Railroads and Towns Come Together - Coke County, TX Submitted by Bonita Copeland Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ***************************************************************** All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ***************************************************************** The Observer/Enterprise, Page 8, Friday, April 26, 2002 The following story was turned in by Bonita Copeland. Bonita received permission from the Masters family to print in Observer/Enterprise. Railroads and towns come together by Dan Mastem Much activity and excitement was occasioned by the coming of the railroad. The towns of Bronte and Fort Chadbourne were moved, land prices soared, new businesses were started and hope in general was more than high. "March 1903 found a force of 50 teams and 150 men working north from San Angelo with 15 miles of grade completed. The name of the railroad changed from the Panhandle and Gulf Railway Company to the Kansas City Mexico and Orient Railway Company of Texas on September 16,1905." Old timers Who have long since gone to that great big railroad station in the sky used to talk about the big schemes of the KC, Mex and Orient. Promoters sold big and small investors on the idea of tapping the riches of Orient through China. The plan was to build a railroad down to Presidio, Texas, drop down into Mexico and cross the Baja Peninsula to the Pacific Ocean. There the cargo laden boxcars would be pushed onto ocean steamers that had railroad rails on deck. The ship would cross the Pacific, all the way up the Yongtze River to Shanghai where the boxcars would simply be rolled off the ocean steamer onto a railroad with the same gauge track as those in America The dream or scheme died a natural death when the railroad company was purchased in 1928 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. Meanwhile ... back at the turn of the century .. when the original railway company, the Panhandle and Gulf, surveyed its way through Bronte, the surveyors found a thriving community on the banks of the west fork of the Kickapoo. Bronte had numerous business establishments: a hotel, restaurant, a four-stand gin, stable, Post Office and a blacksmith shop. Old Bronte was located some half-mile southwest of its present location, a little west of the present school buildings and had been built there because of the availability of water from the West Kickapoo Creek. When it was Warned soon after 1900 that the railroad was planning to come through this section, talk began of moving the town to the railroad. The move began in 1906. The late Frank and Charlie Keeney used to like to tell of "The Moving Town". They said the stores were moved by means of old wooden rollers. "They'd put the houses on these wooden rollers," Frank said. "Tie one end of a rope around a stake, and pull it forward 50 feet, then repeat the process untl they got through." "Bronte at that time was only farm land; and when we moved, we went right on selling goods all the way from the old lobation to the new one." The railroad crews were still working on the grade and building the foundation for the, railroad bridge across the Colorado River, south of Bronte, the first time Melvin Lasswell got the railroad bug. Said Melvin, "I guess I was four or five when the rail men were building the grade in and around the town. We could hear the pile driver a worldn' along the river. It hit a lick with a loud thump about ever four or five minutes. I finally got my daddy to drive the wagon down to the north bank and let me watch. Couldn't see much. Just the team of horses pulling that great sledge up in the air fill they let it go and down it'd come with a loud thump. Each' time it thumped, the big pole would sink a little bit more." "In much discussion with local residents, checking records, etc., it is the opinion of the Enterprise that trains did not come through Btonte, until 1909. Records at the court house indicate, that the first train through Fort Chadbourne, Bronte, and Tennyson was November 22,1909." "Yes sirree, my granddaddy turned the whole family out for that day," said Noah Pruitt, Jr. "He said it was - a bit on the chillyside. But he had grandmother bundle up my daddy and his brothers and sister and drove them down to where the station was going to be built." "Most everybody for miles around was there. There was a bunch of men looking to win that $5 prize money. Five dollars for the man who brought the most women, girls, and children in one wagon." "But for granddaddy, he just had the family. He wasn't worried about them, too much (maybe he should a'been). He was worried about how the horses would act with all the excitement and whistle blowin'. So, he untied the team from the wagon and roped 'em to a tree." "Well that was the wrong thing to do. When the train came in, the horses stood there as quite and peaceful, as you please. But the family? They got so excited and riled up, it was all granddaddy could do to keep them from grabbing the tongue of that wagon and running away with it." Thats the way grandson Noah recounts the story told by his grandfather. Now, Noah's father who was seven years old at the time, says he doesn't remember anything about hem trying to run away with the wagon. He figures that it was just a good story for a grandfather to tell his grandson. But Noah Junior, is steadfast in his belief that the story his granddaddy told him is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. NOTE: Whether the story is factual or figurative, it appears to give a sense of the excitement of the day. Noah Senior remembers how he had "seen trains before in Ballinger," so he wasn't too excited or impressed by Just another train! But they did let school out for the event, and most businessmen and farmers felt that the coming of the railroad was a good sign of progress. There is another person who is alive today that well remembers the day the train came to Bronte: eighty-seven-year-old Mrs. Bernice (Little) Lee. As noted earlier, no one seem really to know when that first train came puffing through town, but records "indicate" it was November 22, 1909. Miss Bernice (Little) Lee recalls "I must have been about 16, and it was 1909 alright. But I recollect it was in the summertime. I remember all the ladies and us girls were decked out in our finest Sunday-go-to meeting clothes. Most of us wore bonnets. A few of the ladies had on hats with veils that covered their faces. You see, it was warm and real windy that day.- Mr. Will Hearrel...(Ws dead now, you know) ... well, Mr. Hearrell was bound and determined to win the $5 bill. Now $5 wasn't a heap of money even by then (of course, it was worth more then than now) but even back then it wasn't even worth a man's full day of work. But then ... $5 is $5. So Mr. Hearrell was out to win that $5 for having the wagon load of the most women, girls, and children. But like I said it was warm and windy that day and nobody wanted to go bumping along a dirt road for the seventeen-mileround trip from Maverick to Bronte. So we all rode buggies until we got just outside of Bronte; then we all climbed in the wagon for the final mile into town and the railroad Siding." Which is correct: May or November? Miss Bernice Little was sixteen at the time so she can be forgiven her thoughts were a little more centered on important things like hats, clothes and boys. But in her words, "I can't rightly say it wasn't November, but if it was it was the warmest, windiest surnmer day you'll ever feel two days before Thanksgiving. Another thing that might favor the month of May is an incident that sticks in Bernice's memory. "It was July 4th picnic that same year Everybody was turned out for the food, cold drinks and celebration of our nation's birthday. I remember one of the local old men...who didn't have no kids of his own ... made a hobbyhorse. You know, a wooden horse on wheels that he pulled behind an old, fired gray mule. "All the 'little' children get to ride for free!" he called out as we were finishing up eating. "All 'little children can ride for free!" My girl friends dared me so I did. I lined up at the end. The ole man kept looking at me with an evil eye. He figured that he'd scare me off. Almost did, but I was always a bit stubborn. Besides, he said it himself. He said 'all little children, and I was one of the Little children: Bernice Little. And he did let me ride!" It was two years before the permanent station house was completed, the work of "Big" Jim Lammers. According to the railroad records, "When the station building was completed in 1911, Bronte had a population of 100. The stone for the building was donated by the citizens of the town Big Jim was a stone mason by trade, just like his father before 'im. Big Jim moved his family to Bronte in 1907. He had two boys, Vernon and Leslie and one girl, Nettle Lee. As reported in Bronte Enterprise, Vemon Lammers, (now deceased) said "the stone came from what is now the Taylor Emerson place, southeast of Bronte." "Me and my brother, Vernon, watched daddy and my granfather build-the station houses for Bronte and Fort Chadbourne," recounts the last of the Lammers, Leslie, who is now 72 years aid. "Me and my brother used to go down and watchem. But mostly, we'd just play around, till daddy'd run us off. But then there was one time ... daddy was working-building on the depot at Fort Chadbourne. I'd ride the train--it didn't cost me nothing--I'd -ride down to where daddy was working. Had an ole box car depot up'er. and Dad didn't know I was up'er. And I got in that boxcar depot lay down and went to sleep and they locked me up in 'er .. til the train come thru that night..I knocked on the door and they let me out and brought me back to Bronte: Everybody running on the rail road used to know me I stayed with daddy in Mertzon while he was building that depot down there." The latest (and for this report the final) chapter about Bronte and the railroads was published in Bronte Enterprise, in 1977. Copying from the original letter and Ben Oglesby's draft of his editorial, the following saga unfold: A few weekends ago we were going through a lot of old stuff that Pat told me we should get rid of, and I ran across a letter from Frank Eaton. The people who have lived here in Bronte for a long time remember Frank, but, even those who are relatively newcomers may get somewhat of a charge from his letter back in 1955. That was 22 years ago and in retrospect we felt that this letter would not be consigned to the wastebasket. In background for newcomers: after Coke County was voted dry, people had to go all the way to Angelo for their "snake bite medicine." For those few who were not fortunate enough to own a car when their supply ran out, their only salvation was a pint of Vanilla Extract. Now Vanilla Extract may not sound too inviting for to up-towners, but when 'salvation' is 35 miles away, it does have its merits. One pint will take the sting of snake bite; two pirits will insure you against future contamination--of any kind! It was during these time of snake prevention that Frank was his greatest at philosophizing and particularly his greatest at singing ... usually late at night. Frankly--we liked Frank. He was a character, all right, but his demise has in saymmay detracted from the earthiness and humaness of our town. Honestly, we wish it was possible that Frank Eaton could still be among us. The letter is dated December 8th, 1955. Dear Ben, How are you? You might remember me and you might not. It matters not but I wish you would print this thing I am sending you. I was born in Bronte, and years ago (before you ever heard of the town,a lot of us used to go up to see the train come in). Them was nothing else to do. This poem is just a bit of nostalgia on my part, but if you think of it...where would America be, today, if there were, no nostalgia? I got permission from the author, who works for the El Paso Times, and am henceforth sending same to you. Am enclosing a dime. Will you mail a copy to the author, Nat Campbell, if you print it. Thank you and I remain, Resp. Frank R Eaton Watchin' The Train Come In Did you ever live in a little town where the folks and all their kin would go to the de-pot every day to watch the train come in? The younger ones-would all be there, and some of the older folks, just standin' 'round and gassin' and tellin' country jokes Some would oome a half an hour before 'she' ever showed; offers would come a-tearin' up just as the whistle blowed. Then she'd come a-rollin' in, after the whistle, with her,big old smokestack puffin' and the bell a-ringin' too. The engineer up in the cab looking might proud-- would wink at some of the purty gals, and they'd snicker right out loud. The mail-man and the baggage-man would both be leanirf out to greet the folks at everytown all along the route. The brakeman and the conductor, though, wouldn't have much to say. actin' awful busy-likeke to hurry to get away. The conductor had so much to do he'd hardly say a word till they was pulling out, and then he'd holler "all aboard!" BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ben Oglesby, Editor/Publisher of the Bronte Enterprise, Bronte, Tx. 2. Public Relations Department Atchinson, and Santa Fe Railway System, Chicago, Ill. 3. Charles Stewart, former News Director KCTV, San Angelo, Tx 4. Melvin Lasswell, retired railroad employee, 712 S. Washington, Bronte, Tx,born Dec. 12, 1901. 5. Noah Pruitt, Jr., Post Master, Bronte, Tx, 301 N. Randall, Bronte. 6. Noah Pruitt, Sr., retired Coke County Employee, 409 N. Jefferson, Bronte, Tx, born Dec. 12 1901. 7. Mrs. Bernice (Little) Lee, longtime Bronte, TY, housewife, born 1893. 8. Leslie Lammers, retired building contractor, son of the stone mason who built the depot 423 S. Jefferson, born Sept. 10, 1906. -------------------------------------------------------- Permission has been given by the Observer/Enterprise for publication in the Coke County TXGenWeb Archives.