  The Sherman Courier
Wednesday, August 15, 1917 section 25 50th Anniversary edition C.B. DORCHESTER TELLS OF EARLY DAYS AND GIVES HISTORY OF RAILROADS, SAYS SHERMAN TRIED TO GET KATY WHEN FIRST BUILT BUT NEVER HAD GHOST OF A CHANCE TO DO SO C.B. Dorchester, who has for more than forty years been connected with the Merchants and Planters National Bank of Sherman, gives the Courier some valuable and interesting information about the growth and developments of Sherman and Grayson county and especially about the railroads. "My father came to Sherman 57 years ago and camped down in the southeast part of town where the Sherman Cotton Oil Mill now is. At what was then a public spring. When we came here, the west side of the public square was the worst kind of a thicket - I have been here to see the town and county completely transformed - have known considerable of the "ups and downs" we have had. The first railroad Sherman had was in 1872 - the Houston & Texas Central, built in here from the south. Before that all freight that we had came in here from Jefferson or Houston and was hauled in wagons. The road cost this town $50,000.00. We paid for it by issuing 6 per cent city bonds. The next railroad that came was the Texas & Pacific. It cost the town $84,000 and we paid for it by issuing bonds some of which were refunded. Some of these are yet outstnading. I think though they are all nearly paid now. The road came here in 1873. "The panic of '73 worked a great hardship on the Texas & Pacific and they failed to carry out their contract with us for a long time. "They were stopped down here at Brookston, eight miles west of Paris, for a long time and for a number of years they kept one man named Jerry Nolan at work with one mule in this county in order to hold their right of way, "Jerry Nolan and his mule," being the jest of the county in those days. "The next railroad we secured was the Cotton Belt in 1888. It cost us $140,000 and that was one of the best trades we have ever made. We raised the Cotton Belt money as a bonus - simpley went down into our pockets and dug it up. At the time the Cotton Belt came, the old town needed something. At that time the Collin Kelly building down here on the east side of the square where the picture show is was offered at $4,500 and soon after the Cotton Belt came in, it was sold for $5,500, and at this time you probably couldn't buy it for $25,000. When the Cotton Belt came here, buildings were vacant all over town. "Many people think Sherman made a great mistake in not getting the M. K. & T. to come here; but the facts are Sherman never had any chance whatever to get this road. I was here and know that we offered them $250,000 to come to Sherman and make this their terminus and Southern division; and the only thing they would agree to with us was to establish a depot "somewhere" in Grayson county. The facts are that at the time the Katy was building into this county the Central was building on north, they having built on beyond Denison to Red River and established what they called Red River City. There appeared to be an agreement at that time between people interested in the two roads to build a city over on Red River. Sherman didn't have a ghost of a show to get the Katy when they first built in from the north. Regardless of what they had been offered, they would not have come because the people interested in the road inteneded to build a town of their own. The Katy was built into Sherman from Denison in 1895 or '96. That road cost Sherman $25,000 cash and the right of way, which made a total of $65,000. "The Santa Fe then came next. They came in over the Cotton Belt tracks and didn't cost us anything. We made the Frisco contract in 1900 and they built in here in 1901. We gave them $15,000 besides the right of way and the terminal grounds, including forty acres of ground. The total cost to the town was $70,000. That was the best trade the town ever made. They agreed to make this their terminal ground and put up their shope here and they have lived up to their agreement. "In 1896 Mr. J.P. Crearer came down here and bought the street car lines in both Denison and Sherman. At that time Sherman had a mule-car line owned by C.W. Batsell. Mr. Crearer then built the line between Denison and Sherman, connecting the two towns. He put in a local electric car and didn't ask anybody for a cent. "Ten years ago Mr. J.F. Strickland and his associates promoted and built the electric line from here to Dallas. As an inducement for them to build the road the people of Sherman subscribed for $35,000 of the preferred stock of the company. This road has been in operation now for about nine years and has been of great benefit to Sherman. "Many people have called Sherman slow but all told we have in time gone by accomplished enough to make us one of the best towns in the South, even if we are not the largest. One of the many good things we have here is the "Old Settler's Reunion" which brings the people of the county together every year to recount their blessings and talk over old times. I am glad to see The Courier take enough interest in the Old Settlers to put out a special edition for the occasion and celebrate its 50th anniversary. Sherman History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |