CHAPTER 1V

"Listen to the Echoes"

CAMDEN - GHOST TOWN ON THE SABINE

High upon a bluff on the south side of the Sabine river, can be seen all that remains of old Camden, for many years a noted ferry and town on the stage road from Marshall to Rusk. Located twenty-one miles northeast of Henderson. It was one of the most important towns in Rusk county before and after the war between the States.

Before 1846, the town was known as Walling's Ferry, taking its name from a prominent family in the early history of this county, whose members, Jesse Walling, had fought in the battle of San Jacinto. Here in the 30's, many early settlers crossed the Sabine and set out business establishments, and plantations in the fertile lands from the river back to Cherokee Bayou, planting a colorful background in history of their county.

Of the town there remains only a few piles of homemade bricks and the ancient cemetery, where many of the old graves have lost their tombstones and headboards. Nothing-remains to show that in those graves are buried some of Rusk county's earliest pioneers. Turning from these sad scenes, let us try to picture the Camden of more than a century ago.

Then you would have traveled from Henderson to Camden by may of the old stage road, and if we had made the trip by stagecoach, what a trip it would have been: From Henderson we would have traveled northeast to Millville, then a flourishing town on twin hills, and we would have stopped at Walling's Hotel to pick up and discharge passengers. Before reaching Millville, a few sharp bugle calls would have announced the coach's arrival, and fresh horses would have been ready to replace the tired team. Again at a gallop, the next stop would have been at the Joe Gladney home. This home, incidentally sat at the intersection of what now is the road leading from 149 through the Mayflower, and on to Oak Hill and the highway from Henderson through Chalk Hill, joining the old Henderson-Tatum road at old Miller schoolhouse. But more of this home later on. same procedure as at Millville would have taken place, thence traveling northward, we would have stopped again at Roark's and finally crossing the Cherokee at historic Hendrick's bridge, we would have pulled up before the old tavern at Camden.

What was Camden like in those days? Old timers and early newspapers tell us much. The town was built like most Southern towns around a square. The stores, saloons, and taverns sprawled out on the top of a red hill. To the east and south were the homes of many of the early families.

One of the best paying enterprises in Camden was the Ferry franchise had been granted to John and later to Messrs Eskridge and Smith, and had developed into one of the busiest ferries along the Sabine. Situated on the main line from Jefferson to Marshall, to Rusk and on to Crockett, it took care of an enormous amount of traffic for those times. Old timers tell that lines of wagons and droves of cattle often lined the roads for a mile waiting to be ferried across. They also recall the time the children had to be called inside the house for protection against stampeding cattle, which were being driven down the riverbanks to the ferryboat. The old road down to the bluffs, one for northbound and one for southbound traffic, are to be seen readily today, their steep clay banks deeply washed.

The Commissioner's Court records of Rusk county gives us the Ferriage tolls at Camden at various times. The rate for 1854 beings

Each wagon .......…...$0.50

Pleasure coaches ..... $0.50

Two horse wagon ... $0.30

Horseman ...........….. $0.10

Cattle ...........………. $0.03

A comparison of the tolls in 1854 and those of 1861, throws an interesting light on the value of confederacy money and its effect on prices The ferriage rates in 1869 were

2 Wagons and 4 yoke of Oxen .... $3.00

2 Horse wagon .........………........ $2.00

2 Horse buggy .........………......... $1.50

Cattle ...............……………......... $0.05

Horseman ..... ......………….......... $0.25

But, today there is no ferry. The huge old tree to which the cable was fastened, has been cut down, but the stump still remains with bits of steel cable (the original of course was rope) still attached. The old spring where thousands of travelers drank, is still in use.

Through Camden along the stage road, was built one of the earliest telegraph lines in Texas. This was known as "The Red River Telegraph Company". Its home office was in New Orleans. Its route followed the Mississippi to the Red River via Shreveport, thence to Jefferson, Marshall, Camden, Millville, Henderson, New Salem, Rusk and points south. The line was strung along trees with oak brackets carrying the wires. The Henderson Junior Historians found one of the brackets still nailed to a tree near the old road, and placed it in the display case in Henderson High School. Along this line came the tragic news of the fall of Vicksburg in 1863, picked up by an operator in Marshall, who wired that and other news to friends in Camden and Henderson.

