Village Creek   Village Creek is located about three miles northeast of Ennis in the Crisp-Hines Chapel area.  The Village Creek joins with Walker Creek and empties into the Trinity River.  In 1854, the Anderson family from Illoois settled on Village Creek, thus forming the nucleus of the community.  This family was composed of three brothers, John, Jeff and Uriah and one sister.  All four of the Andersons married into the Owens family.  John built the first three-room log house in the community and later built an eight room home with lumber brought from Shreveport by ox-wagon.  Jeff built a home near John, but Uriah moved a few miles toward Bristol.  The Anderson children attended school at Chatfield, Navarro County, where they boarded with Colonel Hogan. John Anderson's wife, Elizabeth, was a devout Methodist and opened her home for religious services until a little chapel was built on Four Mile Creek a few miles away.  Hines Chapel was also an important factor in the life of this part of the county.  A church register kept by the latter records names of many early settlers in and near the area. After crops were laid by, Hines Chapel conducted well known camp meetings for two weeks each year.  There were three services each day; preaching, prayer, singing and a great deal of shouting gave evidence of a great spiritual revival.  The first building was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt and moved to Crisp in 1891 or 1893.  The cemetery behind the church was, and is, called Hines Chapel Cemetery.  The earliest date on a marker than can now be read is that of John M. Owen, "February  28, 1872."  The citizens of this section decreed Decoration Day as a day of "Remembrance of the Dead" when hundreds of people gathered to honor the memory of the deceased in a beautification campaign. J. T. Secrist owned and operated a gin in 1856 on the north side of Village Creek.  His name and that of Flora Secrist appear on the Hines Chapel record of 1887.  In 1854, R. W. Thomas moved to this community.  His family traveled on the Texas Midland to the terminal at Garrett and then made their way to Four Mile Creek where they lived on the Barnes place.  Not long after the Thomas family settled, a family of roving cotton pickers came by and stopped to get some eggs.  The Thomas boys and cotton picking boys crawled under the house to rob the hen nexts.  After getting the eggs, the family went on to Bristol.  They were the Thorntons who became prominent in banking circles. Four Mile School was located near the banks of the creek.  It served as a school, church and social center.  A room was added, making an ell-shaped bjuilding, and in 1896 it was moved to Crisp.  Some teachers were: Mr. Atwood, 1886; Mr. Christian 1890; and  Mr. Ed Anderson in 1891 who later became State Representative. References: Hawkins, et al, Ellis County History Workshop, History of Ellis County, Texas, Texian Press, Waco. 1972.   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:29 MDT