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Hamman, who enthusiastically supported the venture. Hamman was an attorney, an ex-Confederate
General and a wealthy, well-established oil-man. Together, they brought in a number of local investors, formed a company to develop the idea and began taking options on ore-laden acreage. Venture capital was also raised from H. H. Wibirt of New York and Richard Coleman of St. Louis, and by 1888 the company, under the name of Cherokee Land & Iron Company, was purchasing land suitable for mining. Eventually, some 20,000 acres had been acquired and construction of a smelting plant to develop the ore was begun.
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avenge imagined insults directed at his wife, either by Hamman or his wife. S. T. Cooney, the shooter, was arrested, tried, found guilty and sent to prison for manslaughter. If in her view that was not sufficient penalty for the loss of her husband, Mrs. Hamman's exasperation came to full boil when in 1892, Mr. Cooney was pardoned. In a fit of outrage and grief, Mrs. Hamman (with some irony the sister of Tassie Belle
Blevins) took to the streets beseeching the Almighty to destroy the city and have it swallowed by the forest from whence it had come.
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wealthy foreign investors, the statute had been promoted by
Governor James Hogg. Hogg was, himself, a native of Rusk and Cherokee County. The management of NBI&D lobbied the governor to support an amendment to the law, but if he ever considered a move to assist the people of his home county, there was little evidence of it. In spite of being wined, dined and otherwise feted throughout New Birmingham and the Southern Hotel, Hogg stood firmly against any moderation of the Alien Land Law.
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bridge" over the Brazos River at
Calvert; the Pacific and Great Eastern Railway Company of Texas, to build a rail link between the Red River and the Rio Grande; and the Texas Timber and Prairie Railroad Company, to build a railroad between Beaumont and Bremond. In May of that year he also helped charter the Calvert and Belton Railroad. In 1871 Hamman moved to Calvert when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached town. There he established a successful legal practice.
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Cleveland, recently come from the presidential chair, Robert A. Van Wyck, financiers, who had risked their millions in the attempted development of
Cherokee County's iron ore were frequently registered. Along with the millionaires were citizens from nearby towns come for thrill as well as business, and newspaper representatives sent for copy. On one day there were guests from eight states.
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the best class of brick buildings; it boasts a street railway and a magnificent hotel, the
Southern, with all modern improvements. The industries represented today are two blast furnaces, a pipe foundry, planing mill, sash and door factory, steam laundry, and steam bakery and other industries being negotiated for.
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New
Birmingham languished. The nearly 400 homes there, boarded up and empty, begin to fall into disrepair or were dismantled, as were storefronts in the business district. But before it entirely disappeared, some attempts were made to resurrect the town and its industry. In 1899, the Record Brothers
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The fall of New
Birmingham was not without apocryphal blame. For years, some citizens of the fading mecca attached their troubles to a curse placed on the town by a bereaved widow. On July 14, 1890, General W. H. Hamman had been gunned down in the streets of the town by an enraged husband seeking to
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Legalities and politics intruded to bar this solution. The "Alien Land Law of Texas" flatly barred these potential investors from having any interest in a company whose assets were in the soil of Texas. Recently put into effect, ostensibly, to protect ranchers in West Texas from land speculation by
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On Nov. 12, 1888, New
Birmingham had not a single house completed. It was entirely in the woods. Today, with nearly 400 buildings completed and occupied, she claims and justly so, a population of 1,500. The streets are graded, and houses and streets lighted with electricity; the business houses are
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in the area of Rusk, Texas, and having familiarity with
Birmingham in his home state, was struck with the possibility of a similar industrial mecca in east Texas. Discovering that some small-scale iron processing was already occurring at Rusk Penitentiary, he approached his brother-in-law, W. H.
