Grimes County Historical Commission Issue 4 Volume 3 April ......GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION...

Issue 4 Volume 3 April 2017

Photo of the Month

St. Stanislaus Catholic Church

Anderson, Texas Built in 1917

Grimes County Historical Commission

Meetings of the Grimes County Historical Commission are held on the Second Monday of the Month at 7:00 pm in the Courthouse Annex in Anderson, Texas

Contact Information Joe King Fultz [email protected] Visit us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/GrimesCountyHistoricalCommission

Grimes County Historical Commission

Executive Board Chairman Joe King Fultz Vice Chairman Susan Boudreaux Secretary Vanessa Burzynski Treasurer Bob Goldstein

COMMITTEES Historical Markers Denise Upchurch Historic Preservation Sarah Nash Newsletter & Publicity Vanessa Burzynski Volunteer Committee Susan Boudreaux

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/GrimesCountyHistoricalCommission

https://www.facebook.com/GrimesCountyHistoricalCommission

GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION NEWSLETTER APRIL 2017

The Eagle (Bryan, Texas) February 9, 1902 Garret Scott Again Three United States deputy marshals arrived in Navasota Wednesday and proceeded without delay to subpoena citizens of Grimes County to appear before the federal court at Galveston on February 17, as defendants in the suit which Garret Scott has filed for damages to the amount of $270,000. One of the deputy marshals came to Anderson and served papers on Dudley, Lee and Walter Brown and J. H. Kennard. He had the names of several others, but could not find them during the short time he spent in Anderson. Grimes County Record.

The Houston Post (Houston, Texas) Wednesday, February 26, 1902 Indictments Against Scott He is held on Charges of Murder and Complicity Navasota, Texas, February 25 – Sheriff Baker and Deputy McKinney returned to Navasota this morning. They went to San Antonio after Garrett Scott. The sheriff of Bexar county politely informed them that he could surrender Mr. Scott to them only upon order of the governor as they had orders to that effect. The Grimes County officers then returned as far as Austin to interview the Governor, which they did. Governor Sayers stated that he had been advised from several sources that it was unwise to permit Scott’s return to Grimes County just now and the officer was unable to convince him to the contrary. The arrest of Garret L. Scott at San Antonio last week came as a surprise to many people. The last grand jury had returned indictments against Mr. Scott and the arrest was averted by officers not being able to locate him.

Mr. Scott stands indicted in the district court of this county for the murder of a negro named Debose, which occurred some years ago, on Grimes prairie. He is also charged with complicity in the tragedy at Anderson in which three men lost their lives. Another indictment is a charge of assault, which is a finable offense.

The Houston Post Monday, January 19, 1903 Garrett Scott Transferred - Sheriff Baker of Grimes County Surrenders All Claims Remains in the Harris County Jail - Sheriff Teague of Washington County Turns Prisoner Over to Sheriff Anderson until a Bond is Given The days of ex-Sheriff Garrett L. Scott’s incarceration are numbered, provided the plans to secure satisfactory bonds of $5,000 in two cases pending against him do not miscarry. There was a meeting in the corridors of the Rice Hotel at 9 o’clock last evening of the sheriffs of Washington, Grimes and Harris counties and in a formal manner there were three transfers of Scott in as many minutes, but the prisoner remained behind the bars of the Harris County jail during the proceeding and his cell will continue as his place of abode during the next few days at least. After an exchange of greetings Sheriff Anderson of Harris County surrendered the custody of ex-sheriff Scott to Sheriff J. Cross Baker of Anderson, Grimes County. That official promptly surrendered his man to Sheriff D. E. Teague of Washington county and he in turn authorized Sheriff A. R. Anderson of this county to continue to act as keeper of Scott. The agreement of the authorities is that the prisoner is to be released from jail by Sheriff Anderson immediately upon the receipt of a telegram from Sheriff Teague stating that the bonds in the cases venued for Grimes County to Washington county by Scott have been filed and approved. This it is confidently expected will occur within the next two or three days.


Sheriff Baker Arrives Sheriff Baker of Anderson was in Houston Saturday afternoon changing cars in this city on his way from Anderson to Galveston, but says he was entirely ignorant of the effort being made to have him come to Houston on that day in order that a transfer be made without taking the prisoner across the line into Grimes County or before the judge of the district court of that county. Mr. Baker seemed much surprised that the impression should have become current that he was not willing and ready to aid in the transfer of the prisoner. He gave a detailed statement of the recent proceedings in the case since the change of venue was granted by Judge J. M. Smither on December 2, 1902. Said Mr. Baker: “The district court of Grimes County adjourned last Tuesday. The next day I went to Navasota on business and was there called over the telephone by Attorney Tarver of this city who asked me when I would come here for the delivery of Scott to the Washington county authorities and I answered that I could not come for that purpose until the papers were transferred to Washington county. On Thursday I mailed the papers to Brenham and expected to hear from Mr. Teague or Scott’s attorney, but I had no word and did not know of the desire for an immediate transfer of custody, except what I have just read in the papers.” “I was at home all day last Friday and until 10 o’clock Saturday morning and could easily have been reached by wire. On Saturday afternoon when I changed cars in this city on my way to Galveston, I saw a statement in the paper I purchased saying I had refused to come to Harris County and surrender Scott to Sheriff Teague.” “I did not see the item until the train was nearly to my destination and as soon as I reached Galveston I wired Attorney Tarver to meet me at the Rice Hotel at 9 o’clock this morning. When I reached Houston, I found Sheriff Teague and Mr. Tarver had gone to Brenham. I called upon Sheriff Anderson at the court house and from

there telephoned Sheriff Teague to meet me in this city upon the arrival of his train.” “Have you any objection to surrendering Scott?” was asked. “None in the least. As soon as the order of the court is complied with I will be glad to step down and wash my hands of the matter.” Sheriff Baker insists that there was no cause for the ex-sheriff to have feared violence at the hands of Grimes County citizens so long as he was a prisoner under the court’s authority. He stated that he had the personal assurance of scores of the leaders of that county that they would not permit any violation of the law, and he added that he could have kept Scott in jail unharmed for an indefinite period. I know my backers and I know they would not have permitted any shooting as long as Scott was my prisoner.” Mr. Baker says he informed Governor Sayers at the time of ex-Sheriff Scott’s arrest at San Antonio, that he could drive him to Anderson in an open buggy and that not a hair of his head would be touched, and the Grimes County officer stated that he was equally positive that he could do it today. Sheriff Teague agreed that so long as Scott was in the custody of Sheriff Baker he would be free from harm. The prisoner does not share the view and his memory of the armed raid on the jail and the close call for his life is too vivid for him to think of facing a crowd of his old constituents.

The Court’s Order When Judge Smither granted the change of venue in the Scott case last month he fixed the amount of bond at $5,000 in each of the two cases, and the instructions to the sheriff were as follows: “And in case the said defendant, G. L. Scott, fails to give the said recognizance as required, he will be safely kept in custody by the Sheriff of Harris


County, Texas, who is ordered to deliver him to the sheriff of Grimes County, Texas, which last named sheriff is ordered to delivery him to the sheriff of Washington County, Texas, before the next succeeding term of the district court of said Washington County, Texas.”

Scott refused to appear in person before the Grimes County tribunal to enter into a recognizance and upon his voluntary surrender to Sheriff Anderson remained in custody here until the adjournment of the Grimes County district court. Now the approval of the bond rests with Sheriff Teague, the change of venue having been granted, as previously stated, to Washington County.

The notification of Sheriff Baker to Attorney Tarver did away with the necessity of any action on the part of District Attorney J. P. Buchanan at Brenham yesterday and the only action taken in that town was to make investigation concerning Scott’s bond. It was stated last night that beyond question satisfactory bonds would be procured in a few days.

Bits of History

The ex-sheriff of Grimes County who now walks restlessly up and down the jail corridors of Harris County, shattered in body, broken in health and racked of brain, was for years the undisputed leader of a faction in his county. For twelve consecutive years, he was elected sheriff without regard to party restrictions, he being as successful on an independent or populist ticket, as is usually the case with the regular. Bad feeling was engendered and on November 7, 1900, Scott was attacked by a posse of armed citizens, he was besieged, wounded in the county jail and only rescued through the aid of the Houston Light Guard of State militia.

Scott left Grimes County and filed a suit for $160,000 in the Federal Court at Galveston, making parties defendant over 100 Grimes County citizens. He recites in his complaint the full story of the attack made upon him, charging that it was the “White Man’s Union of Grimes County, Texas.”

After this suit was filed an indictment was returned against Scott in Grimes County, charging him with the murder of a negro some 30 years before, conspiracy to murder and a number of other charges were placed against him.

His arrest on the indictments followed at San Antonio. He gave bond and later surrendered to Sheriff Anderson, when the action for a change of venue was begun in Grimes County.

Ex-Sheriff Scott has a brother residing in Navasota who has never been molested by the people of that county, and the statement is made that had Scott not initiated his damage suit the cases pending against him would never have been instigated.

The change of venue granted last month is based upon the feeling that exists against the prisoner and states that the many persons named in the damage suit renders it impossible for Scott to secure a fair trial in Grimes County.

Garrett Lane Scott


The Liberty Vindicator Friday, April 3, 1903 The Scott Case - Only a few Witnesses put on Stand in DuBose Killing The Crime Committed in 1874 The fact of the killing was established, please of defense being that it was necessary Brenham, Texas – March 31 The case of the State vs. Garrett Scott, charged with being an accomplice to the murder of Will McDonald and J. J. Bradley on November 7, 1900 with a pistol in the hands of E. L. Scott, and the case of the State vs. Garret L. Scott, charged with murder of Giles DuBose about October 1, 1874, though the killing occurred in 1868, were set for yesterday and the latter case was called in the district court of Washington County in the morning, having been transferred from Grimes County to this county at the November term 1902 on account of alleged prejudice, G. L. Scott having been shot at Anderson and dangerously wounded. He was besieged in the jail with his family for five days before being rescued by the Houston Light Guard. A special venire of seventy-five men was exhausted and only seven men were obtained from. Another venire was ordered and the other five men were obtained from it. The taking of testimony then began and was completed before court adjourned for the evening. It was agreed that the attorneys for either side should have on and a half hours in which to argue in the morning. Ike Stafford, colored, was the first witness for the state. He testified that he was present at the time the killing occurred. That it took place at Grimes’ ferry in 1874; that the negro DuBose was unarmed at the time he was killed. E. H. Giles testified that he saw the fight in which the killing occurred. That there was a general mix up and that DuBose was shot to death by Scott.

George Dubose, a brother of the dead negro, testified in corroboration of the two preceding witnesses. For the defense the principal witness was Henry Scott, a brother of the defendant, who swore that DuBose attacked his brother with a wagon standard; that the latter threw up his left arm to ward off the blow and with his right had shot DuBose, the act of being one of self-defense. At 8:30 the testimony was completed and the court adjourned for the evening.

The El Paso Herald Wednesday, May 27, 1903 Sheriff Garrett Scott Dead Grimes County Officer succumbs to Wounds Received During Political and Race Row. Special to the Herald. Houston, Tex. May 27 Garrett Scott, former sheriff of Grimes County, died last night as a result of wounds received in 1900 during political disturbances and race differences in Grimes County.


The Houston Post (Houston, Texas) Friday, October 14, 1904 Garret Scott Damage Suit Against Members of White Man’s Union Dismissed In the case of Garrett L. Scott against O. S. Johnson and others, members of what is known as the White Man’s Union of Grimes County, pending in the Federal court, a judgment was rendered by agreement that plaintiff take nothing in this suit and that defendants recover the costs. In this case the plaintiff died before the final decision was agreed upon and the prosecution of the case was carried on by his widow, Mrs. Mabel Scott, who was the administratrix of his estate. The suit was instituted to recover damages in the sum of $150,000 from the defendants for alleged wrongful acts committed by them. In his petition, he alleged that he was forced to leave Grimes County and abandon the office of sheriff, because of the ill-felling of the defendants toward him. He further alleged that during a scuffle in which the defendants took charge of the office of the sheriff, he was shot three times in the thigh, which caused him to become a cripple for life, and that in order to save his life the governor called a company of militia to protect him.

The Houston Post - Sunday, November 19, 1911 Sheriff’s Department – All officers look out for and arrest Wate Young, a yellow negro, 29 years old (looks younger), five feet eight or nine inches tall. Weighs about 140 pounds, high cheek bones, short upper lip, prominent front teeth; extra high forehead, rather long wavy black hair, small black mustache. I hold warrant charging him with assault with attempt to murder, shooting at a white man November 15, near Navasota, Grimes County, Texas. Country papers please publish. T.H. Lacy, Sheriff Grimes County Texas Anderson, Texas November 17

Corsicana Daily Sun (Corsicana, Texas) June 21, 1918 Tribute to Judge Neblett Corsicana, Texas June 1, 1918 Corsicana Lodge No. 174 AF & AM Your Committee charged with the duty of preparing suitable resolutions upon the death of our deceased brother, Robert Scott Neblett, respectfully submit the following: Biographical: Robert Scott Neblett was born in Grimes County, Texas on March 16, 1855 to William Henry Neblett and Elizabeth Scott Neblett and died in Temple, Texas where he had gone for medical treatment, on January 18, 1918. He first came to Corsicana, Texas with his parents when two years of age in June 1857. During the Civil War, about 1862 or 1863 the family returned to Grimes County, where he lived until the 1st day of January, 1878. He went to Navasota, Texas in 1877 and studied law in the office of Judge Robert Kennard, and was licensed to practice law in Anderson, Grimes County, Texas in November 1877. He returned to Corsicana on January 1, 1878 and formed a partnership with Hon. Rufus Hardy, present congressman from this district, for the practice of law. He was married November 25, 1879 to Miss Mattie C. Yeater in Hearne, Robertson County, Texas. Four children blessed this union the first a girl, who died at the age of 6 weeks; two daughters, Mrs. L. D. Brooks and Mrs. Winston Hall. And one son Robert S. Neblett, now in our High School, with his widow still survive him. He was made a Master Mason in Corsicana Lodge No. 174 on October 23, 1891 and was made a Royal Arch Mason in Corsicana Chapter No. 41, May 7, 1902 and became a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in 1906. He was elected Worshipful Master of Corsicana Lodge in 1900 and again Worshipful Master in 1915.


At the latter date, Corsicana Lodge was heavily in debt and our deceased brother requested that he be permitted to use his best endeavors to relieve the situation and free the lodge from this burden. His efforts in this behalf were untiring and so wisely and efficiently were the financial affairs of the lodge handled and managed by him that in less than a year by carefully conserving and developing its revenues he succeeded in freeing it entirely from this burden of debt, with a substantial balance in the treasury, and establishing it again upon a sound working basis. As a Mason, he was an honor to the fraternity to which he belonged. Exceptionally well versed in the history and tenets of the order he not only thoroughly understood its teachings, but was inspired by its doctrines, and in his daily life and practice conformed to its highest ideals. The passing of Brother Neblett leaves a vast void, a great vacancy which will be hard to fill. No bronze tablet or marble shaft is necessary to recall him to our memories; his friendly acts, his gentle ways, his sympathy for the poor and unfortunate and this readiness to help endeared him to all who were fortunate enough to know him, and his kind heart and helping hand marked him as one beloved. By profession he was a lawyer of profound learning and marked ability, with few equals and no superiors. In his chosen profession, he was frequently retained upon the side that was unpopular and against which public sentiment had been unjustly aroused. He faced these conditions bravely, as he met all issues and true to his professional duty, faithfully and successfully championed the interest he represented. With a sublime conception of duty, he was the soul of loyalty and fidelity, absolutely true to every interest he represented, whether great or small and to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private. In his career at the bar and elsewhere, his splendid abilities and indomitable energies were equally and fearlessly given in behalf of every cause which he espoused. In his practice as a lawyer he exemplified the highest ideals of correct professional ethics and reflected at all times

luster upon the great profession he loved so well. In politics, he was a Democrat, whoever adhered unswervingly to the fundamental principles of that faith. While in no sense of the word a politician, in politics he took the interest of a patriotic citizen. On all public questions, he took his position and courageously maintained it and was fearless in the expression of his convictions. He always contended that, “those are governed best who are governed least.” And while office with its emoluments and honors never appealed to him; yet, he was ever the champion of human rights, and human liberties always and everywhere, and was unalterably opposed at all times to unwarranted restrictions upon human endeavor. Public Service: Notwithstanding a large and burdensome practice, he took time from his personal affairs to serve his fellow citizens in many positions of usefulness and importance. From 1885 to 1888 he served as Mayor of Corsicana. He was Chairman of the Board of Managers of the State Orphans Home from 1892 to 1894 and again in 1911. He was president of the School Board of Corsicana from 1899 to 1905, and it is safe to say that the well-known superiority and efficiency of the public schools of Corsicana today can very largely be attributed to his unflagging zeal and wise prudent administration of school affairs. In 1907 he represented Navarro County with honor and distinction in the 30th Legislature. In the early part of 1917, he was appointed by the Governor of his State as Chairman of the Local Exemption Board No. 1 for Navarro County and during the last year of his life, his time and energies were almost exclusively devoted to the service of his county. Intensely patriotic, his unstinted devotion went out to his country in her hour of greatest need and to this service he gave his time his abundant energy, his watchful care and anxious thought. Duty was the watchword of his life, and responding to this call upon his patriotism, he entered at once upon the duties of this position never shrinking from the heavy responsibilities nor laying down the burden until the inevitable summons came. He


gave this service the best that was in him and with the gift the giver was given. Nor does anyone doubt that he gave himself freely and willingly.

At the time of this death he was President of the United Charities of Corsicana, and to the work of this organization he was intensely and devotedly interested. At all times ready and eager not only to give material aid to every case called to his attention, but to give his personal interest and sympathy, he was beloved alike by those with whom he served and those to whom his service was rendered.

Private Citizen: In his social relations, he was ever genial, cordial, and friendly; kind and courteous in his intercourse with all, in every walk and situation. A loving and devoted husband, a kind and affectionate father, a true and loyal friend, a public-spirited citizen; one learned to know him only to love him. His constant thought and the true key note of his life was “I shall pass through this world but once and any good thing therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now; let me not defer it nor neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”

Of boundless affection and humanity, he loved his fellow men and desired to serve all. Unselfish and generous, his generosity was without the weakness of prodigality. Broad in his charity, this charity was yet gentle, quiet and considerate, not to be proclaimed from the housetops nor talked of in public places. No poor or unfortunate one ever turned away from Robert S. Neblett empty-handed; his bounty knew no creed, no condition, no race or color; his generosity knew no bounds, but extended to the furthermost limits of the sphere in which he moved. To the infirm and old he was gentle and respectful, ever ready to lend an attentive ear, or a strong and helping hand. To the young and struggling he was sympathetic and considerate, always seeking to give hope and encouragement by a friendly word and material aid, and to assist and inspire them to greater and better efforts. Tender and gentle as a woman, the weak, the dependent and the suffering were the special

objects of his concern and interest. These ever found in him a strong and true friend, a wise and safe counselor; and many of them had come to rely on him for strength and support, to look to him for encouragement and in whose hearts his memory is sacredly enshrined now sigh.

“For the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still.”

Characteristics: His character was many-sided but not complex; not so unique or unusual as it was strong, wholesome, pure and good. A man of rarely gifted personality and unusual charm of manner. Endowed with exceptional traits of character and exalted ideals of life and duty. A man of great intellect, broad and varied learning and deep thinking, yet with an exceedingly modest simple and unassuming in his demeanor and actions. His self-knowledge was thorough and his self-control marvelous. Proud and brave, quick and sensitive, his master of himself was complete and the most trying circumstances and direst provocations did not disturb his splendid poise, nor mar his fair and knightly courtesy. Broad, tolerant and liberal, he scorned that which was narrow, small and mean. Ambitious and aspiring always to greater and better things, he never consented to secure his own desires through the downfall of another, nor to profit by the misfortunates of another human being. Scrupulously fair and just in act and thought, he accorded exactly what was due, and precisely that he expected to receive. In a proper regard for the rights of others, and in the power to subordinate self and selfishness, as an example of sterling integrity, he stood in a class by himself.

He loved simplicity and abhorred the herald of pomp and display. He exemplified truth, frankness and sincerity and despised falsehood, hypocrisy and cant. He looked upon every man as his equal and himself the equal of any man. He regarded no man as his superior, nor considered any his inferior. He loved his friends and was intensely loyal to them. No one ever appealed to him for aid in the hour of trouble in vain. His conception of right and wrong, doubtless made him recognize at times that his


