Published: July 12, 2008 03:07 pm            

Larue Barnes: Rip-roarin’ Cleburne

On a typical night the only activity around the Johnson County Courthouse is through traffic.

But when Cleburne was first settled after the Civil War, downtown was a dangerous place to be, with a respectable woman never walking on the west side of the square.

The Cleburne Chronicle, Cleburne’s first newspaper, tells us how it was. The late Dan and Billie Anne Leach used that source and other early historians’ documentation to leave behind intriguing Cleburne history in their “Johnson County History: A Pictorial History” published in 1998.

The Chronicle was opinionated:

August 28, 1869:

"Deputy Sheriff Harrison attempted to arrest two young gents from the country, who were running their horses through town, yelling like two Comanche Indians. One of them had too much mean whiskey on board to ride steady and tumbled off in the street. If the fall had broken his neck, he would behave himself the next time he comes to town.

September 13, 1869

"The young men of the county are wearing too many six-shooters, jingling Mexican spurs, broad brimmed hats with snakes coiled around them, and practicing too freely at gin mills … If parents do not wish the happiness of their declining years dimmed and clouded by having a son convicted of theft or hung for murder, they will see to it that their boys are kept away from low-doggeries [saloons], gambling and outraging the peace and morals of society."

Three months later:

"Thieves about. Our county jail is not in a condition to hold the scoundrels, should they be caught."

On June 8, 1872

"The board of alderman [sic] of the town of Cleburne passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor to ride a horse on the sidewalks."

Cleburne was considered a small trail town in those early days before the railroads reached out and the cattle trails were shortened.

Chisholm Trail cowboys often camped west of Cleburne, where history isbeing restored at the U.S. 67 site of the Wardville Courthouse, the first county seat of Johnson County in 1854.

Buchanan, 5 miles north of Cleburne on Texas 171,became the next county seat from 1856 until 1867 when Cleburne,which was first named Camp Henderson, was chosen. The town was renamed Cleburne in honor of Confederate General Patrick Cleburne.

After the sun went down, Cleburne’s noise level came up.

March 30, 1873

"Cleburne has been in an uproar for some nights in the vicinity of the square. Around midnight, there have been hideous yells, low ribaldry and obscene songs and blackguard bandying [abusive arguments] and bullyings and almost continuous discharges of fire-arms disturbing the sleep and shocking the ears of the decent portion of our population."

By 1874, the Chronicle wrote that "a Clean-up" slate of reform "progress" candidates ran for city office. There was to be stricter enforcement of fines for "cussing, for being seen with disreputable women, and for the shooting off of guns There was also the ability to tax any type of fight: men, cocks, dogs, bears, bulls and other animals."

The peak years of the Chisholm Trail cowboys provided good income for the town’s merchants although they came to the village, stopped at the tavern and shot up the town.

April 21, 1875

"There was an attempted daylight armed robbery of two banks, Dr. T. D. Lorance’s bank inside his large store and the Hollingsworth’s Bank, the first bank established by Col. B. J. Chambers in 1869. Two robbers tied their horses about 100 yards away.

"A cashier was shot in the face. The ball entered his upper lip, came out by his windpipe and lodged against his collar bone. In spite of the wound he continued to fire away. The robbers were located in southern Collin County. Evading capture there, they were never to be heard from again."

But they got away empty handed.

During the peak years of the Chisholm Trail, cowboys were obviously very good business for the town’s merchants. The main attractions in Cleburne besides supplies were whiskey, gambling, 10 pins, music, dancing, and women. A number of local saloons, provisions stores and trading posts did well selling to the trail drivers.

Sometimes cowboys had nothing to do with the upheavals.

From 1875 to 1878 a Cleburne brewery was located at 400 North Main Street, operated by John Guffee and Mike Dixon. The partners disagreed in 1878 about who would receive the final nickel as they divided up their proceeds in front of Durham & Mabry’s Drug Store on the courthouse square.

The story goes that Guffee pulled a knife and held Dixon with one hand, demanding Dixon take back something he said. Dixon tried to break loose and, as he was falling, pulled his six-shooter and shot Guffee through the abdomen hitting his spine. Lige Guffee, John’s brother, was standing nearby and, seeing his brother shot, raised his Winchester rifle and shot Dixon in the back,

Both wounded men died soon after the shooting, and it was not reported who ended up with the nickel.

After two years of being a wide-open town, on July 14, 1876, Cleburne voters again established corporate city government for the "repression of rip-roaring human beings."

Johnson County held five legal public hangings from 1880 until 1904, local historian Jack Carlton said.

"The first hanging was that of Samuel ‘Sammy’ H. Meyers Jr. on March 19, 1880; John Wilkins, June 22, 1896; John Shaw, November 25, 1898; John Renfro on July 27, 1900 and Henry Fugett on February 12, 1904. They were each accused of murder. Fugett requested to be baptized in Buffalo Creek the day before his execution."

All hangings took place behind the old county jail on Mill Street, except for Myers, who was hanged behind the Christian Heritage Foundation, he added.

Carlton has just published a book, "Launched Into Eternity," about the hangings, centered on the story of John Renfro. He said the rope used to hang three of the men was used elsewhere for executions and became known as the ‘hangingest’ rope in Texas.

Traveling to Fort Worth was a big event. A stagecoach was faster than a horse and buggy or wagon. It was still an exhausting trip.

W. H. Johnson Company U. S. Mail and Stage Line, 1879 to 1880, made it possible to board its stagecoach at 7 a.m. in Cleburne and arrive in Fort Worth seven hours later, at 2 p.m. And "every courtesy was extended to passengers."

In 1880, as the trains arrived in Johnson County, Campbell Dickson, a Cleburne merchant, sold 120,000 pounds of barbed wire in a 90 day period. The open range was being fenced in. Cattle shipping became a big business.

And it was a new world. The last roundup and cattle drive on record driving Texas longhorns to market on the Texas section of the Chisholm Trail occurred on Nov. 14, 1914, in far southwestern Johnson County.

Meanwhile Cleburne was trying to clean up its act.

By 1915, any male person over fourteen years of age who knowingly rode in a vehicle or walked on the street with a woman who had a bad reputation could be considered guilty of a misdemeanor and could be fined $5 to $100.

But the town had more than problems; she had citizens who looked to the future and the needs of the people. By 1895 a beautiful courthouse was surrounded by horses and buggies when "trade days" were in full swing.

Cleburne wasn’t planned by modern infrastructure when it began to grow. It began with the basic needs furnished by merchants like N. H. Cook in 1866. Read next week.



Larue Barnes may be reached at laruebarnes@yahoo.com



Jack Carlton may be reached at 817-645-2919.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.