Corsicana Daily Sun from Corsicana, Texas • Page 22

CITY OFFICE SUPPLY Navarro County Blank Books School Supplies Blue Prints Ribbons and Carbons Photographic Supplies Mimeograph Supplies Gifts Sporting Goods Games You Care Enough To Send The 117 W. Collin 874-3851 Hamilton House Interiors. Inc. 1003 West Third Avenue 8A BICENTENNIAL, TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1976 Corsicana Daily Sun i846 1976 Changes Challenges We've seen a lot of merchants come and while our business has thrived. It may be because we have that magical "Know-how" that can transfer your home into a castle.

Come See! Carpets 1001 W. 5th Avenue Phone 874-7786 Bluff almost became the Texas capital cents; a buggy and two horses, and a buggy and one horse, $2. A GREAT flood destroyed more than half of Taos in 1866, and the town never recovered. The town was never rebuilt and many of the residents moved to Corsicana, soon to thrive because of the coming of the railroad. In 1851 Reagan moved to Palestine, and in 1852 he became the third district judge for Navarro County, a position he held for six years.

In 1857 he was elected to Congress, where he served until the Civil War. He resigned his office as congressman and joined the Confederate Army. Reagan served as secretary of the treasury before the Civil War was over. BEFORE THE end of the war both he and President Jefferson Davis were captured by federal soldiers. Davis was sent to Fort Monroe, and Reagan was sent to Fort Warren.

He returned to Texas in December of 1865 to make his home in Palestine. In 1875 he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, where he was chairman of the Judicial Committee. In 1887 he served in the Senate, and under Gov. administration he was head of the Railroad Commission. In 1903 he retired from public life.

MEMO: Celebrating Our 21st Birthday In Corsicana. TAKE A WALK IN HISTORY Levines Antiques RESPECTFULLY YOURS, The Management and Employees of Levine DR. W.S. HOME AT DRESDEN ETHAN HOME WAS THE FIRST POST OFFICE was torn down in 1955 photograph was made in 1845 Dresden thrived in early days By WYVONNE PUTMAN Bluff, a Ntivarro County town no longer existent, almost became the capital of Texas. The town gets its name from Col.

Robert H. Porter. For his service in the Texas Revolution, Col. Porter received one third of a league of land. He chose his land on the Trinity River on the old Indian crossing, taking land on both sides of the river.

Porter received this land on Jan. 6, 1838. He put in a ferry and several buildings. He also built a wharf, and several boats were secured to navigate the river. Tonks will get A tribe of Tonkawa Indians lived in the vicinity of Dresden.

They were unusually friendly, but they sometimes would get drunk and stage battles among themselves, creating a great deal of excitement. Mothers told tales of what the would do to bad children, and the reputation of the tribe was probably made worse by mothers scaring their children, telling them what the Tonks would do to them if they behave. Note: This material was taken from an article called "Early in the 1956 Navarro County Scroll with additional material taken from Mrs. Wyvonne County (The article in the Scroll was written by Mrs. E.D.

McCormick.) The first settler in what is now known as Dresden was a soldier of the Texas Army for Independence, Ethan Melton, who had a Spanish land grant. He settled there in 1841. first home was a log house and was the first distributing point for mail in the community, the mail being brought in on horseback. The post office was first designated as AS OTHERS followed Melton to the lush prairies of Navarro County, a community sprang up known as Melton. On May 22, 1846 a regular post office was established there.

It was recorded as Melton and was the first post office in Navarro County. The name of Melton was changed in 1849 on the records of the county office to Richland. The town of Richland was actually about a mile south of Melton. Mrs. Daniel Hartzell, (Mrs.

great aunt) as a girl went each week by horseback from the Carroll community to fetch her mail from Richland (now Dresden). The postmaster would tell her each time that he could not give her the mail, as he could not read writing. She would then assure him that she could read her name, and she always brought home the mail. (IN MRS. County it is noted that Jacob Hartzell or Dr.

