Wood County, 1850-1900 Page: 49
201 p. : ill., ports. ; 29 cm.View a full description of this book.
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EARLY COUNTY NEWSPAPERS
The Quitman Herald began its publication in the
summer of 1856 with A. and W. W. Gunter, attorneys,
as publishers. The next publisher was J. J. Jarvis, who
edited the paper for two years. By 1859, J. W. Sparks
and J. A. Angel, also lawyers, were publishing the
paper. The Gunters, merchants in Quitman, continued
to be associated with the publication.
The Herald was widely distributed in East Texas.
There were agents in Tyler, Sulphur Springs, Green-
ville, Kaufman and Nacogdoches. Advertisements
from New Orleans appeared on the first page of the 1
January 1859 edition. The publishers were also urging
their customers to come forward and pay up as they
needed the money and didn't have time to call and
dun them personally.
The local news stated that the Baptist Denomina-
tion of Christians were holding a protracted meeting
but there was little or no excitement gotten up. Watts
and Wells Sawmill, 12 miles east of Quitman, ran an
ad stating they had 400,000 feet of dry lumber on hand.
Kay and McKnight advertised they had the largest
stock of general merchandise in Quitman which in-
cluded everything from hardware to boots, shoes,
crockery and medicine.
The last known owner of The Herald was Major J.
J. Jarvis who sold the printing equipment to a group of
Fort Worth men who reportedly used it to establish the
first substantial newspaper in that city. The machinery
was moved by wagon to Fort Worth in 1871, and the
Fort Worth Democrat began its publication.
Source: Early newspapers
Handbook of Texas
The Quitman Clipper was published by A. P. and
E. D. Shuford prior to the Civil War. The Shufords
were strong supporters of the Confederacy and used
The Clipper as a means of encouraging active par-
ticipation in the conflict.
Around 1868, a young man by the name of Jim
Hogg came to The Clipper's office and the following
conversation took place:
Jim: Are you Doc Shuford?
Shuford: I reckon that's me.
Jim: Well, I'm Jim Hogg. I came to work for
you.
Shuford: How do you know I need somebody?
Jim: Well, Doc, from the looks of this place I'd
say you've been needin' somebody for a long
time.
Shuford: All right, Son, we'll see how smart
you are. . .this paper should have been out
four days ago, and I ain't had nobody to give
me a lift.
The story goes that Jim Hogg, Texas' future governor,
got the job and set the type for that issue in a fewhours, then printed the paper with a hand-lever press.
His salary was room and board with some extra-job pay
to help buy his clothes.
The following article entitled "Be Up and Doing"
appeared in The Clipper 16 July 1861. It was written by
Editor A. P. Shuford. "Again we are requested to call
the citizens of Wood County together to meet in the
Court House next Saturday for the purpose of con-
sulting as to what means should be adopted by our
county in order to equip for the war these young men
who are unable to equip for themselves. Something
must be done and that pretty soon for Wood County
will doubtless be called upon in a very short time for
one or two companies.
"Wake up, gentlemen, and show your patriotism by
deeds, it is no time for loud vaunting. Shall Wood
County adopt advalorem taxation? Shall the county
court make appropriation? Or shall private subscrip-
tion be the resort to aid the young men who are
horseless. . .what say the citizens of Wood County?"
In a later issue, Shuford wrote: "We have received
a synopsis of the message of Old Abe, and we have not
been disappointed in the opinion we formed some time
since, that the Old Baboon would attempt to conquer
the South if Congress would back him. He asked
Congress to give him 400,000 men and appropriate
$400,000,000 for this purpose. Owing to sickness in our
office, we delay the publication of the war-like docu-
ment until our next issue."
In a later issue: "All those who expect to go to war
on the next call from Jeff Davis should prepare as soon
as possible to be ready. Davis will certainly call out a
large additional number in a very short time to meet
our enemies. Wood County must send her quota. Let us
all have one long pull together and Wood County can
send as many volunteers as any other county according
to her population. Unity! Unity of action is what we
want."
Source: County newspapers
James Stephen Hogg, a
Biography by Cotner.
The Winnsboro Sentinal was published in the
1870's by a Mr. Hays. The story is told that Hays in-
vested all his capital in the newspaper venture and
before publication found that he had insufficient funds
to spell the town's rightful name as a heading for his
paper. At that time, the town was known as
Winnsborough, but Hays settled his problem by drop-
ping four letters and calling his new newspaper The
Winsboro Sentinal. It is not known how long this
publication continued.
Source: County newspapers
Sketch of Winnsboro, by Mrs.
Jim Moore49
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Wood County, 1850-1900 (Book)
This text gives an overview of Wood County, Texas from roughly 1850 to 1900. It includes historical sketches of various aspects of life in the county as well as anecdotes. Genealogical information and documentation are also included for pioneer families in the area.
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Wood County Historical Society. Wood County, 1850-1900, book, 1976; Quitman, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth91051/m1/57/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .