-fashioned
autograph albums, and Mr. Lane's is in the possession of his
widow.
Historical Names.
Some of the names therein are of
great historical importance. Among them are L. S. Ross, march
14, 1881, who, six years later, on January 18, 1887, was inaugurated
governor of Texas; O. M. Roberts, governor at the time he wrote
his name, 31, 1881, in young Clarence Lane's album; Anson Rainey,
then of Waxahachie, but later, for many years, a distinguished
citizen of Dallas, and S. B. Cooper, the father of a little girl
who became the wife of Governor Hobby.
- February
1, 1925, Dallas Times Herald, Sec. III, p. 7, col. 1-4.
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