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September, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Garner and their five children: Bettie, Myrtle, Will, Maude and Pearle, together with the W. J. Duncan family, loaded their wagons and left Jack County, Texas for West Texas. Driving their cattle; they were 3 weeks on the road. Our mother drove a wagon through Croton Breaks, with only a trail to follow through the canyons.
They settled near Johns´ Windmill (Nat Johns had the only well in that area). There was a dirt topped dugout on the place and our father stretched a large tent, which he had brought, in front of the dugout. The Duncans settled a few miles farther West.
So much to do and materials so far away, yet they set to work planning and improving their place. In 1891 and 1892 it was very dry and with few fences, the cattle drifted and most of them were lost. Trails and disappointment were heaped up and hard to face. Our father gathered what calves he could find, sold them and made a trip to Tennessee intending to move back where they were reared. When he came home our mother refused to move back.
My sister Bettie married W. L. Hyatt, who worked for the Matador Land and Cattle Company. My sister Myrtle was staying in Dickens and going to school and married Joe Reese. Will´s first job was at the Matador Ranch painting barns and fences. At night when they were all in the bunk house those salty cow hands razzed him about getting "painter colic" which they knew he was taking seriously.
My sister Gay and I were born at the farm East of Afton. When I was 3 years old, we moved to Dickens. Our father had bought a store from Bud Browning, later he obtained the Post Office. The mail came by buggy out of Seymour. Soon he ran for and was elected County Treasurer, he then sold the store to Sol Davis. My mother served meals when we moved to Dickens, My sister Myrtle was a widow and she and C. A. Mcknight married. He later was County Judge. No banking facilities were nearer than Quanah and Childress However, in going to the "railroad" for supplies our father went to Quanah and most everything could be bought at the Baker-Hannah Store which catered to West Texas.
Will went to work for R.C. Forbis who ranched near Becton Store north of Dickens. Sleeping in the open, a polecat bit him through the nose. They brought him to Dickens and Mr. and Mrs. Cochran who lived near Tap, in the Red Mud Community had a "mad stone" which they brought. It was put into hot milk and "stuck hard and fast" when it was put on his face, so no more trouble came from the bite. He then came back to Dickens and started freight line to Quanah which he operated for years, driving 6 good mules to trailed wagons.
My first school teacher was Miss Cora Mills, a niece of R.M. Hamby, my second teacher, O.K. Flowers and that year we moved into the new 3 roomed school building in the northeast part of town; my next teacher was Miss Lizzie Watkins. We roamed the hills in the summer and waded in Crow Springs; twice we walked to Dickens Peak, that was most too far. After Henry Mitchell moved to Three Springs, east of the cemetery in the Brakes, we walked there twice, and really made tracks going South of the cemetery, we were afraid.
W.L. Browning sold his cattle and leased his land to Rowland and Kerlin, moved to Fort Worth, and he didn´t live very long after the move. How we missed our visit to the Brownings and their visits with us.
Our father, Bud Browning, R.C. Forbis, B.F. Yeates and others organized the Masonic Lodge and obtained a charter, which was the first Masonic Lodge in the county and later absorbed by the Spur Blue Lodge.
Every one came in town for District Court. The Social events as well as judicial matters were held in the District Court Room at the Court House. There I went to my first Union Sunday School. The dances which were always had when the cow outfits were in riding distance were attended by every one who could get there and the parents visited while the young people danced. Mrs. Gay and Ned Richards ran the Dickens Hotel and would serve supper at 12 o´clock during Christmas and special occasions. I never got to go to the hotel to eat because I would be fast asleep with a lot of other young kids. Another big event was the picnic the 26th of July; everyone came, some camped and our house was always full. Ice was hauled out from Quanah, and some one would have the concession for ice cream.
After the county was voted dry, Tom Harkey put in a livery stable and general store. He had the only long distance telephone in the town, so if some one had a call, he went out on the porch and called their name loud and clear, which we could hear and would know some one had important news. Later, Jeff Harkey, who was sheriff, had a phone in his home. W.L. Hyatt had operated a livery stable in Dickens for many years.
Maude didn´t come home, one night. When mama inquired about her, she learned that she and Joe Addington had gone by buggy to Floydada to get married. They went on to Portales, NM to make their home. We didn´t see her for almost a year and how happy we were when they came, having driven through the country in a buggy.
A.S. Jackson came to Dickens and put in a "large" hardware store. He bought our improved home and we moved into a rent house papa owned across the street, we kids were heartbroken to move. It was then our father bought our piano, hauling it from Quanah. Mama kept her organ and later it was made into a "sideboard".
Pearle graduated from school when J.K. Burks was principal; later taught in the Dickens School then worked in Sol Davis´ General Store. She and Luther Jones married in the Methodist Church in Dickens which was then located in the Southeast part of town.
Gay also graduated during Professor Burk´s teaching. She and Hamp Collett drove to Clairemont and married while our parents had gone to Floydada to meet Maude, Joe and Pearle who were to be there in time for the Dickens Picnic.
Rumors "flew" that the Spur Ranch was being sold to Swensons of New York and again Dickens was hopeful they would bring a railroad into town. The townsite of Spur was chosen and lots on sale in 1909. It took a long time for the tallying of the cattle, etc. Mrs. Mahon operated a tent hotel or eating place near Espuela, later building the Western Hotel in Spur. We went in a pack to the Hyatt livery stable to greet the first train into Spur.
