Decatur Doings

For more than six months there’s been construction at an intersection

Buffalo

close to our house. Eventually there was a sign posted that gave information about what businesses were being built. We were a bit surprised that two restaurants were opening, a chicken place and a steak house. Both are Texas chains, but one we’d never sampled. And since it’s a hot Texas summer and doing outside exploring is rather limited by the temperature, we decided to make the journey to Decatur to sample the food at the original steak house before its clone arrived in the Keller area. Another reason for visiting Decatur was to see the hometown of the Dave’s movie idol, ‘Big Boy’ Williams.



In 1856, when Wise County was established, Taylorsville was the county seat; but a member of the Texas Legislature didn’t like that name, so two

Wise County Courthouse, Decatur

years later he had it changed to honor the naval hero, Stephen Decatur. Shortly after establishment of the county, a post office and a school were opened, followed three years later by the construction of the courthouse. This lovely structure was designed by James Riely Gordon and is a good example of his ‘Signature Plan’. The corners of the structure are used as entrances, allowing for air circulation throughout the building. Just as in the state Capitol, the exterior is Texas red granite with terracotta ornamentation. It is Richardsonian Romanesque in design, reminiscent of 1,000-year-old churches in southern France.


Flat Rock Cemetery is one of the historical graveyards near Decatur. We didn’t find any markers for the two oldest residents, an American Indian

Left T to B: Entrance, Fossil
Right: Reaves, 1892

and a young girl. We did, however, see some very old markers and were very happy that they were in the shade. What fascinated me was that one of the concrete footings had fossils set into it. It made me wonder if the people interred here liked fossils or if the people making this decorative square were simply embellishing the space. Evidently there was once a community of Flat Rock, along with a Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the area. Both of these have disappeared, but the cemetery remains. Buried here are also fighters representing both sides of the Civil War, men who served in World War I, as well as those who served in World War II.




The Civil War brought a great deal of unrest to the small town because the early settlers to the area came from a variety of eastern states and from the Upper South; many sympathized with the Unionist side, voting

Confederate Officer

against secession. Violence against Unionists by Confederate troops and militia was common, with many of these sympathizers being arrested and charged with treason and insurrection. Between 150 and 200 suspects were arrested, transported to Gainesville, tried by an illegal ‘Citizen’s Court’, and seven men executed. A mob rose against the court and demanded 14 more suspects; these men were released to the mob that then lynched them. Nineteen men, who were previously acquitted, were re-arrested. Although there was no new evidence, a new jury convicted them, returning the death penalty; these men were hanged. Two more men were shot during an escape attempt. The ‘Great Hanging at Gainesville’ is thought to be the largest single incident of vigilante violence in the U.S. Not long after this travesty, five more Unionist supporters were lynched in Decatur; this was supervised by a Confederate army officer.




Decatur, and the Wise County Courthouse, sit very near one portion of

L to R: Chisholm marker, Trail remnant 

the Chisholm Trail (see Along the Chisholm Trail). And not too far away, another cattle trail runs into the Chisholm; trails from as far away as the Rio Grande met the Chisholm, then the drovers and their herds followed it north. These feeder trails once linked the grasslands of Texas with the northern cattle markets. The trails began to vanish in the late 1800s when fencing, railroads, and quarantines (fever ticks were decimating herds) cut off the flow of cattle from Texas. However, the use of the Chisholm Trail had helped to restore the Texas economy that had been adversely affected by the Civil War. Once the Civil War was over Decatur began to grow again, spurred on by the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway and being added to the Butterfield Overland mail route in 1882.  In 1898 the Decatur Baptist College was created; it was the first two-year institution of higher education in Texas. This school became Dallas Baptist University, moving to north Texas in 1965.

Just outside of Decatur is El Castile, the Waggoner Mansion. It is a late Victorian edifice with sixteen rooms, including six bathrooms. Daniel Waggoner, a rancher and businessman, built this house for his second

L to R: Gate, El Castile

wife, Sicily Ann (Halsell) Waggoner. She was fifteen years his junior and probably deserved the monument. Waggoner and his son, William Thomas, not only managed a ranch that stretched across eight counties, but they also owned five banks, three cottonseed oil mills, and a coal company. William Thomas Waggoner inherited the house in about 1902. The house was sold to Phil Luker and his wife in 1942. I would have loved to have gotten onto the grounds and into the house, but the very large No Trespassing signs and the barbed wire discouraged me a bit.