A famous landmark of Camden was the tavern owned by Enoch Hays and his wife, and built in 1844 to accommodate travelers crossing the Sabine on their way to Nacogdoches and other settlements south. The accommodations were necessarily crude. The hotel itself was a two-story hewn log building with four large rooms on each floor. Each bedroom had four beds and travelers shared beds with fellow travelers. The Sabine served as the bathtub. Tradition says that many persons, later well known to history, crossed the Sabine at Camden and ended their journey by stopping at Hays' hostelry. One of which was Captain Robert E. Lee, who crossed Sabine in 1846 on his way to join General Taylor's Army on the Mexican border. He carried with him a great sum of money in silver to supply the American Army. Sam Houston crossed the Red River on Dec. 10, 1832, and came into Camden to transact some business with the Cherokees, but was probably not so well known and was entertained as Lee, since the tavern had not at that time been established.

Business establishments including several stores, a blacksmith shop, the Hays' Tar-Kiln (producing axle grease) a jug factory, and a Camp ground or Wagon yard, the usual saloons that one would expect thriving river town in frontier days, did a thriving business.

A few hundred feet from the square stood the Presbyterian church_., the first ever established in the county. In the same building was Masonic Lodge so early that it affiliated with Louisiana Lodges.

Perhaps^-the most important celebrations ever held in Camden was the Democratic barbecue of 1856. James Buchanan was a candidate. His Presidential election for this part of Texas was, Col. F. W. Bowen, a noted Democrat. The Democrats were advertising in the Henderson Democrat to the effects

DEMOCRATIC BARBECUE PREPARATION FOR 10,000 PERSONS

"We are-requested to state there will be given at Camden, in this county, on Tuesday ? 1850, a Democratic Barbecue, to which all parties, creeds and sects are respectfully invited". Col. F. W. Bowen, in connection with other distinguished gentlemen, will address the meeting. ladies are especially invited. Come one, come all!

Nine years after the organization of Rusk county, the aforementioned Masonic Lodge was organized in 1853 at Walling's Ferry in Camden. The Lodge had its organization on August 5th, with the following members:

CHARTER MEMBERS

FIRST OFFICERS

Robert D. Wych.….Master

W. F. Keeling ..…. :.Senior Warden

J. P. Gladney....…... Junior Warden

Enoch Hays ..…...... Tiler

W. S. Middlebrook...Treasurer

The Lodge functioned on a permit from the grand Lodge at Houston until a Charter was granted in 1854, At the end of the next five years, the following members had been enrolled;

On the old stage road to Camden could be found the homes of some of the first settlers. James Madison Langhorne from old Virginia, settled about six miles south o£ Camden, and fifteen miles northeast of Henderson in the late 1840's, building a home there, a part of which is still standing. Joe Langhorne, Sr. of Henderson was born there about 1859, and he was the third child of his family born there. Only one room of this building is in use, but other rooms have been added. The old room is twenty feet square and built of logs hewn of^-virgin pine. The ceiling rises twelve feet above the floor. Other descendents of James Langhorne are: Mrs. J. W. Walker of Montgomery, Alabama, Mrs. Vick Smith and Mrs. G. R. Farmer of Henderson, Mrs. Earl Alexander of Plainview, Mrs. Rhoda Whiteside of Houston, James Langhorne of Timpson, Angus Langhorne of Texarkana, and Joe Langhorne of Dalhart.

All that is left of-the Langhorne home is on the stage road from Henderson to Camden._- The foundation being huge rocks, the logs were pinned together with stout oak or hickory pegs and the heart of the pine logs were more lasting than the well-burnt bricks spoken of in the county records of that time. The house was occupied in 1938 by Emily Cato, then 87 years of age, wife of Lab Cato. Emily was a slave owned by Major Flanagan of Henderson and has lived in the Camden community all her life. There remains in one room a Six-pane window of old times.

