The Mineola Daily Argus (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 32, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 1903 Page: 4 of 4
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J
MINEOLA
on the first storehouse, stocked it with | woodland directly between the two
, family groceries and became the first, j points to make a good sized ranch,
I merchant of Mlneola as permanently j W. W. Cox, flagman of the union de-
AND
WOOD COUNTY.
J. A. Calloway came to Mlneola In j the early history of the town. They j Mr. Lankford is also setting out a 20-
1881 and engaged In the mercantile j left Mlneola in the latter part of the gcre Elberta peach orchard six miles
_ . business, organizing the firm of J. A.'70s, and both are now dead, the former; south of town; also Dr. E. W. Mo-
il ocated. even beating the "railroads toipot railroad crossing, came to Mlneola.Calloway & Co. Four years ago fee' dying in Winsboro about 19 years ago Camlsh has just set out a 30-acre El-
the place about two months. Sam A.(In 187#. ,left Mlneola and went to Big Springs, and the latter In Hillsboio about five berta peach orchard in the northern
I Joseph's saloon, at the east corner of, J. R. Turman, agent of the Dallas; Texas, where he Is now engaged in years since. Mrs. A. Munzesheimer outskirts of town. The, land here is
j Front and Johnson streets, now stands News 1° Mlneola, came here in 1873, the stock business. His son, L. D. and Don Goldman, both of this city, sandy with occasional iron ore spots,
on the lot where Mr. Graham establish- before the founding of the town. ICalloway, has taken his place In the!are daughter and son, respectively, of! and is very productive of everything in
ed his business. j W. S. Henry, now engaged in farm- business here and the firm name now!J. Goldman. iho agricultural, horticultural or or-
At this time the site of the future lug In the edge of Miueola, came here is_L. D. Calloway & Co. j W. J. McDonald ft Company was one chard line adapted to this climate.
EARI.Y HISTORY OF MINEOLA.
city of Mlneola was a perfect wilder-
I ness, with very few farms or settle-
ments within a radius of ten or fifteeu
I miles. Wild animals roamed at will
| over the forests and game of all kinds
| was plentiful. Deer were numerous
i and venison a common article on the
! bill of fare. In a short time, however,
The origin of the name of Mlneola j the town became the temporary abld-
remaius an unsettled question. It is,lug place of a great many people, con-
said that the railroad people intended: slating largely of woodmen and tie-
that the town should be called June- makers, as well as railroad laborers,
lion City from the simultaneous con-,and pretty soon the place was cleared _
iunctlon of the two railroads here, but up sufficiently to give the appearance j later conducted a tan yeard here.
In some unknown manner that name of a town under good headway to fti- ™8,® .f®!1 store of information
was defeated. There is a common be- ture greatness. Though the surround-
llef among the citizens of the city that ing country was sparsely settled, the
the town was named by a Mr. Burnett;town at oncc began to be a great trad-
of Galveston who. as representative of^ ing point, attracting trade for forty
the Texas Land company, before the miles around, on account of the scarc-
foundlng of the town, purchased for BO ity of railroads in those days.
cents an acre the land on which Mine-I Immediately following the junction
ola is built called the place Mlneola of the railroads Front street began to
in honor either of his little daughter; build up rapidly with storehouses,!
with L. R. Graham in 1873.
T. W. Wren, residing in the west
portion of Mlneola, came to this vicin-
ity lr. 1870, three years before the
founding of the town, and opened up
Ex-Governor Jas. S. Hogg, now re^of the pioneer mercantile firms of Min-
slding In Austin, was once a resident ! eola and probably did the largest busl-
of Mineola a short time while he was! ness of any merchant or firm whila
county attorney of Wood county. Sub-: here. Mr. McDonald left Mineola
sequently he was district attorney, I about twenty years ago and is now
the farm on which he now resides, and then attorney general of the state and captain of the state rangers and stat-
lu still engaged at farming. He was
county commissioner of this precinct
(No. 2) for six years.
Phillip Weaver came to Mineola In
1873 and engaged in the dairy business
for a year or so, then butchered about
ten years, then went to farming and
He
re-
garding the early history of Mlneola.
John Welncr and J. Lowlnger, who
were, partners at peddling In Troupe,
cam* to Mineola immediately after the
building of the railroads here and es-
tablished the first dry goods business
in this place. In 1876 Mr. Lowingcr
sold his Interest in the business to Si-
mon Munzesheimer, who came here in
ioned at Quanah.
There Is nowhere in the interior of
Texas a better cotton market than
Mineola. The highest prices are al-
ways paid in spot cash or trade, just
as desired, but always on a cash basis.
There are five large concerns here that
buy cotton all through the season, and
Levy & Brown was also a prominent are never less than 10 or 12 buyers on
mercantile firm of Mineola in early .the streets, ready to sample and bid
days. Thoy left here in the latter part!on the farmer's cotton. There are sev-
of the 70s and now reside In Waxaha-j eral cotton yards, and it costs the far-
chit. Mr. Levy has retired from an ( mer nothing to have his cotton weigh-
actlve business life and is now one of ed, sampled and receipted for in this
the wealthiest men in the state.
lastly governor.
Senator R. N. Stafford came to Min-
eola in 1880 from Quitman, being
county attorney at the time. He serv-
ed two terms In that capacity and
was elected district attorney and serv-
ed two terms. In 1891 to 1893 he was
master in chancery of the I. ft G. N.
railroad which was under a receiver-
ship. In 1894 he was elected to the
senate and has been re-elected twice
since and has just begun his third 4-
year term -of faithful and" efficient ser-
vice for the 7th senatorial district. He
was president pro tern of the senate 2
years and has been twice a delegate toidate city of between 3000"and 3500"pop-! With her splendid railroad faollltles
national democratic conventions. Is ulation. It Is the junction of three fine building and manufacturing tim-
inanager of the Mineola Ice & Light j lines of railway, connecting at a union. bers, unsurpassed farm, truck and fruit
MINEOLA AT PRESENT.
market. A hog market has also been
established here, and fat hogs can al-
ways be sold for cash. There Is a
, compress here also, which Is an advan-
Mlneola is in the southwestern por-jtage to the man who sells cotton in
tion of Wood, one of the best, counties j this market. The cotton receipts are
of Texas, about two miles from the Sa-Jarge every season and constantly in-
bine river, and is a prosperous, up-to-[creasing.
" ' "" -I V
named Minnie or after some other lit- j while in a few years the stores in the.1875 and conducted a watch repair and Co., and owns considerable valuable depot near the center of the city. Thejlands, excellent possibilities for obtain-
i\t. tri or vouui: lady by that name, vicinity where the cotton compree. Jewelry shop in the store In which he property in the city. iniain line of the Texas and Pacific rail- ing abundant supplies of good water
J. L. Ray was reared In Wood coun-!road runs through the city east and her intelligent and industrious citizen-
ty, having come to the county in 188* j west, from New Orleans to El Paso; ship, Mineola possesses the nucleus to
funni Dual/ nnnnf tf Ho oa ni n in Minofi- I hp DTP:11 "If atv" ovotAm lw « — ItnonmA «« n. «
tie girl or voting lady by
Mlneola owes her existence and now stands were either deserted or j bought an interest. (Mr. Lowlnger
dates her origin from the Junction of, moved away. Mineola continued . left Mineola In 188C and died In Waco,
the Texas and Pacific anil the Inter- building up rapidly for several years!Texas, about two years ago.) Shortly
national and Great Northern railroads,; t.n,i became the trading point for sever-!after Mr. Munzesheimer married Miss
'it a nolnt not far from half way be-i„i counties around not yet favored |Carrie Marks, a wealthy lady of Jef-
tween Dallas and Marshall on the west with the advent of the iron horse. By ferson. Texas, and In 1886 he pur-
nnri past and between Tyler and Green- is76 Front street had filled up with chased the interest of his partner, Mr.
viiip on the south and north, which B to res and houses began to be erected Weiner, who then left Mlneola with social ion of Wood county and is re-
11 no consummated in June 1873. As the on the adjacent streets. At that time;considerable means and returned to thelsarded as the prime mover in organ-
two roads, one building westward and the town contained 800 or 1000 popula- ' * - —«♦«
the other to the north, grew closer andjt|on 0f fQl. more permanent character
closer to the verging point, the build-j (ban at first, and the merchants enjoy-
ing of them became more and more e,j or (jj(jj a tremendous buesiness, foi
la in 18S2 and is now engaged in farm-
ing in the western outskirts of town
and is also in the real estate business.
He Is president of the Old Settlers' as-
interesting, as both construction crews
were about equidistant from the point
where they were to converge, and this
occasioned a very high pitch ofr!™1"
ry between the laborers^ bnlldlng^^tne
the trade was actually too great and
pressing to be enjoyed by anyone but
the most covetous-hearted. The town
obtained the cotton and trade from ten
other counties besides Wood, viz.:
Van Zandt,
two great railroads, and In conse-; Kaufman, Henderson,
quence betting was Indulged In con
Hiderably by sports both big and lit __
Ho as to which road would first ne nPS8 transacted here at that time was
' phenomenally large, especially during
from Rusk county. He came to Mineo- the great "Katy" system has a line| become one of the best towns in the
,ODO here fl°m Greenville, north, and the state, and there is no reason why it
International and Great Northern, "the!should not have 10,000 population with-
Texas railroad," comes in from Troupe j in a few years and be teeming with fac-
on the south. With the advantages of tories of various kinds.
The city, for one thing, has been
cramped for lack of sufficient room, but
the city council several months ago
passed an ordinance expanding the
city limits doiublo the distance out,
making the city contain four square
miles Instead of only two square milee
these systems of transportation, it
seems reasonable to predict that Min-
eola will at. no distant day grow to be
a place of great Importance. Nothing
but lack of sufficient capital, that one
built to the point of conjunction. Both
crews worked hard and tireless, labor-
ing both night and day, in order to
win the race. ,
Added to the Interest and excite-
ment in the construction of the roads,
great speculation was exercised by the
people, who were contemplating the
founding of a new railroad town In
East Texas, as to where tho converg
ing point of the two railroads would
be. for that point was to be the place
where the new town should be located.
Pretty soon the point of Junction was
reached, being first obtained by the T.
& P., defeating its rival by only about
thirty minutes, and the former ad-
vanced about fifty yards before the I.
ft G. N. track was laid to the goal.
The event was duly celebrated by the
building crews by the drinking of
apirltcus Honors and having a general
good time In their way. The T. ft P.
continued Its progress westward, while
the I. & O. N., which, It was believed,
designed to go on to Sulphur Springs,
made Mlneola Its permanent terminus
of the Troupe extension. Eight years
afterward, however, the "Katy" sys-
tem built a line of railroad from
Greenville to Mineola. making ft con-
tinuous line with the International
and Great Northern and giving Mlneo-
la a railroad outlet In every cardinal
direction—north, east, aouth and west.
Several months previous to the
Junction of the two railroads a town
was started about three quarters or a
mile southeast of where the union de-
pot now stands, being located where
it was generally understood the survey
of the International and Great North-
ern road would be made to come along.
Some forty or fifty small, cheap, rough
unfinished box shanties and tents were
hastily erected In a row alongside the
coming road and stocked with the va-
rious lines of goods common to fron-
tier towns in those days. The coun-
try round about contained many
tough characters of the homo genus as
well as the native wild animals of
more or less vicious disposition, as
farms or settlements were scarce for
miles around at that time, and the
town was frequented by so many of
those barbarous characters known as
desperadoes, who went heavily armed,
drank bad liquors, carried blood in
their eyes, as it were, and oommltted
murder at the slightest provocation
and oftentimes without any provoca-
tion at all, that the place was called
"Hell's Half Acre." But the town ex-
isted only about six months, for the
location was not. destined to be the
point of conjunction of the two rail-
roads. where the permanent town
must be located.
Then when tho survey of the Texas
and Pacific road w#s made another
location was selected for the town, in
the vicinity of where the cotton com-
press now stands, and four or five
stores were put up there In anticipa-
tion of the International and Great
Northern touching the Texas and Pa
and company of which he was a heavy
ihe marketing of cotton, when the re-[ creditor. About six years ago Mr.
ceipts would frequently reach .500 and Munzesheimer organized the Mineola
f!00 bales per day. The business in the Mercantile company, which Is one of
stores was so pressing that the mer j the largest mercantile establishments
home of his nativity in Hungary and izing the association. Ho was master
engaged in The manufacture of pearl I of the state grange several years.
buttons. He has now retired fromi B. B. Hart moved from Quitman to
business and resides In Stofhols, Hun-! Miueola in 1881 and engaged in the'great desideratum of nearly all South
gary. Mr, Munzesheimer continued I practice of law with J. C. Buchanan,; ern states and cities, has kept the plaqe „ „„,.v
the business several years and sold it j an earlier settler of the town, who died from attaining the full measure of itsj as formerly. The expansion oMhecItT
to a company of Greenville, Texas,'three years later. Mr. Hart is still j possibility. There are many Inviting > when ratified by tho district court of
who moved the same to that place. Mr.'engaged in the practice of law, with .fields here for capital which have not! the county, will be sure to give great.
Munzesheimer then moved with his; his son, V. V. Hart, his partner. j yet been developed. The natural ad- j impetus to the upbuilding of the town
family to New York City, where they) Dr. V. T Hart, brother of attorney vantages for manufacturing industries 8nd already real estate in Mineola has
~ " can hardly be surpassed anywhere. No j begun to advance faster than ever be-
better location could be found for cot-i fore. Now is unquestionably the op-
ton mills, so would a cottonseed oil: portune time for the capitalist to come
Smith, Rains. Hunt. Delta, Upshur, | remained nine or ten years and then'B. B. Hart, also moved from Quitman
Hopkins and Camp. In fact the btisi- returned to Mlneola and purchased the to Mineola in 1881. and practiced med-
general merchandise business of Bruce licine up to his death last year. His
son. Dr. Sam W. Hart, came with him
to Mineola and still resides here.
W. B. Teagarden,, president of the
Mineola Mercantile Co., came to Min-
eola in 1875 and clerked a while and
chants would have to keep open till j in the city. Mr. Munzesheimer died j later was publisher of the Mineola Phone system, with over 100 subscril>-
midniglit or later to accommodate all practice of law 12 or 14 years and en-; Monitor (now defunct) a couple of
the customers and then many would! last year. He was born In Germany j years. He has been engaged in the
have to remain over till next day be-j and came to Texas when quite young, joys a lucrative practice.
fore they could obtain their purchases and soon became a full-fledged Ameri-j Te flr8t pa,)er published in Mineola
In 1878 the East. Line (now S. S. and , can with a devout interest in all that was tjje Advertiser, by Chas. Martin,
• ■«" - pertained to Mineola and Wood coun-iln 1874. ,t was a small sheet and did
ty He ever possessed a warm heart not survive long. Some time later D.
and an open hand for the relief of the!^ (Crockett) Williams established the
mill be a safe and profitable invest-!'o Mlneola and join in the march of
ment here. A fire-proof warehouse is' progress.
also needed; also a candy factory, soapi This city has as fine talent in the le-
factory, broom factory, etc. gal, medical, ministerial and other pro-
Mineola has a splendid local tela- "
S.) road was built from Greenville to
Jefferson and that detached much
trade from Mineola, but the increase
In the number of farms opening up In
the territory surrounding and still
tributary to Mineola served to prevent
any considerable decrease In the vol-
ume of her trade. Since then the latei
history of Mineola is too well known to
warrant a continuation of the story, so
we close this historical sketch 'for
the present.
Mineola was Incorporated in the
spring of 1877, the confines of the mtin
by
fessions, as enterprising and accommo-
dating set of merchants and business
ers, connected with the long distance men, as competent, and efficient set of
system of the Southwestern Telepohne! city officials, as skillful and industrious
company. (artisans in the various trades, and last
The city Is lighted, and supplied with but not least, as pretty girls and sweet
ice by the Mineola Light and Power)young ladles, 1h proportion to the pop-
company, a home corporation equipped ; ulation. as any., community can boast
with a splendid plant of the latest im-1of- Her society is surpassed nowhere
proved machinery. | in Texas, her schools rank with the
poor and unfortunate. None ever; Nvood County Flag here and the same1 Tliero is In the city a big cotton com-1 highest, and her people are a sober,
went to bim for a favor and was turn-! wao discontinued after awhle Next!press: one <>f the 'arKest factories in' moral, refined, church-going people,
ed away empty handed. His son, Gus vfr williamq pstahiishcd thp Minpnini,he 9tate for the manufacture of boxes,1 Mineola is an auspicious and inviting
Munzesheimer, is secretary and treas-' Monitor and was conducted at differ-! baskets. crates, etc.. for the shipping of field for U°tlre*c^ lTfftt?l,tabft skiTTea
urer of the Mineola Mercantile com- ent times by different proprietors and fl'esh 'iuits. vegetables, etc.; n steani;,bVer as well as the up-to-date hortl-
pany and Is probably the only native , wa8 finally discontinued in 1897 by T lnum,1'y> and iron works, a bottliifcurturist or orchardist, and her sur-
^r,
born merchant in Mineola.-
N. S. Sodekson came to Mineola In
1875 with his brother, H. Sodekson,
and established a general merchandise
business in a livery stable building lo-
icipallty being a circle formed by a
half mile radius with the union depot1 Front street, directly fronting the tin- Mr Ppbworth is an ordained! 7.—"i ~i "'
as the center. Jas. Farrell, who camelion depot. He nald $75 a month fori : ,2 oraatnea|the business part of town.
from Omaha. N.b„ ... elected „«h. {M«o Sta prominent la" the lo'dg,', T„'£
finally discontinued in 1897 by
A. Napier, Wood county's present rep-
resentative in the legislature.
W. T. Pebworth came to Mineola in
1876 and engaged in his present busi-
ness. being proprietor of _ the bar-
works and two systems of waterworklkunding fertile lands are beckoning,
in the residence section, as well as )t were, the coming of, the husband-
large, deep public well on Johnson aiBinn as never before. Market garden-
Broadway streets which furnishes, rs, orchardists, berry £lnd grape grow-
the aid of a pump, windmill and fc'^TI ,tk are ideal immigrants, and receive
cated about the middle of the block on b^":ho7on the"easV side"of Johnson ""e "nfne',an abundance o/^Ki,. Uhe glad hand of welcome by everyone
,ii, «i °er snop on me east siue or jonnson)some minerai water for all pi)"- * .
in TifftMrt inabilities Ho in the grand
1 soil of Wood county which is so adapt-
first mayor. He now resides some-
where in West Texas. The first baord
of alderman was composed of B. F.
Read. S. Zuckerman, Kirk Brown, Dr.
L. A. Mobley, W, E. Wlgley and J. C.
Buchanan, only the first named being a
citizen of Miueola now. B. F. McDon-
ald was the first city marshal. George
A. Cage was elected the first city treas-
urer, but declined to serve because his
business demanded his entire atten-
tion. George W. Butler, who died here
last year, was the sccond mayor of the
city. Tom Baggett was the first. Jus-
tice of the peace of Mlneola (No. 2)
precinct after the founding of the
town.
EARLY SETTLERS OF MINEOLA.
Sodekson organized the present coj1-
MUJon
in the saddlery and harness business-'
! ths J?* y?_ar-8:
enjoys the distinction of not :an(' other
strawberry, blackberry,
all kinds. Elberta peaches
varieties, apples or pearfr,-
etc., soon becomes a man of means.
doing business in their fine two-gtorv' ...^""'nml* imHrir ii rttorl^ 'r'tinT^T ■ the past two years. i Now is the time to come, as the lands
brick on West Broadway. of Johnson tesEu"^J^ntile firms of the city will, are fast being taken up at a rapidly
The double brick house on Front 1876.
poratlon of N. S. Sodekson ft Co.,| '"aeor^"p!^Flyntr the "jew^r^atch-! ,08t any raoney on a loan in
'icompare favorably with those in the!increasing price.
street fronting the union depot, now;-
towns of
Texas.
There
M. Allen came to Mineoia in 1878
wholesale grocery and feed store en-
1878 and engaged in a
and grocery business a few
Below we tAke pleasure in mention-
ing those first and subsequent settlers
of Mineola who were Important factors
in the building of the town, many of
whom being yet in our midst eujoying
both good health and an honored
name. They all deserve the highest
encomium for the excellent state to
which they have developed and built
the splendid, modern, up-to-date little
city of which we are all so proud and
muchly enjoy.
Thos. Breen, who has just begun his
fourth term as postmaster of Mln-
eola. came here a couple of months be-
fore tho arrival of the railroads and
engaged In the hardware business as a
member of the firm of T. L. Edwards
& Co. Two years later Mr. Edwards
retired from the firm, leaving as prop-
rietors Mr. Breen and Jacob Elmer,
the latter dying in 1885, since which
time Mr. Breen has been sole proprie-,
tor.
