Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== SOURCE: East Texas, its history and it makers New York, Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1940 [Page 811] ANGELINA COUNTY --------------- The first official settlement in this section was Fort Teran, established on the Neches River by General MIER y TERAN, about 1830. Its location along the route of the Contraband Trail from Louisiana doubtless inconvenienced the illicit traders who had been blithely by-passing Nacodoches and its officialdom on El Camino Real. American settlers were already locating in the neighborhood without official sanction, all the territory within twenty leagues of the Sabine River having been reserved until included in LORENZO de ZAVALA'S grant for colonization in 1829. Under the Republic it was a part of Nacodoches County, from which it was created by the first state legislature in July, 1846, with Marion as the county seat. There were 1,165 people in the county at the census of 1850 (196 slaves), with 6,371 head of cattle. Farming was on a small scale and stock raising remained an important activity until after the Civil War. The 1860 census showed a heavy increase in population for the decade, with 4,271 (686 slaves) which declined during the next decade and rose to 5,239 and 6,306 in 1880 and 1890 respectively. Cattle did not increas proportionally with population, as the lumber industry was engaging more attention, with a number of small sawmills in operation by 1880, though most of the timber was rafted down the Angelina and the Neches to the mills at Beaumont. It was estimated that the county then had more than one and one-third billion feet of virgin long-leaf pine, and a billion feet of loblolly pine, much of which was in the hands of capitalists. There were about 10,000 cattle and 20,000 hogs, and only about 25,000 acres were in cultivation. Early settlements are indicated by the ante-bellum post-offices of Angelina, Marion, Cheeseland, Elysium, Herrington's and Teran. At the turn of events which brought the railroads, Homer was the county seat, and other towns were Cheeseland, Wilmoth, and Shawnee Creek. Lufkin, named for the railroad engineer who surveyed the townsite, became a railroad junction and soon won the county seat from Homer. The Houston, East & West Texas Railroad which had reached Moscow (Polk County) in 1880, was the first rail line to cross Angelina County. It was extended to Burke in 1881 and on to Nacodoches in 1882, Lufkin becoming one of the new stations on the line. The second line to tap the county began at Tyler in ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [812] 1881 as the Kansas & Gulf Short Line, which was completed to Lufkin a few years later. It became a part of the Cotton Belt in 1887, was operated as the Tyler & Southeastern from 1890 to 1899, when it again became a part of the Cotton Belt (St. Louis & Southwestern) and has branches extending from Lufkin to Manning, and southeastward into San Augustine County. The Sabine & East Texas Railroad was constructed to the south side of the Neches River in 1882 from Sabine Pass as far as Rockland. Acquired by Southern Pacific interests in 1899, it became the Texas & New Orleans, and the entire line between Dallas & Beaumont was put into operation in 1903. Also in this year the Cotton Belt was built east from Lufkin to Warsaw in San Augustine County. During the following ten years Angelina became a regular network of rail lines reaching to all the important lumber camps. Within a short time towns sprang up along these railways, the more important being Huntington, Burke, Zavalla, Diboll, Homer and Pollok. All the railroads in the county, except the Texas & New Orleans, center at Lufkin. There we find a little city of industry, up-to-date in all modern improvements of public utilities, and having, besides its saw mills, wood-working establishments, foundry and machine shops, a large mercantile trade with surrounding settlements. Angelina County claims the only producing tung oil grove in Texas, and the pioneer news print mill using pine for paper pulp is located in Angelina County. The mill town is to be fittingly called Herty, in honor of the distinguished Georgian, the late Dr. CHARLES H. HERTY, who worked out the process which makes possible a southern newsprint paper industry. Agriculture is progressing along more modern lines, both in number and average size of farms, which are mainly home-owned and operated. Notwithstanding the large areas in forest, the county had more than 18,000 cattle and nearly 17,000 hogs at the 1935 census. The Texas Agricultural Experiment system maintains a station in the county for the study of pastures and livestock, and its work within the first four years of its existence proved the adaptability of the region for high-quality livestock production through the improvement of pastures. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [813] Angelina County was created from Nacodoches County in 1846, and organized the same year. The area is 940 square miles, and the average annual rainfall more than 45 inches, well distributed throughout the year. The altitude at Lufkin is 326 feet, and the average growing sea- son between killing frosts is 220 to 230 days. The population doubled between 1900 and 1930 (13,481) and 27,803 respectively), and a noticeable increase since the last census justifies an estimate for 1939 of between 28,000 and 29,000. The new paper mill industry and enlarged activities of other manufactures will probably add considerably to the population before the 1940 census. Lufkin had little more than 7,000 population nine years ago, but the 1940 census will probably show considerable increase. Diboll and Keltys are the next largest communities, with Huntington, Zavalla, Pollok and others of minor importance throughout the county. During the flush period of lumber production from virgin forests mill towns often grew up, only to decline when the region was "cut out." The present tendency is toward greater stability through a policy of conservative cutting and maintained yields. It may be safely assumed that town growth under these conditions will be less erratic. THREE HISTORICAL MARKERS - Ten miles northeast of Huntington a marker designates the site of the "Town of Marion, known as early as 1828 as Mc'Neill's Landy. In 1831 it consisted of over 200 buildings. First county seat of Angelina County (1846 - 1854)." Twelve miles southeast of Lufkin, U. S. Higway 69, is the "Site of the town of Jonesville; second county seat of Angelina County, August 22, 1854 to May 19, 1858." Six miles southeast of Lufkin, U. S. Highway 69, is found the "Site of the town of Homer; also known as Angelina. Third county seat of Angelina County; 1858 - 1890." "LITTLE ANGEL" - Angelina County bears the rare distinction of commemorating the Spanish name of an Indian maiden. When De Leon's expedition established the first missions in East Texas, the priests found in one of the villages an Indian girl whose gentle demeanor won her the sobriquet "Little Angel." Angelina exhibited an intense inte- rest in learning all that the priests had to teach her, and when the missions were abandoned and the ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [814] Spanish retreated to beyond the Rio Grande in 1693, Angelina accompanied them to continue her studies in the religion and the Spanish language. Her native Hasanai village became known as Angelina's Village and the nearby river, formerly called Pascua del Espiritu Santo, became, by common usage, Angelina's River. She remained at San Juan Bautista on the Rio Grande for more than ten years, pursuing her studies, and was the pride of both civil and religious dignitaries as the shining example of a reclaimed heathen. Her fame, therefore, spread from Louisiana to Mexico City. It is not known exactly when she returned to her people in East Texas, but she was there when St. Denis passed on his history-making journey from Natchi- toches to Mexico, in 1714. "In this village," says his recorder, "we found a woman named Angelique . . . she spoke Spanish very well and as St. Denis was familiar with that language he employed her as chief interpreter." Mission Conception was founded at Angelina's Village in 1716 by Father Espinosa, whom she also served as interpreter. In 1719 she fed and clothed the starving Belisle, who had been left stranded on the Gulf Coast with a few companions, all of whom but he had perished in making their way toward the French settlements in Louisiana. When the Marquis de Aguayo led the most imposing expedition (1721) that had ever come to East Texas, Angelina was there to meet him, with an entourage of eight chiefs, and extend a welcome before he reached their villages. Nothing is known of Angelina after this, but she had already played a key part in East Texas history, during one of its most crucial periods. Mission Conception, which was doubtless located through her in- fluence, remained at her village until 1731, when it and other East Texas missions were removed to the San Antonio River. Whether Angelina went with the mission or remained among the remnant of her kindred in East Texas is not known, but Mission Conception in San Antonio remains a monument to her asperations for her people, and her name is forever fixed in East Texas geography by the picturesque river and progressive County of Angelina. =========================================================================== If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access the rest of our growing collection of FREE online historical/genealogical information by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/ ===========================================================================