If you live in North Texas, you’ve probably seen bois d'arc trees, but you

Gose trees

may not know what they are. Lots of folks call them ‘horse apple trees’ because of their large, round, green fruit that’s about 4" to 5" in diameter, and looks like a green, wrinkled orange. These stocky trees have lots of crooked, interweaving, thorny branches that form a dense, spreading wall. That’s why Stephen M. Gose, an early justice of the peace, blacksmith, and leader of Methodist church, planted them as a hedge in 1861 to keep our prowlers. There is a remnant of this Gose Tree hedge in downtown Decatur. Dave was surprised that there were any trees left, since traditionally once the trees were large enough they were harvested to make fence posts or wooden furniture.

Decatur and the surrounding areas were good places for frontier outlaws. Frank and Jesse James had a camp near the town and used it to hide

Hideout of Frank and Jesse James

stolen horses until whatever posse was after them could be avoided. They weren’t the only ones who used this area; other outlaws from Missouri, the home of the James brothers, such as Cole Younger and Belle Starr, camped near Decatur. Law and order didn’t really come to the plains until after the Civil War Reconstruction when the Texas Rangers were reorganized.




Of course Decatur was ready for any law breakers with the construction of what is now called the Old Stone Prison. The prison was actually the

Old Stone Prison

first stone house in Decatur. Built by prison labor in the late 1850s, the main part of the house was used by the sheriff or deputy as a residence while the basement was used as jail. Prisoners were fed by sending meals were sent down on a dumb-waiter. Thirty years later, the county sold property to A. H. Whitehead. It’s not clear if he used it for the city water works office or if the city bought it back, but the water works office was located in the prison until 1938. The old prison changed hands again, and was a private residence until 1967. It makes me wonder just how much people went into the basement knowing that this was the location of the jail. The Wise County Historical Society as museum purchased the building, but n our visit, it looked rather abandoned with ‘No Trespassing’ signs on the house.

There are several contemporary places to eat on the courthouse square. Our destination was Sweetie Pie’s Ribeyes (201 W Main St, Decatur, TX 76234, 940-626-4555), which is described as ‘An 1880s space with

Top L to R: Dave and menu, Roll, Salad
Bottom L to R: Chicken fried steak, Potatoes, Gravy
Steak, Mushrooms, Mac and Cheese

cowboy art and gnarled beams hosts rib-eye-centric meals and rosin-baked potatoes.’ And yes, the food is good. Our waitress, Kendra, had Dave’s number from the time he sat down. She met him quip for quip, and silliness for silliness. We had a wonderful time with her. Dave ordered the chicken fried steak. He would have liked a crispier batter, but it was beyond tender: and excellent piece of meat. The sides he chose were fried potatoes, and squash casserole; he was very pleased with both, but particularly like the squash. The gravy was good, as well, and the fresh, hot rolls were delicious. I had a lunch filet mignon with sautéed mushrooms, and mac and cheese; I was well pleased with all of these. I also had a side salad that was large enough to be called dinner. The house dressing is a hot (temperature) bacon vinaigrette; it was a nice compliment to the fresh tomatoes and lettuce. The croutons were sliced from one of the dinner rolls then toasted; a really good idea! The steak was four ounces; that seems small, but the flavor was great and there was plenty to eat. If you want a larger steak, order one. Although the prices we paid for our meal were higher than what we usually spend, we got what we paid for. Also, there are offerings on the menu that are quite reasonable. If the Sweetie Pie’s Ribeyes that opens near us is as good as this one, we’ll be regular customers. I’m also hoping that they have a waitress who is as talented as Kendra. For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

Oops! I nearly forgot about ‘Big Boy’ Williams. Dave looked, in vain, for

L to R: Eighter sign, Giant dice

some sort of marker that showed this entertainer came from Decatur. We did find signs that referred to ‘Eighter from Decatur’. This is a slang phrase used by craps shooters who want to roll an eight. It’s also the title of a song (Eight'r from Decatur) by Western Swing legend Bob Wills. But I digress, ‘Big Boy’ Williams was actually Guinn Terrell Williams, Jr., a World War I veteran, a baseball player, a polo player, and an actor in western movies. He was befriended by Will Rogers who gave him the nickname, ‘Big Boy’. One of his close friends was John Wayne.

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