Excerpt from Wills Point Chronical, 8/6/1903
Canton Court in Early Dyas (Illustration of First Court House Recalls an Incident of the past)
Hiram, July 27 - Seeing your illustration of the primitive court house of Van Zandt county in your special 12-page issue, brings to memory and (sic) incident related by Judge Clayton Williams, a former resident of Wills Point. He told it thus:
Having occasion to go to Canton on business for the first time, he inquired his way until he found himself on the top of a large red hill with a small log house on the south side and three or four horses hitched in front. Arriving at the house, he was informed that that was Canton with court in session. He waited until the case was over. The defendant was found guilty and being unable to give bond was remanded to jail. The sheriff with the prisoner went to a large pine tree near by, chipped out a large chip and after the exudation of the resin adjusted his prisoner so that the elevated story of his pantaloons adhered to it, and passed on about his usual business.
Dr. Eli Zink
Evans, Jacob Alfred "Jake"
Born: April 30, 1870, Louisiana. Died: July 23, 1989, Van Zandt County, Texas. Cause of death: Struck by lightning. Married: Arrena "Rena" Samples, October 17, 1894, Van Zandt County, Texas. Father: Henry Adams Evans. Mother: Lavinia Elizabeth Threeton. The Wills Point Chronicle reported Jacob Evans' death as follows: "On last Saturday night, about 8:30 o'clock, during an electrical and rain storm, Jake E. Evans was killed by lightning at his residence in South Canton. He had been sitting in the house talking to his family and walked out on the porch to look at the clouds, when a bolt came which struck a stove flue, completely tearing it from the house. Apparently, the bolt that struck the flue followed some tin guttering down the roof of the main building to the roof of the gallery porch, passing through it with the result above stated. Every garment he had on was completely torn to shreds."
Source: Stories Beneath the Stones, Lawrence O. Greer and Benja Pittman Mize, L&M Publishing, 2017
Looking Back
Mamie De Lois Maume
Born November 13, 1891, Blanco County, Texas. Died: May 5, 1954, Van Zandt County, Texas. Cause of death: Cancer. Never Married. Father: Edward Walston Maume, Adams County, Mississippi. Mother: Alice R. Nash, Missouri. Occupation: Owner and operator of the Dixie Hotel, Canton, Texas.
The Dixie Hotel was a landmark in Canton for almost forty years. It was built in 1915 by John R. Kellis, Sheriff of Van Zandt County, and Dr. M.L. Cox, an enterprising young doctor. The hotel was located across from the courthouse and named after the Dixie Highway (now Highway 64) which ran in front of it. Mamie Maume, who had been a telephone operator for the local exchange, took over the hotel operations in 1916. She owned and ran the hotel, except for a short time, until her death. The hotel was known for its famous guests, its cooks and excellent food. These cooks: Maggie Bowles, Aarona Maxie, and Nannie Hambrick are mentioned since they were equally responsible for the hotel's excellent reputation. Mamie was known for her kindness and charitable attributes. The hotel was closed the night she died, and the building was torn down by relatives.
Source: Stories Beneath the Stones, Lawrence O. Greer and Benja Pittman Mize, L&M Publishing, 2017