Hunt County, TX - History: The History of Celeste ***************************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb by: Sarah Swindell USGenWeb Archives. Copyright. All rights reserved http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ***************************************************** The History of Celeste. . . By Mrs. J. R. Eastwood, 1949 As far as I can learn, there are no records of the early history of Celeste. In addition to the meager written material, we have the oral material, which has been passed down from year to year and errors have crept in. Yet, however poor and inaccurate the oral sources may be, it is necessary to lean heavily upon it for from it comes the bulk of our information. Before starting into the history of Celeste, as a background, let us look for awhile at the surrounding country prior to that time when the space occupied by Celeste was an open prairie. One of the first churches built in this part of the country was built in 1852 as near as I can learn. It stood about where the Mount Caramel (Carmel) Church or Hogeye Church now stands.1 It was used for several years as a school. It was a small two-story building; the Masonic Lodge used the upper story. Mr. Jernigan, Mrs. Posie’s grandfather, helped organize this lodge. Later the lodge was moved to Kingston, then to Celeste. The first person buried in the cemetery there was Mr. Balstrop in 1853. One of the first school houses built in this section was near the "Old Sherman and Jefferson Trail," which passed just north of Celeste. A lone elm tree standing on the Old Tatum farm northeast of Celeste is well over one hundred years old. It was the request of Mr. Felix Tatum that this tree never to be cut down, as it was a guidepost on the Jefferson and Sherman Trail. Throughout this area, the people went to Jefferson for their supplies. The freighting being done with ox teams. The raising of cattle was the main industry. They would have the annual "round-up" and drive the cattle to market. At this time, blackland sold for one dollar an acre and sandy land twenty-five cents per acre. White Rock received its name from the abundance of white rock near the surface of the ground. Mr. Lem Kennedy and Watson owned the first store at White Rock. John Kaiser and Kennedy also operate a saloon. "Black Cat Thicket," which most of us have heard about, was inhabited by the Black Cat Indians. Chief Black Cat was their leader. They were a friendly tribe; their wigwams were in the densest part of the thicket. They made baskets and trinkets of different kinds, which they traded to the white people. After the country began to settle up and game became scarce, they moved to the Indian Territory. Later, horse thieves and robbers used the Black Cat Thicket to hide their loots. It was so dense; it made a good hideout. In later years, there was a schoolhouse west of Celeste, which was called Hackberry School because of the lone Hackberry tree nearby. Later, Mr. Bob Lane erected a little store there and the name was changed to Lane. In 1879, the MKT Railroad was built from Denison to Greenville and Kingston became a thriving little town. Real estate dealers carved out city blocks and carpenters hurriedly built houses. D. E. Bolton built the first hotel and Jim Attebery taught the first school. The Harrell Campground, named for Uncle Dickie Harrell, was known all over this part of the country. In the summer, many families would load up all the necessary furniture, go there and fix up a tent for two weeks stay to attend the camp meeting. Some took along their cows and chickens. Sometimes there would be more than one hundred tents besides covered wagons. Two events in railroad history occurred about sixty-five years ago; a reluctance to grant a right-of-way and a presumptuous forecast of business trends resulted directly in the slow death of Kingston and the immediate birth and economic prosperity of Celeste. In 1885, representatives of the Santa Fe Railroad asked for right-of-way grants to extend their line from Paris to Dallas. Kingston, already a thriving business center, was the logical point for the Santa Fe to cross the MKT. Some landowners at Kingston refused to make concessions. The Santa Fe engineers being denied the crossing at Kingston, surveyed the route from Ladonia, southwestward and crossed the MKT Railroad on the open prairie three and one- half miles north of Kingston. When it became definitely known that the Santa Fe was going to cross the MKT at this place, several business houses were built over on the east side. Dave Patterson and Mason Wolfe sold home lots over than and called it Bradburn. Most of the land where Celeste stands was purchased by the railroad from W. L. Stewart. On April 7, 1886, the railroad sold lots to the highest bidder at a public auction and also donated lots for churches and schools. As a thank-you gesture to the railroad, the people named the town Celeste, in honor of one of the official’s daughters. The Methodist Church was given a lot and erected their first church in 1887. In 1897, that church was torn and the second structure burned in 1907, and shortly after that, the present building was erected. Some years later, the Sunday school rooms were added. In 1887, a school community was organized with an area of about seven square miles and Professor Perrin erected a three-story building near where Mrs. Lowrie Glasscoe’s house stands.2 The school opened with three literary teachers, Professor Perrin, Professor Wallace, and Miss Adams of Greenville. Miss Della Gillespie of Dallas was the music teacher. About this time, there was a little school called Robinson School, just south of town.3 There are only three or four living here now who attended this school: Mrs. Newt Barnard, Miss Bessie Braly, Mrs. Mattie Posey, and Lem Patterson. The Perrin School building was used about eight years. Mr. Hoard, Mr. E. F. Adams, and Dave Patterson were the first trustees of this school. When it became necessary to have more room, a brick building was erected where the present school stands and the school became known as Hawthorne College.4 Two dormitories for boys and one for girls were built.5 The first year after Hawthorne College opened there were twelve Spanish boys who attended school there to learn the English language. They were sons of different governors of Mexico. The Hawthorne graduating class of 1897 planted a sycamore tree in front of the building. One of the dormitories burned and the attendance did not justify rebuilding and, in 1899, the Hawthorne faculty moved to McKinney and opened a school there. So, the school here then became known as Elmwood Institute. About 1912, it was changed to Celeste High School. John Attebery was the first postmaster of Celeste and Mr. Frank Norris filled out his unexpired term. Later, Ed Croft, Ulysses Grant Roach, Ed Thompson, S. L. Blackwell, Lewis Jones, and Monroe Compton served as Postmasters. J. R. Eastwood was the first barber in Celeste and served the people in the same place of business for more than fifty years. Mr. Seifert (sp) was the first MKT agent and Mr. I. M. England built one of the first houses in the north part of town. In 1888, the Christian Church was built over on the east side of town. Later, because the preacher did not want instrumental music in the church, it caused a division in the church and part of the membership bought a church from the Presbyterians, which stood where the present Central Christian Church stands, and they worshipped in it until 1915 when it was torn down and the late church was built. It has recently been moved to Allen, Texas. During the early days of Celeste, much attention was paid to breeding and training of fine horses. Mr. S. L. Green raised many fine horses at his stables just west of town and had a fine race track out there for training horses. About the same time, Captain D. J. Hines, Mrs. Ewing’s stepfather, raised many fine horses at his place and had a large track for training them. When the railroad was built through, the company gave a lot for a hotel and Mrs. Wentzel had the fist hotel here—it was the Santa Fe Hotel. The first edition of The Celeste Courier was published in 1886, just four months after the public land auction. Recently, we were handed a copy of Celeste Express, which was published din 1894. It contained programs of the closing exercises of the school in May 1894, C. J. Debenport was superintendent and it contained many names of pupils, which would be very interesting to people who lived here during the early years of Celeste. The businessmen advertised on the margin of the program and the following are some of the names of men who were in business here then: Kennedy-Harrell, Puckett, Lindsey, McGuire Brothers, Lane, Henslee, Dennis, Eastwood, Stephens, Friddle, Williams, Cannon, Mitchell, Short, Roach, England, Barnard, and Crabb. New Lindell Hotel, Santa Fe Hotel, and Commercial Hotel were three hostelries mentioned. At the closing of the exercises there was a presentation of medals by Reverend J. M. Peterson. In 1898, a cottonseed oil mill was built and did a big business for ten or twelve years. In 1901, a cotton mill was erected—at a cost of over $60,000. They employed more than fifty workmen. From some cause, it proved to be a failure. In 1901, the first woman’s club was organized. It was the Mutual Improvement Club, with Mrs. Casey as president. Mrs. Harris was secretary. The club disbanded in 1908. On February 2, 1903, the first rural mail carriers in Hunt County went out from Celeste. In the early days, it was customary to have large picnics on July 4th. July 4, 1906, my first year in Celeste, they had a large community picnic at the grove west of town. They had band music and Confederate Veterans went in a body. Honorable Joseph W. Bailey was the guest speaker. An all-day affair with dinner on the ground, it was. In 1907, William Jennings Bryant was in town, a guest of Editor Tufts. After dinner at Dr. Murdough’s, he spoke before leaving for Greenville. While William Jennings Bryant was speaking in Greenville, Celeste was hit by a terrible tornado, which tore down the old cotton mill and did a lot of damage. In 1911, the Thursday Club was organized with Miss Ava Ewing was president and Miss Lou V. Mitchell, secretary. In 1913, the first brick school building burned and was rebuilt the next year. The auditorium was built in 1924 and the gymnasium in 1938. Before closing, I feel like paying tribute to the farmers and stockmen surrounding Celeste: Lewis Lyday, Henry Lyday, Lewis, A. J. Byers, S. L. Green, Roach, McDonald, Keith, Pearce, Braly, Harrell, Owens, Mulkey, Shoemake, Ewing, Sparks, Titus, Weathers, Stallings, Lane, Norris, England, Bickham, Dennis, Cole, Granberry, Jones, Mitchell, Kelly, McGuire, Boutwell, Avens, Pyle, and many others who were large factors in the making of Celeste. (July 25, 1952, The Celeste Courier) 1. Near where the Celeste Cemetery is today. Believe maybe behind Collin Clark's house, off FM 1566W. 2. Mrs. Lowrie Glasscoe's house was about where Locust Street is today. . .not far from the Hunt County Barn. 3. Robinson (Robertson) School would have been across Highway 69, about where the lawnmower shop is today. 4. Hawthorne, Elmwood, and our old Celeste High School would have been where the present junior high building is on South Seventh Street. 5. One of the dormitories was pretty close to where Gaston Alexander's house is today. Maybe a little east of his house on West Sanger.