ITEMS OF FAIRY (MARTINS GAP) HISTORY

by W. B. Goyne

Contributed by Thomas D. Leeth

who was given the items by his grandmother, 
Mattie Jo Cole Leeth

The curtain was rung down on an era in Hamilton Co. when the Fairy Post Office closed its doors June 14th, 1957. That era witnessed the growth of this section of Texas from a trackless wilderness to a prosperous community.

The Fairy Post Office was established in 1880, when only a few houses were clustered about the narrow gap in the mountains. Country people came to the little settlement from as far as eight miles away to get their mail, which was brought from Lanham, then a Post Office and an organized community.

A petition was circulated and received scores of signatures, requesting the establishing of a Post Office in the community which went by the name of Martins Gap.

In due time the request was granted. Next in order was the choosing of a name for the Post Office. Some of the people wanted it to be called Martins Gap, because a man by the name of James Martin had been killed by Indians and was buried by his traveling companions near the southeast corner of the present Church of Christ building. So that name and several others were sent in. Captain Battle Fort requested that the Post Office be named for his diminutive daughter, Fairy. Little Fairy was not as much as four feet tall. And she never weighted more than fifty pounds, though she lived to a ripe old age. She was married twice, first to William Allen and later to T. I. Phelps. Both marriages ended in divorce.

But getting back to the naming of the Post Office. The name of Fairy was chosen, and presumably it was quite satisfactory to all concerned.

The first Postmaster was Lee Patterson, who operated the Office from his home which stood where the H. E. Sills home now stands. The following persons served as postmasters in this order: Bob Quarrels, Cal Hubbard, Dale Cole, C. P. Woodward, J. W. Turnar, J. G. Fort, A. P. Rainey, Chester Claywell, E. C. Allison, and N. A. Leeth. W. E. Goyne was appointed Postmaster in 1922 and served 34 years, retiring in 1956. Mrs. Bill Lackey served as acting Postmaster a few months until the Office was closed in June of 1957.

FAIRY

The only known history of Fairy--Martin’s Gap community is that handed down from mouth to ear. These things I recall from memory. The things I jot down are true and correct to the best of my recollection.