CITY DIRECTORY OF THE CITY OF DENISON, GRAYSON CO, TEXAS FOR 1876 & 1877 Material furnished by the DENISON PUBLIC LIBRARY Typed by Helen Logue USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *************************************************************************** Part 1 HISTORICAL The history of Denison and that of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway are inseparable and identical, for the one is the petted child of the other. Six years ago the attention of people in all parts of the country was turned towards that great trunk railway, which, with its base at St. Louis, and lines extending through Missouri and Kansas was rapidly extending itself towards Texas. Congress had granted the right of way, together with valuable franchises, to the railroad which should first reach the borders of the Indian Territory, and three great lines of road, each having the Gulf of Mexico as its prospective terminus, were striving for the prize. They were the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston, the Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas. Each was straining every nerve, and for a long time the contest was a doubtful one, but the M. K. & T., under the management of the irrepressible "Bob Stevens," by a flank movement as sudden as it was unexpected, made a rush for the goal, and before his competitors had fairly realized the situation, had whistled "down brakes" a mile beyond the lines. Public attention, which had heretofore been divided, was now centered upon this road and it seemed to be a universally admitted fact that wherever this road should penetrate Texas there must inevitably arise an important commercial city. The geography of the country, its wealth, its resources, its distance from any market, all pointed to such a city as an absolute necessity. So general was this belief, that long before the town was located it had been christened and was known throughout the country as "Red River City". Here was a vast scope of territory whose natural resources were equal to those of any state in the Union, whose staple products were beef and cotton, and whose people were already wealthy, although obliged to drive their cattle by long and tedious trails through the Indian country, and haul their cotton hundreds of miles in search of a market. In the summer of 1872 Mayor O. B. Gunn, chief engineer of the M. K. & T. Railway, made a personal inspection of the country for a hundred miles in each direction and decided upon the location of the new city. In September of that year the town was laid out and called DENISON, after the worthy Vice President of the M. K. & T. Railway. The selection was an eminently happy one and proved the wisdom of those who had the matter in charge. Situated upon high rolling ground, two hundred and seventeen feet above the level of Red River, and far enough from its banks to be free from the malaria and miasmata incident to bottom lands, the location is known as one of the most healthy to be found in the whole State. A cordon of springs of excellent freestone water surrounds the town site, insuring an ample supply of that indispensable article. Numerous wells have since been dug, and in every instance an abundance of water has been found at a depth of less than thirty feet. Heavy belts of timer surrounded the place, and a beautiful grove fourteen acres in extent and lying contiguous to the very heart of the town, has been reserved to be held forever sacred as a public park. These grounds have since been enclosed and improved in a neat, tasty and substantial way, making them the most attractive place in North Texas. The roads leading to and from the city, although until recently entirely neglected, have always been good, the sandy nature of the soil rendering them firm and solid, while the waxy lands of the interior are impassable. On the 23rd of September, 1872, the first sale of lots was made. The first lot offered was at the corner of Main and Austin streets, and was knocked off the Mr. S. A. Cook, at $250. Thirty-one lots were sold at auction on that day for $4,791, or an average of $154.50 each. In less than two hours from the time the sale was ended, building commenced on Main street, and from that time to the present the sound of the hammer, saw and trowel has never ceased. Buildings were erected under the greatest disadvantage. All the pine lumber used had to be hauled from eastern pineries, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles, or transported by wagon for sixty miles through the Indian Territory. Native lumber was scarce, and the few mills in the vicinity were taxed to their utmost capacity, while half a dozen customers stood by ready to quarrel for each separate board as it dropped from the log. Those who were here in the early days will hear us out in the statement that our style of life was primitive in the extreme. Men slept in tents, in wagons, in sheds, and upon the ground. Their morning toilet consisted of a wash, frequently a dry one, and running of the fingers through the hair, and their house was set in order by rolling up the blanket upon which they had slept. If, as was frequently the case, they had no blanket, they had but to rise from the ground and shake themselves when they were ready for the business of the day. Our meals were taken at restaurants, where one person had no sooner risen from the bench than another took his place, the plate was hastily wiped upon a dirty towel and the meal went on as before. The same bill of fare was served up with unvarying regularity morning, noon and night. It consisted of bread without butter, coffee without milk, and beef steak which had to be fished out of the fat in which it was swimming. In the midst of all, however, the greatest good feeling prevailed. Men jostled against each other without friction, and all grew hearty and jovial while roughing it. And all the time the wonderful growth went on, and the more its facilities increased the faster was the work of improvement. Tents and wagons were succeeded by houses, benches and dry goods boxes gave place to chairs, and blankets were supplemented by mattresses, sheets and pillows. What had at first seemed isolated buildings, erected apparently without order or design, developed into regularly defined and well filled streets, while tasty residences began to appear among the trees and dot the surrounding fields. Each day saw some new building completed and some new stock opened to the public. Yet unorganized, unpoliced and unguarded, as was the young city, the best of order prevailed; its very helplessness proving its strongest safeguard. On the 27th of December, 1872, when the town was less than three months old, the first number of the Denison Weekly News was issued, and two months later it blossomed into a daily, which has since made itself felt as a power in North Texas. On the 5th of November, 1872, a post office was established, which was rated as a third class office on the 1st of April following, with a salary of $2,900 per annum. On the 22nd of February, 1873, the Alamo Hotel was opened, being then, as it still is, the largest and best Hotel north of Dallas. One after another substantial improvements were made, such as the Lone Star Mills, the Arctic Ice Company's depot, a National Bank, (the first within a circuit of two hundred miles), large and commodious round-houses and machine shops, and the finest railroad depot in the State. The works of the first year was thus summed up by the Denison News in its issue of September 23rd, 1873. "A census of the city carefully taken within the last ten days reveals the following facts: There are in Denison, of actual residents, 3, 952 people, and there are within the city limits, completed and occupied, four hundred and fifty one wooden and eighteen brick and stone buildings, not one of which was built a year ago. There are in operation, 9 hotels, 5 dry goods and clothing houses, 8 general stores, 11 groceries, 1 daily and 3 weekly newspapers, 1 shoe store, 5 liquor houses, 5 drug stores, 4 dealers in hardware and tin, 1 furniture store, 3 harness shops, 2 book and news stores, 4 jewelers, 5 barber shops, 5 bakeries, 6 meat markets, 2 auction houses, 20 saloons, 3 liveries, 3 lumber yards, 6 brick kilns, 2 confectioneries, 6 shoe shops, 4 tailor shops, 2 tobacconists, 5 restaurants, 1 gun store, and 2 photograph galleries; two churches have been completed, the foundation is laid for a third, and three schools are in successful operation." The second year of Denison's existence was a year of general business prostration, not only here but throughout the whole country. Railroad extensions were checked, immigration was diminished, and markets were depressed. Still the work of improvement went on, and, although not as noticeable as during the first year, it was of a more substantial character. New residences were erected, old ones were enlarged and ornamented, wells and cisterns dug, and fences built, giving the new city an air of attractiveness and home comfort, which it had not worn before and which proved that the inhabitants had come here to stay. It was during this year that our magnificent school building was completed and became a matter not only of city but of State pride. It was during this year also that the North Texas Compress, which has made such a revolution in the cotton market, was erected. The second year also inaugurated a new era for Grayson county farmers by introducing a new industry, which is yet destined to bring vastly increased wealth as well as increased population. It is the raising of small fruits and vegetables for foreign markets. It has been discovered that the sandy land bordering on Red River are the richest and finest fruit lands in the State. The peach raised in this district, uncultivated and almost uncared for, rivals the finer grades in the North; the pear, which grows with little attention and produces bountifully, vies with that of California in flavor; the plum grows wild and unaffected by curculio, and the apple, generally considered a foreign fruit in Texas, is being cultivated with the most favorable results. Grapes are indigenous to the country, and the few berries yet planted have yielded astounding results- one firm having realized over $1,000 from two acres of strawberries, and over one dollar each for the hundred blackberry plants they had in bearing during the past season. Numerous orchards have already been started in the immediate vicinity of Denison, a large nursery is being opened, and everything indicates that the cultivation of cotton along this belt, will soon give way to a more profitable crop, and one better calculated for the development of the country. Market gardening, which goes hand in hand with fruit raising, has kept pace with it, and the little experimental shipments made to northern markets in 1874 have developed into a large and profitable business. The years 1875 and 1876 have been marked with no remarkable events other than a steady, continued and healthy growth. During these years a number of important enterprises have been started, which are worthy of special and elaborate mention: The new Cotton Compress just completed is the finest work of the kind in the United States, and has a reducing capacity of one inch greater than any other yet built. An idea of its immense power may be had from the fact that a pressure of 2,400 tons is brought to bear upon each bale of cotton. The building as completed is 310 feet long and 80 feet wide, with self-supporting roof covered with iron. The engine, which is of three hundred horse power, is driven by three boilers twenty feet in length, all made of extra iron and double riveted. Every piece of machinery was made under the personal supervision of the supervising engineer and is of the very best quality. The foundation of the building is of solid masonry with walls two feet in thickness, and built of selected stone with a view of eventually raising it four stories higher, the upper part to be occupied and operated as a cotton factory. The cost of this noble structure was something over $50,000, and, with a capacity of one thousand bales per day, it is capable of handling the whole cotton crop of Northern Texas. Two-third of the stock is owned by the M. K. & T. Railway Company, which is of itself a sufficient proof of that company's faith in the future of Denison. The Ice Manufactory also just completed under Dr. T. L. Rankin's late patent, has been built with a capacity for supplying the country bounded by Paris on the East, Dallas on the South, Gainesville on the West and Muskogee on the North. (The lines in the next few sentences were put in by the typist, who could not read the ends of the sentences due to the corner of the page being turned under.)............ delayed in receiving machinery this factory was not..... to assist in reducing the temperature of the late.................. successful manufacturing of a number of car loads.................. ber gives ample assurance that this institution ..................... The cement works are now ready and ................................. entirely new to the State of Texas. Mr. Geo. H. Lee, one of the pioneers in the erection of the cement works at Fort Scott, Kansas, which have since grown to such importance, made up his mind two years ago that there was cement rock in Denison equal, if not superior, to that of Fort Scott. He instituted a series of experiments and the result was satisfactory beyond his most sanguine expectations. Having fully proven the qualities of the cement by every possible test, he formed a company for its manufacture. The Civil Engineer of the M. K. & T. Railway has adopted it for their work, and the first large order is now being filled for the piers of the Red River bridge. The importance of this enterprise to Denison can scarcely be over-estimated. Heretofore, Texas has been supplied with cement from Fort Scott, Kansas, or Louisville, Kentucky, and the annual consumption if reckoned by thousands and thousands of barrels. With the facilities for fuel and labor there is no reason why it cannot be manufactured here as cheaply as at either of the other places, and the saving of freight alone is a most magnificent profit. The supply of stone is inexhaustible, the facilities for distribution are unsurpassed, and this is the only point in the State where cement rock has been discovered. The Denison City Gas Works went into operation on the 1st of March 1876 and the people of Denison are now furnished with gas at about half the cost of any other city in the State. The works were erected under the supervision of Maj. L. L. Maughs, and operate under Needle's patent, making gas of parafine and gasoline. Notwithstanding the prejudice existing against any and every kind of gas not made from coal direct, the new gas has worked into popular favor among the citizens of Denison, and is fast coming into general use. The city is lighted at an expense of three dollars per month for each lamp post, while no other city in the State pays less than five dollars and oftener six or seven. On the 5th of October, 1876, work was begun on the Red River and Rio Grande railroad, since which time grading has been pushed rapidly forward. By the terms of its charter the company is compelled to have fifty miles of track laid within one year. With its initial point at Denison and its terminus on the Rio Grande, this road is destined to wield a powerful influence upon the future of the new city. Running due west for fifty miles, and thence in a southwesterly direction through a rich and rapidly settling district, it opens up a new scope of country to her merchants and makes new fields of cotton and grain tributary to her market. Further than this, and what is of vastly more importance to Denison, it fixes the railroad center of North Texas, and compels all other lines competing for the Northern or Southern trade to seek connections with this place. Negotiations are already pending with the Internation and Great Northern, the competitor of the Texas Central, and the building of a branch from the Trans Continental is a mere question of time. The public schools of Denison have now entered upon their third year, with a patronage of five hundred pupils. No one thing has done more for the city than the reputation of her fine schools, which employ nine teachers, and are thoroughly graded after the first models of the East. The building is the finest school edifice in the State, and is completely furnished with the most improved and best school furniture. With the basement, which is a very important part of the building, it is three stories high. It faces to the east with a frontage of 35 feet, with two projections, 12 feet 6 inches by 16 feet 8 inches. Its depth is 50 feet, with a projection in the rear of 12 by 18 feet. It has a tower in front 15 by 16 feet and 55 feet high, which is capped with an ornamental iron railing. It has a beautiful mansard roof with dormer windows, and which is surmounted by the same kind of ornamental railing as that which adorns the front tower. The deck, or flat part of the roof, is covered with the best of metallic roofing, and the mansard with the best of roofing tin, painted on both sides. It has fourteen commodious rooms. There are four rooms in the basement - a lecture room or museum, 24 by 26 feet; a janitor's room 10 by 14 feet; a furnace and fuel room, 24 by 37 feet; and a school room 36 by 57 feet for the pupils of the primary department. There are four school rooms on the first floor, which are each 25 by 27 feet, with both front and rear entrances. The second floor is divided into two wardrobes 7 by 18 feet, two school rooms 50 by 40 feet each, and an office or recitation room in the rear projection 10 by 16 feet. The walls in all the school rooms between the doors and windows are covered from the wainscoting to a suitable height for black-boards, with Pierce's liquid slating. The front tower is used for entrance and stairways. The building, excepting the school room in the basement is heated with Reynolds' largest wrought iron furnace, which is adapted for both wood and coal. The heigh of the basement between the floor and the ceiling is 9 feet; of the first story, 14 feet, and of the second, 15 feet. There was used in the basement upwards of six hundred and fifty perches of stone, and in the building nearly three hundred thousand bricks. The building, with furniture, has cost the city $45,000. There is a whole block for a play ground which overlooks the city. Under the auspices of the Sisters of Saint Mary the Academy of Saint Francis Xavier was located in Denison, where it has been in active and successful operation for the past year, and now numbers over one hundred students. The large frame building erected by E. Perry, Esq., at the corner of Houston and Gandy streets, was purchased and enlarged, and is at present occupied by this institution, but an imposing brick structure will be erected during the coming year. The United States Military Telegraph, starting from Denison, extends to all of the military posts in Texas and the Indian Territory, with its other termini at Brownsville and San Antonio. The government maintains at this point an observatory from which weather reports are daily sent to all parts of the country. The Lone Star Mills, erected in the year 1874, under the management of W. B. Boss, Esq., have proven one of the most important of our city improvements. With a capacity of 250 barrels of flour per day they afford a constant and reliable market for all the wheat raised in the surrounding country. The flour manufactured by these mills has become well and favorably known at all points in Texas that can be reached by rail, and readily commands the highest market price. The manufacture of brick, both for home consumption and for export, has been carried on to a limited extent, and needs only capital to develop into a profitable industry. The brick manufactured here are of a superior quality, and many thousands have been shipped to Sherman, McKinney and even farther south. Both potter's clay and fire clay are found in this vicinity, and offer a fine field for investment. The consumption of fire brick is annually on the increase and when the price at which they can be laid down here is compared with the cost of production, the result furnishes capitalists with food for reflection. A Fire Company has been organized, with fifty members, which is furnished with one of Babcocks Trucks with outfit complete, costing $950. Two large wells have been sunk at the intersection of Main street with Austin and Burnet Avenues, where an ample supply of water is found at a depth of twenty feet. The Denison City Elevator, erected by Messrs. Kniffin & Convers, is now in active operation. The building is 24 by 76 feet in size and 20 feet high. Its grain capacity is at present ten thousand bushels, and can be increased to thirty thousand. A new saw and planing mill has just been put in operation by Messrs. Leeper & Dickson, and machinery for all classes of wood work is being introduced. The cotton market of Denison for the last three years has been the best any where in Northern Texas, the facilities offered by the cotton compress and by competing freight lines enabling merchants to pay from three to five dollars per bale for this staple more than any other market will bear. The shipments from this point to January 1st , 1876, amounted to 37,000 bales. The receipts for this season are largely in excess of those for any previous year. The cattle shipments from Denison for the year 1875 exceeded those of any other shipping point in the United States. The leading cattle dealers of Chicago and St. Louis have representatives here, and this has long been known as the best market in Texas. The newspaper interests of the city are represented by the News and Cresset, each of which publishes a daily and weekly edition. The News, the veteran daily of North Texas, (Democratic in politics), was established by B. C. Murray, its present editor and proprietor, who issued the first weekly edition December 17th, 1872, and the first daily on the 22nd of February following. The News now occupies a fine two-story brick, erected upon its own earnings, and is ranked among the most substantial papers of the State. The Cresset, published by the Cresset Publishing Company, with J. W. Burson editor and manager, was first issued April 1st , 1875, as the successor of the daily and weekly Times, (Republican), established by F. P. Baker in 1874. Denison is the only city north of Dallas which supports two daily papers. The plan of laying out the city was such as could scarcely be improved upon. All streets are of uniform width from one extremity of the corporation to the other, and an alley twenty feet in width extends through every block. There are no angles, jogs, or crooks in the streets, no irregular and fragmentary lots, and no lot in the city which has not access from the rear as well as front. The location of the ground was such that while the business streets occupied an open field, the residence portion was mainly forest, affording shade such as a generation of artificial culture could not produce. A careful inspection of the ground develops the fact that Denison possesses a mine of wealth in her mineral deposits. In addition to the brown sand-stone, which splits so evenly and works so easily that it rivals brick in the cheapness, there are found here all the various grades of limestone deposited in layers which Nature seems to have designed for the especial convenience of man. The ledges vary in thickness from nine inches to two feet, and these are traversed by seams laying them off into blocks, natural parallelograms, squarely cut and defined, of such a size that they can generally be raised from the quarry without drilling or blasting. In this way nearly all the stone for the Red River bridge now building have been quarried. Gradually these various advantages are being utilized, and many branches of industry, forced at first , are now providing for themselves. New facilities for transportation enable merchants to pay higher prices for produce and reduce the cost of merchandise. As the advantages of this market become known, customers came from more distant quarters, and trade increased. With new demands came new supplies, new buyers of produce, new sellers of merchandise. The stock of goods was never greater than at present: the demand never more regular and constant. The Denison of today is everything of which her early history gave promise. Her geographical location, placing her at the neck of the funnel through which must continue to pour, whether by wagon or by rail, the great bulk of Texas immigration, makes her the grand depot of outfitting supplies. Her fine building material, her cheap fuel, her commanding position for distribution, all combine to give her manufacturing advantages possessed by no other point. The same industry and energy which caused her to spring from nothingness into a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the short space of four years, are still at work. Her ambition is unlimited, her faith in herself and her future unbounded. With a record unparalleled in the history of the West, she still remains, as she must ever remain, the unrivaled "INFANT WONDER". MISCELLANEOUS CITY DIRECTORY CITY GOVERNMENT Council rooms south side Skiddy street, between Burnet and Rusk Avenues. Regular meetings of council first Thursday of each month. Special intervening. W. H. Winn, Mayor; O. E. O'Maley, Treasurer; J. S. Best, City Clerk; S. T. Fontaine, City Attorney; Geo. L. Patrick, Marshall; John Holford, Assessor and Collector; Thomas L. Farmer, Policeman. ALDERMEN 1st Ward J. G. Taylor, J. D. Woodyard. 2nd Ward Samuel Hanna, George B. Loving. 3rd Ward O. W. Walters, Horace Alexander. 4th Ward W. B. Boss, W. A. Tibbs. STANDING COMMITTEES Ordinances Woodyard, Tibbs and Hanna. Finance Ross, Taylor and Loving. Police Loving, Walters and Hanna. Streets and Alleys Tibbs, Woodyard and Alexander. Health and Printing Taylor, Loving and Alexander. License Alexander, Hanna and Walters. Fire Wardens Walters, Taylor and Loving. Schools Tibbs, Woodyard and Boss. Note - City election, second Monday in June, of each year. BOUNDARY OF CITY Beginning at the northwest corner of Wm. R. Caruther's headright survey of one thousand acres, shown on photographed map of Grayson county as second class, No. 59, said survey being situated about three miles south from Red River in Grayson county, Texas, running thence south one mile and three-fourths, (1 3/4th ), thence east two (2) miles, thence north one mile and three-fourth, (1 3/4th ), then west two (2) miles, to the place of beginning, including all territory within said boundary. WARD BOUNDARIES First Ward includes all that