HISTORY OF NEWPORT, CLAY COUNTY, TEXAS 
                                                                       written by Lucille Glasgow
 

After the Clay Co. Historical Society bus tour of Southeast Clay Co. in 1991,
Mrs. Opal Ogle of Newport sent us the following history of Newport. She judged
the date of its writing to be between 1925 and 1930 before Newport burned in
1933.

"It was written by Ed P. Bulls from information obtained from the first settlers
now living and from an old church record.

"Uncle Joe Hancock, as he is called by many who know him, was but a small boy
when his father moved to Newport but well remembers the early days and recalls
many of the incidents and happenings of the days when the Indians made raids in
this section. It is greatly due to his information and that of Uncle Joe Welch
that we are able to write this history of the pioneers of their time and for
some time later.

"Shortly after L. Hancock came here there followed a few others, whose names are
J. R. Gilbreath, John L. Burns, Dave Turner, John McCracken, Marlett, Butto
Hardy, Noah McCracken, Ras McCracken, Dick Sandfur, Jim Riggs, J. L. Barnes, L.
Prewitt and John Johnson. These men all obtained homes just east of Newport a
few miles.

"A few years after they arrived, about 1875, they secured a post-office which
was at the home of J. H. Hardy, who was appointed postmaster. They named the
post-office Bear Hill because one day L. Hancock, Butto Hardy and several others
killed a large bear on the hill at the Hardy home. The mail came in here once a
week from Gainesville, Texas. The old settlers report that most of the cooking
done in the early days was on an open fire with skillet and lid, frying pans and
coffee pots. And all went about their work with guns in hand to be ready for any
attack of the Indians, who made raids quite often in the settlements of those
days.

"Mr. Marlett was the only one of the settlers who had a buggy, ox wagons being
mostly for conveyance. A band of Indians attacked Marlett one day when he was
out in his buggy and shot the top of it literally full of holes with their
arrows but Marlett escaped unhurt.

"It was in 1878 that quite a few new arrivals came and located in and around
where Newport is today. They were E. Barker, Mr. Crump, Billie Ireland, Johnson
Goldsmith, Sam Jacobs, John Norman, Jack Clark, Mr. Jolly, Uncle Gus Jolly, John
and Tom Loring, Joe Loving, Andrew Smith, Tom Morris and Jerry Smith.

"At this time and in the fall of 1876, Mr. Loring and Mr. Bolton put two little
shacks on the hill at what is known as the McDow place, now owned by Jim Coyle.
Each put in a small stock of goods which were the first stores ever operated in
this community. These were the first buildings made out of lumber or sawed
planks from the little saw mill that stood down in the valley and near where the
old Shipp house now stands. Uncle Joe Welch states that one wagon bed without
the side boards could have easily held all the stock of both stores.

"In the spring of 1879, Mr. Rhineheart put up a blacksmith shop. Joe Loving
moved his store down to Holden's mill and Gus Foy came up from Sandy Creek and
put up another small shack and a stock of goods. Dr. Crook Welch bought out
Bolton's store and then they began to talk about a town and it was decided to
move the stores closer together. An acre of ground was bought and paid for from
the 80-acre track then belonging to Bill Henry. The town was named Newport,
taking the first letters of seven of the leaders' names which formed the word.
And Newport, Texas, was breathed into existence, standing on until today.

"By this time many others had come in and settled in and near the new town site.
Among these were: Choc Perrin, Jim Rieger, Andy Bivens, Doc Simpson, Jesse
Graham, Mr. Gerald, J. M. Stilwell, Willis Favor, Sam Scott, F. G. Bransford, J.
M. Bird, Bill Kitner, Mr. Capleman and perhaps many others. Mr. Norman put up a
hotel and Bill Ross put up a saloon. Dr. Welch put in a stock of drugs on the
corner where now stands the only old store building of the old town, known as
the old R. M. Cowley store building. Bill Henry put in a store on the west side
of the square and Mr. Riddle had a millinery shop and Joe Loving put in a saloon
and ten-pin alley. "They got up a petition and forwarded it to Washington, D.
C., asking the Post-office Department to move the post-office at Bear Hill to
Newport and name it Newport. This petition was granted. The petition also
requested the appointment as postmaster of Mr. Rivers and since this was granted
Rivers became the first postmaster of Newport. "Some of the early postmasters
who followed Mr. Rivers were Mr. Hall, Gus Foy, Joe Murry, Frank Gill.

