Lick Skillet
By: Dusty Williams

Throughout Texas there are many places referred to as “Lick Skillet.” Supposedly this is because people arrived late to settlements, camps or other establishments and as a result they had to lick the skillet because they had missed meal time. When I began traipsing through the Pilot Grove and Westminster area searching for my ancestors, the Catos, Langhams and Simpsons, I had been told that Pilot Grove was originally named Lick Skillet because the food was so good that you “wanted to lick the skillet.” Whatever the reason was, it obviously had to do with “not enough good food” and having to “lick the skillet.” Founded around 1850, Lick Skillet was located on the Bonham-McKinney stage line, making it one of the oldest towns in the area. It wasn’t until the later 1850s that it was renamed, Pilot Grove.

The first home was built in 1846 by Mr. Mannan Clement, followed by his son’s home, Mr. and Mrs. Bluford Clement.  The small town of Pilot Grove literally sprang up around the Clement land. This house appears to have been on the east side of Pilot Grove Rd. when it cuts back north, at the end of what once was Pecan Street. Mrs. Clement also owned land on the north side of what is now F.M. 121, just before it reaches Chestnut Rd. The Clements also owned a store, so whichever of these was not the house was most likely the store. That being said, there was at one time a store across the street from Pilot Grove Cemetery which collaborates with the second before mentioned property. Dr. Holmes of Pilot Grove stated that Pilot Grove sprang up in front of the Clement home; this would collaborate with the first mentioned property as being the Clement home. Another earlier store owner was Mr. Bartee who ran a store that was attached to his house. The name Pilot Grove is said to have been used in honor of Mr. Dumas’ large ranch nearby, Sister Grove Farm or the nearby Pilot Grove Creek and grove of trees. With Pilot and Sister Grove creeks nearby, this area has always been a stopping point for Indians and Trailblazers.

On May 18, 1850, we see that Buford Clement was appointed the first postmaster of Pilot Grove, having ran the post office in his store. The post office ran until June 29, 1906 at which point it was forwarded to Whitewright. In the early days, there was also a blacksmith shop, grist mill, several saloons, cotton gin and a drug store. Churches were also being established in Pilot Grove.   Mrs. Clement stated that for 15 years, she and a black woman were the only Methodist Christians in the area, stating that she was a “lamb among wolves.” Another account states that a Methodist Church was built in Pilot Grove in 1855 and was split down the middle, allowing for men and women to be on separate sides of the church. This church supposedly burned and a new one was built in 1905. This church was later moved to the Old City Park in Dallas where it is still displayed, mostly used for weddings. The Methodist Church was located at the southwest corner of F.M. 121 and Pilot Grove Rd. 

Pilot Grove Baptist Church

The Baptist Church was located at the southwest corner of Pilot Grove Rd. and Studebaker Rd., while the Christian Church was located across the street on the north side of Studebaker Rd. and one lot to the west. According to records, the Baptist Church was formed between 1848 and 1854 on land donated by Hezekiah Warden, who was an earlier homesteader to the area. A church building was erected in 1876 and supposedly was later destroyed by a tornado that came through the area. The current structure was built in 1917. According to the historical marker, as well as letters written by Emma Perry, members of the congregation were baptized in Pilot Grove and Sister Grove creeks.

The school was on 2.75 acres east of Pilot Grove Rd. where it meets Studebaker Rd. The area children owe much of their early education to Dorinda Pierce Hancock who brought several books with her when her family settled in Pilot Grove. Her brother was an early doctor to the area and was among the many casualties of the Pilot Grove Difficulty. In the early days, Miss Pierce taught at several homes and schools throughout the four corners area. The original school was labeled as Grico District # 1. In later years, the rural community saw decline in its population and the school consolidated with larger nearby schools. There are two cemeteries in Pilot Grove, The Old Pilot Grove Cemetery and The New Pilot Grove Cemetery. The new cemetery is referred to as Peony Hill on account that Mrs. Thad Rhoads planted peonies, which soon spread throughout the cemetery.

From the beginning, Pilot Grove was a prosperous farming community that offered not only success for farmers, but much needed work for others. When my 3 times great grandparents, John and Rosa Keedy Ferguson, came to Texas from Tennessee in 1913, their daughter Emma wrote the following: “In August of 1913 we left Tennessee traveling by train bringing our household furnishings with us. I was thirteen years old. Uncle Walter Ferguson and his family had already moved to Texas settling three miles south of Whitewright on the David Cowart place. We lived close by Uncle Walter. My brothers and sisters and I had never seen jack rabbits or cotton. We would (herd) the rabbits up in the graveyard close by (probably Bethel Cemetery) and catch them. They could not believe it. Mama and Papa would send us out to pick cotton. We would hold the boll in one hand and pull the cotton out with the other. … We lived on the David Cowart place until January 1, 1914, then moved three miles south of Pilot Grove on the Binion place. We lived there until January of 1926 then moved southwest of Gunter.”

Pilot Grove has a rich and unique history and this article has just scratched the surface of the life and times in Pilot Grove. 
 

The Pilot Grove Difficulty
By: Dusty Williams

From the beginning, Pilot Grove had a history of outlaws, gunfighters and trailblazers living up to the true meaning of, “Being a Texan.” 

According to an interview with early settler, Mrs. Rebecca Clement, men known as “brush men” were frequent throughout Pilot Grove and the surrounding area. They were known for their drinking and were usually covered in grease and dirt. Just north of Pilot Grove was a race track where Mustang horses were raced and a large betting arena was established here in which these men were actively a part of. Mrs. Clement recalled that at one time in her husband’s store, Dr. Lassister fired a shot at Mr. Boren at which point a fight ensued, having eventually been broken up by local townsmen. Although full of color and true “wild west” events, no event plagued Pilot Grove more than the “Pilot Grove Difficulty,” “The Four Corner’s War” or “The Lee-Peacock Feud,” all names given to the same event.

In the 1840s, the Daniel Lee family had settled in the four corners region, establishing their home at what was to become Lee’s Station. Accompanying the Lees from Arkansas was the Boren family. Bob Lee was a son of Daniel and was very prominent in the area. Many southerners looked highly upon Bob and he was somewhat of a natural leader. In the late 1850s, Lewis Peacock with his wife and children, parents and a younger brother, Jeptha, settled in Grayson County. With the outbreak of the Civil War many families were split or turned against one another…such is the case with these families. Bob Lee and Jeptha Peacock both joined forces with the Confederate army. There is no record of Lewis Peacock having been involved in any military force.

When Bob Lee returned home, many of his old friends and neighbors were glad to see his return. Unfortunately, reconstruction had a tight noose around Texas and the state soon found itself under military control. Peacock was leading the Unionist who placed their headquarters near his home in Pilot Grove. Shortly after Bob Lee had returned home he realized that tensions were high between Unionists and southerners and he would not be able to live the life of peace that he had so hoped to do.

Bob was first taken from his bed while he was gravely ill by military imposters. According to Mrs. Clement, some of these men were from the Preston Bend area. Also among these individuals were: Lewis Peacock, Israel Boren, James Maddox, Bill Smith, Sam Bier and Hardy Dial. After being taken from his house, more men joined the party, including Doc Wilson and other thieves. It had been rumored that the Lee family still had gold from the earlier days and it angered many unionists that these southerners were in better shape than many. The party stopped south of Sherman in Choctaw Bottom where they kept Lee as a hostage. Eventually, the party took his mule, saddle, bridle, $20 gold piece and forced him to write a note to Doc Wilson for $2,000 in gold and promised to leave the country. Lee was released and the famous feud was now underway.

A week or so after this incident, Bob Lee encountered Jim Maddox in a store at Pilot Grove. The two had seemed to make amends, however when Lee turned to leave, he was shot from behind…the bullet striking him in the back of the head. Dr. Pierce, who had for the most part remained neutral, came to the aid of Lee and saw to his recovery. While Lee was still recovering, the Doctor was murdered by Hugh Hudson. For the next several years, Lee spent much of his time hiding out in Wild-Cat thicket while people from both sides of the feud were murdered. The Unionist called upon federal forces and for a while soldiers were camped near the Clement home. There was even a reward placd on Bob Lee and his followers. Henry Boren who had supposedly started as a Lee supporter had, according to his nephew Bill Boren, become a Unionist supporter and took up arms with Peacock. Boren knew all of the trails throughout the thicket and it was him who proved to be Bob Lee’s demise in 1869. With a party, Henry Boren is credited for killing Mr. Lee. Henry Boren shot Bob Lee with a double barrel shotgun in the chest. Bob fell from his horse at which point Boren went to him to try and get him to speak…he would not. That night Henry Boren held a dance, Bob Lee was dead. The next morning, Bill Boren went to pay his uncle Henry a visit. Henry came out of his house, armed, and the two men began to argue. Bill felt as if Henry would shoot him, but Bill came out on the winning end as it was Henry who would die that morning, not 24 hours after Bob Lee himself had been murdered. The before mentioned information comes from letters written by Bill Boren to his uncle Richard as well as a letter from Bob Lee’s sister-in-law. According to Bill Boren, he referred to Bob Lee as Cousin Bob. Both the Borens and Lees migrated to the corners from Arkansas in 1850, Richard Boren was living with Daniel, Bob and the rest of the Lee family.

Over the next couple of years there were a few suspicious murders. Simp Dixon was killed around 1870 by Peacock supporters. G. B. Ray stated in her book, Murder at the Corners, that a freedman from the corners area shot him somewhere in Wise County. According to other records, Simp was killed in Limestone County, Texas and his buried in Fort Parker Memorial Park. According to this story, Simp was hunting Peacock, who was working in nearby Johnson county at a lumber mill. This story is partly proven true in that the 1870 census reveals Lewis Peacock as living in nearby Milam county and was working at a sawmill. Locals state that Dixon was killed by a Sgt. Adam Desch and a military detachment while he was hunting Peacock. Years later a stone was put in the cemetery marking this grave because Simp was thought of as a hero in this area for saving women who were being raped and robbed.

After things cooled down a bit, Lewis Peacock returned to Pilot Grove. Also returning to Pilot Grove was Dick Johnson, Simp’s stepbrother. Some speculate that Peacock boasted that he would kill Johnson while he was out gathering wood for the breakfast fire. In 1871 Johnson, Joe Parker and one other man beat him to the punch and they themselves shot and killed Peacock while he went to fetch wood for his own fire. Rev. Martin Gentry saw to the swift burial of Peacock in the Old Pilot Grove Cemetery. Peacock’s family promptly left the area and the feud was at last at an end. According to a letter from Charles Moore, Joe Parker was taken to Sherman to stand trial for Peacock’s murder later that year, however it is not known if anything ever came of this. Dick Johnson continued making visits to the area and never faced charges although he is the one who is credited for actually killing Peacock. He passed away in 1919 in Red River County, Texas and according to his death certificate he was buried in DeKalb.  Military control of Texas had also been lifted and at last it appeared that the Civil War was finally over for the corners region. Peacock’s grave was marked in later years at the cemetery and Bob Lee remains at rest in the old Lee Cemetery in northwestern Hunt County. His gold has never been found. Henry Boren who later rode with gunman John Wesley Hardin said this in his letter to Dick Boren: “We have come to the territory together and he (Wes Hardin) says he will not come back to the four corners unless it is to dig up cousin Bob’s gold.” Reprints of the Bill Boren letter can be found online, however it is not currently known where the original is located.

The Lee-Peacock Feud was publicized all throughout the south, and perhaps even further. It is not known the exact number of casualties over the six year period following the Civil War, but it is a good estimate to state that it was 20+. One account even states that over 100 men were killed. The feud shows just how rough life in Texas was following the Civil War in the period of reconstruction. A thorough biography of the feud can been found in G. B. Ray’s book, Murder at the Corners. With a few minor discrepancies, I find that this book gives a pretty accurate account of what transpired in the four corners during this time period. The book was written in the 1950s and since then new records have been made available that give better information on some of the smaller instances. Today, Pilot Grove and the four corners sit quietly tucked away with the passing of time. Even today a mention of Lee or Peacock will bring up memories from old timers who still call this place their home. Even the younger generations from Pike-Desert-Frognot-Nobility-Blue Ridge-Leonard-Pilot Grove and other four corner communities have it instilled within them not only the history, but the importance of the feud. Up until as late as the mid-twentieth century there had been evidence of people digging around Bob Lee’s grave in search of that ever elusive Lee gold. This has been a very brief history of the famous incident at the corners and there are several other sources that can be viewed to gain a more wholesome understanding of this important event in Texas’ history.