The History of Cass County, Part 2 of 5

COUNTIES FORMED AFTER ANNEXATION OF TEXAS Continuing Cass County’s history: The 7th Congress, December 1842, directed the clerk of the county and probate courts of Red River County to transmit all records belonging to Bowie County to that county.

A month later, a supplemental act was passed extending the western boundary of Bowie County south from Sulphur Fork to Cypress Bayou, The 9th Congress, January 29. 1845. provided that this same area south of the Sulphur should be divided between the counties of Bowie and Red River and discontinued the holding of court at Daingerfield. Paschal County was no more, and it has almost disappeared from history.

After Texas was annexed to the United States, the 1st Legislature of the State of Texas in April and May of 1846 authorized the creation of the counties of Cass, Titus and Hopkins out of Bowie and Red River Counties which, by the way, was the same area that had previously been known as Paschal County during the time Texas had been an independent republic.

Cass County was named for United States Senator Lewis Cass from Michigan who had favored the annexation of Texas to the union. Its southern boundary extended to Cypress Bayou, including most of present-day Marion County. The county seat was established in Jefferson. Many events and names mentioned in early years of Cass County now belong to Marion County.

The County seat was moved to Linden in 1852, some eight years before the creation of Marion County in 1860.

In 1861 the name was changed to Davis County in honor of Jefferson Davis of the Confederacy, but he somehow lost favor after the war and the name was changed back to Cass in 1871.

Texas lands were acquired in the beginning through land grants. When Texas won her independence from Mexico, the Texas Constitution of 1836 guaranteed every man already in the Republic access to free land. And any family man moving into Texas between March of 1836 and October of 1837 was promised up to 4,605 acres, and single men 1, 476 acres. This was later reduced to 1,280and 640-acre grants. This was still more than the ordinary farmer could cultivate, and it was later reduced to 320 acres for a married man and 160 for a single man.

There were also large soldier grants for veterans of Texas wars and their widows. For years there was no requirement that a grantee had to live on or improve his acreage, but later on a residence of three years in the state was required in order for final title to pass.

Also in 1837, the General Land Office offered land script at 50 cents an acre. The land grant system was fairly simple. An application was made and, if approved, the land was surveyed and the field notes sent to the General Land Office. When the grantee had fully qualified by residing on and improving the land the required amount of time, a pre-emption certificate was issued. This was done until 1889 when there was no more public domain in the state.

When the first pioneer settlers came into this region, there were few trails or roads. Some trading routes such as Trammel’s Trace existed, but they didn’t provide easy traveling.

Later, we had the Jonesboro-Nacogdoches road through this area and in 1844, the Congress of the Republic of Texas approved the Central National Road which came through this region.

There were also various ferries operated to enable the settlers to cross the rivers. As the settlements increased, more roads were opened, but travel was not always easy. Cumbersome ox-carts with solid wheels sawed from tree trunks and without springs bumped over rough roads. Vehicles with spoked wheels often sank into mud or deep sand. By the 1840s and 50s, stage lines traversed this area with teams of four, six, or eight horses or mules.

During the first fifty or sixty years after Cass County was established, public roads changed frequently because of mud, high water and locations of additional settlers and communities.

According to early records of the Commissioners’ Court, each time it was in session various groups of men “came into court and prayed that a jury of men be allowed to review” the best location for new roads between towns and communities, or even from one farm to another.

Some of the early roads built in this way were the Jefferson to Linden Road which passed near Larder and on to Linden: the Linden to Boston Road which seems to have followed present Highway 8 with a fork at Red Hill; the Holcomb’s Bluff Road which ran from Bryans Mill to the John Bryan place; the Peel’s Mill to Daingerfield Road which must have gone through the Union Chapel area; the Jefferson to Daingerfield Road which pretty’ well paralleled present Highway 49 through Avinger and past the old Reece Hughes place; and the Linden to Gilmer Road which followed the old Linden to Hughes Springs Road, crossing the Jefferson-Stephenson’s Ferry Road at Hughes Springs, then on past the county line to Gilmer.

Until 1907, the public roads were built and maintained by county or community taxation and the personal service of men who lived along the roads. The Commissioner’s Court would appoint one man as overseer of a given stretch of road, usually five to eight miles.

-to be continued-