"Shortly after Newport obtained the post-office a new mail route was granted
which ran from Fort Worth to Decatur, Crafton, Newport and on to Archer City.
Mail came in once a week carried on horseback. "The first newspaper to come to
the post-office was the Atlanta Constitution. The late Mrs. Sell Miller of
Vashti, who then lived at Newport, got up a club of several papers. She was the
mother of E. P. Miller and Billie Miller of Vashti, and Claud Miller of Dallas.
Mr. and Mrs. Sell Miller were numbered among the early settlers of South Clay
County.

"The first school taught in Newport was in a little log cabin immediately south
of Newport. The cabin was seated with hewn logs according to the recollections
of the older ones now living. G. W. Ford was the teacher. That was in the fall
of 1879. After that it was taught in a 14 x 16 foot room made out of lumber,
commonly called ‘rawhide' lumber. The building stood near the present residence
of J. H. Coyle and the school was taught by Thomas Gene Vaughandy, who taught
there two terms. Following this a much larger school house was built just inside
the Jim Coyle pasture west of town where the Jacksboro Road turns south. Then
the school was taught by the late J. H. Timberlake of Jacksboro, whose death
occurred at Jacksboro a few years ago.

"After the new school house was built the old ‘rawhide' house was moved over to
town on the east side of the square and was used as a court house. Court was in
session pretty often those days and the first justice of the peace was J.M.
Stilwell, who lived north of Newport on Prairie Branch. Pat Hardy was the first
deputy sheriff under Cooper Wright. Cooper Wright held the sheriff's office for
16 years continuously.

"Sam Black, an early settler of the Newport Community, was killed by a lightning
bolt at his home about a mile north of Newport during a thunder storm back in
1884, or about that time, according to Uncle Joe Hancock. He was the father of
Mrs. Sallie Killian, now living at Newport. His widow, Mrs Fannie Black, is
still living and resides at Portales, NM.. He has other children living in the
West.

"In writing this brief history of Newport and surrounding community our mind
goes back to those dear ones that have departed this life, who were numbered
among the early settlers, and we wish to honor their precious memory always.

"We are giving their names from memory and fear some of them will be omitted
because we just can't remember all of them. Here are the ones we recall: G.J.
Morris, Tom White, Hugh Garrett, Mrs. Garrett, John Duvall, Mrs. Duvall, Harvie
Dishman, Mrs. Dishman, Mrs. Maud Dishman Adair, Uncle Frank Killian, Mrs.
Killian, G.R. Killian, Charlie Pickett, John Hedgecoke, Mrs. Hedgecoke, Sam
Hedgecoke, Ed Haynes, Mrs. Rose Haynes, Joe Vinson, Mrs. Vinson, Joe Gunn, Mrs.
Gunn, W. T. Coyle, Mrs. Coyle, W.H. McDow, Mrs. McDow, G. W. Woods, Mrs. Woods,
John Shipp, Mrs. Shipp, Arthur Gray, Jake Zuber, Abe Baker, R.D. Moore, Mrs.
Moore, B.A. Gardner, John Barker, Dr. Barton, Mrs. Barton, Uncle Billie Hood,
Mrs. Hood, Shade Killian, Mrs. Killian, Mack Killian, Mrs. Killian, Ack Killian,
Mrs. Killian, Cad Thomas, Arthur Sloan, Mrs. Allie Sloan, Charlie Coker, Mrs.
Coker, John West Lemons, Eldridge Lemons, Henry Nelson, J.W. Wilson, P.T.
Morris, J.T. Swaggerty, mother of J.T., Mollie Stephenson, Amos Wray, Neal
Hodge, Mrs. Hodge, George Hodge, Bob Hamilton, Al Crump, Budd Gill, Bill Ellis,
Alec Nichols, Sam Craig, Mrs. Craig, Jim Craig, Mrs. Craig, F.G. Bransford, Mrs.
Bransford, Charlie Burr, Mrs. Margaret Hamilton, Mrs. W.M. Wagner, Add Wagner,
Mrs. Minnie Bransford Wright, Mrs. E. Baker, G.W. Watkins, Aunt Pet McCracken,
Mrs. Willie Ireland Whitaker, Jerry Smith, Mrs. Smith, Wylie Wright, Tom Wright,
John Hodge, Coleman Wade, Jack Clark, Grandpa Hodges, Tom Batson, Bob Long, Mrs.
Coleman Wade, Bob Smith, John Smith, Dude Smith, Mrs. R.A. Davis, Ben Burk, Jim
Ventioner, Mrs. Lillie Walker, Mrs. Nannie Walker, Mrs. W.C. Walker, Mrs. Ed
Pickett, A.W. Phagan, Mrs. T.P. Phagan, Byars Phagan, George Whitaker, Johnnie
Whitaker, M.A. Board, Mrs. Board, Elbert Reagon, Mrs. Reagon, John Agnew, Mrs.
Agnew, Lott Killian, A.T. McDonald, Mr. Tidwell, Bob Talley, Mrs. Talley, Mrs.
Henry Ezell, E.J. Rhoades, Mrs. Rhoades, Jim Raines, Charlie Raines, Willis
Brazeal, George King, Tom Dawson, and Babe Whitaker.

