Lake Bardwell

Looking North. Showing service bridge  piers and outlet works

Local residents of the Ellis County and surrounding areas in North Texas realized their future would require water conversation. This realization became Lake Bardwell. It was approved by the US Congress on March 31, 1960, to be built by the US Army Corps of Engineers at a cost of $12,630,000. In Today's money according to Morgan Friedman inflation calculataor, you are looking at 106 million dollars.  So this lake was no small project! Lake Bardwell controls 178 square miles of drainage in the area. The lake is 5.4 miles long, 1.2 miles wide at its widest, and the shoreline is 25 miles. 

"The state of Texas controls allocations of water from the conservation pool through the Trinity River Authority (TRA.) The Secretary of the Army approved a contract on June 24, 1963, authorizing the TRA to utilize 25% of the conservation storage space (10,700 acre-feet) as water supply for the city of Ennis. A supplemental agreement to the contract approved in October 1969 reallocated 60% of the water in the conservation pool to the city of Ennis and 40% to the city of Waxahachie. "-US Army Corps of Engineers

                                                           Looking upstream spillway slab
Lake Bardwell is maintained at 421 mean sea level as much time as possible. Lake Bardwell is becoming more and more a recreational attraction with population rising in the area. For details on the lake go to the Corps of Engineers link here

Sand Lake Tragedy

SAND LAKE

Sand Lake was a town named after a clear beautiful lake formed by the Trinity River. It's located east of Ennis off highway 34 near the Trinity River. It's not sure when the community started but there were records of a flood here in 1844. The old roadbed of the rail spur installed by the T. & N. P. Railroad was still visible there in 1976. The first time I heard about Sand Lake was from a retired Ellis County Detective who had grown up there. It appears on goolge earth there is still buildings left from the old town. In the 70's a post office building, black smith building, and a school building were noted to still be there. Now, it appears a sand company has bought the area and is selling the sand. Somebody had told me a story that prisoners had once tried to swim across the lake and drowned but I think the story below is the real story and it changed over the years maybe mixing events. What a horrible accident! These poor souls were just trying to enjoy the cold weather. What a horrible day for that family who lost so many. Anybody who grew up in cold winters in Texas and remembers seeing ice on a creek and was tempted to step on it. Skating, I would never imagine in Texas. Usually, in colder regions I believe people had a way of testing ice on lakes with poles and they also would have many days of below freezing weather that would make the ice solid.

Seven Drowned in Sand Lake by the Fort Worth Gazette, Jan. 20, 1888. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Four of the women and one man were sisters and brother - the other couple also sister and brother. Ennis, Texas. Jan. 18. Reports were received here this evening that seven persons were drowned in Sand Lake, some ten mles east of here. Two young ladies, daughters of William Williams and a young man named Babbitt were skating on the lake when the ice gave way and they sank in six and a half feet of water. Miss Babbitt and two little girls, ages 9 and 13, daughters of William Williams, were also drowned attempting to rescue them. Another small child of Williams fell through the ice and was only saved by one of the drowning young ladies throwing it out on the ice. Mr. Williams, brother of the young ladies, who was a quarter mile distance, ran to their assistance but was overpowered by their struggles and also drowned. His mother, in an effort to save them, was pulled down and would have drowned were it not for the help of her two little daughters, eight and eleven, who threw her a rope and managed to pull her to shore. All the bodies were found together. Another account Garrett, Tex. Jan. 18. Conducto Easton, running between Ennis and Roberts on the Central, brings the sad news of the drowning of Mrs Babbitt's four daughter and one son and an elderly lady, name unknown, in Sand Lake near the Trinity River on what is known as the Faulkner farm, while skating today. It appears young Babbitt fell through the ice and the ladies while trying to rescue him went through also. All bodies were recovered. Ft worth Gazette Ellis County TxGenWeb

The first recorded white settler on Ellis County land - William Howe

William R. Howe came to Texas in 1839 from Lauderdale County, Tennessee. Howe was issued a conditional certificate, Number 1301, by the General Land Office Of the Republic of Texas on January 10, 1840. Howe claimed 640 acres on Chambers Creek between present-day Forreston and Italy. William Howe was a carpenter, blacksmith, shoemaker and a farmer. Constant attacks from "Indians" caused a delay in the building of his home. But after pushing the "Indians" west Mr. Howe could finish his house and by the spring of 1842 it was built.  It was a two-story house with two stone fireplaces. The house was built on the north side of Chambers Creek and close to the Military road surveyed by Gen. William G. Cooke. 77 and I-35 follow the basic path of the military road of 1841. I believe somewhere near the old rest stop may be where the Howe homestead originally sat. Today, there is a house and barn a little below the old rest stop. I am not sure if the property holds any remains of the Howe settlement. The rest stop has been taken down and is taped off as of today. The Howe cabin was a standout structure compared to many cabins you would normally see built by pioneers who needed to establish their homestead before a certain date. Mr. Howe ran the post office at one time for all of North Texas and his house became a stagecoach stop. The area was known as Chambers Creek after the nearby tributary of Trinity River. When William Howe settled his land he was in Robertson County in the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed in 1845 Navarro County was cut out of Robertson County on July 13, 1846. Chambers Creek became the county seat of Navarro County. Later, in 1849 Ellis County would be proposed then cut out of Navarro County in 1850 including William Howe's property. It was a true wildland when Mr. Howe settled on Chambers Creek. He also took in captured Native American children that would be used to trade for pioneer children captured by Native Americans. William Howe also brought the first slave to the Ellis County region named Reuben. Buffalo would hang out near the property so food was always available. Wild horses were there for the taking also. Native Americans would enter the properties claiming to be hunting but it was known they were likely there to steal horses the pioneers had collected. It was a time when a man could cut his own life out of the wilderness using his tenacity, skill, and pure will. For more info visit the Ellis County Museum in downtown Waxahachie where you can fund a small biographical sketch book on Mr. Willaim R. Howe for around $4. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bessie Coleman- First African American Woman Pilot (MSN Black History Month)

                                                                

Waxahachie former resident, Bessie Coleman had an interesting short video on MSN for Black History Month.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/video/black-history-bessie-coleman-first-african-american-woman-pilot/vi-BBIyWUk

BESSIE COLEMAN QUOTES:
“I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the Race needed to be represented along this most important line, so I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviation,”

 “The air is the only place free from prejudices.”

