Grayson County TXGenWeb

Houston and Texas Central Railway
H. &T.C.

In a 1912 interview, Jane Frazier talks about the land she has occupied for 40 years and which she refuses to give up for the railway agent's promise of gold or any other inducements they office, claiming the land that her humble abode sits on by right of peaceful possession and by the Texas statutes requiring a person to live on the land a certain number of years to claim possession of such land. Having no fence, she claimed only the land upon which her house sat despite the railroad company's coaxing and repeated orders to move off the property.
Miss Lucy Jane Hightower, aged 11 years old, settled with her parents near Sherman, coming from Cherokee County, North Carolina in wagons. She and her parents moved to Basin Springs where her parents died later. She first married G.W. Edwards soon after they met; Mr. Edwards served in the Confederate army and died soon after the war was over. Several years later, she married Peter Frazier, a contractor. While Mr. Frazier was engaged in a contract for the Harriman railroad, they moved to the spot where her home was located. The place served as headquarter for Frazier and his men while grading was being done between Sherman and the Red River. While thus occupied, Mr. Fraizer became involved in a shooting scrape and left for parts unknown, never to be heard from since that time. Since his abrupt departure, Jane made a living as best she could, being helped along by relatives at times. Her little hut was built at the time other camp houses were built out of rough lumber hewn with tools used in the camp life. Mrs. Frazier settled on her piece of property in 1872 for which she paid no money. (The Denison Daily Herald, Sunday, November 17, 1912)

Jane Frazier appears in the 1876 - 1877 Denison City Directory as Elizabeth J. Frazer, widow of Peter Frazier. Her last appearance in city directories in 1915 as "Jane Frazer." Directories after 1876 - 1877 and before 1915 list her as "Jane" or "Mrs. Jane" and also include the letter "i" in her last name, "Frazier".

Some of the city directories list her as living at 209 East Crawford Street, while two of them show her living at 206 East Chestnut Street. Either address would be in the area between Lamar Avenue and Crockett Avenue, bordered by the south side of Chestnut (originally known as Skiddy Street) and north side of Crawford. The map detail from 1914, below, shows a dwelling slightly below and left of the center of the map; however, the dwelling does not appear on the 1930 map. Consequently, since it is the only dwelling pictured in the area where Jane is known to have lived, it is concluded that the dwelling at 211 East Crawford was Jane's shack. As there are inconsistencies with the physical address of Jane's residence, so are there inconsistencies in the federal census for 1900 and 1910 as to Jane and her sons' ages and birth dates.

In the 1880 Denison census, Jane is enumerated as a 32-year-old widow from North Carolina, living with her 11-year-old son, George, who was born in Texas; she had no occupation listed other than "keeping house." Six years later in January 1886, The Sunday Gazetteer reported that George and two other boys broke into Tom Fox's saloon but were later discharged.

The 1900 census lists Jane and her three sons living next door to 213 East Crawford (her dwelling number being illegible.) She, again, has no occupation but all three sons are single and employed by the railroad. Twenty-year-old George was a railroad laborer. Two sons who were not living with their mother in 1880 were 25-year-old Thomas Frazer and 23-year-old Jessie Frazier, both locomotive firemen or "stokers."

Ten years later the census Jane's residence as 209 East Crawford; she is a 78-year-old widow from North Carolina, working from home as a laundress. She owns her home, free and clear, and is unable to either read or write. Listed as living with her is 47-year-old J.D. Edwards, a widower, laborer at odd jobs, who can read and write. Although their surnames are different, J.D. is noted on the census form as Jane's son, born in Texas with mother born in North Carolina and father born in Tennessee.

By 1912 the little hut had been repaired so many times that nothing much of the original materials was left. According to Mrs. Frazier, the railroad officials had tried different ways for years to put her off the land she calls her own. The railroad prepared lease documents, for which Mrs. Fazier paid several quarterly payments; however, the railroad claimed the lease had expired and they wanted the land. The land was of no value except to the railroad and Mrs. Frazier; her residence blocked the building of additional tracks. Her home consisted of a parlor, a neatly kept kitchen with a home-made talbe and a cook stove, and a bedroom. She spent most of her time outside caring for her chickens and an old dog. She had developed friendships with many of the railroad boys who sometimes stopped by to see if she needed anything and always gave a wave of the hand as they passed on their train route. As she was in excellent health, Mrs. Frazier expected to hold the land about 10 years longer. (The Denison Daily Herald, Sunday, November 17, 1912) However, she died less than three years after the interivew.

Jane's death occurred on August 10, 1915; her death certificate shows her age as 93 years and that she died of chronic bronchitis accompanied by a senile condition; the Dallas Morning News published:

WOMAN WHO DEFIED RAILROAD IS DEAD
Refused to be Evicted from Home on Right-of-Way
Death of Mrs. Jane Frazier of Denison Ends Court Litigation of Long Standing

Special to the News, August 11 - One of the most unique characters of the Southwest passed away when death last night claimed Mrs. Jane Frazier in her humble home on the Houston & Texas Central right of way in this city. For over 40 years she held possession of the property, defying officials of the railroad to remove her. Eviction orders were issued and processes served, but without fear or trembling she hurled defiance and held the fort against all comers.
Her home was a rough, tumbles-down little shack on the railroad right of way. The courage of the old woman first amazed, then interested and finally amused the railroad company, which, while not relinquishing its claim to the ground, abandoned efforts to put Mrs. Frazier off the premises. She had passed the half century mark when the controversy first began, and when death came, she was in her ninety-third year.
The circumstances that induced Mrs. Frazier to settle on the land she held so long are such may possibly have never been heard before. She came to Denison with her husband while the Houston & Texas Railroad was being built from South Texas to Red River. Her husband was a foreman of a grading gang engaged in constructing the railroad. The grading camp was laid out where the little house now stands. The house was built of oak hewn from large trees cut off the right of way for the new railroad.
Mrs. Frazier came to Texas overland when 11 years of age from North Carolina, settling with her parents near Sherman. Her husband left her while engaged in grading the railroad into Denison following an altercation with another employe and she made a living in various ways since his death.
The funeral will be in charge of the Associated Charities of Denison and will be held Thursday morning. (Her death certificates notes Oakwood Cemetery as her burial place - Find-a-Grave Memorial 173261542.)