The Houston County Courier
Crockett, Texas
Thursday, February 2, 1967
Hall's Journal of 60's
Reviewed For Readers
By H. B. Milburn
Hall's Bluff
James Madison HALL and 'the Little Woman' as he called his wife, found happiness and contentment in making a home at Hall's Bluff. First, the land for the house had to be cleared, which took quite a bit of time . . . then, the site for their houses had to be settled upon, and finally, in Time, the house was built and furnished. The furniture, finally arrived, by steamer from Galveston. The Journal records of how the furniture was left out on the banks of the Trinity River, so urgent was the need of the steamer to go up the river and of how fast and furiously 'all the hands had to work' to get all the furniture hauled to the site of the house before the rains descended!! Matting was also brought up, by steamer, for a floor covering. Then, IN TIME, there was a garden plot to be decided upon, then planted and culvitated by the hands, with 'the little woman' in charge of supervision. Then, there were rails to be split and pickets to be made for the yard fence, and for fence to be built on the place (rail fences) and then oxen had to be used for plowing the cleared fields in order that they could plant corn or cotton.
There were many, many trips to be made to Crockett to buy additional supplies for the house or for the farm in general. Occasionally there were trips just to pay the Doctor, and settle accounts when due, or to visit friends in Crockett or, up-country. There were occasional trips further away from home such as to Liberty, overland by horse-back, or, by steamer or to Livingston, Sumpter, Dailey, Coleto, Huntsville, Galveston, or Houston.
To be continued . . .