George A. Cage came to Mlneola in
on the west by S. Zuckerman and the
one on the east side by Weiner ft Mun-
zesheimer. Mr. Zuckerman conducted
a dry goods business in his house. He
was a highly educated German Jew,
enterprising, liberal-hearted, broad-!yf,argi ami "j8 now serving his
g aged citizen and was highly aceom- term ^ mayor of Mineoia,
pllshed as an office business man. He
died last year in Chioago.
W. O. Powell, night watchman at
the box factory, came to Mineola in
1875 and did carpenter work. He
Then he was a commercial traveler
for a clothing firm for about ten years.
Later he was a clerk in Mineola stores
and was city assessor and collector five
third
WOOD COUNTY, *
Contains 702 square miles or *49.-
n—o. 280 acres of as good land as is to be
confectionery: accommodate a large credit trade they found in any timbered section of the
fpw months, also handle groceries, household sup-ignited States of America. In «.he
county there are about 50,000 acres of
land in cultivation, leaving about 400.-
000 acrcs waiting for and inviting tho
man with the axe, plow, spade and
B. H. Greer came here with the Tex-
as & Pacific preliminary surveying
one gents' furnishing goods! hoe. Our lands produce in abundance
one very nice millinery j eorn, cotton, oats, wheat, barley, rye.
helped clear up the town and erect ar different places ever since and
stores and residences. j again a resident of Mineola.
(/ 0nh!,;!T:.&(C!rpenter residing In. j P McDaniel came to Mlneola in
■ . ,'07^ town, came to Mln-^g^ an(1 charge as agent of the
r. 1? u ' .i . , it_ 'old Texas Express company located
rrnm ° j6 at this place. Later the Pacific Express
company took the place o( lie Taxaa
LlT n "pantile business while ;Bxpre88 company and Mr. McDaniel
e"joyed auch H 'arge trade continned as agent. He Is still agent
aU ,h0 surrounding counties. h havl ,)een w,th the Paclflc Ex_
plies, farm implements, vehicles, etc.
Two other good firms carrying dry
goods, groceries, etc., one large racket
store, one cash exclusive dry goods
store. —
store, ....
IIIV<C liuillllbl J | ' ' , ,
store, besides millinery goods handled peas of all kinds, potatocs(both sweet
by other larger firms; one mammothi«nd Irish), melons of all descriptions,
crew in 1872 before the arrival of the 1 furniture and undertaker's establish- grasses In endless variety, sugar cane
railroads or founding of the town of ment, three large hardware houses one'and sorghum. We are situated, in the
Mineola. He has followed railroading of them carrying a big line of sad-! center cf the great fruit belt, here
is dlery and leather good In addition; grapes and berries grow spontaneously
three lumber yards, two livery sta-iand the improved varieties cannot be
bles, five exclusive grocery stores, as; surpassed either in quantity or quality,
well as seven other firms handling fain-! Our special productions in the fruit
ily groceries; four stores carrying feed,(line are; apples, peaches. pear.s, plums
ten or twelve hotels, lodging and board-! grapes and berries. All foreign varie-
lng houses; five restaurants, one lunch ties so far as tested are a success. Our
July, one month after the arrival of , , ,
I the railroads, and engaged in the re-; successful.merchant. We have
ciflc at that point. But this location' e|V|njr an,i forwarding of freight and heard it said of Mr. Bromberg that he
was also doomed to be a failure. The ^ ^](l grocery business. Next year he acquired his well-earned compe-
Iuternatlonal and Great Northern dld| W(>n^ into the buying, weighing and tency in fair, honest, legitjmftte deal-
at first intend to connect there &n":shipping of cotton, and two years lateri,n^a w'th his fellowmen,
He retired from an active business life;pre8a company 21 years, during which
in 1&9G and Is now serving as city
treasurer.