friend was in the wrong, and he may have told this friend that he was wrong, but none other ever heard him admit that any friend of his ever did wrong. He always followed the theory that the enemies of this friend were quite sufficient to proclaim that friend’s shortcomings without the aid or encouragement from him. He was in every sense of the word, a gentleman by nature, by birth and education, cultured, quiet and refined, yet forceful. A man of lofty ideals and high ambitions, he adhered to them closely of exalted purposes he subserved them carefully and of noble instincts and impulses he was true to them fully. Courageous, honest, powerful of intellect, benevolent of heart, he has passed into the great beyond leaving to his state, his friends and his family the legacy of distinguished service unselfishly performed, a standard of lofty and steadfast character, a heritage of loving devotion and duty faithfully accomplished in every relation. Bearing upon his breast the white flower of an unsullied name, no purer soul than his ever entered the portals of Paradise. Therefore, be it Resolved First: That in the death of Brother Robert S. Neblett the Masonic Order and Corsicana Lodge have lost a faithful member and able and capable leader of noteworthy accomplishment and growing power, whose ideals of life were high, whose honesty of purpose was unwavering, whose energy was untiring, whose service was self-sacrificing, whose loyalty to duty was abiding and whose influence for good upon the entire community was constantly increasing. Second: That in the death of Robert S. Neblett the State of Texas and the City of Corsicana have lost a distinguished and able lawyer, a talented and public-spirited citizen, whose private life represented the highest type of pure manhood, and whose public life was blameless and unspotted, and whose life and character was an inspiration to all with whom he came in contact; that measured by the standard of upright character and lofty ideals, judged by the value of his life and work his name is entitled to be

enrolled among those whom the people acclaim great, and while his face and presence will be sorely missed, his influence and memory will abide. Third: That we commend to all, and especially to the youth of our land the manly virtues exemplified in the life and character of our deceased brother, and express the sincere hope and belief that in this, as in other ways, he being dead, may yet life in the higher ideals and nobler deeds of those who survive him. Fourth: That in recognition of his valuable services and successful efforts in behalf of this lodge, we earnestly recommend the purchase of the portrait of him recently executed and that the same be hung on the walls of the lodge room, as a tribute to his worth as a man, as a citizen, as a mason, and as a testimonial to the memory of our beloved brother. Fifth: That we tender to his bereaved family our sincere sympathy and condolence for their irreparable loss; that a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of this lodge, a copy be sent to the press, and a copy be delivered to his family. Respectfully submitted,R. R. Owen, Jno. H. Rice, Ed M. Polk, Committee

Robert Scott Neblett Mar. 16, 1855 - Jan. 18, 1918


JUDGE NEBLETT DIED IN TEMPLE

Great Lawyer and Good Citizen Died at Early Hour Today

The community was informed yesterday that Judge R. W. Neblett had been hurried to Temple Wednesday night because of a serious illness, and even that news was a shock to the community, but when a telephone message came at noon today from his wife saying that he had just passed away at the Scott & White sanitarium a deep and profound sorrow spread like a pall over the entire community, for no man was more universally esteemed and loved than Robt. S. Neblett. This universal love and esteem was not simply because he was a great lawyer and a good citizen, but because he had a great heart and enjoyed doing good to humanity for humanity’s sake. The body will reach Corsicana at 9:30 in the morning, but no funeral arrangements have yet been made. Mrs. Neblett telephoned to Mr. Albert Brooks soon after his death and requested that friends to no expense about her husband’s funeral, and if any of his friends had any money to spend for flowers, it

was his desire that they give the money to Red Cross or the United Charities.

When the deceased began working for the government in connection with the registration of soldiers, he wrote the authorities at Washington not to put his name on the pay roll, saying his work for his country was gratuitous. The authorities paid no attention to his request and recently sent him $180. Judge Neblett promptly divided that amount equally between the United Charities and the Red Cross. The Sun simply mentions these matters to show the great sympathetic heart of the man.

The deceased was about sixty-two years old and was born in Texas. His father, who was also a lawyer, lived in Corsicana when his son was a child four or five years old, but later moved to Grimes County, where the deceased grew to manhood. He returned to Corsicana to live about 1882 and has practiced his profession here continuously since. For many years he had been the lawyer here for the Houston & Texas Central railroad as well as the Cotton Belt, and was known all over Texas as one of its ablest jurists. Not, only was he an able lawyer, a ripe scholar, and few men were as well informed in the sciences and literature of this and past ages, and his wide reading made him a most entertaining companion. Although not a politician the deceased was sent to the legislature from this county a few years ago and soon ranked among its leaders but politics did not suit him and he did not seek re-election.

He was a Mason of high order, but belonged to no other organization. Surviving the deceased is his widow and three children, Mrs. Lynn Brooks, Mrs. J. W. Hall and Robt. Neblett, Jr., and to these the entire community extends the deepest and most sincere sympathy. Mrs. Neblett was with him when the end came, but Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Hall, Robert Neblett and Miss Fannie Rice left here at 8 o’clock this morning by automobile for Temple, but the end came before they reached there.


Later—A telephone message from Mrs. Neblett at 4 o’clock this evening said that the funeral would take place at 9:30 in the morning from the Union Station, and that the Masons would be in Charge.

Attention Masons.

The members of the Masonic Lodge will meet at 8:45 tomorrow morning in the Lodge room for the purpose of attending the funeral of our deceased brother, Judge R. S. Neblett.

R. L. HAMILTON, W.M.

FINAL TRIBUTE TO DEAD FRIEND

Body of Judge Neblett Laid at Rest in Oakwood Today

The remains of the late Judge R. S. Neblett arrived from Temple this morning, accompanied by his grief-stricken family and a large concourse of friends met them at the train at 9:10 to mingle their sorrow with those who were nearest to him.

The procession formed soon after the train reached the Union Station and a long line of automobiles followed the body to Oakwood cemetery where it was laid to rest with Masonic honors. Through respect to his well-known wishes there was no display and no flowers, but no funeral cortege that ever assembled in Corsicana carried sadder faces.

The active pall bearers were Judge R. R. Owen, Adair Dyer, Major C. H. Mills, Judge J. J. McClellan, R. B. Molloy and J. S. Callicutt. The honorary pall bearers were Capt. W. J. McKie, Hon. J. H. Woods, Judge J. M. Blanding, Dr. W. D. Cross, Judge J. H. Rice, Capt. C. H. Allyn and Capt. Jas Garitty.

At the grave Mayor J. L. Halbert, for the United Charities, paid a splendid tribute to the memory

of the deceased, and he was followed by Major C. H. Mills, who paid this beautiful tribute to the memory of the man whose death is so deeply and universally mourned:

It is with a sort of proud sorrow that we contemplate the death of our good friend.

The thought that we shall not look upon his face again cannot displace the satisfaction which all who knew him must take in his life and in his work.

To those of us who knew him more intimately this bereavement assumes the proportions of a personal loss. For above all it was his character that set him apart from other men.

He abounded in those little acts of kindness and of love which make a man’s memory fragrant among his associates. His sympathy was as constant as the appeals which were made to it, and he had a heart as open as the day. He did nothing common or mean. In his generous nature, small motives never found a place. The firm texture of his goodness never yielded to a strain. He was a man whom everybody trusted.

A man of varied scholarship and wide reading, he gave his life to his beloved profession of the law. Here he was a master. Having acquired a firm grasp of the great fundamental truths, he applied them, with a large sagacity, to every problem. He was never lost in a forest of details. Not for him the fine drawn speculation, or novelties of reasoning, which could only be expressed in terms of mathematical intricacy. Rugged good sense and downright argument were his stock in trade.

The specialty of his mind was a strong simplicity. He took a plain obvious view of every subject that came before him. Ingenuities, refinements, and specious fallacies might be suggested around him in any number or variety, but his mind was combination-proof. The power of logic and analysis which he possessed, destroyed each ambiguity, and each subtle distinction as it presented itself.


After years of such work he came to have a reputation for clear and conclusive judgment in matters legal. You might be puzzled, but if you took your doubts and fears to him, you got an answer straight and clear.

