EAST TEXAS. 9 



case that a school of note was established in a small village remote 

 from the county seat. When the \\ar between the States broke out two 

 graduates of the University of Michigan were conducting a large school 

 it Church Hill in l\usk county, supported by the planters of the coin- 

 in unity. The first Teachers' Institute held in Texas was organized at 

 Henderson by several prominent teachers, each of whom was a college 

 graduate. The professional men were usually of a high order, eminent 

 for learning, probity and character. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



A complete delineation and description of a country is a most diffi- 

 cult task to perform. A line drawn from the Sabine river commenc- 

 ing about the middle of Sabine county and running west through said 

 county, San Augustine, the lower part of Nacogdoches, through Hous- 

 ton county to the Trinity river, and all north of that line, may be de- 

 nominated the hilly portion of East Texas. This line of demarcation 

 passes through the" red-land belt, although areas of it are found much 

 farther north. The red land is a deep, alluvial soil, underlaid with red 

 clay, and is exceedingly fertile. The largest bodies of this land are found 

 in Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Sabine, Houston and Cherokee coun- 

 ties. Anderson and Rusk also contain large areas. 



This section with which we are now dealing, all that portion of East 

 Texas north of the above mentioned line, contains the largest variety 

 of soils found in any area of similar size in the Southwest, if not in 

 America*. Its perennial springs and never failing streams of flowing 

 water are numerous. The Neches, Angelina and Sabine rivers drain 

 the larger portion of it. In the northern portion the Little and Big 

 Cypress, and the Sulphur accommodate the surplus waters and empty 

 them into the Eed Eiver. 



The first settlers were attracted hither on account of natural advan- 

 tages, these being an abundance of timber and water, one considered at 

 that time as indispensable to life and progress as the other. It was 

 more like the land from which they emigrated than any other new 

 country on the continent. 



My first recollection of this country was during the Civil War. Deep 

 and lasting were the impressions then formed of the stirring events, 

 the shifting scenes, the occupations of the people, the dependence of a 

 country cut off from every avenue of commerce, and the heavy respon- 

 sibilities laid upon the old men, women and children, and the proper 

 use and management of the negroes. The country was new, the farms 

 were still "new grounds" and fertile, the virgin soil not yet deprived 

 of its original plant food. Just how to make food, clothing, shoes, 

 hats, plows, wagons, and all the articles necessary to support all the 

 people was the grim problem that confronted society. 



But the problem was solved. For meat the forests abounded in cattle 

 and hogs. Sheep furnished wool which was carded and woven by hand 

 and made into winter clothing. Hides were tanned and made into 

 shoes. Cotton was easily produced and the cards and spinning wheels- 

 were present in every home to convert it into fabrics. Iron rocks were 

 converted into plows; oak, hickory, ash, and other timber supplied every 



