Rusk County, TX - "Camden Ghost Town on The Sabine" Contributed by Sunshine Knowles August 5, 2002 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm *********************************************************************** All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** East Texas Family Records - Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 1998, Pages 28-31. Submited with the permission of the East Texas Genealogical Society. RUSK COUNTY - "Camden Ghost Town on The Sabine" By: Richard James Findley, Jr. We are grateful to Mrs. Richard Findley, Jr., for allowing us to use this material from his diary-manuscript - "Listen To the Echoes" Nine years after the organization of Rusk County, the aforementioned Masonic Lodge was organized in 1853 at Walling’s Ferry in Camden. The Lodge had its organization on August 5th, with the following members: CHARTER MEMBERS: Robert D. Wyche Dennis Cochran W. W. Freeling J. B. Herndon J. P. Gladney A. G. Shaw Ben F. Etheridge J. M. Langhorne John B. Vinson T. H. Etheridge Andrew Watt R. S. Ryan W. B. Matthews Henry Alston Enoch Hays L. F. Keener John Blakely J. J. Murphy Thomas S. Young W. Middlebrook M. S. Pool James M. Walker W. H. Robertson Willis A. Wilson Thomas A. Brown FIRST OFFICERS: Robert D. Wyche - - - Master W. F. Keeling - - - - Senior Warden J. P. Gladney - - - - Junior Warden Enoch Hays - - - - - Tiler W. S. Middlebrook - - Treasurer The Lodge functioned on a permit from the Grand Lodge at Houston until a Charter was granted in 1854. At the end of the next five years, the following members had been enrolled: Griffith Lacy Luke Forrest George Lumpkin H. H. Vinson Luke Newall John D. Travis C. S. Harris G. Wyche J. J. Graham S. J. Rogers J. C. Stone J. V. Rogers Robert Pattersson Charles Kuykendall F. H. Garrison J. C. Wilson R. B. Woodall A. C. Hickley Joseph Adams J. A. Lee R. W. Wayne Berry Adams Ed Henry W. F. Rose E. J. Withorn William Cunyus Jas. H. Robinson A. D. Hutchins J. F. Robertson J. C. Murphy William J. Armstrong J. M. Griffin W. D. Young E. K. Forrest J. M. Murphy Stokely Hutchins John Germany W. I. Reedy John F. Baker E. C. King N. A. Vinson Jas. B. Wyche James Etheridge John Lacy J. C. Nansen George King A. C. Hutchins Jesse Hays J. D. Young On the old stage road to Camden could be found the homes of some of the first settlers. James Madison Langhorne from old Virginia, settled about six miles south of Camden, and fifteen miles northeast of Henderson in the late 1840’s, building a home there, a part of which is still standing. Joe Langhorne, Sr., of Henderson was born there about 1859, and he was the third child of his family born there. Only one room of this building is still in use, but other rooms have been added. The old room is twenty feet square and built of logs hewn of virgin pine. The ceiling rises twelve feet above the floor. Other descendants of James Langhorne are Mrs. J. W. Walker of Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Vick Smith and Mrs. G. R. Farmer of Henderson, Mrs. Earl Alexander of Plainview, Mrs. Rhonda Whiteside of Houston, James Langhorne of Timpson, Angus Langhorne of Texarkana, and Joe Langhorne of Dalhart. All that is left of the Langhorne home is on the stage road from Henderson to Camden. The foundation being hugh rocks, the logs were pinned together with stout oak or hickory pegs and the heart of the pine logs were more lasting than the well-burnt bricks spoken of in the county records of that time. The house was occupied in 1938 by Emily Cato, then 81 years of age, wife of Lab Cato. Emily was a slave owned by Major Flanagan of Henderson and has lived in the Camden community all her life. There remains in one room a six pane window of old times. About a mile south of the Langhorne home lived in later years, the home of Pitzer Miller. The Millers were relatives of the Langhornes. Mrs. MIller was the mother of Jim Miller of Mt. Pleasant, now deceased, and of Pitzer Miller of Henderson, who died in the 90’s. The Miller home has been torn down. A mile west of the Langhorne home stands the Joe Gladney residence, built of lumber sawed in the neighborhood by Albert Tatum about one hundred and fifteen years ago. The older Gladney home was made of logs and stood south of the later building. The Gladneys, Langhornes and Millers were related families whose homes were close together. The Albert Tatum sawmill used the "up and down" saw that cut lumber for the lumber for the Gladney home and the planks were hand- dressed or planed. Both the circular saw and planing mills are comparatively modern inventions. The writer’s grandfather, James Mark Brown, moved into this house sommetimes about 1893. He operated a cotton gin, known as The Alliance Gin, which was located about a mile east and just beyond Miller schoolhouse. His health began to fail and shortly after the marriage of his daughter, Bertha to R. J. Findley, newly arrived from Alabama, they were invited to move into the house with them and my father