His nature was kindly, and justice the actuating motive of his life. An act of cruelty, or a breach of faith would make his benevolent fact grow stern, and yet he always seemed to find it hard to use the strong language of condemnation. He simply was unaccustomed to it and shrank from its employment.

The exception, which proves the rule, in this instance was the great struggle in which the world is now engaged. He knew that it was absolutely without justification. His spirit was roused to revolt by its cruelties, and by the suffering which followed in its train. The iron entered into his soul, and much as he abhorred war with all its attendant evils, he wanted to live to see it finished, and as he expressed it “finished right,” and therefore he was willing and anxious that every resource at the command of his beloved country should be used to the attainment of that great end.

His wish was not granted, but he died steadfast in the belief that when the end did come, it would be seen that “He who worketh high and wise” had not let go “unwhipt of justice” the great sinners of the earth.

He is gone. Hearts may ache, and eyes become suffused with tears; and it may be that the place which his going away has caused will never be filled again as he filled it, yet the world is better for his living, and we who knew and loved him are better men and women for our association with him for we have profited and shall continue to profit from his precept and example.

“His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, this was a man.”

We lay him to rest in this quiet and peaceful God’s Acre, where the soft south wind shall whisper his requiem to the listening trees, and

his memory shall be ever green to those of us, his neighbors and friends, who loved, and have lost him.

All the banks of the city were closed for an hour during the funeral, and everywhere, from people in town and county, nothing was to be heard but expressions of profound sorrow at the death of one of the county’s best and most useful citizens.

The district court adjourned for the entire day out of respect for the deceased.

Memory of Judge R. S. Neblett Fittingly Honored by Navarro County Bar

Association

Yesterday was a gloomy day as to weather conditions. It was a day also upon which Corsicana looked with a heavy heart. Only a few days ago Judge Neblett, a man who was so true that even his faults, if he had them, leaned to virtue’s side had been called to the Great Beyond. With clouds overhanging the city and facing a bitter cold wind, spitting, stinging drops of rain, a large number of men and women gathered in the district court room to mingle their sorrow with that of the members of the Navarro County Bar Association, who had appointed this day to pay tribute to Judge Neblett, who would no more grace that body with his presence and who had been a honored member. the fact that so many defied the elements was itself a magnificent tribute to the man whose memory was being commemorated. The fact that the speakers without exception spoke of his generous heart and liberal hand, of his willingness to help when called upon showed that he scattered sunshine wherever he went. His knowledge of the law was only equaled, as the speakers indicated, by his love of it. Without exception they credited him with having a wonderfully attentive memory as well as a strikingly analytical mind. It was told over and over yesterday how his fellow practitioners called on him when law questions were involved and how unfailingly he responded, and always with correct information. He did it out of the abundance of his knowledge and the fullness of his heart, for


the reason, his friends said, that he loved men, and saying it they gave no evidence of flattery. They credited him with a big mind and a big heart and as a man capable of doing big things. Yet he was equally sensitive to the importance of what are sometimes referred to as the little things. He inclined his ear to the young lawyer’s modest request for advice, he succored without waiting to be asked the man in need and heard in advance of others the cry of the orphan and was first to see the tears of the widow. And in it all there was no display, no thought of letting the left hand know what the right was doing. His life and his work was laid before his friends on this occasion and by them it was unanimously agreed that his was a life worthy of emulation and it was the further verdict that the belief was in every heart present that the Great Ruler had already pronounced the edict of well done.

Judge J. M. Blanding, as president of the Bar Association, presided and after calling the meeting to order, paid a splendid tribute to the deceased, reviewing his useful and unselfish life as a citizen and his high standing as a lawyer in all the courts of the country. The speaker declared that Judge Neblett had few enemies, but many friends; few faults, but many virtues. At the conclusion of Judge Blanding’s address Mr. Adair Dyer was made secretary, and an appropriate song was rendered by a sextette composed of Mr. Lloyd Kerr, Miss Rollin Shaw, Miss Sloan Johnson, Mrs. J. L. Dockum, Miss Evelyn McKie and Mr. Hugh Johnson.

Hon. Richard Mays presented a set of resolutions in memory of the deceased and in doing so spoke as follows: Brethren of the Bar, Ladies and Gentlemen:

The mortal remains of our departed member now lie within the bosom of the earth from whence it came, in yonder beautiful Oakwood cemetery.

Mortality has put on immortality—a part of which we now commemorate.

As to his memory, we bid defiance to the declaration that the evil that men do lives after them, and that the good is oft interred with their bones

The Bar, which he loved so well, has an interest in the legacy he left behind, and it now wishes to perpetuate it in so far as it can. And in emulation of the noble Romans in principle and deed, we convert this forum into our Appian Way and here write and proclaim in final and durable form our conception of his merits and worth to present and future generations of the Bar.

Your committee on resolutions directs me to present the following for your consideration and it is with emotion that I proceed.

Mr. Mays then read the resolutions in the midst of profound silence on the part of the audience, as follows:

To the Hon. J. M. Blanding, President of the Navarro County Bar Association:

Your committee, to whom was assigned the privilege of preparing a suitable tribute of love and respect to the memory of our lamented deceased brother, Judge R. S. Neblett, to be presented on this occasion to this Association, beg to report that if it meets the approbation of the Bar Association we would like to have this called.

An Appreciation.

Robert Scott Neblett was born in Grimes county, Texas on March 16, 1855, and died in Temple, Texas, (where he had gone for medical treatment) on January 18th, A. D. 1918. He first came to Corsicana, Texas, with his parents when two years of age in June, 1857. During the Civil War, about 1862 or 1863, the family returned to Grimes county, in November, 1877. He returned to Corsicana on January 1st, 1878, and formed a partnership with the Hon. Rufus Hardy, the present Congressman from this district, for the practice of law. He was married


November 25, 1879 to Miss Mattie C. Yeater, in Hearne, Robertson county, Texas, and he has lived continuously in Corsicana since January 1st 1878. Four children blessed this union, the first, a girl, who died at the age of six weeks, two daughters, Mrs. L. D. Brooks and Mrs. Winston Hall, and one son, Robert S. Neblett, now in our High School, who with his widow, still survive him. In personal appearance our friend was about 6 feet, or possibly a little less, in height, weighed possibly 175 or 180 pounds. His carriage was always erect, with straight back and squared shoulders and his step always alert. His head was beautifully modeled, showing a round contour with a noble forehead and the perceptive and reflective features fully developed. In type he was blond, with grayish blue eyes and blond hair. While we would not say he was a handsome man we know he was a striking personality, who attracted attention at once in any gathering of notable men. Your committee feels it will be pardoned these intimate personal references to our friend, for it desires to put on permanent record a true picture of the life, personality and character of the one whose memory we desire to perpetuate today. Your committee desires to say in the outset that it is its purpose to avoid a stilted and stereotyped presentation of the life, character and virtues of the friend whose memory we seek to honor today, and without fulsome eulogy to present to this Association in a plain, simple and direct manner such as would comport with his own character, a true appreciation of the lawyer and the man.