F. G. Brom berg came to Mineola in
February 1877. and located on Front
street, with a very small stock of gen-
eral merchandise. He is now the se-
nior member of the firm of I. O. Brom-
berg ft com puny and is regarded as
stand, eight barbershops, one dye
works, two photograph galleries, one
tailor shop, two gunsmith shops, two
soil is peculiarly adapted to garden
vegetables, not only in variety, but in
quality, and numbers of our most, pro-
even surveyed the line thither, but engaged in the banking business,
subsequently rejected the location ^on 1 wi,|cj, be pursued about thirteen years.
For tho past eighteen years he has
been writing fire insurance.
W. J. Jennings came to Mineoia in
the fall of 1873 and built the first sub-
stantial residence In the south ward,
which la south of the Texas ft Pacific
railroad.
D. S. Lankford, proprietor of the
drug store on West Broadway, was in
the vicinity of Mineola before the
account of Its Bwampy surface. Then
the International and Great Northern
road was made to bend to the west-
ward and touched the Texas ft Pacific
about three hundred yards west of
there, striking the Texas and Paclflc
trftcjt at the union depot as it is at
present.
There was one man who was wiser
than all the rest in anticipating the
location of the Junction of the two
railroads. He was L. R. Graham, the
present manager of the wholesale gro-
cery and feed store of L. R. Graham
ft* Co. of Mlneola He was one of the
merchants of Hell's Half Acre, but his
store was built directly in the way
where the International ,and Great
Northern road was subs«quently sur-
veyed to pass along, and in conse-
quence thereof was compelled to move
same out of the road's right-of-way,
and instead of relocating at location
No. 2 (in the vicinity where the cotton
compress now stands), acted upon a
wiser judgment and bought ihe west
Icuner lot on the block directly front-
ttg on fh« nbrth future- location of
A. H. Blasingame came here in 1879
and engaged In- the saloon business
and is still a resident of Mlneola.
Judge H. M. Cate came to Mlneola
In January 1880. and engaged in the
practice of law with Capt.. W. M. Giles,
who died last summer. Judge Cate
was appointed city attorney of Mlneo-
la in 1880 and elected county tudge of
Wood county in 1882 and moved to
Quitman. He was re-electe1 in 1884,
when he voluntary retired and return
cotton yards, thr « railroad repair!gressive farmers are making a sp**ial
time he has never been transferred or shops, one fancy /ork shop, twolty of raising the watermelon, canta-
watch repair shopk We
made a break in the agency at this
place. There Is probably not another
express agent in the United States who
can claim Buch a unique record for
continuous servicc as Mr. McDaniel
can
and two job printinU^/ j
1 | IN
ee newspapers
v
Among the prof#" T is and trades
represented in Mintju there are nine
physicians, two .dentists, one speclal-
Hls services are so efficient and :1st. twelve or fourteen notaries eight
satisfactory that the express company layers, two underwriters, three real • one of Its principal tributaries, running
would not let him resign if he wanted f tate dealers, nine clergymen, four be- j through Its center from north to
loupe, Irish potato, tomato, cabbage,
^c„ and they are> making
if
The county Is' well supplied with wa-
ter. The Sabine river on our south-
western boundary. wl h Lake Fork,
founding of the town. He was one of ed to Mlneola and re-entered the prac-
the first clerks in tho store of N. S. ,Hce of law. In 1888 he organized the
Sodekson, which was established in > First National Bank of Min.nla, one
«nhMt-<dtlnt, thr .tomi bavin^ a,l-
i*tiy been laid oft, and he
hullt tbeye-
1875, and has served ten years as
mayor of the city. He Is one of the
best known persons In Wood county.
Dr. A. Patten came to Mineola in the
spring of 1873. but did not move his
family hero from Quitman, an old
town and the county seat of Wood
county, till 1875. He Is still here and
actively engaged in the practice of
medicine.
J. F. Wren, clerking in the Racket
Store of C. C. filsler, and his brothers.
Win. H. and R. K. Wren, pursuing the | ministration.'
carpenter's tr^de, came to Mineola in
1876, and say there were only two or
three farmfi between here and Golden
then, while now there Is not
of the solid institutions of east Texas,
and In 1899 organized the H. M. Cate
Dry Goods ft Grocery Co., known as
"The Big Four," one of tho largest
general merchandise stores In this
city. He moved to Terrell In 1901 and
now resides there.
Geo. C. Reeves came here In 1874.