portion of the city on the north line of Main street, beginning at the eastern city limits, running west to Rusk Avenue, thence including the eastern side of Rusk Avenue to the northern limits of the city, thence running east to the eastern limits of the city, and thence south to point of beginning. Second Ward includes all that portion of the city beginning at the southeast corner of Rusk Avenue and Main Street, thence along Rusk Avenue to the northern limits of the city, thence west to the western limits of the city, thence south to Main street, and thence east along the north side of Main Street to the point of beginning. Third Ward includes all the portion of the city beginning at the southwest corner of Rusk Avenue and Main street, thence running to the western limits of the city, thence south to the southern limits of the city, thence east to Rusk Avenue, and thence north along the west side of Rusk Avenue to the point of beginning. Fourth Ward includes all that portion of the city beginning at the southeast corner of Rusk Avenue and Main Street, thence running east to the eastern limits of the city, thence south to the southern limits of the city, thence west to Rusk Avenue, and thence along the east side of Rusk Avenue to the point of beginning. FIRE DEPARTMENT Denison Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, organized November, 1875. Hold meetings third Monday of each month at Truck House, Skiddy Street, between Burnet and Rusk Avenues. Officers - P. Ledrick, foreman; M. B. Tallent, 1st assistant foreman; H. Mamlok, 2nd assistant foreman; J. C. Montgomery, president; C. A. Cunningham, vice-president; W. S. Lowe, treasurer. EDUCATIONAL DENISON PUBLIC SCHOOLS N. Somerville, Superintendent. Mrs. M. H. Ingerton, teacher, 1st grade. Miss E. M. Davis, teacher 2nd grade. Miss Nannie Ward, teacher 3rd grade. Miss Mary Legate, teacher 4th grade. Mrs. M. T. White, teacher 5th grade. Miss Sallie Cornell, teacher 6th grade. Carrie B. Williams, teacher colored department. ACCADEMY OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER Institute of the Academy of St. Francis Xavier, northeast corner Gandy Street and Houston Avenue, under the direction of the Sisters of St. Mary. Sister Martha Augustine superioress, assisted by four sisters. Present attendance, 105 pupils, and 14 boarders. CHURCHES First Presbyterian, corner Gandy Street and Burnet Avenue; Rev. J. Carson pastor: services 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday School 3 p.m. Baptist, corner Main street and Burnet Avenue; services 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. St. Luke's Episcopal, corner Woodard and Fannin Avenue; Rev. F. W. Adams pastor; services 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday School 3 p.m. Methodist Episcopal, Woodard Street, near Rusk Avenue; Rev. M. A. Daugherty, pastor, service 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Methodist Episcopal, South, hall over Hibbard & Young's drug store; services 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Rev Gideon W. Cottingham pastor. St. Patrick's Roman Catholic, northeast corner Sears Street and Rusk Ave. ; Rev. F. Derue pastor: Services first mass 7 and 7:30 a.m.: high mass and sermon 10 a.m.: Sunday School 5 p.m. Christian: services 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.: at Good Templar's Hall. Colored Baptist, southwest corner Bond Street and Rusk Ave.: Rev. Wm. Jackson pastor. African M. E. Church: Rev. Wm. Barrett pastor; SECRET SOCIETIES MASONIC Masonic Hall northeast corner Main Street and Rusk Avenue. Lone Star Lodge No. 403 A., F. & A. M. Chartered June, 1874: membership about 100: hold regular meetings first Tuesday of each month. Officers - Geo. J. Dexter, W. M.; R. L. Modie, S. W.; John Doyle, J. W.; M. B. Tallant, Treasurer; E. E. Latta, Secretary; G. G. Randell, S. D.; J. D. West, J.D.; S. Harriman, Tyler. Denison, Chapter No. 138, R.A.M. - Chartered June 26th, 1876; hold meetings second and fourth Thursdays of each month at Masonic Hall. Officers - A. Teah, H.P.: J. C. Feild, K.: M. C. Clark, Scribe.; M. B. Tallant, Treasurer; Thos. Hoffman, Secretary; F. Colbert, C. of H.; C. A. Cunningham, p.s.; J. B. Hewitt, R.A.C.; J. L. Nothaf, M. of 3rd Veil; B. C. Murray, M. of 2nd Veil; L. Bornstein, M. of 1st Veil: J. H. Nelms, Guard. ODD FELLOWS Denison Lodge No. 161, I. O. O. F. - Organized February, 1873. Present membership about 40. Hold meetings every Friday evening at Masonic Hall. Officers - August Uhlig, N. G.: John Hoerr, V.G.; J. A. Brenner, Secretary; H. P. Jefferson, Treasurer. SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS Denison Benevolent Association - Organized September, 1876, Present officers - Dan Webster, President; R. C. Foster, Vice-President; E. H. Lingo, Treasurer; J. D. Woodyard, Sec'y. Texas Catholic Benevolent Association. - Organized 1876. Officers - J. D. Quinn, President; M. L. Hanna, Vice-President; E. P. Kane, Secretary: Fred. O'Maley, Assistant Secretary. Denison Cornet Band - Organized August, 1874. J. G. Gnase, Leader. Denison Board of Underwriters - Geo. J. Dexter, President; C. A. Cunningham, Vice-President and Treasurer; Thos. Hoffman, Secretary. Bois D'Arc Grange P. of H. No.4. - Organized October 1873. Present officers - C. S. Burns, W.M.; Geo. J. Dexter, Secretary; H. Tone, Treasurer. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Denison division No. 177. Hold meetings first and third Sundays of each month. Albert G. Fowler, C.E.; O.B. Skeels, F.A.E. Denison Literary Club - Organized 1875. Hold meetings every Monday evening over Hibbard & Young's drug store. Officers - H. L. Haynes, President; William M. Peck, Vice-President; G. R. Smith, Secretary. INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS Lone Star Lodge No. 249 - Organized April 1st , 1876. Membership 50. Hold meetings every Tuesday evening at Good Templars' Hall, on Woodard Street. Present officers - Joseph White, D.G.W.C.T.; W. G. Tignor, W.C.T.; Miss Mary E. Scott, W.v.t.; M. F. Boyd, p.w.c.t.; J. A. Cummings, W. Secretary; J. Bigger, W. Financial Secretary; Frank Sherburne, Chaplain; Wm. Hardwick, Marshal; Miss Alice Prater, Deputy Marshal; Miss Lillie Scott, W.R.H.S.; E. M. Tignor, W.L.H.S.; Mrs. Winters, W.L.G.; J. Collins, W.O.G. Crystal Spring Lodge, I.O.G.T., No. 190. Organized 1874. Membership 70. Meetings held every Monday evening at Good Templars' Hall. Officers - W. H. Boule, D.G.W.C.T.; Miss Anna Howe, W.V.T.: J. B. Van Patten, P.W.C.T.; H. H. Alvord, Secretary; Miss Emma Hopkins, Asst. Secretary, G. L. Mingins, Financial Secretary; George Dollar, Marshal; Miss L. Cornell, Deputy Marshal; H. Wingrove, Chaplain: Miss Fannie Morgan, W.I.G.; W. H. Dunn, W.O.G. MISCELLANEOUS UNITED STATES OFFICIALS H. L. Haynes, United States Commissioner. Geo. S. Rowley, Deputy United States Marshal. TELEGRAPH Western Union Telegraph, office over 227 Main Street, J. M. Morrison, Manager. United States Military Telegraph Line, office for Texas Division, over 227 Main Street, Geo. S. Grimes in charge. SIGNAL SERVICE United States Signal Service, office over 227 Main Street, W. A. Massey, meteorological observer. GAS Denison Gas Light Company; Officers - James Leonard, President; W. H. Boss, Vice-President; H. L. S. Kniffin, Secretary; J. T. Munson, Treasurer. Board of Directors - J. Leonard, J. E. Streeper, W. H. Day, J. T. Munson, L. L. Maughs; office corner Burnet Avenue and Main Street; works on line H. & T. C. R'y., near Nelson Street. HALL Nolan Hall, (public), corner Main Street and Austin Avenue, J. Nolan, proprietor. RAILROADS MISSOURI, KANSAS & TEXAS RAILWAY General Offices Sedalia, Mo. Officers - Wm. Bond, General Manager, St. Louis, Mo.; A. B. Garner, General Superintendent, Sedalia, Mo.; A. D. Jaynes, Treasurer, Sedalia, Missouri; P. E. Fairbanks, Controller, Sedalia, Mo.; W. P. Robinson, General Freight Agent, St. Louis, Mo.; James D. Brown, General Passenger Agent, Sedalia, Mo.; T. W. Teasdale, Assistant General Passenger Agent, Sedalia, Mo.; Edward Harding, Superintendent, Choctaw Division, Denison, Texas; W. H. Sanford, Freight and Ticket Agent, Denison, Texas. HOUSTON & TEXAS CENTRAL RAILWAY General Offices Houston, Texas. Officers - W. E. Dodge, President, New York City; A. Groesbeeck, Vice-President, Houston, Texas; J. Durand, General Superintendent, Houston, Texas; C. A. Burton, Assistant Superintendent, Houston, Texas; G. A. Quinlan, Assistant Superintendent, Corsicana, Texas; J. Waldo, General Freight and Ticket Agent, Houston, Texas; L. C. Noble, Master Mechanic, Houston, Texas; F. A. Rice, Treasurer, Houston, Texas; A. S. Richardson, Secretary, Houston, Texas; C. Ennis, Financial Agent, New York City; A. Van Alstyne, Auditor, Houston, Texas; G. Washington, Freight and Ticket Agent, Denison, Texas. RED RIVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD R. S. Stevens, President; H. D. Mirick, Secretary and Treasurer. General Offices at Denison, Texas. -VIII-