Grocer, banker adds land, lights amid building boom
Ham’s grandparents, Joshua Hardy and Elizabeth Gee, were born in Lunenburg Co., VA, and married there in 1808. His dad, William Henry Hardy, was born in Lunenburg Co., and his mom, Cena Ellen Hudnall, in Bedford Co., three counties west of Lunenburg, and married in Bedford Co. in 1833. Ham was born there in 1838.
By 1840, the William Henry family was in Pittsylvania Co., VA, the next county south of Bedford. They were probably in the northern part of Pittsylvania Co. because in 1850, they were back in Bedford Co. The Civil War was looming, so the William Henry family joined the GTT [Gone To Texas] migration and, in 1860, were on a farm near Boonville, TX. Boonville was the first county seat of Brazos County, Texas, founded in 1841, but is now a ghost town absorbed by Bryan. William Henry was a farmer, Ham was a carpenter.
Mary Malissa Dailey and Rufus Fielder married in Tallapoosa Co., AL, in 1842. Mary had her dad’s approval. On 5 May 1842, Samuel Clark Dailey sent a note to Simeon Goolsby, clerk of the Tallapoosa Co. orphans’ court which was also responsible for maintaining marriage records.
Dailey said, “If Mr. Rufus Fielder, of Chambers County, calls for license to marry my daughter Mary M. please let him have it. The law I suppose requires notice of this kind to you in case of minors to indemnify you, hence this note. I am very respectfully yours. Sam C. Dailey” Tallapoosa Co. is in east central AL; the county seat is Dadeville. Rufus lived just over the county line in Tallapoosa’s eastern neighbor, Chambers Co. Communication was difficult. There was U.S. mail service, but no telegraph, and no newspaper. The Tallapoosa River was partially navigable by steamboat but because of the river’s difficult navigation, early settlers and traders relied on overland routes like the Okfuskee Trail (or Upper Creek Trading Path).
Industrial development in the area was actually delayed by the river’s challenging falls. Messages were delivered by stagecoach. Some of those messages were official government notices which officials like Goolsby were required to publish. He used the Argus in Wetumpka, the county seat of Elmore Co. which joined the southwest side of Tallapoosa Co.
By 1860, Rufus and his brother John Elon had GTT, and lived in the same household in Cherokee Co. where, probably, Mary Malissa Fielder was born in 1850. Mary and Ham married in Brazos Co. in 1869. Ham soon moved into government service. In 1869, he was elected a precinct officer in Brazos Co. In 1870, Ham was listed on the census as a judge in police court and had two Black servants. In 1872, Ham attended the County Democratic convention in Corsicana. In 1873, Ham was elected Clerk of the District Court, defeating C.F. Moore 1113 to 869.
In 1880, Ham and Mary were still in Brazos Co. They had five kids, and Ham was the county clerk. He was so wellliked that the local correspondent for The Dallas Herald filed this report: “Bryan, April 18, 1880. On Wednesday last Mr. Hammett Hardy, County clerk, went over on Main street and purchased a dozen boxes of parlor matches and returned to the court house and placed them on a chair in his office. Mr. Hardy is a good hand at electioneering, but he had never tried to electioneer with parlor matches before. He commenced to record some deeds but forgot to record the fact that he had placed those matches on that chair that contained those matches.
Lifting up a large book he had been reading, he tossed it over on that chair that contained those matches. An explosion followed, equivalent to a small engagement of artillery. Mr. Hardy jumped about ten feet in the clear, as though he was practicing acrobatic feats in order to join a circus troupe. He said he was not aware that parlor matches were so humorous and that they cracked jokes in that manner. The fire was extinguished without any damage, but the matches acted as if they felt put out about it.”
Sometime in the very early 1880s, Ham and family moved to Hays Co., TX, where, in 1884, he established a grocery business which remained in the family for many years and expanded to include all manner of merchandise Infallible Red Ant EX-ter-min-a-tor “Or we will guarantee their destruction for one dollar per hill”; Double Shovels, Hoes, Sweeps and a full line of farming implements generally; Baking Powder Absolutely Pure.
When the San Marcos Free Press announced Ham’s entry into the grocery business, it described him as a prominent sheep man. Perhaps so. Mary’s brother Zeno Fielder was a pretty big sheep rancher. Ham may well have invested in his brother-in-law’s enterprise. Ham probably did not approve of Zeno’s foray into sheep smuggling, for which he was found guilty and fined. In 1899, Ham finally got out of the grocery and general merchandise business. The mercantile business probably stayed in the family until Ham’s death in In 1885, Ham was a Director of the First National Bank of San Marcos. That lasted until 1889 when J.W. Herndon died and Ham replaced him as vice-president of the First National Bank.
In 1887, Ham received a petition from several San Marcos citizens who wished him to run for mayor. He did and announced his candidacy in the Free Press. His platform was 1. have all city ordinances strictly enforced, 2. favor all practical measures for the better advancement of our educational interests, and 3. the general prosperity of our beautiful little city.
In 1887, San Marcos was little with probably about 2,000 inhabitants; I think I’ve seen that many in the big HEB. Ham was easily elected to his first term as mayor of San Marcos.; he defeated William Giesen 169-133. Thus began a game of musical chairs with James Robert Porter. Ham served six years from 1887 to 1893 and declined to run for re-election. Porter then took over for one term 1893-1895. The baton passed back to Ham who served six more years 1895-1901. Then, Porter resumed the seat for twelve years 1901-1913.
The duties of the mayor of little San Marcos were large and small. One of Ham’s first acts was, in 1888, to sign a proclamation for perhaps the first annexation of land to San Marcos. The land annexed was bounded by the San Marcos River, Post Road, Lime Kiln road to Cahill’s 40-acre lime kiln property, then back to the river. The kiln was new.
In 1887, J.J. Belger and James D. Cahill constructed a lime kiln from roughcut limestone blocks lined with fire bricks at the foot of a natural limestone outcrop on the outskirts of San Marcos. Here, they extracted and burned limestone, producing 100 to 120 barrels of lime per day for agriculture and building construction. The kiln supplied mortar for numerous local structures, including the Hays County Courthouse, supporting the building boom and prosperity that San Marcos enjoyed at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. By 1910, the kiln had ceased operations due to the availability of cheaper lime elsewhere.
Then, in 1889, a report of a rabid dog in the city limits, prompted Ham to proclaim that no dogs, not muzzled, be allowed to run free within the city limit. The muzzle indicated ownership. Unmuzzled dogs were to be destroyed by the city marshal or policemen.
Ham made announcements other than as mayor. In 1889, as President of the Board of Trustees of the public schools, Ham announced that school would begin on the first Monday in September 1889.
The Texas Spring Palace was a massive, temporary agricultural and immigration exposition held in Fort Worth in 1889 and 1890, designed to attract settlers by showcasing Texas’s abundant natural products like grains, cotton, and minerals, which also formed its elaborate, decorative exterior before the structure was tragically destroyed by a fire in 1890. San Marcos saw an opportunity to participate and perhaps draw investors. A committee was formed to gather exhibits of all kinds from the farm, orchard, ranch, prairie and forest and water, and art and nature, and send them to Fort Worth for exhibition at the Spring Palace. A committee was formed; Ham was chair.
The Chautauqua movement was founded in 1874 by businessman Lewis Miller and Methodist minister, later Bishop, John Heyl Vincent, Chautauqua’s initial incarnation was in western New York state on Lake Chautauqua. The Chautauqua movement spread across the U.S. In San Marcos, a pavilion was built atop Chautauqua Hill where Southwest Texas Normal began in 1903.
The movement was founded on the premise that adults of either sex are capable of learning, that intellectual opportunities should comprise of more than just formal education, and that adult education should examine current social issues. Just as public schools tried to normalize the content and teaching of the three Rs, Chautauqua wished to normalize instruction in social issues. In 1889, a Chautauqua was held in San Marcos. As mayor, Ham appealed to San Marcos citizens to show their support. He asked merchants and businessmen to close for the day and for all to “go to the hill” to make our Chautauqua Opening a gala day to be remembered.
That day was remembered for another reason. J.W. Nance had realized that the power provided by the San Marcos River would certainly turn a dynamo to produce electricity. As construction neared completion, the Free Press waxed ecstatic about the industrial possibilities. The Free Press noted that the consumption of wrapping paper [almost all purchases at local merchants, wrapped in paper; no plastic bags then], could not be met by a dozen paper mills. Such paper could be made from almost any vegetable fiber -- hay, straw, cotton stalks, cactus fibre and the cockle-burrs. With electricity, we could have a paper mill.
But first, the Chautauqua. The tabernacle was illuminated by fourteen incandescent lamps. Two 100-candlepower above the roof at each end shed a lustre. Mr. Dubose called for three cheers for the light company and for Mr. Green and Mr. Smith and all those connected with the company. The City, contract signed by Mayor Ham, had signed on for nine street lamps, four 100-candlepower lamps for the corners of the courthouse square, with others at the depot, Ham’s house, John Barbee’s corner, and other convenient points.
In 1891, San Marcos filed a charter for a cotton gin and a cotton seed oil factory. The directors/owners of the new enterprises were W.D. Wood, W.I. Hutchinson, J.A. Brown. And Ham.
On a less pleasant note, many citizens of San Marcos enjoyed cock fights. The crowds sometimes grew unruly. In 1895, San Marcos passed an ordinance requiring the presence of the city marshal or a policeman. The fee for compliance was $4. The fine for non-compliance was $5 to $100.
In 1900, as Ham’s final term as mayor was drawing to a close, he chose to run against County Judge Ed. R. Kone for that position. Despite his best electioneering efforts, Ham lost.
After his final term as mayor, Ham and Mary moved to Fort Worth where Ham set up as a cotton buyer. Mary died there in 1904 so Ham moved in with his daughter Mary Pearl. Ham died in 1911. Although both Mary and Ham died in Fort Worth, their bodies were transported back to San Marcos for burial in the city cemetery. See findagrave #104908821.
