Burnettsville

Burnettsville Newspaper Articles
 

Interesting History

Dear Editor Staples:

I take it for granted that you are a son of Mr. and Mrs. George Staples of old Burnettsville, who were very dear friends of Mrs. Augusta M. Willbanks nee Loomis prior to 1872 when she and my father T. G Willbanks were married, and I was 9 years old. “Mama” was the only mother I ever had as my “own” passed on when I was an infant. She was teaching the Morales school when married to father. She was a splendid mother to me and Mattie, my sister, who lives now in Los Angeles, Calif.

Mrs. Simms was my first teacher; taught in a one-room log cabin on the old Garrett Wingfield place below Morales a half mile in 1870. We carried water to drink from the old seep spring a quarter of a mile away, 2 small boys, one on each side of the bucket. We drank out of gourds with long curved handle we could hang on a peg or to a limb of a tree, as we would sometime hang the bucket in the shade of a tree to keep cool. Quite different from modern fountains of ice water the kids have these days.

Back to earlier days yet. Speaking of Morales proper she had the only telegraph office on the line which was strung in 1870 between Columbus and Victoria on an air line until they could see from out of the Garcitas Prairie that they were too far east to hit Victoria, so they made an elbow about 7 miles east of Victoria to get into town. Mr. Girrode was telegrapher until he killed himself, then Henry Pruce, until he was killed in the neighborhood of Bonham’s store by Press Webb. These deaths, along with the killing of Charlie Farrer at Morales, also the killing of Henry Atkinson by Warner Loomis caused a petition to be gotten out and whiskey was voted out of the Morales precinct which stopped the killings in our end of Jackson county. With four saloons and many stores selling and giving whiskey to their customers by the gallon for their trade there was plenty to stir up “Old Nick” any time.

Who now can point to the site of the old Grimes Hide and Tallow factory that stood between Texana and Port Lavaca on the bay or river where stolen cattle were sold for a dollar a head in the 60’s. The ‘Vigilantes” hung several cattle thieves to put a stop to their depredations on the herds. Also several horse thieves were hung in those early days, when Uncle Johnnie Cook of Morales and Uncles Sam and Frank Rogers, who lived at the mouth Sandies, and who use to preach, would go along to say prayers and to sing the Doxology when a thief was hanged.

My people the Willbanks, came from Claiborne Parish, La., in 1852. Father was just 21 years old when he set foot on Texas soil. The Wingfields came along about the same time from Arkansas. In the hectic days of Morales the gamblers use to sit at the public well and play poker on a blanket with a six shooter by their money until a law was passed to stop gambling in a public place. They then took it to the thicket.

Thanks for the paper. I will sent it on to Mattie, my sister, whose letter I copied for you last week.

Respectfully, T. H. Willbanks, Milwaukie, Ore.

Edna Weekly Herald, Thursday, March 31, 1932
 

Washington, D. C., Never Knew About Burnettsville Post Office Here

(Editor’s Note: A story in last week’s Herald concerning the closing of the Post Office at Navidad brought this interesting letter from H. K. “Cap” Staples, retired publisher of The Herald.)

With your permission I would like to make a few comments regarding the article in last week’s Herald about the Navidad Post Office being discontinued.

There is a bit of Jackson County history attached to this post office. I believe The Herald said the post office was established in 1920. Of course, of my own knowledge, I know its birth goes much farther back than that.

While I have no definite “facts and figures” at hand to peg the exact date of the establishment, but memory and close association with many of the pioneer citizens of that community lead me to believe Navidad became a post office between 1880 and 1883.

In addition to an historical story there is also an unusual and amusing story connected with this post office. I know many people have wondered why the office was called “Navidad” when it was located on or near the Lavaca River.

This is the way “I heard it:”

Dr. Will Ferrell, who owned and lived on the place now owned by Chas. Marthiljohni, owned and operated a small drug store in a building near the former Asbeck home. This is about four miles north of Edna on the Navidad River, and known as the Burnettsville neighborhood. Somehow and in some way the people of this community were given a U. S. post office to be called the “Navidad Post Office.” The Ferrell drug store building also housed the post office. Geo. A. Staples, who resided close by and who taught a “high school” at Burnettsville, acted as post master. We imagine the duties of the little office demanded very little time and attention as mail from the new town of Edna was brought in only twice a week—by pony express.

(It is even possible that the Navidad post office existed while Texana was still the county seat. Texana was abandoned in 1882.)

Some time about 1884 or 1885 Dr. Ferrell died and his drug store was closed. About this time Ed Bonham, father of Edna’s former citizen, Guy Bonham, opened a general mercantile store up on the Lavaca River 10 or 15 miles northwest of Edna—then a very young county seat.

Now, as just how the Navidad post office was moved from the Burnettsville neighborhood to the Bonham store up on the Lavaca River we again lack some of the “facts and figures.” But we have always heard this story:

The citizens of the Burnettsville neighborhood felt that the new county seat only 4 miles off, could well serve their postal needs, and would like to discontinue their post office. In fact, they were willing to just give it away to anyone wanting a slightly used post office. Mr. Bonham thought the addition of a new post office to his new store would give it prestige, so it’s not difficult to guess what became of the Navidad post office on the Navidad River or why the post office up on the Lavaca River was called “Navidad.”

We might also mention that it is believed that this was the first and only deal in history where Washington, D. C. and the U. S. Post Office Department used no red tape. The reason is these high authorities were never consulted in the matter, and probably still think the Navidad post office is located in the Burnettsville neighborhood on the Navidad River.

H. K. “Cap” Staples

Edna Herald, Thursday, January 13, 1955

NAVIDAD POSTOFFICE

Williford, Wm. W., 26 Apr 1869

Burnett, Wm., 24 Jly 1871

Staples, Geo. A., 26 May 1874

Wilby, F. W., 16 Aug 1875

Pinckard, Jett, 20 Nov 1877

Staples, Geo. A., 18 Mar 1878

Gerst, Jos., 24 May 1882

Discontinued 15 Dec 1882; mail to Texana

[Apparently re-established]

Bonham, Ed., 3 Aug 1891

Mize, Floyd, 3 May 1909

Waddle, Homer A., 21 Feb 1912

Hayes, Marie, 23 Jan 1913

Billups, John E., 18 Mar 1914

Stell, Jas. C., 25 Mar 1916

Discontinued 15 Jly 1918; mail to Edna

(Re-established) Terrell, Ralph, 6 Apr 1920