The Industrious Historian

Was the Brother of the Company President Poisoned?

2011-08-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

By Lindsey Light
In December of 1902, A. B. “Bert” Marston arrived at the Stilwell Hotel in Pittsburg, Kansas, to gather African American workers to go with him to Thurber, Texas, to mine coal. Marston was the assistant storekeeper of the Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company (TPM&M). TPM&M was a subsidiary of the Texas and Pacific Coal Company led by President Edgar L. Marston, A. B. Marston’s older brother.

Postcard of Hotel Stilwell as it appeared about the time of Marston’s stay. Photo contributed by Mark Hill www.pittsburgksmemories.com.

On December 8, while playing billiards at the hotel, Marston fell to the floor with convulsions. Though men carried him to his room and a doctor arrived quickly, nothing could be done. He began to vomit and froth at the mouth and then died. Soon after, a panel of doctors started investigating the cause of death. In Marston’s room there was a bottle of mineral water found with a small amount of liquid left in it and business paper work. There were no signs of suicide.

Marston fell ill in the billiard room at the Hotel Stilwell. Built in 1890, it featured a well-appointed lobby and ballroom. Teddy Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, Susan B. Anthony and others chose to make speeches from the balcony above the entrance when passing through Pittsburg. The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and it is now used as apartments and commercial space. Photograph and information on the hotel courtesy http://www.hotelstilwell.org/.

The panel of investigators retained statements from the people who last had contact with Marston. Richard Hayden, a black man, accompanied Marston on the trip specifically to recruit black men from surrounding coal camps. Hayden told the panel that Marston purchased a bottle of Manitou mineral water like the one found in the hotel room, in South McAlester, Oklahoma, which was at the time Indian Territory. Unfortunately, there was no way to prove that the bottles were in fact one in the same since that brand was also available in Pittsburg. Also, the panel talked to A.L. Scott, a local lumberman, who chatted with Marston the night before he died. He reported that Marston knew that many people opposed him bringing in outside workers. Considering the eye-witness accounts and his symptoms, Coroner Boaz came to the conclusion that Marston died from deliberate poisoning.

On December 9th the Dallas Morning News reported the death of A. B. Marston. Though Marston was actually the assistant storekeeper for the mercantile subsidiary, many newspapers nationwide promoted him to assistant general manager of the coal company.

Because the panel of doctors suspected that arsenic caused Marston’s death, they conducted a post-mortem examination. All of Marston’s main organs appeared to be in a healthy condition, but his stomach indicated the presence of arsenic. They sent samples to a lab in Kansas City, Missouri to test for toxins in his system. When the contents of Marston’s stomach were tested, however, no evidence of poison was found. The investigation ended at this point and no one was accused of murder. His remains were taken to Greenville, Illinois, to be buried at Montrose Cemetery.

Company officials at Thurber shared the tragic news of Marston with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Locals who knew the family did not feel that suicide or murder were reasonable explanations for the death. Instead, they claimed that Marston suffered from kidney problems, or “Bright’s Disease,” which might have brought on the attack.

The death of A. B. Marston remains mysterious. Though the final coroner’s report indicated he died from natural causes, no immediate illness was ever identified. Later Thurber historians failed to record the event altogether, in spite of the fact it was sensationalized in newspapers across the nation. Certainly there were persons who were uncomfortable because he was bringing outsiders to work in Thurber, but were they capable of getting away with murder? Ultimately, the circumstances surrounding Marston’s death were suspicious, but the remaining questions about what A. B. Marston succumbed to that day in Pittsburg may never be answered.

Part 2 of the Coal Mines of Palo Pinto County: The Obel Family

2011-06-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

By Matt Stephenson

The Obel family moved to Palo Pinto County, from Montgomery County, Alabama, in the early 1880s. Phillip Wilhelm Obel purchased farm land at Mingus and went to work as a butcher in Thurber located two miles south. His two sons, John Phillip (J.P.) and William (Will) Reinhold Obel, worked on the family farm and hired out as carpenters. Five more children were born into the Obel family between 1884 and 1898, including George Henry Obel (Henry) in 1896. After their father’s death in 1898, J.P. and Will continued to work as carpenters and farmers until around 1920.

Obel family photographed in Mingus, Texas, circa 1935. J. P. Obel is top left while his brother Henry appears top right. Ursula Obel, wife of P. W. Obel is seated in the front to the left.

That year Will and Henry opened a coal mine on the family property while J.P. went to work for the Texas & Pacific Coal Company (T&P), in Thurber, as a coal miner. According to oral tradition Will and Henry sold coal from a horse-drawn cart door-to-door in Mingus and also to the Strawn Coal Company. Sometime in the early 1930s Will fell ill and was unable to continue his role as co-owner of the mine with Henry. By this time coal mining operations had ceased in Thurber, so J.P. went to work for the Strawn Coal Company and assumed Will’s duties as owner/partner of the mine with Henry. The Obels no longer sold coal door-to-door due to the emergence of the petroleum industry and the availability of fuel oil. However, the Obel family mine continued to conduct business with the Strawn Coal Company until 1946.

Will Obel appears to the left of this photograph with an unidentified companion, circa 1930s.

J.P. and Henry Obel remained in the southwestern Palo Pinto County area until their deaths. Will Obel passed away in Wichita Falls in 1963. Descendants of the Obel brothers reside throughout the state of Texas and maintain a strong interest in their Palo Pinto County roots. Like the other coal mining operations in Palo Pinto County, the Obel family outlived its Thurber counterpart by more than a decade.

Envelope and pay stub addressed to John P. Obel from 1946 and 1944.

The Strawn Coal Company and Obel family mines did not expand into the oil and gas business. As a result, the smaller, specialized operations slowly became obsolete. Though their names are less familiar than T & P and Thurber, coal operations at Mingus, Strawn, and Lyra remain a significant part of Palo Pinto County history.

Approximate location of the Obel Family Mine.

Coal Mines in Palo Pinto County: T&P Wasn’t the Only Game in Town

2011-05-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

By Matt Stephenson

Northern Erath and southern Palo Pinto Counties were the largest coal producing areas in the state of Texas from the late 1880s until 1946. In the region, the coal industry centered on the Texas & Pacific Coal Company (T&P) mines. In fact, in the mid-1890s T&P conducted underground mining operations in fifteen sites located throughout the hills surrounding Thurber. During peak years, approximately one thousand to fifteen hundred men mined fifteen hundred to two thousand tons of coal per day in the Thurber area. However, not every chunk of coal yielded from the bituminous-rich terrain originated in T&P mines. Nearby, workers at the Strawn Coal Company and other small family-owned operations, such as the Obel Mine in Mingus, produced a significant coal supply.

Approximate Locations of Strawn Coal Company Mines.

Coal mining arrived in Strawn around 1900 when brothers William and Harvey Johnson started the Mount Marion Coal Company. They originally settled in the area in 1878, and operated a successful feed, lumber, and grain company. By 1886 the profits they yielded from selling wooden cross ties to the Texas and Pacific Railroad gained them the necessary capital to open the first coal shafts near what would later become the town of Thurber in Erath County. The Johnson’s first coal mining venture resulted in failure and in 1888 they reluctantly sold their interests to parties in Fort Worth. The next few years they operated their retail/supply businesses in Strawn.

Photograph of a Strawn Coal Company Mine taken in 1927.

The Johnsons knew that there was tremendous earning potential in coal mining and never abandoned the idea. Quite possibly, they were encouraged with the growth of Thurber that had occurred since T&P purchased their operations in 1888. After nearly going bankrupt with their first venture, they learned that it required a tremendous amount of capital to operate a coal company, while it took only a small amount to find the coal and sink the shaft. Almost immediately after creating the Mount Marion Coal Company, the Johnsons sold their shares to a group of Fort Worth investors, including W. Burton, Paul Waples, L.H. McKee, John L. Johnson and A. Deffenbach, for a large profit. In 1904 the new owners merged the Mount Marion mine with the Bennett Coal Company in Lyra and in 1914 renamed it the Strawn Coal Company, Inc.

Strawn Coal Company tokens and scrip tickets used to purchase goods at the Company Store.

By 1920 the payroll of the Strawn Coal Company equaled $75,000 per month and had produced 1.6 million tons of coal since the merger. Railroad companies were the primary consumers of Palo Pinto County coal. When they converted their locomotives to diesel fuel, production and profits at Lyra plummeted and the company terminated operations. The original mine at Mount Marion, however, survived until 1946, approximately sixteen years after mining at Thurber ceased.

Next Month: Part 2 of the Coal Mines of Palo Pinto County

Fill Your Tank with TP Gasoline!

2011-04-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

By Lindsey Light

In 1928 the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company opened its first TP Aero Brand filling station in present day downtown Fort Worth, Texas in the middle of the wide intersection at West Seventh Street and Camp Bowie Boulevard. It was designed in a unique octagonal shape and constructed of brick and ceramic tile. As time went by, the city reworked the hectic crossing and the station was destroyed. Between 1928 and 1938 the company had service stations in approximately eighty five towns across West Texas and the Panhandle. Eventually, Texas and Pacific supplied over five hundred service stations in Texas and Oklahoma.

The first Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company filling station at West Seventh Street and Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth, Texas. Reproduced from a Texas Pacific highway map courtesy Pete Charlton.

As automobiles gained popularity, owners required fuel to be accessible at more regular intervals. Early on, blacksmith shops, hardware stores, and grocery stores first provided the necessary local access to fuel supplies. Because moving and storing the gasoline was dangerous, however, these locations began delivering fuel by barrel to the consumer’s home. Ultimately, filling stations built specifically for the purpose created a safe and convenient outlet for the consumer.

TP gasoline and motor oil ink blotter featuring the Teepee advertising theme.

In 1929, the W.P. Boyd service station opened in Thurber, Texas, the birthplace of Texas Pacific Coal and Oil. The brick and tile building featured a herringbone pattern driveway, and is noted for its beautiful detail. The company installed four pumps at the Thurber location. To place the station in the middle of town square, workers moved the band stand to the south end of the square.

J. R. Foster grocery and feed store in Lake Worth, Texas, which proudly sold TP products.

In order to maintain and restock individual service stations, many owners purchased supplies from bulk stations. Located near refineries operated by Texas Pacific, bulk outlets provided product and equipment such as signage, storage tanks, pump globes, and push pumps to service stations in the surrounding area. Storage tanks at the stations were generally placed underground and contained the station’s fuel. Globes were placed on top of the pump to advertise the brand and display the TP logo. Push pumps moved the gas from the underground tank into a cylinder at the top of the fuel dispenser where it was measured. Afterward, it flowed by gravity into the customer’s gas container or automobile tank. Not only did these bulk stations deliver to the company-owned outlets and individually-owned stations, they also distributed gasoline and oil to many of the company departments and subsidiaries and other businesses including dairies, parks, ranches, and farms.

Original lens from a TP pump globe.

These service stations helped transform the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company into one of the most profitable businesses throughout Texas. With the significant number of service stations in the state, it helped smooth over the transformation for Texans coming into the automobile age.

Mining Tools: Implements or Heirlooms?

2011-03-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

By Matt Stephenson

Coal mining is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. In Thurber miners worked in coal seams that were often two to twenty feet thick. They spent the day hunched over or lying on their sides using hand tools and explosives to break coal deposits from a vertical rock face. The miner’s tools were crucial to his livelihood. They enabled him to do his job effectively and to feed his family.

Photograph of Yugoslavian-born Miner Tom Krajcar and his wife Augustine.

The image of a coal miner would not be complete without a carbide lamp attached to his hat or helmet to light the way in darkness of a coal mine. Carbide lamps, properly known as acetylene gas lamps, produce and burn acetylene gas, which is the result of calcium carbide reacting with water. In addition to their use in mines, people employed them as building lighting, lighthouse beacons, headlights on motor-cars and bicycles, and today they are still the preferred method of personal illumination for cavers and spelunkers.

"Justrite” brand Carbide Lamp used at mine No. 9 by Vaclav Jim Vecera, circa 1900.

Coal miners used specialized picks weighing approximately 1-2 pounds to remove coal deposits from the rock facings underground. They were drop-forged from iron, had sharp points on each end and were mounted on a 12-18 inch wooden handle, depending upon preference. The company required a miner to remove 4.5- 6 inch chunks of coal. He was not paid for nut or pea-sized pieces. Because miners used their picks throughout their career, surviving examples show evidence of extremely heavy use.

Drop-forged 2-pound Iron Coal Mining Pick used by Tom Krajcar.

Miners used blasting powder and a hand drill when coal deposits were too solid to mine with tools. Miners drilled tap-holes through the coal deposits to the surface of the rock facing, placed small explosive charges between the rock facing and the coal, and finally ignited the charge with a detonator or a simple fuse. As with hand-chipping, blasting required special skill and precision. As coal mining operations expanded, blasting powder eventually replaced picks.

Remnants of a “Black” Blasting Powder can made by the Equitable Powder Company in Alton, Illinois, circa 1892-1897, collected near Mine No. 2.

In 1900 a skilled miner, such as Tom Krajcar was capable of mining approximately one ton of coal per man per day. For this he earned a wage of approximately $1.57 per day, or $52.00 per month on average. Miners in Thurber purchased their own picks and carbide lamps from the Texas and Pacific Manufacturing and Mercantile (TPM&M) company store. The combined price of tools would cost a miner $1.60-$2.00, which was more than he earned per day. Miners bequeathed their tools to the next generation in order to spare the descendant the expense of purchasing tools. The tools pictured here were owned and used by Thurber miners. The fact that their late owners’ families saved them attests to the strong memories evoked by tools and other similar items.

Thurber Tiny Journals

2011-02-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

By staff

When a coal mining company established a town, it often built a church, a school, a saloon, and a general mercantile. In some cases miners, company employees, and their families could purchase goods only at that location. In Thurber the store began as a small commissary that dealt mainly in perishable items, dry goods, and tools under management of the financially strapped Johnson Coal Mining Company in 1887.

The Texas and Pacific Coal Company (T&P) acquired the land in and around Thurber in 1888 and reopened the store under the management of their newly established subsidiary, the Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company (TPM&M). Eventually the store developed into a large-scale retail complex that boasted a Hardware Department, a Print Shop, a Drug Store, a Grocery Store, a Meat Market, a Dry Goods Department, and a Casket Sales Department.

In order to advertise competitive pricing and establish a loyal customer base who would shop locally, the TPM&M published The Thurber Tiny Journal. It was a small-scale newspaper that contained small tidbits of local news and sporting events, a humor section, and store promotions. The two examples of the Thurber Tiny Journal below are from 1927.

Below, read a full edition of The Thurber Tiny Journal from 1930. Please note the timely economic references:

Tying Us Together: A Thurber Friendship Quilt

2010-12-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

By special guest blogger Bethany Kolter Dodson

Texas has a long-practiced tradition of quilt making. Young girls routinely learned the skill because patchwork became a common style of bedding during the westward expansion. Patchwork provided a colorful and practical way to use old clothing and small scraps of material both artfully and economically in a time when practicality was the rule.

In the 1800s, women began forming quilting groups, turning work into a social and communal activity. Album quilts, along with other variations known as signature and friendship quilts which included embroidered autographs, served as family trees or town records to mark events like weddings or deaths. They evolved into keepsakes given to pastors, friends, or family members who were about to move away. While the common sentiment was one of remembrance, the quilts themselves varied stylistically. There was no one specific pattern. Any design with room for an embroidered autograph, such as Nine Patch, Star, Mariner’s Compass, Chimney Sweep, and Snowflake, was used. An abundant number of patterns bear the name Album or Friendship.

From the 1920s onward, flour, sugar, salt, grains, seeds, and feed were sold in large, cotton muslin bags. Considering the frugality needed to survive during the Depression, it is not surprising that women cleverly used the sack material to create dresses, quilts, and many other household textiles. Soon grain dealers caught on to this growing trend and began selling bags made of printed cottons to encourage brand loyalty. Patterns of all kinds emerged in every color imaginable. It took three to four one hundred-pound sacks to make a dress, so women carefully bought and traded brands to get the matching prints they wanted. As a result, women gained power in the marketplace by exerting substantial influence over the brands of foodstuffs and animal feed purchased by their family members. Leftover scraps were perfect for creating a distinctive square for a friendship quilt.

Many of the quilt blocks in this collection use fabric from feed sacks. This photograph of the underside of Mrs. Etta Lane’s quilt block reveals a stubborn, stamped, blue logo at the top edge. It was difficult and at times impossible to remove the stamped ink logo of the grain company from the fabric. If the label could not be removed by washing, these creative women painted it, embroidered over it, or simply placed it where it could not be seen.

As aesthetically pleasing as these works of art are, the stories of community behind them gives them special significance. The quilts speak of the deep friendship and camaraderie that surrounded their creation. A collection of squares acquired by the Gordon Center in 2007 demonstrates how Thurber women participated in this tradition. Mrs. Etta Lane embroidered “Thurber, Tex.” and “January 30, 1932” along with her own signature on her square tying the work and herself to the community. Sarah Etta Lawson married Samuel Lane in Erath County, Texas, about 1899 when she was sixteen. The Lanes were long time residents of Thurber, where Sam worked at the brick yard. Sadly, Mr. Lane died from internal injuries as a result of a fall from a boxcar on May 2, 1932, only months after Etta dated her quilt square.

Etta Lane pictured in her later years.

Almost all the names that appear in this collection of blocks were found in the 1930 census, along with other clues to their daily lives. Many lived with their families on the east side of town in the vicinity of the brick yard. The census highlights that Mrs. Etta Lane was a close neighbor to fellow quilter, Mrs. Louise “Lou” Kim. Some were homemakers, while others, like Ms. Sue Martin worked outside the home as a telephone operator.

All of the blocks in the Thurber collection share the same pattern of appliqué creating a stylized white cross.

The historic quilts of this style hold the stories and secrets of relationships past. While many of the people who created them are gone, the memories of good times, close friends, and tightly-knit communities that cared and leaned on each other are passed down for the present generation to remember and recognize. Today quilting guilds across America work to preserve the tradition and celebrate their own special experiences together by creating new friendship quilts to pass down.

Who was Homer G. Harris?

2010-11-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

By Matt Stephenson

The call to arms prompted by the entry of the United States into World War I was answered by many young men in the nation. In the community of Thurber, Texas, Homer G. Harris was one such young man. Homer was born January 3, 1896, in Bell County, Texas, to Leonidas Signor Harris and Nancy Elizabeth Harris and was reportedly killed in action on June 2, 1918, in the fighting around Chateau-Thierry during the famous Belleau Wood offensive in France. He was the youngest son among five brothers and sisters and one of three children born in Texas.

The United States Census of 1910 reported Homer’s father worked as a teamster and his two older brothers were employed in the mines in and around Thurber. Homer’s draft registration card from June 5, 1917, revealed that he joined his brothers in the mines prior to entering the military. Contemporary newspaper accounts note that Homer was the first man from Thurber to fall in the Great War. Homer’s family was rather well-known in the community and his death was mourned by many Thurber residents.

The Tuscania as it looked at its launching in February 7, 1915

Homer G. Harris completed military basic training in late 1917 and was immediately shipped to New York, then to Europe aboard the American troopship Tuscania. His first brush with death came on February 5, 1918. On that fateful day, a German U-Boat (submarine) torpedoed the Tuscania in the Irish Sea en route to Liverpool, England, with 2,179 American soldiers. Homer G. Harris was among the 1,832 survivors reported in the February 11, 1918, edition of the Dallas Morning News. Tuscania was the first ship carrying American troops to be sunk and the populace was outraged. In 1920 a monument was erected by the American Red Cross on the Isle of Islay where many of the victims were buried before their transfer that year to the American War Cemetery at Brookwood, England, or back to the United States.

The Tuscania Disaster sparked outrage among the American people, as it was the first time a ship carrying American soldiers had been sunk by enemy forces

Private Harris was originally deployed to Europe along with the 32nd “Red Arrow” Infantry Division, a National Guard unit with volunteers primarily from Michigan and Wisconsin, because he had trained with them at Camp Bowie in Ft. Worth, Texas, and was with them aboard the Tuscania. After his rescue, however, Private Harris was transferred to the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd “Indian Head” Division and sent to the front lines at the Belleau Wood sector. When the first elements of Homer’s division arrived in April of 1917, the embattled armies there had been locked in a stalemate for four years. They moved to Chateau-Thierry where they combined with U. S. Marines to conduct a long series of daring and reckless night raids and skirmishes into the German lines around Belval Forest.

By November 5, 1918, they finally broke the stalemate and halted the German advance on Paris which resulted in the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. Unfortunately Homer G. Harris was not allowed to bask in the glory of his unit’s victory because he was killed in the fighting around Chateau-Thierry on June 2, 1918.

The U.S. Army’s official casualty report from June 21, 1918, states that Private Harris was killed in action like many other brave, young American soldiers in one of the bloodiest battles in American military history. As with many World War I casualties, most likely he was interred on the battlefield in France. Later his body was exhumed and shipped home for burial at the end of the American occupation of Germany after the signing of the armistice. His body arrived by train at the railway station at Mingus and was buried with full military honors in the Thurber Cemetery on September 8, 1921, according to a story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the following day. The paper reported that a procession almost two miles long accompanied his remains from the railhead in Mingus to the Harris family home in Thurber.

Homer G. Harris’s Grave at its current location in Mount Marion Cemetery in Strawn, Texas

Because Homer was the first Thurber native to fall in World War I, local veterans named the Homer G. Harris American Legion Post No. 14 in his honor. During the time after Homer G. Harris’s burial, the post was an important community organization and held many popular social events, most notably the Water Carnival at Thurber Lake (Big Lake) on July 22, 1922, boxing bouts, and Armistice Day dances and athletic contests, such as football and baseball games. The post was disbanded about 1933 when the Texas & Pacific Coal & Oil Company closed the town of Thurber and moved their offices to Fort Worth.

From the Curator's Desk: A Simple Start for your Thurber Genealogy

2010-10-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

By special guest blogger LeAnna Schooley

When the descendant of a former Thurber resident contacts the Gordon Center looking for information, the request always makes its way to me. As curator, I use research to identify artifacts, develop exhibits, and dig out the true tales of life in our company town, but I also help people uncover their personal Thurber stories. Let me suggest several easy steps to get you started on your family history journey.

Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles and write down or tape record their memories about family births, deaths, burials, marriages, and stories. Note as many specific dates, names, and locations as possible. With this information about the most recent past, you can work backward through time. Because details are often forgotten over the years, you will want to track down the documents that support and enhance the remembrances you have collected. Genealogy software such as the Personal Ancestral File, available free from FamilySearch can help you organize your research.

Become familiar with the history of Thurber. The W. K. Gordon Center website offers timelines, research tips, and photographs that can help you understand the connection between your family and Thurber. Additional background information is available in published histories such as The Birth of a Texas Ghost Town, by former Thurber resident Mary Jane Gentry, and in A Way of Work and a Way of Life, by Marilyn Rhinehart. Along the way, ask yourself if part of your family story could have taken place in Thurber.

James Elzie and Kate Ready Marrs

Let’s say that your family believes your ancestor, Kate Petty Ready Marrs, lived in Thurber. They remember that her father, Walter Ready, lived in Missouri when she was born in 1875, but the entire family moved to Thurber before she married Mr. James E. Marrs. Kate Marrs’s death certificate could confirm the facts of her birth, death, marriage, and burial. Thanks to the website FamilySearch.org, digital images of many Texas death certificates are available online. The database turns up a 1946 death certificate in Ranger, Eastland County, Texas, for a Kate Petty Marrs born October 30, 1875, in Missouri to W. C. Ready and Lucy Lane. Since Kate’s husband, J. E. Marrs, who knew Kate and her parents, supplied the information for the certificate, it is a reliable source. Not only do these facts agree with the family story, but it places Kate Marrs in Ranger, a nearby town where many former Thurber residents settled when the company moved its offices to Fort Worth in 1933.

Eastland County, Texas, death certificate of former Thurber resident, Kate Petty Ready Marrs (click image to enlarge)

One way to determine where a family lived is through the United States Census, which has been conducted every ten years since 1790. Of the surviving census records, the years 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 list the people living in Thurber by name. You can use census databases at your local library or in some cases you can sign up to access selected resources from home. A search of the 1930 census reveals that a Kate Marrs, whose age, birthplace and parent’s name matches the known facts of our subject, did live in Thurber, Erath County, Texas, that year. Her husband’s name was given incorrectly as John instead of James, an example of the common problems in the census that researchers must evaluate and reconcile.

1930 Erath County, Texas, census enumeration of persons in Thurber. The Marrs household (line 67) was located in the vicinity of the Thurber Mingus Road and included John [sic] E., a carpenter, Kate P., five of their children, and Kate’s mother, Lucy Ready (click image to enlarge)

Having confirmed your Thurber connection, there are many possibilities for further research. Explore other census records to determine the length of time the family lived in town and which individuals might have worked for the Texas and Pacific Coal Company. Collect additional birth and death certificates of siblings and parents in order to carry the lineage into the past. Make appointments to visit archives and libraries to dig deeper into company documents that provide insight into the lives of individual employees. For more resource suggestions, visit the Gordon Center's genealogy page. Your Thurber story is waiting to be discovered.

Take two Dover’s and call me in the morning…

2010-09-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

By special guest blogger, Stephanie Winnett

Indigestion? Nausea? Hypertension? Fever? Headache? Today, you would drive to the local pharmacy for an over-the-counter medication to cure what ails you. However, at the turn-of-the-century, in rural areas like those around Mingus and Thurber, people relied on country doctors. Dr. John T. Spratt travelled far and wide by horse (and later by car) dispensing medication and using his expertise to spread comfort and healing.

Dr. Spratt atop his horse, Gnat, posing in front of his office.

Thurber, the largest town between Fort Worth and El Paso, was booming when Dr. Spratt moved to Mingus from Pecos with his family in 1904. Mingus at this time was a quarter of the size of the industrial Thurber. Spratt operated as the only doctor there where he built a drugstore and pharmacy. Despite the proximity of Mingus to Thurber, half of Dr. Spratt’s medical fees were paid to him in goods, according to his son, John S. Spratt in Thurber, Texas: The Life and Death of a Company Coal Town. Citizens in and around Mingus did not possess the cash to pay a physician for his services. They would give Dr. Spratt whatever they could spare as payment.

For many years, Spratt practiced out of his office seeing patients and performing minor surgeries. His rural setting did not mean he did not have a sophisticated practice. He had lab equipment including microscopes and an x-ray machine to help better-serve patients. Additionally, he spent a great deal of his time making house calls—delivering babies, prescribing medicines, and delivering tinctures to ill, rural residents. John S. Spratt remembers his father, “practicing medicine for years on horseback with a pair of medicine bags thrown across his saddle.” In 2004, W.K. Gordon Center received Dr. Spratt’s leather medicine saddle bags as a donation.

X-ray bulb from Dr. Spratt's X-ray machine.

The leather medical bags, manufactured by the A.A. Mellier Company in St. Louis, hold several small, glass apothecary bottles. Two tin-lined compartments inside allow for ample storage of medical instruments and supplies. The upper compartment remains stationary while the lower compartment pulls out at an angle, displaying the glass bottles for easy access. Some of the bottles still contain powders with labels identifying their contents:

-Oxalate Cerium—a mixture of cerium metals used to allay gastric irritation.
-Dover’s Powder—a preparation containing opium that was used as a pain reliever.
-Tincture of Aconite—Aconite is a deadly poison, but in the appropriate mixtures could be used to aid in blood-clotting, induce vomiting, or reduce bleeding.
-Oral Potassium—used as a homeopathic remedy for high blood pressure.
-Santonin—a drug that was widely used to expel intestinal parasites from the body.
-Phenolax Wafers—small red pills that contained a chemical common in over-the-counter laxatives.
-Zinc Sulphate—Colorless crystals that are especially effective, when applied through injection, as a treatment of chronic stages of gonorrhea.

The two leather saddlebags used by Dr. Spratt. The key-hole latch would keep bag closed during transit. Originally, the bags were connected by a wide leather strap that would hold the bags on the horse. The maker’s mark is stamped on both bags: “Elliot’s Patent/granted Jan. 18. 1870/A.A. Mellier/St/ Louis, MO/Sole Proprietor.” Saddle bag opened, reveals upper and lower, tin-lined compartments holding medicine and other supplies.

These are only a sample of the many medicines represented in Dr. Spratt’s saddle bags. He also had a stack of loose-leaf note paper possibly used to write down instructions for patients. Spratt traded in his horse and saddlebags for a Ford Coupe late in his career. However, he travelled many miles in the elements on horseback to provide relief, assurance, and good health to the folks of Mingus, Thurber, and the surrounding area.

I Owe My Soul to the Company Store

2010-08-25T13:34:00.001-07:00

By Mary Adams

Thurber, Texas, located approximately 70 miles west of Fort Worth, was a self-sufficient town in many aspects thanks in part to the Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company, a subsidiary of Texas and Pacific Coal Company. TPM & M provided for the material needs and desires of the residents by carrying a wide range of products in its numerous subsidiaries which included a meat market, dry-goods and general merchandise, as well as the drug and hardware stores.

Original hardware store located next to new hardware store under construction, circa 1913.

The stores located in the town, the only source of goods in Thurber, served the households of miners, company officials, and farmers in the surrounding area. A careful examination of the following photo taken inside the hardware store prior to 1913, reveals the variety of products offered to suit the diverse tastes and budgets of its customers.

Interior of hardware store prior to 1913.

The left side of the store is dedicated to household goods and furnishings. The case in the lower left side of the photograph contains boxes of knives and eating utensils (1). The boxes in the case identify one of the suppliers for the store, the catalog firm, E. C. Simmons Cutlery and Hardware Company. The shelves behind the counter displays a mixture of items (2) including stacks dinner plates, cups and bowls, sugar bowls, crystal bowls and glass pitchers, and a variety of enamel cookware (4). Kerosene lamps as well as replacement shades sit above the dishes (3). Can you pick out other household items such as roaster pans, chamber pots, and aluminum tubs on display?

The store carried a large selection of heaters and cook stoves in several styles. Note the differences between the multiple models that appeal to various needs and tastes. In 1910 heaters like the one tucked beside the cabinet next to the row of wood burning stoves sold for approximately $4.95 (5) while others such as the plain version sitting towards the rear of the store went for $1.69 (10). They also provided multiple options in cooking ranges which included different sizes and attachments such as a warming oven (6).

The loft (8) at the back of the building holds a selection of furniture such as chairs, tables or desks, and a stack of mail boxes. Behind the stoves and heaters along the back and right of the store there is a shelf of tin goods including milk strainers, stock pots (12), shallow tubs, and coffeepots (13). Also notice the row of “Kant Leak Oil Cans” used to store the kerosene used to fuel portable and permanent fixtures like those hanging from the ceiling above the case on the right (11).

The hardware store met the work needs of both the company and its employees by keeping basic supplies like screws, nails, and small hand tools. Because the coal miners supplied their own equipment the inventory included shovels, tool handles and blasting powder. It also ordered equipment requisitioned by departments within the company. As a result, the shelving on the right side of the photograph displays some tools and other hardware. You can search for items such as a box of Blue Jay oilers (14), stacks of Disston hand saws (15), wood planes, and along the right edge of the photo multiple boxes of ammunition (16).

Blue Jay Oiler can from E. C. Simmons Cutlery and Hardware Company catalog.

Residents in need of carriages and animal tack found their way to the hardware store as well. The photograph captured two buggies, one on the left side at the rear of the building (7) as well as one under the loft. They supplied harnesses, sundry other horse tack (hanging on the back wall, under the loft), and horse collars hung from the ceiling in front of the loft (9).

As this photograph indicates the hardware department of the TPM & M carried a variety of essential items which meant that almost any item could be bought locally. This allowed the parent company, Texas and Pacific Coal Company, to increase their profits by keeping their money centralized. Items not found in this photograph, such as clothing, food products, or jewelry could be purchased at other locations in town.

Musical Memories

2010-07-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

By David Buster

At its peak, Thurber, Texas, boasted some 10,000 plus residents. While this figure may seem small by today’s standards, Thurber was once the largest city between Ft. Worth and El Paso and one of the state’s most renowned industrial sites. It was home to Americans from every corner of the nation and a wide array of immigrants all of whom brought their musical interests with them. Music became one of the most significant legacies left by Thurber residents to their descendants.

Cover of music book prepared especially by the Tee Pee Band and used by trombone player George B. Studdard.

Thurber played host to a number of prominent bands. They included the following: the United Mine Workers of America Thurber Band, the R.D. Hunter Band, a World War I war time band, Thurber School Brass Band, several marching bands, the Hurst Concert Orchestra, and the Thurber “Tee Pee” Band, with the latter winning first place at the Ranger Oilbelt Jubilee of 1928.

Many ethnic groups in Thurber had their own bands as noted by historian Mary Jane Gentry, “There were always several bands in Thurber. The Mexicans had their own band, the Italians theirs, and the third one was the so-called American band. All these bands were rated as good, but the Italian band was rated the best.” Also, black musicians performed formal and informal concerts for black and white audiences alike. Ethnic bands were popular both throughout the town and other surrounding communities, as they were invited to participate in various celebrations, conventions, and other public gatherings. For instance, the Italian band often played at the Dallas State Fair and even accompanied the Thurber semi-professional baseball team to its state championship game in 1909.

Trombone part of “The St. Louis Blues” by W. C. Handy from Studdard’s music book.

On Saturday and Sunday nights the R. D. Hunter Band, the R. H. Ward Italian Band, and a string band held concerts attended by people from Thurber and the surrounding communities. The performances provided fond memories for those in the audience. In the following interview excerpt, former Thurber resident Dean Hiatt recounts his childhood concert experiences.

They had a bandstand. It’s across from where that old building [Thurber Drugstore] burned down. It was out in that area between there and the freeway….And I can remember going down there and listening to the band music, with the kids running around and hide-and-seek in the cars and all that mess. Give a night out when you didn’t have to go to bed early. Sit out there and listen to that band music. They played pretty often in there.

Bands were not the only source of musical entertainment in town. In 1895 Thurber boasted an opera house that hosted a variety of traveling troupes who presented a range of offerings to vaudeville to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust and Il Trovatore. The Opera House was the venue for many events including dances and socials. Invitations for the first of many grand balls held at the Opera House went out for October 19, 1896. A contemporary newspaper account from the Texas and Mining Trade Journal provides a description of this social event.

The Tee Pee Band, Thurber, Texas, in 1927. Studdard and his trombone are pictured in the top row, 5th from left.

Of the ball, we can give but a faint idea of its brilliancy. It was a grand success, over thirty-five couples participating among them many visitors from other towns. The scene presented in the ballroom was a lovely one-beautiful ladies, handsomely attired, and gallant men, and one could not see depicted in their countenances any thought of yesterday and tomorrow, all living in present, and getting from these few hours all of life… The music was furnished by Prof. Mueller’s orchestra of Fort Worth, and was pronounced superb.

Many individual residents of Thurber contributed to the local musical heritage. This was especially the case with Italian immigrants, who often gave impromptu operatic performances. Almost every evening a person could hear an Italian accordion player sitting in his doorway and performing native Italian music. Accordion players were never lonely. The random neighbor was always anxious to sing or perform along beside them. People from all over the neighborhood would come out into their yards or sit at their porch steps to listen as long as the makeshift band played.

Though the population of Thurber was gone by the 1930s, they took the sounds of nights at the bandstand and dances at the Opera House away with them as some of their happiest memories.

Follow the Red Brick Road

2010-06-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

By Mary Adams

Beginning in 1897, the Green and Hunter Brick Company, later known as the Thurber Brick Company, produced, and sold a special heavy-duty brick called a paver to many cities and towns in Texas. Roads in and around the stockyards and Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth, Congress Avenue in Austin, or Sea Wall Boulevard in Galveston are well known for their brick. However, lesser-known communities also relied on Thurber pavers for street improvement projects. Some towns have gone to great lengths to protect their red brick roads, while others have paved over or torn up the historic brick in favor of asphalt roads which do not require as much labor intensive maintenance.

Men laying Thurber brick on Fannin Street (now Central Avenue) in Strawn. Circa 1920s.

Present-day view of brick paved portion of Central Avenue in Strawn. Yellow arrows indicate the same building.

Strawn and Lubbock differ in size and location, but they share at least two common characteristics. First, they have streets paved with Thurber brick and, second, the local government desires to protect and preserve this part of their history. Unfortunately, not all Lubbock’s 1920s era brick streets survive today. However, a 1999 article published in the Lubbock Avalanche reported, “Seventy-nine years later, 11 linear miles of brick streets remain in Lubbock.” The preservation of this “integral part of the city’s heritage,” began in 1982 when the Lubbock City Council passed a resolution “mandating that any portion of any brick surface disturbed by any public or private agency for whatever reason be replaced in a manner consistent with original construction.”

Strawn, located approximately 250 miles east of Lubbock but only 10 miles west of Thurber, chose to preserve the downtown portion of their streets. Though the Texas Department of Transportation covered over a brick portion of State Highway 16, the town has managed to save several blocks. As a part of their ongoing preservation efforts, Strawn city employees take great care to remove the pavers and stack them neatly when repairing the city water lines. Later, after all repairs are completed, workers come and relay them.

Brick carefully removed from Central Avenue in order to repair a water leak.

The decision to upgrade streets usually constituted a large expenditure. Some cities, like Stephenville, covered the cost through the use of municipal paving certificates. The city issued certificates to property owners and obligated them to pay for a percentage of the street improvements that bordered their lots.

Though Stephenville has not always been mindful of the preservation of its streets, attitudes have changed in recent years. According to the minutes from the August 7, 2007 Stephenville City Council meeting, a local repressentative indicated that there were 66 blocks of streets in Stephenville and at that time 16 had been restored to their original condition. Now Stephenville, like Strawn and Lubbock, makes a concerted effort to preserve and restore this small foundation of their history.

Certificate of Special Assessment for improvement of McIlhaney Avenue in Stephenville obligating a property owner to pay his portion of the cost of road construction.

As a result of the use of brick from the Thurber Brick Plant, residents of many towns, small and large, still benefit from street improvements that took place a hundred years ago. So when walking or driving through Texas towns that have red brick streets, take a moment to reflect on the durability of something produced and laid in the beginning of the twentieth century.

From the Archivist's Desk: A 1915 State of the Mines Report

2010-05-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

By Gary Spurr

The Texas & Pacific Coal & Oil Company papers record the history of the corporation from the 1880s through its sale in the 1960s. Over the years, employees compiled annual reports, publications, tax files, coal and oil exploration data, maps, and ledgers filled with financial accounts. One particularly valuable item in this collection is W. K. Gordon’s 1915 “Report of Inspection of Mines.” Through tables and narrative Gordon described the condition of the company property demonstrating his dedication to maintaining a safe and productive work environment. Gordon served as Secretary, Vice President, and General Manager when he conducted this survey of the conditions at Mines Nos. 10, 11, 12, New No. 1, and New No. 3. Management restarted the mine numbering system to avoid using the unlucky number 13.

W. K. Gordon

Gordon filed the report in August 1915 though he collected the data for this periodic statement for the board of directors in June of that year. He provided assessments of the surface condition of each mine as well as the shaft bottom, distance from the shaft to each working face, distance from the working face to the nearest mine, thickness of the coal vein, footage of the mine front being worked, amount of coal produced by the mine, and other statistics. He included a small-scale (1” = 400”) map for each mine.

The general manager revealed his commitment to quality in the narrative portions of the document. When he discussed the surface condition of the mine, he praised mine bosses who stacked spare pit car wheels, timbers, and rails neatly to prevent deterioration of the materials and to make them easily accessible. They received Gordon’s scorn if useful equipment was scattered about with debris. He spoke very proudly of the boss of Mine No. 10, the oldest shaft still in production, because he kept it in good order on the surface and below.

A page from Gordon's 1915 report

Gordon demonstrated his concern for the safety of the workers and proper care of equipment in several ways. He requested improvements to the screens to protect the cagers and elevator operators from falling coal and rock. He assessed the ventilation in each of the mines noting that New No. 1 required an upgrade to accommodate future expansion. The condition of the underground rails that carried the pit cars also caught Gordon’s eye. He expected workers to keep the roadbed clear of rock and dirt to prevent derailments that could result in coal spills, equipment damage, and personal injury. A table listed the number of unusable cars at each shaft and measures the cost of repairs in pounds of coal. Gordon tallied the number of workers by ethnicity at each mine stating that there were 600 “Italians,” 337 “Mexicans,” 270 “Polanders,” and 90 “Native Born.”

The self-made railroad surveyor, civil engineer, and mine manager’s analytical mind is evident in this report. The combination of Gordon’s personality, varied skills, and attention to detail allowed him to rise from surveyor in 1889 to Secretary, Vice President, and General Manager in 1899. He retired from the company in the early 1920s from to become an independent oil and gas producer and later became a director of Southwestern Life Insurance Company in Dallas. However, Gordon kept his seat on the Texas & Pacific Coal and Oil Company board of directors he held since 1892. He served as chairman of the board from 1934 until his death in 1949.

A map from Gordon's 1915 report

The Texas & Pacific Coal & Oil Company records which include W. K. Gordon’s 1915 report on the mines are available to researchers at the W. K. Gordon Center for Industrial History of Texas in Thurber. The finding aid for the records is available here. For more information contact the Collections Archivist.

Battling the Blaze at Mine #8

2010-04-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

By David Buster

At approximately 2:30 am June 3 1904, the night engineer in the tower building of No. 8 Mine discovered a fire. Company investigations revealed that the conflagration most likely began when men from the machine shop making repairs, dropped cigarette butts or some other flammable material into one of the dust bins. This one careless act would have devastating consequences.

Mine #8 at the height of operation

Immediately, an alarm rang out to alert the citizens of Thurber and a party of volunteers formed to combat the blaze. The volunteers struggled in vain as the fire spread from bins throughout the woodwork of the mine. The flames engulfed the mine tipple, the majority of the wooden mine shaft structure, and the timbers underground. Because the fire grew so rapidly, a conical-shaped collapse occurred at the base of the mine. The subterranean loading entries filled with smoke and the temperature soared.

After several trips underground, volunteers rescued the fan house and secured multiple entrances to the mine. The men battled life-threatening conditions caused by the growing amounts of smoke, heat, and water inside the mine shaft. Several days later workers determined it vital to close the shaft openings to suffocate the persistent blaze, which was still burning throughout the mine pillars and large fall (collapse) at the bottom.

Fifteen days later when the workers attempted to re-enter the mine, the fire revived and dispersed in all directions. The miners knew they would have to conduct a hands-on fight to contain it. Workers created a new air shaft that allowed men to crawl on their stomachs towards the bottom of the main shaft. The only way for them to breathe was to keep their heads close to the mine floor. Once there, they ran a water hose from the surface through the airshaft to combat the blaze with heat and smoke suspended mere inches above them.

The miners battled the fire using this method until they arrived at the powder house situated at the south side of the main shaft. The almost thirty kegs of blasting powder stored there held the potential to cause a large explosion which would destroy one of the company’s most productive mines. Workers doused the superheated room then immersed the kegs themselves in water to prevent greater destruction.

Mine #8 after the fire: A) Long's body was discovered, B) Thomas' body was discovered

At last, the miners extinguished the flames lingering at both the north and west openings which were under constant threat of a cave-in and put an end to the persistent inferno once and for all. The cost of the fire was immense. Texas and Pacific Coal Company reported that the fire caused $21,701.21 in losses of mining equipment and buildings. Thanks to the firefighters’ success, the mine was repaired and production resumed. For their brave efforts in battling the blaze, the company paid volunteers maximum wages and rewarded them with a “handsome suits of clothes.”

Sadly, two employees, Eli Thomas and H.M. Long, were crushed by falling timbers weakened by the disaster. The number injured is unknown. Mining today is arguably as dangerous as it was almost 106 years ago in Thurber. Even with current advancements in technology and safety procedures, mining continues to be perilous as evidenced by the recent explosions in the coal mines of West Virginia that killed twenty-nine miners.

Henry M. Long and family shortly before he was killed in the fire

Life After Work: Organized Social Clubs in Thurber, Texas

2010-03-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

by Mary Adams

Thurber, Texas was at one time the largest community between Fort Worth and El Paso with a population of approximately ten thousand at its peak. People came to Thurber from diverse backgrounds and locations including at least eighteen different countries. Despite the size and diversity, the people of Thurber formed a sense of community through the fraternal organizations and clubs to which they belonged.

Foresters of America lodge meeting in Thurber, Tx

In her book, A Way of Work and a Way of Life: Coal Mining in Thurber, Texas 1888-1926 Marilyn D. Rhinehart noted “Private social associations that sponsored dances, sporting activities, dinners, and charitable activities abounded in Thurber.” Organizations were formed by friends, colleagues, and peers often along racial, ethnic, and class lines. Some clubs, such as the Lotus Club and the R. D. Hunter Fishing and Boating Club had limited membership while the others were open to all. By 1900, there were at least fourteen lodges or organizations in town including The Woodmen of the World, Shriners, Redmen, Masons, Ancient Order United Druids, and the Independent Order of Good Templars.

Lodges, clubs, and mutual aid societies were an integral part of social life in Thurber. They were a source of companionship, entertainment, benevolence, and patriotism. Independent Order of Good Templars organized box suppers and literary programs, thereby offering an entertainment outlet while urging its members to abstain from drink and tobacco. Whereas, the Improved Order of Redmen was founded on the principle of “freedom, friendship, and charity.” Its purpose was largely patriotic in nature. It encouraged respect for the American flag, and defense of the American government, and preservation of the democratic way of life.

Solomon Lodge By-Laws

The Ancient Order United Druids originated overseas and came to America with the immigrants who settled here. Despite its origin, the lodge discouraged nativist attitudes and supported assimilation by holding balls in which “a large number of American men and women were seen … participating in the festivities.” According to an article printed in the Fort Worth Morning Register, July 7, 1900, the purpose of the organization is “to unite people together irrespective of nation, tongue, or creed, for mutual protection and improvement: to assist socially and materially by timely counsel and instructive lessons…to foster among its members the spirit of fraternity and good fellowship.

Lodges played a role in benevolence within the town and in the surrounding area. An injured man could call his brothers for financial aid when needed, could be quite generous. On September 9, 1900, the Fort Worth Morning Register ran an article praising the “T. & P. Coal Co and Thurber Citizens” for their generosity in coming to the aid of the victims of the 1900 Galveston hurricane. The support for this effort was widespread with many social organizations contributing total donation of over a thousand dollars.

Mason's Apron from the Solomon Lodge in Thurber, Tx

Though most of the organizations in Thurber were exclusive to men, women participated in their own groups. They often formed auxiliary lodges to the men’s such as the Rebekah Lodge which accompanied the Oddfellows or the Order of the Eastern Star associated with the Masons. In this capacity the women could support their husbands’ activities while enjoying a similar form of fellowship.

Another aspect of lodges, fraternal organizations, and mutual aid societies in a town like Thurber was the escape and or relaxation they offered to their members. Rhinehart sums it up well when she states that the “…lodges formed an integral part of the after-work world that workers created in Thurber. They succeeded particularly in a setting like Thurber because they affirmed a feeling of community in a very individualistic world and offered safety and fellowship to a group that experienced little of it at work.”

The Gravestone of a Ghost Town

2010-01-23T08:42:00.000-08:00

By David Buster

At one time, Thurber was the largest city between Fort Worth and El Paso boasting some 10,000 plus residents. The most important coal mining site in the state of Texas, it was a major manufacturer of paving bricks and the headquarters of the company that discovered the nearby Ranger oil field. Today, Thurber is home to a mere handful of families, two restaurants, a museum, and a few remaining buildings that provide insight into the town’s history. However, one prestigious and iconic structure, unlike the rest of Thurber, has survived the test of time. Anyone who has taken a trip between Abilene and Fort Worth on Interstate 20 has come across this edifice serving as a de facto monument to Thurber’s once glorious past. The 148 foot smokestack is visible from miles away in every direction.

Early Thurber skyline

The origins of the smokestack can be traced back to a series of renovations to the existing ice plant. From 1889 to 1890, the ice that was used in Thurber was provided by saloon keeper Thomas Lawson. After June of 1890, the Texas & Pacific Coal Company provided ice for the town. When the company took over the saloon and overall demand increased, Colonel Robert D. Hunter, president and general manager, decided to build a seventeen ton ice plant. The total cost for this operation was detailed in the company’s 1896 annual report. “It has been necessary to expend $16,169.82 in additions to buildings and new buildings, and I have erected and put into operation an ice plant and cold storage, at a cost of $20,619.01…” The new ice plant produced all the ice used by the residents of Thurber, the cold storage, the markets, and the saloons. Any of the remaining ice was sold as surplus to surrounding communities and to the Texas and Pacific Railroad.

After twelve years, the plant required an expansion which resulted in the creation of Thurber’s most famous landmark. The extent of the renovations are listed in the Texas and Pacific Coal Company’s Annual Report for 1908.

Owing to the increased demand for the product of the plant together with the greater need for better refrigeration facilities it was deemed advisable to overhaul and make certain improvements in the Ice Plant. These improvements consist of the purchase and installation of New Boilers, Automatic Stokers, New Brick Stack, new Feed Water Heater and Purifier and the construction of a Boiler House, for which expenditures were made during the year amounting to $26,775.58.

Smokestack near completion

Like many new feats of engineering, the smokestack went through a christening process. However, this procedure was not performed in the traditional fashion. In her book, The Birth of a Texas Ghost Town: Thurber 1886-1933, author Mary Jane Gentry recounts this event. “The daughter of one of the men who helped build the stack often tells the story of how her father climbed to the top of the smokestack, swung one leg over the rim, gulped down the whiskey in his flask, christened the stack by smashing the empty flask on its side, and then hurried down the ladder before the ‘altitude’ could make him dizzy.”

Unfortunately, Texas’s most important coal producing site met its demise in the 1930s. All but a few buildings were sold and carted away. Houses and entire commercial buildings were dismantled or moved, water and gas pipelines were sold for salvage, railroad tracks and equipment removed, and the inventory of mining gear liquidated. Though the other smokestacks at Thurber were razed, the one associated with the ice plant was did not suffer the same fate. Through the intervention of former company general manager W.K. Gordon, the smokestack was left untouched to commemorate the town’s former glory. After 102 years the smokestack remains as one of the last tangible connections to Thurber’s past.

Downtown Thurber today

Santa Claus in Camp

2009-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

By Mary Adams

It is that time of the year when trees are decorated, people bustle around buying gifts for friends and family, children line up to sit on Santa’s lap and then anxiously await his late night visit on December 25. Texas Pacific Coal Company and its subsidiary, Texas Pacific Mercantile and Manufacturing Company, which operated the stores in town, provided special activities, treats, and shopping opportunities to Thurber residents.

Santa Claus and his toy shop were welcome visitors to Thurber during the holidays. The Texas Miner, December 22, 1894, announced “Santa Claus in Camp” in their advertisement which included a variety of gift items available for purchase at the hardware store along with the presence of “His royal highness, that venerable chum of ours, SANTA CLAUS.” By 1902 the wonderland of toys that became known as Toyland had been relocated. Ed E. Bryant recalled that “the whole top floor of the big old drugstore building was nothing but a display of toys. You talk about heaven, man. That was next to it. And we’d go up there and we’d just drool over those things.” Felicitas S. Salazar, who visited Toyland as a child, recalled that there was a large selection of toys “dolls, dishes – toy dishes, bicycles, tricycles and wagons.” Toys were not the only gift option at the drugstore, young Grace Groves’ remembered their collection of fine jewelry as a result of Christmas in 1908 when her foster father gave her a ring with a diamond chip and gave her foster mother a beautiful cameo pin which became a family heirloom.

