Mrs. J. K. Pierce Tells of Pioneer Days in Hopkins County

Submitted by:  June E. Tuck  <jparks@neto.com>

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From the files of June E. Tuck, who does not validate or dispute any
historical facts in the article.

Mrs. J. K. Pierce Tells Of Pioneer Days in Hopkins County

(Submitted by Kathleen Sherwood Williams, Crystal City, Texas - Sulphur
Springs Gazette, March 1933)

(Article has been edited)

Flicking back the pages of time and living again in the spirit of the
pioneer, Mrs. J. K. Pierce of Sulphur Springs, Texas, graphically
described some of the thrilling experiences and hardships of the early
perilous days and talked interestingly of the privations suffered and
courageously endured by the intrepid and hardy trail-blazers of
civilization who have played such an important part in the growth and
development of Texas.

Living in dread of the Indians, as well as the wolves which roamed the
country, and menaced by other dangers common to the wilderness into which
these settlers had come to establish new homes, these pioneers set an
example for undaunted courage. Their resolute fortitude and indomitable
will has found few equals in history.

Mrs. Pierce is well preserved in years, is hale and hearty and enjoying
the best of health. Time has dealt kindly with her, and she is looking
forward to celebrating many more birthday anniversaries . Only recently
she celebrated her 84th birthday. Lets turn back the pages of time and
dwell upon the early days of her youth - the good old days - as she calls
the early pioneer days.

"It was in the spring of 1853, when I was but a small girl, that my
family consisting of father, mother, three sisters and six brothers,
looked for the last time on our simple homestead in Kentucky, and set out
towards the country of the sunset seeking a land of freedom and plenty.
We made the trip to Shreveport by water. From there we traveled in crude
wagons drawn by oxen. Stopping at night beside strange streams, I
remember listening to the sad wild calls of forest animals, the long
quivering call of the not too distant wolves and being fascinated by the
adventures.

"By day we traveled through brush, often breaking paths through new
countries. Occasionally waiting for swollen streams to subside and
constantly watching for signs of the Indians. We children found it the
height of fun to spy on Indians hidden in the brush. Through the trees we
very often noticed small Indian villages and we also noticed the grave
looks of our parents. At last our caravan entered beneath the warm sun of
Indian summer - a country with a sky of boundless blue - Texas. We
settled in Hopkins County at Birthright. Here my father operated a flour
Mill."

Mrs. Pierce^Òs first recollection of Texas was of living in a rail pen.
This pen was used as a fort and guarded by her brothers and father to
protect the family from wolves and other dangers. In the center of this
pen was the home. The pen was made of strong rails and the family felt
quite safe while inside their homemade fort.

At the early age of five years, Mrs. Pierce started to school. She made
the trip by horseback along with her brothers and sisters. The school was
seven miles from her home. Lunch was carried to school by the children,
and Mrs. Pierce said at noon the boys and girls would sit under the oak
trees and eat their lunch, which usually consisted of bread and meat and
sometimes a slice of cake was added for good measure.

Mrs. Pierce came from sturdy stock, her mother being English, while her
father was Dutch descent. She was born in Morganfield, Kentucky, Dec. 21,
1848. She is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. A. W. Waller, old and honored
Texans who were born in Kentucky.

Comparing the mode of living in the early days to the present times, she
said at the time of her birth electric lights were unheard of. There were
no telephones. Important messages being delivered by horseback. The
modern means of transportation was not dreamed of. There were no stamps,
letters being paid for by their weight. Horseback was the fashionable
means of traveling from one place to another. The only light was the
dependable old tallow candle which gave the early settlers their light.
Next came the brass lamp, and when the brass lamp first appeared on the
market, the family who could not own one was considered out of date. "We
did not consider our lot a hard one," she told me. "We had to work, yes
indeed, but there was time for play when our tasks were finished. I
suppose to your generation our times were just pleasant, but to us, my
dear, they were jolly times made all the merrier by their infrequency and
by the conventions of the times."

Asked if they attended parties, Mrs. Pierce smiled and continued, "Oh,
yes, yes, child! And they were parties! They meant something because we
did not have them every day. The parties were looked forward to for weeks
ahead. The parties in the olden days were something on the order of the
modern days parties of today. We had dinner parties and the ^Ñfatted
calf^Ò was usually killed. We danced the square dance with our
^Ñsteadies^Ò and a wonderful time was had by all, both young and old.
Yes, we rode to the parties on horseback and had fine times going and
coming from the parties and school entertainments."

Mrs. Pierce was asked to tell how she met her husband, J. K. Peirce. And
even now her eyes dance when she tells of her courtship and marriage.
They met in a most unique and interesting way. Four or five country girls
were riding to church one spring morning. Arriving at the church they saw
a handsome young man drive up on horseback who was none other than James
Knox Pierce. The young man being girl-shy decided to take a stab at fate.
He whispered a secret into his horse^Òs ear, telling him to walk up and
stand by the girl he thought the prettiest. The horse gave his head a
twist and with loose reins, walked to were Belle Waller sat on her horse.
A courtship soon developed, and for two years Belle and James kept
"steady company." They were married at Sulphur Bluff in the year 1871 by
Rev. Henry South. The attendants at the wedding were Stella Putman, Dave
Hopkins, Josin Huskey, Reuben Neely, Mrs. Pierce^Òs sister gave a wedding
supper after their marriage. Her father-in-law, Frank Pierce, gave an
infair dinner in their honor. On account of parental objection this pair
eloped and were married.

Asked to tell something of her early married life, she said, "Well, my
first home after my marriage was a two room split log cabin. No windows.
Stick and dirt chimney about five feet wide in the fireplace. My dresser
consisted of a dry goods box. My table was also a large store box. I
arose early next morning after my marriage and went to work in the field
with my husband. We owed $700. on our first farm. We payed it out the
first year, and bought another, paying it out the following year. This
was the beginning of the accumulation of our property."

One very interesting story told in connection with her childhood days was
about the capturing and killing of wild turkeys. They were more than
plentiful when Mrs. Pierce was a girl. "Mother used to dress me in a red
dress and send me out to drive in the wild turkeys. My father and
brothers would conceal themselves in a brush pile ready to shoot as the
turkeys passed by. I was quite a hunter myself. I used to go fire-hunting
(as it was called in those days) with my husband. We shot four deer one
night and I helped dress and skin them. The skins we used for rugs on the
floor."

Mrs. Pierce^Òs husband spent his boyhood days on a farm near the Hiawasee
and Tennessee rivers in Meigs County. He went to school in a log cabin in
the mountains. At the early age of seventeen he tendered his services to
the Confederate cause. His regiment was used as scouts in the mountains
of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. His brigade captured 2,000 men,
artillery and all supplies. A short time before the war ended, Mr. Pierce
obtained a furlough to return home after clothing. Peace was declared
before he was able to join his regiment. In 1868 he landed in Hopkins
County and found the Yankees in control of Sulphur Springs, murdering the
citizens and robbing the county. With a small coterie of brave citizens,
Mr. Pierce decided to run them out of the country. The Yankees heard of
this movement and decided to retreat. A few months after this began the
uprising of the Comanche Indians. Gov. E. J. Davis ordered the state
militia to form for their suppression. Acting under orders, Mr. Pierce
set out on horseback with an ox wagon train to carry supplies from
Jefferson to Jacksboro, the army fort. Two miles before reaching
Jacksboro, the Indians attacked the ox train. Had it not been for a band
of cowboys who frightened the Indians away, the result might not have
been so favorable.

Many of the early immigrants landed on Texas soil at Jefferson, and from
there they blazed a trail through wild wilderness half way across Texas.
Many of these settlers lived to see this unexplored wilderness
transformed into a commonwealth of ranches, rich farms and flourishing
towns and cities.

When Mr. Pierce died a number of years ago, he left his wife his vast
estate in fine shape. Since his death Mrs. Pierce has personally looked
after every detail of her business and continues to do so at present,
with the result that her large estate is in better shape today than ever
before. With the accumulation of property which makes her the largest
individual taxpayer in Hopkins County; with a savings account that never
grows less, but increases from year to year - despite all this Mrs.
Pierce tells me that the good "old corn brad and bacon" days were the
happiest of all. From almost poverty, when she and J. K. Pierce married
more than sixty years ago, she has by hard work, and splendid judgment,
along with her husband, who passed on many years ago, is now the largest
landowner in the county. She has given generously of her means to
promoting every good cause that has come before.

Mr. & Mrs. Pierce, having no children of their own, adopted an orphan
girl, Beulah Brannom, who is now the wife of Prof. O. L. Guy of Dallas.

Mrs. Pierce continues to live a very active live. From time to time she
visits every farm home she owns, and keeps in close touch with all
tenants, with whom she is held in the highest esteem and love in return
for the splendid manner in which she provides for their comfort - keeping
the tenant house in best condition, with good fenced gardens, cisterns
and comfortable homes.

Mrs. Pierce reads easily without glasses. Drinks but one cup of coffee
each morning for breakfast. She touches neither milk nor tea and is a
bone dry. There is no foaming beer or liquors on her table. Asked what
she wanted on her recent birthday, she surprised her friends by telling
them she wanted a new stove-lifter for the wood stove in her room. She
received a brand new stove-lifter donated by her friends. Eighty-four
years is a long time compared to the usual span of life, but not so in
the case of Grandma Pierce. Prof. O. L. Guy, is her advisor, and so to
speak, her straw boss, but Mrs. Pierce is the real boss, and puts her
final O.K. on all transactions.

A few years after their marriage, they moved to Sulphur Bluff, and
continued to live there until 31 years ago, when they moved to Sulphur
Springs and bought the home where the Pierce Apartments now stands, just
north of the Christian Church. About two years ago she purchased the
palatial home of W. F. Skillman on Davis Street, where she now lives.

Through her generosity, Mrs. Pierce has educated a number of her brothers
and sisters, also several nieces and nephews. Mrs. Pierce^Òs niece, Viola
Lamb, has made her home with her aunt for years. An orphan girl, Minty
Randoph, has lived with Mrs. Pierce since a small girl. These two women
assist Mrs. Pierce in caring for the beautiful home. Several servants are
also employed about the place. Though now in the mellowing years of
life^Òs sunset - she likes to recall the events of her life, assemble
them and view them as a pattern. She has the satisfaction of knowing that
she is loved and esteemed by practically the entire populace of her
native town.

* * * * *

Added by June Tuck

City Cemetery

Pierce, Bella - 1849 - 1937

Pierce, J. K. - 1845 - 1918