"Mrs. R. D. Moore was the first person to be buried in the present Newport
cemetery.

"In March 1880, enough Christian people had settled in the Newport Community to
enable them to arrange a meeting and organize the first church that was known in
all the Western country.

"The writer happens to have in his possession the old faded church record
containing the minutes of that organization and it is interesting to behold. All
the minutes are written in pen and ink and are as plain to this day. Just here
we wish to include a few paragraphs of the minutes of the first meeting when
they came together to see about the advisability of going into an organization:
‘We, the undersigned petitioners, desiring to enjoy the means of grace regularly
administered, which God has provided to believers, in that capacity of an
organized church, have this day agreed to organize ourselves into a congregation
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.' "‘We, in common with our brethren of the
several denominations of Presbyterians, wishing to live in peace with them and
to cooperate with them in the great mission of the church as far as possible, do
in the exercise of our religious opinions, make choice of the doctrine and
discipline of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, believing that to be in
accordance with the teachings of the sacred scriptures.'

"‘We hereby petition the Guthrie Presbyterian Assembly, which is to convene at
Gainesville in Cook County on April 8, 1880, at 7 o'clock PM, to be taken into
its care, promising through grace as far as practicable to observe the usages of
the church.'

"The charter members were: D.W. Simpson, S.M. King, Rhod J. Palmer, C.E. Gill,
W.M. Wagner, Anna J. Walker, T.J. Walker, W.C. Walker, Nancy E. Walker, Mary F.
Walker, W.J. Walker, L.J. Walker, Elizabeth A. Kendall, S.E. Pickett, W.M.
Ireland, Mrs. S.W. King, T.P. Phagan, A.S. & Mrs. Parker. "These members, after
being enrolled, proceeded to elect S.M. King, T.J. Walker, and W.M. Wagner as
elders of the church and C.E. Gill as deacon. "So far as it is now known
Reverend W.J. Walker, aged and retired minister, who lives at Vashti, is the
only living charter member of this organization, which still has a small number
of members and has regular monthly preaching services. L.J. Walker, one of the
charter members, was in later years elected county clerk of Clay County and
served for a number of years. "Rev. W.C. Walker was chosen as pastor and served
until 1891, when he retired because of age and disability. The Rev. W.J. Walker,
his son, was chosen as pastor and served until 1935.

"It was on May 20, 1893, that a resolution written by F.B. Bulls, father of Ed
F. Bulls, who is now the only elder of the church, proposed the building of the
first church house in Newport.


"It read in part: In view of the goodness and loving kindness of God, our
Heavenly Father, and remembering with grateful hearts his manifold blessings to
us and all his people, we feel we have been wonderfully blessed and during all
this time God has ‘walked in a tent and in a tabernacle, having no house to
dwell in.' We recommend that we begin the work immediately of building a house
and prosecute the same until it is completed and dedicated unto the Lord our
God, to the end that God may have a house in which to dwell, and that his people
may meet Him there to worship in spirit and in truth. Respectfully submitted,
F.B. Bulls, W.M. Wagner, J.T. Agnew. "The resolution so fired the congregation
that money was raised in a short while and the house was built during the
following summer." "A pitched battle between soldiers and Indians occurred in
1864 just in the north edge of where Newport now stands. From the best
obtainable report the fight was fierce for quite awhile before soldiers from
Fort Richardson at Jacksboro routed them and they took to flight. Several of the
Indians were killed and two of the soldier boys lost their lives in the battle.
The soldiers were buried on the battlefield in the valley on what is better
known as the Joe Loving place, just in the north edge of Newport and to the
right of the road going out to Bellevue.

"Only one more battle with the Indians followed after this one which old timers
refer to as the ‘last battle' and that was in the year 1874. The soldiers and
Indian scouts overtook a band of redskins on top of the high ridge northwest of
Newport on the Eldridge Lemons place and engaged them in a battle. No lives were
lost in that battle as it appeared to be a running fight shortly after the
attack.

