Early Settlers
Ancestry.com - Garrett/Lassiter Family Tree - maplelass
http://mv.ancestry.com/viewer/2d782335-4793-4314-ae5a-2af3abe0df4e/15781459/18307690142?_phsrc=nCh7&usePUBJs=true
Excerpt "CHAPTER: TWO EARLY DICKENS COUNTY"
Posted 14 Nov 2010 by maplelass
First Settlers at Red Mud
The Red Mud community was located in the southwest corner of the county along Red Mud Creek--so named for the red clay that meets the shinnery-sand and sandy loam in that area. The community is about twelve miles southwest of Spur, Texas. Kent County joins lower Red Mud on the south. The White River almost divides Dickens and Crosby counties on the west, with Garza County joining diagonally in the southwest corner. The community of Catfish was to the west on the White River, and the Watson (Kalgary) community was across the White in Crosby County. The West End community, later called the Highway Community when the county road was graveled, joined Red Mud on the north.
Red Mud's first inhabitants were the buffalo hunters, who established a camp there (complete with dance hall). The first "settlers" came in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Jess P. Adamson lived where the old camp had been, which later became the location of the Tap general mercantile store and post office. He hand-dug a water well and lined it with rock. The water was good, and plentiful, and served the settlers for years.
Adamson's neighbors were A. M. Locket, E. Luce, and John Luce to the west, Clint Garrett to the north, Wil Barger to the immediate south, and Alf M. Manning just south of the Bargers. The R. M. Parrishs, Jim Johnsons and the W. F. Gilberts were also nearby.
According to "Scotch" Bill Elliot, Alf Manning came to the area in 1870 with J. H. Parrish, who opened the first store at Espuela. Alf soon afterward quit working for Parrish and started killing buffalo. He moved to Red Mud where he made his home for a long time, and is buried in the Red Mud Cemetery. (11)
William Clinton "Clint" Garrett and Malinda Jones were married in Palo Pinto, Texas on Christmas Eve, 1885. They moved to Red Mud the following July and bought a farm one mile north of the cemetery--just south of Adamson. Clint and Malinda's first three children, Edna, Annie, and Jim were born on this farm.
E. Luce, his wife Georgia and children, including their grown son John N., came to Dickens in the mid-1880s. Both men patented land at Red Mud and also twelve miles further west in the Spur's west pasture area known as Watson, later Kalgary. In 1886 E. Luce planted the first cotton in Dickens--on his Red Mud place next to the "Shinnery Strip," now known as the Perkins farm. The crop failed to mature. (12)
The Shinnery Strip was a ridge three miles wide and fourteen miles long. In 1870, when the surveyor laid off the lands that would be given the H. & G. N. Railroad, he did not like the shinnery ridge and stopped the West line of Block 1, and jumped three miles before beginning Block 2. This strip became public domain, and afterwards added to the school fund, available for homesteading. (13)
In May 1886, following a dispute over a horse, Adamson hid behind a chaparral bush and ambushed his neighbor Wil Barger with buckshot as Wil rode by. Barger was buried on his land east of the house in which he was living. E. Luce used wagon sideboards to make a coffin. Grandma Thomas, mother of Mrs. Alf Manning, helped lower the coffin into the grave, and assisted Luce and Garrett in filling the grave. (14)
As settlements frequently grew from buffalo hunter camps, so did cemeteries often start from killings. And so it was with Red Mud and its cemetery. Barger's wife died three months later from consumption (tuberculosis) and was buried with Wil. Adelia Parrish and her infant child, both of whom died at the birth, were buried in the cemetery in 1886. She was likely related to Kitty and Roof M. Parrish.
The cemetery became known as the Red Mud Cemetery and remains a focal point of the history of the community. The 119-acre tract containing the cemetery today has changed ownership through the years without anyone objecting to the cemetery being included, or about paying for the two acres devoted to the cemetery. There has never been a deed issued to the Red Mud Cemetery Association. Today, a bronze marker at the cemetery entrance tells of the cemetery's beginning:
In 1887, on one of his freighting trips to the railroad, Clint Garrett brought back lumber to line the walls and floor of their dugout. Soon afterward, Francis Wilson and his small child died of pneumonia, When lumber could not be found for Mr. Wilson's coffin, who died a week after the child, Clint used a part of his new walls to build the coffin.
E. Luce planted cotton again in 1889 and realized a successful crop. He hauled the crop to Sweetwater to be ginned.
In 1890 Zona Thomas rode a freight wagon west from Hunt County to visit her grandmother, Mrs. Thomas, and Zona's aunt, Mrs. Alf Manning. They lived just south of the Bargers. Zona liked the country (and a certain young neighbor nearby, by the name of John Luce) so she decided to make Red Mud her home.
Jim H. Airhart brought his wife (Ava Smith daughter of Samuel and Clarinda Smith Collin Co. added by KJS) and five children to upper Red Mud in 1890 and settled on the Hudson homestead. Bertha, age seven, was the oldest, followed by Elsie, Edna, Edgar, and Elonzo. Later, Jewel, Beecher, and Johnny would be born on this place. Bertha and Edna would marry brothers Jim and Ed McArthur, respectively. The Airhart place was adjacent to the later location of the Tap store. The first single-room school at Tap was called the Airhart schoolhouse .
W. C. and Suzie McArthur moved their family to Red Mud in 1890 and settled in the Spur Ranch's south pasture. During the prolonged drought that followed, they moved to Jones County for a time, but returned and settled in the Spring Creek community. Their daughter Florence was already married to Sam Rather and they homesteaded at the same time. In addition to Florence, there were Willie, Maude, twins Tom and Jim, Bill, and Ed. All of the children attended the Airhart school.
In October of 1890 Willis Anderson "Toby" Smith and wife Martha Ann (Mattie) began their 150-mile trip from Comanche County to Red Mud. They were accompanied by Albert and Mollie Smith, and a neighboring family named Slarky. As mentioned earlier, Toby and Albert were married to sisters. The women drove the wagons while the men herded the cattle and horses. The children rode in the wagons, or if old enough, walked along side. Toby's six children ranged from one month to age ten. Albert's three children ranged from age one to eight. The journey was hard work for the adults, but the children usually considered it great adventure. (15)
Toby located 160 acres to homestead in lower Red Mud, actually in Kent County. A half-dugout was dug and covered with poles and dirt. The poles had been left by Indians who had camped there not too many years previous. This was evidenced by the abundance of arrowheads and buffalo horns found at the sight. There were also enough poles to build a small corral for the livestock. The poles were a blessing as there were very few trees large enough to supply timbers or posts. (16)