Wednesday, March 21st, 1866

To day I am at work at the warehouse. The Steamer Indian No. 2 arrived from Galveston with some little freight. Mrs. Massie is still here, also Capt. Redmond. The Str. Indian No. 2 dropped down to Cole's wood yard. At night I attended a dancing party given at Mr. Baldwin's hotel, and in consequence of which my cough is much worse. Weather clear and cool.

Tuesday, October 31st, 1865

To day I am still ? having finished all my business I left in company with Billy Stewart who has recovered sufficiently well to travel in the ? bound for Houston. I paid for my bill at the Hotel & ? We had a very pleasant trip across the bay and up ? bayou considering the cold weather that was still blowing ? cold the weather was clear. Thus closes my notes for the month of October.

Saturday, October 28th, 1865

To day Mr. Ballinger left Galveston on the cars for Houston. Billy Stewart was taken sick with an attack of Cholera Morbus, which confined him to his room and it became necessary to call in the aid of Dr. Stanwood which I did. I remained at the Hotel to wait on Billy Stewart. Weather cloudy & cold with a strong north wind blowing.

Thursday, June 29th, 1865

To day I am still in Houston and having been left by the train yesterday I must pass the time as best I can. Charles A. Leaverton arrived in Houston direct from Crockett and put up at the same hotel with me. He informs me that my friends in Crockett are well. Weather cloudy & warm with occasional showers of rain making it very disagreeable. Ther: 86°.

Monday, June 8th, 1863

To day we left Livingston and drove 24 miles to Sumpter where we stopped for the night at Mr. Teagarden's hotel. this distance I drove suffering very severe pain and cramp in my bowels. we met 26 wagons in one train all loaded with cotton. they were from Louisiana and bound for Brownsville for army supplies. Expenses of the day 2$. weather clear & hot. Ther: 88°.

Tuesday, November 12th, 1861

To day we left the steamer and took rooms at the Washington Hotel. I employed a couple of carriages and went with the ladies out on the beach and around the City generally to see the soldiers and all the curiosities of the City. In the evening I purchased several articles for the store & for the ladies. weather clear & warm.

Saturday, July 6th, 1861

To day we left Sumpter and drove 24 miles over a bad road and arrived at Livingston, where we stoped at Bishop's Hotel. Here we found a new artillery company just organizing under Capt. Turner. expenses $3.50. weather changeable & warm.

Thursday, July 4th, 1861

To day Frank Stewart and I left Mother's [Mahala] in the buggy in route for Liberty. We drove 12 miles to Crockett where we stoped for the night at Hall's Hotel. expenses $2.25. weather changeable & warm.

Friday, June 28th, 1861

To day we left Livingston and drove 24 miles to Sumpter where we stoped for the night at the Eureka Hotel. In consequence of the sickness of my horse I was compelled to leave Frank Stewart in Livingston, the horse getting better however Frank arrived in Sumpter about 9 O'clk P.M. expenses $5.60. weather clear & warm.

Wednesday, March 27th, 1861

This morning my cousin William P. Leaverton and family with his negroes arrived on the steamer Ruthven they having just got in from Maryland. The ladies put up at the Hotel but I procured from Jack Makinin his old restaurant for the negroes to stop in until they could be forwarded to Crockett by my little wagon which is now hourly expected with my own negroes drove in charge of Frank Stewart. weather changable & rather warm.

Saturday, December 29th, 1860

This morning I got out of my bunk nearly frozen after passing as I said in yesterday's notes a very disagreeable night. about 10 o'clk. a.m. I saw a steamer coming out of the mouth of the river. it turned out to be the Ruthven. she came along side and the passengers were immediately transfered from the Alice to the Ruthven. my feelings can better be imagined than described it was like passing from a dark and miserable prison to a luxuriant palace. after the transfer was complete the Ruthven weighed anchor and started for Galveston where we arrived about 5 p.m. The wind still blowing from the north like the devil which made it difficult to land. we succeeded however and I took up quarters at the Tremont. weather cloudy & very cold and at night it snowed to the depth of about 3 inches. so much for the sunny South.

Thursday, September 20th, 1860

To day we arrived in Galveston at 5 a.m. and put up at the Tremont. expenses of the day $3.50. weather clear & a little cool.

Tuesday, September 18th, 1860

To day at 6 a.m. we arrived at Galveston and stoped at the Tremont Hotel and left at 3½ P.M. on the cars and arrived at Houston at 8 P.M. we stoped at the Fannin house. expenses of the day $4.50. weather clear & warm.

Tuesday, September 11th, 1860

To day I left the hotel and carried the buggy & mules to James Wrigley's & Sam Sharp went down to the ware house. expenses at the hotel $1.75. weather clear & very warm.

Monday, September 10th, 1860

To day we left Grand Cane and arrived at Liberty & stoped at the City hotel. expenses of day $4.00. weather clear & warm.

Saturday, September 8th, 1860

To day we left Sumpter and after traveling over a very bad and muddy road for 24 miles we arrived at Livingston & stoped at Andress Hotel. expenses of the day $4.50. weather clear & very warm.



Livingston, Texas Hotels. The first hotels in the county were located at Swartwout and Drew's Landing, and the Andress Hotel in Livingston had the distinction of being the third. It was established around 1848, and was a combination restaurant, saloon, grocery store, livery stable, bank, post office, stage station, and frequently the only office for the town's businessmen. James Andress built his hotel south of the present courthouse, where Pedigo's Furniture Store is now located. It was a center of bustling activity for many years, and Sam Houston attended dances there. The hotel records for the years 1851-1856 are available today.

Andress Inn customers, August 1851: Wm. Fields, Charley Cleveland, Arthur P. Garner, Wm. Agee, John Perrins, John P. Kale, Samuel Rowe, K.B. DeWalt, James H. McCardell, M. Darby, J. W. Knight, Oliver Garner, D.D. Moore, Robert Williamson, James Hickman, John H. Jones, John Victory, Wm. L. Gates. J. L. Neyland, Wiley I. Peace, John English, Wiley Harper, Alex Weathers, W. H. Gee, G. W. Nelson, W. L. Knight, Elby Curtis, J. M. Williams, John Culp, Jackson Long, Enoch Jones, Jack Jones, E. T. Wingate, Isaac Williams, W. H. Carter, James Butler, E. A. Burrell, Col. Buckner.

The story of the old Keys Hotel as told by Mrs. W. T. Epperson (from POLK COUNTY ENTERPRISE, October 13, 1938) "It was in the year of 1860 when I was a child of four years, we arrived at the Andress' Inn by way of stage coach. The Inn, situated on the south side of the present courthouse of Polk County, was the only hostelry in town.

"It consisted of two large rooms and a hall downstairs, two rooms upstairs, and a kitchen out in the back yard. Here the meals were prepared on A huge fireplace. The large dinner bell that could be heard all over the town, is now owned by the Masonic Lodge of Livingston.

"The bedsteads for the guests were hand carved and laced together with ropes that served as springs. Sills of the Inn were hand hewed logs about 12 x 12. As the county prospered, a new courthouse was built and the old courthouse of one large room was purchased by Mr. Andress. This he attached to the Inn and used it as a dining room. In this room square dances were enjoyed.

"The passing of Mr. and Mrs. Andress left the Inn to their only heir and daughter, Mrs. H. C. Keys, who as proprietress, added several rooms and discarded the kitchen in the yard for a "modern" attached kitchen with a cook stove.

"The name of the house was then known as the Keys Hotel. In later years, Mrs. Epperson, granddaughter-in-law of Mrs. Keys, took charge of the hotel and remained its proprietress until 1907, when the property was sold for building purposes."

Friday, September 7th, 1860

To day we left Crockett with George F. Numson in Company and arrived at Sumpter at 7 P.M. & stoped at the Eureka Hotel. expenses 4$ weather cloudy & drizzling rain.

Saturday, August 11th, 1860

To day I arrived at the wharf of Galveston at 6 a.m. and stoped at the Tremont Hotel, and left Galveston at 3 P.M. on the Steamer ?. expenses of the day $6.50. weather clear & warm.



YAZOO DEMOCRAT [Yazoo City, MS], August 11, 1860, p. 2, c. 5. The Incendiary Outrages in Texas. -- The Houston True Southern, of the 28th ult., has the following paragraph on this subject: Just as we are going to press, news has arrived here from a reliable source that 22 negroes have been arrested and are to be hung in Waxahatchie to-day.

Our fellow-citizen, Mr. H. L. Cotton, informs us that a letter was received by Thursday's mail, by his niece in this place, from Mrs. Bennett, of Austin, giving an account of a fearful attempt made about the 22d inst., to reduce our capitol to a heap of ashes. The daring experiment was made to set fire to some twenty-five of the principal edifices of the city; fortunately, however, the flames were discovered and extinguished before any serious damage had been sustained. On the night previous, the Austin correspondent to whom we are indebted for the intelligence we are recording, had been keeping vigils over the sick bed of a friend, when she observed a sheet of flame bursting from a neighboring house, which, in consequence of timely warning, the citizens were enable to arrest and save the building from impending ruin.

At present, says Mrs. Bennett, the whole population of the metropolis are under arms, and laboring under the most intense excitement. A police force, consisting of from sixty to ninety men, maintaining the strictest system of vigilance, by night and by day.

In all the counties visited lately by fires, committees to investigate the subject have been appointed, and the most efficient citizen patrols have been established. In Grimes county a meeting of citizens resolved: That there is among the negroes in the county a disposition to revolt and be insubordinate; that this feeling is produced by the influence of certain white persons in the county; that it is time steps be taken to rid the community of these men; that preaching to the negroes in the county be stopped, at least for one year; that Northerners coming into the county under pretence of being ministers, teachers, drummers, &c., are to be regarded with suspicion and received with caution; that a vigilance committee be appointed, patrols organized, and other measures for safety be taken.

A couple of suspicious strangers from Kansas are recollected as having been seen in Dallas two days before the fire, and a day or two afterward. They are thought to have had some agency in the work of destruction.

Thursday, August 9th, 1860

To day I left New Orleans on the Steamship Charles Morgan and had a pleasant run on the gulf which was smooth & beautiful. expenses of day $15 for my passage to Galveston and $3.75 Hotel bill. weather clear and very pleasant.

Thursay, August 2nd, 1860

Thursday, August 2nd, 1860. To day at 6 O'Clock A.M. I left the City of New York on the steamer Richard Stock in route for home and arrived at South Amboy at 9 O'Clock A.M. There I took the cars and arrived in Philadelphia at 12 O'clock ? for dinner. Thence on to the City of Baltimore, and put up at Barnum's Hotel [pictured here]. expenses of the day $5.50. weather clear & warm.