operated the gin several years. It was in this house that my sister, Mrs. W. C. Dobbs of Longview, another sister, Mrs. Henry L Foster, Sr., and myself also of Longview, were born. So allow me to tell you something about this grand old home. As before mentioned, it was located at the intersection of roads that lead from Camden to Oak Hill and one that lead from Marshall to Henderson. The house proper was composed of six rooms, four of which were about twenty feet square, the other two were smaller and located on the front. The house was divided by a hall that extended from the front to the rear. About half way down this hall there was a two-landing stairway to the attic, which contained enough space for at least two large rooms, but was never completely finished. The house was painted by someone of artistic taste, for he pictured ocean waves on the north and south walls in the open hall. He then painted the walls to resemble stone blocks. Time of course, almost obliterated this work of art. The author visited the old home several years ago before it was torn down. Some markings were discernable even then, about a hundred and ten years after they were painted. Back of the house, and connected to the big house by a ramp were two very large rooms, which served as a dining room and kitchen. This arrangement was common during the period in which it was built. The yard covered an area of at least an acre. Tall cedars and oaks filled the front yard, with crepe myrtle in profusion on the south side. On the north, there was about an acre of giant oaks. The yard was fringed with beautiful running red roses and other flowers. It was equipped with lighting rods, common to houses of that period. All signs of this once beautiful home are gone except a few bricks and rocks, which were part of the chimney and foundation. The plantation once consisted of a thousand acres, of which the heirs still retain two hundred and four. The Griffith Lacy home, nearby, settled in the late 1850’s, was first hewn of logs, but later replaced by the present frame building. It is surrounded by oaks and giant cedars. It is now owned by the heirs of Andy Watt. Mr. Watt’s wife before her marriage was Janie Lacy. The children of Andy Watt are all dead, the last being Miss Janie of Tatum. Her brothers were Tom, who later moved to Longview and then to Ft. Worth where he was a successful business man for many years before his death; Jim Watt who operated a general store in Tatum for many years; Griff Watt, John, and of course Miss Janie. Billy Watt, prominent as a rancher and the son of Robert Watt, has been the president and guiding light in the Ft. Worth Fat Stock show for several years. The nieces of Miss Janie own the property - originally one thousand acres, but now reduced to five or six hundred. The Children of Billy Watt, a brother to Andy, were Dr. Tom, Flem, John and Miss Lizzie who later became Mrs. J. E. Holtzclaw of Tatum. The descendants of Griff Lacy were Judgge Edwin, Mrs. H. A. Williams, Miss Louie, Rogers and Claude, all deceased except Judge Lacy who now resides in Longview. Three miles south of Camden, and on the west side of the road, are seven hundred acres of land, (formerly with a two-story hewn log house) owned from the late 1840’s to 1862 by Enoch and James Hays of Camden. The first named brother was for many years "Mine Host" of the Hays Tavern in that town. Enoch Hays and his wife both died in March 1862 and are buried in the old cemetery. The property was sold in 1862 to John B. Vinson, Jesse Hays moving to Carthage. The Hays brothers were grandfather and great uncle of Gil S. Jones, Mrs. Marvin Adams of Henderson and Mrs. Annie Kuykendall of Houston. The pioneer home burned some years ago. The Vinson cemetery and the home site are grown over with large trees. It is lately known as the Al Hendrick place, formerly the property of Al’s wife who was a Vinson. The old home was torn down about thirty-five years ago, but the original forest trees about the sides are standing and lend ornament to a modern dwelling. Immediately east and across the road is the Billy Watt home. His wife was the sister of Mrs. Andy Watt. The site of the Allen Gibson pioneer settlement, two miles south of Camden, is now bare of improvements and is uncultivated. There stood in 1856 a two-story eight room hewn log house. Mrs. Crim, Mrs. Henry Goodlett, Mrs. Sterling Mims, all of Henderson, Andrew Gibson of Crim’s Chapel, and Mrs. Young of Garrison are grandchildren of Allen Gibson. He had many other descendants living in Rusk County and other parts of Texas. One of his slaves, Dick Reed of Henderson still claims to belong to the family. Enoch Hays and the Pioneer Prothro operated a jug factory and made other earthenware at Camden. They found good white clay and Chalk Hill. The Prothros were early citizens of Camden. The Hollaways, too, have many descendants in Rusk, Gregg Harris and other Texas counties. (Continues in the ETFR Summer Quarterly 1988 - Volume 12, Issue 2)