About a mile south of the Langhorne home lived in later years, the widow of Pitzer Miller. The Millers were relatives of the Langhorne’s. Mrs. Miller was the mother of Jim Miller of Mt. Pleasant, now deceased, and of Pitzer Miller of Henderson, who died in the 90's. The Miller home has been torn down._- A mile west of the Langhorne home stands the Joe Gladney residence, built of lumber sawed in the neighborhood by Albert Tatum about one hundred and fifteen years ago. The older Gladney home was hewn logs and stood south of the later building. The Gladneys, Langhorne’s and Millers were related families whose homes were close together. The Albert Tatum sawmill used the "up and downs" saw that cut the lumber for the Gladney home and the planks were hand-dressed or planed. Both the circular saw and planning mills are comparatively modern inventions.

The writer's grandfather, James Mark Brown, moved into this house sometimes about 1893._- He operated a cotton gin, known as The Alliance Gin, which was located about a mile east and just beyond Miller school house._- His health began to fail and shortly after the marriage of his daughter, Bertha to R. J. Findley, newly  ,arrived from Alabama, they were invited to move into the house with them and my father operated the gin several  years. It was in this home that my sister, Mrs. W. C. Dobbs of Longview, another sister, Mrs. Henry L. Foster,  Sr., and myself also of Longview, were born. So allow me to tell you something about this grand old home. As  before mentioned, it was located at the intersection of roads that lead from Camden to Oak Hill and one that led  from Marshall to Henderson._- The house proper was composed of six rooms, four of which were about twenty  feet square, the other two were smaller and located on the front._- The house was divided by a hall that extended  from the front to the rear._- About half way dawn this hall there was a two landing stairway to the attic, which  contained enough space for at least two large rooms, but was never completely finished. The house was painted  by some one of artistic taste, for he pictured ocean waves on the north and south walls in the open hall. He then  painted the walls to resemble stone blocks._- Time of course, almost obliterated this work of art._- The author  visited the old home several years ago before it was torn down._- Some markings were discernable even then,  about a hundred and ten years after they were painted. Back of the house, and connected to the "big house" by a   ramp, were two very large rooms, which served as the dining room and kitchen. This arrangement was common  during the period in which it was built. The yard covered an area of at least an acre. Tall cedars and oaks filled the  front yard, with crepe myrtle in profusion on the South side. On the north, there was about an acre of giant oaks.  The yard was fringed with beautiful running red roses and other flowers. It was equipped with lightning rods,  common to houses of that period. All signs of this once beautiful home are gone except a few bricks and rocks  which were part of the chimney and foundation.

The plantation once consisted of a thousand acres, of which the   heirs still retain two hundred and four (204). The Griffith Lacy home, nearby, settled in the late 1850's, was first  hewn of logs, but later replaced by the present frame building. It is surrounded by oaks and giant cedars. It is now  owned by the heirs of Andy Watt. Mr. Watt's wife before her marriage, was Janie Lacy.

The children of Andy  Watt are all dead, the last being Miss Janie of Tatum._- Her brothers were, Tom, who later moved to Longview and then to Ft. Worth, where he was a successful business man for many years before his death._- Jim Watt, who operated a general store in Tatum for many years,

Griff Watt, John,. and of course, Miss Janie. Billy Watt, prominent as a rancher and the son of Robert Watt, has been the President and guiding light in the Ft. worth  Fat_. Stock show for several years. The nieces of Miss Janie own the property - originally one thousand acres, but now reduced to five or six hundred.

The children of Billy Watt, a brother to Andy, were Dr. Tom, Flem, John and

Miss Lizzie who later became Mrs. J. E. Holtzclaw of Tatum.

The descendents of Griff Lacy were Judge Edwin, Mrs. H. A. Williams, Miss Louie, Rogers and Claude, all deceased except Judge Lacy, who now resides in Longview.

