Pioneer Texas Telephones

1878

The first telephones in Texas, in 1878, connected the "Galveston News" with the home of its publisher, Col. A. H. Belo. Galveston also had the first exchange, 1879, and first long-distance line, which ran to Houston, in 1883. Cleburne phone service began 1882 when Automatic Telephone Company opened. In 1897 Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company (which later joined Bell System) started another firm. It built city's first long distance line, 12 miles to Alvarado junction. Monthly rates were $2 to $3. About 1904, the Automatic Telephone Company installed some of first dial phones in U.S.- fifteen years before they were used successfully elsewhere. But in 1912, problems forced the Automatic Telephone Company to close. Near turn of century, rural areas often used barbed wire fences for phone lines. Even urban homes shared party lines, each one having its special "ring". Circuits joined a main switchboard manned by one operator "central"--- the hub of local news. "Central" always knew where to find town doctor and was a clearing house for funeral plans. The unemployed could ask her who needed workers; she advertised by ringing all phones to read announcements. Many small towns regretted losing her services when dial phones came into use. By 1966, Texas had 4,474,722 telephones, 134 companies. Incise in base: Early travel, transportation and communication series erected by the Moody Foundation.

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Rodgers, Floyd H. [Slats]

1912

Floyd H. (Slats) Rodgers, aviation pioneer, was born in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, on March 7, 1889, the son of Charlie and Alice (Russell) Rodgers. He moved with the family to Keene, Texas, and after a brief education moved to the farm of an uncle near Waco. At the age of eighteen he applied for employment with the railroad; he advanced to locomotive engineer on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe in 1915. That same year he married Rosie Oliver; they had four children and were later divorced. Rodgers's boyhood experience with kites evolved into an avid interest in flying. Largely self-taught, he began to read extensively about planes. He first built a model plane that he put on display, and soon decided to build a larger version. With the help of John C. Fine, an engineer he met working on the Santa Fe, Rodgers designed and built a primitive aircraft, reputed to be the first built in Texas, which he flew without instruction in late 1912, a mere nine years after the first manned airplane flight by the Wright brothers. Because of a persistent droop in one wing Rodgers called the plane Old Soggy No. 1; he retired it in 1913. He became a civilian flight instructor for the army in 1916 and went on to fly army-surplus Jennies and Canucks as a barnstormer and circus stunt pilot after World War I . During prohibition he bought his own plane to ferry bootleg liquor from Mexico to Texas. He was involved in gambling and moonshining operations and eventually served six months in a Dallas jail for his illegal activities. After prohibition, as livelihood from barnstorming waned, he turned to crop dusting in the lower Rio Grande valley. On special charter requests he would sometimes shock his passenger with unforgettable aerial performances. He was a check pilot for Civilian Pilot Training just before World War II . Although his flight career extended to his later years, his flamboyant lifestyle and penchant for the illegal was increasingly limited by rules and regulations of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. Rodgers coauthored an autobiography, Old Soggy No. 1 (1954), in which he preserves the uninhibited character of the first three decades of aviation and reveals his own uniqueness. Bootlegging and flying stunts made him famous among the aviators and law-enforcement officers within the range of Love Field in Dallas as well as later in the lower Rio Grande valley. He performed the aviation heroics attendant upon early flight, including such incidents as surviving a crash after the motor had fallen off, safely landing a fabric-covered aircraft with one side in flames, having the first pilot's license in Texas and being the first to have it revoked, and landing safely at night after being blinded by lighted fireworks mounted on his plane. After his second marriage, Rodgers bought a 400–500 acre ranch in Bandera and opened a steakhouse. He subsequently sold out and moved to McAllen, opened another steakhouse, and ran a fisherman's camp in nearby Zapata. Slats Rodgers died on July 5, 1956, in McAllen and was buried at Laurel Hills Cemetery in Mission.

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Johnson, Middleton T., Colonel; General Patrick R. Cleburne

1861

County named for Texas Confederate-- Colonel Middleton T. Johnson, 1810-1866 South Carolinian; Legislator Alabama came to Texas 1840. Member Republic of Texas Congress. Cavalryman in U.S. War with Mexico. Texas Ranger surveyor of early railroads. As colonel raised 14th Texas Cavalry regiment, taking them to Little Rock 1862 for induction C.S.A. service. Buried Mill Creek Cemetery, Arlington, Texas. Johnson County voted 500-50 for secession 1861. Soon raised 9 companies for C.S.A. service. 12th Texas Cavalry regt. which served in Arkansas, Louisiana, on Texas coast to prevent invasion Texas. Remaining eligible men western part county placed in state militia late 1863 to protect frontier. City named for Confederate-- General Patrick R. Cleburne 1828-1864 Born near Cork, Ireland came to U.S. 1849. Drug clerk in Ohio, became lawyer in Arkansas. Recruited 1st Arkansas Regt. for Confederacy. Elected colonel. Promoted brigadier general March 1862, made major general Dec. 1862. Rapidly earned reputation as a superb combat officer on numerous fields with army of Tennessee Eight. Texas regiments of Granbury's Brigade were under Cleburne, and in 1864 Atlanta campaign he said, "The piles of the (Union) dead were silent but sufficient eulogy upon Granbury and his noble Texans. "On Nov. 30, 1864 Cleburne, a savage fighter, met death six paces from the Federal lines in battle Franklin, Tenn. Became known as "Stonewall Jackson of the West." Erected by the State of Teas 1963.

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The Texas World War II Home Front

1941

World War II brought a shared sense of patriotism and purpose to the Texas home front as civilians benefited from new or expanded war industry jobs, such as petroleum, lumber, bomber manufacturing and farming. However, the large number of Texans seeking employment in larger cities or joining the military created an extreme labor shortage in many smaller communities. Across the state, groups worked to alleviate the labor crisis. Johnson County succeeded in June 1944 with the establishment of Camp Cleburne for German Prisoners of War (POWs) here, with the First State Bank of Rio Vista guarantying funds to the U.S. government for POW wages. By war’s end, Camp Cleburne––one of nearly 70 camps across the state housing more than 50,000 POWs––provided 120 Johnson County farms with necessary agricultural labor during the war. Prior to the war, National Guard units trained across Texas preparing for America’s eventual entry into the war. One such unit, Battery B., 132nd Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division (I.D.) trained in Johnson County. In 1942, the 36th I.D. mobilized for overseas deployment and the patriotic Texas spirit shone brightly as the unit rolled through Cleburne in Feb. 1942 to the cheers of hundreds of Johnson County residents. By 1945, nearly 1.2 million troops trained at army posts, airfields and naval bases in Texas. Texans looked to volunteer civically while enduring shortages and inconveniences necessary to support the war effort. The Johnson County Draft Board and Rationing Board were housed in the county courthouse. In addition, local residents participated in civilian oriented programs, such as blackout and air raid drills, Civil Air Patrol, victory gardens, scrap drives, volunteering at USOs and working war bond drives. Texans responded in great numbers to their nation’s call and served both overseas and stateside in WWII. The resulting military buildup served as the catalyst toward the modernization and urbanization of Texas. Texas in World War II - 2010

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Carroll, John Lewis [Johnny]

1956

John Lewis (Johnny) Carroll, rockabilly guitarist, composer, and singer, was born in Cleburne, Texas, on October 23, 1937. He grew up in nearby Godley and spent much of his life on the family farm there. His surname was actually spelled Carrell, but the Decca label misspelled it as Carroll, and apparently Johnny used this spelling for the rest of his career. Carroll bought his first guitar at age nine with money he had earned by working as a water boy at a World War II POW camp. His mother, who played the fiddle, taught him basic music skills. By listening to the radio, he learned to play country music . Carroll later was introduced to rhythm and blues when a cousin in the jukebox business gave him some old 78 rpm records. In the early 1950s he performed on KCLE radio in Cleburne. By 1955 he had formed his own high school band, the Moonlighters. His group sometimes shared the stage with the South's newest singing sensation, Elvis Presley , as they performed on the Big D Jamboree and the Louisiana Hayride circuit. During a performance with Ferlin Husky, Carroll gained the attention of local radio operator Jack "Tiger" Goldman, who helped him get a contract with Decca Records. In 1956 Carroll recorded for Decca in Nashville. During this two-day recording session he was encouraged to sing in a dark and husky voice, a trademark he carried throughout his career. At the session he recorded his own "Crazy, Crazy Lovin'" along with "Hot Rock," written by Goldman. With moderate sales, Carroll embarked on a series of tours. In 1957 he starred in the motion picture Rock, Baby, Rock It! which was filmed in Dallas in 1956, and he performed several songs with his old high school band. Though panned by critics, the film later achieved cult status for its diverse and historic music performances. After a dispute with Goldman, Carroll left him and rejoined the Louisiana Hayride . He enlisted Ed McLemore , co-producer of Big D Jamboree , as his new manager in 1958 and recorded two singles for Warner Brothers, including his biggest hit, "Bandstand Doll." In 1962 he recorded his last single for more than ten years. Beginning in 1958 until the early 1970s, Carroll was music director for a series of nightclubs known as the Cellar . Originally opened in Fort Worth, the club also opened branches in other Texas cities. On May 6, 1960, Carroll married Sharon, a waitress at the Cellar. They had a son but divorced in 1966. He married Tena Mathews in 1968. In 1974, after leaving the nightclub business, Carroll returned to performing and recorded "Black Leather Rebel" (also titled "Gene Vincent Rock"), a tribute to singer and friend Gene Vincent. It was the first of several projects that reignited Carroll's career Three years later he re-released three of his Decca singles, the success of which led to several tours across Europe, where he was a rock-and-roll icon. In 1978 Carroll rekindled his 1950s rock-and-roll sound with the release of Texabilly , an album recorded on the Rollin' Rock label in Van Nuys, California, in a twenty-seven-hour marathon session. About this time he also teamed up with model and singer Judy Lindsey, and the two performed in clubs across the United States and in Europe. The city of Fort Worth proclaimed December 1, 1986, to be "Johnny Carroll Day" in honor of Carroll's success in Europe and his role as an ambassador of good will for the city. By the 1990s he had completed eleven European tours and was a popular draw on the American music festival circuit. He died of liver failure in Dallas on February 18, 1995, and was buried in Godley, Texas. Bear Family Records released Rock Baby Rock It: 1955-1960 , a compilation of Carroll's recordings, in 1996.

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Conway, Gordon

1915

Gordon Conway, artist, only child of John Catlett and Tommie (Johnson) Conway, was born at Cleburne, Texas, on December 18, 1894. Her father descended from colonial and revolutionary era patriots in Tidewater Virginia that included a collateral ancestral line from the mother of President James Madison. After the Civil War he moved to Texas, where he succeeded in business, became an active Episcopal layman, and served as mayor of Cleburne. Around 1900 the family moved to Dallas, where he expanded his chain of lumberyards, established lumber firms in Dallas and Fort Worth, and became a well-known civic and social leader before his death in 1906. His daughter, Gordon, the last of the family line, had no children from a seven-year marriage to businessman Blake Ozias that ended in divorce in France in 1927. Gordon Conway's mother also descended from early American leaders, including the Samuel Adams family of Massachusetts and Joseph Johnson, the first Virginia governor elected by a vote of the people. One Johnson line later moved to Texas and settled in Whitesboro, Paris, and Cleburne. Tommie Johnson Conway established the pattern of a glamorous, nomadic lifestyle that included sporadic educational efforts for Gordon at the National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., a Lausanne girls' school, and brief art lessons in Rome. She was a champion of her daughter's career and her lifelong companion. During a brief but prolific twenty-two-year career (1915-37), Gordon Conway won international acclaim in the fields of commercial graphic art and costume design for stage and film in New York, London, and Paris. She made around 5,000 finished drawings, including illustrations for at least 26 publications and 33 advertising clients. With assignments ranging from one to 80 costumes per show, she designed graphics and costumes for at least 119 stage productions for both theater and cabaret. She costumed 47 films. Conway helped democratize Parisian haute couture and popularize the severe elements of modern design. Starting out during the golden age of American illustration, she was a self-taught, free-lance artist who worked without apprentices and models. A significant but often overlooked aspect of her career-and rare for women of the era-was Conway's ability to create a popular public persona, which expanded her network of clients. She was in the vanguard of the new business enterprises of advertising and public relations at the beginning of the twentieth century. She excelled in several genres best reviewed in two stages: her New York period (1915-20) and her European period (1921-36). Highlights of her New York period included silhouette art for mass print media and color billboards, posters, and promotional graphics touting Broadway theater and cabaret productions. She was a spirited and determined twenty-year-old in 1915 when she launched her career at Vogue and Vanity Fair . Recognizing her native talent, Heyworth Campbell-publisher Condé Nast's first art director-insisted that Conway forget academic art school. He urged her to take classes at the Art Students League and to study magazine and advertising illustration with tutors. Campbell joined another Conway mentor, Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield, in helping her establish a popular public image. These editors also marshaled her innate flair for whimsy and parody by commissioning covers and narrative vignette pages spoofing New York society girls involved in World War I charity work. Also publishing Conway's drawings of bright young sophisticates was Condé Nast rival Harper's Bazaar , whose editor, Henry B. Sell, encouraged Conway's talent and introduced her to the art work of their new cover artist, Erté. These successes led to other publications and diverse advertising clients such as the Delage and the Franklin motor car companies, Huylers chocolates, Neiman-Marcus , and Hallmark watches. The National City Company (New York) commissioned a series of her posters for a natio

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Cleburne, Texas

Music in Cleburne

Songs About Cleburne

Artists From Cleburne

Rivers & Roads in Song near Cleburne

History of Cleburne

Pioneer Texas Telephones

Rodgers, Floyd H. [Slats]

Johnson, Middleton T., Colonel; General Patrick R. Cleburne

The Texas World War II Home Front

Carroll, John Lewis [Johnny]

Conway, Gordon

Everything Near Cleburne