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allowed the firm to reorganize as the New Birmingham Iron and Land Company. Anderson Blevins was on the Board of Directors; H.H. Wibirt of New York and Richard Coleman served as president and vice-president, respectively. (The company would undergo another reorganization and name-change in 1890,
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Although his means were reduced by the war, in 1866 Hamman became the first oil prospector in Texas; he drilled his first oil well at Saratoga in Hardin County. In August 1870 Hamman helped to incorporate three business enterprises - the Calvert Bridge Company, to build "a safe and substantial
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A shortage of capital led the management of the company to seek investment from the British sources; the promotion there was met with considerable interest and, indeed, members of a British investment syndicate, the Baring Brothers, traveled to Texas to evaluate the potential at New Birmingham.
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As if to suggest that successful cities are those which emerge naturally as need dictates, rather than from the visions of speculators and promoters, New Birmingham was destined to fold back into the pine forest from which it emerged and become the distant memory it is today. In the 1890s, two
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The Southern Hotel, which the promoting company erected at a cost of more than $ 60,000 was the center of New Birmingham's gay life. Its first register, beginning March 28, 1889, and closing Feb. 9, 1890, recorded guests from twenty-eight states, including Jay Gould of railroad fame and Grover
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overtook the country, collapsing markets across the board. Lack of demand for pig iron led to a shutdown of the plants and without the jobs that had brought them there, people began to drift out of New Birmingham. An explosion seriously damaged the Tassie Belle furnace and further complicated
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In September 1889, the town of New Birmingham was incorporated. Banks, a railway depot, a schoolhouse, a weekly newspaper, an ice plant and electricity from a coal-fired plant—all these created an impression not only of great potential, but of an established community. And then, there was the
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Apocryphal, almost certainly. The greater damage to the future of New Birmingham was the death of W. H. Hamman, whose money, influence and business acumen had been instrumental from the beginning. But in any case, by the end of the year the town was virtually abandoned.
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the ironworks and many remaining buildings were scrapped. The Southern Hotel remained, occupied only by a maintenance man, but in 1926, otherwise vacant for 33 years, it was consumed by flame. In 1932, the New Birmingham school was razed to make way for
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Favorably impressed with the development at New Birmingham, they were all the more encouraged by the abundance of resources available so near the operations. In short order, they had committed to infuse the venture with upwards of $ 1,000,000.
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contemplated construction of a new smelter, but nothing came of it. Loath to relinquish his dream, Anderson Blevins attempted to reopen the foundry in 1907, but nothing came of that. As luck would have it, there was the
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p. 57: Children of George Lawdermilk and Elizabeth Loughridge: iii. Tassie Bell Lawdermilk, iv. Ella Virginia Lawdermilk, b. 1851; p. 124: Tassie Bell Lawdermilk, born about 1850 in Mississippi. She married
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Two 50-ton furnaces—one called the "Tassie Belle" after Blevins' wife, the other called "Star and Crescent"—were constructed and quickly went into production. Additional capital from
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Meanwhile, a pipe works and brick kiln were constructed and a coal-fired electric generating plant promised the utmost in modern convenience for new residents.
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As soon as the company had purchased twenty thousand acres of land in Cherokee County, it went to work to make arrangements for mining and smelting operations.
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By 1891, New Birmingham had an estimated 1,500 inhabitants, two iron furnaces ... an iron pipe foundry, a large brick kiln and other industrial enterprises.
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By 1891, New Birmingham had an estimated 1,500 inhabitants, two iron furnaces ... an iron pipe foundry, a large brick kiln and other industrial enterprises.
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An historical marker was erected at the site of New Birmingham in 1966. Tassie Belle Historical Park contains vestigial ruins of that furnace.
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Impressed with the outcroppings of ore he saw throughout the countryside, he had a vision that a second Birmingham might sprout on the spot;
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Blevins then traveled east, secured the backing of capitalists there and, with them, formed the Cherokee Land and Iron Company.
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Conceived in 1887, New Birmingham was the brainchild of Anderson Blevins, a sewing machine salesman originally from
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matters, but had economic conditions been better, that might have been merely a temporary setback.
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circumstances converged to doom the aspirations of the New Birmingham planners.
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1169:‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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168:, the site was approximately two miles southeast of the county seat of
697:"When Time Was Young and Life a Thing Devine: New Birmingham, Texas"
585:"When Time Was Young and Life a Thing Devine: New Birmingham, Texas"
567:; p. 127: Ella Virginia Lawdermilk, born 14 Jun 1851... She married
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In its prospectus issued in October 1891, the company stated:
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Roach, Hattie Joplin (1934). "A History of Cherokee County".
382:. Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press. p. 104.
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440:. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 107.
422:. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 107.
523:"Guide to the William Harrison Hamman Papers, 1828-1966"
354:"Guide to the William Harrison Hamman Papers, 1828-1966"
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becoming the New Birmingham Iron and Development Co.)
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404:: The Naylor Company. p. 74.
328:. The Naylor Company. p. 74.
80:Location within the state of Texas
24:Ghost town in Texas, United States
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20:1891 map of New Birmingham, Texas
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548:"Descendants of Nathaniel Gist"
473:Texas. Land of Legend and Lore
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208:"Iron Queen of the Southwest"
618:University of Oklahoma Press
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680:Long, Christopher (2009).
436:Baker, T. Lindsey (1986).
418:Baker, T. Lindsey (1986).
378:Baker, T. Lindsey (1986).
215:History of Cherokee County
1209:Ghost towns in East Texas
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682:"New Birmingham, Texas"
569:William Harrison Hamman
305:running south of Rusk.
160:, United States, now a
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782:Cherokee County, Texas
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667:Cite journal requires
633:Cite journal requires
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158:Cherokee County, Texas
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701:Jacksonville Progress
589:Jacksonville Progress
565:Anderson Bean Blevins
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108:31.77361°N 95.12083°W
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1187:United States portal
438:Ghost Towns of Texas
420:Ghost Towns of Texas
398:Ghost Towns of Texas
380:Ghost Towns of Texas
326:Ghost Towns of Texas
312:Notes and references
862:Cherokee County map
396:King, Dick (1953).
324:King, Dick (1953).
287:Slide into oblivion
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1180:Texas portal
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1058:Weeping Mary
1013:Mount Selman
953:Cove Springs
938:Central High
827:Jacksonville
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729:cite journal
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1068:Ghost towns
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1048:Shady Grove
925:communities
797:County seat
706:December 7,
594:December 7,
556:December 7,
507:December 7,
462:King, p. 75
298:World War I
111: /
1091:Chronister
1028:Pine Grove
913:Shadybrook
717:Dallas, TX
614:Norman, OK
481:1556229496
453:King, p.74
359:January 1,
176:Beginnings
162:ghost town
96:31°46′25″N
39:Ghost town
1165:Footnotes
1156:Wildhurst
1151:Rock Hill
1126:Lone Star
1081:Brunswick
973:Elm Grove
968:Dialville
933:Blackjack
265:Then the
194:St. Louis
99:95°7′15″W
1203:Category
1018:New Hope
1003:Maydelle
822:Gallatin
475:, 2004,
261:Calamity
198:New York
186:iron ore
146:Cherokee
1146:Redlawn
1131:Mewshaw
1121:Larissa
1111:Griffin
1023:Oakland
998:Linwood
993:Ironton
948:Concord
884:Bullard
248:Capital
182:Alabama
124:Country
1141:Prices
1101:Emmaus
978:Forest
963:Delmer
943:Circle
837:Reklaw
814:Cities
479:
239:Demise
142:County
1086:Bulah
1043:Salem
1038:Reese
1033:Ponta
1008:Mixon
983:Gould
958:Craft
923:Other
895:Wells
890:Cuney
871:Towns
848:Troup
551:(PDF)
274:Curse
136:Texas
132:State
1116:Java
1106:Etna
1076:Atoy
879:Alto
843:Rusk
804:Rusk
742:help
708:2012
673:help
639:help
596:2012
558:2012
531:2012
509:2012
485:p.19
477:ISBN
361:2013
196:and
170:Rusk
905:CDP
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