This information was submitted by Cristy Endsley Dillard.

Some of the earliest settlers of Cass County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas were three ENDSLEY brothers and their families. Joseph, John Bluford Sr, and James P ENDSLEY all moved to this area just before or just after the Civil War. According to a biography written by W.F. Endsley in 1941, Joseph Endsley moved to Texas in 1859. He was known as "Uncle Joe" and was a pioneer and patriarch in the early history of Texas. Joseph and his family lived in Cass County near what is now know as Bloomburg, Texas. His son, William Pickney Endsley, followed the rest of the family after the Civil War.

For thes family the nearest market was at Jefferson until the railroad came in 1873. The town of Atlanta was begun in the fall of that year. William Pickney Endsley sold the first bale of cotton in September of 1873 to Mr John O'Dell who had built the first store in Atlanta.

Some of the early teachers in this area were Professor Bradley, W.P. Dyer and Tim Connell. In 1880, Professor M.V. Looney established a high school in 1880. Another school in the area was the Piney Woods School which is about 300 yards from where the Bloomburg School stood in 1941. The "Lively School" was near the Lively Sawmill and Lumber Company which was owned by Mr Mark C Lively. Another school that is mentioned is the Salem School. Trustees of this school were J.W. Hurt, Joe Bentley and W J Easters.

Also the some of the Endsley's were members of the Beech Creek Baptist Church. One family account holds that they were some of the founding members of the church. My family continues to be buried at the Beech Creek Cemetery to this day even though the church is no longer there. From my father, I learned that John Bluford Endsley Sr gave the land for the church to be built.