Hopkins Co TX - Como Town and Her History

From: June E. Tuck 1224be@neto.com>
************************************************************************
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
submitted, 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/
***********************************************************************

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

COMO TOWN AND HER HISTORY

by D. W. Leigh

(Printed Nov. 22, 1926)

(Edited)

We arrived in the city Tuesday evening, the 16th inst., while the sun shown
brightly and the thermometer danging merrily around the nineties, the birds
sang their sweetest melodies and long before the sun sank in the glowing west,
the day was passing and lingering as one of spring.

Mr. Bagwell suggested that Dandy Jim should remain in his stall in the Hotel
de Cates and take a much needed rest while his master proceeded next morning
by Red Ball to Como, Pickton and Winnsboro to solicit subscriptions to The
Weekly Echo and Daily News-Telegram.

Debusying (sic) in Como at 7:30 o’clock a. m., we established headquarters in
the grocery store of L. Carroll & Son where, seated in a swivel chair with
both feet resting on a roller desk, we thawed out preparatory to making war on
the unwary. With few farmers in town, the mavericks of the city were soon
corralled and the task was over. With a burning desire to return with
"Trophies of the chase," we conceived the idea of giving the town a write-up,
calling on Messrs. L. Carroll and M. L. Garvin, octogenarians, the former a
native of the community and born long before a village or town was dreamed of,
for data which we have endeavored to weave into a story as reminiscence for
the old and a history for the young.

In beginning, the first settler was Ferdinand Carroll, who came from Alabama
and pitched his tent on a bald prairie in December 1844, and the timberless
tract later became known as Carroll’s Prairie. With lands to be had by the
asking, the virgin soil responding with a generous harvest when tickled with a
hoe; live stock subsisting winter and summer on the luxuriant native grasses
of prairies and woodlands, attracted many families from other states. Among
these we mention Sam Brumley, of Virginia, who arrived in 1845; Dr. John
Fannin, the first physician for the new colony, came in 1846 or 1847; Dr.
McGree and his brother, Hiram, in 1848; Moses Starred in 1849 or 1850, Col.
Petty, 1852; Bill Hampton, 1853; Larkin Coffee, 1854.

Other settlers from time to time linked their fortunes with these pioneers: Je
Wells, Billy Dance, and the Warrens, being the last to arrive as early
settlers. By this time the settlement had grown to some proportions and
commerce ever on the alert to discover few fields to invade. Newton Robertson
erected a house, filled it with general merchandise, and thus became the first
business man of Carroll’s Prairie in 1866.

Carrollton was the name given to the settlement and it continued with it until
1871 or 1872, when the P.O. Department at Washington was petitioned to
establish a post office. The petition was granted, but as a town in Dallas
county bore the same cognomen, the department at Washington christened the new
office Como.

The village continued to struggle as an inland town, hauling its products,
consisting of hides, tallow, poultry, eggs and some cotton to Jefferson, more
than 100 miles distant, and exchanging these commodities for groceries,
clothing and shoes until the advent of the Red River and East Line Railway in
1881, extending from Greenville to Jefferson, a narrow-gauge, but later
standardized by the M. K. & T. Railway which, in the meantime, had acquired
the property and now known as the Louisiana & Red River Navigation Company.
Realizing that education was necessary to promote freedom and religious
liberty, the citizens began to clamor for the establishment of a school. This
was during the reconstruction period, with no system nor money to maintain
them, a private institution was the only alternative which materialized in
1871 or 1872 with Tuck Sparks wielding the ferule.

Churches followed in the wake of the school because spiritual advice was as
necessary for consolation and inspiration to the old as it was for the moral
training of youth. The Presbyterians were the first to erect a house worship,
followed by Baptist, Methodist and Christians in the order named. With is
church spires pointing heavenward and the school bells ringing, the village
awaked overnight. The many business concerns representing all lines were
stocked with goods that supplied the trade; the people prospered and were
contented and happy.

Discovery of the immense lignite mine within a few feet of the surface some
years ago and operated until a few months since, employing several hundred men
for bringing coal to the top of the ground, with the pay roll amounting to
thousands of dollars monthly, was a boon to the merchants, rooming houses,
boarding houses and cafes. The mercantile establishments at present include
one hardware, one bank, the Como National, with capital of $50,000; Lawrence
Carroll, President; Charlie McClure, Vice-President; B. B. Cain, Cashier; four
dry-goods, five groceries, meat market and two cafes; two barber shops, lumber
yard, two blacksmith shops and filling stations.

Lawrence Carroll, third son of the first settler, was born in June of 1847,
and on the site of the town. He has been an eye witness to the founding and
development of Como, and today he is a walking encyclopedia of its history