Waxahachie City Marshal John Henry Spalding deserves a Historical Marker

Yesterday driving down 342 I saw a large gathering of Lancaster police vehicles at 342 and old red oak road. I thought something had gone terribly wrong until I noticed cameras and smiling police officers. It appears the tragedy happened years ago to one of their own. City Marshal P.M. Solomon was struck down by an interurban train he was trying to flag down. There was a station called valley view at this spot on Nov 2, 1912. The City Marshal had got on the south bound train because the driver had alerted him to a drunk on the train. After they got the drunk into custody Marshall tried to flag down the north bound train back to Lancaster but was struck and killed.

 Makes me think that John Henry Spalding deserves a monument to where his death occurred in Waxahahcie, Tx. I believe the location of his murder is on Smokey Lane where Oldham's branch intersects. He was killed by the intoxicated Chas Smith while the Marshall was trying to apprehend him during a shootout. J H Spalding was an original pioneer of Waxahachie and served six years a s City Marshal until his death on December 17, 1882. Director Robert Benton is the Great Grandfather. Benton based the movie Places In The Heart loosely on the shooting death of his Great Grandfather. Dallas County Sheriff Assistant Deputy (Ret.) Terry Baker has researched and brought back respect to many forgotten fallen officers. Guys like him could probably get an historical marker put up for Marshal Spalding. Sheriff Baker actually has left his research in the Sims Library resources department.

Places In The Heart -The Real Story

Even if they didn't see the movie, folks who lived in Ellis County in the early 1980's probably remember hearing about a movie being made by a Waxahachie's own, director Robert Benton. The town of Rockett was all a buzz when such actors like Sally Fields ( won the Oscar for her performance), Danny Glover, John Malkovich(nominated for Oscar), and Ed Harris were filming down FM 813 at the old Gibbon place. It all came to being by the inspiration of Waxahachie History involving Robert Benton's great grandparents.

Robert Douglas Benton was born September 2, 1932 in Waxahachie, Texas. Mr. Benton's mother, Dorothy (Spalding) Benton, has deep family history in Ellis County. Dorothy's great grandfather William W. Parks was District Clerk of Ellis County circa 1861 and became captain of the first company of confederate soldiers to go fight. Captain William Woodruff Parks died near Little Rock Arkansas December, 1862. It is Dorothy's grandfather, J. H. Spalding, for whom Royce Spalding is based. Places In The Heart was written and directed by Mr. Benton. It is also is a shadow of his ancestry. The story Mr Benton created takes place in the 30's while his great grandfather's real story took place in the 1880's. There was no intention of hiding the connection.
The 1880 Federal Census has John H. Spalding living in Waxahachie, Texas at age 44. He is head of household, and his occupation is City Marshal. John is shown to have been born in Missouri. John's parents are recorded to be both from Kentucky. John's wife is named Laura at age 31 and is listed as a homemaker born in Tennesse as was her parents. Their son Willis is age 10, son Clint is age 9, daughter Kate is age 7 and son Frank is age 2. All children born in Texas. Also, there is a visitor named Barbay Hammond age 60 from Alabama in their home at the time of the census. Little did the family know that two years later their life would be turned upside down on a December evening. In a Ellis County History book a section about Waxahachie written by Judge A. R. Stout and Edna D. Hawkins states that the founding families of Waxahachie were "E.W. Rogers, J.D. Templeton, W.H. Getzendaner,B.F. Hawkins, Nicholas Oldham, N. B. Langsford, J. B. Meredith, C. D. Puckett, Levin Dixon, R. A. Davis, N. P. Sims, J. P. Kennedy, Peyton Nowlin, M. T. Patrick, Silas H. Kilough, and J. H. SPALDING"

