Many of these tombstones are a wealth of information. They tell names of loved ones and sometimes even nicknames. Birth and death dates and sometimes even marriage dates. They sometimes tell organizations family belonged to such as the Masonic Lodge or Woodmen of the World. They may have loving phrases such as “here lies our little Angel” or, as the tombstone of Samuel Wylie in Foster Cemetery-”In Memory of Pap and Mother lie here together side by side.” In Asbury Cemetery is Jarushie, wife of S. M. Jackson. Her tombstone reads “Rest Mother Rest In Quiet Sleep, While Friends In Sorrow O'r Thee Weep.”

THE MERCANTILE
(AKA-THE COUNTRY STORE)
October 14, 2011
by Peggy Smith

Not too many places in town had more traffic that the Country Store. There seems to always have been a bench or chairs just outside where many tales were born and some of them even true. Sometimes it was where the “spit and whittle” group met to carve whatever object might be hidden in a block of wood while discussing crops, family, and politics. Store owners might join the conversation once customers were gone and the shelves had been stocked. Stores might be listed as dry goods, while others listed as grocery stores. They sometimes housed the town drug store in the back or even a barber shop. Probably the only place that saw more traffic in the early days of East Texas was the saloon.

The business that stands out in my mind in Anderson County was Ellis Mercantile in Frankston. It was on the corner of Main Street and Hwy 155 and whatever it was that you were needing at the time, Mr. Ellis usually had it and could go right to it. Visitors to the city always had to take a stroll through the store. I never saw so much in one store. J. Louie Burks bought A. F. Shepherd's Hardware store in 1926 and his son Johnny still owns the store. Jesse Smith was the first grocery store I remember, but before he had the business M.A. Cook had a grocery store there. Back in the late 1800's my 2^nd great grandfather was John Wesley Ramsey. He and his wife lived in the Sandflat community and their store was in their front yard. They had fresh produce (whatever was in season), material, and hardware.

Just up the road in Henderson County was a community called Fincastle in the mid eighteen hundreds. It was a booming community until the T & N O went through south of HWY 175. They had several stores in their short history. Crawford and Gilliland started a mercantile that was closed during the civil war. Wofford and Miller took over the business and was very successful. Adams and Chambers had another store there. Adams, Chambers and Wofford each kept 4 mule teams on the road bringing in supplies for the businesses.

Once the T & N O railroad came through in the early 1900's people moved from Fincastle to Poynor or Athens. There had been a community south of the new town of Poynor called Fosterville. It was also a thriving community in the 1800's with a general store, mills and a school. But the railroad changed things and Poynor grew. General stores and Mercantile businesses by Julius Wylie, Byron Milner and W. H. Foster supplied the ever-growing community. The old bank building on the corner saw several businesses ending with the Hanna's losing it to a fire in the mid 1990's.

In Athens, J.R. Gauntt bought prime property on Prairieville Street in the early 1890's. He operated a mercantile store with his brother R.L. Gauntt. In 1896 he had the two-story brick structure built. Tom Barber had a grocery store downstairs and upstairs housed the law offices of cousins J.J. Faulk and W.L. Faulk. The building now houses the Henderson County Historical Museum.

In 1898, in Old Brownsborough, Perry Lee Holiman bought a general merchandise store from John Wyatt and Isaac Simmons. When the railroad came through, Brownsboro moved to it and Mr. Holiman built a new building. The business went through many changes, being rebuilt in 1926 by son A.D. Holiman. I have left out a wealth of history but it is owned and operated by Dusty Wise now. It makes me smile each time I roll my grocery cart over the wooden floor that has been preserved.

In Malakoff a prominent citizen named Dan Gentry started a mercantile business in 1910. The town began as Caney Creek, but changed it's name to Mitchum Chapel in 1852. It became Malakoff in 1885 and it had many businesses, including several general stores.

Chandler began it's history with mercantile stores owned by C. M. Hughes and son, R. M. chandler, and George M. Hughes. By the 1920's were businesses of Parker and Dingler, Ellis Brothers, Tom Terrell in the grocery, and even Chandler Drug Store.

There are so many others of importance and too many to name here. Communities of Baxter, Larue, New York, Goshen, Trinidad, etc. They all played an important role in supplying the people with goods and groceries needed for everyday life. Some ledgers are still found every now and then and they give us insight to days gone by.

The Country Doctor
October 20, 2011
by Peggy Smith

I thought I would wrap up archeology month with the country doctor. The Henderson County Historical Museum in Athens houses several artifacts that have been found pertaining to medicine. In the course of history medicine has evolved greatly from blood-letting and surgery without anesthesia often until the end of the 19th century. Examinations included a general observation of the body, using the stethoscope or the analysis of blood. Other treatments included diet instructions, rest, baths, massage, blistering specific areas of the body, sweating, hand mixed medicines, or a host of creams. Surgery was done in someone home, a doctor's office (if he was lucky enough to have one) or in a hospital in large cities. These hospitals didn't have the best sanitary conditions either. Risk of infection from surgery or asphyxiation from chloroform was high.

A doctor generally rode out on his horse or buggy to treat patients. They could check on the whole family while there since it was a long ride to each home in the country. Many people did not have money to pay the doctor so they would compensate him with something they had made, grown, or some service the doctor might need himself.

The doctor must have the knowledge of mixing drugs together. He mixed liquids and powders. He would put the powders in a small rolled up paper or envelope and give instructions like any druggist of today.
The Apothecary was considered a doctor early in the century since they treated ailments as well as mixing potions. The Apothecary sometimes grew their own plants and a "secret formula" often included alcohol.
The Drug Store was rare in the country but with towns and cities popping up by the railroad they began showing up in the back of grocery stores, in with the doctor's medical practice, or sometimes in a larger town as an individual store. Stores in the area included the Stirman Drug Store in Athens, H. L. Flagg and Allen & Hoover in Malakoff, Stuart & Gray in Chandler, A. J. Cook in Eustace, W. A. Palmer in Larue, E.F. Huddle in Murchison, The Rose Drug Store in Poynor, The Burtis Drug
Store in Frankston.

Many doctors came to our fine republic before it even was one. Alexander W. Ewing, Thomas R. Erwin and Jack Shackelford were here before 1836. Anderson and Henderson Counties split off from Houston and Nacogdoches Counties and attracted more doctors.

In the Fincastle community was Dr. S.E. Campbell and Dr. B.P. Adams. They cured ills all over the area and had a combination doctor's office and drug store when the town was booming in the mid 1800's. In the Baxter community was Dr. William Richardson. In New York there was Dr. T.H. Hall, Sr. Just down the road in Larue, where the railroad came through, was Dr. B.C. Wallace and Dr. W.E. Campbell. I have been told that Dr. Wallace delivered my mother and her brothers. Murchison gave us

Dr. E.F. Huddle and Z.N. Thornton. If you remember E.F. Huddle also had the drug store there. Dr. D.O. Jeter practiced for a while in Kaufman, but then moved to Murchison for the remainder of his career. Malakoff had J.K. Webster, J.L. Evans and J.F. Merritt.

Two sons of William Foster Moss became doctors. They lived in Fosterville, practiced medicine there and in Poynor before moving. G.H. Moss moved to Frankston and practiced medicine, loving the community and is given credit for performing the first appendectomy in Anderson County on his front porch. Wow! M.M. Moss married Malena Milner and moved to Brownsboro where he lived and died. The story is that he came home from taking care of someone and never got back up.
Dr. M.A. King practiced medicine in Poynor before going to Frankston. He practiced above the drug store in Frankston before moving to Hwy 175 and then to his office on Main Street. He gave more bottles of pink medicine than you could count. We hated it but it sure worked. Dr. Ayres also practiced in Frankston. He came from Tennessee by way of Mississippi.

In Chandler we have Dr. R.L. Belcher, Dr. A.T. Bryant and R.L. Gray. R.L. Gray practiced medicine in the Stuart & Gray Drug Store. In Brownsboro Dr. S.H. Dickerson, Dr. Bud Wells and Dr. Arthur Horton practiced medicine. Dr. Wells began his practice in the Shady Grove area, moved to Murchison and then to Brownsboro. His cousin Arthur Horton moved to the Brownsboro area and made a name for himself helping as a county health doctor. He volunteered in the New London disaster.

Athens had many doctors settle there since it was the county seat. Dr. W.C. Larkin was among the first. His son Dr. Percy Larkin was well loved by the community. Dr. J.K. Webster came to Texas with his parents in 1871 and he eventually settled in Athens. Dr. A.H. Easterling was another who found his home in Athens. There are too many others to name.

The country doctor was loved or hated but always overworked because he had such a large area to cover to serve his patients. Many lived modest lives because people didn't have much money to pay for services, but the country doctor always had food to eat and help with whatever needed to be repaired at home. I hope you will visit the museum on Prairieville Street in Athens. Curator Sarah Brown will welcome you and show you many treasures from our past.