To give the reader a fair idea of the condition existing, I found the old set of merchants, who were doing business there before the war, still adhering to old-time methods, selling goods on twelve months’ time and charging about twenty-five per cent more for same than the towns of Ennis or Palmer, which were selling altogether for cash. These towns were doing a more lucrative business than Waxahachie. Not a house in Waxahachie would buy a bale of cotton for cash, thereby turning the cotton market over to the towns of Ennis and Palmer. The stage driver that carried me back to Ennis had money sent by a lady at Waxahachie, to buy a dozen spools of thread at Ennis, where spool thread was selling at 75 cents a dozen and Waxahachie charging a dollar a dozen.
This encouraged me in the belief that Waxahachie was a good place to start in again, as I expected to do business altogether for cash and buy cotton for cash, as cotton always controlled business.
Having bought goods almost exclusively in New Orleans, except a few purchases in St. Louis and Galveston, I found that Galveston was about as good market as the others and, on account of its nearness, adopted a plan of buying goods often, in smaller quantities and ordering them as they were needed, which always gave me a fresh stock of goods and proved very satisfactory.
While engaged in buying my first stock for Waxahachie, at the house of P. J. Willis & Brother at Galveston, I met a Mr. Joe Farley, who was one of the traveling credit men for the house, and was also a partner in the house of Clift & Farley of Waxahachie. He came to me, saying that he understood I was buying a stock for Waxahachie and wanted to tell me that I could not find a more undesirable place to begin a new business, as he had decided to reduce prices materially, to a point that would not leave any profit. I thanked him for the information and especially for his resolution to reduce prices, which I told him I intended to do, and would much prefer his saving me the unpleasant duty. Farley, however, never carried out his threat until after I had started my business and forced them to do so. I also forced them to buy cotton for cash, thereby making Waxahachie a cotton market.
On my return to Rusk, I immediately packed whatever stock of goods I had left and shipped to Waxahachie, then moved my family over there and went to housekeeping in a rented house. I next proceeded to Galveston, where I arranged with Mr. Willis to give me an open account of twelve or fifteen thousand dollars, on which I made remittances every week and continued to order goods almost every week, which always gave me fresh stock and proved very satisfactory to Willis, as well as myself, and very attractive to the public.
I now commenced the purchase of cotton for cash. I was a good judge of cotton classification, and being very careful in keeping posted on the course of the market, especially Galveston, and cotton being in transit only a short time, I was enabled to handle cotton without any great risk, besides I made shipments altogether to Cannon & Company. Mr. Cannon, as heretofore stated, was an old friend before the war, for whom I had kept books and worked in his sales department at Hempstead. In entering the cotton market and paying cash, the old mossback business element of the town sat around in front of their stores, smoking and whittling goods boxes, making all manner of predictions that that fellow wouldn’t last long—I would soon get out of money and “bust.”
I bought cotton from farmers over about Bristol, on the Trinity, on the other side of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, paid them cash, and 75 cents a bale to haul it back to Ennis, then they would turn around and spend the money with me for goods and return home happy and contented.
About this time we had the Grangers, a strong farmers’ organization, who had decided to concentrate their business at one house. They had a general meeting of the county organization at Waxahachie, and sent a committee, inviting me into this meeting, when I was requested to make them a proposition to handle all of their business on a basis of ten per cent profit. Not wishing to take advantage of my competitors, I persuaded them not to make such an arrangement, as it would not prove satisfactory, especially to their families, being restricted by contract on this basis to buy only at one house. Entering into a full detail of the objections, I persuaded them that it would not be to their interest to make such a contract and induced them to drop it.
While I could have made a great deal of money out of this proposition, I preferred to take no advantage of my business neighbors, thereby incurring petty jealousies and enmity, having in view the building of a tap railroad to connect with the Houston & Texas Central, and it was of the greatest importance for me to retain the friendship and the confidence of the old business element, who were the only men in the county of any great financial ability.