It was a Sunday December 17, 1882 in Waxahachie, Texas when an intoxicated Chas Smith would resist the arrest of a deputy marshall L. K. Allen. Chas Smith was a black man from Freedman town east of downtown Waxahchie. He worked for E. A. Dubose at his drug store. (Dubose was the six Mayor of Waxahachie serving from 1882 to 1888)Chas also did odd jobs around town. But it was Sunday and Chas was not working but was able to acquire alcohol and was apparently a mean drunk. Chas apparently arguing with another blackman probably on the corner of main and College st. The Deputy tried to arrest Chas when he decided to make a run for it. Chas ran north up college street from downtown. The Deputy fired a warning shot as Chas crossed a bridge which would have been near where the present day college street pub sits. The intoxicated Smith believing he was being shot at returned fire from his .45 pistol. I don't think the deputy thought Chas was armed and figured he would have just stopped after firing the warning shot. Chas was taunting the deputy and firing back. A gun fight ensued and the deputy and another citizen pinned Chas in the cotton platforms that would have been on the north side of the tracks east of college street where the parking lot for C. A. Wilson is currently . The deputy ran out of bullets and now he was pinned.

Whether or not Marshall Spalding was eating his Sunday dinner when the shoot out started is unknown. It would have been 6:30 pm. John and Laura Spalding's house on the corner of Jefferson and Hawkins street was maybe half a mile from where the shoot out started. This made it very possible that the Spaldings could have heard the shootout start from their house. The eyewitness accounts say that Marshall Spalding came onto the scene on horseback and firing at Chas Smith. Chas Smith went on the run and headed east towards a lumber yard that was near the tracks. It's possible that Marshall Spalding wounded Chas Smith. The Marshall overtook Smith at a bridge north of the tracks. I think that the Marshall believed he had injured Chas Smith and that he would comply to surrender. At the same time the Marshall dismounted his horse he started to grab Chas Smith. In response Chas Smith unexpectedly slung his pistol into the temple of Marshall Spalding and fired the .45 caliber pistol. Marshall Spalding instantly perished. Chas ran into Freedman town heading towards his home. He passed the black folks baptist church which is still on main street today. Not sure if it is the same building but believe it is same location. A large group of citizens hunted Chas down and found him resting under a peach tree. Chas was flushed out and took refuge in an outhouse. Chas refused to come out and a black man named Charlie Woodard involved in the chase busted the door down. It is said that the posse ordered Chas to surrender but he pulled out two pistols. The posse responded by riddling Chas Smith's body with bullets and shotgun fire before he could even take aim. I was informed that abuse of Chas Smith's corpse did happen similar to character in the movie by dragging him through the streets. The difference in reality and the movie was that Chas Smith's body was dragged by horses not a car. The enraged posse dragged the body to Jefferson and Hawkins street to show Mrs Spalding that in their they way to show her they took care of the matter. Probably their way to send a message to the black community also. There seems to be no mention of race tension. I could imagine emotions ran high in the community and not having the town Marshall to calm things down were stressful on the community.

The town was in shock and papers around Texas and other states reported the story. The Waxahachie paper had an article that claimed who ever sold the alcohol to Chas Smith on Sunday was the one to blame. The devil had entered Chas Smith by letting his guard down with alcohol. There wasnt any race arguments used in the article. There were no signs that the community blammed Chas Smith's race. It was illegal to sale liquor on Sunday in this time period. This and other violent incidents spurred on the Waxahachie's temperance movement of the time.

In the movie John Malkovich plays a blind man they call Mr. Will who was wounded in WWI. Through email correspondence with Robert Benton's secretary, I was informed that Mr. Will is based on Mr. Benton's grandmother's brother who was blind from childhood named Uncle Bud. The name "Mr. Will" probably came from a relative W A Spalding who was known to be called Mr. Will.

