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 815] BELL COUNTY --------------- One of the earliest attempts to settle what is now Bell County was made by the TAYLORS, who built a cabin four miles north of Fort Griffin, also known as Fort Smith and Little River Fort, near the junction of the Leon River. One night their cabin was attacked by Indians and a fierce fight resulted with the Indians repulsed, but at daybreak, the TAYLORS moved down the Leon River to Fort Griffin. Between 1835 and 1836 this fort afforded protection to the pioneers, but continued Indian hostili- ties caused the settlers in this section to move during the Revolution, and they did not return until about 1842. In the meantime, the fort was occasionally occupied by rangers. Under Captain JOHN BIRD the Lieut- enant GEORGE B. ERATH two bloody battles were fought with Indians in this section during the latter 1830's. The Santa Fe Expedition camped at Fort Griffin in 1841, and by 1844 many settlers had located on the Leon and Little Rivers. By 1846 the Reed settlement (below Fort Griffin) had enough people to support a private school, and the following year Captain GOLDSBY CHILDERS and son, PRIOR, built the first cabin on Lampasas River. A small and crude grist mill and a school (taught by B. L. STOCKLING) followed in 1848. In 1850 J. E. FERGUSON (father of future governor) opened a grist mill on the Salado, and several other water mills along this bold, spring-fed stream, were an important factor in the development of this section. The Stennett mill operated until a few years ago. Bell County was separately formed on Janaury 22, 1850, from Milam County, and derived its name from Governor P. H. BELL. Nolanville was selected as the county seat and remained such until 1851 when it was renamed Belton. This town had the old stage route from Austin to Red River. In 1859 Belton had an estimated population of 300. At this time there was a stone courthouse in the process of construction, and a church. This community served the neighborhood for grinding and sawing. In spite of the war, there was considerable activity in Belton, and other communities had a period of prosperity, particularly Salado. Colonel E. STERLING ROBERTSON (son of the emprasario) settled here in 1853 and laid off the townsite of Salado, which became the second post- office in the county. His home, built in ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [816] 1856 of lumber hauled from Houston, is one of the best preserved ante- bellum mansions in the State. When he donated land for Salado College he wrote a provision into the deed that if liquor were ever sold on any of the property in less than quart the lot or lots would revert to the donor or his heirs and assigns. This seems to have been the original "package law." The college opened its doors in 1860, with forty pupils, and for many years was one of the leading educational institutions of Texas. The enrollment in 1870 was 300. Stress was placed on mathematics and the classics. Financial difficulties caused a foreclosure in 1877, but it continued operating in one way and another until 1885, still known as Salado College. In 1890 the building was occupied by the Thomas Arnold High School, but when fire destroyed it in 1900, no further attempts were made to perpetuate this institution. Mrs. KATE ALMA ORGAIN, of Temple, taught art and music in the old Salado College, and has written some interesting accounts of the early college and social life, among which she mentions the formation of the pioneer women's reading society. This society had a fair at the college and the proceeds were used for the beginning of a circulating library. The reading society was probab- ly one of the first of its kind in Texas. The settlement of Salado be- gan earlier, but the first permanent home was built there about 1844. The present population is below five hundred. Another town that flour- ished for a time was Aiken, which, during the war, had a population of about five hundred. It had a distillery, a wool hat manufacturing plant, and a tannery. There is not a vestige left of the town today. The Central National Road of the Texas Republic was laid out through what was to become Bell County; the stage route from Austin to North Texas, and the great cattle trail followed after the Confederate War. It crossed the Lampasas below the present highway bridge, the Nolan and the Leon in the present limits of Belton, and the Salado below the town, at the Big Boiling Spring. It was the cattle trail and stage route trade that encouraged Belton to take a somewhat independent attitude toward the railroads, and resulted in her being left off the main line. Bell County received its first railway facilities in 1881 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe was completed to Temple from Galveston. During the same year a line was opened from Temple ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [817] to Fort Worth and an extension was begun from Belton through Lampasas to San Angelo. The county was traversed by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas about the same time. In 1910 there was an electric line built to con- nect Temple and Belton, but it gave way before paved roads and auto- mobiles after a few years. With the coming of the railways, postoffices were in Aiken, Harrisville, Belton, Howard, Salado, Vola, Youngport, Medo, Jonaville, Forest Hill, McMillen and Moffat. The 1939-40 "Texas Almanac" lists only the following cities in Bell County: Belton (3,779-- county seat), Temple (17,500), Bartlett (1,873), Killeen (1,260), Rogers (1,032), Holland (738), Troy (219), Salado (471). Temple quickly took the lead when it was laid out as a railway center in the early 80's; it soon had a population of approximately four thou- sand. Belton was well located as a business center, but the subsidies offered were not attractive enough for the railways; so they built their lines several miles from the town. Later, the town was connected with spur lines. Most of the early postoffices which do not appear in the 1939-40 listing passed away soon after they failed to receive railway accommodations, and the rural free delivery system completed their un- doing. The area of this county is 1,083 square miles and it is primarily agricultural. The Elm Creek Soil Conservation Project is the oldest of its kind in the United States and is an indication of the progressive- ness of the farmers in this area. In productivity the county rates high; the annual income is around seventenn million dollars annually, of which a good deal is derived from cotton and livestock, but urban income now exceeds rural. It is derived from railroad shops, manufactures, wholesale and retail commerce. Mary Hardin Baylor College at Belton, and three hospitals at Temple, are responsible for several million dollars of income from sources outside the county. Bell County is the site of the Blackland Experiment Station (No. 5 of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station system). Its original re- search on cotton root rot and crop rotations were invaluable contri- butions to the agriculture of the great Blackland Belt. Its field has been greatly enlarged and the area expanded for research in soil and moisture conservation, and more extensive variety tests in corn and grain sorghums, in addition to cotton. Some work in the study of grasses has been recently added, and the station is admirably located ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [818] for the addition of dairy studies for this distinctive soil and climatic region. The western portion of the county is picturesquely rugged, with cedar-clad hills, and timbered, flowing streams, while the |==============================================| | | | | | Map of Creamery-Butter Manufacturing Plants | | In Texas - 1838 | | | |==============================================| eastern portion lies mostly in a high rolling prairie region in which a high percentage of the land is tillable. From the "Knobs," south of Temple (site of a battle between Rangers and Indians), a wide-sweeping view of one of the most beautiful pastoral regions in Texas may be had. Belton maintains a municupal park almost in the heart of the city along Nolan River, in which a combination of natural beauty and artistic landscaping gives an uncommon distinctiveness. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [819] Bell County was one of the first Texas counties to secure extensive rural electric lines, both private and cooperative systems having begun rural service about 1935, and after the experimental period, the lines have been extended to serve several thousand farms in this and adjoining counties. Bell County was created from Milam County in 1850 and organized the same year. Area, 1,038 square miles; population 1930, 50,030. Altitude at Belton 511 feet; at Temple, 630 feet. Average annual rainfall 35 inches, heaviest in the spring months. Temple and Killeen were named for officials of the G. C. & S. F. Railway, and Rogers for a Galveston capitalist, JOHN D. ROGERS. Holland was known as Mountain Home prior to 1882, when it became a railroad station on the M. K. & T. The 1930 census gives Temple a population of 15,345, and it is now estimated that the gain will be 2,00 to 2,500 in 1940. Belton is also expected to show a significant increase over the 3,779 of nine years ago. Killeen (1,260), Rogers (1,032), Holland (738), are business centers whose trade is proportioned somewhat to their population. Other towns and villages under 500 in population, but which are school and trade centers of prosperous farming communities, are Salado, Heiden- heimer, Troy, Oenaville, Little River, Sparta and Bland. GOVERNOR P. H. BELL - PETER HANSBOROUGH BELL, for whom this county is named, was a native of Virginia who left his business in Petersburg to join the Texans in their struggle for independence. Arriving off the mouth of the Brazos early in April, 1836, he found the country deserted, but learning that HOUSTON'S army was somewhere up the Brazos he set out on foot, joined the camp at Groce's on April 12, and enlisted. He fought at San Jacinto in Captain KARNES' Cavalry company, remained in the army for some time, and was in the Ranger service when appointed inspector-general of the army in 1839. Rejoining the Rangers at the expiration of his term, he was commissioned captain in 1845, beginning service in the Mexican War in that capacity. He became lieutenant- colonel in command along the Rio Grande when the Rangers were divided and Colonel HAYS was ordered to join SCOTT'S army with a part of the regiment. He was elected governor in 1849 and again in 1851, and before the expiration of his second term, was elected to Congress from the western Texas district, serving until 1857. Having ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [820] married the daughter of Honorable WILLIAM EATON of North Carolina, he removed to that State and was living there when the Civil War began. He declined a colonel's commission in the Confederate Army, and remained "a silent and sad spectator of that four years' conflict," the close of which left him ruined in fortune. He was voted a pension for life in 1891 by the Texas legislature, and died seven years later, outliving his wife less than a year. JOHN HENRY BROWN describes BELL as "a man of splendid physique, and combined with true courage, was distinquished by kind and genial char- acteristics. It is believed that he had not a personal enemy in Texas." Monuments and Historical Sites - A statue of Governor BELL stands in the courtyard at Belton, the inscription briefly covering his career. In the South Belton Cemetery are stones to - JAMES H. ISBELL - San Jacinto Veteran. Born in Tennessee 1814. Died in 1858. His wife, AMANDA ISBELL, was born April 8, 1819. Died Septem- ber 1, 1880. Mrs. SARAH ANN HARDIN-KELTON - Widow of WILLIAM HARDIN before her marriage to Dr. O. P. KELTON. Many of the Mexican Officers and men were placed in the care of Judge and Mrs. HARDIN after the Victory at San Jacinto and were mercifully treated by them. Born August 27, 1806. Captain ANDREW CADDELL - Fought at San Jacinto as a Private. Later commanded a Company of Volunteers. Born in North Carolina October 12, 1795. Died October 15, 1869. His wife, RHODA DOTY CADDELL, was born January 27, 1801. Died March 18, 1880. (Three Forks Cemetery, 3 mi. S. E. Belton.) In Salado may be seen - Home of WELLBORN BARTON - 1821-1883. Pioneer Physician of this Region; for many years a Trustee of Salado College built, 1866 (JOHN HENDRICKSON, Contractor). Old Military Road and CHISHOLM Cattle Trail passed here. Home of ORVILLE THOMAS TYLER - 1810-1866. Pioneer Texan; County Judge; Member of the Legislature; President of the Board of Trustees of Salado College. Built in 1857. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [821] This House Was Built 1856-1860 by ELIJAH STERLING CLACK ROBERTSON 1820 - 1879. Texas Pioneer, Patriot, Soldier and Jurist, and one of the Founders of Salado College. Site of CHILDERS-SHANKLIN Mill - First Water Power Mill in Bell County. Built in 1847 by ROBERT CHILDERS, Pioneer Settler, Indian Fighter. Served in the Army of Texas, 1836. Sold in 1856 to G. W. SHANKLIN 1799-1888, who built Best Water Race in Texas. Site of Stage Stand on old Military Road. Crossing Place of CHISHOLM Cattle Trail. (Near Belton) Mill built in 1864 by WILLIAM A. DAVIS. First Stone Mill with Card- ing Machine in this Vicinity. A Sawmill and Gin were added in 1866. French Burrs, Leffel Water Wheel and Silk Bolt brought from Galveston by wagon in 1871. Made Flour for Central Texas homes. No Widow paid Toll at the DAVIS Mill. (Near Salado) Site of a Picket Fort on Little River Commonly Called Fort Griffin. Also known as Fort Smith and Little River Fort; erected by GEO. B. ERATH and 20 Texas Rangers in November, 1836 as a protection against Indians. Abandoned as a Military Post before the Santa Fe Expedition camped here, June 24-29, 1841, but used by settlers many years as a place of defense against the Indians. (4 mi. W. Little River, Bell County.) BIRD CREEK INDIAN BATTLE May 26, 1839. This Marker commemorates the death of Captain JOHN BIRD, Sergeant WILLIAM WEAVER, JESSE E. NASH, H. M. C. HALL, THOMAS GAY, and the heroic and successful Battle of a Ranger Force of 24 against 240 Indians. 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