While Jefferson was crowded with traffic, there were landings at practically all the big plantations on the Bayou and Lake. Some of the wharves at Jefferson were built by Thomas Hinkle, grandfather of Tom Hinkle of Paris, Texas, for whom is named Hinkle’s Camp on Cypress Bayou, founded by Mr. Hinkle during the days of the Texas and Pacific railroad construction.
A few months before the Civil War the Legislature, under Governor Pease, passed a bill for an appropriation of some $200,000 to be used for the widening and deepening of the waterways of Texas. To Jefferson was allotted about $21,000 for a new turning basin and the general betterment of Big Cypress. The work was only partially completed when the war broke out and operations ceased.
As the war passed into its second year Red River became vitally important to the Federal Government because the Northern armies had not yet gained a foothold in that part of the country. After the capture of the forts below New Orleans, many of the Confederate ships fled to the safety and security of Red River and its tributaries.
During the Civil War the Confederate Government established a slaughter house, or packing plant, at Jefferson, through which to draw on Texas for a meat supply for the army. Cattle and sheep were slaughtered by the thousand and the dressed meat carried down to New Orleans, where it was reshipped to various branches of the army. The Federals sought to capture the meat supply of Texas but were defeated and the packing house continued to be operated until the end of the war.
In those days, before the railroads became a great factor in the country’s development, the growth of a town with water transportation was deemed certain, and many of these supposedly fortunate towns scorned the railroads when they began to span the continent. Such was the attitude of Jefferson when the Texas and Pacific put through its main line from Texarkana westward.
At this time, about 1873, appeared Jay Gould upon the scene—the building genius of the Texas and Pacific railroad, seeking a right-of-way for his road. Meeting with a cool reception and failing in his attempt to get the right-of-way through Jefferson, he left the town in disgust and chagrin, making the somewhat prophetic statement that “Jefferson would see the day when bats would roost in its church belfries and grass grow in its streets.” The Texas and Pacific, instead of going through the town, made a half circle to avoid it and today the station is small, unkempt, and a considerable distance from the town. Freight rates went high and some time after this the United States Government removed the natural dam that backed water up and made Big Cypress Bayou and the lakes navigable.
Jefferson in its early days had no money and did not need any. The women spun the wool, wove the cloth and made the clothes for the family. Shoes were paid for in hides.
As Jefferson grew, towns sprang up to the west, and there was a continual stream of wagons going and coming. Mrs. Spearman owned the toll bridge and Mr. G. E. Dalby then a mere lad, was employed by her at fifty cents a day to keep the bridge. He is said to have often taken in $60 and $70 a day in toll.
All the cotton raised in Louisiana, Southwestern Arkansas and North Texas was “wagoned” to Jefferson, and was often stacked up for six or seven miles out waiting to be weighed. The annual receipts exceeded 100,000 bales. Farmers would take nothing but silver and gold for their cotton. They had no faith in bank notes and greenbacks, except when they went to pay their taxes. Then they exchanged silver and gold for paper money which was worth only seventy-five cents on the dollar but was accepted at face value by the government.
The late Capt. W. R. White of Nevada is said to have been Jefferson’s first merchant, while Bateman Bros. (King, Andy and Quincy) were the leading merchants and cotton buyers. When a farmer got his money for his cotton he received a gallon of whiskey free.