Laura Spalding did not physically run the farm like Edna Spalding but she was a strong woman. She owned a farm near Maypearl.  She did successfully manage the farm.  Laura with her older sister raised her three younger sisters after their Dad, Captain William Parks, died in the Civil War and her mother passed not long after. She was given recognition as a school teacher and much respected in the community. It appears she never remarried.
Some other interesting facts about Places In the Heart.. The were scenes not used in the movie. If you notice at the dance/party there are guys getting alcohol I believe from the back of a vehicle. Well, according to Director Robert Benton's through his assistant there was a draft of the movie with bootleggers that were to be based off the Director's father's two brothers. It's also said the Ellery Benton,Robert Benton's father, attended both Bonnie and Clyde's separate funerals. Wayne and Margaret's daughter, Rosalie, is said to have gotten the name Mr. Benton's wife. The Shooting of Royce Spalding in the movie takes place on the railroad tracks. In the background is the viaduct. The viaduct was officially opened for traffic by Mr Benton's great Uncle, W A Spalding Sr who was an engineer, on December 12, 1931. In the movie, the mean old Banker that turns down Sally Field for the loan (the Rogers Hotel was used as the bank)is W A Spalding Jr. At the end of the movie W A Spalding Jr and his wife are in the church. W A Spalding's wife is in many of the dance scenes. Other possibilities of family connections are the youngest son of John Henry Spalding was named Frank Evermont Spalding his first wife's name was Edna. Probably where those character's names came from. Also the scene references Sally Field's character had come into town to sell 5 lbs of potatoes to Mrs Parks. Parks is the real Laura Spalding's maiden name.

Director Robert Benton's ancestry
John Henry Spalding (April 29,1835)
married Dec 30th 1868
Laura Jane Parks (December 22, 1848)

to

Clinton Thomas Spalding (Feb 8th 1871)
married June 28th 1900
Willie Strong Spalding (April 19th 1875)

to

Dorothy Spalding (July 17, 1901)
married Oct 8th 1921
Ellery Douglas Benton (Jan 3, 1895)

to

Robert Douglas Benton (Sep 29, 1932)

The Summer Moonlight Movies :Places In The Heart

Today Friday June 12, 2009 The Summer Moonlight Movies are showing PLACE IN THE HEART in downtown Waxahachie near the Pocket Park at the corner of College and Franklin Streets. They use the inflatable screen. It will be real interesting and surreal considering the real story took place in 1882 with a shoot out that started on College street.

Places in the Heart: :The Beauty Shop

The Church PArking lot where I am told the Beauty shop originally stood

The Church Sign


What the Beauty shop looked like at it's original location on Brown street
Current location
Took me a while to find this. The Beauty shop in the movie Places in the Heart was moved from it's original spot and where it was filmed in the the movie on Brown street. Also a column was added to the front which added to the difficulty in identifying it. But thanks to Shanon, director at the Ellis County museum, I was able to get access to a tour of Waxahachie movie location flier. It's located on Marvin and I believe is now called the Anderson home.

Places In The Heart: Rogers Hotel/First Farmers Bank

Roger's Hotel July 2008-The spot of pioneer Emory Roger's Cabin.
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Rogers Hotel was used as the location of the First Farmers Bank in Places In The Heart. It was filmed on the first floor/lobby and the bankers desk was near a front window. One of the camera angles from the point of view of the banker ,Albert Denby, showed the activity outside on the square at Main st and College st. You also could see the lower part of the courthouse in the background. The trees have grown since then. (I believe Brooks and Dunn filmed a segment for their upcoming special right in front of those trees.) From that low camera angle , I doubt they would have used that shot if Places In The Heart was filmed today. The trees would have covered up the courthouse. GPS location is 32 deg 23' 08.70"N 96 deg 50' 23.24"W

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---Places In The Heart:Viaduct/Railroad------

The Viaduct on highway 77 in Waxahachie was a background scene early in the movie Places In The Heart. The railroad has changed considerable. The one track stops (use to head south towards Italy) and the functioning BNSF does not go through the same pair of pillars as the movie. It goes through the two pillars north of the movies track path. The BNSF curves a little to the east then goes Southeast to Bardwell and then on to Corsicana. Trees have grown up on the southern side of the tracks and you can't really get a clear picture of the track path in the movie. The old telephone poles are gone. I have seen a telephone pole on the east side of the bridge. The other direction

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Looking at this picture you can see two tracks but the one on the right stops and has been pulled up. It ran by the train depot closest to the creek. This track would have paralleled the current walk path. The track on the left is a current functioning Burlington Northern Santa Fe track and curves to the left between the pillars which are to the left (North)of the movie pillars the tracks once went through. The single rail in between the tracks is just lying there don't think it serves a purpose
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You can see the lights to Paul Richard's Field (Jungle Park in the olden days). The trees have grown since then.




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Royce Spalding confronting Wylie in places in the heart filmed circa 1984

Interesting the more I get into the story of Places in the Heart I am finding more clues to the actual family Heritage of director Robert Benton who is related to Spaldings from Waxahachie. Maybe he showcased the Viaduct in the background because it reminded him of his relative W. A. Spalding. W. A. Spalding has turned up in many articles of research. He wrote many historical papers that are found in Library. I assume it is W. A. Spalding Sr who would have been 62 at the time Jr was only 14. It appears Sr. is the resident Engineer who officially opens the Viaduct December 12, 1931 in the below WDL article. (Note that an outsider technically the first person to drive over the viaduct)

Bridge Opening Today
from Waxahachie Daily Light December 12, 1931
The opening and closing of Waxahachie viaduct is scheduled to be turned over to traffic officially at 2:00 P.M. today. It was "off again, on again Flannigan" with the big bridge today. People rode over it a while; then they were shut off from it; then they were to travel over it again.
Division Engineer Rice had authorized resident Engineer W.A. Spalding early today to turn traffic on the bridge officially at 2:00 P.M. At this hour the City and County officials were to be the first to journey over the viaduct; but other folks beat them to it, for a maintenance man from Dallas came here and removed the gates about 11:00 A.M. from each end of the over-pass. And a stranger tourist was the first to travel over the long bridge; then the contractor closed the bridge, for the formal opening. So at 2:00 P.M. the city and county are to have a chance to make the official opening.
The bridge, nearly a quarter of a mile in length, concrete and steel, connects Elm Street with Rogers Street, passing over the Katy and T. & N.O. R.R. and Waxahachie Creek, White Way lights will illuminate the viaduct at night.

Places In The Heart:Five Points Cotton Gin

Off of Fm 876 near what I believe is called Walker's Triangle , there is what's left of the 5 points Cotton Gin. It was the setting for two great scenes in Places in the Heart. The first is when Edna Spalding goes with Moze to buy cotton seed. The Cotton Gin owner, W. E. Simmons, tries to pull the old switch-a-roo with the seed. But Moze, who "knows about most anything there is to know about farm'n cotton", catches Mr. Simmons' trickery. The second time is when Edna comes to sale the Cotton. She goes into the the office which is still there and currently it appears someone lives there. This time Moze tries to help Edna but the owner pulls down the window shade to the office so Moze can't listen or communicate to Edna. Edna uses her wit and her knowledge of how Mr. Simmons could gain some bragging rights among the masons by having the first bale of cotton in the county. She gets her 3.75 cents per pound which was over the going rate of 3.5 cents a pound at the time.

There is machinery missing since the movie and the grass is grown up. A fella owns the triangle portion of the property where two roads form a V shape.


GPS Location is 32 deg 16' 45.13"N 96 deg 54' 01.19"W

Places In The Heart:Bethel Methodist Church

This church was used in the beginning and the end of the movie. At the end was an emotional scene about forgiveness. It's a very interesting peaceful setting. Many Sims are buried in the cemetery across the road from the church and the God's acres pavilion was used in the second dance scene. I believe Ellis County Commissioner Heath Sims is a current member of the Church. The Sims were early settlers of Ellis County and founders of the Bethel Church. I believe N. P. Sims is Heath's Great Great Uncle. The church is in the vicinity of the community of Boz.








I sneaked a picture of the inside through a small clear rectangular piece of glass on the door. Wood floors and wood pews are still their like in the movie. GPS approximate location is 32 deg 17' 44.45"N 96 deg 54' 53.45"W






This video is spliced with my video of the current appearance of the Bethel Church. Notice the large bushes are gone beside the entrance. There is also a bar across the circle stained glass dove picture in the movie but not now. Also in the movie the beautiful windows are open as is the front door for air circulation. Now the church has ac.

Places in the Heart: :Tornado Road

I believe the curve is where Wayne(Ed Harris) drives around to get a glimpse of his extramarital lover, Viola Kelsey (Amy Madigan), the school teacher. In real life Ed Harris and Amy Madigan later married.

Emanuel st (use to be called Hackberry) at the end of East Marvin in Waxahachie is the location of the School tornado scene in Places In The Heart. I believe that their are new houses built since the movie and an older two story that was moved to the spot. Goats are grazing on an open field south of the curve.

Movies Filmed in Waxahachie

Was talking to a young aspiring film director Aaron Walker about Waxahachie/Ellis County being a great filming location and found these movies filmed in Waxahachie on Waxahachie's Chamber Of Commerce web-site.


Waxahachie Movie List
• Bonnie and Clyde, 1967 – Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons.Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Parsons) and cinematography (Burnett Guffrey).
• Deadly Blessings, 1980 – Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen.
• Tender Mercies, 1981 – Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Wilford Brimley. Oscars for Best Actor (Duvall) and Best Screenplay (Horton Foote).
• Of Mice and Men (TV), 1981 – Randy Quaid, Robert Blake.
• Cowboy (TV), 1981 – Ted Danson, James Brolin, Patrick Tovatt.
• Glory Road, 1982-83 – Gary Busey, Marjoe Gortner (film went bankrupt; never released).• Ellie, 1983 – Pat Paulsen, Shelley Winters, George Gobel.
• Places in the Heart, 1983 – Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Lindsay Crouse, Bert Remsen. Oscars for Best Actress (Field) and Best Screenplay (Waxahachie Native, Robert Benton).
• 1918, 1984 – Matthew Broderick.
• The Last of the Caddoes (TV)
• The Aurora Encounter, 1984 – Jack Elam.
• Peyton Place: The Next Generation, 1985 – Dorothy Malone, Ed Nelson.
• The Trip to Bountiful, 1985 – Geraldine Page, Rebecca DeMornay, John Heard, Carlin Glynn. Oscar for Best Actress (Page).
• Valentine’s Day, 1985 – Matthew Broderick, William Converse Robert.
• True Stories, 1985 – David Byrne.
• Thompson’s Last Run, 1985 – Robert Mitchum.
• The All-American Cowboy, (TV special) with Charlie Pride.
• Katherine Anne Porter: A Texas Childhood (TV), 1986.
• Square Dance, 1986 – Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Winona Ryder, Rob Lowe.
• Traveling Man, 1987 – Kay Lenz.
• The Fig Tree, 1987-88 – William Converse Roberts, Theresa Wright, Doris Roberts.
• Norman Rockwells’s Breaking Home Ties, 1987-88 – Jason Robards, Eva Marie Saint, Doug
McKeon, Erin Gray, Claire Trevor.
• It Takes Two (working title: My New Car), 1987-88 – Patrick Dempsey, Leslie Hope Barry Corbin.
• River Bend (originally titled Night of the Eagles, and previously titled Give or Take a Hundred Years), filmed in 1987-88; released in 1989 – Steve James, Margaret Avery.
• Ollie Hopnoodle’s Haven of Bliss, 1987-88 – James B. Sikking, Jean Shepherd.
• Born on the Fourth of July, 1987-88 – Tom Cruise (only one small scene in rural part of county).
• Love Hurts, 1987-88 – Jeff Daniels, Cloris Leachman.
• Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story, 1991.
• Pure Country, 1993 – George Strait.
• Curse of the Starving Class, 1994 – James Woods, Kathy Bates, Lou Gossett Jr., Randy Quaid, Henry Thomas.
• Universal Soldier: The Return, 1999 – Jean-Claude Van Damme.
• Walker, Texas Ranger (TV Series), 1993-2000.
• Slap Her . . . She’s French, 2001 – Piper Perabo, Jane McGregor, Trent Ford.
• Fat Girls, 2005 – Ash Christian.
• Walking Tall 2, 2006 – Kevin Sorbo.
• Walking Tall 3, 2006 – Kevin Sorbo.
• Prison Break (TV Series), Season 2 - 2006.