TX BIOS:  Mr. Punchard
   Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.
   
   Washington, 1994.
   
   Preceding element provides place and date of transcription only.
   
   This transcription intended to be 99.95% accurate.
   
   For more information about this text and this American Memory
   collection, refer to accompanying matter.
   
   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
   Project, Life Histories, 1936-39); Manuscript Division, Library of
   Congress.Copyright status not determined.
   
   00011
   
   Life History FOLKLORE - White Pioneer
   
   Miss Effie Cowan, P. W.
   
   McLennan County, Texas
   
   District No. 8
   
   No. of Words 1500
   
   File No. 240
   
   Page No. 1 Reference
   
   Interview with Mr. [??], White Pioneer, Siesel, Texas.
   
   "I was around six years of age when my father, William Punchard, with
   his family moved [?] miles east of what is now the town of [?], Texas.
   That was in [?] I was born October 10, 1856 in Sempronius, Austin
   County, Texas, [?] a member of the 3rd set of children in my father's
   family. My [father?], William Punchard, was a New Englander, born and
   bred. He first [?] light of day at Francistown, New Hampshire,
   September 19, 1813. He [?] until 1878, he passed away near Riesel.
   
   "In my father's [?] manhood, he was attracted to the South and went to
   the state of [Mississippi?]. In Madison County, Mississippi, he
   married Julia McGraw [?] were born the following children: Samuel,
   born September 6, 1836, [?] a farmer of McLennan County, and a
   Confederate soldier; Leonidas H., [?] February 15, 1838 was a soldier
   from Louisiana in the Confederate Army [?] died in that state leaving
   two children; William [?]., born January [?], 1840, he died young;
   Josephine born in the forties, married William [?] and died in Milam
   County, Texas.
   
   Sometime after the [?] of his first wife, my father married Louisiana
   [?] in [?] County, Texas, and had children born in Texas before the
   territory [??] to the United States. His second wedding was celebrated
   November [?] 1844 and to them were born, Mary Punchard on August 16,
   1845; Sidney [?] born January 24, 1847, who married John Bergland and
   died in Milam County [?] Texas; Cornelius E. born August 23, 1848; and
   Lucretia A., born [October ??], 1849 who became Mrs. [???] and died in
   Washington County. 00022"The third and last marriage of my father
   William Punchard was to Mrs. Elizabeth Aydelotte, of Fayettville,
   Texas, February 27, 1855. She was born April 5, 1820 and died at
   Riesel, April 22, 1907. There were four children born to this union.
   James Hancock, who died in infancy; John H., born March 7, 1859, a
   business man and former of Mart; Julius W., who was born November 21,
   1861 and who died while young; and myself.
   
   "I began life with an education obtained in the public schools, at
   Chappell Hill College and at Baylor University, where I was under the
   personal influence of Dr. Rufus Burleson. Following the tradition of
   my family, I engaged in farming and gradually grew into the stock
   business, until it became one of my most important interests, and I
   also began buying land. When I gave up farming, it was to move to the
   town of Riesel, where I could give my children better opportunities in
   the schools. I then extended my interest in investments to that of
   stockholder in the Farmer's Gin Company of Riesel and in a similar
   concern at Mart, as well as in the Mart Cotton Oil Company. I became a
   stockholder in the Southern Union Life Insurance Company and
   Vice-president of the First State Bank of Riesel.
   
   "I married in McLennan County, Texas, October 16, 1893, Mattie
   Gillespie a daughter of J. [?]. Gillespie who brought his family to
   Texas from Arkansas.
   
   "We have had the following children: Edwin, who met accidental death
   at the age of sixteen; Herbert C., Louise and Lois. I have tried to
   help in the schools at Riesel and gave my time for some years as
   trustee. For my lodges, I belong to the Masons, Woodmen of the World
   and Moccabees. I am a member of the Methodist Church. In my relations
   with my fellow man 00033I have tried to be helpful and public
   spirited. For the development of the Riesel territory I have taken a
   deep and abiding interest.
   
   "When I first came to McLennan County, in 1872, this and adjacent
   counties were great cattle countries, thousands of cattle covered the
   fine black prairie land. It was not thought at the time that the
   prairie land would produce cotton, or was worth anything except for
   stock raising. I remember an incident about Jacob Weaver who was a
   very successful farmer of the Riesel community, and when the settlers
   commenced to put the black land in cultivation, he told some of his
   friends "they were doomed to failure and when they were satisfied to
   come back to the bottom and he would take care of them."
   
   "However, Mr. Weaver found he was wrong and afterwards bought some of
   the black land west of Mart and erected a gin, and for years, he was
   one of the most successful ginners of the black land section east of
   Riesel, now known as the Mart community. Later, a German by the name
   of Schlimbach came and bought large acreage of the prairie land to the
   southeast of Riesel and sold it off to German immigrants, many direct
   from Germany.
   
   "When we lived in Austin County, my father was a merchant, plantation
   and slave owner. When the Civil War was over, he gave the slaves their
   freedom and they refused to leave, so he kept them and gave them part
   of the crop and their living expenses to stay and work the land. The
   carpet-baggers were in control and the times were pretty rough. It was
   pretty much the same as elsewhere in the days of reconstruction.
   
   "[This?] reminds me of how when I was a boy we had to get our cotton
   to Brownsville during the war and send it through Mexico to the
   markets in Europe. From Brownsville and [?], Mexico, it was shipped
   across the 00044ocean. One could see, the long wagon trains of cotton,
   drawn by oxen, all through the fall of the year as they slowly mended
   their way to the Mexican border. The reason for this was that part of
   the time the Texas ports were blockaded and all the time enemies were
   on the watch to confiscate produce of any kind, and especially cotton,
   as it sold for fifty cents a pound or more, during the blockade.
   
   "There would be from ten to twenty bales to the wagon and a train of
   wagons from ten to twenty in number. When they camped at night, they
   were drawn up in a circle to form a breastwork for defense from the
   robbers and Indians. These trips required from one to three months. If
   it was during rainy season, then they often had to camp by the creeks
   and rivers until they run down, for you must remember this was before
   the day of the bridge.
   
   "My first impression of this country was the number (as I thought) of
   peach trees, I had never seen a mesquite tree before and as I glanced
   out the window of the car I thought the mesquite trees were peach
   trees.
   
   "When we came here, there was no town of Riesel, the Waco Tap Railroad
   had recently been completed and the only two stops between Waco and
   Marlin were Perry and Harrison Switch. We lived over on Manos Creek,
   between Tehuscans and the Brazos River. Between Tehuscans and the
   Brazos there is a bend in the river and this is called Goat Neck. In
   this bend many of the first families lived.
   
   "The families of General Harrison, Dr. Dunklin, Dr. Badwell, Johnson,
   Strange, Shakleford, Mullins, Gillespie, Billingsley and Oakes lived
   in the Brazos bottom, extending from the Harrison place, (now known as
   the Neal farm) on down the Brazos river almost to Marlin. To the east,
   there lived Dick Jones, Charley Turners, and many others. 00055"While
   we lived on Manos Creek, my father had a gin, store and sawmill. The
   cotton was brought to the gin from all up and down the river bottom,
   also to the saw mill came the timber for the logs to be made into
   lumber for the houses. The bottom was rich in many kinds of timber and
   as the land was being put in cultivations there was a good business
   for the saw mill, as well as the ginning. The prices fluctuated then,
   as now, from six to ten and twelve cents. When it was sent to the
   market it was loaded on the train at Harrison, Perry, Marlin or Waco,
   but most of the cotton was carried to Marlin and Waco and sold, then
   shipped to the market at Houston and Galveston.
   
   "We all went to the little church called "New Hope", this was on the
   Dunklin plantation and the present negro church now stands on this
   site. At first, both denominations used it, but as I remember Dr.
   Carroll and General Harrison organized it first as the Baptist
   denomination. There is a little cemetery adjoining the church and many
   of the loved ones of the first families are buried in it. Many were
   the old time revivals held here and the people came from far and near.
   
   "The bottom of the Brazos River was a hunter's paradise, the favorite
   hunting was the fox and deer. Pete Ross, a brother of Sul Ross was one
   of Texas governors. [?] Ross family lived about three miles from us.
   Our physician, Dr. Tripps lived where the Battle community is now.
   Doctor Bedwell and Dr. Dunklin also practiced in our community.
   
   "Those were the days when the Brazos bottom was in its glory, plenty
   of everything to eat, wild turkeys, hogs and birds of all description,
   the bottom land was so rich that the crops grew almost without
   cultivating it. 00066"We were not far from the towns of Waco and
   Marlin and so we had the benefit of nearby trade. There were many old
   slaves who had come to Texas with their owners and who were still with
   them, so the labor question did not trouble us.
   
   "As a whole, there was just about the usual amount of law breakers as
   in most sections of Texas. There was some cattle stealing, some
   murders, but then by the time we came here, the wildest days seemed to
   be about over. Many outlaws from other sections of [Texas?] trying to
   hide from the law found refuge in the Brazos bottom thickets that
   still were dense. And almost in every instance, these law breakers
   were caught, some after many years.
   
   "There was a place across the Brazos River called Norwood. The men for
   whom the place was named was killed by a man named Sebastian. This
   Sebastain stole my horse to make his escape. It was a cold and rainy
   night in the winter and we kept hearing noises as if the horses in the
   little pasture back of the lot were frightened, but on going to look
   we found no one and so around ten or eleven o'clock that night our
   family retired, the next morning my fine saddle horse was gone. Some
   years later, we found a stray horse in [West?] Texas which proved to
   be my horse, however the man who found it in his pasture had had the
   strayed notice published some time before and the time had expired, so
   I lost the horse. Some years later, the murderer, Sebastian was caught
   and brought to the jail at Waco, he sent for me and told me of taking
   my horse to get away and how he waited under the bank of the creek bed
   waiting for the light in my house to go out before he took the horse,
   and how he thought we would never put it out.
   
   "There were many amusing and interesting incidents connected with the
   courts of the early days in Waco and Marlin. It was in 1870 that there
   was a difference between the District Judge and the County Judge
   00077which resulted in both courts for a time being thrown in jail.
   This happened between the reconstruction, Judge Oliver of the District
   Court, and Judge Leland of the County Court. Judge Oliver being a
   radical man demanded a large sheriff's force and Judge Leland refused
   to vote the expense of this force, whereupon Judge Oliver threw the
   entire county court into jail.
   
   "The members of this court were prominent men and this so enraged
   their relatives and friends that a movement was started, headed by the
   younger men, to lynch Judge Oliver. Seeing this danger which he knew
   would terminate in a riot, Colonel Gurley went to the young men and
   told them that he would lead them if they would wait another day, in
   order to gain time to settle the matter peacefully by releasing the
   county court who were held as prisoners. He settled it in a clever
   way.
   
   "One of the physicians of the city had expressed the opinion that the
   District Judge was insane. Very soon the physicians gathered and a
   declaration of the Judge's insanity was drawn up, and upon the basis
   of this document the imprisoned Judge and his county court issued a
   writ of lunacy. This was probably the only time in the history of the
   Union that both courts were in jail at the same time. This was just
   another instance of the reconstruction period. Very soon both courts
   decided to release each other and Colonel Gurley's strategy won for
   him the name of "Custodian of the Courts."
   
   "As I recall the Judges of the Civil Courts, Judge Prendergast served
   from 1874 to 1876; Judge Saunders of Bell County, from 1876 to 1878;
   Judge Alexander of Waco from 1878 to 1882; Judge [?] until 1886; Judge
   Eugene Williams until 1889; Judge Dickinson until 1890. Then Judge
   Goodrich of Marlin served for a number of years. 00088"Another
   interesting incident of the early court days of Waco was that of the
   Thompson and the Blankinship families. Thompson had willed his slaves
   to a Dr. Johnson just before the Civil War and the will was contested,
   a sale ordered and on the day of the sale the two contestants got into
   a heated argument with friends of both sides taking part, which
   resulted in a shooting, but no one was killed and the ending of the
   war and freeing of the slaves were a factor in the ending of this
   case. However, afterwards in connection with this case, Colonel Gurley
   brought up a case of contempt of court orders, against one of the
   participants of the above mentioned case. Some of this man's friends
   threatened to shoot Col Gurley and came to court prepared. The Colonel
   was equal to the emergency and not wanting to be interrupted while
   asking his speech he laid two pistols on the table before him and one
   of his friends, with pistols, took a seat [??] back and faced the
   crowd. It ended with the speech being finished without interruption
   and the trial going on in peace.
   
   "When we come to this county in 1872, the old Suspension Bridge at
   Waco, across the Brazos River had been completed in 1870. The cables
   were swung into position by George [?] and Trice Brothers, and J. W.
   Mann did the brick work, furnishing 2,700,000 brick. It cost $130,000.
   For many years it was a toll bridge. In 1889, the city and county
   united to buy the bridge and make it free. When the bridge was thrown
   open it was said to be one of the biggest celebrations the county had
   ever been a witness to.
   
   "It was in 1875, that the county decided to build a new court house at
   the corner of Second and Franklin Streets, the old court house was
   used until 1876, and then they rented Richey Hall and the old building
   was torn down. In 1877, the new court house (of that time) was
   completed and the 00099keys were turned over to the county judge. In
   1886, the jail just back of it was built, then the new city hall took
   the site first occupied by the old Court House.
   
   "The court house and jail which I have just mentioned was sufficient
   for the needs of the county until about the year 1899, then the
   agitation commenced for another and larger court house, jail and
   bridge over the Brazos, the old suspension bridge had been declared
   unsafe. At the time of the question of voting bonds for the court
   house, jail and bridge the County Judge was our present Judge of the
   court of Civil Appeals, Judge Gallagher. The commissioners were J. L.
   [?] of precinct #1; [?]. C. Cowan of precinct #2; [?]. C. [?] of
   precinct #3; and Mr. Montgomery of West, of precinct [?].
   
   It is a matter that I call your attention to, of the death of H. [?].
   Owen which was on the 25th day of February after he had attended the
   term of court only one day and was stricken in the court room with
   pneumonia and passed away in ten days. The question was being
   discussed at this time of a vote on bonds for the building of these
   three public additions to the counties improvement. Hence his ride
   through a blizzard in attempting to do his duty. This was in the horse
   and buggy days and the ride to Waco then took from three to four
   hours, a distance of twenty miles, it was this ride which caused his
   death. If I remember rightly there was no hospital in the city then
   and he was removed to a hotel next door where he remained until his
   death.
   
   "The election was not held however for the voting of the bonds until
   the 28th day of April 1900, they carried and the new court house, jail
   and bridge were thrown open to the public in the year 1900 or 1902, I
   don't 001010remember which. The title to the land for the court house
   was accepted by the commissioners court October 19th, 1900. I took
   part in the laying of the corner stone of the court house at Fifth and
   Washington Streets, this was a great event. The [?] order was in
   charge of the ceremony. They had a big parade and I carried the banner
   in this parade. The foundation of the Court House was built of Texas
   granite from the granite fields of Burnet County. The old suspension
   bridge was condemned as being unsafe for traffic and later was
   reinforced by large cables, and is in use at the present time.
   
   "Many changes have been made as time passes on, just recently the
   county has voted for a new jail to be built with the PWA funds
   provided by the government for public works. My brother John and
   myself were students at Baylor University under Dr. Rufus C. Burleson,
   and this was in the year 1873, I was just seventeen. It was then
   located at the corner of Fifth and Webster Streets, later it was moved
   to its present site at Fifth and [?] Streets. Donations did not come
   in as they do now, Dr. [Burleson?] staked his all in helping to keep
   Baylor's very existence, he went broke many a time, often without
   funds for himself or credit. He was a grand old man and Baylor owes
   its existence today to his loyalty and efforts. There have been many
   presidents since who have helped to make Baylor what it is, among them
   Dr. B. H. Carroll who was also a fine man."

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