to Van Zandt County "Post Offices, Cities, Towns and People" by Kitty Wheeler of Grand Saline, TX Kitty Wheeler of Grand Saline spent several years researching the post offices, cities, towns and people of Van Zandt County. A portion of her work was published by the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society in "Histories and Biographies of Van Zandt County, Vol. II," which is still in print and available for purchase by sending a check or money order for $60 to the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1388, Canton, TX 75103. This volume contains a portion of her post office research plus over 500 biographies of Van Zandt County citizens. Kitty Wheeler has generously given us exclusive permission to use all or part of her 500 page original manuscript. We are beginning with only part of her entire amazing work but we will complete this site as quickly as possible.
Big Rock Post Office Big Rock Post Office was the seventh post office to be established in Van Zandt County. On 5 Jan 1856, William W. Stirman was appointed the postmaster, continuing until 5 Aug 1856 when the post office was discontinued. It was re-established 30 Jun 1858 with Mr. Stirman again serving as postmaster. He served until 8 Feb 1860 when Thomas Young received his appointment. On 13 Jun 1861 Silas Rohrer became postmaster, serving until 31 Jan 1862, when the C.S.A. appointed Hezekial T. Dyer as postmaster. Another appointment by the Confederacy on 26 Oct 1864 made William W. Trussell postmaster. The last postmaster at Big Rock was William M. Gentry appointed 8 Oct 1866 and serving until 9 Sep 1868 when the post office was discontinued.
William W. Stirman, the first postmaster at Big Rock erected a water mill at Big Rock. Later Silas S. Rohrer, the third postmaster, built a larger and better mill, also powered by water. He added a carding machine and kept it running day and night during the Civil War, carding the wool into rolls. Perhaps this is why in January 1862 he resigned as postmaster.
In 1932, an early settler returned for a visit to Big Rock. He relates, "I accepted an invitation of my friends, Mr. and Mrs. R.W. Garrett on 16 Aug, to accompany them on a picnic to Big Rock, together with Josie Fugate, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Biggard, and son Henry.
We went by way of Canton, and Martins Mill, striking the old Tyler and Porter's Bluff road at the Riley Crossing on Kickapoo Creek. From there we traveled six miles west to Big Rock. Along here, my mind was busy with the recollection of my boyhood days, as my father lived on that road, a mile west of Walton, during the years 1857, 1858 and 1859. Here I walked bare-footed three miles to a blab school, where we sat on split-log benches and spelled in the old Webster, blue-back spelling book.
We passed near the old Lollar graveyard and then went by the old Drayton McAdams home. Mr. McAdams was a brother-in-law to Squire Wright, who lived years ago, and died in Wills Point. We next passed the old Fancher place, then the John Lollar farm, then Walton, which is on the Martin Ross survey. Ross was a brother-in-law of Abe Brown and Press Douglass, who was Gid Douglass' father. Then the Meredith place, where the Mann lake is, and in sight of the road in a glade is the Goodnight homestead, where Henry and Will Goodnight were reared. I thought of the place near the road, where when a boy, I found a wild turkey's nest with six eggs in it, which I appropriated and carried home in my old hat.
We passed the old Rohrer homestead place. The house has been burned where the old water mill with its tall overshot wheel used to stand, when as a boy I went to mill there. The mill ground very slowly and the boys said the fuss it made as the corn dropped from the hopper was: 'I will take this grain if I never take another.'
We passed by where the store once stood, and turning south stopped at what is known as the Milton Rock. Here we had a sumptuous dinner, brought along for the occasion by Mrs. Garrett and Mrs. Gibbard. We all climbed to the summit of this big rock, from where the view is magnificent, stretching as far as the eye can see over farms, farm houses and forest.
On the west, we could see smoke from the T.& N.O. railroad and in the distance the smoke-stacks at Trinidad.
In the vicinity of Big Rock, about a half mile apart, are three tall sand hills and on the summit of each one is a stupendous big rock. From near one of these, a large spring breaks out of a sand hill that once turned a mill. A half mile below here Samuel Huffer settled when he was a surveyor of Nacogdoches district, before Van Zandt County was organized and here his oldest son, Jake Huffer, was born - said to be the first white child born in Van Zandt County. Above the house on a sand hill is a large shelving rock, with the hieroglyphics cut by the Indians.
After dinner and rest, we cam home by way of Athens and got to Wills Point by sundown."
The road mentioned, the Tyler and Porter's Bluff road, was a stagecoach route for the Memphis and El Paso Stage line. Big Rock had a Stagecoach Inn that served as rest stop for the travelers and a place to change to fresh horses.
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