Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 97 of 264
two hundred sixty four pages : ill. ; page 23 x 18 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
GOLD™ ANNIVERSARY EDITION. 1938.
AMARILLO SUNDAY NEWS AND GLOBE. AMARILLO, TEXAS
figCTTON C PAGE NTHf
bm
fcos
lut
loo
■er.
Iu.\
ley
it-
put
Am
kve
ler.
\vs
lips
Jlit
|ow
icr
Vrt
■m-
Tho
|tcr
In
1528
■ar-
|the
I
I
a
vas
Ithe
Iton
loor
Ihot
|rad
The Fighting Parson.
An (old by his son, Jack Potter, to
ROY RIDDLE
The army was always occupied
with hostile Indians in those days,
and now it looked as if there was
going to be trouble with Mexico.
All in all, it seemed Just the spot
for an adventurous runaway youth
of 15, but the recruiting sergeant
had other ideas. He said that
Andrew Jackson Potter, late of
Gentr.vville, Mo., was too young,
that he should go back to his
mother.
Young Andrew's mother was dead,
however, and his father had mar-
ried again. The new life had not
been a happy one for Andrew. Well,
If the army wouldn't have him, he
might at least get on with one of
the supply trains that was even
then getting ready to pull out of
Fort Leavenworth and follow hard
on the heels of General Kearney
and his soldiers.
The witheringly scornful look and
the profanely skeptical words with
which the boss trail driver reject-
ed each applicant for a job. how-
ever. did not restore any degree
of confidence to Andrew. Never-
theless, he swallowed hard and
■walked up to the boss driver. No
harm in asking, at least
and prepared to spread the word
of God, but he did not lay aside
his rifle. The church sent him to
the frontier west of San Antonio,
and the Lord's work In this region
had to be divided with the forces
that protected the settlers from the
Indians and Mexicans who made
frequent sorties from across the
Rio Grande. In this cause Rev.
Potter's might and invincible fire
earned him a sobriquet that brought
him fame throughout that country
—The Fighting Parson.
Once he was requested to bring
the Gospel to Sabinal, where an
evil element in the community had
broken up the meetings several
preachers had attempted to hold
at various times. Rev. Andrew
Jackson Potter went, Winchester in
one hand and Bible in the other.
The good and the evil assembled
together in the meeting house, and
the atmosphere was tense, and omi-
nous when the visiting preacher
took his stand in the pulpit. Lean-
ing his rifle against the wall near
him, he thumbed through the Bible
to his text, then stared steadily
out over the congregation.
"Brothers and sisters," he ad-
dressed them with a calm dclibera
tion, ' we came here today to do
If he stammered somewhat when j a little preachin' or a little flghtin'
hr put his question, the reply he j either one. Now, we! e ther have
got left him absolutely speechless. | a little preachin or a little flghtin,
"Sure," the boss said kindly, "go j suit yourselves.
on down there and tell the cook I j There was a sound of a few feet
said to take care of you. I was a i shuffling, and a buzz of brief whis-
kid myself, once." prred comment, but otherwise noth-
Thus did one of Texas' famous i ing happened.
legion of circuit riders break the [ ..Verv well," said Rev. Potter af-
ties that had bound him to home j tpr a suitabio interval, "we will
and set out on the long and wind- j now )iave a jittle preachin'."
ing trail that was to carry him Those services were not disrupted.
through many trials and adventures ^ Rpv poUor rxpostuIateri 0n
That was in 1840. the year that . ^ ^ ^ h[r Hfe {or
Texas was only beginning to g length beyond his customary
Its state Bovernment orgarized ev- when he dismissed the
en though it had been admitted to ron(,n>Bation manv crowded about
him. among them some of the
j rowdy group who had run the
, j .i „ h1c, : other preachers off, and he was
creaked across the G. at Plains, the sh ^ w„h invitatlons ,0 eat
days unmarked by any incident of , , .. , , t
Importance. The guttural calls of anfi sPpnd nlf,n"
the drivers and the crack of their j One day when he was riding clr-
long bull whips made sweet music cuit, he was stopped on the road
for Andrew's ears. His eyes drank by two men who said that they
days before he could drive him
again."
When the church elected to build
Southwestern University at George-
town, its circuit riders and resi-
dent ministers were given a quota
to raise In their respective com-
munities. Rev. Potter's was $500.
His was by no means a well-to-do
district, consequently he had some
difficulty In even getting a fair
start on that sum. After consider-
able effort he did raise some $200.
Discouraged, he went Into San
Angelo, where he encountered a
friend of the old sporting days, a
gambler whose word was as good
as his bond. This gentleman in-
quired of Rev. Potter how the
Horse Ranch
By J. M, WINCHESTER
Ott Eckert came to Washburn in
1B89 from Illinois with a carload o
horses. The family moved about
the same time and built a house on
their land, seven miles south of
Washburn.
One of their first Improvements
was to dig a well. It took seven
mint,lis of work, was about 280 feet
deep, and cost about 1*1,000. There
was an abundance of water and
people came for miles to fill their
'drinking barrels.' Sometimes in the
n iddle of the night one could hear a
neighbor at the well getting water.
ne Eckerts gradually acquired
cattle and kept a few milch cows.
The calves were in a small pen near
the hen house. These calves were
of all breeds and colors, Dun-Jer
campaign was coming, and when, old Tcxas Yellow's,' Holstein's
serving the public, and neither ex-
pected more money.
Mr. Eckert's father was fond of
Collie dogs and always managed to
keep a good string. Goodnight also
loved dogs but found It hard to keep
t dog on the ranch, so whenever
one would die or get killed by wolves,
he would come to Eckert's to get
another. David Julian Levy, now 8 years old,
Eckert brought a carload of good will some day get his business train-
horses to this country and always ing.
Can Be Done
"It can't be done, so let's do It."
That is one of the guiding prin-
ciples of J. Levy's, men's furnish-
ing store at 507 Polk Street, where
the founder's son, Bert Levy, carries
on and where the merchant's son
kept some fine Pereherons, for
which he found a ready sale. Some-
times the colts would be "spoken
for" when a few days old. In 1917
Eckert shipped a carload of these
horses to Fort Worth. Thev aver-
"i can't be done, so let's do It"
and other similar piking sayings
hang on the wall of Bert Levy's of-
fice. They express the aggressive-
ness of the active Amariiloan.
He was born. August 21, 1908, In
aged 1.800 pounds. All of the same :he 600 block on Fillmore Street,
color and practically the same i Except for two years spent at Peeks-
height. The horse buyers in Fort kill (New York) Military Academy,
Worth were amazed to find that 1 lie has lived here continuously.
they had been raised entirely on j Besldeg one of the city's
the Union the year before.
• • ♦
For weeks the long wagon train
he learned the circumstances he
asked the minister to let him see
the money he had collected thus
far. Rev. Potter pulled it from
his pocket, and without a w .d
the gambler took it from his hand
and walked into the saloon and
gaming house. Rev. Potter had
no qualms about this unusual act;
he knew this man. He patiently
bided the time until the gambler
should return.
This he did in a surprisingly briel
while. He thrust a sheaf of bills
into Rev. Potter's hand, saying
solemnly as he did so:
"The Lord is with us today,
Parson."
Parson Potter counted the bills;
there was exactly double the amount
he previously had.
"Amen!" said Parson Potter with
feeling.
"The ace turned up," the gambler
explained, adding, without any
show of exultation, "the first card."
By a single turn of a card in the
then popular game of monte, South-
western University was enriched
$200, and Parson Potter felt that
the Lord had indeed been with him
that day.
Rev. Potter preached the first
and a little bald faced calf of un-
known ancestry. One night Mr.
Eckert's father thought he heard a
disturbance in the hen house. About
half asleep he grabbed up his gun
and ran out. In the darkness he
thought he could make out. the face
leading merchants. Mr. Levy is presi-
dent of the Amarillo Junior Cham-
ber of Commerce and exalted ruler
of Amarillo Elks. He also is a di-
rector of Temple B'nai Israel
Ala. A short time later he came to
Amarillo and worked all day and
sometimes half the night until he
had enough funds to start In busi-
ness for himself. When he owned
and operated The Fair, a depart-
ment store from which the theater
later took its name, it was the larg-
est business of its kind in the South-
west.
Tender Now
When a person referred to "Tex-
as cattle" back In 1915 when
young butcher named M A. Stone
first came to Amarillo, he was re-
ferring to the old Texas longhorn,
famous for its tough hide and ornery
Bert Levy had the advantage of disposition, Emphasis at this time
training under the shrewd, but genial
business man who died of heart at-
was on quantity of beef rather than
quality, and the old longhorn was
tack in a Mineral Wells ha'pital on "'"'^'kablc over all others only
the last day of 1936
Man in Cray'
Louisiana.
x just threw down mv gun and
went home." said Joseph L. Grand-
grass and had never had grain. This
record car of horses has never been
ualled since by growers in any
other part of the country. The
last team of horses used in the
Amarillo fire department were from
the Eckert ranch.
The grass in the early days be-
fore fires and over grazing destro.v-
of a badger at the side of the hen ed mat close to the giound,
house He blazed awav, then found ! would grow a little all winter and
that lie had shot his little bald i Kreen blades of it could be found
far-nd r nif a- long the cWsters of brown buffalo
'Mr. Eckert's father was county grass. This helped to keep the < and constructed the old Fair Thea
commissioner for eight, years. He stock in fine condition nalace in the Southwest
was a riose friend of Colonel Good- j I P'I came back to Amarillo, but
night, who was commissioner at • ' ' . much dust i quit during my senior year at high "mv felins• when I n
the same time They often drove to : night There was not so much du. t. srhoo] ,92g> an<, went jnto business er Ed w«;en I
Amarillo together. The commision-: Hie winters weie colder and there ^ h mv father. who established J. Broth*
month and for ( was more snow: sometimes, the
because of it* amazing durability on
j the long drives to the market.
Mr. Stone at present is owner
of the Qua I it v Food Store, 1502 Fill-
more Street. He has witnessed, dur-
ing his 23 years here, the shift
ie war wa. over before the in beef from quantity to quality,
young recruit saw any action. Lee and he has •crn the old longhorn
had surrendered at Appomattox, uperseded bv 'lie pure-bred Here-
they heard, so the regiment about ford and tough b>~ef,-steak
faced and returned to what was left erseded by tender.
of their homes In Bossier Parish, vir
sup-
He first enrolled in school here J?'' fn'hPrr Countv J,ldee
at Mrs. Decoursey's kindergarten. ] N^'McDarie of Duma- The Mc-
He attended Amarillo schools until ! s ,0 Moore County in
he was 11. then came the two years loo<^ settling on a farm northwest
a„ peekskill. It was during that sec- of Dumas fne <■ rier M'Dade him-
onri year that Max Goodman, an self later held county off:• r -he wa
associate of the late J. Levy. died, treasurer from •' HW2
The elder Levy sold his business A great and ,;ovfui . urpn. e was
awaiting the young recri
amusement !h; arrived home despite
that the land had been ra\
"Imagine, if you can,"
when
ie fact
hed.
e said,
broth-
house
t Into ti-
er met one day a month and for I was more snow: -jLfv,^ after leasing the theater," j more than'' toee ■•e^rs''"He"had
their services received $3. This | sr.ow would remain on the ground i M/Levy sald h/pn nan ,Pa'" He nad
was not, enough to pay for their for several months at a time has been associated with J
bed and meals, but both Eckert
and Goodnight considered they were
Mr. Eckert moved to Amarillo In
1917 He still retains his ranch in- ]
terests and spends much time in
supervising them. The Eckerts have |
two daughters, Mrs. Frank Red- j
uer, Jr.. of Amarillo and Mrs. Stina !
Cain of Wheeler.
tion there, as well as becoming its
first pastor.
This devout man, as picturesque
and forceful as any circuit rider
Texas ever had, was a preacher
for nearly forty years, and when ncussed but couldn't outcuss rilloan. It makes boosters out of
death brought to a close his good me Best cowman I ever saw i folks that don't even live here any
work in 1895, it does not seem Gave away thousands of dollars more."
strange that God should have] gtaice boys. Have seen him cut; j. Levy's was founded on practi-
John Rumans, Washburn: "Good-
Levy's since that time, except for a
year — 1927 — when he operated
Bert's College Shop.
"The more civic-minded people
are in Amarillo the more the city
will progress." he said. "Amarillo
has a bright future and it has
something else which makes one
once an Amarilloan always an Ama-
first
reported mis
year of the
ling since
war, and
the
no
sermon ever delivered in San An- taken him, with one swift, merci- fifty to a hundred head of cattle call.v nothing but boundless energy.
gelo by a Methodist minister, and
later he was a leader in building
the first church of that denomina-
ful stroke, from the pulpit in the and g|ve 'cnl tn a man. Don't re-
little Walnut Creek Chapel, where | member any of these turnin' out
be had entered upon his service. wll. though "
The late Mr. Levy came from France
when he was only 18, and his first
j word of him had reached the family
since then, We had—that Is, ail
except mothei long since given
him up as dead. He had walked
in one afternoon late just before
; the surrender.
"A bearded man in tattered gray
| rsme limping up the walk. When
mother saw him. she cried out:
"'There's Ed!'
"Nobody believed her at first. But
it was Ed—Ed who had been held
a prisoner in that crowded hole at
Rock Island, 111., all those years; a
prisoner without pen or paper to
job was selling shoes in Bessemer, write home. Finally, he was ex-
Stone. after working as a
butcher for 21 'ear? opened his
own grocery store 3 years ago.
changed at Richmond and given
a 30-day furlough.
"When we came home, we thought
the war was over and were not
dreaming of further trouble. What
fools we w re! Right upon our
heels came a big bunch of Yankees
down the Mississippi to Shreveport
to take possession of everything
we had. They turned loose the ne-
er«r tore up our whole system of
economic, social and political life—
ever incited the negroes against
the rhi'e: The scalawags appoint-
ed a man named Swan for governor,
and he held the office as long as
he wanted it."
Mr McDade's bitter experiences
with carpetbag rule after the war
mad. of him more a rebel than
ever, and to this dav he remains
Moore County's "Man in Gray."
Jim Hastings: "Land wasn't
worth anything. I bought a half-sec-
tion of proved land near Groom . .
Later. I tried to lease it to Good-
night. but couldn't. Then I tried to
sell it After that I t.ried to give it
to Ed Johnson if he would pay the
taxes on it for three years He re-
fusrri. so I got tired and let It. go
back to the state."
in eagerly the boundless panorama
of grass and level plain, and oc-
casionally a cottonwood motte ap-
peared to show the way to some
clear spring or sandy river. They
came at last to tile rough country
beneath the snow-capped Rockies,
but at Raton Pass they were forced
to call a halt. Deep drifts of snow
barred their way; it was 60 days
before they could resume their jour-
ney.
They Idled in Fort Bent, but the
thaws came at last and they caught
had a Job for him.
"Come with us," they said. "He's
just over there in the brush."
Rev. Potter tied his horse to n
tree and set out with the men to
the spot they designated. In a
little clearing stood a small group
of men and women, heads bared,
and before them in a crude box
casket, lay the body of a youth
whose name he learned was Pulliam.
They were about to bury him with-
out benefit of clergy when r.ev.
Potter happened along.
The services concluded, lie learn-
up with Kearney at Santa Fc. The
supplies delivered, they rested for .
a few davs and then began the ed that Pullrm and another young
return lournev man narnPC* Evans hac* R
Back and forth for four years,1 barlri of Mexican horse thieves j
freighting for the flying columns ?cr°ps the Rio Grande to a shack
that had already taken New Mexi-
co, Arizona and California and now j
were holding it against hostile i
Mexicans and marauding Indians, j
the wagon trains streamed slowly
over the deep-rutted trail. Young
in the me. quite, where the thieves
had made a stand. In the fight
that followed, Pulliam was killed
and Evans gravely wounded.
• • •
Many years did Rev. Andrew
Andrew, a veteran driver by now, ; Jackson Potter ride that country-
was always with them, but when j side, carrying the word of God to
the settlers came to Fort Union. ! the sparse settlements, and wherev-
New Mexico, and scattered to er he went he was loved and reas-
clalms within its protective slia- pecteri as The Fighting Parson,
dows, he tired of the life and de- i Sometimes he was forced to quit
cided to hunt gold in Arizona. His, his circuit for weeks and even
quest was futile, however, and he : months at a time, and take up the
turned toward Texas. His sister Winchester to ride with the Rang-
lived near San Antonio. ers and soldiers in pursuit of hos-
It was 1851 when he arrived af. I tile Indians and raiding Mexican
the home of his sister, Mrs. Jessie
Jennings. For several years he
worked In that neighborhood as a
farm hand and at various other
Jobs, occasionally deserting the
"fields for a round of the lusty sport-
ing life of the frontier. He had
learned to love cards and the fast
outlaws. His family had increased
so greatly that he was sorely need-
ed at home, but then he had sons
who were old enough to help their
mother keep the family together
and sufficiently clothed and fed.
When he was living at Bourne,
Kendall County, there were 13 chil-
game that the rough frontiersmen dren at home, the eldest not more
played, and a horse on which he
had his money was a thing to dazzle
the eyes of the strong young vet-
eran of 20.
A girl changed all that for him
when they were married. He even
than 18. Seven of these were boys
and six were girls.
"We were just like a great many
preachers' boys." Jack Potter, about
eight, at that time, said. "Had a lot
of Old Nick 111 us. Lots of preach-
got religion—at a camp meeting j ers came to our house and stopped,
on the banks of Walnut Creek, Cald-
well County, He embraced this as
he had every tenet or conviction he
had ever held, with a vigor and
earnestness that confused his ene-
mies and delighted his friends.
Within a brief while after he was
of course. If they asked us about
our dogs and if the liuntin' an'
fishin' was good, or where was a
good place to go swimmin', we got
along with 'em fine. But if they
were too solemn and pompous, we
sometimes made 'em wish they
converted, he determined to enter j hadn't stopped at Brother and Sis- J
the ministry and subsequently was | tcr Potter's.
ordained Into the thin ranks of the ; "There was one of them like the
Methodist Episcopal Church. South last that came to our house once.
He preached his first sermon at, ; He drove up in a single buggy and
Walnut Creek Chapel. The fire
of the righteous was In his eye
and there was thunder in his
voice, and the zest with which he
delivered his message was as that
of the strong man Inured to the
dangerous trail.
• • •
Then the forces of war checked
for a time this impelling mission
he was wearing a long linen duster.
He was as solemn as all get-out, and
the first thing he said to us boys
was. 'Do you boys love your lord?'
That was a mistake, but he made
it worse by ordering us about.
" 'You boys take my horse out
of the buggy,' he said, 'and give
him a drink and let him cool off.
Then you can feed him—oh, about
In life, and Rev. Andrew Jackson ! eight ears of corn, and I'll go In
Potter left his wife and babies to | and see Sister Potter.'
ride with General Debrey's squad- "Well, we led his hors'e around
rons through Texas and Louisiana, to the shed, but we didn't feed
During the long campaign he him. One of my older brothers
struck up a great friendship with took the rope we had tied around
Col. Jack Myers, and near the close ; the horse's neck and threw the
of the war between the states, when end of it over a log rafter. Then
another son was born to his wife, we stretched that horse's neck to
he named him Jack Potter In honor where he was almost off his feet.
r" his friend. Colonel Myers later and tied him that way. We went
became one of the greatest, rattle- on off playin', and forgot all about
men of South Texas, and was among him.
the first to drive herds to Abilene, "That was our mistake. That
Kans, horse had such a stiff neck when
After the war. Rev. Andrew Jack- we finally thought of him, the
aon Potter again took up the Bible i preacher had to stay three or four
1 he Fcachcr Was a Real
Pioneer in the Panhandle
Great tribute is due the
early educators for their
services in laying the
foundation for a great pub-
lic school system.
Carl G. Clifft
County Superintendent
Keep Step With Progress
In Shoes ! rom Seale's
A
/\LTHOUGH we cannot boast of a great many anniversaries in Amarillo we are proud of the
progress we have made in four short years. . . . Our floor space is now nearly twice as great as
it was when we first opened, our stock is twice as large and we have entirely redecorated and
refinished our store every year since we opened for business. . . .
JESSE J, SEALE,
Owner and Manager
This is the only complete Shoe Store on the Plains carrying high quality, nationally known
of exclusive Footwear for every member of the family. They are—
lines
QUEEN QUALITY for Ladies
POLL PARROT for Children CONFORMAL for Entire
PHOENIX HOSE
UPTOWN SHOES for Men
Family
■
1
PAUL ROGERS,
Mgr Ladies' and Children's Dept.
► . t K ': '
m -
\
\
\
BONNIE DAY,
Cashier and Hosiery
\
\
\
Seale's Shoe Store
805 POLK STREET—AMARILLO
i H. McCLURKIN.
Mfr. Men'a Dept. and Dlaplaymui
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/97/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.