Three miles south of Camden, and on the west side of the road, are seven hundred acres of land, (formerly with a two-story hewn log house) owned from the late 1840's to 1862 by Enoch and James Hays of Camden. The first named brother was for many years, "Mine Host" of the Hays Tavern in that town._- Enoch Hays and his wife both died in March 1862, and are buried in the old cemetery. The property was sold in 1862 to John B. Vinson, Jesse Hays moving to Carthage. The Hays brothers were grandfather and great uncle of Gil S. Jones. Mrs. Marvin Adams of Henderson and Mrs. Annie Kuykendall of Houston. The pioneer home burned some years ago, The Vinson cemetery and the home site are grown over with large trees. It is lately known as the Al Hendrick place, formerly the property of Alas wife, who was a Vinson. The old home was torn down about thirty-five years ago, but the original forest trees about the sides are standing and lend ornament to a modern dwelling. Immediately east and across the road is the Billy Watt home. His wife was the sister of Mrs. Andy Watt.

The site of the Allen Gibson pioneer settlement, two miles south of Camden, is now bare of improvements and is uncultivated. There stood in 1856 a two-story eight room hewn log house. Mrs. Crim, Mrs. Henry Goodlett, Mrs. Sterling Mims, all of Henderson, Andrew Gibson of Crim's Chapel, and Mrs. Young of Garrison are grandchildren of Allen Gibson. He had many other descendents living in Rusk county and other parts of Texas. One of his slaves, Dick Reed, of Henderson, still claims to belong to the family.

Enoch Hays and the Pioneer Prothro, operated a Jug factory and made other earthenware at Camden._- They found good white clay at Chalk Hill. The Prothros were early citizens of Camden._- The Hollaways too, have many descendents in Rusk, Gregg, Harris and other Texas counties.

The Etheridge family whose old home was recently torn down or burned, have descendents living in Hallsville. Maurine (Mrs. Gilbert Bass) Being one Mrs. Jim Waldron, now deceased, and who lived in Tatum, And with her husband operated a general store f or many years, was a relative. "Coon" Heim of Henderson was a descendent of the Page family of Camden.

The Robertsons of Camden have descendents at Cross Roads and Monroe in Rusk county. The community of Monroe was one time a Post Office town of Center. Isem Morris, a slave of the Montgomery family, who was 101 if still living (1938) lived about four miles east of old Camden. He came to this present home during or soon after the Civil war, and Camden was even then well on it’s way to "Depopulation". He said he lived before the war at the Montgomery home about six miles northwest of Henderson. This house still stands and was lately remodeled.

Dr. A. G. Shaw once petitioned the Masonic Lodge for membership. The petition was recommended by Enoch Hays, and vouched for by Thos. N. Etheridge. Gil Jones of Henderson has a photostatic copy of that petitition. Mr. Jones said that Enoch Hays a merchant in the town. He was secretary of the Lodge and was Mr. Jones Grandfather. That was how he came into possession of the document._- Hays was also the grandfather of Mrs. Mattie Adams and Mrs. Kuykendall.

Mr. Etheridge says of Mr. Jones, he was the Tiler of the Lodge, a merchant and the father of the late Mrs. Jim Waldron of Tatum. The filing marks contained the name of Joe Gladney, Warden of the Lodge, who was a farmer and the grandfather of Mrs. Millie Kangerga and the late _Tatum Gladney.

The names of the Langhorne’s and Freelings also appear on the endorsement for membership in Lodge No. 13, of the Free Masons. Langhorne was a former Warden, and the grandfather of Joe Langhorne, Mrs. Garland and Mrs. Victor Smith of Henderson. Freeling was a member of the committee. Mr. Jones advises that The Lodge was organized in the late 1840"s. it died and was moved to the Peatown community in 1856. Part of the members went to Harmony Hill, others to Millville Lodge. Dr. Wyche, father of Judge Reagan Wyche of Longview, now deceased, was Master at both Camden and Peatown and the records have fallen into the hands of the Longview Jurist.

"Walling’s Ferry made history - Railways and bridges killed it".

By J. N. Thornton, Henderson Times, 10/7/1948

"Sometimes in the late 1820"s John Walling came west from east Tennessee or North Carolina to what later became Rusk County, then a part of Nacogdoches County. He bought a league of land from someone who had acquired it as a land grant from the Spanish government. His 4,000 acres lay on both sides of the Sabine River, but mostly in what is known as Rusk county. John Walling made his home on the south side of the river, and to get better access to his holdings on the north side, built a ferryboat and ran a big cable across the river. The ferry was an institution and was licensed as such by the authorities of the Republic of Mexico at Nacogdoches, later by the Republic of Texas, and finally by the Commissioner's Court of Rusk county in 1844. The Rusk county permit required in the sum of-one thousand ($1,000) dollars and Larkin Caison was Walling’s surety, both principal and surety were firmly bound into A. H. Atkins, Chief Justice of Rusk County, in the aforementioned sum "to use a good and safe boat with proper other equipment'. Ferry and charges were limited to the permit as follows-.

A road wagon.……..$1.00

Smaller wagon ........ $0.50

Man and horse ........ $0.65

Cattle and hogs ..…...$0.03

Loose horses .... ..…. $0.06

Footman ........ ...…... $0.25

The last item of charge for ferriage was traditionally mostly a surplus mention as it is said that only one footman ever asked for crossing without the twenty-five cents. "Well then, the Ferryman replied, if you haven't got 25¢, it doesn't matter a damn which side you are on, anyway".

It was the age of men on horseback or families in covered wagons. John Walling's idea in buying so much land to colonize it with relatives and friends from the country from which he came, a district that lay on both sides of the Tennessee-North Carolina line not far from Southeast Kentucky state line. His brothers from that country soon joined him and all became landowners in their own rights.

Thomas and Jesse Walling, according to the Deed Records of Rusk County, had something like four thousand acres or more each in their "surveys". They all became slaveholders as well as landowners. Jesse practiced law in Rusk county courts. He also fought in Sam Houston's little Army at San Jacinto, which may have accounted for his large land holdings. His survey began north of Millville, extending north to Elderville. He settled on his land and lived there until his death sometime in the late 1850'-s. His body was laid to rest in the cemetery at old Millville. Thomas Walling's survey lies south of the New Prospect Baptist Church and south into Church Hill. He has grandchildren and great grandchildren now living in Rusk county and other parts of Texas.

Mrs. Joe Wright of Henderson, is a granddaughter. Ross Weaver of Oak Hill community is a grandson, as well as, is Herman Van Sickle, who now lives on Highway 43 some six miles out of Henderson. Mrs. Bettie Welch of Rusk County is a granddaughter._- John Walling returned to his old home in the East sometimes in the 1850's and never returned. Nothing is known of his marriage before or after coming to Texas.

Jesse Walling had one son, J. M. Walling. He married Miss Sarah Hays in 1853, a sister of Enoch Hays of Camden, a great aunt of Mr. Gil Jones of Henderson. Hays was Justice of the Peace at that time and performed the ceremony.

"Walling's Ferry" was mentioned as having served previously as a name in the act of the Commissioner's Court who granted the license to John Walling in 1844. The Ferry gave rise to a considerable community of the name and it appears on some early maps of Rusk County as a town. The name was changed to Camden which grew into a trading center for both plantation folk and small farmers in north Rusk County. Camden at its best period had a greater population than Henderson, but the years after the Civil War saw its decline and final utter disappearance. The new town in later years has grown up on the site of Walling's Ferry, and Camden is seeing prosperity. It is now exclusively Negroes, but is located in Gregg County, as the old site was incorporated in the county when it was created in the 1870's from parts of Rusk and Upshur counties.

Charter members of the Camden Masonic Lodge were all or almost from the territory from which the Wallings came to Texas. - Enoch Hays and his brother, Jesse Hays, came from Ashville, North Carolina. former was a merchant and owned a hotel in Camden, and another famous hotel in old Millville. Francis Callaway was also his partner and manager in a Millville milling business._- "Most of those who signed for admission in this early Lodge, says a Commentator, did so under their own signatures', which means that a startling few of the pioneers of a hundred years ago, had not enough education to sign their oven names, and it meant Rusk County was getting a better-educated class of citizens than the average.Steam propelled boats gave the lowest rate of transportation in the day of the settlement of the city as well as other sections which they served._- Camden was the steamboat landing most convenient to Henderson and most of Rusk county as well. Settlement had been comparatively slow during Austin colonization era. The war of Texas Independence had slowed it further save for soldiers, young fellows from states who wanted to see what war was like, came in sufficient numbers to fill the ranks of Texas Armies as fast as Santa Anna could massacre them. They came mostly from Tennessee, Alabama,, Georgia and Mississippi. But war over and land titles in the hands of the Republic, there came a rush to the new nation which everyone knew - at leastsubconsciously - was to be another State in the American Union. That was what "Old Hickory" sent Sam Houston to Texas for. The new citizens came in covered wagons, horseback and some made the journey on foot, but most of them came by steamboat from whatever water transportation was available. Land was cheap, and good titles very clear. Some came to purchase land and build houses and practice their trades and professions; lawyers, doctors, school teachers, merchants, but mostly farmers. Many brought slaves, and Camden was the principle center for plantation supplies for a number of years. The plantation owners could load their cotton on steamboats or flatboats and it gravitated to the Gulf of Mexico ports where plenty of sailing vessels waited to buy it or transport it to New Orleans or even Europe. Any kind of large flatboat could float cotton to market.

So Texas and Camden as much as any, flourished mightily, and Rusk County was one of the largest in population and prosperity in Texas. Camden, a river town, the head of navigation for these parts, was therefore rolling in the general prosperity.

The names on the membership roll of the Camden Masonic Lodge were those for the most part, the names from families of rising wealth in the country. Enoch Hays, merchant and tavern owner in both Camden and Millville, Justice of Peace and interested in milling at Millville, had come to Camden in 1845. Some few years later he lost a large shipment of merchandise on a certain line of steamers from Sabine Pass to Camden; sued the company and got Judgment, but died shortly afterwards. His brother, Jesse, Attorney at Lax, administrated the estate. He and his partner, former District Judge Frazier, had represented Hays in the damage suit. They now brought the Judgment against the steamship company and took over two of their boats. Frazier continued the partnership's law practice at Pulaski, then the County seat of Panola County. Jesse Hays ran the partnership boat for some years - until the Civil war in 1861, when the government took over the boats and put Hays in command of them._- The Confederacy needed cotton (which was worth its weight in gold) with which to buy war supplies from Europe and the West Indies; hence they needed the steamboats t o get the cotton to the Gulf of Mexico where the blockade runners took over. There is a long string of islands along the coast, the water was shallow for heavy draft warships, but steamboats and flatboats drew comparatively little water, therefore, the long heavily forested islands and shallow waters south of them gave the Confederacy a safe, and well sheltered inner water-way all along the coastline. Jesse Hays' job was to get Rusk county cotton and other desirable things where they would do the most good. He went to this with a vigor and served his country well until he was killed in an accident on one of his boats Hays' wife died in 1863 at Carthage, and is buried in the old Camden cemetery as is Enoch Hays, but the burial place of Jesse Hays remains unknown._- He has three living granddaughters, Mrs. Ellen (Lassiter) Wilson of Colgate, Oklahoma, Mrs. W. H. Bond of Clinton, Texas, and Mrs. C. N. Jackson of Henderson. Mr. Hays was an uncle of Gil Jones of Henderson, C. C. Calloway of Alvin, Mark and Gib Calloway of Brownwood, and Cleve of Cisco. There were others according to Mr. Jones. Among the nephews, is the name of the late Oscar Calloway of Comanche County, who was in Congress for eight years in Wilson's administration. Mrs. Mattie Adams of Houston is a niece.