Hopkins CO. TX - History of Dike -continued- by Eli Hargrave Submitted by: June E. Tuck Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ------------------------------------------------ From the historical files of June E. Tuck, who does not validate or dispute any historical facts in the article. Those who use Eli Hargrave^Òs writings, please give him credit. His historical writings are a true treasure for researchers today. J. T. EARLY HISTORY OF DIKE AND HER PEOPLE, - Continued by Eli Hargrave 1937 Abraham Lincoln, no doubt, was never a resident of this Smith Mill of Boonville community, but one of the pioneer families of this vicinity, Abraham Fulton Conner could trace his lineage or kinship back to that war-time President of the United States. Many of the readers of this paper will readily remember the name of "Dink" Conner, son of Henry Conner, whose name was Henry Lincoln, in honor of the Lincoln family, but was called Dink for short. Henry, Abe, and William Conner were brothers, sons of Ishmael Conner of Indiana. Abraham (Abe) Conner, born in 1815, came to Texas with his brother-in-law, Julius McFall, in May of 1848. They reached Jefferson by boat and there found no mode of travel in their direction except by horse or ox wagon, and they had neither, so these young men, full of energy and adventure, left their families and set out on foot toward the northern part of Hopkins County to locate Daniel Hudson, Jr., uncle to Abe Conner^Òs wife, Cynthia, she being the daughter of Arnold Hudson and granddaughter to Daniel Hudson, Sr. Here they obtained teams and wagons and went to Jefferson for their families. When they returned to Hopkins County, they stopped a few miles west from Sulphur Bluff and here we leave Julius McFall for the present. Abe Conner made his camp and there remained for more than a year. It was while they occupied this first camping place, June 20, 1849, that Julius Conner was born in a tent on the place now known as the Joe M. Conner home near Nelta. Julius is the last surviving member of this Conner family and is on the eve of his 88th birth anniversary and in this connection we wish to mention his good friend and life-long neighbor, Aunt Lula Thomason, who is also nearing her 88th birthday, and both have spent most of their long lives in this vicinity, have both been everybody^Òs friend and we have never known aught against them. We think it remarkable and consider it a wonderful privilege to be permitted the association and friendship of such characters and would say long may they live and be happy. We just wish to say this now, "for they cannot read their tombstone when they are dead." Abe Conner came with his family to this community and settled in the eastern part on the farm now owned by O. L. Jobe. Here they made their home for a number of years and their interests grew steadily and their friends were numbered by their acquaintances. Some of their children were Jasper, married Nettie Moore, daughter of Foster Moore; Joseph Wright married Susan Hopkins, daughter of David Hopkins; Ab Conner married Eva Smith, daughter of Gilbert Smith; and Julius married Mary Hinman, daughter of Jim Hinman. They have all passed on except Julius. Uncle Abe and Aunt Cynthia lost two sons, William Wesley and Milton Ellis, in the War between the States. When Wesley had joined the Confederate Army he was stationed at Marshall, Texas. While here he sickened and died, unmarried, and is buried there. Milton Ellis also enlisted as a private soldier and was stationed in the army in the northwest part of Texas on Red River. While here he contacted measles and for some time was unable for service. When he had improved he came to his father^Òs home and remained there until Dr. Lyons thought he was able to re-enlist. He was then sent to Memphis, Tennessee, where he relapsed from the effects of this malady and died. He was buried in Memphis. He was unmarried. When these early settlements were made it was no trouble for a man to go out with his rifle and kill a deer, a squirrel, a wild turkey or a prairie chicken, but there were no public enterprises, no churches, no schools, no blacksmith shops, etc., so the people must arrange for such. Soon Uncle Abe deeded a plot of ground near his home to the Methodist Church and a small building was erected in the southeast corner of said lot to be used for church and school purposes. Jack Low and Sam Emmons were among the first teachers to labor at this building. It was called Wesley Chapel. This lot was also used as a burying ground, and an infant child of Abe and Cynthia Conner was the first person put there. An infant of L. Burkham and wife was perhaps the second person put at this place. From that time, about 1856, this has been known as the Conner graveyard. We have no account of a blacksmith shop in this part of the moral vineyard till later years. Perhaps the farmers hammered their plow points out often on a wagon tire or an oak stump, but with little farming at this time, perhaps, they required little sharpening. Julius Conner tells us that in his boyhood days, his father had sent him with a wagon load of plow tools for repair to Chapman Arm, now Tira, where Shaw Shrode, brother to Henry Shrode, was engaged in blacksmith and woodwork shop. He says he would spend the night with Uncle Shaw and family and when his work was finished the next day he would return home. Uncle Billie Reed was the first blacksmith that we can record in these parts, and he did not come here from Missouri till after the close of the Civil War. Of course, there was a blacksmith shop at Sulphur Bluff at this time but they were scarce and far between. Another early settlement was made in the western part of this section by Calvin Click and wife, Sarah. He was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in 1814. She was born in 1813. He died in 1859, she in 1862, buried in Conner cemetery. They came to Texas in 1831, settled in Lamar County and from thence to Hopkins County in 1848. Their first building was a rude log house and a barn built of poles. It was located near Cloud Branch on the Click farm of today and stood near where the house now occupied by Vincent Wilhite stands. They later built a big double log house and barn a little ways east where they spent the remainder of their lives and where their son, Harve Click, resided and occupied for a number of years. Harve Click first married Elizabeth Conner, daughter of Abe Conner and sister to Julius Conner. She died young and he was afterward married to Lanie Winters who died at the age of 20. She was mother to John Click, the only survivor of this family and the owner and operator of this farm. She was a sister to John Winters, early school teacher at Pleasant Hill, now Nelta. Martha Click, sister to Harve, married Arnold Conner, son of Henry Conner. Emily, her sister, married Festus O. Conner, Arnold^Òs brother. Judge Cal Conner was son of Festus Conner. Rufus King is Arnold Conner^Òs son. He is the only surviving member of these Conner and Click marriages. We do not have space here to give the history of these Conner families, but we may write it later. Rufus Click, brother to Harce (sic) Click, and son of Calvin and Sarah Click, was never married. He grew to manhood and when the war was declared between the States he joined the Confederate Army and served throughout the conflict. After the close of the war he returned to his home and was engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was betrothed to Bettie Hopkins, daughter of Joslin and Louisa Hopkins, but before their marriage he sickened and died, Feb. 14, 1870. At the time of his death he owned a nice saddle horse which was presented to Miss Bettie by his father. He was born Oct. 27, 1844. Buried in the Conner graveyard. Thomas M. Eldridge, Chelnissa M. Compton-Eldridge, his wife, were early settlers and long time neighbors of this Click family. He was a son of William Bowling Eldridge of Alabama, and was born Sept. 13, 1831. He died at Dike Sept. 2, 1916, age 85. She was born in Tennessee, Nov. 26, 1833, and died Oct. 19, 1920, nearly 87. They were married Feb. 26, 1857, and for the first few years lived east of Smith^Òs Mill on what we now call the Gus Hopkins place, owned by Oney Taylor. It was short ways east from the Abe Conner home place, where they lived during the Civil War with Mrs. Eldridge and one or two small children, often alone, as Mr. Eldridge was detailed by the government to work in a gun shop at Old Tarrant. One of the Conner children would often spend the night with Mrs. Eldridge for company. After the war they moved to their tract of land two miles west from the present site of Dike, where they owned and operated a farm in connection with stock raising for almost half a century. Some of their children were Cornenna who married Jules Bernd, William Bowling (Bud) married Addie Young, Jesse married W. E. McLaughlin, and Mary (Babe) married J. O. Hatchett. Michael and Elizabeth Miller came to this section and made a settlement in 1850. They located in the southeastern part of what is now known as the John C. Williams farm. He was born in Tennessee, Feb. 20, 1815; she, March 3, 1818. They were staunch supporters of the prime interests and enterprises of their neighborhood, aiding at all times in any way