Here is a small Blog for Ellis County Texas story on this amazing woman.
https://blogforelliscountytexashistory.blogspot.com/2008/02/bessie-coleman-01261892-04301926.html

The Mulkey-Loggins House - Ennis, TX is now in Midlothian, TX

          Mulkey-Loggins House picture from Waymarking.com

The Mulkey-Loggins House, 110 N Elm St, Ennis, TX. until October 2015 to be moved to Midlothian, Tx and restored.

 This property was part of a tract settled in 1854 by pioneer Philip A. Mulkey (d. 1862). Ennis was founded in 1871, when the Houston & Texas Central Railroad reached this point. Mulkey's son James (1859-1903), a prosperous cattleman, included this site in the Highland Addition, a neighborhood that he developed after Ennis became the railroad's divisional headquarters in 1891. Dr. James C. Loggins (1845-1921), mayor and city alderman, erected this Victorian residence in 1898. It was purchased in 1944 by Keith Mulkey, James Mulkey's grandson, and his wife Tina Beth (Wheeler). (1978)

I have worked next to the Mulkey-Loggins property for years and one time I was visited by some previous occupiers of the house. One told me as a child they had lived in the house and remembered cattle had been driven on a trail on the north side of the property where Wal Mart is currently. The old house had a water well  located on the north side of the property and the little girl would watch the cowboys get a drink of water as they drove the cattle into town.


The Mulkey family pleaded with city of Ennis to keep the house in Ennis. One family member was told "It's just an old house." So the City of Ennis decided to let it go.  A gofundme account was put together and money was raised but was unsuccessful. In comes an investor from Duncanville, Tx who owns FOUNDER'S ROW and saves the day! For a 117 years it sat in this location.  Now it's new location will be in Midlothian, Tx.  It was moved between Avenue G and Avenue F streets in an empty lot between 11th and 12th street. It is currently being remodeled and looks to be almost finished as of 2018.   The car wash is in now in at the houses original location and it almost seemed cursed at first. I thought the car wash would never open.  They had the gas line cut twice and had to move the whole sewer line around to get it in the right place. It opened a year later than expected. Here are some pics of the extraction.

Above in the car is lady who actually lived in the house. It was hard to watch for the nice lady  who grew up in the house. She cried when they started moving the quartered house but in the end history was preserved and in good hands.

               

The Shawnee Cattle Trai through Western Ellis County Marker

Driving through Italy, TX a week ago I decided to take a scenic route towards 5 points.  As I descended L R Campbell rd (Named for Lee Robert Campbell) to the Chambers Creek bottom I spotted a Historical Marker on the right.  "That was never there before!", I said to myself.  Its behind a wire fence at the entrance to Pecan Springs Ranch .  The ranch's website provides a lot of history of the Shawnee Cattle trail and the ancestry of the land in the Sims family.  A beautiful area if not the most beautiful area in Ellis County. The Shawnee Cattle Trail was the original cattle trail north.  I'm not sure if the trail actually follows the road but I do know the cattle drives varied because they had to find land that hadn't been grazed before and it was thought Western Ellis County was chosen because of the prairie lands and the many creeks and springs. I know that Buena Vista Road that connects Waxahachie to Maypearl was the basic path of a connector trail between the main cattle trails. Lots of interesting hard working cowpokes came through here. 

                        

Ellie May- Ellis County Mammoth

So there have been many news stories done on the Mammoth Ellie May found in between Italy and Avalon in Ellis County.  I've been googling all the stories and heard one where the guy on the dig say that three Mammoth have been pulled from Ellis County earth. One near Bardwell(I'm guessing when the Lake was built in the 60's but not for sure) and one in North Ellis County in the 1920's.But nothing as complete as this Mammoth.  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/27/prehistoric-mammoth-unearthed-in-texas/14668027/      http://www.cbsnews.com/news/whole-mammoth-skeleton-found-in-texas/    http://www.waxahachietx.com/multimedia/video/ellie-may-the-mammoth-of-ellis-county/youtube_5dc0e044-403a-5371-a599-692d53c229f4.html


An added note I've been reading a book on Ely Green called "Too Black, Too White."  In 1912 Ely worked in Waxahachie for the Stone & Webster Company who was building a bridge for the North Traction Company.  While digging a hole for a pier "at ten feet he (Ely) dug up a rock that looked polished a weighed 10 pounds" Judge Dunlap was watching and asked to see it.  He proclaimed it to be a Mastodon tooth and that he would put it in the Sims Library.  I'm assuming this is the trestle that crossed Waxahachie Creek south of downtown.  Don't know if it ever made it to the Sims Library.

In the late 80's early 90's I walked out to the old brick factory in Ferris where the golf course is now.  On a hill where they got the clay for the bricks I found some vertebrae. I can't remember if I kept it or not.  Seems like I left it.  Surely, workers came across bones while moving the dirt there.