Intellectually Robert S. Neblett was first and foremost a lawyer, and we believe a great lawyer. To his chosen profession he had given all the strength and force of his mind. He was a most diligent and untiring student of the books where the law is imbedded. His familiarity with the reported decisions of the higher courts of this State was wonderful indeed, and many of his lazier brethren regarded and used him as a digest. We, his less studious brethren constantly went to him with the question, “Bob, where will I find authority for this proposition?” and the answer was always cheerful and prompt: “”Why, that was decided

in such a volume,” and nearly always the exact page, and if perchance, his retentive memory failed to remember the page he would drop any business in hand, reach for the volume, read the case and illumine the point with his own clear and analytical criticism. He was a safe counselor, and believed the true duty and province of the lawyer is to keep clients out of the forum rather than to rush them into litigation, but in actual practice at the bar he was a careful and skillful practitioner and trial lawyer, always courteous to the Bench and opposing counsel. Perhaps his greatest forte in the profession was the preparation of the record and the briefing of a case on appeal. Here he had few equals and no superior. He possessed in an eminent degree those qualities that would have adorned the Supreme Bench of the State, for “in the explorations of the ocean of legal lore, his search was for two pearls to be found in its depth—trust and justice.” Notwithstanding the demands of a very busy practice he took time to serve his fellow citizens in several important and useful positions.

He served as Mayor of Corsicana from 1885 to 1888. He was chairman of the School Board of Corsicana from 1899 to 1905 and represented Navarro county in the 30th Legislature in 1907, and was chairman of the Board of Managers of the State Orphan Home in 1911. Perhaps the well-known superiority and efficiency of the Public Schools of Corsicana can be attributed very largely to his unflagging zeal and wise and prudent administration of school affairs. In connection with his service in the legislature an incident which only illustrates his scrupulous and punctilious sense of honor and the right and proper thing to do, may be mentioned. To avoid even the appearance of representing the people and railway interests at the same time, he declined to receive any part of the compensation received by his firm as attorneys for the Cotton Belt and H. & T. C. Railways and at once returned all his railway passes, which gave him free transportation to every portion of the United States.


We turn now to consider our friend and brother as a man and citizen in private life. In this relation he was indeed one of God’s Noblemen, modest and unassuming to a degree, and very far from self-seeking. Honest personally and intellectually as the day was long-generous and charitable to a fault, it seemed that he lived to do good and be helpful to others, and especially to others less fortunately circumstanced than himself. Before the organization of our United Charities in Corsicana he had for many years modestly constituted himself the United Charities and no call of distress of which he could hear went unheeded. He did not wait for the call to come, but went to seek it. If pecuniary relief was needed his purse was always open and if mental or moral sorrow came to his notice he was promptly on hand with tender sympathy and wise counsel. We will never know the extent of his acts of charity and benevolence because there were so secretly and unostentatiously performed. He was a man of wide and varied reading and culture, especially in the English classics of prose and poetry, in science, biology and kindred studies.

Your committee approaches now with some hesitancy the question of the religious convictions of our friend. R. S. Neblett believed in a Supreme Being and in immortality. His mind was too deep and keen to admit the thought that the universe came by chance and was sustained and governed by blind material forces. Postulating a Supreme Architect of the Universe, his logical mind could not conceive that this Supreme Power could take such infinite pains to make and set on its way so wonderful a being as a human body, mind and soul, making up the complex being man, so fearfully and he wonderfully made, to no end or for nothing. While his views were not orthodox as orthodoxy is generally accepted. In the gospel according to St. James there is given a definition of true religion. St. James says that “True and undefiled religion before our God is to visit the widow and the fatherless and keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Could anyone have fulfilled these conditions more nearly than our friend? You know how near to his heart were the widow and the fatherless, and his mind and

heart were as pure and clean as those of a good woman.

In closing this imperfect sketch, it remains only to call attention to his intense patriotism which impelled him for months past to give his efficient and loyal service to his Government as Chairman of Board of Exemptions No. 1, and few recognize the irksome, arduous and thankless duties he here performed without the hope of fee or reward.

In conclusion your committee requests that this Association ask the Hon. District Judge of Navarro County to permit a page of the Civil Minutes of said Court to bear a copy of this heartfelt tribute and that said page be set aside as sacred to the memory of Robert Scott Neblett.

Judge J. H. Rice moved the adoption of the resolution and followed his motion with a beautiful tribute to the deceased, especially to his character as a Mason.

Judge C. L. Jester seconded the motion, with only a few remarks, because he was suffering from a severe sore throat, but his tribute was beautiful and heartfelt.

Judge H. B. Daviss followed with a splendid tribute to the deceased as a lawyer at the bar, saying that all Texas recognized him as a great lawyer and above it all a just and honest man in the practice of his profession, and in the private walks of life as a true and loving friend, and one whose private life was pure to the degree that it was spotless, and while he had no creed he believed him to have been a deeply religious man. Judge Daviss spoke highly of Judge Neblett’s knowledge of the law and declared that the last two governors had missed an opportunity to honor themselves, their state and the judiciary by not appointing Judge Neblett to a position on one higher courts. He had told Judge Neblett that he would do what he could to have him appointed, but that Judge Neblett’s deep modesty had prompted him to declare that he did not wish the appointment if he must ask for it.


The motion to adopt the resolutions as read by Mr. Mays also carried with a motion that the resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the district court. Judge Daviss declared that he would be glad to devote all space necessary to accommodate the resolutions and he hoped that every lawyer would attach his signature to them, thus testifying his endorsement of their contents.

Judge J. J. McClellan read a letter from Judge E. B. Perkins of Dallas, saying he regretted very much his inability to be present. The letter was address to Messrs. W. J. McKie, J. J. McClellan and R. R. Owen, program committee, with the letter were the following expressions from Judge Perkins showing the high esteem in which he held the man whose death is deeply mourned in Corsicana:

“R. S. Neblett.”

“For many years I have been intimately associated with R. S. Neblett. It is possible that we never know another individual, but I think I knew and understood him as well as one man knows and understands another. We have worked together in practical affairs, wher the utmost candor was required; in times of leisure, we have communed together about the higher things of life, and about their exceeding value as compared with the transitory and material. It is true that as to that value man always has difficulty, because he wanders in the mists and in the shadows; he ‘sees through the glass darkly.’ and is always, except in his exalted moods, troubled with more or less doubts and uncertainties. He had these troubles, as we all have, but always found that he rested securely on the eternal verities. Like many a good man, he had read much, and thought much, therefore, did not walk blindly in the beaten paths, but he never stepped out of the paths of right and duty, as he saw that path. His vision was clear as to right and wrong and he never compromised with wrong. His courage was modest but unfailing, and he would, therefore, stand out in the open for his convictions. If he was impatient

with anything it was with hypocrisy. He was always lenient with the man who did not know and had a helping hand for the man who was unfortunate, but in this regard he fulfilled the injunction, ‘Not let his left hand know what his right hand did.’ As a friend, he was loyal to a degree that is altogether uncommon among the children of men; his friend’s interest was his interest; his friend was his neighbor, and he loved his neighbor as he loved himself. He thoroughly qualified himself to understand citizenship, and as a citizen he was ever vigilant, watchful and true to his country. There has probably been no man in Texas, during the period in which he has been active as a citizen, who made fewer mistakes with reference to what was and would be beneficial to the people. It sometimes seemed as to untried theories, that his intuition as to what was right, was uncanny. New fads and fancies in government were mercilessly dissected by him, and the results of their adoption foretold with prophetic certainty. As a lawyer he was absolutely devoted to the purity of the law. He was ready at all times and places to defend that purity. His learning reached back to the fountains of the law, and followed its streams through all the ages, so that many things that seemed new and novel to other lawyers, were told to him. His respect for the poet was unbounded but his contempt for the man unfitted for the position who happened by some accident, to gent on the Bench, was profound. Still he was not a satirist or a mean critic; but he was very much disturbed to see a bungler attempt to handle the law. With all this, he went his way a simple, unassuming, urbane and cheerful citizen. His record is made up, but is now before the court of last resort. Of that Court, we do not know what we would know, but we have an abiding faith, hope and belief, that in its judgements there will be no error. Looking at his record, as we see it, we feel safe as to the judgement that will be pronounced in his case. It is true that we see this record with infinite eyes; our vision is, therefore, limited, but we see it by the light of the wonderful rules of life that has come down to us from the First Book of Law—the light that enlightens the world; the light that has guided the sages,


philosophers and jurists of all times. Therefore, we are confirmed in our opinion of this record.

“We will miss him—his place will not be supplied—in fact, no man’s place is supplied or filled. Each man has his own place in this Universe. We will not forge him, however, because he is absent. We will remember the goodness that he represented, and if he had faults they are already obliterated.”

After reading the tribute Judge McClellan spoke earnestly and feelingly of Judge Neblett and told how he had aided him in the beginning his legal career in Corsicana and of his wonderful knowledge as a lawyer. Concluding his remarks Judge McClellan read an unfinished address that Judge Neblett had outlined to deliver before the United Charities as to the duties and needs of the organization at the beginning of the new year 1918.

Dexter Hamilton followed Judge McClellan and he, too, paid an eloquent, earnest tribute to the character of the deceased.

Hon. J. H. Woods followed in a beautiful and thoughtful tribute to his friend and neighbor, saying many beautiful things of him and his noble thoughts and manly search after knowledge and of his undying love for his fellowman. Mr. Woods spoke with evident feeling and was deeply in earnest. He told of his early associations with Judge Neblett and he spoke of Judge Neblett’s public service as he did of his private life. He too, referred to the deep knowledge of the law and repeating what Judge Davis had said as to two governors failing in recognize Judge Neblett’s superior qualifications for the bench, said that on one occasion entirely without Judge Neblett’s knowledge he had personally called on the governor and urged his appointment.

Hon. W. A. Tarver in eloquent earnestness referred to Judge Neblett’s many noble traits of character especially referring to the time when he was president of the school board, and later as he knew him as a helper and generous advisor and councellor of the younger men of the bar,

whom he never failed to aid with his kind words and timely advice.

Judge R. R. Owen, who has been closely associated with Judge Neblett for the past several months on the board of exemptions declared him to have been uniformly kind and considerate of others, but that he had done his duty to his country and that as a lawyer he had never tried to win a case in any doubtful way, but by his superior knowledge of the law and from his high sense of justice.

Adair Dyer paid a short and splendid tribute to the character of the deceased, dwelling especially upon his modesty, at the same time pointing to his great mind and character. He declared that Judge Neblett was truly a great lawyer, a great scholar, a statesman and a man.

Mr. W. H. Taylor said that he had known Judge Neblett for twenty five years and he knew him not only as a great lawyer but as a true friend.

Mayor Halbert was called and read the following tribute from the United Charities to the memory of the deceased;

The United Charities of Corsicana bows its head, in sympathy with this community, in the loss of Hon. R. S. Neblett.

He was not only a man of strong intellect, of broad learning and of high attainments at the Bar, but his qualities of Heart were as marked as his qualities of Intellect. He was simple in his tastes and habits, as becomes a citizen of a Democracy. He was not cold and aloft, as scholars are apt to be, but friendly, affable and easy to approach. He was a lover of books, of trees, and of his fellow men. His ear was quick to catch the cry of distress, and his heart and hand quick to give relief.

As president of our Association, he was punctual and faithful in the discharge of his duties, wise in his council, and in heart sympathy with every phase of charitable work.


We shall miss him greatly. Peace to his ashes. And may those with whom he has worked, and those for whom he has worked, know him again in a world where the ties of friendship are not broken, nor the Bonds of Love dissolved.

Respectfully submitted.

S. M. KERR,

J. L. HALBERT,

Committee.

Briefly commenting, Mayor Halbert said: “At the meeting Friday night, an unconscious but beautiful tribute was paid Mr. Neblett by three of the members. One of them remarked that she thought that Mr. Neblett was more interested in the work of United Charities than anything else. Another thought he was more interested in the Belgian Children’s Relief Fund while the third said: ‘No, you know he was always urging us not to forget the little ones here at home.’ Could anything show more forcefully his keen interest in charity?

Mr. Neblett was a clean minded man. The vulgar and the impure found no place in his life. If doubt if even in his younger days he was ever guilty of any character of dissipation. so in his maturer manhood he was not forced with Lord Byron, to look back upon a wasted past, and cry

“The thorns which I have reaped are of the tree; they have torn me and I bleed.

I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed.”

The Master has said: “The pure in heart shall see God.”

Mr. E. H. Church read a splendid tribute to the deceased. The full text of Mr. Church’s remarks follow:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Not having been trained in the arts of oratory and being of a diffident nature, so much so that I always feel embarrassed in speaking in the public, and wishing to add my mite to the homage which is being paid to our deceased friend and fellow citizen, I crave your indulgence while I read the few remarks I wish to make. It is with a sad heart and a deep feeling of personal loss that I add this small tribute to the memory of my friend. My acquaintance with the distinguished dead runs back to the time when we were both young men. Our acquaintance soon ripened into a friendship which remained steadfast to the day of Judge Neblett’ s death. Of late years our relations were more intimate from the fact that we were interested in the same line of study: biology and kindred subjects and our frequent discussions of these subjects led to an intellectual comradeship which was highly prized by myself, as it was my great privilege to enjoy the benefits of his erudition and ripe scholarship. Judge Neblett, early in life had broken the shackles of an unreasoned and inherited faith and was intellectually brave enough to follow the teaching of his reason to whatever end it might lead. He was fully abreast of the advanced thoughts of the day. He was a great admirer of Charles Darwin and has told me, that he thought that Mr. Darwin, by his great works on natural selection, had done more to advance our knowledge than any man who ever lived. He accepted Prof. Haeckel’s Monistic philosophy which teaches the unity of nature and that all living organisms had a common origin. That life can be traced from the lowest protists in an unbroken chain first through the fishes then the amphibian, reptiles, birds, monotremes, marsupials, prosimiae (the lowest primates), simian, manlike apes and finally speaking man. Holding these views he believed with Henry Ward Beecher that if man ever fell, he fell upward. That in the childhood of the race, man was in constant struggle with the forces of nature, both animate and in animate, but by a slow and gradual increase of brain power he learned to fashion weapons with which to defend himself and secure his food and by observing the different phenomena of nature


that certain causes always produced certain effects, his reasoning faculties arose and that through all of the ages man’s course has been continually upward—Though his advance was at times checked—when man would almost be swamped by darkness yet there were a few noble minds to keep alight the torch of reason and carry civilization forward until it reached its present heights. He believed in universal absolute reign of law; that every effect had a sufficient cause, that nothing came by chance. Therefore there was no place in his philosophy for miracle. It was a great pleasure and a privilege to hear him discuss these or any other subjects when he chose as I think he had one of the most comprehensive minds I ever came in contact with. He had a breadth of view and mental grasp that is rare among men. He was a great student, omnivorous reader and deep thinker. Not being bound by conventionalism his mind was free to soar to any heights. His only concern with any statement presented was: Is it true? Added to all of these qualities of mind was a noble and generous heart. He was kind, sympathetic and gentle as a woman, charitable to the shortcomings of others and ever ready to relieve distress. His charity embraced mankind. It knew no nationality or creed. He respected men for what they were, not for what they believed or where they were born, and I believe that when the judgment of his life and character shall finally be entered it will be as expressed by the poet. Leigh Hunt:

Abou Ben Adheni (may his tribe increace!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.

And saw within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An Angel, writing in a book of gold;

Exceeding peace had been Ben Adhem hold,

And to the Presence in the room he said:

“What writest thou?” The vision raised its head,

And, with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered: “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?” said Abou, “Nay, not so.”

Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still, and said “I pray thee, then,

Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”

The Angel wrote and vanished. The next night

It came again with a great awakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,

And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name lead all the rest.

Mr. Church was followed by Ralph Beaton who read a carefully prepared paper to the memory of the deceased, saying that he was not only a great man but that he was humanity’s friend.

Capt. W. J. McKie said that he and Judge Neblett had been intimate since young manhood and that he knew him to be a deep thinker in his profession and out of it, and that in all of the walks of life he was a man. He was not and never sought to be a noisy leader of men, but he did his own thinking and was never led by anything except his own sense of right and justice. He did much good in the world in the war of charity, but did it for humanity’s good, and not for the gain he hoped to get out of it. His life was one of absolute unselfishness. In short, he had a big brain, a great heart and his life was a noble one.

Rev. Abe Mulkey, who is out of town, sent his expressions of regret at the loss of Judge Neblett, whom he regarded as one of Corsicana’s most useful best citizens. In 1876, when Judge Neblett was a young man here, he and others


boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Mulkey. At that time they had a temperance society here and Judge Neblett was Worthy Primate and Hon. Rufus Hardy secretary. Both boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Mulkey. the Society met in an unseated room and Judges Neblett, and Hardy and Mr. Mulkey would each take a chair from home to the hall. Judge Neblett as well as the other young men took great interest in the temperance society, and all else that went for the good of Corsicana.

The court room was draped for the occasion, decorated with the National colors, which was in itself recognition of the high qualities of the man who was being honored. It was 5 o’clock before the meeting adjourned and when that hour came all present were more deeply impressed than ever before with the fact that Corsicana had lost a citizen who was an ornament to all of its best circles, that the despondent had lost a sincere helper, that the poor had parted with a man whose sympathies were always with them, and that humanity had lost a friend.

Grave of Judge Robert Scott Neblett Buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Corsicana,

Texas.

NEBLETT, ROBERT CALDWELL (1795–1871). Robert Caldwell Neblett, physician, planter, and public official, was born in Roanoke, Virginia, on October 28, 1795. He served in the War of 1812 and taught school for two years before he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his medical diploma. He practiced medicine in Tennessee and in Mississippi, where he married Maria Powe of South Carolina. In 1830 he moved to Louisiana. About 1833 he settled on the east bank of the Sabine River at what became known as Neblett's Bluff. Many immigrants bound for Texas received medical attention, supplies, and hospitality at his plantation. He bought many Texas land certificates from veterans of the Texas Revolution and moved to the state in 1840 or 1841. He lived at Houston for a time before starting a plantation on a site two miles northeast of Navasota in what is now southwest Grimes County. In 1843 he helped organize the Masonic Collegiate Institute at Anderson. In 1855–56 he represented Grimes County in the House of the Sixth Texas Legislature. He died in 1871 and was buried at Anderson. His name appears on a monument on the courthouse grounds at Anderson.

Grave of Robert Caldwell Neblett

Oddfellows Cemetery Anderson, Texas

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qdt01


Elizabeth (Lizzie) Scott Neblett, diarist, was born in Raymond, Mississippi, to James and Sarah (Lane) Scott on January 17, 1833. In 1839, when she was six years old, the family moved to Houston, Texas. The following year they moved to Fanthorp Springs, three miles east of the site of present Anderson in Grimes County. The area was sparsely populated, and the first school Lizzie attended was held in a small log cabin. On May 25, 1852, she married William H. Neblett, a Texas farmer, planter, and aspiring attorney. William H. Neblett was the son of Robert Caldwell Neblett and Maria Powe. The couple spent their first three years of married life in Anderson and moved to Corsicana in 1855. There William Neblett practiced law, edited the Navarro Express, and farmed property three miles outside of town. The family returned to Grimes County in December 1861. Mrs. Neblett kept a diary from March 1852, two months before her marriage, until May 1863, shortly after her husband left to serve the Confederacy. She wrote, "I can never gain worldly honors. Fame can never be mine. I am a woman! A woman! I can hardly teach my heart to be content with my lot." She found one of her greatest hardships to be childbirth; she had six children and asked her husband to let her use artificial birth control. She was an avid reader of literature and poetry and saved copies of favorite poems and stories in bulging scrapbooks. Her diary, combined with her letters, scrapbooks, and a memoir she wrote about her deceased husband, provide a picture of a mid-nineteenth-century Texas woman. Following her husband's death in 1871, she lived most of her remaining years in Anderson, where she died on September 28, 1917. Her diary and letters were published in 2001 called “A Rebel Wife in Texas”.

William H. Neblett and Elizabeth Scott Neblett


William Henry Neblett

William Henry Neblett was born March 2, 1826 to Robert Caldwell Neblett and Maria Powe Neblett. He enlisted in the Confederate States Army on March 9, 1863 in Anderson, Texas for 3 years. He was in Company I 20th Regiment (Elmore’s Regiment). He was granted furlough on June 11, 1863 for 15 days. He was detached to serve as a Clerk at the Headquarters in Galveston, Texas on December 4, 1863. He was given a surgeon’s certificate for disability for field service on March 18, 1864. He was 38 years of age at the time. He was found to be suffering from “rheumatism, neuralgia and bronchial affliction and general physical delicacy.” He was then sent to the Quarter Master Department in Houston on July 14, 1864 and again on January 12, 1865. In his wife’s diary she describes the letters he wrote about his time spent in Houston and Galveston during the war between the States. Their second child was Judge Robert Scott Neblett. He died on May 4, 1871 and is buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Anderson, Texas.

His brother Sterling Powe Neblett also served in the Confederate States Army in the 3rd

Cavalry Company K. He and his wife Viola Brown Neblett are buried in Oakland Cemetery

in Navasota, Texas.


Commemorative Plates $25 each

Caps $10 each

Coffee Mugs - $10 each

Tote Bags $10 each

Grimes County Historical Commission Issue 4 Volume 3 April ......GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION...

Documents

Transcript of Grimes County Historical Commission Issue 4 Volume 3 April ......GRIMES COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION...