Fairplay Community
by Virgil Mordie Holland, M.D., submitted by Marylee KnightI have typed off a little booklet that Dr. Holland wrote in 1970 in which he detailed his recollections of growing up in the Fairplay area. A copy of it was shared with me by Mrs. Casie Lee Hines. She was given the copy by Dr. Holland himself as she is mentioned by name, although her name is misspelled. On the front page Dr. Holland stated, "This tract maybe reproduced or duplicated in any manner if the author is given proper credit."
Virgil Mordie Holland, M.D.
Born 03-04-1918
Died 10-30-1990
Buried Bethlehem Cemetery, Snap Community, Panola County TX
The following information was composed by Virgil Mordie Holland in 1970. He was a prominent Panola County physician and a life long collector of local history. His particular talent was that he could examine an old photograph and, judging by the clothing and hair styles, give a close estimate of the year in which the picture was made.
He was a son of David Mordie Holland and Lois Elizabeth Allison who was the daughter of Gustavus Allison (a son of Elizabeth Shaw and Thomas G. Allison) and Minnie Sharp (a daughter of Richard Vastine Sharp and Eliza Hodge).
The first page of the booklet contains the statement: "This tract may be reproduced or duplicated in any manner if the author is given proper credit." We do, indeed, give Dr. Holland a tremendous amount of credit for recording the valuable information about earlier times in the Fairplay Community.
We also thank Mrs. Casie Lee Owens-Hines for generously sharing her personal copy of the booklet in order to preserve the information it contained.
Neighbors
Fairplay 1920-1930
The next house was that of Ben Sealey and Annie Abernathy. Annie was a daughter of Daniel Barto and Ephposey Eugenia Garland. Ephposey died of measles at an early age. Ben and Annie married late in life and had only two children.We go back now to the center of Fairplay, the store. In this period, it was known as Harris & Browning and was a joint venture of James Robert "Bobbie" Harris and Robert Douglas "Bob" Browning. Bobbie's wife Linnie was a sister of Bob's.
There was a covered unfloored portico on the front. A single manual gasoline pump was on the front of this. Up against the wall was the motor oil tank. In these days, there was only one weight and it was not prepackaged, but had to be pumped into quart containers before being put into the car. As a later date, a well was dug on one side of this shed and a pump run by a gasoline motor was installed. This pumped water into a wood tank on a 40 foot tall scaffold. This fed a water hose at the front of the portico to fill radiators just like in town. It was also much used indiscriminately by kids to hose down the dust and each other.
On the back of the store was a porch that served as a loading platform and also, in the summer, Bert Carlton cut hair here on Saturday.
In the center of the store to the left was the candy counter, the center of every kid's attention. On shelves back of this were shelves filled with patent medicines and drugs. Castor oil, turpentine, Black Drought, 666 Tonic, Sprits of Camphor, Vick's Salve, Mentholatum and Vaseline were standard.
On the next section was snuff in boxes and glasses, chewing tobacco and smoking tobacco. Prince Albert and bull Durham were the more popular of the roll-your-owns. Camels, Lucky Strikes and Chesterfields were under the counter.
The store was a general store. Stacks of flour, meal and feed were in the back. Sacks of coffee and sugar were down the center and were scooped into paper sacks and weighed. In the center was a whole tier of shelves loaded with baking soda, baking powder and containers with oatmeal and Post Toasties on the end.
In the back was a pretty good stock of horse collars, plow points, bridles, axes and hammers. There were trace chains hanging on the wall and a stack of axle grease in the corner. In this area was a huge ice chest with a lid counter weighed over a pulley that usually had one or two 300 pound blocks of ice and the space between and around packed with cold drinks. Cokes were popular, but fruit drinks and cream sodas more so.
The other side of the store was given over to dry goods. There were bolts of cloth, men's and boys' work clothes, buttons and thread. A few hats were stocked and, in season, a whole stack of men and boys straw hats. On the first aisle were several egg crates. For minor purchases, eggs were a more common medium of exchange than the currency of the land. Kids always knew how many eggs it took to be worth a nickel.
James Robert was a son of John Cullen Harris and Nancy Dunlap. John Harris was a son of Spencer Murphy Harris that had land up the Pine Hill road. His wife, Linnie, was a daughter of Jacob Alva Browning of the Youngblood Community and Louisa Emma North whose father, Robert North, ran a blacksmith shop in the Beckville area. At this time Narcissa Callahan, a sister of Jacob Browning and a daughter of Hosea Douglas Browning, stayed with them part of the time. Linnie and Bobbie's children were Evelyn (married Bert Carlton), Gertis (married Chester Hill), Syble, Gettis (married Warner Thompson), Saxon, Thelris (married Edward Strong, Juanita (married Wendel Gentry) and Sylvan.