W. S. Robinson or both were credited with naming Dresden. Following is Mrs. version.

Dr. Robinson was her grandfather.) It was an ambitious young man just out of medical school who left his home in Loudon County, Tenn. who finally gave Dresden its name. He was Dr. W.

S. Robinson, who came down the Mississippi River, across the Gulf of Mexico, then up the Trinity ETHAN MELTON postmaster River to finally reach Springfield, now long gone, near old Fort It was here that he learned from the freighters, drivers of ox-drawn freight wagons, that there was a thriving community to the north that would be a likely place for a young doctor. FROM Springfield he set out by foot and finally arrived in Richland, or later Dresden, on Feb. 1, 1851. As the settlement thrived there came the need for a federal post office.

The town fathers gathered to name the proposed post office. Among them was Frank Hagle, a native of Dresden, Germany, and young Dr. Robinson, recognizing Dresden as the DR. W.S. ROBINSON pioneer medical center of that time.

They swung the vote to name the post office Dresden. I am told that after all agreed on the name that the jug was passed and everyone had a dram. All were agreeable. Dr. Robinson was made postmaster and his son Willie was assistant.

The post office was in the drug store. At the height of her glory Dresden could boast of a gin, a wheat and corn grist mill, a blacksmith shop, a Masonic lodge, several stores, and the best school in the county. The school, built in 1872, was a large two-story structure known as Dresden College. Many students were boarding students from Corsicana. THE TEXAS Declaration of Independence was written in the blacksmith shop of Lloyd T.

Byers at old Washington-on-the Brazos. Some years later that same Byers moved to Dresden. While living there, he made one of the largest surveys in the county. Several persons with whom I have talked about Dresden all mentioned a colorful character, Capt. Rutherford, the blacksmith, a native of Scotland, who never lost a touch of his Scotch dialect.

Mrs. Rutherford had once been a personal maid to English royalty and had traveled over Europe. She was quite a novelty to the other women of the pioneer settlement. THE CEMETERY in Dresden is believed to be the oldest in the county. It is said that a family coming through there in a wagon train had a sick child, so they dropped out of the train.

The child died and was buried in a little clearing in the woods, and thus began the Dresden Cemetery. In her early days Dresden was quite a social center with a large number of eligible young ladies, too. Dances were held frequently in the lodge hall with guests from far and near. growth ended when the railroads chose other routes. Her glory is now gone, but her heritage lives on.

THE NEXT year the question came up of where to locate the capital city. Six towns were picked as possibilities, and a Capitol Committee voted for Ebens League. President Sam Houston vetoed the location, however, and picked a new committee to make the choice. The committee added two more towns as possibilities Waterloo and Bluff. Bluff came within a few votes of being chosen, but the committee selected Waterloo and changed the name to Austin in honor of Stephen F.

Austin. Bluff prospered, JOHN H. REAGAN nevertheless. A saw mill moved in, then a blacksmith shop. Several small boats called packets began running on the river regularly.

IN 1848, Porter engaged John H. Reagan, a surveyor, to survey and lay out a large town at Bluff to be called Taos. A 20-room hotel was built, new stores were added, and a large wharf was constructed. A better ferry was built. To cross the ferry, the charge for wagon and sue horses was $1.

Sheep would cost cents each; a man on horseback, 50 THE CITY OF TAOS IN I860 in 1866 marked its demise For 15 years Levine's has played the role of being an integral part of the progress of Corsicana. Today, as in the past, Levine's is proud of the fact that the quality merchandise, the friendly, courteous service and the guaranteed low combine to make Levine's the complete family department store in Corsicana, stocking only the best in nationally-known brands as well as our own fine brand names. Through these years it has been our great privilege to cooperate on all civic events. Corsicana has been good to us and we are appreciative of the wonderful patronage shown us throughout the years. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to serve you..