About 1911 our parents moved to the farm North of Spur, across Duck Creek. Later they moved in town for a few years, then built a home on a 20 acre block of land on the Dickens Highway North of Spur, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
What a wonderful heritage we have, our parents pioneering in West Texas, facing many hardships and disappointments, yet overcoming the bad with sharing and enjoying their friends. They lived to see the country settled and developed in many ways.
by Ella GarnerSource: History of Dickens County; Ranches and Rolling Plains, Fred Arrington, ©1971
H.T. Garner, 85, a resident of Dickens County for 45 years, died at the family home just north of town at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Death followed a two weeks illness of pneumonia.Funeral services will be held this afternoon at the First Christian Church with Rev. Wm. L. Edwards, pastor officiating. Interment will follow in Spur Cemetery with Webber Williams in charge.
Active pallbearers named for the services today are: Roy Stovall, Bill Putman, Ed Brown, T.M. Morgan, M.L. Rickels, Fred Arrington. Honorary Pallbearers: John Harrington, W.T. Andrews, O.C. Arthur, Doc Ellis, R.C. Forbis, Judge Gil Green of Dickens, D.Y. Twaddell, W.R. Lewis, G. Brown, J.A. Pinkerton, Dr. T.H. Blackwell, W.B. Lee, J.M. Foster, W.W. Pickens, R.E. Dickson, Joe Christal, J.P. Carson, C.D. Jones, F.W. Jennings, R.A. Taylor, Joe Jackson of Afton, J.H. Reynolds, Dickens; W.R. Stafford, Afton; H.O. Albin and Dick Sampson, Clairemont.
Mr. Garner was a native of Tenn. He was married August 15, 1871 at Sherwood, Texa to Miss Sophronia Keith. There were nine children born to this union; two infants, deceased; Myrtle McKnight, deceased; daughters: Mrs. W.L. Hyatt, Mrs. J.B. Morrison, Mrs. Hamp Collett, Mrs. Pearl Jones, Miss Ella Garner, and one son, W.W. Garner. There are 28 grandchildren. One brother, A.J. Garner of Jacksboro is still living but has been ill and it was not known whether he would be able to attend the funeral services.
Mr. Garner came to Dickens County about the time the county was organized and has always taken an active part in its affairs. A successful farmer, he had lived for a number of years after retiring, just north of town where he was visited often by a large number of friends. He had lived an active life and until recently had done work at his home. His avocation in recent years was watching the traffic on the highway which ran in front of his house, which made him familiar with life over this county.
©The Texas Spur, March 28, 1940
From the records of Lillian Grace Nay, Spur Museum, transcribed by B. Hodges, August 2004
Funeral services were held in the First Christian Church here Saturday morning, March 23 at 10:30 a.m. for Mrs. Sophronia Garner, 84, wife of the late H.T. Garner. Rev. R.C. Brown, pastor, officiated assisted by Rev. J.E. Harrell, pastor of Methodist Church of spur. Special music, a sold "Lead Kindly Light" was sung by Faust Collier and Mrs. Pauline Jimison played "Footsteps of Jesus" and "I Need Thee Every Hour". The choir sang "Nearer My God To Thee".Interment followed in Spur cemetery, directed by Campbell Funeral Chapel.
Pallbearers were Roy Stovall, Bill Putman, H.W. Walfskill, M.L. Rickels, Johnny Koonsman and Ed Brown. Flower bearers were Mrs. Mattie Lisenby, Mrs. R.C. Brown, Mrs. Nellie Davis, and Mrs. H.W. Wolfskill. The grave was by that of her late husband.
Mrs. Garner was 84 years, 5 months and 14 days of age, had been confined to her bed since March 5. The end came Thursday at 2 o'clock at her home just north of the city. All of her children were at her bedside.
Born Sophronia Elizabeth Keith near Weatherford, Parker County, Texas, October 7, 1855, Mrs. Garner was a native Texan, but because of Indian depredations her parents gave up their grant of land and returned to Sherwood, Texas where she grew to young womanhood. Her parents died early in life, her father dying while in service during the Civil War.
August 15, 1872, at the age of 15, she was married to H.T. Garner and to this union nine children were born. Two died in infancy. In 1880, with three small children, Mr. And Mrs. Garner came to Texas, first settling in Jack County.
Forty nine years ago last October 25, the Garner family moved to Dickens County and settled on Cottonwood Creek at the John's windmill, East Afton. Here they experienced all the hardships known to pioneers, but uncomplainingly, and their home was always open to strangers as well as to friends. Mrs. Garner devoted herself to her neighbors, helping them in time of illness, never failing to respond when called. And Mr. Garner, who was a carpenter by trade, built most of the coffins for early settlers of the county who passed away.
In 1894, in order to educate their children, Mr. And Mrs. Garner moved to Dickens City, where they made their home until 1910. Mr. Garner for a number of years served the county as treasurer.
Moving to Spur in 1910, the family established a home north of the town where they lived until a few years back when Mr. Garner retired from active farming. Then they moved to the present suburban home just north of the city.
Mrs. Garner was an active Christian worker. Early in life she united with the Presbyterian Church, but since there was no church of this denomination in the early days of the county she joined her husband uniting with the Christian Church, and they became charter members upon the establishment of the First Christian Church in Spur.
Surviving are six children: Mrs. Bettie Hyatt, Will Garner, Mrs. Maud Morrison, Mrs. Peal Jones, Miss Ella Garner, all of Dickens county, and Mrs. Gay Collett of Lubbock; 28 grandchildren; 14 great grandchildren; two great great grandchildren. Another daughter, Mrs. Myrtle McKnight who lived here for a number of years, preceded her mother in death.
©The Texas Spur, March 28, 1940
From the records of Lillian Grace Nay, Spur Museum, transcribed by B. Hodges, August 2004
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