Grayson County TXGenWeb

Van Alstyne Leader
Thursday, November 28, 1968

MYSTERY CABIN IS FOUND INSIDE DISMANTLED HOUSE

Did you ever start to tear down a house and find to your surprise the one you had bought had concealed inside it still another, unknown to anyone who had lived in the place for many years?
Mr. Joe Johnson, prominent merchant in Whitewright, Texas, had this unique experience. Mr. Johnson purchased a house near Woodville, Oklahoma, to be torn down and moved to his property near Whitewright. This was to have been a routine affair and the salvaged lumber was to be used to build structures on his farm in Whitewright.
The affair became far from routine, however, as workmen in Woodville began dismantling the house. Resting inside the house, walled up and unknown to anyone, was a complete log cabin which had completely disappeared in time as the more modern structure had been built over and around it.
Mr. Johnson was called by the workmen and was shown the find inside the partially dismantled house and he immediately took charge of the operation himself.
Johnson very carefully numbered each log and piece of wood of the original log cabin with meticulous care. These pieces were set aside and transported to the west side of the lovely lake owned by Johnson on his Whitewright property and there reassembled with great care in faithful duplication of the original form.
When the structure was completed, Mr. Johnson was determined to find answers to the many questions concerning the structure. An ancient log cabin, built by long dead hands. Forgotten in time by anyone who might have remembered its builder and the reasons for its having been built were some of the questions.
The search for answers started, and after many unfruitful searches, they finally came.
The Rev. Robert S. Bele, Sr., a Cumberland Presbyterian Minister and Missionary preacher was the creator of the cabin in the pre-civil war days. It housed him as he did missionary work with the Chickasaw Indian tribe, when it was first settled on the Reservation lands in Oklahoma.
The long, dead Rev. Bele, Sr., cut and hewed the logs, notched the ends for the corner fittings, placed the logs together and chunked the spaces with clay. Records show the Rev. Bele received a patent from the United States Government, claiming the land the cabin was on, the patent description of which read “60 acres of land surrounding the Cabin in Sec. L9-TWP-7-South Range of East Part”, near the present town of Woodville, Oklahoma.
The old missionary cabin in tact in its original form finally has found a resting place on the lake Mrs. Johnson owns.
A part of the history of the cabin and its creator are now known. Records from that far back, however, hold only the barest essentials and the real story of what and how went on in those long forgotten walls will remain forever a mystery. The old cabin itself could no doubt tell a long and interesting story, but it says not a word.

Joe Johnson is the owner of Johnson’s Jewelry store and gift store, a graduate of Texas A & M, holding an electrical Engineering Degree and graduated in the class of 1925.
Mr. Johnson is married to the former Miss Mable Moore of Bells, Texas, whose family was one of the first to settle in that community. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children, a son, David, who is the high school principal of Whitewright, and a daughter, Julie, who is married to ------ Pritchard, a teacher in the Bells School System.
The father of Mr. Johnson, Mr. Lee Johnson, came to Whitewright in 1900 from Savoy, Texas, and established residence and opened
a jewelry and gift shop combined with a small electrical and appliance shop. Electricity caught the fancy of young Joe at an early age, and it was due to this interest that he pursued the quest of knowledge in this field.
After graduating from A&M, Joe returned to Whitewright and took over the operation of his father’s business where he has operated and expanded to the present time.
Joe had another love second only to electricity and that was land. During the depression he bought all the land that he thought he could afford, and although his wife often disagreed that he was buying something that was not paying back very much a year, Joe held on to his land. He said that it is a dangerous thing to try and explain something you love to a woman, other than the love you hold for her. Of course, there was a twinkle in his eyes when he made this statement.
In conjunction to these other two loves, cattle and pasture improvement also rank high as interests. The fescue grass in his pastures with a herd of Herefords grazing on this fine grass is a beautiful sight. Joe had found that he has had success on the higher parts of the hills where the top is very thin and not recommended for planting.
One of the most inviting sights that Joe can show one is the lake that nestles near the center of his property. It is a refreshing sight, fringed with native trees, native grasses and fescue grasses. One’s fishing fever rises and the cares and pressures of the day seem to ease a little, and causes one to think of his creator and the honor to live where men such as Joe bring alive through their creative talents a work of magnitude such as this.

Grayson County - - - OF YESTERYEAR

OLD MYSTERY CABIN IN GRAYSON COUNTY
This Cabin Now Stands on a Ranch near Whitewright

In and around our now growing, modernizing, urbanizing Grayson county clings a faint aura of another time. Threaded through our area’s modern apartments, expressways and new buildings, there is still to be found the traces of what today seems another civilization – it is our history of those thousands of people long dead who once were the inhabitants, owners and population of Grayson County.
The State Historical Society has gone to great lengths to preserve this past, rich in facts and heritage. In its efforts to bring modern Grayson County to the residents of the area with regular feature articles on it progress and growth, the Grayson County Weekly Advisor will also present a picture of our past in each issue, because we feel that the dreams, work and struggles of those many
who preceded us here should not be dismissed. In large degree, our country is today a product of what these early residents were and the story of their lives is a chapter in the progress of this county. Locally, Mr. Rea Nunnallee of Van Alstyne, a long time resident who has avidly collected historical facts as a hobby since the turn of the century into our past, and who has been actively engaged in State Historical Society work for many years, has agreed to write a column, which he has done many times in the past for several newspapers, in the Grayson County Weekly Advisor. We think you will look forward with great interest to Mr. Nunnallee’s articles.
The nebulous threads from the past have peculiar ways of showing up again after many years. This happened recently to Mr. Joe Johnson of Whitewright.
Di you ever start to tear down an old house for salvage and find to your surprise that this one you had bought had, concealed inside
it, still another house, unknown to anyone who had lived in the place for many, many years?
Mr. Johnson purchased an old house, near Woodville, Oklahoma, to be torn down and moved to his property near Whitewright, in Grayson County. This was to have been a routine affair and the salvaged lumber was to be used to build structures on his farm near Whitewright.
The affair became farm from routine, however, as workmen in Woodville began dismantling the old house. Resting inside the house, walled up and unknown to anyone a life was a complete log cabin which had completely disappeared in time as the newer structure had been gradually built around it.
Mr. Johnson was called by the workmen and was shown the find inside the old house, partially dismantled, and he immediately took charge of the operation himself.
Johnson very carefully numbered each log and piece of wood of the log cabin with meticulous care. The pieces were set aside and transported to the west side of the lovely lake on his property, and there reassembled with great care in faithful duplication of its original form.
There, after completion, it stood as a mystery of another time. Mr. Johnson was intrigued and was determined to find answers to the mystery. An ancient log cabin, built by long dead hands and forgotten in time by anyone who might remember its builder and the reasons for its having been built.
The search for answers started, and after many miles and unfruitful searches, they finally came.
The Rev. Robert S. Bele, Sr., a Cumberland Presbyterian Minister and Missionary preacher was the creator of the cabin in the pre-Civil War days. It housed him as he did missionary work with the Chickasaw Indian tribe, when the tribe was first settled on the Reservation lands in Oklahoma.
The long dead Rev. Bele, Sr., cut and hewed the logs himself, notched the ends for the corner fittings, placed the logs together and chinked the spaces with clay.

Old records show the Rev. Bele, Sr. received a patent from the United State Government claiming the land the cabin was on, the patent of which read, “60 acres of land surrounding the Cabin in Sec. L – 9 – P – 7 – South range of East Part” near the town today known as Woodville, Oklahoma.
The early missionary days with the newly settled tribes of Indians in Oklahoma were trying days, but the old missionary’s cabin in
tact in its original form finally has found a resting place near the lake owned by Mr. Johnson.
So now a part of the history of the cabin and its creator are known; however, records from that far back hold only the barest essentials and the entire and real story of what went on within those long forgotten walls will probably remain forever a mystery. The old cabin could no doubt tell a long and interesting story – but it says not a word.

Sherman Democrat
Sunday, February 1, 1970

PRE-CIVIL WAR CABIN FOUND INSIDE LARGER FRAME HOME
by Keith Worsham

Whitewright – History has a unique way of revealing itself after being hidden for many years. This happened recently to Joe Johnson of Whitewright.
Salvaging lumber out of a house is a day-to-day happening for most people, but to Johnson, it became a mystery. Johnson started on this ordinary task on an old house he had purchased near Woodville, Okla. The salvaged lumber was to be used to build structures on his farm near Whitewright. When
the demolition was underway, Johnson found to his surprise another house concealed inside the one he was tearing down.
As workmen were dismantling the old house, they found inside a complete log cabin which had disappeared as the newer structure had been gradually built around it. The log cabin was walled up and unknown to anyone in the town.
Johnson was called by the workmen who explained their find inside the old house. Johnson immediately took charge of the operation himself to preserve the cabin. He very carefully numbered each log and piece of wood in the cabin with crayons. The pieces were transported to the west side of his government lake on his property southwest of Whitewright. Johnson said it took about $1000 and two years to reassemble the cabin, working in his spare time. “It is as near its original form as we could make it,” he said.
A room was added to the back of the cabin providing a kitchenette, a bathroom and a bedroom. The cabin has water, lights and sewer. Each log originally was hand cut, notched and clayed together by hand. Johnson put the logs back together with cement. “My wife and I spent weeks at a time at the cabin fishing and just relaxing.”
After Johnson had completed the cabin, he became curious about the history of the quaint building. And it was not until Johnson and his nephew, Russell Moore, had spent days researching that the story became clear.
Johnson said the cabin was built by Rev. Robert S. Bell Sr., a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, prior to the Civil War. The cabin, located near Woodville, was inside the Chickasaw Indian Reservation, providing easy access to his various congregations.
The long dead Rev. Bell cut and hewed the logs himself, notched the ends for the corner fittings, placed the logs together and chinked the spaces with clay.
Records show that Rev. Bell received a patent from the United States government, claiming the land around his cabin. The patent read, “60 acres of and surrounding the Cabin in Sec. L – 9 – P – 7 – South range East Part” near the town today known as Woodville, Oklahoma.
Just why the house was built around the cabin has not been explained. Johnson thinks that as more room was needed, the cabin was built on to until the house completely surrounded the original cabin.
Johnson bought the old house from the heirs of the s. Henry Estate about two years ago.
A part of the history of the cabin and its creator are known. However, records dating over 100 years hold only barest essentials. The story of what went
on within those long forgotten walls probably remain a mystery.
The old cabin could tell a long and interesting story….but it says not a word.

Mill Rock - Joe Johnson exhibits a 100-year-old mill rock found inside the cabin he bought and moved to his farm. Johnson said there had to be two of the stones to grind corn, but only the one was found.