3"7S A/8U yvo.
"THEY HAVE GONE FROM SHERMAN": THE COURTHOUSE
RIOT OF 1930 AND ITS IMPACT ON THE
BLACK PROFESSIONAL CLASS
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
University of North Texas in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
By
Donna J. Kumler, B.A., M.A,
Denton, Texas
December, 1995 3"7S A/8U yvo.
"THEY HAVE GONE FROM SHERMAN": THE COURTHOUSE
RIOT OF 1930 AND ITS IMPACT ON THE
BLACK PROFESSIONAL CLASS
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
University of North Texas in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
By
Donna J. Kumler, B.A., M.A,
Denton, Texas
December, 1995 Kumler, Donna J., "They Have Gone From Sherman": The
Courthouse Riot of 1930 and Its Impact on the Black
Professional Class. Doctor of Philosophy (History),
December, 1995, 213 pp., references, 152 titles.
In 1930, Sherman, county seat of Grayson County in
North Texas, enjoyed a long-standing reputation as the
"Athens of Texas" because of its educational institutions and cultural activity. The community was also known for its churches and favorable business environment.
Sherman's residents esteemed southern values and maintained perceptions regarding race usually associated with the South more than any other region of the nation.
Although racial violence had occurred in the county in the early 1900s, race relations in the community during the decade prior to 1930 were neither tense nor particularly poor. The lack of racial hostility contributed to the development of a thriving black professional community that in 1930 included four physicians, a dentist, and a lawyer,
W.J. Durham, who would later achieve prominence as a noted civil rights attorney. Considering the size of the town and the small number of black professionals in Texas, Sherman had a relatively large number of black professionals.
The "Athens of Texas" was stunned on May 9, 1930, when a mob interrupted the trial of a black man charged with the rape of a local white woman. To gain possession of the accused, the rioters burned the courthouse, killing the accused. They lynched and burned his corpse and then destroyed the entire black business district. Most black residents fled Sherman, returning only after Governor Dan
Moody imposed martial law.
Riot exclusion clauses in insurance coverage and the economic distress of the 1930s prevented the rebuilding of the black business district. Additionally, fear of a recurrence of such violence hindered efforts to attract new professionals to the area and thus restore the black professional community. Only in the 1980s did the situation begin to change slightly, and in 1995, Sherman is still viewed by some as unfriendly to blacks and other minorities.
This study describes the development of the black business and professional community with emphasis on the period from 1920 to 1930, the riot itself, and the impact of the episode on the local black community. It utilizes traditional historical research methods, county records, contemporary newspapers, and oral history. Copyright by
Donna J. Kumler
1995
1X1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are several individuals who have contributed
significantly to the completion of this project. I owe an
enormous debt of gratitude to my major professor, Dr.
Randolph B. Campbell, whose counsel, expertise, and
expectations never failed to inspire me even when I was the
most laggard of students. Dr. D. Harland Hagler and Dr.
Ronald E. Marcello offered several suggestions which
improved my work. My colleagues at Grayson County College
have been a constant source of encouragement. Tanja Rhodes
of the Sherman Public Library Staff frequently exceeded the
call of duty, and Linda Kay Allen typed and edited while
doggedly overcoming glitches in modern technology.
I am also deeply grateful to Rev. and Mrs. Charles
Glass, Vernon and Lucille Kumler, and Tamra Bragg whose
faith in me never wavered all along the way. My heartfelt
appreciation goes to my husband Ronald and our children who have made many sacrifices so that I might pursue my goals.
I am forever in their debt.
IV TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv
INTRODUCTION 1
Brief History of Lynching Efforts to Abolish Lynching The Lynchings of 1930 Significance of the Sherman Courthouse Riot of 1930 Purposes of the Study
Chapter
1. GRAYSON COUNTY AND SHERMAN: FOUNDING TO 1930 15
Brief History of Grayson County and Sherman to 1930 Factors Contributing to the Growth of Grayson County and Sherman to 1930 Characteristics of the County and its County Seat
2. THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN GRAYSON COUNTY AND SHERMAN TO 1930 48
Brief History of the Black Community to 1930 Prominent Clergymen in Sherman Brief History of the Fred Douglass School and Prominent Educators in Sherman Fraternal Orders in Sherman Prominent Medical Professionals "Juneteenth" Celebrations Local Associations and Their Activities Sketch of Attorney W.J. Durham
3. RACE RELATIONS IN SHERMAN AND GRAYSON COUNTY DURING THE 1920S 103
Interracial Activities Analysis of the Racial Climate Activities of the Ku Klux Klan
4. THE LYNCHING: MAY 9 INTO MAY 10, 1930 118
Circumstances Surrounding the Alleged Crime
v Chronology of Events Leading Up To the Lynching Official Responses
5. THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH AND THE SPRING OF 1930 ... 148
Challenges for the Local Black and White Communities Arrests, Indictments, Trial, and Release of Rioters Community Efforts to Recover
6. HOW DID IT HAPPEN? 165
Attempts to Explain the Episodes Analysis of Official Response Analysis of "Typical Lynching County" Idea Examination of Contributing Factors
EPILOGUE 190
Impact of the Riot on the Local Black Community From 1930 to Present Current Efforts of Community of Sherman to Improve Race Relations
WORKS CITED 203
VI INTRODUCTION
The peculiarly American practice of lynching had its origins in the Revolutionary era when a Virginia planter,
Colonel Charles Lynch, and his vigilante organization punished outlaws and Loyalists in the absence of a local judicial system. Subsequently, the terms "lynch," "lynch- law," and "Judge Lynch" came to refer to vigilante justice.
However, in the years prior to the Civil War era, lynching generally entailed only such punishments as flogging, tarring and feathering, or the driving of individuals from a community.1
As the United States expanded westward, lynching came to mean death by hanging, a practice used to mete out justice on a frequently lawless and violent frontier.
Murderers, robbers, or livestock thieves often met their deaths at the hands of a mob which acted in the absence of a judicial system or when certain members of the community regarded legal provisions for punishment as unsatisfactory.
Such vigilantism, at this time suffered primarily by white victims, became an acceptable way to maintain order in a frontier society. 2
In the antebellum South, the fear of slave revolts prompted white southerners to take drastic measures on occasion to preserve the institution of slavery and to impress upon the bondsmen the futility of resistance. Among other examples, the abortive revolts led by the slave
Gabriel in 1800 and by Denmark Vesey in South Carolina twenty-two years later resulted in the public hangings of approximately seventy blacks implicated in the plots.3 As sectional tensions heightened in the period immediately prior to the Civil War, violence toward blacks, frequently in the form of lynching, became increasingly prevalent, especially in Texas and Louisiana. For example, in 1860, after "suspicious" fires caused extensive damage in Dallas,
Denton, and other areas of North Texas, rumors of a slave insurrection organized by "abolitionist emissaries" resulted in the hangings and burnings of numerous blacks. By one account, as many as sixty-five perished, although the exact number cannot be determined.4 Such public executions of blacks according to one historian, "...set a bloody precedent for racial lynchings."5
During the Civil War and the subsequent Reconstruction era, widespread violence continued to be directed toward blacks, and lynching became increasingly associated with the
South. With the end of Reconstruction, southern whites employed a program of fear and intimidation to control the freedmen and maintain white supremacy. Although Jim Crow laws ultimately provided effective mechanisms for racial control, the lynching and burning of black men and, on occasion, black women became a particularly lethal and sadistic part of the program. By the 1890s, lynching had become an acceptable method of punishment for blacks whom southern whites perceived as transgressors either of the law or social tradition. Unlike the lynchings of the frontier, these occurred in areas of the South where the local governmental machinery was fully intact and operational. In some cases, local officials participated in the lynchings or, at the very least, enabled them.6
The lynching practices of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries evolved into brutal, sadistic exhibitions, which included such primal activities as manhunt, torture, burning at the stake, community viewing, newspaper advertisement of the "program," and dismemberment of the victim for souvenirs distributed among the onlookers.
As one historian noted, lynching was "transformed into a recreational spectacle...." Eventually, individuals and organizations, appalled at the savagery and the carnival atmosphere in which many lynchings transpired, initiated campaigns to abolish the practice. The Tuskegee Institute in Alabama was one of the first to attack the lynching issue in America.7
Established by the Alabama legislature in 1881, the
Tuskegee Institute, headed at the time by Booker T.
Washington, began in the next year to tabulate and publish information about lynchings. These lynching records, as they came to be called, compiled for the years from 1882 until 1968, included the number of lynchings reported each year, the causes of the lynchings, and lynching frequency by state .s
The records revealed that the practice of lynching in these years was primarily a racial and southern phenomenon.
Of the 4,752 lynchings reported from 1882 until 1968, 3,445 or 72.4 percent involved black victims. Of the thirteen states which claimed 100 or more lynchings in that period, twelve had been slave states in 1860. In those states, the number of reported lynchings ranged from a high level of 581 in Mississippi (539 of whom were black) to 100 in Virginia
(83 of whom were black). Of all the states reporting, Texas had the third highest number of lynchings (493, of whom 352 were black).9
The numbers compiled by the Tuskegee Institute confirmed the lynching numbers collected and published by black Memphis journalist Ida Barnett-Wells, a fervent crusader and prolific writer on the lynching issue in the
1880s and 1890s. As a result of her work, which frequently amounted to a one-woman campaign, six states—Georgia,
Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and Texas— enacted antilynching laws.10
The Tuskegee efforts and Wells's work laid the foundation for the antilynching crusade initiated by the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) soon after its establishment in 1910. Under the aggressive leadership of James Weldon Johnson, John R.
Shillady, and Walter F. White, the NAACP vigorously attacked the lynching issue.11
The NAACP cooperated with another national organization, the Commission for Interracial Cooperation, founded in Atlanta in 1919 in the aftermath of the racial violence that characterized the World War I era, to focus attention on the lynching issue.12 For example, Shillady and White initiated the publication of Thirty Years of
Lynching in the U.S., 1889-1918. the first study of the practice in the nation.13 The NAACP also prompted the introduction of federal antilynching legislation. In the first of several intense efforts to secure passage of federal laws to punish lynchers, Missouri Republican
Congressman Leonidas C. Dyer introduced the Dyer Act in
1922. This legislation passed the House, but like other future antilynching measures, it died in the Senate, primarily because of the opposition of southern legislators.14 Although subsequent efforts by the NAACP in
1933, 1937, 1940, and 1948 to secure federal antilynching legislation were unsuccessful, attention at the national level, combined with the organization's emphasis on exposure of the graphic details of lynchings, and, according to
Walter White, southern concerns over the exodus of black laborers from the region, all combined to effect a decline in the number of lynchings of blacks from fifty-one in 1922 to twenty-nine in 1923 and sixteen in 1924.18 In 1925, the number of lynchings increased to seventeen and to twenty- three in 1926. However, the numbers of reported lynchings declined to sixteen, ten, and seven in 1927, 1928, and 1929, respectively.16 While it was obvious that some progress was being made, NAACP officials, especially Walter White, persistently reminded the nation that much remained to be done. In his 1929 study of lynching, Rope and Faggot: The
Biography of Judge Lynch, White wrote that of the 454 persons lynched in the United States in the ten years from
1918 to 1928, 416 victims were black. Of that number, sixty-six, sixty-two of whom were black, were "executed with a bestiality unknown even in the most remote and uncivilized parts of the world." White's study further revealed that of the states where these particularly sadistic lynchings took place, Texas led with sixteen deaths of "abnormal savagery" including eleven burnings, three more than Georgia, Florida, or Mississippi.17
The decline in the number of lynchings was short-lived, however, for the number of blacks lynched in 1930 rose from seven the previous year to twenty. Of the four 1930 lynchings which occurred west of the Mississippi River, three of them took place in Texas, one in Oklahoma. All four occurred within a radius of approximately 200 miles and within a time period of six weeks. According to one contemporary scholar of the disturbing trend, the last three lynchings "were to no small extent outgrowths" of the first one. The "first one" occurred on May 9, 1930, in Sherman,
Texas.13
On the day of the Sherman riot, the director of the
Commission on Interracial Cooperation, Will W. Alexander, was a featured speaker at the Dallas meeting of the
Quadrennial Convention of the Southern Methodist Church.
After hearing news of the Sherman riot and concerned that in difficult economic times such occurrences might become more common, Alexander, a white, former Methodist minister in
Nashville, succeeded in securing a strongly-worded repudiation of lynching from the ministers in attendance.
He was, however, unsuccessful in persuading Sherman's white clergy in attendance to "speak out from their pulpits and to lead their congregations in making restitution to the black community.1,19
The 1930 lynchings quickly stimulated determined efforts to arouse public sentiment against lynching. In that year, the Commission on Interracial Cooperation received a grant with which it founded the Southern
Commission on the Study of Lynching. Dr. Arthur F. Raper,
Research Secretary for the Commission on Interracial
Cooperation, and Professor Walter R. Chivers, sociologist at
Morehouse College in Atlanta, visited the lynching communities, including Sherman, conducted interviews, and collected information. Three years later, in 1933, Raper 8
published their findings in The Tragedy of Lynchingf a work that remains the classic study on southern lynching. In addition, the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching published "Lynchings and What They Mean: General Findings of the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching" in the same year. While both works, each of which details the
Sherman lynching among others, were widely distributed,
Raper's study went to "every editor, public library, and college in the South." Still another group founded under the auspices of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, the Commission of Law School Deans, studied the legal aspects of lynching. The result of this study was James E.
Chadbourne's 1933 work, Lynching and the Law. Southern women, at the suggestion of Mary McLeod Bethune and under the subsequent leadership of Texas suffragist Jessie Daniel
Ames, campaigned successfully to dismantle the chivalric justification for lynching as a defense of southern womanhood through the Association of Southern Women for the
Prevention of Lynching, founded in 1930 shortly after the
Sherman lynching.20 All these crusaders waged fervent antilynching campaigns throughout the 1930s, and as a result of their work, the number of lynchings declined from 18 in
1935 to 8 in 1936 and to 4 in 1940. In 1952, for the first time since the Tuskegee Institute began tabulating such statistics, no lynchings were reported in the United States. In 1968, after four successive years of no reported lynchings, the Institute ceased keeping such records.21
The lynching of George Hughes in Sherman, Texas, on May
9, 1930, was similar to many southern lynchings in that it incorporated vigilantism, the mutilation of a black man accused of the rape of a white woman, and the ravaging of black-owned property at the hands of a rampaging white mob.
However, the unusually large size of the Sherman mob, its firing and destruction of the county courthouse to gain possession of the black man, its wiping out of an entire black business district, and its defiance of local and state authorities gave the event a certain distinction.
Additionally, its occurrence in a year of dramatic increase in the number of lynchings and the proximity in time and location to three other lynchings enhanced the notoriety of the episode.
Sixty-five years later, in 1995, some in this North
Texas community still recall the riot, although unwillingly, and many residents, both black and white, would rather the incident not be discussed at all. However, the events of
May 1930 are an important part of the history of race relations in the area, in the state, and, perhaps, in the entire South. One important purpose of this study is to add to that history with as accurate a record of the events as possible. A second reason for this study is to chronicle 10 the local black experience which, as in many parts of the
South, has been omitted from the historical record of the area. Among residents both black and white, there is little precise knowledge, if any at all, about the history of local blacks, notably the business and professional community that existed in Sherman prior to the 1930 riot. This study attempts to correct some of that deficiency in the record of the past while illuminating the circumstances leading to a deplorable and painful chapter in Sherman's history. NOTES
1. Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, eds., Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1989), s.v. "Lynching,11 by William I. Hair. The first scholarly study of lynching was done by James Elbert Cutler. Lynch-Law: An Investigation Into The History of Lynching In the United States (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1905) details the origins of the term and the development of the practice into a "peculiarly American institution" (p. 270).
2. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniel Ames and the Women's Campaign Against Lynching (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979), 131; Richard Hofstadter and Michael Wallace, eds., American Violence: A Documentary History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970), 20.
3. For detailed descriptions of both revolts, see Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts (New York: International Publishers, 1969), 219-222, 268-272.
4. Donald E. Reynolds, Editors Make War: Southern Newspapers in the Secession Crisis (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1970), 97, 99, 101, 107.
5. Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry. 131.
6. Michael W. Williams, ed., The African American Encyclopedia (New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993), s.v. "Lynching," by Gervase Hittle; Robert L. Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching. 1909-1950 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1980), 8.
7. Williams, ed., African American Encyclopediaf s.v. "Lynching."
8. Wilson and Ferris, eds., Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. s.v. "Tuskegee Institute," by Robert J. Norrell? Harry A. Ploski and James Williams, comps. and eds., The Negro Almanac: A Reference Work on the African-American. 5th ed. (New York: Gale Research Co., 1989), 365-368. 9. "The Lynching Records at Tuskegee Institute," Eight Negro Bibliographies, comp. Daniel T. Williams (New York: Kraus Reprint Co., 1970), 11, 6-7. Forty-four states reported lynchings from 1882 until 1968. 12
10. Williams, The African American Encyclopedia, s.v. "Lynching." Texas passed an anti-lynching law in 1897 during the administration of Charles A. Culberson. His predecessor in office, James Stephen Hogg, had focused much attention on the need for such a law in Texas, even addressing the legislature on the issue in a special message in early 1893. As he left office, he "reviewed" his administration in a lengthy address which included the following: "To my mind the greatest objection to our penal code lies in its weakness in not providing suitable measures for the suppression of mobs." (Robert C. Cotner, ed., Addresses and State Papers of James Stephen Hocrq (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1951), 431.) For other examples of Hogg's strong views opposing mob violence in Cotner's work, see pp. 153-155, 222, 223, 286-288, 331-334, and 430-431.
11. Williams, The African American Encyclopedia, s.v. "Lynching" and "National Association For The Advancement of Colored People," by Kenneth W. Goings; Zangrando, Crusade Against Lynching. 51. John R. Shillady, a white social worker, served as executive secretary of the NAACP for two and one-half years. During his tenure, he traveled to Texas (in 1919) to confer with state officials regarding the organization's work in the Lone Star State. While in Austin, he was beaten by a group of men that included the county judge and a local constable, and he was forced to appear before a "secret court of inquiry." Later, Texas Governor William Hobby "publicly condoned" Shillady's treatment, observing that the NAACP should stay out of Texas. See Zangrando, Crusade Against Lynching. 52.
12. Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry,. 62. Several historians noted the effectiveness of the Commission for Interracial Cooperation. See Paul M. Gaston, The New South Creed: A Study in Southern Mythmaking (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970), 227 and Hall, 62-65.
13. Walter White, Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch (New York: Knopf, 1929; reprint, Salem, N.H.: Ayer Company, Publishers, Inc,, 1992), v (page reference is to reprint edition); Zangrando, Crusade Against Lynching. 32.
14. For a concise chronology of the NAACP's attempts to secure federal antilynching legislation, see George Brown Tindall, The Emergence of the New South. 1913-1945 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967), 173-174, 551-554. The most comprehensive examination of the NAACP's efforts is Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynchingf 1909-1950. George C. Rable describes the role of the South in the federal antilynching law crusade in "The South and 13 the Politics of Antilynching Legislation, 1920-1940," Journal of Southern History LI (May 1985): 201-219. Rable describes the Dyer Act in particular, noting the "assault" of Dallas Congressman Hatton W. Summers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, upon the legislation (p. 204). Although the NAACP's efforts were unsuccessful in securing passage of federal antilynching legislation per se, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 outlawed acts of violence "by one or more persons, part of an assemblage of three or more persons which act or acts...shall result in...injury...to the person of any other individual" (quoted in James R. McGovern, Anatomy of a Lynching: The Killing of Claud Neal (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1982), 147. 15. Tindall, Emergence of New South, 551-554; White, Rope and Faggot. 109-110, 112-113; "Lynching Records," Eight Negro Bibliographies. 9. One of the ways the NAACP focused national attention on the horrors of lynching was through an art exhibit at the Arthur U. Newton Galleries, a prestigious establishment in New York City. Described as the "brainchild" of Walter White, the exhibit, held from February 15 to March 2, 1935, included thirty-nine paintings (ten done by black artists) which depicted the brutality of lynching practices in graphic detail. Over 3,000, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, viewed the exhibit. See McGovern, Anatomy of a Lynching. 131-135.
16. "Lynching Records," Eight Negro Bibliographiesf 9. 17. White, Rope and Faggot. 22. Lynchings and burnings were part of the reality of life for Texas blacks in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Alwyn Barr, in Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas. 1528-1971 (Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1973), suggested that 300 to 500 blacks were lynched in Texas in the late nineteenth century (pp. 84-85). The exact number will most likely never be known due to incomplete or inaccurate records and the isolation or secrecy in which some such murders undoubtedly occurred. B.J. Langford chronicled some of Texas's early twentieth century burnings and lynchings in A Conflagration of Souls (Richardson, Texas: n.p., 1977). According to the author, in addition to the 1930 Sherman affair (detailed on pp. 45-51), which he describes as an "innovation in the art of horror" (p. 44), some of the state's most vicious lynchings and burnings occurred in Longview in 1902 (pp. 209-213), Ennis in 1905 (pp. 102-105), Sulphur Springs in 1905 and again in 1915 (pp. 98-102 and 111-113, respectively), Belton in 1910 (pp. 105-108), Tyler in 1912 (pp. 203-208), Waco in 1916 (pp. 194-200), Hillsboro in 1919 (pp. 113-118), Paris in 1920 (pp. 32-35), Leesburg in 1921 (pp. 124-127), Conroe in 1922 (pp. 127-130), Kirvin 14 in 1922 (pp. 10-17), and Houston in 1926 (pp. 39-41). While Langford emphasizes the particularly "unique" brutality of these lynchings (e.g., the 1926 Houston affair involved the deaths of a black man and his wife), he fails to include the equally heinous burnings of black men in Whitesboro in 1901 and Honey Grove in 1930 (see Chapter V of this text) and near Greenville in 1908 (see Dallas Morning News. 29 and 31 July 1908, p. 1).
18. "Lynching Records," Eight Negro Bibliographies. 9; Arthur F. Raper, The Tragedy of Lynching (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933? reprint, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), 29 (page reference is to reprint edition).
19. Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry. 159-160. Although he does not identify "Dr. W.W. Alexander" as the Commission for Interracial Cooperation official, Raper includes a lengthy comment from Alexander in The Tragedy of Lynching (p. 335). It is not known to what extent, if at all, local Methodist clergy heeded Alexander's suggestion. The minister whose name appears in Raper and in local news accounts in regard to such a fund was Dr. T.A. Wharton, pastor emeritus of Sherman's First Presbyterian Church. Alexander's lengthy comment included in Raper deplored "the helplessness and ineffectiveness of the ministers of the community" during May 9, 1930.
20. Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching, "Lynchings and What They Mean: General Findings of the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching" (Atlanta: The Commission, 1931); Raper, The Tragedy of Lynching. Introduction; McGovern, Anatomy of a Lynching. 13; Tindall, Emergence of New South. 550-551; Hall, Revolt Against Chivalry. 62, 160-161.
21. "Lynching Records," Eight Negro Bibliographies. 10-11. CHAPTER I
GRAYSON COUNTY AND SHERMAN: FOUNDING TO 1930
The possibility of free land, the availability of
fertile acres for purchase, and the lure of potential
statehood stimulated the settlement of North Texas during
the 1840s. Soon after Texas declared its independence from
Mexico in 1836, officials of the Lone Star Republic began to
offer land grants to induce settlement of the vast,
unoccupied lands now under their jurisdiction. With the
assurance of title to 640 acres for any head of household
emigrating to Texas between March 1836 and October 1837,
many families headed for Texas. Other settlers came after
the Republic began to re-authorize the letting of impresario
contracts. Under such a contract, W.S. Peters and
Associates of Kentucky administered the settlement of
several hundred families in the Peters Colony which
encompassed much of North Central Texas.1
The population of the Lone Star Republic steadily
increased, and expansion into Northeast and North Central
Texas, previously unsettled, was part of the growth. Many
of the emigres came from the old South, especially
Mississippi and Georgia, or from the Trans-Appalachian
South. In the expansive years after annexation in 1845, the
15 16 blackland prairie and the rich bottomland of the Red River
Valley lured both planter and yeoman to the region.2
Fannin County, created by the Congress of the Republic in 1837, encompassed much of the land along the Red River.
After Texas became part of the Union, several counties were formed out of Fannin County, and Grayson County was one of them. Created by the Texas State Legislature on March 17,
1846, the county was named after Peter W. Grayson, former attorney general of the Republic. The same legislation designated that the county seat be called "Sherman," honoring General Sidney Sherman, hero of the Battle of San
Jacinto.3
Four years after its founding, Grayson County's population was 2,008, and in ten years, residents numbered
8,184. In the same period, the number of improved acres increased from 5,891 to 40,775 as settlers moved into the rich farmlands of the region.4
In 1850, only four years after its founding, Grayson
County reported the existence of eleven public schools.
Only six other counties in Texas would report more in that year. The same census also reported the existence of thirty-five churches in the county: fourteen Baptist, seven
Presbyterian, and fourteen Methodist congregations.5
In the growth of Grayson County during these early years, Preston Bend, a settlement established on the Red
River in 1836-37, played an important role. A landing for 17 passengers and freight in the traffic on Red River, Preston
Bend was also the site of Glen Eden, Holland Coffee's plantation, and of Holland Coffee's Trading House, the northern terminus of Preston Road, which stretched from Red
River to south of Austin. Settlers moving westward passed through Preston Bend and occasionally documented the developing vitality of the area. One 1857 account written by travelers crossing Red River at Preston Bend described the county as "...rapidly increasing in wealth, population, and agricultural resources.,|S
An additional impetus to county growth occurred in 1858 when the Butterfield Overland Stage designated the county seat, Sherman, as a way station on its route westward to San
Francisco. This event was an important factor in the development of the region in the remaining years before the
Civil War.7
By 1860, Grayson County had begun to shape the character it would retain well into the twentieth century.
Located at the juncture of a major river system and the only road connecting the north-central part of the state to
Austin and especially well-suited for agriculture, Grayson
County began to establish itself early on as a leading agricultural, market, and milling center. The 1860 census reported that the leading manufacture in the county was flour and grist milling. In ten establishments, this 18 industry represented the largest annual value of products
($124,728) and the largest capital investment ($36,000).®
The threat of war in late 1860 loomed large in Texas as it did throughout the nation. Secession, however, was not an issue on which all southerners agreed, and Grayson County residents were no exception. In 1861, county residents opposed secession by a vote of 901 to 463, although once the war began, they supported the Confederacy. In the next year, forty-two men, convicted by "people's courts," died in the "Great Hanging" of 1862 in Gainesville, county seat of
Cooke County, adjacent to western Grayson County.
Approximately 150 men, residents of Cooke, Collin, Wise,
Denton, and Grayson counties, were arrested in the hysteria surrounding an alleged plot by a pro-Union "Peace Party" to terrorize North Texas. Forty of these men were sentenced to die in Grayson County, but thirty-nine were released due to the intervention of District Judge Robert Waddell and J.W.
Throckmorton. Records are unclear as to the fate of the individual who was not released.9 Although Grayson voters rejected secession in 1861, the participation of county residents in the "Great Hanging" episode indicates that the people of Grayson County were clearly divided on the secession issue.
During the Civil War, Grayson County supplied both men and provisions to the Confederate cause. Although residents served mainly in the Sixteenth and Twentieth Texas Cavalry 19
Regiments, the Border Regiment, and the State Militia, there
were also Grayson men in the Ninth Texas Cavalry Regiment
which would ultimately become part of Ross's Brigade.
William C. Young, former Grayson County resident who had
moved to Cooke County, organized the Eleventh Texas Cavalry
in 1861 comprised of approximately 1,000 North Texans. The
Eleventh, with no shots fired, gained control of the federal
forts closest to Grayson County—Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, and
Washita—all located across the Red River in Indian
Territory, thereby alleviating local concerns about a
federal invasion from the north. In 1862, another area
plantation owner, James Bourland, assumed command of the
Frontier Regiment, which was also charged with the defense
of the area along the Red River.10
By all available accounts, the sporadic visits of
Charles Quantrill and his band notwithstanding, Grayson
County fared better than many parts of the South during the
war, primarily because it suffered neither invasion nor
severe deprivation. According to local sources, the area
supplied much grain to the Confederacy as well as salt and
copperas, both plentiful in the region.11
The postwar turbulence and disorder prevalent in parts
of Texas characterized Grayson County as well. Proximity to 20 the Indian Territory contributed to the instability of the area, for renegades and outlaws could easily cross the Red
River and escape capture. The local situation deteriorated 20
to the extent that Provisional Governor A.J. Hamilton
received notice from Grayson County at one point that "laws
cannot be enforced without the aid of the military."12
Despite the turmoil, the county experienced growth.
The population increased from 8,184 in 1860 to 14,382 in
1870. Preston Bend continued to be important to the area in
generating much-needed income as cattle herds moved north
and river trade increased. An 1867 account reported the
existence of churches and schools in "various parts of the
county." No period in the county's brief history would
approach, however, the decade of phenomenal growth that lay
ahead.13
In the years immediately following Texas's readmission
to the Union in 1870, Grayson County flourished. The county
population in 1880 totaled 38,097, an increase of
approximately 265 percent over the 1870 enumeration, due in
part to the 1872 arrival of two railroads: the Missouri,
Kansas, and Texas in Denison and the Houston and Texas
Central in Sherman. By 1882, there were more than 100 miles
of track in the county. By the 1890s, the railroad had
stimulated the establishment of other communities in the county including Van Alstyne, Howe, Whitewright, Pottsboro, and Tom Bean. County population continued to grow, from 53,211 in 1890 to 63,661 in 1900. The coming of the railroad initiated a pattern of development for Grayson 21
County that continued uninterrupted into the twentieth century.14
Agriculture and business flourished as well. In the decade between 1870 and 1880, the number of farms in the county increased 460 percent. In 1870, the value of real estate was $1,224,069 and of personal property, $641,826.
Ten years later, the county reported real estate valued at
$4,352,986 and personal property worth $2,707,760. There were thirty-seven manufacturing establishments reported in
1880, twenty-two of which were flour/grist mill businesses.
By 1890, the number of manufacturing industries expanded to
200 and to 301 by 1900. The prosperity of Grayson was well established by the late 1880s at which time it ranked "third in point of population and ninth in land values[,] a county that was without debt," according to an 1887 state report.
By the turn of the century, Grayson County, known as " a rich, populous and prosperous county[,]" had a well- established reputation as one of the most progressive areas of the state. As one historian noted, "... few sections of the state present a better general development and higher standards in country life than Grayson County."15
Another important characteristic of the county clearly manifested itself in the years after the Civil War to the turn of the century—its esteem of values that were usually associated with the South. This "southernness" seems ironic considering the 1861 vote of the county against 22 secession. However, in the period of approximately twenty years immediately following the Civil War, immigrants from the southern states flocked to parts of Texas including
Grayson County, which had been relatively untouched by the conflict. Although they became Texans, they retained their southern traditions and attitudes. Therefore, not surprisingly, Grayson residents, many of whom were
"transplanted" southerners, publicly demonstrated their devotion to the Confederacy and the southern way of life.
In 1879, they organized the Grayson County Old Settlers
Association, the purpose of which was, according to
Association Minutes, to recall the early history of North
Texas. A close examination of the organization's records reveals, however, that commemoration of the Confederacy was inextricably woven in to the activities of the Old Settlers
Association. For example, in the secretary's record of speakers at the initial meeting, an individual, identified only as "Capt. Patty," responded vehemently to criticism of a fellow "old settler," Col. J. Bourland. Although the secretary did not explain Capt. Patty's speech, "he believed that the men that were hung at Gainesville deserved death; that they had a fair trial and were justly sentenced.1,16
At the three-day reunion the following year, the highlight was a roll call on the courthouse sguare in
Sherman followed by a seven-mile march to the reunion grounds headed by the Sixteenth Regiment of Texas and the 23
Eleventh Texas Cavalry to whom the second day of the meeting
was dedicated. Once at the reunion grounds, former
commanders and soldiers recounted the experiences of both
forces followed by a speech by "Gov. Throckmorton" that
extolled the virtues of the "glorious 11 and 16 [sic] [. ] "17
In 1882, the Old Settlers Association merged with
another local organization identified in the minutes as the
Ex-Confederate Missourians, and in subsequent years the
first day of the meeting was dedicated exclusively to "old
settlers" and the second to "ex-Confederates." The reunion
continued to be held into the twentieth century, and both
newspaper accounts and Association records document huge
numbers in attendance. The Association had 2,650
"registered members" in 1898.18
The county publicly esteemed "southernness" in other
ways as well. In 1899, a Confederate veterans organization,
the Mildred Lee Camp (named in honor of Robert E. Lee's
daughter), was formed. Six years later, the Dixie Chapter
No. 35, United Daughters of the Confederacy, came into
existence. With 143 charter members, the Dixie Chapter
elected the following honorary members among others: Mrs.
Jefferson Davis, Miss Winnie Davis, and Miss Mildred Lee."
These organizations co-sponsored the erection of the
first monument to Confederate soldiers in the state.
Dedicated on April 21 (San Jacinto Day), 1897—heralded as 24 the "proudest day in the history of Sherman"—before a crowd estimated at 20,000, the forty-five foot tall memorial was raised on the lawn of the Grayson County courthouse.
According to the newspaper's account of the mayor's remarks at the unveiling, [he said] the statue "was erected by the noble, chivalrous people of the south [sic] for all those who died for the south [sic], no matter from whence they came. "20
The county's Confederate organizations continued to be influential during this period. Among their activities were the securing of land (donated by the Sherman City Council) in West Hill Cemetery for the Confederate dead, the placing of a granite marker at each grave, and the hosting of various memorial services and reunions. One such reunion in
1897 is particularly noteworthy both for the number attending and the scheduled speakers—John H. Reagan, hailed as the "only surviving member of the Confederate cabinet
Roger Q. Mills, and Joe W. Bailey. Clearly, Grayson County residents at the turn of the century venerated and promoted those values that were frequently associated with the
South.21
The pattern of growth and development experienced by Grayson County after the Civil War characterized the county seat as well. The antebellum period in the history of Sherman is, however, more difficult to describe, since little information is available on the town alone. 25
According to the 1870 federal census, the population of
Sherman in 1850 was thirty-five, but Sherman was not listed as a "city" or "town" in Grayson County either on the 1850 or 1860 federal census and was not incorporated until May
12, 1873. Personal recollections, recorded after the Civil
War and Reconstruction periods, do not reveal anything spectacular about the community's fledgling years, although there is evidence of Sherman's value of religion and education. The 1858 Texas Almanac described the county seat as a place where "...much attention is paid to churches and schools." Local histories describe Sherman on the eve of the Civil War as a community with enterprising citizens, schools, churches, a dramatic association, social and benevolent organizations, and a new brick courthouse.22
Although the war temporarily hindered further development, Sherman, in the years immediately following the conflict apparently retained its religious and educational values amid the turbulence of the era. One source described the county seat in 1867 as "...a small town with two churches and one fine school established and supported by the Odd Fellows."23
Substantive growth began to occur in Sherman only after
Texas' readmission to the Union in 1870. The population in that year was 1,439. By mid-decade, five flour mills were in operation, and economic growth had been aided by the arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872, 26 followed by the Texas and Pacific three years later. In
1876, Sherman built an opera house with a seating capacity of 2,000, and three years later, the seventy-room Binkley
Hotel costing $45,000 opened. Various denominations and fraternal organizations, some of which traced their origins to the earliest days of Sherman, built churches and meeting halls. By the end of the decade, Sherman had also become the location of a cottonseed oil mill, soon to become the largest in the world. Grayson's county seat was well on its way to establishing itself as a community of distinction both commercially and culturally.24
By 1880, Sherman, like Grayson County, was in the midst of a phenomenal growth pattern, and its population swelled to 6,093. Appraisers valued real estate in 1880 at $977,471 in the county seat, and personal property at $617,489. In
1881, residents built an elaborate opera house in Sherman to replace the 1876 structure that had been destroyed by fire.
A three-story structure, Victorian in design and with a lavish interior, the Sherman Opera House, the scene of plays, musical reviews, lectures, and other entertainments,
"...helped make Sherman a cultural center."25
Several private institutions located in the community served the educational needs of residents during these years. These included the North Texas Female College (later known as Kidd-Key College and Conservatory); Sherman Private
Academy, owned and administered by Captain J.E. LeTellier, a 27
Confederate veteran from Virginia who was highly regarded by
local residents; Austin College, which had moved from
Huntsville in 1876; Sherman Female Institute (later renamed
Mary Nash College); and St. Joseph's Academy, established by
the Sisters of St. Mary in 1877. There were, also, by 1887,
three public schools in Sherman. A city directory described
Sherman as "...noted for its healthfulness and its morality
and her [sic] schools." The writer further praised "...the
educational spirit, [and] moral and social forces at work in
this city."26
Grayson's county seat continued to flourish in the
decades before the new century. City residents numbered
7,335 in 1890 and 10,243 in 1900. Study groups such as the
College Hill Literary Club, organized in 1892, flourished.
The Shakespeare Club, established two years later, initiated
a campaign in 1898 to raise funds for a public library. The
community's penchant for cultural development became
increasingly well known during the early years of the
twentieth century. One historian noted in 1916, Sherman
"...has long enjoyed a claim as one of the chief centers of
culture in the state.1127
During the 1890s, the establishment of Mahan's Business College, the Sherman Business College, and Carr-Burdette College further enhanced the community's educational landscape. In an 1892 edition of the local newspaper devoted to the merits of Sherman, the writer described the 28
importance of educational institutions in the city:
"Sherman's pet hobby and one, too, that aids very materially
in bringing her a refined and cultured populations [sic] is
her schools." The county seat's reputation as an
educational center during the 1890s had traveled far beyond
the immediate region of North Central Texas, according to
one writer who reported that the following had appeared in
an Ohio paper: "Sherman is called the Athens of the south
[sic] and well it deserves the name. It contains more
educational institutions than any other city in the south
[sic]." After listing the schools and colleges in Sherman,
the writer commented that all of them were in "...a
prosperous condition." By the earliest years of the new
century, Sherman had five public schools and eleven private
schools and colleges. According to a contemporary writer,
the city's schools "...cannot be excelled in the South." As
renowned as Sherman was becoming for its schools, the city's
mercantile development was another important aspect of its
growth before the new century dawned.28
In 1900, Sherman was the location of seventy-eight urban manufacturing establishments with products valued at $1,721,280. Its economic activity ranked it eleventh among cities in the state in the value of products. There were also two cottonseed oil mills—one reputed to be the world's largest , three flour mills, and other business establishments. One source described Sherman as "...one of 29 the financial centers in Texas," a community "...known in the commercial world as one of the most up-to-date and progressive cities in the state." According to the 1898-
1899 city directory, the county seat offered "all the concomitants that go to the making of great cities...." In the opinion of the publishers, Sherman's future, on the eve of a new century, was "assured.1129
Sherman demonstrated the same tendency to promote southern values as the county did. Although participation in organizations such as the Old Settlers Association,
Mildred Lee Camp U.C.V., and Dixie Chapter U.D.C. and in efforts to erect the Confederate monument was open to all county residents, newspaper accounts and organizational records indicate that Sherman citizens held important positions. The Old Settlers Association purchased property in Sherman on which to hold its annual reunion and picnic.
The Sherman City Council donated land in West Hill Cemetery for the Confederate dead. As previously mentioned, Sherman was frequently the location of activities that commemorated the Confederacy. During one period, the local newspaper, the Sherman Daily Register, ran a regular feature called
"Confederates Corner," devoted to "scraps of Confederate war history and reminiscences." The county seat, like the county it served, esteemed values that were compatible with those found anywhere in Dixie, and both Grayson County and 30
Sherman continued to do so even as residents met the turn of
a new century.30
Grayson's population continued to grow in the first
years of the twentieth century, expanding from 63,661 in
1900 to 65,996 ten years later. By 1920, county residents
numbered 74,165, a 12.4 per cent increase over the 1910
enumeration. At the next federal census (1930), however,
Grayson County recorded the sole decennial decrease in its
history as population declined from 74,165 to 65,843. In
contrast, the state, in the decade from 1920 to 1930,
experienced significant growth, at one of the most rapid
rates in the nation, but the growth was primarily in the
state's urban areas. In contrast, Texas's rural population
fell from forty-eight percent of the total population in
1920 to forty percent in 1930. The decrease in population
experienced by Grayson County, a predominately rural area,
from 1920 to 1930, was not unusual in terms of what was
occurring statewide. 31
The county continued to be predominately agricultural, producing much corn, grain, and cotton. County production of 59,692 bales of cotton in 1903 ranked fourth in the state, and Grayson's wheat was hailed as "...unexcelled by the best...grown in any of the Western states." The Texas Almanac described county crops as "...equal [to] those of any section of the Southwest" as far as "excellence and marketable value" were concerned.32 31
In 1910, farms comprised 553,527 of the 602,880 total acres in the county. According to the federal census in that year, farmland in Grayson County on the average was valued at $25-50 an acre, well above the state average of
$14.53. County farmers, at this point, showed little concern about the spectre of tenantry threatening their counterparts in other parts of the nation. As one resident noted in 1904, "It is the pride of the county that the tax rolls show that most of [the] farms are owned by the men who till them. The problem of tenantry is not such a disturbing one here."33
Soon, however, agriculture in Grayson County, as in many regions of the South and West, began to decline. The number of farms dropped from 5,762 in 1900 to 5,720 in 1910, further falling to 5,569 in 1920. In 1930, there were 5,169 farms reported. Tenantry did become a problem in Grayson
County, for by 1910, 62.6 percent of the farms there were operated by tenants. At the next federal census, the number had slightly declined to 60.8 percent, but by 1925, tenants tilled 67.5 percent of the farms in the county, an increase of 6.7 percent in five years. In 1924, the value of county crops was $11,106,905. Five years before, the value of the same crops had been $15,905,110. Although Grayson County was well known as an agriculturally successful region of
Texas, its experience was typical of much of the state at the time in that rural life steadily declined in the years 32 before the Great Depression. The decline in the price of cotton from $.18 per pound in 1928 to $.05 per pound in 1932 affected predominately rural Grayson County seriously.
However, the county's manufacturing interests aided the local economy during the 1920s.34
From the turn of the new century, Grayson's manufacturing had steadily expanded. In 1910, the Almanac reported "...forty-seven gins, five cottonseed oil mills, two cotton factories, four saw mills, eight flouring mills, several machine ships, brick plants, ice factories, broom factories, etc." in the county. There were 137 manufacturing establishments in 1919 with the value of products reported at $30,612,624, giving Grayson a ranking of sixth in Texas after Tarrant, Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and
El Paso counties. These were prosperous times for the region, and in the years from 1903 to 1913, the total assessed valuation for Grayson County more than doubled, increasing from $21,393,073 to $45,521,022.33
Transportation and communication development facilitated and reflected the economic growth of Grayson
County in the first thirty years of the twentieth century.
In addition to the ten railroads which served the county by
1914, an electric interurban, allegedly the first in the state, connected Sherman and Denison. Later, it would become part of the Texas Electric Railway Company linking the area to Dallas and Waco. In 1904, there were 356.87 33
miles of telegraph and telephone lines in Grayson County.
By 1912, officials were reportedly spending "large sums of
money" on county roads. In that year, contracts for seventy
miles of paved roads were let adding to the 2,000 miles of
"well-graded" byways already existent. As Grayson County
entered the era of the automobile, roads continued to be a
major concern, for the number of owners who registered their
vehicles increased from 7,732 in 1922 to 14,501 in 1930.36
The automobile was one of the numerous technological
advancements that profoundly changed the lives of Americans
in the first thirty years of the twentieth century. Grayson
County, like its counterparts throughout the agrarian South,
welcomed some changes and anxiously reacted to others. In
one respect, however, the county did not change—in its
adherence to southern attitudes and values.
The Confederate organizations founded in the previous
century continued to extol Dixie's virtues, frequently
hosting reunions and commemorative assemblies, some on the
courthouse square near Texas's first monument to Confederate
soldiery.37 In 1903, the county reported 142 former
Confederates on pension, the fifth highest number in the
state, and in the same year, the county seat hosted the
state convention of the United Confederate Veterans.38 The historian of the Mildred Lee Camp U.C.V., beginning in 1907, compiled a volume of biographical sketches of local veterans detailing their lives and their service to the Confederate 34 forces. The collection, while indicating the esteem county residents held for ex-Confederates, also reveals the extent to which local citizens revered the South. One notable entry is as follows:
J.T. Wilson was born on a plantation in Prince George's County, Maryland and enjoyed in the highest degree the happy life of the old regime of antebellum [sic] days in a country which boasted a high state of civilization, of the utmost freedom and safety to life, the proud privileges and blessings of a high state of cultivation of its soils of education and refinement of its people, but the happiest of all seemed the ebony, shining faced negroes with their never ending [sicl laughter and song and dance, never weary, always cheerful.39
Such typically southern sentiments were often publicly expressed in the area. The annual observance of "Decoration
Day" provided an appropriate opportunity for commemoration of the Confederacy. A 1921 assembly, as reported in the local paper, was typical.
On Decoration Day, May 16, 1921, a local minister delivered an address near the Confederate monument on the courthouse square in Sherman. The following excerpts of the speech, which the local newspaper printed in its entirety, revel the southernness of the area. According to the speaker, the South had no choice but to secede from the
Union: "With a horde of ignorant, superstitious bondsmen and women being sought by those who at least understood them, to inflame them to the extent of endangering the life 35 of every white person was a situation not to be endured. In secession the remedy for the evil was sought." He lamented the fate of a defeated Confederacy which caused southerners to stand "disarmed" and "aloof" while "ignorant negroes elevate[d] to office men...to ratify amendments to the
Federal constitution justifying what had been unlawfully done to as brave a people as ever breathed the air of heaven." In conclusion, the speaker extolled the numerous virtues of a true Confederate culminating in the following:
"He stands for a white man's government and can never fraternize with those of a different mind."40
Even President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 visit to
Sherman affirmed the area's veneration of Dixie. Roosevelt had visited Sherman seven years earlier to recruit for the
Rough Riders to serve in the Spanish-American War. His return to the area in 1905, a stopover on a previously scheduled trip, had occurred at the invitation of Cecil
Lyon, local resident who served on the National Committee of the Republican Party.
Thousands—some estimated 20,000—flocked to Sherman to see the president. As he paraded to the speaker's stand on the courthouse square, Roosevelt passed the Confederate monument. According to news accounts, "When the line of carriages reached the northeast corner of the square, the president noted the Confederate monument and removed his hat as he passed. This reverential tribute to the memory of 36 fallen southern heroes was witnessed by thousands and provoked a storm of tumultuous approval."41
In their politics, Grayson County citizens also revealed their southernness. Presidential elections are a case in point, for residents consistently cast their ballots for the candidates of the Democratic Party in every election except one. In 1928, Herbert Hoover became the first
Republican presidential candidate to carry Grayson County in the years since 1860. Grayson's choice was consistent with the choice all Texans made, for Hoover also became in that year the first Republican to receive an electoral vote in the state's post-Reconstruction history. Hoover's success in Texas in general and in Grayson County in particular was probably more the reflection of an aversion to Alfred Smith than an affinity for Hoover. Rural, Protestant Grayson
County rejected Smith's urban values, Roman Catholicism, and anti-prohibitionism. The temperance movement had long had strong support in the area as evidenced by the county's support of prohibitionism in the statewide election of 1911.
Miss Frances E. Willard, then national president of the organization, organized the Sherman W.C.T.U. in 1882, and
Denison hosted the state W.C.T.U. in 1889. Several county women served in various capacities in the local and state organizations, and in 1909, a Sherman woman was elected state president. Given, among other things, the strong prohibitionist leaning of the county, Grayson's support of 37 the Republican candidate in 1928 is understandable.42
In 1930, Grayson County was not yet 100 years old.
There was much to which the area could point with pride in its brief history, for the county had become known as one of the most prosperous and stable sections of the state, an area whose residents, enamored of the past, expressed great optimism for the future. Much the same could be said of
Grayson's county seat, Sherman.
In the first thirty years of the twentieth century,
Sherman continued to distinguish itself as it had in earlier years. It retained its reputation as the "Athens of Texas" because of its educational institutions and its penchant for cultural activity. The institutions founded in the previous century such as Austin College and Kidd-Key College and
Conservatory continued to thrive. A telegraph school and an auto school, hailed as the Southwest's largest, also served the community. The public schools were highly regarded as well.43
The community pointed with pride to the public library, which in 1926 was one of eighteen in the state. The facility traced its origins to the 1911 opening of a "free" library. Subsequently, local officials secured a Carnegie grant for a building, and on July 10, 1915, city residents celebrated the opening of the Sherman Public Library, housed in a two-story structure, the lower level of which was a lecture hall with seating for 250.44 38
As in the decades past, Sherman's reputation continued to depend on economic activity as well as on the educational and cultural achievements in the community. Since the first decade of the new century, Grayson's county seat had demonstrated manufacturing strength. From 1903 to 1909, the city recorded a 220 per cent increase in the value of manufactured products. In the ten years from 1899 to 1909,
Austin was the only city in Texas to surpass Sherman in value of products. By 1925, the town's forty-eight factories and twenty-nine wholesale houses manufactured more per capita than any other city in the Southwest. These facilities included four flour mills, and, according to promotional literature, the largest garment factory and nursery company in the Southwest. By 1928, three years later, the number of factories had increased from forty- eight to fifty-six and the number of wholesale houses from twenty-nine to thirty-two. Sherman had become the fifth largest manufacturing city in Texas producing four times as much as any city its size in the Southwest. Three banks with combined resources exceeding $9 million and the six steam and electric railways which served the community were also conducive to business development. There was much optimism for Sherman's business future as the new decade began. On January 1, 1930, the local newspaper featured a section of "forecasts" for local commerce. Included was a page of comments from prominent local businessmen espousing 39 strong confidence in the community's prospects for the new year.45
Because of the city's prosperity, Sherman's population had expanded since the turn of the century. Residents in
Grayson's county seat numbered 10,243 in 1900; 12,412 in
1910; and 15,301 ten years later. By 1930, however, the population had grown only slightly, to 15,713, the smallest decennial increase in Sherman's history.46
Residents had other reasons to be proud of their community. Promoted as having "ideal labor conditions,"
Sherman offered diverse opportunities for workers' leisure including a YMCA, a thirty-six piece municipal band, and, intermittently since 1902, a professional baseball team. The Sherman Opera House continued to present plays and musicals regularly as it had done in the past. Austin
College and Kidd-Key College and Conservatory frequently sponsored the appearances and performances of prominent speakers, musicians, and artists.47
Still regarded as a city of schools and churches,
Sherman in 1930 claimed an historic proclivity toward reason, religion, and refinement. It professed renown as a manufacturing and commercial center, "a city of factories and colleges." With strong ties to Dixie, Sherman openly esteemed those values and attitudes usually associated with the South. Like many Texans in 1930, residents felt both anxiety and optimism about the future, economically 40 speaking. The president of the Sherman Chamber of Commerce observed (in 1930), "...[W]hile there seems to be a little feeling that hard times are upon us, I cannot help but feel optimistic over the outlook for 1930." Little could the residents know that "hard times" were indeed ahead for their community, and they were not all of an economic nature. The events of May, 1930, would present some of the most difficult challenges in the history of Grayson's county seat.48 NOTES
1. T.R. Fehrenbach, Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans (New York: Collier Books, 1968), 282, 284; Seymour V. Connor, Kentucky Colonization in Texas: A History of the Peters Colony (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983), 30. See also Thomas Lloyd Miller, The Public Lands of Texas. 1519-1970 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972), 27-44.
2. Fehrenbach, Lone Star. 287, 142, 285-286.
3. "Warren First Trade Post in Vast Fannin Territory," Sherman Democrat. 4 July 1976, sec. J, p. 2; H.P.N. Gammel, comp., The Laws of Texas (10 vols., Austin: The Gammel Book Company, 1898-1902), 2:1313.
4. J.D.B. DeBow, Superintendent of the United States Census, The Seventh Census of the United States. 1850. vol. 1: Population (Washington, 1853), 503; Joseph C.G. Kennedy, Superintendent of Census, Eighth Census, Population of the United States in 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census (Washington, 1864), 484.
5. J.D.B. DeBow, The Seventh Census of the United States: 1850. Populationf 508-509, 522. 6. Francis White Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans (5 vols., Chicago: The American Historical Society, 1916), 2:848; "Oldest Trail Winds Here," Sherman Democratr 4 July 1976, sec. B, p. 5; Walter Prescott Webb, H. Bailey Carroll, and Eldon S. Branda, eds., The Handbook of Teyas (3 vols., Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1952, 1976), s.v. "Preston, Texas." J.W. Williams, ed., "Journey of the Leach Wagon Train Across Texas, 1857," in Old Texas Trailsf ed. Kenneth F. Neighbors (Burnett: Eakin Press, 1979), 315.
7. Mattie Davis Lucas and Mita Holsapple Hall, A History of Gravson County. Texas (Sherman: Scruggs Printing Company, 1936), 79, 83.
8. Joseph C.G. Kennedy, Eighth Census, Manufactures of the United States in i860; Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census (Washington, 1865), 584.
41 42
9. Graham Landrum and Allan Smith, An Illustrated History of Grayson Countyf Texas. 2nd ed. (Ft. Worth: Historical Publishers 1967), 63. Grayson County was one of eight counties in Texas, five of which were adjacent to or near the Red River, which opposed secession. Their concerns included fear of federal invasion from the Indian Territory and the possible lack of protection from Indians. See Robert A. Calvert and Arnoldo De Leon, The History of Texas (Arlington Heights, Illinois: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1990), 119. Others have suggested that the opposition to secession reflected the considerable influence of avowed Unionist J.W. Throckmorton who, although a resident of Collin County, frequently visited Grayson County. See "Throckmorton, James Webb," Handbook. 2:778; "Public Meeting," Dallas Herald. 12 December 1860, p. 2; Claude Elliott, "Union Sentiment in Texas, 1861-1865," Southwestern Historical Quarterly L (April 1947): 453, 455; Richard B. McCaslin, Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville. Texas 1862 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994), 1, 95-96; Rupert Richardson, Adrian Anderson, and Ernest Wallace, Texas: The Lone Star State. 6th ed. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1993), 238-239; Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markers of Grayson County (1986), 16.
10. Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markers. 15-16; Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County. 125-129; "Young, William Cocke," Handbook. 2:948; Richardson et al., Texas: The Lone Star State, 209-210; Stephen B. Oates, "Texas Under the Secessionists," Southwestern Historical Quarterly LXVII (October 1963): 183; "Bourland, James," Handbook. 1:196.
11. Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson County. 122- 123; Landrum and Smith, Illustrated History. 66-67, 69; Historic Markers. 16.
12. Quoted in Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County f 132. 13. Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of Census, Ninth Census, The Statistics of the Population of the United States; Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census fJune 1. 1870^ (Washington, 1872), 64; Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County, 144-145; Texas Almanac for 1867 (Galveston: D. Richardson, 1866), 111.
14. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census (June 1.1880^ (Washington, 1883), 344; Landrum and Smith, Illustrated History. 28, 35, 40-41; 43
Johnson, Texas and Texans. 2:850; U.S. Department of Interior, Census Office, Eleventh Census, Report on Population of the U.S. at the Eleventh Census: 1890. Part I (Washington, 1895), 41; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Twelfth Census of the United States. Taken in the Year 1900. Vol. I, Part I: Population (Washington, 1901), 381.
15. Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of Census, Ninth Census, The Statistics of Wealth and Industry of the United States. etc. (Washington, 1872), 59, 363; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, Vol. 7: Report on Valuation, Taxation, and Public Indebtedness in the United States. as Returned at the Tenth Census (June 1. 1880) (Washington, 1884), 140, Vol. 2: Report on the Manufactures of the United States at the Tenth Census (June 1. 1880) (Washington, 1883), 360; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Eleventh Census, Report on Manufacturing Industries in the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890. Part 1 (Washington, 1895), 602; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Twelfth Census, Vol. 7, Part 2: Manufactures of the Agricultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture. Insurance. Statistics, and History. 1887-88 (Austin: State Printing Office, 1889), 85; Burke's Texas Almanac and Immigrant/s Handbook for 1882 (Houston: J. Burke, Jr., 1883), 50; Johnson, Texas and Texans, 2: 848.
16. Homer L. Kerr, "Migration Into Texas, 1860-1880," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 70 (October 1966): 190, 199, 205; Old Settlers Association of North Texas, Minutes, 1880-1901, Vertical File, Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas. The name of the organization was changed to Old Settlers Association of Grayson County in 1898. Minutes, 5 September 1879. The full names of individuals alluded to in the initial meeting are Captain J.S. Pattie and Colonel James Bourland, both of whom were local Confederate officers. Captain Pattie's remarks concerning Gainesville's "Great Hanging" are, then, not surprising.
17. Old Settlers Association, Minutes, 18 August 1880. 18. Ibid., 20 March 1882 and 1 October 1898. Association Minutes do not exist beyond 1901, but the annual "reunion" of the organization continued to be held in subsequent years. The Sherman Democrat reported events included in the sixty-first annual picnic on August 13, 1939. The last day of the reunion was designated "Negro Day" concluding in the evening with choirs of Sherman's Negro churches performing Negro spirituals. The Old Settlers Park is located in northeast Sherman on land 44 originally purchased by the Association in 1909. It is the location of the Jesse P. Loving Auditorium constructed in 1923 in honor of the founder and veteran secretary of the Association. The organization continues to fund two annual scholarships for Grayson County College history students. See Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markersr III.
19. Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson Countyr 202. In recent years, the Sons of Confederate Veterans held a charter ceremony in Sherman on the courthouse square as Camp 349 of the Col. Reeves 11th Texas Cavalry, promoting itself as a "non-racial, non-political organization dedicated to preserving the traditions and history of the South." See "South Rises in Sherman." Sherman Democrat, l November 1992, p. 1; "A Brief Sketch of Dixie Chapter UDC No. 35" in "History of Clubs and Organizations S-Z." Lucas Collection, Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas. The Dixie Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy has maintained active status since its founding.
20. "Unveiled. First Confederate Monument Erected on Texas Soil," Sherman Daily Register. 21 April 1897, p. 1.
21. Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson Countyr 202; "Confederate Memorial," Sherman Daily Register. 22 October 1900, p. 3. Ex-Confederates attended from Dallas, Denison, McKinney, Paris, and other surrounding areas. Reagan's reminiscences included a reference to his law practice in Sherman in 1848. Mills praised the ex-Confederates as men whose greatness surpassed the patriots of the Revolutionary War or Goliad or the Alamo. See "Boys Who Wore the Gray," Sherman Daily Register. 11 September 1897, p. 1 and "Some Reminiscences. Judge Reagan Talks About the Old Times in Sherman," p. 4.
22. J.D.B. DeBow, Seventh Census of the United States: 1850, population, 504; Joseph C.G. Kennedy,Eighth Census, Population of the United states in I860r 386-387; Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markers. 19; The Texas Almanac for 1858: With Statistics. Historical anA Biographical—Sketches, etc.. Relating to Texas (Ga1veston: Richardson and Co., at the "News" Office, 1857), 66; Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson Countyr 73-74, 77, 92-93; Landrum and Smith, Illustrated Historyr 21-24, 26.
23 - Texas Almanac for 1867f ill. 24. Francis A. Walker, Ninth Census, The Statistics of the Population of the United states fl870>r 271; "Calendar of Sherman's Historic Events, "Sherman Democrat 4 July 1976, 45 sec. A, p. 2; Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County. 164-165, 167-168; Landrum and Smith, Illustrated History. 30; Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markers. 20.
25. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, Statistics of the Population of the United States (18801. 344 and Report on Valuation. Taxation and Public Indebtedness in the United States (18801. 140; Grayson County Historical Commission, Historic Markers. 17.
26. Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson Countyf 157, 186-188; Morrisson and Fourmy/s General Directory of the City of Sherman. 1887-88 (Galveston: Morrisson and Fourmy, 1887), Prefatory.
27. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Twelfth Census, Vol. I, Part I: Population. 381; Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson County. 193; Johnson, Texas and Texans. 2:852.
28. Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson County. 188- 189; "Sherman," Sherman Daily Register. 16 July 1892, p. 1; "About Sherman," Sherman Daily Register. 25 July 1894, p. 2; "A View of Sherman," Sherman Daily Register, 1 November 1902, p. 2.
29. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Twelfth Census, Vol. 7, Part 2: Manufacturesr 867; "A View of Sherman," Sherman Daily Register. 1 November 1902, p. 2; Maloney/s 1898-1899 Sherman-Denison City Directory (Atlanta: The Maloney Directory Co., 1899), Prefatory.
30. Lucas and Hall, History of Gravson Countyr 201- 202; Landrum and Smith, Illustrated History. 90; "Confederate's Corner," Sherman Daily Registerr 18 August 1901, p. 4.
31. U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1910. Abstract of the Censusr etc. With Supplement for Texas (Washington, 1913), 582; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920. Vol. Ill: Population 1920. etc. (Washington, 1922), 999; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930. Vol. Ill, Part II: Population (Washington, 1931), 980; Richardson, et al., Texas: The Lone Star Stater 353. 46
32. Statistical Report. 1904 (Austin: Von Boeckmann- Jones, Co., State Printers, 1904), 163, 237; Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide for 1910 (Dallas: A.H. Belo and Co., 1910), 197. 33. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census, Abstract of the Census, etc. With Supplement for Texas. 690, 663; Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide for 1904 (Galveston: Clarke and Courts, 1904), 274.
34. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census, State Compendium. Texas (Washington, 1925), 116; U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census, Vol II, Part 3: Agriculture (Washington, 1932), 1369; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, United States Census of Agriculture. 1925. Part 2 (Washington, 1927), 116, 1121, 1218. 35. Texas Almanac (1910). 197-198; U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census, Vol. IX: Manufactures 1919 (Washington, 1923), 1449-1450; Texas Almanac (19041. 24; Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide for 1912 (Dallas: A.J. Belo and Company, 1912), 31.
36. Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide 1914 (Dallas: A.H. Belo and Company, 1914), 139; "Interurban Linked Noted Recreational Spot to Rest of Texas," Sherman Democrat. 4 July 1976, sec. A, p. 3. Statistical Report. 350; Almanac (1912), 294; The 1928 Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo and Company, 1928), 289; Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide 1931 (Dallas: A.H. Belo and Company, 1931), 198.
37. "Confederate Memorial"; "Confederate Reunion in Sherman," Sherman Daily Register. 11 September 1897, p. 1; "Mildred Lee Camp Reunion," Sherman Daily Register. 18 August 1902, p. 2.
38. Statistical Report. 1904. 152.
39. "Biographical Sketches and other matters pertaining [§ic] to Mildred Lee Camp U.C.V. by J.B. Stinson Camp Historian," Lucas Collection, Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas, 180.
40. "Rev. S.D. Fuller From Bells Delivers Address at Confederate Monument Decoration Day," Sherman Daily Democrat. 16 May 1921, p. 3.
41. "Roosevelt Was Visitor Here in 1905" and "Official Program Shows Citizens on Various Committees," Sherman Daily 47
Democrat. 13 August 1939, p. 13. Both articles are reprints from the 1905 news accounts of Roosevelt's visit to Sherman. The files of the local newspaper for 1905 are unavailable. Noteworthy is the final sentence describing the program: "Incidentally, the back cover of the program carried a three-color reproduction of the Confederate flag."
42. W. Dean Burnham, Presidential Ballots; 1836-1892 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1955), 780; Richardson et al., Texas: The Lone Star State. 353; Calvert and De Leon, History of Texas. 287; Texas Almanac f 19121,. 43; Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County. 182-183.
43. Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide: A Textbook on Texas (Dallas: A.H. Belo and Company, 1925), 285; Polk's Sherman (Texas) City Directory: Vol 1928-1929 X (Dallas: R.L. Polk and Co., 1929), 12, 13.
44. Hope Waller, "Free Library Service Drive Began in 1898," Sherman Democrat. 4 July 1976, sec. A, p. 14.
45. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census, Vol IX, Part 2: Manufactures 1909. 1203; Texas Almanac [1925], 284, 16. There were two cotton mills located in Sherman at this time. Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Houston were the only Texas cities to have more. The 1928 Texas Almanac contains a picture of an "industrial village" near Sherman's largest cotton mill. The caption reads (in part), "These attractive homes are representative of the entire village." The homes pictured are large, attractive, and surrounded by well-kept lawns (pp. 234-235). Polk's Citv Directory (1928-1929), 11- 12, 13; "Sherman Interests See Good Business Year for 1930," Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 January 1930, pp. 9-10.
46. Texas Almanac (1931). 152.
47. 1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo Corporation, 1927), 6; Polk's City Directory (1928-1929), 12.
48. Almanac [1925], 16. CHAPTER II
THE BLACK COMMUNITY IN GRAYSON COUNTY AND SHERMAN TO 1930
The black community of Grayson County traced its origins to the slaves who immigrated to the area with their owners in the years immediately following the founding of the county in 1846. An 1847 census enumerated the slave population at ninety. By 1850, according to the federal census, the number of slaves had increased to 186, and to
1,292 ten years later. There were no free blacks in Grayson
County at either enumeration.1
According to local sources, owners used their bondsmen primarily on plantations along Red River in the raising of grain and livestock, and federal census records do, in fact, reveal a dramatic surge in county production of wheat,
Indian corn, and oats in the decade between 1850 and 1860, the period of largest increase in slave population. In
1850, Grayson County produced 1,485 bushels of wheat, 59,015 bushels of Indian corn, and 1,786 bushels of oats. Ten years later, the county recorded 80,862 bushels of wheat,
247,522 of Indian corn, and 119,975 of oats. The same trend accurately describes wool production in the county, for
1,532 pounds of wool were produced in 1850 and 22,937 in
I860.2
48 49
Although the institution of slavery contributed to the economic development of Grayson County, there is no evidence that the area was heavily dependent on it. For one thing, the county grew very little cotton. In addition, the percentage of slaveholders in the general population was relatively small. In I860, only 3 percent of the total white population were slaveholders, and approximately 30 percent of those owned only one slave.3
Slaveholders in the county were, however, like those in other parts of Texas in that most owned between one and nine slaves. According to the 1860 census, of the 236 slaveholders in Grayson County, 209 had one to nine slaves.
The other holdings were as follows: eleven residents owned between ten and fourteen slaves, four had between fifteen and nineteen, and ten owned between twenty and twenty-nine slaves. The next largest holding consisted of between 50 and 69 bondsmen, held by one resident, and one other claimed a holding of 100 to 199 slaves.4
County tax rolls also reveal important information on the growth of slavery in Grayson County during the war years. As stated earlier, the 1860 federal census enumerated 1,292 slaves. The county tax rolls for 1862 recorded 1,720 slaves and 2,205 in 1864. Since there is no evidence that these bondsmen belonged to "refugee" masters, it is reasonable to assume that the number of 50 slaves in Grayson County was expanding when emancipation occurred.5
Tax rolls also indicate to what extent, if any, individual slaveholdings expanded during a specific period in time. Two Grayson County residents declared holdings of more than ten in 1850. By 1854, the number of slaveholders having more than ten slaves increased to twelve; the largest holding in that year was thirty-one. Five years later, in
1859, tax rolls reflected little change in the size of the holdings, for there were still twelve residents claiming holdings of more than ten, and the largest holding in that year was twenty-nine. In 1860, however, Isaac and E.M.
Hudson jointly declared seventy-eight slaves and Ann Potts, forty-three. The Hudson and Potts families, neither newcomers to the area, continued to possess the largest slaveholdings in the county throughout the war years, the numbers peaking at one hundred and forty-nine, respectively.
These findings suggest that while county residents had no qualms about slavery or slaveholders, the institution itself was not the foundation of the county's economy. It is clear, however, that the residents of Grayson County were not uncomfortable with Dixie's peculiar institution.6
There is little available information on the experiences of Grayson County freedmen in the years immediately following emancipation. The local information that does exist is undocumented or since it originates from 51 the white community expresses either stereotypical views of the former bondsmen or views that would not discredit the white community. One county history, for example, contains a brief allusion to the manner in which the freedmen
"...flocked to Sherman, standing in groups around the streets" in anticipation of the * forty acres and a mule' they thought the Freedmen's Bureau was going to bestow."
The author also wrote that in the fall of 1868, the freedmen were "restless, refusing to work." Additionally, there was reference to a school for the former slaves in Sherman at that time taught by a "white man and his wife from the
North," a "free school" of the Republican Party, the sort that was "not popular" with the people of Grayson County. A final allusion to the former bondsmen in the county contained the 1867 remarks of County Judge Robert Wilson:
"The freedmen suffer from no injustice in our courts and instances of mistreatment by the people are rare."7
Another source, the 1867 Texas Almanac, contains additional information about the experiences of county freedmen during this period. According to the writer
The negroes do tolerably well. There have been few, if any, Federal officers or troops in this county. The number of negroes has diminished by their leaving and going North. The farmers and their sons work, but there are very few white laborers to be hired. We think the negroes will be contracted with to work another year. There is not, probably, more than about one negro to six white men in the county. The negroes work but little—have no regard for their contracts—their numbers are 52
daily becoming less, by leaving the county and dying off. White laborers perform about twice the work of negroes.®
Census figures generally support the Almanac writer's assessment of the population in Grayson County at the time, for in the 1870 enumeration, there was approximately one black for every six whites in the area. Census records also reveal that in the years from 1860 to 1870, the black population in Grayson County grew from 1,292 to 2,145, an increase of about 60 percent. In the decade following, the increase was even greater, 212 percent, the second largest percentage of growth in the county from 1850 to 1900. The trend soon ceased, however, for in the years from 1880 until
1930, the percentage of blacks in the total population of
Grayson County stabilized, ranging from 12.6 in 1890 at the highest to 10.4 in 1920, the lowest. The increases, slight as they were, occurred in the decades between 1880 and 1890
(9.7) and 1920 to 1930 (0.2).9
Census records provide information in some of the years from 1850 to 1930 on the size of the black community in the total population in Sherman, Grayson's county seat. In
1850, four years after the founding of the county, the total population of Sherman stood at thirty-five, including four blacks. No such data exist for 1860, but at the next decennial census, in 1870, there were 490 blacks in the total population of 1,439, making the black population 34 percent of the total at that time. There is no comparable 53 statistic for 1880, but according to the census in 1890, blacks comprised about 20 percent of Sherman's total population. By the 1900 enumeration, there was a slight increase of about 1 percent, but in succeeding years, the numbers steadily declined: to 17.9 percent in 1910, 13.8 percent in 1920, and to 12.8 percent in 1930.10
The expectations of Texas freedmen dulled as the realities of life in the postwar South emerged. Persistent antebellum racial attitudes, exacerbated by the anguish of defeat, resulted in economic subordination of the former bondsmen and their social alienation from the white experience. Blacks, however, as they had in slavery, shaped their own experience in freedom within the constraints imposed upon them. They founded churches, established and attended schools, and instituted organizations through which they sought to progress after emancipation.
In the years following Texas's 1870 readmission to the
Union, the initial evidences of community emerged among blacks in the Lone Star State. The first institution to evolve was the church—not a surprising development since religion had historically brought cohesion to the antebellum slave community. In the years to 1900, the church, primarily Baptist and Methodist in denomination, played a prominent role in the lives of Texas blacks, and the establishment of such congregations in Sherman was consistent with that development. Harmony Baptist Church, 54 established in 1871, was the first black church organized in
Grayson's county seat, followed by St. John's C.M.E. Church in 1875. By the turn of the century, a total of seven congregations served the needs of the local black community.
The others and their founding dates are the Payne Chapel
A.M.E. Church (1882), Progressive Baptist Church (1894), and
St. James United Methodist, founded in the late 1890s as St.
James C.M.E. Church.11
As the church formed the nucleus around which activities in the black community evolved, black clergymen were typically prominent in the community and comprised a large percentage of the black professional class. There were several such individuals in Sherman, in the years from
1900 to 1930, and on several occasions they distinguished themselves as leaders in the community. One of the most prominent of this group was J. (John) W. McKinney.
Born near Van Alstyne in southern Grayson County on
July 22, 1864, J.W. McKinney served the black community of
Sherman in several capacities until his death in 1946. From the late 1880s to the mid-1890s, he taught and served as assistant principal at Sherman's school for blacks, the Fred
Douglass School. Afterwards, although there is no record of his having passed the bar exam or of licensure by the state, he maintained a law practice until the turn of the century.12 55
For approximately twenty years, McKinney was Grand
Master of the Free and Accepted Masons of Texas. He also ministered in the Methodist churches in Sherman, and in
1922, he was appointed bishop, "...the first Negro bishop in the CME Church to be appointed from Texas."13
Although no other local black churchmen achieved the prominence of Bishop McKinney, there were others who used their positions to work for better conditions for Sherman's residents. For example, in 1921, Rev. H.D. Allen, pastor of the Harmony Baptist Church, published a plea to Sherman businessmen to effect the employment of local blacks in
$100,000 worth of public works contracts being let by the city as well as in other work available at the time. Rev.
Allen charged that local work was usually awarded to nationalities who paid no taxes. According to the churchman, "—[T]hey [other nationalities] do not pay taxes to help keep up the city, but they sure get the work to do here." He also cited a recent episode in Denison, Sherman's rival to the north:
Now I am sure the white citizens of this town feels [sic] for his [sic] colored people as much as the Denison people feels [sic] for theirs, but last week 126 colored women were put to work in one factory in Denison, and we sure feel you white citizens will do something toward helping the colored man get work on some of these jobs in the city.14
Rev. Allen's published appeal to Sherman businessmen was apparently part of a cooperative and organized effort 56 among Sherman blacks to secure employment for members of their community. On the day following the publication of the pastor's comment, the Sherman City Commission received a petition signed by A.N. Prince, Jim Lee, D. Richardson and other local blacks "...asking that negroes be employed on the sewer work now being done by the city." According to
Commission records, the petition "...was received for consideration and filed." Subsequent minutes of the
Commission do not reveal whether there was any action taken on the petition.15
Rev. Allen's name also emerged in relation to the establishment of an educational institution for area blacks, which opened its doors in Denison, Texas, on October 4,
1921. Although little information exists on the North Texas
College, it is known that the 1924 student body consisted of twenty-two juniors and seniors (in addition to students in lower grades) from Denison, Dallas, Gainesville, Marshall,
Granger, Mt. Vernon, Van Alstyne, Whitewright, Sanger, and
Ft. Worth.16 The North Texas College, established "for the purpose of giving ...[the black students] of North and
Northwest Texas the proper social and moral education" was headed by Dr. B.J. Brown, D.D., apparently under the auspices of the Hopewell Baptist Church, a Denison congregation. Rev. H.D. Allen, the Sherman pastor, enthusiastically promoted the institution, however, for on one occasion, he requested financial support for the school 57
from the local white community. Additionally, he was one of
three local pastors, two of whom were white (Dr. T.A.
Wharton and Dr. T.L. Holcomb, pastors of Sherman's First
Presbyterian and First Baptist Churches, respectively) who
visited the school in its opening days, commenting that they
were "very pleased" at what they observed. Dr. Brown,
president of North Texas College, addressed the Fred
Douglass graduates in 1922, and, according to the 1924
yearbook, the two schools competed in sports. The lack of
records makes it impossible to describe other
interscholastic activities or to determine to what extent
Sherman blacks supported the North Texas College, but Rev.
Allen's support of the institution is clear.17
Rev. Allen's successor at Harmony Baptist Church was
Dr. Joseph Wilson who assumed the pastorate in the mid-
1920s. He, too, played an important leadership role in the
community. In June 1927, Rev. Wilson and the Harmony
Baptist Choir presented a program attended by 400 people at
the mid-week service of Sherman's First Baptist Church.
After the choir had performed several selections including
"...xSwing Low, Sweet Chariot' and other popular hymns made
famous by the race [,]" Rev. Wilson revealed plans to erect
a church complex to include "...a library, a swimming pool,
[and] a gymnasium..." especially to serve "...as a center
for...[the] young people." According to the newspaper account of the interracial service, "[a] substantial sum was 58
raised..." to support Rev. Wilson's vision for his
community. Rev. Wilson's comments at the service as
reported by the newspaper demonstrate the quality of
leadership he provided for the black community.
We work for you, help nurse your children in your homes and we feel our white friends are interested in seeing the negro made cleaner, more intelligent, free from disease and of higher morals. When you consider that we have no adequate church facilities, no parks, no Y.M.C.A., not as good sanitary conditions as we should have, poorly located homes, and uninviting living conditions, I sometimes wonder that we have done as well as we have. But we are not complaining: we are satisfied, except we want to improve our lives and our standards and we want to serve God better...[.]18
Did Rev. Wilson's vision become reality? The published
history of Harmony Baptist Church contains the following:
After much labor, Rev. Joseph Wilson made plans to move into the area populated by the majority of the membership and would [sic] serve the community better as a Center [sic] for the young people... Circumstances caused Dr. Joseph Wilson's plans to be interrupted and temporarily the work stopped until Rev. W.A. Washington came in 1933."
Although it is not known exactly what the "circumstances" entailed, it could be that economic difficulties in the late 1920s or the events of May 1930 put an end to Rev. Wilson's progressive intentions for Sherman's black community.
Another example of the minister's leadership concerned plans for Negro Health Week, apparently long observed by 59
Sherman's black community. Commemorating the opening of the week, Rev. Wilson addressed a congregation of 200 on the importance of personal hygiene and home cleanliness, and a local black physician, Dr. A.N. Prince, explained how various diseases were communicated. According to the report, nightly instructional meetings were scheduled at
Harmony Baptist Church during the week to include regular reports of committees working throughout the community, initially organized through the "Negro Ministers'
Alliance."20
Another Sherman minister, Rev. J.W. Williams, pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church, presided over a local organization known as the Colored Relief Committee. Created in the spring of 1921, the committee provided relief to the black residents of Melissa in adjacent Collin County, victims of a devastating storm that had raged through the area. The committee, consisting of members representing each black congregation in Sherman, visited Melissa and collected money and clothing for the victims. Local news accounts described the activities in detail.21
These religious professionals—notably J.W. McKinney,
H.D. Allen, Joseph Wilson, and J.W. Williams—not only served their community as role models, but they also provided the leadership necessary for any community to progress. Although local whites freguently failed to respond to their reguests positively enough to effect 60
significant change, that was not the fault of these black
professionals. Rather, they consistently worked to improve
the quality of life for local black residents, and they
effectively organized activities which met specific needs
within the community itself.
Another institution and its professionals which
increasingly became a source of pride to the local black
community was the Fred Douglass School. The exact
date of its founding is not known, but is generally assumed
to have been in the 1880s. The lack of official records
precludes the writing of the school's earliest history, but
newspaper accounts document such events as its closing
exercises during the late 1880s and provide an 1892 drawing
of a moderate-sized, two-story frame structure.22 The
oldest city directory (1887-88) lists D.W. Porter as
principal of Fred Douglass, assisted by J. (John) W.
McKinney. Porter's tenure as principal was brief because he
left Sherman for a brief time in the late 1880s or early
1890s to study medicine, returning to open a medical
practice in approximately 1893, an office he maintained in
the area until his death in 1934. McKinney's contribution
to the local community, as noted earlier, also involved
areas other than education. Both men, however, continued to hold prominent positions of leadership in the local black community in the years to 1930.23 61
Following Porter's departure as principal of Fred
Douglass School, Alexander Orr served a brief time in that position. However, very little is known about Orr, and apparently he made no significant contribution. In the mid-
18903, L. (Lewis) J. Williams became principal, and under his leadership, the school began to progress.
Under Williams's guidance, which lasted until 1906, the local paper publicized efforts to secure a library for the institution in news articles signed by the educator himself.
Initially requesting books needed for the library (by the
"best authors"), he subsequently reported on the progress of the drive reminding the community: "This is only a beginning and from time to time you will be called upon to lend your assistance further along this line." Also included in the report was the following:
We desire to thank the white friends who gave us good advice and assistance. We are satisfied that if more had been acquainted with our effort, they would have helped us in a material way. Now, since we are financially unable to do much along this line, and as you have the means and are the friends of education among the negroes, as well as the whites, you may look for us again.
Conceding that his efforts "may be a little selfish,"
Williams firmly announced that "our home pride will not allow us to be satisfied." He concluded his report with a reminder to Sherman that its nickname, "Athens of North
Texas," resulted from the city's outstanding educational institutions and with an affirmation that he had "an extreme 62 desire to place our people in a position to honestly share the same reputation.1,24
The "selfish" determination L.J. Williams and others exhibited in their successful library drive in 1900 achieves, in retrospect, a certain poignancy upon reading subsequent newspaper accounts chronicling a 1904 fire that completely destroyed the school. Described as "one of the fiercest in the history of the city," the fire razed the
"two-story frame affair" valued at $2,500 which "covered a large space of ground." According to the report, however, the tragedy had at least one "pleasing" aspect.
There was one beautiful feature connected with the loss sustained by the city, and that was the illumination of the surrounding vicinity by the flames. Residents of the elevated portions of the city were treated to a scene rarely if ever equalled in Sherman. The lights fell upon trees and house tops in such a manner as to give the most pleasing effects of color.25
These "most pleasing effects of color" notwithstanding,
Sherman's black community faced a crisis. The local school board convened on the day after the fire, determined that school for the black children would temporarily be held in two local black churches, and announced that work to rebuild
Fred Douglass would begin as soon as possible.26
The black community responded quickly to the school board's decision and within two days published a "Negroes'
Petition" in the local paper. Requesting that two buildings 63 be erected instead of one to replace the destroyed structure, the petition cited ten reasons why two facilities, one in the north part of town and one in the south, would be preferable. Among those ten reasons were the following, each of which confirms realities of life for most southern blacks:
First: The old site is too far for small children who live at any point on or near the south line of the city's limits. It is more than two miles from the south-east or south-west, and nearly two miles from the south line of the city limits.
Second: Most of the colored children are not sufficiently clothed or shod to walk the distance through the cold, rain and mud of winter to the present site.
Fourth: It would avoid the necessity of holding the children an extra one-half hour in the afternoon to keep the white and colored children from fighting and thereby lessen the hardships of those who must walk a mile and a half or two miles in the cold, rain, snow and mud.
Other reasons for construction of two facilities included the following: consideration of Sherman's future expansion; the economic expediency of purchasing land amid increasing property costs ("for the prices are moving with the growing industries of the city"); and the comfort that with two structures any future disaster would not totally eliminate all black educational facilities should one building be destroyed. The petition also revealed something of the school's curriculum and equipment at that time in its declaration that the black community deplored "the loss of 64 the building and the library and the tools of the industrial department." Although no other information is available on the results of the petition, it is known that only one building was subsequently erected.27
A.J. Kirkpatrick followed L.J. Williams as principal of
Fred Douglass School, a position he held from the 1890s until his death in 1922. Under Professor Kirkpatrick's leadership, the institution flourished. In a 1916 school year's end report, the educator described the progress of the school during the ten years preceding, stating that Fred
Douglass
has increased in enrollment, teaching force and magnitude along all lines at least fifty per cent in the last ten years. The following additions have been made: Manual training for boys, domestic science and art for girls, a library of about 350 books of classified reading for all grades and a brass band for the school boys.
Mr. Kirkpatrick further cited an enrollment increase from
250 to 456 and an increase from five teachers for eight grades to ten teachers for ten grades during the preceding decade.28
Sixteen local blacks were members of the 1916 class which held commencement exercises at the Sherman Opera
House, one of the most elegant buildings in the city. The address was delivered by Professor I.M. Terrell, President of Prairie View Normal and Industrial College, the institution from which Kirkpatrick had graduated, reportedly 65 with honors. According to the account of the exercises, the large audience also contained "white friends of the school" who filled a specially reserved section. A varied program consisting of both orchestral and vocal selections included orations and essays. The account concluded with the following statement: "The Fred Douglass high school ranks with the best colored schools in Texas and is doing a great deal of good for the negro race."29
On at least one occasion, students, accompanied by
Kirkpatrick, competed very successfully in the State
Interscholastic Meet held at what was then called the
Prairie View Normal and Industrial College after earlier having hosted the district meet attended by blacks from the schools in Cooke, Denton, Collin, Fannin, and Grayson counties. According to the newspaper report of the state competition and the honors won by the Fred Douglass students, "The State now has a better understanding of the character of the work done in the colored schools of
Sherman.1130
Commencement exercises at the school were significant events for the community, and especially under Professor Kirkpatrick's guidance, provided opportunities to showcase student accomplishments and professionals in the black communities of Sherman, Denison, and Dallas. Songs, essays, orations, and performances by musical ensembles and the school's orchestra routinely characterized the ceremonies, 66
frequently attended by members of the local white community.
Prominent local blacks such as Drs. Porter and Prince often
addressed the graduates or delivered their diplomas. Blacks
from other communities outside of Sherman were sometimes
invited to participate in the ceremonies, including W.E.
King, editor of the Dallas Express and Rev. B.J. Brown,
President of North Texas College. The exercises were held
in churches, the Sherman Opera House, as previously noted,
or in 1918 and thereafter at the Andrews Building, a large,
two-story brick building which would become, until its
destruction at the hands of a mob in 1930, the center of the
black business and professional community in Sherman.31
Education for blacks in Texas in the early twentieth
century, admittedly, left much to be desired. According to
a government study of black secondary education in the state
in 1915, however, Fred Douglass did indeed rank "with the
best colored schools in Texas" at the time. The secondary
curriculum included three years of English, four years of
math, three years of history, Physical Geography I, Physics
I, and Civics I. Girls received training in domestic
science from the fifth grade. Although the study, based on
a 1915 visit to the school, noted the limited equipment, it
reported that work was generally "well done." The study
reported further the availability of some woodworking equipment and assessed the physical plant consisting of two 67
frame buildings on a large lot at $11,500 and school equipment at $1,500.32
Based on information provided in the government study
and A.J. Kirkpatrick's "history" of the school's progress in
1916, the Fred Douglass School was not only an institution
of significant distinction locally, but also deserved a
reputation for excellence among black schools statewide.
For example, in 1910, "many school districts owned no
buildings for the use of Negroes" and "as late as 1929, over
two-thirds of the black schools had only one room and one
teacher."33 Although it would be far from correct to
suggest that educational facilities for Sherman's black
children equalled those for the city's white students during
the first fifteen years of this century, it would, however,
be correct to describe the Fred Douglass School, one of
sixteen public high schools for blacks in Texas, as a black
institution of some eminence within the state.
Fred Douglass's principal during these years, A. J.
Kirkpatrick, had begun his teaching career in Sherman in the mid-1890s. The 1900 federal census revealed that
Kirkpatrick owned his home free of mortgage at which time he was thirty-five years of age and father of two small children. The county tax records confirmed that he, like other black professionals in the local community, owned property in addition to his home. In 1900, the educator paid taxes on two pieces of property in Sherman, one with an 68 assessed value of $600, the other, $350. In 1905, those holdings had increased to three worth a total of $1,200.
According to the 1910 tax rolls, the assessed value of
Kirkpatrick's original holding remained at $600, while the two other properties increased in value to $1,200 each, making his total property value $3,000.34
Kirkpatrick's leadership in the black community extended beyond his role as educator. After the United
States entered World War I, Sherman's black community organized a "war council" modeled after similar groups flourishing in the patriotic fervor of the time. Three local judges appointed fifteen members of Sherman's black community to the council, and Kirkpatrick's name headed the news account of the group's organization. When the council subsequently met to elect officers and announce plans for a public meeting to be held at the Andrews Building, it also elected A.J. Kirkpatrick as president of the organization.35
Kirkpatrick's 1922 obituary also documents the high regard in which he was held in Sherman.
Under his leadership [Fred Douglass] has been brought to a place of recognized standing among negro High Schools in Texas. The deceased has long held the confidence and respect of all classes of Sherman people as a sane, conservative leader of his own people. Among his own people he was regarded as a zealous church man and loyal fraternal man, as well as leading educator. 69
His death, according to the obituary, caused "sincere regret
among his white friends of Sherman," and the local school
board members viewed his demise as a "distinct loss in the
field of educational work among the negro residents of
Sherman.1,36
A.J. Kirkpatrick and, to a lesser degree, his
predecessors provided leadership that resulted in progress
for Sherman's black scholastics and, in fact, for the entire
black community who pointed with pride to Fred Douglass.
L. J. Williams's leadership had prompted the addition of a
library to the school and oversaw a rebuilding of the
facility in the aftermath of a devastating fire.
Kirkpatrick's tenure, although severely hampered by a second
total loss of the facility by a fire in 1920 and a
rebuilding long delayed by poor weather and labor problems,
brought the new institution into the public arena.37 In
reports to the local community, he unabashedly noted the
progress of the school, and on one occasion, the exact
circumstances of which are not known, he publicly chided the
black community in general and its parents in particular
when interest and financial support for the school lagged.38
Under his tutelage, the institution flourished in many
areas. Through various activities, he exposed students to excellent role models and also provided the black and white communities of Sherman opportunities for interracial relations within the range of what was considered 70 appropriate in the Jim Crow South of that era. Like most educators of his time, he faced the difficult task of trying to inspire and stimulate black students within limits prescribed by southern whites. Within those parameters,
A.J. Kirkpatrick achieved success.
In the eight years from Kirkpatrick's death until 1930,
H.F. King and F.R. Pierson were principals of Fred Douglass.
Commencement announcements reveal that the size of the faculty increased steadily. Separate baccalaureate sermons, delivered by local churchmen, became a part of the closing ceremonies at the end of the academic year. As in earlier years, oratorical and musical performances by students and addresses by Sherman's school superintendent or individuals prominent in the black community such as W.J. Durham, a noted attorney, and local clergymen were part of the activities. In the mid-twenties, commencements began to be held in the large, new edifice that housed the congregation of St. John's C.M.E. Church, and, as in earlier years, members of Sherman's white community regularly attended exercises.39
Fraternal orders which since Reconstruction had existed to aid blacks in various ways continued serving the needs of black Texans in the years to 1930. In the Lone Star State, by 1885, several lodges and orders had been established, among which the Masons, the Grand United Order of the Odd
Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias were the largest. By 71
1900, Sherman's black community had two Masonic organizations, a chapter of Odd Fellows, one assembly of the
Knights of Pythias, one group of Knight Templars called the
Wright Cuney Commandery, and, for local black women, a chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. Officials of these societies included Drs. Porter and Prince, J.W.
McKinney, who served as Grand Master of the Free and
Accepted Masons of Texas, and Lewis J. Williams, all individuals whose names occur repeatedly in the records of
Sherman's black community at this time.40
Such organizations continued to flourish among Sherman blacks in the years to 1930. Other fraternal groups appeared including the American Woodmen, the Knights of
Tabor, the United Brotherhood of Friendship, and the True
People of America.41
By 1910, Sherman's black Masons met in their own
Masonic Hall. There were, by 1918, four chapters of the
Knights of Pythias for local blacks. In 1923, the state convention of the True People of America met in Sherman.
Approximately 150 delegates attended the meeting and Sherman blacks, including Dr. A.L. Stinnett, Dr. A.N. Prince, and attorney W.J. Durham, joined Denison blacks in welcoming the visitors to the area. A Sherman resident, P.W. Carpenter, served as assistant editor of the organization's state newspaper, The Monitor, and Noble F. Randies of Denison was the state chaplain. During the convention, several local 72 groups entertained the men and women who served as officers of the T.P. of A. from throughout Texas. The T.P. of A.
Band directed by Sherman dentist, A.L. Stinnett, and the choir of Sherman's St. John C.M.E. Church were among those groups. 42
In addition to the Order of the Eastern Star, local black women also participated in two chapters of the Court of Colanthe, one of the first organizations for black women in Texas. Among Sherman women, Mrs. Ada N. Prince, prominent local educator and wife of Dr. A.N. Prince , was especially active in the Court of Colanthe.43
These fraternal orders and benevolent societies not only assisted blacks with physical needs, but also provided them with vehicles for socialization and the development of leadership skills. This was certainly true in Sherman as it was throughout the state. Through one such order, the
Knights of Pythias, one of the medical professionals who served Sherman's black community, Dr. A. N. Prince, achieved prominence throughout the state.
Anthony N. Prince, born in Lavaca County, Texas, in
1865, graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville,
Tennessee. He came to Sherman in 1888 and established a medical practice adjacent to the courthouse square where he maintained an office until late 1931 when he became terminally ill. At the time of his death in February, 1932, he was Sherman's oldest practicing physician. Of Sherman's 73 black professional community, Dr. Prince was the only one who did not relocate or maintain an office in the Andrews
Building in the 200 block of East Mulberry which, after
1920, became the center of the black business and professional community in Sherman. There is also no record of damage to Dr. Prince's office at the hands of the mob in
1930 even though it was located one block from the courthouse square.44
Dr. Prince's practice was not only a long-standing one, but a profitable one as well. The 1900 federal census indicates that at that time he owned his home free of mortgage. According to tax probate records, Dr. Prince steadily enlarged both real and personal property holdings.
In 1900, the physician owned city real estate valued at
$1,530 and had property with a total taxable value of
$1,820. Although his real estate holdings did not increase by 1905, he had accumulated personal property which raised his total taxable value in that year to $2,270. By 1910,
Dr. Prince owned real estate worth $4,300, and other property increased the total assessment to $5,490. Probate records reflect that by his death in 1932, Dr. Prince had real estate holdings valued at $16,225, miscellaneous property worth $4,100, and an unspecified amount of life insurance. The life insurance, incidentally, was the sole bequest to his widow, Ada B. Prince, and his sons, Dr. A.N. 74
Prince, Jr. and Paul Henry Prince received the remainder of the estate.45
As a prominent member of Sherman's black professional class, Dr. Prince participated in numerous activities in the community. For example, he frequently took part in commencement exercises at Fred Douglass School, and he served as trustee of Payne's Chapel A.M.E. Church. For sixteen years, he regularly organized activities for the black community such as events in conjunction with National
Negro Health Week, working closely with local churches to educate blacks regarding health conditions and practices.
Dr. Prince also worked closely with Sherman's Colored Civic
League, an organization in which his wife was very active, and one which in its relationship with the Sherman Civic
League provided one of the widest avenues for interracial activities in the city.46
Sherman's white community also apparently highly regarded Dr. Prince, for he was regularly appointed to serve on various committees or in other capacities. For example, the physician served on the W.W.I War Council, noted previously, hosting the organizational meeting in his office. His name was one of three specifically listed on the 1921 petition submitted to the Sherman City Commission to urge employment opportunities for local blacks in city contract work. The City Commission placed him along with 75
A.J. Kirkpatrick and others on a committee to oversee the colored park and school.47
In addition to his prominence locally, Dr. Prince achieved statewide recognition in the activities of the
Texas Colored Knights of Pythias. He served as grand chancellor of the organization from 1906 until 1918 and from
1905 until his death was supreme and grand medical director of the Court of Colanthe of Texas. During his tenure as chancellor, the Knights experienced exceptional growth. In
1903, the organization recorded a membership of 2,500, and by 1921, there were 35,000 members in 800 local chapters in
Texas. Not only did this expansion exceed that of the
Masons, but it also represented the largest membership of any other state.48
In 1917, Texas Pythians and Colanthians honored the physician at a Houston banquet during a statewide tour of local chapters. Sherman's local newspaper reported the banquet and described not only Dr. Prince's local prominence, but cited a sketch of the chancellor which had appeared in The Texas Freeman, a newspaper published by
Houston blacks. According to the Sherman paper, the Texas
Colored Knights of Pythians had "thrived under his [Dr.
Prince's] management" and the construction of a Pythian
Temple in Dallas valued at $150,000 could be directly attributed to the leadership of the Sherman physician. The account described the temple as "built with money furnished 76 by colored people, the plans drawn by a colored architect and the work started and completed by colored mechanics."49
At the June 1918 state meeting of the Pythians in
Houston, Dr. Prince's address to the 1,500 blacks in attendance following a patriotic rally was described by
Sherman's local newspaper as "a distinct hit." The speech, in fact, was excerpted in the paper, recounting for the townsfolk the physician's remarks on the historic loyalty of the Negro and specific examples of recent progress.50
Within a segregated southern society, Dr. Prince was an effective, professional role model who strived to improve the local black experience. He helped to expand the community by bringing it into contact with other black communities in the state, notably the one in Houston, and enjoyed seemingly high regard by local whites.
Dr. Prince was not, however, the only medical professional who served local blacks during these years in varied capacities, for Dr. Daniel W. Porter was also an integral part of the community. Born near Palestine, Texas, about 1858, Dr. Porter had resided in Sherman longer than his colleague. He served as principal of Fred Douglass
School for an unknown period of time and left the position in the late 1880s or early 1890s to study medicine at
Meharry Medical College. Having received his medical degree, Dr. Porter returned to Sherman about 1893 and opened a medical practice, which he maintained until his death in 77
1934 except for a few years when he practiced with his son, also a physician, in Dallas.51
Dr. Porter's influence and service to the black community extended far beyond their medical needs. Like Dr.
Prince, he frequently participated in commencement exercises at Fred Douglass, an indication of the high regard in which he was held as a role model in the black community.52 In the organization of various patriotic events, however, the regard with which he was held by both the black and white communities is apparent.
As America prepared for war with Spain in 1898, local blacks actively supported the war, and Dr. Porter played an important role in that effort. On May 31, 1898, Sherman blacks organized "Wood's Rangers," a military company named in honor of a local judge who had equipped the group. Dr.
Porter was captain of the company composed of thirty-five other Sherman blacks.53
Nineteen years later, the United States again prepared to go to war. As they had done in the past, Sherman blacks served and supported the war effort. On National
Registration Day, June 5, 1917, Sherman's black and white communities joined in what the newspaper called "a monster demonstration." Events included a lengthy parade and speeches on the courthouse square. News reports described the parade: 78
Veterans of the war between the North and the South, the Herron Military Band, enlisted in the navy at home awaiting the call, registered men, older citizens, members of the Sherman Chapter of the Red Cross Society, dressed in field uniform, and lastly, headed by their own colored band, the colored section of the parade, formed the units of the monster demonstration.
The "colored section" of the parade had been organized into the following line of march by a committee whose plans had been previously announced in the local paper: "brass band, ministers, eligibles for registration, men, fraternal orders, women, followed by the 350 school children.1154
Once the parade arrived at the courthouse square, speeches were made to the crowd. Among the speakers, according to the extensive news coverage of the event, were local pastors, organizers of the bond drives, labor and farming representatives, "noted individuals in town for the
Austin College commencement exercises," and "...Dr. D.W.
Porter, colored [who] spoke in behalf of the colored citizens.1,55
Dr. Porter opened his remarks by calling the demonstration "most extraordinary," noting that although he had "frequently before been privileged to speak on matters of general interest, ...never before had it been his privilege or duty to speak for his people on so momentous occasion." Dr. Porter's remarks, excerpted as were the other speakers', focused on pride. He reminded the audience 79
of the historic trust that blacks had not betrayed even in
slavery. According to the report of the speech, Dr. Porter
asked the crowd, "%Did you ever hear one of those black men
[those entrusted with the families of whites who had gone to
fight for the Confederacy] betraying that trust?'" The
crowd responded with "a hearty * no,'1156
Throughout the next year, Sherman blacks, often led by
Dr. Porter, as well as other professionals in the community,
continued to support the war effort. Dr. Porter served on
the war council formed by local blacks in January 1918. The
group hosted a mass meeting in the Andrews Building for
local blacks soon after the organizational meeting. Fred
Douglass School students presented patriotic songs, and
those in the white community who attended occupied special
seating.57 In the following months, local blacks
contributed both men and money to the war effort, an effort
in which Dr. Porter played an important role. Although his
name was regularly associated with these patriotic
activities in wartime, Dr. Porter's name also frequently
emerged as an organizer of other events in the black
community, notably on "Juneteenth."
"Juneteenth" celebrations, commemorating the initial announcement of emancipation to Texas slaves on June 19, 1865, were an important part of the lives of Texas blacks. Black communities throughout the state typically observed the event with parades, picnics, speeches, baseball games, 80 dancing, and music. Sherman blacks regularly participated in such activities on "Juneteenth," and Dr. Porter frequently played an important role in the celebrations.58
On one occasion, when the celebration was three days long, community organizers, under Porter's leadership, announced that proceeds from the events would be used to improve the community's park property. The doctor also included the following in the announcement: "White people who wish to attend any of the attractions will be cordially treated."
During the 1916 celebration of "Juneteenth," newspaper coverage included Dr. Porter's "Emancipation Address" printed in its entirety. His remarks describe a well- organized and sophisticated commemoration that included a parade and "a gorgeous display and flags and bunting."
Porter admonished his audience to recall the "love of freedom" that the day stood for, "to be proud," and to "hold up your heads and pay your poll tax like men."59
Like Dr. Prince, his colleague, Dr. Porter, too, was propertied. According to the 1900 census, Dr. Porter owned his home free of mortgage, and his total real estate was valued at $1,550. Five years later, he held real estate in
Sherman valued at $3,600, and by 1910, his total taxable value increased to $4,280.60
In addition to Drs. Prince and Porter, two other medical professionals served the local black community—Dr.
Samuel L. Goodson and his brother, J. (Jeff) D. Goodson, 81 both graduates of Meharry Medical College. Samuel Goodson received his medical degree in 1913, and J.D. Goodson received a degree in pharmacology three years later, in
1916. Apparently, the brothers arrived in Sherman soon thereafter and began to practice their professions, according to information contained in county death records.
The 1918 Sherman city directory reveals that in that year they were practicing in the 200 block of East Mulberry
Street in the block that would become the center of the black business district.61
Both men became property owners soon after their arrival in Sherman. At the time of his death in 1955,
Samuel Goodson, according to probate records, was wholly solvent, owned local real estate valued at $3,000 and had
$2,800 in a Sherman bank account. Although Jeff Goodson owned a small amount of real estate, there are no probate records available on his estate.62
Neither man participated in the activities of the local black community to the extent that Drs. Prince and Porter were. There is no newspaper record of either being involved in the activities surrounding Fred Douglass School or
Juneteenth celebrations, and newly arrived in the community in 1918, they would naturally not be in leadership roles in the various patriotic events surrounding World War
I. Nothing is known of any lodge involvement. There is, however, evidence that the local black community held J.D. 82
Goodson, at least, in some regard. His name appears in two episodes involving Sherman blacks.
In 1921, as previously mentioned, the Sherman City
Council appointed Dr. A.N. Prince, Prof. A.J. Kirkpatrick, and others to a special committee to oversee the "colored" park and school grounds. Goodson and others identified as members of the Colored Civic League disagreed with the council's selection of committee members and appeared before the council to tell them so, although the reason for their dissension is unknown. The council's decision remained intact.63
Jeff Goodson's only other known community involvement occurred in the same year when he and three others were
"appointed by the colored citizens of Sherman" to collect funds and clothing for storm victims in the town of Melissa in adjacent Collin County.64
Mention of the pharmacist in the local paper occurred, for tragic and intriguing reasons, on January 9, 1930.
According to the report, on the previous day, U.S. Treasury officials visited Goodson's Drugstore located on East
Mulberry, asking to see the druggist's prescription records.
Upon examination of the files, the officials discovered that the whiskey supply had been depleted with no prescriptions on file to account for the lack of stock on hand. When informed of the discrepancy, according to the report,
Goodson went to "a room in the back of the store and shot 83 himself." It is reasonable to assume that Goodson had dispensed the whiskey for non-medicinal purposes, for at least on one previous occasion, the pharmacist had been charged with eight violations of liquor laws.65
In addition to the churches, the school, and the fraternal and benevolent orders which served Sherman's black residents, several local associations also operated effectively to meet certain needs in the community. These groups demonstrate the organization of the local black community and the leadership which the black professional class provided. They also provided ample opportunities for interracial activities between Sherman's black and white communities. Among the groups were the Colored Park
Committee, the Colored Civic League, which had two collateral groups—the 500 Block Improvement League and the Colored Citizens Cemetery Association (also called the
Cemetery Society and Cemetery Association)—and the
Progressive Commercial Club.
The Colored Park Committee, appointed by the Sherman
City Council, organized and implemented the construction of a park for the local black community in 1921. Detailed newspaper coverage reported that "large numbers" worked throughout a specially-called "workday" on the grounds. At noon, lunch was served from a "...25 foot table groaning under the weight, a dinner which would have been relished by a king." According to the account, after everyone had 84 eaten, there were still baskets of food that remained unopened. Although, as would be expected, they did not dine with the workmen, the mayor of Sherman and several councilmen, visiting the site, were guests for lunch at the
Fred Douglass school located nearby. The city also assisted with the lending of a street grader for the clearing and leveling of the land. By the end of the workday, according to the report, "...the grounds...[were] ready for the playground fixtures, seats, and arrangements for ball playing.1,66
The founding date of Sherman's Colored Civic League, initiated under the auspices of its white counterpart, the
Sherman Civic League, is not known. The group had existed long enough, however, to sponsor the establishment of a
Negro Junior League in 1917. According to the report,
A Junior League has been formed at the Fred Douglass building. This school is proud of its well-kept grounds, having a committee appointed to visit the grounds twice each week and see that they are clean and in order. So far as it is known, Sherman is the only city in the state with a negro Junior Civic League.67
Throughout the 1920s, the Colored Civic League and its collateral groups organized and implemented several activities to improve and beautify Sherman's black community. The Cemetery Committee, for example, petitioned the City Commission in late 1920 that "...certain improvements be made in the colored department of the 85 cemetery." 68 Records do not indicate whether any action was ever taken on the request.
Not to be deterred, however, the Committee sponsored fund-raising and renovation activities on its own. For example, in an "Armistice Day Entertainment" held in the
Andrews Building in November 1921, the group raised $286.06.
Entertainment for the event included a baby contest, drills by Fred Douglass students, and an orchestra performance. On another occasion, the Cemetery Committee organized a workday attended by approximately 100 local residents who planted roses and shrubs and erected a tool house in the black section of the West Hill Cemetery. The 1922 annual report of the City Federation of Women's Clubs excerpted in the local newspaper detailed the improvements, described as "splendid work."69
The 500 Block Improvement League, founded in 1928 under the leadership of Mrs. A.N. Prince with the cooperation of local black pastors, had as its initial goal the beautification of one block of East Brockett Street. The long-term goal, according to the newspaper report of the group's organization, was the "...awakening of civic pride among all negro citizens of the city" in order to "...create a spirit of rivalry that will result in the organizing of an improvement league in every block in the city where negroes live." Soon after the organization's inception, according 86 to the account, two other "blocks" had established such a league.70
In conjunction with these efforts, Chicago lyric soprano Roberta Dodd Crawford appeared in concert in Sherman at the newly constructed edifice of St. John's C.M.E. Church to raise money for the projects. Newspaper coverage included complimentary reviews of the artist from Chicago papers and announcement of the availability of seats for whites wishing to attend the recital.71
Other activities led by the Colored Civic League and its committees included a "Better Home Contest," the organization of the "Busy Matrons and Maids" to direct other beautification projects, and various cleanup campaigns.
There were other civic activities and collection campaigns which occurred in the black community under the leadership of Mrs. A.N. Prince. For example, she and Mrs. H.D. Allen
(wife of the pastor of Harmony Baptist Church), led local blacks in 1921 in raising "their part" of Red Cross funds being collected in the community. As chairman of the "work among Sherman negroes," Mrs. Prince associated closely with the Sherman Civic League in various campaigns in the community. On another occasion, as president of the Colored
Citizens Cemetery Association, she headed the beautification project for the site upon which a new school was soon to be constructed.72 87
Another association which emerged during the 1920s within Sherman's black community was the Progressive
Commercial Club, established in late 1927 or early 1928.
Although no records of the organization exist, a 1928 newspaper account reported a meeting of the group at which
Sherman attorney W.J. Durham delivered the first semi-annual report of the club's activities. The report documented ten meetings of the organization and its sponsorship of a four- day conference at which those in attendance examined the following topics pertinent to the local black community: religion, education, parks and playgrounds, business, politics, labor, and economics.73
Although the formation of such a club clearly reveals the intentions of the local black community to progress and the availability of a professional class to organize and channel such intentions in an effective manner, the stated purpose of the club also indicates adherence to the philosophies of Booker T. Washington. According to the news account, "...the club was organized...for the purpose of aiding the negro citizens in the many avenues of practical living open to them." Further, the group encouraged blacks
"...to remain on the farm and to make that life the foundation of their prosperity."74
At this particular meeting, J.W. Hunt of Dallas addressed the members as did local professionals Dr. D.W.
Porter and Dr. Joseph Wilson. The participation of attorney 88
W.J. Durham, executive secretary of the Progressive
Commercial Club, represented his initial inclusion into
Sherman's black professional class. Durham, who practiced
law in Grayson's county seat during a time that in many ways represented the best and the worst in the local black experience—1920 to 1930—remained in Sherman until the
1940s. From 1940 on, he was directly or indirectly involved in civil rights litigation on the state and national levels that resulted in the dismantling of segregation in the South.
W. (William) J. (Joseph) Durham was born near the turn of the century in rural Hopkins County, Texas. The exact date of his birth is not known since the dates 1896 and 1904 both appear in birth and death records. Durham attended public school in Greenville. While some sources report his receiving degrees from Emporia State College in Emporia, Kansas, and the University of Kansas, neither institution can substantiate such information. He passed the Texas State Bar Exam and received his license to practice law on February 16, 1926. Family members—a sister, Mrs. Pauline Durham Ford of Sulphur Springs, Texas, and a niece, Mrs. B.J. Walton of Sherman—maintain that he attended the University of Kansas, never graduating from the institution, but subsequently passed the Texas Bar without having obtained a college degree.75 89
The exact date of Durham's arrival in Sherman is not known. Tax records and the city directory list him as property owner and attorney for the first time in 1926, the year he received his license to practice law. He maintained an office in the Andrews Building on East Mulberry until the mob destroyed the district in May, 1930. After the destruction of the Andrews Building, he opened an office near his home in Sherman's "colored" section of town, which he maintained until he moved to Dallas in the 1940s.76
During the seventeen years that W.J. Durham practiced law in Sherman, he was highly regarded by both the black and white communities. He served as executive secretary of the
Progressive Commercial Club, and on one occasion gave what was called the "educational address" to the Fred
Douglass graduating class. Sherman resident, civil rights leader, and retired educator Alexander Bate recalled that
Durham "...opened up the avenues in Sherman for a lot of things [for the black community]."77
Members of the legal community also recall Durham.
Retired District Judge Ralph Elliot described the attorney as a "very competent lawyer" who "studied real hard."
According to Elliott who tried many cases with Durham, "He was more studious than...in other words, he would brief his cases...more than I though the average white lawyer did."78
Durham's competence in the courtroom also impressed
Sherman Attorney F. Neilson Rogers, who attributed the 90
"worst licking I ever took in the courthouse" to him.
Rogers described his initial encounter with Durham in one of the first jury cases he tried after opening his practice in
Sherman in 1938. Acknowledging his prejudices, Rogers remarked regarding the incident,
I had the same prejudices that everyone else here had. I thought this would be a simple thing for me to win. I didn't think I would have a problem winning this lawsuit. I thought I was right to begin with and I thought a black lawyer certainly would not cause me any problems in front of a white jury. And here was this brilliant Negro lawyer who was humble, polite and courteous in front of that all white jury and I didn't have a chance and I didn't know what happened to me.79
Elliot affirmed Durham's ability to argue:
He was very successful in his appeals.... He was a very successful pleader and made an excellent argument to the jury. Juries liked him. One thing he did was that he always stood back; he never did get up close to the jury rail. I never will forget most lawyers get up and hit on the jury rail, but he never did. He always stood back ten or twelve feet and argued his case from that position.80
Durham's reputation eventually extended beyond Sherman, for by 1940, according to one historian, he was "recognized as the leading black lawyer in Texas." While still a Sherman resident, he worked with Carter Wesley, publisher of the Houston Informer. and Thurgood Marshall from the national offices of the NAACP to shape a suit to abolish the Democratic Party's white primary. In 1944, under Marshall's 91
supervision and assisted by a team of legal specialists,
Durham successfully argued Smith v. Allwriqhtf the case which, by eliminating the white primary, opened the polls to
black voters. He was then directly involved in the
preparation of Sweatt v. Painter (1950) through which black
students gained admission to institutions of higher learning
and which laid the groundwork for Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka in 1954. When Sweatt came before the
U.S. Supreme Court, W.J. Durham made the opening remarks, and Thurgood Marshall argued the case.81
After Sweatt. Durham continued his work on civil rights
issues. His efforts as an NAACP leader at the state level were so important that one historian described him as
"virtually indispensable to the civil rights movement in
Texas" and as one of three leaders in the state (the others being A. Maceo Smith and Lulu White) that were "so vital to the movement that to imagine the organization without them was difficult." He labored for salary equalization for black teachers in Texas, served on the national board of the
NAACP, assisted in organizing the Texas Council of Voters, and in the late 1950s became the first black to be placed on the state executive committee of the Democrat Party. The contributions of W.J. Durham—a man who in 1930 experienced firsthand the evils of southern racism—to the civil rights movement are not arguable.82 92
In the first years of the twentieth century, the foundations of community were laid among Sherman blacks, and in the years from 1920 to 1930, the community flourished.
One reason it flourished was because of leadership by a degreed, propertied professional class that accommodated the black experience to racial guidelines compatible with white expectations. The community functioned with viable social institutions and practices through which those in leadership sought to improve the quality of life for themselves and the entire black community. To that end, these black professionals brought community needs into the public arena by publishing petitions and letters or by appearances and petitions before the Sherman City Commission. They sought support from the white community for better church and educational facilities. They worked to enhance scholastic experiences by upgrading curriculum, participation in regional and state academic competitions, and by staging often elaborate commencement activities where student achievements could be displayed. They sponsored the appearances of well-known black speakers from other black communities in Texas and, on occasion, hosted meetings and conventions which provided contact with other black Texans.
They then regularly invited the white community to the events and reported the activities to the local newspaper. NOTES
1. "State Census of 1847," Southwestern Historical Quarterly L (July 1946):117; J.D.B. DeBow, Superintendent of the United States Census, The Seventh Census of the United States: 1850. Vol. 1: Population (Washington, 1853), 503; Joseph C.G. Kennedy, Superintendent of Census, Eighth Census, Population of the United States in 1860; Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census (Washington, 1864), 479.
2. Mattie Davis Lucas and Mita Holsapple Hall, A History of Grayson County. Texas (Sherman: Scruggs Printing Company, 1936), 68; Graham Landrum and Allan Smith, An Illustrated History of Grayson County. Texas. 2nd ed. (Ft. Worth: Historical Publishers, 1967), 6; Joseph C.G. Kennedy, Superintendent of Census, Eighth Census, Agriculture of the United States in 1860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census (Washington, 1865), 141.
3. Joseph C.G. Kennedy, Eighth Census, Population of the United States in 1860. 141, 240.
4. Ibid., 240. County voters, true to their southern origins, apparently acknowledged slaveholding as a mark of success, for community leaders were frequently slaveholders. The county judges from 1850 to 1865 are a case in point. Of the eight men who served Grayson County in this capacity, all were originally from "slave" states, and seven of them were slaveholders, although none possessed large holdings. Election Registers, 1850-1880, Records of the Secretary of State, Archives Division (Texas State Library, Austin).
5. Records of the Comptroller of Public Accounts, Ad Valorem Tax Division, County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls. Archives Division, Texas State Library, Austin. Tax records are available on microfilm on a county-by-county basis. Hereinafter these records cited as Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls with the appropriate year. Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1862 and 1864.
6. Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1850, 1854, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1864. Although the Hudson and Potts families owned the largest holdings, no
93 94 one in either family held elected or appointed positions in the county.
7. Lucas and Hall, History of Grayson County, 131, 135, 138. Pervasive lawlessness and the violence directed at Texas freedmen immediately following the war are not arguable. While he claimed that freedmen suffered little in the area, Judge Wilson also acknowledged that "*[m]any foul murders have been committed in [the] county....'" (Lucas and Hall, 135). Calvert and De Leon write that three whites in Grayson County murdered three former bondsmen alleging the need "to thin the niggers out and drive them to their holes." See Robert A. Calvert and Arnoldo De Leon, The History of Texas (Arlington Heights, 111.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1990), 132-133.
8. The Texas Almanac for 1867 (Galveston: D. Richardson, 1866), 112.
9. U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Tenth Census, Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census (June lr 1880) (Washington, 1883), 409; Nearo Population in the United States 1790-1915 (New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1968), 790; Charles E. Hall, Negroes in the United States. 1920-1932 (New York: Arno Press and the New York Times, 1969), 818.
10. Francis A. Walker, Superintendent of Census, Ninth Census, The Statistics of the Population of the United States: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Ninth Census (June l. 18701 (Washington, 1872), 271; U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office, Eleventh Census, Report on Population of the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890. Part I (Washington, 1895), 482; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920. State Compendium: Texas (Washington, 1925), 71; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930f Vol. Ill, Part II: Population (Washington, 1931), 1009.
11. Alwyn Barr, Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas 1528-1971 (Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1973), 67; Calvert and De Leon, History of Texasf 146, 173; Mrs. C.E. Houston, "Harmony Church Began in 1871," Sherman Democrat, 1 June 1969, sec. D, p. 11; "St. John C.M.E. Church Began 94 Years Ago," Sherman Democrat. 1 June 1969, sec. D, p. 12; Maloney's 1899-1900 Sherman-Denison City Directory (Atlanta: The Maloney Directory Co., 1899), 88- 89; "Payne Chapel Dates to 1882," Sherman Democrat. 4 July 1976, sec. D, p. 12; "History of Progressive Missionary 95
Baptist Church" in "Centennial Celebration 1894-1994," Commemorative Publication by Progressive Baptist Church, Sherman, Texas (1994), 2. Copy in author's possession.
12. "Bishop J.W. McKinney," Obituary. Sherman Democrat. 25 August 1946, p. 2; Morrisson and Fourmy's General Directory of the City of Sherman. 1887-88 (Galveston: Morrisson and Fourmy, 1887), 91? Morrisson and Fourmy's General Directory of the City of Sherman 1891-1892 (Galveston: Morrison and Fourmy, 1891), 43; Denison-Sherman City Directory Together With a General Directory of Grayson County. 1893-94 (Chattanooga: Press of MacGowan and Cooke, n.d.), 83, 131? Maloney's 1898-99 Sherman-Denison City Directory (Atlanta: The Maloney Directory Co., 1899), 245, 246? Ashley Goloiher, Assistant Archivist, State Bar of Texas, Austin Texas, telephone interview by author, 20 May 1994.
13. Maloney's Sherman and Denison City Directory (19- 3-1904 [no publication information given], 172? R.L. Polk's and Co. Sherman City Directory 1910-1911 (Sioux City, Iowa: R.L. Polk & Co., 1910), 167? "McKinney" Obituary, Democrat. p. 2? The Nearo Year Book: An Annual Encyclopedia of the Nearo 1925-1926 (Monroe N. Work, ed., Tuskegee Institute, Alabama: NYB Publishing Co., 1925) lists the following: "J.W. McKinney, D.D. Sherman, Texas." Rev. McKinney's name appears as one of ten C.M.E. Church bishops in the United States (p. 263).
14. Rev. H.D. Allen, "Negro Preacher Makes Plea For Work For Negro," Sherman Daily Democrat. 27 November 1921, p. 8.
15. Sherman City Commission, Minutes, Office of the City Clerk, Municipal Building, Sherman, Texas, Vol. R, 321.
16. The Campus Chronicle of North Texas College. Vol. 1 (Published by the Student Body, Edited by the Sophomores, 1924), 16, 37-38. Xerox copy located at the Red River Historical Museum in Sherman, Texas. There are no other known records of the institution except the news article cited below. Newspaper files for the month of October which would have possibly contained news coverage of the institution's opening are not available from the Denison Herald. That there are no Sherman students attending the school in 1924 is probably an indication of the community's support of and satisfaction with the Fred Douglass School.
17. Ibid., 5,8? "White Minister of Sherman to Address Negro Baptists," Sherman Daily Democrat. 26 October 1921, p. 3. 96
18. "Large Crowd Hears Singers," Sherman Daily Democratr 16 June 1927, p. 5. The efforts to finance the new church facilities were also publicized.
19. Houston, Democrat. Dll.
20. "Negro Health Week Here," Sherman Daily Democrat. 12 March 1930, p. 8; "Health Week Subject of Talks to Negroes," Sherman Daily Democrat. 24 March 1930, p. 10.
21. "Committee of Negro Citizens Visit Melissa," Sherman Daily Democrat. 22 April 1921, p. 4 and "Colored Relief Committee Makes Report Public," Sherman Daily Democrat. 25 April 1921, p. 5. The latter is a lengthy article listing numerous individuals in the local black community.
22. "Public Schools," Sherman Daily Registerf 26 May 1888, p. 1; Sherman Daily Register. 16 August 1892, p. 8.
23 / • Morrisson and Fourmev s Tsicl 1887-88r 40; Morrisson and Fourmev's 1891-92. 43; Denison-Sherman 1893=94, 10; Citv Directory of Sherman-Denison. Teyas. 1896-1897 (Chattanooga, Tenn: MacGowan and Cooke, n.d.), 54. Porter will be described more fully later. These records also provide the names of other long-time Fred Douglass educators, including the wives of Bishop McKinney and Dr. Porter—Mrs. M. Alice McKinney and Mrs. Katie E. Porter. Another educator listed was Mrs. Ada N. Prince, wife of Dr. Anthony N. Prince, local physician whose extensive role in the community will be described later. Throughout the years to 1930, these names—McKinney, Porter, and Prince—appear repeatedly in the activities of Sherman's black community in various capacities.
24. L.J. Williams, "Colored Library," Sherman Daily Register, 23 February 1900, p. 2; L.J. Williams, "Will Get a Library," Sherman Daily Register. 24 February 1900, p. 3.
25. "Reduced to Ashes," Sherman Daily Registerr 11 November 1904, p. 2.
26. "Negro School Opened Today," Sherman Daily Register. 14 November 1904, p. 2.
27. "Negroes Petition," Sherman Daily Register. 16 November 1904, p. 2.
28. A.J. Kirkpatrick, "Fred Douglass School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 31 May 1916, p. 4. 97
29. Ibid.; "Professor A.J. Kirkpatrick, Weil-Known Negro Teacher, Dies at His Home Here," Sherman Daily Democrat. 31 July 1922, p. 5. Professor Kirkpatrick's academic record, although described in the obituary cannot be confirmed at Prairie View College, according to the archives staff at Coleman Library on the campus, for no records exist prior to 1900. 30. A.J. Kirkpatrick, "Fred Douglass Students Take Many Prizes," Sherman Daily Democrat. 16 April 1921, p. 6; "Fred Douglass Led in Two Contests," Sherman Daily Democrat. 26 April 1921, p. 4.
31. "Graduating Exercises," Sherman Daily Democrat. 6 June 1916, p. 6; "Fred Douglass School, "Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 June 1918, p. 1; "Every Graduate Had Part In Fred Douglass Graduating Exercises," Sherman Daily Democrat. 29 May 1920, p. 1; "Fred Douglas [sic] High School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 7 June 1921, p. 10; "Fred Douglass Class Graduates On Monday Evening, Andrews Hall," Sherman Daily Democrat. 4 June 1922, p. 3.
32. Barr, Black Texans. 157-158; U.S. Department of the Interior, Nearo Education: A Study of the Private and Higher Schools for Colored People in the United States (2 vols., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1917), 603- 605. Of the sixteen public high schools in Texas for black scholastics in 1915, two were located in Grayson County, one in Sherman, the other in Denison.
33. Barr, Black Texans. 157-158.
34. City Directory 1896-1897. 45; Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, Schedule I - Inhabitants for Grayson County, Texas, (Microfilm); Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1900, 1905, 1910.
35. "Colored People of Sherman Will have a War Council," Sherman Daily Democrat 23 January 1918, p. 1; "Colored War Council Elects Officers," Sherman Daily Democrat. 26 January 1918, p. 4. For information on war councils in Texas, see Calvert and De Leon, History of Texas, 275.
36. "Professor Kirkpatrick Dies Here," Democratr p. 5. 37. "Ready to Begin Walls of New Negro School, Contractors Report," Sherman Daily Democratf 6 March 1920, p. 1. Information regarding the cause of the fire in unavailable. 98
38. A.J. Kirkpatrick, "Fred Douglass School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 30 May 1919, p. 8. 39. "Fred Douglass Colored High School Closes," Sherman Daily Democrat. 25 May 1924, p. 9; "Fred Douglass School Hears Rev. E.J. Jackson," Sherman Daily Democrat. 3 June 1929, p. 5; "Supt. L.T. Cook Addresses Class at Negro School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 4 June 1929, p. 2; "Fred Douglass Graduates Hear Rev. S.J. Connor," Sherman Daily Democrat. 27 May 1930; p. 2. 40. Barr, Black Texans. 107-108; Calvert and De Leon, History of Texas. 144, 172, 238; Maloney/s 1899-1900. 94-95; "McKinney," Obituary, Democrat. p. 2.
41. No information is available on these four associations except the newspaper coverage of the state convention of the True People of America included below.
42. "Negroes Here For Gathering," Sherman Daily Democrat. 24 July 1923, p. 12. The newspaper is in error as the correct name of the local black dentist was R.L. Stinnett. Dr. Stinnett was a Grayson County native who graduated from Meharry in the early 1920s and subsequently opened his practice in the business district on East Mulberry Street. Grayson County Historical Society, Minutes, vol. 4, 12 February 1991, n.p. The Society's Minutes are available at the Sherman Public Library in Sherman, Texas. 43. R.L. Polk's and Co. 1910-1911. 17; R.L. Polk and Co.'s Sherman City Directory (Sioux City, Iowa: R.L. Polk and Co., 1918), 27-29. R.L. Polk and Co.'s Sherman City Directory (Sioux City, Iowa: R.L. Polk and Co., 1921), 23- 25.
44. Death Record, City of Sherman, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, Vol. 4D, 259; "Dr. A.N. Prince Passes Away At His Home Here," Sherman Daily Democrat. 14 February 1932, p. 8; Polk's Sherman (Texas) Citv Directory. Vol. (1930-31) XI (Dallas: R.L. Polk and Co., 1930), 256. Photocopies of the Meharry Medical College catalogue listings and the student graduate cards obtained from the Meharry Archives are in the author's possession. These records contain the names "Anthony N. Prince (M.D., 1888), D.W. Porter (M.D., 1892) and Samuel Goodson (M.D., 1913). A telephone interview with Meharry Archives Assistant Shonta' Hardin on June 3, 1994 confirmed the awarding of a degree in Pharmacology to Jeff D. Goodson in 1916. Hereinafter these sources cited as Meharry Medical College Records. 99
45. Twelfth Census (1900), Schedule I? Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1900, 1905, 1910; Probate Records, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, Vol. 56, 1446. The tax records reveal that Dr. Prince's holdings were the most extensive of the local black property owners.
46. "Dr. Prince Passes," Democrat. p. 8; "Sherman Colored Folk Are to Observe Negro Health Week," Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 April 1923, p. 2; "Report Made of Campaign on Mosquitoes," Sherman Daily Democrat. 6 September 1922, p. 1.
47. Sherman City Commission, Minutes, Vol. R, 220.
48. "Dr. Prince Passes," Democrat. p. 8; Barr, Black Texans. 167.
49. "Dr. A.N. Prince, Sherman Colored Physician is Honored by His Brethren," Sherman Daily Democrat. 6 June 1917, p. 3.
50. "Dr. Prince of Sherman To Negro Race," Sherman Daily Democrat. 15 June 1918, p. 7.
51. "D.W. Porter, Negro Physician Here, Dies," Sherman Daily Democrat. 26 November 1934, p. 10; Death Record, City of Sherman, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, Vol. 5D, 51; Meharry Medical College Records.
52. "Fred Douglass School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 June 1918, p. 1.
53. "Wood's Rangers," Sherman Daily Register. 1 June 1898, p. 1.
54. "National Registration Day Is Generally Observed," Sherman Daily Democratf 5 June 1917, p. 1+. "Colored Citizens," Sherman Daily Democrat. 4 June 1917, p. 1.
55. "National Registration Day," Democrat, p. 2.
56. Ibid., p. 4. 57. "War Council," Democrat. p. 4. 58. For descriptions of some of Texas's earliest "Juneteenth" celebrations, see Randolph B. Campbell, An Empire for Slavery; The Peculiar Institution in Texas. 100
1821-1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press, 1989), 249-251. See also, Calvert and De Leon, History of Texas. 173, 240. It is not known how long Sherman's black community had observed "Juneteenth." The earliest celebration mentioned in the local paper was June, 1916, and the tone of the article does not suggest that the holiday was in any way an observance unknown or new to the community. The local black baseball team, the Sherman Black Stars, frequently hosted games during "Juneteenth" with teams from Whitewright and Denison in Grayson County and Ladonia in Fannin County. Some of the noted speakers who addressed Sherman celebrants on various "Juneteenths" were J.W. Rice, editor of the Dallas Express; W.H. Burnett, described as "silver-tongued orator of Terrell, Texas;" and Roscoe Conkling Simmons, nephew of Booker T.. Washington. According to subsequent news coverage of Simmons's appearance, "[qjuite a number of representative white people" attended. See "Noted Negro Speaker Coming to Sherman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 23 June 1920, p. 1. For information on the local community's activities on "Juneteenth," see the following: "Black Stars Have Won Several Games to Date," Sherman Daily Democrat. 28 May 1921, p. 5; "Negroes Celebrate Emancipation Day," Sherman Daily Democratf 20 June 1926, p. 10; "Negroes of Sherman Will Celebrate With Picnic on Juneteenth," Sherman Daily Democrat. 16 June 1921, p. 3. Sherman blacks also celebrated the holiday with other black communities as in 1925 when a joint celebration with Denison blacks marked the opening of Mercy Hospital (in Denison), an institution owned and operated by blacks. Newspaper coverage noted that blacks from throughout Grayson County attended and Sherman's Polar Star Band furnished music for the occasion. See "Emancipation Day To Be Celebrated in Denison Friday," Sherman Daily Democrat. 18 June 1925, p. 5, "Negro Hospital in Denison Open," Sherman Daily Democratf 24 June 1925, p. 5, and "Negro Hospital In Denison To Open Its Doors Friday," The Denison Herald. 17 June 1925, p. 2. The extent to which Sherman blacks were involved in the erection of Mercy Hospital cannot be determined. Given the frequent association of the two black communities, it is reasonable to assume some involvement of Sherman blacks in the enterprise. The Sherman paper described the event as "...mark(ing) a great step forward in the progress of civic development among the colored people of this section of the country."
59. "Sherman Negroes Are to Celebrate Emancipation Day," Sherman Daily Democrat. 18 June 1924, p. 6; "Dr. Porter's Address," Sherman Daily Democrat. 21 June 1916, p. 4. 101
60. Twelfth Census, 1900, Schedule 1; Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1900, 1905, 1910. There are no probate records for Dr. D.W. Porter.
61. Meharry Medical College Records; Death Record. Vols. 4D and 8D, City of Sherman, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, 114, 115, respectively; Polk/s City Directory (1918), 356. City directories (1896-97, 1899-1900, 1901-02, 1903-04) and the 1898 newspaper account describing Wood's Rangers (see endnote #53) mention Dr.Allen Smith. Meharry Medical College has no record of his attendance, and no other information is available on Smith.
62. Estate of Samuel Goodson, Case Papers #10867, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas.
63. "City Fire Limits Are Extended Block West By New Ordinance," Sherman Daily Democratf 17 May 1921, p. l. 64. See endnote #21 above.
65. "J.D. Goodson Kills Himself," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 January 1930, p. 1. For charges against Goodson relating to violations of liquor laws, see "In the Courts," Sherman Daily Democrat 1 December 1927, p. 14.
66. "Colored Park Work Day," Sherman Daily Democrat. 21 May 1921, p. 3.
67. Regular Meeting of Civic League, Sherman Courier. 12 April 1917, p. l.
68. Sherman City Commission, Minutes, Vol. R, 103.
69. "Colored Citizens Raise $286.06 for Cemetery Fund," Sherman Daily Democrat. 15 November 1921, p. 6; "Colored Citizens Cemetery Association," Sherman Daily Democrat, 19 April 1921, p. 6; "Public Taste Rule Demand," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 April 1922, p. 6.
70. "Negro Citizens Will Beautify Their Property," Sherman Daily Democratf 8 February 1928, p. 9. 71. "Sherman Negroes Beautifying Homes," Sherman Daily Democratf 25 March 1928, p. 11.
72. "Negroes Doing Their Full Part in Beautifying City," Sherman Daily Demonratr 14 March 1928, p. 12; "Civic League Will Launch Mosquito Cleanup Campaign," Sherman 102
Daily Democrat. 16 March 1930, p. 4; "Colored Citizens Work for Red Cross," Sherman Daily Democrat. 22 November 1921, p. 1; "Chairman has Named Help," Sherman Daily Democrat. 21 March 1921, p. 16; "Fred Douglas [sic] School," Sherman Daily Democrat. 5 May 1921, p. 6.
73. "Negro Commercial Club Has High Ideals for Race," Sherman Daily Democrat. 12 September 1928, p. 13. A search of newspaper files for November and Decembei: 1927 and January 1928 which would have been the timeframe for the organization of the club yielded no initial announcement of the group's formation.
74. Ibid.
75. Birth Record, Office of the County Clerk, Hopkins County Courthouse, Sulphur Springs, Texas, Vol. 22, 461; "W.J. Durham Leader in Integration Dies," Dallas Morning News. 26 December 1970, sec. D, p. 49; Michael L. Gillette, "The Rise of the NAACP in Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 81 (April 1978): 402-403; Ashley Goloiher, Assistant Archivist, State Bar of Texas, Austin, Texas, telephone interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 20 May 1994.; Mrs. Pauline Durham Ford, unrecorded personal interview by author, Sulphur Springs, Texas, 23 March 1987, notes in author's possession; Mrs. B.J. Walton, telephone interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 23 March 1987.
76. Grayson County Real and Personal Property Tax Rolls, 1926; R.L. Polk & Co.'s Sherman City Directory (Sioux City, Iowa: R.L. Polk & Co., 1925), 113; Polk's Directory (1930-1931), 144. Durham's obituary reports a twenty-seven year residency in Dallas at the time of his 1970 death, making 1943 the approximate year of his departure from Sherman. Interviews with family members previously cited corroborate that information.
77. "Fred Douglass Colored High School Closes," Sherman Daily Democrat. 25 May 1924, p. 9; Alexander Bate, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 19 September 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
78. Ralph Elliott, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 14 November 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
79. F. Neilson Rogers, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 19 August 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
80. Elliott interview. 103
81. Gillette, "NAACP," 402; Barr, Black Texans. 174; Randall W. Bland, Private Pressure on Public Law: The Legal Career of Justice Thuraood Marshall (Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press, 1973), 31, 66; Gillette, "NAACP," 402,404; Michael L. Gillette, "Heman Marion Sweatt: Civil Rights Plaintiff" in Black Leaders: Texans for Their Times. edited by Alwyn Barr and Robert A. Calvert (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1981), 173, 178, 180.
82. Gillette, "NAACP", 404, 414; "Durham Dies," Dallas News. D49; Barr, Black Texans. 177. CHAPTER III
RACE RELATIONS IN SHERMAN AND GRAYSON COUNTY
DURING THE 1920S
The black professionals of Sherman apparently were highly regarded by the local white community. Frequently under white sponsorship, they organized local associations and successful campaigns for specific needs among the residents. Local whites relied on these professionals to organize "their parts" in the city-wide events or to supervise the construction and maintenance of "their" facilities. They functioned as liaisons of sorts between the black and white worlds of Sherman in the interracial activities considered appropriate in a Jim Crow South. The white community's expectation was that local blacks would operate within clearly defined boundaries, and in 1920, on the only known occasion when these boundaries were threatened, the white community responded as could be expected.
In that year, according to local news reports, "Union Organizers" from "Yankeedom" arrived in Sherman. As a result of their activities, a local group known only as the Citizens' Welfare Association published a notice in the local newspaper stating that these "radicals," who had, among other things, caused the formation of a Negro Union in 104 105
Sherman, were far from welcome in the area. The writer claimed that the "best element" of the local blacks whom he described as "law-abiding" and "industrious" and whom local whites held in "high esteem" would have nothing to do with the unionizers. He then asked readers if they would like to
"take orders from a Negro Business Agent of the Cotton
Choppers Union." Detailing the recent violence by union blacks upon non-union blacks in Port Arthur, Texas, the writer, while claiming no desire to "talk scary," probably prompted local blacks considering union membership to think again.1
The activities of the Citizens' Welfare Asociation notwithstanding, race relations in the community of Sherman were not as tense as they were elsewhere. The interracial activities that often occurred between churches, clubs, or in the educational arena would not likely have occurred at all in an atmosphere riddled with racial animosity. When
Sherman Mayor Will Leslie welcomed the state convention of the black fraternal organization known as the True People of
America to the town in 1923, news accounts reported that his address "...detailed the relations between the races in
Sherman, and contained references to the high type of the negro citizens of Sherman as a whole." Although there is no record of the mayor's exact words on that day, it is doubtful that he would have praised local blacks had racial hostility characterized the town or that a black fraternal 106 organization would have selected Sherman for the site of its state convention had race relations there been particularly poor.2
A 1921 trial that occurred in Sherman provides additional evidence that a seething racial climate did not exist in the community at the time. A local black man,
Albert Wilson, was charged with the criminal assault of an area white woman, Dovie Padgett, a resident of Savoy in adjacent Fannin County. According to the accounts of the trial, the woman was a guest at a Sherman hotel where Wilson worked when the attack allegedly occurred. Although the trial concluded with the conviction and life imprisonment of the defendant, the episode is intriguing. For one thing, several local prominent whites including the Sherman city attorney and the chief of police testified in the defendant's behalf during the trial, while certain Savoy residents affirmed that the woman had a "bad" reputation in their community. Also, the trial ended without any public disturbance at all. Credit must certainly be given to a stern Judge Silas Hare, Jr., who admonished the "numerous" spectators as the trial commenced that no disruption of the judicial process would be tolerated. In the judge's words,
"No citizen or group of citizens [has] a right to take into their own hands the enforcement of the law." Consequently,
"perfect order was preserved," according to the local newspaper. Although Judge Hare was an influential member of 107 the community and had a reputation for upholding the law unequivocally, had the atmosphere been one of pervasive racial animosity, a trial involving the southern taboo against miscegenation could easily have included mob activity. However, there is no evidence of anything but
"perfect order" surrounding the episode.3
Sherman blacks who resided in the community during the
1920s also recall that race relations at the time were not particularly antagonistic. William Hill and Alexander Bate, both retired educators and from families who have lived in
Sherman since the early 1900s, agree that, although the community exhibited racial attitudes usually associated with the South, relations between local blacks and whites were not what could be described as tense. In fact, Bate, who played a key role in the integration of Sherman during the
1960s, described them as "pretty good." Although both men recall the Ku Klux Klan being active locally during the early twenties as it was throughout the South and in other areas of the nation, neither recalls race-baiters or Klan violence directed at local blacks. Hill, commenting that he did not recall being personally afraid or that fear of Klan actions were of paramount concern to his family, remarked,
"...[I]t seems to me...the purpose was [to] try to frighten some of the people, but they never did do anything to them."
Bate's most vivid recollections of the Klan are of the group's visitation of white churches in the area during the 108 early 1920s. News accounts of Klan activity during this time corroborate both men's recollections.4
The local activities of the Ku Klux Klein commenced in
July of 1921. Frequent news reports, almost all of which were on the front page of the Sherman Daily Democrat. spouted Klan propaganda and detailed numerous meetings attended by numbers as large as 3,000 to 4,000. Frequent reports of such numbers in Klan regalia meeting in rural areas or marching 462 strong through downtown Sherman could not fail to impress the local readers that the Klan was large and active in the area, although most of the coverage reported the many benevolent deeds of the Ku Klux Klan. The organization acted to benefit local schoolchildren, needy individuals, and, on one occasion, local strikers. There is no news coverage of Klan violence at all except in September of 1921, when the white assistant manager of a major Sherman hotel for some reason still unknown was tarred and feathered by a masked group. Although the man departed Sherman immediately, reporting the event to local authorities by phone, the grand jury, when presented the incident, subsequently no-billed the masked tar party. There were later reports that a particular black resident had been tarred and feathered, but when newsmen visited him to investigate, the man, who was at work at the time the event allegedly had taken place, showed no evidence of abuse.5 109
Recurrent publicity about the Klan, no matter how benevolent and charitable the organization appeared to be, undoubtedly reminded local blacks that the organization was alive and well in the community. Also during this period, the Sherman Daily Democrat repeatedly recounted the vicious attacks upon blacks in other parts of the state and in the
South in general. All served the desired end—to remind and warn of the potential consequences to be suffered by any black who "got out of his place." This was an absolute of life in Dixie, and Sherman blacks understood that as well as any southerners.6
Perhaps the best indicator of race relations in Sherman during the 1920s was the development of a business district in the 200 block of East Mulberry Street, one block east and four blocks north of the Grayson County courthouse—near but not in what was considered to be the black section of town.
The first mention of any development in the area occurred in the 1903 Sherman city directory with the listing of an Odd
Fellows (GUOOF) Hall. The next available directory, 1909, lists two barber shops in the block. One of them was co- owned by William Mann who would maintain his shop in that location until the mob destroyed the district in 1930.7
By 1912, an undertaking establishment, a restaurant, and a tailor shop had opened for business. A.G. Johnson who operated the restaurant remained, like Mann, in business on
East Mulberry until 1930. In the next four years, an 110 undertaking company, a confectionery shop, a cleaner/presser, and a shoemaker provided additional services to the black community.8
Such businesses were typical of the kind operated by black Texans throughout the state. According to one historian, black businesses in the early 1900s consisted of
"barber shops, saloons, restaurants, grocery stores, boarding houses, blacksmith shops, launderies rsicl. wood dealers, boot and shoe shops, caterers, pawn brokers, and dairy men." Sherman city directories reveal that in the years from 1900 to 1929, the local black community contained all of these types of establishments if not on Mulberry
Street, then in other locations around town. In that respect, local black business development was typical of what was occurring throughout the Lone Star State. What may have been atypical for a town the size of Sherman in the
1920s was a black business district which contained shops, establishments, and professional offices located in a structure of such quality as the Andrews Building.9
The district appears to have flourished especially after the construction of the Andrews Building by George
Andrews, a wealthy black landowner from Bells, a small community approximately twelve miles east of Sherman.
Although the exact construction date is not known, the dramatic increase in tax valuation of the lot on East
Mulberry from $750.00 in 1917 to $7,000 in 1918 suggests Ill that the erection of the Andrews Building occurred some time in that period.10 The addition of the Andrews Building to the area where some businesses already operated resulted in the formation of a black business district in the area.
George Andrews, born in Iowa in the mid-1860s, had come to Texas as a boy and by the time of his death in 1928 (at the hands of an angry tenant in a dispute over cotton prices), had amassed a substantial estate which included 668 acres in Grayson County in addition to the Andrews Building in Sherman. The total value of his estate was $32,478.48.11
The only known photograph of the structure belongs to the family of William Hill whose niece married a grandson of
George Andrews. The photo shows a two-story brick structure with several business establishments whose names may be clearly seen in the lettering on the storefront windows occupying the bottom story. The building itself is neat and well-maintained. Several blacks who appear well dressed can be seen going and coming or visiting along the street in an area which appears to be the better part of a city block.12
In a compilation of information provided in the Sherman city directories, the growth of the district is most evident in the years after 1920. In 1921, there were two professionals (Samuel and Jeff Goodson) and ten business establishments providing services to the black community.
Five years later, in 1926, there were six professionals who officed on East Mulberry. In addition to the Goodsons, 112 there were Dr. D.W. Porter and his son, Dr. R.C. Porter; Dr.
Ray L. Stinnett, a dentist; and W.J. Durham, attorney. It should also be noted that Dr. A.N. Prince remained in practice, although he never moved his office from its original location in downtown Sherman. There were also in
1926 eight businesses in the district. In 1929, the year before it was destroyed by the mob, the district contained seven businesses, six professional offices, and a GUOOF Hall in addition to the 300 seat theater which comprised the second story of the Andrews Building. The area provided local blacks with many necessary services and a meeting place for important events in the community.13
Because little research on black business development in Texas prior to 1930 has been done, it is difficult to assess Sherman's experience in relation to other communities its size. In his examination of black businesses in Texas in the years from 1900 to 1950, William J. Brophy described business in some of the larger cities in the state such as
Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas. He found that black business in Texas was essentially undeveloped and gains were meager in large part because lending institutions denied blacks financing available to prospective white entrepreneurs. According to Brophy, whenever there was evidence of gains in the black business world, publications like the Crisis reported the activities. In one example, the Crisis cited the 1916 purchase of two brick buildings in 113
Marlin, Texas, by a prospective black entrepreneur who intended to establish a funeral home and a movie theater on the property. The mention of this in a national publication such as the Crisis indicates that the erection of a structure such as the Andrews Building in 1917 or 1918 was significant for Texas blacks. Brophy also found that black businesses in Texas were primarily proprietorships. Since
George Andrews and his heirs continued to own the Andrews
Building until its destruction in 1930 at the hands of the mob, this was apparently the nature of most of the black business in the Sherman district.14
The size of the professional class in Sherman's local black community is also important. According to the 1930 federal census, there were 854,964 black Texans. Of that number, 7,009 or approximately 0.8 percent resided in
Grayson County and 2,014 approximately 0.2 percent lived in
Sherman. Thus, the size of Grayson County's black population and of the local black community relative to the state's black community was small indeed. 3:n his study of black Texans, Alwyn Barr found that, in 1930, there were 205 physicians, 99 dentists, and 20 attorneys in the Lone Star
State. That Sherman's black residents and other blacks in
Grayson County in 1930 were served by four physicians or two percent of all the black physicians in the state, a dentist or one percent of all the black dentists in the state, and an attorney or five percent of all the black attorneys in 114
Texas is notable in assessing race relations in the community. The existence of such a large number of professionals in addition to the black educators, churchmen, and businessmen who lived, served and worked in Sherman is perhaps the most persuasive indication of a solid and developing community. However, the events of May 9, 1930, shattered what was perhaps the best of times for the black community in the history of the area. What had been a flourishing community of businesses and professionals would in a matter of hours lay in ruins.15 NOTES
1. Citizens Welfare Association, "Unionizing the NegroesSherman Daily Democrat. 28 May 1920, p. 8.
2. In the aftermath of World War I, violence frequently characterized race relations in many parts of the nation. Southern lynch mobs killed over seventy blacks, ten of whom were WWI veterans "in uniform," in 1919. In that year also, the nation experienced twenty-five race riots, the worst of which occurred in Chicago and Washington, D.C. In 1920, during what came to be called the "Election Day" riots, seven towns in Florida were scenes of death and property destruction in which approximately thirty-five blacks died. Twenty-one blacks and ten whites died in a race riot, frequently called a race war, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921. The resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1920s antagonized race relations as well. The number of reported lynchings increased from sixteen in 1924, to seventeen in 1925, and to twenty-three in 1926, after a significant downward trend in the years from 1921 to 1923. As blacks left the South in increasing numbers seeking better economic opportunities, racial tensions spread from the South to other parts of the nation. See Harry A. Ploski and James Williams, comps. and eds., The Nearo Almanac: A Reference Work on the African-American. 5th ed. (New York: Gale Research Co., 1989), 23 and W. Augustus Low and Virgil A. Clift, Encyclopedia of Black America (New York: McGraw- Hill, 1981), 234-235. Also see John M. Blum, William S. McFeely, Edmund S. Morgan, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Kenneth M. Stampp, and C. Vann Woodward, The National Experience: A History of the United States. 7th ed. (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch, Publishers, 1989), 565- 566, 582-583; "Negroes Here For Gathering," Sherman Daily Democrat. 24 July 1923, p. 12.
3. "Negro Charged With Assault on Trial," Sherman Daily Democrat. 28 June 1921, p. 1; "Albert Wilson, Negro Is Convicted And Gets 99 Years In The Pen," Sherman Daily Democrat. 30 June 1921, pp. 1-2.
4. Alexander Bate, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 19 September 1986, tape recording in author's possession; William Hill, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 13 October 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
115 116
5. "The Ku Klux Klan is in Sherman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 26 July 1921, p. 1; "Newspaper Reporters Scented Hot Story But Were Turned Back at Gate," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 September 1921, p. 1; "Dr. Caleb A. Ridley Talks on Objects of Ku Klux Klan," Sherman Daily Democrat. 25 August 1921, p. 1; "Sherman Ku Klux Klan Put on Parade 462 Strong in Business Section," Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 February 1922, p. 1; "Ku Klux Klan Donate rsicl $100 to Frisco Men," Sherman Daily Democrat. 22 August 1922, p. 1; "K.K.K. Sends Second Donation to Help in Affliction," Sherman Daily Democrat. 31 August 1922, p. 1; "Ku Klux Klan of Sherman Give $50 to Children of Day Nursery," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 September 1921, p. 1; "Sherman Ku Klux Klan Give fsic] $100 Each to Salvation Army and The United Charities," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 December 1921, p. 1; "Ku Klux Klan contribute fsicl to Dinner Fund," Sherman Daily Democrat. 18 December 1921, p. 1; "Widow is Given Assistance by Ku Klux Klan," Sherman Daily Democratf 6 February 1922, p. 2; "R.L. Henry is Guest of K.K.K. in Sherman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 19 May 1922, p. 7; "103 Initiated Into Ku Klux Klan Friday," Sherman Daily Democrat. 21 July 1922, p. 1? "Local Ku Klux Klan Initiates 33 New Men Into Hooded Order, Sherman Daily Democrat. 23 August 1922, p. 1? "45 New Klansmen are Initiated Into Mysteries of Order," Sherman Daily Democrat. 8 September 1922, p. 1; "Sherman and McKinney KKK Hold Meeting," Sherman Daily Democrat. 30 October 1921, p. 7; "Fred Ziegler Leaves Sherman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 22 September 1921, p. 1; "No Bills Found By Grand Jury Against Masked Tar Party," Sherman Daily Democrat. 7 October 1921, p. 1? "Tar and Feather Party Rumor Is Denied By Negro," Sherman Daily Democrat. 24 September 1921, p. 1.
6. "One Negro Burned in Camp County; Officers Kill Another," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 October 1921, p. 1; Alwyn Barr, Black Texans: A History of Negroes in Texas 1528-1971 (Austin: Jenkins Publishing Co., 1973), 139.
7• Maloney's Sherman and Denison City Directory 1903- 1904 [no publication information given], 69; Maloney/s 1909 Sherman City Directory [no publication information given], 172.
8. R.L. Polk and Co.'s Sherman City Directory 1912- 1913 (Sioux City, Iowa: R.L. Polk & Co., Publishers, 1912), 298; R.L. Polk & Co.'s Sherman City Directory 1916 (Sioux City, Iowa: R. L. Polk & Co., Publishers, 1916), 311. 9. Barr, Black Texans. 95. 117
10. "Tenant Kills Rich Negro," Sherman Daily Democrat, 16 September 1928, p. 1; Assessor's Abstract of City Lots, City of Sherman, Office of the Tax Assessor Collector, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, Book 22, 34.
11. "Tenant Kills," Democratf p. 1; Estate of George W. Andrews, Case Papers #5743, Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas.
12. The only known picture of the Andrews Building is a large rendering in oils done during the 1920s from a photograph that has been lost. William Hill of Sherman borrowed the picture from the Andrews descendants currently living in Dallas and allowed the author to make photographs of it. These photographs are in the author's possession.
13• R.L. Polk and Co.'s Sherman City Directory (Sioux City: R.L. Polk and Co., 1921), 389-390; R.L. Polk and Co.'s Sherman City Directory (Sioux City: R.L. Polk and Co., 1926), 395-396; Polk's Sherman (Texas 1 City Directory. Vol. 1928-1929 X (Dallas: R.L. Polk and Co., 1929), 425.
14. William J. Brophy, "Black Business Development In Texas Cities, 1900-1950," Red River Valley Historical Review 1 (Spring 1991): 43, 55.
15. Barr, Black Texans. 151-152; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States. 1930. Vol. Ill, Part II: Population (Washington, 1931), 980, 1009; The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo Corporation, 1933), 49. CHAPTER IV
THE LYNCHING: MAY 9 INTO MAY 10, 1930
On Sunday morning, May 4, 1930, Sherman residents opened their newspapers to the following headline: "Negro
Held For Assault Near Luella." The sub-headlines would pique the interest of any reader, for they contained the words "white woman victim" and news that a law enforcement official had been "fired on twice." The opening sentence of the account tempted the reader further: "No threats of mob violence were heard from residents of the section in which
the victim...lives...." These were inflammatory words in
any southern community, and the events of the following days became scenes in a tragedy forever a blot on Sherman's history. As a Denison Herald reporter described the day
some forty-six years later, it was "...a time...when the law was forgotten and civilization retreated."1
Initial news accounts described the circumstances
surrounding the alleged crime. George Hughes, a forty-one- year-old farm laborer who had been in Grayson County for
only a short time, had gone to the residence of his employer of two weeks, Drew Farlow, on the Luella Road approximately
five miles southeast of Sherman, on Saturday morning, May 3, to collect wages owed to him. Mrs. Pearl Farlow, his employer's wife, informed Hughes that her husband was not at
118 119 home and would return later in the day. Hughes left, but allegedly returned shortly with a shotgun, forced his way into the home, and subsequently raped the young farm wife in the bedroom of the Farlow home. Afterward, according to the woman's statement, Hughes tied her to the bedpost and left to search for her young son who had fled shortly after the laborer had entered the farmhouse. Men walking down a nearby road had found the young child crying and had started toward the Farlow home when Hughes, seeing the men, fled into adjacent fields, firing at them. Mrs. Farlow, having freed herself, ran to a neighbor's home and summoned the authorities. Sheriff Arthur Vaughan sent Deputy Bart Shipp to investigate. The officer, joined by one of the neighbors, Weldon Taylor, pursued Hughes through the fields.
Finally, after having fired several shots at the automobile carrying Shipp and Taylor, Hughes surrendered. Taken into custody, he was arrested and jailed in the Grayson County jail in Sherman. According to a 1931 master's thesis which included information from an interview with Sheriff Vaughan,
Hughes was taken to the Collin County jail in McKinney early
Sunday as a "precautionary measure.112
On Monday evening, May 5, the Sherman Daily Democrat headlines read: "Quick Trial Promised For Negro By
Officials After Special Jury Acts." According to the article, by approximately noon on Monday, the grand jury had returned two indictments against Hughes after hearing 120 testimony from Sheriff Arthur Vaughan, Deputy Bart Shipp, and Farlow neighbors Weldon Taylor and Frank Morgan.
Grayson County Attorney Joe Cox also read a statement from
Mrs. Farlow and a statement from Hughes "...coinciding in principal details with the statement of the woman."
Officials scheduled the trial for Friday, May 9, under Texas
law the earliest possible date the trial could be held. The
local judicial machinery moved swiftly and surely into
action.3
The first hint of unrest in the community occurred at
approximately nine o'clock on Tuesday evening, May 6. A
group of young men described as in their late teens appeared
at the Grayson County jail around which a large group of
spectators had gathered. In what the paper called "a little
disturbance," the young men tried unsuccessfully to organize
the crowd in an attempt to remove Hughes from the jail.
There were several anxious moments throughout the evening
when, for example, window panes shattered, lights in the
jail lobby darkened, and officers fired several shots into
the air. At another point, an old telephone pole appeared
among the onlookers, apparently to be used as a battering
ram. According to the account, onlookers heard cursing and
saw evidence of drinking among the young "agitators."
Members of the Farlow family appeared at the jail at one
point in the evening, and assured by law enforcement
officials that the trial would occur as quickly as possible, 121 they then tried to calm the crowd. Later in the evening, the spectators doused County Attorney Cox with a water hose as he tried to dissuade them from taking any extralegal action. In spite of these tense moments, however, the newspaper noted that there was "no serious effort to storm the building and no guns were in evidence in the crowd."
Finally, Sheriff Vaughan defused the situation at approximately one o'clock in the morning when he escorted five of the agitators through the jail to demonstrate that the accused was not in the building. According to the 1931 thesis, Hughes was at this point still in the county jail in
McKinney.4
The newspaper, however, provided its readers with a light moment amid the tension of the evening commenting that
"[f]ew serious situations fail to have a humorous side."
The journal's idea of humor was a telephone call to the jail made by Sheriff Vaughan's wife as the local ruffians and spectators were outside the jail demanding that officials turn George Hughes over to them. Told that her husband was
"busy" at the moment, Mrs. Vaughan left the following message: "Tell him that I feel like kicking those little rascals. They are ruining all of my flowers."5
Apparently, there were some in Grayson County concerned about more serious matters than the landscaping at the county jail, for on the next day, after four local men visited the building to see if Hughes were there, Governor 122
Dan Moody, at the request of local officials, dispatched
four Texas Rangers including Captain Frank Hamer from Fort
Worth to Sherman. Hamer, Sgt. J.B. Wheatley, J.E. McCoy,
and J.W. Aldrich arrived early Thursday morning, May 8. At
approximately seven o'clock on that same morning, George
Hughes, brought from McKinney in the pre-dawn hours by law
enforcement officials, pled guilty at his arraignment before
Judge R.M. Carter in the Fifteenth District Court. Hughes's
appearance in the Sherman courtroom occurred without
incident. After the arraignment, Hughes was taken to the
Cooke County jail in Gainesville where he remained until
early Friday morning.6
On Friday morning, May 9, at approximately 6:00 a.m.,
officials escorted Hughes into the Grayson County courthouse after transporting him from Gainesville. Court convened at
9:30 a.m., and shortly before noon, officials including
County Attorney Joe P. Cox completed jury selection. One source noted that during the selection process, Hughes's court-appointed attorney, Sherman barrister George Hines
"...asked no questions and challenged no jurors." The defendant entered a guilty plea at approximately noon.7
The routine events of the proceedings in the second- floor courtroom stood in stark contrast to the steadily intensifying atmosphere outside. Since early in the day, people had been gathering on the courthouse square, as many as possible having crowded into the corridors and stairwells 123 of the building itself. Judge Carter had ordered all not directly involved out of the courtroom before the proceedings commenced, but as the crowds pressed around the entrance, he ordered rangers, earlier posted at the doors, to clear the hallways, the noise having become too disruptive to the proceedings.8
In such an intense atmosphere, rumors frequently spread throughout the crowd. The number of onlookers steadily increased, some having come into town after reading the daily news stories in the local newspapers; others, according to some reports, having been "summoned" by certain individuals who had circulated through the county over the past several days "encouraging" area farmers to be in
Sherman on Friday when the trial began. The result was that a throng of people, ever increasing in number as the day progressed, crowded into downtown Sherman. As The Austin
Statesman described the growing throng, "The crowd was said to be rapidly growing, being augmented by persons from surrounding towns who had been informed of the excitement."9
Other factors further excited the assemblage outside the courthouse as the actual trial was about to begin.
First, a report circulated that Texas Governor Dan Moody had ordered Captain Hamer not to fire directly into the crowd.
Known as the "don't shoot" rumor, the information emboldened the agitators. Then, Mrs. Farlow, the alleged victim, arrived at the scene on a stretcher. By all accounts, the 124 dramatic appearance of the victim, unable ostensibly because of the attack to move about without assistance, infuriated the throng even more.10
The trial commenced with County Attorney Cox reading
Mrs. Farlow's prepared statement to the court, followed by testimony from Farlow neighbor G.M. Taylor. Taylor had hardly begun when the crowd outside the courtroom pressed into the room, reportedly instigated by a woman outside the courthouse who had berated the men in the crowd for their
"yellowness" because they had not taken the black man.
Incited by her taunts, a young man of high school age had torn down an American flag from a courthouse hallway and, according to news accounts, "...led an attempted charge up the courthouse steps after the negro." Responding to the uproar, Judge Carter sent the jury, Hughes, and his guards to the fire-proof vault in the district clerk's office.
After the courtroom and the entire second floor were cleared, the Rangers positioned themselves on the stairway leading to the first floor, and at one point, they fired three shots over the heads of the crowd. However, in a short time, the crowd again overran the first floor of the courthouse, as they had done earlier during the opening testimony of the trial. As the crowd pressed menacingly toward the stairwell as if to begin an ascent to the second floor, the Rangers tossed tear gas bombs down the stairs.
Subsequently but only temporarily, the crowd vacated the 125 lower floor of the courthouse. Local fire department personnel, summoned to the scene, evacuated people overcome with gas—including Mrs. Farlow—from the courthouse. At about that time, the jury vacated the vault in the district clerk's office by climbing down ladders placed at the window of the fire-proof enclosure. One source described the window as closing from the inside "by means of two thick steel doors that acted in much the same way as those on a safe." (In approximately twelve hours, rioters would blast open this window sealed from the inside to gain possession of George Hughes.) During the evacuation, perhaps in his chambers, the judge conferred with Hamer and attorneys Cox and Hines regarding a possible change of venue. Hamer strongly urged the move, for, in his opinion, "...the trial could not be held [in Sherman] without bloodshed.1,11
Shortly after the firing of the tear gas and the partial evacuation of the courthouse, a second rush on the courtroom occurred. In his personal account of the events,
Frank Hamer described the second onslaught at which time he fired a shotgun loaded with buckshot into the crowd, reportedly wounding two men. He also recalled a subsequent encounter with one of the mob's leaders. One of the agitators walked to the foot of the stairway and asked me if I was going to give the prisoner up to them. I told him we were not. He said, xWell, we are coming up and get him.' I said, *Any time you feel lucky, come on, but when you start up that stairway once more, there is 126
rsicl going to be many funerals in Sherman.12
Although the situation outside the courthouse deteriorated by the monent, by 2:00, Judge Carter remained undecided regarding a change in venue. Throughout the day, the crowd had pelted the building with rocks and stones shattering "...a good many [windows] on all sides of the structure." News accounts reported that a woman in the crowd had initiated the barrage, and youths in the crowd followed her example. At approximately 2:30, two youths tossed an open can of gasoline through the broken windows of the Grayson County tax assessor-collector's office. A fire quickly erupted and in minutes, flames spread throughout the fifty-year-old structure. Once again, firemen used ladders to rescue those who had remained in the courthouse following the earlier evacuation. As Texas Rangers and local officials descended from the second floor windows on ladders, Deputies Short and Neathery allegedly offered to lead Hughes outside the burning courthouse, but according to some sources, the black man refused, apparently wishing to take his chances in the steel and concrete safe rather than face the throng outside. Dallas newspaper coverage of the final evacuation of the courthouse and abandonment of George
Hughes included Hamer's explanation that the flames rising so quickly to the second floor "cut off" the Rangers from the vault, making it "impossible to get into the vault to 127 release the prisoner." Accounts also report Grayson County
Clerk Prentiss Gafford's unsuccessful attempt "to get the negro from the vault in his office" and the "difficulty" he subsequently experienced in escaping from the burning building. These alleged attempts to rescue George Hughes are little-known.13
The Texas Rangers not only left the Grayson County courthouse, they left Grayson County as well, mindful, no doubt, that for the first time in their history, the adage "one ranger, one riot" had proven ineffective, although the Sherman riot was unlike any other in Texas history. In 1993, Hamer's biographers described the Sherman riot and subsequent events as "...one of his most frustrating assignments.1114 Frustration with the circumstances was, indeed, evident in Hamer's 1930 personal account of the events.
[W]hen I fired on the crowd in its last attempt to rush the courtroom we had it whipped off and it could not have taken the prisoner from us in any way except by burning the courthouse as it did and we never dreamed of the gang doing that until the building was enveloped in flames.15
The Rangers, driving toward Dallas, stopped in Howe, a small community approximately ten miles south of Sherman, to report the events by telephone to Governor Moody. When the telephone operator interrupted and remarked, "I am glad they burned the courthouse," Hamer ended the conversation with the governor and proceeded to McKinney, about twenty miles 128 further down the road, to continue his conversation with the governor concerning the events in Sherman.1'5
Grayson's courthouse burned throughout the afternoon on
May 9, 1930, and as the building blazed, the crowd of spectators swelled. Downtown merchants, townspeople, residents of nearby communities, and even residents of neighboring Oklahoma joined the agitators who had been there since the early morning, resulting in a surging throng that numbered, according to some accounts, into the thousands by late afternoon. Cordons blocked off the downtown area for the spectators and, according to local news reports, "city patrolmen were kept busy directing traffic at street intersections around the square."17
The billowing clouds of smoke, visible from a distance, aroused the curious and to Grayson's county seat they came.
Among the onlookers were Ralph Elliott and a friend, both at the time Denison High School students. Elliott, now a retired district judge, recalled that he and his friend hitchhiked to Sherman to investigate the cause of an
"enormous cloud of smoke—quite visible from Denison."
Additionally, he remembered, "We had heard that there was a large crowd in Sherman and much excitement, so we decided that we would go over for a short period of time." In its reporting of the 1930 events, The Austin Statesman recounted the rush to investigate the excitement: "The highway 129 between Sherman and Denison, only a few miles apart, was crowded with automobiles hurrying people to the scene."18
Judge Elliott described the scene in Sherman as they arrived in the middle of the afternoon on Friday, May 9,
1930. When we got to Sherman, we got a ride up to the central part of town. There we saw an enormous crowd that extended throughout all of the square area—standing room only —and it extended up some of the streets. Even the streets adjacent to the courthouse there were heavily peopled on up the street. But in the street area immediately surrounding the courthouse, it was standing room only.... I recall that the electric interurbans at that time were still running, and they were having great trouble getting through the crowd. The crowd did not give way very easily, and they had great trouble getting through the crowds, coming and going.
The smoke and fire were also visible to local resident
William Hill, then a student at Sherman's Fred Douglass
School. He recalled, "...[M]any cars...came into the city...and all the various streets [were] full of people."
He, unlike Judge Elliott, witnessed the courthouse burning from afar, for he stood with other Douglass students and officials in an upstairs classroom at the school viewing the clouds of smoke. He remembered, "...[Y]ou could see the papers burning, the smoke and the blaze coming over, and people were busy just going." Hill's mother had telephoned the school with strict instructions for him to come straight home and not to go through town on his way home, but school 130 officials dismissed the entire school early on that day, May
9, 1930."
While local blacks avoided the downtown area, local whites rushed to observe the fiery spectacle. By the late afternoon, the crowd had become a mob with apparent leaders who orchestrated the events frequently playing to the spectators amassed around the courthouse square, one of whom exclaimed at one point, "Let 'er burn down; the taxpayers
'11 put 'er back."20 Members of the mob restrained firemen who attempted to extinguish the flames. One man, in particular, thwarted the firefighters' efforts, for he moved through the area slicing fire hoses with a large knife. The
Dallas Morning News supplied the following description of the man's activities:
First he would tell those playing the water on the blaze to *cut her off and if this was not done immediately, he stooped down and cut the hose. One fireman said that every hose in the city had been cut."21
Judge Elliott witnessed the scene.
I remember that the fire was in the courthouse... and the fire department endeavored to put out the fire and would string their hoses through the crowd up to the courthouse to play the water on the fire. It seemed like they would no sooner get the hose there than someone back in the crowd would chop the hose in two, and it would go writhing through the air like some giant serpent. 131
Elliott also recalled that speculation ran rampant through the crowd as to the fate of the accused, George
Hughes. I just remember that there was a great deal of speculation...I'd hear people talking about whether the black man was still alive or whether he was dead from the heat of the fire. The temper of the crowd seemed to me to be as such that they wanted to make sure he was dead.
Local officials, seeing the overwhelming numbers around the square, congregated at the Grayson County jail, located approximately two blocks west of the courthouse, and contacted the governor's office in Austin for help. Their request and information gained from the telephone conversation with Captain Hamer earlier in the day resulted in Governor Dan Moody's ordering both Dallas guardsmen and additional Texas Rangers to Sherman. Initially, however, he ordered one of Texas's finest, Sergeant Manuel "Lone Wolf"
Gonzaullas of Dallas, to proceed as quickly as possible to the scene to survey the situation. According to Gonzaullas, the Governor said,
Get up to Sherman just as fast as you can...and get in touch with Randolph Bryant, the U.S. District Attorney...I understand they are going to storm the county jail and burn all the niggers in there. I don't want any of those prisoners molested or mistreated or hurt. I don't care what it costs you, you understand?22
Gonzaullas arrived in Sherman before the other enforcement personnel, most of whom were traveling on the interurban 132 that ran between Sherman and Dallas. After viewing the situation around the courthouse, he moved to the jail where
U.S. Attorney Bryant reiterated the necessity of protecting the federal prisoners incarcerated there. "Lone
Wolf" Gonzaullas took his place before the jail, armed with his pistols, a Thompson sub-machine gun, and an automatic sawed-off shotgun. As expected, a crowd moved from the courthouse to the jail house. They jeered and threw things, including dynamite, according to Gonzaullas, but this "one ranger" held his position, aided on occasion by blasts of bird shot and, no doubt, by the sight of the arsenal he had with him.23
While the sideshow played out at the Grayson County jail, the mob on the courthouse square continued to watch the flames consume what remained of the structure. By late afternoon, only the walls and the vault of the courthouse remained. At approximately 6:30 p.m., the Texas National
Guard under command of Colonel L.E. McGee, 112th Cavalry, arrived. A smaller contingent from Denison had arrived earlier, but they had retreated to the Grayson County jail in the press of the crowd surrounding the courthouse. The
112th Cavalry under McGee consisted of eight officers and forty-seven men armed with machine guns, tear gas bombs, rifles, and side arms.24 Initially, Col. McGee and Captain
Albert Sidney Johnston, having ordered another officer to supervise detraining of the troops, conversed with county 133 officials. Afterward, the two moved to the courthouse square, according to Col. McGee's report,
...to reason with the spectators to go home and help clear the streets. Intermingled with the rioters were many men, women, and children—and we soon learned that we had too small a force to handle the mob and crowd without having to fired [sic] into them and killing a large number of innocent people. So orders were given for the attachment of troops to assemble and move back to the county jail.25
The mob, apparently thinking that the officers were there to somehow deter them from their purpose of gaining possession of George Hughes, greeted the guardsmen with hostility and violence, hurling bricks, stones, boards, and soft drink bottles at the soldiers. News accounts described a young girl in a cold drink stand giving empty bottles to members of the mob to hurl at the soldiers as they passed by. A woman in the crowd reportedly held her baby above her head and screamed, "Shoot it, you yellow nigger loving soldiers; shoot it!"26
Judge Elliott's keen memories provide em intriguing picture of the drama as it unfolded.
[The Texas National Guard] put up a cordon ...between the courthouse and the crowd and endeavored first to establish themselves by planting their feet some distance each from the other in a stance position. Later, upon orders from their commanding officer, they commenced to push the crowd back...by taking their rifles and turning them sideways and grabbing one end of the butt and the other end of the rifle and putting it across their breasts and shoving it 134
forward and shoving the crowd back...[A] guardsman [near where we were standing] kept pushing [a well-dressed man standing nearby]...back and kept hitting this man in the breast with the gun as he twisted it sideways...and he [the man] warned them not to do that anymore. About that time, the man turned to me and said, *Hold my hat.' He tore into the soldier and put him on the ground;...and if that were a sort of signal, everyone else started assaulting the soldiers, too. It became an impossible situation because the crowd was overpowering them...Their commanding officer ordered them to reform over on the northwest corner of the square, which they did...and then they began a...gradual retreat backwards, down toward...the old county jail....
The two young high school students, ducking behind cars double- and triple-parked, in Elliott's words, "as far as I could see [down the streets]," followed the mob as it harassed the guardsmen marching in close formation away from the square. Elliott recalled the scene further.
The commanding officer was some fifty feet east of his retreating group...maybe twenty-five feet.... He was brandishing a pistol and ordering the crowd not to come any closer and to disband. The crowd—it was always a mystery to me that when you wanted something, somebody in that crowd had it—was throwing rocks and bricks and clubs and wood—anything movable that they could get was coming out of the crowd, which was on our right...—through the air and falling...and bricks...lots of bricks ...and falling on the soldiers as they retreated. Many of them were knocked out or unconscious or disabled, and their companions-in-arms would help them in retreat.... I did not hear any bullets... from the captain, whom, I was later told, was Captain Albert Sydney Johnston. It was a feat of almost unbelievable bravery that he did. He stood out there single- handed in the face of that crowd with only 135
his pistol and the soldiers behind him. Their guns were drawn and pointed, but he was the one that kept the crowd at bay.... He showed unbelievable bravery.
According to news reports of the episode, several on both sides of the "pitched battle" suffered injuries from the bullets, boards, and bricks hurled through the air. One guardsman fell injured and was about to be seized by the crowd when Captain Johnston and another officer rescued him, although members of the mob managed to take the young man's rifle and ammunition belt. Captain Johnston was seriously injured about the face and neck and several of the guardsmen were treated for wounds and injuries. Several members of the crowd, mostly youths, received injuries as well.
Newspaper accounts reported local physicians moving freely about the crowd dispensing treatment as needed. Physicians treated the injured guardsmen when they arrived at the jail where they remained until reinforcements came. Additional troops did not arrive until early Saturday morning, and they continued to arrive in the hours following. By Saturday afternoon, 377 men and forty-two officers were on duty in
Sherman, accompanied shortly by eight Texas Rangers and four federal prohibition agents to join others "said to be in town." Until the additional enforcement personnel arrived, however, the mob, unrestrained and unchallenged, completely controlled events around the courthouse square.27 136
The mob was relentless in its pursuit of the black man entombed in the charred vault, still standing amid the smoldering ruins of the Grayson County courthouse. Once the ruins had cooled enough, the mob demanded the body of George
Hughes, and mob leaders, complying with the will of the crowd, made every effort to invade the vault. Initially, they used dynamite, but the charges failed to explode. Not deterred, they found other resources.28 Judge Elliott described the scene when the mob and its leaders cooperated to achieve their goal.
[Ringleaders] were going up on the side of the courthouse and yelling instruction and what they wanted. Some half a dozen or so men would go up the side of the courthouse and inspect the door of the vault and say, *We need some crowbars.' Next thing I knew, crowbars would show up. The lights [At an earlier point in the interview, Elliott remarked about "great lights that came from somewhere."] were very large lights—very large illuminating lights— that shined. It was fully illuminated, so you could see everything they were doing— just like a movie.... Then they wanted dynamite. Someone...must have known how to use the dynamite because they then set the dynamite off on the vault, trying to blow the door...off of the vault....
Elliott recalled numerous blasts of dynamite, but the vault remained closed. The frustrated leaders then moved to a new location on the other side of the vault. They secured ladders, climbed up to the second story, and called for an acetylene torch. In a short time, someone in the crowd provided the torch, and the men attempted to cut into the 137 vault. That, too, proved unsuccessful. Elliott recalled that the men, having used the torch, beat upon the area in the wall with hammers and bars. Finally, they called again for dynamite, and, once supplied, they blasted into the vault, this time with success. It was approximately 11:40 p.m.29 Elliott, who was still with his friend, remembered that they were standing immediately in front of the action, where they "had a perfect view right in front...." He described what he saw.
They set off the dynamite. The crowd fell back, and the dynamite went off, and it blew the cut-out piece into the vault and left a hole. I remember a great deal of smoke came out of the vault. Then they wanted flashlights, and flashlights appeared, and they looked inside. Finally, one or two... crawled through the opening....Presently, they threw the body of this black man out... and he hit the ground in front of Hulen [Hulen Jackson, Elliott's school friend who had accompanied him to Sherman] and I rsic]. We could see him there. His body appeared to be limp to me.... When he came out..., the crowd let a great roar and cried, *HurrahI Hurrah!'
The mob had achieved its goal, but its work was far from finished. Having gained possession of the lifeless body of George Hughes, the mob attached it with a chain to an automobile. Judge Elliott viewed the affair.
They attached the chain [holding Hughes's body] to the back of this automobile and took off. They went north...of course, the street was filled with the crowd, but as the car would drag his body—it took off at a fairly good speed—the crowd fell back. I remember his body bouncing behind that car. Bouncing really is the word for 138
it. It wasn't sliding. Of course, as he went by, the crowd would spit and attempt to kick him and all this sort of thing.
According to news accounts, the procession, numbering about 2,000, moved eastward parading through the black section of town—by this time nearly deserted—before it reached its final destination—the black business district on East Mulberry. The mob then hanged the corpse of George
Hughes from a tree in front of Goodson's Drug Store on the corner of Mulberry and Branch. While some of the rioters looted the store and distributed "refreshments" to the spectators, others kindled a fire beneath the corpse "with fuel stripped from the business establishment [Goodson's
Drug Store] of one of the negroe's [sis] own kind...," according to the Sherman Daily Democrat.30 The newspaper detailed the events further.
Short work was made of the furnishings of the drug store and the kindling wood into which they were reduced was used for starting and keeping aglow the fire which mutely but forcefully evidenced the penalty the inexorable law of racial separation exacts of violators. The entire proceedings from the time the walls were razed until the climax of the burning came was [sis] carried out with business- like precision and definiteness. Those doing the work knew what their aim was and understood the need of keeping at the job until it was finished.31
Judge Elliott, who had followed the crowds from the courthouse square to the business district, witnessed the lynching and burning of George Hughes. 139
The black man was hanging from the limb of a tree, and there was an enormous fire under him. He was hanging by the chain from the limb of the tree, and this very hot fire was going beneath him. I remember his feet and his wrists were turned up as though he was trying to reach his elbow or something in that twisted position. I couldn't make out anything else other than he was very small; the hands and feet were turned up. I would remember that every once in awhile somebody from the crowd would run in to try to...I don't know what they were trying to do—get a piece of flesh, skin, or what. Anyway, I saw a little bit of that.
While Hughes's corpse burned, the mob moved to torch another building—the Andrews Building—and as it burned, according to a Dallas newspaper, "[t]he crowd cheered as the fire grew fiercer." The excitement caused by the lynching and the burning of the properties summoned many local whites to the scene. In the accounts of the frenzy, writers frequently note that youths set many of the fires, that there were many women and children in the crowd of spectators, that the onlookers, grasping for souvenirs, stripped the leaves from the lower branches of the tree from which the mob hanged Hughes, and that the crowd did nothing to stop the torching of the buildings in the district. As
The Austin Statesman observed, the scene was "a stampede of humanity run amuck."32
Rumors spread that the mob intended to burn all black- owned property in Sherman, and as the black business district blazed, small groups of men and boys left the scene 140 to carry out those plans. One such group arrived on
Montgomery Street near the family home of Alexander Bate.
Only shortly before, the young man's father had instructed him to climb to the roof of their home with a bucket of water. Bate recalled, "I had a bucket of water on there because they set the building[s] on fire, and them great, big pieces of flaming material was falling, and I had to put them out, Papa said."33 Their family was, as far as Bate knows, the only ones left on the street, since most of their neighbors had fled. "They were," he remembered, "so afraid that [some] went out and got in the hog pen with the hogs.
They thought they were going to kill them." The elder Bate had given his son a shotgun with all the ammunition they had for it—four shells—, and he loaded their pistol for which they had plenty of ammunition. His wife, Alexander's stepmother, had recently had one leg amputated, and they, not owning a car, had been unable to leave the neighborhood on foot. The elder Bate told the young man, "Son, we're going to stay here and protect what we got." At that announcement, Alexander Bate with shotgun and bucket in tow climbed to the rooftop prepared to douse any flaming material blowing across the area from the burning business district. From that vantage point, he witnessed his father's encounter with members of the mob.
Papa had that big pistol, and he walked out in front [of the house]. Some guys came down in an ol' Chevrolet 141
and jumped out in front of the Masonic Hall [located further down the block from the Bate home] with a gasoline can. Papa told them to get the hell out of there. They saw that big pistol, and they jumped in that Chevrolet, and I guess they broke every spring in it. There wasn't no paved road—just an old gravel road and ditches.
Another member of Sherman's black community at the time, Attorney W.J. Durham, whose office was in the Andrews Building, recorded his personal account of the events of May 9 in a 1940 letter to Dallas civil rights leader A. Maceo Smith.34
I witnessed the burning of the Court House, and the destruction of one hundred thousand ($100,000) dollars worth of property owned by Negroes- innocent and helpless Negroes. I lost twenty-eight hundred ($2800) dollars worth at the hand of the mob. I saw the law taken into the hands of hoodlums about four o'clock in the afternoon, when the officers paroling [sic] the streets stood by and saw the Court House burned and no effort, whatever, was put for th fsicl to stop the mob. About eight o'clock at night I stood and saw my property, as well as the property of one of my clients, valued at forty thousand ($40,000) dollars, destroyed by members of the mob, who marched up and down the streets in front of the officers, and openly set fire to property owned by Negroes. I stood in my front yard, when white citizens whom I knew started up to my residence with gasoline, with the intention of burning my home. Their efforts were blocked by Attorney Clark formerly of Texarkana, now deceased, and myself. I saw Negro women and children in the streets without shoes, seeking shelter and protection, while the officers paraded around the streets 142
behind the mob, sometimes mingling with the members of the mob. No effort at all was made to protect Negro property by the officers, and no compensation was ever made by the City or County authorities for the destruction of such property. I talked with a white citizen, who formerly was Chief of Police in the City of Sherman, and who later was elected Sheriff of Grayson County. He advised that if he had been Sheriff at the time, he would have turned the victim over to the mob to be lynched when they asked for him, rather than to have the courthouse burned.35
The rampage continued as the mob set "intermittent fires" along Mulberry Street, to the extent that the firemen had "difficulty in going from one to another to put them out." In the early morning hours of Saturday, May 10, 225
National Guardsmen arrived to reinforce those groups forced earlier to retreat to the jail where they had remained.
Although by the time of their arrival the mob had finished its work and had begun to disperse, the newly-arrived troops did thwart attempts by some members of the mob, whom they arrested, to burn the Fred Douglass School, and by others, according to Col. McGee, who "were attempting to burn all of
*negro town'.... "The militiamen then removed the corpse of
George Hughes from the tree where it still dangled in the hours just before dawn on Saturday. Because they were unable to arrange for Hughes's burial with a black undertaker since both local black-owned undertaking businesses had been destroyed by the rioters, they directed 143 a white-owned establishment, Dannel-Scott Funeral Home, to prepare the body. Some time later, they buried George
Hughes, a forty-one-year-old itinerant and perhaps
illiterate farm laborer and an allegedly confessed rapist with no known prior criminal record, in an unmarked grave on the county farm.36 NOTES
1. "Negro Held For Assault Near Luella," Sherman Daily Democrat 4 May 1930, p. 1; Dave Roberts, "The Day Lawlessness Prevailed," Denison Herald. 12 September 1976, sec. C, p. 9.
2. "Negro Held," Democrat, p. 1; "Quick Trial Promised For Negro By Officials After Special Jury Acts," Sherman Daily Democrat. 5 May 1930, pp. 1-3; Thomas Michael Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot" (Master's thesis, Austin College, 1931), 6. This study provides the only known information as to the whereabouts of Hughes from his arrest until the trial. Murphy cited a personal interview with Sheriff Arthur Vaughan as the source of the information. This thesis is located in the Archives at Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
3. "Quick Trial Promised,", Democrat. pp. 1,3; "Special Venire Ordered in Case of George Hughes," Sherman Daily Democrat,. 6 May 1930, p. 5; Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot," 11. 4. "Little Disturbance As Small Group Of Young Men Appear at Bastile," Sherman Daily Democrat. 7 May 1930, p. 7; Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot," 6.
5. "Sheriff's Wife Worried Over Trampled Roses," Sherman Daily Democrat. 7 May 1930, p. 7.
6. "Texas Rangers Here For Negro's Trial," Sherman Daily Democrat. 8 May 1930, p. 14; Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot," 11.
7. Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot," 11, 15, 16; "Mob Burns Courthouse," The Denison Herald. 9 May 1930, p. 1; "Texas Rangers Here," Democratf p. 14. 8. "Negro Cremated in Grayson County Courthouse Destroyed by Fire Started by Large Mob," Sherman Daily Democrat, 9 May 1930, p. 1; "Texas Troops to Aid Rangers Fight Mob," The Austin Statesman. 9 May 1930, p. 1.
9. "Texas Troops To Aid Rangers," p. 1; Arthur F. Raper, The Traaedv of Lynching (Chapel Hill: North Carolina University Press, 1933; reprint ed., New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), 321. Raper's book, a case-by-
144 145 case analysis of the 1930 lynchings is, unfortunately, undocumented. It contains, however, much information Raper gathered from personal interviews he conducted in Sherman in 1931 or 1932. 10. Governor Moody later vehemently denied that he had issued such an order, and Captain Hamer denied ever receiving such an order. See "Hamer Denies getting 'Don't Shoot Order," The Dallas Morning News. 15 May 1930, pp. 1, 4. This article gives Hamer's personal account of the events of May 9. Walter C. Hornaday, "Negro, Locked in Vault, Cremated by Sherman Mob, Courthouse Burned, Troops Pushed Back by Lynchers," The Dallas Morning News. 10 May 1930, pp. 1, 3; "Races," Time. 19 May 1930, pp. 15-16.
11. Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot," 16-19,21; "Negro Cremated in Grayson County," p. 1 passim; "Hamer Denies Getting Order," Dallas News, p. 4; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 323; Walter C. Hornaday, "U.S. to Probe Mob Rioting at Sherman," The Dallas Morning News. 15 May 1930, p. 1. The Murphy thesis provides the clearest and most reasonable chronology of events inside the courthouse from the time the crowd initially disrupted the proceedings until the firing of the structure. Information regarding the chain of events as reported in news accounts or in a 1987 Master's thesis (Myra Elizabeth Crabb, "The Killing of a Black Man: The Case of George Hughes," East Texas State University) is unclear. Murphy's personal interviews with those closest to the events—Sheriff Vaughan and Judge Carter—in the year following the riot provide vital information which clarifies the episode.
12. "Hamer Denies Getting Order," Dallas News. p. 4.
13. "Negro Cremated in Grayson County," Democrat. p. 1 passim; "Local Man With Dynamite on Person Is Held," Sherman Daily Democrat 11 May 1930, pp. 1, 12; Hornaday, "Negro Locked in Vault," Dallas Newsr p. 1; "Hamer Denies Getting Order," Dallas News, p. 4.
14. H. Gordon Frost and John H. Jenkins, I'm Frank Hamer: The Life of a Texas Peace Officer (Austin: Statehouse Press, 1993), 164. The authors devote a chapter to Hamer's role in the Sherman riot. They claim that Hamer suspected that some local authorities "might have had a hand in the violence" although "there was no way it could be proved." He also viewed the actions of the townspeople as "cowardly" and his "disgust" toward them, according to these authors, "never abated as long as he lived" (167-168).
15. "Hamer Denies Getting Order," Dallas News, p. 4. 146
16. Ibid.
17. "Young Men, Mostly Outsider [sic], Formed Mob That Thronged Sherman Friday," Sherman Daily Democratf 11 May 1930, p. 12; "Local Man With Dynamite," Democratf p. 1. 18. Ralph Elliott, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 14 November 1986, tape recording in author's possession. Subsequent citations of Judge Elliott's recollections are from this interview. "Texas Troops To Aid Rangers," Statesman. p. 1.
19. William Hill, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 13 October 1986, tape recording in author's possession. Subsequent citations of Mr. Hill's recollections are from this interview.
20. Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 325.
21. Hornaday, "Negro, Locked In Vault," Dallas Newsr p. 3.
22. Raper, Tragedy of Lynchingr 330; Edward Hake Phillips, "The Sherman Courthouse Riot of 1930," East Texas Historical Journal XXV (Fall 1987): 14. Phillips's article includes Gonazaullas's personal account of the events.
23. Phillips, "Courthouse Riot," 14.
24. "Local Man With Dynamite," Democrat. p. l; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 325-326; Hornaday, "Negro, Locked in Vault," Dallas News, p. 3; Lawrence E. McGee, "Final Report re Martial Law Duty, Sherman, Texas," 27 May 1930, Archives, Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas. 25. McGee, "Final Report."
26. Raper, 325-326; "Local Man With Dynamite," Democratr p. l; Hornaday, "Negro Locked in Vault, p. 3; Phillips, "Courthouse Riot," 16.
27. "Local Man With Dynamite," Democrat. p. l; Hornaday, "Negro, Locked in Vault," Dallas News, pp. l, 3; "Physicians Brave Mob to Render Service to Wounded on Both Sides," Sherman Daily Democrat." 11 May 1930, p. 12; "Martial Law Orders Given," The Dallas Morning News. 23 May 1930, p. 8; "Martial Law for Sherman Declared at Report That More Mob Rule is Feared," The Dallas Morning News, n May 1930, p. l; Phillips, "Courthouse Riot," 16; "Mob Is Broken Up," The AustinStatesmanr 10 May 1930, p. 1. 147
28. "Local Man With Dynamite," Democrat. p. 1; "Unexploded Dynamite Still Under Court House," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 May 1930, p. 1; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 326.
29. Hornaday, "Negro, Locked in Vault," Democrat. p. 1; "Local Man With Dynamite," Democrat. p. 1.
30. "Local Man With Dynamite," Democratf p. 1; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching, 327.
31. "Local Man With Dynamite," Democrat. p. 12.
32. Hornaday, "Negro, Locked in Vault," Dallas News, pp. 1, 3; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 327; "Martial Law for Sherman," Dallas News. p. 14; "Mob Is Broken Up," Statesman. p. 6. This author's mother described as a young child being awakened by her mother and taken to the site on East Mulberry although the size of the crowd already assembled prevented a "close" viewing of the burning of George Hughes.
33. Alexander Bate, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 19 September 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
34. Smith requested Durham's account of the riot to include in the 1940 Congressional hearings on an anti- lynching bill. The date on the letter is January 17, 1940.
35. The original is contained in the Records of the NAACP, Group II, Series A (Administrative File), Container 62, "Anti-lynching Bills, Anti-lynching Bill of 1940, hearings, January." Library of Congress: Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. A photocopy of the letter in is this author's possession.
36. "Martial Law for Sherman," Dallas Newsr p. 14; "Local Man With Dynamite," Democratf p. 1; Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 329; McGee, "Final Report." CHAPTER V
THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH AND THE SPRING OF 1930
Although Col. McGee reported "order restored by daylight [on Saturday, May 10]," the situation was far from calm for the residents of Sherman. For members of the local black community, the twenty-four hours before had been a dreadful time. Some blacks, as Alexander Bate recalled, had hidden under houses or in hog pens and creekbeds nearby.
Others found protection at the homes of their white employers. Many fled their homes in terror, not knowing what, if anything, would be there when they returned. As a contemporary source assessed the situation, "Negro property was at the mob's mercy."1 William Hill, whose parents lived on the northeastern outskirts of Sherman, recalled that several, including the high school principal, his wife, and others, came to his home for the night.
They came and they were just frightened— scared to death. We could look out several blocks away to the highway going to Denison, and could see some colored people with sacks and things going down the road. These people were just scared to death, and the paper and things...you could see the fire and everything, even into to the night.
148 149
An Austin newspaper claimed that no black bellboys or porters reported for work in Sherman hotels on Saturday morning. A Dallas journal observed, "There was not a negro in sight Saturday. They have gone from Sherman, many of them taking to the surrounding country and smaller towns.112
For those blacks who had maintained businesses and professional offices on East Mulberry Street, the hours before daylight on Saturday, May 10, were particularly calamitous, for the entire district lay in ruins. After describing the looting and burning of Goodson's Drug Store, the Sherman Daily Democrat detailed the other losses in the area.
[In the Andrews Building] [t]wo undertaking establishments, the People's Mortuary company and N.S. Everett Undertaking company, a picture show operated by Lawrence Tatum, a pressing shop, three restaurants operated by Gregg Johnson, George and Charlie Howell and the offices of Dr. R.L. Stinnett, dentist, Dr.D.W. Porter, and W.J. Durham, lawyer, were destroyed. A nearby residence, belonging to Dr. A.N. Prince, was destroyed.
Riot exclusion clauses prevented the collection of any insurance held on the properties.3
For Sherman's white community, the immediate challenges were of a different nature. Hearing rumors that additional violence was imminent, a committee of local citizens met with Col. McGee and requested a declaration of martial law. 150
Subsequently, Governor Dan Moody, at the official request of county officials, signed the order, and effective at
10:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, Sherman lay under martial law. The order also directed Col. Lawrence E. McGee to
"assume supreme command of the situation."4
By all accounts, Col. McGee implemented the order quickly and forcefully. He stationed guardsmen throughout the city. Militiamen with mounted machine guns and automatic rifles guarded the courthouse square and the jail, allowing no traffic or assembly within a block or so of each area.5 Long-time Sherman resident Ruth Bolton, whose family home was located directly across from the Grayson County jail on West Houston, recalled the arrival and posting of the militia around the building, as she and family members watched from the front porch and windows of their home.
Much later and after dark one of the officers came to our door and told my father that they were going to spend the night in our front yard and on the street, keeping guard over the jail and our neighborhood. He advised us to sleep in the back of the house, on the floor, so if any shots were fired we would not be hit. We carefully followed instructions. I am sure my parents did not sleep at all that night.6
Col. McGee also posted sentinels and ordered regular patrols of the black section of town. The soldiers admitted no traffic to the area. Tensions mounted as the militiamen upon taking their positions found typewritten notes posted in the area warning black residents to leave town within 151 twenty-four hours or risk additional violence. Those blacks who returned to work early in the week reported threats by individuals who told them their homes would be burned. A white contractor in the area received a warning to discharge within thirty-six hours all black laborers in his employ as did other such businessmen in the area. In large, bold headlines, The Austin Statesman reported the situation succinctly: "Leave Sherman. Negroes Told."7
Col. L.S. Davidson issued a strong, clear warning in response to the threats: "*If we have to shoot to kill to do it [protect blacks and their property], we will.'" There was no question of a "Don't shoot" order—rumor or otherwise—at this point.8
On Sunday, the guardsmen, also with Texas Rangers and county law enforcement officers began to identify and jail those suspected of involvement in the rioting. Those men whom they brought in joined thirteen already arrested by the soldiers while "[the mob] was still racing through the negro settlement....11 As more arrests occurred throughout Sunday, rumors flew that the jail would be stormed and the men freed. Security tightened as the tensions increased, the situation complicated by the curious who swarmed into
Sherman throughout the day to view firsthand the scene of the event. As The Dallas Morning News described it,
"Sherman streets were jammed with automobiles Sunday afternoon." The newspaper also noted the concern of 152
military authorities who "believed some in the crowd were
more than curiosity seekers."9
On Monday morning, a military court of inquiry convened
to investigate the events of the past weekend. Col. L.S.
Davidson served as provost marshal aided by Majors Earl Z.
Crowdus and John W. Naylor, assistant provost marshals. In
an official statement published in the local paper, Col.
Davidson emphasized the nature of the court as an
investigative body charged with securing facts to present to
the grand jury scheduled to convene on the following Monday,
May 19. Initially, the court heard Sherman citizens not
held in custody, but the jail steadily filled with prisoners
who would appear before the court. By noon on Tuesday, the
Grayson County jail held sixty-five prisoners for
questioning concerning their roles in the riot. Most of the
prisoners were from Sherman, and others were residents of
Denison, Gunter, Howe, Whitewright, and Van Alstyne.
Regarding the number incarcerated, the Democrat observed,
"This is the largest population for the county bastile at one time in a number of years."10
Prohibition agents were hard at work as well. Posted at the Preston and Colbert bridges that crossed Red River into Texas, they searched vehicles for illegal liquor. The agents eventually filed federal liquor violations against three men, all reportedly Sherman residents.11 153
United States District Attorney Randolph Bryant suggested potential federal prosecutions on charges of
"whitecapping" related to the warnings and threats posted against local blacks. Also considered were charges regarding the misuse of the U.S. flag, namely by the young man who, brandishing a flag torn from the courthouse corridor, had led a charge up the courthouse steps while
Hughes's trial was occurring. The attorney stated that such charges might be presented to the federal grand jury scheduled to convene also on May 19.12
In the hours immediately following the riot, Governor
Moody, deploring the events, vowed that "...every power of the state would be brought to bear to seek out and punish the persons responsible for the riotings. He also declared,
"All state powers at my command will be used to send these persons ["who set fire to the courthouse and who were leaders of the mob"] to the penitentiary where they belong."
In the week following the calamity, as Sherman residents observed the military and law enforcement officials on duty in their city, it must have appeared to them that the governor intended to make good his word. The roster of the
Texas National Guard included, in addition to the executive officers comprising the command of the area and the military court of inquiry, the following: First Squadron of the
112th Cavalry, Dallas: A and B Troops; First Squadron of the 124th Cavalry, Ft. Worth: A, B, and E. Troops; Second 154
Battalion, 144th Infantry, Dallas: Companies E, F, G, and
L; a medical detachment, 112th Cavalry; H Machine Gun
Company, 144th Infantry? Signal Company, 36th Division,
Dallas; and, a Medical R.O.T.C. Unit. In addition, nine
Texas Rangers and eleven prohibition agents were on duty.
As one historian aptly described it, "...*the Athens of
Texas' looked like Sparta.1113
As the military court of inquiry met throughout the
first week of martial law, the National Guard repeatedly
investigated numerous disturbances in Sherman's black
neighborhoods, frequently near the Fred Douglass School. On
Tuesday, May 13, the theft of twenty-one gallons of gasoline
from city trucks alarmed officials. On another occasion, four white men, according to militia reports, drove through the black section of town "watching all negroes around."
Later on that same evening, a truck loaded with white men drove into the black section, hastily departing upon seeing guardsmen patrolling near the school. There were many reports of gunfire by residents of the area as well as by guardsmen on duty. At one point, soldiers arrested black physician D. W. Porter. As noted by The Dallas Morning
News, "The military authorities are watching for overt acts by the negroes as well as by whites, it was indicated by the arrest...of Dr. D.W. Porter, negro doctor, by the militia.
Dr. Porter was jailed and docketed on a charge of carrying concealed weapons.1,14 155
Throughout the week of May 12, officials reduced the jail population, which at one point had swelled to seventy- two, as they tried to determine who was actually involved in the riot. On Saturday, the investigation ended, and military officials began to reduce the number of troops on duty in Sherman. Among the findings of the court was that the "Don't shoot" order was, in fact, a rumor; that Farlow family members played no direct role in the riot or the destruction that followed? and that the mob rule could be attributed to "reds," an opinion shared by Col. McGee and
U.S. Attorney Bryant. McGee urged citizens "to be more intimately concerned in such matters." Bryant, who based his position on "evidence brought to his attention," blamed the rioting on bolsheviks implementing "some of their pet theories."15 The attorney issued the following statement to the press:
The destruction of property after the courthouse had been burned was a pure manifestation of bolshevism. The events after the courthouse had been burned had no connection with the race prejudice that had been incited earlier in the day. There is no question in my mind of Sovietism being involved. A bunch of hoodlums and criminals combined with the red element, and the race prejudice was seized on as an excuse to destroy property. The burning of the courthouse was part of the frenzied mob's effort to get the negro, but the other events were not.16
The attention of the community soon moved from rioting and reds to similar events outside Grayson County. On May 156
16, exactly one week to the day after the riot, a mob
lynched and burned a black man in Honey Grove, a small
community fifty miles to the east of Sherman in adjacent
Fannin County. Ironically, George Hughes had moved to
Grayson County from Honey Grove. On the last day of May
1930, a mob stormed a jail in Chickasha, Oklahoma, shooting
and brutally stabbing to death a black man accused of the
criminal assault of a local white woman. Chickasha is
approximately 100 miles northwest of Sherman. The proximity
of the Honey Grove and Chickasha affairs and their
occurrences so soon after the Sherman riot invited
comparison and renewed attention in the news.17
The indictments of fourteen Grayson County residents
for the rioting of May 9 also placed Sherman in the
headlines once again. On May 19, the Grayson County Grand
Jury heard the findings of the military court, and on the
following day, the panel handed down indictments against the
following men: Alvin Morgan, Cleo Wolfe, C.E. Briggs, Jeff
(Slim) Jones, Jim May, Bill Sofey, Horace Reynolds, Jimmy
Arnold, Leslie Cole, J.B. McCasland—all of Sherman—, and
Roy Allen, (Web) Purdom, Leonard O'Neal, and Jess Roper of
Van Alstyne.18
Although greatly reduced in number, guardsmen still on duty in Sherman reminded local residents that their city remained under martial law. A committee composed of prominent citizens organized a Public Safety Council headed 157 by Major Dupont B. Lyon, a prominent resident, and formulated a "peace plan" to implement after the transfer of authority from military to civilian administration. The governor lifted martial law on May 24, 1930,.19
Officials arranged for the razing of the courthouse ruins, and after the removal of the rubble, only the walls of the fire-proof vault remained, a gruesome reminder of the riot to all who passed through downtown Sherman. Citizens and county officials lamented the loss of the courthouse, and $100,000 worth of insurance on the structure was invalid because of riot exclusion provisions in the coverage.
Temporarily, county leaders used an old school building for a courthouse, but county business was, for a time, difficult to transact. Ruth Boston, for many years a legal secretary in Sherman, recalled, "I remember that the attorneys and all people interested in legal matters were inconvenienced for a long time. We had to go to various buildings around town to copy whatever legal records had been saved from the fire, and to file legal papers."20
While Sherman's legal community, inconvenienced, moved slowly about its work for a time, resolution of the cases against the fourteen indicted in the affair moved slowly as well. Soon after the indictments, Judge R.M. Carter ordered a change in venue for the defendants from the Fifteenth
District Court in Sherman to the Criminal District Court No.
2 in Dallas, Judge C.A. Pippen, presiding. Judge Pippen 158 subsequently ordered a change of venue to Austin because of his inability to seat a jury. According to a Dallas newspaper, "Too many veniremen said they would not assess a prison sentence even though convinced the man on trial was a member of the mob."21
On May 28, 1931, Judge J.D. Moore of the Ninety-Eighth
District in Austin opened proceedings against J.B.
McCasland, the first and as it would turn out, the only one of the defendants to appear for trial. The Dallas Morning
News observed regarding the jury: "The only non-southerner who appeared on the jury panel was promptly struck off by the defense, although he has lived in Texas for thirty years and is a florist at the State Confederate Home."58
The court convicted McCasland of arson on June 5, 1931, and he received the minimum sentence allowable under the law—two years. Upon conviction, he pled guilty to a second charge of rioting, also with a two-year term of imprisonment. Officials subsequently dropped all other charges against him. Grayson County District Attorney Joe
P. Cox claimed that the conviction was the first ever in
Texas relating to mob violence against a black man attacker of a white woman. The local paper observed, after reporting on the McCasland trial, "It was not considered likely that any of the other cases would be called soon." In fact, none of the other cases ever came to trial. In November 1931, a
Gainesville court dismissed all charges except those against 159
Jeff Jones, Web Purdom, and Jess Roper. In June, 1932,
District Judge Ben W. Boyd of Gainesville dismissed all charges against Jones, Purdom, and Roper, an action supported by Grayson County District Attorney Cox. Out of the ninety-six original indictments against fourteen defendants, there was one conviction on two counts with the minimum penalty assessed. Although it is unclear how much time McCasland actually spent in jail, it is known that he was in the state penitentiary in June, 1932.23
Members of Sherman's black community in the days following the riot tried to recover as well. The black professionals who had lost their offices and possessions in the destruction of the district on East Mulberry Street re-opened their practices in their homes or in locations within what was perceived as "their" section of town.
County tax records reveal that the Andrews property on
Mulberry dropped in value from $7,000 in 1930 to $300 in
1931. News accounts report an effort in the white community headed by Dr. T.A. Wharton, pastor emeritus of the First
Presbyterian Church, to establish a fund to compensate the blacks for the lost property. Although the Denison paper reported in mid-May that the fund was "growing," and that "a number of prominent citizens...contributed" [to it], the final outcome of the effort is not known.24
The community did what was necessary for recovery in the immediate aftermath of the riot, but the long-term 160 results of the tragedy were not as easily addressed. In the words of a Dallas editor, "A lynching is bad enough in itself; it is worse in its continuing effects." Sherman's communities—both black and white—would feel the effects of the riot of 1930 for years to come.25 NOTES
1. Lawrence E. McGee, "Final Report re Martial Law Duty, Sherman, Texas, 27 May 1930, Archives Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas; Arthur F. Raper, The Tragedy of Lynching (Chapel Hill: North Carolina University Press, 1933; reprint ed., New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), 328.
2. "Black Porters Quit at Sherman Hotels," The Austin Statesman. 10 May 1930, p. 6; "Martial Law for Sherman Declared at Report That More Mob Rule is Feared," The Dallas Morning News. 11 May 1930, p. 14. The exodus of black residents from Sherman in the aftermath of the riot also hindered the enumeration of the population for the 1930 census. According to The Denison Herald ("Sherman Takes Own Census; Mob Riots Cause Slight Delay," 10 June 1930, p. 3), "...[The population] would have exceeded 16000 [sic] mark if all the negro population could have been accounted for. Quite a few negroes are said to have departed following the disturbance."
3. "Four Buildings Owned by Negroes Burned by Mob," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 May 1930, p. 14; "No Insurance Can Be Collected on Mob Fires," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 May 1930, p. 14.
4. Governor Dan Moody, "Proclamation by the Governor of the State of Texas," 10 May 1930, Archives Department, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas; "Martial Law for Sherman," Dallas Morning News. p. 1.
5. "Martial Law In Full Force in Sherman And Throughout Precinct 1," Sherman Daily Democrat. 12 May 1930, P. 1.
6. Ruth Bolton, "In the 1930s," n.d., p 1; Manuscript in possession of this author.
7. "Martial Law Will Not Be Withdrawn Until All Norjnal In Sherman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 13 May 1930, p. l; "Martial Law for Sherman," p. 14; "Troops Roundup Suspects As Military Court Begins Inquiry Into Sherman Riot," The Austin Statesman. 12 May 1930, p. 1; "Leave Sherman. Negroes Told," The Austin Statesman. 13 May 1930, p. 1. 8. "Leave Sherman," Statesman. p. 1.
161 162
9. "Rain Aids Guards In Restoring Order," Sunday American StatesmanP 11 May 1930, p. 1; "Martial Law," Democrat. p. 1; "Orders Given," Dallas News, p. 8. 10. "Martial Law," Democrat. p. 1; "Martial Law Not Withdrawn," Democrat. p. l. 11. "Services Join In Work Here," Sherman Daily Democrat. 13 May 1930, p. 2. 12. Walter C. Hornaday, "U.S. to Probe Mob Rioting at Sherman," The Dallas Morning News. 15 May 1930, p. 1. Although the federal grand jury was scheduled to convene, the Sherman paper did not report on the session at all. The Gainesville Daily Register reported that the federal grand jury took no action ("Jury Does Not Act In Riot Case," 21 May 1930, p. 1). The Denison Herald claimed that seven persons were indicted by the federal grand jury on four counts including violation of the Dyer Act ("Fourteen Men Indicted By Grand Jury in Riot Probe; Seventy Counts Revealed," 20 May 1930, p. 1). The Denison paper was apparently in error since the Dyer Bill, federal anti- lynching legislation proposed in 1922 by U.S. Congressmen L.C. Dyer of St. Louis, Missouri, never became law. Although the House passed the measure, it was defeated in the U.S. Senate when southern senators filibustered. Subsequent efforts in 1933, 1937, 1939, 1940, and 1948 to secure passage of a federal anti-lynching bill also failed. See George Brown Tindall, The Emergence Of The New South 1913-1945 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967), 173-174, 550-554. 13. Moody Bitterly Scores Mob Action," The Austin Statesmanf 10 May 1930, p. 1; "Services Join," Democratr p. 2; Phillips, "The Sherman Courthouse Riot of 1930," East Texas Historical Journal XXV (Fall 1987):16.
14. Jail Records, May 10-22, 1930, "Sherman strike, 1930" File, Archives, Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas; Hornaday, "U.S. to Probe," Dallas News. p. 1.
15. "Jail Records," 17 May 1930; "Mob Started 'Don't Shoot' Rumor," Sunday American Statesmen. 18 May 1930, p. 3; "Victim's Family Exonerated," The Dallas Morning News. 17 May 1930, p. 12; Walter C. Hornaday, "City Prepares For Lifting of Martial Law," The Dallas Morning Newsr 16 May 1930, p. 2.
16. Hornaday, "City Prepares," Dallas News, p. 2. 163
17. "Honey Grove Mob Burns a Dead Negro," Sherman Daily Democrat. 18 May 1930, p. 1; "Mob of 1,000 Attempts to Burn Chickasha Jail to get Negro Who Tries To Assault White Woman," Sherman Daily Democrat. 1 June 1930, p. 1. Raper describes these lynchings on pp. 356-383 in The Tragedy of Lynching.
18. Criminal Index to Minutes, Grayson County District Court, Office of the District Clerk, Grayson County Justice Center, Sherman, Texas, Vol. 1, 369, 550, 52, 276-277, 363, 482, 431, 12, 102, 328, 423, 389, 443. The Denison Herald (20 May 1930, p. 1) reported that in addition to the indictments by the Grayson County Grand Jury, seven persons were indicted by the federal grand jury on charges that included violation of the Dyer Act. The Sherman Daily Democrat did not report any federal indictments, and the Gainesville Daily Register (21 May 1930, p. 1) reported that the federal grand jury took no action. Efforts to locate federal indictment records were unsuccessful.
19. "Martial Law at Sherman Ends; Troops Depart," The Austin Statesman. 24 May 1930, p. 1; Hornaday, "City Prepares," Dallas News. p. 2.
20. "Walls to Be Torn Down," Sherman Daily Democrat. 12 May 1930, p. 1. The vault remained standing a year later prompting the local newspaper to call for its removal. The writer complained, "Thousands of people have viewed this old vault as a monument to the tragedy and wondered why the bare vault is allowed to remain as an unfavorable advertisement of this, one of Texas' leading counties." See "A Year of An Ugly Moment." Editorial. Sherman Daily Democrat. 10 May 1931, p. 6; "No Insurance," Democrat. p. 12; "Old Junior High School Building Is Court House," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 May 1930, p. 1; Bolton, "1930s," p. 2. The Grayson County Courthouse was rebuilt in 1936 with PWA funds.
21. "Trial For Riot Changed to Dallas," The Austin Statesman. 23 May 1930, p. 1; "Their Cases Called First at Austin," Sherman Daily Democrat. 27 May 1931, p. 1.
22. "Riot Trial Starts," The Austin Statesman. 1 June 1931, p. 1; "Jurors to Try Sherman Riot Case Chosen," The Dallas Morning Newsf 3 June 1931, p. 1. 23. "McCasland Gets Two-year Term In First of Sherman Riot Trials," The Dallas Morning News. 5 June 1931, p. 1; "McCasland Is Convicted At Austin," Sherman Daily Democratr 5 June 1931, p. l; "All Riot Cases Except Against Three Dismissed," Sherman Daily Democrat. 2 November 1931, p. 10 164
"Rioting Cases Are Dismissed," Sherman Daily Democratr 3 June 1932, p. 1. McCasland was eventually paroled by the governor because of his mother's illness, according to Durwood Pruden, "A Sociological Study of a Texas Lynching" (Master's Thesis, Southern Methodist University, 1935), 180.
24. Grayson County Assessor's Abstracts: Sherman 1927-1934, Office of the County Tax Assessor-Collector, Grayson County Courthouse, Sherman, Texas, Book 28, 34; Hornaday, "City Prepares," Dallas News, p. 2; "Sherman Mob Testimony to Go to Jurors," The Denison Herald. 15 May 1930, p. 2. There is no general knowledge among Sherman blacks of money subsequently paid to the 1930 black property owners who lost property in the riot. Raper wrote that the plan to collect money was "discontinued at the request of the county attorney who insisted...that this procedure would interfere with his chance to convict those under indictment by the grand jury" (p. 336). He also noted that as the trials of the men indicted in the rioting were delayed (by the county attorney), "house-to-house canvasses" were made in Sherman to collect money for bonds and lawyers for the defendants (pp. 332-333).
25. "The Aftermath." Editorial. The Dallas Morning News. 19 May 1930, p. 10. CHAPTER VI
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
How the tragedy of May 9, 1930 happened is a complex question more easily asked than answered. Sherman, the
"Athens of Texas" known for its churches, schools, cultural activities, and favorable business environment, appeared outwardly at least, an unlikely location for a horrifying lynching and wholesale destruction of the black community.
Many speculated as to how such a thing could have happened in Grayson's county seat. Officials and residents of the city and editors of local and state newspapers at the time were among those who tried to explain the tragic events of
May 1930.
Two days after the riot, the Sherman Daily Democrat published remarks of Mayor Jess Eubank who declared that the city had been "a tragic victim of circumstances." According to Eubank, the affair was a county concern since the black man had only recently moved to the county, had committed a crime in a rural area in the county, and was being tried in a county court. Moreover, the official declared, although some of the rioters, unfortunately, were Sherman residents, the majority were not. He remarked, "You can ask nearly any
Sherman people if they recognized those in the mob and their reply will be, ^precious few' [sic]." Another article in
165 166 the same issue affirmed the mayor's view, attributing the deeds to the work of "outsiders" who had traveled to
Grayson's county seat from other locales in North Texas and
Southern Oklahoma. Shortly after the riot, in an editorial, a newspaperman also offered his view of the tragedy.
Decrying the mob as "...never right...always wrong and unreasonable and dangerous[,]" he wrote, "We can not conceive that any person familiar with the circumstances had any regrets in the death of the negro who was the cause of the great catastrophe that has overtaken Sherman." Federal
District Attorney Randolph Bryant, a lifelong Sherman resident, attributed the burning of the courthouse to race prejudice and "the frenzied mob's efforts to get the negro" and the destruction which followed to "a pure manifestation of bolshevism." In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, local residents, unable to comprehend that such a thing could have occurred in their city, blamed outsiders, bolsheviks, and even George Hughes, the black man whom the mob lynched and burned. Their remarks demonstrate reluctance to claim any local responsibility for the tragedy and the extent to which residents would go in rationalizing what had happened.1
As news of the riot began to spread, local and state newspapers offered their perspectives on how the tragedy could have occurred. One of the first was the editor of the
Denison Heraldf the local newspaper of Sherman's historic 167 rival to the north. In a front page editorial, the journalist called the riot "preventable" if "proper measures had been adopted soon enough." He faulted officials for trying the accused so soon after such a provocative crime had been committed and criticized the failure of authorities to change venue. He charged that the inadequate number of law enforcement personnel, "conspicuous by their absence," invited violence. According to the editor, so heinous a crime precluded any sympathy for the accused in the community, and such a volatile situation made "preventive measures all the more necessary." After blaming local residents for allowing further destruction following the firing of the courthouse, he termed the whole affair "the result of a series of blunders."2
Another area newspaper, the Gainesville Daily Register, while describing Sherman as a "fair Texas city, a seat of educational institutions and a community of refined, cultured citizens," nevertheless leveled sharp criticism at some of the town's "best citizens." The journal remarked that they, "overawed" at the spectacle on the courthouse square, "stupidly added the force of their presence to the milling mob...." According to the Registerr these onlookers should have stayed away because they kept the law enforcement officers from doing their jobs and aided the rioters who interpreted the largeness of the crowd as support for their actions.3 168
An article in the Dallas Morning News took Ranger
Captain Frank Hamer to task over the "Don't shoot" rumor.
The editor viewed the lawman's statement regarding the rumor as "incomplete." He wrote, "[Captain Hamer's statement] makes it clear that the ranger received no such order. It asserts that Captain Hamer believed the order to exist.
There is uncovered ground between those two facts." He concluded by remarking that the "whole story has not been told. It should be."4
The Fort Worth Star Telegram attributed the riot to official inaction and questioned why Rangers "balked" at using force to disperse the mob. The newspaper also noted the long delay before the National Guard was called up and their apparent lack of "definite orders" once they arrived in Sherman. Area residents who thronged to the courthouse square did not escape the Telegram's chastisement: "The good people of Sherman and of the surrounding country who appeared on the streets out of curiosity during the mob's activity were no part of the mob, but they protected the mob and gave it cover under which to work."5
Two county officials at the time—Sheriff Arthur Vaughn and Judge R.M. Carter—offered their views concerning factors which had contributed to the rule of the mob.
Vaughn noted that the arrival and departure of Mrs. Farlow in an ambulance at the courthouse incensed an already frenzied crowd. He also remarked that the "Don't shoot" 169 rumor did irreparable harm to the situation. Judge Carter, after acquiescing in the Farlow family's request that the trial not be moved from Sherman, claimed that he expected no trouble since the victim's family was "satisfied." In defending the criticism that local officials were "lax," the judge noted that sufficient manpower did not exist locally to deal with the problem, since there was a total of only sixteen men on the municipal and county forces. Both officials recalled their surprise at the size of this crowd in Sherman and that events turned out as they did.6
The lack of appropriate response by county officials received major emphasis in a 1935 thesis which examined the
Sherman riot. According to this study, county officials were very reluctant to use force, and one even remarked to a newly-arrived contingent of guardsmen, "We're glad you're here, boys, but for God's sake, don't start shooting!" The author also criticized the reluctance of Judge Carter to change venue, the failure of community leaders to oppose the mob in any way, and especially the handling of the situation by Grayson County Attorney Joe Cox. He claimed that the official opposed the change of venue because it prevented him from prosecuting the case before his constituents and noted that some local residents blamed Cox for the appearance of Mrs. Farlow on a stretcher at the courthouse on the day of the trial.7 170
Arthur F. Raper's 1933 work, The Tragedy of Lynchingf which came about in response to the 1930 upsurge in southern lynchings, includes the most comprehensive examination of the Sherman affair available. In his study, Raper noted the community's willingness to believe numerous rumors, especially lurid reports, later shown to be inaccurate, of the woman's alleged mutilation during the attack. He emphasized the inaction of the "good" people of Sherman who made no attempt to resist the mob, and he attributed some of the mob's action to the remnants of a "senile" Klan, which had been active in the area during the early 1920s. Citing the economic decline of Grayson County, he recounted the driving of rural blacks in recent years into the two main urban areas, Sherman and Denison, and claimed that the existence of a propertied, somewhat prosperous class of blacks in Sherman outraged lower class whites in the area.8
Although all of the opinions and views noted above as to how this tragic affair happened are credible, there are, however, other factors worthy of consideration. One is that the early historic record of Grayson County does, in fact, contain episodes of mob violence or at the least the threat of it. On at least five known occasions in the years from the founding of the county in 1846 to 1903, mobs either formed or threatened to form, intent upon administering
"extra-legal justice." 171
In 1862, Sherman came very close to having its own
"great hanging" as a neighboring county seat, Gainesville, did. In that year, after the executions of forty-two alleged Unionists by "people's courts" in Gainesville, such a court in Sherman tried and convicted sixteen Grayson residents. District Judge Robert Waddell and future Texas
Governor J.W. Throckmorton intervened and personally prevented the lynchings of the alleged Unionists in
Sherman.9
Thirty years later, in 1892, county officials thwarted efforts of over 1,000 armed men to take Sam Massey, a black man accused of the beating of a local couple, Mr. and Mrs.
J.W. Smith, and the rape of Mrs. Smith. Angry because the trial had been postponed, the crowd determined to "get the negro and burn him." The mob failed in its intent because local law enforcement officials had secretly spirited the man to Dallas. Eventually convicted of the crime, Massey received the death penalty. The newspaper reported that
"...many feared that if the prisoner were not convicted, serious trouble would follow."10
In 1901, black Whitesboro resident Abe Wilder, accused of the rape and murder of a nineteen-year-old bride of five months, Mrs. Bessie Caldwell, was pursued, apprehended by a mob and burned on a rural ranch in nearby Cooke County. As news of the pursuit traveled throughout the county, due in part to newspaper coverage that publicized an "exact 172 program" of events that had been "arranged," a "surging crowd of excited humanity" flocked to Whitesboro, and a large group of spectators thronged to Sherman. It seems that a report had circulated in McKinney identifying Sherman as the "seat of action." Rumors included an erroneous report that "material for execution by fire had been piled up on the square in Sherman and that all business houses were closed." Subsequent newspaper headlines described
Wilder's fate: "Wilder Burned at Red Branch Last Night.
The Blck rsic] Fiend Goes Up in Smoke. To Expiate a
Horrible Crime—Made a Full and Complete Confession—Died in
Intense Agony, Surrounded By Burning Fodder." According to the account, the husband of the murdered woman "applied the match.1,11
In 1903, two other disturbing situations occurred.
Isaac Ford, a twenty-two year-old black farm laborer, was arrested in Sherman for the criminal assault of a seven- year-old local girl, Lillian May Moreland. Law enforcement officials quietly apprehended Ford who, according to news accounts, confessed to the crime. They then removed him to the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth where, after claiming that his confession in Sherman had been coerced, he committed suicide. Allegedly, Ford told fellow prisoners before his suicide that no white man was going to hang him or burn him. Another black man held in the Grayson County jail at the time of Ford's arrest, previously convicted and 173 sentenced to death in the murder of a local white women, was also quietly removed from the facility to Bonham. The transfer (to Bonham) occurred, according to the sheriff, for the safety of the prisoner "in the event a crowd should visit the jail [for Ford] and by any means effect an entrance...." The law official's concern was that such a crowd might, in the heat of the moment, demand the other black prisoner as well. Although it is not clear that a mob actually formed, the sheriff took precautionary measures indicating he believed there was strong clearly potential for such a development.12
Within days of the Sherman episode, a similar affair occurred in Whitesboro. Tensions rose initially when a note was publicly posted, allegedly from an "Anti-White Man's
Club," threatening that local wells would be poisoned and some white girl foully treated and murdered as vengeance for the burning of Abe Wilder two years before. Although the origin of the note was never determined, some thought it came from local whites determined to further promote anti- negro sentiment already prevalent in the community and surrounding area. According to the city marshall, there were few blacks living in the community anyway. He remarked, "We haven't very many negro men at Whitesboro, not over twenty-five of them." The tense situation deteriorated further when, in less than two weeks, there was an alleged attempted rape of a Whitesboro white woman by a black man. 174
Authorities arrested a suspect in nearby Sadler, and, according to newspaper reports, when the sheriff and the accused arrived in Whitesboro (in a "gallop'"), an
"infuriated and immense crowd" followed.13
The suspect, Jonas Brown, after being placed in jail, narrowly escaped lynching when a mob numbering 400 to 500, having heard of plans to transfer the prisoner to Sherman, broken down the jail door, entered the cell, and placed a noose around the man's neck before officials intervened.
After a plea by the sheriff to do so, the husband of the young woman murdered in 1901 calmed the crowd and persuaded them to let the officers exercise their better judgement since the victim of the attack had not yet positively identified the suspect as the perpetrator. As it turned out, the accused black man who came dangerously close to being lynched was found to be not guilty of the attack, and he was subsequently released. During these episodes, however, the few blacks who did live in Whitesboro left for good. Local newspaper headlines reported the exodus:
"Nearly the Entire Negro Population is Out of Town."14
In four of the five incidents detailed above, mobs actually formed, and in one instance, a man died at the hands of the mob. In the three remaining situations, the mob was for one reason or another "unsuccessful." In the fifth situation, law enforcement officials, apparently perceiving a threat of violence, took preventive measures 175 before a mob could form. In all five cases, whether a mob actually formed or whether it was "successful" is not as integral a consideration as is the fact that county residents apparently viewed such action acceptable. A distinction regarding the location of the mob actions is also noteworthy, for of the five episodes, three concerned events that occurred in the county outside of Sherman.
After 1903, there is no evidence of mob activity either in
Grayson County or in the county seat itself.
These incidents, all motivated to some extent by attitudes and values more common to the South than other regions of the nation, demonstrate that mob violence was part of the historical fabric of Grayson County in the forty-one years from 1862 to 1903. If it cannot be said that the area had a propensity for mob violence, it could be said there was a strong probability that such actions might occur given the history of the area. The Southern
Commission on the Study of Lynching, upon examining the dramatic increase in lynchings in 1930, suggested that officials might deter such events if they would "sense the probability of mob violence" in their communities.15 Many in the crowd in Sherman on May 9, 1930, could easily have witnessed or had knowledge of most, or, in some cases, perhaps all of the incidents detailed above. Grayson County clearly had a "probability of mob violence," but officials for one reason or another failed to "sense" it. 176
There are no other known opportunities for the potential outbreak of mob violence until the 1921 incident, previously mentioned, when a Sherman black man, employed at a local hotel was convicted of the rape of an area white woman who was a guest at the establishment.16 It will be remembered that prominent whites, some of whom were city officials, testified on behalf of the young man who received life imprisonment for his conviction on the charge. The trial, held in Sherman, progressed smoothly without any disturbance whatsoever. This episode, which involved the same southern taboo against sexual contact between black males and white females as four of the five county incidents mentioned above, is, in fact, noteworthy in county history for its lack of violence.
An intriguing question is why a trial for the rape of a white woman by a black man progressed without incident in
1921 when a similar trial resulted in such catastrophe only nine years later. Was it because economic conditions were better in 1921 than in 1930? For county farmers, the decline in farm prices especially for cotton during the
1920s spelled serious economic distress as it did for farmers throughout the state.17 The most recent study of southern lynchings found that economic conditions, especially relating to cotton production, appeared to have a positive correlation with the frequency of lynchings. When cotton production was up, lynchings tended to decrease in 177 number, and when production decreased, lynchings tended to occur more frequently.18 The lynching in Sherman in 1930 and the other two Texas lynchings which occurred within six weeks of it represent supporting data for the new study of southern lynchings.
Another difference between 1921 and 1930 concerns the black business district on East Mulberry Street in
Sherman.19 Although the Andrews Building and other establishments had been in the area before 1920, the real growth of the area with several black professionals opening offices there occurred after 1925. Possibly the area was not as "irritating" in 1921 as it was in 1930 to lower-class whites in Sherman and in the county who resented any evidence of black prosperity. The Andrews Building and a growing black professional class clearly would have been perceived by lower-class whites as a threat to white supremacy, and the economic pressure they felt in 1930 would only exacerbate the situation.
Official handling of the episodes is another factor to consider. From the beginning of the 1921 trial, Judge Silas Hare, Jr., a long-time respected local official, took a decisive and vocal position against any potential trouble.20 The officials in 1930 were less decisive at the very least. It should be noted, also, that the three "prevented" lynchings in Grayson County history, all of which involved the charge of rape of a white female by a black male, 178 occurred because of local officials who acted quickly and quietly to remove suspects from the county. The failure of local authorities to respond adequately to the Sherman situation in 1930 and of state officials who responded slowly and with inadequate numbers of guardsmen after the crowd numbered into thousands are recurring themes among those who have analyzed the whole affair.
There is another aspect to the 1930 riot which, although somewhat speculative, is worth consideration for some future investigation—the possibility that bootlegging may have somehow been involved. Violations of federal liquor laws were known to be common occurrences in Grayson
County. In fact, in 1921, a local judge requested an investigation by the federal grand jury, noting that the
National Prohibition Act appeared to have been "flagrantly violated in this district." The names of Jeff Jones and
Leonard O'Neal, both of whom were indicted in the 1930 riot, appear in court records in the local newspaper for violations of liquor laws. It is not known whether others indicted for the riot had specific records of liquor law violations, but the name of J.D. Goodson, local black pharmacist, also appears in records of liquor law violations. Apparently, the owner of Goodson's Drugstore committed suicide in early 1930 rather than answer charges of violating liquor laws again. Nearly all accounts of the
1930 riot include references that liquor was clearly in 179 evidence during the affair, and federal prohibition agents comprised part of the investigative authorities in Sherman after the disturbances subsided.21
After the mob had burned the courthouse and gained possession of the lifeless body of George Hughes, it moved to Goodson's Drugstore at the east end of the black business district. There, rioters hanged and burned the corpse of
George Hughes, the flames fueled with lumber and furniture from the drugstore. Only after that, did the rioters fire and destroy the Andrews Building. This sequence of events raises several questions. Were the lynching of George
Hughes and the burning of the drugstore and other black- owned property related to bootleggers claiming or reclaiming that territory? Did whites perceive that there was competition in the black community for illegal liquor sales?
Was Goodson's Drugstore or its proprietor involved in an illegal business in which both blacks and whites participated? If the mob was primarily motivated by its racism and hatred of black prosperity, why did it not go to the Andrews Building first? It, more than any other structure in the area, indicated the advances local blacks were making. Also, if hatred of black prosperity motivated the mob primarily, why was the office of Dr. A.N. Prince, one of Sherman's most affluent black residents, untouched by the mob? In one sense, Dr. Prince was certainly "out of his place" because of all the black professionals in Sherman, he 180 was the one whose office was not located in the black business district. Dr. Prince's medical practice had been located for years near the courthouse in downtown Sherman.
These questions suggest that perhaps the burning of the courthouse to get George Hughes and the burning of the black business district might be viewed as two separate events motivated by different things. At least one prominent individual at the time of the riot thought so.
Toward the end of May 1930, when officials were preparing to lift martial law in Sherman, Federal Attorney
Randolph Bryant, basing his opinion on "evidence presented to him," was adamant in his view that the recent events
Should be considered separately. He attributed the burning of the courthouse to racism, and the destruction of the black business district to bolshevism.22 To suggest that the destruction of the black business district was somehow related to the sale of illegal liquor is a more viable suggestion than the notion that "bolsheviks" played a role.
Although much more evidence is needed to argue the point soundly, certainly intriguing possibilities exist for speculation about a connection between the actions of the mob on East Mulberry Street and the sale of illegal liquor in the area.
Whatever the causes of the events in Sherman in May 1930, the magnitude of that episode in addition to the dramatic increase in the number of lynchings in that year 181 after a downward trend in previous years alarmed many. As a result some suggested the study of the lynchings to see if
"lynching locales" held certain characteristics in common.
One of the first groups to follow that course was the
Commission on Interracial Cooperation which in 1930 established the Southern Commission on the Study of
Lynching, an organization which generated and supported several studies on lynching.23 In one such study, researchers, basing their findings on case studies of the
1930 lynchings, suggested a profile of a "typical" lynching county. According to these findings, such a county was
"characterized in general by social and economic decadence."
It was below the state average in the following areas: per capita tax valuation, bank deposits, income from farm and factory, income tax returns, automobile ownership, and educational facilities. Seventy-five percent of the residents in a "typical lynching county" attended Southern
Baptist and Methodist churches, according to the profile.
Additionally, there was "generally prevalent a supposed necessity for protecting white women against sex crimes by the Negro." The profile also noted the existence of
"emotional and recreational starvation" and a "fear of economic domination by enterprising Negroes.1124
No one could successfully argue that Grayson County does not fit the profile, for it does. However, there are problems with calling Grayson County or any county a 182
"typical lynching county." For one thing, what determines
"social and economic decadence?" Also, what exactly is
"emotional and recreational starvation?" Another problem is that when lynchings do not occur in counties that exhibit similar characteristics, how can it be said that such characteristics are conducive to lynching?
The four counties contiguous to Grayson County—Collin,
Cooke, Denton, and Fannin—are a case in point. According to the profile, one of the characteristics of a lynching county is economic decline evidence by specific criteria such as per capita tax valuation, bank deposits, etc.
Although such precise information is not readily available today on a county-by-county basis for 1930, other indications of economic condition are available which will allow for comparison. These are number of farms, average values of land and buildings per acre, percentage of tenancy, number of cotton bales ginned, and number of automobile registrations. A comparison of Grayson County to its four neighbors for the years between 1925 and 1930 in specific areas reveals that Grayson was in no more economic distress than Collin, Cooke, Denton, or Fannin were.
In the years from 1925 to 1930, the number of farms decreased less in Grayson County than in the other counties.25 Also in that period, of the five counties, two had greater decline in the average value of land and buildings than Grayson did.26 From 1925 to 1930, the 183 percentage of tenancy increased in two of the counties and declined in three, Grayson being in the latter group where tenancy declined, although Grayson's decline was slight.27
In the same period, only two counties ginned a greater number of cotton bales than Grayson did, and in one year only one county did. The three counties which ginned the most—Collin, Fannin, and Grayson—exhibited a strikingly similar pattern of increase and decrease in the years from
1925 to 1930.28 Automobile registrations in Grayson County in this period declined only once, and then very slightly, whereas in three of its four neighbors, the number decreased significantly in three of the five years.29 Thus, these five counties in predominantly rural North Central Texas all experienced about the same thing economically in the years from 1925 to 1930. The economic condition of Grayson County in those years was no worse and in some respects better than in some of its neighboring counties. If its declining economic condition classified Grayson County as a "typical lynching county," then Collin, Cooke, Denton, and Fannin
Counties were also "typical lynching counties." However, that no lynchings occurred in any of these counties during the 1920s or 1930s raises an issue as to what extent the characteristics of a "typical lynching county" actually impact lynching occurrence. This clearly suggests that there is much more involved in how such things occur. 184
How did the riot occur in Sherman in 1930? Many, if not all, of the suggestions mentioned above—outsiders, bolsheviks, official inaction or inadequate action, an unmanageable multitude of curious spectators, the inflammatory appearance of the victim, traditional racial attitudes, propensity toward frontier justice, economic competition legal and otherwise, and similarities in
"lynching counties"—undoubtedly contributed to the tragic sequence of events. Other perspectives as yet unconsidered could be revealed. The hard questions, however, are of a more fundamental nature, for they go to why mob violence occurs. The social institutions—notably, schools and churches—which should help to prevent mob violence had flourished in Sherman for years. The community's historic proclivity toward reason, religion, and civility, in fact, made it an unlikely locale for such disorder. When it did occur in their community, however, deeply-shaken residents searched for answers. As one citizen abhorring the violence reportedly asked, "What have the churches been teaching for the past twenty years?"30
There are also other hard questions as far as the Sherman riot in 1930 is concerned. For example, why did seemingly "good people," albeit "overawed" by spectacle, stand by and do nothing as human life and property were ravaged? What does it say about a community when its residents choose to do nothing in the face of such violence? 185
Why is a lynching necessary when a confessed rapist would have been convicted and executed? What makes men lynch, mutilate, and incinerate an already lifeless body? How in the aftermath, can a community be satisfied with the failure of government to punish the wrongdoers? How can no compensation for innocent victims of such a rampage be acceptable? Although some may say that these questions have no answers, such inquiry forces the individuals in a community either to confront or to ignore certain fundamental issues of their existence and the choices they make about good and evil. They must do one or the other, and both directly affect what the community is and will be.
In the aftermath of the Sherman riot in 1930, when other journals were placing blame and attributing failures, one Texas newspaper observed: "What happened in Sherman could have as easily occurred in any other Texas city or town under similar circumstances.1,31 The writer did not elaborate on "similar circumstances," but his point is unmistakable—it could happen anywhere. Such tragedies can occur anywhere that officials by their indecision or inaction allow circumstances to develop as they did in
Sherman from May 4 to May 10, 1930. NOTES
1. "Editorial" and "City Victim Of Circumstances In Mob Burning of Buildings Friday," Sherman Daily Democrat. 11 May 1930, pp. 6, 1; Walter C. Hornaday, "City Prepares For Lifting of Martial Law," The Dallas Morning News. 16 May 1930, p. 2.
2. "Editorial," The Denison Herald. 9 May 1930, p. 1.
3. "Helping Sherman *Clean House,'" Gainesville Daily Register. 13 May 1930, p. 5.
4. "The Sherman Incident," The Dallas Morning News. 16 May 1930, p. 16.
5. "Clipped Editorials," Sherman Daily Democrat. 12 May 1930, p. 6.
6. Thomas Michael Murphy, "History of the Sherman Riot" (Master's Thesis, Austin College, 1931), pp. 19, 22- 23; "Martial Law for Sherman Declared at Report That More Mob Rule is Feared," Dallas Morning News. 11 May 1930, p. 1.
7. Durwood Pruden, "A Sociological Study of a Texas Lynching" (Master's Thesis, Southern Methodist University, 1935), pp. 84, 171, 158-159. This thesis is undocumented and written in a code. (E.g. Sherman is called Leesville and Denison, Grantsville; for anyone who has knowledge of the riot and the geography of the area, the "code" is not difficult to "break.") The author explained the purpose for the code as follows: "The very nature of the study has made some degree of secrecy necessary..." (Preface). The "code" according to the author "has been left with the sociology department of [S.M.U.] in case it should ever be needed for further scientific research." The code list cannot be located today. The thesis contains information from over 200 interviews of Sherman residents.
8. Arthur F. Raper, The Tragedy of Lynching (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933; reprint ed., New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970), pp. 321, 332, 335, 321-322, 347, 350-351, 354-355, 351.
9. Richard B. McCaslin, Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville. Texas 1862 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1994), pp. 96-96.
186 187
10. Taken from the following articles of the Sherman Daily Register: "Horrible," 1 March 1892, p. 4; "Outwitted," 3 March 1892, p. 6; "At Fever Heat," 20 April 1892, p. 1; "Surging Crowds," 21 April 1892, p. 1; "The Verdict," 23 May 1892, p. 4.
11. "Horrible Double Crime. Mrs. Bessie Caldwell the Victim," Sherman Daily Register. 17 August 1901, p. 2? "Lies Were Afloat," Sherman Daily Register. 18 August 1901, p. 1; "Captured," Sherman Daily Register. 20 August 1901, p. 1. The headlines appeared in the Sherman Daily Register. 21 August 1901, p. 1. The Dallas Morning News (21 August 1901, p. 1) published the following notice to blacks posted in Whitesboro following the Caldwell murder: "All negroes who do not own property or have a good, established character have been warned to leave Whitesboro, and the last one of the objectionable characters left today, and all those who lived here were ordered not to allow any strange negroes to come here, as they will be badly treated." In the same article, additional information regarding the burning appears: "The men who are with the remains of the burned negro will remain there in camp tonight. Tomorrow everybody who wants to see the remains will be permitted to do so, and on Thursday another fire will be built under the remains and the burning completed. The men will not allow anyone to touch the body or remove it, but it will be protected until Thursday, when it will be fired and completely incinerated."
12. Taken from the following articles of the Sherman Daily Register: "Fiend Caught," 21 July 1903, p. 1; "The Fiend Has Been Caught" and "Smith Also Removed," 22 July 1903, p. 1; "Suicided in Ft. Worth Jail," 23 July 1903, p. 1; "Death of Ford," 25 July 1903, p. 3.
13. "Excitement at Whitesboro," Sherman Daily Register, 27 July 1903, p. 1? "Negro's Crime at Whitesboro" and "Captured," Sherman Daily Register. 12 August 1903, p. 1.
14. "Crowds Began to Gather," Sherman Daily Register. 13 August 1903, p. 3. The headlines appeared in the Register on August 14, 1903 on page 4. In the same issue, an account appeared of the formation of the "Negro Law and Order Club" in Sherman with Dr. D.W. Porter as president. Reporting the number in attendance, the writer stated, "[I]n that number were found the doctor, the lawyer, the preacher, the mechanic, the laborer. They were a representative body of the very best negroes in Sherman" (p. 3). The lengthy account described the blacks' disgust at criminal assault and reguested that "the better class of white people" protect them ("the better class of negroes") from "the lower 188
and criminal classes of whites." The article reporting the exodus of blacks from Whitesboro appeared on page 4. On the following day (August 15, 1903), an article reported the exodus of blacks from Bells, located approximately ten miles from Sherman in eastern Grayson County. The article contained the following, "It is generally known several months ago a very pointed effort was said to have been made to relieve Bells of its negro population, and the success of such effort is attested in the act rsic! that or fsicl months together no negro has lived in the town." See "Negroes At Bells: That Is the Ones Who Were There Have Decided to Emigrate," Sherman Daily Registerf 15 August 1903, p. l.
15. "Lynchings and What They Mean: General Findings of the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching," (Atlanta: The Commission, 1931), p. 28.
16. See Chapter III, pp. 106-107.
17. Robert A. Calvert and Arnoldo De Leon, The History of Texas (Arlington Heights, 111.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1990), p. 225.
18. E.M. Beck and S.E. Tolnay, "The Killing Fields of the Deep South: The Market for Cotton and the Lynching of Blacks, 1882-1930," American Sociological Review 55 (August 1990): 526. The authors did not include Texas in the study because of "difficulties in locating suitable local newspapers" (p. 529). The findings published in this article and others are included in the authors's forthcoming book, A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lvnchings. 1882-1930.
19. See Chapter III, pp. 109-112.
20. Silas Hare, Jr. also presided over the 1892 trial of Sam Massey whose lynching was averted by officials who had removed him from the area until he could be tried. It is noteworthy that in recalling the 1930 Sherman riot, local black resident Alexander Bate (p. 22, transcription of September 19, 1986 interview in author's possession), remarked, "Judge Hare said if he hadn't been sick, he'd have gone up there at that courthouse and stopped it himself. He was a real respectable judge in this town—Silas Hare [# Jr.]."
21. Judge Estes Empanels Federal Grand Jury on Charges on Liguor Laws," Sherman Daily Democrat. 16 May 1921, p. 1. The names of Jones, O'Neal, and Goodson appeared in "In the Courts" for liguor law violations in the following issues of 189 the Democrat: 1 December 1927, p. 14 (O'Neal), 11 February 1930 (Jones and Goodson). "J.D. Goodson Kills Himself," Sherman Daily Democrat. 9 January 1930, p. 1. Re the Prohibition agents in the riot investigation, see Chapter 4, pp. 116-117.
22. See Chapter V, p. 154.
23. See endnote #9 in Chapter IV.
24. James Harmon Chadbourn, Lynching and the Law (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1933), 4.
25. The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo Corporation, 1931), 163.
26. U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930f vol. II, part 2: Agriculture (Washington, 1932), 1422.
27. Ibid., 1593.
28. Texas Almanac (1931), 169.
29. The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo Corporation, 1927), 331; 1929 Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide (Dallas: A.H. Belo Corporation, 1929), 184; Texas Almanac (1931), 198.
30. Raper, Tragedy of Lynching. 339.
31. "The Unfortunate Affair At Sherman," Denton-Record Chronicle. 14 May 1930, p. 8. EPILOGUE
The actions of the Sherman mob in 1930 devastated the
local black community in ways that were both immediate and
far-reaching. Staggering financial losses compounded by
riot exclusion clauses in the insurance coverage would have
hindered the rebuilding of the district in prosperous times,
but in 1930 as the depression worsened, rebuilding was
virtually impossible. In the years following, no attempt
was ever made to rebuild the business district on East
Mulberry Street.
The professional offices burned out in the riot
reopened in residential areas around Brockett, East,
College, and Broughton Streets, all located in what had been
for years regarded as the black section of town. Physicians
Goodson and Porter and Dr. Stinnett, the dentist, re-
established their practices in these residential areas, and
Dr. Prince continued to maintain his practice in the
location where it had always been—approximately one block
from the courthouse square in downtown Sherman.1 Dr. Prince
died in 1932, Dr. Porter in 1934, Dr. Goodson in 1955, and
Dr. Stinnett in I960.2 With the exception of Dr. Curtis
Franklin who practiced in Sherman from 1935 until 1946, the medical professionals who experienced firsthand the 1930 riot are the only ones since that time who have
190 191 maintained practices and resided in Sherman. Currently, one black physician, Dr. Wayne Bell, who came to Sherman in the
1980s, practices in the community. Bell practices emergency room care at Sherman's Wilson N. Jones Memorial Hospital and resides near Denison. There are in 1995 no black physicians who maintain private practices and reside in Sherman.3
After Attorney W.J. Durham left Sherman in the mid- forties, no black barrister lived in the community until
1986. At that time, attorney Charles Chatman tried unsuccessfully to establish a practice in Sherman.
According to Chatman, who has maintained a law office in
McKinney since he moved from Sherman in 1989, several acquaintances questioned the wisdom of his decision to move to the community. Chatman attributes his decision to relocate to McKinney in 1989 to the absence of a black professional class in Sherman, the overall racial climate, and the failure of the local black community to support his practice.4 No black attorney practiced in Sherman after
Chatman left, and in 1995, the situation remains unchanged.
Although the 1930 riot clearly hindered subsequent growth of a black professional class in the years afterward, the tragedy on at least one occasion brought local black and white residents together in a positive way. During the
1960s, Sherman's black and white communities cooperated to effect integration peacefully through the efforts of an interracial Human Relations Committee. Dr. John D. Moseley, 192 at the time president of Austin College, recalled the weekly meetings held by committee members to plan and monitor the integration of local institutions and facilities such as restaurants, motels, hospitals, and physicians' offices.
According to Dr. Moseley, a large part of the success of local integration came from the efforts of Dr. John Minter, pastor of the Grand Avenue Presbyterian Church, and Rev.
W.E. McGruder, pastor of the Progressive Baptist Church, one of Sherman's oldest black churches. While noting that these two men committed their faith to action, Moseley observed that another factor shaped the integration process in
Sherman. He remarked, "...[The] 1930 incident was a cloud over our heads in such a way that basically the white population was determined not to let anything [violent] happen...." Nothing violent did happen in Sherman during integration in the 1960s, unlike in many parts of the South, and this continues to be a source of pride for many in
Sherman. As Rev. McGruder stated some twenty-five years later, "And all this came about without parades or protest movements."5
Local educators and administrators facing public school integration in the 1960s exhibited the same determination to avoid racial violence like the riot of 1930. For most of the years from 1930 to the 1960s, the black professional class in Sherman had consisted primarily of the black educators who taught at the segregated Fred Douglass School. 193
Faced with the dismantling of segregation, these professionals, by a stair-step integration process, were absorbed into the school system. By 1968, the Sherman public schools were fully integrated, and no incident of racial violence had marred the process.6
Although Sherman pointed with pride to the peaceful integration of schools, there were those in the community who found the results of the process less than satisfactory.
Over the years, local black educators found it difficult if not impossible to move from instructional positions to administrative ones in the school district. In the years immediately following integration, there were only two exceptions. The former principal of Fred Douglass, Percy
Neblett, soon after integration became an assistant principal at what was then Dillingham Middle School and later moved to a similar position at Sherman High School, a position he held until his retirement in 1977.7 In 1968 or
1969, Cleveland Roy, Jr. became Sherman's first minority school counselor. In the years following, he moved from that position to his current position of Administrative
Assistant, overseeing among other programs the Drug Free
School Program, Chapter II, and Resource Coordination for the Sherman Independent School District.8
After 1970, the advancement of black educators was an infrequent occurrence, but in the mid-1980s, some changes began to take place. In 1987, Ruby Jo Williams became the 194 first black principal of a predominately white school,
Washington Elementary. In 1995, when Washington School became one of five pilot schools in the nation to participate in the innovative Edison Project, Williams was selected as principal. In 1995, Al Hambrick became the first black principal of Sherman High School. As of the end of the 1994-1995 school year, Roy, Williams, and Hambrick along with two black assistant principals were the only minorities among the twenty-nine officials, managers, administrators, principals, and assistant principals employed by the school district.9 Although clearly some progress has been made, noteworthy to this study is the fact that any strides have been few in number and relatively recent.
Sherman I.S.D. officials have since 1991 implemented several programs which should have positive results in the future. In 1992, the district began an "aggressive" recruitment program to try and attract minority professionals to Sherman. Of the new instructors hired by the S.I.S.D. for the 1995-1996 school year as of June 1995, approximately thirty percent are minorities, although it is not yet clear to what extent the minority recruitment program was responsible for that development.10 In 1992, the Sherman Minority Recruitment Scholarship Foundation came into existence to fund scholarships awarded to local minority students with the stipulation that upon graduation 195 they will return to Sherman to teach. Currently one student participates in this program." In 1995, after an audit by
MGT of America, Inc., a Tallahassee, Florida-based management and research consulting firm, a "blue-ribbon" committee with strong minority representation was appointed to explore issues relating to diversity in the community and to make suggestions where needed. Composed of thirty-two members, the broad-based group is comprised of educators, personnel from local industries, community leaders, and other local citizens who have expressed specific concerns about race relations in Sherman. Although change has certainly been slow in coming, current district officials and community members appear determined to make progress.12
The election of blacks to the Sherman I.S.D. Board of
Trustees has also been both infrequent and relatively recent. Percy Neblett, former Fred Douglass School principal, became in 1978 the first black to be elected to the Sherman School Board. He served in that position for six years. In 1985, local black businessman Welby Pleasant was elected to the board, a position he held for three years. There have been no others.13
As with the S.I.S.D. School Board, local blacks have only in the last few years been elected to the Sherman City
Council. In 1983, Cleveland Roy, Jr. became the first black elected to such a position. He served for five years initially, was subsequently appointed to fill an incomplete 196 terra of a councilman who had resigned, and then was re- elected in 1994. He remains on the council in 1995. From
1990 until 1992 when he was transferred from Sherman,
Johnson and Johnson Chief Engineer Andrew White served on the council. In 1992, Nellie M. Hughes, local business owner and current president of the Sherman chapter of the
NAACP, became the first black councilwoman in the history of
Sherman.14
Alexander Bate, local black educator and civil rights leader, when asked in 1986 why Sherman had no black professional class as in the 1920s, remarked:
Sherman got a bad name when they had this riot—everywhere. For twenty years I tried to get a black doctor here out of two black medical schools. [Bate later identified the two schools as Howard University in Washington, D.C. and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.] Nobody wanted to come this way. Yes, they knew what had happened. When you go to some town someplace, they'll say, 'Uh-oh! You can miss Sherman! That's that bad place.' Even now [1986] you hear that every once in a while. That gives us a black eye.15
In 1986, then local NAACP president Andrew White expressed similar views. White first heard of the Sherman riot in 1954 when national NAACP officials came to College Station, Texas, his home, to prepare local blacks for the integration process about to be initiated in the area.
According to White, "...[0]ne of the things they reviewed with us is what happened in Sherman in 1930." In 197
1980, after Johnson and Johnson transferred him to the
Sherman facility, White "resurrected" the local NAACP chapter which, originally chartered in 1946, had been inactive for approximately seventeen years. Through that experience, White learned firsthand of the effects the 1930 riot had had on the local black community. For example, older blacks expressed reluctance to join the NAACP or if they joined to acknowledge openly their participation in the organization. White attributed this to "an undercurrent of fear" that related directly to what the black community had suffered in 1930. Consequently, according to White, "... the active members and the leaders in the community today
[1986] are those that have transferred into Sherman rather than were born here." To some extent, the same is still true, according to Nellie Hughes, current NAACP president and Sherman city councilwoman.16
White also noted that the 1930 riot was still in 1986 a detriment to the growth of black-owned business in the area.
My opinion,...through research...and in the difficulty in trying to unify the black population...is that since they were burned out, there is a fear that runs deep in the heart of individuals who have lived through that, and trying to get them to unite to build a base for black business to come into this area is very, very difficult...One of the problems is that [blacks] need to assert themselves....The power base is still within the majority society. So it's not as easy as I would think, that is to say you can go out and establish a business, because the power base in still with the 198
majority society. All the attorneys are white; all the judges are white; the county attorney is white; the police department for the most part is white ....Therefore, the power base is still within the majority society. While they are receptive, they have not initiated any action to make these things happen, either....Anytime you talk to anyone about why you don't have a black business come to Sherman, it always goes back to what happened and the fear of it happening again because the powers that be still lie with the majority society.17
White's 1986 remark about the attorneys being white, etc. is still accurate in 1995. His suggestion in 1986 regarding how to effect change was that the majority society would have to co-sponsor black business ventures, and the black businessman would have to endure losses and small income until the venture became profitable. There is no known evidence that any cooperative ventures have occurred, and Sherman's black-owned businesses remain few in number and small in size.
According to the 1994 MGT of America, Inc. management audit, "During our interviews with representative parents and community leaders,... it became apparent to our team members that major race relations problems exist both in the Sherman community and in the Sherman public schools." Among the findings of the team was the following: "Sherman is not currently viewed by many blacks or hispanics as a friendly place to live and raise a family. We were told frequently that many black and hispanic professionals working in the 199
Sherman area choose to live in other, nearby cities because they do not feel comfortable in Sherman.1,18 Although one cannot attribute the current situation in Sherman exclusively to the 1930 riot, that incident has shaped the perceptions of many over the years regarding the racial climate in the community, and understandably, black professionals have been reluctant to locate to Sherman.
Such perceptions are very difficult to overcome, and in some cases, it has been impossible to do so. As a result,
Sherman has suffered over the years for the events of May
1930.
However, there are now those in the local community who are receptive to change, and at least some efforts have begun that will result in change. Like many communities,
Sherman will need to adapt to a changing world where diversity, if allowed to flourish in positive and constructive ways, can be a valuable asset. If there is success, it will occur when both communities—black and white—acknowledge the past with its errors and move beyond it to face a future characterized by mutual understanding and respect. After all, it has happened in Sherman before.
Even as local community leaders in the 1960s determined to avoid the racial violence that accompanied integration in the South, Sherman in the 1990s can overcome and progress if the community sees itself as that—a community. As MGT noted, "The future cost of poor relations among the city's 200 race/ethnic groups to the area's youth is too high a price for either minorities or non-minorities to pay. It is time for all citizens in Sherman to lay aside old prejudices."19
The process has begun and honestly facing the ugliest chapter in the community's history of race relations is an essential step. NOTES
1. Mr. Durham and Dr. Porter reopened their practices at 314 E. Brockett and 323 E. Brockett, respectively. See Polk's Sherman (Texas) City Directory Vol. 1930-31 XI (Dallas: R.L. Polk and Co., 1930), 144,253, 256. Drs. Goodson and Stinnett re-established their offices together at 914 N. East, although the address does not appear in the 1930-31 directory. The next city directory (for Sherman) was published in 1935, and the East Street location for their offices is listed there. See Worley's Sherman (Gravson County. Texas) Citv Directory Vol. 1935 XII (Dallas: John F. Worley Directory Co., 1935), 132, 250.
2. See Chapter Two for information including dates of death for Drs. Prince, Porter, and Goodson. Biographical information on Dr. R.L. Stinnett is included in the Minutes (Vol. 4) of the Grayson County Historical Society for 12 February 1991 [n.p.]. These are located at the Sherman Public Library in Sherman, Texas.
3. Grayson County Historical Society, Minutes, vol. 4, 12 February 1991 [n.p.].
4. Charles Chatman, telephone interview by author with notes in possession of author, Sherman, Texas, 13 July 1995.
5. Dr. John D. Moseley, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 13 July 1995, tape recording in author's possession; Dana A. Blocker, "Sherman leaders assured peaceful integration," Sherman Democrat. 20 June 1984, p. 1. 6. Ibid.
7. Mrs. Percy Neblett, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 10 August 1995.
8. Cleveland Roy, Jr., telephone interviews with author, Sherman, Texas, 12 July 1995 and 10 August 1995.
9. Ruby Jo Williams, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 10 August 1995? A1 Hambrick, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 10 August 1995; Cleveland Roy, Jr., telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 10 August 1995; "Appendix A: Workforce Analysis" in "Sherman Independent School District Diversity Action Plan," Revised Spring 1995, Office of the Executive
201 202
Director of Human Resources, S.I.S.D. Administration Building, Sherman, Texas. A copy of this document is in the author's possession. Ruby Jo Williams became the second woman and the first black woman to sit on the Grayson County College Board of Trustees in 1992 when she was appointed to complete the unexpired term of a board member who resigned. She was elected to that position in 1993 and re-elected in 1995.
10. "Sherman Independent School District Diversity Plan," n.p.; Dr. Murlene Watwood, S.I.S.D. Executive Director of Human Resources, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 22 June 1995.
11. Roy, Jr., telephone interview, 10 August 1995.
12. MGT of America, Inc., "A Management Audit of the Sherman Independent School District," June 15, 1994, 6-15. Copy in the Office of the Superintendent, Sherman Independent School District Administration Building, Sherman, Texas.
13. Linda Sullivan, Secretary to the S.I.S.D. Superintendent of Schools, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 13 June 1995.
14. "Historical Information: City of Sherman," Office of the City Clerk, Municipal Building, Sherman, Texas, section D, n.p.
15. Alexander Bate, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 19 September 1986, tape recording in author's possession.
16. Andrew White, interview by author, Sherman, Texas, 24 September 1986, tape recording in author's possession. Nellie Hughes, telephone interview with author, Sherman, Texas, 10 August 1995.
17. White, tape recorded interview by author, 24 September 1986.
18. MGT of America, Inc., "A Management Audit of the Sherman Independent School District," 7-6. 19. Ibid. WORKS CITED
Primary Sources
Manuscripts
"Biographical Sketches and other matters pertaining |" sicl to Mildred Lee Camp U.C.V. by J.B. Stinson Camp Historian." Lucas Collection, Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas.
Bolton, Ruth. "In the 1930s." n.d. Typed manuscript in possession of this author.
"A Brief Sketch of Dixie Chapter U.D.C. No. 35" [in] "History of Clubs and Organizations S-Z." Lucas Collection, Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas. Durham, W.J. to A. Maceo Smith, 17 January 1940, Records of the N.A.A.C.P., Group II, Series A, (Administrative File), Container 62, "Anti-lynching Bills, Anti-lynching Bill of 1940, Hearings, January." Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C. Photocopy of this letter in author's possession.
Grayson County Historical Society. Minutes. Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas.
Old Settlers Association of North Texas. Minutes, 1880- 1901. Sherman Public Library, Sherman, Texas.
Newspapers
The Austin Statesman. Dallas Herald.
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The Denison Herald.
Denton Record Chronicle. Gainesville Daily Register. Sherman Courier.
Sherman Daily Democrat.
203 204
Sherman Daily Register.
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Catalogue Listings and Student Graduate Cards. Archives. Meharry Medical College. Nashville, Tennessee. Photocopies in author's possession.
Criminal Index to Minutes. Grayson County District Court. Vol. 1. Office of the District Clerk, Grayson County Justice Center. Sherman, Texas.
Death Record. City of Sherman. Vols. 4D, 5D, 8D. Office of the County Clerk, Grayson County Courthouse. Sherman, Texas.
Election Registers, 1850-1880. Records of the Secretary of State, Archives Division. Texas State Library. Austin, Texas.
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Jail Records, May 10 to 22, 1930. "Sherman strike, 1930" File. Archives, Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabray. Austin, Texas. MGT of America, Inc. "A Management Audit of the Sherman Independent School District." 15 June 1994. Office of the Superintendent, Sherman I.S.D. Administration Building. Sherman, Texas. 205
McGee, Laurence E. 11 Final Report re Martial Law Duty, Sherman, Texas. 27 May 1930." Archives, Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabry. Austin, Texas. Copy in author's possession.
Moody, Dan. Proclamation by the Governor of the State of Texas. 10 May 1930. Archives, Adjutant General's Department, Camp Mabry. Austin, Texas. Copy in author's possession.
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Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Schedule I (Inhabitants). Available on microfilm.
Interviews
Bate, Alexander. Tape recorded interview by author, 19 September 1986, Sherman, Texas.
Chatman, Charles. Telephone interview, notes in possession of author, 13 July 1995, Sherman, Texas.
Elliott, Ralph. Tape recorded interview by author, 14 November 1986, Sherman, Texas.
Ford, Pauline Durham. Unrecorded interview, notes in possession of author, 23 March 1987, Sulphur Springs, Texas.
Goloiher, Ashley. Assistant Archivist, State Bar of Texas, Austin, Texas. Telephone interview by author, 20 May 1994, Sherman, Texas.
Hambrick, Al. Telephone interview with author, 10 August 1995, Sherman, Texas. 206
Hardin, Shonta'. Archives Assistant, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. Telephone interview by author, 3 June 1994. Hill, William. Tape recorded interview by author, 13 October 1986, Sherman, Texas.
Moseley, Dr. John D. Tape recorded interview by author, 13 July 1995, Sherman, Texas.
Rogers, F. Neilson. Tape recorded interview by author, 19 August 1986, Sherman, Texas.
Roy, Jr., Cleveland. Telephone interviews by author, 12 July and 10 August, 1995, Sherman, Texas.
Sullivan, Linda. Secretary to the Sherman I.S.D. Superintendent of Schools. Telephone interview with author, 13 June 1995, Sherman, Texas.
Walton, B.J. Telephone interview by author, 23 March 1987, Sherman, Texas.
Watwood, Dr. Murlene. Executive Director of Human Resources, Sherman I.S.D., Sherman, Texas. Telephone interview by author, 22 June 1995, Sherman, Texas.
White, Andrew. Tape recorded interview by author, 24 September 1986, Sherman, Texas.
Williams, Ruby Jo. Telephone interview by author, 10 August 1995, Sherman, Texas.
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The Campus Chronicle of North Texas College. Yearbook. Denison: Published by the Student Body, Edited by the Sophomores, 1924. Photocopy located at the Red River Historical Museum, Sherman, Texas.
"Centennial Celebration 1894-1994." Commemorative Publication by Progressive Baptist Church. Sherman, Texas. 1994. DeBow, J.D.B. Superintendent of the United States Census, Seventh Census. The Seventh Census of the United States: 207
1850. Population. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1853.
Denison-Sherman City Directory. Together With a General Directory of Gravson County. 1893-1894. Chattonooga: Press of MacGowan and Cooke, n.d.
First Annual Report of the Agricultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture. Insurance. Statistics. and History. 1887-88. Austin: State Printing Office, 1889.
Gammel, H.P.N., comp. The Laws of Texas. 10 vols. Austin: The Gammel Book Company, 1898-1902.
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Kennedy, Joseph C.G., Superintendent of Census, Eighth Census. Agriculture of the United States in I860: Compiled from the Original Returns of the Eighth Census. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1865.
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Malonev's 1909 Sherman City Directory, n.p. n.d. 208
Morrisson and Fourmy/s General Directory of the City of Sherman, 1887-88. Galveston: Morrisson and Fourmy, 1887.
Morrisson and Fourmy/s General directory of the City of Sherman 1891-1892. Galveston: Morrisson and Fourmy, 1891.
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Hofstadter, Richard and Michael Wallace, eds. American Violence; A Documentary History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970.
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Articles
Beck, E.M. and S.E. Tolnay. "The Killing Fields of the Deep South: The Market for Cotton and the Lynching of Blacks, 1882-1930." American Sociological Review 55 (August 1990): 526-539.
Brophy, William J. "Black Business Development in Texas Cities, 1900-1950." Red River Vallev Historical Review VI (Spring 1981): 42-55. 214
Elliott, Claude. "Union Sentiment in Texas, 1861-1865." Southwestern Historical Quarterly L (April 1947): 449- 477.
Gillette, Michael L. "The Rise of the NAACP in Texas." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 81 (April 1978): 393- 416.
Kerr, Homer L. "Migration Into Texas, 1860-1880." Southwestern Historical Quarterly 70 (October 1966): 184- 216.
Oates, Stephen B. "Texas Under the Secessionists." Southwestern Historical Quarterly LXVII (October 1963): 167-212. Phillips, Edward Hake. "The Sherman Courthouse Riot of 1930." East Texas Historical Journal XXV (Fall 1987): 12-19.
Rable, George C. "The South and the Politics of Antilynching Legislation, 1920-1940." Journal of Southern History LI (May 1985): 201-219. "Races." Time 19 May 1930: 15-16.
Theses
Murphy, Thomas Michael. "History of the Sherman Riot." M.A. thesis. Austin College, 1931.
Pruden, Durwood. "A Sociological Study of a Texas Lynching." M.A. Thesis. Southern Methodist University, 1935.