Interior of Thurber hardware store.

In addition to the drugstore the mercantile store also carried gifts for the season. Their advertisement offered suggestions for purchase such as a “handsome Christmas Dress” for wives, mothers, and daughters or a “Nobby Suit of Clothes” for husbands, fathers, and sons. If clothing was not what you were looking for they also had furniture suggestions like a “cradles, high chairs, or bedroom sets.” Families took advantage of Christmas Dinner specials at the market which offered a variety of items including “fancy fatted turkey for $ .45 per lb, green beans for $.20 per lb, large fancy oysters for $.60 per pint.”

Some years the festivities included Community Christmas trees. The location of the tree varied, sometimes it was located on the quadrangle as indicated by an article in The Thurber Tiny Journal dated December 15, 1927 which announced, “Two big Christmas Trees are being planted on the Thurber square. They will be lit up with electric lights, ‘neverything. A Santa Claus will doubtless entertain you through the holidays.” Other years residents recall that it the tree was at the Opera House where “on one night all the parents and children would come and they would call their names out, and they’d go down and get their gifts from Santy Claus.”

Advertisement from the December 13, 1902 edition of the Thurber Journal.

Mary Jane Gentry recalled a special treat from the Texas Pacific Coal Company and its subsidiary T. P. M. & M. had of wishing its employees a Merry Christmas, “On Christmas Eve or possibly the day before, the company trucks would go up and down each street and boys would leave a Christmas package on each family’s front porch. These packages always included the same thing, oranges, apples, candy, and nuts; however, the day of delivery was still an exciting day for the children, who would wait impatiently for their arrival.” This and other festivities combined to make Christmas in Thurber “a pleasant custom that will always live in the memory of those who experienced it.”

I Only Wish I'd Done It Sooner: The Murder of a Brick Worker

2009-11-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

By David Buster

On the night of May 18, 1911, John Woods of Thurber stayed the night with one Mrs. Alice Beatty of Millsap. Woods was there visiting Mrs. Beatty’s daughter and his paramour, Pearl Little. Pearl had been staying with her mother as she had recently separated from her husband.

Thurber Brick Kiln & Smokestack

Early the next morning, Woods left to catch the train to Weatherford. In route to the station, he encountered an old friend, Alfred Little. Woods and Little both worked in the Thurber brick plant. The men lived near one another with their families until the death of Woods’s wife, when he became a boarder in the Little household. Some might say this is where the trouble began. Alfred Little did not have reminiscing old times in mind when he met John Woods that fateful morning. No, Little was there to confront him about something else, something much more meaningful. Little felt Woods had done what no man should. He had violated the ancient “Code of Honor.”

On the morning of May 19, 1911, Alfred Little unloaded both barrels of a double-barreled shotgun into Woods’s unsuspecting body. The first shot entered his upper torso and stretched all the way down to his intestines. The second shot was even more brutal, tearing away part of Woods’s head. Needless to say, Alfred Little wanted to make sure he accomplished his task. After hearing the shots, Mrs. Little ran to the scene, throwing herself across the prostrate body of Woods, and weeping profusely. Her husband, Alfred, looked on and said nothing.

As time passed and news of the killing spread, a crowd converged on the area where Alfred Little watched over the dead body of John Woods. He stated that he had no regrets in killing Woods and was only sorry that he had not done so sooner. Little stood there approximately two hours, warning the spectators to keep their distance. To be sure that they would heed his command, Little kept both barrels of his shotgun loaded. He refused to surrender to any officer, except the Parker County Sheriff, fearing that if he handed himself over to anyone else he would be lynched by the gathering mob. When Sheriff Gilbert arrived at the crime scene, Little handed over his gun and was taken to the county jail in Weatherford. What appeared to be an open and shut murder case was about to become a very complicated ordeal all because of the “unwritten law.”

Up until 1973, according to Article 1220 of the Texas Penal Code, “A homicide is justifiable when committed by the husband upon the husband of anyone taken in adultery with the wife; provided the killing takes place before the parties to the act of adultery have separated.” However, in murder cases provoked by a spouse’s infidelity a “Code of Honor” or the “unwritten law” was often presented as a defense argument. Simply stated, the “unwritten law” is a hypothetical rule that a man who takes the life of his wife’s paramour or daughter’s seducer is not guilty of any criminal transgression.

Parker County District Court subpoena summoning Thurber residents to testify in the trial of Alfred Little.

The trial, in which Little’s attorneys would invoke the unwritten law as a line of defense, was sensational to say the least. Lasting over a week, the district court case summoned 185 witnesses with witness fees amounting to $617.73. Sixty-five of those subpoenaed were residents of Thurber and the number included Little’s and Woods’s co-workers, neighbors, boarders, and other acquaintances. In addition, the state called on Little’s mother-in-law, Alice Beatty, as a prosecuting witness. The witness, jury, and other miscellaneous fees ran the cost of the trial to almost $1,000. Almost one year after the incident, May 4, 1912, the jury in the Alfred Little-John Woods murder case reached its verdict. “We the jury find the defendant, Alf Little not guilty.”

Pearl and Alfred Little divorced after the Wood’s affair. Alfred lived in Thurber through the 1920s. With the closing of the Thurber Brick Company he moved to Schiller Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago where he found work at another brick yard. Pearl Little remarried Mr. Will Baxter and resided in Parker County before relocating to an assisted living facility in Fort Worth, where she lived until age 91.

Swine Flu vs. Spanish Flu

2009-10-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

by Mary Adams

The move from summer to fall is accompanied by many changes. The air is damper, the temperatures are cooler, and the trees begin to change colors and lose their leaves. Some years the coming of fall brings other, less enjoyable, elements such as influenza. Often flu season is a minor occurrence which barely rates media. However, the Swine flu currently infecting the nation inspires daily reports of new cases and deaths attributed to it. Though it has been over ninety years, a flu pandemic has hit the United States before.

Thurber cemetery where some of the 1918 Spanish flu victims are buried.

In 1918 the Spanish flu ravaged the country causing approximately 650,000 deaths. The newspaper reports would sound familiar today. As the illness spread daily activities were curtailed by a general quarantine that prohibited “public gathering in houses”. The Dallas Morning News reported on October 17, 1918, that influenza cases were still increasing and the ban on “pictures shows, theaters, church, and school” had been extended indefinitely. Dr. Carnes, Dallas City health officer, further advised people to “Stay at home, unless it is absolutely imperative that you be on the streets. When outside wear heavy raincoats, overshoes and carry umbrellas” in order to prevent the spread of disease.

Headstone of Barbara Camfield, older sister of Bill Camfield aka Icky Twerp, died in Thurber during the early stages of the 1918 flu pandemic and is buried in Thurber Cemetery.

Starting on the East Coast in September 1918 the Spanish Flu worked its way across the United States and by October it had arrived in Thurber, Texas. While the exact number of deaths which resulted from the deadly virus are not known, Thurber residents did not escape its grip. Texas and Pacific Coal Company made sure their employees and their families had access to medical attention. During the epidemic two doctors, Dr. Binney and Dr. Baldridge, treated patients like Antonio Chiampi, a nineteen year old Italian coal miner who passed away on October 25. Dr. Baldridge also attended to the family of Pat Crawford, a coal miner, who lost his three year old son, Eugene, on October 20 followed by his twenty-eight year old wife, Ollie, on October 26, leaving him to raise his nine year old son alone.

T & P Coal Company doctors were not the only choice for Thurberites. Some residents went to nearby Mingus where Dr. John Spratt had a medical practice. In his memoir “Thurber Texas: Life and Death of a Company Coal Town” Dr. Spratt’s son recalled that his father’s patients were in good hands thanks to his expertise in such ailments going so far as to say he “treated scores of flu patients in the Mingus-Thurber area without a single fatality.” However, Anthony George, a fifteen year old of Assyrian descent who lived in Mingus, might disagree. Dr. Spratt signed his death certificate on November 1, 1918 citing that he succumbed to influenza. Just like today, sometimes the best physicians are helpless when it comes to treating the most virulent strains of influenza.

Palo Pinto County death certificate of influenza victim Anthony George (name transposed on certificate).

Bootlegging in the Thurber Area

2009-09-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

By special guest blogger
Gene Rhea Tucker
Doctoral student at University of Texas at Arlington

Thurberites drank beer, wine, and other spirits in great amounts. Miners and other laborers demanded that alcohol be available to slake their thirst and wet their parched throats, dusty from work in the mines and brickyards. Many of Thurber’s laborers hailed from nations and communities where consuming alcohol was a common occurrence and a regular pastime. The town, with many immigrant workers from Italy, Poland, Mexico, and several other countries, sat like a drinking island in a sea of prohibition.

Beginning in the 1890s and continuing until statewide prohibition of alcohol began in 1919, counties and towns across North Texas banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. The Texas and Pacific Coal Company, with its subsidiaries, ensured for several years that Thurber stayed “wet,” because the company made substantial sums of money in its two busy saloons, the Lizard and the Snake. Coal company officials published anti-prohibition pieces in the town newspaper, donated money to pro-wet organizations, and “suggested” that their workers vote for the “right” politicians. For Thurber, alcohol, whether legal or illegal, was an integral part of the culture—even the second president of the coal company, Edgar L. Marston, who was the son of a tee-totaling Baptist minister, accepted this.

Drinking and socializing in Thurber.

The denizens of Thurber made their own alcoholic beverages even before prohibition made the mere consumption of booze illegal. Though other groups probably created their own particular liquid refreshments, it was the Italians that earned the greatest renown as Thurber’s preeminent bootleggers. Thurber’s Italians made a well-remembered array of homemade beers, wines, and grappo, a form of distilled liquor flavored with the grape skins left over from winemaking. Beginning in the 1890s, the company grocery store ordered regular and large shipments of grapes, mainly for the Italian community. Once a year the mercantile would order several boxcars of red and white grapes and park them on a sidetrack in nearby Mingus. Victor Lucadello, who lived in Thurber as a youth, recalled:

The wine makers of Thurber would drive teams of mules or horses to Mingus and buy as many cases of grapes each needed and papa was no exception. It was indeed a be[e]hive of activity, as wagon after wagon would line up waiting to get their wagon loaded, and you know what, you guessed it, the greatest majority were Italians. Papa would dump a few boxes of grapes in a wine barrel he had cut in half and we kids would get in barefooted and stomp the grapes…. He always made at least three barrels of wine…

In 1900 authorities even arrested one Thurber man, Angelo Scalfi, for transporting twenty-six barrels of what he swore was just “grape juice.” Making their own alcohol allowed the Italians of Thurber to celebrate their traditions and earn a little extra cash.

Newspaper clipping from the 28 November 1900, edition of The Fort Worth Register.

When statewide prohibition began in 1919, the area around Thurber became a mecca for people seeking illegal liquor. Italian families built makeshift cellars beneath their homes to store, and hide, their illicit booze (as well as meats and cheeses). The best-seller was the strong, nearly 170 proof, distilled spirit grappo, made in large copper pots like whiskey. Dean Hiatt, who sampled the liquor in the 1920s, thought that it was “about 200 proof,” which would be 100 percent pure alcohol, because it was “smooth as silk” and “it’d just make everybody drunker than everything.” Soon a thriving bootlegging industry grew up in Thurber and the nearby town of Mingus, where many out-of-work Italian miners lived after the coal company became an oil company.

Local Thurber-Mingus bootleggers preferred to use ice from the Thurber Ice Plant for their booze-making, because the water used to make the ice was distilled and pure. Two bootleggers came into Thurber to purchase a dozen or so huge blocks of ice, which ran to a couple of tons. The manager of the ice plant refused to sell such a suspiciously large amount of ice to the two characters, saying: “I know what it’s for. It’s for bootleggers. And bootlegging is against the law.” The two men went to see Thurber’s general manager W. K. Gordon. Gordon called the ice plant manager, telling him: “…please understand that all ice we make is for sale to anybody, and it’s none of our business what it’s used for.”

Law enforcement officials kept up their pressure on the bootleggers in the Thurber area, though the booze makers often had advanced warning of these raids, and illegal alcohol was well-hidden or quickly disposed of by pouring it on the ground. However, authorities arrested several people for bootlegging in the 1920s. In May 1920, officers arrested three Italians after a short gunfight near Thurber’s Mine Number 2 a few miles west of town with thirty gallons of grappo and five hundred gallons of mash. In April 1920, lawmen raided one still, killing two men and arresting eight others, after a fierce battle. Only a year later, two of these eight arrested men were detained for the same offense. In November 1921 the Erath County Sheriff found and destroyed an impressive 2,200 gallons of fruit mash, 1,170 gallons of wine, and 790 gallons of homemade beer in Thurber, making ten arrests.

After the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company abandoned Thurber in the 1930s, ex-Thurberites and their descendants ensured that Mingus, just north of old Thurber, remained wet territory after national prohibition was repealed in 1933. Today several stores and bars in Mingus serve alcohol and weekends see numerous people from the area patronize local bars with names like the Boar’s Nest and the Mule Lip.

The Spoetzl Brewery is celebrating 100 years of Shiner Beer! Join us this October 18th at the Gordon Center for a book signing by Mike Renfro, author of Shine On: 100 Years of Shiner Beer, and a beer tasting with a brewer from Spoetzl. Admission is free, but reservations are required! Call 254-968-1886 for more information.

Tiffin, Texas and Thurber Earthen Products: 1920-1935

2009-08-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

By Mary Adams

In 1918 Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company required crushed rock and other road-making materials for its use and for sale to others. According to a 1927 Dallas Morning News article, they found just what they needed “in the midst of acres of rocks that had never been disturbed by man and were regarded as worthless.” For at least a decade the company, through its new subsidiary, Thurber Earthen Products, converted this rugged, rocky terrain into a productive enterprise and put Tiffin, Texas, on the map.

Specimen of the first stock certificates issued for the newly formed Thurber Earthen Products Company.

Prior to 1919, Tiffin, located about three miles northeast of Ranger, was little more than a switch on the Texas and Pacific Railway. It is believed that the name Tiffin came from an Irish member of the railroad construction gang who in 1880 “designated the spot as the place for tiffin (lunch).” Though it was never a large town, it seemed to maintain a steady population of fifty-five during the years that Thurber Earthen Products remained in business.

Construction on the rock crushing plant, which included some of the most modern and efficient quarry equipment in Texas, began early in 1920. In a letter dated July 15, 1920, Mr. Marston, claimed the plant was nearing completion and reported that it had the capacity to produce one thousand tons of crushed rock per day and employ fifty men. The future of the company looked promising. It was reported that the quarry contained an inexhaustible supply of rock and that large orders for crushed stone awaited the opening of the plant.

Letter from Edgar L. Marston to Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company stockholders inviting them to invest in Thurber Earthen Products.

The plant met its production expectations during the first four years of operation. However, change was on the horizon as the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company expanded its oil production and reduced its coal production. The demand for crushed stone decreased in 1923 and continued to drop as the Great Depression took its toll on the economy. By 1933 when Thurber Earthen Products’ parent company prepared to close the town of Thurber and move its offices to Fort Worth, the outlook for Tiffin was grim. In that year Edgar Marston reported that the rock crusher operated for only thirty-nine days during 1932. The situation further deteriorated until April of 1935 when the rock crusher was sold as salvage for $15,000.00. Tiffin has now returned to what it once was, rough and rocky terrain that is little more than a switch on the railroad line.

Photograph of employees taken in front of the Thurber Earthen Products Company at Tiffin, Texas. The following men are thought to be pictured below though their placement is unknown: Adolofo _________, Aponio Baiza, Jose Camacho, Leonardio Jimenez, Cruz Martines, Miguel Martinez, Pablo Mendoza, Angela Renteria, Mr. Robles, Jose Ruiez, and Valintine Valdez.

In the cockpit of “Arrowhead”

2009-07-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Story of a Thurber Fighter Pilot
By David Buster

Audax Fortis et Fides–Bold, Brave, and Faithful–Motto for the 505th Fighter Squadron.

Originally from Tredegar, Wales, Thomas O. Thomas came to the United States with his brother Jack by way of Liverpool, England, on the passenger ship Carmania. They arrived at Ellis Island in New York Harbor on September 4, 1907. From there the Thomas brothers went to Missouri, where they had relatives. Sometime thereafter, Thomas made his way to Thurber and began work in the coal mines as an engineer. Initially he resided at the household of Xavier Kessler, where Thomas met his future wife, the teenaged Blanche Isabell Kessler. The two married on August 21, 1916. A little over a year later in Thurber, on November 10, 1917, Thomas and Blanche welcomed their first child, Kessler Oliver Thomas, into the world.

Kessler Thomas (left) as a child in Thurber, Texas.

The Thomas family held several distinctions in Thurber. Jack Thomas became a well known local boxer. Dubbed by the media “The Thurber Welshman,” Jack had several boxing matches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His most notable contest was a draw he fought against the prominent Fort Worth boxer, Bobby Waugh. The Kessler family also had an established position in Thurber society, as Blanche served as the maid of honor for the Thurber 1908 Labor Day parade.

Kessler O. Thomas grew up in Thurber, but a few years later he and his family moved to Cisco, Texas. It was during his early childhood in Thurber that Kessler developed the desire to become an aviator. His hometown was a frequent stopping point for barnstorming flyers. Seeing these pilots land and take off in Thurber surely must have impressed the young boy. After graduating from Cisco High School, Kessler attended Allen Military Academy and Texas A&M College in College Station. Afterward, Kessler worked as a mechanical engineer for Day and Zimmerman Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and trained as a civilian pilot.

Kessler put his flying skills to use for the United States military during World War II. He began his career as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps pre-flight school at Maxwell Field, located on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama. Kessler then attended the Army Air Corps pilot school at Corcoran Field in Macon, Georgia. His courses focused on the bombardment phases of pilot training, which completed training as a military pilot.

Kessler Thomas

In addition to receiving his pilot’s Silver Wings and a rank of first lieutenant, Kessler accepted two meaningful gifts from his flight school comrades. Immediately after a pilot received his wings, it was customary of his classmates to give him a one and a two-dollar bill. The one-dollar note had the pilot’s name and date as well as all their autographs. The two-dollar bill was a token of good luck.

After graduation Kessler was assigned to 339th Fighter Group, part of the 505th squadron. Stationed at Fowlmere, England, and equipped with the legendary P-51 Mustang planes, the 339th was one of the premier fighter groups of World War II, achieving 100 air victories in its first 100 missions. The following excerpt from a local Texas newspaper describes one of his missions.

Second Lt. Kessler O. Thomas. . . . participated recently in an Eighth Air Force fighter assault on Nazi oil refineries and storage depots and flew in an attack on vital communication lines inside Germany. Lt. Thomas and his fellow P-51 Mustang pilots of the 339th Fighter Group. . . . were interrupted on their mission by an attacking formation of Messerschmitt 109s. “Though they bounced us,” said Lt. Thomas, “we turned into them and the fight was soon over. Our outfit shot down eight of the Nazis.”

Kessler served admirably during the war, earning the Air Medal. This declaration was awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Armed Forces of the United States, distinguished himself by commendable achievement while participating in aerial flight.

On February 6, 1945, tragedy struck. While on a bombing escort mission to Leipzig, Germany, Thomas was flying a plane nicknamed “Arrowhead”. On the return journey, Thomas was killed when he crash landed near Nuthampstead, England, in inclement weather. The Air Corps posthumously awarded him the Purple Heart.

Kessler Thomas' signed dollar bill and Silver Wings.

When the Carnival Comes to Town

2009-06-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

By Mary Adams

“The working families that lived in Thurber had few watches or clocks for their daily lives were governed by whistles. At the company power plant, engineers scanned clocks with large dials and numbers and sounded the whistles at designated times.” (Thurber Texas; the Life and Death of a Company Coal Town, John S. Spratt, 1986 p. 26)

Life in Thurber was not easy. Men worked long days in the mineshafts, in the brick plant, or in the company offices while others filled support roles in stores and businesses. However, life in Thurber was not all work. Texas and Pacific Coal Company and its subsidiaries provided a variety of entertainment outlets for their employees. Thurber had its own baseball team, an Opera House, water sports at both Big and Little Lake and events organized by local clubs and lodges throughout the year.

But according to former Thurber resident, Bill Boyd, “The Fourth of July and Labor Days were Holy Days in Thurber,” and the company supported these celebrations by offering special opportunities to relax and socialize which sometimes stretched over two or three days. Both holidays began with a parade. Community organizations decorated their wagons with ribbons and flags and the queen of the day dressed in her finest and lead the procession through the downtown plaza area. Large crowds turned out for the opening ceremony followed by a company-sponsored town picnic.

The Labor Day Queen and her attendants seated on a decorated buggy during the 1908 Labor Day Parade.

During the 1920s Thurber often celebrated the Fourth of July with a water carnival held at Little Lake. According to an article, that ran in the Fort-Worth Star Telegram on June 21, 1922, the American Legion post hosted the big event. The water carnival included swimming and diving contests, tub races, water polo, and even a bathing girl review. A follow-up article in the July 5, 1922 Dallas Morning News claimed two to three thousand attended, some from as far away as Dublin or DeLeon. Participants also enjoyed cattle roping, cowboy shows, foot races, and bicycle races.

Traveling carnivals came to town for both holidays. Texas and Pacific Coal Company advertised in newspapers papers and took bids from carnival companies which provided ferris wheels, balloon men, and other acts. John Spratt remembered trips from his home in Mingus (Thurber Junction) to visit Thurber when carnivals were in town. He recalled prizes given to the victors of games of chance, shooting galleries, gadgets for testing skill and strength, and baseball booths. Food booths, minstrel shows, strange animal exhibits, freak shows, and even snake charmers tempted and thrilled attendees as well.

Letter from C. W. Parker to Dr. Shugart in Thurber, TX regarding carnival arrangements.

Holiday celebrations usually ended with a dance and a fireworks show. The company invested a great deal of time and money in preparation for these two holidays, because they benefitted from them. Among the large, diverse immigrant population in Thurber, the Fourth of July and Labor Day celebrations provided an opportunity for the company to encourage patriotism and Americanization. These recreational days of teamwork and togetherness unified residents in a way that the company hoped would promote loyalty, safety, and satisfaction among employees.

The back-side of a souvenir flag from Labor Day 1910 inscribed with “Lillian, Thurber, Tex., September 7, 1910.”

To learn more about leisure and recreation in Thurber, visit the Gordon Center's summer exhibit, "A Company Town at Play: Sports in Thurber, Texas."

Diary of a Polish Bride

2009-05-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

By Ashley Franz-Davis, May 2009 graduate

As English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote, “In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” So too do a young woman’s. May Day, May 1st of each year, traditionally represents the gathering of flowers and dancing around the maypole in celebration of spring time, blossoms, new beginnings, and love. With these thoughts, I have created the following fictional composite diary in English for a Polish girl living in Thurber:

May 1, 1917 – Thurber, Texas
Dear Diary,
Here at the Franciszka house we know all too well the nostalgic feelings invoked by love! Ojec (Father) has decided it is time for me to marry. Since my parents are both immigrants they strictly adhere to our Polish traditions. In Poland, to indicate an eligible corka (daughter) is ready to marry, her father whitewashes dots on the side of his home, which is exactly what Ojec did last week!
Tonight, my father had a visit in regards to a potential groom-to-be! ♥Jacek Nowak’s♥ Godfather -Jakub is serving as the swat (the go-between for the groom-to-be and my Father) so as to “save face” for the Nowak’s, should any of us object to the proposal.
My father and Jakub began speaking, and then suddenly Jakub pulled out a bottle of whiskey and asked me to bring a whiskey glass! OH I KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT- if I did not return with the glass, the message would clearly indicate my refusal to Jacek Nowak’s clandestine proposal. Oh but I wanted to marry that handsome Polish man so, so bad I could feel it! Każda milość przychodzi w porę (Love comes when its time is coming). So I returned quickly before any objections might be roused.
Jakub poured whiskey into the glass, which both Matka (my Mother) and Father accepted. That signified their willingness to consider Jacek’s proposal.

May 3, 1917 – Thurber, Texas
Dear Diary,
Jacek and Jakub returned, once again bringing a bottle of whiskey with them. Jakub, the swat, asked me to fetch the whiskey glass. Once the whiskey glass was full, Jakub passed it to my Father who in turn passed it to me! This means Ojec and Matka have accepted Jacek’s proposal. I am going to be Mrs. Jacek Nowak!!! I took a sip immediately indicating my acceptance and passed it on to my future groom Jacek– he eagerly gulped it all down making me laugh out loud!

May 4, 1917 – Thurber, Texas
Dear Diary,
Jacek and Jakub are coming to meet my relatives and friends for an engagement ceremony today. Mother has prepared the bread for the zrekowiny (hand binding ceremony). Jacek said he would bring me a beautiful white scarf as is tradition for a zrekowiny. The swat, will use the scarf to unite our right hands above the bread Matka made and will then slice the bread in two for Jacek and me to eat, which will indicate our willingness to be married and share our lives together.

May 5, 1917- Thurber, Texas
Dear Diary,
Today Jacek and I must meet with the priest in order to let him know of our intent to be married. I then have only three short weeks to prepare for the wedding. Therefore, I have concluded that I must write a list of what needs to be done in order to execute the perfect Polish wedding.

An artist's rendering of a Polish wedding dance in Thurber, where male guests threw coins to win dances with the bride by breaking a thick plate. All coins went to the newlyweds. Drawing by Sandra Brown, courtesy of Institute of Texan Cultures, TexanCultures.com.

Slub (Wedding Ceremony) Preparation List:
1. Examine Babcia’s (grandmother’s) full white wedding veil for any stains or tears. Since Matka used it in her wedding to Ojcec, I feel privileged that it has now been bestowed to me for my wedding day.
2. Ensure my big brat (brother) can serve as the accordion player to ride in the back of the buggy to church while playing all of Jacek’s and my favorite songs.
3. Make certain all of my friends, Jacek’s friends, and our families are going to participate in following the buggy to church. (This is one of my favorite parts of a wedding – all our friends and family will be singing, drinking, and laughing in honor of the upcoming marriage to my handsome Jacek).
4. Matka has informed me that she will be in charge of the flowers. She and my ojcec have money saved up so we can order the myrtles (representing love and marriage) and violets (representing faithfulness) from Fort Worth! They will come by train just before the wedding. This should give Matka and Babcia plenty of time to decorate the church with the beautiful flowers we have selected. This is a reason to marry in May here in Thurber. Roses, poppies, and wildflowers are in full bloom during this season, and should be absolutely stunning.
5. Order supplies at the Thurber Mercantile to ensure plenty of food and drinks for the celebration: ingredients for wedding bread, salt, wine, sausage, pickles, cabbage, vodka, and beets for stew. The last thing Matka needs will be the ingredients to fill all the dumplings: meat, cabbage, and sweets. YUMMY!

With so much to do and so much excitement in the air, I find it hard to concentrate on the details. I find myself daydreaming about Jacek’s kiss! I cannot wait until the priest announces us Mr. & Mrs. Jacek Nowak.

Frank Galik and Annie Sobato, children of Polish immigrants,

married in Thurber on May 27, 1917.

B, T, and T

2009-04-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

By David Buster

Arithmetic! Algebra! Geometry! Grandiose trinity! Luminous triangle! Whoever has not known you is without sense!
~ Comte de Lautréamont

After reading this quote, I have decided that Lautréamont would have a field day with me. Surely, the nineteenth century Uruguayan-born French poet would mark me as an idiot. After all, some 139 years after his death I found myself befuddled by a simple triangle, but not in the mathematical sense. No, the triangle that stumped me did not involve the Pythagorean Theorem. Heck, it did not even involve the Holy Trinity, did not embrace some sinful tryst with a forbidden lover, or a renowned basketball offense. The triangle that perplexed me was a symbol on the front of a brick containing the letters B, T, and T inside each corner.

Thankfully I was not alone in this confusion. As I have discovered, there are many others who faced this same quandary. Currently, I work as a graduate assistant at the W.K. Gordon Center. Thurber became known for two major industries during its heyday: coal mining and brick manufacturing. Throughout the course of any particular day, museum patrons will ask an assortment questions, the most common being “What does the triangle on the brick mean?” Ah! The triangle. I can hear Lautréamont scoffing at me from his grave.

But, before one can truly understand “the triangle,” he or she needs to know how the bricks bearing it came about. In 1897 Richard D. Hunter, organizer of the Texas Pacific Coal Company, was visited by business associates James Green and L.M. Rumsey of St. Louis, Missouri. During their visit, Green and Rumsey became interested in the shale deposits located in the Thurber vicinity. Green, the owner of the Laclede Fire Clay Works, thought that the earth would be suitable for brick making and sent samples to St. Louis to be analyzed.

The tests demonstrated that the material would be suitable for the manufacturing of drain pipes, roof and floor tile, pressed and vitrified brick. The results of these initial tests prompted Hunter and others to join with Green and Hunter in constructing a brick plant at Thurber. It opened in summer 1897 as one of the most modern facilities west of the Mississippi.

So how does the triangle labeled B, T, and T factor into this? In 1903 organized labor finally managed to squeeze its way into Thurber. A successful strike on September 10, 1903 caused the mines in Thurber to idle. With the mines not producing any fuel, the brick plant would have to suspend production.

In order to end this strike, company Vice President Edgar L. Marston, met the requests of the striking miners and recognized their newly formed local of the United Mine Workers of America. At the same time, the operators agreed to recognize other craft unions representing their areas of work. Thurber in time became reputedly the only entirely unionized city in the United States. After the strike, the employees of the brick plant formed the Brickmakers’ Union of Thurber, Local 153. This union, a part of the now defunct American Federation of Labor, stamped a triangle onto all bricks produced at Thurber as a union made label.

Now that the origin of the triangle is known, where do the initials B, T, and T come into play? In 1908 the union chose a new name, the Brick, Tile and Terra Cotta Workers Alliance. This would become the source of the initials of B, T, and T that are found on Thurber bricks.

Also it appears that the triangular stamp was used elsewhere. Through research inquiries, photographs have turned up showing bricks in California and several union pins employing the same symbol. So, now my journey has come full circle. At the end of the day, I have finally unraveled the meaning of the BTT triangle. Who knows, Comte de Lautréamont may be proud of me after all.

Welcome

2009-04-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Industrious Historian is a collaborative effort on behalf of the graduate students and staff members of the W. K. Gordon Center of Industrial History of Texas. The many untold tales of the company town of Thurber and industrial history around the state of Texas inspired the effort, which intends to reveal little known details to entertain and educate its readers.

Tarleton State University graduate students research and contribute the articles. Each participant in the blog gains first-hand experience interpreting photographs and unusual artifacts to solve historical mysteries. David Buster, a Gordon Center graduate assistant since 2008, writes the first entry which discusses the triangle stamp often found on Thurber bricks. Special guest bloggers will appear from time to time.

The blog offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Gordon Center’s collections, with images from photographs and of artifacts rarely seen by the general public.

The center is located at exit 367 on Interstate 20, midway between Fort Worth and Abilene. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 to 4 and on Sunday from 1 to 4. For more information please call 254-968-1886.