"The Indians never killed and scalped anyone here in the early days but made
several attacks on the settlers of the early ‘70's. These were always repulsed
without serious loss to the settlers and their families. "Chief Geronimo told
much to Sam H. Cone, a prominent pioneer of the Newport Community, about 30
years ago when Cone was serving as a United States Marshall in the Indian
Territory while he had the old chief under guard. He knew more about the country
between Red River and Jacksboro than Cone did, and Cone was born and reared in
Newport. Cone said that the Chief took a pencil and marked the country and every
creek and drain along the way. He pointed out where Devil's Den cave was and
stated that he and his men had often hidden in this vicinity of the cave and its
jungles. "In 1876 and 1877 the slaughtering of the herds of buffaloes began by
hunters who were merely trafficking in the hides of the animal. The earliest
settlers state that west of Newport on Ten Mile Prairie the prairie was lined
with carcasses that had been skinned. There were no flies here at that time and
the flesh of the dead buffalo just dried up and could be seen for more than a
year afterward.

"From 1878 to 1880 the large herds of cattle began passing through this part of
Clay County, being driven by Dan Waggoner from his ranch east of Decatur. The
size of the herds ranged from 3,000 to 6,000 head. They would graze along the
way as they came. The range was fine tn those days, water was plentiful and the
herds didn't make but a few miles a day. About 20 cowboys would be in charge of
them. The cattle were being moved to Archer and Wichita Counties.

"Two young ladies, the daughters of Mrs. Cox, a pioneer settler near Newport,
were killed by a lightning bolt in the spring of 1882 while on their way to near
where Bluegrove now stands on one Saturday. The girls and a brother, Sam Cox,
had gotten as far as the creek on the old Henrietta road and just a short way
north of what is now known as the George Thompson place, when a terrific rain
and thunder storm came upon them. Their horses were heated up from being driven
hard to beat the storm cloud and this possibly attracted the bolt of lightning
which struck the horses, killing them dead.

"The bolt then ran down the lines and killed the young lady driving the team and
her sister who was sitting by her side. The brother sitting in the back end of
the wagon bed was so badly shocked that it was some time before he recovered
sufficiently to go for help. The trio were on their way to visit a relative
living about two miles east of where Bluegrove is today and possibly to take
corn to a mill there.

"This was a terrible blow to the mother back home and she moved to Newport a
short while later and there married Mr. Price, an aged pioneer who was the
father of Tom Price, a well known citizen who lived for many years on Burton
Prairie. The Mr. Price who married Mrs. Cox was clerking in the store of
Bransford and Whitaker, pioneer merchants of Newport. "Newport is a small
village about 33 miles southeast of Henrietta, the Clay County seat. The town
stands right on the line of Clay and Jack Counties, part of it being in each
county.

"Newport nestles in a long and beautiful valley and the surrounding country is
thickly settled with farm and ranch homes. A number of small ranches that are
well stocked with white faced cattle are around Newport and grain crops, row
feed crops and cotton are grown extensively and the gin at Newport usually turns
out about 2,0000 bales a year. All kinds of truck crops thrive well in the sandy
soil. These crops find a ready market at Bowie, Wichita Falls and other places.
Grapes and berries do well and are grown extensively as well as are all other
kinds of fruit. "There are four mercantile establishments in the town which
carry large stocks all the time, one blacksmith shop, an up-to-date barber shop,
two garages, a hotel and café which are always ready to supply the needs of
tourists and visitors.

"There is one ample and commodious church building, equally owned by the
Methodists, the Baptists and the Cumberland Presbyterians. Also, there is a
Union Sunday School that was first organized in 1879 and has never been
suspended or had to be reorganized since that day. This school still uses the
same literature it has used all these years. "The post office gets its mail from
Bowie by Star carrier every day and there is a Rural Route that supplies the
country both north and south of Newport.

"The community is still pioneering in that it has a grist mill that grinds corn
and wheat upon the old fashioned burr, or rock grinders, as they did back in the
old days. This old burr mill is an attraction and draws customers for many miles
around the town every Saturday. "A lively, well equipped consolidated rural high
school that is growing gradually from year to year is proudly boosted by Newport
people who are satisfied and happy and always ready and willing to give
newcomers the ‘glad hand' when they come to live in this splendid country. The
‘latch string' always hangs on the outside at Newport."