East past the store lived John Raley and Opal Harris. John was the son of John Lafayette Raley and Valicia Eldora Mangham who lived in the Youngblood Community. Their children were Thomas Craig, John Alfred and Nannie Bell. Craig left home and worked in St. Louis. He married there and had three or four children. While on a trip to Louisiana, his car was forced off a bridge over a bayou into deep water. He was able to save his wife, but all of his children drowned. Nannie taught school for years and was an excellent teacher. She married Johnny Morton while teaching school in the Gill Community where he lived on the south side of Harrison County. Opal was a daughter of Mordi Cai Harris and Orra Stone. Opal's siblings were Lois (married Julian Smith), Christine (married Raymond Harris), Jake and Joe Bailey. John and Opal had two children, Helen (married J.R. Underwood) and Sam Tom.
On the Beckville road, on the left, and about half way to were the school was then was an old frame house then vacant. It was known as the Smith house at the time as this was the last family that had lived in it. The house, however, was built and lived in by Samuel G. Allison who gave the land for the site of the Allison Chapel Methodist Church just before he sold his land and moved to Wise County about 1885. This house was vacant when I first remember it. The windows and floor were intact. The windows succumbed to herds of little boys throwing rocks. As the roof deteriorated, water rotted the floors. When I started to school in 1924, the school was about 50 yards past this old house. The school ground was about five acres.
On the front west corner was a Baptist Church of a variety that we called "hard shell" as distinguished from the Missionary Baptist Church. This church had an organ and services were held about once a month. There were outside tables under the trees for the occasions when they had dinner on the ground. In my first year in school they were a favorite place for us to eat lunch. I guess because they got us well above the dogs and hogs that hung around at lunch time for any scrap of food that was thrown away and to snatch any bits they could when we were not looking.
The school in 1924 was three rooms arranged in an "L" shape, with all the entrances on one front porch. When the bell rang for "books", all three rooms lined up facing the porch; and, after some shuffling to get lines straight enough to suit the teachers, they marched into their respective rooms on command. I never got any explanation for this procedure other than that was the way it was done. There were folding doors between two of these rooms that could be opened for assemblies and there was a stage at one end of one on which various programs were given and sometimes plays.
Almost directly across the road from the school ground lived Arthur Henigan and wife, Cora Osborne. Arthur was the son of Elizabeth and Allen H. Henigan and had once lived east of Fairplay where Sam Harris lived. The two had swapped places about 1920. Cora's parents were John P. Osborne from Newton County, Georgia and Mary Eliza Nelson, daughter of William F. Nelson and Louisa Sheppard. Cora had first married Jessie Walton by whom she had children: Wilbur Walton born 1888, Floyd Walton born 1891, Bertus Walton (married James Hill) born 1883, Jessie Mae born 1895 and Arden born 1897. She and Arthur had children: Ivis 1903-1918, Rosa Pearl 1905-1932 (married Bud Hickman), Acey, Casey Allen 1910-1918 and Elvie. Cora was a regular attendant at the Methodist Church where she taught the primary Sunday School class for years. Arthur farmed, but his heart was not particularly in his farming. Cora milked cows and sold cream owning one of the old hand cranked cream separators. She had a brooder house and raised about a hundred chickens at a time in it which is a piddling number compared to the 15,000 raised in one house today. Arthur eventually started to buying chickens which he took to Shreveport, Louisiana to sell. There was no organized chicken industry at the time, but there was an army of people who bought chickens from farmers who always had some to sell above their needs; and when they had a load, hauled it to some metropolis to sell. When George Wyatt retired from his store at Fairplay, Arthur and Cora bought it and Arthur gave up farming to run the store.
Past Arthur Henigans on the left was an old house in which A.R. Garland once lived. He died in 1918, but someone lived in the house after this as I can distinctly remember stopping by there to see someone at one time. Garland Hill, just north of this house, was named for him and, for a generation, was the proving ground of every owner of a Model T Ford in the community as they tested it to see if it would go up Garland Hill in high gear.
After crossing Buckner Creek was the Browning dipping vat on the left. At the top of the hill, in a house about fifty yards off the road and on the left, lived Robert Douglas "Bob" Browning and wife, Arie Buckner. Arie was a daughter of John Buckner and Lucye Williamson. John Buckner died in 1877, Lucye then married Matthew Shaw whose recently deceased first wife was her sister. Bob was the son of Jacob Alva Browning and Louisa Emma North. Louisa's father, Robert North, was a blacksmith in Beckville. They had children: Douglas, Zelma, Richmond, Jacob, Ouida, Fate, Lonnie B. and Hugh.
Across the road from the Brownings lived Arlen Mangham and Olla Malone. Arlin was the son of Charles Mangham who married a Steger. Olla was a Malone who had previously been married to Carl Henigan who died in 1909 without children.
Past the Brownings that went off to the left down this road lived Emily and Frank Murray, neither of which every married. They were the children of William R. and Martha Murray who had lived in the same house with a family of five or six children. William R. and Martha had one daughter who became pregnant out of wedlock. She died during childbirth and was buried on their land without a marker. At this time, this was a cataclysmic thing to happen to a family of their status. For the rest of their lives, they lived almost as recluses. Neither they or Emily or Frank have any dates on their headstones. Emily taught a Sunday School class at the Methodist Church for years and she and Frank never missed a service. They drove a buggy with yellow wheels and never negotiated the age of the automobile. Other children of William R. and Martha Murray were Henry born 1859, Mary born 1860, Julia born 1862 (married a Cunningham), Emily b 1864, Ida born 1867 (married a Tiller), William born 1869 and Frank.
Just past this road was a house on the right side of the road where Joe Hull lived with his wife, Lillian Riddle. Joe's first wife was Johnny Pearl Smith who was a sister to Ida Hull. They had one daughter which they named Johnny Pearl. His first wife shortly after Johnny Pearl was born.
On the left was a white frame house on a hill where John Homer Hull and Ida Smith lived. John Homer, as well as Joel, were children of Asberry Thorton Hull and Ella Octave Buckner. Other children of Asberry and Ella were Robert Lawrence, Arthur Clarence, John Homer, Joel Gaines, Oscar Asberry and Lillian (married Joe Hayes. Children of John and Ida were Dorothy, Joella (married Royce Crawford), Myrtle (married Marvin Harris), James Beard and Preeby (married a Wallace.
About a quarter of a mile further down this road in a house on the right lived John Sealey and May Harris. May was a daughter of Samuel Stephen Harris and Willie Emaline Wyatt. Children of this couple were Gray, Annie May, Fulton, Blanch, Ollie, Oscar, Dewey, Bernard, Georgia and Austin. John's brother, Jessie James Sealey, lived with them for a number of years. John and May had one daughter, Itasca, who married R.E. Stevens and lived in a little house on the right. R.E. taught school at Fairplay for one or two years and was a good teacher.
A little past this house was a cross roads. The east road ran by the house of Roy and Della Mangham. Roy lived in the house built by his father, Charles Mangham and his wife who was a Steger. The Stegers and Manghams all came to Panola County together. They were the last house on this road on the west side of Irons Bayou, but the road crossed the Bayou and continued past the Dan Ross place in Delray and eventually ran to Carthage. The west branch ran past the Brooks School house and then into Rusk County to Church Hill and eventually on to Henderson. Their children were Opal, Kilby, Ollie, Alton, Louise, Allene and Welton.
Past the cross roads was the house of George Pelham and Nettie Faucett. George had grown up in Herford, Texas and worked as a cowboy on the West Texas ranches. He married the daughter of Major Faucett and came to Panola County with his father-in-law. He left Panola County one time to live in New Mexico, but returned and bought land in the Youngblood Community. George was killed in a dispute over a boundary line in 1921. Obie, his oldest son, continued to operate the farm. Children were Olla May, Obie Diah, Willie B., Arbie L., Georgia Fay, Jimmy Mozelle, Lisa Lucille and Woodrow.
When I started to school in 1924, the dirt work had been done on what was to be a paved road from Carthage to Henderson. At this time, however, it was not paved even with iron ore gravel. I can remember going to Henderson once or twice before this road was in place. I know that we started out on the Pinehill road and came to a fork in which one road went to Pinehill and the other went to Henderson. I suspect that we went up the county line road to the Church Hill road which I know ran to Henderson.
West of Fairplay, near the Rusk County line, lived a number of families that came to school at Fairplay. Most of these were Allreds or were related to the Allreds. In my first year at school, the children of Bill Allred came to school at Fairplay. Their mother was dead and the older girls did the housekeeping. Those attending school at Fairplay when I started to school from the oldest to the youngest were Vera, Demetria, Juanita, Raymond (in my class) and Ralph. They had more than three miles to walk to school every day.
About 1927, Charlie Allred, who was a brother to Bill and a son of William Carol (who was the son of Alfred Allred), moved back to Panola County from somewhere near Wichita Falls. They built a house and also a small store and filling station. All of their children were in school and they were, from oldest to youngest: Virgil, Leland, Charles, Beria, Syril, Ruth and Pansy. Other brothers of these two were Ben, married but no children at this time, Carol (unmarried) and Barney (later to marry Clara Scarborough). A sister married Sam Holt. They had a son named Ray.
Off the Henderson road to the right on the road to Brooks lived John Hardin and wife. John was the son of John Thomas and Harriet Hardin who lived near Gary. John had several siblings who lived near Gary also. Marlin and Bonnie Pearl came to school at Fairplay for at least one year.
Pages 1 2 3 4