that would help to uplift the welfare of their community. John C. Williams became their son-in-law, his first marriage being to their daughter, Louisa. His native home was in the State of Arkansas and the first few years of their married life were spent there, their son, J. Bennie, having been born in Louisville, Hempstead County, Arkansas, Nov. 22, 1872. They came to Hopkins County in 1874 where they remained until death overtook them. No better man than John C. Williams ever made footprints in the Dike community. Another daughter, Mary, of this Miller family, married Henry Conner. They became the parents of Joe M., and John Conner. A son, Wilson Miller, has been mentioned in a precious article. Joe Ab Miller married Fannie Drake, sister to Harve Drake. Some of their children were Mich and Harvey Miller, and Mrs. Cynthia Rhodes. Now this Miller family and their neighbors at one time built them a little log school house which stood east and south a short ways from the present home of Harvey Miller. It was used for a number of years for school purposes but we have not yet learned any name for it. During these early days an unusual occurrence was experienced by some of the neighbors of the "Smith Mill" community and was consummated and ended near this little log school house. At this time the country was open and the range outside was free for everybody^Òs stock and of course everybody tried to enjoy the benefits thereof. Mr. Will Emmons had a nice sorrel mare grazing on the prairie with other horses. At an opportune time he went out to look about the stock and found this mare haltered and tied to a tree on Black Jack Branch. It was evident an intruder had been in the community and presumably intended to return for the filly in the cover of darkness. At this time horse stealing seemed to be a favorite sport for a certain class, and Mr. Emmons decided that somebody was trying to play at this game, so he put his neighbors wise after leaving the animal tied where he found it, and at preconcerted time, these boys with their rifles arranged to watch for someone to appear. They were not disappointed, neither were they surprised. When he came and made his mounty they gave him a chase eastward and when he had reached a spot near this little log schoolhouse, he slowed up and perhaps aimed to surrender but it was too late, one of the men in the party fired a fatal shot and he was killed. He was buried in a shallow grave near the spot where he died, this grave being dug principally by Joe Ab Miller, Harvey^Òs father. I think Harvey can show you the grave any time. Prior to this time of the coming of this Miller family, another early settler, Matthew Armstrong, by name, born in Christian County, Kentucky, in 1809, came to Hopkins County in 1846, the year the county was organized. He was one of the first settlers of this section of the county and helped to build the first house in Old Tarrant, the first County site. In 1848 he was married America Ash, and they were given a son and daughters. He was a leading farmer and a faithful member of the Christian Church. He was grandfather to Lee and Ed Bennett, their father, Jesse, having married, Lavina Armstrong. At the close of the Civil War, 1865, Joseph A. Brashear, also a native of Kentucky, and a passed soldier in the war, came to this section and by chance stopped at the home of Mr. Armstrong for a drink of water. He remained in this home four years, being employed as a laborer and while here, Jan. 10, 1867, he was married to Permelia Jane, the charming daughter of Mr. Armstrong. They were the parents to Josie and Emsley and others. Another Armstrong daughter, Josie, married John Worth Bennett, brother to Jessie Bennett. They had Jennie, Oscar, and others. John Worth Bennett still lives, is well passed his four score years and is perhaps the only survivor of this Bennett or Armstrong family of his generation. Ben Armstrong married Isabella Debord, sister to Uncle Jeff Voss^Òs first wife. Some of their children are Mrs. Gus Mattingly, Mrs. Millard Kennedy, Mrs. Bill Davidson and others. This Armstrong home is located on the old Jefferson road near White Oak Creek, and from this family comes the name of the crossing on said stream. Just across the road north from the old home is the Armstrong burying ground where many of the family have their last resting place. Now for a number of years after the Civil War the old "Smith Hill" mill was still in the running, but later, no one seems to know just when, it ceased to operate and for a time this community was without a mill-man. In about 1886 or ^Ñ87 a gin plant and mill was established and put in operation about where the France Gin of today now stands. It was owned and operated for a number of years by William Moore and his brother-in-law, Bob Matthews, when possibly it passed into the hands of Jim Smith, son of Rafe Callen Smith, from him to J. Bennie Williams and then to Callie McCauley. The first store building erected in Dike proper was built by Newton Rhodes in 1888, but it was not Dike till 1890, at this time the community being known as Union Valley. This store building stood south and across the road from the post office building today. It was later known as the McLaughlin store. It was first occupied by Newton and later was transferred to his brother, Charlie, for a time, then to Reily N. Sellers and his father-in-law, Mr. Meadows. In Feb. 1890, a post office was secured for this place with Isaac Newton Rhodes first postmaster and has served in that capacity very efficiently up to this good hour. The building which Mr. Jesse occupies was erected about 1901 with others following and since that time Dike has both progressed and prospered. When Union Valley was given her post office, they asked for it a name. Among the suggestions it is said that Bob Sheppard offered the name Dike and it was accepted. Bob Sheppard was a nephew to Uncle Cal Smith and at one time lived in the Smith home and had charge of the flock of sheep. Bud Eldridge was Bob Sheppard^Òs friend and while Bob was shearing his sheep Bud paid him a visit. When he came home he said Sheppard was branding his sheep by painting a figure 5 on their side, and that Bob was making the 5 so large that there was not room, so it had to drag the ground. At the time this village was first called Dike, Bill Moore and Bob Matthews were still operating the gin and of course lived in the burg. It happened that during this year, about Dec. 10, 1890, a baby boy came to the home of Uncle Bill and Aunt Cal. He being the first boy to make his advent in this town since it had its new and city-like name, Uncle Bill insisted that the baby be called Dike, but the mother protested and called him Luther Albert, yet our efficient taylor and esteemed fellow townsman still answers to the name Dike Moore. William Moore was son of Burress and Eliza Rogers Moore who came to this county from Kentucky in 1860. He was brother to Foster, Joe and Sam Moore and others. These Moore children, the Gilbert Smith children and the James Pendleton children were all cousins. About the time Newton Rhodes built his first store house he also built a residence about where the J. E. Eppars home now stands. It was to be occupied by John Irons who was to come as the first blacksmith at Union Valley. The shop stood on a lot belonging to Miss Fannie Irons and located northwest and across the road from the store, being the lot now occupied by Paul France^Òs garden. Mr. Irons served here as "smith" for a number of years and then went to Sulphur Bluff. He was followed here by Geo. Conner, Mr. McCoy, and Allen Linker also labored at Dike at this trade. Just east from the J. A. Rasure store building at one time another store-house stood which was occupied by various parties but was finally moved away. It seems that Joe Brashear, son-in-law of John C. Williams, once had charge of this business and in about 1901 sold it to L. F. Hamby, father of Curtis Hamby, who came and occupied it as a business for a short while when it was sold, perhaps to Midgett and Leewright, and was afterward owned by Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Morris. There was also a small building used as an office for the doctor which was occupied at different times by Drs. Munn (sic), Hargrave, Harrington, and Taylor, and perhaps others, but that is all I am able to recall. Dr. Nunn (sic) was the first doctor of this place, having come to the community in about 1885 and first lived on the old Gus Hopkins place, now owned by Oney Taylor at the place where the Eldridge family resided during the Civil War. In this Dike vicinity was Dr. Nunn^Òs first practice after he came from college. Mr. Hamby was the first rural mail carrier out of Dike with Johnnie Rasure as substitute. He served only a few years as he was overtaken by death in 1908. Many other good people have contributed to the up building of this Dike community and their lives would be interesting, but they are too numerous, it would take all summer to go around; but we have tried to mention a number of the pioneer families and early settlers along with some enterprises and happenings that have gone to change this vicinity from a wilderness to a civilized and Christianized (sic) community. We hope we have not bored you with these articles.