Ho was city Marshal of Mineola three
terms, engaged in the hardware busi-
ness six years, and waA state convict
agent during Gov. Hogg's 4-yeare' ad-
Ho Is now engaged in
to. ynB colored; numerous literary and
W. R. Aldridge came to Mineola ir/muslc teachers, eight truck and fruit
tho fall of 1881 and engaged as f-*)l growers and several others beginning
agent for the M. K. ft T. railroad liter in the business; four brick masons,
as baggage master, then was clerk in three painters and paper hangers, six-
the freight house. Vu has been In bus- j teen carpenters, two draymen, three
Iness here abou* lOurteen years and is white and four colored church houses.
now conducting a grocery business on
the west side of Johnson street.
Marshal Hicks, who was once a
partner of W. M. Glles(now deceased)
with five white and four colored church
organizations.
Mineola is incorporated undeir the
general laws of the state and is divkl-
ln the practice of law in Mlneola, went ed into three wards, with two alder-
to Laredo many years ago and later
to San Antonio, where he was elected
mayor of that city and is now serving
as state senator of that district.
Aaron Munzesheimer came to Mlneo-
la in 1878 and engaged In business with
S. Zuckerman ft Company, carrying
general merchandise. Two or three
vears later Weiner ft Munzeeheimer
bought the business of Mr. Zuckerman
and Mr. Aaron Munzesheimer went
with the purchasing firm, who then
changed the Arm name to H. Munses-
lietmer ft Company. Later Mr. Aaron
Munzesheimer was with Bruce ft coAi-
pany. gen oral merchandise dealers, and
in 1900 he established fats present busi-
men from each, and a full complement
of city officers, a rec o'r -
der's court, with criminal Jurisdic-
tion, etc. The south ward Is all that
part of the city south of the Texas and
Paclflc railroad, while Johnson street
separates tjie east from the west ward
In the north part of town.
The health of the city Is uniformly
good and the death rate is phenomenal-
ly small, being perhaps, as low as can
be found in any part of the state.
Mineola is in as fine a fruit, truck
and grape country as there Is In the
world, to which fact the people are Just
awakening. The Mlneola Fruit and
Vegetable Growers' association Is a
product of the recent awakening of the
T
ness, one of the largest in Mlneola.
having two large stores in conjunction, people on the subject. The members
... and carrying general merchandise, In-1 of the association will Increase their
the stock business and owns about a eluding a full line of groceries, etc. j acreage this year considerably. Dr. A.
dpzen farms In the country.sucjfound'l J- and I. Goldman, brothers.'- doing. S. Cochrane and D. S. Lankford have
Ing Mineola. He-also has a rttw millibuslnees-In-the nant*-of.I.-04>ldma ft!recently set oitt,"CO aeres in Elberta
5 miles east of to*n.
! company were In bus'netw here during1 peaches two miles West of town, and
south with numbers of bold runnlug
creeks, branches and brooklets, many
of them furnisfiing power to run ma-
chinery the year round. There are
numdraus lakes on our water courses
toeming with the finny tribe, from the
sun perch to the 100-pound catfish.
The water is soft or pure freestone
as a rule, though we have a few min-
eral springs and wells, furnishing a
great health resort for the affilcted. The
soil is grey sandy or grey loam as a
rule, although there are large bodies
of red gravily sandy land.
Tho timbers are white, black, red
and post oak, overcup. ash, walnut,
mulberry, sweet and black gum, white
and black hickory, black Jack, cotton
wood, hackberry, pine, etc. A larga
area of the south end of the county 13
covered with a magnificent growth of
as fine yet low pines as can be found
in the south, from which are furnish-
ed millions of feet of lumber and
shingles annually. %
Unimproved lands in tho county sell
at from $150 to $8.00 an acre, accord-
ing to location, quality and quantity.
Improved lands range in price from
$3.00 to $26.00 per acre. Land can bo
purchased on easy terms.
Health of th6 county is good, schools
are first-class, and churches of nearly
every name and order exist, and socle*
ty Is splendid. The. Jury ecrtOi^stal-
way* worth 100 cents on'the dot #r
V 0
. MM R
i i
.. IX
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The Mineola Daily Argus (Mineola, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 32, Ed. 1 Friday, March 6, 1903, newspaper, March 6, 1903; Mineola, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth254296/m1/4/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Mineola Memorial Library.