www.robertsoncounty.info   H E A R N E   O N   T H E   B R A Z O S Introduction • Brazos River • Sterling Clack Robertson • The Hearnes • Hearne • Hearne & Brazos Valley RR • Houston & Texas Central RR • International & Great Northern RR • Pacific Fruit Express • Confederate Cotton Mill • Folklore • Old Railroad Stories • It Happened In Hearne • Early Hearne Churches • Port Sullivan • Organizations • These Are Our People • Old-Timers From Black Jack • Early Mexican Citizens • Our Negro Friends • Not The End • Biographical Sketches • Authors Links To Biographical Sketches For Surnames Beginning With The Letters A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z By Norman Lowell McCarver, Sr. & Norman Lowell McCarver, Jr. Century Press Of Texas, San Antonio, Texas © 1958 by Norman Lowell McCarver Lone Star Printing Company, San Antonio, Texas Used with permission of Norman Lowell McCarver, Jr.  These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format by other organizations or individuals. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the written consent of McCarver family relatives or contact William Kent Brunette, Robertson County TXGenWeb coordinator.  A limited number of copies of this hard-to-find, out-of-print book are available for purchase at $40 each.  To make arrangements (including credit card sales):

Cotton Mill Operated Near Hearne By Confederate Government

The Confederate Government organized and operated near Hearne, Texas the first cotton manufacturing plant established in the state, and much merchandise was sold to foreign countries through Mexico.

About five miles east of the depot of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad in Hearne is an old historical landmark in what is now known as the old Easterwood pasture; between Hearne and Wheelock.  It marks the foundations of the first and probably the only cotton factory ever established by the Confederate Government.

The plant was erected in 1863.  Under the instructions from the War Department, General J. B. Magruder transferred First Lieutenant Charles P. Salter from the firing line to the quartermaster's department, to rank as Captain, with orders to proceed at once to erect and put into operation a cotton and woolen factory and flour mill at the above location near Hearne.  This location was supposed to have been on the survey of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad.

In 1863 the H. & T. C. Railroad was in operation and passenger trains were running from Houston to Millican, twenty miles south of Bryan and forty miles south of Hearne.

The first step in the building of the factory was in a financial direction.  It was necessary to get money out of cotton.  Fortunately, for the purpose of the Government, there was plenty of cotton then available in and around Hearne.

After consulting leading planters from Falls County to the Brazos County line, Captain Salter decided to organize a joint stock company with these planters and the Confederate States Government participating.

For every bale of cotton subscribed for stock in the company, the planters were to receive a government permit entitling them to export or sell one bale of cotton through a neutral port.  All of the ports of the Southern Confederacy were then closed by the Federal blockade.  It was decided that Matamoros, Mexico was the most available port for the export of cotton.  The plan was executed.  Cotton was to be hauled to Matamoros on ox wagons with eight to ten bales loaded on each wagon.

In that day and time it was a great undertaking to haul more than 1000 bales of cotton a distance of 650 miles, and it took an ox wagon five months to make a round trip.  Moreover, it was necessary to protect the wagons from border bandits and deserters as these thieves had captured several shipments of cotton near the border and getting the cotton into Mexico, had sold it.  "Uncle Dick" Boswell of Hearne, serving in the Confederate Army, accompanied these ox wagons with his troops for protection.

The government permits for exportation were attractive as they carried government guarantee of protection.

On account of the blockade of the southern ports by the Federal Navy, there was a world famine of cotton and the price of cotton went to $1.00 a pound in gold.  Therefore the cotton subscription of the planters gave the Brazos Manufacturing Company organized by the Confederate Government over half a million dollars in cash for operation.

The Brazos Manufacturing Company bought very fine machinery in Europe and the machinery was hauled from Matamoros on the returning wagon trains.  These wagons also brought back coffee, calico, shoes, and other items; such as silk dresses, lace, kid shoes and calfskin boots.

The site known as the Factory Place in later years was a big trading center.  For the construction of the plant, Captain Salter employed every tenth slave on several plantations near Hearne to burn thousands of bricks and open a rock quarry nearby.  French Buhr stone bought in Paris, France was used for the flour mill.  About $2,000.00 in gold was paid for table leaves.

After the war, the mill was dismantled and the brick, lumber, and machinery hauled away.  It is interesting to note the names of the men subscribing cotton to the Brazos Manufacturing Company: