Darn Fossil, I hate to disagree with you, but...

The Deeres actually fired like a 3-cylinder with one cylinder missing. So the timing, assuming as you did, the first firing at 0 degrees in a 2 revolution, 720 degree cycle, the cylinders would fire at 0 and 240 degrees, with a gap of 480 until the next firing.

The Deere engines were huge, the early "D" models were about 460 cubic inch (230 per cylinder) and turned pretty slow. I think they put out about 30hp at around 800 rpm. The size, and the lopsided firing sequence, coupled with huge flywheels, gave them lots of torque, according to the engineers of the day.

The "D" was one of the longest-lived of any tractor model, prouced from 1923 to 1953. The 2-cylinder design was even older, and originated with the Waterloo Boy tractor company in about 1912. Deere bought Waterloo, and those early 2-cylinders are highly prized by collectors. Not many of them survived WWII scrap drives.

The 2-cylinder design lived at Deere until 1963, when the "New Generation" 4010 6-cylinder diesel debuted. The 2-cylinder had been produced in tons of sizes and designs and at HP of up to 75hp in diesel versions.

The "New Generation" tractors were a whole different story, as some surveys put the Deere 4020 in as "Best Tractor Ever Made". As I grew up on the first 4020 sold between Amarillo and Big Spring, I have to agree.


Deeres were notoriously hard to start, especially when cold. That's the big reason for the gas tank, because the more volatile gasoline made for easier cranking.

There were no magneto adjustments on the Deere, so to start, you began by opening the cylinder petcocks. These relieved pressure in the cylinder, and made the tractor easier to start. Then you turned on the gasoline, gave it full choke, then brought the huge flywheel (on the left side of the tractor) up to just before TDC of cylinder one.

The trick at that point was not to spin the wheel fast, but to flick it across the "hump" of TDC compression of cylinder one. If you were lucky, it would catch a little on cylinder one, fire well when #2 rolled up, and be running when #1 came back up. Then you closed the petcocks, which by this point are spewing air/gas constantly. Then you turn the fuel to kerosene when the engine warms up.

The very very early "D"s had flywheels with spokes (highly desired by collectors). These were soon replaced with smooth disk flywheels, which I presume were safer to start...less chance of catching an arm in the flywheel.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 11/27/2006 1:31p).]

My dad bought a 1964 model 4020 in the late 1960's. My brother still uses it albeit for utlity work like running PTO grain augers and such. I think that old tractor has about 10000 hours on it. You have to start it with a screwdriver, but it still runs like a champ.

Between my dad and my uncle, there were 4 4020's in our family in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Great all around tractors. And as CanyonAg pointed out, many folks (including the readers of Farm Show) consider them the best tractors ever made. A decent 4020 still brings $10,000.

Burd---

Please, please, please, please PLEASE fix the starter on that 4020.

You probably know, but in case you don't, the old "start it with a screwdriver" trick bypass the nuetral safety circuit. This allows the tractor to start in gear, and the poor guy standing on the ground shorting across the starter is the first one run over, just a millisecond away from the back axle, and a few more milliseconds away from whatever implement is attached.

Every farm community has at least one death from a "20 series" tractor running over an operator starting it from the ground. I know mine did.

Deere even had a campaign in the 80s where they would send mechanics out to the farm to place plastic covers over the switches for free. They were paying their mechanics a $20 per tractor bounty for every tractor they found. Apparently there was a class action lawsuit over the unsafe design.

quote:

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A decent 4020 still brings $10,000.

---

I know of ones in good shape mechanically and cosmetically bringing closer to $20,000. At that price, you're almost better off buying a 4440 for utility purposes.

The 4020 was definitely one of the greatest tractors ever made, though I'd put the 4440 high on the list as well.

I suppose it was in the early 70s that John Deere began pulling away from the pack of tractors in West Texas. I was occupied in other places from the mid-50s to the mid-70s. So by the time I got back to West Texas green was the predominant color in the fields. By then 6-8 bottom plows were standard also ... something unimaginable 20 years before.

My favorite time to recall, however, are the 30s-50s when tractor manufacturers were still trying to find their way. Those early tractors were woefully underpowered by today's standards but with the size of typical farms in the 30s and 40s, enough power to pull two plows gave enough field speed to be timely in crop production. H Model Farmalls in the 30s handled two plows and the M Model that came along in 1939 was considered too big with its 4-plow capability to be very popular until after WWII.

The end of WWII in 1946 was an interesting time for farmers. Most were still nursing along the tractors they had when the war started .... and most were worn out or badly out of date with the work that needed to be done. You would not believe the number of brands that were popping up in fields, the variety caused mainly because new tractors were in great demand and often farmers anxious for new equipment would buy whatever make was available.

In West Texas we saw Farmall, John Deere, Ford, Ferguson, Case, Allis-Chalmer, Minneapolis-Moline and even Oliver. There were probably more but I cannot recall off hand. And with all these makes there were several models to choose from.

For example, the M Farmall could be ordered with a high-compression gasoline engine, or a lower-compression engine that would run on distillate (CAg77) or white gas, and a diesel.

By the mid-50s the tractor makers that could add the power to pull four plows were beginning to replace the other makes that could not keep up. Minneapolis-Moline was a strong tractor that kept pace with Farmall and John Deere for a long time but eventually they dropped out. Farmall did well up to the 70s with its 100-series tractors but John Deere I suppose in time won the power race.

You may wonder back in the 30s-40s why tractors were limited pretty much to two or three plow power ... when you are correct that more powerful engine technology existed. The answer is that HYDRAULICs were slow in being developed. Before hydraulic power lifts became available and affordable, plows were raised by levers and two plows were about all one could handle by lever. After a few days plowing with the F-12 Farmall, the power lift on H Model was a dream come true.

CanyonAg77 .... I will concede to your statement about the ignition timing of the two cylinder John Deeres. I never handled one myself and my mama told me never argue with a person who had first hand knowledge. I don't know how it worked in the way you describe but I will buy it. (Edit: I don't know how it worked in the timing/firing sequence I described either ... the old Popping Johnny.)

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 11/28/2006 4:39p).]

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 11/28/2006 4:41p).]

I speak from first hand experince about the screwdriver starter experience. I damn near had one run over me when I was a teenager because of my brother. He taught me that trick, and then he unknowingly set me up.

Long story, we had one 4020 that had a tempermental key switch. Every once in a while we had to use the screwdriver. One time we had the other 4020 parked overnight in a field where my paranoid brother thought someone might steal it. His bright idea was to leave the tractor in first gear so it would not start. On the Synchro-Range(TM) transmission, 1st gear was right next to Park, and the unobservant theif might miss that. Well, unobservant little brother me missed that fact too. When I went to start it and it failed to even click the solenoid, I figured the key switch was going bad like the other 4020 we had. So I just hopped down to the ground and fired her up with the Craftsman starter. Why the hell was this tractor rolling all the sudden? Hey! I'm in the way! Better hop back up in the seat and stop this thing!

Big brother chewed me out, telling me I almost killed myself. I told big brother I wasn't the dumbass that left it parked in gear. If daddy had been there, he probably would have chewed us both out.

If we started telling "Boy was I a dumb@$$ it's a wonder I survived" stories, us farm boys would be here all night long.

I could have LOTS of fun with that topic.

When our torts professor was discussing products liability and "intentional misuse" of products a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I could probably teach an entire course on such activities.

[This message has been edited by WestTxAg06 (edited 11/28/2006 9:24p).]

my brother liked to back up to an electic fence while I wasn't paying attention and when I touched the handle to open the door, I would get a nice little surprise

Back in the early 50s a marvelous piece of equipment came on the market that promised to be the ideal solution for cutting cotton stalks and sorghum stubble and even tidying up fence rows and pastures from weeds ... the Bush Hog.

But like every other new gadget, there were drawbacks that most folks had to discover on their own ... or hear about in the coffee shop in town.

Many of the tractors in use in those days did not have (or need) an overrunning clutch on the power takeoff (PTO.) Now without an overrunning clutch, and a Bush Hog rotary cutter going about 2,000 rpm, when the farmer idled the tractor back when approaching a fence, or a ditch, or cow, he was surprised that the tractor did not slow down at all. The Bush Hog's whirling cutters were now propelling the tractor regardless of what the engine was doing and what the farmer had in mind.

I do not know if any fatalities resulted from this situation but until all the tractors in West Texas pulling Bush Hogs had overrunning clutches, I know for certain that a number of fences were modified and a number of embarrassing collisions occurred before the light dawned.

I never heard it called a Bush Hog until I got to central Texas. We just called them "shredders". Bush Hog was originally a brand name, much like "Kleenex".

On a related note, in Hale County, farmers all drove "pickups", not "trucks". It had to be about a 2 or 3 ton bobtail grain truck before we called them trucks.

Imagine my surprise when I got to A&M and people called their little Toyotas "trucks".

As a junior, I was eating in Duncan when our newly frogged pisshead talked about his pickup. I asked him where he was from....Amarillo.

Must be a Panhandle thing.

Other makes of rotary cutters came on the market in the late 40s and early 50s but the name BUSH HOG just had that manly sound that resonated with the gentle folks in West Texas. So it became the generic name for any apparataus with whirling blades that chopped up cotton stalks.

Before the rotaries we made do with Stalk Cutters fabricated locally by WWII veterans who had completed the course in welding taught in all counties as a part of the GI Bill.

(Footnote: Before the end of WWII and these courses, welders and welding were virtually unknown to West Texas farmers. The local blacksmith generally did not do that sort of work ... one might have a torch that cut metal in some fashion and could do a fair job of brazing but no fancy welds. Even torch cutting looked like an alligator had chewed it off.)

Back to the stalk cutters. Beginning in about 1946 welding shops began appearing and some turned out some good fabrications. Most needed and thus most popular was a device that could munge up cotton stalks in the field. Their answer was a heavy framed device that was pulled behind a tractor. Picture a six inch diameter steel pipe seven feet long, with heavy steel 4 inch wide blades running its length and attached at about 60 degree angles around the pipe circumference ... with an axle to permit it roll. It didn't exactly roll, more like a hop when pulled about 10-15 mph. With additional weight added on the frame to the farmer's desires it did chop up stalks. It was the noisest item ever invented and could create more dust into the atmosphere than you can imagine. You can now understand why the term Bush Hog was readily accepted to replace the one piece of farm equipment universally hated by teenage tractor drivers.

With the covered deck that cut out most of the noise, protected the driver from flying stalks, rocks and most of all dust ... the Bush Hog was a real advancement. I am not surprised it eventually took on a more genteel name of shredder or rotary cutter.

As for pickups. Pickups of some sort have been around since the 20s but never were popular on West Texas farms even into the mid-50s. Even the neat little 5-window pickups so popular now for restorations that were produced from 1946 into the mid-50s were pretty much ignored. The reason was they were mostly half tons ... not large enough to haul a decent load of anything ... and they were made strictly utility. The interiors were rubber mats on the floor, stiff "naugahyde" covering the seat, compressed hardboard for a headliner and door panels. At that time they were considered little trucks.

It was thirty years later that the light dawned on me that the little 1955 Chevrolet five-window pickup was one of the classiest vehicles ever designed and I just had to have on to restore.

I think the "pickup" nomenclature is a panhandle/West Texas/plains thing. I worked in Seymour a few summers, and I was promptly instructed on the difference between a "pickup" and a "truck". To be a truck, it had to at least be a one ton and have a utility bed on it.

Funny thing, I grew up in central Texas, but we called those mowers "shredders" too. I think all the farmers did. The only people who called them "bush hogs" were the affluent hobby farmers and rednecks. To us "Bush Hog" was brand of implement.

Although there were not a great number of those little half-ton pickups doing farm and ranch work in the 40s and early 50s, some were out there and even though they were not designed for heavy loads the folks who owned them were not shy about loading them up.

Common was the practice of rigging 1X4 slatted sideboards on them as high as practicable. It was not unusual to see one tootling down the road with two saddle horses, or maybe 3 or 4 cows going to auction, or 2,000 pounds of cotton going to the gin. And because the laws of center of gravity were not clearly understood in West Texas during those times, it was not unusual to see one on its side in the bar ditch with cotton, cows or horses piled nearby.

You folks seem to forget that 1946-1950 was the time period that elements of modern life were first introduced to West Texas. Time sort of stood still as far as progress was concerned from 1930-1950 because of the Depression and WWII. The technology developed in WWII by the military found its way to the farm starting in 1946 ... and that was the birth of the great leap forward.

As for the change in terminology for rotary cutters, in early 1950s we were basically exposed to one brand and that was Bush Hog. It was reasonable in the next 20 years as more brands came on the market the common term would revert to shredder as the common name. Heck I hardly ever see the Bush Hog name on any shredder anymore.

I own a Bush Hog brand shredder, but growing up (in the 60s, not the 50s), we used John Deere and Rhino shredders. Funny you should mention the old stalk cutters. The ones I remember used an open frame design, not a large pipe or drum, just a solid 1-2" rod as an axle.

But things have come full circle, and the stalk cutter is again the preferred way to cut cotton stalks. The new ones are row units, put on as many as you want at the spacings you want.



http://www.roll-a-cone.com/stalk_cutters.htm

Hey fossil, there's a topic for you: Small line plow/implement companies that have come and gone, or like roll-a-cone, were started to market a specific idea or product.

Roll-a-Cone, Hamby, Bigham Brothers, Sam Stevens, Graham-Hoeme...


Regarding pickups, we had an elderly neighbor living on and farming a small acreage. He had a 1950 Buick that he had pulled the back seat out of, and used as his farm vehicle.



He also had a 1959 Edsel that was their "go to town" car.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 12/1/2006 8:57a).]

CanyonAg ....

That last pic of the 1950 Buick is a classic ... we called it the "Buck-Tooth Buick" from the shape of the grill.

The picture of the one-row stalk cutter is a good illustration of the early design I was trying to describe, except in those earliest home-made designs a 7-8 foot length of 6-7 inch oilfield casing was used to weld the equally long cutter blades to ... in the fashion shown in your picture. Two inch cold roll through bushings formed the axle. A heavy frame was necessary to hold that heavy cutter together because as you can imagine that implement would rattle every bolt loose on a tractor ... along with the driver's liver and brain. But it worked well on stalks when we had nothing before. (After a day in the field cutting stalks one would have to sit in the shade for an hour or so for his body to stop shaking and jerking and his eyeballs to relocate.)

Prototypes of a lot of equipment that found its way to the field in later years were first fabricated in West Texas welding shops at the urging of a farmer who had sketched his idea on a paper sack.

A subject I failed to mention in the piece above about the relative unpopularity of pickups in the 40s and 50s was that the preferred means of conveyance of products to market at the time were the two-wheeled stock trailers.

The stock trailer could be pulled behind the family car by means of a "bumper hitch" and the old farmer could boogie in relative comfort. This was before trailer balls and gooseneck riggings. The hitch was an L-shape bracket that bolted directly to the little bumper. The trailer tongue had two pieces of strap that fit above and below the hitch and a 6-8 inch 9/16 bolt slipped through holes in the tongue parts and the hitch to make the hookup.

The trailers again were home made .... rolling on the rear end and axles stripped from some older model automobile. Bolts held a 2X6 frame together on the running gear. A bit of engineering went into the placement of the axles to make sure the trailer was not too front heavy since car springs were not the best. I would guess 7X10 was the usual bed size with 1X4 slatted side boards that went up about 6 feet. Those things would haul a 2,000 pound bull or a load of cows or a bale of cotton .... slowly, but surely.

Once again, welding shops that sprang up in the late 40s made possible a more durable and broader range of trailers and wagons that we did not have before.

I'm with Canyon on terminology used in the panhandle versus other places.....

another one is tank....

a tank (water tank) in the panhandle is round and metal, but it seems that in some other parts of Texas, it's earthen

I agree that terminologies are different for common items about the state. And in recent years this has become more complicated rather than simplified.

We are in agreement for the most part about structures "round and metal" for above-ground storage of liquids to be called tanks. I think that is univeral because of the large number of oilfield storage tank batteries ... usually in the 210, 420, 436 and 500 barrel capacities. And I am sure on the Plains around feedlots that things like molasses are stored in tanks. But to be more correct, a "round, metal" above-ground unit to store water should be called a Cistern.

I agree also that in West Texas using the word "tank" for an earthen structure to hold water was a misuse of the term. It is still commonly used and Lord knows how one would correct that error .... but government agencies concerned about that subject are in the process of doing just that.

The new accepted term is "pond." Since the hottest thing on farms now is a recreational pond for fishing, maybe swimming or for watching ducks paddle, Texas Parks and Wildlife has a program just for farm ponds. Since these are for scenic beauty, environmental enhancement and family pleasure TP&W is more geared to sunfish than cows. Fact is, stock are not welcome in the vicinity of a recreational pond.

The term used by the Soil Conservation Service for a body of water for the refreshment and pleasure of livestock is called a Stock Pond. I do not think anywhere in SCS literature you will find a reference to "tanks." That was a change for farmers and ranchers in West Texas ... who in the early days (40s-60s) relied on the SCS to build TANKS ... 5-10 acre entrapments, some of which could rightly be called a lake ... big enough to last through a couple of years of draught.

Stock ponds now are shallow depressions scooped out on the side of a hill or earthen dams constructed on a medium size dry wash or gully. In earlier times the trend was to dam up canyons if a suitable one was present. Ranchers were proud to have a Tank big enough for power boat races.

But times have changed and every county is now involved in some form of water resource conservation group that considers itself steward of every raindrop that falls. Watersheds for some creeks and rivers are now under the watchful eye of some government agency. If you impound too much water you risk having your lower 40 being proclaimed "wetlands" and I suppose if your pond is too large the Corps of Engineers will label it a navigable river. So farmers and ranchers are content to slip under government radar by calling their trapped stock water a "pond."

And our friends on the High Plains are not completely innocent in the misuse of terms ... take for example the Playa Lakes. Heck, some West Texas stock tanks were larger than what they call Lakes ... depressions in the land that West Texans still think were caused by wallowing buffalo. So start calling those things Playa Ponds and we will all be on the same page.

this is what I was referring to as a "tank"



I'm not sure if it would be considered a cistern. When looking at the actual name of the picture, it is called a water trough, which was another term that was commony used and it may be a more accurate term.

Above ground cistern:

http://www.spring.net/home/images/web/Cistern.JPG





[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 12/3/2006 12:09a).]

To me, a cistern is in the ground, while a tank above ground (either a water trough or a wooden windmill tank) is a tank.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 12/3/2006 10:09a).]

As urban water supplies become more limited and more restrictions are implemented for "city" water use on lawns and landscape, you can expect cisterns to become the next hottest item for city dwellers. The term "cistern" will become more common since it sounds more stylish than "water tank" to dwellers of gated, exclusive communities.

There will be a big market for this in the near future and now is a good time for a person to get in. The picture above is an example of the simple, inexpensive cisterns that are efficient and effective for outside watering purposes.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE029

quote:

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Cisterns To Collect Non-Potable Water For Domestic Use1
Ray A. Bucklin2
Supplies of groundwater are limited in many parts of Florida. To conserve groundwater, rainwater can be used for such things as watering gardens or washing cars. Water used for such purposes, but not for human consumption, is called non-potable water.


TYPES OF CISTERNS
Cisterns are storage tanks for rainfall that has been collected from a roof or some other catchment area. Although usually located underground, cisterns may be placed at ground level or on elevated stands either outdoors or within buildings. Cisterns should be watertight, have smooth interior surfaces, enclosed lids, and be large enough to provide adequate storage. They should be fabricated from non-reactive materials such as reinforced concrete, galvanized steel, and plastic. Concrete blocks or wood are sometimes used, but these are difficult to keep watertight.

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Remember that you heard this on Texags/West Texas Forum first.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 12/3/2006 11:05a).]

Some of you who reside in new developments with deed restrictions and rabid Homeowner Associations may be wondering how to slip an above ground cistern onto your property.

This picture illustrates how a crafty architect can solve this problem. The "Tower" on the old Petroleum Engineering Building camoflaged a Water Tank.

Your remaining problem is how to make water run uphill from the gutters to the tank.

I saw a really elegant solution to this once, though I don't recall what magazine it was in. The central Texas homeowners put in an underground concrete cistern, covered it with concrete, then a shade, and made a patio out of it. The collected rainwater stored underneath kept the concrete cool in the summmer, and helped keep it a little warmer in the winter. I suspect the former was more important.

The building you pictured is now named the Halbouty Geosciences building, and has been added on to greatly in the rear. The water tank was taken down in the 60s or very early 70s, I think it was not needed and may have been structurally weak. Too bad, it was a unique landmark. The inside of that building still has some interesting features.

water about the house would have some amount of pressure, water under the house would require some type of pump

A submersible pump would be used on an underground cistern. For an inexpensive rigging for the above ground cistern pictured above I would fashion a sump directly beneath a two-inch gatevalve at the location shown and purchase a small electric sump pump from Sears for $150 or so.

The cistern shown without a pump would have 2-10 psi water pressure depending on water level in tank. A sump pump would boost that to 20-30 psi. It would take a few minutes of pencil engineering on the back of a paper sack to match volumes, flow rates, pressures required, etc.

The reason this subject has been brought up is that in new developments in the town of Prosper (just north of Frisco and McKinney)new homeowners are not allowed to start new lawns or landscaping due to restrictions on water usage. Other towns in that area have been on restrictions for some time. This will become commonplace statewide as communities that rely on surface water sources grow. So harvesting rainwater for outside uses is the only answer unless one is content with "zeroscaping."

Even communities like BCS who get their water from ground water wells will soon join in with restrictive practices since the mavens who run things here love trendy ideas, and will want to share the suffering of other communities even though the circumstances are not the same. (It doesn't have to make sense.)

what is the normal psi coming out of the tap?

any idea what the psi would be on a cistern that is higher than the house?

an old two story farmhouse on one of our old farms had a tank/cistern about 10-15 feet off the ground. it was pumped up there by a windmill....I assume the tank that was mostly above the house would provide some small amount amount of psi

[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 12/4/2006 11:08p).]

Most pressure tanks cut in at about 20psi, and shut off at 40psi. So figure an average of 30.

Hmmmm, I just found a link on Google that claims .4333 psi per foot of head. So if grandad's windmill tank was on a 20 foot tower, it would be 8.666psi at the bottom, a bit less in the house.

Hey Fossil Ag, do you know anyone from McCaulley? My grandmother hails from there - she and her sisters played a lot of basketball. And they have the best little blue bonnet patch in all of West Texas.

It has been 50 years since I lived in Fisher County so I know a number of old time family names there. And yessir, if they were from McCaulley they did play basketball ... boys and girls year round. Their only real competition was from another small school near Abilene of Hawley. Abilene High would be invited to the Hawley tournament every year and inevitably would be eliminated by either Hawley or McCaulley.

Other towns in the area such as Roby, Rotan, Hamlin and Anson just played basketball during the "season" so they were at a distinct disadvantage when going against those smaller schools.

From 1946 to the early 50s those same schools in the area had adult mens teams (mostly WWII vets) who competed. Now that was some rough and tumble basketball!

What was the family name of those sisters?

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 12/27/2006 11:59p).]

Davison - 4 sisters, 3 of them 6' or better. And a bunch of brothers.

[This message has been edited by Lekner XII (edited 12/29/2006 11:11a).]

Lekner XII ... Arriving on the scene at a late date you probably would be surprised to know that in earlier times McCaulley was a thriving town. But like many of the early day towns in West Texas, over time it dwindled to now being merely a crossroad community. Even 50-60 years ago with its schools as its hub it was a close knit energetic community with a lot of pride. I do not know when the Davison family arrived at McCaulley, but with a bunch of tall girls I know they were welcomed!

Below is a Business and Professional Directory for McCaulley dated 1908. The listing is fairly typical of those crossroad communities throughout West Texas in those early days ... Now you can understand why your grandparents speak fondly of those communities that you see now as a few derelict buildings and vacant lots ... but to them were the center of life in that remote part of the world.

quote:

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McCaulley, Texas
Business and Professional Directory 1908

Anderson, J.H. & Co., Dry Goods, clothing shoes

Baker, Davis & Co., General Mdse.

Bank of McCaulley (unincorporated), W.F. Martin, Pres.; J.O. Jackson, Cashier

Beaty, E.I.L., Physician and Hardware

Bradbury, A.E., Confectionery

Brazelton Pryor & Co., J.W. Monroe, Mgr., Lumber,

Brown & Tree, Meat Market

Bynum, J.T., physician

Clough, J.D., Dry goods and groceries

Cozart, W.C., Livery

Glasscock, E., Insurance

Gray Lumber Co., Geo. C. Wright, Mgr.

Harris, Gerald, Drugs, Jewelry, Wallpaper, paints, oils

Hendon, J.M., Blacksmith

McCollum Hardware Co.

Morrow & Morrow, General Merchandise

Nance, F.D. Grocer Co., Groceries and Feed

Red Cross Drug Co., H.B. Kerbow, Mgr., drugs and jewelry

Rives, Brumley & Co., general merchandise

Rodgers, J.W., restaurant and lodging

Shipman, W.K., N.T. Cellum, Mgr., Furniture, Carpets,, Mattings, Undertaking

Spring's Photo Gallery, G.T. Spring, Prop., photographer and portrait work

---

Edit:
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/fisher/history/mcaulley.txt?o_xid=0022846292&o_lid=0022846292&o_xt=22846292



[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 12/29/2006 1:53p).]

Fossil Ag, I know that portion of the family was in McCaulley prior to 1914, my grandmother joined the brood in 1918. In 1992 or 93, McCaulley hosted an all-school reunion. It was a great experience, made more memorable when a group of 7-8 70+ year old women joined their grandkids in a game of basketball.

As a side note, my grandmother's oldest brother, Howard, was a judge in Lubbock in later years. During his Navy days, he was one of the men charged with carrying the terms of surrender to and from the Japanese during WWII.

Lekner XII ... The link below shows the Davison clan in and around McCaulley in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 Federal Censuses. It appears one brother arrived by 1900, then followed by more by 1910. The 1930 Census outlines the arrivals of members of the W.F. Davison family starting about 1910. That is typical of how families migrated into West Texas ... one member would venture out and scout out the country and other members would follow. I just presumed the Davisons born in the 1870s and early 1880s were brothers ... could have been cousins. My grandfather was "scout" for his wife's family in the mid-1880s to Jones County then on to Fisher County when it was organized.

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=USFedCen&gst=&rank=1&ti=0&gsfn=&gsln=davison&_F0002779=TX&_82004043=fisher&_82004044=mccaulley&o_xid=9970&o_lid=9970&o_xt=22846292&gss=angs-c&ghc=10&fh=0&bsk=BEFMn74IgAAXrQWTHU4-61-

hth

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 12/29/2006 11:43p).]

Unfortunately the University of Texas does not have a monopoly on liberal activists eager to do battle on any subject that offends their tender sensibilities. TAMU has its share of wackos who go to outrageous extremes to get their names in the spotlight ... and get their way when the administration retreats like schoolgirls rather than stand up for reason.

This article appeared in the May 2000 edition of The Touchstone, a rag shared by the liberal academes on the TAMU campus:


quote:
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Confederates on Campus

Enjoyed your Feb/Mar issue. I was surprised I did not see any reference to the Gibb Gilchrist building. You may or may not know that this building, part of TTI (and therefore part of the A&M System), has in its foyer before the elevator a portrait of former A&M Chancellor, Gibb Gilchrist. Prominently displayed in this portrait is a portrait (a portrait within a portrait) of Robert E. Lee, all decked out in his gray uniform. Now, no doubt, Robert E. Lee represents to many (including the late Gilchrist) a symbol of gallantry and honor. In the year 2000, he should properly be understood to represent a vulgar symbol of bigotry, prejudice and racial superiority. Lee, by the way, was also a traitor, having broken his West Point oath to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. He fought to preserve the Southern way of life, which was founded on a political-economic system of slavery. He invaded the North with the intention of ultimately routing the federal government of the United States, and most would agree his military strategy and tactics prolonged the bloodshed of the civil war well beyond what would have otherwise been the case.

Why in the world this vulgar symbol sits in a public building on our campus is beyond me. One can only assume the System and central officials at this university are insensitive, stupid or pretty damn cynical to allow such a repugnant image of racism to be so blatantly displayed. It is an insult to all within the Texas A&M community, regardless of race, color, or gender. But then again, if we can get away with that idiot Sul Ross standing in front of the Academic Building proudly looking over his former all-white southern military academy, well I guess anything goes.

-- John Robertson, Professor, Political Science

We thank John for bringing this to our attention and are pleased to report that due to the efforts of one of his students, the portrait has been permanently removed from the TTI building, although this move has apparently upset some of the good old boys at TTI.
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In case you did not read closely, the portrait that was removed from the Gibb Gilchrist Texas Transportation Institute Laboratory Building in the TAMU Research Park was of Gibb Gilchrist, the person for whom the building was named! The person making the complaint was not a member of the TTI staff or faculty ... but his wife worked in the building! The TAMU administration moved Gibb Gilchrist's portrait to the basement!

Let's take a look at Gibb Gilchrist and his connection to Texas A&M.

1909 - Graduated from tu with Civil Eng degree.
1917-18 Served in WWI as a Captain in engineering.
1919 - District Engineer, State Hwy Department.
1924-37 - State Highway Engineer ... (implemented state farm-to-market road system.)
1937 - Named Dean of Engineering, Texas A&M.
1937 - Established Dept of Aero Eng.
1937 - Reorganized TEES and TEEX.
1937 - Laid groundwork for development of Easterwood Airport.
1944 - Named President of Texas A&M College.
1944 - Established Texas A&M Research Foundation.
1944 - Established Texas Transportation Institute.
1944-48 - Integrated Extension and Research arms with academic departments in Ag and Eng.
1944-48 - Expanded research efforts in aeronautics, oceanography and nuclear tech.
1948 - Named first Chancellor of Texas A&M University System.
1953 - Retired after 35 years of exemplary service to the state of Texas and Texas A&M.

And to the best of my knowledge Gibb Gilchrist's portrait still occupies space in the basement of the Gibb Gilchrist TTI Research Laboratory at TAMU's Research Park ... and all because the portrait of Gilchrist had an image of another picture in the background of Robert E. Lee, whom Gilchrist greatly admired.

And Professor John Roberson of the TAMU Political Science department was just so greatly offended he was compelled to throw a hissy fit! It really happened.

Now, as someone was saying about the statues at tu?