EXCERPTS FROM
PIONEERS OF HOPKINS COUNTY, TEXAS

Compiled by Sylvia M. Kibart and Rita M. Adams, Co-Editors
For
The Hopkins County Genealogical Society

Printed by Henington Publishing Company
Wolfe City, Texas 75496

Copyright 1968

The history contained in the following pages is of exceptional value, for the old town of Tarrant is now only a memory and the author of these pages is in a position to get its true history better than almost any other person. Miss Virginia Lee Cummings, the author, is a great-granddaughter of Captain L. D. King, who was a prominent attorney at the old county seat. From her earliest memories she has heard her mother and her uncles and aunts talk of the old town where they were born, and in addition to this, she has searched diligently for information among the writings of other pioneers and in the records in the county clerk's office.

This paper is her graduating essay as first honor student in the Sulphur Springs High School, class of 1925 and it is a historical gem that should be preserved.

EARLY HISTORY
OLD TARRANT & SULPHUR SPRINGS,
COUNTY SEATS OF HOPKINS COUNTY

Sulphur Springs, Texas
May 6, 1925

History is the record of human events, and I have attempted in the brief limits of an essay to give you some data concerning the settlement of Old Tarrant, the first county seat of Hopkins County.

When our forefathers landed here, there were not many Indians. Many wild beasts roamed through the forests. Bears, turkeys and deer abounded. It was a veritable paradise for the hunter, but now no longer the hunter's horn is heard. Both the Indians and the animals have all disappeared.

All of us who are born here, who claim Hopkins County or Sulphur Springs as our nativity, must be more or less interested in the information, however meager or however humble the source from which is came.

In the year 1846, about eighty years ago, the Legislature of the State of Texas passed an act which provided for the organization of a new county. This county was to be created out of parts of Lamar and Nacogdoches counties and should be called by the name of HOPKINS. When the county had been surveyed by Robert Hargraves, the Legislature appointed a committee consisting of Robert Hargraves, Captain Eli Hopkins, Billy Barker, William Wilkins and James Ward to locate the center of the county for a county seat. They began at the southeast corner of Lamar County and (through) the mathematical calculation, they found the exact center of the county to be within a few hundred yards of where the old town of Tarrant stood.

The question that now confronted the people was a proper location for the county seat. Two places were selected within three miles of the center and an election was held to decide which one of these places should be the county seat. Eli Hopkins proposed to give the county a sufficient amount of land for a public square for all the public buildings the county might need if the voters decided in his favor. Eldridge Hopkins, not to be outdone, made a similar offer, should they decide on his tract of land. There were a hundred and ten votes in all case and Tarrant was made the county seat of Hopkins County. Eldridge Hopkins gave the ground, as he said he would, for the county seat and the county was named for him. He was the proprietor of the first hotel in Tarrant. This hotel was a double log building, the exact location of which can be easily discovered. They had no cooking stove in those days, but prepared their food in large open fireplaces. Indian servants did the chores about the place and venison was the meat most often served. (Eldridge Hopkins was my great-grandfather and came to Texas from Indiana. He landed first at Clarksville and then came to Hopkins County, where he made his home.)

Tarrant got its name from General Tarrant, a noted Indian fighter. His name was a household word in the homes of this sparsely settled country and he was known throughout the land. The bestowal of his name on the town not only served as a protection against probably Indian attacks, but also was fitting expression of the admiration the citizens held for this man who had rendered such a great service to them.

The courthouse of Old Tarrant was a large, two-story, wooden building and stood in the center of the square. When the county seat was moved, Mr. Zeph Matthews and Mr. John Patman, partners in law, bought the building and moved it to Sulphur Springs. Mr. Wimbroy, a teacher, bought it from them and built a house of the lumber on the lot where Dr. T. C. Bedwell's home now stands.

The jail was located in the western part of the town. It was a two-story log building, the doors of which were driven full of nails. The post office was established March 8, 1847 and the first postmaster was R. R. Cook.

In about 1854, a newspaper call the Texas Star was published in Tarrant. A Mr. McKinney was the editor. He sold the paper to Colonel Wortham, who moved it to Sulphur Springs and called it The Gazette. It is the paper of which C. B. Briggs was the recent editor.

The first store in Tarrant was erected by Wylie Ferrell, who, in after years, became an honored and respected citizen of Sulphur Springs.

The Masonic Lodge was organized in 1851. This was the first Masonic lodge to be organized in the county and it was Lodge no. 91 of the state of Texas. At a meeting of the lodge on December 6, 1851, it was ordered that the secretary send a report of the proceedings to the Grand Lodge, which met at Austin. Since there was no stage line from Tarrant, Eldridge Hopkins, who was secretary of the lodge, carried the report to Austin on horseback, a distance of about 300 miles.

Under the auspices of the Masonic Lodge, an academy was erect at Tarrant. In 1857, the lodge passed a resolution to take under consideration the building of a female institute. The conductor of the Academy made them a proposition that they go in together. His suggestion was acted upon favorably by erecting another building next to the one that was already there, with only one proviso-that the boys and girls be kept separate and have different teachers. Thus, in those days, the spirit of education was a vital question with the people.

On May 1, 1852, the Masons completed their lodge building. This was a two-story building, the upper story being used as the lodge room and the lower floor being rented as a business house. This lodge building was erected at a cost of $550.15.

There were no churches in Tarrant, but church services were held in the courthouse. Brother Shook, a circuit rider, preached for them. The old circuit rider with his long-tailed coat and with saddle pockets thrown across his saddle, riding over the country-how much we owe him! We of the younger generation do not realize what the sacrifices and hardships of those old pioneer preachers were, but to their memory we pay homage, for they did much to raise the standard of American manhood and womanhood.

The first cotton gin was owned by Mr. Kelley, an uncle of Mrs. Jimmie Johnson. Oxen provided the power for the gin.

Old Tarrant remained the county seat of Hopkins County from 1846 to 1868, when it was moved to Sulphur Springs by the Yankee garrison. The people of Tarrant got busy and moved it back to Tarrant; then it was moved by law to Sulphur Springs again.

When the county seat was moved, many of the citizens of Tarrant got busy and moved it back to Tarrant; then it was moved by law to Sulphur Springs again.

When the county seat was moved, many of the citizens of Tarrant moved with it. Mister Rogers moved to his home here on Van Sickle Street. The place is now owned by Mr. Winfrey. The McCall home was also moved here. It was know as the old Starr home and is now owned by Mrs. Petty Rogers. Dr. Decton also moved his home here. It stood where Chester Sheppard's home now is. All of these homes were moved on wagons drawn by oxen.

Captain William T. Blythe refused to move his home to Sulphur Springs and when his home burned, he still refused and rebuilt it at Old Tarrant. Captain Blythe was the grandfather of Miss Myrtie Henderson.

When the county seat was moved permanently to Sulphur Springs, many people objected, especially those in the northern part of the county. They claimed that Sulphur Springs was not the center of the country. By an act of legislature, a part of Lamar County and the northern part of Hopkins County were organized into the county was known as Delta and the southwestern part of Hopkins county was cut off and Rains County organized. This made Sulphur Springs near the exact center of the county. The little cemetery at Old Tarrant is the only thing left of the once prosperous town. Not a vestige of anything else can be found. So, Old Tarrant, the first county seat of Hopkins County, remains just a memory.